Cornyn predicts Trump midterm ‘disaster,’ then ‘the most miserable two years of his life’
Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas predicted “disaster” in the upcoming midterms and thinks that President Donald Trump will then face “the most miserable two years of his life” during the final stretch of his White House tenure, The New York Times reported. Cornyn lost the Texas Republican U.S. Senate primary runoff to President Donald Trump-endorsed Lone Star State Attorney General Ken Paxton last month. The contest was not even close — Paxton shellacked the long-serving incumbent senator in the race. Cornyn has served in the Senate since late 2002. MAGA TRIUMPH: TRUMP ALLY KEN PAXTON DEFEATS JOHN CORNYN IN BITTER TEXAS GOP PRIMARY WAR Trump backed Paxton a week before the May 26 contest, as early voting was already underway. “I had really thought that we’d gone on so long with no endorsement that he was just going to stay out of it,” Cornyn said, according to the Times. “But he couldn’t resist.” “If he would do that to me, he would do that to anybody,” Cornyn said, according to the outlet. “There’s never going to be good enough for him, other than 100 percent, you know, slavish adherence to whatever he wants. But obviously that’s not what the senator’s role is supposed to be, especially in terms of checks and balances.” TRUMP FLEXES MAGA MUSCLE IN TEXAS SENATE RUNOFF CLASH BETWEEN CORNYN AND PAXTON In a May 27 Truth Social post, Trump said Cornyn “will remain my friend for a long time to come, as we both watch Ken become a fantastic, common sense Senator, one who is respected by all.” “If that’s the way friends treat you, you wonder about his enemies,” Cornyn said, according to the Times. KEN PAXTON DIDN’T NEED TRUMP’S ENDORSEMENT TO BEAT CORNYN, TEXAS VOTERS SAY “It’s going to make things harder, certainly more expensive in Texas, and make it harder around the country,” Cornyn said, predicting the president will eventually regret his actions, according to the Times. “I don’t say that with any sort of desire for vengeance; I just think that’s the way it’s going to be. He’s going to have the most miserable two years of his life in the last two years of his term, I think, because I think November is going to be a disaster.”
Ex-Biden aide dubbed ‘Baghdad Bob’ reemerges with Jill Biden spat, new gig
A former Biden White House aide, who has been slammed by conservatives online for years for his aggressive defense of then-President Joe Biden’s mental and physical fitness, has reemerged into the news cycle over the last couple of weeks for speaking out against former First Lady Jill Biden’s comments during her book tour and joining the communications staff for Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz. Andrew Bates, who currently serves as the managing director of Orchestra’s public relations advisory service where he often uses his X account to fire back against GOP messaging and the Trump administration, promotes himself as a “seasoned communications strategist” with a “reputation for tenacity and an ability to navigate complex challenges with precision,” according to the website of his WolfPack Strategies advisory firm that he launched during the first week of the Trump administration last year. While Bates was often praised by some of his colleagues as one of the most “loyal” defenders of the Bidens during his administration, Jill Biden recently lashed out at him when pressed on a quote he gave to the New York Post about her book tour. “We had a duty to win and we didn’t,” Bates said, referring to Biden’s disastrous 2024 debate and him dropping out. “I think about that all the time. But I don’t see why that painful conversation for the party needed to be publicly reopened right now.” When pressed on the quote, the former first lady told a reporter, “I want to say to Andrew: Call me up, and say it to my face, buddy.” While they appeared to have made up in a phone call shortly afterward, social media erupted with conservatives and Democrats weighing in on the exchange, including Tommy Vietor, a former National Security Council staffer for then-President Barack Obama. “No one was more loyal to the Biden family and fought harder for them than Andrew Bates. S—ty to see that loyalty was a one-way street,” Vietor wrote in a post, scolding the former first lady. “The former first lady would still be known as the former second lady without Andrew Bates,” a source told Axios reporter Alex Thompson, referring to the Bidens’ role in the Obama administration. “Just a whole lot I could say about this, but I will leave it at being so, unbelievably disappointed,” former top Biden White House aide Rob Flaherty said. However, Jill Biden’s former spokesperson Michael LaRosa ripped Bates on X, saying, “He is one of the LEAST sympathetic former Biden staffers, a notorious liar, stonewaller and gaslighter.” “This is who the Bidens are. Andrew Bates KILLED himself for the Bidens to the point of damaging his own reputation and appearing at times like a Baghdad Bob,” journalist Yashar Ali said, referring to Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, who was notorious for pushing propaganda and giving false statements to the media. Conservatives also weighed in, with many taking shots at the former first lady, including Targeted Victory’s chief communications officer Matt Gorman, who said, “The Bidens are pathetic, self-serving, and