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Category: Politics
March 17, 2025
News
Politics
UK

Farage’s Reform Party Boosted by DOZENS of New Defections.

Brexit leader Nigel Farage has announced that 29 councilors have defected to his Reform Party ahead of the British local elections. These councilors have come from a range of parties, including the formerly governing Conservatives, the ruling Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats, and several independent groups. Farage revealed these changes during a press conference as Reform prepares for the council elections in May.

Zia Yusuf, the party chairman, confirmed that Reform plans to field candidates in all 1,641 seats set to be contested on May 1. Farage reflected on party challenges in recent weeks, indicating they had experienced “a little bit of turbulence.” One of the party’s five Members of Parliament (MPs), Rupert Lowe, had been suspended after being accused of bullying and threats of violence, which Lowe denied, instead claiming he was targeted for challenging Farage.

Farage emphasized the importance of thoroughly investigating the complaints, stating the party awaits a report from an independent King’s Counsel (KC) lawyer to ascertain the truth.

Despite these internal issues, the defections coupled with strong poll results suggest Reform’s momentum has not been significantly slowed. Polling data also indicates a majority of British electoral districts would prefer Farage as Prime Minister over Labour incumbent Sir Keir Starmer.

Image by Gage Skidmore.

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Brexit leader Nigel Farage has announced that 29 councilors have defected to his Reform Party ahead of the British local elections. These councilors have come from a range of parties, including the formerly governing Conservatives, the ruling Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats, and several independent groups. Farage revealed these changes during a press conference as Reform prepares for the council elections in May. show more
Image by IncMonocle
March 14, 2025
News
Politics
UK

Farage’s Reform Party Poised for Big By-Election Victory Over Ruling Labour.

Recent polling data suggests that Nigel Farage‘s Reform Party appears poised for a major breakthrough in a parliamentary by-election (special election) in the United Kingdom. The latest poll conducted by Lord Ashcroft indicates the populist party could secure 40 percent of the vote in the Runcorn and Helsby constituency, ahead of the ruling Labour Party’s projected 35 percent.

The by-election follows the resignation of Labour’s Mike Amesbury after he was convicted of physically assaulting a constituent. Amesbury admitted to punching the constituent but received only a suspended prison sentence.

Reform’s potential parliamentary breakthrough comes despite drama over an existing Member of Parliament, Rupert Lowe, being suspended from the party. Lowe faces bullying accusations but blames quarrels over leadership dynamics with Farage for the fallout. Lowe is also alleged to have threatened the party’s chairman, Zia Yusuf—although he denies this.

Reform has seen massive gains in polling since the July 2024 snap election, in which the party—for the first time—won a handful of parliamentary seats and placed third nationally by share of the popular vote. In recent months, they have consistently polled ahead of the Conservative Party, which governed Britain for 14 years prior to the current Labour government. They have occasionally polled ahead of Labour, too, and are well within striking distance of the leftist party.

Image by IncMonocle.

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Recent polling data suggests that Nigel Farage's Reform Party appears poised for a major breakthrough in a parliamentary by-election (special election) in the United Kingdom. The latest poll conducted by Lord Ashcroft indicates the populist party could secure 40 percent of the vote in the Runcorn and Helsby constituency, ahead of the ruling Labour Party's projected 35 percent. show more
March 14, 2025
William Upton
Politics

These 16 Democrats Just Voted AGAINST Cracking Down on Fentanyl.

The United States Senate has overwhelmingly passed the HALT Fentanyl Act (S.331), which permanently designates fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs in the Controlled Substances Act. While a total of 84 Senators backed the legislation, sponsored by Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), 16 Democrats inexplicably voted against the measure. The reason for their opposition is either blind partisanship or an embrace of soft-on-crime policies.

