Indian professor who was jailed for comments on women military officer is released on bail
By Tanvi Mehta
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -A professor who was jailed after making comments perceived as critical of women officers in the Indian army was ordered released on bail by the country's top court on Wednesday, his lawyer said.
The Supreme Court also placed restrictions on Ali Khan Mahmudabad's ability to comment on the case and on his social media posts, pending further investigation, lawyer Mohammad Nizamuddin Pasha told Reuters.
Mahmudabad, head of the political science department at Ashoka University near Delhi, was arrested on Sunday after his remarks about two women army officers. The two, one Hindu and one Muslim, gave press briefings during the intense fighting earlier this month between India and Pakistan.
Mahmudabad has been accused of disrupting communal (religious) harmony and of using words or gestures intended to insult a woman's modesty, website Live Law reported.
The Commission for Women in the northern state of Haryana, where the university is located, complained that Mahmudabad's remarks undermined women officers and were an "attempt to vilify national military actions", according to local media.
"The optics of two women soldiers presenting their findings are important, but optics must translate to reality on the ground, otherwise it's just hypocrisy," Mahmudabad said in a social media post on May 8.
"The grassroots reality that common Muslims face (in India) is different from what the government tried to show but at the same time the press conference shows that an India, united in its diversity, is not completely dead as an idea," added the professor, who is Muslim.
Muslims and rights groups have accused some members of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and affiliates of promoting anti-Islamic hate speech and vigilantism, and demolishing Muslim-owned properties. Prime Minister Narendra Modi denies religious discrimination exists in India.
The fighting between the South Asian neighbours erupted after India attacked what it called terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan following an April 22 attack by Islamist militants in Indian Kashmir that killed 26 people.
Pakistan said civilians sites were targeted and the Indian attack was followed by days of intense fighting, until a ceasefire was announced between the arch rivals on May 10.
Prior to his arrest, Mahmudabad said that his legal team responded to a summons by the commission, which "failed to highlight how my post is contrary to the rights of or laws of women".
"We are committed to making the women feel safe and validated in all their endeavours be it academic or on the borders of this great nation," Renu Bhatia, chairperson of the Haryana State Commission for Women said on X last week.
Ashoka University said in a statement it was heartened with the news of Mahmudabad's bail, ANI news agency reported.
Reuters has a minority stake in ANI.
Local media had reported the university had earlier distanced itself from the professor's comments, saying they were made in his personal capacity, but that a group of faculty members and students stood by the professor.
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Politico
2 hours ago
- Politico
Critics say Zohran Mamdani is antisemitic. He says he's holding Israel accountable.
NEW YORK — As his New York City mayoral candidacy surges, Zohran Mamdani has come under fire for his defiant stance against Israel, which critics say crosses into antisemitism. The criticism, plastered across mailers funded by a super PAC backing Andrew Cuomo, took on a new life this week when Mamdani opted to do a lengthy podcast interview with The Bulwark during which he defended the use of the phrase 'Globalize the Intifada.' Now the issue of antisemitism, which remains central to the rhetoric in the mayor's race as the U.S. joined Israel in its waragainst Iran, is on the ballot next Tuesday — even as New Yorkers say their top issues are affordability and public safety. While Mamdani focuses his candidacy on the city's rising costs, he also repeatedly condemns Israel while on the trail, and throughout his adult life he has organized against the country's policies toward Palestinians. The 33-year-old democratic socialist would become the city's first Muslim mayor, and he recently teared up while publicly discussing bigotry he and his relatives have been subjected to. Cuomo has tried to center antisemitism in the race, all but labeling Mamdani and his opponents as antisemitic in a synagogue speech and at other times when it's seemingly irrelevant to the subject at hand: real estate laws, public safety and taxpayer-funded legal fees to defend him in scandals that forced his ouster as governor. Mamdani in turn has criticized Cuomo for failing to visit a mosque during his first seven years as governor. He also firmly corrected Cuomo's mispronunciation of his name while on the debate stage and said it demonstrated 'an inability to understand that each and every New Yorker deserves the same dignity.' Mamdani slammed a super PAC backing Cuomo as Islamophobic after it created a design for a political mailer that artificially lengthened and darkened Mamdani's beard. The mailer was never sent out. And he blames the PAC's rhetoric for threats against his life, including a recent car bomb threat that drew the attention of the NYPD's Hate Crimes Task Force. In a statement, the pro-Cuomo PAC, Fix the City, defended its mailers and attacked Mamdani. 'Every Fix the City ad and mailer presents Mr. Mamdani unaltered; the photos, policies and plans are his,' said Liz Benjamin, a spokesperson for the PAC. 