'This was Obama, Comey, Clapper and Brennan deciding 'We’re going to screw Trump''

'They were very impressed'

'I do not see how'

Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of today’s video from Daily Signal Senior Contributor Victor Davis Hanson. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see more of his videos. Hello, this is Victor Davis Hanson for The Daily Signal. I’d like to talk about the dream house of Zohran Mamdani. He was a successful Democratic Socialist candidate in the first round of the recent New York mayoral elections. He was a beneficiary of two phenomena that might suggest he has a 50/50 chance—more or less—to win the general election. Number one: In the primaries, it’s ranked voting and people can vote for various candidates. And traditionally, that means, in that cumbersome process, that outliers are minority candidates. Minority, in the sense that they’re not a member of either of the major parties, they have an advantage. And number two: While he was a very preeminent, as the hard-left favorite, the conservative side split the vote between former Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo, Mr. [Curtis] Sliwa, who’s a perennial candidate, and of course, the incumbent mayor, Eric Adams. So we’re looking at the general election. But what’s funny about Mamdani is almost everything he says is a contradiction or not true. Now that he is the frontrunner, everybody is going back over his record and asking him questions. Did you say you want to defund the police? Once the police were refunded, under Adams, the crime rate has gone down. And he said, “No, I didn’t say that.” And then it’s become an internet phenomenon, listing all the times he did say that. He said that he wished that billionaires didn’t exist. Does that mean that he wouldn’t want George Soros to fund the get out the vote groups and the activists who are actively supporting him? Will he come out and say, “George Soros, I wish you didn’t exist”? He says he is not a communist. OK. He’s a Democratic Socialist. But he says that the key to any “socialist revolution” is to seize or get the means of production. That’s right out of Karl Marx’s “Das Kapital.” So, he’s quoting communist dogma as a mechanism to gain political power. He says he has a new agenda. A new initiative. A new policy. Turn the page in New York. But when you actually look at what he’s advocating, his ideas very old. He says he wants to have government-owned food markets, grocery stores. I think any of us who went to college in the 1970s knew that in every major university town—whether it was Berkeley or Palo Alto, in California or Santa Cruz—there was a co-op. And the co-op’s advertisement was, “We don’t make a profit.” But my remembrance of those co-ops is they didn’t last very long. They eventually went broke. The produce was no better than Safeway or Raley’s or Food 4 Less or Save Mart or any of the competitors. So, that is not new. Giving free ticketing on buses and mass transit—the problem we have right now is that people have free access to the subway. They jump the turnstiles. But imagine how with his plan everybody, de facto, or de jure, would jump the turnstiles. So how is that going to be funded? He wants to have rent control. We know what rent control does. Once a landlord knows that he cannot raise his rent, in accordance with what he thinks maintenance, insurance, tax expenses rise commiserately, then he cuts back. He doesn’t improve the property. Or he forces people to get out, et cetera, et cetera. And you don’t build new units. I could go on with that list of things that he thinks are quite new—but he said something very, I think, shocking. He said he was going to go after affluent and whiter areas of New York. As if they were synonymous. But if you look at per capita income in the United States, based on ethnic affiliation, so-called whites are 17. The top 10 are Asian. But number one are Indian Americans—Mamdani’s people. What he should say, if he was intellectually honest, is that “we’re gonna go after affluent people and, especially, the most affluent people. My people, Indian Americans.” And he didn’t say that. And he didn’t say that because he is trying to win minority votes that he thinks he’s going to lose to Eric Adams. A final note: He talks about arresting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The pariah state of Israel is a colonial settler state. His family were colonists. Or they were settlers. Or they were immigrants into black Africa, Uganda. And the Indian community represented in Uganda the top 1%. And they were the shopkeepers, the bankers, the merchants, that ran Uganda, until many of them were expelled by Idi Amin. They went to South Africa, where the Indian African community was very prominent. And then they faced harassment for their success. And then he came to the United States. What am I getting at? He should not call Israel a colonial settler presence because that’s exactly what his own family was. And he should be very sensitive to the powers of envy and popular discontent against the very wealthy, because, after all, his father is a professor, a very well-compensated Columbia University professor. His mother is a multimillion-dollar successful filmmaker. And they represented the elite. And the powers of jealousy and envy pushed them out of their presence in Africa. And he came to the United States. So, in this fantasy world of Mamdani, he’s criticizing the very thing, the very issues, the very policy that made him. Whether it’s his parents coming here or what they did in Africa. Or his private school. Or his prestigious prep school. He has been a child of privilege. And so, to finish, most of his message is incoherent. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Zohran Mamdani Is Dusting Off the Old Socialist Playbook. He Hopes No One Will Notice appeared first on The Daily Signal.

