Stembridge News Digest

  • Who wants to be a millionaire? Trump issues nationwide bounty on fraudsters Wed, 21 Oct 2026 12:30:00 +0000


    The Trump administration has deployed a new weapon in the war on fraud: vigilant Americans.

    Last week, Vice President JD Vance called on citizens to join him in "taking the pledge to protect Americans from fraudsters" and to condition support for political candidates on their willingness to similarly make this commitment.

    'Going to keep a lot of people honest.'

    Joined in the Oval Office on Tuesday by Vance and other members of what he dubbed the "untouchables," President Donald Trump wedded an incentive program to this anti-fraud campaign.

    Under the new Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program, citizen whistleblowers, including journalists, can receive a bounty ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 for information leading to criminal fraud charges as well as a potential 1% commission for recovered funds.

    "If it's $10 million, $200 million, $400 million — we're giving a 1% commission to that person," said Trump.

    The president noted further that in the event of a dispute over who deserves a particular bounty, he will weigh in as arbitrator.

    The Justice Department said that whereas most existing government whistleblower programs don't issue rewards until after the criminal matters are resolved, this program "rewards whistleblowers at a much earlier stage of prosecution."

    RELATED: Trump administration breaks record cleaning up Social Security files in HUGE fraud-prevention move

    President Donald Trump shakes hands with Nick Shirley. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images.

    Whistleblowers are asked to go to america.gov/fraud and submit tips pertaining to federal health care offenses or fraud on programs or benefits administered by federal agencies. Tips are reviewed by the Treasury Department, then referred to the relevant federal office. If the information leads to charges or the recovery of money stolen by fraudsters, qualifying whistleblowers may be rewarded for their efforts.

    Trump said that this program "is going to keep a lot of people honest."

    Vance said that the program already has one bounty claimant: investigative journalist Nick Shirley.

    The president celebrated Shirley's successful efforts to expose fraud, including the unflattering light he shone on alleged fraud in the now-infamous Quality Learing Center and other taxpayer-subsidized, Somali-run day-care facilities in Minnesota.

    "Partially as a result of Nick's work, since I took office, 115 Minnesota fraudsters have been arrested and charged," said Trump.

    The president further highlighted that Shirley's efforts to date have been so effective that "California recently passed the Stop Nick Shirley Act, an outrageous attempt to crush free speech and to stop the corruption from being exposed."

    The young man is reportedly getting a $10,000 bounty for his efforts.

    "The Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program (WHIP) offers everyone the opportunity to be part of the solution, help expose fraud, and be rewarded quickly for their efforts," Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. "I urge all Americans to use this program and play an active role in bringing fraudsters to justice."

    "From day one of my administration, we've waged an unprecedented war on corruption and fraud, and will not let our country be looted and plundered by thieves, and pirates, and foreign fraudsters — and, basically, scum," said Trump.

    According to the White House, an estimated $260.7 billion in fraud has been uncovered since January 2025 and $72 billion in fraud has been stopped per year as the result of actions taken by the administration.

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  • Conservatives demand competition — except in their own primaries Wed, 21 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000


    Conservatives say they believe in competition. So why on earth do we tolerate a political system in which one man effectively picks our candidates before voters have a chance to examine them?

    Friedrich Hayek understood why monopoly is dangerous: “Our freedom of choice in a competitive society rests on the fact that, if one person refuses to satisfy our wishes, we can turn to another. But if we face a monopolist we are at his absolute mercy.” That principle applies to political candidates as surely as it does to products. Competition forces people to earn our support. Coronations teach them that our votes are theirs by right.

    Trump’s terrible endorsements are not a minor blemish on an otherwise beloved political figure. They are a debilitating obstacle to rebuilding the right.

    Instead, Republican voters have been handed one establishment dud after another, especially in states where the GOP should have the freedom to nominate a fighter. Then, when the general election arrives, we are ordered to fall in line because the Democrat is worse. That is a political monopoly, and it is killing the conservative movement.

    Consider the 22 Senate contests this November in states Donald Trump carried in 2024. The incumbent Republicans include Dan Sullivan in Alaska, Tom Cotton in Arkansas, Jim Risch in Idaho, Roger Marshall in Kansas, Ashley Moody in Florida, Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi, Pete Ricketts in Nebraska, Jon Husted in Ohio, Mike Rounds in South Dakota, Bill Hagerty in Tennessee, and Shelley Moore Capito in West Virginia. South Carolina has an appointed incumbent, Darline Graham, seeking a full term.

    The other nominees include Barry Moore in Alabama, Mike Collins in Georgia, Ashley Hinson in Iowa, Andy Barr in Kentucky, Julia Letlow in Louisiana, Mike Rogers in Michigan, Kurt Alme in Montana, Michael Whatley in North Carolina, Ken Paxton in Texas, and Harriet Hageman in Wyoming.

    How many of these 22 are Ron DeSantis-tier conservatives? How many would fight the interests that actually control Washington? How many would champion an immigration moratorium, end vaccine liability immunity, oppose government subsidies for Flock surveillance cameras and data centers, or take a machete to federal spending? How many would even answer those questions without consulting a donor?

    My count is maybe four decent conservatives and no genuine superstars. Feel free to dispute my rankings. The larger scandal is that Republican voters rarely got a serious contest in which to test these candidates and force them to take positions on the issues that count.

    The reason is Donald Trump’s primary endorsements and the Republican establishment that treats them like royal decrees.

