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Former longtime Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio on Tuesday won his party’s 2026 Senate nomination, the Associated Press reports.

Brown, who served three decades in Congress before being defeated for re-election in 2024 by now-GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno, will face off in this year’s general election with Republican Sen. John Husted, Ohio’s former lieutenant governor who was appointed to replace Vice President JD Vance.

The general election winner will fill the final two years of Vance’s Senate term. Vance, who was elected to the Senate in 2022, stepped down from the chamber after he and President Donald Trump won the 2024 election for president and vice president.

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Vance traveled to his home state Tuesday morning, stopping at a polling station in Cincinnati to cast a ballot in the primary.

The Senate race in Ohio is one of a handful that will decide if Republicans successfully defend their slim majority in the chamber, or if the Democrats win back control for the first time in four years.

SIX MONTHS TILL MIDTERMS: THE TEN RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE’S MAJORITY

Republicans currently control the Senate 53-47.

Brown defeated long-shot rival Ron Kincaid, an IT professional and Special Olympics coach, to capture the Democratic Senate nomination. Husted ran unopposed for the Republican Party’s Senate nomination.

“Ohioans are fed up with the corruption and greed in Washington. They deserve a senator who fights for working families, not CEOs and billionaires,” Brown said on social media after winning his primary. “That’s why we’re going to win this November.”

Earlier in the evening, Husted took to social media after Trump praised the senator in a Truth Social post.

“Thanks President Trump! Your support for Ohio jobs means a lot to the hardworking people of our state. The Working Family Tax Cut is helping Ohio families keep more of what they earn so they can spend, save, and invest in their own priorities,” Husted wrote. “America First! Ohio First!”

TRUMP’S GRIP OVER GOP FACES BIG TESTS IN THIS STATE’S PRIMARY

Once a top general election battleground state, Ohio has shifted to the right over the past decade, with Trump carrying the state by 11 points in the 2024 election.

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But this year’s races for the Senate and governor are expected to be very competitive.

President Donald Trump marked Cinco de Mayo on Tuesday with a new Truth Social post featuring a stylized “NICE” graphic — a play on Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

The post adds to a string of Cinco de Mayo messages from Trump that have repeatedly drawn attention online, including his widely shared 2016 taco bowl post that resurfaces nearly every year around the holiday.

Trump has frequently used the holiday to share posts blending humor, politics and immigration messaging; and had already publicly embraced the “NICE” branding concept ahead of Tuesday’s post.

The image shared Tuesday featured an eagle-and-shield design above the word “NICE,” styled similarly to federal law enforcement branding and appearing to reference ICE.

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Trump endorsed the idea of rebranding ICE as “NICE” in a late April Truth Social post, writing: “GREAT IDEA!!! DO IT.”

The phrase originated from a social media suggestion that Trump later amplified online.

The latest post also brought renewed attention to Trump’s most recognizable Cinco de Mayo moment.

HERE ARE 5 OF GUY FIERI’S FAVORITE TACO SPOTS ACROSS AMERICA AHEAD OF CINCO DE MAYO

In 2016, then-candidate Trump posted a photo of himself eating a taco bowl at Trump Tower alongside the caption: “Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!”

The post quickly went viral and has continued resurfacing online in the years since.

The image showed Trump seated at a desk with a taco bowl in front of him, giving a thumbs up as he posed for the camera.

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Last year, Trump reshared the taco bowl post and wrote: “This was so wonderful, 9 years ago today!”

The post continues to go viral online as users revisit the original taco bowl image each year on the holiday.

One user posted an image of the president’s original 2016 taco bowl post, writing, “Cinco de Trumpo.”

Another commenter wrote, “such a classic,” and another quipped, “maybe the greatest tweet of all time.”

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Trump’s original taco bowl post remains one of the most recognizable Cinco de Mayo moments of the social media era.

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

Vivek Ramaswamy has won the 2026 Republican gubernatorial nomination in his home state of Ohio, the Associated Press reports.

Ramaswamy, who grabbed national attention when he ran for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination before dropping out and becoming a top surrogate for President Donald Trump, on Tuesday defeated long shot rival Casey Putsch, an automotive entrepreneur.

His victory sets the stage for a high-profile general election battle for governor in the key midterm Midwestern battleground state.

TRUMP’S GRIP OVER GOP TESTED AT BALLOT BOX AS INDIANA, OHIO, HOLD PRIMARIES

Now, the multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur and business leader who is backed by Trump will face off in November’s general election against Democrat Amy Acton, a doctor and researcher who served as director of the state Department of Health from 2019 to 2020.

Acton was unopposed as she captured the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in Ohio.

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The winner in November will succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Mike DeWine.

“I’m proud to officially say that today it is our pleasure to become the Republican nominee for the governor of Ohio,” Ramaswamy told supporters at his primary victory celebration.

Ramaswamy pledged to “make Ohio greater than we have ever been. That’s what we’re about to do together. So, thank you tonight for kicking off the next chapter of this journey.”

And pointing to Acton, his Democratic rival, Ramaswamy said, “”I do believe this marks without exception the single most consequential election for governor that our state has ever seen in our history. There has never been a greater contrast between two candidates.”

The Democratic Governors Assocation (DGA) quickly took aim at Ramswamy.

“Vivek Ramaswamy is an out-of-touch presidential also-ran whose harmful agenda would drive costs even higher and make life harder for Ohio families already struggling to make ends meet,” DGA Executive Director Meghan Meehan-Draper argued in a statement.

Once a top general election battleground state, Ohio has shifted to the right over the past decade, with Trump carrying the state by 11 points in the 2024 election. But polls indicate this year’s race for governor between Ramaswamy and Acton will be very competitive.

SIX MONTHS TILL MIDTERMS: THE TEN RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE’S MAJORITY

Vice President JD Vance traveled to his home state this morning, stopping at a polling station in Cincinnati to cast a ballot in Ohio’s primary.

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Vance, who served as senator from Ohio before stepping down after winning election in 2024 as vice president, confirmed to reporters that he cast a ballot for Ramaswamy.

Early results are starting to come in, in Indiana’s primary, where President Donald Trump‘s immense sway over the GOP is on the line, as his endorsements in key Republican state Senate nomination races will be tested.

Five months ago, Republicans in the GOP-dominated Indiana state Senate withstood immense pressure from Trump and his allies and voted down congressional redistricting, which would have given solidly red Indiana two more right-leaning U.S. House seats ahead of the midterms.

Fast-forward to present day, and eight of those state senators are facing GOP primary challenges. Seeking retribution, the president endorsed challengers to seven of the eight Republican lawmakers who voted against the redistricting bill.

The Associated Press reports that Trump-endorsed Blake Fletcher has defeated incumbent state Sen. Travis Holdman in Indiana’s 19th District, in the northeastern part of the state. 

