David Badash

The University of Oklahoma has placed a graduate student instructor on leave after they gave a student a failing grade for a gender-roles essay that appeared to be based on an interpretation of Christian Bible theology.

The student “publicly contested” the grade and “filed an illegal discrimination claim,” according to OU Daily, the university’s student-run news outlet.

She “says the failing grade she received on an essay where she cited the Bible was a violation of her right to free speech,” The Oklahoman reported. The news outlet also published the essay, which read in part:

“God made male and female and made us differently from each other on purpose and for a purpose. God is very intentional with what He makes, and I believe trying to change that would only do more harm. Gender roles and tendencies should not be considered ‘stereotypes’.”

The student also wrote that “Women naturally want to do womanly things because God created us with those womanly desires in our hearts. The same goes for men. God created men in the image of His courage and strength, and He created women in the image of His beauty. He intentionally created women differently than men and we should live our lives with that in mind.”

In notes to the student, also published by The Oklahoman, the instructor wrote: “Please note that l am not deducting points because you have certain beliefs, but instead l am deducting point[s] for you posting a reaction paper that does not answer the questions for this assignment, contradicts itself, heavily uses personal ideology over empirical evidence in a scientific class, and is at times offensive.”

“Additionally, to call an entire group of people ‘demonic’ is highly offensive, especially a minoritized population,” the instructor added.

The student had also written: “I strongly disagree with the idea from the article that encouraging acceptance of diverse gender expressions could improve students’ confidence. Society pushing the lie that there are multiple genders and everyone should be whatever they want to be is demonic and severely harms American youth. I do not want kids to be teased or bullied in school. However, pushing the lie that everyone has their own truth and everyone can do whatever they want and be whoever they want is not biblical whatsoever.”

According to The New York Post, the course was “taught by a transgender instructor.” The Post also reported that the student “presented a biblically fueled tirade against the notion that there are multiple genders.”

In a public statement, the University wrote that it “takes seriously concerns involving First Amendment rights, certainly including religious freedoms. Upon receiving notice from the student on the grading of an assignment, the University immediately began a full review of the situation and has acted swiftly to address the matter.”

The ACLU’s Gillian Branstetter, from a personal social media account, responded to the University’s statement and wrote: “The other side of the anti-DEI coin. Positions and accolades given to members of out-groups will be presumptively fraudulent while members of in-groups are given transparent pity grades and participation trophies. They’re creating the myth they sold themselves.”

Consumers reportedly placed fewer orders on Black Friday, yet another indication that consumer confidence is down. Despite the decrease, sales hit record highs, thanks in part to inflation and increased use of credit, including “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) programs. But the White House sees “good news” in the numbers.

“Although U.S. consumers spent more this Black Friday compared to last year,” Reuters reported, “price increases hampered online demand, according to Salesforce, with shoppers purchasing fewer items at checkout compared to last year.”

Newsweek, citing data from Salesforce published by Forbes, reported that “order volume fell by about 1 percent year over year, while average selling prices were up 7 percent—indicating that much of the growth was caused by inflation rather than any uptick in shopping enthusiasm.”

Overall, the “underlying details about spending patterns suggest this may not have been the economic boon the administration believes.”

According to Politico, “White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Sunday that record Black Friday sales underscore the administration’s optimism on economic growth despite concerns around tariffs and inflation.”

Hassett cited Black Friday’s sales numbers “as a sign of economic resilience,” Politico added.

“The good news around Thanksgiving is the sign of something that’s stronger to come,” Hassett said on Sunday. “I think the reason is that incomes are up this year is, we had a great jobs report, and with strong income and the government shutdown over so that people have pent-up demand as well, I think that we’re looking at a great recovery from a weak few weeks because of the shutdown.”

The jobless rate increased to 4.4%, the highest it’s been in almost four years.

Meanwhile, BNPL programs, including those from Klarna and Affirm, were forecast to account for over $760 million in Black Friday spending, Newsweek noted, citing data from Adobe. Overall, for November and December, use of those programs is expected to increase by 11 percent from last year.

CNN over the weekend called BNPL programs “an important payment option for consumers this holiday season.”

The Consumer Confidence Index dropped sharply in November, as disillusioned Americans indicated unease in the Trump economy amid rising prices, steady inflation, tariffs, increasing unemployment, and surging layoffs that are making finding a job more difficult.

The Consumer Confidence Index dropped 6.8 points to its lowest level since April, and consumer expectations “tumbled,” CNBC reported on Tuesday.

“Consumers were notably more pessimistic about business conditions six months from now,” said Dana Peterson, the Conference Board’s chief economist. “Mid-2026 expectations for labor market conditions remained decidedly negative, and expectations for increased household incomes shrunk dramatically, after six months of strongly positive readings.”

Now, just six percent of workers say that jobs are “plentiful,” down from 28.6% one month ago.

“Consumers’ write-in responses pertaining to factors affecting the economy continued to be led by references to prices and inflation, tariffs and trade, and politics, with increased mentions of the federal government shutdown,” Peterson also said in a statement, according to Bloomberg News.

The news comes just as another indicator of a weakening jobs market shows that “private companies shed an average 13,500 jobs over the past four weeks,” CNBC noted, citing data from payrolls processing firm ADP.

“That’s an acceleration from the 2,500 jobs a week lost in the last update a week ago,” CNBC also reported.

Other data also suggest a troubled economy.