loyal only unto themselves.” “Jill Biden vs Andrew Bates is the fight we’ve all been waiting for,” Sen. Bernie Moreno’s, R-Ohio, chief of staff Philip Letsou posted on X. Newsbusters news analyst Jorge Bonilla said, “Not the first loyal comms person the Bidens throw under the bus.” BIDEN CRASHES JILL’S BOOK TOUR WITH AWKWARD ‘LOVE’ QUESTION THAT LEAVES VIEWERS CRINGING Bates’ reemergence isn’t just limited to the viral spat that took off on social media. News that Bates had joined Gallego’s team as a communications advisor broke earlier this week in an Axios report following revelations earlier this year that Gallego, who would later distance himself from disgraced gubernatorial candidate Eric Swalwell and denied knowledge of his sexual misconduct, had a close personal friendship with him for over a decade. Swalwell abandoned his campaign — and ultimately resigned his seat in mid-April — when testimony from several women surfaced chronicling instances of sexual misconduct and alleged abuse. Gallego’s communications director, Jacques Petit, told Fox News Digital that the Arizona senator hired Bates because Gallego has been planning “to help Democrats take the majority in 2026 and is weighing all options for his political future” and that he “brought on Andrew to help navigate those processes.” However, a number of onlookers online haven’t seen it that way. The hire, which occurred in late April, quickly drew accusations that Bates had been brought on to mask more political liabilities ahead of Gallego’s potential presidential campaign — just as he had helped navigate Biden’s cognitive decline and helped push the narrative that the videos of Biden walking around confused were “cheapfakes.” Bates, who became a punching bag for many Trump campaign operatives and would often spar with them on social media, went viral a couple of weeks after the disastrous June 2024 debate performance that many believe was the beginning of the end of Biden’s presidential campaign. The X post, which amassed over 5 million views, was widely mocked and has resurfaced several times. “To answer the question on everyone’s minds: No, Joe Biden does not have a doctorate in foreign affairs,” Bates said. “He’s just that f—ing good.” The X post came during a critical press conference two weeks after the disastrous debate performance. Less than two weeks later, Biden announced he was dropping out of the race. The campaign account for Kari Lake, a former challenger for Gallego’s Senate seat, ripped Bates and Gallego in a post. “You don’t hire a political fixer and Biden regime hatchet man like Andrew Bates unless the walls are closing in and the skeletons are about to tumble out of the closet. Rotten Ruben Gallego is VERY worried,” the account wrote. “He’s the lawyer you hire when everyone already knows you’re guilty,” Jim Geraghty, a political commentator, wrote in a post to social media. “Who is the most expensive, least talented person we can find to make sure I don’t get Swallwell’d? Is Ian Sams available? Okay, how
Top US ally’s defense chief quits, warns military lacks resources for rising threats
Britain’s defense secretary resigned Thursday after accusing Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government of failing to adequately fund the military despite rising threats from Russia and growing NATO demands, delivering a major political blow to the prime minister ahead of July’s alliance summit. In a sharply worded resignation letter, John Healey said the government had failed to commit the resources needed to execute Britain’s long-term defense strategy, arguing the country’s armed forces risk being left short of the money, personnel and industrial capacity needed to meet mounting security challenges. “This new era for defence required further investment through the Defence Investment Plan,” Healey wrote. “Since then, you have been unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats.” While European governments have pledged major increases in defense spending and warned that Russia poses a long-term threat to the alliance, many continue to struggle with the political and fiscal realities of rebuilding armed forces after decades of post-Cold War cuts. The debate has taken on added urgency as Trump pushes European nations to assume a greater share of responsibility for their own defense. UK DEFENSE MINISTER WARNS PUTIN OF ‘SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES’ AFTER COVERT UNDERWATER MILITARY OPERATION Healey’s departure appears to stem from a dispute over the pace and scale of future defense spending. In his letter, he argued that Britain should commit to spending 3% of gross domestic product on defense by 2030 and criticized a government funding plan that he said would reach only 2.68% by the end of the decade. “The Government cannot warn about Russia, Iran and China, then produce a Defence Investment Plan that leaves the Armed Forces short of the money, people, stockpiles and industrial capacity needed to meet that threat,” retired British army Major Andrew Fox, senior associate fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, told Fox News Digital. “For Keir Starmer, this is now a test of seriousness. A Defence Secretary resigning over national security tells our allies, our enemies and our own troops that Britain’s defence ambitions are not being properly funded.” Healey had been one of Starmer’s