Every Friday morning I join the Cardle & Woolley Show on 1370 Talk Radio in Austin to announce the week’s Winners & Losers. Somehow it is already May, and the Texas House will start working Saturdays tomorrow as they speed toward June 2. Meanwhile, the numbers on President Donald Trump’s first 100 days are dazzling—although the U.S. still does not own Greenland. Here’s the list:
WINNER: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick Making Religious Liberty Great Again
President Trump went to the Rose Garden yesterday to announce he is establishing a Religious Liberty Commission that will be chaired by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Former HUD Secretary Ben Carson will serve as vice chair, along with dozens of other religious luminaries including Rev. Franklin Graham, NY Archbishop Timothy Dolan, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik and Dr. Phil.
In accepting the appointment, Patrick noted that despite America’s great heritage of religious liberty, people of faith were under attack during the four years of the Biden administration. He pledged to carry out the president’s mission to ensure that all believers are free to pray and worship God anywhere in this country.
Patrick is embarking on his mission at an interesting time in the war against faith. The U.S. Supreme Court has heard three religious liberty cases this term, including the one argued last week by a coalition of parents of faith in Maryland who were denied the right to keep their children out of LGBTQ+ classes. The Court considered a case in March in which the state of Wisconsin declared that Catholic Charities was more charities than religious, so they took away their tax exemption. This week, the Court heard the religious charter school case in Oklahoma.
These legal battles always bring out the usual atheist blather that Americans should not have to be exposed to anything involving faith or belief. However, it is interesting to note that some prominent atheists are taking a decidedly different stand these days. Tom Holland, Louise Perry and even notorious atheist Richard Dawkins have been saying of late that the values Christianity brings to a culture, which have been the bedrock of Western civilization since Christ died 2000 years ago, are a positive force for good, even if you don’t believe in God.
As a believer, it is hard to understand why seeing that good does not lead to a deeper exploration of faith. Still, it is important that even atheists recognize that cultures that are rooted in Judeo-Christian values are stronger and better for people than cultures that aren’t.
Lt. Gov. Patrick lives his faith and has written eloquently about the ways it has transformed his life and the lives of those around him. With his leadership at the Presidential Commission on Religious Freedom, all people of faith will be able to live their faith and tell their stories.
WINNER: Trump’s First 100 Days
We have been reflecting on the first 100 days of Trump 2.0 since Day One and when the milestone finally arrived on Wednesday, the scorecard was official—143 Executive Orders, 100,000 deportations of illegal criminals and almost zero illegal crossings at the southern border. DOGE found billions of dollars in government waste, and billions in federal funds were pulled from anti-American academic institutions. The Gulf of America is a thing and Europe has been repeatedly reminded who is paying their defense bills. Froot Loops won’t have those garish colors anymore and freedom has come for plastic straws.
Trump did all this and more while receiving almost exclusively negative media coverage from ABC, CBS and NBC, which were followed by the Washington Post and, of course the two government funded outlets, National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service, which he defunded today. The Media Research Center found that out of 1,841 statements made by journalists, anchors, reporters, and experts during evening news broadcasts from January 20 to April 9, a total of 1,692 of the statements—92%—were negative.
For just one example, left-wing media routinely trash Trump’s open cabinet meetings, but at a minimum, they illustrate just how broadly Trump sees his scope of work. The contrast with the lethargic Biden administration, where everything happened behind closed doors, is stunning.
WINNER: Trump Defunds PBS and NPR
In an Executive Order late Thursday night President Trump directed the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to stop giving federal funds to National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). In a masterful statement that will be difficult for elite journalists to refute, Trump’s EO read:
“Government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence.”
It was that easy. Makes you wonder why it took so long, since many of us have advocated for de-funding PBS and NPR for decades. Both media outlets only get a small portion—10% to 15%—of their funding from taxpayers, so they won’t go away, but it will be fun to watch how they change going forward. Do stodgy, elitist news shows have a future?
LOSER: San Marcos City Council’s Anti-Israel Resolution
San Marcos, which for many is a wide place in the road between Austin and San Antonio, made big time news this week when a couple City Council members decided to step into international affairs and proposed a resolution calling for a cease fire in the Hamas war in the Middle East, an arms embargo against Israel and the recognition of Palestinian sovereignty.
