FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
ABC7
— Stratton and Tracy clash on economy, immigration in Senate debate.
https://abc7chicago.com/post/illinois-senate-candidates-democrat-juliana-stratton-republican-don-tracy-clash-economy-immigration-debate/19962872/
CBS2
— Full interview with Chad Koppie, candidate for Illinois’ 7th Congressional District.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VacTLTCqACg
WTTW
— Stratton, Tracy Face Off in Lone Forum Over Immigration, Tariffs and Minimum Wage.
https://news.wttw.com/2026/10/20/stratton-tracy-face-lone-forum-over-immigration-tariffs-and-minimum-wage
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— In Illinois’ only faceoff for US Senate, Tracy backs Trump’s policies, Stratton vows to stand up to president.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/10/20/in-illinois-only-faceoff-for-us-senate-tracy-backs-trumps-policies-stratton-vows-to-stand-up-to-president/
— In Chicago, we know all about looting ‘protesters’ similar to the ones in France.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/10/20/editorial-in-chicago-we-know-all-about-looting-protesters-similar-to-the-ones-in-france/
— Parents call for change after racial slurs mar Evanston-New Trier football game: ‘It’s abhorrent.’ ‘We know this isn’t the first time that this has happened.’
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/10/20/racial-slurs-evanston-new-trier-game/
— Incumbent John Cunningham, challenger Brenda Rodgers vie to serve as Kane County clerk.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/10/21/kane-county-clerk-race-cunningham-rodgers/
DAILY HERALD
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD WITH BIG PICTURES: 26th Senate and 52nd House Districts: Is this the GOP’s last stand in northwest Cook County?
https://www.dailyherald.com/20261020/illinois-state-politics/is-this-the-gops-last-stand-in-northwest-cook-county/
— Endorsement: Eckhoff for DuPage County Board District 4
https://www.dailyherald.com/20261021/endorsements/our-choices-for-dupage-county-board/
DAILY EGYPTIAN
— Bailey challenges Pritzker over costs, safety in governor race rematch.
https://dailyegyptian.com/125683/showcase/bailey-challenges-pritzker-over-costs-safety-in-governor-race-rematch/
CENTRAL ILLINOIS PROUD
— Trump says he’s spent $300M in midterms so far.
https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/national/trump-says-hes-spent-300m-in-midterms-so-far/
— Trump and Vance announce $25M whistleblower program to encourage public to report alleged fraud. DD: While I worked for the Democrats who ran the Post Office 1966-1969, IRS 1971-1980, and GAO 1980-1997, I ever-increasingly blew the whistle on their political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, and age discrimination. Consequently, they wasted my career, took many big adverse actions against me, and forced me to retire when I was 49 in 1997. My critics/opponents have no problem with that.
https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/national/ap-trump-and-vance-to-announce-a-25m-whistleblower-program-to-encourage-public-to-report-alleged-fraud/
WQAD
— Illinois Democrats eye suburbs in push to expand supermajorities.
https://www.wqad.com/article/news/politics/illinois-politics/illinois-democrats-eye-suburbs-push-expand-supermajorities/526-6f867e97-7bac-46fc-b4e0-55acefd412e8
POLITICO
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly use their success in demonizing, denigrating, and condemning Trump to demonize, denigrate, and condemn all Republican candidates.
