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Elizabeth Smart Reveals Her Pivot To Bodybuilding With Photo Of Her Ripped Body—And People Are Impressed
The 38-year-old author and activist can add a slightly unexpected accomplishment to that list, however: bodybuilding.
Smart recently shared a photo of herself in a tight-fitting navy blue bikini and displaying an impressive, chiseled physique while competing in the Wasatch Warrior bodybuilding and fitness competition in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The photo got such a large reaction from Smart's Instagram followers that she eventually posted it to her page, all the while explaining how she came to bodybuilding:
Smart first disclosed that she was as surprised as anyone to find herself on stage at a bodybuilding competition:
"When I posted the pictures in my story of me standing on stage in a bikini it probably shocked many of you, and I understand the shock because had you asked me if I would ever compete in a bodybuilding show a couple of years ago I would have said, 'absolutely not! Never in 100 years!'”
She later revealed that this was not her first time participating in a bodybuilding competition, but rather her fourth, and she only now felt comfortable sharing it with the greater public.
She explained how reflecting upon her experience as a kidnapping survivor eventually led to her empowerment:
"This is actually the fourth competition I’ve done, but I was too afraid to post it before."
"Worried that I would be judged, not taken seriously, somehow perceived as less than or now unworthy to continue work as an advocate for all survivors."
"Then this past weekend it struck me how eerily familiar these feelings and thoughts are for too many survivors."
"I think it’s easy to be labeled as one thing, and honestly, that’s not me nor do I think it’s any of us we are more than just one topic, one idea, one label."
"I am interested in many things, and as I get older I realize more and more how important it is to make the most of today, we don’t know what tomorrow brings."
"And I don’t want to reach the end of my life and look back and feel regret for only living a half-life, not going after all the things I want to do and try."
Smart made no secret of how demanding bodybuilding is, but said that the emotional payoff was as good or better than the physical payoff:
"This was a big change for me, it was hard, it pushed me, challenged me not to give up."
"I am so proud of myself for doing this."
"I am so proud of my body, and I want to celebrate it."
"My body has carried me through every worst day, every hellish grueling experience, it’s created and nurtured three beautiful children, my body has risen to every single challenge life has presented it with, and carried me through so I refuse to be ashamed of it."
"I refuse to feel embarrassed about trying something new and am embracing my chance at life to the absolute fullest I can."
"I only hope that we all find the courage to chase new experiences, goals, bettering ourselves, and most importantly happiness."
The post ended with Smart giving a shoutout to her trainer, Robyn Maher, her makeup artist, Katie Livingston, photographer Mitchell Gilbert, who captured Smart in the now viral pose, and to the Wasatch Warrior show.
Smart's photo and heartfelt post were met with a standing ovation from her Instagram followers, even earning shoutouts from pop singer Debbie Gibson and fellow abduction survivor Kara Robinson Chamberlain:
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@elizabeth_smart_official/Instagram
@elizabeth_smart_official/Instagram
@elizabeth_smart_official/Instagram
@elizabeth_smart_official/Instagram
X (formerly Twitter) users also shared their admiration for Smart and her new efforts:
After having her body under the control of others against her will for nine months, it's understandable that Smart would want to make sure she was not only in complete control of her body, but proud of it.
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Man In India Reveals He Conned 'Super Dumb' MAGA Fans Into Paying For His Med School With Fake AI Influencer
How'd he do it? He created a fake AI MAGA influencer to tell Donald Trump's "super dumb" fans exactly what they want to hear.
Oh, and before any lurking MAGA types go there: He tried doing it with a fake liberal influencer too but it didn't work because Democrats could tell it was a scam. LOLOLOLOLOLOL.
Now, yes, this is all highly unethical or whatever, but credit where it's due: This guy's scam is kind of a stroke of genius.
Sam, as he's called in Wired's profile, is an aspiring orthopedic surgeon with the same problem most students have: He was flat broke, after what little money his parents had was eaten up by licensing exams.
He turned to some legitimate means to make money at first, but with the release of Google's absolutely terrifying AI tool Nana Banana Pro, which makes photos and videos so realistic it should quite literally be illegal, he got a burst of inspiration.
He started creating hot AI girls to post on Instagram, but it didn't go anywhere. But Google's Gemini AI tool told him if he made the hot girls specifically MAGA hot girls, he'd hit a goldmine.
That's when Emily Hart, a blond, often bikini-clad, Trump-worshipping hot girl was born—and soon, so was a mountain of cash.