'When you strip away his Hollywood tinsel, what you realize is that Mr. Mamdani has repeatedly embraced the rhetoric of hate. It is far past time for him to disavow his own calls to 'globalize the intifada', which many understand is an invitation to violence.' Mamdani has also responded to criticisms by touting support from Jewish New Yorkers, including a paid video highlighting their support. 'We're told by some that we're self hating; We're told we're traitors, not real Jews,' says the video, which stitches together statements from different Jewish New Yorkers. 'But what Andrew Cuomo doesn't know is that the struggle for freedom and justice is central to Judaism, and has been for thousands of years.' Mamdani has received the endorsement of Jewish Voice for Peace Action, a pro-Palestinian Jewish group. At the same time, leaders of organizations like the American Jewish Committee, the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty and the Far Rockaway Jewish Alliance have united against Mamdani, arguing his rhetoric breeds antisemitic violence and his election would make the city inhospitable to Jews. 'When someone spends years relentlessly targeting the world's only Jewish state through legislation, boycotts and protests — while remaining silent on the abuses of regimes like Iran, China or Russia —it's not principled criticism, it's antisemitism, plain and simple,' Sam Berger, a Democratic Jewish state lawmaker from Queens, said in a statement. 'His rhetoric, accusing Israel of 'genocide' and 'apartheid,' is not only inflammatory and false, it's part of a broader campaign to delegitimize Jewish self-determination.' The tension percolated on the campaign trail Friday night, when a pedestrian on the Upper West Side of Manhattan shouted, 'He's a Jew hater! Get outta here; this is a Jewish neighborhood,' while Mamdani walked by without responding. 'I don't expect Zohran Mamdani to be a Zionist. I don't. It's fine. I'm a Zionist,' the pedestrian, Steven Beispel, later said. 'But being against Israel, I think is harmful. Even though you think it's not antisemitic.' In response to this story, Mamdani's campaign noted his support from high-ranking Jewish elected officials, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and city Comptroller Brad Lander, who is also running for mayor and cross-endorsed Mamdani. The campaign pointed out that Cuomo has been sued by Orthodox Jewish community leaders for pandemic policies they say were 'blatantly anti-Semitic.' Cuomo has received support from most religious Jewish leaders for his primary bid. Mamdani is also proposing to tackle antisemitism in City Hall by increasing funding to prevent hate crimes by 800 percent, the campaign notes. Below is a list of Mamdani's comments on Israel that have stoked controversy, and how Mamdani has responded. 1. Condemning Israel after Oct. 7 attacks Mamdani issued a statement on Oct. 8, 2023 — his first public statement since the attack — that condemned Israel and its government, and said a 'just and lasting peace can only begin by ending the occupation and dismantling apartheid.' He spared Hamas, which attacked Israel the day before, any criticism in that statement. 'I mourn the hundreds of people killed across Israel and Palestine in the last 36 hours. Netanyahu's declaration of war, the Israeli government's decision to cut electricity to Gaza, and Knesset members calling for another Nakba will undoubtedly lead to more violence and suffering in the days and weeks to come. The path toward a just and lasting peace can only begin by ending the occupation and dismantling apartheid,' the full statement said. On Oct. 7, Hamas-led militants killed nearly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages, marking the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Within 40 hours of the attack, Israel immediately responded by launching airstrikes on over 800 targets into Gaza. Since then, Israel's military campaign has killed more than 55,000 Palestinians, according to The Associated Press, citing the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The ministry said more than half killed are women and children. 2. Defense of the phrase 'globalize the intifada' 'To me, ultimately, what I hear in so many is a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights,' Mamdani said on The Bulwark last week when asked about the phrase. 'The very word [intifada] has been used by the Holocaust Museum when translating the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising into Arabic, because it's a word that means struggle.' The word 'intifada' directly translates to 'shaking off.' Palestinians have launched two 'intifadas' against Israel and its military occupation — the First Intifada, beginning in 1987, was marked by widespread Palestinian protests. During the Second Intifada, beginning in 2000, Palestinian militants conducted suicide bombings targeting Israeli civilians on public buses, restaurants and shopping and pedestrian malls. In response, Israel carried out fierce military reprisals. Mamdani's defense of the term — which many Jews see as a call to globalize violence perpetrated against Israeli Jews in the Second Intifada — was condemned by Jewish leaders. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum issued a statement calling Mamdani's invocation of the Holocaust 'outrageous' and 'especially offensive to survivors.' A web archive shows the museum did use the word in an online article about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising that was translated into Arabic. After the interview, Mamdani released a statement further explaining his position: 'As the highest profile Muslim candidate in NY history, I feel an obligation to speak out against violence and against bad faith or misinformed efforts to manipulate language in ways that only contribute to the division we're seeking to overcome,' he said. 