Illegal immigrant arrested for incest with teenager, released by Virginia jail captured by ICE
An illegal immigrant who was arrested in January on charges of incest and sexual battery is now in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after being released from a Virginia county jail. Officers with ICE, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security team, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and Virginia State Police arrested Marvin Mateo-Alberto last week, a Honduran national who was in the U.S. illegally, according to an ICE release. The Hoduran national first illegally entered the U.S. in October 2005 near Eagle Pass, Texas, according to the release, where he was given a notice to appear in front of an immigration judge. ICE USING SOCIAL SECURITY RECORDS TO AID TRUMP PUSH TO DEPORT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS In April 2006, a Justice Department judge ordered that Mateo-Alberto be removed from the United States. Despite that, Mateo-Alberto was arrested in January by the Fairfax County Police Department and charged with incest with a 13-to-17-year-old child and aggravated sexual battery: parent with a 13-to-17-year-old child, the release notes, resulting in ICE lodging a detainer against him with the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. However, the release notes, the county detention center did not honor the ICE detainer and released Mateo-Alberto 15 days after his arrest. Fairfax County has “not designated” itself “as a sanctuary county,” according to the county’s website, adding that it “complies to the fullest extent required by federal, state or local law with any law enforcement agency requesting criminal law enforcement assistance.” However, the website also notes its official policy is that it “does not and will not enforce civil federal immigration laws.” FLORIDA’S LARGEST VENEZUELAN STRONGHOLD POISED TO JOIN FORCES WITH ICE: REPORT “The federal courts have determined that the enforcement of civil immigration laws is solely a federal responsibility under the exclusive authority of ICE,” the county website reads. The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Department did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment. Mateo-Alberto was eventually arrested by ICE on April 10 and remains in the agency’s custody, according to the ICE release. “Marvin Mateo-Alberto stands accused of some very appalling and disturbing crimes and represents a threat to the children of our Virginia communities,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Washington, D.C., Field Office Director Russell Hott said. “We cannot in good conscience allow Mr. Mateo to continue to potentially threaten other children in our neighborhoods. ICE Washington, D.C. will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing criminal alien threats from our streets.”
Bernie Sanders, AOC and other anti-Trump progressives haul in big bucks for 2026 midterms
It apparently pays to lead the resistance. Progressive lawmakers in Congress who have been among the most vocal in pushing back against President Donald Trump’s aggressive and controversial second-term agenda are seeing a surge in fundraising. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the longtime progressive champion, hauled in $11.5 million in the January-March first quarter of 2025 fundraising, according to Federal Election Commission filings this week. The Vermont independent and two-time Democratic presidential primary runner-up also reports more than $19 million in his campaign coffers at the start of this month. WHAT BERNIE SANDERS TOLD FOX NEWS ABOUT TRUMP, MUSK, AND DEMOCRATS Sanders has been drawing tens of thousands of people to his “Fighting Oligarchy” rallies across the country over the past six weeks. Co-headling those rallies is Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, another rock star on the political left. The four-term Democrat from New York City raked in a massive $9.6 million the past three months. The record-breaking fundraising haul was one of the biggest ever for any House lawmaker. BERNIE SANDERS AND AOC TAKE AIM AT TRUMP AND MUSK, AS WELL AS DEMOCRATS, AT WESTERN RALLIES Ocasio-Cortez’s team highlighted that the fundraising came from 266,000 individual donors, with an average contribution of just $21. “I cannot convey enough how grateful I am to the millions of people supporting us with your time, resources, & energy. Your support has allowed us to rally people together at record scale to organize their communities,” Ocasio-Cortez emphasized in a social media post. Another Democrat in Congress who has been very visible in leading the resistance to Trump is Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut. Murphy, who won re-election last November and doesn’t have to run again until 2030, hauled in $8 million over the past three months, his biggest quarterly fundraising ever. “The people are sending Democrats a message about the direction they would like to see,” top Sanders advisor Faiz Shakir said in a social media post. Longtime Democratic operative and strategist Joe Caiazzo, a veteran of the Sanders 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, told Fox News that “there’s a direct correlation between fundraising and action… this is an indication of the yearning for action over inaction… that is what Democratic voters and Democratic activists want.” And Caiazzo warned that “the stale ways of Washington have been rejected by the voters, and we need to understand that going into the next cycle.” HOUSE GOP TOUTS ‘UNSTOPPABLE MOMENTUM’ AS IT SHOWCASES FUNDRAISING While not bringing in similar eye-popping numbers, House Republicans are touting their first-quarter fundraising, as they prepare to defend their razor-thin majority in the chamber in next year’s midterm elections. Seven GOP lawmakers in competitive districts who are being targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee each raised seven figures over the past three months. Leading the way was Rep. Mike Lawler of the 17th Congressional District of New York, who hauled in nearly $1.5 million during the first quarter. Lawler is mulling a statewide bid for New York governor in 2026. Also on the list are Reps. Juan Ciscomani of Arizona’s 6th District, Young Kim and Ken Calvert, of California’s 40th and 41st Districts, respectively, Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa’s 1st District, Jen Kiggans of Virginia’s 2nd District, and Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin’s 3rd District The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) highlighted that House GOP lawmakers in competitive districts enjoy a large fundraising advantage over Democrats in competitive seats. And the NRCC emphasized that this is “a huge difference” from the first fundraising quarter during the 2024 election cycle, when the Democrats held a campaign cash advantage. “House Republicans aren’t just winning the fundraising game against vulnerable Democrats – they’re running laps around them,” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella argued.
