Californians May Have to Decide Between Two Trump Supporters to Become Governor; TikTok’s Very Bad Weekend–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: Jan. 26, 2026

Indy Digest: Jan. 26, 2026

While much of the news coverage is rightfully focused on the goings-on in Minneapolis, I’d like to draw your attention to a potential California political trainwreck—that is looking increasingly possible.

Let’s head to The New York Times’ poll tracker for the California governor’s race:

That print is tiny, so here’s the scoop: All four of the most recent polls show Republicans Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton in the top two spots.

As you probably know, California has an open primary, where the top two finishers, regardless of party affiliation, move on to the general election. As of now, there are two Republicans—Bianco and Hilton—and about eight Democrats with some degree of name recognition who have declared their candidacy. Even though the candidates with the “D” next to their name are getting a lot more collective support than the candidates with the “R” next to their name, that “D” support is getting spread between about eight different candidates, whereas the “R” support is getting more or less divided into just two.

As a result, come November, Californians may have to choose between a problematic county sheriff and a rich Fox News contributor—both fervent Trump supporters—to become our governor. If this were what the majority of California voters wanted, then OK, sure, fine. But it’s definitely NOT.

Potential. Political. Trainwreck.

Now, all the caveats: It’s early; the primary election doesn’t happen until June. Lots of voters are undecided. Some candidates could drop out between now and the March filing deadline. Etc. Etc.

But make no mistake: This potential political trainwreck could become a reality if the state’s Democrats don’t get their collective you-know-what together VERY soon.

—Jimmy Boegle

More News

• If you have not seen Palm Springs Police Chief Andy Mills’ recent take on the ICE-raids messes in Minneapolis, locally and around the country, you really need to take a look. Here it is, on his Facebook page. Key quote: “Tactics permitted and encouraged by ICE leadership led to this moment. Warrantless searches of homes, dragging a pregnant woman by her ankle through a street, wearing masks to intimidate and prevent accountability, calling American citizens terrorists because they protest, intentionally standing in the path of vehicles and then shooting people as they pass, arresting American citizens without reasonable suspicion, some of whom are law enforcement, profiling people based on race, and now shooting a man at point blank range in what appears to be an unjustified shooting. The objective seems to be overwhelming force to suppress the exercise of Constitutionally guaranteed rights of freedom of speech, the right to be armed, protection from unreasonable search and seizure and the right to due process. Americans and residents are not enemy combatants, these rights are guaranteed by the blood of patriots.”

• Could massive layoffs be coming to The Washington Post? The Guardian reports: “The Washington Post has consistently produced high-quality, news cycle-leading reporting over the first year of Donald Trump’s chaotic and unpredictable second administration. But that work has been produced under a cloud of uncertainty and rumors of widespread job cuts. Those long-rumored cuts now appear to be close, with staffers expecting the ax to drop in early February—though nothing is certain. Inside the Post, staffers have tossed around estimates of potential cuts, with most exceeding 100, which would represent more than 10% of the newsroom—but no one really knows how widespread the cuts will be – or in fact if they will happen at all. The sections most likely to be affected by the cuts include sports, metro and foreign, according to staffers who spoke with the Guardian. On Sunday morning, members of the foreign staff, concerned that the section could be decimated by cuts, sent a letter to the Post’s billionaire owner, Jeff Bezos, urging him to change course and conveying the significance of international reporting for the institution—and for the public interest. Approximately 60 people signed the letter.”

• One thing giving credence to these rumors: Drama surrounding the Post’s planned coverage of the Winter Olympics. The New York Times says: “The newspaper originally intended to send more than a dozen journalists to cover the event, which has long been a major priority for the Post. Those employees were notified in a terse email on Friday, less than three weeks before the Olympics begin, that the Post would not send any of them. Now, the Post expects to send four journalists, according to three people with knowledge of the decision. A spokeswoman for the Post confirmed the paper would be sending a small contingent. … Employees at the Post were taken by surprise, in part because the company had already made significant investments to cover the Winter Games. Flights had already been booked for the journalists’ travel to Italy, where the event is being held, and the Post had already spent roughly $80,000 for lodging.”

