Email from American Values Plus, love is truth.   Fighting For Faith, Family & Freedom Thursday, July 23, 2026 To: Friends & Supporters From: Gary Bauer The Conflict Grows As you know, the Iranian regime violated the tentative memorandum of understanding that led to a brief ceasefire in the Persian Gulf. As promised, President Trump hit back hard with 12 days of strikes against Iranian military targets. Iran responded by attacking U.S. forces in other Middle East countries, resulting in U.S. casualties and creating havoc in those countries. Behind the scenes, we have been surging forces into the region to give the president additional options. But in the last 36 hours, things have gotten much more complicated and dangerous. Iran’s Houthi allies in Yemen are now threatening Saudi oil tankers attempting to pass through the Red Sea on the western side of the Arabian Peninsula. Oil prices in the last three days have moved significantly higher, and there are growing concerns again about oil going as high as $150 a barrel. The conflict would be challenging under any circumstances. But it is even worse because we have a Democrat Party—not just their radicals but virtually all of them—that is fervently hoping for America’s defeat. Their attitude seems to be “So what if America loses, as long as it helps us win the election and gain power.” The Democrats have no answers on Iran. They were willing to let the radical Islamic regime acquire nuclear weapons. And now that the Houthis are involved, don’t forget that Joe Biden ordered the Saudis to stop bombing the Houthis. That problem could have already been taken care of if the Saudis weren’t restrained. Just another example of Democrats siding with America’s enemies. Comforter-In-Chief President Donald Trump went to Dover Air Force Base yesterday to attend the dignified transfer of four American heroes who were killed by Iran in recent days: 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan (25); Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad (28); Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton (30); and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales (19). Lt. Feehan, Sgt. Rampersad and Pvt. Gonzales were killed Friday during an Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack on a U.S. base in Jordan. Sgt. Swinton was killed Saturday during the controlled detonation of a downed Iranian attack drone at a base in Iraq. Speaking briefly to reporters before he left for Dover, President Trump said, as other presidents have, “For me, it’s one of the hardest things to do as president.” But Donald Trump doesn’t flinch. He doesn’t try to make us forget the dead. He spends long periods of time at Dover Air Force Base comforting the families of our fallen military personnel. While meeting with the grieving families, Trump learned that Lt. Feehan’s relatives lived in Georgia, not far from where he was holding a rally later in the day. So, he invited them to fly home with him on Air Force One, and later introduced them at the rally. The crowd honored Lt. Feehan and his family with prolonged applause. Remember how Joe Biden kept looking at his watch, as if he was bored, when the bodies of the 13 American heroes killed at Kabul airport’s Abbey Gate returned home? Those brave Americans died because of his incompetence, but he refused to even say their names. During Biden’s last State of the Union Address, Steve Nikoui, the father of one of the 13 fallen heroes, was dragged out of the House chamber and arrested after shouting his son’s name. Every president naturally struggles with the dignified transfer process. A president like Biden just wants the memory of the dead to go away as quickly as possible. Obama chose to honor a deserter at the White House. Trump elevates our fallen heroes to remind us of the precious price of our liberty. Yes, there is a difference between the parties. Embracing Evil Here’s another reminder of how evil Marxists truly are. The House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act yesterday. Virtually every Democrat voted against it. Among those leading the charge against the bill was socialist darling Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She posted this on social media: “Tomorrow, the House will vote on the NDAA, which includes a provision to merge parts of our military with the IDF. This amendment is an existential threat to American sovereignty and democracy. Every member of Congress must vote NO.” That is sheer demagoguery! The United States has similar military agreements with NATO nations, Australia and Japan. But AOC and her Marxist comrades see another opportunity to frighten and confuse Americans. They are engaged in a deliberate attempt to stoke hatred of Jews—to increase antisemitism. The Big Lie of antisemitism is “The Jews control the world. They control the banks and the media. They pull all the strings. They’re selling us out.” That’s what Adolf Hitler thought as he was recovering from his World War I wounds. Here’s AOC telling millions of Americans, “The Jews in Israel are taking over the American military!” It would be easy to say, “That’s insane.” But it’s actually evil. It’s just as evil as this statement by Zohran Mamdani in 2023 to a gathering of radical Marxists: “We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF [Israel Defense Forces].” What was the basis for that remark? Mamdani campaigned on a pledge to disband the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group, a specially trained counterterrorism unit that responds to