Proposed Texas GOP platform calls for the Bible in schools, electoral changes that would lock Democrats out of statewide office
The platform was voted on Saturday, with tallies expected next week. Other planks call abortion homicide and gender-transition care “child abuse.”
Hillary Clinton swipes Democrats, gives Republicans ‘credit’: ‘Nothing like it on our side’
Hillary Clinton had some tough words for her fellow Democrats for their failure to protect abortion rights in the years leading up to Roe v. Wade being overturned by the Supreme Court. In an interview with The New York Times, Clinton, 76, discussed her forthcoming book, “The Fall of Roe: The Rise of a New America” and what she believed a second Trump administration will look like. The former Democratic presidential candidate accused her party of being too complacent by underestimating the formidable strength of the pro-life movement in the lead-up to the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, when the Supreme Court overturned nearly 50 years of legalized abortion at the federal level. “We didn’t take it seriously, and we didn’t understand the threat,” Clinton said. “Most Democrats, most Americans, did not realize we are in an existential struggle for the future of this country.” Clinton argued that Democrats failed to pass legislation codifying abortion rights into federal law — even when they controlled the Senate — because they could not fathom that abortion rights would ever be at risk. Clinton said she gave the right credit for never giving up. She lamented that Democrats lacked the organization and funding for institutions like The Federalist Society to counter the right’s influence. “[The right is] relentless. You know, they take a loss, they get back up, they regroup, they raise more money,” Clinton said. “It’s tremendously impressive the way that they operate. And we have nothing like it on our side.” HILLARY CLINTON SLAMMED BY FELLOW DEMOCRAT FOR ‘DISMISSIVE’ REMARKS ABOUT ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS Clinton said she was dismissed as alarmist when she predicted in 2016, that a Trump presidency would lead to abortion rights being overturned. She predicted that many would dismiss her again this election cycle, which she described as “existential.” “I mean, if we don’t make the right decision in this election in our country, we may never have another actual election,” Clinton said. “I will put that out there because I believe it. And if we no longer have another actual election, we will be governed by a small minority of right-wing forces that are well organized and well-funded and are getting exactly what they want in terms of turning the clock back on women.” The interview’s publication comes days after former President Trump said he “will never advocate imposing restrictions on birth control,” and vowed to ensure the Republican Party would not support a ban on any contraceptives. Last month, the GOP hopeful emphasized his support for states determining their own laws for abortion so long as there are exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. He also affirmed his support for in vitro fertilization. He qualified that Republicans “should always be on the side of the miracle of life and the side of mothers, fathers and their beautiful babies.” President Biden and his re-election campaign have alleged that Trump will support a nationwide abortion ban and put restrictions on contraception. The latest Fox News Poll shows that the issue of abortion is the biggest single issue among self-described Democrats (24%), suburban women (24%), self-described very liberals (23%), Black voters (17%), those with a college degree (17%), and voters under age 30 (16%).
Trump courts Libertarians to draw party activists away from RFK Jr.
