Day: January 16, 2026
Country Singer Jeffrey Steele’s New Song Gives ‘A Voice’ To The Forgotten American
‘I hope this song becomes a voice not only for people speaking up for others and themselves, but for these young kids and these young artists,’ Steele told The Federalist.
Federal Judges Uphold Massive Blow To GOP House Control In 2026 Midterms
Democrats regaining the House would significantly diminish his presidential powers.
Biden’s faith attacks backfire: Support for religious liberties soars to record high under Trump, new report shows
Against a backdrop of mounting attacks on churches, the Biden administration worked ardently to curb religious liberties wherever they came into conflict with the left’s radical agenda.
For example:
- the Biden Equal Employment Opportunity Commission implemented a rule requiring employers — including Christian organizations — to accommodate workers’ efforts to abort their unborn children;
- the EEOC attempted to force Christians to pay for employees’ sex-rejection mutilations;
- the Biden Department of Health and Human Services attempted to bar Christian providers who hold biblical and scientifically grounded views about sex and marriage from the foster-care system; and
- under Biden, a Catholic, the FBI characterized conservative Catholics as potential domestic terrorists and proposed to infiltrate Catholic churches as “threat mitigation.”
It’s clear from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty’s latest Religious Freedom Index that unlike the administration voted out of power in 2024, the American people overwhelmingly — and increasingly — support religious liberties.
‘Our nation still believes that our first freedom belongs at the heart of our culture; not as a source of conflict, but as a foundation for overcoming it.’
Over the past six years, Becket has tracked public opinion on religious freedom. The legal group’s index for 2025 published on Friday registered the highest cumulative score for public support of religious freedom to-date — 71 on a scale from 0 to 100 where 0 indicates complete opposition to religious liberty and 100 indicates robust support.
This amounts to a dramatic shift, especially when compared to 2020, when the composite score was 66.
Whereas in 2020, 52% of respondents agreed that religious freedom is inherently public and that Americans should be able to share their faith in public spaces, that number jumped to 57% in the latest RFI.
There was an even bigger shift when it came to support for parents’ ability to opt out of public school curricula they believe to be inappropriate — a jump from 63% in 2021 to 73% in 2025.
RELATED: 6 ways I’m using 2026 to deepen my relationship with God
Photo by ANOEK DE GROOT/AFP via Getty Images
When asked specifically about the Supreme Court’s June 2025 ruling in Mahmoud v. Taylor, 62% of respondents signaled support for the high court’s decision to side with the Maryland parents who wanted to protect their children from LGBT propaganda in Montgomery County Public Schools.
On the question of whether public funding for education should be available to all families, including those who choose religious schools, 77% of respondents said they were mostly or completely in favor.
The report noted that “although this year’s Index found that Americans have cooled on the benefits of religion to society and are skeptical of institutions, they unify around the simple principles of religious freedom for all, even in difficult cases that invite scrutiny or controversy.”
A clear majority, 58%, of Americans said they support the right of a Christian baker to decline to make cakes that conflict with her sincere religious views.
Sixty-one percent of respondents said that the First Amendment’s guarantee of the free exercise of religion should protect Catholic priests from having to break the seal of confession as would have been required by Washington state Democrats’ now-enjoined Senate Bill 5375.
There was markedly less support for the Christian counselor in the case Chiles v. Salazar who challenged Colorado’s prohibition on so-called “conversion therapy” for non-straight youth. Only 47% expressed support for her ability to provide talk therapy to children to help them overcome their gender dysphoria.
“Year after year, the Index has made clear that religious liberty remains one of our most cherished values,” Mark Rienzi, president and CEO of Becket, said in a statement obtained by Blaze News.
“Even amid deep divisions, our nation still believes that our first freedom belongs at the heart of our culture; not as a source of conflict, but as a foundation for overcoming it,” continued Rienzi. “The work before us is to see that freedom protected for our children and theirs in the years to come.”
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
‘Tariff king’: Trump considers imposing economic pressures to secure Greenland
President Donald Trump reaffirmed his commitment on Friday to the U.S. acquiring Greenland, hinting that he may impose economic pressure on reluctant nations to secure their backing.
Trump has argued that the acquisition of Greenland is imperative to America’s national security and stated that he would consider imposing steep tariffs on countries that do not support the U.S. taking control of the island.
‘We’re talking to NATO.’
Trump participated in a roundtable on Friday morning, during which he said he had pressured President Emmanuel Macron of France to raise prescription drug prices. If Macron refuses to comply, Trump has threatened to place a 25% tariff on all French imports.
Trump, who declared himself the “tariff king,” explained that he made the same threat to the “top 10 countries,” including Germany, to lower U.S. drug prices. He stated that the tariff hike would have been roughly seven times more than what the countries would pay by raising their drug prices. He noted that all of the countries he contacted agreed to his request, securing “Most-Favored-Nation” pricing.
“And I may do that for Greenland too,” Trump remarked. “I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland because we need Greenland for national security. So I may do that.”
RELATED: Rubio reportedly reveals Trump’s plan to acquire Greenland to bolster US defense
Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images
In separate comments on Friday outside of the White House, Trump told reporters, “NATO has been dealing with us on Greenland. We need Greenland for national security very badly.”
“If we don’t have it, we have a big hole in national security, especially when it comes to what we’re doing in terms of the Golden Dome and all of the other things. We have a lot of investments in military,” he added.
“We’re talking to NATO.”
RELATED: JD Vance visits Greenland to make the case for annexation: ‘We can’t just bury our head in the sand’
Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained that the administration has aspirations to purchase Greenland from Denmark.
“The United States is eager to build lasting commercial relationships that benefit Americans and the people of Greenland,” a State Department spokesperson previously told Blaze News. “Our common adversaries have been increasingly active in the Arctic. That is a concern that the United States, the Kingdom of Denmark, and NATO Allies share.”
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Scott Adams made Trump plausible before anyone else would
On the timeline of making America great again, two dates in 2015 stand out for anyone who backed Donald Trump before it was safe to do so.
On June 16, 2015, Trump came down the escalator in New York City and announced his run for president. The political class laughed. Conservative pundits mocked him. Commentators treated the whole thing as a stunt. A lifelong Democrat running as a Republican? A celebrity billionaire developer? Please. What a “clown.”
Scott understood something most people never learn: Bad reviews from bad people are good reviews. He also understood how to grieve with honor instead of self-pity.
Then came August 13, 2015.
That day, Scott Adams — the creator of “Dilbert” and a best-selling personal development author — published a blog post that reframed the entire race in a single phrase:
Usual frame:
Donald Trump is a clown.
Reframe:
Donald Trump is a clown genius.
That was Adams’ title: “Clown Genius.” And his point was simple: Trump wasn’t improvising. He was persuading. Adams wrote that Trump’s “value proposition” was to “Make America Great,” which meant selling the world on America again — what Adams called “good brand management.”
It sounds obvious now. It didn’t sound obvious then.
Adams became one of the first major nonpolitical public figures to say out loud what millions of Americans were starting to suspect: Trump wasn’t a joke. The joke was the people pretending they couldn’t see what was happening.
“Clown Genius” by Scott Adams, accessed via the Internet Archive
That post didn’t just defend Trump. It gave people permission. It gave tens of millions of everyday Americans cover to voice support for the one candidate the establishment of both parties hated more than anyone they had seen in decades. Adams called it before the polls did, and he kept calling it.
And, in the process, he helped change the course of human history.
He later packaged Trump’s persuasion methods into a book-length case study, “Win Bigly.” And famously, he assigned Trump a 98% chance of winning in 2016 — at a time when most of the media treated the idea as laughable.
Adams paid for that courage.
When he backed Trump in 2015, he didn’t just lose polite invitations. He lit his career on fire. He traded lavish speaking fees, safe corporate fame, and establishment approval for permanent exile from respectable opinion.
In October 2025, Adams described the price in stark terms:
When I decided … to back Trump … I sacrificed everything. I sacrificed my social life. I sacrificed my career. I sacrificed my reputation. I may have sacrificed my health. And I did that because I believed it was worth it. … I’m really happy I lived long enough to see it. It was worth it. … It was worth it to be right.
Independent journalist and filmmaker Mike Cernovich made the point even more bluntly. Adams could have kept quiet, kept the corporate speaking gigs, and died richer. Instead, he chose the lonely road and earned something bigger than money. He became a legend.
For millions, Scott Adams was more than a cartoonist or a commentator. Worldwide, listeners of Scott’s daily show, “Coffee with Scott Adams,” knew him as our “internet dad.” If Trump is the father of MAGA, Scott is its honorary stepfather.
People didn’t just read him. They listened to him. They learned from him. They built confidence from his willingness to say what others wouldn’t.
President Trump made America great again. Scott Adams made Candidate Trump plausible in the first place.
After a long, public battle with prostate cancer, Scott Adams died on Tuesday, January 13. He was 68.
President Trump responded with a tribute that said more than many will admit.
“Sadly, the Great Influencer, Scott Adams, has passed away. He was a fantastic guy, who liked and respected me when it wasn’t fashionable to do so. He bravely fought a long battle against a terrible disease. My condolences go out to his family, and all of his many friends and listeners. He will be truly missed. God bless you Scott!”
I’m one of those listeners and friends. More than that, I was Scott’s editor, and I remain the publisher of the Scott Adams library. He brought me on as a contributing editor for “Reframe Your Brain,” a book that has helped thousands of readers apply his signature “reframes” to work, money, relationships, and even faith.
As of this writing, “Reframe Your Brain” is the No. 1 best-seller on Amazon.
RELATED: Glenn Beck remembers Scott Adams: ‘A philosopher disguised as a stick-figure artist’
Phil Velasquez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Near the end of his life, Scott also made a quiet but meaningful choice. He accepted Pascal’s Wager — the simple risk-reward logic that faith in Jesus Christ is worth the bet. He pinned that profession to the top of his X.com profile in his final statement.
Scott was a father figure to me in the most practical sense. I asked his advice the way a son asks his dad. He was happy to oblige. That’s who he was: sharp, funny, and eager to be useful.
Now critics will rush in to re-litigate his controversies, including the 2023 livestream that helped get “Dilbert” pulled from newspapers. I wrote the truth for Newsweek at the time, after his remarks triggered an organized effort to kill his book deal and erase him from public life.
I worked with an author on a not-quite-banned book recently. Dilbert creator and bestselling author Scott Adams had his long-running comic strip ended by multiple newspapers and his forthcoming book contract canceled over some hyperbolic remarks on race that were intended to stir up discussion. Scott Adams’ books were twice banned, but Amazon reversed the decision. … Adams then went to his audience and let them know that there were people who didn’t want his book published, and they responded by buying it, en masse. Sales shot up.
Scott understood something most people never learn: Bad reviews from bad people are good reviews.
He also understood how to grieve with honor instead of self-pity. As he wrote in “Reframe Your Brain”:
When you experience the death of a loved one, your instincts push you into feeling tragedy, loss, and pain. Once you have had enough of that, and when you are ready, start tossing these five words around to release some of the pain: Gratitude. Respect. Honor. Privilege. Service.
Scott Adams lived those words. And now he belongs to the ages.
Scott won bigly.
Thank you, Scott.
Insurrection Act now: John Doyle’s case for power against a ‘criminal resistance’
As Minnesota begins to resemble its 2020 self after the Immigration and Customs Enforcement shooting of Renee Nicole Good and widespread Somali fraud, a discussion of Trump invoking the Insurrection Act has been circulating — and BlazeTV host John Doyle is a fan.
“Sometimes you can use power in ways that are counterproductive obviously. However there are also absolutely instances where it is counterproductive to not use power, when it is necessary to use power. I believe this is one of those cases,” Doyle explains.
“If the left is allowed to run wild, it is only going to embolden them. These are people who are entropic by nature, and it’s going to just create more public resistance to mass deportations, everything’s just going to get uglier,” he continues.
However Doyle points out that if the Trump administration actually cracks down on what he calls a “criminal resistance,” the left will have to “realize that it’s not winning.”
“It’s going to lose energy. These people are paper tigers. Like, if the average left-wing dysgenic freak is scared to interfere with ICE, having seen so many of his, like, gay, race, communist comrades getting arrested, getting pepper-sprayed, physically harmed, whatever, he’s going to have second thoughts about doing this whole revolutionary larp,” Doyle says.
And Doyle believes the movement is already losing energy.
“Where was the resistance, right, when Trump won in 2024? You remember when Trump won in 2017, 2016? They had fires in D.C. … they were burning stuff in D.C. at the Inauguration. Where was that in 2024? Where were all the Antifa riots during his campaign rallies?” Doyle asks.
“What about after he won, you know, throughout the city? Where was our women’s march? Like the energy just is not there. The radical left, of course, is still around because these people are on welfare. They’re taking hormones. Like their job is to be that,” he continues.
“They do maintain a sort of presence, right? However, it’s not as prominent as it used to be. That is good, as it would turn out. You actually win by winning,” he adds.
Want more from John Doyle?
To enjoy more of the truth about America and join the fight to restore a country that has been betrayed by its own leaders, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
Leftist candidate tries to orchestrate Trump ‘gotcha’ — and fails miserably
A leftist congressional candidate launched a lousy attempt to further conflate President Donald Trump with literal Nazis, but failed miserably.
Candidate Mark Davis of Florida sounded the alarm Thursday, noting the website “Nazis.us” redirects users to the Department of Homeland Security page. Davis implied that he stumbled upon this website and urged supporters to “give them a donation.”
‘I pointed it directly at Kristi Noem’s department.’
“OK, I think I have it figured out….if you go to Nazis.us it takes you to our DHS website because, of course it does,” Davis said in a post on X. “It just makes sense. Whoever did that, give them a donation.”
Despite his attempt to frame the Trump administration as Nazis, X users quickly found out that Davis was actually the one who created the website.
RELATED: Florida Panthers praise Trump during White House visit: ‘Nothing beats this’
Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
After getting brutally ratioed in his comment section, Davis changed his tune and openly admitted that he purchased the domain himself.
“If Kristi Noem and donald trump didn’t know my name before, they damn sure do now,” Davis said. “I bought nazis.us. I pointed it directly at Kristi Noem’s department. And now the whole damn world is watching. I just held up a mirror … and they hate their reflection. And it’s a middle finger they can’t erase. You want to cry about ‘decency’? Then maybe don’t prop up fascists while killing women, immigrants and the working class. You built this. I’m just handing out the receipts.”
RELATED: ‘Lectern guy’ from Jan. 6 running for election in Florida to promote ‘MAGA principles’
Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images
Davis, who is running in a deep-red district represented by Republican Congressman Vern Buchanan for over a decade, continued his unhinged rant on X, even urging people to divorce their spouses if they support Trump.
“If your husband or wife still supports trump, leave them. Divorce them. Kick their sorry f**king ass to the curb,” Davis said.
“They backed a pedophile. They cheered for a wannabe dictator. They watch this country burn … and f**king clap[.] And if they chose the rapist who wants to end elections, they don’t deserve your loyalty. Or your home. Or your f**king silence. They f**ked the country. Don’t let them f**k your life too.”
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
