Virginia Democrats want to teach schoolchildren to “affirm” gay and “transgender” propaganda as part of their new “inclusive history” proposal. A bill proposal from Democrat Del. Sam Rasoul would require history and social studies courses taught at public schools would be required to push the “contributions, perspectives, and experiences of historically marginalized communities, including racial […]
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Joy Behar: ICE Is the New ‘Gestapo,’ Trump Wants ‘War’ With NATO & MN
On Friday’s episode of ABC’s The View, fill-in moderator Joy Behar admitted that she needed therapy to deal with her Trump Derangement Syndrome. And during the Tuesday episode of The View’s Behind the Table podcast, Behar proved just how severe her TDS actually was. According to her, ICE was just like the Nazi Gestapo rounding people up for extermination. She also claimed that America was “at war” with NATO and President Trump wanted to launch a war against Minnesota.
The first step in trying to fix one’s self was to admit you had a problem. Behar admitted that she was getting her therapy idea from former first Lady Michelle Obama. “She talks about how she and Barack have been in therapy all these years because they’re dealing with the empty nest. I’m dealing with the next few years of Trump. I need therapy,” she quipped.
Joy Behar admits she needs therapy for her TDS:
“I’m dealing with the next few years of trump. I need therapy.” pic.twitter.com/WAaVnwU1on
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 23, 2026
And boy, did she need it.
Behar kicked off their podcast with delusions of grandeur, proclaiming that she wanted her legacy to be taking part in getting Trump out of office; seemingly suggesting she played a critical role in the 2020 election results:
BEHAR: I want my legacy to be that I helped get Trump out of office. That’s what I really care about.
TETA: Well, you did once. [Laughter]
BEHAR: I did. I wanna do it a second time. This time he’s much more dangerous than he was before.
On The View’s Behind the Table podcast earlier this week, Joy Behar proclaimed: “I want my legacy to be that I helped get Trump out of office. That’s what I really care about.” pic.twitter.com/GY7Dyl3abf
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 23, 2026
Behar would go on to claim that Trump was “10 times worse than Nixon was. At this point.”
Throughout her podcast appearance, host Brian Teta (the executive producer for The View) egged her on to get more and more unhinged. “We’ve seen people dragged from their cars, places of work, and over the weekend, a citizen was taken from his home wearing just his underwear, a citizen. Where, where does your mind go when you see this? I think I know the answer,” he teed her up.
Behar openly equated ICE with the Gestapo; backing up her claim by suggesting they matched the depictions of them in the movies, she’d seen. “I’ve watched too many World War II movies and watched jackboots pulling Jews out of their homes and beating them up on the streets to not make the similarity very clear to me,” she sneered.
Inciting violence against ICE, Behar blatantly equates ICE arrests and deportations to Nazis “Gestapo” rounding up Jews for extermination. She claims the “similarity” is “very clear.”
Adding: “I’ve watched too many World War II movies and watched jackboots pulling Jews out of… pic.twitter.com/cZuyxyUCN0
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 23, 2026
She would go on to praise how the far-left residents of Minnesota were “trying their best to rebel against [ICE],” but lamenting, “they can’t seem to do much.”
The evidence that Behar was dealing with a serious mental problem continued to mount when she claimed “we’re at war” with NATO, before pivoting to claiming Trump “wants to go to war with a NATO member, an ally.”
The aged comedian flaunted her infamous ignorance of history as she claimed NATO was the military alliance the United States fought alongside during “World War II [and] the Vietnam War.”
NewsBusters previously reported in February 2024, that Behar was under the false impression that NATO was the military alliance that fought Hitler and the Nazis. Apparently, no one in her orbit cared to give her the correct information in nearly two years.
Behar’s delusion that Trump wanted to go to war with NATO carried over to assertions that he wanted to launch a war against Minnesota. “He wants to go to war with them and war with a United States state, Minnesota. What is wrong with him?!” she decried.
It was unclear if Behar meant Trump wanted to drop bombs on Minnesota; as would likely happen in the fictional war with NATO she noted in the same breathe.
Behar claims “we’re at war” with NATO.
