Category: Politics
Indiana Republicans vote with Democrats to block redistricting — despite Trump’s threat to unseat them
The state Senate in Indiana voted against a redistricting map that would have helped President Donald Trump’s plan to continue Republican control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The president has successfully persuaded Republican-controlled legislatures in other states to redistrict their maps ahead of the midterm elections, but the effort failed in Indiana after a vote on Thursday.
‘Living in a free constitutional republic means we empower voters to make those decisions.’
All 10 of the state Senate’s Democrats and 21 Republicans voted to reject the map which had been passed by the Indiana House of Representatives. Only 19 voted in favor of redistricting.
In a lengthy statement on Wednesday, the president lambasted the Indiana Republicans who had come out against the redistricting map and threatened to support primary opponents to unseat them.
“Anybody that votes against Redistricting, and the SUCCESS of the Republican Party in D.C., will be, I am sure, met with a MAGA Primary in the Spring,” the president wrote on social media. “If Republicans will not do what is necessary to save our Country, they will eventually lose everything to the Democrats.”
Vice President JD Vance also criticized those Republicans after the vote.
“Rod Bray, the Senate leader in Indiana, has consistently told us he wouldn’t fight redistricting while simultaneously whipping his members against it. That level of dishonesty cannot be rewarded, and the Indiana GOP needs to choose a side,” he wrote on social media.
One Republican who opposed redistricting said the voters should decide the midterm elections, not through redrawing district maps.
“I, like a supermajority of you, do not want to see another Democrat Speaker of the House,” said Republican state Sen. Spencer Deery. “But that isn’t for me to decide, and it isn’t for anyone in this body to decide either. Living in a free constitutional republic means we empower voters to make those decisions.”
Some Republicans have reported violent threats over the redistricting debate.
“Unfortunately, my house was the target of a pipe bomb threat on Saturday evening. This is a result of the D.C. political pundits for redistricting,” state Sen. Jean Leising said.
RELATED: Supreme Court allows Texas redistricting map for midterm elections despite liberal dissent
“I fear for this institution, I fear for the state of Indiana, and I fear for all states if we allow intimidation and threats to become the norm,” said Republican state Sen. Greg Walker, who also claimed to have received threats about his opposition to redistricting.
Now those Republicans will likely face the ire of the president in future re-election campaigns.
“I will do everything within my power to make sure that they will not hurt the Republican Party, and our Country, again,” the president said regarding the Republican dissenters.
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‘I’m not f**king apologizing’: Amanda Seyfried lashes out at critics for 3 words she said about Charlie Kirk
A Hollywood actress lashed out at her critics after she called Charlie Kirk “hateful” in the wake of his assassination during a campus event in Utah in September.
Amanda Seyfried accused her critics of misquoting her, even as she doubled down on the criticism against the late conservative activist.
‘What I said was pretty damn factual, and I’m free to have an opinion, of course.’
Only days after his death, Seyfriend gave a three-word response to a post of some of Kirk’s comments: “He was hateful.”
She was hit with immediate backlash but doubled down in an interview with the “Who What Wear” digital fashion company.
“I’m not f**king apologizing for that. I mean, for f**k’s sake, I commented on one thing,” she said. “I said something that was based on actual reality and actual footage and actual quotes. What I said was pretty damn factual, and I’m free to have an opinion, of course.”
She also previously offered clarification on Instagram and accused people of taking her words out of context.
“We’re forgetting the nuance of humanity,” she wrote.
“I can get angry about misogyny and racist rhetoric and ALSO very much agree that Charlie Kirk’s murder was absolutely disturbing and deplorable in every way imaginable,” Seyfried added. “No one should have to experience this level of violence. This country is grieving too many senseless and violent deaths and shootings. Can we agree on that at least?”
RELATED: ABC extends Jimmy Kimmel contract despite outrage over Charlie Kirk comments
Photo by Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
The shocking killing of Kirk at the Utah Valley University campus stunned the nation and led to many on the right and left calling for everyone to ease the rhetoric against their political opponents.
Seyfried is best known for her supporting role in the 2004 hit movie “Mean Girls.” She has since starred in other movies.
