In Focus

Tim Scott sounds off on Rubio, AOC, and the 2026 midterms

Wed, 18 Feb 2026 01:42:32 +0000

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) joins Senior Editor Peter Laffin to discuss shared values, the performances of Marco Rubio and AOC at the Munich Security Conference, and the Republican outlook for the rapidly approaching midterms.

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Colin Wright on why Woke is far from dead

Mon, 19 Jan 2026 16:54:31 +0000

Colin Wright, fellow at the Manhattan Institute, and editor of the Substack "Reality’s Last Stand" reflects on the current state of elite academia and the Trump administration's attempt to restore sanity to science.

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Glenn Youngkin on Virginia’s comeback after pandemic failure

Sat, 10 Jan 2026 21:52:29 +0000

Four years ago, Virginia stood at a crossroads. We were suffering from bad pandemic policies that left too many families struggling. Our schools were among the last in the nation to reopen, and Virginia led the nation in learning loss in fourth grade reading and math. Twenty-five thousand small businesses had closed their doors in 2021. Job recovery lagged behind nearly every other state. Violent crime had surged, with a 20-year high in the murder rate. For nine straight years, more Virginians were leaving the commonwealth than moving in from the other 49 states.

That was the Virginia I stepped into as governor. And it was clear that we needed a comprehensive transformation — a fundamental shift in how Virginia competes, how its government works, and how opportunity could be unleashed.

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Is free speech dying? FIRE’s Greg Lukianoff weighs Trump, Biden, and JD Vance

Sat, 10 Jan 2026 21:51:33 +0000

Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), speaks with Washington Examiner Senior Editor Peter Laffin about the state of free speech in America and Europe today, from college campuses to newsrooms to the halls of government. He compares Trump and Biden's free speech record and gives his thoughts on JD Vance as Trump's potential heir.

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Washington Examiner's Editors react: Mixed bag for Trump and GOP going into 2026

Fri, 26 Dec 2025 13:49:07 +0000

Commentary Editor Conn Carroll, Senior Editor Peter Laffin, Contributions Editor Madeline Fry Schultz, and Restoring America Editor Jeremiah Poff react to the continued GOP infighting, JD Vance's political positioning, and how Trump eneded the year.

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John Sununu gives first national interview of New Hampshire Senate campaign

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 16:26:00 +0000

Former New Hampshire Senator and current Senate candidate John Sununu talks with Washington Examiner Senior Editor Peter Laffin about the early days of his primary campaign against Scott Brown, the state of the economy, and the need to turn down the temperature in our politics.

The campaign arm of Senate Republicans is standing firm in supporting former GOP Sen. John Sununu’s bid to reclaim his New Hampshire seat, telling donors in a memo obtained by the Washington Examiner that he embodies the state’s “independent streak.”

The National Republican Senatorial Committee document does not mention President Donald Trump, and it remains to be seen how Sununu would navigate an endorsement, if it comes, in a state that leans Democratic.

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Charles Murray wants you to take religion seriously

Fri, 05 Dec 2025 18:49:42 +0000

In this in-depth conversation, political scientist and W.H. Brady Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute Charles Murray joins Washington Examiner’s Peter Laffin to discuss Murray’s powerful new book, Taking Religion Seriously.

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Rachel Lu and Tiana Lowe Doescher debate how 'the ‘Great Feminization’ has changed the workplace

Fri, 28 Nov 2025 16:38:07 +0000

Washington Examiner In Focus editor Peter Laffin joins commentary writer Tiana Lowe Doescher and Law & Liberty associate editor Rachel Lu to discuss their opinions on the Helen Andrew's essay on women in the workplace environment.

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Washington Examiner commentary team shares what political wins they are most thankful for in 2025

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 18:26:24 +0000

If you ever wanted proof that political coalitions are fragile and messy affairs, look no further than the Republican Party in the era of President Donald Trump.

Last year, the GOP was ebullient. With Trump in the lead, the party won unified control of the federal government and had a mandate to govern. On his way to a second, nonconsecutive term, Trump won 312 electoral votes, the most by any Republican since George H.W. Bush’s landslide victory in 1988, and delivered the GOP its first national popular vote win since 2004.

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Why Trump's foreign policy has improved since his first term

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 18:18:15 +0000

Washington Examiner foreign policy editor and writer Tom Rogan joins In Focus editor Peter Laffin to discuss movement with a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. Does Russian President Putin face pressure in backing down to Ukraine in order to broker a deal? President Trump's success with the Middle East.

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David Harsanyi on Kevin Roberts pulling Heritage into debate about Conservate movement

Mon, 10 Nov 2025 19:19:28 +0000

Washington Examiner In Focus editor Peter Laffin joins senior writer David Harsanyi to discuss the Heritage Foundation president, Kevin Roberts, video on X defending American podcaster Tucker Carlson interviewing American nationalist Nick Fuentes.

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Lawrence Krauss speaks about his war on woke science

Tue, 04 Nov 2025 17:05:41 +0000

In Focus delivers deeper coverage of the political, cultural, and ideological issues shaping America. Published daily by senior writers and experts, these in-depth pieces go beyond the headlines to give readers the full picture. You can find our full list of In Focus pieces here.

Lawrence Krauss, a renowned theoretical physicist and outspoken atheist, is not an eager critic of the Left, nor of academia, which he regards as historically the most enlightened part of society. Despite recent attempts by many on the Left to cast him as a right-wing pundit, Krauss is, fundamentally, just a scientist who wants to get back to work.

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Madeline Fry Schultz explains the IVF rift on the Right

Sat, 01 Nov 2025 16:40:26 +0000

You can find our full list of In Focus pieces here. On the campaign trail last year, Donald Trump parlayed would-be parents’ anxieties into votes. Proclaiming himself “the father of IVF,” he promised to make the fertility treatment free, delivering IVF for all.

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Jakub Grygiel says giving Tomahawks to Ukraine is the only way to end the war

Sat, 25 Oct 2025 12:33:46 +0000

President Donald Trump has said he is considering the sale of long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine. Having tried and failed to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war through a negotiated settlement, Trump is now ready to escalate and increase military help for Kyiv. This is the correct and only path to stop the conflict and stabilize Europe’s eastern frontier. The war, which started in 2014 with the Russian occupation of parts of Donbas and Crimea and then intensified in 2022 with Russia’s attack on Kyiv, has to reach a military stalemate before any negotiations are feasible.

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What Sasha Stone believes will save the film industry from progressive ideology

Sat, 18 Oct 2025 21:01:23 +0000

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