MAGA folks are revisiting their beloved argument that conservative women have more children because they’re hotter.  “Conservative women are just factually more attractive than liberal women. It’s why more conservatives than liberals are having babies,” Katie Miller, the wife of White House chief of staff for policy  Stephen Miller, said via X Wednesday.  Her claims were paired with an equally strange Fox News segment between Jesse Watters and Kid Rock in which the former dad rock singer shared his sexist epiphany on live television. xConservative women are just factually more attractive than liberal women. It’s why more conservatives than liberals are having babies. https://t.co/gfpzhsmEtu— Katie Miller (@KatieMiller) January 21, 2026 “We have this low birth rate in America,” Rock began. “It just hit me right now, because who is going to sleep with these ugly-ass, broke, crazy, [Trump Deranged Syndrome], liberal women? You look at these rallies, it’s like a bunch of women that no guy wants to sleep with and a bunch of dudes that want to sleep with each other.” There are so many problems with Rock’s argument. And it’s a lot to assume any of these hypothetical women would be interested in sleeping with Rock as opposed to, say, someone like Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert. The thing is, studies suggest that conservative women are indeed having more children than liberals. However, it probably has nothing to do with how badly men want to sleep with them. Per the Institute for Family Studies:  In the 2020s, just 40% of liberal women between ages 25 and 35 report being parents, down from 51% in the 2010s. By comparison, conservative women in this age range saw no statistically significant change: in the 2020s, 71% report being parents. This means there is a 31-percentage point gap between young conservative women and their liberal peers today. And it also probably doesn’t have to do with the allegedly radical, leftist, blue-haired women with armpit hair that Watters and the majority of MAGA seem to use as a bogeyman for women’s rights.  While MAGA points to women’s looks as the reason for plummeting birth rates among more left-leaning families, they’re ignoring the policies in place that are keeping women (who want children) from taking that step.  Conservatives are diving toward an ideology that promotes godliness and duty to provide offspring over the practicality of raising children in today’s world altogether. And that concern is what has many liberal families holding off.  Related | Why 'The Great Feminization' is a great big conservative con Things like extreme costs for day care or childcare when parents go to work have come into the public conversation. Despite the desire, in some households, for one parent to be the breadwinner, affordability in Trump’s America makes that reality out of reach for many. Many mothers were able to join the workforce again when working from home was more accessible, but that has steadily declined as they’ve been forced back into the office. Once a pregnant person does give birth, however, there is the fear of exorbitant hospital bills and Trump doesn’t care if that medical debt goes on people’s credit reports.  The only thing that the Trump administration seems to be actively tackling is the incentive, or means, of making babies itself.  With the overturn of Roe v. Wade, abortion has become less accessible—and continues to become less so. On the bright side, should you have a child before 2028, Trump will start a $1,000 savings account for them.  While women on the left are looking at the logistics, MAGA women seem to be pushing the message of faith that, somehow, it will all work out for them.  However, no amount of hair extensions and lip filler will make better policies for mothers.

Former D.C. Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fanone—who was seriously injured while defending the Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack—told Republican Rep. Troy Nehls, “Go fuck yourself” during Thursday’s House committee hearing featuring former special counsel Jack Smith. Fanone, a vocal critic of MAGA efforts to rewrite the history of Jan. 6 and deflect blame from Donald Trump, was in attendance when Nehls had the audacity to claim that the Capitol Police’s leadership was to blame for the attempted coup after the president held a rally and ordered his followers to march to the Capitol and stop the certification of electoral votes. “The fault does not lie with Donald Trump,” Nehls whined. Fanone responded by coughing loudly while unmistakably directing his message to the stolen valor-wielding, cowardly Nehls. x x YouTube Video A groveling Trump simp, the Texas representative faced an ethics investigation before he abruptly dropped his reelection bid at the last moment—leaving virtually no time for anyone other than his twin brother, Trever, to file to run for Nehls’ House seat. Rep. Jim Jordan, who is also the worst wrestling coach ever, attempted to restore order to the proceedings—but the truth had already landed. Related | 'Stolen valor': GOP blasts one of their own for military pin he didn't earn

