Category: Politics
LA Rams star apologizes for agreeing to perform offensive gesture in touchdown dance
A star wide receiver on the Los Angeles Rams football team has apologized for agreeing to make an anti-Semitic gesture for a touchdown celebration.
During a livestream, Puka Nacua was persuaded by personality Adin Ross to perform a gesture that refers to a trope and meme meant to smear Jewish people. He also agreed to repeat the dance at the next Rams game.
‘At the time, I had no idea this act was antisemitic in nature and perpetrated harmful stereotypes against Jewish people.’
Nacua faced an immediate barrage of criticism that led to his posting an apology on social media Thursday.
“When I appeared the other day on a social media livestream, it was suggested to me to perform a specific movement as part of my next touchdown celebration,” wrote Nacua on his Instagram account.
“At the time, I had no idea this act was antisemitic in nature and perpetrated harmful stereotypes against Jewish people,” he added. “I deeply apologize to anyone who was offended by my actions as I do not stand for any form of racism, bigotry or hate of another group of people.”
The incident comes at a time when the Jewish community is reeling from a horrific terror attack in Australia that took the lives of more than a dozen people and is being investigated as motivated by anti-Semitism.
Among those who condemned Nacua was Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California.
“The Los Angeles Jewish community is on edge after the Bondi Beach massacre,” he wrote on social media. “And what does this asshole @AsapPuka do? He promises an antisemitic touchdown dance for his Thursday night game.”
Swalwell added, “He should apologize or be dropped.”
Others said if Nacua did the gesture during the game, he should be suspended by the NFL.
RELATED: Christian NFL star apologizes after reference to kids’ game that left LGBTQ crowd seething
The NFL and the Los Angeles Rams also released statements condemning the offensive gesture.
Nacua and the Rams will play on Thursday Night Football against the Seattle Seahawks. Each team has a record of 11 victories and only three losses for the season.
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Trump administration orders more foreign-born Americans to be stripped of citizenship over fraud: NYT
The Trump administration is taking aim at some naturalized Americans who committed fraud, according to a New York Times report.
The report says new guidance was sent to the field offices of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Tuesday ordering them to “supply Office of Immigration Litigation with 100-200 denaturalization cases per month.” The report says that in the last eight years, only about 120 such cases have been filed.
‘I don’t think we’re anywhere close to denaturalizing too many people.’
Legally, naturalized immigrants can have their citizenship taken away if they commit fraud, though the report suggests that the Trump administration could clamp down on other cases that include applicants making mistakes on their paperwork.
“It’s no secret that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ war on fraud includes prioritizing those who’ve unlawfully obtained U.S. citizenship — especially under the previous administration,” said USCIS spokesperson Matthew Tragesser, according to the Times.
“We will pursue denaturalization proceedings for those individuals lying or misrepresenting themselves during the naturalization process,” he added. “We look forward to continuing to work with the Department of Justice to restore integrity to America’s immigration system.”
Amanda Baran, a former USCIS senior official in the Biden administration, criticized the order.
“The Supreme Court has repeatedly stated that citizenship and naturalization are too precious and fundamental to our democracy for the government to take it away on their whim,” she said. “Instead of wasting resources digging through Americans’ files, USCIS should do its job of processing applications, as Congress mandated.”
RELATED: AOC claims ICE targets 6-year-olds in her district during crazed speech on immigration
Others who support further restrictions on immigration say the order isn’t enough.
“I don’t think we’re anywhere close to denaturalizing too many people,” said Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies.
About 800,000 people are naturalized every year, according to the report. Those who have their citizenship stripped usually become permanent legal residents.
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Putting God back in ‘degraded’ US Chaplain Corps: Hegseth axes pagan codes and New Age guides
Earlier this week, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced that he would be overhauling yet another aspect of the military: the Chaplain Corps.
On Tuesday, Hegseth explained a directive that will effectively overhaul the United States Chaplain Corps, “the spiritual and moral backbone of our nation’s forces” that, for hundreds of years, “ministered” to the “souls” of American servicemen and women, as he explained in the video.
‘In an atmosphere of political correctness and secular humanism, chaplains have been minimized, viewed by many as therapists instead of ministers.’