Gov. Greg Abbott immediately threatened the city with the withdrawal of state grant funding because the move violates Texas law prohibiting boycotts against Israel. The council members’ wordy resolution calls Israel’s response to the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack a “genocide” and accuses Israel of “apartheid and illegal occupation of Palestinian land.”
The proposal made quite a scene at the San Marcos City Council meeting, with dozens of pro-Palestinian supporters waving signs. Testimony continued until 1 a.m., and although no vote was taken, news reports say it had votes to pass. This outrageous City Council meeting shows how the ignorance of academia can poison a community. Sleepy San Marcos, of course, is home to Texas State University, where according to FIRE, the ratio of liberals to conservatives is 3 to 1, and 76% of the students say it is sometimes acceptable to shout down a speaker you don’t agree with. Apparently, anyone who knew anything about what is actually going on in the Middle East was shouted down.
LOSER: Texans Paying for Illegal Immigrant Health Care
According to a report by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, over 31,000 illegal immigrants visited Texas hospitals in 2024, including 22,000 who went to emergency rooms. The state estimated the cost of those visits to be $121.8 million, which doesn’t count the time lost by Texans who had to wait for care or who could not be given care because of overcrowding. Texas has borne these less-visible costs of illegal immigration for decades, and Gov. Abbott was right to ask the state to start keeping records. No one is surprised by these numbers. It’s another cost of open borders.
WINNER: Sen. Ted Cruz Passes Revenge Porn Bill
The fact that any bill passes in Washington is big news, but this past week, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s legislation to ban non-consensual posting of nude photographs, including AI generated shots, passed the House. It now awaits President Trump’s signature, which is very likely since First Lady Melania Trump went to the House to lobby in support of the Legislation. Cruz spoke out about the devastating impact of fake images on teenagers, especially girls, as well as what phony postings can do to families and children. The fight against this kind of thing from AI has undoubtedly just begun, but Cruz has staked out a spot on the moral high ground.
LOSER: Democrats 100 Days Under Trump 2.0
So far, the Democrat opposition hasn’t been able to get any footing against President Trump in the first 100 days, probably because they spend most of their time defending men who say they are women and trying to keep illegal alien criminals in the country. A move to impeach the president fizzled before it started this week. Meanwhile, former vice presidential candidate Tim Walz said this week he was picked to run because he could “code talk to white guys,” and former Vice President Kamala Harris, currently the leading contender for the Democratic nomination in 2028, gave her first speech this week talking about how elephants band together during earthquakes. Finally, ActBlue, the Democrats’ primary fundraising machine, which has long been the gold standard in raising campaign money, is being investigated for big time fraud. As we start the second 100 days, all thumbs are pointing down for the Democrats.
LOSER: Harvard
For those keeping score in the Trump versus Harvard battle, first Trump took away $2.2 billion in federal funding. Then Harvard roared back with a lawsuit (even though it is a private school) and all the other Ivy League schools rallied around it, pledging to join in the fight against Trump’s war against academia. Next, Trump threatened to take away Harvard’s tax exempt status and then Trump’s budget, just released today, slashed funding for higher education. Unfortunately for Harvard, in the middle of this fight, a report was released by the university itself showing how the school suppressed diversity of thought and pushed political agendas. Harvard’s president called the report “painful and disappointing,” but most everyone else sees it as no surprise. This is the same university that gave us Claudine Gay.
WINNER: Tommy Tuberville Speaks Out on NIL
Texan Cody Campbell, who chairs the Texas Tech Board of Regents, is the national thought leader on reforming college sports, starting with NIL and the transfer portal. Campbell has pointed out that college sports not only provide a lifeline for thousands of athletes, they also are a vital part of American life and culture that fuels economic vitality in college towns across the nation. The current NIL system threatens all of that, including the non-revenue producing sports—that’s everything except football and men’s basketball. Women’s sports, Olympic sports, college baseball, soccer, track, gymnastics, will not survive under the current system. Yesterday, former coach and Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville got on board, calling on Trump to push for college sports reform sooner rather than later. Let’s hope the president puts this on his list for the second 100 days.
That’s a wrap. Have a great weekend.
Sherry Sylvester is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and the former Senior Advisor to Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick.
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