House Republican warns CBDC ‘communist money’ could lead US to ‘dystopian’ future
Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, plans to introduce legislation that puts the prospect of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the crosshairs. The lawmaker, who has served in the U.S. House since mid-2016 and is currently seeking re-election, characterized central bank digital currency as “communist money for the digital age,” during an interview with Fox News Digital. “They could just freeze your money. You could program it. Some people call it a feature,” Davidson said. He provided a scenario in which a pickup truck driver pays $10 per gallon for fuel while a hybrid driver could get their fuel for just $2 per gallon. “And people see this as a feature. I think it’s dystopian,” Davidson said, adding, “I definitely want to stop it.” Last month, in a post on X, Davidson wrote, “I’m drafting a bill to regulate Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) as counterfeit money. Planning a CBDC? Conspiracy. Designing a CBDC? Same as designing counterfeit plates. Launching CBDC? Counterfeiting. Prison for counterfeiters and their accomplices. No CBDC!” TRUMP TAKES UNUSUAL STEP, LETS BIPARTISAN HOUSING BILL BECOME LAW UNSIGNED AMID SAVE PRESSURE CAMPAIGN In another post on X last month, Davidson warned, “CBDC = communist money for the digital age. Programmable money puts the government between you and your money. You will only have access with their permission. This is an existential threat to western civilization.” While a section within the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act that became law earlier this year temporarily prohibits the creation of a CBDC, that ban sunsets in a few years — language in the ban notes that “provisions of this section shall cease to be effective on December 31, 2030.” Davidson told Fox News Digital during the interview on Tuesday that “the fundamentals for sound money is some level of fiscal discipline,” adding that “you can’t spend more than you bring in every year.” “I don’t think it has to be gold,” he said, explaining that there needs to be “a disciplined monetary policy” in which “you can’t grow the money supply disproportionate to your economy.” HOUSE REPUBLICAN SUGGESTS SEN DARLINE GRAHAM IS AN ‘ALLY’ FOR THE ‘SWAMP’ “I think we should end this Fed,” Davidson said, adding that he believes there is “a case for a central bank,” while noting, “I don’t know that you could reform the current one without ending it.” Davidson said that he thinks “we should at least audit the Fed.” Asked about President Donald Trump’s proposal to dole out $5,000 to every American adult if the GOP wins both chambers of Congress during the midterms, Davidson indicated that he could get behind the policy if it is paired with spending cuts to cover the cost. GOP FISCAL HAWK SOUNDS ALARM ON ‘OUT OF CONTROL’ FEDERAL SPENDING, SAYING ‘BOTH PARTIES HAVE FAILED US’ Davidson said that “on its face” the proposal is concerning “because $5,000 per person going into the economy would fuel inflation,” but suggested that such a move could be combined with action such as gutting Obamacare, saying that among “the most promising ways to pay for it is a radical shift in healthcare.”
Lawsuit accuses Dearborn, Michigan, of being ‘hostile to Christians and Jews’ with Islamic displays
Margot Cleveland, senior legal correspondent at The Federalist, is suing the city of Dearborn, Michigan, and the city’s mayor, Abdullah Hammoud, for violating the First Amendment by displaying exclusively Muslim symbols in public displays, accusing the city of being “a hostile place for Christians and Jews.” Cleveland alleges the city put up banners celebrating the Islamic holiday of Ramadan and a display of crescent moons while refusing to showcase equivalent Christian or Jewish iconography. “I was picking up pizza in downtown Dearborn. When I went down the boulevard, up and down the street were ‘Ramadan Kareem’ (generous Ramadan) banners, which is the equivalent of a happy or blessed Ramadan,” Cleveland told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. “This was the fourth week of Lent. We had Easter coming up in two weeks, and Passover was a week away. I was shocked, and then I saw the display all by itself — again, the crescent moon,” she said. Cleveland wrote to Dearborn’s city attorney, asking if the city planned to reciprocate the displays for the other Abrahamic faiths, but did not get a response, she told Fox News Digital. SUPREME COURT SHOWDOWN LOOMS OVER ST MICHAEL STATUE BLOCKED FROM PUBLIC SAFETY BUILDING Cleveland submitted a series of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to find out the cost of the displays, which, according to her lawsuit and in an interview with Fox News Digital, is where she allegedly learned that the city had also integrated Islamic iconography in other official capacities. “The police department was selling — with the police department’s seal — Ramadan T-shirts. It had the police department seal and a crescent moon, and I believe it said Ramadan,” Cleveland said. CONNECTICUT BARS NATIVITY DISPLAY IN STATE CAPITOL BECAUSE IT’S ‘RELIGIOUS,’ LAWSUIT THREAT SAYS The Dearborn Police Department did not respond to a Fox News Digital inquiry regarding the alleged T-shirts. After repeated attempts to try and contact city officials, Cleveland still received no response, until one city councilor told her that the council had been instructed not to engage with her. TRUMP DOJ EXPANDS RELIGIOUS LIBERTY PROTECTIONS AFTER MAJOR SUPREME COURT RULINGS “I reached out to city council, every individual, both their public