Talarico’s ‘Nasty Flu’ Timeline Raises A Lot Of Questions
His strange departure from a very important and very expensive Senate race is a lot like his relationship status: It’s complicated.His strange departure from a very important and very expensive Senate race is a lot like his relationship status: It’s complicated.The mass-deportation promise is disappearing
At the Republican National Midterm Convention in Dallas last week, Vice President JD Vance said, “Under Donald Trump’s leadership, we have seen the foreign-born share of our population drop by 3 million people. That’s illegal aliens that we sent back home.” That is not true, and I wish he hadn’t said it.
The first sentence appears to round a recent estimate that the total foreign-born population fell by 2.9 million. The second recasts that estimate as 3 million illegal aliens whom the administration sent home. That is not what the underlying study says. But Vance said what he said, and if we are going to be straight shooters with Americans, then we need to hold all our political leaders to the same standard. That is especially true when it comes to the base’s favorite candidate for the next Republican presidential nomination.
It’s one thing not to mention mass deportation, but quite another to throw out numbers that nobody believes and the government’s own public data does not support.
With all due respect to the vice president, who has earned a deep reservoir of trust and support, we still need to be clear-eyed if we are going to build momentum for a mass deportation campaign.
As the vice president himself has said, “We need people to be pushing back from inside the tent.” We cannot accept premature celebrations in place of action. There could be a million explanations for how that statistic made it into the speech instead of the term “mass deportation” itself. My read is that someone ordered them not to speak about mass deportation at the convention, so it may have been hard to come up with something to say in its place. I have drafted and edited my fair share of speeches over the years. Group projects can take on lives of their own, and things end up in speeches that should not.
I was on the ground in Dallas, and I heard no speaker use the term “mass deportation.” It was a noticeable departure from the term’s prominence at the 2024 Republican National Convention, where viewers and attendees saw signs calling for “mass deportation now” while President Trump promised the “largest" deportation operation in history.
The promised mass-deportation campaign has not come to pass, and the absence of any reference to it just two years later speaks volumes about the abandonment of the cause.
The only reference to mass deportation I caught at the convention came from Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin during an offstage interview. “Our base wants mass deportation. We need mass deportation,” he said. Mullin, who receives the sharpest mix of criticism and encouragement, including from yours truly and the Mass Deportation Coalition, deserves credit for at least being willing to say it. Obviously, doing it is what matters, but it starts with saying it.
Instead of mass deportation, we have a growing scandal over basic deportation data. ICE has not released its fiscal year 2025 annual report, which congressional appropriators directed the agency to issue within 90 days of the fiscal year’s end. The ICE dashboard that was regularly updated, even during the Obama and Biden years, has not posted new removal data since November 2024.
RELATED: Trump’s mass-deportation promise needs receipts
In place of numbers are far-fetched claims and surface-level figures tossed out on social media and suspiciously amplified by networks of influencers. I suspect the amplification is not organic. Many of the posts are not even logical on their own terms, including one I saw recently claiming that ICE achieved a monthly record of 50,000 arrests. It then multiplied that “record” by the 20 months President Trump has been in office and claimed that 3 million people had therefore been deported. But 50,000 multiplied by 20 is 1 million, not 3 million. And arrests are not deportations. Nonetheless, the 3 million claim made the rounds on social media.
Then came another 3-million claim, this time drawn from a study based on the Current Population Survey, a voluntary monthly household survey used to measure the labor force. The study estimated that the total foreign-born population fell by 2.9 million from January 2025 to July 2026. It also preliminarily estimated that the illegal immigrant population fell by 2.3 million, from 15.8 million to 13.5 million. Importantly, that is an estimated net change in population, not a count of people deported. The study says the change can reflect new arrivals, deportations, voluntary emigration, legalizations, and deaths.
Vance also said Americans had competed for jobs and homes against “25 million new illegal immigrants.” If you are confused, then you are in the right place. The new claim that 3 million illegal aliens were sent home rests not on administrative deportation records but on an extrapolation from the survey, which does not ask respondents about their immigration status. It is a stretch to turn that estimate into 3 million illegal aliens “sent back home,” especially after claiming moments earlier that 25 million new illegal immigrants had competed with Americans for jobs and homes.
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None of this should even be part of the argument or public conversation. The Trump administration has administrative data on removals and returns; it is choosing not to release a detailed public accounting.
This should be among the easiest data to track and compile in all of government. Each formal removal or return generates case records and departure paperwork. Officials review those figures regularly. They know what I know: Actual interior deportations are far below the estimates being bandied about.
