Month: May 2025

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on CBS’s “Face the Nation” 5/18/25

Secretary of State Marco Rubio was on CBS’s “Face the Nation” with host Margaret Brennan on Sunday to discuss policy regarding Iran’s nuclear program.

“Can you clarify what the US policy is here? Is the bottom line that Iran cannot enrich any uranium, even if it is at low levels for civilian purposes? Do they need to fully dismantle the program?” Brennan asked.

“If you are able to enrich at any level, you now are basically able to enrich at weapons grade very quickly,” Rubio said.

“The end goal here is simple. Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. And the President’s preference because he doesn’t like war, the President’s preference is to achieve that through a peaceful negotiation,” Rubio continued.

“He’s offered that route and that’s one we hope the Iranians will take, but he’s been very clear. Iran is never gonna have the capability, they are never gonna have a nuclear weapon. It’s not going to happen,” Rubio continued.

Watch:

Asked whether the U.S. “bottom line” is that “Iran cannot enrich any uranium, even if it is at low levels for civilian purposes,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio tells @margbrennan, “If you’re able to enrich at any level, you now are basically able to enrich at weapons-grade very… pic.twitter.com/ktTtHgqL1N

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) May 18, 2025

Secretary Rubio also discussed with Brennan, Tren de Aragua and their ties to the Maduro regime in Venezuela. He explained that he disagreed with the intelligence community in their assessment and believed that the gang is involved with Maduro.

“Do you accept the intelligence community’s assessment that the Venezuelan gang is not a proxy force of the Maduro government? That was the National Intelligence Council assessment,” Brennan asked.

“Ya, that’s their assessment. They are wrong. One of the warnings out there by the FBI is not simply that Tren de Aragua are a terrorist organization, but one that has already been operationalized to murder an opposition member in another country,” Rubio said.

Brennan tried to differentiate that from being involved with the Maduro regime but Secretary Rubio held his ground and explained how dangerous Tren de Aragua is.

“You completely reject that intelligence community finding?” Brennan asked.

“Ya, I agree 100 percent with the FBI’s findings. This is a prison gang that the Venezuelan government has actively encouraged to leave the country,” Rubio said.

“Tren de Aragua members that have been returned to Venezuela on some of these planes that have gone back have been greeted like heroes at the airport,” Rubio said.

Watch:

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he disagrees with a recent National Intelligence Council assessment which contradicts President Trump’s assertions that the gang Tren de Aragua is operating under the direction of the Venezuelan regime, telling @margbrennan, “They’re wrong.”… pic.twitter.com/fH8XokG1GP

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) May 18, 2025

The post Secretary of State Marco Rubio Discusses Iran’s Nuclear Enrichment (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy delivers a speech on Friday nominating Rep. Jim Jordan as speaker. Jordan went on to lose the vote. (@SpeakerMcCarthy / X screen shot)

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is blasting House Republicans for cancelling a key committee vote and delaying President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.”

McCarthy discussed the matter during an appearance on John Catsimatidis’s radio show, “Cats Roundtable” on WABC 770 AM over the weekend.

The former House Speaker called the delay a “real misstep.”

“The stock market seems like it is moving up. Now, if Congress can start doing the things that President Trump’s doing, it would even help us more. Today was a real misstep on the Republicans’ part, in the budget side, that four of them looked out for themselves instead of moving the bill along, reconciliation,” McCarthy said.

The Hill reports, “Five House GOP fiscal hawks — Reps. Chip Roy (Texas), Ralph Norman (S.C.), Josh Brecheen (Okla.), Andrew Clyde (Ga.) and Lloyd Smucker (Pa.) — voted against advancing the measure that encompasses Trump’s legislative agenda on Friday. The vote was 16-21.”

McCarthy also threw a dig at Speaker Mike Johnson, who replaced him in the position when he was ousted.

“What really shows is, once President Trump gets back in the country, I mean, poor President Trump is being the president [and] the Speaker at the same time, I think we’ll get that bill through,” McCarthy said.

