For years conservatives warned that multiculturalism and free speech are on a collision course. If a society starts treating every culture as equal and beyond criticism, then eventually you have to police speech — and apparently, Europe has decided to do just that. French influencer Thaïs d’Escufon was allegedly assaulted in 2021 by a North […]
New York City taxpayers could pay just over $1.1 billion annually for Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s “free” buses, per a new New York City Independent Budget Office estimate. It’s the latest major socialist campaign promise revealed to be more expensive than originally advertised. Go figure. The new figure is a roughly $450 million annual markup from […]
Philadelphia’s pro-criminal district attorney has so abused his position that he has been reprimanded by the Democratic-controlled Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which has appointed the state’s Republican attorney general as his new personal babysitter. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner (D) attempted to grant a new trial to convicted murderer Lavar Brown, but the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the […]
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani trolled Knicks owner James Dolan during the team's championship celebration.The Knicks won their first title Saturday since 1973, and the city held a parade for a team that has already been hailed as the greatest in New York's long and storied sports history, and Mamdani lauded past players and fans who suffered through the championship drought together.For 53 long years, we have watched the Nixon, we have waited," the mayor said. "We waited as the memory of Willis Reed winning the championship on one leg grew fainter and fainter. We waited as 'Clyde' [Walt Frazier] came up clutch again and again. As John Starks dunked on [Michael] Jordan and Patrick Ewing dunked on the Pacers. As Bernard King scored 60."Mamdani then named a Knicks legend who's been embroiled in a years-long feud with Dolan, who angered fans by inviting President Donald Trump to Game 3 – the only game they lost in the playoffs – and forced thousands to wait in hours-long security lines and disrupted traffic around Madison Square Garden."As Charles Oakley pulled every rebound within reach," Mamdani said, as Dolan looks on, "and Spike [Lee] got in Reggie Miller's face. As Aaron Houston put up a shot against Miami that hung in the air for an eternity. As Larry Johnson gave us the four-point play heard around New York. As 'Starbury' [Stephon Marbury] traded threes with Kobe [Bryant] and then sold sneakers every kid could afford. As Nate Robinson stuffed Yao Ming. As the city came alive, watching Linsanity [Jeremy Lin]? And Carmelo [Anthon] lived every Brooklyn kid's dreams when he came home and made MSG feel like the center of the universe once again.""We waited without ever knowing if this day would come, and we waited because we knew deep down in our sick, suffering hearts that it would," Mamdani added. "New York City, this team has done it. The New York Knicks are NBA champions."
Former first lady Michelle Obama delivered a loving and heartfelt tribute to her husband at the Obama Presidential Center's grand opening ceremony in Chicago Thursday.
Donald Trump's highly controversial Iran peace deal is causing the Republican Party no small measure of angst, with conservative journalist David Drucker half-jokingly stating on MS NOW that the GOP is caught up in the throes of the “35 stages of grief" — a far cry from Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's "5 stages of grief" when death approaches.Appearing on “Morning Joe,” the conservative “The Dispatch” pundit attempted to explain how Republicans — with Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) leading the charge — are laboring to defend the president just moments after co-host Mika Brzezinski read off widespread criticisms of the president and his deal from GOP lawmakers and conservative media outlets.Asked what he is hearing, Drucker reported, “We've talked about this before, but, you know, there were so many Republicans in Congress and and center-right thinkers who have believed that after nearly 50 years, the action President Trump took going to war against Iran with israel was a courageous decision, was the right decision, and the United States needed to see it through.”“And they were very gratified by the president's policy here,” he added, “And now they're going through the, you know, the 35 stages of grief, which is ‘If this is true, it's going to be really bad. Well, I don't know if it's true because I haven't seen the text. I'm not going to react until I've seen the text. All right. Well, I've seen the text, and now that I've, you know, now that I've looked at the text, maybe it's really not so bad because look, he did say he'll bomb them if they don't follow through.’”“There are others who are just very honest about their disappointment, about their disappointment with both President Trump and the deal,” he added. “But it's a real mixed bag politically. I will just say the president boxed himself in here, because this is what happens when you don't make a public case for major military action. The president never asked for the support of the American people, for the support of Congress, for support from our allies. And so when things inevitably bog down, because we were only willing to do so much militarily for understandable political reasons, the president didn't have any allies and friends with skin in the game who were there to back up the policy and see it through. And that's part of why he ended up looking for a get out of jail free card here." - YouTubeyoutu.be
A Salon columnist said Thursday that President Donald Trump looked so worn out at this week's Group of Seven summit in France that his appearance revealed more about his standing than the Iran agreement he traveled there to tout.In a column published this week, Heather Digby Parton wrote that the 80-year-old president seemed unusually low on energy in Evian-les-Bains, a setting where his meetings with European leaders have turned combative. She opened by recounting that Trump had stayed late celebrating his birthday at a UFC event on the White House lawn before flying to the summit. "Trump really looks worn out. On Tuesday, he appeared to have forgotten his usual bronze makeup, which was a startling sight. His energy is notably low, especially for a gathering like this one; meetings with Europeans usually turn him combative and hostile," she wrote.Parton tied that flagging energy to what she described as a weakened position, writing that the president is "still smarting" from Western leaders' refusal to back his war with Iran and is now promoting the memorandum of understanding he signed as proof he is a hero, even as, in her telling, he "lost the war and is desperate to get out of it." Another op-ed similarly argued that Trump's leverage is fading as the midterms approach.The column noted the agreement would extend a ceasefire for 60 days, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, lift sanctions on Iranian oil and establish a $300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran while pushing nuclear talks into future negotiations. Trump signed it during a dinner hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palace of Versailles, a choice of venue that drew its own mockery.Trump called Versailles "the real deal" and speculated that he might add a hall of mirrors to his planned White House ballroom. Parton's broader read echoed a conservative commentator who said Trump stumbled into a war he is now desperate to exit.
