PrairiePundit

 Trending Politics: In a twist that nobody saw coming in one of the most liberal cities in the country, New York, President Donald Trump was given a hero’s welcome during a Yankees game he attended on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. As soon as the president appeared on the Jumbotron in Yankee Stadium, the crowd exploded into loud cheers and chants of “USA! USA!” While enjoying the game, Trump was protected by a bulletproof shield following the devastating political assassination of conservative pundit Charlie Kirk earlier this week. According to the Western Journal, the crowd went crazy again during the game when Trump was seen giving a salute during the national anthem. Just after the game started, Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge crushed a pitch for a home run. The Yankees went on to secure a victory against the Detroit Tigers, winning 9-3. Both the president and his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, were in NYC on Thursday to commemorate the anniversary of ...

  NY Post: No wonder crime on the subways continues to be a scourge: The same lawbreaking fiends keep being cuffed, only to be cut loose again and again. Monday’s Post revealed the shocking stats : 63 transit terrors with more than 5,000 busts among them, for crimes ranging from robbery to assault to sex crimes. Yet, thanks to lenient judges, the no-bail law and pro-crime prosecutors who drop or downgrade charges, the vast majority are still walking the streets — only about five are now locked up. Cops are well-acquainted with these chronic menaces and do their part to get them off the streets, making quick busts when one of them breaks the law (again). But they’re spat back out almost as quickly as the NYPD can haul them in, often after getting less than a slap on the wrist. The rap sheets of this rogues’ gallery of street scoundrels are eye-popping. Take Carlos Baez-Caban, who’s racked up a total of 48 arrests, one (per NYPD sources) for biting a rider while stealing her phone: H...

 Rick Moran: ... Zohran Mamdani, the avowed socialist leading the race for New York mayor, may give Republicans the perfect foil to run against in 2026. He's so outrageously extreme that the GOP won't even have to exaggerate that much to portray him as dangerous and antithetical to American values and norms.   Naturally, Democrats are sweating bullets and looking for a way to hide Mamdani before the midterms somehow. Their problem is that a large plurality of their base enthusiastically supports Mamdani, as do a good number of Democratic officeholders.  Democratic Party moderates are losing their minds. Politico: They worry a Mamdani mayoralty will deepen an existential crisis for a party desperate to win back power in Congress — simultaneously handing Republicans a cudgel to paint their moderate opponents as socialists and encouraging hard-left copy cat candidates to primary Democratic incumbents, potentially pushing the party further to the left. Republicans are giving ...

 PJ Media: A Pacific Palisades fire victim is warning her old hometown of New York City not to make the same mistake as Los Angeles and vote for an inexperienced and untested person for mayor. She makes her appeal in a viral video, but her message extends beyond what she says in the video. Indeed, there's quite a backstory at play here. "Don't make our mistake," Samantha Ettus implores the people of New York City. "Mayors matter," she says. Los Angeles residents know only too well how impotent leadership can leave vulnerable to a mayor's stupidity and ineptitude. Thousands of burned-down homes prove the point. In a viral Instagram post, Ettus, who's an author and branding expert, speaks of moving her family 13 years ago from New York City to Pacific Palisades, a town she calls "the most idyllic town in America." But now, she says, her adopted home "looks like Pompeii." She takes viewers on a tour of her neighborhood in the afterma...

 Hot Air: With all of the discussion of a mid-cycle census and a fight brewing over a proposed mid-cycle reapportionment, much attention has focused on the flight of conservatives and moderates from blue states to red states. And for good reason; even if Donald Trump can't get an extraordinary Enumeration before the regular census in 2030, blue states will lose significant representation in Congress by 2033. California and New York will likely lose four House seats each by the 2030 census, and other blue states could lose up to a half-dozen or more. Americans have spent the last several years literally voting with their feet, and the bill will come due soon. That is not the only method of flight from the Democrat Party, however. The New York Times' Shane Goldmacher did  a deep dive into the trends of partisan affiliation , partnering with data firm L2 to determine those ebbs and flows. (Full disclosure: L2 partnered with me on my book  Going Red  gratis and allowed ...

 Blaze: Every time I hear a Fox News host or a Republican pundit call New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani a “communist” or “democratic socialist,” I wince in annoyance. Sometimes, I even yell at the TV — not that they can hear me, and even if they could, they’d probably ignore me. In reality, however, Mamdani is not a would-be Lenin. He is, in fact, a practitioner of woke capitalism. He’s not about to nationalize the means of production or seize the assets of the wealthy progressives in Brooklyn’s Park Slope and Manhattan’s Upper East Side — the very people bankrolling his campaign and voting for him. What Mamdani will do, most likely, is strip police protection from working-class neighborhoods, pour taxpayer money into gimmicks like city-owned grocery stores, and glorify Hamas terrorists. Soviet-style central planning isn’t on his agenda for the Big Apple. Cultural revolution is. ... The greatest danger today comes from woke maniacs embedded in media, education, and g...

