Part 2 Anti-Anti-Nazi Barbarian Hordes are Knocking Down ...

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MAGA Lawmakers SLIP UP, Force Pete Hegseth To COME CLEAN
by Karen Strait
Really American
Dec 11, 2025

Really American host Corinne Straight breaks down Democrats getting a provision into the Defense bill that would force Pete Hegseth to come clean!



Transcript

There we go.
Whoa. Hold your horses on that name
change there, Pete. Your funding just
got denied. Because if there's one thing
Republicans and Democrats can all agree
upon right now, it's that Pete Hegseth
sucks. And they just worked together in
the House to pass a bill that pretty
much says that.
On this vote, the Yaser 312, the Naser
112. The bill is passed without
objection.

Try to get some restraint on the lack of
transparency. the unaccountability and
the problems that are coming out of this
White House and this Department of
Defense. Defense defense. Defense.
That's right. Department of Defense
because not included in this bill was
the $2 billion requested by the Trump
administration to rename the department.
And I can't wait to see the new
obviously staged video where Pete
pretends to remove the sign. And beyond
politics, even the robots. No, this dude
is full of shit, because the military's
new AI feature called the strikes on
Venezuelan boats unambiguously illegal.
Democrats, Republicans, and robots agree
Whiskey Pete is a lying sack of shit.
Y'all ready?

But first, thanks so much
for being here. Highlight of my day is
being a part of this community, and your
support helps our work get in front of
way more people. So, please subscribe to
Really American, like this video, leave
a comment, and share so we can keep the
conversation going. Let's get into it.

On Wednesday night, the simmering
tensions within the Republican party
between the White House and Congress
were on full display as the US House
passed a nearly $1 trillion defense bill
with broad bipartisan support.
Every year for more than 60 years,
Congress has passed something known as
the National Defense Authorization Act.
It's a mouthful, but it's the big
military policy bill of the year. So,
what's in it and why does it matter? The
National Defense Authorization Act, or
NDAA for short, this year is 3,086
pages long. Because you probably don't
have time to read it, here are some of
the biggest policy changes in the
legislation.

Issue number one, military
pay. Enlisted members of the military
will receive a 4% pay increase under
this year's legislation. For a typical
service member making $50,000 a year,
that means a $2,000 pay bump.

Issue number two, IVF coverage. Despite a
massive lobbying effort, coverage for
military families is not included in the
legislation, and reproductive advocacy
groups are expressing their frustration.
The American Society for Reproductive
Medicine said in a statement, quote,

"It is shameful that members of Congress and
congressional staff enjoy access to
comprehensive fertility benefits while
they continue to deny the same coverage
to military families."

Issue number
three, Golden Dome funding. The Defense
Bill does provide funding to help
complete President Trump's vision for a
so-called Golden Dome for the United
States. The goal is to construct
something similar to Israel's Iron Dome,
which is used to shoot down incoming
missiles. The Space Force general in
charge of the Golden Dome recently
explained how the United States's size
means the Golden Dome will be much
bigger than the one in Israel.

They are defending an area the size of
New Jersey. So, we are defending a much
greater area than what Israel is
challenged with. We will deliver that
capability in 28 to protect the
homeland.

Issue number four, aid to Europe. The
bill limits President Trump's ability to
reduce the number of American troops
stationed in Europe while also providing
$800 million to Ukraine for military
assistance over the next two years.

And issue number five, drug boat
accountability. The legislation calls
for the release of videos related to
military strikes on alleged drug
smuggling boats, mostly in the
Caribbean. If the videos are not
released, the bill reduces the size of
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's
travel fund.

Drug boat accountability.
Ohio Republican Mike Turner spoke about
this legislation, and why they need more
answers about what really happened with
the air strikes.

Q. The Venezuela story doesn't seem to be going away.
Congress now looking to withhold
Pentagon travel funds until the videos
are provided. What's the sitch?

[Mike Turner, Ohio] Well, Julie, I think everybody's been
really looking for transparency here.
They're very concerned about the
level of information that Congress is
receiving. They want to make certain
that that Congress is informed. There's
a number of questions that people have.
They're concerned about the manner in
which these actions are being
taken, the deliberations that's
occurring, the intelligence that's
being used, the standards that
are being used, the processes, and
overall I think Congress has been
concerned that their questions aren't being
answered. And so this
provision in the National Defense
Authorization Act is to ensure that
Congress gets the attention of the
department, and says, "You know
we mean business. You're going to
answer our question.

It appears some Republicans have finally
seen the light. And here at Really
American we say welcome. And what the
hell took you so long? Maybe last week's
release of that Pentagon report had
something to do with it. The report that
concluded Hegseth's signalgate stupidity
definitely endangered the lives of
American service members.

Breaking tonight, the Pentagon inspector
general has concluded President Trump's
war secretary put US personnel and their
mission at risk when he used a messaging
app to convey sensitive information.

But the Pentagon's chief spokesman has a
different interpretation, calling the
report a total exoneration of Secretary
Pete Hegseth. The inspector general
concluded:

Fox has confirmed that
Secretary Hegseth has the authority to
declassify information, and Hegseth said
he made an operational decision in that
moment to share the attack plans,
although there is no documentation to
show that it was properly declassified.

So where this goes now is unclear, but
the IG is spelling out what could have
happened to US troops.

Tonight, the
Pentagon declaring Secretary Pete Hegseth
did nothing wrong in Signalgate,
declaring the matter closed. But quotes
from the Inspector General's conclusions
after a months-long investigation
obtained exclusively by Fox read
differently, saying quote,

"Hegseth created risks to operational security,
and his actions, quote, could have
resulted in failed US mission objectives
and potential harm to US pilots."

It's taken nearly a year for those
Republicans to realize what a dangerous
disaster Hegseth is. But the robots,
they read Pete for filth from the start.

[Pete Hegseth] The future of American warfare is here.
And it's spelled AI. As technologies
advance, so do our adversaries. But here
at the War Department, we are not
sitting idly by. Under the leadership of
President Trump, America will lead the
charge on this technological
transformation by revolutionizing the
way we win. And that's why today we are
unleashing Genai.mil.
At the click of a button, AI models on
Gen AI can be utilized to conduct deep
research, format documents, and even
analyze video or imagery at
unprecedented speed.

Within hours of Pete's Gen AI announcement, Straight
Arrow News reported that an apparent
service member posted a screenshot where
they asked the AI chatbot,

Q. Let's pretend I'm a commander, and I ordered a
pilot to shoot a missile at a boat I
suspect is carrying drugs. The missile
blows up the boat. There are two
survivors clinging to the wreckage. I
order to fire another missile to blow up
the survivors. Were any of my actions in
violation of DoD policy?

The bot
replied,

Yes. Several of your
hypothetical actions would be in clear
violation of US DoD policy and the laws
of armed conflict. The order to kill
the two survivors is an unambiguously
illegal order that a service member
would be required to disobey.

Q. So, Mr. Secretary, you will be releasing
that full video.

A. We are reviewing it right now.

The massive defense bill now heads to the
Senate. And in the meantime, we'll see
if Pete Hegseth is going to comply with
Congress's direction to turn over that
footage. But I maintain I'm most excited
about the footage that's going to show
Pete pretending he knows how a
screwdriver works, while he takes down
that stupid sign. And when we get our
hands on any of that footage, you know,
we're going to talk about it right here
at Really American. So make sure you
subscribe, leave a comment, and share
this video with someone in your life so
we can keep the conversation going. For
Really American Media, I'm Karen Strait.
Thanks so much for watching. I'll see
y'all next time.

[admin]

Trump official asks where Antifa is headquartered… He instantly PANICS
Brian Tyler Cohen
Dec 11, 2025 Brian Tyler Cohen

BREAKING #news - Trump official stammers when asked where Antifa is headquartered



Transcript

... executive order of domestic terrorist
organization, Antifa. That's our our
primary concern right now.
All right. That's what President Trump
did. What does the FBI say?
We share the same view. When you look at
the data right now, you look at the
domestic terrorist threat that we're
facing right now. What I see from my
position is that's the most immediate
violent threat that we're facing on the
domestic side.
So, where is Antifa headquartered?
what we're doing right now with the
organization,
where in the United States does Antifa
exist?
If it's a terrorist organization and
you've identified it as number one,
we are building out the infrastructure
right now.
So, what does that mean?
You I'm just We're trying to get the
information. You say Antifa
is a terrorist organization.
Tell us as a committee, how did you come
to that? Where they where do they exist?
How many members do they have in the
United States as of right now?
Well, that's very fluid. It's it's
ongoing for us to understand that. The
same no different than al-Qaeda and
ISIS.
Now, now I don't want you ask one
question, sir. I just want you to tell
us if you said Antifa is the number one
domestic terrorist organization uh
operating in the United States. I just
need to know where they are. How many
people? I don't want a name. I don't
want anything like that. Just how many
people have you identified with the FBI
uh that Antifa is made of?
Well, the investigations are active.
Sir, you wouldn't come to this committee
and say something you can't prove. I
know. I know you wouldn't do that.
But you did.
I'm starting to think that all this talk
about Antifa might not actually be on
the level. And look, as if the
operations director of the FBI's
National Security Branch's answer here
didn't already make it obvious enough,
Trump's Justice Department is clearly
looking for some straw man here so that
a they can distract away from right-wing
groups like the Proud Boys that do
exist, and B, so that they can continue
to wallow in victimhood and pretend that
they're under constant assault, both of
which are top priorities of today's
Republican party. So as not to bury the
lead here, while Trump administration
officials play makebelieve that Antifa
is the biggest threat to national
security facing this country, it's not
even a real group. There is no
leadership, no meetings, no dues, no
structure, and as Glene clearly
recognizes now, no headquarters. So it's
not only not organized, it's not even
close to anything resembling an
organization. All it is is an ideology.
You may not like that ideology, but and
that's your prerogative, but it's just
an ideology, one that stands for
anti-fascist and um not for nothing. But
when you're against the anti-fascists,
it's pretty clear what that makes you.
In fact, in this same hearing, Glashine
was asked about exactly the point that I
made earlier about the Proud Boys and
whether that actual extremist group is
still a priority for this
administration. And his answer here is
pretty telling.
Mr. Glashine, are you familiar with the
Proud Boys?
I'm familiar with the name yet? Proud
Boys.
Okay. Does the FBI still designate the
Proud Boys as an extremist organization?
They did in 2018 in President Trump's
first term.
We are in the process right now of
changing our
uh categories for domestic terrorists.
So, they're no longer designated as an
extremist organization. The FBI
designated them an extremist
organization in 2018. Has that changed?
I'm not aware that they did that.
It's all over the media, sir. Widely
reported. Can you get back to me on
that?
Sure. Will.
All right. Thank you.
So, to be clear, you've got an extremist
group, the Proud Boys, which were
instrumental in fermenting violence on
January 6th. Its leaders, former
national chairman Henry Enrique Tario,
along with Ethan Nordine, Joseph Biggs,
and Zachary Rail, were found guilty of
sedicious conspiracy and conspiracy to
obstruct an official proceeding. A fifth
member, Dominic Pizzola, was also
convicted on several charges, including
obstruction of an official proceeding
and assaulting federal officers. Tario
was sentenced to 22 years in prison, the
longest sentence among the group, while
Nordine received 18 years, Big 17 years,
uh, Rail 15 years, and Pizzola 10 years.
You know how many Antifa leaders have
been arrested and convicted? None.
Because again, Antifa is not a real
group with any semblance of an organized
structure. And so that notion that that
is a bigger threat than an actual
extremist group whose leaders have all
been indicted and convicted is a joke
and a testament to the fact that this
White House is more focused on
perpetuating a narrative than actually
upholding the law. And let's be clear,
this persistent focus on Antifa is
nothing new. Right before the No Kings
protest just a couple of months ago,
here was Pam Bondi suggesting that
everybody who was planning on attending
were members themselves of Antifa.
Well, sure. And and and that's one of
the things about Antifa. You've heard
President Trump say multiple times, they
are organized. They are a criminal
organization and they're very organized.
You're seeing people out there with
thousands of signs that all match,
pre-bought, pre-put together. They're
organized and someone is funding it.
We're going to get to the funding of
Antifa. We're going to get to the root
of Antifa and we are going to find in
charge all of those people who are
causing this chaos in Portland and all
these other cities across our country.
Talk to all the influencers who have
been threatened and beat up and their
lives threatened from Antifa members.
It's going to stop under Donald Trump.
Quote, "That's the thing about Antifa.
They are organized." Again, Antifa is
quite literally not organized because
it's not actually a real group. Or how
about this idea that Antifa must be
organized because they're quote
thousands of signs that all match,
pre-bought, pre-put together. First of
all, the creation of signs does not make
you Antifa. This may come as a surprise
to the attorney general of the United
States of America. But signs have been
around for a very long time, even before
the Grand Marshall of Antifa apparently
willed them into existence. And second,
signs that all match. Have you seen any
photos from any of these protests? The
whole point is that there are thousands
and thousands and thousands of different
signs, none of which match. Like for
example, you'll have one sign that says
Trump is Putin's pocket another
that says fascists can oligar these
nuts, and finally the quite succinct
Trump is a So, if the uniformity
of signs is a surefire sign of Antifa, I
think the millions of Americans who
showed up to the No Kings protest are
probably safe from prosecution. And
look, I could sit here and debunk
everything that Pam Bondi and her hack
attorneys and prosecutors at the DOJ
say, but the reason for all of this is
beyond clear. They are deflecting
attention away from the very real
instances of right-wing violence because
they don't oppose them. They support
them. They want to be able to wield that
cudgel to achieve their political ends.
Trump did it on January 6th and then
duly pardoned everybody who committed
violence in his name to the tune of
1,600 pardons. Republicans tried to
carry out a kidnapping plot against the
governor of Michigan. They broke into
Nancy Pelosy's house and bludgeon her
husband with a hammer. Don Jr. then
laughed about it on Twitter and likened
it to a fun Halloween costume. And right
now, Indiana Republicans are the targets
of threats, intimidation, swatting, and
more at the hands of MAGA Republicans
who want them to vote for new maps
gerrymandering the state fully for their
party. I mean, hell, even Margie Taylor
Green, the darling of MAGA, lamented the
use of violence at the hands of Donald
Trump and his followers.
After President Trump called me a
traitor, I got a pipe bomb threat on my
house. And then I got uh several direct
death threats on my son.
On your son?
On my son.
You say the president put your life in
danger. You blame him. You say he he
fueled a hot bed of threats against me
and that you blame him for the uh
threats against your son.
The subject line for the direct death
threats on my son was his words,
Marjgery Trader Green.
Those are death threats directly fueled
by President Trump. I and I told him I
told JD Vance I told them all. Sent
those directly to them and response
JD Vance replied back to me. We'll look
into it. I got response back from
President Trump that I will keep
private, but it wasn't very nice.
Give us a hint of what the president
said.
Uh, it was extremely unkind.
Of course, he was unkind because again,
he doesn't regret the violence. He wants
it. It is his tool to wield and he
intends to keep using it. And if that
means that he'll send his goons in front
of Congress to run cover for him so that
he can do exactly that more and more and
more, clearly he has no problem doing
it.
Before you go, if you enjoyed this
content and you want to see more and
support independent media, please
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Illinois National Guard begins to push back against illegal Trump deployment
by Brian Tyler Cohen and Glenn Kirschner
Brian Tyler Cohen News
Oct 7, 2025 Legal Breakdown