Donald Trump will address the Libertarians’ National Convention on Saturday night in an effort to win over activists who are skeptical of the GOP front runner, and turn them away from independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The Libertarian National Convention is being held at the Washington Hilton hotel with the tagline: “Become Ungovernable.” Trump’s campaign says his appearance is part of an ongoing effort to reach would-be supporters in places that are not heavily Republican. For example, he held a rally Thursday in the Bronx during a pause in his New York hush money trial. His team was expecting some at the convention to oppose Trump, but hopes he will get credit for showing up and fighting for votes. Libertarians will pick their White House nominee during the gathering in Washington that wraps up Sunday. Kennedy, who initially ran in the Democratic primary, addressed the convention Friday. A significant of attendees wore MAGA hats. The convention was dotted with booths promoting mutual aid organizations, Libertarian comic books, Libertarian-themed food and drinks. Another stall sold T-shirts that said: “F— the vaccine.” The Libertarian Party has routinely invited both Republican and Democratic candidates to speak but this weekend marked the first time that an invite has been accepted. Tensions remained high leading up to Trump’s appearance. Supporters of the president showed up to the convention as the doors opened and took over areas reserved for Libertarian delegates – prompting Libertarian Party National Chair Angela McArdle to plead for civility. LIBERAL JOURNALISTS, DEMOCRATS BITTERLY SEEK TO DISCREDIT TRUMP BRONX RALLY: ‘FAKE, MADE-UP’ One attendee, retired attorney William Yeniscavich, walked between aisles handing out signs reading “FREE ROSS,” a reference to Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the darknet marketplace Silk Road. Ulbricht was arrested in 2013 and remains in prison. During his presidency, Trump considered intervening to release Ulbricht but ultimately decided against the pardon. Polls have shown for months that most voters, even a majority of Democrats, do not want a 2020 rematch between Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden. That dynamic could potentially boost support for an alternative like the Libertarian nominee or Kennedy, whose candidacy has allies of Biden and Trump concerned that he could be a spoiler. One attendee told Fox News Digital that the party “is kind of fragmented.” “Some are furious, they don’t want Republicrats to be involved in the party,” he said. “Another faction thinks it’s important for the press to have eyes on the Libertarian Party and discuss some grievances like ballot access.” Tiffany Cianci, a pre-K music instructor and political TikTok creator, was attending the event to record the speech for her online followers. She told Fox News Digital that there was a distinct chance of disruption from the crowd during Trump’s speech. Hundreds of attendees have been seen carrying rubber chickens capable of loud, sustained noise.”[American Values 2024] had the idea, then regular convention goers started buying a bunch of them, and they all started showing up,” she said. “They’re not here to stop him from speaking, but they are here to let him know they feel very strongly that it’s an act of cowardice to avoid debating candidates and giving Americans choices.” Seated in the front row was Manga Anantatamul, the Republican candidate for the 10th District of Virginia. Endorsed by the MAGA Caucus, she said was there to see Trump specifically. “I think their fiscal conservativism is the best thing — small government,” Anantatamul told Fox News Digital. “Those are some of the values we have to work with the Libertarians on.” Before Trump began speaking, Libertarian delegates endorsed a variety of topics they hoped he would address including calls to liberate imprisoned WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and promote “peace not war.” Other topics they wanted to hear about overlapped with more traditional Republican rallying cries including “abolish the deep state” and “defend the Second Amendment.” Trump previously praised Kennedy and once considered him for a commission on vaccination safety, but has changed his tone now. He suggested on social media that a vote for Kennedy would be a “wasted protest vote” and that he would “even take Biden over Junior.”
Exotic dancer drama, Anora, wins Cannes top prize
