Republican Matt Van Epps wins US House special election in Tennessee; US officials discuss allowing Maduro to live out his days in Qatar; Hungarian Foreign Minister: Brussels wants Ukraine War to continue, vows to resist; Department of War holds first press conference after legacy reporters ‘self-deport’; Hungary’s beloved ambassador to the Holy See retires; Today Catholics honor ‘the greatest missionary since St. Paul’; and more —
Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District Stays Red In 9-Point Win For GOP
Tennessee’s reliably Republican 7th Congressional District will remain red despite the left’s aggressive campaign to turn it blue.
With 99 percent of the vote reporting, Republican and former Army helicopter pilot veteran Matt Van Epps easily defeated Democrat state Rep. Aftyn Behn, a Marxist posing as a moderate, in a special election to fill a seat left vacant earlier this year by GOP Rep. Mark Green’s retirement. Van Epps outpaced Behn by nearly 9 percentage points (53.9 percent to 45 percent).
Even in defeat, Democrats hailed the “closer-than-expected” election as a victory.
Read more at The Federalist
GOP: ‘We needed this win!’
See @EricLDaugh
Famous last words of Matt Van Epps’ challenger
Watch @eclipsethis2003
Victor Davis Hanson: Democrats Want to Distract You From This Before Midterms
Watch at The Daily Signal
Nicolas Maduro could end up in gas-rich Qatar under Trump pressure — as US weighs strikes in Venezuela’s waters
US officials are discussing allowing Venezuela’s socialist strongman Nicolas Maduro to live out his days in luxury in one of the world’s richest countries, The Post has learned — as President Trump’s bombing campaign against alleged drug boats could soon hit closer to South America’s shore.
A senior Trump administration source said Secretary of State Marco Rubio has floated allowing Maduro, 63, to relocate to Qatar as the gas-rich emirate helps mediate the conflict.
Three current and two former administration officials described the scenario as plausible.
“Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE love to do stuff like this. It helps build chits with the US,” said a source close to the administration.
Read more at the New York Post
Pope Urges Trump NOT to Topple Maduro by Force
Watch @Voz_US
Those Unhappy With Ukrainian Peace Deal Have Russia Hoaxers To Blame
The proposed Ukraine peace deal has shaken the political class that insisted escalation with Moscow was the only acceptable course. How, they ask, can Russia possibly walk away with concessions? Part of this is simply material: Russia has ground out battlefield gains and retains the manpower and resources to sustain the war indefinitely. But that is only one dimension of it.
The fuller answer reaches back long before the first tanks crossed the border. It began a decade earlier, when a small clique of Washington insiders decided Russia would be the villain in every story and Ukraine the instrument to make it so. From the 2014 Kiev coup to the Russia-collusion hoax to the Ukraine impeachment fiasco, the same actors built a narrative architecture that rewired the entire geopolitical landscape and made war not just possible but almost inevitable. The peace deal now taking shape is, at least in part, the price of that deception.
Read more at The Federalist
Hungarian Foreign Minister: Brussels wants War to continue, vows to resist
Read @zoltonspox
Laura Loomer, Matt Gaetz show up for first Pentagon briefing after press corps ‘self deports’
The Pentagon Press Corps has a new look — and it includes several familiar faces.
Right-wing firebrands Laura Loomer and former Rep. Matt Gaetz appeared in the audience Tuesday of the Department of War‘s first press conference after the old guard of Pentagon reporters surrendered their building passes in lieu of signing a controversial agreement with the Department of War’s press office.
Gaetz, who resigned from Congress in January and hosts a talkshow on One America News, pressed DoW spokeswoman Kingsley Wilson on what a “post-Maduro” Venezuela would look like as the US amps up military pressure there.
Read more at the New York Post
Jack Posobiec at the Department of War’s first press conference
Watch @WojPawelczyk; watch more new Pentagon press corp members @EricLDaugh
Reflections on the new Pentagon press corp: Captain John Konrad
Watch @Brick_Suit
Jack Posobiec Slams Adam Schiff
See @JackPosobiec
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) introduces legislation banning Americans from holding dual citizenship
See @FoxNews
Half of Minnesota visa applications are fradulent: Sec. Noem
Watch @Rapidresponse47
Supreme Court Appears Likely to Support Pro-Life Pregnancy Center Against Democrat Harassment
[Tuesday], the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in First Choice Women’s Resource Centers v. Platkin, a case challenging a broad investigative subpoena infringing on the First Amendment rights of a pro-life pregnancy center. The High Court is expected to decide the case by June 2026.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin claims—without any evidence—that First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, a religious nonprofit, provides “false and misleading information” to women and has demanded it hand over advertising materials on the Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) protocol, donor lists, personnel files, and other operational records spanning the last 10 years. …
In its High Court petition, First Choice argues that AG Platkin’s subpoena improperly targets its pro-life viewpoint, chills donor participation, and that this infringement on its First Amendment rights should be heard in a federal forum.
Read more at LifeNews; read more at The Daily Signal
Clip of Oral Arguments in First Choice case: Justice Thomas vs. NJ Chief Counsel
Watch @Cernovich
Eduard Habsburg retires as Hungary’s ambassador to the Holy See: An Interview
Watch @colmflynnire; see also @benedict_kiely
What is your favorite Nativity Scene? (Put your favorite in the comments below)
See @mamboitaliano
‘Want a guide through the liturgical year? Consider French Benedictine Dom Gueranger (1805-1875)
See @RCCoulombe
More hardcore spiritual guidance: Julian of Norwich (1342-c.1416)
Read @sitsio
Today is the feast of St. Francis Xavier!
Read @father_rmv; see also @CatholicSat
