NationalWatch

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told members of the city’s Somali community over the weekend that they are “our family,” pledging solidarity and praising their contributions to the city during remarks celebrating Somali Independence Day.

Frey’s remarks came as Minnesota continues to face scrutiny over several high-profile fraud investigations and weeks after a Republican-led House Oversight Committee report alleged the Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s administration failed to act on repeated warnings about widespread fraud in the state’s social services programs.

“Through the most difficult of times and through Operation Metro surge, we all saw that they tried to come for some of us,” Frey told members of the Somali community on Saturday. “And when that happens, we say that you’re coming for all of us.”

BLUE STATE’S ANTI-ICE PLEDGE COLLAPSES AS GOP WARNS OF NEW SANCTUARY ‘CONFEDERACY’

“In Minneapolis, we loved our neighbors. In Minneapolis, we do not see you as immigrants. We see you as our family,” he added. “You are our brothers. You’re our sisters. You have done so much for this incredible city, and for that, we stand with you.”

Frey appeared to reference Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration’s immigration and public safety initiative in Minnesota.

The operation concluded in February after border czar Tom Homan announced it had resulted in the arrest of more than 4,000 people in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and had reduced what he described as public safety threats.

BLUE STATE’S ANTI-ICE PLEDGE COLLAPSES AS GOP WARNS OF NEW SANCTUARY ‘CONFEDERACY’

Frey shared the video on X, writing, “Happy Somali Independence Day.”

“Here in Minnesota, home to one of the largest Somali communities in the United States, we celebrate the resilience, culture, and leadership that continue to enrich our city and community,” he said.

Earlier this month, a Republican-led House Oversight Committee report alleged Walz’s administration repeatedly failed to act on warnings about fraud involving state social services programs, including the Feeding Our Future scandal.

WALZ ADMINISTRATION IGNORED FRAUD WARNINGS AS BILLIONS VANISHED, HOUSE OVERSIGHT REPORT ALLEGES

The committee said more than 110 people have been charged in connection with various fraud schemes in Minnesota, including many defendants identified as members of Minnesota’s Somali immigrant community.

The report also alleged concerns about potential racial discrimination claims contributed to delays in addressing suspected fraud and estimated Minnesota lost roughly $300 million in stolen federal child nutrition funds during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Walz administration officials have disputed the committee’s findings.

Fox News Digital’s Adam Pack contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump on Sunday called Washington, D.C., council member Janeese Lewis George a “communist” and vowed to block policies he said would undermine public safety and reverse his administration’s efforts to reduce crime in the nation’s capital.

In a lengthy post on Truth Social, Trump said he plans to meet with Lewis George and argued Washington has become safer under his administration. He also pledged to oppose any agenda he said would weaken immigration enforcement, policing or the city’s criminal justice system.

“Janeese Lewis George, the Communist who is almost certainly going to be elected Mayor of Washington, D.C., has stated that she wants to empty the prisons, make D.C. a Sanctuary City, oppose ICE, welcome Criminal Illegal Aliens back into our beloved Capital, resist Anti-Crime Crackdowns, Defund the Police, continue and expand Cashless Bail, and so many other Capital destroying ‘things,’” the president wrote on Truth Social.

SOCIALIST POISED TO LEAD DC AFTER DEM PRIMARY VICTORY, SETTING STAGE FOR CLASHES WITH TRUMP

“In the end, it will never work out, nor will I let it even have a chance because I have worked too hard to make Washington, D.C., the Envy of the World, with almost No Crime, and a Beautification process that has been second to none,” Trump continued. “I will meet with Janeese Lewis George, but must forewarn everyone that Washington, D.C., is again a Safe and Prestigious Community.

“Many people, including myself, have worked long and hard to get it there, and we will not let it be destroyed by a Communist adherent who has no intention to, MAKE WASHINGTON GREAT AGAIN!” he added.

Lewis George, a self-described Democratic socialist and member of the District of Columbia Council, defeated Kenyan McDuffie and five other candidates in the Democratic mayoral primary earlier this month, positioning her to succeed Mayor Muriel Bowser in a city where Democrats overwhelmingly dominate general elections.

SOCIALIST POISED TO LEAD DC AFTER DEM PRIMARY VICTORY, SETTING STAGE FOR CLASHES WITH TRUMP

Her primary victory sets the stage for a likely clash with Trump, who has made reducing crime in Washington and reshaping the nation’s capital a central focus of his second term. The president has maintained a National Guard presence in the city and has repeatedly threatened to end the District’s home rule if he believes local leaders fail to keep crime under control.

Lewis George has sharply criticized Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and expanded federal law enforcement presence in Washington. Following the president’s decision to deploy the Guard last year, she called the move “a direct attack” on the city’s residents and accused Trump of weaponizing the Home Rule Act.

During the mayoral campaign, Lewis George argued that “federal troops” and “masked ICE agents” posed a greater threat to young Washington residents than juvenile crime and opposed relying on curfews and federal enforcement, instead advocating expanded youth programs and other community investments.

SOCIALIST POISED TO LEAD DC AFTER DEM PRIMARY VICTORY, SETTING STAGE FOR CLASHES WITH TRUMP

Trump has previously suggested he would consider placing Washington under greater federal control if Lewis George were elected mayor.

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“I wouldn’t like it — and maybe we take back Washington, run it on the federal basis,” Trump told reporters earlier this month. “We won’t put up with it. We’re not going to lose our businesses.”

Fox News Digital’s Peter D’Abrosca contributed to this report.

Former President Joe Biden appeared to briefly seek directions before exiting the stage after delivering remarks at a Democratic gala Saturday night, capping his speech with an awkward onstage moment.

After delivering a roughly 10-minute keynote speech at the Maryland Democratic Party’s “Fight Back & Win Gala” near Baltimore, the 83-year-old paused onstage and looked toward the wings before pointing in two different directions, seemingly trying to determine where to exit. After receiving guidance, Biden turned and walked off the stage with his back to the audience.

Unlike several other speakers at the gala, who exited on the opposite side of the stage after their remarks, Biden left in a different direction.

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The moment came after Biden delivered one of his sharpest public critiques of President Donald Trump since leaving office. During his remarks, Biden defended his own administration’s record while accusing the Trump administration of corruption. He also took aim at what he described as Trump’s “vanity projects,” including renovations to the White House, changes at the Kennedy Center and the ongoing saga with the reflecting pool on the National Mall.

“Whoa, what a loser,” Biden said.

After pausing several times to cough throughout his remarks, Biden concluded with a call for Democrats to “fight back,” saying the country could overcome its challenges by acting together.

“Folks, I guarantee we can do this. And we will. We just remember who in the hell we are. We’re the United States of America,” Biden said. “There’s nothing, nothing beyond our capacity if we act together. So let’s get up and fight back, God darn it.”

The latest onstage moment comes just days after another widely shared incident at the opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.

WATCH: BIDEN LEFT SEARCHING FOR FAMILY AFTER OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER CEREMONY

The star-studded ceremony brought together former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, along with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Kamala Harris and other political leaders and entertainers. At the conclusion of the event, Biden remained onstage after others had exited before calling out, “Where’s my granddaughter?”

Former First Lady Jill Biden then returned to the stage, took his hand and guided him off.

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Biden has largely stayed out of the public eye since withdrawing from the 2024 presidential race after facing intense pressure from fellow Democrats to end his reelection bid.

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The former president has since made only occasional public appearances and recently disclosed that he is undergoing treatment for Stage 4 prostate cancer.

A top Agriculture Department watchdog warned Congress on Thursday that fraud in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has allowed individuals linked to terrorist groups, foreign adversaries and transnational criminal organizations to access and abuse food stamps.

The hearing marked the latest push by the Trump administration and House Republicans to crack down on these financial crimes and address the alleged waste, fraud and abuse in the bloated federal SNAP program.

