Barack Obama spent years telling the country that gerrymandering was destroying American democracy. He launched an entire initiative dedicated to fighting it. He recorded videos about it. He wrote about it on social media. And now, with a critical vote just days away, he wants Virginians to approve one of the most aggressive gerrymanders in modern history. Obama just released a video urging Virginia voters to approve a redistricting referendum on April 21 that would strip power from the state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission and hand it directly to the Democrat-controlled legislature. The projected result? A congressional map that gives Democrats 10 of Virginia’s 11 House seats. Republicans would be left with just one. The New York Post highlighted how ABC News even ran Obama’s campaign video as a breaking news “exclusive,” drawing immediate backlash from journalists and commentators. ABC News faces backlash for presenting Obama campaign ad as an 'exclusive' on redistricting measure https://t.co/TIZisxshHO pic.twitter.com/qs3zPzhsE4— New York Post (@nypost) April 18, 2026 In his video, Obama urged voters to “push back against the Republicans trying to give themselves an unfair advantage in the midterms” and called the redistricting measure “a temporary step to level the playing field.” Level the playing field? Virginia already has a 6-5 Democratic advantage in its congressional delegation. Turning that into 10-1 isn’t leveling anything. It’s a steamroller. Fox News had more on the details: If approved, the measure would transfer temporary redistricting power from Virginia’s current nonpartisan commission to the Democrat-controlled state legislature through the 2030 election cycle. The redistricting could shift Virginia’s congressional delegation from a current 6-5 Democratic advantage to a 10-1 Democratic advantage, a gain of four seats for Democrats in the U.S. House. Obama’s video was released by Virginians for Fair Elections, the Democrat-aligned group supporting the measure. Supporters have significantly outraised opponents, with House Majority Forward contributing roughly half of $40 million to the campaign. $40 million pumped into a single state redistricting push. That should tell you everything you need to know about how badly Democrats want this. Veteran journalist Mark Hemingway called out the media angle perfectly. Why the hell does a major news network consider an extremely partisan campaign ad an "exclusive"? https://t.co/k3hM1Ru7hW— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) April 17, 2026 It’s a fair question. When a former president records a campaign ad for one political party’s redistricting effort, and a major news network runs it as an “exclusive” news story, that’s not journalism. That’s a donation. But the most damaging part of all this is Obama’s own track record. CNN reported on how Obama’s own past statements are being used against him: Having promoted nonpartisan redistricting in the past, Obama and other top Democrats now have to motivate voters to turn out for a special election to impose a gerrymander that could leave Republicans with just one out of 11 US House seats in the state. A group urging Virginians to vote no has sent mailers featuring Obama’s image alongside a six-year-old quote saying, “For too long, gerrymandering has contributed to stalled progress and warped our representative government.” Another past Obama quote states: “Because of things like political gerrymandering, our parties have moved further and further apart.” Read those quotes one more time. Then read what Obama is pushing right now in Virginia. Same man. Completely opposite position. This isn’t complicated. When your guy does it, it’s “restoring fairness.” When the other side does it, it’s “warping our representative government.” The only thing that changed is which party stands to benefit. Former Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin reportedly called the measure “the most blatant seizure of individual rights that any of us have seen in the Commonwealth.” The Virginia GOP has called it an “unconstitutional gerrymandering power grab.” Virginia voters will decide on April 21. Polls show the measure barely ahead, with a Washington Post/Schar School survey finding 52% in favor and 47% opposed. This is going to be close. And somewhere out there, a six-year-old Obama quote about the dangers of gerrymandering is sitting on a mailer in a Virginia mailbox, staring right back at the man who wrote it.