'I've repeatedly condemned any calls for violence.' Mamdani added Friday that 'globalize the intifada' is 'not the language that I use,' but added 'the role of the mayor is not to police language.' 3. Support for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement Mamdani has long defended the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which calls for consumers, companies and governments to cut ties with Israel in an effort to influence the country's policies toward Palestinians. He's also repeatedly dodged questions about whether he would advocate for the policy as mayor, and has avoided calling for the boycott or divestment of any other nation on the campaign trail. 'We pay our electeds with our tax $$$ to represent us but they go on paid-for trips to Israel,' Mamdani posted to social media in 2021. 'We have 3 letters for them: #BDS. Every elected must be pressured to stand with Palestinians, oppose Apartheid & assert that the fight for dignity knows no exception.' He also told the Muslim Democratic Club of New York that year, 'Speaking up for Israel comes with everything you might want, and we need to show that it's not that way anymore. There are consequences for speaking up in favor of apartheid.' 4. Refusing to disavow controversial streamer Hasan Piker, who has called Jews 'inbred,' after appearing on his show Mamdani participated in a three-hour-plus, one-on-one livestream in April with controversial leftist influencer Hasan Piker. Piker has been accused of antisemitism for repeatedly describing Orthodox Jews as 'inbred.' He also labeled a viewer who condemned the October 7th Nova music festival massacre as a 'bloodthirsty pig dog' during a stream recorded the day after the attacks, which was also criticized as antisemitic. Piker says the quotes are taken out of context. When asked why he appeared with the streamer when others have found Piker's comments antisemitic, Mamdani doubled down. 'I am willing to speak to each and every person about this campaign, and I've said that from the beginning,' Mamdani told POLITICO in April. 5. Did not sign resolution recognizing Holocaust As an Assemblymember, Mamdani was one of five lawmakers in the state Legislature's lower chamber that did not sign two resolutions condemning the Holocaust and honoring Israel, POLITICO reported last month. Mamdani responded by saying his failure to sign onto the measures was part of a 'blanket policy' in his office to not add his name to any resolution emailed to his office, in an effort to 'focus on the substance of legislation.' Mamdani said he 'understands this has caused pain and confusion for many' and said he voted every year for the Holocaust Remembrance Day resolution 'to honor the more than 6 million Jewish people murdered by the Nazis.' 6. 'Not on Our Dime!' Act Mamdani is the prime sponsor of the 'Not on Our Dime!' Act, which would effectively ban Israeli charities from supporting the Israeli military or 'Israeli settlement activity.' The legislation's stated purpose is to pressure Israel to end settlements and follow international law. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, who usually abstains from commenting on individual member's legislation before it's discussed in conference, gave a rare rebuke of the bill. Sixty-six Assemblymembers also signed a letter in 2023 calling the legislation 'a ploy to demonize Jewish charities with connections to Israel.' The lawmakers also said the legislation serves to 'attack Jewish organizations that have wide ranging missions from feeding the poor to providing emergency medical care for victims of terrorism to clothing orphans.' Mamdani touted his work to draft the legislation — a non-starter in the Legislature — as one of his top two policy accomplishments in his campaign literature for mayor. 'My support for BDS is consistent with the core of my politics which is non-violence,' Mamdani said in a May interview with the UJA-Federation, which his campaign referred to POLITICO. 'I think it is a legitimate movement when you are seeking to find compliance with international law and I think we have seen the Israeli government out of compliance with international law. ' 7. Led Israeli academic boycott in college During his senior year at Bowdoin College, a small private liberal arts college in Maine, Mamdani organized a boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions. The effort earned strong disapproval from the college's president, whom Mamdani feuded with in the pages of the college's newspaper. 'The boycott refuses to discriminate based on citizenship, race or nationality and merely asks that institutional ties be severed with those institutions complicit in the Israeli occupation,' Mamdani wrote in an op-ed he co-authored with another student in 2014. 'In other words, a professor from the University of Tel Aviv can still present research at an ASA conference, provided that he or she does so as an individual scholar and not expressly as a representative of Israeli academic institutions or of the Israeli government.' 8. Minimized claims of antisemitism Mamdani has repeatedly said accusations he is antisemitic are politically motivated or efforts to censor him. 'The conflation of anti-zionism and antisemitism is a conflation that seeks to distract, delegitimize, and really, what it is, is an attempt to silence,' Mamdani said in an interview with the South Asian Avant-Garde in 2021. 