Some Taylor Swift songs have been removed from social media videos
posted by President Donald Trump's campaign and the White House, which
has used two of the American superstar's songs over the past week.
The White House and a representative for Swift did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Swift has not spoken recently about Trump, although she endorsed his
Democratic rival, then-Vice President Kamala Harris, in 2024. During the
2020 campaign, Swift posted on social media that Trump was "WELL AWARE
we do not want him as our president."
Trump has repeatedly criticized Swift. After she endorsed Harris,
the Republican said on social media, "I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!" Last year he
wrote: "Has anyone noticed that, since I said 'I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT,'
she’s no longer "HOT?"
Dozens of artists, including Sabrina Carpenter and Ariana Grande,
have called on the Trump administration not to use their songs.
The Trump campaign used two Swift songs over the last week on its
TikTok page. One, playing on her lyrics, featured the caption: "Red
(Donald Trump's Version). Red (Taylor Swift Wrote A Whole Album About
Republicans). Donald Trump. Everything Has Changed (At Our Southern
Border). Donald Trump. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (The
Biden Harris Administration). Donald Trump. The Last Time (An Autopen
Runs The Country)." It referenced famous songs by the pop star.
In June, Trump's campaign posted a video on the short-video
platform with Swift's new "Toy Story 5" song "I Knew It, I Knew You."
The short video was captioned "Nobody loves our country & the
American People more than @President Donald J Trump." It showed him
interacting with children at the White House, dancing at a UFC match and
appearing at a rally.
It was the third time the Trump administration or his campaign had
used one of the Grammy Award-winning pop star's songs in recent
months.
In April, the White House shared a video showing the crew of Artemis
II meeting with Trump at the White House the day before. The video
used Swift's "High Infidelity" and lyrics from the song: "Do you really
want to know where I was April 29th?"
The White House shared another TikTok video in November featuring
"The Fate of Ophelia" from Swift's "The Life of a Showgirl" album, which
had been released the month before. That video featured images of the
U.S. flag, monuments and various photos of Trump, including his 2023
arrest mugshot.
That post garnered widespread social media reaction and led to a
White House spokesperson telling multiple news outlets the video was
created because the Trump administration knew news outlets "would
breathlessly amplify them."
The communications team for Trump, who is prolific on social media,
has posted an array of hit songs with images including Trump's
immigration crackdown, U.S. military operations against Iran and the
arrest of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Owing to how important the 2026 midterms
are to the success of President Trump's second term agenda, the
Republican National Committee (RNC) made the unusual step this year of
throwing a midterm convention.
We're used to the nominating conventions that are held every four
years by the two parties. The summer before a presidential election,
they trot out their candidates and their political celebrities, and they
make speeches. There are big balloon drops, too, but it's typically
pretty mundane stuff.
The exception, of course, being when master
showman Donald Trump is the star of the show. He always brings the
razzle dazzle. And it seems like the GOP establishment thought the 2026
elections could use some razzle dazzle, thus the midterm convention.
In exclusive reporting on Friday, Axios revealed that the GOP will be laser focused on one thing: the destruction wrought by socialism.
Per Axios, Republicans will be making "a sweeping, made-for-prime-time
case that Democrats have become captive to their activist left."
Calling
the convention a "socialism telethon," the outlet revealed that
"Republicans will make progressive politicians and activists recurring
characters throughout the Sept. 9-10 convention at the American Airlines
Center in Dallas."
And they've got plenty of material to work
with, apparently, after "GOP operatives spent months compiling footage
of Democratic figures — including left-wing commentator Hasan Piker
and Texas U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico — that they'll use
throughout the convention to paint Democrats as outside the mainstream."
"Our video trove is endless," a person involved in the planning commented.
Sounds like it's time to get the popcorn popping.
Axios:
GOP operatives spent months compiling footage of Democratic figures —
including left-wing commentator Hasan Piker and Texas U.S. Senate
candidate James Talarico — that they'll use throughout the Republican
convention to paint Democrats as outside the mainstream.… https://t.co/vOpd4ldjqOpic.twitter.com/ElHEMqm7xS
— Politics & Poll Tracker 📡 (@PollTracker2024) August 7, 2026
Axios:
GOP operatives spent months compiling footage of Democratic figures —
including left-wing commentator Hasan Piker and Texas U.S. Senate
candidate James Talarico — that they'll use throughout the Republican
convention to paint Democrats as outside the mainstream.
