Category: The American Spectator
Mamdani To Use At Least Three Qurans For Swearing-In Ceremonies
‘a turning point in the civic history of New York City’
‘Something historic’: CNN analyst GOBSMACKED by how Vance polls against Nikki Haley, others
The 2028 presidential election is 34 months away, and in that time, there are sure to be plenty of surprises. There are, however, already clear signs of who may ultimately make a bid for the White House — and how they might fare in the primaries.
CNN’s chief data analyst, Harry Enten, expressed surprise on Monday by how Vice President JD Vance performed in a recent poll of likely New Hampshire Republican primary voters against former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nimarata “Nikki” Haley, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and other prospects.
‘The rest of the field are like going around in go-karts.’
Enten alluded to prediction market odds indicating that Vance is “running well ahead of the field” and that “nobody else is even close.”
Polymarket puts Vance’s chance of becoming the Republican presidential nominee in 2028 at 54%. The site has the chances of the runner-up, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, securing the nomination at 9%. This high confidence in Vance’s chances is similarly expressed on the PredictIt site as well as on the federally regulated prediction market Kalshi, which suggests Vance and Rubio have a 48% and 10% chance of securing the nomination, respectively.
“JD Vance is like Mario Andretti, and Marco Rubio and the rest of the field are like going around in go-karts at this point,” said Enten. “That’s really what we are looking at. JD Vance is the clear, heavy favorite at this time.”
Enten noted that Vance’s staggering early lead reflected in the prediction markets “is not coming out of nowhere” and directed CNN talking head Sara Sidner’s attention to a poll conducted in October by the University of New Hampshire.
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Photo by Caylo Seals/Getty Images
The poll found that among those who plan to vote in the 2028 Republican presidential primary in New Hampshire, 51% said they would vote for Vance; 9% said they would vote for Haley; 8% said they would vote for Gabbard; 5% said they would vote for Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders; 4% would vote for Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.); and 3% each would vote for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Calgary-born Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who appears poised to run as the kind of Republican President Donald Trump crushed in the 2016 and 2024 GOP primaries, proved unable to capture 1% in the poll.
“Take a look here! JD Vance at 51%!” said Enten. “The next closest is Nikki Haley, who’s at 9 — who’s at 9! I mean, what is that? That’s 42 points ahead of the pack.”
“There’s a reason why he’s such a heavy favorite in the prediction market so far, because if you win the GOP primary in New Hampshire, chances are, you’re going to be the Republican nominee for president,” added Enten.
When asked by Sidner whether it was rare to see an early lead of this magnitude, Enten said, “I looked back. Hitting 50% plus in the early New Hampshire polls for a non-sitting president — JD Vance is the only one.”
“JD Vance is pulling off something historic at this time,” continued Enten.
While Vance’s early lead is unprecedented, the last five sitting vice presidents who ran for president all became their parties’ nominees.
A straw poll was also taken earlier this month at Turning Point USA’s annual AmericaFest, where widowed CEO Erika Kirk endorsed the vice president.
Blake Neff, the producer of “The Charlie Kirk Show,” noted that Vance won the AmFest straw poll “by more than Donald Trump won the 2024 one we did two years ago.” Whereas 82.6% of respondents previously said they wanted to see Trump as the 2024 GOP nominee, 84.2% of respondents said they wanted to see Vance as their nominee in 2028.
The UNH poll that found a majority of likely GOP voters support Vance likewise found that there is a much closer race developing across the aisle.
Among those who plan to vote in the 2028 Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire, 19% of respondents say they would vote for former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg; 15% would vote for California Gov. Gavin Newsom; 14% would vote for New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; 11% would vote for failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris; 8% would vote for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.); and 6% would vote for Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.
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Tim Walz’s nightmare continues as HHS shuts off $185M to Minnesota amid allegedly ‘fake’ Somali day care centers
Minnesota appears to be a mecca for fraudsters, particularly from the crime-ridden African nation of Somalia.
Private citizens and the Trump administration have taken steps in recent weeks to neutralize and expose the worst cases of graft in Democratic Gov. Tim Walz’s back yard — including the fraud committed by members of the Somali community in relation to coronavirus relief funding and the student aid fraud plaguing the Gopher State’s publicly funded schools.
YouTuber Nick Shirley, 23, has played an outsized role in this anti-fraud campaign. His Christmas week videos alleging massive fraud in taxpayer-subsidized, Somali-run day care facilities prompted the Department of Health and Human Services to announce that it was derailing the gravy train.
‘Any dollar stolen by fraudsters is stolen from those children.’
“We have frozen all child care payments to the state of Minnesota,” HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill said in a statement on Tuesday.
In a corresponding video, O’Neill noted that “intrepid journalists have made shocking and credible allegations of extensive fraud in Minnesota’s child care programs. We believe the state of Minnesota has allowed scammers and fake day cares to siphon millions of taxpayer dollars over the past decade.”
