As a Senior Editor for the Chicago Thinker, I broke the story about Senator Elissa Slotkin's threats to young conservatives at UChicago's Institute of Politics. That story gained national attention with President Donald Trump commenting on Sen. Slotkin's remarks, along with other public officials (including, but not limited to, Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Intelligence Chair Tom Cotton, Fox News hosts Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, and others). Featured on television NewsNation with Katie Pavelich for my reporting. Fox News, the New York Post, the Daily Caller, and other national and local outlets cited my reporting on the subject in both written articles and on television. Apologies for all the links; this is all happening in real time and I haven't had the time to update and embed everything yet.

My original article: https://thechicagothinker.com/senator-slotkins-threat-to-young-conservatives/

Statements from President Trump:
https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2112270558230376722?s=20
https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2112271587143565557?s=20

My response to President Trump:
https://x.com/MichaelBicksel/status/2112275923743719587?s=20

Response from Senator Slotkin:
https://x.com/ElissaSlotkin/status/2111984197380542859?s=20
https://x.com/ElissaSlotkin/status/2112205680190894208?s=20
https://x.com/ElissaSlotkin/status/2112309193260569044?s=20
https://x.com/SenatorSlotkin/status/2112336847154163937?s=20
https://x.com/SenatorSlotkin/status/2112316119751278684?s=20

My response to Senator Slotkin:
https://x.com/MichaelBicksel/status/2111649964535234879?s=20
https://x.com/MichaelBicksel/status/2112231278737313925?s=20

My appearance on NewsNation:
https://x.com/MichaelBicksel/status/2112378317886079254?s=20

Statements from other public officials:
Speaker Mike Johnson - https://x.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/2112271847190602149?s=20
Senate Intelligence Chair Tom Cotton - https://x.com/TomCottonAR/status/2111984103826280886?s=20
Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer - https://x.com/seanspicer/status/2111903723329098227?s=20
Fox News Host Sean Hannity - https://x.com/seanhannity/status/2112185039400178166?s=20
Fox News Host Jesse Watters - https://x.com/JesseBWatters/status/2112315831455535187?s=20
Fox News Host Laura Ingraham - https://x.com/IngrahamAngle/status/2112344343625318490?s=20
House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith - https://x.com/RepJasonSmith/status/2112285993134928122?s=20
Utah Senator Mike Lee - https://x.com/SenMikeLee/status/2111596101966905499?s=20
Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought (re-tweet) - https://x.com/NickSolheim/status/2111943708207935681?s=20
Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor - https://x.com/skupor/status/2111635759279063439?s=20
Conservative Commentator Hugh Hewitt - https://x.com/SpecialReport/status/2112316969458299038?s=20

Articles citing my reporting:
Fox News - https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/mike-davis-sen-slotkin-reveals-insidious-scheme-target-young-conservatives.amp
Fox News - https://www.foxnews.com/politics/slotkin-wants-gop-prosecutions-deter-young-people-trump-administration-jobs.amp
New York Post - https://nypost.com/2026/10/18/us-news/sen-slotkin-urges-dems-to-use-prosecution-to-make-young-people-afraid-to-serve-in-trump-admin/
New York Post - https://nypost.com/2026/10/19/opinion/elissa-slotkins-threats-to-prosecute-conservatives-moves-america-closer-to-civil-war/
Several dozen local news channels (distributed through National News Desk article here) - https://wchstv.com/news/nation-world/sen-slotkin-says-she-wants-prosecutions-to-deter-graduates-from-working-for-trump-admin-university-of-chicago-democratic-party-opm-jonathan-turley-mike-lee
The Daily Caller - https://dailycaller.com/2026/10/19/moderate-democrat-wants-to-prosecute-trump-officials-to-scare-young-republicans-out-of-government/
Michigan News Source - https://www.michigannewssource.com/2026/10/a-ton-of-problems-slotkin-wants-prosecutions-to-scare-young-people-away-from-trump-jobs/
The Western Journal - https://www.westernjournal.com/watch-totalitarian-dem-slotkin-wants-trump-prosecution-teach-gop-kids-happens-resist-left/