They also report that state Sen. Greg Goode has defeated two challengers, Trump-backed Brenda Wilson and Alexandra Wilson, in District 38, in western Indiana.

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The president’s allies shelled out more than $6 million to try to oust the state senators, according to the national ad tracking firm AdImpact. Leading the charge were Hoosier Leadership for America and American Leadership PAC, which are aligned with GOP Sen. Jim Banks, a top Senate ally of the president. Groups allied with Republican Gov. Mike Braun were also part of the full court press. And two well known national groups: Turning Point USA’s political wing and the Club for Growth, also had the president’s back in Indiana.

The intraparty battle was seen not just as a test of fealty to Trump but rather a fight between MAGA forces and more traditional conservatives for the future of the GOP.

SIX MONTHS TILL MIDTERMS: THE TEN RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE’S MAJORITY

We’ve got to change those old-style Republicans, put in people who will fight, fight against the Democrat gerrymandering,” Club for Growth President David McIntosh told Fox News Digital.

McIntosh, a former congressman from Indiana, said, “I want to see my state do the right thing.”

But the besieged incumbents significantly outraised their challengers, and were also boosted by the Indiana Senate GOP caucus.

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On an interesting side note, one of the races pitted Trump versus his former Vice President Mike Pence.

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Trump backed challenger Tracey Powell, who was trying to take out state Sen. Jim Buck, who was supported by Pence, a former Indiana governor and congressman.

A pro-Trump source involved in the Indiana showdowns told Fox News Digital on the eve of the primary that a victory would be considered winning half the seats, and anything beyond that would be a major win.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., refused to respond to a request from a Minnesota committee seeking more information on her ties to the massive fraud scandal in the state, prompting a failed subpoena vote on Tuesday, but the committee’s chair says more options exist. 

The subpoena, which required a two-thirds committee vote in favor to pass, only got five out of the six votes needed despite the committee’s Republican majority.

“We have reached out to Representative Ilhan Omar on multiple occasions, inviting her to testify and inviting and requesting documents,” State Rep. Kristin Robbins, chair of the House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee, said ahead of the vote. “We have endeavored in multiple ways to get access to [information] because, as everyone knows, Representative Omar had had some role, whether inadvertent or not. She passed the MEALS Act in March of 2020, and that took the guardrails off the federal school nutrition program, which created the conditions for [fraud].”

WATCH: ILHAN OMAR ROASTED FOR BRUTAL RESURFACED VIDEO ABOUT ‘WORLD WAR ELEVEN’

“I do think the subpoena is important. This is one of dozens, if not hundreds of things we are investigating. We have had hundreds of whistleblower reports. They continue to come in weekly,” Robbins added, noting she will continue to try to reach out to Omar’s office to get cooperation. “Even though the committee will no longer have official hearings we will continue to investigate these whistleblower reports and webs of fraud.”

Fox News Digital touched base with Robbins on Tuesday about possible next steps.

“They’re fading,” Robbins said about the committee’s options after a failed subpoena vote. “But I’ll certainly talk to our friends in Congress to see if they would be willing to issue a subpoena. I don’t know if they are, but they would have the same authority and it’s still relevant to them because it’s a federal program that’s been swindled. So I don’t know if they would be willing to do it, but it’s worth asking.”

Robbins added that the federal government has a “whole menu of legal options” given that Omar is a member of Congress. 

“They have so many investigations going on, I don’t know where this falls on the priority list,” Robbins said.

OMAR ACCUSED BY GOP OPPONENT OF OPENING UP THE DOOR TO MASSIVE MINNEAPOLIS FRAUD: ‘DEEP, DEEP TIES’

Last month, Robbins says the congresswoman “ghosted” the committee by failing to appear to testify at a hearing focused on the MEALS Act, a federal COVID-19 relief measure passed in 2020 and sponsored by Omar. 

“Minnesotans and the Members of the House Fraud Prevention & State Oversight Committee were disappointed that you failed to appear before our committee to answer questions,” Robbins wrote before asking Omar to turn over communications showing how she promoted expanded access to federal child nutrition programs, including emails, texts and meeting records with the Minnesota Department of Education and constituents. 

The request also zeroed in on Omar’s public promotion of a Minneapolis restaurant that later became linked to the program. Robbins cited a Somali-language TV appearance in which Omar highlighted Safari Restaurant as a meal distribution site and asked for all communications related to the video and the restaurant’s participation.

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Robbins is seeking records of any contact between Omar and a long list of individuals charged or implicated in the Feeding Our Future case, including nonprofit founder Aimee Bock and dozens of alleged co-conspirators.

The deadline for Omar to respond to the committee’s questions was Tuesday, May 5.

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

“It’s the same story every time,” Robbins posted on X after the vote. “Fraud is committed, information is suppressed, and the dysfunction continues.”

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday unveiled a new initiative targeting what he described as the “overuse” of psychiatric medications, part of a broader push to confront the nation’s mental health crisis.

Speaking Monday at a Make America Healthy Again Institute summit, Kennedy said the effort will emphasize the appropriate deprescribing of psychiatric drugs while shifting care toward prevention and more holistic treatment approaches.

“Today, we take clear and decisive action to confront our nation’s mental health crisis by addressing the overuse of psychiatric medications — especially among children,” Kennedy said in a statement. 

“We will support patient autonomy, require informed consent and shared decision-making, and shift the standard of care toward prevention, transparency, and a more holistic approach to mental health.”

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Antidepressants rank among the most commonly prescribed drugs in the United States, with a 2025 survey of over 30,000 adults showing that 16.6% were using them, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Kennedy stressed the effort is not about forcing patients off medication, the outlet reported.

“Let me be clear: If you are taking psychiatric medication, we are not telling you to stop,” Kennedy said. “We are making sure you — and your clinician — have the information and support to make the right decision for you.”

TRUMP TURNS OBAMA-ERA YOUTH HEALTH POLICY ON ITS HEAD AS SCHOOL FITNESS BENCHMARK RETURNS

In a letter released Monday, HHS urged providers to prioritize informed consent and shared decision-making, and to routinely reassess the risks and benefits of psychiatric medications with patients.

The department also highlighted other ways to treat mental health issues, including therapy, family support, better nutrition and exercise, when appropriate.

At the same time, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced new guidance allowing physicians to be reimbursed for helping patients safely taper off psychiatric medications and monitor withdrawal.

The plan also includes a new report on prescribing trends, more training for doctors, and a panel of experts to guide future decisions on medication use.

TRUMP SURGEON GENERAL PICK SPARKS BACKLASH, SPLITS MAHA MOVEMENT

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An HHS spokesperson pointed to rising prescription rates among children, including increases in ADHD diagnoses and antidepressant use, arguing the trend reflects “overmedicalization” and a need to expand non-drug, evidence-based treatment options.

