Seven months after a stinging loss to President Donald Trump, who used podcast appearances and internet virality in his campaign to his advantage, Democrats are still working on a digital strategy to regain political power. Throughout the campaign, Trump was able to score a number of major podcast interviews on shows such as “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Theo Von’s “This Past Weekend,” and Logan Paul’s “ImPAULsive.” “Speaking With American Men” (SAM) is the name of a new plan formulated by Ilyse Hogue, an abortion activist who thinks Democrats can regain lost ground with young men by pursuing a similar strategy. Former Texas Democrat Senate candidate Colin Allred is also spearheading the effort, which has a whopping $20 million budget for the 2025-2026 election cycle. The SAM “strategic plan” aims to “[d]evelop, disseminate, and test high-quality, meme-friendly content that young men are likely to share organically, leveraging humor, storytelling, and aspirational messaging, rather than overly didactic or partisan framing.” Tech For Campaigns, a nonprofit research firm that supports Democrat campaigns, similarly views Democrats’ supposed weakness in the digital world as a bane for them. “Republicans dominate the podcast ecosystem,” reads a graphic published by Tech For Campaigns. “The top three podcasters regularly feature other top-20 hosts, creating a self-reinforcing network.” (techforcampaigns.org) The graphic shows an interconnected web of podcasters, including Theo Von, a mostly nonpolitical comedian. Of course, it’s not as if Democrats didn’t try to compete with Republicans in this space in 2024. Former Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on shows such as “Call Her Daddy” and “The Breakfast Club”—the latter being a radio show with a big online presence—to appeal to an online audience. Tech For Campaigns warns that simply pumping more money into online outreach won’t work. “Simply increasing funding to replicate Republican tactics from the last cycle won’t be sufficient—nor will continuing to rely primarily on the same networks of talent,” reads its report. “Successful right-wing influencers emerged largely organically, outside party structures, not through top-down creation.”  Comedian Bill Maher echoed that point in a recent “Real Time” segment on HBO. “One idea that’s getting a lot of attention is, the Dems need to find their Joe Rogan on the Left, a liberal Joe Rogan. Because that’s why Kamala lost—Republicans have a podcast!” Maher said sarcastically. .@TheDemocrats should consider this: instead of conjuring up a new Joe Rogan, ask yourself why you lost the old one, because he used to be on your side. pic.twitter.com/ENS3SqXOaC— Bill Maher (@billmaher) June 7, 2025 “Or you could consider this: Instead of conjuring up a new Joe Rogan, ask yourself why you lost the old one,” Maher said of Rogan, a marijuana-legalization advocate who endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., for president in 2020. Comedian Tim Dillon, in a recently released CNN interview, also ridiculed the notion that podcasters and comedians had killed the Democrats‘ campaign. “It’s the craziest narrative ever, and it came off the heels of running one of the most unpopular candidates with a platform that the American people largely rejected,” he said.  It gets better ? pic.twitter.com/cLqZpoQ8ry— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) May 19, 2025 “And then everybody got together and said it’s actually these five guys who have podcasts. They’re the most powerful people in the world … and they’re the reason for this electoral defeat, not our unpopular candidate and our candidate who ran on a platform of ‘joy.’” The battle for online connection is not likely to end any time soon. Vice President JD Vance made his second appearance on Theo Von’s podcast recently, where he discussed Elon Musk and the “big, beautiful” budget bill under consideration in Congress in a medium that is accessible to average viewers. Democrats have also stepped up their online presence during the second Trump administration, with Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., being seen as a leader in this effort. Democrats are “engaging in the tools and strategies necessary to elevate their voice in a new, changing media market, where legacy media is not the place that people get their news now,” Booker said in March. Some Democrats’ attempts to gain viral fame have backfired, however, as a “choose your fighter” skit featuring Reps. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez of New York and Jasmine Crockett of Texas was met with general mockery online. Democrat Congresswoman including AOC and Jasmine Crockett appear in bizarre “Choose Your Fighter” TikTok video. pic.twitter.com/CK1hQquYlp— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) March 6, 2025 The post Desperate Democrats ISO ‘Liberal Joe Rogan’ appeared first on The Daily Signal.

