‘Presidential incapacity’: Senate Republican seeks paper trail of Biden’s autopen use
FIRST ON FOX: A Senate Republican wants to build a paper trail of former President Joe Biden’s autopen usage with the end goal of calling more hearings, passing legislation or amending the Constitution to best address “a mentally incapacitated president.” Sen. Eric Schmitt, chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, is requesting special access under the Presidential Records Act to a trove of Biden-era documents and memos that chronicle his usage of an autopen. In a letter to Secretary of State and Acting National Archivist Marco Rubio exclusively obtained by Fox News, Schmitt argued that creating a paper trail of key directives made toward the end of his presidency would help in “deciding which legislative remedy is most appropriate.” TOP BIDEN AIDE ADMITS TO CONGRESS SHE DIRECTED AUTOPEN SIGNATURES WITHOUT KNOWING WHO GAVE FINAL APPROVAL “In particular, the increased use of the autopen to sign pardons, executive orders, and other documents as his Presidency progressed became a poignant symbol of President Biden’s mental decline and has created questions about the validity of those orders and pardons if President Biden did not direct the use of the autopen,” he wrote. Schmitt requested access to a slew of documents, including memos about procedures for usage of the autopen, who was granted authority to use the autopen and emails from staff authorizing or requesting authorization for autopen usage. SENATE HEARING ON WHO WAS ‘REALLY RUNNING’ BIDEN WHITE HOUSE KICKS OFF WEDNESDAY He also requested access to all White House records after Nov. 1, 2024, that refer or relate to presidential pardons; that prioritize briefing books, memos and decision memos for pardons; and, eventually, access to all White House records after Nov. 1. “With that information, the subcommittee will be better positioned to ensure that any potential proposed amendment will be sufficiently comprehensive so as to address any plausible contingency concerning a mentally incapacitated President,” Schmitt wrote. “It would be challenging enough to amend the Constitution once — much less more than once if it then subsequently turned out not all contingencies around presidential incapacity were adequately considered.” Schmitt’s letter comes after the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on Biden’s alleged mental decline while in office and how the autopen could have played a central role in his inner circle’s alleged attempt to skirt the Constitution while continuing to carry out the duties of the office. EX-WHITE HOUSE OFFICIALS TO TESTIFY ON WHO ‘REALLY RAN THE COUNTRY’ DURING BIDEN ERA It also explicitly mentions the closed-door, transcribed hearing with Biden’s former director of the Domestic Policy Council, Neera Tanden, conducted by the House Oversight Committee this week. A source told Fox News Digital that during the transcribed interview, which lasted five hours, Tanden testified she had “minimal interaction with President Biden” in her role as staff secretary and that to obtain autopen signatures, she would send decision memos to members of Biden’s inner circle. She said during the interview she was not aware of what actions or approvals happened between the time the memo was sent out and returned with approval. However, Tanden’s opening statement, shared with Fox News Digital by her lawyer, Michael Bromwich, said that, as staff secretary, she was responsible for “handling the flow of documents to and from the President” and that she was authorized to direct that autopen signatures be “affixed to certain categories of documents.” “We had a system for authorizing the use of the autopen that I inherited from prior Administrations,” Tanden said. “We employed that system throughout my tenure as Staff Secretary.” She was later named director of Biden’s Domestic Policy Council and said she was no longer responsible for the flow of documents and was no longer involved in decisions related to the autopen. “I would note that much of the public discussion on the subject matter of this hearing has conflated two very different issues: first, the president’s age and second, whether President Bident was in command as President,” she said. “I had no experience in the White House that would provide any reason to question his command as President. He was in charge.” Schmitt requested that access to the swathe of memos and communications be granted no later than July 16. “It is important for this subcommittee to have a clear picture of President Biden’s decision-making capacity at the end of his presidency and to know the extent to which members of his inner circle possibly usurped the President’s decision-making authority,” he wrote. Fox News Digital’s Liz Elkind contributed to this report.
