This expands on Batya Ungar-Sargon’s new book, “The Jews and the Left”, which comes out June 2. It can be ordered here.  There’s an amazing video making the rounds on social media in which a host on MSNOW tried to sneeringly mock House Speaker Mike Johnson for daring to suggest that “our rights do not derive from government; they come from our creator.”   “What about this passage from Mike Johnson declaring that our rights do not derive from government; they come from our creator… Is this him putting God above the Declaration of Independence?” Truly the MSNBC clip to end all MSNBC clips.pic.twitter.com/Fy72cVrkgN — Greg Price (@greg_price11) May 19, 2026 I usually hate to join a pile-on when a person has made a mistake of this kind. But the gaffe didn’t just reveal a shocking level of ignorance; it combined that ignorance seamlessly with the sneering contempt that characterizes today’s Left. After all, the thought the host found so worthy of snide mockery is literally the belief that underwrites the entire American project. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” reads the preamble to the Declaration of Independence. This was the most fundamental belief from which every other freedom stemmed: Our Founding Fathers believed our rights were granted by God and thus inalienable. It was the government’s job to protect those sacred rights, not grant them. This idea is also crucial to the story of the Jews in America, as I explore at great length in my new book “The Jews and the Left,” which comes out in a few weeks. In President George Washington’s famous letter to the Jews of Newport, Rhode Island, in 1790, the president invokes this fundamental concept to make sure Jews understood that things would be different here. Washington’s famous letter was written after a trip he made to Rhode Island, which had been the last of the 13 states to ratify the Constitution. “Now that Rhode Island had reknit the old ties, he would go there, meet the leaders, see the people and make it plain that he no longer kept in his heart the resentments the petty spokesman of the little State had aroused,” writes Washington’s biographer, Douglas Southall Freeman. At his arrival, the president was greeted by the town clergy, among them Moses Seixas, president of the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, who would later become the cashier of the Bank of Rhode Island. Along with the other members of the local clergy, Seixas had written a letter to the president, which was read aloud at a ceremonial breakfast. (Also read to the president was a letter written by another local Jew, one Mr. Jacob Isaacks, who claimed to be able to distill “by a very simple apparatus” sweet water from ocean water. Alas, he could not.) When the president returned to Philadelphia, he sat down to reply to three of the addresses, among them Seixas’s. Both Seixas’s letter and the president’s were published in the newspaper. “Sir,” began Seixas’s address, “Permit the children of the stock of Abraham, to approach you, with the most cordial affection and esteem for your person and merits — and to join with our fellow citizens in welcoming you to NewPort.” “Deprived as we heretofore have been of the invaluable rights of free citizens, we now (with a deep sense of gratitude to the almighty disposer of all events) behold a government erected by the MAJESTY OF THE PEOPLE — a government, which to bigotry gives no sanction — to persecution no assistance; but generously affording to ALL liberty of conscience, and immunities of citizenship: Deeming every one of whatever nation, tongue or language, equal parts of the great governmental machine,” wrote Seixas. Seixas was laying out the contract that the fledgling country had made with its citizens, including those belonging to religious minorities. With words that would become famous when the president repeated them back in his own letter, Seixas offered up to the president a summary of the unique compact America had granted its Jews: to give “bigotry no sanction — persecution no assistance.” Yet Seixas ended his letter thanking not the president but God, who imbued us with the rights that the United States government would commit to protecting. The federal union is “the work of the great God, who ruleth in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth,” wrote Seixas, and thus, “For all the blessings of civil and religious liberty, which we enjoy under an equal and benign administration, we desire to send up our thanks to the ancient of days, the great preserver of men, beseeching him that the Angel who conducted our forefathers through the wilderness into the promised land, may graciously conduct you thro all the difficulties and dangers of this mortal life.” Seixas’ message was clear: The government of the United States didn’t create equal rights — God did. Seixas didn’t invent this distinction, of course; he was referencing that central organizing principle written in the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson. That’s why some believe that it was Jefferson who actually wrote Washington’s response to the Jews of Newport, or at least he added a significant line to it. Washington’s letter quotes Seixas’s verbatim, expanding on the theme Seixas laid out — most crucially, the distinction between religious tolerance and religious freedom: “It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights,” wrote Washington. “For happily the government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection, should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.” This distinction between religious tolerance and religious freedom was critical. It was the difference between rights given by government (tolerance) and rights granted by God (freedom). And it defined what it means to be an American: It means zealously protecting our rights as a gift of God rather than the result of the sufferance of our neighbors or government. Of course, it takes a person of a different faith to even arrive at such an idea, and while the distinction was not invented for the Jews, Jews would become a symbol for the high ideals this country was founded on. Putting a bow on the idea, Washington wrote the words that came to symbolize what so many Jews had come to hope for since setting foot on American shores some 100 years earlier, that this was to be our promised land, after millennia of persecution. The words Washington wrote never fail to bring tears to my eyes as I read them: “May the children of the stock of Abraham” — again, borrowing from Seixas — “who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants — while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and figtree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.” *** This is republished by permission from the author from her newsletter. Batya Ungar-Sargon is a NewsNation weekend anchor and the author of the forthcoming book “The Jews and the Left” from HarperCollins. Subscribe to her daily newsletter at batya-us.com.

