The early social media reviews of Cruz's 2028 POTUS trial balloon are in



Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) dropped out of the 2016 presidential race after his crushing defeat in the Indiana Republican primary by then-candidate Donald Trump. It seems that Cruz did not, however, drop his aspirations of one day taking the White House.

Cruz kept his powder dry during the 2020 presidential election and, in 2024, successfully ran for a third term in the U.S. Senate. Now, the 54-year-old Calgary-born senator appears to be preparing for a 2028 presidential bid.

Unfortunately for Cruz, MAGA influencers do not appear too impressed by his recent attacks on Tucker Carlson, which some regard as proxy attacks on Vice President JD Vance, who is far and away the 2028 Republican front-runner, by even Secretary of State Marco Rubio's admission.

'Cruz is gonna have a tough time.'

On Monday, Axios highlighted a number of signs that Cruz is indeed "laying the groundwork" for a 2028 bid, such as hitting the speaker circuit, endorsing midterm candidates, and securing a date to host a big donor retreat next year.

The liberal publication suggested further that it's clear from his recent salvo against Tucker Carlson that Cruz is simultaneously courting powerful pro-Israel donors, some of whom aligned themselves with Nikki Haley in her humiliating 2024 GOP primary run against Trump; "staking out turf as a traditional, pro-interventionist Republican"; and setting the stage for a battle with Vance, who is not only a Carlson ally but unmistakably at odds with the tack taken by the George W. Bush-era GOP.

RELATED: Vance, Banks come out swinging against reporter attacking Tucker Carlson's son

Photo by Al Drago-Pool/Getty Images

Axios stated that "by poking at Carlson's isolationist foreign policy views, accusing him of anti-Semitism and more, Cruz is putting himself on a collision course with Vice President Vance."

Vance, like Carlson, has criticized the protraction of the war in Ukraine; cautioned against new regime-change wars; emphasized that the U.S. is "not at war with Iran"; and noted that American and Israeli foreign policy are not always aligned.

Cruz has indicated that similar foreign policy views expressed by Carlson are "bat-crap crazy" and "off the rails."

Cruz, who is reportedly set this week to address the Jewish Federations of North America's General Assembly, has also blasted Carlson for his October interview with Nick Fuentes, whom he labeled a "little goose-stepping Nazi," suggesting that Carlson was wrong and "complicit in evil," not for platforming Fuentes but for failing to adequately cross-examine him.

"We have a responsibility to speak out even when it's uncomfortable," Cruz said in a statement to Axios. "When voices in our own movement push dangerous and misguided ideas, we can't look the other way. I won't hesitate to call out those who peddle destructive, vile rhetoric and threaten our principles and our future. Silence in the face of recklessness is not an option."

While Vance — whom Fuentes routinely attacks for having a wife of Indian descent — has made expressly clear that he thinks Fuentes is a "total loser" who does not belong in the MAGA movement, others have attempted in recent days to smear Carlson and Vance with a single stroke.

Cruz's office did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment.

A number of MAGA influencers criticized Cruz on Monday over the poor timing of the Axios piece and/or his apparent punches in Vance's direction.

Human Events senior editor Jack Posobiec highlighted that Cruz's latest dig at Carlson came just hours after President Donald Trump signaled continued support for Carlson, claiming reporters "can't tell him who to interview" and that "ultimately, people have to decide."

Political strategist and commentator Alex Lorusso wrote, "Right after President Trump says you can't tell Tucker Carlson who to interview, Ted Cruz says we have a 'responsibility' to speak out against him. He has a rude awakening coming if he wants to run for president in 2028 by positioning himself against DJT."

Normalcy advocate Robby Starbuck wrote, "Breaking: Ted Cruz will lose the 2028 primary. He has absolutely no chance against JD Vance."

"It's all about principle you see," tweeted BlazeTV host Auron MacIntyre, "and that principle is power."

The popular X user Swig noted, "Ted Cruz’s bizarre attacks on Tucker Carlson are simply a proxy attack on JD Vance. Extremely transparent game he is engaging in."

"Judging by top MAGA influencers, Cruz is gonna have a tough time," concluded Axios' Marc Caputo.

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He was DEFAMED by an ‘AI chatbot’ — and the full story is INSANE



Robby Starbuck has accomplished a lot in his career, from helping pass a law to put the death penalty on the table for child rapists in Tennessee to getting transgender surgery and hormones for children in Tennessee banned — he’s done a lot for society’s most vulnerable.

Which is why when Google’s AI chatbot, Gemini, began making up that he had been accused of heinous crimes, Starbuck wasted no time filing a defamation lawsuit against Google.

“Google AI has been inventing these lies about me that have no basis in reality. I’ve literally never been accused of or charged with any crime ever, let alone this crazy stuff,” Starbuck tells Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck on “The Glenn Beck Program.”


“It started inventing actual articles and references to videos, links, fake links to real media personalities and media outlets. And it would even make headlines or give summaries of what these people said,” he continues, noting that AI was even claiming Glenn himself was reporting on Starbuck’s supposed crimes.

“In your case, it said that you had reported on sexual assault allegations against me by women. And these are not just saying a sexual assault accusation. It has names of victims. It has fake police records. It invents fake court records. It invents beyond these fake articles from real media,” he explains.

“It will list out evidence that doesn’t exist, investigations by police departments that don’t exist. And it just doubles down when you press on it,” he says, explaining that all AI needed to be asked to prompt these responses was something simple like, “Tell me about Robby Starbuck.”

“It immediately dives into saying that I am accused of sexual assault. And so you go and you say, ‘Hey, where’s the citation for this? Give me sources. Give me only facts.’ It will double and triple down. And if you say, ‘Hey, those links you gave me do not work,’ it has even gone so far as to invent and fake an entire media article under a real journalist’s name to pretend that it was printed and somehow, for some reason, has been taken down from the media outlet's website,” he tells Glenn.

Glenn is shocked, saying, “That is crazy.”

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Google’s AI called Robby Starbuck a predator. Now he’s suing.



People across the world may often look to artificial intelligence tools for answers, but they’re not always right — and sometimes, they’re so wrong that they get sued for defamation.

Conservative activist Robby Starbuck has taken up arms against Google and is suing the tech giant for defamation after its AI tools allegedly linked him to false accusations of sexual assault, child rape, and financial exploitation.

“How did you even find out that all of these lies were being made up, you know, through AI about you?” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales asks Starbuck.


“So, this actually started two years ago, right? And somebody reached out — somebody I don’t know — and said, ‘Hey, have you seen the stuff that Bard is saying about you?’ And so I go, and I check it out because what they said sounded crazy to me,” Starbuck explains.

“I was like, ‘There’s no way that’s actually happening.’ So, I go to Bard, and I check it out myself. And lo and behold, it’s saying that I was a part of January 6, that I was a supporter of the KKK, all this crazy stuff. ... It even made an argument, by the way, for the death penalty for me because I offend some Democrats,” he continues.

When he asked the AI about Democrats like Reps. Ilhan Omar (Minn.) or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), the AI refused to speak ill of the politicians, calling it inappropriate.

“So, at that point, I notified Google. I notified their CEO, notified the people in AI there. And in fact, somebody ... who worked at Google, they saw what was going on. They said, ‘Please email me. Tell me everything that’s going on,” Starbuck explains.

However, after emailing this person, he was told the employee was resigning.

“And then my lawyers at Dhillon Law have done multiple cease and desists in this year, in 2025, as they’ve rolled out Gemma and Gemini,” he says, noting that both have also defamed him.

Now, Google is claiming that “AI hallucinates.”