    No, the president has not canceled elections. He didn’t need to. His endorsements routinely settle them in practice. Ballotpedia reported a 97% primary success rate for his endorsed candidates as of July, with every endorsed congressional candidate who had faced a primary by then advancing. That is a remarkable record for a man who claims to oppose the swamp.

    Sometimes a stronger conservative alternative ran and lost. Sometimes the endorsement deterred a challenge in the first place. Either way, candidates escaped the serious ideological cross-examination they should have faced. They learned to court Trump instead of courting conservative voters.

    Montana supplies the most outrageous example. Sen. Steve Daines withdrew from his re-election bid minutes before the filing deadline, just after U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme filed for the seat. Trump endorsed Alme almost immediately. With no time for other Republicans to enter, the primary was effectively over before it began. Call that a coincidence if you like. To me it looks like a backroom succession plan that stripped Montana conservatives of a meaningful choice.

    RELATED: Democrats may ride a blue wave on a red script

    Democrats may ride a blue wave on a red script Id-work/Getty Images

    Does Alme support an immigration pause? Would he end vaccine liability immunity or subsidies for data centers? Would he actually stand in the way of runaway spending? Those questions should have been contested in a primary, not left to be answered after a nominee was already installed.

    The consequences extend beyond conservative principles. North Carolina Republicans rallied behind Michael Whatley, Trump’s choice for an open Senate seat, only to see him struggle badly against Roy Cooper in the general-election campaign. This is a state Republicans have carried in every presidential election since 1980 except 2008. An endorsement is no substitute for a candidate who can persuade voters.

    Even where Republican nominees survive November, what then? Hinson, Sullivan, and the rest are supposed to lead the fights conservatives actually care about. On what evidence? Where were the primary debates on spending, immigration, government surveillance, and corporate welfare that might have forced their hands?

    Trump’s terrible endorsements are not a minor blemish on an otherwise beloved political figure. They are a debilitating obstacle to rebuilding the right. We cannot claim to oppose a ruling class while allowing one man to decide which members of that class get another six years in power.

    RELATED: Pray for the country. Then do your part.

    Pray for the country. Then do your part. Imagedepotpro/Getty Images

    I am not writing this to relitigate every lost primary in 2026. I want to know what conservatives intend to do before the 2028 cycle begins.

    Recruitment and organizing start well before Election Day. If prospective challengers assume Trump will automatically bless the incumbent RINO or an establishment favorite for an open seat, many will never bother running. And the people who claim to speak for the grassroots will shrug and tell us to vote Republican anyway.

    That problem needs an answer on November 4, the morning after these midterms, not when the next slate of candidates has already been anointed. Find and recruit challengers. Demand debates. Make candidates state their positions. Stop treating the president’s endorsement like a substitute for the judgment of the voters who built this movement.

    And yes, the same standard should apply to the 2028 Republican presidential primary. Even a candidate we like should have to sweat through hard questions about electability, the failures of GOP leadership, and why the next Republican trifecta would accomplish more than the last.

    Thomas Sowell wrote that “competition does a much more effective job than government at protecting consumers.” Conservatives understand that when discussing monopolies in the marketplace. If we refuse to apply it to the politicians who govern us, we deserve every political dud we get.

  • Oprah built an empire preaching the divinity within. It was Christ she turned to in her darkest hour. Wed, 21 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000


    Oprah Winfrey has spent roughly four decades helping Americans discover who they really are. Apparently, the job isn't finished.

    Next April, the 72-year-old former talk-show queen will descend on the Las Vegas Sphere for "AHA," a four-performance extravaganza featuring music, poetry, storytelling, and what its promoters call the ultimate “aha” moment.

    What happens when you look inside and don't find any light? What happens when your 'authentic self' turns out to be selfish, foolish, or cruel?

    Winfrey calls the production the culmination of her life's work.

    Culmination is an interesting word.

    After 25 seasons of "The Oprah Winfrey Show," a magazine, a book club, her own television network, countless spiritual teachers, wellness programs, podcasts, and several decades of encouraging Americans to discover their authentic selves, one wonders what remains to be discovered.

    Have Winfrey's followers finally accumulated enough wisdom? Will the great journey toward self-actualization at last be complete? Or is there another missing piece of the human soul that requires an enormous LED screen to locate?

    Sphere of influence

    This is familiar territory for Winfrey. As early as 2001, she was charging $185 for all-day Live Your Best Life workshops. Two years later, she brought the program to Seattle, where 2,700 admirers assembled for seven hours of inspirational instruction.

    A reporter covering a 2003 session in Seattle described a spiritual revival, complete with a congregation and a preacher wearing diamonds and high heels.

    In 2014 came an eight-city arena tour called "The Life You Want Weekend," with spiritual advisers, exercises in self-discovery, and corporate sponsors. Another arena wellness tour followed in 2020.

    So there is nothing particularly surprising about Winfrey selling enlightenment in Las Vegas. The Sphere is a perfectly plausible venue for her particular brand of uplift.

    Nor is there anything inherently hypocritical about charging people to help them improve themselves. The more interesting question is what Winfrey has been teaching all these years and whether her extraordinary life actually supports it.

    The preacher girl

    Oprah Winfrey is a remarkable American success story.

    Born in rural Mississippi in 1954, she endured poverty, instability, and sexual abuse before becoming one of the most successful broadcasters in television history. Her rise required tremendous determination, but determination alone doesn't explain it.

    Winfrey possessed an extraordinary gift for communication. She could listen to a stranger with such apparent concentration that millions of people watching at home felt included in the conversation. She understood instinctively where the emotional center of a story lay. She could coax a confession, recognize a moment of vulnerability, or make a famous person seem briefly ordinary.

