Texas mom backs Ten Commandments in classrooms as legal battle reaches Supreme Court
As roughly two dozen Texas families fight to keep the Ten Commandments off public school walls, one Austin-area mom is making no apologies for wanting them in her kindergartner’s classroom. Brittany McFarland, a Christian mother whose 5-year-old daughter attends public school in Texas, told Fox News Digital she was “pleasantly surprised” by the new classroom displays and said the fierce backlash over them reflects a much bigger battle over faith, values and religious liberty in America’s public schools. “I feel like our country, we’ve been kind of forced to erase religion and discussion of religion in schools in general,” McFarland said. “Almost to the point where the topic is taboo, and our children are afraid and uncomfortable to mention their faith or talk anything about it.” McFarland said she and her husband had weighed whether public school was still the right choice for their daughter but said learning about the Ten Commandments law gave her a “sense of hope” about the direction of public education. TEXAS DEM JAMES TALARICO RIPS ‘UN-CHRISTIAN’ COURT DECISION ON WHAT’S ALLOWED IN CLASSROOMS “It gave me a renewed sense of hope in our school systems,” she said. The fight is straightforward. Texas requires public schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms, and roughly two dozen families want the Supreme Court to block the law. The families, represented by groups including the ACLU, argue the state is crossing a constitutional line by putting a religious text in public school classrooms. They say decisions about a child’s religious upbringing should be left to parents and faith communities, not the government, and warn the displays could make students from other religious or nonreligious backgrounds feel excluded or pressured. TED CRUZ, CONSERVATIVES RESPOND AFTER TALARICO CRITICIZES BIBLE-RELATED EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS AS ‘PROPAGANDA’ Texas has defended the law, and a federal appeals court upheld it, reasoning that students are not required to recite the Ten Commandments, believe them or affirm their religious origins. Now the families are asking the Supreme Court to step in. The justices have not yet agreed to hear the case. If they do, the dispute could become a major test of how the First Amendment applies to religious expression in public schools. McFarland rejects the characterization that simply displaying the Ten Commandments amounts to imposing Christianity on students. “I look at the Ten Commandments as a reminder to do the right thing,” she told Fox News Digital. “They’re good standards for children to be exposed to.” McFarland pointed to commandments against stealing and the instruction to honor one’s father and mother as examples of principles she believes have value for children. “These are things that we should be talking about in our homes and in our classrooms,” she said. McFarland also stressed that, based on what she has seen in her daughter’s classroom and others, the Ten Commandments are not being presented as something students must recite or affirm. “It’s not like you’re walking to the classroom, and you’re seeing a five-by-six poster with it in huge font, right, front and center. That’s not what’s happening,” she said. JUDGE ORDERS WASHINGTON SCHOOL DISTRICT TO LOOSEN LIMITS ON OFF-CAMPUS BIBLE CLUB FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS “I don’t see this posting historically significant religious text as imposing religion at all. It’s not like the children are having to recite it. It’s not like they’re standing up and giving a Pledge of Allegiance to it. It’s nothing of that sort.” McFarland said her school district recently informed parents that teachers are instructed to tell students who ask about the poster that it is displayed because of Texas law. According to the message McFarland read to Fox News Digital, teachers would contact parents if students asked specific questions about its contents rather than providing religious instruction themselves. TRUMP DOJ EXPANDS RELIGIOUS LIBERTY PROTECTIONS AFTER MAJOR SUPREME COURT RULINGS “To me, that’s not imposing religion upon anyone,” McFarland said. “That’s giving them the opportunity to go home and talk about it. It’s opening up conversation that can occur within the home and the walls of your home.” Opponents, however, said the fact that students are not required to recite the text does not resolve their concerns. The ACLU has described the displays as government-imposed religion and argues they could lead to religious coercion, bullying or stigmatization. Some parents involved in the challenge said the mandate could make children who follow other faiths or no faith at all feel that the state favors one set of beliefs over their own. An Austin interfaith couple