‘Grow Up!’ Sophie Cunningham Slams A’ja Wilson For Heated Confrontation With Fan, Vents WNBA Is Going to Scare Away Supporters

Sean James

Oct 3rd, 2026, 4:52 pm

Sophie Cunningham has some advice for A’ja Wilson: “Grow up!”

The Indiana Fever star said Wilson was completely out of line when she got in the mug of a fan and started berating him because he had the audacity to point at her, with Cunningham saying Wilson and other WNBA players need to have a thicker skin if they want to be taken seriously.

Cunningham, during the Saturday episode of her No Hesitation podcast, said they need to cut the childish behavior ASAP. She also said there’s no chance they would have been able to deal with the “sh*t” she’s received this season, if they are able to get so easily worked up by some minor chiding.

She vented:

Here’s my thing: us women in sport… we yell from the rooftops that we want equality, that we want to be treated like the men, that we want all this stuff and we deserve all these things — and we do! We do deserve it, right?

But if you’re asking for all these fans to come and you have new fans who are real sports fans, and they come and do something that a sports fan would probably do if you’re on the opposing team, like, and then we’re gonna go for him for just pointing [and] saying “You fouled.” Like, grow up!

Cunningham continued, “What are we doing? Like, we ask all these things, and then once people come out and support us, we get mad.”

Her reaction comes after Wilson confronted a fan during the Fever-Aces playoff game on Tuesday night.

The Fever fan pointed at Wilson and said she committed a foul — which really upset Wilson. She made a beeline to the fan, who was standing under the hoop but quickly sat down as the 6’4 Wilson approached him and starting screaming. He was escorted out afterward, but was allowed to return to his seat when the arena security later deemed he had not violated the code of conduct. After the game, Wilson said it was “unacceptable”for the fan to “step” to her and point at her. Perhaps ironically, her mom was caught on camera wagging her finger at an Outkick reporter a few days later.

A'ja Wilson’s mom gets confrontational after being asked what her “Love Beats Hate” sign means. pic.twitter.com/FbAvAh2ZNq

— OutKick (@Outkick) October 2, 2026

Cunningham took the fan’s side, saying he did not do “anything wrong.” Instead, she said Wilson needs to realize letting the fans yell at you is all part of the show, if she actually wants to help the WNBA grow.

“I can say this, because I hands down have probably got sh*t on the entire season… people coming after who I am, my character, what I stand for, X-Y-Z, I could go on and on. I’ve heard the worst of the worst,” Cunningham said. “It’s part of it, it’s part of it. Like, who cares?”

She was obviously referring to the criticism she has received after telling ESPN in July she did not support men who have transitioned playing against women athletes.

Some left-leaning fans and colleagues have criticized Cunningham for it, including one coach who took a not-so-subtle shot at Cunningham by wearing a shirt declaring “Trans Kids Belong.” But Cunningham has seemingly shrugged off the criticism and went about having fun, like when she jumped on a bar top and started belting a country tune in August.

Cunningham added, “You should be grateful to be on this platform, you should be grateful to be playing basketball for a living and inspiring the next generation. If you really want sports fans, then you’re gonna get sports fans. And that includes pointing, that includes getting yelled at, probably be getting called names.”

Watch above via No Hesitation.

(https://www.mediaite.com/media/sports/grow-up-sophie-cunningham-slams-aja-wilson-for-heated-confrontation-with-fan-vents-wnba-is-going-to-scare-away-supporters/

Sophie's HONEST Thoughts About the Aces Series

w5Nhxh82tCoPD4oUDFeMMQC3M0XEiWY_W9Ugt8ZHC60_sBAS2hmToZ11YcNx18PNsWcfTRVAsw=s88-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj

No Hesitation

1:06:09

https://youtu.be/UTdYVag_iUQ

Disney President Makes Ominous Comments About Jimmy Kimmel’s Future

By Brooklynn Robinson, The Western Journal Oct. 4, 2026 7:00

Disney president and chief creativeofficer Dana Walden declined Thursday to say whether Jimmy Kimmel will stay at ABC past his current deal, and spent the rest of her answer on how hard late night has become as a business.