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2026/10/21/trump-looms-in-illinois-senate-debate-01128601
CAPITOL FAX
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/2026/10/21/isabel%e2%80%99s-morning-briefing-831/
— Afternoon roundup
https://capitolfax.com/2026/10/20/isabel%e2%80%99s-afternoon-roundup-618/
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
GOPUSA ILLINOIS
— To vote for Democrats is to vote for socialism. Each and every Republican candidate on the November 3, 2026 ballot in your precinct should be stressing that. The following are the 18 Republican candidates on the November 3, 2026 ballot in my precinct: Tracy, Bailey/Del Mar, Fioretti, Harris, Drew, Soloman, Oakley, Lewis, Vrankovich, Grasso, Noonan, Schiappa, Henry, Eckhoff, Michaud, Schultz, Quirk, and Helland. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— Bailey and Del Mar held an outstanding Town Hall at Manhattans in Carol Stream yesterday evening. Attendees included Angel Oakley and Robert Vrankovich. I got 100 Baily/Del Mar literature pieces at the event. I will hand-deliver them along with the outstanding Milton Township Republican Organization Voter Guide to residences in my precinct that have only Independent registered voters in them. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— What do Illinois Democrat and RINO leaders want Illinois Republican party leaders, elected officials, candidates, and precinct committeemen to do? They want them a) to write off Independent voters and b) to blame Trump and Bailey/Del Mar for all the problems that Republican candidates are having, and c) to dramatically distance themselves from the Republican Party, Trump, and Bailey/Del Mar. They certainly do not want a) precinct committeemen like me to distribute Bailey/Del Mar campaign pieces and b) Vote Republican signs to be displayed. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— I own two beautiful 4X4 Vote Republican signs. If you own property along a busy highway in DuPage County, Milton Township, or Wheaton and want to display them, please let me know ASAP. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— Anticipate/expect that RINO leaders of the Illinois Republican Party and your Republican county/township/ward party organizations will use Republican defeats on November 3, 2026 a) to move their organizations further to the left, b) to dump more planks in the Republican Party platform, and c) to officially banish conservatives like me, that is, to officially platform Republicans like me, from the Republican Party. RINOs are anti-conservative. They want the Republican Party to be the Democrat Lite Party. They rather see Democrat candidates win than conservative Republican candidates win. But political parties exist to help elect candidates who can and will defend and advance their platform. The Republican Party platform is conservative. Most commonly, RINOs reject the personal responsibility, traditional marriage and family, right to life, immigration, anti-vice, Second Amendment, and/or equal opportunity (no race or gender based preference giving) planks. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— What do you do and who are your direct competitors? I am a conservative Republican news aggregator. My direct competitors include other news aggregators. All the money that I spend putting my GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters together and sending them out comes from my Civil Service Retirement System pension, my Social Security, and my retirement savings. My direct competitors continue to be furious that I have the money, time, motivation, ability, and experience a) to put my newsletters together, b) to send them out every day free of charge and without any advertising or donation requests, and c) to post copies of them on my website www.gopillinois.com with no paywall, advertising, or donation requests. According to my critics/opponents, “You can’t tell Diersen what to do.” Of course, I take that as a badge of honor. What do you say to my direct competitors who blame me and who blame my newsletters for the defeats that Republican candidates on ballots in my precinct have suffered since 2000? Far too many of my direct competitors destroy those like me a) who they cannot manipulate or dominate, b) who refuse to glorify or praise them, c) who refuse to pander to them, d) who refuse to serve as one of their operatives or dupes, e) who refuse to cover up their wrong doing, and/or f) who refuse to give them money. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
https://mchenrycountyblog.com/
WIREPOINTS
https://wirepoints.org/
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
WASHINGTON TIMES
— Democrats’ open-border agenda has a $613 billion price tag. Don’t stick hardworking Americans with the illegal-alien bill.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/oct/20/democrats-open-border-agenda-613-billion-price-tag/
— Chicago police arrested a man early Tuesday after shots were fired outside of a federal building in the city. Officials said the gunfire outside the John C. Kluczynski Federal Building erupted at about 4:45 a.m. Tuesday. A firearm and bullet casings were recovered at the scene, officials said. The Department of Homeland Security said building security and Chicago police responded to an “active shooter” who was swiftly handcuffed. “Local police took the subject into custody. There were no injuries reported, only minor damage to federal property. As this is an active and ongoing investigation, additional information will be limited until concluded,” Homeland Security said. The federal building houses agency branches for the IRS, the General Services Administration, the Department of Labor and the offices of Sens. Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, both Illinois Democrats.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/oct/20/man-arrested-opening-fire-outside-federal-building-chicago/
WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— The socialist-backed scam (ranked choice voting) that could hand Democrats the Senate. DD: To vote for Democrats is to vote for socialism.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/op-eds/4772663/ranked-choice-voting-senate-elections/
AMAC
— Why Socialism Threatens Every Freedom Americans Hold Dear. The Real Danger of Socialism to America’s Constitutional Republic. The Democratic Socialist Party now backs Democrats from Maine to California, and a writer who spent time in the Soviet Union, Poland, and Laos says he watched every right vanish there. DD: To vote for Democrats is to vote for socialism.
https://amac.us/newsline/the-real-danger-of-socialism-to-americas-constitutional-republic
(FROM THE ARTICLE: There is a reason the Soviet Union fell, and its satellite governments across Eastern Europe, but there is also a reason they came into being. The weak-minded, the utopians, the usefully naïve and young, the easily manipulated for lack of experience, the fiction-loving who have never had the scary experiences that define socialism as it grows, imagine the perfect world and believe socialists; they also fall victim to emotionalism, class warfare rhetoric, envy, hate, and fear. Unfortunately, the young are always targeted first, then older and frustrated people who have a box of resentments the socialists can exploit. If you doubt me, look up the Little Octoberists, Young Pioneers, and Komsomol in the former Soviet Union – with adjuncts across the communist world.)
