INTRO:

• Florida Governor Ron DeSantis reveals his choice to replace Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate.
• Senator Chuck Grassley gives a no-holds-barred slap-down of Joe Biden’s weaponization of the U.S. Justice Department.
• House Speaker Mike Johnson has removed Rep. Mike Turner, a Republican congressman from Ohio, from the chairmanship of the House Intelligence Committee, reportedly because of concerns President-elect Donald Trump has about Turner’s loyalty to the deep state.
• California is backing away from its earlier decision to ban diesel trucks from its highways.
• And a top cryptocurrency expert predicts that tokenized assets will experience big growth under President Trump.

All these stories and more when the Worldview Report begins, right now!

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Good evening and welcome to the Worldview Report.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has tapped the state’s Republican attorney general, Ashley Moody, to replace Senato Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate following his nomination to serve as President Trump’s secretary of State. 

DeSantis said during an announcement with Moody in Orlando that he expects her to be swiftly confirmed and that she will mostly likely be sworn in on Monday afternoon, following Trump’s inauguration.

The governor cited Moody’s work on opioids, immigration and investigating the second assassination attempt on Trump as reasons he thought she would make a good senator. He said:

“I’m happy to say we’ve had an attorney general who has been somebody that has acted time and time again to support the values we all share.”

Moody touted her support of Trump in her remarks following DeSantis’s announcement, stating, “I will bring the same persistence, passion and tenacity that I have brought as attorney general as a United States senator.”

Florida’s soon-to-be senior Senator Rick Scott said in a post on X that he has “no doubt she will do an incredible job as senator,” while National Republican Senatorial Campaign Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.) praised Moody as a “proven conservative fighter for President Trump’s agenda.”

Moody emerged as a front-runner for the position in recent weeks. A number of other names were floated for the position, including Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez. DeSantis also said he had spoken with Reps. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) and Cory Mills (R-Fla.) about the post but raised doubts about plucking a lawmaker from the House given the razor-thin GOP margin in the chamber.

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President Trump’s nominees are making their rounds on the Senate floor, ready to shake things up and hopefully make significant changes. 

On Tuesday, Pete Hegseth stepped into the spotlight and performed better than I think even some of his supporters expected. 

Then, on Wednesday, it was Pam Bondi’s turn, and her nomination process took a dramatic twist when Chuck Grassley entered the fray and unleashed a full-blown assault on Joe Biden’s crooked and tyrannical DOJ.

Grassley didn’t hold back. He brought a stinging rebuke straight to the Senate floor, in a long-overdue smackdown of Merrick Garland and the rest of Joe Biden’s Department of Injustice. 

WATCH VIDEO

https://x.com/_johnnymaga/status/1879543062877417617

Grassley correctly pointed out that Biden’s DOJ is riddled with corruption and rot, and the only way to fix it is not through reform, but with a total overhaul.

WATCH VIDEO

https://x.com/alx/status/1879543959632196002

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On Wednesday, we reported that Israel and Hamas had reached a tentative ceasefire deal, which will result in the release of some of the terror group’s hostages. Debate has raged in the ensuing hours over whether it is a good deal for Israel and which American commander-in-chief deserves the credit: lame-duck President Joe Biden or incoming President-elect Donald Trump.

While we certainly hope for the release of all the hostages taken in Hamas’ savage Oct. 7, 2023 attack, their newest chief is sounding anything but peaceful. 

In fact, despite the deal being reached, Hamas leader Khalil al-Haya delivered a disgusting, bloodthirsty call for more violence and said he was “proud” of the October 7th massacre.

As noted by Red State, words are deeply disturbing. 

WATCH VIDEO (clip from 4:10 mark to 4:59 mark)

https://x.com/koshercockney/status/1879647386139771228

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The Post Millennial reports that President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly encouraging former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to consider filling the Ohio Senate seat left vacant by JD Vance, who is set to be sworn in as vice president next week. Trump has reportedly expressed support for Ramaswamy, a Cincinnati native, to take the role if appointed by Republican Governor Mike DeWine.

Two people with knowledge of the matter told The Washington Post that Trump has directly encouraged Ramaswamy to accept the appointment if offered. 

Ultimately, the decision on who assumes the seat is left up to DeWine. The Governor did, however, travel to Mar-a-Lago last week to meet with Trump. The governor told reporters he expects to announce his choice next week. 