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The Only Thing That Can Save Us Is Economic Growth

There is virtually nothing unique about public broadcasters anymore. The only thing that now differentiates NPR and PBS from their private sector competition is that they get about $1 billion in taxpayer subsidies annually (half via the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and half from federal and state discretionary grants).  In a desperate race to save their Congressionally-appropriated earmark, NPR and PBS have scrambled to come up with reasons why they alone are entitled to this corporate welfare. Their evolving justifications are as false as their “news” propaganda.  False Premise #1: Farmers need NPR for weather reports Fact: This claim is so ridiculous it is actually offensive. Because NPR and PBS think so little of our nation’s growers and ranchers, they can’t imagine that farmers have cell phones, computers and weather apps. Farmers also listen to talk radio, not NPR!   False Premise #2: People will die if Congress defunds CPB since NPR/PBS operate the “Integrated Public Alert & Warning System (IPAWS)” Fact: HR 4 does NOT touch IPAWS. This warning system is funded by a discretionary grant from FEMA, not the CPB.   False Premise #3: NPR/PBS have an additional unique role in the emergency alert system Fact: Every broadcaster in America (radio and TV) is required by the Federal Communications Commission to provide the same emergency alert. Fact: In addition, every cell phone in America can receive this alert. And since more Americans own cellphones (98%) than can even receive the NPR signal, the public broadcasters have been rendered obsolete.    False Premise #4: Local NPR affiliates provide high quality local news coverage Fact: “Local news” is rare news on NPR. The Media Research Center estimates that the bulk of programming (ranging from 90-100%) aired by local affiliates across the country is supplied by the flagship stations in Boston, New York, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Los Angeles.  Fact: In the top 20 rural states, only 5.7% of daily programming is locally produced news. Even still, these “local” programs, often primarily air national news.   False Premise #5: There are “local news” deserts that only NPR can fill Fact: 96% of Americans report using the internet regularly, providing far more access to news than ever before. In addition, Starlink can reach people in remote areas far more cheaply than broadcasters can.    False Premise #6: NPR/PBS provide unbiased, quality news coverage.   Fact: While the broadcasters are required to ensure “strict adherence to objectivity and balance in all programs or series of programs of a controversial nature” (47 U.S.C. § 396(g)(1)(D)), they have never complied with the law. The Media Research Center has been documenting this bias for years. Recent examples include: PBS: 42 references to “far right” vs only 1 reference to “far left” 6 times as many liberal political guests as conservative guests  88% positive coverage of the DNC vs 72% negative coverage of the RNC NPR: Banned coverage of the Hunter Biden laptop story, claiming it was a “mere diversion” Bans diversity of thought on climate-change issues Consistently sites Hamas propaganda and demonizes Israel    False Premise #7: Less than 1% of their operating funds come directly from taxpayers Fact: NPR/PBS refuse to provide data showing how much they collect in tax revenues (federal and state). However, they operate a legalized “kick-back” scheme, taking federal and state tax dollars from local affiliates for programming.    False Premise #8: NPR/PBS have annual audited financial statements Fact: While technically true, these statements have never revealed the proportion of funds that originate from US taxpayers.    False Premise #9: Republicans are about to kill Big Bird and Sesame Street Fact: HBO bought the rights to Sesame Street in 2019. HBO recently relinquished these rights, but Netflix acquired the exclusive rights to run original programming for the next three years   False Premise #10: Children's educational development is dependent upon PBS shows Fact: There is no definitive data studying an equal number of same-aged children who do and do not watch PBS, showing that those who do have more accelerated or above-average development in basic reading, writing, and comprehension skills. Furthermore, YouTube provides a library of hundreds of thousands of hours of content for kids of all ages, with new content added daily. It also empowers parents to avoid concerns about their kids encountering content such as Drag Queen Story Hour. To contact your Senator, you can turn to our site DefundPBSNPR.org for more. 

