House Republicans enter 2026 with the challenge of securing conservative legislative wins despite narrow margins. On Tuesday, House Republicans formulated a plan for the second year of the 119th Congress in a retreat with President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. The meeting was overshadowed by the death of 65-year-old Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif. “Congress is devastated to learn this morning about the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Doug LaMalfa,” Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., said in a statement Tuesday. “Doug was a lifelong resident of northern California and deeply loved its people.” Razor-Thin Margins LaMalfa’s death further weakens the Republican House majority just a day after Marjorie Taylor Greene’s retirement from the House due to a feud with Trump.  The GOP currently holds a slim 218 to 213 majority in the chamber, with four vacancies. This means that House leadership can only afford to lose two Republican votes while passing a bill.  Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia has scheduled a March 10 election to fill Greene’s seat, and Gov. Gavin Newsom of California has 14 days to call a special election for LaMalfa’s seat. Congress is devastated to learn this morning about the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Doug LaMalfa. Doug was a lifelong resident of northern California and deeply loved its people. He was as fierce of a fighter for his state’s vast natural resources and beauty as we… pic.twitter.com/xYJdwcpp8W— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) January 6, 2026 Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., acknowledged the difficulty of the situation in a statement to The Daily Signal, but suggested the way out of partisan gridlock could be picking up Democratic support for Republican-crafted legislation. “House Republicans are committed to commonsense proposals that make a meaningful difference in the lives of the American people,” Murphy told The Daily Signal. “These should be bipartisan issues. Slim margins are difficult to work with in Congress but preserving the American Dream should not be a partisan exercise.” Speaker Johnson had some success dealing with slim margins in 2025, uniting the conference’s often unruly factions behind ambitious legislation such as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Time’s Running Out In less than a year, voters will determine which party controls the House of Representatives. The odds have been stacked against Republicans from the very beginning, as only four midterm elections in the last 164 years have resulted in a net gain of House seats for the party in the White House. Democrat control of the House would likely lead to subpoenas of administration officials, an increased likelihood of impeaching Trump, and two years of gridlock for conservative legislation. Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., a member of the House Freedom Caucus, is urging aggressive action to enact Trump’s agenda. “The American people expect a Republican-led Congress to deliver results. Alongside President Trump, we must leverage our House and Senate majorities to advance a bold agenda fulfilling more of our promises,” Harris told The Daily Signal. The freedom caucus came into the retreat with a list of legislative goals, including requiring voters to provide proof of citizenship, preventing spending increases in the appropriations process, codifying Trump’s border policies, freezing all immigration, and prohibiting federal tax dollars from funding abortions. When the @HouseGOP meets tomorrow to plan our agenda for 2026, the Freedom Caucus Board has a simple plan… Let's do what we promised:??Secure elections by forcing the Senate to pass the SAVE Act, and go even further by requiring voter ID, returning to paper ballots, limiting…— House Freedom Caucus (@freedomcaucus) January 6, 2026 Harris added that the Senate must be involved in this push as well. “We must act urgently in the first quarter of 2026, using every tool available to compel the Senate to deliver now. The stakes extend beyond the next election—America’s future depends on it,” Harris told The Daily Signal. The House has passed a number of conservative bills which have yet to receive a vote in the Senate, where bills typically require 60 votes for consideration. The bills include the SAVE Act, the Protect Children’s Innocence Act, and the No Tax Dollars for Terrorists Act. Affordability The issue of affordability was credited as a key part of the message which helped Democrat Zohran Mamdani get elected as mayor of New York City in November. Johnson Teases Another Potential Big, Beautiful Bill in 2026@SpeakerJohnson tells The Daily Signal's @GCaldwell_news that setting up ?health savings accounts as an alternative to the Obamacare premium tax credit is "very much on the table," and that change could be implemented… pic.twitter.com/HeacKMy9w4— The Daily Signal (@DailySignal) December 16, 2025 A spokesperson for Rep. Jeff Crank, R-Colo., told The Daily Signal during the retreat that the congressman “believes that affordability should be a top priority of Congress this year.” Part of this push will likely be include the issues of health care and insurance costs. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., told The Daily Signal in December to expect the House to pass “a long list of things that we know will reduce premiums” and that a party-line budget reconciliation bill could be the vehicle for these provisions. The post House Republicans Navigate Slim Majority, Affordability Concerns at Retreat appeared first on The Daily Signal.