involved in the case has also argued that parents, rather than politicians, should decide how their children receive religious education. McFarland said she actually agrees with that principle, but disputes that a classroom display constitutes religious instruction. “I would actually tend to agree with the family that politicians shouldn’t have a role in how teachers are specifically teaching religion to our children or trying to influence them on religion,” McFarland said. “However, I see this very differently.” “To me, having a poster up is not teaching your child that religion,” she added. McFarland compared the distinction to a student seeing a human anatomy poster hanging in a health classroom, arguing that the presence of the material does not mean the child is being forced to receive instruction about everything depicted on it. She also pushed back on concerns that young children could feel pressured to adopt the religious beliefs contained in the Ten Commandments. “Five-year-olds can’t read, for the most part,” McFarland said, adding that she does not believe her daughter is entering the classroom, reading the poster and feeling pressure to embrace a particular faith. “Religion should not be taught from the teachers or enforced by the teachers, but this isn’t that,” she said. McFarland said she believes the controversy has become about something larger than the physical display itself. “I don’t think that this fight is really a poster in the classroom,” she said. “I think it’s about religious liberties.” At the same time,
Luxury travel, shopping, six-figure income: Battleground Dems ripped for ‘phony’ working-class narrative
Several battleground Democrats running in competitive House races have leaned on working-class, blue-collar biographies to connect with voters’ economic anxieties, but financial records and other materials reviewed by Fox News Digital complicate the images they have presented on the campaign trail. In New Jersey, for example, Democratic Party candidate Rebecca Bennett has pitched herself as a parent with firsthand understanding of the “rising costs and economic uncertainty” facing American families, but financial records show she collected a combined salary of nearly $250,000 in 2024 and holds an extensive investment portfolio with assets potentially worth nearly $1.8 million and no reportable liabilities. In New Mexico, Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-N.M., has said he “never had the luxury of financial wealth,” argued voters are drawn to candidates who do not “come from wealth,” and described his mother as working long hours in Mexico’s “maquiladora industry” to make ends meet. But records reviewed by Fox News Digital show his mother held corporate finance roles at GE, including as a finance manager and comptroller in Mexico and later as a senior finance analyst in Indiana, while social media screenshots shared with Fox News Digital show repeated European travel, luxury shopping and other upscale family photos. DEM IN KEY SWING RACE MISSED NEARLY HALF HER STATE HOUSE VOTES WHILE TAKING TAXPAYER SALARY: ‘NO SHOW’ Meanwhile, in Washington State, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., has built part of her blue-collar image around her time working in an auto shop and her Reed College history, saying she worked three jobs and paid for the private liberal arts school “by the credit hour” after her parents stopped paying tuition. But financial disclosures reviewed by Fox News Digital did not list reportable student-loan debt, while critics familiar with her time at Reed College have questioned whether jobs Gluesenkamp Perez cited, including as a nanny, campus barista and at an “iPhone case factory,” could have plausibly covered the school’s cost. “Voters can see through the phony double-talk easier than politicians ever realize. It’s far better to be who you are and offer a compelling vision to make voters’ lives better than contort your own biography and background into something it’s not,” Republican strategist Colin Reed told Fox News Digital. “Under normal circumstances, financial success and upward mobility would be attributes to lean into as selling points on the campaign trail. But with socialism ascendant and the demonization of wealth not far behind, these are far from normal times.” DEMOCRATS CAUGHT ON CAMERA COACHING CANDIDATE ON HOW TO BE ‘AUTHENTIC’ IN 2026 MESSAGING Bennett, who is running in New Jersey’s competitive 7th Congressional District, disclosed dozens of investments, retirement accounts and other assets in an amended candidate financial disclosure filed with the House on May 15 and reviewed by Fox News Digital. Based on the value ranges listed in the disclosure, her reported assets could be worth as much as roughly $1.8 million. The filing listed no reportable liabilities. Among the holdings were three