Anora, a darkly funny and touching drama about a young exotic dancer who becomes involved with a Russian oligarch’s son, has won the Cannes Film Festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or. The film by US director Sean Baker beat the 21 other films in the competition lineup, including entries by established directors like Francis Ford Coppola and David Cronenberg. Jury members including US actor Lily Gladstone and Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-Eda have said they are well aware their decision could make or break a director’s career. As head of the jury, Barbie director Greta Gerwig praised Anora as an “incredible, human and humane film that captured our hearts”. Baker’s win has made him one of the leading voices of American indie cinema. He dedicated the film to all sex workers. “This literally has been my singular goal for the past 30 years, so I’m not really sure what I’m going to do with the rest of my life,” he said, while also thanking the film’s star, Mikey Madison, as well as his wife and producer. Madison plays the character of the title, who meets Vanya, the immature son of a Russian oligarch with seemingly unlimited money, while working at a strip club. Vanya, played by Mark Eydelshteyn, hires Anora to be his girlfriend for a week, deciding on a whim to take his private plane to party in Las Vegas, where they get married. That decision upsets his disapproving parents so much that they jet over from Russia to ensure he gets an annulment. US director Sean Baker poses during a photocall for the film, Anora, at the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France [Loic Venance/AFP] The second-place Grand Prix went to All We Imagine as Light, the first Indian entry in 30 years. It wowed critics with its poetic monsoon-set portrayal of two women who have migrated to Mumbai to work as nurses. Emilia Perez also won the third-place Jury Prize for its French director, Jacques Audiard. And a devastating Iranian film about a family torn apart by the country’s recent women-led protests, The Seed of the Sacred Fig was given a special jury prize for “drawing attention to unsustainable injustice”. Its director Mohammad Rasoulof, 51, fled Iran to avoid a lengthy prison sentence just before the festival. Rasoulof said his heart was with the film’s crew, “still under the pressure of the secret services back in Iran”. “I am also very sad, deeply sad, to see the disaster experienced by my people every day … the Iranian people live under a totalitarian regime,” he said. Indian director Payal Kapadia, centre, celebrates on stage with her cast Indian actress Chhaya Kadam, left, Indian actress Divya Prabha, second left, and Indian actress Kani Kusruti, right, after she was awarded the Grand Prix for the film, All We Imagine as Light, during the Closing Ceremony at the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes [Christophe Simon/AFP] The 77th edition of the festival on the French Riviera, which began on May 14, saw several highly charged feminist and political movies. A trans woman won best actress for the first time, as Karla Sofia Gascon took the award for the audacious musical Emilia Perez, in which she plays a Mexican narco boss who has a sex change. The jury shared it between Gascon and her co-stars Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez – saying they were rewarding the “harmony of sisterhood” – though only Gascon was at the ceremony. She dedicated it to “all the trans people who are suffering”. “We all have the opportunity to change for the better, to be better people,” she said. “If you have made us suffer, it is time for you also to change.” Meanwhile, there were fewer meaty roles for men this year. But Jesse Plemons took the prize for Yorgos Lanthimos’s bizarro series of short stories, Kinds of Kindness, though he was not present to accept it. Adblock test (Why?)
At least 24 people, including children, killed in a fire in India’s Gujarat
The fire broke out at a family entertainment venue in Gujarat’s Rajkot district. At least 24 people, including many children, have died in a fire that broke out at a family entertainment venue in the western Indian state of Gujarat, a government official said. With rescue efforts continuing at the scene on Saturday evening in the Rajkot district, the local mayor told the Reuters news agency that the death toll was expected to rise. “Our focus is on rescue operations and saving lives. We will ensure strict action is taken against the people who are responsible for this incident,” Mayor Nayana Pedhadiya said. More than 300 people were in the two-storey structure at the TRP amusement and theme park when the blaze broke out as it was a holiday weekend, Rajkot fire officer Ilesh Kher told reporters. “People got trapped as a temporary structure at the facility collapsed near the entrance, making it difficult for the people to come out,” he said. “The flames spread rapidly because of its flammable material,” he added. Television images showed a massive fire engulfing the TRP game zone and thick clouds of smoke emanating from the site. The entire structure was gutted in the blaze. A police official at the local civil hospital said some of the bodies were also charred beyond recognition. Meanwhile, the district’s chief fire officer, IV Kher, said firefighters had almost brought the fire under control. “The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained,” he told Reuters. Gujarat Chief Minster Bhupendra Patel said that an investigation into the incident had been handed to a Special Investigation Team (SIT), and television reports added that two people had been detained by Rajkot police in connection with the incident. Gujarat is the home state of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In a post on the social media platform X, Modi said that he was “extremely distressed by the fire mishap in Rajkot” and added that the local administration was working to provide assistance to those affected. Adblock test (Why?)