Bondi defiant, says Abrego Garcia will stay in El Salvador ‘end of the story’
Attorney General Pam Bondi doubled down on the Trump administration’s claim that it’s “up to El Salvador” whether Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant in Maryland who was wrongfully deported last month, can return to the U.S. Speaking to reporters at a press briefing on Wednesday, Bondi reiterated her earlier claim that it is up to El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele whether his country opts to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S., even though officials acknowledged in court his deportation was an administrative error. “He is not coming back to our country,” Bondi told Fox News on Wednesday, in response to a question about his legal status during the briefing. Abrego Garcia is a Salvadorian national who had been living in Maryland before he was deported in March. Now, he is believed to be held in his home country’s sprawling, maximum-security prison. Both a federal court and the Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” his release and return to the U.S. for proper deportation proceedings. ‘UP TO EL SALVADOR’: TRUMP ADMIN PUNTS ON RETURN OF WRONGFULLY DEPORTED MARYLAND RESIDENT Bondi made clear Wednesday that they continue to see the issue as squarely in the purview of Bukele. “President Bukele said he was not sending him back. That’s the end of the story,” she said. “If he wanted to send him back, we would give him a plane ride back. There was no situation, ever, where he was going to stay in this country. None.” Her remarks come after the Supreme Court last week upheld a lower court’s order that requires the government to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to “ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.” On Tuesday, a federal judge in Maryland ordered Trump lawyers and plaintiffs to conduct an “intense,” expedited two-week discovery process into efforts made to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return – including ordering top DHS and State Department officials to be deposed, under oath, in efforts to secure his return as the court weighs whether the Trump administration has been acting in good faith. “Cancel vacations, cancel other appointments,” U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis told both parties Tuesday, clearing the way for what she said would be an extremely fast-paced timeframe. “There will be no tolerance for gamesmanship or grandstanding,” she said of the process. Bondi also emphasized that Abrego Garcia is not a U.S. citizen and had been living “illegally in our country from El Salvador.” FEDERAL JUDGES IN NEW YORK AND TEXAS BLOCK TRUMP DEPORTATIONS AFTER SCOTUS RULING That is not in dispute. A U.S. court granted Abrego Garcia temporary protected status in 2019, finding he faced a “clear probability of future persecution” if returned, and that “El Salvadoran authorities were and would be unable or unwilling to protect him.” Neither the Supreme Court ruling nor the lower court orders require Abrego Garcia to remain in the U.S. Rather, the courts have stressed that individuals slated for deportation must be granted certain due process protections under the U.S. Constitution, including habeas protections that allow them to challenge their removal in court. It was not the first time this week that Trump officials have suggested that El Salvador should have the final say on Abrego Garcia’s status. They also made this claim on Monday, when President Donald Trump hosted Bukele at the White House for a bilateral summit. When asked by reporters about Abrego Garcia, Bondi and other Cabinet officials said the matter was up to Bukele’s administration. “That’s up to El Salvador if they want to return him. That’s not up to us,” Bondi said then. “The Supreme Court ruled precedent that if El Salvador wanted to return him,” she continued. “This is international matters, foreign affairs.” Bondi added that “if they wanted to return him, we would facilitate it – meaning to provide a plane.” El Salvador has received hundreds of migrants from the U.S., including more than 200 Venezuelan nationals abruptly removed in March under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, and alleged members of the Salvadorian gang MS-13, under a $6 million deal struck with the U.S. earlier this year. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller doubled down on Bondi’s assertion, noting that Abrego Garcia is a Salvadorian national. “It’s very arrogant, even for American media, to suggest that we would even tell El Salvador how to handle their own citizens as a starting point,” Miller told reporters, claiming that “two courts” had found Abrego Garcia to be a member of the MS-13 gang.