'Antisemitism is such a real issue in this city, and it has been hard to see it weaponized by candidates who do not seem to have any real interest in tackling it, but rather in using it as a pretext to make political points,' he also said on the campaign trail, less than a week before Election Day. 9. Further condemnation of Israel following Oct. 7 Beyond his initial statement on Oct. 8, Mamdani mobilized against Israel in the week following the unprecedented, deadly Hamas attacks, by which point Israel had cut off the flow of food, fuel, electricity and medicine and had killed about 1,900 people in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. At that time, the Israeli government had also said it had killed 1,500 Hamas militants. On Oct. 13 — six days after the attacks — Mamdani asked his supporters to join him at a rally outside then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's house 'to speak out against the indiscriminate killing of Palestinians as we sit on the brink of a genocide.' While running for City Hall, Mamdani has repeatedly defended using the term 'genocide' to describe the events in Gaza, even as Jewish leaders object to the use of it as an inappropriate comparison of the Israel-Hamas war and the Holocaust. The Anti-Defamation League has said the term 'is not only inaccurate and misleading, but it unfairly serves to demonize the State of Israel and to diminish recognized acts of genocide,' while the United Nations' International Court of Justice has said it is 'plausible' Israel is committing a genocide. Mamdani also produced a stream of social media posts focused squarely on the plight of Palestinians in October 2023, and was arrested during the demonstrations outside Schumer's home. 10. Criticism of lawmakers attending Israel Day Parade, opposition to Israeli independence resolution Mamdani has criticized lawmakers' attendance at Israel Day Parades and promoted his efforts to thwart a resolution in the state Legislature which honors Israel's Independence Day. 'We have elected officials who are taking paid-for trips to Israel,' Mamdani said at a 2021 rally. 'They show up to Israel Day parades, and they say 'we stand in solidarity.' We want to let them know there are three letters that we have as an answer to what is happening in Palestine, and it's BDS,' he said, referencing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. That same year, he boasted about his efforts behind the scenes to stop a symbolic resolution honoring Israel. 'Every year they introduced this resolution commending Israel's day of independence, and this year, it was introduced, it was scheduled to go up, and I called the central staff of the assembly, and I made it clear that if this resolution were to come to the floor, I would speak in opposition to this resolution, and would speak about the reality of what was happening in Palestine,' Mamdani said in the 2021 interview with the South Asian Avant-Garde. 'The resolution has yet to come to the floor,' Mamdani added with a smile during the interview. 'I think just the fact of registering opposition that business as usual cannot continue any longer, and it is so, so important that we do not cede any ground to apartheid and to supporters of apartheid, and that we'd be unabashed in our criticism of it.'
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Iran almost certainly will retaliate against US. But when, where and how?
Former US officials say if history is any guide, Iran and its hardline Supreme Leader will strike back following the US bombing of three nuclear facilities. What comes next? Iran − and its hardline Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – are almost certainly going to strike back in response to historic U.S. military strikes on three of its suspected nuclear facilities. But if history is any guide, that response could happen at any time − and anywhere, and in potentially any form, former U.S. intelligence officials and diplomatic experts say. 'Missiles, militias and acts of hostage taking – that's their go-to' range of options, the Biden administration coordinator for the Middle East, Brett McGurk, said in a June 21 interview with CNN. 'I suspect Iran will have to do something.' More: Who is Iran's Supreme Leader? Like Trump, he controls a real-estate empire But like others wondering about Iran's intentions, McGurk said he has no idea what the Islamic regime's next step will be. That's especially the case given President Donald Trump's warning that any retaliatory act will be met with potentially even greater force than what he says obliterated the uranium enrichment sites at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. 'If peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill,' Trump said in a June 21 evening address to the nation. 'Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes.' In an early morning briefing June 22, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he hoped the scope of the surprise attack would persuade Tehran's mullahs not to retaliate. "We believe that will have a clear psychological impact on how they view the future," Hegseth said, "and we certainly hope they take the path of negotiated peace." Former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton told USA TODAY that Iran 'may well retaliate, but this is the kind of decision that can fragment the regime at the top, and ultimately bring it down.' "Right now, Iran has one military adversary which is pounding it and its terrorist proxies with great success,' Bolton said in reference to Israel, which had previously attacked Tehran's suspected nuclear sites. 