Ohio’s Republican gubernatorial nominee, Vivek Ramaswamy, addressed Medicaid fraud in the Buckeye State on Tuesday, following explosive reports from Daily Wire investigative reporter Luke Rosiak. Rosiak’s findings have exposed billions of dollars of apparent Medicaid fraud in Ohio, by way of dubious “personal services” payments where people are paid to spend time with their own family. Most people who participate in the fraud appear to be foreigners. “I think it’s fair to say that, if you had not just reported the facts, as you did a few weeks ago, the people in this room, who are working hard to solve these problems, wouldn’t have the platform to actually make this a priority for our state,” Ramaswamy said of Rosiak. The former presidential candidate won the Ohio Republican primary earlier this month. He’s facing Democrat nominee Amy Acton in Ohio’s November gubernatorial election. “Healthcare costs are spiraling out of control, … the healthcare costs that Ohioans are bearing every day,” he said. Medicaid is for Americans who temporarily “need a hand up,” the Republican said. “The problem is that, when you have criminals, fraudsters, thieves, claiming money for themselves, it diverts money away from those for whom these programs were intended.” Ramaswamy said Medicaid fraud is creating higher healthcare costs for all Ohioans and Americans at large. “The easiest solution that I will be able to deliver to you in the first six months of my leadership of this state, will be to crush Medicaid fraud by the billions,” he declared. “And to put money back in your pockets, where it belongs.” Crushing Medicaid fraud is one of the simplest ways to make healthcare more affordable. Most healthcare policies force a painful trade-off between cost, access and quality, but this one doesn’t: It takes money from criminals and returns it to the families who play by the rules. pic.twitter.com/RQJq68lG80 — Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) May 19, 2026 “Crushing Medicaid fraud is one of the simplest ways to make healthcare more affordable,” he posted to X. “Most healthcare policies force a painful trade-off between cost, access, and quality, but this one doesn’t: it takes money from criminals and returns it to the families who play by the rules.” Rosiak attended the event personally and addressed the crowd, detailing the fraud he’s uncovered in Ohio. Notably, in the wake of the reporting, Vice President JD Vance warned that the Trump administration will cut off certain federal anti-fraud funding to states that fail to aggressively investigate Medicaid abuse. Rosiak is set to testify before a Senate panel this week about his findings.

A video released by authorities on Tuesday shows the left engine of a UPS cargo plane burst off the aircraft in a bright flash as it attempted to take off from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport last November. The newly released footage came as the National Transportation Safety Board started a two-day hearing into the crash, which killed three people on board and 12 people on the ground and injured another 23. Airport surveillance video shows the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 cargo plane’s left engine and pylon separating from the wing after the aircraft lifts off the runway during takeoff. BREAKING: The NTSB has released new CCTV footage of UPS Flight 2976, showing the moment the left engine and its pylon detached from the wing during takeoff from Louisville. https://t.co/kNc0toEslz pic.twitter.com/oBIeb6zXAR — Breaking911 (@Breaking911) May 19, 2026 The plane, which was destined for Honolulu, climbed only about 30 feet off the ground before plunging and slamming into a scrap metal recycling center in a massive fireball. It was carrying more than 50,000 gallons of fuel, which caused secondary explosions after impact. During Tuesday’s hearing, the NTSB released animations showing how fatigue cracks in the pylon connecting the engine to the wing led to a complete fracture, causing the engine to separate from the plane. Federal investigators are now examining reporting systems put in place by UPS and Boeing to flag mechanical issues. When asked about procedures followed when problems are discovered, UPS Airlines Director of Engineering and Technical Operations David Springer told the NTSB, “It has to be addressed, per the manual or other engineer document. It has to be closed before that aircraft would be considered airworthy.” Among those killed in the November crash were 47-year-old Louisnes Fedon and his 3-year-old granddaughter, Kimberly Asa. The other victims were identified as Capt. Dana Diamond, 62, Capt. Richard Wartenberg, 57, First Officer Lee Truitt, 45, Angela Anderson, 45, Carlos Fernandez, 52, Trinadette “Trina” Chavez, 37, Tony Crain, 65, John Loucks, 52, John Spray, 45, Matthew Sweets, 37, Ella Petty Whorton, 31, Megan Washburn, 35. The 15th victim, Alain Rodriguez Colina, 50, died on Christmas Day, weeks after the crash, after battling severe injuries. The NTSB hearing is expected to focus on “fleet safety processes” on Tuesday, then turn to pylon safety requirements on Wednesday.