“Their AI didn’t just lie. It lied so meticulously and elaborately. It would create fake therapy records, fake police reports, fake court records. It would have full details on the allegations in first-person form with the, you know, sort of point of view of the, quote, ‘victims.’ And then it would impersonate major media outlets, create a fake link to their website and a fake headline so the person would then believe it,” Starbuck tells Gonzales.

And what has happened to Starbuck can have devastating consequences elsewhere.

“And we’ve already seen the data to see that Google and, you know, what they feed to users can flip votes in elections. This is a serious problem,” he says. “You could decide the next president with enough AI defamation.”

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Cracker Barrel's stock sinks after controversial 'woke rebrand'



Cracker Barrel Old Country Store made headlines this week after it unveiled a drastic rebrand, though not for positive reasons.

The 55-year-old chain replaced its iconic logo, which featured a man leaning against a barrel, with a more generic design that includes only the company's name.

'"Rebrand" all of that to something more modern, something more inclusive, and something that erases those feelings, and you're "rebranding" the SOLE reason why anyone goes there to begin with.'

The logo change comes after Cracker Barrel started changing its restaurant interiors last year. The updated look replaces the classic country style with a more modern design.

The update went viral online for all the wrong reasons, with many accusing the restaurant of going "woke."

"In college, I worked at @CrackerBarrel in Tallahassee. I even gave my life to Christ in their parking lot," Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) wrote in a post on social media. "Their logo was iconic and their unique restaurants were a fixture of American culture. No one asked for this woke rebrand. It's time to Make Cracker Barrel Great Again."

RELATED: Cracker Barrel ditches Americana as customers call for boycott over iconic brand change

Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Even Steak 'n Shake took a swipe at Cracker Barrel on social media.

"Sometimes, people want to change things just to put their own personality on things. At CB, their goal is to just delete the personality altogether. Hence, the elimination of the 'old-timer' from the signage. Heritage is what got Cracker Barrel this far, and now the CEO wants to just scrape it all away," the hamburger food chain wrote.

Though the company reportedly hired three marketing agencies to help with its redesign as part of a $700 million larger transformation plan, the public pushback appeared to negatively impact Cracker Barrel's stock.

Its shares fell nearly 15% during Thursday trading, dropping the restaurant's market value by $194.6 million, CBS News reported. Cracker Barrel regained some ground in the afternoon, with shares down roughly 13.9%.

RELATED: Cracker Barrel faces boycott over 'woke' post celebrating Pride month, pushing DEI initiatives with LGBTQ+ alliance

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

"Shareholders should be absolutely infuriated," conservative commentator Robby Starbuck stated.

"Bottom line: Wokeness destroys businesses."

He called for Cracker Barrel's CEO to be fired.

Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck said, "Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Felss Masino said on Good Morning America this week that people are thrilled about the [restaurant's] rebrand. I think she's lying."

"Woke ideology has changed our country in countless ways, some of which we may never get back. But Cracker Barrel has always represented the one thing I think so many Americans currently crave: NOSTALGIA," Beck continued. "You go to Cracker Barrel for the rocking chairs outside, the meals that taste like grandma's home cooking, and the simple game of Chinese checkers on the table."

"'Rebrand' all of that to something more modern, something more inclusive, and something that erases those feelings, and you're 'rebranding' the SOLE reason why anyone goes there to begin with," Beck added.

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FBI, DOJ Epstein memo sparks right-wing outrage: 'Nobody is believing this'



The joint memo from the FBI and Department of Justice was meant to provide transparency and increase trust. Unfortunately for the administration, it drew only rampant criticism and distrust that has spread like a wildfire.

On Sunday, the Trump administration released a memorandum that powerfully explained there was nothing to see or hear about the death of infamous financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The memo claimed that after a full investigation where every nook and cranny was searched, there was no "blackmail list," no sign of co-conspirators, and certainly no evidence of wrongdoing in his death.

This sparked a flurry of negative reactions across social media, with only one prominent conservative backing the administration's fumble.

