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Year: 2023

Maryland hate crime task force member claimed babies murdered by Hamas were ‘fake,’ compared Israel to Nazis

Maryland hate crime task force member claimed babies murdered by Hamas were ‘fake,’ compared Israel to Nazis

A member of a Maryland task force aimed at combating hate crimes published numerous antisemitic social media posts, including claiming that the babies brutally murdered in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack were “fake,” and comparing the nation of Israel to Nazi Germany. Zainab Chaudry, an anti-Israel activist who serves as the director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ (CAIR) Maryland office, made the posts in the weeks following Hamas’ attack, which saw more than 1,200 people killed, including children and babies, as well as numerous rapes and destruction of property. “I will never be able to understand how the world summoned up rage for 40 fake Israeli babies while completely turning a blind eye to 3,000 real Palestinian babies,” Chaudry wrote in a Facebook post dated Oct. 26. WATCH: WHITE HOUSE ISSUES BRUTAL RESPONSE TO BIDEN’S ‘INAPPROPRIATE’ NICKNAME GIVEN BY ANTI-ISRAEL CRITICS “[T]hat moment when you become what you hated most,” Chaudry wrote in an Oct. 17 post, including two photos of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, one showing it lit up with the Israeli flag in solidarity with Israel following the attack, and another from a ceremony in 1936 when it was decorated with the flag of Nazi Germany during the Olympics that year. In another post from Nov. 6, Chaudry appeared to suggest the mere existence of Israel as a nation was the cause of the ongoing war, writing it was an “inconvenient fact.” She included an image of the words “it all started in 1948,” the year Israel was founded as a nation. Others from the weeks following the attack showed Chaudry sharing a quote celebrating “martyred Palestinians,” and a post citing what appeared to be an Islamic prophesy that said “garrisons who defend the lands of Islam will be in Ashkelon,” an Israeli city north of the Gaza Strip. DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST MEMBERS OF CONGRESS HAVE NOT CONDEMNED VIOLENT ANTI-ISRAEL PROTEST TARGETING OWN PARTY HQ Despite the posts, Chaudry has maintained her place on the Maryland Commission on Hate Crime Response and Prevention, a position for which she was nominated by Democrat Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown in August. The commission’s goal, according to Brown’s office, is to address hate crime incidents across Maryland, and to “communicate and promote understanding of diverse perspectives in a positive and meaningful way.” Brown’s spokesperson, Jennifer Donelan, told Fox News Digital that “the views and opinions of any individual Commission member do not reflect those of either the Maryland Commission on Hate Crime Response and Prevention or the Attorney General.” BIDEN’S APPROVAL RATING SINKS OVER ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR; SUPPORT FOR TRUMP IN 2024 RISES: POLL “We understand that there are many viewpoints regarding current events in the Middle East. The Commission will do its best to explore the impact of those events on our community, and to determine how best to address escalations in hate and bias incidents across the state,” she said, explaining that the Commission would “develop policies and protocols governing its work” and how its members engage on the issues.  “Just as we urge others to do, the Commission will identify ways in which we can foster productive and empathetic dialogue amongst ourselves that leads to mutual understanding. We, like the rest of the world, must first talk to one another and, most importantly, listen to one another as we work toward the goals of peace and tolerance,” she added. When reached for comment, Chaudry told Fox News Digital that the “Nazi post” was originally shared “by a close Jewish friend,” before going on to accuse the Israeli government of wanting to commit genocide against Palestinians. NYU CANCER DOCTOR SUES HOSPITAL, SCHOOL OVER PRO-ISRAEL POSTS, SAYS HE’S A ‘SACRIFICIAL LAMB’ “The Israeli prime minister has analogized the bombing of Gaza to an ancient biblical story about the total genocide of a city, [and] declared that there are no innocent civilians in Gaza, the Israel defense minister has justified starving Palestinian civilians by calling them ‘human animals,’ the Israeli military spokesman has said that the aim of their bombing campaign is destruction rather than accuracy. Multiple Israeli ministers have called for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, with one even calling the ongoing war a ‘Nakba 2023,’” she said. “I strongly and unapologetically condemn Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right, racist government for repeatedly making such genocidal threats towards the Palestinian people and killing over 13,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children murdered in their homes. Unlike many of the Israeli government’s most extreme supporters, I recognize that killing any civilians is wrong, which is why my office has repeatedly condemned the killing of both Israeli and Palestinian civilians,” she said.  “There is no conflict between condemning the Israeli government’s genocidal war crimes overseas and standing up against all forms of hate here at home, including antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism. False smears from anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim extremists will not stop me from standing up for justice here and abroad,” she added. Fox News Digital has reached out to CAIR for comment.