World leaders flock to meet with Trump at NATO Summit
President Donald Trump took part in a flurry of greetings with world leaders eager to get face time with the U.S. president during his brief stint at the NATO Summit. Upon arriving, the president was welcomed by Dutch royals — King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima, and their daughter Crown Princess Amalia. He became the first president to stay at the king’s palace, Huis ten Bosch Palace. “I had breakfast with the king and queen this morning — beautiful people,” Trump said. “I slept beautifully.” TRUMP SAYS US WOULD STRIKE AGAIN IF IRAN REBUILDS NUCLEAR PROGRAM He participated in photo ops with world leaders from across the political spectrum — friend and foe alike — and received fawning praise from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who likened him to the father of the alliance. “Daddy has to sometimes use strong language,” Rutte said in defense of Trump’s expletive-laden criticism of Israel and Iran for threatening the ceasefire he negotiated. The president was riding high amid warming relations with the alliance he previously threatened to pull out of. After months of combativeness with Europe over defense spending and liberal policies, Trump praised the alliance for agreeing to his demand to raise its defense spending target to 5% of GDP. “Believe it or not, allies have increased spending by $700 billion,” Trump said in a news conference. “This week, the NATO allies committed to dramatically increase their defense spending to that 5% of GDP, something that no one really thought possible.” TRUMP JOINS NATO SUMMIT WITH GLOWING PRAISE AS ALLIES ADOPT NEW SPENDING Even Spain — the only nation not to agree to commit 5% to defense — got a relatively mild drubbing from the president. “I like Spain. I have so many people from Spain. It’s a great place, and they’re great people. But Spain is … the only country out of all of the countries that refuses to pay. And, you know, so they want a little bit of a free ride,” he said. It was certainly a different tone from Vice President JD Vance’s address at the Munich Security Conference. “The threat that I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia. It’s not China. It’s not any other external actor,” Vance said at the time. “What I worry about is the threat from within the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America.”
Ella Emhoff feels ‘trauma’ returning to NYC polling station where she voted for Harris
Former Vice President Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter, Ella Emhoff, shared with her Instagram followers on Tuesday that she felt “a little trauma” while on her way to vote in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary. Emhoff revealed that she was voting in the same polling station where she had cast her ballot for her stepmother, who ultimately suffered a crushing defeat in Nov. 2024. “You know, I’m feeling a little trauma walking to the same polling station that I did to vote for Kamala. And you know, I’m just feeling a lot of hope,” Emhoff said in a video posted to her Instagram story that has since expired. REPUBLICANS USE MAMDANI BOMBSHELL VICTORY OVER CUOMO AS AMMUNITION TO BLAST DEMOCRATS AS EXTREMISTS In the second part of the video, Emhoff sported an “I Voted” sticker and said she was “feeling a huge mix of emotions,” adding that it was “spectacular seeing New York come together in this way and rally behind Zohran.” Emhoff was among several celebrity guests — including “Sex and the City” star Cynthia Nixon and actor Kal Penn — at Zohran Mamdani’s watch party. ERIC ADAMS WARNS ZOHRAN MAMDANI IS A ‘SNAKE OIL SALESMAN’ AFTER DEM SOCIALIST’S NYC MAYORAL PRIMARY WIN While the results of the primary are unofficial, Mamdani claimed victory, and the other frontrunner in the race, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, conceded. Emhoff endorsed Mamdani in May in a video apparently filmed at Brooklyn Steel, a music venue in New York City, where Mamdani was holding an event. “I’m passing the phone to the next mayor of New York City, who’s going to make New York happier, healthier and more affordable,” Emhoff says in the video, which was a play on the “passing the phone” social media trend. In the past month, Emhoff promoted Mamdani on her social media. In one post, she made a list of “big reminders,” including urging New Yorkers not to rank Cuomo and to vote for Mamdani instead. Mamdani has faced heavy criticism from Republicans who see him as being a radical and from those who have accused him of being an antisemite. His proposals, such as implementing free public transit, creating a network of city-owned grocery stores and instituting free universal childcare for children from ages 6 weeks to 5 years. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., criticized Mamdani, saying that “a radical, Defund-the-Police, Communist, raging antisemite will most likely win the New York City Democrat mayoral primary.” The New York City Board of Elections is set to release the official primary results on July 1, according to Fox 5.