 PJ Media: Has Zohran Mamdani been dishonest in the mandatory financial disclosures he has had to file with the city of New York? Is the pope a guy named Bob from Chicago? Zohran Mamdani is the embodiment in physical form of Nancy Pelosi’s famous saying, “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.” Mamdani became the Democrat Party’s nominee for mayor of New York and the man who is almost certain to be the next mayor before anyone knew much about him beyond the fact that he is young, glib, articulate, Muslim, and socialist. Now we’re learning that Mamdani is every inch the authentic socialist, even down to the assumption that the rules are for the masses, and the elites can safely ignore them. Zohran Mamdani, of course, counts himself among the elites. The New York Post reported Saturday that Mamdani “has scored nearly $10 million in public matching funds for his campaign, despite having serious discrepancies in his mandatory financial disclosure filings.” I...

 Breitbart: Law enforcement officials say a 55-year-old New York man reportedly used AI to help him build bombs that he planned to detonate in Manhattan. Michael Gann of Long Island, New York, is accused of building several homemade bombs with the help of AI, an endeavor he claims was “easier than buying gun powder,” according to court documents obtained by NBC News. ... Law enforcement officials say a 55-year-old New York man reportedly used AI to help him build bombs that he planned to detonate in Manhattan. Michael Gann of Long Island, New York, is accused of building several homemade bombs with the help of AI, an endeavor he claims was “easier than buying gun powder,” according to court documents obtained by NBC News. The suspect, who was indicted by federal prosecutors on Tuesday, allegedly transported the bombs from Long Island to Manhattan, storing five of them and four shotgun shells on the roof of an apartment building in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood. Court documents re...

 Headline USA: In 6 months, ICE Issued 6,025 Arrest requests in NYC for Criminal Noncitizens ICE is finding thousands of illegals in New York City.  Apparently, many of them cross the border and head directly to New York City in hopes of finding jobs. 

 NY Sun: New Yorkers Hoping To Beat Mamdani Could Learn a Thing or Two From Henry Clay Is there anyone running in the current contest who would rather be right than be mayor? I don't think New York needs a mayor with communist tendencies like those of Mamdani.   That he is leading in the race suggests that New York voters are also out of touch with reality.

 NY Post: A Manhattan courthouse became a crime scene last month when a man with multiple open criminal cases slashed two law enforcement officers in the neck and face — inside the very building where justice is supposed to be enforced. Not on the subway. Not in the street. In the courthouse itself. It’s hard to imagine a clearer sign of how broken our justice system has become under Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. The place where consequences are supposed to be delivered has now become one more place where criminals act without fear. In any other city, this would be shocking. In New York, it feels familiar. This is what happens when a DA spends three years telling violent offenders there’s always another excuse, another downgrade, another way out — and signals, on Day 1, that avoiding consequences is the office’s top priority. ... And the results have been just as clear, with repeat offenders cycling through the system, emboldened criminals targeting stores and subway r...

 National Review: ... It is both sad and amusing to see how media commentators are failing to reckon with the reality of this simple fact. (More accurately, perhaps: They are necessarily accommodating themselves to an inexorable future.) The Wall Street Journal was out this weekend with a peppy, upbeat personal profile of Mamdani’s rise to power, which could not help but remind me of Simpsons anchorman Kent Brockman turning on a dime midway through the Springfield Evening News to welcome his new insect overlords . In upscale liberal quarters, the New Yorker is attempting to sell us on “ The Case for Zohranomics .” (For those curious, it amounts to little better than “imagine a world where money isn’t real.”) I can assure you that no such excuses will be made for Zohran Mamdani here at National Review . Regardless of brand affiliation (“Democrat,” “Democratic Socialist,” etc.), the man is an avowed communist in his own words. At this point, only his lack of any real-life work ex...

 Victor Davis Hanson: ... I’d like to talk about the dream house of Zohran Mamdani . He was a successful Democratic Socialist candidate in the first round of the recent New York mayoral elections. He was a beneficiary of two phenomena that might suggest he has a 50/50 chance—more or less—to win the general election. So we’re looking at the general election. But what’s funny about Mamdani is almost everything he says is a contradiction or not true. Now that he is the frontrunner, everybody is going back over his record and asking him questions. Did you say you want to defund the police? Once the police were refunded, under Adams, the crime rate has gone down. And he said, “No, I didn’t say that.” And then it’s become an internet phenomenon, listing all the times he did say that. He said that he wished that billionaires didn’t exist. Does that mean that he wouldn’t want George Soros to fund the get out the vote groups and the activists who are actively supporting him? Will he come...

