'So egregious': Wisconsin officials launch investigation into nearly 200 uncounted ballots



The Wisconsin Elections Commission held a special meeting on Thursday after learning that 193 absentee ballots from the city of Madison were never counted in November's election.

Of the uncounted absentee ballots, 125 were from Ward 56, 67 from Ward 65, and one from Ward 68.

'That's very, very disturbing.'

Elections Commission Chair Ann Jacobs (D) called the error "so egregious." She questioned why it took more than six weeks to report the issue to commissioners.

"We are the final canvassers," Jacobs said. "We are the final arbiters of votes in the state of Wisconsin, and we need to know why those ballots weren't included anywhere."

Personnel with the Madison Clerk's Office reportedly first discovered some of the unprocessed ballots on November 12.

While city officials learned of the oversight a week after the November election, the news did not become public until mid-December.

The clerk's office released a statement announcing it would contact the affected voters and issue an apology.

"Moving forward, every polling location will receive a list of absentee envelope seal numbers that will be verified as counted on Election Day. The goal of the Clerk's Office is that each eligible voter will be able to cast a ballot and have that ballot counted. Falling short of this goal for the November 2024 Election, we sincerely apologize to our voters and will strive to make sure this never happens again," the statement read.

The clerk's office noted that the uncounted ballots would not have impacted the outcome of any of the races.

Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway (D) addressed the error in a separate statement, calling it "a significant departure from the high standard our residents expect."

"Unfortunately, Clerk's Office staff were apparently aware of the oversight for some time, and the Mayor's Office was not notified of the unprocessed ballots until December 20," she said.

Rhodes-Conway stated that the city would "conduct a thorough review."

The commission typically opens investigations in response to complaints, and one has not yet been filed for the uncounted ballots. However, the commissioners voted unanimously this week to open an inquiry into the issue.

During Thursday's commission meeting, Jacobs said, "Given the seriousness of what happened here, our lack of knowledge (and) information that was not given to us in a timely fashion, I think we need to do something more formal."

Commissioner Don Millis (R) remarked, "My biggest concern is why it took a month and a half for this to come out."

"That's very, very disturbing," he added.

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RECAP: The most insane election night meltdowns of 2024



Dave Rubin’s Christmas gift to himself was a video compilation of the most unhinged lefties reacting to Trump’s victory. It’s the gift that keeps on giving because these videos will never get old.

Joy Reid, comparing the election to “an audition for managing a complex organization,” claimed that “Kamala Harris passed the audition flawlessly.”

“This is, in many ways, a perfect campaign,” she said, clearly shocked at the loss.

Ultimately, she blamed the racism of white women for Harris’ loss.

“Black voters came through for Kamala Harris. White women voters did not,” she said.

Choking back tears, Jimmy called it a “terrible night for women, for children, for the hundreds of thousands of hardworking immigrants who make this country go, for health care, for our climate, for science, for our allies in Ukraine, for NATO, for the truth.”

Joe Scarborough said the following: “There's something far, far more long-lasting than just Donald Trump the candidate.There is sort of a Russian embrace of disinformation, a radical devaluing of truth over the last nine to 10 years, and a complete ignorance on civics and what the term Madisonian democracy even means, what checks and balances even mean ... what the rule of law even means.”

“It's not just misogyny from white men; it's misogyny from Hispanic men,” he later added, noting that racism likely played a part, too.

The Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart said of Trump’s victory, “I'm mystified in some ways ... because we’re talking about a twice-impeached, four-times-indicted, convicted-on-34-felony-counts former president.”

“There are African-American women who know a little bit about being talked down to and know a little bit about having their economic dreams crushed who tried to dream a big dream over the past couple of months, and tonight, they're trading in a lot of hope for a lot of hurt,” said CNN’s Van Jones.

To hear more unhinged election night reactions and hear Dave’s hilarious commentary, watch the clip above.

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Trump opponents 'should be chastened' since 'plurality of the American people thought we were wrong,' NY Times columnist says



New York Times columnist David Brooks said he and other opponents of President-elect Donald Trump "should be chastened" since the "plurality of the American people thought we were wrong."

Brooks made his comment during a "PBS News Hour" interview Friday after moderator Lisa Desjardins asked him about his "political word of the year." Brooks replied that it is "chastened."