Bernie Moreno wants Senate to call for Nobel Peace Prize to go to Trump
Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, wants President Donald Trump to win the Nobel Peace Prize. The lawmaker is introducing a resolution Wednesday that declares the U.S. Senate “calls on the Norwegian Nobel Committee to award President Donald John Trump the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize,” “urges all peace-loving nations to join in that call” and “expresses its deepest appreciation to President Trump for bringing an end both to the nuclear program of Iran and hostilities related thereto in only 12 days.” President Barack Obama was awarded the prize in 2009, less than one year after taking office. TRUMP NOMINATED FOR NOBEL PEACE PRIZE OVER IRAN-ISRAEL CEASEFIRE DEAL “Obama won the Nobel, then he killed hundreds of civilians and did nothing to stop Forever Wars,” Moreno declared in a post on X. “Now President Trump did what neocons said couldn’t be done—destroying Iran’s nuclear facilities & securing a ceasefire. It’s time to formally nominate him.” Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter, R-Ga., who is running for U.S. Senate, also nominated Trump for the award this week. TRUMP ANNOUNCES HISTORIC IRAN AND ISRAEL CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT TO END ‘12 DAY WAR’ In a nomination letter, the congressman said he was nominating Trump “in recognition of his extraordinary and historic role in brokering an end to the armed conflict between Israel and Iran and preventing the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism from obtaining the most lethal weapon on the planet.” TRUMP SAYS IRAN WON’T BE BUILDING BOMBS ‘FOR A VERY LONG TIME’ “His leadership at this moment exemplifies the very ideals that the Nobel Peace Prize seeks to recognize: the pursuit of peace, the prevention of war, and the advancement of international harmony,” Carter’s letter declared. Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed to this report
Iran, Israel and US agree that Islamic Republic nuclear sites were ‘badly damaged’ despite leaked intel report
President Donald Trump’s historic precision strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites Saturday hit their targets and “destroyed” and “badly damaged” the facilities’ critical infrastructure — an assessment agreed upon by Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Israel and the United States. “Our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that’s for sure,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghaei told Al Jazeera. TRUMP SAYS US WOULD STRIKE AGAIN IF IRAN REBUILDS NUCLEAR PROGRAM Israel’s Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said its assessment is that Iran’s nuclear program has been “significantly damaged,” while Israel’s Atomic Energy Commission described the U.S. strikes as “devastating.” “The devastating U.S. strike on Fordo destroyed the site’s critical infrastructure and rendered the enrichment facility inoperable,” Israel’s Atomic Energy Commission said. “We assess that the American strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, combined with Israeli strikes on other elements of Iran’s military nuclear program, has set back Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons by many years.” It added: “The achievement can continue indefinitely if Iran does not get access to nuclear material.” TRUMP THRASHES CNN AS ‘GUTLESS LOSERS’ FOR COVERAGE OF US STRIKES ON IRAN And as for the United States, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan “Razin” Caine said that initial battle damage assessments indicate that “all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction.” “More than 125 U.S. aircraft participated in this mission, including B-2 stealth bombers, multiple flights of fourth and fifth generation fighters, dozens and dozens of air refueling tankers, a guided missile submarine, and a full array of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft, as well as hundreds of maintenance and operational professionals,” Caine said in a press briefing. And Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that “given the 30,000 pounds of explosions and the capability of those munitions, it was devastation underneath Fordow.” HEGSETH SAYS FBI IS CONDUCTING INVESTIGATION INTO LEAK OF INTEL REPORT ON STRIKE AGAINST IRAN “Any assessment that tells you otherwise is speculating with other motives,” Hegseth said. The agreement on the assessment of damage between the United States, Israel and Iran comes amid a report that cited leaked low-confidence intelligence from one