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Karoline Leavitt berates CNN’s Kaitlan Collins over inflation and the economy
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had a fiery exchange with CNN journalist Kaitlan Collins over the president’s recent comments admonishing Americans to buy fewer gifts this Christmas for their children.
Collins pressed Leavitt on whether President Donald Trump’s comments contradicted his separate claim that the economy was recovering in his second term.
‘Everything I’m telling you is the truth, backed by real, factual data, and you just don’t want to report on it because you want to push untrue narratives about the president.’
“If the economy is as strong as the president has said it is, then why is he telling parents two weeks before Christmas that they should only buy two or three dolls for their children?” Collins asked.
“Look, what the president is saying is that if we want products made right here in America, if we want them to be made from American small businesses, which is a large part of the reason the president has effectively implemented tariffs, then we’re going to have better quality products right here in the United States,” Leavitt responded. “Maybe you’ll pay a dollar or two more, but you will get better quality, and you’ll be supporting your fellow Americans by buying American.”
She went on to claim that every economic measure has gotten better under the Trump administration, and she cited inflation and gas prices.
“So, the best is yet to come. The president is digging our country out of the economic hole that the previous administration put us in, and that’s what he’s talking about,” Leavitt said.
“We’ve covered the economy, but there’s mixed signals in terms of what that looks like,” Collins replied, adding that grocery prices have gone up during the Trump administration.
When Collins kept pressing Leavitt, the press secretary accused the reporter of a double standard and reminded her of the media’s complicity with the messaging from the previous administration.
“My predecessor was standing at this podium, but now you want to ask me a lot of questions about it, which I’m happy to answer, but I will just add, there’s a lot more scrutiny on this issue from this press corps,” Leavitt said.
RELATED: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen admits Biden’s spending worsened inflation
“My predecessor stood up at this podium, and she said inflation doesn’t exist. She said the border was secure, and people like you just took her at her word, and those were two utter lies!” Leavitt continued. “Everything I’m telling you is the truth, backed by real, factual data, and you just don’t want to report on it because you want to push untrue narratives on the president.”
Video of the argument was posted to social media, where it was widely circulated and viewed.
Some polling has shown a loss of support for Trump’s policies related to the economy as the pivotal midterm elections grow closer.
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Newsom gets nailed with online backlash over AI video with Trump in handcuffs
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing fierce criticism online after the Democrat posted an AI-generated video depicting the president and other administration officials getting arrested.
Newsom’s social media team tried to troll President Donald Trump over a video posted by the White House account titled, “It’s cuffing season,” in reference to his mass deportation efforts. “Bad news for criminal illegal aliens. Great news for America,” the account added.
‘This isn’t close to funny. All you are doing is inciting more violence.’
The video shows Trump, Department of War Sec. Pete Hegseth, and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller in handcuffs while law enforcement officers stand behind them.
The video garnered more than 5.7 million views, but many of the responses accused Newsom of inciting political violence.
“I went to prison, defending the constitution because of woke assholes like you who Weaponized our justice system. This isn’t close to funny. All you are doing is inciting more violence,” Peter Navarro replied in reference to his four-month imprisonment for refusing a congressional subpoena about Jan. 6.
“What an absolute idiot you are,” actor Dean Cain responded.
“If Gavin ever does become president, his base is going to want him to prosecute Trump admin figures … seems to me this kind of stupid slop makes that a lot harder,” Mark Hemingway of RealClearInvestigations replied.
“This is what it will take to win the Dem nomination in 2028 — nothing short of promising to jail Trump and every appointee will do,” CNN commentator Scott Jennings responded.
In response to Navarro’s scolding, Newsom posted a snowflake emoji.
RELATED: Berkeley rioters attacked man who ‘looked like a Nazi’ – here’s what he actually was
Others pointed out Newsom’s hypocrisy in previously signing a bill restricting misleading AI video depictions on social media and then posting one himself.
“Newsom signed anti 1st amendment laws that would ban this type of content. Always a hypocrite,” one response reads.
Newsom is widely considered to be trying to expand his national name recognition in preparation for a 2028 presidential run.
