Journalist who refused to duck during Trump assassination attempt reflects on Butler rally in new book
Salena Zito, a veteran political reporter with more than 20 years of storytelling experience, is telling her own story in her book, “Butler: The Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America’s Heartland.” Zito’s book, released Tuesday, takes readers back to July 13, 2024, when a young shooter unleashed gunfire into the crowd at President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. “I didn’t get down,” Zito told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview ahead of the release. “There was this inner voice that told me, ‘You have a job to do, continue doing it.’” When 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks began firing toward Trump, Zito found herself in the Secret Service’s secure perimeter, right by the stage where Trump was delivering his remarks. FOX NATION REVEALS NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN FOOTAGE FROM TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT IN BUTLER “Time has these layers that happen,” Zito said. “It’s not remembering them. It’s experiencing them. It’s this interesting thing that happens. I see a sea of navy blue suits immediately surround him. Then, I hear the second four shots. I still didn’t get down.” PHOTOGRAPHER WINS PULITZER FOR ICONIC PHOTO OF BULLET SPEEDING BY TRUMP’S HEAD DURING ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT As a gun owner, Zito recognized the sound of the gunshots right away. But as a journalist, she quickly began to commit the historic moment to memory as it was unfolding. In an interview with Fox News Digital, Zito described the scene she saw first-hand, that was caught on video by the network pool camera and watched across the world. Just over eight minutes into Trump’s speech, Zito was standing in the “buffer” with her daughter, her son-in-law and a Trump campaign aide, Michel Picard. It was Picard who finally brought Zito to the ground. “Michel Picard takes me down and lies on top of me and covers me,” Zito explained. “This young man didn’t have to do this. He will always be a hero in my heart. He lies on the top of my daughter. My son-in-law has already taken my daughter down.” Zito said, even from that vantage point, she could still see and hear the situation unfolding as Trump shouted out for his shoes, someone called out for a medic and a woman screamed. “I had my recorder on my phone because I thought I was going to be recording the rally, his speech. I wanted to make sure I got the nuance. I always do that. I could see, and I could hear everything that was happening.” She said Trump was saying, “USA,” from the ground as the crowd began to chant. When the Secret Service helped Trump onto his feet, he shouted, “Fight! Fight! Fight,” Zito said she saw a different side of Trump, which is revealed in her book. The journalist, who is a political reporter for the Washington Examiner, is a special contributor for the Washington Post and has been a columnist for the New York Post, said Trump must have called her seven times in the 24 hours after the shooting. Zito was slated to interview Trump ahead of his rally in Butler, but such is the case with presidential campaign schedules, the interview time kept slipping. Zito was planning to fly with Trump to Bedminster, N.J., to interview him after the rally. Trump recovered from his near assassination with little more than a bullet graze to the ear, thanks to the immigration chart he was turning his head to face. One rally attendee, firefighter Corey Comperatore, was killed, and two others were critically injured by Crooks’ gunshots. Comperatore shielded his wife and daughters from the shots, saving his family. Trump honored their family when he returned to Butler to finish the rally later that year. “This book is for everyone,” Zito told Fox News Digital. “First of all, it was a witness to history. And it’s told in a way that is very conversational and told in way that’s very real and authentic. I tell the story exactly the way that it happened.” “But it’s also a book about understanding why place and rootedness [are] so important in American politics. There have been very few Republicans or Democrats that have understood that. It is part of America’s experience, no matter what happens next, that there’s a light shining on it, so that you understand people better.”
