House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) took a shot at President Joe Biden on Thursday over the prospect of the administration using executive powers to address the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border as the commander-in-chief revs up his campaign to get re-elected this November. Reports say Biden is considering executive action to restrict asylum claims with a trigger to block new entrants upon a certain number of illegal crossings — a mechanism similar to one that was tucked into a recently defeated Senate immigration deal that Johnson said would have been “dead on arrival” in the House — and toughening standards for screenings. “Americans have lost faith in this President and won’t be fooled by election year gimmicks that don’t actually secure the border. Nor will they forget that the President created this catastrophe and‚ until now‚ has refused to use his executive power to fix it‚” Johnson said in a statement. My statement regarding President Biden finally admitting he has the authority to address the border catastrophe he has created: pic.twitter.com/GUWeeb05pW — Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) February 22‚ 2024 The speaker took umbrage at how Biden is reportedly now looking at employing Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act‚ which gives the president the power to block entry to foreigners deemed to be “detrimental” to U.S. interests in order to “regain operational control of the border‚” after the president claimed he had done all he could do to secure it. “These reports also underscore just how brazenly and intentionally President Biden misled the public when he claimed he had done everything in his power to secure the border. Specifically‚ the President’s alleged desire to invoke Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act‚ which the White House dismissed using for months‚ is particularly telling‚” Johnson said. Johnson sent a letter to Biden in December encouraging the president to consider a number of options under existing law in lieu of an immediate legislative solution after the Senate refused to consider a House-passed border security bill. The list included ending catch-and-release‚ stopping the “exploitation” of parole authority‚ reviving asylum cooperation agreements with Mexico‚ ramping up “expedited” removal of migrants who fail to qualify for asylum‚ and renewing construction of a border wall. The speaker raised a couple of familiar suggestions on Thursday‚ saying in his statement‚ “If these reports are true and the President intends to take action‚ he can show he’s serious by changing more than asylum policy. He should begin by reinstating the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy and ending his administration’s abuse of the parole system‚ along with other critical reforms.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP White House spokesman Andrew Bates said‚ “The only consistent theme in Speaker Johnson’s wildly fluctuating excuses for opposing bipartisan border security legislation — and for continuing to side with fentanyl traffickers instead of the Border Patrol — is that he is playing politics with the wellbeing of American families‚” according to The Hill. “For six straight years‚ Speaker Johnson demanded border security legislation‚ only for House Republicans to balk as soon as they saw the strongest bipartisan border deal in modern history and kill it‚ explicitly citing Donald Trump’s concerns that making America safer would diminish his campaign‚” Bates continued‚ adding‚ “We continue to call on Speaker Johnson and House Republicans to return from their vacation and pass the bipartisan border security bill.”

On Thursday on “The Ben Shapiro Show‚” Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro interviewed Victoria Coates‚ who served as former deputy national security adviser for former President Donald Trump‚ about the Biden administration’s disastrous foreign policy. “Let’s talk about the chaos that has engulfed the United States on the foreign front‚” Shapiro began. “There’s just fires everywhere. Why don’t we start with the situation between Russia and Ukraine? The Biden administration has been sending mixed signals over what’s going on in Russia‚ Ukraine‚ for a very long time.” “So you start with the original intelligence failure that this was going to be quick and then we would support an insurgency‚” Coates responded. “But the problem is the administration never pivoted from that. And‚ you know‚ in April or May of 22‚ when the Russian economy was reeling‚ there was very unified international support for Ukraine. That’s when I think the Biden administration should have leveled the truly crushing economic sanctions modeled on what we did to Iran during the Trump administration‚ where anybody who did business with Russia — you call them secondary sanctions —would also be subject to those sanctions.” “We could have cut it off then and they didn’t‚” she noted. “And instead we’ve been dribbling and dribbling out tens of billions of taxpayer dollars in a means that has not been sufficient to win the war. So I think we all have to ask at this point‚ what is the strategy?” Shapiro commented that Russian President Vladimir Putin