'I have to say, I’m thrilled by the decline in viewership for political news. We’re over-politicized in this country.'

“For those of us who oppose Donald Trump, we should be chastened because of the plurality of the American people thought we were wrong,” Brooks responded. “If you’re a worshipper of the European social welfare model, you should be chastened because that’s falling apart. If you hated [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, you should be a little chastened, because he took down Hamas and Hezbollah and [former Syrian President Bashar al-] Assad. So there's a lot of reason for humility at the end of this year."

Also answering questions was MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart, who said his political word of the year is "humility," adding that he used the word on "a couple of election nights, saying we need to be humble — those of us in our profession — because we don't know what the voters have to say. I have to say that after this past election, I'm not wild about what the voters had to say, but chastened is a good word, exhausted is a good word. There's so many good words."

Desjardins also offered that an Associated Press poll indicates that two-thirds of Americans are backing away from political news in the wake of the 2024 election.

Indeed, the Daily Beast noted that "cable news ratings have largely plummeted since last month’s election, with both CNN and MSNBC facing double-digit declines as viewers flock elsewhere. The Rachel Maddow Show faced its lowest ratings in years, while CNN’s year-end average in the advertiser-coveted 25-54 demographic reached its lowest total ever. Fox News, however, has seen its ratings surge by double digits since Donald Trump won reelection."

Brooks chuckled as he told Desjardins, "I have to say, I’m thrilled by the decline in viewership for political news. We’re over-politicized in this country. People go to politics for a sense of belonging, for a sense of righteousness. You should go to your friends for those things. You’re asking more of politics than politics can bear.”

Capehart admitted that the ratings for his show "have fallen. I am not ashamed to say that. And we chalk that up to exhaustion. It’s been a long two years. We chalk that up to people just needing a break, to your point. People need a break. They will come back after Inauguration Day. That is guaranteed because there's going to be a lot happening in this country that is going to demand their attention, and they're going to want to know. They'll come back."

You can view video here of the discussion; the relevant portion begins at the 6:17 mark.

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For young Americans, a vote for Trump was a vote against despair



While much post-election analysis has focused on Trump’s gains among minority voters, the former and future president also made inroads with another cohort.

Young voters, ages 18-29, shifted 10 points toward Trump, rising from 36% in 2020 to 46% in 2024. The shift was even more pronounced among men: 56% backed Trump compared to 56% for Biden in 2020.

Even the renowned Greek poet Hesiod, writing nearly three millennia ago, placed man in the Iron Age, the worst of all ages.

Undoubtedly, many reasons contributed to this shift. Like voters of other ages, young voters cite the economy and jobs as their top issue. But there might be more to the story.

Teen beat

According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, parents and teens believe being a teenager today is more challenging than it was 20 years ago. The study, titled “Why Many Parents and Teens Think It’s Harder Being a Teen Today,” surveyed 1,453 respondents in the United States and was published on August 27.

69% of parents, and a plurality of teens (44%) responded in the affirmative. Conversely, only 15% of parents and 12% of teens thought being a teenager is easier today.

Parents and teens who agreed with the first statement were then asked to explain their reasoning. Responses revealed significant generational differences. A plurality of parents (41%) attributed the increased difficulty to social media, with 65% citing various forms of technology as contributing factors.

In contrast, teens were less critical of the digital landscape, with only 25% mentioning their online activities as a source of discontent.

When I was your age ...

Instead, they tended to blame parental “pressure and expectations.” Unsurprisingly, most of the parents had no idea what kids these days are complaining about in this regard.

Chalk it up to the tendency of every generation to believe they’ve arrived just as the party is ending — and that they’ll be stuck paying for their predecessors’ fun.

Even the renowned Greek poet Hesiod, writing nearly three millennia ago, placed man in the Iron Age, the worst of all ages. Perhaps it is in our nature to forever gaze wistfully into the past.

Of course, how people feel influences how they act. The fact that both teens and their parents perceive that life as a teen is harder than ever — for whatever reason — can be a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy.

One disturbing indication of this is the rise in suicide rates. A recent Centers for Disease Control study claims that the suicides in adolescents and young adults rose by 62% from 2007 to 2021.

Suicide epidemic

What to make of this? Naturally, the experts have weighed in. For its part, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control notes that feelings of hopelessness were particularly widespread during the COVID pandemic.