A cartoon by Clay Jones. Related | Trump repeatedly confuses Greenland for Iceland

A daily roundup of the best stories and cartoons by Daily Kos staff and contributors to keep you in the know. ICE goons to America: We don’t need no stinkin’ warrants The lawlessness continues unabated. Democrat shreds GOP's Trump worship: 'We took an oath' Too bad Republicans’ fealty is devoted to the crooked president. ‘I won’t be complicit’: Newsom stands against Trump’s bullying The California governor refuses to bend the knee. Cartoon: NRA goes MIA Where have all the gun nuts gone? Vance: So what if ICE kills a mom or abducts some kids? Apparently, these deadly “mistakes” are just “the nature of law enforcement.” Trump’s FCC goon demands talk shows give Republicans equal time This regime is so salty about late-night jokes. GOP loses another battle in gerrymandering war it started We love to see it. Click here to see more cartoons.

Congratulations, Republicans: Your mentally incapacitated president—who’s running the country without guardrails, constraints, or adult supervision—is burning through nearly a century of international goodwill, with consequences that will echo for decades. “You cannot put the genie back into the bottle. Things might get better and more calm a few months down the road, and Trump, he can’t be reelected, and the next president might be somewhat different,” Anders Schelde, chief investment officer of a Danish pension fund, said while announcing his exit from U.S. markets. “But what comes then in five, six, 10 years? I think there’s a strong realization across Europe that we need to be able to stand on our own feet.”  A crowd protests against President Donald Trump in front of the U.S. consulate in Nuuk, Greenland on Jan. 17. The fund he manages, AkademikerPension, is only about $100 million—a rounding error in global finance. But that’s not the point.  What matters is what he’s saying and what he represents: a growing belief among global investors and governments that the United States is no longer a reliable anchor for the world economy. For decades after World War II, the United States sat at the center of a global system for which it largely paid and designed—and it paid off enormously. The United States underwrote global security through alliances like NATO, stabilized trade through institutions like the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, and enforced rules that made markets predictable and conflicts less likely to spiral out of control. In return, the dollar became the world’s reserve currency, and U.S. companies enjoyed preferential access to global markets. Foreign capital flowed in not just because of returns but because the United States was seen as stable, serious, and governed by adults. President Donald Trump has lit all of that on fire. Related | ‘F-ck off’: Danish leader has had it with Trump’s Greenland nonsense And once the world adjusts—and allies build parallel systems that don’t rely on the United States—that advantage won’t simply snap back when Trump is gone.  The genie cannot go back in the bottle. During his first term, much of the world treated Trump as a fluke—a mistake we would quickly correct. Now the world understands the deeper problem: No matter how sane or responsible the next president might be, the United States is always just one deranged electorate away from putting another madman in charge. The world handed the United States enormous power because it trusted we would use it responsibly. Thanks to Trump and the Republicans who enabled him, that trust is gone.

A federal judge previously said Bovino's tactics «intended to cause protesters harm»

Usha Vance, Karoline Leavitt and Katie Miller's pregnancies do not signal a return to the 1950s

The child and his father were reportedly transported to a facility in Texas

Seven Dems joined nearly all Republicans to support ICE funding

The president said the former special counsel lied before Congress and should be prosecuted

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot has denied that his country is a participant of the Trump-chaired ‘Board of Peace’ Read Full Article at RT.com

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has proposed using the EU’s defense spending surge to militarize the Arctic Read Full Article at RT.com

US President Donald Trump has floated the idea of using NATO troops to guard America’s southern border Read Full Article at RT.com

Guinea-Bissau’s interim government has announced new presidential and legislative elections, following last year’s coup Read Full Article at RT.com

How West Jerusalem balances tough rhetoric, diplomacy, and the risk of regional war Read Full Article at RT.com