Claims NATO was the military alliance the U.S. fought with in “World War II, the Vietnam War.”
She also claims Trump wants to drop bombs on Minnesota: “He wants to go to war with them [NATO] and war with a United States state, Minnesota.” pic.twitter.com/uDIz4Awcdb
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 23, 2026
The misconceptions from Behar didn’t stop at history lessons, but also civics class. She called on viewers to call their representatives and senators, and demand they invoke the 25th Amendment: “And I want people to start putting the pressure on the Congress … the only power that the American people have before Election Day, is to get on the phones and leave messages and say, ‘listen, either invoke the 25th Amendment because he’s not making sense.’”
You were the one not making sense, Joy. Congress had nothing to do with the 25th Amendment. Only a president or their cabinet could invoke it.
Behar’s TDS seems to need in-patient treatment.
The transcript is below. Click “expand” to read:
ABC’s Behind the Table
January 20, 2026
00:00
BRIAN TETA: It’s always the question people ask. What do you want to be remembered as? What do you, what do you want your legacy to be?
JOY BEHAR: I want my legacy to be that I helped get Trump out of office. That’s what I really care about.
TETA: Well, you did once. [Laughter]
BEHAR: I did. I wanna do it a second time. This time he’s much more dangerous than he was before.
TETAL All right, well, let, let’s talk about President Trump because, uh, first of all, welcome to Behind the Table, Joy.
BEHAR: Thank you.
[Title sequence]
TETA: All right. On the show today, we talked about President Trump’s desire to take complete and total control of Greenland. It’s like we’re talking about a fictional supervillain at this point.
BEHAR: Yeah.
TETA: You said that he can’t get any worse and it’s no longer enough to protest and vote. You have to call your senators and congressmen. This is something you feel very strongly about. Tell me, tell me what your thoughts are on.
BEHAR: Well, it seems as though the bulwark at the moment needs to be removed, which is that the Republican Congress is still protecting him and their jobs. And they seem to not understand that he’s destroying the United States of America. They don’t seem to see that. Every day he does something else to, to destroy what has been built up over a few centuries now.
And I want people to start putting the pressure on the Congress, not on him, because he’s a foregone conclusion that he is not well, in my opinion. I don’t think he’s well at all. He not making sense. He’s acting – I know what I said today he had a narcissistic injury. Did you hear me say that today?
TETA: I don’t know if I did.
BEHAR: It’s a psychological term that you are – your ego is so wounded, that you will lash out because of that. ‘I’m so angry that I’m not getting the award that I’m gonna invade a country.’ What is that? Come on.
TETA: Well, this is what people always say that he, this whole, his whole first run for office was based on being embarrassed by Obama at the Correspondences Dinner.
BEHAR: That is also another narcissistic injury. It’s like most people who don’t have this problem would laugh it off, would laugh it off. He can’t laugh any kind of an attack, any kind of a joke about him. He can’t stand it.
TETA: So the question –
BEHAR: That’s why the comedians make him so nuts.
TETA: So, you’re thinking is that, as an act of personal survival to keep their jobs, Congress might change their mind –
BEHAR: Yes. Yes.
TETA: – and that’s what they have to feel.
BEHAR: Exactly. And the only power that the American people have before Election Day, is to get on the phones and leave messages and say, ‘listen, either invoke the 25th Amendment because he’s not making sense.’
TETA: That’s never going to happen.
BEHAR: All right, all right. Then find a way to impeach and convict because he obviously has been committing crimes. He’s making a lot of money in the presidency.
TETA: I don’t think that’s gonna happen either. I don’t think they’re gonna impeach him a third time. I, I mean –
BEHAR: This is just like Nixon was. They went to Nixon and they said, ‘listen, you’re being impeached. They’re all voting against you,’ and Nixon resigned. That’s exactly what needs to happen. And this guy’s 10 times worse than Nixon was. At this point.
TETA: Well, the other big thing we’re talking about – and man, the news is dark – we’re continuing to see ICE raids in Minnesota with protests happening all over the state. We’ve seen people dragged from their cars, places of work, and over the weekend, a citizen was taken from his home wearing just his underwear, a citizen. Where, where does your mind go when you see this? I think I know the answer.
