‘Time For Accountability’: Ted Cruz Rattles Off List Of Times Taxpayer-Funded NPR Was Biased Against Conservatives
'NPR churned out content precisely mirroring its donors’ agendas'
Transportation secretary blasts DOD after Army Black Hawk chopper's 'scenic' flight causes near misses with 2 jetliners in DC
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blasted the Defense Department after an Army Black Hawk helicopter took a "scenic route" around Washington, D.C., which caused near misses with two commercial jetliners attempting to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Around 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, an Army Black Hawk helicopter allegedly had close calls with two commercial airliners.
'Our helicopter restrictions around DCA are crystal clear.'
The Federal Aviation Administration said in an incident report, "Air traffic control instructed Delta Air Lines Flight 1671 and Republic Airways Flight 5825 to perform go-arounds at the Reagan Washington National Airport due to a Priority Air Transport helicopter inbound to the Pentagon Army Heliport."
The Army Black Hawk helicopter "took a scenic route around the Pentagon versus proceeding directly from the west to the heliport," according to an email obtained by Politico from Chris Senn, Federal Aviation Administration assistant administrator for government and industry affairs.
Both commercial airplanes were reportedly on their final approach.
The Black Hawk helicopter came within 200 feet of the Republic plane and within 400 feet of the Delta plane, according to Senn's email.
Senn said air traffic controllers temporarily couldn’t pinpoint the Black Hawk’s tracking position in real time on their radar screens.
Senn noted that the helicopter’s radar track "inadvertently floated and jumped to a different location on the controller feed after being unresponsive for a couple of seconds."
At the time of the incidents, the control tower had one supervisor, four certified professional controllers, and one certified professional trainee receiving on-the-job training, according to Senn.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board launched an investigation into the events. Delta said it was cooperating in the investigation.
Delta said there were five flight crew and 97 passengers aboard its commercial airliner.
"Nothing is more important at Delta than the safety of our customers and people. We'll cooperate with the FAA as they investigate," Delta said on Friday.
The U.S. Army said of the incident, "While conducting flight operations into the Pentagon, in accordance with published FAA flight routes and DCA Air Traffic Control, a UH-60 Blackhawk was directed by Pentagon Air Traffic Control to conduct a 'go-around,' overflying the Pentagon helipad, in accordance with approved flight procedures. As a result, DCA Air Traffic Control issued a 'go-around' to two civilian fixed-wing aircraft to ensure the appropriate deconfliction of airspace."
The incidents were classified as a "loss of separation," which is when aircraft violate the minimum vertical and/or horizontal distance required to safely avoid a mid-air collision in a controlled airspace.
The Pentagon did not immediately provide a comment when asked by Reuters.
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy declared the actions by the chopper's pilot were "unacceptable."
"Our helicopter restrictions around DCA are crystal clear," Duffy proclaimed on the X social media platform.
Duffy continued, "I’ll be talking to the Department of Defense to ask why the hell our rules were disregarded."
"Safety must ALWAYS come first. We just lost 67 souls! No more helicopter rides for VIPs or unnecessary training in a congested DCA airspace full of civilians," Duffy added. "Take a taxi or Uber — besides, most VIPs have black car service."
Lawmakers from both political parties expressed concern over the incidents.
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) stated, "The Army is once again putting the traveling public at risk. ... It’s time for the FAA to act swiftly and assert control over the national airspace so the Army stops running air taxis for military officials near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport."
Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) said, "The Army and FAA need to reevaluate their operations and return to Capitol Hill to explain what needs to be done to make certain the DCA airspace is safe. We already had a tragedy that should not have happened."
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) added, "It is outrageous that only three months after an Army Black Hawk helicopter tragically collided with a passenger jet, the same Army brigade again flew a helicopter too close to passenger jets on final approach at Reagan National Airport."
Moran and Cantwell are referring to the air travel disaster that occurred in January when an American Airlines plane collided with an Army VH-60M Black Hawk. The air travel accident killed all 67 people aboard the two aircraft.
The helicopter and plane collided while the chopper was conducting a training exercise.
As Blaze News reported last month, Captain Rebecca Lobach — the helicopter's pilot — failed to heed her instructor's orders moments before flying into the commercial airliner.
The mid-air collision caused the FAA to impose permanent restrictions on nonessential helicopter operations around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
In March, a Delta Air Lines plane nearly crashed into an Air Force jet near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere's investigation unearthed several eyebrow-raising developments in how airports are using outdated technology, DEI practices that exclude the most qualified would-be air traffic controllers, and severely understaffed air traffic control towers.