“Well, they’re back in this week, and I think the president will be back in and really looking to these members to get the job done, because if they don’t get the job done, your taxes go up, and that’s not going to happen, and it has a lot of the promises the president made about no tax on tips and others, and it will just help unleash the economy, because it would bring security and stability, that they know this is not going to happen, any tax increases,” McCarthy continued.

The House Budget Committee reconvenes tonight at 10 p.m.

The post McCarthy Blasts Republicans for Delaying Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Pope Leo XIV offered his inaugural Mass Sunday before a crowd of 200,000 people in St. Peter’s square. Leo, formerly Robert Cardinal Prevost, is the 267th pope and the first American leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

During the homily of his inaugural mass, which many commentators analogize to an inauguration speech, the pope mentioned the geopolitical situations in Ukraine and in Gaza. Leo called for a “just and lasting peace” in Ukraine and commented that the Palestinians in Gaza are being “reduced to starvation.”

Guests at the papal inaugural mass included the American Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain, and the pope’s brother, Louis Prevost. Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, represented the British royal family. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky was also present.

The post Leo XIV Inaugurated as 267th Pope appeared first on The American Conservative.

The WNBA issued a statement Sunday responding to allegations of racist behavior by fans at the season opening game between the Chicago Sky vs. Indiana Fever at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis Saturday. The Fever, led by Caitlin Clark, soundly defeated Angel Reese and the Sky, 93-58. (Clark and Reese got into it in the third quarter details below.) The announcement comes just days after the league announced a “No Space for Hate” campaign.

Indiana Fever player Caitlin Clark walks away from Chicago Sky player Angel Reese after giving Reese a hard foul in a game at Indianapolis, screen image via ESPN, May 17, 2025

Statement by the WNBA, “The following is a statement from the WNBA regarding yesterday’s game in Indianapolis. The WNBA strongly condemns racism, hate, and discrimination in all forms — they have no place in our league or in society. We are aware of the allegations and are looking into the matter.”

The following has been released by the WNBA. pic.twitter.com/LgSImP1x3Y

— WNBA Communications (@WNBAComms) May 18, 2025

The game was marred by rough play between intense rivals Reese and Clark in the third quarter that led to a flagrant foul on Clark and a missed free throw by Reese that some fans thought may have been the result of ‘monkey sounds’ heard in the arena as Reese took her free throw. There were other claims that racist taunts were heard throughout the game.

Reese was near the basket setting up for a rebound when she shoved Fever player Natasha Howard hard in the back to clear her out for the rebound and easy shot. Clark saw the foul and looked for the call, then, when there wasn’t a foul called on Reese, gave Reese a hard foul to disrupt her easy shot and force her to the free throw line. Some viewers thought Clark gave Reese an extra shove that knocked her to the floor, which apparently the refs saw and gave her the flagrant add-on to the foul charge.

The reaction to Caitlin Clark’s “flagrant foul” is even more hilarious when you realize Angel Reese shoved somebody in the back with 2 hands to get the rebound. pic.twitter.com/5lPCqjfg1f

— Hater Report (@HaterReport_) May 18, 2025

The ESPN clip starts (curious edit choice) right after Reese shoved Howard out of the way. Afterward, Reese got up to confront Clark, but Clark turned her back and walked away.

Caitlin Clark received a flagrant foul on this play.

Aliyah Boston and Angel Reese received offsetting technical fouls. pic.twitter.com/jzQYEW92TW

— ESPN (@espn) May 17, 2025

This angle appears to show Clark shoving Reese with her left arm:

This wasn’t a flop, Angel Reese had a point to react this way. I also don’t believe it was done maliciously by Caitlin Clark, but it definitely was a flagrant foul, because she pushed Angel, clearly. pic.twitter.com/hRLHvfX2DC

— Rashan Reeves (@Babyblack1977) May 18, 2025

Reese and Fever player Aliyah Boston were both given technical fouls. Boston was stunned to learn after the game that she had been hit with a technical.

