UNBIASED - July 6, 2026: Red Card Reversal, America250 vs. Freedom 250, a 2026 Time Capsule, and More Fourth of July News.

Episode Date: July 6, 2026

Get the facts, without the spin. UNBIASED offers a clear, impartial recap of US news, including politics, elections, legal news, and more. Hosted by lawyer Jordan Berman, each episode provides a recap of current political events plus breakdowns of complex concepts—like constitutional rights, recent Supreme Court rulings, and new legislation—in an easy-to-understand way. No personal opinions, just the facts you need to stay informed on the daily news that matters. If you miss how journalism used to be, you're in the right place. In today's episode: 1. Listener Q&A Re: Fourth of July Festivities (0:39) What Was the Turnout at the Great American State Fair? (1:23) Was America250 Gutted to Fund Freedom250? (4:29) Who Was the Group Marching in DC with Confederate Flags? (12:33) 2. America250 Buries Time Capsule with Contributions from the States, the Federal Government, and More (~23:31) 3. Speaker Johnson Says House Will Try to Pass SAVE America Act Via Budget Reconciliation (~27:03) 4. President Trump Calls FIFA President and Asks for Red Card Penalty to Be Reviewed. Here's What We Know. (~31:50) 5. Quick Hitters (~38:13) 6. Critical Thinking Segment (~39:25) ⁠Watch⁠ this episode on YouTube. Follow Jordan on ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠TikTok⁠. All sources for this episode can be found ⁠here.⁠  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back to Unbiased, your favorite source of unbiased news and legal analysis. Welcome back to Unbiased Politics. Today is Monday, July 6th, and I hope you all had an amazing 4th of July weekend, whether you're spending it with family or friends or just kind of hanging out at the house, being chill. I hope it was a great weekend. And in today's episode, we're actually talking a lot about the celebrations over the weekend. We're also talking about the new approach that the House may take to pass the Save America Act. We're talking about Trump's call to get Balagan's red card penalty reviewed and much more. So first, let's start with a little Fourth of July Q&A. As we know, Fourth of July celebrations happened all across the country this weekend.

And some celebrations made headlines more than others. For instance, my Fourth of July, okay, no national headlines were made. I just hung out at my sister's house with some of my family members, some of her boyfriend's family members laid on a blanket with my husband and our baby. It was an amazing day, but not national newsworthy. In other places, though, like D.C., you had the Freedom 250 celebration. There was an apparent stage malfunction. There was a group of masked men carrying flags, including Confederate flags, as they walked down the streets. And you had questions about all of it. So let's get to those. The first question is the state fair. What was the deal with the turnout, the stage malfunction, all of that question mark?

Okay, so this is the great American state fair we're talking about it. It took place on the national mall in D.C. And it was part of the Trump-backed Freedom 250 celebration. So just to make this even more confusing, Freedom 250 is different than America 250. And we'll get into that distinction in a few minutes. But the state fair was basically a fair, okay, where every state got represented. pavilions, performances, exhibits, flyovers, there was a ferris wheel. It was essentially a big birthday party for America on the National Mall. But the rollout of the event drew attention

for a few reasons. And keep in mind, too, while we're talking about this, this was a 16-day event. So it didn't just take place on the 4th of July. It's a 16-day thing. So, you know, over the course of the days leading up to the 4th of July, there were a handful of issues. The issues were not specific to Saturday. On the turnout front, there were two very different stories happening at the same time. So organizers of the event or the Freedom 250 organizers were saying that more than 200,000 people had already attended the event as of this weekend. But on the ground, especially early on, a lot of the on the ground reporters and the pictures that were taken there showed a much less crowded scene. Now, as with most attendance-related stories, I don't have an official turnout number,

right? We kind of did the same thing with the no kings protest. It's hard to know where the actual number stands. But what I can tell you is that there was clearly a gap between the official message and what a lot of people were seeing in person, which did look, you know, it looked to be more limited attendance early on. Okay. But then by the 4th of July, turnout did seem to pick up. So Reuters reported that crowds had quote unquote swelled in the days leading up to July 4th, Entrance lines were stretching several blocks. Axio similarly described, quote, unquote, huge crowds on the national mall on July 4th. So what it seems like is early on crowds were small, but then on the actual 4th of July, there was a really big turnout. Now, in addition to the turnout, there were some logistical issues. So the fair did have to temporarily shut down on Friday because of the extreme heat. There were also reports of things like power issues, problems with some of the attractions, some of the performance. performers were either pulling out or canceling. And then there was this stage incident, which you mentioned when you asked the question. Some of you might have seen the video circulating online. But basically during one of the rehearsals, a big piece of the set came falling down onto the stage. And it was while a group of dancers were rehearsing and performing. Now, thankfully, no one was injured. But those running the events said that it happened while work was being done on the back of the stage. And after that, they added more. safety measures and, you know, technical oversight to prevent something like that from happening again.

