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Year: 2025

Obama’s presence and Trump’s policies consume 11th-hour rally to keep NJ blue

Obama’s presence and Trump’s policies consume 11th-hour rally to keep NJ blue

Enthusiasm was high among New Jersey Democratic voters who flocked to a community college campus Saturday evening to hear from former President Barack Obama as he rallied support for Rep. Mikie Sherrill in her campaign for the governorship. “I heard Barack Obama was gonna be here. And I love Barack Obama, so I really came out here for that,” one voter, Alexis from South Jersey, told Fox Digital. “But I do support Mikie, as well.”  “I want to hear Obama,” Robert, from Spring Lake, told Fox Digital. “I think a lot of people want to hear Obama. Wouldn’t it be great to have a message of hope at this point in time?”  Hundreds of supporters wrapped around multiple blocks surrounding the Essex County College’s gymnasium on Saturday to hear from Obama and Sherrill as the New Jersey election comes down to its final days. The packed auditorium hit capacity before the “Get Out the Vote” rally officially kicked off, with supporters also watching the rally from an overflow parking lot.  SHERRILL INSISTS NJ A DEM STRONGHOLD AHEAD OF OBAMA VISIT, REJECTING GOP MOMENTUM: ‘NOT A PURPLE STATE’ Prominent rally speakers and attendees alike celebrated hearing from Obama on Saturday, but also repeatedly spoke about President Donald Trump, slamming him for efforts to deport illegal aliens, and pinning blame for the ongoing federal government shutdown on Trump and Republicans.  A handful of voters who spoke to Fox Digital relayed that their ballot was not one solely focused on Sherrill, but also a vote against Trump and his administration.   “Well, the top issue is Trump,” said Robert from Spring Lake. “There’s nothing else other than that.… Trump is absolutely the worst,” he added, citing that Trump is allegedly “anti-science” and against education.  “To get Trump out of office, number one,” one female voter from South Jersey told Fox Digital of why she came out to the rally and her top voting concerns this election.  “I am voting for Mikie Sherrill because she actually understands all the people. She is not a minion for Trump,” another South Jersey voter added.  CLIFF-HANGER: CIATTARELLI, SHERRILL CLAIM UPPER HAND IN CRUCIAL NEW JERSEY SHOWDOWN FOR GOVERNOR Obama also leaned into slamming Trump during his remarks to the crowd, claiming the current economy has benefited “Trump’s billionaire friends,” while “ordinary families” pay increased prices at check-out lines due to Trump’s “shambolic tariff policy.”  “Let’s face it, our country and our politics are in a pretty dark place right now,” Obama told the audience on Saturday. “It’s hard to know where to start, because every day this White House offers up a fresh batch of lawlessness and carelessness and mean-spiritedness. And just plain old craziness.” Comments targeting Trump and his administration extended to attacks on GOP gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli, as well, with Obama casting him as the president’s toady and a “suck up” to the Republican Party.  Trump made inroads with New Jersey voters just a year ago, in his decisive general election win over former Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump cut his 2020 loss from 16 points in the Garden State to six in 2024, and flipped five counties to the GOP, invigorating Republicans in the state to keep the momentum going as Ciattarelli launched his bid for Drumthwacket.  “Please go out and vote,” Irvington Councilwoman Charnette Frederic told Fox Digital. “And I’m hoping Obama is the last push to remind you.” WITH LEGACY ON THE LINE, OBAMA HITTING CAMPAIGN TRAIL TO BOOST DEMOCRATS IN KEY GOVERNOR ELECTIONS Frederic has served as an Irvington councilwoman since 2012, and said Obama’s presence in the state for past campaign rallies spurred an influx of voters, remarking she’s hopeful the same will unfold ahead of Tuesday.  “I am an immigrant, and I believe in treating people with respect and dignity,” Frederic said. “Whatever I’m seeing right now, this is not the kind of opportunity that we want for our people,” adding that Sherrill will “stand for the people” against the White House’s stances on immigration and other policies.  Sherrill, DNC chair Ken Martin, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, and other local Democrats took the stage of the auditorium to rally support for Sherrill, while also criticizing the Trump administration.  NEW JERSEY DEMOCRATIC GOVERNOR HOPEFUL ATTENDS ‘NO KINGS’ PROTEST, VOWS TO FIGHT TRUMP ‘TOOTH AND NAIL’ “But my fight doesn’t and can’t end at the border of New Jersey. We’ve got to take on all those hits coming from Trump and Washington, D.C. Because right now the president is running a worldwide extortion racket. You pay more for everything from the coffee you drink in the morning to the groceries you’re cooking dinner with at night as Trump pockets billions. His energy plan is designed for just one audience. The fossil fuel industry,” Sherrill claimed.  During this off-year election cycle, New Jersey and Virginia are holding gubernatorial elections, while other jurisdictions such as New York City are holding mayoral races and other local races. 

