Mehek Cooke, senior national security and legal analyst for The Daily Signal, said President Donald Trump’s endorsement in the Texas Senate race is a direct message to Republican incumbents that voters are no longer satisfied with party labels but instead desire results. Appearing on ABC News’ election coverage Tuesday, Cooke argued that Trump has become “very calculated” with his endorsements and that his involvement has repeatedly caused an “earthquake” in Republican primaries. “President Trump is auditing every single candidate to make sure that they’re going to deliver … in the Senate or in Congress,” Cooke said, pointing to the Texas Senate race between Attorney General Ken Paxton and Sen. John Cornyn as part of a broader reckoning inside the GOP. She argued there was an immediate surge of support for Paxton when Trump backed him. Cooke said Republicans have controlled many states for decades but have not always delivered results for voters. Trump’s endorsement of Paxton reflected a demand for action over seniority in office. Cooke cited Paxton’s record as Texas attorney general and his legal fights against the Biden administration on border security as evidence of what voters want. She specifically referenced Paxton’s role in fighting to keep barbed wire in place along the U.S.-Mexico border as Texas confronted the illegal immigration crisis. When pressed about Paxton’s personal and political controversies and whether they could potentially damage Republicans in a general election, Cooke said the argument was “old and tired.” “Voters knew exactly who they were voting for,” she said. “They want a man of governance and not somebody who’s just checking in and showing lip service.” Cooke argued that Democrats would use the same talking points on Paxton’s “baggage” because they do not have a governing alternative. She contrasted Paxton’s border record with Democrat James Talarico’s immigration stance, which she described as laying a “welcome mat for illegals.” Cooke accused Democrats of relying on anti-Trump attacks rather than solutions, saying that Democrats have not learned from their autopsy report of the last election and pointing to their obsession with “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” She argued that voters care more about gas prices, inflation, border security and economic stability. “The tired arguments have to stop,” Cooke said, “because this is a losing strategy.”

The warmth of Mamdani’s collectivism is going to leave a lot of landlords and tenants out in the cold. On Tuesday, New York City’s socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a new city housing plan in which he provocatively said that for properties that have suffered through “chronic neglect” the city will work to “transfer ownership” to the community. The “stewards” of the expropriated property will “include community land trusts, non-profits, or even the tenants themselves.” NOW: Mamdani says his admin will transfer ownership from bad landlords to non-profits. “For buildings that have suffered chronic neglect, we will work to transfer ownership to responsible stewards. Stewards that include community land trusts, non-profits, or even the tenants… pic.twitter.com/YHhzGWPgWh— Brecca Stoll (@breccastoll) May 26, 2026 Surprise! The guy who ran as a socialist is a socialist. In Latin America, this was known as Land Seizures. https://t.co/9Ij8HgsmS2— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) May 26, 2026 OK, it’s not exactly a curveball that Mamdani is making property confiscation a key part of his policy agenda. He’s made rent freezes and shaking down landlords and the “rich” a central part of his “affordability” message. What can’t be done by the private sector has to be done by a socialist he’s said, while rebuking history with midwit rejoinders. And I’m sure the Marxist New York City tenant director Cea Weaver, who has said that we should transition from “treating property as an individual good to a collective good” in her plan to impoverish middle-class white residents, is practically giddy. What kind of violations will lead to property confiscation is unclear. This could just be an excuse to come up with ticky-tac violations to weaponize the government against landlords who are often forced to operate within tight margins in the city. Abolishing private property in 2 easy stepsStep 1 – Rent control: Rent is lower than costs and taxes so you can't do maintenance.Step 2 – Seizure: You don't have the money to do maintenance and the state uses it as an excuse to take your property.pic.twitter.com/xEkMbR0EZb— Daniel Di Martino (@DanielDiMartino) May 27, 2026 Socialists always have the most “success” when creating problems that they say they alone can solve. The mindset is that once after acquiring control of the means of production, or in this case the property, they can think about the details of making it work later. Well, maybe never, but once they’ve seized power, what