Gavin Newsom wanted America to believe his memoir was a hit. He toured. He promoted. He hit the bestseller lists. The whole thing looked like a legitimate cultural moment for a man openly running for the White House. There was just one problem. The numbers were fake. Federal disclosure records have now revealed that Newsom’s own super PAC, the Campaign for Democracy Committee, spent $1.5 million to purchase roughly 67,000 copies of his memoir, “Young Man in a Hurry.” Total print sales for the book since its February 24 release? About 97,400 copies. Do the math. That means nearly two out of every three copies sold went to his own PAC, not to actual readers. Libs of TikTok put the numbers out there for everyone to see. BREAKING: Gavin Newsom’s PAC used $1.5 million to buy 67,000 copies of HIS OWN BOOK. Total book sales were around 97,400. His PAC’s purchase accounts for about two-thirds of all sold copies pic.twitter.com/mnBaHl7ZFf — Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 17, 2026 The details are even more embarrassing than the headline. The PAC ran a promotion last November and January asking donors to contribute “ANY AMOUNT” and they would receive a copy of the book when it dropped. Federal filings show the PAC paid $1,561,875 to Porchlight Book Company to fulfill those orders, making it the committee’s largest expenditure in the first quarter of 2026. Strip out the PAC purchases and Newsom’s memoir sold approximately 30,000 copies over six weeks. For context, that is not bestseller territory. That is a mediocre launch for a sitting governor running for president. The New York Times reported on the discrepancy: Approximately 97,400 print copies of Mr. Newsom’s memoir have been sold since its publication on February 24, according to the book industry sales tracker Circana BookScan. Federal disclosures reveal that roughly 67,000 of those copies were purchased by his super PAC, the Campaign for Democracy Committee, which paid $1,561,875 to Porchlight Book Company. The New York Times marked the book with a dagger symbol on its bestseller list, which the paper uses “when it has reason to believe that sales of a book include a mix of organic and bulk sales.” That dagger symbol is essentially the Times admitting they know the bestseller status was manufactured. And they put it on the list anyway. The reaction online was exactly what you would expect. And now you know how crappy books become NYTimes bestsellers… https://t.co/3mW0Ws4yzF — John Λ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) April 17, 2026 Newsom’s team has tried to spin the numbers, claiming the promotion “generated net revenue” and “deepened supporter relationships.” That is one way to describe using donor money to buy your own book so you can call yourself a bestselling author. The Megyn Kelly Show laid out the implications: In March, Newsom’s team had claimed more than 91,000 copies had been purchased through “organic, in-person and online, non-bulk purchases.” That claim now appears to have been misleading at best. The PAC’s bulk purchase of 67,000 copies means the overwhelming majority of early sales were anything but organic. After the initial PAC-driven surge, subsequent weekly sales have been modest, with approximately 6,400 organic copies sold in the six weeks following the book’s launch. So Newsom’s team claimed 91,000 “organic” sales. The real number of organic copies sold? Around 6,400 in six weeks. That is not a rounding error. That is a fabrication. This is the man who wants to be President. A man who cannot even sell a book without rigging the system. If he will spend $1.5 million in donor money to fake a bestseller list, what would he do with actual power? California voters already know the answer to that question.Do you agree?

A group of conservative House Republicans just did something that rarely happens in Washington anymore: they said no. In the early hours of Friday morning, more than 20 Republican members voted to block two separate attempts to ram through a long-term reauthorization of FISA Section 702, the controversial surveillance program that allows the federal government to collect Americans’ communications without a warrant. The rebellion killed both proposals dead on the House floor, handing GOP leadership and the White House a rare defeat. The Freedom Caucus-led revolt centered on a simple demand: if the government wants to spy on American citizens, it needs to get a warrant first. That’s not a radical position. That’s the Fourth Amendment. Rep. Thomas Massie laid it all out after the late-night showdown: Last night between midnight and 2am, they tried to pass two bad versions of FISA… Both would have allowed Feds to unconstitutionally spy on Americans.We stopped both versions, but the fight isn’t over. Eventually, it was decided to give them two more weeks to fix FISA. https://t.co/VkckZwH5j4— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) April 17, 2026 The battle lines were clear. Speaker Mike Johnson and the White House wanted a clean 18-month extension with no changes. Privacy hawks in the party, led by Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris and members like Massie, Lauren Boebert, and Chip Roy, demanded amendments that would require a warrant before querying Americans’ data. Twenty Republicans voted against the 18-month extension in the procedural vote, tanking it 197-228. A second attempt also failed. The leadership simply didn’t have the votes. Massie revealed he had personally reviewed classified documents that shaped his opposition: I just viewed 2 Top Secret FISA docs.1) FISA Court opinion that raises serious concerns about FBI implementation of FISA 702.2) letter by Senator Wyden describing a secret government interpretation of FISA law.The Constitution requires I vote No on FISA 702 reauthorization.— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) April 16, 2026 Fox News reported on the scale of the conservative opposition: Speaker Mike Johnson faces conservative opposition over reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, set to expire April 20. Trump and Johnson support an 18-month clean extension, while conservatives demand privacy safeguards. Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris predicted the procedural vote would fail without additional privacy reforms. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna pledged to vote no unless the SAVE America Act was included. CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Fox News: “There’s a lot at stake.” The intelligence community’s argument was straightforward: losing Section 702 during the ongoing Iran conflict would be a national security risk. Gen. Dan Caine warned it would “significantly impair” U.S. security capabilities. CNN detailed the aftermath: More than a dozen rank-and-file Republicans rejected the long-term reauthorization. Twenty Republicans later helped block the 18-month clean reauthorization. GOP privacy hawks demanded floor consideration for warrant-requirement amendments before querying Americans’ communications, demands leadership could not satisfy. Congress ultimately approved a 10-day short-term extension through April 30, 2026, after the long-term deal collapsed. President Trump was expected to sign the measure. So in the end, Congress kicked the can down the road. FISA gets a 10-day lifeline through April 30 while lawmakers try again to hash out a deal that actually includes privacy protections. The Freedom Caucus made their point loud and clear at 2 AM on a Friday morning: the Constitution doesn’t take a break just because it’s politically convenient.

