Wink Martindale, the popular TV and radio presenter known for hosting Tic-Tac-Dough and Gambit, has died. He was 91.
Born Winston Conrad Martindale on Dec. 4, 1933, in Jackson, Tennessee, Martindale is credited with setting up Elvis Presley's first interview after Memphis radio station WHBQ played his debut recording "That's All Right Mama" on July 10, 1954.
Martindale broke into television at WHBQ-TV in Memphis, where he hosted Mars Patrol, a science-fiction themed show for children, and Teenage Dance Party, where he interviewed Presley on June 16, 1956.
His first game show was NBC's What's This Song? (1964-1965), followed by NBC's Words and Music, CBS' Gambit, and his most famous game show, Tic-Tac-Dough.
Martindale also had success as a recording artist, selling more than one million copies of the spoken-word narrative song "Deck of Cards" in 1959.
He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006.
Martindale was transferred to Los Angeles to host KHJ in 1959 and moved between different stations in the region for decades. He was a host on Gene Autry's KMPC (now KSPN) for 12 years.
Martindale got his start in show business as a teenaged disc jockey in his hometown of Jackson, Tennessee, earning just $25 a week, before moving up to WHBQ, where he met the King of Rock and Roll.
It was Martindale's WHBQ colleague, Dewey Phillips, who introduced Presley to listeners by playing "That's All Right, Mama" on his nighttime show Red, Hot, and Blue. As Martindale would later recall, it was his job to call Presley's mother to set up an interview. Elvis was so nervous about the excitement generated by the song that he had gone to the movie theater.
“They found him sitting there by himself and brought him to the station," Martindale recalled during an interview with Television Academy Foundation in 2018. "Dewey put him in front of a microphone and just started talking to him. So I met Elvis that night. He became my friend and he continued to be my friend until the day he died.”
Martindale and Presley became good friends, and one of the singer's former girlfriend's, Sandy, became Martindale's second wife in 1975. She was at his side when he died at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif. on Tuesday.
Martindale also hosted annual telethons for Cerebral Palsy and St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
He is survived by his wife Sandra, his daughters Lisa, Lyn and Laura, his sister Geraldine, and his “honorary son,” Eric.
The White House has vowed that Kilmar Abrego Garcia will "never" live in the United States again, as the Trump administration releases evidence to back up its claims about the Salvadoran man's gang affiliation.
"He will never live in the United States of America," said press secretary Karoline Leavitt, calling Garcia a "wife beater."
The administration's critics have said Garcia, widely depicted as an innocent "Maryland man" in the media, was wrongly deported to his native El Salvador without due process. Trump officials maintain that Garcia is a gang member, and they have emphasized that he was living in the U.S. illegally.
A federal judge has ordered Trump to bring Garcia, who is being held in an infamous prison in El Salvador, back to the United States. The Supreme Court has been less definitive, saying Trump must "facilitate" the man's return.
The administration has responded to critics with defiance, releasing police records Wednesday detailing Garcia's MS-13 ties. The files revealed that Garcia, while living in the U.S. illegally, was arrested with known MS-13 members outside of a Home Depot in 2019.
A police informant identified Garcia as a member of the gang, providing his rank and nickname, and immigration judges found the evidence convincing enough to deny him bail. Nevertheless, he received a "withholding of removal," shielding him from being sent back to his homeland over fears of persecution by Barrio 18, an MS-13 rival.
The Department of Homeland Security also shared a protective order Wednesday sought by Garcia's American wife, who alleged he severely beat her. She has since changed her story, however, as she fights for his return to the U.S.
"Things did not escalate, and I decided not to follow through with the civil court process," she said in a new statement. "We were able to work through this situation privately as a family, including by going to counselling. Our marriage only grew stronger in the years that followed."
At a press briefing Wednesday, Press Secretary Leavitt repeated the allegations against "wife beater" Garcia and said he would be promptly deported again if returned from El Salvador.
"If he [Mr Ábrego García] ever ends up back in the United States, he would immediately be deported again," she said.
"He will never live in the United States of America."
The government's lawyers have also said Garcia, if returned to the U.S., would either be removed to a third country, or have his withholding order instantly revoked to facilitate his return to El Salvador.