So that's the deal with the fair. Now, the next question that you had was, was America 250 really gutted to form Freedom 250? Before we answer this question, we have to distinguish between America 250 and Freedom 250. So both are connected to the 250th celebration, but they're not the same thing. So America 250 is a nonpartisan commission that Congress actually created back in 2016. It was meant to help plan for America's 250th anniversary. Freedom 250 is different. Freedom 250 is different. Freedom 250 is the Trump administration backed effort tied to the White House task force on celebrating America's 250th birthday. It was created via executive order last year. It describes itself as the national nonpartisan organization leading the celebration of our nation's 250th birthday.

So the Trump administration basically created its own public-private celebration effort to carry out its own vision for the anniversary. And that's why you saw different events under different names. So the Great American State Fair was led by Freedom 250. Same with the UFC fight on the White House lawn, the salute to America 250 celebration, the fireworks at Mount Rushmore, the Freedom Trucks. Those were all part of Freedom 250. America 250 put on events like America's Block Party, the Times Square ball drops, and then other state-level events. But then came this rumor that America 250 was gutted to fund Freedom 250. And this came from a 55-page report written by Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee.

It was published on Thursday, and it was titled From Vanity to Insanity, How the White House Cheated the American people out of their 250th birthday. Representative Jared Huffman of California, he's the ranking Democrat on the committee, he said the report was months in the making and that it was based on interviews with unnamed whistleblowers, sworn congressional testimony, internal Freedom 250 documents, and other written responses. But the part of this report that really fueled this rumor says the following, quote, Freedom 250 did not supplant America 250 because it was better at organizing festivities for the nation's semi-Quincentennial.

It did so through a series of divergence and misrepresentations that drained the chartered commission of the resources it needed to function, redirecting the appropriations Congress intended for America 250, peeling away its private donors, and trading on its non-partisan reputation to recruit performers who believe they were joining a non-political celebration. The cumulative effect and the apparent purpose was to render America 250 unable to succeed and install Freedom 250 in its place. And quote, the report lists multiple findings that, you know, it determined through its investigation and it elaborates on each of those findings. So one of the things that this report alleges is that America 250 originally planned to request a hundred million dollars in federal funding for its, you know, 250th programming. But later increased that request to $150 million at the recommendation of Trump campaign strategist Chris Lasavita. The understanding, according to the report, was that $100 million of that request would go to

America 250. And then $50 million would go to White House programming, Freedom 250. But the report says that didn't happen. The report says that, after the bill passed that included this funding, America 250, you know, it expected to receive $100 million, but it was later told it would only receive $50 million. And by the time the report was published, it had actually received only $25 million from this bill, plus another $15 million from separate congressional funding. And so the report alleges that, you know, the rest of that money went to Freedom 250. The report also alleges that because lawmakers believed America 250 was already getting $100 million, they reduced other funding for America 250.

And Democrats say that that created a shortfall that then forced America 250 to scale back its programming and seek more private funding while Freedom 250 took money and projects that America 250 had expected to use. The report gives one example involving the Freedom Trucks program, saying $10 million in federal museum funds were transferred from America 250 to the National Park Foundation to finance Freedom 250's Freedom Trucks. The report also claims Freedom 250 went after America 250's donors. So according to Democratic investigators, some of the donors who were planning to support America 250 were pressured to redirect their money to Freedom 250. instead. And apparently this caused a lot of confusion because some of the corporate sponsors didn't realize America 250 and Freedom 250 were two different things. The report also says that some of the

prospective donors were told by the Trump administration that they didn't have a quote unquote green light to donate to America 250. And as a result, some of the donors either pulled back from their existing commitments or asked not to be publicly announced because they were worried about retaliation from the administration. But the most serious allegation is that some of the donors who intended to give money to America 250 were allegedly given Freedom 250's wire instructions instead, which obviously means that if true, their money would have gone to Freedom 250 without them realizing it. Now again, according to Representative Huffman, the report is based on interviews with unnamed whistleblowers, sworn congressional testimony, internal Freedom 250 documents, and other written responses.