Speaking at Bloomberg’s Screentime conference, Walden wasasked if the host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” would be sticking around.

“I’m not going to make that announcement here with you today,” she said, joking that she was leaving the news to someone else on the panel.

Kimmel signed a one-year extension in December 2025 that keeps him on the show through the 2026-27 season. Walden did not say the contract would be renewed, and she did not say it would be dropped.

“The truth is, it’s a very challenging daypart,” Walden continued. “That’s not to say that Jimmy is not doing a phenomenal job, and his ratings are up.But they’re up relative to a smaller audience that’s watching late night on broadcast television.”

She added that the show’s YouTube and social clips do not replace the old advertising model.“That is not a lucrative opportunity for a very premium talk show,” she said.

Digital views, she added, bring in a fraction of what on-air ads do.

Walden then put the decision in personal terms without closing it.

“We’re trying to make sense of the business while also honoring a deep partnership,” she said. “I love Jimmy; we have great friendship. He’s close to a number of the people at Disney.We’re trying to work through it and make sense of, what does Jimmy want, what’s the right thing to do, and what’s the right thing for our business.”

The comments landed after weeks of conflicting reports.A recent Page Six story said Kimmel’s contract would not be renewed. ABC denied that account and called talk of the show’s future speculative.

Other reports said the network waslooking for significant budget cuts if the show is to continue.

The Western Journal reported in September that Disney had pressed for a smaller budget.

Walden did not mention a dollar figure or a cancellation date on Thursday. She also did not treat a renewal as automatic.

The public position from Disney’s top creative executive is that ratings are up inside a shrinking late-night audience, online viewing does not pay like television, and the company is still sorting what Kimmel wants against what the business can support.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/10/disney-president-makes-ominous-comments-jimmy-kimmels-future/

Tom Homan Calmly Schools Journalist Pushing Liberal Talking Points on Deportation (VIDEO)

by Mike LaChance Oct. 3, 2026

Trump Border Czar Tom Homan recently appeared on CBS News and schooled a journalist who was using comments from Florida Republican Maria Salazar to push liberal talking points about ICE, illegal immigration and deportation.

Moments like this show beyond a reasonable doubt that Democrats and members of the media do not want illegal immigrants deported. Their words make it so clear.

The best part however, is seeing Homan calmly and rationally school this journalist with the plain facts.

From CBS News:

As the Trump administration’s sweeping illegal immigration crackdown draws pushback from some Republican lawmakers, White House border czar Tom Homan told CBS News that critics should “talk to ICE” and “educate themselves.”

GOP Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida raised eyebrows last month when she taped a campaign ad warning President Trump the Hispanic voters who helped him secure a second term “feel betrayed.” She said some of the administration’s tactics have “gone too far,” pointing to data that shows many ICE detainees lack criminal records. Other Republicans have also raised concerns, including Sen. Jim Justice of West Virginia.

In response to Salazar’s comments, Homan said: “Give me an example of where we went too far. That’s a pretty bold statement to make.”

Homan said the Trump administration is still prioritizing people who it views as public safety threats, but anybody who is in the U.S. illegally is “deportable by federal law.”

“If you’re in the country illegally, you got a problem. You shouldn’t be here,” Homan said, later adding that “everybody we arrest has an opportunity to see a judge and plead their case.”

Here’s the video:

The point he is making is crystal clear.

What is it about this that Democrats and people in the liberal media just don’t seem to understand?

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/10/tom-homan-calmly-schools-journalist-pushing-liberal-talking/

CNN’s Fareed Zakaria Admits Homeless Problems Are Worst in Democrat-Run Blue Cities (VIDEO)

by Mike LaChance Oct. 3, 2026

CNN’s Fareed Zakaria appeared on the Bill Maher show this weekend and said something you don’t hear very often on his network.