Google's Gemini tools nailed the MAGA influencer content so perfectly that, combined with the scandals of recent years in which several real MAGA influencers have been revealed to be on Russia's payroll, it should really make all of us stop to question whether the MAGA movement was ever as "real" as we all assumed in the first place.
Sam posted memes showing Emily Hart drinking a beer with braindead quotes like:
"Of course Democrats protest against ICE... Cuz they are deporting half of their voters."
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Never mind that the meme shows Emily casually drinking a beer WHILE FLOATING IN A FROZEN LAKE THAT WOULD KILL HER WITHIN MINUTES.
It mocks Dems and that's all your average MAGA needs to hear!
And speaking of Dems, Sam was very candid about what went down when he tried to create a liberal version of Emily to try to make money off of liberals' attention.
He told Wired:
“Democrats know that it’s AI slop, so they don’t engage as much..."
"...The MAGA crowd is made up of dumb people—like, super dumb people. And they fall for it.”
So how lucrative was it? In a word: Very. Sam told Wired he was pulling down thousands of dollars a month for not even an hour's work each day, especially once he start creating nudes of Emily.
“I was spending maybe 30 to 50 minutes of my day, and I was making good money for a medical student."
"In India, even in professional jobs, you can't make this amount of money. I haven’t seen any easier way to make money online.”
And he's not the only one. Wired reported that there are scores of scammers just like Sam who have flooded the internet with fake MAGA influencers and who are raking in major money because of MAGA's gullibility.
On social media, people couldn't help but laugh about how easy it was for the Indian student to grift MAGA devotees.
Well, Donald Trump did say he "loves the uneducated"! And now we definitively know why.
Trump's Dismissive Reaction To Concerns About Insider Trading Amid His War With Iran Speaks Infuriating Volumes
"Make that win-win kaching sound."
The United Kingdom's The Guardian noted:
"Traders placed over $1[billion] in perfectly timed bets on the Iran war. Suspicious wagers on the US-Israel war in Iran are creating huge windfalls..."
Axios reported on the activity in March and members of Congress, like California Democratic Representative Sam Licardo and New York Democrat Ritchie Torres, are asking questions about trades made just before actions taken by the Trump administration or just before announcements made by the POTUS.
Overall, it's a pretty damning indictment. And it's one that MAGA Republican President Donald Trump gave credence to during a recent press gaggle at the White House on Thursday.
Asked about people, including his sons, profiting off predictive markets, Trump responded:
"You know, the whole world, unfortunately, has become somewhat of a casino. And you look at what’s going on all over the world and Europe, and every place they’re doing these betting things."
"I was never much in favor of it. I don’t like it conceptually, but it is what it is now."
You can see his comments here:
Betting is one thing, but having inside information in order to place bets before the rest of the world is considered cheating. A former casino owner should know that.
People weren't surprised by rampant profiteering off Trump's war.
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PBS recently outlined ways Trump sons Don Jr. and Eric are profiting off Trump's wars.
Bloomberg Finance reported on Thursday that, in response to mounting pressure both domestically and internationally, the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission has opened a probe for signs of insider trading related to Trump's Iran War.
Catholic MAGA Voter Unloads On Trump's 'Colossally Stupid' Feud With Pope Leo In Viral Rant
But Pazmino found that even those who self-identified as MAGA were fed up with the POTUS's attacks on the first Pope from the United States.
When asked for her thoughts on Trump's criticism of the Pontiff, Anita Bauman told Pazmino:
"I don’t think it helps the President at all. I think it’s colossally stupid."
You can see a clip of her comments here:
Not mincing her words, Bauman added:
"And I say that as a Catholic and as a person who voted for Trump. But I think that it’s just not the battle to pick."
Bauman wasn't opposed to some form of interference with the government of Iran, seemingly ignoring the deaths of innocents like at the girls school bombed by the Trump administration.
But Bauman concluded:
"I don’t think picking a fight with the Pope or trying to school the Pope on theology is a good idea at all."
You can see CNN's report here:
- YouTube youtu.be
People concurred with Bauman's assessment, although many pointed out she got what she voted for.
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A March poll by NBC News, released just before Trump's Truth Social rant about the Pontiff and the POTUS's infamous AI Trump as Jesus post, found Pope Leo XIV enjoys a +34 favorability rating among voters in the United States while Trump has a –12 favorability.
A Pew Research poll found Pope Leo has an 84% approval rating amongst American Catholics while a variety of recent polls reported Trump's approval rating with American voters overall hovering around just 40%.
Whoever thought now was the time to try to pick a fight with the Pontiff seems, as Anita Bauman put it, "colossally stupid."
