NationalWatch

Democrat nominee Zohran Mamdani secured his latest endorsement from the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) in his New York City mayoral campaign on Wednesday morning. 

The governing body for the 200,000-member union representing New York City’s teachers and education professionals voted to endorse Mamdani Tuesday. Describing New York City’s wealth disparity as a “crisis,” UFT President Michael Mulgrew said Mamdani is the candidate to support students and usher the city forward. 

“Donald Trump would love nothing more than to continue to hack away at one of the beacons of light in our city, which is our education system,” Mamdani said Wednesday. 

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to significantly scale down the Department of Education, fulfilling a key 2024 campaign promise. New York Democrats, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has yet to endorse Mamdani, have railed against the shake-up. 

NY DEMS WHO HAVE YET TO ENDORSE MAMDANI UNITE IN HIS DEFENSE AGAINST TRUMP

“To have this endorsement a few months from the general election, it shows New Yorkers the choice that they will have in November: a choice between myself and the architect of Tier 6 in Andrew Cuomo [and] a choice between myself and a mayor that this union had to sue to actually put that money back into schools in Mayor Eric Adams.”

MAMDANI’S PRIMARY WIN EXPOSES DEMOCRAT DIVIDE AS TOP LEADERS WITHHOLD ENDORSEMENTS

But not everyone was so convinced Wednesday, as the reactions to the education union’s endorsement came flooding in. 

“Disgraceful, disgusting, but also completely unsurprising that the commies heading the @UFT would support their fellow comrade and his agenda. Maybe y’all should focus on rehiring the teachers you fired unjustly and represent the interests of your members? Just a thought?” Republican New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov said on X. 

Author and university law professor David E. Bernstein undermined UFT’s efficacy, writing, “Notice how little the teachers’ union agenda has to do with improving education or anything else that would directly benefit students.”

And some New York City Jewish educators criticized the endorsement. Moshe Spern, president of the United Jewish Teachers, told The New York Post, “We understand that Mamdani’s campaign promises are attractive to the UFT, but many feel let down with this selection.”

Along with the endorsement announcement, the Mamdani campaign is touting support from more than a dozen unions across the city, including the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council (HTC), SEIU 32BJ, New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) and the New York City Central Labor Council (AFL-CIO). 

Mamdani has been under scrutiny for his radical policies since he secured the Democratic nomination last month. Since then, his personal education record has also attracted headlines. 

After it was reported that Mamdani identified as “Asian” and “Black/African American” in his application to Columbia University, his SAT scores were revealed to be below the median score for students admitted into the school, according to a new report. 

Independent journalist Christopher Rufo reported on Monday that, according to Mamdani’s full Columbia application, he scored 2140 out of 2400 on the SAT, which was below the median score of students admitted to the university in 2009.

Mamdani criticized his opponents, Mayor Eric Adams and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, for focusing on politicians instead of on the people they serve. 

“I think 2140 is a fine SAT score, but I think that the Adams War room is very focused on every little thing that they can talk about. Ultimately, their focus is on old tweets [or] on anything but what we actually campaigned on [and] the promises I’ve made to New Yorkers over the course of this campaign,” Mamdani told reporters Wednesday. 

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“Those are the promises that I will be judged on, and they are promises to freeze the rent, to make buses fast and free, to deliver universal childcare. And what Eric Adams and others would seek to focus on are any one of a number of issues that have nothing to do with affordability,” Mamdani added. 

Adams did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller, Paul Steinhauser and Peter Pinedo contributed to this report. 

FIRST ON FOX: The 2026 midterm elections are still over 16 months away, but a super PAC supporting Oklahoma House Speaker Charles McCall’s gubernatorial campaign is already making a big play with a $1.6 million ad buy. 

Starting on Wednesday, July 9, the Oklahoma Conservative Coalition is making an eight-week, $1.6 million advertising investment in broadcast, cable, satellite and streaming statewide, Fox News Digital has learned.  

“Charles McCall is the only America First and Oklahoma First candidate in this race with a proven conservative record,” Erinn Mahathey, spokesperson for Oklahoma Conservative Coalition, told Fox News Digital. “This is just the beginning. With the right experience, real momentum, and a winning message, McCall is built to go the distance and deliver real results for Oklahoma.”

With less than one year until the Republican primary, two candidates have emerged as potential front-runners in the race for Oklahoma’s highest office. As a reliably red state, the winner of the Republican primary will largely be expected to win the general election that November. 

SCOOP: NEW REPUBLICAN SENATE CANDIDATE IN KENTUCKY TO TEAM UP WITH TOP TRUMP ALLY

McCall announced his gubernatorial bid earlier this year, running on his record of “working hand-in-hand with Governor Stitt and President Trump” to build a “stronger Oklahoma rooted in an America First agenda.”

TRUMP ALLY ANNOUNCES RECORD-SHATTERING FUNDRAISING HAUL IN BID FOR ALABAMA GOVERNOR

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has announced his own campaign for governor, running a conservative platform touting his leadership as attorney general against the “Biden Administration’s radical overreach” and promising to stand “strong with President Trump.”

However, the McCall campaign has criticized Drummond for donating to the newly elected Oklahoma Democrat Party Chair John Waldron and for voting to delay enforcement of a new ban on transgender surgery for minors amid a pending preliminary hearing in a federal lawsuit. 

According to The Oklahoman, Drummond said the agreement “simply allows more time to mount the strongest possible defense” and “should in no way be interpreted as a concession of any kind.”

In a 4-4 vote earlier this summer, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Oklahoma State Supreme Court’s decision that St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School in Oklahoma City, a religious charter school, receiving public funds would be unconstitutional.

Incumbent Gov. Kevin Stitt, R-Okla., and Drummond were locked in a feud over the landmark case, as the two continued a long-standing clash over policy and politics in Oklahoma, including debates over constitutional authority and local policy initiatives. 

Stitt, who serves as vice chair of the National Governors Association, is term-limited as Oklahoma governor in 2026. 

Earlier this year, the Conservative Political Action Conference endorsed McCall’s campaign, and his super PAC highlighted his conservative policy as House speaker, on issues like protecting American farmland, school choice, tax cuts and pro-life bills. 

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Oklahoma House Rep. Cyndi Munson, small business owner Leisa Mitchell Haynes and former Oklahoma State Senator Mike Mazzei have also declared their gubernatorial campaigns. 

Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report. 

Socialist 33-year-old Zohran Mamdani’s primary victory shocked the Democratic Party establishment this June, as his campaign played into the hands of an evolving – and chronically online – New York City electorate. 

Scrolling through Mamdani’s social media, his TikTok and Instagram pages resemble that of a New York City influencer. From the film-like filters and consistent fonts on his vertical videos to the cameos from celebrities, including model Emily Ratajkowski and comedian Bowen Yang, Mamdani’s videos have amassed millions of views. 

However, if his social media strategy wasn’t enough to attract voters’ attention, the primary colors of his campaign graphics are likely to turn heads. Mamdani’s cobalt blue, poster-like red and taxi-cab or MetroCard yellow are bright compared to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s muted red, white and blue color scheme. 

Mamdani’s politics are a departure from the establishment Democratic Party, as the self-described Democratic socialist campaigned on taxing the 1% and creating government-run grocery stores, among other radical proposals. If Mamdani wins in November, he will not just become the first Muslim mayor, but the first millennial mayor of New York City. 

DEMS AT A CROSSROADS AS ESTABLISHMENT PLANS ‘PROJECT 2029’ WHILE SOCIALIST CANDIDATE WINS NYC MAYORAL PRIMARY

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is the youngest woman ever elected to the U.S. Congress. She was 29 years old when she took office in 2019, in a blue wave that elected progressive “Squad” members during President Donald Trump‘s first midterm elections. 

DEM SOCIALIST’S NYC PRIMARY UPSET SIGNALS ‘GENERATIONAL’ SHIFT IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY, STRATEGISTS SAY

Known by her supporters and detractors as AOC, the progressive Democrat was quick to seize on her millennial social media sixth sense. She has made plenty of headlines from her off-script Instagram lives and stories as her supporters and constituents chime in with questions for the Bronx and Queens representative. 

The social media strategy is one used by influencers, but in an ever-evolving media landscape, more politicians have seized on viral moments to send their message to the masses. Trump successfully used new media during the 2024 presidential election, appearing on long-form podcasts and creating viral TikTok videos. 

Ocasio-Cortez, along with her fellow Democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, endorsed Mamdani ahead of New York City’s primary election. On primary day in New York City, Ocasio-Cortez hosted an Instagram Live conversation with Mamdani, who had a simple but effective message: “If I win, that rent’s getting frozen. If Andrew Cuomo wins, the rent’s going up.”

On the Friday before the election, Mamdani walked the entire length of Manhattan, shaking hands with ordinary New Yorkers and supporters alike. However, Mamdani didn’t just walk through Manhattan, he documented the journey, bringing his followers along for the ride just like an influencer would. 

