Politics
Tacos, tonics and 'shadow work': L.A.'s answer to election anxiety
It was a classic fall Saturday in L.A. — sunny and 75 degrees — but about 30 Angelenos were glued to their screens.
Actor Bradley Whitford was Zooming in from New York to address members of Swing Left Los Feliz, a local chapter of the national progressive advocacy organization. The topic of the former “West Wing” star and vocal Democrat’s remarks: Election anxiety.
Concern over the outcome of the upcoming Nov. 5 vote is inevitable. The question is how to minimize the stress.
For some people, that looks like long yoga sessions, activating airplane mode and lots of hot tea. For others, talking it out is the best approach. In Los Angeles, there are many characteristically creative options to help stave off the existential despair, such as self-tapping workshops, guzzling cold-pressed juices and special taco deals.
Many of those who tuned in to see Whitford speak have been furiously phone-banking and knocking on doors for the Harris-Walz campaign and down-ballot Democratic candidates, hoping they can help turn the electoral tide blue.
The alternative — a red wave that carries former President Trump back to the White House — is an outcome many left-leaning Americans dread. Conservatives, meanwhile, are feeling a similar unease over the prospect of a Kamala Harris presidency. And there are data to prove it.
The American Psychological Assn. released polling earlier this month showing that worry over the election was a top stressor for U.S. adults. According to the group’s report, which included a survey conducted by the Harris Poll, 77% of respondents identified “the future of our nation” as a significant source of stress.
“It’s like when you get an MRI or a blood test and you have to wait for the results,” said Dr. Lynn Bufka, a clinical psychologist and deputy chief of professional practice at the APA. “During that time period it seems we have great potential to imagine all sorts of worst-case scenarios.”
As Sara Laufer, a nervous progressive who watched the Oct. 26 live stream with Whitford, said, “[I’m] focusing on what I can control, which are my emotions. And it’s not going to be an easy stretch.”
And, as Whitford reminded some of L.A.’s most dedicated partisans, there is still time to change people’s minds.
“I know the polls are absolutely terrifying, but if we get people out” to vote, Harris will win, Whitford said. “Not only is action the antidote to anxiety and despair, it really is truly making a difference.”
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As decision day draws near, many Americans become fixated on their hyperactive social media feeds.
The omnipresence of the Internet and social media in recent electoral cycles has allowed people to curate high-volume echo chambers where the most extreme electoral claims are amplified, driving fears ever higher.
James Long, a political science professor at the University of Washington, called the level of election anxiety this year “unprecedented,” even compared with 2016 and 2020.
That’s partly because of the compounding effects of misinformation and social media — and partly because people are more worried about the threat of post-election violence in the aftermath of the insurrection by a mob of Trump supporters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“Now it’s like waiting for a train to crash and seeing who survives,” Long said.
According to the APA report, 56% of adults said they believe the presidential election “could be the end of democracy in the U.S.”
That kind of anxiety can have serious physical and mental health consequences, according to Judson Brewer, a professor at Brown University’s School of Public Health.
“People lose sleep, people waste time, anxiety can raise people’s blood pressure, it affects people’s relationships — there’s all sorts of things,” he said.
As for democracy, it’s already underway, one vote at a time.
At a mobile voting center outside the Lawndale Library on a recent afternoon, foot traffic was light and there were no lines. With two large tents shading a ballot dropbox, five voting machines, and tablets to register to vote, the center is one of several touring the county through election day.
Angela Monge, 54, of Norwalk, said she is “worried about what will happen after the election.”
For Monge, a longtime TSA worker at Los Angeles International Airport, the image of Trump supporters storming the Capitol was still fresh in her mind.
“I remember that day,” she said.
While some Americans fear Trump’s policies on abortion, taxes and immigration, Bufka, the APA psychologist, said polling shows existential concern among supporters of both presidential candidates.
Many on either side of the political divide harbor deeply negative feelings about the opposition, which Bufka summed up as follows: “I can’t believe the candidate I don’t like is being elected, because how could you possibly believe that is a reasonable candidate for the presidency?”