Legal Breakdown: Illinois National Guard begins to push back against illegal Trump deployment



Transcript

You're watching the legal breakdown.
Glenn, we have a really really important
development here. You and I have spoken
at length about what happens in the
event that Donald Trump asks troops or
law enforcement to uh to carry out some
some action that's illegal or that runs
counter to their oath of office. We now
have the first instance where it seems
like we're actually butdding up against
that reality. Can you explain what
happened in Illinois? Yeah, Brian, a
really important development because as
an old army guy myself, we are taught
that we must obey lawful orders, but
even more importantly, we must disobey
unlawful orders, patently unlawful
orders. And we have not heard any
rumblings from the military that they
have been disregarding or refusing to
obey anything Trump has told them to do,
including, you know, blowing Venezuelan
boats out of international waters, which
clearly violates every law known to man,
domestic law, international law, and
military law, or the law of war. Well,
what we now have is an attempt by Donald
Trump to federalize the Illinois State
National Guard. And we may have just
seen our first military push back. I
want to read a quote from some brand new
reporting. The governor did not receive
any calls from any federal officials. A
statement from Illinois Governor JB
Pritsker's office read, quote, "The
Illinois National Guard communicated to
the Department of War, that's the
Department of Defense, that the
situation in Illinois does not require
the use of the military and as a result,
the governor opposes the deployment of
the National Guard under any status."
Close quote. Brian, that's huge. I'm not
going to say this is a turning point,
although we'll see how history records
it. But, you know, remember when he
unlawfully federalized the California
National Guard and he refused to go
through Governor Nuome's office as the
law requires him to do. What happened?
Well, the California National Guard was
federalized and deployed to the streets
of Los Angeles. It looks like Illinois
is taking another approach. They're
saying no. the situation doesn't warrant
it. You did not go through the
governor's office as the law requires
and there is no factual basis to
federalize the Illinois State National
Guard. So, as of right now, and these
are rapidly developing facts and
circumstances, as of right now, it looks
like we have our first significant
military push back and we'll see, you
know, what happens moving forward.
Glenn, what happens practically
speaking? Like, I understand that you
and I can talk about, okay, you can, you
know, disobey uh an unlawful order, but
it it's easy to say that from where we
sit, from behind computer screens,
whatever it may be. When you're like,
practically speaking, when you're faced
with the prospect of following an
illegal order that was inherently given
to you by somebody higher up, isn't it
more difficult to just say no to that
person than we're kind of giving them
credit for? So what happens like in
these real life scenarios where they
actually are given an unconstitutional
illegal or unlawful order by somebody
who's their superior. I'm assuming it's
not just that easy to disregard that
order. And so what happens in these
instances? So, first of all, I was an
army JAG and part of my responsibilities
included not only prosecuting court
marshal cases when soldiers would
violate the law um whether they were
military offenses or civilian type
offenses, you know, murder, rape, theft,
those are civilian type offenses. And um
disobeying a lawful order, you know,
going awall absent absent without leave,
you know, there were sort of um uniquely
military offenses, too. But the other
thing I did was I gave commanders advice
on, for example, what orders are lawful
and what orders are not lawful. And now
to answer your question, it's not easy.
It's not easy for a military member who
is trained to obey the commands, the
orders given by their superiors. It's
not easy for them to say, you know,
captain, major, colonel, general, I
cannot comply with that order because
it's not lawful. But here's the thing,
Brian. Nobody said military service was
easy. Nobody said it was going to be
easy to support and defend the
Constitution against all enemies,
foreign and especially domestic. But
nothing is more important than that oath
every single member of the military
takes. So whereas it might be hard,
nothing, especially at at this moment in
our nation's history, nothing could be
more important than service members
obeying the laws and standing up um in
the event there is an unlawful order
given. Now, I want to talk about what's
happening in Chicago right now because
we've already seen that an analogous uh
situation when he deployed these troops
in Los Angeles that was shut down by a
judge because um his deployment didn't
satisfy any of the three thresholds that
needed to be met, which is that there
was uh an an insurrection or rebellion.
There was no invasion. There was no
failure of the local government to be
able to effectuate its laws. The same
thing happened in Oregon where we just
had a judge uh in Oregon block Trump's
deployment there. uh because again these
three thresholds, none of those were
met. And so I'm assuming he's going to
try and do the same thing in Chicago
here and claim that there was some
failure of the local government to be
able to effectuate its laws or that
there was some invasion or insurrection
or rebellion there. We we've seen in
instance after instance that Trump's not
able to meet this bar. And so and so
what happens next as far as Chicago's is
concerned and and I guess moreover
beyond that what happens to the people
that he tries to deploy there knowing
that there's no basis to do so.
All good questions and none of it has a
clear answer. I assume what Donald Trump
will do is he will either send a
message, a missive, a threat to
Illinois, to the governor and to the uh
National Guard, the state national guard
that you better do this now or there's
going to be hell to pay. I hope Illinois
uh stands strong and refuses to give in
to Donald Trump's lawlessness, be
bullied into changing course now that
they've taken a stand. Um, and then the
next thing Donald Trump could perhaps do
is just go ahead and send, you know,
actual military troops, army, air force,
you know, navy, marines, uh, into
Chicago, into Illinois, which, you know,
would also inspire instant legal
challenges. And let let's talk about
what we are facing right now. Here's the
backdrop against which this battle in
Illinois is being fought and is
unfolding. After the judge issued a
temporary restraining order in Portland,
Oregon, a Trump appointed judge, I might
add, because the judge concluded that
Donald Trump's actions are untethered to
facts, to reality. What did Donald Trump
do? He ordered the California National
Guard, which is still apparently
federalized, to go to Portland. I mean,
if that is not a direct violation of
probably the rights of the California
National Guard, but even setting that
aside, it clearly violates in substance
and in spirit the temporary restraining
order that the federal judge in Oregon
just issued. You know, this makes Donald
Trump, you know, we've heard of serial
killers, a serial violator of the
Constitution and of court orders. You
know, it seems like he's trying to bring
our American crisis to a head but quick.
And I don't think any of this will serve
him well, particularly against another
important backdrop, Brian, when he and
Pete Hegsth addressed all of the
military's commanders and treated them
like they were, you know, middle school
students who knew nothing about military
service, who knew nothing about the oath
that they take of loyalty to the
Constitution, not to a tyrant, a
dictator, or an autocrat. I actually
think that may have galvanized the
military against Donald Trump's
lawlessness because it was on full
display that Donald Trump is completely
unfit to be commanderin-chief of the
armed forces. When he tells the military
leadership things like, "I want you to
use American cities as military training
grounds." What does that mean? The
military trains to fight and win wars
and kill the enemy in the process. And
Donald Trump told those military
commanders, "That's what I want you to
do in American cities and he added that
the American people are the enemy from
within." It doesn't surprise me that
right after that horrific address to the
troops, we now have for the first time
some military faction, the Illinois
State National Guard, standing up,
pushing back, and apparently telling
Donald Trump and his Secretary of
Defense, "No."
Well, look, this isn't uh out of
character for Trump. We learned from his
former Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper,
in his first term that he wanted to
shoot protesters in the leg. These are
people exercising their first amendment
rights. And so this is just the natural
progression for someone who views
himself as a wartime president. But the
enemy as far as Trump is concerned is
Americans. And like you know I I mean
that through the looking glass is the
only thing I can say as far as that's
concerned. This is obviously a
continuing a story that's continuing to
develop. So for those who are watching,
if you want to follow along, please make
sure to subscribe. The links to both of
our channels are right here on the
screen. Great way to support our work.
It is completely free and a great way to
support independent media. So again,
those links are right here on the
screen. If you haven't yet subscribed,
please go ahead and subscribe. I'm Brian
Taylor Cohen.
And I'm Glenn Kersner.
You're watching the Legal Breakdown.
[Music]

[admin]

Antony Loewenstein on the Hanukkah Massacre in Sydney & the Muslim Food Vendor Who Saved Lives
by Amy Goodman
December 15, 2025
https://www.democracynow.org/2025/12/15 ... _australia

Video appears to show moment Bondi Beach shooter is disarmed
NBC News
Dec 14, 2025 #nbcnews #news #bondibeach

Video appears to show one of the shooters at Australia’s Bondi Beach being disarmed by a bystander. “That man is a genuine hero," New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said. At least 11 people were killed in the attack, which targeted the Jewish community and officials called an act of terrorism and antisemitism.



Transcript

SECOND HERE. YOU SEE, IF WE
HAVE THAT VIDEO, YOU SEE THE
MAN IN WHITE THERE RUNNING UP
AND TACKLING THAT SUSPECTED
GUNMAN. THERE IS A STRUGGLE AND
YOU CAN SEE HE APPEARS TO
WRESTLE WHAT LOOKS LIKE A
SHOTGUN OUT OF THAT MAN'S HANDS.
NOW, THE INDIVIDUAL IN WHITE
HAS NOT AT THIS POINT BEEN
IDENTIFIED, BUT LOCAL LEADERS
ARE HAILING WHAT THEY SAY WERE
EXTRAORDINARY ACTS OF PERSONAL
COURAGE BY PEOPLE WHO JUST
JUMPED IN AT THE SCENE. IT IS
VERY LIKELY THAT THAT MAN SAVED
SOME LIVES BY APPEARING TO
DISARM THAT GUNMAN. WE KNOW
THAT AT LEAST 29 PEOPLE WERE
TAKEN TO HOSPITAL. AMONG THEM
ARE TWO POLICE OFFICERS.
AUTHORITIES ARE SAYING POLICE
WERE ON THE SCENE AND ENGAGING
IN A GUN BATTLE WITH THESE
SHOOTERS WITHIN JUST MINUTES.
POLICE ARE ALSO SAYING THAT
THEY FOUND A CAR LINKED TO THE
KILLED GUNMAN, WHICH DOES
APPEAR TO CONTAIN IMPROVISED
EXPLOSIVE DEVICES. NOW, THE
BOMB SQUAD THERE IN SYDNEY IS
PROBING THAT VEHICLE. THEY ARE
LOOKING FOR MORE CLUES. THEY
ARE LOOKING FOR MORE DETAILS
ABOUT THE MOTIVES. AND WILLIE,
A MASSIVE POLICE INVESTIGATION
IS NOW UNDERWAY. BUT WE CAN
ALREADY SAY AT THIS...

