Bernie Sanders demands Democrats ban super PACs from primaries, blasts AIPAC, ‘corrupt system’
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is urging Democratic leaders to restrict super PAC involvement in party primaries, arguing that wealthy outside groups have too much influence over Democratic nominations. In a post on X on Sunday, Sanders singled out the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, while criticizing outside spending in Democratic primaries. “It is insane that the Democrats allow super PACs like AIPAC to spend millions in their primaries — only for those same special interests to help elect Republicans in the general election,” Sanders wrote. “My message to Democratic leaders: Ban super PACs from Democratic primaries NOW.” Sanders also shared an Aug. 8 letter addressed to Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin. SANDERS’ ANSWER WHEN ASKED IF HE WILL ENDORSE SOCIALIST HONG IN WISCONSIN SPARKS INSTANT MOCKERY: ‘SAYS A LOT’ In the letter, Sanders said AIPAC and affiliated groups spent more than $30 million in Michigan’s Democratic primary in an effort to defeat Dr. Abdul El-Sayed. He also said the group plans to spend tens of millions more to support Republican Mike Rogers in the general election. “AIPAC is not the only super PAC or outside organization playing this role. Corporate super PACs — including crypto, AI and online betting special interests — have already spent a record $517 million this election cycle, shattering the record set in 2024,” Sanders wrote. His criticism focused not only on the amount of outside spending, but also on groups that he said try to influence Democratic primaries and then support Republican candidates if their preferred Democrat loses. “What is particularly obscene is not only the outrageous amount of money coming into Democratic primaries from billionaire-funded super PACs, but the reality that these special interests have no particular desire to see Democrats win,” he said. BERNIE SANDERS TELLS JAMES CARVILLE TO START HIS OWN PARTY AS MODERATE DEMS WARN AGAINST ‘EMBRACING EXTREMISM’ “It is absurd that they spend tens of millions of dollars to try to determine who the Democratic nominee is and, if they fail, then proceed to support the Republican candidate in the general election.” AIPAC says it supports pro-Israel candidates from both parties, according to its website. “AIPAC is a grassroots membership organization with a PAC that supports pro-Israel Democratic and Republican candidates for Congress,” as noted on its website. “The AIPAC PAC is funded by individual American citizens who care deeply about helping elect leaders who want to strengthen the partnership between the United States and Israel.” AIPAC is affiliated with United Democracy Project, a super PAC that says it works to help defeat “detractors — both Republicans and Democrats — of the U.S.-Israel relationship,” its website states. Sanders again called for a constitutional amendment overturning Citizens United and for public financing of elections. “Right now, the Democratic Party has the power to prohibit super PACs from participating in its primaries. That can be done. That must be done,” Sanders wrote. “I urge you to take action and make clear that the Democratic Party will no longer maintain this corrupt system.” BERNIE SANDERS BLASTS FETTERMAN AS ‘WAY OUT OF TOUCH’ WITH AMERICANS AFTER GRAHAM PLATNER REBUKE Sanders added, “While there are ideological differences of opinion within the big tent of the party, I would hope that we can all agree that Republican special interests should not play a role in determining the outcome of Democratic primaries. The time to act is now.” In May, Sanders and Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., introduced the Abolish Super PACs Act, which would cap individual contributions to super PACs at $5,000 and effectively eliminate them. AIPAC, Sanders, Schumer, Martin, Jeffries and Rogers could not immediately be reached by Fox News Digital for comment.
