NationalWatch

Malcolm Kenyatta, a Democratic National Committee vice chair, slammed Democratic Sen. John Fetterman in a post on X, labeling the senator “a mess.”

“Almost every day now my US Senator comes on this site to attack his constituents and many people who worked hard to elect him. Suggesting that they have ‘derangement syndrome’ for opposing this administration. You’re a mess @JohnFetterman,” Malcolm Kenyatta asserted in a post on X.

Fox News Digital reached out to Fetterman’s office on Monday.

FETTERMAN SAYS DEMOCRATS HAVE FORGOTTEN IRAN IS ‘THE REAL ENEMY’ AS WAR POWERS DEADLINE APPROACHES

Kenyatta, a Pennsylvania state representative, unsuccessfully ran in the 2022 Democratic U.S. Senate primary that Fetterman won.

Fetterman attended the Saturday night White House Correspondents Association dinner event where a suspected shooter was apprehended.

SEN JOHN FETTERMAN PLEDGES TO BE ‘LAST MAN STANDING’ IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN SUPPORT OF ISRAEL

“We were there front and center. That venue wasn’t built to accommodate an event with the line of succession for the U.S. government. After witnessing last night, drop the TDS and build the White House ballroom for events exactly like these,” Fetterman declared in a post on X.

“TDS” is a term that stands for “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” a phrase that is used to describe individuals who vehemently and irrationally oppose the president, no matter the situation.

FETTERMAN SAYS DEMOCRATS LACK LEADER, CLAIMS PARTY DRIVEN BY TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME

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Fetterman has said that TDS drives the Democratic Party, rather than any particular political leader.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani issued his first veto Friday, halting City Council bill Int. 175-B that would have forced the NYPD to publicize plans for handling protests near schools and other educational facilities.

It is the latest sign of Mamdani’s growing clash with Council leadership, deepening an early power struggle with Council Speaker Julie Menin over policing, public safety and free speech.

“The problem is how widely this bill defines an educational institution and the constitutional concerns it raises regarding New Yorkers’ fundamental right to protest,” Mamdani wrote in a statement. “As the bill is written, everywhere from universities to museums to teaching hospitals could face restrictions.”

“This could impact workers protesting ICE, or college students demanding their school divest from fossil fuels or demonstrating in support of Palestinian rights,” he continued.

ISRAELI COMEDIAN DROPS OUT OF PASSOVER EVENT AFTER LEARNING OF MAMDANI’S ATTENDANCE

“Int. 175-B is not a narrow public safety measure; it is a piece of legislation that has alarmed much of the labor movement, reproductive rights groups, and immigration advocates, among others, across this City. Nearly a dozen unions have raised the alarm about its impact on their ability to organize,” the mayor added.

Menin is going to work to whip up votes to override Mamdani on the bill, which finished just four votes shy of being veto-proof, passing last month 30-19.

“Ensuring students can enter and exit their schools without fear of harassment or intimidation should not be controversial,” Menin wrote in a statement. “This bill simply requires the NYPD to clearly outline how it will ensure safe access when there are threats of obstruction or physical injury, while fully protecting First Amendment rights.”

HOUSE REPUBLICANS DEMAND TRUMP ADMIN DENY MAMDANI FEDERAL SECURITY CLEARANCE

The bill, sponsored by Councilman Eric Dinowitz, would have required police to submit a protest-response plan to the mayor and speaker and post it online. It also would have required the police commissioner to provide a public point of contact for any effort to manage demonstrations near educational sites.

Dinowitz pushed back on claims that the bill threatened free speech.

“Should students be harassed on the way to school? I think the answer is no,” he told The New York Times.

MAMDANI RIPPED BY RIVALS FOR UNPOPULAR STANCE DURING FIERY NYC DEBATE: ‘YOU WON’T SUPPORT ISRAEL’

Opponents on the left said the measure would expand protest policing and chill protected speech.

The fight also exposed one of the biggest political fault lines at City Hall: how to respond to protests tied to Israel and the war in Gaza. The issue gained momentum after a heated protest outside a Manhattan synagogue last fall, where some demonstrators shouted, “Death to the IDF,” and, “Globalize the intifada.”

“Sending the message to New Yorkers that we have something to worry about with regard to protest by or near schools, libraries, teaching hospitals is absolutely the wrong message for these times, especially when the Trump regime is coming at protest with a sledgehammer,” New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman told the Times.

Jewish groups, including UJA-Federation of New York, blasted the veto, rebuking the “profound failure of City Hall to demonstrate to all New Yorkers that our safety is a priority.”

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“At a time when Jewish and other communities across our city are facing heightened threats, this legislation represented a crucial step toward ensuring that every school and community institution can be better protected,” the group wrote in a statement.

Mamdani and Menin — the city’s first Jewish speaker — had shown signs this week of trying to cool things down, including a Thursday dinner to discuss the pending veto and other issues, the Times reported. Friday’s decision suggested the détente may not last.

FIRST ON FOX: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis revealed the new redistricted congressional map for the state, which shows the GOP gaining an extra four seats.

Should the state legislature, which holds a Republican majority in both the state House and Senate, approve the redrawing, it would then return to DeSantis to be signed into law and would apply to the 2026 midterms.

“Florida got shortchanged in the 2020 Census, and we’ve been fighting for fair representation ever since,” DeSantis told Fox News Digital. “Our population has since grown dramatically, and we have moved from a Democrat majority to a 1.5 million Republican advantage. Drawing maps based on race, which is reflected in our current congressional districts, is unconstitutional and should be prohibited.”

“Our new map for 2026 makes good on my promise to conduct mid-decade redistricting, and it more fairly represents the makeup of Florida today,” DeSantis added.

REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR SIGNS INTO LAW TRUMP-BACKED CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING MAP

Currently, the Florida delegation to Congress is represented by 20 Republicans and seven Democrats, with an eighth Democratic seat vacant following the resignation of former Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick.

The redistricted map proposal comes after Virginia recently approved a constitutional amendment that would allow the state to redraw Virginia’s congressional districts and flip four GOP seats to the Democratic side. 

Virginia’s new proposed map was praised by Democrats, including Gov. Abigail Spanberger and former President Barack Obama.

GOP GOVERNOR NOMINEE PUSHES REDISTRICTING TO OUST STATE’S LONE HOUSE DEM

“Virginia voters have spoken, and tonight they approved a temporary measure to push back against a President who claims he is ‘entitled’ to more Republican seats in Congress,” Spanberger said in a statement. “Virginians watched other states go along with those demands without voter input — and we refused to let that stand. We responded the right way: at the ballot box.”

Ffity-one and a half percent of Virginia voters approved the amendment last week. Projections show 10 seats that likely will be won by Democrats, and just one by a Republican to represent the entirety of Virginia in Congress. 

Currently, Democrats hold six seats in Virginia while Republicans hold five.

NEW YORK, CALIFORNIA PROJECTED TO LOSE 6 HOUSE SEATS TO RED STATES AFTER 2030, CENSUS ANALYSIS SHOWS

A source familiar with DeSantis’ new map told Fox News Digital that the redistricting proposal isn’t as closely tied to Virginia’s recent sway toward Democratic seats, and that the decision is more related to the population increases.

“The governor has been planning this long before what took place in Virginia, and continues to be adamant that Floridians deserve fair representation that accurately reflects the state’s changing population and demographics,” the source told Fox News Digital. 

California implemented a similar strategy with the implementation of Prop 50, which temporarily allows the far-left Democratic assembly in the state to draw new congressional maps.

MARYLAND HOUSE APPROVES NEW CONGRESSIONAL MAP AS SENATE LEADERS WARN OF RISKS

The new California legislature-drawn maps show Democratic-leaning seats favoring four that were previously held by Republicans, with projections showing Democrats will hold as many as 48 seats in Congress while the GOP could have as few as four.

DeSantis faced opposition from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who is the most likely pick to serve as speaker of the House should Democrats take back the majority in November.

“Our message to Florida Republicans is F around and find out,” Jeffries said. “If they go down the road of a DeSantis dummymander, the Florida Republicans are gonna find themselves in the same situation as Texas Republicans, who are on the run right now.

VIRGINIA REPUBLICANS CHARGE ‘POWER GRAB’ AS DEMOCRAT WHO BACKED REDISTRICTING RUNS FOR CONGRESS

“Under no circumstances are Texas Republicans picking up five seats. They’ll be fortunate if they get two or three. While in California, we are going to get all five,” Jeffries added.

During a news conference in Florida, DeSantis responded to Jeffries’ comments with an invitation to come down to the Sunshine State and campaign for Democratic congressional candidates, implying the state’s Republican majority would hold strong in the midterm.

“Please. Be my guest. I will pay for you to come down to Florida to campaign,” DeSantis said. “I’ll put you up in the Florida governor’s mansion. We will take you fishing.”

REPUBLICANS APPEAL JUDGE’S DECISION REJECTING NEW YORK CITY GOP DISTRICT LINES

“We’ll do all this stuff. There’s nothing that could be better for Republicans in Florida than to see Jeffries, Hakeem Jeffries, everywhere around this state,” DeSantis added.

The redistricting fight has been bolstered across red and blue states as both parties attempt to take control of a Congress led by very slim majorities.

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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., encouraged Florida’s redistricting attempt, saying that the state “has the right to do so. 

“Florida has the right and the intention to do it. And my view is that they should,” Johnson said last week. 

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, posted on social media what appeared to be contradictory messages about the shooting over the weekend at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

In the shooting that unfolded at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C., gunman Cole Tomas Allen of California rushed through a security checkpoint with guns and knives. One Secret Service agent was shot in the chest but was saved by his bulletproof vest.

The Justice Department charged Allen with attempting to assassinate the president, transporting a firearm and ammunition in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.

DOJ CITES WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS DINNER SHOOTING IN PUSH TO DROP LAWSUIT AGAINST BALLROOM

President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other administration officials were in attendance, as were members of Congress and the media. Trump and other attendees were rushed off the stage, and the suspect was taken into custody.

Crockett, who lost in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate this year, has made multiple posts about the shooting since it happened, with some condemning political violence and others questioning whether assassination attempts against Trump were staged.

On her official X and Threads accounts, she said, “The political violence is unacceptable and must stop.”

“I am grateful that everyone attending tonight’s WHCD is safe,” the congresswoman added.

OHIO TEACHER FIRED AFTER VIDEO APPEARING TO LAMENT TRUMP SURVIVING WHCA DINNER SHOOTING

But on her Jasmine For US campaign Threads account, she posted, “Has there ever been a president have this many close ‘attempts’ on their life?”

“Maybe it’s lax gun laws, maybe it’s lack of mental health funding, or maybe it’s fake… who knows,” the post continued.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Crockett’s office for comment. A message was also left with the office of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., seeking comment.

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Trump began claiming that the incident showed the need for his proposed White House ballroom. Other administration officials and the president’s allies in Congress quickly began pushing for the ballroom as well.

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But the dinner was hosted by the White House Correspondents’ Association and not the White House, and it had more than twice as many guests as the proposed ballroom could hold.

A judge had, on multiple occasions, halted construction of the $400 million White House ballroom, ruling that it lacked congressional approval, while offering an exception for “actions strictly necessary to ensure the safety and security of the White House and its grounds.”

Iran’s foreign minister met with Russian President Vladimir Putin Monday as U.S.–Iran negotiations appeared to collapse, raising the risk of further escalation in the Strait of Hormuz — a critical global oil choke point.

Abbas Araghchi arrived in Moscow for talks with Putin as diplomatic efforts to end the conflict between Iran and Washington remain stalled.

“We see how courageously and heroically the people of Iran are fighting for their independence, for their sovereignty,” Putin said at the meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, according to Russian state news agencies.

“The significance of this conversation is hard to overestimate in terms of how the situation around Iran and in the Middle East is developing,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters earlier.

RUSSIA, CHINA VETO UN RESOLUTION AIMED AT REOPENING STRAIT OF HORMUZ, HOURS BEFORE TRUMP DEADLINE

The visit comes just days after Araghchi held talks with Pakistani mediators, where he said Iran had shared its position on ending the war but questioned whether the U.S. was “truly serious about diplomacy.”

President Donald Trump has pushed back sharply on that characterization, signaling Washington believes it holds the advantage.

The meeting comes at a pivotal moment, as tensions at sea intensify and scrutiny grows over Russia’s role following reports Moscow may have shared intelligence with Tehran during the conflict.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth warned in March that Russia “should not be involved” in the escalating war, as reports emerged suggesting Moscow may be providing intelligence to Iran on U.S. military positions in the region.

U.S. officials say they are closely tracking any potential intelligence-sharing between Russia and Iran, while downplaying the confirmed operational impact. Still, the possibility of Russian support — whether through intelligence, technology transfers or other assistance — has raised concerns that Moscow could indirectly influence the battlefield without committing forces.

Araghchi has acknowledged that Russia is assisting Iran “in many different directions,” though he has not publicly detailed the scope of that cooperation.

Russia has positioned itself as a potential mediator in the conflict, offering to help restore calm following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran — actions Moscow has publicly condemned.

The Kremlin also has proposed storing Iran’s enriched uranium as part of a potential effort to ease tensions, though the U.S. has not taken up the offer.

The outreach comes as ties between Moscow and Iran have deepened in recent years. Iran in 2025 finalized a 20-year strategic partnership agreement with Russia, which is building two additional nuclear reactors at Iran’s Bushehr facility — the country’s only nuclear power plant.

At the same time, Iran has supported Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, supplying Shahed drones that Moscow has used in strikes against Ukrainian targets.

“If they want to talk, all they have to do is call,” Trump said over the weekend, adding that the U.S. has “all the cards.”

Trump also has pointed to what he described as “tremendous infighting and confusion” within Iran’s leadership, arguing Iran is under internal pressure as the conflict drags on.

The president canceled a planned trip by special envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser Jared Kushner to Pakistan, where they had been expected to participate in mediated talks with Iranian officials.

Trump said the trip would have been a waste of time, arguing there was no reason for U.S. officials to make an 18-hour flight when negotiations could take place remotely.

Both sides have since traded blame for the breakdown in talks, with Iran accusing the U.S. of making “excessive demands,” while the Trump administration has insisted Iran must return to negotiations on U.S. terms.

Attempts at mediation, including efforts in Pakistan, have failed to produce progress, with both sides refusing to compromise on core issues such as Iran’s nuclear program and control of the Strait of Hormuz.

As diplomacy falters, the confrontation has increasingly shifted to the water.

The U.S. has enforced a naval blockade targeting Iranian shipping, while Iran has restricted and at times threatened traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, triggering a high-stakes standoff over one of the world’s most vital energy corridors.

Roughly one-fifth of global oil supply passes through the narrow waterway, making disruptions there a direct threat to global markets.

TRUMP SEEKS WARSHIPS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES TO HELP SECURE STRAIT OF HORMUZ

Oil prices already have risen as tensions escalate and shipping traffic declines amid uncertainty over whether the strait will remain fully open.

Iran has floated a potential off-ramp, proposing to reopen the strait if the U.S. lifts its blockade and agrees to defer nuclear negotiations — a framework the Trump administration has shown little willingness to accept.

At the same time, Iran’s outreach to Moscow is drawing renewed scrutiny over Russia’s role in the conflict.

Araghchi has acknowledged that Russia is assisting Iran “in many different directions,” though he has not publicly detailed the scope of that cooperation.

The meeting with Putin now signals Iran may be seeking to deepen that relationship as leverage — or as an alternative diplomatic channel — as direct talks with Washington falter.

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With both sides dug in and pressure building at sea, the conflict is increasingly defined by a three-way dynamic: stalled diplomacy, rising military risk in the Strait of Hormuz and the growing question of how far Russia is willing to align itself with Iran.

Analysts warn that without a breakthrough, the standoff risks sliding further toward a broader confrontation — with global economic consequences tied directly to the fate of the world’s most important oil transit route.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Iranian mission to the United Nations, the Russian embassy and the White House for comment.

FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration is stepping up its crackdown on fraud and “ghost students,” launching a real-time fraud detection tool for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), Fox News Digital learned.

“Instead of student aid and education grants going to students who deserve it, corrupt Democrats and the inept bureaucrat class of the Biden Administration allowed it to flow straight into the pockets of fraudsters for years,” a spokesperson for Vice President JD Vance, who President Donald Trump recently tapped as the administration’s fraud czar, told Fox News Digital.

The Department of Education launched a screening tool Monday morning directly into the FAFSA process that flags potentially high-risk applicants, requiring them to provide government-issued identification before accessing federal student aid, including Pell Grants and loans. 

The Education Department estimates its efforts to identify and deny aid to fraudulent students will save taxpayers over $1 billion during this year’s FAFSA cycle, with the tool already screening 50,000 applications as of Monday afternoon. 

READ: DR. OZ PUTS ALL 50 GOVERNORS ON NOTICE OVER BILLIONS LOST TO MEDICAID FRAUD

The new fraud detection efforts follow a surge in “ghost student” scams tied to loosened verification requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Department of Education.

Ghost students are a growing trend involving fabricated or stolen identities, often powered by AI bots or criminal networks using real Americans’ personal information, used to enroll in programs, trigger financial aid disbursements, and then disappear.

SBA FREEZES OVER 100,000 CALIFORNIA BORROWERS IN SWEEPING $9B PANDEMIC FRAUD CRACKDOWN

“Americans deserve education. Fraudsters deserve nothing,” a senior White House official told Fox News Digital.

Key verification safeguards were removed during the COVID-19 pandemic under the Biden administration, the Education Department reported, when less than 1% of students were required to verify their identity following their FAFSA submission.

“This new fraud detection tool will stop fraud at the start of the process, before money goes out the door, strengthening the integrity of our programs and expanding opportunity for students who depend on these resources to finance their postsecondary education,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon told Fox News Digital.

The announcement comes as Trump established the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, led by Vance, to combat fraud across federal programs.

UNDERPERFORMING DC SCHOOLS’ STAFF HAS GROWN 7 TIMES FASTER THAN ENROLLMENT: AUDIT

“Under the Vice President’s task force, student aid will go to students and students only,” the vice president’s spokesperson added.

The increased verification process follows the Trump administration uncovering more than $1 billion in student aid fraud last year, including stopping suspected bots and ghost students from obtaining taxpayer-funded loans.

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The administration also previously uncovered $90 million that was disbursed to suspected scammers in 2024, including $30 million in loans to dead people and more than $40 million disbursed to companies using bots disguised as fake students.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.

A handful of Democratic hopefuls are under scrutiny for comments made before the apparent third assassination attempt against President Donald Trump that appeared to support violence against Republicans.

Political rhetoric, particularly the kind that skews toward violent or aggressive imagery from Democrats, and its role in political violence have time and again come under the microscope during Trump’s second term in office.

After the apparent third assassination attempt against Trump over the weekend, in which alleged shooter Cole Allen was subdued by federal law enforcement during the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in Washington, D.C., the Senate’s campaign arm is putting a spotlight on aggressive comments three hopefuls, Graham Platner, Abdul El-Sayed and former Gov. Roy Cooper, made in the past.

REPUBLICANS RUSH TO GREEN LIGHT WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM FOLLOWING THIRD TRUMP ASSASSINATION SCARE

National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesperson Bernadette Breslin slammed Democratic candidates running for the Senate for not lowering the temperature, something they once called for, and for not condemning the shooting over the weekend.

“Today’s Democrats are beholden to a Trump-hating base that is dragging their party down a dangerous path,” Breslin told Fox News Digital. “Republicans have consistently made clear that political violence has no place in America, while Democrats’ silence is deafening.”

Calls to tone down the rhetoric reached a zenith after the assassination of political activist Charlie Kirk last year. But that moment has done little to quiet the back-and-forth, particularly on the campaign trail.

HOUSE GOP PUSHES BACK ON SENATE’S ‘SKINNY’ PLAN TO END RECORD-BREAKING DHS SHUTDOWN

Platner, who is running to unseat Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in a race that could determine control of the Senate, did little to tone down his speech on the heels of Kirk’s assassination.

“I don’t wanna beat Susan Collins, I want to trounce Susan Collins,” Platner said at the time during an interview with Meidas Touch. “I want to give the Republican Party a battering.”

Platner’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his past rhetoric or on whether he condemned the shooting.

Just a few weeks later, fellow progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who is locked in a contentious three-way Democratic primary vying for the seat held by outgoing Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., went after Republicans with heated rhetoric.

EXPERT WARNS DEMOCRATS RISK BACKLASH OVER FAILURE TO CONDEMN VIOLENT RHETORIC IN THEIR RANKS

He put a new spin on a phrase coined years ago by former first lady Michelle Obama during a Fight Oligarchy tour stop run by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., in Michigan.

“When they go low, we don’t go high,” El-Sayed said. “We take them to the mud and choke them out.”

El-Sayed did condemn the shooting in Washington, D.C., and said in a post on X that he was “relieved that no members of the administration, media, staff, or bystanders were hurt,” but his campaign did not comment on his past rhetoric against Republicans.

Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, who is running to flip retiring Sen. Thom Tillis’, R-N.C., seat in the upper chamber, blasted Trump as a “threat to democracy” and argued that “defeating him is imperative” during the 2024 presidential cycle.

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A spokesperson for his Senate bid told Fox News Digital that Cooper believed “that political violence of any kind is unacceptable, and he’s grateful to the brave law enforcement members who worked to keep the president and attendees safe on Saturday evening.”

Meanwhile, the White House is pinning the blame for the weekend shooting on Democrats’ far-left base.

“The left-wing cult of hatred against the president and all of those who support him and work for him has gotten multiple people hurt and killed, and it almost did so again this weekend,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday.

California’s “First Partner,” Jennifer Siebel Newsom, ripped into President Donald Trump after his contentious “60 Minutes” interview with the female host, slamming the president for “speak[ing] to a woman journalist with that level of contempt.”

The interview included a contentious back-and-forth between Trump and Norah O’Donnell over her questions about the shooter from this past weekend’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, with President Trump calling O’Donnell a “disgrace” and “disgraceful” amid the interview.

Trump’s comments came after O’Donnell was reading excerpts from the shooter’s alleged manifesto, which described the president as a “rapist,” “pedophile” and “traitor,” O’Donnell recounted during her talk with the president Sunday evening.

“My family and I watched the 60 Minutes interview with Donald Trump and Norah O’Donnell last night, and we were shocked. Seeing a president speak to a woman journalist with that level of contempt — and a clear allergy to facts — is disturbing, though at this point not unexpected given his pattern of behavior,” California Governor Gavin Newsom’s wife said in a scathing X post on Monday.

TRUMP REVEALS A ‘BIG POLITICIAN ON THE OTHER SIDE’ ASKED TO HUG HIM AFTER DINNER SHOOTING

“But that is the problem,” she continued. “Because when that level of disrespect from the highest office in the country repeats itself, it starts to trickle down into our culture and define what power looks like, shaping how boys and plenty of men see women and girls and what they come to accept as normal behavior.”

Fox News digital reached out to the White House and to representatives for Governor Newsom and his wife, but did not receive a response in time for publication.

Trump’s “60 Minutes interview came Sunday evening after authorities identified the suspect as 31-year-old Cole Allen, of Torrance, Calif. Authorities indicated Allen had prepared a manifesto outlining his intent, which included anti-Trump and anti-Christian rhetoric on social media. O’Donnell, during the interview, read alleged portions of the document that alluded to concerns about Trump being a sexual abuser and a traitor, leading to a defensive reaction from Trump.

“I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would because you’re horrible people,” Trump answered. “Horrible people. Yeah, he did write that. I’m not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody.”

UNEARTHED CLIP EXPOSES SHOCKING CLAIM BY NEWSOM’S WIFE ABOUT INMATES AT VIOLENT CALIFORNIA PRISON

“Do you think he was referring to you?” O’Donnell asked.

“I’m not a pedophile. You read that crap from some sick person? I got associated with all…stuff that has nothing to do with me,” Trump continued. “I was totally exonerated. Your friends on the other side of the plate are the ones that were involved with, let’s say, Epstein or other things. But I said to myself, ‘You know, I’ll do this interview and they’ll probably…’ I read the manifesto. You know, he’s a sick person. But you should be ashamed of yourself reading that because I’m not any of those things.”

O’Donnell interrupted to argue that she was quoting the alleged gunman’s words, but Trump continued to call her “disgraceful.”

“You shouldn’t be reading that on ’60 Minutes.’ You’re a disgrace. But go ahead. Let’s finish the interview,” Trump said.