Explainer posted by reporter Scott Agness, “Pool report with crew chief Roy Gulbeyan on Caitlin Clark’s Flagrant 1: “The foul on Clark met the criteria for Flagrant Foul 1, for wind up, impact, and follow through for the extension of the left hand to Reese’s back, which is deemed not a legitimate basketball play, and therefore deemed unnecessary contact. After the foul, there is a physical taunt technical on Boston and a verbal technical on Reese, which offset.””

Pool report with crew chief Roy Gulbeyan on Caitlin Clark’s Flagrant 1:

“The foul on Clark met the criteria for Flagrant Foul 1, for wind up, impact, and follow through for the extension of the left hand to Reese’s back, which is deemed not a legitimate basketball play, and…

— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) May 17, 2025

But it was what happened after the flagrant foul and offsetting technical fouls were called that really stirred up controversy.

When Reese went to the foul line, an odd sound could be heard:

Meanwhile in Indiana, you have @IndianaFever fans getting caught making Monkey sounds (CLEARLY RACE RELATED) toward A.R. after a small interaction with C.C. .

So what’s the timeline for accountability? https://t.co/t5DyfTbF7w pic.twitter.com/zuXmFys7yY

— Marsh G (@iamMarshh) May 18, 2025

What some people took as monkey sounds, others took to be a recording of the viral laughter of YouTube influencer FlightReacts

You WNBA fans are the most pathetic people in all of sports.That sound you claim is a monkey chant from Indiana fans is from Flightreacts’ laugh. You can look for the clip of the alleged incident and compare. Do yall even know how a monkey sounds? All this because your team lost https://t.co/Vm1QsUrLQr pic.twitter.com/tiZhZPRydb

— ÔneAFC (@22_7_0) May 18, 2025

The WNBA Players Association issued a statement, “The WNBPA is aware of reports of hateful comments at yesterday’s game in Indianapolis and supports the WNBA’s current investigation into this matter. Such behavior is unacceptable in our sport. Under the WNBA’s ‘No Space for Hate’ policy, we trust the league to thoroughly investigate and take swift, appropriate action to ensure a safe and welcoming environment for all.”

Mel Raines, CEO of Pacers Sports and Entertainment which owns the Indiana Fever, issued a statement Sunday afternoon, “We are aware of the allegations of inappropriate fan conduct during yesterday’s game and we are working closely with the WNBA to complete their investigation. We stand firm in our commitment to providing a safe environment for all WNBA players.”

The Associated Press reported Sunday the alleged racial taunts being investigated by the WNBA were directed at Angel Reese (headline and excerpt):

WNBA investigating racial slurs by fans made at Angel Reese during Indiana game, AP Source says

The WNBA is investigating racial comments directed toward Angel Reese by fans during the Chicago Sky’s loss to Caitlin Clark and the Fever at Indiana on Saturday, according to a person familiar with the situation.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on Sunday on condition of anonymity because the league had not publicly identified who the taunts were directed toward or who made the allegations.

Without any hard evidence, the AP has already convicted Indiana Fever fans of being racist.

This writer found one post claiming racist behavior at the game was witnessed by an attendee, but so far no video of such behavior:

it indeed happened pic.twitter.com/4uCklu2ASo

— Trason (@Kingstunna323) May 18, 2025

Bonus video clip that helps explain the lopsided score:

Caitlin Clark with the steal from Angel Reese pic.twitter.com/hmHBr3U6ja

— Clark News Report (@report_clark) May 17, 2025

The post WNBA to Investigate Allegations of Racism by Fans at Chicago Sky vs. Indiana Fever Game After Dust-Up Between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Israel’s Security Cabinet has decided to resume the transfer of aid into Gaza. All aid, including food, had been cut off from Gaza since March 2. 

The office of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Friday the resumption of aid transfers into the entire Gaza strip, presumably including areas under evacuation orders for Israel’s large planned ground incursion.

