Everyone knows that the most commonly practiced religion in Hollywood is the worship of self, even if most celebrities won’t admit it.  There are also plenty of stars who dabble in New Age practices, who call themselves “spiritual but not religious,” and a solid number of famous people who follow Eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism.  And while lukewarm “Christians” are prevalent enough in Tinseltown, when it comes to being a Hollywood A-lister, it’s very unlikely that any will admit to being a full-fledged, church-going, sacrament practicing Catholic. It could be that the celebrity lifestyle doesn’t align with Catholicism. Or, perhaps there’s an invisible barrier preventing Catholics from reaching A-list status. More likely it’s a combination of both. However, there are a handful of Catholic celebrities who wear their faith loudly and proudly. It may mean that they’re shunned by their peers, but despite that, these famous players have decided that their religion means more than fitting in. Mark Wahlberg Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images Many millennials think of Wahlberg by his former stage name, Marky Mark. Wahlberg has collected plenty of impressive Hollywood accolades including a BAFTA Award, nominations for two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, nine Primetime Emmy Awards, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards.  Besides just achieving success on the screen, the 52-year-old father of four is also a devout Catholic.  “I attribute everything good and everything positive in life to my faith,” Wahlberg said during a 2023 interview. “As soon as I started putting my faith and focus on God, good things started happening for me.” “And even when they didn’t, [faith] gives you the coping skills to deal with things that are inevitable, like loss and failure and those things,” he continued. “But, you know, again, my faith and my family, those are the most important aspects of my life.” In 2022, Wahlberg appeared in “Father Stu,” a movie based on the true story of a boxer who became a Catholic priest. The actor said it was “his calling” and “mission” to get the movie made. The meditation app Hallow, the most downloaded and used Catholic app in the world, launched a partnership with the actor in 2022 as he was promoting the movie. At the time, Wahlberg urged his 18 million social media followers to pray the rosary with him. “You got to stay prayed up. God bless you,” he said at the time. Gary Sinise Michael Tullberg/Getty Images Yes, Lieutenant Dan from “Forrest Gump” is also a practicing Catholic in addition to promoting causes that help veterans. He said he’s found success despite being openly conservative in Hollywood.  “I’ve had a blessed career in the movie and television and theater business,” Sinise said in January 2023. “I’ve done amazing things, I’ve worked with amazing people, and it really played a major role, if not the key element, in what I’m doing today on the service side.” Sinise discussed his journey to becoming Catholic in 2019. He said he was led to the church by his wife, Moira Harris, who converted herself after being cast in a play. The actor said he surprised his family by choosing to join the church about a decade after his wife.  “I surprised my family. I’d gone through the confirmation classes and whatnot myself behind everybody’s back and I didn’t tell anybody that I was doing it,” he told Catholic News Service. “On Christmas Eve 2010 I told the family I was taking them to dinner at Morton’s Steakhouse and have Christmas Eve dinner,” Sinise continued. “And on the way there, I pulled into the church, and everybody asked, ‘What are we doing here?’ I said come on in. We walked into the church. The priest was there, and he confirmed me. It was beautiful.” Jim Caviezel Steve Rogers Photography/Getty Images for SXSW The actor who portrayed Jesus in Mel Gibson’s massively popular drama, “The Passion of the Christ” (2004) is himself a Catholic. The 55-year-old actor credits his entire career to saying a daily rosary. He also credits his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary with helping him be cast in “The Thin Red Line” (1998), which was the starting point of his career. While filming “The Passion,” Caviezel is said to have experienced a dislocated shoulder, pneumonia, and hypothermia, among other ailments.  “When I was up there on the Cross, I learned that in His suffering was our redemption. Remember the servant is no greater than the master,” he said while addressing a roomful of college students. “Each of us must carry our own cross. There is a price for our faith, for our freedoms. I have been literally scourged, hit by the whips, crucified, struck by lightning, yes, open heart surgery — that’s what happens after five and a half months of hypothermia.” He spoke about his faith similarly in 2018. “I never thought that being a Christian would be an easy road, but that my heart, even on a cross in the freezing cold, nothing could stop my burning heart from loving Jesus. It’s important. And I took it as an actor because I want people to see why I am proud to be a Christian,” Caviezel said at the time. Patricia Heaton Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Concordia Summit Actress Patricia Heaton is another mainstream actress who was cast on a hit sitcom despite being conservative, and Catholic to boot. She discussed growing up in a devout family during an interview in 2022 after meeting Pope Francis at the VITAE Summit in the Vatican. “My sister is a Dominican nun,” she said at the time. “My grandparents met Pope John Paul I. My mom was one of 15 children. I have some 100 first cousins on my mom’s side. So, we’re a very Catholic family. Meeting the Pope is such an incredible honor that I never thought I would have.” Unlike some of her peers, Heaton said she hasn’t been ostracized for her faith. “As much as people want to paint Hollywood as a sort of anti-religious place, I have found that going into work, we’re all there to do a job,” Heaton said during the same conversation. “We’re all there to be professional. We all respect each other. We share opinions, different opinions. And because we love each other and we have a common goal of creating something wonderful for people to enjoy, the differences in our religion or politics or whatever, in my experience on a set, have not been a problem.” Besides sharing bible quotes with her followers, Heaton also openly discusses how she’s pro-life. “I don’t understand why pro-life people want to know if they are ‘welcome’ to join the democrat party,” the actress shared on X in February 2020. “Why would any civilized person want to support a barbaric platform that champions abortion for any reason through all nine months funded by taxpayers?” Shia LaBeouf (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for HFA) One of the newest Catholic converts in the Hollywood community is actor Shia LaBeouf, best known for getting his start on the Disney series “Even Stevens” and later moving into film roles, including the “Transformers” franchise. Now the celeb is a practicing Catholic as well after receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation on New Year’s Eve 2023. And he may go even further than that. His sponsor told Catholic News Agency that the 37-year-old star is also considering becoming a deacon in the future. LaBoeuf credited being cast in the film “Padre Pio” (2022) with influencing his decision to convert after going through turmoil and scandals, as The Daily Wire previously reported. LaBeouf said he was “never an atheist,” but was previously agnostic. The actor further explained how the role in “Pio” saved his life.

TV host Drew Carey said he’s not ever going to retire from hosting “The Price Is Right.”  The 65-year-old comedian took over the role in 2007 after longtime host Bob Barker retired from the gig. Carey said there’s no chance he’ll follow in his predecessor’s footsteps. “I’m not going anywhere,” Carey told Entertainment Tonight’s Kevin Frazier at the CBS Fall Schedule Celebration.  “I think Bob made a mistake by retiring,” he added. “I’m not gonna make that same mistake. As long as my heart is ticking and they want me to be on the show, I think I’m gonna do ‘The Price is Right.’ I just love it.” “I think I was made for it,” Carey added. Despite not agreeing with Barker’s decision to retire, he did admit to learning a lot from the longtime “Price Is Right” host. Barker died in 2023 at the age of 99. “He was so good at this,” Carey said. “He was so good at relating to people and getting them to be relaxed and be themselves. You watch his demeanor and his attitude. He never seemed stressed.” He added, “I’ve learned to relax while I’m onstage and not be so uptight about what’s going on. I just have to own the show and make it like my living room, because he was so comfortable in front of a camera.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP “He was the ultimate pro game show host,” Carey said during a separate interview with ET. “This guy will never be replaced or equal. It’s kind of crazy how good he was.” The comedian also reflected on the success of “The Drew Carey Show,” which aired from 1995 until 2004.  “That was one of the best experiences of my life,” Carey told ET. “I loved it, all the writers, all the cast – we were like a family. I felt like that and yeah, I just thought it was the greatest thing, and I’m so grateful I got to do that. Grateful to Warner Brothers and ABC for giving me an opportunity like that. Made my whole life.”

President Joe Biden’s team has quietly shuffled in and implemented a new safeguard in their ongoing efforts to shield him from the prying questions — and eyes — of the White House Press Corps. According to a report published last week by Axios, the president’s staff plans to redouble their efforts to flank him as he makes the short walk across the White House lawn to and from Marine One. Their goal, apparently, is to steer him away from the reporters shouting questions and to hide his uneven gait from their cameras. In response to concerns that walking alone across the grass has drawn attention to his age and sometimes halting and uneven steps, Biden has been surrounded by staffers or lawmakers nine of the ten times he’s made that trip since April 16, ccording to the Axios report. A White House official told Axios that the idea was Biden’s and he told aides that he'd prefer a less formal approach to walking and suggested that they walk with him. "He's fully visible except for a few seconds. Impeach," WH spokesman Andrew Bates said. — Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) April 26, 2024 Axios’ Alex Thompson noted that Biden has also opted for athletic shoes with sturdier soles that could help minimize the risk that he would slip or trip while walking. Latest example of this new approach this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/KgZv25U6z8 — Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) April 26, 2024 He followed that with a video showing Biden exiting Marine One via the front door — and within seconds, he was surrounded by several others who had exited to the rear. In the days since, Biden’s team has taken things a step further — and in at least one case, they barred the White House Press Corps from approaching the president’s path until he was already boarding Marine One, too far away to hear even their shouted questions. CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP **BREAKING** Reporters are shocked as Biden boards Marine One in secret. The press were only allowed to film once he was on the helicopter. ‘Wow… He boarded before the press could even get out here.’pic.twitter.com/O6JCoAmU07 — The First (@TheFirstonTV) May 2, 2024 “Wow, the president just boarded Marine One without taking any questions, and he boarded before the press could even get out here,” one reporter could be heard complaining. Despite early promises of transparency, President Biden’s team has effectively sequestered him, scheduling very few interviews with friendly outlets like Howard Stern’s radio show and Ryan Seacrest’s New Year’s Eve broadcast. Biden’s lack of press availability has been such a stark contrast to former President Donald Trump’s near-constant banter with the press that it has raised the ire of New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger. “Systematically avoiding interviews and questions from major news organizations doesn’t just undermine an important norm, it also establishes a dangerous precedent that future presidents can use to avoid scrutiny and accountability,” the NYT said in a recent statement.

Among the over 600 faculty members at the University of Texas at Austin who signed onto a letter stating that they have “no confidence” in the university president because he took swift action against anti-Israel protesters are radical liberal professors who blamed Israel for Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attack. Led by Pauline Turner Strong, a women’s and gender studies professor who is currently studying the “role of indigenous nations and movements in climate justice activism,” the professors say that President Jay Hartzell “has shown himself to be unresponsive to urgent faculty, staff, and student concerns” “He has violated our trust,” the letter states. “The University is no longer a safe and welcoming place for the diverse community of students and scholars who until now have called this campus home.” The faculty take issue not only with Hartzell’s handling of the protests — he brought in police to forcibly disperse students that formed an encampment — but also his decision to fire dozens