Top Biden advisor says party ‘lost its mind’ after debate: ‘It melted down’
A top advisor to former President Joe Biden said the Democratic Party “melted down” after his poor performance in the June 2024 debate against President Donald Trump and insisted Biden should have remained the party’s candidate. Biden’s rough performance and weak voice at the CNN Presidential Debate sparked immense fear about his re-election odds, and the left’s top leaders called on him to withdraw from the race. Biden was replaced as the Democratic candidate by Vice President Kamala Harris less than a month later on July 21. She lost to Trump in the 2024 presidential election. MEDIA CALLS FOR BIDEN TO WITHDRAW FROM 2024 RACE AFTER ‘DISASTER’ CNN DEBATE PERFORMANCE: ‘IT’S OVER’ “Now, lots of people have terrible debates,” former Biden senior advisor Mike Donilon said during a discussion at Harvard University. “Lots of people have terrible debates. Usually the party doesn’t lose its mind, but that’s what happened here. It melted down.” CNN and the BBC ran headlines calling the performance “disastrous” and “incoherent.” “If Joe Biden loses November’s election, history will record that it took just 10 minutes to destroy a presidency,” CNN senior reporter Stephen Collinson wrote in an article. “It was clear a political disaster was about to unfold as soon as the 81-year-old commander in chief stiffly shuffled on stage in Atlanta.” Collinson went on to describe Biden giving the weakest performance in televised debate history. New York Times columnist and Biden supporter Thomas Friedman wrote the debate made him “weep” and called on Biden to step aside. “I cannot remember a more heartbreaking moment in American presidential campaign politics in my lifetime — precisely because of what it revealed: Joe Biden, a good man and a good president, has no business running for re-election,” Friedman wrote. BIDEN RIPPED FOR ‘OLD’ APPEARANCE, ‘WEAK’ VOICE DURING FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: ‘DEEPLY ALARMING’ Donilon, who has known Biden for more than four decades, described the Democratic Party’s reaction as “insane.” “I think the party lost its mind,” he said. “If you ask people about this period of time, they’ll tell you Biden was losing the polls, he was going to lose. … They were saying this in a margin-of-error race.” He added he had never seen a situation where a candidate was down three points nationally in the summer of a general election and his party decided he could not win. “But that’s what happened, right?” Donilon said. “If you actually go and look at the polling in the first couple of days after the debate, the margin between Trump and Biden got closer. It didn’t get bigger.” He discussed focus groups that convened on the night of the debate, noting while they believed Trump won overall, they voiced concerns about both candidates. “They will say they’re worried about Biden’s age, but they’ll also say something else,” Donilon said. “They were really worried about Trump. They were worried about the fact he said he wouldn’t accept the results of the election. They were worried that he said, ‘I had nothing to do with Jan. 6.’ The sense from him was that he was not on the side of people.” What really happened, according to Donilon, was not as devastating as the conventional wisdom became. “I said this to Biden the morning after the debate: Sometimes you can lose the campaign about the campaign,” he said. “And that’s what happened to us.” He insisted the former president was not mentally impaired but acknowledged the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021 and inflation contributed to Biden’s downfall. Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
Meet Ronit Jha, who overcame social stigma, cleared BPSSC and became Bihar’s first….
Ronit’s academic journey began in Sitamarhi, where he completed his schooling before moving to Patna for higher education.
New FBI leader Kash Patel tapped to run ATF as acting director
FBI Director Kash Patel will be tapped to run the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), two sources confirmed to Fox News Digital on Saturday. The news comes a day after Patel was sworn in as the ninth FBI director in a narrow Senate vote. Former FBI Director Christopher Wray resigned at the end of former President Biden’s term and Attorney General Pam Bondi fired the ATF general counsel, Pamela Hicks, on Thursday. FBI NOMINEE KASH PATEL CONFIRMED IN NARROW SENATE VOTE “Earlier today, I was served official notice from the Attorney General of the United States that I was being removed from my position as the Chief Counsel of ATF and my employment with the Department of Justice terminated,” Hicks posted on her LinkedIn page Thursday, confirming her termination. Hicks had served as ATF’s chief counsel since 2021 under the Biden administration, and served as deputy chief counsel for ATF under President Donald Trump’s first administration. She spent 23 years overall as an attorney within the Department of Justice (DOJ), she posted to LinkedIn. VP JD VANCE SPEAKS ON ‘FUNDAMENTAL GOAL’ OF TRUMP ADMINISTRATION AT CPAC ADDRESS “Serving as ATF Chief Counsel has been the highest honor of my career and working with the people at ATF and throughout the Department has been a pleasure,” Hicks continued in her post. “I thank my colleagues for their friendship and partnership over the years.” “These people were targeting gun owners,” Bondi told Fox News on Thursday of the ATF. “Not gonna happen under this administration.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Both the FBI and ATF are part of the DOJ.
