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The IDF announced on Thursday morning that an IDF soldier was killed by a Hamas sniper in Gaza City on Wednesday. He was identified as Staff Sgt. Chalachew Shimon Demalash, H’yd, 21, from Be’er Sheva. He served in the Nachal Brigade’s 932nd Battalion and was shot by a sniper while serving on guard duty. He is the second IDF fatality since the IDF launched Operation Gidoen’s Chariots B in Gaza City. Hashem Yikam Damo. (YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

The IDF announced on Thursday morning that Staff Sergeant Chalachew Shimon Demalash, 21, from Be’er Sheva, a fighter in the 932nd Battalion of the Nachal Brigade, was killed in action in northern Gaza.

The military said the incident happened Wednesday evening at about 6:00 p.m., during an operation by the 162nd Division in northern Gaza City.

During the clash, troops from the Nachal Brigade’s 932nd Battalion came under fire, apparently from a sniper. Demalash was mortally wounded, and despite efforts by medics at the scene, he was pronounced dead shortly afterward.

With his passing, the number of Israeli soldiers who have fallen since the war began has reached 912.

Earlier, over Rosh Hashanah, the IDF confirmed that Major Shahar Netanel Bozaglo, 27, of Migdal Haemek, who commanded a company in the Armored Corps 77th Battalion of the 7th Brigade, was also killed in battle in northern Gaza.

According to the military, Maj. Bozaglo, serving with the 77th Battalion combat team, had been operating Monday morning alongside Golani forces in the southern part of Gaza City under the 36th Company. Terrorists launched an ambush, firing an RPG at a tank, and the officer was gravely hurt.

He was evacuated to Soroka Hospital in Be’er Sheva, where he later succumbed to his injuries.

{Matzav.com Israel}

Tom Homan: This morning, a gunman was targeting an ICE facility in Dallas, Texas… it’s the third shooting that’s occurred in Texas against immigration officials… This is clearly a targeted attack against ICE.

Video for YWN by David Cohen

Video for YWN by David Cohen

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller: Democrats have been clear — they will not fund law enforcement, the military, or public safety, unless they get free health care for illegals. “We will see if there’s enough Democrat senators who are dumb enough to follow Chuck Schumer off the edge of that cliff.”

President Trump has accused the United Nations of presiding over what he called “triple sabotage” during his address to the General Assembly this week, pointing to a series of mechanical and technical failures that marred his appearance before nearly 150 world leaders. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump alleged that three separate incidents — an escalator malfunction, a teleprompter blackout, and sound system issues — combined to undercut his moment on the world stage. The president demanded an investigation, called for security footage to be preserved, and urged the arrest of those he claimed were responsible.

Pres. Trump says he expects an apology from Kamala Harris for claiming 2024 was the “closest Presidential Election in the 21st Century.” “Kamala Harris, who is DUMB AS A ROCK…”

HAPPENING NOW: Prime Minister Netanyahu boarding plane to the United States to address the United Nations and meet with President Trump. “I will discuss with President Trump the need to complete the goals of the war — to bring back all our hostages, to defeat Hamas, and to expand the circle of peace that has opened to us following the historic victory in ‘Am K’Lavi’ and other successes we have achieved.”

Ryan Routh, the man who set up a sniper’s perch with an assault rifle at one of President Trump’s golf courses, caused chaos in a Florida courtroom Tuesday when he attempted to stab himself in the neck with a pen moments after being convicted of trying to assassinate the Republican candidate.

The shocking outburst happened just as the jury was leaving the room. Routh grabbed a pen and started jabbing at his throat.

Court officers rushed to subdue him and dragged him from the chamber while his daughter, Sara Routh, cried out in distress. “Dad, I love you. Don’t do anything. I’ll get you out. He didn’t hurt anybody,” she shouted.

Minutes later, marshals brought Routh back into the courtroom in shackles. He no longer wore his jacket and tie, but his white shirt appeared clean with no blood visible. The judge scheduled sentencing for December 18, at which time he could receive a life sentence.

Jurors deliberated for roughly two hours before convicting the 59-year-old on five federal counts, including attempted assassination, assaulting a federal officer, and multiple firearms offenses, after a two-week trial in Fort Pierce, Florida.