does it matter? What’s interesting is that Mamdani included nonprofit groups on his list of possible beneficiaries of the property confiscation. In that sense, his policies are very much like the mainstream of the Democratic Party, which has mastered the craft of laundering money to their activist class through ideologically-aligned NGO’s. City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino suggested that might be the big takeaway here. She surmised that Mamdani aims to make his friends in the Democratic Socialists of America and other similar groups the “new land barons of New York, complete with all the political clout, leverage, and reach that goes along with it.” In that sense, what he’s doing is likely just a more radical continuation of what’s already been happening in the city. He’s supercharging existing city policy and handing the keys of  governing to his taxpayer-funded DSA army. Mamdani’s dreams of public property ownership have already partially come true with the New York City Housing Authority, which has hardly produced a panacea for renters. NYCHA has been consistently labeled the Big Apple’s “worst landlord” for more than half a decade. In 2024, the Department of Justice charged 70 current and former NYCHA employees with bribery and extortion, which was the largest number of federal bribery charges in a single day in American history. I’m sure things will get better if you give them more power and less accountability, right? Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said in an interview on Fox Business that Mamdani’s plan was “communism.” She said though that the city government was already the “biggest slumlord” in New York. “When you look at these facilities, there’s mold, there’s leaks, there’s rodents, there’s roaches,” she said. “ … The idea that he’s going to go after other city landlords when they can’t even manage the portfolio that they currently have to provide good dignity of life for those residents is mindboggling.” News for @NYCMayor—The biggest slumlord in New York City is NYCHA. Fix those buildings before pushing a communist plan to seize private property to supposedly “fix” pic.twitter.com/rHsjpxqpbB— Rep. Nicole Malliotakis Office (@RepNicole) May 27, 2026 Another New York Republican, Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, wrote on X that if Mamdani was upset at bad landlords with a long list of violations he should look at NYCHA, which had over “600,000 unanswered work orders.” Comrade Mamdani must be talking about NYCHA buildings that had over 600,000 unanswered work orders when he promises to “TRANSFER OWNERSHIP” of “buildings that have suffered chronic neglect.”Maybe focus on that instead of UNCONSTITUTIONALLY attacking private property owners aka… https://t.co/wonxB8lyVg— Councilwoman Inna Vernikov (@InnaVernikov) May 27, 2026 And one long-term New York resident wrote in March for the left-leaning New York Daily News that with NYCHA buildings he’s seen “the hallways left uncleaned, the elevators in disrepair and the air thick with mold and roaches that leave children wheezing from asthma. I’ve seen holes in the walls, felt cold heating systems that do not work, and complaints that get ignored.” Yet, the resident said, Mamdani “targets private landlords while ignoring the shortcomings of city government. The city doesn’t maintain these NYCHA buildings as they expect private owners to do. The agency doesn’t show pride or care.” There’s your glorious, affordable future New Yorkers.

After his Tuesday night shellacking of incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn in Texas’ Senate primary runoff, Lone Star State Attorney General Ken Paxton is gathering some of the support he’ll need to battle Democrat state Rep. James Talarico. With President Donald Trump’s endorsement behind him, Paxton defeated Cornyn by more than 30 points. Republicans, including those who have had differences with Paxton in the past, fell in line behind the nominee.  Cornyn, for one, indicated he would support Paxton in the general election after months of running vicious campaign ads that hammered Paxton with accusations of corruption and marital infidelity.   Paxton was impeached by the Texas state House in 2023 on corruption charges before being acquitted by the state Senate. His wife, Angela Paxton, filed for divorce during the campaign on what she called “biblical grounds.” “I’ve always supported the Republican ticket, and I intend to do so again in this general election,” Cornyn said. “I’ve said throughout this race that I trust the voters of Texas, and they’ve made their decision and I must respect it.” Ken Paxton quickly established himself on the opposing side of Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate James Talarico during his Texas primary runoff victory speech. Paxton called Talarico an "extreme radical," kicking off the battle to November. pic.twitter.com/1GNCsg4kB8— Spectrum News 1 Texas (@SpectrumNews1TX) May 