No names are mentioned in the report, and the report specifically says that these findings are interim. The report also says that most of the basic facts remain concealed behind the White House, behind Freedom 250, and behind the National Park Foundation. The report says, quote, the complete donor lists and financial ledgers of Freedom 250. The identities of those foreign and domestic who have paid into it and the ultimate disposition of every dollar has raised remain unknown. The committee's investigation will continue to explore these and other records. It will pursue every appropriate avenue of accountability, including legislation to close the structural gaps that allowed a congressionally chartered foundation to be captured in the first place. And quote. And by the way, I probably should have mentioned this earlier, but part of the reason the donor information isn't public is because of Freedom 250's structure.

So Freedom 250 operates as an LLC connected to the National Park Foundation, which is a 501c3 nonprofit. And under federal nonprofit disclosure rules, 501C3 organizations generally don't have to publicly disclose a complete donor list that would otherwise show who gave money and how much they gave. So that's why this newly published report alleges these things, but the Democratic lawmakers don't have access to the actual donor list to give any sort of, you know, numbers. Now, as far as Freedom 250's response, spokesperson Daniel Alvarez denied the report's claims. She said they were, quote, unquote, categorically false. She called it a quote unquote partisan smear. She said in a written statement that, quote, congressional members should be ashamed. They are spending countless hours fabricating a report instead of joining Americans and creating an absolutely beautiful celebration. End quote. So that is what we know there. Now, the final question related to

the 4th of July celebrations is the following. What can you tell us about the white supremacist group waving Confederate flags in D.C.? Okay, so this was a group called Patriot Front. And we'll start with a little explanation of what Patriot Front is, and then we'll talk about what exactly they did on the 4th of July. So Patriot Front presents itself as a patriotic nationalist group. So lots of American flags, slogans about reclaiming America, things like that. Mainstream news outlets, and groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Anti-Defamation League, George Washington University's program on extremism, they've all described Patriot Front as a white nationalist or white supremacist organization. Now, I'll read you the five pillars from the Patriot Front's

own manifesto. Number one, democracy has failed America and it is necessary to organize outside of conventional electoral politics. Two, America has a very important. America has a lot of, unique national identity founded in European discovery and settlement. Three, we will organize patriots with an active and life-encompassing loyalty to the nation. Four, the present state has lost the mantle of legitimacy derived from the founding and must face alteration or abolition. And five, our goal is to affect the formation of a republic which reflects a reforged spirit among our people.

And quote. A couple of other things worth noting for the manifesto, the manifesto cites a 1921 article written by Calvin Coolidge titled, Whose Country Is This? In which Coolidge wrote, quote, there are racial considerations too grave to be brushed aside for any sentimental reasons. Biological laws tell us that certain divergent people will not mix or blend. And quote. And in that, in that writing, Coolidge was arguing that immigration policy.

shouldn't just be based on economics or compassion, but also race. He was basically saying that certain racial or ethnic groups were biologically incompatible and shouldn't be expected to blend into one nation. And this was actually a mainstream argument in parts of American politics at the time. Obviously, that has since changed, but that is one of the beliefs that the Patriot Front holds. The manifesto also cites President Roosevelt, who once wrote in part, quote, the one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities. And quote, now it's worth mentioning that the manifesto does not include the part of Roosevelt's speech where he said,

quote, there is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. When I refer to hyphenated Americans, I do not refer to naturalized Americans. Some of the very best Americans I have ever known were naturalized Americans, Americans born abroad. And quote, and in this speech, Roosevelt was arguing that it's fine if you were born somewhere else or, you know, if your family came from Germany or Italy or Ireland or wherever. But once you're an American citizen, your primary loyalty should be to the United States, not to your family's country of origin. However, the Patriot Front focuses only on that one specific sentence in that speech, which,

without full context, could sound like Roosevelt was saying that, ethnic groups can't coexist in America, but that's, of course, not exactly what Roosevelt was saying. So those are some snippets of the manifesto to kind of let you in on the ideology. As far as where Patriot Front came from, the group was actually created after that 2017 Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville. So Patriot Front's founder, Thomas Rousseau, was previously involved with a group called Vanguard America. Vanguard America was one of the groups at that Sharlet's Charlottesville rally, and it was one of the Vanguard America members who drove his car into the group of protesters and killed a woman. I'm sure all of you remember that. But after Charlottesville, Vanguard

