Unarmed Palestinian brothers killed in Israeli raid on West Bank’s Nablus
A Palestinian man in a red cap walks down the narrow alleyway in Nablus’s old city towards a group of Israeli soldiers, clearly unarmed. He attempts to talk to the soldiers, who had flooded into the occupied West Bank city in the early hours of Tuesday as part of Israel’s latest military raid – believed to be the largest carried out in Nablus in two years. The soldiers immediately kick and shove the man – 40-year-old Nidal Umairah – before his brother walks over, attempting to intervene. Gunfire follows, and soon the two brothers are lying dead. [embedded content] Nidal and his brother 35-year-old brother Khaled were the latest victims of Israel in the West Bank, after they were killed late on Tuesday. It is unclear which brother had initially been detained, but witnesses were adamant that the behaviour of the Israeli soldiers was an unnecessary escalation that led to the deaths of yet more Palestinians. Ghassan Hamdan, the director of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society in Nablus, was at the scene of the killings. Advertisement “There were at least 12 soldiers and they all fired their automatic machine guns at once,” said Hamdan. After the two men fell to the ground [medics] asked the soldiers if we could treat their wounds. They answered by firing at all of us.” “We all took cover behind the walls of the old city,” he told Al Jazeera. Hamza Abu Hajar, a paramedic at the scene, said that the Umairah brother who had initially approached the Israeli soldiers had been trying to go to his house to move his family out and away from the Israeli raid. “They lifted his shirt up to prove he was unarmed,” Abu Hajar said. “They then started shooting at him, and at us as well.” The Israeli army said it acted in self-defence after one of the Umairah brothers tried to seize a weapon from a soldier. It said that four soldiers had been injured in the incident. West Bank raids The raid in Nablus, which lasted more than 24 hours, is the latest Israel has conducted in the West Bank. Israel has taken advantage of the world’s focus on its own war on Gaza since October 2023 to escalate its land theft and violence in the West Bank. During that span, Israel has killed at least 930 people in the West Bank, 24 of whom were from Nablus, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Many of these deaths are the result of violent Israeli raids ostensibly aimed at clamping down on Palestinian fighters in the West Bank, but which have resulted in mass destruction and thousands of Palestinians fleeing their homes. Advertisement According to Hamdan, Israeli troops mainly targeted Nablus’s old city by storming into hundreds of homes in the middle of the night. Dozens of people were also reportedly arrested. Young people in the city protested by burning tyres and throwing rocks at Israeli troops, yet they were met with heavy tear gas, injuring at least 80 Palestinians in the raid. In the past, Palestinian protesters have been imprisoned on “terrorism” charges or shot and killed for simply resisting Israel’s occupation by throwing rocks or defying Israeli soldiers. This time around, the Israelis classified the entire old city in Nablus as a closed military zone for 24 hours. No ambulances or medics were allowed inside to aid distressed residents, said Hamdan. “Nobody was allowed in or out. Nobody was allowed to make any movement at all. We [as medics] could not enter the area during the entire raid to try and help people in need,” he told Al Jazeera. Assault and vandalism During the raid, Israeli troops stormed into several apartments after blowing off door hinges with explosives. Umm Hassan, a 58-year-old resident who did not want to give her full name, recalls feeling terrified when several Israeli soldiers broke into her home. About five months ago, her husband passed away from cancer, an illness that also claimed two of her children years ago. Umm Hassan is also battling cancer, yet she said Israeli soldiers showed her no mercy. They flipped her television on the ground, broke windows and tossed her paintings off the walls and onto the living room floor. Advertisement They even vandalised her books by throwing them on the ground, including the Quran. “I told them to leave me alone. I was alone and so scared. There was nobody to protect me,” Umm Hassan told Al Jazeera. Another woman, Rola, said that Israeli soldiers stormed into her home two times in the span of six hours during the raid. When Israeli soldiers returned the second time, Rola said that they attacked her elderly father, hitting him on the head and chest with the butts of their guns. Rola described her three nieces and nephews – all small children – cowering with fear as Israeli soldiers vandalised and destroyed their home. “The second time they came to our home, they put us all in a room and we weren’t able to leave the room from 8am until 3:30pm,” said Rola. “We [Palestinians] always talk about being resilient. But the reality is when Israeli soldiers come into your private home, then you get very scared. It’s natural. We are humans and humans get scared,” she told Al Jazeera. Psychological warfare More than 80 Palestinians received treatment from the Palestine Red Crescent Society during the raid, 25 of them as a result of gunshot wounds. While Israel says its raid was “precise”, inhabitants of Nablus say that the attack on the city was the latest attempt to intimidate and frighten Palestinians. “Honestly, what were Israeli soldiers searching for in my home? What did they think they were going to find?” asked Rola. “The reason for their raids [violence] is to uphold the [illegal] occupation.” Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
Pulse massacre survivors in Florida to revisit nightclub before it is razed
The nightclub is being replaced with a permanent memorial to one of the US’s worst mass shootings in modern history. Survivors and family members of the 49 victims killed at an LGBTQ+ friendly nightclub in the United States have gotten their first chance to walk through it before it is demolished and replaced with a permanent memorial to what at the time was considered the worst mass shooting in modern US history. In small groups over four days starting Wednesday, survivors and family members of those killed plan to spend half an hour at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, where Omar Mateen opened fire during a Latin night celebration on June 12, 2016, leaving 49 dead and 53 wounded. Mateen, who had pledged allegiance to ISIL (ISIS), was killed after a three-hour standoff with police. The Pulse shooting‘s death toll was surpassed the following year when 58 people were killed and more than 850 injured among a crowd of 22,000 at a country music festival in Las Vegas. The city of Orlando purchased the Pulse property in 2023 for $2m and plans to build a $12m permanent memorial that will open in 2027. These efforts follow a fumbled attempt to create a memorial over many years by a private foundation run by the club’s former owner. Advertisement The existing structure will be razed later this year. “None of us thought that it would take nine years to get to this point, and we can’t go back and relitigate all of the failures along the way that have happened. But what we can do is control how we move forward together,” Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said two weeks ago, when county commissioners pledged $5m to support the city of Orlando’s plan. The opportunity to visit the nightclub comes on the ninth anniversary of the mass shooting. About 250 survivors and family members of those killed have responded to the city’s invitation to walk through the nightclub this week. Families of the 49 people who were killed can visit the site with up to six people in their group, and survivors can bring one person with them. The club has been cleaned, and lighting has been installed ahead of the walk-throughs. The people invited to visit are being given the chance to ask FBI agents who investigated the massacre about what happened. Mental health counsellors will be available to talk to those who walk through the building in what could be both a healing and traumatic moment for them. “The building may come down, and we may finally get a permanent memorial, but that doesn’t change the fact that this community has been scarred for life,” said Brandon Wolf, who survived the massacre by hiding in a bathroom as the gunman opened fire. He does not plan to visit the site. “There are people inside the community who still need and will continue to need support and resources.” Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
David Hogg may lose DNC vice chair role after committee votes to hold new election
