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In his new book “Communion,” Vice President JD Vance reflected on the “childless cat ladies” jab he made while running for U.S. Senate in 2021, characterizing it as “one of the dumbest” remarks he has ever made, according to NBC News.

During a 2021 appearance on “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Vance said, “We’re effectively run in this country, via the Democrats … via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made,” and who desire to make the rest of the nation “miserable too.”

He then pointed to then-Vice President Kamala Harris, then-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., declaring, “The entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children. And how does it make any sense that we’ve turned our country over to people who don’t really have a direct stake in it?”

Harris has two adult stepchildren.

VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE REVEALS HE HAS ‘SACRED TIME’ WITH HIS FAMILY FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS EVERY DAY

Buttigieg announced in an August 2021 post on X, “For some time, Chasten and I have wanted to grow our family. We’re overjoyed to share that we’ve become parents! The process isn’t done yet and we’re thankful for the love, support, and respect for our privacy that has been offered to us. We can’t wait to share more soon.” They adopted two children.

“Chasten and I are beyond thankful for all the kind wishes since first sharing the news that we’re becoming parents. We are delighted to welcome Penelope Rose and Joseph August Buttigieg to our family,” Buttigieg wrote in a September 2021 post on X.

JD VANCE REVEALS DETAILS OF US-IRAN DEAL, ADDRESSES WHETHER TAXPAYER MONEY WILL GO TO TEHRAN

Vance addressed his controversial comment in his new book, according to NBC News.

“One of the dumbest things I ever said came when I argued that ‘childless cat ladies’ across the Democrat Party were running our country into the ground,” Vance wrote, according to the outlet.

“The comment caused two firestorms: the first when I made it, the second years later during a political campaign,” he noted. “It was a boneheaded comment, intentionally (and successfully) provocative rather than illuminating.”

Vance won election to the U.S. Senate in 2022 and took office in early 2023.

In 2024, then-former President Donald Trump tapped Vance as his running mate. Vance became vice president in early 2025.

According to NBC News, the vice president recognized that the remark was “enraging” and noted that it “had the added effect of distracting from the actual point I wanted to make, which was that our society is becoming pathologically hostile to having kids.” He indicated that he “could have made that point much more effectively, and with the benefit of showing a little charity to the many Americans who — some for reasons beyond their control —­ don’t have children.”

JD VANCE’S WIFE USHA DETAILS HOW CHARLIE KIRK’S DEATH INFLUENCED DECISION TO HAVE FOURTH CHILD

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“When I consider the Church’s admonition to respect the dignity of every life, this was a clear moment where I failed,” Vance, who is Catholic, noted.

FIRST ON FOX: A new report reveals that a dangerous dynamic of anti-Christian extremism and “assassination culture” could have fueled the recent attempt to kill conservative leader Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika Kirk, as threats against public officials and figures rise to historic levels.

In late May, Bexar County charged Jacob Wenske, 26, with a third-degree felony count of making a terroristic threat involving public fear of serious bodily injury or public disruption for his alleged plan to bomb a Turning Point USA event where Kirk was the keynote speaker. 

In an email to TPUSA, Wenske said he was targeting Kirk, other event speakers and so-called “Christian nationalists,” according to an arrest warrant.

Wenske, who worked as a valet driver, also posted multiple threats on social media, according to the warrant.

TEXAS MAN ALLEGEDLY THREATENED TO BOMB TURNING POINT USA EVENT AND KILL CEO ERIKA KIRK IN ONLINE POSTS

Wenske’s arrest emerged amid a record number of threats against political figures and members of Congress. The U.S. Capitol Police Threat Assessment Section showed a 58% increase in threats against members of Congress from 2024 to 2025, and threats overall have nearly doubled since 2020. 

The Network Contagion Research Institute, a research lab that studies how radical ideologies spread across digital networks and social media, analyzed the threats against Kirk to assess the level of danger and how “permission structure” plays a role in originating the threat.

“What we’re seeing is a massive influx of foreign malign influence that is truly shaping the Western world right now, particularly through social media,” Travis Hawley, cyber threat and open-source intelligence analyst at the Network Contagion Research Institute, told Fox News Digital. “What you could call our digital diet is really shaping how people see ourselves, our values, our country, and even our history.”

TRUMP, KIRK SHOOTINGS EXPOSE ONLINE HATE BREEDING LONE-WOLF ASSASSINS, EXPERTS WARN

“And there are many countries, organizations, and wealthy individuals, whether it’s [Neville Roy] Singham in China, who are really pushing or putting their thumb on the scale, trying to push us and accelerate us into violence, dystopian even, and a civil unrest type of environment,” Hawley added. “This is really concerning and really showing how democracy actually has a weakness if it is not protected.”

The targeting of Kirk comes nine months after the assassination of her husband, who was shot and killed during an event at Utah Valley University. 

FBI Director Kash Patel said that Tyler Robinson, Kirk’s alleged assassin, confessed the killing in the chatroom platform Discord, a platform which members of Congress have criticized for radicalizing users.

NEIGHBORS OF CHARLIE KIRK’S SUSPECTED KILLER, TYLER ROBINSON, SPEAK OUT

In the case of Luigi Mangione, the alleged assassin of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, pro-Mangione demonstrators regularly frequent the courthouse to support him, and a legal fund for Mangione has collected more than $1.5 million.

The new study obtained by Fox News Digital shows that “permission structure” plays a role in promoting the idea that a murder is justified.

LUIGI MANGIONE ‘DOES NOT SUPPORT VIOLENT ACTIONS,’ ATTORNEY SAYS AS POLITICAL ATTACKS MOUNT ACROSS THE US

Permission structure gives individuals the excuse to commit an act that would normally be unacceptable, like murder, assassination or political violence.

In 2025, a Network Contagion Research Institute study found that 1,264 U.S. adults, or 38% of people surveyed, considered it “somewhat justified” to murder President Donald Trump, and the figure increased to about 55% among those identifying as left of center.

In a post on X, Charlie Kirk cited the study, blaming “left-wing protest culture” for a rise in political violence. He was assassinated 153 days later.

NEW BOMBSHELL STUDY REVEALS ‘ASSASSINATION CULTURE’ SPREADING ON THE LEFT UNDER PRESIDENT TRUMP

Hawley also told Fox News Digital that alleged malign foreign influence in protest and agitator networks plays a role in boosting radicalized beliefs. Hawley said that the far-left network stokes an anti-West ideology that aligns with the propaganda messages of America’s adversaries.

“The motivation of our adversaries to push Marxist ideology, Islamist ideology, Marxist ideology, socialists, you name it, anything that is anti-Western, anti-democratic, anti capitalist is to defeat us from within,” Hawley explained. 

He also noted that malign actors can easily use social media platforms to quickly mobilize pro-communist, anti-Western agitators.

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A Fox News Digital investigation uncovered that U.S. tech tycoon and Shanghai resident Neville Roy Singham has  poured $278 million into nonprofits that have promoted Chinese Communist Party propaganda at protests around the country, often taking aim at U.S. leaders and public figures, like the Kirks.

“It seems to be bubbling up increasingly is these protests, these riots, whether it’s against the government itself, whether it’s against ICE and the military, the war,” Hawley told Fox News Digital. “We’re living in a time where it is very clear that our ability to protect our country really hinges on understanding how much of the civil unrest we are living through in recent years is actually organic.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota on Tuesday announced that 15 Antifa members have been indicted for their alleged roles in conspiring to hinder federal immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis earlier this year.

The suspects, 12 of whom are in custody, are all charged with conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, according to a 94-page criminal complaint, and some are charged with further crimes. Federal prosecutors allege that each suspect took part in a conspiracy to obstruct federal immigration enforcement officers, including ICE personnel, through force, intimidation and threats.

The suspects are alleged members of the Antifa cell Direct Action Minnesota Network (DAMN), a radical far-left group accused of coordinating operations against federal immigration officers.

Federal prosecutors maintain that the group use Signal chats to organize and carry out rapid response operations including coordinating street blockades, tracking federal vehicles, surveilling the ICE field office at the federal Whipple Building and other activities meant to stop immigration officials from conducting their business.

FBI INVESTIGATING MINNESOTA ANTI-ICE SIGNAL GROUP CHATS, PATEL SAYS

The government says that DAMN served as the hub for participants to share intelligence, plan actions, recruit volunteers and assign roles.

Below is a full list of the suspects and the charges they face:

• Isaac Auman Sant – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, interstate stalking
• Emmett James Doyle – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer
• Cameron Kennedy – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer
• Callum Robinet – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer
• Erik Davis – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer
• Kyle Wagner – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, solicitation of violence, interstate threats
• Hannah Margaret Van de Water Davis – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal office
• Treasure Cay Thoreson – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer
• Nathan Junho Kim – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer
• Alec Stewart – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer
• Douglas Misterek – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer
• Dustin Scott Beisell – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer
• William Morgan – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, interstate stalking, assault on a federal officer, destruction of government property
• Natasha Rakotz – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, assault on a federal officer resulting in bodily injury/use of a dangerous weapon

ANTI-ICE MINNEAPOLIS AGITATORS SET UP CHECKPOINT TO TRACK FEDERAL AGENTS

Isaac Sant is portrayed by prosecutors as one of the ringleaders of the conspiracy who allegedly organized meetings between anti-ICE factions, delivered shields and other equipment for “direct actions” against ICE and maintained a database of suspected federal immigration vehicles by tracking license plates.

He also allegedly coordinated “commuters” to follow federal immigration officials.

