Friday, May 8, 2026
Good morning, and welcome to RedState's "Morning Minute" — a brief glimpse at which stories are trending at the moment and a look ahead at what the day may bring. Consider this your one-stop shop for news to kickstart your day.
TOP O' THE MORNIN'
Red-Hot at RedState
The Postscript to the Tennessee Democrat Redistricting Meltdowns Is Just Chef's Kiss
But guess which black Democrat challenged him this election cycle? Justin Pearson. Pearson is all stompy feet because he's about to lose his chance at becoming a congressman in a district that was initially designed for the purposes of electing a black Democrat, but which has elected a white one for the last two decades.
Kennedy is the gift that keeps on giving, not only because he’s funny, but because he has a deeply-seated sense of how to quickly get to the heart of the matter, reveal the true failures of progressive policies, and expose the endless gaslighting by the duplicitous Democrats.
Sen. John Fetterman Just Said What Democrats Don’t Want to Hear About Themselves
Fetterman has an answer. His party, so far, does not. And until it does, Democrats will keep losing the voters they need, while one of their own senators puts their failures in writing for the whole country to read.
Trending Across Townhall Media
Bearing Arms — So Now They Don't Even Trust the Police with Guns? Apparently Not
At its core, what we're seeing here isn't that there's a concern with public safety, but a profound distrust of anyone who wants a gun of their own. These critics are essentially telling everyone that they don't trust the police with firearms, even as the department issues them a gun when they join the force.
Hot Air — The Ohio Fraud Will Blow You Away
It's clear that the system is rotten to the core, and that easy money during and after COVID supercharged the problem.
The Trump administration is squeezing the regime harder than any U.S. president ever has, and it looks like it's only going to go harder in the weeks to come. Make no mistake, the Cuban regime will fall soon. Trump and Rubio are seeing to it.
Well done, Tennessee.
Leftist legacy media 'reporters' should probably save that tweet from Grok when even more layoffs come, and they all get replaced by AI.
WHAT'S ON TAP?
Today on Capitol Hill...
As we know, the critters are off on a District Work Week BUT...there is actually one congressional hearing on Friday — it's a field hearing for the House Education and Workforce Committee on "Protecting Workers and Powering America: The Future of Mining," set for Friday morning at Vincennes University Gibson County Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Logistics in Fort Branch, Indiana.
And never fear...they'll all be back next week for the usual Hill hijinks.
White House What's Up
President Trump’s Friday schedule includes:
- 8:00 AM — THE PRESIDENT participates in Executive Time — The White House
- 12:00 PM — THE PRESIDENT delivers Remarks — Rose Garden
- 5:30 PM — THE PRESIDENT participates in a Policy Meeting — The White House5:30 PM — THE PRESIDENT departs The White House en route to Sterling, Virginia — The White House
- 5:30 PM — THE PRESIDENT participates in a LIV Golf Dinner — Sterling, Virginia
- 5:30 PM — THE PRESIDENT departs Sterling, Virginia en route to The White House — Sterling, Virginia
- 5:30 PM — THE PRESIDENT arrives at The White House — The White House
(Note: Yes, I know those last several time stamps are all the same time — sometimes, they do that when he's traveling. 🤷♀️)
Keeping Up With the Cabinet
Dir. Central Intelligence Agency - John Ratcliffe — Ratcliffe's been flying mostly under the radar, which I suppose is appropriate for his role. His office X account did recently retweet this from White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles:
President Trump is the most forward leaning president on innovation in American history.
— Susie Wiles (@SusieWiles47) May 7, 2026
When it comes to AI and cyber security, President Trump and his administration are not in the business of picking winners and losers. This administration has one goal; ensure the best and…
President Trump is the most forward leaning president on innovation in American history.
When it comes to AI and cyber security, President Trump and his administration are not in the business of picking winners and losers. This administration has one goal; ensure the best and safest tech is deployed rapidly to defeat any and all threats.
We appreciate the effort being made by the frontier labs to ensure that goal is met.
The White House will continue to lead an America First effort that empowers America’s great innovators, not bureaucracy, to drive safe deployment of powerful technologies while keeping America safe.
Really, it’s common sense!
Full Court Press...
We did have some notable court rulings on Thursday, including:
- ❌ In Oregon v. U.S./Burlap and Barrell Inc. v. U.S. (tariffs under § 122 of the Trade Act of 1974), Court of International Trade GRANTS plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment and enters permanent injunction for State of Washington, Burlap and Barrel, Inc., and Basic Fun, Inc.; dismisses claims of other plaintiff states for lack of standing.
- ❌ In American Council of Learned Societies v. McDonald (funding of NEH), Judge Colleen McMahon (Southern District of New York) GRANTS plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment, issues permanent injunction, and denies admin's motion for summary judgment.
- ❌ In Escobar Molina v. DHS (warrantless immigration arrests), Judge Beryl Howell (D.C.) GRANTS plaintiffs' motion to enforce preliminary injunction.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
It's only 9:30 AM Eastern, and we've already got the UFO files (or parts of them) dropping, so Heaven only knows what else the day has in store — but if I were putting money on it, I'd say there's a good chance that Supreme Court of Virginia ruling on the redistricting squabble drops today, too.
Also, interesting results coming out of the U.K. local elections — definitely something to keep an eye on.
MORNING MUSING
I'm going to level with y'all: It's Friday after a long week, I've got 20 billion different things I need to get to, I'm pressed for time, and I have no idea what is — or might be — in this initial "UFO Files" dump (or what may follow). Certainly, it's going to be interesting to pour through them — when time permits.
In the meantime, though, I asked the AI overlords to suggest some clever alternative suggestions as to what "UFO" stands for. My top picks:
- Usually Faked Observation
- Utterly Freaky Occurrence
- Unacknowledged Federal Operation
- Unverified Freakout Online
- Uh… Figure it Out
Enjoy your day! 👽
UFOs: Rubio finding out he’s going to be in charge of the Martians. pic.twitter.com/cNpnNuFcSL
— @amuse (@amuse) May 8, 2026
LIGHTER FARE
Indeed they do!
Friends come in all shapes and sizes..🐰🐿️😍 pic.twitter.com/1Vxg6GwYH1
— 𝕐o̴g̴ (@Yoda4ever) May 8, 2026
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