Hegseth recounted the long history of the Chaplain Corps, which dates back to 1775, when George Washington himself established it. The “weakening” of this important institution has become “a real problem for our nation’s military,” Hegseth said.
“Sadly, as part of the ongoing war on warriors, in recent decades its role has been degraded,” Hegseth said in the video. “In an atmosphere of political correctness and secular humanism, chaplains have been minimized, viewed by many as therapists instead of ministers. Faith and virtue were traded for self-help and self-care.”
Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/For The Washington Post via Getty Images
As evidence of the New Age influence in the military, Hegseth referred to the United States Army’s Spiritual Fitness Guide, which mentions “God” only once and “virtue” not at all, even as 82% of the military identify as “religious.”
Hegseth ordered the elimination of this “unacceptable and unserious” Spiritual Fitness Guide and the simplification of the Faith and Belief Coding System, an “overly complex” classification system of over 200 different beliefs.
The Faith and Belief Code was apparently expanded in March 2017. The expansion went into more detailed distinctions among Protestant denominations, and it included alternate belief systems like “Magick and Spiritualist,” “Wicca,” “Pagan,” “New Age Churches,” “Humanist,” and “Heathen.”
Hegseth promised more changes in the near future, saying that there will be a “top-down cultural shift” in the military that puts “spiritual well-being on the same footing as mental and physical health.”
“We are going to make the Chaplain Corps great again,” he posted on X.
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Trump White House trolls Obama, Biden with new plaques in Presidential Walk of Fame
The Trump administration has made another addition to its many makeovers of the White House, this time poking fun at some of President Donald Trump’s predecessors.
On Wednesday, the White House added biographical plaques under the portraits of the Presidential Walk of Fame along the colonnade of the West Wing.
‘Sleepy Joe Biden was, by far, the worst President in American History.’
Each president’s portrait is now accompanied by a plaque detailing the achievements and mishaps of their presidency. However, two former presidents, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, were given special treatment with an extra plaque detailing some of the lowlights during their tenure in office.
RELATED: Hilarious White House video trolling Biden at Presidential Walk of Fame goes viral online
Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images
Obama’s first plaque reads: “Barack Hussein Obama was the first Black President, a community organizer, one term Senator from Illinois, and one of the most divisive political figures in American History. As President, he passed the highly ineffective ‘Unaffordable’ Care Act, resulting in his party losing control of both Houses of Congress, and the Election of the largest House Republican majority since 1946. He presided over a stagnant Economy, approved the terrible Iran Nuclear Deal, and signed the one-sided Paris Climate Accords, both of which were later terminated by President Donald J. Trump.”
Obama’s second plaque details many of his foreign and domestic failures and concludes, “His handpicked successor, Hillary Rodham Clinton, would then lose the Presidency to Donald J. Trump.”
Biden, whose portrait was replaced with a photo of an autopen in reference to the autopen scandal of his presidency, fared no better: “Sleepy Joe Biden was, by far, the worst President in American History. Taking office as a result of the most corrupt Election ever seen in the United States, Biden oversaw a series of unprecedented disasters that brought our Nation to the brink of destruction.”
The second plaque notes that Biden was both “Sleepy” and “Crooked” and concludes: “Biden weaponized Law Enforcement against his political opponent, while also persecuting many other innocent people. He left office issuing blanket pardons to Radical Democrat criminals and thugs, as well as members of the Biden Crime Family — But despite it all, President Trump would get Re-Elected in a Landslide, and SAVE AMERICA!”
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BONGINO ANNOUNCES DEPARTURE: FBI Deputy Director to Leave in January, Trump Says ‘He Did a Great Job’ [WATCH]
![BONGINO ANNOUNCES DEPARTURE: FBI Deputy Director to Leave in January, Trump Says ‘He Did a Great Job’ [WATCH]](https://hannity.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-2249306792-300x200.jpg "AG Bondi and FBI Director Patel Hold Press Conference On Jan. 6 Pipe Bomber")
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino is heading for the exit.
California city mayor pro tem calls for end of Pride Month observation, and outrage ensues
LGBTQ activists are outraged after the mayor pro tem of a California desert city called for the local government to stop observing Pride Month.