Following the guilty verdict, Routh used a pen to stab at his own neck. It was unclear how badly he was injured.

Later that day, Trump posted on Truth Social, expressing gratitude to the court. He thanked the judge and jury for their “professionalism, and patience,” and praised the Secret Service agent who stopped Routh for his “instinct and foresight.”

“This was an evil man with an evil intention, and they caught him,” Trump wrote. “A very big moment for JUSTICE IN AMERICA!”

Routh — who worked in construction and had no legal training — insisted on representing himself. His bizarre defense included suggesting that the matter be decided through a golf duel to the death.

He told the court that if Trump won, he should be allowed to execute Routh, but if Routh prevailed, he would become president.

Such antics led the presiding judge to frequently reprimand him for breaking courtroom procedure.

According to prosecutors, Routh had been planning for weeks before heading to Trump International West Palm Beach golf course on September 15, 2024, while Trump was out playing.

A Secret Service agent spotted him concealed in a sniper’s nest along the perimeter fence, his SKS rifle aimed through an opening. The agent fired at him, forcing Routh to run without firing a single shot.

It marked the second attempt on Trump’s life in just over two months. On July 13, 20-year-old Michael Thomas Crooks opened fire at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, grazing Trump’s ear before being killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper.

Judge Aileen Cannon, appointed by Trump, cut off Routh’s opening remarks after fewer than ten minutes when he veered into rambling references to prehistoric times and global leaders ranging from Adolf Hitler to Vladimir Putin to Benjamin Netanyahu.

“This case means absolutely nothing,” Routh declared at one point. “A life has been lived to the fullest.”

During jury selection, he attempted to question potential jurors about Greenland, pro-Palestinian student activism, and how they would react if a turtle crossed the road. Cannon deemed the inquiries “irrelevant” and barred them.

Routh, who had been living in Hawaii, dismissed his attorneys earlier this year. Cannon permitted him to represent himself but cautioned him that his lawyers were far more qualified, limiting him to consulting standby counsel only for technical legal matters.

From then on, Routh bombarded the court with eccentric filings, including a witness list that named Trump, activist Mahmoud Khalil, and even a Secret Service agent whom he accused of asking him to “spank/slap ass.”

Judge Cannon excluded most of his 24 requested witnesses, ruling their testimony irrelevant.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, called 38 witnesses, many of them law enforcement officials, including the agent who discovered Routh. By contrast, Routh called only three — two people vouching for his character and one firearms expert. He entered pleas of not guilty and declined to testify himself.

In earlier submissions, Routh wondered why his case wasn’t eligible for the death penalty, demanded to be swapped in a prisoner exchange with Hamas, Iran, China, or Russia, and revived his challenge for a golf match to the death — where losing meant execution and winning meant inheriting the presidency.

{Matzav.com}

Federal agents revealed Tuesday that they dismantled a sprawling illegal network of electronic devices in New York that had the power to knock out cell towers and jam 911 emergency lines — just as heads of state prepared to arrive for the UN General Assembly.

According to investigators, the discovery included over 300 SIM servers and more than 100,000 SIM cards, all spread out across multiple sites within a 35-mile radius of the United Nations.

“The potential for disruption to our country’s telecommunications posed by this network of devices cannot be overstated,” Secret Service Director Sean Curran said.

Authorities explained that the system could have been used for a variety of telecom attacks, among them the ability to flood networks with as many as 30 million text messages every minute, a scenario officials warned could have had “catastrophic” results for New York City.

Investigators also suspect the operation was tied to threatening messages sent to American officials and that communications linked to the network reached overseas contacts.

Federal officials are now examining whether the entire setup might be connected to a foreign state.

“It can take down cell towers, so then no longer can people communicate, right? …. You can’t text message, you can’t use your cell phone. And if you coupled that with some sort of other event associated with UNGA, you know, use your imagination there, it could be catastrophic to the city,” said Matt McCool, the Secret Service’s special agent in charge of the New York field office.

“Given the timing, location and proximity and potential for significant disruptions to the New York telecoms system, we moved quickly to disrupt this network.”

Authorities did not specify exactly when the cache was discovered or detail its intended use.

Law enforcement insiders said similar setups were also identified recently in California and parts of the Midwest. The current theory links them to massive spam call operations, though some suggested they might also have served more mundane purposes, such as facilitating international calling services.