One of the least surprising things ever was National “Public” Radio rushing in to promote radical leftist New York City mayor candidate Zohran Mamdani. Inside their leftist bubble, critiques of Mamdani are “unsubstantiated.” NPR co-host Leila Fadel (rhymes with coddle!) insisted “even though Mamdani tried hard to keep affordability at the center of his campaign, others tried to define his identity with unsubstantiated claims that he would promote Islamic law, that he supports terrorism and that he's an antisemite.” Online, the headline was about Mamdani "tackling hate head-on." NPR gave Mamdani nine minutes to promote himself on the July 1 Morning Edition. The larger interview (36 minutes) is on YouTube.  The "tough part" of the nine minutes was Fadel suggesting "it sounds great to have free child care and free buses and groceries that you can afford. But a lot of what you're promising is out of the mayor's hand." She asked several questions about how he could deliver, but not about whether it's actually "free" or whether it would cause problems. She also helped him to explain his views on whether billionaires should be allowed to exist.  But the real promotion came when Fadel -- "a proud Muslim and Arab American, who said her identity is a big part what she brings to her work" -- turned to "racist anti-Muslim attacks." FADEL: You know, the thing that was very clear in the weeks before, and the days after the primary, was this barrage of racist, anti-Muslim attacks on you, equating you to a terrorist, saying you're a danger to the safety of Americans, especially Jewish Americans. And I'm going to repeat some of the attacks, not because I think they're OK to say, but I want listeners to understand what's being said. And it's not just from the right wing and Republicans in office. It's also from other influential figures. Debra Messing of Will & Grace posted online that you sided with terrorists and you celebrated 9/11. You were nine when that happened. Republican Representative Nancy Mace posted a picture of you in your Eid outfit and wrote, after 9/11, we said, never forget. I think we sadly have forgotten. Republican Representative Andy Ogles called you Little Muhammad and said you need to be deported and is calling for your denaturalization. Were you prepared for this level of bigotry? MAMDANI: It's unsurprising, and yet it's still deeply saddening. As many Muslims in this country know, to exist in public life is to have to deal with this kind of slander at a different scale. And it's part of why so many have thought that the safest place to live is in the shadows. And so much of my hope for this campaign was to bring the margins of our city into the mainstream. It's been very difficult to see just how much of this hatred has been normalized. And as you've said, it's not just Republican congresspeople, it's an actress of a show that I used to watch as a kid. And I think that ultimately my responsibility is to show that our vision for this city, it's a vision that is universal. It's a vision that wants to recognize the belonging of each and every New Yorker. And it's in stark contrast to this exclusionary vision that we see from so many, one that seeks to distract people from an inability to take care of working people by designating the enemies as the other. One of the most difficult parts of this, however, have been that the threats that have been made on my life and on people that I love are ones that fundamentally transform how you can live. And... FADEL: So it's changed how you can live? MAMDANI: It has. It has. The fact that I now have to have security at all times. It's a different way of engaging with the world. But my responsibility is to showcase that this is but a drop in the bucket of how people actually feel in this city. You know, just a few days after I received a number of death threats and someone who said that he was going to blow up my car -- which was news to me because I don't own a car -- I walked the length of Manhattan to speak to New Yorkers, and I did it because I think that the way that we defeat this bigotry is by showcasing just how small of a minority it actually represents. NPR and Fadel cried "unsubstantiated" without engaging with any substance. Pro-Israel sites and Israeli newspapers have lined up evidence of Mamdani's controversial views. Let's start with Mamdani granting a three-HOUR interview to Muslim radical Hasan Piker, who said America is a "top dog" of terrorism that deserved 9/11.Guilt by association? Now consider that NPR's Tom Dreisbach recently posted a story titled "Multiple Trump White House officials have ties to antisemitic extremists." Mamdani refused to condemn the term "globalize the Intifada," which is linked to violent attacks on Jews. Mamdani hates Israel and set up his campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine at Bowdoin College in the 2010s and, as a state assemblyman, introduced a controversial bill to strip the nonprofit status of organizations with any links to Israeli settlements. His opponents will make this an issue, even if NPR won't address it.  PS: Fadel looks pretty charmed by this "charming socialist."  Was going to pull a clip of Mamdani’s new interview with NPR, but I think these images tell the story just fine. pic.twitter.com/mlhQAOVP2F — Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) July 1, 2025