Alex Adams, assistant secretary of the HHS’ Administration for Children and Families, indicated that his office provides Minnesota with $185 million in childcare funds annually.
“That money should be helping 19,000 American children, including toddlers and infants,” said Adams. “Any dollar stolen by fraudsters is stolen from those children.”
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Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
Shirley visited a number of ostensible childcare facilities in Minnesota that each receive millions of dollars in government backing only to find them apparently devoid of children.
In one instance, Shirley visited Mako Childcare — whose owner is listed as Ayan Salah — and the Mini Childcare Center, which are housed in the same facility and appear to be one and the same. According to Shirley’s documentary, the two outfits are together licensed for 120 children and rake in roughly $3 million each year.
Shirley highlighted how the windows at the location were all blacked out, there was no outside play area, and there was no evidence of any children on or around the site. Despite signage indicating that the facility is open seven days a week from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m., the door was locked and no one responded to the doorbell.
After visiting a number of other locations with covered windows and not a single child in sight — while allegedly being tailed by Somali malcontents — Shirley paid a visit to the Quality Learing [sic] Center.
As Shirley knocked on the blacked-out door of the potentially fraudulent day care with the misspelled name, a woman warned those inside, “Don’t open up!”
According to the documentary, the apparently childless, playground-free Quality Learing Center is licensed for 99 children and has received around $4 million over the past two years.
Vice President JD Vance said in response to Shirley’s reporting, “This dude has done far more useful journalism than any of the winners of the 2024 [Pulitzer] prizes.”
‘This jaw-dropping reporting is an indictment of both the national news media and feckless, dangerous office holders in Minnesota.’
In response to Shirley’s videos, O’Neill indicated that all Administration for Children and Families payments moving forward will “require a justification and a receipt or photo evidence before we send money to a state.”
O’Neill noted further that he and Alex Adams have identified the individuals referenced in Shirley’s report and have demanded Gov. Walz undertake a “comprehensive audit of these centers,” pulling information on attendance records, licenses, complaints, investigations, and inspections.
In addition to pausing funding to Minnesota, requiring more in the way of information from applicants nationwide, and demanding an investigation, O’Neill noted that the HHS has launched a fraud-reporting hotline and email address.
Vance said of the actions taken by the HHS, “Turning off payments and forcing verification before taxpayer money flows out the door is one of the most important steps we can take to end the fraud in Minnesota. But there will be many more to come.”
Gov. Walz suggested the HHS’ firm response to credible allegations of widespread childcare fraud on his watch was somehow a nefarious plot on the part of President Donald Trump.
“This is Trump’s long game,” said the failed Democratic vice presidential candidate whose trouble telling the truth dogged him on the campaign trail last year. “We’ve spent years cracking down on fraudsters. It’s a serious issue — but this has been his plan all along. He’s politicizing the issue to defund programs that help Minnesotans.”
Walz was thoroughly mocked and criticized online over his desperate attempt to shift blame onto Trump.
Zerohedge, for instance, quipped, “Brilliant execution by Trump’s sleeper Somali cell.”
Minnesota state Rep. Harry Niska (R) wrote, “Take some accountability. Your failure is no one’s fault but your own. Minnesota deserves better than this embarrassment.”
Shirley’s documentary not only prompted action by the HHS but by others in the federal government.
“This jaw-dropping reporting is an indictment of both the national news media and feckless, dangerous office holders in Minnesota like Tim Walz, who have allowed these massive fraud schemes to occur for years. NO MORE,” tweeted House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
Johnson added that the House Oversight Committee “has expanded its investigation into these schemes. Republicans have demanded data from Gov. Walz, AG [Keith] Ellison, the Treasury Department, and the Justice Department, and have requested interviews with several key officials in Minnesota who have allowed, or participated in this fraud.”
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem indicated that Homeland Security Investigations was also looking into the matter, sharing a video of HSI officers visiting day care operations.
Director Kash Patel said that the FBI was aware of the reports in the Gopher State and that “fraud that steals from taxpayers and robs vulnerable children will remain a top FBI priority in Minnesota and nationwide.”
Patel noted further that the fraud confirmed in the state to date “is just the tip of a very large iceberg,” adding that many of those responsible “are also being referred to immigrations officials for possible further denaturalization and deportation proceedings where eligible.”
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25,000 Americans apply for just 1,000 jobs at new federal Tech Force
Hot on the heels of the U.S. government’s announcement of the Tech Force combing for 1,000 new recruits, 25 times that number of Americans have sent in their resumes to the cross-agency technology team.
The Tech Force, announced mid-month, urged the country’s best and brightest to head to its website to apply for short-term federal employment. Over the ensuing week, that number has risen to at least 25,000, according to Scott Kupor, the director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
‘Tech Force will tackle the most complex and large-scale civic and defense challenges of our era.’