    The origins of that talent are worth examining.

    Oprah grew up in the Baptist church. Her grandmother taught her to read, using the Bible among other texts. By the age of 3, Oprah was standing before congregations reciting verses about the Resurrection.

    The women in the front pews told her grandmother that the little girl was gifted. Winfrey heard this often enough that she began to believe it.

    Her Christianity was no casual inheritance. In a 2015 interview with AARP, Winfrey recalled being baptized around 8 years old, after agonizing for days over whether she was prepared to renounce sin.

    "And, my God, did I take it seriously!" she recalled.

    Indeed, she described herself as "a zealot who irritated every one of my third-grade friends." Her classmates had a nickname for her: "the preacher girl."

    Soon she was performing poetry and sermons in churches around Nashville. In an interview with the Academy of Achievement, Winfrey traced her broadcasting career directly to those childhood performances.

    But Christianity gave Winfrey more than her first audience.

    A child of God

    By her own account, Christianity gave Winfrey the confidence to imagine a future radically different from the one her circumstances seemed to promise.

    At 14, after years of sexual abuse, Winfrey became pregnant. She has spoken about the shame and despair she experienced, including thoughts of ending her life. In that same AARP interview, she recalled turning to God in her desperation. If she was going to die, she reasoned, God would have to take her life. Otherwise, she would live and somehow find a way through.

    She survived. Her baby, born prematurely, did not.

    What stands out in her account is that she didn't describe suddenly discovering some unsuspected reservoir of inner strength. She described appealing to God.

    Growing up without a father had made the preacher's assurance that God was her Father especially powerful. She took it literally. Jesus, she reasoned, was her brother.

    In a 2015 podcast appearance, Winfrey explained that believing she was a child of God, and that she could do all things through Christ, gave her confidence even when she felt alone and unloved. She credited that relationship with God for helping make her the person she became.

    From Christ to 'Christ consciousness'

    Winfrey has never disavowed the Christian faith of her childhood. When explaining how she survived those early years and became who she is, she continues to credit the old-fashioned Christianity she grew up with.

    But the eclectic, New Age-inflected spirituality of higher consciousness, personal truth, and divinity within the self that she has since built into a billion-dollar empire represents a very different theology from the one expressed in Philippians 4:13.

    Perhaps its clearest expression came in 2008, when Winfrey hosted a series of online seminars with spiritual writer Eckhart Tolle, whose book "A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose" she had selected for her book club.

    During the seminars, Winfrey recalled hearing a preacher describe God as jealous when she was in her late 20s. The idea troubled her. How could an all-loving, omnipresent God also be jealous? She said the experience began a search for something beyond doctrine. She had finally come to understand Jesus as a teacher of "Christ consciousness," a way of awakening to a divine presence within.

    It's easy to see the appeal of this more accommodating Jesus. But one wonders how well such a theology would have served that desperate, lost 14-year-old.

    RELATED: Your body isn’t God: Jen Hatmaker’s New Age lies exposed

    Emma McIntyre | Getty Images

    The gift of self

    Transformation in Christ famously requires a kind of death. The ultimate victory comes at the price of surrender.

    The gospel according to Oprah offers an altogether different revelation: You already possess everything you need to become your best self.

    Winfrey was unusually well equipped to preach it. She knew the power of personal testimony and understood how a painful experience could become a story of transformation. Her television program had long featured confessions, reconciliations, and dramatic changes of heart. Increasingly, these became lessons in how to live.

    And there is much to admire in her message. Self-examination, gratitude, and the effort to overcome destructive habits are worthwhile pursuits. Nor is there anything dishonest about charging for guidance.

    But the promise of self-discovery has a peculiar problem: How do you know when you've discovered enough?

    Somewhere within you is a truer, better, more fulfilled version of yourself. A book helps you glimpse it. A guru reveals another obstacle. A workshop uncovers another wound. You experience an awakening, only to discover that another breakthrough awaits.

    There is always another aha moment.

    The way and the truth

    Christianity's central revelation, by contrast, concerns something that has already happened: Christ came, died, and rose. Believers may spend their lives struggling to understand and live according to it, but they aren't waiting for Christianity's next installment.

    And Christianity makes demands that Winfrey's therapeutic spirituality tends to soften. It insists that truth exists independently of our preferences, and that some of our desires may be wrong.

    What happens when you look inside and don't find any light? What happens when your "authentic self" turns out to be selfish, foolish, or cruel?

    These questions are particularly awkward in Winfrey's case.

    She knows where she found the strength to survive. What is less clear is whether the spirituality she now offers millions could have provided the same strength.

    Perhaps Winfrey is a prophet who misunderstands herself.

    She preaches the dignity of the individual, the possibility of redemption, the power of hope, and the conviction that suffering need not determine one's future. Her own life is persuasive evidence for these truths. Yet the faith she credits with making that life possible located its source outside herself.

    For decades, Winfrey has told Americans that the answers are already inside them. Next April, they can finally discover those answers on one of the world's largest LED screens.

    Tickets start at $145.

  • AI doesn’t know you, but a good physician does Wed, 21 Oct 2026 10:00:00 +0000


    The timing couldn’t be better.

    Just as an Anthropic safety researcher resigned over the company’s irresponsible behavior and another researcher warned that AI developers are creating systems with a 10% chance of killing all humans in the next decade, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel is enthusiastically lobbying our medical system to entrust AI to become our primary physicians.