The «Spartacus» franchise continues to challenge whose stories get told

Former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg was interviewed on Friday at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin. When asked by The Atlantic’s Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg whether he believed Vice President JD Vance to be a “fascist,” Buttigieg replied with a withering critique. x x YouTube Video Buttigieg: If it's convenient for him to be a fascist, he'll be a fascist. Maybe later on, he'll go back to being a Silicon Valley Democrat. He'll be whatever he needs to be. Right? I mean, this is a guy who went from Donald Trump is Hitler—that’s what he said—to I have seen the error of my ways. He’ll be something new later on, maybe. Related | It sure seems like JD Vance doesn't give a sh-t about his family

President Donald Trump is panicking about an impending House vote on releasing the Epstein files. In a Truth Social post Friday morning, Trump called the Republicans who plan to vote in support of the release «weak,» «soft,» and «foolish.»  And White House aides have suggested that any Republicans who vote to release the files can kiss goodbye to any future endorsements from the president. GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, for example, was seeking Trump's endorsement in a crowded Republican gubernatorial primary. But given that she seems to support releasing the Epstein files, she likely won’t get it. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky speaks with fellow Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, both of whom support the release of the Epstein files. “Helping Democrats deflect from Republican success is not a good GOP primary election strategy,” an unnamed White House official told NOTUS. But Trump's threats don’t seem to be working. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky said that his fellow GOP lawmakers are telling him privately that they plan to vote in favor of the bill, which Massie co-authored with Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California. Massie and Khanna had to resort to a discharge petition to get the bill to the floor, as House Speaker Mike Johnson was running cover for Trump and refused to put it up for a vote.  The discharge petition reached a majority of signatures on Wednesday after Johnson finally swore in Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona.  Massie also told Republicans that this is not the issue to cave to Trump on. “The deal for Republicans on this vote is that Trump will protect you if you vote the wrong way. In other words if you vote to cover up for pedophiles you've got cover in a Republican primary,« he told CNN. »But I would remind my colleagues that this vote is going to be on your record for  longer than Trump is going to be president. And what are you going to do in 2028 and 2030 when you’re in a debate either with a Republican or a Democrat and they say, ‘how can we trust you, you covered up for a pedophile back in 2025?’” It's unclear why Trump is so adamant on keeping the files hidden, especially since he insists that he is not implicated in them. However, a trove of emails released by House Democrats Wednesday show Epstein claiming that Trump knew about the girls he trafficked and even spent time with them at Epstein’s home. A cartoon by Pedro Molina. Indeed, Courier Newsroom released a searchable database Friday, providing access to the 20,000 documents in which Trump is mentioned in more than 1,600 of them. Perhaps that’s why Trump is doing everything in his power to not only stop the vote but to change the subject, like his Thursday announcement of new military action in South America. But that plan is unlikely to work, as Republicans who traditionally back Trump are breaking with him on the Epstein files and are even planning a media blitz with Epstein survivors next week. «Many of the victims of Jeffrey Epstein were abused as teenagers. And this information should have come out a long time ago! The American people deserve full transparency into who was involved in these horrific acts,” GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia wrote on X. “I believe the victims. They along with their attorneys have told me numerous times that President Trump is NOT implicated in this.”  She concluded, “I stand with these women and all victims of sexual abuse. It is a shame our government is working harder to protect pedophiles than they are fighting for the victims! These women deserve our fight!!»

Support my Patreon for early access and exclusives. Follow me on Mastodon, Bluesky, or at my website. Related | Enough Senate Democrats appear ready to cave on the shutdown—for nothing

A daily roundup of the best stories and cartoons by Daily Kos staff and contributors to keep you in the know. Trump suddenly declares military operation as Epstein scandal reignites Talk about a deadly distraction. How screwed is the GOP in 2026? One upcoming election may tell us. Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District could be a bellwether. Trump basically admits his tariffs are raising grocery prices Certain items will get exemptions from Trump's moronic tariffs in an effort to lower costs. Cartoon: On second thought ... Donald Trump is probably wishing the government was still shut down. Federal workers can kiss free speech goodbye in Trump's America Speaking up will get you a pink slip. DOJ gets green light on bogus case against ICE-protesting Democrat The Trump administration’s retaliatory prosecutions continue. Mike Johnson has run out of Epstein excuses The House speaker can’t delay a vote any longer. Click here to see more cartoons.