Vance, who was elected to the Senate in 2022, resigned as he prepares to assume the vice presidency. This has triggered a process requiring DeWine to appoint an interim replacement until a special election can be held in 2026.

Ramaswamy withdrew his name from consideration for the Senate seat back in November when it was announced that he would head the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under Trump’s administration. Despite this, he is still being considered a strong contender for the Senate seat.

Ramaswamy had initially planned to focus on his role at DOGE and possibly run for Ohio governor in 2026, but some allies believe a Senate position could amplify his influence. The Senate would give Ramaswamy a platform to push for legislative priorities, including spending cuts, which align with the goals of DOGE. 

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Breitbart reports that Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has removed Rep. Mike Turner, a Republican congressman from Ohio, from the chairmanship of the House’s intelligence committee, reportedly due to concerns President-elect Donald Trump had about Turner.

Johnson’s decision to remove Turner from atop the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, first reported Wednesday by Punchbowl News, marks the first significant shakeup from Johnson in the new Congress.

The Speaker has sole authority to appoint the chairmen of select committees, and although Johnson had delayed an official announcement on the committee’s leadership this Congress, his removal of Turner surprised most of the establishment crowd on Capitol Hill.

Privacy advocates on both sides of the aisle have frequently criticized Turner for doing the bidding of the intelligence community. 

Breitbart noted that Turner’s enthusiastic support for preserving Section 702 provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that enable intelligence agencies to secretly spy on Americans particularly rankled Trump. 

Critics of 702 argue the provision has resulted in the FBI and NSA spying on Americans’ electronic communications without warrants, and then hiding these illegal actions in direct violation of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

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California is reportedly abandoning its earlier decision to ban diesel trucks from its highways.

According to the Epoch Times, California’s Air Resources Board sent a letter on January 14 to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, withdrawing its prior waiver request that would have forced a transition from diesel to zero-emission trucks in the state.

The federal environmental agency responded to the board’s withdrawal request on Jan. 14 with notice that no further action will be taken, and the matter is considered closed.

Regulators had previously requested in November 2023 that the agency approve a waiver to allow the state to enforce stricter rules for automobiles and diesel trucks.

Federal authorities agreed to some of the requests, but such details related to the diesel truck rules were not yet decided.

Liane Randolph, chair of the air resources board, said in a statement emailed to The Epoch Times:

“California has withdrawn its pending waiver and authorization requests that U.S. EPA has not yet acted on. While we are disappointed that U.S. EPA was unable to act on all the requests in time, the withdrawal is an important step given the uncertainty presented by the incoming administration that previously attacked California’s programs to protect public health and the climate and has said will continue to oppose those programs.”

She suggested that President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration could challenge the clean-air regulations implemented by Joe Biden.

With federal government approval of more stringent regulations uncertain, the board could pursue other methods of achieving clean air goals by partnering with private industry, as was done in the first Trump administration.

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Great Britain’s leftist Labor government has proposed radical reforms to the rights of workers that could include classifying so-called sensitive topics of conversation in the workplace such as religion, women’s rights, or transgenderism as “harassment.”

The proposed legislation would force employers to prevent workers from being subjected to such subjects by third parties, including customers. 

If they are found to have failed to do so, they could face lawsuits under the legislation.

Watchdog group The Equality and Human Rights Commission has warned that if the Orwellian law comes into force next year, it could squash freedom of speech and even be applied to overheard conversations such as those between two or more people in a pub.

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A major new poll highlights widespread anger among Britons over the handling of the nation’s shameful Muslim grooming-gangs scandal.

Nearly 8 in 10 believe public servants who covered up or failed to investigate these crimes should face prosecution. Among those, 66 percent support prison sentences. The scandal is widely seen as a result of corruption and political correctness, with 46 percent identifying these as the root causes.

Trust in media coverage of the scandal is abysmally low. Only 14 percent trust the BBC “a great deal” on the issue, and newspapers fare even worse. Forty-three percent of respondents believe political correctness prevented proper media reporting, a sentiment shared across all demographics, including even far-left Labor Party voters and ethnic minority voters.

Nigel Farage has emerged as the most positively viewed political figure in Britain, with a 32 net positivity rating, far ahead of other prominent figures. The Conservative Party’s leader, Kemi Badenoch, has a net 24 rating, behind Prime Minister Sir Keir Stamer on 25 points. Elon Musk, who injected himself into the national discourse on grooming gangs, holds just a 21-point positivity rating.

The poll was conducted by Friderichs Advisory Partners and J.L. Partners.

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The FDA announced Thursday it was banning the use of Red Dye Number 3 in foods in America, telling thousands of manufacturers to strip it from their products.

But food and drink makers have until January 2027, two full years, to reformulate their recipes and replace the toxic dye with something less dangerous. If they fail to meet that generous deadline, the FDA says they will be forced out of the U.S. food market.

The FDA said it was taking the action as a “matter of law” because some studies have found that the dye caused cancer in lab rats. 

“The FDA is taking action that will remove the authorization for the use of... Red No. 3 in food and ingested drugs,” said Jim Jones, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for human foods. 

The dye has been used for decades to give a cherry-red coloring to candy, soda, cereals, fruits and fruit juices, snacks and even meat. It was banned from cosmetics by the FDA about three decades ago.  

There is no indication so far that food manufacturers will challenge the new rule, and they will have more than enough time to adjust their products to meet the new standards.

As noted by the Daily Mail, there is some concern that manufacturers may opt to use red 40, which, along with red 3, has also been associated with numerous health concerns.

Red 3 has been classified as a potential human carcinogen after studies indicated a connection to thyroid tumors in rats. 

In one study, 15 out of 70 male rats that were fed a diet containing Red 3 at levels making up four percent of their intake developed thyroid tumors. 

Red 3 has also been linked to behavioral issues like hyperactivity, similar to Red 40. 

There is also some evidence suggesting that Red 3 may disrupt hormone activity, contributing to thyroid problems.

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Josh O’Sullivan, writing for CoinTelegraph.com, reports that the tokenization of real-world assets has become a key focus for traditional finance companies and he expects this process to accelerate under the Trump 2.0 presidency.

Four days before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20, CoinTelegraph interviewed Eli Cohen, general counsel of the tokenizing platform Centrifuge, to discuss trends he expects to see in 2025.

Cohen said real-world assets provide “the underlying yield for the main stablecoins in decentralized finance,” primarily in tokenized Treasurys, but he expects that to change in 2025 as the demand for yields increases. 

He predicts that expanding demand for yields will drive more diverse tokenized products.

Cohen cited high Treasury rates and increasing competition among stablecoin issuers pushing the market toward “higher yielding, still safe investments.” 

Stablecoins, which rely on tokenized Treasurys for yields, stand to benefit from this evolution, Cohen said.

Cohen expects the incoming Trump administration to deliver “a very public renouncement and repudiation” of restrictive policies, such as Operation Chokepoint 2.0, further encouraging the growth of tokenized real-world assets.

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Time now for our nightly Worldview Report commentary.

Five days before leaving office, President Joe Biden delivered a live primetime farewell address to the nation, highlighting his accomplishments and warning of emerging threats, including the rise of American oligarchs and a “tech-industrial complex.”

His speech, delivered from the Oval Office on Wednesday evening, not only marked the end of his presidency but also the conclusion of his five-decade political career.

Biden said:

“After 50 years of public service, I give you my word, I still believe in the idea for which this nation stands, a nation where the strengths of our institutions and the character of our people matter and must endure.”

In what may be the most hypocritical claim ever made by an American president, HeadlineUSA's Ben Sellers points out that Biden used the limelight of his nationally televised farewell address to deliver an unhinged rant about the oligarchy taking root in America, just weeks after brazenly giving one of the nation’s highest civilian awards to several of his far-left donor friends. 

Biden drew heavy criticism for the January 4 ceremony where he offered a Presidential Medal of Freedom to at least two of the leading Democrat donors in his 2020 election, George Soros and Carlyle Group executive David Rubenstein.

WATCH VIDEO

https://x.com/RNCResearch/status/1875616065021173845

Truth is, there is an oligarchal system taking shape in America. It’s called the military-industrial-biosecurity complex and it includes the three-letter agencies like the FBI, CIA, IRS and NSA, along with Big Pharma and Big Tech.

Joe Biden, in his policy of vaccine mandates and colluding with Big Tech to silence his political opponents, not to mention locking many of them up, has done more to advance the interests of this oligarchy than anyone in modern-day politics.

So, spare us the grandstanding, Joe. You’ve helped create the very problem you now decry. You’ve literally never had a real job. You’ve never run a business, at least not a legitimate one. You’ve been a lapdog of the oligarchs for 50 years, and grown rich in the process. 

And now you’re warning us about them? Please.

That does it for this edition of the Worldview Report. Thanks for tuning in and supporting this broadcast.

Until next time…