The Democrats opposing the final passage of the HALT Fentanyl Act include: Angela Alsobrook (D-MD), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (D-VT), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

Sen. Cassidy’s legislation—now on its way to the House of Representatives, where it is expected to also pass with bipartisan support—upgrades punishments for so-called “fentanyl-related substances” and aligns them with the penalties applied to fentanyl analogues. Notably, penalties for offenses involving 100 grams or more of fentanyl analogues carry a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison. The federal mandatory minimum sentence is likely the reason why most of the 16 Democrats opposed the bill—though the influence of Chinese agents cannot be discounted.

Chinese chemical and pharmaceutical companies illicitly export hundreds of kilograms of fentanyl precursor chemicals to the United States every month. In February, several executives with the Wuhan, China-based Hubei Aoks Bio-Tech Co. Ltd were indicted by U.S. federal prosecutors for illegally importing fentanyl precursors into the United States. In October of last year, eight Chinese companies and their employees were indicted for similar crimes in Florida.

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The United States Senate has overwhelmingly passed the HALT Fentanyl Act (S.331), which permanently designates fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs in the Controlled Substances Act. While a total of 84 Senators backed the legislation, sponsored by Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), 16 Democrats inexplicably voted against the measure. The reason for their opposition is either blind partisanship or an embrace of soft-on-crime policies. show more
March 13, 2025
William Upton
Media
Politics

Michelle Obama Podcast Only Draws a Few Thousand Subscribers Despite Media Blitz.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama launched a new podcast with her brother, IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson—but you can’t be blamed if you didn’t know. Despite an intense marketing campaign, the digital offering garnered only around 12,000 subscribers in its first 14 hours on YouTube earlier on Thursday. Even several hours later, that number still stood at just over 20,000.

While Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not publish real-time subscriber numbers, on neither site does IMO boast more than a few thousand reviews, with around 8,000 on Apple and just under 5,000 on Spotify. The podcast has received disproportional media attention and paid promotion, which typically translates to fairly quick success. However, that isn’t the case with the Michelle Obama offering.

Dramatic media headlines speculating about a possible divorce, based on a rather mundane complaint the former First Lady makes regarding her husband Barack Obama, do not even seem to be enough to generate listener interest.

Discussing their marriage, Mrs. Obama told her brother, “Barack, you know, he had to adjust to what ‘on time’ was for me.” She continued, revealing that former President Obama would wait until the last minute to use the bathroom or find his glasses when the family was about to leave.

“I was like, ‘Dude, a 3 o’clock departure means you’ve done all that,’ you know, it’s like, don’t start looking for your glasses at the 3 o’clock departure,” Mrs. Obama recalled, though she conceded her husband has gotten more timely: “He’s improved over 30 years of marriage, but that was a ‘you must adjust.'”

While the former First Lady’s absence from Jimmy Carter‘s funeral and President Donald J. Trump‘s inauguration—both attended by former President Obama—has fueled separation rumors, this remains speculation.

Image by Gage Skidmore.

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Former First Lady Michelle Obama launched a new podcast with her brother, IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson—but you can't be blamed if you didn't know. Despite an intense marketing campaign, the digital offering garnered only around 12,000 subscribers in its first 14 hours on YouTube earlier on Thursday. Even several hours later, that number still stood at just over 20,000. show more
March 13, 2025
Jack Montgomery
Health
Politics

Trump’s Pick for CDC Director Says Big Pharma ‘Probably Behind’ Nomination Withdrawal.

Dr. Dave Weldon, pulled from a planned Senate hearing on his nomination to head the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at the eleventh hour on Thursday, believes Big Pharma was “probably” responsible for sinking his prospects. He cites Senator Susan Collins (R-ME)—who has been resistant to several of President Donald J. Trump’s nominees—and Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) as the Republicans most likely to have stabbed President Trump in the back by siding with the Democrats against him.

In an official statement on the withdrawal, Weldon wrote, “The concern of many people is that big Pharma was behind this which is probably true.” He explained: “They are hands-down, the most powerful lobby organization in Washington DC giving millions of dollars to politicians on both sides of the aisle. They also purchased millions of dollars of advertising in newspapers, magazines, and on television. For any news or organization to take on big Pharma could be suicide.”