Elon Musk connects with indie Andrew Yang on billionaire former Trump ally’s third party push
As Elon Musk moves forward with forming a third party in hopes of rocking the nation’s longstanding two-party system, the world’s richest person is reaching out to a one-time presidential candidate who has started his own independent party. Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX who spent the first four months of President Donald Trump’s second administration as a special White House advisor steering the recently created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), spoke with Andrew Yang, Fox News has confirmed. A source familiar with the conversation said that the two discussed Musk’s push to create the “America Party,” which Musk aims to field some candidates in next year’s midterm elections. TRUMP DISMISSED MUSK’S MOVE TO FORM THIRD PARTY “I’m excited for anyone who wants to move on from the duopoly,” Yang said in a statement to Fox News. “And I’m happy to help give someone a sense of what the path looks like.” News of the conversation was first reported by Politico. Yang grabbed national attention in the 2020 election cycle, as the entrepreneur went from an extreme longshot to briefly being a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination. But Yang soured on the two-party system after an unsuccessful 2021 run for New York City mayor. He then formed the independent Forward Party, which has been recognized in a handful of states and aims to eventually gain ballot access from coast to coast. ELON MUSK LAUNCHES ‘AMERICA PARTY’ AFTER TRUMP SIGNS HISTORIC SPENDING BILL: ‘WASTE & GRAFT’ Yang and Musk are far from strangers. Musk in 2019 supported Yang’s unsuccessful presidential bid. Musk became the top donor of the 2024 election cycle, dishing out nearly $300 million in support of Trump’s bid through America PAC, a mostly Musk-funded super PAC aligned with Trump. Trump named Musk to steer DOGE soon after the November election, and the president repeatedly praised Musk during his headline-making and controversial tenure at the cost-cutting effort. But a feud between Musk and Trump broke out days after Musk left the White House in late May, as Musk dubbed the administration’s massive landmark spending bill – which Trump called his “big, beautiful bill” – a “disgusting abomination,” which he said would sink the nation into unsustainable debt. POLL POSITION: MUSK’S FAVORABILTY AMONG REPUBILCANS PLUNGES AFTER FEUD WITH TRUMP Musk also argued that Trump would not have won last year’s presidential election without all of his support. Musk announced the launch of the “America Party” on his social media platform X on Saturday, a day after Trump signed the sweeping domestic policy package into law. The measure narrowly passed the Senate and House last week along near party-line votes in the Republican-controlled chambers. Trump on Sunday ridiculed Musk’s move. “I think it’s ridiculous to start a third party,” Trump told reporters. “It’s always been a two-party system, and I think starting a third party just adds to confusion. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The president added that “third parties have never worked. So, he can have fun with it, but I think it’s ridiculous.” Starting an independent or third party, and gaining ballot access in states across the country, is extremely difficult.
Israeli prime minister answers whether he is worried about being jailed in NYC by Zohran Mamdani
After Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s leading mayoral candidate, pledged to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits the city, Netanyahu responded to questions about whether he’s worried. In December, Mamdani, who identifies as a democratic socialist and is the Democratic Party’s nominee for New York City mayor, said, “as mayor, New York City would arrest Benjamin Netanyahu.” “This is a city that our values are in line with international law. It’s time that our actions are also,” Mamdani said, referring to the International Criminal Court issuing an arrest warrant against Netanyahu as well as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Netanyahu met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday evening to discuss a range of topics, including Iran and Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas. NETANYAHU SURPRISES TRUMP WITH FORMAL NOBEL PEACE PRIZE NOMINATION DURING HISTORIC WHITE HOUSE MEETING When asked whether he was worried about the possibility of facing arrest in America’s largest city, Netanyahu said, “I’m not concerned about that.” The prime minister added, “I’m going to come there with the President Trump and we’ll see.” He went on to say that Mamdani’s threat is “silly in many ways, because it’s just not serious.” Trump also chimed in, saying, “We don’t know who the mayor is going to be yet, but this is a communist. He’s not a socialist. He’s a communist, and he’s said some really bad things about Jewish people.” TOP IRANIAN CLERIC CALLS FOR TRUMP’S EXECUTION “He might make it,” Trump said. “But, you know, it all comes through the White House. He needs the money through the White House. He needs a lot. “He’s going to behave. He’ll behave. He better behave. Otherwise, he’s going to have big problems.” Hearkening back to an earlier question asked by reporters, Netanyahu said, “what is serious” is whether there can be a two-state solution in Gaza that does not pose an existential threat to the Israeli people. “Look, there’s enough craziness in the world, but I guess it never ends,” he said. “After October 7th, people said the Palestinians had a state, Hamas state in Gaza, and look what they did with it. They didn’t build it up. They built down two bunkers into terror tunnels, after which they massacred our people, raped our women, beheaded our men, invaded our cities and our towns and our kibbutzim and did horrendous, horrendous massacres, the kind of which we didn’t see since World War two and the Nazis, the Holocaust.” ISRAEL HAMMERS HOUTHIS WITH AIRSTRIKES, REBELS RESPOND AMID RED SEA FLARE-UP “So people aren’t likely to say, let’s just give them another state. It’ll be a platform to destroy Israel,” he added. “We’ll work up a peace with our Palestinian neighbors, those who don’t want to destroy us, and we’ll work out a peace in which our security, the sovereign power of security, always remains in our hands.” “Now, people will say it’s not a complete state. It’s not a state, it’s not that, we don’t care,” he said. “You know, we vowed, ‘never again.’ Never again is now, it’s not going to happen again.”
