Independent infighting? Ex-governor, embattled mayor determined to thwart socialist Mamdani



The drama surrounding the New York City mayoral race continues after radical Democratic Socialist Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani came from behind to win the Democratic primary last month.

Just a few weeks ago, Mamdani overcame long odds to win the primary, trouncing former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a legacy Democrat with almost universal name recognition, by 12 points. Cuomo conceded defeat on election night, admitting, "Tonight was not our night. Tonight was Assemblyman Mamdani’s night."

Spokesman Rich Azzopardi believes that Cuomo still has the best odds of defeating Mamdani.

It appears that Cuomo is down but not out. On Monday, Cuomo announced that he will remain in the race as an independent. He claimed to be "in it to win it" and slammed Mamdani for offering "slick slogans but no real solutions."

 

Cuomo is not the only high-profile Democrat running as an independent. Current Mayor Eric Adams, elected in 2021 as a Democrat, is trying to keep his job as an independent.

Former federal prosecutor Jim Walden is likewise running as an independent.

RELATED: Glenn Beck: Mamdani victory is ‘NOT A FLUKE’ — he’s Democrats’ 2028 vision for America

  Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images

With Curtis Sliwa running as a Republican, the field is crowded — a dynamic that strongly favors Mamdani. According to a Data for Progress poll conducted from July 1 to July 6, Mamdani holds a commanding lead among likely NYC voters, with 40% planning to pull the lever for him. Cuomo finished a distant second with just 24%. Adams and Sliwa were neck and neck for third at 15% and 14%, respectively, while Walden managed just 1%.

Spokesman Rich Azzopardi believes that Cuomo still has the best odds of defeating Mamdani, according to the New York Post.

Cuomo also reportedly has a plan to unify support against Mamdani down the stretch.

According to NewsNation, Cuomo is expected to pledge to drop out of the race in mid-September if he is not in the lead. He is also expected to call on Adams, Sliwa, and Walden to promise to do the same if they remain behind.

RELATED: Exclusive: Vance on Mamdani: ‘Who the hell does he think that he is?’

  Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Adams seemed to dismiss Cuomo's reported plan to defeat Mamdani. "This kind of political double-dealing is exactly why so many New Yorkers have lost trust in [Cuomo]," Adams' campaign said in a press release, the Post reported.

"The people spoke loudly — he lost," the statement continued, referring to Cuomo's primary defeat. "Yet he continues to put himself over the number-one goal — beating Mamdani and securing our city’s future."

Adams' campaign also described Mamdani as an "inexperienced opponent" who nevertheless poses a "serious threat."

During the Bolivian Day Parade in Queens on Sunday, Adams also noted that, unlike Cuomo, he "didn’t lose" to Mamdani — or anyone else — in the Democratic primary, the Post reported. Of course, Adams couldn't have lost because he didn't participate in the primary, though whether he mentioned that fact to the media on Sunday is unclear.

When asked whether he would consider dropping out to help Cuomo, Adams, who until recently faced federal indictment, replied with bewilderment, "Are you kidding me?"

'Putting New York’s best interests over our personal ambitions is critical at this moment.'

Sliwa also said he has no plans to drop out. "I’m not going anywhere. I’m in it until Nov. 4," he said Sunday.

"I’m the only candidate with a major party nomination, a 50-year record of serving New Yorkers, and a real path to victory," Sliwa later told NewsNation. "While they play musical chairs on a sinking ship, I’m out campaigning in NYC, listening, leading, and fighting to win it for the people. Let the voters decide this November."

Walden, however, seems the most amenable to Cuomo's reported idea. In fact, he indicated that he was the one who first suggested it. "I am glad Andrew has agreed to adopt my pledge," Walden said in a statement to NewsNation. "I hope Eric and Curtis sign on as well. Putting New York’s best interests over our personal ambitions is critical at this moment."

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Denaturalize And Deport Zohran Mamdani For Immigration Fraud

Any serious nation with an interest in self-preservation would immediately denaturalize and deport Mamdani.

Don’t let rural America become the next New York City



Elect strong conservative leaders in your state — or watch it go the way of New York City. That’s the unmistakable warning conservatives should take from New York voters nominating a Hamas sympathizer and self-proclaimed socialist for mayor.

How could this happen just one generation after 9/11? How does the city that suffered most from jihadist terrorism now embrace a foreign-born Islamist who wants to “globalize the intifada”?

When Trump calls for more farm labor from the third world — so long as the workers aren’t 'murderers' — he misses the deeper issue. Violent crime isn’t the only threat.