The walk, from Inwood to Battery Park, has become somewhat of a rite of passage for New York City influencers over the past few years, as walking clubs like City Girls Who Walk NYC, and “Hot Girl Walks” have gained popularity in the fitness space. 

Mamdani appeared on the popular “Subway Takes” podcast, sharing his campaign pitch to Kareem Rahma’s 1 million followers. Additionally, he joined 25-year-old progressive Democrat star David Hogg for man-on-the-street-style interviews in Washington Square Park, the site of popular TikTok series like, “What’s Poppin?”

Hogg recently left the Democratic National Committee (DNC) after stirring up tension over his $20 million plan to primary older incumbent Democrats he said were “asleep at the wheel” through his outside political group, Leaders We Deserve.

Mamdani also created his own viral moments on the campaign trail, riding side-by-side on CitiBikes with NYC Comptroller Brad Lander, whom Mamdani cross-endorsed on the ranked-choice ballot to secure his win over Cuomo and when he posted his subway-to-courthouse wedding photos covered by The Cut. 

While another such article by The Cut, “It Must Be Nice to Be a West Village Girl,” by Brock Colyar, carefully articulated the changing landscape and demographic of New York City, Mamdani also met “outer borough voters,” including older and immigrant New Yorkers, online. 

“One week ago today, we shocked the establishment and redrew the political map of New York City with a campaign relentlessly focused on the needs of working people,” Mamdani said in a social media video, speaking directly to his followers and supporters alike. 

In the video, Mamdani explained how he won back voters “many had written off,” including Trump voters and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams voters. Mamdani said he built a “coalition” campaign by speaking voters’ languages, or at least trying to, to reflect the “mosaic” of New York City. 

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Speaking in Hindi in another two-minute video with his signature filter, Mamdani even broke down ranked-choice voting ahead of the primary by pouring juice into cups with his and Cuomo’s faces photoshopped on top, to show how consolidating his vote could land Mamdani a victory, and ranked-choice voting did just that. 

The State Department is investigating an impostor who reportedly pretended to be Secretary of State Marco Rubio with the help of AI. 

The mystery individual posing as one of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet members reached out to foreign ministers, a U.S. governor and a member of Congress with AI-assisted voice and text messages that mimicked Rubio’s voice and writing style, the Washington Post reported, citing a senior U.S. official and State Department cable. 

“The State Department, of course, is aware of this incident and is currently monitoring and addressing the matter. The department takes seriously its responsibility to safeguard its information and continuously take steps to improve the department’s cybersecurity posture to prevent future incidents. For security reasons, we do not have any further details to provide at this time,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Tuesday. 

When asked by Fox News about Rubio’s reaction to being impersonated, she said, “We’re not at a point here where I will discuss or portray what actions are being taken or his reaction.” 

ALLEGED ATTEMPT TO IMPERSONATE WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF UNDER FEDERAL INVESTIGATION 

“The secretary… is very transparent, quite transparent, and he’s direct with everyone. I think that any description of his reaction, of course, belongs to him. And I would suspect that at some point we’ll have that for you,” Bruce added. 

She also said that “We live in a technological age that we are well enmeshed in.” 

It’s unclear who is using AI to impersonate Rubio, but it’s suspected they are doing so in an attempt to manipulate government officials “with the goal of gaining access to information or accounts,” the State Department cable said, according to the Washington Post. 

JUDGE BOASBERG ORDERS RUBIO TO REFER TRUMP OFFICIALS’ SIGNAL MESSAGES TO DOJ TO ENSURE PRESERVATION 

The cable reportedly said the impersonation act started in mid-June when someone created a Signal account with the display name Marco.Rubio@state.gov — which isn’t Rubio’s actual email address. 

The July 3 cable reportedly added that the fake Rubio “contacted at least five non-Department individuals, including three foreign ministers, a U.S. governor, and a U.S. member of Congress.” 

“The actor left voicemails on Signal for at least two targeted individuals and in one instance, sent a text message inviting the individual to communicate on Signal,” the Washington Post also cited the cable as saying. 

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The impersonation attempt ultimately was unsuccessful and “not very sophisticated,” a senior U.S. official told The Associated Press.

Fox News’ Nick Kalman contributed to this report.  

Former President Joe Biden’s 2024 campaign staffers scrambled to quickly roll out the then-president’s announcement that he was dropping out of his reelection race on a Sunday afternoon in summer 2024, including tapping a “trusted” 24-year-old “social media whiz” to publish Biden’s letter with little warning or details of the bombshell reveal, according to a new book reviewed by Fox News Digital.

Biden, as well as former first lady Jill Biden, made a series of calls to White House officials and campaign staffers July 21, 2024, that he was set to announce he was dropping out of the race, including calls to then-Vice President Kamala Harris and chair of the campaign Jen O’Malley Dillon just hours before the news went public, according to the book “2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America,” which was published Tuesday. 

O’Malley Dillon reportedly took the news in tears before she called a campaign deputy to ready a public announcement on the election exit, the book reported. 

BIDEN AIDES PUSHED FOR EARLY DEBATE TO SHOW OFF BIDEN’S ‘STRENGTH,’ EXPOSE TRUMP’S ‘WEAKNESS,’ BOOK SAYS

“O’Malley Dillon called one of her deputies, Rob Flaherty, but he didn’t pick up,” the book claims of that hectic Sunday afternoon. “He was walking in Wilmington’s Alapocas Run State Park with his wife, Carla Frank, who oversaw the campaign’s surrogate operation. The two were talking about the state of the campaign and speculating about what might happen if Biden did drop out. About midway into their hike, Frank started to scale a rock wall, and Flaherty looked down at his phone. He saw the missed call from O’Malley Dillon, swore, and called her back.” 

“In forty-five minutes, we’re going to post a letter and it says that he’s going to drop out,” she told him. “You can’t tell anybody. Can you get to a computer?”

Flaherty said he could be at his computer in 30 minutes, but O’Malley Dillon needed him online sooner, according to the book. 

ART OF THE SURGE: BEHIND THE SCENES ON PRESIDENT TRUMP’S ROAD BACK TO WHITE HOUSE

The book detailed that Flaherty did not have access to the campaign’s social media accounts despite overseeing “the campaign’s digital efforts,” and called on a 24-year-old staffer to assist with the massive announcement. 

“Flaherty oversaw the campaign’s digital efforts but did not have access to the social media accounts,” the book detailed. “He never actually posted from them. O’Malley Dillon asked if he had someone he trusted who could hit publish. Flaherty did. His name was Parker Butler, a twenty-four-year-old social media whiz. O’Malley Dillon approved, and Flaherty called Butler.” 

The book continued of the pair’s reported conversation: “‘Are you near a computer?’ he said. ‘I’m going to send you a letter in about thirty minutes. I need you to post it in forty-five minutes on Twitter and Instagram and whatever.’ He didn’t tell him what the letter would say.”

Flaherty and his wife were, meanwhile, still attempting to find their way out of the woods during the dropout scramble and ultimately “sprinted up a hill and called an Uber,” according to the book. 

As Flaherty passed the letter announcing the drop out to Butler for publication, Biden held a Zoom meeting with White House staffers announcing the decision. 

BIDEN MADE HARRIS CAMPAIGN A ‘NIGHTMARE,’ DESTROYED HER CHANCES BY STAYING IN 2024 RACE TOO LONG, AIDES CHARGE

“Flaherty was in the Uber when he received the letter and passed it to Butler, around 1:35,” the book found. “Around the same time, senior White House and campaign staff received an invite for a Zoom, at 1:45. As the staff logged on, Butler hit send on the letter.” 

“Biden, with his camera off, told his team that he had decided not to run for reelection,” the book continued. “Among those finding out for the first time was Anita Dunn, who’d been one of the campaign’s top officials. Biden said a letter would be shared with the public shortly. It was already online.” 

Biden announced his departure from the race via the letter that was posted to his social accounts at 1:46 p.m. July 21, 2024. 

BIDEN DENIES HE LEFT 2024 RACE TOO LATE TO STOP TRUMP, SAYS IT WOULDN’T HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE

“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” the letter read. “And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.” 

Biden did not endorse Harris as his successor in the letter, but instead threw his support behind his vice president in a follow-up X post shortly thereafter.

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“2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America,” was published Tuesday and authored by Josh Dawsey of the Wall Street Journal, Tyler Pager of the New York Times and Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post. 

Biden’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the book and its claims on Tuesday afternoon. 

FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sent administrative subpoenas to Harvard University today over information related to the criminality and misconduct of foreign students on its campus. 

The agency criticized the Ivy League school’s “refusal to cooperate” with past information requests regarding Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), which provides visas for non-citizens to study in the US. 

“We tried to do things the easy way with Harvard,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital. “Now, through their refusal to cooperate, we have to do things the hard way. Harvard, like other universities, has allowed foreign students to abuse their visa privileges and advocate for violence and terrorism on campus.”

TRUMP ADMIN PROBE ACCUSES HARVARD OF DISCRIMINATING AGAINST JEWISH STUDENTS, THREATENS TO PULL ALL FUNDING

“If Harvard won’t defend the interests of its students, then we will.”

