Video: Brazilian politician protests socialist by wearing blackface: 'Am I black now?'



A Brazilian state deputy put on blackface during a government proceeding in order to protest another member of the federal government.

Fabiana Bolsonaro, a state rep. of the São Paulo State Legislative Assembly, shocked attendees on Wednesday when she applied brown makeup not only to her face, but to her arms as well.

'I want precisely to show that it's useless to put on makeup.'

Now, lawmakers are now calling for the Liberal Party member's removal and have filed an ethics complaint against her, according to Brazilian outlet Folha de S. Paulo.

However, Bolsonaro made it clear during her speech that her reason for putting the makeup on was to protest another member of government. Bolsonaro was protesting the appointment of Erika Hilton as chair of the Chamber of Deputies' Women's Rights Committee because Hilton — born Felipe Santos Silva — is a male who believes he is a woman.

Santos Silva is a federal deputy from Brazil's Socialism and Liberty Party, which holds 14/513 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, equivalent to the U.S. House of Representatives.

During Bolsonaro's speech, the politician explained she was protesting the idea that one can become a woman simply by declaring so.

"I, being a white person who has lived everything that I lived as a white person, now at 32 years old, decide to put on makeup, to dress myself up as a black person, applying makeup and making only the outside appear [black]. ... Have I become black?" she asked, according to a translation.

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"Am I black now?" she continued.

Bolsonaro put emphasis on the fact that she could not possibly have experienced what it is like to be black in Brazil simply by putting on makeup.

"I want precisely to show that it's useless to put on makeup. It's useless to pretend something," Bolsonaro added. "I say to you as a woman: I am a woman. It does no good to dress up as a woman. I am not offending any transsexual. Quite the contrary, I am saying that I am a woman."

The liberal also called out the accolades that Hilton has acquired since posing as woman, saying, "The Woman of the Year cannot be a transsexual. ... Someone took her place to put a transsexual there."

RELATED: Megyn Kelly reminds America: Jimmy Kimmel wore blackface — yet she was the one canceled

Photo by Mauricio Santana/Getty Images

Hilton has been named as Woman of the Year by Marie Claire Brasil, celebrated as a model for Sao Paulo Fashion Week, and given the label of having won the most votes of any woman in Brazil by British Vogue in 2020.

Bolsonaro remained respectful in her comments, however, saying that "transsexuals must be respected," and claimed there is "an increase in the murder of transsexual people."

She concluded, "I don't want any trans person to go through prejudice, murder, or discrimination for being trans. But I also don't want any trans to take my place."

Bolsonaro, who is not related to former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, changed her name in 2022 ahead of elections in support of the president, GB News reported. Her former name was Fabiana Barroso. At the same time, she changed her racial classification from white to mixed-race, the outlet stated.

Since the remarks last week, Hilton has requested electoral authorities to investigate Bolsonaro's change of racial identification, based on Brazilian regulations introduced in 2021 that increased public funding for candidates who are black or female.

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Chinese scientists have turned mosquitoes into flying vaccines — that can still bite humans



Researchers from the nation that likely unleashed COVID-19 unto the world have transformed mosquitoes into flying syringes.

Some researchers, including a group at the Bill Gates Foundation-backed Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, have already attempted in recent years to fashion mosquitoes into flying vaccine delivery systems with human targets in mind.

'Mosquitoes bite many things other than bats.'

Now, scientists at the state-controlled Chinese Academy of Sciences — an institution that has a strategic partnership with the People's Liberation Army Academy of Military Sciences — have targeted bats, purportedly designing mosquitoes to instead deliver recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus-based rabies and Nipah vaccines to the flying mammals.

Like rabies, Nipah virus is a potentially deadly virus found in animals. Whereas rabies has nearly a 100% fatality rate in humans once symptoms manifest, the estimated case fatality rate for Nipah virus ranges from 40% to 75%.

The Chinese scientists' study, published on March 11 in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances, noted that bats, "representing ~22% of all mammalian species, are natural reservoirs for a wide range of zoonotic viruses, including coronaviruses, rhabdoviruses, and paramyxoviruses. Their unique physiological and immunological traits enable them to harbor pathogens without showing clinical symptoms, making them critical players in the emergence of infectious diseases."

The scientists claimed that immunizing bats, especially in the wild, could possibly prevent transmission of the rabies and Nipah viruses to humans and other animals but acknowledged that "achieving this goal presents substantial challenges due to the wide geographic distribution, diverse diets, and large colony sizes of bat populations."