Trump supporter Clarence Chapell of Gardena said in Lawndale this week that he’s most concerned about what will happen if Harris loses.
“If it’s a close election, that’s when a lot of conspiracies might come out,” the retiree said. “I think if it’s on the left side there could be a lot of violence … because of all that ‘If Trump’s elected there won’t be a democracy anymore and we’ll have fascism’ – all that bullcrap.”
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In a city known for ennui and ego — and an outsized share of America’s influencers — there are plenty of ways Angelenos can try to exorcise their election anxiety while still striking an artful pose for Instagram with a juice or taco in hand.
Pressed Juicery, which has 19 locations in the L.A. area, has not marketed any products as balms for election anxiety and stress. Nonetheless, two items — the Calm shot and Unwind tonic — have seen sales increases of at least 28% in October compared with the same month last year. (Reporter’s stress level after consumption: unchanged.)
“The general zeitgeist is doing the marketing for us,” said Andrei Najjar, Pressed’s senior vice president of brand and marketing. “There is clearly something going on.” That something, he believes, is the election.
Kreation Organic Juicery, with 23 locations in the L.A. area, has also seen a marked increase in sales of two juices claimed to relieve stress — though the company, like Pressed, has not explicitly marketed them for election anxiety relief.
Nikki Rahimian, Kreation’s in-house nutritionist, said sales of Destress and Hemp-Ade juices over the last two months are up about 30% compared with a year ago.
“Without us even having to do anything, we have seen a rise in sales of those two items,” said Rahimian, adding that it was “probably” due to people’s election stress. “It’s too much of a coincidence.”
The Hemp-Ade includes hemp oil, which Rahimian said “has been proven to calm the nervous system and chill you out.” As for the Destress juice, it is the hue of bubblegum and tastes slightly of, well, bubblegum. (Reporter’s stress level after consumption: unchanged.)
If juice doesn’t sound hearty enough, HomeState, the Texas-inflected taco chain with eight locations in Southern California, is rolling out a $70 “Election Night Survival Taco Kit.”
HomeState founder Briana Valdez said the kit, available all day on Nov. 5, was born out of a desire to provide customers with “an element of fun on a night which might otherwise be stressful.” Though the offering comes at “a really serious moment,” she said, “the next day, no matter what happens, you still have leftovers in the fridge.”
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While some Angelenos fill their stomachs to calm their nerves, proponents of the “Emotional Freedom Technique” take the edge off by executing a series of esoteric stress-relief exercises.
On Saturday, Alex Brown, founder of the health and wellness brand Good Active, is hosting “Release & Regulate: An EFT and Shadow Work Workshop” in Santa Monica. The event is billed as an opportunity to “regulate your nervous system and release limiting beliefs” ahead of election day.
Attendees will strive to achieve that by pressing or tapping certain places on their bodies and by diving “deep into the shadow parts of themselves,” according to Brown.
“I personally, and many of the people I surround myself with, have expressed feelings of anxiety going into this election. … That was our reason for creating this event: to create a space and a moment of peace for our community,” she said.
Forums convened for the purpose of sharing and managing feelings of election anxiety have cropped up across the country over the past few weeks. Book clubs are dedicating meetings to the topic, churches are opening their doors for community coping gatherings, and employers are hosting group listening sessions.
David Dunning, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan, suggests anyone who’s struggling with negative mental health impacts related to the election — such as anxiety, irritability or excessive rumination — take a break from election-related media and activities. Instead of doomscrolling or studying the latest polls, people should consider exercising, enjoying nature and hobbies, or socializing with friends.
“We can take time out to remember the other things that are important in life … and we can step aside from social media and the TV and the newspaper,” he said. “It’s time to get out of the rabbit hole and take an intermission.”
