IMD issues ‘red alert’ for Delhi, warns of heavy rainfall till…, check here
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), on Saturday, i.e., August 23, issued a red alert for Delhi, forecasting heavy rain showers accompanied by lightning and thunderstorms for three hours.
Pro-Mamdani super PAC takes hefty check from ultra-wealthy donor despite saying billionaires shouldn’t exist
The heiress to the fortune of a billionaire hedge fund manager has made a substantial donation to a super PAC aligned with socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, a candidate who has said he does not believe billionaires should exist. In what amounts to the largest contribution received this cycle, the Mamdani-aligned New Yorkers for Lower Costs PAC recently received $250,000 from philanthropist Elizabeth Simons, New York Post reported. Simons is the daughter of Jamie Simons, the late billionaire hedge fund manager who founded the extremely successful hedge fund Renaissance Technologies, built up a personal fortune worth $31.4 billion over the course of his lifetime and used billions of that money for charity. “I don’t think that we should have billionaires because, frankly, it is so much money in a moment of such inequality, and ultimately, what we need more of is equality across our city and across our state and across our country,” Mamdani told NBC News in June. MEET MAMDANI’S RADICAL ADVISORY CIRCLE THAT INCLUDES COMMUNIST ACTIVIST, ANTI-ISRAEL ADVOCATES News of Mamdani’s billionaire support prompted criticism on social media, including from Mamdani’s opponent, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “Congrats to you, @ZohranKMamdani for completing the holy trinity of hypocrisy: Eat the rich → Cash their PAC checks,” Cuomo posted on X. “Freeze the rent → Rich guy in affordable housing you don’t need. Defund the police → Armed guards worldwide… from the campaign trail to Uganda. You are what you pretend to fight.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Mamdani campaign and New Yorkers for Lower Costs PAC, which operates independently of the campaign, asking if the funds would be returned or denounced but did not receive a response from either party. MEET THE FORMER SOROS FOUNDATION EXEC CONNECTING OBAMA WORLD WITH MAMDANI CAMPAIGN Railing against billionaires has been a common occurrence over the course of Mamdani’s campaign as he has attempted to position himself as a candidate who champions affordability and cost of living for New York City’s working class. “We’re reaching New Yorkers who’ve been ignored by establishment politicians and crushed by the billionaire class,” Mamdani posted on X in March. “Our grassroots momentum will carry us over the finish line in June.” Mamdani has also criticized Cuomo for taking money from billionaires, posting on X in June, “We live in the most expensive city in the United States. Cuomo’s billionaire donors want it that way. But we have an agenda to make life affordable.”
‘It’s really an invasion’: Protesters slam Trump’s DC police takeover as crime tumbles
Protesters continue to blast the Trump administration’s takeover of policing in Washington, DC, likening it to an “invasion” even as crime plummets. Demonstrators, who did not appear to be part of a specific organization, on a pedestrian bridge on the I-95 in Virginia near the city this week, said that “our systems are being assaulted.” “What the problem is, is that these are the National Guard are like my friends’ sons and daughters,” one woman told Fox News Digital. “It’s their time away from their family. The money being wasted to make a point is really sort of disgraceful and un-American because they’re sending them against actual Americans with weapons. And it’s really an invasion. And we’re not Russia, we’re the United States of freaking America.” TRUMP VOWED DC TAKEOVER MULTIPLE TIMES ON 2024 CAMPAIGN TRAIL: ‘HE’S KEEPING HIS PROMISE’ The DC Police Union says crime has taken a tumble in since the takeover was announced by President Donald Trump earlier this month. On Thursday, it was noted that there were no reported homicides in the city in the past week. In addition to the National Guard, numerous federal agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI, are on patrol in the capital city. Attorney General Pam Bondi signed an order that prompts local officers to comply with federal immigration authorities in a strong rebuke to the city’s own sanctuary policies. PROTESTERS CONFRONT OFFICERS PATROLLING DC STREETS AFTER TRUMP POLICING TAKEOVER “719 arrests and 91 illegal guns seized in Washington, DC Just yesterday we made 40 arrests, took 5 more illegal firearms off our streets, and had 36 