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE
— When seven in 10 American millennials say they would vote for a “socialist,” what are they really saying? What do they think a “socialist” is? DD: To vote for Democrats is to vote for socialism.
https://www.aei.org/economics/some-thoughts-about-millennials-socialism-and-scandinavia/
AMERICAN THINKER
— Facilitating deportations of illegal aliens. There’s plenty of room for disagreement about policy intricacies, but unless they are Americanized in accord with our founding principles and way of life — adiós.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/10/facilitating-deportations-of-illegal-aliens/
— The American Psychological Association Has Become Worse Than You Ever Imagined.
https://www.americanthinker.com/watch/featured/2026/10/the-american-psychological-association-has-become-worse-than-you-ever-imagined/
BIZ PAC REVIEW
— Black MAGA influencer Thelma Louise says Paxton team booted her from rally: ‘Was I the only black woman in the building? Absolutely, I was.’ DD: I have been a Republican Precinct Committeeman since 1999 and the GOPUSA Illinois Reporter since 2000. I should write about all the times the following did not notify me of their events, made it clear they did not want me to attend their events, demanded money from me to attend their events, barred me from attending their events, and/or threw me out of their events: a) leaders of the Illinois Republican Party, DuPage County Republican Central Committee, and Milton Township Republican Organization, b) Republican candidates on ballots in my precinct, c) conservative leaders, and d) religious leaders. The aforesaid blame me and blame my newsletters for all the defeats that Republican candidates on ballots in my precinct have suffered since 2000. The aforesaid destroy those like me a) who they cannot manipulate or dominate, b) who refuse to glorify or praise them, c) who refuse to pander to them, d) who refuse to serve as one of their operatives or dupes, e) who refuse to cover up their wrong doing, and/or f) who refuse to give them money.
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2026/10/20/black-maga-influencer-says-paxton-team-booted-her-from-rally-was-i-the-only-black-woman-in-the-building-absolutely-i-was-1664074/
BREITBART
— The Department of Justice is allowing business groups to exclude Americans in posts that tout jobs to resident H-1B workers and other non-immigrant foreign workers. The department’s decision makes it very difficult for ordinary Americans to sue for job discrimination, responded John Miano, a pro-American lawyer who has filed many lawsuits against discriminatory job ads by subcontractors in the Fortune 500 tech sector. DD: All my employers would have hired noncitizens instead of me if they could have.
https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2026/10/20/exclusive-justice-department-loosens-discrimination-rules-for-h-1b-hiring/amp/
COLLEGE FIX
— Student protests against the alleged rapes at Cornell University quickly devolved into a general airing of grievance by liberal activists. Since many of the protests were organized by slew of left-wing groups on campuses, including pro-Palestinian and pro-abortion clubs, it only made sense they would use the opportunity to complain about their own pet issues.
https://www.thecollegefix.com/protests-against-cornell-alleged-assailants-also-target-ice-colonialism-dei-cuts/
FOX NEWS
— Could France’s riots happen here? Experts see parallels in socialism, immigration — and key differences. DD: To vote for Democrats is to vote for socialism.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/could-frances-riots-happen-here-experts-see-parallels-socialism-immigration-key-differences
— France is learning the hard way what happens when the socialist bill comes due. DD: To vote for Democrats is to vote for socialism.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/france-learning-hard-way-what-happens-when-socialist-bill-comes-due
— DHS launches nationwide ICE operation targeting illegal immigrants accused of SNAP food stamp fraud.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/dhs-launches-nationwide-ice-operation-targeting-illegal-immigrants-accused-snap-food-stamp-fraud
NATIONAL REVIEW
— Has Woke 2.0 Started? Three cultural episodes over the summer eerily resembled the fashions of 2020. DD: All my critics/opponents are woke.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2026/10/has-woke-2-0-started/
OKLAHOMA COUNCIL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
— The Tenth Commandment and the rise of socialism. DD: My critics/opponents have always promoted envy big time. To vote for Democrats is to vote for socialism.
https://ocpathink.org/post/analysis/the-tenth-commandment-and-the-rise-of-socialism
(FROM THE ARTICLE: As socialism gains influence in American culture, parents and pastors must teach with renewed clarity that envy, jealousy, and covetousness are not political virtues—they are sins. . .Socialism is incompatible with the principles that have made America prosperous and free—principles that have lifted more people out of poverty than any other economic system in history. . .Envy, jealousy, and covetousness are not social virtues. They are sins that distort the soul and, when scaled into public life, distort entire societies.
