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MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Communist and socialist groups called for a “revolution” at a May Day rally in Minneapolis Friday, highlighting the growing influence of far-left organizations at an event traditionally centered on workers’ rights.

Some of those demonstrators denounced capitalism and pushed for the seizure of private property and the means of production, marking a shift in tone from past May Day rallies that primarily focused on labor issues.

Protesters on the ground outlined a range of demands, including rent caps tied to income, a reduced work week and the redistribution of wealth from billionaires. The rally, which drew well over 1,000 people, was organized as an immigrant rights demonstration but brought together a broad mix of labor unions, activist organizations and far-left political groups marching side by side.

Among the groups present were the Communist Party USA, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), the Revolutionary Communists of America (RCA), the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), and members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), with numerous participants carrying flags and signage featuring socialist imagery like the hammer and sickle.

MAY DAY PROTESTS TO TAKE PLACE FRIDAY AS AGITATORS ACROSS THE US PUSH ‘WORKERS OVER BILLIONAIRES’ MOTTO

Members of the Communist Party USA were seen handing out newspapers and leaflets, including a publication titled The Communist with the headline “Down with Trump’s War!”

Demonstrators carried signs reading “F–k ICE,” “Abolish ICE,” “Fight Trump’s Agenda,” “No Kings” and “Stop the War,” while others waved red flags associated with the Communist Party USA and held banners featuring the hammer and sickle, including signage from the Revolutionary Communists of America.

A Fox News Digital investigation previously identified U.S.-born tech entrepreneur Neville Roy Singham, who lives in China, as a key figure in a network tied to some far-left groups involved in protests, part of a broader mobilization involving roughly 600 organizations nationwide.

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But demonstrators interviewed in Minneapolis said they were largely unaware of him or dismissed concerns about funding.

Andy Koch, a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, told Fox News Digital the U.S. is “run by billionaires” and should instead be run by working people. He said support from a a wealthy donor would be acceptable if it advanced the cause.

“If one billionaire… wants to donate to progressive pro-worker causes, that’s great,” Koch said.

When asked for examples of successful socialist systems, Koch pointed to China, saying “China’s doing pretty good right now,” and praised the former Soviet Union for having “done a lot for its people.

Members of the Revolutionary Communists of America were also present, with one protester saying he was “radicalized” in 2020 following the death of George Floyd.

“We’re calling for down with Trump and down with the Democrats,” the protester said.

Demonstrations in Minneapolis come months after large-scale anti-ICE protests with Friday’s May Day events reflecting similar themes tied to immigration enforcement and broader economic concerns.

The march was organized as an immigrant rights demonstration, promoted under the slogan “Immigrants Rise! Workers Unite!” and led by groups including the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC).

A speaker with MIRAC led chants of “No one is illegal” and “All power to the people,” with large sections of the crowd repeating the slogans.

The event began with organizers and speakers affiliated with the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) leading chants and addressing the crowd from a makeshift stage, while dancers in indigenous regalia were also present. Socialist and communist groups initially gathered toward the back of the crowd but later joined the march, falling in line behind the immigrant rights organizers as demonstrators moved through the city.

A significant contingent of socialist and communist groups marched alongside the organizers, underscoring the ideological overlap at the event.

WATCH: Protesters march through South Minneapolis, carry political signs

Flags throughout the march reflected a wide mix of causes and affiliations, including Palestinian flags, LGBTQ pride imagery and banners associated with socialist and communist groups.

High-visibility marshals affiliated with protest groups directed the march and blocked side streets, with little to no visible police presence along much of the route.

Another protester who identified as a communist said the current system is a “dead end” and argued that “the workers create all the value in society and we get to own none of it under capitalism.” She said the group supports policies including rent caps tied to income and limiting rent to 10% of wages.

When asked about rent-control policies in cities like New York and California, where such measures have faced criticism, one woman said those efforts failed because they were not “under workers’ control.”

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“Under capitalism, it won’t work. We need a society under control of the workers,” she said.

Owen Phernetton, a member of the Revolutionary Communists of America, said the group is “building a party of class fighters” and argued that “we need a revolution… on a socialist basis.”