NEWSOM TRIES TO GIVE TRUMP THE BIDEN TREATMENT, SAYS HE’S ‘NOT ALL THERE’

Trump’s “disgrace” comments garnered widespread attention online, including from Siebel Newsom, who said after the interview that the “culture of misogyny” exhibited by Trump “is on all of us, and it has to end.”

“Add in rhetoric rooted in political division, amplified by a digital ecosystem that rewards outrage and misinformation, and this cultural norm of hate, othering, and misogyny becomes pervasive,” Siebel Newsom continued. “Behavior that should be challenged gets normalized; what should raise concern is amplified and cheered on. It’s no wonder we have a culture that normalizes dominance and aggression toward women and girls, which not only silences them but also leads to internalized misogyny in others.”

However, conservatives rallied around Trump.

“What’s really disgusting about this clip is Norah O’Donnell’s fake innocent surprise: ‘oh you think he was referring to you?’ She knows perfectly well that every day some fellow Democrat like Ted Lieu calls Trump a pedophile and rapist,” said New York Post columnist Miranda Devine in response to pushback on Trump’s interview comments.

“Their white supremacy lies ran out of steam so this is the new hoax. Rich from a party that protects illegal alien child molesters.”

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“Norah O’Donnell may have reached the low point in disgusting and inhumane demagoguery disguised as journalism,” added former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich. “The idea that you would take the vicious dishonest and disgusting words of a would be killer who had been blocked by the Secret Service but would otherwise have killed a lot of people and you would dignify them by putting them on the air and asking the President of the United States to comment is about as destructive as anything a major reporter has done in a long time.”

Gingrich said O’Donnell “should be fired for demeaning her entire profession and being the mouthpiece of a would-be killer.”

There’s no such thing as hazing in Congress.

You won’t find “fraternity row,” with each house festooned with a trifecta of deltas, gammas and epsilons.

No drinking games here.

At least not officially.

WHCD SHOOTING SHOWS DEMS ARE ‘PLAYING’ WITH AMERICANS’ SAFETY BY WITHHOLDING DHS FUNDING, GOP LAWMAKER SAYS

But get ready for something on Capitol Hill with which many Greek pledges are all too familiar:

“I’m going to say next week is hell week,” warned Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, last Thursday. “Next week is going to be hell week.’

And this was all before the harrowing episode Saturday night at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington.

HOUSE GOP PUSHES BACK ON SENATE’S ‘SKINNY’ PLAN TO END RECORD-BREAKING DHS SHUTDOWN

To wit about the week facing Capitol Hill:

House Republicans face a devil of a week. They must get on the same page as the Senate to pass a budget framework – to prospectively fund ICE and the Border Patrol. FISA, the nation’s controversial spy program expires early Friday morning. That’s to say nothing of trying to pass the farm bill.

If they don’t get all of this done, “Dean Wormer” (of Animal House fame) might just place House Republicans on “double secret probation” before the week is through.

So let’s examine what got House Republicans in this bind.

Let’s start at 3:36 a.m. last Thursday.

We begin there, because in the past several weeks, the most important moments in Congress have unfolded at 2:12 on a Friday morning, 2:16 on a Friday morning and now 3:36 on a Thursday morning.

3:36 a.m. is when the Senate approved a budget framework to possibly fund ICE and CBP. Republicans are running a special legislative gambit called “reconciliation” to bypass a filibuster. That’s because Democrats won’t help. They’ve never secured the reforms they need to support ICE. So Republicans are going it alone.

“We’re trying to use the reconciliation process to get money to secure the border,” said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

Democrats have balked about funding ICE since the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis over the winter.

“They want to give $140 billion for ICE and Border Patrol without any reforms,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “(They’re) adding $140 billion to an agency that nobody – well, two groups, Border Patrol and ICE – that nobody respects in this country.”

That prompted an explosive response from Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin during an appearance on Fox.

“It makes my ears red. It takes a lot to get me upset. But Chuck Schumer, no one respects you. The definition of a lying scumbag politician. That is you,” said Mullin of his former Senate colleague.

ICE SHUTDOWN FIGHT MIGHT RESTRICT FEMA, COAST GUARD TO ‘LIFE-THREATENING’ EMERGENCIES

Perhaps this why the white-hot rhetoric on both sides may have contributed to the mayhem of Saturday night.

Mullin says emergency DHS money is about to expire. So pressure is intensifying on the House to align with the Senate with no changes to the outline adopted by the Senate.

“It has to be clean, because it’s got to be quick,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. “The last paychecks go out at the end of this month.”

But remember, this is just the House lining up with the Senate on a blueprint to address the funding lapse at ICE and CBP. The assassination attempt at the White House dinner only amplified the need to fund DHS. And fast. However, Johnson refused to pick up a bill to fund everything else at DHS which the Senate passed twice. Then Johnson agreed to pass the bill after dissing it. But the House has never synced up.

Johnson says the Senate funding package – not the reconciliation framework – “has some problematic language” because it was “haphazardly drafted.”

And now Johnson is suggesting there may be yet another DHS funding bill in the works.

That may be inevitable, considering the chaos of the weekend.

REPUBLICANS EYE ENDING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWNS FOREVER OVER FEARS DEMS WILL DO IT AGAIN

Budget reconciliation takes a while.

“Reconciliation is still a little ways off,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. “They’re running out of runway to fund a lot of those agencies.”

But here’s the other problem with reconciliation: Many conservatives insist on add-ons.

“We should be taking a broader approach to reconciliation,” said Rep. Chip Roy R-Texas.

Here’s what they’re mulling: Maybe money to cover the cost of the war in Iran. Perhaps a suspension of the federal gasoline tax. Additional tax cuts. You name it.

Many on the right demand the inclusion of the SAVE America Act. The bill requires proof of citizenship in order to vote.

“I think you’d see a lot more folks on our side jump on board with it if they had that,” said Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., about the SAVE America Act.

However, even advocates of the SAVE America Act doubt the GOP can stuff that into a Senate bill which must be fiscal in nature. Many demand an additional, expansive reconciliation bill which is not limited to DHS.

“This is probably the only reconciliation we’re going to have before the break. That’s a poor excuse for the work we’re doing up here,” complained Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C. “One bill with that limited amount.”

“People probably intend to do a third reconciliation bill. But you’re not looking at Bambi’s baby brother here,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. “This is the last train leaving the station.”

All aboard?

SENATE TAKES FIRST STEP TO FUND ICE, BORDER PATROL IN BID TO CUT DEMS OUT OF THE FUNDING PROCESS

For the moment, President Trump is still focused on the reconciliation outline.

“We need all Republicans to join together and support this Budget Blueprint, which will allow us to bypass Democrat obstruction in the Senate, and fund Immigration Enforcement with only Republican Votes. The Senate passed this Blueprint last week on Thursday morning, and now, House Republicans must UNIFY, and pass the same Blueprint to get the Bill done,” wrote the President on Truth Social.

The President added that he wants a “FAST and FOCUSED” bill by June 1.

That’s nearly five weeks from now.

Hence the challenge of the week.

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“This is so difficult. Up here, we can’t agree with much,” fumed Nehls.

But here’s a little secret. Every week on Capitol Hill in recent memory has morphed into a political inferno. A failed exercise to fund the government which lingered since last summer. Fights over the Epstein files. Resignations amid dark political scandals. Efforts to expel other lawmakers. You name it.

“If you’re going through hell, keep going,” said Winston Churchill.

Which is maybe why Congress goes through the same hellish, legislative landscape nearly every week.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom hopes that Florida’s redistricting plan brings with it the end of the “saga” that has led states across the country to try to find untapped partisan advantages in redrawn congressional boundries.

“It’s a predictable outcome, but hopefully it’ll be the end of this era and this saga,” Newsom told Fox News Digital.

“Trump got beat at his own game. It was a terrible mistake he made for the Republican Party. A lot of good Republicans are going to be districted out,” Newsom continued. “They’re going to serve as collateral damage.”

His comments underscore confidence from Democrats that the redistricting push will play into their hands come the November midterms — despite a numbers game that would tip the scales towards Republicans if Florida carries out proposed changes of its own.

