News Fallout Fallout Season 2 Will Feature New Vegas‘ Most Controversial Faction The introduction of Caesar’s Legion in Fallout Season 2 brings one of gaming’s strangest debates to a new audience. By Matthew Byrd | Published on August 20, 2025 Screenshot: Amazon MGM Studios Comment 0 Share New Share Screenshot: Amazon MGM Studios While the first trailer for Fallout Season 2 understandably left people talking about Mr. House, those striking scenes of Walton Goggins in old New Vegas, and the possibility of a Macaulay Culkin sighting, eagle-eyed Fallout fans are fixated on the brief scene pictured above that confirms the return of the series’ most controversial faction: Caesar’s Legion.  Introduced in Fallout: New Vegas, Caesar’s Legion is a Mojave Wasteland faction that is quite obviously modeled after the Roman Empire. They wear tunics, they (generally) shun modern technology, and they follow a leader named Caesar who seeks to topple the New California Republic through totalitarian rule and barbaric methods that include slavery, cultural homogenization, rampant sexism, and total warfare. Though the Legion has been surprisingly successful in their conquests, they are often portrayed as an obviously villainous faction.  In fact, some Fallout fans find them to be almost comically villainous and underwritten compared to New Vegas’ other, more morally ambitious groups and characters. However, as New Vegas designer Josh Sawyer explained, the Legion wasn’t meant to be thought of as morally “grey.” They are meant to represent the “nature of humans who rise to power in such circumstances” and how such humans and circumstances tie into the Fallout series motto: War Never Changes.  However, not all Fallout fans see the Legion that way. The Legion has long attracted a vocal group of seemingly unlikely supporters who are perhaps constantly thinking of the Roman Empire for all the wrong reasons. Some fans support the Legion because they like their looks, because they want to role-play as bad guys, or because they generally enjoy annoying others with their decision to side with said bad guys. That last group sometimes blends into another group that genuinely argues for the Legion’s methods, their results, and the general idea of power through brutish strength and oppression. If this coalition of meme enthusiasts, trolls, diehard philosophical loyalists, evil aesthetic admirers, and “at least the trains run on time” defenders sounds frighteningly familiar, it’s because Fallout’s writers have long been excellent students of history.  There are also some questions about how the Legion fits into the show’s timeline. Fallout Season 2 takes place roughly 15 years after the end of Fallout: New Vegas, and New Vegas can end in one of many ways depending on the player’s choices. It seems unlikely that the show will feature one of the endings that suggest the Legion conquered New Vegas, so the series may instead focus on remnants of the faction long removed from their glory days. The scope of that faction and the identity of their leader (this is actually another Culkin candidate role) are mysteries for another day.  Regardless of those specifics, it’s the reaction to this faction that will be most interesting to monitor. Given the themes of Fallout’s first season, there is little doubt that the show will portray them largely as the totalitarian troops cosplaying as conquerors in a world looking for leaders who can grow something from the ashes, which is largely how they were originally intended to be presented. Historically, though, it is very much worth noting that such depictions of this group have not deterred endorsements. [end-mark] The post <i>Fallout</i> Season 2 Will Feature <i>New Vegas</i>‘ Most Controversial Faction appeared first on Reactor.