“SNAP fraud is a reprehensible crime that squanders the compassion of American taxpayers who fund the program and robs from those low-income Americans who qualify for SNAP benefits to feed themselves and their families,” USDA Inspector General John Walk told the House Oversight Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency.

GOP LAWMAKER PRESSES SNAP ADVOCATE OVER TAXPAYER-FUNDED COCA-COLA DURING HEARING

“Proceeds of SNAP fraud have gone to individuals linked to terrorist groups, foreign adversary nations and transnational criminal organizations,” Walk testified.

Republicans argued that broader access to state eligibility data could uncover billions more in improper payments and organized criminal activity, while Democrats warned the effort could be used to justify cuts to food assistance for eligible Americans.

Walk, during Thursday’s hearing, seemed to further feed into Republicans’ concerns as he described increasingly sophisticated schemes targeting the roughly $100 billion federal food assistance program. He said organized criminals are stealing benefits from vulnerable Americans through electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card skimming, trafficking operations and identity fraud.

The inspector general said the crimes leave many legitimate vulnerable recipients without money to buy food.

He recounted speaking this week with a New York father of five whose SNAP benefits were stolen after criminals skimmed his EBT card.

“I have heard many stories from victims like these working moms and dads,” Walk said. “They’re why SNAP fraud matters.”

CHARTS ILLUSTRATE THE SCALE OF SNAP, A LIFELINE FOR LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS

Walk also highlighted a Southern California investigation in which SNAP benefits were allegedly exchanged for cash and crack cocaine.

According to his testimony, gang members then used proceeds from the fraud to purchase firearms.

“I’ll just repeat that,” Walk said. “SNAP dollars, federal tax dollars, used to buy drugs and guns.”

Walk’s testimony underscored the focus of Thursday’s hearing, where House Republicans argued that gaps in oversight and data sharing have allowed billions of taxpayer dollars to be lost to fraud and abuse within the nation’s food stamp program.

The subcommittee’s chairman, Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., claimed that Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials identified roughly $3 billion in potential fraud and waste using data submitted by participating states. Some examples included benefits allegedly being sent to 186,000 deceased individuals, 442,000 applicants with fraudulent Social Security numbers and hundreds of thousands of duplicate recipients in the system.

He also criticized 21 states for declining to provide requested SNAP data to the USDA, arguing the lack of participation prevents federal officials from identifying additional fraud.

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“If food stamp recipients’ data stays in state-specific databases, individuals may apply for and receive benefits from multiple states,” Burchett said.

Walk said investigators face the same challenge, arguing that limited access to state recipient data makes it difficult to detect fraud before taxpayer dollars are spent.

“We cannot pay and chase our way to stopping SNAP fraud,” he said. “We need to guard the front door.”

The inspector general also warned that criminals can install EBT card skimming devices in as little as seven seconds, allowing thieves to clone benefit cards and drain accounts as soon as monthly benefits are deposited.

While Republicans focused on fraud prevention and tighter oversight, Democrats argued the hearing risked portraying administrative errors as intentional fraud and defended SNAP’s role in feeding vulnerable Americans.

Food Research and Action Center Director of SNAP Policy and Advocacy Gina Plata-Nino said organized theft of EBT benefits poses a serious problem but cautioned lawmakers against confusing payment errors with fraud.

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“Program integrity and food access are not competing goals,” Plata-Nino testified.

The hearing comes as the Trump administration has prioritized rooting out fraud across federal benefit programs, with Burchett arguing additional state cooperation could uncover even more abuse within SNAP.

FIRST ON FOX: Young Americans are far less likely than older generations to see China as a major threat to the United States, according to a new poll, revealing one of the sharpest generational divides in U.S. foreign policy.

Some 93% of Americans age 65 and older said they are concerned about China’s ability to spy on the United States, compared with just 62% of those ages 18 to 29, according to the Ronald Reagan Institute Summer Survey. 

Younger Americans also were consistently less likely than seniors to express concern about China’s potential use of force against Taiwan (56% versus 86%), technology theft (61% versus 91%), purchases of U.S. land (68% versus 93%) and China’s role in the flow of fentanyl into the United States (68% versus 92%).

Despite the generational divide, concern about China remained high nationally. More than 80% of Americans said they were concerned about China’s role in the flow of fentanyl into the United States, its ability to spy on Americans and its purchases of U.S. land. Sixty-six percent also said Taiwan’s security matters to the United States.

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The findings come as Washington and Beijing are trying to stabilize one of the world’s most consequential relationships after years of escalating economic and military tensions.  

After imposing triple-digit tariffs on China at the start of his administration, President Donald Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in China in May and announced a series of trade and investment agreements and pledged to continue dialogue.

While concern about China remains widespread across the country, the survey suggests younger Americans view the U.S.’s chief geopolitical rival through a markedly different lens than older generations, raising questions about how public attitudes could evolve as younger voters make up a larger share of the electorate.

The findings stand out because they diverge from the prevailing view among many national security experts, who continue to characterize China as America’s principal long-term neer-pear competitor and adversary, even as Washington and Beijing seek to stabilize their relationship through diplomacy.

“There is rightful alarm regarding China’s historic military buildup and the expansion of its military activities in the region and beyond,” War Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in May. 

But, he added, U.S.–China relations are “better than they’ve been in many years.” 

After the May summit between Trump and Xi, the U.S. president told reporters: “We settled a lot of different problems that other people wouldn’t have been able to solve.”

He called Xi a “great leader” and China a “great country.” 

Other recent research points to broader differences in how Gen Z views U.S. foreign policy. 

A 2025 Carnegie Endowment survey found younger Americans were less likely than older generations to prioritize maintaining U.S. technological dominance over China and generally favored a less expansive American leadership role abroad.

The Reagan Institute Summer Survey is the organization’s annual public opinion poll on foreign policy and national security, designed to gauge Americans’ views on issues ranging from global engagement and military strength to China, NATO, the Middle East and democratic values.

The poll also found broad shifts by party on what America’s role in the world should look like: Republicans were more likely than Democrats to say the United States should be more engaged and take the lead in world affairs.

Seventy-one percent of Republicans said the U.S. should take a leading role internationally, compared with 55% of Democrats. Overall, 61% of Americans said the U.S. should be more engaged in global affairs, while 27% preferred a less engaged approach.

MOST TRUMP SUPPORTERS STILL BACK NATO DESPITE YEARS OF TRUMP’S CRITICISM, NEW POLL FINDS

The findings represent a notable shift from recent years. 

Democratic support for greater U.S. engagement fell from 65% to 55% over the past year, while Republican support increased from 69% to 71%, widening the partisan gap from four percentage points to 16. The survey also found 43% of Democrats now say U.S. involvement in the world is harmful, up from 22% a year ago.

The survey was conducted May 26 through June 3 among 1,555 U.S. adults and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. Researchers used a mixed-mode methodology that included live telephone interviews, an online panel and text-to-web responses.

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To better reflect the U.S. population, the results were weighted using demographic benchmarks from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey, including age, gender, race, region and education. The survey also included an oversample of 338 self-identified MAGA Republicans under age 30, which carries a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

The findings also come after a year in which the Trump administration has taken a more assertive posture overseas than some expected. 

In addition to ordering strikes on Iran, the administration has expanded military operations against cartel-linked targets in the Western Hemisphere and intervened to capture former President Nicolas Maduro Venezuela, moves that have put questions of American power and global leadership back at the center of public debate.

Two leaders of a prominent New York City union slammed the Democratic Party and Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) for being out of touch with blue-collar members of the working class — the very people they ran their campaigns on supporting.

“I think they’re communists, and I don’t think they have the benefit of the working class — the real working class, the taxpayers’ — support,” Robert “Bobby” Bartels, Jr., the business manager of Steamfitters Local 638 in New York City, told Fox News Digital.