America split because there was this rift between Rousseau and Vanguard America's leader. And Rousseau ended up going and forming Patriot Front. And a lot of the previous Vanguard America members joined Patriot Front. Now, Patriot Front moved away from some of the more openly neo-Nazi imagery that was associated with Vanguard America and instead leaned into more of American symbolism. So a lot of red, white and blue, a lot of American flags, a lot of slogans about reclaiming America, things like that. And Rousseau at the time wrote about the rebrand. He wrote, quote, our focus will remain much the same, as will our overall goals. the change comes alongside many new visuals and a new overall look. The new name was carefully chosen as it serves several purposes.

It can help inspire sympathy among those more inclined to fence sitting and can be easily justified to our ideology and worldview. The original American patriots were nothing short of revolutionaries. The word patriot itself comes from the same root as paternal and patriarch. It means loyalty to something intrinsically based in blood. End quote. So that's a little bit about Patriot Front. Now, on the 4th of July, hundreds of members of Patriot Front wore masks and marched through D.C. with various flags. They wore matching outfits. They all had

khaki pants, blue shirts, white face coverings, sunglasses, and like I said, various flags. So some carried Confederate flags, some carried modified American flags, some carried the Patriot Front flag. And at times, they would chant slogans, like reclaim Americans. They were seen around Union Station. They were seen near the Capitol. They were on the metro at one point. And police were there monitoring the march. There have not been any reports of any arrests or incidents. Legally speaking, okay, the First Amendment is what controls here. And I know some of you were wondering why they were allowed to do this. And the answer is that they have the right to. So even groups that, you know, people find to be offensive or hateful generally have the right to. march peacefully in public. The exceptions are if the group is breaking the law in some way, if the group is making true threats, or if the group is engaging in violence. If they are doing any one of those things, then the legal analysis changes. But generally speaking, they're allowed

to march peacefully. So that's the deal with that. I hope that answers some of the most frequently asked questions. Let's take a quick break here to hear from some of the sponsors that help keep the lights on around here. When we come back, we'll talk about the America 250 time capsule, and then we'll move on to some other non-July 4th related news. Before we get back to today's news, I want to show you why media framing matters so much. Two outlets can cover the same exact story using the same basic facts and leave you with a totally different impression. For example, in reporting on the recent Supreme Court ruling dealing with Trump's power to fire independent agency officials, one headline from the left said, quote,

King Trump is stronger than ever after U.S. Supreme Court bolsters his agenda, end quote. Another headline from the right said, quote, Supreme Court ruling gives Trump a chance to finally slay the deep state monster, end quote. Same story, obviously very different framing, but that's exactly why I use and love ground news. ground news lets you compare how different outlets across the political spectrum are covering the same story. And right now, my listeners can get 40% off the unlimited access vantage plan only by using my link groundnews.com slash UP, UP as an unbiased politics. Now, what I love about ground news is that instead of only seeing one headline or one version of

the story, you can see the coverage side by side and better understand what's being emphasized, what's being downplayed and how the framing changes depending on the outlet. And obviously that mission is very aligned with unbiased politics. I'm not here to tell you what to think. Ground News isn't either. Instead, ground news just gives you the tools to look at the coverage yourself and make up your own mind. One of those tools is the factuality feature, which shows you the objectivity and subjectivity of a sources reporting.

It's really, really helpful. I'm telling you, I've been using Ground News for years and I really think you'll love it as much as I do. You can get 40% off the unlimited access vantage plan only by using my link, groundnews.com slash up up up up up up for 40% off the unlimited access vantage plan. Thank you to ground news for sponsoring the show. There's something about summer that gets you out of your routine in a good way. More travel, more time outside, more spontaneous plans. And the last thing I want is to spend that time stressing about my hair.

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if? Like, what if it doesn't hold up? That sofa was four days old. You should have ordered from Wayfair. With Wayfair, there's no what-if. Just style you love and quality you can trust. Visit Wayfair.ca. Welcome back. In some more Fourth of July news, America 250 buried a time capsule this weekend called America's Time Capsule. It was buried at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia on Saturday. It'll be reopened if all goes to plan in 2276. America 250 says the capsule includes, quote, contributions from all three branches of the U.S. federal government, all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and five U.S. territories, America 250 tent poll program. as well as select national partners and institutions whose contributions reflect the people, places, ideas, and innovations shaping the United States at 250 years. End quote. Now, this capsule is pretty big.