Movies & TV Alien: Earth Alien: Earth Mops Up the Acid Blood and the Emotional Wreckage in “Metamorphosis” Cleaning up after the Weyland-Yutani crash is easy compared to processing all these feelings… By Leah Schnelbach | Published on August 20, 2025 Credit: FX Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: FX Welcome back to Alien: Earth, already in progress! This week’s episode, “Metamorphosis”, was directed by Dana Gonzales and written by Noah Hawley and Bob DeLaurentis. It was a bit slower and more exposition-heavy than last week’s two episode-premiere, but there’s still a lot to unpack. Let’s Dissect a Still-Quivering Facehugger I didn’t know they’d literally dissect a facehugger??? Maybe manifesting does work. This episode highlights the fact that, new synthetic bodies aside, the Lost Boys are children. They think like children, they act like children, and Boy Kavalier should not have sent them on this mission. If only any of his staff could stand up to him or stop him from doing whatever pops into his head in the moment. Last week Nibs was the most tentative of the Lost Boys, and this week we see why. Of all of them, she seems to be the one who misses her old life the most. She questions why they’re “Lost Boys” when half of them are girls, why they have to riff on Peter Pan at all, and why they don’t get to choose their own names. After all, Wendy chose her name. Later Nibs remembers herself as a child, before her Transference. She asked when she’d get to go home. Meanwhile, Wendy finds Joe inside a shipping container. You think that would be good, but Joe’s been stuck to a wall with some sort of greenish sticky substance. The Alien set a trap for Wendy, and Joe’s the bait. This is extremely interesting to me because it means that the Xenomorph captured Joe, dragged him through the building, and then lashed him to the wall, which must have been super traumatic—but why is it so focused on Wendy? Joe tries to warn her, but naturally she ignores him and cuts him free, and then there’s the Xenomorph, and they’re cornered. Except. The Xenomorph leaves, jumps onto the roof of the shipping container, and freaks them out running around up there until Wendy stabs it with her sword. Which, excellent job Wendy getting a palpable hit, but they discover the whole “it has acid for blood” thing in a uniquely terrible way, as the blood eats the sword in her hand and starts dripping down on both of them. They get away, for a second, but it pursues Joe and crawls on top of him, extends it’s second mouth—and then Wendy uses a meat hook to skewer it through the jaw and drag it off of him. I’m not sure I’ve seen anyone wrangle an Alien before? Maybe that wacky trillionaire was right after all, and this traumatized-child-in-a-synthetic-body was the perfect person to send on this mission! She drags the Xenomorph to another shipping container, this one with an automated door, while Joe crawls to the door’s switch. They can trap it! Which is a solid plan until the Xenomorph pulls a Balrog and uses its tail to drag Wendy in with it. We hear them in there screaming as Joe hotwires the door panel to open it again, and—I’ll admit I was expecting this—there’s a decapitated Xeno-corpse sprawled on the floor next to its extremely removed head, green acid blood everywhere. Wendy’s shaking all over and leaking milky fluid. She collapses as Joe gets to her, and a few second later he joins her on the floor. These kids have had a terrible day. Let’s check in with Smee and Slightly, shall we? Credit: FX Once again these two are the closest to comic relief we get, as they gaze in grossed-out awe at the eggs, and Slightly laments missing out on all the strange creatures in the lab. But then Morrow shows up, and tries to interrogate them as they cross their arms and insist that their knowledge is classified. Once he realizes that they’re children (assuming that they’re regular synths, behaving as children) he holsters his gun; they protest that they’re not children, and accidentally let slip that they have parents, which catches Morrow by surprise. It would be very cute if I wasn’t terrified for them. Morrow connects to the ship’s computer and upload all of its files into his own brain, deletes the originals, and goes back to questioning Smee and Slightly until Kirsh glides up and informs him that the ship’s contents are a ball that went over a fence into the neighbor’s yard, and he’s the neighbor. Kirsh tries to be something of a heavy, refers to Morrow as needing friends, and Morrow snaps back that he doesn’t have any friends. So far, so vaguely threatening dialogue—but then Slightly insists “Everybody needs a friend!” because he’s a child and has no idea what’s going on. And again, this is hilarious in the moment, but I have a feeling the humor’s going to be drained dry by the time this show ends. Morrow jumps away into the bowels of the ship rather than allow Kirsh to capture him for Prodigy. Kirsh collects all the specimens, the eggs, the Xeno-corpse, and Wendy and Joe, who are just barely alive. Arthur and Dame Sylvia work on Wendy, almost mouth off at Boy Kavalier, and finally settle for politely throwing him out while