Senate Targets Extremism & ICE Leadership Shake-Up | 10.29.25

Summary

Morning Wire – Senate Targets Extremism & ICE Leadership Shake-Up

Date: October 29, 2025
Hosts: John Bickley, Georgia Howe
Guests/Reporters: Michael Knowles, Megan Basham, Jenny Terr, Amanda Presta Giacomo

---

Episode Overview

This episode of Morning Wire spotlights rising concerns over political violence associated with the far left, a Senate hearing confronting the phenomenon, a major shakeup at ICE leadership with internal DHS divisions, and a high-stakes New York City mayoral race stirring significant controversy and anxiety. The coverage aims to bring under-reported perspectives to light, especially where mainstream media often avoids uncomfortable angles.

---

Key Segments & Insights

1. Senate Hearing on Political Violence & Left-Wing Extremism

[02:03–07:00]

Purpose & Importance of the Hearing

• Megan Basham reports that the Senate hearing, led by Senator Schmidt and Republican colleagues, targeted the neglect of left-wing political violence and sought to force political and media leaders to confront the evidence.
• The assassination of Charlie Kirk served as a pivotal catalyst, making it "impossible to ignore" rising ideological violence.
• Despite some media coverage, many outlets have "worked hard to bury evidence pointing to ideological motives" behind significant events (04:00).

Michael Knowles' Testimony

• Michael Knowles highlighted the systematic underreporting of left-wing violence by classifying incidents as non-ideological or misconduct not tied to political motive.
• Notable Quote:
  “The federal government must act now to stop the consistent and accelerating trend of leftist terrorism. For a legislator to deny the threat and neglect the remedy... it is nothing less than complicity.”
  — Michael Knowles [02:03]
• He cited examples:
  • Covenant School shooting in Nashville: “According to authorities, there was no ideological motive there. Go figure.”
  • Black Lives Matter riots: “Overtly leftist demonstrations…left dozens dead and over a billion dollars in property damage. Likewise, those fail to show up on registers of left-wing political violence.”
  • Personal Antifa targeting incidents: misclassified as “obstructing law enforcement,” not as attacks on conservatives.
    — Michael Knowles [04:35]

Data & Official Responses

• Sen. Marsha Blackburn (paraphrased by Basham):
  • Antifa, ICE protest strikes, and similar left-progressive violence is systematically "undercounted," while right-wing violence is "overcounted." [05:15]
• Study via The Atlantic cited by Knowles: Left now commits more political violence than the right.
  • “Less honest liberals, including members of Congress, continue to deny this fact…” — Knowles [05:57]
• Poll: 26% of young liberals (vs. 7% of young conservatives) considered political violence “sometimes permissible.” [06:25]

Key Takeaway

• The Senate push and Knowles’ testimony aimed for national acknowledgment of a leftward shift in political violence, challenging narratives downplaying such threats.

---

2. ICE Leadership Shake-Up & Internal DHS Divisions

[07:04–11:21]

Nature and Scale of the Changes

• Jenny Terr reports that ICE leaders are being replaced by Border Patrol figures in cities including LA, Phoenix, Denver, and others.
• Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino now leads operations in multiple major cities (e.g., Los Angeles, Chicago), signaling a shift to broader, more assertive enforcement tactics.

Internal Disagreement Over Approach

• There are schisms within DHS:
  • Corey Lewandowski (Senior Advisor/Acting Leader) advocates for high-number arrests and mass deportations.
  • Head of ICE and border czar Tom Homan favor “higher quality” targeted arrests—focusing on hardened criminals for public approval and morale.
  • “They want to show the public that they're getting really bad guys, really hardened criminals off the streets … making sure that those ICE officers are really feeling good about the work they're doing and that they're making targeted arrests.” — Jenny Terr [09:05]

Tactics and Public Perception

• Recent broader sweeps (e.g., Home Depot raids, car washes) by Border Patrol have prompted backlash and legal scrutiny — including testimony about alleged tear gas use in Chicago (Bovino).
• Lewisandowski’s faction is winning:
  • “His camp is really winning this fight from what we can tell… his control at DHS has really become a point of contention.” — Jenny Terr [10:27]

Trump's Role

• President Trump is seen as ultimately advising all camps, but the path is now trending toward quantity > quality thanks to Lewandowski's dominance.