was willing to wait it out‚ believing that the West’s resolve would eventually collapse. “Once he didn’t get his three-day war‚ for him‚ a war of attrition is a winnable prospect‚” Coates said. “He has more people. He can rearm himself. … He’s also getting supplies now much more openly from North Korea and Iran both of whom are more or less acting on China’s orders. So for him‚ the long game is a winning plan.” “As you mentioned originally‚ that if you remove this ridiculous pause on U.S. LNG export licenses‚ you remove the deadly chilling regulatory regime that the Biden administration has put in place‚” she told Shapiro. “And you really reassure partners and allies the United States should be your reliable supplier of choice. You can really start to drain Russia’s resources and again‚ make this as distasteful for the Chinese as possible. Do they really want to rescue Russia under those circumstances or do they want to make the best of a bad hand and try to get to a resolution here?” “Meanwhile‚ there are fires all over the Middle East‚” Shapiro said. “Iran obviously has its hand in all of them from the Red Sea‚ where shipping has essentially been shut down‚ to the situation on both the northern border of Israel as well as its southern border with the Gaza Strip. The Biden administration once again sending insane mixed signals. On the one hand‚ they suggest that they are supportive of Israel. On the other hand‚ they’re suggesting that they have to hold Israel’s leash in some way and prevent Israel from committing human rights violations.” “I think we’re over-dignifying the administration approach with the word policy‚” Coates answered. “I think you’re having a series of kind of confused reactions to events and very much to political pressures here in the United States. I think they’ve come to the unpleasant realization that full-hearted‚ unified support for Israel might cost them a couple of thousand of very critical votes in areas like Dearborn‚ Michigan. And so they’re trying to have it both ways.” “Unfortunately‚ if the events of October 7 taught us anything is that you can’t have it both ways‚” she said. “There are two sides here. There is good and there is evil. And it’s time to put on a jersey and join a team‚ not to try to equivocate and say‚ ‘Oh‚ you know‚ the Palestinians deserve a state.’ No‚ they do not deserve a reward for what they did. They need to realize that Hamas is a deadly poison to them. If they cannot relinquish Hamas‚ they are going to have to be defeated on the battlefield.” “I keep going back to the 1923 Jabotinsky essay ‘The Iron Wall‚’ which gives its name to things like Iron Dome and Iron Beam‚” she recalled. “And the whole premise of that is that while the Arabs think that they can still conquer the Jews‚ Israel needs that iron wall of security to convince them that Israel is not going away. The Jewish people are not going away. And in my estimation‚ that’s what the U.S.-Israel alliance should be: It should be that iron wall. You can’t eradicate Israel because we’re not going to let you. And when that is made crystal clear to the Palestinians‚ then they might become reasonable. They might be able to come to some kind of negotiated settlement. But while there’s doubt in their mind  — and that’s what the administration is sowing is that doubt —they’re always going to go for the eradication of Israel; They’re going to go for from that ‘From the river to the sea’ nonsense.” “What exactly should the policy be with regard to the Houthis?” Shapiro asked. “Because this bizarre notion of deterring terrorist groups‚ I just fail to see how that has ever been an effective policy deterrence. Terrorist groups literally exist to not be deterred. It’s a bizarre miscalibration to suggest that the Houthis are somehow going to act in the same evil but rational fashion as the Iranians‚ who would prefer to remain in power. The Houthis are an actual terrorist group whose slogan is Death to the Jews‚ Death to America. I fail to see how you’re going to deter these people.” “It does come back to the Iranians‚ Tehran‚ and what they think they can get away with‚” Coates asserted. “And right now they are acting with impunity across the Middle East‚ attacking the United States‚ attacking our friends and allies. It’s particularly dramatic in Yemen‚ because‚ as you say‚ the Houthis are not 100 feet high and‚ you know‚ they’re not fully into the 21st century. And so as the United States military has demonstrated‚ we have all sorts of capabilities that they don’t have. And what they need is a very clear demonstration in an offensive‚ not a defensive way‚ that we are going to use those capabilities to bomb them back into the Stone Age. And that is what is going to happen to the Houthis unless they cut this out.” “They are utterly undeterred by the response of the administration over the last six weeks‚” she said. “They call it their Houthi strategy; I would call it an abject failure. We just should not tolerate this kind of behavior out of a radical theological dictatorship in Yemen‚ which has ruined the country and is now trying to ruin global shipping. It should be intolerable to the administration. But they’re so scared of provoking the Iranians‚ they won’t take any serious action.”