Dem and GOP governors urge Trump to ‘let the states play a role’ in immigration decisions
Two governors, one a Democrat and the other a Republican, found common ground at a National Governors Association meeting in Washington, D.C., on one of President Donald Trump’s most critical goals. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat and chairman of the National Governors Association, and Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt told Fox News Digital they want states to have a say in immigration enforcement and issuing work permits. “We want to make sure we’re at the table in that with regard to immigration,” Polis told Fox News Digital. DEMS SAY THEY’RE AGAINST GOVERNMENT WASTE, BUT THEY HATE DOGE MORE He said the idea that the states should have a seat at the table regarding immigration decisions “has a lot of support (among) both Democratic and Republican governors.” Polis said states know what their labor needs are and could grant work permits after careful vetting. “Let us be able to grant those based on free background checks … and that’ll help our economic growth,” Polis said. Polis, whose state has been ground zero for criminal activity and violence by the migrant gang Tren de Aragua, said “varying degrees of cooperation” between state and federal authorities are necessary. Colorado has several sanctuary-style laws limiting law enforcement cooperation with federal authorities, but Polis insisted its relationship with federal law enforcement agencies is strong. COLORADO CITY HELPS DOZENS OF FAMILIES RELOCATE AFTER TREN DE ARAGUA APARTMENT INFESTATION Stitt said he would encourage Trump to consider giving states the ability to grant workforce visas. “I’ve been an advocate for workforce visas at the state level,” Stitt said. “Matching employers with employees is something that governors should be able to do, whether it’s in the construction industry, the agricultural industry, engineering, aviation, whatever.” OKLAHOMA SUPERINTENDENT WHO BRAWLED WITH CNN OVER ICE ENTERING SCHOOLS DOUBLES DOWN: ‘DEPORTED TOGETHER’ He joked that the U.S. is “like [a team in] the NFL with the No. 1 draft pick.” “We should be able to choose the very best and brightest to our country. But we’re just being silly how we do it right now. Let’s close the border. Let’s make sure we have the very best and brightest that come into our country,” Stitt said. Stitt also touted his state’s Operation Guardian, which he launched earlier this month to empower state and local law enforcement to better work with the Trump administration and ICE to deport criminal illegal aliens. “I put my commissioner of public safety in charge to say, ‘How many people do we currently have in prison in the state of Oklahoma who are here illegally that have committed crimes? And then how can we work with the Trump administration to get them out of our state, out of our country and off of the taxpayer rolls in Oklahoma? So, I think that’s probably the first step,” Stitt said. NOEM MAKES AGGRESSIVE NEW MOVE TO RAMP UP ARRESTS, DEPORTATIONS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS However, Stitt said there is a limit to what states should be doing to enforce immigration law. He proceeded to knock a recent effort by the Oklahoma State Department of Public Instruction to check the immigration status of children enrolled in public schools. ALLEGED FENTANYL-SMUGGLING IMMIGRANTS LEAD POLICE ON DANGEROUS CORNFIELD CHASE “In Oklahoma, I also said, ‘Listen, we’re not going to ask for immigration status for 6, 7, 8-year-old kids in school,” he said. But Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters, also a Republican, responded by saying Stitt’s stance on not checking school children’s immigration status undermines Trump’s agenda. “It is unfortunate that Gov. Stitt is thwarting President Trump’s America First agenda,” Walters told Fox News Digital. “We cannot afford to stick our heads in the sand like Democrats and ignore the cost of illegals to taxpayers. President Trump was clear, Oklahoma voters were clear and we will defend the will of the president and Oklahomans.”