large emergencies and riots. The group went to Israel to train with the IDF because Israel deals with riots and terrorism every day. But Mamdani wanted to make the streets “safe” not for the residents of New York City, but for his violent pro-Hamas Marxist comrades. So, he stoked antisemitism and hatred of Israel to justify his anti-law enforcement schemes. This degree of antisemitism used to be relegated to the most fevered swamps of the Jew-hating, America-hating, Christian-hating Left. Now it’s become “mainstream” in the Democrat Party, espoused by Democrat “leaders” like AOC. (See last item.) Fetterman Fights Back Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) gave us another reminder of how Democrats instinctively know how to fight. It’s as if they are born with an innate ability to speak in ways that immediately resonate with average Americans. Donald Trump has it, but many Republicans do not. Responding to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s obsession with Israeli Prime Benjamin Netanyahu, Fetterman said, “I know you’re angry at Netanyahu because he killed a lot of people you admire, whether it’s [Hamas leader] Sinwar or [Hezbollah leader] Nasrallah or [Khamenei] in Iran.” That’s brilliant! And it ought to be one of the ways Republicans nationalize the election because it fits Democrats across the board. Many Democrats hate Netanyahu, hate America and hate Donald Trump because Trump, Netanyahu, America and Israel keep killing their Islamist allies. If you think that sounds over-the-top, let me remind you about the Zoom meeting with Democrat candidates where one speaker whined about Iran being unable to fund Hamas and Hezbollah. Or Democrat Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who said many of his supporters were in mourning when Ayatollah Khamenei was killed. Love Is Truth WNBA player Sophie Cunningham has become a viral sensation. The Indiana Fever guard is not only an extremely talented athlete; she is fearless on and off the court. A few weeks ago, Cunningham-inspired finger-pointing memes broke the Internet. (Her favorite is the Statue of Liberty.) More recently, she made headlines for speaking out in defense of women’s sports. In an interview with ESPN, Cunningham said: “I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.” There’s a lot in that powerful statement. The truth is that men are not and cannot be women. The truth is that it is unfair for young girls to be forced to compete against larger and stronger boys who claim to be girls. The truth is that it is dangerous and demeaning to force girls to share private spaces with boys. The vast majority of Americans understand this. But a radical and vocal fringe demands we deny biological reality and lie. They insist we believe children can be “born in the wrong bodies” and experience the “wrong puberty” and that “men can get pregnant.” There’s nothing honest about any of those claims. They are all lies. The sad truth is that many young female athletes are afraid of speaking honestly about how they feel in these situations because of how hateful and intolerant the Left has become. It is not loving for us to “affirm” someone’s delusions. If your anorexic daughter insisted she was fat and demanded a gastric bypass surgery, would it be “loving” to say, “Sure, honey, you are fat. We’ll get you that surgery”? Of course not! She is obviously struggling with unresolved mental health issues, not physical issues that require radical and permanent surgical interventions. The loving thing to do is to speak honestly and truthfully and to address real concerns, not delusions. Democrat Delusions Men in women’s sports got a vote in the House of Representatives yesterday. As the House debated the National Defense Authorization Act, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) offered an amendment to ban male students from playing in girls’ sports at Department of Defense schools. The amendment passed, but only five House Democrats voted for it, while 203 Democrats voted to allow boys to cheat in girls’ sports. This is a perfect example of how out-of-touch and extreme Democrats have become. Nearly 80% of the American people oppose men in women’s sports. But only 2% of House Democrats share the commonsense values of the American people. AOC Ascending The latest 2028 Democrat primary poll from New Hampshire finds Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez leading with 22%, followed by Pete Buttigieg at 21%. Former Vice President Kamala Harris was in sixth place at just 5%. This clearly shows us where the base of the Democrat Party is in one of the whitest states of the Union. Socialism strongly appeals to college-educated Whites, and it’s creating growing tension with Black voters, a core Democrat constituency. MAKE YOUR TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION NOW SHARE VIA SOCIAL MEDIA Share This Email Share This Email Share This Email Share This Email As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, donations to American Values are tax deductible for federal income tax purposes. Contributions may be mailed to the following address: American Values 2800 S. Shirlington Road Suite 950 Arlington, VA 22206 Phone: 703-671-9700 Email Gary End Of Day Sign Up End Of Day Archives Truth Social Bauer & Rose Podcast Listen to Gary's Defending Faith, Family, & Freedom podcasts   American Values | ouramericanvalues.org American Values | 2800 S. Shirlington Road Suite 950 | Arlington, VA 22206 US Unsubscribe | Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice