Politics

In Germany, everything looks like a crisis of governance

Published

2 hours ago

July 1, 2026

Germany didn’t just crash out of the World Cup on Monday night. For some, the defeat looked like something bigger: yet another national institution losing its nerve.

The 2014 World Cup champion, which has struggled at every major tournament since 2016, suffered a bruising defeat against Paraguay, losing 3-4 on penalties to be dumped out of the tournament hosted in the Americas.

But Die Mannschaft is not the only German national institution failing to live up to expectations.

“This national team plays the way this federal government governs: big on ambition, short on resolve. Everyone struggles on their own, no one takes responsibility, and when luck finally does appear, the goal doesn’t count,” wrote German Member of the European Parliament Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann on X, referring to a controversially disallowed goal made during overtime, which would have brought Germany victory.

There is “always a link between sport and politics,” said professor of political science Alexander Straßner — and Europe’s largest economy is no exception.

Much like its men’s soccer team, over the last decade, the country’s automotive sector and industrial backbone have lost much of their former shine.

When Germany crushed Brazil 7-1 in the 2014 World Cup semifinals before going on to win football’s most prestigious tournament for a fourth time, Volkswagen was on the verge of becoming the world’s largest automaker. Last week, that same company announced tens of thousands of job cuts, with major automotive supplier Bosch planning similarly large-scale layoffs.

Unemployment in the country has now climbed to its highest level since the Covid pandemic, and economic growth remains weak.

A nation once synonymous with delivering on performance, reliability, efficiency and engineering excellence is now better known for its chronically delayed trains, infrastructure mega-projects plagued by years of holdups and ballooning costs, and ailing automotive industry.

Germany’s international standing has taken a hit too: After Chancellor Friedrich Merz told students at a high school that the U.S. was being “humiliated” by the Iranian regime, U.S. President Donald Trump responded by attacking the German leader on Truth Social and threatening Berlin’s nightmare scenario: a withdrawal of 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany.

Add to that the government’s very low approval ratings and the far-right Alternative for Germany party rising in the polls, many Germans don’t think Merz can turn things around.

The chancellor’s coalition government has struggled to deliver major economic reforms, with only a planned pension overhaul generating slight optimism among political observers.

Meanwhile, Merz seems unable to read the public mood — whether in politics or soccer.

“Even though the loss hurts: What a game, @DFB_Team! Your determination and team spirit throughout this World Cup inspired our country. We’re proud of you,” wrote the chancellor on X after the final whistle late Monday night, garnering ridicule and pushback from German fans.

German media outlet Tagesspiegel reported the post was accidentally published by a junior member of the chancellor’s staff, who selected the wrong prewritten message, but then altered its report saying that this version of events “apparently did not fully reflect the process.”

The end of Die Mannschaft‘s World Cup ambitions should not necessarily be taken as an irrefutable sign of Germany’s imminent defeat.

The country still has hope, argued Straßner: “In a political culture shaped by negativity … the decline of the West is always said to be just around the corner, with the state the national team held up as the latest omen. First the national team collapses, then society itself. That is utter nonsense.”

Politics

Mullin: I ‘danced a happy dance’ when Iran got knocked out

Published

46 minutes ago

July 1, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Tuesday that he “danced a happy dance” when Iran was knocked out of the FIFA World Cup — unusually blunt remarks from the official whose department is overseeing security at the U.S. games.

“I’m just glad they’re done, and they’re not coming back,” Mullin said. “I was so happy when we were able to pull their visas and said they could leave U.S. soil, and I might have sung a song or two, or maybe danced a happy dance.”

The World Cup is no stranger to geopolitics, but his comments this week underscore just how politically fraught this tournament cycle has become.

Indeed, Iran’s participation in the tournament had been in doubt for months. After Trump ordered military strikes against Iran, FIFA President Gianni Infantino conducted shuttle diplomacy between Washington and Tehran to avoid a boycott that some feared would delegitimize the world’s largest sporting event. The administration ended up creating a unique arrangement where Iran would play its matches in Tijuana, Mexico — flying in the day before each match and out immediately after.