Internal Senate memo highlights Biden admin efforts to tie highway funding to woke priorities

Internal Senate memo highlights Biden admin efforts to tie highway funding to woke priorities

FIRST ON FOX: An internal memorandum circulated among lawmakers by Senate Commerce Committee Republicans highlights how the Biden administration is tying billions of dollars in taxpayer funds to “woke initiatives.”  The memo, first obtained by Fox News Digital, was sent late Monday evening and spearheaded by Commerce Committee Ranking Member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who is planning to author legislation that would prohibit the Department of Transportation (DOT) from tying federal funds to left-wing priorities. It particularly targets DOT’s management of three grant programs that serve as key vehicles to fund various types of surface transportation projects nationwide. “Billions upon billions of taxpayer dollars meant for infrastructure projects are tied to woke initiatives that are more focused on dismantling America’s infrastructure in the name of ‘equity’ and ‘climate change’ than building roads, bridges, and highways to connect the country,” the memo states. “Congress must not allow the Department of Transportation to push the absurd concept of ‘racist roads’ to prevent Americans from getting much-needed improvements to their highways,” it continued. “The funding notices issued by DOT should focus on the law as written, not woke priorities.” PETE BUTTIGIEG’S OFFICE STONEWALLS TAXPAYER COSTS OF SWING STATE TOUR ON GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVE JET In June, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced that his agency had started accepting applications for the National Infrastructure Project Assistance, Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA), and Rural Surface Transportation Grant programs. The three programs received a collective $5.6 billion boost, most of which supports INFRA, under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. Buttigieg said the grants eventually awarded under the programs would support “transformational infrastructure projects across the nation.” But the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) the DOT issued as part of its grant awarding process states recipients must broadly address equity and climate concerns. INTERNAL EMAILS SHOW BIDEN ADMIN OFFICIALS COORDINATING ON SHIELDING PETE BUTTIGIEG’S GOVT JET USE “Projects that have not sufficiently considered equity and barriers to opportunity in their planning, as determined by the Department, will be required to do so before receiving funds for construction,” the DOT’s NOFO states. “Projects that have not sufficiently considered climate change and environmental justice in their planning, as determined by the Department, will be required to do so before receiving funds for construction,” the document adds. The two funding conditions cite President Biden’s day-one executive order titled “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.” Following Buttigieg’s announcement, Cruz wrote in July to the Government Accountability Office, asking for confirmation that the NOFO is a rule and, therefore, is subject to Congressional Review Act (CRA), a law dating back nearly three decades that allows Congress to revoke federal regulations. The federal watchdog responded last month, saying it was, in fact, subject to the law. According to the memo circulated Monday, Cruz will soon introduce a CRA resolution “challenging ‘woke’ anti-highway policy in DOT grants.” The resolution would additionally target other DOT policies such as framing road building as increasing “automobile dependence,” and condemning highway expansion projects that don’t involve electric vehicle charging stations or bike lanes. BIDEN OFFICIAL DOGGED BY ETHICS PROBE FACES KEY SENATE VOTE OVER TAXPAYER-FUNDED SALARY: ‘SERIOUS SCANDAL’ “Taken together, these additions, which severely deviate from the criteria in law, will favor states seeking to expand mass transit and bike paths over states wanting to build roads. The added requirements on grant agreements, which are necessary for money to be paid after awards are announced, are particularly pernicious,” the memo adds. “The DOT funding notice guarantees that applicants will not get construction funds unless they embrace the administration’s extreme views on climate and equity,” it states, calling for Congress to support Cruz’s forthcoming resolution that opposes the Biden administration’s “anti-highway agenda.” For years, left-wing groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and activists have argued U.S. cities historically used highway infrastructure to further racist discrimination. Buttigieg has sought to reverse past racist policies that led to certain infrastructure decisions. “There is racism physically built into some of our highways, and that’s why the jobs plan has specifically committed to reconnect some of the communities that were divided by these dollars,” Buttigieg said in an interview with theGrio in 2021. In June 2022, Buttigieg launched the $1 billion Reconnecting Communities program that aims to reverse infrastructure policies that divide communities and disconnect certain neighborhoods from economic opportunities. “Transportation can connect us to jobs, services and loved ones, but we‘ve also seen countless cases around the country where a piece of infrastructure cuts off a neighborhood or a community because of how it was built,” Buttigieg said at the time. “But we can’t ignore the basic truth that some of the planners and politicians behind those projects built them directly through the heart of vibrant, populated, communities — sometimes in an effort to reinforce segregation,” he said. “Sometimes because the people there had less power to resist. And sometimes as part of a direct effort to replace or eliminate Black neighborhoods.” The DOT didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Role abortion rights played on Election Day: Underestimated by GOP or overstated by Democrats?