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‘Take It Down Act’ targets deepfake perverts exploiting teens online
Elliston Berry was 14 years old when a classmate used an AI editing app to turn her social media photo into a deepfake nude. He circulated the fake image on Snapchat. The next day, similar deepfake images of eight more girls spread among classmates.
The victims’ parents filed a Title IX complaint. Authorities charged the student who created the images with a class A misdemeanor. Still, the deepfake nudes stayed online. Berry’s mother appealed to Snapchat for more than eight months to remove the images. Only after U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) personally contacted the company did Snapchat finally take the pictures down.
The Take It Down Act would make it illegal to knowingly publish ‘nonconsensual intimate imagery’ depicting real, identifiable people on social media or other online platforms.
As AI becomes cheaper and more accessible, anyone can create exploitative digital content — and anyone can become a victim. In 2023, one in three deepfake tools allowed users to produce AI-generated pornography. With just one clear photo, anyone could create a 60-second pornographic video in under 25 minutes for free.
The explosion of deepfake pornography should surprise no one. Pornography accounted for 98% of all online deepfake videos in 2023. Women made up 99% of the victims.
Even though AI-generated images are fake, the consequences are real — humiliation, exploitation, and shattered reputations. Without strong laws, explicit deepfakes can haunt victims forever, circulating online, jeopardizing careers, and inflicting lifelong damage.
First lady Melania Trump has made tackling this crisis an early priority — and she’s right. In the digital age, technological advancement must come with stronger protections for kids and families online. AI’s power to innovate also carries a power to destroy. To curb its abuse, the first lady has championed the Take It Down Act, a bipartisan bill sponsored by Cruz and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).
The bill would make it illegal to knowingly publish “nonconsensual intimate imagery” depicting real, identifiable people on social media or other online platforms. Crucially, it would also require websites to remove such images within 48 hours of receiving notice from a victim.
The Take It Down Act marks an essential first step in building federal protections for kids online. Pornography already peddles addiction in the guise of pleasure. AI-generated pornography, created without the subject’s knowledge or consent, takes the exploitation even further. Deepfake porn spreads like wildfire. One in eight teenagers ages 13 to 17 know someone who has been victimized by fake nudes.
The bill also holds AI porn creators accountable. Victims would finally gain the legal means to demand removal of deepfake images from social media and pornography sites alike.
Forty-nine states and Washington, D.C., ban the nonconsensual distribution of real intimate images, often called “revenge porn.” As AI technology advanced, 20 states also passed laws targeting the distribution of deepfake pornographic images.
State laws help, but they cannot fully protect Americans in a borderless digital world. AI-generated pornography demands a federal solution. The Take It Down Act would guarantee justice for victims no matter where they live — and force websites to comply with the 48-hour removal rule.
We are grateful that the first lady has fought for this cause and that the Senate has acted. Now the House must follow. With President Trump’s signature, this critical protection for victims of digital exploitation can finally become law.
They covered Christ — Trump just brought Him back to light
Jesus is coming back — to the walls of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.
In a sharp reversal of the Biden administration’s campaign to scrub religious symbols from public institutions, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced last week that a painting of Jesus covered up in 2023 would be restored to public view. The announcement drew cheers from merchant mariners gathered at the academy.
Under the previous administration, erasing Jesus from the walls was just the beginning. But that all changed the moment President Trump took office.
The painting, titled “Christ on the Water,” dates to the 1940s and was created to honor mariners lost at sea during World War II. But in early 2023, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation sent a letter to then-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, calling the artwork a “sectarian painting illustrating the supremacy of Jesus Christ” and demanding that it be removed as an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.
Naturally, Buttigieg complied. Joanna Nunan, the academy superintendent — whose biography boasted of her efforts to expand “diversity and inclusion” in the Coast Guard and Merchant Marine — ordered the painting covered.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and then-Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) slammed Nunan for her “flawed understanding” of the First Amendment and called on the academy to keep the painting on display. At the time, academy midshipmen warned that “woke” ideology had “seeped into the school” — and that its spread had only accelerated under Biden and Buttigieg.
Duffy’s announcement marks a clear break from that era and shows just how dramatically things have shifted under President Trump.
Last week’s announcement isn’t the only recent move by the administration to defend America’s religious heritage.
Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins announced that his office intervened to stop a speech code threatening chaplains at a Pennsylvania VA hospital.