It's about three feet tall. It weighs 900 pounds. And the reason that it weighs so much is because it was built specifically to withstand 250 years in the ground. So let's talk about some of the contributions. I'll focus on some of the more interesting. interesting ones. Arkansas gave a diamond. California gave a clawed AI answer to the question, write me a prediction of what California will be like 250 years from July 4th, 2026.

Louisiana gave a necklace. Maine gave a bone from the North Atlantic right whale, which is one of the world's most critically endangered large whale species. Michigan gave a Potoskey stone, and I just had to mention this one because these are my favorite stones to find when I go to Michigan in the summer and looking for them brings me right back to childhood. It is seriously one of my favorite things to do. So Potoski Stone, for those of you that don't know, it's Michigan State Stone, but it's said that they formed about 350 million years ago when glaciers ground fossilized coral from bedrock. They're really, really cool looking. Look it up if you find the time. They're called Potoski stones. Anyway, Nevada gave a set of gambling chips. New Mexico gave quite a lot, actually, but two of the

things it gave. One was a bolotai, and then it also gave a recipe card for the state's official cookie. Ohio gave some fabric from the Wright Brothers flight. Puerto Rico gave the Wright Brothers Flight one. That one confuses me a little bit because I feel like it's supposed to resemble current day, like what America is like in 2026 and the Wright Brothers flight was obviously a long time ago. I don't know. Maybe I'm not thinking about it the right way, but that one kind of threw me off. Puerto Rico gave a rosary. Utah gave two granite discs. Now, in addition to those things, most states also gave some sort of like commemorative coin. Some states, actually quite a few states, gave poetry. And then a lot of states also gave a letter from the governor. Some other contributors

included the International Olympic Committee. They contributed a gold medal, an Olympic gold medal, the Today Show, the MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, the PGA tour, the Smithsonian, and the Supreme Court. Now, I did see some reports that there were some really interesting items like an orange iPhone, a Coke bottle, a crystal from the Times Square New Jersey Ball. I saw reporting that these were all included in the capsule. I didn't see them listed. on America's official or America 250's official contents list. So I'm not quite sure about that. But I figured I would mention it. Anyway, cool story. Okay, let's move on to some non-fourth of July related matters. Speaker Johnson says Republicans will try again to pass the Save America Act,

but this time he says they might try to do it through budget reconciliation. So over the weekend, Johnson said the House plans to move quickly when lawmakers get back to Washington to advance the Save America Act. And again, this is the bill that would require photo ID to vote in federal elections and proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote. Now, last week, a group of House Republicans blocked a procedural vote on the annual defense policy bill because they wanted the Save America Act attached to it. When that procedural vote failed, the House leaders ended up just sending all the lawmakers home early for the 4th of July recess. So Johnson's basically saying now, once lawmakers are back, we're going to move fast on this bill. So it no longer holds.

this up on anything else. But here's the thing. The issue with the bill is not in the House. It's already passed the House multiple times. The problem is in the Senate because in the Senate, most legislation needs 60 votes to move forward. That's because of the filibuster. Senate Republicans do not have those 60 votes for the Save America Act. So Johnson is now talking about trying to pass the bill through budget reconciliation. We've talked about budget reconciliation many times, but just as a refresher, budget reconciliation is this special process that Congress can use for certain bills specifically related to federal spending taxes or the debt limit. And the reason that it's special is because reconciliation bills cannot be filibustered the same way that regular bills can. So instead of needing the 60 votes,

a reconciliation bill can usually pass with just a simple majority. And that's why both parties use reconciliation when they have control of Congress. They have the white house. House, but they don't necessarily have 60 votes in the Senate. It's kind of a way to get around the lack of support in the Senate. And it's how some of the big tax, health care, spending, and debt limit changes sometimes get through Congress. So Johnson's saying, all right, the House has passed this bill multiple times. Each time it's stalled in the Senate because the Senate doesn't have the 60 votes it needs to get past the filibuster. So we're going to try to use budget reconciliation this time. So it'll only require a simple majority in both the House and