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. This content was recorded by Victor Davis Hanson prior to his Dec. 30 medical operation. Hello, this is Victor Davis Hanson for The Daily Signal. In the past, I’ve characterized as, Walter Russell Mead, most famously [said], that Trump’s foreign policy is neither interventionist, surely not nation building, nor is it isolationist, as the Left accuses. It was something called Jacksonian. That is, “no better friend, no worse enemy.” “Don’t tread on me.” At various times if people took advantage of the United States’ desire to live in peace, and they started to push their luck, then we would hit them, overwhelmingly. Sort of what we saw with the two Americans that were tragically killed in Syria. Then there was an overwhelming retaliation. But I think there’s a quirk to Jacksonianism, a subset. And I would call the Trump Foreign Policy, the Vise Policy. V-I-S-E. Like a vise, that you clamp down on something. By that, I mean, rather than intervene or even use kinetic force, he has another alternative when he sees a renegade country. Most famously, we saw Iran, that when he came into office, the first thing he did was get back out of the Iran Deal, put back the sanctions, support Israel’s effort to retaliate against Iran. Although he did take out the nuclear facilities, that was an act that he felt he had no choice, because Iran was reaching a point where they’d have a nuclear weapon. But up until then, he had almost bankrupt, again, by squeezing the Iran economy at no cost to the United States. We see that much better with Venezuela and the rogue Maduro government. The illegitimate government, that throughout the last elections, in which [Nicolas] Maduro lost, and has been sending shiploads of narcotics to the United States. It’s using embargoed oil tankers to sell sanctioned oil to Cuba, to China, and, more or less, opened up its jails and mental institutions and sent thousands of people, in spite, to the United States. So, Trump is now reestablishing the Monroe Doctrine. Remember, Secretary of State John Kerry said that the Monroe Doctrine was pretty much ossified, calcified. Trump has reinstated it. But with a vise policy. So, sanctions on Maduro. He’s not going to have any income through narco sales. We’re blowing up narco terrorist shipments on the high seas. He uses that money to bribe officers, bribe the media, bribe the opposition, to stay in power illegitimately. And then, in addition to that, he’ll have no oil income. Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world. So, he has a limitless supply of credit and cash. But not if he can’t get it to somewhere. And, in the Western hemisphere, Trump is showing the world that he just almost automatically reestablished the Monroe Doctrine. What is China going to do? They may say they have a blue-water Navy. They may say they’re catching up. But they’re not there yet. And they have no ability to transmit power, in the Western hemisphere, among our shores. So, Maduro is in a vise. And we’re squeezing it down, at no cost to us. Is Trump going to invade? I doubt it. Is he going to bomb? I doubt it. I think he’s just slowly going to intimidate Maduro so people within the Venezuelan hierarchy, both legitimate opponents and opportunistic supporters, who feel that he’s a bad investment. And they will throw him out. EDITOR’S NOTE: Since this commentary was recorded, President Donald Trump did launch a military operation to seize Nicolas Maduro so he could face criminal charges in the United States. What assistance the U.S. had from “legitimate opponents and opportunistic supporters” within Venezuela has not been made known. The same thing is true of Cuba. We didn’t really know how to deal with Cuba. Since 1959, we’ve had embargoes. Sometimes they’re liquid. Sometimes they’re fluid. They don’t really work. But, more or less, the Castro-ite government in Cuba is an existential enemy of the United States. We have a lot of people who go there and visit. But the country has never worked. It’s impoverished. And it’s dependent wholly on the legacy of Hugo Chavez and now Maduro, to give them cheap oil. If they don’t get cheap oil, and what do I mean by that? If Maduro cannot put embargoed oil on sanctioned tankers and get to Cuba, then Cuba’s going to have no ability to distill gasoline, nor will it have energy. And that’s exactly what is happening. The Cuban economy is in a Trump vise. Are we going to bomb Cuba? No. Are we going to have a Bay of Pigs standoff or invasion? No. Are we going to have a Cuban missile crisis with China? No. We’re going to have a Trump vise. And it’s going to squeeze. Does this work all the time? No. I mean, it doesn’t work in the case of a full-fledged war, like the Ukraine War or the Middle East, sometimes. But with other powers in our vicinity or that we have leverage over, we’re going to start to squeeze them, to bring back legitimate government, pro-American governments, and stability for the entire Western hemisphere. And most importantly, a chance for their citizenry to have a normal life. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Victor Davis Hanson: Trump’s Jacksonian Foreign Policy (With a Twist) appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Become a Member and Keep Reading… Reclaim your digital freedom. Get the latest on censorship, cancel culture, and surveillance, and learn how to fight back. Join Already a supporter? Sign In. (If you’re already logged in but still seeing this, refresh this page to show the post.) The post France’s First Lady and the Fragile State of Free Speech appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Mayor Frey Didn't Bring Up Omar Fateh's Connection to Voter Fraud, Feeding Our Future, and Daycare Fraud

Tim Walz is going away, but the Democratic Party’s Tim Walz crisis isn’t. The Minnesota governor gave up his quest for a third term Monday: Staying out of jail will be challenging enough for him over the next few months, never mind prolonging his stay in office. Federal prosecutors estimate the Somali daycare scam and other frauds perpetrated under his watch cost taxpayers up to $9 billion. Money like that goes a long way in politics. Over the years, Walz and his party have received plenty of campaign cash from the Somali community, a loyal — and influential — bloc in Minnesota Democratic politics. The fraud was no well-kept secret; an independent journalist, Nick Shirley, easily exposed it. But whistleblowers who’d tried to raise the alarm earlier were ignored — it wasn’t convenient for Walz and friends to notice what a key constituency was up to. Just 14 months ago, Walz was Kamala Harris’ running mate; he could have been a heartbeat away from the White House. He was meant to be the answer to the national Democratic Party’s branding problems — its reputation for cultural weirdness and its difficulty courting white, male and rural voters. Walz was supposed to be a reassuringly "normal" Democrat, but it turns out what passes for normal in the party today is deep incompetence, corruption and worse. Tim Walz is indeed a symbol of his party, in all the worst ways. Minnesota was the upper Midwest’s only holdout in the Trump wave of 2024, the last blue redoubt in a region painted red by Trump’s populist rebranding of the Republican Party. Does Walz’s disgrace put the state in play for 2028? That would be catastrophic for the Democrats’ electoral map, throwing another 10 electoral votes to the GOP. The last time the state voted for a Republican president was more than 50 years ago, when it backed Richard Nixon in 1972. It’s been 20 years since a Republican even won a statewide election in Minnesota: Tim Pawlenty, reelected governor in 2006, was the last to do so. But Walz and his scandals may have given Republicans two fresh chances this year and next. Even with Walz out of the way, his scandals will taint whoever gets the Democratic nomination for governor. Sen. Amy Klobuchar wants the nod — but if she gets it and then wins in November, her vacated Senate seat will present another opportunity for the GOP in a special election next year. Minnesota’s other senator, Tina Smith, has already opted not to run for reelection this cycle, and her seat’s up in November. Walz’s Democrats — technically the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party in Minnesota — face a tough series of tests at the ballot box in the next few months, with the jaw-dropping scale of the Somali scandal threatening to overshadow everything. And, ironically, even Somali American voters in Minnesota have started souring on the Democrats: The Harris-Walz ticket actually lost ground with voters of Somali descent in 2024. "In the Somali American hub of Cedar-Riverside, support for Harris dropped 14 percentage points" compared to 2020, according to a post-election report in the Minnesota Star Tribune, which noted, "Votes for Harris also dropped in precincts in the Seward neighborhood and along West Lake Street by 9 and 12 percentage points ..." Biden-Harris policies toward Israel and Gaza were one consideration; another was that Somali