“I have learned the hard way don’t mess with Pharma,” he added, revealing he had been “told that Big Pharma had desperately tried to get rid of Bobby Kennedy but were unable due to the strong support of President Trump… So, if they had to live with Bobby for 4 years they were definitely not going to have both him and me and put serious pressure on Collins and Cassidy.”

A qualified medical doctor as well as a former Congressman, Weldon believes his “big sin” was having had “the temerity to take on the CDC and big Pharma on two critical childhood vaccine safety issues” decades ago—although he denies any ideological opposition to vaccines as such, having administered many to his patients.

The pharmaceutical and medical establishment insist there is no link between vaccines and conditions such as autism. However, aluminum, used as an adjuvant in most vaccines to strengthen their potency, is a known neurotoxin—and no real safety studies have ever been conducted to rule out any cumulative negative effects.

Weldon said Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was “very upset” at his nomination being scuttled, believing he was “the perfect person” to lead the CDC. However, Weldon bore no ill will towards the administration, noting, “The president is a busy man doing good work for our nation and the last thing he needs is a controversy about CDC.”

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Dr. Dave Weldon, pulled from a planned Senate hearing on his nomination to head the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at the eleventh hour on Thursday, believes Big Pharma was "probably" responsible for sinking his prospects. He cites Senator Susan Collins (R-ME)—who has been resistant to several of President Donald J. Trump's nominees—and Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) as the Republicans most likely to have stabbed President Trump in the back by siding with the Democrats against him. show more
March 13, 2025
Jack Montgomery
Health
Politics

Trump Admin Pulls Dave Weldon’s CDC Nomination Moments Before Senate Hearing.

In a surprising move on Thursday, the White House abruptly withdrew Dr. Dave Weldon’s nomination to lead the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Weldon, a former Republican congressman from Florida, was set to testify before the Senate Health Committee for his confirmation. However, Weldon reportedly received notification of the withdrawal just before his scheduled appearance.

The nomination, announced last November, faced opposition primarily due to Weldon’s views on vaccines and autism. These views had aligned Weldon with Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. A medical doctor, Weldon has insisted, “I give shots, I believe in vaccination”—but he also believes the CDC has attempted to “short-circuit important research and draw premature conclusions” to dismiss any connection between vaccines and the development of autism in children.

“Until we get a free and open dialogue within the scientific community, I don’t think, for one, I will ever be satisfied that there isn’t some data suggesting that some children may have serious side effects from some of these vaccines that is really going undetected, unnoticed, and they may actually cause autism,” he said in 2002.

According to White House officials speaking to the New York Times, the decision to pull Weldon’s nomination was made after it became clear he lacked the necessary Senate votes for confirmation.

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In a surprising move on Thursday, the White House abruptly withdrew Dr. Dave Weldon's nomination to lead the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Weldon, a former Republican congressman from Florida, was set to testify before the Senate Health Committee for his confirmation. However, Weldon reportedly received notification of the withdrawal just before his scheduled appearance. show more
March 13, 2025
Wake Up Right
Economy
Politics

Schumer Shutdown Looms.

Senator Chuck Schumer announced that Democrats plan to trigger a partial government shutdown on Friday, refusing to vote for a continuing resolution (CR) spending bill that would have funded the government at Biden-era levels until September.

Back up: Earlier this week, the House voted 217 to 213 to pass the CR. All Republicans except Rep. Thomas Massie voted for the bill, and all Democrats except Rep. Jared Golden voted no.

The details: Schumer took to the Senate Floor yesterday to declare: “Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate.”

  • Instead, he pushed a Democrat-backed bill that would fund the government at current levels through April 11—meaning we would be back in this same position in a month.

In his own words: Back in 2023, when Republicans threatened to vote to shut down the government, Schumer said: “The last thing Americans need right now is a pointless government shutdown. A Shutdown will hurt just about every American.”