Israeli sources have cited American pressure from the Trump administration, as the cause of the resumption of aid. 

Over the course of the past week, President Donald Trump publicly commented on the humanitarian situation in Gaza. “We’re looking at Gaza…. We’re going to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving,” the president told reporters Friday. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio also commented on the situation this previous week, stating that the U.S. “is not immune or in any way insensitive to the suffering of the people of Gaza” while speaking to reporters in Turkey on Thursday.

The decision was allegedly opposed by many members of the Israeli security cabinet. Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s hardline minister of national security and a member of the Kahanist “Jewish Power” party, allegedly initially refused to resume aid and wanted to put the matter to a vote but was overruled by the chief of the national security council, Tzachi Hanegbi, a longtime Netanyahu loyalist.

Current polling suggests that 68 percent of Israelis favor a hostage deal with Hamas and an end to the conflict, while only 22 percent favor a continuation of the war. 

The post Israel Resumes Flow of Humanitarian Aid to Gaza appeared first on The American Conservative.

Joe Biden slipped up and blurted out that he had cancer while telling a story back in 2022.

On May 18, it was revealed that Biden has an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has already metastasized to the bone.

While it was released as though the cancer had just been discovered, many are wondering how this could have suddenly appeared at stage nine.

Shortly after the announcement, a clip of him speaking in 2022 with a seeming admission of already being diagnosed with cancer went viral.

Biden was delivering a speech on climate change from the site of the former Brayton Point Power Station in Somerset, Massachusetts. The coal-fired power plant had been demolished and replaced with a renewable energy hub.

“That’s why I and so damn many other people I grew up with have cancer,” Biden says, after discussing oil slicks on his car windshield when he was younger.

BREAKING – A 2022 clip of Joe Biden saying he “had cancer” is going viral after today’s announcement of his real diagnosis. pic.twitter.com/H3b0TlYBKH

— Right Angle News Network (@Rightanglenews) May 18, 2025

As The Gateway Pundit also reported, the former president’s brother, Frank Biden, told CBS News that he wants Biden back to “enjoy whatever time we have left” in 2024 after he dropped out of the presidential race.

The timing of the diagnosis announcement, just days after the release of the Hur tapes, has raised questions about the political motivations behind the health disclosure. It has already raised questions about transparency regarding his health while he was in the White House and running for a second term.

Biden’s office has said the cancer is hormone-sensitive, which is allowing for effective management. He is reportedly reviewing treatment options with his physicians.

The post Biden Slipped Up and Said That He Had Cancer While Telling a Story in 2022 (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

On Sunday, it was reported that 82-year-old Joe Biden was diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer.

According to Biden’s spox, the former president was diagnosed with prostate cancer last Friday with the cancer cells spreading to his bones.

But how long has Joe Biden actually been terminally ill?

Recall that Joe Biden’s brother, Frank Biden, raised eyebrows after he told CBS News that Biden’s declining health played a considerable role in his decision to drop out of the presidential race.

Joe Biden officially dropped out of the 2024 presidential race on July 21, 2024.

Biden made the announcement on X like a coward. He has been hiding out at his Rehoboth Beach house for four days.

pic.twitter.com/RMIRvlSOYw

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 21, 2024

Joe Biden didn’t say why he was dropping out of the race.

*We know Obama was behind the coup.*

There was a ‘funeral-like’ feeling to Frank Biden’s statement to CBS News.

He suggested Joe Biden was terminally ill.

Frank Biden told CBS News that he wants Biden back to “enjoy whatever time we have left.”

“I’m incredibly proud of my brother. Selfishly I will have him back to enjoy whatever time we have left,” Frank Biden told CBS News.

Frank Biden was smeared as an “alcoholic” after he suggested Joe Biden was terminal.

Frank Biden

A Biden ‘family source’ immediately came out and threw Frank Biden under the bus after he said the quiet part out loud.