Muslims aren’t entirely comfortable with the progressive social stances of the modern Democratic Party. The Harris-Walz ticket still wound up garnering the support of about 80% of the Somali community, however. If the Democrats’ grip on Minnesota is slipping, it’ll be more traditional constituencies who bring about the break — perhaps those who question how well the "farmer" and "labor" legs of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party have been served by a Democratic Party defined nowadays by manias for mass immigration and extreme identity politics. Tim Walz was never a middle American Democrat; he was just a bland-looking white guy whose politics were as far-out as those of anyone else in his party. Another Walz won’t win Democrats white, male or rural voters, even if he’s scandal-free. The Democrats’ problem isn’t with the way their candidates look or sound — it’s what they believe and do. And there won’t be a Democrat who can match the appeal of Republican populism until there’s a Democrat who dares take the populist side on immigration and cultural norms. That kind of Democrat, if he or she exists at all today, would be the opposite of Tim Walz. Daniel McCarthy is the editor of Modern Age: A Conservative Review. To read more by Daniel McCarthy, visit www.creators.com.

Tuesday was day two of The View’s meltdown over President Trump arresting Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and extraditing him to the U.S. This time however, co-host Sunny Hostin amped up her rhetoric from the previous day and argued that Maduro should have remained in power because his removal supposedly wasn’t done the “right” way. It was also Joy Behar’s first day back since their winter hiatus and she was upset that Maduro was out and America was the strongest country in the world. At one point, Behar admitted that she wasn’t really following the news of the day because “I have a life,” despite it being literally her job (which explained a lot about her chronic ignorance), and was upset by the idea of other dictators possibly being from power: Here’s what I don't understand. I may not be up on all of this stuff because I have a life. But, okay, Maduro is a bad guy. We took him out. So is Kim Jong-un, so is Putin, so is -- what's that other guy in Hungary? And we're going to go into all these countries and just kidnap the leaders?!   Behar admits she doesn't actually follow the news and topics she has to talk about because "I have a life." Then falsely claims Maduro was "kidnap[ped]." pic.twitter.com/NOOFE6HOBp — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 6, 2026   Fact check: false. America did not “kidnap” Maduro. He was arrested, read his rights, and was extradited to the United States. It was in response to Behar that Hostin started shouting about how Maduro shouldn’t have been removed from power, falsely claiming it was illegal: HOSTIN: That's the issue here. Yes, we can all agree Maduro an illegitimate president who did horrible things in that country and was corrupt. The way he was removed from that country matters! We are supposed to be a nation of laws! BEHAR: Well, that ship has sailed. HOSTIN: The way we did it was against international criminal law! It's against the United Nations! We can’t do it! Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin chimed in to note that there was decades of precedent and many examples of the United States removing dictators from power to protect America’s interests. “It doesn’t make it right!” Hostin shrieked “You don't go into a country and kidnap its leader!”   Sunny Hostin comes out in support of Maduro staying in power: "The way he was removed from that country matters! We are supposed to be a nation of laws! The way we did it was against international criminal law! It's against the United Nations we can't do it! pic.twitter.com/OTitqlp7JX — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 6, 2026   Again, fact check: false. See the above notation about kidnapping. Behar jumped in again to bemoan America’s military might. “Its always somebody who is weaker than we are! It's always a country that we can overpower! It's not China. It's not Russia. It's not North Korea,” she huffed. It was laughable and ignorant for Behar to think North Korea was a strong military power. Behar should also understand that even China and Russia would fold to America’s military. Elsewhere in the show, Behar touted that “the U.N. is against what Trump just did in Venezuela” and feared Trump would kick the U.N. out of the country. Luckily, co-host Sara Haines countered her by pointing out the hypocrisy of the U.N.: “So, the U.N. choosing to recognize a nonelected leader is already problematic. They need to be thinking of new rules.”   