You don’t say. To think that needlessly disrupting the education and social lives of millions of teens, all while drastically exaggerating the lethality of the virus, would incur a sense of doom.

Then comes psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk, whose best-selling book “The Body Keeps the Score” has greatly promoted the exploration of "trauma" from experiences once viewed as character-building — or at least as part of life's inevitable ups and downs.

“Kids today have much less of a vision of being able to make a significant difference,” the octogenarian told CNBC. “Climate change is a gigantic issue and kids know it. We are blowing up the world and very little is being done.”

Excellent point. If the Earth is as doomed as they say it is, why not get out while the getting’s good?

Privilege kills

Don’t forget that America is an irredeemable, racist hellhole. If you're white, you've got blood on your hands. If you’re black, prepare to be executed by roving bands of white supremacists.

All this and you still have to figure out whether you were assigned the right gender at birth.

Faced with such a dismal picture of reality, you can either succumb to apathy and despair or question whether that picture is correct to begin with.

Is it any wonder that first-time voters should prefer the latter option? Why bother voting at all, otherwise?

In 2024, only Trump made a compelling case for hope. Underneath Kamala Harris’ strained invocation of “joy,” all she had to offer was the same old decline. That vision of America is no country for young men — or women.

LIVE ELECTION COVERAGE 2024: Blaze Media’s Exclusive Analysis & Results
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LIVE ELECTION COVERAGE 2024: Blaze Media’s Exclusive Analysis & Results

Black teacher claims racism after 'mob' of students in MAGA gear shouted 'f*** Kamala' on Election Day — now lawsuit looms



A black teacher at Beverly Hills High School is claiming racism after a "mob" of students — dressed in MAGA gear and carrying a flag in support of Donald Trump — shouted "f*** Kamala" on Election Day. Now a lawsuit reportedly is looming.

You can view KTTV-TV's video report here about the controversy. The video's title indicates that two black teachers are suing the school over racism and discrimination, but the station didn't note the identity of the second teacher.

'Beverly Hills High School, and in fact the city of Beverly Hills, have demonstrated racism again and again against its students and its teachers.'

Bella Ivory — who teaches fashion design at the school, according to KABC-TV — recounted to KTTV her heightened "fears" over the pro-Trump students.

"There was just a mob of kids, just so many kids outside my door," Ivory said in one video segment, adding, "I'm gonna tell you how scary it was." She told KTTV the group tried to enter her classroom. Ivory's attorney Brad Gage told KABC the students terrorized a Black Student Union meeting led by Ivory.

"Some of the students were shouting 'f*** Kamala' as they walked down the hallway," Ivory stated in another video segment. "The profanity toward our vice president — who is part black — combined with students congregating in front of my classroom increased my fears and also the students' fears who were locked inside that room with me."

Ivory added that she has reported racism on campus since 2022 and that those concerns have been ignored, KTTV noted. Ivory is now on leave for fear of her safety, KABC reported, adding that she said school administrators told her they would meet with her, but that hasn't happened.

KTTV's video report shared a separate clip showing a student pointing out feces on a restroom floor, then focusing on a racist comment on the restroom wall. Another clip showed two female students saying, "Let's take a minute to appreciate how nice, beautiful, and clean our cafeteria looks right now. Now let's fast-forward to lunch." With that the clip showed black students eating in the cafeteria and then switched to the girls commenting, "This is disgusting. … I'm repulsed."

Gage told KTTV in regard to the video clips, "It's clear what it signifies. They are associating the presence of black students with the cafeteria being dirty. That is the epitome of racism."

KTTV said Gage has filed a formal complaint with the Beverly Hills Unified School District on Ivory's behalf, adding that he plans to escalate the case with a lawsuit, citing "discrimination, harassment, retaliation, racial comments, and physical threats."

"Beverly Hills High School, and in fact the city of Beverly Hills, have demonstrated racism again and again against its students and its teachers," Gage added to KABC.

KABC said it reached out to the school for comment on the lawsuit but has not heard back. According to KTTV, the school district previously stated it is investigating all claims of racism and harassment to ensure a safe and inclusive environment for all students.

Not the only related accusation

Ivory's claims against Beverly Hills High School aren't isolated. Readers of Blaze News may recall that a Beverly Hills High School substitute teacher last month said she was fired due to anti-Trump posts on Facebook.