The administrative subpoena is the latest legal move in the battle between the Trump Administration and the elite university. The SEVP has been a key issue after anti-Semitic protests raged across campus amid Israeli and Palestinian conflicts, eventually forcing an apology from Harvard president Alan Garber.

Sources at DHS told Fox News Digital that the subpoenas are the only option left for the agency after the university repeatedly refused non-coercive requests to provide the information. The department has been seeking relevant records, communications, and other documents related to immigration laws or crimes since January 1, 2020. 

HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL ANNOUNCES LAYOFFS AFTER TRUMP CUTS BILLIONS IN FUNDING

Refusing to comply with an administrative subpoena carries heavy consequences such as civil penalties, criminal charges, contempt of court, and/or audits and inspections of an organization. 

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem had previously requested Harvard to provide information regarding criminal misconduct in April of this year, pledging that noncompliance would result in revoking the Student and Exchange Visitor Program. 

Harvard sent some information to DHS following the initial request, though Noem deemed the Ivy League University’s data as an “insufficient, incomplete and unacceptable response.”

In late May, DHS moved to formally revoke Harvard’s SEVP, impacting roughly a quarter of Harvard’s student body and preventing the university from issuing student visas and enrolling international students. 

ALUMNUS EXPLAINS WHY HE BELIEVES HARVARD’S FEDERAL FUNDING SHOULD BE PULLED

Harvard responded to Noem’s canceling of the program with a lawsuit titled President and Fellows of Harvard College v. DHS, alleging that the Trump administration’s decision to block the SEVP was unconstitutional and retaliatory.

“It is the latest act by the government in clear retaliation for Harvard exercising its First Amendment rights to reject the government’s demands to control Harvard’s governance, curriculum, and the “ideology” of its faculty and students,” Harvard wrote in its May complaint. 

U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs of Massachusetts, who was nominated by President Barack Obama in 2014, then granted a temporary restraining order request from Harvard after the lawsuit was filed.

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The ongoing temporary restraining order allows Harvard to continue issuing visa documents and enrolling students through the Student and Exchange Visitor Program.

Fox News Digital reached out to Harvard University but did not receive a response. 

Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News Digital covering breaking news. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston

SCOOP: Rep. Mike Collins is eying a bid in the Georgia Senate race to challenge incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff.

Republicans are salivating at the chance to flip the seat, and Collins, in a video first obtained by Fox News Digital, contended that Ossoff “must go.”

“It was never in my plans to run for the U.S. Senate,” Collins said. “I love what I’m doing now. I think I’ve been effective for my district, the state. I love my district.”

REPUBLICANS TARGET VULNERABLE SENATE DEMOCRAT OVER LOS ANGELES RIOTING

“I mean, just good, solid, hard-working people,” he continued. “But I also understand that sometimes you don’t do what you want to do, but what you need to do.”

Collins, a two-term lawmaker representing Georgia’s 10th Congressional District, still didn’t directly say that he was jumping into the race, and noted that he would first consult with his family and President Donald Trump to determine “where we can be the best, most beneficial help in this mission to make sure that we get a Republican in the U.S. Senate from Georgia.”

GOP GEORGIA SENATE CANDIDATE TARGETS VULNERABLE JON OSSOFF IN AD DEPICTING TRANSGENDER ‘FAN’

The lawmaker became a staple on the road during Trump’s campaign last year, and his bill, the Laken Riley Act, was the first signed into law by the president during his second term. 

Collins argued that Ossoff “doesn’t represent the Georgia values that I cherish so much,” and noted that Republicans have largely dominated the state in recent elections, including Trump’s victory in November.

Still, Ossoff, who is seeking re-election for a second term, was the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in the Peach State in roughly two decades.

Devon Cruz, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Georgia, said in a statement to Fox News Digital, “Immediately after voting to rip away health insurance from 750,000 Georgians, Rep. Mike Collins now wants Georgians to give him a promotion?”

Cruz continued, “Collins would join a crowded, messy primary that will leave the GOP nominee badly bruised, while Sen. Jon Ossoff is building massive momentum to take on whichever Donald Trump loyalist limps over the finish line.” 

Senate Republicans now view Ossoff’s seat as one of the most viable flip opportunities in the upcoming 2026 midterm cycle, when the GOP hopes to keep and expand upon its thin majority in the upper chamber.

TRUMP ALLY MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE SAYS SHE WON’T RUN FOR SENATE WHILE BLASTING DEMS AND FELLOW REPUBLICANS

Should Collins dive all the way into the race, he will go face-to-face against fellow Georgia Republican Rep. Buddy Carter and Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King in the Republican primary.

Carter was the first Republican to jump into the contest after Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who was considered a heavy favorite to run against Ossoff, opted to forgo a Senate bid.

Recent polling on the race has found that Collins may have an edge against his fellow GOP competitors.

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The conservative-leaning Trafalgar Group found in a survey conducted in April with 1,426 respondents that Collins held just over a 23-point edge over Carter, who came in second ahead of Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., and King.

In a face-off with Ossoff, however, Collins still trailed the Senator by just shy of 5 points.

In another straw poll conducted during the Georgia Republican Party State Convention earlier this month with roughly 1,200 respondents, Collins earned the support of 39% of those polled compared to Carter’s 13%. 

They’re the kind of headlines that likely put fear into Democrats not only in New York City but across the country.

Since his stunning victory two weeks ago in New York City’s Democratic Party primary for mayor, stories have surfaced about democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani’s past.

Among the items going viral are reports of a 2020 photo Mamdani posted online that shows him flipping off a statue of Christopher Columbus, stories about comments Mamdani made last December, when he said as mayor he would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his recent comments in a cable news interview that “I have many critiques of capitalism.”

Mamdani’s double-digit victory over former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and nine other candidates in last month’s primary rocked the Democratic Party, fueling already existing internal divisions between the party’s progressive and more moderate wings.

RESURFACED MAMDANI PHOTO SPARKS SOCIAL MEDIA FIRESTORM 

While many progressives cheered Mamdani’s victory, saying it was a “clear rejection of the old guard,” more moderate Democrats are in panic mode over what his win means for the party.

And Mamdani’s primary performance raised fears that a general election victory by the Ugandan-born 33-year-old state assemblyman from Queens – who took a major step toward becoming the first Muslim mayor of the nation’s most populous city – will only fuel GOP attacks on the party.

MAMDANI’S PROFESSOR FATHER CLAIMED HITLER INSPIRED BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Since his primary victory, Republicans have relentlessly painted Mamdani as an extremist and anchored him to Democrats across the country ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

The attacks stretched from down ballot on the campaign trail all the way up to the White House, with President Donald Trump claiming that Mamdani was “a 100% Communist Lunatic.”

Amid the barrage of Mamdani-focused headlines and political rhetoric, some of his rivals are mulling a plan to try and derail him by joining forces in the general election.

While Cuomo lost the Democratic mayoral nomination to Mamdani, he’s running on the November ballot as an independent, which state rules allow. 

And Democratic Mayor Eric Adams, who dropped his primary bid earlier this year amid sinking poll numbers in the wake of numerous controversies, is seeking re-election as an independent.

Also on the ballot in the general election are Jim Walden, a former federal prosecutor running as an independent, and Guardian Angels co-founder Curtis Sliwa, who, for a second straight election, is the Republican mayoral nominee.

Walden last week proposed that an independent study should be conducted to see which candidate would be the strongest to take on Mamdani, with the weaker contenders agreeing to drop out.

REPUBLICANS USE MAMDANI BOMBSHELL VICTORY OVER CUOMO AS AMMUNITION TO BLAST DEMOCRATS AS EXTREMISTS

Mamdani, thanks to his primary victory, is the clear frontrunner in the general election in a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans by a roughly six-to-one margin.

Walden on Monday said in an interview on Fox News Radio’s “Fox Across America with Jimmy Failla” that a Mamdani victory in November “would be terrible for the city and would set us back a whole generation, so I proposed a poll in either late September or early October.”

“If the candidates agreed to this, we would all agree on a poll that would happen, and it would be winner take all,” he said.

Cuomo senior advisor Rich Azzopardi backed the idea, saying that Walden “correctly points out that if he, Mayor Adams, and Gov. Cuomo all run, it all but ensures a socialist victory. Jim proposed a fair independent survey be taken in September to determine whose candidacy and vision for New York is strongest in a one-on-one race in November.”

While Mamdani successfully unified the left in the final weeks before the primary – aided by endorsements from progressive heavyweights Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont – his Democratic rivals remain anything but united.

“I think Andrew and Curtis should rally behind me. I won as mayor. You know, I’m the only one that’s in this race right now that has ever won as mayor,” Adams said Monday at a news conference.

And in an interview with CNBC, Adams said that in a recent conversation, the former governor asked him to step aside. 

“I said, ‘Andrew, are you that level of arrogant? I’m the sitting mayor!'” Adams said of his conversation with Cuomo. “I’m the sitting mayor of New York City when you just lost to Zohran by 12 points.”