The union, which has existed for 150 years and has mostly supported Democrat candidates in the past, represents blue-collar steamfitters, pipefitters, HVAC technicians, welders and industrial and mechanical service technicians. It previously broke ranks with Democrats and endorsed President Donald Trump in 2024.

Bartels ripped the far-left DSA candidates who won primary elections in New York last week against incumbent and establishment Democrats.

Winners include Darializa Avila Chevalier in New York’s 13th Congressional District and Claire Valdez in New York’s 7th Congressional District. Both are members of the Democratic Socialists of America and have radical views that were highlighted by rivals during the campaign.

RISING SOCIALIST STARS ON TRACK TO CONGRESS: WHO ARE DARIALIZA AVILA CHEVALIER, BRAD LANDER AND CLAIRE VALDEZ?

“They do have the people’s support that want everything for free and want everything handed to them without working for it, and I think the Democratic Party is going way far to the left,” Bartels acknowledged. “And as a matter of fact, the more building trades people you speak to, the more they’re going away from the Democratic Party.”

Bartels described Democrats in power as “narcissists,” and expressed frustration that when progressive policies fail, the party doubles down and goes further to the left instead of correcting course. Specifically, he addressed concerns of open border policies that he says drives down wages for union members.

“That we don’t like,” said Bartels. “You know why? Because they’re bringing the illegal immigrants in here to steal the Americans’ jobs and lower the rates.”

“They’re working to tear down the people that are working and building everything.”

ADAMS REBUKES MAMDANI FOR ‘ROMANTICIZING’ SOCIALISM IN NYC MAYORAL CAMPAIGN

He said it offends him when leftists like Avila Chevalier say they support the working class and they don’t feel represented by such politicians.

“Because I’m the working class, and they’re not here to support me,” explained Bartels. “They want to support the people who want to take from the working class.”

Brian Kearney is the president of Steamfitters Local 638.

DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST MAYORAL NOMINEE CREATES GROWING HEADACHE FOR VULNERABLE NEW YORK DEMOCRATS

He says much of the DSA’s work isn’t aligned with labor, particularly people in the building trades.

“I mean, we traditionally have been working class labor Democrats,” said Kearney.

“I think that DSA is going to have to try to find inroads through the labor movement in New York City because the labor movement in New York City — and I don’t want to speak for everybody, but you know, personally — it feels like we align on things when we can, but a lot more of their policy has gone towards progressive politics that could end up getting in the way sometimes.”

He said Mayor Zohran Mamdani has tackled his own progressive pet projects since taking office, but still hasn’t shown the building union that he will support them, as promised. Thursday night, the New York City Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) voted in favor of one of Mamdani’s core promises — freezing rent.

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“He’s mentioned union labor, union labor, union labor quite a few times throughout his campaign,” said Kearney. “Affordable housing was a big political issue in New York City. He said it was going to be built, and it was going to be built by union labor, but nothing’s been done yet, you know what I mean?

“He’s taken care of a lot of I think the agenda that he campaigned on that pertains to like more of the socialist policies, the super socialist stuff… but, he’s mentioned building with union labor, and I’d like to see him fulfill that promise and utilize union labor throughout the city.”

Mamdani, Valdez and Avila Chevalier did not return Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

Former President Bill Clinton expressed confidence in Democrats’ prospects after three socialist candidates won key New York primaries, stating he believes the Democratic Party is in “good shape” to be successful in November’s midterm elections. 

“I think we’re in good shape for the fall,” Clinton told Fox News Digital when asked about the outcome of Tuesday’s elections. 

The victories by three far-left candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America who won their respective races on Tuesday — Darializa Avila Chevalier, Brad Lander and Claire Valdez — have fueled debate within the Democratic Party over whether these progressive campaigns offer a winning blueprint heading into the midterm elections and a legitimate roadmap to national success for the party.

MAMDANI-BACKED SOCIALIST WINS IN NEW YORK EXPOSE GROWING RIFT BETWEEN DEMOCRATIC ESTABLISHMENT, INSURGENT LEFT

Clinton, however, appeared unfazed by the results.

The former president has previously aligned himself with more moderate Democrats in New York politics. Last year, he endorsed former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary over socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who defeated Cuomo in the Democratic primary in June 2025 and went on to secure the mayoral nomination.

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The latest primary results come as Democrats continue to wrestle with the party’s ideological direction. While many Democrats have embraced the new wave of socialism and those candidates representing the ideology, many mainstream Democrats have cautioned against embracing socialism as the party’s national brand — and have defended capitalism.

Fox News Digital also asked Clinton about the Iran situation, but the former president dodged the question, declining to answer.

CLINTON JUDGE ORDERS DOJ TO UNSEAL THE EPSTEIN FILES IT HAS BEEN KEEPING HIDDEN

Clinton’s refusal to comment comes as tensions surrounding Iran remain high as the United States and Iran work to navigate a recently announced, fragile peace deal 

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After coming to a ceasefire agreement, U.S. forces launched strikes against Iranian targets Friday after Tehran attacked a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz.

President Donald Trump said Thursday, before the strikes, that the U.S. is negotiating with Iran from a “position of pure strength.”

Rep. Thomas Massie lashed out at a Fox News Digital reporter when asked about allegations from his purported ex-girlfriend before turning his phone on the reporter, asking him if he likes “gay porn.”

The exchange unfolded after a woman who claims to be his ex-girlfriend came forward with allegations that he offered her money and asked her to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) related to a wrongful termination dispute. She also made allegations that he had bragged to her about an alleged sexual encounter with Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., just weeks after his wife died.

After the reporter told Massie he wanted to give him an opportunity to respond publicly to the allegations, the Kentucky Republican turned the exchange around.

“So let me ask you, I heard that you like gay porn,” Massie said as he pulled out his phone and began recording the reporter. “Is that true?”

MASSIE POSITIONS HIMSELF FOR POTENTIAL POLITICAL FUTURE AFTER PRIMARY DEFEAT: ‘I WON’T BE GOING AWAY SILENTLY’

As the reporter began to walk away from the heated exchange, Massie continued to bombard the reporter with more questions while filming.

“Are you a real loser?” he asked the reporter.

“No, come back man,” Massie said to the Fox News Digital reporter as the reporter walked away as he continued to follow behind him recording.

“Are you with Fox?” he asked. “Is that a legitimate news organization? Is this what you do for a living?”

The interaction started with the reporter asking Massie if he could “clear up” the allegations from his ex-girlfriend, former congressional staffer Cynthia West, that claimed he offered her $5,000 in exchange for her to drop a lawsuit for wrongful termination against Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., — an ally of Massie.

“It’s all false,” Massie said when asked.

TRUMP-BACKED CANDIDATE ED GALLREIN CALLS KENTUCKY UPSET A ‘DAVID VS. GOLIATH’ WIN AFTER DEFEATING MASSIE

Massie was then questioned about the allegations of him having alleged sexual relations with Boebert, as West also claimed Massie bragged to her about a sexual encounter with Boebert within weeks after his wife’s death.

“It’s all false,” he said again when asked about Boebert.

Boebert also erupted at the same Fox News Digital reporter earlier this month for asking the same questions about their alleged sexual encounter.

“F— you, first of all!’ Boebert said to the reporter when bringing up the claims from Massie’s alleged ex-girlfriend.

RAND PAUL PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR MASSIE AGAINST TRUMP-BACKED CHALLENGER: ‘I’M GOING TO HELP HIM’

“If you’re gonna bring me into this, like, the sexist stuff is like out of control,” she continued. “So there’s your clickbait that you were looking for.”

Earlier in the exchange with Massie, he questioned why Fox News was asking about the allegations.

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“When did you all become a tabloid?” Massie asked. “Seriously, dude.”

The allegations against Massie surfaced just a week before Massie was defeated in the race to keep his House seat in the May 19 Republican primary.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., revealed that she believes Congress should look to break up companies like Apple amid news that the tech giant might soon raise its prices on phones and laptops due to a strained processing chip supply chain.