On May 4, according to the indictment, Sant personally followed a federal immigration officer from the Whipple Building in Minneapolis — a hub of anti-ICE activities — across state lines to Hudson, Wisconsin, leading to the interstate stalking charge.

William Morgan, the only suspect charged with four crimes, is also accused of interstate stalking for allegedly following a federal immigration officer on May 12 from the Whipple Building to near the officer’s home in Hudson.

VIRAL VIDEO SHOWS ICE AGENT TELLING AGITATORS THEY’RE DISRUPTING ARREST OF CHILD SEX OFFENDER IN MINNESOTA

Three days later, Morgan allegedly committed two more crimes by confronting an agent who was conducting an interview and physically assaulting him. He later was accused of kicking a federal vehicle, causing $1,000 in property damage, the complaint claims.

Natasha Rakotz was charged with assault on a federal officer resulting in bodily injury for allegedly driving her car into the path of a federal agent, striking and injuring him — similarly to how in a January incident in Minneapolis Renee Good was shot dead during an altercation where she ran her car into a federal immigration officer.

Kyle Wagner has been in custody since February, after encouraging followers to take up arms against federal agents. More charges were announced against him during Tuesday’s press conference.

WHO IS KYLE WAGNER? MEET THE SELF-IDENTIFIED ANTIFA MEMBER ARRESTED AFTER TARGETING ICE

On Jan. 8, 2026, Wagner posted a video warning ICE agents, “We’re f—ing coming for you.”

Prosecutors allege he urged followers to “get your guns,” and suggested identifying agents even if it had to be done “at the barrel of a gun.”

President Donald Trump declared Antifa to be a terrorist organization last year.

“Today’s charges and arrests reflect a broad federal effort to address organized, lawless behavior, which seeks to disrupt the execution of federal law, endanger law enforcement, and, importantly, endanger the very communities that these defendants falsely claim to be protecting,” U.S. Attorney Daniel Roden said in a Tuesday press conference announcing the charges.

MINNESOTA ANTI-ICE AGITATORS SWARM, CONFRONT FEDERAL AGENTS DURING ENFORCEMENT OPERATIONS

He emphasized that the defendants have not been arrested for speech — which is protected by the First Amendment — but for alleged criminal actions.

Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Michael McCarthy echoed that sentiment.

“Peaceful protest is a protected right and a cornerstone of our democracy. We respect and defend that right,” he said. “However, there’s a clear line that cannot be crossed when protest turns into rioting, violence or criminal activity, it becomes unlawful and it will not be tolerated.”

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“Working closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, our investigation uncovered extensive planning, material support and coordinated attacks against federal personnel and facilities. Our teams have worked tirelessly conducting surveillance, reviewing camera footage, and analyzing large volumes of information to identify those responsible.”

Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

Senate Republicans narrowly halted another attempt to handcuff President Donald Trump’s war authority in Iran as a peace deal begins to take shape.

The latest failed war-powers resolution, this time from Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., comes after Trump signed a memorandum of understanding with the Iranian government that could lead to an end to the war. While Congress is still in the dark on the details of the deal, Republicans still stood behind the president Tuesday.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who has led the Democrats’ war powers efforts for the last several months, argued that while a possible deal was a good thing, it appeared the U.S. and Iran would be headed to an “intermission” in fighting as both sides hammered out the final details of a longer peace deal. 

TRUMP’S IRAN DEAL SPARKS GOP DEMANDS FOR VOTE AS CONGRESS REMAINS IN THE DARK

“An intermission is a great time to do what we should have done before this war, which is have the consultation with Congress that the Constitution requires,” Kaine said. “Why restart a war if we haven’t done our job?”

Still, Warnock’s resolution failed despite a previous effort advancing in the Senate last month when a cohort of Senate Republicans joined nearly all Senate Democrats to rebuke the war. That same group, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Bill Cassidy, R-La., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Rand Paul, R-Ky., joined all Democrats to vote for the resolution. 

But absences on both sides of the aisle helped the GOP in their effort to give Trump more runway to hammer out a deal to end the war. 

TRUMP’S PUSH FOR $350 BILLION ‘ARSENAL OF FREEDOM’ HITS GOP SKEPTICISM

Senate Foreign Relations Chair James Risch, R-Idaho, argued that Democrats were effectively trying to “help Iran” with Democrats’ war powers efforts, and he countered that if the resolution passed, Iran would back out of any forthcoming peace deal.

“If a miracle happened, a miracle happened, and this passed, got through the Senate, got through the House, and the president signed it — if that miracle happened, do you think Iran would sign the deal that has been negotiated? Of course not,” Risch said. 

DEMS SCORE WIN AS GOP SENATOR HELPS ADVANCE IRAN WAR POWERS RESOLUTION

Meanwhile, Congress is still waiting for details of the deal, which as of Tuesday, had yet to materialize publicly or behind closed doors in the upper chamber. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he still had not been briefed on the matter. When asked if it was normal for Thune and others to request these kinds of briefings from the administration, Thune said, “Since I’ve been in this job, we haven’t had this issue, so I don’t know the answer to that.”

“My assumption is that it’s a function of, at some point, they understand they’re going to have to, I think they’ve intimated as much, that they’ve got to get this in front of us,” he said. “And hopefully, that’ll happen sooner rather than later. But you know, obviously it sounds like they’re not going public with it until later in the week, so we’ll see.” 

Some Democrats, on the other hand, are contending that early reports of the deal appear to favor Iran more than the U.S.

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Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said, “It’s essentially a surrender.” 

“But I think that’s the only play we can make at this point. We have to end this war, stop wasting money, stop killing Americans and civilians, stop driving a crisis,” Murphy said.
”So, it’s a bad deal, but he’s not gonna get a better deal. So, we just have to accept the humiliation.” 

Colorado has reversed a controversial requirement that attorneys using the state’s court e-filing system certify they would not use court information to assist federal immigration enforcement efforts.

The verification requirement was removed from state law last week after Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed House Bill 26-1276, creating a carveout for attorneys seeking to use the filing system.

Multiple attorneys spoke out in April after the state’s e-file system required them to certify they would not share such personal information with the federal government — a requirement Colorado officials said stemmed from the Protect Civil Rights Immigration Status Act of 2025.

Colorado Springs attorney Ian Speir told Fox News Digital that Colorado appeared to be “unlawfully coopting private attorneys across the state to further its anti-federal sanctuary policies,” while noting that he doesn’t practice criminal nor immigration law but couldn’t sign into the state court system without “saluting the resistance.”

COLORADO LAWYERS SAY COURT E-FILE SYSTEM NOW MAKES THEM CERTIFY THEY WON’T ASSIST ICE

The House Judiciary Committee took note of Fox News Digital’s reporting on the matter and notified Colorado officials in April that their immigration-related certification wrongly “commandeers private attorneys into Colorado’s radical sanctuary policies, handcuffs federal officials from enforcing immigration law in Colorado, and violates fundamental free speech principles.”

Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., the chairman of the Judiciary Committee’s immigration integrity, security and enforcement subcommittee, told Fox News Digital in a Monday interview that he was pleased to see Colorado reverse itself but warned that the incident is just the latest volley in sanctuary states’ battle against federal supremacy.

He called it the latest example of the notion that any state “can obstruct federal laws they don’t like.”

REP JIM JORDAN, REP TOM MCCLINTOCK: DEMOCRATS THINK THEY CAN OVERRULE LAWS

“I think they’ve crossed the line into obstruction by forbidding attorneys access to the court system without this outrageous pledge under penalty and perjury that they wouldn’t report any information for federal immigration enforcement purposes,” McClintock said.

“Obviously, the state recognized what tenuous ground they had staked out, and it reversed themselves. But I remain concerned over what other sanctuary jurisdictions that comprise this new ‘Confederacy’ may take in the future.”

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), celebrated the news and noted it was prepared to file a lawsuit against the state government in Denver on First Amendment grounds if it did not repeal the provision.

“Colorado made the right move removing the certification requirement, which was a clear viewpoint-based regulation that violated the First Amendment,” the Washington-based group said in a statement.

Speir added that while the state may be able to tell its own public lawyers what to say to ICE, he, as a private attorney, “work for my clients, not the government.”

Greg Greubel, FIRE’s senior attorney, said in a statement that the government by law cannot condition an attorney’s access to courts “on a promise not to use information for a lawful purpose the state disfavors.”

BLOODTHIRSTY VENEZUELAN GANG PUT ON NOTICE AS NEW BILL CURBS BLUE STATE SANCTUARY POLICIES

 “Kudos to Colorado legislators and the governor for acting quickly to resolve this issue, but it’s troubling that the state attempted this in the first place.”

Laws restricting speech must be viewpoint-neutral under the First Amendment, but critics argued that by forcing attorneys not to speak with ICE, they were putting their thumb on the partisan scale.

McClintock said his panel’s focus continues to be on the variety of sanctuary policies in states and cities that are “resisting and in many cases obstructing federal law enforcement,” citing the Supremacy Clause’s assertion that immigration falls under the federal government’s authority.

“That’s particularly important in regions such as mine where the local sheriffs very much want to cooperate with ICE,” said McClintock, who notably chaired the raucous hearing that featured Fairfax County, Virginia, prosecutor Stephen Descano and Sheriff Stacey Kincaid who have been lambasted for their handling of illegal immigrant-related cases.

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A measure his panel is working on would allow victims of sanctuary policies to sue those jurisdictions for damages created by the release of illegal immigrant criminals and the like.

Fox News Digital reached out to Polis and ICE for comment.