“I was shocked; I thought I’d get a warning,” Joanie Garratt told the Los Angeles Times. “I didn’t say anything [about Trump] in class. I know not to say anything in class. But I am disgusted with MAGA, and Beverly Hills High School has become MAGA.”

Garratt wrote on Facebook in regard to her claims, “I WEAR THIS AS BADGE OF HONOR and stand with all the teachers, past & present, who will be persecuted for expressing their views in public forum. SHAME ON BHUSD.”

The Times said a district spokesperson didn't immediately respond to the paper's request for comment regarding Garratt’s firing.

Limiting students' ability to assemble

KABC in a separate story published days after Trump's election victory last month reported that Beverly Hills High School has limited students' ability to assemble in large groups following pro-Trump students' boisterous demonstrations.

"While student political expression is an important tenet, it does have limits," Drew Stewart, the high school's principal, said in a statement, according to the station. "Unfortunately, over the past two days there have been multiple instances of students assembling in a manner that has created a material disruption to the operation of our school, as well as the education of our students."

More from the station:

Students will not be allowed to assemble, create moving mobs, or form circles for the purpose of shouting, jumping, and physically contacting others, according to the statement.

This comes after a TikTok video showed dozens of students on the Beverly Hills High School campus gathered to celebrate Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 presidential election.

You can view a video report about the decision here. It isn't clear whether the new policy is still in effect.

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Whistleblower explains why Kash Patel is THE guy to fix the FBI



One of Donald Trump’s most exciting picks for his incoming administration is Kash Patel, who will lead the FBI.

And FBI whistleblower Steve Friend is thrilled by the pick.

“I’ve been on record for a long time now believing that the FBI has to be shattered into a thousand pieces and scattered to the wind,” Friend tells Jill Savage and Matthew Peterson of “Blaze News Tonight.”

“If there is one person, though, who can possibly make the demo into a reno, it is Kash Patel,” he continues.

“He brings a great perspective being someone who is not just a prosecutor who actually helped prosecute the war on terrorism over at JSOC and saw intelligence and rooted out the corruption when he was part of the Russiagate expose that went on, but he’s also a public defender, which is very unique because historically, the FBI director is a federal prosecutor,” he explains.


Because of his unique skill set, Friend believes that “he has a healthy respect for the amount of power that is at the fingertips of the FBI.”

“The fact that they’re able to take people’s freedom away, if they indeed make the process the punishment, that they’re able to do that,” he continues, adding, “So I’m really enthused by that.”

Friend has been in “back channel conversations with him” and knows that Patel is “willing to take up things like ‘let’s get rid of the intelligence apparatus that exists for the FBI.’”

“There’s no reason they need to be spying on the American people. They’re a police force, they shouldn’t be a secret police force,” Friend says, noting that Patel “needs to get rid of the quota system.”

“The fact that the FBI is rewarding and incentivizing agents, senior executives, to push on their underlings to go and arrest the right number of people or open the right number of cases so that they can get five-figure bonuses,” he comments, disturbed. “And let’s revamp the way we’re doing our hiring practices so that we’re merit-based.”

“And I just have to point to the last three position holders over at the FBI directorship,” he continues, noting James Comey, Andrew McCabe, and Christopher Wray, who were all working against Trump and the American people for the last few years.

“It’s hardly a nonpartisan position at this point, and the fact that Kash Patel is wearing his politics on his sleeve, I think is actually just refreshing. Because it’s transparent,” he adds.

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Step aside, Never-Trumpers — the president has his mandate



Never-Trumpers on both sides of the political aisle are raging over Trump’s plan to use recess appointments to expedite filling his Cabinet and bypass lengthy confirmation processes. Since Cabinet confirmations took an average of 30.9 days during his first term, Mark Levin of “LevinTV” doesn’t see a problem with his approach.

“A president needs to be able to push back. Now, some of them will do it in the wrong way, some of them will do it in a way that damages the Constitution. Trump hasn’t done anything yet, other than announce that he plans to do it,” Levin says.

“I’ve taken this position: There are a couple nominees that I’m not hot on, but who cares? I’m not president,” he continues, adding, “I think he should be able to have his team. He believes this is the team he needs to get things done, to accomplish what he said he was going to accomplish.”