Ukraine prolongs martial law amid Russian air attacks, heavy ground battles
The measure enables Ukraine to further delay elections, despite pressure for a presidential vote from the US and Russia. Ukraine’s parliament has voted to extend martial law and military mobilisation for another three months, prolonging the wartime measures until at least August 6. Lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak said the extension of martial law passed by a 357-1 vote, while a measure to maintain troop mobilisation was approved 356-1. Under Ukraine’s constitution, elections cannot be held during martial law – a provision that remains in effect despite external calls, including from Russia and the United States, for a timeline on a future vote. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose five-year term was originally due to end in May last year, and even raised the prospect of a temporary United Nations-backed government to lead Ukraine to elections. Reacting to the martial law extension, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Kyiv of trying to “preserve its unstable structure”. In February, US President Donald Trump described Zelenskyy as a “dictator without elections”, prompting Ukrainians to rally around their leader and boosting his approval ratings. Advertisement As peace talks led by the Trump administration created hopes for a potential ceasefire and eventual elections, some Ukrainian opposition politicians have grown more vocal in their criticism of Zelenskyy. Still, there is broad support for maintaining martial law. Petro Poroshenko, a former president and leader of the country’s largest opposition party, said there was no doubt martial law should be prolonged, but accused Zelenskyy of attempting to use the measure to shore up his powers. “I want to stress that we should recognise the obvious – the government has started to abuse martial law, using it not only to defend the country, but to build an authoritarian regime,” Poroshenko said during parliamentary debates on Tuesday. Uncertainty over energy strike moratorium The martial law vote came as heavy fighting and air attacks continued between Russia and Ukraine, now in the 38th month of gruelling war. An overnight Russian drone attack on the Black Sea port city of Odesa injured three people and damaged homes, while various morning air and artillery attacks killed at least one person in the southern city of Kherson, according to Ukrainian officials. A resident of Odesa stands in the back yard of his house, damaged by a Russian drone attack, April 16, 2025 [Nina Liashonok/Reuters] Meanwhile, the Russian military said its forces captured the eastern Ukrainian village of Kalynove, another small claimed advance in the embattled Donetsk region. The Russian Ministry of Defence also accused Ukraine of carrying out six attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure, despite a mutually-agreed 30-day moratorium on such strikes. Advertisement It is unclear if the pause on attacks on energy infrastructure, due to expire on Wednesday, will be extended. “We’ll keep you informed. I am not yet ready to tell you what decision has been made,” Peskov told reporters when asked about whether Russia would extend the moratorium. Adblock test (Why?)
Her Name is Nanny Nellie: Reclaiming Aboriginal History
The discovery of Aboriginal statues in the archives of the Australian Museum prompts a quest to reclaim dignity. A trio of nameless statues buried in the archives of the Australian Museum triggers a great-granddaughter’s quest to honour her ancestors and reclaim their life stories. In 1925, Australia’s Census declared Aboriginal people a “dying race”. The Australian Museum commissioned three statues of Aboriginal people: a child, a man and a woman, exhibited as nameless objects to be studied. The woman was Nellie Bunjil, Irene Ridgeway’s great-grandmother. Irene embarks on a journey to retrace Nanny Nellie’s life and redisplay the statues, this time with her name, identity and dignity. Her Name is Nanny Nellie is a documentary film by Daniel King. Adblock test (Why?)
Can Trump legally deport US citizens to El Salvador prisons?