ICE arrests—including a suspected MS-13 gang member. Thank you [President Trump] for your unwavering support to make DC safe again!” Bondi posted to X on Friday morning. Trump has threatened to take the takeover a step further in a Truth Social post on Friday. “Washington, D.C. is SAFE AGAIN! The crowds are coming back, the spirit is high, and our D.C. National Guard and Police are doing a fantastic job. They are out in force, and are NOT PLAYING GAMES!!!” he wrote. “As bad as it sounds to say, there were no murders this week for the first time in memory. Mayor Muriel Bowser must immediately stop giving false and highly inaccurate crime figures, or bad things will happen, including a complete and total Federal takeover of the City! Washington D.C. will soon be great again!!!” the president added. BLUE CITIES IN TRUMP’S CROSSHAIRS AFTER DC POLICE TAKEOVER Another protester noted that he is glad to see that crime has dropped in the city, but said declaring the crime issue in Washington D.C. was not necessary. “I really do believe that we are edging into an area where we are not following the law, where we’re not doing the things that we need to be doing in order to serve the people,” he said. “I’m very happy that crime’s down, and it doesn’t surprise me at all if you’re going to have troops and a lot of people having law enforcement on the streets,” he said. “The problem with this is that we are making an emergency out of something that wasn’t an emergency.”
The history of how Trump and Bolton’s relationship fell to tatters
Former National Security Advisor John Bolton, who served under President Donald Trump’s first administration, was the subject of FBI raids at his home and office Friday morning as federal authorities searched for classified documents. The raids follow a storied history between Trump and Bolton that has devolved into the pair trading repeated political blows on the public stage. News broke early Friday morning that FBI agents flocked around Bolton’s Maryland home and were seen carrying out boxes, which was followed hours later by the FBI raiding Bolton’s Washington, D.C., office. “I’m not a fan of John Bolton,” Trump told reporters on Friday morning after the raids began, adding he saw the reports but was not aware of details on the raid ahead of time. “He’s a real sort of a lowlife.” JOHN BOLTON BLASTED BY TRUMP ALLY ROGER STONE, WHO FACED BIDEN FBI RAID: ‘KARMA IS A B—-‘ “He’s a very quiet person, except on television, if he can say something bad about Trump,” Trump added. “He’s not a smart guy, but he could be a very unpatriotic guy. We’re going to find out.” The remarks echo years of past comments the pair have shared in public forums airing their dissatisfactions with one another, most notably after Trump tapped Bolton to serve as his national security advisor in 2018. Fox News Digital took a look back at the pair’s relationship since Trump’s mad dash to fill his first administration in 2017, through his ouster of Bolton as the national security advisor and the ongoing clashes the pair have shared since. TRUMP–BOLTON FEUD BACK IN FOCUS AFTER FBI RAID: ‘NEVER HAD A CLUE … WHAT A DOPE!’ “I like (Bolton),” Trump said in 2015 while appearing on “Meet the Press” just weeks after announcing his candidacy for the White House. “I think he’s, you know, a tough cookie, knows what he’s talking about.” Bolton was first speculated as a likely pick to serve as Trump’s secretary of state in December 2016, when Trump was preparing for his first inauguration after his upset victory over Hillary Clinton in the election that year. Pundits touted Bolton as an experienced foreign policy hawk who could bolster Trump’s diplomatic agenda, and conservative outlets such as the National Review’s editorial board implored the Trump transition team to choose Bolton, identifying him as a “hard-headed realist whose focus is always the national interest.” JAMES COMER PRAISES KASH PATEL FOR ‘HOLDING DEEP STATE ACCOUNTABLE’ AS FBI RAIDS JOHN BOLTON’S HOME Trump, however, ultimately tapped Rex Tillerson to serve as secretary of state. Bolton showered Trump with praise of his own ahead of his confirmation as national security advisor in 2018, calling the president “a terrific guy” who “knows a lot” when the administration kicked off in 2017. The warm relationship got cozier when Trump announced in 2018 on X that he called on Bolton to serve as his national security advisor “I am pleased to announce that, effective 4/9/18, @AmbJohnBolton will be my new National Security Advisor. I am very thankful for the service of General H.R. McMaster who has done an outstanding job & will always remain my friend. There will be an official contact handover