“We need to break up a lot of these companies that are far, far too big and we need to be instituting consumer protections for people,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

Her statements reveal one of the many ways lawmakers are grappling with the realities of the AI race as companies feel the squeeze of global demand for processing power and as local communities wrestle with the costs of their use.

Like many other progressives, Ocasio-Cortez has advocated for a more government-led response, citing a distrust of corporate influence.

THE RISE OF AI: WHEN WILL CONGRESS REGULATE IT?

“The problem that we have is that these big companies think they are governments. They want to be governments. They want to have totally unchecked power,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

In recent weeks, Apple’s outgoing CEO Tim Cook signaled that the company might soon have no choice but to pass some of its climbing costs off to consumers.

“Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable,” Cook said in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal.

“We’re doing our best to mitigate the huge increases that are being passed to us, and we’ve been trying to shield our customers from the increases, but the situation has become unsustainable.”

For years, companies like Apple have dominated demand for the processing chip market, the part of a computer that acts as the brain of a device. These chips, which require highly sophisticated production, allow computers to perform calculations, process data and execute commands.

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Now that AI companies are also adding to demand, Apple finds itself competing for a dwindling supply of processors, driving the company’s costs up.

Beyond her views on the relationship between the government and business, Ocasio-Cortez said that she believes it’s time Congress re-visit ways it can mitigate costs of the AI-race that have climbed on a local level. In particular, she believes it’s time for lawmakers to address the energy strain of data centers.

When asked if she believed Congress should consider something beyond the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) Act, President Joe Biden’s signature technology investment bill that became law in 2022, Ocasio-Cortez said she thought so.

“The CHIPS Act was passed before we saw this huge development in AI, so the CHIPS Act was really passed before data centers were a thing, so it wasn’t designed to anticipate the huge amount of supply that these centers are sucking up,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

IN 2026, ENERGY WAR’S NEW FRONT IS AI, AND US MUST WIN THAT BATTLE, API CHIEF SAYS

Among other provisions, the CHIP act included $11.2 billion to modernize the country’s energy grid, created clean energy innovation programs and included $39 billion in domestic semiconductor production incentives.

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The bill did not address the energy consumption strain caused by data centers.

“We are subsidizing a lot of these pieces of these AI data centers,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

Jamie Davis, a farmer and former parish official from rural northeast Louisiana, is the Democratic Party’s Senate nominee in reliably red Louisiana.

Davis defeated Gary Crockett, a business owner in New Orleans, in Saturday’s Democratic Senate runoff election, The Associated Press reported, in the race to succeed Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy.

Davis, who was heavily favored in the runoff thanks to support from the state party and his massive campaign cash and staff advantage over Crockett, will now face an extremely steep uphill climb as he tries to become the first Louisiana Democrat in 18 years to win a Senate election.

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Rep. Julia Letlow, who was backed by President Donald Trump, and Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming faced off in the GOP Senate runoff.

Five years after he voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, Cassidy was sent packing.

Letlow, who was backed by Trump even before she entered the race in January, finished first in the primary, double digits ahead of Fleming, with Cassidy in third place. Since no candidate cracked 50% of the vote, Letlow and Fleming advanced to the runoff for the Republican nomination and Cassidy became the first elected Republican senator to lose renomination since Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana in 2012.

Trump, celebrating Cassidy’s defeat, said on social media that “it’s nice to see that his political career is OVER!”

Cassidy, in a speech to supporters after conceding, took a jab at Trump, saying, “When you participate in democracy, sometimes it doesn’t turn out the way you want it to. But you don’t pout, you don’t whine. You don’t claim the election was stolen… You don’t manufacture some excuse.”

Letlow, who was backed by Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a top Trump ally, won her congressional seat in 2021, after her husband, Luke Letlow, died six days after being sworn into the U.S. House after his 2020 election victory for the seat she now holds. She highlighted her support from Trump throughout her Senate campaign.

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Fleming, who spent eight years in Congress before serving as a White House deputy chief of staff during Trump’s first term, argued he was the most conservative candidate in the GOP Senate primary.

He wasn’t on the ballot, but President Donald Trump was a winner in Louisiana’s GOP Senate runoff election.

That’s because Trump-backed Rep. Julia Letlow defeated state Treasurer John Fleming to capture the Republican nomination, The Associated Press reported on Saturday.

Six weeks after denying Trump-targeted GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy a third six-year term in the Senate, a majority of Republican voters in the solidly red Gulf Coast state backed Letlow. Her victory in the runoff is seen as another victory for Trump as he works to fill the halls of Congress with loyal lawmakers for his final two years in the White House. And it’s another sign of the power of a Trump endorsement in Republican primaries.

Five years after he voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, Cassidy was sent packing.

WATCH: CASSIDY DETAILS NEW BEHIND CLOSED DOORS CLASH WITH TRUMP

Letlow, who was backed by Trump even before she entered the race in January, finished first in the primary, double digits ahead of Fleming, with Cassidy in third place. Since no candidate cracked 50% of the vote, Letlow and Fleming advanced to the runoff for the Republican nomination and Cassidy became the first elected Republican senator to lose renomination since Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana in 2012.

Trump, celebrating Cassidy’s defeat, said on social media that “it’s nice to see that his political career is OVER!”

Cassidy, in a speech to supporters after conceding, took a jab at Trump, saying, “When you participate in democracy, sometimes it doesn’t turn out the way you want it to. But you don’t pout, you don’t whine. You don’t claim the election was stolen… You don’t manufacture some excuse.”

Letlow, who was backed by Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a top Trump ally, won her congressional seat in 2021, after her husband, Luke Letlow, died five days before being sworn into the U.S. House after his 2020 election victory for the seat she now holds. She highlighted her support from Trump throughout her Senate campaign.

Fleming, who spent eight years in Congress before serving as a White House deputy chief of staff during Trump’s first term, argued he was the most conservative candidate in the GOP Senate primary.

DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB

Letlow will be considered the clear frontrunner in the midterm election against either farmer Jamie Davis or Navy veteran Gary Crockett, who are facing off in the Democratic Party runoff.

The brute force of the president’s endorsement power has been on display in GOP primaries over the past two months, with his candidates ousting incumbents he targeted in showdowns in Indiana, Kentucky and Texas, as well as the Louisiana primary.

But Trump’s endorsement streak in statewide and congressional Republican primaries was snapped three weeks ago when his last-minute endorsement of Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa in the race to succeed retiring GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds wasn’t enough to propel the three-term congressman to victory.

Feenstra was narrowly edged by Zach Lahn, a businessman, farmer and former political strategist who was backed by the political wings of MAHA — the acronym for the Make America Healthy Again movement aligned with Trump’s Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and Turning Point USA, the powerful conservative organization co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk.

The president rebounded three weeks ago in South Carolina, as Trump-backed Lt. Gov. Pam Evette finished first in the GOP gubernatorial primary and longtime Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham won a majority of the vote in the Republican Senate primary, and avoided a runoff.

Graham, who was endorsed by Trump, was facing primary challenges from five candidates, including conservative businessman Mark Lynch, who took aim at the senator over his support for the war in Iran. Lynch was backed by some MAGA leaders who have been critical of the president.

Two weeks ago, Trump-backed candidates won two of the three top races in Georgia and Alabama, with the one setback coming against a billionaire businessman who shelled out over $100 million of his own money to boost his campaign.

Rep. Barry Moore, a House Freedom Caucus member and longtime Trump supporter who was endorsed by the president, comfortably defeated rival Jared Hudson, a former Navy SEAL sniper who was supported by some top names on the right, in solidly red Alabama’s GOP Senate runoff.

In battleground Georgia’s Republican Senate runoff, an 11th-hour endorsement by Trump helped boost Rep. Mike Collins, a MAGA champion, to victory over former college football coach Derek Dooley, who was backed by popular conservative Gov. Brian Kemp.