My estimate is that interior removals are probably closer to one-sixth of the 3 million the administration claims. I have sued the DHS with the Oversight Project to obtain this data, but the agency is still spending taxpayer money on lawyers to keep it hidden. It is a cover-up and a scandal, and there are unfortunately no better words for it.
It’s unfortunate that the ascendant vice president decided to jump headfirst into the deportation-data mess. It’s one thing not to mention mass deportation, but quite another to throw out numbers that nobody believes and the government’s own public data does not support.
'Stay the hell away from our kids!' Vance puts the American family and 'shared birthright' center stage
Vice President JD Vance celebrated the American family and our national "birthright" as he and President Donald Trump brought the 2026 Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas to a close Thursday night.
Vance focused his speech on the American family, touting the Trump administration's pro-family policies and attacking Democrat positions on health care. "I want to live in a country where doctors answer to parents and to the Hippocratic oath, not to a bunch of far-left bureaucrats," he said.
'He loves our country. He wants a great future for our generation and for future generations.'
Vance went on to highlight America's history and the American way of life, referring to it as our "shared birthright." He also noted the importance of the Trump administration's border enforcement and deportation accomplishments to help maintain that way of life.
"This country was handed down to us," Vance said.
"We received this birthright, and we are going to fight for it by electing Republicans this November."
Vance not only claimed that Democrats reject this birthright, but he also had a clear message for those radicals who threaten it and the traditional family: "Stay the hell away from our kids!"
Trump spoke as well, highlighting his administration's accomplishments: "Less than two years ago, the American people gave us a mandate to save America, and in 19 months, I have delivered on every promise I have made."
Trump also urged Republicans to "pretend" that he is up for re-election again when they go out to vote this November.
"I’m not on the ticket. You got to pretend. You got to do me the biggest favor you’ve ever done me," Trump said with his signature sense of humor. "You got to pretend I’m on the ticket. I’m on the ticket — I’m on the ticket!”
"If the Democrats get in, they’ll destroy everything we’ve built," he continued. "So on November 3, you’ve got to do me a favor and vote like I’m on the ballot."
After the speeches, opera singer Christopher Macchio ended the night with renditions of "America the Beautiful," "Nessun Dorma," and "All I Ask of You."
The crowd was explosive throughout the night, frequently erupting into applause and patriotic chants.
Holly Ham, an attendee from Houston, told Blaze News she was thoroughly impressed with the vice president's speech: "JD is eloquent. His speech was great. ... He loves our country. He wants a great future for our generation and for future generations."
Ham said she thought the convention did its job as far as motivating Republican voters. "This election is going to be important. ... We are getting the vote out. Everyone here is going to vote, vote, vote!"
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‘Vintage Trump’: Delegates rave about the president's convention speech
The atmosphere at the 2026 Republican Midterm Convention reached a crescendo on Wednesday as President Donald Trump took the stage. The president spoke for roughly an hour and a half, touting the accomplishments of his first two years but warning against complacency going into the midterms.
"If we lose," Trump said, in reference to the impending midterm elections in November, "you're going to lose your border. You're going to lose your tax cuts. You're going to lose your safety and security. ... You will be going through hell."
'He has a great sense of humor. People forget that.'
The crowd was fired up throughout the speech, which began just after 8 p.m. Central Time, frequently breaking into chants of "USA! USA! USA!"
Afterward, attendees said they felt energized by the president's commitment to winning in November. Randy Berholtz, a delegate from California, called the speech "vintage Trump."
Another attendee from Idaho told Blaze News she was encouraged by Trump's effort to turn out additional midterm voters and added that Trump's rhetorical style made the speech thoroughly enjoyable.
"He has a great sense of humor," she said. "People forget that."
RELATED: The mood is high as midterm convention gets under way
During the speech, Trump announced a plan to use tariff revenue to pay American adults $5,000 each, so long as Republicans maintain control of Congress after the midterms. "We'll call it the Trump dividend," the president said.
The announcement caused quite a stir both in the arena and online. One attendee from Washington told Blaze News he was encouraged by the dividend, adding that he thought it would be "good for families."
The arena remained full throughout the speech, prompting the president to comment on the "fake news media" searching for empty seats to photograph.
Leaning into the energy from the crowd, Trump spoke confidently about his administration's plan to continue pushing the GOP agenda forward through the next two years. He returned again and again to the importance of preventing Democrats from returning to power.
"America is not for sale. ... We do not negotiate with communists, with socialists, or with radical left lunatics."
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The mood is high as midterm convention gets under way
Energy is high in the American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas on Wednesday evening as the Republican Midterm Convention gets under way.