Federal judge pauses Trump administration’s Planned Parenthood defunding measure
A federal judge on Monday prevented the Trump administration from enforcing part of a massive tax and spending bill that would block Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood health centers. The temporary restraining order by Judge Indira Talwani in Massachusetts blocks the “big, beautiful bill’s” provision to defund the family planning provider. At issue is the provision in the new tax and spending bill signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4 that eliminates one year of Medicaid payments from Planned Parenthood health centers because the organization also provides abortions. SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN OKS BAN ON PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERAL FUNDING IN TRUMP MEGABILL A White House official told Fox News Digital that the Trump administration is committed to ending the use of federal taxpayer dollars to fund or promote elective abortions. The official noted that the administration’s stance is a commonsense position that the overwhelming majority of Americans agree with. On Monday, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts and Planned Parenthood Association of Utah filed a lawsuit in federal court. “The prohibition specifically targets Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its member health care providers in order to punish them for lawful activity, namely advocating for and providing legal abortion access wholly outside the Medicaid program and without using any federal funds,” the lawsuit states. SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST PLANNED PARENTHOOD IN MEDICAID FUNDING DISPUTE If allowed to stand, Planned Parenthood said the provision would have “devastating consequences” for the more than 1 million patients who use Medicaid as their insurance at Planned Parenthood health centers across the country to get birth control and cancer screenings, among other services. Dominique Lee, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, said the organization has a long history of fighting for sexual and reproductive freedom. “The Trump administration’s hell-bent ambitions to close our clinics and abandon our patients won’t stop us. Let me be crystal clear: We are not intimidated. We were built for this moment,” she said. “Here in Massachusetts, we fight back, and we will never be bullied into turning our backs on health care or human rights.”
Netanyahu surprises Trump with formal Nobel Peace Prize nomination during historic White House meeting
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that he had sent a letter to the Nobel Prize Committee to nominate President Donald Trump for the peace prize. Trump and Netanyahu met at the White House on Monday to discuss developments in the Middle East. While speaking to reporters, Netanyahu spoke about the relationship between Israel and the U.S. AFTER SETBACK TO IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM, TRUMP EXPECTED TO LEVERAGE MILITARY SUPPORT IN NETANYAHU MEETING “I want to express the appreciation and admiration not only of all Israelis, but of the Jewish people and many, many admirers around the world, for your leadership, your leadership of the free world, your leadership of a just cause, and the pursuit of peace and security,” he said. “The president has an extraordinary team, and I think our teams, together, make, an extraordinary combination to meet challenges and seize opportunities. “But the president has already realized great opportunities. He forged the Abraham Accords. He’s forging peace as we speak, in one country and one region after the other,” Netanyahu continued. “So, I want to present to you, Mr. President, the letter I sent to the Nobel Prize committee. It’s nominating you for the peace prize, which is well-deserved.” Trump accepted the letter, saying he was unaware of the nomination and thanking the prime minister. The nomination comes just weeks after the U.S. struck Iran’s nuclear program following previous strikes levied by Israel in an effort to end Tehran’s atomic ambitions. TOP IRANIAN CLERIC CALLS FOR TRUMP’S EXECUTION Trump on Monday said Iran was no longer the “bully of the Middle East” and said Tehran would be holding nuclear talks with the U.S. in the “next week or so.” Though when asked how negotiations with Hamas stood in a move to end the war in Gaza and return the hostages held there for over 630 days, neither the U.S. nor Israeli officials would comment on what the “hold up” was. When asked if there can be a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians – a policy the U.S. has long backed – Trump pushed the question to Netanyahu who said “overall security” will always remain in the hands of Israel. “I think Palestinians should have all the powers to govern themselves, but none of the powers should threaten us,” Netanyahu told reporters. “And that means that certain powers, like overall security, will always remain in our hands. “No one in Israel will agree to anything else, because we don’t commit suicide,” he added. The Israeli