Democrats just scored a shocking win in Lancaster, Pennsylvania’s state Senate special election. This is a seat in a district that President Trump carried by 15 points in November. A deep-red district. A “safe” seat. And yet we lost. Let me say something few in politics have the courage to admit: I got this one wrong. We cannot afford to sit out the mail-in game and hope for a red wave to appear by magic on Election Day. I want to make sure every patriot understands exactly what happened — and what it means for the future of freedom in Pennsylvania and across the country. Citizens Alliance offered to activate the PA CHASE program to protect the 36th Senate District seat. We were prepared to mobilize ballot chasers, execute our mail-in voting strategy, and ensure that Republican turnout matched the intensity of the left. But we were told it wouldn’t be necessary. GOP insiders said the special election would be “a cakewalk.” Consultants assured us that the Republican candidate would cruise to victory by double digits. They were wrong. And I was wrong to believe them. Let’s be very clear about why this happened. The Democrats crushed us in mail-in voting. Democrat mail-in votes totaled 8,869, while Republican mail-in votes lagged at 3,547. That means that the GOP candidate earned just 28.5% of the mail-in vote. Our internal modeling for Pennsylvania has been consistent and accurate: To win statewide or in swing districts, Republicans must hit 33% of the mail-in vote. In 2024, President Trump got 34.5% of the mail-in vote, thanks in part to our PA CHASE efforts. But in this race, we came up short. The proof is right in front of us. The rules in Pennsylvania give Democrats a 50-day head start on voting. They use every one of those days to chase ballots, engage low-propensity voters, and dominate the mail-in process. Republicans have been asleep at the wheel. Do I like mail-in voting? No. I believe in one day of voting with ID. But that’s not the system we have. And until it changes, we must compete under the rules in place. We cannot afford to sit out the mail-in game and hope for a red wave to appear by magic on Election Day. That’s a losing strategy, and the Lancaster loss is proof. Democrats are building momentum, infrastructure, and habits that will carry them through every cycle unless we match them with precision and resolve. The good news? We know how to fix it. We officially relaunched the PA CHASE program for 2025. Our mission is clear: Knock on 500,000 doors every year and deliver victories at every level of government. We've built the data models. We’ve trained the teams. We’ve proven it works. But we need more patriots to step up. We can’t let complacency cost us any more seats. Let Lancaster County serve as a wake-up call. If Republicans don’t get serious about mail-in voting, we will keep losing seats that should be safely in our column. We will keep watching the Democrats run laps around us while we pretend it’s still 2004. I’ll take the hit for this one. I should have pushed harder. I should have raised the funds and targeted this critical special election despite the naysayers. That won’t happen again. The path forward is clear. Fight fire with fire. Chase every ballot. Win.

Vice President JD Vance made the case for annexation on a trip to Greenland along with his wife, Usha Vance, and a U.S. delegation. The vice president told the residents of Greenland that they were being neglected by Denmark and would do far better if they joined the U.S. President Donald Trump has made it a goal of his second term to annex Greenland, which would increase the square mileage of the U.S. by more than a fifth. 'We're the only nation on earth that will respect their sovereignty and respect their security.' Vance visited the U.S. military base at Pituffik to make his remarks in front of members of the military. He made the case that Russia and China both have plans for Greenland and that the country would be better off staking its future with the United States. "Yes, the people of Greenland are going to have self-determination," said Vance. "We hope that they choose to partner with the United States, because we're the only nation on earth that will respect their sovereignty and respect their security, because their security is very much our security, as these brave Americans show. .@VP: "Yes, the people of Greenland are going to have self-determination. We hope that they choose to partner with the United States because we're the only nation on Earth that will respect their sovereignty and respect their security because their security is very much our… pic.twitter.com/PREoVdiGIy— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 28, 2025 He went on to say that Greenland's security in the face of foreign ambitions put global peace under threat. "As they expand their ambitions, we can't just bury our head in the sand — or, in Greenland, bury our head in the snow — and pretend that the Chinese are not interested in this very large landmass. We know that they are," Vance said. "They've taken steps to put Greenland in ridiculous debt traps to invest and exploit the resources here," he added. "And we know that they're sending a lot of military resources here. Yes, over the medium term, the United States will meet that challenge." .