of diversity, equity, and inclusion staffers at the university. Hartzell “capitulated to political pressure” by dissolving the Division of Campus and Community Engagement (DCCE) last month, the letter states, resulting in the firing of “at least forty staff — predominantly women and people of color.” The letter and signature campaign is coordinated by the union, American Association of University Professors at UT Austin, which co-organized a “Stop the Purge” rally to protest the firings. “President Hartzell needlessly put students, staff and faculty in danger,” the letter states. “Dozens of students were arrested for assembling peacefully on their own campus.” The letter currently stands at 657 signatures, making up about 20% of the roughly 3,200 faculty members at the university. Only seven signatures are publicly displayed on the website with the posted letter, all of whom are AAUP chapter officers. These include professors Pauline Turner Strong, Brian L. Evans, Karma R. Chávez, Andrea C. Gore, Lauren Jae Gutterman, Steven Seegel, and Julia Mickenberg. The Daily Wire obtained a copy of the letter with all of the signatories listed, and identified several with a history of anti-Israel activism. One of the most controversial signatories is Nahid Siamdoust, an assistant professor in the Middle Eastern Studies department who put the blame on Israel in the immediate wake of Hamas committing its massacre of Israeli civilians on October 7. “This is the moment when the world powers need to step in and say enough is enough,” Siamdoust posted. “End the occupation. There won’t be peace otherwise. Let’s stop this bloodshed. Let’s solve this problem. Instead they empower Israel to retaliate indiscriminately. My [heart breaks] for all the innocent.” This is the moment when the world powers need to step in and say enough is enough. End the occupation. There won’t be peace otherwise. Let’s stop this bloodshed. Let’s solve this problem. Instead they empower Israel to retaliate indiscriminately. My 💔 for all the innocent. — Nahid Siamdoust (@nahid8) October 8, 2023 In a tweet two days later, she said she was “ashamed” by seeing exiled Iranians celebrating “Israel’s illegal siege and indiscriminate killing of Palestinians with the military & financial might of the world.” African diaspora and gender studies professor Pavithra Vasudevan, a member of the Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine, frequently sports a keffiyeh and has attended anti-Israel rallies on campus. In one video, she is heard telling students that she “lost confidence” in the university for “inviting the police state to take over this campus.” “The police do not protect us, we protect us,” she added. “This is our space, this is our campus.” Associate Dean for Faculty Mentoring and Development, Peniel E. Joseph, also signed onto the letter and published an op-ed on Thursday accusing the school of assaulting democracy by firing the DEI-focused faculty members.  “What we are experiencing here in Texas is an assault on the nation’s democracy,” Joseph wrote. “As in Gov. Ron DeSantis’s Florida, Gov. Greg Abbott’s efforts here amplify conservative legislators’ vision of ‘reclaiming’ the university from a so-called ‘woke mob’ apparently populated by folks who look like me.” The faculty letter demands that criminal charges be dropped “against students and others,” that students not face disciplinary action, and that the school “respect the first Amendment free speech rights of students and faculty.” The idea for the letter began as police were still arresting people on campus last Wednesday, according to the Austin American-Statesman. While the number of faculty who signed on to the letter is certainly large, there is also substantial support for Hartzell in the university community. A letter of support for Hartzell organized by Alums for Campus Fairness thanks him for his “decisive action in putting an end to the recent antisemitic encampment on campus.” Organizers say the letter in support of Hartzell already has 9,137 signatories from its community of alumni, parents of students, and donors to the university. 

Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and his wife were indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday for allegedly taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from two foreign entities. The 68-year-old congressman was charged along with his wife, Imelda Cuellar, 67, with participating in two alleged schemes involving bribery, unlawful foreign influence, and money laundering, the DOJ said in a statement. The Cuellars allegedly took nearly $600,000 in bribes from an oil and gas company that is wholly owned and controlled by the government of Azerbaijan and a bank that is headquartered in Mexico city. CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP “Cuellar promised to use the power and prestige of his office to advance Azerbaijan’s and Foreign Bank-1’s interests in the United States,” the DOJ said. “The bribe payments were laundered, pursuant to sham consulting contracts, through a series of front companies and middlemen into shell companies owned by Imelda Cuellar. Cuellar performed little or no legitimate work under the sham contracts.” The indictment comes after the FBI raided Cuellar’s home and campaign office back in 2022 as part of the criminal investigation into the former Soviet state of Azerbaijan and several U.S. businessmen. Numerous items were seized during the raid. Prosecutors allege that in-exchange for the bribes, Cuellar, who is the Ranking Member on the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, used his office to influence U.S. foreign policy in a manner favorable to Azerbaijan. “In exchange for the bribes paid by the Mexican bank, Congressman Cuellar allegedly agreed to influence legislative activity and to advise and pressure high-ranking U.S. Executive Branch officials regarding measures beneficial to the bank,” the DOJ said. Both individuals were charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit bribery of a federal official and to have a public official act as an agent of a foreign principal; two counts of bribery of a federal official; two counts of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud; two counts of violating the ban on public officials acting as agents of a foreign principal; one count of conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering; and five counts of money laundering. If convicted on all of the charges, both individuals face a maximum of up to 204 years in prison. This report has been updated to include additional information. 

Actor Mark Hamill crashed Friday’s White House press briefing — the day before Star Wars Day (May the Fourth) — and instead of taking questions about the popular Sci-Fi/Fantasy franchise, all he wanted to do was gush about President Joe Biden. Hamill, who played the role of Jedi Luke Skywalker in George Lucas’ original trilogy, joined White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at the lectern and told reporters how happy he had been to meet the president’s staff. He opened with a joke, saying that when Biden had invited the actor to call him “Joe,” he’d asked whether he could call him “Joe-Bi-Wan-Kenobi.” WATCH: Mark Hamill is at the White House press briefing today making cringe Star Wars jokes. Not like there’s anything important going on in the world at the moment! pic.twitter.com/Qjryh8Wx1M — Greg Price (@greg_price11) May 3, 2024 WATCH: .@MarkHamill at the White House press briefing: “I was honored to be asked to come to the White House to meet the President, the most legislatively successful president in my lifetime. And you know, I don't have to go through the list of bipartisan infrastructure law, the PACT… pic.twitter.com/6BuWLHEJ9g — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 3, 2024 “I was honored to be asked to come to the White House to meet the president, the most legislatively successful president in my lifetime,” Hamill began, listing off a series of legislative actions that he counted as Biden wins. “And you know, I don’t have to go through the list of bipartisan infrastructure law, the PACT Act, the Chips Act, all of that inflation — 15 million jobs.” “Look, it’s all good,” Hamill continued, praising Biden’s staff and raving about how much work the president did day-to-day. “I mean, I was really thrilled to meet the entire staff because, you know, it’s not just one person. It’s like a composite endeavor and all these people, my goodness, you know, I mean, I have no idea — I — I had no idea. Just what went into what is on his plate on a daily basis.” “So, that’s pretty much it. I’m open to questions, although no Star Wars questions, please,” Hamill concluded. “But I want to say once again how grateful I am, and it just shows you that just one person can be so influential and so positive in our lives and, again thank you so much. And @PeterBakerNYT, I loved your book.” “Hamill was born in 1951,” Mike Cote pointed out in an X post. “Even for his personal politics, Biden isn’t remotely close to the most legislatively successful president of his lifetime. LBJ, anyone? Very sad to see a Jedi turn into a Sith before our eyes.” Hamill was born in 1951. Even for his personal politics, Biden isn't remotely close to the most legislatively successful president of his lifetime. LBJ, anyone? Very sad to see a Jedi turn into a Sith before our eyes. https://t.co/7gLEWGahxz — Mike Coté (@ratlpolicy) May 3, 2024  

The Biden administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) warned Iowa that it will sue the state if it enforces a recently passed law that seeks to crack down on illegal immigration. The DOJ’s warning comes after Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed legislation last month that would make illegal reentry into the state an aggravated misdemeanor, empowering the state to arrest illegal immigrants. “The Biden administration has failed to enforce our nation’s immigration laws, putting the protection and safety of Iowans at risk,” Reynolds said after first signing the legislation. “Those who come into our country illegally have broken the law, yet Biden refuses to deport them.” The Biden DOJ’s Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton responded to the legislation with a letter to Governor Kim Reynolds and Attorney General Brenna Bird, giving the state until May 7 to suspend the enforcement of the new law before the federal government steps in. Boynton argued that Iowa’s new law “is preempted by federal law and violates the United States Constitution” and that it “effectively creates a separate state immigration scheme,” which “intrudes into a field that is occupied by the federal government and is preempted.” The state’s Attorney General Brenna Bird signaled that Iowa will not capitulate to the Biden administration’s request. “Iowa will not back down and stand by as our state’s safety hangs in the balance. If Biden refuses to stop the border invasion and keep our communities safe, Iowa will do the job for him.” Governor Reynolds asserted that the law is only necessary because of the Biden administration’s unwillingness to secure the southern border. “The only reason we had to pass this law is because the Biden administration refuses to enforce the laws already on the books,” Reynolds contended. “I have a duty to protect the citizens of Iowa. Unlike the federal government, we will respect the rule of law and enforce it.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP The emerging feud between the Biden DOJ and the state of Iowa comes while Texas is embroiled in its own ongoing legal fight over a similar immigration law. The state’s Senate Bill 4, which also allows authorities to detain and charge those in the country illegally, has been the focus of legal battles with the federal government. States like Iowa, Texas, and Georgia have passed legislation aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration as the United States has witnessed an unprecedented crisis on the border, with officials recording over 9.5 million nationwide encounters and 1.7 million estimated illegal immigrant gotaways since Joe Biden took office. There were only 445,000 total reported gotaways for 2018, 2019, and 2020 under the Trump administration.