  Trending Politics: The Trump administration is preparing to strip illegal aliens from the U.S. census count—a decision with massive implications for congressional representation, Electoral College votes, and federal funding. The battle over who counts in the U.S. census is heating up again as President Donald Trump sets his sights on reversing one of the most impactful policies from the Biden era. At the center of the renewed effort is a plan to exclude illegal immigrants from the official population count used to determine congressional apportionment—something Democrats argue is unconstitutional, but Republicans see as a necessary correction. Rather than reintroduce a citizenship question, which failed in 2020, Trump’s team plans to rely on administrative data from federal agencies to identify and exclude those unlawfully present in the country. This would directly target the way congressional seats, Electoral College votes, and federal funds are distributed—cutting off the poli...

 Yahoo: Some Republicans are calling on Donald Trump’s administration to revoke Zohran Mamdani’s citizenship and deport him from the country as the likely Democratic nominee for New York City’s next mayor endures a torrent of Islamophobic bigotry. The 33-year-old democratic socialist declared victory in the primary after former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo conceded the race on Tuesday evening. The New York Young Republican Club reacted to the primary results with a “call to action” on X. “The radical Zohran Mamdani cannot be allowed to destroy our beloved city of New York,” the group wrote. The group urged the president to invoke the Red Scare-era Communist Control Act to yank Mamdani’s citizenship and “promptly deport him.” The club called on White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and Trump border czar Tom Homan to take action. “The time for action is now,” the group wrote. “New York is counting on you.” Following Mamdani’s victory, Miller claimed New York City is th...

Betsy McCaughy: Pro-crime Democrats are propelling New York toward anarchy and financial ruin. The seven candidates vying for the Democratic nomination for Gotham's mayor unanimously oppose increasing penalties for farebeaters. That includes frontrunners Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani. Their refusal to crack down on farebeaters — all by itself — disqualifies them for the city's top job. These pols do not regard law-abiding New Yorkers as their constituents. Instead they're siding with criminals and left-wing ideologues who excuse crime as a side effect of society's imperfections. ... Are there enough farebeaters to win an election in New York? When I worked there, it never crossed my mind not to pay for transportation. 

 Red State: Some have been speculating that Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) might run for Governor of New York. Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul's term is up in 2026. Frankly, Stefanik may have ended her on Thursday even without any campaign during a House hearing about sanctuary state policies and the harm they cause. Hochul was already operating at a deficit, being a Democrat defending a ridiculous position. But then Stefanik went to town on her, asking her if she knew any of the names that Stefanik was listing of alleged criminal illegal aliens in her state. She left Hochul stammering. Hochul had to admit she didn't know the names, even though Stefanik noted they were "high-profile cases" that New Yorkers know about. Stefanik said she bet Hochul would remember after she reminded her of the case of the man accused of lighting a woman on fire in the subway and burning her alive. Stefanik said ICE issued an order to detain this individual, but it was rejected due to sanctuary st...

 Federalist Wire: ... In a stunning development, New York Attorney General Letitia James finds herself at the center of a criminal investigation launched by the FBI and the US Attorney’s Office in Albany. The probe, which focuses on allegations of mortgage fraud, has sent shockwaves through the political landscape, raising questions about integrity, accountability, and the pursuit of justice. A source close to the investigation confirmed to the New York Post that the inquiry is underway, marking a significant turn in James’ tenure as the state’s top legal officer. The investigation stems from a referral by William Pulte, Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, who last month urged the Justice Department to examine James’ financial dealings. The Albany Times Union first broke the story, shedding light on claims that James may have manipulated records to secure favorable loan terms for properties in Virginia and Brooklyn. The case has been assigned to New York’s Northern Dist...

 DC Daily Journal: ... New York Attorney General Letitia James faced an unexpected confrontation at a Thursday night town hall, where a lone voice pierced through the room’s anti-Trump fervor. The event, meant to showcase James’ agenda, took a sharp turn when a supporter of President Donald Trump stood up, demanding accountability. His challenge exposed the simmering tension around James’ relentless legal pursuits, which many see as politically motivated overreach. The incident laid bare the divisive atmosphere surrounding her tenure, as her critics grow louder. The town hall, packed with anti-Trump attendees, was a stage for leftist talking points from panelists who rarely deviated from the script. James, a Democrat, basked in the supportive crowd, but the mood shifted when one man refused to play along. Rising to his feet, he confronted her directly, his question cutting through the room like a blade. “My question is for Tish James. Will you apologize to President Trump for wasti...

 NY Post: Taxpayers could be on the hook for New York Attorney General Letitia James’ legal bills during Justice Department probes into her alleged fraudulent real estate dealings , The Post has learned. Albany Democrats are expected to sign off on a provision allowing certain officials to tap into a $10 million fund to cover “any reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses incurred” — even as part of probes not directly related to their state employment. The language is being slipped into New York’s operations budget bill — one of several expected to be made public and voted on starting Wednesday as the Legislature moves to pass next year’s fiscal plan. Multiple sources told The Post that the specific language in the bill would apply to James’ looming legal fight. New York Republican State Committee Chairman Ed Cox quickly lashed out over the move to slip a legal “bailout” to James, calling it an “outrageous abuse of power and a slap in the face to every New Yorker.” “This is what co...