valued between $50,001 and $100,000 apiece and 17 more valued between $15,001 and $50,000. Because the disclosure reports assets in broad value ranges rather than exact amounts, Bennett’s reported holdings total roughly $447,000 at the low end and nearly $1.8 million at the high end. Using the midpoint of each disclosed range puts their estimated value at roughly $1.12 million. The disclosure also showed that Bennett received nearly $200,000 in salary from Noom in 2024 and nearly $46,000 from Oshi Health that year, for more than $242,000 combined. The financial picture contrasts with the economic message Bennett has emphasized on the campaign trail, where she has repeatedly invoked her own family’s finances and experience as a mother of two. In a June 18 campaign post titled “My 2010 Honda Accord,” Bennett said she and her husband still drove the 16-year-old car because “it’s what we can afford,” arguing Washington needs more “regular people” who understand families’ financial pressures firsthand. In the post, Bennett specifically pointed to childcare, writing, “I know what it’s like to worry about childcare costs,” while also citing rising grocery bills and difficult financial decisions because there is not “an unlimited amount of money sitting in the bank account.” Months earlier, she similarly said she was, “like so many of you,” navigating the “astronomical” costs of food, education, childcare and healthcare. Those comments also come as FEC records show Bennett’s campaign has paid $21,250 since June 2025 to cover her childcare expenses. Federal election rules permit campaign funds to cover a candidate’s childcare expenses when they are incurred as a direct result of campaign activity. “After serving our country for 15 years as a Navy helicopter pilot, Rebecca swapped her MH-60 Seahawk for the 2010 Honda Accord she uses to drop off her two young children at day care and public school. Rebecca knows firsthand how much childcare costs, and it’s critical that we have people in Congress that understand the challenges New Jersey families are facing,” campaign spokesperson Carly Jones told Fox News Digital. “While Tom Kean Jr. plays the stock market in Congress, Rebecca is going to fight to lower costs and end Washington corruption.” Meanwhile, Vasquez has also been explicit in casting his background in working-class and blue-collar terms. In his first House floor speech in March 2023, the New Mexico Democrat said, “I’ve never had the luxury of financial wealth,” and during his 2022 campaign argued that voters were drawn to a candidate who “doesn’t come from wealth” or money. DSA CO-CHAIR STRUGGLES TO EXPLAIN MILLIONAIRE TAX POLICY Vasquez has also repeatedly pointed to his mother’s work in Mexico’s “maquiladora industry” as part of his family’s working-class story. In an October 2025 La Opinión op-ed, he wrote that his mother, Hortencia Banuelos, “worked long hours in the maquiladora industry working to make ends meet,” describing her story as one of “sacrifice, resilience, and hope.” In a 2023 interview, Vasquez similarly said his parents worked in the maquiladora industry, including assembling aerospace parts and building sensors for refrigerators and washing machines
Missouri judge hands Trump, GOP major redistricting win ahead of midterm elections
A Missouri judge handed President Donald Trump and Republicans a major redistricting victory Wednesday, ruling that the state’s referendum process cannot be used to challenge congressional maps drawn by the Legislature and allowing a new GOP-friendly map to remain in place for November’s midterm elections. Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green ruled Wednesday that Missouri’s constitutional referendum provisions “do not apply to congressional redistricting enacted by the General Assembly,” siding with Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins in a closely watched fight over a Trump-backed map that could help determine control of the U.S. House. Green also ruled that Hoskins’ decision not to certify the referendum petition was “lawful” and ordered that the Republican-backed congressional map “remains in full force and effect for the 2026 general election.” TRUMP ALLIES NOTCH REDISTRICTING WIN AS JUDGES FIND NO ‘SMOKING GUN’ TO SCRAP RED STATE MAP Plaintiff Richard von Glahn appealed the ruling Wednesday evening, according to the court docket. The ruling preserves a map passed by Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature after Trump urged GOP-controlled states to redraw congressional boundaries ahead of the 2026 midterms. The new boundaries are aimed at giving Republicans an opportunity to defeat Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City. Missouri’s current eight-member House delegation consists of six Republicans and two Democrats. The map splits portions of Kansas City between