---
title: "The Morning Brief — March 20, 2026"
date: 2026-03-20T20:26:17-05:00
draft: false
description: "Iran wind-down signals, a Clinton judge hands the NYT a Pentagon press win, CNN's bunny-hat lies, Hochul's tax-refugee scheme, and more — The Morning Brief for Friday, March 20, 2026."
tags: ["Morning Brief", "conservative", "news", "America First"]
---

---

## [Trump Eyes Iran Wind-Down, Tells the World to Guard Its Own Strait](https://www.theblaze.com/news/trump-strait-hormuz-wind-down)

Three weeks into the Iran campaign and Trump is posting on Truth Social that we're "getting very close to meeting our objectives" and that the Strait of Hormuz is someone else's problem to secure. Good. The nations that depend on that shipping lane for their economic survival can stop free-riding on the U.S. Navy and pick up the tab themselves. America First isn't isolationism — it's a bill coming due.

---

## [Clinton Judge Hands New York Times a Pentagon Press Victory](https://www.foxnews.com/media/federal-judge-rules-pentagon-policy-restricting-press-access-unconstitutional-hands-victory-to-new-york-times)

A Bill Clinton appointee ruled that the Pentagon can't brand journalists security risks for chasing unauthorized information — and the New York Times is doing its victory lap. I'll be honest: if the policy was as broadly written as described, it was probably overreach, and the Pentagon should tighten it rather than stretch it. That said, watching the Times celebrate press freedom while burying stories that don't fit its priors is a special kind of comedy.

---

## [CNN Still Lying About the 'Bunny Hat' Kid](https://thefederalist.com/2026/03/20/cnn-continues-lying-about-child-in-bunny-hat-who-was-detained-by-ice/)

CNN built an entire streaming special around a child who was "temporarily allowed into" the country — which is a very polite way of saying his family was here illegally — and keeps describing the situation as a detention horror story even after the facts have been corrected repeatedly. The lie is the point. If you can put a bunny hat on your immigration propaganda, why let the truth spoil a good graphic?

---

## [Talarico: Illegal Immigrants Were My 'Most Patriotic' Students](https://nypost.com/2026/03/20/us-news/ex-teacher-texas-senate-candidate-james-talarico-claims-illegal-migrants-were-his-most-patriotic-students/)

A Texas Democratic Senate candidate and former teacher says illegal migrants were the most patriotic students he ever taught. Patriotism, apparently, now includes entering the country by breaking its laws. I have no doubt some of those kids were wonderful — that's not the point. The point is that a man running for U.S. Senate just told the state of Texas that legal status is irrelevant to civic virtue, which is a fascinating argument to make in a Senate race you'd like to win.

---

## [Georgia Suspends Gas Tax as Iran War Hits Pumps](https://www.dailywire.com/news/red-state-pauses-gas-tax-to-ease-pain-of-iran-war-price-increase)

Brian Kemp suspended Georgia's 33.3-cent-per-gallon gas tax, the first state to offer pump relief since the Iran campaign sent prices climbing. This is exactly how it's supposed to work: a state governor sees his constituents getting squeezed and acts without waiting for Washington to hold eighteen hearings about it. The Founders would recognize this. Most of the federal government would not.

---

## [NIH Finally Hosts a Lab-Leak Lecture](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/healthcare/4499282/nih-lecture-making-case-covid-originated-chinese-lab/)

Jay Bhattacharya launched a "Scientific Freedom Lecture" series at NIH with a presentation making the case that COVID-19 came from a Chinese lab — which means the agency that helped fund the research in question is now hosting talks about whether that research killed millions of people. Progress, I suppose. The fact that this counts as a brave act in 2026 tells you everything about how badly institutional science broke trust during the pandemic.

---

## [Hochul Wants Her Tax Refugees Back](https://www.nationalreview.com/2026/03/kathy-hochuls-sellers-remorse/)

Governor Kathy Hochul is apparently experiencing seller's remorse now that New Yorkers who fled to Florida are thriving — and she'd love them to come back so she can resume taxing them into submission. Here's some free advice, Governor: the people who left did so because of the policies you enthusiastically supported. The product hasn't changed. Neither will the reviews.

---

## [Swalwell Quietly Drops His Lawsuit Against the Trump Administration](https://www.theblaze.com/news/swalwell-lawsuit-dropped-pulte-trump)

Eric Swalwell — California congressman, aspiring governor, and America's most litigious backbencher — dropped his lawsuit against the Trump administration on Friday after alleging improper access to his private information. No fanfare, no press conference, just a quiet retreat. For a man who once shared classified intelligence with a suspected Chinese spy and suffered zero professional consequences, he has a remarkable talent for launching boats that don't float.

---

## Bottom Line

When a Clinton judge is your best news of the day and your Senate candidate is campaigning on the patriotism of illegal immigration, it's a rough Friday to be a Democrat.