President Donald Trump has hailed the newly signed Iran memorandum of understanding (MOU) as a breakthrough that normalizes relations between the two countries after months of fighting. 

But by the White House’s own account, the agreement settles few of the issues that dominated months of negotiations, leaving sanctions relief, frozen assets and Iran’s nuclear program for a new round of talks.

“This is really just the first MOU and then we’re going to launch into the real technical discussions later this week,” a senior administration official told reporters Monday. 

The memorandum, signed digitally by Trump and Vice President JD Vance Sunday, kicks off a 60-day period for technical talks aimed at a final agreement. A formal signing ceremony with U.S. and Iranian officials, along with Pakistani and Qatari mediators, is planned for Friday. Yet even administration officials acknowledge that the memorandum leaves many of the most contentious issues unresolved. 

“We’ll know over the next two to three weeks whether those understandings will turn into an actual agreement,” a senior administration official said. 

TRUMP MAY HAVE WON A STRATEGIC PAUSE IN IRAN. NOW COMES THE HARD PART

Nate Swanson, a former senior advisor on Iran policy to successive administrations and now a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said the memorandum appears to postpone rather than resolve disputes over sanctions relief, Iran’s nuclear program and the future of the Strait of Hormuz.

“It does not appear to resolve the core issues surrounding the mechanics of the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian nuclear concessions, or Iranian financial incentives and sanctions relief,” Swanson wrote in an analysis published by the Atlantic Council.

The remark was striking given that U.S. and Iranian officials have been negotiating since the April ceasefire and already had announced a signed memorandum and upcoming signing ceremony.

The president expressed optimism for a final deal.

“I think it’s going to happen, fairly on time, but we’ve been both involved. I think they’re going to want to get it done. Iran wants to get it done. They have to get back to business. And the relationship is now normalized,” Trump said during the G7 Summit in Évian-les-Bains, France.

JD VANCE REVEALS DETAILS OF US-IRAN DEAL, ADDRESSES WHETHER TAXPAYER MONEY WILL GO TO TEHRAN

The administration has yet to publicly release the text of the memorandum, but officials indicated that many of the issues that have dominated months of negotiations remain subject to future talks, including sanctions relief, frozen Iranian assets and the disposition of Iran’s remaining enriched uranium stockpiles.

“Here’s what it says: Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. That’s what it says. It won’t have one to buy, to develop. They will not have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told reporters Tuesday. 

Administration officials said Monday the text of the deal would be released Tuesday or Wednesday.

On perhaps the most disputed issue, White House officials insisted Monday that no frozen Iranian assets have been released, despite reports in Iranian state-linked media that Iran could gain access to roughly $24 billion in blocked funds during the negotiation period.

“The very simple fact is, $0 of unfrozen assets have been released by the United States or any other country.”

The administration also said it will maintain its current military posture in the region during the negotiations, despite Iranian accounts suggesting the framework contemplates a future reduction in U.S. forces around Iran.

“The plan is to keep the current force posture during the 60-day negotiations.”

Officials repeatedly stressed that any concessions would be tied to verification rather than promises.

“We’re still at the early phases where we’re building trust.”

“This memorandum does not mean trusting the enemy; it has been written with active distrust,” Iranian deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said, according to Iranian state-linked Mehr News. “We will monitor the implementation of US commitments.”

The clearest immediate effect appears to be the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas shipments normally pass, and a commitment by both sides to preserve the ceasefire while negotiations continue. Oil prices fell to their lowest levels in three months on the agreement to lift the blockade and open the strait. 

Administration officials repeatedly described the memorandum as a framework that could eventually lead to sanctions relief, economic normalization and a broader settlement of Iran’s nuclear program — if negotiators can reach a final agreement in the coming weeks.

“Nothing is on the table if it doesn’t come along with real performance.”

Iranian state-linked media have described the framework as already containing commitments on sanctions relief, access to roughly $24 billion in frozen assets, future reductions in U.S. military forces in the region and a $300 billion reconstruction program. The White House has disputed key elements of that characterization.

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“We don’t pay them — there was some statement. We’re going to spend $300 billion. No, we’re allowed to go and invest if we wanted to. Someday, in the future. We have no obligation whatsoever,” Trump said during the G7 Summit.

The competing descriptions underscore how much remains unsettled.  

“There will likely be a significant delta between the aspirations outlined in the MOU and what emerges in a final deal,” Swanson said. 

Some congressional Republicans already are questioning whether Washington and Iran are describing the same agreement.

“I think we’d all like to see the terms of the memorandum and hopefully end up with a real deal,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told reporters at the Capitol Tuesday. 

“I don’t think there’s anybody in Congress that’s ever gonna support giving money to them,” he went on. 

“They ought pay for what it cost us to do this to bring them to their senses to stop killing us … I want to get reimbursed for the money we’ve had to spend to bring them to their senses. They’ve got plenty of oil, they can rebuild their own country.”

“I am pleased to hear the memorandum of understanding with Iran to allow the Strait of Hormuz to open has been agreed to. I will be watching closely the ensuing negotiations regarding Iran’s nuclear program and other matters. I am somewhat concerned that Iran’s view of the agreement seems different than what the American negotiating team is claiming.”

EXCLUSIVE: A Republican challenging a vulnerable Democratic incumbent in one of the nation’s most competitive House races is touting a key labor endorsement. 

Mike LiPetri, a former state assembly member backed by President Donald Trump, said support from the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 138 reflects growing momentum behind his campaign. 

“I think you’ll see [more unions] fall in line with us knowing that we stand with the men and women who work hard to build our country,” LiPetri told Fox News Digital in an interview.

The endorsement from the 1,500-member union gives LiPetri a boost as he prepares for a rematch contest against Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., who won back the suburban swing seat in 2024 after representing it from 2017 to 2023. 

HASAN PIKER CELEBRATES AMERICA BEING ‘CLOSER THAN EVER’ TO SOCIALISM AS HE BACKS NYC CANDIDATES

Local 138 Business Manager John Duffy praised LiPetri’s candidacy in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“We need leaders in Washington with guts — people who aren’t afraid to roll up their sleeves to get the job done, no excuses,” Duffy said. “Mike LiPetri is that guy and the men and women of Local 138 are with him all the way.” 

The support from the union comes as national Republicans, who view Suozzi as a top target, look to make gains in the district spanning parts of Long Island and Queens ahead of November’s elections. 

Trump carried Suozzi’s seat by just over four points in 2024, while LiPetri ran three points behind the incumbent lawmaker.

Republicans have largely united behind LiPetri, who is seeking to fend off a challenge from attorney Gregory Hach in the June 23 GOP primary. LiPetri is part of the National Republican Congressional Committee’s flagship candidate program and is viewed as a top recruit.

“This seat can literally decide the fate of the majority,” LiPetri told Fox News Digital. 

“The president is all in on our race, he’s given us a ringing endorsement,” he added. “House leadership is all in on this race. Local leadership is also all in on this race.”

LiPetri also argued that Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the presumptive GOP nominee against Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., would help drive Republican turnout on Long Island.

‘FLIP FLOP’: DEMOCRAT FIREFIGHTER IN TIGHT HOUSE RACE BLASTS POPULAR TRUMP POLICY HIS NATIONAL UNION SUPPORTS

The GOP challenger is also seeking to draw sharp contrasts with Suozzi on immigration, transgender issues and tax policy as he looks ahead to November. 

Suozzi, the co-chair of the centrist Problem Solvers Caucus, has branded himself as a staunch moderate. But LiPetri argued the incumbent has strayed from that image over the past year.

Suozzi notably joined Democrats in opposing additional funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) during the months-long standoff over immigration spending.

He initially backed a Department of Homeland Security funding bill in January but later publicly apologized for his vote, saying he “failed” to view the legislation as “a referendum on the illegal and immoral conduct of ICE” amid backlash from the left over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis. Suozzi later adopted Democratic leadership’s position in pushing to pair any new funding with reforms to immigration enforcement.

“We have to have someone that stays strong with law enforcement,” LiPetri told Fox News Digital, arguing Suozzi had “betrayed” federal law enforcement officers with his votes.

Suozzi also voted with Democrats against legislation barring biological males from women’s sports in K-12 schools and against a bill to direct the construction of a women’s history museum on the National Mall. Some Democrats vigorously objected to the proposal because it excluded transgender people, and LiPetri argued Suozzi shared that view. 

“They’re going to have to explain to their voters why they believe this museum should not be built and why they believe that there should be transgender exhibits in it,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., the measure’s sponsor, said in May, referring to Democrats.

LiPetri also hammered Suozzi for his vote against Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which created new deductions for tips, overtime pay, and automobile loans.

“No tax on overtime was critical for union men and women,” LiPetri told Fox News Digital. “And they see who my opponent really is, someone that focuses on keeping his job rather than doing his job.”

Suozzi opposed Republicans’ budget law at the time over cuts to federal Medicaid spending and objections to extending lower tax rates for the highest earners, among other concerns.

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However, the GOP challenger still faces a steep fundraising climb against Suozzi. The New York Democrat has nearly $5.5 million in his campaign’s war chest compared to LiPetri’s roughly $727,000 cash on hand, according to recent Federal Election Commission filings.

LiPetri said his campaign is among the top fundraisers for GOP challengers nationwide. 

“We’re gonna keep pushing and raising our money to make sure our message gets out there,” LiPetri told Fox News Digital. “People are excited for what’s ahead.”

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the race “Lean Democrat.” 

Fox News Digital reached out to Suozzi’s campaign before publication.

EXCLUSIVE — President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general has earned the endorsement of a sprawling sheriff’s association in what is expected to be a contentious confirmation process.