most loyal cabinet allies, publicly defending the prime minister during recent internal Labour Party unrest. LABOUR MP PUTS CABINET ‘ON NOTICE,’ THREATENS TO TRIGGER LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE AGAINST STARMER BY MONDAY The resignation intensifies pressure on Starmer, who already is battling questions about his political future after a series of electoral setbacks and growing unrest within his own Labour Party. The dispute arrives at a pivotal moment for NATO. Alliance leaders recently agreed to significantly increase defense spending targets amid continued concerns about Russia’s military ambitions and growing pressure from President Donald Trump for European allies to assume a greater share of the burden for their own defense. Healey himself had been telling Parliament that Starmer was determined to publish the Defence Investment Plan before the upcoming NATO summit July 7. Healey learned the final details of the spending settlement only days before his Monday resignation, according to the Guardian. EUROPE’S $116B FIGHTER JET ‘FAILURE’ RAISES FRESH DOUBTS ABOUT ABILITY TO DEFEND ITSELF WITHOUT US In recent weeks, Europe’s flagship Future Combat Air System sixth-generation fighter project collapsed after years of disputes between France and Germany, raising fresh doubts about the continent’s ability to execute major defense initiatives despite repeated pledges to strengthen its military posture. Robert Jenrick, now one of Reform UK’s most prominent figures, praised Healey and directly blamed Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves. “Good on Healey. Shame on them. Reeves and Starmer should go too.” Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey likewise argued the resignation demonstrated the need for the government to devote greater resources to national defense, saying Labour must “get serious about funding our armed forces properly.” Britain remains one of NATO’s most important military powers, but there is growing debate about whether its armed forces are large enough and adequately funded to sustain the leadership role successive governments have promised. Britain’s own parliamentary defense committee recently warned that while the UK remains a leading European military power, its ability to maintain that position is under pressure.
Talarico’s move to swap out ‘woman’ resurfaces amid backlash over similar bill in NY: ‘Insane individual’
James Talarico, a candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas, once swapped out the term “woman” with “pregnant individual” in a bill that would have created protections for abortion in the Lone Star State. The bill would have prevented “the prosecution of a pregnant individual on whom an abortion is performed or induced” and eliminated any Texas law that would have regulated or prohibited an abortion. It never made it past consideration in committee. Despite its stalled progress, the 2023 bill runs counter to Talarico’s efforts to paint himself as sufficiently conservative to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate as he wages an uphill campaign to defeat Republican challenger Ken Paxton, the state’s attorney general. ‘GOD IS NON-BINARY’: TEXAS DEM NOMINEE TALARICO’S PAST REMARKS ON ABORTION, RACE AND GENDER DRAW SCRUTINY “I’ve called out the extremes in both parties,” Talarico said in an interview with CBS last month. When asked about his position on gender and previous comments that there were as many as six sexes, Talarico clarified his stance. “I know there are two sexes, men and women. I also know there’s a very small percentage of people who have these chromosomal abnormalities and I believe they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.” When asked about the bill, Talarico’s campaign emphasized the abortion-related aspect of the bill, leaving the gender wording unaddressed. “James agrees with a majority of Texans that women should make decisions about their own bodies. While billionaire-bought politicians like Ken Paxton spread lies to divide Texans, James will continue to stand up against both political parties to fix this broken, corrupt political system and support Texas families,” JT Ennis, a campaign spokesperson, told Fox News Digital. The bill’s resurfacing coincides with a very similar bill making its way through the New York legislature. JAMES TALARICO ADMITS PAST COMMENTS ‘MISSED THE MARK’ WHEN CONFRONTED ON CLAIMS LIKE GOD IS ‘NON-BINARY’ That bill would “adjust language in the law to a more inclusive and gender-neutral form.” Among other changes, it swaps out the term “mother” for “gestating parent.” Having cleared the New York General Assembly and the New York Senate, it is poised to receive Gov. Kathy Hochul’s signature to become law. Although Talarico’s bill falls short of similarly reframing the state’s entire legal language, his opponents believe the very attempt to pass a bill using the same kind of terminology is emblematic of someone out of step with Texans’ principles. “James Talarico’s entire career has been dedicated to replacing the Christian and family values of Texans with his transgender-for-all agenda,” RNC spokesperson Zach Kraft said. BILL REPLACING ‘MOTHER’ AND ‘FATHER’ WITH GENDER-NEUTRAL TERMS PASSES IN NEW YORK, HEADS TO HOCHUL’S DESK “He is a threat to Texans’ way of life and a truly insane individual who has been fully broken by the woke mind virus.”