27, 2026 Texas’ Republican Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows also backed Paxton after the results came in, calling him “a steadfast conservative fighter for Texas.” Burrows voted to impeach Paxton in 2023. “With so much at stake for our state and our country, Republicans are united and ready for the fight ahead. Looking forward to supporting Ken Paxton as we work to protect the values and freedoms that make Texas exceptional,” Burrows wrote. Paxton did not attack his past Republican foes in his victory speech. Signs of support from Washington, D.C., Republicans came in as well. On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who backed Cornyn in the primary, said on the Hugh Hewitt Show that Republicans must rally behind Paxton. “Republican voters in Texas spoke last night,” he said. “Ken Paxton’s our nominee heading into November, and we’ve got to pivot and go all in to make sure that we keep Texas red, that he wins, and that we keep a far left liberal out of the United States Senate.” Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, an ally of Senate leadership and a big fundraiser, endorsed Paxton after the runoff. “The voters have spoken. Now Republicans must unite and win,” the Ohio Republican declared. “Beto 2.0, James Talarico, is a far-left freak who supports open borders, trans ideology, and even called the American flag a ‘complicated symbol,’” Moreno wrote. “Make no mistake: Ken Paxton will beat him in November and crush the dreams of the out-of-state billionaires propping up his campaign.” Democrat James Talarico is a woke weirdo. Kick him to the curb where he belongs, Texas. pic.twitter.com/auCFoOIinl— David M. McIntosh (@DavidMMcintosh) May 27, 2026 Moreno, like Paxton, is holding Talarico to account for past statements Republicans believe are at odds with the conservative mindset of Texas voters. Paxton has used several nicknames for the state legislator, including “six-gender Jimmy” and “James Tala-Freako.” In one anti-Talarico clip already shown by the Trump-aligned Club for Growth, Talarico says it is “existential that we try to reduce our meat consumption.” In his victory speech Tuesday, Paxton slammed Talarico for his alleged veganism, saying, “He’s a threat to our very way of life and our values. I mean, he’s a vegan who thinks God is nonbinary and that there’s actually six biological sexes. It’s hard to imagine someone more radical than that.”  In response to the attacks, Talarico spokesman JT Ennis told The Daily Signal, “James is a law-and-order Democrat who has a proven track record voting to send billions of dollars to support law enforcement. He supports border security and has criticized both parties for grandstanding on the issue of immigration—it’s why he’s authored legislation to modernize our ports of entry and called for more border patrol agents.” Ennis added, “As costs continue to rise and corruption in Washington runs rampant, James is focused on taking power back for working people and bringing down the price of gas, groceries, and health care.” Talarico has pushed back on Republican attacks, saying in a recent CBS interview, “There are statements that I’ve made where I’ve missed the mark. I’ll be the first to admit that. But Ken Paxton is intentionally clipping my cringey comments to distract from his career of corruption.”  Texas state Rep. and Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico responded to GOP attacks over his past remark that God is “non-binary,” telling @edokeefe that some of his previous comments “missed the mark.”“There are some statements that I’ve made that I certainly regret,”… pic.twitter.com/VRsEXHo6ir— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 27, 2026 The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), which backed Cornyn in the primary, also on Wednesday removed its press releases that attacked Paxton. The NRSC’s post-runoff statement did not mention Paxton or Cornyn but instead declared that a “state that elected President Trump isn’t going to elect James Talarico—a radical leftist who thinks God is nonbinary.” Paxton may need some Washington, D.C., money in his fight with Talarico, who hauled in $27 million in the first three months of 2026 and claimed to have raised $600,000 in the two hours following Paxton’s runoff victory. He will likely be able to count on the support of the Republican Party’s most powerful fundraiser, President Donald Trump. “I will do some nice, big, beautiful rallies for Ken,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday. “Texas, this will be FUN!” Related PostsPaxton Defeats Cornyn in Texas Senate PrimaryTexas Attorney General Ken Paxton defeated incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn in the state’s primary runoff Tuesday, adding to President Donald Trump’s hot streak of unseating those he considers insufficiently loyal and ending Cornyn’s multi-decade career in the Senate. The Associated Press