The latest sham investigation by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, based on sham invocations of mortgage fraud, just got referred to the Department of Justice so that Mr. Weaponization Working Group himself, Ed Martin, can likely kick off a sham prosecution. This time, it’s California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell. Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California So weird that these totally neutral and fair investigations just happen to always converge on people Trump perceives as his enemies, right? What are the odds? It’s especially weird given that Pulte really needed to look no farther than his own father and stepmother to locate the kind of mortgage arrangements he insists are fraudulent.  Oh hello, Pulte’s daddy. It looks like you and your wife just happen to be claiming two homestead exemptions, one in Michigan, and one in Florida. Neat trick, really. Dad claimed one exemption, stepmom claimed the other, and that little bit of what Pulte says is prosecutable fraud when anyone else does it likely saved his parents an estimated $158,000 in taxes for 2025 alone.  But now, if Federal Reserve Board of Governor member Lisa Cook did that, it is for sure fraud, right? Federal Reserve Board of Governor member Lisa Cook Hmm. Well, that’s just his parents. They’re not part of the administration, and definitely no one in Trump’s administration would have any sort of untoward mortgage arrangements.  Well, except for Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has two primary residences, one in Bedford Hills, New York, and one in Provincetown, Massachusetts.  Oh, and except for Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who did two primary residence mortgages back to back in a hurry, including one for her second home in Arizona. Oh also, and except for Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who has a primary residence in New Jersey and another one in Washington, D.C. Sorry, wait, one more. Environmental Protection Agency Director Lee Zeldin has one primary residence in Long Island and another in D.C.  When faced with the fact that multiple Cabinet members have the same type of mortgage arrangements that Pulte says was criminal behavior when undertaken by anyone with a (D) after their name, the White House went with one of its blustery, fact-free denials. “This is just another hit piece from a left-wing dark money group that constantly attempts to smear President Trump’s incredible Cabinet members. Unlike [Fed Gov.] Lisa ‘Corrupt’ Cook who blatantly and intentionally committed mortgage fraud, Secretary DeRemer, Secretary Duffy, and Administrator Zeldin own multiple residences, and they have followed the law and they are fully compliant with all ethical obligations,” the White House said in a statement to ProPublica. Show your work. New York Attorney General Letitia James Oh hello again, Pulte’s daddy. Did you rent out one of your primary exemption homestead homes this year? Whoopsie, that’s super illegal, and is what your son determined was completely fraudtastic behavior on the part of New York Attorney General Letitia James.  Now, thanks to Interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, always the number one Florida insurance lawyer in our hearts, the DOJ did score an indictment against James, though it appears to be rapidly falling apart. James’ mortgage contract did not prohibit renting and it also looks like Halligan may have just withheld exculpatory evidence from the grand jury to get that indictment. There are no guardrails left to stop Pulte, however, as once the Fannie Mae watchdogs started looking into whether Pulte improperly obtained mortgage records of Democrats Trump hates, they referred it up to the Office of the Inspector General for FHFA, and then the acting inspector general sent it to the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Eastern District of Virginia and … we’re back to Halligan.  So, the ethics and internal investigation folks at Fannie Mae were fired and then Trump fired FHFA’s acting inspector general, just for good measure. That’s one way to solve it. Nothing is going to stand in the way of Pulte using his position improperly to gin up sham charges that just somehow happen to be things that are totally fine when Republicans—like his daddy—do them. 

I tried to convince myself I could live vicariously through others. But with a second marriage came a second chance

Trump's speeches and apparent naps are reaching a critical point

Democratic frustration grows after the Senate leader «lost control of his caucus»

After dodging press questions, Trump fired off posts calling Republican lawmakers «soft and foolish»