The action came after First Liberty Institute and the Independence Law Center sent a letter to Collins on behalf of Chaplain Rusty Trubey. An Army Reserve chaplain, veteran, and former missionary, Trubey has served at the Coatesville VA Medical Center for nearly a decade.
In June 2024, as part of his regular duties, Trubey led a chapel service and preached from the first chapter of Romans. After the service, while cleaning up, he was approached by a VA police officer who said complaints had been filed about his sermon.
After the incident, the VA removed Chaplain Trubey from his duties, launched a months-long investigation, and threatened to mark his permanent record. Though the VA eventually dropped the reprimand, his supervisor pushed to impose a sermon review process and revise the Chaplain SOP and Performance Plan to limit what topics chaplains could preach on. Had those changes taken effect, chaplains could have faced punishment for preaching in accordance with their religious convictions.
Secretary Collins reversed course, stating clearly: “There is no national or local policy or standard operating procedure which inhibits Chaplain sermons. To the extent that there have been any proposed changes to any existing policy, those proposals will not move forward and have been rescinded.”
He emphasized, “It is undisputed and well-settled law that constitutional protections and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act safeguard statements made by all VA chaplains while delivering sermons in line with their ecclesiastical endorsers.”
Under the previous administration, erasing Jesus from the walls was just the beginning. Erasing faith from the pulpit soon followed. We can only imagine what the landscape would look like if the November election had gone the other way.
But that all changed the moment President Trump took office.
In his first days, Trump issued executive orders to restore religious liberty and end the weaponization of the federal government against political dissent — a tactic increasingly common in the left’s push to enforce its woke ideology. From the start, the administration made clear that faith would not be silenced.
That mission hasn’t let up. The fight to restore our first freedom has been relentless.
And to that, many Americans say amen.
'Anti-Christian activist' viciously attacks DOT Sec. Duffy for seeking return of Jesus painting at Merchant Marine Academy
A New York-based activist group successfully pushed in 2023 to have a historic painting depicting Jesus Christ covered up at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, where it had been proudly displayed for 76 years without incident. The alleged motivation behind this act of iconoclasm, which resulted in the painting's exile to the building's flood-prone basement, was to create "a welcoming environment."
When Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy signaled earlier this month that the painting might soon make a triumphant return, Mikey Weinstein, the head of the iconoclastic activist group, let his mask slip, revealing there might be some prejudices lurking behind his iconoclastic campaign.
Weinstein, the president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, whom Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) previously dubbed an "anti-Christian activist," viciously attacked Duffy, Trump supporters, and midshipmen supportive of the painting's return in a statement shared with the Christian Post and the Daily Kos.
"tRump's [sic] Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is clearly bereft of any semblance of morality, ethical standard, or constitutional legality (obviously required with all MAGA filthy, ignorant, hateful, bigoted scum) and is merely throwing rotting dripping, fetid, red meat to the Christian Nationalist MAGA fascists in America, who are clearly sprinkled among the USMVA midshipmen, staff and faculty," wrote Weinstein.
The activist, whose demand in 2023 USSMA Superintendent Vice Admiral Joanna Nunan apparently took seriously, added, "Duffy is simply a stray, feral dog, lifting his leg and urinating a rancid fundamentalist Christian fealty on what MAGA fascists now apparently view as a front yard lawn toy rather than an honored cornerstone of the defense of our constitutionally created secular democratic republic."
The painting
The painting that has Weinstein all bothered is a heritage asset under the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration titled "Christ on the Water."
According to the USMMA, the 10'x19' painting "depicts an image of Jesus and merchant seamen adrift in a lifeboat, presumably after being torpedoed in the Indian Ocean during World War II."
'The painting is perfectly in keeping with the Establishment Clause.'
It was painted on sail canvas by Lt. Hunter Wood in 1944 as a tribute to all merchant seamen.
Wood joined the U.S. Coast Guard with the rank of chief boatswain's mate 10 days after the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. He saw action during the invasion of North Africa in late 1942. Wood subsequently served as an artist in the Coast Guard Combat Artist Unit. He later joined the U.S. Maritime Service, with which he remained until the end of the war, advancing to lieutenant commander.
Wood's painting hung for seven decades in the Elliot M. See Room of the USMMA's Wiley Hall, which served from 1942 to 1961 as an interfaith chapel.
The complaint
The academy indicated that in early January 2023, it received a complaint about "Christ on the Water," suggesting it somehow sent an "improper message of preferred faithin violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution."