“Government figures out earlier on Tuesday showed retail sales moderated in September after several robust months,” Bloomberg added.

“As for November, the Conference Board’s report showed buying plans for big-ticket items, including cars and major appliances, declined. Home-buying plans also fell.”

Alex Jacquez, Chief of Policy and Advocacy at Groundwork Collaborative and a former Biden White House official, summed up his thoughts on the current situation:

“Good news: fewer people think we’re headed toward a recession. Bad news: more people think we’re already in one.”

President Donald Trump was set to announce a two-year extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies, as soon as Monday, to help fix Obamacare premiums that are set to skyrocket, but the White House pulled the announcement and delayed its plans in part because House Republicans reportedly felt “left out.”

The Trump White House is now delaying announcing any health care plan — it “will not be this week,” reported PBS Newshour’s Lisa Desjardins.

“This as Republican members of Congress, including senior members,” Desjardins wrote, “expressed outrage at being left out of any process on what they all know is a critical issue – affecting huge #s of constituents.”

Desjardins added that House Republicans are directing their anger not only at the White House but at Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.

“This has been quickly rising and the idea of a WH-only sudden [health care] plan has rank and file fuming at their leader,” she added.

The Trump White House also delayed announcing any fix because House Republicans do not want to extend the Obamacare subsidy premiums, which the president’s plan would have done.

In response to pressure from the House GOP, Trump reportedly pulled the announcement.

MS NOW’s Jake Traylor reported on Monday, “White House to delay healthcare proposal after significant congressional backlash.”

“According to two White House officials,” Traylor noted, “the announcement has been delayed, with one of those officials citing strong congressional backlash to Trump’s proposed plan.”

Some Democrats blasted Republicans for the delay.

“Yet another delay while Republicans wait to see if a health care plan will fall from the sky,” wrote U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).

House Ways and Means Democrats added, “BREAKING: The 15 year waiting period for the GOP health care plan will NOT end today.”

President Donald Trump was expected to announce as soon as Monday a long-awaited fix for the expiring Obamacare subsidies, to prevent health care premiums from skyrocketing to double and in some cases even triple their current levels, but congressional Republicans reportedly have objected.

Trump was prepared to extend the subsidies for two more years, according to multiple reports including from MS NOW‘s Jake Traylor and Politico.

Traylor had reported that the president would be calling on Congress to send him legislation that would halt the Obamacare premium spikes.

“The announcement is expected to occur at the White House, and is slated to feature remarks from Trump and Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,” Traylor had reported on Sunday.

Also on Sunday, Politico had reported that “The White House expects to soon unveil a health policy framework that includes a two-year extension of Obamacare subsidies due to expire at the end of next month and new limits on eligibility, according to three people granted anonymity to discuss the unannounced plans.”

Trump has on his Monday schedule a 4 PM Oval Office executive order signing scheduled. It is unclear if that was to be for the extension of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies.

Now, Traylor reports, “White House to delay healthcare proposal after significant congressional backlash.”

“According to two White House officials the announcement has been delayed, with one of those officials citing strong congressional backlash to Trump’s proposed plan. Trump planned to make an announcement as early as Monday proposing a framework to address health care costs which included an extension of Obamacare subsides.”

Monday afternoon, CNBC reported that “Republicans are proposing direct Health Savings Account payments to ACA enrollees rather than extending enhanced premium tax credits.”

“The White House is expected to make an announcement this week addressing efforts to either renew or replace the Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent,” CNBC added, appearing to make clear any decision has yet to be set in stone.

Bobby Kogan, Senior Director of Federal Budget Policy at American Progress, responded to Traylor’s reporting:

“It’s because congressional Republicans want the enhanced subsidies to expire,” Kogan wrote. “That’s why they didn’t extend them in [the One Big Beautiful Bill Act], and that’s why they kept calling them a ‘December problem’ even though open enrollment [began] on November 1.”

The Trump administration has just released the September jobs report: unemployment climbed up to 4.4%, the highest it’s been in nearly four years. Employers added 119,000 jobs, half the number from the same month one year ago.

While calling the 119,000 number “stronger than expected,” NBC News warned, “there are still signs of a weakening labor market.”

“So far,” NBC added, “many economic analysts have been reluctant to call it a full-blown jobs crisis.”

Economic experts weighed in.

“This is a frozen labor market that’s starting to crack,” observed Heather Long, the chief economist at Navy Federal.

“The jobs report shows a labor market that was really weak this summer and didn’t improve much in September,” Long continued.

She also noted that many industries are laying off workers, and posted a graph titled: “The US economy has hardly added any jobs since May.”

“Bottom line,” Long concluded, “The economy added an average of 44k jobs a month for the past 4 months. That’s barely ‘treading water.'”

Professor of economics and frequent cable news guest Justin Wolfers also served up a warning: “Here’s what worries the Fed (and me!): The unemployment rate is slowly drifting up. This is a clear sign of an unhealthy economy. And it’s happening slowly enough that it hasn’t attracted many headlines. But it really matters.”

Economics writer Joey Politano noted that for Black Americans, unemployment “remained at 7.5% in September, the highest level since 2021 and a nearly 1.9% increase from the start of this year.”

During the Biden era, unemployment for Black Americans hit a record low.

Michele Evermore, a former U.S. Department of Labor official, warned: “While everyone’s looking at September jobs data, I think it is also important to note that continued claims for unemployment for LAST WEEK was 1,974,000 – the highest since 2021.”