Zakaria bemoaned the homeless problem in America and noted the absolute fact that the worst homeless problems are in blue cities run by Democrats.

He also pointed out that these cities often consider the rights and privileges of the homeless over the rest of the population, even though they are not the majority.

It’s always refreshing to hear someone on the left admit something like this.

Joe Messina has details:

Speaking on HBO’s “Real Time,” Zakaria said, “Let me say something that’s going to get me into trouble, which is, if you look at where you have the most acute homelessness problems, they are blue cities in blue states, to a large extent.”

He argued that the issue isn’t a lack of spending. “The right tends to be very stingy about the money that it would take to solve these problems. But that’s not New York City, that’s not L.A. We’re spending crazy amounts of money on it,” he said, adding that in his view there’s “this other side to it,” which he described as “overprivileging the rights of the homeless over the rights of the other 99.5%.”

Zakaria said the pattern isn’t uniform across the country. “Miami does not have the kind of homelessness problem that New York has. Houston doesn’t, Dallas doesn’t,” he said. He attributed part of the difference to housing construction. “Part of it is that those places are much better at building stuff. One of the problems in a place like New York or in California is we just can’t build housing, of any kind, right? Affordable, homeless, whatever it is, and people don’t want it.”

Watch the clip:

On this week's ‘Real Time with Bill Maher,' CNN’s Fareed Zakaria said, “Let me say something that will get me into trouble,” before he said most homelessness problems are in Blue areas. He added that another issue was the “over-privileging the rights of the homeless over the… pic.twitter.com/hQD5q2kgtL

— Nick (@nspin310) October 3, 2026

So many once beautiful American cities have been ruined by this problem and the worst part is that it was allowed to happen by the people who run them.

@nspin310

Nick

@nspin310

On this week's ‘Real Time with Bill Maher,' CNN’s Fareed Zakaria said, “Let me say something that will get me into trouble,” before he said most homelessness problems are in Blue areas. He added that another issue was the “over-privileging the rights of the homeless over the rights of the other 99.5 percent.”

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/10/cnns-fareed-zakaria-admits-homeless-problems-are-worst/

WATCH: Chris Rock Compares Wokeness to the Salem Witch Trials and Says the Hunt Had to Invent Offenders

by Cassandra MacDonald Oct. 4, 2026

Chris Rock compared “wokeness” to the Salem witch trials in a New York Times interview published Saturday, calling the line “half a joke” and arguing that once the hunt became an institution, it had to start making accusations up.

Rock, 61, spoke with David Marchese on The Interview, the Times podcast, about his upcoming film Misty Green and the theme of forgiveness.

The comedian described a friend who had been “canceled,” and said another friend asked how he could still associate with that person.

“If you’re only friends with your friends when they’re good, they’re not your friends,” Rock said. He added that the point was not to condone abusive behavior.

From there, the interview turned to a discussion about the culture of the last several years.

“The problem with ‘wokeness’ — and don’t get me wrong, it is great that marginalized people have a voice; it is great to advocate for anybody that feels marginalized —but the problem is we’re in the Old Testament right now,” he said. “The Old Testament has no forgiveness. The Old Testament didn’t work, so they had to write a remix called the New Testament.”

Marchese noted that some people now call the immediate post-George Floyd period, sometimes labeled “Woke 1.0,” crazy.

Rock said helping people who need help is still worth doing, and that more of it is needed.

“The problem is when you institutionalize it. That’s the problem,” Rock explained.

“So, my half a joke — the Salem Witch Hunts. I’m sure the first three witches they caught were actually f-cking witches. But then you open up a witch office, and now you gotta start lying. Now, you gotta f-cking make sh-t up ’cause you got overhead.”

Several Democrats have begun distancing themselves from the insane wokeness of the time.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently declared that “Woke 1 was crazy,” despite being one of its most prominent faces.