Several factors explain the city’s decline, but one stands out: immigration. Forty percent of New York City’s population now consists of foreign-born residents — not including the children of immigrants. Mass immigration on that scale, especially from Islamic and third world countries, doesn’t just change the labor market. It imports foreign values and embeds them in the culture.

Trump should think twice about demanding more foreign agricultural workers for red-state America. His arguments about labor shortages miss the larger picture. This isn’t just about harvesting crops — it’s about reshaping schools, neighborhoods, and eventually, the ballot box.

In 2022, the Center for Immigration Studies mapped 2,351 Census Bureau-defined Public Use Microdata Areas to show the percentage of schoolchildren from immigrant households. No surprise: Urban districts in places like New York and Los Angeles show overwhelming majorities of immigrant families.

But that trend now stretches deep into red states. Cities and even rural counties are seeing shockingly high proportions of students from immigrant families.

In southeast Nashville, 65% of public-school students come from immigrant families. Iraq ranks as the second-largest country of origin. In Dallas, all 20 school districts report at least one-third of students from immigrant households. In most of those districts, a majority of families are foreign-born.

This trend extends well beyond major cities. In southwest Oklahoma City, 43% of students come from immigrant families. Greenville, South Carolina, stands at 35%. Birmingham and Chattanooga each hover around 20%.

Red-state cities and midsize towns now reflect immigration levels once limited to coastal urban hubs. That leaves rural America as the last holdout — and even that is changing.

The so-called farm labor trade has transformed heartland communities. These public school districts report the following immigrant family enrollment rates:

  • Texas Panhandle (outside Potter and Randall Counties): 31%
  • Oklahoma Panhandle: 21%
  • Southwest Kansas (Dodge City, Garden City, Liberal City): 55%
  • Central Nebraska: 27%
  • Canyon and Owyhee Counties, Idaho (Caldwell and Nampa): 30%
  • Whitfield County, Georgia: 43%
  • Woodbury and Plymouth Counties, Iowa (Sioux City): 26%
  • Washington County, Arkansas: 26%
  • Fargo, North Dakota: 23%

Until recently, these areas were overwhelmingly native-born. They maintained a strong continuity of American culture and civic tradition.

What happens when the next generation of these children grows up, votes, and brings in more from similar backgrounds? These red counties may not stay red for long.

Mitt Romney won Washington County, Arkansas, by 16 points in 2012. Just 12 years later, Donald Trump carried it by only six — even as he expanded his statewide margin. What changed? More than a quarter of the local student body now comes from immigrant households.

RELATED: New York City’s likely next mayor wants to ‘globalize the intifada’

  Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

Trump won rural Sampson County, North Carolina, by a 2-to-1 margin. Yet, by the 2022–23 school year, Hispanic students made up 44.2% of public school enrollment. The district now runs extensive English as a Second Language programs to meet ongoing demand. Even if Hispanic voters shift modestly right, when has such rapid demographic upheaval ever worked to conservatives’ advantage?

The pace of change is impossible to ignore. Importing foreign labor into rural counties inevitably reshapes culture — and, soon after, voting patterns.

Greene County, Iowa, illustrates the point. In 2023, Hispanic residents accounted for just 3.3% of the total population. But that number underrepresents their influence. Iowa State University researchers found Latino populations in rural Iowa tend to skew young, meaning they disproportionately fill the schools even when their overall numbers look small. That imbalance compounds over time.

When Trump calls for more farm labor from the third world — so long as the workers aren’t “murderers” — he misses the deeper issue. Violent crime isn’t the only threat. The more serious loss lies in surrendering the very communities that naturally align with traditional American culture.

As Vice President JD Vance put it during his Republican National Convention acceptance speech: “America is not just an idea. It is a group of people with a shared history and a common future. It is, in short, a nation.”

That is the nation Trump must promise to defend — not just with words but with sound policy.

The Democrats get their left-wing battering ram



For anyone who read my commentary last week, it should be no surprise that I am overjoyed that state Rep. Zohran Mamdani trounced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the New York City mayoral Democratic primary on Tuesday.

Cuomo is a repulsive creep who, as governor, killed thousands of elderly New Yorkers by filling nursing homes with COVID-infected patients. He then lied persistently about his misdeeds. Adding insult to injury, Cuomo groped and mishandled vulnerable women, an offense that led to his resignation in disgrace.

Except for Mamdani’s use of the verboten term 'socialist' and his outspokenly anti-Israeli positions, someone like him fits quite well into the present Democratic Party.