Adams’ poll numbers were sinking even before he was indicted last year on five counts, which accused the mayor of bribery and fraud as part of an alleged “long-running” scheme to personally profit from contacts with foreign officials.

THESE DEMOCRATS HAVEN’T ENDORSED MAMDANI, BUT THEY’RE DEFENDING HIM AGAINST TRUMP

The mayor made repeated overtures to President Donald Trump, and the Justice Department earlier this year dismissed the corruption charges, so Adams could potentially work with the Trump administration on its illegal immigration crackdown.

“Mayor Adams did not run in the Democratic primary because he knew he was anathema to Democrats and unelectable. Nothing has changed,” Azzopardi claimed.

Mamdani surged to a primary victory thanks to an energetic campaign that put a major focus on affordability and New York City’s high cost of living.

Mamdani made smart use of social media platforms, including TikTok, as he engaged low-propensity voters. He proposed eliminating fares to ride New York City’s vast bus system, making CUNY (City University of New York) “tuition-free,” freezing rents on municipal housing, offering “free childcare” for children up to age 5, and setting up government-run grocery stores.

And thanks in part to the efforts of a massive grassroots army of volunteers, he rode a wave of support from younger and progressive voters to catapult into first place.

And it’s reignited the debate over whether the party’s policy, or messaging, was to blame for last November’s election setbacks, when Democrats lost control of the White House and Senate, and failed to win back the House majority.

Progressive Change Campaign Committee co-founder Stephanie Taylor told Fox News that Mamdani’s “victory shows that a new direction for the Democratic Party is possible – a future of dynamic candidates who appeal to young and working-class voters with a platform that fights for people, not corporations.”

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Matt Bennett, executive vice president for the moderate Democratic-aligned group the Third Way, acknowledged that Mamdani “focused on affordability,” which he said is “great.”

Bennett added Mamdani is “young, charismatic, a great communicator. All that is great. We want to see that.”

But Bennett told Fox News “the problem is he has the wrong prescription.”

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to move forward, at least for now, with plans to implement large-scale cuts to the federal workforce, issuing a stay that lifts a lower court’s injunction against the administration’s executive order.

In a 6–3 decision, the justices granted the emergency request filed by the White House last week, clearing the way for Executive Order No. 14210 to take effect while legal challenges play out in the Ninth Circuit and potentially the high court.

The order directs federal agencies to carry out sweeping reductions in force (RIFs) and agency reorganizations. 

It has been described by administration officials as a lawful effort to “streamline government and eliminate waste.” Critics, including labor unions, local governments and nonprofit organizations, argue the president is unlawfully bypassing Congress to dismantle major parts of the federal government.

FEDERAL APPEALS COURT THROWS ROADBLOCK AT TRUMP’S EDUCATION REFORM AGENDA

A majority on the Court stressed that it was not ruling on the legality of specific agency cuts, only the executive order itself.

“Because the Government is likely to succeed on its argument that the Executive Order and Memorandum are lawful—and because the other factors bearing on whether to grant a stay are satisfied—we grant the application,” the Court wrote. “We express no view on the legality of any Agency RIF and Reorganization Plan produced or approved pursuant to the Executive Order and Memorandum. The District Court enjoined further implementation or approval of the plans based on its view about the illegality of the Executive Order and Memorandum, not on any assessment of the plans themselves. Those plans are not before this Court.”

The district court in California had blocked the order in May, calling it an overreach. But the Supreme Court’s unsigned decision on Tuesday set aside that injunction, pending appeal. The majority said the government is “likely to succeed” in defending the legality of the order.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented forcefully, writing that “this Court sees fit to step in now and release the President’s wrecking ball at the outset of this litigation.” She warned that the executive action represents a “structural overhaul that usurps Congress’s policymaking prerogatives” and accused the majority of acting prematurely in an emergency posture without fully understanding the facts.

TRUMP ADMIN ASKS SCOTUS TO ALLOW IT TO MOVE FORWARD WITH PLANS TO SLASH FEDERAL WORKFORCE

“This unilateral decision to ‘transform’ the Federal Government was quickly challenged in federal court,” she wrote. “The District Judge thoroughly examined the evidence, considered applicable law, and made a reasoned determination that Executive Branch officials should be enjoined from implementing the mandated restructuring… But that temporary, practical, harm-reducing preservation of the status quo was no match for this Court’s demonstrated enthusiasm for greenlighting this President’s legally dubious actions in an emergency posture.”

The executive order, issued in February, instructed agencies to prepare immediate plans for reorganizations and workforce reductions, including eliminating roles deemed “non-critical” or “not statutorily mandated.” The administration says it is a necessary response to bloated government and outdated structures, claiming the injunction was forcing agencies to retain “thousands of employees whose continuance in federal service… is not in the government and public interest.”

Labor unions and state officials opposing the plan say it goes beyond normal workforce management and could gut services across multiple agencies. They point to proposed cuts of over 50% at the Department of Energy, and nearly 90% at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

The court’s ruling is not a final judgment on the legality of the executive order. It only determines that implementation may proceed temporarily while appeals continue. If the Ninth Circuit upholds the injunction or the Supreme Court declines to take up the case later, the order could again be paused.

The American Federal Government Employees Union had a forceful response: “Today’s decision has dealt a serious blow to our democracy and puts services that the American people rely on in grave jeopardy. This decision does not change the simple and clear fact that reorganizing government functions and laying off federal workers en masse haphazardly without any congressional approval is not allowed by our Constitution. While we are disappointed in this decision, we will continue to fight on behalf of the communities we represent and argue this case to protect critical public services that we rely on to stay safe and healthy.”

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The case is Trump v. American Federation of Government Employees.

“Today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling is another definitive victory for the President and his administration,” wrote White House principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields in an email to Fox News Digital. “It clearly rebukes the continued assaults on the President’s constitutionally authorized executive powers by leftist judges who are trying to prevent the President from achieving government efficiency across the federal government.”

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Tuesday announced that her city will be joining the class-action lawsuit to stop what she says is “the unconstitutional reckless raids in the LA region.”

Bass said Los Angeles was joining the lawsuit because the Trump administration is treating the city “as a test case for how far it can go in driving its political agenda forward while pushing the Constitution aside.” 

“The City of Los Angeles, along with the County, cities, organizations and Angelenos across L.A., is taking the Administration to court to stop its clear violation of the United States Constitution and federal law,” Bass said in a press release. “We will not be intimidated – we are making Los Angeles the example of how people who believe in American values will stand together and stand united.”

LA MAYOR RIPPED FOR INTERFERING WITH ICE RAID AT CRIME-RIDDEN LOCAL PARK: ‘FULL OF S—‘

Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto said the lawsuit is intended to send a message to the Trump administration that the city will not allow the raids to become “standard operating procedure.” 

“The federal government has concentrated thousands of armed immigration agents, many of whom lack visible identification, and military troops in our communities, conducting unconstitutional raids, roundups and anonymous detentions, sowing fear and chaos among our residents,” said Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto. “Today’s motion to intervene shows we will not stand by and allow these raids to continue or to become the standard operating procedure in our communities.”

A coalition of individual immigrants and immigrant advocacy organizations, led by The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of California and the non-profit Public Counsel, filed the original class-action lawsuit “Vasquez Perdomo v. Noem,” against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) demanding an immediate halt to what it describes as unlawful immigration raids across the Los Angeles area targeting migrants with “brown skin.”

The non-profit accused Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of carrying out unconstitutional raids and then keeping migrants in inhumane conditions without beds and deprived of food and legal counsel. Homeland Security has denied all the claims in the lawsuit, saying that any accusations of racial profiling are “disgusting and categorically false.”

ACLU SUES TO BLOCK ICE RAIDS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, ALLEGING CONSTITUTIONAL VIOLATIONS

The lawsuit also asks those who are now being held in overcrowded “dungeon-like” facilities to get access to counsel, especially where the conditions are deplorable and unconstitutional.  

The announcement comes on the heels of federal agents marching through Los Angeles’ MacArthur Park and militarized vehicles being deployed to the streets that Bass said were filled with children attending a summer camp.

The release from Bass’s office suggested that the actions were for the “seemingly sole purpose of bringing fear to Los Angeles.”

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Bass said she and other elected officials will not accept the presence of federalized troops and military-style vehicles on their streets and will use every resource available to bring an end to what she characterized as “reckless raids.”

Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday praised Florida after Palm Beach County approved renaming a busy stretch of roadway after the commander-in-chief.

The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a resolution that would rename a 4-mile stretch of Southern Boulevard that runs from Palm Beach International Airport to the president’s home at the Mar-a-Lago resort.

NEW JERSEY LAWMAKER PROPOSES LEGISLATION RENAMING DELAWARE BAY TO ‘THE BAY OF NEW JERSEY’

“It has been brought to my attention that the Great State of Florida, which I won BIG three times, and where I am a proud Resident, has renamed an important four-mile stretch of Southern Boulevard, in Palm Beach County, to ‘PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP BOULEVARD,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social late Tuesday. 

