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Trump Eyes Redistricting Move To Add 5 More GOP Seats In Texas Before 2026

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    Ted Eytan from Washington, DC, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

    New districts could cement GOP control for years to come…

    President Donald Trump is pushing Texas Republicans to redraw the state’s congressional map in a bid to add five new GOP-friendly U.S. House seats ahead of the next year’s midterms, according to Punchbowl News and other outlets.

    Texas currently holds 38 House seats — 25 Republican, 13 Democrat. To carve out more red territory, state lawmakers would need to undertake a mid-decade redistricting effort, something rarely attempted. GOP leaders plan to tackle it during a special legislative session starting July 21.

    Critics have called the move a blatant power grab, warning it could dilute Black and Latino voting strength and open the door to racial gerrymandering lawsuits. Some Republicans agree the plan is a legal and political gamble, potentially weakening solid red seats by spreading GOP voters too thin.

    Still, Trump and Governor Greg Abbott remain steadfast — with supporters citing the GOP’s razor-thin House majority and rumblings of a potential blue wave in 2026. For the president, the redistricting effort is a preemptive strike to fortify the party’s grip where it’s strongest.

    Critics argue the state’s 2021 maps already wrung every possible advantage for the GOP. “Crocodile tears,” is how Rice University political scientist Mark P. Jones described Democratic outrage, noting the existing lines were carefully engineered to protect Republican incumbents — not expand their reach.

    Jones warned that any map changes would hurt sitting Republicans and carry a serious risk of political blowback, according to The Dallas Morning News:

    “Texas Democrats want Republicans to engage in this redistricting, because they’ll be able to, from a PR perspective, use it to criticize Republicans for trying to stack the deck and change the rules and manipulate the districts for political gain,” Jones said. “But at the same time, those Democrats know that those new districts will actually be more favorable for Texas Democrats than the current districts.”

    Abbott’s redistricting effort was prompted by a letter this week from the Department of Justice, which raised concerns over the legality of four districts in Houston and the Dallas area that have non-white majority populations. All four districts strongly lean sharply to the left, and voters in each district elected Democrats by margins greater than 30 points.

    While Republicans have little left to gain in Dallas or Houston, the GOP sees opportunity in South Texas — where Trump-era gains have reshaped the political map. But redrawing lines there could backfire, potentially making neighboring red districts more competitive for Democrats, who pushed their statewide vote share up to 46% in recent cycles.

    Redistricting expert Michael Li, of NYU’s Brennan Center for Justice, warned the GOP effort could turn into a “dummymander” — a gerrymander that overreaches and ultimately backfires:

    That happened in Arkansas in 2013 after that state’s Democratic-led legislature redrew congressional districts to elect a second Democrat to Washington. Instead, Republicans won all four of the state’s seats and have held them since.

    “When you gerrymander, you’re making a bet that you know what the politics of the future look like,” Li said. “That’s a very hard thing to predict in Texas, because the state is changing so fast.”

    Nevertheless, success could deliver Texas Republicans a crucial edge going into a volatile 2026 cycle. The question is whether the courts — and the electorate — will let it happen.

    Former Jan. 6 Committee Lawyer Running for Congress in Trump District

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      An uphill bid…

      Robin Peguero, who served as investigative counsel for the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, is launching a bid to unseat Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) in Florida.

      “It’s time for us to write a new story for South Florida — one where hard-working families stop being forced to choose between making rent or seeing a doctor, where small businesses have access to resources and tax relief, and where we no longer get squeezed by corporations and billionaires while politicians like María Elvira Salazar do their bidding,” Peguero said in a statement on Tuesday announcing his candidacy. 

      “Miami deserves a representative in the House who fights for them. That’s the leader I’ll be.”

      Peguero is the latest Democrat to enter the race to take on the Florida Republican. Former Key Biscayne Mayor Mike Davey, accountant Alex Fornino and businessman Richard Lamondin have also launched bids on the Democratic side to take on Salazar. 

      The Florida Republican handily won her last election in November against Democrat Lucia Baez-Geller by more than 20 points. President Trump won the district last year by close to 15 points, according to The Downballot.

      The seat is one of 35 held by House Republicans that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said it plans to target in the 2026 midterms.

      The list, which the DCCC called its Districts in Play, includes Alaska Rep. Nick Begich (R); Arizona Reps. David Schweikert (R), Eli Crane (R) and Juan Ciscomani (R); California Reps. David Valadao (R), Young Kim (R) and Ken Calvert (R); Colorado Rep. Gabe Evans (R); and Florida Reps. Cory Mills (R), Anna Paulina Luna (R) and Maria Elvira Salazar (R).