Trump doubles down on reflecting pool vandalism allegations, cites new witness account
President Donald Trump escalated his criticism Sunday over the dismissed Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool vandalism case, pointing to a National Park Service employee’s account that former Olympian David Hearn “violently” ripped and tugged at the pool’s coating before authorities arrived. Trump shared a screenshot from court documents on Truth Social that detailed interviews with two National Park Service employees who were cleaning the interior of the Reflecting Pool when Hearn approached the area. According to the document, one employee, identified as W-1, said Hearn initially used his cellphone to take what the employee believed were photos or video of damage to the pool. WHITE HOUSE CONDEMNS ‘TARGETED SABOTAGE’ OF REFLECTING POOL AS REPAIRS PUSHED PAST JULY 4 CELEBRATION The employee then alleged Hearn “knelt, placed both hands into the reflecting pool, below the surface of the water, and started to ‘violently’ rip and tug at a large portion of the blue pool coating,” according to the document Trump posted. The filing further states that W-1 asked a second NPS employee to contact police and told Hearn not to touch or pull at the coating. Hearn allegedly responded that NPS personnel were “awfully sensitive about the pool” and continued tugging at the coating until National Guard soldiers arrived. Trump pointed to the witness account Sunday as he continued pressing his case after federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the felony charge against Hearn earlier this month. “ALERT: A National Park Service career employee, a highly credible witness, saw David Hearn (ActBlue) in broad daylight vandalize the Reflecting Pool by ‘violently’ ripping and tugging at the Pool’s somewhat delicate coating,” Trump wrote. TRUMP URGES JEANINE PIRRO TO REVISIT DROPPED LINCOLN MEMORIAL REFLECTING POOL VANDALISM CASE The president said the employee provided the account to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in early July and argued that the statement bolstered his claim that at least some of the damage was caused deliberately. Trump also alleged that other incidents occurred around the Reflecting Pool, including the use of an “acid like material” on newly installed grass beside the pool, where “86 47” was allegedly written. “There was substantial other damage to the Reflecting Pool, also but, unfortunately, there is no video or proof, other than the damage, itself,” Trump wrote. Trump acknowledged in the same post that contractors were responsible for a portion of the problems at the pool, saying there was “some contractor error” as crews rushed to finish the renovation ahead of July 4, but he described that damage as limited. TRUMP SHARES NEWS OF ‘CRYSTAL CLEAR’ REFLECTING POOL, CALLS FOR VANDALISM SUSPECT’S ARREST “We are working on the Pool, and it will reopen shortly,” Trump said, adding that security cameras have been and are being installed. The latest post comes days after Trump urged U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro to revisit the case after prosecutors dropped the charge against Hearn. Hearn was indicted July 2 on one count of felony destruction of property after U.S. Park Police alleged he grabbed and pulled at a loose portion of the pool coating on June 19 and continued after being told to stop by a National Park Service employee. Officials initially alleged the damage exceeded $1,000. Pirro’s office later said prosecutors had received only “barebones” reports from the Department of the Interior before seeking the indictment and were not initially given records documenting broader problems with the pool coating’s installation. FORMER US OLYMPIAN DAVID HEARN INDICTED IN ALLEGED REFLECTING POOL VANDALISM Prosecutors said documents produced after the indictment showed that some of the Reflecting Pool damage was tied to flawed installation by contractor Atlantic Industrial Coatings and a push to finish the project before events surrounding the America 250 celebration. “Had DOI been forthcoming with the information clearly in its possession, the government would not have sought a grand jury indictment,” prosecutors wrote in seeking dismissal. The government said the newly disclosed evidence made it difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hearn caused the damage alleged in the indictment. Prosecutors asked for the case to be dismissed without prejudice, leaving open the possibility that charges could be brought again. OLYMPIAN CHARGED IN REFLECTING POOL VANDALISM DONATED THROUGH DEM FUNDRAISING GIANT Trump has repeatedly challenged Pirro’s decision, saying last week that he “disagree[d] 100%” with the U.S. attorney and later accusing her of having “choked” under pressure in the case. Hearn’s attorneys, Norm Eisen, Mary Dohrmann and Steve Levin, previously said the case “should never have been brought” and accused the administration of wrongly arresting and charging a man they said “did nothing wrong.” Trump, however, argued Sunday that the witness account shows the Reflecting Pool damage wasn’t caused by faulty construction alone, pointing to the government’s own court filing to support his claim. Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimson and Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.
AOC documents egg-freezing journey, takes aim at Trump admin over women’s reproductive choices