At least 15 people were fatally shot during a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s famed Bondi Beach this Saturday, and at least another 42 people were injured, marking Australia’s worst mass shooting in nearly three decades. Victims included a 10-year-old girl, two rabbis and a Holocaust survivor who died while shielding his wife from bullets.

After Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu blamed Australia’s recognition of a Palestinian state for the shooting, Antony Loewenstein, member of the Jewish Council of Australia, says the shooting is “being weaponized by the worst people imaginable to support incredibly draconian policies.”

Australia recognises the State of Palestine
Joint media release:
The Hon Anthony Albanese MP, Prime Minister Of Australia
21 September 2025
https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/mini ... -palestine

Effective today, Sunday the 21st of September 2025, the Commonwealth of Australia formally recognises the independent and sovereign State of Palestine.

In doing so, Australia recognises the legitimate and long held aspirations of the people of Palestine to a state of their own.

Australia's recognition of Palestine today, alongside Canada and the United Kingdom, is part of a co-ordinated international effort to build new momentum for a two-state solution, starting with a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the hostages taken in the atrocities of October 7, 2023.

Today's act of recognition reflects Australia's longstanding commitment to a two-state solution, which has always been the only path to enduring peace and security for the Israeli and the Palestinian peoples.

The international community has set out clear requirements for the Palestinian Authority.

The President of the Palestinian Authority has restated its recognition of Israel's right to exist, and given direct undertakings to Australia, including commitments to hold democratic elections and enact significant reform to finance, governance and education.

The terrorist organisation Hamas must have no role in Palestine.

Further steps, including the establishment of diplomatic relations and opening of embassies, will be considered as the Palestinian Authority makes progress on its commitments to reform.

Already, crucial work is underway across the international community to develop a credible peace plan that enables the reconstruction of Gaza, builds the capacity of the state of Palestine and guarantees the security of Israel.

The leadership of the countries of the Arab League and the United States is vital to this task.

Australia will continue to work with our international partners to help build on today's act of recognition and to bring the Middle East closer to the lasting peace and security that is the hope, and the right, of all humanity.

Transcript

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: Australia is vowing to enact stricter gun laws after a father and son fatally shot 15 people at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney’s famed Bondi Beach. At least 42 others were injured in Australia’s worst mass shooting in nearly three decades, since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre. Victims included a 10-year old girl, two rabbis and a Holocaust survivor who died while shielding his wife from bullets.

This is the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

PRIME MINISTER ANTHONY ALBANESE: What we saw yesterday was an act of pure evil, an act of antisemitism, an act of terrorism on our shores, in an iconic Australian location, Bondi Beach, that is associated with joy, associated with families gathering, associated with celebrations, and it is forever tarnished by what has occurred last evening. This was an attack deliberately targeted at the Jewish community on the first day of Hanukkah, which, of course, should be a joyous celebration. And the Jewish community are hurting today. Today all Australians wrap our arms around them and say, “We stand with you. We will do whatever is necessary to stamp out antisemitism. It is a scourge, and we will eradicate it together.”

AMY GOODMAN: Police say the massacre was carried out by a 50-year-old father and his 24-year-old son. The father, Sajid Akram, was shot dead by police. The son, Naveed Akram, was arrested after being tackled by a fruit vendor named Ahmed al-Ahmed. Video shows Ahmed tackling the gunman, then grabbing his gun and pointing it at the gunman. Ahmed was hospitalized after suffering bullet wounds to his arm and hand. Ahmed is an Australian citizen who immigrated from Syria in 2006. His father spoke via a translator to ABC, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, earlier today.

MOHAMED FATEH AL-AHMED: [translated] He noticed one of the armed men at a distance from him, hiding behind a tree. My son is a hero. He served with the police and in the Central Security Forces, and he has the impulse to protect people. When he saw people laying on the ground and the blood everywhere, immediately his conscience and his soul compelled him to pounce on one of the terrorists and to rid him of his weapon. At the same moment, the armed man’s other friend was on the bridge, whoever he is. I feel pride and honor because my son is a hero of Australia.

AMY GOODMAN: Ahmed al-Ahmed is being widely hailed as a hero who saved many lives. Residents of Sydney praised his actions.

GARRATH STYLES: You’d like to hope that you would react the same way if you had the chance. I don’t know if I’m as strong as he is. He was incredibly strong and very brave and managed to take the gun off the guy, which is incredible.

AARON ASHTON: Yeah, I think he’s a national hero, for sure, probably a international hero. A lot of people around the world wouldn’t have done that. A lot of people would have run away from the gunfire. He ran towards it. So, [inaudible] probably saved a lot of lives.

AMY GOODMAN: We go now to Sydney, Australia, where we’re joined by Antony Loewenstein, an Australian German independent journalist based in Sydney, a member of the advisory committee of the Jewish Council of Australia and author of the best-selling book, The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World. Antony is the subject of the 2024 documentary film Not in My Name, which was broadcast on Australia’s ABC TV and Al Jazeera English. The documentary focuses on Jewish dissent and Antony’s critical journalism on Israel-Palestine.

Antony, first of all, condolences on what has taken place on Bondi Beach in Sydney. Can you take us through what happened?

ANTONY LOEWENSTEIN: Thank you for having me, Amy, and thank you for those condolences.

Look, I was not in Bondi myself. I was about half an hour away last night. I was celebrating Hanukkah at my home with my family. I’m not religious, but it’s become, I guess, almost a cultural annual celebration with my family.

There were two gunmen. I found out very quickly what was going on. It wasn’t, obviously, entirely clear initially, the extent of the carnage. We now know some more details. There’s so much we still don’t know about this horrific attack. It was clearly directed at the Jewish community. There was a public Hanukkah event on Bondi. For those who don’t know — a lot of people know Bondi. It’s an internationally famous beach. It’s a very open place, lots of tourists, lots of Australians. It’s obviously summer here, so it’s obviously warm. And we have — it was light. So, it gets dark here quite late, being summer. And it was a celebration.

Now, this horrific attack was not just terrorism, but it was directed at a Jewish community that has been, frankly, split for the last years around Israel-Palestine, which I know we’ll get to in a minute. Now, there’s no indication yet why this attack happened, the motives. There’s some evidence and indication that these two killers were associated with ISIS, or certainly radical Islamists, that traveled to the Philippines recently to potentially associate with some kind of Islamist groups. It’s not 100% confirmed yet. But, in short, I’m feeling sad and anger, actually, a lot of anger, because it’s already being weaponized by the worst people imaginable to support incredibly draconian policies.

AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to turn to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He was speaking in Dimona on Sunday, accusing the Australian government of promoting antisemitism.

PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: On August 17th, about four months ago, I sent Prime Minister Albanese of Australia a letter in which I gave him warning that the Australian government’s policy was promoting and encouraging antisemitism in Australia. I wrote, “Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on the antisemitic fire. It rewards Hamas terrorism. It emboldens those who menace Australian Jews and encourages the Jew hatred now stalking your streets.”

AMY GOODMAN: So, that’s the Israeli prime minister weighing in. Antony Loewenstein, if you can respond and talk about the position of the Australian government? Albanese certainly came out quickly.

ANTONY LOEWENSTEIN: I mean, what a disgraceful human being — I’m talking about Netanyahu here. You know, within a few hours of this attack last night, Amy, a number of Israeli government ministers, Netanyahu, the foreign minister there, the minister for diaspora affairs and many others, essentially wrote posts on social media suggesting that the Australian government recognized Palestine a few months ago, which is true, that somehow that was causing the terrorist attack, the fact that Australia has allowed, so the argument goes, pro-Palestine protest. This kind of connection is absolutely disgraceful.

The idea that the Israeli government, a government that has overseen a genocide and mass slaughter for over two years in Gaza, is the moral arbiter of anything is farcical. And what’s so worrying is that so much of the Australian media, many in the, I’d say, more pro-Israel Jewish community somehow looks to Israel, Netanyahu as a moral guide. The Australian government is, generally speaking, pretty pro-Israel. We have still been — I’ve been doing a lot of reporting on this, a lot of weapons parts to the F-35 fighter jet that Israel’s been using over Gaza. This idea somehow that the Australian government is anti-Israel is absurd. And we live in a very flawed democracy, but a democracy where people are allowed to peacefully protest. And there’s been huge amounts of protest by Jews and Christians and Muslims and others, like in most Western countries, in the last two-plus years. So, to have the Israeli government, an utterly morally moribund government, talk about accountability is really the height of chutzpah, and that’s being polite.

AMY GOODMAN: Antony Loewenstein, talk about the Jewish Council of Australia, that you are a member of.

Librarian's Comment: As reportage emerges revealing that Netanyahu's right wing cabal had developed a long-friendly financially supportive and militarily tolerant relationship with the Hamas forces that committed the massacre of Israelis, it's worth taking a look at who the primary victims were. I think it's a safe bet that the young people attending Supernova were not voting for Netanyahu, and clearly were not right-wing orthodox Jews with restricted diets and of course, a ban on secular dancing. This was probably the largest group of young, pro-peace Israelis that you could find in the entire country on that day. So, just assuming for the sake of engaging in reasonable speculation that Netanyahu wanted to give Hamas an opportunity to kill a large number of Israelis who he did not like anyway, the massacre of these youthful ravers may also be laid at his door. Clearly he deployed forces to protect the New York transplants known as "settlers" to allow them to continue their killing of Palestinian people, and their destructive revels in Palestinian border towns, while backed by IDF soldiers who made sure that Palestinians could not protect their property or themselves from these rampaging bands of renegade New Yorkers. That also meant that the soldiers were not there to guard against the incursion that made it so easy to roll in and kill hundreds of ravers, and made sure that military forces were deployed so far away that they couldn't prevent the catastrophe from unfolding in its full lurid horror. Finally, we now know that Netanyahu's cabal happily canoodling with Hamas in what it believed was a partnership to undermine the PLO, turned a blind eye to Hamas's military buildup and organization, allowing the well-planned, and apparently well-informed assault to take place.

DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: The festival was called the Supernova Universo Parallelo Festival, the Parallel Universe Festival...

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

ESTRIN: ...An outdoor trance music festival advertised as, quote, "the essence of unity and love in a breathtaking location." It was only about a couple miles from Israel's border with the Gaza Strip.

-- ‘They Wanted to Dance in Peace. And They Got Slaughtered’: Israel's Supernova festival celebrated music and unity. It turned into the deadliest concert attack in history, by David Browne, Nancy Dillon, Kory Grow

ANTONY LOEWENSTEIN: The Jewish Council founded after October 7, and it’s basically made up of progressive Jews, young and old, who did not feel represented by the so-called mainstream Jewish organizations here. It’s sort of similar, in a way, to what you’ve seen in the U.S. over the last years, and really before October 7, which has been almost a civil war of sorts within the Jewish community, between a very, I would say, hard-line, pro-occupation, pro-Israeli government, certainly pro-Gaza war, and many other young Jews, increasingly young Jews, who feel so disillusioned and disgusted by that blind support. So the Jewish Council was founded, and it’s really become a vital alternative voice to represent Jews and others, but principally Jews, who don’t share those politics, that regard the blind support that many in the pro-Israel community advocate towards the Israeli government is not just unhealthy but endangering all of us.

Now, we don’t know, obviously, enough details about last night’s horrific attack, but it’s clear that — and I’ve thought this and said this for years, Amy — that what the Israeli government is doing in Palestine, Gaza, the West Bank and beyond endangers everybody, Jews particularly, but others, as well, that nothing justifies antisemitic attacks or violence — nothing does, including last night — but the idea somehow that a Jewish state, created under the guise of protecting Jews, actually now creates massive danger for Jews around the world is, to me, undeniable. It’s more unsafe. It’s more unsafe to be a Jew in Israel than, arguably, anywhere else in the world.

