Welcome to the RedState Weekly Briefing — where we take a quick look at the week’s most viewed stories in case you missed any of them. What do you suppose caught people's attention in this latest whirlwind week? Grab a cup of coffee (or something stronger if you're so inclined), and sit down with this 21st Century Weekend Edition of your favorite (online) publication — here we go!
#1 - Bombshell Study Reveals Real Reason Behind Surge in Homelessness, and It's Not What the Dems Tell You — by Bob Hoge
The study was released in April, but I can’t remember CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, or any other liberal outlet talking about it. The paper, titled simply, “Asylum Seekers and the Rise in Homelessness,” is getting renewed attention, and the abstract pretty much tells you everything you need to know:
Data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) indicate an unprecedented 43 percent increase in the number of people residing in homeless shelters in the United States between 2022 and 2024, reversing the gradual decline over the preceding sixteen years. Three quarters of this rise was concentrated in four localities – New York City, Chicago, Massachusetts, and Denver – where large inflows of new immigrants seeking asylum were housed in emergency shelters. Using direct estimates from local government sources and indirect methods based on demographic changes, we estimate that asylum seekers accounted for about 60 percent of the two year rise in sheltered homelessness during this period, challenging media and policy narratives that primarily attribute this rise to local economic conditions and housing affordability.
Read that twice; it’s pretty stunning. It’s something that critics of Joe Biden’s “let them all in” border policies and progressive mayors’ “sanctuary city” madness have known instinctively for some time now, but to see the numbers is nonetheless bracing.
#2 - Eric Swalwell Gets Dragged Into Oblivion After Posting Videos of Himself Bench Pressing 135 — by Rusty Weiss
Swalwell's master painting, however, his Mona Lisa, his pièce de résistance, came when he posted a video of himself bench pressing 135 pounds and getting winded halfway through his diatribe.
I should be working right now. But Republicans shut down Congress. So instead, I’m pumping iron at the gym. pic.twitter.com/uNRPah17wh
— Eric Swalwell (@ericswalwell) July 28, 2025
A few thoughts:
- "Pumping iron" is a loose description here. Aluminum, maybe.
- Why?
- Can you imagine being the poor intern who has to stand over him and record the video?
- Mr. Olympia here's athletic career consisted of him breaking both of his thumbs playing soccer.
- Why?
#3 - Democrats Scramble to Figure Out Why Young Men Hate Them, and the Findings Are Comedy Gold — by Bonchie
There's a lot to say about this, but I'll start by pointing out the obvious truth that you don't appeal to young men by hiring "pro-Democrat" consultants to poke and prod them. There is no magical solution waiting to be revealed by a focus group, and recognizing that would be the first step in the right direction for Democrats.
Regardless, you can already see the contempt jumping off the page in how the focus group is summarized. Despite claiming to want to understand young men more, phrases like "male privilege" and "historical patriarchy" are used to qualify their answers without a second thought. While the consultants appear to recognize that those claims hold no relevance in 2025 (and have even been reversed), they still perform the left-wing ritual rite of talking down to young men and casually dismissing them.
#4 - Watch: Bystanders, Armed Citizen Confront Traverse City Walmart Mass Stabbing Suspect in Dramatic Moment — by Sister Toldjah
"This was a joint effort all the way through to, as I mentioned, the citizens, and thankfully, no one else was injured. Eleven is eleven too many, but thank God it wasn't more," Shea stated during the press conference:
"This was a joint effort all the way through to, as I mentioned, the citizens, and thankfully no one else was injured." said Sheriff Michael Shea on mass stabbing at a Traverse City Walmart. He confirms several times "citizen involvement" in stopping the suspect. pic.twitter.com/ueSHL1UkDo
— Caleb Howe (@CalebHowe) July 27, 2025
In an update on this story, video of that citizen involvement has been shared by local media outlets and shows an armed man and other bystanders courageously confronting the suspect in the parking lot of the Walmart, demanding he drop his weapon. Also shown in the video are other shoppers who appear to be trying to provide aid and comfort to one of the victims.
#5 - Pete Hegseth Has a Chef's Kiss Response After Karen Bass Celebrates 'Troops Retreating' From LA — by Sister Toldjah
Though this is obviously because the mission is mostly complete, Bass spun the "troops retreating" as a "win," insinuating that the "pressure" she had put on the Trump administration was working:
Another win for Los Angeles tonight: 1,000 more troops are retreating.
— Mayor Karen Bass (@MayorOfLA) July 31, 2025
We will continue this pressure until ALL troops are out of L.A.https://t.co/spbTtO09TS
Yeah... no. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth set her straight:
You’re welcome Mayor.
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) July 31, 2025
These brave troops are redeploying because their mission was so successful.
You should be thanking them for saving your city from mobs & chaos.
We will continue to support law enforcement—even when you won’t. https://t.co/BQPKfDQTJk
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