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Year: 2025

Giuliani allies turn on GOP’s Sliwa, back Cuomo in NYC mayor race

Giuliani allies turn on GOP’s Sliwa, back Cuomo in NYC mayor race

Rudy Giuliani’s aides and allies have thrown themselves behind Andrew Cuomo instead of Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa in the race for New York mayor, according to reports. Joe Lhota, Giuliani’s former deputy mayor and the GOP’s 2013 mayoral candidate, confirmed to the New York Post Thursday he is firmly in Cuomo’s camp. Lhota, who later served as Cuomo’s MTA chairman and has since changed his party affiliation to Democrat, framed the choice bluntly. “It’s a choice between a proven manager, a socialist, and a fruit loop,” Lhota told the outlet. “Of course I’m going to be with Andrew,” Lhota added. CUOMO OPPONENTS SLAM HIS RE-ENTRY INTO NYC MAYOR RACE, SAY CITY WANTS TO MOVE ON FROM EX GOVERNOR Anthony Carbonetti, Giuliani’s former chief of staff and a senior adviser to his 2008 presidential campaign, echoed Lhota’s sentiment.  While praising Sliwa as a “great New Yorker,” Carbonetti said the math simply isn’t there for him to win the race. Instead, they warned, Sliwa risks becoming a spoiler.  “I don’t want a socialist in charge of a $116 billion city budget,” he said, criticizing Zohran Mamdani’s proposal for fare-free buses as an invitation to turn them into “mobile homeless shelters.” CUOMO OPPONENTS SLAM HIS RE-ENTRY INTO NYC MAYOR RACE, SAY CITY WANTS TO MOVE ON FROM EX GOVERNOR Former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, who served under George W. Bush and is a longtime Giuliani ally, also endorsed Cuomo in an op-ed published by the Staten Island Advance.  “Our city should not be put at risk of irreversible damage, which it would be if Mamdani is elected,” he wrote, adding that Cuomo is “the most viable alternative.” Mayor Eric Adams has already stunned the political world by announcing he will not seek re-election. President Donald Trump has also publicly dismissed Sliwa’s chances. CUOMO, ADAMS TRADE SHOTS OVER WHO SHOULD DROP OUT IN RACE AGAINST MAMDANI FOR NYC MAYOR “Look, I’m a Republican, but Curtis is not exactly prime time,” Trump said on Fox & Friends in September. “Joe Lhota has been a Democrat since 2016. He worked for Andrew Cuomo. Big deal,” said Sliwa adviser Rob Cole. Rudy Giuliani himself, now 81 and still a fixture in GOP politics, has yet to make an endorsement. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Polling shows Mamdani with about a 20-point lead, but under 50 percent and leaving room for an upset if Cuomo can consolidate Republican and independent voters.

ICE director says Portland facility faces violence with ‘little help from local police’

ICE director says Portland facility faces violence with ‘little help from local police’