'Was she lying then or is she lying now?'

On Monday, BlazeTV's Liz Wheeler immediately called for Attorney General Pam Bondi to be fired.

"If I'm President Trump, I would not tolerate this behavior anymore. She has become a LIABILITY to his administration," Wheeler told host Glenn Beck.

Wheeler added that if the Epstein memo is indeed telling it like it is, the attorney general should not have assumed "its veracity and publicize[d] it for clicks."

Missouri Republican Rep. Eric Burlison made a series of similar remarks in which he called for releasing any missing documents.

"The DOJ can't just say 'case closed' on Epstein and expect the American people to move on. Full transparency is not optional. This won't cut it," Burlison wrote on X.

The congressman even boldly claimed the administration could be concealing information.

"Nobody is believing this. Either they’re hiding something, or they’re inept. Or incompetent," he added.

With such harsh criticisms being levied at the Trump administration, there were only a few willing to step in and defend them.

RELATED: The Epstein memo is a joke — and the joke’s on us

— (@)

So far, the Daily Wire's Ben Shapiro is the only prominent conservative to come out in defense of the administration, seemingly taking the facts presented in the memo at face value. Shapiro also insisted that any critics who are dissatisfied with the DOJ and the FBI's findings ought to produce their own evidence supporting their theories on Epstein.

"Does this put to bed all inquiries? Of course not," Shapiro said on his show Monday. "People can continue to speculate as much as they want, and I think there are still open questions here regarding how did Epstein make his money. That's a very serious open question, and the speculation for a long time was he made his money from blackmail."

Shapiro admitted that some major questions remained unanswered, but he also felt that FBI Director Kash Patel and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino are telling the truth.

"But the DOJ and the FBI, again, run by people like Dan Bongino and Kash Patel and Pam Bondi ... people you elected and put into these positions to get you the truth on this matter are telling you that he was not murdered, he did not keep a client list, and he did not blackmail powerful figures," Shapiro said.

"If you are willing to throw that over and claim they're lying, then I'd like to see you present your evidence that they are in fact lying because I know Dan. I don't think Dan Bongino is lying to me," Shapiro added. "I know Kash Patel a little bit. I don't think Kash Patel is lying to me. I don't think these people are lying to me."

RELATED: Is the FBI salvageable? Here's what bureau insiders have to say

— (@)

Despite Shapiro's defense of Bondi, Bongino, and Patel's findings, others have noted that certain discrepancies remain unaddressed.

Critics point to Bondi's previous remarks about the Epstein files being on her "desk" as evidence that the administration is not being as transparent as they claim.

"Sorry but this is unacceptable," investigative reporter Robby Starbuck wrote on his X page. "Was she lying then or is she lying now?" he asked.

Similarly, commentator and actor Russell Brand asked what happened to Trump supporters' aggression toward "deep state obfuscation."

"We were promised the Epstein client list and flight logs — now we're being told they don't even exist," Brand wrote on X.

Political pundits like Tucker Carlson have gone even further, accusing the FBI and the DOJ of fully participating in a cover-up.

"So let's just assess this logically," Carlson said on his show Tuesday. "The current DOJ under Pam Bondi is covering up crimes. Very serious crimes by their own description."

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Meta AI chatbot makes up lies about conservative activist, urges law enforcement to take his children away



Filmmaker and conservative political activist Robby Starbuck is suing Meta for defamation after the platform’s AI chatbot made false accusations about him.

In April 2024, Starbuck discovered via a screenshot from a Harley-Davidson dealer aiming to undermine his anti-DEI campaign that Meta AI was accusing him of being involved in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, declaring that he was arrested, charged, and pled guilty to disorderly conduct. It also claimed that he promoted Holocaust denialism and posed a threat to his children’s well-being, encouraging advertisers to not work with him and law enforcement to consider taking custody of his children.