REAL CLEAR MARKETS
— France Learning Hard Way About the Cost of Socialism. DD: To vote for Democrats is to vote for socialism.
https://www.realclearmarkets.com/2026/10/21/france_learning_hard_way_about_the_cost_of_socialism_1212746.html
THELMA LOUISE
— Black Republican content creator Thelma Louise has a new update following her removal from a Ken Paxton campaign rally in Texas. She says she may have been mistaken for a paid political agitator, but still wants a public apology. Despite the controversy, she’s making it clear that she has no plans to leave the Republican Party and intends to keep voting red. DD: There was no mistaken identity when Republicans did not notify me of their events, made it clear they did not want me to attend their events, demanded money from me to attend their events, barred me from attending their events, and/or threw me out of their events. I should write about the aforesaid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXlTrj3KVE0
WHITE HOUSE
— How President Trump Ended the Border Invasion and Restored American Sovereignty.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/releases/2026/10/how-president-trump-ended-the-border-invasion-and-restored-american-sovereignty/
WORLD NEWS GROUP
— Class warfare returns. Mayor Mamdani’s agenda has been destructive everywhere it’s been tried. DD: My critics/opponents have always shouted at those who I have less than I have that I have everything that I have because I have benefitting tremendously from discrimination against those who are liberal/moderate, minority, female, younger, unmarried, LGBTQ, non-rich, non-Protestant, non-German American, have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time, and/or are in America illegally. DD: To vote for Democrats is to vote for socialism.
https://wng.org/opinions/class-warfare-returns-1779345908
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
ASSOCIATED PRESS
— DD: To get more votes from Asian voters, Democrat leaders ever-increasingly shout at them that Trump causes all their problems.
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2026/10/19/democrats-aapi-adults-poll/
NEW YORK TIMES
— Taiwan gender quotas. DD: While I worked for the Democrats who ran the federal government for almost 30 years, to meet their Affirmative Action quotas, they ever-increasingly lowered standards to hire, retain, and promote more Democrats who were minority, female, younger, and or veteran. That ever-increasingly rendered worthless my job-related bachelor’s degree, my three job-related master’s degrees, my six job-related professional certifications, and my job-related professional license.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/21/business/taiwan-gender-quotas.html
USA TODAY
— The GOP has one big reason to be optimistic about the midterms. . .There’s one big reason for Republican optimism – the unshakable faith among many of us that even voters unhappy with the GOP will be guided by a deep-rooted patriotism that refuses to reward a party increasingly enamored of socialism. . .Voters should reject socialism in America. But now only one issue should matter, and the horse-race polls don’t capture it. A majority of likely voters view socialism unfavorably, according to that same Times/Siena poll. That may be why Republicans are still in the hunt. . .For decades, America spent blood and treasure to contain socialism’s first cousin, communism, around the world. How tragic it would be if those forces were unleashed on American soil, with the deliberate aid of citizens at the ballot box. Many of us can’t fathom it, even with a self-described democratic socialist, Zohran Mamdani, running New York City and socialists gaining footholds elsewhere. In these elections, the typical issues must take a back seat as voters stand shoulder to shoulder for a higher cause – reaffirming America as an unyielding bulwark against socialism. Beyond all the chaos and chatter, that’s the monumental question these midterms will decide. DD: To vote for Democrats is to vote for socialism.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2026/10/21/midterm-elections-republicans-democrats-socialism-dsa/92334119007/
DETROIT NEWS
— Will Michigan become the next socialist disaster? DD: To vote for Democrats is to vote for socialism.
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/2026/08/12/will-michigan-abandon-free-markets-for-socialism/91269121007/
WALL STREET JOURNAL
— Trump Says: ‘Pretend I’m on the Ballot.’ Democrats Comply. Americans are worried about affordability, so the president pushes . . . a renovated golf course?
