The Media Have A New Conspiracy Theory About Trump’s Interior Decorating

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Trump critics often engage in what Federalist contributor Inez Stepman calls the “Hitler also ate breakfast” fallacy: pointing out some tertiary or non-evil habit of Adolf Hitler’s like driving in a car or having an affinity for tariffs, and drawing a comparison to Trump, as if any mundane activity in which Hitler ever engaged is necessarily and permanently fascist-coded. In a 1,700-word thinkpiece published Wednesday, Washington Post opinion columnist Carolina Miranda used that blueprint to draw parallels between President Donald Trump and a new historical villain — the famously absolutist King Louis XIV of France — based on similarities in their interior decorating taste.

If you look at the maximalist gold accents with which Trump has appointed the Oval Office, “the sparkle conveys something more insidious about how Trump views himself,” Miranda writes. “Behold the new Sun King, a wannabe emperor who views his powers as absolute.”

Sure, Jan. Trump’s affinity for flashy, theatrical decor is only breaking news if you’ve been living under a rock since the last century. And he’s hardly the first successful American businessman to develop a taste for extravagant digs.

Miranda argues that Trump’s penchant for Rococo design reflects “an aesthetic that connotes absolute rule” and says “Trump’s gilded gewgaws” are “intimately connected” with “our growing authoritarian state.” Personally, I thought it was pretty authoritarian for the Biden administration to censor Americans’ speech online, round up pro-lifers in armed raids, and brand parents with the language of “domestic terrorism” for raising concerns at school board meetings. But Biden’s taste is more New England elitist than Palm Beach, so I guess that makes it OK?

Miranda even compares Trump’s deportation of illegally present aliens and suspected gang members to Louis XIV throwing Frenchmen into the Bastille. Because the expulsion of foreign lawbreakers, not the Biden administration’s actual attempt to imprison its political opposition, is obviously the most analogous example to draw from here!

(Read more from “The Media Have A New Conspiracy Theory About Trump’s Interior Decorating” HERE)

Tim Walz Official Who Caused $21,000 In Damages To Teslas Will Face No Charges: Prosecutor

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By Daily Caller. An employee in Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s administration will pay the owners of Tesla vehicles that police say he vandalized to avoid criminal charges, an attorney and prosecutor’s office announced Monday.

The office of Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said it will pursue “pre-charge diversion” instead of felony charges against Dylan Adams, a fiscal policy analyst for Walz’s Department of Human Services, Fox 9 reported. Video footage shared by police appeared to show Adams keying six Tesla vehicles around town, marking a trend of attacks stemming from outrage against Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s politics, Minneapolis police said Thursday.

Minneapolis Police on Thursday claimed that Adams caused more than $21,000 in damages to the Teslas. Moriarty’s office warned that “criminal prosecution remains a possibility should [Adams’s] unlawful behavior continue.”

“Our main priorities are to secure restitution for the victims and hold Mr. Adams accountable,” the attorney’s office told Fox 9. The statement said pre-charge diversion “is an approach taken in many property crime cases and helps to ensure the individual keeps their job and can pay restitution, as well as reducing the likelihood of repeat offenses.” (Read more from “Tim Walz Official Who Caused $21,000 In Damages To Teslas Will Face No Charges: Prosecutor” HERE)

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By Patrick Reilly. A progressive district attorney has declined to charge the state employee in Tim Walz-led Minnesota who was allegedly caught causing $20,000 damage by vandalizing half a dozen Teslas — a decision the local police chief ripped as the latest betrayal of victims.

The suspected vandal, 33-year-old Minnesota government employee Dylan Bryan Adams, was allegedly spotted keying the vehicles and stripping their paint off while out walking his dog around the city.

Despite what police believe to be evidence of Adams committing felonies, Hennepin County District Attorney Mary Moriarty will seek diversion rather than criminal charges.

“This is an approach taken in many property crime cases and helps to ensure the individual keeps their job and can pay restitution, as well as reducing the likelihood of repeat offenses,” the attorney’s office said in a statement, CBS News reported.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said at the time of the incident that the damage in each case was the equivalent of a felony. The chief said in a scathing statement on Monday that Moriarty’s decision not to bring charges is frustrating for his officers and the public. (Read more about this Tim Walz official HERE)

Trump Signals Step Back On China Tariffs, Says They’ll ‘Come Down Substantially’

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President Donald Trump signaled Tuesday evening from the Oval Office that the U.S. will ease tariffs on China, saying they’ll “come down substantially” but won’t be eliminated entirely.

