Months before a vital Senate election in the battleground state of Michigan‚ high-profile Republican candidate James Craig announced he is dropping out of the race. Craig‚ who made a name for himself as a law-and-order police chief of Detroit‚ said on Tuesday he was making a “business decision” to suspend his Senate campaign and consider a run for Detroit mayor‚ The Detroit News reported. The Republican candidate told the outlet that the “challenge” of fundraising was the most significant factor in his decision. To qualify for the ballot as a Senate candidate‚ the former Detroit police chief must obtain and verify 15‚000 signatures by April 23 before the Republican primary in August. He said the estimated cost for his campaign to reach the ballot signature threshold would be $350‚000. The Craig campaign reported having around $28‚000 on hand at the start of the year‚ according to The Detroit News. Craig’s 2022 campaign for Michigan governor‚ where he was an early favorite to win the GOP nomination‚ was upended by a ballot petition scandal. The Michigan Bureau of Elections ruled that Craig was ineligible for the 2022 primary ballot after it was determined that fraudulent ballot signatures were submitted on behalf of his campaign. Craig also complained that one of his GOP opponents‚ former Rep. Mike Rogers‚ was already being backed by the Republican establishment. When Rogers announced his bid last September‚ National Republicans signaled that he would have support from the party in his primary. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT)‚ Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee‚ told The Daily Wire at the time that Rogers is “the type of candidate who can perform well with suburban Michiganders and be a strong part of the eventual ticket in Michigan.” After Craig’s campaign suspension‚ the Republican race is now a battle between Rogers‚ former Republican Rep. Peter Meijer‚ businessman Sandy Pensler‚ and Michigan State Board of Education member Nikki Snyder. Republicans‚ currently in the Senate minority by two seats‚ hope to flip the Michigan Senate seat‚ which will be vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Debbi Stabenow. The likely Democrat nominee in the Senate race will be Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI). CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP Democrats have controlled both Michigan Senate seats since 2001‚ but the 2024 election in Michigan is considered one of many closely contested Senate races. The former Detroit police chief said there’s a chance he will “take a serious look at” running for mayor of Michigan’s largest city in 2025. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan‚ a Democrat‚ has held the office since 2014.

Former working royal Meghan Markle‚ wife of Prince Harry‚ has signed a new podcast deal after separating from Spotify last year. The Duchess of Sussex formerly hosted the “Archetypes” podcast on Spotify after inking a $20 million deal with the music streaming service in 2020. Her podcast was canceled after just one season. Now Markle is giving it another try by launching a new podcast with Lemonada Media‚ per a press release shared on Tuesday. Lemonada will also start streaming existing episodes of “Archetypes” this spring and will handle ad sales and distribution‚ per CNN.  “I’m proud to now be able to share that I am joining the brilliant team at Lemonada to continue my love of podcasting‚” Markle said in the statement.  “Being able to support a female founded company with a roster of thought provoking and highly entertaining podcasts is a fantastic way to kick off 2024. Our plan to re-release ‘Archetypes’ so that more people can now have access to it‚ as well as launching a dynamic new podcast are well in the works. I’m so eager to be able to share it soon‚ and am overjoyed to be joining the Lemonada family.” Lemonada CEO and co-founder Jessica Cordova Kramer added‚ “Meghan’s talent as host‚ creator and conversationalist is unparalleled and we are thrilled to co-create a new series with her that fosters her approach to creating art that matters.”  “As we’ve started development with The Duchess of Sussex‚ we are blown away by her collaborative spirit and clear vision‚ along with her deep desire to build compassion and community through this work‚” the company’s chief creative officer and co-founder Stephanie Wittels Wachs said. “Archetypes” received mostly negative reviews from critics and listeners. Some reports alleged that the Duchess of Sussex did not really interview her guests‚ but rather had members of her team interview them and dubbed her voice in later.  CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP Markle and Prince Harry have been working to rehabilitate their image after making headlines for quitting their jobs as senior working royals and moving to California. They’ve done multiple high-profile interviews in an attempt to tell their side of the story. The couple is also in a partnership with Netflix and are allegedly working on several projects with the streaming platform. 