The Department of Defense revealed it used Elon Musk’s Grok AI to fire 2,000 missiles at Iran.In a sworn statement in federal court, the DOD’s chief digital and artificial intelligence officer, Cameron Stanley, defended the chatbot’s existence as a “a matter of paramount national security,” saying that it was used to fire “2,000 munitions at 2,000 distinct targets within 96 hours” in the Iran war.Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI is being sued by the NAACP in Mississippi for allegedly running at least 57 gas-burning turbines to power its Colossus 2 data center without the necessary permits or pollution controls required by the Clean Air Act. Stanley issued his statement as part of the federal government’s effort to get the lawsuit tossed out on national security grounds.It’s the first time that the Trump administration has admitted to using Musk’s AI in the Iran war, following reports that the military may have used AI targeting in its bombing of a girls’ school in Minab, Iran, that killed at least 175 people. Last year, the DOD awarded xAI a $200 million federal contract to install “Grok for Government” into its systems, ignoring a laundry list of issues with the platform.Grok has often gone on antisemitic rants; it has pushed debunked claims of white genocide in South Africa, insulted X CEO Linda Yaccarino with sexual comments, and been used to generate explicit photos of women and children. Other government agencies even see the tool as a security risk. Why, then, is the DOD defending its existence and continued use for the military?
At the opening of his presidential center in Chicago Thursday, President Obama did not shy away from criticizing current President Donald Trump. Without mentioning him by name, Obama still criticized Trump throughout his speech. He noted that the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence was coming up, and that it emphasized that “we are all created equal, endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights. And that in the newly independent United States, there will be no kings or lords, no surfs or subjects, but only citizens,” perhaps alluding to the “No Kings” protests or Trump’s constant referrals to himself as king. Obama on the message of the 250th: "In a newly independent US, there will be no kings" pic.twitter.com/JtgCpDZNxl— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 18, 2026Obama pointed out that the exhibits in the presidential museum “focus not just on policies, but on the shared values that make democracy possible. A belief in the intrinsic dignity and worth of all people and that no one is above the law or beneath its protection.” The former president then listed several principles outlined in the Constitution that Trump has flouted throughout his time in the Oval Office. “A belief in checks and balances in our government and an accountability that comes with it. An independent judiciary and a robust free press. A belief that our military and law enforcement owe allegiance not to any president or political party, but to the people and our Constitution,” Obama said. “A belief in the peaceful transfer of power after the people have spoken in fair and free elections, recognizing that in a large, complicated society like ours, no group or faction gets its way 100 percent of the time.”Obama pointedly highlighted Republicans hated by Trump who also believed in these values. “These are the values and traditions I believe in. And they are not Republican or Democratic values. They are American values we can all share regardless of party. Values every president here today, as different as we are, has tried our best to uphold. Values that John McCain and Mitt Romney believed in no less than I did,” Obama said. Obama praised one of the biggest acts of defiance against Trump so far in the latter’s second presidential term: the anti-immigration resistance against Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota’s twin cities. He said that “those ordinary people in the Twin Cities who braved frigid temperatures, risked their own safety, standing shoulder to shoulder to look out for their neighbors and sometimes look out for strangers because they knew that was the right thing to do” were among the best of America.Obama shouts out "those ordinary people in the Twin Cities who braved frigid temperatures, risked their own safety, standing shoulder to shoulder to look our for their neighbors and sometimes for strangers because they knew that was the right thing to do" pic.twitter.com/whuly2Szni— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 18, 2026Trump wasn’t invited to the opening of the presidential center, although Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett said that he is welcome to visit in the future. Thursday’s event was a reminder that at one time, presidents used to speak about America’s unifying values, unlike Trump. Watch Obama’s full remarks here: