Pupils have begun returning to school as lockdown restrictions were eased across England.
Outdoor markets and car showrooms have also started reopening, while the first horse racing event in months was being staged and pigeons took to the skies for a race over Yorkshire.
In a recent interview with Bustle's One Nightstand podcast to promote her new series The Miniature Wife, Banks said she doesn't "understand the 53% of white ladies" that voted for Trump and suggested more people should reject fascism and follow Effie's character arc.
She said:
"Effie for me is one of the characters that has the greatest arc that I’ve ever played because obviously she props up this fascist regime that she benefits from and it’s not until she really comes to care for and see how unfair it is when they want to pull Katniss and Peta into the games again…"
"I think in ‘Catching Fire’ when she’s like, ‘I want to be part of this team,’ and you really see her struggling and then by the end she’s like a revolutionary… I wish more of us were becoming revolutionaries!"
"Effie is the model, guys! I don’t understand the 53% of white ladies that didn’t vote for Kamala."
You can hear what she said in the video below.
- YouTube www.youtube.com
Banks' remarks soon caught Schneider's attention and he suggested her comments are the sort of "dangerous rhetoric" that led to the killing of far-right activist Charlie Kirk.
Schneider said:
"Dear Elizabeth Banks, Calling someone who disagrees with your political views ‘Fascist’ is the same dangerous rhetoric (and lies) that got our friend Charlie Kirk murdered."
You can see his post below.
Schneider has gone on record before to say he is willing to "lose it all" for his MAGA beliefs and once said he's long past caring about his career and instead cares about "my children and the country they're going to live in."
Schneider has claimed there is no shortage of conservatives in Hollywood but his many conservative friends are "scared" of speaking out for risk of tanking their careers.
He said in an interview with Fox News that his conservative friends genuinely "fear cancel culture too much to speak up." He also said he has been shunned in Hollywood for openly sharing his conservative views, and he has people who don't "return calls as often."
That might have something to do with the fact he has wholeheartedly endorsed the MAGA movement, which political scientists, historians, journalists, and policymakers have identified as fascist.
He has also referred to leftists as "communist" and, as a prominent anti-vaxxer, has called those who back the scientific consensus on the benefits of fascism "fascists" and "tyrants."
@Rob Schneider/X
@Rob Schneider/X
He was swiftly called out for his hypocrisy.
It sounds like Schneider should really think before he tweets.
Because Mr. Rock is struggling so mightily to sell tickets to his weird Trump-worshipping festival he's slashed them by 50%—which he claims is a gesture to help people afford "rising transportation costs" but...we can probably all guess the real reason.
Kid Rock's Rock the Country festival is billed as a 250th-anniversary celebration for America, headlined by a star-studded roster of luminaries in country music, the genre that Kid Rock likes to pretend he comes from despite being the son of a rich Michigan car dealership magnate who made rap/rock songs until about 15 minutes ago.
Anyway! In an exemplary display of the kind of delusion only MAGA devotees are capable of, Kid Rock was charging as much as $5000 for the best seats to Rock the Country.
Ticket sales were dead sluggish right from the jump, and that was before major headliners like Jelly Roll and, weirdly, Ludacris dropped out after the event was labeled a "MAGA festival" online, along with Shinedown, Morgan Wade, and Carter Faith.
So perhaps Kid Rock had no choice but to slash the tickets in half in hopes of righting the ship.
The festival's Instagram post reads, in part:
"Hey you American Loving people! We have a few super important updates for you! 🇺🇸"
"Fuel costs are up and we want to help! ⛽️ In response to rising transportation costs, you can enjoy up to 50% off general admission passes to any of 7 small town stops for a limited time only..."
"...Take advantage of this offer, fill up your tank and we’ll see you this summer!"
The post goes on to announce that Kid Rock has apparently cajoled Jelly Roll into returning for some of the tour stops, and convinced Miranda Lambert to debase herself by joining too. Congrats, Kid!
But online, pretty much NOBODY is buying Kid Rock's reasoning for slashing the prices, and there was a LOT of mockery in response.
"No handouts! They should pull themselves up by the bootstraps to pay full price." —u/kasiagabrielle
"Maybe he should downgrade to smaller venues."
"Like a gas station parking lot or the eating area of an Arbys."—u/HappyHarryHardOn
"But this man hosted the most successful Superbowl Alternative Half Time Show of all time!" —u/VinylHighway
@pancho_runs/Instagram
But of course, there's an elephant in the room.Those "transportation costs" Kid Rock referenced are rising for one reason and one reason only: because Kid Rock's beloved president invaded Iran for literally no reason.
(Well, not NO reason. It HAS effectively distracted us from the Epstein files, at least temporarily. Credit where it's due!)
And many on social media were not about to let Kid Rock and his fellow MAGA devotees forget who's responsible for these gas prices.
@risheeee/Instagram
“'In his latest push to sell out the shows, he has cut ticket prices in half, citing rising transportation costs across America.'" How did that happen?"—u/Sorry-Belt-3514
Of course, the few fans of the festival who DO exist missed this point entirely, but that doesn't mean they weren't just as critical of this big ticket discount.
Fans flooded the event's Instagram post to complain that they should be given a refund for the full-price tickets they already bought.
@nickwetzel10/Instagram
@bailey_marie1212/Instagram
@atrain29730/Instagram
Poor MAGA. First they get a president who does absolutely nothing he promised to do and EVERYTHING he promised NOT to do, and then they get bilked by Kid Rock for concert tickets.
They just can't win!
SFL, an outreach unit that supports and promotes services and programs for soldiers, veterans, and their families, recognized her in a post that was later deleted. The post recounted Duckworth’s life story, beginning with her childhood in Asia, and featured a photo of her in military fatigues.
You can see it below.
Soldier for Life/Facebook
But the post soon caught the attention of Duckworth's critics, particularly former army veteran and GOP influencer Chase Spears, who called Duckworth a "hostile partisan" and said she "is a vet, but one who has dedicated her career to division and infantile displays in the halls of Congress."
Spears added:
"There are so many warriors worthy of being praised, men and women who didn't sell their souls along the way. But this is who [Dan Driscoll's] Army continues going out of its way to pay homage to."
You can see his post below.
Shortly afterward, a Defense Department source said Army official Driscoll ordered the shutdown of all social media accounts tied to the SFL unit.
An Army spokesperson said the account was taken offline because it wasn’t properly managed by qualified personnel, noting this was part of a broader effort already underway.
Under a 2025 directive and a memo issued in December, the Army has been closing hundreds of poorly managed, inactive, or unofficial accounts and requiring that any remaining public-facing accounts be overseen by designated public affairs professional—or be deactivated and archived.
Many reacted angrily to the news.
Neither Driscoll nor Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth care for Duckworth, who voted against confirming their appointments in the Senate last year.
Meanwhile, Hegseth and Driscoll have been engaged in a growing power struggle, intensified by the firing of senior Army leaders.
The rivalry deepened after Driscoll—an ally of JD Vance—was tapped to help negotiate with Ukraine, while Hegseth has reportedly grown more wary in recent weeks following President Donald Trump’s dismissal of Cabinet officials like Pam Bondi and Kristi Noem.