leader then said he believes that Jerusalem can establish “peace between us and the entire Middle East with President Trump’s leadership” in a direct nod to the president’s push to expand the Abraham Accords. Nations like Saudi Arabia have said they are uninterested in normalizing ties with Israel until peace is established for the Palestinians, but other nation’s positions on establishing diplomatic ties remains unclear. The U.S. Envoy for Lebanon and Syria suggested earlier on Monday that both nations could be looking to improve diplomatic relations. Trump said he removed sanctions on Syria this year to give them “a chance,” and suggested he would like to lift the “biting sanctions” on Iran as well. “I’d like to see Iran build itself back up in a peaceful manner, and not going around saying ‘Death to America, Death to the USA, Death to Israel,’ as they were doing,” he said. “They have such potential.”
Navy’s carrier fleet faces temporary reduction through 2027 as new ships hit development snags
The U.S. Navy will drop from 11 to 10 aircraft carriers for about a year once the USS Nimitz is decommissioned next year, as recent budget documents show a new carrier will be delayed from its original delivery date. According to the Department of Defense Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 budget estimates, Newport News Shipbuilders was expected to deliver the USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) to the Navy by July 2025, but that has since shifted to March 2027. “The CVN 79 delivery date shifted from July 2025 to March 2027 (preliminary acceptance TBD) to support completion of Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) certification and continued Advanced Weapons Elevator (AWE) work,” FY 2026 shipbuilding budget book reads. Both the Advanced Arresting Gear certification and Advanced Weapons Elevator work are systems that were incorporated into the Ford class carriers. INSIDE AMERICA’S 6TH-GEN ARSENAL: B-21, F-47, AND THE FUTURE OF AIR DOMINANCE HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia told USNI News that it is taking lessons learned and applying them with the new ships in its class. “Specifically, John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) construction was fairly advanced when many Ford lessons were realized, precluding timely implementation of lessons learned for Kennedy,” Todd Corillo, HII company spokesperson, told the publication. “In contrast, Enterprise (CVN 80) and Doris Miller (CVN 81) have been able to incorporate, leverage and capitalize on Ford lessons learned earlier in the construction process.” Also being shifted was the delivery of the USS Enterprise (CVN-80), which was expected to be delivered in September 2029, but has since been pushed back to July 2030. USS NIMITZ CARRIER STRIKE GROUP SAILING TOWARD MIDDLE EAST AHEAD OF SCHEDULE, US OFFICIAL SAYS “The CVN 80 delivery date shifted from September 2029 to July 203 due to delays in material availability and industry/supply chain performance,” the document’s footnotes read. USNI reported that the Navy originally planned to pursue a dual-phase delivery approach for the Kennedy but has since switched to a single-phase delivery, which added two additional years of work to the vessel’s design and construction contract. Under the new plans, the Kennedy would be outfitted to handle the fifth-generation F-35C Joint Strike Fighter Lightning II and be outfitted with the new Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar, USNI reported. SECOND NAVY FIGHTER JET GOES OVERBOARD FROM TRUMAN AIRCRAFT CARRIER, PILOTS EJECTED Officials originally thought the dual-phase approach would save the Navy money when it came to construction costs and by minimizing the downtime between the Nimitz decommissioning and Kennedy delivery. These delays come as the USS Nimitz prepares to be decommissioned. Commissioned on May 3, 1975, the Nimitz is the oldest active aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy. It is currently on its final sea voyage in the Middle East, as the Nimitz is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2026. The deployment is significant because the Nimitz was also deployed in 1980 when its helicopters were part of the failed U.S. effort known as Operation Eagle Claw to rescue the American hostages being held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The U.S. has been in a shadow war against Iran ever since. Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
Some wealthy New York elites surprisingly back NYC socialist candidate who wants to tax them more