“HHS is committed to elevating the role of nonmedication treatments and scalable, evidence-based solutions to improve mental health and prevent the unnecessary initiation of psychiatric medications,” an HHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

A trauma surgeon seen as the current frontrunner to succeed a retiring House Democrat was an acquaintance of and defense witness for the Egyptian-born cleric and convicted terrorist known as the “Blind Sheikh” in the seditious conspiracy trial that put the latter away for life.

Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman was one of several people convicted of seditious conspiracy in the aftermath of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Abdel-Rahman later died in prison at the federal detention center in Butner, North Carolina, in 2017.

Dr. Adam Hisham Hamawy, now a plastic surgeon who runs his own “regenerative medicine” practice near Princeton, was one of the witnesses for the defense in Abdel-Rahman’s case and now faces questions about his judgment and past association with the sheikh, which his campaign told Fox News Digital amount to “guilt-by-association” shaming.

Hamawy is running to replace Rep. Bonnie Watson-Coleman, D-N.J., in a crowded primary for the blue-favored district spanning Trenton through Somerville to the Plainfields that has not elected a Republican since 1994.

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Hamawy and Abdel-Rahman first met at a middle school forum in Matawan, New Jersey, in 1991, according to the former’s testimony in court, as he began accompanying the Blind Sheikh to mosques and even took a 13-hour road trip with him and others, including future FBI informant Emad Salem, from the cleric’s home mosque in Jersey City to an Islamic conference in Michigan.

In his testimony, Hamawy recounted being in a Michigan hotel room with Abdel-Rahman and Salem, where the latter was saying he was “bragging about his abilities” in bombmaking from his time in the Egyptian special forces.

Abdel-Rahman regularly verbalized envisioning the assassination of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and spoke of jihad, according to court documents.

Abdel-Rahman’s mosque was also where several 1993 World Trade Center bombing suspects would meet, according to Front Page Magazine and the Washington Free Beacon.

Court records characterized the Jersey City mosque as a “jihad office,” according to reports, as Abdel-Rahman had also founded Al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya, a group considered a terrorist organization by European governments.

While he did not directly participate in the World Trade Center bombing, followers of Abdel-Rahman who frequented his mosque did, and the government later arrested him on charges of a plot to wage “urban terrorism against the United States” by targeting Mid-Atlantic landmarks such as the George Washington Bridge, the United Nations and part of Interstate 78.

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RNC spokesperson Kristen Cianci told Fox News Digital that Hamawy’s testimony is a “matter of record” and that his campaign can try to “sweep this under the rug but voters won’t ignore it.”

According to Front Page Magazine’s review of the thousands of pages, a federal prosecutor summarized Hamawy in part as someone who “didn’t want the defendant, Abdel-Rahman, to look bad,” and didn’t recall discussions about Mubarak until a transcript was shown to him.

Fox News contributor Andrew McCarthy — who was formerly the Southern District of New York prosecutor credited with putting Abdel-Rahman away for life — said that while Hamawy was a witness for the terrorist, his testimony helped the government more than his acquaintance.

“As was uniformly the case with witnesses presented in the extensive defense case, his testimony, once cross-examination was over, did more to bolster the prosecution’s proof of a jihadist terrorism conspiracy against the United States than to help the accused,” McCarthy said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

McCarthy said the jury credited Salem’s recollection of their trip to Michigan, and that the evidence Abdel-Rahman called for Mubarak’s assassination had been so overwhelming, that the Blind Sheikh’s attorneys were reduced to “arguing, in essence, that Mubarak had it coming.”

“Not surprisingly, that’s not how the jury saw it.”

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Hamawy also recently appeared on far-left anti-Israel podcaster Hasan Piker’s program, where he advocated for a “healthcare, not bombs” platform that would “dismantle” the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon — which he monikered “The Department of War Crimes” — and instead divert funding to education and healthcare.

Through his campaign, Hamawy blasted the media for resurrecting his time with Abdel-Rahman and his witness testimony in the case, with his campaign characterizing the reports as an attempt by wealthy Republicans to shield President Donald Trump through the press from lawmakers who would hold his feet to the fire.

“It’s unsurprising that the RNC and Republican billionaire-backed outlets are trying to cast Dr. Adam Hamawy in a negative light: he’s Donald Trump’s worst nightmare,” Hamawy’s campaign told Fox News Digital on Monday when presented with the association with Abdel-Rahman and related reporting.

Hamawy’s campaign added that he used his medical background to treat victims of the ensuing 9/11 attacks at the World Trade Center and said the doctor’s “patriotism and love of this country are at the core of his values.”

Instead, the campaign said, Republicans and other critics are using “bad-faith, guilt-by-association attacks” on Muslim and Arab candidates.

“He was in the military at the time the events litigated in the trial took place, during the trial, and after the trial,” the campaign said, adding he performed his civic duty to testify truthfully — while noting that Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., credits him with saving her life after her helicopter crashed during the Iraq War.

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In turn, Hamawy credited Duckworth with saving his life when he and a Gazan aid group were trapped by a closed Israeli border at Rafah that the senator pressed the Biden administration to act upon.

Voters will decide whether Hamawy’s role in the case reflects routine legal duty or a deeper question about his judgment as they choose among a crowded Democratic field.

Election officials in Fulton County, Georgia, asked a federal judge to reject a U.S. Department of Justice effort to obtain identifying details for people who worked on the 2020 election in the county.

The Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections (FBRE) filed a 27-page motion Monday asking the Georgia federal court to quash a grand jury subpoena issued by the DOJ.

The motion to quash called the subpoena “an unprecedented and harassing grand jury subpoena” and characterized it as the DOJ’s “latest effort to target and harass the President’s perceived political enemies — this time election officials, poll workers, and volunteers in Fulton County whom Donald Trump continues to disparage as he perpetuates his false claim that they ‘stole’ the 2020 election.”

The subpoena, according to the FBRE motion, requests that the Board send information for thousands of poll workers and county employees to an out-of-district U.S. attorney and an FBI agent. The motion argues that the probe be quashed on grounds that it cannot result in criminal prosecution “because, among other things, the statutes of limitations have expired for any purported 2020 crimes.”

GEORGIA’S FULTON COUNTY FILES MOTION SEEKING RETURN OF 2020 ELECTION MATERIALS SEIZED BY FBI

Trump lost the state of Georgia by a razor-thin margin in 2020, prompting Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to announce a recount by hand. The November 18, 2020, recount confirmed that former President Joe Biden won the state by 11,777 votes.

The subpoena represents the latest from the Trump administration in an effort to investigate alleged voter fraud in Georgia.

In January, the DOJ filed a lawsuit against Raffensperger to compel him to produce an unredacted statewide voter registration database.