BEHAR: Well, you know, Joe Rogan has now used the G-word, Gestapo –
TETA: Gestapo.
BEHAR: – and that’s exactly, I mean, I’ve watched too many World War II movies and watched jackboots pulling Jews out of their homes and beating them up on the streets to not make the similarity very clear to me.
(…)
09:26
BEHAR: Although, Minnesota, they’re trying their best to rebel against it, but they can’t seem to do much. I mean, we’re at war! He said he wants to go to war with a NATO member, an ally for – these are allies where World War II, the Vietnam War, the Iraq War. He wants to go to war with them and war with a United States state, Minnesota. What is wrong with him?!
(…)
ABC’s The View
January 22, 2026
11:16:09 a.m. Eastern
JOY BEHAR: She [former First Lady Michelle Obama] talks about how she and Barack have been in therapy all these years because they’re dealing with the empty nest. I’m dealing with the next few years of Trump. I need therapy.
(…)
Mamdani ‘Affordability Agenda’ Includes $200,000 Pay for Nurses
The “affordability” agenda of New York City’s new mayor apparently includes nurses getting paid more than $200,000 a year.
Mamdani showed up this week at an event to support striking members of the New York State Nurses Association, who are participating in what the union characterizes as “the largest nurse strike” in the history of New York City. The union says nearly 15,000 nurses have gone out at Mount Sinai, NewYork-Presbyterian, and Montefiore hospitals. Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), a frequent Mamdani wingman, also turned up; the Associated Press quoted Sanders as saying, “The people of this country are sick and tired of the greed in this health care industry.”
That action earned Mamdani a scathing rebuke from the Washington Post editorial page, which said, “Mamdani is behaving more like an activist at Bowdoin College or an organizer for the Democratic Socialists of America than the leader of a city of more than 8.5 million.” The editorial suggested Mamdani might be engaged in “a cynical move to build support for single-payer insurance — and then a full government takeover of health care.” It concluded that Mamdani “has taken a side. It isn’t the side of patients” and argued that “Performative acts of ‘solidarity’ may feel good, but they don’t solve problems.”
Subsequently, my former New York Sun colleague Joe Goldstein, with Patrick McGeehan, revealed in the New York Times that the nurses “are seeking raises that could propel nurses’ salaries on average past $200,000.” The Times reported that the nurses already earn $163,000 a year on average at NewYork-Presbyterian, “$165,000, not including overtime” at Montefiore, and $162,000 at Mount Sinai.
The cost of those salaries winds up getting passed along to patients and businesses, according to Bill Hammond, senior fellow for health policy at the Empire Center and another former New York Sun colleague of mine. He said the money would come from insurance premiums paid by average New Yorkers, their employers, and taxpayers. “They shouldn’t pretend like the money’s coming out of the air,” Hammond told the Washington Free Beacon. “Whose affordability are we talking about?”
Hammond noted that other demands of the nurses’ union, related to working conditions and staffing ratios, would require employing more nurses. “The costs compound,” he said.
And, he said, health care costs in New York are already among the nation’s highest.
The hospital boards include many of the business and real-estate-industry executives and members of the city’s Jewish community that Mamdani has denounced as “oligarchs” and otherwise demonized during his campaign. The Montefiore Einstein board of trustees, for example, is chaired by Daniel Tishman and includes Alisa Doctoroff and David Keidan. The Mount Sinai board includes Henry Kravis and Carl Icahn. The NewYork-Presbyterian board includes Daniel Och, David Lauren, David Solomon, Leonard Wilf, Peter Kalikow, Ray McGuire, and Stephen Schwarzman. These are not, generally speaking, people leading the charge for the Mamdani socialist agenda of “freeze-the-rent,” “tax the rich,” boycott Israel, and open government-operated grocery stores.