David Hogg, the 25-year-old progressive firebrand, could lose his leadership position after the Democratic National Committee (DNC) voted to redo its vice chair election. After three days of submitting electronic ballots, DNC members voted to uphold the Credentials Committee’s resolution proposed by longtime Democratic Party activist Kalyn Free to host a re-election for two vice-chair positions, currently held by Hogg and Malcolm Kenyatta. Seventy-five percent of those who cast a ballot voted in favor of the resolution, while 25% voted against it. A total of 89% of DNC members cast a ballot. “The DNC will immediately move to administer new ballots for the final two Vice Chair positions, one of which must be held by a male and one of which may be held by a candidate of any gender,” said the DNC’s Deputy Press Secretary Nina Raneses. “The election for the male Vice Chair position will commence tomorrow morning at 10:00AM ET.” DEMOCRATS’ VICE CHAIR GETS ULTIMATUM: STAY NEUTRAL IN PRIMARIES OR STEP DOWN FROM PARTY LEADERSHIP The DNC’s decision is the latest political blow to Hogg, who stirred up intraparty divisions this year for his $20 million pledge to primary-challenge older Democrats in safe blue districts he said are “asleep at the wheel” through his outside political action group, Leaders We Deserve. Hogg’s DNC leadership hanging in the balance comes on the heels of a damning Politico report, which included leaked audio from a Zoom meeting of DNC Chair Ken Martin lamenting Hogg’s fallout at the DNC. “I don’t think you intended this, but you essentially destroyed any chance I have to show the leadership that I need to. So it’s really frustrating,” Martin told Hogg on the May 15 Zoom call. But the frustration didn’t stop Hogg from endorsing Virginia state Del. Irene Shin in the special election to replace the late Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va. DNC CHAIR RIPPED DAVID HOGG OVER PARTY INFIGHTING IN LEAKED MEETING AUDIO: ‘REALLY FRUSTRATING’ Martin affirmed the DNC would stay neutral in Democrat primaries following Hogg’s multi-million-dollar announcement. And the DNC chair gave Hogg the ultimatum to either rescind his vice-chair position or forego his political influence through his PAC. While DNC officials, past and present, said the vote to host vice chair re-elections had nothing to do with Hogg personally, the progressive Gan Z activist framed the DNC’s vote as an expedited plan to remove him as vice chair. Hogg said Martin’s newly proposed “neutrality pledge” was “trying to change the rules because I’m not currently breaking them.” DAVID HOGG SLAMS ‘FAST-TRACK’ EFFORT TO OUST HIM AS DNC VICE CHAIR “While this vote was based on how the DNC conducted its officers’ elections, which I had nothing to do with, it is also impossible to ignore the broader context of my work to reform the party which loomed large over this vote,” Hogg said after the Credentials Committee voted to elevate Free’s complaint before the full committee. Free submitted her complaint following the DNC’s Feb. 1 officer elections, in which Hogg and Kenyatta were elected vice chairs. Free claimed the DNC’s tabulation method violated the charter’s provision and parliamentary procedure and “discriminated against three women of color candidates.” Last month, the Credentials Committee found the vice-chair officer elections violated parliamentary procedure and voted to recommend the DNC conduct a new election for the two vice-chair positions. Now that the full DNC has called for a new vote, they will conduct a re-election from June 12-17, in which Hogg and Kenyatta could lose their leadership positions. One vice-chair position may be filled by a male and one may be a candidate of any gender, according to the DNC. Only the candidates who were eligible for the third ballot during the Feb. 1 election qualify for the re-election, which includes Kenyatta, Hogg, Free, Jeanna Repass and Shasti Conrad. “This was never about Malcolm Kenyatta or David Hogg,” Free told Fox News Digital after the Credentials Committee elevated her complaint. “For me, this was about ensuring that the Democratic Party lives up to our ideals as the only political party to believe in and stand up for election integrity and a free and fair democracy.” But Kenyatta, who picked up the most votes during the Feb. 1 election, has criticized Hogg for playing “fast and loose with the facts without rebuttal.” “Any story about this that neatly places this into a narrative about David Hogg is wrong,” Kenyatta said of the re-election buzz. “I worked my a– off to get this role and have done the job every day since I’ve held it. This story is complex, and I’m frustrated – but it’s not about @davidhogg111. Even though he clearly wants it to be.”