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/trump-says-pretend-im-on-the-ballot-democrats-comply-083b24c8
— Flying the Socialist Skies at United. CEO Scott Kirby wants a wealth tax. How about more leg room instead? DD: People who earn more and save more get wealthier. My critics/opponents who have earned less than I have and/or have saved less than I have attribute my wealth to my benefitting tremendously from discrimination against those who are liberal/moderate, minority, female, younger, unmarried, LGBTQ, non-rich, non-Protestant, non-German American, have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time, and/or are in America illegally. DD: To vote for Democrats is to vote for socialism.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/scott-kirby-united-airlines-wealth-tax-31a04c56
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Asked whether he has a responsibility for dispelling public distrust in CEOs, he replied: “Wealth inequality has become a danger to our society, and we need to address that.” By we, he means government. He added: “We should have a national wealth tax—it won’t work by state because people will just move. And I think we should have inheritance taxes that get close to 100% at some level. I would pay them.” Well, no he wouldn’t. Inheritance taxes are levied on inheritors, so his kids or other heirs would pay the bill. Or they might not, since death and inheritance taxes encourage tax avoidance. The same is true of wealth taxes. Washington state this year reversed its increase in its top marginal estate tax rate to 35% from 20% for this reason. United has its headquarters in Chicago, but Mr. Kirby lives in Texas, which has no state income tax. Does he pay income tax in Illinois? There’s also nothing to stop Mr. Kirby from bequeathing his fortune, or donating his $32.3 million in compensation last year, to the feds. Even better, how about offering more leg room in all rows and eliminating middle seats as a gesture to the hoi polloi? We suspect he’d say that none of these suggestions would reduce inequality or the national debt. But the same goes for a wealth tax, which punishes successful entrepreneurs.)
— The Inmates Run the Asylum at the Psychological Association. Tolerating antisemitism may cost the APA its accreditation, but the rot goes far deeper than that.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-inmates-run-the-asylum-at-the-psychological-association-5e6538b7
AMAZON
— Vote Republican Yard Signs. DD: I own two beautiful 4X4 Vote Republican signs. If you own property along a busy highway in DuPage County, Milton Township, or Wheaton and want to display them, please let me know ASAP.
https://www.amazon.com/clp/B0D8K1TLN9
FED WEEK
— Rules End ‘Time in Grade’ Limit on Promotions Applying to Most GS Positions. DD: To get rid of their employees who were Republican, White, male, older, and/or non-veteran, my Democrat Post Office, IRS, and GAO superiors used “up-or-out.” They pulled out all the stops to get rid of their employees like me who were the aforesaid and who they had not promoted to GS-13, currently $118,984/year, by age 25, GS-14, currently $140,604/year, by age 30, GS-15, $165,386/year, by age 35, and Senior Executive Service, currently $197,200 by age 40. I did not make any of the aforesaid promotion deadlines. I finally made GS-13 when I was 38 and I survived until I was 49 only because a) I earned job-related master’s degrees when I was 27, 31, and 48, b) I earned job-related professional certifications when I was 30, 32, 41, 45, 47, and 48, and c) I earned a job-related professional license when I was 32.
https://www.fedweek.com/fedweek/rules-end-time-in-grade-limit-on-promotions-applying-to-most-gs-positions/
LEGIS1
— IRS Proposes Revoking Tax Exemptions for Private Schools Over DEI. To promote DEI is to promote hatred against those who are conservative, Republican, Republican, White, male, older, heterosexual, married, non-poor, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time.
https://legis1.com/news/irs-dei-rule-proposes-revoking-tax-exemptions-for
NEWSWEEK & SAN ANTONIO CURRENT & SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS NEWS & NEW REPUBLIC & YAHOO & DAILY KOS & GRIO & MEDIAITE & NEWS ONE
— Black Trump Supporter Thelma Louise Kicked Out of Ken Paxton Rally—’Beyond Disrespectful.’ DD: I have been a Republican Precinct Committeeman since 1999 and the GOPUSA Illinois Reporter since 2000. I should write about all the times the following did not notify me of their events, made it clear they did not want me to attend their events, demanded money from me to attend their events, barred me from attending their events, and/or threw me out of their events: a) leaders of the Illinois Republican Party, DuPage County Republican Central Committee, and Milton Township Republican Organization, b) Republican candidates on ballots in my precinct, c) conservative leaders, and d) religious leaders. The aforesaid blame me and blame my newsletters for all the defeats that Republican candidates on ballots in my precinct have suffered since 2000. The aforesaid destroy those like me a) who they cannot manipulate or dominate, b) who refuse to glorify or praise them, c) who refuse to pander to them, d) who refuse to serve as one of their operatives or dupes, e) who refuse to cover up their wrong doing, and/or f) who refuse to give them money.
