Trump Attempts to Punish Flag Burners, Cashless Bail Crackdown, Snoop Slams Pixar： AM Update 8⧸26
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Summary
Trump signs an executive order attempting to work around Supreme Court precedent on flag burning, plus a new pair of executive orders targeting cashless bail in deep blue cities. Plus, Rapper and Trump antagonist Snoop Dogg reacts to woke Disney Pixar programming in a very relatable way. All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM Update.
Transcript
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It's Tuesday, August 26th, 2025, and this is your AM Update.
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Instructs the Department of Justice to prosecute those who are engaged in these instances of flag burning.
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President Trump signs an executive order attempting to work around Supreme Court precedent on flag burning.
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Plus a new pair of executive orders targeting cashless bail in deep blue cities.
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Y'all throwing me in the middle of shit that I don't have an answer for.
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Rapper and Trump antagonist Snoop Dogg reacts to woke Disney Pixar programming in a very relatable way.
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All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM Update.
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You know those movies that tell the stories of real-life heroes with the courage to stand up in the face of indescribable evil and hatred to protect and save others?
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They're important, especially now when the world seems to need heroes more than ever.
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Bao, Artist at War, is a film about how art and love can save lives literally and spiritually.
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It's the remarkable true story of Joseph Bao, a gifted artist and master forger who risked his life to save others during the Holocaust.
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There, he not only found the strength to survive, but also an unexpected love with Rebecca, a woman whose courage matched his own.
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Their secret wedding, held inside a concentration camp, was later immortalized in the film Schindler's List.
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Bao, Artist at War, opens only in theaters for a limited run beginning September 26th.
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Go to baomovie.com, B-A-U-movie.com to watch the trailer, read about Joseph's real-life journey, and find showtimes near you.
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Visit baomovie.com to watch the trailer and learn more.
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And you can also sign your organization up for group screenings.
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On Monday, President Trump signing an executive order attempting to punish those who engage in flag burning,
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ordering the Department of Justice to prosecute individuals who violate laws while desecrating the American flag,
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so long, he says, as the First Amendment is not violated.
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In 1989, the Supreme Court ruling in a 5-4 decision that burning an American flag is expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment.
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The case originating with the arrest of one Gregory Lee Johnson in 1984 for burning an American flag outside of a convention center in Dallas, Texas,
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Johnson was convicted under a Texas statute outlawing the desecration of a venerated object, including the American flag,
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if such an action were likely to incite anger in others.
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The majority siding with Mr. Johnson, who said this violated his free speech rights and overturning his conviction.
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Justice William Brennan, appointed by President Eisenhower, writing for the majority,
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Johnson's expressive conduct does not fall within that small class of fighting words that are likely to provoke the average person to retaliation
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No reasonable onlooker would have regarded Johnson's generalized expression of dissatisfaction with the policies of the federal government
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as a direct personal insult or an invitation to exchange fisticuffs.
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The way to preserve the flag's special role is not to punish those who feel differently about these matters.
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Conservative icon Justice Antonin Scalia, siding with the majority in that case,
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If it were up to me, I would put in jail every sandal-wearing, scruffy-bearded weirdo who burns the American flag.
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Senior White House staffer Will Scharf explaining the executive order Monday from the Oval.
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What the executive order does, sir, it charges your Department of Justice with investigating instances of flag burning
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and then where there's evidence of criminal activity,
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where prosecution wouldn't fall afoul of the First Amendment
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and instructs the Department of Justice to prosecute those who are engaged in these instances of flag burning.
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That's like saying the DOJ is charged with investigating whether people can have individual opinions,
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and where there is evidence those opinions are really, really bad,
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if the prosecution would not fall outside of the First Amendment, we prosecute.
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In cases where the DOJ or another executive department or agency determines
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that an instance of American flag desecration may violate an applicable state or local law,
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such as open burning restrictions, disorderly conduct laws, or destruction of property laws,
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the agency shall refer the matter to the appropriate state or local authority for potential action.
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certainly if the flag is someone else's property you could get in trouble,
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but the act of burning the flag will not be criminalized,
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not under our First Amendment, no matter how much one may dislike it.
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The Attorney General and Secretary of State also directed to deny, prohibit, terminate,
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or revoke the visas of, and even seek the removal of,
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foreigners who desecrate the American flag when legally applicable.