California has long prided itself on being a symbol of progressive governance, a supposed beacon of tolerance, opportunity, and inclusivity. But behind the glittering curtain of Hollywood dreams and Silicon Valley innovation lies a troubling reality—a self-inflicted crisis stemming from policies that defy economic logic and common sense. As California grapples with an unprecedented immigration surge, ballooning homelessness, and mass exodus of residents and businesses, the question arises: Should the federal government intervene? The answer is unequivocally no. In fact, the federal government—particularly under President Donald Trump—should stand back and allow California to confront the consequences of its own ideological delusions. Between July 2021 and July 2022, approximately 400,000 residents left California. The state, once a magnet for dreamers, is now hemorrhaging taxpayers and employers. Major corporations such as Tesla, Oracle, and Chevron have relocated to more business-friendly states like Texas and Florida. The exodus is not coincidental—it is a direct reaction to California’s punitive tax structure, suffocating regulations, and increasingly chaotic public order. And yet, while residents and businesses flee, California continues to double down on the very policies driving its collapse. It remains a sanctuary state, offering sweeping protections and incentives to undocumented immigrants. It has issued more than a million driver’s licenses to those here illegally and expanded health care coverage to include undocumented adults. These moves, while morally framed by their proponents, come with significant and unsustainable costs. The state’s homeless population now tops 187,000—the highest in the nation—and two-thirds of those individuals live unsheltered. According to a Los Angeles Times report from January, recent immigration surges are directly contributing to this crisis. Public schools are strained, social services are maxed out, and law enforcement is overwhelmed. And with each passing month, the budgetary burden grows heavier. The recent immigration-related unrest in Los Angeles further underscores the state’s growing instability. When Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested over 100 undocumented immigrants during workplace raids, the city erupted in protest. Streets were blocked, fires were set, and National Guard troops and Marines were deployed to restore order. California leaders were quick to denounce the federal response, accusing Trump of political theater. But that response—though controversial—was a necessary reaction to an unsustainable situation created by California’s own defiance of federal immigration law. It is important to understand what’s really happening here: California has positioned itself in ideological opposition to national sovereignty and law enforcement. The leadership in Sacramento and Los Angeles has chosen to prioritize ideological virtue signaling over practical governance, turning California into a testing ground for utopian policies divorced from reality. Now, as the weight of those policies begins to crush the state, there will be increasing cries for federal aid. But Trump—and any serious leader in Washington—should resist the temptation to intervene. To do so would be to reward failure and to shield irresponsible leaders from the consequences of their own actions. California must be allowed to face the results of its governance. Only through suffering the full ramifications of its decisions can the state’s voters and policymakers be compelled to change course. More importantly, allowing California’s collapse to unfold naturally provides a stark warning to the rest of the country: This is what happens when border security is ignored, when economic productivity is punished, and when government becomes divorced from reality. Let California be the example. Let it show the nation what occurs when ideology eclipses governance and when virtue signaling replaces responsible leadership. The coming fiscal and humanitarian disaster will be not only a reckoning for California but a cautionary tale for every state flirting with the same disastrous policies. So, let California collapse. Let it learn. And let the rest of America take notes. COPYRIGHT 2025 CREATORS.COM We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Let California Collapse—and Let the Rest of America Learn appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Today, the nation pauses to honor and join the U.S. Army’s 250th Birthday Celebration Festivities here in the nation’s capital include an Army Birthday Festival on the National Mall, a fireworks display along the Potomac, and, of course, a Grand Military Parade along Constitution Avenue. The Army birthday celebration kicks off more than a year of similar 250th anniversary commemorations, culminating July 4, 2026 with the United States Semiquincentennial celebrations marking 250 years since America’s declaration of independence. Today’s military parade is the first of its kind since President George H.W. Bush celebrated America’s victory in the Persian Gulf War with tanks and troops marching down Constitution Avenue in 1991. The Desert Storm Victory Parade in Washington, DC, June 8, 1991. (Mark Reinstein/Corbis via Getty Images) Other than attending the parade here in Washington, D.C., there’s no better way to celebrate than reflecting on the Army’s founding 250 years ago. The United States Continental Army was established on June 14, 1775, more than a year before the Declaration of Independence was signed. In the preceding years, the thirteen original American colonies endured a series of evermore intrusive and oppressive measures at the hands of the British Parliament. Hostilities erupted April 19,1775 at the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts, where patriots faced down the redcoats in what became known as the “shot heard round the world.” The outbreak of open hostilities and ever-increasing resistance to British colonial rule ultimately led to the convening of the Second Continental Congress. This convention on May 10,1775 resolved to create an army that would represent all the British colonies on the North American continent. A little over a month later, June 14, 1775, the Continental Congress passed a resolution adopting the New England Army of Observation, making it a “continental” Army, under the command of George Washington. The establishment of the Continental Army was the birth of America’s first national institution. After declaring our independence a little over a year later, the name of the Army of the United Colonies or the aforementioned “Continental Army” was changed to the Army of the United States— the name we know today. At the conclusion of the Revolutionary War in 1783, Congress ordered the Continental