Hamas official rejects talk of new negotiations with Israel
Hamas official Osama Hamdan has said that there is no need for new negotiations with Israel, amid Israeli media reports that there is an intention to renew Gaza truce talks. In a phone interview with Al Jazeera Arabic on Saturday, Hamdan said that the immediate requirement is for Israel to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and for all aggression to stop. “We do not need new negotiations,” he said, adding that Hamas has already agreed to a ceasefire proposal that Israel has rejected. “There is no guarantee that it [Israel] will accept new proposals to go to negotiations … If there are no serious guarantees, this means giving Israel more time to continue the aggression,” he added. Earlier this month, Hamas approved a proposal for a ceasefire in the seven-month Gaza war put forward by mediators Qatar and Egypt although Israel said the proposal falls short of its demands. On Saturday, according to Israeli media, officials involved in the negotiations said the Israeli government intended to renew talks for a Gaza captive release deal the in coming days, after a meeting with mediators in Paris. According to the reports, Israeli intelligence chief David Barnea had agreed to a new framework for the stalled negotiations with mediators — CIA Director Bill Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. The new offer was drafted by the Israeli negotiating team and contains possible solutions to points of disagreement in previous discussions. But defence ministry officials believe that even if Israel agrees to a temporary ceasefire, it will be able to return to war again when needed after months. Hamas has insisted that it is not willing to accept only a temporary ceasefire, but that an end to the fighting has to be permanent. Israel has insisted that the war will not end before its goals are met, including the total defeat of Hamas. However, Israel is coming under growing international pressure to stop and is increasingly isolated. Among recent blows for Israel are an International Court of Justice order for it to stop its Rafah offensive, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court seeking arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and a decision by Ireland, Norway and Spain to recognise Palestine. Rafah crossing Meanwhile, Washington said top diplomat Antony Blinken had also spoken with Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz about new efforts to achieve a ceasefire and reopen the border crossing in Gaza’s far-southern city of Rafah. Al-Qahera News said Cairo was also continuing “its efforts to reactivate ceasefire negotiations and exchange prisoners and detainees”. It added that Egypt was exerting “all kinds of pressure on Israel to urgently let in the aid and fuel” stranded at the Rafah crossing after its closure by Israel earlier this month. But a Hamas official denied Israeli media reports that Gaza ceasefire talks would resume in Cairo on Tuesday. “There is no date,” the unnamed Hamas official told the Reuters news agency when asked about the reports. Talks aimed at reaching a hostage release and truce deal for Gaza ground to a halt this month after Israel launched a military operation in Rafah. At least 35,903 people have been killed and 80,420 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll in Israel from Hamas’s attack stands at 1,139, with dozens still held captive. On Saturday, thousands of Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv to demand urgent government action to bring home captives held in Gaza, after the bodies of several were retrieved. Another protest, calling for the resignation of Netanyahu and an early election, was also held nearby. Despite the immense pressure, Netanyahu and his government have so far failed to strike a deal with Hamas, with many critics doubting their desire to reach a deal. Adblock test (Why?)
Bronx rallygoers reveal top 2 issues they believe will help Trump dominate in blue state
Attendees at former President Trump’s South Bronx rally Thursday came from a variety of backgrounds, but many said they had the same two issues at the top of their minds when choosing a candidate for 2024. The economy and illegal immigration. In a sea of red hats, American flags and pro-Trump banners, supporters of all stripes said they came for very similar reasons. Tyrone, from the Bronx, said the 2024 election is a chance “for us to get our country back.” TRUMP VOWS TO ‘SAVE’ DEEP-BLUE NEW YORK CITY IN HISTORIC BRONX RALLY “I’m proud to see that people are waking up and seeing that we need this change for this country,” he said. Illegal immigration was his top concern, he said, made worse by taxpayer money the government spends on housing and aid for migrants. “Do it the right way so we know who’s who, and we know that we’re not letting [in] murderers, rapists … ex-cons from different countries,” he said. Illegal immigration has skyrocketed during the Biden administration. Foreign spending continues while Americans suffer from the effects of inflation at home. And President Biden’s handling of these issues has voters in traditionally blue New York taking Trump more seriously this election season. ‘FED UP’ BRONX RESIDENTS SHOW UP TO SUPPORT TRUMP: ‘THE BRONX CAME OUT TODAY, HEAVY’ “I think there’s a wave of people changing their minds about him, especially in the Black community that I know of,” said Marilyn Miller, a former NYPD officer who attended the rally from Queens. “They don’t like the policies that Joe Biden has put us through — inflation, the migrant situation.” Democrats have set up multiple migrant shelters in her neighborhood, she said. “We do need borders,” she said. “Every country has a border, and in the United States of America, he just lets everybody come across the border. Now I have them in my neighborhood, and they’re committing crimes.” NY GOV KATHY HOCHUL CALLS TRUMP SUPPORTERS ‘CLOWNS’ K.T., an Orange County resident, drove an hour from the Hudson Valley to reach the rally, but he said his family is from the Bronx. “In terms of where we’re at now versus where we were, it’s like night and day,” he said. He said he is hoping a Trump win will bring inflation down. The 45th president later joked to the crowd bacon had gotten so expensive he gave up eating it. Crystal from Queens was wearing a Trump banner as a cape but said she had never before been political until after Biden took office. “Look around,” she said. “It’s clear and obvious that people are taking him way more serious right now, and New York is gonna turn red.” For her, living thousands of miles from the border with Mexico, the effects of unchecked illegal immigration are seen all around her, she said. “Close that freaking border now — not now, but right now, like yesterday now,” she said. “All of the effects of the border are all around us.” The rally, at Crotona Park in the Bronx, traditionally a Democratic stronghold, attracted people from New York and surrounding states. Trump is the first Republican to make a campaign stop in the city in decades. And if he makes good on his vow to win his former home state, he would be the first GOP candidate to do so since the 1980s. He only won single-digit support in the borough in 2016, but he made a significant improvement in 2020, and polls suggest he continues to make gains with Black and Hispanic voters.