Zohran Mamdani emerges as Republicans’ government shutdown boogeyman

Zohran Mamdani emerges as Republicans’ government shutdown boogeyman

As the government shutdown stretches over a month, one left-wing figure has emerged as House Republicans’ most-cited political boogeyman — and it’s not either of the top two Democrats in Congress. Instead, it’s Zohran Mamdani, a New York State assemblyman and self-proclaimed democratic socialist who is running for mayor more than 200 miles away in New York City. “You’ve seen their party get pulled further to the socialist left, and it started when [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.] beat Joe Crowley. And ever since then, Democrats have been afraid of that kind of emerging wing of their party,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told Fox News Digital when asked why GOP leaders are invoking Mamdani so often. “Today, they are the center of the Democrat Party. They are running the Democrat Party, and you can see it, Mamdani is the one that they’re all scared of and they’re all listening to.” HARRIS OFFERS TIMID ENDORSEMENT OF MAMDANI, QUICKLY PIVOTS TO OTHER ‘STAR’ DEMOCRATS He pointed to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and his recent endorsement of Mamdani. “It’s changed how they run their whole party operation, because they’re afraid of the left base of the party, which is really headed by Mamdani now,” Scalise said. House GOP leaders or speakers at their daily shutdown press conferences brought up Mamdani both directly and indirectly at every one of their press conferences last week. CLINTON CAMPAIGN ALUM URGES JEFFRIES, SCHUMER NOT TO ‘TAKE THE BAIT,’ GET ‘BULLIED’ INTO MAMDANI ENDORSEMENT At his Thursday press conference, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., accused the media of criticizing his frequent commentary on the New York City socialist. “Amazingly, the media is criticizing Republicans for fixating on Mamdani. I read some of that yesterday. This socialist uprising is something that we have a responsibility to call out and sound the alarms. That’s what elected representatives of the people are supposed to do,” Johnson said. “And we take that responsibility seriously. And obviously, Mamdani is a big issue here in the halls of Congress. Why? Because the second-highest ranked Democrat in the country, Leader Jeffries, endorsed him.” Republicans have also taken to calling him “commie Mamdani” recently, a nickname debuted by House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., during a shutdown press conference where House GOP leaders invited Republicans in New York’s congressional delegation to speak. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Mamdani himself criticized Johnson at one point for his focus on him earlier this month. “Speaker Johnson should be seating members of Congress, as opposed to using his time to try and attack our campaign,” Mamdani fired back from Manhattan on Monday. “But I understand if I was one of the leaders of the Republican Party that had led a campaign that promised Americans a lower cost of living and cheaper groceries, and all I could deliver for them was a government shutdown, then I, too, would be looking to distract in any way that I could from those lack of results.”

Mamdani’s socialist allies embrace watchdog’s warning about their key motive: ‘Recruitment ad unlocked’

Mamdani’s socialist allies embrace watchdog’s warning about their key motive: ‘Recruitment ad unlocked’

