A Persian student whose family he says was persecuted by Iran's regime directly asked Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed if he stood “unequivocally against the IRGC.” He never gave him a direct yes. Iman Dashti told El-Sayed his cousin had been hunted by the IRGC because her hijab wasn't worn properly and said his uncle had been sentenced to death and received 50 lashes. Dashti also confronted El-Sayed over leaked audio in which El-Sayed declined to comment on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's death, saying there were “a lot of people in Dearborn who are sad today.” Asked directly about the IRGC and Iran's government, El-Sayed said he would always stand with movements for freedom and democracy, then argued that America should not be in the business of regime change. Dashti pressed him again: “You stand with us?” El-Sayed again said he stood with movements for freedom and democracy and returned to his opposition to U.S. involvement in regime change. During the exchange, El-Sayed never condemned the IRGC. Watch the exchange for yourself. See the link to the article and video in the comments.

Former aides are accusing Alaska Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola of angry outbursts, offensive slurs, profane texts and even shoving a staffer. Her campaign disputes several of the allegations. The New York Times report cites nine former staffers. Some described an atmosphere that drove aides to tears, prompted discussions about quitting and caused some to seek therapy or lose weight from the stress. Peltola's campaign points to what it calls the hardest period of her life. Her mother and husband died within months of each other in 2023 while she was serving in Congress, raising her children and campaigning. Her spokesman said Peltola sometimes struggled with her grief, but accused former aides of exaggerating or lying and falsely portraying isolated incidents as a pattern. But some of the alleged incidents reportedly happened more recently, including during her 2026 Senate campaign. And yes, former staffers even complained about having to feed live crickets to Peltola's pet chameleon, Meatball. Peltola left a Wednesday town hall without answering reporters' questions about the allegations. She is challenging Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan for his U.S. Senate seat in Alaska. See the link to the article in the comments.

Benjamin Netanyahu used the U.N. floor to deliver a message directly to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani: “You can't silence me and you can't silence the truth.” Mamdani has called for the ICC arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister to be honored if Netanyahu enters the United States. “Mr. Mamdani, you tried to stop me from coming here, you tried to silence me,” Netanyahu said during his speech to the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Netanyahu then rejected accusations of genocide against Israel. “Israel didn't commit genocide, Israel prevented genocide,” Netanyahu said, adding that “Mr. Mamdani's Hamas buddies” would have killed “every last one of us” had Israel not stopped them. Netanyahu's message to Mamdani from New York was unmistakable: “You can't silence me and you can't silence the truth.” See the link to the article in the comments.