  • Violent rapist who went on the run after slipping off monitoring device was found dead, cops say Wed, 21 Oct 2026 09:30:00 +0000


    A violent criminal who had been convicted of rape and was on the run was found dead in San Diego, police say.

    Merle Wakefield, 69, was being supervised on California's conditional release program when officials got a tamper notice from his monitoring device on Sept. 25.

    'As long as the state keeps releasing sexually violent predators into our neighborhoods, families are one tampered ankle monitor away from this. These people don't belong anywhere near our communities.'

    When the officials arrived at his workplace in Rancho Bernardo, they found the GPS device, but Wakefield was gone.

    Nearly a month later on Monday at about 9:30 a.m., San Diego police responded to a report of a dead body and found human remains in a riverbed in San Diego.

    The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office identified the remains as Merle Wakefield. His cause and manner of death will be determined by an autopsy.

    The rapist's remains were found about 20 miles south of the location where he was last seen.

    Wakefield had been convicted of rape as well as lewd acts with a minor under 14, along with eight other convictions and 20 arrests.

    He was granted conditional release in Nov. 2024.

    It's unclear how Wakefield died.

    San Diego police said they are continuing to investigate the man's death.

    RELATED: California man allegedly coerced 21 children to produce sex videos via online apps, FBI says

    San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond criticized the state of California after Wakefield vanished.

    "The unfortunate reality is that what happened with Merle Wakefield could have happened at any time," Demond said.

    "As long as the state keeps releasing sexually violent predators into our neighborhoods, families are one tampered ankle monitor away from this. These people don't belong anywhere near our communities. They belong locked up in a secure state facility. Period."

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  • Glenn Beck: France’s riots aren’t really about schools — they’re about something much bigger Wed, 21 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000


    Last weekend, hundreds of thousands of people across France marched in protest of living costs and deteriorating public services. Those marches were quickly overtaken by violent, masked groups who looted shops, set cars and buildings on fire, and clashed with police in cities including Paris, Marseille, Lyon, and Limoges.

    Even though more than 2,000 people were arrested, police largely failed to contain the chaos in several cities.

    But that chaos and destruction, says Glenn Beck, had “nothing to do with the schools” or any other valid grievance.

    It has everything to do, he argues, with the budget the French Parliament was scheduled to vote on yesterday, although it ended up being postponed to a later date.

    “The street was sending Paris a message before the vote, and the government is now stuck in a trap with no good door,” says Glenn.

    He explains how cutting spending infuriates the mob because it means fewer services, but not cutting spending worsens the debt crisis, which also infuriates the mob.

    “If they vote it down, the lenders get nervous and the interest rates climb. Then the borrowing costs rise. Then the jobs disappear, and everything costs more, which is exactly what the people are marching about in the first place, so either way somebody loses,” he says.

    The best-case scenario, says Glenn, is they “agree on a budget” and vow to “pay this loan back,” even if it means financial constraints. If the meeting “falls apart,” however, he predicts a snowball effect, where lenders raise France’s borrowing costs, the government has to borrow even more just to cover its bills, rates climb farther, and the debt spiral spreads pressure across Europe while France’s ability to fund basic services keeps shrinking.

    “That's Italy. That's Greece. That's Germany, and it's already starting. Their borrowing costs went up this month, and France now pays more to borrow than either of them,” says Glenn.

    The third potential outcome is what will happen if the budget falls apart and nobody does anything about it. In this scenario, the European Central Bank will either step in with harsh conditions that make daily life even harder and fuel more unrest — or break its own rules to bail France out, which signals that the rules no longer matter and spreads the crisis further.

    This should matter to Americans, says Glenn, because America is teetering on the same debt trap as France — spending more than it earns. And if lenders lose confidence in the U.S. the way they’re losing confidence in France, Americans will feel it in higher mortgage rates, higher car payments, and job losses.

    To hear more, watch the video above.

    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.

  • France and the United States can’t govern on blind trust Wed, 21 Oct 2026 08:00:00 +0000

  • 'I say worse things than that every day': Jimmy Carr issues hilarious defense of Shane Gillis Tue, 20 Oct 2026 23:35:00 +0000


    British comedian Jimmy Carr was asked to comment on the outrage over Shane Gillis' gym joke, and his response was absolutely hilarious.

    Gillis has been excoriated by feminists and others on the left for saying that some women dress like "whores" at the gym during his monologue on "Saturday Night Live" on October 10, 2026.

    'Shane is very clearly a lovely man. And he's trying to make people laugh. That's a joyful thing. Look at the intent, not the content.'

    Carr often posts video of his interactions with his audience on social media from his stand-up appearances and decided to post his opinion on the Gillis outrage.

    "What are your thoughts on the Shane Gillis controversy?" an audience member asked.

    "Shane Gillis? If that's what passes as controversy, great!" Carr responded, which elicited laughter from the crowd.

    "The weird thing about that is, I say worse things than that every day. And also, I think intent is much more important than content," he added.

    "Shane is very clearly a lovely man. And he's trying to make people laugh. That's a joyful thing. Look at the intent, not the content. Don't take it out of context. He's a great f**king guy. Great guy, great comic," Carr said.

    Carr got a lot of applause for his statement. He went on to make a fat joke at Gillis' expense.

    "I think, though, the controversy probably means that he won't be able to go to the gym for a while," he said, laughing. "I don't think that's going to be a massive problem for him lifestyle-wise."

    Carr's video garnered more than 2.6 million views after he posted it on Monday.