TRUMP’S ENDORSEMENT FAILS TO SAVE MAGA CANDIDATE AS BILLIONAIRE ADVANCES IN KEY GOVERNOR RACE

Collins will face Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in the general election in a race that’s among a handful that will likely decide if the GOP holds its slim majority in the chamber in the midterms.

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But in Georgia’s GOP gubernatorial runoff, the candidate Trump backed, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who was also endorsed by Kemp this past weekend, was defeated by billionaire businessman Rick Jackson, who ran as an outsider.

On Tuesday, Trump-backed first-time candidate Anthony Constantino, a businessman and former boxer, defeated Robert Smullen, a retired Marine Corps colonel and New York Assembly member who had the backing of the state party, in the upstate New York race to succeed retiring GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik.

Meanwhile, in South Carolina’s Republican gubernatorial runoff, Trump couldn’t lose.

That’s because, besides backing Evette, he also gave a last-minute endorsement to state Attorney General Alan Wilson, who ended up winning the showdown in a landslide.

A judge ruled on Friday that another man running as a Republican, who shares the same name as Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, is eligible to run against him in the August primary in Alaska.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews’ ruling overturns a decision made by Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher earlier this month to disqualify the second Sullivan from the ballot.

Matthews on Friday ruled that Beecher didn’t follow the Constitution, Alaska law or the division’s own regulations when deciding to disqualify Sullivan.

“Instead, the decision was based upon a new, previously unstated, ‘good faith’ criteria,” the judge wrote.

In her determination, Beecher said that Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher who recently changed his party affiliation to the GOP, did not launch his campaign “in good faith,” and sought to “confuse or mislead” voters at the ballot box. 

The Republican senator is seeking a third term in the state. 

SAME-NAME CANDIDATE DISQUALIFIED FROM KEY SENATE RACE OVER ALLEGED DEM SCHEME TO CONFUSE VOTERS

Democrats are hoping that former Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, whom Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., helped recruit into the race, will unseat him in November.

Alaska is one of several states that are expected to be competitive as both parties vie for control of the Senate.

The Division of Elections told The Associated Press on Saturday that it plans to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court.

The deadline for a final ruling is Tuesday so that ballots for the Aug. 18 primary can be printed on time, state attorneys have said.

The senator previously told Fox News Digital that he believes Dan J. Sullivan is a Democrat plant.

BEHIND-THE-SCENES BATTLES: LEGAL CHALLENGES THAT COULD IMPACT THE VOTE BEFORE ELECTION DAY BEGINS,

“His primary purpose is not to win an election, it’s to confuse Alaskans and rig the vote for my opponent, the Democrat,” Sullivan said. “He’s not in it to win it. He’s in it to rig it.”

The name confusion could prove particularly consequential in Alaska given its ranked-choice voting system, where voters list candidates in order of preference. 

If Dan J. Sullivan is allowed to stay on the primary ballot, both he and incumbent Dan S. Sullivan could advance to the general election in which the top four vote-getters will appear.

Dan J. Sullivan’s attorneys have argued that there are only three qualifications to run for the Senate in the Constitution: age, citizenship and residency.

PRESIDENT TRUMP STRESSES IMPORTANCE OF MIDETERM ELECTION TURNOUT

He also previously said that sharing a name with the senator gave him an “instant megaphone,” but he had grown frustrated with the lawmaker and had been considering his own run for some time.

The Division of Elections, however, argued that it’s not required to put him on the ballot and find a way to make it less confusing for voters.

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“The Constitution does not require States to place a sham candidate on the ballot and then attempt to mitigate the damage through design choices,” attorney Rachel Witty, of the Alaska Department of Law, and outside attorneys Christopher Murray and Michael Francisco wrote in court filings.

Attorneys for the challenger Sullivan argued that the Constitution lays out three exclusive qualifications for the Senate, addressing only age, citizenship and residency, and claimed Beecher didn’t have the right to kick him off the ballot.

Fox News’ Adam Pack, Alex Miller and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani took a bizarre plunge into an East Harlem public pool fully dressed in a business suit to kick off summer Saturday, but the spectacle was quickly overshadowed by a fiery clash with a top New York Republican.

Video captured the mayor jumping into the Thomas Jefferson Pool fully clothed and swimming with children to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the city’s Works Progress Administration-era outdoor pools. 

The event was intended to highlight expanded free swim programs and the historical legacy of the Olympic-sized facilities.

However, the celebratory splash quickly turned political as Mamdani targeted New York GOP gubernatorial candidate and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, demanding an apology for recent comments Blakeman made about Democratic Socialists of America-backed congressional candidate Brad Lander.

HUNDREDS OF RABBIS DEMAND MAMDANI APOLOGIZE FOR PUTTING ‘TARGET’ ON AMERICAN JEWS WITH AIPAC ‘MONSTER’ REMARKS

Following Lander’s NY-10 congressional primary victory over Dan Goldman, Blakeman said in a Newsmax interview that Lander “would be a camp guard in a concentration camp if he could.”

Mamdani defended Lander, calling him a “proud Jewish New Yorker” and describing Blakeman’s comments as “unacceptable and unconscionable.” 

JEFFRIES WELCOMES DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS INTO THE FOLD AS CRITICS WARN PARTY IS REVEALING ‘EXACTLY WHO IT IS’

Mamdani added he thought the comparison likening Lander to a “Nazi prison guard” was “disgusting”, and argued it was indicative of a Republican Party fighting to “dehumanize anyone they disagree with.”

Blakeman fired back at the mayor’s demands Saturday afternoon, saying the mayor lacks credibility.

“This is coming from the same guy who wouldn’t march in the Israel Day Parade, called AIPAC members ‘monsters,’ and canceled the Puerto Rican Day Breakfast,” Blakeman told Fox News Digital. “Zohran Mamdani has no credibility. He is a bigot, an antisemite, and anti-American.”

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

Fox News Digital editor Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump announced on Saturday he is nominating Lance Schroyer as the next director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“Lance has over 29 YEARS of Law Enforcement experience in Oklahoma — A State where I WON all 77 Counties in 2016, 2020, and 2024!” the president wrote on Truth Social. 

He added that Schroyer is a former Oklahoma State Trooper, and United States Marine. 

“He is a PATRIOT with real operational experience, and proven leader with DECADES of experience locking up the worst of the worst, including spearheading 287g Law Enforcement partnerships with ICE!” Trump continued. “Lance has firsthand experience getting Illegal Aliens OFF our streets and, just like ME and our Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, he LOVES the men and women of ICE.”

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SAYS FEDERAL AUTHORITIES HAVE ARRESTED MORE THAN 10,000 SUSPECTED GANG MEMBERS

He added that Schroyer, “has what it takes to DETAIN AND DEPORT Illegal Alien Criminals, including murders, rapists, and drug traffickers at a rate never seen before! Remember, our Administration has the HIGHEST Daily Arrest Rate by ICE and CBP than ANY other President, by far. It’s not even close! The Senate must CONFIRM Lance, IMMEDIATELY — Do not delay. Together, we will MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN.”

ICE ARRESTS MULTIPLE CONVICTED KILLERS IN SINGLE DAY AMID NATIONWIDE IMMIGRATION SWEEP

He would replace Acting Director David Venturella.

Venturella succeeded Todd Lyons as acting director earlier this month. 

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin called Trump’s choice a “great pick.”

“Lance will play a vital role in helping deliver on the President’s mandate from the American people to target, arrest, and deport illegal aliens,” he wrote on X. “Lance is coming straight from the operational field where he ran large scale operations and worked alongside state and federal partners to remove illegal aliens from Oklahoma under the 287g program.”

He added, “I’m confident Lance’s strong leadership and firsthand experience will empower the men and women of ICE to deport criminal illegal aliens, secure the homeland, and protect the American people.”

