Religious Americans should treat attacks on any faith group the way NATO treats an attack on a member nation, Catholic League communications director Michael McDonald said Friday ahead of the Newsmax premiere of a documentary on religious liberty.

‘flagged as spam and was ‌never ⁠forwarded’

Less than a week after President Donald Trump appeared in Ohio for a rally ahead of the midterms, Vice President JD Vance showed up to his home state to energize voters.

Vance was campaigning for Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican nominee for governor, as well as Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, who was appointed to fill Vance’s vacancy, and Derek Merrin, who is the nominee to face Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District.

In campaigning for Husted in his special election against former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, Vance promoted Husted as someone who “knows Ohio… fights for Ohio… and has got big results for the people of our state.” In the 20 months he’s been in office, Husted has “fought relentlessly for the people of this state” and is “one of the hardest-workers” in the chamber.

As he applauded Husted’s record, Vance also credited Trump and quipped, “I’m going to get a call from the president” for giving the senator so much attention. Vance still reminded voters that “we cannot do all this great stuff without our amazing congressional allies,” sticking to a theme of affordability.

“I know that people in this state were worried about making life affordable, worried about how can our government make life more affordable for the everyday Ohioan who wakes up, busts their tail every single day. And we got to remember that we’re trying to lower the costs from a crisis that the Democrats left us. And in lowering costs and fighting for your tax dollars and fighting for the money to go into your pocket, there has been no greater ally to the state of Ohio than Jon Husted,” Vance shared.

Speaking about Ramaswamy, Vance reminded how he was involved in the early days of the Department of Government Efficiency, and shared that if elected, their Republican nominee will continue those efforts.

Vance spoke to the economic opportunities and possibilities for Ohio, something Ramaswamy has also addressed, though it has to be done right.

“There is so much potential in this state. There is so much ability, so much dynamism, so much excitement. People want to come and invest in this state and create jobs in this state, but they’re not going to do it if we don’t have smart leadership at the governor’s mansion,” the vice president said.

While many others “have only wished for” property tax relief in Ohio, Vance said Ramaswamy will actually be able to do it, and that it’s “a hallmark” of his campaign.

Vance went after Ramaswamy’s opponent, Democrat Amy Acton, for her role as the Ohio Director of Health during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially on masking children and closing schools, as part of how she “forced mandate after mandate after mandate on the great state of Ohio.”

Just as he did in Middletown in August, Vance celebrated the manufacturing achievements of this administration, while lamenting how Ohio previously saw hard times with jobs being lost and factories closing. “So when I say I want to make Ohio strong again, when I say I want to make America build again, I know exactly what’s at stake,” he shared.

Vance framed success as that partnership between the administration and Ohio Republicans, as he also referenced CNBC ranking Ohio as the best state in the country to do business. That, Vance said, “didn’t happen by accident,” as he added that “it’s not going to keep happening unless we get Jon Husted, Derek Merrin, and Vivek into the positions we need to get them into.”

The vice president not only applauded Republican candidates, but he also slammed the records of Ohio Democrats for how they voted alongside then President Joe Biden and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Vance had words for Brown in particular, referencing how his Papaw was a blue dog Democrat, something he said Brown is not.

“Every single opportunity that Sherrod Brown had to stand up to the far-left radicals and actually fight for the people of this area and the people of this state. He bent the knee and he did what the far-left told him to do. Now he’s back again. He’s back again after a long career,” which Vance said is because Brown “thinks you’re stupid.”

As he called to mind how voters often hear that “this election is the most important election of our lifetimes,” Vance told the crowd he actually believes that to be the case now, as he touted the Trump administration’s accomplishments in “revers[ing] some of the worst trends that existed in the United States for my entire lifetime.”

Vance closed by telling the crowd that they not only need to vote for Republicans but also to “vote to send a message to the Democrats that you need to check the crazy at the door” and that “we need to send a message that America belongs to those who love it, not those who hate it. And so long as the Democrats hate this country, they don’t get our vote and they can stay the hell out of Washington.”

President Donald Trump's administration imposed sweeping sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday, targeting the entire institution for the first time as Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed to cripple its operations and dismantle the court “piece by piece” unless it ended its threats against the United States.

The post Trump Sanctions ‘Rogue’ International Criminal Court as Rubio Vows to Cripple and Dismantle the ICC ‘Piece by Piece’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Hurricane Isaias could make landfall later Friday evening with "major" storm status east of Pensacola, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a Friday afternoon update.

The post Ron DeSantis Hurricane Update: Isaias Could Make Landfall as ‘Major’ Hurricane East of Pensacola appeared first on Breitbart.

President Donald Trump vowed on Friday to protect the legacy of explorer Christopher Columbus from the radical left and accused Michigan Democrat Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed of wanting to abolish Columbus Day.

The post Trump Vows to Protect Christopher Columbus from Radical Left appeared first on Breitbart.