FBI’S FULTON COUNTY WARRANT SOUGHT ELECTION RECORDS, VOTER ROLLS FROM 2020 ELECTION

Five days later, FBI agents conducted a search at the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center as part of a probe related to the 2020 election.

The FBI also filed search warrants in February revealing a probe into missing ballots and chain-of-custody problems in Georgia’s biggest county.

FBRE’s pushback claims, in part, that Trump’s efforts amount to “arbitrary fishing expeditions.”

Trump officials, meanwhile, defend their efforts as necessary to ensure election integrity.

“Interference in U.S. elections is a threat to our republic and a national security threat,” Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard said in a letter to Congress in February.

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Fox News Digital reached out to spokespeople for the White House, the DOJ, the DNI, the FBI and for the chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners but did not immediately receive a response.

President Donald Trump said the U.S. hasn’t “been challenged by China” on the conflict with Iran, describing leader Xi Jinping as being “very respectful” with tensions remaining high over the Strait of Hormuz. 

Trump made the remark Tuesday at the White House ahead of his visit next week to Beijing to meet Xi in person. 

“I have a very good relationship with President Xi. You know, I find him to be a tremendous guy, and we get along well. And you see how we do,” Trump told reporters when asked about what he hopes to achieve with Xi in relation to Iran. “We do a lot of business with China and making a lot of money. We’re making a lot of money. It’s different than it used to be, but I’ll be talking about — that’ll be one subject.” 

“But he’s been very nice about this. You know, in all fairness, he gets like, 60% of his oil from Hormuz. And he’s been, I think he’s been very respectful,” Trump added. “We haven’t been challenged by China. They don’t challenge us. And he wouldn’t do that. I don’t think he’d do that because of me. But, I think he’s been very respectful.” 

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Trump said the Iranian regime is “trying to survive,” but they won’t be successful if they don’t make a deal with the U.S. 

“Oh, they don’t make a deal? They won’t be successful. They’ll go very quickly and methodically. Believe me, it’ll be very easy,” Trump continued. 

The president announced in March that the meeting with Xi in Beijing will happen on May 14-15. 

TRUMP OPENS HORMUZ UNDER FIRE WITH ‘PROJECT FREEDOM’ AS IRAN WARNS OF ATTACKS

“First Lady Melania and I will also host President Xi and Madame Peng for a reciprocal visit in Washington, D.C., at a later date, this year. Our Representatives are finalizing preparations for these Historic Visits. I look very much forward to spending time with President Xi in what will be, I am sure, a Monumental Event,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

When asked Tuesday about U.S. military ships coming under fire in the Strait of Hormuz — and what it would take for Iran to violate the ongoing ceasefire — Trump said, “Well, you’ll find out, because I’ll let you know.” 

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“They know what to do… and they know what not to do, more importantly, actually,” Trump added. 

Actor Zachary Levi voiced strong support for embattled incumbent Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., urging people to back the congressman’s re-election bid.

“My fellow Americans, there are very few politicians that actually stand and fight for the people of this country like @RepThomasMassie does. He is a man of integrity and strength, and I wish more of the folks in DC would follow his example,” Levi declared in a Monday night post on X.

“Please consider supporting him in his re-election bid. Whether you live in Kentucky, or elsewhere, he is good for this country,” Levi wrote, sharing the link to a Massie campaign fundraiser.

ZACHARY LEVI CLAIMS SUPPORTING TRUMP MADE HIM A HOLLYWOOD OUTSIDER

“In less than 24 hours, we’ve raised $122,457 thanks to your generosity!” Massie declared in a Tuesday morning post on X.

Some of Levi’s roles have included the TV series “Chuck” and the “Shazam!” films.

Levi backed Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 presidential contest.

But Trump, a vociferous Massie critic, has been targeting the lawmaker for ouster.

MASSIE ALLY SPARKS BACKLASH AFTER ACCUSING TRUMP-BACKED CHALLENGER OF ABUSING VA BENEFITS

Massie is facing a Trump-backed challenger, former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, in the GOP primary in Kentucky’s 4th congressional district.

The primary is on May 19, which is just two weeks away.

Fox News Digital reached out to Massie on Tuesday.

MASSIE SAYS MUSK NEVER DONATED TO HIS RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN DESPITE PRIOR PLEDGE

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The congressman has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since late 2012.

FIRST ON FOX: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is blasting local officials in Virginia after the agency says it arrested an illegal immigrant convicted of child rape who was released back onto the streets by local officials.

On Friday, ICE says it arrested Guatemalan national Walvin Victor Hugo Garcia after an appearance in Fairfax County court following his June arrest on felony charges of rape of a child less than 13 years of age, aggravated sexual battery of a victim under 13 years of age, use of a computer to commit sex offense with a minor, and distributing drugs to a minor.  

ICE had lodged a detainer after his arrest in June asking the county not to release Garcia but, according to an ICE press release, “sanctuary politicians refused to cooperate with ICE” and Garcia was “allowed to leave court without ICE being notified.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a statement placing the blame at the feet of local officials in Virginia, as well as with Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger.

GUATEMALAN MAN CHARGED WITH CHILD PORN POSSESSION RELEASED BY FAIRFAX COUNTY DESPITE ICE DETAINER, DHS SAYS

“Governor Spanberger and her fellow sanctuary politicians in Fairfax, Virginia refused to cooperate with ICE and RELEASED this child rapist from jail back onto the streets,” Acting DHS Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

“This criminal illegal alien from Guatemala has been charged with raping a child under 13, aggravated sexual battery of a victim under 13, and distributing drugs to a minor. Thanks to our brave law enforcement, this sicko is out of our communities. Governor Spanberger and Fairfax sanctuary politicians are playing Russian roulette with American lives by releasing criminals from jail into American neighborhoods.”  

DHS says Garcia was released by Fairfax County and appeared for his court date on his own. The agency added that he was then arrested inside the courthouse but outside the courtroom without assistance from locals. 

Garcia first entered the country illegally near Eagle Pass, Texas, during the Biden administration in 2023, the agency says, and was released into the country. In February 2025, a Virginia immigration judge issued a final order of removal for Garcia.

In a press release, DHS referred to the situation as a “Sanctuary Calamity.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger’s office and officials in Fairfax County for comment. 

The Garcia case is the latest in a string of high-profile incidents cited by DHS and immigration enforcement advocates in Fairfax County in recent months as examples of sanctuary jurisdiction policies putting citizens in danger.

MEET THE FAIRFAX KILLERS: TOP VIOLENT ILLEGAL ALIEN CRIMINALS WREAKING HAVOC ON MAJOR AMERICAN SUBURB

In April, ICE arrested Roni Mendez-Escobar, another Guatemalan national, after Fairfax County authorities had previously released him despite charges of possessing and intending to distribute child pornography, according to DHS.