Organizers
will particularly focus on Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for
Senate in Michigan, who backs Medicare for All and criticizes Israel.
Abdul
El-Sayed, the Democrat nominee for Senate in Michigan, will get
particular attention for supporting things like Medicare for All,
abolishing ICE, and nuking the filibuster.
Also front and center
will be HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. highlighting the MAHA
movement and Vice President JD Vance talking about the anti-fraud task
force he chairs. Vance is expected to speak the night of Sept. 9, with
Trump taking center stage on Sept. 10 (although it's believed Trump will
be in the convention hall both nights).
Call it Socialism-Palooza. Call it a September Surprise. Call it the
gift that keeps on giving. Whatever you call it, Republicans appear
determined to make Democrats spend two straight nights watching their
own words and policies being projected onto giant screens for the entire
country to see.
And that may be the smartest part of the entire
thing. The GOP doesn't need to invent a caricature of today's Democrat
Party when candidates like El-Sayed and activists like Hasan Piker are
perfectly capable of making the case themselves. All Republicans have to
do is hit "play."
Editor’s Note: The
2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First
agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
This is getting to be bad news for the Donkey Party, readers.
There are now two more Democrats speaking their ahem, truth.
And these aren't just a few random bystanders. Both of these guys are from the inner circle of the Democrat establishment, who state they are not going to support radicals hijacking their party. And they are not saying they'll sit on the sidelines.
Just after the primary win on Tuesday for Democratic Socialist Abdul El-Sayed, making him the Dems' Michigan Senate nominee
for the November election, a longtime Capitol Hill figure, Julian
Epstein,
the former chief counsel for the House Judiciary Democrats and
the former staff director of the House Oversight Committee, wrote an op-ed in The NY Post:
After
decades of giving my all for Democratic House and Senate candidates,
this fall I will support — and contribute to — Mike Rogers, Michigan’s
GOP Senate nominee, instead.
And I’ll do everything I can to make sure other Democrats follow.
With
the exception of Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, my party’s leaders
have sought to appease the dangerous faction rising in our midst.
He
continued, talking about the deeper problems inherent in pushing
diversity, equity, and inclusion — and a victim mentality — as the
far-left does, to the detriment of generations of people:
The
politics of identity grievance gives no one greater agency or know-how
to succeed; it’s black-pilling an entire generation with a victim
mindset that will only hold them back.
Perversely, the Democratic Socialists argue we need more of what’s failing.
But America’s future depends on teaching our people how to build, not how to take from others or peddle whining complaints.
"I
think the lunatics are in charge of the asylum," he told Fox News
Digital. "I think that there is no room in the tent for people that want
to destroy our Constitution. There's no room in the tent for people
that want to align themselves with radical Islam. There's no room in a
tent for people that want to align themselves with antisemitism."
But he wasn't finished:
"And
there's no room, in my view, for people who don't have any interest in
building for the next generation but only want to redistribute what
others have created and want to basically tear down the free market that
has been the most effective anti-poverty liberation machine that human
beings have ever invented."
In the opinion piece, Epstein namechecks who he considers the only remaining sane Dems now, like Fetterman, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05), and the Ragin' Cajun, James Carville, who have been sounding the klaxon:
Fetterman,
and a few other Dems like New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer and
consultant James Carville, seem to get that — and they’re warning of a
coming intraparty civil war.
Some in Michigan are hinting at mass party defections in November.
And El-Sayed’s new prominence means the bleeding won’t stop.
Democrats
in many districts will be forced on the campaign trail to distance
themselves from El-Sayed or denounce him — and every one of their
comments will write another permission slip for party defections come
fall.
To arrest this freefall, Democratic leaders must do more
than just tell the extremists to find another party; they must also
admit that post-modern liberalism is failing.
Democrats aren’t coddling
Scandinavian-style socialists; they’re getting into bed with a
nihilistic, deconstructionist brand of third-worldism.
It’s an
ideology that seeks the elimination of prisons, policing, borders, the
Senate, the presidency, the Supreme Court and democratic free markets.
A worldview that aligns with genocidal jihadist movements like Hamas.
A generation ago, the left would’ve recognized this cadre as Trojan horse doing the bidding of our adversaries.
But not today.
He flatly states the hard truth, "Democrats can’t run from this lunacy in November."