A Democratic senator from Maryland, Chris Van Hollen, traveled to El Salvador on Wednesday to see Garcia but was denied entry to the prison where he is being kept.
Some argue that Democrats are walking into a trap by rushing to Garcia's defense. The public is generally supportive of Trump's immigration crackdown, and now that the White House has shared concrete evidence of Garcia's dubious character, public sympathy for the "Maryland man" could soon dry up.
As she continues to face rumors of divorce, Michelle Obama's own brother, Craig Robinson, is sharing his past doubts about Barack Obama.
In an episode of their new podcast IMO, Robinson recalled his first impression of the future president, and it wasn't good.
"And I've told this story many times about when you first started dating Barack. So Mich starts to date Barack, and we don't know who this guy is, we're just like, 'Barack? Who's got a name like Barack?' And I'm thinking it's gonna last a month like most of your relationships," Robinson said.
"That’s not true. I’ve had many a long-term boyfriend,” Obama replied.
The Obamas met at the Chicago law firm Sidley Austin. They married in 1992 and had two daughters. Michelle Obama has admitted to feeling conflicted about putting her personal ambitions on hold to raise a family.
"Something had to give and it was my aspirations and dreams. I made that concession, not because he said, 'You have to quit your job.' It felt like, 'I can't do all of this. So I have to tone down my aspirations. I have to dial it back," she confessed in her 2020 documentary Becoming.
The former First Lady has also been open about using marriage counseling to work through rough patches.
Her husband recently acknowledged that their marriage was in a "deficit" after years spent in public life.
Rumors of divorce began swirling in January after Michelle skipped two high-profile events, Jimmy Carter's funeral and President Trump's inauguration.
After weeks of dodging the speculation, Michelle Obama dismissed the chatter in a podcast appearance with actress Sophia Bush.
“And that’s the thing that we as women struggle with — disappointing people,” she said.
“So much so that people, they couldn’t even fathom that I was making a choice for myself, that they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing.”
In the same interview, Obama said she felt liberated to put herself first and "make some big girl decisions."
"Now is the time for me to start asking myself these hard questions of, ‘Who do I truly want to be every day?’ And that changes," she said.
"So, who do I want to have a lunch with? How long do I want to stay in a place? Do I want to travel? If a girlfriend calls and says, ‘Let’s go here,’ I can say, ‘Yes, I can.’ And I’m trying to do that more and more."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
DEI agendas still found in law schools, colleges of education, engineering, nursing, more
A report from an education industry watchdog confirms that hundreds of colleges and universities across the nation are defying President Donald Trump's executive orders to end promotions for the discrimination found in "diversity, equity, and inclusion" ideologies on their campuses.
Many are simply relabeling the offices, excising the DEI moniker and installing "Advocacy," "Belonging," "Community," "Inclusive," "Resilience" and the like, the report said.
It's from Defending Education, an arm of Parents Defending Education, and confirmed 243 universities still are running their DEI agenda through on-campus offices.
The organization reported it reviewed schools in 46 states plus the District of Columbia, assessing the work of 259 institutions.
Colleges and universities with active DEI projects totaled 243 and total active DEI offices/programming (including colleges or departments) totaled 388.
They are found in business schools, law schools, colleges of education, engineering, dentistry, medicine, nursing, health and more.
"This investigation is intended to track the current state of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) offices and programming (names will vary) at colleges and universities. It is meant to identify which institutions currently have DEI offices, have shut them down, or appear to have renamed or rebranded their DEI offices and programming," the report said.
"To date, Defending Education has tracked 243 universities which still have institution-wide DEI offices and/or programming in operation, 166 schools or colleges (such as Colleges of Education, Engineering, or Medicine, etc.), with an overall total of 388 currently active DEI offices and programming."
Further, it reported, "Additionally, 28 institutions and schools/colleges appear to have renamed or rebranded their DEI offices, 16 universities have removed webpages and/or shut down DEI initiatives, and in a few cases, have moved the DEI webpage behind an institutional login. These cases are noted with an archived page of that institution's former DEI page."
There are some, like the University of Alaska Anchorage, where officials "seem to have completely shut down DEI operations," and the University of Michigan, which "has allegedly shut down its overarching 'Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.'"