That same month, authorities charged Misael Lopez Gomez, also from Guatemala, with murder and felony child abuse in the death of his 3-month-old daughter.

Earlier in the year, Anibal Armando Chavarria Muy was charged with second-degree murder after a fatal stabbing, and Abdul Jalloh, a Sierra Leone national with a lengthy arrest record, was charged in the stabbing death of a Virginia woman at a bus stop.

The cases have intensified scrutiny of Fairfax County’s policies and fueled broader political clashes over immigration enforcement in Virginia, an issue expected to remain front and center ahead of upcoming elections.

While Spanberger has repeatedly said Virginia is not a sanctuary state, a state that prevents local law enforcement from partnering with federal immigration enforcement efforts, Spanberger rescinded local-federal coordination requirements as one of her first actions as governor.

She argued that Virginia’s resources would be better spent enforcing its own laws.

“Virginians have been deprived of critical public safety and local law enforcement to divert their limited resources for use in enforcing federal civil immigration laws,” Spanberger said in a press release.

During a press gaggle last month, Spanberger said it is an “absolute lie” that state and local police are unwilling to work with federal agencies, including ICE.

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 At the same time, conservatives have pointed to her as the face of an immigration standard in the commonwealth that Fox News Digital reported last month has alarmed some citizens, while sparking criticism from the Trump administration as well. 

President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, sat down sat down with Fox News Digital for an exclusive interview in April, where he said if Spanberger is unwilling to cooperate with federal law enforcement, the border czar is willing to “send more teams into the streets.”

“Elections have consequences,” Homan explained. “[Spanberger] ran on a law enforcement position that she was a career law enforcement person. [She] is a much different person now since she’s in that governor’s slot.”

Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Ann Kincaid and Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Steven Descano have also faced blowback over the illegal immigrant violence in Virginia and will soon voluntarily testify at an upcoming Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement Subcommittee hearing entitled “Fairfax County Virginia – The Dangerous Consequences of Sanctuary City Policies.”

Fox News Digital’s Leo Briceno, Charlie Creitez, and Preston Mizell contributed to this report.

Justice Samuel Alito tore into Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s lone dissent in a high-stakes Louisiana redistricting dispute on Monday, calling her arguments “baseless and insulting” after the Supreme Court decided to fast-track implementing its recent redistricting ruling ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Alito used a concurring opinion, joined by Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas, to directly rebuke Jackson, saying her “dissent in this suit levels charges that cannot go unanswered.”

“The dissent goes on to claim that our decision represents an unprincipled use of power,” Alito wrote, adding that that was a “groundless and utterly irresponsible charge.”

The clash highlighted Jackson’s increasingly isolated position on the court, as she broke not only from the conservative majority but also from her two liberal colleagues, who did not join her dissent. Jackson forcefully accused the Supreme Court of overreach, marking the latest in a pattern of solo dissents in which the Biden-appointed liberal justice has blasted high-profile majority decisions that have frequently favored President Donald Trump and Republicans.

MEDIA OUTRAGE OVER SUPREME COURT’S VOTING RIGHTS ACT DECISION COLLIDES WITH REALITY 

In Monday’s order, the high court decided in an unsigned ruling to allow Louisiana officials to quickly move forward with changing their congressional map, which is expected to reshape the state’s congressional representation in favor of Republicans ahead of the midterms.

Alito argued that delaying the judgment of the high court’s 6-3 ruling last month — which significantly narrowed section two of the Voting Rights Act by finding Louisiana’s map was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander — served no practical purpose. Jackson’s reasons for wanting to prolong implementation of the landmark ruling were “trivial at best” and “baseless and insulting,” Alito said.

“The dissent accuses the Court of ‘unshackl[ing]’ itself from ‘constraints,'” Alito wrote. “It is the dissent’s rhetoric that lacks restraint.”

SUPREME COURT HEARS PIVOTAL LOUISIANA ELECTION MAP CASE AHEAD OF 2026 MIDTERMS

Jackson had warned that the high court’s intervention risked improperly injecting itself into an active election and creating the “appearance of partiality,” pointing to ongoing voting and legal challenges already unfolding in the state.

Legal experts observed the unusually pointed tone of Alito’s response, suggesting it indicated a deeper internal friction. George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said the conservative justice appeared to reach a breaking point in responding to Jackson’s criticism.

“Justice Alito had had enough,” Turley wrote. “He noted that her reliance on the 32-day period was a ‘trivial’ objection that put form above substance since no party had asked for reconsideration. It would be waiting for 32 days for no purpose, while the other parties had stated a reasonable and pressing need to finalize the opinion.”

Turley added that Alito took particular issue with Jackson’s accusation that the Supreme Court was acting in an “unprincipled” manner.

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The dispute centered on the Supreme Court’s procedural rule that typically allows about 32 days before a judgment is formally sent down to lower courts. Alito emphasized that the rule is flexible and intended primarily to allow time for rehearing petitions, which he signaled were not expected in this case.

The Supreme Court’s decision Monday sends Louisiana into a scramble to implement a new map as ballots have already been sent to voters and the state’s primary has been paused. The ruling is expected to have broader implications across the country as state election officials and courts attempt to finalize constitutionally compliant maps in time for the upcoming election.

Senate Republicans tucked an eye-popping figure into funding for security measures tied to President Donald Trump’s ballroom, a project the administration once touted as being completely privately funded.

The GOP released legislation for its immigration enforcement-focused reconciliation package late Monday night, setting the total spending at $72 billion. But it also included $1 billion in taxpayer funding for the ballroom addition to the White House.

Republicans had largely kept an arm’s length distance from the project, which Trump first announced last year. The construction drew criticism over the demolition of the East Wing and the flow of outside funding, which the administration has touted as a win for taxpayers.

JOHNSON SCRAMBLES AS TRUMP, SENATE REPUBLICANS PRESSURE HOUSE TO FUND DHS

But since the third apparent assassination attempt against Trump during the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton last month, Republicans have jumped on the ballroom bandwagon.

The funding is tucked into the Senate Judiciary Committee’s portion of the reconciliation package, which tees up nearly $31 billion for ICE, $3.5 billion for Customs and Border Protection (CBP), $2.5 billion for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and just shy of $1.5 billion for the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, pitched his portion of the bill by bucking Democrats’ desire for “open borders” and their push to defund the police.

“Republicans won’t allow our country to be dragged backwards by Democrats’ radical, anti-law enforcement agenda,” Grassley said in a statement.

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

The ballroom funding would be doled out to the Secret Service and is explicitly meant for “security adjustments and upgrades,” including “above-ground and below-ground security features,” according to the legislation.

Notably, the measure sets guardrails on the funding so that none of the taxpayer money would be used for “non-security elements of the East Wing Modernization Project.”