    RELATED: Joe Rogan pounces on uproar over Gillis joke about women dressing like 'whores' at gyms

    Others have pointed out that Gillis' joke was ultimately meant to ridicule Gillis at the gym.

    "Look, I’m sorry, there's no other way to describe [it]. Have you seen it? I've seen it. The shorts. Have you seen the shorts? Those neon, they're like artificial bait-colored. And the wrinkles go around the cheeks and all combine at the butthole. And don't look! You're not allowed to look," Gillis said to the "SNL" audience.

    "For real, don't look because they are filming. I'm in the background of like 10 TikToks right now," he added.

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  • Activists protest red state's law by sending 'bearded, burly' trans-identifying protesters into women's bathrooms Tue, 20 Oct 2026 21:55:00 +0000


    Transgender-identifying people are protesting a law in Kansas by following it — with "bearded, burly" women who identify as men.

    In one incident on Aug. 8, the protest caused the manager of the Long Branch Lagoon Water Park in Dodge City to scream and help children leave the bathroom and changing area.

    The reporter referred to the action as 'malicious compliance.'

    The new SB 244 law restricts people from using a bathroom designated for a gender that doesn't match their gender assigned at birth.

    Following the law led to the self-described "bearded, burly men" having an "uncomfortable" conversation with police where they had to describe their bodies and genitals, according to a report from a transgender-identifying reporter.

    The report showed a picture of the three women wearing yellow shirts that read "SB244 Compliance Crew," which refers to the transgender law.

    The reporter referred to the action as "malicious compliance."

    Others were a part of the protest and made similar bathroom visits at a zoo, a library, a museum, and other parks. The group's press release claimed that neither the police involved in the water park incident nor the manager knew about the law.

    "Segregating people by suspected genitalia does nothing to improve public safety; it does quite the opposite by opening Kansans up to sexual harassment and discrimination," said one of the women at the Dodge City protest. "At no point should anyone be asking anyone else what genitals they have in public."

    The transgender activist group also claimed that the law had unequal outcomes for different transgender-identifying folks.

    "Trans feminine people face the brunt of the KS Legislature's demonization while trans masculine folks are infantilized and characterized as non-threatening," the group states on its website, according to LGBTQ Nation. "We believe it's important to use that relative advantage to work for change."

    RELATED: DOJ files 'first-of-its-kind' lawsuit against red-state school district for allegedly pushing gender transition behind parents' backs

    The transgender-identifying activists are plotting more protests against the Kansas law.

    "I've got some ideas rattling around in my head," said Charles Osman, who created the SB244 Compliance Crew.

    Osman says there's a reason the activists are targeting areas away from the metropolitan areas of Kansas.

    "They almost exclusively vote Republican," Osman told the Lawrence Times. "And almost nobody knows about this law out in rural areas."

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  • Pro-trans group denies sending kids guide to hormones and surgery — so why did it wipe its website? Tue, 20 Oct 2026 21:00:00 +0000


    BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales is demanding answers after receiving a mailer addressed to the “students” in her household that she says offers transgender and questioning minors resources for navigating unsupportive parents, accessing hormones and surgeries, and even leaving their home state.

    “It was addressed to the 'students' of our family from the ... Texas Transgender Student Union. And what it does is it essentially coaches minors on what to do if their parents aren’t supportive of their trans identity,” she explains on “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered.”

    “It’s like, here’s how you can get emancipated if your mom and dad are so mean they’re not going to call you a she when you’re obviously a he,” she adds.

    Inside the envelope was the “Texas Trans and LGBTQ Student Resource Guide,” which “gives a bunch of resources to trans or nonbinary or questioning children.”


    “And if your community isn’t supportive, according to this pamphlet, there are resources for you. They give them tips on how to flee the state. They give them tips on how to get hormones, how to get mutilation surgeries, and it lists a bunch of websites and organizations on it, but the main one that keeps getting referenced is the Transgender Education Network of Texas, or TENT for short,” Gonzales explains.

    However, TENT has now denied its organization sent out the mailer.

    “It’s so evil that leftists don’t even want to claim it. They don’t want to claim that one of them did it,” Gonzales says.

    “And so, you had people in my comments were like, ‘Fake. This is fake, and you’re a liar.’ It’s not fake. There were a bunch of people actually responding that they got the same mailer too. It was sent to many of us. I don’t know how. I don’t know where they got our names. I don’t know what mailing list they bought, but it’s obviously not fake,” she continues.

    On TENT’s website, it says: “We're aware of text messages and now physical mailers that have been circulated concerning TENT that appear to have been issued by or on behalf of the organization.”

    “These text messages and mailers were not authored, authorized, approved, or distributed by TENT and are not affiliated with our organization. The texts do not represent the official position or communications of the organization,” the statement continues.

    “We will continue to monitor the situation and remain committed to our organizational values of unequivocal support for trans Texans, their families, their loved ones,” the group says, concluding its statement with, “Trans Texans belong here. This is our home and we’re not going anywhere.”

    At the bottom of the text is a GIF of Mariah Carey with the text: “Why are you so obsessed with me?”

    “I would just say like, why are you so obsessed with chopping children’s healthy body parts off? I would start there,” Gonzales responds.

    While she admits that there’s an argument to be had that “some sent this mailer to paint the group in a negative light,” she points out that on the group’s social media accounts, it promotes the same thing.

    The group deleted everything on its website except for the new message that the mailers and text messages have nothing to do with the group, which also gives Gonzales pause.