Senate. But the catch is, of course, that reconciliation is supposed to be about the budget. It is supposed to be used for bills related to federal spending, taxes, or the debt limit. It's not supposed to be a workaround for any policy that a party wants to pass, right? And in the Senate, there's a rule for this. It's called the bird rule. Basically, the bird rule says that if something in the bill doesn't really affect the federal budget, or if the budget impact is just sort of a like a small side effect, it probably can't be included in the reconciliation bill. So in this case, if Republicans try to include voter ID rules in a reconciliation package, Democrats could argue, well, you know, this is really about changing voting laws. It's not about the federal budget. Any budget impact

is just a small side effect. And at that point, the Senate parliamentarian, basically the Senate's rules referee would weigh in. And if the Senate parliamentarians, says that that part of the bill violates the bird rule, senators would need 60 votes to keep it in. And if they don't have 60 votes, that provision could be stripped out. So that's why reconciliation might be a path for Republicans, but it's certainly not a guarantee. Now, one last note here, Johnson's specific plan appears to be to put the Save America Act, or at least parts of it, into a bigger budget bill and then pass that bigger budget bill through reconciliation. But that's still not as simple as the House passing it and calling it a day, right? Because for any bill to

become law, the House and Senate have to pass the exact same version. So if the House passes a reconciliation bill, this, you know, budget package, the Senate still has to review it under the Senate's reconciliation rules. Because the Senate's rules are stricter, parts of the bill, such as the voter ID provisions, could be changed or even removed altogether. And if the Senate it changes the bill at all, it then goes back to the House for another vote. So long story short, even if the House uses reconciliation, that doesn't mean the Senate automatically accepts everything in the House version and has to pass the bill exactly as it's, you know, passed in the House. And again, the House has already passed this bill three times. So if you see headlines in the next few

days about the House passing a budget bill via reconciliation and the bill includes provisions regarding voter ID and proof of citizenship. Just keep all of this in the back of your mind. Okay, moving on. When politics meets sports, you get this next story. Later tonight, the U.S. men's soccer team will face Belgium in the World Cup. Depending on when you're listening, might have already happened. But until Sunday, the United States was going to play without its top goal score. But then, in an unexpected turn of events, it was reported that Flo Balligan, the top goal score, would in fact be allowed to play. And I know some of you are listening to this, wondering how in the world this is anything to do with politics. And we'll get there, I promise.

But first, let's talk about what happened. Last week, when the United States played Bosnia and Herzegovina, Balagan was given a red card after he stepped on the ankle of one of Bosnia's players. And just to explain this for anyone who doesn't watch a lot of soccer, a red card basically means that a player is kicked out of the game. Okay? The player has to leave the game immediately. The team has to finish the match with one fewer player. But under FIFA's rules, a red card also automatically leads to a suspension for the team's

next match. So in this case, the expectation was that Balagan was that Balagan was. wouldn't only miss the rest of last week's game, but also not be allowed to play tonight against Belgium. And a lot of the U.S. fans were up in arms over this because not only has Balagan been one of our most important players in this World Cup, but whether Balligan should have even gotten the red card in the first place was highly disputed. So then on Sunday, FIFA announced that Balagans' one match suspension would be suspended for a probationary. period of one year. And this, of course, meant that he can play against Belgium tonight.

The only exception is that if he commits another similar offense during that probationary period, the suspension can be enforced and he can receive new additional punishment. But this is where the story gets political. After the red card, Trump called FIFA's president and asked for a review. Now, initially on Sunday, all of the outlets were just saying a source told blah, blah, blah. A source said this. A source said this. A person familiar with the matter said this. And the source was saying that Trump spoke with FIFA's president after the red card and asked him to review the call. But it wasn't officially confirmed until today. Trump was talking to reporters at the White House earlier today. One of the reporters asked him about it. And he said he did, in fact,

call FIFA's president and asked for a review. He said, in part, quote, all I did was ask for a review because I didn't think it was a foul. I thought it was two great athletes who crashed into each other and got entangled. I didn't tell him what to do. I can't tell him what to do. And I don't believe he made the decision. I believe it was a committee that made it and they made the right decision. And quote. So Trump confirmed today that he did call FIFA's president and ask for the review. Now, as far as the mechanism that was used to actually make this decision, FIFA cited Article 27 of its disciplinary code. Basically, Article 27 lets FIFA's judicial body. either pause or suspend the enforcement of a disciplinary punishment and put the player on probation

instead. And the rule says that FIFA can partially or fully suspend a disciplinary measure, but the person then gets a probationary period of one to four years. And if they commit a similar offense during that probationary period, the suspended punishment can can be enforced plus any new punishment. So for Balagan, FIFA didn't completely just like get rid of the red card. It suspended the automatic one-match ban that usually comes with a red card. And it instead put them on a one-year probationary period. And there is some precedent for FIFA using Article 27 to suspend or delay the punishment that's tied to a red card, but it's mostly outside the World Cup itself.