Adding funding for the ballroom could be a slight to some Republicans who wanted to use the latest reconciliation opportunity to go big on affordability issues, aid for farmers or spending cuts, among several other wish list items.

REPUBLICANS EYE PICKING UP $400M TAB FOR TRUMP’S BALLROOM AS SOME DEMS OPEN TO ‘DISCUSS’ IDEA

Senate Democrats are already going after the GOP for including the project.

“Republicans are on a different planet than American families,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on X. “Republicans looked at families drowning in bills and decided what they really needed was more raids and a Trump ballroom.”

Meanwhile, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, led by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., also released its portion of the reconciliation package, which tees up nearly $33 billion in funding.

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Paul’s measure included over $19 billion for CBP, $7.5 billion for ICE, nearly $3.5 billion for border security and $2.5 billion for DHS.

“Senate Democrats refuse to vote for a single dollar to secure our borders or enforce our immigration laws, even against the most violent illegal aliens,” Paul said in a statement. “To make sure those vital functions are funded, my committee will vote later this month to provide the funding needed.”

Progressives are blasting party leaders after House Democrats’ campaign arm backed a centrist over a far-left challenger in a key battleground race that could shape control of the House. 

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) added California state Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains and seven other Democrats to its “Red to Blue” program this week — a de facto endorsement that could give the candidates aiming to defeat GOP incumbents a leg up in critical primaries across the country. 

The DCCC’s decision to support Bains over progressive challenger Randy Villegas, a university professor backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in the hotly contested race has sparked backlash from progressive lawmakers, who argue the campaign arm should stay neutral in contested primaries. 

“We disagree with the DCCC’s decision to attempt to tip the scales in this race,” Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC leaders, who have endorsed Villegas, said in a joint statement. “Voters, not the DCCC, should pick Democratic nominees.”

DEMOCRATS NAME CANDIDATES TO ‘RED TO BLUE’ INITIATIVE, AIMING TO FLIP GOP MAJORITY DURING MIDTERMS

The group of progressives included Reps. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., Greg Casar, D-Texas, Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., Chuy Garcia, D-Ill., and Jamie Raskin, D-Md. 

“Deeply disappointed to see this last-minute intervention in a competitive Democratic primary,” Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., wrote on social media Monday. “It’s especially tone-deaf in a district that is overwhelmingly Latino, coming on the heels of last week’s decision gutting the VRA [Voting Rights Act].”

Villegas also slammed the DCCC intervention as “undemocratic” in a post on X.

The political newcomer is supported by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ campaign arm and the left-wing Working Families Party, among other outside groups. Meanwhile, several major labor groups, including the moderate Blue Dogs PAC and the center-left NewDem Action Fund, are backing Bains.

Both are vying to unseat Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., who has repeatedly fended off Democratic challengers in the majority-Hispanic district.

SQUAD STYLE PROGRESSIVES HIT WITH ‘COLD SHOWER’ AS CANDIDATES FALL TO MODERATES IN BLUE STATE CIVIL WAR

The DCCC’s decision to elevate candidates in other crowded primaries has also drawn pushback.

Its strategy to promote state legislator Joe Baldacci in Maine’s second congressional district resulted in sharp criticism from a rival candidate in the race.

“Once again, Washington, D.C., insiders are trying to tell Mainers who can represent them,” Jordan Woods, a former Capitol Hill staffer running for the Republican-leaning seat, said in a statement.

Asked for comment, House Democrats’ campaign arm said the individuals included in its candidate program are “best positioned to win in November” and hail from all corners of the party.

“It’s imperative that Democrats must take back the House to hold Trump accountable and deliver on what truly matters to voters — lower costs and affordable healthcare,” DCCC spokesman Viet Shelton told Fox News Digital.

National Republicans have warned that messy Democratic primaries could hamper the party’s bid to retake House control in November.

“Their disastrous primaries have turned into a far-left free-for-all, and national Democrats stepping in will only deepen the chaos and alienate their far-left base,” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said in a statement.

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Progressives in the upper chamber have also sharply criticized Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats’ campaign arm for tacitly supporting more centrist candidates in key races.

Schumer’s strategy to recruit Gov. Janet Mills, D-Maine, in the state’s 2026 Senate contest appeared to blow up last week, when the two-term governor exited the race after her campaign failed to gain traction with Democratic primary voters. The lead Democrat issued a tepid endorsement of presumptive Democratic nominee Graham Platner, who is backed by leading progressives.

FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump will sign a presidential memorandum Tuesday restoring the Presidential Fitness Test Award, according to the White House, reviving a competitive school-based fitness program phased out during the Obama administration.

The signing will be attended by members of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, as well as National Fitness Foundation board members including high-profile athletes including golfer Bryson DeChambeau, retired professional golfer Gary Player, Baltimore Ravens cornerback Amani Oruwariye and MLB pitcher Noah Syndergaard.

The move reintroduces a performance-based benchmark for student fitness, echoing the Trump administration’s broader “Make America Healthy Again” push. 

Trump first signed an executive order to reestablish the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition and the Presidential Fitness Test last year, with the memorandum on Tuesday paving the way for the administration to restore the test and awards at all American schools, Fox News Digital learned. 

TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDER TO REESTABLISH PRESIDENTIAL FITNESS TEST

The revitalized award emphasizes measurable athletic performance standards similar to earlier versions of the test, which ranked students based on physical achievement, according to a copy of the National Physical Fitness Award obtained by Fox News Digital.

The original Presidential Physical Fitness Test was phased out during former President Barack Obama’s second term and replaced with the Presidential Youth Fitness Program, part of the “Let’s Move” initiative. Critics at the time argued that the test focused too much on performance and competition, discouraging less athletic students.

The President’s Council on Youth Fitness was first established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower after studies showed American children were less physically fit than European peers. Schools began administering a fitness test under President John F. Kennedy, launching the President’s Council on Physical Fitness. 

WHOLE MILK HEADED BACK TO SCHOOL CAFETERIAS AFTER TRUMP SIGNS LAW AS EXPERTS TOUT BENEFITS

The Obama-era Presidential Youth Fitness Program focused “primarily on assessing health versus athleticism for America’s youth,” according to the Let’s Move website.

Fox News Digital reached out to the office of President Obama for comment.

More than 21% of Americans ages 2 to 19 were classified as obese between 2021 and 2023, while 7% of American youths had severe obesity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

SCHOOL MEALS RAISE EYEBROWS AS MAHA ADVOCATES URGE ‘DIFFERENT CHOICES IN THE LUNCH LINE’

Trump is expected to sign the memorandum in the Oval Office, followed by an event on the South Lawn with families and children to mark National Youth Sports and Fitness Month, Fox News Digital learned. 