Joy touts the U.N. condemning Trump arresting Maduro but Sara Haines counters by noting the U.N.'s problematic antics. pic.twitter.com/80vo3oN9B2 — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 6, 2026   Of course, they kicked the show off the show by obsessing over January 6 and moderator Whoopi Goldberg used the topic as an opportunity to decry how America could possibly dare to seek justice in other countries while Trump wasn’t in prison: GOLDBERG: When people talk about, you know, they want to see the right thing done in other countries, well, we tried to do something in this country and where is all of – HOSTIN: The justice. GOLDBERG: - that justice for that? We got a country that we could use some help with. But we're over, you know, in -- I don't know. I just -- I get frustrated. Behar bloviated again by accusing the U.S. Supreme Court of having “helped abetted” Trump in his crimes.   Joy Behar falsely accuses the U.S. Supreme Court of being guilty of "abetting" Trump in criminal activity and falsely claims Trump started a war. pic.twitter.com/JIsPLpSCfx — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 6, 2026   This is an ABC News program. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: ABC’s The View January 6, 2026 11:10:59 a.m. Eastern (…) WHOOPI GOLDBERG: When people talk about, you know, they want to see the right thing done in other countries, well, we tried to do something in this country and where is all of – SUNNY HOSTIN: The justice. GOLDBERG: - that justice for that? We got a country that we could use some help with. But we're over, you know, in -- I don't know. I just -- I get frustrated and I realize -- JOY BEHAR: Because there are a lot of factors right now that didn't exist even during Watergate. The Supreme Court has helped abetted him. HOSTIN: Yes. [Crosstalk] BEHAR: You know, he says he's bringing money down -- prices down. He hasn't done that. GOLDBERG: He was supposed to do that day one! BEHAR: The main thing he promised his voters no foreign wars and here we are. GOLDBERG: And here we are. BEHAR: He’s a liar. GOLDBERG: And you know what, here we are too. But we'll be right back. (…) 11:17:47 a.m. Eastern BEHAR: Is he [Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller] admitting that we're going there for their resources or not? I mean, they have uranium, lithium, Niobium, and zirconium. HOSTIN: All that have is very important for tech. BEHAR: Electric car, cell phones, batteries, and computers use all of that stuff. Why don't you just say what you're there for. And also, can you just go into any country and decide, ‘gee, I think I'm going to take some of their stuff.’ I don't think that's against – that’s pro-U.N. rules. HOSTIN: No, it’s against - BEHAR: By the way, the U.N. is against what Trump just did in Venezuela! HOSTIN: Yes! BEHAR: And my husband said this morning, ‘watch him take the U.N. out of this country.’ Watch! SARA HAINES: One critique is the U.N. is, the U.S. did not even recognize Maduro because he had lost an election. So, the U.N. choosing to recognize a nonelected leader is already problematic. They need to be thinking of new rules. (…) 11:19:26 a.m. Eastern ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: The Venezuelan people wanted to see Maduro gone. So, these opposition leaders have teams and have chiefs of staff. BEHAR: But wait a second. FARAH GRIFFIN: They have diplomats. BEHAR: Here’s what I don't understand. I may not be up on all of this stuff because I have a life. But, okay, Maduro is a bad guy. We took him out. So is Kim Jong-un, so is Putin, so is -- what's that other guy in Hungary? And we're going to go into all these countries and just kidnap the leaders?! HOSTIN: That's the issue here. Yes, we can all agree Maduro an illegitimate president who did horrible things in that country and was corrupt. The way he was removed from that country matters! We are supposed to be a nation of laws! BEHAR: Well, that ship has sailed. HOSTIN: The way we did it was against international criminal law! It's against the United Nations! We can’t do it! FARAH GRIFFIN: But guys, we've done this for 30 years. Gadhafi, Saddam. HOSTIN: It doesn’t make it right! FARAH GRIFFIN: I know, but let’s just be consistent with other administrations at under just as tenuous authority we have taken out – We all agree without a good plan in place it goes disastrously. I am not pro-nation building HOSTIN: You don't go into a country and kidnap its leader! BEHAR: Its always somebody who is weaker than we are! It's always a country that we can overpower! It's not China. It's not Russia. It's not North Korea. FARAH GRIFFIN: Again, I would support taking out Vladimir Putin. (…)