After an antisemitism watchdog posted a new video warning about socialist efforts to take over the Democratic Party from within, socialist leaders from across the country embraced the video and its message, appearing unafraid of such accusations.  The Canary Mission’s advertisement included recorded remarks from various leaders of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) describing their opposition to, and in some cases “hatred” of the Democratic Party, which one speaker says must be torn down. The video also shared remarks from DSA leaders describing how the Democratic Party, which one of the socialist speakers in the video referred to as “toxic,” can be used as a “tool” to push forward their aims of destroying the current capitalist society we live in. At the center of the ad was something Canary Mission referred to as the “cuckoo analogy.” FORMER TOP LEADER OF RADICAL GROUP TIED TO MAMDANI HAS BEEN ON AOC’S CAMPAIGN PAYROLL FOR YEARS “In nature, the cuckoo survives by trickery. It lays its egg in another bird’s nest. The unsuspecting parents raise the impostor as their own until the cuckoo grows strong enough to push the true chicks out,” the video’s narrator explains. “The DSA is the cuckoo inside the Democratic Party.” But the analogy, which pointed to candidates like self-proclaimed socialist Zohran Mamdani, did not appear to bother the socialists it was targeting. Rather, they applauded the video advertisement as a great recruitment tool to get more people to join their ranks. “New DSA recruitment ad for communists just dropped,” joked Nicolás Vargas in response to the video. Vargas has been affiliated with the Central Brooklyn branch of the DSA, according to a 2022 DSA national convention resolution on COVID protections.  “Are you trying to make young people find the DSA more cool?” quipped Marxist-socialist blogger C. Derrick Varn. “New recruitment ad unlocked,” joked Giovanetta Marangoz, co-chair of the New York City Young Democratic Socialists of America.  Other socialist activists were a little more direct in their view that the Democratic Party must be extinguished.   “My biggest gripe is the idea that we’re being deceptive,” Allan Frasheri, an at-large delegate to the 2023 DSA Convention who spent time as a co-chair of the University of Florida’s DSA chapter, said in response to the video. “DSA is loud and proud: we are fighting for a worker’s party. Only a party of, by and for working people can bring about a better world. The Democratic Party is ultimately one for the billionaires.” MAMDANI FORCED TO ADDRESS UNEARTHED VIDEO EXPOSING VILE NYPD COMPARISON  “This is the best DSA ad I’ve ever seen,” added DSA organizer Miko Ludoviko. “The DSA is an anti-capitalist organization with the long-term goal of taking state power. The Democratic Party is a tool we use for local elections, but it remains an enemy of the working class.” Part of Canary Mission’s video focused on New York City’s Mamdani, who is running for New York City mayor on the Democratic Party’s ticket. He beat out former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic Party primary earlier this year to be the party’s candidate. Cuomo is now running as an Independent.   Mamdani, who is a member of DSA’s NYC chapter, brought several DSA members on stage during a “New York Is Not For Sale” rally last week. He was also a keynote speaker at the group’s national convention in 2023 while serving as a New York state representative.   DSA has admitted to closely collaborating with Mamdani’s campaign, including regularly holding meetings with his team. “With Zohran, we’re in basically the best possible position to seize state power that we can be in because, you know, we’re like this,” Goulden said during an August DSA panel, indicating with his fingers that the campaign and organization are very close. Goulden went on to suggest that “one of the things that made Zohran really successful with his policy rollouts is specifically relying on DSA.” “We wrote the platform with him. The team was so happy to work with us on this,” he explained. “What we explicitly wanted to do was use the power of New York City to provide free gender-affirming care – and I say free in case insurance companies decide to boot us off – free gender-affirming care, not just to people in New York City, but across the country.” In addition to the responses to Canary Mission’s new video, other messaging materials the pro-Israel group has put out, such as a graphic slamming socialists for attempting to “weaken and ultimately dismantle” the United States, have similarly been met with praise by DSA socialists.  For example, in response to a Canary Mission graphic exposing DSA’s Red Star Caucus for their stated goal of striving to “weaken and ultimately dismantle US empire,” a user on X, who describes themselves as “DSA’s favorite Maoist,” remarked that the slogan Canary Mission was calling out “needs to be the line of the DSA as a whole.” “I will use every tool at my disposal to make it so,” they added. “That’s right,” another X user with the handle “centristmarxist” said in response to a second graphic slamming DSA’s Marxist Unity Group for their stated goal. “With every tool available to us, we must erode the political, cultural, and physical hegemony of the U.S. police state.” Fox News Digital reached out to the DSA for comment, but did not receive a response.

Charts illustrate the scale of SNAP as millions face potential benefit lapse

Charts illustrate the scale of SNAP as millions face potential benefit lapse

Millions of Americans who rely on the nation’s largest food program are bracing for uncertainty as the ongoing government shutdown threatens to halt their benefits. Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a lifeline for low-income households, is set to expire on Saturday, cutting off support for more than 40 million Americans. The program’s looming lapse underscores how political gridlock in Washington can ripple across kitchen tables and grocery aisles nationwide. FOOD STAMP BENEFITS FOR 42 MILLION AMERICANS IN JEOPARDY AS SHUTDOWN DRAGS ON SNAP recipients reflect a broad cross-section of the country, from working families to retirees and those facing economic hardship. Benefits vary depending on income, family size and essential living expenses, which determine both eligibility and payment amounts. About 41.7 million Americans, or one in eight households, relied on SNAP each month in 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). In that same year, federal spending on SNAP totaled $99.8 billion, with benefits averaging about $187 per participant each month, according to USDA data. In fiscal year 2023, nearly 30% of all SNAP households reported having a job and earning a paycheck. More than half of the families with children and receiving SNAP had at least one household member who was employed. In addition to SNAP benefits, 61% of participants received income from government assistance programs such as Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or state aid. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WARNS 42 MILLION AMERICANS COULD LOSE FOOD STAMPS AS SHUTDOWN DRAGS ON Overall, adults ages 18 to 59 made up the largest share of SNAP recipients at 42%, followed by children at 39% and seniors at 19%, a breakdown that underscores the program’s role in supporting both the working poor and the most vulnerable. The USDA has warned that if the shutdown continues past early November, states may have to delay or suspend SNAP payments altogether. Some governors are already preparing contingency plans, though federal law leaves them little flexibility without new funding from Congress. On Friday, a pair of federal judges ruled that the administration must issue November food stamp benefits, either in full or in part. USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins confirmed that directive during a press conference, noting: “There is a contingency fund at USDA, but that contingency fund, by the way, doesn’t even cover half of the $9.2 billion required for November SNAP. And it’s only allowed to flow if the underlying program is funded.” Fox News Digital’s Alex Miller and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.