on 4/9.” “I didn’t really expect that announcement this afternoon,” Bolton said on Fox News shortly after the announcement. “But it’s obviously a great honor and always an honor to serve our country.” The pair found common ground on issues such as withdrawing the U.S. from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, otherwise known as the Iran nuclear deal, which was an Obama-era agreement with other world powers to limit Iran’s nuclear capabilities. Trump ultimately pulled the U.S. out of the agreement in 2018, slamming it as a “horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made,” and was backed by his hawkish group of foreign policy advisors, such as Bolton and then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Bolton’s relationship with Trump began to sour as he advanced hard-line strategies toward U.S. adversaries, including Iran and North Korea. He had long advocated regime change in Tehran, though he later clarified in his role as national security advisor that American policy was “not regime change,” but rather a push for “massive change in the regime’s behavior.” Trump, by contrast, initially favored a more diplomatic path, urging that flaws he saw in the Iran nuclear deal be renegotiated before ultimately deciding to withdraw from the agreement altogether. BOLTON TWEET DURING RAID SHOWS FOCUS WAS ELSEWHERE AS FBI SEARCHED HIS HOUSE “John Bolton is absolutely a hawk. If it was up to him, he’d take on the whole world at one time, okay?” Trump said of Bolton in June 2019, underscoring the bubbling tensions between the two on foreign policy. In April 2018, Bolton suggested North Korea follow Libya’s example of denuclearization, which he called the “Libya model,” and included the country giving up its nuclear weapons in 2003 in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Bolton’s comments about such a model for North Korea set off condemnation in Pyongyang as they raised concerns this would lead to potential regime change. Trump cited the comment following Bolton’s abrupt exit from the White House in September 2019. “We were set back very badly when John Bolton talked about the Libyan model … what a disaster,” Trump told reporters at the time. Days ahead of Bolton’s ouster, Trump was slated to meet with Taliban leaders in an effort to negotiate peace in Afghanistan, but the meeting never took place and Bolton reportedly slammed such an effort in conversations with Trump, media outlets reported at the time. Bolton was ousted from his role as national security advisor Sept. 10, 2019, with Trump characterizing the departure as a firing, and Bolton saying he tendered his resignation and was not fired. JOHN BOLTON’S HOME RAIDED BY FEDERAL AGENTS, SOURCES SAY “I informed John Bolton last night that his services are no longer needed at the White House,” Trump tweeted in 2019. “I disagreed strongly with many of
Trump navigates ongoing Russia, Ukraine negotiations during 31st week in office
President Donald Trump kicked off the week meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders at the White House — just days after Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska — and said he has roughly two weeks to determine how the U.S. will proceed in the ongoing negotiations. A primary focus of the meetings was discussing various security measures to prevent Russian aggression against Ukraine again, after the Trump administration reported that Putin was on board with permitting the U.S. and its European allies to provide additional protection for Ukraine, akin to protections included in NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense clause. However, Trump said Tuesday that sending U.S. troops to Ukraine to bolster security in the region was off the table. RUSSIANS MADE CONCESSIONS ‘ALMOST IMMEDIATELY,’ TRUMP ENVOY SAYS OF PUTIN SUMMIT Meanwhile, Trump told reporters Friday that he’ll have a better sense of whether a deal that ends the conflict is feasible and what kind of actions the U.S. should take moving forward on negotiations in the coming weeks. “We’ll see what happens. I think over the next two weeks, we’re going to find out which way it’s going to go,” Trump told reporters Friday. “It’s going to be a very important decision,” Trump said. “And that’s whether or not it’s massive sanctions or massive tariffs, or both. Or do we do nothing and say, ‘It’s your fight?’” Here’s what also happened this week: Trump also joined law enforcement and National Guard troops in Washington Thursday evening amid his administration’s federal takeover of the city and efforts to crackdown on crime. “We’ve had some incredible results and results have come out and it’s like a different