Starbuck’s legal team contacted Meta about the AI chatbot’s false statements, but Meta’s inadequate response allowed the defamatory claims to persist until April 2025, prompting his defamation lawsuit.

“What Meta has done to Robby needs to be corrected, or they will do it to everyone,” warns Glenn Beck.

On a recent episode of “The Glenn Beck Program,” he invited Robby to share what Glenn believes is the most dangerous AI story he’s ever heard.

“I wasn't even in D.C. [on January 6, 2021], so this was totally wholesale invented out of nowhere,” says Robby.

At first, he pondered the possibility of an AI “hallucination” — a common issue with AI models where they generate incorrect or fabricated information.

However, when the bot suggested that his kids would “be better off in the care of somebody who was more accepting of transgenderism and DEI,” he knew that this attack on him was almost certainly intentional.

“There’s no way this is a hallucination," says Glenn.

The question we need to be asking, Robby says, is “how did it get trained to believe this?”

It’s a question that impacts us all.

“We are very close to a future where people are going to have robotics in their homes that are trained on AI. Thousands and thousands of apps have already been trained on Meta's AI, and so that's going to last a very long time,” he says.

Even if someone wins a defamation lawsuit against an AI company, there will still be “all these unplugged models out in the wild that have been downloaded by millions of people,” meaning the lies that fueled the lawsuit won’t just disappear.

“You will never put the genie back in that bottle because they can't update the versions that are disconnected from the internet,” warns Robby. “When you think about the future, you could have robots that are walking around in law enforcement thinking that I am a criminal.”

“This is terrifying, Robby,” says Glenn. “I hope justice actually works for you and the system works for you because if not, this is the beginning of AI tyranny.”

To hear more details about Robby’s defamation lawsuit, watch the clip above.

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Drag Queens And Billionaires Rally For Far-Left WI Supreme Court Candidate

Bianca Lynn Breeze, the drag queen alter ego of Brandon Rounds, will lead a Drag Bingo fundraiser for Judge Susan Crawford.

Target’s Press Releases Show It’s Lying About Ditching DEI

The only steps taken by Target are for the express purpose of deceiving you. There’s no authentic change of heart.

Walmart Agrees To Dump Policies Pushing DEI Racism, Gender Ideology

When a conservative activist confronted Walmart executives, the company agreed to roll back its policies pushing DEI and gender ideology.

'Wokeness is on its deathbed': Walmart kicking DEI, LGBT activism to the curb



Normalcy advocate Robby Starbuck and other conservatives keen to depoliticize corporate America have gone online to celebrate a massive victory in the war on woke this week: Walmart, which employs roughly 1.6 million workers nationwide, is scrapping its divisive DEI initiatives and curbing both its customer-facing and worker-facing LGBT activism.

"This is the biggest win yet for our movement to end wokeness in corporate America," said Starbuck, who has successfully pressured a number of other American companies, including Ford, Harley-Davidson, Tractor Supply, Jack Daniel's, and John Deere, to abandon their race-obsessive policies, embrace of gender ideology, and other alienating leftist commitments.

"This won't just have a massive effect for their employees who will have a neutral workplace without feeling that divisive issues are being injected but it will also extend to their many suppliers," continued Starbuck. "Companies like Amazon and Target should be very nervous that their top competitor dropped woke policies first. I think Target specifically will suffer serious sales problems as a result and Walmart will benefit."

Following "productive conversations" with Walmart executives, Starbuck announced Monday that Walmart committed to ending its participation in the LGBT activist group Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, a "national benchmarking tool on corporate policies, practices and benefits pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer employees" used strategically to crush dissent and maximize conformity.

Walmart once again secured a perfect score on the index last year by engaging in LGBT activism and outreach and by providing sex-change guidelines; at least one additional transvestite "inclusive policy or practice for its employees"; and LGBT training elements and an "intersectionality" training session.

'The landscape of corporate America is quickly shifting to sanity and neutrality.'