A near-constant stream of speakers, including candidates, politicians, and Trump administration officials have been highlighting GOP accomplishments and emphasizing the importance of turning out voters in November. Even though it is some time until President Donald Trump is scheduled to take the stage at 8 p.m. Central Time, the arena is already full.
'We absolutely will not go back to open borders, but we absolutely will go back to common sense.'
On the convention floor, delegates from across the country have expressed enthusiasm and loud cheers.
Jan Lowry, a delegate from Virginia, told Blaze News the experience has been great so far: “I’m excited. I’m fired up. It’s been great to be here.”
Her message to GOP leadership echoed the general atmosphere of the convention: “Keep it up. Don’t listen to the naysayers. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”
Congressman Brandon Gill (R-Texas) received some of the loudest applause for his speech highlighting the differences between Republicans and Democrats: "It's the mainstream vs. the extreme."
Gill emphasized the GOP's commitment to permanent results in electoral victories: "We absolutely will not go back to open borders, but we absolutely will go back to common sense."
The midterm convention has the same upbeat, festive atmosphere of a regular national party convention traditionally held before presidential elections. The floor is loud as the different delegations try to outdo each other in enthusiasm.
In the halls outside the arena, food stalls, press tables, and a busy merch store vie for the attention of thousands of guests, media, and various staff members circulating throughout the building.
Law enforcement presence is high, as resources from ICE, HSI, and the Dallas Police Department have been surged to the area to assist the Secret Service. Entire blocks around the American Airlines Center have been cordoned off to ensure safety for the president and other high-profile guests who will address the convention.
Trump is scheduled to take the stage this evening and is also expected to speak tomorrow as well, along with Vice President JD Vance.
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Dallas is the GOP’s last chance to remember why Trump won
The battle for the soul of the Republican Party and the America First coalition is already under way. The midterm convention in Dallas this week gives anxious voters a chance to see what the party thinks it is fighting for now — and what comes next.
Democrats are building a case around what might be called Republican DEI: data centers, Epstein, and the Iran war. The examples differ, but the attack line is the same. Republicans, Democrats say, are beholden to special interests and major corporations, indifferent to the struggles of ordinary Americans and increasingly consumed by self-dealing and vanity projects.
Republicans have a chance to get their groove back before the midterms — the last federal election cycle that will shape Trump’s presidency.
Politics is a contact sport, and the Democratic Socialists of America are ascendant. Their critique will not be answered by dismissing it or by pursuing policies that seem to validate it.
The accusation is simple: Republicans protect the people who finance them. They will do unpopular things if donors want them done and avoid popular things if donors object. That critique has worked before — remember Mitt Romney’s collapse — and it can work again.
The Dallas convention is an opportunity to reconnect the Republican Party with the insurgency Donald Trump launched in 2015: opposition to a special-interest-dominated GOP, a focus on the economic and cultural condition of forgotten Americans, and resistance to mass migration that intensified those pressures.
Somewhere along the way, that focus shifted — in policy and in tone. Consider President Trump’s post last week on Truth Social, touting data centers: “The only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A. should not want Data Centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor.”
That sounds uncomfortably close to Barack Obama’s notorious quip about struggling small-town Pennsylvanians who “cling to guns or religion” because their communities had been left behind. Obama’s mistake was not noticing the economic pain. It was treating the people living through it with contempt. Republicans should not repeat it.
RELATED: The left uses primaries. The right wastes them.
Data centers are polling disastrously across party lines. Candidates are flipping positions and racing to oppose them. Put aside the merits of any individual project. The political signal is obvious: Americans do not trust the political and economic system to protect them from another massive technological transformation.
Their anxiety is not a messaging problem. It reflects lived conditions. Many Americans have watched factories close, wages stagnate, housing costs soar, communities deteriorate, and successive technological revolutions enrich people somewhere else. When they hear promises that AI infrastructure will make everyone richer, they remember how often “everyone” turned out not to include them.
That is why the socialist critique has traction. Too many Republicans reinforce it by behaving like the government-relations arm of Fortune 100 companies. Americans who feel abandoned by institutions will rage against the machine — and increasingly, against the machines themselves.
So Dallas arrives at the right time. To borrow an underrated movie title, Republicans have a chance to get their groove back before the midterms — the last federal election cycle that will shape Trump’s presidency. The convention should answer a basic question: What and whom does the Republican Party stand for?