He said the organization supports seizing property, including factories, mines and office spaces and placing them under the ownership of the working class.

“We argue for decreasing the workday to only 20 hours a week without any loss in pay,” he said.

He added that billionaire wealth should be “expropriated and put in use for the working class,” pointing to the Soviet Union as an example.

Several Minneapolis City Council members, most affiliated with the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), attended the rally and read out a non-binding resolution recognizing May 1 as International Workers Day. During the remarks, one speaker told the crowd “we must abolish ICE,” linking labor issues with immigration policy.

WATCH: Communist Party presence noted at Minneapolis May Day demonstration

Jason Chavez read parts of the resolution alongside fellow council members Elliott Payne, Aurin Chowdhury, Soren Stevenson and Jamal Osman. Council member Robin Wonsley was also present.

Not all observers supported the messaging.

Sedonia Meyers, who said she was watching from the sidewalk, described herself as “a very centrist individual” and said immigration should follow a legal process.

“If you want to be a citizen… you should work hard… and do the proper steps,” she said, adding that the U.S. must “vet the people that come into this country” to ensure public safety.

Two other elderly women observing nearby welcomed the presence of communist and socialist groups, describing the rally as a “big tent,” and inisting that there was “room for everyone,” though they did not support calls to abolish ICE.

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The protest concluded without major disruption, with demonstrators marching through the city in largely good spirits. A marching band played upbeat music as participants moved along the route, though speakers delivered more forceful rhetoric as they outlined their demands.

Earlier in the day, smaller gatherings drew limited turnout, including a union-led rally at Government Plaza that a union leader described a union gathering with “no connection to broader protests.”

President Donald Trump’s effort to broadly pull U.S. troops from key NATO allies over resistance to the Iran war could run into new limits imposed by Congress, but the administration may have a way around them. 

Trump ordered the withdrawal of 5,000 troops from Germany Friday, a drawdown which will happen over the next six to 12 months, according to Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell. 

Lawmakers have restricted large-scale troop reductions in Europe below 76,000. 

But Trump still retains broad authority as commander in chief to move forces between countries, opening the door to shifting troops away from allies like Germany, Spain or Italy without reducing the overall U.S. presence.

Pentagon orders withdrawal of 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany as Trump escalates feud with Merz

The warning follows pushback from allies including Spain and Italy, which have limited how U.S. forces can use key bases for Iran-related missions, highlighting tensions inside NATO as Washington presses partners for support during the escalating conflict.

Trump said Wednesday the U.S. is “studying and reviewing the possible reduction of troops” in Germany, comments that came after Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the U.S. was “being humiliated” by Iran.

Merz downplayed the spat between Washington and Berlin in a statement Thursday. 

“On all these issues, we maintain close and trusting contact with our partners, including — and especially — those in Washington. We do so in the shared transatlantic interest. We do so with mutual respect and a fair sharing of burdens.”

German foreign minister Johann Wadephul said in his own statement: “The Ramstein Air Base serves an irreplaceable function for both the US and us.”

Asked on Thursday whether he’d consider pulling troops out of Italy and Spain, Trump said, “Yeah, probably… Why shouldn’t I?”

The comments come as both countries have resisted U.S. requests tied to operations in Iran.

“Italy has not been of any help to us,” the president said, adding that Spain has been “horrible, absolutely horrible” and citing their refusal to allow the U.S. to use jointly operated bases for missions related to the conflict.

Any major withdrawal, however, would face hurdles in Congress. 

Under the latest defense bill, the Pentagon cannot reduce U.S. troop levels in Europe below 76,000 without submitting an assessment and certifying to lawmakers that the move would not harm U.S. or NATO security interests.

“The provision does not prohibit the administration from going below 76,000, but it does establish hurdles it would have to clear,” Jeff Rathke, president of the American-German Institute at Johns Hopkins University and a former State Department official, told Fox News Digital.

Key US ally blocks airspace to military flights over Iran, escalating standoff with Trump

Congress cannot directly veto a troop withdrawal, but lawmakers can impose conditions and restrict funding, effectively slowing or blocking any significant drawdown if those requirements are not met.