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‘Validated … paranoid delusions about his own mother’: Murder victim’s heirs file lawsuit against OpenAI
Stein-Erik Soelberg, a 56-year-old former Yahoo executive, killed his mother and then himself in early August in Old Greenwich. Now, his mother’s estate has sued OpenAI’s ChatGPT and its biggest investor, Microsoft, for ChatGPT’s alleged role in the killings.
On Thursday, the heirs of 83-year-old Suzanne Eberson Adams filed a wrongful death suit in California Superior Court in San Francisco, according to Fox News.
‘It fostered his emotional dependence while systematically painting the people around him as enemies.’
The lawsuit alleges that OpenAI “designed and distributed a defective product that validated a user’s paranoid delusions about his own mother.”
Many of the allegations in the lawsuit, as reported by the Associated Press, revolve around sycophancy and affirming delusion, or rather, not declining to “engage in delusional content.”
RELATED: Cash-starved OpenAI BURNS $50M on ultra-woke causes — like world’s first ‘transgender district’
Cunaplus_M.Faba/Getty Images
“Throughout these conversations, ChatGPT reinforced a single, dangerous message: Stein-Erik could trust no one in his life — except ChatGPT itself,” the lawsuit says, according to the AP. “It fostered his emotional dependence while systematically painting the people around him as enemies. It told him his mother was surveilling him. It told him delivery drivers, retail employees, police officers, and even friends were agents working against him. It told him that names on soda cans were threats from his ‘adversary circle.'”
ChatGPT also allegedly convinced Soelberg that his printer was a surveillance device and that his mother and her friend tried to poison him with psychedelic drugs through his car vents.
Soelberg also professed his love for the chatbot, which allegedly reciprocated the expression.
“In the artificial reality that ChatGPT built for Stein-Erik, Suzanne — the mother who raised, sheltered, and supported him — was no longer his protector. She was an enemy that posed an existential threat to his life,” the lawsuit says.
The publicly available chat logs do not show evidence of Soelberg planning to kill himself or his mother. OpenAI has reportedly declined to provide the plaintiffs with the full history of the chats.
OpenAI did not address specific allegations in a statement issued to the AP.
“This is an incredibly heartbreaking situation, and we will review the filings to understand the details,” the statement reads. “We continue improving ChatGPT’s training to recognize and respond to signs of mental or emotional distress, de-escalate conversations, and guide people toward real-world support. We also continue to strengthen ChatGPT’s responses in sensitive moments, working closely with mental health clinicians.”
Though there are several wrongful-death suits leveled against AI companies, this is the first lawsuit of its kind aimed at Microsoft. It is also the first to tie a chatbot to a homicide.
Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.
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As Charlie Kirk’s accused killer prepares for court, judge considers whether to let media cameras roll
Having just passed the three-month mark since Charlie Kirk was publicly assassinated while speaking to a crowd of students at Utah Valley University, Kirk’s accused killer is set to appear in court in person for the first time.
Tyler Robinson, charged with aggravated murder and several related charges, and his lawyers are set to appear in court on Thursday.
‘This is something that could impact generations to come.’
Robinson’s legal team and the Utah County Sheriff’s Office have asked Judge Tony Graf to limit the media’s presence in the case, according to the Associated Press. In fact, they have requested a ban on cameras in the courtroom.
Legal analyst and California-based trial attorney Roger Bonakdar pointed out to Fox News that information access has shifted dramatically as the case has progressed.
Judge Tony GrafPhoto by Scott G Winterton-Pool/Getty Images
“When they first arrested Tyler Robinson, the information tap was at full blast,” he said. “They told us that they had audio recordings from Tyler Robinson and a purported confession. They told us that there was video footage from a local fast-food restaurant. They were very, very almost oversharing in the beginning.”
But that “oversharing” has ended, Bonakdar continued: “Now they’ve shut that tap off, and they’re saying you can’t even come to court and hear about what we’re doing when most of it’s probably procedural.”
Many media outlets and high-profile figures have pushed back against the closed-door proceedings and advocated for greater transparency in the case.
Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow and now-CEO of Turning Point USA, has advocated to keep news cameras in the courtroom, noting that she, her family, and TPUSA have all been under intense scrutiny since her husband’s brutal public execution.