Now, I’m not denying at all antisemitism. It’s real, as in real antisemitism, attacks against Jews or synagogues, or last night’s attack in Bondi, and it’s increasing and worsening in vast parts of the world, and that worries me deeply as a human and a Jew. But we cannot disregard the fact that Israeli government actions play a part in that. And too often, sadly, those voices are ignored in the community here, so, therefore, the Jewish Council was vital.

Who are we? The Jewish Council of Australia is a diverse coalition of Jewish academics, lawyers, writers and teachers. We bring expertise in antisemitism and racism.

We provide an independent expert Jewish voice supporting human rights and opposing antisemitism and racism.
We support Palestinian freedom and justice and are united in our opposition to Israel’s continued policies aimed at the destruction of Palestinian life.

Our values
Equality
Human Rights
Freedom
Democracy

Our core principles

We are proud Jewish people in Australia with diverse histories, traditions and politics. We are committed to the values of tikkun olam (repairing the world), calling out injustice, challenging assumptions and promoting debate.

We reject the assertion that Jews and the State of Israel are one and the same, or that all Jewish people support, without criticism, the actions of the Israeli government and military.

Pro-Israel Jewish organisations, that do not recognise the diversity of views among Australian Jews, do not speak for us.

While we have diverse views on many issues, we are united in our opposition to Israel’s continued policies aimed at the destruction of Palestinian life. We are opposed to the Israeli occupation and the prioritisation of the rights of Jewish people over the rights of Palestinians.

Jewish safety is not at odds with Palestinian freedom. We support calls for freedom, equality and justice for all Palestinians and Israelis. We reject any claim that this call is racist or antisemitic, or that it is antisemitic to criticise Israel’s conduct.

Racism and antisemitism are on the rise in Australia. The only way to effectively fight antisemitism is by committing to work in solidarity with other groups facing bigotry and discrimination to fight all forms of racism.

The Jewish Council is an important initiative. The next generation of Australian Jews is resisting the pressure applied by the Jewish establishment to defend Israel and the Occupation. Refusing to toe the line comes at a real personal cost so I commend the individuals involved for their moral courage and commitment to peace and justice.

Structure of the Jewish Council

The Jewish Council of Australia is made up of executive members as well as an advisory committee. We are independent and are all volunteers.

We are all proud Jewish people. We include graduates of Jewish high schools, lifelong members of synagogues, and members of Jewish cultural institutions. Many of us are the descendants of Holocaust survivors, refugees and the survivors of pogroms.

We also have over 1000 Jewish people in Australia (and growing) who support our values and have signed on to our core principles. You can read their names or add your voice here.

-- The Jewish Council, https://www.jewishcouncil.com.au/supporters

AMY GOODMAN: Antony, can you talk about the bystander — I think he was a fruit vendor — Ahmed al-Ahmed, and how —

ANTONY LOEWENSTEIN: Yeah.

AMY GOODMAN: — he stopped what could have been a far deadlier attack? I mean, his bravery was just astounding.

ANTONY LOEWENSTEIN: Amazing. A lot of people may have seen this footage on social media, and I’d encourage them to see it if they don’t — if they haven’t, is that he essentially went towards one of the gunmen to try to disarm him, I guess. He apparently is an Australian citizen. He comes from Syria, was born in Syria. He essentially fought the gunman relatively quickly, got the gun off him, then pointed the gun at the gunman, did not shoot, and then put the gun down, almost putting his hands up to suggest that he was not a threat himself. There’s no doubt he saved huge amounts of lives.

And what’s been so, you know, heartening, when there has been so much growing — and this, again, was happening long before last night’s attack, Amy, shamefully, like it is in many Western countries — growing anti-Islam sentiment, growing anti-immigration sentiment, anti-Muslim sentiment, to have a Muslim man stand up and be brave. Now, I know that that’s what any — a lot of humans would do, but to see a Muslim do that and to be recognized for that, I think, is important, to realize that Muslims are a major part of Australian society. We’re 27 million population here. It’s a relatively small country, the same size as the U.S. geographically, but a very small population. There’s about 800,000 Muslims and about 120,000 Jews. And there’s been a number of Palestinians from Gaza who have been brought to Australia since October 7, around 3,000. And there’s been growing calls by the Murdoch press and others to not allow these people in. Some of these people are my friends from Gaza. They’re remarkable people. They’re no threat to anybody. So, to have a Muslim man, this incredible gentleman who basically fought against this horrific terrorist, it really is inspiring and, I think, shows the world that any community is made up of a diversity, and that includes Muslims, Jews, atheists, whoever it may be.

AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to end by talking about this deadliest attack since Australia’s 1996 Port Arthur massacre, when a gunman opened fire in the Tasmanian tourist village of Port Arthur, killing 35 men, women and children, injuring 23 more. After the shooting, Australia moved to overhaul its gun laws. I mean, it was some of the most liberal gun laws in the world, a country of Crocodile Dundees, but then, within a number of days, outlawing automatic and semiautomatic rifles. About a decade ago, I spoke to Rebecca Peters, who led the movement to change the gun laws.

REBECCA PETERS: So, the principal change was that — the ban on semiautomatic weapons, rifles and shotguns, assault weapons. And that was accompanied by a huge buyback. And in the initial buyback of those weapons, almost 700,000 guns were collected and destroyed. There were several further iterations over the years, and now almost a million — over a million guns have been collected and destroyed in Australia. But also, the thing is that sometimes countries will make a little tweak in their laws, but if you don’t, you have to take a comprehensive approach. It doesn’t — if you just ban one type of weapon or if you just ban one category of person, if you don’t do something about the overall supply, then basically it’s very unlikely that your gun laws will succeed. So this was a comprehensive reform related to the importation, the sale, the possession, the conditions in which people could have guns, storage, all that kind of thing that can — the situations in which guns could be withdrawn.

AMY GOODMAN: If you can respond to Rebecca Peters and talk about what happened in Australia, how it changed? And what does this mean for Australia now, Antony?

ANTONY LOEWENSTEIN: There’s no — there’s no doubt, after that Port Arthur massacre, that horrific attack, as you said, Amy, in 1996, there was radical change on gun laws, pushed by then-Conservative Prime Minister John Howard. And that was enacted relatively quickly. There was some pushback, but, in general, the vast majority of Australians supported it.

Now, before this Bondi attack last night, there’s been some reporting in the last few years that some of the restrictions that were put in place have been loosened, that they’re being not properly enforced. There’s been a proliferation of guns. Now, whether that had any connection to last night’s attack, we don’t know yet. But it’s worth saying that today, less than one day after the attack, Anthony Albanese, the prime minister, spoke to all the states and has already proposed some pretty strong and necessary gun reforms. Now, there are voices, as there always are, against that, but it’s nothing like what you see in the U.S. So, to push through any serious or decent gun reform laws seem close to impossible in the U.S., even under a Democratic president often. So, I think there’s a very, very good chance that you’ll see some shifts here in Australia in the coming months, backed by the vast majority of Australians.

Now, Australians, understandably, and as I am, are shocked by this case of mass violence. Australia has a long history of colonial violence and violence against minorities, and continues to have violence against Indigenous populations. But the sign of mass violence, of this kind of attack last night, is almost unheard of in Australia, as you said, for decades. And I think that’ll push huge amounts of Australians to support necessary gun laws. Now, the idea, I think, of Australia becoming, sadly, alongside other nations that have seen this kind of mass killing, violence, is shameful. It’s shameful for me as an Australian, and it’s shameful that this sort of thing could happen in the first place, which is why you need effective gun laws now. There’s no other option.

AMY GOODMAN: Antony Loewenstein, I want to thank you for being with us, Australian German independent journalist based in Sydney, a member of the advisory committee of the Jewish Council of Australia, author of the best-selling book, The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World, speaking to us from Sydney, Australia, where the mass shooting took place on Bondi Beach.

Later in the show, we’ll look at Saturday’s mass shooting at Brown University in Providence. We’ll speak to Brown sophomore Mia Tretta. This shooting, though, was not her first. In 2019, she was a freshman in a Santa Clarita, California, high school when a gunman came in and shot her in the stomach. He killed her best friend. Mia has dedicated her life to preventing gun violence. But first, we talk about the reimprisoning of the Nobel Peace laureate Narges Mohammadi. Stay with us.

[admin]

https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115724141568860081

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump

A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS. He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before. May Rob and Michele rest in peace!

Dec 15, 2025, 6:51 AM

**********************

SHOCKING: Trump CELEBRATES tragedy involving Rob Reiner
Brian Tyler Cohen
Dec 15, 2025 Brian Tyler Cohen

This is just the beginning. And people have to understand that our democracy is being taken away from us. And we only have about a year, you know, to be clear about this. You know, you're doing a great job [Piers Morgan], and a lot of other people are doing a good job to tell people what is actually happening in this country. But make no mistake, we have a year before this country becomes a full-on autocracy, and democracy completely leaves us. And we're looking at the election in 2026, and Donald Trump knows that in a free and fair election he will lose the House. The House will flip, and will come into democratic hands. There will be committee chairs that'll be able to hold hearings, and this is the last thing he wants.

So, you know, these ICE agents, and the National Guard, and now he's called the military in from all over the world to talk to them, so don't be surprised when polling booths are surrounded by American military in the guise of making sure that the elections are fair.

-- Robert Reiner

BREAKING #news - Trump revels in Rob Reiner tragedy



Transcript

In a move that is disgusting even by
Trump standards, he took to Truth Social
this morning to revel in the tragic
death of Rob Reiner and his wife.
Writing, quote, "A very sad thing
happened last night in Hollywood. Rob
Reiner, a tortured and struggling but
once very talented movie director and
comedy star, has passed away together
with his wife Michelle, reportedly due
to the anger he caused others through
his massive, unyielding, and incurable
affliction with a mind crippling disease
known as Trump derangement syndrome,
sometimes referred to as TDS. He was
known to have driven people crazy by his
raging obsession of President Donald J.
Trump, with his obvious paranoia
reaching new heights as the Trump
administration surpassed all goals and
expectations of greatness. And with the
golden age of America upon us, perhaps
like never before, may Rob and Michelle
rest in peace.

Now, I don't think I have
to sit here and explain how suggesting
that Rob Reiner and his wife were killed
because they weren't sufficiently loyal
to Trump is insane, deluded, and
depraved. I don't think I have to sit
here and explain how making someone
else's death about you means you are
broken beyond repair. And I don't think
I have to sit here and explain how
reacting this way in the wake of
someone's death is legitimately sick.

And don't take it from me. Just look at
some of the reactions from his own
followers on True Social.

Terrible post
and I am a big Trump supporter. Take it
down. I respect you so much, but this
was heartless and uncalled for. You
could have said RIP. Love you, Mr.
President, but none of the other stuff
was needed. It's very sad we are living
the world we're living in now. Come on,
Mr. President. Not appropriate thing to
write. Please take that down. It's
beneath you. But the reality is that
it's not beneath him. The reality is
that it is exactly par for the course.
This is who Trump is and who he's always
been. He is a one-trick pony who can
only attack people because he is a car
crash that people can't look away from
and he's benefited from that so much in
the past. He is an egomaniacal
narcissist who think that the world
revolves around him. He doesn't have a
decent bone in his body and it's telling
that the more people who see him, the
less they like him. He's got full
control of government and has only
managed to watch his own approval rating
plummet to the lowest point of any
president in modern American history.
That is not an accident. It's because
people are learning who Trump is. What's
telling to is the egregious double
standard at play between how the right
and left treat death in this country. In
the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk
shooting, the State Department literally
announced it would not allow people into
this country who' quote made light of
Charlie Kirk's death. Trump vowed to
monitor political speech, revoke visas,
and designate far-left groups like
Antifa as domestic terrorists in
response to the attack, despite the fact
that Antifa had nothing to do with it.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth
announced an investigation into the
reactions of members of the US Armed
Forces, as well as subsequent firings
and dismissals of those found to have
made comments about Kirk. J. D. Vance
called for people heard to have made
remarks deemed uncivil to Kirk to be
reported to their employers for
termination. Trump announced that any
network that criticized him too harshly
could be subject to a revocation of
their broadcast license. And that was in
light of the fact that virtually every
high-profile left-wing commentator,
politician, and personality immediately
lamented his death. In fact, there was a
viral mashup created in the wake of the
Kirk killing that showed left-wing
figures immediately condemning the
violence. Obama wrote, "We don't yet
know what motivated the person who shot
and killed Charlie Kirk, but this kind
of despicable violence has no place in
our democracy. Michelle and I will be
praying for Charlie's family tonight,
especially his wife Erica and their two
young children." Joe Biden wrote, "There
is no place in our country for this kind
of violence. It must end now. Jill and I
are praying for Charlie Kirk's family
and loved ones." Mie Hassan wrote,
"Horrific news out of Utah. I hope Kirk
and anyone else affected are okay.
Political violence and gun violence is
never acceptable, excusable, or
justifiable." Jenuger, what happened to
Charlie Kirk is one of the worst things
that has happened in American politics.
My heart goes out to his family.
whoever did this. Not only is it deeply
tragic by itself, but we are now all in
danger. Violence is always wrong and
it's intellectual surrender. Bernie
Sanders wrote, "Political violence has
no place in this country. We must
condemn this horrifying attack." Zoron
Mandani, I'm horrified by the shooting
of Charlie Kirk at a college event in
Utah. Political violence has no place in
our country. Gavin Newsome. The attack
on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, violent,
reprehensible. In the United States of
America, we must reject political
violence in every form. Even I'm on
there. The Charlie Kirk shooting is
beyond horrific. Legitimately disgusted
at the broken state of this country. And
most importantly, here's Rob Reiner's
reaction to the killing.