The Western States Sheriffs’ Association sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., along with high-ranking Senate Judiciary Committee members expressing their support for Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s permanent confirmation to the position.

The organization represents sheriffs and their command staff from 19 states in The West, from Missouri to Washington state.

“We believe Mr. Blanche possesses the experience, integrity, and commitment necessary to lead the Department of Justice effectively during this important time,” the letter says.

“His background as a seasoned prosecutor, his demonstrated leadership as Acting Attorney General, and his focus on upholding the rule of law, supporting law enforcement, and prioritizing public safety align closely with the values and operational needs of America’s Sheriffs.”

TODD BLANCHE ‘HONORED AND HUMBLED’ BY TRUMP’S AG NOMINATION AFTER EXPLOSIVE WEEK OF FEDERAL ARRESTS

The letter notes that western sheriffs face “unique challenges,” particularly with border security concerns and policing vast rural areas — and they believe Blanche will help address those issues.

“As an organization dedicated to assisting Sheriffs with federal and state legislative issues, addressing policy matters, and promoting the strength and effectiveness of local law enforcement, we have long recognized the critical partnership between federal leadership at the Department of Justice and the frontline work performed by Sheriffs across The West,” the endorsement states.

The group said it is encouraged by Blanche’s understanding of the role that local and state officials play in federal law enforcement operations, and his willingness to work with those local and state officials to combat violent crime, drug trafficking, illegal immigration and other community threats.

RED STATE AGS WELCOME TRUMP CRACKDOWN ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AFTER FOUR YEARS BATTLING BIDEN

“WSSA members stand ready to partner with Attorney General Blanche to advance policies that empower Sheriffs, enhance officer safety and wellness, secure our borders, and ensure that federal resources are directed toward the real-world problems facing our counties and states,” the letter says.

It concludes with a call to action for Congress, urging the Senate to quickly confirm Blanche as U.S. Attorney General.

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Blanche’s nomination was formally sent to the Senate on June 8 after he was installed as Acting AG following former Attorney General Pam Bondi’s bombshell ouster in April.

Republicans are reportedly targeting late summer for a full Senate confirmation vote.

President Donald Trump has the beginnings of an agreement to end the war in Iran, but Congress hasn’t seen it, and Republicans want details before lending their support.

Trump declared that the deal had already been signed by all parties, but senators, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who is a member of the Gang of Eight who receives top-level intelligence briefings from the administration, are still in the dark about what exactly it entails. 

“I don’t think even the people who follow this stuff closely up here know much about it,” Thune said. 

TRUMP AGAIN SAYS DEAL IS CLOSE, THEN CONFIRMS A LAST-MINUTE AGREEMENT WITH IRAN, BUT DETAILS STILL SECRET

As Congress awaits information on the long-awaited deal, Vice President JD Vance went on a media blitz for much of Monday to provide rough sketches of what’s inside. When asked if Vance should brief senators on the matter, Thune said, “Somebody will need to.”

“I don’t know whether it’s the vice president, but for sure, our members are gonna have a lot of questions about it,” Thune said. 

There’s also an issue of trust with Iran and whether it will follow through with whatever has been agreed to. 

“History shows that the religious zealots running Iran lie like fish swim,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said.

IRAN’S LONG TRAIL OF DECEPTION FUELS SKEPTICISM OVER NEW NUCLEAR DEAL AS TALKS CONTINUE

Vance’s media tour did outline a rough timeline of about 60 days from the initial signing of the deal to allow for further negotiations on a permanent end to Iran’s nuclear program. 

But there are critics, including former President Barack Obama, who told “Good Morning America” that he was “doubtful” Trump’s deal would be different from his own agreement with Iran in 2015. 

Vance shot back on CBS News that Obama’s deal “took an Iranian nuclear program that it accelerated, and it basically bribed the Iranians to stop that program.” However, Vance confirmed that there would be a $300 billion reconstruction fund available to Iran if it stayed in line with the guardrails of a forthcoming agreement.

Trump and Vance have both said that details of the deal would emerge in the coming days, likely during an official signing ceremony on Friday in Switzerland. But that’s not good enough for some. 

“We’ve been told dozens of times that this war is over, and dozens of times we’ve been disappointed,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said. “There have been divergent statements from a variety of people in the administration. In these high-stakes negotiations, the devil is in the details, but Trump still hasn’t even revealed the text of his ‘understanding’ with Iran.”

JD VANCE REVEALS DETAILS OF US-IRAN DEAL, ADDRESSES WHETHER TAXPAYER MONEY WILL GO TO TEHRAN

When asked why the administration had not revealed the contents of the deal to lawmakers, a White House official said, “We will continue our long history of extraordinary levels of transparency with the Hill, as we maintained throughout the course of this conflict.”

And Trump, when asked during a meeting with the United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan if he would send the final deal to Congress, said “I never thought of it, but I would, I wouldn’t mind,” then posed the notion as a challenge to Democrats. 

“I never thought about it. Never even thought about it, but I will send it to Congress,” Trump said. “I like the idea. I mean, who wouldn’t approve it? Let’s let’s let them have a nuclear weapon. The Democrats will say, ‘oh, they should have a nuclear weapon.’ They’ll go crazy. I like the idea.”

While Republicans weren’t sure of the specifics of the deal, many said that they wanted a vote on a final product to ensure that it was permanent and wouldn’t end up like former President Barack Obama’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran, which Trump ripped up during his first term. 

“Once we have a final agreement, we need to check it out and pass it,” Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said. “The only way it’s lasting — executive agreements last through the executive — you want a long-term agreement. It’s gotta be law.” 

Lankford leaned into the Trump factor in his understanding of the deal and contended, “President Trump … is pretty unconventional the way he does this kind of stuff.”

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“I don’t foresee him going to go make a bad deal in things. Is it gonna be everything I want? Probably not. Or Iran would never, ever sign it,” he said. “But I don’t see him giving away the farm on this.”

Meanwhile, while much of Congress is in the dark, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair James Risch, R-Idaho, may have some insight into the deal.

When asked if he had been read into the administration’s agreement with Iran, Risch said, “I do. I have.” 

“I don’t have any comment on it at this point. It’s still a work in progress,” Risch said.
”We’ll get to that here pretty quick.”

Vice President JD Vance is set to make his first appearance on ABC’s “The View” on Wednesday, becoming just the third sitting vice president to join the daytime talk show’s panel.

“It may be the optimist in me, but I just fundamentally think that most people — not everybody, but most people — even if I disagree with them, you ought to try to have a conversation with them,” Vance told Fox News Digital in a sit-down interview Tuesday.

Vance will join all six co-hosts, including Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin and Ana Navarro, to discuss his new book, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith.” His appearance comes on the heels of the Trump administration’s newly reached agreement with Iran, in which the vice president played a key role in negotiations.

Asked how he was preparing for the interview, Vance said he was approaching it as an opportunity for an earnest conversation, even with people whose views differ from his own.

FLASHBACK: VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE WILL APPEAR ON ‘THE VIEW’ AFTER HOSTS CONDEMNED HIM FOR YEARS

“My job as vice president of the United States is not just to talk to the people who voted for me, it’s to talk to the people who didn’t vote for me too,” said Vance.

“We’re going to go and try to have a good conversation. I hope they meet me halfway. I’m a little skeptical, but we’ll see,” he added.

Vance’s appearance comes after years of criticism from the show’s hosts, who have repeatedly targeted both him and his wife since he was tapped as President Donald Trump’s running mate.

‘THE VIEW’ CO-HOSTS CLAIM USHA VANCE IS ‘ADDICTED TO POWER’ IN ON-AIR ATTACK AGAINST SECOND LADY

Co-host Joy Behar argued Vance was selected to serve as vice president to be a “carbon copy” of Trump and would fail to bring in any new voters.

[Trump] “knows that he’s the vice president who will do the things that Mike Pence would not. I really do believe that. He is an election denier. He has not committed to accepting the results of this year’s elections,” Hostin said during the same episode in July 2024.

Co-host Ana Navarro once pointed out that Walz could have an opportunity to embarrass Vance prior to the vice-presidential debate last year.

GOV. TIM WALZ SAYS HE’D ‘BEAT THE S— OUT OF’ JD VANCE IN A DEBATE REMATCH

“What Tim Walz needs to do is reveal JD Vance for who he is, a coward, duplicitous, hypocritical opportunist who remains silent while Trump attacks Kamala Harris for being biracial even though his children are biracial,” Navarro said. “Who remained silent while Trump supporters issue attacks on Kamala Harris for being of Indian descent, for being South Asian, even though he’s married to an Indian woman.”

Vance will be the third sitting vice president to join the program and the first Republican vice president to do so, after appearances by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

“The View” had a total of 341 guests in 2025, but only two of them were conservative, while 128 were liberal, according to a study conducted by the Media Research Center’s NewsBusters.

VP JD VANCE ADDRESSES US-ISRAEL RELATIONSHIP, WHETHER IRAN IS TRYING TO ‘PLAY’ THE UNITED STATES

In a media appearance Monday, co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin said she plans to ask Vance about the financial incentives being proposed to Iran under the newly announced peace agreement.

“He was, um, reportedly one of the chief negotiating partners. I just want to get some clarity,” she said.

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Fox News Digital reached out to “The View” for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Alexander Hall contributed to this report.

EXCLUSIVE: Vice President JD Vance said Tehran is effectively entering a probationary period under the Trump administration’s agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran required to demonstrate through its actions — not its promises — that it has abandoned nuclear weapons development and support for terrorism.