But he was not alone this week, as I said.
On
Friday, Michael LaRosa, the former spokesman for Dr. Mrs. Jill Biden
and special assistant to Joe Biden,
seconded Julian Epstein's open
letter to party members — by simply resharing it on X with "SAME."
Sounds
like he got some pushback for that from other Democrats, and he had
much more to say on Saturday in a meandering, but entertaining X
monologue. (I'll share just a part of it, but the whole thing is here if you want to read it.)
Warning: coarse language
Last
night, I literally wrote ONE WORD on X—“SAME”—then closed my laptop,
put my phone on my mid-century-modern nightstand, poured half a glass of
Whitehaven New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, watched the first episode of
Ted Lasso Season Four, fell asleep—and apparently woke up in Crazy Town.
That
said, since everyone suddenly seems so interested in my personal
opinion: no, I could never support El-Sayed. Of course, I support a
reasonable Republican like Mike Rogers, someone who worked with
President Obama and Democrats as Chair of the Intelligence Committee. Of
course I would rather see someone like Rogers over a "D" who is too
much of a pu**y to stand up to an anti-Semitic goon like Hassan [sic]
Piker.
I would never encourage any Democrat to support a candidate
too weak to stand up to extremists who believe that those men and women
jumping from a burning building 110 stories up because the alternative
was worse deserved what they got on September 11th.
If you can’t
stand up to amateur DJs or whatever he is spewing hateful and
inflammatory rhetoric from behind a microphone, why should voters
believe you’ll stand up for an entire state in the United States Senate?
LaRosa
reminds anyone looking on at his X feed that "I’m not a public
official. I have no constituency, no endorsement apparatus, and no
particular political juice to offer. I don’t vote in Michigan. I have no
connection to Michigan or this Senate race beyond being a lifelong
Democrat and political observer with opinions."
Oh, and he only cares about one thing: "I only care about keeping bad
people out of the Democratic Party and good people in public service
for the right reasons. That’s it."
Democrats are in a heap of
trouble, readers, if people like this are not on board for the midterms
with a Republican sitting in the White House. These are the true
believers, the ride or die, always-on-board acolytes, who are falling
away.
The trend signals that this isn't about one election cycle
or one Senate race. It's a long-term problem — and the Dems have no
solution in sight.
Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham was subjected to a horrific flagrant foul on Saturday’s game versus the Chicago Sky.
DiJonai Carrington,
a forward for the Sky, clotheslined Cunningham as
she attempted a fast break layup late in the first quarter. Carrington
was awarded a Flagrant 2 for the intentional act and found herself
ejected from the game as a result.
Shortly following her ejection,
Carrington, a black woman, accused officials of racism for being held
accountable for her actions. Carrington would later post a thinly veiled
threat against Cunningham by posting the date of the Sky’s next game
against the Fever on August 23.
Cunningham has found herself as a target of players, officials, coaches, and fans for taking a stand against men entering the WNBA due to the league’s refusal to restrict transgender players from participating in women’s basketball.
The WNBA continues to be a disaster — this is a
complete mess. Since the league is woke and its fanbase is equally
extreme, they chose to keep going down this path, and now they’ve hit a
wall. Reality and facts don’t change based on feelings, and that’s a
very tough concept for liberals to grasp. There are men and women, and
the fact that this league and most progressives can’t define what a woman is
truly shows how crazy this issue has become. It’s not hard, but the
league is going to host some meeting to define what constitutes a female
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has sent a memo to
teams that addresses ongoing discussions around transgender athletes in
women’s basketball.
“I know many of you have received questions in
recent weeks regarding transgender athlete participation in women’s
basketball, and I expect this topic will continue to receive significant
attention,” Engelbert wrote in the memo, which was sent Friday
afternoon and obtained by The Associated Press. “I wanted to reach out
to share how we are approaching these conversations at the league office
and to thank those of you who have responded to questions from the
media with thoughtfulness and professionalism.”
The memo said the
topic will be discussed further by a task force of team presidents and
general managers at a previously scheduled meeting next week.
In
an ESPN article published last month, Indiana Fever player Sophie
Cunningham voiced support for barring transgender girls and women from
girls’ and women’s sports. Cunningham’s comments sparked small rallies
and protests in Seattle and Portland when the Fever were on the road
last week.
This comes after a couple of former NBA players declared their intention to join the WNBA.