One irony is that if the nurses get what they are asking for, they eventually may qualify as “rich” for the purposes of New York taxing them to oblivion. The New York City top marginal income tax rate of 3.876 percent kicks in for married-filing-jointly filers at $90,000, and the New York State individual income tax rate for single filers in 2025 has an increase at the $215,400 a year mark to 6.85% from 6 percent. As Hammond drily observed, eventually nurses, or two-nurse households, might find themselves hit by New York’s millionaires tax. That is, if they don’t join some of the hospital trustees and decamp to lower-tax, lower-health-care-cost destinations, such as Florida.
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Trump Admin Joins California GOP In Asking SCOTUS To Block State’s ‘Unconstitutional’ Congressional Map
The Trump administration has joined the California GOP in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block the Golden State’s new gerrymandered congressional map ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The Department of Justice filed a brief with SCOTUS on Thursday in support of the California Republican Party’s emergency application to pause a lower court ruling […]
DC Leftists Threaten Families As ‘Nazi Scum’ Simply For Attending Church
Families with young kids were subject to a bullhorn-wielding protestor screaming ‘F-ck Jesus, Mary, and Joseph’ in a demonic-sounding tone.
THE ‘DORITOS’: Independent Explorer Registers Mysterious UFO-Shaped Aircraft Above Area 51 (VIDEOS)
The flying tortilla in the sky.
With the late public disclosure of ever more modern technology in aircraft and drones, the idea that unidentified flying phenomena or objects roaming the skies need to be considered from an extra-terrestrial origin has lost a lot of momentum.
But a ton of unexplained sightings are still happening, and you bet a fair deal is taking place in the mysterious Area 51 in Nevada.
That’s what an independent, off-the-grid explorer has found: ‘a mysterious UFO-shaped aircraft flying over the top-secret US military base Area 51’.
INFRARED FOOTAGE CAPTURES MYSTERIOUS “DORITO-SHAPED” AIRCRAFT OVER AREA 51
Newly released thermal footage from January 14 shows an unidentified triangular aircraft flying over Area 51 and the Nevada Test and Training Range.
Videographer Anders Otteson of Uncanny… pic.twitter.com/0gDqanBTtK
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) January 22, 2026
Daily Mail reported:
“Anders Otteson, a self-described backpacker and videographer, was documenting his trip to the desert surrounding the infamous Nevada facility on January 14 when the unidentified craft was seen flying overhead at around 3am local time (6am ET).
Otteson had already seen what appeared to be a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber flying over Area 51 two hours earlier and noted that this craft was shaped more like an ‘equilateral triangle,’ which UFO researchers have called the ‘Dorito’.”
“Moreover, a scanner monitoring Area 51’s unencrypted radio frequencies picked up a bizarre transmission full of code words themed around beer, food, and snacks instead of standard military jargon.”
— The Informant (@theinformant_x) January 21, 2026
Anders Otteson catches a sharp triangular ‘Dorito’ craft over Area 51 about a week ago. (Pic 1)
It resembles Jeff Templin’s 2014 Kansas daylight shot. (Pic 2)
Seemingly this all coincides with the ‘canceled’ A-12 Avenger II concept from the ’80s / ’90s. (Pic 3)
What we are… pic.twitter.com/2xm7MEgf9S
— John Greenewald, Jr. (@theblackvault) January 23, 2026
Complete Video:
Read more:
Alleged Declassified Air Force Footage Shows Disc-Shaped UFO Navigating the Clouds (VIDEOS)
The post THE ‘DORITOS’: Independent Explorer Registers Mysterious UFO-Shaped Aircraft Above Area 51 (VIDEOS) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
The Midterms: It’s Not About ‘Affordability’ — It’s About Trump Hatred
No, the midterms will not turn on the issue of “affordability.” If affordability truly were decisive, Republicans would easily retain the House and the Senate.
Consider the economic backdrop. Gas prices are at a five-year low, with gas stations in several states selling a gallon of regular for under $2. Several times since Trump’s reelection, the stock market indexes have recorded all-time highs. GDP growth hit 4.3% in the third quarter of 2025. Wage growth is exceeding inflation, but as always, some benefit more than others. Inflation itself is under 3% and trending lower. Egg prices have fallen dramatically. Mortgage rates have declined to the lowest level in three years. Trillions of dollars in foreign investment commitments have been announced. The effects of the One Big Beautiful Bill — no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, tax relief for seniors on Social Security and immediate expensing of business equipment purchases — have barely begun to register. All of this suggests, despite the headlines of despair, that the economy is poised to take off.