Finally, Cuomo removed bail for violent criminals, something he tried to cover up in his primary race by promising to be “tough on crime.” The fact that Wall Street plutocrats — led by the feckless former mayor, Michael Bloomberg — were backing this shameless reprobate made me even more eager to see him defeated.

Clearly, I am not happy to see Mamdani victorious because I agree with his politics. Looking at the positions he advocates, I can’t find one that doesn’t turn my stomach — but that is also the case when listening to Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, and Amy Klobuchar.

I’ve been told that Mamdani is worse than these other leftists because he calls himself a socialist and bleeds for Hamas. Let me register my doubts that once in office (if he manages to win the general election) he would do anything to nationalize anything. His Upper East Side Manhattan backers, who poured out to vote for him, wouldn’t allow him to act like Castro or Lenin.

What Mamdani would likely do if elected mayor would be to make all the horrible conditions produced by New York’s big-city government even worse. Streets, outside the opulent neighborhoods inhabited by Mamdani’s benefactors, will be overrun by criminal thugs. New York City will become even more of a magnet for LGBTQ+ and Black Lives Matter exhibitionists, and normal people will move out of the urban zoo even faster than they’re doing right now.

Mamdani fits right in

Those claiming that Zohran Mamdani marks some unprecedented plunge into leftist madness haven't been paying attention. High-ranking Democrats such as the Squad, Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, and Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii have long paved the way. Cultural leftists already infest Congress and crowd the statehouses. Aside from Mamdani’s unapologetic use of the word “socialist” and his anti-Israel posturing, he fits quite well in the modern Democratic Party. Nothing about him signals a deeper descent than what voters already hear nightly on MSNBC.

RELATED: New York City’s likely next mayor wants to ‘globalize the intifada’

  Christian Monterrosa/Bloomberg via Getty Images

In the general election, Mamdani may end up splitting the left-wing vote with fellow Democrats, including Mayor Eric Adams, who plans to run as an independent. That kind of vote-splitting could hand the race to Republican Curtis Sliwa, who has positioned himself as the law-and-order candidate. He’s the only one I’d actually like to see win. Still, I won’t pretend I wouldn’t enjoy the irony if Mamdani pulled it off. A Mamdani victory would deliver maximum schadenfreude.

Democrats forsake the working class

For decades, New Yorkers and denizens of other major cities have sabotaged themselves at the ballot box — electing pro-criminal politicians, embracing every deranged social experiment, and lately drooling over criminal illegal aliens. Despite the hand-wringing on Fox News, these urban voters aren’t victims of the Democratic Party. They’ve reshaped it. They turned a once-working-class coalition into a hive of government dependents and ideological psychopaths.

Justice demands that these “progressives” live with the consequences of their own political choices. They asked for this. Let them have it — good and hard. The tragedy, of course, is that normal people will suffer too. Those without the money to flee to private buildings with armed security or relocate entirely will pay the price. That’s why I hesitate to cast Mamdani as some kind of avenging angel.

Still, even with the obvious costs of a Mamdani administration, his rise might accelerate a trend that’s both inevitable and necessary. Sane people with means will keep fleeing cities run by criminals and ideologues. Those who stay behind — those who cheer on the chaos — can live with the rot they helped create.

Nothing new under the sun

Let me close with a brief speculation about politicians like Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar, Mamdani, and their counterparts in Europe — figures who somehow blend radical leftist politics with expressions of Islamic fervor. On paper, devout Muslims ought to align with the Christian right on most social issues. And many Muslim parents across the country have taken a stand, loudly opposing LGBTQ+ indoctrination in schools.

So why don’t Muslim politicians follow suit? Two possible explanations come to mind. Either they’re mimicking the old communist playbook — aligning with fringe social movements as a means to power — or they’re using Islamic identity as a wrecking ball to level what’s left of Western tradition and cohesion.

Let’s not pretend both options are equally likely. I suspect it’s the latter.

A version of this article was originally published in Chronicles.

Radical Seattle mayor smears Christians after leftists physically attacked prayer rally attendees — even cops got clobbered



Pro-life Christians held a prayer event at Cal Anderson Park in Seattle, Washington, over the weekend.

But the viewpoints expressed at the Mayday USA event — in support of the "sanctity of human life, the sacrality of biological gender, the importance of the nuclear family, and the right to freedom of speech and religion" — proved intolerable not only to the leftist radicals whose violent response prompted police to shut down the event early but also to the city's Democratic mayor who subsequently smeared the Christian organizers as bigots.

'Today's far-right rally was held here for this very reason — to provoke a reaction by promoting beliefs that are inherently opposed to our city's values, in the heart of Seattle's most prominent LGBTQ+ neighborhood.'

The purpose of the Mayday USA tour — which is linked to the "#DontMessWithOurKids movement" — is to "offer prayer and resources to help post-abortive men and women, trafficking victims, those who desire freedom from same-sex attraction, and those who are struggling with sexual and drug addictions throughout their restoration process."

RELATED: Seattle outlet wants activists to flood Office of Police Accountability with complaints: 'If we report enough cops ...'

  Photographer: David Ryder/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Ahead of Saturday's main event — which featured speeches, musical performances, and prayer — there were free haircuts for kids and bicycle giveaways. Roughly 500 people attended the prayer rally, reported the Seattle Times.

However, hundreds of leftists — including members of the groups Radical Women, Puget Sound Mobilization for Reproductive Justice, Freedom Socialist Party, Organized Workers for Labor Solidarity — also showed up. But they weren't there to pray.

The leftists — later thanked by Democratic Mayor Bruce Harrell — circulated a post claiming event organizers were pushing "fascist 'family values,'" were waging a "war on trans & queer folk," and were somehow linked to a "racist Christian identity movement," as well as to President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Project 2025.

While the leftists' stated goal was to send the message that "bigotry is not welcome here," it appears their aim actually was to shut down Mayday USA.

Seattle Police swooped into action, making numerous arrests after leftists protesting the Christian prayer event turned to violence.

According to the Seattle Police Department, officers initially intervened after witnesses observed "multiple people inside one group throw items at the opposing group" around 1:30 p.m.

'Seattle is proud of our reputation as a welcoming, inclusive city for LGBTQ+ communities.'

What's more, while officers were taking violent individuals into custody, additional radicals physically attacked police. One officer injured during the ensuing scuffle was taken to hospital for treatment.

Just before 5 p.m. local time, the SPD announced on X that it requested backup from the Washington State Patrol.

Police said they charged 22 individuals with assault and obstruction and took them to King County Jail. A juvenile also was arrested for obstruction but later was cut loose.

RELATED: Seattle to ditch anti-cop initiatives that transformed city into crime haven 

 Photo by Noah Riffe/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

While leftists appeared to have initiated the violence, the Democrat mayor — who admitted to "displaying" a gun amid a 1996 dispute with a pregnant woman over a parking spot — reserved his fury for the peaceful Christians whom law enforcement protected.

"Seattle is proud of our reputation as a welcoming, inclusive city for LGBTQ+ communities, and we stand with our trans neighbors when they face bigotry and injustice," Harrell said in a statement Saturday. "Today's far-right rally was held here for this very reason — to provoke a reaction by promoting beliefs that are inherently opposed to our city's values, in the heart of Seattle's most prominent LGBTQ+ neighborhood."

'We are just warming up.'

Harrell, who's presently campaigning for reelection, suggested further that the Christian organizers were questioning the "humanity of trans people and those who have been historically marginalized."

After suggesting that the leftist violence was the result of anarchist infiltrators, Harrell expressed gratitude for those who peacefully protested the event and indicated that he was directing Seattle Parks and Recreation to "review all of the circumstances of this application to understand whether there were legal location alternatives or other adjustments that could have been pursued."

"In the face of an extreme right-wing national effort to attack our trans and LGBTQ+ communities, Seattle will continue to stand unwavering in our embrace of diversity, love for our neighbors, and commitment to justice and fairness," added the mayor whose city has a 1-rating on the Neighborhood Scout crime index; a 100-rating is the safest.

Jenny Donnelly — host of the event and founder of the Christian prayer organization Her Voice Mvmt — blasted the mayor over his mischaracterizations.

RELATED: Meek, not weak: The era of Christian loserdom is over

 Stock/Getty Images Plus

Donnelly noted that her team had: worked with the parks department for weeks; originally requested an alternate location but "were told no and given Cal Anderson Park"; cooperated with police and ended their event 2.5-hours early due to the leftist violence; and had not come to "attack" anyone but "stayed in [their] permitted area, worshipped, and did not engage any of the counter protestors."

The Seattle Police Officers Guild said it welcomes a mayoral review of the parks department's decision to authorize a permit for Cal Anderson Park — not because the Christian families were somehow undeserving but because "this park is commonly known as the heart of ANTIFA land."

"We have no doubt that this city decision, as naïve or deliberate as it was, put police officers in an untenable predicament," the guild said in a statement.

"A riot started in Cal Anderson Park in Seattle formerly known as the CHOP zone. Why?" wrote evangelist Ross Johnston, a co-host of the event. "The church showed up outside to worship Jesus and preach the gospel! Let me make it clear, we are just warming up and WE AIN'T BACKING DOWN."

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Bernie Sanders unapologetic about private jet use on anti-oligarchy tour



Rather than idle in one of his three houses, millionaire Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has been traveling around the country for his Fighting Oligarchy Tour, hitting Americans up for money and giving speeches with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and other fellow travelers on "how we move forward to take on the oligarchs and corporate interests who have so much power and influence in this country."

When pressed Wednesday about the optics of taking a private jet around the country to complain about poverty and inequality, Sanders stated emphatically that he would not apologize for avoiding the alternative modes of travel used by everyday Americans.

Citing campaign expenditures released last month, the Washington Free Beacon indicated that Sanders' main campaign committee, Friends of Bernie Sanders, which manages the Fighting Oligarchy Tour, spent $221,723 on chartering private jets during the first quarter of 2025.

Some of the flights taken by Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez on the "Fighting Oligarchy Tour" were reportedly worth $15,000 an hour.

Where Sanders is concerned, this is par for the course.

In the final three months of 2019, Sanders' campaign spent nearly $1.2 million on a luxury private jet charter service — not a good look for someone critical of the wealthy and supposedly concerned about the supposed threat of climate change.

'You think I'm gonna be sitting on a waiting line at United waiting?'

During an interview Wednesday, Fox News' Bret Baier asked the self-described democratic socialist to respond to the Beacon's report concerning his jet travel.

Sanders initially tried to neutralize the question with some whataboutery, suggesting that President Donald Trump — who has made no claim to being a socialist — has not and would not fly commercial while in "campaign mode."

"But he's also not fighting the oligarchy," said Baier.

"You run a campaign, and you do three or four or five rallies in a week. [It is] the only way you can get around to talk to 30,000 people," said Sanders. "You think I'm gonna be sitting on a waiting line at United waiting? You know, while 30, 000 people are waiting?"

'Socialism for you, luxury for him.'

Sanders stressed that private jet travel was "the only way to get around."

"No apologies for that," continued the senator. "That's what campaign travel is about. We've done it in the past. We're gonna do it in the future."

— (@)  
 

"I think at a time when the people on top are doing phenomenally well, when seniors, working-class people are struggling, people want to hear action to stand up to the people who have the wealth and the power and create an economy that works for all of us, not just the people on top," Sanders told Baier.

Critics seized upon Sanders' comments as another example of his apparent hypocrisy.

"Ironic that a self proclaimed socialist doesn't like to stand in line since that's what people do in socialist countries. It's just for food, gas, and medical attention — not flights on United," tweeted former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R).

All-American swim star Riley Gaines noted, "The socialist who rails against the wealthy flies private and scoffs at flying commercial — socialism for you, luxury for him."

Sanders admitted during his October appearance on the "Lex Fridman Podcast" that it is easy for politicians to lose touch with everyday Americans and their priorities, noting that "it's a very easy trap to fall into — you can get separated from ordinary people and their struggle."

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Argentina's 'chainsaw' president tells the UN to shove its 'socialist' 'Pact for the Future'



Javier Milei, Argentina's self-proclaimed "anarcho-capitalist" president, took office in December 2023. In the months since, he has taken a "chainsaw" to his predecessors' failed leftist policies as well as to some critics' doubts.

This week, he shredded globalist hopes that the Argentine Republic would be party to the United Nations' "Pact for the Future," telling the General Assembly, "Argentina will not back any policy that implies the restriction of individual freedoms or trade, nor the violation of the natural rights of individuals."

Milei — whose debut address to the U.N. took place within hours of reports indicating that Argentina's economic activity beat estimates, growing 1.7% in July — invited other nations to join him not only in "opposing this pact, but in the creation of a new agenda for this noble institution: the freedom agenda."

After noting that the U.N. served a noble purpose in the wake of World War II, Milei stated it has since "stopped upholding the principles outlined in its founding declaration and begun to mutate" — from an organization that once defended human rights to "one of the main drivers of the systematic violation of freedom."

Milei dragged the U.N. for its support of "global quarantines during the year 2020," which he suggested qualify as crimes against humanity, as well as its appeasement of "bloody dictatorships," such as Venezuela, and criticism of Israel.