      The committee is also targeting Iowa Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R), Ashley Hinson (R) and Zach Nunn (R); the open seat in Kentucky’s sixth congressional district; Michigan Reps. Bill Huizenga (R) and Tom Barrett (R); the open seat in Michigan’s 10th congressional district; Missouri Rep. Ann Wagner (R); Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon (R); New Jersey Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R); and New York Rep. Mike Lawler (R ).

      The final names on the list are Ohio Reps. Max Miller (R), Mike Turner (R) and Mike Carey (R); Pennsylvania Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R), Ryan Mackenzie (R), Rob Bresnahan (R) and Scott Perry (R); Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles (R); Texas Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R); Virginia Rep. Rob Wittman (R); and Wisconsin Reps. Bryan Steil (R) and Derrick Van Orden (R).

      Tucker Carlson Holds Funeral for Dan Bongino’s Career Following Epstein Outburst

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      Dan Bongino via Gage Skidmore Flickr

      Is FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino circling the drain? His former Fox News colleague says so.

      On Sunday, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson essentially hosted a funeral for Bongino’s career and credibility after the former Fox contributor reportedly threatened to resign over Attorney General Pam Bondi’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

      On Culture Apothecary, host Alex Clark asked Carlson to weigh in on the feud.

      “Well, as we’re recording this, Dan Bongino is threatening to resign if Pam Bondi does not resign as AG. What does that tell us, in your opinion?” she inquired.

      “Well, it tells us that Dan Bongino got shafted, completely shafted. And I’m saying this as a friend of his, and someone who respects and likes him, but also just as an observer, I’m an informed observer of it,” replied Carlson. “So Pam Bondi, who’s, by the way, I don’t hate Pam Bondi, she’s a totally nice person. If he was here, you would enjoy-, I don’t know if you know her, but she’s a very nice person. I’m not against Pam Bondi in the slightest. But the fact is she got on television on Fox News and started saying stuff like, ‘I’ve got the client list on my desk!’ And actually, no, you don’t. And, ‘I’ve got thousands of videos of Epstein having sex with kids.’ Well, actually, no, you don’t. Most of the material was commercial porn taken off his computer. Like, that’s just not true. Why did she say that? Probably because she’s insecure and she’s trying to please the audience, I would expect.”

      “Do you think Dan is upset because his integrity is being questioned now over her mistake?” followed up Clark.

      “Of course! Oh my gosh! So you’re Dan, and you’re a media figure, and you’ve got one of the biggest podcasts in the country, and you’re making tons of money, and you’re having a great time — which he was. You just built this brand new studio in Florida, you work with your wife who you really like, which he does, and you get the call saying, ‘You be deputy FBI director,’ and you’re like, ‘I love Donald Trump, I love this country. I will cut my pay into a 10th of what it was, and I will leave my house and move to D.C.,’ which is a kind of prison sentence itself,” answered Carlson. “‘And I will do this because I love the president, I love the country,’ and you’re there a few months, and all of a sudden everybody thinks you’re covering up Epstein’s crimes, and it kind of wrecks Dan’s career. Like he can’t go back-, it’s gonna be very hard at this point, I mean, things may change, but as of today, pretty hard for Dan to go back to his podcast audience and be like, ‘I’m telling you the truth,’ when they all think that he’s covering up for Epstein.”

      “Who did that? Pam Bondi did that,” he added, before going on to say he “feel[s]” for Bongino.

      The Justice Department last week released a memo concluding there was no evidence suggesting the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender kept a “client list” to blackmail high-profile individuals. The memo also found no evidence to suggest foul play in Epstein’s death, which had previously been ruled a suicide.

      The memo spurred fierce backlash from many Trump supporters, who had long called on the government to release material on Epstein that they argue would expose wrongdoing at the highest level of elite circles.

      Dan Bongino, the Deputy Director of the FBI, reportedly threatened to leave the bureau if Attorney General Pam Bondi remains on the job due to her handling of the Epstein files, a source close to Bongino told The Daily Wire.

      One source close to Bongino predicted to Axios, “He ain’t coming back.”

      CNN reports that Trump — who has been desperate to move past the Epstein story — was furious at Bongino, as well as FBI Director Kash Patel. Vice President JD Vance reportedly tried to hammer out a peace between the administration’s top Justice Department officials. But CNN reports that Bongino is still very much hanging by a thread.