Weinstein, claiming to represent 18 midshipmen, faculty, staff, and graduates at the academy, demanded in a Jan. 10 letter obtained by the Christian Post that Nunan "expeditiously remove a massive, sectarian painting illustrating the supremacy of Jesus Christ."
"The outrageousness of that Jesus painting's display is only further exacerbated by the fact that this room is also used regularly for USMMA Honor Code violation boards where midshipmen are literally fighting for their careers, and, often even more, as they face the shameful ignominy of potential expulsion with prejudice if found guilty of USMMA Honor Code violations," wrote the activist.
Initially, the academy decided to keep the painting up but discontinue use of the room for official business. Accordingly, members of the community interested in viewing the painting were free to do so. Those who shared Weinstein's hostility were free to avoid the painting altogether.
On Jan. 26, 2023, the academy — which supplies some officers to the U.S. military, at least 70% of which is Christian — announced that it had chosen to cover the painting with curtains and install a plaque describing the work's history.
"The curtains will remain closed when official Academy meetings and events are conducted," said the statement. "This solution balances legal requirements with the concerns of those who have an interest in the painting."
The decision to oblige the iconoclasts prompted a petition and letters to Nunan from various lawmakers, including Banks and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) demanding the painting's unveiling.
Cruz noted:
The relevant constitutional question is whether the Academy's display of the painting meets the requirements of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. As a long-standing display that is consistent with the history and tradition of the United States and its Maritime Service, it clearly does. Under the Supreme Court's standard for long-standing government displays, the painting is perfectly in keeping with the Establishment Clause.
Banks similarly underscored the lawfulness of hanging the painting in the academy, referring to a 2019 Supreme Court ruling that "historic displays with religious symbolism are not a violation of the Constitution."
'Let's let him out! Bring him up!'
Despite the backlash and indications that the removal was wholly unnecessary, multiple sources told Fox News Digital that the painting was moved to a chapel basement prone to flooding.
The return
During his April 4 visit to the academy, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy addressed a room full of midshipmen. During his speech, he signaled support for the painting's return, stating, "Can we bring Jesus up from the basement?"
The audience burst into cheers, while scores of midshipmen leaped to their feet, applauding.
Duffy, a devout Catholic, continued, "Let's not put Jesus in the basement. Let's let him out! Bring him up!"
Since the USMMA falls under Duffy's purview, he is apparently able to restore the painting to its rightful place in the academy — something his predecessor, Pete Buttigieg, proved unwilling to do.
The academy's Christian Fellowship Club launched a petition on April 7 to permanently move the painting into Ackerman Auditorium.
'I think we're returning to objective truth.'
The petition notes that "moving the painting to the Museum damns it. It declares, 'This is who the Merchant Marine used to be once upon a time long long ago.'"
"We declare to you, faculty and staff, that this painting represents the Regiment of Midshipmen today more so than ever before," said the petition. "Here us now: We identify with those sailors."
The tantrum
Unlike those gathered at the academy, Weinstein responded poorly to Duffy's remarks, going so far as to dehumanize midshipmen who dared signal support for the painting's return.
"To the cheering robustious throngs of Christian Nationalist midshipmen at the U.S. Merchant of Venice Academy, and to their dear MAGA fascist cheerleader Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, MRFF commands: 'Side Step HARCH!,' you stinking piece-of-s**t Christian Nationalist insects," wrote the activist.
Weinstein added in his statement that the return of the painting would "spark WORLD WAR 8."
The activist continued ranting in an unhinged YouTube video, where he suggested that midshipmen's cheering of Duffy was a "despicable, shameful disgrace of [their] oath to the U.S. Constitution" and characterized their support for the DOT secretary's remarks as cowardly.
"Jesus Christ represents ideals that are not specific to one group of people or another," Jackson Tolle, a midshipman in USMMA's class of 2026, told the Christian Post. "Ideals of sacrifice, ideals of love, compassion, and empathy; these are ideals and traits that we, as a culture, need to return to."
"Moral relativism has failed the country and the world, more so than any belief system ever really has," continued Tolle. "I think we're returning to objective truth."
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Trump threatens Mexico with tariff, sanction for violating water treaty and 'hurting' American farmers
President Donald Trump threatened Mexico on Thursday with tariffs and sanctions if it continues "stealing" water from Texas.
Trump's comments referred to a 1944 water treaty for the "Utilization of Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande," which requires Mexico to send 1.75 million acre-feet of water from the Rio Grande every five years. The U.S. is required to send Mexico 1.5 million acre-feet of water every year from the Colorado River.