intelligence agency that suggested the U.S. strikes did not destroy Iran’s nuclear sites. A Defense Intelligence Agency source told Fox News that the “low confidence” assessment was based on just “one day’s worth of intelligence reporting.” More intelligence has been gathered in the days since through other sources and methods, according to the source. “This is a preliminary, low-confidence report and will continue to be refined as additional intelligence becomes available,” the Defense Intelligence Agency said. “We are working with the appropriate authorities to investigate the unauthorized disclosure of classified information.” And Secretary of State Marco Rubio blasted the report and said that Iran’s nuclear program “today looks nothing like it did just a week ago.” “That story is a false story, and it’s one that really shouldn’t be re-reported because it doesn’t accurately reflect what’s happening,” Rubio said. “Everything underneath that mountain is in bad shape.” Rubio also added that “there is no way Iran comes to the table if somehow nothing had happened.” TRUMP LASHES OUT AT ISRAEL AND IRAN WITH PROFANITY FOR BREAKING CEASE-FIRE “This was complete and total obliteration. They are in bad shape,” Rubio said. “They are way behind today compared to where they were just seven days ago because of what President Trump did.” Even the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi assessed that “very significant damage is expected to have occurred.” “At the Esfahan nuclear site, additional buildings were hit, with the US confirming their use of cruise missiles,” he said, according to prepared remarks for the International Atomic Energy Agency. “Affected buildings include some related to the uranium conversion process,” he said. “Also at this site, entrances to tunnels used for the storage of enriched material appear to have been hit. At the Natanz enrichment site, the Fuel Enrichment Plant was hit, with the U.S. confirming that it used ground-penetrating munitions.” Meanwhile, Trump has been in the Netherlands at the NATO Summit, where he was met with praise from allies on his “decisive” action in Iran. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte praised Trump as a “man of strength” and a “man of peace” during Wednesday’s summit. “I just want to recognize your decisive action on Iran,” Rutte said at the start of his joint remarks with the president. “You are a man of strength, but you are also a man of peace. And the fact that you are now also successful in getting this ceasefire done between Israel and Iran — I really want to commend you for that. I think this is important for the whole world.” The president on Wednesday declared that the United States would strike Iran again if the country attempts to rebuild its nuclear program.
Did the US and Israel really obliterate Iran’s nuclear facilities?
NewsFeed A leaked intelligence report has cast doubt on Trump and Netanyahu’s claims that their attacks on Iran destroyed its nuclear programme. Analysts say some facilities weren’t even hit, while 400kg of uranium is unaccounted for. Soraya Lennie takes a look. Published On 25 Jun 202525 Jun 2025 Adblock test (Why?)
Trump administration sues Maryland court system over deportation rulings
The administration of United States President Donald Trump has filed an extraordinary lawsuit against the Maryland district court system and its federal judges, accusing them of having “used and abused” their powers to stymie deportations. The complaint was lodged late on Tuesday. In its 22 pages, the administration accuses Maryland’s federal courts of “unlawful, anti-democratic” behaviour for placing limits on Trump’s deportation policies. Fifteen district judges are named among the defendants, as is a clerk of court, one of the administrative officials in the court system. The complaint advances an argument that Trump and his allies have long made publicly: that the president has a mandate from voters to carry out his campaign of mass deportation — and that the courts are standing in the way. “Injunctions against the Executive Branch are particularly extraordinary because they interfere with that democratically accountable branch’s exercise of its constitutional powers,” the lawsuit reads. It seeks an immediate injunction against a recent ruling from Chief Judge George Russell III, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama. Russell had issued a standing order that would automatically take effect each time an immigrant files a petition for habeas corpus — in other words, a petition contesting their detention. The chief judge’s order prevents