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., revealed that she is freezing her eggs, opening up about the deeply personal decision in a series of Instagram Story videos while saying the procedure will give her more control over her future and using the announcement to criticize the Trump administration’s policies on women’s reproductive health. The progressive “Squad” member posted the videos Saturday, explaining that she had spent years considering the procedure and saving for it before deciding to undergo fertility preservation. Ocasio-Cortez said she wanted to be open about the process because women are often not taught enough about their reproductive health or family-planning options. AOC SAYS MAHA ADVOCATES’ FIGHT ‘ISN’T PARTISAN’ AS SHE BLASTS HEALTHCARE SYSTEM FOR FUELING ‘A TON OF ANXIETY’ “I have made the decision to start freezing my eggs,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “I was weighing it for a very long time, and I think that I was saving for it for a very long time.” Ocasio-Cortez, who was first elected to Congress at 28, said serving in office at a young age meant navigating major life decisions publicly in a way many people do not. “When you get elected young, you have to grow up in the public eye in a time that most people usually get to grow more privately,” she said. MELINDA FRENCH GATES SAYS IT TOOK 3 DOCTORS TO DIAGNOSE THE CONDITION SHE WAS SUFFERING FROM The New York Democrat said she hoped sharing the experience would help normalize conversations about fertility, pregnancy, menopause, perimenopause, PCOS and other aspects of women’s health that she believes are too often overlooked. “As women in general, we are not taught about our bodies,” Ocasio-Cortez said, referencing puberty, pregnancy, perimenopause, menopause and conditions including PCOS. “I think we need to show more depictions of women having full lives in every context and every choice,” she added. Ocasio-Cortez framed the move as an effort to take more control over her future. NEW JERSEY DEMOCRATS ADVANCE BILL CRIMINALIZING INTERFERENCE WITH ABORTION, TRANSGENDER HEALTHCARE “This is a choice that I am making to feel more in control of my life,” she said. “If people want to make assumptions about my decision, let them make those assumptions. I feel empowered to make this choice.” She acknowledged that being able to undergo the procedure was a privilege and said advances in technology had helped make egg freezing more financially accessible. Ocasio-Cortez then pivoted to politics, saying she was aware there could be a “political tax” associated with disclosing such a personal decision and arguing that female politicians face scrutiny around marriage, pregnancy and family planning that male politicians often do not. She also blamed the Trump administration for what she described as an increasingly hostile environment for women’s reproductive choices. LATE-TERM ABORTION TAKES FRONT SEAT AS BLUE STATE RUSHES TO EXPAND ACCESS BEFORE SESSION ENDS “In the political context that we’re in, in an administration that is dedicated to politicizing women’s bodies and taking our choices away from us and punishing us around decisions to be pregnant or not be pregnant,” she said. “Frankly, this administration has made pregnancy more dangerous than probably at any point in the last 30-plus years,” Ocasio-Cortez added. “We’re going to take our power back,” she said. “And we have to talk about it.” Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks. SEE IT: MARK KELLY BLAMES TRUMP’S AGENDA FOR BOOSTING AOC AS DEMS PRESIDENTIAL PICK The announcement quickly drew criticism from some conservatives on social media, including Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet, who argued that Ocasio-Cortez’s decision reflected what he described as a broader progressive message prioritizing careers over starting families. “This is the message progressives spread when it comes to family formation, and one of the reasons why fertility rates are cratering,” Kolvet wrote on X. “Just freeze your eggs, kids! Pursue that career, even if you’ve been engaged for 4 years to a man you’ve known since college,” he continued. “AOC turns 37 in a few weeks so if she got pregnant tomorrow it would already be a geriatric pregnancy. This is not female ‘liberation,’ it’s a cautionary tale.” FDA TO REVIEW 7 POPULAR PEPTIDES TOUTED FOR WEIGHT LOSS, HEALING AND LONGEVITY Ocasio-Cortez has been engaged to longtime partner Riley Roberts since May 2022. Her egg-freezing announcement comes roughly seven years after the New York Democrat famously warned in 2019 that “the world is gonna end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change,” leaving about five years remaining under that timeline. Ocasio-Cortez said she plans to take viewers through parts of the egg-freezing process, including the hormone injections required ahead of egg retrieval. She said she had already filmed herself unboxing her medications and administering her first shot. The congresswoman said she would even give herself one of the injections in the green room before appearing on an ABC morning show. “I’m gonna take my shot in the green room before my interview,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Because women can do anything.” “I think it’s bad— that I’m gonna be, you know, giving myself shots in the green room, get my glam on, roll out, talk about international events, domestic policy, elections, pop out, live my life, do my thing.”
RNC chair says Talarico’s GOP crossover hopes are a ‘pipe dream’: ‘Nobody is going to follow him’
Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico needs to flip some Republican voters this November to win in the largest red state in the U.S., but his opponents are calling out claims of Republicans backing him as inauthentic, if not fraudulent. “Any chance that Talarico has building any type of Republican coalition is a pipe dream for him,” Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters told Fox News Digital in an interview. “Nobody is going to follow him. He’s completely out of touch with Texans.” Gruters’ rebuke came after women voters interviewed on MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” claimed to be Republican crossover supporters, only to have longstanding ties to Democrats and anti-President Donald Trump groups — not exactly people that would be voting for Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton in one of the Senate’s biggest ticket races in the battle for the majority. “The people that he had come out and say that they were on his team have been proven to be basically Democrat, liberal activists that have been supporting Democrat candidates for 10-plus years,” Gruters continued. ‘FAKE’ MODERATE TALARICO’S TEXAS SURGE TESTS PAXTON IN FIGHT TO HOLD CRUCIAL GOP SENATE SEAT “I just don’t believe it,” Gruters said. “This is Kamala Harris‘ ‘White Dudes for Kamala.’ It just doesn’t exist. It’s a wannabe or an attempt at them to try to build some crossover support.” Talarico has emphasized building a broad coalition in his campaign, which says it intends to “go everywhere and talk to everyone” ahead of the November election. But Republicans have seized on the political histories of some of Talarico’s backers as evidence the outreach is less bipartisan than advertised. FOX NEWS POLL: GOP DIVISIONS SHAPE TEXAS SENATE RACE One of the women presented as a Republican mother supporting Talarico was identified in subsequent reporting as Mindy McClure. She has Federal Election Commission filings associated with her showing repeated ActBlue contributions benefiting Democratic candidates and political groups dating back to 2018, including Kamala Harris and The Lincoln Project — an anti-Trump political activist group. “When you have policies like mutilating children, saying that God has six different genders and is non-binary and all this other stuff, you can’t expect that Republicans are going to hop on and think that they’re going to be on board to this liberal clown show that he’s operating down there in Texas,” Gruters said. The primary-voting history of another woman featured in the campaign’s outreach was exposed by a record showing more participation in Democratic than Republican primaries. When reached for comment Sunday, the Talarico campaign said the women have no official ties to the campaign, but the spokesperson pointed to the MS Now interview, noting they had previously voted for Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott — one of whom vowed to never do again. “Republicans in Texas are endorsing James Talarico and rejecting Ken Paxton because they know James will bring people together to lower costs while Paxton continues to enrich himself at the expense of working people,” Talarico campaign spokesman JT Ennis told Fox News Digital. Talarico has showcased the support of former Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley, a longtime Republican who endorsed the Democrat at a recent campaign event. REPUBLICANS UNITING TO BEAT TALARICO: PAXTON TELLS ‘RUTHLESS’ Whitley ran as a Republican judge, but his recent endorsements are on the left. The former county judge endorsed Democrat Mike Collier against Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in 2022 before backing Harris for president and Democrat Colin Allred for U.S. Senate in 2024. All those Democrats lost to Republicans, as did Beto O’Rourke to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, by less than three points in 2018. That history has given Republicans an opening to argue that Talarico is largely attracting voters who had already broken with GOP nominees before the current Senate contest. “He’s not Beto: Beto was actually a decent candidate, as liberal as he was,” Gruters said, delivering his oft-used moniker to Talarico for his “freakish” policy positions in a campaign for Senate in the deeply conservative state. “This guy makes Beto look like a conservative. “Tala-freako has no chance, because people aren’t buying into the stuff that he’s peddling.” CORNYN PREDICTS TRUMP MIDTERM ‘DISASTER,’ THEN ‘THE MOST MISERABLE TWO YEARS OF HIS LIFE’ Texas is famously a state that Trump says votes on “God, guns and oil,” so the RNC chair says those not on board with Trump or those staples are “not the right candidate for Texas” and “not the right candidates for the U.S. Senate” in the state. “We don’t need weak members,” Gruters said. “We need strong MAGA warriors. And that’s exactly what Ken Paxton will provide is he will bring: strength to the U.S. Senate on behalf of Texas and will represent them well.” Paxton survived a potential Texas state impeachment effort just about three years ago. Two of those Republican Texas State House impeachment managers that voted to impeach Paxton in an attempt that died in the state Senate are now campaigning for Paxton. Republican State Rep. Jeff Leach introduced Paxton at an Allen, Texas, campaign rally last week, and state Rep. Briscoe Cain introduced Paxton at a Houston rally. Both are backing Paxton over Talarico. “Ken Paxton has been impeached by Republicans for bribery, indicted for investment fraud, and amassed 15 properties on a government salary while Texans can’t afford one,” Ennis’ statement added. “James is building a people-powered movement — including Republicans and independents — to change this broken political system and reject Ken Paxton’s corruption.” THE BALLOT BOX SHOWDOWNS THIS MONTH THAT YOU NEED TO WATCH There had been some concern Paxton — endorsed by Trump — was not an ideal GOP nominee, having ousted sitting Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who was a four-term senator and won by nearly double digits in 2020. Cornyn was “a great U.S. senator for a long time,” Gruters admitted, stopping short of saying whether Cornyn will stump for Paxton like those impeachment managers that have come home for him. Fox News Digital reached out
‘Outsider’ House primary winner sets sights on flipping longtime GOP seat back from Dems: ‘Ready for a change’