TRUMP HAILS TEXAS REDISTRICTING APPROVAL THAT COULD ADD FIVE GOP CONGRESSIONAL SEATS NATIONWIDE

A Republican National Committee spokesperson fired back at Newsom’s comments, telling Fox News Digital that “Gavin Newsom is attempting to spin fantasies about a ‘blue wave’ after Democrats dumped tens of millions into a gerrymandering scheme to barely crawl across the finish line with a three-point margin in a state Abigail Spanberger won by 15.”

“Meanwhile, California voters are fed up and fleeing in droves due to Gavin Newsom’s deranged quest to drive his state into the ground by sending taxpayer dollars to give sex change surgeries to illegal aliens,” RNC National Press Secretary, Kiersten Pels, continued.

Newsom’s confidence was echoed by Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin.

“Republicans decided to start this and we’re going to finish this for them, right?” Martin said, referring to the first redistricting effort in 2025, spearheaded by Republicans in Texas.

“We’re going to meet them every step of the way. We’re not bringing a pencil to a knife fight anymore,” Martin said.

So far, California, Missouri, North Carolina, Texas, Utah, Ohio and Virginia have adopted new congressional maps, electing to re-shuffle districts ahead of the 2030 census — the time at which state lawmakers would normally reevaluate areas of representation.

REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR SIGNS INTO LAW TRUMP-BACKED CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING MAP

Republicans expect to gain up to nine seats across redistricting efforts in Ohio, North Carolina, Missouri and Texas.

Democrats hope to net nine of their own from changes in California, Virginia and Utah.

Florida is looking to change the calculus by creating as many as four additional Republican-leaning districts by stretching historically Democratic areas over Republican strongholds.

The change would require the support of Florida’s state legislature, which currently holds a Republican majority in the state House and Senate.

Newsom believes Republicans are creating a liability for themselves by stretching their support too thin in some areas.

VIRGINIA DEM ADMITS REDISTRICTING PUSH AIMS TO ‘STOP TRUMP’, NOT ABOUT ‘FAIRNESS’

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“They’re going to put a lot at risk, and I think it’s going to be a big blue wave election,” Newsom said. “So, you know, this thing could be — I’m not here to give DeSantis advice on this — it could be a bad mistake.”

Lawmakers are expected to consider the maps in a special session that begins on Tuesday.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is drawing scrutiny for cozying up to Chinese AI governance officials while championing policies that critics say would hamper America’s ability to compete with Beijing in the global artificial intelligence arms race.

Sanders is expected to be speaking at a panel discussion on Capitol Hill Wednesday alongside Xue Lan, a professor at the CCP-funded Tsinghua University and chairman of the Ministry of Science and Technology-backed New Generation Artificial Intelligence Governance Professional Committee. 

In attendance will also be Zeng Yi, who is the Dean of the Beijing Institute of AI Safety and Governance and is also tied to the New Generation Artificial Intelligence Governance Professional Committee chaired by Lan. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Max Tegmark, who will also be speaking at the event, indicated the event will focus on “AI existential risk and international cooperation.”

Critics from the White House, the data center industry, and major tech-policy think tanks have argued Sanders is proposing policies that would slow the construction of the very infrastructure needed to keep the United States ahead in the race for AI dominance. Now, Sanders is facing more heat for holding an event on Capitol Hill with two Chinese Ministry of Science-linked officials who support China’s preferred AI governance model.

CHINA RACES AHEAD ON AI —TRUMP WARNS AMERICA CAN’T REGULATE ITSELF INTO DEFEAT

“I think Senator Sanders’ concerns about AI are overstated, but I respect them. We should be asking questions about child safety, community impact, and economic displacement,” China policy expert at the Hudson Institute, Michael Sobolik, said. “What we shouldn’t do is partner with foreign adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party in those discussions.”

Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., pointed out that Tsinghua University is “one of China’s top universities with direct ties to the Chinese Communist Party.”

“This is the same China that just blocked Meta’s $2 billion deal to acquire Manus AI, a startup whose founders had already moved to Singapore and whose deal was already done and closed. Beijing decided it did not matter. They stepped in, killed the deal, and restricted the founders from leaving the country while it was under review,” Harrigan wrote in a Monday post on X ahead of the slated panel discussion on Capitol Hill. 

“China is aggressively locking down their most powerful AI assets and shutting American companies out,” he continued. “Bernie Sanders wants to hand them a seat at the table to help decide how America handles the same technology.”

“Holy sh–,” Ruthless Podcast co-host Comfortably Smug posted on X.

“It’s a bit on the nose that communist Bernie Sanders is looking to the Chinese Communist Party for their ‘leadership’ on AI,” conservative commentator Steve Guest posted on X.

Fox News Digital reached out to Sanders’ office but did not receive a response in time for publication.

AI TECHNOLOGY RACE IS NEW ‘COLD WAR’ BETWEEN US AND CHINA THAT COULD HAVE DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES: REPORT

In March, Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez unveiled the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act, which would impose an immediate federal ban on the construction or upgrading of new AI data centers until Congress passes a broader regulatory framework. Sanders’ own office said the bill is designed to “slow down the development of AI,” and Sanders has separately argued that AI threatens jobs, privacy, democracy, the environment and “maybe the human race.”

Even Democrats have balked at the policy proposal with Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., calling the moratorium “idiocy” at an artificial intelligence summit in D.C. last month, warning it would give China an edge in the AI race.

Cy McNeill, the senior director of federal affairs at the Data Center Coalition, a pro-industry group, said a freeze would risk “rationing access to digital services,” impair U.S. competitiveness and hit Americans’ daily lives. The Center for Data Innovation, a tech-policy think tank, similarly argued the bill relies on “well-worn anxieties” and does not justify halting data-center construction.

US TARGETS CHINESE ROBOTS OVER SECURITY FEARS

Lan, as chair of China’s national expert committee for AI governance, and Li, who told TIME last year that he is “highly involved in policymaking through national governance committees” in China, both have championed governance models that would expand China’s role in writing global AI rules that clash with a freer, more competition-driven U.S. strategy.

Yi has argued that China and the world need mandatory safety and ethics frameworks and more international cooperation, according to comments he made to TIME. He helped develop UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Ethics of AI, the first-ever global standard on AI ethics.

Lan, meanwhile, helped establish a CCP-backed national AI safety body to help “bridge” the gap between technical experts and policymakers, according to TIME.

“China has chosen the path of top-down government control to drive its AI industry. While this strategy affords the CCP some advantages, the American model of bottom-up, free-market capitalism has long been the engine of innovation for the world, and it is more efficient in the long run,” House Energy and Commerce Chairman Brett Guthrie wrote in a February policy review for the Hatch Center.

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“The stakes couldn’t be higher,” Guthrie continues. “China already deploys next-generation technologies to advance many of the regime’s most sinister goals focused on enhancing the power of its Orwellian surveillance state utilizing advanced computing. Even more concerning to the American public is the threat of an adversary’s technology stack serving as the building blocks for future advancements or as a strategic chokehold.”

“The way to beat China in the AI race is to outrace them in innovation, not saddle AI developers with European-style regulations,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has also said. Growth and development of new AI technologies will bolster our national security, create new jobs, and stimulate economic growth”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., doubled down on his inflammatory rhetoric toward Republicans during a fiery news conference Monday, telling critics, “I don’t give a damn.”

“I stand by it,” Jeffries told reporters, when asked about his vow last week to unleash “maximum warfare” on the GOP to counter the party’s redistricting efforts ahead of November’s midterm elections. “You can continue to criticize me for it. I don’t give a damn about your criticism.”

Jeffries’ messaging sparked backlash from Republicans following the third apparent assassination attempt on President Donald Trump’s life at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner Saturday.

The top Democrat defended his choice of words by pointing to a report from The New York Times last year in which an anonymous White House staffer used the same phrase to threaten Democrats.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES’ CALL TO FIGHT TRUMP AGENDA ‘IN THE STREETS’ SPARKS BACKLASH AS A ‘MAXINE WATERS MOMENT’

“That phrase ‘maximum warfare everywhere, all the time’ came from the White House in the summer of 2025, when they started this redistricting battle, and now they’re big mad,” Jeffries continued. “Why? Because Democrats have decided to finish it. Get lost.”

The top Democrat insisted that he denounced political violence in all of its forms.

Jeffries also had harsh words for White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who he labeled a “disgrace” and a “stone-cold liar” after she criticized Democrats’ rhetoric that frequently labels Trump as an existential threat.