PA GOP Senate candidate McCormick completes 67-county tour, trades lying accusations with Casey
Dave McCormick, the Republican challenger for Pennsylvania’s coveted U.S. Senate seat, completed a 67-county tour of the Keystone State on Friday. It’s not quite the “full Grassley” of presidential politics, when candidates visit all 99 counties ahead of the Iowa caucuses, but with President Biden and former President Trump in a dead-heat for Pennsylvania and the Senate majority in the balance, every point and all 67 counties count. After 42,000 miles. McCormick celebrated the last of his 345 stops at an Italian restaurant in Matamoras. In an event on the Friday afternoon before Memorial Day Weekend, he delivered a stump speech to about 30 supporters over pizza and soda. “I was so excited to be able to plant the flag today because it’s just the demonstrated commitment to being across our great Commonwealth and seeing people in all these communities,” McCormick told Fox News in an exclusive interview after his Pike County stop on Friday. “I think you campaign the way you’re going to be a senator, and I’m going to be a senator that represents all of Pennsylvania, not just the urban areas.” McCormick’s opponent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey has a two-point edge in the race, according to polling conducted April 28 to May 9 by The New York Times, Siena College and The Philadelphia Inquirer. McCormick’s campaign milestone comes as a Broad + Liberty report accused Casey of lying about visiting all 67 counties each year. The report used X posts as a metric to tally Casey’s campaign stops across the commonwealth, concluding that Casey only visited 39 counties since January 2023. Based on internal documents obtained by Fox News, Casey visited all 67 counties in 2022, but fell short at 63 counties in 2023. CRUCIAL SENATE SHOWDOWN IN KEY BATTLEGROUND STATE OFFICIALLY UNDERWAY AS CASEY, MCCORMICK WIN PRIMARIES A spokesperson for Casey emphasized the importance of quality visits over the quantity of visits and said not all of these campaign stops are posted online. His Senate office tracks the first and last visit to each county every year. For instance, in 2023, Casey visited Lehigh County for the first time on Jan. 6, 2023, and his last visit was on Dec. 21, 2023. And that’s not to say he didn’t visit Lehigh County several times in between. McCormick isn’t convinced. “He said that he visits every county every year,” McCormick told Fox News on Friday. “So, you know, he can show you the evidence. We don’t see any evidence that he visits every county every year.” To McCormick, the county controversy goes beyond hearsay. He says it’s about showing up for Pennsylvanians all across the commonwealth. “It’s a number of cases where Bob Casey says one thing and does another,” McCormick told Fox News on Friday. “He stands up and says his and Biden’s policies are going to reduce inflation. And then in a room, he gets caught on tape saying, hey, listen, there’s nothing we can do to lower prices. Or he says he’s for policies that ensure that we source from American industries, and then he votes and waives exceptions on them because he and Biden’s policies on EVs aren’t adequately supported by U.S. industry. So time and again, Bob Casey says one thing and does another, and so I don’t think he’s been forthright with the people of Pennsylvania.” McCormick, endorsed by former President Donald Trump, consistently ties Casey to President Biden. A day after accepting the Republican nomination, McCormick released an ad slamming Casey for voting with Biden “98 percent” of the time. “Bob Casey’s lack of visiting these counties, his lie on this is also representative of why he’s out of step with most Pennsylvanians, and that’s why most Pennsylvanians can’t name a single thing that Bob Casey’s accomplished,” McCormick continued last Friday. “They can’t believe that he’s voted 98% of the time with Joe Biden. So the connection I’m making is the lie on the county visits with his positions being increasingly liberal, increasingly bowing to the progressive left and increasingly out of step with Pennsylvania. That’s the connection.” REPUBLICAN SENATE CANDIDATE IN CRUCIAL RACE IN KEY BATTLEGROUND STATE REPORTS $6.2 MILLION HAUL Just ahead of the Pennsylvania primary, McCormick was the Senate candidate dodging accusations of lying. A New York Times report found that McCormick embellished details about his upbringing, particularly about growing up on a Pennsylvania farm. McCormick has denied these allegations, his background emblematic of his Senate campaign and a fixture of that stump speech. “My folks had a family farm,” McCormick told the group in Pike County Friday. “They