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Cabinet secretaries including Dept. of War Secretary Pete Hegseth, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner, and Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon will also be in attendance.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., floated the prospect of more U.S. attacks against Iran, suggesting that a large, but brief effort to target the Islamic Republic’s “war machine” would be justified.

In a Monday Truth Social post, President Donald Trump declared, “Iran has taken some shots at unrelated Nations with respect to the Ship Movement, PROJECT FREEDOM, including a South Korean Cargo Ship. Perhaps it’s time for South Korea to come and join the mission! We’ve shot down seven small Boats or, as they like to call them, ‘fast’ Boats. It’s all they have left. Other than the South Korean Ship, there has been, at this moment, no damage going through the Strait.”

Sharing a screenshot of Trump’s post, Graham agreed in a Monday post on X.

“Spot on, Mr. President. The combination of Iran’s attack against UAE’s vital infrastructure and continued attacks on international shipping, including a South Korean cargo ship, more than justifies a big, strong and short response to inflict further damage on Iran’s war machine,” Graham asserted in his post on X.

TRUMP OPENS HORMUZ UNDER FIRE WITH ‘PROJECT FREEDOM’ AS IRAN WARNS OF ATTACKS

“The UAE has been a champion ally in this fight, doing everything that’s being asked of them and beyond. Iran’s recent brazen attack against the UAE tells me a lot about who’s in charge in Iran and the chance of a diplomatic solution any time soon. A forceful response on behalf of our ally, UAE, will reinforce that America is back as a reliable ally, helping to further wash away the damage caused by the Biden administration on this front,” the senator added.

Helicopters were utilized “just this morning to eliminate six Iranian small boats,” U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander Adm. Brad Cooper noted on Monday.

MIKE WALTZ PUSHES UN RESOLUTION TO STOP IRAN MINING KEY GLOBAL SHIPPING ROUTE

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi declared in a post on X, “Events in Hormuz make clear that there’s no military solution to a political crisis. As talks are making progress with Pakistan’s gracious effort, the U.S. should be wary of being dragged back into quagmire by ill-wishers. So should the UAE. Project Freedom is Project Deadlock.”

The AAA national average price for regular gas has surged to $4.483 as of Tuesday.

“To the American people: I know gas prices are high, and I know we’re suffering right now. But you pay now, or you pay later against thugs like Iran. They tried to get a nuclear weapon, and if you don’t believe that you shouldn’t be allowed to drive in your hometown,” Graham said during a Monday night appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity.”

‘KILLING OFF THE COUNTRY’: IRAN EXECUTES DOZENS, ARRESTS 4,000-PLUS IN WAR CRACKDOWN

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Graham is seeking re-election this year. President Trump endorsed the senator for re-election last year.

In two back-to-back arrests, Border Patrol agents arrested a pair of illegal aliens convicted of child sex offenses last week.

Agents near San Diego arrested an unnamed Mexican native last Monday who had been convicted in Jan. 2024 of contacting a minor with intent to commit a sex offense.

On Tuesday, CBP agents from the San Clemente Border Patrol Station detained a Guatemalan national convicted of assault and battery, as well as molesting a child.

‘AMERICANS FIRST’: ICE SWEEPS UP CHILD PREDATORS, RAPISTS ACROSS US AS MULLIN TAKES HELM OF DHS

“These arrests are a direct result of the proactive work our agents do every day to identify and remove these predators from our neighborhoods,” Justin De La Torre, San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent, said.

Agency officials praised the arrests, calling them demonstrative of the agency’s continued effectiveness under the new leadership of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, noting that the agency has arrested and removed thousands of criminal aliens from the country — including gang members, rapists, kidnappers, and drug traffickers—to make our communities safer.

BORDER AGENTS UNCOVER RPG LAUNCHER, CACHE OF RIFLES HIDDEN IN VEHICLE HEADING TO MEXICO

Mullin was appointed by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate last month. In March, CBP apprehended 8,200 illegal aliens, according to DHS.

“Keeping our communities safe is our highest priority, and the San Diego Sector will actively go after dangerous criminals, especially those guilty of heinous crimes against children,” De La Torre said.

CBP SEIZES MASSIVE METH HAUL WORTH MILLIONS STASHED IN SECRET TILE SHIPMENT

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The two illegal aliens are being processed for removal from the U.S., according to CBP officials.

With six months to go until the midterm elections, President Donald Trump‘s poll numbers remain underwater.

The two-month-long war with Iran, which public opinion surveys indicate is unpopular with many Americans, and a surge in gas prices as a direct result of the fighting have triggered a further slide in Trump’s approval ratings this spring.

The president’s polling woes are a political drag on his party as Republicans work to defend their slim Senate and razor-thin House majorities in this year’s elections. That’s because the presidential approval rating has long been a much-watched barometer of a president’s clout and how well his party may perform in the ensuing midterms.

But the frustrating figures are not a problem unique to Trump — his most recent predecessors in the White House also saw their negative numbers weigh down their parties in midterm showdowns.

WHAT OUR LATEST FOX NEWS NATIONAL POLL SHOWS

Trump stood at 42% approval and 51% disapproval in the latest Fox News national poll, which was conducted April 17–20. Some more recent surveys put the president’s approval rating in the mid to upper 30s, with his disapproval reaching or topping 60%.

The president’s approval is hovering just above 40%, with his disapproval above 56%, in an average of all the most recent national polls, according to a compilation from RealClearPolitics.

SIX MONTHS TILL MIDTERMS: THE TEN RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE’S MAJORITY

“It may come as cold comfort to the White House, but there’s a tendency for voters to be harsh toward all presidents,” Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who helps conduct Fox News polls with Democrat Chris Anderson, noted.

He’s not kidding.

Four years ago, as he faced the 2022 midterm elections, then-President Joe Biden was also dealing with sky-high gas prices. His approval rating stood at 45%, with 53% disapproval, in a Fox News poll conducted in late April and early May 2022. And a RealClearPolitics average of all the national polls at that time put Biden’s numbers at 42%-53%.

DEMOCRATS BUILD MIDTERM MOMENTUM BUT REPUBLICANS STILL IN DRIVER’S SEAT IN SENATE MAJORITY BATTLE

Trump’s two most recent two-term predecessors were also well below water six months out from their second midterm elections.

Then-President Barack Obama stood at 43%-52% in early May 2014, and former President George W. Bush was deep into negative territory at 35%-59% at the same time in 2006.

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Republicans were shellacked in the 2006 midterms and Democrats were pummeled in the 2014 midterms.

While Biden’s anemic numbers did Democrats no favors in 2022, the party was able to beat expectations and hold their House majority thanks in part to the outsized emphasis on the issue of abortion, following a blockbuster opinion that summer by the Supreme Court’s conservative majority that scrapped the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, which had legalized abortion nationwide for a half century.