An Oklahoma-based country radio station was accused of racism after it denied a request to play Beyoncé’s new single‚ “Texas Hold ‘Em.” The 42-year-old recording artist best known for R&;B and pop announced the release of two country singles and an upcoming album during Sunday’s Super Bowl game. Followers believe the new album‚ set to be released in late March‚ will have heavy country influences.  This prompted one social media user to request the newly released country single on Oklahoma’s 100.1 KYKC. The X account said it got a response saying Beyoncé isn’t played on the station’s country format. He posted about the station’s denial on X‚ which caused the exchange to go viral and the radio station to reverse course after realizing Beyoncé had released country songs. “I requested Texas Hold ‘Em at my local country radio station (KYKC) and after requesting I received an email from the radio station stating “We do not play Beyoncé on KYKC as we are a country music station‚” the fan shared‚ tagging a Beyoncé fan group in the post.  This station needs to be held accountable for their blatant racism and discrimination against Beyoncé. — JUSTIN 🫧 (@jussatto) February 13‚ 2024 “This station needs to be held accountable for their blatant racism and discrimination against Beyoncé‚” a follow-up tweet said.  “This is absolutely ridiculous and racist. You guys should be ashamed. I grew up listening to your station‚” the X account continued‚ adding a plea for listeners to start flooding the station with requests for the song. When the post racked up millions of impressions in just a few hours‚ KYKC responded on its X account‚ writing‚ “’Lots of calls coming in for Beyoncé’s Texas Hold ‘Em. It’s coming up in minutes.” The post included an image of the song in the upcoming playlist.  A rep for KYKC’s owner (South Central Oklahoma Radio Enterprises)‚ which owns multiple stations of different formats‚ told The Daily Mail that its country station didn’t realize the “Lemonade” singer had released a country song‚ and further stated it didn’t have the track when the social media user first requested it.  “Then when we began getting requests for it‚ we literally didn’t have it. No label or distributor could get it to us. So we literally couldn’t play it. Finally after many calls and emails we finally got the song and added it to not only our country station‚ KYKC‚ but it’s also on our Top 40 station KXFC‚ and our classic hits station‚ KADA-FM.” “We have been playing Beyonce’ for 20 years so we are fans‚” the statement added. CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP The rep also clarified that the situation had nothing to do with racism. “First‚ we are owned by a minority owned company‚ so there’s that. Secondly‚ we play music if it’s good. We don’t care who it is or what they look like. Thirdly‚ we embraced Beyonce’ when she hit the scene decades ago. She has always been a core artist for us‚ especially on two of our stations.” “We honestly didn’t know she had dropped a country song‚ plus no distributor sent it to us. As soon as we finally got it‚ we added it to our playlist‚” the statement concluded.

Award-winning journalist Catherine Herridge is reportedly one of a number of senior reporters at CBS News caught up in a round of layoffs reportedly rocking Paramount Global. The cuts‚ reportedly impacting about 800 jobs‚ constitute about 3% of Paramount’s total workforce. Paramount CEO Bob Bakish told employees in an internal memo that the drastic cuts are necessary for the financial health of the company. “These adjustments will help enable us to build on our momentum and execute our strategic vision for the year ahead — and I firmly believe we have much to be excited about‚” Bakish wrote‚ according to Yahoo Finance. The downsizing has turned some employees against Bakish after he was paid $32 million last year despite the company’s struggles. “Everybody in the newsroom is pissed that Bob Bakish is making over $30 million and he’s making these cuts‚” one insider told the New York Post. The cuts bled into CBS News‚ which employs about 2‚000 people. Roughly 20 people received notice that they were being let go‚ including some of the news outlet’s top talent such as Herridge. Herridge‚ formerly a reporter for Fox News‚ is under pressure from U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper to divulge her sources in a series of stories she wrote for Fox involving a federal investigation of a Chinese American scientist. Herridge has so far refused to give up her sources and faces the possibility of being held in contempt of court. She could also be fined as much as $5‚000-a-day. Herridge’s case has been closely watched by news organizations and First Amendment advocates over its implications for the future of anonymous reporting of sensitive stories. CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP While at CBS News‚ Herridge has continued to break stories on national security and significant legal issues. CBS News also let go of other senior reporting talent such as Jeff Pegues‚ who joined the network in 2013 and served as its chief national affairs and justice correspondent. Christina Ruffini‚ who covers foreign affairs and the State Department‚ and Pamela Falk‚ who covers the United Nations‚ are also said to be leaving‚ according to Deadline.