they try to revive their girl. He wanders over to Kirsh, who’s also mad at him (I mean, as much as Kirsh can be mad) and we get my favorite scene in the episode as yet another idiot leans over an egg, almost all the way into facehugging range. Kirsh watches him do this with an incredulous look on his face before yanking him away and explaining what almost happened to him. Credit: FX (I’m not sure Kirsh made the right cost/benefit analysis here.) Boy Kavalier puts Kirsh in charge of the specimens. Meanwhile, Atom Eins has gone to the Lost Boys’ room. He questions Smee and Slightly about their encounter with Morrow. The boys learn that they have retinal cameras in their eyes—yet another thing they didn’t understand about their new lives. Earlier, Nibs talked about her unhappiness with Curly, but now we see that Curly has latched onto one specific detail: why did Wendy get to choose her own name? Why is Wendy the favorite? She takes the initiative to find Boy Kavalier—not with Kirsh, as Wendy did, but alone—to give a report on their mission. She tells Boy Kavalier that Wendy is only worried about “her stupid brother” and that she, Curly, is the best, and the one who has ideas about how to help the world. She should be the favorite. When Boy Kavalier asks about her ideas she won’t share them because “You’ll steal them”, and Boy, to his credit, replies “True.” He seems to admire this initiative, promises to send her books to read and films to watch, and that after she’s gone through them, “we’ll play”. I am now worried for Curly. Meanwhile Morrow calls Yutani… but doesn’t recognize her. Because now he’s speaking to “his” Yutani’s granddaughter, because he’s been out in deep space for two generations and most of the people he knew are dead and gone. When she reminds him that he should have read his contract he shakes it off. It’s not that, he knows that—it’s that these creatures have becomes his life’s work, and he’s going to get them back. Rather than coming in as she asks, he hangs up on her and continues his hunt.   And the way he does this is by speaking directly to Slightly, courtesy of the invisible device he placed on Slightly’s neck back in the ship. Slightly repeatedly says that he doesn’t want to talk to him, but he can’t make it stop, and then Morrow reminds him of what he said earlier. Slightly was right—Morrow does need a friend. Will Slightly be that friend? Great. Now I’m worried about everyone. Meanwhile, Kirsh, Tootles, and Curly dissect one of the facehuggers. This excellently squicky scene is intercut with doctors removing one of Joe’s lungs, seemingly under the guise of operating on his Xenomorph-inflicted injuries. The scenes come together as Kirsh releases a tiny fetal Xenomorph into the tank with the removed lung, and we see it burrow inside. This would be intense enough, but since Wendy now has some sort of empathic connection to the Xenomorph, she wakes up just in time to collapse in excruciating pain again. In This Space, Everyone Can Hear My Opinions Last week’s double-episode premiere had to prove itself as a worthy addition to the Alien franchise, while giving enough exposition to ground people who were tuning in after maybe not seeing an Alien movie in years, while also raising enough of its own questions to justify its existence. And it did all of that! This week’s episode builds on that foundation, giving us alien-wrangling action that I think might be unique to the franchise (let me know if I’m wrong about that), and it also builds on the queasy intersection of man and machine. Morrow is, to be blunt, out of date. When he left on the mission for Yutani, he was the future, a melding of humanity and machine that could hold awesome amounts of data in his head, and unleash a hidden blade from his arm at the slightest threat. He’s come home to a world where a human consciousness can be uploaded into a fully synthetic, basically immortal body. Where someone (something?) that looks like a young woman can take out a whole-ass alien with only a small sword. Who is Morrow now, in this world? Who is Kirsh, so much smarter, in most ways, than his boss, yet still seen as passé in a world where the Lost Boys exist? Morrow is obviously setting Slightly up to be his mole inside Prodigy, which will spell the child’s doom. But he also, alone of the adults around the Lost Boys, seemed to try to push Smee and Slightly into asking themselves questions about what they’d be willing to do to the humans around them, and, essentially, which side they’d choose between man and synth. The moments that are sticking with me so far are Morrow saying his daughter hates raisins, and Kirsh turning away when Smee comforts Slightly. Like I know it’s a horror show, but can’t we stick to the fun horror of aliens shredding stupid hapless people, and not the emotional carnage that’s already ramping up here? UGH. And, of course, Wendy’s ability to take out a whole Xenomorph single-swordedly, and her connection to them. She seemed to be able to hear them last week, but now she feels the agony of being vivisected. What’s the meaning behind the connection? And why are they using Joe’s old lung as a Xenomorph terrarium? Was