After deporting 238 alleged Venezuelan gang members and 23 members of a Salvadoran gang to a maximum-security El Salvador prison last month, US President Donald Trump is now contemplating deporting criminals who are United States citizens there as well, he told reporters on Monday. But Trump’s latest plan will probably face multiple legal challenges. Forcibly sending American passport holders outside the country is likely illegal, experts say, and Trump himself signed a bill during his first term that could make such deportations even more difficult. So what is Trump’s plan, what are the legal challenges and can it ever be legal to deport a US citizen from the US? Who has Trump already deported to El Salvador? Last month, Trump deported 238 members of the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, as well as 23 members of the Salvadoran gang MS-13 to El Salvador. These men are now being held in the Centre for the Confinement of Terrorism (Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo) or CECOT, a 40,000-capacity, maximum-security prison in El Salvador. Advertisement To facilitate this, the Trump administration struck a deal under which the US government will pay El Salvador about $6m to detain alleged Tren de Aragua members for a year. Trump also invoked a wartime “zombie” law from 1798, the Alien Enemies Act, to enable the deportations. This law permits US presidents to detain or deport noncitizens during wartime. Prior to Trump’s use of it, the Alien Enemies Act has only been invoked three times: during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II. A prison guard transfers deportees from the US, alleged to be Venezuelan gang members, to the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador, on March 16, 2025 [File: El Salvador presidential press office via AP] Trump’s use of the law is controversial, as critics argue that the US is not currently under any threat of “invasion” as a result of being at war. An explainer article from the Brennan Center for Justice argued in 2024 that invoking the act “in peacetime to bypass conventional immigration law would be a staggering abuse” and such an attempt should be struck down by the courts. Another point of controversy is that, as well as the alleged gang members, Trump also deported Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old Salvadoran citizen who has lived in Maryland for 14 years and is married to a US citizen. In 2019, Abrego Garcia was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Maryland after an informant told the police that Abrego Garcia was an MS-13 terrorist. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers have denied this allegation, citing a lack of any proof that Abrego Garcia is affiliated with the MS-13. Advertisement Later in 2019, an immigration judge granted Abrego Garcia an immigration protection called “withholding of removal”, which shielded him from being returned to El Salvador and allowed him to remain in the US. The government has described his deportation as an “administrative error”, but still claims that Abrego Garcia has ties to MS-13. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele said he would not return Abrego Garcia, who is now being held in CECOT, to the US. “The question is preposterous. How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?” Bukele told reporters on Monday. In an unsigned order on Thursday, however, the US Supreme Court unanimously ruled in a 9-0 decision that Trump should facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the US. The court currently comprises a conservative majority of 6-3. What has Trump said about deporting US citizens to El Salvador? Trump hosted El Salvador’s President Bukele at the White House for bilateral talks on Monday, during which they discussed the recent deportations as well as plans for more – this time of US citizens. Trump told Bukele during the meeting: “I said homegrowns are next, the homegrowns. You gotta build about five more places.” By “homegrowns”, Trump was referring to criminals who hold US citizenship. The US president told reporters on Monday after that meeting that he hopes to deport US citizens who are criminals to El Salvador. Bukele said that he would be open to housing US prisoners as well. Trump acknowledged, however, that he would only be able to proceed with this plan if it is shown to be legal, and that he would only deport citizens who are “violent criminals”. Advertisement “We always have to obey the laws, but we also have homegrown criminals that push people into subways, that hit elderly ladies on the back of the head with a baseball bat when they’re not looking, that are absolute monsters,” said Trump. “I’d like to include them in the group of people to get them out of the country, but you’ll have to be looking at the laws on that.” During a media briefing on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump “would only consider this [sending US citizens to El Salvador], if legal, for Americans who are the most violent, egregious, repeat offenders of crime who nobody in this room wants living in their communities”. She did not provide additional comments about the legal considerations the administration would make. Would it be illegal to deport US citizens? When Fox News host Jesse Watters asked Attorney General, Pam Bondi on Tuesday if the plan to deport US citizens was legal, she said only: “These are Americans who he is saying have committed the most heinous crimes in our country, and crime is going to decrease dramatically because he has given us a directive to make America safe again. “These people need to be locked up as long as they can, as long as the law allows. We’re not going to let them go anywhere, and if we have to build more prisons in our country, we will do it.” However, immigration law experts say the plan would not be legal. “No, he [Trump] can’t send US citizens to El Salvador,” human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith told Al Jazeera. Advertisement Bruce
Colorado Dems move to divert $4M in taxpayer dollars to fight Trump admin in court