---

3. The New York City Mayoral Race & Zoran Mamdani’s Controversies

[11:24–15:46]

State of the Race

• Amanda Presta Giacomo covers Socialist candidate Zoran Mamdani’s shrinking lead: from 20 points to 10 (Suffolk University poll: 44% Mamdani, 34% Andrew Cuomo).
• Outgoing Mayor Eric Adams endorsed Cuomo, helping close the gap; GOP contender Curtis Sliwa holds 11%.

Controversies & Criticisms

• Islamophobia and 9/11 Comments
  • Mamdani's recounting of his Muslim aunt’s fear post-9/11 spotlighted his identity-based campaign:
    “I want to speak to the memory of my aunt who stopped taking the subway after September 11th because she did not feel safe in her hijab.” — Zoran Mamdani (quoted by John Bickley) [13:17]
  • When challenged, he revised the story and accused critics of Islamophobia.
• Antisemitism Accusations
  • A 2023 resurfaced clip:
    “We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF.” — Zoran Mamdani (quoted by John Bickley) [13:53]
• Policy Positions Stir Anxiety
  • Massive tax hikes, freeze on rent, replacing police with social workers, government-run groceries, decriminalization of sex work.
  • “There was a survey…as much as a quarter of all New York City residents would consider fleeing the city if Mamdani does become mayor.” — Amanda Presta Giacomo [14:12]
  • A watchdog group has even offered relocation help for concerned citizens.

Demographics & Support

• Mamdani thriving among under-40s and immigrant voters; foreign-born residents now nearly 40% of the NYC population, shaping electoral dynamics.

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “The federal government must act now to stop the consistent and accelerating trend of leftist terrorism…” — Michael Knowles [02:03]
• “Less honest liberals, including members of Congress, continue to deny this fact. Democrat Congressman Seth Moulton… blamed the right [for Kirk’s assassination].” — Michael Knowles [05:57]
• “They want to show the public that they're getting really bad guys, really hardened criminals off the streets…” — Jenny Terr [09:05]
• “When the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF.” — Zoran Mamdani (quoted) [13:53]
• “As much as a quarter of all New York City residents would consider fleeing the city if Mamdani does become mayor.” — Amanda Presta Giacomo [14:12]

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:03 Senate hearing/Michael Knowles’ testimony
• 04:35 Knowles' examples of overlooked left-wing political violence
• 05:15 Sen. Marsha Blackburn on undercounting left violence
• 07:04 ICE shake-up overview
• 08:12 DHS infighting (Lewandowski vs. Homan/ICE)
• 09:44 Tactics and public concern around ICE/BP raids
• 10:27 Who’s winning inside DHS (Lewandowski)
• 11:49 NYC mayoral race polling shift
• 13:17 Mamdani’s comments on Islamophobia post-9/11
• 13:53 Mamdani's NYPD/IDF quote
• 14:12–15:34 Anxiety over Mamdani’s potential win; city demographics

---

Summary

This episode scrutinizes how U.S. government and media establishments address—or, according to the show, fail to address—the reality of leftist-driven political violence, both statistically and anecdotally. It unpacks the ideological, political, and tactical divides within DHS, now playing out in a visible ICE power struggle, and closes with a deep dive into the most contentious NYC mayoral campaign in a generation, where identity politics and progressive proposals are fueling a wave of anxiety and division. Anchored by ground-level reporting and high-profile testimonies, Morning Wire positions itself explicitly as a corrective to mainstream narratives.

Transcript

[John Bickley]

A Senate hearing on the growing trend of political violence points the spotlight on radical left ideology.

[Michael Knowles]

It turns out the left commits relatively little political violence when you don't count the political violence that the left commits.

[John Bickley]

I'm Daily Wire Executive Editor John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Wednesday, October 29th. This is Morning Wire.

[Georgia Howe]

A power struggle is brewing within the Department of Homeland Security, shaking up ice leadership in several major cities and facing.

[John Bickley]

New accusations over his polarizing policies and past comments. New York mayoral candidate Zoram Mandani seeks to hold onto his lead. For the takeaway from my more than 10 minute address about Islamophobia in this race and in this city to be the question of My aunt tells you everything about Andrew Cuomo.

[Georgia Howe]

Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.