lived in town in Bloomsburg. My dad worked at the college, but I baled hay. I trimmed Christmas trees. I was a busboy at the hotel. I was a paperboy with two paper routes. I played football. I wrestled. I hunted.” Pennsylvania Democrats have seized every opportunity to call McCormick a liar, accusing McCormick of jet-setting into Pennsylvania to campaign and nicknaming him “Connecticut Dave” for renting a home in Westport, Connecticut. “I don’t think he’s been truthful to people about living in Pennsylvania. He lives in Connecticut in a $16 million house,” Casey told Fox News in an exclusive interview in April. “I think this is kind of a pattern of falsely representing something so basic about where you live and where you once lived. I don’t know why he would make reference to his upbringing in a way that wasn’t fully truthful. He has a lot to be proud of. He’s achieved a lot in his life, and he should talk about what he’s achieved instead of trying to create this image that I guess at one point he made reference to being a farmer, which makes no sense at all. I just think you should be truthful and honest with the people that you’re seeking to represent.” When pressed by Fox News why Pennsylvania voters should trust McCormick’s word over Casey’s, McCormick said he’s not one to shy away from criticism. He’s urging Casey
Disgraced EcoHealth Alliance reaped nearly $100M in taxpayer funds since 2008
EcoHealth Alliance – the disgraced research firm accused of using taxpayer funds to conduct gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab before the COVID-19 pandemic began – received nearly $100 million from the federal government over the past decade and a half. From FY 2008 to FY 2024, the U.S. government provided EcoHealth Alliance an estimated $94.3 million in taxpayer funds through contracts, grants, direct payments, loans and other financial assistance, according to a Fox News Digital review of government spending data provided by USAspending.gov. Fox News Digital reported last year that millions of dollars in federal research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) were awarded to the nonprofit to study bat coronaviruses in China. The Department of Health and Human Services inspector general released a 64-page report in January 2023 that found NIH did not adequately follow its policies and procedures with respect to three grants to EcoHealth Alliance between 2014 and 2021, totaling about $8 million. HHS MOVES TO DEBAR ECOHEALTH ALLIANCE PRESIDENT OVER FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH GRANT PROCEDURES As for the total number of taxpayer dollars given by the federal government to EcoHealth Alliance since the start of the pandemic, Dr. Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University and a harsh critic of NIH, placed the number at upwards of $50 million. “The U.S.-government has provided more than $50 million to EcoHealth just since the start of the pandemic, with most of that $50 million earmarked for the same kinds of reckless virus discovery and virus enhancement research that likely caused pandemic,” Ebright said in a statement to Fox News Digital. Government agencies who gave the most funding to EcoHealth, according to Ebright, are the United States Agency for International Development, the Department of Defense and NIH. Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services implemented an immediate, government-wide suspension of all funds allocated to EcoHealth. HHS made the decision, citing evidence included in the House COVID Select Subcommittee’s staff-level report on the nonprofit. According to HHS, EcoHealth willfully violated the terms of a multimillion-dollar NIH grant. At the time, a spokesperson for EcoHealth Alliance told Fox News Digital that it was “disappointed by HHS’ decision.” “We disagree strongly with the decision and will present evidence to refute each of these allegations and to show that NIH’s continued support of EcoHealth Alliance is in the public interest,” the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. COVID ORIGINS: HHS SUSPENDS ECOHEALTH ALLIANCE GRANTS AFTER FINDING TAXPAYER FUNDS USED IN RISKY RESEARCH That comment came prior to a decision by HHS to commence formal debarment proceedings against Dr. Peter Daszak, the president of EcoHealth Alliance, earlier this week. In a Tuesday letter to Daszak, a suspension and debarment official for HHS wrote, “This is to provide notification that, on behalf of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, I have suspended you and proposed you for debarment, related to your respective roles as the President of EcoHealth Alliance, Inc. and as Program Director/Principal Investigator on