email and a secondary one. Received no response,” she shared. “But on LinkedIn, one of the council members responded and said, ‘Hey, we were told we can’t talk to you,’” Cleveland told Fox News Digital. Cleveland then attended an open city council meeting in May. She asked that the councilors, who she explained control the city’s purse strings, use an ongoing budget surplus to purchase banners celebrating Jewish and Christian holidays. GOP LAWMAKERS URGE SUPREME COURT TO STRENGTHEN FIRST AMENDMENT PROTECTIONS FOR STREET PREACHERS “I have not asked the city not to celebrate Ramadan,” she said. “What I’ve asked is that the city treat Christians and Jews equally. Put up Passover banners, Easter banners, put up a Star of David, put up a cross, do something. And throw in some patriotic symbols to show we are one Dearborn, one country where all faiths are represented equally. That has not been done,” she said. Contrary to acceding to her requests, Cleveland claims the city put up even more decorations celebrating Ramadan in the wake of her attempts to contact city officials. CALIFORNIA BILL RECOGNIZING 2 ISLAMIC HOLIDAYS NEARS NEWSOM’S DESK “After I was ignored, what happened? The mayor then went and bought more Ramadan displays. I complained about the banners. What does he go? He goes bigger and brighter with lighted Ramadan displays,” she said. The mayor’s office did not respond to a Fox News request for comment. WORKING-CLASS AMERICANS SAY THEIR TOWN IS THE NEXT DEARBORN — AND THEY’VE HAD ENOUGH “People who are not in Dearborn do not understand Dearborn,” Cleveland said. “My beef is with the mayor and the people running the city, who are discriminating against Christians and Jews. The average people who live in Dearborn get along great. It is a diverse city and people get along. The mayor is causing a problem.” The city rejected Cleveland’s accusations in a statement released shortly after Cleveland’s lawsuit. Dearborn “has a longstanding commitment to serving all residents fairly and equitably, regardless of faith or background,” the statement read. “Dearborn will continue to uphold the rights and dignity of every resident and remain a city where everyone is treated with fairness, respect, and equal protection under the law,” the statement continued. The American Freedom Law Center filed the civil complaint on behalf of Cleveland in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on Sept. 17. Dearborn’s city attorney did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for additional comments. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Biden-era FBI records reveal sprawling Wiles monitoring as buried contacts surface
Newly released documents reveal the extent of the FBI’s monitoring of President Donald Trump’s now-chief of staff Susie Wiles, showing investigators tracked phone metadata reflecting her contacts with attorneys, journalists, campaign officials, Trump Organization personnel and Secret Service contacts. Documents released Monday by the White House detail “Plasmic Echo,” the investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents and other presidential records that led to the FBI’s 2022 search of Mar-a Lago and later included possible obstruction of the investigation. The records show the FBI tracked Wiles’ phone activity from at least February through May 2023, cataloging who called her, whom she called, when the calls occurred and how long they lasted. The documents show Wiles was in contact with at least 21 attorneys, along with campaign personnel, Trump Organization contacts, Secret Service contacts and journalists, offering a fuller account of the reach of the bureau’s monitoring. TODD BLANCHE EXPOSES HOW AGGRESSIVE BIDEN DOJ TARGETED LOW-LEVEL MAR-A-LAGO EMPLOYEES Reuters first reported in February that FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau had subpoenaed phone records belonging to him and Wiles while they were private citizens as part of federal investigations involving Trump. The newly released documents provide a more detailed picture of the scope and scale of the monitoring, revealing how investigators mapped Wiles’ phone contacts across Trump’s legal, political, business, media and security circles over several months. Some entries name the contacts swept into the FBI’s monitoring of Wiles, including journalists associated with CNN, The Washington Post and Politico, while dozens of others are identified only by labels such as “Lawyer,” “Campaign” and “USSS.” Monday’s document dump revealed the FBI’s monitoring also swept in Wiles’ contacts with two separate Secret Service officials, identified only as “USSS 1” and “USSS 2,” extending the bureau’s mapping of her phone activity into Trump’s protective orbit. The records do not reveal what investigators were seeking to establish through those contacts, what was discussed or provide reliable durations for the calls. A March 24 entry from that year shows investigators logged a 41-second call from “Lawyer 7” to Wiles and then examined earlier calls between the two, illustrating how investigators were not simply capturing isolated contacts but tracing patterns across her network. The documents do not explain what prompted that scrutiny or what investigators believed those contacts could reveal. In another example, a March 9 log shows investigators cataloging a series of Wiles’ calls with at least six contacts identified as campaign personnel, recording when the communications occurred and how long they lasted, but not the substance of the conversations. JACK SMITH’S TRUMP PROBE SWEPT UP FOX NEWS, OTHER MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS AS