Trump tells judge he does not need Newsom’s permission to crack down on rioters, deploy National Guard
The Justice Department on Wednesday doubled down on its assertion that President Donald Trump has the authority to call up U.S. National Guard troops in California, describing Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s emergency lawsuit to block his action as a “crass political stunt” that risks “endangering American lives.” At issue in the case is whether Trump, as commander in chief, has the authority to federalize the National Guard against the express wishes or consent of a state governor. Both sides are slated to appear in court Friday while a judge weighs California’s request for injunctive relief. In the new court filing, lawyers for the administration said Trump, as president, has “no obligation” to consult with, or even to notify, Newsom before federalizing the National Guard. ‘STATE OF REBELLION’: EXPERT WEIGHS IN ON NEWSOM CHALLENGE TO TRUMP DEPLOYING NATIONAL GUARD “The extraordinary relief plaintiffs request would judicially countermand the Commander in Chief’s military directives – and would do so in the posture of a temporary restraining order, no less,” lawyers for the Trump administration said in the filing. “That would be unprecedented. It would be constitutionally anathema,” they added. “And it would be dangerous.” That argument is unlikely to sit well with Newsom. And it comes one day after California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Tuesday sued the Trump administration over what the state described as the president’s unlawful action in federalizing the National Guard, which they noted was carried out without Newsom’s consent. Bonta argued in the lawsuit that Trump’s actions were both inappropriate and illegal, since he did not first seek Newsom’s permission to federalize the troops. National Guard units fall under the dual control of state and federal governments, and any action to mobilize the units typically goes through the respective state governor first. The judge overseeing the case declined the state’s request for a temporary restraining order blocking Trump’s actions but ordered both parties to court Friday to consider the request for broader injunctive relief. REPUBLICAN ATTORNEYS GENERAL ACCUSE CALIFORNIA OF EXCUSING ‘LAWLESSNESS’ At issue is 10 U.S.C. § 12406, or the law that Trump invoked in his memo late last week to call up the National Guard. The law allows presidents to deploy the National Guard and other troops at the federal level in the event of “rebellion or danger of a rebellion” against the U.S. government. In that case, the law says the president “may call into federal service members and units of the National Guard of any State in such numbers as he considers necessary to repel the invasion, suppress the rebellion, or execute those laws.” But lawyers for Newsom told the court that Trump lacked the power to federalize the troops under Section 12406, since the immigration protests, in their view, did not amount to a rebellion. TRUMP NOMINATES FORMER DEFENSE ATTORNEY EMIL BOVE FOR FEDERAL APPEALS COURT VACANCY “At no point in the past three days has there been a rebellion or an insurrection. Nor have these protests risen to the level of protests or riots that Los Angeles and other major cities have seen at points in the past, including in recent years,” they told the court. A group of 26 Republican state attorneys general from filed an amicus brief siding with Trump one day earlier, arguing that his decision to federalize the National Guard to address ICE riots and protests that broke out in parts of the state was the “right response.” “In California, we’re seeing the results of leadership that excuses lawlessness and undermines law enforcement,” the attorneys general wrote in the statement, first provided to Fox News Digital. “When local and state officials won’t act, the federal government must.” Fox News Digital’s Ashley Oliver contributed to this report.
Trump’s DOGE efficiency agency says it slashes $25B in federal spending as rehiring begins
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced on Wednesday it has decreased its annual non-defense federal obligations by an additional ~1.9% since last month. As of June 8th, annual non-defense federal obligations are down 22.4%, or ~$25B, as compared to 2024, DOGE announced on X. The cut marks an additional ~1.9% reduction from last month’s figures, which were announced on May 8. DOGE’S GREATEST HITS: LOOK BACK AT THE DEPARTMENT’S MOST HIGH-PROFILE CUTS DURING TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS “Cash outlays will follow as obligations come due,” DOGE wrote in the post. “Our initiative to reduce wasteful spend, consistent with the DOGE Cost Efficiency Executive Order, continues to bear fruit.” On May 14, DOGE announced the current year’s non-defense federal obligations were down 20.5% as compared to 2024. The announcement came minutes before Fox News Digital was first to report the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is rehiring more than 450 previously fired employees belonging to multiple divisions within the agency’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The rehired CDC employees came from the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention; the National Center for Environmental Health; the Immediate Office of the Director, and the Global Health Center, according to an HHS official familiar with the matter. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told CBS News in April some personnel who were cut shouldn’t have been. DOGE ENDS 108 ‘WASTEFUL’ CONTRACTS, INCLUDING FOR AN ‘EXECUTIVE TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP TRAINING PROGRAM’ “We’re reinstating them, and that was always the plan,” Kennedy said. “Part of the—at DOGE, we talked about this from the beginning, is we’re going to do 80% cuts, but 20% of those are going to have to be reinstated, because we’ll make mistakes.” In addition to the HHS rehires, the Internal Revenue Service, Food and Drug Administration, State Department, and Department of Housing and Urban Development started rehiring employees let go during DOGE cuts, the Washington Post reported. DOGE TAKES A CHAINSAW TO FEDERAL SPENDING WITH 7 MAJOR VICTORIES THIS WEEK: ‘GOT TO BE DONE’ Another roadblock this week was a ruling from U.S. District Judge Denise Cote of the Southern District of New York, who ruled to restrict the agency’s access to federal databases. The Trump administration previously said DOGE could not work effectively with the limitations, noting DOGE needed to access Social Security information to root out fraud. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
DOJ slams Newsom’s ‘crass political stunt’ over Trump’s call-up of National Guard amid LA anti-ICE riots
The Department of Justice (DOJ) argues the courts should deny California’s request for a restraining order against the Trump administration over its decision to activate National Guard soldiers in Los Angeles after violent riots broke out over the weekend amid Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the city. Democratic leaders in California claim President Donald Trump abused his authority by invoking a provision of Title 10 that allows the president to mobilize the National Guard if an invasion or rebellion is underway. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said in a statement Monday that Trump caused the bulk of the rioting because he unnecessarily deployed the military to protect ICE personnel and federal buildings. Newsom also claimed local and state police had the situation under control when Trump spurred chaos by issuing his National Guard proclamation. Weighing in on the matter a day ahead of a scheduled hearing, the DOJ made its case that Trump had the authority to call on the National Guard’s response. NOW AND THEN: HOW TRUMP’S RESPONSE TO LA RIOTS HAS CHANGED FROM 2020 BLACK LIVES MATTER AND ANTIFA “In a crass political stunt endangering American lives, the Governor of California seeks to use this Court to stop the President of the United States from exercising his lawful statutory and constitutional power to ensure that federal personnel and facilities are protected,” the DOJ said. “But, under the Constitution, the President is the Commander in Chief of the armed forces, and the President is responsible for ensuring the protection of federal personnel and federal facilities.” Since Friday, violent rioters who object to ICE’s enforcement of immigration laws have targeted and damaged federal buildings, injured federal personnel and impeded federal functions, the DOJ said. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and other state and local law enforcement officials have been unable to bring order to Los Angeles, the DOJ claimed. FEDERAL JUDGE REFUSES TO BLOCK TRUMP’S LA NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT ON NEWSOM’S TIMEFRAME The agency also pointed to a comment made by LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, who said during a news conference that “things have gotten out of control” and warned that “somebody could easily be killed.” “Evaluating the unrest and threats to the enforcement of federal law that local and state authorities were unable or unwilling to control, the President responded by using the authority vested in him by statute and the Constitution to federalize and deploy the California National Guard to protect federal personnel and property, quell the mobs, and restore order,” the DOJ wrote. “When the situation escalated further, the Secretary of Defense deployed a group of U.S. Marines to further assist. “The President has every right under the Constitution and by statute to call forth the National Guard and Marines to quell lawless violence directed against enforcement of federal law,” the DOJ continued. “Yet instead of working to bring order to Los Angeles, California and its Governor filed a lawsuit in San Francisco seeking a court order limiting the federal government’s ability to protect its property and officials.” NEWSOM FILES EMERGENCY MOTION TO ‘IMMEDIATELY BLOCK’ TRUMP’S USE OF MILITARY TO STOP LA RIOTS The DOJ said California’s request would “countermand” the president’s military directives, which would be “unprecedented.” “On the merits, Plaintiffs’ claims are baseless,” the DOJ said. Newsom also claimed Trump never consulted with him before activating the National Guard, though the statute does not have such a requirement, the DOJ said. “It merely directs, as a procedural matter, that the President’s orders be conveyed “through” the Governor,” the DOJ wrote. “They were.” Historically, courts did not interfere when former President Dwight Eisenhower deployed the military to protect school desegregation, nor did they interfere when former President Richard Nixon deployed the military to deliver the mail during a postal strike. Ultimately, the DOJ recommended the court deny California and Newsom’s motion for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction. Newsom’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Fox News Digital’s Ashley Oliver contributed to this report.
