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Category: Politics

The Charlie Kirk purge: How 600 Americans were punished in a pro-Trump crackdown

The Charlie Kirk purge: How 600 Americans were punished in a pro-Trump crackdown

Reuters reports: When Lauren Vaughn, a kindergarten assistant in South Carolina, saw reports that right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk had been shot at an event in Utah, she opened Facebook and typed out a quote from Kirk himself. Gun deaths, Kirk said in 2023, were unfortunate but “worth it” if they preserved “the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given Rights.” Following the quote, Vaughn added: “Thoughts and prayers.” Vaughn, a 37-year-old Christian who has taken missionary trips to Guatemala, said…

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‘Ticking time bomb’: A pregnant mother kept getting sicker. She died after she was denied an abortion in Texas.

‘Ticking time bomb’: A pregnant mother kept getting sicker. She died after she was denied an abortion in Texas.

By Kavitha Surana and Lizzie Presser This story was originally published by ProPublica Tierra Walker had reached her limit. In the weeks since she’d learned she was pregnant, the 37-year-old dental assistant had been wracked by unexplained seizures and mostly confined to a hospital cot. With soaring blood pressure and diabetes, she knew she was at high risk of developing preeclampsia, a pregnancy complication that could end her life.  Her mind was made up on the morning of Oct. 14,…

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William Blake, poet and prophet, was a prescient critic of capitalist alienation

William Blake, poet and prophet, was a prescient critic of capitalist alienation

Jonathan Agin writes: Comparing the poet, painter, and master engraver William Blake to his contemporary William Wordsworth in a 1991 London Review of Books article, Jonathan Bate wrote that “Blake’s wildness was what shaggy men like Ginsberg needed a generation ago, but Wordsworth’s sobriety and steady eye can do more for us now.” A generation further on, it’s time we get back to Blake, who was indeed “wild” in his radically anti-imperialist, counter-enlightenment spirit. Though some of his contemporaries would…

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The White House intervened on behalf of accused sex trafficker Andrew Tate during a federal investigation

The White House intervened on behalf of accused sex trafficker Andrew Tate during a federal investigation

By Robert Faturechi and Avi Asher-Schapiro This story was originally published by ProPublica Online influencer Andrew Tate, a self-described misogynist who has millions of young male followers, was facing allegations of sex trafficking women in three countries when he and his brother left their home in Romania to visit the United States. “The Tates will be free, Trump is the president. The good old days are back,” Tate posted on X before the trip in February — one of many…

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‘A lot of people didn’t like’ Khashoggi, said Trump as MBS was questioned about the journalist’s murder

‘A lot of people didn’t like’ Khashoggi, said Trump as MBS was questioned about the journalist’s murder

I pressed Trump on MBS's role in the Khashoggi killing during a tape-recorded interview on Jan. 22, 2020:“I’ve gotten involved very much,” Trump said. “I know everything about the whole situation.”So what happened, sir? I asked.“I saved his ass," Trump said. “That’s what… — Bob Woodward (@realBobWoodward) November 18, 2025 The New York Times reports: “Things happen.” That was how President Trump described the murder of the columnist Jamal Khashoggi on Tuesday afternoon while sitting beside Crown Prince Mohammed bin…

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Epstein pursued Swiss Rothschild bank to finance Israeli cyberweapons

Epstein pursued Swiss Rothschild bank to finance Israeli cyberweapons

Ryan Grim and Murtaza Hussain reports: With an avalanche of new documents released by the House Oversight Committee, and looming legislation mandating further disclosures, the press has renewed its relentless coverage of the life and times of Jeffrey Epstein. Yet, with some notable exceptions, a major part of his life’s work has remained outside the media’s gaze, his relationship with the state of Israel and his prominent role in helping advance the Israeli cyberweapons industry. And so our series continues….

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‘Openly misogynistic and racist’ conduct inside the Heritage Foundation shines a light on the right’s inner workings

‘Openly misogynistic and racist’ conduct inside the Heritage Foundation shines a light on the right’s inner workings

Zack Beauchamp writes: For the past several weeks, the American conservative movement has been publicly embroiled in a bitter, existential conflict between factions seeking to win control of its future. And after speaking with a number of people on the right, including a well-placed source who describes seeing some ugly events at the Heritage Foundation, one of the most influential think tanks in the conservative movement, I’ve come to think this is not a one-off struggle. Rather, it’s a harbinger…

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Law-abiding immigrants in ICE detention, stripped, shackled, and starved

Law-abiding immigrants in ICE detention, stripped, shackled, and starved

  We heard it over and over on the campaign trail: Donald Trump’s promise of a crackdown on criminals and undocumented immigrants at a scale and breadth this country had never seen before. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, commonly known as ICE, has swept into American cities and is detaining more people than ever before. However, 71 percent of those held in immigrant detention by the end of September did not have criminal convictions, according to the Migration Policy Institute, a…

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Trump’s incompetent Justice Department may have accidentally handed Democrats five House seats

Trump’s incompetent Justice Department may have accidentally handed Democrats five House seats

Ian Millhiser writes: In a decision that could potentially reshape the 2026 midterm elections and cement the Democratic Party’s future control of the US House, a federal court just struck down the gerrymandered Texas maps that President Donald Trump pressured that state to enact. If the decision holds, it could cost Republicans as many as five House seats. And that’s not all. The most remarkable thing about the three-judge panel’s decision in League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) v….