Platner campaign rocked with damning allegations from another ex-lover as Senate race heats up: report
A day after Graham Platner became the Democratic Senate nominee in Maine, a woman took to social media to allege that she briefly dated Platner in 2021, recounting stories of having met him on the Tinder dating app, his infidelity and how Platner’s story about his infamous Nazi tattoo had changed over time. “I am stepping forward as a person who has experienced lying and manipulation by his hand to lend my voice to what is a growing number of women who have been wronged by this man in one way or another,” a female streamer with the X handle, 420mercymain69, wrote in a long X statement on Thursday. “It is hideous,” the woman, who claimed she was attracted to Platner’s Tinder profile because he was “hot and he was a leftist,” said in her X statement. The new details add another layer to Platner’s allegedly deceptive conduct towards romantic partners and grows the pile of scandals that have trailed his campaign. SENATE CANDIDATE GRAHAM PLATNER SENT EXPLICIT TEXTS TO MULTIPLE WOMEN WHILE MARRIED, WIFE SAYS: REPORT Platner, who officially became the Democratic nominee to challenge incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, earlier this week, has grappled with his resurfaced past — receiving criticism for making off-color remarks on sexual abuse, race and terror and allegedly threatening behavior toward women. According to 420mercymain69, a native of Maryland who considered herself a “well-informed leftist,” the two of them started talking on Tinder in Feb. 2021 and started dating until mid-July 2021. When approached about his Totenkopf tattoo, a symbol used by the Nazi SS, the author claims Platner said that he had gotten it in ignorance but that he had kept it as a reminder that the U.S. were “the bad guys” in many parts of the world. “A sob story of monumental proportions that only further solidified my perception of his ideology,” the author remembered. “But surprisingly enough not the one he gave to the people of Maine,” she continued. “And I do mean genuinely surprising because from the moment he announced his campaign, that is exactly what I expected to hear when the truth inevitably came out.” DEMOCRATIC MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE GRAHAM PLATNER CONFRONTED BY MS NOW HOST ABOUT TATTOO CONTROVERSY When the tattoo surfaced late last year, he had said he wasn’t familiar with its Nazi associations. “Graham’s repeatedly said he picked a skull-and-crossbones tattoo off a wall in Croatia to commemorate surviving Ramadi and his friends who were killed there,” a spokesperson from the Platner campaign told Fox News. “Graham has also since covered up the tattoo, and answered countless questions about it.” “Unlike Susan Collins, who refuses to take questions on her disastrous vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, gut rural hospitals, and supported every foreign war of the last thirty years,” the spokesperson continued. Aside from the tattoo, 420mercymain69 also accused Platner of several instances of relational infidelity. Platner and the post’s author parted ways after she discovered from a mutual friend that he was allegedly seeing someone else while the two were still dating. “He was talking about a woman he had blown it with, saying she was ‘the love of his life.’ I was naïve and probably a little too starry-eyed from my own good, but as a person who had only been on a handful of dates with him and f—– around a bit, I was smart enough to know he wasn’t talking about me,” the woman claimed. “I took the hint,” she continued. She claimed that, after leaving the relationship, she discovered Platner had been engaged to a woman named “Jen” when the two began conversing. She was also told that Platner was allegedly cheating on her with a third woman. “She had walked in on him having sex with another person at a wedding they were at in D.C. That mutual friend also advised that he was trying to repair things with this woman and asked me if I was going to seek her out to tell her,” she said on X. In summarizing her experience, which was reportedly confirmed by The New York Post, the author said she did not intend to derail Platner’s campaign, but that she shared concerns about his character. Fox News Digital could not independently confirm the claims from the alleged ex-girlfriend. PLATNER SUPPORTER KHANNA CALLS SENATE HOPEFUL’S PAST RELATIONSHIPS ‘TOXIC,’ BUT SAYS HE DESERVES ‘REDEMPTION’ “There will be more information that comes out,” she claimed. “If I were a Maine voter seeing the things I’m seeing, I wouldn’t have voted for him, personal experience notwithstanding, because I do not trust him. Why, after all that has come out, would I?” “People that I have admired are brushing this off, discounting women’s experiences, attacking other journalists,or allowing people in their comment sections to do so. Especially with regard to domestic violence. It is hideous,” she concluded.