    “They didn’t say whether or not they agree with the message. I find that to be particularly interesting, but I’m wondering, if you didn’t send it, why are you nuking your website?” Gonzales asks.

    “Because remember, you recall they mentioned the text message. Well, that went out,” she continues, before reading the text message: “New school year. Here’s your complete guide on bathrooms and beyond for trans kids at school.”

    “This is y’all’s side. This is what you guys want to do. I just think you should own it is all that I’m saying,” Gonzales adds.

    Want more from Sara Gonzales?

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  • Trump administration breaks record cleaning up Social Security files in HUGE fraud-prevention move Tue, 20 Oct 2026 20:59:07 +0000


    Tens of millions of Social Security records with previously missing or inaccurate information have finally been updated, according to a press release from the Social Security Administration.

    It is the largest correction of vital Social Security records in the 91-year history of the department, according to the SSA.

    'This is the first time SSA has undertaken an effort of this scale, and I am proud of the work we have done to strengthen the foundation of identity data relied upon throughout government and the economy.'

    The massive effort corrected data of 15% of all active Social Security numbers, or about 50 million files out of 330 million.

    About 25 million records with missing citizenship information were updated, and the agency is in the process of correcting the inaccurate citizenship status of 8.5 million records.

    About 17 million death dates were also added to records.

    The SSA also "implemented stronger internal controls to prevent inaccuracies due to manual data entry" that could otherwise have happened in the future.

    "The Social Security Number database is our country’s books and records. The database’s accuracy is essential to maintaining integrity of government services for citizens," read a statement from Commissioner Frank Bisignano.

    "Accurate SSN records prevent fraud across federal programs and support the proper administration of benefits," he added. "This is the first time SSA has undertaken an effort of this scale, and I am proud of the work we have done to strengthen the foundation of identity data relied upon throughout government and the economy."

    The SSA said the corrections will prevent payments from being made to the wrong recipients.

    "These improvements demonstrate a government‑wide commitment to safeguarding identity data, preventing fraud, and preserving proper program administration," said the SSA in its press release.

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    Experts estimate that the Social Security program may no longer have enough funds to make benefit payments by 2034.

    President Donald Trump previously promised he would not cut the program's benefits and said it could be fixed by purging its rolls of illegal aliens and others fraudulently receiving payments.

    Democrats have floated plans to significantly raise taxes on the wealthy in order to ensure the program's viability.

    "We will have to make a choice," said Glenn Hubbard, a top Bush administration economist, to the AP. "If you want Social Security benefits to look like they are today, we're going to have to raise everyone's taxes a lot. And if that's what people want, that's a menu, and you pay the high price and you move on."

    He said the other choice is to restrict benefits to decrease the cost of the program.

    "It's really a political choice," he said. "Neither one of those is pain-free."

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  • Leftist fire-starters and immigrants have pushed another French republic to the edge: 'Unholy alliance' Tue, 20 Oct 2026 20:15:00 +0000


    The French are no strangers to protests that go sideways. After all, the nation is on its fifth republic since 1792.

    Nevertheless, the rally on Saturday planned by the General Confederation of Labor and various other leftist outfits — a rally that quickly devolved into an orgy of destruction — proved to be too much for the French authorities to handle.

    'There’s a lot of tinder for the flame.'

    Luke Foster, assistant professor of government at Hillsdale College, provided Blaze News with insights into what has changed and what France is up against.

    Throughout the West but perhaps most acutely in France, the old left that was historically focused on issues affecting the working class has increasingly been displaced by the “new left, which is much more about sexual and racial politics," said Foster.

    This shift appears to have taken place midway through the 20th century.

    In “Explaining Postmodernism,” Stephen Hicks, formerly of Rockford University, observed that in response to the “crisis of socialism,” “much of the Left changed its official ethical standard from need to equality” and began “concentrating their efforts on the special issues of women and of racial and ethnic minorities.”

    RELATED: Macron watched France burn — then blamed the 'French people.' Trump: 'The migrants have taken over.'

    LFI leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon. JEFF PACHOUD/AFP/Getty Images

    This is certainly the case in France, where instead of relying on and weaponizing the resentment of French workers, the new left is increasingly leaning on easily mobilizable immigrants and the children of immigrants to help “channel revolutionary pressure,” said Foster.

    This comports with what French conservative activist Thaïs d'Escufon has observed in her homeland.

    D'Escufon previously told Blaze News:

    What started as student protests, mainly led by the far left, has turned into ethnic riots that are spiraling out of control. Immigrants have become the street-level enforcers of the far left, spreading chaos, looting, vandalizing, stealing, and setting things on fire. It is an unholy alliance.

    French leftists of all sorts were out in force over the weekend. For example, the suspect arrested in connection with the torching of the historic town hall in Limoges has been identified as a member of the ultra-left.

    Foster noted, however, that the riots were undeniably “immigrant-dependent,” using at least the language and the symbols of Islamist politics and flying in some cases the Palestinian flag as well as the colors of North African countries, including Algeria and Morocco.

    This foreign presence was no coincidence. Leftist organizers clearly intended to weaponize migrant resentment from the outset.

    Saturday was the 65th anniversary of the 1961 Paris massacre, where French police lethally cracked down on Algerian demonstrators. A website promoting French protests on Saturday explicitly referenced the incident, claiming that the “racism” that supposedly animated the violence against “peaceful Algerians” in 1961 is “still used to divide” today.

    The choice to hold the protests Saturday plays “to Algerian grievance politics, which are very powerful in France,” said Foster.

