Townhall Review with Hugh Hewitt

Hugh Hewitt: High Stakes in New York City

Friday, October 31, 2025

As we look at the New York City mayor’s race and the prospects of their actually electing Zohran Mamdani, the questions are emerging:

How bad could he be?

And:

How bad could it get?

The answers are "very" and "very much worse than it is right now, which isn’t great to begin with."

Many Cuomo voters are throwing in with Cuomo for the most practical of reasons: 300,000 people work for New York City and Comrade Mamdani has no idea how to run a city of that size.

Whatever your ideology, no one wants to live through a disaster in governance. That’s what a vote for Mamdani is: A vote for chaos.

New York City is no place for a rookie mayor. Pray that a surge of usually indifferent voters turns up by Tuesday, that they vote for Cuomo and resist the temptation to throw away their vote on Curtis Sliwa. The stakes are just too high.

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Carol Platt Liebau: New York City in the Shadow of 9/11

Thursday, October 30, 2025

 Twenty-four years ago it would have seemed unimaginable. Americans stood in horror watching the World Trade Center collapse—2,753 innocent people murdered by Islamist terrorists. Now, incredibly, a radical Muslim is poised to become New York City’s mayor.

Zohran Mamdani’s rise could be an American success story—proof our country isn’t the racist place the Left claims it is. But his politics make that impossible.

He’s refused to condemn the antisemitic chant “globalize the intifada.”

He’s been photographed with a potential co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. And one of his associates claimed America deserved 9/11. 

When critics raise concerns, Mamdani and his allies cry “Islamophobia.” But it’s not bigotry to reject hatred and extremism—or to remember the lives lost on 9/11.

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Ed Morrissey: Schumer's Dirty Baker's Dozen

Thursday, October 30, 2025

Thirteen times. Republicans have offered Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats that many opportunities to reopen the government with a clean continuing resolution. Thirteen times … and Schumer and his caucus chose again and again times to keep the federal government closed—all in an attempt to force Donald Trump and the GOP to repudiate their reconciliation bill reforms.

This game of chicken only gets worse for Democrats. Federal workers will miss another paycheck at the end of the week. Their largest union demanded that Senate Democrats pass the CR—but to no avail.

Worse yet, payments for food stamps will halt on Saturday unless the Senate can restore its funding. That will impact some 30 million Americans—and what’s on their kitchen tables--immediately.

Senate Majority Leader Thune told reporters several Democrats want to end the standoff, but they fear retribution from the radical Left if they end the filibuster. Perhaps they should fear the hard-working, working class American voters they’re throwing under the bus instead.

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Seth Leibsohn: A Commonsense Push on Our Universities

Tuesday, October 28, 2025

For too long universities here have operated as islands, separate from their country, promoting junk thought and radical ideology.  Thus, the Trump administration has proposed a funding compact for universities to receive federal dollars. This includes universities that host organizations supporting terrorist networks. Universities hosting organizations that fight for the total eradication of Western civilization—and give admission to students from other countries who lead those organizations.

The Compact is commonsense: calling for admissions based on objective criteria, support for a vibrant marketplace of ideas, civil discourse, non-discrimination in hiring, and institutional neutrality (like other non-profits). A number of universities are refusing.

Why?  They believe they should be entitled to your money, even as they are contemptuous of your values, American values. Universities promoting and teaching ideas alien to the best human civilization can offer, and using criteria alien to any notion of civil rights, should end. Now.

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Carol Platt Liebau: The Cowardice Behind a Cultural Collapse

Monday, October 27, 2025

Germany has given the world many of the West’s most cherished Christmas traditions, including its famous Christmas markets. For centuries, these festive fairs drew visitors from across the world, and filled town squares with lights, music, and laughter.

But no longer. This year, most of Germany’s Christmas markets won’t open at all. After Islamist terror attacks in Berlin and Magdeburg security costs have skyrocketed, and many organizers simply can’t afford to operate. Police and authorities now admit they’re “overwhelmed” and unable to prevent new terrorist attacks. And so a centuries-old celebration of faith and tradition is simply fading away.  

This is how a country and a civilization collapses: when capitulation replaces conviction, and leaders no longer believe their own culture is worth defending and therefore surrender their heritage without a fight.

Shame on German’s cowardly, failed leadership.

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Ed Morrissey: Schumer Shutdown

Friday, October 24, 2025

Senate Democrats keeping the government shut down are playing checkers—and forcing Senate Republicans to play chess.

This week, Chuck Schumer followed up “No Kings” weekend by claiming that voters blame the GOP for the shutdown. Democrats leaked internal polling to that effect, except that the data actually showed a virtual tie on the question. And in the end, it’s not even the correct question.

Schumer initiated the shutdown to appease his radical fringe, who want total obstruction rather than reasoned governance. Most voters, however, want normal operation of both Congress and government. Regardless of what internal polls tell Schumer, Democrats have lost ground on polling on next year’s midterms, and the GOP has almost closed the gap in the three weeks of the shutdown.

In their haste to appease the radical Left, Democrats have opposed common-sense policies on immigration, crime, the Israel-Hamas conflict, DEI practices, transgender policies, and more.

Republicans have won this chess game by default. They should let Schumer keep playing checkers … and doing so badly.

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Hugh Hewitt: As New York City Votes

Thursday, October 23, 2025

Voting for the New York mayoral race begins this week.

If Republicans in New York City vote in large numbers for former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for mayor, the greatest city in the world will avoid a plunge into a spiral of collapse on many fronts.

New York City is on the 8.5 million people, 4.7 million of them are active registered voters another 700,000 are “inactive” voters.

Democratic Party registrants make up the largest bloc, at nearly two-thirds of the electorate. Republican Party registrants make up a mere 11 percent.

Curtis Sliwa ran unopposed for the GOP nomination. But even an eighth grader with decent math skills should be able to recognize that Sliwa cannot win. Not possible. There aren’t enough Republicans.

Reasonable and even activist, hard-core conservative Republicans should hold their noses and vote for Andrew Cuomo.

New York City is just too important to fail.

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