If voters were focused primarily on affordability, these conditions would be politically devastating for Democrats.
But that’s not what this election is about.
The midterms will turn on one question only: Is Trump hatred — among Democrats, Hollywood, much of the media and academia — so deeply rooted that President Donald Trump gets credit for nothing?
Look at the record. He closed the southern border in a matter of weeks without new congressional legislation. That’s an incredible accomplishment. More on this later.
Trump negotiated the release of Israeli hostages and the return of their remains from Gaza. That’s a big deal. He pressured European allies to shoulder more of the financial burden for Ukraine’s war against Russia. Another big deal. He significantly degraded Iran’s nuclear capacity. He took decisive action against Venezuela’s Maduro regime — something Democrats once loudly demanded. He expanded school-choice options that disproportionately benefit Black and brown students trapped in failing K-12 urban schools.
He forced NATO allies to increase defense spending after years of freeloading. He applied sustained pressure on Iran’s regime at a moment when internal instability has never been higher since the beginning of the “Islamic Republic” in 1979. He pressured universities to better protect Jewish students and to end illegal race-based DEI policies. And all of this in less than a full year.
On immigration enforcement, Trump has deported roughly 1.5 million illegal aliens — many with violent criminal records. Deportations under Trump in both terms remain below the 3.5 million deportations carried out under former President Barack Obama.
There have been cases in which U.S. citizens were mistakenly detained or arrested by ICE, sometimes for minutes, hours or a few days. According to ProPublica, the number is “more than 170.” Out of roughly 1.5 million deportations under Trump, that comes to 0.0113%, or just over one hundredth of 1%. Considering that former President Joe Biden let in an estimated 10 million to 15 million aliens, the mass deportation initiated under Trump is required to undo just some of Biden’s intentional policy.
Mistakes during deportation by ICE are inevitable — but in the context of reversing years of mass illegal entry, they are statistically rare. If sanctuary cities and states truly wanted to reduce such errors, they would allow ICE to operate inside jails and prisons rather than forcing arrests to occur in public spaces.
As to Iran, I’m old enough to remember when the political left claimed to care about the oppression and subjugation of women — and rooted openly for their possible liberation.
All of this brings us back to the real issue.
Trump Derangement Syndrome is real. It is deep. And it has metastasized, not just nationally but globally.
Roughly half the country views Trump with the Jimmy Kimmel mindset. Can anyone seriously imagine Kimmel ever saying, “You know, on this issue, Trump deserves some credit,” or “On that issue, maybe I was wrong”?
Of course not. And that’s the point.
The midterms won’t hinge on prices at the pump or at the grocery store. They will hinge on whether millions of voters can acknowledge reality — or whether their animus toward Trump is so absolute that no achievement, no success and no improvement in people’s lives really matter.
That, not “affordability,” is the question before the country.
Larry Elder is a bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio talk-show host. To find out more about Larry Elder, or become an “Elderado,” visit www.LarryElder.com. Follow Larry on X @larryelder.
Google News, MSN and Yahoo News Ignore Anti-ICE Church Riot
In the two days following the anti-ICE church riot in Minneapolis, the Big Four News Apps (Apple News, Google News, MSN and Yahoo News) have all but ignored left-wing agitators disrupting Americans exercising their constitutional right to freely worship their God.
Google News, MSN and Yahoo News suppressed coverage of the anti-ICE radicals who were joined by former CNN anchor Don Lemon. Apple News was the only one of the Big Four News Apps to run any morning headlines about the riot. Out of the top 40 stories on Apple News from Jan. 19- Jan. 20, 2026, there were a scant two stories about the church agitators, both published on Jan. 20.
As Americans increasingly get their news from the Big Four News Apps, their biased coverage distorts people’s understanding of the turmoil unfolding in places like Minneapolis.