    “Something like particular local grievances about the way the schools are being run can very quickly turn into an ethnically and religiously motivated attack on the state and the country as a whole,” added Foster.

    The professor noted that “ground zero” for the so-called student protests that culminated in the riots on Saturday was unsurprisingly Saint-Denis, a poor and violent area that has a large “North and West African immigrant presence.”

    Saint-Denis — where an estimated one in three residents was an immigrant as of 2024 — also happens to be the political proving ground for the France Unbowed movement, or LFI, and the immigration-centered “new France” envisioned by LFI leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

    Mélenchon and other leftists "are pouring oxygen on the fire and giving it a kind of rhetorical ideological framework,” said Foster.

    Foster noted that Mélenchon and the LFI are explicitly committed to an electoral strategy of uniting students and other young people to Islamist politics in order to “unravel the current regime and political system and build something new.”

    Mélenchon, a presidential candidate for the 2027 election, is a poster boy for the new left. He has long downplayed Islam as a national security threat, advocated for the “creolization” of France, rejected the integration of migrants, and called for the decriminalization of illegal immigration as well as for a capitalism-destroying revolution.

    Mélenchon urged his followers earlier this month to join the so-called protests and subsequently joined labor groups in condemning police for doing their jobs when things went south.

    While critical of the looting, Mélenchon stated after the riots Saturday left thousands of businesses gutted and hundreds of police injured, “I support the youth and student movement and their demands.”

    Mélenchon did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment.

    Between Mélenchon’s apparent strategy and the character of the rioters, it appears that both President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron were right.

    While Trump, who claimed that “what's happening in France is nothing less than out-of-control mass migration," has advocated for France to close its borders and take control "before it is too late," Macron blamed the riots on "seditionists from far-left fringe groups,” and his administration imposed nightly curfews.

    Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu credited the curfews with achieving a semblance of calm in recent days.

    "Tonight, new curfews will be decided where the situation requires it," said Lecornu early on Tuesday.

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  • Major company pays millions after making Americans jump through hoops for jobs Tue, 20 Oct 2026 20:00:00 +0000


    The Trump administration has closed a discrimination case against a well-known company — and the people who have had their eyes on this case for over a year are taking a victory lap.

    On Tuesday, the Department of Justice announced a settlement of $5 million with Instacart for allegedly discriminating against U.S. and American workers.

    'We will not stop fighting for US workers until there is a fair playing field.'

    In its investigation of the case, the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found that Instacart gave preference to holders of temporary employment visas over American workers.

    Specifically, the DOJ explained, Instacart "created additional burdens on U.S. workers to apply for job opportunities by requiring that applications be physically mailed for positions advertised as part of PERM recruitment."

    PERM is the Permanent Labor Certification program used by companies to sponsor temporary visa holders for permanent resident status "after performing good-faith recruitment for U.S. workers."

    As a result of the additional burdens, U.S. workers who applied were "not timely considered," the DOJ claimed.

    RELATED: DHS may slam immigration 'back door' shut with new $70,000 fee

    Andrea LucasTom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images

    Maplebear Inc., doing business as Instacart, will be required to create and to pay $4 million into a settlement fund and will pay another $1 million in civil penalties to the United States.

    According to a summary of the terms of the settlement, Instacart will also be required to revise its PERM policies, including allowing for electronic application submissions and to train personnel to give American workers proper consideration during the hiring process.

    “This significant resolution marks the fifteenth settlement agreement the Civil Rights Division has reached under my leadership to protect U.S. workers,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said in the DOJ's press release. “Our record demonstrates that the Justice Department is holding companies who prefer workers with temporary employment visas accountable. We will not stop fighting for U.S. workers until there is a fair playing field.”

    Andrea Lucas, chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, reaffirmed the Trump administration's commitment to holding companies accountable for discriminatory practices.

    "The EEOC is committed to holding companies accountable when they deny equal work opportunities to U.S. workers by preferring temporary visa holders for jobs," Lucas said. "Discrimination against workers based on their American national origin has no place in our economy.”

    The news of this settlement was gladly welcomed by Jobs.Now, which first sounded the alarm on Instacart's questionable hiring practices in April 2025.

    Jobs.Now claims it documented several "hidden jobs" from Instacart before being "forced to take their ads down" after being threatened with a lawsuit. It then alerted The Hill to continue the investigation, culminating in a September 2025 report on the situation.

    "So happy to finally see justice for Americans job seekers Instacart unfairly discouraged from applying!" Jobs.Now wrote. "Another win for Harmeet!"

    In a statement to Blaze News, Jobs.Now explained the legal threat it received:

    "We were shocked when Instacart threatened legal action against us simply for publicizing their job ads to the world, under the pretense that we were violating their copyright for the name 'Instacart,' and maintain that it is our First Amendment right to republish job ads so Americans can finally have the chance to apply."

    The company said it was "extremely happy" to see the settlement announcement from the DOJ but added that more work needs to be done regarding the PERM process:

    "We call for all PERM advertising to require:

    1. Job postings listed on companies' main career website[s]
    2. Allowing electronic applications directly through the career website
    3. Mandatory advertising on online job boards like Linkedin or Indeed
    4. Increased DOL enforcement to ensure PERM recruitment processes do not discriminate against American workers."
    Jobs.Now added, "As part of this settlement, Instacart has agreed to stop hiding jobs, but many other companies continue to use similar tactics to avoid American applicants in favor of immigrant workers. DOL needs to act quickly to stop PERM discrimination and make sure that every job in America is offered to an American first."