Fresh off her Republican primary win, veteran meteorologist and Congressional candidate Terri DeBoer told Fox News Digital she is ready to flip the state’s Third Congressional District back over to the GOP. “The one thing that we’re really hearing over and over again is people are ready for a change,” DeBoer said of her bid to unseat incumbent Dem. Rep. Hillary Scholten. “They are ready to be represented by someone who shares the same common sense West Michigan values as they do, and I’m the best candidate to fill the bill.” DeBoer, a 61-year-old mother of three who worked for several television stations in western Michigan over a 30-year career, is looking to shake up a district that was held by Republicans for decades before Scholten seized it in 2022. DEMS RALLY BEHIND MICHIGAN PROSECUTOR TO CHAMPION PARTY IN CRUCIAL HOUSE RACE DeBoer said the Democratic Party has lost its way and is aligning with candidates who undermine what “makes America so great.” Looking beyond her own race, DeBoer pushed back when asked whether Abdul El-Sayed’s Senate primary victory signals growing support for a progressive agenda within the Democratic Party. “What I hear when I knock on doors, when I walk down the street, when I’m at the grocery store, people say, ‘Thank you. Thank you for being willing to step forward in a common sense way to represent our values, because quite simply, the other side is no longer representing the values of West Michigan,’” she said. El-Sayed, a far-left progressive, narrowly defeated Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., in one of the nation’s most closely watched Democratic primaries last week. “I believe that when people truly understand what is at stake here, the very future of America and the freedoms that we have enjoyed, that I think the choice is very clear,” she said.ROGERS OPENS DOOR TO DEMOCRATIC VOTERS AFTER EL-SAYED’S PRIMARY VICTORY: ‘THERE IS STILL HOPE’ DeBoer added there is a disconnect between Scholten’s “moderate” image on the campaign trail and her voting record in Congress. “I believe the biggest point of contrast, quite frankly, is that for the last few campaign cycles she has campaigned as though she’s a very moderate individual, and yet her voting record in Congress is in stark contrast to that,” she said. Scholten’s vote against the SAVE America Act and her support for “boys in girls’ locker rooms, boys in our girls’ sports” are examples of this contrast, according to DeBoer. Scholten voted against a bill that would ban transgender women and girls from competing on female school sports teams in January 2025, according to U.S. House voting records, But DeBoer, who previously told Fox News Digital she considers herself an outsider in this race, said her positions are more closely aligned with voters and that she would bring “common-sense values” to Washington if elected. Turning to the issues driving the race, DeBoer said affordability is the most pressing concern as the costs of groceries, energy, housing and healthcare rise. Her campaign website also lists securing the border, expanding healthcare choice, supporting reliable energy and reducing regulations on small businesses among her priorities. “People are working harder than ever before and feeling like they’re falling behind everything,” she said. STEVE MOORE: POLITICIANS ARE BLAMING THE WRONG VILLAIN FOR AMERICA’S RISING FOOD PRICES To address the higher costs, DeBoer called for cutting “reckless” federal spending and eliminating government waste, fraud and abuse “that robs all of us of the economic freedom that we have in America.” “We really need to make America affordable again,” she said. Fox News Digital reached out to Scholten’s campaign for comment.
Max Miller locked in as Republican nominee after Ohio ballot deadline passes without withdrawal
The deadline for Ohio Republicans to replace Rep. Max Miller on the November ballot has now passed, effectively locking in the embattled congressman as the GOP nominee in Ohio’s 7th Congressional District. Miller, who has resisted calls to end his re-election campaign, would have needed to withdraw by Saturday evening to give Republican officials enough time to select a replacement and complete the steps needed to meet Monday’s 4 p.m. certification deadline under Ohio election rules. Instead, Miller is staying in the race despite mounting pressure from fellow Republicans to step aside over domestic-abuse allegations made by his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, the daughter of Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno. FOX NEWS POLL: DEMOCRATIC UNITY, REPUBLICAN CROSSOVERS SHAPE OHIO SENATE RACE As Fox News Digital previously reported, the controversy escalated last week when Sen. Moreno publicly called on his former son-in-law to resign from Congress, bringing a years-long family dispute and contentious divorce into the national political spotlight. Moreno had previously avoided publicly weighing in on the dispute, but broke his silence after Miller posted a livestream denying allegations of domestic and child abuse. Moreno accused Miller of increasingly “erratic and dangerous behavior” and said he should not serve in the House of Representatives. Miller has denied the allegations, saying no court or agency has substantiated claims that he committed abuse and that he has never been criminally charged in connection with the dispute. He has also sued his ex-wife for defamation. OHIO GOP FAMILY FEUD EXPLODES AS SEN BERNIE MORENO CALLS ON REP MAX MILLER TO RESIGN With the withdrawal window now closed, Republicans have no apparent path to replace Miller on the ballot through a voluntary withdrawal. The controversy comes as Republicans fight to protect their narrow House majority. Miller represents a district that has generally favored the GOP, with President Donald Trump carrying it by roughly 11 points in 2024. Miller is now poised to face Democrat Brian Poindexter, a union ironworker, in November, giving Democrats an opportunity to compete for a Republican-leaning seat that otherwise would have been expected to remain in GOP hands.