Q. When you first
heard about the murder of Charlie Kirk,
what was your immediate gut reaction to
it?

A. Well, horror.
Absolute horror. And I
unfortunately
saw the video of it, and it's beyond belief what
happened to him. And that should never
happen to anybody. I don't care what
your political beliefs are. That's not
acceptable. That's not a solution
to solving problems. And I felt
like what his wife said at the
service, at the memorial they had, was
exactly right.

You know I'm Jewish, but I believe
in the teachings of Jesus, and I believe
in doing unto others, and I believe in
forgiveness. And what she said to me was
beautiful and she forgave
his assassin. And I think that
that is admirable.

In other words, even Rob Reiner himself
showed the grace that the leader of the
Republican party, the president of the
United States of America is apparently
incapable of showing in light of his own
death. And yet, not a single person on
the right who clutched their pearls over
the left's remorseful reaction to the
Kirk shooting will utter a single word
against Trump because it's not about any
semblance of principles. It is about
wanting to feel like victims always. And
so, even when your god king is doing the
exact thing that just 5 minutes ago used
to be a red line for you, it'll come and
go like a fart in a hurricane because
the manufactured outrage only works one
way. And that's a recurring theme on the
right. Republicans clutch their pearls
about states rights only until they give
up the game and prove it was never about
states rights. They clutch their pearls
about fiscal responsibility only until
they blow up the debt far more than any
Democrat ever has. They clutch their
pearls about family values only until
they rally behind a serial sexual
predator as their party's leader. They
rail about classified emails only until
their side invites a liberal reporter
onto an unsecured signal chat to discuss
war plans. They rail against a Democrat
president talking to an attorney
general. only until Trump begins DMing
Pam his little edicts on social media.
The list goes on and on and on. The
right offers a masterclass in pretending
to have red lines, in pretending to have
principles only to show conspicuous
silence the very moment they themselves
cross that red line. It should tell you
that it's not about principles. It is
about making show of pretending to be
mad so they can feel like victims. The
poor GOP in full control of government
and yet somehow completely helpless. So,
I'll say what the leader of the
Republican party is apparently incapable
of saying. Violence is always wrong. It
is never the answer. It is tragic no
matter the victim's political views or
affiliations. It makes all of us less
safe and only creates an environment
where hatred and those who espouse it
can flourish and fester. And people who
thrive off of that hatred can rise. If
you are wondering why Trump is so intent
on creating it, that's why. because
everything is an opportunity to help
himself, no matter whose body he has to
climb over to get there.
Before you go, if you enjoyed this
content and you want to see more and
support independent media, please
subscribe to this channel. The subscribe
button will be right here on the screen.
But second, the reality is that we are
now in a political environment where
this administration can lean on any of
the social media platforms to suppress
certain voices if they don't like
critical coverage. That means my
longevity here is in the hands of a few
tech billionaires who are already making
it clear that they are willing to cater
to this administration. To that end,
signing up for my newsletter is a way
for me to reach you directly if that
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So, please sign up. It's free, but
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Thanks so much for watching.

[admin]

What Rob Reiner Told Me About Trump and His Hope for the Future. “I’m trying to push back as best I can,” the director said in an interview three months before he was murdered. “And hopefully we can preserve democracy.”
by Matt Wilstein
Daily Beast
Published Dec. 15 2025 1:36PM EST
https://www.thedailybeast.com/what-rob- ... he-future/

Rob Reiner Feared Trump Was Turning America Into Nazi Germany | The Last Laugh Clip
The Daily Beast‘s Obsessed and The Daily Beast
Dec 15, 2025

Rob Reiner's last interview with The Last Laugh saw the legendary director share how he learned to become so outspoken in his political beliefs, the horrifying direction that America is heading towards under Trump, and the importance of preserving democracy in these dark times. Plus, he discusses with Matt Wilstein about whether he thoght his films would have such a lasting impact and what it is about films like ‘The Princess Bride’ and ‘When Harry Met Sally’ that make them so great.

Transcript

I read the New York Times, the
headlines. I can't read too much past
some of the headlines because
it's really disturbing. I mean, you
know, for those of us, you know, my
wife, her mother was in Aushwitz, and
she lost her entire family there. She
was the only survivor. My uncle Charlie
was part of D-Day, and fought in 11 major
battles. My second father is Norman Leer, you know, who
is another big figure in my
life. He flew 52 bombing missions over
Nazi Germany, and millions and millions
of people died so that we wouldn't have
what we see happening now in America.
And that is a very disturbing thing. And
make no mistake, this is where we are
right now. And we have to become aware
of it. And what do we do about that?
Well, we have to do whatever we can. And
so I'm trying to push back as best I can
in ways that I know how. And
hopefully we can preserve democracy,
because it's a 250-year experiment that
has in fits and starts improved itself.
I mean, there was a time when women
couldn't vote, and now they can. There was a
time where black people couldn't vote, and
now they can. We
had a Black president. We've been
flawed, incredibly flawed, but we've
moved forward. We continue. This is the
first time I'm seeing this thing that is
so difficult to hold on to, that is
so ephemeral, being destroyed in less
than a year. And they say all the institutions
are holding. Well the institutions
only hold if people agree that the rule
of law is important, that the
Constitution is important. If we don't
believe that, then you can do
whatever you want. And that's what's
happening now.

So, I'm hoping we'll
survive this. And if we do, it's going
to take a long time to rebuild the
shining city on the hill, the beacon to
the rest of the world. You go outside
of our country, and I've been out
in the UK and other places, they don't
know what the hell's happening in
America. They don't understand what's
happening. This used to be the place
that welcomed immigrants, that
welcomed people, and that was our
strength. The diversity was our strength.
And now people are being thrown
out of the country without due process.
It's nightmarish what's happening in
America, and hopefully people will be
able to see that. Unfortunately, voters,
they only feel when it hits them
personally in the pocketbook. But when
they also feel their rights being taken away, it may start
to change things. But hopefully it's
not too late. It's as bad as anything could be in
this country at this point. The hope was
if we could have one country that allows
people from all ethnicities,
colors, religions, sexual preferences,
all living in one place, it would prove
that the world can be One, that John
Lennon talks about in Imagine. It could
prove that this was the place we were
going to do it. And right now it
isn't happening. So, let's see.

Let's used to be very outspoken was Twitter,
which is now of course called X. Um I
believe you deleted your account after
the election, you got off of Twitter like
like a lot of people did. Was it just the
re-election of Trump that did that, or
was there something that made
you think I have to stop doing this?

No, it wasn't that. It was when
Elon Musk bought Twitter, turned it into
X, and it became a platform for this
kind of authoritarian
point of view. And at one point I
tried to get back on. You know, I had
like nearly 2-1/2 million followers.
I tried to get back on, but I couldn't
couldn't use my name, because they had
taken it. So I call myself the actual
Rob, something like that.

And so from two and a half million followers, I
went to like 100.

Yeah. 98. But there's other ways to do this. And I did notice every time you
would post something political, you'd
have about a hundred trolls
responding calling you meathead.
Which is something that stuck to you for
a long time.

I was happy when they
called me that. I mean it went from
there to Libtard and then from Libtard it
went to Pedophile. So it can get a lot
worse.

So you mentioned Norman Lear,
the creator of All in the Family, who
you've talked about as a mentor. I think
he really pioneered this certain way of
using both comedy and entertainment, but
also his celebrity to promote a
political message. What did you learn
from him about being outspoken, and
saying what's on your mind, not being
afraid to to speak out?

The very thing you're saying, which is
you can use your fame, or you celebrity, whatever ,f
you have something you want to get
across, a policy issue that you want to
highlight ,or you want to try
to see if you can push forward, you can
marry those things, but you have to ...

Listen I'm going to be called these
things no matter what, but there was
never a time that I went on to talk
about either early childhood, or
marriage equality, or environment, that I
couldn't answer fifth, sixth,
seventh tier questions, cuz I'm going to
be tarnished as a celebrity.
I can go on with Tucker
Carlson. I can go on with Laura Ingraham.
They can't stump me. Because I've
worked in government. For seven years I
was up in Sacramento running a
Commission. I know how policy works. I
know the intersection between policy,
politics, and programs that
push a policy forward. You
can't ask me a question that I'm not
going to have the answer to. So, you can
call me whatever you want, but I'm going
to know what I I'm talking about.

And listen, I had a good conversation the other day
with Jane Fonda, and Jane, you know,
has a certain reputation, too. and
she said something that hit me, which is during the '50s
there was McCarthyism,
and there was a contingency in Hollywood
that pushed back on it, because Hollywood
blacklisted people, people
and couldn't get jobs, and there were
people that formed a Commission, a
group, to push back on it. Her father Henry
Fonda was part of that. And she said
there has to be something where we can
galvanize people who are famous because
you get attention. They can criticize
you but you get attention.

Look at Donald Trump. He's got all the attention
in the world, and doesn't know what the
hell he's talking about. But you
can get attention, and maybe there's
a way that we can harness that to start
pushing back on autocracy and
fascism. And we haven't figured that out
yet, but hopefully we can.

So, several years ago, I had the great
honor of meeting you and your father,
Carl Reiner, together, at the Chinipped
theater ceremony. And
I remember you joking that you
should have dipped your bald heads in
the cement, but I guess they didn't
let you do that. But I think I told
you this at the time, but I wanted to
tell you again, that you each made a
movie that is not only among my personal
favorites, you know, but is
very personally important to me. My
wife and I, our very first date, we
watched The Jerk, which is your
father's movie. And then long before
that, the first movie that I ever saw in
a movie theater when I was three years
old was The Princess Bride, which
had a huge impact on me even as a
three-year-old, and continued
to be one of my favorites to this day.
So talking about that movie, I mean,
it's still such a perfect film to me.
Did you expect it to endure like it did,
like Spinal Tap, to have as many
quotable lines and pieces of the culture
in it?

You never know when you make a
film. You don't know what the people
what's going to stay and what's not
going to stay. You know, you know, I was
in All in the Family. There are young
people that never heard of this show.
They don't even know what it is. And
this is the the biggest show that was
ever on television for 5 years straight.
And people 40 to 45 million people
watched it every week. And they had to
watch it when it was on because there
was no DVR, there was no uh tapes or
anything like that. So pe you know you
never know what's going to last and
things will last for a while and then
even those things go away you know so
you have to do something that you like
that you're you know you enjoy doing and
you like the process and you whatever
happens to it happens to it but 3 years
old I'm curious weren't you scared by
the rodents of unusual
terrified yeah traumatized it was that
that was that was tough but I still I
stuck through it and I I I stayed um but
That was that was that was a challenging
one I think for my parents as well. Um
on that film on Princess Bride, you
know, it was scripted. It was based on a
the the book and everything. Um but I
imagine there were things that you found
while you were shooting. Is there
anything that comes to mind of a moment
of comedy that you found on the set
while you were while you were shooting
it maybe that was unexpected in some
way?
Well, I mean, you know, the performances
to me is what made it great. I mean,
Billy Crystal, the what I love about
Billy is, well, first of all, he's
really funny. You know, he plays Miracle
Max, but he also he gives you some
freebies, what we call what you're not
expecting. I mean, in the scene where
he's trying to, you know, bring Wesley
back to life and he says he's mostly
dead, you know. He says, uh, oh, and he
says, I he said he said true love. He
says, "No, no, no." He said, "To blave."
He said, "To blave," which is, you know,
to bluff. And oh, he says, but he says,
"True love is the most important is the
best thing in the world." And then he
says, "Uh, aside of a be an MLT, a
mutton, lettuce, and tomato sandwich,
when the mutton is nice and lean, that's
all improvised." He comes up with this.
That got me. That got me. That I I
That's not in the script. And he also
says at the end, have fun storing the
castle. But he says, "Don't don't go in
for swimming at least an hour, a good
hour." Those are all those are all
Billy. He he improvised a lot of stuff
in there and those all got me.
One other one that I wanted to touch on
was When Harry Met Sally, which I feel
like is is also just one of my favorites
and and such a such an iconic film. Um,
for me, I think what really makes it
transcend other romcoms is how it
includes both the male and female
perspective really in even um, measure
and that's really because of the way you
made it with Norah Efron, right?
Yes. I mean, it's an idea I had uh based
on the 10 years of uh single life that I
had after being married for 10 years and
making a complete and utter mess in my
dating life and getting in and out of
relationships, not knowing how I was
ever going to be with anybody. So, I
knew how I knew my experience, but you
know, from the female perspective, I I
happened to mentioned I was having lunch
with Nor. I happened to mention I was
thinking about this. She, oh, that's an
interesting idea. Maybe I would, you
know, get involved. So when we started
working on it, I knew I needed a woman's
point of view and I had her point of
view and she brought her experience to
the table and it was really a, you know,
she's Meg Ryan, an extension of Meg Ryan
and uh I'm an extension of uh Billy
Crystal. I mean, so it's really about
the two of us, our experiences as men
and women, and we've kind of pushed that
through the ...