https://www.newsweek.com/black-trump-supporter-kicked-out-of-ken-paxton-rally-beyond-disrespectful-12591641
https://www.sacurrent.com/news/politics-and-elections/a-black-woman-says-she-was-ejected-from-ken-paxtons-san-antonio-rally-turns-out-she-was-a-right-wing-content-creator/
https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/black-republican-woman-removed-paxton-rally-22485891.php
https://newrepublic.com/post/216802/black-maga-influencer-says-thrown-out-ken-paxton-rally
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/black-maga-influencer-says-she-185615921.html
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/10/19/800114708/community/ma/
https://thegrio.com/2026/10/19/thelma-louise-black-conservative-content-creator-gop-event/
https://thegrio.com/2026/10/20/thelma-louise-demands-apology-ken-paxton-event/
https://www.mediaite.com/politics/black-maga-influencer-stunned-after-being-kicked-out-of-ken-paxton-rally-i-cannot-believe-this/
https://newsone.com/6874495/thelma-louise-kicked-out-ken-paxton-rally/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: A Black content creator who describes herself as a fierce supporter of President Donald Trump and the Republican Party said she was kicked out of Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton’s rally in San Antonio on Sunday, describing the incident on social media as “beyond disrespectful.” Thelma Louise runs a TikTok account, using the handle @iamthelmalouise, where she posts videos from her perspective as a Black female conservative to more than 200,000 followers. She was documenting Sunday’s rally when she said she was asked to leave. “And there’s no one that I can talk to about this?” she asks a person who appears to be escorting her out of the venue in one video. “I cannot believe this. Someone just came up to me and said that Ken Paxton’s campaign manager wanted me to leave,” she later says to the camera. “I was just asked to leave this event, and I did nothing wrong.” Newsweek has contacted Paxton’s campaign via an email sent outside regular business hours. Thelma Louise has been contacted via a direct message on social media. It comes as Paxton, the state’s attorney general, is traveling across the state on his “Come and Take It” tour as he faces Democrat James Talarico in one of the most competitive Senate races in the country. Some online commentators have suggested the woman’s expulsion from the rally was due to race, since Trump and the Republican Party have long grappled with allegations of racism. Black voters are overwhelmingly Democratic, while white voters are more likely than other groups to vote Republican. Still, while Black voters overwhelmingly supported former vice president Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, Trump nearly doubled his support among the group, garnering 15 percent support in 2024, compared to just 8 percent in 2020. In a second video, Louise was visibly emotional as she expressed her disbelief at what had occurred after she had driven two hours to attend the event.
She spoke about how she had left the Democratic Party two years ago and worked to support Republicans ever since, including by volunteering for Trump’s campaign. “I’m not quite sure what’s going on, but to be walked out of a room full of people and isolated as if I had done something wrong, I cannot believe it. I can’t,” she says. “That you would do me like that, and if you have followed my page for even a couple of days or longer than that, you know how hard I have worked for this party since I joined…This, I will never forget. Never. This was beyond disrespectful.” In another video, she showed her press credentials from previous Republican political events, including for the midterm GOP convention in Dallas, as she said she still did not have an explanation for why she was removed from the event. She acknowledged that she may have been mistaken for someone else. She also said she did not blame the Republican Party for the incident because “they have loved me and they have welcomed me with open arms.” But she said Paxton’s campaign manager is “100 percent responsible for the disrespect” she received. ‘Being MAGA While Black’ Several online commenters suggested that race was the reason she was removed from the event. Democratic strategist Ameshia Cross wrote on X in response to a post about the incident: “‘Being MAGA while Black’ chapter 293.” Political scientist Norman Ornstein wrote: “She has no idea? It seems pretty black and white.”)