it just the convenience of having a severely injured human lying around? On Immort(AI)lity Credit: FX Morrow wishes he could be “all machine instead of the worst parts of a man”, and he also talks about his daughter, and about how he’s been gone so long all of his friends are dead. So things are not going well with the show’s cyborg. Smee and Slightly learn that they have retinal cameras in their eyes, and, later, Nibs presses her finger into her eye. It seems the Lost Boys are finally starting to reckon with their new reality. And Curly, who was not privy to Boy Kavalier’s conversation with Dame Sylvia last week, has essentially positioned herself as the person who might finally blow the boy trillionaire’s mind. But what happens if she falls short? Boredom’s Not a Burden Anyone Should Bear This week’s incongruous pop culture appeared to be a CGI Peter Pan adaptation that I did not recognize. Is it maybe The New Adventures of Peter Pan? End credits music came courtesy of Metallica and their 1992 hit “Wherever I May Roam” David 8 Was Right Credit: FX Seriously, watching Kirsh stare at Boy Kavalier as the dope leans into the Xenomorph egg, like so many dopes before him, filled me with inexpressible joy. A joy only topped when Kirsh grabbed Boy like he was scruffing a rescue kitten, and marched him out of the lab. Whatever Happened to “Save the Cat”? Maybe Joe is the cat in this episode? Did they… they did give him a new fake lung, right? They’re not just stripping him for parts? Scattered Transmission in the Void of Space! I really really really really love that when Joe crawls into the shipping container next to his sister and the Xeno-corpse, he casually turns his head and vomits before he collapses. He’s a regular human being who has been through an absolute nightmare, and I was really pleased a) that they show his body rejecting everything that’s happened to it and b) that he doesn’t even have the strength to at least crouch or fully roll away. The most he can do is turn his head. I also love that he exclusively calls Wendy “Marcy”. Smee seeing how upset and scared Slightly is, getting up, and gradually putting an arm around him juuuuust about destroyed me. What finished destroying me was seeing Kirsh watch them and then turn away when they hug. I think it’s safe to assume that these kids don’t have bright futures ahead of them, and that Kirsh understands that. Can we get an entire episode of Alien Autopsy? Quotes! Credit: FX Kirsh: Was it worth it? Boy Kavalier: What? Kirsh: Risking decades work on something new and shiny. Boy Kavalier: My, you’re all so feisty today. Morrow, to Slightly: When is a machine not a machine? Curly (in a delightfully unsubtle dig at Wendy): My dad always threw the first pancake in the trash. Boy Kavalier, on prodigies: What makes them geniuses is that they’re children, and children have access to a world of infinite imagination. [end-mark] The post <em>Alien: Earth</em> Mops Up the Acid Blood and the Emotional Wreckage in “Metamorphosis” appeared first on Reactor.

News Katabasis R.F. Kuang’s Katabasis Already Getting a Prime Video TV Series Adaptation We can all read the book when it comes out on August 26, 2025. By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on August 20, 2025 R.F. Kuang photo by Julian Baumann Comment 0 Share New Share R.F. Kuang photo by Julian Baumann Babel and The Poppy War author R.F. Kuang’s latest novel, Katabasis, isn’t even out yet, but that hasn’t stopped an adaptation of the work from moving forward. According to Variety, Amazon MGM Studios is already developing it into a television series to stream on Prime Video. The project even has a showrunner attached: The Walking Dead alum, Angela Kang. Both Kang and Kuang will executive produce, along with Mandy Safavi, Ben Smith, Jeffrey Weiner, and Adam Docksey. Amazon describes the show as “a dark academia fantasy in which two graduate students in Magick must put aside their rivalry and journey through Hell to save their professor’s soul—perhaps at the cost of their own.” Katabasis takes place in an alternate history where “magick” is real and something one can get a Ph.D in from places like Oxford and Cambridge (a recurring premise in Kuang’s work). It revolves around Magick Ph.D. candidate Alice Law, who heads to Hell to retrieve the soul of her abusive advisor at Cambridge, Professor Grimes. Fellow Grimes advisee Peter Murdoch joins her in that journey. Danger and personal introspection ensue as they trek across the realm’s different levels. This isn’t the first work of Kuang’s picked up for adaptation. Back in 2020, we heard that The Poppy War was in development for TV, though that appears to have stalled. Babel is also reportedly in development for adaptation, but we haven’t heard news of that since early 2024. The Katabasis project is still in its early days—it’s not clear if any scripts have been written, much less if there’s been any action on the casting front. In the meantime, we can look forward to reading the novel when it comes out on August 26, 2025. [end-mark] The post R.F. Kuang’s <i>Katabasis</i> Already Getting a Prime Video TV Series Adaptation appeared first on Reactor.

The mother and stepfather of Laken Riley—the 22-year-old nursing student slain by an illegal alien in Georgia whose death prompted bipartisan legislation to toughen penalties for illegals charged with certain crimes—have endorsed Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., in his bid for U.S. Senate. “A lot of people go to Washington, and it changes them. However, in the short time that we have known him, Mike Collins went to Washington and changed it. There is simply no one else in this race who deserves to be in the U.S. Senate more than Mike Collins. He is someone who says what he means, means what he says, and actually delivers results that matter,” Allyson Riley and John Phillips were quoted as saying Monday in a statement.  PRESS RELEASE: Laken Riley's family endorses @MikeCollinsGA for U.S. Senate. #gapol #gasen pic.twitter.com/zpZJ6RsxEW— Team Mike Collins Press ?? (@CollinsPressGA) August 18, 2025 Collins, running to be the GOP challenger to unseat incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., was the sponsor of the Laken Riley Act in the House of Representatives. Collins faces a Republican primary that also includes Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., and former college football coach Derek Dooley, who is supported by Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.  The Laken Riley Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump in January, directs U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to arrest and detain illegal aliens charged with assaulting a police officer, theft, and other crimes.  Riley’s convicted killer, Jose Antonio Ibarra, had been cited for shoplifting and charged with the offense of acting in a manner to injure a child under 17 just months before taking Riley’s life on Feb. 22, 2024. He had also been arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after crossing the border illegally in 2022. Ibarra was then released into the U.S. under a Biden administration policy in place at the time that allowed illegal aliens to temporarily remain in the country.  “Mike Collins has the honor, integrity, work ethic, and track record to represent all Georgians well in the U.S. Senate. What Mike did for our family wasn’t about politics, and it wasn’t about attention or the spotlight. He stood up to do what was right and help bring justice for our sweet Laken,” Riley’s family members’ statement added.  Collins spearheaded the legislation that ultimately passed the House with the support of 46 Democrats and 217 Republicans. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 64-35, with 12 Democrat senators joining Republican members to secure its passage.  “The Biden administration and our current [Georgia Democrat] senators voted for open borders that allowed Laken’s killer to come to the United States. They were looking out for illegal aliens instead of looking out for their own constituents. Next November, please join us in supporting our friend Mike Collins and give him the ability to create policies that will ensure the safety and protection of all Georgia’s sons and daughters,” the family’s statement concluded.  The post Slaying Victim Laken Riley’s Mom, Stepdad Back Collins for Senate in Georgia appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Elon Musk seemed to shrug off a report that he’s abandoning plans to build a third political party but did not outright assert he was moving forward with the idea.  The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday evening that Musk “is quietly pumping the brakes on his plans to start a political party, according to people with knowledge of his plans.” However, in a post on X Wednesday, Musk said, “Nothing @WSJ says should ever be thought of as true.” Nothing @WSJ says should ever be thought of as true— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 20, 2025 While taking a shot at the newspaper, Musk did not address the plans for the America Party directly.  Musk’s allies further said he “hasn’t formally ruled out” building the America Party. The Journal story said the world’s wealthiest man likely wanted to support Republican Vice President JD Vance for president in 2028, and that he told “allies that he wants to focus his attention on his companies and is reluctant to alienate powerful Republicans by starting a third party that could siphon off GOP voters.” In the second Trump administration, Musk led the Department of Government Efficiency to cut waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government. However, he had a falling out with President Donald Trump over the amount of spending in the One Big Beautiful Bill, complaining it would add to the national debt.  After that, Musk posted on X in July, “Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”  The Daily Signal contacted Musk’s companies Tesla, X, and SpaceX to try to reach a Musk representative for comment, and also reached out to Vance’s office for comment.  