the Trump administration from deporting the immigrant in question for a period of two business days after the petition is filed. That time frame, Russell added, can be extended at the discretion of the court. Advertisement The idea is to protect an immigrant’s right to due process — their right to a fair hearing in the legal system — so that they have the time to appeal their deportation if necessary. But the Trump administration said that Russell’s order, and other orders from federal judges in Maryland, do little more than subvert the president’s power to exercise his authority over immigration policy. “Every unlawful order entered by the district courts robs the Executive Branch of its most scarce resource: time to put its policies into effect,” the lawsuit argued. Trump’s immigration policies have faced hundreds of legal challenges since the president took office for his second term in January. Tuesday’s lawsuit admits as much, citing that fact as evidence of judicial bias against Trump’s immigration agenda. “In the first 100 days of President Trump’s current term, district courts have entered more nationwide injunctions than in the 100 years from 1900 to 2000, requiring the Supreme Court to intervene again and again in recent weeks,” the lawsuit said. The Supreme Court has upheld the right to due process, writing in recent cases like JGG v Trump that immigrants must be able to seek judicial review for their cases. But critics have argued that other recent decisions have undermined that commitment. Earlier this week, for instance, the Supreme Court lifted a lower court’s ruling that barred the US government from deporting immigrants to third-party countries without prior notice. Tuesday’s lawsuit against the Maryland federal court system appears poised to test whether the judicial branch can continue to serve as a check against the executive branch’s powers, at least as far as immigration is concerned. The lawsuit attacks Maryland’s immigration-related court orders on several fronts. For example, it questions whether “immediate and irreparable injury” is likely in the deportation cases. It also asserts that the federal courts are impeding immigration courts — which fall under the authority of the executive branch — from greenlighting deportations. But the complaint also emphasises the need for speed in executing the removals of immigrants from the US. “Removals can take months of sensitive diplomacy to arrange and often do not completely come together until the last minute,” the Trump administration’s lawsuit said. “A delay can undo all of those arrangements and require months of additional work before removal can be attempted again.” Maryland is a reliably Democratic-leaning state, and the Trump administration has been dealt some significant setbacks in its federal courts. Advertisement That, in turn, has led the president and his allies to denounce the courts for “judicial overreach”, a theme reprised in Tuesday’s court filing. One of the most prominent immigration cases unfolding in the US is that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran immigrant and resident of Maryland who was deported despite a protection order allowing him to remain in the country. His lawyers have maintained he fled El Salvador to escape gang violence. His deportation was challenged before District Judge Paula Xinis, one of the judges named in Tuesday’s complaint. Xinis ruled in early April that the US must “facilitate and effectuate” Abrego Garcia’s return from the El Salvador prison where he was being held, and the Supreme Court upheld that decision — though it struck the word “effectuate” for being unclear. The Maryland judge then ordered the Trump administration to provide updates about the steps it was taking to return Abrego Garcia to the US. She has since indicated the administration could be held in contempt of court for failing to do so. Abrego Garcia was abruptly returned to the US on June 6, after more than two and a half months imprisoned in El Salvador. The Trump administration said it brought him back to face criminal charges for human trafficking in Tennessee. That case is currently ongoing, and Abrego Garcia has denied the charges against him. That legal proceeding, and Xinis’s orders, were not explicitly named in Tuesday’s lawsuit. But the complaint offered a broad critique of orders like hers. “Defendants’ lawless standing orders are nothing more than a particularly egregious example of judicial overreach interfering with Executive Branch prerogatives,” the lawsuit argued, “and thus undermining the democratic process.” Adblock test (Why?)