In a fascinating and trenchant dialogue‚ British author Douglas Murray interviewed the son of a Hamas co-founder. Mosab Hassan Yousef‚ who worked with Israeli intelligence to foil numerous suicide bombing attacks against Israel. When Murray asked what Youisef was taught growing up‚ he replied‚ “Jewish hatred‚ this is not a secret thing. Hatred toward the Jewish people‚ toward the infidels‚ towards the Christians; it’s part of the Islamic common teaching. … It’s in the air; it’s in the book (Koran)‚ it’s in the mosque; it’s in the school‚ and people think it is normal just to preach hatred towards other people because they are different or because they don’t agree with Islamic principles.” Speaking of the atmosphere in which he grew up and how it focused on the eradication of Israel‚ he said‚ “It’s not only in Hamas charters‚ it’s in fact‚ a desire not only for Palestinian-Islamic movements like Hamas‚ Muslim Brotherhood‚ Islamic Jihad … but it’s also the non-Islamist movements that praise Jewish slaughter. And this was the biggest problem that I had in the 90s during the suicide attacks before and after the Second Intifada. People used to celebrate.” He noted that when a suicide bomber had been successful in massacring Jews‚ “A majority of the Palestinian population celebrated‚ praised suicide bombing attacks even though it targeted civilians. … In fact‚ people would celebrate more when the death toll would be greater‚ even though we had Arabs‚ foreigners‚ who died in those attacks‚ children‚ women‚ elders‚ all types of people‚ and this is where from the early beginning I had this moral conflict. How can you celebrate and enjoy the suffering of people like this?” “At the beginning you think that the Israelis deserve that; ‘They took our land. They killed our people. They are against our God; they want to destroy us.’ You get to a point where you see your enemy down you celebrate that. But then — for how long you can lie to somebody before they start questioning the truth and the reality?” he noted. He said of his childhood‚ “From a very early age I had my problem with the culture. I did not like the abuse; I did not appreciate the beating. I did not appreciate the rigid‚ rough discipline. Don’t expect to beat up a child because they did not follow the religious protocol and this child is not going to question what that was for? … I survived it; many people get broken in the beginning.” He remembered being in prison in 1996 at the age of 18 because he had purchased guns for the purpose of shooting Israelis. “Thankfully I got arrested before I carried out a terrorist attack‚ I was not that far. … We had guns and we were looking for targets. … Hamas in prison proved to be barbaric; they killed so many people; they tortured so many people‚ our own people‚ for suspicion of collaborating with Israel with no evidence. Hamas did not have evidence. … Dozens were killed in a short period of time. Hundreds were tortured in the worst possible way. This was the time when I started asking the question: What if Hamas succeeds in establishing a Palestinian state? Are they going to do this to our people?” “One of the things in the Koran‚ that Allah hates the Jewish people for being disobedient‚” he stated. “Hence many of those jihadists think that they are the sword of God on Earth‚ that they are actually manifesting the punishment against the Jewish people for being disobedient. And this is why I personally question the belief system itself. I thought it was not enough to work in counterterrorism shooting down terrorists or trying to stop a suicide bomber before they reach their target; after 10 years of this operation I came to realize we were fighting a ghost because we did not deal with the belief system.” Speaking of the October 7 massacre of Israelis by Hamas and how it differed from all the previous terrorist attacks on Israelis‚ he said‚ “This one‚ you see them moving‚ you see them speaking; you seem them enjoying it. They rejoice in the death of so many innocent‚ defenseless people. In people’s living rooms‚ enjoying beverages from their kitchen while the children are mourning the death of their parents next door. There is no human language that can describe the evil that took place on October 7. That’s not just a war crime; it’s not just killing; it’s a genocide by all standards. And to see such a genocide but nobody’s talking about it. … This is not just a terrorist attack.” He spoke of the West’s refusal to see the Islamist threat: One of the biggest contributors to terrorism and violence is hypocrites. Because when we are hypocrites we are not calling things for what they are. We see the Islamists’ threat; we see what they are capable of doing‚ FBI‚ Homeland Security‚ other intelligence agencies in the West‚ most democracies in the West‚ they know the ideological dimension that motivates  terrorists and terrorist attacks. But we prefer not to talk about it because it’s “Islamophobic” or because it’s controversial or we may offend the Muslims. So now we are submitting to intimidation when we don’t talk about it‚ when we don’t challenge it‚ that this is not acceptable; it’s not acceptable.  He concluded: This hatred against the Jews that is attracting many Westerners who might have something in common: that they are all anti-Semites. And this is what’s bringing the Islamists and the Communists and could be the socialists‚ even‚ to work together; they have something in common and that is their hatred toward Israel. But what many Westerners are not understanding is that this is not only anti-Israel; it‘s anti-success and it’s anti-civilization. It‘s pro-chaos.