According to the Argentine president, the U.N. was created "as a shield to protect the realm of men" but has "transformed into a multi-tentacled leviathan that seeks to decide not only what each nation-state should do but also how all the citizens of the world should live."

'It is basically an attempt to build a totalitarian system of conformity across the business sector.'

Milei suggested that instead of seeking peace, the U.N. now seeks to impose an ideology on its members.

Distinguishing himself from a great many onlookers as a "libertarian liberal economist" rather than a politician, Milei warned of the threat posed by "collectivist policies" baked into the U.N.'s doomed 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The U.N.'s 2030 agenda includes 17 interlinked global goals designed to "transform the world."

Paul Tice, an adjunct professor of finance at the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University, indicated in his recent book, "The Race to Zero: How ESG Investing Will Crater the Global Financial System," that:

Climate action (SDG #13) provides the intersectional glue for the entire progressive agenda embedded in the UN's sustainability program, with each individual cause drawing strength and further validation from the moral imperative of saving the planet from fossil fuels because, in the UN's telling, climate change also affects global health, poverty, hunger, and national security, and 'its adverse impacts undermine the ability of all countries to achieve sustainable development.

Tice emphasized that sustainability is part of a broader anti-capitalist campaign that "borrows elements from both the totalitarian and reformist approaches of the past."

"It is basically an attempt to build a totalitarian system of conformity across the business sector based on moral suasion, thereby avoiding the administrative cost and public sector responsibility associated with outright state ownership or direct government intervention," wrote Tice.

'[The sustainability agenda] is nothing more than a super-national socialist government program.'

The professor noted further that "it embraces both state and progressive priorities but is mainly the fabrication of a permanent supranational bureaucracy of technocrats residing at multilateral agencies led by the UN and international NGOS such as the WEF, which effectively insulates it from accountability at the ballot box."

Sharing similar concerns about the U.N. agenda and its broader sustainability push, Milei suggested that the U.N. is now effectively a model of "super-national governance by international bureaucrats who intend to impose a certain way of life on the citizens of the world."

According to Milei, the "Pact for the Future," which 143 countries approved Sunday, is par for the course.

The pact overlaps with the 2030 sustainability agenda, laying out objectives for a multilateral approach to addressing changing weather patterns, so-called reproductive rights, and digital cooperation.

"Although well-intentioned in its goals, [the pact] is nothing more than a super-national socialist government program that aims to solve the problems of modernity with solutions that undermine the sovereignty of nation-states and violate the right to life, liberty, and property of individuals," said the Argentine president. "It is an agenda that aims to solve poverty, inequality, and discrimination with legislation that only deepens these issues."

Milei suggested that the pact is another poorly conceived utopian program that will not withstand or tolerate humans' incompatible nature and choices.

"We want to officially express our dissent regarding the 'Pact of the Future' signed on Sunday," said Milei, concluding with a version of a quote from Thomas Paine: "Those who wish to reap the blessings of freedom must, as men, endure the fatigue of defending it."

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'Like the old Soviet Union': Socialist shutdown of National Conservatism event featuring Orbán and Farage backfires



Police stormed the National Conservatism conference in Brussels Tuesday and barricaded the doors on the orders of a leftist mayor. The clampdown was demanded and celebrated by Antifa and other extremists who sought to make clear to the world leaders, lawmakers, and intellectuals inside that they were not welcome to openly discuss the conservation of their respective nation-states.

The shutdown backfired greatly, not only confirming attendees' suspicions that leftists are animated by totalitarian energies and that post-national liberals will become increasingly authoritarian as their influence wanes, but causing a significant international stir.

In the face of immense backlash over the socialist clampdown on free speech, Belgium's supreme administrative court and the Belgian prime minister intervened in the conservatives' favor.

Prime Minister Alexander De Croo noted on X, "What happened at the Claridge today is unacceptable. Municipal autonomy is a cornerstone of our democracy but can never overrule the Belgian constitution guaranteeing the freedom of speech and peaceful assembly since 1830. Banning political meetings is unconstitutional. Full stop."

Meanwhile, foreign leaders — including the British and Italian prime ministers — and multitudes of critics worldwide blasted the attempt to thwart the efforts of patriots to prevent their respective nations from becoming pseudo-states like Belgium.