FIRST ON FOX: DOJ sues Spanberger’s Virginia over laws kneecapping federal agents as mask war escalates
FIRST ON FOX: The Justice Department sued The Commonwealth of Virginia on Thursday over two new laws the DOJ says would subject masked federal agents to criminal penalties and threaten local ICE cooperation agreements. “Law enforcement officers risk their lives every day to keep Americans safe, and they do not deserve to be doxed or harassed simply for carrying out their duties,” said acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in comment provided to Fox News Digital on Thursday. “Virginia’s anti-law enforcement policies regulate the federal government and are designed to create risk for our agents. These laws cannot stand.” The lawsuit, first shared with Fox News Digital, argues Virginia is violating the Constitution by attempting to dictate how federal officers carry out law enforcement operations — including when they can wear masks, what identifying information they must display and whether local agencies can maintain ICE cooperation agreements unless the federal government accepts state-imposed conditions. The DOJ said the laws threaten officer safety, undermine federal immigration enforcement and violate the Supremacy Clause. At the heart of the suit, are a pair of laws that Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed, which are set to take effect on July, including: one restricting law enforcement officers, including federal officers, from wearing facial coverings while on duty and requiring them to display identifying information, and another imposing state-mandated conditions on federal immigration enforcement agreements. ICE PRESSURES SPANBERGER AS FAIRFAX MURDER SUSPECTS TRIGGER NEW DETAINERS IN ‘SANCTUARY’ CLASH The DOJ said federal officers who violate Virginia’s mask and identification law could face a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable under Virginia law by up to 12 months in jail, a fine of up to $2,500, or both. The lawsuit names Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones and left-wing Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano — who was previously backed by groups connected to George Soros. The suit claims Virginia’s mask ban is “blatantly unconstitutional” because it attempts to regulate “what federal officers may and may not wear” while carrying out their duties, exposing agents’ identities and increasing risks to them and their families. “The Department of Justice will steadfastly protect the privacy and safety of law enforcement from unconstitutional state laws like Virginia’s,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the DOJ’s Civil Division in the press release. FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS CALIFORNIA LAW FORCING ICE AGENTS TO REMOVE MASKS DURING OPERATIONS DOJ is seeking a court order to block both laws that begin July 1. Spanberger, Jones and Descano have all moved to counter the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda in Virginia. In February, Spanberger issued an executive order that rescinded a Youngkin-era order directing state law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration enforcement efforts. TOM HOMAN VOWS TO WORK AROUND NEW DEM VA GOV SPANBERGER’S EXECUTIVE ORDER ENDING ICE COOPERATION “The President told us that we are safer because unaccountable, poorly trained ICE agents are arresting mothers and detaining children. Our broken immigration system is something to be fixed — not an excuse to terrorize our communities,” Spanberger posted on X in response to Trump’s State of the Union. The suit comes as there have been ongoing protests outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention center in New Jersey where protesters verbally abused ICE agents, obstructed vehicles, allegedly assaulted officers, and made threats leading to multiple arrests. “Governor Spanberger cannot tell Federal officers how to do their job,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward in the press release. “She certainly cannot prohibit them from ensuring their own safety in conducting Federal law enforcement operations. Our suit today stops those unconstitutional efforts.” Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Gov. Spanberger and AG Jones for comment.