House advances Trump’s $9.4B spending cuts package targeting NPR, PBS, USAID to House-wide vote
President Donald Trump’s $9.4 billion spending cuts package survived a key hurdle on Wednesday afternoon, setting the measure up for a final House-wide vote later this week. Trump’s proposal, which was introduced as legislation by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., would cut $8.3 billion from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and just over $1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting distributes federal funding to NPR and PBS. The House of Representatives made a procedural motion known as a “rule vote,” which passed mostly along party lines. MIKE JOHNSON, DONALD TRUMP GET ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL’ WIN AS BUDGET PASSES HOUSE The rule passing now allows for debate on the $9.4 billion spending cut measure, followed by a final House-wide vote. But it’s not atypical for House leaders to include unrelated measures in rule votes, as is the case with the spending cuts package – House GOP leaders included a provision with minor changes to Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” to account for the Senate needing to amend the bill. That latter piece of legislation, a vast tax and immigration bill, is moving through the budget reconciliation process. By dropping the Senate’s threshold for advancement from 60 votes to 51, it allows the party in power to skirt the minority – in this case, Democrats – on vast pieces of legislation, provided they adhere to a specific set of budgetary rules. House GOP leaders said they needed to make the recent changes to the bill to better adhere to the Senate’s “Byrd Bath,” when the Senate parliamentarian reviews the bill and removes anything not adhering to reconciliation guidelines. Whereas that deals with the government’s mandatory spending processes that are more difficult to amend, the $9.4 billion spending cuts package tackles discretionary spending that Congress controls every year. It’s called a “rescissions package,” which is a formal proposal by the White House to claw back federal funds already allocated for the current fiscal year. Like reconciliation, the mechanism allows for a 51-vote majority in the Senate rather than 60. Congress has 45 days to consider it, or it is deemed rejected. Republican leaders have held up this rescissions package as the first step to codifying the billions of dollars of government waste identified by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Trump allies have also made clear they view this first package as a test of what kind of cuts congressional Republicans can stomach. MCCAUL TOUTS MONEY IN TRUMP TAX BILL TO PAY TEXAS BACK FOR FIGHTING BIDEN BORDER POLICIES And while the rule vote was expected to pass, the bill could have trouble ahead of its expected Thursday afternoon vote. Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., pointed out in a bipartisan statement that the media funding represents less than 0.01% of the federal budget and said taking that money away would “dismantle a trusted source of information for millions of Americans.” Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., told reporters on Tuesday that he got assurances that USAID cuts would exclude critical medical funding. “I feel better than what I was hearing last week, that was gonna be a total cut,” he said, without revealing whether he would support the bill.