Zoom out: The bill must receive 60 votes to pass in the Senate. Republicans have a 53-47 majority, so they need a handful of Democrats on board.

Calling his bluff: Senate Majority Leader John Thune is still moving to bring the bill to a vote despite Schumer’s threat. This would force the Democrat senators to go on the record voting to shut down the government.

DOGE impact: Journalist Katie Pavlich made the point on X: “Schumer isn’t smart enough to understand dems not voting to keep the government open will backfire. A shutdown forces only essential employees to work and therefore, proves Trump, Musk and DOGE right about the size of the federal workforce.”

Big picture: This is likely just political theater by the Democrats to show their voters they “tried” to oppose the dastardly Trump agenda, but they’ll ultimately vote for the bill to keep the government open.

Real talk from G: Ironically, the bill Democrats are fighting to kill will keep government spending at Biden-era levels for the next six months [with minor tweaks, like adding border security funding]. Their logic is illogical. The truth is, the party is still lost at sea after losing the 2024 election, and they’re trying anything to inspire their voters.

Be sure to subscribe to the Wake Up Right newsletter! 

Image by Victoria Pickering.

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Senator Chuck Schumer announced that Democrats plan to trigger a partial government shutdown on Friday, refusing to vote for a continuing resolution (CR) spending bill that would have funded the government at Biden-era levels until September. show more
March 12, 2025
William Upton
Politics

Former Top Clinton Aide Eyeing 2028 Presidential Run?!

Former Chicago Mayor and Clinton political machine hatchetman Rahm Emanuel appears to be gearing up for a 2028 presidential run while hitting the media and speaking circuit with the message that Democrats must pivot back to the political middle. Fresh off a stint as former President Joe Biden’s ambassador to Japan, Emanuel has increased his public profile through public speaking engagements as well as corporate media and podcast appearances, arguing his party has become too focused on niche cultural and social issues like transgenderism.

During a recent appearance on the Bill Maher Show, Emanuel—who infamously threw steak knives into a table while listing off Democrat donors he believed had abandoned Bill Clinton and shouting “DEAD” while speaking at a fundraiser during the 1992 presidential election—took the more progressive audience to task for catering to far-left, fringe issues. “In seventh grade, if I had known I could’ve said the word ‘they’ and gotten in the girls’ bathroom, I would’ve done it,” Emanuel said, arguing: “We literally are a superpower, we’re facing off against China with 1.4 billion people and two-thirds of our children can’t read eighth-grade level.”

The education issue appears to be the kernel on which an Emanuel campaign would form. The former Chicago Mayor also hammered the education issue while speaking before the major Democratic lawfare group, Democracy Forward, in February. “I am done with the discussion of locker rooms, I am done with the discussion of bathrooms, and we better start having a conversation about the classroom,” he said.

CLINTONISM RETURNS?

Notably, Emanuel is also chastising Democrats for letting their corporate media allies dictate the political conversation, blasting party leaders for being overly focused on President Donald J. Trump‘s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and cuts to federal agencies. “The New York Times put crumbs all the way to the front door of the USAID headquarters and we just walked along back there,” Emanuel told donors and party elites gathered at Democracy Foward’s event.

While most early names for the 2028 Democratic nomination still appear stuck trying to define themselves against President Donald J. Trump’s popular America First agenda, Emanuel may just find a niche playing in the exceedingly difficult lane of ‘political moderate.’ Whether that will play with the Democratic Party’s increasingly far-left and radical base remains to be seen.

Image by Daniel X. O’Neil.

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Former Chicago Mayor and Clinton political machine hatchetman Rahm Emanuel appears to be gearing up for a 2028 presidential run while hitting the media and speaking circuit with the message that Democrats must pivot back to the political middle. Fresh off a stint as former President Joe Biden's ambassador to Japan, Emanuel has increased his public profile through public speaking engagements as well as corporate media and podcast appearances, arguing his party has become too focused on niche cultural and social issues like transgenderism. show more
March 12, 2025
Christopher Tomlinson
Economy
Politics

Art of the Deal: Ontario Premier Reverses Course, Drops Energy Tax After New Trump Tariff Threat.

