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‘Squad’ member caught at fundraiser hosted by Islamic leader who praised Hamas attack on Israel

‘Squad’ member caught at fundraiser hosted by Islamic leader who praised Hamas attack on Israel

A member of the far-left “Squad” facing a tough challenge from within his own party recently attended a fundraiser co-hosted by an Islamic leader who said he was “happy to see” the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians. Rep. Jamaal Bowman, who represents New York’s 16th Congressional District, attended the May 1 fundraiser at a private residence in Fairfax, Virginia, and didn’t seem to mind the presence of Nihad Awad, a highly controversial and antisemitic figure who serves as the national executive director and co-founder of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Awad faced sharp scrutiny last year after expressing his pleasure with the Hamas attack that resulted in the deaths of nearly 1,200 Israelis, including women and babies, and claiming Israel “does not have a right to self-defense.” WAR VETERAN IN CRUCIAL BATTLEGROUND RACE EXPANDS CAMPAIGN, SETS SIGHTS FIRMLY ON VULNERABLE DEMOCRAT “The people of Gaza only decided to break the siege – the walls of the concentration camp – on Oct. 7,” Awad said during the 16th annual Convention for Palestine on Nov. 24 near Chicago. “And yes, I was happy to see people breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land and walk free into their land that they were not free to walk in.” He continued, “And yes, the people of Gaza have the right to self-defense, have the right to defend themselves. And yes, Israel as an occupying power does not have that right to self-defense.” The Biden administration later scrambled to distance itself from CAIR following Awad’s comments, stating it was removing the group from its publicly listed pledge to fight antisemitism. At the time, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told Fox News Digital in a statement, “We condemn these shocking, Antisemitic statements in the strongest terms.” FORMER TRUMP OFFICIAL ANNOUNCES MAJOR ‘DEPORT THEM ALL’ BORDER INITIATIVE AMID BID TO FLIP CRUCIAL SENATE SEAT “The horrific, brutal terrorist attacks committed by Hamas on October 7th were, as President Biden said, ‘abhorrent’ and represent ‘unadulterated evil,’” Bates said. “October 7th was the deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust,” he continued. “The atrocities of that day shock the conscience, which is why we can never forget the pain Hamas has caused for so many innocent people.” “There are families who are in agony mourning loved ones, and there are also families in agony as they do everything in their power to free loved ones being held hostage,” Bates said. “Every leader has a responsibility to call out Antisemitism wherever it rears its ugly head.” GOP IN BATTLEGROUND STATES RIP TRUMP TRIAL JUDGE’S ‘DANGEROUS’ RULING Ahead of the fundraiser, Awad posted on social media praising Bowman as “a staunch defender of Palestinian rights” and asking people to attend the fundraiser and donate. It’s unclear why Bowman decided to attend a fundraiser alongside Awad, and his campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Bowman is facing what is expected to be a tough primary battle against George Latimer, who serves as a Westchester County executive and previously served in the New York State Assembly and state Senate. The primary will be held on June 25. The winner will likely become the next representative of the district as elections analysts rate the race as either “safe” or “solid” Democrat. Fox News’ Timothy H.J. Nerozzi contributed to this report. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Biden takes role as bystander on border and campus protests, surrenders the bully pulpit

Biden takes role as bystander on border and campus protests, surrenders the bully pulpit