‘Transgender madness’ under fire after Congress lets taxpayer funding ban lapse
Congress’ ban on tax dollars flowing to Planned Parenthood is about to lapse, and a Senate Republican wants to investigate piles of taxpayer money that has allegedly been used by the organization to push transgender procedures. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., in a letter first obtained by Fox News Digital, is demanding that Planned Parenthood be put under a microscope for roughly $1.5 billion in Medicare and Medicaid funding that he alleges “are flowing to an organization that promotes transgender treatments on minors.” Fox News Digital did not hear back from Planned Parenthood for comment. SEN HAWLEY WARNS IT WOULD BE ‘UNCONSCIONABLE’ IF BILLIONS OF TAXPAYER FUNDS FLOW TO TRANS KIDS’ SEX CHANGES Hawley wants Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services Administrator Mehmet Oz to open an investigation into Planned Parenthood as part of the agency’s continued pursuit to uncover fraud in federally funded healthcare programs. “I urge you to direct your investigative efforts toward Planned Parenthood and its role in pushing transgender madness onto minor children,” Hawley said. Republicans last year banned federal tax dollars from flowing to abortion providers in President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” but that ban is set to lapse on July 4. UNDERCOVER INVESTIGATION: PLANNED PARENTHOOD PRESCRIBING HORMONES TO MINORS WITH MINIMAL OVERSIGHT Hawley and others have tried to extend the ban, with his attempt to amend the latest budget reconciliation package to keep the ban going failing earlier this year. That amendment would have extended the ban on providing Medicaid funding to abortion providers until 2035. His focus now is on uncovering whether the $1.5 billion in funding was directed toward pushing minors toward gender-affirming medication or referring minors for gender-affirming surgical procedures. Hawley accused Planned Parenthood of exploiting “legal loopholes to provide these dangerous and irreversible gender-transition drugs to minors without their parents’ consent.” TRUMP’S PUSH FOR $350 BILLION ‘ARSENAL OF FREEDOM’ HITS GOP SKEPTICISM “The organization openly advertises that it provides sex-change drugs and refers for transgender surgeries,” Hawley said. “According to one recent report, Planned Parenthood’s provision of this so-called “gender-affirming care” has exploded — with a 40% year-over-year increase.” Hawley is pinpointing a stream of money between 2019 and 2022 that was tracked by the Government Accountability Office in a report first published in November 2023. That report did not outline that the money was used to push transgender surgeries nor medication. “In other words, billions of taxpayer dollars have been taken from those in poverty and the elderly and given to Planned Parenthood,” Hawley said. “Moreover, these funds apparently have been used to prop up Planned Parenthood’s provision of transgender procedures to children.”
Mamdani stands by fellow socialist candidate despite resurfaced far-left, anti-American posts
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is standing firmly behind his fellow democratic socialist and candidate for U.S. Congress Darializa Avila Chevalier, despite vile deleted social media posts that recently resurfaced. Avila Chevalier, 32, a longtime community organizer who led the anti-Israel protests at Columbia University, slammed the United States, the Democratic Party, private property, police, borders and called to nationalize large swaths of the private sector in the now-deleted posts from 2018 to 2022. She is running a heated race to oust five-term incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., in the state’s 13th congressional district, which encompasses Upper Manhattan and parts of the west Bronx. In a 2021 repost, Avila Chevalier said that abolishing borders, prisons and police is “possible, necessary, and the only moral way forward,” and later echoed posts that said “all deportation is wrong” and, “Yes, literally abolish the border,” according to one report. NYC MAYORAL CANDIDATE ZOHRAN MAMDANI DEFENDS PAST TWEETS, SAYS CUOMO ATTACKING ‘MYTHICAL VERSION’ OF HIM “This country is a f—–g disgrace,” she said in a post. “I forgot to get napkins so I just wiped my hand on the American flag behind me,” she reportedly said in yet another. She reportedly called former President Joe Biden a “rapist” and “war criminal,” chastised Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., for his “liberal Zionism,” and said “F–k Kamala Harris.” NYC VOTERS FLOCK TO SOCIALIST-STYLE FREEBIES AS MAMDANI PUSHES RENT FREEZES, CITY-RUN STORES During the COVID-19 pandemic, Avila Chevalier demanded the government provide $3,000 per month in universal basic income, nationalizing utilities, pharmaceutical companies and hospitals, suspending mortgages and rent, seizing private property from landlords, dissolving insurance companies and expanding Medicare to every citizen. None of these past posts deterred Mamdani from supporting his fellow socialist when asked in a Wednesday news conference. “When it comes to Darializa’s campaign, I