RELATED: Republicans keep losing because they won’t take hostages
The answer does not require a new slogan. It requires remembering the old promises. Trump’s rise was built on reindustrialization, immigration enforcement, hostility to corrupt special interests, and a conviction that government should pay more attention to the people who live in hollowed-out towns than to the institutions that profited from hollowing them out.
That agenda should again be squarely focused on working Americans whose finances have worsened, whose communities have been transformed, and whose confidence in the country’s institutions has collapsed. Reindustrialize. Enforce the border and remove the millions of people who have no lawful right to remain. Break the grip of special interests over the political class.
The midterm convention is an opportunity to assure voters that the Republican program is still about getting their country back — not telling them they are backward or poor for objecting to what Washington and corporate America have planned for them.
Taking the scenic route to a very serious Republican problem
By the time you read this, my friend and managing editor Rob Eno and I should be somewhere in the Mountain West, headed southeast toward Dallas.
We are taking the scenic route.
The Republican Party is a house divided.
We took off Friday in a rental car from Inland Southern California. This was not entirely my idea. My doctor advised me not to fly for the time being, on account of a “blood pressure-induced event” in late March. Eno required remarkably little persuasion to turn a business trip into an expedition. He collects counties. He loves Buc-ee’s. He is weirdly excited about a 13-foot Sasquatch at a Terrible’s in Jean, Nevada.
We are also stopping in Moab, Utah, on purpose.
I have owned Edward Abbey’s “Desert Solitaire” for years and have never read it — an oversight I have always assumed I would get around to correcting eventually.
So naturally, we’re going to Moab to pay homage to a writer I respect but haven’t read.
There will be plenty more levity along the way. I expect Rob and I will have developed three podcasts and sketched out a couple of book proposals before the trip is over.
The destination calls for a bit more gravitas, however.
We're going to Dallas as part of Blaze Media’s coverage of the Republican National Committee’s first-ever midterm convention, a two-day spectacle at the American Airlines Center. President Trump will appear both nights. Vice President JD Vance will keynote the first night.
This is a big deal. Not necessarily because the convention needs to happen. Good Lord, no.
Nobody is being nominated for anything. There are no delegates fighting over a platform or credentials. Republicans are spending a princely sum of money to stage something resembling a presidential nominating convention two years before the next presidential election.
It’s political theater, pure and simple.
Donald Trump, of course, understands the business of show very well. He wants a spectacle ahead of a midterm election that could be very bad for Republicans.
Notice the conditional: could.
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I offer no predictions. The conventional wisdom says the president’s party loses seats in a midterm. Republicans have a razor-thin House majority. Trump has political problems. Nobody likes the war in Iran. Nobody likes the high cost of living. Nobody wants to pay $20 for a burrito, assuming such a thing exists. Republicans know they need to persuade voters that the country is moving in the right direction. Those anxieties are part of the reason Dallas is happening at all.
But Democrats possess a remarkable talent for self-immolation.
We have seen it with Graham Platner in Maine. We may be watching it in Michigan, where Abdul El-Sayed has spent precious weeks creating problems for himself with Jewish Democrats that Republicans would be foolish not to exploit.
Then again, Democrats can be ruthlessly effective when they choose to be. They have killed candidacies that became liabilities and cleared paths for stronger nominees. Anyone who remembers what the party establishment did to Bernie Sanders in 2016 — or how quickly Democrats jettisoned Joe Biden in 2024 — should hesitate before assuming they will simply stand around while Republicans win.
The Republicans have problems of their own, and they run deeper than any generic ballot.
Like it or not, the Republican Party is very much a house divided.
What remains of the Bush-Romney establishment still possesses considerable institutional power, especially in Congress. It is conservative in the least attractive sense of the word: hidebound, risk-averse, and frequently several election cycles behind its own voters.
MAGA defeated that establishment without entirely replacing it.
Trump transformed the Republican electorate. He changed its language, its priorities, its geographic base, and its relationship with the working class. But he also made himself indispensable to the coalition he created.
That’s dangerous.
Trump is 80. The Constitution bars him from another term. Sooner rather than later, Republicans will need to answer a question they have spent a decade avoiding: What is Trumpism without Trump?
RELATED: Who gets the GOP when Trump is gone?
If the answer is “nothing,” the Republican Party is in much worse trouble than any poll can measure.
Maybe Dallas will provide a glimmer of an answer. Maybe JD Vance will be the heir. Maybe, just maybe, economic nationalism, immigration restriction, and a less interventionist foreign policy can become a durable governing program rather than the preferences of one extraordinary political personality.
Or maybe the convention will simply be a very expensive show about Donald Trump.
Eno and I should have a better idea by Wednesday.
But first we need to traverse the mountains and the desert.
