Remembering
James Robison

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The Brew: Trump, Tesla, and Epic Takedowns

By Gayle McQueary Published on March 25, 2025

Welcome to today’s whirlwind of headlines, in which Ivy League schools bend the knee, Australian universities get a fiscal slap, and Tim Walz learns that trash-talking about Tesla might not be the brightest idea when your state’s pension fund is riding the Elon Musk rollercoaster.

We’ve got a bit of everything today — including some policy shakeups, a wrestling challenge that’s so 2025 it hurts, a hefty dose of economic optimism, and a bittersweet farewell. So, grab a coffee (or a Tesla-branded energy drink, if you’re fancy), and let’s dive in.

The $400 Million Wake-Up Call

First up, Columbia University is having a moment — and not the good kind, unless you are a parent who wants to know that your kid is safe and actually receiving a higher education. After the Trump administration yanked a cool $400 million in federal funding over the school’s “failure to combat antisemitism,” the Ivy League giant has decided it’s time to play ball.

According to The Epoch Times, Columbia’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, announced a slew of policy changes faster than you can say, “violating civil rights.” The university is tightening its rules around campus protests, banning masks at demonstrations (sorry, anonymous chanters), and even promising to tackle “anti-Zionist discrimination” — a phrase that’s got the campus debate club buzzing.

The Trump administration wasn’t subtle about its demands: overhaul your Middle Eastern Studies department, suspend students who took over entire buildings on campus last spring, and basically make sure Jewish students don’t feel like they’re in fear for their lives or forced to impersonate Anne Frank.

Columbia caved in after a financial gut punch that left researchers scrambling and administrators sweating (and most likely, swearing). With more than $5 billion in federal grants still on the line, it seems Columbia has decided that groveling beats going broke.

Dollars Down Under Dry Up

Speaking of financial wake-up calls, let’s swim down to Australia, where seven universities just received a stern memo from Uncle Sam: Your woke ways are costing you. Sky News Australia reports the Trump administration is slashing $600 million worth of “research efforts” after failing to answer simple questions such as, “Do you have ties to communist or socialist parties?” and “Do you know there are only two genders, male and female?”

https://twitter.com/Bubblebathgirl/status/1904179163973525877

The move has Aussie Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his team in a tizzy, with calls for an emergency meeting to figure out how to keep the cash flowing. Yesterday, the Labor Government announced they had reached an agreement to fully and fairly fund every public school. However, this agreement will not be a blank check: Schools will need to implement reforms to raise standards across the country, including more individualized support for students like mandating small-group or catch-up tutoring to help those who fall behind and providing more access to mental health professionals.

As of late yesterday, there was no word from the PM about the funding for the universities, but we can’t imagine they are thrilled about losing their American sugar daddy. Courses on “decolonizing gender” and “capitalist oppression” might have sounded edgy in lecture halls, but they become far less appealing when you can’t afford Vegemite (or your tuition).

This is why you don’t bite the hand that feeds you. These universities now have to rethink their syllabi — or at least their funding pitches. Maybe a few “America the Great” electives or “Men in the Male Role” degrees and “Femininity Studies” are in order?

Amid all this is a different question: Why is the U.S. funding education in other countries to begin with? Don’t we have enough work to do to make sure our own students can at least read at grade level? We’re already trailing the rest of the Western world in academic achievement, so why fund the competition?

Tim Walz: Foot, Meet Mouth

Now we’re coming back to America, Minnesota to be specific, where Governor Tim Walz is proving that sometimes it’s better to keep your witty one-liners to yourself. In a now-infamous (and, we must note, poorly executed) stand-up comedy routine, Walz gloated about Tesla’s stock prices dipping to $225 a share, saying it gave him a “little boost during the day” to see it falling. He even suggested that Tesla owners could “take dental floss and pull the Tesla thing off” (meaning taking the emblem off the vehicle). Oh, Tim, you failed vice presidential candidate you!

https://twitter.com/Tim_Walz/status/1902197581586833643

Turns out Minnesota’s state pension fund holds a whopping 1.6 million shares of Tesla stock, meaning that Walz has been cheering as his constituents’ retirement savings have taken a nosedive. The backlash was swift and brutal: “Tim Walz mocked Tesla’s stock falling, but Minnesota’s pension fund owns over 1 million shares. Whoops!”

Investors and retirees weren’t laughing, and neither was Kevin O’Leary, who dubbed Walz “beyond stupid” on CNN last week. “What’s the matter with that guy?” he asked. “He doesn’t check the well-being of his own constituents.”