had not seen those tweets and what I’ve heard from her and what I know a lot of others in the district that have heard from her is that her views have evolved and that the campaign she is running on is reflective of what she’s going to be fighting for,” Mamdani said. PROGRESSIVE POWER PLAYERS RALLY VOTERS FOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI AS EARLY VOTING KICKS OFF IN NYC MAYORAL RACE “And frankly, when I see a candidate who has a record like she does of freeing New Yorkers who are unjustly detained by ICE, of standing up for the working person who has often been left out of our politics, especially in a district that has so many of the same themes that we’re speaking of today — a fear of displacement, a fear of being pushed out of a place you helped to build — I think that she would be an incredible champion for that district and for the city as a whole,” he continued. Mamdani first endorsed Avila Chevalier in late May. “She grew up with a commitment to the very people that politics have left behind, and what I see in her is that commitment fulfilled,” the progressive mayor said on MS NOW. “I can’t wait for her to be introduced to so many across the city and across this country as we fight for that affordability agenda, from New York City to D.C.” New York’s primary election date is June 23. Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Mamdani, Avila Chevalier and Espaillat. None responded to requests for comment.
Trump pivots on strikes while dangling Iran deal, testing whether Tehran blinks
After months of predicting a nuclear deal with Iran was just around the corner, President Donald Trump appears to be testing whether military pressure can accomplish what diplomacy alone has not. The strategy was on full display over the past 24 hours. Trump followed through on his threat to strike Iran again overnight, launching a barrage of Tomahawk missiles and fighter jet attacks against Iranian targets while warning that additional bombing would follow unless Iran agreed to a deal. Hours later, however, he announced he had canceled planned strikes for Thursday evening, saying negotiations had been elevated to the highest levels of Iran’s leadership and that the parties had approved the final contours of an agreement. The rapid sequence of threats, strikes and renewed diplomacy highlights an increasingly familiar pattern in Trump’s approach to Iran: using military pressure to push negotiations forward while keeping a diplomatic off-ramp open. The question is whether the strategy is increasing Washington’s leverage — or reinforcing Iran’s belief that the United States ultimately wants a deal more than continued confrontation. “He has made so many threats that he has not carried through on and telegraphed on many occasions his strong desire to end this war as soon as possible, that I think Iran does not take these threats seriously,” Michael Eisenstadt, director of the Military and Security Studies Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told Fox News Digital. TRUMP KEEPS FORECASTING AN IRAN DEAL — WHY THE WHITE HOUSE STILL THINKS IT CAN HAPPEN Trump said Iranian officials contacted him during the strikes and asked for the bombing to stop. “If they don’t sign the deal, we’ll bomb the sh*t out of them tomorrow night,” he said. Trump suggested Thursday the campaign could eventually expand to Iran’s energy infrastructure, including Kharg Island, the country’s most important oil export hub. “At some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets, much like we have with Venezuela.” But later, he sounded less certain. “My preference has always been to take Kharg Island. I don’t know that America has the stomach for it, to be honest,” Trump said on Fox and Friends. Yet even as he promised additional military action, Trump maintained that negotiations had been on the verge of success. “We’ll see what happens with the deal. We were really close to a deal,” he said earlier Wednesday. The comments marked a sharp escalation from a president who only days earlier predicted an agreement could arrive within “two or three days” and has repeatedly suggested a breakthrough remains imminent despite months of unresolved disputes over uranium enrichment, sanctions relief and Iran’s nuclear stockpile. “They keep tapping us along,” Trump told reporters Wednesday. “They keep playing us for suckers because you know what? They dealt with some very stupid presidents.” Trump’s latest actions suggest the administration is still offering Tehran an off-ramp through a negotiated nuclear agreement. The question is whether military pressure strengthens Washington’s hand — or whether Iran has concluded it can withstand the costs and outlast the campaign. Iran “has more resilience,” said James Robbins, dean of academics at the Institute of World Politics, noting that Iran has been forced to work around global isolation for decades. “They’re kind of used to sanctions. They’re used to economic dislocations, much more so than Americans.” Behnam Taleblu, senior director of the Iran Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, argued that mounting pressure does not necessarily make the regime more willing