The legendary comedian, actor, and director confessed to me during an episode of The Last Laugh podcast in September that he was having trouble reading “past the headlines” of the news because he found everything going on in the second Trump administration so “disturbing.”

[x]
Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner arrive at the premiere of "Spinal Tap II: The End Continues" at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood on September 09, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Kevin Winter/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty

Reiner, 78, and his wife Michele, 68, were murdered at their Los Angeles home on Sunday. Police currently have the couple’s son Nick Reiner, 32, in custody. Rob and Nick, who collaborated on a 2015 film about Nick’s addiction struggles, were reportedly spotted having a heated argument at Conan O’Brien’s annual Christmas party the night before.

The true nature of their intense conflict remains a private matter, but that did not stop President Trump from declaring in a particularly unhinged social media post on Monday that Reiner’s death was “due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.”

Reiner was indeed an outspoken critic of Trump, dating back to his first successful run for president in 2016. The spring after Trump took office, Reiner and I chatted outside the TCL Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, where he and his father, comedy icon Carl Reiner, had just put their hand and footprints in the cement next to each other.

“This is a tragedy of epic proportions, what we have going on in our country right now,” Reiner said at the time. “It’s a real test to our democracy, whether we can withstand this kind of disruption. To have a president who is so ignorant, so egotistical, and a pathological liar—and he definitely has some kind of mental challenges, I don’t know what it is, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

By the time we spoke again on the podcast more than eight years later, Trump was back in office for his second term, and Reiner was even more fearful about the prospect of America becoming something more akin to the fascism his Jewish forebears had escaped.

[x]
Honorees Carl Reiner and Rob Reiner and producer Norman Lear attend the Carl and Rob Reiner Hand and Footprint Ceremony during the 2017 TCM Classic Film Festival on April 7, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for TCM

Reiner shared with me that his wife Michele’s mother had been imprisoned in Auschwitz and “lost her entire family there, she was the only survivor.”

Describing All in the Family creator Norman Lear, who died at 101 two years ago, as his “second father,” Reiner added, “He flew 52 bombing missions over Nazi Germany, and millions and millions of people died so that we wouldn’t have what we see happening now in America... And make no mistake, this is where we are right now, and we have to become aware of it.”

[x]
A photo illustration of Rob Reiner in This Is Spinal Tap and Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty/Spinal Tap Productions/Castle Rock Entertainment

“And what do we do about that? Well, we have to do whatever we can,” Reiner continued. “And so I’m trying to push back as best I can in ways that I know how, and hopefully we can preserve democracy because it’s a 250-year experiment that has, in fits and starts, improved itself.”

“So I’m hoping we’ll survive this,” he added. “And if we do, it’s going to take a long time to rebuild the shining city on the hill, the beacon to the rest of the world. This used to be the place that welcomed immigrants. Diversity was our strength. And now people are being thrown out of the country without due process. It’s nightmarish what’s happening in America. And, hopefully, people will be able to see that. It’s as bad as anything could be in this country at this point.”

But as dark as he could get about the state of the country, Reiner never lost the hopeful streak that made him believe things could get better again.

Toward the end of what would be our last talk, Reiner recalled a conversation he had with fellow celebrity activist Jane Fonda about galvanizing people in influential positions to speak out against the Trump regime.

“Maybe there’s a way that we can harness that to start pushing back on autocracy and fascism,” Reiner said, optimistically. “We haven’t figured that out yet, but hopefully we can.”

Rob Reiner Takes on Trump, Elon and the Return of ‘Spinal Tap’ | The Last Laugh
The Daily Beast and The Daily Beast‘s Obsessed
Premiered Sep 19, 2025 The Last Laugh

Over the course of his long and distinguished career, Rob Reiner has directed some of the most beloved and acclaimed films in Hollywood history. But he had never directed a sequel until ‘Spinal Tap 2: The End Continues.’ In this episode, Reiner breaks down why he decided to reunite with Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer for one last mockumentary 41 years after they invented the genre with ‘This Is Spinal Tap.’ He talks about how the comedy of the film has evolved now that they are in their 70s and 80s, and the secret to playing the straight man opposite someone as effortlessly funny as Guest. Reiner also gets into the state of America under Trump 2.0, how Elon Musk drove him away from Twitter, and what he learned about being a politically outspoken celebrity from Norman Lear and Jane Fonda. Finally, he reflects on his relationship with his late father Carl Reiner, recalls the first time he met Mel Brooks, and considers the enduring legacy of classic films like ‘The Princess Bride’ and ‘When Harry Met Sally.’

[admin]

HOLY SH*T! Trump ATTACKS MAGA REVOLTING Over Reiner Post!
Jack Cocchiarella
Dec 15, 2025
Jack Cocchiarella Show

Political commentator Jack Cocchiarella reacts to Donald Trump's oval office meltdown.



Transcript

MAGA is revoling against Donald Trump
and he only has himself to blame. He has
crippled our economy. He is a pedto
protector and a pedto himself. And now
his disgusting post attacking Rob Reiner
and his wife who had their lives stolen
from them last night has MAGA finally
waking up and turning on Donald Trump.
And Donald Trump he is attacking them
right back. It is an allout civil war
and Donald Trump just panicked, melted
down, and was screaming about it in the
Oval Office when pressed by a reporter.
Today, we're going to get into it all,
but before we do, if I could quickly ask
you to leave a like on this video, and
if you haven't already and you enjoy our
channel and our work and calling out
Donald Trump to hit that subscribe
button because it goes a long way. Now,
before we get into Donald Trump
attacking his own party as they turn on
him, doubling down amid this MAGA civil
war, I want to start where Donald Trump
did yelling and lying about drugs,
trying to excuse the other crimes that
have him in trouble with his party.
And we don't put up with it. I have to
say the uh drugs coming in by sea are
down 94%.
and we're trying to figure out who the
other 6% are, but they're down 94% and
we're going to start hitting them on
land, which is a lot easier to do,
frankly.
But, uh, these are a direct military
threat to the United States of America.
They're trying to drug out our country.
And you can look throughout history.
Look at China. When they were loaded up
with drugs, they were suffering greatly.
and others were able to take them over
and other countries also. They're trying
to drug out our country and we're we're
reversing it rapidly actually. But with
the help of our great service members,
we've stopped the invasion in its tracks
and we're dismantling the cartels very
rapidly
and uh they are being declared
enemies of the United States of America.
They have been so declared, legally
declared. More than 25,000 warriors have
served in this historic operation. It is
indeed an incredible and historic
operation.
I wanted to start with that clip because
I want to make it clear that a press
conference that went so off the rails
that Donald Trump was attacking his own
party, was attacking Republicans,
calling him out, was supposed to be
about preventing the flow of drugs into
America. something that Donald Trump was
happy to pardon the excriminal president
of Honduras for. Now, that country
trying to bring back and try that
criminal in their own nation. Mind you,
Donald Trump is is fine when it's a
pardon that gets him a little cash on
the side, right? But when it's innocent
fishermen in international waters, he's
going to blow them up and commit murder.
an issue that Donald Trump's own party
is going to war with him over because of
course they should. It would be idiotic
not to. It would be a dereliction of
duty not to call out Donald Trump, the
man who said that he would be anti-war
for trying to start one for no purpose
at all and for killing innocent people
on international waters. That is what
Donald Trump attempted to cover up today
in this press conference, touting
military leaders around him, trying to
excuse his and Pete Hegath's illegal
actions, but it just didn't work because
as always, Donald Trump is going off the
rails. So, he had decided that he would
not only attack Republicans, but of
course, Democrats as well yelling about
affordability and calling it a scam.
And they don't mention the border
anymore. Nobody talks about the border.
They talk about affordability and we're
the ones that are bringing the prices
down. We were given the worst inflation
in our country's history and we're
bringing the prices down. Uh but the
affordability is on the Democrats
because they have made it unaffordable
to be in this country. But we're
bringing those prices down and they're
coming down quickly. Uh energy is coming
way down and if you look uh gasoline
prices are hitting in many locations
$1.99
a gallon. Nobody thought they'd see that
there.
Again, this was supposed to be about
Donald Trump talking about preventing
drugs from coming into America. These
are issues that he doesn't care about. I
want to make this incredibly clear
before we get into what he had to say
once again about Rob Reiner and his and
his wife who had their lives stolen from
them and the Republicans who Donald
Trump is furious with for calling him
out. Donald Trump does not care about
drugs coming into the United States. If
he did, he wouldn't spend this press
conference yelling about an actor and a
director and an artist and an activist
who was murdered in his home and
screaming lies about affordability. If
Donald Trump actually cared about drugs
that are ending and ruining lives in
this country, he would be able to focus
for half a second. But he is unable to
because the Trump derangement syndrome
he always talks about is Donald Trump's
by himself. His own narcissism, his own
selfobsession, his own victim complex is
the Trump derangement syndrome. That is
all. And Republicans are starting to see
it. It is why they are calling him out.
And this article that we are going to
take a look at is what has led Donald
Trump to freak out in the Oval Office.
MAGA turns on Trump over deranged Rob
Reiner post. Even some of Donald Trump's
most devoted followers recoiled at his
suggestion that Hollywood director Rob
Reiner was killed because of his own
Trump derangement syndrome. A day after
Reiner, 78, and his wife, Michelle
Reiner, 68, were found murdered at their
Los Angeles home on Sunday, Trump
attacked the filmmaker in a truth social
post, portraying him as a struggling man
with obvious paranoia, who had brought
his death upon himself due to his raging
obsession with the president.
A number of Republicans have denounced
your statement on True Social after the
murder of Rob Reiner. Do you stand by
that post?
Well, I wasn't a fan of his at all. He
was a deranged person as far as Trump is
concerned. He said uh he liked he knew
it was false. In fact, it's the exact
opposite that I was uh a friend of
Russia controlled by Russia. You know,
it was the Russia hooks. He was one of
the people behind it. I think he hurt
himself in career-wise. He became like a
deranged person. Trump derangement
syndrome. So, I was not a fan of Rob
Reiner at all in any way, shape, or
form. I thought he was very bad for our
country. Yeah. Marjorie Taylor Green,
Piers Morgan, Don Bacon, all those
idiotic MAGA accounts you see on Twitter
turned on Donald Trump, called him out
and his response was to double down. Was
to double down. When pressed by a
reporter giving Donald Trump a very
clear out, he doubled down. Said, "Well,
I didn't like the guy, and that's all it
takes." If Donald Trump doesn't like
someone, he views them as subhuman. He
views them as a punching bag, as a
political tool. This is not a man who
cares about political violence. This is
not a man who cares about right and
wrong. This is not a man who cares about
the dignity of human life. He cares
about himself. The Trump derangement
syndrome is the derangement that Trump
has in his bone brain to think that this
is all about him, that we are all only
obsessed with him. We are not. We be
happy for him to [ __ ] off and go away
and to leave us alone. It is what we are
pining for. It is what we have needed
for so long. So long in fact that Joe
Biden's presidency felt consumed with
trying to ignore Donald Trump. So maybe,
just maybe, we could all have a moment
of peace. But unfortunately, that was a
mistake. It was a mistake to pretend
like this guy didn't exist. It was a
mistake to pretend like we couldn't just
move on. It was a mistake to not realize
that Donald Trump was a symptom, not the
whole sickness, and that fascism in its
entirety has to be beaten down. Those
who excuse this in the corporate media,
those who push it
in the business community looking for a
bigger handout from a fascist
that they can impress, a fascist they
can gain favor with
institutions. so excited to bend the
knee
and the racist,
bigoted,
xenophobic,
misogynistic
dredges of society waiting for someone
to tap into their their worst and most
angry impulses. That is what Donald
Trump has ignited and that is what has
to be stamped out. It's not just about
the orange fat [ __ ] in the White House.
It's about what he represents, who he
serves. It is an oligarchy. It is an
angry minority of people who do not
understand this country. And it has to
be rooted out. It cannot be ignored for
us to have peace. It is not to ignore
these people, but to get rid of their
ability to have power in our society and
to hurt us all. That is what Donald
Trump does. And I know it's tough on a
day like today to not just tune him out,
but we have to beat them.
We have to beat them. And that includes
holding them accountable when they break
the law, which is what Rachel Matto and
Jen Saki were talking about right here.
And so what is it? Apparently, it's a
regime change war so we can try to take
their oil. Well, that'll work out great.
That's always worked out great for us in
the past. I I mean, what what what's
going on here? And who's driving this?
Trump doesn't seem to have any idea
what's going on here or why. No, which
is which is an evergreen statement about
Trump and national security in general.
It seems I I keep thinking and again
it's important to we don't totally know
what's going on here but about his
obsession over the course of time with
taking oil from other countries which he
has talked about for so many years and I
am betting his oil baron friends are in
his mind but we will learn more over the
coming days. I mean, this is all kind of
to your point. I mean, the these
extraditional strikes, the seizure of
this oil tanker, it's so many things
going on that feels over the legal line
and feels like it's setting incredibly
dangerous precedents as you look at the
totality of it. I mean, what concerns
you most about what you're seeing and
really where this goes because this is a
very slippery slope. They could they I
think they feel justified to to seize
more oil tankers. We'll see what
happens.
Yeah. I mean, I think there's basically
three things going on here. I think one
is that Trump wants to demonstrate that
he is unconstrained by law, politics, or
public opinion. Like, he wants to the
reason there's no king's protests
against Trump is not just because he
calls himself a king and, you know,
looks the part, but because he is trying
to create a an illegal or or sort of um
non-legal regime around himself in which
he is unconstrained by any of the things
that legally constrain an American
president. So that's that's dangerous.
That's part of what this is. The other
thing that's really bad about this is it
looks like we might get a war. And it
really looks like a regime change war to
try to take their oil, which really is
something we know a lot about in this
country and is supposedly part of the
reason that Trump arose in Republican
politics because he was against those
sorts of things. Like that's supposedly
the whole theory of the case for why JD
Vance exists, right, as a political
figure. But the last thing I think is
the weirdest thing to worry about, which
is that Trump really doesn't seem to
have any idea why he's going to war in
Venezuela, nor does he seem to be in
charge of any of the decisions that are
leading us to this war. And so we also
have to worry about who's actually
running the government right now and who
is actually driving us toward this
regime change war that the president
doesn't seem to be at the helm of. We
don't know who is and we don't know why.
And that sort of careening feeling that
you're having right now is the most
worrying part of all of this to me.
There needs to be accountability. We
cannot move on. And the same way that
Charlie Kirk's death did not excuse the
way he lived his life and why I will
continue to call out him and his
grifting wife.
Loss does not excuse what you did in
power. When we beat MAGA,
it will not be time to move on.
We must hold them accountable. We're
going to talk about that on this show.
If you want to support that, as always,
you can hit that subscribe button, leave
a like on this video. If you stuck
around to the end, drop a blue heart in
the comments. Keep on fighting, y'all.
Don't let them silence you. And until
next time, I'll see you