Mullin and Schroyer are both from Oklahoma. Mullin took over for Kristi Noem when she left her post in March. 

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Noting that it has been 11 years since ICE has had a confirmed director, Mullin also urged the Senate to “quickly confirm Lance Schroyer.”

His nomination comes at a tense time for ICE as protests continue in multiple cities following two fatal shootings by ICE in Minneapolis in January. 

Republican New York attorney general candidate Saritha Komatireddy is making Medicaid fraud a centerpiece of her campaign, charging that prosecutions have sharply declined under Attorney General Letitia James.

Cracking down on Medicaid fraud has become a flashpoint issue in the country after investigators uncovered billions of dollars in alleged fraud tied to public assistance programs in Minnesota. The scandal pushed the Trump administration to make cracking down on fraud a higher priority, with Vice President JD Vance leading a federal effort. Now, Republican candidates in races across the country, including New York’s attorney general contest, are calling for states to do more to prosecute Medicaid fraud and recover taxpayer money.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Komatireddy accused James of failing to aggressively pursue Medicaid fraud, saying taxpayers could be losing out on hundreds of millions of dollars in recoveries.

“They’re totally failing to prosecute Medicaid fraud, and you can look at that based solely on the record of Letitia James and her Democratic predecessors,” Komatireddy said. “This is not a partisan issue.”

NEW YORK REPUBLICANS CALL FOR INDEPENDENT FRAUD INVESTIGATION FOLLOWING MINNESOTA REVELATIONS

Komatireddy’s said Medicaid fraud recoveries have plummeted under James, falling from $168 million in 2019, her first year in office, to just $31 million in 2024, according to data from New York Attorney General’s annual reports.

Before James took office, New York attorneys general routinely posted some of the nation’s largest Medicaid fraud recoveries. Under Eliot Spitzer, the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit recovered $243.6 million in 2006. Andrew Cuomo’s office then recovered $113.8 million in 2007, $263.5 million in 2008 and more than $283 million in 2009, totaling more than $660 million during his first three years as attorney general. And Cuomo’s successor, Eric Schneiderman, recovered more than $335 million in 2012 — the second-highest annual total in the unit’s history and its highest recovery in seven years.

“Even her Democratic predecessors used to bring in $200 to $300 million per year in fraudulent proceeds,” Komatireddy said. “When Tish James comes into office, it goes down to $20 to $30 million per year. According to her own year-end reports, she’s just decided not to do that part of the job.”

ALEX BERENSON: MINNESOTA WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING: NEW YORK’S MEDICAID GRIFT IS FAR WORSE

As New York recovers less money from Medicaid fraud each year under James, the state’s spending on the fraud recovery program has increased, from about $45 million in fiscal 2020 to $70 million in 2025.

“It used to be the case the New York Attorney General’s office would get around 100 criminal convictions a year, holding people who are stealing from Medicaid accountable,” Komatireddy said. “Under Tish James, that number is very low. There’s one year where she got eight criminal convictions.”

New York’s handling of Medicaid fraud has also caught the attention of the federal government. Earlier this year, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz sent Gov. Kathy Hochul a letter asking for more information about how the state screens providers and fights fraud. Oz said the review is meant to help protect Medicaid beneficiaries and maintain public confidence in the program. New York was one of only three states — along with California and Minnesota — to receive the letter.

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

Komatireddy said reduced enforcement ultimately costs New Yorkers by increasing healthcare spending and reducing funds available for other state priorities.

“It’s New Yorkers who pay the price, because when people steal from Medicaid, that increases our healthcare costs,” she said. “When we are just letting a billion dollars go out the door over the course of her term, that’s money that we could be getting back as taxpayers.”

Instead, Komatireddy said lawmakers are forced to seek additional revenue from taxpayers.

“The folks in Albany keep thinking of new ways to take more money away from taxpayers,” she said. “If you had an attorney general who actually prosecuted fraud properly, you wouldn’t have to worry about a tax hike.”

Komatireddy pledged to strengthen the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit by adding 20 criminal prosecutors.

Komatireddy, a former federal prosecutor who spent more than a decade in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and later served as chief of staff at the Drug Enforcement Administration, has framed the race as a choice between a career law enforcement prosecutor and an inept incumbent.

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“Like I said, we have to actually just do the job of attorney general,” Henry said. “That job involves prosecuting crime and fraud.”

The New York Attorney General’s Office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries publicly embraced a new crop of congressional nominees Saturday, including three Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidates whose primary victories have fueled fresh debate over the Democratic Party’s leftward shift ahead of the 2026 midterms.

The powerful New York lawmaker’s post highlights the challenge facing the top House Democrat as he works to unite his party ahead of the general election. If Democrats take back the House in November, Jeffries is expected to become the next speaker. That means he’ll likely be leading a Democratic caucus with more self-described Democratic Socialists than ever before. So far, more than a dozen Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidates have won or advanced in primaries across the country this election cycle.

In a post on X, Jeffries wrote, “Congratulations to our Democratic nominees,” before listing the party’s congressional candidates from across New York. Among those recognized were Brad Lander, Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier, all of whom are affiliated with or backed by the Democratic Socialists of America and secured victories in closely watched Democratic primaries last week.

“From public servants to union organizers to community activists, the path is different but the work is the same,” Jeffries wrote. “We must decisively address the affordability crisis and crush far-right extremism!”

RISING SOCIALIST STARS ON TRACK TO CONGRESS: WHO ARE DARIALIZA AVILA CHEVALIER, BRAD LANDER AND CLAIRE VALDEZ?

Lander, Chevalier and Valdez all received backing from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whose endorsements helped cement the growing influence of the Democratic Party’s progressive wing in New York politics. Lander and Chevalier defeated Jeffries-endorsed incumbents Reps. Dan Goldman and Adriano Espaillat in their respective Democratic primaries. Jeffries did not endorse in the race won by Claire Valdez, which was an open seat.

Now, as Democrats turn their attention to the general election, he appears to be rallying behind the party’s nominees as they try to win back the House in November.

The socialist candidates have also faced scrutiny over resurfaced social media posts, support for defunding the police and anti-Israel rhetoric, positions that have put them at odds with many in the Democratic Party.

Chevalier has faced scrutiny over resurfaced social media posts, including one in which she called to “literally abolish the border.”

She has also faced renewed scrutiny over past social media posts targeting leading Democrats, including calling former President Joe Biden a “war criminal,” attacking former Vice President Kamala Harris and rebuking Sen. Bernie Sanders over Israel.

Like Chevalier, Valdez and Lander, who is Jewish, share her sentiment that Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza.

LIBERAL MS NOW WRITER CALLS MAMDANI PRIMARY SWEEP A ‘GENUINELY SCARY NIGHT FOR NEW YORK CITY JEWS’

Jeffries’ decision to publicly congratulate the three nominees quickly drew criticism.

The Republican Jewish Coalition blasted Jeffries’ congratulatory message, warning Jewish voters that these candidates are not the Democrat “fringe” but the new faces of the party.

“To Jewish Democrats: your party is telling you EXACTLY who it is,” the Coalition wrote. “These future members of Congress, who @hakeemjeffries is welcoming with open arms, want to: Abolish prisons and borders. Defund the police. Downplay 9/11,” rattling off other serious controversies stemming from the candidates.

Jamie Metzl, a former National Security Council and State Department official and lifelong Democrat, blasted Jeffries for congratulating the nominees.

“When I first read this post, I assumed it was from a spoof account. I am deeply concerned that it appears to be all too real,” Metzl wrote. “To welcome these nominees without acknowledging and criticizing their self-declared sympathies for U.S.-designated terrorist organizations, their calls to abolish the police, their stated desire to dismantle Western civilization, and their blatant anti-Americanism is to sacrifice the core principles of the Democratic Party.”