“The thing I’ve learned from the President of the United States is whether friend or foe, you shouldn’t trust anybody, you should trust people’s actions,” Vance told Fox News Digital in a sit-down interview. “That’s why the way this agreement is built is that if they act in the right way, if they behave in the way, they get a lot of benefits.”

The agreement would test whether Iran is willing to trade decades of isolation for economic relief and renewed ties with the West. While Tehran could gain access to sanctions relief and foreign investment, administration officials say those benefits will depend on whether Iran can prove it has abandoned its nuclear ambitions and support for terrorist organizations during a 60-day negotiating period.

“The Iranians have two pathways. If they behave like a normal country, if they don’t try to build nukes, if they try to fund terrorism, then the United States is going to change our relationship with Iran. We’re going to lift some sanctions. We’re going to welcome them back into the international community,” Vance said.

JD VANCE SAYS IRANIAN NUCLEAR PROGRAM ‘SUBSTANTIALLY’ SET BACK AFTER ‘PRECISE, SURGICAL’ US STRIKES

He said the United States would be prepared to ease sanctions and normalize relations with Tehran, including welcoming it back into the international community, if Iran abandons its nuclear ambitions and ceases support for terrorism.

But if Iran attempts to rebuild what Vance described as its “destroyed” nuclear program or continues funding terrorist groups, Vance said it would forfeit any benefits offered under the agreement.

Under consideration is a proposed $300 billion investment fund for Iran that would be financed by private companies seeking to do business in the country.

TRUMP ANNOUNCES PEACE DEAL WITH IRAN, DECLARES STRAIT OF HORMUZ WILL REOPEN: ‘LET THE OIL FLOW!’

“If they’re serious, the president has said we want to have a good relationship with them. And if they are not serious, of course, we still have all the options we have today. We’ll continue to have them a month from now, two months from now as well,” Vance said.

Vance argued that with the Strait of Hormuz remaining open, the United States is in a stronger economic position to confront Iran.

“Oil is flowing, gas is flowing. It’s ticking back up every single day. We think within a week, two weeks, you’re going to see the substantial resumption of the oil and gas flows. So that means energy prices come down for Americans,” Vance said.

JD VANCE REVEALS DETAILS OF US-IRAN DEAL, ADDRESSES WHETHER TAXPAYER MONEY WILL GO TO TEHRAN

Oil prices fell on Monday to their lowest levels since early March after a preliminary U.S.-Iran agreement raised hopes that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz could soon return to normal.

“It gives us a little bit more time, fundamentally, but the most important thing it does for us is it strengthens our hand, it allows some of the oil to flow, and it fundamentally allows us to see are they serious or not,” Vance said.

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Trump, Vance and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf have signed the memorandum, paving the way for a formal signing ceremony later this week, according to officials.

President Donald Trump wants Republicans to include his long-sought voter ID and citizenship verification legislation into a party-line package, but even the bill’s strongest backers don’t think it’s possible. 

Trump last week demanded that Republicans get to work on a third budget reconciliation package, cramming $350 billion in defense spending along with the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act into one bill. 

Republicans, fresh off passing their second reconciliation package to fund immigration enforcement for the remainder of the Trump era, were lukewarm at best on doing the process again, especially with little time left before the fast-approaching midterm elections. 

TRUMP’S PUSH FOR $350 BILLION ‘ARSENAL OF FREEDOM’ HITS GOP SKEPTICISM

But some see reconciliation, which would completely cut Democrats out of the process, as the only way to pass the SAVE America Act.

“It’s our only shot.
It’s the only shot,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said. “I just don’t think we have enough time. We burned a lot of time, and I’m not sure that we can agree on all the stuff to put in it. Not everybody is as easy to get along with as I am.” 

The problems facing the legislation are two-pronged. Senate Democrats have vowed to block it on the floor, meaning any hope of hitting the 60-vote filibuster threshold is impossible — and not every Republican is on board with the bill. 

“I support voter ID and support only American citizens voting, but Democrats are implacably opposed to it, and we don’t have enough Republicans to fill the gap,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said.
”So we should move on and focus on winning the midterms instead of fighting each other.”

SCHUMER SAYS DEMS WILL FIGHT VOTER ID PUSH ‘TOOTH AND NAIL,’ BALKS AT DHS ROLE IN ELECTIONS

Republicans have tried and failed several times now to pass the bill, even launching a quasi-floor takeover earlier this year to force debate on the matter. 

Still, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., acknowledged that “we don’t have the vote.” 

“Even if you confine it to just the two issues of photo ID and, you know, citizenship, in order to register to vote on those two issues, you take 60 votes in the Senate,” Thune said. “The only way you could get there is to undo or get rid of the legislative filibuster, and there aren’t even close to the votes here in the United States Senate in order to achieve that.”

Trying to put the bill into a reconciliation package, which can pass with a simple majority of votes, has its own issues beyond a vote count. 

The process is governed by the Byrd Rule, which dictates broadly that any item in reconciliation has to have a direct budgetary impact and can’t be pure policy. If a provision is ruled as being policy, it triggers the 60-vote threshold. 

REPUBLICANS FAIL TO ATTACH SAVE AMERICA ACT TO PARTY-LINE FUNDING PACKAGE

Republicans, including Kennedy, tried three separate times to include the SAVE America Act — or versions of it — into the latest reconciliation package. All three hit the 60-vote mark, and all but one failed to hit 50 votes.

Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, is one of the top backers of the SAVE America Act in the upper chamber and said that he has “been looking for every way possible to get the SAVE America Act passed.”

“And we are currently working on some options that could meet the standard to be part of the reconciliation process,” Husted said. “
But I am in no way certain that we get it done, but we should try.” 

Those alternatives would likely be quite different than what the current bill looks like, which Trump has already asked Republicans to revamp to include policy unrelated to elections, like barring biological men from participating in women’s sports.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, the main driver of the SAVE America Act in the Senate, acknowledged that the bill was “policy, it’s non-budgetary. Therefore, SAVE America itself is not eligible for consideration in a third reconciliation.”

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But he said a plausible pathway to getting at least an aspect of the bill through the Byrd Rule would be providing funding for states to issue an “Enhanced Real ID,” which shows proof of citizenship.

Then, lawmakers could pass a separate bill outside of reconciliation that would require proof of identity to register to vote in federal elections. But Lee, like many in the Senate GOP, was skeptical that a third reconciliation bill would even be an option. 

“The second reason is just, as a practical matter, I see no evidence that there is a viable path to a third reconciliation bill,” Lee said.
”I hope there is. I would love to be wrong on that. I want us to do that. I think we should do that. But the schedule that we’ve got, to my great disappointment, is not — It doesn’t accommodate any of it.”

Scandal-plagued Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner is facing even more scrutiny over posts he made on the online blogging platform Reddit, after a report surfaced fresh posts attributed to his old username, including one appearing to mock a teenage girl’s suicide attempt.

The New York Post reported Saturday that an account using Platner’s former Reddit handle, “P-Hustle,” responded to a 2012 post about a young girl’s failed suicide attempt. “A girl at my old high school tried jumping from a window because her cousin died the day before,” the post’s caption read. “These students saved her. I have hope.” The post showed the teenage girl hanging out a window, being held on by just her classmates from falling.

“Someone clearly isn’t trying hard enough,” the P-Hustle account responded.

TOP OFF-THE-WALL REDDIT POSTS HAUNTING GRAHAM PLATNER’S MAINE SENATE BID

The newly uncovered Reddit posts follow other inflammatory remarks Platner has made on the online blogging platform Reddit, including comments calling rural White Americans “racist and stupid,” posts pushing racial stereotypes about Black people, comments promoting political violence, and remarks blaming victims of rape, among others.

The freshly uncovered Reddit post mocking a young girl’s suicide quickly drew criticism from Republicans and conservatives, including Maine State House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, Maine Republican Party Executive Director Jason Savage, and former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer.

“Graham Platner is clearly a person with deep and disturbing psychological issues that predate his military service and continue to this day,” Faulkingham told The New York Post.

“Yet another example of abject cruelty from Graham Platner,” Savage told Fox News Digital. 

“When someone tells you who they are, believe them,” he continued. “Platner has told us repeatedly. Sadly, this time he was mocking the pain of a young woman facing a terrible loss. If this doesn’t show you who Graham Platner is, what will?”

SEE IT: MAINE VOTERS SOUND OFF ON PLATNER’S DIVISIVE CAMPAIGN AS CRUCIAL PRIMARY NEARS: ‘HE’S A DISGRACE’

“Of all the rotten, troubling, and warped things Platner has done and said, his mocking encouragement of a young girl to commit suicide is the worst,” Fleischer reacted, questioning how “anyone” could support the Maine Senate candidate amid all the controversies he has been embroiled in.

“There is something seriously perverted and wrong with Graham Platner,” he added.

Platner’s activity on Reddit has been a focus of his campaign as far back as last year, amid his attempt to unseat GOP incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. His controversial posts have included comments disparaging police officers and rural White Americans, remarks about rape victims needing to take more responsibility, promotions of political violence, and praise for Hamas. In one post, Platner slammed a Purple Heart recipient who Platner argued “didn’t deserve to live,” blaming his return home on “poor marksmanship on the Taliban’s part.”

In one post from Sept. 1, 2020, Platner responded in a politics subreddit declaring that “White People Aren’t as Racist or Stupid as Trump Thinks.”

“Living in white rural America, I’m afraid to tell you they actually are,” Platner wrote of the people he is now seeking to represent in the U.S. Congress.