neighboring Republican-held districts and stretches the remainder of Cleaver’s 5th Congressional District east into Republican-heavy rural areas. About 59% of voters in the reshaped district are new to it, according to an Associated Press estimate. TRUMP URGES REPUBLICANS TO ‘BE BOLD’ AS RED STATES PUSH TO REWRITE CONGRESSIONAL MAPS Republican state Sen. Rick Brattin won the GOP primary in the redrawn district earlier this month, while Cleaver was unopposed for the Democratic nomination. The new boundaries were already used in Missouri’s August primaries. Opponents collected thousands of signatures seeking to force a statewide referendum on the map, but Hoskins rejected the petition, arguing that Missouri’s Constitution does not allow congressional redistricting to be put to a referendum. Green agreed, entering judgment for Hoskins and the Republican National Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee and Missouri Republican State Committee, which intervened in the case. BLOCKBUSTER SUPREME COURT VOTING RIGHTS RULING IGNITES REDISTRICTING WAR ACROSS SOUTHERN STATES The Missouri fight is part of a broader national redistricting battle ahead of November. Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe called lawmakers into a special session last year after Trump urged Republican-led states to redraw congressional boundaries ahead of the midterms. Missouri became the second Republican-led state, after Texas, to pursue new congressional boundaries as part of that push. Green’s ruling leaves the Trump-backed map in place while the case moves to the appeals court. The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Chinese national in blue state charged with illegally voting in federal election under another man’s name: DOJ
A Chinese national living in Massachusetts was arrested Wednesday after federal prosecutors said he impersonated another Chinese national to register and vote in the 2024 presidential election then reported the alleged victim to immigration authorities for illegally voting. Yupeng Sun, 33, of Andover, was charged with one count of fraudulent voter registration and one count of fraudulent voting, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. The criminal complaint alleges Sun admitted during a July interview with federal investigators that he registered the victim to vote and later cast a ballot using the man’s identity. “I tell you the truth, I register,” Sun told investigators when shown the victim’s voter registration information, according to the complaint. CANADIAN NONCITIZEN ACCUSED OF ILLEGALLY VOTING IN FEDERAL AND STATE ELECTIONS After investigators showed Sun a photograph of the early voting ballot envelope submitted at Malden City Hall on Oct. 31, 2024, Sun allegedly responded, “I used his name to vote.” Massachusetts voter records show the ballot cast under the victim’s name was accepted for the 2024 presidential election, according to the complaint. Sun previously rented a room from the victim and his family in Malden, and investigators allege he also impersonated the victim and his wife in immigration documents requesting that they abandon their legal permanent resident status. When the couple returned from an international trip in June 2024, their green cards were confiscated, and they were placed into removal proceedings. An immigration judge restored their legal permanent resident status in January 2026 after finding their testimony credible and receiving forensic evidence that they had not signed the forms, according to the complaint. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT LEARNS FATE AFTER USING STOLEN IDENTITY TO VOTE IN US ELECTIONS FOR DECADES Federal investigators say Sun later submitted anonymous tips to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services accusing the victim of illegally voting in the 2024 election. Sun allegedly acknowledged sending the tips when investigators interviewed him. “I went to post office and, uh, to report the father vote,” Sun said, according to the complaint. Sun is a citizen and national of China who entered the U.S. in September 2020 on a B-2 tourist visa that expired in March 2021, according to the complaint. He has deferred action status based on a U-Visa application submitted in February 2022. DHS DIRECTS ICE TO DEPORT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WHO VOTE IN AMERICAN ELECTIONS UNDER NEW DIRECTIVE The Massachusetts Secretary of State’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Each voter fraud charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Prosecutors said Sun could also face deportation after completing any sentence imposed. U.S. Attorney Leah Foley and Jeff Grimming, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England, announced the charges. The Lexington and Andover police departments assisted in the investigation.
