Author: Karen Givens

President Donald Trump has announced his endorsement of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the state’s GOP Senate primary, a move that landed on Tuesday and sent an immediate jolt through Texas Republican politics. The endorsement included Trump’s exact words: “WE HAVE ALREADY MADE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, BUT NOW, WE WANT TO MAKE OUR NATION BETTER THAN EVER BEFORE. Therefore, Ken Paxton has my Complete and Total Endorsement […]”. Trump’s public backing of Ken Paxton instantly reframes the primary contest and hands momentum to a candidate who positions himself as a relentless conservative fighter. For…

Ed Gallrein’s primary win over Rep. Thomas Massie reshaped a bitter, costly House contest into a clear Republican signal about who sets the party’s direction and which priorities matter in 2026. Ed Gallrein defeated Rep. Thomas Massie on Tuesday in the most expensive House primary in history, handing President Trump another high-profile victory and cementing his standing as the center of gravity in the Republican Party. The result ended a bruising intra-party fight that drew national attention and deep-pocketed spending. Voters in the district made a choice that will reverberate well beyond one House seat. The race became a national…

Talks with Iran remain unsettled, Vance offered no assurance of a swift deal, and that uncertainty is raising questions about leverage, verification, and next steps. Negotiations with Iran still appear to be in limbo, as Vance could not confirm that a deal would be struck sooner rather than later. That one sentence captures both the diplomatic freeze and the leadership gap in communicating a clear path forward. The uncertainty feels less like prudent caution and more like stalled momentum at a moment when stakes are high. Across the board, Republicans are watching this unfold with healthy skepticism about Iran’s intentions…

Democrats turned a bruising redistricting loss in Virginia into another attack on the courts, launching a fast, public campaign against the U.S. Supreme Court after SCOTUS rejected a petition related to the case. The reaction was immediate and loud, and it shows how partisan pressure is being used to punish judges instead of accepting legal outcomes. Republicans see a clear pattern: when they lose at the ballot box or in court, Democrats go looking for institutional fixes. That tendency showed up again after a humiliating redistricting loss in Virginia, when party operatives shifted focus from the vote to undermining the…

Sen. Bill Cassidy says his 2021 vote to convict President Trump on a House impeachment charge of inciting the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol may have ended his political career, and he stands by that choice without regret. There is a GOP argument that sometimes doing the right thing costs you politically, and Sen. Bill Cassidy’s experience fits that line of thinking. In 2021 he voted to convict President Trump on the House impeachment charge tied to the Jan. 6 violence, and Cassidy now acknowledges the fallout has been severe. He has repeatedly said the vote may have…

A concise look at the life, controversies and public aftermath surrounding Mark Fuhrman following his death, focusing on his role in a high-profile murder trial and the long shadow it cast over his career. Former Los Angeles police detective Mark Fuhrman, who was convicted of lying during testimony at the OJ Simpson murder trial, has died. He was a recognizable figure in American criminal justice debates for decades after that trial, and his passing has reopened discussions about evidence, policing and public trust. The courtroom moments that defined him are still discussed in legal circles and popular culture alike. Fuhrman…

Attendance at regular worship services remains overwhelmingly safe worldwide, with billions of visits each year and very few instances of deadly attacks on individual houses of worship. Statistically, going to a weekly worship service is a remarkably safe thing to do. Global annual attendance totals many billions, and occasions of mass violence at places of worship are rare compared with the overall volume of visits. That context matters when communities think about risk and how to protect gatherings without changing what makes them meaningful. Places of worship are centers of routine life: prayers, sermons, rites, and shared celebrations that repeat…

China’s primary demand in the recent talks with the United States was straightforward: crude oil, and that narrow focus shaped how Beijing weighed its role in the Iran crisis while leaving Washington to decide how to leverage energy sales and sanctions for influence. Talks between President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping made one thing clear: China values Iranian oil and wants steady supplies. The U.S. pushed Beijing to help defuse a 12-week conflict, but China’s response was guided by energy interests rather than regional stability. Still, officials left the summit with some pragmatic steps and the outlines of possible leverage.…

Sen. John Fetterman was the only Democrat to oppose his party’s bid to limit President Trump’s war authority over the Iran conflict, and his vote helped doom the measure in a narrow 49-50 Senate outcome that stopped the effort from reaching the 51 votes needed to proceed. The Senate vote this week was the tightest test so far of the Democratic push to assert Congress’s war powers, and one senator’s break from his conference decided it. Democrats, joined by three Republicans, lacked the single extra vote they needed after Fetterman crossed the aisle with the White House. That split exposed…

Senator Bill Cassidy’s primary loss in Louisiana shows how crossing President Trump remains politically dangerous, with the May 18, 2026 result underlining the party’s current realities and the costs of being out of step with the GOP base. “It’s still the president’s party, and some people just have to learn that the hard way.” That line captures the mood after the primary outcome, where Cassidy’s disagreements with Trump and perceived distance from the grassroots played a central role. Voters favored a challenger who aligned with the former president’s priorities, and the margin reflected more than a personality clash. The result…