It’s like bragging about a drought when you’re a farmer — except this farmer’s got a $300 million stake in the rain. Maybe next time, Timmy, stick to zingers about bundt cake instead of Elon’s empire.

Wrestlemania Runnin’ Wild

But wait, Walz’s week of humiliation isn’t over! Enter 57-year-old Glenn Jacobs — aka WWE legend Kane, aka the mayor of Knox County, Tennessee — who decided to pile on with a challenge straight out of a ’90s pay-per-view.

After Walz boasted that MAGA Republicans are “scared” of his masculinity and that he could “kick most of their a***s,” Jacobs threw down the gauntlet on X: “All joking aside, Tim Walz, let’s put our money where our mouth is … in a charity wrestling match. What do you say?”

Picture it: Walz, the former high school football coach turned progressive poster boy for putting tampons in the boys’ bathrooms at public schools statewide, squaring off against a seven-foot-tall, 300-pound ex-wrestler who once tombstoned The Undertaker. It’s the kind of mismatch that makes you wonder if Walz’s bravado came with a side of amnesia. Jacobs, ever the gentleman, promised all proceeds would go to charity — probably to help Walz afford the ice packs he’d need afterward.

Walz has yet to respond to Jacobs, but by Sunday evening, the pool was closing in at $100,000, not including corporate sponsors, live gate fees for the event, or streaming fees should, say, Netflix bank on this one-of-a-kind event.

Should Walz accept the challenge (and we’re hoping he does for the sheer entertainment factor), let’s hope he brings more than bravado and a flannel shirt. Maybe he can borrow some of that Tesla stock for courage. As of Monday, it was trending upward … again.

Hyundai’s $20 Billion Bet on America

Alright, enough ribbing — time for some good news! Hyundai’s making it rain in the U.S. with a massive $20 billion investment, including a shiny $5 billion steel plant in Louisiana. According to CNBC, the South Korean automaker is betting big on America’s electric vehicle boom, planning to hire 1,500 workers to churn out next-gen steel for its two U.S. auto plants.

https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/1904160564521111593

The steel plant’s just the start. Hyundai’s also pumping cash into tech upgrades and supply chain tweaks, all to keep those electric Ioniqs humming off the assembly line. It’s a win for Louisiana, a win for U.S. manufacturing, and a win for anyone who likes their cars with a side of economic optimism.

Plus, it’s a nice little “told you so” to the naysayers who thought Donald Trump would be bad for the economy. In case you’re keeping count of the total investment pledges made in less than 100 days back in office, it’s nearly $3 trillion with a capital “T” for “time to get down to business.”

A Farewell to Mia Love

Finally, we end on a somber note with the passing of Mia Love, the first black Republican woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. Love who had been suffering from glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive brain cancer, passed away at her Utah home on Sunday at age 49, surrounded by family. When diagnosed in March 2022, Love was given a prognosis of surviving for 10 to 15 months; she outlived that by two years. Her family announced her peaceful passing on social media, expressing gratitude for her profound influence.

“She was in her home surrounded by family. In the midst of a celebration of her life and an avalanche of happy memories, Mia quietly slipped the bands of mortality and, as her words and vision always did, soared heavenward.”

Born in 1975 to immigrants fleeing from oppression in Haiti, Love’s journey — from her childhood in Connecticut to earning a degree in musical theater and later moving to Utah after joining the Mormon church — shaped her belief in the American Dream, detailed in her autobiography, Qualified.

A midge infestation in Saratoga Springs spurred her to enter the political arena, where she rose from the city council to mayor before winning a congressional seat in 2014. There, she served two terms, advocating for limited government.

Love’s tenure was marked by her fierce independence, often bucking party lines on issues like immigration and healthcare. She championed smaller government and personal responsibility, earning fans and foes alike with her straight-talking style. She is survived by her husband, Jason, three children, a granddaughter, and her parents, but leaves a legacy of breaking barriers with humor and heart.

Along The Stream…

Burnout is one of the main reasons pastors leave the ministry, and Shane Idleman can relate. Listen to the first part of his two-part testimony later this afternoon.

Also, former law professor David Clements, whom The Stream has highlighted several times over the last year, is facing new allegations of professional misconduct designed to disbar him — the sixth to which he’s been subjected in the last four years. Later this morning, The Stream will publish the first of a four-part series detailing his story.

 

Gayle McQueary is The Stream’s social media coordinator. She has a background in production and is a scary judge of betting against your constituents.