The post Will He or Won’t He? Does Elon Musk Still Have Plans for a Third Party? appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Google is extending its AI-driven age estimation system beyond YouTube and into its flagship search engine, raising renewed concerns over user surveillance and the growing reliance on opaque algorithmic profiling. The technology, supposed to predict a user’s age by analyzing massive amounts of behavioral data such as search queries and watch history, has already triggered significant backlash. Users are now encountering age verification prompts within Google Search. One individual described to Reclaim The Net being asked to verify their age while watching a video on YouTube, only to face a similar prompt during later Google searches. This suggests that once a user is tagged for age checking, the requirement may be enforced across their entire Google profile. While sightings of the feature on Search are still limited, users have noticed the demands for more data across the European Union. The full extent of the deployment is still unclear. Integrating this system into search could have broad consequences that go even further than more behavioral profiling. Routine access to information could now be gated by requests to confirm one’s age, turning one of the most widely used tools on the internet into a more restrictive experience. Google Search has already undergone major changes with the introduction of AI-generated summaries, a shift that has drawn both usability concerns and competitive attention. The potential for further disruptions and the fact that Google is now more openly profiling users may drive more users toward privacy-conscious alternatives. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Google Expands Age Verification to Search appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. A British Columbia nurse has been hit with a one-month license suspension and ordered to pay over $93,000 in legal fees for publicly supporting women’s access to female-only spaces, a stance that the province’s nursing regulator deemed unprofessional. Amy Hamm, who has spent more than 13 years working in healthcare and had risen to the position of nurse educator, was disciplined by the British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM) after a years-long process sparked by her political expression outside of work. The controversy dates back to 2020, when Hamm co-sponsored a Vancouver billboard that read, “I JK Rowling.” The message, referencing the author’s defense of sex-based rights, triggered backlash from activists and a city councillor. The ad was removed, and formal complaints were submitted to the College, accusing Hamm of hate speech and transphobia. In response, the College launched an exhaustive investigation into Hamm’s public activity over several years, compiling a 332-page report that examined her tweets, writing, and podcast appearances from 2018 to 2021. After 22 hearing days stretched across 18 months, the disciplinary panel concluded that four of Hamm’s statements crossed the line into professional misconduct. The panel claimed that Hamm made comments about transgender individuals that they deemed discriminatory. Hamm has not accepted this finding and is already appealing it at the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Her legal counsel, Lisa Bildy, said, “In our view, the panel made a number of legal and factual errors that make the decision unsound, and we look forward to arguing these points before the BC Supreme Court. We are now considering whether to appeal the penalty decision as well.” Bildy also raised broader concerns about the implications for free speech: “This decision effectively penalizes a nurse for expressing mainstream views aligned with science and common sense. The Panel’s ruling imposes a chilling effect on free expression for all regulated professionals.” Hamm remains defiant. “The College has chosen to punish me for statements that are not hateful, but truthful. I’m appealing because biological reality matters, and so does freedom of expression. I want to express my thanks to the thousands of Canadians who continue to fund my legal case through donations to the Justice Centre,” she said. The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, which is representing Hamm, announced the penalty and reiterated its commitment to pushing back against professional censorship. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post BC Nurse Fined and Suspended Over Gender Policy Criticism appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

A 5-year-old child who lived 140,000 years ago is the earliest evidence of interbreeding between the two species.