Yesterday, a Paris court convicted 10 citizens of “cyberbullying” French first lady Brigitte Macron over rumors regarding her gender.After French President Emmanuel Macron’s election in 2017, rumors started swirling among fringe circles that his wife, Brigitte, was actually a biological male. But it wasn’t until 2021, right before Macron’s re-election, that it exploded on an international scale after Natacha Rey, an independent journalist, claimed she had copious evidence proving the first lady was a biological male secretly living as transgender.Since its initial explosion in 2021, the rumor has only continued to gain massive traction internationally, fueling podcasts, docuseries, and social media content.The Macrons have been quick to strike back. In July 2025, they filed a high-profile defamation lawsuit in the U.S. against conservative podcaster Candace Owens for her viral series “Becoming Brigitte,” which promoted the claim that Brigitte was born a male. The case is ongoing.However, the Macrons’ lawsuit in France concluded yesterday with convictions and sentences for 10 defendants.All 10 were accused of posting or reposting malicious, degrading comments online falsely claiming Brigitte Macron is transgender. While most defended their actions as satire or free speech, the court ruled they acted with intent to harm.When BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere heard the story, his first reaction was that he’s glad he lives in America.“At times, we get upset with America, OK? You know, lines are long. ... Maybe you get the wrong order. Maybe they don't put the extra cheese sauce at Taco Bell that you ordered. ... But we do have a First Amendment at least that would protect us against that sort of nonsense, where the first lady of a country can sue you because you called her names,” he laughs.To hear more about the case, watch the video below. Want more from Stu?To enjoy more of Stu's lethal wit, wisdom, and mockery, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

A Maine city council has voted to launch an investigation into a newly sworn-in member amid criminal charges and allegations that he provided a false home address.On Monday, the Lewiston City Council swore in Iman Osman, 36, and, on the same day, voted to initiate an investigation into him.'Stepping down would be the right thing to do.'Osman, a Somali refugee, was slapped with gun-theft charges in early December after he was accused of receiving, retaining, or disposing of a firearm or explosive device, knowing or believing it had been stolen from an individual's estate. He was also accused of committing theft by obtaining or exercising unauthorized control of a firearm or explosive device that belonged to a second individual's estate. The charges relate to two separate incidents that occurred between November 2023 and October 2024.The Maine Wire reported that Osman also falsely listed a condemned mixed-use building owned by his brother as his residence to secure a mayoral appointment to the Lewiston School Committee and later run for Lewiston City Council's Ward 5. The property has reportedly been condemned since October 2024 because of a chemical "used as a deterrent for humans in the recent drug raid," among other issues, according to WMTW. Critics have argued that Osman does not reside in the ward he was elected to represent and is therefore ineligible to serve. Mayor Carl Sheline previously nominated Osman to the Lewiston School Committee to fill a vacancy. The city council unanimously appointed him on December 17, 2024, and he completed his term in mid-December 2025. RELATED: Tim Walz's nightmare continues as HHS shuts off $185M to Minnesota amid allegedly 'fake' Somali day care centers Image source: Lewiston City Council YouTube screenshotSince Osman's criminal indictments have come to light, Sheline has called on Osman to resign from public office."While he is entitled to the presumption of innocence, the judicial process will be lengthy and this matter has become an unwelcome distraction from the essential business of governing. Stepping down would be the right thing to do," Sheline stated.After winning the city council election in November, Osman was sworn in to the new position during a