@VP: "We can't just bury our head in the sand — or, in Greenland, bury our head in the snow — and pretend that the Chinese are not interested in this very large landmass. We know that they are." pic.twitter.com/2qzgOhL2pQ— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 28, 2025 After bringing a message of gratitude from Trump, Vance also personally thanked the service members at the base. "From the bottom of my heart, it is incredible to be a vice president who has served — to know the sacrifice that comes along with it and to see that there are still incredible young Americans willing to put on the uniform and serve this country," he added. .@VP: "It is incredible to be a Vice President who has served -- To know the sacrifice that comes along with it and to see that there are still incredible young Americans willing to put on the uniform and serve this country. You make America a better place and you make an honor… pic.twitter.com/CEerZI6IRB— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 28, 2025 "You make America a better place, and you make it an honor to serve as your vice president," he concluded.Democrats pounced on the trip to criticize the Trump administration. "What the hell is JD Vance doing in Greenland? They don’t want him there. We don’t need him there," wrote Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell of California. "Why won’t he go to Greensboro or Green Bay to see how much Trump’s tariff tax is costing people?"Others have noted that a large majority of Greenland residents, of which there are only about 56,000, are opposed to the U.S. annexation proposal. A group of residents in favor of annexation spoke to the New York Post, but many of them did so anonymously after receiving death threats. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Another federal judge had ruled against the Trump administration, this time to block the shuttering of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson issued a preliminary injunction Friday and will rule on the merits of the lawsuit to keep the CFPB open. Berman said without the injunction that the administration would move quickly to shut down the agency before the judge could make a full ruling. 'This fight isn't over. The case will continue in court.' “If the defendants are not enjoined, they will eliminate the agency before the Court has the opportunity to decide whether the law permits them to do it, and as the defendants’ own witness warned, the harm will be irreparable,” said Berman Jackson. CFPB chief operating officer Adam Martinez testified that the agency had initially fired 70 employees and canceled $100 million in contracts. The lawsuit was filed by the National Treasury Employees Union to block the mass firings, claiming that the president did not have the proper authority to shut down an agency created by congressional vote. Plaintiffs' attorney Deepak Gupta praised the ruling. "This ruling upholds the Constitution’s separation of powers and preserves the Bureau’s vital work," he said. “We’re heartened by the decision and look forward to continuing to press our case in court." Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who was instrumental in the creation of the CFPB, also defended the ruling. "Today a court blocked co-Presidents Trump and Musk from shutting down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This fight isn't over," said Warren. "The case will continue in court, and all of us need to keep fighting for the agency that has returned $21 billion to families who were scammed."Trump's agenda has been stymied by numerous rulings from federal judges, leading some in the administration to call for judicial impeachments in protest of what they say is politically motivated abuse of the legal system. Critics say such an action would result in a constitutional crisis and exhort Trump to follow the appeal process instead. Berman Jackson was nominated to the court by former President Barack Obama in 2010. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Since August 2024, the New York Times has ramped up attacks on Shen Yun Performing Arts, a renowned organization dedicated to reviving the traditional Chinese culture that the Chinese Communist Party uprooted and violently silenced during Mao’s Cultural Revolution — and continues to do so today. The frequency of the hit pieces borders on obsession, with the Times publishing 10 articles on the topic within the past six months. The timing and focus of the New York Times’ articles coincide with the CCP’s broader strategy of transnational repression.These stories, authored by “investigative reporter” Nicole Hong and co-author Michael Rothfeld, allege mistreatment of performers and financial improprieties within Shen Yun. Over 60% of Hong’s articles since August have been focused solely on discrediting Shen Yun. Why the obsession? A closer examination of Hong’s background and potential connections to the CCP raises questions about the impartiality and motivations