If you only listened to Mayor Zohran Mamdani you’d think that ICE was just plucking out random New Yorkers to shoot for no other reason than sheer malice.

On Thursday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted a raid in the Bronx that led to the shooting of an illegal alien by an agent or agents. The man was taken to a nearby hospital and is expected to survive the shooting.

The mayor, who went into full activist mode, almost immediately took to the streets to deliver a fiery speech about how awful ICE is. He said Thursday night that this incident was proof that the agency needed to be abolished.

“I am angry tonight,” he said in a clip of the speech posted on X. “Because today ICE shot a New Yorker. They shot a New Yorker while his five-year-old child was in the car. ICE makes this city less safe.”

Of course, shortly thereafter anti-ICE protesters violently clashed with police.

I wouldn’t be surprised if there was more unrest in coming days thanks to the dishonest narrative Mamdani peddled.

Let’s be real here. Leftists want to abolish ICE no matter what the facts of this or any other case. They want open borders. They will do anything they can to undermine U.S. immigration law enforcement. And they will even stoop to protecting violent criminals to ensure that they get their way.

They’ve done it before and they are doing it again.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, the man involved in the shooting was an illegal alien from the Dominican Republic who had racked up an extensive criminal history since he arrived in the United States.

According to a DHS statement, the illegal alien—identified by NYPD as Oscar Belgal—had on his record “a prior criminal conviction for grand larceny, and multiple prior arrests for assault, robbery, possession of drugs, and weapons possession. He has associations to the Trinitarios gang, the same gang who brutally shot a CBP officer last year.”

What a fine “New Yorker.”

DHS further said that the illegal alien had been arrested on Dec. 7, 2023, “but was released into the community a few days later by reckless Democrat sanctuary policies that put American lives at risk.”

This gets to the deeper problem with sanctuary cities and states. Why wasn’t this man handed over to ICE and deported years ago? More on that in a bit.

So, Belgal wasn’t a New Yorker at all, had a history of hurting innocent people—maybe even some actual New Yorkers—and is a gangbanger to boot.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said at a press conference on Friday that Belgal had previously attempted to evade arrest by ICE.

This man knew that ICE was on to him, had dodged the law before, and was apparently willing to put his 5-year-old son in harm’s way to escape again. Why wasn’t Mamdani outraged that a criminal was willing to put a child in harm’s way to escape deportation?

A representative for ICE, Marcos Charles, said that during the arrest, Belgal “accelerated his vehicle, smashing into two of our government ICE vehicles and then weaponized his vehicle and proceeded to accelerate going towards other officers.”

That’s apparently when an ICE agent or possibly multiple agents opened fire.

“Our officers, using their training—and believing that their life and the life of the partners and the general public were in danger—used their training and fired weapons,” Charles said, according to the New York Post. “Mr. Belgal was struck by one of the bullets or fragments superficially in the neck. He stopped his vehicle. We arrested him, rendered first aid, and then took him to the hospital.”

Certainly, there will and should be a full investigation of exactly what happened, but none of the facts seemed to matter to Mamdani, who seemed eager to send a New York crowd into a tizzy.

Oh, and he actually tried to secure the illegal alien’s release too.

“For the past two hours, I’ve been on the phone with President Trump and [Homeland Security] Secretary Mullin negotiating the release of the man ICE agents shot. Those negotiations were unsuccessful,” Mamdani said during his Thursday night speech before saying that ICE was “rotten to its core” and needed to be abolished.

Think about that for a moment.

 The Left is so committed to the idea that Trump and ICE are the baddies, that immigration enforcement is so wrong, that leftists are ultimately willing to put even the most terrible, dangerous criminals back on the street to fulfill their agenda.

The rot is in cities like New York City and states like New York, sanctuary jurisdictions that intentionally undermine law enforcement and make it necessary to deploy ICE agents to clean up the mess.

Democrats have frequently peddled the theory that ICE shootings take place in blue states is because of partisanship. But the answer to why is much simpler. Sanctuary cities have created conditions whereby local law enforcement is blocked from cooperating with the federal government.

So, the bottom line is that ICE isn’t making New Yorkers less safe. The mayor is. Gov. Kathy Hochul is. Will they change their tune given the consequences of their actions? Don’t count on it.

Editor’s note: This article discusses mature themes. We’re wasting an awful lot of time talking about “consent” and sexual regret right now, thanks to a young woman suing several men she had group sex with at Cornell University, when we really should be talking about the powerful effect of not consuming hard drugs. TMZ this […]

The signs have been visible for a long time; you just need to pull back from the media noise to see them. {GO DEEP} This announcement does not come as a surprise to us. You might remember that both the U.S and Russia spoke of strategic partnerships surrounding the energy sector.  Obviously, this makes sense […]

The post President Trump Announces Diesel Supply Agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared first on The Last Refuge.