• While what, exactly, happened remains unclear, it is certain that TikTok had a very bad weekend, on the heels of a Trump administration-brokered deal to hand over the U.S. portion of the business to new, non-Chinese owners. The Washington Post reports: “Throngs of TikTok users say the social media platform suppressed or delayed videos about the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis man by federal immigration personnel, alleging that posts tied to the incident drew few views or were stalled amid broader technical issues on the site. Some said their posts about the deadly encounter stalled, while others complained their videos received a fraction of their normal viewership. Many accused the tech company of silencing them under a #TikTokCensorship hashtag on X—formerly known as Twitter—Bluesky and Facebook. … But the problems on TikTok appeared to extend beyond political content focusing on ICE’s Minneapolis encounter. Thousands of TikTok users reported outages Sunday on the viral video-sharing site, including trouble posting videos, not being able to see follower-count changes, and videos showing no views, according to Downdetector, which tracks outages based on user input.”

• The rich and the powerful—especially Apple CEO Tim Cook—continue to kiss up to the Trump administration. The Hollywood Reporter says: “On Saturday night, as a major snowstorm hit much of the United States, and Minneapolis erupted in violence after the ICE shooting of a protestor, First Lady Melania Trump and director Brett Ratner held a private screening of their upcoming doc, Melania, at the White House. The black-tie event, which was not promoted or advertised, took place in the East Room of the White House and attracted about 70 VIP guests, including Queen Rania of Jordan; Zoom CEO Eric Yuan; Apple CEO Tim Cook; New York Stock Exchange CEO Lynn Martin; AMD CEO Lisa Su; Mike Tyson; socialite and Fiat heiress Azzi Agnelli; self-help guru Tony Robbins; fashion designer Adam Lippes; and photographer Ellen von Unwerth, who shot the poster for the film.”

• The Federal Communications Commission is again threatening talk shows—this time for supposedly violating “equal time” rules. CBS News reports: “The Federal Communications Commission warned TV broadcasters Wednesday that daytime talk shows and late-night programs must give equal time to opposing political candidates. The move addressed a genre of TV that President Trump has long argued is politically biased, leading to calls from the president to revoke broadcasters’ FCC licenses.  The announcement hinges on a decades-old federal law requiring any FCC-licensed broadcaster that lets a political candidate appear on its airwaves to also offer ‘equal opportunities’ to all other candidates running for the same office. The law exempts ‘bona fide newscasts’ and news interviews from the equal time rule.  In 2006, the FCC said the news exemption applied to an interview on ‘The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,’ meaning the late-night comedy show could feature then-California gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger on-air without also inviting his Democratic opponent. But in a four-page notice on Wednesday, the FCC said it is ‘not the case’ that all late-night and daytime entertainment shows are exempt. The regulator said it decides whether the exemption applies on a case-by-case basis, and it ‘has not been presented with any evidence’ that interviews on those shows qualify for the news exemption.”

• And finally … today’s recall news involves … chia seeds! Good Housekeeping reports: “On January 23, the FDA announced a voluntary recall by Navitas Organics for select lots of its 8-ounce Organic Chia Seeds. The recall includes the brand’s Organic Chia Seeds sold in 8-oz sealed stand-up pouches with the UPC 858847000284 printed on the package. … According to the FDA notice, the product is being recalled due to possible Salmonella contamination; however, Navitas Organics emphasized that it has not received any reports of Salmonella, and that no illnesses or adverse medical events have been reported to date.” They were sold nationwide online, including via Amazon, and at stores including Whole Foods.

Support the Independent!

All of our content, in print and online, is available for free. No paywalls. No subscription fees. No quarters necessary at newspaper boxes. However, all of this free coverage costs a LOT to report, write, fact-check, edit and distribute. If you would like to help us out, please click the button below and become a Supporter of the Independent. Thanks for reading!