INVESTIGATION WENT BEYOND LAWMAKERS The probe was launched by the FBI and Justice Department in March 2022, with then-FBI Director Christopher Wray seeking authorization and Attorney General Merrick Garland approving the full investigation. The probe was later placed under special counsel Jack Smith, whom Garland appointed in November 2022 to oversee the ongoing investigation. Wiles was running Trump’s political operation and serving as a top campaign adviser at the time, and later became his White House chief of staff. “Jack Smith’s surveillance operation was a disgraceful abuse of government power. Spying on political opponents is weaponization of law enforcement, plain and simple,” White House spokesperson Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital. “Those responsible must be held accountable.” Heritage Foundation foreign policy expert Victoria Coates told Fox News Digital the tracking into Wiles is “unprecedented, dangerous and should be illegal.” “The Biden FBI was following the precedent of the Obama FBI in 2015, when they used their authorities to surveil then-candidate Donald Trump and his campaign at Trump Tower as well as other candidates, notably my then-boss, Senator Ted Cruz. It’s the ultimate political dirty trick,” said Coates. Coates argued that the breadth of the FBI’s tracking raises concerns about investigative overreach, pointing to what she characterized as a stark contrast with the Justice Department’s handling of President Joe Biden’s classified-documents case. “No, particularly by the Justice Department’s own very low standards in dealing with President Biden’s classified-document violations from his time as vice president, which were far more egregious than anything retained at Mar-a-Lago,” Coates said. She also warned that tracking Wiles’ communications with attorneys and journalists carries broader implications for future presidential campaigns. “In our increasingly digital world, it raises the grim specter of future campaigns where an incumbent can weaponize the private communications of not only a candidate and his family, but also his staff,” Coates said. The declassified documents also show agents gathering details about the travel of Melania Trump and her son, Barron, as the FBI planned for a potential search of Mar-a-Lago. Operational planning emails included pre-raid checklists directing agents to “finalize FBI understanding of FPOTUS/FLOTUS/minor son’s travel,” including the type of aircraft and specific travel timeline, as investigators worked to determine when the warrant would be executed. The FBI executed the search warrant at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, on Aug. 8, 2022. Agents entered the property shortly before 9 a.m. and began searching around 10:30 a.m., according to records previously reported by Fox News Digital. Fox News Digital’s Stepheny Price and Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.
Daylight saving time fight isn’t over as House GOP presses Senate to end clock-turning forever
House GOP leadership is ratcheting up pressure on its Senate counterparts to pass legislation making daylight saving time permanent after President Donald Trump called on Congress to act. The House’s No. 2 leader, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told Fox News Digital that “there’s no reason Americans should lose an hour of sunlight at the end of the day when more daylight means more time with our families, more activity for our businesses and safer communities.” “President Trump has been pushing to make daylight saving time permanent, and House Republicans delivered by overwhelmingly passing the Sunshine Protection Act. It’s a commonsense change and the Senate should take it up,” Scalise said. HOUSE PASSES DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME REFORM AS TRUMP SIGNALS SUPPORT FOR ENDING CLOCK CHANGE The debate over the twice-annual changing of clocks has raged for decades in Washington. Former President Richard Nixon’s administration led the country through a temporary 16-month trial of year-round daylight saving, but mounting public frustration forced the experiment to end six months early. But the appetite for such a change appears to have returned. The House passed the Sunshine Protection Act in a bipartisan 308 to 117 vote in July, and Trump posted on Truth Social Friday, “A ridiculous Clock changing process that takes place twice a year, costs our Country a fortune, is bad for Crime, stress on people, Sports, and just about everything else you can imagine.” But the legislation is stalled in the Senate, where Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Politico there was “no clear path forward.” TRUMP URGES SENATE TO PASS BILL MAKING DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME PERMANENT AFTER OVERWHELMING HOUSE VOTE It’s created yet another rift between Trump and the Senate GOP majority, which he has clashed with on multiple fronts so far this term. Trump’s frustration boiled over on the weekend when he targeted Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., one of the bill’s most prominent critics. BATTLE OVER DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME ERUPTS AS PUSH TO STOP CHANGING CLOCKS HITS SENATE WALL “Almost everybody wants ‘The Sunshine Protection Act’ to pass, except for Tom Cotton,” Trump said Saturday, sharing the senator’s cell phone number. “To the Great People of Arkansas, please let your Senator know it would be a GREAT Bipartisan WIN for the United States Senate, and for America, itself.” Cotton responded, noting that Congress has tackled daylight saving time before, only to roll back the