In fact, not long ago, FIFA used Article 27 in certain cases involving red card suspensions from World Cup qualifiers. Now, qualifiers are obviously different from the World Cup itself, but just to give you an idea. So, you know, this idea of FIFA saying or FIFA suspending or delaying a red card punishment isn't totally unheard of. However, using Article 27 inside the World Cup is incredibly rare. AP reported that this appeared to be the first time since 1962 that a player received a red card during a World Cup and was still allowed to play in the next World Cup match.

So like I said, rare. Now, obviously, Belgium, who we play tonight, is not happy about this. the Belgian Soccer Federation said it was quote unquote astonished by the decision and said it was looking into possible options to protect what it called the principles of fair play. Belgium's coach Rudy Garcia, he also criticized the decision, but he mostly pointed to the federation's lengthy statement. However, he did also say, quote, I didn't know that at the World Cup, the 5th of July is actually the first of April. It's April fools. And quote, FIFA's president did respond to the public commentary writing on X, 10. today, quote, and this is just an excerpt. I'm not going to read you the whole thing, but he wrote, quote, yes, I regularly discuss matters related to the FIFA World Cup with the president of the United States. And on this matter, I did receive a call from President Donald Trump, just as I received calls from heads of state, government officials, football stakeholders, and business executives from around the world on many different issues. During our conversation, I explained

that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA's independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies. That is how FIFA system works, and it is a principle that I will always uphold. I read the decisions of the FIFA disciplinary committee when they are issued. Sometimes I'm surprised by them, sometimes I agree with them, and sometimes I disagree. What I always do, however, is respect those decisions and the autonomy of the bodies that make them. Whether we personally like a decision or not is irrelevant. Respect for independent institutions and the rule of law is what protects the integrity of our competitions and the credibility of FIFA at all times.

And quote. So long story short, Balligan will play tonight against Belgium, but he will have to be careful because another similar offense could bring that suspended one match ban right back. Now for some quick hitters, just a couple today. The Trump administration says it will not seek new bids

to repair the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool after the recent renovation ran into problems with algae and peeling blue liner. Interior Secretary Doug Bergam said the, administration will stick to the same contractor, blaming the damage on vandalism rather than the work done. And a multi-day preliminary hearing began today in Utah for Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk. So in Utah, a preliminary hearing is where the judge will decide whether prosecutors have shown enough evidence or probable cause for the case to move forward to trial. If the judge finds that there is enough evidence, Robinson would then be arraigned and enter his pleas.

If not, the unsupported charges could be dropped. So during this multi-day hearing, prosecutors are expected to present video evidence, witness testimony, and DNA evidence tied to the alleged murder weapon. Robinson's defense is expected to challenge parts of the evidence. Okay, like I said, just a couple quick hitters today. I don't know, not a lot of news. People are too busy celebrating America's birthday. So not a lot going on. Let's hope that changes for Thursday's episode because believe it or not, I do like when there's a lot to talk about.

For today's critical thinking segment, we're going to go back to the time capsule story. We're going to have a little bit of fun with this one. I want you to forget the America 250 time capsule. And I want you to think about if you're making your own time capsule to represent America in 2026. What three things would you put inside? And what do you think people in 2276 would say about our culture, the way we lived, and what we valued? By the way, if you love these critical thinking segments, I do this thing on Instagram and Facebook where I post a critical thinking question of the day. At the end of each day,

I share some of the responses to that day's question. My followers have been absolutely loving it. They especially love seeing what other people say and how other people answer the question. So if you want to challenge yourself on a daily basis, go ahead and follow Unbiased Jordan on Instagram or unbiased politics on Facebook. That's unbiased Jordan on Instagram, unbiased politics on Facebook. That is what I happen. for you. Thank you so much for being here. As always, if you loved what you heard in today's episode and you feel more informed, please go ahead and leave me a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Those reviews really, really, really help expand my audience and tell other people

why they should be tuning in to this show. Have a great next couple of days and I'll talk to you again on Thursday.