Vice President Vance says migrant communities show ‘clear pattern’ in federal fraud as investigations widen
Certain migrant communities are helping to drive widespread fraud that has cost taxpayers billions of dollars, Vice President JD Vance told Fox News Digital. In an interview in his office in the West Wing of the White House last week, Vance discussed his work leading the fraud task force under President Trump. Vance said his team has found a clear pattern of collaboration involving migrant communities. “You definitely see patterns where certain communities,” Vance said. “It’ll start as maybe one Somali person takes advantage of the system, or realizes you don’t even have to have children to get money from these programs. You could just claim that you have children, there’s no verification. Then, word spreads like wildfire, and that program gets tapped into by the same members of that community.” TRUMP TOLD DONORS ‘WE NEED TO ELECT JD,’ SOURCE CONFIRMS, AS HE WEIGHS VANCE OR RUBIO IN 2028 Vance, who is also leading ongoing negotiations with Iran and recently welcomed a new addition to his family, has a robust portfolio. He was tapped to tackle fraud after the issue exploded in Minneapolis earlier this year and is now working with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz and other agencies. In recent months, hundreds of hospice and home health agencies suspected of fraud in Minnesota and California have had federal payments suspended, and a number of other states are also under the watch of the task force. Vance said the fraud his team has uncovered has many victims. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S LANDLORD JOINS VANCE FRAUD CRACKDOWN AS WHITE HOUSE WIDENS HUNT: ‘CRITICAL FORCE’ “The first and the most obvious victim is the American taxpayer,” Vance said. “You give your money to the federal government, and you expect the federal government, even if you disagree with the policy behind it, you expect that money to go to the people that it’s supposed to go to.” “When a new mom goes to apply for help for herself and her baby, the money isn’t there anymore,” said Vance, whose office is adorned with artwork by his kids, a rosary, a photo of him and Usha kissing on Mount Rushmore and a glass replica of a diet Mountain Dew can. “Or, you have autistic kids who benefit from services that are meant to go to the families of children with autism, and you have fraudsters who get rich off these programs,” he added. “Sometimes they don’t even have children, much less autistic children enrolled.” FBI ADDS 2 FUGITIVES TO ‘MOST WANTED FRAUDSTERS’ LIST AMID HISTORIC $6.5B HEALTHCARE TAKEDOWN: PATEL Vance revealed that roughly $230 billion in fraud has been uncovered since Trump took office and that $55 billion in federal payments to suspected fraudsters has been halted. Last week, federal and state law enforcement charged 19 defendants accused of participating in schemes involving more than $4 million in claims submitted to Medicare and Medicaid, according to the Department of Justice. Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday also announced a plea agreement involving the final defendant in a previously charged 21-defendant case tied to more than $1.7 million in claims in the Keystone State. Prosecuting fraudsters is one thing, but Vance said that recouping the money presents yet another challenge, since much of it has already been spent. “Getting money back is very hard,” Vance said. “Once it’s gone out the door, it’s very hard to get it back.” “What we’ve done most effectively is actually just stop the money from going out the door in the first place, because that’s the only real way to ensure the American people don’t lose it.” At the end of last year, reports and social media coverage from independent journalist Nick Shirley exposed a network of daycare centers, like the “Quality Learing (sic) Center,” that were allegedly fraudulent and operated mostly by Somali immigrants. OWNER OF DAYCARE IN VIRAL NICK SHIRLEY VIDEO CHARGED IN $4.6M DAYCARE FRAUD SCHEME, PROSECUTORS SAY The reports sparked swift action from the administration, and former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem deployed DHS and ICE agents to the streets of Minneapolis to catch and deport Somali immigrants in the country illegally. The deployment sparked a clash between local residents and federal agents that exploded into violent riots across the Twin Cities. While the duties of a vice president vary from one administration to another, Trump has leaned heavily on his No. 2. Vance has traveled abroad twice to meet directly with Iranian leaders and regularly provides updates on the negotiations to the press. That role came after Trump appointed Vance as the head of the White House’s anti-fraud task force in May, dubbing him the “Fraud Czar.” Despite his array of assignments, Vance, who recently turned 42, and his wife, first lady Usha Vance, had their fourth child last month, making him the first sitting vice president to have a child in more than 150 years. “Kids have a way of forcing you to focus on them, even when things are crazy at work,” Vance said. “[I was] with my six-year-old this morning, who was making like zoo animal noises, and I was like, ‘Buddy, what are you doing?’ And he said, ‘I just want you to get off the stupid phone.’ And I said, ‘Alright, this can wait.’” SECOND LADY USHA VANCE SHARES FAMILY PHOTOS FEATURING NEWBORN WHO IS LESS THAN 1 WEEK OLD Whether in his current role or possibly as Trump’s would-be successor, Vance believes his family values make him better at his job. “Kids are so, they’re so in their own little world that they sort of force you to go into their world, and that’s a very, very good thing,” he said. “It’s good for my psychology. I think it’s good for my soul, but it’s a very good thing. The job obviously has its demands and the schedule can get kind of crazy.” Vance, who at 44 would be just a year older in 2028 than John F. Kennedy was when he was
Biden-world veteran issues stark warning about Abdul El-Sayed as he crosses party lines