“This so-called White House press secretary wants to lecture America and lecture us about civility. Get lost,” Jeffries said. “Clean up your own house before you have anything to say to us about the language that we use.”

DEM LEADER CONDEMNS THANKSGIVING BOMB THREATS AGAINST LIBERAL LAWMAKERS AFTER TEAM TRUMP TARGETED

Leavitt hammered top Democrats’ embrace of hostile messaging toward Trump during a news conference Monday.

“This hateful, constant and violent rhetoric directed at President Trump, day after day after day for 11 years, has helped to legitimize this violence and bring us to this dark moment,” Leavitt said.

“When you have mentally disturbed individuals across the country who are listening to this crazed rhetoric about the president day after day after day, it inspires them to do crazy things,” she added.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) sharply criticized Jeffries’ defense of his comments.

“Democrats are playing with fire and pretending they don’t smell the smoke,” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said in a statement. “If they can’t bring themselves to put an end to this kind of rhetoric, it proves they’ll do anything to appease their far-left base.”

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Jeffries on Monday also blasted a proposed new congressional map that Florida’s Republican legislature is expected to pass in the coming days that is aimed at erasing Democrats’ gains in Virginia, where voters approved a gerrymander targeting four Republican-held seats last week. 

“The so-called map, which is a DeSantis dummymander actually, is blatantly unconstitutional,” Jeffries said. “Florida is not going to make a meaningful difference as it relates to their efforts to rig the midterm elections. That effort has failed.”

EXCLUSIVE: Heiress of the Gucci family and founder of the purpose-driven luxury brand AGCF, for Alexandra Gucci Creative Framework, Alexandra Gucci Zarini has launched a new handbag for Mother’s Day, designed in support of first lady Melania Trump’s Fostering the Future initiative, Fox News Digital has learned.

The handbag is a limited edition of Zarini’s “UNITY Bag,” which she launched in December 2025. 

That bag was the first dedicated to supporting the first lady’s Fostering the Future initiative, which provides scholarships and educational opportunities for children in the foster-care community. That purse sold out within one week of launch.

GUCCI HEIRESS LAUNCHES NEW ‘UNITY’ HANDBAG WITH PROCEEDS BENEFITING MELANIA TRUMP’S ‘FOSTERING THE FUTURE’

The Mother’s Day edition Bag will directly support Fostering the Future initiatives, funding scholarships and opportunities for foster children.

Zarini’s AGCF, a U.S.-based luxury accessories brand with a mission to protect and empower children, will donate 20% of all proceeds from the special edition “UNITY Bag” to benefit Fostering the Future.

AGCF says protecting the most vulnerable children is “in its truest sense, an act of collective motherhood.”

“Motherhood is one of the most powerful forces for good in the world,” Zarini told Fox News Digital. “This special edition is dedicated to every woman who carries a child in her heart — whether by birth, by choice, or by the extraordinary grace of fostering.”

FIRST LADY MELANIA TRUMP SCORES WIN FOR AMERICA’S FOSTER YOUTH WITH $25M INVESTMENT

“Some of us find our mothers. Some of us become them for others,” Zarini continued. “And some of us learn that family is something you have to build yourself, from love that had nowhere else to go.”

She added: “It is an honor to celebrate the mothers and mother figures who give their unconditional love and devotion to their children with this special edition.”

Like every Unity Bag, the Mother’s Day edition bears AGCF’s signature gold oval plaque, hand-stitched into the interior and engraved with its unique edition number, which the company says is a “hallmark of authenticity and lasting collectability.”

Zarini’s first Unity Bag, which Fox News Digital exclusively reported on in December 2025, was a tribute to Fostering the Future, with Zarini saying the initiative is “the purest expression of everything AGCF stands for.” 

“Giving back to protect and empower vulnerable children is the highest form of luxury — it is the heart of our brand and AGCF’s reason for being,” Zarini told Fox News Digital in December 2025. 

Zarini, during that interview, praised the first lady.

“I have always admired her quiet yet unwavering devotion to children—especially the foster youth who are so often overlooked,” Zarini told Fox News Digital. “Her vision for Fostering the Future is truly inspiring, and it is an extraordinary honor to support her initiative.”

President Donald Trump, alongside the first lady, in March signed the Fostering the Future executive order, which secures commitments for new educational and employment pathways for youth transitioning out of foster care.

MELANIA TRUMP CHALLENGES CONGRESS TO MAKE HER FOSTER CARE EXECUTIVE ORDER PERMANENT LAW: ‘THEIR BIRTHRIGHT’

The first lady in September 2025 also launched Fostering the Future Together — a global coalition of nations committed to enhancing the well-being of children through the promotion of education, innovation and technology.

AGCF told Fox News Digital that the “UNITY Bag” carries a “quiet yet powerful message of hope and shared vision: that we must come together — in unity for our children — to protect and uplift them toward a brighter future.”

The purse is available exclusively at AGCF.com and at the AGCF Boutique on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California. The purse retails for $2,800. 

Zarini created AGCF in 2020, and her nonprofit Alexandra Gucci Children’s Foundation, to raise awareness about child abuse.

Zarini, in 2025, won a civil lawsuit against her former stepfather who sexually abused her beginning when she was 6 years old and through early adulthood.

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“Alexandra’s own childhood story drives her personal commitment to protecting children has shaped her vision of building a brand that transcends exquisite luxury fashion, championing meaningful social change,” AGCF said.

AGCF donates 20% of all of its profits to causes related to empowering and protecting children. 

The company aims to create “sophisticated and enduring pieces that combine ethical artisanal craftsmanship with contemporary vision.”

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, called on Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico to “condemn” his pastor’s Sunday sermon, claiming that Talarico’s pastor “made light” of the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner this past Saturday.

Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian, has centered his campaign and progressive policies — which include anti-ICE and open borders messaging — on his faith background. At the same time, he has railed against Christian nationalism and called for the separation of church and state.

“James Talarico claims to be campaigning on love and kindness, but his Pastor made light of an assassination attempt on the President of the United States in Washington, DC this weekend where a Secret Service officer was seriously injured,” Cornyn posted on X. “All Texans should be outraged and Talarico must condemn it.”

On Sunday, Talarico’s minister, Dr. Jim Rigby, mentioned the assassination attempt during his sermon, saying that he knows “a lot of people have mixed feelings” about the third attempt on Trump’s life. His comment garnered light laughter from the audience.

WATCH: DEMS AND REPUBLICANS CLASH ON HOUSE FLOOR FOLLOWING MOMENT OF SILENCE FOR CHARLIE KIRK

“But it’s really important that if we’re going to be the healing agents of the world to realize that violence is not going to get rid of the problem we have,” Rigby said.

He went on to say that the Confederacy is the “heart of the MAGA movement” and that it’s a “fascistic movement.”

The White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday was cut short after an armed gunman rushed the doors leading to the ballroom at the Washington Hilton Hotel. He fired several shots before being apprehended by law enforcement.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said that the alleged attempted assassin Cole Thomas Allen, 31, was “set out to target folks that work in the administration, likely including the president,” according to a preliminary review of evidence.

CROCKETT DISMISSES CRITICS WHO THINK ‘HITLER’ AND ‘FASCIST’ COMPARISONS CONTRIBUTE TO POLITICAL VIOLENCE

Fox News Digital reached out to Rigby and Talarico for comment.

National Republican Senate Committee Regional Press Secretary Samantha Cantrell slammed Talarico’s silence.

“It’s hard to believe James Talarico is serious about condemning political violence while he stands by and helps his pastor radicalize an entire congregation,” Cantrell said.

Republican National Committee spokesman Zach Kraft called Talarico’s “self-proclaimed mentor’s” remark “disgusting.”

DEMOCRAT RISING STAR CALLED OUT FOR ‘CREEPY’ COMMENT ABOUT TRANSGENDER CHILDREN

“But it is nothing new,” Kraft said. “Democrats have fanned the flames of radical left-wing violence for years and gleefully put targets on the back of President Trump, Charlie Kirk and conservatives, and conservatives across America. To Talarico and Democrats, murder is simply the cost of doing business in their conquest for power.” 

Rigby is a vocal supporter of leftist causes. The Washington Examiner reported in March that Rigby spoke at a pro-Palestinian protest in 2009.

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“If there is to be hope for humankind, then we must all realize that the true jihad is the struggle for peace and justice,” Rigby said during his speech.

In the Islamic faith, jihad is understood by some to be an inner struggle meant to bring an individual closer to God, but the term has been invoked by terrorists and Islamic extremists to commit acts of violence in broader political contexts.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., broke party lines again after the close call at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner this weekend, siding with President Donald Trump’s push to build a ballroom at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Fetterman, who has repeatedly shown he is willing to defy his party, posted on X that he was “there front and center” at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner when the shooting occurred Saturday night. The alleged shooter, 31-year-old California resident Cole Allen, broke through multiple layers of Secret Service security at the Washington Hilton and nearly opened fire in a room where the president, vice president and other key administration and federal officials were present.

“After witnessing last night,” Fetterman called for people to “drop the TDS [Trump derangement syndrome] and build the White House ballroom.”

He said the purpose of the ballroom would be to host events “exactly like these.”

HOW DID SUSPECTED GUNMAN GET WEAPONS INTO CORRESPONDENTS’ DINNER? EX-DETECTIVE QUESTIONS SECURITY FAILURES

“We were there front and center,” he wrote. “That venue wasn’t built to accommodate an event with the line of succession for the U.S. government.”

Though construction is continuing on the $400 million privately funded White House ballroom, the project is currently bogged down in a legal challenge by the nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP). After the shooting, the Justice Department pressed NTHP to drop its lawsuit, citing concerns about the safety and security of the president and other key personnel.

“[Y]our lawsuit puts the lives of the president, his family, and his staff at grave risk,” Brett Shumate, assistant attorney general in DOJ’s Civil Division, wrote in a Sunday letter to opposing counsel, shared on X by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

“Enough is enough,” Shumate continued. “Your client should voluntarily dismiss this frivolous lawsuit today in light of last night’s assassination attempt on President Trump.”

“As history proves, that venue is demonstrably unsafe for the President of the United States because its size presents extraordinary security challenges for the Secret Service.

“[Saturday’s] assassination attempt on President Trump proves, yet again, that the White House ballroom is essential for the safety and security of the President, his family, his cabinet, and his staff.”

SECURITY UNDER SCRUTINY AS WHCD ATTENDEES CITE INCONSISTENT SCREENING BEFORE SHOOTING

Raquel Debono, a conservative influencer who attended the dinner, told Fox News Digital, “No ballroom no matter how grand, matters if we can’t keep people safe first.”

“Everyone’s debating architecture while a shooter got into what should have been the most heavily secured event in America – it’s a ridiculous distraction,” said Debono. “The security failures are the story. It was too easy to get in.”

Debono shared on X that she left the dinner early prior to the shooting due to an “uneasy feeling.” She noted that their bags were not checked and that people were “shoved through doors.”

Trump himself pointed to the incident as evidence that the hotel venue was “not a particularly secure building,” arguing that a new White House ballroom — equipped with features like bulletproof materials — would offer a safer alternative.

“It’s really what you need,” Trump said on Fox News on Sunday. “You can’t have a thousand [hotel] rooms or whatever it is, I mean, it’s a very big hotel, on top of the ballroom. And people come down the elevator, and they’re right next to the ballroom.”

WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS’ DINNER SHOOTING: TIMELINE TRACES HOW SUSPECT’S ALLEGED CROSS-COUNTRY PLAN UNFOLDED

Though the shooting prompted widespread calls for a White House ballroom, Fetterman stood out as a lone Democrat willing to join in on the push.

On Sunday, Fetterman admitted on CNN, “I never really had a strong opinion on the ballroom to be honest, but this clearly demonstrated [the need].”

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He emphasized the need to ensure not only the president’s protection but also that of those in the line of succession, should anything happen to the president.

“I just walked away from that still kind of stunned how lucky we were that no one was seriously hurt,” said Fetterman. “And when we have the significant majority of our leadership in a very small, clustered area, it could have been much more catastrophic for our nation that day.”

Fox News Digital’s Eric Mack and Amanda Macias contributed to this report.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, delaying her maternity leave after Saturday’s shooting at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner, praised the “fearless” leadership of President Donald Trump blaming a “left-wing cult of hatred” for political violence.

“Those who constantly falsely label and slander the president as a fascist, as a threat to democracy, and compare him to Hitler to score political points, are fueling this kind of violence,” Leavitt told reporters Monday at the White House. “The left wing cult of hatred against the president and all of those who support him and work for him has gotten multiple people hurt and killed, and it almost did so again this weekend.”

This is breaking news. Check back for more updates.

The Virginia Supreme Court heard arguments Monday on a Republican challenge to a congressional redistricting plan approved by voters last week that could help Democrats win as many as four additional U.S. House seats and turn a 6-5 delegate edge to 10-1.

“The proposed amendment is invalid for several reasons, any one of which is sufficient to invalidate the proposed amendment and require invalidation of the vote,” Thomas McCarthy, lawyer for the Republican challenge, concluded in the hour-long hearing on Monday.

The Republicans contend that the Democrat-led General Assembly violated procedural requirements by placing a constitutional amendment before voters to authorize mid-decade redistricting. If the court agrees that lawmakers broke the rules, it could invalidate the amendment and render last week’s statewide vote meaningless.

“It’s often said ours is a government of laws, not of men,” McCarthy continued. “Sadly, that’s not the case if a bare partisan majority can circumvent the constitutional amendment process and undermine the rights of the people in whom all government power ultimately rests – also, that partisan majority can transform our system from a nonpartisan one where the voters elected representatives into a partisan one where the representatives select their voters.”

GOP FRACTURES OVER VIRGINIA REDISTRICTING MAP HANDING DEMOCRATS 10-1 EDGE

“We ask that the court enforce the constitutional amendment process by affirming the decision below, declaring the proposed amendment invalid and enjoin certification of the election,” he added.

Lawyers for Democratic legislative leaders urged the Virginia Supreme Court to uphold the amendment and clear the way for the new map, arguing voters and lawmakers followed every step required by the state Constitution. In rebuttal, attorney Matthew Seligman said, “The people did, in fact, validly ratify the proposed amendment last Tuesday,” and argued challengers were trying to undo a democratic process that had already been completed through legislative approval and a statewide vote.

Notably, the justices acknowledged the courts in Virginia only permitted the vote to be held amid the legal challenge.

DEMOCRATS’ CHAIR VOWS TO FIGHT ‘TOOTH AND NAIL’ TO STOP TRUMP, REPUBLICANS, IN REDISTRICTING BATTLE

Seligman also argued to the justices the challengers’ case depended on reading limits into the Constitution that are not actually there. He argued the General Assembly controls its own procedures, that nothing in the Constitution barred lawmakers from acting as they did in special session, and that the legal meaning of “election” supports the state’s position that the amendment was passed before the relevant November election.

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He closed by saying that federal law and court precedent back the view that Election Day is a single day in November, defeating the challengers’ argument.

The Virginia court proceedings mark the latest twist in a national redistricting battle between Republicans and Democrats seeking an advantage in a November election that will determine whether Republicans maintain their narrow majority in the House.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: A new pair of reports is shedding fresh light on how teachers unions across the country have quietly poured more than $1 billion into political causes over the past decade, with a top education watchdog warning the spending reflects a growing focus on activism rather than classroom priorities.

According to research from Defending Education, national teachers unions alone have directed roughly $669 million toward left-wing political groups, advocacy organizations and campaigns since 2015. When state and local affiliates are included, that figure balloons to more than $1 billion in total political spending.

The reports track spending from the two largest unions, the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), as well as their state-level affiliates, using federal filings and campaign finance records.

“These entities are a political machine,” Rhyen Staley, research director at Defending Education, told Fox News Digital.

NATION’S 2 LARGEST TEACHERS UNIONS FUNNELED NEARLY $50M TO LEFT-WING GROUPS, WATCHDOG REPORT SAYS

“Show me your budget and I will show you what you value; and what the teachers unions value is political power and advancing a left wing, social justice agenda. Parents, families, and communities have little to no counter to the influence that teachers union dollars have on state and local campaigns. Gone are the days of unions just advocating for higher wages, better working conditions, and good health insurance; they are a political machine focused on fomenting a ‘political revolution.’”

The Defending Education report found the unions’ political spending stretches across a vast network of progressive organizations and political committees, including the State Engagement Fund, which received more than $60 million, and For Our Future Action Fund and its affiliates, which pulled in more than $40 million.