Mullin’s remarks came after he addressed employees from across the federal government at the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Special Events Coordination Center, which coordinated security planning for the expanded 48-team tournament.

Speaking with reporters afterward, Mullin vigorously defended the administration’s decision to impose unprecedented travel restrictions on the Iranian national team, arguing U.S. officials had gone out of their way to accommodate the squad while protecting national security.

He also dismissed criticisms from Iranian officials who had complained publicly that the restrictions on their national team were unfair and disrupted the team’s preparation.

“That wasn’t accurate. They — of course, you can’t trust anything Iran is saying,” he said.

According to Mullin, the administration had initially planned to admit the team five days before its opening match, but Iran sought to arrive even earlier. Instead, FIFA worked with U.S. and Mexican officials to establish a base camp in Tijuana, roughly a 45 minute flight from Los Angeles, where Iran played its opening matches.

“We worked with Mexico, talked with our counterparts there, and we talked with [Mexican] President [Claudia] Sheinbaum and it was agreed to allow them to come to Tijuana,” Mullin said. “They could stay there rather than come into the United States earlier.”

Mullin argued the Trump administration provided accommodations unavailable to any other team: Customs and Border Protection officers processed the team’s biometrics in Tijuana before each flight so players could bypass normal inspections upon landing in the United States, and federal air marshals accompanied the delegation to ensure safe travel.

“We didn’t do that for any other team,” he said.

Mullin also rejected complaints that the team had to leave immediately after matches, comparing the arrangement to NFL teams routinely flying home after games.

“The game was over. Let them get back to the hotel, their base camp, where they’re at,” he said, noting that the U.S. men’s national team similarly flew back to its Southern California base after a match in Seattle.

Behind the scenes, Mullin said Iran presented by far the greatest security challenge of any delegation participating in the tournament.

“There wasn’t a single team — not a single team — we had to spend more time with, by far, dealing with what Iran was trying to do,” he said.

Mullin alleged Iranian officials attempted to bring into the U.S. numerous individuals with ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including personnel who had never previously traveled with the national team. He also said two individuals presented as media members had connections to IRGC intelligence and claimed another applicant was the subject of an international warrant.

“They were playing games the whole time,” Mullin said. “I’ve talked about them enough. They’re gone, they’re out of the tournament, we don’t deal with them anymore.”

Politics

Pride (in the game of love)

Published

1 hour ago

July 1, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sixty-two percent of Brits say they would feel pride if England won the World Cup, well above the number recorded in France but below Spain in the latest Blue Light News Poll. Just 47 percent of Brits say they would feel pride if Scotland won the World Cup, which is convenient because Scotland is not going to win the World Cup.

You can follow other findings from our five-country Blue Light News Poll project here.

Politics

Colorado’s insurgent wave proves Democrats want fighters

Published

6 hours ago

July 1, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

An anti-establishment avalanche blanketed Colorado on Tuesday night.

Across the Centennial State, the candidates who cast themselves as fighters against the old-line Democratic establishment soared to victory — the clearest proof yet that the base’s fury at their leaders extends far beyond the five boroughs, following insurgents’ major victories in New York City last week.

Colorado democratic socialist Melat Kiros scored a stunning victory over 15-term Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), who was first elected before the 29-year-old Kiros was born, while Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser defeated longtime Sen. Michael Bennet, losses for two of the most dominant Democratic figures in the state. Both winners were viewed as longshots just weeks ago, but Kiros and Weiser successfully positioned themselves as the true scrappers while painting their opponents as Washington insiders who were too beholden to the party machine, with little to show for their years in office.

“For decades Democrats have failed to meaningfully deliver for working families,” Kiros said in an interview after the race was called. “We have to root out the corruption and get money out of our politics … It’s not about popular support, it’s about political will — and that means we have to vote out any of the incumbents that are standing in our way by taking that kind of corporate PAC money.” That includes, she added, not supporting House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for speaker.