Ahead of its final passage in the House, the big three broadcast networks all gave blatantly biased reports Thursday on their flagship morning shows about President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill. ABC’s Good Morning America, CBS Mornings, and NBC's Today all told the same story, one that devoted noticeably more attention to Democrats as they stalled on the House floor than to the Republicans fighting to pass the bill.     CBS Mornings was the most obvious when it came to expressing one-sided opinions. Featured co-ost Vladimir Duthiers came out swinging, opening with a clearly biased introduction to the Big Beautiful Bill: While we're waiting for the House to finally vote on President Trump's sweeping tax and spending cut package, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has been speaking for hours. This is live pictures coming in right now. He is attempting to hold up that bill that Republicans are trying to push through. It calls for permanent tax cuts that mostly benefit the rich and cuts Medicaid funding for millions of poor people.  Outlining the bill as a benefit to only the rich at the cost of the poor was a gross misrepresentation of the facts. Many of the tax breaks and credits would benefit groups like lower income seniors, families, and people who work on tip. There was almost nothing in the bill that would have directly benefited only the richest Americans. Duthiers, in clear criticism of Trump’s bill, referred to it as the “so-called Big Beautiful Bill,” a phrase heard in both CBS and NBC’s morning programming.  NBC’s Today would largely adhere to CBS’s narrative, but they added a new element, portraying Republicans not as fighting for legislation they believed in, but rather fighting to stay in Trump’s good graces. Correspondent Ryan Nobles reported: Trump winning over Republican hold-outs for his so-called "Big Beautiful Bill” in the House of Representatives, sparking a record-breaking debate in Congress, with some conservative Republicans unhappy with Senate changes to the bill. The president getting personally involved, summoning the hard right hold-outs to the White House.  (...) Now set to become law, Trump's bill will make widespread changes to programs affecting millions of Americans, including changes to medicaid and food assistance, along with extending the Trump tax cuts, eliminating taxes on tips and overtime, and funding the administration's mass deportation plan. Democrats protesting, saying millions will lose health insurance while Republicans take a victory lap, with no questions about whether pressure from the top made a difference. Nobles cited Representative Lisa McCain (R-MI), who expressed in an interview with him that she would not want to say no to Trump’s entire campaign, as well as Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN), who joked about his invitation to the White House, as evidence that Republican House members were too afraid to disagree with Trump. Obviously, this was not the case, especially considering Burchett was himself opposed to the bill before receiving clarification from Trump, but both NBC and ABC would try to make this argument.  Good Morning America had correspondent Rachel Scott suggest Trump was trying to buy votes through autographs, pointing to the same video of Burchett he posted to his social media. On the other side of the spectrum were the hardworking Democrats they tried to highlight through favorable footage of arguments, Across all three shows, Republicans were only shown arguing for the bill on the House floor a total three times. Today did not even show one. None of these featured clips showcased Republicans advocating for policy contained in the bill. On the other hand, nine different clips of Democratic representatives were played across the three networks, many of which painted House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’s (D-NY) attempted filibuster in a positive light. Segments showed Democrats arguing clearly on high costs and Medicaid cuts, as well as attacking the Republican Party. Despite both the media and House Democrats causing a fuss to distort information and block the bill, the legislature passed just hours later. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read. CBS Mornings July 3, 2025 7:02 a.m. EST VLADAMIR DUTHIERS: We've got breaking news from Capitol Hill. While we're waiting for the House to finally vote on President Trump's sweeping tax and spending cut package, Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries has been speaking for hours. This is live pictures coming into us right now. He is attempting to hold up that bill that Republicans are trying to push through. It calls for permanent tax cuts that mostly benefit the rich and then cuts Medicaid funding for millions of poor people. Nikole Killion is on Capitol Hill and she joins us now to talk about it. Nikole, good morning. NIKOLE KILLION: Hey, good morning to you, Vlad. President Trump pushed Congress to get this bill to his desk by Fourth of July, and it is coming down to the wire as the House cleared a major procedural hurdle overnight. (...) KILLION: After months of work in both chambers, President Trump's signature legislation is now poised to become law, with boosts to border security and ICE enforcement, increases in defense spending, and an extension of his 2017 tax cuts. That includes an increase in the child tax credit, a $1,000 savings account for newborns, plus no taxes on tips and overtime — REP. JASON SMITH (R-MO): The One Big Beautiful Bill is for the people who don't have lobbyists in this town. [SCREEN WIPE] The folks who work hard, play by the rules, and ask only for a fair shot. KILLION: — but it also implements new work requirements and other reforms for safety net programs like food stamps and Medicaid. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the Medicaid cuts alone could total roughly $930 billion with at least 11.8 million people at risk of losing their health coverage. REP. JIM MCGOVERN (D-MA): This bill is a middle finger to working people. KILLION: Now, if this bill passes, many of the tax cuts in this package would likely take effect as soon as this year, although some of the provisions, like no taxes on tips or overtime, are only temporary. Meantime, many of the changes to Medicaid and food assistance programs would likely be phased in in the coming years. Of course, the impact of this massive legislation will continue to be a key political talking point for both parties as we approach next year's midterms. (...) 8:01 a.m. EST DUTHIERS: Breaking news, the House votes on President Trump's so-called Big Beautiful Bill, which cuts Medicaid to pay for tax cuts for the rich. JEFFRIES: Every single Democrat stands in strong opposition to this bill because we're standing up for the American people. ------------------------------------------------------------------ NBC’s Today July 3, 2025 7:04 a.m. EST (...) RYAN NOBLES: Right now, the Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, is on the house floor speaking in opposition to this bill. Now, he's been going for more than two hours, and he can go for as long as he wants, but ultimately, he will not be able to stop the progress of this bill, its progress that has been painstaking for Mike Johnson, but will ultimately lead to him delivering a victory for President Donald Trump. The fierce fight over President Trump's signature policy lasting another night and finally coming to an end this morning. Trump winning over Republican hold-outs for his so-called Big Beautiful Bill in the House of Representatives, sparking a record-breaking debate in Congress, with some conservative Republicans unhappy with Senate changes to the bill. The President getting personally involved — PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It's a great bill. There is something for everyone. NOBLES: — summoning the hard right hold-outs to the White House. REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): I'm not sure if I'm going to the woodshed or not. I've been summoned by the president. NOBLES: While some continue to object to the changes, Speaker Johnson finally getting the votes. SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): It's been a good day in a good place. This is the legislative process. NOBLES: Now set to become law, Trump's bill will make widespread changes to programs affecting millions of Americans, including changes to Medicaid and food assistance, along with extending the Trump tax cuts, eliminating taxes on tips and overtime, and funding the administration's mass deportation plan. Democrats protesting — REP ROSA DELAURO (D-CT): My house Republican colleagues, have you no shame? This $4.5 trillion in tax cuts to billionaires in the biggest corporations. NOBLES: — saying millions will lose health insurance — REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Medicaid