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Photo by Zabed Hasnain Chowdhury/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Recognizing the impracticality of individually jabbing multitudes of bats and ruling out bat-culling as "counterproductive," the Chinese scientists instead created vaccines using a weakened form of the vesicular stomatitis virus that can infect insects and mammals alike.

They fed vaccine-laden blood to lab-adapted Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and subsequently detected the vaccine both in the whole mosquitoes and in their salivary glands for over two weeks. The vaccine-laden mosquitoes reportedly delivered the vaccines as intended and provided test bats and rodents with immune protection.

The study claimed that "this innovative approach offers a scalable and efficient solution for immunizing wild bats, addressing critical challenges in disease control and bat conservation."

Through this experiment, researchers hope that there will be reduced spillover of the Nipah and rabies viruses from bats to humans or livestock.

Aihua Zheng, a Chinese virologist who worked on the study, told NPR, "The advantage is if we immunize the population, the transmission of the virus will be decreased or eventually eliminated."

However, that outcome is by no means certain. Plus, there are other problems associated with such vaccine-infused mosquitoes.

Daniel Streicker, a professor of viral ecology at the University of Glasgow who was not involved in the study, expressed concern to Chemical and Engineering News over possible risks of such proposed vaccination initiatives.

"Mosquitoes bite many things other than bats, including humans," Streicker said, adding, "There's still an issue that you're removing individual consent."

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Trump threatens Democrats that he'll fix TSA himself — and it involves ICE



President Donald Trump has his own solution to solve the stalemate in Congress that is causing a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.

Democrats sparked the partial shutdown on February 14, refusing to pass the FY2026 DHS appropriations bill while calling for reform at Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

'They will do Security like no one has ever seen before.'

The reform demands are a protest of the deaths of anti-ICE activists Alex Pretti and Renee Good, but they ignore the fact that ICE is already funded through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed in 2025.

Still, Democrats have rejected a DHS funding bill (for the fifth time on Friday), withholding funds from TSA and FEMA.

With many TSA workers not being paid during the partial shutdown, the lack of staffing has had a trickle-down effect to travelers. For example, at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, passengers faced screening wait times of up to two hours this week, according to CNN.

All the turmoil has President Trump brainstorming possible solutions, and on Saturday afternoon he suggested throwing ICE into the mix.

"If the Radical Left Democrats don't immediately sign an agreement to let our Country, in particular, our Airports, be FREE and SAFE again, I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

RELATED: 'Moral failure': Pressure mounts as Congress prepares to leave town despite urgent DHS stalemate

Trump said placing ICE agents at airports will also mean that they will conduct "the immediate arrest of all Illegal Immigrants who have come into our Country," pinpointing one nationality in particular.

There would be "heavy emphasis on those from Somalia," the president wrote. He added that Somalians have "totally destroyed, with the approval of a corrupt Governor, Attorney General, and Congresswoman, Ilhan Omar, the once Great State of Minnesota."

"I look forward to seeing ICE in action at our Airports," Trump concluded.

RELATED: White House offers concessions to end DHS shutdown — but Dems still choose illegal aliens over unpaid American TSA agents

Photo by Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images

According to Politico, lawmakers will remain in D.C. with a district work week looming from March 30 until April 10. This means DHS personnel could go unpaid for another three weeks if Congress does not quickly come to an agreement.

With over 61,000 TSA employees affected by the partial shutdown, at least 366 officers have quit, with many working unpaid. This has led to a record high 10.22% absentee rate set on Monday, according to CNN.

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Trump says Strait of Hormuz must be defended by others — and adds he's considering 'winding down' war on Iran



President Donald Trump said he is considering winding down the military campaign in Iran and added that the Strait of Hormuz must be defended by other nations.

The president posted the update on the war with Iran in a statement on Truth Social on Friday, after 21 days of the military campaign.

'Importantly, it will be an easy Military Operation for them.'

"We are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East with respect to the Terrorist Regime of Iran," the president wrote.

He went on to say the strikes had completely degraded Iran's missile capabilities, eliminated its navy and air forces, and destroyed its ability to obtain nuclear weapons. He then addressed the Strait of Hormuz, which has become a contentious issue.

"The Hormuz Strait will have to be guarded and policed, as necessary, by other Nations who use it — The United States does not!" he added. "If asked, we will help these Countries in their Hormuz efforts, but it shouldn't be necessary once Iran's threat is eradicated."

The threat of strikes from Iran has caused oil tankers to stop transporting oil through the strait and sent gas prices skyrocketing across the globe.