The premier of Canada’s largest province has announced that he will be dropping energy tariffs after a discussion with United States Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnik. Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced on Tuesday—less than 24 hours after imposing the tariff—that the 25 percent electricity export surcharge would be suspended.

Ford took to X (formerly Twitter) to make the announcement after several days of back-and-forth threats over a 25 percent tariff to be imposed on many Canadian goods announced by President Donald J. Trump earlier this month. Notably, Ford’s decision to scrap a 25 percent tax on electricity sold to the United States follows a Tuesday escalation by Trump in which he announced an additional 25 percent tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum.

Ontario provides electricity to around 1.5 million homes in the United States, leading to President Trump stating he would declare a National Emergency on Electricity in the areas potentially threatened by any kind of shutdown. Additionally, Trump threatened to use tariff measures to cripple the entire Canadian auto industry.

According to Ford, he and Lutnick agreed to meet in Washington, D.C., on March 13 to discuss trade relations before President Trump’s reciprocal tariff policy comes into full effect on April 2. Ford’s announcement that he will scrap the electricity tariff comes as a significant victory for the Trump administration on the same day Ukraine announced it would agree to a U.S.-brokered 30-day ceasefire with Russia, potentially leading to the end of the more than three-year-old conflict.

READ:

Image by Gage Skidmore. 

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The premier of Canada's largest province has announced that he will be dropping energy tariffs after a discussion with United States Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnik. Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced on Tuesday—less than 24 hours after imposing the tariff—that the 25 percent electricity export surcharge would be suspended. show more
March 11, 2025
Politics
World

Biden’s USAID Used Taxpayer Funds to Attack Trump, Vance, Musk, and More.

Ukrainian open-source intelligence group Molfar—which falsely names several American politicians, including Vice President J.D. Vance, as “foreign propagandists of the Russian Federation”—appears to have received funding from former President Joe Biden’s United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

According to a recently conducted investigation, the Molfar organization has previously listed USAID and the U.S. Civilian Research & Development Foundation (CRDF) as partners. Documents published by Ukraine’s National Coordination Cybersecurity Center (NCSCC) both credit funding from USAID and training provided by Molfar.

Founded in 2019, Moflar—taking its name from a Ukrainian folk term akin to “wizard”—is an open-source intelligence organization comprised of an estimated 35 intelligence analysts and several hundred volunteers who work to identify media sources and foreign politicians who are unfriendly to the Ukrainian government. The group says it is tasked with documenting Russian war crimes and exposing Russian propaganda.

However, Molfar’s most notable activity is a so-called “blacklist” of foreign politicians who they claim serve Russian interests. Among those accused of being “foreign propagandists of the Russian Federation” by Molfar include Vice President J.D. Vance, Elon Musk, and Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán. Also listed are several U.S. members of Congress and members of the Trump administration, including Director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center Joe Kent, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), and Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY). For those on the blacklist, Molfar demands their “removal from public positions, the introduction of sanctions, and investigations into personal involvement in crimes.”

According to the report, Molfar is partly funded through USAID grants awarded to the Ukrainian government’s National Coordination Cybersecurity Center (NCSCC). Notably, NCSCC documents indicate that Molfar is also involved in training Ukrainian government employees in cyber warfare tactics.

The National Pulse has previously reported that Molfar was behind a Ukrainian artificial intelligence (AI) honeytrap operation aimed at extracting troop deployment details from lonely Russian soldiers in occupied Ukrainian territory.

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Ukrainian open-source intelligence group Molfar—which falsely names several American politicians, including Vice President J.D. Vance, as "foreign propagandists of the Russian Federation"—appears to have received funding from former President Joe Biden's United States Agency for International Development (USAID). show more