Despite his socialist proposals, New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has several millionaires backing his candidacy amid his calls to tax the wealthy to fund expansive social programs. James Hueston, a 27-year-old venture capitalist, is part of a group called the Mamdani Millionaires in a Wall Street Journal piece published Monday. “In my eyes, I should absolutely be paying my fair share for the people that need it,” Hueston told the newspaper. “I don’t think that he’s increasing taxation for the sake of it. I think that he’s doing it to fund very explicitly good policies.” SOCIALIST’S NYC MAYORAL WIN SPARKS FIERCE DEBATE OVER FEASIBILITY OF RADICAL POLICY AGENDA Voting data showed that about a third of the city’s wealthiest residents supported Mamdani in the primary, the New York Post reported. Many donors, some from Wall Street and large law firms, have remained anonymous. Other high-earning supporters of Mamdani include Ahmed Haque, the founder and CEO of consulting firm Didactic Labs. “For immigrants coming to this country, these small businesses represent the single path for upward mobility that they have,” he said. Bradley Tusk, a venture capitalist who ran Michael Bloomberg’s third campaign for mayor of New York City, wrote on LinkedIn that New Yorkers should “do what we can to help him succeed.” SOCIALIST MAYORAL CANDIDATE ZOHRAN MAMDANI UNDER FIRE FOR PLAN TO TAX ‘RICHER AND WHITER NEIGHBORHOODS’ In an Instagram post, Keith McNally, owner of Balthazar, a French restaurant, called Mamdani “fantastic.” “More so, when my affluent, paranoid friends tell me Mamdani’s dangerous,” he wrote. Kathy Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, a major business group, told The Journal that she met with Mandani in September, long before his candidacy was taken seriously. “I’m not in favor of government taking over your business,” Wylde recalled him telling her. She added that “he has already acknowledged that the housing crisis is only going to be addressed if there’s an increase in private supply. So he’s not just talking about social or socialized housing solutions.”
Socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s SAT score revealed: report
After it was reported that democratic socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani identified as “Asian” and “Black/African American” in his application to Columbia University, his SAT scores were revealed to be below the median score for students admitted into the school, according to a new report. Independent journalist Christopher Rufo reported on Monday that, according to Mamdani’s full Columbia application, he scored 2140 out of 2400 on the SAT, which is below the median score of students admitted to the university in 2009. A 2009 statement by the university said that students admitted into the Class of 2013 scored between 2110 and 2300 on the SAT, which would have placed Mamdani within the range but below the median. Mamdani has said he identifies as “an American who was born in Africa,” and stated that checking multiple boxes was an effort to reflect his “complex background,” not to gain an advantage in the competitive admissions process. DEM SOCIALIST’S NYC PRIMARY UPSET SIGNALS ‘GENERATIONAL’ SHIFT IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY, STRATEGISTS SAY But at the time, Columbia, like many elite universities, used race-conscious admissions, a system the Supreme Court struck down in 2023. Mamdani, who is the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, identified as “Black or African American” on his 2009 Columbia University application even though he now says he does not consider himself Black, The New York Times reported Thursday. According to The Times, the internal data came from a leaked database of past Columbia applications which was part of a recent hack targeting the Ivy League school. Mamdani, then a high school senior, also checked “Asian” and reportedly wrote in “Ugandan” in the space for additional background. He was ultimately not accepted to Columbia even though his father is a professor at the elite school. NYC MAYORAL FRONTRUNNER ZOHRAN MAMDANI’S PROFESSOR FATHER CLAIMED HITLER INSPIRED BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN “Even though these boxes are constraining,” Mamdani said, “I wanted my college application to reflect who I was.” Mamdani told The Times that aside from those college forms, he doesn’t recall ever identifying as Black or African American. RESURFACED VIDEO SHOWS NYC MAYORAL HOPEFUL SAYING HE WANTS TO REPLACE PRIVATE HOMES WITH COMMUNAL LIVING His parents are both of Indian descent. His father, Columbia professor Mahmood Mamdani, has lived in East Africa for generations, but Mamdani said there had been no intermarriage in the family with native African groups. Mamdani has leaned into his South Asian and Muslim identity on the campaign trail. During a June speech at Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, he also stressed his African roots: “I was born in Kampala, Uganda… I was given my middle name, Kwame, by my father, who named me after the first Prime Minister of Ghana.” Mamdani has proposed a list of policy changes to radically alter New York City more in line with his democratic socialist vision. He is running to unseat incumbent New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who was elected as a Democrat but is now running for re-election as an independent. Former New York Democratic Mayor Andrew Cuomo is also running for mayor as an independent. Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani and Columbia University for comment but did not receive a response prior to publication.