He added that the U.S. had accomplished protecting Middle Eastern allies that included Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Kuwait.

The president previously demanded that other countries help defend the strait, but claiming that the U.S. does not use it appears to be an escalation of his claim. About 20% of the global source of oil flows through the strait.

On Thursday, a group of European countries and Japan issued a statement condemning Iran's actions in the strait and pledging to protect the key trade route.

"We express our readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait," reads the letter from the nations' leaders. "We welcome the commitment of nations who are engaging in preparatory planning."

RELATED: US allies have change of heart on defending Strait of Hormuz from Iranian attacks after oil prices continue to surge

Trump reassured those who might defend the Strait of Hormuz that it would be easy.

"Importantly, it will be an easy Military Operation for them. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" he added.

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Eric Swalwell lawsuit against Trump administration meets embarrassing end



The litigious hopes of Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California came to a humiliating end on Friday when he dropped a lawsuit against the Trump administration.

Swalwell, who is also a California gubernatorial candidate, had accused the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency of improperly accessing his private information in order to punish his anti-Trump efforts.

'There's a reason the First Amendment — the freedom of speech — comes before all others.'

FHFA Director Bill Pulte accused the 45-year-old of mortgage fraud and cited information gathered from the agency.

When Swalwell announced the lawsuit in Nov. 2025, he cast himself as a defender of free speech and a martyr for the cause of constitutional rights.

Four months later, he abandoned the cause.

The filing Friday said that Swalwell and Pulte had agreed to bear their own fees and costs in order to dismiss the lawsuit.

"Director Pulte has combed through private records of political opponents. To silence them," Swalwell said when he filed the lawsuit. "There's a reason the First Amendment — the freedom of speech — comes before all others."

The lawsuit was scheduled to be presided over by U.S. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg, a well-known critic of President Donald Trump who has been accused of political bias by the administration.

Swalwell filed to request the court to order Pulte to withdraw his criminal referral and demanded damages to be awarded for the alleged violations of the Privacy Act.

He quoted George Orwell, author of "1984" and "Animal Farm," novels dedicated to warning against totalitarianism.

"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear," Swalwell posted.

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Swalwell also cast himself as a stalwart opponent to Trump in hopes of persuading Democratic voters in California to support his campaign for governor.

The latest polling shows Swalwell taking a slight lead against the other field of Democratic candidates, but his Republican competitors are also surprisingly strong. One Democrat is expected to pull ahead as the others drop out, however.

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Outspoken anti-Trump foreign leader under DOJ investigation for alleged drug trafficking ties: Report



The president of a Latin American country is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for his alleged drug trafficking ties, according to a New York Times report.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has called President Donald Trump a "barbarian" for ordering lethal strikes on boats in the Caribbean identified by the U.S. as participating in drug trafficking.

He also warned against reviving 'the age of the Crusades.'

On Friday, the Times cited three people with knowledge of the investigation into Petro by at least two U.S. attorney's offices.

The investigations focus on whether Petro's presidential campaign solicited donations from drug traffickers and held meetings with traffickers. The report said the probes are in the early stages, and it's not clear whether they will result in criminal charges.

The report said the two U.S. attorney's offices investigating Petro were in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Petro, who is a leftist and former member of Colombia's M-19 guerrilla group, has criticized the Trump administration for promoting a "white, Christian, Western civilization." He also warned against reviving "the age of the Crusades" and added that such efforts could lead to an "enormous level of violence within each society."

Trump said back in December, "Colombia is a major manufacturer of drugs, meaning cocaine," and warned Petro to "wise up." Petro and Trump then appeared to settle some of their differences after a meeting at the White House in February.

RELATED: Liberals pounce to defend drug cartels after Trump reveals strike on drug-running gang members near Venezuela

Petro has also touted his administration's efforts at combating and defeating drug traffickers, including the seizure of 3,300 tons of cocaine and the handing over of 800 drug traffickers to the U.S.

Representatives from both prosecutors' offices declined to comment, and a spokesperson for Petro did not respond to a comment request, according to the Times.

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A Tale of Two Twenty-Somethings: Barron Trump vs. Rama Duwaji

You only turn 20 once. For Barron Trump, that day (March 20) is today. According to a Washington Free Beacon analysis, it is not unreasonable to assume that Donald and Melania Trump conceived their only child to the sound of "Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira. The smash hit spent two weeks atop the Billboard chart approximately nine months prior to Barron's birth. Do with that what you will.

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