Trump threatens ‘unprecedented’ economic consequences for any nation aiding Iran
President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued a stern warning to any nation thinking about offering a lifeline to Iran after announcing the launch of a U.S. operation he likened to an “economic D-Day.” “Today, I am announcing the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY! This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I am also announcing that ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences. IRAN DEAL CLOCK HITS ZERO AS TRUMP DEMANDS ‘WHITE FLAG’ WITH NEW PRESSURE CAMPAIGN LOOMING “Oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, front companies — It all needs to stop NOW,” he continued. “You know who you are. This will be an ECONOMIC D-DAY, and we need all of our Allies to stand with the United States of America to isolate, and defeat, the Iran threat. These maniacs are on the ropes, and these HISTORIC MEASURES will cripple them and their ability to project terror worldwide.” Trump said Iran’s navy and air force are destroyed, while their production facilities have all been reduced to “rubble.” The president added Tehran’s currency is “worthless,” and the country as a whole “is hanging by a thread.” Wednesday’s announcement came amid a pressure campaign from Washington, including a naval blockade, to get Iran to capitulate. Earlier in the week, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei accused Washington of relying on economic sanctions when diplomacy fails, calling it an “addiction,” according to Yemen’s state-run news agency. KEY CHINA-IRAN INFRASTRUCTURE EXPOSES CRITICAL HOLE IN TRUMP’S WAR STRATEGY Iranian leaders on Wednesday warned neighboring Gulf states against assisting the U.S. military. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), a close U.S. ally and regional power, on Wednesday severed all financial and economic ties with Iran, citing a military escalation by Tehran with incoming missile fire. Iran has attacked its neighbors in similar fashion in the months since the war began. Amid the war with the United States, Tehran has relied on regional groups and proxies to fight back, though the country is traditionally allied with China and Russia. On Monday, Trump threatened to bomb Oman if the country acts as a barrier to reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a major point of contention on both sides of the conflict. He said the U.S. may return to talks with Tehran “maybe at some point” and that the Strait of Hormuz is “not going to be quite as important as it was in the past” as several states explore alternative sources for oil.
El-Sayed reveals he would go ‘step further’ than Sanders on socialist plan for major US industry
Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed said he wanted to “take it a step further” when asked whether he supported Bernie Sanders’ public ownership model for major artificial intelligence companies. El-Sayed argued for “some system of public control,” days after a top House Democrat rejected suggestions that young socialists are talking about “seizing the means of production.” Asked during a June 12 appearance on the left-wing “Head in the Office” podcast whether he supported public ownership models for major artificial intelligence companies like one proposed by Sanders, El-Sayed said he wanted to “actually take it a step further.” EL-SAYED TAUNTS TRUMP, CLAIMS HE’S GOING TO MAKE HIM ‘MAIN CHARACTER OF THE MIDTERMS’ He added that while he agreed “we need public ownership,” he also believed “we need some system of public control.” El-Sayed did not explicitly call for the government to seize or take ownership of private AI companies, instead describing possible forms of “public control” that included public representation on corporate boards or an oversight body. “I want to actually take it a step further. I agree that we need public ownership, but I also agree that we need some system of public control. What is the point of democracy if it’s not to protect us from existential risk? And, right now, there is no regulation,” El-Sayed said when asked about public ownership and public control of major AI companies, with the podcast host citing proposals from Sanders. “I just think it’s really important for us to be thinking what is democratic control over this industry? What does it look like?” El-Sayed later offered examples of what “public control” could look like, including public representation on corporate boards or a public oversight body over companies, arguing that AI poses potentially “existential” risks requiring greater public oversight. “Democracy is supposed to fix these problems, and, right now, they’re trying to slip democracy, and we cannot allow that,” El-Sayed continued about the political power tech companies wield in Washington. “And, so, we need leaders who both understand the technological risk and are not bought off by the AI industry itself. It is mission critical right now for our future.” EL-SAYED AIDE LIKENS GOP OPPONENT’S CAMPAIGN TO ‘KKK CROSS BURNING’ OVER VIDEO WITH FORD PICKUP El-Sayed’s call to “take it a step further” on public ownership comes as senior Democrats have sought to push back on the idea that the party’s rising socialist wing is seeking government control of the means of production. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., recently argued that young Americans who identify as socialists are not embracing socialism in its traditional Marxist sense, asking whether they mean, “I want to socialize the means of production,” before answering, “I don’t think so.” Raskin has similarly argued that young self-described socialists are primarily seeking “greater equality and opportunity,” rather than embracing concepts such as “dialectical materialism” or the “dictatorship of the proletariat.” But some of the movement’s most prominent figures have used more explicit language. Mamdani said during a 2021 Young Democratic Socialists of America conference that one of the movement’s firmly held beliefs was the “end goal of seizing the means of production,” while acknowledging it did not then enjoy the same level of public support as other progressive causes. The June podcast comments are drawing fresh attention as El-Sayed, a progressive who has embraced comparisons to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, seeks to carry that brand of politics into a marquee statewide Senate race. The resurfaced exchange also comes amid a broader debate over the Democratic Party’s embrace of democratic socialists and how far the movement’s economic agenda extends beyond policies such as universal healthcare and a higher minimum wage.