The election might well be slipping away from Joe Biden. And that’s the view among some who want the president to win a second term. Biden’s passivity, and his reluctance to communicate, are fueling a narrative that he is a weak leader, and that’s now tied to a larger theme that will be difficult to shake by November. For years, Biden’s refusal to take dramatic action – unilateral or otherwise – on the record-breaking illegal migration at what has become an open border, has been his greatest liability. It also happens to be Donald Trump’s strongest issue. BIDEN’S LACK OF RESPONSE TO ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS GIVES SENSE AMERICA’S ‘OUT-OF-CONTROL’: HOWARD KURTZ Then came the violent protests and antisemitic hatred that swept across college campuses like wildfire, and the president stubbornly remained silent for two long weeks. This has been the biggest and most alarming story in America, and Biden felt no need to address it as college buildings were being occupied and police were making mass arrests of pro-Hamas protesters. The core concern here is that America feels out of control. The outbreak of lawlessness is heightened by a sense that no one is in charge.  Despite the White House spin, Biden said nothing about the campus protests as a deputy spokesman put out releases under his own name. His two-sentence answer to a shouted question could barely be heard amid the background noise. A Barack Obama adviser once told the New Yorker, fairly or unfairly, that Obama’s approach to Libya amounted to “leading from behind.” That seems to describe Biden’s approach to the violence and arrests at Columbia, NYU, Yale, Darthouth, USC, UCLA and many other colleges. His words were fine and well-crafted, but it felt like too little too late. UNIVERSITIES CAVE TO ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS TO END OCCUPATIONS, WHILE SOME ALLOW ENCAMPMENTS TO CONTINUE Now, it would be crazy to make predictions about an election six months away. Trump’s law-and-order stance is marred by his having to sit through the first of four criminal cases, the hush money trial. What’s more, the election will probably be decided by perhaps 50,000 voters in five swing states.  Andrew Sullivan wants Biden to be re-elected, but doesn’t see it happening: “Biden had an opportunity to move to the center on illegal immigration – his core vulnerability – and decided to move, with his entire party, to the extreme left,” he wrote on his Substack. Besides, it was too late for Biden to have “serious cred” on the issue. As for the president’s brief and belated speech on violent campus protests, “it was given only when he had no choice, after Trump goaded him, and it reminded me of his sad attempts to distance himself and his party from the rioting and looting in the hellish summer of 2020. He was reactive, not proactive. His quiet words were overwhelmed with the noise of the streets.” All this, says Sullivan, “will help Trump get an Electoral College landslide, just as the new left handily elected Nixon in 1968 and 1972… “Biden is losing this election, deservedly. And if he cannot pull off an almighty pivot – and I suspect at this point, he really can’t – this election really is Trump’s to lose.” Another Andrew – former prosecutor and National Review writer Andy McCarthy – is opposed to a second Trump term. He thinks the former president should have been impeached and convicted after Jan. 6: “I don’t want a Trump presidency,” the Fox News contributor said. “It’s a historic, even if inevitable, blown opportunity by Republicans not to have nominated a reliable conservative who might have ushered in eight-to-16 years of restorative administrations. But a second Biden government, which would likely become a Harris government, would be a disaster.” ABC HOST ISSUES STERN WARNING ABOUT 2024 ELECTION: ‘NO MORE CRYING WOLF’ Okay, he’s torn, but it’s a binary choice. McCarthy is now hedging his bets on his previous prediction that Trump can’t win a general election. His original reasoning: Trump’s ceiling continues to be around 46 to 47% in major polls. Plus, he’s at minus-10 in favorability ratings. It’s not clear how much Trump’s numbers will dip after a potential felony conviction, but it would be “negligible” if it’s D.A. Alvin Bragg’s “farcical” case, McCarthy said. “The Dems haven’t yet unleashed the torrents of negative messaging that are coming. That is not going to help him reel in at least some of the close to one-in-five Republicans who are dead set against him — the voters he needs to have any chance of winning… Put it all together and I still think Trump’s a 2024 also-ran.” I don’t agree – or at least I’d say that Trump is highly competitive despite running against an incumbent, who happens to be 81, and who has a substantial record of legislative accomplishment. What’s more, the major issue for voters remains inflation. Unfortunately for Biden, prices are again creeping back up, even though we’re in a record stretch of unemployment below 4%. There’s one other potential parallel to 1968, beyond the fact that it was exactly 56 years since the first time Columbia protesters seized control of Hamilton Hall. The Washington Post reports that “pro-Palestinian activists are ramping up plans for a major show of force at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, increasingly worrying Democrats who fear the demonstrations could interfere with or overshadow their efforts to project unity ahead of the November election.” If “unruly” protests erupt in late August, “especially if they feature inflammatory rhetoric, property damage or police intervention — they could strike at the heart of the Democratic message that President Biden represents competent and stable leadership” while Trump is “an agent of chaos and confusion.” THE ANTI-TRUMP MOVEMENT’S SECRET ZOOM CALLS GIVE THEIR TARGET AMMO Uh, remind me again why the Dems are holding the convention in Chicago, with its horrible echoes, when Illinois is a blue state? Wouldn’t Detroit or Philadelphia have made more sense? The paper quotes William