You can tell a lot about a company’s values based on its ad partners. The Bud Light partnership with trans-identifying activist Dylan Mulvaney is bound to be remembered as the most disastrous marketing decision in history. Thanks to one social media push, the brand’s reputation is forever tarnished. The resulting boycott cost the company an estimated $1 billion in lost sales. Sadly, Bud Light is far from the only company peddling progressive nonsense. While Jeremy’s Razors stands proud as a beacon of sanity amid the chaos and lies, there are dozens of other companies worshiping at the altar of woke on a daily basis. They get away with it because no one stops them. One of the most egregious examples of this is Dove, a company that most recently partnered with two lesbian influencers for a Mother’s Day promo. It’s not the first time Dove made waves for their extremism and barring any Bud Lite-esque boycott for this go-round, it likely won’t be the last. Mother’s Day is a holiday that’s been on the progressive radar for a while now. It’s no wonder that the side that can’t even figure out what a woman is refuses to honor moms. Now the international personal care brand is attacking the concept of traditional families by partnering with team2moms, a pro-LGBT Instagram account. The promo post begins by tagging sponsors Dove and Walmart. “Being a Mom has its highs and lows, even when you have TWO! So, this #MothersDay season, we’re teaming up with @dove to help spread the message of self-care to all Moms and Mom-like figures out there,” it says before making a pitch for Dove products purchased from Walmart. The Atlanta-based influencers boast seven million TikTok followers, two million YouTube subscribers, and close to half a million followers on Instagram. And what do they stand for? A run-through of past posts shows the couple’s daughter posing for a photo with Vice President Kamala Harris after interviewing her. In another, the 12-year-old girl goes back and forth between her “mom” and “mama” while answering frequently asked questions, including “Which one is your real mom?” (Her answer: both). In another video set to the Hozier song “Take Me to Church,” the team2moms couple and two other influencers mockingly make the sign of the cross while advertising “being [gay] is not a sin.” “What we really need to do is pray away HOMOPHOBIA,” the video caption says. The madness must stop, but the only way it will is if consumers pull a Bud Light on Dove and all the other companies intent on pushing leftist values on the public. The best way to do that is to find an alternative. And hey, good news – that alternative exists right here. At Jeremy’s Razors, Mother’s Day celebrates the one and only biological woman who birthed you – not the two women confusing a preteen by both posing as “real moms.” Treat the special lady in your life to indoctrination-free, vastly superior products from a brand that knows the true meaning of Mother’s Day. Plus, for a limited time, save 25% on all collection items. There’s never been a better time to treat mom to the perfect gift that actually aligns with her values. And today is your last chance to take advantage of 25% off. We’ve had enough. We’re taking back Mother’s Day. We’re taking back traditional families. And next? We’re taking back the culture, too. Join the fight with Jeremy’s Razors, the perfect gift for (just one) mom.

The Tenth Circuit finally gave us a day in court to fight for something we never thought we’d have to: the right to live and associate with other women. See, we joined Kappa Kappa Gamma at the University of Wyoming because we wanted to learn and grow with other women. Women have done this for ages: Kappa itself was founded in 1870, and when Title IX was passed in 1972, generally outlawing sex-based associations, sororities were explicitly exempted from the law. But that all changed for us in the fall of 2022. Our sisters were pressured by the Kappa Kappa Gamma headquarters to initiate a male—going so far as to force our votes to be public and warning us that voting against the male would be a sign of bigotry, a basis for expulsion from Kappa. But headquarters does not have to live with its decision. We do. They had their female-only environment when they were at college. We do not. The benefits of female-only living are self-evident, but they are also scientifically backed. Personally, we want a place to be ourselves. We want (and deserve) freedom from a male gaze in private environments. These emotional needs manifest themselves in concrete ways. Research shows that women are much less likely to speak, especially authoritatively, in mixed-sex settings. And women are 200% as likely to accept a leadership role in single-sex settings. Maybe we wouldn’t have noticed what we had until we lost it. We felt uneasy walking into bathrooms, knowing that our privacy there had been dissolved. Our bedrooms don’t have locks, and it was hard to fall asleep without that layer of protection in our intimate environment. Some sisters are sexual assault victims, and were forced to constantly shoulder the unease of trauma by having been stripped of their female-only environment. So after months of begging for the sorority we were promised, we sued. And we’re speaking up publicly too. Because this case, this issue, isn’t just about opportunities being stripped from us in college and in sorority houses. It’s also about being able to speak out and defend your beliefs without intimidation. We are women who want our constitutionally protected right to speak out and associate freely, including in women-only spaces. We have heard from hundreds of other women who share our views but fear speaking out and facing public shaming and persecution. We want them to find their voices and lead the way by taking this stand now. The four of us, and the other women who joined us in speaking out, have put a lot on the line with this lawsuit. At the outset, the court dismissed our concern for privacy in rejecting our request to proceed anonymously. We were just normal college girls who wanted everyone’s privacy protected, including the male’s. When