change shortly after. SLEEP DOCTOR REVEALS THE BRUTAL HEALTH DOWNSIDE OF DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME “No one likes changing the clock, me included, but Congress has enacted permanent Daylight Saving Time multiple times before and repealed it each time once Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter,” Cotton said on X. “Arkansans don’t want their kids going to school in the pitch dark, and I’ll always put Arkansas first.” It’s a unique issue that has divided lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. There are others who agree with Cotton, who argue that sending kids to school in their states in the dark is a no-go for making the change. But there are also those who support the option and believe that Trump’s added pressure could see the legislation resurface. But that will have to contend with an already stacked lame-duck schedule that will be heavily dictated by the outcome of the Nov. 3 election. “Look, obviously, Tom has very strong feelings, he’s made those known both publicly and within the conference, so I don’t expect that to change,” Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., said. “You know, it’s something, obviously, the people of Alabama, for the most part, have said that they’re for.” “And so, we’ll look for a pathway to have dialogue about it … but I would anticipate, given the president’s energy around it, that we’ll have that dialogue and debate when we get back,” she continued.
Minnesota Senate hopeful warns threat level rising amid rash of Somali gang crime, terror plot
The Republican Senate nominee in Minnesota is sounding the alarm about crime levels in the state amid a wave of Somali gang violence and a foiled terror plot by an American born to Somali parents. “I hear a lot of concerns from Minnesotans on the campaign trail about crime, and no matter what form that crime takes, Minnesotans know that they feel under a level of threat that has increased lately here in Minnesota, and in the last week and just today,” Michele Tafoya, running as a Republican against Minnesota’s Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “We saw the arrest of an 18-year-old Somali American citizen to Somali parents arrested for a terrorist — planning a terrorist attack — at the Mall of America during a Hmong celebration.” The suspect in that alleged terror plot is 18-year-old Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, born in the United States to Somali nationals who are naturalized American citizens, law enforcement sources told Fox News Digital. Federal court documents said that Mohamud was arrested after purchasing an AK-47-style rifle, magazines and ammunition from an undercover FBI agent whom he believed to be a loyal ISIS member. MALL OF AMERICA TERROR PLOT THWARTED, SUSPECTED ISIS SYMPATHIZER ARRESTED, FBI ANNOUNCES The FBI alleges Mohamud had digital communications beginning in December 2024 with a confidential human source he believed was a member of al-Shabaab, a Somali Islamist terror group and offshoot of ISIS. “I can’t wait until I kill kuffar man. October 24 is the day insha Allah,” one of the messages said. “Kuffar” is a term used to refer to non-Muslims, and “insha Allah” means “God willing.” The Hmong people are indigenous to Southeast Asia and boast a relatively large population in the United States. “We have a large Hmong community here in Minnesota as well, and he basically stated that he wanted to take out anyone who was not a Muslim. He also noted that the Mall of America is owned by people who are Jewish,” Tafoya said. “And so this was his plan, and thank goodness for the FBI in Minneapolis here and local law enforcement for catching onto this plan and derailing it well in advance. This is a guy who has pledged his allegiance to ISIS. Again, he is of Somalian descent and terror is alive and well and thank God we averted this massive crisis.” TAFOYA MAKES ‘COMMON SENSE’ PITCH TO DISAFFECTED DEMOCRATS AS SHE VOWS TO FIGHT MINNESOTA’S ‘SOCIALIST LURCH’ The thwarted plot follows a rash of gang violence attributed to Somalis by law enforcement in the suburbs of Minneapolis. Police in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, said a shooting during the local high school’s homecoming celebration last week was carried out by rival Somali gangs. Similarly, a shooting at a Bloomington, Minnesota, gas station over the weekend was attributed to Somali gangs. In the latter incident, more than 100 rounds of ammunition were fired. “And we have had Somali-related — Somali gang-related — attacks here locally in our suburbs at a high school football game during homecoming, at a Catholic Church parking lot, at a gas station, and this is all just really started to peak here in the last couple of weeks. So it’s undeniable. Our law enforcement here are calling it out as the product of Somali gang violence, and we’ve got to identify it, and we have to find a way to deal with it.” Tafoya also mentioned the Somali fraud scandals have enveloped Minnesota this year. BILL MAHER RIPS IMMIGRANTS WHO REFUSE TO ADAPT, SAYS AMERICAN VALUES ARE ‘NOT NEGOTIABLE’ “I don’t know how you can legislate that assimilation, but we simply cannot tolerate the level of crime,” she said. “We’ve seen it with fraud here. It’s in the paperwork that the Feeding Our Future fraud was largely … in terms of percentage, probably 98%, Somali people involved in that fraud,” she said. “What I do think is any guests of this country who commits crime should be sent home with no pathway back,” she said. “If you’re coming here to be a guest of this country or to live in this country you cannot break our laws, and if you’re an American, you cannot break our laws, period.” Tafoya is not against immigration, noting that she’s the granddaughter of immigrants, and she has an adoptive Colombian daughter who is as patriotic as they come. But she’s not going to stop in her mission to battle crime, no matter the background of the criminals, she said. She plans to be an “equal opportunity pain in the a–” to all of them, specifically mentioning corrupt politicians. “I’m going to represent Minnesotans and Americans, and so there’s, there’s not going to be any limit on the way that I see crime. Crime is crime, and it’s going to be committed by a wide variety of people, and they all need to be held accountable and accountability has been in short supply here in Minnesota. Fox News’ Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