At some point, Engelbert
has to grow a pair and face the media.
She avoided the media,
especially an interview on The Dan Patrick Show, because he was going to
press her about how the league is handling the Caitlin Clark issue,
where the league's face is getting hammered pervasively, but no fouls
are being called. And now this, it’s a circus. And not that I care, but
the front office also needs an overhaul.
Members of the United States Senate have exited for their August
recess after an all-nighter to confirm U.S. Attorney General Todd
Blanche, but failed to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility
(SAVE) America Act as President Donald Trump urged them to.
On Saturday, Senators departed Washington, D.C., to return to their
home states or take congressional delegation trips abroad for the next
several weeks. They are not due to return to the Capitol until Monday,
September 14th.
Before the senators left, they passed a continuing resolution to fund
the government through the midterms, ensuring they would not cause
another shutdown before the high-stakes elections in November. The
measure passed 90-6.
Senator Darline Graham (R-S.C.) voted “present” for the bill, likely
because it includes a $174,000 death gratuity payment for her brother,
late Senator Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) “heirs at law.” This could
include her, as he was unmarried with no children, possibly posing a
conflict of interest.
The chamber later voted largely across party lines to confirm Todd Blanche for the permanent U.S. attorney general position to lead the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The confirmation came after days of uncertainty as several
Republicans held out alongside Democrats over concerns that Blanche’s
former career as Trump’s personal defense lawyer may prevent him from
carrying out his duties with objectivity. In the end, only two
Republicans opposed Blanche’s confirmation.
While other priorities were wrapped up late on Friday and in the
early-morning hours of Saturday, the SAVE America Act was not among
them.
Instead, Republican Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rick Scott (R-Fla.)
and Senate Budget Committee Chair Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) spoke to the
president Friday evening about an alternative plan to approve elements
of the election security bill in a broader budget package that would
also fund the Department of War upon their return in mid-September.
“There was a concern whether or not it could actually pass, the budget resolution, tonight,” Johnson acknowledged.
“We’re not in a position right now where we have the wherewithal to pass it right now,” Lee said of the SAVE Act.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.)
and other Senate
Republicans agreed to hold a vote Friday on a bill sponsored by Senator
Jon Husted (R-Ohio) — S. 5271, the “American Confidence in Elections
Act” — that would require voters to show photo identification. This
failed 52-46 because it did not garner 60 votes.
In a roll-call vote to adjourn, some Republicans railed against the
notion of a recess while the voter ID bill was still in limbo.
“The Senate cannot leave DC without a vote on election integrity,” said Senator Ashley Moody (R-Fla.) on X on Friday. “Period.”
The Senate cannot leave DC without a vote on election integrity.
“I voted NO on sending the Senate home. The American people sent us
here to work for them, and I’m tired of Washington acting like getting
the job done is someone else’s responsibility,” Senator John Kennedy
(R-La.) wrote on X on Saturday.
I said I’d vote to stay through August recess and get our work done. I meant it.
I
voted NO on sending the Senate home. The American people sent us here
to work for them, and I’m tired of Washington acting like getting the
job done is someone else’s responsibility.
New York is reeling as families of Sept. 11 victims and concerned
citizens have launched a petition demanding Mayor Zohran Mamdani be kept
away from Ground Zero’s 25th‑anniversary ceremonies, arguing his record
and associations make his presence inappropriate at such a sacred
event. The petition has attracted significant attention and thousands of
signatures, a raw reminder that memory matters to the people who lost
loved ones that day.
Veteran
New Yorkers like Rudy Giuliani — who led the city through its darkest
hours in 2001 — have not been silent, blasting the mayor’s past gestures
and saying plainly that certain choices would be offensive to survivors
and first responders. Giuliani has publicly criticized Mamdani’s
actions, including taking the oath on a religious text and other
symbolic moves he sees as divisive, and he’s made clear that respect for
the victims should come before political theater.
Mayor Mamdani,
for his part, insists he will attend the commemoration and has
repeatedly pledged to honor the families, survivors, and first
responders who still bear the scars of that day, even visiting the 9/11
Memorial earlier this year and offering words of solidarity. That
on‑the‑record promise hasn’t calmed nerves for many who see a pattern in
his public associations and statements that they find troubling.
