From the weekend:

• 🏛️ Capitol Reset: America's Sun King →

• 🌎 Geopolitics 101: Trump’s Secret Nord Stream Plan →

• 🔴 Redshift: Exposing the Tinfoil Right →

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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

🏛️ Trump slashed $400 million from Columbia University. The Ivy League university lost $400 million in federal funding after President Trump's multi-agency task force found the school failed to protect Jewish students from harassment following their chaotic anti-Israel protests. The university, which receives over $1 billion in federal grants annually, quickly suspended four students who stormed a Barnard building after the announcement. Columbia’s swift disciplinary action suggests the school is taking Trump seriously and fears losing even more of its federal funding.

🚨 ICE arrested the Palestinian leader of Columbia’s anti-Israel protests. Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, who led disruptive protests at Columbia University and Barnard College, was arrested by ICE agents at his campus apartment. His arrest follows President Trump’s recent crackdown on campus unrest, with Khalil now facing the revocation of his student visa and green card. The move stresses how Trump is making good on his promise to crack down on campus protests and students that lead to violence, going so far as to revoke their visas.

💳 AOC and a GOP rep. unite to cap credit card interest rates. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) introduced legislation to cap credit card interest rates at 10 percent, with Luna calling high interest rates a way to trap Americans with “an almost insurmountable amount of debt.” Critics, however, warned the cap would lead to credit being denied altogether for low-income individuals. The unusual alliance highlights how populist economic policies increasingly transcend traditional party lines.

🇷🇴 Călin Georgescu was barred from the Romanian presidential race. Despite the populist right presidential candidate Călin Georgescu’s victory in the first round of presidential elections, he was just barred from participating in Romania’s May presidential election. In response, Georgescu declared, "If democracy in Romania falls, the entire democratic world will fall!" as thousands of his supporters took to the streets in protest, with riots breaking out in Bucharest. The media have been painting Georgescu as “far-right” and “pro-Russia” to discredit him, despite such accusations of Russian interference in Romania’s elections being debunked (more on this in our Hoax Tracker).

Know what the power players are saying

Mentioned behind the paywall: Marco Rubio, Donald Trump, Kash Patel, and Lee Zeldin.

The media’s latest lie

Mentioned behind the paywall: Călin Georgescu and the Romanian presidential election.

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QUICK AND IMPORTANT

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Elon Musk reportedly clashed over staffing cuts and foreign aid during a Cabinet meeting last Friday.

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• Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resigned and was replaced by former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney.

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Bye bye, BLM.

Good morning. The heat of the summer of 2020 was finally fading. Cities were burned, dozens killed, and billions in damage — all the result of Black Lives Matter’s efforts after George Floyd’s death. But the cultural revolution didn’t stop there. Streets were renamed, massive murals of Floyd were painted, and statues of American heroes were torn down.

Five years later, the revolution is retreating.

In the same week that America’s defining progressive — California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) —came out against biological men competing in women’s sports, the progressive mayor of Washington, DC, is also retreating. She’s agreed to take down the massive BLACK LIVES MATTER mural in the heart of the nation’s capital.

She has “bigger fish to fry,” considering Republicans are threatening to revoke DC’s ability to govern itself amid the city’s spiraling crime and homelessness crisis. The winds are shifting.

THE MAIN STORY

Why there are growing calls to pardon Derek Chauvin

WHAT’S HAPPENING_

Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of killing George Floyd, is serving a 22.5-year sentence for felony murder. However, growing calls — including from figures like Ben Shapiro and Elon Musk — urge former President Trump to pardon him.

The case was one of the most explosive in modern American history, sparking nationwide riots, mass protests, and significant policy shifts. But new attention is being drawn to what some argue were major flaws in the trial, the autopsy findings, and the media’s role in shaping public perception.

_THE FACTS_

• The 2020 death of George Floyd led to nationwide riots that resulted in deaths, billions in damages, and the “Defund the Police” movement.

• Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years for felony murder. His three fellow officers received 3-4 years for aiding and abetting manslaughter.

• In November 2023, Chauvin was stabbed 22 times in prison by an inmate claiming to act in honor of Black Lives Matter.

• The original, official autopsy found no evidence of asphyxiation due to police restraint. Instead, Floyd had a lethal dose of fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system, along with severe heart disease.

• Floyd repeatedly said, “I can’t breathe,” before he was on the ground, contradicting the narrative that Chauvin’s knee directly caused his breathing issues.

• The knee hold Chauvin used was a Minneapolis Police Department-approved restraint at the time, called the Maximal Restraint Technique (MRT) — a method used on combative suspects.

• The prosecution’s key autopsy report wasn’t the official one. It was paid for by Floyd’s family and conducted by a pathologist who had previously received $100,000 to testify for OJ Simpson.

• The jury faced extreme pressure: Some jurors were open BLM supporters, while others were stalked, harassed, and intimidated by journalists.

• Despite these facts being available since the beginning, major media outlets and politicians downplayed or ignored them.

• As calls to pardon Chauvin grow, some argue he was convicted in a political trial rather than a fair legal process.

_INSIGHTS_

Insights and analysis in the main story are for members only.

How left and right outlets frame Trump slashing Columbia’s funding

Mentioned behind the paywall: The New York Times, Politico, The Washington Free Beacon, and The Washington Examiner.

THE DAILY DEBATE

POLL RESULTS FROM THURSDAY

In your view, which sanctuary city has the worst problems?

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ ☘️ Boston (32)
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 💨 Chicago (236)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🏔 Denver (43)
🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ 🗽 New York (179)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 💬 Other (46)

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