Patrick Bet-David just turned this feud with Tucker Carlson up to eleven. The Valuetainment CEO and PBD Podcast host dropped a direct challenge to Tucker on his show that is going massively viral right now. And it’s not some vague back-and-forth. It’s a put-up-or-shut-up demand to open the books. Bet-David looked into the camera and challenged Carlson to hire third-party accounting firms to audit both of their financials. The purpose? To settle once and for all whether PBD has ever taken money from Israel, or whether Tucker has ever received payments from Qatar or Pakistan. That’s not a talking point. That’s a man willing to bet his entire reputation on transparency. Check it out: BREAKING: Patrick Bet David just directly challenged Tucker Carlson.“Let’s hire third party accounting firms to go through our financials and see if I’ve ever taken money from Israel or if you’ve ever taken money from Qatar or Pakistan.” pic.twitter.com/dNhhpBegq6— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) April 18, 2026 The clip is racking up hundreds of thousands of views already, and for good reason. This is the kind of thing people have been demanding from media figures for years: real accountability, not just accusations thrown back and forth on podcasts. Oh WOW!

Something very strange is going on in America right now, and President Trump just made it clear he’s not going to let it slide. Ten scientists and senior government employees with access to some of the most closely guarded nuclear and aerospace secrets in the country have either vanished or turned up dead since mid-2024. And until this week, almost nobody in Washington was talking about it. That changed when White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the administration has brought in the FBI to holistically review every single case and look for connections between them. Leavitt posted the announcement directly on X: In light of the recent and legitimate questions about these troubling cases, and President Trump’s commitment to the truth, the White House is actively working with all relevant agencies and the FBI to holistically review all of the cases together and identify any potential… pic.twitter.com/SJ9thaFegh— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) April 17, 2026 The list of names is chilling. Retired Air Force Major General William “Neil” McCasland disappeared near Albuquerque on February 27, leaving his phone, glasses, and personal devices behind at home. Monica Reza, a group manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory who worked on rocket materials, vanished during a hiking trip in California in June 2025. Caltech astrophysicist Carl Grillmair was shot and k*lled outside his home in February. Others include Steven Garcia, a government contractor at the Kansas City National Security Campus who has been missing since August 2025, and Anthony Chavez, a Los Alamos National Laboratory employee who vanished in May 2025. President Trump addressed the situation directly when reporters asked him about the cases, calling it “pretty serious stuff.” BREAKING: President Trump vows to look into the 10 scientists who have gone missing or turned up dead:“I hope it’s random, but we’re going to know in the next week and a half.”“I just left a meeting on that subject.”“Pretty serious stuff… Some of them were very important… pic.twitter.com/VMgeZyayXl— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 16, 2026 Newsweek reported on the expanding investigation: The Trump administration confirmed that it was working with the FBI to investigate the mysterious deaths and disappearances of ten U.S. scientists and government employees who had access to nuclear or aerospace material. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that President Donald Trump has brought the FBI into the investigation, stating that the White House is “actively working with all relevant agencies and the FBI to holistically review all of the cases together and identify any potential commonalities that may exist.” “No stone will be unturned in this effort,” Leavitt said. What makes this whole situation even more unsettling is that several of these individuals had overlapping professional connections. McCasland and Reza reportedly worked together on a space materials project. Multiple cases are tied to institutions like NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory, two of the most sensitive research facilities in the country. Fox News provided additional details on the scope of the investigation: Since 2023, ten scientists and senior officials with access to some of America’s most closely guarded nuclear and space secrets have died or disappeared without a trace. Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker suggested the cases may point to “modern-day espionage” rather than coincidence, noting that classified matters typically remain confidential during investigations. Authorities have not established any concrete connection among the cases, but some lawmakers have called for closer scrutiny of the disappearances. Ten people with classified access. Multiple connected to the same research networks. Some missing. Some dead. And the FBI is now on the case. President Trump summed it up: “I hope it’s random, but we’re going to know in the next week and a half.”