But at Michigan Law, or the LSA Department of Psychology, the ideology, which largely is based on discrimination based on race, sex and such, "still have active DEI pages."
A report on the dispute, from the Washington Stand, explained the report is not exhaustive.
And Family Research Council Senior Fellow for Education Studies Meg Kilgannon said, "It would be naive to think that reforming educational institutions could be accomplished by the stroke of a pen."
She continued, "DEI is rooted in a belief system that is enforced, but more than that, it is accepted and believed. The hearts and minds of people running colleges and universities must change if we want true reform. It will take generations to transform higher education."
Trump condemned the agenda in his order, describing how the agenda violates "the text and spirit of our longstanding federal civil-rights laws."
Further, he said, they undermine traditional American values.
His order included instructions for schools to purge DEI offices and programs and instead, enforce federal civil rights laws.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
At issue is the meaning of 14th Amendment's 'And subject to the jurisdiction thereof' clause
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether the U.S. Constitution actually includes "birthright citizenship," the idea that any baby born on U.S. soil regardless of the legal or illegal status of the parents is a U.S. citizen … or not!
That has been the accepted standard for years now, but Trump, pointing out that there remain open questions about the meaning of one of the clauses in the amendment, moved another direction with his executive order.
He pointed out the 14th Amendment states, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."
At issue is the meaning of "And subject to the jurisdiction thereof."
He simply said that children born to illegal immigrants or those who are in the U.S. on temporary non-immigrant visas are not automatically citizens by birthright.
The court justices will hear arguments on the differing interpretations on May 15.
A report at Fox News explained the Trump administration reached out to the high court after lower courtrs refused to accept that interpretation of the Constitution.
The administration asked the court to allow a narrow version of the order to proceed.
This is another one of the situations where district judges, at the entry level into the federal court system, took on the authority to manage the executive branch decisions by themselves, with nationwide injunctions coming from judges in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington state.
"Acting U.S. Solicitor General Sarah Harris asked the justices to limit the scope of the rulings to cover only individuals directly impacted by the relevant courts," the report explained.
"These cases – which involve challenges to the President's January 20, 2025 Executive Order concerning birthright citizenship – raise important constitutional questions with major ramifications for securing the border," Harris said.
Ultimately, nearly two dozen leftist states and organizations have sued.
Those political interests claim that the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to people born on U.S. soil, no matter the circumstances.
Similar opposing arguments were presented to the high court during Trump's first term, when he barred immigration from countries that supported terrorism, and a long list of groups complained that he was unconstitutionally targeting "Muslim" countries.
In that case, the justices eventually affirmed Trump's policy.
This video shows Trump comment on the case the moment he heard the news it would be heard by the nation's highest court:
WND previously has reported that Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Trump's position.
"Courts are empowered by the Constitution to resolve cases and controversies, not to issue sweeping policy proclamations or manage the executive branch," Skrmetti said in a statement. "The American people are the ultimate source of authority and legitimacy for every branch of our government, and every court interpreting the Constitution must therefore adhere to the understanding of the voters who adopted the constitutional language.
"Undermining the sovereignty of the American people through judicial overreach threatens to alienate the people from our constitutional system and thereby cause grievous harm to liberty and public order. Our system depends on checks and balances and each branch of government, at both the federal and state levels, is by design intended to push back against overreach by the other branches. That tension between branches is how we prevent the concentration of undue power in any one place and thus keep Americans free. We look forward to the Supreme Court clarifying these fundamental issues and will continue to litigate strategically to advance the interests of Tennessee."
His announcement explained, "According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, over nine million illegal aliens have entered our country in just the past few years. After crossing the border, many illegal aliens have moved into interior states like Tennessee. This voluminous influx has caused significant strain on resources and poses ongoing economic, health, and public safety challenges for Tennessee and many other states. While lax border security in the past caused much of the problem, it was incentivized and compounded by an expansive interpretation of the Citizenship Clause which is not consistent with numerous sources contemporaneous with the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment."
It said, "The Supreme Court of the United States has never squarely addressed the scope of the Citizenship Clause, though government actors have for decades operated under the assumption that the clause guarantees birthright citizenship in almost all circumstances."
A decision that the "jurisdiction" clause limits those who are granted U.S. citizenship would be a huge weapon in the arsenal presidents have to protect the integrity of America's borders, the nation's security, and its citizens.