A new Colorado bill giving the governor broad power to spend taxpayer dollars against possible Trump administration actions cleared a major hurdle this week. HB25-1321, also known as the “Support Against Adverse Federal Action,” will earmark $4 million from the state’s infrastructure cash fund as a safeguard against potential federal retaliation over state laws that defy President Donald Trump’s executive orders. According to the language of the bill, the governor’s office could use the fund to hire outside lawyers or contractors to respond to federal decisions impacting grants, contracts or funding sent to Colorado. It also covers legal costs for any state employees facing federal investigations or lawsuits related to their official duties. CONCERNED PARENTS OF TRANS KIDS COMPARED TO ‘HATE GROUPS’ BY COLORADO DEM: WOULDN’T ‘ASK THE KKK’ FOR OPINION The bill was passed by the House Committee on Appropriations on Tuesday and is scheduled for consideration by the full House. It will then go before the Senate for consideration. Colorado Democrats may be taking a page out of California’s playbook, as Gov. Gavin Newsom approved $50 million in taxpayer dollars in February to aid in legal court battles and protection for illegal immigrants against the Trump administration. State Republicans immediately slammed the bill’s passage, saying on social media the Centennial State’s legislature has “continually poked the Admin in the eye this session & are now using our tax dollars meant for roads & water to defend it.” COLORADO DEMS ARE ‘POKING THE BEAR’ BY DEFYING TRUMP’S ORDERS, GOP LAWMAKER WARNS “Four million dollars TAKEN from the infrastructure investment and jobs act to give the governor a blank check of $4 million to sue the federal government, that’s what we are arguing against today,” Republican state Rep. Brandi Bradley posted on X. “You cannot make this stuff up…. -Roads are crumbling -Crime is through the roof -education is failing our kids -we are over regulated and over taxed -Coloradans cannot afford basic necessities or healthcare Zero transparency in this bill and an amendment to allow any money to continue to be appropriated, that is not expended.” Colorado House Democrats communications director Jarrett Freedman said the bill would “Musk-proof” the state from “illegal, unconstitutional federal actions that threaten funding for health care, education, public safety, our environment and critical infrastructure.” “Trump has frozen FEMA grants, agriculture grants for Colorado farmers, behavioral health funding, emergency response funding, and House Republicans are cheering it all on,” he said. COLORADO DEMS RAM ABORTION, TRANSGENDER BILLS THROUGH ON LIMITED SUNDAY SESSION DEBATE: ‘UNPRECEDENTED’ In February, Trump implemented a freeze on several federal funding programs to ensure that federal financial assistance programs comply with his recent executive orders, including halting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. But a U.S. district judge issued a nationwide preliminary injunction Tuesday ordering the administration to release billions of dollars allocated by two Biden-era initiatives, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. Colorado House Democrats recently passed a series of controversial bills that Republicans fear could draw Trump’s attention, since a few of the bills defy his executive orders. The bills that were passed this session include SB25-183, which requires taxpayers to fund abortion services; HB25-1309, mandating insurers cover transgender procedures regardless of age; HB25-1312, which imposes state-mandated gender policies on schools and considers it “coercive control” in child custody cases when a parent does not affirm a child’s gender identity or “deadnames” them; and SB25-129, which prohibits cooperation with out-of-state investigations on transgender procedures and abortion services.
Bill taking aim at IRS would strip agency of guns and ammo
While American taxpayers are familiar with the annual rigmarole of filing their federal taxes and realizing just how much of their hard-earned money Uncle Sam is taking away, several House Republicans are pushing a proposal to take some things away from the Internal Revenue Service: Guns and ammunition. The “Why Does the IRS Need Guns Act” would disarm the federal agency, prohibiting the commissioner of internal revenue from using funds to buy, receive or store firearms and ammo, and requiring the transfer of IRS firearms and ammunition to the Administrator of General Services. The guns would then be sold or auctioned to licensed dealers and the ammo would be auctioned to the public. Proceeds would go to “the general fund of the Treasury for the sole purpose of deficit reduction,” the measure stipulates. TRUMP SAYS THERE’S A ‘REAL CHANCE’ TARIFFS COULD REPLACE INCOME TAX The bill states that “there are transferred to the Department of Justice the authorities, functions, personnel, and assets of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service, which shall be maintained as a distinct entity within the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, including the related functions of the Secretary of the Treasury.” Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala., introduced the measure, which is backed by three original cosponsors: GOP Reps. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, Mary Miller of Illinois, and Clay Higgins of Louisiana. The IRS says on its website that its “mission is to provide America’s taxpayers top quality service by helping them understand and meet their tax responsibilities and to enforce the law with integrity and fairness to all.” WHITE HOUSE QUIETLY FLOATS MILLIONAIRE TAX HIKE PROPOSAL IN CONGRESS AS GOP LEADERS SIGNAL OPPOSITION But Moore claimed that the federal agency has regularly been “weaponized.” “The IRS has consistently been weaponized against American citizens, targeted religious organizations, journalists, gun owners, and everyday Americans,” Moore asserted, according to a press release. “Arming these agents does not make the American public safer. My legislation, the Why Does the IRS Need Guns Act, would disarm these agents, auction off their guns to Federal Firearms License Owners, and sell their ammunition to the public. The only thing IRS agents should be armed with are calculators.” HAWLEY URGES REPUBLICANS TO CUT TAXES FOR WORKING-CLASS VOTERS WHO ‘PUT TRUMP IN THE WHITE HOUSE’ CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In an April 15 post on X Moore noted, “Tax Day is a great reminder that it’s time for the IRS to stop wasting our taxpayer dollars stockpiling guns and ammo.”