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, second-in-command to Gov. Tim Walz in Minnesota, flamed the Laken Riley Act before a cheering crowd at a “Stop Oligarchy” rally headlined by socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., over the weekend.

Flanagan, who is trailing behind Rep. Angie Craig in the latest RealClearPolitics polling average for the Democratic senatorial primary, is seeking to succeed retiring Sen. Tina Smith, who also reportedly endorsed her at the Rochester rally.

Flanagan name-dropped Alex Pretti and Renee Good, two anti-ICE activists shot and killed in law enforcement-involved shootings earlier this year, as the Land of 10,000 Lakes descended into anti-immigration enforcement chaos.

“We’ve got to zoom out for a second and we have to talk about how we got here, because this also wasn’t an accident. Donald Trump ran on an agenda where we knew that ICE would be more powerful,” Flanagan said.

WALZ DEPUTY ERUPTS AT ICE AND FELLOW DEM, TORCHES LAKEN RILEY ACT IN FIERY TWEETSTORM AS SCANDALS PILE UP

“This didn’t just sneak up on us. It wasn’t in the fine print. There were literally gigantic signs that said, mass deportees now. It was not a secret. And the very first vote in the second Trump administration that he brought forward was for the Laken Riley Act.”

Flanagan slammed the law, sponsored by Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., as a vessel to strip due process from immigrants and allow for indefinite detention of adults and children.

“It was the green light to give ICE unprecedented power to totally terrorize our communities,” Flanagan went on.

TIM WALZ COMPARES MINNESOTA ICE ACTIONS TO HOLOCAUST AND ANNE FRANK: ‘HIDING IN THEIR HOUSES’

She added that she sees a “straight line” from the Laken Riley Act vote in Congress to unrest in communities like Minneapolis; praising Smith and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., for voting against it.

She criticized Craig for being the only Minnesota Democrat in either chamber to vote for the Laken Riley Act, while Craig said just last week that she now regrets her vote for the law.

Writing in the Minnesota Star Tribune, Craig said she cast her vote at a time she felt her constituents — in the suburbs of Minneapolis and Mankato — largely agreed the Biden administration had “fumbled the immigration issue.”

DEMOCRAT IN KEY SENATE PRIMARY SAYS SHE ‘REGRETS’ VOTE ON LAKEN RILEY ACT, DRAWS GOP BACKLASH

But, Craig added that she believes Trump is going beyond the scope of law to carry out “sweeping immigration raids that have terrorized Minnesotans” and therefore regrets her vote.

At the “Stop Oligarchy” rally, Sanders and Flanagan were joined by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, another key figure in the Minneapolis unrest.

The winner of the Flanagan-Craig bout will face the Republican nominee, as the GOP primary features former Houston Rockets forward Royce White and former NBC Sunday Night Football reporter Michele Tafoya.

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While Walz chose Flanagan as his running mate, several outlets including the Minnesota Reformer have reported on an alleged rift between the two stemming back to the aftermath of the governor’s failed vice presidential bid — which that outlet noted prevented Flanagan from rising to the governorship through the line of succession.

Fox News Digital reached out to Flanagan for additional comment and to Walz for any response to his deputy’s remarks.

Michigan Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel is backing a growing push to recount all votes cast during the state’s Democratic convention, admitting her own votes were improperly tallied.

The Michigan Democratic Party held its convention on Sunday, April 19, where more than 6,000 delegates gathered to vote on candidates to represent the party for statewide offices, including secretary of state, attorney general and university board of trustees members, in the general election in November. State Sen. Sylvia Santana called for an independent audit of the convention’s elections, alleging an investigation she led found “material errors” with the voting systems.

“I learned in the days immediately following the convention that the Election Buddy app did not correctly attribute my votes or my congressional district, and I immediately notified the impacted candidates and the state party chair,” Nessel wrote in a statement, affirming state Sen. Sylvia Santana’s calls for an independent audit.

But in her statement, Nessel shut down any effort to draw a “false equivalency” between failures in the Democratic Party’s internal voting systems and statewide elections.

BATTLEGROUND STATES’ RECOUNT RULES VARY WIDELY, HERE’S A LOOK AT HOW THEY WORK

“Those who traffic in election conspiracies will seek any and every opportunity to undermine public confidence in our elections, and while an audit is warranted in this circumstance, these results have no bearings on the veracity of state-run elections,” Nessel wrote in the statement.

The internal drama within the Michigan Democratic Party comes as Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and her administration continue to push back against a Justice Department request for Wayne County’s 2024 voter data. The request from the Trump administration is part of a broader probe into alleged voter fraud in the county, highlighting concerns over election integrity.

Santana, who lost her bid to be a member of the Michigan State University Board of Trustees, filed a 53-page complaint about the convention’s voting process, alleging that 200 individuals cast votes remotely, which is prohibited under the convention’s rules. Cathy Albro, a former U.S. House candidate, had previously told The Detroit News that she voted in the convention’s electronic voting system from her home.

Santana’s investigation also found 302 voters who were not on the master voter list, and that 208 voters were registered to the same number with at least one other voter. The investigation also alleged votes being incorrectly tallied or not tallied at all.

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, who was vying to be the state’s top law enforcer, lost to Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit for the party’s attorney general nomination by a 59% to 41% vote. She took to Facebook to urge an independent audit of the election, backing Santana’s complaint.

“After reviewing the results of the MDP Endorsement Convention, it became clear that votes were incorrectly recorded, people voted who were not onsite, and some votes were not recorded at all,” McDonald posted on Facebook. “I strongly support Senator Santana’s request for an independent audit, and urge my Democratic colleagues across the state to support it as well. It is critical that every voter and every campaign have confidence in the vote.”

JAMES COMER INVESTIGATES REPORTS OF NONCITIZENS FOUND ON KEY SWING STATE’S VOTER ROLLS

The Michigan Democratic Party said in a statement to Fox News Digital that all Democratic candidates who participated in the party’s endorsement convention have until the end of May 4 to submit their appeals, but said it will not comment on the specifics of those appeals.

“Pursuant to our rules and bylaws, appeals are reviewed through an independent process conducted by an Appeals Committee,” a spokesperson for the Michigan Democratic Party said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “The Committee will review submitted appeals and determine next steps. We are committed to following the appeals process and ensuring it is fair and independent.”

Meanwhile, the Michigan Republican Party is criticizing the Democratic Party over allegations of voter fraud.

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“Losing candidates are starting to take legal action against the Democrat Party, claiming the election were STOLEN from them after an investigation revealed that hundreds of ineligible voters took part in their recent endorsement convention,” MI GOP posted on X. “Democrats can’t even secure their own internal elections. What a mess!”

Fox News Digital reached out to McDonald, Santana, and Savit for comment.