Cuomo, Adams trade shots over who should drop out in race against Mamdani for NYC mayor
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and current New York City Mayor Eric Adams are each urging the other to drop their mayoral bids in the 2025 race against Democratic Party nominee Zohran Mamdani. “I think that everyone should align behind the person who has won one as mayor,” Adams said Monday at a news conference. Meanwhile, Cuomo’s top advisor argued in a statement that “we do not see any path to victory for Mayor Adams.” Mamdani, the 33-year-old democratic socialist assemblyman from Queens, two weeks ago topped Cuomo by 12 points to win the Democratic Party mayoral primary. Mamdani instantly became the clear frontrunner in November’s general election in heavily blue New York City, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by roughly a six-to-one margin. MAMDANI OFFICIALLY WINS PRIMARY, BUT CUOMO STAYING IN BATTLE FOR NEW YORK CITY MAYOR With his victory over Cuomo and nine other Democratic candidates, Mamdani sent political shockwaves across the country, and took a big step towards becoming the first Muslim mayor of the nation’s most populous city. Cuomo, the three-term governor who resigned from office in 2021 amid multiple scandals and who was aiming for a political comeback, had been the frontrunner in the mayoral primary race for months until Mamdani closed the gap in the closing weeks of the campaign. MAMDANI’S POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE ROCKS DEMOCRATS Mamdani will face off in November against Republican Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the volunteer crime-fighting patrols known as the Guardian Angels. Sliwa is the GOP nominee for a second straight election cycle. Jim Walden, a former federal prosecutor running as an independent, is also on the ballot. Adams, who won election as mayor in 2021 as a Democrat, is running as an independent. The mayor dropped his Democratic re-election bid earlier this year amid sinking poll numbers in the wake of multiple controversies. While he acknowledged Mamdani’s victory on primary night, Cuomo left the door open for running as an independent candidate, which election rules in New York State permit. REPUBLICANS USE MAMDANI BOMBSHELL VICTORY OVER CUOMO AS AMMUNITION TO BLAST DEMOCRATS AS EXTREMISTS And Cuomo recently let a deadline pass for candidates who had already qualified to run as independents to decline that independent ballot line. “I think Andrew and Curtis should rally behind me. I won as mayor. You know, I’m the only one that’s in this race right now that has ever won as mayor,” Adams said at his news conference. And in an interview with CNBC, Adams said that in a recent conversation, the former governor asked him to step aside. “I said, ‘Andrew, are you that level of arrogant? I’m the sitting mayor!’” Adams said of his conversation with Cuomo. “I’m the sitting mayor of New York City when you just lost to Zohran by 12 points.” “They heard your message. You lost,” Adams added. “That’s the highest level of arrogance.” THESE DEMOCRATS HAVEN’T ENDORSED MAMDANI, BUT THEY’RE DEFENDING HIM AGAINST TRUMP Adams’ poll numbers were sinking even before he was indicted last year on five counts, which accused the mayor of bribery and fraud as part of an alleged “long-running” scheme to personally profit from contacts with foreign officials. The mayor made repeated overtures to President Donald Trump, and the Justice Department earlier this year dismissed the corruption charges, so Adams could potentially work with the Trump administration on its illegal immigration crackdown. “Mayor Adams did not run in the Democratic primary because he knew he was anathema to Democrats and unelectable. Nothing has changed,” top Cuomo advisor Rich Azzopardi charged in a statement on Monday. And Azzopardi highlighted a proposal made last week by Walden that an independent study should be conducted to see which candidate would be the strongest to take on Mamdani, with the weaker contenders agreeing to drop out. Azzopardi argued that Walden “correctly points out that if he, Mayor Adams, and Governor Cuomo all run, it all but ensures a socialist victory. Jim proposed a fair independent survey be taken in September to determine whose candidacy and vision for New York is strongest in a one-on-one race in November.” “This is the time to put aside the usual political selfishness and agree to do what is truly best for all New Yorkers,” Azzopardi added. “While we review this proposal, we call on other