Dem rising star eyes Vance as key long-term threat: ‘Needs to be defeated’
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Rep. Ro Khanna, the California Democrat who likely harbors national ambitions in 2028, is turning up the volume in his broadsides against Vice President JD Vance, the heir apparent to President Donald Trump. In two high-profile speeches this week – in the vice president’s home state of Ohio on Monday and Tuesday at Yale Law School, where both politicians earned their legal degrees – Khanna trained his verbal fire on Vance. Khanna accused Vance of working to “win public adulation by stoking anger and treating legal limits as nuisances to be ignored.” While Vance has not called on Trump to ignore Supreme Court rulings, the vice president, in a closely watched social media post two months ago, criticized moves by federal judges to block the Trump administration’s controversial efforts to dramatically downsize the federal workforce. Vance argued that the judges were trying to “control the executive’s legitimate power.” RO KHANNA JABS AT JD VANCE IN VICE PRESIDENT’S HOME STATE “Vance says the president, elected by the people, should tell the court what the Constitution means, and if the court disagrees, let them try to enforce their ruling — that the president, as a co-equal, may simply ignore the court’s judgment of the law,” Khanna argued in his Tuesday speech. Khanna – spotlighting the controversial case of a Salvadoran citizen (who the Trump administration alleges was an MS-13 gang member) who had lived in Maryland for about 15 years that the Justice Department said was deported to El Salvador due to an “administrative error” – highlighted Vance’s response. VANCE DOUBLES DOWN AFTER TRUMP ADMIN ADMITS ‘ERROR’ SENDING MAN TO SALVADORAN PRISON “Let me say this as clearly as I can: JD Vance, your cold indifference to the lives of vulnerable immigrants betrays every principle that this law school was built to uphold,” Khanna charged. “Your affiliation with this law school is now a stain on the degree of every Yale graduate.” Vance’s political team did not appear to be too concerned about Khanna’s repeated verbal attacks. “Yawn,” a top political adviser to Vance told Fox News when asked about Khanna’s comments. The adviser described Khanna as an “ankle biter,” which is slang for a relatively minor or irritating person or problem. Khanna’s speech in New Haven was followed by a day an economic address at the City Club of Cleveland, where the congressman contrasted his vision for America’s “new economic patriotism” with the future of the GOP with Vance at the helm. Responding to the visit, Ohio Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou told Fox News Digital that “Khanna is a far-left socialist from one of the wealthiest and wokest congressional districts in America. He served as an official surrogate for both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. This speech is nothing but another desperate plea for attention from another elitist politician wholly out-of-touch with Middle Class voters like those in Ohio.” Plenty of Democratic Party leaders have turned up the volume in their pushback against Trump’s sweeping and controversial actions to upend the federal government and policy. Also in the Democrats’ crosshairs is the president’s most visible White House adviser – billionaire Elon Musk – who, through his role steering the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, has taken a sledgehammer to the federal work. However, Khanna is taking the lead among Democrats in shaping Vance – who at this extremely early stage in the 2028 race is viewed as the GOP nomination front-runner – as the Republican bogeyman. When asked if he was trolling Vance, Khanna said in a Fox News Digital interview ahead of his speech at Yale that the vice president is “trolling all of us. He’s the one who has made the argument that the court should not be listened to,” before adding a litany of other examples. Additionally, Khanna pointed to what he described as Vance’s “dangerous attacks on universities, the Supreme Court and the rule of law.” Noting rising economic uncertainties and the recent massive stock market sell-off triggered by the initial implementation of Trump’s tariffs on nations across the globe, Khanna suggested that Vance may not have the 2028 Republican nomination to himself. “Well, after the markets and the economy and the tariffs, I’m not sure he’s going to get the nomination. I think