“Frank Biden suffers from alcoholism and hasn’t spoken to his brother in weeks. What he said…is completely untrue,” a source ‘close to the Biden family’ (probably Nurse Jill) told CBS News.

The post FLASHBACK: Frank Biden Accidentally Blurted Out Joe Biden Was Terminally Ill in July 2024 appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

The office of the former President Joe Biden released a statement Sunday announcing that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. The cancer has metastasized to the bone, his physicians said. 

“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,” the statement said.

Biden’s cancer diagnosis comes as Democrats are struggling over how to account for their role in covering up the former president’s ill health and poor mental acuity, which, according to Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s new book Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again, was evident even during his 2020 campaign.

The post Biden Diagnosed With Prostate Cancer appeared first on The American Conservative.

Romanian Presidential candidate Nicusor Dan.

Romanian authorities have announced that the liberal mayor of Bucharest, mathematician Nicusor Dan has won the second and final round of the deeply controversial Romanian presidential elections.

With the first round of vote cancelled; with favorite candidate Calin Georgescu arrested, prosecuted and banned from the re-election; with widespread allegations of fraud and foreign interference by France – this election is forever tainted.

Right-wing populist George Simion, who won the first round of the election ‘re-do’ with over 20 percentage point ahead of Dan, warned of fraud, and posted on X that he was the new president of Romania.

But the official results state: Nicusor Dan is the new president-elect.

Watch: Dan with supporters tonight in Bucharest.

Nicușor Dan este noul președinte al României. pic.twitter.com/Te20WO2K6g

— Clotilde Armand (@clotilde_armand) May 18, 2025

Reuters reported:

“The soft-spoken mathematician made a last-minute dash to the top in recent days after weeks of trailing George Simion, a hard-right supporter of Trump and a Eurosceptic wanting to end military aid for Ukraine in its war with Russia. Simion did not concede.

Dan, 55, had campaigned on a pledge to fight rampant corruption, maintain support for Ukraine – where Romania has played an important logistic role – and to keep the country firmly within the European mainstream.”

I am the New President of

— George Simion (@georgesimion) May 18, 2025

All around the conservative corners of the web, Simion supporters denounce rampant irregularities.

Well, they did it. The EU managed to push through this massive electoral fraud, led by Macron’s France, Moldova, and, of course, the Romanian state:

It seems we were too naive to think they would allow the people of Romania to have free elections, too much was at stake for… pic.twitter.com/dSayQi7OPw

— Daily Romania (@daily_romania) May 18, 2025

ELECTION FRAUD CLOSE TIE BETWEEN SIMION + PRO-EU DAN

Are DEAD PEOPLE voting?

Simion, ally of the BANNED right-wing candidate Georgescu, was projected to win today.

But suddenly, the pro-EU globalist shill Nicusor Dan rose to the top. It’s a close tie.

UPDATES SOON. pic.twitter.com/mvL3FLYB3M

— Naomi Seibt (@SeibtNaomi) May 18, 2025

Read more:

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Says France Pressured Him To Censor Right-Wing Voices in the Run-up To Romanian Elections

The post JUST IN: Liberal Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan Set To Win Controversial Romanian Presidential Elections appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Former US Congressman Matt Gaetz joins Steve Bannon’s War Room (Screen Image)

On Wednesday, May 14, former US Congressman Matt Gaetz visited Steve Bannon’s War Room studio for a scintillating, twenty minute interview. Gaetz skillfully unloaded on the alarming, unchecked powers of the US federal judiciary, aiming to dictate US foreign policy, and usurp the Trump Administration.

“The one place the elitists have got us cornered out is the judiciary. We have been building our populist movement. We’ve got populist energy in the Congress. We’ve got our few populist Senators – Vance, Hawley, Braun, and Rick Scott. You can get a populist president,” Matt Gaetz told Steve Bannon on Wednesday

“But if you’re a populist, great thinker, it is really hard to become a judge. The system to become a judge requires judicial nominating commissions, and it’s a whole mating dance with the establishment that you have to go through to become a federal judge. It draws you deeper into the establishment to take a judicial position,” Gaetz said.