Unions also directed tens of millions toward major Democratic-aligned political committees, including the Senate Majority PAC and House Majority PAC.

MOST RADICAL COURSES, CURRICULUM THAT RECEIVED FEDERAL FUNDING IN 2025

In addition, the report found more than $85 million went directly to Democratic Party entities at the federal, state and local levels, not including individual candidate contributions.

At the same time, unions funded a wide range of progressive causes, from climate initiatives to ballot campaigns opposing school choice, often routing money through nonprofit groups and political action committees.

Some of the progressive groups in the report who took money from the nation’s most powerful teachers unions include: Color of Change + PAC, Indivisible, National Center for Transgender Equality, Planned Parenthood, Sixteen Thirty Fund, New Venture Fund and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.

Defending Education President Nicole Neily argued the findings challenge long-standing assumptions about how union dues are used.

“It’s time to dispense with the myth that unions care whatsoever about teachers’ best interests. Educators are victims of a bait-and-switch: instead of their dues going to advocate for increased pay or improved working environments, they’re being spent advancing a hard-left political agenda, underwriting causes such as climate change, gender activism, and abortion (as well as supporting progressive politicians at all levels),” Neily said.

“Given the outsized role that unions have played in the education system over the past fifty years, greater transparency on union spending is absolutely critical so that policymakers and teachers themselves can make informed decisions about the role that these entities should — or should not — play in the future.”

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The spending revelations come as unions and allied organizations ramp up mobilization efforts ahead of May Day protests, which critics have previously warned could serve as a major political organizing push.

As Fox News Digital previously reported, teachers unions have played a role in preparing for large-scale demonstrations, with activists framing the events as part of a broader “political revolution.”

“It’s very clear that teachers unions seek to destroy our country by turning our students against it,” Teacher Freedom Alliance CEO Ryan Walters told Fox News Digital earlier this year.

Fox News Digital reached out to the NEA and AFT for comment.

Former President Barack Obama sparked an online firestorm over the weekend after his X post discussing the “motive” of the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner shooter went viral.

“Although we don’t yet have the details about the motives behind last night’s shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner, it’s incumbent upon all us to reject the idea that violence has any place in our democracy,” Obama posted on X on Sunday evening, roughly 24 hours after President Trump and top officials were whisked out of the Washington Hilton Hotel when shots rang out from a man who stormed security during the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.

“It’s also a sobering reminder of the courage and sacrifice that the U.S. Secret Service Agents show every day. I’m grateful to them — and thankful that the agent who was shot is going to be okay.”

Obama’s post has been viewed nearly 52 million times and sparked outrage from conservatives, who pointed to a manifesto left by the shooter and other details of the attack that they say show the motive was to harm Trump and his Cabinet.

WHCD SHOOTING SUSPECT PLANNED TO TARGET TRUMP OFFICIALS, MANIFESTO REVEALS

“Let’s not pretend to be this clueless about motive, @BarackObama,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin posted on X. “The attempted assassin put out an anti-Trump manifesto about wanting to kill Trump Admin officials, minutes before trying to storm a ballroom filled with the President, VP, Cabinet, and many others from his Admin.”

Former FBI Co-Deputy Director Dan Bongino simply replied, “Are you kidding?”

“There is a manifesto, and this is why you are the problem,” Rep. Abe Hamadeh, R-Ariz., posted on X. 

“Oh come on,” reacted former Department of Homeland Security press secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “There is no ambiguity. It was a politically motivated attack driven by anti-Trump and anti-Christian bile. It’s wrong to downplay or obscure the obvious motive.”

Journalist Emma-Jo Morris posted on X, “It’s crazy how irrelevant Obama has become. Just reduced to posting bluesky-tier cope and meaningless cliches, ‘incumbent upon all’ etc.”

WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS’ DINNER SUSPECT CHECKED INTO HILTON HOTEL ONE DAY BEFORE THE SHOOTING: SOURCES

The Republican National Committee commented, “You are so SICK! Law enforcement officers confirmed this radicalized Leftist was targeting President Trump and his administration last night. Why are you lying?”

Popular independent journalist Nick Shirley also joined in, urging Obama to “call it out for what it is.”

“Wdym by ‘although’? It’s obvious what the motive was,” wrote Shirley.

Heritage Foundation media fellow Tim Young took a similar line, telling the former president, “Don’t pretend you don’t know.”

“The details were out early this morning and it was clear he was a leftist trying to harm as many people in Trump’s cabinet as possible,” Young wrote.

WHO IS COLE ALLEN? CALIFORNIA MAN NAMED AS SUSPECT IN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS’ DINNER SHOOTING

“Agreed on condemning political violence, but you know what his motives were,” “Charlie Kirk Show” Executive Producer Andrew Kolvet posted on X.

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“This is a lie—the gunman’s manifesto was published six hours ago,” political commentator Batya Ungar-Sargon posted on X. “But it’s also a confession—an admission that the motive is damning to President Obama’s side, hence the need to lie.”

Authorities have identified Cole Allen, a 31-year-old California resident, as the suspect who allegedly opened fire during the annual event attended by Trump and senior administration officials. Federal law enforcement officials confirmed to Fox News Digital that after Allen’s arrest, he said he intended to target Trump administration officials and had prepared a manifesto detailing his intent, while also sharing anti-Trump and anti-Christian rhetoric on social media.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro told reporters at a news conference after the shooting that Allen has been charged with two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon. Pirro also said more charges are expected. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Obama’s office for comment.

Just days before an apparent assassination attempt on President Donald Trump’s life, one of the Democratic Party’s leaders called for “maximum warfare” against Republicans.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., made the inflammatory remark while warning Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., against redrawing the state’s congressional map ahead of November’s midterm elections.

Jeffries said that if DeSantis attempted to counter Democratic gains in Virginia following the state’s aggressive gerrymander, Democrats would continue to ratchet up pressure on Republicans nationwide.

“We are in an era of maximum warfare. Everywhere, all the time,” Jeffries said Wednesday at a news conference.

DALLAS MAYOR WARNS RISING POLITICAL VIOLENCE COULD MEAN ICE FACILITY ATTACK ‘WON’T BE THE LAST’

Three days later, a California man allegedly attempted to assassinate the president Saturday evening at the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C.

Cole Allen, 31, is accused of storming a Secret Service checkpoint while armed and intending to enter the hotel ballroom to kill Trump and administration officials. The alleged assassin was armed with a shotgun, handgun and several knives and opened fire on federal agents before being subdued.

A Secret Service officer wearing a ballistic vest, whom Allen allegedly shot at close range, was released from the hospital Sunday.

The gunman allegedly prepared a manifesto before the attack that included anti-Trump and anti-Christian messages, several law enforcement officials told Fox News. He is expected to be arraigned on several federal gun charges Monday.

After the shooting, Republicans called on Democratic lawmakers to refrain from using warlike rhetoric to criticize Trump that could incite violence. The GOP made similar pleas in 2024 after two attempts on the president’s life in Butler, Pa., and at his golf club in Doral, Fla.

But top Democrats have argued that Republicans, too, have used plenty of inflammatory statements to describe their opponents.

“America will not be lectured about civility by far-right extremists in Congress,” Jeffries wrote on social media Sunday, adding that “now is a time to unify.”

A White House aide notably used the same “maximum warfare” language toward Democrats during an interview with The New York Times last year.

When asked to describe the White House’s midterms strategy, the anonymous staffer said, “Maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time.”

EXPERT WARNS DEMOCRATS RISK BACKLASH OVER FAILURE TO CONDEMN VIOLENT RHETORIC IN THEIR RANKS

Fox News Digital reached out to Jeffries’ office before publication.

Jeffries’ defiant social media post came after he unequivocally denounced political violence during an interview with Fox News Sunday.

“It is certainly the case that violence is never the answer, whether it’s targeted at the right, the left or the center,” Jeffries told Fox News’ Shannon Bream.

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When asked how leaders can combat increasing political violence, Jeffries said elected officials must “set the most appropriate example” in their rhetoric. 

“Whatever your ideological perspective is, we all love America, and we all want to make sure that this country is the best that it can possibly be,” he added.

Some Democrats have issued clear appeals to the left to refrain from using violence to achieve their political aims.

“Please stop trying to murder the president,” Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., wrote on social media.