Trump rattles off ‘flagrant scams’ uncovered by DOGE, takes aim at Fort Knox in CPAC speech
President Donald Trump celebrated his whirlwind first four weeks back in the Oval Office in a speech before the Conservative Political Action Conference Saturday afternoon, mentioning what he called “flagrant scams” uncovered by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency. “I signed an order creating the Department of Government Efficiency — you probably haven’t heard of it — which is now waging war on government waste, fraud and abuse. And Elon is doing a great job,” Trump said at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center Saturday in Oxon Hill, Maryland, just outside the nation’s capital. “He’s doing a great job.” Musk is leading DOGE as investigators scrutinize various federal agencies in an effort to curb government overspending and stamp out fraud. DOGE’s work has become a lightening rod for criticism among Democratic lawmakers and government employees, who have filed a number of lawsuits attempting to end the investigations and audits. “Here are some of the flagrant scams that, as an example, they’ve spent money on, and we’ve been able to recapture a large dose of it at least. Five hundred and 20 million dollars for a consultant … [on] environmental, social governance and investments in Africa,” he said. CPAC STRAW POLL REVEALS WHO CONSERVATIVES BELIEVE WILL BE 2028 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE “Twenty-five million dollars to promote biodiversity conservation and socially responsible behavior in Colombia. This is Colombia, South America, not Columbia University. Of course, that might be worse. … Forty million to improve the social and economic inclusion of sedentary migrants. “Forty-two million for social and behavior change in Uganda. Ten million for Mozambique medical male circumcisions. Why are we going to Mozambique to do circumcisions?” Trump asked, before continuing to rattle off a handful of other pricey initiatives funded by taxpayers uncovered by DOGE. ‘SAVED THE COUNTRY’: CPAC ATTENDEES SEE SILVER LINING AFTER ELON MUSK’S DOGE SPEECH CPAC is an annual conference of conservative lawmakers, leaders and voters, which kicked off on Wednesday and wraps up Saturday after Trump’s speech. KAROLINE LEAVITT OFFERS WORDS OF WISDOM TO YOUNG WOMEN AT CPAC: ‘JUST BELIEVE IN YOURSELF’ Earlier in the day, Trump sent a message on his Truth Social platform calling on Musk to “get more aggressive” with his DOGE work. “Will do, Mr. President!” Musk responded just a few hours ahead of Trump’s CPAC speech. Musk later added on X, “Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.” “We have a very corrupt group of people in this country, and we’re finding them out,” Trump said during his speech. “We’re removing all of the unnecessary, incompetent and corrupt bureaucrats from the federal workforce.” VP JD VANCE SPEAKS ON ‘FUNDAMENTAL GOAL’ OF TRUMP ADMINISTRATION AT CPAC ADDRESS Trump said he and Musk will head to Fort Knox in Kentucky to ensure the United States Bullion Depository still houses a reported $425 billion in government gold. The Trump administration and Republican allies have called for more transparency about the vault. President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited the vault in 1943, which was followed by Treasury Secretary William Simon opening the vault to journalists and lawmakers in 1974 and again during the first Trump administration when Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and lawmakers, including Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, inspected the vault. “We are also going to Fort Knox. I’m going to go with Elon. And would anybody like to join us? Because we want to see if the gold is still there. We want to see,” Trump said. “Wouldn’t that be terrible? We open [it] up, and this Fort Knox has got nothing. It’s just solid granite that’s five feet thick. The front door, you need six musclemen to open it up. I don’t even think they have windows. Wouldn’t that be terrible if we opened it up and there was no gold there? So, we’re going to open those doors, we’re going to take a look. And if there’s 27 tons of gold, we’ll be very happy,” he added. “I don’t know how the hell we’ll measure it, but that’s OK.” Trump ended his first full month back in the White House this week, which has included a breakneck pace of executive orders and actions. He took a victory lap for his whirlwind first month, touting in his speech the administration’s work to end the “weaponization” of the government under the former Biden administration, his plan to soon impose reciprocal tariffs on foreign trading partners and celebrating the deportation of illegal immigrants from communities across the nation. “We’re liberating communities like Aurora, Colorado, and Springfield, Ohio, that have been occupied by illegal alien criminals from all over the world,” Trump said. “We’re rescuing the Americans whose jobs have been stolen, whose wages have been robbed and whose way of life has been absolutely destroyed. And, under the Trump administration, our country will not be turned into a dumping ground.”