'Is Iran really eager to add the United States as a second military adversary? Some Iranian ayatollahs and military flag officers may not be suicidal.' Former top U.S. counterterrorism official Javed Ali agreed that a strong Iranian counterpunch is 'possible but very risky, and the situation is very different then in January 2020 when the U.S. and Iran last attacked each other" after the first Trump administration assassinated Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani. On Jan. 8, 2020, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched ballistic missiles at Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops, wounding more than 100 U.S. service members. Opening a new chapter in the 46-year US-Iran battle Karim Sadjadpour, a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace senior fellow and longtime Iran watcher, said it's 'unlikely the Iranians will see it the same way' as Trump and Hegseth 'This is more likely to open a new chapter of the 46-year-old US-Iran war than conclude it,' Sadjadpour, who regularly advises senior U.S., European and Asian officials on Iran, said in a series of postings on X. But he too said many of Iran's retaliatory options are 'the strategic equivalent of a suicide bombing,' given the potential counterpunch by the United States and Israel. A range of potential Iranian options The Tehran regime, with its powerful military and numerous proxy fighting forces in the Middle East, could strike U.S. troops in the region, experts and former officials said. It could also attack U.S. embassies and civilian targets frequented by Americans, they said, and potentially launch cyberattacks against critical infrastructure in the United States. Another option: attacking oil facilities in the Persian Gulf or mining the Strait of Hormuz to shut down international shipping lanes, with the help of the Houthi militias that Tehran trains and funds in Yemen. Iran could also launch destructive terrorist attacks using Hezbollah fighters that have been blowing up U.S. military and civilian targets in the region since the 1983 bombings of the U.S. Embassy and a Marine Corps barracks in Lebanon that killed 300 people. And Iran could launch some of its vast arsenal of missiles against Israel, though that would risk having many of them shot down by Israel's Iron Dome defense apparatus. Tehran also has some of the world's most accomplished cyberwarriors, and could also cause chaos and disruption by attacking U.S. critical infrastructure. That risk is both credible and growing, said Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, a former executive director of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, following a 700% increase in similar attacks on Israeli critical infrastructure. 'If you ask me, is it possible? Yes,' said Montgomery, a senior fellow at the McCrary Institute at Auburn University. 'Is it likely? Yes.' Iran's 'Supreme Leader' likely will dictate its response Much, if not all, of Iran's response will be dictated not by its civilian government but by Khamenei, the Iranian cleric who has served as the second supreme leader of Iran since 1989. Khameini is considered one of the longest-serving dictators in the world, who rules the oil-rich Islamic republic with an iron fist. But he's also a savvy politician who knows that his regime 'may not survive the blowback' that a response would trigger, Sadjadpour said The U.S. intelligence community has, for years, made similar assessments. In its most recent annual assessment, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence concluded Tehran will continue to use its loose consortium of like-minded terrorist and militant actors, known as the 'Axis of Resistance,' against the U.S. and Israel. Although Iran has seen some of its proxies destroyed or degraded, 'these actors still represent a wide range of threats' that could be mobilized in a counterattack, the ODNI said. But the ODNI also concluded that Khamenei 'continues to desire to avoid embroiling Iran in an expanded, direct conflict with the United States and its allies.' While Khamenei is not considered to be a reckless gambler, he has also painted himself into a corner by saying publicly that Tehran would never cave in to U.S. pressure. On June 18, he issued a grave warning to the U.S., saying it would suffer 'irreparable damage' if it engages in military action against Iran amid its conflict with Israel. As a result, Sadjadpour said, 'His survival instincts and defiant instincts are in great tension now.' Iran's ability to respond is diminished − but by how much? Iran's response undoubtedly will be hampered by lethal attacks on its military and proxy forces by Washington and Israel in recent years, beginning with the first Trump administration's targeted killing of Soleimani. Soleimani's death prompted 'real and specific threats' and assassination plots against Trump and former Trump administration officials on U.S. soil, including Bolton. More: Trump says US intel briefed him about how Iran wants to assassinate him to sow discord in US Tehran's regional power also has been eroded by the death of its strongest regional ally, Syrian strongman Bashir al-Assad. Israel has decimated its most powerful proxy, Hezbollah, by a series of military strikes and assassinations. And Trump, since returning to office, has launched numerous military strikes on Yemen's Houthis. For now, the U.S. will be watching and waiting to see if Khameini and Iran decide to launch some kind of 'one-off' unilateral response, or a coordinated effort with – or through – one of these proxy groups – or a third, Hamas. 'We have to be ready for that,' said McGurk. Like others, McGurk said it's also possible that Iran will stand down, and heed Trump's warning not to retaliate or face a potential regime ending response. 'I hope that's where this goes,' McGurk said. 'We've got to be prepared for the worst while hoping and working for the best. … These next few days will be quite something. These are unprecedented times.' By 1 a.m. Washington time, Iran had already fired its first retaliatory missile, according to media reports citing the Israeli Defense Forces.
