GOP Rep. The post JUST IN: Nancy Mace Concedes After Getting Smoked in Governor Primary, Claims She Lost Because of Epstein Files Vote – Endorses Trump-Endorsed Candidate’s Opponent in Runoff (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
President Donald Trump suggested more military action is to come in Iran, saying the negotiators there took too long to agree to a deal and would now “pay the price.” Trump has given mixed messages about the Iran war in the past week, saying at one point Tuesday the attack “wasn’t a big deal” because […]
Omar Abdulkadir Artan may be the best soccer referee in Africa. He’s certainly one of the best in the world. We know this because he was one of just 52 people chosen to officiate the 2026 World Cup, which kicks off on Thursday. His appointment was historic, as well as deserved: He was set to become the first Somali to referee a World Cup game. Artan is decorated and experienced—but he’s Somali. That, ultimately, is probably the reason why he won’t make history. On Monday, Artan was turned away at customs at the Miami International Airport, after border officials reportedly questioned him about, among other things, the Islamic insurgent group Al Shabab. The Trump administration has waged a bitterly racist campaign against Somalis and Somali Americans in recent months. The nation is on the president’s travel ban list, and President Donald Trump has called Somali Americans “garbage” and said “they’re all crooks.” The Trump administration, it seems, determined it would not allow a World Cup principally hosted by the United States to provide a showcase for a Somali—even if he earned his place; even if he really wasn’t there to represent his country. Just last year, Gianni Infantino assured fans that none of this would happen. “There is a lot of misconception out there,” the FIFA president said in August. “Everyone will be welcome in Canada, Mexico, and the United States for the FIFA World Cup next year.” That tune has changed: When the Artan news broke, a FIFA spokesperson shrugged off the fact that one of its handpicked referees had been denied entry to participate in a tournament where “everyone will be welcome.” FIFA, the spokesperson said, is not involved in host-country immigration processes, including visa adjudications, and has been informed by authorities that Mr. Artan’s status will not be changed at present.” Welcome to the 2026 World Cup, a Frankenstein’s monster of a tournament, stitching together the rot of FIFA with the ruin of its principal host nation. With kickoff a day away, there are many reasons to despair—or just to tune the whole thing out. But there are also reasons to be hopeful. Donald Trump poisons everything he touches, as does Infantino. But the competitive spirit of the World Cup, in spite of it all, can be remarkably resilient—an often poignant, sometimes magical spectacle that often reminds us that there are many things that vulgarians like Trump and Infantino simply can’t desecrate. At the moment, the vibe is bad; there is very little magic and almost no poignancy. Instead there are the stories, like Artan’s, bubbling up as the World Cup approaches. The United States has denied visas to Iranian officials, detained Iraq’s star striker Aymen Hussein for seven hours at Chicago’s O’Hare airport, and has denied entry or put up significant hurdles for many fans who are citizens of nations that aren’t subject to the administration’s travel restrictions, like Jordan and Scotland. If you have followed U.S. politics in any capacity since Trump returned to the White House last January, you have probably spotted Infantino lurking. He was at the inauguration and has popped up at Trump’s side in the Oval Office and on state visits—he even donned a red Trump hat at a meeting of the president’s absurd, fantastically corrupt “Board of Peace”—where he pledged to spend tens of millions building soccer stadiums in Gaza, a tin-eared, inhumane gesture even by Infantino’s depraved standards. The conventional wisdom at the time was that Infantino was playing the long game. Sucking up to Trump would be humiliating for most, but Infantino is a virtuoso at ritual self-abasement—indeed it might be his only real talent. The prevailing theory was that Infantino was attaching himself like a barnacle to America’s gormless and corrupt president for the sake of the World Cup. By June—which is to say by now—the effort would pay off in the form of a tournament that ran smoothly, the way he wanted it. To accomplish this, Infantino went so far as to create the single dumbest and most ridiculous award in the history of humanity—the fantastically absurd “FIFA Peace Prize”—which he bestowed on Trump. A month later, Trump sent U.S. troops to kidnap the president of Venezuela; a month after that, he started a war with Iran, a World Cup qualifier. Infantino, of course, doesn’t care about national sovereignty or human suffering; he certainly doesn’t care what kind of a person leads World Cup host nations. He does care that he—and by extension FIFA—gets what he wants from the tournament. And if that requires a warmonger to be the first—and let’s face it, likely only—recipient of a FIFA-branded award, so be it. It can be credibly argued that Infantino debased himself for little in return. The lead-up to the tournament has been pure chaos and dysfunction. FIFA has known—or at least should have known—that there would be travel issues related to the tournament from the moment Trump won the election in 2024.