candidates to do the same.” Walden on Monday said in an interview on Fox News Radio’s “Fox Across America with Jimmy Failla” that a Mamdani victory in November “would be terrible for the city and would sit us back a whole generation so I proposed a poll in either late September early October.” “If the candidates agreed to this we would all agree on a poll that would happen and it would be winner take all,” he explained. Mamdani surged to a primary victory thanks to an energetic campaign that put a major focus on affordability and New York City’s high cost of living. Endorsements from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — New York City’s most prominent progressive — and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the two-time Democratic presidential runner-up, helped Mamdani solidify support on the left. Mamdani made smart use of social media platforms, including TikTok, as he engaged low-propensity voters. He proposed eliminating fares to ride New York City’s vast bus system, making CUNY (City University of New York) “tuition-free,” freezing rents on municipal housing, offering “free childcare” for children up to age 5, and setting up government-run grocery stores. And thanks in part to the efforts of a massive grassroots army of volunteers, he rode a wave of support from younger and progressive voters to catapult into first place. Mamdani’s victory has reignited long-standing debates within the Democratic Party between its more moderate and progressive wings, and between outsiders and the establishment. And it’s reignited the debate over whether the party’s policy, or messaging, was to blame for last November’s election setbacks, when Democrats lost control of the White House and Senate, and failed to win back the House majority.
Shooter who opened fire on Border Patrol agents in South Texas identified by police chief
A shooter who allegedly opened fire on Border Patrol agents outside a federal building in McAllen, Texas, has been identified by authorities as 27-year-old Michigan resident Ryan Louis Mosqueda. An active shooter armed with tactical gear and a rifle opened fire upon Border Patrol agents as they arrived at a Border Patrol annex facility in McAllen, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley on Monday. Law enforcement believes the attack was a purposeful ambush targeting Border Patrol officials. In a press conference after the shooting, McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez identified the suspected shooter as Mosqueda, saying he allegedly opened fire on the agents, firing “many, many dozens of rounds” at the building. Rodriguez confirmed that the suspect was killed on the scene by agents returning fire. FEDERAL AGENTS CONDUCT IMMIGRATION RAID IN LOS ANGELES DESPITE FIERCE OPPOSITION FROM DEMOCRAT MAYOR According to the police chief, there is no known motive yet for why Mosqueda allegedly opened fire on Border Patrol agents. He said the suspect is associated with an address in Michigan and that he arrived at the scene driving a vehicle with Michigan plates. He also mentioned that the suspect’s car had spray-painting on it with “some language on it,” possibly Latin, that he could not decipher. According to Rodriguez, Mosqueda was reported missing from an address in nearby Weslaco and “an hour and a few minutes later he was at this particular location, opening fire on a federal building.” RED STATES CONSIDER ‘ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ’ SPINOFFS AS WH URGES THEM TO FOLLOW DESANTIS’ LEAD: ‘LOTS OF BEARS’ In a statement emailed to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for FBI San Antonio said that McAllen police received calls of shots being heard by a local Border Patrol facility near the McAllen International Airport at approximately 5:53 a.m. The spokesperson said the armed suspect, who they did not identify as Mosqueda but rather an “adult male,” “engaged the law enforcement officers responding to the scene and officers returned fire.” According to the spokesperson, one responding officer was injured in the gunfire and was transported to a local hospital for treatment. The officer is now in stable condition. TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ BOLSTERS BORDER SECURITY BY $100 BILLION The FBI representative said there is “currently no threat to public safety that we are aware of” and that the investigation is ongoing. According to a statement by DHS on X, two officers and a Border Patrol employee were injured during the shooting, including one shot in the knee.