What
the petitioners point to isn’t a single offhand comment but a
constellation of past remarks, endorsements, and relationships that
critics say show a lack of unequivocal condemnation of rhetoric and
figures tied to extremism. Those concerns — coupled with academic
writings and inflammatory social media posts connected to people in
Mamdani’s orbit — have made families who want a solemn, nonpolitical
remembrance understandably wary of big‑stage appearances by a mayor with
such baggage.
No one is asking to weaponize grief for political
gain, but neither should the city pretend these worries don’t exist; the
sensible middle ground is to prioritize the victims and the families
who sacrificed, not to stage a publicity moment. If the left insists on
elevating symbolism over sensitivity, it will only deepen the divide
between ordinary New Yorkers who remember and the political class that
seems intent on pushing its own narrative.
Beyond the rancor over
memorials, Mamdani’s agenda — from costly city programs to sweeping
ideological experiments — has conservatives worried that New York is
trading competence for dogma at a time when the city needs leadership
that unites and rebuilds. Folks who pay taxes and keep this city running
have every right to ask whether the priorities of a mayor aligned with
radical ideas will deliver public safety, fiscal stability, and respect
for the institutions that bind us together.
Patriots who lost
family members on Sept. 11 deserve clarity, decency, and above all,
respect — not evasions or excuses from public officials who seem more
interested in signaling than in healing. If Mayor Mamdani truly means
the words he’s said about honoring victims, he should prove it by
putting families first and avoiding any actions that would turn a solemn
commemoration into another political spectacle; New Yorkers deserve
nothing less.
I
can do that — but I don’t see a clear news story referenced in the
title/description you pasted. Please either paste the YouTube video link
or tell me which specific news story or topic this video was about (for
example: defund the police, a specific trial, CRT in schools, bail
reform, etc.). If you want, I can pick the most likely topic and
research it, but I prefer the exact link or topic to ensure accuracy.
Connecticut Republican Party Chair Ben Proto told
Newsmax on Friday the state's new law directing education officials to
develop Islamic and Arab studies curriculum materials for public schools
is unconstitutional and should draw an American Civil Liberties Union
lawsuit.
On "Finnerty," Proto said the measure improperly singles out one religion for classroom instruction.
The provision Proto attacked, Section 24 of Public Act 26-1, was
tucked into a sweeping education omnibus that Gov. Ned Lamont, a
Democrat, signed March 3 as an emergency-certified measure.
Effective July 1, the law amends Section
10-16b of the state's general statutes and directs the State Board of
Education to make Islamic and Arab studies curriculum materials
available to local districts and encourage instruction in those
subjects.
Districts are not required to adopt the materials.
Proto's constitutional objection tracked arguments the ACLU has pressed against mandates for Ten Commandments displays in Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas.
"Not only is it discriminatory, I think it's unconstitutional," Proto
said, adding that he hoped the ACLU would sue Connecticut, as it has
over classroom Ten Commandments displays.
He rejected the analogy legislative supporters drew between
curriculum tracks for Black studies, Puerto Rican and Latino studies,
Native American studies, and the statute, which already covers them.
"Islam is a religion. It's not a culture; it's a religion," Proto
said. If the state wants to teach about Islam, he added, "maybe have a
theological studies class as opposed to just targeting one specific
religion."
State House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford,
voiced similar concerns when the bill passed, telling the Hartford
Courant that including Islamic studies "went too far" and was "treading
on the constitutional notion of separation of church and state,"
Religion News Service reported.
Chris Healy, executive director of the Connecticut Catholic Conference, called the provision "clearly unconstitutional."
Supporters counter that the curriculum is cultural and historical, not devotional.
Farhan Memon, chair of the Council on American-Islamic Relations Connecticut, told
Religion News Service the measure is "not about religion per se" and is
meant to broaden students' understanding of Arab and Islamic
civilizations.
He cited a 2026 Waterbury middle school hate-crime assault on two Muslim girls as evidence of the need for the curriculum.
Proto pushed back on state priorities in his closing remarks, saying
he would rather see schools return to teaching U.S. history, the
Constitution, and civics before "teaching about other cultures before
we're even teaching about our own culture."
The State Department of Education has begun convening a Curriculum
Design Leadership Team modeled on earlier directives for Holocaust,
Native American, and Asian American and Pacific Islander studies, a
department spokesperson told Religion News Service.
No lawsuit had been filed challenging the provision as of Friday.
Jim Thomas is a writer based in
Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree
from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