we were forced to be public, we were then shamed for seeking publicity. We felt like we couldn’t win. Our lives have all been affected beyond the court case. Hannah made the hard decision to transfer to the University of Nebraska, where they have yet to initiate a male, fortunately. Maddie, the trooper among us, still lives in the same house as the male that Kappa initiated. Words cannot describe the tension of constantly seeing someone whose membership you’ve challenged in court. Jaylyn ultimately resigned her membership, leaving behind the house she was once a leader in. We don’t want this to happen to others. This issue is also bigger than Kappa, or sororities, or what’s happening to women on college campuses. It’s about women’s spaces nationally, and, more critically, whether women’s biological existence matters. Just this week, the Biden administration released new regulations that will push our college campuses further in the wrong direction. The Department of Education reinterpreted Title IX so that rather ensuring women have equal opportunity and don’t face discrimination “on the basis of sex,” now they have elevated the concept of “gender identity” so that any man who decided to claim to be a woman can access our spaces, our sports team, and our dormitories. Women’s interests are once again pushed aside to accommodate men. This is wrong. Women have to stand up for ourselves, our sisters, and our rights. Calling women bigots for refusing to pretend that the stronger, bigger, testosterone-driven, male-bodied person next to them is a “woman,” threatens and belittles us and our experiences. Biological realities have tied women together since the beginning of humankind. We know that men have the potential to overpower us. We know that we need to be careful and aware of those vulnerabilities wherever we are. Our nation’s policies, norms, and culture shouldn’t make this harder by forcing us to ignore biological reality. This lawsuit is the beginning of the fight, not the end. With Independent Women’s Forum, we will work to define women in state law, we will make the case to the public and the courts, and we will not rest until young women once again are recognized in law and in society as unique, deserving, and equal—not interchangeable—with men. * * * Jaylyn Westenbroek, Hannah Holtmeier, Allie Coghan, and Maddie Ramar are plaintiffs in Westenbroek v. Kappa Kappa Gamma and ambassadors for Independent Women’s Forum (iwf.org). The views expressed in this piece are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. would cut military spending nearly in half to pay for a spate of new and expanded social programs if he wins the White House, according to his campaign. Charles Eisenstein, a senior adviser to the Kennedy campaign, said that the candidate would aim to cut military spending to a level not seen since President Dwight Eisenhower’s last year in office. The savings from the cost cutting would be redirected to cover childcare subsidies and other welfare programs. “Everything hinges on demilitarization,” Eisenstein told NOTUS. “OK, like massive cuts in the military budget.” Kennedy is running a long-shot, independent bid for the presidency. Kennedy is in a distant third, trailing President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. A recent NPR/PBS/Marist poll found Biden and Trump tied at 42 points each with Kennedy far behind with 11 points. Still, Kennedy’s third-party bid has attracted more support than any independent run since Ross Perot in 1992. Under Eisenhower in 1960, the United States spent about $47 billion on its military. In 2022, that number had ballooned to roughly $880 billion. But over the course of the decades, military spending as a percentage of GDP actually fell by more than half. In 1960, the U.S. military budget was equivalent to about 9% of GDP. In 2022, that fraction had fallen to just 3.5%. “We’ll be coming out with policies that are more specific,” Eisenstein said, “but I’m just painting a general picture of an obsolete, massive military machine that has spent a trillion dollars in regime-change wars over the last 20 years. A trillion dollars. What have we achieved with that? Can you say that we were successful even in Afghanistan, Iraq, or Syria, or Libya? I mean, these countries have descended into chaos.” Asked where the cuts would come from, Eisenstein proposed closing overseas military bases and decommissioning aircraft carriers as examples. Military bases within the United States may also be closed as well. U.S. service members who lose their jobs to the cuts could be retrained and rehired to rebuild U.S. infrastructure, Eisenstein suggested. Brent Sadler, a senior research fellow for naval warfare at The Heritage Foundation’s Allison Center for National Security, pushed back on the proposed Kennedy cuts, and said his campaign has mistakenly conflated the failures of U.S. political leadership with its military. “All of those were politically-decided actions,” Sadler told The Daily Wire of Eisenstein’s assessment of U.S. involvement in the Middle East. “The military was just simply supporting the decisions of the political leadership. And that’s both Democrat and Republican, conservative and liberal that own those decisions.” Eisenstein is also wrong about obsolete technology in the military, according to Sadler. The naval warfare expert pointed out that aircraft carriers have been in use in the Red Sea in recent months protecting international shipping lanes from Houthi rockets. “You don’t get rid of what you know works before you get into a fight,” Sadler said before noting increasing Chinese investment in its navy, including in aircraft carriers. “It would be reckless in my mind to basically start discarding aircraft carriers or stop building them. Once you stop building them, you basically are putting a death sentence on the industrial base that gives you those, and it’s very rapid deterioration when you do that.” Sadler said that his position may not be “cost-effective, but it certainly will make sure you live to see another day.” The Kennedy campaign did not respond to a request for comment.