matters, and it must be preserved. NOBLES: — while Republicans take a victory lap, with no questions about whether pressure from the top made a difference. [TO MCCLAIN] Is a no vote a vote against President Trump? REP LISA MCCAIN (R-MI): I wouldn't want to do a no vote and vote against President Trump, that's for sure. Clearly, this is his agenda, his legacy, what he ran on and what 77 million American people voted him in office for. JARRETT: So, Ryan, this bill hasn't actually changed really since coming from the Senate, but the Republican hold-outs here have changed. So, what's behind the shift? NOBLES: Yeah, Laura, and that's really what made the process so difficult for Speaker Mike Johnson. He could not change the bill, so there wasn't much room to negotiate, so what conservative Republicans told me is that they wanted assurances from the White House over how the bill would be implemented and then promises as to how the administration will cut funding in the future.  At the end of the day, though, and I think this is important, it seemed pretty clear that these hardcore supporters of Donald Trump had no interest in denying him the bill that he desperately wanted and now it seems like it's on a path to be finally voted in. ------------------------------------------------------------------ ABC’s Good Morning America July 3, 2025 7:04 a.m. EST (...) RACHEL SCOTT: The bill clearing a key hurdle in the House, a handful of Republicans switching their votes. Around midnight, the President posting on social media: “What are the Republicans waiting for??? What are you trying to prove???” Hours earlier, he met with a slew of Republicans at the White House. REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): Just leaving the White House. [SCREEN WIPE] President was wonderful, as always. Informative, funny. Told me he liked to see me on TV. SCOTT: The President clearly trying to close the deal, signing merchandise and photos. BURCHETT: Yeah, he signed a bunch of stuff. It's cool SCOTT: The bill is the cornerstone of the President’s domestic agenda and fulfills some campaign promises: no taxes on tips and overtime. It includes roughly $4 trillion in tax cuts — mostly for the wealthiest Americans — and new spending on immigration enforcement. Hardline conservatives initially balked on the price tag. By one estimate, the bill could add $3.4 trillion to the debt over the next decade. It also slashes Medicaid. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office predicts some 11.8 million Americans could lose their health coverage over the next ten years. Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffreys taking to the floor — REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): I’m on this House floor after 6:00 a.m., and I'm planning to take my sweet time. SCOTT: — warning the changes to Medicaid will deeply impact Americans. JEFFRIES: Shame on the people who have decided to launch that kind of all out assault on the health and the well-being of everyday Americans. That's not what we should be doing here in the United States House of Representatives.

The Federal Reserve uses protecting the free market as one of the biggest reasons for its existence, but former Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) knows better.“That’s the argument they use,” he tells Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck. “You know, bank runs and all this, and the Fed was established to stop all that.”“And you can stop it, but it’s because they drifted away and they never fully obeyed the Constitution that nothing other than gold and silver would be used as legal tender, and that was a little too sloppy,” he continues.“You wrote ‘End the Fed,'" Glenn responds. “What would you add to that today?”“You put a rule in there that says that the Federal Reserve cannot buy government debt,” Paul answers. “That’s the whole thing. Then they get into manipulating and then they get into this astounding thing. They’re central economic planners by manipulating interest rates.”“That’s where the real problem is, the economic planning that they have and the pretense that they know what is there,” he continues. “They talk as if what they’re saying is authentic, and it’s always, ‘What can we say to calm the people’s nerves?’”While the Federal Reserve buys the government debt, American citizens are left to suffer if they fall into a money pit they can’t get out of.“If you or I go overboard, and we spend $5 million and all of a sudden the banks won’t loan us any more money, we have to declare bankruptcy. We have to get another job or quit spending,” Paul says. “Governments don’t do that.”Want more from Glenn Beck?To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.