Role abortion rights played on Election Day: Underestimated by GOP or overstated by Democrats?

For Republicans, this month’s off-year elections were anything but a success.  The results in gubernatorial and legislative showdowns as well as in some high-profile referendums gave Democrats a big shot of adrenalin while potentially serving as a warning sign for the GOP looking ahead to the 2024 elections for president and control of Congress. Apparently hurting Republicans for a second straight year at the ballot box was the combustible issue of legalized abortion. TOP TAKEAWAYS FROM 2023 ELECTIONS “We do have to talk about abortion,” Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel has been saying since the election results this month. McDaniel said GOP candidates “are not responding to the lies of the Democrats on abortion. We have to come out and very vocally say where we stand.” The month’s election results were the latest in a slew of statewide victories for abortion rights since the blockbuster move last year by the Supreme Court’s conservative majority to overturn the landmark, nearly half-century-old Roe v. Wade ruling, which had allowed for legalized abortions nationwide. AS TRUMP PICKS UP PACE IN IOWA, WILL HE FACE BLOWBACK OVER HIS ABORTION COMMENTS? The decision moved the divisive issue back to the states. And it’s forced Republicans to play plenty of defense in elections across the country. A party that’s nearly entirely “pro-life” has had to deal with an electorate in which a majority of Americans support at least some form of abortion access. Democrats made abortion a major part of their messaging in Kentucky’s gubernatorial showdown, in Virginia’s legislative contests, in a state Supreme Court race in battleground Pennsylvania, and in an Ohio referendum on codifying abortion rights. And Democrats chalked up wins in all of those states. But veteran Republican strategist and Fox News contributor Karl Rove, who masterminded former President George W. Bush’s two White House victories and served as his top White House political adviser, says the effect of abortion on this month’s elections is overblown. HALEY SEARCHES FOR COMMON GROUND ON COMBUSTIBLE ISSUE OF ABORTION “Abortion might have helped Democrats sometimes, but the issue is hardly a silver bullet,” Rove wrote last week in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece. And taking aim at the political weaknesses of President Biden, Rove said that “as Virginia showed, as long as Mr. Biden is the face of the party, pro-life candidates can make gains on Democratic turf if they frame the abortion issue with care.” But Democrats see the issue of abortion as a continued “mobilizing” factor to energize their base and attract crucial swing or moderate voters going forward. Veteran strategist and Democratic National Committee member Maria Cardona pointed to last year’s midterms, in which the Democrats overperformed, and told Fox News that the 2023 results “were similar to what happened in 2022 when everybody was predicting a red wave.” Looking ahead to next year’s contests, Cardona predicted that abortion “is going to continue to be an incredibly mobilizing issue.” Longtime GOP strategist David Kochel noted that abortion remains “a terrible problem” for Republicans. “They’re out of step with where the country is” on the issue, he said. Kochel, a veteran of numerous presidential and statewide campaigns in Iowa, acknowledged that Republicans are “not going to win on abortion” and urged GOP candidates to “fight where they can win – on the economy, foreign policy, competence.” McDaniel, talking to Fox News Digital and other news organizations the night after this month’s elections, said Republicans need to more forcefully push back on Democrat attacks over where they stand on abortion. “If a lie is up against you with $30 million behind it, and you do not respond, that lie becomes the truth, and that’s the Democrats’ playbook, and our candidates have to respond on TV,” she said. “As a suburban woman who’s heading the party, we have to talk about abortion,” McDaniel added. “If we do not get up on TV and define ourselves on this issue and allow the Democrats to do it for us, it’s a losing strategy.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.