WHITE HOUSE RIPS HOUSE DEMS TRYING TO HIJACK TRUMP’S GULF OF AMERICA PLANS

“Thank you to Palm Beach County, Governor Ron DeSantis, and all of Florida’s great State Lawmakers, on granting me this wonderful honor! I LOVE FLORIDA!” 

The resolution comes after Gov. DeSantis signed legislation directing the Florida Department of Transportation to erect a sign along the stretch of Southern Boulevard honoring Trump.

The legislation also calls for another section of the road to be renamed “PBSO Motorman Highway,” in honor of three motorcycle deputies with the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office who were killed in a crash last year.

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The new signs are slated to be installed later this year. The names are ceremonial, meaning postal addresses and emergency-response systems will continue to use Southern Boulevard.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., stood shoulder-to-shoulder with staunch Democrats to celebrate the inclusion of key compensation for survivors of nuclear testing inside President Donald Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill on Tuesday.

Hawley has fought for the passage of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) since the program was canceled in 2023. It has now been re-upped and greatly expanded thanks to persistent bipartisan advocacy.

Among the cross-aisle attendees was former Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., who was among the most aggressive critics of Republicans while in Congress. Hawley embraced Bush at the event, however.

“Cori, thank you. We would not be here without you and your work,” he said, recounting their multiple prior efforts to pass the legislation.

POLITICAL FIGHT OVER ‘BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL’ SHIFTS TO CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Also at the event was Rep. Wesley Bell, D-Mo., who voted against the OBBB, but said he supports the RECA legislation. Navajo Nation president Buu Nygren also attended the event and recounted the impact of nuclear testing on his community.

The bill applies to sites across the country where Americans, civilian, military and members of the Navajo Nation, were exposed to radiation due to nuclear weapons testing and the storing of nuclear waste.

The event took place at one such site: St. Cin Park in St. Louis. The surrounding area has been determined to be a cancer hotzone thanks to the storing of nuclear waste nearby.

The legislation applies to similar sites across Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky and Alaska, but advocates of the bill and Hawley himself say there remains more work to be done.

“This is a great first step, but there is definitely more to do,” NAACP St. Louis president John Bowman told Fox at the event. “This is a good day, but there are better days to come.”

WHAT’S ACTUALLY IN TRUMP’S ‘BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL’

Bowman and others highlighted some zip codes that aren’t eligible for the compensation, and they say work needs to be done to expand the documentation Americans can use to prove they qualify for compensation.

Dawn Chapman, founder of Just Moms STL, an advocacy group devoted to the radiation exposure issue, told Fox that the process – while difficult – reinforced her belief in the legislative process.

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She recounted seeing staffers from opposite sides of the aisle celebrating and sharing high-fives after the bill was passed. The bill passed through the Senate three times in recent years before finally making it to the president’s desk.

“The system still works. It does,” she said. “The media just often doesn’t share it.”

Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani clinched a historic, and deeply polarizing, victory by officially receiving the most votes ever recorded in a New York City mayoral primary.

After three rounds, Mamdani received 565,639 votes, surpassing the previous record of 547,901 votes held by David N. Dinkins in 1989, according to updated ranked-choice voting totals released Tuesday by the NYC Board of Elections.

Mamdani celebrated the milestone on X, posting: “With the updated RCV totals just released by the Board of Elections, our campaign has officially earned the most total votes in a primary in New York City history.”

NYC MAYORAL CANDIDATE ZOHRAN MAMDANI IDENTIFIED AS BLACK, ASIAN ON COLUMBIA APPLICATION: REPORT

The far-left Assemblymember from Queens secured 565,639 votes after just three rounds of ranked-choice voting, defeating former Gov. Andrew Cuomo by nearly 13 points, official BOE data confirms. Cuomo finished with 440,655 votes.

Mamdani’s campaign immediately seized on the numbers, touting the result as a “mandate” for progressive policies like a citywide rent freeze, taxpayer-funded childcare, and even “fast and free” public buses.

“This movement made history on election night,” Mamdani said in a statement Tuesday, promising to “fulfill our promises to lower costs and build a city working people can afford.”

MAMDANI OFFICIALLY WINS NYC DEM PRIMARY BY 12 POINTS OVER CUOMO, WHO’S STAYING IN THE RACE FOR NOW

Mamdani, who openly identifies as a Democratic socialist, currently represents Astoria and Long Island City in the New York State Assembly. His two-term record includes pushing for tenant protections, opposing utility rate hikes, and advocating for mass transit subsidies.

Ranked-choice voting was used for only the second time in a NYC mayoral primary. Mamdani secured 56.2% of the vote after three rounds, compared to Cuomo’s 43.8%. 

Mayor Eric Adams needed eight rounds in 2021 to reach a narrow 50.4%.

The leftward political shift in New York City has drawn attention from state and national leaders.

“I had the first of what I consider to be many conversations with the nominee yesterday,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul told reporters Tuesday, adding that they discussed shared affordability goals as well as concerns from Jewish communities that “feel under siege.” Hochul said Mamdani “understands the need” to engage those constituencies.

When asked about a Truth Social post by President Donald Trump calling Mamdani a “Communist Luncatic” and implying New York could lose funding under a Mamdani administration, Hochul pushed back firmly.

“We’re New Yorkers, we’re not going to be intimidated by threats from Washington, not now, not ever,” she said.

With the general election looming, eyes are now on whether Cuomo or other centrist Democrats will mount independent challenges.

“President Trump supports Eric Adams, and we do not believe socialism is the answer,” Cuomo campaign spokesman Rich Azzopardi told Fox News Digital. “Most New Yorkers are not Trumpers, and most New Yorkers are not socialists — the majority lies in the middle. We will continue to assess the current situation in the best interest of the people of the City of New York.”

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The Mamdani campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The Cato Institute is warning that the federal government is testing the outer limits of executive power with President Donald Trump’s use of emergency tariffs, and it wants the courts to put a stop to it.

In a new amicus brief filed in V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump, Cato argues that the president overstepped his legal authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) by imposing steep tariffs on imports from countries including China, Mexico and Canada.

The libertarian thinktank argues the move undermines the Constitution’s separation of powers and expands executive authority over trade in ways Congress never intended.

“This is an important case about whether the president can impose tariffs essentially whenever he wants,” Cato Institute legal fellow Brent Skorup said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital. “There has to be a limit — and this administration hasn’t offered one.”

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PREVAILS AS APPEALS COURT PAUSES LOWER COURT DECISION BLOCKING CONTESTED TARIFFS

“Tariff rates went up to 145% on some products from China,” he said. “And the president’s lawyers couldn’t offer a limiting principle. That tells you the administration believes there’s no real cap, and that’s a problem.”

Cato’s brief urges the appeals court to uphold a lower court ruling that found the tariffs exceeded the president’s statutory authority. The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled earlier this year that the president’s use of IEEPA in this case was not legally authorized. The court said the law does not permit the use of tariffs as a general tool to fight drug trafficking or trade imbalances.

Skorup said in court the administration was unable to define a clear limit on its authority under IEEPA. 

“They couldn’t articulate a cap,” he said. “There’s nothing in the law that mentions duties or tariffs. That’s a job for Congress.”

The administration has defended its actions, arguing that IEEPA provides the necessary tools for the president to act swiftly in times of national emergency. Trump officials maintain that both the fentanyl crisis and America’s trade vulnerabilities qualify.

TARIFF FIGHT ESCALATES AS TRUMP APPEALS SECOND COURT LOSS

“There are real emergencies, no one disputes that,” Skorup said. “But declaring an emergency to justify global tariffs or solve domestic trade issues goes far beyond what most Americans would recognize as a legitimate use of emergency powers.”

Skorup acknowledged that the real issue may be how much discretion Congress gave the president in the first place. 

“It’s a bipartisan problem. Presidents from both parties have taken vague laws and stretched them. Congress bears some of the blame for writing them that way,” he said, adding that’s why courts should “step in and draw the line.”

For small businesses like V.O.S. Selections, the costs go beyond legal fees. Skorup said businesses who rely on imports, like V.O.S., have struggled to plan ahead as tariffs have been paused and reinstated repeatedly.

Skorup said there are several small businesses that rely on global imports and it becomes a “matter of survival” when tariff rates change unexpectedly.

“V.O.S. Selections imports wine and spirits and when the tariff rates go up unexpectedly, they can’t get products to their distributors as planned,” he said. “And that’s true for others too, like pipe importers and specialized manufacturers. These companies don’t have the flexibility to absorb those costs or adjust overnight.”

If the appeals court sides with the administration, it could mark a major expansion of presidential power over trade policy. Skorup warned that such a ruling would allow future presidents to take similar actions with little oversight.

“It would bless Congress’ ability to hand over immense economic power to the president,” he said. “That would blur the separation of powers that the Constitution is supposed to protect.”

A decision from the appeals court is expected later this year.

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The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

President Donald Trump warned that New York won’t ever be the same if New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is elected. 