Elon Musk says federal employees must fill out productivity reports or resign
Tech billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that all federal employees are being instructed to report their productivity in a new Trump administration initiative. In a post Saturday on X, Musk said the report will come in the form of an email that will give federal workers a chance to report how productive they were the previous week. If the email is ignored, Musk said, the federal government will interpret that as a resignation. “Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Musk wrote. “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.” WHITE HOUSE OUTLINES WHERE DOGE SAVINGS COULD GO AFTER TRUMP FLOATS RETURNING 20% TO AMERICANS The post came as Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) continues slashing suspected waste across the federal government. In an X post Tuesday, DOGE said it discovered 4 million active credit cards on the U.S. government’s books. “The US government currently has ~4.6M active credit cards/accounts, which processed ~90M unique transactions for ~$40B of spend[ing] in FY24,” DOGE said in a post on X Tuesday. $1,300 COFFEE CUPS, 8,000% OVERPAY FOR SOAP DISPENSERS SHOW WASTE AS DOGE LOCKS IN ON PENTAGON President Donald Trump has been supportive of Musk’s work with DOGE. On Saturday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that though Musk is “doing a great job,” he should be “more aggressive.” “ELON IS DOING A GREAT JOB, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM GET MORE AGGRESSIVE. REMEMBER, WE HAVE A COUNTRY TO SAVE, BUT ULTIMATELY, TO MAKE GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE. MAGA!,” Trump wrote. Musk responded with an enthusiastic “Will do, Mr. President!” hours after Trump posted. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for additional comment. Fox News Digital’s Michael Lee and Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.
USDA launches review at University of Maine over transgender sports policy after Trump-Gov. Mills blowup
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Saturday announced it was launching a compliance review of the University of Maine “following the State of Maine’s blatant disregard for President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) 14201, ‘Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.’” The review follows investigations launched by the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services in the last 24 hours after a tense exchange between President Trump and Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills over transgender student-athletes playing in women’s sports. “President Trump has made it abundantly clear: taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars will not support institutions that discriminate against women,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital Saturday. TRUMP’S DECISIVE RESPONSE TO MAINE’S GOVERNOR ON TRANSGENDER ATHLETES IS HOW IT SHOULD BE: RILEY GAINES “USDA is committed to upholding the president’s executive order, meaning any institution that chooses to disregard it can count on losing future funding.” The University of Maine receives more than $100 million in USDA funding, according to the USDA. Trump and Mills clashed Thursday at the White House during a bipartisan meeting of governors when the president told her she must follow his executive order or “you’re not going to get any federal funding.” “We’ll see you in court,” Mills replied. The blue state is one of several defying Trump’s Feb. 5 executive order prohibiting transgender athletes from competing in girls and women’s sports. Trump threatened Thursday to cut off federal funding to Maine before clashing with Mills at the bipartisan meeting of governors. “Are you not going to comply with that?” Trump asked Mills. “I’m complying with state and federal laws,” she responded. “Well, we are the federal law,” Trump said. “You better do it. You better do it because you’re not going to get any federal funding at all if you don’t.” TRUMP VOWS TO CUT OFF FEDERAL FUNDING TO MAINE OVER REFUSAL TO COMPLY WITH ‘NO MEN IN WOMEN’S SPORTS’ ORDER “And, by the way, your population, even though it’s somewhat liberal, although I did very well there, your population doesn’t want men playing in women’s sports. So, you better comply because otherwise you’re not getting any federal funding,” Trump added. “We’ll see you in court,” Mills snapped. “Good, I’ll see you in court. I look forward to that. That should be a real easy one,” Trump replied. “And enjoy your life after governor because I don’t think you’ll be in elected politics.” Mills released a statement Friday, saying, “The State of Maine will not be intimidated by the President’s threats. “If the President attempts to unilaterally deprive Maine school children of the benefit of Federal funding, my Administration and the Attorney General will take all appropriate and necessary legal action to restore that funding and the academic opportunity it provides.” After the exchange Friday, the Department of Education launched an investigation into Maine schools. “Today the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) sent a letter to the Maine Department of Education Commissioner Pender Makin announcing that OCR is initiating a directed investigation of the Maine Department of Education (MDOE) amid allegations that it continues to allow male athletes to compete in girls’ interscholastic athletics and that it has denied female athletes female-only intimate facilities, thereby violating federal anti-discrimination law,” the Department of Education said in a news release Friday. Trump reiterated his plan to cut off federal funding to the state at a meeting with Republican governors Thursday. “I heard men are still playing in Maine,” Trump said to a gathering of Republican governors in Washington Thursday. “I hate to tell you this, but we’re not going to give them any federal money. They are still saying, ‘We want men to play in women’s sports,’ and I cannot believe that they’re doing that. … So, we’re not going to give them any federal funding, none whatsoever, until they clean that up.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Trump also continued his criticism of Maine Saturday while speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference. “The governor of Maine. She’s fighting to keep men in women’s sports. You ever see what happens to a woman when a woman boxes? A man who transitioned to womanhood? Did you ever see what happens? … It’s not pretty. It’s not pretty,” Trump said. “Let her do that fight. Let them all do that fight. Because I think that’s about a 90/10 issue, and I can’t figure out who the 10% are. Nobody can.” Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and the University of Maine for comment.