Tennessee's filing supports Trump's application to stay sweeping preliminary injunctions by multiple district courts in cases addressing birthright citizenship.
It stresses that courts should interpret the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution "in accordance with its original public meaning and should only exercise their judicial power within the confines of specific cases and controversies and consistent with principles of separation of powers."
Trump's Executive Order 14160, "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship," is his belief that there should be limits. Otherwise, the practice encourages a thriving "birth tourism" industry where illegals break into the U.S., give birth, then obtain public benefits through the status of that child.
The clause was ratified in 1869 and addressed the infamous Supreme Court ruling in Dred Scott that denied citizenship to blacks.
Trump's argument is that the protections of citizenship do not automatically fall on children born of illegal aliens, or those who are in the nation of temporary visas, as there remain questions whether those are "subject to the jurisdiction."
Earlier, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost signed on to a brief supporting Trump's position. He joined 17 other Republican attorneys general to endorse the clarification that children born of illegals inside the United States do not qualify for automatic citizenship.
The states are harmed because such an agenda imposes costs on them.
California's policy influencers are showing a lackluster response to Kamala Harris's potential run for governor, according to a newly released survey, Fox News reported.
The survey, conducted among California voters and policy insiders, reveals a stark division in enthusiasm for Harris, suggesting a challenging path if she decides to enter the gubernatorial race.
The survey, a collaboration between Politico and UC Berkeley’s Citrin Center, highlights the mixed reactions of different demographic groups toward Harris's potential candidacy. Although Harris has not officially declared her candidacy for the Californian governorship, she continues to be a notable figure on the political stage. Recently, Harris positioned herself as the Democratic nominee in the 2024 presidential race following President Joe Biden's exit.
Among the general populace of registered California voters surveyed, there appears to be a relatively favorable outlook toward Harris's potential candidacy. Approximately one-third of these voters expressed feelings of joy, should she decide to pursue the state’s top executive position. However, this sentiment is not echoed to the same extent by the state’s policy influencers.
For policy insiders, the reaction is less enthusiastic, with thirty-six percent expressing a complete lack of excitement about Harris making a gubernatorial bid. The survey also showed a smaller faction of influencers in various camps, with 22% feeling mostly positive, and a minority feeling either upset or extremely pleased.
This apparent disconnect between general voters and policy insiders might suggest a unique challenge for Harris, should she attempt to navigate California’s intricate political landscape.
Diving deeper into demographic details, the survey uncovers diverse reactions based on racial backgrounds. While 35% of Black voters felt joyful and a similar proportion were mostly excited about Harris's possible entry into state politics, the responses among Latino and Asian voters presented a less optimistic picture.
Latino voters showed mixed reactions, with 19% feeling a sense of despondency about Harris’s potential campaign. Similarly, among Asian voters surveyed, irritation was voiced by 18%, underscoring potential hurdles in gaining widespread demographic support.
Independent voters also presented a mixed narrative. A significant segment—26%—felt irritated, while 21% expressed hopelessness about the scenario of Harris entering the gubernatorial fray.
According to Jack Citrin, a political science professor involved in the survey, the shifting dynamics within certain voter groups, particularly Latinos who are increasingly gravitating towards former President Trump, add complexity to Harris's potential bid. Citrin noted that the sentiment shift is almost unexpected given past voting trends in the state.
Kamala Harris, though appearing less frequently in public post-2024 presidential race, has maintained her political activism, notably critiquing the fast-paced implementations of the Trump administration's Project 2025. Despite a subdued public presence, Harris has continued to affirm her political engagement through social media and public statements, confidently asserting her ongoing involvement in political matters.
Sharing her commitment to remain politically active, Harris posted a short speech clip, reaffirming her resolve to stay engaged in political discourse: "I'll see you out there." This suggests her intent to maintain a significant role even outside of direct electoral candidacies.
While she has not declared her candidacy for the governorship, her public statements and continued visibility suggest she remains open to future leadership roles, potentially building towards a 2028 presidential run. The insights gleaned from the survey illustrate a landscape that Harris would need to thoughtfully navigate if she decides to officially enter the competition for California’s governorship.