Mamdani is a Ugandan-born Muslim who won the Democratic Party’s primary for New York City mayor in June and identifies as a Democratic socialist. 

But Trump said that New Yorkers should not cast their ballot for the New York State assemblyman from Queens, who he described as “a man who’s not very capable in my opinion, other than he’s got a good line of bulls–-.” 

SANDERS ENDORSES SOCIALIST MAMDANI IN MOVE TO BLOCK CUOMO IN NYC MAYORAL RACE

“No. 1, you have a communist running, and you shouldn’t vote for him,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday. “He’s a disaster. He’s leading. He’s got the Democrat nomination because that shows you where the Democrats have gone.”

“I’m not getting involved, but I can tell you this: I used to say we will not ever be a socialist country. Right. Well, I’ll say it again. We’re not going to have — if a communist gets elected to run New York, it can never be the same.”

Mamdani did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

Trump previously has blasted Mamdani, and threatened to arrest him if he refused to comply with federal immigration officials. Trump’s remarks came after Mamdani said in June that he would halt “masked” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials from “deporting our neighbors.”

WASHINGTON POST BASHES SOCIALIST ZOHRAN MAMDANI AS POTENTIAL DISASTER FOR NEW YORK CITY

“Well, then we’ll have to arrest him,” Trump told reporters at the White House July 1. “Look, we don’t need a communist in this country, but if we have one, I’m going to be watching over them very carefully on behalf of the nation. We send him money. We send him all the things that he needs to run a government.”

In response, Mamdani issued a statement claiming that Trump’s comments amounted to an assault on democracy. 

“The President of the United States just threatened to have me arrested, stripped of my citizenship, put in a detention camp and deported,” Mamdani said. “Not because I have broken any law but because I will refuse to let ICE terrorize our city.” 

“His statements don’t just represent an attack on our democracy but an attempt to send a message to every New Yorker who refuses to hide in the shadows: if you speak up, they will come for you,” Mamdani said. 

Trump has also slammed Mamdani after the 33-year-old refused to condemn the term “globalize the intifada.” 

‘GLOBALIZE THE INTIFADA’ PHRASE STIRS TENSIONS ON NYC CAMPAIGN TRAIL AS MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT RAGES

“Frankly, I’ve heard he’s a total nut job,” Trump told reporters July 1. “I think the people in New York are crazy because they go this route. I think they’re crazy. We will have a communist in the for the first time, really a pure, true communist. He wants to operate the grocery stores. The department stores. What about the people that are there? I think it’s crazy.”

Mamdani said in a June interview with NBC News he didn’t want to condemn the term “globalize the intifada,” a phrase used to back Palestinian resistance against Israel, because he didn’t want to “police language.” 

Mamdami has received criticism from Democrats for refusing to come out with a stance on the phrase, including from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Jeffries told ABC News Sunday in June that the term was not “acceptable phrasing.”

Former President Joe Biden’s persistent use of a teleprompter during public events, including during a fundraiser with just a couple dozen supporters, left donors complaining for months and dashed their expectations of hearing from the 46th president, a new book claims. 

“For most of the campaign, Biden only ever spoke with the assistance of a teleprompter, even for small private audiences,” a new book, “2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America,” reported. “The presence of the machine made for extremely awkward interactions in intimate settings, and irked donors who had paid thousands of dollars for a personal view of the president, not expecting a canned speech they could see on TV.” 

“He once read from a teleprompter in front of thirty people in the open kitchen of a Palo Alto mansion,” the book continued. “Donors complained for months about the president’s reliance on the machine. Aides defended the teleprompter as a tool to keep the famously garrulous president on schedule.” 

“2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America” was released Tuesday and authored by Josh Dawsey of the Wall Street Journal, Tyler Pager of the New York Times and Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post. It details the 2024 presidential campaign cycle, including Biden’s cratering health issues. 

BIDEN AIDES PUSHED FOR EARLY DEBATE TO SHOW OFF BIDEN’S ‘STRENGTH,’ EXPOSE TRUMP’S ‘WEAKNESS,’ BOOK SAYS

The book detailed that just days after Biden’s disastrous June 2024 debate against President Donald Trump that opened the floodgates to typical Democrat supporters turning their backs on Biden ahead of the election, the president attended a campaign event at Virginia Democrat Rep. Dan Beyers’ house without a teleprompter. The book claims Biden only spoke for about six minutes.

“At Beyer’s house, the campaign was eager to prove Biden could speak off the cuff. There was no teleprompter to be found. The president blamed his poor debate performance on a heavy travel schedule and said he ‘almost fell asleep onstage.’ He spoke for about six minutes,” the book detailed. 

The word “teleprompter” appears in the new book a dozen times, mostly referencing the president’s reliance on the machine, as well as concern among some staffers that using a teleprompter was crucial to the president avoiding the unexpected as his health deteriorated. 

BIDEN STRUGGLED TO FILM 2024 CAMPAIGN VIDEOS AMID DECLINING HEALTH, NEW BOOK CLAIMS: ‘THE MAN COULD NOT SPEAK’

“The officials who planned events at the White House tried to avoid any surprises or unpredictable situations. If the president was going to speak, he would go to the podium, deliver remarks from a teleprompter, and leave. There was no room for creativity or spontaneity,” the book states in a section on how Biden had fallen during a commencement in 2023 and staff devised plans to prevent another public fall in the future. 

“Everyone could see the president was aging. He sometimes failed to recognize former staff at functions. Still, current aides insisted his decline was strictly physical, and even then they acknowledged it only by trying to Bubble Wrap the president and avoid any more catastrophes. Staff limited direct access to the president, keeping meetings with him small,” the book continued.

NEW BOOK REVEALS BIDEN’S INNER CIRCLE WORRIED ABOUT HIS AGE YEARS BEFORE BOTCHED DEBATE PERFORMANCE

Biden entered his 2024 reelection cycle already racked by claims and concerns that his mental acuity had slipped and he was not mentally fit to continue serving as president, which was underscored by special counsel Robert Hur’s report in February 2024 that rejected criminal charges against Biden for possessing classified materials, citing he was “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” Fox News has been reporting on Biden’s apparent health decline since at least 2020. 

Biden brushed off the claims throughout 2024, until his debate against Trump in June of that year, when he was seen tripping over his words, speaking in a far more subdued tenor than during his vice presidency, and losing his train of thought at times. The debate opened the floodgates to criticism among Democrats that Biden should step aside and pass the mantle to a younger generation of Democrats. 

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After weeks of the White House and campaign staffers vowing Biden would stay in the race and to “keep the faith,” Biden announced in a social media post on a Sunday afternoon in July 2024 that he dropped out of the race. He endorsed then-Vice President Kamala Harris to run for the Oval Office, giving her just over 100 days to launch her own campaign that failed to rally enough support when up against Trump. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Biden’s office regarding the claims in the new book, but did not immediately receive a reply.

FIRST ON FOX: The White House is waiving executive privilege for a key member of former President Joe Biden’s inner circle, Fox News Digital has learned.

Former White House physician Kevin O’Connor was set to testify this week in House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer’s probe into allegations that Biden’s senior aides covered up his mental and physical decline while president.

“In light of the unique and extraordinaty nature of the matters under investigation, President Trump has determined that an assertion of executive privilege is not in the national interest, and therefore is not justified, with respect to particular subjects within the purview of the House Oversight Committee,” a letter to O’Connor sent by the White House, obtained by Fox News Digital by a source familiar, said.

“These subjects include your assessment of former President Biden’s fitness for the office of the president and your financial relationship with the Biden family.”

Fox News Digital reached out to O’Connor’s lawyers for comment.

Comer subpoenaed O’Connor last week after the physician refused to appear voluntarily for a transcribed interview with House investigators.

O’Connor’s lawyers petitioned for a delay over the weekend, however, calling the scope of the probe “unprecedented.”

“We are unaware of any prior occasion on which a Congressional Committee has subpoenaed a physician to testify about the treatment of an individual patient,” O’Connor’s legal team wrote. “And the notion that a Congressional Committee would do so without any regard whatsoever for the confidentiality of the physician-patient relationship is alarming.”

A House Oversight Committee spokeswoman called their letter a “delay tactic to stonewall the Oversight Committee’s investigation.”

The Tuesday letter from the White House counsel’s office read, “The extraordinary events in this matter constitute exceptional circumstances warranting an accommodation to Congress. Evidence that aides to former President Biden concealed information regarding his fitness to exercise the powers of the President – and may have unconstitutionally exercised those powers themselves to aid in their concealment – implicates both Congress’ constitutional and legislative powers.”

“After balancing the Legislative and Executive Branch interests, as required under the accommodation process, it is the President’s view that this presents and exceptional situation in which the congressional need for information outweighs the Executive Branch’s interest in maintaining confidentiality, especially given the Executive Branch’s own interest in determining the validity of prior executive actions,” the letter said.

EXCLUSIVE: Former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey are under criminal investigation for potential wrongdoing related to the Trump–Russia probe, including allegedly making false statements to Congress, Justice Department sources told Fox News Digital.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe referred evidence of wrongdoing by Brennan to FBI Director Kash Patel for potential prosecution, DOJ sources told Fox News Digital.