Coal still key to US energy dominance, says West Virginia governor
EXCLUSIVE: ‘King Coal’ still reigns as one of the most affordable, reliable and transportable sources of energy – and the U.S. still has a lot of it, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey told Fox News Digital in an interview at the National Governors Association’s winter meeting. Morrisey acknowledged America’s ongoing race with China to be the most powerful nation in terms of both energy development and AI technology. West Virginia, he said Saturday, seeks to lead the way. “I’m still very hopeful that there’s a future for coal,” Morrisey said. “Let me explain why: We’re right now about to embark on an information technology arms race with China.” MOUNTAIN STATE CRACKDOWN: WV GOV’S ORDER LEADS TO 60 SUSPECTED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIMINAL DETENTIONS “And we have to catch up to what they’re doing in terms of the Chinese use of coal and many, many different types of fuel sources, because we can’t let them get ahead of us as they’re building capacity in AI, superintelligence, robotics and advanced manufacturing.” While both nations are likely to rely on advances in nuclear energy and hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, there remain the “resiliency, availability and affordability of coal,” he said. “I think there’s an opportunity … to increase the capacity of some of the coal-fired power plants that have been slowed down in recent years. Because if we don’t do that, we’re not going to compete with the Chinese.” The governor said that one of his top priorities is to bring the Mountain State’s coal infrastructure and industry back to a higher capacity. “I think that it’s sorely needed from a national security perspective.” West Virginia produced 89 million tons of coal in 2021, according to the latest data recorded by the state miners’ office. That figure is down sharply from the 1940s through the late 1990s, when the state averaged upwards of 130 million tons per year. WV LAWMAKER ARRESTED AFTER THREATENING TO KILL ENTIRE REGION’S DELEGATION OVER CAUCUS BEEF Wyoming remains tops in U.S. coal production, followed by West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Illinois. “West Virginia is America’s energy state. We’re so rich in resources: coal and natural gas and water. And we have a lot of opportunities in front of us,” Morrisey went on, adding that he was heartened by the substantive bipartisan discussions at the NGA in regard to speeding up the energy-permitting process at the state and federal levels. “So when you’re thinking about how to take advantage of those opportunities, you think of transmission, you think of permitting,” he said, echoing Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro of neighboring energy powerhouse Pennsylvania, who pledged Friday to refund applicants if there are delays or if things go awry. In terms of the Mountain State’s role in what Morrisey and other governors at the NGA called the “AI arms race” with China, the state is predicted to build on Morrisey’s predecessor, now-Sen. Jim Justice’s efforts to grow the state’s tech industry. “I’ve said over and over that we need to do everything possible to add these kinds of high-tech companies and jobs in West Virginia,” Justice said in 2019. “We have so many people in this state who are gifted beyond belief and who will be able to fill these spots and do incredible work. It’s truly a pipeline of talent.” On Saturday, Morrisey also reflected on his group meeting with President Donald Trump, Cabinet secretaries and his fellow governors at the White House. “They understand that you can’t move energy at the speed of slow. And so we’re eager to partner with them,” he said, adding that Trump pledged to the governors that he would seek to eliminate 10 regulations for every one that his administration adds. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “I think states like West Virginia and Pennsylvania and many other states have a chance to work closely with the Trump administration. It’s going to be a lot easier, because they know how important it is to reassert American energy dominance – if you get the permitting right.” Morrisey also spoke about his response to the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration and the flow of illegal drugs across the southern border. Last month, Morrisey issued an executive order aimed at illegal immigrants in his state, which led to five dozen people being detained pending immigration status verification in the state’s regional jail system. The governor noted West Virginia’s unfortunate spot as the state with the most drug overdose deaths per capita and said that both his and Trump’s immigration policies are needed to fix that systemic crisis. “We’re working hand in hand with ice to identify illegal aliens and make sure that they can get deported. And this is really important to do, because, as President Trump said yesterday, when you actually remove a lot of these illegal aliens from the system, you’re going to see a reduction in crime.” “It takes states working with the federal government to make sure that we’re kind of reasserting our position and stopping all the horrific consequences of what happened with the illegal immigrants coming in. I know in West Virginia we really felt the impact of that through the massive amount of death that flowed from fentanyl flood[ing] in from China [via] the Mexican drug cartels.” Fox News Digital’s Sophia Compton contributed to this report.