“If we did all of this – won the swing states, beat DeSantis, trudged through the snow in Iowa and New Hampshire, got Trump through assassination attempts and indictments  – all this, to eek out these majorities in the Congress, so that some sniveling, little, you-know-what, in a Massachusetts court room, can dictate to us the terms of US foreign policy, then this has all been for naught.”

“And so, it cannot stand. We are not getting out of this presidency without having to thoroughly reject one of these unconstitutional, nationwide injunctions. We cannot be tolerant of this judicial coup. We cannot have an administration, and a Congress, that sits back and allows the Harvard Law admissions council to be able to run the country,” Gaetz said.

Watch Gaetz’s frankly blistering commentary, here.

 

Regarding the specific methods by which the Trump administration can outmaneuver this rogue judiciary – for the purpose of making America safe again – Gaetz advised that the Trump administration ignore all judicial rulings preventing deportations of illegal immigrants.

“Deportation flights should resume immediately. Keep the planes flying. This is US foreign policy with enemy combatants – and with the public on our side – on President Trump’s signature issue. If we are not willing to do this in the face of some Woketopian in a black robe, then we did not deserve this victory,” Gaetz said.

“This is Trump’s great superpower: revelation. I think he knows how to pick the fights to reveal the enemies, in the right sequence. But, my humble advice to the administration is: pick it on the Illegal Enemies Act and deportation, because through the resistance to the administration’s actions on that, you will reveal so much to the country about the Globalist invasion, and the judicial coup that is allowing it.”

“This requires fortitude and resilience. This is an activity where our country has to look within and say, ‘We are not going to let these [judges] conduct matters of US policy.’ The only acceptable response from this administration is to ignore these orders. I think, complying with them is constitutional vandalism,” Gaetz said.

Concerning the broader strategy by which MAGA can defend against this rogue judiciary, Gaetz outlined the reasons that alternatives to disregarding judicial rulings remain unfeasible.

“The impeachments [of judges] are justified, but that’s not really a strategy. That’s more of a spasm. And Congress won’t cut the funding to anything. Even if the federal courthouse budget were cut 95 percent, those dedicated Woketopians that want to issue these injunctions will set up a tent in the parking lots and issue them,” Gaetz said.

From the Department of Justice perspective, Gaetz lauded Attorney General Pam Bondi’s job performance, while discussing the efforts of Attorney General Bondi’s colleagues to sabotage her from within the DOJ.

“I think they’re doing a great job over at [the DOJ]. I think most of the people who work there probably wake up everyday trying to make Attorney General Bondi’s job harder. When you look at it through that lens – what she’s done on deportations, and on the law enforcement front – she is a nose-to-the-grindstone law enforcement: go find the perpetrators, and hold them accountable,” Gaetz said.

Finally, Gaetz defended his Congressional movement to unseat former Congressman Kevin McCarthy from his US House Speakership in 2023, while highlighting the broader historical implications of the McCarthy ouster, and offering to serve in the Trump administration, as needed.

“We showed that power systems here don’t win all the time. I don’t know when others in Congress will be called upon to summon that courage to fight the beast, to fight the system in a similar way, but I think [McCarthy] is an important bookmark in history to say, if you really martial a sufficient amount of energy, and if you are tactical about it, you can beat power in this town. And power has to know that, occasionally, to inform decision making.”

“And so, there will come a line change, just like in a hockey game. People in very prominent roles will have their life circumstances change, and there is a whole bastion of people who are ready, willing, and able, to do anything that we are asked,” Gaetz said.

Evidently, Gaetz is a rare, pure MAGA firebrand, invaluable to the movement.

The post GAETZ ON WAR ROOM: ‘We Cannot Be Tolerant of This Judicial Coup’ and ‘We Have to Thoroughly Reject Unconstitutional, Nationwide Injunctions’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.