Jordan emerges as potential next GOP leader if Dems seize House
One of President Donald Trump’s most prominent allies in Congress could soon become his highest-ranking defender against a barrage of Democrat-led investigations and impeachment threats. Several House Republicans told Fox News Digital they expect the chamber will slide out of their control come November — and with it, a major shakeup in their top leadership ranks. “I don’t see a scenario where everyone gets to keep their job,” one House GOP lawmaker bluntly told Fox News Digital. “I think [Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.] would be first out, and then [House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La.] has got to decide if he’s going to run for leader and, can he beat [House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio]?” Jordan’s name was one that came up often in Fox News Digital’s discussions with various House Republicans, all of whom spoke under the condition of anonymity to discuss internal conference matters. HOUSE DEMS PLOT TRUMP INVESTIGATION BLITZ IF THEY SEIZE MAJORITY A second House Republican said Jordan is the “number one name” in talks of a GOP minority leader. HOUSE CONSERVATIVES UNLEASH MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR MIDTERM BLITZ AGAINST DEM ‘SOCIALIST’ INSURGENCY The Ohio Republican already enjoys high name recognition among the party base. As the first lawmaker put it, “His celebrity status is very helpful … when Jim Jordan comes to town for you, you put 300 butts in seats.” That status has been on full display so far this election cycle. Jordan has spent much of August and October traveling across the country campaigning for fellow House Republicans along the political spectrum, from vulnerable moderates to conservative MAGA acolytes. TOP REPUBLICAN UNLOADS ON RISE OF ‘ANTI-AMERICAN’ CANDIDATES HEADING INTO MIDTERMS: ‘YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING’ It’s a far cry from the Jordan who ran for speaker in October 2023, when former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ouster sparked a historic scramble to replace him. Jordan’s bid at the time was marked by fervent conservative support and fierce opposition from moderates, several of whom said they felt threatened by Jordan’s allies for their opposition. The first House Republican described his current persona as “Jim Jordan 2.0.” “He’s taken steps to, I think, build out way beyond the Freedom Caucus in terms of people that support him,” that person said. “Like, he’s just a great citizen of the conference.” But Jordan himself has not publicly pushed any leadership ambitions since the 2023 battle, when Johnson ended up speaker after several weeks of political chaos. The second House Republican said they’ve seen Jordan actively dismiss any such conversations. He told Punchbowl News earlier this week that he was “focused on winning” the House majority. The first person said, “I think [Jordan] quietly, without campaigning for it, has built up some infrastructure like that. But also, he could be throwing darts at leadership, and he’s not. He’s just trying to help us win.” A third House Republican pointed out that, if Democrats win the House in another blue wave, many of Jordan’s most vocal opponents from 2023 will have lost their seats. And unlike a speaker race, where a majority of the full House is needed, a minority leader would only need to win a majority of the GOP conference. “If we lose 20 or 30 of those guys and all you’re left are guys like me, I think Jim Jordan’s chances are much higher. Because the only people left in the conference are going to be conservative,” the third GOP lawmaker said, adding they would “1,000%” back Jordan. FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: FOR THE DEMOCRATS, WHERE COULD IT POSSIBLY GO WRONG? But a potential minority leader Jordan would not come without a fight. Most House Republicans are privately expecting Scalise, Johnson’s No. 2 and a member of House GOP leadership since 2014, to run for the job. “It’s very obvious they’re both jockeying for it,” a fourth House Republican told Fox News Digital. “Jordan’s a pretty big draw for a lot of folks. I think he might have a play there. But there’s a lot of people who are loyal to Steve, especially those that have been around a while.” A fifth GOP lawmaker said, “I would guess, at this point, that Scalise would be in the lead with Jordan running a close second.” “And I think it would just depend on, you know, who would people see as a better fighter against the Democrats?” the fifth person posed. A sixth House Republican allied with Scalise said a fight between the Louisiana Republican and Jordan seemed on the horizon if Republicans lost, and argued his decision would be based on who is best positioned to continue leading