to compromise. TRUMP SAYS IRAN IS ‘NEGOTIATING ON FUMES,’ BELIEVES REGIME THOUGHT THEY COULD OUTWAIT HIM “The more desperate the regime becomes, the more aggressive the regime becomes,” Taleblu told Fox News Digital. He also questioned whether strikes on bridges, power plants and other infrastructure would fundamentally alter Iran’s decision-making, arguing that the regime is primarily concerned with threats to its own hold on power. “Until those making the key national security decisions, those enforcing the key national security decisions, and those enforcing the regime’s longest war, which is on its own people, so long as those three are not targeted, we’ll be back where we started,” he said. Eisenstadt argued that Iran may ultimately believe it can absorb sanctions, withstand military pressure and simply wait for political pressures inside the U.S. to grow. “I think they believe that time is on their side, given domestic criticism of the war and its economic impacts in the United States,” he said. Trump’s lates strike threats came days after an Iranian drone brought down a U.S. Apache helicopter operating near the Strait of Hormuz, triggering retaliatory U.S. strikes on Iranian radar and air-defense sites and threatening to unravel an already fragile ceasefire. The administration’s goal has long been that sustained military and economic pressure would eventually force Iran to make concessions that months of negotiations alone have failed to produce. Trump and his advisors have repeatedly argued that sanctions, military operations and the U.S.-led blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has cut off the pathway for roughly 80% of Iran’s oil exports, have left Iran increasingly isolated and economically vulnerable. Iranian officials publicly rejected the notion that expanding the target set would force Iran to bend. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called Trump’s threat to strike power plants and transportation infrastructure a “sign of desperation.” “Critical infrastructures are the lifeblood of the people,” Pezeshkian said in a post on X. Trump repeatedly has rejected the notion that Iran can wait out his administration. “They thought they were going to out-wait me, you know. ‘We’ll out-wait him. He’s got the midterms.’ I don’t care about the midterms,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting May 27. Despite Trump’s repeated assertions that a deal is near, negotiators remain divided over several core issues, including uranium enrichment, sanctions relief and the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Iranian officials have acknowledged progress on some
Trump nominates Jay Clayton, former SEC chairman, current US Attorney, as intelligence director
President Donald Trump announced Thursday that former SEC Chairman and current U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton will be the next permanent director of national intelligence. The nomination followed a brief stint by acting Director William Pulte, who took over after Tulsi Gabbard stepped down. “I am pleased to announce the Nomination of very Highly Respected Jay Clayton, former Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the former Head of Sullivan & Cromwell, one of the most prominent and successful Law Firms anywhere in the World, and the current United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, to be the next Director of National Intelligence and, importantly, to serve in my Cabinet,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “Few people anywhere in the Legal Community are respected at the level of Jay,” he added. “I encourage the United States Senate to confirm Jay as soon as possible,” Trump said. TRUMP GREEN LIGHTS NEW DNI PULTE TO ‘START THE PROCESS’ ON MASS INTELLIGENCE FIRINGS Clayton will need to be confirmed by the Senate before officially taking over as director of national intelligence (DNI). The development came after Trump originally tapped Pulte to serve as acting director of national intelligence. As previously reported by Fox News Digital, Pulte’s appointment, which was set to take effect June 19, became a major point of contention in negotiations already complicated by disputes over the controversial Section 702 surveillance authority. Critics argued that Pulte lacked the intelligence and national security experience associated with overseeing the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies. TODD BLANCHE ‘HONORED AND HUMBLED’ BY TRUMP’S AG NOMINATION AFTER EXPLOSIVE WEEK OF FEDERAL ARRESTS Trump’s decision to name Pulte also sparked significant backlash on Capitol Hill, leading to a standoff in Congress. Democrats warned they would oppose the renewal of key foreign intelligence authorities unless the administration withdrew Pulte’s appointment and put forward a permanent nominee. Clayton is regarded as one of the nation’s top federal prosecutorial districts and known for handling high-profile cases, including the prosecution of Nicolás Maduro. Tulsi Gabbard had resigned in May announcing that she was stepping down as Director of National Intelligence primarily to care for her husband. This is a breaking story. Return for updates.