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The rise of the white-nationalist streamer, Nick Fuentes, should worry us even more than it already does

The rise of the white-nationalist streamer, Nick Fuentes, should worry us even more than it already does

Jay Caspian Kang writes: Part of what separates Fuentes from his fellow-streamers is that he is capable of keeping his thoughts in a coherent, if odious, order. He once offered a trollish, occasionally captivating, and always grossly bigoted hour-long act; that has evolved into something more like a daily address, one that presents a code of behavior and a set of distinct ideas. As recently as a year ago, I’m not sure I could have told you what Fuentes thought…

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Trump’s ‘reversal’ on Epstein files delays their release and conceals a GOP rebellion

Trump’s ‘reversal’ on Epstein files delays their release and conceals a GOP rebellion

Axios reports: President Trump said Monday he would sign a bill to release documents from the investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein if Congress sends it to his desk. Why it matters: Trump recently reversed himself and encouraged Republicans to vote to release the documents after repeatedly dismissing the scandal as a “hoax.” What he’s saying: “Sure I would. Let the Senate look at it. Let anyone look at it, but don’t talk about it too much,” Trump said Monday in the Oval Office in response to…

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Charlotte faith leaders view Trump’s immigration agenda as ‘antithetical to the Bible’

Charlotte faith leaders view Trump’s immigration agenda as ‘antithetical to the Bible’

Axios reports: When asked about President Donald Trump’s domestic policies, Charlotte-area pastors often cite Matthew 25:35-40, a Biblical parable that calls for Christians to care for the less fortunate. Why it matters: Christians, particularly conservative evangelicals, have supported Trump in the past. Now, many moderate and progressive Christians across the U.S., including in Charlotte, are challenging the president’s administration around immigration, civil rights and poverty. What they’re saying: The Trump administration’s policies are “antithetical to the Bible,” which calls for people to treat immigrants as neighbors and to…

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NC governor: Charlotte crackdown ‘not making us safer’ — ‘bear witness to what you’re seeing’

NC governor: Charlotte crackdown ‘not making us safer’ — ‘bear witness to what you’re seeing’

I know this is a stressful moment for many across North Carolina. Everyone should follow the law, remain peaceful, and bear witness to what you’re seeing. That’s the North Carolina way. pic.twitter.com/OL9QIdodfG — Governor Josh Stein (@NC_Governor) November 16, 2025 PBS reports: After a surge in Border Patrol activity in North Carolina’s largest city over the weekend, including dozens of arrests, Gov. Josh Stein said the effort is “stoking fear,” not making Charlotte safer. The Trump administration has made the…

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Trump calls it ‘the greatest economy in history’ but many Americans are struggling to pay their bills

Trump calls it ‘the greatest economy in history’ but many Americans are struggling to pay their bills

The Associated Press reports: More people are falling behind on paying their bills to keep on the lights and heat their homes, according to a new analysis of consumer data — a warning sign for the U.S. economy and another political headache for President Donald Trump. Past due balances to utility companies jumped 9.7% annually to $789 between the April-June periods of 2024 and 2025, said The Century Foundation, a liberal think tank, and the advocacy group Protect Borrowers. The…

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DOJ official told prosecutors that U.S. should ‘just sink the boats’ — and thus murder those onboard

DOJ official told prosecutors that U.S. should ‘just sink the boats’ — and thus murder those onboard

NPR reports: At a Justice Department conference in February, then-acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove told the department’s top drug prosecutors that the Trump administration wasn’t interested in interdicting suspected drug vessels at sea anymore. Instead, he said, the U.S. should “just sink the boats,” according to three people present for the speech. At the time of Bove’s comments, President Trump had only been back in office for a month. The White House had made clear that combatting drug cartels…

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The unraveling of the Justice Department

The unraveling of the Justice Department

The New York Times reports: President Trump’s second term has brought a period of turmoil and controversy unlike any in the history of the Justice Department. Trump and his appointees have blasted through the walls designed to protect the nation’s most powerful law enforcement agency from political influence; they have directed the course of criminal investigations, openly flouted ethics rules and caused a breakdown of institutional culture. To date, more than 200 career attorneys have been fired, and thousands more…

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