On April 2, Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on several countries, with higher rates for nations like China due to their own trade barriers against the U.S. When asked Tuesday about the tariffs against the foreign country, Trump said that the 145% hit would not last forever.

“It’ll come down substantially, but it won’t be zero. It used to be zero,” Trump said. “We were just destroyed. China was taking us for a ride and just not going to — it’s not going to happen. We’re going to be very good to China. I have a great relationship with President Xi, but they would make billions and billions and billions of dollars a year, and they were building a military out of the United States on what they made.”

By April 10, the White House said that Trump’s announced 125% tariff would actually total 145% on all Chinese imports, according to The New York Times. The administration said the 125% would be added on top of a previously announced 20% tariff already in place on goods from China, the outlet reported.

“So that won’t happen. But they’re going to do very well, and I think they’re going to be happy, and I think we’re going to live together very happily and ideally work together. So I think it’s going to work out very well, but, no, it’s at 145%. It will not be anywhere near that number,” Trump said. (Read more from “Trump Signals Step Back On China Tariffs, Says They’ll ‘Come Down Substantially’” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

‘Tough Case To Argue’: SCOTUS Poised To Back Parental Opt-Out For LGBT Content In School

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A majority of Supreme Court justices on Tuesday appeared to be in favor of backing parents’ rights to opt their children out of explicit LGBT content in schools during oral arguments in a Maryland religious liberty case.

The case, Mahmoud v. Taylor, revolved around Muslim, Christian, and Jewish parents from Montgomery County, Maryland. The county school board would not allow these parents to remove their elementary school children from portions of class actively advocating for things like gay marriage, trans-identifying children, pride parades, and the idea that a child can change his “gender identity” at any given moment.

Attorneys for the county board are claiming the purpose of the instruction was to simply engender “inclusivity,” and that the children who were being exposed to the material, ranging from pre-kindergarten to sixth grade, were only being shown that gay “marriages” exist. But that narrative was swiftly cut down by questioning from Justice Samuel Alito to parents’ attorney Eric Baxter, senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.

“It has a clear moral message,” Alito said of Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, one of the books in question, which the justice said he has read. “And it may be a good message. It’s just a message that a lot of religious people disagree with. … I don’t think anybody can read that and say, ‘Well, this is just telling children that there are occasions when men marry other men.’”

Alito pointed out that while every character in the book was excited and supporting the gay wedding, the only character “who has reservations about it,” a little girl named Chloe, was quickly corrected for her wrong thought and told she should have zero reservations at all. (Read more from “‘Tough Case To Argue’: SCOTUS Poised To Back Parental Opt-Out For LGBT Content In School” HERE)

Military Finds Physical Reality Shatters DEI-Fueled Theories About The Sexes

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Ten years have passed since the Department of Defense initiated a social experiment with women in the military. Pentagon officials promised that female trainees headed for previously all-male combat arms units would have to meet the exact same standards as men. Has the experiment played out as promised?

We are about to find out. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s March 30 memorandum calls for a 60-day review to achieve high, uncompromised standards in combat arms units such as the infantry, special operations, and other occupations with extraordinary physical demands.

Thanks to a series of executive orders that President Donald Trump has issued since January, Hegseth’s six-month implementation period should proceed without equivocation or distractions related to percentage-based diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) quotas. Wrote Hegseth, “[I]t is essential to identify which positions require heightened entry-level and sustained physical fitness.”

An honest review of contemporary policies regarding women in the military should reflect sound priorities unrelated to DEI. Career opportunities are important, but if there is a conflict, the needs of the military must come first.

Direct Ground Combat Goes Beyond ‘In Harm’s Way’

As the Center for Military Readiness stated in this CMR policy analysis, implementation of Hegseth’s order must begin with clear definitions of terms, starting with “direct ground combat” (DGC). Direct ground combat arms units such as the infantry, armor, artillery, and special forces in all branches of the service are trained to seek out and attack the enemy with deliberate offensive action.

Physical demands in DGC units typically are greater than those in units and military occupational specialties (MOSs) that serve “in harm’s way” in war zones. Men and women serving in such roles are at risk of contingent or incident-related combat, and those who come under fire are trained to fight back and return to base. Their mission, however, is not to seek out and engage the enemy with deliberate offensive action. (Read more from “Military Finds Physical Reality Shatters DEI-Fueled Theories About The Sexes” HERE)

Guy Who Claimed To Invent Earth Day Was A Hippie Who Murdered His Girlfriend

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Today is Earth Day, a good time to remember that the guy who claimed to have founded this “peace and love” environmental celebration was a convicted murderer.

Ira Einhorn was a tie-dye-wearing, long-bearded hippie “guru” in Philadelphia who originally became known for his environmental activism in the 1960s and ’70s.