that others may emerge,” Khanna predicted. He stressed that the vice president “is the one person who is trying to give most argument to MAGA philosophy. He’s the one who’s called the university’s the enemy. He’s the only one who said the Supreme Court should be defied. He’s the one who’s been defending this high tariff policy. And so we need to take on his arguments and offer a counter to defeat them.” HERE ARE THE DEMOCRATS WHO MAY EVENTUALLY RUN FOR THE WHITE HOUSE IN 2028 However, when asked if his attacks on Vance were an early 2028 positioning move, Khanna responded that “what I’m doing is providing an intellectual foundation for the Democratic Party.” Khanna emphasized that “we have to have a whole rebrand of the Democratic Party with a coherent platform and a future-oriented platform, and many leaders need to do that. New leaders, not the old guard. And I hope to be part of that.” Khanna has been crisscrossing the country the past couple of months, taking a lead in amplifying the Democrats’ message in resisting Trump. When asked if Democratic Party leaders need to be more vocal, Khanna quickly said yes. “We need more from our leadership. And you know, if you’re not willing to speak up about someone being snatched away from their home and deported without due process, you probably shouldn’t be in elective office as a Democrat right now,” he said. “We need Democrats speaking out, not just on the economy. We need them speaking out on civil liberties, on the rights of immigrants and on the rights of universities.” Khanna also praised the recent record-breaking marathon Senate floor speech by Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, and the
Trump says Harvard has ‘lost its way,’ doesn’t deserve federal funding
President Donald Trump doubled down on his attacks against Harvard University on Wednesday, saying the institution is a “joke.” Trump spoke out on social media Wednesday after Harvard refused to comply with requirements from the Department of Education (DOE) to address antisemitism and other issues on campus. He also blasted Harvard for hiring Bill de Blasio and Lori Lightfoot, the former mayors of New York City and Chicago respectively. “These two Radical Left fools left behind two cities that will take years to recover from their incompetence and evil. Harvard has been hiring almost all woke, Radical Left, idiots and ‘birdbrains’ who are only capable of teaching FAILURE to students and so-called ‘future leaders,’” Trump wrote. “Look just to the recent past at their plagiarizing President, who so greatly embarrassed Harvard before the United States Congress,” he continued. “Many others, like these Leftist dopes, are teaching at Harvard, and because of that, Harvard can no longer be considered even a decent place of learning, and should not be considered on any list of the World’s Great Universities or Colleges. Harvard is a JOKE, teaches Hate and Stupidity, and should no longer receive Federal Funds.” HARVARD WON’T COMPLY WITH TRUMP ADMIN’S DEMANDS AMID THREATS OF CUTTING FEDERAL FUNDING Trump’s administration withheld $2.2 billion in federal funding from Harvard after the university refused to work with the DOE. In a statement on Monday, Harvard University President Alan Garber said the terms of the agreement make “clear that the intention is not to work with us to address antisemitism in a cooperative and constructive manner.” TRUMP ADMIN SLASHES OVER $2.2B IN FUNDING TO HARVARD AFTER SCHOOL DEFIES DEMANDS “Although some of the demands outlined by the government are aimed at combating antisemitism, the majority represent direct governmental regulation of the intellectual conditions at Harvard,” Garber wrote. Trump and other prominent Republicans have also proposed taxing the endowments of Harvard and other Ivy League schools. Harvard holds an endowment of over $50 billion, while the other seven Ivy League schools total nearly $140 billion in endowments. MEET THE TRUMP-PICKED LAWMAKERS GIVING SPEAKER JOHNSON A FULL HOUSE GOP CONFERENCE “Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status and be Taxed as a Political Entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting ‘Sickness?’” Trump wrote earlier this week. “Remember, Tax Exempt Status is totally contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!” the president added. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has also proposed taxing Ivy League schools to offset the costs of passing tax cuts for working-class Americans.