    An Instacart spokesperson told Blaze News, "We encourage qualified U.S. job seekers to apply to join our team. Hiring and investing in American workers across our U.S. business is our priority, and we actively promote every role across many channels to ensure qualified U.S. candidates are always first in line for opportunities."

    "While we maintain that our practices complied with all applicable laws and regulations, we’re pleased to have resolved this matter so we can keep our full focus on delivering on our mission for customers, shoppers, retailers, and brands."

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  • Trump just confirmed this state will get a new mega-firing range for high-tech superweapons Tue, 20 Oct 2026 19:45:00 +0000


    President Donald Trump is usually making fun of his opponents, but during a midterm campaign rally on Wednesday, he took aim at Montana Republicans.

    "Leave me alone," Trump said to the crowd at Majestic Valley Arena in Kalispell, Montana.

    'The 21st-century battlefield is being redefined by new weapons.'

    Trump poked fun at Montana politicians to stop bothering him over plans for a new weapons testing facility in the state, which was dubbed a "super range" to test high-tech weaponry for the United States military.

    "I'm pleased to inform you and announce that right here in Montana, the Department of War is going to establish a new super range for testing advanced weapons and technologies," Trump told supporters.

    The president said the range would test autonomous weapons, space weapons, and other forms of "electronic warfare technology," including "supersonics and ⁠hypersonics."

    The announcement comes after the government finally confirmed in September that it had weapons in space, with Air Force Secretary Troy Meink saying that America has "on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action."

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    Trump made remarks in Montana about his fellow GOP members bothering him about wanting the range in their state.

    "You're getting it, everybody, will you please leave me alone?" Trump joked. "Leave me alone, Tim. Tim Sheehy would drive me crazy."

    At the same time, the president said that maybe the rest of the country "won't be thrilled" because of how many other people wanted to house the range in their jurisdiction.

    According to TWZ 10, Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mt.) said on Thursday that he has been a strong advocate for getting the range built in Montana and "securing $10 million for a feasibility study" through the National Defense Authorization Act that passed earlier this year.

    "The 21st-century battlefield is being redefined by new weapons and evolving technical frontiers that require a novel approach to how America will resource its warfighting capabilities," Sheehy said in a statement.

    Sheehy went on to say that the advanced weaponry now available to the United States — electronic, hypersonic, and space — has a "new class of testing" and evaluation requirements that necessitate the development of such infrastructure.

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    Alex Wong/Getty Images

    Although the senator said that the United States risks falling behind its adversaries, it is unclear exactly what capabilities the U.S. military currently possesses.

    Until recently, much of the advancements in military technology promoted by the armed forces have been for on-the-ground use, like Palmer Luckey's x-ray vision helmets and offline AI chatbots to assist soldiers in their missions.

    "By combining our state's vast landscapes, innovative spirit, and proud tradition of military service, we are the Last Best Place to ensure America's fighting men and women have the technological edge they need to dominate the battlefield and win the wars of tomorrow," Sheehy added.

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  • Jason Whitlock: Duke football player apologized for swatting trainer’s arm — so where’s her apology? Tue, 20 Oct 2026 19:30:00 +0000


    Duke’s loss to North Carolina took a back seat to a sideline confrontation that went viral. When Duke quarterback Kimari Robinson stood over injured teammate DaShawn Stone, a female staffer pushed him out of the way.

    Robinson appeared to angrily swat her arm away, before apologizing later.

    “Kimari Robinson, he stood over DaShawn Stone. Stone is motionless on the turf. Kimari says that Stone is like a family member to him. Two trainers are kneeled over Stone. And then a third staffer, the red-headed woman, she runs in, steps into that scene and circle, and she pushes Robinson out of the way,” BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock says.

    “He swatted her arm away. The clip then goes viral. Everybody’s got an opinion, and oh, it’s a bad look for Kimari Robinson. Robinson apologized to her that night and then again Sunday on X,” he continues.


    “I want to publicly apologize to a member of our training staff for how I acted toward her during Saturday’s game. I was completely wrong, and she did not deserve that. Immediately after the game, I apologized to her personally and checked to make sure she was okay,” Robinson said in a post on X.

    “The injured player on the ground, DaShawn Stone, is like family to me, and I was scared he might be seriously hurt. But being worried about him does not excuse how I treated her. I should have controlled my emotions, and I didn’t,” he continued.

    “I’m truly sorry for my actions and for letting her, myself, and our program down. I have to be better than that,” he added.

    “So hats off to Kimari Robinson. He owned his reaction. A man controls his hands even in panic. He failed that test. No excuse. But the narrative sense is a lie by omission,” Whitlock says.

    Whitlock notes that the trainer put her hands on Robinson first in an attempt to shove him out of the way.

    “You do not walk into a pile around a hurt player and shove a 200-pound quarterback in full pads. That’s not a trainer offering care. That is a trainer doing way too much in escalating a situation,” he explains.

    “And my question is, where is her apology?” Whitlock says, asking, “Why is correction only traveling one direction toward the man?”

    He also points out that in the clip of the interaction, “she doesn’t do anything” to help Stone.

    “There’s no brace. There’s no evaluation. There’s no comfort. Her sole contribution to the entire sequence is pushing Robinson. Yet the mob demands Robinson carry 100% of the blame. She carries zero. She is cast as the innocent victim. Fragile, helpless, beyond reproach,” he says.

    “She’s not the picture of innocence. She’s a girlboss showing up to put men in their place,” he adds.

    Want more from Jason Whitlock?

    To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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