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Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said in an interview that he is considering retiring next year.Alito told CBS News that the harassment and physical threats judges are receiving are a new danger to the judicial system.'We are not part of any political movement. And we are not attempting to further any political agenda.'CBS News chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford asked him if there was a decision that required particular courage, and he said the Dobbs decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was the leading example."I think that required courage by all of the justices in the majority," said Alito."Of course ... we didn't know it at the time," he added. "We didn't know it when we produced the draft that was leaked, but it required courage to go ahead with that because of the implications."He said he had even lost old friendships because of that decision."That's something you have to live with," Alito added."Is that just part of the job being a justice?" she asked. "You're going to lose friends, you're going to get protested, you're going to have death threats, you're going to have to wear a bulletproof vest today?""It's part of the job that you're going to displease people by making decisions on controversial matters, because one side or the other is going to really dislike you because of the decisions," Alito responded."The physical threats and the harassment represent something new in our society and something that's quite disturbing. And I think it's a danger. It's a danger for the courts," he added."And it's a danger for others in public life," Alito warned.The 76-year-old went on to say he will consider retiring next year but said it was difficult to predict the political circumstances surrounding the decision.He also criticized recent presidents for being more vitriolic in their opposition to Supreme Court decisions."Did [President Donald] Trump change that?" Crawford asked."It's been bipartisan," said Alito. "I want to be evenhanded on this. The criticism of the court by President [Joe] Biden and justices by President Biden and his administration was very harsh. And President Trump has been very harsh."RELATED: Supreme Court sides with middle school transgender girl, Alito and Thomas dissent Win McNamee/Getty ImagesHe also denied that the judges had a partisan motivation."We are not part of any political movement. And we are not attempting to further any political agenda," said Alito. "We are trying to interpret the Constitution as best we can and apply it in cases that come before us."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The democratic socialist mayor of New York City gave his personal definition of socialism while on a podcast this week, and many found it to be naive and unserious.On Thursday's episode of his "This Past Weekend" podcast, comedian Theo Von asked Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) to define socialism.'That's not socialism, that's fantasy.'"I want to talk a little bit about socialism, right, because it's a buzzword, right?" Von said. "... Will you define socialism for us? Because people say it a lot and don't know what it is. And sometimes, those people are me."Mamdani laughed."I'm so happy to be with those people right now," he responded."Socialism, to me, it means that you will have whatever you need to live a dignified life and that it is the government's job to deliver on that, right?" Mamdani said."It's a belief that you shouldn't live in a place where all you can do is pick your own leaders," he added. "You should also be able to have that power in the rest of your life, right? People talk about it as the extension of democracy from the ballot box to the rest of your life."The exchange can be viewed below on Von's podcast.RELATED: Outrage erupts at apparent insult from Mamdani during 9/11 ceremony He then explained what dignity meant under his political beliefs."When people say dignity, I want to be very clear, we're talking about the things that allow you to take a breath: housing, child care, right, public transit," the mayor said. "No one should be priced out of these things. These are non-negotiables; you need these to live."He also repeated the well-worn trope that the country was already operating under socialist principles."And what I think is so confusing is there's parts of life in our country that line up with this belief," Mamdan said. "Public education — we believe that everyone should be able to go K through 12 for free, and they do. Libraries — we believe that everybody should be able to read a book that they'd like to for free, and they do. But when it comes to early childhood education, right — before kindergarten — we're comfortable with people paying $20,000 a year to afford it."Mamdani added, "As a socialist, what I'm fighting for is that nobody is priced out of dignity."Many criticized Mamdani for the hollow definition. "That's not socialism, that's fantasy. And that's what this podcast between Mamdani and Von was all about," responded columnist Libby Emmons. "Socialism is very much like the plantation owner-slave relationship," replied one X user. "You are housed and fed and kept relatively healthy so that you can be of some use to the state and its ruling elites. If Democrats are successful selling this to American descendants of slaves it will be the biggest con job in human history.""Some bureaucrat gets to decide what you need and what a dignified life is. I’d rather have no government at all," said another critic. A poll in 2020 found that Americans favored capitalism over socialism by a 2-1 margin, but more recent polling has seen many Americans turning toward socialism because of inflation and the affordability crisis.