Times of London columnist Melanie Phillips, who took the stage upon the defiant resumption of the event Wednesday, summarized the scandal thusly: "I feel a bit of history has been made here in the last day or so. What's happened here at this conference is that this process of silencing us has been dramatized in such a spectacular fashion that even the Belgian prime minister has denounced it along with [Prime Minister] Rishi Sunak in Britain, various German politicians, and a chorus of condemnation condemnation across the board and across continents."

"Talk about an own-goal," continued Phillips. "At a stroke, ideological enemies have shown that it is in fact the left that is intolerant and oppressive and a threat to democracy and a dictatorial risk to freedom and national cosnervativism is now the resistance."

 
"At a stroke, our ideological enemies have shown that it is, in fact, the Left that is intolerant and oppressive and a threat to democracy and a dictatorial risk to freedom. And National Conservatism is now the resistance."\n-@MelanieLatest #NatConBrussels2
— (@)  
 

Background

The NatCon conference is a project of the Edmund Burke Foundation and is chaired by Israeli-American philosopher Yoram Hazony.

The project defines "National Conservatism" as "a movement of public figures, journalists, scholars, and students who understand that the past and future of conservatism are inextricably tied to the idea of the nation, to the principle of national independence, and to the revival of the unique national traditions that alone have the power to bind a people together and bring about their flourishing."

Past conferences have taken place across what was once regarded as the free world, in cities such as Orlando, Washington, D.C., London, and Rome. Past guests and speakers included Republican Sens. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Josh Hawley (Mo.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.); Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis; elements of Blaze Media; and a host of international leaders of various political stripes.

This year, the conference — which counts former British Home Secretary Suella Braverman, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Catholic Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Brexiteer Nigel Farage, and French politician Eric Zemmour among its speakers — had difficulty finding a venue in Brussels hosted by someone with the requisite intestinal fortitude to support free speech.

Politico reported that the conference, this year focused on the theme of "Preserving the Nation-State in Europe," initially secured the Concert Noble, but the host venue pulled out just days ahead of the conference.

Frank Füredi, the executive director of MCC Brussels, the think tank helping organize the event, said, "What has happened in these last few days represents nothing less than a crisis for free speech and political expression for all of Europe."

According to the Brussels Times, communists and other radicals pressured the venue to axe the event to preclude people from discussing and hearing about the fallout of mass migration, climate alarmism, LGBT imperialism, and the erosion of the nation-state.

Another venue caved to leftist pressure, canceling the conference's booking just 20 hours before the event was set to begin, prompting organizers to accuse Brussels' socialist mayor, Philippe Close, of trying to cancel the event for ideological reasons.

Neighboring municipalities also made clear that the conference would not be welcome.

The NatCon conference ultimately found a venue in the Claridge events hall reportedly run by a Tunisian man "who believes in free speech and who did not surrender to the tremendous political pressure to cancel a conservative conference."

Extra to receiving a standing ovation Wednesday, the host was personally thanked by Orbán.

Farage similarly lauded the Tunisian for standing up to the "bullyboys."

The socialist reflex

While the conference overcame the initial cancellation efforts, it still had to deal with the local authorities.

Emir Kir, the socialist mayor of the Brussels suburb Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, announced Tuesday morning that he had "issued an order from the Mayor to ban the 'National Conservatism Conference' event to guarantee public safety. In Etterbeek, Brussels City and Saint-Josse, the far-right is not welcome."

Kir previously indicated he would "immediately take measures to ban" the event.

Police dutifully stormed the event and sealed the entrances, ensuring attendees could not enter.

 
Here is the police presence outside not letting anybody in and if we leave not letting anybody back in! Insane!
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Police enter venue of Nat Con conference in Brussels to serve a request to close down event. Farage on stage
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Politico indicated that police informed organizers the event was being shut down hours before Nigel Farage's keynote speech.

"It's really something out of a tin-pot dictatorship" Füredi told Politico. "They're trying to use a technical reason to make a political point. They told the owner that if it doesn't get shut down they're gonna cut the electricity."

Farage noted that the socialist mayor's efforts to shut down conservative speech and appease the leftist mob were "like the old Soviet union. No alternative view allowed."

A second wave of officers came by at 12:45 p.m. to hand Anthony Gilland, the event's local organizer, the official shutdown order.

"One of the reasons that we've been given, it's not the only reason, is that there will be a counterprotest this afternoon around about 5 p.m. and the idea is that the police are not able to protect free speech at this event," said Gilland.

An apparent English translation of the shutdown order claims the the event "is likely to cause a serious disturbance of the public peace due to its provocative and discriminatory nature" and that some of the attendees "are reputed to be traditionalists, homophobes, and disrespectful of human rights and minorities; we can also cite an author of controversial works on political Islam."