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As you know, through a very sad court, I guess it was a five to four decision,
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but there's another reason which is perhaps much more important.
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It's called death, because what happens when you burn a flag is the area goes crazy.
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You can, and it's, but when you burn the American flag,
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it incites riots at levels that we've never seen before.
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There are some that are going crazy for doing it.
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There are others that are angry, angry about them doing it.
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Mr. Trump going on to say the penalty for inciting a riot via flag burning will be one year in jail,
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but that punishment is not spelled out in the executive order.
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The federal statute for inciting a riot carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.
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The incitement exception to the First Amendment, however, is very limited.
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It would only apply if the flag burning, the speech,
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is both meant to and likely to incite imminent lawbreaking.
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The president has long been interested in this topic.
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Mr. Trump floating consequences for flag burners as early as November 2016.
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Instances of flag burning becoming more common in recent years as left-wing radicals protest
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everything about America, from the BLM riots of 2020 to the anti-Israel demonstrations across
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college campuses to anti-ice protesters in L.A.
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taking to the streets in June, waving foreign flags proudly as Old Glory burned on the ground.
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Conservatives appearing divided on the order, some citing an incident in 2019,
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an Iowa man sentenced to at least 15 years for stealing a gay pride flag from a church
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Theft and destruction of property do not fall under protected political speech.
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I'm sorry, but as long as this is the status quo, I'm not going to work myself into a state of hysteria
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about Trump's executive order on burning the American flag.
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However, many prominent conservative voices speaking out against the order.
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Right-wing radio host and former Marine Jesse Kelly posting, quote,
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I would never in a million years harm the American flag, but a president telling me I can't
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has me as close as I'll ever be to lighting one on fire.
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I am a free American citizen, and if I ever feel like torching one, I will.
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Commentator Eric Erickson, who also has a law degree,
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positing his theory about the executive order on X, quote,
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The president's executive order on flag burning is not legal,
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but it will get the Democrats to all go out and burn American flags,
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yet again putting them on the 20 percent side of an 80-20 issue.
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Right on cue, failed VP candidate Tim Walz from the DNC's summer meeting on Monday.
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because he knows there's a hell of a lot of flags with his picture on it that are going to get burned.
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We spoke to chief counsel at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE,
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Bob Korn-Ravere, who says this order flies in the face of the First Amendment.
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It's a longstanding principle of First Amendment law that someone in a crowd who doesn't like
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what a speaker is saying doesn't get to silence them by threatening to be disruptive.
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The law and the First Amendment require that the government protect the speaker,
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And it appears that this executive order is predicated on saying that there are likely to be people out there
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that don't like what the speakers are saying, what protesters are saying,
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and therefore because of that we're going to silence the protesters rather than preserving order.
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That seemed to be what President Trump was talking about when he was talking about crowd reactions to it.
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And it's precisely the same argument that the Supreme Court confronted in 1989 in Texas v. Johnson
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when it held that that justification couldn't support the Texas attempt to prosecute Gregory Lee Johnson
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Revere describing what legal challenges may arise out of this order.
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It looks like what is likely to happen is that someone, either at the federal level or state level,
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will initiate some sort of prosecution against a flag burner,
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someone who is protesting using that as their means of expression,
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and that the defense, I would imagine, would include a constitutional argument
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that this is merely an example of someone being prosecuted
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because the government doesn't like what they're trying to say.
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And that is a plain violation of the First Amendment.
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If you go back to the whole question of incitement,
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the Supreme Court in 1969 in Brandenburg v. Ohio said that
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Klansmen burning a cross didn't constitute incitement.
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And so this really is a non-starter from a constitutional perspective.
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Revere also predicting this executive order will not have its intended effect.
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President Trump in his statement appeared to say that by issuing this decree,
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And I think history shows that exactly the opposite is likely to happen.
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After the Supreme Court struck down the Texas attempt to prosecute flag burning in 1989,
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Congress adopted the Flag Protection Act that was designed to prevent flag burning
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And the effect of that was that we had more examples and instances of flag burning
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in protest of passing that law than had existed in the previous 200 years in American history.
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So I think that the reaction to this executive order is likely to be the opposite of what President Trump intends.
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Coming up, President Trump puts far-left cities on notice by going after cashless bail policies.
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And rapper Snoop Dogg draws backlash for complaints about woke Disney content.