People slammed Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters as an anti-Semite long before the Oct. 7 attacks triggered a wave of Jewish hate across the globe. Waters‚ the band’s co-founder and a still-active rocker at 80‚ has walked a razor-thin line over the years between criticizing Israel and attacking the people who call the nation home. He may have crossed said line even for his staunchest defenders. Waters recently spoke out against fellow rock icon Bono of U2 fame. The Irish superstar reacted swiftly to the Oct. 7 massacre by Hamas which killed 1‚200 people and kidnapped hundreds more. Rape. Torture. Beheadings. The news accounts proved so grisly Bono addressed them from‚ where else‚ a concert stage mere hours after the attacks. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation He paid particular attention to Hamas’ assault on a music festival dedicated to peace by tweaking the band’s ‘80s smash‚ “Pride (In the Name of Love).” The altered lyrics? From: “Early morning‚ April four / Shots ring out in the Memphis sky / Free at last‚ they took your life / they could not take your pride.” To: “Early morning‚ October 7th / As the sun is rising in the desert sky / Stars of David‚ they took your life / But they could not take your pride.” In the light of what’s happened in Israel and Gaza‚ a song about non-violence seems somewhat ridiculous‚ even laughable‚ but our prayers have always been for peace and for non-violence…But our hearts and our anger‚ you know where that’s pointed. So sing with us…and those beautiful kids at that music festival. The band shared the concert clip via its social media accounts. How could anyone object to U2’s tribute‚ which wasn’t aggressive‚ only heartfelt? What possible argument could be lobbied against it? Shouldn’t musicians be particularly outraged by a terrorist attack on a concert? Tell that to Waters. He spat out his disgust for what Bono said on Al Jazeera TV: Anybody who knows Bono should go and pick him up by his ankles and shake him until he stops being a [giant] s*** … we have to start speaking to these people and saying‚ ‘Your opinion is so disgusting and degrading‚ when you stand up for the Zionist entity…’ What he did in the Sphere in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago‚ singing about the Stars of David‚ was one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever seen in my life. Remember‚ Waters is an 80-year-old man. If that rhetoric came as an isolated outburst some may be willing to forgive if not forget. Except it’s part of a pattern‚ one that leaves less and less doubt of Waters’ intentions. Jim Dyson/Getty Images We saw something similar late last year when he sat down for an interview with independent journalist Glenn Greenwald roughly a month after Hamas’ savagery. Let’s wait and see what happened‚ was my first reaction [to the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks]. My second reaction was — how the hell did the Israelis not know this was going to happen? There’s something very fishy about that. There’s no proof the Israeli government knew such an attack was coming. It’s hard to imagine any government would allow that kind of atrocity to be perpetuated on its people for political purposes. Greenwald pressed Waters on whether he thought the Oct. 7 attacks were “justified.” We don’t know what they did do. But was it justified for them to resist the occupation? Yeah. We knew fairly quickly what Hamas did. The terrorists filmed much of their barbaric acts on GoPro-style cameras‚ smartphones‚ and other devices‚ eager for the world to witness their barbarism. Journalists and Hollywood dwellers got to see a montage of the clips shortly after Oct. 7. Canadian journalist Matt Gurney called the footage “just about the worst thing I have ever seen.” Waters also downplayed the fact that Israeli citizens were targeted in the melee. The thing was thrown out of all proportion by the Israelis making up stories about beheading babies. No one has credibly disputed that 1‚200 people that day‚ or that the terrorist group kidnapped men‚ women‚ senior citizens and even toddlers following the attacks. Waters’ ex-bandmate David Gilmour made up his mind a while ago on whether Waters harbors hate against Jewish people. Last year‚ Gilmour used his X account to promote the documentary “The Dark Side of Roger Waters‚” a film accusing the singer of anti-Jewish sentiments. The film‚ from the Campaign Against Antisemitism‚ featured first-person accounts by Jewish musicians who worked with Waters – Norbert Stachel and Bob Ezrin – who claimed they heard him utter anti-Semitic comments. Gilmour’s wife‚ Polly Samson‚ added fuel to the fire by saying Waters was “antisemitic to [his] rotten core.” All of this comes after Waters’ infamous stage antics where he performed under an inflatable pig emblazoned with the Star of David and strode across the stage wearing a Nazi-like uniform. The latter‚ he said‚ was his way of opposing fascism and bigotry. The most intriguing part of it all? We’ve seen actors face professional blowback recently for sharing anti-Israeli comments‚ including Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon. Cancel Culture also erased Roseanne Barr’s career for a horrid Tweet. Waters‚ on the other hand‚ has endured few repercussions for his chronic words and actions. City Council members in Frankfurt‚ Germany‚ briefly stopped a planned May 2023 concert by the rocker‚ declaring that Waters “repeatedly called for a cultural boycott of Israel and drew comparisons to the apartheid regime in South Africa and put pressure on artists to cancel events in Israel.” A court overruled the decision. * * * Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist‚ movie critic and editor of HollywoodInToto.com. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at @HollywoodInToto. The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