Palm Desert Mayor Pro Tem Joe Pradetto suggested during a Dec. 16 council meeting that the city should reconsider hanging banners in support of Pride Month. Pradetto said the city should stay out of the private lives of its residents.
‘We must agree to a non-aggression pact. We can’t use the power of the state to punish those who disagree with us.’
He also said that some of the residents expressed concern that the banners showed preference by the city in favor of some residents against others.
The Palm Springs Pride group released a statement condemning the proposal.
“Discrimination is division. The city must unequivocally reject this harmful proposal and reinforce its commitment to being a truly open, diverse, and welcoming home for everyone,” they wrote in a statement.
On Tuesday, the city council voted against the proposal and will keep hanging banners.
In a comment emailed to Blaze News, Pradetto clarified that he had nothing against the LGBTQ community.
“America is divided, and it breaks my heart. Our current strategy of progressive identity politics is failing, and doubling down will only make it worse,” he wrote in part.
“When politics becomes about identity rather than policy, compromise becomes impossible,” Pradetto added. “The temperature rises. I can’t fix that throughout the nation, but I can start in my own city. That is why I proposed policy changes to focus on our similarities, rather than our differences, and remove group-specific banners from City Hall.”
RELATED: LGBTQ activists complain companies are caving to Pride Month backlash: ‘Scared to death’
He went on to say that the policies threatened the values of a pluralistic society.
“In a pluralistic society, you are safe to express who you are and what you believe in the public square. But we must agree to a non-aggression pact. We can’t use the power of the state to punish those who disagree with us,” Pradetto wrote.
“Although my proposal failed, I hope it encourages other officials to look at their policies because our current trajectory will divide us and render state power not as a governing structure but a blunt tool against those who disagree with you,” he concluded.
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Trump touts his economic record in live prime-time speech to the nation: ‘I inherited a mess’
President Donald Trump made a national address where he blamed the former administration for the affordability crisis and touted his economic progress.
The president highlighted many of the statistics that showed improvement from former President Joe Biden’s term compared to his second term.
‘One year ago, our country was dead. We were absolutely dead. … Now we’re the hottest country anywhere in the world.’
“When I took office, inflation was the worst in 48 years … which caused prices to be higher than ever before, making life unaffordable for millions and millions of Americans,” the president said.
“Over the past 11 months, we have brought more positive change to Washington than any administration in American history. There has never been anything like it,” he continued.
He said that he successfully negotiated $18 trillion of investments into the country and went on the attack against Democrats.
“Under the Biden administration, car prices rose 22%, and in many states 30% or more,” Trump said. “Gasoline rose 30 to 50%. Hotel rates rose 37%. Airfares rose 31%. Now, under our leadership, they are all coming down and coming down fast.”
The president also cited statistics on his successes concerning border enforcement.
“Drugs brought in by ocean and by sea are now down 94%. We have broken the grip of sinister woke radicals in our schools. … I’ve restored American strength, settled eight wars in 10 months, destroyed the Iran nuclear threat, and ended the war in Gaza, bringing, for the first time in 3,000 years, peace to the Middle East,” he continued.
He looked ahead to the country celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the World Cup, and the Olympics.
“One year ago, our country was dead. We were absolutely dead,” he stated. “Our country was ready to fail. Totally fail. Now we’re the hottest country anywhere in the world. And that’s said by every single leader I’ve spoken to over the last five months.”
The president also announced what he called a “warrior dividend” of $1,776 — garnered from his tariffs — to be sent to members of the military in time for Christmas.
“Tonight, after 11 months, our border is secure, inflation is stopped, wages are up, prices are down, our nation is strong, America is respected, and our country is back, stronger than ever before,” he added. “We’re poised for an economic boom the likes of which the world has never seen.”
RELATED: Karoline Leavitt berates CNN’s Kaitlan Collins over inflation and the economy
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) tried to pre-emptively undermine the president’s message on social media.
“He can say whatever he wants on camera, but this is the reality for America: Prices are higher, unemployment is rising, the holidays are more expensive than ever, and his tariffs are taxing people to no end,” he posted.
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