Army disbanded. Two companies were retained to safeguard arms and stores. On June 3, 1784, Congress voted to form the 1st American regiment and by the fall of 1784, the entirety of the U.S. Army was one regiment, eight infantry and two artillery companies. Today, the United States Army consists of around 473,000 active-duty personnel in total with 31 Brigade Combat Teams serving around the world. In his 2025 commencement address at West Point, President Donald Trump stated, “from Lexington to Yorktown, from Gettysburg to Sicily, and from Incheon to Fallujah, America has been won and saved by an unbroken chain of soldiers and patriots who ran to the sound of guns, leapt into the maw of battle, and charged into the crucible of fire to seize the crown of victory—no matter the odds, no matter the cost, no matter the danger.” For those interested in learning more, the Army’s website is full of information about the 250th anniversary festivities and the history of the U.S. Army. The post Happy 250th Birthday to the US Army! appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The United Kingdom should sanction Qatar, not Israeli leaders, a former spokesman for the Israeli government says.   “I think if the U.K. wanted to use its sanctions power to promote peace in the Middle East, they would sanction the leaders of Qatar,” Eylon Levy told The Daily Signal after the U.K.’s sanctioning of Israeli government Cabinet ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, both described in the legacy media as “far right.”   British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, along with counterparts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway, have accused the two Israeli ministers of incitement of “extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights.”   Levy is originally from London and served as Israeli government spokesman from after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack on Israel until March 2024. While Levy made clear he doesn’t condone anything Ben-Gvir and Smotrich have said, the move to sanction the two men is a “deeply unfortunate and counterproductive decision,” he said. Instead, in order to promote peace in the region, the U.K. should “tell the Qatari leadership that unless and until they force Hamas’ leaders, who are resident in Doha, to release the [Oct. 7] hostages immediately, they will be sanctioned until Hamas’ leaders are put on a plane and extradited to face trial for crimes against humanity,” Levy said.   But the U.K. won’t sanction Qatar, according to Levy, because “Qatar owns too much of the U.K.” The U.K. government did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment.   In the fourth quarter of 2024, total trade in goods and services between the U.K. and Qatar was more than $7 billion, according to the U.K.’s Department for Business and Trade.   “Qatar was the U.K.’s 46th-largest trading partner” in the fourth quarter of 2024, “accounting for 0.3% of total U.K. trade,” according to the U.K. government.  .   Qatar, along with the U.S. and Egypt, have worked to negotiate hostage and ceasefire deals between Israel and Hamas since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that left 1,200 people dead and 251 hostage in Gaza.   Now more than 20 months after the attack, 53 hostages remain in Gaza, about 20 of whom are thought to still be alive, and fighting continues between Hamas terrorists and the Israel Defense Forces.   Hamas maintains a political office in Doha, though leaders were reportedly asked to leave toward the end of 2024. Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said the office was created for the sake of negotiations.  Khaled Mashal, a top Hamas leader, lives in Qatar, the BBC reported in January.  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the news outlet Al Jazeera, which is partially funded by the Qatari government, is a “terror channel,” accusing the outlet of encouraging violence against the Jewish state.   “I think that this war could have gone very differently,” Levy said, “if the world had treated Qatar at the beginning, not as a neutral mediator, but as Hamas’ patron that is housing Hamas’ leaders, that is using its global media network Al Jazeera to poison minds against Israel and run Hamas propaganda, and has taken a side in this war while framing itself as a peacemaker, and that’s deeply unfortunate.”  The post If UK Wants Peace in Middle East, It ‘Would Sanction the Leaders of Qatar,’ Ex-Israeli Spokesman Says   appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The riots against enforcement of federal immigration laws that began in Los Angeles more than a week ago have led to vandalism, destruction of property, and assaults on law enforcement officers. But one of the results of the riots their instigators surely did not intend was the creation of common ground between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump after their public fallout.  Tension between Musk and Trump entered public view when Musk said he did not believe the “big, beautiful” congressional budget bill that includes much of Trump’s agenda could be both “big” and “beautiful.” Days later, on June 5, Musk fired off a series of posts on X bashing the bill, going so far as to share a post calling for Trump’s impeachment. Trump also took a series of rhetorical shots at Musk, writing that Musk had been “wearing thin” and threatened to terminate contracts Musk’s companies have with the federal government.  But on June 8, Musk shared two posts from Trump condemning the riots, raising eyebrows that maybe the men were moving toward reconciliation.  pic.twitter.com/1keU3EnfnH— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 9, 2025 On June 11, Musk wrote on X, “I regret some of my posts about President [Donald Trump] last week. They went too far.” That same day, Trump told The New York Post that he was open to reconciling with Musk and said there were “no hard feelings.” I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 11, 2025 Did the rioters in L.A. remind the two men of their shared dislike of the radical Left, ultimately setting them on a trajectory toward reconciliation? That’s impossible to know, but the fiery protests no doubt created an opportunity for the men to remember what they agree upon—a desire to restore common sense policies to cities like L.A.  On this week’s edition of “Problematic Women,” we discuss the implication of the L.A. riots and the response from the political Left and Right.  Also on this week’s show, we explore the conflict between swimmer Riley Gaines and gymnast Simone Biles. Plus, Zachary Levi wants to start a non-woke movie studio. All that and more on this week’s show.  The post Did LA Riots Help Put Trump and Musk on Track Toward Reconciliation? appeared first on The Daily Signal.