Cybersecurity specialists, however, cautioned that the sophistication of the system pointed to more troubling possibilities.

“My instinct is this is espionage,” said Anthony Ferrante, global head of cybersecurity at consulting firm FTI, in comments to the New York Times.

He stressed that the infrastructure looked expensive and could easily be deployed for surveillance while foreign dignitaries gathered in Manhattan.

James Lewis, a cybersecurity analyst with the Center for European Policy Analysis, told the outlet that only a few countries — among them Russia, China, and Israel — had the capability to mount such an effort.

The Secret Service stumbled on the network earlier this year during a broad investigation into telecom threats aimed at senior US officials.

When agents moved in, they discovered racks of servers and boxes of SIM cards — more than 100,000 already active, with thousands more ready for use, McCool said.

McCool warned that, left unchecked, the operation could have crippled communications across the region, drawing a comparison to the cell network collapses that paralyzed New York in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.

Officials stressed there is no current evidence of a plan to directly target the UN General Assembly and no present danger to New Yorkers.

Still, investigators are exploring whether the devices were used to send secure messages to criminal syndicates, drug cartels, and terrorist groups overseas.

“Forensic work is only just beginning,” McCool noted. “We need to do forensics on 100,000 cell phones, essentially all the phone calls, all the text messages, anything to do with communications, see where those numbers end up,” he said.

{Matzav.com}

A man accused of shining a laser pointer at Marine One with President Donald Trump aboard the helicopter has been arrested on a federal criminal charge, according to a court filing on Monday. Jacob Samuel Winkler is charged with aiming the beam of a laser pointer at an aircraft, a felony punishable by a maximum prison sentence of five years. Online court records don’t list an age or hometown for Winkler or say if he has an attorney representing him. Marine One was airborne on Saturday near the White House when a U.S. Secret Service patrol officer spotted Winkler walking on a sidewalk, shirtless and loudly talking to himself, the officer wrote in an affidavit. The officer said he shone a flashlight at Winkler, who apparently retaliated by flashing a red laser beam at the officer’s face. As Marine One flew over their heads, Winkler looked up and shined the laser pointer at the helicopter, according to the officer. After the officer handcuffed him, Winkler repeatedly talked about apologizing to Trump, the affidavit says. The court filing doesn’t say if anybody aboard the helicopter noticed the laser. But the officer said Winkler’s conduct could have temporarily blinded or disoriented a pilot, placing Marine One at risk of an airborne collision with other helicopters in the area. Winkler told investigators that he points the laser “at all kinds of things, such as stop signs,” and didn’t know he couldn’t point it at Marine One, the affidavit says. Investigators also found a small knife in his possession, according to the officer. (AP)

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NASA introduced its newest astronauts Monday, 10 scientists, engineers and test pilots chosen from more than 8,000 applicants to help explore the moon and possibly Mars. For the first time, there were more women than men in an incoming astronaut class. They included a geologist who worked on NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover and a SpaceX engineer who’s already rocketed into orbit, flying on a billionaire-sponsored mission that featured the world’s first private spacewalk last year. The six women and four men will undergo two years of training before becoming eligible for spaceflight. Acting Administrator Sean Duffy said one of them could become one of the first to step on Mars. He also stressed that the U.S. will win this second race to land astronauts on the moon. “You are America’s best and brightest, and we’re going to need America’s best and brightest because we have a bold exploration plan for the future,” Duffy said at Monday’s ceremony at Johnson Space Center in Houston. “Some are challenging our leadership in space, say like the Chinese … We are going to win.” It is the 24th astronaut class for NASA since the original Mercury Seven made their debut in 1959. The previous class was in 2021. Only 370 people have been selected by NASA as astronauts, making it an extraordinarily small and elite group composed mostly of men. The latest additions will join 41 active U.S. astronauts currently serving in the corps. NASA’s flight operations director Norm Knight said competition was stiff and called the newcomers “distinguished” and “exceptional.” They include several military pilots, a former SpaceX launch director and a medical doctor. Air Force Maj. Adam Fuhrmann said he got the call inviting him into the astronaut corps while driving home in rush hour traffic. He took the first exit and pulled into a parking lot “just to make sure I was hearing” right. Another Air Force pilot, Maj. Cameron Jones, was just settling into his new empty home after a cross-country move. Yet another pilot, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Erin Overcash, got the news while relaxing at home. Her first words? “No way. I mean, I mean, yes, of course. But like no way.” She figures her experience stuck on a ship in the middle of the ocean with 5,000 others will serve her well dealing with space travel. Anna Menon, who accompanied billionaire Jared Isaacman on a SpaceX flight last September, is NASA’s first astronaut candidate to have already visited orbit. She’ll be in good company at Johnson: Her husband, a former SpaceX flight surgeon, was chosen in NASA’s last astronaut class. The U.S. Geological Survey’s Lauren Edgar worked with the Curiosity rover at Mars and, most recently, the science team behind the first moon landing by astronauts under the Artemis program that’s targeted for 2027 at the earliest. “I am so excited to be officially part of the NASA family,” she said. (AP)

New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani is doubling down on his pledge to raise taxes on corporations and New York’s wealthiest residents — staking out a position that could put him on a collision course with his newest political ally, Gov. Kathy Hochul. Speaking at a rally in The Bronx alongside members of 1199SEIU, an influential health care union, Mamdani claimed: “The proposal we put forward would raise $9 billion and we would also raise an additional $1 billion from savings and reforms that can be done at the city level.” The Queens assemblyman, who identifies as a democratic socialist, has made the tax hikes a cornerstone of his campaign, arguing that higher levies on corporations and the top 1 to 2 percent of earners would bring New York in line with neighboring states. He has promised to use the windfall to fund free buses, childcare, and city-run grocery stores, while also pledging to slash NYPD overtime spending, which now tops $1 billion annually. The proposal sits uneasily with Hochul, who in June flatly rejected raising state taxes, warning that such moves risk driving wealthy New Yorkers to “Palm Beach.” The governor, who formally endorsed Mamdani earlier this month, has avoided spelling out how her administration would mesh with a mayor intent on upending her tax posture. The tension underscores a tricky political dynamic: Hochul is gearing up for a tough 2026 reelection fight against Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, with her suburban support already fraying, even as she seeks to consolidate progressive voters in New York City by backing Mamdani. Mamdani enters the final stretch of the race with a commanding lead ahead of the Nov. 4 general election in the heavily Democratic city. His rivals include Republican Curtis Sliwa, as well as Democrats running as independents — including embattled incumbent Mayor Eric Adams and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Despite her endorsement, Hochul has yet to explain how she intends to navigate policy disputes with a potential Mamdani administration, particularly on taxes. For Mamdani, however, the issue is non-negotiable — and one he shows no sign of tempering even as he prepares to assume the city’s top job. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Major League Baseball has given the green light to introduce robotic umpiring beginning with the 2026 season, marking a dramatic change in how the game will be called. Players will now be able to contest ball and strike calls on the spot under the new policy.

The league’s competition committee voted on Tuesday to approve the use of an “Automated Ball-Strike challenge system,” which will provide each team with a minimum of two opportunities to question an umpire’s ruling during a contest.

Although a number of players who sit on the committee expressed their opposition to the rule change, sources told ESPN that their objections were overruled by the six owners who make up part of the panel.

According to MLB, the only individuals who can issue a challenge are the batter, the pitcher, or the catcher, and they will signal it by tapping the top of their helmet or cap.

If the review proves that the original call was wrong, the team will retain that challenge and receive another chance to use it later in the game.

Every challenge will be broadcast on television and shown live on stadium video boards, with fans able to watch the high-tech review system in action.

The technology makes use of 12 specialized cameras, similar to the ones deployed in professional tennis to determine whether a ball landed in or out of bounds.

Before approval for league-wide use, the automated system was tested extensively in minor league games as well as during the MLB All-Star Game. Reports indicate the cameras can judge balls and strikes with a margin of error of roughly one-sixth of an inch.

{Matzav.com}

President Trump delivered a fiery critique of the United Nations during his speech to the General Assembly on Tuesday, accusing the body of doing little more than hiding behind “empty words” while helping drive mass migration that he said undermines Western nations.

In a speech lasting nearly an hour, Trump highlighted his administration’s efforts to shut America’s borders and push for peace deals across the globe — citing efforts in Israel, Ukraine, Armenia, and Azerbaijan — while blasting the UN for not stepping in.

“It’s too bad that I had to do these things instead of the United Nations doing them, and sadly, in all cases, the United Nations did not even try to help in any of them,” Trump said from the podium in New York.

He went on to question the value of the organization itself. “What is the purpose of the United Nations? The UN has such tremendous potential. I’ve always said it, it has such tremendous, tremendous potential, but it’s not even coming close to living up to that potential. For the most part, at least for now, all they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter and then never follow that letter up,” the president continued.

“It’s empty words, and empty words don’t solve war.”

During his first term, Trump slashed hundreds of millions in American contributions to the UN and clawed back $838 million from peacekeeping missions through a rescissions package Congress approved in July.

Still, the US remains the single largest contributor to the organization, paying $820.3 million in 2025 alone — covering 22% of the UN’s $3.5 billion core budget.

As part of his “America First” vision, Trump has consistently urged NATO members and other allies in Europe to ramp up their military expenditures.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday that EU leaders “agreed on the need to cut Russia’s revenues from fossil fuels” and vowed to halt purchases entirely by 2027.

“Europe is speeding up its defence efforts to strengthen its Eastern flank,” she posted on X. “It must act as a shield for both Europe and NATO.”

Trump then warned that unless European countries follow his approach on immigration, their future would be in jeopardy.

“They’ve been invaded by a force of illegal aliens like nobody has seen before. Both the immigration and their suicidal energy ideas will be the death of Western Europe,” he said.

He urged them to “control their own borders” and insisted that countries must be able to “protect their communities” from migrants whose cultural and religious traditions could transform their societies.

“It’s time to end the failed experiment of open borders. You have to end it now,” Trump added.

Though the audience initially greeted him warmly and applauded his remarks urging an end to the Gaza conflict between Israel and Hamas, the mood soured as he launched into scathing attacks. “Your countries are going to hell,” he charged, blaming the UN for fostering illegal migration to the US and beyond.

“Your countries are being ruined. The United Nations is funding an assault on Western countries and their borders,” he said sharply.

“In 2024, the UN budgeted $372 million in cash assistance to support an estimated 624,000 migrants journeying into the United States. Think of that,” Trump continued.

“The UN is supporting people that are illegally coming into the United States, and then we have to get them out. The UN also provided food, shelter, transportation and debit cards to illegal aliens.”

UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese mocked the address, dismissing it as more spectacle than substance. She described it as a “visionary speech” full of “unmatched imagination, pure stream-of-consciousness, the rare gift of saying whatever comes to mind, on anything, to anyone.”

“A masterclass for sociology, int’l relations, and political science. Just hardly any law in it,” she quipped. Albanese was sanctioned by the US earlier this year, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio accusing her of waging a “campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel.”

Democratic leaders in Washington also ripped into the president’s remarks. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump had “embarrassed America at the UN.”

“This is basically MAGA madlibs,” said Ned Price, a senior aide to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, arguing that Trump simply rattled off campaign talking points to a global audience that had little interest in them.

David Axelrod, a longtime adviser to President Barack Obama, also criticized the address, writing on X: “This U.N. speech of Trump’s is truly historic! And not in a good way.”

Republicans, however, cheered the performance. Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas called the speech “fantastic” and said Trump was right to “call out that cesspool.”

The remarks came after two glitches that Trump himself joked about. On his way to the hall, the escalator carrying him and Melania Trump stalled. Then, just as he began to speak, the teleprompter froze.

“All I got from the United Nations was an escalator that on the way up, stopped right in the middle,” he quipped.

“These are the two things I got from the United Nations, a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter.”

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump’s declared this week that Russia is a “paper tiger”, reflecting newly surfaced U.S. intelligence suggesting the Kremlin faces deepening economic decline and mounting battlefield losses in Ukraine, the New York Post reported. The president’s pronouncement — made Tuesday after his address to the United Nations General Assembly — is being characterized inside the administration as a deliberate tactic to squeeze Russian President Vladimir Putin into considering negotiations, even as Moscow continues to resist Western overtures. In a Truth Social post following a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the UN summit, Trump argued that once Russian citizens “find out what is really going on with this war” economically, Ukraine would not only be able to reclaim its occupied territory but could “maybe even go further than that.” Asked Wednesday if the president’s words were a “strategic move aimed at stirring up negotiations,” a senior White House official replied: “Yes, that is correct.” Another source close to the administration added: “It doesn’t signal any substantive policy change. It’s a clear and obvious negotiating tactic to push Russia.” Zelensky and his top adviser Andriy Yermak both said that Trump is increasingly recognizing the limits of Moscow’s military power. “It’s our job … to speak, to consult, to repeat, to give the evidence, to exchange the information,” Yermak told reporters Tuesday. Zelensky went further, saying Putin’s claims of battlefield dominance were nothing more than “fairy tales.” According to the Institute for the Study of War, Russia has advanced just 1,910 square kilometers inside Ukraine since May — while sustaining more than 130,000 killed and wounded, an “extremely heavy casualty rate.” The Kremlin is also reeling from shrinking oil revenues and depleted reserves. Russian export earnings fell to $13.5 billion in August, down from $14.4 billion in July, according to the International Energy Agency. Overall, oil export revenue for the first eight months of 2025 was down 16 percent from the same period a year earlier. On Wednesday, Russia’s Finance Ministry proposed raising the value-added tax from 20 percent to 22 percent and slashed its economic growth forecast to 1 percent — a sharp drop from 4.3 percent in 2024. Meanwhile, Ukrainian drone strikes on refineries have triggered gas shortages inside Russia. “As his economy becomes pressurized, [Putin] has to pick between paying for the war machine or paying for the people who have given him a solid majority in his country,” Mark Montgomery, a retired Navy rear admiral and senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said. Trump’s rhetoric was reinforced by senior administration officials. “The president is making it very clear that Russia is in a very weak position,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Tuesday night. “They are a massive country with a massive military. They are a war economy. But it’s been three-and-a-half years and look at how Ukraine has been able to defend itself.” Vice President JD Vance echoed the point Wednesday: “It’s not a shift in position. It’s an acknowledgement of the reality on the ground.” For now, however, Putin has shown no sign of entertaining peace talks — even as Trump doubles down on his effort to project U.S. confidence in Ukraine’s ability to prevail. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Jimmy Kimmel came under heavy criticism Tuesday night for what many called “crocodile tears” during his long monologue, with detractors accusing the late-night host of lying again and refusing to directly apologize for the false remarks that had gotten him pulled off the air last week.

The embattled comedian was slammed for portraying himself as the victim in his first show back since being suspended for inflammatory comments about Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

On Sept. 15, Kimmel suggested during his opening monologue that Kirk’s alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, may have been linked to the “MAGA gang.”

“Look at Jimmy ‘The Martyr’ Kimmel fake crying tonight. Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender. DARVO playbook. This is what they do,” conservative activist Jack Posobiec, a close friend of Kirk, wrote on X. “In typical leftist fashion, Jimmy makes the victim himself.”

The backlash extended beyond activists. New York Post columnist Piers Morgan blasted Kimmel as well: “Hard to feel sympathy for Jimmy Kimmel and his crocodile tears given how gleefully he has always gorged on the career entrails of conservative stars who lost their jobs like Tucker, Roseanne etc. He’s become a partisan political activist, not a comedic host.”

During his return, Kimmel again courted controversy when he claimed he never intended to point blame at any political group.

“It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” Kimmel said tearfully.

“Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions,” he added. “It was obviously a deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make … for those who think I did point a finger, I get why you’re upset.”

He further said he did not believe the alleged assassin “represents anyone.”

But critics swiftly highlighted the contradiction. Conservative CNN commentator Scott Jennings fired back: “You used the phrase ‘MAGA gang’ & then lied about what happened. You definitely intended to make light of it and mislead the American people. Pathetic.”

Kimmel was also faulted for delaying any mention of Kirk’s name until more than seven minutes into his broadcast.

Andrew Kolvet, executive producer of The Charlie Kirk Show and a close friend of Kirk, dismissed Kimmel’s explanation as wholly insufficient.

“Jimmy, it’s simple,” Kolvet wrote on X before drafting the apology he felt was necessary: “I’m sorry for saying the shooter was MAGA. He was not. He was of the left. I apologize to the Kirk family for lying. Please accept my sincere apology. I will do better. I was wrong.”

{Matzav.com}