Platner had a history of promoting armed political action on Reddit as well, including writing that “an armed working class is a requirement for economic justice.” In a separate post, he argued that if people “expect to fight fascism without a good semi-automatic rifle, they ought to do some reading of history.” 

PLATNER’S BRUTAL ATTACKS ON ARMY SOLDIERS AS ‘FAT, LAZY’ REVEALED IN RESURFACED POSTS

“There are times in this world when, for the good of tolerance and humanity, you need to kill a motherf—er,” Platner also wrote on his now-deleted Reddit account in September 2013. “Sadly most people who are true believers in tolerance and humanity find that activity repulsive. Which I suppose is morally good, but pragmatically a shortfall.”

Meanwhile, in a 2021 Reddit post, Platner wrote that all cops are “bastards” and called himself a “communist,” though Platner later disavowed the remark about law enforcement and later said he has “an immense amount of friends” who are police officers and that they are “not all” bastards.

“I was [expletive] around on the internet at a time when I felt lost and very disillusioned with our government who sent me overseas to watch my friends die,” Platner said in a statement to CNN at the time. “I made dumb jokes and picked fights. But of course I’m not a socialist. I’m a small business owner, a Marine Corps veteran, and a retired s***poster,” the 41-year-old Platner added.

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In another set of resurfaced Reddit posts, The Washington Post reported that Platner downplayed sexual assault concerns, including writing in a thread about rape-prevention underwear that “rape is a real thing,” but that people worried about assault should “take some responsibility for themselves” and not get so intoxicated that they wind up “having sex with someone they don’t mean to.”

The New York Post also reported this week that Platner praised a video recording Hamas terrorists shooting at Israeli soldiers and trying to kidnap one of them who was screaming for his life. Platner reportedly wrote in response to the 2014 combat footage on Reddit: “Looks like an all around well executed and successful small unit raid to me.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Platner and his campaign for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser and Robert Schmad contributed to this report.

Newly released Pentagon and FBI records describe a series of orb sightings reported from the same area of the northeastern United States between at least October 2024 and June 2025, including one incident in which two witnesses reported seeing a glowing red sphere containing what appeared to be a basketball-sized “white plasma sun.”

The sightings are among dozens of records published through the Trump administration’s Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) Encounters, or PURSUE, a government-wide effort to declassify files related to UAPs. 

According to records released Thursday, an eyewitness in October 2024 reported observing a “plasma-like sphere” hovering above a pond at an estimated distance of roughly 2,700 feet. Investigators said the luminous object intermittently changed shape and brightness, at times appearing to separate into smaller points of light. A second luminous point hovered above the water and did not appear consistent with a surface reflection. The object remained generally stationary for approximately 45 minutes before disappearing.

The video was captured on an iPhone and later analyzed and authenticated by the U.S. government, according to the records. The FBI assessed the eyewitness as highly credible.

The release is the latest installment of the Trump administration’s Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters, or PURSUE, a transparency initiative launched after President Donald Trump directed federal agencies in February to review and declassify records related to unidentified anomalous phenomena. The program has produced a steady stream of files ranging from cases investigators believe may have conventional explanations to incidents that remain unresolved years later.

Fox News Digital attended a briefing with senior administration officials ahead of the release.

PENTAGON UFO FILES DESCRIBE ‘MOTHER ORB’ RELEASING SMALLER OBJECTS IN 2023 INCIDENT THAT REMAINS UNEXPLAINED

A second incident from the same general area occurred in July 2025, when a witness arrived home and noticed an intense bright light hovering below the tree line behind a residence. According to FBI interviews, the witness described the object as a red sphere roughly one meter in diameter containing a bright white center resembling a basketball-sized “plasma sun.”

A second witness separately came outside and reported seeing the same object. FBI records indicate the objects were estimated to be about 30 yards away and 20 feet to 30 feet above the ground.

Both witnesses said a second identical orb later appeared nearby. The objects moved together above the trees, changed altitude and direction, traveled in tandem and eventually appeared to merge into a single object before disappearing from view. The witnesses captured video footage of the sighting, and FBI agents later obtained photographs associated with the investigation.

According to the FBI, multiple reports and videos released through the latest tranche originated from the same general area in the northeastern United States. Law enforcement officials.

Among the most significant cases included in the latest tranche was an unresolved 2023 incident near a sensitive national security site in the western United States involving six federal law enforcement agents who reported observing what they described as glowing orange “mother orbs” releasing smaller red objects into the night sky.

In a newly released assessment, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office said roughly 40% of the reported activity remains unexplained after analysts compared witness accounts against commercial and military flight logs, radar data, spatial estimates and ADS-B records while examining a range of possible explanations, including military aircraft, drones, U.S. government programs, foreign intelligence activity and environmental phenomena.

Analysts concluded military flare activity could plausibly account for a significant portion of the reported observations and assessed foreign adversary technology as highly unlikely, but determined that no single explanation fully accounted for all the reported activity. Investigators said “unrecognized technology” remained a provisional hypothesis for the unexplained portion of the case, while cautioning that the assessment was based primarily on witness testimony rather than technical or physical evidence.

The newly released files include five witness narratives, sketches and a notional map depicting four related incidents investigators grouped under the “Western U.S. Event,” including what they labeled “Orbs Launching Orbs,” a “Fiery Orb,” a “Dark Kite” and a “Translucent Kite.” The case is among the most extensively documented unresolved incidents included in the latest tranche.

Among the most unusual incidents in the latest PURSUE tranche was a February 2022 sighting near Colorado Springs, Colorado, in which five U.S. Army personnel reported seeing a shimmering object hovering above Cheyenne Mountain for up to three minutes.

According to witness accounts, the object appeared roughly the size of a large jet and resembled an angular, nonsymmetrical “potato” composed of irregular panels that slowly shifted and changed shape while remaining stationary above the mountain.

PENTAGON’S NEW UFO FILE RELEASE LOGS NEAR-MISS AS ‘SUPER-HEATED’ ORBS APPROACH US HELICOPTER

In a separate FBI interview conducted in 2024, a former Army intelligence officer who witnessed the event described the object as a creamy white, opalescent shape made up of what appeared to be articulating fish-scale-like panels. The witness told investigators the object remained perfectly still while the individual panels appeared to move in slow waves before the object suddenly vanished.

Witnesses estimated the object hovered 300 feet to 500 feet above Cheyenne Mountain before disappearing while they were actively observing it. Pentagon investigators ultimately concluded the sighting may have been caused by sunlight reflecting off snow-covered terrain and illuminating clouds near the mountain, though AARO described that assessment as low confidence because of uncertainty surrounding witness viewing angles, cloud cover and environmental conditions.

Taken together, the Colorado, western and northeastern incidents offer a snapshot of the diverse reports now being published through the Pentagon’s PURSUE program, ranging from cases investigators believe may have conventional explanations to incidents that remain unresolved after years of analysis.

The effort has drawn mixed reactions. Transparency advocates have welcomed the publication of records that were previously difficult for the public to access, while some researchers and former officials argue that many of the releases rely heavily on witness testimony and contain limited technical data that would allow independent analysts to verify government conclusions.

Former AARO director Sean Kirkpatrick has argued that unresolved cases often remain unresolved because investigators lack sufficient information to reach high-confidence conclusions.

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At the same time, neither the Department of War nor AARO has concluded that any of the incidents released through PURSUE constitute evidence of extraterrestrial life, nonhuman intelligence or alien technology. 

Government officials have repeatedly emphasized that an unresolved case simply means investigators lack sufficient information to determine a definitive cause. The records released to date document observations, investigations and assessments, but do not establish evidence of extraterrestrial origins.

A federal judge in Georgia has apologized to a former law clerk for “harmful, offensive, and unprofessional behavior” amid allegations she had engaged in sexual activity with a high-ranking uniformed police officer in her office during working hours and within earshot of staff.

The apology comes as two House Republicans from Georgia have filed articles of impeachment for U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross.

“You deserved better than to have your experience marred by my own offensive conflict,” Ross, who serves in the Northern District of Georgia, wrote in a letter last week, adding that her “actions were patently wrong, and there is no excuse,” and her previous letter to the clerk was “entirely deficient, as I did not take full accountability for my actions, and I failed to give you the apology that you deserve.”

“I also want to convey my deepest apologies to you for my false accusation against you,” the letter continued. “Again, I have no excuse and immensely regret my behavior.”

MARRIED FEDERAL JUDGE REPEATEDLY HAD COURTHOUSE SEX WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER, COMPLAINT ALLEGES

Ross, nominated by former President Barack Obama in 2014, was disciplined after investigators found she had sex with a police officer in her chambers and then lied about it.

Reps. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., and Clay Fuller, R-Ga., filed separate impeachment resolutions against Ross following the judicial misconduct investigation. Federal judges are appointed for life and can only be removed through impeachment by Congress.

“When judges become political activists or engage in judicial misconduct, Congress bears both the responsibility and the constitutional authority to hold them accountable,” Clyde said. “Judge Ross’ deeply disturbing actions prove she is incapable of displaying integrity or showing impartiality.”

DOJ SOLICITS EXAMPLES OF ‘JUDICIAL ACTIVISM’ FROM PROSECUTORS AS IT WEIGHS IMPEACHMENT REFERRALS

Ross provided materially false statements to senior judicial officials during the course of an internal inquiry, potentially obstructing efforts to fully assess misconduct concerns and impacting the administration of the court, according to Fuller, who said these issues represent a serious breach of judicial ethics and a serious failure to uphold the basic standards required of federal judges.