Tom Homan tells migrant terror groups Trump will ‘wipe you off the face of the Earth’
Trump administration Border Czar Tom Homan warned criminal aliens Saturday that they would all be arrested and said he would make good on his promise to immigrant terror groups to “wipe you off the face of the earth.” Homan, who previously served as the acting director of ICE and currently leads the Trump administration’s border efforts, told a rapt audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that the number of illegal immigrant “gotaways” is down by 95%. “We had about 1,800 a day in 2023. You know how many we had yesterday? Forty-eight,” he said. “You’re talking about 2,000 miles of border, and only 48 people escaped. But that’s 48 too many. I’m not going to be happy till that number’s zero.” ACTIVISTS IN MEXICO REPORT FLOW OF MIGRANTS HAS ‘ENORMOUSLY DECREASED’ ONE MONTH INTO TRUMP ADMIN The border czar also announced that in Trump’s first month in the Oval Office, ICE arrested 21,000 illegal aliens. “I’m happy with the numbers, but I’m not going to be satisfied until every criminal alien gang member, every criminal alien, every Tren de Aragua is eradicated from this country and [we’ve] sent their ass to Gitmo, where they belong,” he said. Addressing criminal migrant groups like Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua and El Salvador’s MS-13 – which the Trump administration just designated “foreign terrorist organizations” – Homan said the Trump administration is making good on its promise to stamp them out. “He’s going to wipe you off the face of the earth,” he said. “You have killed more Americans than every terrorist organization in the world combined. You are now a terrorist organization. So, word out to anybody that assists them, anybody that sells their drugs on a street, anybody assists these cartels in any way, you are helping a terrorist organization.” TRUMP ADMIN REVEALS LIST OF CARTELS AND GANGS TO BE DESIGNATED TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS “We’re going to save lives, because when 95% less people [are] coming across the border, how many women aren’t being raped? How many Americans aren’t dying from fentanyl overdoses? How many … terrorists aren’t getting in the country? How many women and children aren’t sex-trafficked in this country? When you have a border lockdown, we’re saving lives,” he said. Addressing criticism from Democrats and the media that ICE has arrested illegal aliens without criminal charges, along with criminal aliens, Homan said, “Yeah, damn right we did. Because you’re in a country illegally, which happens to be a violation of our law.” “Entering this country illegally is a crime, and we’re not going to forgive it,” he said. And addressing self-proclaimed “sanctuary” cities and states, where local and state governments refuse to cooperate with ICE, Homan said his now-familiar line: “Game on.” MAGA LAW GROUP FILES BRIEFS IN SUPPORT OF TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDER ENDING BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP “Sanctuary cities are a sanctuary for criminals,” he said. “We’re enforcing the laws enacted by Congress, and we’re not going to apologize for it, not under this administration.” Homan singled out Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox, who recently doubled down on the city’s sanctuary policies and said his officers would not assist ICE with deportation operations. “You said you doubled down on not helping the law enforcement officers of ICE. I’m coming to Boston, and I’m bringing hell with me,” he said. “I looked at the numbers this morning, I counted, I stopped counting at nine. Nine child rapists that were in jail in Massachusetts, but rather than honoring an ICE detainer, you released them back into the street. You’re not a police commissioner. Take that badge off your chest. Put it in the desk drawer. Because you became a politician. You forgot what’s it’s like to be a cop.” ‘RAMPANT’ ABUSE IN BLUE STATE MIGRANT SHELTER SYSTEM, SAYS FORMER DIRECTOR: ‘COLOSSAL MESS’ Homan also took a few moments to express his gratitude to the men and women of federal law enforcement agencies like ICE and Border Patrol. “God bless the men and women of ICE. God bless all the DOJ components, we’ve got the U.S. marshals, DEA, FBI, ATF, all these five agencies helping us,” he said. And to the men and women of Border Patrol, Homan said, “I love each and every one of you wearing that green uniform. You are the finest 1% of this country.” CPAC is an annual gathering of conservatives from across the country. This year, the conference took place in National Harbor, Maryland, and saw the participation of Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Elon Musk and several other top Trump Cabinet officials and Republican leaders.
ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Australia beat England in record chase
Australia chase 356 to beat England as the Cricket World Cup holders open their Champions Trophy account in Lahore. Josh Inglis marshalled two-time champion Australia’s record-breaking run chase at the Champions Trophy with a 77-ball century to hand England a five-wicket defeat in Lahore. Inglis finished with an unbeaten 120 off 86 balls for a maiden ODI hundred that included eight fours and six sixes as Australia cruised to 356-5 in 47.3 overs on Saturday. It was the highest-ever successful run chase in all ICC ODI tournaments. Inglis’s terrific power-hitting eclipsed Ben Duckett’s 165, which was the highest-ever individual knock in the history of Champions Trophy and had anchored England to a score of 351-8 in their Group B opener. England’s Ben Duckett celebrates after reaching his century in Lahore [Akhtar Soomro/Reuters] Australia’s chase got off to a rocky start as Jofra Archer and Mark Wood removed Travis Head (6) and captain Steven Smith (5) in successive overs before the Australian middle-order batters countercharged the fast bowlers. Matthew Short (63) and Marnus Labuschagne (47) combined in a 95-run stand with fast bowler Brydon Carse going for well over nine runs an over in his four-over spell before England put in spinners in the middle overs. Adil Rashid denied Labuschagne a half-century when Jos Buttler held on to a sharp catch at short covers and then, Liam Livingstone took a smart low return catch to dismiss Short as Australia slipped to 136-4. However, with dew setting in, Inglis and Alex Carey (69) mastermind the run-chase perfectly as it became difficult for the bowlers to handle the wet ball. The two batters shared a 146-run stand off 116 balls, but England missed an opportunity when Australia still needed 104 for victory. Advertisement Archer missed a regulation catch of Carey in the outfield in Rashid’s penultimate over before he completed his half-century and Inglis smashed Archer for two boundaries in the next over. Carey was finally dismissed when he drove to Buttler at mid-off in Carse’s return spell, but Glenn Maxwell finished on 32 not out off 15 balls and Inglis, who raised his century with a pulled six off Archer, sealed the win in similar fashion with another a six off Wood at mid-wicket. Australia’s Glenn Maxwell helped seal the chase with Josh Inglis [Akhtar Soomro/Reuters] Duckett became the first batter in the history of the Champions Trophy to score more than 150 runs after Smith won the toss and elected to field on a flat wicket. Duckett smashed his 165 off 143 balls with 17 fours and three sixes as the Australian second-string pace attack struggled on a wicket devoid of grass at a newly renovated Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. New Zealand batter Nathan Astle held the previous record after he amassed an unbeaten 145 against the United States at the Oval in 2004. The Black Caps’ 347-4 in the same game was the previous highest team total of the tournament. Duckett laid a solid foundation for England’s strong finish when he combined in a 158-run stand with Joe Root, who made 68 off 78 balls. Duckett was dominant against the pace with his down-the-ground drives and was not afraid to reverse sweep against Australia’s best bowler on show, Adam Zampa (2-64). Labuschagne (2-41) dismissed Duckett in the 48th over when the left-hander missed a straight ball while going for a sweep against the leg-spinner and was out leg before wicket. The crowd in Lahore ensured a full house and an incredible atmosphere for the occasion [Nida Mehboob/Reuters] Australia, which came into the event without Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, did make early inroads. Advertisement Ben Dwarshuis (3-66) struck inside his first three overs when Carey, handing over the wicketkeeping gloves to Inglis, plucked a sensational diving catch on the edge of the 30-yard circle to dismiss Phil Salt (10) and then grabbed a hard drive of newly promoted number three batter Jamie Smith (15). Duckett and Root raised England’s first century stand in ODIs this year with their better than run-a-ball partnership. Duckett raised his century off 95 balls with two straight boundaries against Spencer Johnson, who was taken out of the attack after 0-54 off his seven overs. Zampa broke the threatening stand when he had Root trapped lbw in the 31st over and then Carey picked up another brilliant catch at point to dismiss Harry Brook for 3. But Duckett continued to score at brisk pace despite Buttler (23) and Livingstone (14) falling in quick succession while looking for acceleration. Archer played a little cameo of 21 off 10 balls as he smacked Labuschagne for 12 runs off the final three balls and England made 83 runs off the final 10 overs. Adblock test (Why?)