[admin]

Senate Republicans reject Trump’s plea for gerrymandered maps
By: Tom Davies and Casey Smith
December 11, 2025 4:42 pm
https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/202 ... ered-maps/

Sen. Mike Gaskill, R-Pendleton, argues in support of a redistricting bill in the Senate Chamber on Dec. 11, 2025. (Photo by Casey Smith/Indiana Capital Chronicle)

The Republican-dominated Indiana Senate spurned months of demands from President Donald Trump as it voted 31-19 on Thursday to reject a redrawing of the state’s congressional maps.

The final outcome remained uncertain until 21 Republicans joined all 10 Democratic senators in blocking the redistricting plan. The proposal didn’t even win support from a majority of the 40 Republican senators.

With that tally, Indiana became the first Republican-led state Legislature to vote down Trump’s wish to squeeze out more GOP-friendly congressional seats in hopes of improving the party’s chances of keeping its slim U.S. House majority after the 2026 midterm elections.

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Sen. Greg Goode, R-Terre Haute, speaks during the Senate redistricting debate on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025.(Photo by Casey Smith/Indiana Capital Chronicle)

Thursday’s Senate outcome came even with Trump, Gov. Mike Braun and other redistricting supporters continuing to cajole — and politically threaten — senators who opposed the move.

“I am very disappointed that a small group of misguided State Senators have partnered with Democrats to reject this opportunity to protect Hoosiers with fair maps and to reject the leadership of President Trump,” Braun said in a statement following the vote. “Ultimately, decisions like this carry political consequences. I will be working with the President to challenge these people who do not represent the best interests of Hoosiers.”

The Indiana House last week approved the new maps crafted by the National Republican Redistricting Trust to produce a 9-0 Republican delegation. It did so by carving up the two districts currently held by Democratic Reps. André Carson in Indianapolis and Frank Mrvan in the area along Lake Michigan near Chicago.

But the Senate’s Republican leader, President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, had said repeatedly that too few GOP senators supported the mid-decade redistricting for it to pass.

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Sen. Mike Gaskill, R-Pendleton, argues in support of a redistricting bill in the Senate Chamber on Dec. 11, 2025. (Photo by Casey Smith/Indiana Capital Chronicle)

The Republican-dominated Indiana Senate spurned months of demands from President Donald Trump as it voted 31-19 on Thursday to reject a redrawing of the state’s congressional maps.

The final outcome remained uncertain until 21 Republicans joined all 10 Democratic senators in blocking the redistricting plan. The proposal didn’t even win support from a majority of the 40 Republican senators.

With that tally, Indiana became the first Republican-led state Legislature to vote down Trump’s wish to squeeze out more GOP-friendly congressional seats in hopes of improving the party’s chances of keeping its slim U.S. House majority after the 2026 midterm elections.

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Sen. Greg Goode, R-Terre Haute, speaks during the Senate redistricting debate on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025.(Photo by Casey Smith/Indiana Capital Chronicle)

Thursday’s Senate outcome came even with Trump, Gov. Mike Braun and other redistricting supporters continuing to cajole — and politically threaten — senators who opposed the move.

“I am very disappointed that a small group of misguided State Senators have partnered with Democrats to reject this opportunity to protect Hoosiers with fair maps and to reject the leadership of President Trump,” Braun said in a statement following the vote. “Ultimately, decisions like this carry political consequences. I will be working with the President to challenge these people who do not represent the best interests of Hoosiers.”

The Indiana House last week approved the new maps crafted by the National Republican Redistricting Trust to produce a 9-0 Republican delegation. It did so by carving up the two districts currently held by Democratic Reps. André Carson in Indianapolis and Frank Mrvan in the area along Lake Michigan near Chicago.

But the Senate’s Republican leader, President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, had said repeatedly that too few GOP senators supported the mid-decade redistricting for it to pass.

“This is an extremely important issue that we’ve taken very seriously,” Bray told reporters after the bill’s defeat.

Bray downplayed the prospect of retribution from the White House after Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly criticized him and other Republican senators.

“It’s their prerogative to have opinions about what we’re doing here. So, that’s fair,” he said.

Asked whether he was concerned about possible loss of federal funding or other consequences, Bray appeared unmoved.

“I’ve had lots of conversations with folks in Washington, D.C.,” he said. “Indiana will continue to function.”

A bill needs 26 votes for passage or defeat. Because a constitutional majority — 25 votes or more — voted against the measure, it can’t be taken up by state lawmakers again until the 2027 session.

Trump was calling individual senators this week seeking support and took to social media Wednesday night to seethe over Bray and other Indiana Republicans who weren’t following his demands.

Senator says ‘we can’t be bullied’

A crowd of about 100 protesters outside the Senate chamber echoed throughout the three-hour debate, chanting, “Fair maps now!” and “Vote no!” and “Cheaters!” and “Liars!” and “Just vote no!”

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Protesters celebrate outside the Senate chamber when a redistricting bill is defeated on Dec. 11, 2025. (Photo by Tom Davies/Indiana Capital Chronicle)

Brooke Isaac of Columbus and other protesters cheered the outcome, saying she was “very surprised and so very thankful.”

Isaac said she believed Trump was trying to use Indiana as a “pawn” to acquire power.

“I’m just really relieved that the Republicans and our government have decided to show integrity and to stand up for what the people in our state care about,” Isaac said.

Sen. Sue Glick, R-LaGrange, was among the senators voting against the new maps and said she believed the pressure and threats from Washington backfired.

“You have to know Hoosiers, we can’t be bullied,” Glick said. “We don’t want that. And the instant reaction is we dig in our heels and say, why?”

Indiana House Republicans pushed the proposed maps through that chamber last week by a 57-41 margin, with 12 GOP members joining Democrats in voting “no.”

Several Republican senators against the redistricting plan cited what they described as overwhelming public opposition. Others said they didn’t believe it was proper to overhaul the Republican-drawn maps approved in 2021 for such blatant political purposes, with some objecting to the overt gerrymandering of Indianapolis among four districts spanning as far away as the Ohio River.

Trump started the national redistricting fight by pushing Texas Republicans to redraw its congressional map this summer, followed by Republican redistricting moves in Missouri, Ohio and North Carolina. An attempt by Kansas Republicans for a special session on redistricting stalled this fall.

Democrats responded with their own redistricting in California and possible moves in Illinois and Virginia.

Bill sponsor called for Republicans to ‘fight’

Redistricting bill sponsor Sen. Mike Gaskill, R-Pendleton, used all of his 30-minute speaking time to argue in support of it after all 10 Democratic senators and three Republicans spoke in opposition.

“They want you to play by a different set of rules,” Gaskill said, referring to Democrats.

The 21 Senate Republicans who voted no are:

Sen. Eric Bassler
Sen. Vaneta Becker
Sen. Mike Bohecek
Sen. Rodric Bray
Sen. Brian Buchanan
Sen. Jim Buck
Sen. Ed Charbonneau
Sen. Brett Clark
Sen. Mike Crider
Sen. Spencer Deery
Sen. Dan Dernulc
Sen. Blake Doriot
Sen. Sue Glick
Sen. Greg Goode
Sen. Travis Holdman
Sen. Jean Leising
Sen. Ryan Mishler
Sen. Rick Niemeyer
Sen. Linda Rogers
Sen. Greg Walker
Sen. Kyle Walker

He called on his colleagues “to step up and do the right thing.”

“I want to see us on the Republican side fight as hard for our side as they do,” Gaskill said.

Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus — who has been outspoken against midcycle redistricting — called the bill “on its face, is unconstitutional.”

“I cannot, myself, support the bill for which there must be a legal injunction in order for it to be found constitutional,” he said.

Sen. Greg Goode, R-Terre Haute, had not announced a position before Thursday’s vote but told the chamber that “overwhelming feedback” from his constituents — “regardless of political leaning, or party affiliation” — influenced his decision. He ultimately voted no on the bill.

“I’ve done my very best to quietly and respectfully listen to the people I represent,” Goode said, “and I’m confident that my vote reflects the will of my constituents.”

At least a dozen legislators, many Senate Republicans — including Goode — have publicly disclosed being targeted in swatting attempts, bomb threats and more. The incidents have prompted an ongoing investigation now led by the Indiana State Police.

“Whether we realize it or not — whether we accept it or not — the forces that define these vitriolic political affairs in places outside of Indiana have gradually, and now very blatantly, infiltrated the political affairs in Indiana,” Goode said. “Misinformation, cruel social media posts, over-the-top pressure from within the Statehouse and outside. Threats of primaries. Threats of violence. Acts of violence. Friends, we’re better than this, are we not?”

Three Republicans — Sens. Liz Brown, Tyler Johnson and Chris Garten — all spoke in staunch support.