Monday council meeting, but was immediately met with a vote to open an independent investigation into his residency. Council members voted 6-1 to open the probe, with Osman casting the only dissenting vote. RELATED: Senate bill would give nearly $6 billion to refugee programs despite record-low intake numbers Council President David Chittim. Image source: Lewiston City Council YouTube screenshot Jon Fetherston, a Maine Wire reporter, stated that it is "obvious" Osman is lying about his residency. He expressed concern that the address listed by the council member was linked to a federal drug bust, and he noted that Osman has a court appearance scheduled for Wednesday regarding the gun-theft charges."On the very first night of him being sworn in as a city councilor, Mr. Osman took the oath of office and swore to defend the Constitution, yet he then voted on the matter of whether the council should investigate his own residency instead of recusing himself, casting a 'no' vote," Fetherston told Blaze News. "In my almost 40 years of elected office and/or reporting, I have never seen a bigger blow to democracy and disrespect of the election process than what has occurred with Iman Osman and how 'leadership' in Lewiston has handled this situation."Kiernan Majerus-Collins, Osman's attorney, stated that his client denies guilt concerning the criminal charges against him, WMTW reported."It's disappointing that the city has decided to continue to drag this out, continue to expend time and money, continue to create unnecessary controversy and impede his ability to do the job that he was elected to do," Majerus-Collins said. Councilor President David Chittim explained that the council will determine whether to hold a hearing concerning Osman's position on the council after it receives the investigative report, which he expects will be completed this month. "I would like to put this whole issue behind the city of Lewiston, behind the city council," he said.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Newly inaugurated New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has been mocked by many online after a community note thoroughly contradicted his ability to make good on a promise he made.The socialist Muslim mayor was criticizing dynamic pricing policies for putting the cost of World Cup soccer tickets beyond the reach of the common fan when he said his team would work on alleviating the situation. 'We want to ensure that there are more experiences available to each and every New Yorker.'"I had a New Yorker the other day come up to me and ask me if there was any way I could help him get World Cup tickets because he was saying that the cost that he saw for a game was $600," Mamdani said."This is increasingly out of reach," he added. "We have made what used to be a working-class game into a luxury experience, and there are too many for whom it doesn't matter where the World Cup is being played in the world; they know where they're going to watch it: It's TV."He concluded, "We want to ensure that there are more experiences available to each and every New Yorker."Mamdani's promise was immediately mocked and ridiculed on social media, especially after it was undermined by a community note on the X social media platform."Apart from the fact that the mayor has no influence over FIFA pricing policy, there are no games in NY City. The New York New Jersey Stadium is in East Rutherford, New Jersey," the note reads.Others pointed out the inconvenient fact."Settle down commie. It's being hosted in NJ. I know NJ is right behind NY, but you haven't taken it over yet," one popular response reads."LMAO ... this scumbag thinks he is the king of the world. NY Mayor Mamdani says he is working to ensure World Cup tickets are AVAILABLE TO ALL ... BTW, no World Cup games are played in NY ...," another detractor said. "Seize the means of ticket verification," joked one user.A Blaze News request for comment to Mamdani's office was not immediately answered.RELATED: Liberal actor compares Mamdani to Jesus and MLK Jr. in bizarre CNN panel moment Video of Mamdani's comments was widely circulated on social media.Although the media has been trying to whitewash Mamdani's extremist positions as moderate, his administration has already been roiled by resurfaced messages from his director of appointments, who abruptly quit the position, as well as from his pick to lead the Mayor's Office to Protect Tenants.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The elevation of figures such as the fanatical Cea Weaver has been edifying.