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Weeks before the election, Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, is making the final push against former Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown, and he’s doing so with continued help from Americans for Prosperity Action.

After endorsing Husted in March and releasing a series of ad campaigns since then, AFP Action is continuing to support the senator with more door knocking and another buy, with the Daily Signal receiving an exclusive sneak peek.

Ahead of a midterm election year with President Donald Trump in office, the focus from Husted and AFP Action has been highlighting Brown’s record of decades in office.

In one of the ads first shared with the Daily Signal, there’s a warning against “socialism” with the goal of “total government control.”

“When socialists take more of your paycheck, as they cancel your private health insurance, as they take what is yours and give it away, Sherrod Brown will do what he’s always done: rubber stamp whatever his party tells him to,” the ad warns.

Donovan O’Neil, a senior adviser to AFP Action, spoke to the Daily Signal at a door-knocking event in Polaris, Ohio, about concerns with Brown and the challenges Republicans face.

“There is still an anti-incumbent sentiment out there,” O’Neil shared. “[Voters] know that the problems they’re facing today, from the fuel pump to the grocery store, in terms of cost of living, are a result of decades of D.C. dysfunction.”

“Do we go backwards to the guy who voted for trillions in new spending and created the challenges we have in this country, or do we chart a new path forward with Jon Husted?” O’Neil asked. While he warned Brown would be “a rubber stamp” for “D.C. Democrats” like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., he said Husted “is a voice for the working people here in Ohio.”

O’Neil also mentioned further concerns about socialism when asked about having enough support to get Husted’s bills passed in the future, like the Ratepayer Protection Act, which Senate Democrats blocked last month despite near-unanimous support in the House.

“I think when we talk about why we should retain a Republican majority in Washington, it’s really to hold back against the rise of socialism we’re seeing in the Democrat Party and the bad policies that come with that,” O’Neil explained, adding, “Jon Husted is an independent voice for the working families of Ohio, and we need to send him back.”

During his own remarks to volunteers, Husted similarly focused on Brown’s record. The senator asked if anyone has ever told them about Brown doing something to make lives better.

“[Brown] spent 32 years in Washington, and anywhere you go, you can’t talk to anybody who actually said that he’s done anything to make their life better,” Husted said. “He talks about how bad the system is. He is the system. He created the system, and he can’t tell you anything he’s done to change the system to make your lives better. And it’s pretty pathetic after being there that long.”

Husted called Brown’s record “stunning” on tax increases and illegal immigration. The senator focused on that latter topic, highlighting how Ohio drivers have been killed in accidents caused by illegal immigrants given licenses by sanctuary states.

In speaking to reporters before he addressed AFP Action volunteers, Husted also spoke about the importance of turning voters out, while contrasting his and Brown’s records.

“We’ve made a lot of progress on the things [voters] care about,” Husted said, acknowledging “the voters that came out in the last election, we need them to come out in this election.”

As he pointed to his efforts with the Working Families Tax Cuts and economic successes for Ohio with “the most jobs and lowest unemployment rate in the state’s history,” Husted added that lawmakers must “keep driving prices down.”

During the rally in Vandalia, Ohio, last weekend, Trump asked the crowd to act like he was on the ballot to increase voter turnout.

When asked by the Daily Signal if he thought the Trump rally from last weekend helped his chances, Husted pointed to the attendance of “over 5,000 charged up people there” and gave a particular shoutout to former NFL Coach Jon Gruden, who “riled people up more than just about anything” at the rally.

The ads and the rest of AFP Action’s efforts don’t merely go after Brown; they also highlight Husted’s accomplishments.

“Jon Husted believes in America. He knows times are tough, but turning our back on freedom and embracing socialism would make things much worse,” another ad shared with the Daily Signal mentions. “Jon can be trusted. He never quits. He’s got the energy to change D.C. and deliver commonsense solutions. Drive down costs by cutting spending, cutting taxes.”

When asked if voters are being encouraged to “give Jon Husted another chance”—Husted was appointed to fill now-Vice President JD Vance’s seat in January 2025O—’Neil drew a contrast to what Husted has done since then, while Brown served three terms in the Senate.

Both Husted and O’Neil promoted the senator’s involvement in the Working Family Tax Cuts, with O’Neil focusing on how it “lock[s] in one of the largest tax cuts in a generation for working families across the country, but most importantly here in Ohio.”

There’s the contrast to Brown on that too, as O’Neil added that, “Over 20 years, Sherrod Brown has voted for more spending that has made everything cost more.”

AFP Action has put out other ads for Husted and against Brown this cycle. This latest campaign across Ohio—a mix of digital, television, and radio advertising to engage voters—comes in at $5.2 million, bringing AFP Action’s total investment for the cycle to about $15 million.

O’Neil noted that Ohio’s special election “will be probably one of the most expensive races in the nation when all is said and done.” AFP Action was also involved in the Brown-Moreno race, which was likewise expensive.