Metzl accused Jeffries of putting his bid to become House speaker ahead of the Democratic Party’s principles.

“I understand your ambition to become Speaker should Democrats retake the House, but you should not sacrifice the principles of our party to advance your own political aspirations,” Metzl wrote.

Democratic leadership has been in the hot seat this week facing questions from the media about how to reconcile support for the New York slate of socialist candidates, particularly after Valdez’s supporters were seen shouting “you’re next” at a television screen showing Jeffries on Tuesday night.

“They’re gonna eat you next Congressman – and replace you with one of their own,” conservative commentator Meghan McCain posted on X.

“This is funny,” conservative commentator Robby Starbuck posted on X. “Hakeem still doesn’t realize that the communists are going to eat him alive. Clearly not a student of history. Bless his heart.”

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In a CNN appearance on Friday, Jeffries said, “I think that what happens in a handful of primaries in one of the bluest cities in the country is not in any way indicative of what needs to happen in November, where we need to reelect every single frontline Member, common sense Democrats, authentically committed to making life better for the American people, opposing these extreme Republicans who have been nothing but a reckless rubber stamp for Donald Trump’s agenda.”

“And at the same period of time, make sure that we flip red seats blue, including in New York-17, where we have a combat veteran, incredibly patriotic American Cait Conley, who came out of a primary on Tuesday as well and is an incredibly strong candidate. She will defeat Mike Lawler in New York in November.”

A new model shows devastating economic losses for U.S. companies if South Korea adopts controversial legislation that would regulate transactions with some American firms as lawmakers warn that the country’s leadership is now “closely aligned with China.”

The Online Platform Fairness Act, which is spearheaded by the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), has gained steam in in the Asian nation and is backed by far-left South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. A Competere Foundation model estimates a $525 billion loss in economic activity in U.S. states over the next decade, including a $123 billion loss for California, a $48.7 billion loss for Texas, a $33.9 billion loss for New York and a $27.4 billion loss for Washington.

“South Korea is an American ally and an economic success story, which is why its recent and continuing actions restricting American companies — like its 20-year ban on Google Maps — are so troubling,” Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., told Fox News Digital. “I remain concerned that its current trade commission resembles the worst of Lina Khan’s FTC, not the free market tradition that has helped to bring Seoul and Washington together.”

OVER 50 HOUSE MEMBERS ACCUSE SOUTH KOREA’S NEW LEFT-WING GOVERNMENT OF ATTACKING US COMPANIES, FAVORING CHINA

Issa told Fox News Digital in April that South Korean leadership and the nature of the Democratic majority in the country is “closely aligned with China.” 

Yoon Suk-yeol, a conservative from the People Power Party, was elected president of South Korea in 2022, but was impeached in December 2024. His decision to impose martial law was a key factor in his ouster. 

Lee narrowly lost to Yoon in the 2022 presidential election, but won the presidency in 2025. The Democratic Party in South Korea already holds a substantial majority in the National Assembly. The country is now operating at a full Democratic majority.

SOUTH KOREA FLIPS LEFT IN PRESIDENTIAL RACE; LEE SECURES VICTORY AFTER CONSERVATIVE OPPONENT CONCEDES

The Democratic Party is the main liberal force party in the country, and favors progressive domestic policies as opposed to the conservative beliefs that have previously reduced political engagement with North Korea and promoted relations with the U.S.

The proposed bill, which remains pending in South Korea’s assembly, would broaden the power of the KFTC – the same agency members of Congress are criticizing for unfairly treating U.S. companies. 

Shanker Singham, international trade and competition economist and CEO of the Competere Foundation, said that “Korea is already an increasingly unfriendly place for U.S. companies to do business” and that the “looming regulations will make that environment even worse.”

SOUTH KOREA’S NEW LEFTIST PRESIDENT PULLS A FAST ONE ON DONALD TRUMP

Former Utah Republican Rep. Chris Stewart also warned of South Korea’s posture to increase regulatory burdens for U.S. companies, telling Fox News Digital it could be devastating for more than just tech companies. 

“South Korea’s campaign against American companies isn’t just a trade issue – it’s a strategic mistake that benefits China,” Stewart said. “Every time Korean regulators make it harder for U.S. innovators like Coupang, Google, or Meta to compete, they create more room for Chinese companies to gain market share and influence in one of the world’s most important digital economies.” 

Stewart noted that the cost would affect more than just Silicon Valley, tying the economic losses to a Chinese win – since Beijing would likely take up lost market share in South Korea if American companies were to reduce investment.

BEYOND MISPERCEPTION: A RENEWED KOREAN DEMOCRACY AND A RENEWED ALLIANCE

In early June, foreign policy experts Nicholas Eberstadt and Lawrence Peck published an editorial in the Wall Street Journal titled, “South Korea Takes a Hard Left Turn Against America,” which alleged that South Korean officials “stormed” U.S. air force bases as part of a domestic investigation. 

The investigation surrounded Coupang, a U.S. tech company similar to Amazon. In early June, South Korea fined Coupang roughly $410 million for a data breach – the largest fine the country has ever issued for a similar charge. 

South Korea’s science ministry said that a Chinese national and former Coupang employee stole data and customer information from the American company, including information about South Korean citizens.

WILL SOUTH KOREA EXPEL THE US?

“The investigation into the case of Coupang is proportionate to the nature of the data breach and consistent with those applied to Korean companies in comparable cases,” South Korean embassy spokesperson Minseong Seo told Semafor.

In April, 50 members of the House of Representatives expressed their concern in a letter to Republic of Korea (ROK) Ambassador to the United States Kyung-wha Kang over what they deemed to be “discriminatory” business practices.

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The letter referenced a previous report from Competere that also addressed economic losses in the U.S. as a result of tighter regulations from South Korea. 

“Many American tech companies have faced a range of regulatory actions that seek to punish them while shielding Korean domestic competition,” the letter reads. “Recent research by think tank Competere shows such regulatory actions by the ROK government will cost $1 trillion in combined economic damage to the U.S. and Korean economies over the next 10 years, with the U.S. economy losing $525 billion and American households losing nearly $4,000 each.”

President Donald Trump on Friday mocked former National Security Adviser John Bolton after his one-time aide admitted to mishandling a classified national defense document.

Bolton pleaded guilty hours earlier during a hearing in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, to one count of unauthorized possession of a national defense document. His guilty plea was part of a plea agreement that will see prosecutors dismiss the remaining 17 counts at sentencing. The guilty plea prompted an immediate response from Trump, who has repeatedly clashed with Bolton over foreign policy and the former adviser’s highly critical memoir ever since their very public falling out in 2019.

“John Bolton, a very dumb, unbalanced, and unskilled former representative of the United States of America, just pleads guilty!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post late Friday. “He is a terrible person, a lunatic who only wanted to start trouble and wars, and who was a needless pusher of death and destruction wherever he went. Hopefully, he will be dealt with harshly!”

Bolton, 77, is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 28 and, under his plea agreement, faces a $2.25 million fine, up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, up to 100 hours of community service and he will lose his federal retirement pension. His defense attorneys have said that they hope Bolton will avoid jail time.

EX-TRUMP OFFICIAL JOHN BOLTON PLEADS GUILTY TO 1 OF 18 COUNTS IN CLASSIFIED DOCS INDICTMENT

According to prosecutors, Bolton unlawfully kept classified national defense information after leaving government service, including documents classified as top secret. Authorities alleged he kept more than 1,000 pages of notes detailing his day-to-day activities as national security adviser and shared portions of that material with two family members using a personal email account.

Federal prosecutors said the documents included highly sensitive intelligence involving covert action programs, human intelligence sources and methods, and foreign military threats.

FBI Director Kash Patel said the investigation demonstrated that Bolton knowingly mishandled classified information.