place,” Trump told the police and National Guard troops Thursday. “It’s like a different city.” Vice President JD Vance visited National Guard troops in Washington’s Union Station Wednesday. TRUMP JOINS POLICE AND MILITARY FORCES IN WASHINGTON STREETS “We are seeing really substantial effects because these guys are busting their a–,” Vance said Wednesday. “Right here in Union Station, you have vagrants, you have drug addicts, you have the chronically homeless, you have the mentally ill who harass, who threatened violence, who attacked families,” Vance said. “And they’ve done it for far too long. This should be a monument to American greatness.” Trump initially mobilized 800 D.C. National Guard troops as part of his effort to reduce crime in Washington on Aug. 11. Since then, National Guard troops from Ohio, West Virginia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee also have been tapped to support the Trump administration’s effort. Trump also unveiled plans with FIFA President Gianni Infantino at the Oval Office Friday to hold the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw at the Kennedy Center Dec. 5. During the event, FIFA will divyy up all the teams into 12 different groups. TRUMP ANNOUNCES KENNEDY AS FIFA WORLD CUP DRAW VENUE “On Dec. 5 of this year, the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw will take place at the Kennedy Center. Some people refer to it as the Trump-Kennedy Center, but we’re not prepared to do that quite yet – maybe in a week or so,” Trump said. “But right here in Washington, D.C., it’s a tremendous honor to bring the global event and this incredible group of people and these unbelievable athletes — the best athletes in the world — to the cultural center of our nation’s capital,” Trump said.
DHS reveals illegal migrants convicted of child molestation, rape arrested in DC under Trump crime crackdown
FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed a few of the convicted, violent criminals arrested in Washington D.C. as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital. DHS shared the arrests of five individuals caught in D.C. with Fox News Digital, which include illegal immigrants convicted of rape, child molestation, assault, and robbery with a deadly weapon. “Secretary Noem unleashed the U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) to target the worst of the worst—including gang members, murderers, pedophiles, terrorists, and rapists,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital. “Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, DHS has arrested more than 359,000 illegal aliens and removed more than 332,000.” DOJ INVESTIGATING POSSIBLE DC CRIME DATA MANIPULATION AMID TRUMP’S CRACKDOWN ON VIOLENCE David Pineda-Medrano, an illegal migrant from Guatemala, was previously convicted of attempted first-degree child sexual abuse and sexual abuse of a minor and assault causing bodily injury. Junior Alexi Medina-Fuentes, an illegal migrant from Honduras, was previously convicted of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon in Texas. Ja Mi, an illegal migrant from Thailand, was previously convicted of second-degree forcible rape in North Carolina. DC HAS MURDER-FREE WEEK AS AG BONDI TOUTS 77 MORE ARRESTS IN FEDERAL TAKEOVER Jorge Andres Garcia-Celis, an illegal migrant from Mexico, was previously convicted of molestation of a minor in California. Leonardo Varela-Lopez, a criminal illegal migrant from Mexico, was previously convicted of assault and three counts of driving under the influence in Utah. The quintet of illegal migrants from various countries are just a few of the criminals that ICE and DHS have rounded up in D.C. as President Trump continues his push to crack down on crime in Washington. TRUMP ADMIN BANS HOMELESS CAMPS IN DC PARKS AMID CRIME CRACKDOWN “The facts are ICE is targeting the worst of the worst—including murderers, MS-13 gang members, pedophiles, and rapists. 70% of ICE arrests are of criminal illegal aliens who have been convicted or have pending charges in the U.S.—that doesn’t even include known or suspected terrorists, foreign gang members, convictions for violent crimes in foreign countries, or INTERPOL notices,” McLaughlin told Fox. Trump declared a crime emergency on August 11th following several incidents of violent crime in DC, including the beating of ex-Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer Edward Coristine, nicknamed “Big Balls.” President Trump also implied that Chicago, Illinois, could be the next stop on his crime-tackling tour, telling reporters in the Oval Office Friday that “we’re going to make our cities very, very safe,” the president said. “Chicago’s a mess.”
Former NYC councilmember blasts Mamdani, says race for mayor ‘is not even close to over’
The former Republican leader of the New York City Council explained how Zohran Mamdani could lose the race for mayor, and that the frontrunner candidate “can’t do much of what he’s promising” even if elected. Joe Borelli, who served more than nine years as a councilman, sat down with Fox News Digital to discuss the standings of the race as sitting mayor Eric Adams, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa all linger in the field against Mamdani and his openly socialist agenda. “The race is not even close to over,” Borelli told Fox. “We’ll see the first set of polls after Labor Day, sometime around September 10th, September 11th, and that’s when you’ll really see the race take shape. MEET MAMDANI’S RADICAL ADVISORY CIRCLE THAT INCLUDES COMMUNIST ACTIVIST, ANTI-ISRAEL ADVOCATES “That’s when I do think there’ll be some pressure for perhaps one or two of the candidates to step aside and support the others,” Borelli added. Cuomo, who lost in the Democratic primary upset defeat to Mamdani in June, was reportedly “counting on” President Trump to push GOP voters in New York City to support the former governor. Cuomo’s campaign denied the rumors to Fox News Digital earlier this week. Borelli noted that President Donald Trump convincing Sliwa and Adams to drop out of the race could be beneficial for Cuomo, but that an official endorsement may do more harm than good. “Trump could help Cuomo by helping the other two non-Mamdani candidates get out of the race, and that would be impactful,” Borelli told Fox. “Unfortunately, though, even as a Trump supporter, I’d have to admit that the president is not particularly popular amongst the voting block of New Yorkers.” MAMDANI SIDESTEPS ‘COMMUNISM’ QUESTION, SAYS HIS CAMPAIGN IS ABOUT ‘DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH’ As for Mamdani’s agenda, the socialist has made lofty campaign promises, saying he wants New York City to provide free childcare, free bus transportation, city-owned grocery stores, and freeze rent prices. Borelli’s near-decade spent on the city council leads him to believe that many of these promises simply aren’t possible. “Mamdani can’t do much of what he’s promising unilaterally,” Borelli told Fox. “The MTA is not running in the black right now, it’s running significantly in the red. NYC VOTERS FLOCK TO SOCIALIST-STYLE FREEBIES AS MAMDANI PUSHES RENT FREEZES, CITY-RUN STORES “[The MTA] always needs more money, so it would be unclear how he could sell the entire MTA board on a program to make buses free when that would cost upwards of one, two, maybe three billion dollars.” As for Mamdani’s plan to open a city-run grocery store in each of the five boroughs of NYC, sitting New York governor Kathy Hochul pushed back at the idea at an event in the Hamptons over the weekend. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “I favor free enterprise,” Hochul, who is not running for mayor, told the crowd while referencing Mamdani’s vision for grocery stores in the city. As the remaining candidates continue to battle while Mamdani leads the pack, the stage is set for an eventful November mayoral election. Fox News Digital reached out to Zohran Mamdani’s campaign but did not receive a response.