Politics
Conservative legal group targets CFPB rule mandating race, sex data in home loans
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
FIRST ON FOX: A Trump-aligned legal group is urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to scrap its demographic reporting mandate, arguing that the rule allows lenders to consider the race and sex of mortgage applicants as part of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
America First Legal said in a petition, first reviewed by Fox News Digital, that the CFPB should encourage mortgage lenders to focus strictly on the creditworthiness of home buyers. The CFPB’s Regulation C, which requires the lenders to track and report race and sex, is unconstitutional, the group argued.
“The disclosure of this information leaves applicants vulnerable to race- and sex-based discrimination by government and private actors in violation of federal civil rights law and the Constitution,” an America First Legal representative wrote.
A view of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) headquarters building in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 10, 2025. (Getty Images)
The petition comes as part of a broader effort by President Donald Trump to quash diversity, equity and inclusion, also known as DEI, in the public and private sectors. The petition aligns with an executive order Trump signed in April urging a “meritocracy and colorblind society.” The order was aimed at agencies responsible for evaluating people’s credit.
DEI is a framework that companies, schools, government agencies and other entities have adopted to promote equal treatment for minorities, but conservatives have long argued its practices can be discriminatory by improperly extending preferential treatment to them.
America First Legal said Regulation C flies in the face of the administration’s sweeping efforts to root out DEI across industries. The group’s petition functions as a request to the CFPB to formally begin the process of eliminating the regulation.
The Trump administration slashed $15 million in DEI contracts. (Reuters/Getty)
“The federal government has no business forcing Americans to disclose their race or sex as a condition of applying for a mortgage,” America First Legal President Gene Hamilton said in a statement. “Regulation C pressures lenders to sort borrowers by immutable characteristics and invites discrimination under the guise of ‘equity.’”
The CFPB was created by Congress in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis to investigate complaints about mortgages, various other loans and other banking activity that involves consumers.
Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, is also leading the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
But since its inception, Republicans have targeted the agency as a rogue entity that imposes unnecessary and burdensome regulations on financial institutions.
The acting director of the agency, Russell Vought, has sought to shutter the CFPB entirely, but those efforts have thus far been stalled by the courts, which have found that only Congress can get rid of it. The CFPB has remained somewhat operational, as it has been filing reports through late last year, and Vought recently requested an additional $145 million to fund it to remain compliant with a recent court order.
Politics
Thousands gather statewide in anti-ICE protests, including hundreds in Huntington Beach
More than 60 largely peaceful protests took place this weekend against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions, including several in Southern California.
But while many protests were without incident, they were not short on anger and moments of tension. Organizers called the gatherings the “ICE Out for Good” weekend of action in response to the fatal shooting of Renée Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis.
In Huntington Beach, Ron Duplantis, 72, carried a diagram to represent the three shots fired at Good, including one through her windshield and two others that appeared to go through her side window.
“Those last two shots,” he said, “make it clear to me that this is murder.”
Participants in the “ICE Out” protest hold signs Sunday in Huntington Beach.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
Huntington Beach has seen past clashes between Trump supporters and anti-racism activists, but as of mid-afternoon, Sunday’s protest was tense at times, but free of violence. About 300 people — and two dozen counterprotesters — stood outside City Hall, with protesters carrying anti-ICE signs, ringing cowbells and chanting “ICE out of O.C.”
As cars sped past them on Main Street, many motorists honked in a show of solidarity, while some rolled down their windows to shout their support for ICE, MAGA and President Trump.
“The reason why I’m here is democracy,” said Mary Artesani, a 69-year-old Costa Mesa resident carrying a sign that read “RESIST.” “They have to remember he won’t be in office forever.”
Participants in the “ICE Out” protest in Huntington Beach hold signs as a car with a MAGA hat in the windshield passes.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
The Trump administration has largely stood behind the ICE agent, identified as Jonathan Ross, with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem saying he acted in self-defense. Democratic officials and many members of the public have said the videos of the shooting circulating on social media appear to contradict at least some of the administration’s assertions.