The founder of Google’s “AI Responsibility” initiative once suggested that she treats “Black‚ Hispanic‚ and Latinx” employees differently than white employees and has pushed “anti-racism” as a vital part of artificial intelligence‚ Daily Wire host Matt Walsh revealed on Thursday. Walsh posted a thread on X‚ showing video clips of Jen Gennai in 2021‚ where she discussed her team’s diversity‚ equity‚ and inclusion goals at Google. The Big Tech giant has faced criticism this week over its new AI language model Gemini after social media users accused it of being racist against white people and presenting inaccurate historical depictions in the name of “diversity.” The controversy erupted when Daily Wire scripted content writer Frank Fleming attempted to get Gemini to generate an image of a white male. In a long X thread‚ Fleming posted screenshots showing his failed attempts to get Gemini to generate a photo of a white person‚ even though he asked it for pictures of people who are historically white‚ such as the pope‚ medieval knights‚ and Vikings. “Google’s Gemini AI project doesn’t want to display images of white men – even historical figures. I think I may have figured out why‚” Walsh wrote. “Here’s the founder of Google’s ‘AI Responsibility’ initiative‚ Jen Gennai‚ speaking in a keynote address in 2021. She openly suggests that she treats ‘Black‚ Hispanic and Latinx’ employees differently than white employees.” Walsh included a video of Gennai discussing her DEI-centered goals for Google’s AI initiative. Gennai lamented that‚ according to a “corporate study‚” white employees move up the corporate ladder faster while “talented black‚ Hispanic‚ or Latinx professionals broke through much later.” “Effective mentorship and sponsorship are critical in executive-level development of black‚ Hispanic‚ and Latinx employees‚” Gennai added. 2/ Here’s the founder of Google's "AI Responsibility" initiative‚ Jen Gennai‚ speaking in a keynote address in 2021. She openly suggests that she treats “Black‚ Hispanic and Latinx” employees differently than white employees. pic.twitter.com/snJmtSDJnn — Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) February 22‚ 2024 Walsh also posted a video of Gennai discussing the importance of “anti-racism” in Google’s AI work. “Jen Gennai goes on to say that she wants to avoid ‘othering others.’ Listen to this DEI word salad. It would be comical if the stakes weren’t so high‚” Walsh continues. 4/ Jen Gennai goes on to say that she wants to avoid "othering others.” Listen to this DEI word salad. It would be comical if the stakes weren’t so high: pic.twitter.com/1B2Ubzi6Zb — Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) February 22‚ 2024 Walsh then pointed out how undercover journalist James O’Keefe published footage in 2019 of Gennai allegedly saying that Google was manipulating its algorithms to try to stop Donald Trump from being re-elected in 2020. CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP “Women like Jen Gennai are key figures in Google’s AI division‚” Walsh added. “They have important titles. But they speak and act like every other mediocre‚ anti-white DEI bureaucrat in existence. Google needs to get rid of them — and until they do‚ no one should trust them with their data.” 6/ Women like Jen Gennai are key figures in Google's AI division. They have important titles. But they speak and act like every other mediocre‚ anti-white DEI bureaucrat in existence. Google needs to get rid of them — and until they do‚ no one should trust them with their data. — Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) February 22‚ 2024 The Daily Wire host further discussed Google’s AI controversy and Gennai’s remarks in the opening monologue of “The Matt Walsh Show” on Thursday. Hear my full thoughts here: https://t.co/Ri3DiphhUd — Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) February 22‚ 2024

Actress Mischa Barton revealed that she had an off-screen romance with her older love interest on “The O.C.” when she was “17 ½-18 years old” and he was 25. During the 38-year-old actress’ appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast‚ Barton opened up for the first time that her known difficult times on the show were because she became romantically involved with her co-star Ben McKenzie. “It wasn’t just onscreen‚” Mischa told the host. “It was kind of complicated for me because I went into that like a virgin‚ like a kid. Like really feeling like I needed to grow up quickly to feel like I could portray acting with people older than me.” “It was a bit like‚ ‘Oh wow‚ they know what they’re doing. There’s gonna be relationships on this show‚ and you’re gonna need to play that part‚” she added. “And I didn’t feel really ready for that because I was always a really late bloomer in school‚ and I hadn’t really dated. I just had no idea what I was doing‚ so I felt like I needed to catch up a lot of the time.” Mischa Barton admits she and ‘The O.C.’ co-star Ben McKenzie secretly dated https://t.co/bvLbaRKhzW pic.twitter.com/MU4tFkwkLV — Page Six (@PageSix) February 22‚ 2024 “That was my first—I had no idea what I was doing‚” Barton continued. “And I think that kind of set things off on the wrong foot‚ too … because we threw ourselves all into