Today, he’s better known for killing his girlfriend and stuffing her body in a trunk.

A famous photo shows Einhorn flashing a peace sign on stage at the first Earth Day in Philadelphia on April 22, 1970, and he later claimed that Earth Day was his idea.

He became popular with ecological groups during the counterculture movement of the ’60s and protested the Vietnam War. He was a teacher at Temple University, but his contract was not renewed after he said he offered students “straight answers about the delights and dangers” of cannabis and LSD. Their parents were definitely thrilled.

He nicknamed himself “Unicorn” because his last name translates to “one horn.” Later, he became known as the “Unicorn Killer.” (Read more from “Guy Who Claimed To Invent Earth Day Was A Hippie Who Murdered His Girlfriend” HERE)

RFK Jr. Announces Intent to Phase Out Synthetic Food Dyes

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The Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration announced on Tuesday a series of measures to phase out eight artificial food dyes and colorings from America’s food supply by the end of next year.

Speaking at a news conference, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the agencies will work with food companies to remove dyes from products.

“I just want to urge all of you, it’s not the time to stop; it’s the time to redouble your efforts, because we have them on the run now, and we are going to win this battle,” Kennedy told a crowd of “Make America Healthy Again” supporters during the news conference. “And four years from now, we’re going to have most of these products off the market, or you will know about them when you go to the grocery store.”

At the news conference, FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary said the agencies are looking to revoke authorization for two synthetic food colorings and to work with the food industry to eliminate six remaining synthetic dyes used in cereal, ice cream, snacks, yogurts and more.

“Today, the FDA is taking action to remove petroleum-based food dyes from the U.S. food supply and from medications. For the last 50 years, American children have increasingly been living in a toxic soup of synthetic chemicals,” he told reporters. (Read more from “RFK Jr. Announces Intent to Phase Out Synthetic Food Dyes” HERE)

President Trump To Attend Funeral Of Pope Francis In Rome

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President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he will attend the funeral of Pope Francis, which will likely take place in Rome this month.

“Melania and I will be going to the funeral of Pope Francis, in Rome,” the president shared in a Truth Social post on Monday afternoon. “We look forward to being there!”

It’s not immediately clear when the funeral will be: a pope is typically mourned for nine days while the College of Cardinals comes together to pray. After the pope’s funeral takes place, the conclave of cardinals will elect a new pope.

His announcement came after he ordered federal and state flags to fly at half-staff in memory of Pope Francis.

“As a mark of respect for the memory of His Holiness Pope Francis, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, on the day of interment,” Trump wrote in a separate post. (Read more from “President Trump To Attend Funeral Of Pope Francis In Rome” HERE)

Jury Rules New York Times Did Not Libel Sarah Palin in Defamation Case

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A federal jury ruled that the New York Times did not libel former Alaskan Republican Gov. Sarah Palin in a 2017 editorial in the latest update to the years-long lawsuit.

The jury reached its decision after deliberating for about two hours following both sides delivering their closing arguments to the Manhattan federal court civil trial. The trial was in its second week.

In a comment to Fox News Digital, NYT spokesperson Danielle Rhoades said, “We want to thank the jurors for their careful deliberations. The decision reaffirms an important tenet of American law: publishers are not liable for honest mistakes.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Palin’s legal team for comment. It is unclear yet whether she plans to appeal the decision.

Palin, who became a national figure as the 2008 Republican vice presidential pick of the late Sen. John McCain, first sued the paper in 2017 for defamation after claiming an editorial falsely linked her to the deadly 2011 mass shooting that wounded then-Rep. Gabby Giffords, D-Ariz., and killed six people. The editorial was published in response to the 2017 mass shooting at a Republican congressional baseball practice that severely wounded Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La. (Read more from “Jury Rules New York Times Did Not Libel Sarah Palin in Defamation Case” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Senator Confirms Taxpayers Funded His Meeting With Alleged MS-13 Gangbanger

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Democratic Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen confirmed Sunday that his trip to El Salvador to try to secure the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a deported illegal immigrant with alleged ties to MS-13, was funded by U.S. taxpayer dollars.

Van Hollen made the admission during an interview on Fox News Sunday with Shannon Bream.

When pressed by Bream about who paid for the trip, Van Hollen said it was an “officially cleared, you know, congressional trip.”

“So taxpayer dollars?” Bream questioned.

“Yes, like every other trip,” Van Hollen replied.

(Read more from “Sen. Chris Van Hollen Confirms Taxpayers Funded His Meeting With Alleged MS-13 Gangbanger” HERE)