NATO countries’ budgets compared: Defence vs healthcare and education
NATO leaders signed a deal to increase defence spending as the annual alliance summit in The Hague drew to a close after two days of meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday. At the top of the agenda was a big new defence spending target demanded by US President Donald Trump, which will see NATO members spend 5 percent of their economic output on core defence and security. The new spending target, which is to be achieved over the next 10 years, is a jump worth hundreds of billions of dollars a year from the current goal of 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Which countries meet the current target of two percent? In 2006, NATO defence ministers agreed to commit at least 2 percent of their GDP to defence spending. However, few did. It wasn’t until Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 that member states agreed to spend 2 percent of GDP on defence by 2024 at the NATO summit in Wales in 2014. Currently, 23 of the 32 member countries have met this target, with the alliance as a whole spending 2.61 percent of its combined GDP on defence last year. Poland leads NATO countries in defence spending, committing 4.1 percent of its GDP, followed by Estonia and the United States at 3.4 percent each, Latvia at 3.2 percent, and Greece at 3.1 percent. NATO countries bordering Russia, such as Estonia and Lithuania, have significantly increased their defence spending — from less than one percent of their GDP just 10 years ago. The only NATO country whose defence spending in 2024 was less, as a percentage of its GDP, than in 2014? The United States. Advertisement How will the new target of 5 percent work? The new target of 5 percent GDP is measured in two parts: 3.5 percent of GDP on pure defence spending, such as troops and weapons 1.5 percent of GDP on broader defence and security investments, such as: upgrading infrastructure including roads, bridges, ports, airfields, military vehicles, cybersecurity and protection for energy pipelines This surge in NATO defence spending comes amid perceived threats from Russia, in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war. Mark Rutte, NATO’s secretary general and the Netherlands’ former prime minister, described Russia as “the most significant and direct threat” to NATO. Alliance members will be expected to meet the target by 2035, but the target will be reviewed again in 2029. Where will the money come from? NATO members will have to decide on their own where they’ll find the extra cash to allocate to defence. Rutte stated it was “not a difficult thing” for members to agree to raise defence spending to 5 percent of GDP because of the rising threat from Russia. But ministers in the UK, for example, have not made it clear where they will get the extra money to spend on defence. The European Union, meanwhile, is allowing member states to raise defence spending by 1.5 percent of GDP each year for four years without any disciplinary steps that would come into effect once a national deficit is above 3 percent of GDP. Additionally, EU ministers approved the creation of a 150-billion euro ($174bn) arms fund using EU borrowing to give loans to countries for joint defence projects. When asked whether NATO members should commit to the 5 percent target, US President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday, “I think they should. We’ve been supporting NATO so long, in many cases, I believe, paying almost 100 percent of the cost.” How does defence spending compare to other areas? When a country is asked to spend more on defence, that money has to come from somewhere. Unless governments expand their budgets or raise new revenue, increased military spending can strain other sectors that people rely on every day — like healthcare and education. Currently, none of NATO’s 32 members spends more on defence than either healthcare or education. However, if the new 5 percent defence spending target is adopted, then 21 countries that currently invest less than five percent in education would end up allocating more to the military than to schooling. The table below compares NATO countries’ budgets, highlighting how defence spending measures up against healthcare and education expenditures. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
Majority of Texans oppose total THC ban like the one vetoed by Gov. Greg Abbott, poll finds
The statewide survey also found that Texas Republicans are closely divided on the issue.
Democratic congressman hurls profanity-laced message at Stephen Miller
A Democratic lawmaker hurled profanity at White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller on Wednesday, going on to imply that Miller is a Nazi. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wisc., made the statement on social media in response to some of Miller’s commentary on New York City. Miller was discussing democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the Democratic primary for New York City’s mayoral election, saying unchecked immigration was a major contributor to the city’s leftward slide in recent years. “NYC is the clearest warning yet of what happens to a society when it fails to control migration,” Miller wrote. Pocan chimed in: “Racist ****. Go back to 1930’s Germany.” WHAT MAMDANI IS PLEDGING TO DO IF HE BECOMES NEW YORK CITY’S NEXT MAYOR Pocan weighed in on Mamdani’s win multiple times, lashing out at another user who claimed the democratic nominee, who is Muslim, supports “Sharia Law.” “I love watching MAGA nut jobs spinning total bull**** to overcome blatant racism and xenophobia,” Pocan responded to the post. “People want progressive populism that focuses on making their lives better, not redistribution of wealth from working people to the wealthiest. Trumpism is on the decline.” Republicans have capitalized on Mamdani’s victory as evidence of the extremism of the current Democratic Party. The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) was among the first to make the connection. “The new face of the Democrat Party just dropped, and it’s straight out of a socialist nightmare,” they wrote in an email. Aiming to tie House Democrats to Mamdani, NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella argued that “every vulnerable House Democrat will own him, and every Democrat running in a primary will fear him.” Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, a top ally of President Donald Trump who is seriously considering a run for Empire State governor next year, also pounced. Stefanik claimed that “a radical, Defund-the-Police, Communist, raging Antisemite will most likely win the New York City Democrat Mayoral primary.” Vice President JD Vance also weighed in, writing, “Congratulations to the new leader of the Democratic Party” in a post on Blue Sky, a social media platform frequented by progressives. Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.