With a two-year government contract worth as much as $200,000, recruits will be part of an “elite group” of tech specialists hired to “accelerate artificial intelligence (AI) implementation” and solve critical tech challenges.
The unprecedented new group will primarily recruit those early in their careers, the Tech Force website explained, who specialize in engineering, AI, cybersecurity, data analytics, or project management in tech. Those brought on board can expect to implement AI programs and applications, modernize data, and provide digital service delivery at federal agencies.
“Backed by the White House, Tech Force will tackle the most complex and large-scale civic and defense challenges of our era,” the outfit promised. “From administering critical financial infrastructure at the Treasury Department to advancing cutting-edge programs at the Department of Defense, and everything in between.”
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Hires can look forward to working with agency leadership and “leading technology companies” to train and engage with senior management from partnered companies. The government openly states that once Tech Forcers are finished with their training program, they will seek employment at the partnering private-sector companies in order to demonstrate “the value of combining civil service with technical expertise.”
Along with the competitive high salaries, the government program says it provides benefits like health insurance, retirement plans, and “performance-based awards.”
The duties and scope of the Tech Force varied to a great degree, with the official website providing a lengthy list of federal agencies that participants can expect to be placed within. These included the Departments of War, Treasury, State, Labor, Commerce, Energy, Health and Human Services, Interior, Housing & Urban Development, Transportation, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs.
Other agencies like the Small Business Administration, IRS, and Office of Personnel Management were also noted.
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Photo by Wang Gang/VCG via Getty Images
Readers on X had mixed reactions to open recruitment, with several hoping the program would only be open to Americans and others sarcastically saying that it probably should not be filled “with Indians.”
The application form goes through the USA Jobs website.
The official account for the Young Republicans of Texas said the program could be an effective way to prove that there are “plenty of qualified Americans” in the tech field.
At the same time, others worried about a dystopian future that could arise from combining advanced technology and the Treasury Department.
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Netanyahu Shares What Must Happen Before Gaza Can Have Future Government
‘I think Hamas understands it’
How data centers could spark the next populist revolt
Everyone keeps promising that artificial intelligence will deliver wonders beyond imagination — medical breakthroughs, massive productivity gains, boundless prosperity. Maybe it will. Maybe it won’t. But one outcome is already clear: If data centers keep driving up Americans’ electricity bills, AI will quickly become a political liability.
Across the country, data center expansion has already helped push electricity prices up 13% over the past year, and voters are starting to push back.
Handled correctly, AI can strengthen America. Handled poorly — by letting data centers overwhelm the grid and drive families toward energy poverty — it will accelerate decline.
In recent months, plans for massive new data centers in Virginia, Maryland, Texas, and Arizona have stalled or collapsed under local backlash. Ordinary Americans have packed town halls and flooded city councils, demanding protection from corporate projects that devour land, drain water supplies, and strain already fragile power grids.
These communities are not rejecting technology. They are rejecting exploitation. As one local official in Chandler, Arizona, told a developer bluntly, “If you can’t show me what’s in it for Chandler, then we’re not having a conversation.”
The problem runs deeper than zoning fights or aesthetics. America’s monopoly utility model shields data centers from the true cost of the strain they impose on the grid. When a facility requires new substations, transmission lines, or transformers — or when its relentless demand drives up electricity prices — utilities spread those costs across every household and small business in the service area.
That arrangement socializes the costs of Big Tech’s growth while privatizing the gains. It also breeds populist anger.
A better approach sits within reach: neighborhood battery programs that put communities first.
Whole-home battery systems continue to gain traction. Rooftop solar panels, small generators, or off-peak grid power can recharge them. Batteries store electricity when it’s cheap and abundant, then release it when demand spikes or outages hit. They protect families from blackouts, lower monthly utility bills, and sometimes allow homeowners to sell power back to the grid.
One policy shift should become non-negotiable: Approval for new data centers should hinge on funding neighborhood battery programs in the communities they impact.
In practice, that requirement would push tech companies to help install home battery systems in nearby neighborhoods, delivering backup power, grid stability, and real relief on electric bills. These distributed batteries would form a flexible, local energy reserve — absorbing peak demand instead of worsening it.
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Photo by: Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Most importantly, this model reverses the flow of benefits. Working families would no longer subsidize Big Tech’s expansion while receiving nothing in return. Communities would share directly in the upside.
Access to local land, water, and electricity should come with obligations. Companies that consume enormous public resources should invest in the people who live alongside them — not leave residents stranded when the grid buckles.
Politicians who ignore this gathering backlash risk sleepwalking into a revolt. The choice is straightforward: Build an energy system that serves citizens who keep the country running, or face their fury when they realize they have been sacrificed for someone else’s high-tech gold rush.
Handled correctly, AI can strengthen America. Handled poorly — by letting data centers overwhelm the grid and drive families toward energy poverty — it will accelerate decline.
We still have time to choose. Let’s choose wisely.
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