White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Calls Out Violent Rhetoric on the Left

Naming names of particular Democrat officeholders after yet another assassination attempt. Leavitt: • “Rep Hakeem Jeffrey just THIS MONTH said, ‘we are in an era of maximum warfare everywhere all the time.'” • “Governor Josh Shapiro said heads need to roll within the administration.” • “Senator Alex Padilla said people are DYING because of fear and terror caused by the Trump administration.” • “Senator Elizabeth Warren: President Trump is making the country look like a ‘FASCIST STATE'” • “Senator Adam Schiff saying President Trump using a dictator playbook” • Senator Ed Markey calling President Trump a dictator, saying that this administration’s actions are authoritarianism on STEROIDS” • “Governor JB Pritzker: ‘Never before in my life have I called for mass protest disruptions. These Republicans cannot know a MOMENT of peace.'” • “Rep. Pressley saying we’ll see you in the streets.” • Monica M McIver, a Democrat representative on Capitol Hill, we will “not take this sh*t from Donald Trump. He thinks he’s a DICTATOR. We are at WAR!” • “These are Democrat elected officials calling for WAR against the president of the United States and his supporters” (Sortor). More from David Strom: I am still waiting to see what the psychological fallout will be with media folks who were in that room. For the most part, the rhetoric and violence aimed at Trump and Republicans is abstract to them. It’s not quite the same when you hear the actual gunshots (Hot Air). When it comes to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, he responded bluntly to Leavitt: “I don’t give a damn …. I don’t give a damn about your criticism” (Fox News). I wonder how he really feels.

Melania Trump Calls for ABC to Fire ‘Coward’ Jimmy Kimmel After ‘Expectant Widow’ Joke Before Shooting

The First Lady doesn’t want to be part of every argument or the center of every conversation. She’s clearly upset—and justifiably so. Catherine Salgado at PJ Media: After vile “comedian” Jimmy Kimmel referred to First Lady Melania Trump as an “expectant widow” in a series of grossly inappropriate jokes before the Saturday assassination attempt on Trump administration officials, the first lady responded with dignity but without holding back on emphasizing just how dangerous the rhetoric is. Just days before Cole Allen opened fire at the April 25 White House correspondents’ dinner, the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! chortled, “Our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.” That ugly display was part of Kimmel’s Thursday parody of the then-upcoming correspondents’ dinner. And the shooting highlighted vividly how irresponsible or downright bloodthirsty the media is for their constant pro-assassination rhetoric. No wonder the first lady wants ABC to take him off the air (PJ Media). Melania’s post: Enough is enough.  It is time for ABC to take a stand.  How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community (Trump).

President Trump Follows Up With His Own Rebuke of Kimmel and ABC

President Trump on Monday: I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel’s despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale. Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC. Thank you for your attention to this matter! (Truth). Ed Morrissey: Will Disney fire Kimmel this time around? This is arguably worse than Kimmel’s last contretemps, where he just lied about the assassination without explicitly promoting it. This time, Kimmel clearly cheered on the idea of a Trump assassination and wrapped it up as less of a joke than as an inside nod to the lunacy of his audience, his writing staff, and himself. Like the other network late-night hosts, Kimmel has curated his audience down to a dedicated core of Antifa activists and lunatics like the Ostroushkos of Minneapolis. He’s serving up red meat to rabid dogs, and Disney and ABC are complicit in that effort. However, I suspect that ABC won’t even suspend Kimmel this time around, although they should (Hot Air).

Rubio, Waltz Condemn Iran’s Continues Efforts to Shutter Strait of Hormuz

The Secretary of State and our Ambassador to the UN both seem resolute that we’ll continue prevail in our effort to thwart the radical Shi’as from controlling the international waterway. Secretary of State Rubio explained what Iran is doing—and our response: [What they are doing with the straits] is basically the equivalent of an economic nuclear weapon that they’re trying to use against the world, and they’re bragging about it…. We have to make sure that the costs of all the nefarious things they are doing outweigh the benefits of what they are doing. This is the reason why the blockade is in place. The blockade is not a blockade against shipping. It’s a blockade against Iranian shipping because they cannot be the sole beneficiaries of an illegal, unlawful and unjustified system of tolling and control in the Strait (Yingst). Ambassador Waltz argued similarly before the U.N.: It is absolutely clear. It’s unambiguous that as a matter of international law, this state is not, despite Iran’s foreign minister’s claims, this state is not Iran’s to wield like its own moat and drawbridge. It is not Iran’s hostage. It is not Iran’s bargaining chip. It is not Iran’s toll road. And that’s what over a hundred countries, right outside these doors just testified in one of the most supported press conferences in recent years. A hundred countries just said what I said. This is not for Iran to play with like some type of bargaining chip because of its illegal nuclear aspirations (Waltz).