      “It remains to be seen if Bongino ultimately resigns, which he told others he was considering,” the CNN report stated. “But sources say his relationship with the White House has become basically untenable. Even if he does not quit now, some inside the administration believe he will not stay in the job long-term.”

      However, President Donald Trump said on Sunday he believes FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino is “in good shape” following a reported clash with Attorney General Pam Bondi.

      “I spoke to him today,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews. “Dan Bongino, very good guy. I’ve known him a long time. I’ve done his show many, many times. And he sounded terrific actually. No, I think he’s in good shape.”

      Watch:
      Discussion of the Epstein files begins around 14:14 in the video.

      Epstein Files Threaten Tp Upend Trump Legacy

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      By Ralph Alswang, White House photographer - https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/clinton-epstein-maxwell/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=143417695

      Tensions are rising after the Justice Department claimed it had no evidence that notorious sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein had a client list, blackmailed powerful people, or was murdered.

      Democrats in Congress say they will introduce measures this week to press for the disclosure of files reported to Epstein, a wealthy financier and convicted sex offender who was found dead at the age of 66 in his New York City jail cell in 2019 after being arrested on sex trafficking charges involving young girls. 

      Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) is calling on House Republicans to hold a vote demanding the Trump administration release the “FULL Epstein files.”

      “Why are the Epstein files still hidden? Who are the rich & powerful being protected?” Khanna said in a post on the social platform X over the weekend.

      “On Tuesday, I’m introducing an amendment to force a vote demanding the FULL Epstein files be released to the public,” he continued. “The Speaker must call a vote & put every Congress member on record.”

      The Justice Department last week released a memo concluding there was no evidence suggesting the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender kept a “client list” to blackmail high-profile individuals. The memo also found no evidence to suggest foul play in Epstein’s death, which had previously been ruled a suicide.

      The memo spurred fierce backlash from many Trump supporters, who had long called on the government to release material on Epstein that they argue would expose wrongdoing at the highest level of elite circles.

      Far-right activist Laura Loomer, a staunch ally of President Trump, said Sunday night there should be a special counsel to examine the handling of files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

      Loomer, who has bashed Attorney General Pam Bondi for her handling of the Epstein documents, told Politico’s Playbook newsletter that a special counsel should be appointed “so that people can feel like this issue is being investigated, and perhaps take it out of [Bondi’s] hands, because I don’t think that she has been transparent or done a good job handling this issue.”

      Much of the frustration from MAGA allies has been directed at Attorney General Pam Bondi, who said earlier this year that files were on her desk but then seemed to suggest they did not exist by releasing the memo last week. Bondi argued she was referring to the case file on Epstein, not a specific “client list.”

      Trump has remained adamant in his position and has fiercely defended Bondi against the onslaught of backlash. 

      “What’s going on with my ‘boys’ and, in some cases, ‘gals?’ They’re all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! We’re on one Team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening. We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and ‘selfish people’ are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein,” Trump said in the social media post on Saturday.

      Dan Bongino, the Deputy Director of the FBI, reportedly threatened to leave the bureau if Attorney General Pam Bondi remains on the job due to her handling of the Epstein files, a source close to Bongino told The Daily Wire.

      One source close to Bongino predicted to Axios, “He ain’t coming back.” Trump administration officials, however, are saying that Bongino remains on the job.

      President Donald Trump said on Sunday he believes FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino is “in good shape” following a reported clash with Attorney General Pam Bondi.

      “I spoke to him today,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews. “Dan Bongino, very good guy. I’ve known him a long time. I’ve done his show many, many times. And he sounded terrific actually. No, I think he’s in good shape.”

      Watch:

      FBI Director Kash Patel broke his silence on Saturday amid rumors that he might also consider leaving if Bondi stayed, saying in a post to X that the “conspiracy theories” were not true and that he would continue to serve under Trump as long as the president wanted him to be there.

      Senate Panel Blocks Trump’s FBI HQ Plan

      I, Aude, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

      A Senate committee voted Thursday afternoon to block President Donald Trump’s plan to keep the FBI headquarters in downtown Washington, D.C., escalating a simmering power struggle over the agency’s future location.

      The dispute pits the White House against a bipartisan coalition in Congress that had long backed moving the agency’s headquarters out of the decaying J. Edgar Hoover Building and into suburban Maryland.

      Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) introduced an amendment to the fiscal 2026 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill that would restrict funding exclusively to the original relocation site in Greenbelt, Maryland.

      The measure gained unexpected bipartisan traction, with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) siding with Democrats. The decision to cross party lines prompted a backlash from several Republican senators, who argued the decision was outside the committee’s authority.

      Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) pushed back, saying the panel does not “get to choose sites.”

      The dispute led Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) to call for a “very long recess,” delaying further consideration of the bill. Collins said she hopes the standoff can be resolved before the next markup session.

      “I think it’s better we withdraw the bill for now than watch this bill go down,” she said.

      The panel is not expected to reconvene before next week.

      Trump’s plan would relocate the FBI to the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center — a federal property just blocks from the White House. The administration argues the move keeps the FBI close to other national security agencies while avoiding the massive cost of building a new complex from scratch.

      But Maryland officials aren’t backing down, determined to secure the economic and strategic benefits of hosting the new FBI campus.

      Politico has more on the reaction and outlook from lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

      The blowup exasperated some Democrats on the panel, who questioned why the Republican majority could not accept Van Hollen’s provision. “Because there was a bipartisan amendment adopted we’re going to tank this bill?” asked Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz.

      Others expressed confidence the issue would ultimately get settled.

      “I honestly think we’ll be able to resolve it,” said Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the panel’s top Democrat. “We’ve always been able to work out issues.”

      Murkowski, who was spotted chatting on the floor on Thursday afternoon with Murray, said she had “volunteered” a path for members to hit pause on the bill and “get a little more information about what it is the administration is seeking to do with the [new headquarters plan], because it seems to me that is kind of the blank spot right now.”

      Despite cautious optimism, Thursday’s vote throws another wrench into the increasingly politicized debate over the FBI’s future headquarters — and highlights the broader friction between Congress and the Trump administration.

      READ NEXT: Trump Mulling Federal Takeover Of DC To Tackle Crime

      Secret Service Suspends 6 Agents Over Trump Assassination Attempt

      By The White House - https://www.flickr.com/photos/202101414@N05/54581054338/, Public Domain,

      Without Pay or Benefits…

      The U.S. Secret Service has acknowledged disciplinary action against six agents, citing operational lapses during the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.

      The agency confirmed to Fox News that the disciplinary action occurred in February. A Senate report on the near-assassination is scheduled for imminent release.

      The attack occurred when 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire from a rooftop roughly 400 feet from the rally stage. One bullet grazed Trump’s ear. Another fatally struck firefighter Corey Comperatore, who had shielded his family. Increasingly erratic gunfire from Crooks wounded two others before Secret Service counter-snipers neutralized him.

      Leadership Fallout and Push for Reform

      In the wake of the incident, then–Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned, acknowledging it as the agency’s most serious operational failure in decades.

      Acknowledging the desire for institutional reform, Deputy Director Matt Quinn stated, “We aren’t going to fire our way out of this.” Among the measures already underway: deploying military-grade drones, upgrading communication systems, and enhancing cooperation with local law enforcement.

      Heated Congressional Oversight

      Yet tensions boiled over in December 2024 during a public hearing held by the Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump. Then–Acting Director Ronald Rowe Jr. and Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas) engaged in a heated, nearly unintelligible shouting match over the agency’s preparedness.

      Lawmakers across party lines expressed deep frustration. Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) criticized the agency’s outdated communications and a culture that discouraged agents from voicing security concerns.

      Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) described the Secret Service’s posture during the Butler rally as “almost lackadaisical,” citing “really basic” lapses that hinted at complacency.

      The bipartisan panel released a scathing report, outlining multiple preventable failures and calling for sweeping structural reforms.

      Restoring Trust Under New Leadership

      In January 2025, President Trump appointed Sean Curran — the agent who shielded him that day in Butler — as the new director of the Secret Service, signaling a commitment to restoring trust and accountability within the agency.

      READ NEXT: DeSantis Suggests Musk Pursue Constitutional Amendments Instead Of Establishing New Political Party

      DeSantis Suggests Musk Pursue Constitutional Amendments Instead Of Establishing New Political Party

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      Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suggested that billionaire CEO Elon Musk push for balanced budget and congressional term limit amendments to the U.S. Constitution, rather than build a new political party.

      Musk, who has been outspoken about the need to rein in government spending, announced that he is launching a new political party called the America Party. 

      “Backing a candidate for president is not out of the question, but the focus for the next 12 months is on the House and the Senate,” he noted in a post on X.