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Trump's support keeps growing while Democrats howl at the moon
California Sen. Alex Padilla recently crashed a press conference by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. He deliberately wore no identification. He gave no advance warning that he would disrupt her briefing. Instead, Padilla barged forward to the podium, shouting about the deportation of illegal aliens. Advertisement Immediately, Padilla got his media-moment wish — once Secret Service agents, who had no idea who he was, forcibly removed him. Alex Padilla unsuccessfully attempted to push past law enforcement to reach Noem's lectern. AP Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) recently attempted a pseudo-filibuster, speaking nonstop for 25 hours straight — not to delay legislation, but to fixate on President Donald Trump. Advertisement South Carolina Democratic state Rep. Julie von Haefen posted on social media an image of a bloody guillotine. It bore the title 'In these difficult times, some cuts may be necessary' and was juxtaposed with an image of a hanging, beheaded Trump, who, a year ago, was the target of two failed assassination attempts. The more Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom scream at Trump for nationalizing the California Guard to stop LA's nightly violent anti-ICE protests, the more the two appear on the side of those who riot, destroy property and attack police. Yet who really wants to side with illegal aliens who spit on and burn American flags while waving Mexican flags? Former Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, along with other prominent Democrats, mocked the recent Washington, DC, military parade commemorating the 250th anniversary of the army, comparing it unfavorably with their own concurrent 'No Kings' anti-Trump protests. Advertisement Those demonstrations — subsidized by left-wing billionaire donors — were utterly incoherent. No other president has faced more lower federal court injunctions blocking executive orders than Trump. People march down Fifth Avenue at the No Kings protest against Trump on June 14, 2025 in New York. Zuma / Indeed, dozens of cherry-picked, left-wing district judges — the real unchecked 'kings' — now routinely block almost every one of Trump's executive orders. Advertisement Why are opposition Democrats not offering alternative agendas and compromises? Could they partner with Trump to allow green cards to illegal aliens who have no criminal records, have not been on public assistance, are now employed and have resided in the United States for over five years? Could Democrats meet with the president to express bipartisan support for democratic Israel in its existential war with theocratic Iran? Instead, why do Democrats throw two-year-old temper tantrums to howl nihilistically at everything Trump says and does? One, exasperated Democrats lack all levers of political power — the Congress, the White House and the Supreme Court. So, they take to the media and the streets. Two, Democrats are permanently frustrated that the more they scream and stomp, the more polls show radical declines in public support for their party. Three, their nemesis, 79-year-old Trump, seems impervious to Democratic lawfare, threats and smears. Advertisement Despite the hysterical attacks, he is still polling now about where prior presidents like George Bush and Barack Obama were at similar junctures in their second terms. The more Trump is smeared as a fascist or dictator, the more polls — like the latest liberal Economist/YouGov survey — show him gaining public support for securing the border and deportation. And the more the Left damns Trump as a racist, the more he wins unprecedented black and Hispanic support. Advertisement In recent Rasmussen tracking polls, Trump garnered 54% approval from black voters and 53% from Hispanics. Four, Trump proves a hard-to-hit, moving target for the frustrated left. He cannot quite be pigeonholed as a predictable right-wing bogeyman. Unlike the Left, when Trump weighs in on the Ukraine war, he first begins by deploring the tragic waste of over a million lives. No one is more pro-Israel. Yet he has offered a losing Iran a chance to negotiate its way out of total and humiliating defeat. Advertisement Trump talks nonstop about protecting the middle class. Unions like him; Wall Street mostly despises him. Trump wants to deport as many illegal alien criminals as possible. But he is willing to consider green cards for unlawful aliens who are working, crime-free and with long residence in the US. The Trump counterrevolution barrels ahead. The people cheer. And Democrats keep barking at the moon. Victor Davis Hanson is a distinguished fellow of the Center for American Greatness.