In the two days following the riot, three of the four news apps refused to run a single headline about the church riot in their top 20 morning headlines. The three apps had a combined 120 opportunities to acknowledge the radical storming of a church during its weekly worship service. Instead, the three digital gatekeepers actively worked to shield extremist agitators from any coverage.
In the two days following the riot, Google News ran four headlines about a train crash in Spain that killed at least 39 people, and no less than 12 headlines related to Trump’s statements about Greenland. MSN and Yahoo News focused heavily on sports, entertainment and weather stories, running a total of five headlines about Greenland and none about Spain.
Apple News alone displayed two stories on the Minnesota church agitators, but even when it did cover the story, it pushed leftist outlet The Washington Post with a headline that squarely blamed President Donald Trump for the aggressive disruption of a Sunday morning church service with the headline, “Anti-ICE protest at Minnesota church is latest flash point over Trump’s crackdown.” Apple News also ran a headline from British outlet the BBC which acknowledged that the riot may have violated the law but simultaneously downplayed the severity of the incident. “US officials probing Minnesota ICE protest that disrupted church service,” the headline read.
The Big Four News Apps all continuously fail to provide ideologically diverse news options that readers can depend on to stay informed of the most important issues of the day. Despite this failure, news aggregators, or platforms that gather articles from multiple media sources into a single place, are a growing source for people to get their news. According to a report from the Reuters Institute, “engagement with traditional media sources such as TV, print, and news websites continues to fall, while dependence on social media, video platforms, and online aggregators grows,” particularly in the United States.
Methodology: During the time period Jan. 19-20 2026, MRC researchers examined the top 20 AllSides-rated news stories featured on Apple News, Google News, MSN and Yahoo News each day at 8:30 AM ET. Using AllSides media bias ratings, which classify outlets as “left,” “lean left,” “center,” “lean right” or “right,” researchers assessed the ideological slant presented by the Big Four News Apps and analyzed the results.
Free speech is under attack! Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on hate speech and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
Former Penn Vice Provost Ordered To Pay Conservative Writers $28K in Attorneys’ Fees for Misleading Jury in Defamation Trial
Michael Mann, a climate professor and former vice provost at the University of Pennsylvania, must pay $28,167.62 in attorneys’ fees for two conservative writers he accused of defamation for criticizing his work.
In a Thursday ruling, Judge Alfred S. Irving of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia wrote that the compensation was necessary because Mann repeatedly misled the jury during the case’s 2024 trial. Mann presented information that he lost more than $9.7 million in research grant funding as a result of the two writers’ criticism, a figure that was later corrected to $112,000 following a third round of discovery.
“The Court simply cannot condone such bad faith litigation tactics, particularly in a case that had been zealously litigated across several years and a case involving complicated facts,” Irving wrote. “It is the Court’s duty to punish and deter bad faith litigation tactics.”
Irving chastised Mann, adding that the lost grant funding figures were central to his case and that it was ultimately his responsibility to ensure the facts of his case “were presented truthfully and straightforwardly.”
It’s the latest blow for the embattled scientist whom Irving last year sanctioned and ordered to pay more than $1 million in attorneys’ fees to the two defendants in the case, Rand Simberg, a then-adjunct fellow at the right-leaning think tank Competitive Enterprise Institute, and Mark Steyn, a then-writer for National Review.
Mann—who is perhaps best known for his 1998 “hockey stick graph” showing the Earth warming at a rapid rate and is regularly cited by mainstream media outlets—filed the defamation lawsuit in 2012 against Simberg and Steyn. Months earlier, Simberg authored a blog that used a metaphor comparing how Mann’s then-employer, Pennsylvania State University, defended his climate research to how the university allegedly covered up child sexual abuse accusations against assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.
Steyn then referenced that blog in a piece of his own slamming Mann’s work.
Both of the articles came three years after email correspondence between Mann and other climate scientists was leaked. Simberg and Steyn argued the emails showed Mann had engaged in data manipulation when creating his “hockey stick graph.”
Following the February 2024 trial in which Mann presented the misleading information in the case, a D.C. jury awarded Mann a staggering $1 million in punitive damages to be paid by Simberg and Steyn. However, in his order sanctioning Mann last year, Irving threw out that penalty, characterizing it as excessive.
Mann resigned from his post as vice provost at the University of Pennsylvania in September after he shared a social media post comparing Charlie Kirk to a member of the “Hitler Youth.” He had served in the role for less than a year.
The posts about Kirk weren’t Mann’s first time engaging in heated political rhetoric.
Last year, he appeared to threaten President Donald Trump, writing on social media that “we’re in second amendment territory” if the president doesn’t comply with a federal court injunction. In 2023, he compared Republican donors Peter Thiel, Charles Koch, and Leonard Leo to Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda 9/11 assailants. And a year earlier, he wrote that the Republican Party “needs to be destroyed.”
Mann remains a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and is its director of the Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media.
The University of Pennsylvania did not respond to requests for comment.
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James Talarico Defends Illegal Immigrants, Saying They Keep Social Security Solvent and ‘Pick Our Fruit’
Texas state representative James Talarico has praised illegal immigrants and ramped up his rhetoric against ICE as a new poll shows him taking a tenuous lead over his opponent in the Texas Democratic Senate primary, Rep. Jasmine Crockett.
Talarico, a former public school teacher and self-proclaimed devout Christian who infamously declared, “God is nonbinary,” during a 2021 speech in the Texas legislature, has said in recent interviews that illegal immigrants are keeping Social Security solvent while picking Americans’ fruit, and accused ICE of “terrorizing communities” and “kidnapping people off our streets without a warrant.”
It’s the sort of messaging that’s appealing to the Democratic base, and it’s showing in the polls, creating buzz in liberal circles that he could become the first Democrat in 30 years to defeat a Republican in a statewide race in Texas. His campaign raised $13 million by the end of 2025, and an Emerson College poll showed him with a 9-point polling lead over Crockett. The same poll found that 15 percent of primary voters remained undecided just one month before early voting opens in mid-February.
As for Crockett, a handpicked protégé of former vice president Kamala Harris, she told the Washington Post on Thursday that she isn’t concerned about winning the “mythical Republican crossover” vote and urged Democrats to rethink what it means to be electable in Texas. She responded to the Emerson College poll with her own internal polling showing her leading Talarico by 13 points, with 21 percent of voters remaining undecided.
During his appearance on the Jubilee podcast in December, Talarico called for a “path to citizenship” for illegal immigrants just seconds after he said he opposed amnesty. He said illegal immigrants are responsible for keeping Social Security solvent by paying into the program “through their I-10 numbers and they don’t take any benefits in return,” prompting a fact-check from the podcast noting that approximately one million illegal immigrants use stolen or fake Social Security numbers to work.
Those stolen identities have real victims, such as Dan Kluver, who told the New York Times in November that his life was effectively ruined because a Guatemalan immigrant had been working in the United States with his stolen identity. Kluver said his driver’s license was suspended, his wages were garnished, and the IRS harassed him for a decade with annual audits and tax bills seeking upwards of $22,000.
Talarico also suggested during his appearance on Jubilee that illegal immigrants are only working the sorts of jobs that American citizens refuse to do, such as construction and child care.
“These are some of the toughest jobs,” the Texas Democrat said. “Picking our fruit, taking care of our children and our elders, paving our highways. These are jobs that are difficult and the research shows that undocumented immigrants are really just competing against other recent immigrants … Native-born Americans will not sign up to mow our lawns.”
Talarico also attacked ICE as a “secret police force that is terrorizing communities” during his appearance on Jubilee, saying the force has abandoned its mission of doing immigration and customs enforcement under the Trump administration. He doubled down on his rhetoric against ICE during a town hall in January, promising he would haul ICE agents before the Senate, and accused them of “kidnapping people off our streets without a warrant.”
“No more secret police, no more disappearing people,” Talarico said.
Talarico’s polling momentum comes just weeks after a December poll found him trailing Crockett by 8 points. Crockett launched her Senate campaign in December after a National Republican Senatorial Committee shadow campaign commissioned polls showing she had a shot at winning the Democratic nomination.
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