Gates will sit for a closed-door interview before the House Oversight Committee about his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The Microsoft co-founder will sit for the transcribed interview as revelations about his relationship with Epstein have rocked his philanthropic foundation.
Maine Democrats handed progressive firebrand Graham Platner an easy win in Tuesday's Senate primary, looking past his personal scandals in hopes he can oust five-term GOP Sen. Susan Collins in November.Why it matters: Tuesday's results set up what's sure to be a nasty, expensive battle for a seat that will go a long way toward determining control of the Senate. They also illustrated the huge contrasts now animating the political parties:GOP voters are almost always in lockstep with the leader of their party, President Trump, whose pick for South Carolina governor advanced to a runoff.As for Democrats, the combination of being desperate for victory and having no one with enough clout to stop an embattled outsider helped set the stage for Platner's big win over Gov. Janet Mills, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's pick in the race.Zoom in: Platner's victory was also the latest one for Democratic progressives in their ongoing civil war with the party's moderates.Standing behind a sign that defiantly read, "They Don't Know Maine," Platner delivered an acceptance speech that mixed talk of his past regrets and slammed elites who'd opposed him."The national pundits, the political establishment, they keep looking for that one story, that one headline, that one moment in my life that they can define the campaign by," Platner said. "But in trying so hard to understand me, they failed to understand that this is not about me at all. This is a movement about us."Late Tuesday, Schumer and Senate Democrats' top super PAC put out statements making clear they support Platner.Key takeaways from Tuesday:Platner's latest round of scandals haven't hurt him — yet. His campaign has been a roller coaster ride of revelations, from the Nazi-linked tattoo he covered up to the recent reports that he'd sent sexually suggestive texts to women who weren't his wife. The reports gripped D.C. and made lots of ad fodder for Republicans, but didn't appear to damage Platner in Tuesday's primary. Early returns showed him with about 72% of the vote— close to his poll numbers before the latest headlines.Here come the attacks: In a preview of the smash-mouth assaults headed for Platner, Republican National Committee chair Joe Gruters called the Democratic nominee a "racist, sexist, Nazi-loving domestic abuser." Platner, a Marine combat veteran, kick-started his campaign against Collins by casting her as a corrupt warmonger who "handed out billions of dollars to defense companies" while "I got blown up."The parties' role-reversal: On one side, there's a scandal-plagued man running as a populist that the political establishment tried and failed to stop. On the other, a moderate woman who's been in D.C. for decades. It's not the 2016 election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton — it's the match-up between Platner and Collins that looks like the Senate version, with the parties switched. Dems warm to controversy: Blame it on Trump lowering the bar for candidates' personal conduct, Democrats losing trust in their leaders to know what it takes to win, or something darker. Platner's primary victory signals that Democratic voters have become more willing to accept skeletons in a candidate's closet. Trump picks a winner, while Rep. Nancy Mace hits a dead end: In the latest affirmation of Trump's power over the GOP, his pick in South Carolina's gubernatorial primary, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, advanced to a runoff with state Attorney General Alan Wilson. Mace, a former Trump loyalist who fell out of favor with him after pushing for the release of the Epstein files, was running fifth in the primary.
Outcome of polls in four states offer mixed signals about direction of two major parties before November’s midtermsProgressives rallied round the controversial Graham Platner after his primary victory in Maine on Tuesday, while Donald Trump again exerted his grip on the Republican party, helping to defeat a politician who had pushed for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.Primary elections were held in four states – Maine, Nevada, North Dakota and South Carolina – ahead of November’s midterms to decide control of both houses of Congress. The results offered mixed signals about the direction of the two major parties. Continue reading...
Progressive oyster farmer Graham Platner easily won the Democratic contest on Tuesday to take on Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) — officially teeing up one of this year’s marquee Senate races. Planter was expected to win the Democratic primary, but recent revelations over a sexting scandal and his alleged toxic conduct from several ex-girlfriends have rocked his campaign and rattled…
Aaron Ford, Nevada’s attorney general, has prevailed over a crowded field of Democrats to face off against first-term Governor Joe Lombardo, a Republican, in a race that will test voters’ willingness to back President Donald Trump’s economic agenda in the midst of headwinds caused in part by his policies.