BOLTON CASE PACKED WITH ‘VERY DAMNING’ EVIDENCE AND NATIONAL SECURITY RISKS, LEGAL EXPERTS WARN

“This FBI’s investigation proved that John Bolton knowingly transmitted top secret information using personal online accounts and retained said documents in his house – all in direct violation of federal law,” Patel said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Despite an onslaught of false claims by the fake news stating this case was ‘retribution,’ this investigation was based on meticulous work from dedicated professionals at the FBI who followed the facts without fear or favor – and Bolton chose to admit his guilt and plead guilty.”

Bolton served as Trump’s national security adviser from April 2018 until September 2019. Trump has said he fired Bolton, while Bolton said that he resigned.

Their relationship deteriorated further following the publication of Bolton’s 2020 memoir, “The Room Where It Happened,” which offered a highly critical account of Trump’s presidency. The Trump administration sought unsuccessfully to block the book’s publication, arguing it contained classified information. Bolton never faced any charges stemming from allegations that his memoir contained classified information.

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Bolton’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, defended his client’s decision to plead guilty, saying it reflected accountability.

“He took responsibility for a mistake he made, thereby saving the government resources to pursue a case that could expose additional sensitive information,” Lowell said in a statement. “By contrast, President Trump thumbed his nose at the classified information laws, took actual classified documents to his Florida mansion, interfered with the investigation of that conduct, and has never accepted any accountability for his conduct. Ambassador Bolton, whose offense was only keeping a diary which contained classified information, kept a record to preserve history, but Donald Trump kept secrets to serve himself.”

An eighth person was charged in connection with a thwarted plot targeting the Freedom 250 Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event at the White House, as a former key lawmaker, ex-FBI agent and current candidate for Senate warned that escalating rhetoric on the left is stoking violence.

“They’re calling people Nazis and anti-American,” former House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Rogers, who is running for Senate in Michigan, told Fox News Digital. “This No Kings notion. People are destroying your government and your way of life. It gives people who are already out there a little bit of permission to take the next step, and they’ve got to control their rhetoric on this.”

Rogers said Democrats are “encouraging” people to move beyond “normal political discourse” and into violent attacks. All eight suspects are accused of conspiring to use explosive-laden drones to trigger a mass evacuation of the June 14 event before directing fleeing crowds toward pre-positioned shooters, with a “second wave” planned to target the White House gate, FBI officials previously told Fox News Digital.

“They are encouraging a lot of people to get worked up to cross that line between what would be normal political discourse into radical, aggressive political behavior, including attempted murder, which you just saw in the UFC fights,” Rogers said.

FBI DISRUPTS ALLEGED EXPLOSIVE-DRONE PLOT TARGETING WHITE HOUSE UFC EVENT, OFFICIALS SAY

Rogers, a former FBI special agent, is running in Michigan’s Republican Senate primary on Aug. 4 for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Gary Peters.

Rogers said “self-radicalized” individuals are harder to identify, but praised law enforcement for stopping the alleged plot in time.

AMERICAN YOUTH RADICALIZED ONLINE, BUSTED IN SUSPECTED TERROR PLOTS AFTER HATING COUNTRY ON SOCIAL MEDIA

“That self-radicalization can be really dangerous,” he said. “It causes somebody to get in the car, drive, run over somebody or, you know, do some other act of violence.”

According to the Washington state complaint, the suspects allegedly used a Telegram chat to conspire to obtain multiple drones capable of carrying heavy explosive payloads, while federal investigators said they also acquired firearms, ammunition, ballistic gear and other tactical equipment in preparation for the attack.

The plotters allegedly met around March through a TikTok community before moving to encrypted Signal chats, according to the complaint, and later agreed to commit murder on White House grounds and in the surrounding area during the UFC Freedom 250 event, prosecutors said.

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The alleged plot was eventually foiled with the help of a tip from the mother of one of the suspects.

Pointing to a recent attack on a Michigan synagogue, Rogers said the rhetoric can lead some people to believe political violence is “okay.”

“In Michigan, we had an individual who decided that it was okay to drive a car full of explosives into a synagogue where 130 schoolchildren were being educated and tried to blow himself up,” he said.

In that March attack, Ayman Mohamad Ghazali allegedly crashed his pickup into a West Bloomfield synagogue with more than 100 children inside before officers fatally shot him. Officials previously said the attack came after several of his family members were killed in Lebanon during the country’s war with Israel, and he became radicalized by Iran-backed Hezbollah.

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Rogers said social media has contributed to political violence, saying the violent rhetoric plastered online is “very, very concerning.”

“All of that activity is fed online and through the internet, through conversations and through this heated and wrong-headed violent rhetoric, and their violent terminology is very, very concerning,” he said.

Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips, Michael Ruiz, David Spunt and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr is calling on Senate Republicans to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general, arguing the former Trump defense lawyer’s close relationship with the president should be viewed as a strength — not a conflict of interest.

In a Wall Street Journal opinion column, Barr, who served as attorney general under the first Trump administration, said Blanche should be confirmed, calling him well-qualified and saying he “will run the department as effectively as anyone could under President Trump, providing much-needed leadership and stability.”

Barr’s appeal comes as Blanche faces a potentially difficult confirmation process in the Senate. Republicans hold a 53-seat majority, but several GOP senators have not committed to supporting the nomination.

A large part of Barr’s argument centered on countering criticism that Blanche’s past as President Donald Trump’s personal defense attorney makes him too conflicted to lead the Justice Department.

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“Critics say that Mr. Blanche, having served as the president’s personal defense lawyer, won’t confront the president with hard truths. Exactly the opposite is true,” Barr wrote.

“A successful criminal-defense lawyer like Mr. Blanche isn’t a toady who sugarcoats the truth to his client,” Barr continued. “The job demands regularly confronting strong-willed clients with harsh reality. This necessarily involves clashes, but the lawyer’s dogged willingness to anchor his client to reality is what builds trust and makes the relationship effective.”

Barr wrote that Blanche’s established relationship with Trump should be viewed as an advantage rather than a liability.

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“The president takes hard advice best from those whom he recognizes have his best interests at heart,” Barr wrote. “Having helped the president through the crucible of his legal battles, Mr. Blanche is likely in the best position of anyone in the country to deliver strong counsel to the president and have him accept it. Senators should view a trusting relationship as a positive, not a negative.”

Barr further dismissed claims that Blanche would simply carry out Trump’s wishes without independent judgment.

“The left has portrayed Mr. Blanche as a man who will docilely carry out the president’s desires,” Barr wrote. “But Mr. Blanche doesn’t shy away from giving the president straight-from-the-shoulder advice and, where warranted, pushing back on bad ideas. He doesn’t always prevail, but, frankly, no one has a better chance of getting through to Mr. Trump.”

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Since stepping into the role as acting attorney general following Pam Bondi’s departure, Blanche has been heavily scrutinized for leading prosecutions against some of Trump’s biggest foes, including the newest indictment against former FBI Director James Comey. He’s also faced pushback over the Justice Department’s aborted effort to create an Anti-Weaponization Fund.

The controversies have contributed to uncertainty over Blanche’s confirmation, with several Republican senators publicly acknowledging reservations about his nomination.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has said he remains undecided and has tied his support in part to concerns surrounding the scuttled fund.

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“It’ll be an issue if the weaponization fund isn’t effectively dead by the confirmation hearing,” Tillis said.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, another Judiciary Committee member, has likewise withheld his support, saying he wants additional information before making a decision.

According to the Houston Chronicle, Cornyn said he plans to wait until after receiving a full briefing and hearing Blanche’s testimony before deciding whether to support the nomination.

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Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on Blanche’s nomination are scheduled for mid-July as Republicans weigh whether to advance Trump’s nominee to the full Senate.

Barr served as attorney general under both President George H.W. Bush and President Trump. While he was a key figure in Trump’s administration and defended many of the president’s policies, he later became one of Trump’s most prominent critics over his claims of widespread voter fraud following the 2020 election.