Ben Shapiro laid into the “low IQ grievance ideology” of Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, and Megyn Kelly on Tuesday night, urging a packed crowd of college students to reject the conspiracy theories, doomsday predictions, and anti-Trump rage being pushed by the podcasters. During a speech at the University of Pennsylvania, the Daily Wire founder said that the three are pushing “a grievance-based view of the world in which they and those like them are perennial victims of the American system.”  Shapiro’s speech came just a few days after President Donald Trump ripped Carlson, Owens, and Kelly, saying they all have “Low IQs.” “They’re stupid people, they know it, their families know it, and everyone else knows it, too!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.  Shapiro expanded on the president’s observation and argued that the group of anti-Trump podcasters has bought into “conspiratorial grievance politics,” which he compared to a “zombie infection.”  “The attraction of low IQ ideology is envy,” Shapiro said. “A belief that lack of success is somehow a reflection not of bad decision-making or the hardship of life, but of a cruel system, designed by a nefarious cadre of evildoers. Envy. As Adam Smith put it, envy is ‘that passion which views with malignant dislike the superiority of those who are really entitled to all the superiority they possess.’”  Some of these beliefs have recently been demonstrated by Carlson, Owens, and Kelly, Shapiro said, giving multiple examples of how they have pushed conspiratorial grievance politics.  “You are indeed rolling in low IQ horesh*t if you believe, as Tucker Carlson does, that the president is a ‘slave’ to Israel, or that Alex Jones is a ‘prophet,’ or that the chief opposition to Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro was ‘globohomo,’ or that Russia is wonderfully run, or that Sharia Law produces wonderfully clean and robust civilizations, or that Winston Churchill was the villain of World War II, or that Nick Fuentes is less evil than Ted Cruz.”  Shapiro then called out the “low IQ slop” and “conspiratorial trash” pushed by Owens, who has suggested that Erika Kirk and Turning Point USA, along with the Israeli government, were involved in the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Shapiro also blasted Owens for saying that Charlie Kirk appeared to her in a dream and for latching onto the conspiracy theory that Brigitte Macron “has testicles.”  “And worst of all, you are preying on low-IQ people when you cynically humor all of the foregoing for clicks and cash, as Megyn Kelly does,” Shapiro continued. “Nobody is upset with Megyn Kelly’s facile, trite, hackneyed takes on Middle Eastern politics. People are upset with her absolute cowardice and annoyed by the fact that, as a 55-year-old person, she cosplays courage like a clout-chasing 16-year-old girl.”  Shapiro said the “low IQ grievance ideology” pushed by Carlson, Owens, and Kelly opposes the basic principles of what Shapiro called “high IQ conservatism.” “High IQ conservatism rests on four foundations: free minds, free markets, public virtue, and a properly constructed government designed to protect these first three values,” he said.  To Make America Great Again, we need high IQ Conservatives. @benshapiro pic.twitter.com/YZ56hkT1ie — YAF (@yaf) April 15, 2026 “But low IQ grievance ideology rejects the fundamental basis of these central principles,” Shapiro added.  He broke down how “low IQ grievance ideology” attempts to tear down free minds by arguing “that we are all victims of a sort of Marxist false consciousness, implanted in us by nefarious outside forces.” The ideology also attacks free markets “in true Marxist style.”  “Low IQ grievance ideology also argues that public virtue is a sham. The church your parents sent you to as a child? It’s probably fundamentally broken. Either it’s cucked, or it’s intolerant,” Shapiro said. The ideology says “the people we really need to emulate are true heroes like alleged rapist Andrew Tate and role models like Clavicular,” Shapiro added. “Or people spouting new forms of Christianity that are actually old forms of non-Christianity that revive the Marcion heresy and revel in attributing literally everything to demons, from aliens to underwater sea creatures to strange nighttime dog scratches.” The line for Shapiro’s speech at UPenn, his first college speech this year, stretched around the block. Students are lining up around the block to see @benshapiro speak tonight at the University of Pennsylvania! pic.twitter.com/qTakAnsrNt — YAF (@yaf) April 14, 2026

Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York City, has now decided that the time has come: At long last, he’s going to put into action his Soviet plan for a government-run grocery store. Are you excited about government-run grocery stores? It’s going to be just great, because if there’s one thing that we have to fight off in America, it is starvation. I know you’re thinking right now that we actually have a massive obesity problem in the United States. You’d be right. But according to Mamdani, the biggest problem in America is that people cannot afford food, and the best way to make food affordable is for the government to open grocery stores. This has never been tried anywhere. Except for Cuba, the USSR, and most communist countries. That led, of course, to the very famous photos of Soviet leadership walking into American supermarkets and being astonished by the selection of products. Capitalism makes things better, cheaper, and more plentiful, which is how they become better and cheaper. Mamdani explained: “This store will be open in 2029. The reason that we’re announcing it first is because unlike other stores, this will be built from the ground up. We are talking about a vacant lot that is about one or two blocks over there that is currently lying vacant. It is city-owned. We’re going to build it from the ground up.” Just wow. By the way, how much is it going to cost to build this grocery store from the ground up? According to the New York Times, $30 million. $30 million. I have a question. Do you think that when Publix builds a new store, it costs them $30 million? Nope. If the city subsidizes particular food products at a cheaper rate, either people will want to buy those food products or they will not. If they like eggs, for example, there will be a run on eggs, and then a shortage. That’s what will happen, because when you subsidize the price of a product, it spurs more demand, and you will end up with a shortage — and longer lines. Duh. It is amazing how no one has ever read a book or even watched an old documentary. Mamdani says he wants the new grocery store to offer discounts on basic groceries and to provide quality jobs. The city will waive rent and real estate taxes for the store. If you really wanted to lower food prices, you could do that for all the grocery stores in New York. That would lower some prices. But you know what else you could do? You could get rid of all of the regulations surrounding the grocery stores in New York, which make it very difficult to run and operate a business. It’s hilarious that the minute the Democrats want to lower prices, they give a specific cut-out that gets rid of all of the government red tape, but just for their friends, like the government-run grocery store. Meanwhile, Congressman Ro Khanna, the West Coast version of Zohran Mamdani, wants free everything. He called for free health care and free college. There’s no such thing as free. There’s just stuff paid for by someone else. “The moment has finally come for national health insurance,” Khanna declared. “Why? Because people now realize you cannot have health care linked to your job. Not at a time where your job may change or where you may lose your job. We need Medicare for all. That’s a better system with better outcomes, where health care is guaranteed to every single person from the day they are born. For our young people, where a short career opportunity is not limited by your family’s wealth, we need free college and free trade schools.”  Free everything. How could that go wrong? Maybe we can heavily subsidize everybody going to college. That won’t raise the price of — oh, it turns out that that radically raised the price of college. Perhaps we could have more government subsidization of health care. That won’t raise the price of health care. Whoops. That raises the price because it increases the base that people are willing to pay and are able to pay. It doesn’t matter what the effect is. The only thing that matters to the Democrats is that it feels good when they say the word “free” over and over and over again.