Denver is considering allowing non-citizens to become police officers and firefighters‚ a move that would allow migrants with work authorization to work those public safety jobs. On Monday‚ City Council President Jamie Torres and Councilmember Amanda Sandoval proposed getting rid of language in the city charter that bars the city from hiring non-citizens as police and firefighters. The proposal could be formally introduced in a bill as soon as April‚ but changing the city’s charter would also require a ballot initiative in November. Both the fire chief and police chief have submitted letters in favor of the idea. The Denver Sheriff’s Department is already able to hire non-citizens thanks to a 2016 federal settlement that found the department discriminated against migrants who had work authorizations. Like several other major U.S. cities‚ Denver has received an influx of illegal migrants recently. Colorado’s capital is struggling to metabolize the more than 40‚000 illegal migrants who have arrived in recent months. The city is in the process of evicting about 800 migrant families from overcrowded shelters. “We have filled every single hotel room that we have available in the city and county of Denver‚” Mayor Mike Johnston‚ a Democrat‚ said earlier this month‚ adding that the city is “very close” to a breaking point. To pay for the migrant crisis‚ the city is slashing funding from every part of the budget‚ from the police to the health department to the animal shelter. The mayor has asked to cut nearly $1 million from the elections department in an election year. Johnston said the city would likely need $100 million over the course of this year to pay for migrant costs such as housing‚ school‚ and health care. CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP “This influx of migrants is straining capacity‚ and based on current projections‚ could force the city to cut as much as $180 million from its annual budget‚” city officials said in a press release. Denver has only 710‚000 residents‚ meaning the new migrants have increased the city’s population by more than 5%. The new arrivals now make up a more significant segment of the city’s population than in larger cities that have seen a recent migrant influx‚ such as New York City or Chicago. Meanwhile‚ more encampments are cropping up in Denver‚ which already has a significant homeless problem — the homeless population spiked more than 30% last year. Many of the Democratic leaders in cities that have experienced a migrant influx have pushed for work authorizations for migrants so they can stop being in the government’s care.

NFL star Travis Kelce is going Hollywood by signing on as producer for a new film‚ “My Dead Friend Zoe.” The project is notable because it’s the first movie to take advantage of President Joe Biden’s renewable energy tax credits for financing‚ per Variety. The outlet noted that the indie comedy cost less than $10 million to make. “My Dead Friend Zoe” follows a female Afghanistan veteran who confronts her grandfather‚ a Vietnam veteran‚ at the family lake house. The movie premieres March 9 at SXSW. It stars Sonequa Martin-Green‚ Natalie Morales‚ Ed Harris‚ and Morgan Freeman. The movie used funds generated by green energy entrepreneur Mike Field’s sale of surplus tax credits‚ Variety noted‚ in the first example of the film industry utilizing Biden’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act for film financing. Field is listed as another producer of the dark comedy. “Hollywood is risky‚ right? On a scale of one to 10‚ Hollywood‚ it is a 9.5. Especially in terms of independent film‚” one of the movie’s producers Ray Maiello said. “These federal tax credits take the risk down to like a five.” “[Field] and I wanted to branch out and we’ve been talking about [expanding] for years. And then Biden really incentivized it‚” he continued. “Biden saw that people can’t plan what their tax liabilities are going to be. People don’t want to take risks. And so he really opened it up with these federal tax credits and we’re combining that with Hollywood. That’s the idea.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP Kelce‚ Maiello‚ and Field are again using these funds to finance the upcoming documentary “King Pleasure‚” which is about renowned artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end is fresh off a big Super Bowl win on Sunday and has indicated he’ll return next season. But he’s not the first professional football player to branch out into other arenas. Variety noted how Tom Brady played himself in the comedy “80 for Brady” and was a producer on the film. The Paramount Pictures movie grossed $40 million worldwide against a $28 million budget despite receiving mixed reviews from critics.