Gavin Newsom mocked for tech issues during anti-Trump address to Californians: ‘Absolute fail’
California Governor Gavin Newsom is being mocked online for an “embarrassing” televised address Tuesday night that experienced several technology meltdowns, resulting in the governor not being audible for parts of his speech. In a prerecorded message, Newsom, a Democrat rumored to have presidential aspirations, harshly condemned President Donald Trump’s “brazen abuse of power” by using the military to respond to the ongoing anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles. He also said that those who engage in violence will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. “This isn’t just about protests here in Los Angeles,” Newsom said in the video. “This is about all of us. This is about you. California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes.” His address, however, was inhibited by several technical issues, which resulted in his audio being cut off and distorted several times. NEWSOM COMPARED TO INFAMOUS DEM GOVERNOR WHO ALSO TRIED TO BLOCK NATIONAL GUARD Noting the meltdown on X, David Freeman, a conservative political commentator, mocked “Gavin Newsom’s staff can’t even set up a stream properly as his ‘Major Announcement’ has NO AUDIO.” “If they can’t do this correct, what makes anyone believe they can run California at all? EMBARRASSING!” said Freeman. “UTTER CALAMITY,” commented Link Lauren, a political commentator and former senior advisor to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kevin Dalton, a popular conservative influencer, commented, “Gavin Newsom’s ‘Major Address to Californians’ was a prerecorded video that was initially streamed without audio. After several minutes, a new color corrected version of the same video with actual audio was started. What an absolute fail.” NOW AND THEN: HOW TRUMP’S RESPONSE TO LA RIOTS HAS CHANGED FROM 2020 BLACK LIVES MATTER AND ANTIFA Another popular conservative social media account, The Washington Observer, commented: “Sean Hannity is desperately trying to play Gavin Newsom’s speech — but he can’t, because Newsom’s audio is melting down for the third time tonight.” Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., who observed the audio issues in real time on the Sean Hannity Show, also chimed in, saying, “So, I went on Sean Hannity to react to Gavin Newsom’s speech. Turns out, it was a total mess. Disorganized. Bad audio.” Mullin quipped, “But, what else should we expect from this poor excuse for a leader?” White House assistant to the president and director of communications Steven Cheung also piled onto the criticism, accusing Newsom of spending time creating the video rather than serving as governor. Likewise, Cheung took a swipe at the video’s audio, claiming the production quality was akin to Newsom’s leadership. “Gavin NewScum spent all this time–instead of doing his actual job– preparing for a webinar just for the audio to not work,” Cheung said in a post on X late Tuesday evening. “The production quality is just like his leadership quality– sh***y.” WHITE HOUSE MOCKS NEWSOM ADDRESS, ACCUSES GOVERNOR OF HIRING HARRIS’, BIDEN’S CAMPAIGN MANAGER Deputy assistant to the president and principal deputy communications director Alex Pfieffer responded to Newsom’s speech by saying that rather than Trump, “California is trying to subvert democracy.” “American voters elected President Donald Trump to carry out his agenda, which includes enforcing the immigration laws passed by their elected representatives,” said Pfeiffer. In response, Newsom’s press office referred Fox News Digital to a Tuesday night X post which acknowledged the issues by saying, “Sorry for the momentary silence earlier — our stream briefly went under Trump-era transparency rules.”
Trump appointee vows to focus DOJ’s largest division on DEI, denaturalization
FIRST ON FOX: The newly confirmed head of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division sent out a memo hours after being sworn in on Wednesday in which he directed staff to focus on a slate of conservative priorities, including rooting out antisemitism and diversity, equity and inclusion. Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate’s internal memo, first obtained by Fox News Digital, also directed attorneys in the DOJ’s largest division to prioritize investigations and legal action that involved tightening restrictions on transgender medical care and denaturalizing citizens who “illegally procured” naturalization. In addition to initiating lawsuits, the Civil Division’s primary task is defending the government in court in non-criminal matters. These include the hundreds of lawsuits President Donald Trump and his administration have been hit with as Trump carries out executive actions that test the limits of presidential authority. TRUMP ORDERS ATTORNEY GENERAL TO INVESTIGATE BIDEN’S AUTOPEN USE Civil Division attorneys from the Federal Programs Bench have been fighting court battles with mixed success on behalf of Trump related to his sweeping tariffs, birthright citizenship, activities by the Department of Government Efficiency, and, most recently, his use of the National Guard in California. Shumate was confirmed by the Senate on Monday along party lines. The Civil Division head was seen during the confirmation process as a Trump loyalist. He previously worked as a partner at Jones Day, a Washington-based firm that has represented Trump during his campaigns. Shumate was a top official in the Civil Division for two years during the first Trump administration. Shumate’s memo indicated that he kicked off his first day in office by setting a tone for the division’s wealth of attorneys that aligned with Trump’s and Attorney General Pam Bondi’s agendas. In an unusual move, the division will coordinate with the Civil Rights Division on its anti-DEI efforts by bringing False Claims Act cases related to discrimination, Shumate noted in the memo. Trump has frequently described DEI as discriminatory. “Consistent with these directives, the Civil Division will use all available resources to pursue affirmative litigation combatting unlawful discriminatory practices in the private sector,” Shumate wrote.