Trump didn’t get a chance to accomplish what he planned during his first four years as president, as Democrats immediately jumped down his throat with investigations and impeachment hearings.

“He’s lived through that, and he said, ‘Not this time. I get four years; that’s all I’ve got,’” Levin says.

“My eyes are wide open about this. I don’t think there’s any liberty issue or constitutional crisis issue,” he adds, noting that other presidents have done the same thing — like former President George W. Bush and his recess appointment of John Bolton as the acting ambassador to the United Nations.

“Of all people, Barack Obama was abusing the process,” Levin explains. “The courts said, ‘No, no, that’s not right.’ But they didn’t eliminate it, they didn’t torpedo it, it’s still there.”

“Donald Trump isn’t creating the practice of a recess appointment for a Cabinet officer or any other officer. The issue isn’t whether it’s a Cabinet officer or any other officer; the issue is whether the Constitution provides him with the ability to do it,” he continues. “And as has been the practice, the answer is ‘yes.’”

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‘The View’ co-host calls Biden a liar —  and Whoopi Goldberg freaks out



President Biden and his administration consistently denied that he would pardon his son Hunter, but Biden has now done exactly that.

And of course, liberals are defending his decision to do so.

“I respect it as a parent. I understand why he would do it, but I wanted to understand why [he lied] about it for so long,” Alyssa Farah Griffin said in a segment on “The View.”

“I’d stop calling it a lie,” Whoopi Goldberg shot back, defensive.

“For the part of this country, half of it that doesn’t support Biden, doesn’t know him personally,” Griffin continued, ignoring Goldberg’s comment. “They’re just looking at a system that seems like it only benefits the people who are in power. What precedent does that set?”


“It’s a precedent for all of us to open our eyes, because we’ve elected someone who is in a similar situation, who didn’t have a drug problem, who knew what he was doing, who clearly, stood and said, ‘I can do this,’ and he did it,” Goldberg responded, who was joined by Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro in defending the president.

Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report” is impressed with Griffin for not blindly kneeling to Biden like everyone else on the panel.

“Alyssa, I know you get the cookie and a couple hundred grand and the pat on the head, but I will give you credit because you are making a distinction. There is a distinction between what one might do for their child if given the power, and then the outright lie,” Rubin says.

“Does someone need to literally Google the word ‘lie’ and show it to Whoopi? A lie would be if you say, ‘I’m not going to pardon my son Hunter,’ and then you pardon your son Hunter. That would be a lie,” he adds.

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Some states STILL COUNT late mail-in ballots after Election Day



The Pennsylvania Senate race was finally called when Democrat Bob Casey conceded that the Democrats were attempting to count ballots that had no date or the wrong date. Luckily, the Supreme Court sided with the RNC.

But how do we prevent voting in a federal election from getting to this point in the future?

“What we need is a voter’s election integrity bill of rights, because these crazy laws are really infringing on the voting rights of people who go to the polls, do it right,” Cleta Mitchell, senior legal fellow for the Conservative Partnership Institute, tells Jill Savage and Matthew Peterson of “Blaze News Tonight.”

“There are a number of principles that we’re sort of coalescing around that need to be both in federal law and in state law,” she continues. “Only citizens vote, voter ID for every kind of voting, make sure that all ballots are received by the time the polls close on Election Day, make sure that there’s transparency and accountability.”


“This situation needs to be corrected. It’s way past time to do that,” she adds.

Illinois is one state that has pushed the boundaries regarding election integrity, allowing mail-in ballots to be counted up to fourteen days after the election.

“Do you think that this is something where the Supreme Court, or the courts, might not ultimately decide in the right direction? It just seems so egregious, but people now, they’re kind of used to it, in our corrupt system, allowing these mail-ins to come in after the fact,” Peterson comments.

“Judicial Watch has filed suit in both Illinois and also Mississippi, and the Fifth Circuit ruled that receiving ballots after the time the polls close on Election Day violates the federal statute,” Mitchell responds.

“I think that one of the things that we need to do is say that there’s a beginning and an end when we as a country vote, pretty much at the same time,” she continues. “We might have to make some accommodations for people to vote in person early if they’re going to be out of state.”

“I think we need to get rid of this universal vote by mail, this universal sending of ballots to people whether they requested them or not,” she adds.

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