it very fast‚ and then‚ you know‚ when you break up‚ and things don’t work and they see you dating other people‚ notoriously there was a lot of inter-dating on that show.” Later‚ she admitted she lost her virginity on the show‚ though she didn’t say to whom. Barton said from the very start of her “first relationship‚” she “felt overwhelmed and not ready” for any of it. “[Show staff] were like‚ you know‚ ‘Mischa’s disappeared with Ben and she’s only 17 and a half‚ 18‚ and the producers went to my parents‚” the “Notting Hill” star said. “It was kind of a whole ordeal. And so that’s in the very beginning of the show before we’re even like halfway through a season. So‚ there was a lot going on there‚ that show. Just so much happened in three seasons…” CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP In an interview in October with The Times‚ Barton talked about the trauma of experiencing such a huge level of fame at an early age‚ E! News noted. “You can go to therapy every day for the rest of your life‚ but there’s just a certain amount of trauma [from] all that I went through‚ particularly in my early 20s‚ that just doesn’t go away overnight‚” the actress shared. “I don’t think I was fully prepared for that level of fame‚” she confessed. “Because it has never been something that I have sought out. I really would much rather be anonymous.” “The O.C” ran from 2003 to 2007 on Fox with Barton and McKenzie playing star-crossed lovers Marissa Cooper and Ryan Atwood.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) railed against The New York Times on Thursday over the newspaper fact-checking President Joe Biden after it published a report on how he made some “misleading” statements about the economy‚ jobs‚ and taxes while on the campaign trail. During an appearance on MSNBC‚ where she is an analyst‚ McCaskill shared with the hosts of “Morning Joe” an idea for how the Gray Lady and other news outlets ought to consider Biden’s rival‚ former President Donald Trump‚ before verifying or disputing the accuracy of what he says. “Can I make a suggestion? I move that every newspaper in America quits doing any fact-checks on Joe Biden until they fact-check Donald Trump every morning on the front page. It is ridiculous that The New York Times fact-checked Joe Biden on something‚” McCaskill said. Claire McCaskill: "It Is Ridiculous That The New York Times Fact-Checked President Biden‚" While Trump Vomits Lies Watch — https://t.co/zxPNfxDCwq "I move that every newspaper in America quits doing any fact-checks on Joe Biden." pic.twitter.com/mqsSB7igYO — RCP Video (@rcpvideo) February 22‚ 2024 “I mean‚ he vomits lies‚ Trump vomits lies. Every day‚ over and over and over again‚” she added. “And it is just ridiculous that The New York Times is doing a fact-check on Biden while they let Trump — while they’re numb to the torrent of lies coming out of Trump’s mouth.” The New York Times does examine the truthfulness of what Trump is saying‚ as evidenced by a search of the author page of the same fact-checker who examined Biden’s economic talking points‚ as do other outlets such as The Washington Post — though perhaps not as regularly and prominently as McCaskill would like. A.G. Sulzberger‚ the publisher of The New York Times‚ recently said the White House is “extremely upset” with unflattering coverage of Biden in regard to concerns about his age and low approval numbers. CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP In an interview with the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism‚ which was published online on Monday‚ Sulzberger stressed the need to keep tabs on Biden‚ as well as Trump‚ as they both run for a second term. “We are going to continue to report fully and fairly‚ not just on Donald Trump but also on President Joe Biden‚” Sulzberger said. “He is a historically unpopular incumbent and the oldest man to ever hold this office. We’ve reported on both of those realities extensively‚ and the White House has been extremely upset about it.”

Good deeds are all around us. When this man fell onto the subway tracks and hit his head‚ these everyday heroes sprung into action‚ saving his life. A team of two NYPD officers and a few helpful bystanders carried out this impressive rescue. They got this man out of the tracks and onto the concrete in under a minute. What can happen in a NY minute? This rescue! In less than 60 seconds‚ two @NYPDTransit cops and a straphanger rushed to save a man after he fell onto the subway tracks and hit his head. Watch the body-worn footage of the rescue as it unfolded. pic.twitter.com/sc8pnBdYEe— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) February 22‚ 2024 “What can happen in a NY minute? This rescue! In less than 60 seconds‚ two NYPD transit cops and a straphanger rushed to save a man after he fell onto the subway tracks and hit his head. Watch the body-worn footage of the rescue as it unfolded‚” read the image caption. This rescue was no small feat — the man who had fallen couldn’t hold himself up‚ so these men had to lift him with some serious strength to free him from the tracks. This image is from X. They got him off the tracks before the subway came‚ and all was well. What an incredible life-saving act! Thank goodness these police officers and this bystander were around and aware of the situation. The man who fell onto the tracks surely appreciates this kind and incredible save. The featured image for this post is from X. The post NYPD And Bystander Leap Into Action When Man Falls Onto Subway Tracks‚ Hitting His Head appeared first on InspireMore.