Manny Rutinel, a progressive state representative backed by an infusion of cash from prominent Latino groups, also cruised to the Democratic nomination to face Rep. Gabe Evans (R-Colo.) for one of the most competitive House seats in the country.

Rutinel focused much of his campaign on attacking his more-moderate foe for failing to stand up to President Donald Trump’s ICE operations.

“Folks right now are upset with the establishment, and they’re looking for fighters who are going to stand up to Donald Trump and Gabe Evans, because they are destroying our economy,” Rutinel said. “We need fighters who understand the struggles, and we’ll fight for them every single day. That’s what I’ve done throughout my entire career. That’s what I’m going to do when I’m in Congress.”

That same anti-establishment energy ran up and down the ballot Tuesday night.

Moderate-leaning Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) won his primary. But his democratic socialist-aligned opponent, state Sen. Julie Gonzales, ended the night closing in on a single-digit loss — despite Hickenlooper’s nearly 9-to-1 fundraising advantage over Gonzales in a race few observers thought would be close. She led him in Denver, the city where he was once mayor. Hickenlooper’s margin of victory was narrower than Weiser’s with 90 percent of the vote counted.

A number of more-moderate state legislators trailed their further-left opponents as well.

“Voters are angry,” said Doug Friednash, a longtime Colorado Democratic strategist and former gubernatorial chief of staff to Hickenlooper. “They are all anti-establishment and don’t feel like our leaders have fought hard enough and don’t have a coherent voice. Kiros is the clincher.”

Kiros lost her job as an attorney after writing an op-ed slamming the backlash against critics of Israel’s government, and she launched her campaign nearly a year ago with an ad portraying herself as a fighter who would deliver change. She painted DeGette, a reliable progressive vote but low-profile member, as someone who wasn’t “fighting back like they should.” In the two-minute ad, Kiros referred to the need for a fighter six times — which she carried over into her victory speech Tuesday night.

Weiser’s campaign didn’t mirror Kiros’ DSA-backed candidacy, but he did cast himself as someone who would take on both the Democratic establishment and the Trump administration. While he’s a two-term statewide official — and at age 58, is only three years younger than Bennet — Weiser built his campaign around the dozens of lawsuits he’s brought as attorney general against the president. He’s sued over everything from the president’s executive order on birthright citizenship to federal funding freezes.

“Coloradans need a governor who is a fighter,” Weiser said in an ad earlier this year. “I’ll always stand up to bullies, especially Donald Trump. Congress isn’t doing it. But I am. We are stopping him in court, winning 34 times and counting.”

Kiros’ campaign was buoyed by a wave of support from national progressive leaders and groups. She picked up major endorsements from Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Justice Democrats, which has been on a hot streak this primary season and was the first national group to back Kiros’ campaign, framed the win as validation. “Our candidates are winning because they are running on an affirmative vision to make life more affordable for working class voters — from Medicare for All to ending taxpayer-funded genocide — and they are not afraid to call out a Democratic establishment that stopped fighting for us the minute they started being bankrolled by the corporations raising our prices,” said Usamah Andrabi, a spokesperson for the group.

The Democratic Socialists of America also poured major resources into the race, running phone banks for Kiros nearly daily in the campaign’s final stretch, knocking on over 100,000 doors and making over 500,000 calls on the ground in Denver.

Popular socialist Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who emerged as one of the most visible outside organizers in New York’s insurgent sweep, dedicated multiple streams to boosting Kiros’ candidacy in the weeks leading up to the primary. At one point, he hosted her for an extended interview and also ran multiple marathon phone-banking sessions for her campaign live on stream, urging his viewers to call voters alongside him before ultimately traveling to Denver to campaign with Kiros in person on primary day.

“A thirty-year incumbent was defeated tonight. It’s clear that there is a real hunger for change. Democrats all over the country are demanding it,” Piker said. “That change is a working class centered movement. It’s socialism. We are not done yet.”