Newsom faces GOP backlash over $230M redistricting special election after calling his recall a ‘waste’
As California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom advocates for a special election to advance a redistricting map that favors Democrats, some critics are pointing out that he took a very different tone when another special election was called to remove him from office. The Newsom recall vote is estimated to have cost the state and counties $276 million to administer the election, according to an official projection by the California Department of Finance. Meanwhile, the redistricting special election, which will be held on Nov. 4, will cost around $230 million, according to estimates by California Assembly Appropriations Committee Chair Buffy Wicks, a Democrat. Besides this, at the Nov. 4 special election, California voters will decide whether to temporarily suspend the map drawn by the independent commission for a map passed by the legislature. Politico reported that California voters deeply favor the independent redistricting commission previously passed by voters. NEWSOM SIGNS CALIFORNIA CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING BILLS, COUNTERING TRUMP-BACKED PUSH IN TEXAS Newsom previously criticized the 2021 recall vote against him as a “waste” of government resources, saying in an official response to the recall effort, “Here’s the worst part: Their partisan recall will waste 200 million taxpayer dollars desperately needed for emergency preparedness and response.” “The last thing California needs is another wasteful special election, supported by those who demonize California’s people and attack California’s values,” the response said. The Los Angeles Times reported Newsom claiming the effort consisted of “a handful of partisan activists supporting President Trump and his dangerous agenda to divide America are trying to overturn the definitive will of California voters and bring Washington’s broken government to California with this recall effort.” In a March press conference reported on by ABC 7 News, Newsom again pushed back against the recall vote effort, saying, “Now is not the time to waste hundreds of millions of dollars on a recall effort that is nothing more than a partisan power grab. This is, and forgive me, a Republican-backed recall.” CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATS UNVEIL REDISTRICTING MAP TO WIPE OUT 5 GOP SEATS, COUNTER TEXAS PLAN Other California Democrats now pushing the redistricting vote were equally critical of the recall vote as a waste. Assembly member Marc Berman, Democrat, previously expressed that “Californians are very frustrated that we just spent $276 million on this recall election that, from the looks of it, certified what voters said three years ago and what voters could have said next year,” CalMatters reported. Yet, speaking this week in front of a committee in a heated exchange about the projected cost of the redistricting special election, Berman said, “$250 million looks like couch cushion change.” Rep. Kevin Mullin, D-Calif., called the recall vote “a $276 million waste just to reaffirm 2018’s results with an election coming in 2022,” according to CNN. Now, Mullin has said in a press release that he stands with Newsom’s special election push as “Democrats are committed to giving voters the opportunity to counter this move in Texas and restore some balance of power in Washington.” DEMOCRATIC PARTY, GAVIN NEWSOM JOIN ONLINE ROASTING OF NEW CRACKER BARREL LOGO In a statement to Fox News Digital, Jessica Millan Patterson, chair of the conservative group Stop Sacramento’s Power Grab, called the redistricting push is an example of Democratic hypocrisy. “Gavin Newsom and California Democrats have abandoned any pretense of moral high ground by forcing a wasteful special election that voters don’t want,” said Patterson. “Their blatant hypocrisy at the expense of California taxpayers sends a clear message: grasping for power matters more to them than honest, principled governing,” she added. In response, Newsom’s office directed Fox News Digital to comments the governor made in a press conference last week in which he said, “There’s no price tag for democracy.” Newsom assured county officials worried about the special election costs that the state of California “will be funding it.” Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Berman and Mullin but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Virginia leaders rebuke racist sign targeting GOP gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears: ‘Repulsive’