behind her reporting.Hong’s CCP connectionsHong has been with the New York Times since 2019. She previously worked at the Wall Street Journal, where she once told an interviewer: We have a massive platform at the Journal. We have millions of readers. The editing process is very tough. When these big pieces come out — things we’ve been investigating for weeks — they’re bulletproof. People are going to talk about it.That standard appears to be absent at the Times, which has become known for embarrassing itself in the Trump era. Despite her professional credentials, Hong’s familial connections merit scrutiny over her ability to remain impartial. Her father, George Hong, is a professor at Fordham University in New York and holds several significant positions within organizations closely linked to the CCP.For example, he serves as a visiting professor at Zhejiang University and Jiangxi Normal University, both linked to the CCP. The former is a public university affiliated with China’s Ministry of Education, while the latter is co-sponsored by the Ministry of Education and the communist Jiangxi provincial government. More notably, he was an honorary overseas director of the Western Returned Scholars Association, part of the CCP’s United Front Work Department. This agency gathers intelligence on individuals and organizations inside and outside of China to attack opposition and has been described as “the most powerful association” by Chinese media. In 2023, Chinese dictator Xi Jinping called on WRSA to rally talent worldwide to bolster its efforts.Given George Hong’s prominent role within the WRSA, questions arise about potential biases and influences that may extend to his daughter. An overwhelming majority of children share their parents’ political affiliation, which would help explain why Nicole Hong is pushing false, CCP-friendly narratives. And she’s not the only one with a potential conflict of interest.CCP ties beyond HongHong’s articles are co-written with Michael Rothfeld. Before 1979, the United States and the People's Republic of China had never established formal diplomatic relations. In 1979, Rothfeld was a member of the first cultural delegation from the United States to China, raising further questions about possible biases.So shoddy is Hong and Rothfeld’s reporting that even the supposed victims they cite contradict their claims.In their debut August article alleging that Shen Yun mistreats its performers, Hong and Rothfeld highlight untreated injuries and emotional abuse. They claim performers were discouraged from seeking medical care and were financially exploited, subjecting young performers to extensive rehearsal schedules with minimal pay. However, the performers mentioned in Hong and Rothfeld’s reporting outright contradicted their claims. One performer, Eugene Liu, was portrayed as a victim — a characterization he flatly denies. Liu, who performed from 2015 to 2017, publicly refuted their claims, stating that his experience with Shen Yun was overwhelmingly positive. He credited his time with the dance company for his subsequent artistic successes and for helping him avoid common pitfalls among his peers, such as internet addiction and substance abuse. Liu said he spoke out due to fear that Hong’s second-rate reporting would undermine Shen Yun’s mission to highlight the persecution of Falun Gong adherents in China.The only expert quoted in Hong and Rothfeld’s debut report is Nicholas Bequelin from Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center — which the U.S. Department of Education previously investigated for taking money from the CCP. Shen Yun’s violent opponentsMost damning of all, a Chinese American YouTuber, who calls Falun Gong his enemy, claimed on social media to have been the catalyst for the Times’ reporting — and personally assisted them. After Hong and Rothfeld’s debut article, he posted on X, “I was the one who introduced people to the New York Times, especially for the initial interviews [to discredit Shen Yun].” He was later arrested and charged after being discovered carrying an illegal firearm near a Shen Yun event. Even if he was lying about his involvement in the reporting, his statements still illustrate that Shen Yun’s critics are more than willing to resort to violence.The timing and focus of the New York Times articles coincide with the CCP’s broader strategy of transnational repression. According to Freedom House, a nonprofit that advocates democracy, political freedom, and human rights, China conducts a “sophisticated” and “comprehensive” campaign of transnational repression, aiming to control and influence narratives about its policies and practices abroad. The CCP has targeted Falun Gong in particular since 1999 with its campaign to “eradicate” the religion to maintain state atheism. China has detained Falun Gong practitioners for “reeducation through labor,” tortured 2,000 to death as of 2009, and killed 65,000 to harvest their organs between 2000 and 2008. Even in the absence of more up-to-date statistics, the numbers remain shocking. And this is the party “America’s newspaper of record” has chosen to side with.