The illegal immigrant charged in the fatal shooting of a Loyola University student in Chicago last month was ordered by a judge Wednesday to submit a DNA sample, as prosecutors continue building their case in a killing that has drawn national attention. Jose Medina, 25, a Venezuelan national accused of murdering 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman, must provide a buccal swab and fingerprints to the Illinois State Police for inclusion in the state’s DNA database. The order came over the objection of Medina’s public defender during a court appearance focused on pretrial motions and evidentiary procedures. Medina faces multiple charges at both the state and federal levels, including first-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault, and unlawful possession of a weapon. Federal prosecutors have separately charged him with illegal firearm possession, which carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Authorities allege that on March 19, Gorman was walking with friends near a Rogers Park pier along the lakefront when Medina stepped out and opened fire. Gorman was struck and killed at the scene, while her friends escaped unharmed. In addition to the evidentiary dispute, Wednesday’s hearing also addressed concerns over Medina’s medical condition. His public defender requested court intervention, stating that a bullet fragment lodged in his nasal cavity is causing ongoing pain and visible distress. The defense argued the fragment may require surgical evaluation and removal. Medina’s attorney also told the court that he suffers from lasting injuries stemming from a prior shooting in Colombia in 2018, where he was allegedly shot in the head during a robbery. According to the defense, the incident left him with significant brain damage and physical impairments, including a spinal injury that requires the use of a cane. The judge granted a request for medical evaluation and ordered Cermak Health Services, which oversees inmate care in the Cook County jail system, to coordinate with Medina’s legal team regarding treatment and access to medical records. Medina has remained in custody since his initial court appearance in late March. His arraignment is scheduled for April 29. The case has also become a flashpoint in the broader debate over immigration enforcement, as previously reported details show Medina was released into the United States in 2023 despite being flagged by federal authorities as a potential flight risk with no valid asylum claim. Gorman’s family has blamed systemic failures for allowing Medina to remain free prior to the shooting, arguing that the circumstances surrounding his release had deadly consequences. The Gorman family released a statement after the charges were announced in March, saying, “We are gravely disappointed by the policies and failures that allowed this individual to remain in a position to commit this crime. When systems fail — whether through release decisions, lack of coordination, or unwillingness to act — the consequences are not abstract. They are real. And in our case, they are permanent.” With forensic testing underway and pretrial proceedings continuing, the case is moving into a phase where both evidentiary development and broader political scrutiny are likely to intensify.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti called a Nashville public school’s accommodation of Muslim students during Ramadan “blatantly unconstitutional,” saying the school crossed the line from allowing religious exercise to actively promoting it. In a Tuesday interview with the Tennessee Star, Skrmetti responded to reports that a Metro Nashville Public Schools employee set up a dedicated Islamic prayer room at John Overton High School and encouraged Muslim students to skip class to use it. “Free exercise says the government can’t stop you from practicing your religion,” Skrmetti explained. “The establishment clause, as interpreted, and as we hear about every time the legislature tries to do anything these days, says that the state can’t … participate in promoting particular religious viewpoints.”

Brian Hooker is out of jail but remains under scrutiny, as police continue to consider the 59-year-old husband of missing boater Lynette Hooker a suspect in her mysterious disappearance in the Bahamas. Lynette has been missing since April 4, when Brian claims she “bounced off the dinghy” near Elbow Cay while the couple was returning to their sailboat, Soulmate. He was detained for five days but has not been charged with a crime. “It’s been 10 days, it’s been a long time, I don’t think I’ve ever been apart from her in 25 years for this long,” Brian said in an interview with NBC News. Brian told NBC News that investigators may be focusing on him due to the intense media attention surrounding the case. The case has drawn widespread interest after Lynette’s daughter, Karli Aylesworth, and her mother, Darlene Hamlett, publicly raised questions about Brian’s account. According to Brian, rough conditions and a strong current pulled Lynette away after she fell overboard. However, a longtime Bahamas resident told The Daily Wire that the area where Brian claims Lynette went missing is typically calm and protected. The source, who requested anonymity, said the harbor is sheltered from rough waves and that waters between Elbow Cay and Lubber’s Island are often shallow and clear as glass, adding that land isn’t too far away. Aylesworth and Hamlett have both said Brian’s version of events does not make sense, noting that Lynette was a strong swimmer. They also pointed to the couple’s past, including a 2015 domestic violence incident in Michigan. Lynette was arrested at the time, but Hamlett said her daughter had sustained a black eye and alleged that Brian had been physically abusive during their marriage, especially when drinking alcohol. “I think they loved each other, but they were not good for each other,” she said. RELATED: American Husband’s ‘Fell Overboard’ Story Hits Deadline As Texts And Recovered Apple Watch Surface Hamlett told Ashleigh Banfield on the “Drop Dead Serious” show that she had long feared something like this could happen. “With the lifestyle that my daughter and her husband live, I had been preparing for that phone call for a long time,” Hamlett said. Despite the family accounts, Brian has denied ever harming his wife. “I said I’d never harm Lynette, and I never would harm Lynette, and I want to find Lynette,” Brian told NBC News. As the search approaches two weeks, the chances of finding Lynette alive are diminishing. Her daughter is expected to arrive in the Bahamas on Wednesday to assist in the search.