declared Paxton the victor at 9 p.m. EDT, when he held a 25…Trump Endorses Paxton in Texas Senate RacePresident Donald Trump weighed in Tuesday on the Texas Republican Senate primary runoff, backing the state’s Attorney General Ken Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn. “Ken is a true MAGA Warrior who has ALWAYS delivered for Texas, and will continue to do so in the United States Senate,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday. He…Texas Dem Senate Candidate Posts Massive Fundraising NumbersTexas Democrat James Talarico has amassed a huge war chest in his bid to flip a Lone Star State Senate seat in November. Talarico, a member of the state House who beat U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett for his party’s nomination in March, raised $27 million in the first three months of 2026, his campaign announced…

The Heritage Foundation on Wednesday announced the election of four new leaders to its board of trustees. As the conservative movement is at a decisive moment, the policy think tank welcomed Mollie Hemingway, Lawrence Blanford, J.C. Huizenga, and Dr. Yoram Hazony to its independent governing board. “The future of the country depends on whether Americans are willing to defend the permanent things: faith, family, community, sovereignty, and self-government,” Heritage Foundation President Dr. Kevin Roberts said in a press release. “These trustees understand that task and bring the intellectual seriousness and leadership necessary to help Heritage deliver on our mission and meet this moment.” Roberts called Hemingway “one of the most trusted and fearless voices in American journalism.” She is a renowned journalist, best-selling author, and editor in chief of The Federalist. Hazony brings national sovereignty and constitutional self-government expertise as the president of the Herzl Institute in Jerusalem, a public affairs and educational institute. An Israeli philosopher, he has authored numerous books related to Jewish theology. Blanford and Huizenga, two successful business leaders, will offer their expertise as entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs. All four leaders were elected as The Heritage Foundation expands its influence across public policy, media, education, and culture. Roberts said each new trustee supports the institution’s mission to “build an America where freedom, opportunity, prosperity, and civil society flourish.” The board, chaired by Barb Van Andel-Gaby, governs the institution, with more than 10 million members supporting its policy research. All new members contribute to the advancement of the new four cornerstones that make up Heritage 2.0: the American Family, the Dignity of Work and the Future of Free Enterprise, National Security, and American Heritage and Citizenship. “Heritage’s mission is not only to produce and promote ideas, but to help build and sustain a governing movement capable of revitalizing the country,” Roberts said. “At a time when the country is demanding leadership rooted in truth, courage, sovereignty, and common sense, these trustees bring the experience, conviction, and strategic insight needed to help secure America’s future for the next generation.”

Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words” from Daily Signal Senior Contributor Victor Davis Hanson. Subscribe to Victor Davis Hanson’s own YouTube channel to watch past episodes. Jack Fowler: Well, Victor, let’s get you to talk about Tulsi Gabbard, who is resigning for—her husband has a rare form of bone cancer. Some people have been nasty. Let me read one of the nasty things, if I can find it. You’ll forgive me, my notes are all jumbled. But our favorite person in the world, the state— the senator from California, the—  Yes. Here’s what Adam Schiff had to say. I can’t stand this guy. “My thoughts go out to Tulsi Gabbard and her family, and her husband battles a serious health problem. I hope and pray that he makes a speedy—” Where’s the but? Yeah, a but’s coming. “But let’s be clear, Tulsi Gabbard’s only positive contribution to our nation’s national security is her resignation.  She politicized intelligence. She dismantled …” Who is he to say that? “She dismantled critical agencies keeping America safe. She weaponized the IC to pursue baseless election fraud claims and more. We must ensure that her tenure represents a terrible exception at DNI and not the new normal,” blah, blah, blah.  Shut up, Adam. Your thoughts? Adam,   Victor Davis Hanson: Adam, you were censured by the U.S. Congress. You were censured. And the reason you were censured is you lied under oath. You were on the House Intelligence Committee. You knew that Eric Ciaramella never heard one word of Donald Trump’s phone call to [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy, not one word.  