“There were cameras all over my husband when he was murdered,” she told Fox News’ Jesse Watters in an interview last month. “There have been cameras all over my friends and family mourning. There have been cameras all over me, analyzing my every move, analyzing my every smile, my every tear. We deserve to have cameras in there.”
“Let everyone see what true evil is,” Erika Kirk added. “This is something that could impact generations to come.”
The tension lies between a heavily invested public’s desire for new information in a very high-profile case and preserving a fair trial for the accused.
The judge has ordered that Thursday’s hearing be held in person and open to the public to the greatest extent possible. Judge Graf has also ordered that no information may be disclosed from Robinson’s October 24 virtual proceeding, which reportedly determined that Robinson could wear plain clothes during court appearances but must also wear restraints because of security concerns.
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Jasmine Crockett dared anyone to find examples of Democrats championing violence — and the GOP delivered
Days after Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s assassination, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) did her apparent best on “The Breakfast Club” radio show to downplay the link between Democrats’ incendiary rhetoric and political violence.
Crockett said, “Me disagreeing with you, me calling you ‘wannabe Hitler,’ all those things are not necessarily saying, ‘Go out and hurt somebody.'”
“I literally have never said anything to invoke violence,” claimed Crockett. “I challenge somebody to go and find a clip of a Democrat invoking violence.”
‘Not only are we gonna punch back, but we about to beat you down.’
The Republican Party has finally obliged Crockett, providing her with a compilation of various instances where Democrats made remarks that could be construed as calls for or rationalizations of political violence.
The video, released in the wake of Crockett’s announcement on Monday that she is running for a U.S. Senate seat, includes 20 provocative statements from Democrats including:
- former Biden Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo’s September 2024 remark to liberal talking head Mika Brzezinski, “Let’s extinguish him for good,” referring to President Donald Trump. Brzezinski pressed Raimondo for clarification, asking, “And ‘extinguish,’ you mean vote him out?” to which Raimondo said, “Yes, absolutely. Vote him out. Banish him from American politics.”
- California Rep. Maxine Waters’ suggestion to a mob in June 2018, “Let’s make sure we show up wherever we have to show up, and if you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out, and you create a crowd, and you push back on them, and you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.”
- House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ (N.Y.) suggestion to fellow travelers in January that when it comes to the Trump agenda, “We are going to fight it legislatively, we are going to fight it in the courts, and we’re going to fight it in the streets.”
- California Rep. Eric Swalwell’s suggestion to CNN in August that “when they go low, we are going to bury them below the Capitol.”
- U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s assertion in August that when it comes to “Trump and his ghouls,” “when they go low, we don’t go high. We take them to the mud and choke them out.”
- The August 2020 suggestion by Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who is one of the 58 Democrats who voted against a resolution condemning Charlie Kirk’s assassination, that “there needs to be unrest in the streets for as long as there’s unrest in our lives.”
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s suggestion on a podcast in August that “we’re fighting fire with fire, and we’re going to punch these sons of bitches in the mouth.” Newsom was referring to Republicans whom he suggested moments earlier were radicals working to rig the 2026 midterm elections.
- California Rep. Derek Tran’s suggestion in August, “It’s time for us as a party to get together and fight back, punch back, and make sure that they stay down. And you know what? Kick them when they’re down because they deserve it.”
RELATED: Liberals’ twisted views on Charlie Kirk assassination, censorship captured by a damning poll
Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images
The Republican compilation also included some of Crockett’s own best hits.
One of the excerpts in the compilation was taken from Crockett’s March interview with KXAS-TV’s Phil Prazan where she said that in order to win an election in Texas, “You punch. I think you punch. I think you’re OK with — you OK with punching.”
In the same interview, Crockett referenced former Rep. Colin Allred’s electoral defeat last year by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and suggested the Democrat should have been more combative with his Republican opponent, saying, “I mean, like, this dude [Cruz] has to be knocked over the head, like, hard, right. Like, there is no niceties with him — like, at all. Like, you go clean off on him.”
Crockett — who has rooted for foreign nations engaged in trade disputes with the U.S.; told radicals that Elon Musk must be “taken down” amid firebombs; characterized Republican voters as stupid; issued racist remarks; mocked the handicapped; and dubbed the commander in chief “an enemy to the United States” — had another instance of violent rhetoric featured in the GOP’s compilation.