The sources said that the referral was received and told Fox News Digital that a criminal investigation into Brennan was opened and is underway. DOJ sources declined to provide further details. It is unclear, at this point, if the investigation spans beyond his alleged false statements to Congress.

As for Comey, DOJ sources told Fox News Digital that an investigation into the former director is underway, but could not share details of what specifically is being probed.

EX-OBAMA INTEL BOSS WANTED ANTI-TRUMP DOSSIER INCLUDED IN ‘ATYPICAL’ 2016 ASSESSMENT DESPITE PUSHBACK

The full scope of the criminal investigations into Brennan and Comey is unclear, but two sources described the FBI’s view of the duo’s interactions as a “conspiracy,” which could open up a wide range of potential prosecutorial options. 

The FBI and CIA declined to comment.

Neither Brennan nor Comey immediately responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The Brennan investigation comes after Ratcliffe last week declassified a “lessons learned” review of the creation of the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA). The 2017 ICA alleged Russia sought to influence the 2016 presidential election to help then-candidate Donald Trump. But the review found that the process of the ICA’s creation was rushed with “procedural anomalies,” and that officials diverted from intelligence standards. 

WHITE HOUSE WANTS OBAMA INTEL OFFICIALS ‘HELD ACCOUNTABLE’ FOR ROLE PEDDLING 2016 RUSSIA HOAX

It also determined that the “decision by agency heads to include the Steele Dossier in the ICA ran counter to fundamental tradecraft principles and ultimately undermined the credibility of a key judgment.” 

The dossier — an anti-Trump document filled with unverified and wholly inaccurate claims that was commissioned by Fusion GPS and paid for by Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the DNC — has been widely discredited. Last week’s review marks the first time career CIA officials have acknowledged politicization of the process by which the ICA was written, particularly by Obama-era political appointees. 

Records declassified as part of that review further revealed that Brennan did, in fact, push for the dossier to be included in the 2017 ICA.

Brennan testified to the House Judiciary Committee in May 2023, however, that he did not believe the dossier should be included in that intelligence product.

COMEY SAYS MCCABE LIED, CONFIRMS HE KICK-STARTED PROBE THAT LED TO HIS FIRING

Ratcliffe was not surprised by the review’s findings, a source familiar told Fox News Digital, given the director’s long history of criticizing Brennan’s politicization of intelligence. But Ratcliffe was compelled to refer aspects of Brennan’s involvement to the FBI for review of possible criminality, the source said.

The source was unable to share the sensitive details of Ratcliffe’s criminal referral to the FBI with Fox News Digital, but said that Brennan “violated the public’s trust and should be held accountable for it.”

The false statements portion of the probe stems from a newly declassified email sent to Brennan by the former deputy CIA director in December 2016. That message said that including the dossier in the ICA in any capacity jeopardized “the credibility of the entire paper.”

FISA REPORT DROPS: 7 TAKEAWAYS FROM DOJ WATCHDOG’S REVIEW OF RUSSIA PROBE

“Despite these objections, Brennan showed a preference for narrative consistency over analytical soundness,” the new CIA review states. “When confronted with specific flaws in the Dossier by the two mission center leaders – one with extensive operational experience and the other with a strong analytic background – he appeared more swayed by the Dossier’s general conformity with existing theories than by legitimate tradecraft concerns.”

The review added: “Brennan ultimately formalized his position in writing, stating that ‘my bottomline is that I believe that the information warrants inclusion in the report.’”

But Brennan testified the opposite in front of Congress in May 2023.

“The CIA was very much opposed to having any reference or inclusion of the Steele dossier in the Intelligence Community Assessment,” Brennan testified before the House committee, according to the transcript of his deposition reviewed by Fox News Digital. “And so they sent over a copy of the dossier to say that this was going to be separate from the rest of that assessment.”

FLASHBACK: NEWLY DECLASSIFIED INTEL DOCUMENT NOTED STEELE DOSSIER CLAIMS HAD ‘LIMITED CORROBORATION’

CIA officials at the time of its creation pushed back against the FBI, which sought to include the dossier, arguing that the dossier should not be included in the assessment, and casting it as simply “internet rumor.” 

Ultimately, Steele’s reporting was not included in the body of the final ICA prepared for then-President Barack Obama, but instead detailed in this footnote, “largely at the insistence of FBI’s senior leadership,” according to a review by the Justice Department inspector general, and later, the Senate Intelligence Committee.

But back in June 2020, Ratcliffe, while serving as director of national intelligence, declassified a footnote of the 2017 ICA, which revealed that the reporting of Trump dossier author Christopher Steele had only “limited corroboration” regarding whether then-President-elect Trump “knowingly worked with Russian officials to bolster his chances of beating” Hillary Clinton and other claims.

FLASHBACK: DNI DECLASSIFIES BRENNAN NOTES, CIA MEMO ON HILLARY CLINTON ‘STIRRING UP’ SCANDAL BETWEEN TRUMP, RUSSIA

The footnote, also known as “Annex A” of the 2017 ICA, exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital in June 2020, spanned less than two pages and detailed reporting by Steele, the former British spy who authored the unverified anti-Trump dossier — a document that helped serve as the basis for controversial Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants obtained against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.

Steele’s reporting, at the time, was commissioned by opposition research firm Fusion GPS and funded by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) through law firm Perkins Coie.

The footnote made clear the internal concerns officials had over that document.

“An FBI source (Steele) using both identified and unidentified subsources, volunteered highly politically sensitive information from the summer to the fall of 2016 on Russian influence efforts aimed at the US presidential election,” the annex read. “We have only limited corroboration of the source’s reporting in this case and did not use it to reach the analytic conclusions of the CIA/FBI/NSA assessment.”

“The source collected this information on behalf of private clients and was not compensated for it by the FBI,” it continued.

But the annex notes that Steele’s reporting was “not developed by the layered subsource network.”

“The FBI source caveated that, although similar to previously provided reporting in terms of content, the source was unable to vouch for the additional information’s sourcing and accuracy,” the annex states. “Hence this information is not included in this product.”

FBI IGNORED ‘CLEAR WARNING SIGN’ OF CLINTON-LED EFFORT TO ‘MANIPULATE’ BUREAU FOR ‘POLITICAL PURPOSES’

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz also reviewed the inclusion of Steele’s reporting in the ICA during his review of alleged misconduct related to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA.

His report, released in late 2019, found that there were “significant inaccuracies and omissions” in FISA warrants for former Trump campaign aide Page. Those warrants relied heavily on Steele’s reporting, despite the FBI not having had specific information corroborating allegations against Page that were included in Steele’s reporting.

Meanwhile, Fox News Digital exclusively reported in October 2020 that Brennan briefed former President Obama and administration officials on intelligence that then-Democrat nominee former Secretary of State Clinton was stirring up a plan to tie Trump to Russia.

Ratcliffe, as director of national intelligence, declassified Brennan’s handwritten notes memorializing that meeting, which were exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital in October 2020.

On July 28, 2016, Brennan briefed Obama on a plan from one of Clinton’s campaign foreign policy advisors “to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security service.” 

Comey, then-Vice President Joe Biden, former Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper were in the Brennan-Obama briefing.

FLASHBACK: DECLASSIFIED TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE DOCS TO DATE: WHAT TO KNOW 

After that briefing, the CIA properly forwarded that information through a Counterintelligence Operational Lead (CIOL) to Comey and then-Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok, with the subject line: “Crossfire Hurricane.”

Fox News Digital exclusively obtained and reported on the CIOL in October 2020, which stated: “The following information is provided for the exclusive use of your bureau for background investigative action or lead purposes as appropriate.”

“Per FBI verbal request, CIA provides the below examples of information the CROSSFIRE HURRICANE fusion cell has gleaned to date,” the memo continued. “An exchange (REDACTED) discussing US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s approval of a plan concerning US presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering US elections as a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server.”

The FBI on July 31, 2016, opened a counterintelligence investigation into whether candidate Trump and members of his campaign were colluding or coordinating with Russia to influence the 2016 campaign. That investigation was referred to inside the bureau as “Crossfire Hurricane.”

Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller was appointed to take over the FBI’s original “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation. After nearly two years, Mueller’s investigation, which concluded in March 2019, yielded no evidence of criminal conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian officials during the 2016 presidential election.

Shortly after, John Durham was appointed as special counsel to investigate the origins of the “Crossfire Hurricane” probe.

Durham found that the FBI “failed to act” on a “clear warning sign” that the bureau was the “target” of a Clinton-led effort to “manipulate or influence the law enforcement process for political purposes” ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

“The aforementioned facts reflect a rather startling and inexplicable failure to adequately consider and incorporate the Clinton Plan intelligence into the FBI’s investigative decision-making in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation,” Durham’s report states.