if that majority comes back. “In some respects, Jim Jordan, I think, would make a pretty good minority leader because he’s a bulldog … [but] I’ve never believed that Jim Jordan would be an effective speaker,” that sixth person said. “I think Steve Scalise probably is the best candidate that we have out there that has experience in dealing with the administration, that understands the must-pass portion of our agenda … and is our best negotiator.” It would likely be a bruising battle, given there’s no love lost between the two men after their competing bids for speaker after McCarthy’s ouster. Scalise had won a majority of Republicans in a head-to-head against Jordan behind closed doors but failed to clinch the necessary majority on the House floor. JOHNSON DELIVERS BIG FOR TRUMP, BUT FRUSTRATION GROWS ACROSS RAZOR-THIN GOP MAJORITY But it’s not clear if it may even come to that. “I think that if Johnson runs for minority leader, he would still get the votes,” the fifth person said. “He’s done everything you could ask of a leader. He’s raised the money, he’s been on the road. He’s cobbled together very difficult votes over the last two years that no one thought possible.” There is also a world where Republicans defy expectations to keep the House. And in that world, Johnson is all but guaranteed to remain in charge. “Speaker Mike Johnson
Top conservative group unveils full-court press in key battleground state to expose ‘shocking’ Dem platform
FIRST ON FOX – CEDAR RAPIDS, IA : One of the largest pro-life organizations in the country is pouring time and resources into the high-stakes battleground of Iowa, making the case that voters of all backgrounds will be “shocked” to know where the Democratic Party stands on abortion. Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America’s ground game has knocked on over 172,000 doors in Iowa promoting the Republican ticket in the Hawkeye State. Additionally, the group has a planned digital spend of $650,000 to go along with a $1.35 million spend from the Women Speak Out PAC, SBA’s super PAC, to contact voters in the Iowa universe. “The scale of SBA Pro-Life America’s voter contact program is among the largest in the nation and certainly the largest in the pro-life movement,” SBA President Marjorie Dannenfelser told Fox News Digital. Fox News Digital was on the ground in Iowa with SBA canvassers in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, where the team passed out flyers and spoke to voters in support of Iowa Republican Sen. Ashley Hinson and hammered the abortion positions of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand. TRUMP-ENDORSED HINSON SECURES IOWA SENATE NOMINATION AS DEMOCRATS EYE GOP SEAT “Our goal really is just to inform voters,” SBA field rep Amy Elizabeth told Fox News Digital. “Most people we’re finding are pro-life, regardless of the way that they vote and we want to make sure that they’re aware of the candidate’s views on abortion and pro-life and we wanna make sure they’re making knowledgeable and informed decisions when they go to the polls.” Literature passed out by the canvassers calls Sand “wrong for Iowa families” while arguing that he will “do everything in his power to overturn Governor Kim Reynolds’ pro-life legacy” and “even supports painful late term abortions. The literature also promotes Hinson as the “pro-life champion” that Iowans “need in DC.” Elizabeth told Fox News Digital that the conversations with voters on the ground have been effective. “Some of my favorite conversations have come from people who normally wouldn’t vote the same way that I would vote,” Elizabeth explained. “They’re not typically conservative voters. They are a little bit more liberal leaning. But when we really are open to having conversations together and I can share with them some information about the candidates that they typically would vote for, they are very surprised and they’re very shocked to hear how those candidates feel on some issues that are important to them.” NEW MIDTERM BATTLEGROUND TAKES SHAPE AS PARTIES BUILD ELECTION ARMIES Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and Women Speak Out PAC announced in August that their Iowa voter-contact program had surpassed 100,000 visits to voters’ homes in the Des Moines, Davenport and Cedar Rapids areas. The groups said the effort is targeting persuadable and low-turnout voters ahead of November’s elections, with the goal of defeating Democrats they describe as “pro-abortion” and electing candidates who support abortion restrictions. Nationwide, Dannenfelser says SBA will ultimately reach 10.5 million voters during this election cycle, including 4 million at their front doors in person. “Our hardworking field team has been on the ground in key battleground states, educating voters about the Democrats’ radical agenda of all-trimester abortion — anytime, for any reason, paid for by taxpayers — even when babies can feel pain,” Dannenfelser said. “Polling shows the vast majority of Americans reject this, and our team at the doors is finding it true visit after visit. One conversation at a time, we are changing hearts, minds, and votes. We focus on Republicans, Democrats, and Independents that can be persuaded and low-propensity, pro-life voters. All these groups are shocked by Democrats’ extremism on abortion.” A third of Republicans would be less likely to vote in the midterms if they believe that the GOP has abandoned the abortion issue, according to polling released earlier this year, suggesting that driving pro-life Republicans to vote will play an important role in the party’s hopes to retain control of Congress in November.