Former Jill Biden press secretary Michael LaRosa said he won’t support Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, citing the candidate’s refusal to distance himself from far-left streamer Hasan Piker over his past remarks about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. LaRosa, who served as press secretary to former first lady Jill Biden, made the unusually sharp break with his party in a post responding to reports that he was supporting Republican Mike Rogers over El-Sayed. At the center of LaRosa’s criticism is El-Sayed’s association with Piker, who drew widespread condemnation after saying during a 2019 livestream that “America deserved 9/11.“ EL-SAYED’S SOCIALIST ALLIES REJECT GOP CLAIMS ABOUT DEMS EMBRACING THE FAR LEFT El-Sayed has campaigned alongside Piker and, when pressed about the remark, has argued that appearing with the streamer does not mean he endorses everything Piker has said. For LaRosa, the controversy is deeply personal. He said the mother of his best friend died on Sept. 11 after jumping from the 95th floor of the World Trade Center rather than remain inside the burning building. “I won’t defend or support anyone who is too cowardly to stand up to extremists who think the mother of my best friend, who jumped from 95 stories because the alternative was worse, deserved what happened to her,” LaRosa wrote. “Her only crime was showing up to work that morning.” HASAN PIKER CALLS FOR DEMOCRATS WHO OPPOSE ABDUL EL-SAYED TO BE ‘PUNISHED’ LaRosa concluded by accusing El-Sayed of refusing to stand up to “the guy who says she ‘deserved’ what she got that morning she showed up for work.” LaRosa’s rebuke is about more than one Democrat refusing to back another. It highlights a growing fault line within the party over extremism and the boundaries of acceptable political rhetoric. Those divisions could ultimately push some longtime Democrats across the aisle in consequential races. That dynamic could prove particularly consequential in Michigan, where the Senate contest could help shape the balance of power in Washington and even a small erosion of Democratic support could matter.
Young conservatives reveal what’s top of mind as GOP, Democrats battle for ‘hopeless’ Gen Z voters
Both parties see Gen Z voters as a crucial bloc that could help tip the balance in November as Republicans and Democrats battle for control of Congress, with the GOP seeking to keep President Donald Trump’s agenda moving and Democrats pushing to retake Capitol Hill and steer the legislative agenda. And as the Democratic Party grapples with the growing appeal of democratic socialism among young voters, Republicans are seizing on the trend to rally their own young base. But conservative college students gathered at Young America’s Foundation’s Freedom at 250 conference in Washington, D.C., told Fox News Digital that economic pressures — from inflation to the housing crunch — are not only helping drive some of their peers toward democratic socialism but that they themselves share those same concerns. DEMOCRATS LURE ‘POLITICALLY HOMELESS’ GEN Z TOWARD SOCIALISM — A COUNTERATTACK IS TAKING SHAPE “I think a lot of young people are feeling a little bit hopeless right now, Courtney Graves, a rising senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told Fox News Digital. “They want to be able to have a home when they grow up. They want to be able to have a nice life and a good-paying job. And what we’ve been seeing is that when those things don’t come to fruition, people tend to go to the extremes.” Graves’ comments come as financial milestones such as buying a home, have been perceived as increasingly difficult for younger Americans. A Pew Research Center survey published in July found that 87% of Americans say buying a home is harder for young adults today than it was for their parents’ generation. A recent report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies found that nearly half of renters spent more than 30% of their income on housing in 2024, and nearly half of Americans ages 18 to 29 received financial help to cover an expense over the past year, according to a Federal Reserve report released in May. But Graves, who is the granddaughter of immigrants who escaped Communist-controlled Latvia, argued that embracing free-market policies is the best way for people to achieve the American Dream and that the Republican Party needs to work on its messaging to make that case clearer to young Americans. THE AMERICAN DREAM NOW COMES WITH A ZIP CODE: HERE’S WHERE STARTER HOMES ARE STILL WITHIN REACH “I think free markets are the way to have a successful and prosperous life,” Graves said. “It’s what leads to job growth, it’s what leads to being able to buy a home at the end of the day, have a family and just overall live a great quality of life and have a strong country.” While affordability remains top of mind for Americans this midterm cycle, Brody Baker, a University of Iowa student, praised President Donald Trump for bringing more accountability to the White House compared to former President Joe Biden’s presidency. “I think we get more clarity of what’s happening with the United States as of today,” Baker said. “With the administration being able to say, ‘hey, we have some criticisms,’ Baker said, “there’s some issues with gas being so high, with how the economy, for some it’s hurting a lot, and for some, it’s hurting a little.” BESSENT CREDITS TRUMP IMMIGRATION POLICIES WITH HELPING RETURN JOBS TO AMERICANS AS WAGE GAINS RESUME For University of Minnesota senior Jackson Barrick, pocketbook concerns are just one slice of the pie. He pointed to the country’s immigration and border security policies and foreign policy as issues weighing most heavily on him. Barrick said Trump has done a “fantastic” job with his immigration enforcement agenda. “I think it’s a really good step in terms of making sure that we have a good future going forward in the United States and protecting the homeland,” Barrick said. But college students are also worried about a newer issue: artificial intelligence. Nick Kammerzell, a recent University of Georgia graduate, said AI is the issue that most concerns him about America’s future. AI CHATBOTS TAKE HEAT OVER LEFT-WING BIAS: ‘NO LONGER BE CONSIDERED NEUTRAL’ “I think that it’s very scary,” Kammerzell said. “I think one of the biggest things that I’m concerned about with the AI issue is censorship and bias within AI. I think a lot of young people are becoming very dependent on it as their source of truth.” “I think there’s a lot of opportunities for abuse and manipulation with that,” Kammerzell added, arguing the technology could potentially be used to warp people’s opinions. Young Americans are also more skeptical of AI than older generations. A Pew Research Center survey published in June found that 48% of adults ages 18 to 29 expect AI to have a negative impact on society over the next two decades, compared with 37% of those 50 and older. Younger adults were also more likely to worry that AI could negatively affect their own lives. Baker also expressed concerns over the algorithms created by social media companies. “You are given by Instagram — all these big platforms — your algorithm, your viewings, and you’re leaned towards, and you push towards a certain agenda, or you’re pushed towards a certain idea,” Baker said, arguing this is creating staunch political divides with Americans.