The findings from the survey provide a nuanced overview of the current enthusiasm—or lack thereof—for a Harris gubernatorial bid, contextualized within the broader political environment. These insights not only shed light on the complex opinions of California’s diverse electorate but also reflect the challenges inherent in political re-engagement after a significant federal-level campaign.
Ultimately, the road ahead for Kamala Harris appears to be paved with both opportunities to capture certain voter bases and challenges needing strategic engagement to overcome marked ambivalence, especially from pivotal policy influencers and independent segments.
A week after Gene Hackman and his wife were found dead, state health investigators in New Mexico found a severe rat infestation at their home, according to a report.
Hackman, 95, died days after his wife and caregiver, 65-year-old Betsy Arakawa, was killed by a rat-borne illness.
New Mexico officials who performed a health assessment of the home found rat droppings, dead rats, and rat nests in some outbuildings and garages, the Daily Mail reported.
The discovery could explain how Hackman's wife came to contract hantavirus, a rare but deadly respiratory disease that spreads through infected rat feces.
Police bodycam video released Tuesday shows deputies discovering the couple's partially mummified remains inside their squalid home.
One of the couple's surviving German Shepherds was found guarding Arakawa's body in the bathroom. Hackman was found on the other side of the house.
Police also shed light on Arakawa's last hours alive, sharing details of her final communications, an Amazon order and internet searches.
The new information was shared over the objections of Hackman's family, who sought to block records from the death investigation for privacy reasons. A judge allowed most of those records to be released but ordered images of the bodies to be blurred.
According to a police report, Arakawa used Google to look up if COVID causes dizziness or nosebleeds on February 10.
The next day, she emailed her message therapist to cancel an appointment, while noting her husband had flu and cold-like symptoms, although he tested negative for COVID. Arakawa also ordered oxygen canisters from Amazon to help with breathing.
It was previously reported that she sought medical treatment from a local clinic. She never answered a missed call placed on February 12, her presumed date of death. Hantavirus can kill a person within 24 to 48 hours of the first symptoms, if left untreated.
Hackman may have been unaware that his wife was dead for several days before he succumbed to heart disease, with Alzheimer's a contributing factor, on February 18. One of the couple's dogs also died from starvation and dehydration.
Their bodies were not found until a week later on February 26, when neighborhood security made the grim discovery.
Hackman, one of the most esteemed actors of his generation and an Oscar winner, had been out of the public eye for years before his shocking death.
The White House is ending the privileged press access that left-leaning news wires like the Associated Press have traditionally received.
The AP, Reuters, and Bloomberg will no longer get a guaranteed slot in the daily press pool that covers White House business, the New York Post reported. The wire services now have to compete with print publications for access on a rotating basis.
The press pool travels with the president and covers events where space is limited, such the Oval Office and Air Force One. Trump is known to engage with pool reporters in long, discursive Q&A sessions.
The makeup of the press pool has traditionally been dictated by the White House Correspondents' Association, which represents journalists, but the Trump administration has been taking that over, with press Secretary Karoline Leavitt deciding which organizations get pool access each day.
Wire services like the AP and Reuters provide syndicated news copy to news outlets around the globe. Their widely disseminated coverage often comes with a liberal spin.
For example, the AP has described the illegal immigrant at the center of a current international controversy, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, as a "Maryland man" despite the fact that he entered the United States illegally from his native El Salvador.
The AP, Reuters, and Bloomberg have traditionally had guaranteed access to White House events, but the Trump administration is changing that. In lieu of a reserved space for the three wire services, the White House is adding a second slot for print journalists, and the wire services will be treated like other print media.
The move is an apparent workaround to a court ruling that ordered the White House to unblock the AP, which has been barred from the pool since February for refusing to change its style guide to reflect Trump's executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
US District Judge Trevor McFadden's ruling that the AP "cannot be treated worse than its peer wire services” gave the White House some flexibility.
The administration's moves have been condemned by legacy media as an attack on press freedom, but the White House has said the shakeup will make the White House more accessible to a wider variety of sources.
“The makeup of the pool is far more reflective of the media habits of the American people in 2025,” a senior White House official told The New York Post.
“The White House press policy continues to be grounded in fairness for all outlets that wish to cover the White House.”