the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease … from participating in United States Federal Government procurement and nonprocurement programs.” In an action referral memorandum, which cited several examples of EcoHealth’s failure to comply with certain grant procedures, the same official wrote, “I find that the information in the record constitutes adequate evidence to demonstrate that the immediate suspension of Dr. Peter Daszak is necessary to protect the public interest provided his role as the President of EHA . . . .” The memorandum also pointed to EHA’s work with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) as a reason for the proposal of debarment proceedings against Daszak. A review of EcoHealth’s work, submitted two years late on August 3, 2021, showed that work at the Wuhan Institute “had possibly yielded a greater” increase in viral activity, “in violation of the terms of the grant,” the memorandum said. Following the commencement of debarment proceedings, an EcoHealth Alliance spokesperson told Fox News that the U.S.-based nonprofit “did not support ‘gain-of-function’ research at WIV” and that any “assertions to the contrary are based either on misinterpretation, or willful misrepresentation of the actual research conducted.” “Because the SARS-related research conducted by EcoHealth Alliance and the Wuhan Institute of Virology dealt with bat coronaviruses that had never been shown to infect people, let alone cause significant morbidity and/or mortality in humans, by definition it was not gain-of-function research,” the spokesperson added. “The fact is that the bat coronavirus research conducted by EcoHealth Alliance and the Wuhan Institute of Virology could not have started the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Biden repeats football claim to West Point graduates at commencement address
President Biden repeated a claim about turning down an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, where he purportedly wanted to play football, during his commencement address at West Point on Saturday. Biden told West Point graduates that Republican Sen. J. Caleb Boggs, whom he defeated to become a U.S. senator, had “appointed” him to the Naval Academy years before they ran against each other in 1972. The president recounted that before his interview, “I found out two days earlier they had a quarterback named Roger Staubach, and a halfback named Joe Bellino. And I said, I’m not going there. I went to Delaware. Not a joke.” It’s the same story Biden told Naval Academy graduates in 2022, when he claimed he was accepted to the military institution in 1965 but declined to attend. In Saturday’s telling of the story, however, Biden did not offer a date. 2024 WILD CARD: COULD TRUMP CRIMINAL TRIAL ROCK WHITE HOUSE RACE? Staubach, a Heisman Trophy winner and NFL Hall of Famer, played his first game for Navy in 1962, while Bellino, the first Naval Academy player to win the Heisman Trophy, played his last game in January 1961. Biden played for the high school team at Archmere Academy in Claymont, graduating in 1961. In his senior year of high school, Biden was a successful wide receiver, scoring 10 touchdowns in eight games. The team went undefeated that year, Yahoo Sports reported in 2021. CNN REPORTER WARNS BIDEN’S POLING AS INCUMBENT IN PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY IS HISTORICALLY ‘WEAK, WEAK, WEAK’ Biden attended the University of Delaware and graduated in 1965, reportedly playing briefly on the 1961 freshman team but did not finish the season. “In almost any group I was the leader,” Biden wrote in his autobiography, “Promises to Keep.” “I was the leading scorer on our undefeated and untied football team my senior year, and I didn’t lack for confidence on the field.” Staubach graduated from the Naval Academy in 1964 before he left to fight in Vietnam and later returned to play 11 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. Bellino, who also fought in Vietnam and had a brief NFL career, graduated in 1961 — at least four years before Biden claimed he was thinking about playing football for the Midshipmen. ‘CRISIS TO THE FRONT GATES’: GOP GOVERNOR RIPS BIDEN AFTER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TRIED TO BREACH MILITARY BASE RNC Research, an X account operated by the Republican National Committee’s rapid response team, called Biden’s claim questionable. “He has repeated this lie many times before and there is still no record any of it ever happened,” the RNC posted. Biden’s speech at West Point marked the second time the president has participated in the military academy’s graduation ceremony. He previously delivered the 2016 commencement address as vice president.