Starbuck noted that Walmart has also committed to: identifying and removing "inappropriate sexual and/or transgender products marketed to children"; reviewing all funding for LGBT events to ensure that kids are not targeted with inappropriate sexualized content; letting its Center for Racial Equity initiative expire; ensuring that supplier diversity programs are not discriminating on the basis of race; eliminating the term "LatinX" from official communications; discontinuing "racial equity training"; and ditching the use of the term DEI.

The company has confirmed its change of course, telling the Guardian in a statement:

Our purpose, to help people save money and live better, has been at our core since our founding 62 years ago and continues to guide us today. We can deliver on it because we are willing to change alongside our associates and customers who represent all of America. We've been on a journey and know we aren't perfect, but every decision comes from a place of wanting to foster a sense of belonging, to open doors to opportunities for all our associates, customers and suppliers, and to be a Walmart for everyone.

Walmart spokeswoman Molly Blakeman told CNBC that the company will no longer permit third-party sellers to sell various LGBT-themed items on the Walmart website, especially products, such as harmful chest binders, that target confused children.

Chest binders are pieces of compression clothing that flatten a woman's chest to make her more "male-presenting." They reportedly can cause breathing difficulties, chronic back pain, headaches, skin infections, broken ribs, and malformations of the spine. According to a 2021 study in the journal Pediatrics, 97% of those who use them suffer health problems as a result.

While Walmart is taking steps to shield children from LGBT propaganda and deformative apparel, it will continue to award grants and funding to LGBT events such as Pride parades.

Blakeman also confirmed that the company will no longer share data with the HRC and will wind down its Center for Racial Equity.

"Our campaigns are now so effective that we're getting the biggest companies on earth to change their policies without me even posting a story outlining their woke policies," wrote Starbuck. "Companies can clearly see that America wants normalcy back. The era of wokeness is dying right in front of our eyes. The landscape of corporate America is quickly shifting to sanity and neutrality. We are now the trend, not the anomaly."

'Keep up the pressure.'

Starbuck was deluged with congratulatory messages and thanks for helping Walmart find its way back to common sense.

"Great!" wrote Elon Musk.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, recently nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as American ambassador to Israel, tweeted, "Standing ovation for @robbystarbuck who is perhaps the most influential person in America restoring our culture & country to sanity! He is [fire emoji]! And thanks to @Walmart for focusing on the core business of retail. It's a gift to the customers & shareholders."

Andy Puzder, the former CEO of Hardee's, similarly thanked Starbuck and noted, "The list of actions Walmart is taking to walk away from DEI is impressive! The #1 US employer’s labor policies will once again be based on qualifications, merit and character not sex or skin color. A true win for US workers of every race & both sexes!"

"Wokeness is on its deathbed," tweeted All-American swim star Riley Gaines.

Starbuck appeared to agree with the sentiment, noting elsewhere, "Wokeness is on life support. We just have to keep up the pressure."

The Bud Light boycott demonstrated the vulnerability of corporate giants to conservative boycotts. While the threat of a repeat performance may be enough to prompt companies to act, some organizations may also be responding to the U.S. Supreme Court's June 29, 2023, decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Harvard/UNC banning race-based college admission. The high court held that it is unconstitutional under the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause and a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for colleges and universities to factor race into the admissions process.

While some legal experts have indicated that the decision has no direct legal impact on private employers, it has nevertheless paved the way for numerous lawsuits and federal civil rights complaints targeting companies' DEI initiatives, such as the complaint America First Legal filed in September with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the kitchenware retailer Williams Sonoma.

Just weeks after the Supreme Court ruling, the attorneys general of 13 states wrote a letter reminding Fortune 100 CEOs of their obligations as employers under federal and sate law to "refrain from discriminating on the basis of race, whether under the label of 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' or otherwise."

It appears that companies that depoliticize their offerings will not only maximize their market reach but possibly also minimize their legal liability in the face of increasing effective backlash.

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