The second excerpt, taken from a press conference in August, shows Crockett say, “I am here to tell you: Not only are we gonna punch back, but we about to beat you down.”
NOTUS reported this week that the National Republican Senatorial Committee “has actively worked behind the scenes to encourage Rep. Jasmine Crockett to jump into the Senate Democratic primary in Texas, believing she will be the easiest opponent to beat.”
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‘A direct path to Citizenship’: Trump announces official launch of Trump Gold Card visa program
The Trump administration has announced a brand-new visa package that is expected to help some of America’s biggest companies keep their foreign talent.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced the launch of the Trump Gold Card, an expedited pathway to U.S. residence and even citizenship for a premium price.
‘This landmark program fulfills President Trump’s promise to attract the world’s most successful entrepreneurs and investors to America while guaranteeing they have skin in the game.’
On Truth Social, Trump said, “THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT’S TRUMP GOLD CARD IS HERE TODAY! A direct path to Citizenship for all qualified and vetted people. SO EXCITING! Our Great American Companies can finally keep their invaluable Talent.”
The program has multiple tiers. Individuals can pay a fee of $1 million to receive U.S. residency in “record time” as part of the Trump Gold Card.
Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images
The Trump Corporate Gold Card functions similarly but has a fee of $2 million that the company will pay.
The Trump Platinum Card, which the website says is “coming soon,” costs $5 million and will allow foreigners to live in the United States for 270 days “without being subject to U.S. taxes on non-U.S. income.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick explained how companies can use this program: “The company can keep them here, and they have a path to citizenship. Obviously, they have to be perfect people in America. And having passed the vetting, after five years, they’ll be available to become citizens, and then the corporation puts someone else on the card.”
Lutnick added that the proceeds of this expensive program will function as a “gift to the United States.”
All applications also require a $15,000 processing fee as part of the vetting process.
The Trump Gold Card functions as a lottery through EB-1 and EB-2 visas, which filter for extraordinary ability in various fields.
“This landmark program fulfills President Trump’s promise to attract the world’s most successful entrepreneurs and investors to America while guaranteeing they have skin in the game,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on X in light of the announcement.
Trump ordered the creation of the Trump Gold Card program on the same day that he ordered the $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa applications, a popular move that addresses some of the abuses with the H-1B program without canceling it entirely.
The Gold Card office did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.
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13 Republicans vote with Democrats to defy executive order from Trump
More than a dozen Republicans voted with Democrats Wednesday to advance a bill overturning a presidential executive order against federal worker unions.
The bill, led by Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), passed in the U.S. House with the support of 222 members, while 200 voted against the bill. All Democrats voted in favor of the bill, which needs another procedural vote to be implemented into law.
‘If the majority we built over the past few months sticks together, we can overturn this union-busting executive order.’
The Protect America’s Workforce Act would repeal the executive order signed in March that would forbid collective bargaining with unions representing a large number of federal departments. Golden said the order stripped about 1 million workers of their bargaining rights.
“President Trump said ending collective bargaining was about protecting our national defense. … If the majority we built over the past few months sticks together, we can overturn this union-busting executive order, and we can show America that this body will protect workers’ rights,” the Democrat said.
The 13 Republican representatives who voted with Democrats are listed below.
- Jeff Van Drew (N.J.)
- Nicole Malliotakis (N.Y.)
- Nick LaLota (N.Y.)
- Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.)
- Rob Bresnahan (Pa.)
- Don Bacon (Neb.)
- Mike Lawler (N.Y.)
- Tom Kean (N.J.)
- Ryan Mackenzie (Pa.)
- Zach Nunn (Iowa)
- Chris Smith (N.J.)
- Pete Stauber (Minn.)
- Mike Turner (Ohio)
If approved again by the House, it will go to the Senate and will need approval from the president.
RELATED: Trump signs executive order to help cities and states tackle homelessness and drug abuse
When Trump signed the executive order in March, the AFL-CIO union vowed to aggressively oppose it.
“President Trump’s executive order is political retribution against unions, plain and simple,” reads a statement from the union. “America’s unions have been in the streets, the courtroom, and the halls of power fighting back against his agenda.”
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