America’s multi-billion tech boom comes into focus as 7 key states put it to a midterm test
The rapid buildout of data centers powering America’s artificial intelligence (AI) boom is heading to the ballot box this November, as voters across the country weigh measures that could shape where and how the massive facilities are built. Voters will decide 34 data center-related ballot measures across seven states — California, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Nevada, Ohio and Wisconsin. The measures come as states elsewhere have considered or imposed limits on development, underscoring how quickly data centers have become a political flashpoint. A Fox News national poll conducted last month found voters struggling to reconcile AI’s potential benefits with the economic and environmental costs of the data centers that power the technology. 8 EVERYDAY THINGS THAT WOULD QUIT WORKING WITHOUT DATA CENTERS More than seven in 10 voters (71%) opposed building AI data centers in their area, including 46% who strongly opposed them. More than half (52%) supported building them in remote locations, while 44% opposed. Overall, 60% of voters had a negative view of AI, compared with 37% who viewed it positively. That 23-point gap has more than doubled since a July Fox News poll. The Fox News poll also found a partisan divide over AI and data centers. Voters with favorable views of AI leaned Republican, while those with unfavorable views leaned Democratic. The divide was even sharper over data centers, with Republicans performing better among voters who supported them and Democrats among those who opposed them. That partisan split comes as AI policy emerges as a growing fault line in Washington and on the campaign trail. AI IS SUPERCHARGING POLITICAL AD WARS. BUT VIRAL DOESN’T MEAN VICTORIOUS President Donald Trump has opposed wide-ranging federal regulation of the AI industry and warned that the U.S. cannot allow China to win the technology race. But as the midterms approach, the debate over AI and the data centers powering it is playing out in races across the country. In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who previously courted major tech investments, recently ordered a pause on data center permitting and grid connections pending an audit. Democratic challenger Gina Hinojosa has supported temporary moratoriums. ‘BACKWARDS AND POOR’: TRUMP SLAMS COMMUNITIES BLOCKING DATA CENTERS Meanwhile, in the state’s Senate race, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democratic state Rep. James Talarico have battled over tax breaks for the industry. In Ohio, the debate is playing out both on the campaign trail and at the ballot box. The state has 20 data center-related measures across 17 jurisdictions this November — more than any other state and more than half of the 34 measures going before voters nationwide. Democratic Senate challenger Sherrod Brown has attacked Republican Sen. Jon Husted over data center development. Trump, campaigning for Husted, defended the industry’s economic potential. “Look, there’s so much money to be made for Ohio, you can’t just turn them off,” Trump said.