It was—I think I got to get this right ’cause he corrected people. Lt. Col. [Alexander] Vindman, who was on the call, it was a classified, confidential call. He had no business disclosing the contents outside the National Security Council secure room. He did. He called or met with Mr. Ciaramella and said, “I think we have a way to get Trump because I’m interpreting what he said about holding up weapons, holding up weapons deliveries based on the investigation of corruption that pertains to the Biden family.”  And then Mr. Ciaramella says, “OK, I will be the whistleblower to protect you, and both of us will go to Adam Schiff, and we will coordinate how we can get this out in the public.” And then they ask Adam Schiff, “Did you meet with the,” and he said, “No.”   And he cooked the whole thing up. And the irony was that what they charged Donald Trump with in the first impeachment was exactly what Joe Biden did.  The only difference is Donald Trump didn’t say, “Well, I went over there to Ukraine, and I said, ‘You fire the prosecutor for what he’s doing,’” i.e., the prosecutor was looking into Hunter Biden and Burisma. Or, “You know, I’m looking at my watch,” and I’m going to leave here in about an hour, and I’m not going to give you your 4 million, 40 million, 400, whatever it was.  And then he’s bragging to the Council on Foreign Relations, in which this conversation took place. And he goes, son of a blank, and they paid. Ha ha, tough Joe. I shook them down so Hunter got protected, and they wanted their congressional. And what was the impeachment? Donald Trump suspended congressionally approved aid.  That’s exactly what Joe Biden did. Exactly. Only Trump didn’t brag about it. And Trump released it. And Trump was the first president to really give them offensive arms, which neither [Joe] Biden nor [Barack] Obama had approved. So he’s a real scoundrel, Adam Schiff.   Jack Fowler: Any thoughts about Tulsi Gabbard’s performance overall?  Victor Davis Hanson: She came from the—originally from the Tucker [Carlson], Joe Kent wing of MAGA. It was kind of, she was a Democratic, eccentric, and that eccentricity on the Democratic side, a radical libertarian, I suppose you’d call her, dovetailed with the Rand Paul school of MAGA. And she got along with Trump for that reason.  But when she went into the office, she was very good. I can remember last June, last July, she was releasing all the stuff about [James] Clapper and [John] Brennan. Everything we know about what Obama did in the transition, that he brought Clapper and [James] Comey and Brennan in and said to all three of them, “I want some connection and proof for this collusion narrative that we’re gonna spring to.”  This was after the election as well, “that we’re gonna do to basically ruin Trump’s transition and first year.” And they said, “Well, what do you want us to do?” Just ignore what your case officers say and give me what I want. She released all that. She released all that about Kevin Clinesmith and Judge Rosenberg and all of that stuff.  Comey. So she did a very good job. The problem that I think she’s having is she doesn’t believe in optional military engagements in the Middle East, and she was—had a service. And she’s not Tucker or the others who are just screaming and yelling, and she’s not going to do what Joe Kent did, resign and then turn on Trump.  I don’t think she is. She’s got a lot more character than that. And so it—I take her at face value that her husband’s very ill and he needs a caregiver. I’ve been dealing with cancer. I know how you get needy, and you need somebody to help you.  If I go out and try to prune a limb that I could do 100 of them before, all of a sudden I get dizzy. So things like that. And so she needs to get back, and that’s what she’s talking about. At some point there was going to be a collision had she stayed, that being said, because she did not believe in preemptive military engagements in the Middle East.  Jack Fowler: Right.   Victor Davis Hanson: The other thing I’ve mentioned on our podcast before, she’s a very nice person. I went to a—we were the co-speakers, and it was in a little town in Texas, but a very big crowd, and they wanted their money’s worth, and they got it.  They wanted a meet and greet in the afternoon. They wanted pictures. They wanted a VIP reception. They wanted a regular reception. They wanted a dinner. They wanted one spot talk, two talks, and then an after-dinner greet. And book signings, and I was with her on our feet for maybe five hours.  And she never complained one bit. And when people came up at dinner, she sat next to me, we’re talking, and people, “Could you sign this? Could you—” Not one bit. And people say, “Why should she? That’s your job, Victor.” I said, “I know it is my job. That’s her job.”  But you would be surprised the people who think their egos are so big that they snap at people who want an autograph or snap at people who want to talk, and she didn’t. And she was smiling the entire time. So I thought she was very authentic.  We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of the Daily Signal.