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“Indeed, had the FBI opened the Crossfire Hurricane investigation as an assessment and, in turn, gathered and analyzed data in concert with the information from the Clinton Plan intelligence, it is likely that the information received would have been examined, at a minimum, with a more critical eye,” the report continued.

Durham, in his report, said the FBI “failed to act on what should have been—when combined with other incontrovertible facts— a clear warning sign that the FBI might then be the target of an effort to manipulate or influence the law enforcement process for political purposes during the 2016 presidential election.”

Meanwhile, the White House wants the Obama-era intelligence officials to be held accountable. 

“President Trump was right — again,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Those who engaged in this political scandal must be held accountable for the fraud they committed against President Trump and the lies they told to the American people.”

Socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s campaign did not respond when confronted with a handful of radical platforms and messages that were promoted during an annual gathering of socialist activists and leaders in Chicago over the Fourth of July weekend, Fox News Digital found. 

“Socialism 2025” was held in Chicago Thursday through Sunday, where activists promoted “radicalizing” high school students, overthrowing the U.S. government and how to perform a “DIY” abortion and required all attendees to wear N95 or K95 while indoors, in addition to common rhetoric slamming capitalism. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s campaign Tuesday morning inquiring if the NYC Socialist Democrat agreed or disagreed with the platforms and ideas promoted at the conference, and if they were ones he would implement if elected the next mayor of the Big Apple, but did not immediately receive a response. 

Mamdani did not attend the conference in Chicago, but describes himself as a Democratic socialist and has previously embraced radical left-wing policies, such as ending private homeownership in favor of communal living, Fox Digital has previously reported.

The socialism conference included panels dominated by college professors, as well as community organizers, activists and others.

SOCIALIST MAYORAL CANDIDATE ZOHRAN MAMDANI’S SAT SCORE REVEALED: REPORT

“Socialism 2025 is a four-day conference bringing together thousands of socialists and radical activists from around the country to take part in discussions about social movements, abolition, Marxism, decolonization, working-class history, and the debates and strategies for organizing today,” the conference touts on its website. 

Fox News Digital provided Mamdani’s office with a bullet-point list of six quotes and platforms promoted at the event, including one woman who identified herself as a Wisconsin high school teacher calling for youths to be “radicalized” before they enter college. 

“All of you who got radicalized in college, imagine if you got radicalized four years earlier,” the woman, who was a member of the audience, was heard saying during the conference. 

NYC’S SHOCKING SOCIALIST VICTORY IS A DIRE WARNING FOR THE RIGHT

Another Chicago-based activist who spoke during a panel called for the U.S. government to be overthrown. 

“I think it’s important to say the state isn’t democratic. We don’t live in a democracy. We should start saying that more so. I mean, there are so many different ways — I’m not going to go into it — but people are clapping, so there’s general agreement. I’m glad we agree on that,” the activist said during a panel Saturday called, “Their End is Our Beginning: Cops, Capitalism, and Abolition,” which receive applause from the crowd.

“So, do we capture the state or do we try to replace it with something different?” he continued. “And I think it’s the latter. We have to replace it with something different.”

While during another panel on “Gender, Sexuality, Reproduction and the State: Fighting Back Against the So-Called Law,” a woman from the audience announced that the conference would hold a do-it-yourself abortion panel to discuss how to use and where to buy legal abortion pills. 

While a panel speaker for the same forum appeared to call for the abolition of the family. 

VIDEO SURFACES OF MAMDANI USING SLOGAN ROOTED IN COMMUNIST REVOLUTIONARY LANGUAGE

“But… the bigger part of abolition as everybody’s reminding us in that tradition is the building of infrastructures of real safety, real accountability, real justice,” the activist said during the panel. “You know it’s the same with the family. Capitalist care has to be abolished in the sense that we are all pretty clear that care is a real need. What does the family offer us? What is the promise? It’s like a promise that you will be deeply, profoundly, unconditionally, selflessly and uncalculatedly known and held.”

“Is the family really doing that?” she added, before adding that the idea of family has shortcomings and can be replaced with “mutual aid.”

While yet another activist declared during a video clip circulating social media that she seeks to “dismantle the United States” and said “everyone” should join her in her activism — “no questions asked.”

“I seek to dismantle the United States,” the activist said, according to video footage circulating on X. “I hope you seek to dismantle the United States. And if that isn’t your politics, OK. I speak as if everybody has this commitment. And the thing is, you should. You should listen to indigenous people when they are telling you this is the goal. Not only is this the goal, but this is the starting point.”

“Decolonization is the only thing that is going to save us as a species. It’s the only thing that’s going to save us as a planet. And everyone should be on board with it, no questions asked.”

SANDERS ENDORSES SOCIALIST MAMDANI IN MOVE TO BLOCK CUOMO IN NYC MAYORAL RACE

Mamdani trounced top NYC mayoral competitor and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo at the polls in June. Mamdani’s victory is viewed as the Democrat Party moving farther to the left in New York City after national voters sounded off in the 2024 election that the party’s embrace of some left-wing policies alienated Americans. 

President Donald Trump has slammed Mamdani as a “Communist Lunatic” and vowed he would “save New York City.” 

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“As President of the United States, I’m not going to let this Communist Lunatic destroy New York,” Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier in July. “Rest assured, I hold all the levers, and have all the cards. I’ll save New York City, and make it ‘Hot’ and ‘Great’ again, just like I did with the Good Ol’ USA!” 

A federal judge drew enormous backlash from Republicans after she blocked the Trump Administration on Monday from following through on a provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that strips federal funding from Planned Parenthood.

Critics of Judge Indira Talwani said her fast-acting decision to grant Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion vendor, a temporary restraining order was an extraordinary overreach of judicial authority.

Tom Jipping, a senior legal fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital the judge’s move was “obviously out of bounds.”

“What you have here is Congress exercising its explicit constitutional authority to make spending decisions, and you have a district judge arguably trying to exercise power she doesn’t have to force Congress to change,” Jipping said.

PRO-LIFE MOVEMENT CONFRONTS HIGH ABORTION RATES THREE YEARS AFTER DOBBS

Talwani, a Boston-based judge appointed by former President Barack Obama, issued the temporary order, which lasts 14 days, after Planned Parenthood sued the government over the One Big Beautiful Act, a massive tax and budget bill. The provision stripped Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood, which the nonprofit said could force it to close roughly 200 of its 600 facilities and deprive about one million customers of non-abortion-related services.

Congress narrowly passed the bill with no support from Democrats last week, and Trump signed it into law on July 4.

Talwani’s brief two-page order came on the same day Planned Parenthood sued, and it contained only the explanation that the nonprofit showed “good cause” for the temporary relief.

“I don’t know how fast that judge reads, but she issued her TRO within a couple of hours,” Jipping said. “That makes her court look like a fast food drive-through.”

Sen. Mike Lee, a lawyer and Senate Judiciary Committee member, said he believed the judge’s order was not an innocent mistake and floated the idea that the House could initiate impeachment proceedings against the judge.

“We have the best judicial system in the world, but it’s run by fallible, mortal humans. People make mistakes. But unless I’m missing something here, this wasn’t an honest mistake,” Lee said. “This was a pretty egregious judicial usurpation of legislative power.”

SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN OKS BAN ON PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERAL FUNDING IN TRUMP MEGABILL

Bill Shipley, a former federal prosecutor who once represented numerous Jan. 6 defendants, suggested on X that the First Circuit Court of Appeals reassign the case.

“The only way District Judges are going to be disciplined to adhere to their role is if they are sanctioned for brazenly ignoring the limits of their authority for partisan ends,” Shipley wrote.

Talwani set a hearing for July 21 to consider arguments from Planned Parenthood and the named agencies in the lawsuit, Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) could challenge the order in the interim. DOJ chief of staff Chad Mizelle said the judge’s restraining order amounted to “lawless overreach,” and he called for the Supreme Court to intervene.

The order came in response to Planned Parenthood claiming in its lawsuit that Congress’s budget bill unconstitutionally targeted Planned Parenthood because it performs abortions.

FEDERAL JUDGE PAUSES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S PLANNED PARENTHOOD DEFUNDING MEASURE

Opponents of abortion have focused their energy on weakening Planned Parenthood in the years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and the passage of the budget bill marked a milestone success for them. Some told Fox News Digital recently that it was one of several steps they needed to take to address the glaring fact that abortions remain prevalent and could even be on the rise.

Attorneys for Planned Parenthood said Medicaid does not cover abortion and that depriving Planned Parenthood of its hundreds of thousands of dollars in Medicaid reimbursements would cause more than half of its customers to lose access to services that do not include abortion.

Cancer and sexually transmitted infections would go undetected, especially for low-income people, and more unplanned pregnancies would occur because of a lack of contraception access, the Planned Parenthood attorneys said.

“The adverse public health consequences of the Defund Provision will be grave,” the attorneys wrote.

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Some Democrats celebrated Talwani’s order but did not address the legality of it.

House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) said on Bluesky that the judge in her home state delivered “some good news” for people who have relied on Planned Parenthood for health care.

“But make no mistake: our fight is far from over,” Clark wrote.