Anti-Israel protesters label Mamdani a ‘traitor,’ accuse him of ‘genocide’ outside Oct 7 vigil
A group of anti-Israel protesters on Wednesday targeted New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, calling him a “traitor,” accusing him of “genocide” and claiming he “cannot weaponize being brown anymore.” The crowd of more than 100 demonstrators marched from City Hall to Union Square, where a vigil was held to mark the anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks in Israel. The vigil was organized as an evening of mourning for those killed in the Oct. 7 attacks and the bloodshed that followed, including Israelis and Palestinians. The anti-Israel crowd was just outside the barricades of the Israelis for Peace Vigil, beating on drums and attempting to drown out the speakers, according to City & State New York. Mamdani was at the vigil and held a candle as protesters threw various insults at him, including accusations of genocide and “selling all your people out.” ANTI-ISRAEL GROUPS RALLY ACROSS US ON OCTOBER 7 ANNIVERSARY, CHANTING ‘LONG LIVE THE INTIFADA’ “Zohran, what do you say? How many kids did you kill today?” the protesters shouted, according to the outlet. “700,000 dead. Mamdani, your hands are red!” they also chanted. “Traitor, traitor, come on out! You sold all your people out!” the group was also heard chanting. The crowd also shouted: “Zohran, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide!” “We don’t care about where you’re from. You cannot talk about being Muslim anymore. You cannot weaponize being brown anymore. Identity politics can only get you so far,” they said. One protester also claimed to be a former intern for Mamdani, saying the mayor “was never working for the people.” Protesters also demanded that Mamdani take action against New York real-estate events that have marketed properties in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which the demonstrators characterize as “stolen” Palestinian land, according to City & State New York. “Mayor Mamdani, take a stand. Stop the sale of stolen land,” the group chanted. The protesters also called for abolishing the City University of New York’s Board of Trustees, whose members are largely appointed by the mayor and governor. Protesters have previously accused the board of ignoring demands to divest investments linked to Israel and criticized its handling of anti-Israel demonstrations on campus. Despite the protesters’ accusations of genocide on Wednesday, Mamdani is a longtime critic of the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza and has denounced its treatment of Palestinians in the aftermath of the 2023 attack. MAMDANI SAYS IT WAS ‘STRANGE’ GETTING CALLED OUT BY NETANYAHU AFTER CALLING FOR HIS ARREST In a statement on Wednesday, Mamdani condemned Hamas’ attack as a “horrific war crime” while also characterizing Israel’s subsequent military operation as a genocide. “The suffering did not begin nor end that day,” he wrote. “It instead continued through the Israeli government’s devastating, ongoing genocide in Gaza in which it has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians — including more than 21,000 children.” Israel has rejected accusations that it is committing genocide in Gaza, saying its military targets Hamas and other terrorist groups while seeking to minimize civilian casualties. The mayor’s statement sparked bipartisan backlash, with Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., calling it “egregious and insulting.” “There are 364 days of the year to focus on that. This is a day that should just be focused on what was by all agreement a horrific terror attack,” Goldman, who is Jewish, told Politico. “What the mayor’s statement did today was to blame Israelis for the attack that they suffered three years ago. Regardless of what you actually think of the conflict and what’s happened either since or before, there’s no excuse for victim blaming.”
Ken Paxton calls out James Talarico’s 11-day absence at Trump rally, prompting response from campaign
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton questioned Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico’s absence from the campaign trail during President Donald Trump’s rally in San Antonio Wednesday, prompting a response from his opponent’s campaign less than a month before the November midterm elections. Paxton led the crowd in chanting “Where is Talarico?” while asserting that the Democrat had not been seen campaigning in Texas for 11 days. Talarico’s campaign told Fox News Digital the Democrat has been sick with the flu and is expected to return to the campaign trail this weekend. PAXTON VENTS OVER LACK OF CAMPAIGN CONTROL AS DC ESTABLISHMENT HE ONCE BATTLED COMES TO HIS AID “After holding more than 100 public events and shaking tens of thousands of hands, James came down with the flu but will be back on the trail this weekend,” JT Ennis, a campaign spokesperson for Talarico, told Fox News Digital. “Ken Paxton has been ignoring Texans this entire campaign, and his priorities are clear: He doesn’t answer to the people of this state. He answers to his billionaire megadonors and special interests.” The statement from Talarico campaign spokesperson JT Ennis also criticized Paxton’s campaign priorities, pushing back against the Republican’s remarks as the two candidates compete for a U.S. Senate seat. Trump also questioned Talarico’s whereabouts during his remarks, repeatedly referencing the Democrat’s absence while campaigning on Paxton’s behalf. TRUMP-LINKED MAGA INC POURS $10M INTO KEN PAXTON’S TEXAS SENATE RACE AGAINST JAMES TALARICO The president suggested without evidence that Talarico had become sick after eating meat for political reasons, mocking the Democrat’s dietary preferences. Trump also criticized Talarico’s positions on immigration, public safety and education, while praising Paxton’s record as Texas attorney general and urging voters to support his Senate bid. The president emphasized the importance of the Texas race to Republicans’ efforts to maintain control of Congress, warning supporters about the consequences of Democrats gaining seats in the Senate. MEET THE VOTERS WHO COULD BREAK THE GOP’S DECADESLONG GRIP ON A REPUBLICAN STRONGHOLD Trump’s appearance in San Antonio was part of a broader effort to mobilize Republican voters ahead of the midterm elections. He urged attendees to participate in early voting, which begins Oct. 19 in Texas, or cast their ballots on Election Day. The exchange over Talarico’s whereabouts comes as the candidates enter the final weeks of the campaign.