Former NBC/MSNBC political director Chuck Todd sounded a lot like CNN’s Jake Tapper on Tuesday’s edition of The Arena on CNN. In a poor attempt to deflect attention away from Democratic Party gerrymandering in states like California and Illinois, by falsely suggesting that Republican-controlled Florida was the “worst” state when it came to redistricting practices. He also argued that the way to solve a lot of those issues was to actively gerrymander. What caused Todd to snap at his home state of Florida was CNN Republican commentator Scott Jennings calling out far-left states like California and Illinois for their wildly gerrymandered districts. “I mean, when I look at the states like Illinois and New York and even California with the supposed independent commission where Republicans get 40 percent of the vote and only have 17 percent of the seats,” he proclaimed. Todd immediately lashed out at Jennings, declaring that Florida far out ranked the legendary gerrymandering of Illinois: TODD: Scott, spend some time in the state of Florida, which is the worst gerrymandered state in all of -- JENNINGS: Worse than Illinois? TODD: Worse than Illinois. JENNINGS: Come on. TODD: Worse than Illinois. “They tell you who the speaker of the House is two years in advance. It is so gerrymandered,” Todd added, conflating statehouse-level politics with the districts for federal positions.     Prior to Todd’s comments, CNN political director David Chalian argued that, “One of the greatest challenges that Washington has faced over decades has been increased partisan gerrymandering on both sides of the aisle.” “If you had a magic wand and like, could do truly independent district drawing, it would probably create a better government, more responsive to the people,” he added. According to Todd, the closest thing to that magic wand would be more gerrymandering, citing how Republican heavy areas outside major urban population center would have to be diluted with Democrats: In fact, be careful throwing away gerrymandering if you ever want to create competitive districts. We’re going to have to gerrymander now because the Democrats and Republicans don't live in the same neighborhood. So, if you're trying to create actually – you actually have to gerrymander to create. If you want to create competitive districts here. He also lamented that there was no appetite for it in America. “If you thought there was a constituency for it…there'd be somebody wanting to be president someday who would stand up for it. And the fact that there's no constituency for this, that is what's been depressing me about this entire debate,” he argued. Todd was actually upset that Democrats weren’t able to do more: You know what, Republicans have done already in California. They're finding $100 million to fight this. You know what Democrats have done in Texas? Go run a freaking campaign. Go run for governor, build a state party. I don't understand how the Democratic Party, who is now angry that they've become -- they've been exposed as a – as not a national party because of their weakness in pushing back in the state of Florida, in the state of Texas, in the state of Ohio. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: CNN’s The Arena August 19, 2025 4:40:56 p.m. Eastern (…) DANA BASH: David, your thoughts on what we're seeing right now in Texas and more broadly with this? DAVID CHALIAN: I mean, I think about these things on two parallel tracks. Let's put the partisan politics aside for just a moment. One of the greatest challenges that Washington has faced over decades has been increased partisan gerrymandering on both sides of the aisle. And it has created less opportunity as primaries have been the primary political motivation, instead of general elections, for consensus building and the like. That is -- that is just a detriment to progress and governing and the like. And so, I think it would be, you know, if you had a magic wand and like, could do truly independent district drawing, it would probably create a better government, more responsive to the people. That being said, this is -- this partisan arms race. This is just the beginning. This is going to continue. And if you look at its logical conclusion across the map, Republicans hold more legislatures and governorships. They have more opportunity to squeeze juice out of what they have and what they're in control of than Democrats do. And at the end of the day, while yes, they may have a moral victory right now in Texas, and they think it's set up, California and Gavin Newsom may get a victory in California if he successfully convinces the voters there. Go on to Indiana, Missouri, Ohio. The Republicans are going to be able to outrun the Democrats in this partisan game. TODD: Well, and you go down -- it's only -- we've already had self- sorting, which has made, you know, I in fact, be careful throwing away gerrymandering if you ever want to create competitive districts. We’re going to have to gerrymander now because the Democrats and Republicans don't live in the same neighborhood. So, if you're trying to create actually – you actually have to gerrymander to create. If you want to create competitive districts here. I'm just -- here's what's amazing to me. There is not a single prominent elected leader who has stood up and said, ‘hey, you know what? What they're doing in Texas is wrong. And what they're doing in California is wrong.’ And the fact that there's nobody -- and we all know how this works, right? If you thought there was a constituency for it, you'd -- there'd be somebody wanting to be president someday who would stand up for it. And the fact that there's no constituency for this, that is what's been depressing me about this entire debate. There is no constituency for the idea that, hey, maybe we ought to have a little more fairness in this process, regardless of the state you're in, this idea that, ‘hey, we don't like being marginalized in this state, so were going to marginalize voters in another state in order to fight back on marginalization.’ That's so beyond illogical. It's frustrating. BASH: Well, what Gavin Newsom is, who really has the only the only one with any cards at this point, who runs a Democratic state is saying I think is not so much what they're doing is okay, so we're going to do it, too. It's what they're doing is horrible, but we're not going to let them - TODD: The problem is they spent 10 years - BASH: fight without -- without us. TODD: Dana, working in another path and going, ‘oh, never mind our principles are -- BASH: They did -- right. They did this independent commission that we're talking about. TODD: You know what, Republicans have done already in California. They're finding $100 million to fight this. You know what Democrats have done in Texas? Go run a freaking campaign. Go run for governor, build a state party. I don't understand how the Democratic Party, who is now angry that they've become -- they've been exposed as a – as not a national party because of their weakness in pushing back in the state of Florida, in the state of Texas, in the state of Ohio. (…) 4:45:11 p.m. Eastern BASH: What do you think about Donald Trump asking the Texas Republicans to do this? JENNINGS: I mean, it's a political process and Democrats states have done this for years. BASH: Not in the middle of the decade. JENNINGS: He sees it as Republicans have not kept up, and he feels like the Republican Party needs to get more muscular. That's -- that's his hardcore political view of it. BASH: What do you think? JENNINGS: I mean, when I look at the states like Illinois and New York and even California with the supposed independent commission where Republicans get 40 percent of the vote and only have 17 percent of the seats. I think he has a point, and I don't know -- TODD: Scott, spend some time in the state of Florida, which is the worst gerrymandered state in all of -- JENNINGS: Worse than Illinois? TODD: Worse than Illinois. JENNINGS: Come on. TODD: Worse than Illinois. Go what -- JENNINGS: Agree to disagree. TODD: They tell you who the speaker of the House is two years in advance. It is so gerrymandered. (…)

Elon Musk may be reconsidering his aspirations for a third political party after concerns from conservatives that it could divert votes from the Republican Party.A Tuesday report from the Wall Street Journal indicated that Musk is "quietly pumping the brakes" on the formation of the America Party and may instead support another Republican politician.'Nothing @WSJ says should ever be thought of as true.'In late June, amid Musk's falling-out with President Donald Trump over the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the Tesla CEO called for "an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE.""If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day," Musk declared.Several Republican politicians, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, warned Musk that a third party would likely act as a spoiler, ultimately benefiting the Democratic Party.RELATED: Is Elon’s America Party really a threat to Republicans? Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesAccording to the WSJ's report citing anonymous sources, it appears that Musk is considering that advice. Musk has reportedly told his allies that he plans to concentrate on his businesses and does not want to alienate Republicans, particularly Vice President JD Vance, by forming a third party.The news outlet reported that Musk and Vance have been in touch in recent weeks. Musk has allegedly stated to close allies that he would back Vance should he decide to run for president in 2028."Musk's allies said he hasn't formally ruled out creating a new party and could change his mind as the midterm elections near," the WSJ stated.However, Musk reportedly canceled a July call with a group that specializes in organizing third-party campaigns, and he has not recently engaged with individuals who have expressed interest in the America Party.RELATED: 'TRAIN WRECK': Trump blasts Elon Musk over anti-MAGA campaign, new 'moderate' party Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty ImagesCharlie Kirk responded to the WSJ's report in a post on social media."Elon Musk is reportedly reconsidering his bid to launch a third party and instead put his support behind Vice President JD Vance should he decide to run, per a new report from the WSJ. Will have to wait for confirmation from Elon, but this would be very positive news for the country if true," Kirk wrote.When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Vance directed the WSJ to the vice president's recent interview with the Gateway Pundit, during which he stated he hopes Musk will "come back into the fold" during the midterm elections.While Musk did not respond to a request for comment from the WSJ, he dismissed the outlet's reporting in a post on X."Nothing @WSJ says should ever be thought of as true," he wrote without elaborating further.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!