The White House Correspondents' Association cried foul, saying the latest changes are meant to "retaliate against news organizations for coverage the White House doesn’t like.”
The AP said, "The administration’s actions continue to disregard the fundamental American freedom to speak without government control or retaliation. This is a grave disservice to the American people.”
Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro shared hospital footage of his recovery from bowel surgery, as he continues to deal with the aftermath of a stabbing that almost killed him.
The right-wing leader miraculously survived losing 40% of his blood after he was stabbed in the abdomen while campaigning for the presidency in 2018. He has since undergone multiple surgeries stemming from the attempted assassination.
The latest surgery, a 12-hour operation to treat a bowel obstruction that involved reconstructing part of his abdominal wall, was his most complex and invasive yet. The procedure was successful, and Bolsonaro was sent to the intensive care unit (ICU) for observation.
Bolsonaro shared videos of him moving around with help from a walker and hospital staff at DF Star Hospital in Brasilia.
- Jair Bolsonaro.
- Michelle Bolsonaro.
- DF Star - Rede D’OR.
- Brasília/DF, 15 Abr 15h30 Terça-Feira. pic.twitter.com/97zlDiEiK3— Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) April 15, 2025
"This is the period in which the organs that were manipulated during the procedure lasting more than 12 hours begin to deflate, allowing us to observe the first signs of a real situation," he said.
"I remain focused on the recovery process, which from what I understand was the most invasive procedure that took place, seeking strength to get out of bed once again, after facing the sixth surgery resulting from the stabbing suffered by a former member of the PSOL, a historic ally of the PT," Bolsonaro wrote on X, tying the attack to the ruling Workers' Party.
The ex-president was still sharing updates from the hospital Tuesday, his third day in the ICU.
Bolsonaro had been planning to campaign across Brazil's northeastern region when he was hospitalized with severe abdominal pain Friday in Santa Cruz, Rio Grande do Norte.
He was later brought to a hospital in Natal, the capital of Rio Grande do Norte, and then transferred to the nation's capital Brasilia on Saturday.
A vocal support of President Trump, Bolsonaro has faced a thicket of legal troubles since narrowly losing re-election in 2022 to current president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro was recently cleared of charges for faking a COVID vaccine certificate, but he is still facing trial for an alleged coup attempt, and he is legally barred from running for office until 2030.
The 70-year-old has denied any wrongdoing, saying he's the target of political persecution by his leftist rival, Lula.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
'The trend to the GOP appears real and partly due to its focus on working-class voters while Democrats embrace elites'
Democrats lost, catastrophically, during the 2024 election. They lost the White House by landslides in both the popular and Electoral College vote. They lost the Senate, they failed to capture the House.
And that was the result after polling showed the Republican party with a single-point advantage among voters.
Now that advantage is up to five points.
That's from polling by NatpolitanNews, which explained, "In March, 46% of voters considered themselves Republicans or leaned Republican, while 41% considered themselves Democrats or leaned Democrat.
"These totals, derived from interviews with 9,300 Registered Voters during the month of March, have remained steady for the first quarter of 2025," it said.
Further, "Fifty-one percent (51%) of men said they were Republicans or leaned Republican while 38% said the opposite (down 4 points from February). Among women, the numbers were little changed with 46% Democrat/lean Democrat and 41% Republican/lean Republican. While the Republicans gained ground since October, those gains have leveled off as the Trump administration approaches its first 100 days in office."
The Washington Examiner explained it was only two years ago that Gallup confirmed "more Americans identified as Republicans than Democrats for the first time in over three decades."
Now that trend has grown "as the GOP has won over more support from Hispanic and black voters," the report said.
The report said Gallup's results of 10,000 found 45% identified as Republicans and 44% as Democrats.
But the report explained, "The trend to the GOP appears real and partly due to its focus on working-class voters while Democrats embrace elites. Rasmussen said that change has helped the Republicans win over key minorities."
Rasmussen said there is a "long-term shift" that is happening.
"It's often talked about as Republicans becoming the working-class party. While not entirely accurate, the shifting party coalitions are helping the GOP. The working class shift is helping R's make preliminary inroads into the black community and strong gains among Hispanic voters," he said.
He also cited the "extreme" views of Democrats, pointing out it is hard for voters to align with those perspectives.