And see the Sasquatch.
England's World Cup team puts Christian faith first
When England begins its World Cup run against Croatia in Dallas today, millions of fans will be watching every move, hoping that Thomas Tuchel’s side can win the Three Lions' their first title since 1966.
Such a victory would make good on the squad's famous rallying cry, "It's coming home." For a growing number of England’s stars, however, it's a heavenly home that keeps them driven to excel.
Guéhi returned for the next match wearing the same rainbow armband but with a different motto: 'Jesus loves you.'
The phenomenon was on display in March when defender Marc Guéhi captained England for the first time in a friendly against Senegal. After the match, Guéhi posted a message on Instagram thanking God for the milestone: “Thank you to the Most High.” It was entirely in keeping with a player who has previously written “I love Jesus” and “Jesus loves you” on his captain’s armband and who has spoken openly about putting God at the center of his life.
Guéhi is hardly alone.
God Squad
England’s current squad includes a cluster of openly Christian players — including midfielder Eberechi Eze and forwards Ivan Toney, Noni Madueke, and Bukayo Saka — whose habits of praying together and speaking publicly about their beliefs have earned them nicknames such as the “God Squad” and the “Bible Brothers” in parts of the British press.
To American audiences, the phenomenon may come as a surprise. The enduring stereotype of English football is one of raucous supporters, celebrity culture, and the hooliganism that scarred the game’s reputation decades ago. Yet beneath the surface, Christianity has become a visible and accepted part of life for many elite players.
Saka, one of England’s biggest stars, has made his faith central to his public identity. His Instagram bio identifies him as “#GodsChild,” and in interviews, he has spoken about reading the Bible every night and relying on prayer before matches. "God’s plan is perfect so I can go on the pitch and know that God has my back,“ he has said, explaining that his faith allows him to play with freedom rather than fear.
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Prayer on the pitch
The story, however, extends well beyond England’s national team. Across the Premier League, an increasingly visible Christian fellowship has emerged among players from different clubs and nationalities. Arsenal, in particular, has attracted attention for a number of openly Christian stars.
One of them is Saka's England teammate Madueke. After scoring against Bayern Munich last season, his first words to reporters were: “I just want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Explaining the bond he shared with his Christian teammates (there are "about 10 of us," he estimated), he told the New York Times: “We believe we have God fighting for us."
Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber regularly posts Bible verses before matches and has earned the nickname “Pastor Timber.” “For me, it is a way of life, my faith,” he told the Athletic. “I try to live by it. We pray before games because we have a few Christians in our team, which is amazing. It brings unity and understanding because you kind of live the same life.”
Football fellowship
According to reporting by the Religion Media Centre, roughly half of Premier League clubs engage with Christian ministries, while about 80% have access to chaplaincy support. Those chaplains are not there to discuss tactics or team selection. Instead, they provide pastoral care — meeting players and staff through injuries, family crises, contract disputes, loneliness, and the intense psychological pressures of professional sports.
As Rev. Graham Daniels, a former professional footballer who now leads the organization Christians in Sport, wrote earlier this month, "At a time when many Christians feel increasingly isolated in their workplaces, there is something deeply encouraging about believers opening the Scriptures together in football clubs up and down the country."
For players like Guéhi, faith is more than private devotion. It is something to be expressed publicly, even at personal cost.
In 2024, Guéhi was serving as captain of Crystal Palace during the Premier League’s annual LGBTQ Rainbow Laces campaign, in which players are encouraged to wear rainbow armbands. Guéhi wore his, but wrote “I love Jesus” on it for a match against Newcastle United. After the Football Association reminded the club that its rules prohibit religious messages on playing equipment, Guéhi returned for the next match wearing the same rainbow armband but with a different motto: “Jesus loves you.”
Although the FA again contacted Crystal Palace to reiterate the regulations and Guehi faced the prospect of disciplinary action, the governing body ultimately declined to take formal action against either the player or the club.
Imported faith
The prominence of openly Christian players also reflects the increasingly international makeup of English football. Many stars with African and Caribbean family backgrounds have brought traditions of public worship, prayer, and church involvement into dressing rooms, where such expressions might once have been unusual. Prayer circles before kickoff and post-match thanksgiving have become familiar sights rather than oddities.
None of this, of course, means the Premier League has become a religious institution. It remains one of the world’s most commercialized and closely scrutinized sporting competitions. But beneath the billion-dollar television deals and transfer fees lies a quieter story: Bible studies, pastoral mentorship, and players who openly credit Jesus Christ with sustaining them through triumph and disappointment alike.
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