Federal immigration officials say their Portland, Oregon, facility has come under nightly attack, with little help from local police because of political directives from city leaders. In an exclusive interview with Fox News’ Bill Melugin, Cammila Wamsley, director of Portland’s ICE office, said the facility has faced violence for more than 100 consecutive nights, with Portland police largely absent under guidance from the mayor and city council. “I just, I can’t figure out what’s happening at the FDA. I’m totally baffled by it,” Wamsley said, describing her frustration at seeing federal staff attacked outside the building while officers inside lack jurisdiction to intervene. “It’s frustrating for us to watch people be attacked on the street and know that we don’t have the authority to be able to really step in unless there’s some nexus to federal law.” She said nightly protests have escalated beyond chants and signs, with bottle rockets striking the ICE building, rocks shattering windows, lasers targeting officers’ eyes and barricades blocking vehicles. ANTI-ICE PORTLAND RIOTERS WITH GUILLOTINE CLASH WITH POLICE IN WAR-LIKE SCENES Wamsley said protesters have followed ICE staff members home and doxxed at least six employees. “Later, towards the evening and around dark, there are a lot of folks that come up dressed in all black,” she explained. “They are here to wreak havoc. They’ll block our cars, throw paint, damage property and even try to follow our folks home.” She warned that when crowds swell quickly, the violence becomes more dangerous. ICE DIRECTOR REVEALS DANGEROUS NIGHTLY ANTIFA ‘BATTLE’ AS TRUMP PREPARES FEDERAL DEPLOYMENT TO PORTLAND “We’ve seen it before. The folks here can go from a crowd of 50 to a crowd of 1,000 in 30 minutes,” she explained. “Sometimes we only have 20 officers here. We would not be able to defend the building with that show of force.” Wamsley said the Portland Police Department has been slow to respond — and sometimes doesn’t respond at all — because of city policy. She explained that assaults have occurred outside and across the street from the building, but police have either taken too long to arrive or not shown up at all. “That is not the stance they would take six blocks from here, but it is the stance they take with us because of guidance from the mayor and city council,” Wamsley said. PORTLAND MAYOR DOUBLES DOWN ON SANCTUARY STATUS AFTER VIOLENT ANTI-ICE RIOT Fox News Digital has reached out to the Portland mayor’s office and police department for comment. Still, Wamsley said ICE staff remain committed to their mission despite the unrest. “The people that work here are here to serve the American public,” she said. “They are here to enforce the same immigration laws we’ve had in place since the 1950s. Nothing has changed in that regard. We come to work every day. We do our job the way we have been doing it, and we’ll continue to do that.” PORTLAND RAMPS UP PRESSURE ON ICE BUILDING WITH LAND USE VIOLATION NOTICE Todd Rignel, assistant special agent for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Oregon, said federal agencies are targeting Antifa-linked groups they blame for organizing much of the unrest. “They’re not just facing HSI. They’re facing the FBI, ATF, DEA, IRS — all of these agencies,” he said. “That’s a force to be reckoned with.” Portland remains a flashpoint for unrest with the ICE facility at the center of nightly confrontations. President Donald Trump announced plans to send 200 National Guard troops to Portland to support immigration authorities. Officials said the troops would be stationed near protest areas. The warnings follow an attack on an ICE facility in Dallas Sept. 24. Authorities said two detainees were killed and another was hospitalized after a gunman opened fire before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot.  Investigators said shell casings recovered bore an “ANTI-ICE” message. Fox News Digital’s Madison Colombo contributed to this report.

David Hogg’s PAC spent millions on consultants, ads and fitness classes, records show: report

David Hogg’s PAC spent millions on consultants, ads and fitness classes, records show: report

Despite pledging to spend $20 million to back younger, more progressive candidates, a PAC led by Democratic activist David Hogg has spent millions of dollars on political consultants, ads and even fitness classes. The PAC, Leaders We Deserve, spent just $455,000 to back three candidates in tough Democratic primary races over the first eight months of 2025, Axios reported. That figure stands in contrast to the roughly $2.5 million spent on consultants, $1.1 million on digital ads, $965,000 on building donor lists and nearly $5,000 on the fitness class subscription service ClassPass, according to federal campaign filings. AOC DROPS THOUSANDS ON LUXURY HOTELS WHILE ‘FIGHTING OLIGARCHY’ WITH SANDERS, FILINGS REVEAL “We provide a wellness benefit to our employees, like many employers across the country,” Kevin Lata, co-founder and executive director of Leaders We Deserve, told Axios. “Our projections show that every $1 we put into these investments will net $3-$5 by the end of the cycle. This helps to make sure every donation goes farther than it otherwise would.” The group had $1.6 million in the bank at the end of August. Fox News Digital reached out to the PAC. Leaders We Deserve has contributed to various candidates, including $300,000 to New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. The group also contributed $150,000 to House candidate Deja Foxx, a 25-year-old social media influencer and progressive activist who lost the Democratic special election primary by 39 percentage points July 15. Irene Shin, who lost by a wide margin in a special Democratic primary in June to fill the House seat of the late Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., also received $5,000. PRO-MAMDANI SUPER PAC TAKES HEFTY CHECK FROM ULTRA-WEALTHY DONOR DESPITE SAYING BILLIONAIRES SHOULDN’T EXIST In June, Hogg served as vice chair for the Democratic National Committee, igniting a firestorm by pledging to shell out $20 million through Leaders We Deserve to support primary challenges against some older Democrats in safe blue districts. “I ran to be DNC vice chair to help make the Democratic Party better, not to defend an indefensible status quo that has caused voters in almost every demographic group to move away from us. The DNC has pledged to remove me, and this vote has provided an avenue to fast-track that effort,” Hogg said after the DNC Credentials Committee voted on Monday to elevate a challenge to the vice chairs’ leadership positions. The high operating expenditures under his leadership were mocked by New York state Sen. James Skoufis after Leaders We Deserve’s second-quarter FEC filings in June. “At this rate, [Hogg] would only have to raise a little over $3 billion in order to get his promised $20 million to primary candidates,” Skoufis wrote on X at the time. “THIS should be the story, folks.” Lata told Axios that the PAC will have “many more endorsements to announce soon.”