WATCH:

Why Chris Rock Forgives His Canceled Friends | The Interview

Chris Rock joined David Marchese for an in-depth interview before the release of his new movie, “Misty Green.”

(https://youtu.be/FL3xS2hQrak

1:02:56

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/10/watch-chris-rock-compares-wokeness-salem-witch-trials/

Tennessee Republican Tim Burchett Planning to Try to Block the Seating of One DSA Member in Congress if She Wins

by Mike LaChance Oct. 3, 2026

Tennessee Republican Congressman Tim Burchett is planning to try to block the seating of New York DSA member and congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier if she wins, which, she probably will. This is New York, after all.

Burchett takes serious issue with some comments Chevalier made about using the American flag as a napkin.

Frankly, it’s a wonder how any of them will be sworn in. How are they going to swear an oath to protect the Constitution when their own platform shows that they want to destroy it?

The New York Post reports:

Rep. Burchett planning to block NYC socialist Chevalier from Congress after she claimed to use American flag as napkin

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) plans to try to block Democratic nominee and New York socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier from taking her seat in Congress if she wins the Nov. 3 election — over her saying she used the American flag as a napkin.

Burchett told The Post he intends to make the unusual parliamentary move when the new Congress convenes in January — using a simple majority to prevent newly elected lawmakers from being seated before they take the oath of office.

“You take an oath to uphold the Constitution, and and you’re pretty much disavowing it right there. I just think we’ve lost our compass,” he said in an interview.

He cited the Chevalier’s incendiary flag comment, which he called an affront to his own family’s militaryservice. His father was a World War II Marine, while his dad’s brother served on a Navy destroyer…

“If we vote to seat them, is one Democrat going to say no? I’m not going to vote to seat those people. Are they gonna say anything? Democrats died for this country as well as Republicans did.”

Burchett takes the honoring of the American flag very seriously, as he should.

Democrats will be outrageously outraged by this.

Good on Burchett.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/10/tennessee-republican-tim-burchett-planning-try-block-seating/

@CollinRugg

Collin Rugg

@CollinRugg

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth drains 9 out of 10 three-point shots after a workout.

Hegseth played basketball for Princeton University from 1999-2003. In high school,he set the school record for most career three-point shots.

Impressive.

https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/2106424500351094944

>>25104495

Really impressive

CNN 10/4/2026

Trump announces leadership of AI task force

By Julia Benbrook, CNN

Sun October 4, 2026

President Donald Trump on Sunday announced the leadership and duties of a “Super Intelligence Force,” which he said will “ensure that America continues to lead the world” when it comes to artificial intelligence.

The president said in his announcement on Truth Social that the task force will “protect the interests” and “improve the lives” of Americans. He said it will coordinate the government’s engagement with consumers, public interest groups, religious organizations, infrastructure providers and AI companies.

The group will be led by Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton, Chairman of the Federal Trade CommissionAndrew Ferguson, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and EngineeringEmil Michael, and Director of the Office of Personnel ManagementScott Kupor.The task force will report to Trump and White House chief of staffSusie Wiles, the president said.

Trump announced last month that he was planning to create an “AI Force” and name an AI czar as the government faces growing calls to impose guardrails on the technology’s rapid development. CNN reported Friday that Trump was expected to tap Clayton to lead the group.

The announcement detailing the task force comes in the wake of episodes that have raised widespread safety concerns tied to AI, including AI agents going rogue and attempting to hack into federal databases.

The president has made clear that he considers outpacing China and preserving AI-driven economic gains a higher priority than addressing growing public concerns, and previously referred to fears over AI as being a “hoax.” His support for the technology comes amid widespread frustrations over the data centers used to support it, which are shaking up midterm races.

The president hosted top AI executives at the White House last week. The group signed a new commitment aimed at better “self-policing” their companies’ AI models, arguing that the light-touch approach represents the best way to balance safety concerns with the president’s desire to accelerate a technology he’s dubbed “Super Intelligence.”