US Blockade of Iranian Shipping Will Soon Cause Collapse of Iranian Oil Extraction

That’s the message of Treasury Secretary Bessent: While the surviving IRGC Leaders are trapped like drowning rats in a sewage pipe, Iran’s creaking oil industry is starting to shut in production thanks to the U.S. BLOCKADE. Pumping will soon collapse. GASOLINE SHORTAGES IN IRAN NEXT! Doing business with sanctioned Iranian airlines risks exposure to U.S. sanctions. Foreign governments should take all actions necessary to ensure that companies in their jurisdictions do not provide services to those aircraft, including the provision of jet fuel, catering, landing fees or maintenance. Under Economic Fury, the @USTreasury will impose maximum pressure on Iran and will not hesitate to act against any third parties that facilitate or conduct business with Iranian entities (Bessent). Wall Street Journal: The regime is using containers and “junk storage”—disused tanks in poor condition—in the southern oil hubs of Ahvaz and Asaluyeh, the officials say. Iran is also trying to send oil by rail to China, said Hamid Hosseini, spokesman for Iran’s oil exporting union. Most exporters typically shun rail exports as they are much less profitable and efficient than seaborne transport (Wall Street Journal). Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery (USN, Ret.): Look, this blockade’s working. The blockade’s job: It’s boring work, but important. It stops ships from proceeding into and out of the Gulf (Hewitt).

‘It’s Way Too Early to Declare Defeat in Iran’

That’s the title of the latest from veteran observer of geopolitics, Walter Russell Mead: True, the war has gone on longer than originally hoped and is taking a toll on the president’s popularity. But he may feel less trapped than critics think he should. Domestically, far-right critics like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens appear to be spiraling into irrelevance as Mr. Trump maintains his hold on the affections of his base. In the Gulf, American naval forces have, without taking casualties, consolidated a crushing blockade of Iran that Tehran seems unable to counter. Financial markets have stabilized and even strengthened despite the closing of the strait. With the arrival of a third aircraft carrier in the region, American military options are expanding. And if European allies are shunning the war, support in the Gulf for a decisive effort against Iran is stronger now than at the outbreak of hostilities…. for now the president can afford to wait and see how mounting pressure affects the Iranian side. Betting the farm on TACO scenarios seems dangerously premature (Wall Street Journal).

Supreme Court Upholds Texas Redistricting Map

The new Texas map is estimated to give the GOP five additional seats in Congress. Many readers will remember: This is the redistricting effort where Texas Democrats fled the state in their in order to try to prevent the bill from passing. They failed. Now: They failed in court. Texas Tribune: Texas’ newly redrawn congressional map is officially cleared for use, after the U.S. Supreme Court formally overturned a lower court’s ruling Monday. In November, the high court allowed the map to be used temporarily. Monday’s ruling maintains that status quo, ensuring the new lines will be used for the 2026 midterms. The ruling ends, for now, the lengthy legal battle over Texas’ efforts to add as many as five more Republican seats to the U.S. House (Texas Tribune). Alito—from his earlier stay—reprimanded the lower court for inserting itself in the process: The District Court improperly inserted itself into an active primary campaign, causing much confusion and upsetting the delicate federal-state balance in elections (SCOTUS).

Virginia Supreme Court Hears Challenge to Commonwealth’s Redistricting Case

With the central challenge being that the state did not conduct the special election according to the standards set up for it in the state’s own laws. NBC: The Virginia Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday on the legality of a constitutional amendment voters approved last week that allows Democrats to implement a more favorable congressional map ahead of the midterm elections. Attorneys for the Democrats in the case were peppered with tough questions by the justices, signaling some skepticism of their arguments. Republicans have challenged the process in several court cases, arguing that the Democratic-controlled legislature made procedural errors in putting the amendment on the ballot, which in turn invalidates the results of Tuesday’s special election. To amend the constitution, lawmakers must pass an amendment in two consecutive legislative sessions with an election in between. Republicans have argued that Democrats first passed the amendment when early voting had already begun ahead of Virginia’s 2025 elections, meaning they failed to meet that requirement (NBC).

Today: Florida Holds Special Session on New Electoral Map

The map—released yesterday—could give the Republicans four additional seats. Politico: Gov. Ron DeSantis gave state legislators a new congressional map Monday that would sharply alter the districts of several incumbents and could result in Republicans picking up as many as four extra seats as the national back-and-forth over mid-decade redistricting reaches one of its final destinations. DeSantis gave the map to lawmakers only about 24 hours ahead of a special session during which the GOP-controlled Legislature is expected to approve the new lines quickly and put them in place ahead of the 2026 midterms. Republicans already hold a 20-8 edge in the Sunshine State…. Democrats at the national and state level are already promising lawsuits. Florida is seen as the last possible place for Republicans to gain seats in mid-decade redistricting, a process kickstarted last year by President Donald Trump and the White House (Politico).

Today: King Charles III to Address Joint Session of Congress

The monarch and his wife Queen Camilla arrived in the U.S. on Monday. King Charles will be only the second monarch to speak before a joint session of Congress. TIME: During her 70-year reign, Queen Elizabeth met almost every U.S. President from Dwight Eisenhower to Joe Biden. But it was in 1991, when she met with President George H.W. Bush, that she became the first British Monarch to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress. The visit couldn’t have been better timed. President George H.W. Bush was riding sky-high popularity—76% approval in Gallup’s polling that same month!—after having painstakingly assembled an international coalition to win a clean war in the Middle East. Bush and Prime Minister John Major were thick as thieves. The United States was negotiating the final stages of tariff-reducing NAFTA and framing up what would become the World Trade Organization. Bush was in constant contact with Mikhail Gorbachev to stage-manage the structured collapse of the Soviet empire. The global economy was coming out of an economic recession and Washington was heading into its longest economic expansion in U.S. history. When King Charles III on Tuesday follows in his late mother’s footsteps as the second British Monarch to address Congress, he will be doing so in a Washington unrecognizable from the Queen’s triumphant visit 35 years earlier (TIME). King Charles is looking to repair a relationship that is damaged in fundamental ways.