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As President Trump is settling into his new administration,
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one of the top Democrats in Congress aiming to undermine the Trump agenda
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And according to our sponsor, the Electronic Payments Coalition,
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President Trump also on Monday signing a pair of executive orders taking aim at cashless bail,
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meaning when people accused of crimes are not required to pay money to be released from jail pending trial.
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One executive order purporting to end cashless bail entirely in Washington, D.C.,
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the latest action amid the Trump administration's federal takeover of local law enforcement there.
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White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf describing the second order Monday from the Oval.
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Cashless bail policies are a key driver of the disorder we see on city streets all over America.
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Catch and release system allows criminals to keep going back out onto the street and reoffending.
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What this executive order does, it charges your attorney general
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with identifying jurisdictions all over the country that have cashless bail policies.
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And then it withholds or revokes federal funds and grants that are flowing to those jurisdictions
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to ensure that we're only supporting the people who have reasonable common-sense policies around crime.
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The bail reform movements began across deep blue pockets of the country around the mid-2010s,
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that trend catching fire during the George Floyd era.
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Washington, D.C. had already eliminated cash bail in the 90s,
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while New Jersey and Illinois later followed suit by instituting purely risk-based bail assessments,
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meaning you're either too risky to be released or you're not,
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New Mexico and New York adopting policies heavily curtailing cash bail,
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and cities like L.A., Philadelphia, San Francisco rolling out reforms of their own.
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Progressives arguing cash bail unjustly punishes low-income offenders who cannot pay,
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while wealthier suspects walk free ahead of their trials.
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Supporters countering that it provides a crucial incentive,
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ensuring suspects show up for their court dates,
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and helps keep repeat offenders off the streets.
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Throughout the 2024 campaign, President Trump vowing to reverse soft-on-crime policies.
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One of the executive orders has to do with cashless bail.
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That was when the big crime in this country started.
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don't worry about it, no cash, come back in a couple of months, we'll give you a trial.
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And, I mean, they kill people and they get out.
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They thought it was discriminatory to make people put up money
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because they just killed three people lying on a street.
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Any street all over the country, cashless bail, we're ending it.
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Attorney General Pam Bondi flanking the president,
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offering some examples highlighting the risks of cashless bail.
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A mother, a single mom whose house was burglarized,
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went back the next night and burglarized her house again.
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Next night, he got out, went back and killed him.
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So that's why it's so important, President, what you're doing.
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as the next targets for a federal crime crackdown,
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with Baltimore potentially in the running as well.
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Legal challenges are expected for all of Trump's recent actions on crime.
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Rapper Snoop Dogg angering the left with his recent comments
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about his experience watching a Pixar movie with his grandson,
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saying he was blindsided by an LGBTQ storyline in the movie Lightyear.
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The comments made on the It's Giving podcast last week
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I took my grandson to see, uh, what was the movie with, uh, Buzz Lightyear.
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So we watching it, and the lady, when they're like,
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One of my grandsons, in the middle of the movie, like,
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Papa Snoop, how'd she have a baby with a woman?
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So it's like, fuck me, I'm scared to go to the movies, man.
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Like, y'all throwing me in the middle of shit that I don't have an answer for.
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Outraged woke viewers firing off in the comments on YouTube.
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Wow, I am so embarrassed that I ever liked him.
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Snoop Dogg is opening up about a terrifying experience he had at the movies.
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it took him three whole years to talk about it.
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No, it wasn't at a screening of Hereditary or Weapons or anything that would be slightly less
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Snoop Dogg couldn't handle a children's movie and a Pixar one at that for one specific reason,
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Despite the backlash, Snoop's views are far from unique.
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The 2022 Pixar film Lightyear drawing backlash as the studio's first to feature a gay kiss.
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The scene reportedly at one point cut from the film,
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then restored after internal pushback from Pixar and Disney employees.
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You know, the ones who were trying to get their self-described
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The film banned in more than a dozen countries in the Middle East and Asia,
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like many other decidedly woke Pixar films since.
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grossing just $226 million globally on a reported budget of $200 million.
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As a point of comparison, Toy Story 4, which is normal,
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also features Buzz Lightyear as one of the leads,
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and it made over a billion dollars at the box office worldwide.
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live on SiriusXM Triumph Channel 111 at noon east,
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on youtube.com slash megankelly and on all podcast platforms.
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