“I’m seeing tremendous self-policing, and they understand that they have to self-police,” Trump told reporters. “These models are very complex and, again, I believe they’re going to be used for the good.”

When asked about AI during his confirmation hearing to lead the US intelligence community, Clayton said the technology is a “game changer.”

“When something’s both an opportunity and a threat, you better get your arms around it,” Clayton said.

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Hadas Gold, Alayna Treene and Adam Cancryn contributed to this report.

https://lite.cnn.com/2026/10/04/politics/trump-ai-task-force-jay-clayton

Baltimore Rock Opera Society Fires White Director for ‘Cultural Appropriation’ Because She Wore Cornrows to Burning Man

by Cassandra MacDonald Oct. 4

The Baltimore Rock Opera Society has fired its new executive director, Kelly Carnes, after a video showed the white arts executive wearing cornrows at the Burning Man festival,and leftists complained that the hairstyle was cultural appropriation.

Carnes had only been on the job for about two weeks when she was canned.

The volunteer-run theater group, which has staged original rock-and-roll shows in Baltimore since 2009, welcomed her on Instagram on September 14, writing that it was “excited for the new stories about to unfold under AWOL’s leadership as she supports us in our 7,000-year mission of incredible rock theater.”

Less than two weeks later, they fired her.

An email to volunteers, obtained by the Baltimore Banner,announced the firing and said four of the six board members would step down on December 31.

“For BROS to continue, there is an URGENT NEED for qualified people to step up and take these responsibilities from the current board immediately,” the email said.

WBAL reports:

The organization added it was revising its Anti-Discrimination Policy to address cultural representation and dress and enforcing anti-racism leadership training.

“The mission of this group will focus on initiatives and systemic changes related to community culture, anti-racist practices, inclusion, accountability, equity, and access within BROS,” the statement posted on social media adds.

The scandal began with a video from a BROS public event.

Carnes had just returned from Burning Man, the annual arts festival in the Nevada desert.She said she had her hair put in cornrows as a “protective style” against the wind and dust, and that she kept the braids because she did not have time to take them out before her first event with the group.

The style featured cornrows along the top, then longer braids and extensions.

She told The Banner that she had checked with fellow campers, including people of color, and with people she works with at home, before wearing it.

The group later removed the video.

Before a September 22 meeting, the board posted that it had “received many heartfelt and concerned messages from members of our community regarding a video circulated on social media showing our new Executive Director, who is white, wearing cornrows at a recent BROS public event.”

The statement said the board shared “the weight of these concerns” and took the matter seriously.

Carnes said the termination letter did not mention the hairstyle. It said she was “not a good fit,” but she does not accept that explanation.

“People can have different opinions about my hairstyle,” she wrote to the Banner. “But someone’s personal opinion about my hairstyle is one thing. Making an employment decision based on my physical appearance is another.”

The ousted director added, “I believe the circumstances surrounding my termination raise serious questions about discrimination, governance, and whether the values BROS presents publicly are actually extended to the people it employs.”

She said that she is “exploring those issues with counsel” and told WBAL she understands the concerns and is sensitive to them, but that she wears the style only for the two weeks she camps at Burning Man.

“I’m disappointed that I never even got the chance to do my job,” said Carnes. “It’s kind of a classic judging a book by its cover story instead and, of course, that’s incredibly disappointing, especially coming from an arts organization whose part of their ethos is that radical and fearless self-expression is a part of their dynamic.”

Her lawyer, Owen Bement, said she may be protected by the state’s CROWN Act, which was created to prevent discrimination against black women based on their hairstyles and textures.

Bement explained, “In Maryland, BROS may not lawfully separate my client because it believes one group of people may have a certain hairstyle while others may not. That is as clear cut a violation of Maryland’s anti-discrimination laws as I have ever seen.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/10/baltimore-rock-opera-society-fires-white-director-cultural/

UK Gifts 1,000+ Free Hijabs to Illegal Migrants via Taxpayer’s Purse

Simon Kent4 Oct 2026

The tens of thousands of illegal migrants flooding across the English Channel know that on arrival they will be given free accommodation, free food, free phones, free legal aid, free health benefits and free clothes, all funded by hard-working British taxpayers.

Now add something more to that ever growing list – hijabs.

The restrictive Islamic apparel is reportedly being handed over to females landing on UK shores at a rate of 162 a month, internal government figures seen and reported by the Mail on Sunday show.

The disclosure comes amid growing political controversy over Muslim headwear,which many critics regard as symbols of female subservience, the outlet notes.

It also mirrors concerns revealed in a study that found just over one-sixth of the British public sees the growth of the Muslim population in the UK as a threat to British culture, as Breitbart News reported.

Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott told the Mail on Sunday she was opposed to hijabs being part of school uniforms, saying: “I do not believe the state should be party to an instrument of female suppression.”

Home Office documents show between January and June, 974 hijabs were given to boat migrants. At that rate, the total is likely to be close to 1,500 by now for this year alone.

Conservative Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said the left-wing Labour Government under Prime Minister Andy Burnham must stop handing out hijabs to illegals immediately:

It’s an insult to hard-working British taxpayers that they’re funding religious items for people who have broken into our country. It should not be for us to fund someone else’s religious practices.

Many illegal immigrants actually hate our values. Many come here for free accommodation and a life on benefits at our expense. Illegal immigrants crossing the channel are breaking into our country. They have no legitimate reason to flee France, which is clearly safe.

That’s why we must leave the European Convention on Human Rights so we can deport all illegal immigrants immediately upon arrival.

A Home Office source told the Mail on Sunday it claimed a legal duty to provide basic clothing, including cultural and religious items, under the Short-term Holding Facility Rules with newly arrived Muslims at the forefront of those being granted free stuff.

News of the free headgear comes as there is mounting public frustration over the flow of migrants across the Channel and potential security implications.

More than 19,000 small-boat illegal migrants have arrived so far this yearwith the ruling political class under Labour showing no sign of stopping the inflow or turning back the boats.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2026/10/04/uk-gifts-1000-free-hijabs-to-illegal-migrants-via-taxpayers-purse/

DOJ Hits Gallego’s PAC with Grand Jury Subpoena in Slush Fund Probe

Mariane Angela3 Oct 2026

The Justice Department subpoenaed Sen. Ruben Gallego’s (D-AZ) leadership PAC as part of afederal criminal investigation into the Arizona Democrat’s use of campaign cash to fund a luxurious lifestyle, according to a copy of the subpoena obtained by POLITICO.

The grand jury subpoena went out Aug. 21 to Gallego’s Juntos PAC, POLITICO reported Saturday. Its existence had not been reported before.It sought records tied to “activities on or about” Sept. 9, 2025. It also demanded the statements Gallego gave the Senate Ethics Committee during its own misuse-of-funds probe, the one the panel dismissed in June.

A spokesman for the senator said the PAC turned over everything it was asked for.

“The leadership PAC has complied with and responded to the Trump DOJ subpoena because it has nothing to hide,” spokesman Jacques Petit told the outlet. Petit did not say whether Gallego himself, his family, or any of his staff had also been subpoenaed.

The subpoena states that it relates to an “ongoing criminal investigation” and that the records will be handed to a grand jury. Its deadline was Sept. 4.

The probe grew out of reporting on how the senator spent donor money. POLITICO documenteda string of family trips to Disneyland, Disney World, Miami, and Chicago. It also found more than $18,000 in childcare reimbursements since 2019, including $400 that went to his mother-in-law. One source put it bluntly, calling the account his “personal slush fund.”

The record also pulls in disgraced former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA). The two established a joint committee in October 2022, the “Swallego Victory Fund,” and used it the following year to buy Super Bowl LVII tickets in Glendale, Arizona. CBS News reported the fund burned through more than $37,000 on tickets and meals before being terminated, sending roughly $7,600 to each of their campaigns.

The California Democrat left Congress in April, abandoning a run for governor as multiple women came forward with misconduct accusations. He has denied the allegations.

The subpoena builds on earlier reporting. Breitbart News noted in June that federal prosecutors moved in a day after the Ethics Committee wrapped its inquiry, a sequence the senator’s office dismissed as “politically motivated.” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) filed the complaint that prompted the Senate ethics inquiry.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/10/03/doj-hits-gallegos-pac-with-grand-jury-subpoena-in-slush-fund-probe/

KEK

‘Everyone knows’ Kiev is embezzling Western aid – ex-Polish PM

Leszek Miller has called for suspending assistance to Ukraine until it accounts for previously supplied weaponry and funds

Published 4 Oct, 2026 09:41 |

Ukrainian officials are embezzling foreign financial aid, former Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller has said, adding that Kiev’s backers are well aware of the corruption but prefer not to ask questions.

Speaking on the ‘Jankowski Kontra’ podcast on Polsat News on Saturday, Miller called for suspending aid to Ukraine until Kiev accounts for previously supplied weapons and funds.

“Nobody’s asking what happened to the 300 tanks we sent in the first phase. What happened to the heavy equipment, the lighter equipment… Nobody’s asking what happened to the billions of euros we donated. Mr. Zelensky simply comes and says, ‘Give it’, and we give it,” Miller stated.

Asked whether he suspected that funds transferred to Ukraine were being embezzled, Miller replied: “Of course, everyone knows it.”The veteran politician argued that Warsaw should demand an accounting of how its assistance has been used and halt further support if Kiev fails to provide one.

“This is a fundamental issue: I’ll lend you the money, but give me a report on what you did with the previous installment,” Miller stated. “Without that help, there is no Ukraine… But we are not a country that is overflowing with wealth… We have obligations to our own citizens, and we cannot simply throw away money and equipment indiscriminately.”

Poland has been one of Kiev’s staunchest backers in its conflict with Russia, pouring billions into military, financial and humanitarian aid while serving as a crucial hub for Western supplies. Yet relations have increasingly soured over Kiev’s honoring of Ukrainian Nazi collaborators linked to the World War II-era Volhynia massacres, in which UPA militants, linked to the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), killed at least 100,000 ethnic Poles.

Warsaw recognizes the killings as genocide, while Kiev honors figures including OUN leader Stepan Bandera. Tensions flared again this year after Zelensky bestowed the title ‘Heroes of the UPA’ on the Ukrainian Special Operations Center North military unit. In the aftermath, Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped him of the country’s highest honor, politicians on both sides renounced state decorations, and Warsaw threatened to obstruct Ukraine’s EU accession.

Relations have also been strained by mounting opposition to Ukrainian refugees. A July CBOS survey found that 52% of Poles now opposed accepting them, against 42% in favor – a sharp reversal from the overwhelming support seen after Kiev’s conflict with Moscow escalated in 2022. Tensions deepened earlier this month after a 31-year-old Ukrainian man stabbed five people at a Benedictine abbey in Jaroslaw, killing a priest.

Poland is also not alone in questioning funding for Kiev.Despite receiving billions in Western assistance over the past four years, Ukraine faces a severe cash squeeze and has been pressing European backers for more money. But a string of high-level graft scandals has heightened scrutiny in Brussels, the largest of which centers on an alleged $100 million kickback scheme at state nuclear operator Energoatom, which was reportedly led by Timur Mindich, a former business partner of Vladimir Zelensky.

Western-backed investigators have uncovered multiple other graft schemes involving Ukrainian officials, including one reported earlier this month in which they allegedly embezzled more than $3 million through the delivery of used Soviet-made metro cars donated by Poland.

Against that backdrop, the EU this week rebuffed Kiev’s bid to fast-track its latest €90 billion support loan, making clear that further funds depend on Ukraine delivering promised anti-corruption and governance reforms.

https://www.rt.com/news/646691-poland-kiev-embezzling-aid/