'We will keep escalating consequences, including TARIFFS and, maybe even SANCTIONS, until Mexico honors the Treaty, and GIVES TEXAS THE WATER THEY ARE OWED!'
The New York Times, based on International Boundary and Water Commission data, stated that from October 2020 to October 2024, Mexico provided only roughly 400,000 acre-feet of water, falling substantially short of its treaty obligations.
Last month, Trump threatened to cut off water to Tijuana over Mexico's failure to keep up its end of the deal, which the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs explained has been "decimating American agriculture — particularly farmers in the Rio Grande valley."
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) called Trump's action "excellent."
"This option is absolutely what the Trump administration needs to pressure Mexico to fulfill its obligations under the 1944 Water Treaty," he wrote in a post on social media. "Texas farmers are in crisis because of Mexico's noncompliance. I will work with the Trump administration to pressure Mexico into complying and to get water to Texas farmers."
On Thursday, Trump warned Mexico yet again, this time threatening to impose additional tariffs and "maybe even SANCTIONS."
"Mexico OWES Texas 1.3 million acre-feet of water under the 1944 Water Treaty, but Mexico is unfortunately violating their Treaty obligation. This is very unfair, and it is hurting South Texas Farmers very badly," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
He said that Texas' only sugar mill was forced to close because Mexico has been "stealing the water" from farmers.
Trump credited Cruz for leading the effort to hold Mexico accountable and ensure that farmers are provided with the water they are "owed," noting that former President Joe Biden "refused to lift a finger."
"THAT ENDS NOW! I will make sure Mexico doesn't violate our Treaties, and doesn't hurt our Texas Farmers," Trump continued. "My Agriculture Secretary, Brooke Rollins, is standing up for Texas Farmers, and we will keep escalating consequences, including TARIFFS and, maybe even SANCTIONS, until Mexico honors the Treaty, and GIVES TEXAS THE WATER THEY ARE OWED!"
Rollins thanked the president for his commitment to help farmers.
"Texans know a thing or two about facing down Mexico — especially when Mexico breaks its promises and takes what's ours," Rollins stated. "With your leadership, we're going to get that water we're due — for Texas, and for America."
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'How many men?' Ted Cruz demands answers from USA Fencing after male athlete was allowed to compete against women
Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) asked the national fencing body why it is not complying with federal mandates and gave a clear deadline for answers.
A male competed in a women's fencing tournament in Maryland at the end of March, which sparked a protest from one of the female athletes, who refused to compete against the man.
Female fencer Stephanie Turner forfeited her match against male Redmond Sullivan and was disqualified from the tournament, with officials stating that her DQ was due to her refusal "to fence an eligible opponent."
To make matters worse, as Blaze News previously reported, the male fencer had already seen great success in the women's division, accumulating two gold medals in just six events. This, despite the male athlete's highest achievement in the men's category being third place over the span of several years.
Senator Cruz decided to pen a letter to USA Fencing after the ordeal, dated April 7, and asked why the sport's national governing body was defying President Trump's executive order that requires women's competitions to remain solely for women.
"It has come to my attention that USA Fencing is still permitting men to compete in women's fencing in violation of federal law. I'm writing to ask why," the Texas Republican wrote.
Cruz added that in order to retain its recognition as a national governing body in the United States, USA Fencing must comply with Olympic and federal standards.
"If it does not, and instead continues to put women at risk, Congress may be forced to terminate USA Fencing's NGB's certification," Cruz warned.
After going into great detail about violations and different instances of unfairness to women, the senator noted that male fencers have natural advantages over female competitors.
"Men tend to be taller, have greater muscle mass, and more testosterone — all advantages for fencing movements like lunges, jumping, or leg power measures," Cruz explained.
Then, the senator gave USA Fencing a deadline of April 21 (two weeks) to respond to his inquiries about the sporting conditions for women in fencing. His inquiries included questions like, "How many men (or transgender women) currently compete in the women's division of USA Fencing?" and, "Does the USA Fencing Transgender and Nonbinary Policy comply with President Trump's EO on Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports? Why or why not?"
Cruz also wanted to know how many sanctioned bouts had occurred in fencing between men "or transgender women" and women and how many times the male won. He also asked about how many times a female suffered in an injury in one of those bouts.
Blaze News has reached out to USA Fencing to see if the organization has provided the senator with a response or if it has a general response about allowing men to compete in women's sports.
This article will be updated with applicable responses.
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