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Recent Examples of scapegoatsSending out the scapegoats in a van advertising unemployed coaches is next-level stuff.—Zach Dean Outkick, FOXNews.com, 27 Apr. 2026 Black folks have been used as scapegoats for the rising government budgets, and anti-Black stereotypes fueled voters to significantly reduce access to affordable healthcare and educational assistance.—Literary Hub, 30 Mar. 2026 Americans are burned-out, frustrated, and hunting for scapegoats.—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 27 Mar. 2026 Fourth, anger and the search for scapegoats.—David Blumenthal, STAT, 24 Mar. 2026 In such a situation, scapegoats are needed, and the alien is the ideal one.—Christine Smallwood, Harpers Magazine, 24 Mar. 2026 And while the White House cycled through various scapegoats, prices rose a total of 20 percent, costing families more than $10,000.—Jessica Riedl, Washington Post, 13 Jan. 2026 Nations without trust in domestic institutions often turn outward in search of scapegoats.—Klaus Schwab, Time, 5 Jan. 2026 This time, Nixon was one of several scapegoats for a dismal 22-16 Packers loss.—Matt Schneidman, New York Times, 21 Dec. 2025
The Israeli strikes killed five people around the town of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, according to the official news agency NNA, and the army said a soldier was along the victims.
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Caitlin Danaher,
CNN Money,
20 June 2026
As distressing as their circumstance is, Naim and Ryan are unmistakably positioned as heroic lovers, not victims-to-be.
In the meantime, parents can easily entertain their children at the ranch’s petting zoo where chickens and goats approach anyone who walks by.
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Amanda Rosa,
Miami Herald,
19 June 2026
Both Bunnie Xo and Jelly Roll have run a massive Tennessee homestead and animal sanctuary, which has included Scottish Highland cows, full-sized and miniature horses, donkeys, pigs, goats, sheep, and chickens.
—
Sharareh Drury,
Entertainment Weekly,
19 June 2026