[Shopify Announcer]

If you run a small business, you know there's nothing small about it. Even the smallest decisions can feel massive. That's where Shopify comes in. Shopify is the e commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world. From household names to brands that are just getting started, you can tackle all the important tasks all in one place. From inventory to payments to analytics and more. Even marketing becomes a breeze thanks to their built in tools for running social media and email campaigns, helping you find new customers and and keep them coming back. Plus, Shopify's global selling tools have you covered internationally in over 150 countries. And their award winning point of sale connects your online and offline sales all in the same place. With an impressive 99.99 uptime and the highest converting checkout experience on the planet, you'll never miss another sale. That's the Shopify advantage. Get all the big stuff for your small business right with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial period and start selling today at shopify.com MorningWire. You can head over to shopify.com MorningWire again, that's shopify.com MorningWire.

[Michael Knowles]

The federal government must act now to stop the consistent and accelerating trend of leftist terrorism. For a legislator to deny the threat and neglect the remedy might once have been chalked up to ignorance. Today, it is nothing less than complicity.

[Georgia Howe]

That was Daily Wire host Michael Knowles testifying in front of members of the Senate Tuesday about the growing trend of ideologically motivated violence and its threat to the First Amendment.

[John Bickley]

Joining us now to discuss is Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham. Hey Megan. So we reported yesterday about this event. It's an event, frankly, the legacy media would rather not cover. So we're covering it here for sure. First set the stage for us. What was the purpose of the proceedings?

[Megan Basham]

Yeah, John. So Senator Schmidt told us that he and his Republican colleagues on the subcommittee are very aware of the growth, growing problem of political violence, particularly coming from the left. And so what they wanted to do was hold this hearing to shine a spotlight on it, because their concern is that if they don't, our political leadership and our media will continue to ignore it, and this will force them to confront what's happening. So really the purpose of the hearing was to present the evidence for this. And as we highlighted yesterday, the assassination of Charlie Kirk prompted this hearing. And it's made the issue of political violence just impossible to ignore. But even with legacy media outlets covering his death, they've still worked somewhat hard to bury evidence pointing to the ideological motives of the suspect in this case. So as Schmidt said, there's really a strong need still to take a look at the motives behind some of this left wing violence. So inviting a high profile figure like Michael Knowles makes a lot of sense because of course, he is someone who has a large platform. He has been the recipient of death threats from people like Antifa. So he has a lot of experience with the exact kind of threats that they were investigating and discussing there in that Senate hearing.

[John Bickley]

Right. In fact, Knowles talked about one of the alarming incidents targeting him at the University of Pittsburgh a couple of years ago. Now he argues that the left wing violence has been effectively erased as a category that allows Democrats to downplay it effectively. Did that come up in the hearing?

[Megan Basham]

Yeah, that was definitely something that Knowles spoke about somewhat extensively. He highlighted the fact that violence coming from groups like Antifa or Black Lives Matter have not been officially recorded in government documentation as left wing violence. So that's something that we've seen past administrations do. This was what Noel said.

[Michael Knowles]

The Covenant School massacre in Nashville in which a trans identifying shooter murdered Christian school children after outlining her ideological motivations. According to authorities, there was no ideological motive there. Go figure. The Black Lives Matter riots, overtly leftist demonstrations that left dozens of people dead and over a billion dollars worth of property damage. Likewise, those fail to show up on registers of left wing political violence. Even an attack by Antifa that targeted me personally as well as conservative college students for our political views appeared in official records and data sets as nothing more than obstructing law enforcement.

[Megan Basham]

And then this was what Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn told us, weighing in on that. What they're not doing is counting Antifa and strikes against ICE protest and Things like that. So while there's overcounting on the right, there is vast undercounting that is on the left. So Knowles did also say that he sees the tide turning somewhat with the assassination of Charlie Kirk and two attempted assassinations on Donald Trump. And he says that he thinks that, you know, quote, unquote, honest liberals even can acknowledge from which political direction this is coming. But unfortunately, he says not everyone is honest.

[Michael Knowles]

On September 23, no less an emblem of American liberalism than the Atlantic magazine published an article citing a recent study from the center for Strategic and International Studies admitting that the left is more violent today than the right. Less honest liberals, including members of Congress, continue to deny this fact. Democrat Congressman Seth Moulton, for example, reacted to Charlie's assassination by blaming the right.

[Megan Basham]

So as Noel said, Antifa has played a very prominent role in a lot of this violent protesting that we have seen coming now at pretty regular intervals. Just one poll last month from YouGov showed that 26% of young liberals say that they believe violence is sometimes permissible to pursue political goals. Only 7% of young conservatives said that. So there's a lot of research and studying that we can see that supports all of these findings.

[John Bickley]

Well, let's hope this hearing did help to put a spotlight on the issue of political violence, and we see this trend start to reverse. Megan, thanks so much for reporting.

[Megan Basham]

Yep, my pleasure.

[John Bickley]

A major leadership shakeup at ICE is exposing internal divides over the Trump administration's mass deportation effort.

[Georgia Howe]

Here with more is Daily Wire immigration reporter Jenny Terr. So, Jenny, how significant are these changes?

[Jenny Terr]

Right. So ICE leadership is being moved out of multiple offices across the country, and they're being replaced with Border Patrol agents that are in leadership within that agency. So we're seeing this in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Denver, El Paso, San Diego, Seattle and Portland and New Orleans. And we've already seen the Trump administration kind of shift the gears when it comes to who's in charge of the mass deportation campaign. We've already seen Border Patrol commander Chief Gregory Bovino. He's put in charge of the operations in places like Los Angeles and Chicago now, where Border Patrol agents are now making arrests, too, alongside ice, of course. But we're seeing those, those operations being done now in a very sweeping manner by Border Patrol. And now the Trump administration wants more of that influence in this operation.

[Georgia Howe]

Now, why do they think that Border Patrol agents are more suited for these roles than the ICE leadership that was previously there?

[Jenny Terr]

So there's been a lot of internal divisions right now within the department of Homeland Security over how they should conduct the operations, the mass deportation, arrest. So the division exists between Corey Lewandowski, a senior advisor over there, who's actually in a position that's a temporary position. He's in a position that's similar to what Elon Musk was serving as at the White House. Lewandowski is at odds with the head of ICE and with border czar Tom Homan over how and who they should be arresting. So, for example, Corey Lewandowski's camp really wants to drive up the numbers of how many people they're arresting and how many people they're deporting, while people in the camp of the head of ICE and Tom Holman really want more quality arrests.

[Georgia Howe]

Now, when you say higher quality arrests, what do you mean by that?

[Jenny Terr]

They're really concerned about the public's perception of all this. As you see Border Patrol out there and ICE out there, obviously they're under a lot of scrutiny. So they want to show the public that they're getting really bad guys, really hardened criminals off the streets and keeping, you know, the American communities, the American people safe. So it's really. A lot of it is about the perception, but also about making sure that those ICE officers are really feeling good about the work they're doing and that they're making targeted arrests.

[Georgia Howe]

And that would be versus just getting as many numbers as possible. As many Home Depot raids, for example. As possible.

[Jenny Terr]

Right. So Bovino was involved in some of these more controversial raids, such as at Home Depot parking lots and at car washes. Those really drew some of those big protests that we saw in places like Los Angeles and now in Chicago. And he's faced a lot of scrutiny for this. He even was testifying in court on Tuesday about his alleged use of tear gas during an arrest operation in Chicago. So he's facing backlash for what Border Patrol has been doing. ICE is also obviously facing backlash, but they want to kind of minimize that and also get those officers back to doing really quality work.

[Georgia Howe]

So which camp is prevailing here when it comes to the takeover and the new direction they're going?

[Jenny Terr]

So I think the announcement of this that came out internally really speaks to this because it came from Lewandowski himself. He notified Homeland Security officials about the leadership changes at ice, and he's the one that really wants, again, the numbers to be driven up over anything, over the quality of arrests. His camp is really winning this fight, from what we can tell, and we've even been told by sources that Lewandowski has, in some ways, more power than Secretary Noemi. So his control at DHS has really become a point of contention for a lot of sources that we've talked to. And now we're seeing that come to fruition that he is kind of at the reins of this effort now to change who's in charge and to make it so that this is more about numbers.

[Georgia Howe]

Well, it'll be interesting to see where President Trump falls on this because surely he is advising all of the camps involved. Jenny, thanks for reporting.

[Jenny Terr]

Thank you.

[Georgia Howe]

Socialist candidate for New York City mayor, Zoran Mamdani continues to hold a commanding lead, but Andrew Cuomo's attacks and other controversies are beginning to chip away at that lead.

[John Bickley]

Here with the latest on that mayoral race is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta Giacomo. He Amanda, so early voting has begun for this New York City mayor's race. Mamdani has long been the favorite of this race, as we've documented. But is his lead slipping somewhat?

[Amanda Presta Giacomo]

Well, he's up by 10 points right now. Andrew Cuomo, who's running as an independent, he was pulling behind mom Donnie by 20 points, but he recently cut that lead in half to 10 points. A Suffolk University poll released Monday shows Mom Donnie leading Cuomo 44 to 34%. Current New York City Mayor Eric Adams, he dropped out of the race and endorsed Cuomo this past Thursday. That gave Cuomo a little bit of a boost. And there's also the Republican candidate in this race, Curtis Sliwa. He's the founder and CEO of the Guardian Angels. He's in third place with 11% of the vote. Opponents of Mamdani, who view him frankly, as a communist, they've pressured Sliwa, you know, publicly to drop out of this race and give Cuomo a fighting chance here. That includes President Donald Trump, by the way. But it doesn't look like Sliwa is going anywhere. Odds are still in Mamdani's favor, but it is a much closer race than it once was in person. Early voting started on Saturday and Election day is on November 4th. So, you know, just days away now.

[John Bickley]

Yeah, it's coming quick. Now let's get into some of these controversies surrounding Mamdani. More have arisen. He recently made some comments about Islamophobia in 911 that drew some blowback. What did he say on that?

[Amanda Presta Giacomo]

Yeah, Mamdani really raised some eyebrows when he tearfully spoke about his aunt saying that she was victimized in the wake of 911 because she's Muslim and she was wearing a hijab. Here's Mamdani.

[John Bickley]

I Want to speak to the memory of my aunt who stopped taking the subway after September 11th because she did not feel safe in her hijab.

[Amanda Presta Giacomo]

When Mamdani was pressed about that, he actually admitted that the story wasn't apparently about his aunt, but a different relative. And he suggested that questioning the story is actually Islamophobic. Mamdani has also been accused of being anti Semitic. Just days ago, a clip of Mamdani resurfaced from 2023, where he's really going after the NYPD. That's a common target, Mamdani's. And he ties that criticism to Israel and the idf.

[John Bickley]

We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it's been laced by the idf. Especially in New York City, you have so many opportunities to make clear the ways in which that struggle over there is tied to capital's interest over here.

[Amanda Presta Giacomo]

Now, there's definitely a segment of the city's population that, you know, they're not happy about Mamdani likely becoming mayor. The city is, is of course, liberal, but Mamdani is viewed as radical and outside of the mainstream. His proposals include massive tax hikes, a freeze the rent policy, replacing cops with social workers, in some cases government run grocery stores, support for decriminalizing sex work, and, you know, the list goes on. A couple of weeks ago, actually, a watchdog group called Stop Anti Semitism, they offered help to relocate people who want to leave the city if Mom Donnie does win. That group told the Daily Wired that they've been inundated with requests, hundreds and hundreds of requests from people who want to leave and, you know, more generally. There was a survey released Friday from Victory Insights that found that as much as a quarter of all New York City residents would consider fleeing the city if Mamdani does become mayor. But, you know, as for the front runners successes in this campaign, Mamdani is doing very well with people under 40 years old and he's made real efforts to reach out to the immigrant communities in the city. The latest numbers show that nearly 40% of all new York City residents are foreign born. And you know, the changing demographics of the city are definitely playing a major factor in this election.

[John Bickley]

We're less than a week now out from this election. One of the most, you know, watched races nationally I've seen for mayor in recent elections. Probably because the stakes are so high in this case. Amanda, thanks for reporting.

[Amanda Presta Giacomo]

You're welcome.

[Georgia Howe]

Thanks for waking up with us. And for those listening to the show, you can now see our smiling faces on. On Daily Wire. Plus, John sometimes smiling at least.

[John Bickley]

Hey, I'm doing better with that. Okay.

[Georgia Howe]

Baby steps, John. We'll be back this evening with more news you need to know.