“The American people expect and deserve a judiciary system that operates with the highest level of integrity, professionalism, and accountability,” Fuller said. “Judge Ross has no place on the federal bench.”

“This behavior is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated on any level within our courts, and most certainly not in the State of Georgia,” Fuller added.

The investigation, initiated by 11th U.S. Circuit Chief Judge William Pryor, also examined allegations that Ross attended a partisan political event, failed to properly supervise clerks and yelled and cursed at staff. A special committee ultimately found that Ross had sex in the courthouse, attended a partisan event and initially lied when confronted with the allegations.

RETIRED FEDERAL JUDGE WHO WROTE ANTI-TRUMP OP-ED REPORTEDLY FACED MISCONDUCT INQUIRY BEFORE RESIGNING

Ross received a “private reprimand” that did not publicly name her. She also agreed not to seek the position of chief judge for the district when eligible and to write apology letters to six former law clerks.

Clyde filed three articles of impeachment against Ross, accusing her of improper sexual activity in chambers, attending a partisan political event and obstructing an official proceeding. Clyde’s resolution states that Ross engaged in an extramarital affair from roughly October 2023 through October 2025 with high-ranking Atlanta Police Department officer Kelley Collier, and that the relationship was not disclosed to judges, court staff or litigants.

The articles allege that Ross and Collier had sex in Ross’ chambers during business hours, and that at least three former clerks heard sounds from the judge’s chambers, creating what the resolution described as an uncomfortable workplace.

“She’s simply unfit to remain a U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Georgia, which is why I’m leading the charge to impeach Judge Ross and ultimately remove her from the bench,” Clyde concluded.

Cosponsors of his articles of impeachment include Reps. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.; Sheri Biggs, R-S.C.; Buddy Carter, R-Ga.; John Carter, R-Texas; Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.; Andy Harris, R-Md.; and Andy Ogles, R-Tenn.

JUDGE CAUGHT IN EXTRAMARITAL AFFAIR WITH AN OFFICER IN HER CHAMBERS

Fuller filed a separate impeachment article, saying Ross “engaged in extra-marital affairs with a high ranking officer of the Atlanta police department within her chambers during official court hours, while actively presiding over criminal matters.”

Clyde’s articles also accuse Ross of attending an event hosted by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ campaign the evening before she presided over a criminal revocation proceeding. The resolution says Ross told interns and staff the next morning that she had consumed “too many martinis” at the campaign event.

Ross told investigators she attended a “mixer” for former employees of a district attorney’s office where she used to work, but said it was in a separate room from the victory party.

The articles further accuse Ross of making “numerous, material false statements” to Pryor and the chief district judge when she initially responded to the allegations. The resolution says Ross denied having sexual intercourse in her office or anywhere else in the courthouse and said she was “astounded and confused” by the allegation.

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Ross did not recant those statements until Oct. 10, 2025, after the special committee had gathered corroborating evidence. The resolution says the committee declined to treat the recantation as absolution because it came only after Ross likely knew her false statements had been, or were about to be, exposed.

Pryor first asked Ross to respond to the allegations last fall. Ross replied the same day and “specifically denied” them, then suggested in a follow-up email that the law clerk might have invented the claims in retaliation for being required to work in the office.

The special committee reviewed logs and security footage showing that an officer had frequently visited Ross’ chambers in uniform around lunchtime. Six clerks recalled seeing someone matching the officer’s description, and three remembered overhearing what might have been sexual activity in the judge’s office.

The committee found that clerks described an “eggshell culture,” but it did not find evidence of abusive behavior.

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The House Judiciary Committee will decide whether to open impeachment proceedings against Ross. If the House were to impeach her, the Senate would decide whether to remove her from the federal bench.

“Though I can never fully undo the harm that I have caused you, I hope that my acknowledgment of these failures is a small first step,” Ross wrote in her apology letter to the former clerk. “I will be taking further steps to ensure that this never happens again.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Democratic House candidate George Conway is pledging to pursue President Donald Trump’s third impeachment and put him “away for good” if elected to Congress. 

Conway, a longtime conservative lawyer turned vocal Trump critic, is vying for the Democratic nomination in a crowded primary to represent a deep-blue district in central Manhattan. He is promising to push for Trump’s third impeachment and his potential criminal prosecution if chosen by voters to represent New York’s 12th Congressional District ahead of the June 23 primary.

“Hi, Donald. It’s me, George Conway. I cost you 88 f—— million dollars, and I’ve only just gotten started,” Conway said in a 60-second spot overlooking the U.S. Capitol that was rolled out on Monday. “I know you like putting your name on everything from your plane to the Kennedy Center.”

“But the only thing your name is going to be left on when I’m done with you is the orange jumpsuit you’re going to have to wear in prison,” Conway continued.

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“And you see that building back there,” Conway added, pointing to the Capitol building. “That’s where we’re going to hold your third and final impeachment trial, the one that’s going to put you away for good, and I’m going to enjoy every minute of that.”

The White House argued Conway is suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome” in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

“Lightweight George Conway is a stupid person’s idea of a smart person,” the spokesperson said. “His severe and debilitating disease known as Trump Derangement syndrome has melted his brain and made him crazy in the head.”

The ad does not specify what conduct Conway believes warrants impeachment. The Conway campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking clarification.

Conway’s impeachment warning comes as Democratic leadership has yet to back another effort to oust Trump if the party retakes control of the House in November, though a number of Democratic lawmakers have already called for his removal. Democrats impeached Trump twice, in 2020 and 2021, but the Republican-controlled Senate acquitted him on both occasions.

Conway, who previously lived in Bethesda, Md., before launching his congressional campaign, faces an uphill battle in the race for the heavily Democratic seat vacated by longtime Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., who is retiring.

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He trails state Assembly members Micah Lasher and Alex Bores, D-N.Y., and Jack Schlossberg, a social media provocateur and grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, according to an Emerson College poll released in May.

The survey of 425 likely Democratic primary voters found Lasher and Bores in a near dead heat at 22% and 20% of the vote, followed by Schlossberg registering 11% support and Conway clocking in at 10%. Lasher, who previously served as a Nadler aide, has the retiring congressman’s endorsement as well as those of Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., and former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

The primary winner is likely to cruise to the general election given the district’s overwhelming Democratic voter advantage. 

Conway became a regular anti-Trump fixture on cable news during the president’s first term and co-founded the anti-Trump organization the Lincoln Project, which opposed the president’s 2020 re-election campaign.

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He was previously married to former Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway for more than two decades. The couple divorced in 2023.

Members of Congress are calling for increased oversight and reform after a Haitian national in Florida was convicted in a healthcare fraud conspiracy that prosecutors said involved more than $58 million in false claims targeting Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers using a federal drug discount program.

Prosecutors accused Jean Jethro Alexandre and his co-conspirators in 2025 of recruiting fake patients and offering them financial kickbacks if they accepted fraudulent prescriptions — primarily for HIV and AIDS medication — written by nurse practitioners involved in the operation, according to court documents reviewed by Fox News Digital. Alexandre would then cash in on the scheme through insurance reimbursements for filling the fake prescriptions.

He used the proceeds from his scheme to bankroll a life of luxury, including a fleet of top-end cars, a mansion near Miami and a slate of investment properties.

The case is drawing renewed scrutiny to the 340B Drug Pricing Program, a decades-old federal initiative designed to help safety-net providers serve low-income patients that is increasingly being criticized by lawmakers and industry groups who say weak oversight has allowed bad actors to exploit the system. Advocates for reform may point to Alexandre’s case as evidence that the program is in need of tweaks to reduce the risk of fraud.

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“The 340B program was created with good intentions to help vulnerable and underserved patients access care, but unfortunately, it has evolved into a massive, poorly supervised program with weak transparency and accountability safeguards,” Rep. Diana Harshbarger, herself a pharmacist, told Fox News Digital. “Cases like this demonstrate how the current structure can create opportunities for bad actors to exploit deeply discounted drugs, questionable contract pharmacy arrangements and opaque reimbursement practices for personal profit.”

“When there is limited federal oversight, little transparency into how 340B revenues are used, and enormous financial spreads between discounted acquisition costs and insurer reimbursements, it should not surprise anyone that fraudsters see the program as a target,” she said.

Alexandre used a nonprofit health clinic that he secretly co-owned to purchase drugs at a discounted rate using the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program and had the prescriptions filled by pharmacies, who provided Alexandre’s clinic with reimbursements paid by insurers, including Medicare and Medicaid. The arrangement allowed Alexandre and his colleagues to pocket the difference between what he was paid in reimbursements and what the drugs cost him through the discount program.

While this is a legitimate way for healthcare providers to generate revenue generally, according to the Government Accountability Office, Alexandre’s conduct was illegal because the underlying prescriptions were fake. Prosecutors allege, for instance, that in some cases the drugs were simply destroyed after being dispensed to fraudulent patients. 

“Alexandre’s blatantly setting up a fraudulent medical clinic and disregarding important safety net programs, as well as finite taxpayer dollars, shows the need for the Committee to continue its important work in cracking down on harmful schemes like this one,” Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., who sits on the health subcommittee of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee, told Fox News Digital.

“Although I am supportive of the 340B Drug Pricing Program, this instance of fraud is yet another example of how the program has strayed far from its initial intent and is something my Health Subcommittee will continue to monitor closely,” the congressman added.

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Prosecutors said Alexandre used proceeds from the healthcare fraud conspiracy for personal benefit and traced assets from the scheme to a luxury-car collection that included a 2024 Mercedes-Benz S-Class, a 2023 Bentley Flying Spur, a Mercedes-Benz G-Class AMG and a six-passenger golf cart-style vehicle.