Trump’s approval rating plummets to new low ahead of critical midterms: ‘More work to do’
President Donald Trump’s approval rating has plummeted to a record low during his second term in office and is now tied for his lowest approval rating ever as commander in chief, according to a new poll. Only 33% of those surveyed in a new Reuters/Ipsos poll approve of the 45th and 47th president’s job in the White House. The rating is down from 35% last week. A survey of 1,166 respondents showed that 64% disapproved of Trump’s job performance. Trump hit 33% approval in December 2017, his lowest during his first term in office, according to Reuters/Ipsos. FOX NEWS POLL: AS ECONOMIC PAIN DEEPENS, DISAPPROVAL OF TRUMP HITS NEW HIGH Meanwhile, 80% of survey respondents said they expect the war in Iran “will go on for an extended period of time.” The war began in February and was explained to Americans as a mission to wipe out the Middle Eastern country’s nuclear weapons program. Iranian attempts to assert dominance over the Strait of Hormuz have complicated matters. One fifth of the world’s oil traverses the Strait, and the effects have been felt at the pump. LAWMAKERS CLASH OVER TRUMP GAS TAX HOLIDAY AS IRAN WAR DRIVES PRICES HIGHER Since the war began, national average gas prices have jumped from just under $3 per gallon to just over $4 per gallon, according to American Automobile Association (AAA) data. On Friday, at a rally with law enforcement in New York touting record low crime rates, Trump defended the jump in prices at the pump. “Remember that when you have to pay a little bit more, $4, it’s OK,” he said, adding that he did “the right thing,” and saying, “I’ll never apologize.” Inflation has also spiked since the beginning of the war. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), year-over-year inflation in February was 2.4%. That number now sits at 3.4%. TRUMP’S AFFORDABILITY PLAN FACES CONSERVATIVE PUSHBACK AS POCKETBOOK ISSUES LOOM OVER MIDTERMS “President Trump has signed the largest middle-class tax cuts in history, lowered the cost of prescription drugs, sealed the border, driven violent crime to the lowest level in nearly a century, unleashed an energy revolution and sent Americans’ 401(k)s climbing to record highs,” White House spokesperson Olivia Wales told Fox News Digital in response to questions about the polling. “President Trump is cleaning up Joe Biden’s mess, and there is more work to do, but the United States of America has never been stronger,” she continued. The White House did not comment on whether there is a target date for ending the war. Democrats have seized on the war, which only 35% of Americans support, according to Reuters/Ipsos, along with affordability in their attempts to retake the House and Senate in November.
Clarence Thomas chokes up as he reveals promise he made after grandparents’ sudden deaths
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas choked up recalling a promise he made after his grandparents’ deaths during a wide-ranging conversation about economist Thomas Sowell’s influence on his thinking and views on Black Americans. “When both my grandparents died suddenly in 1983, the decision I made was to live the rest of my life as a memorial to theirs,” Thomas shared with Hoover Institution fellow Peter Robinson during an on-stage discussion. The conversation paused for a few seconds as Thomas gathered his composure. “And the point I’m going to make is that is the way I feel about Professor Sowell,” Thomas said. JUSTICE THOMAS REVEALS THIS ELITE INSTITUTION IS ‘OFF LIMITS’ TO HIM “ ‘THAT’S THE WORLD WE’RE IN’ “All right,” Robinson said. “Watch this because I’m going to lighten the mood here.” Thomas was raised by his maternal grandparents in segregated Savannah, Georgia, after his father left when he was 7 years old. His grandfather was raised by a freed slave. “We actually lived — farmed on a part of that plantation, and we grew up every summer, we farmed on that plantation,” Thomas said. Neither of Thomas’ maternal grandparents ever set foot in a high school. Thomas said his grandfather, Myers Anderson, had only nine months of formal education, and his grandmother, Christine Anderson, had only a sixth-grade education. SEN TIM SCOTT: MY FAMILY’S JOURNEY SHOWS AMERICA’S FOUNDING PROMISE IS ALIVE AND STRONG “Even though my grandfather only had nine months of education, the crown jewel was education. My grandmother went to the sixth grade, for her the crown jewel,” Thomas said. Thomas described his grandmother as a “saintly woman” and his grandfather as a “great man” who taught him the importance of self-reliance and hard work. “It wasn’t taking the measure of what you don’t have. It wasn’t to complain about that, but to develop the capacity to do things that you needed to do in order to… improve your life.” DESCENDANT OF SLAVES SHAMES SMITHSONIAN’S WOKE ‘INDOCTRINATION’ AGAINST THE ‘GREATEST NATION ON EARTH’ “My grandfather, I remember him often saying, as a kid,” Thomas said, referring to his grandfather responding when Thomas complained about being unable to do something. “And his favorite saying was, ‘Old man can’t is dead. I helped bury him.’ “And the old man can’t was buried many times in our house,” Thomas said. “My grandfather, no education, raised by a freed slave, and he never complained,” Thomas stated. “He did it. He was a — he was just a great man. Now what do you do? How do you complain when he had nothing, no education? What do you say to it? But he sets this example of how you live your life.” Thomas said rediscovering Sowell, who is also Black, gave him permission to think differently from other Black leaders. He recognized Sowell’s message in his grandparents and the Catholic nuns who educated him. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER “Well, I think it’s something that Professor Sowell has been trying to stress, that a lot of the groundwork to being able to do difficult things, to achieve, are attitudes. And he talks about other groups,” Thomas said. “And that’s what attracted me initially to ‘Race and Economics,’ because if you go back and you look at ‘Race and Economics,’ he talks about attitude of self-reliance, of self-discipline, etc., how important those were. “Where did I first hear that? I heard it from my grandfather, the single greatest man I’ve ever known, my grandmother, a saintly woman, my nuns. Same thing. It’s the exact same thing,” Thomas continued.
Ex-counterterrorism chief advocates for Trump to ‘walk away from’ Iran war, yank troops out of Middle East
Former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent, who resigned in March due to his opposition to the Iran war, contends that President Donald Trump should remove U.S. combat troops from the Middle East. During an interview with Fox News Digital on Tuesday, he said Republicans and Democrats both support U.S. involvement in “endless foreign wars,” but that he wants to help create another “political coalition.” Kent, a military veteran and Gold Star husband whose late wife Shannon was killed in Syria in 2019, said the U.S. is “making our troops basically tripwires so that if the Iranians hit us, and we lose more troops, then we will have to double down” on the war. “This war is not in our national security interest,” he said. “Iran posed no imminent threat,” the retired Green Beret asserted, reiterating the same view he voiced in his mid-March resignation letter to the president less than a month after the start of the Iran war. “This war was prompted by the pressure that the Israelis were able to exert on the Trump administration and the influence that the, the Israelis have over our government.” CLICK HERE TO WATCH FOX NEWS DIGITAL’S FULL INTERVIEW WITH JOE KENT U.S. bases in the region have proven to be a liability, he said. “The Iranians were able to hit them with their ballistic missiles, with their drones. We had to evacuate our bases. We couldn’t even fight a war from our military bases. So the fundamental question is, what good is a military base that you can’t fight a war from? So really our bases and our presence in the region simply give the Iranians the ability to reach us and strike us whenever they want,” Kent asserted. EX-COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL JOE KENT CONTINUES CALLING FOR US MILITARY WITHDRAWAL FROM MIDDLE EAST More than five months have passed since Trump launched the war against Iran in conjunction with Israel. The U.S. military is currently conducting a blockade against Iran and it remains unclear when the conflict will conclude. “Right now, we’re at a place where President Trump could walk away from it. We haven’t recently taken any losses,” Kent said, adding that the president could withdraw U.S. troops from the region. “And I think he has the political power to basically sell it as a win or at least kind of a draw to the American people.” Kent said he would encourage those who agree with him to “call their congressmen, call their senators, call the White House and” tell them “that we want out of war right now.” In a statement to Fox News Digital on Wednesday, White House spokesman Davis Ingle targeted Kent. “President Trump has destroyed nearly all of Iran’s military capabilities and is crushing what’s left of its abysmal economy with the most powerful naval blockade in world history. In quitter Joe Kent’s twisted