Virginia leaders across party lines are condemning a racist sign displayed Thursday outside a Northern Virginia school board meeting where gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears was speaking. “Hey Winsome, if trans can’t share your bathroom, then blacks can’t share my water fountain,” the sign in question read. The incident occurred as the state is embroiled in multiple controversies related to transgender students’ access to bathrooms and locker rooms across various counties. DNC HIRES NEW TOP EXEC WITH LONG HISTORY OF PUSHING RACIAL GRIEVANCES, LEFTIST IDEOLOGY The sign was held up while Earle-Sears attended an Arlington County school board meeting on Thursday evening. The press conference came days after the federal Department of Education designated five Northern Virginia schools “high-risk” and placed restrictions on their federal funding. The conference also follows the suspension of two male students in one Northern Virginia county, after they were found responsible for sexual harassment after complaining about a transgender student using their locker room. Even Earle-Sears gubernatorial opponent, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, called the sign “repulsive.” “As I said yesterday, the sign displayed in Arlington last night was racist and abhorrent,” Spanberger said in response to the signage. “Many Virginians remember the segregated water fountains (and buses and schools and neighborhoods) of Virginia’s recent history. And no matter the intended purpose or tone and no matter how much one might find someone else’s beliefs objectionable, to threaten a return of Jim Crow and segregation to a Black woman is unacceptable. Full stop.” Meanwhile, Spanberger’s running mate, current Virginia state senator and Democratic Party candidate for lieutenant governor Ghazala Hashmi called the sign “unacceptable.” She also made similar remarks about the incident hearkening back to “Jim Crow-era ugliness.” In response to the incident, Republican political leaders also took the opportunity to slam Democrats. “This is the climate Democrats created—smear, divide, then look away when it turns ugly,” said Earle-Sears running mate, GOP lieutenant governor candidate John Reid. “That sign is where their politics of resentment leads.” DEMOCRAT CONGRESSMAN HURLS PROFANITY-LACED MESSAGE AT STEPHEN MILLER Earle-Sears added that she was “disgusted, but not surprised” by the racially charged sign. She also took the opportunity to call out her gubernatorial opponent. “This is the ‘tolerant’ left Abigail Spanberger defends,” Earle-Sears said following the incident. “I’m the sitting lieutenant governor, second in command in the former Capitol of the confederate states. I’m an immigrant, a Marine, and above all, a human being. There is no place for this disgusting hatred in our Commonwealth.” Earle-Sears added that anyone who refuses to condemn the sign “is complicit in approving it.” The press conference that the sign was displayed at drew several other protesters, while supporters of Earle-Sears were present as well. It came just days after five Northern Virginia school districts refused to change their policies around letting students pick which bathroom or locker room they want to use based on their gender identity, as opposed to their biological sex. It also came after one of those Northern Virginia school districts suspended two biological males for complaining out loud about a transgender male who is a biological female using the male’s only locker room. The district also held the two male students responsible for sexual harassment. The boys have filed a Title IX appeal, which has temporarily halted their suspension for the time being.
Meet Joe Gruters, the Trump ally now at the helm of Republican National Committee
In a political party where politicians who call Florida home have risen to the heights of power, it’s no surprise that the new chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) hails from the Sunshine State. Joe Gruters, a longtime ally of Florida resident President Donald Trump, was unanimously elected Friday as RNC chair at the national party committee’s summer meeting. Gruters is a Florida state senator, RNC committee member from the Sunshine State, and, briefly, the national party committee’s treasurer before stepping down after being elected chair. LONGTIME TRUMP ALLY TAKES OVER AS CHAIR OF REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE He’s also close with another Floridian, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who was co-campaign manager of Trump’s 2024 presidential bid. Gruters succeeded now-former chair Michael Whatley, who stepped down as he runs for the Senate in North Carolina in the blockbuster race to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Thom Tillis. TRUMP BACKED RNC CHAIR JUMPS INTO BLOCKBUSTER SENATE BATTLE A former chair of the Republican Party of Florida, Gruters was co-chair of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign in the state. “Congratulations to MAGA Warrior Joe Gruters, who I very strongly Endorsed, on his unanimous Election as Chairman of the Republican National Committee,” Trump wrote in a social media post following Gruters’ ascension to RNC chair. Trump touted that Gruters “helped us deliver Massive and Historic Victories” in the Sunshine State and “helped us turn Florida, RED AS RED CAN BE!” The election of Gruters, a 48-year-old accountant, as RNC chair is the latest sign of Trump’s complete control over the national party committee. “This is the president’s party. This is the president’s vision, overall. The party fully embraces the president,” Gruters said as he and Whatley stood for an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital. And Gruters is looking to the president as Republicans defend their House and Senate majoritues in next year’s midterm elections. “We’re gonna ride the president all the way to victory in the midterms, and we are going to win big,” Gruters said. Gruters has often clashed with another Floridian, two-term Republican governor, Ron DeSantis. Gruters backed Trump over DeSantis in the 2024 Republican presidential nomination race.