Additionally, he purchased a $2.5 million 4,452-square-foot mansion on the southern coast of Florida equipped with a custom pool and spa. 

The Trump administration has mounted a series of fraud investigations across federal programs, including Medicaid and Medicare, framing them as part of a broader push to root out waste, abuse and improper payments. That effort intensified in December 2025, shortly after Alexandre was initially indicted, signaling a more aggressive enforcement posture.

Alexandre, a native and citizen of Haiti, is to be handed over to ICE and processed for removal after serving his sentence of just under 10 years in prison. He will be barred from reentering the United States without written permission from the relevant authorities.

DR. OZ SAYS TAXPAYERS FOOTING $14 BILLION BILL FOR MEDICAID FRAUD WHILE ELIGIBLE PATIENTS STRUGGLE FOR CARE

“Anyone who comes to the United States to steal from American taxpayers should be denaturalized and deported, which is why I introduced the Fraud Accountability Act earlier this year,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn told Fox News Digital. “We’re grateful President Trump is laser-focused on rooting out fraud across the federal government, including in the 340B Program. The Trump DOJ and HHS are working hand in hand to eliminate health care fraud and hold every fraudster accountable.”

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In addition to prison time, Alexandre is on the hook for paying roughly $14.3 million in restitution, per the terms of his plea agreement. Alexandre’s lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.

“Every dollar stolen from these programs is a dollar taken from families who need it most,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., told Fox News Digital. “The 340B Program was created to help patients access affordable health care, not enrich criminals and fraudsters. I am working to strengthen transparency and accountability in 340B to ensure the program lowers costs and improves care for American families.”

FIRST ON FOX: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested a Brazilian illegal immigrant, who authorities say previously served as the commander of two designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations, after allegedly attempting to flee a North Carolina traffic stop while preparing to escape to Mexico.

Felipe Linares de Oliveira Dell Aquilla, known as “Don,” was arrested June 5 in Mooresville, North Carolina, after allegedly leading law enforcement on a vehicle pursuit that ended in a crash before his arrest, according to a Department of Homeland Security press release obtained by Fox News Digital.

Federal authorities say Dell Aquilla was wanted in Brazil on charges of criminal association and extortion and had been preparing to leave the United States for Mexico.

Dell Aquilla previously served as a commander within the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and Comando Vermelho (CV), two Brazil-based criminal organizations that were recently designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the Trump administration, according to DHS.

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“This arrest demonstrates the unwavering commitment of HSI to protect our communities from dangerous international criminals,” Mark M. Zito, special agent in charge of HSI in North and South Carolina, said in an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital.

“By removing a known leader of violent foreign terrorist organizations — wanted for serious crimes including criminal association and extortion — we have prevented further harm to innocent people here and abroad,” Zito said.

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Law enforcement intelligence indicated Dell Aquilla was holding his wife against her will as he plotted his escape to Mexico. Authorities said investigators later interviewed his wife, who confirmed she had been held against her will.

Investigators said Dell Aquilla led authorities on a pursuit after officers initiated a traffic stop. The chase ended when he crashed into stopped traffic and allegedly attempted to flee on foot before being taken into custody.

A search of the vehicle resulted in the seizure of multiple cellphones, laptops, cash and a 9 mm handgun, according to DHS.

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“Our agents, working alongside dedicated state and local law enforcement partners, acted swiftly and decisively to ensure this individual will no longer threaten the safety of our neighborhoods,” Zito said.

“HSI will continue to pursue those who endanger our communities and bring them to justice.”

Dell Aquilla was transported to a county jail and faces a state felony charge of fleeing to elude arrest. HSI is pursuing additional charges of kidnapping and being an alien in possession of a firearm, according to DHS. ICE has also lodged a detainer on him.

Dell Aquilla illegally entered the United States “at an unknown date and location,” according to federal authorities.

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HSI Greensboro and HSI Charlotte worked alongside HSI New England, the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office and the Mooresville Police Department in the operation.

Comedian Shane Gillis said he “didn’t like” UFC heavyweight Josh Hokit’s crude post-fight remark about former first lady Michelle Obama after Hokit defeated Derrick Lewis at Sunday’s UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House.

Hokit made the comment inside the Octagon during a post-fight interview with UFC commentator Joe Rogan, claiming without evidence that Michelle Obama is a man.

“Michelle Obama is a man. Am I right, America?” Hokit said to the crowd at the end of the interview.

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The comment drew a mixed reaction from the crowd, with some attendees laughing while others appeared less amused.

Gillis, one of many celebrities who attended the spectacle, told reporters he “didn’t love it” when asked what he thought about Hokit’s remark.

“I didn’t like that sh–,” he reiterated.

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Gillis has faced criticism over controversial jokes and past remarks throughout his career as a stand-up comedian.

He was fired from “Saturday Night Live” in 2019 before appearing as a new cast member in season 45, after clips surfaced of him using a slur aimed at Asian people on his podcast.

The comedian was fired from Saturday Night Live in 2019 before appearing in his debut as a new cast member in season 45 for making racist remarks — a viral clip showing him using a slur aimed at Asian people on his podcast. More clips continued to circulate of him making racist jokes and using offensive language online.

Gillis initially took to X to apologize for what he said on the podcast, but later deleted the tweet. He went on to build a successful career for himself in the comedy sphere, continuing to insert what can be viewed as racially insensitive jokes into his skits.

But despite his own history of controversial comedy, Gillis repeatedly said he didn’t like Hokit’s remark.

“Yeah I didn’t like that,” Gillis said. “But whatever, he was funny.”

Gillis was also asked by Fox News Digital for his opinion on President Donald Trump’s job performance in office as he was leaving the White House event put together by the administration on Trump’s 80th birthday.

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“Nothing,” he said.

Gillis interrupted a follow-up question regarding cancel culture, an issue that continues to impact public figures’ careers, particularly comedians like Gillis who are often scrutinized for crossing lines in their comedic routines.

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“You guys got me on a couple brewskis,” Gillis told Fox News Digital in the middle of being asked about cancel culture.

The event marked the first UFC event ever hosted at the White House, and what will be the last in history, according to UFC President and CEO Dana White, referring to the event as a one-time spectacle.

The Trump administration is using visa enforcement to target “birth tourism,” an alleged scheme utilized by foreign nationals to obtain visitor visas for the primary purpose of giving birth in the U.S. and securing American citizenship for their children.

The Trump administration recently announced that it disrupted “a sophisticated birth tourism network” in West Africa involving more than 100 foreign nationals utilizing false documents and, what the State Department described as “fixers,” to get themselves visas to go to the United States to give birth so their children would be born on U.S. soil and treated as American citizens.

But that was just one of the networks the State Department indicated it had uncovered. The agency’s announcement said U.S. officials identified more than 400 suspected birth tourism cases emanating from Europe since 2024, and tied to at least six companies that helped coach applicants on what to say during their visa interview, arranged housing and set-up delivery plans.

“We shut it down, revoked these foreign nationals’ visas, and are coordinating with local authorities to systematically identify and cut off any similar operations,” the State Department said in its announcement. “A U.S. visa is a privilege, not a right. The State Department is taking action around the world to stop this abuse, dismantle birth tourism networks, and hold accountable those who try to scam our system.”

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The effort comes as Trump has renewed his long-running criticism of birthright citizenship, including through a 2025 executive order seeking to narrow who is automatically treated as a U.S. citizen at birth. It also builds on a first-term Trump administration rule from 2020 that instructed consular officers to deny visitor visas to foreign nationals believed to be traveling to the U.S. primarily to give birth and obtain American citizenship for their children.

“President Trump will always put the American people first. Uninhibited birth tourism poses a tremendous cost to taxpayers and threatens our national security,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital. “The Trump administration is effectively ending this practice, which brings the United States in line with the policy of most countries around the world.”

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Federation for American Immigration Reform’s Ira Mehlman noted to Fox News Digital that visa fraud is “a significant issue,” pointing out it is a problem even outside the framework of birth tourism. 

“The prospect of birthright citizenship is undeniably an inducement for people to commit visa fraud,” Mehlman said. “Birth tourism would not exist otherwise.”

“Obviously, any woman who does not disclose her intention to have her baby in the U.S. when she applies for a visa is committing fraud. Remove the incentive of automatic birthright citizenship for people who are not citizens and legal permanent residents, and the reason for committing this sort of fraud goes away,” he continued.

Birth tourism has surfaced repeatedly in the U.S. in recent years, particularly through operations accused of coaching foreign nationals to obscure the purpose of their travel.

In California, federal prosecutors secured convictions against the operators of USA Happy Baby, a company accused of helping Chinese women travel to the U.S. to give birth to American-citizen children, while a separate operator from a business called You Win USA pleaded guilty in another case stemming from a broader federal crackdown.

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More recently, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued a Houston-area postpartum center accused of facilitating more than 1,000 births for primarily Chinese clients, while House Oversight Republicans launched an inquiry into several U.S.-based companies allegedly advertising birth-tourism services.

Mehlman urged Congress to do more to enhance vetting of visa applicants, prosecute those who commit fraud and put an end to birth tourism. He said there were avenues for legal action against the entities allegedly facilitating the scheme.

“To the extent that we can take legal action against companies that are outside the United States, we should, much like we prosecute other types of transnational crime and fraud operations,” Mehlman told Fox News Digital. “But each one of these companies works with service providers here in the U.S., including hospitals.”