mind, that somehow means Iran is winning, which only proves he doesn’t know his a– from his elbow,” Ingle said in the statement. TRUMP CAN DECLARE IRAN VICTORY NOW AND WITHDRAW TROOPS, FORMER COUNTERTERROR OFFICIAL ARGUES Asked whether he has any interest in running for political office again, Kent, who has run unsuccessfully for Congress twice, told Fox News Digital that he does not “have any political aspirations.” But he said he wants to help construct a “political coalition” that conveys to Americans “that a reason why it seems like no matter who they vote for their, their quality of life is not improving,” is because no matter who occupies the Oval Office, much of “their time and our money… and our national will” is expended “on these foreign wars,” and “propping up an empire that does not benefit the American people.” Both parties “agree that we should be engaged in… endless foreign wars,” he said. When Americans choose between a Republican and Democrat, they end up with “the next war,” “more deficit,” “more debt,” and have “their civil liberties… encroached upon,” he said. TRUMP SAYS IRAN TALKS ARE DEAD, INSISTS STRAIT OF HORMUZ IS ‘OPEN AND OPERATING’ Kent said the U.S. cannot afford to dole out foreign aid, given the national debt, inflation and the condition of the economy — but if foreign aid is going to be distributed, he said it should go “to partners that actually benefit our nation’s security, not to countries that are gonna drag us further into more conflicts” which “actually end up costing America more in the long run.” He said the U.S. should not provide aid to nations “that are actively spying on us and running influence operations like the Israelis are.”
DeSantis suggests ally appointed to Palm Beach post could face death penalty over child sex abuse charges
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis this week suggested that a former ally he appointed as Palm Beach County clerk of court could face the death penalty if convicted of child sex abuse charges. Speaking with reporters on Tuesday, DeSantis said that Michael Caruso could be in for a “world of hurt” if convicted. Caruso, 67, who has been suspended from his clerk duties following his arrest on Tuesday, is accused of preying on a young boy more than half a dozen times since 2024. He faces charges of kidnapping, lewd or lascivious molestation, lewd or lascivious exhibition, luring or enticing a child, and child abuse causing mental injury. The victim detailed the alleged abuse to investigators in Orange County, according to local media reports. HAITIAN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT WHO FATALLY BEAT FLORIDA STORE CLERK WITH HAMMER WILL FACE THE DEATH PENALTY One of the more serious allegations involved a seven-day Royal Caribbean cruise in which Caruso allegedly separated the victim from his family and engaged in inappropriate acts. DeSantis suspended him from his post following the arrest. During a news conference, DeSantis noted that Caruso could face the death penalty if found guilty. “We’re the first state to reintroduce the death penalty for pedophiles,” DeSantis told reporters. “I’m proud that I signed that into law, and I’m proud that we have very strong penalties for people that abuse children.” “If he is convicted, he’s going to be in for a world of hurt,” the governor added. DeSantis noted that Caruso was a “clean vet” and “was well regarded in the community” at the time he was appointed. He said the decision to “yank him from that position” was an easy one. Florida lawmakers in April 2023 passed a law allowing prosecutors to seek the death penalty for those convicted of capital sexual battery of a child under the age of 12. 74-YEAR-OLD BECOMES FLORIDA’S OLDEST INMATE EXECUTED AFTER 1982 KILLING OF TEEN However, it is unclear whether Caruso could face the ultimate punishment, as the charges against him do not appear to qualify as capital sexual battery. “Based upon the current precedent, this law would pass constitutional muster,” said Mark Schlakman, who reviewed death penalty cases while working under former Florida Gov. Lawton Childs as assistant general counsel and serves as the senior program director for the Florida State University Center for the Advancement of Human Rights. Schlakman noted that one can’t predict what the U.S. Supreme Court will do if the law comes before the high court. “What would happen or will happen? Can’t tell you,” he said. As of Wednesday, Florida has carried out 13 executions, leading all other states. The most recent happened Tuesday when William Francis Silvia, 61, died by lethal injection for fatally shooting his estranged wife and wounding his mother-in-law.