Hazony announced the event would be "gradually" wound down Tuesday.

 
NatCon organiser Yoram Hazony announcing the conference would be closed gradually... Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman allowed to speak
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The backlash and conservative triumph

Orbán said in a statement, "The Belgian police decided to shut down the @NatConTalk conference in #Brussels, just two hours after it started. I guess they couldn't take free speech any longer. The last time they wanted to silence me with the police was when the Communists set them on me in '88. We didn't give up then and we will not give up this time either!"

The Guardian reported that Farage told those gathered outside the venue, "I've experienced cancel culture personally here … but what has happened in there on the stage with global media, we can see that legally held opinions from people who are going to win national elections is not longer acceptable here in Brussels, the home of globalism."

"This is the complete old communist style where if you don't agree with me, you've got to be banned, you've got to be shut down," added Farage, who was de-banked last year over his political views.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the shutdown, saying, "What is happening in Brussels leaves us in disbelief and dismay. The mayor of one of the Belgian capital's municipalities has banned a conference, which is scheduled to be attended by heads of government, national and European parliamentarians."

"Following the order, police physically prevented guests and speakers from entering the conference," continued Meloni. "I immediately asked Prime Minister Alexander De Croo of Belgium to follow up on what was happening, and I thank him for his timely and clear stance against the hateful oppression of freedom of expression taking place in Brussels."

A spokesman for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said, "Speaking more broadly to the principle of such events, he is very clear that canceling events or preventing attendance and no-platforming speakers is damaging to free speech and to democracy as a result."

British parliamentarian and former Home Secretary Suella Braverman tweeted, "It's laughable that the Brussels thought police were sent out to shut down a conference of democratically elected politicians representing the views of millions of people. They clearly didn't want to hear about how we can secure our borders & protect our citizens."

Proponents of the conference challenged the mayoral order with the help of the Christian advocacy group ADF International. Belgium's supreme administrative court said in an emergency session Tuesday that the conference could resume.

ADF International executive director Paul Coleman said in a statement, "While common sense and justice have prevailed, what happened yesterday is a dark mark on European democracy. No official should have the power to shut down free and peaceful assembly merely because he disagrees with what is being said."

Farage posted a video Wednesday morning wherein he gleefully noted he was on his way to the conference.

"It's still happening!" said Farage, who elsewhere penned an editorial suggesting the scandalous shutdown proved Brexit was a good call for Britons. "The local mayor has had his comeuppance. It's going to be a full house, a load of fun. It's a victory for free speech."

 Nigel Farage | Return of the Nation State | NatCon Brussels 2youtu.be

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RFK Jr. Can’t Keep Up ‘Moderate’ Facade While Celebrating Violent Radical Cesar Chavez

Environmental extremist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is planning a celebration this weekend for the late socialist to mark Cesar Chavez Day.

A dive into why Bernie Sanders hates Israel



Bernie Sanders has just taken it upon himself to rally support on the Senate floor to cut funding to Israel — until Israel stops defending itself from the terrorist group Hamas.

“Bernie Sanders is a Marxist low-life,” Mark Levin charges. “He is a self-hating Jew. He is not a Jew of faith; he’s a Jew of birth.”

Levin believes that if Sanders had his way, he “would burn down our entire country and replace it with his Marxist nirvana, which we all know would mean prison camps, mass murder, centralized destruction, an economy where people starve and can’t feed themselves.”

“That’s the natural logical end to what this man preaches,” Levin adds.

When Sanders was asked by CNN host Jake Tapper whether or not Biden’s strikes as a response to the Houthis were warranted, he responded, “What I do think is the president has a right to respond on an emergency basis to the disruption.”

“I’m sure there’ll be like 15 ‘buts’ after that,” Levin says.

“On the other hand, he’s got to get the Congress immediately. It is Congress that has the right to declare war, not the president of the United States,” Sanders continued, proving Levin right.

Sanders is currently trying to force a vote in Congress that would direct the U.S. State Department to look into whether Israel is using U.S. equipment or assistance to violate human rights standards in Gaza.

“This is outrageous. Bernie Sanders goes to the floor of the Senate. He’s introducing a requirement legislation or resolution that they will not continue to support Israel if Israel’s using weaponry it buys from the United States to commit war crimes,” Levin says.

“Israel’s not committing war crimes. Hamas commits war crimes; that’s why they’re called terrorists. Just look at this moral equivalency, how they’ve turned this upside down,” he continues.


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