Amazon recently announced that it’s one step closer to finding the next Agent 007. “The search for the next James Bond is underway. While we don’t plan to comment on specific details during the casting process, we’re excited to share more news with 007 fans as soon as the time is right,” Amazon MGM Studios said in a statement, per the James Bond X account. Statement from Amazon MGM Studios: “The search for the next James Bond is underway. While we don’t plan to comment on specific details during the casting process, we’re excited to share more news with 007 fans as soon as the time is right.” pic.twitter.com/ngND7VS83I — James Bond (@007) May 14, 2026 The comments were filled with suggestions. “The only person playing Bond should be someone you haven’t heard of, but also someone who has the charm and wit of Pierce Brosnan,” one person wrote. “I would be extremely excited if Amazon wasn’t involved. I think it’s going to be milked for every penny like Disney did to Star Wars. I’m hoping I’m proven wrong. I’m hoping the quality remains high,” another person agreed. Many of the commenters suggested Henry Cavill or Tom Hiddleston. The thread was filled with various names as fans suggested Amazon put out the statement because it was sick of being asked about who would play Bond next. Former producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli surprised fans in 2025 when they announced they would step back from the James Bond franchise and give creative control to Amazon, as The Daily Wire previously reported. The company purchased MGM for $8.5 billion in 2022 and, in doing so, acquired the rights to distribute all “James Bond” projects. But before now, Wilson and Broccoli had maintained creative control. The role was last played by Daniel Craig, who retired from the franchise after “No Time To Die” in 2021. There has been a lot of speculation about who would be the next Agent 007, but now, with Amazon leading the charge, anything can happen. “I think [the next James Bond] will be a man because I don’t think a woman should play James Bond,” Broccoli said in 2021. “I believe in making characters for women and not just having women play men’s roles.” “I don’t think there are enough great roles for women, and it’s very important to me that we make movies for women about women,” she added. “He should be British, so British can be any [ethnicity or race].”

The Department of Justice (DOJ) informed the state of Washington today that it is investigating whether the state’s prison policies violate the Constitution. The DOJ is launching a federal investigation into Washington State’s practice of housing men in women’s prisons, the Daily Wire can first report. It will investigate if these policies violate the constitutional rights of incarcerated women housed at the Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) in Gig Harbor, Washington. The Washington Department of Corrections (DOC) gives violent male convicts who self-identify as transgender full access to the women’s prisons, including cells, bathrooms, and showers. “Under my leadership, the Civil Rights Division will not allow women incarcerated in jails or prisons to be subject to unconstitutional risks of harm from male inmates,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon. “The constitutional rights of women cannot be sacrificed at the altar of appeasing unsupported and dangerous ideologies.” The DOJ investigation comes on the heels of an April 2026 lawsuit filed by The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) that argues forcing women to share a prison with violent men violates the fundamental constitutional rights of women to be safe while incarcerated. The lawsuit describes two women who were allegedly assaulted by Christopher Williams, a man who self-identifies as female. The lawsuit calls Williams a “six-foot-four, ‘biologically intact’ male” and “convicted child sex offender” with a history of violence against women. The Daily Wire uncovered a document through a public records request showing the former Superintendent of a male prison where Williams had been incarcerated recommended against his transfer to WCCW due to his history of violence against women. The DOJ will investigate allegations of “cruel and unusual punishment” against female prisoners, including claims of sexual violence being perpetrated against women by male inmates at WCCW. “The Justice Department will investigate allegations of deprivation of female prisoners’ Eighth Amendment protections from cruel and unusual punishment, including Washington’s response to allegations of sexual assaults, rape, voyeurism, and sexual intimidation based on WCCW’s housing of male prisoners in the exclusively female facility,” a DOJ press release states. Washington DOC has some of the nation’s most radical transgender policies and provides tax-funded sex change surgeries to inmates who claim to be transgender. A Daily Wire investigation showed the state of Washington gave millions of taxpayer dollars to a controversial “gender-affirming” surgeon who performs surgeries on prison inmates. The DOJ has launched a nationwide initiative examining men being housed in Women’s Prisons and is encouraging individuals with “relevant information” on this issue to contact the DOJ, according to the press release.