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Paul Joseph Tinkle told Blaze News he has been a shoe-leather Republican campaigner in Indiana since he was a teenager. His activism ended with him working as an operative for the Indiana Republican Party. He was unceremoniously fired on Tuesday after making the "OK" sign in a picture, he claims.Tinkle spoke exclusively to Blaze News on the events surrounding his firing, the behind-the-scenes operatives seemingly stirring up hysteria, and what it means for the party moving forward.'Indiana is a place that a lot of people are worried is trending purple, and it's the liberal Republicans … that are making us go purple.'The trouble started for Tinkle after a social media group picture was published on Sunday morning, Tinkle told Blaze Media. In that photo he is seen making the "OK" sign."That Sunday morning, I received texts from a couple of different people in this program — supervisors in this [Indiana GOP] program," Tinkle told Blaze News."One of them showed me a text that had been sent to them by someone in Hamilton County," Tinkle said. "And they just asked, 'Well, explain yourself. Like, what's going on here?'""I explained over text," Tinkle told Blaze News. "I didn't get an in-person meeting or anything."In between Tinkle's stints working on Republican campaigns and for the Indiana state GOP, the 27-year-old told Blaze News he spent three years with the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program, working as an educator in Japan. The program is sponsored by Japan's government.As evidenced by photos posted by Tinkle on X, the "OK" symbol is a common hand gesture in Japan when taking photographs.RELATED: The right is building its own lawfare defense machine — finally Paul Joseph Tinkle/X; used with permissionRegarding the texts Tinkle claims referred to "Hamilton County," the chair of that county's GOP, Mario Massillamany, denied playing a role in Tinkle's firing. He told Blaze News that he informed the Indiana state GOP of concerns raised by anonymous individuals and removed the photo out of an "abundance of caution.""I was not instrumental in getting him fired," Massillamany told Blaze News. "I have had nothing to do with firing him."Massillamany also insisted, "I did not know what his sign was."Tinkle offered Blaze News a different version of events."I was told Mario's really angry. He's reached out to people [at] the top of the party," Tinkle said. "I didn't get to explain to anybody in person. I didn't get to talk to Mario. I didn't get to talk to the Republican chair."Blaze News also reviewed a text sent to Tinkle by a state GOP "supervisor" Tinkle declined to name. The text appeared to support at least some of Tinkle's claims."Mario thinks you dropped a white power symbol and no one will be able to convince him otherwise," the supervisor told Tinkle just prior to his termination, one text showed.RELATED: Are America's jails being run by foreigners? Courtesy of Paul Joseph Tinkle; used with permissionTwo sources familiar with the Hamilton County GOP confirmed Tinkle's account and further told Blaze News that it fits a pattern of anti-whiteness by Massillamany.Massillamany has ruffled feathers with loyal Republicans lately.Massillamany previously told Larry Lannon in an interview that diversity and female candidates were essential to his political philosophy, first reported by IndyReporter. He described his approach as "getting more people from diverse communities" to run for office in Hamilton County.In that interview, Massillamany also described criticism levied at Secretary of State Diego Morales as racist."I think that some of the attacks that he's received would not have been received if he were the prototypical white male from Indiana, but he's a short Hispanic from Guatemala that has a thick accent," Massillamany told Lannon. "He's got a bigger target on him."When Blaze News attempted to ask Massillamany about his views on DEI and diversity, he hung up the phone.Massillamany also publicly distanced the county party from Save Heritage Indiana in July, an anti-mass-migration group that held a rally on Aug. 1 in Fishers featuring Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith."Save Heritage Indiana is not affiliated with the Hamilton County Republican Party," Massillamany told the Indiana Citizen. "I had not heard of the organization or of Nathan Roberts or of Daniel Poynter prior to this inquiry, and neither has attended or participated in any Hamilton County GOP event."The group's website lists state Rep. Chris Jeter (R), who represents House District 88, among its endorsers. Jeter is a founding partner of Massillamany's own Fishers law firm, Massillamany Jeter & Carson.In firing Tinkle, the Indiana state GOP may have lost one of its most loyal operators."I have worked in Republican Party politics since before I could even vote," Tinkle told Blaze News. "Maybe they think I'm a young infiltrator or something, but it's quite the opposite.""When I was 16 in 2016, I worked the primary election, because you can do it at 16," Tinkle said. "I remember all the way back then. I love Trump."Tinkle told Blaze News that Republicans like Massillamany are endangering the party's future in Indiana."Indiana is a place that a lot of people are worried is trending purple, and it's the liberal Republicans that are making us go purple."The Indiana state GOP did not respond to multiple requests for comment.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claims yet another scam that he says robbed taxpayers of billions from Medicare.Kennedy made the comments during the "Make America Healthy Again" conference Tuesday while speaking with Vice President JD Vance.'We were on par, on track to spend $23 billion this year. ... And we stopped it. We put an end to it, and we've now driven that down.'"We have perverse incentives in the department, and we gave the people opportunity to steal, and we made it almost irresistible," said Kennedy.He went on to give "skin substitutes" as an example, defining skin substitutes as "simulated skin that you put on certain wounds after dressing them carefully.""These skin substitutes ... the doctors who prescribed them would get 6% of the sales cost. And so they were incentivized to prescribe more expensive products," he explained."So 2019, we were paying $200 million. Last year, we spent $14 billion. All stolen. It's all stolen," he claimed."And we were on par, on track to spend $23 billion this year. ... And we stopped it," Kennedy said. "We put an end to it, and we've now driven that down," he added. "That cost down to somewhere around $1 billion. And we saved that money, but it was allowed to get out of control. And you're seeing — I mean, we can tell our stories. You and I can sit here all day long and just tell insane stories about the level of theft."RELATED: RFK Jr. shuts down $1 BILLION in funding to California and Minnesota Also during the fireside discussion in the summit at the Waldorf in Washington, D.C., Kennedy touted the benefits of artificial intelligence in the medical field. "If somebody tells you, ‘Masks work, trust the experts,’ AI may tell you otherwise. If somebody tells you, ‘Social distancing works, trust the experts,’ AI may correct that," Kennedy said. "And if somebody tells you that a vaccine will prevent transmission and infection — ‘Oh, you need to take it to protect your grandmother’ — AI may say it actually doesn’t do that," he added. "So it really has the capacity to ... free us from medical tyranny." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!