It’s Thursday, June 25. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Why is Pete Hegseth going after a great military leader? The UK is still running gender experiments on children. Douglas Murray on Conversations with Coleman. And much more.
But first: The New York City earthquake.
The media is frequently accused of being too focused on what happens in New York City, and not interested enough in the rest of the country. Usually, that’s true. But after Tuesday’s congressional primaries, in which three Zohran Mamdani–backed candidates toppled Democrats supported by the party establishment, you could argue the opposite.
These races earned plenty of column inches, of course. Yet what happened was enormous, perhaps the clearest sign yet that we are living in a revolutionary moment. Why? Because the nature of the victories—with radical, just-recently-fringe candidates sweeping aside incumbents—was emphatic. It is a revolution not just in New York politics but in the Democratic Party nationwide. Our first piece today on this important story comes from seasoned political journalist Mark Halperin, and it’s on the defining feature of this insurgency: virulent opposition to Israel.
Mark has spent decades investigating some of the toughest and biggest issues in America. But, as he writes for us today, lately he has “come up short on one question”: “How did opposition to Israel become the toxic litmus test in Democratic Party politics—so rapidly, so emotionally, and so completely?”
Read his best attempt at an answer to that all-important question:
There’s also a paradox at the epicenter of the political earthquake that hit New York City on Tuesday night: The progressive candidates who claim to represent a working-class revolution won their primaries thanks to the votes of the well-educated, credentialed, and affluent, while low-income New Yorkers tended to back more moderate candidates.
Our second story today unpacks that dynamic with a deep dive into the victory of DSA-backed Darializa Avila Chevalier over five-term Democratic incumbent Adriano Espaillat in New York’s 13th Congressional District. The race, featuring two Dominican American candidates, exposed a growing divide between the district’s long-established immigrant community and its more activist, college-educated heirs.
Today, Rafael A. Mangual examines these dynamics and identifies an underappreciated divide in American politics today. “The immigrant who built a career on becoming American has given way to the American-born activist who rejects American patriotism,” he writes.
Having won their primaries, the three Mamadani-backed candidates are all but certain to make it to Congress in the general election this fall. But who are they? And just what do they believe? For a primer on New York’s new socialist squad, including the candidate who has said she wants to “abolish borders” and refuses to condemn Hamas, read Olivia Reingold’s latest:
If Tuesday’s election was a demonstration of Mamdani’s political strength, tonight we will find out if his top campaign promise—a rent freeze for the 2.4 million New Yorkers who live in rent-stabilized apartments—will become a reality. Matt Miller, a New York landlord, previews the meeting of the Rent Guidelines Board where a decision will be made on the policy, and warns that the whole process resembles a show trial. Read his piece on how what is supposed to be a deliberative, analytical process has been hijacked by Mamdani’s allies:
For more on what we saw at the revolution in New York this week, catch up on our latest livestream, with Rafaela Siewert in the host’s chair, and featuring Mark Halperin, Douglas Murray, and Reihan Salam.
Here at The Free Press, we’ve been dissecting the forces upending our politics long before they made it onto the front page of The New York Times. I don’t think you can properly understand them unless you understand two ideas, both of which have been fleshed out by important young thinkers in our pages. The first is anti-Zionism, which Adam Louis Klein so brilliantly explained as just another form of Jew-hate. Read Adam’s first piece on that for us, from last October, here:
The second is Third Worldism, a term coined by Zineb Riboua to describe the worldview of Mamdani and the generation of young progressives for which he has become the standard-bearer. Read Zineb if you want to understand why Mamdani and his allies have beliefs derived not from Marx or Mecca—but a 20th-century crusade that turned anti-imperial struggle into a moral identity.
—Oliver Wiseman
U.S. Army General Christopher Donahue is considered “the most impressive combat leader of his generation,” according to Aaron MacLean. So why is Donahue being forced to relinquish his command and retire early? Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s apparent firing of Donahue at a time when the nature of warfare is rapidly evolving is a mistake, writes MacLean, and deprives American warfighters of one of its most decorated and capable leaders.
The UK is set to conduct another pediatric gender medicine trial—this time with kids as young as 11 years old. Why? As Julie Bindel writes, the UK has been at the forefront of conducting trials that go against established opinion on gender medicine. But is the UK backtracking, forgetting the lessons learned about how harmful pediatric gender transitions are?
Is the current regime in Tehran any different than the regime that came before it? Many Americans are wondering about that as Vice President J.D. Vance negotiates a final agreement with the Iranians. Free Press columnist Douglas Murray joins Coleman Hughes to caution against being too charitable to the leaders of Tehran: They mean what they say, Murray says, especially when they chant “Death to America.” He also discusses the fall of UK prime minister Keir Starmer, along with the decline of Britain. You won’t want to miss this.
Great Americans
In many ways, Eliza Lucas Pinckney was America’s first girlboss. As a young woman, she was both an artist and an overseer of three plantations in South Carolina. But she didn’t do it alone. While her independence was way ahead of her time, as Kathleen DuVal writes for our latest installment of Great Americans, Pinckney also was helped by those around her, providing an enduring example of how to have a fruitful career while living a fulfilling life.
MORE FROM THE FREE PRESS
THE NEWS
President Trump abruptly canceled a bipartisan housing bill signing ceremony on Wednesday in frustration over Congress not passing the Save America Act, which would establish a swath of voter identification laws and bans on pediatric transgender surgery. A few hours later, Trump and Senate Republicans had a heated closed-door meeting.
Camp Mystic filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday, almost a year after floods along Texas’s Guadalupe River killed 25 campers and two teenage counselors at the Christian all-girls camp. The filing came just days after a congressional report detailed mistakes that contributed to the tragedy. Camp Mystic had already said it wouldn’t reopen this summer.
Europe continues to endure a blistering heat wave, setting new record high temperatures. France suffered its hottest day in recorded history, while the UK reached an all-time high for June with a temperature of 96.4 degrees Fahrenheit.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Persian Gulf allies on Wednesday to shore up support for and smooth over concerns about U.S.-Iran peace talks. Rubio met with officials from the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, which host U.S. military bases and were barraged by Iranian attacks during the war.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ended its hantavirus response on Wednesday, two months after a cruise ship outbreak triggered an international containment effort. Over 100 CDC employees were part of the response.
Frank Carone, former chief of staff to New York City mayor Eric Adams, was indicted on federal charges for allegedly accepting $120,000 in bribes for steering a contract for emergency shelter for migrants. Carone’s lawyer said the indictment is “not worth the paper upon which it’s printed.”
The undefeated U.S. men’s World Cup soccer team continued preparations for Thursday night’s game against Turkey. The U.S. has already clinched a spot in the next round. After defeating Australia, U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino urged fans and players to “keep believing.”
Mamdani is going to be a US Senator some day followed by a run as President. Pretty scary stuff. Get me the heck out of here. People who vote for him and his ilk should get their voting card revoked. Oh yeah, we don’t have voter id thanks to the democrat socialists. America is going to hell in a hand basket.
This too will likely pass. My hippy friends in the 60s mostly simply grew up and became rational, even responsible adults. Youth is a time of overconfidence due to lack of knowledge, emotionality and any real understanding of their world. Those weaknesses are understandably frustrating, shortcuts taken but must simply not be allowed to become violent ... ranting & toddler tantrums are ok.