BOSTON GLOBE
— A role model for classmates. DD: While I attended Crete-Monee High School 1962-1966, one of my neighbors was a role model for me. He was able to attend UIC by commuting to classes there while living with his parents in Crete. I did that, and later, I transferred to NIU like he did.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/north/2017/05/18/role-model-for-classmates-and-her-daughter/dPAxWXQVATuU9fbvfpSZuK/story.html
TIMES REPUBLICAN
— Concurrent enrollment: Giving students a head start on their future. DD: I do not recall there being any concurrent enrolment opportunities when I was a Crete-Monee High School student 1962-1966. To have money to pay for my UIC expenses and for a new car to commute to/from classes there and my parents’ home in Crete, I washed dishes in the basement of the SS Kresge in Chicago Heights for 28 hours a week during my junior and senior years and 40 hours a week during the summer of 1965. During the summer of 1966, I cleaning golf shoes at the Flossmoor Country Club, chipped slag at Thrall Car in Chicago Heights, and pumped gasoline in Chicago Heights.
https://www.timesrepublican.com/opinion/columnists/2026/10/concurrent-enrollment-giving-students-a-head-start-on-their-future/
BELIEFNET
— Chick-fil-A CEO Says Company Exists to ‘Glorify God,’ Addresses LGBT Controversy.
https://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/idolchatter/2026/10/chick-fil-a-ceo-says-company-exists-to-glorify-god-addresses-lgbt-controversy.html
NPR
— Unlike Most Marxist Jargon, ‘Class Warfare’ Persists. DD: My critics/opponents have always promoted envy big time. To vote for Democrats is to vote for socialism.
https://www.npr.org/2011/10/04/140874613/unlike-most-marxist-jargon-class-warfare-persists
POLITICO
— Trump crackdown on ‘3 stooges of socialism.’ DD: To vote for Democrats is to vote for socialism.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/17/trump-bolton-sanctions-latin-america-1279709
ATANTIC
— In Defense of Class Warfare. DD: My critics/opponents have always promoted envy big time. To vote for Democrats is to vote for socialism.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/in-defense-of-class-warfare/281169/
FROM FOREIGN SOURCES
INDEPENDENT
— Trump calls affordability a ‘hoax’ while JD Vance admits Americans are struggling. Depending on which Republican figure is addressing the public, Americans hear contrasting descriptions of the current economic reality. DD: Have you struggled financially? Are you struggling financially? To avoid struggling financially, I spent far less money on immediate pleasures than my peers did. I took jobs that my peers would not stoop to take. I worked my way through college. I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree when I was 21 in 1970. I worked two jobs 1971-1972. I earned job-related master’s degrees in 1976, 1980, and 1997. I earned job-related professional certifications in 1979, 1981, 1990, 1994, 1996, and 1997. I earned a job-related professional license in 1981. In today’s dollars, that increased my salary from $19.57/hour in 1966, to $100,059/year in 1974, to $113,402 in 1980, and to $154,682/year in 1997. But according to my critics/opponents, I was able to do the aforesaid only a) because I avoided the Vietnam War draft and b) because I benefited tremendously from discrimination against those who are liberal/moderate, minority, female, younger, unmarried, LGBTQ, non-rich, non-Protestant, non-German American, have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time, and/or are in America illegally. DD: To vote for Democrats is to vote for socialism.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-vance-economy-affordability-voters-b3070641.html
NATIONAL POST
— The Democrats embrace totalitarian socialism. The party takes a radical turn as midterm elections loom. DD: To vote for Democrats is to vote for socialism.
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/j-d-tuccille-the-democrats-embrace-totalitarian-socialism
FROM OTHER SOURCES
LUXURY LANE
— How Old Money Families Decide If You’re Marriage Material. DD: What helped you become marriage material? By the time I got married when I was 29 in 1978, I had worked for IRS for almost 7 years and my salary was $110,066/year in today’s dollars. I had earned an MBA from Loyola in 1976 and I was taking graduate evening accounting courses at DePaul. I lived in a one bedroom condo in the Outer Drive East building that I had bought in 1976. I was renting out a townhome in University Park that I had bought new in 1972. I owned a 1972 Corvette that I had bought new in 1971. See Money Magazine’s 4-page February 1978 article on my wife and I at https://gopillinois.com/documents/ Things that impressed me about my outstanding wife included that her first job after high school was working for the FBI. She soon became the Corporate Secretary of the U.S. League of Savings Institutions. She did much to help elect Big Jim Thompson governor in 1976. She earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from DePaul in 1986.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ5yEacPrc8
DAILY MAIL
— French rioters aren’t the weak, the starving, the desperate — they are the indulged children of a bloated welfare state and wokeism that threaten civilized society. DD: To vote for Democrats is to vote for socialism.
https://www.dailymail.com/debate/article-16224871/SARAH-VINE-French-rioters-welfare.html