      The governor suggested that if Musk funds candidates in competitive Senate and House contests, Democrats will likely win.

      But DeSantis acknowledged that the GOP has an issue with people running on spending less, but then failing to do so. “There’s a gap between the campaign rhetoric, and then the performance,” he said.

      He explained that he does not believe “electing a few better people” will alter the “trajectory” on the debt issue.

      DeSantis said that the “incentives” in D.C. will “lead to these outcomes, really, regardless of the outcome of elections at this point,” asserting that a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution is needed.

      Musk “would have a monumental impact” if he got involved, DeSantis said.

      Billionaire Elon Musk announced the launch of his new political party on Saturday, but has yet to share any further details on how he plans to navigate the red tape to establish a viable alternative.

      Musk on Saturday appeared to confirm his intention to launch his “America Party,” after posting a poll to his X account the prior day asking followers whether or not he should create the new party.

      “By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it! When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,” he wrote. “Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”

      Elon Musk’s plan to launch a new US political party could split the Republicans, Donald Trump’s allies have warned.

      Fired State Dept Bureaucrats Reportedly Uniting To Sabotage Trump ‘Regime’

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      The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

      A recent report revealed that current and former USAID and State Department officials are using their expertise in undermining authoritarian regimes abroad against President Donald Trump.

      NOTUS reporter Jose Pagliery reported that “Some of the democracy-building experts President Donald Trump fired this year from the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department are now reapplying the skills and knowledge they built up over decades to undermine Trump’s power.”

      One anonymous current federal official warned to NOTUS, “Take it from those of us who worked in authoritarian countries: We’ve become one.” He added, “They were so quick to disband AID, the group that supposedly instigates color revolutions. But they’ve done a very foolish thing. You just released a bunch of well-trained individuals into your population. If you kept our offices going and had us play solitaire in the office, it might have been safer to keep your regime.”

      “Former officials” reportedly told the news outlet that they are “holding workshops on a tactic called ‘noncooperation.’ They’re building a network of government workers willing to engage in even minor acts of rebellion in the office. And they’re planting the seeds of what they hope could become a nationwide general strike.

      “Some in the informal network of Trump opponents are sharing an old CIA pamphlet with allies who still work in the government: It’s called ‘Simple Sabotage,’” the reporter added.

      This community, NOTUS reported, “is composed of diplomats and human rights activists who were once on the U.S. government payroll encouraging Latin American dissidents to fight dictators and supporting African independence movements. They were involved to varying degrees with an ultimately successful uprising in the Middle East.” 

      One group that NOTUS cited was “DemocracyAID,” which has no formal website or legal entity so far, but is “already hosting invite-only workshops with federal employees who hear about them from friends, vetting each person before they’re allowed into a trusted circle and teaching them case studies, like the Danish underground insurgency against Nazi occupation.”

      Deputy White House press secretary Anna Kelly condemned such efforts in a statement to NOTUS, saying, “It is inherently undemocratic for unelected bureaucrats to undermine the duly elected President of the United States and the agenda he was given a mandate to implement.”

      A senior State Department official told Fox News Digital, “The State Department is not aware of these reports but always takes our national security seriously. We will continue to take every precaution to protect the State Department from internal and external threats.”

      The NOTUS report comes on the heels of a separate alarming report from Axios that revealed a concerning swath of Democrat lawmakers’ constituents encouraging political violence.

      Democrat lawmakers say their voters are enraged at the lack of ability to counter President Donald Trump‘s agenda, with some sounding the alarm that they could potentially resort to “violence,” Axios reported Monday.

      The outlet says it spoke to over two dozen House Democrats to measure the temperature of the Democrat base and what it uncovered was red-hot anger and a desire to circumvent the rule of law.

      “We’ve got people who are desperately wanting us to do something… no matter what we say, they want [more],” Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) told the outlet.

      Axios noted that most of the lawmakers spoke on condition of anonymity.

      “Our own base is telling us that what we’re doing is not good enough… [that] there needs to be blood to grab the attention of the press and the public,” one such lawmaker said.

      Another said their constituents are convinced that “civility isn’t working” and that they should prepare for “violence… to fight to protect our democracy.”

      READ NEXT: Supreme Court Allows Trump Admin To Proceed With Mass Layoffs Amid Legal Challenges

      Report: Democrat Lawmakers Left Stunned As Some Constituents Suggest They ‘Storm The White House’

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      The threat of political violence is reaching a fever pitch.