“I’m outraged a woman was murdered by our government and our government lied to our faces about it,” said protester Tony Zarkades, 60, who has lived in the Huntington Beach area for nearly 30 years. A former officer in the Marines, Zarkades said he is thinking of moving to Orange to escape the presence of so many Trump supporters in Huntington Beach.
Large protests against ICE occurred in the Bay Area as well as Sacramento and other California cities over the weekend. In Oakland, hundreds demonstrated peacefully on Sunday, although the night before, protesters assembled at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and left graffiti, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle.
In Los Angeles on Saturday night, protesters marched through the downtown area to City Hall and past the Edward Roybal Federal Building, with the L.A. Police Department issuing a dispersal order at about 6:30 p.m., according to City News Service.
While many of the protests focused on what happened to Good in Minnesota, they also recognized Keith Porter Jr., a man killed by an off-dutyICE agent in Northridge on New Year’s Eve.
In Huntington Beach, the coastal community has long had a reputation as a Southern California stronghold for Republicans, though its politics have recently been shifting. Orange County has a painful legacy of political extremism, including neo-Nazism. In 2021, a “White Lives Matter” rally in the area ended in 12 arrests.
On Sunday, a small group of about 30 counterprotesters waved Trump and MAGA flags on a corner opposite from the anti-ICE rally.
Counterprotester Victoria Cooper, 72, holds signs and shouts at participants of the “ICE Out” protest in Huntington Beach.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
“We’re here to support our country and president and support ICE,” said Kelly Johnson, who gave his age as “old enough to be your sugar daddy.”
Wearing an “ICE Immigration: Making America Safe Again” T-shirt, Kelly said the protesters were “paid agitators” who had been lied to by the media.
“Look at the other angles of the [shooting] videos,” he said. “She ran over the officer.”
Standing with him was Jesse Huizar, 66, who said he identifies as a “Latino for Trump” and was here to “support the blue.”
The Chino resident said he came to the U.S. from Mexico when he was 5, but that he has no fear of ICE because he “came here legally.”
Huizar said Good’s death was sad, but that she “if she had complied, if she got out of her car and followed orders, she’d be alive right now.”
But their voices were largely overpowered by those of the anti-ICE protesters. One of the event’s organizers, 52-year-old Huntington Beach resident Denise G., who declined to give her last name, said they’ve been gathering in front of City Hall every Sunday since March, but that this was by far one of the largest turnouts they have seen.
She felt “devastated, angry, and more determined than ever” when she saw the video of Good’s shooting, she said.
Counterprotester Kelly Johnson stands across from the “ICE Out” demonstration.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
“It could be any one of us,” she said. “The people not out here today need to understand this could be their family member, their spouse, their children. The time is now. All hands on deck.”
Nearby, 27-year-old Yvonne Gonzales had gathered with about 10 of her friends. They said they were motivated to come because they were outraged by the shooting.
“I wish I was surprised by it,” Gonzales said, “but we’ve seen so much violence from ICE.”
She suspected that race was a factor in the outpouring of support, noting that Good was a white woman while many others who have been injured or killed by immigration enforcement actions have been people of color, but that it was still “great to see this turnout and visibility.”
A few feet away, 41-year-old Christie Martinez stood with her children, Elliott, 9, and Kane, 6. She teared up thinking about the shooting and the recent ICE actions in California, including the killing of Porter.
“It’s sad and sickening,” said Martinez, who lives in Westminster. “It makes me really sad how people are targeted because of their skin color.”
Politics
Video: Fed Chair Responds to Inquiry on Building Renovations
new video loaded: Fed Chair Responds to Inquiry on Building Renovations
transcript
transcript
Fed Chair Responds to Inquiry on Building Renovations
Federal prosecutors opened an investigation into whether Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, lied to Congress about the scope of renovations of the central bank’s buildings. He called the probe “unprecedented” in a rare video message.
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“Good evening. This new threat is not about my testimony last June or about the renovation of the Federal Reserve buildings. This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions, or whether instead, monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation.” “Well, thank you very much. We’re looking at the construction. Thank you.”
By Nailah Morgan
January 12, 2026
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