LA Mayor Bass rips Trump, claims city part of ‘national experiment’ to test federal power amid anti-ICE riots
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass during a press conference on Wednesday claimed the LA riots were “provoked by the White House,” going so far as speculating the city is part of a national experiment to determine how much power the federal government has. Bass claimed local officials initially heard the administration was searching for violent felons, gang members and drug dealers. Yet, she alleged federal agents were raiding workplaces, “tear[ing] parents and children apart” and “run[ning] armored caravans through [the] streets.” Her comments came after protests against immigration enforcement escalated into fiery riots over the weekend, prompting President Donald Trump to deploy 2,000 National Guard troops and at least 500 Marines to the area. Local officials this week enacted a nightly curfew and announced hundreds of arrests, following the destruction of numerous local businesses and violence against police. TRUMP TAKES ACTION AGAINST ‘ORCHESTRATED ATTACK’ ON LAW ENFORCEMENT BY DEPLOYING MARINES TO LA: ASSEMBLYMAN “This was provoked by the White House,” Bass said. “The reason why—we don’t know. I posit that maybe we are part of a national experiment to determine how far the federal government can go in reaching in and taking over power from a governor, power from a local jurisdiction, and frankly, leaving our city and our citizens… in fear. … You’re not trying to keep anyone safe, you’re trying to cause fear and panic.” She did not denounce the violent rioting during the press conference, alleging the rioting issue is contained to six square miles. “@MayorOfLA suggests things won’t be ‘peaceful’ in Los Angeles until the Trump Administration stops enforcing immigration law and removing violent criminal illegals from the streets,” the White House wrote in a response on X. “Why are these Radical Left lunatics so obsessed with defending criminals who have no right to be here?” RIOTERS SMASH WINDOWS AT LAPD HEADQUARTERS AS ANTI-ICE AGITATORS CLASH WITH AUTHORITIES The LA mayor was joined by multiple surrounding mayors and local officials from 30 cities, who argued Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should not be enforcing the law in California. “We want the National Guard out of our region,” said El Monte Mayor Jessica Ancona. “We want the military out of our region. They have no business here. And we also want ICE out of our cities. We need to keep our families safe.” Downey Council Member Mario Trujillo and South Gate Mayor Maria Davila noted ICE raids continued in their cities on Wednesday. Huntington Park Mayor Arturo Flores claimed the Trump administration’s actions were unconstitutional, and asked to send a message directly to the Marines on the ground. “The people that are here who have been called foreigners are not foreigners. These are Americans,” Flores said. “When we lifted our hands, we swore the oath to defend the Constitution and to defend this country. That oath was to the American people. It was not to a dictator, it was not to a tyrant, it was not to a president. “It was to the American people and the people that are here … Whether they have a document or they don’t, you’re dealing with Americans,” Flores said. “So please remember that if you’re ever put in a situation or asked to do something.” Bass later added Marines “are trained in warfare on foreign lands, not domestic,” and said she did not know what role they could play without the ability to make arrests. CALIFORNIA LT. GOVERNOR SAYS LOS ANGELES RIOTS ARE ‘GENERATED BY DONALD TRUMP’ Paramount Mayor Peggy Lemons said her city created a special fund Tuesday night that will financially help immigrant families. “The city council and staff are working tirelessly to develop other means of support and assistance, doing more to support our community,” Lemons said. “We will also be seeking out our residents who have been directly impacted so that we may hear from them and provide direct support.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The White House and Department of Defense did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.