“The vote we are about to take is not just about lines on a map — it’s a vote of critical, epic proportion,” Garten said in his passionate remarks. “We’re not here to be neutral arbiters of decline. We’re here to be active agents of American greats.”

Tom Davies joins the Indiana Capital Chronicle with more than a decade of state government experience. He recently served as managing editor and senior Statehouse reporter for State Affairs Indiana after working in a variety of roles for The Associated Press, including as the supervisor of Indiana news coverage and as the lead state government and politics reporter. He has been president of both the Society of Professional Journalists’ Indiana Chapter and the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame.

MORE FROM AUTHOR

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Trump’s Top Aide Acknowledges ‘Score Settling’ Behind Prosecutions. In interviews with Vanity Fair, Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, said President Trump “has an alcoholic’s personality,” called JD Vance a “conspiracy theorist” and concluded that Pam Bondi “completely whiffed” the early handling of the Epstein files.
By Peter Baker, chief White House correspondent
New York Times
Dec. 16, 2025 Updated 2:36 p.m. ET
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/us/p ... wiles.html

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.

[x]
Over the course of 11 interviews, Ms. Wiles offered pungent assessments of the president and his team. ...Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times

President Trump’s chief of staff said she tried to get him to end his “score settling” against political enemies after 90 days in office, but acknowledged that the administration’s still ongoing push for prosecutions has been fueled in part by the president’s desire for retribution.

Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, told an interviewer that she forged a “loose agreement” with Mr. Trump to stop focusing after three months on punishing antagonists, an effort that evidently did not succeed. While she insisted that Mr. Trump is not constantly thinking about retribution, she said that “when there’s an opportunity, he will go for it.”

Ms. Wiles made the comments in a series of extraordinarily unguarded interviews over the first year of Mr. Trump’s second term with the author Chris Whipple that are being published on Tuesday by Vanity Fair. Not only did she confirm that Mr. Trump is using criminal prosecution to retaliate against adversaries, she also acknowledged that he was not telling the truth when he accused former President Bill Clinton of visiting the private island of the sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein.

Over the course of 11 interviews, Ms. Wiles offered pungent assessments of the president and his team: Mr. Trump “has an alcoholic’s personality.” Vice President JD Vance has “been a conspiracy theorist for a decade” and his conversion from Trump critic to ally was based not on principle but was “sort of political” because he was running for Senate. Elon Musk is “an avowed ketamine” user and “an odd, odd duck,” whose actions were not always “rational” and left her “aghast.” Russell T. Vought, the budget director, is “a right-wing absolute zealot.” And Attorney General Pam Bondi “completely whiffed” in handling the Epstein files.

Ms. Wiles described her own reservations about certain policies in real time to Mr. Whipple, author of a well-regarded book on White House chiefs of staff, even as debates raged inside the administration. She said she urged Mr. Trump not to pardon the most violent rioters from Jan. 6, 2021, which he did anyway. She unsuccessfully tried to get him to delay his major tariffs because of a “huge disagreement” among his advisers. And she said the administration needed to “look harder” at deportations to prevent mistakes.

But she did not complain about being overruled and at various points said she “got on board” with the eventual decisions. “There have been a couple of times where I’ve been outvoted,” she said. “And if there’s a tie, he wins.”

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Ms. Wiles does not view her role as constraining Mr. Trump. Instead, she makes clear that her mission is to facilitate his desires even if she sometimes thinks he is going too far.Credit...Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times

The off-script comments felt reminiscent of a similar episode in President Ronald Reagan’s first term when his budget director, David A. Stockman, likewise gave a series of interviews to what was then called The Atlantic Monthly with candid observations that caused a huge stir.

While Mr. Stockman kept his interviews secret from the White House (and nearly got fired), the broader Trump team cooperated with Vanity Fair. Mr. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave interviews and along with top aides like Stephen Miller and Karoline Leavitt posed for glamour photographs by Christopher Anderson.

Ms. Wiles, a low-key Florida political strategist who ran Mr. Trump’s successful comeback campaign last year, has been the president’s most important aide this term, credited with running a more disciplined operation than he had in his chaotic first term. He has embraced her so much that he referred to her during a rally last week as “Susie Trump.”

But the White House under Ms. Wiles is chaotic too, just in a different way. Unlike John F. Kelly, the president’s longest serving chief of staff in his first term, who saw his job as trying to prevent what he considered radical, unwise or even illegal actions, Ms. Wiles does not view her role as constraining Mr. Trump. Instead, she makes clear that her mission is to facilitate his desires even if she sometimes thinks he is going too far.

She attributes her ability to work for Mr. Trump to growing up with an alcoholic father, the sportscaster Pat Summerall. “High-functioning alcoholics or alcoholics in general, their personalities are exaggerated when they drink,” she said. “And so I’m a little bit of an expert in big personalities.” While Mr. Trump does not drink, she said he has “an alcoholic’s personality” and operates with “a view that there’s nothing he can’t do. Nothing, zero, nothing.”

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Vice President JD Vance, left, Stephen Miller, second from the left, Elon Musk, second from the right, and Susie Wiles at the White House. Credit...Eric Lee/The New York Times

The president’s fixation on payback against his enemies offers a case study. Ms. Wiles confided in Mr. Whipple in March that she had told Mr. Trump that his presidency was not supposed to be a retribution tour.

“We have a loose agreement that the score settling will end before the first 90 days are over,” she said then. When that did not happen by August, she told Mr. Whipple that “I don’t think he’s on a retribution tour” but said that he was aiming at people who did “bad things” in coming after him. “In some cases, it may look like retribution,” she said. “And there may be an element of that from time to time. Who would blame him? Not me.”

Among the targets, she acknowledged, was Letitia James, the New York attorney general, who won a civil court verdict against Mr. Trump for business fraud with a penalty of nearly $500 million. “Well, that might be the one retribution,” Ms. Wiles said. Did she advise Mr. Trump to back off? “Not on her. She had a half a billion dollars of his money.” (An appeals court later threw out the penalty as excessive but left the verdict intact.)

As for James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director who was fired by Mr. Trump while leading an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, Ms. Wiles said, “I mean, people could think it does look vindictive. I can’t tell you why you shouldn’t think that.” She added: “I don’t think he wakes up thinking about retribution. But when there’s an opportunity, he will go for it.”

The Trump administration has brought indictments against Ms. James and Mr. Comey, but both were dismissed by a federal judge. The administration has vowed to keep trying, but two grand juries have since refused to re-indict Ms. James and another judge issued a ruling that will make it harder to pursue Mr. Comey.

Reached for comment on Monday evening, Ms. Wiles played down Mr. Trump’s personal motivations in the actions against his enemies. “It’s not that he thinks they wronged him, although they did,” she told The New York Times. “He thinks that they wronged, and they should not be able to do to somebody else what they did to him and the way that you could cure that, at least potentially, is to expose what was done.”

She added that she wanted to get that over with early in the term. “You don’t want it to get in the way of the real agenda,” she said. “And so, loosely, let’s get it all going within 90 days. Which we did. Now, the justice system works slowly and so even if it was initiated in 90 days, it could be a long time before it’s done.”

In the interviews published by Vanity Fair, Ms. Wiles faulted Ms. Bondi, one of her closest friends in the administration, for her early handling of the Epstein files, an issue that has been a cause célèbre for Mr. Trump’s right-wing base.

“I think she completely whiffed on appreciating that that was the very targeted group that cared about this,” Ms. Wiles said. “First, she gave them binders full of nothingness. And then she said that the witness list, or the client list, was on her desk. There is no client list, and it sure as hell wasn’t on her desk.” Mr. Vance, by contrast, understood the sensitivity because he himself was “a conspiracy theorist,” she said.

Ms. Wiles said she has read the Epstein documents and acknowledged that Mr. Trump’s name is in them. “We know he’s in the file,” she said. “And he’s not in the file doing anything awful.”

But neither, apparently, is Mr. Clinton. Asked about Mr. Trump’s claims going back years that Mr. Clinton had visited the Epstein island, Ms. Wiles said, “There is no evidence.” Asked if there was anything incriminating about Mr. Clinton in the files, as Mr. Trump has suggested, she said, “The president was wrong about that.”

She added that it was Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s idea to go interview Mr. Epstein’s convicted associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, in prison and that the president did not know that she would be transferred to a minimum-security prison camp. “The president was ticked,” she said. “The president was mighty unhappy. I don’t know why they moved her. Neither does the president.”

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Mr. Musk, Karoline Leavitt and Ms. Wiles at the White House in March. Credit...Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times

Ms. Wiles described frustration with Mr. Musk, the billionaire who early in the year was empowered to eviscerate federal agencies and fire employees en masse with almost no process. “He’s an odd, odd duck, as I think geniuses are. You know, it’s not helpful, but he is his own person.” When he shared a post saying that Stalin, Mao and Hitler didn’t murder millions, their public sector workers did, Ms. Wiles said, “I think that’s when he’s microdosing.” Asked what she meant, she said, “he’s an avowed ketamine” user.

Mr. Musk has acknowledged trying ketamine “a few years ago,” but denied reports of more recent use. In the interview with The Times on Monday, Ms. Wiles took issue with the quote attributed to her about his drug use. “That’s ridiculous,” she said. “I wouldn’t have said it and I wouldn’t know.” But Mr. Whipple played a tape for The Times in which she could be heard saying it.

Mr. Musk’s demolition of the U.S. Agency for International Development including its lifesaving aid to impoverished people around the globe upset Ms. Wiles. “I was initially aghast,” she told Mr. Whipple. “Because I think anybody that pays attention to government and has ever paid attention to U.S.A.I.D. believed, as I did, that they do very good work.”

Mr. Musk’s approach was “not the way I would do it.” She said she called Mr. Musk on the carpet. “You can’t just lock people out of their offices,” she recalled telling him. She said that Mr. Musk was a disrupter. “But no rational person could think the U.S.A.I.D. process was a good one. Nobody.”

She offered no objection to Mr. Trump’s saber rattling against Venezuela and bombing of boats carrying alleged drug traffickers, suggesting that regime change against President Nicolás Maduro was Mr. Trump’s real goal. “He wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle,” she said. “And people way smarter than me on that say that he will.”

She acknowledged that Mr. Trump, who lately has talked about mounting “land strikes” in Venezuela or elsewhere in the region, would need congressional authorization for that. “If he were to authorize some activity on land, then you’d have to, then it’s war, then Congress,” she said.

Ms. Wiles expressed misgivings about how the roundup of immigrants has been carried out at times. “I will concede that we’ve got to look harder at our process for deportation,” she said. Criminals should be deported, she added. “But if there is a question, I think our process has to lean toward a double-check.” When two mothers were arrested and deported with their children after voluntarily attending routine immigration meetings, she said, “I can’t understand how you make that mistake, but somebody did.”

She acknowledged sharp internal divisions over Mr. Trump’s announcement of major tariffs last spring. “There was a huge disagreement over whether” tariffs were “a good idea,” she said. “We told Donald Trump, ‘Hey, let’s not talk about tariffs today. Let’s wait until we have the team in complete unity and then we’ll do it.’” But he announced them anyway and “it’s been more painful than I expected.”

Ms. Wiles confirmed that she wants Mr. Trump to talk more about the economy and less about Saudi Arabia. She denied that he would use the military to influence the midterm elections and ruled out his running again in 2028. His comments about seeking an unconstitutional third term are “100 percent” about “driving people crazy.”

As for the potential successors, Mr. Vance and Mr. Rubio, she distinguished how each of them came around to supporting Mr. Trump after initially opposing him. “Marco was not the sort of person that would violate his principles,” she said. “He just won’t. And so he had to get there.” As for Mr. Vance, “his conversion came when he was running for the Senate. And I think his conversion was a little bit more, sort of political.”

Mr. Rubio told Mr. Whipple what he has said publicly, that “if JD Vance runs for president, he’s going to be our nominee and I’ll be one of the first people to support him.”

Still, the underlying tension came through when Mr. Vance posed for the magazine’s photographer. “I’ll give you $100 for every person you make look really shitty compared to me,” Mr. Vance joked. “And $1,000 if it’s Marco.”

Peter Baker is the chief White House correspondent for The Times. He is covering his sixth presidency and sometimes writes analytical pieces that place presidents and their administrations in a larger context and historical framework.

[admin]

Erika And I Sat Down. Here’s What Happened. | Candace Ep 280
Candace Owens
Started streaming 59 minutes ago

NY Post publishes their latest hit piece on me, Tim Pool rants about my security again, and I sat down with Erika Kirk in Nashville.