IN CHARTS: A visual breakdown of the Smithsonian’s billion-dollar taxpayer-funded budget
The Smithsonian has relied on more than $1 billion a year in taxpayer funding in recent years, even as its leadership and exhibits face mounting scrutiny over DEI priorities and ideological portrayals of American history. The sprawling institution oversees 21 museums, the National Zoo and nearly 157 million objects and specimens, making it the world’s largest museum, education and research complex. President Donald Trump’s proposed budget reductions have made its federal funding a central pressure point in the administration’s broader effort to reshape the taxpayer-supported institution. Since the White House released a July 2026 report accusing the Smithsonian Institution of advancing DEI and left-wing agendas, Fox News Digital has documented multiple examples. Most recently, the Smithsonian’s America 250 exhibit featured roughly three times as many items highlighting liberal figures and causes as conservative ones, prompting criticism that it presented an ideologically imbalanced account of American history. Other examples included the Smithsonian’s promotion of a museum training guide that linked concepts such as objectivity and merit to “white dominant culture,” a program the institution later apologized for after public backlash. Meanwhile, Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch III has faced scrutiny after saying DEI “must be at the center” of museum institutions, while receiving more than $4.4 million in salary and benefits from 2020 through 2024. TRUMP ORDERS SIGNS OUTSIDE SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM AMID ROW OVER ITS DEPICTION OF AMERICAN HISTORY The White House’s proposed funding reduction follows a monthslong, Trump-directed review that culminated in a 162-page White House report recommending sweeping reforms and additional executive action. Although the Smithsonian also receives private donations, grants and other funding sources, the institution has relied on more than $1 billion annually in taxpayer funds in recent years. With taxpayer dollars at stake, the institution’s budget has become a central front in the Trump administration’s broader debate over how the Smithsonian presents American history. TRUMP TARGETS BIDEN-ERA BILLION-DOLLAR SMITHSONIAN BUDGETS AMID ANTI-‘WOKE’ PUSH The charts below break down how the Smithsonian’s federal funding has changed over time, where the money would go and which museums receive the largest share of taxpayer support. A Fox News Digital analysis of Smithsonian budget requests shows the institution sought increasingly larger federal appropriations during the Biden administration, with annual requests climbing from $960 million in fiscal 2019 to a record $1.24 billion in fiscal 2024. TRUMP V. SMITHSONIAN: A TIMELINE OF HOW THE WHITE HOUSE FIGHT OVER ‘WOKE’ HISTORY UNFOLDED After requesting more than $1 billion in fiscal year 2025, the Trump administration proposed budgets below that threshold for fiscal years 2026 and 2027, the first such requests since fiscal year 2020. While the overall budget has fluctuated over the years, the bulk of the Smithsonian’s federal funding is dedicated to keeping the institution operating day to day. The Smithsonian’s budget is less about new exhibits than keeping the institution running. Of the nearly $960 million federal budget request, a little more than $524 million funds the Smithsonian’s day-to-day operations, including staff, security, facilities and technology. Another $310 million finances museum activity and research, while the rest supports building improvements, planning and oversight. Not all Smithsonian museums receive the same level of taxpayer support. The National Museum of Natural History tops the 2026 funding requests at $51 million, followed by the National Museum of the American Indian at nearly $35 million. Meanwhile, the National Zoo receives about $34 million in funding, while the National Museum of American History accounts for $27 million. With nearly $1 billion in proposed federal funding at stake, the Smithsonian has become more than just a network of museums. It is now a focal point in the broader fight over how American history is told and whether taxpayer dollars should support those narratives. The Smithsonian Institution did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.