      Democrat lawmakers say their voters are enraged at the lack of ability to counter President Donald Trump‘s agenda, with some sounding the alarm that they could potentially resort to “violence,” Axios reported Monday.

      The outlet says it spoke to over two dozen House Democrats to measure the temperature of the Democrat base and what it uncovered was red-hot anger and a desire to circumvent the rule of law.

      “We’ve got people who are desperately wanting us to do something… no matter what we say, they want [more],” Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) told the outlet.

      Axios noted that most of the lawmakers spoke on condition of anonymity.

      “Our own base is telling us that what we’re doing is not good enough… [that] there needs to be blood to grab the attention of the press and the public,” one such lawmaker said.

      Another said their constituents are convinced that “civility isn’t working” and that they should prepare for “violence… to fight to protect our democracy.”

      A third lawmaker described some of the messages from people online as “crazy ****,” saying that some told them to “storm the White House and stuff like that.”

      Another lawmaker compared Democrat voters to the “Roman coliseum,” saying, “People just want more and more of this spectacle,” the lawmaker said.

      Other constituents have insisted that lawmakers take on the risk themselves, with one lawmaker saying they were told they should be willing to get “shot.”

      “What I have seen is a demand that we get ourselves arrested intentionally or allow ourselves to be victims of violence, and… a lot of times that’s coming from economically very secure White people,” another lawmaker said.

      A seventh lawmaker recounted a meeting they had with constituents that laid bare the desire for escalation.

      “I actually said in a meeting, ‘When they light a fire, my thought is to grab an extinguisher,'” the lawmaker detailed. “And someone at the table said, ‘Have you tried gasoline?'” they added.

      The concerning report highlights the recent rise in political violence. (RELATED: Report: Suspected Minnesota Lawmaker Assassin Vance Boelter Captured)

      In June, a man assassinated two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses while posing as a law enforcement official. Vance Boelter, 57, was captured in Sibley County after a two-day manhunt. He allegedly killed Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, early Saturday morning at their Brooklyn Park home in Minneapolis before allegedly shooting State Sen. John Hoffman, also a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, in their nearby Champlin home in a related attack.

      NYC Mayoral Candidate’s Threat To Arrest Netanyahu Gets Brutal Trump Response

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        Never going to happen…

        After Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s leading mayoral candidate, pledged to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits the city, Netanyahu responded to questions about whether he’s worried. 

        In December, Mamdani, who identifies as a democratic socialist and is the Democrat Party’s nominee for New York City mayor, said, “as mayor, New York City would arrest Benjamin Netanyahu.”

        “This is a city that our values are in line with international law. It’s time that our actions are also,” Mamdani said, referring to the International Criminal Court issuing an arrest warrant against Netanyahu as well as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. 

        Netanyahu met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday evening to discuss a range of topics, including Iran and Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas.  

        When asked whether he was worried about the possibility of facing arrest in America’s largest city, Netanyahu said, “I’m not concerned about that.”

        The prime minister added, “I’m going to come there with the President Trump and we’ll see.” 

        He went on to say that Mamdani’s threat is “silly in many ways, because it’s just not serious.”

        Trump also chimed in, saying, “We don’t know who the mayor is going to be yet, but this is a communist. He’s not a socialist. He’s a communist, and he’s said some really bad things about Jewish people.”

        “He might make it,” Trump said. “But, you know, it all comes through the White House. He needs the money through the White House. He needs a lot.

        “He’s going to behave. He’ll behave. He better behave. Otherwise, he’s going to have big problems.” 

        President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands during their joint press conference, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. (Official White House Photo by Leslie N. Emory)

        Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed that he had sent a letter to the Nobel Prize Committee to nominate President Donald Trump for the peace prize.

        While speaking to reporters, Netanyahu spoke about the relationship between Israel and the U.S.

        “I want to express the appreciation and admiration not only of all Israelis, but of the Jewish people and many, many admirers around the world, for your leadership, your leadership of the free world, your leadership of a just cause, and the pursuit of peace and security,” he said. “The president has an extraordinary team, and I think our teams, together, make, an extraordinary combination to meet challenges and seize opportunities.

        “But the president has already realized great opportunities. He forged the Abraham Accords. He’s forging peace as we speak, in one country and one region after the other,” Netanyahu continued. “So, I want to present to you, Mr. President, the letter I sent to the Nobel Prize committee. It’s nominating you for the peace prize, which is well-deserved.”

        Trump accepted the letter, saying he was unaware of the nomination and thanking the prime minister.

        Watch: