House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) gave Pope Leo XIV some advice amid his ongoing feud with President Donald Trump: if you’re going to comment on political matters, “you should expect some political response.”

Johnson weighed in on the Trump-Leo beef while speaking to reporters in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday.

“Listen, I’m not one to criticize clerics and religious leaders. We defend free speech and we certainly defend the free exercise of religion. And you know, a pontiff or any religious leader can say anything they want,” Johnson said. “But obviously, if you wade into political waters, you should expect some political response, and I think the pope’s received some of that.”

He then took issue with something the pope said during his Palm Sunday address in late March. Pope Leo — while speaking to tens of thousands of Catholics in St. Peter’s Square — said Jesus “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying: ‘Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood.'”

Johnson on Wednesday said the pope’s biblical interpretation was a bit off:

I was taken a little bit aback, just honestly, frankly, by something that was said. I think he said several days back that something about “Those who engage in war, that Jesus doesn’t hear their prayers,” or something.

It is a very well settled matter of Christian theology, there’s something called the “Just War Doctrine” — there’s “a time to every purpose under heaven.”

I think what the president’s comments [and] what the vice president’s comments reflect is their understanding… the stakes are so high. And the situation that we’re facing and the fact that you had the nation that was the largest sponsor of terrorism now having had that ability taken away from them, that means potentially millions of people will be able to keep their lives and not be killed by terrorists. That’s a good thing.”

He added, “I don’t want to get into a theological debate with the pope, I certainly respect the pope, I would just say that these are matters that people of good faith and good sense can debate.”

Johnson’s answer comes after Trump posted a searing social media rant against the pontiff on April 12, blasting him for being “WEAK” on crime and the issue of a nuclear Iran. The president added he was a bigger fan of the pope’s brother, Louis Prevost, because he is a “big MAGA person.”

Trump’s post followed Pope Leo ramping up his criticism of the Iran war last week.

The pope condemned Trump’s threat to wipe out a “whole civilization” in Iran if its theocratic leaders did not make a deal, calling it “truly unacceptable.” He then spoke out against the war three days later, saying “God does not bless any conflict.

Trump declined to apologize for his post against the pope on Monday, saying “there’s nothing to apologize for. He’s wrong!” He then went off on Pope Leo again late on Tuesday night.

Watch Johnson above via LiveNow From Fox.

The post Mike Johnson Suggests Pope Leo Should Have Expected ‘Political Response’ From Trump first appeared on Mediaite.

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Ever since our house flooded in the middle of the night (though thankfully before we fell asleep), my wife and I have been diligent about setting up water alarms all over the house, so we'll receive crucial warning the moment something leaks or backs up.

Well, the other night, the alarm under the kitchen sink went off while the dishwasher was running—and, sure enough, there was water gushing out of the sink drain. Luckily, I was able to turn off the water and clean everything up before it totally ruined my cabinets and floors. I started my investigation into the problem, and about three seconds later, it was obvious: My sink drain had a huge gap in it:

The ginormous hole in my corroded kitchen drain pipe. Credit: Jeff Somers

It was actually kind of amazing—a chunk of pipe was just gone, and what was left was as fragile as tissue paper. I called a few plumbers, but no one could get to me for a few days (plumbers have a very narrow definition of the word “emergency”). I was faced with the prospect of not being able to use my kitchen sink or dishwasher for a while, or risk further damage to my house.

But I had another option: A quick fix with an epoxy putty.

Epoxy putty is an easy, water-resistant solution to leaks

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Epoxy putties all work generally the same: They contain a resin and a hardening agent, and when these clay-like materials are combined, a chemical reaction quickly hardens them into whatever shape you work them into. There are a few major brands to choose from, including J-B WaterWeld, PC-Plumbing Epoxy Putty, Oatey Stick Fix-It, and Loctite Epoxy Putty. I happened to have some WaterWeld on hand, so that’s what I used to save my kitchen, but any of these products will probably work as well.

How to quickly patch a leak with epoxy putty

The process is pretty straightforward: First, you pinch off as much putty as you think you’ll need (wear gloves—this stuff can irritate your skin):

The two parts of an epoxy putty ready to be combined. Credit: Jeff Somers

Knead the meaterial together, mixing the resin and the hardener until it’s all one color:

Kneading the putty together is oddly satisfying. Credit: Jeff Somers

Now apply the putty to your leak. In my case, I used pretty much the whole package to encapsulate the massive hole in my kitchen drain:

My masterful putty repair kept the kitchen in business until the plumber arrived. Credit: Jeff Somers

Different products will have different working times and hardening times. WaterWeld takes about 25 minutes to set, so you need to work relatively quickly. Luckily, temporary plumbing repairs don’t need to be pretty. I just rolled it onto the drain, pressed it into place, and worked the edges to create a seal. It's important to note that epoxy putty products like this are intended for low-pressure repairs; while they can probably plug pinhole leaks in high-pressure pipes, a repair of this size wouldn't have worked if under any sort of intense water pressure.

WaterWeld cures in about an hour, so after waiting it out, I went ran the water in the sink for a while to test it—and not a drop came out. Then I ran the dishwasher with my water alarm in place, and experienced zero problems. The putty repair held for the three days it took a plumber to show up (to add insult to injury, he wasn’t even impressed with my brilliant temporary fix). In the meantime, we were able to use the kitchen normally without risking further water damage. For a product that costs about $7, that’s not bad.

Billionaire Democrat donor Stephen Cloobeck UNLEASHES on Eric Swalwell after the disgraced congressman announced his plans to resign over sexual misconduct allegations.

Cloobeck says he is LEAVING the Democratic Party over the bombshell accusations, and that Swalwell lied to him… pic.twitter.com/fxop7Nu2ed

— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 14, 2026

A billionaire Democratic donor who briefly ran for California governor before dropping out and endorsing Eric Swalwell has announced he’s leaving the party after he was betrayed by the embattled former lawmaker — and he’s not going quietly.

Speaking to a KTTV reporter on Monday, Stephen Cloobeck said he was shocked by Swalwell, who dropped his gubernatorial bid and resigned from Congress after the disturbing allegations of sexual misconduct and rape surfaced.

“I was blown away!” he shouted. “Like blown away. Like, there’s no way I would have endorsed him. It’s such a shock.”

Cloobeck added that the betrayal has led him away from Democrats altogether.

“I am no longer a Democrat! I’m now a libertarian Republican, because that’s what a blue dog Democrat used to be,” he said.

Cloobeck mounted a campaign for governor of the Golden State himself before dropping out in November. He then endorsed Swalwell, saying he was a man of “integrity, focus, and willingness” for the job.

But that was then.

When asked if he was still friends with Swalwell, Cloobeck unleashed on the ex-congressman.

“Eric who?” he said.” Is that clear? Don’t bust the trust. You bust the trust, OK? You don’t exist in my life.”

The post Billionaire Donor Goes Absolutely Ballistic on Swalwell, Proclaims He’s Leaving Democratic Party: ‘Don’t Bust the Trust’ first appeared on Mediaite.

Last week, we learned that the FBI accessed a defendant's deleted Signal messages on their iPhone, even though that user had deleted the app entirely from their device. It wasn't that the FBI was able to find the messages themselves on the device; rather, it turns out they were able to pull incoming Signal texts from the defendant's push notification database. If you're like most people, you probably had no idea devices like the iPhone had such a push notification database, and that it could be used to retrieve deleted messages. Luckily, there's an easy way to protect yourself, and ensure no one can pull sensitive information from this space on your iPhone, or any device that receive sensitive notifications.

It is unclear how the push notifications database works, or whether clearing notifications deletes their info from the database. But we might be able to glean some insight from a blog post by the Objective See Foundation (admittedly from 2018), which highlighted an issue with Signal messages on the Mac. The post reads: "In short, anything that gets displayed as a notification (yes, including 'disappearing' Signal messages) in the macOS Notification Center, is recorded by the OS." It looks like the recent FBI investigation used a similar loophole to retrieve data from iOS notifications.

So, how can you protect yourself? The safest method is to turn off notifications altogether, which will prevent any information from being saved in this database, but that's not practical for most people. Most of us want to be alerted when receiving a new email, message, or an important update in an app. However, you can stop your device from displaying the contents of messages in the notifications, preventing this information from appearing in the database. When you do this, each of your notifications will look something like, "You have a new message," as opposed to: "Pranay Parab: My Netflix password is Lifehacker." Again, it's not clear how this database works, or which platforms have the same database as iPhone, but for the sake of privacy and security, I've listed steps for most major device platforms below:

Protect sensitive notifications on an iPhone

Your iPhone allows you to hide the contents of messages from all of your app notifications. You can enable this by going to Settings > Notifications > Show Previews and select Never. You also have the option to disable notification previews for specific apps. To do this, go to Settings > Notifications, scroll down, and tap the name of the app you wish to hide alert previews for. Select Show Previews > Never, and repeat that step with every other app that you want to hide notifications for.

Remove information from the notification database on a Mac

Credit: Pranay Parab

On your Mac too, you can hide notifications previews globally or for individual apps. First, go to System Settings > Notifications. Click the drop-down menu next to Show previews and select Never. This will disable notification previews altogether. Alternatively, you can scroll down, select any app from the list, and click Show previews > Never to disable previews for individual apps.

In case you want to purge notifications from the database on your Mac, you can install the free app called AuRevoir, which was developed by The Objective See Foundation following their findings. It allows you to view and remove all the information stored on your Mac's notification database. You can click View Msgs to see the stored data, followed by Remove Msgs to purge it from your Mac.

Keep sensitive information out of Android's notifications

Although Android has a few different ways to hide notification previews on the lock screen, there aren't too many options to disable these previews when the phone is unlocked. You'll find it easier to disable notification previews from each app's settings page individually, as opposed to looking for a toggle that works across Android.

To disable notifications on the lock screen, go to Settings > Notifications > Notifications on lock screen, and turn off Show sensitive content. You can also enable Hide silent notifications in status bar and also turn off Show silent notifications. There are some granular options available under Settings > Notifications > App notifications, so be sure to check that out too. These settings pages may be different on your Android phone on account of manufacturer customizations.

Clear notification information in Windows

Unfortunately, Windows doesn't have a global setting to disable notification previews, but you can hide previews from the lock screen. To disable notification previews in Windows, open the Start Menu, and click the gear icon near the power button. This will open the Settings app. Go to System > Notifications > Notifications. Disable Show notifications on the lock screen. Next, scroll down and select each app you want to hide previews for, and enable Hide content when notifications are on lock screen.

Beyond this, you're going to have to rely on notification settings within individual apps to disable previews. I've listed a few popular options below.

Hide sensitive content from notification in popular messaging apps

Popular messaging apps allow you to disable notification previews through in-app settings. This is just as effective as using your device's system settings to disable notification previews, but I'm mentioning it here in case your operating system doesn't let you disable notification previews easily:

• In WhatsApp, you can go to the app's settings, tap Notifications and disable Show preview.

• If you're using Signal, tap the profile icon in the top-left corner, and go to Settings > Notifications. Select Show, under "Notification Content." On the next page, the safest option is to select No Name or Content.

• You can also do this in Telegram's settings. Go to Notifications and Sounds > Private Chats, and disable Message Preview. You can do the same thing under the Group Chats page in notification settings.

(Jose Luis Magana/AP photo)

The New York Times published a new piece questioning President Donald Trump’s mental acuity on Monday, hours after a Sunday night/Monday morning Truth Social tirade that included an attack on Pope Leo XIV and a now-deleted image of the commander in chief as Jesus Christ.

A story entitled “Trump’s Erratic Behavior and Extreme Comments Revive Mental Health Debate,” written by Peter Baker, once again raised Trump’s cognitive ability.

In the piece, Baker writes that Trump is “even less restrained and more incoherent at times”:

In his second term, Mr. Trump seems even less restrained and more incoherent at times. He uses more profanity, speaks longer and regularly makes comments rooted in fantasy rather than fact. He keeps saying that his father was born in Germany when in fact he was born in the Bronx. He repeats an invented story about his uncle, an M.I.T. professor, telling him about teaching the terrorist known as the Unabomber.

Trump has been no stranger to questions about his ability to serve, as he sported hand bruises, swollen ankles, and admitted to multiple MRIs.

Trump, for his part, has claimed for years that he has taken numerous cognitive tests and aced all of them.

The post NY Times Drops Splashy New Feature on Trump’s Mental Acuity: ‘Less Restrained and More Incoherent’ first appeared on Mediaite.

President Donald Trump once again re-upped his repeatedly debunked claim that the 2020 election was “rigged” — and Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo responded by saying “yep.”

In an interview on Sunday Morning Futures, the president made his comments as part of a rant about his predecessor, former President Joe Biden.

“Biden — who was an incompetent president — he was grossly incompetent,” Trump said. “Look, the election was rigged. You know that? I know that. Everybody knows that now,”

“Yep,” Bartiromo said.

“And it’s all come out, and it’s coming out,” Trump added.

Bartiromo has previously come under fire for pushing debunked conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. Her on-air commentary was cited heavily in Dominion’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News, which the network settled for $787 million.

On Sunday, Trump did not make any targeted claims about the election, or accuse any particular company or jurisdiction of impropriety. But nonetheless he put Bartiromo in an awkward spot by making the broad, debunked claim that the election was rigged against him. And Bartiromo’s reply was brief, but affirmative.

Watch above, via Fox News.

The post Fox’s Bartiromo Says ‘Yep’ After Trump Tells Her ‘The Election Was Rigged’ first appeared on Mediaite.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) is calling for the expulsion of Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) from Congress now that several former staffers have come forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct, including rape.

Luna appeared on Fox News’s Saturday in America to announce she’ll be filing a motion next week to expel Swalwell from Congress.

“It is unacceptable for him to just index his run for governor in California but still sit in the House of Representatives,” Luna said. “Meanwhile, he was allegedly harassing and potentially raping his own staff.”

Luna said she believed there will soon be another motion to expel Rep. Tony Gonzalez (R-TX) for an alleged affair with a staffer who ended up taking her own life.

“Ultimately at the end of the day, this is about accountability for the American people. This should not be happening in the House of Representatives. It is unacceptable and, frankly, I don’t think they deserve taxpayer dollar paychecks while they’re going through all this,” Luna said.

Luna said she’s publicly calling for alleged victims of Swalwell to present evidence directly to her office.

“Shortly after they came forward with these allegations, [Swalwell’s] attorneys sent cease and desists. He then made that public video. And I do believe that unless they present that evidence to us directly, he’s going to try to use his money that he fundraised off his gubernatorial to try to fight them out in court,” Luna said, continuing:

Ultimately, I hate having to be to kind of the hall monitor of Congress, if you will, but it’s gotten really bad,” Luna continued. “I can also share that at the end of the month, Sheila McCormick, the Democrat that stole $5 million of FEMA funds, is going to be brought up on a motion to expel, so if she does not resign beforehand, we will expel her. But Eric has an option. I’m going to bring this vote next week. If Democrats want to protect this type of garbage, I wouldn’t recommend it, but they’re going to be put on the board for this. I’m tired of this, I’m not going to serve with these sexual deviants. That’s not what Congress is all about. And I think we need to focus on the business of the American people, and it doesn’t include this stuff.

Swalwell denied all allegations in a statement, saying, “These allegations are false” and “I will defend myself with the facts and where necessary bring legal action.”

Watch the clip above via Saturday in America on Fox News.

The post Anna Paulina Luna Makes Case For Kicking Eric Swalwell Out of Congress: ‘Wouldn’t Recommend’ Democrats ‘Protect This Kind of Garbage’ first appeared on Mediaite.