The provision reflects recent concern in Congress over potential troop reductions, rather than a long-standing requirement in defense legislation. The restriction applies to total U.S. troop levels in Europe, not deployments in individual countries.

NATO itself does not have veto power over U.S. troop deployments, which remain a national decision, though basing agreements depend on cooperation with host countries.

The U.S. currently has about 36,000 troops in Germany, about 13,000 in Italy and around 4,000 in Spain — three of the largest American military footprints in Europe.

Germany and Italy host key U.S. bases that serve as logistics hubs for operations in the Middle East, meaning any significant drawdown could complicate efforts tied to the Iran conflict itself.

That has raised the stakes for how Trump responds to allied resistance.

Seth Jones, a defense analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the president likely has the authority to reposition or even withdraw forces, but warned that doing so raises broader questions about military strategy during an ongoing conflict.

“My issue is less the legal authority, but rather the strategic rationale behind a withdrawal — especially if it is done for political, rather than strategic, reasons,” Jones said.

He pointed to the role of key bases in Europe, including Rota in Spain, which supports rapid-response operations into North Africa, and Germany, which serves as a hub for deployments across both European and African theaters.

“The Russian threat to Eastern Europe remains serious,” Jones added, noting that some U.S. bases in Germany are positioned outside the range of certain Russian missiles and drones.

Jones also warned that relocating forces could carry significant costs and logistical challenges, adding to the complexity of any decision to scale back the U.S. presence.

The administration has pressed European allies to provide more direct support for operations tied to the Iran conflict, including broader access to bases and participation in efforts to secure key waterways such as the Strait of Hormuz.

But several countries have stopped short. Spain has imposed restrictions on how U.S. forces can use jointly operated bases, while Italy has allowed American troops to continue operating from its territory but limited how those facilities can be used for certain missions.

Germany has taken a more mixed approach, allowing operations from bases like Ramstein while publicly criticizing the administration’s strategy.

That dynamic has raised the possibility of alternatives to a full withdrawal, including shifting troops within Europe rather than reducing overall force levels.

Rathke said such a shift could avoid triggering the congressional threshold, since it applies to overall troop levels rather than deployments in specific countries.

But he cautioned that major relocations would be difficult in practice, noting that key infrastructure — including Ramstein Air Base and the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center — cannot easily be replicated elsewhere.

“Even the most willing European country would not be able to offer that in the short term,” he said.

Even if troop levels remain above 76,000, major relocations would likely require funding and infrastructure changes that would bring Congress back into the process.

Lawmakers have stepped in before to block troop withdrawals from Europe, and a new push could trigger scrutiny on Capitol Hill, especially if it’s seen as weakening U.S. positioning during an ongoing conflict.

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A similar clash played out during Trump’s first term, when he ordered the withdrawal of roughly 12,000 U.S. troops from Germany in 2020, arguing that Berlin was not contributing enough to NATO defense. Congress imposed conditions through the annual defense bill, requiring the Pentagon to certify that any drawdown would not undermine NATO or U.S. operations. The effort ultimately stalled and was never fully implemented.

Lawmakers have not yet publicly responded to Trump’s latest comments. The White House did not return a request for comment.

Power the Future, a pro-energy advocacy group, is asking Congress to take a closer look at the opposition to data centers that is springing up across the country.

In a letter to Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., the group asked lawmakers to open formal investigations into millions of dollars in funding they believe is incentivizing nonprofits and local groups to take up an environmental stance against data centers.

In their view, it’s a movement that’s trying to look more grassroots than it actually is.

“We request that your committees open a formal investigation into a coordinated, billionaire-funded, and potentially foreign-backed political campaign designed to block the construction of data center and AI infrastructure across the United States, which sits among the most important economic and national-security buildouts of President Trump’s second term,” the letter reads.

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The letter highlights fears that American laws surrounding nonprofits, which shield donors from public disclosures, could be enabling wealthy ideologues to make donations that are difficult to track.

The group pointed to environmentally-minded nonprofits like the Sierra Club, Food and Water Watch, Earthjustice, Goods Jobs First, Piedmont Environmental Council, the Southern Environmental Law Center, MediaJustice and the Athena Coalition that have received — and spent millions — opposing their expansion.

New Venture Fund, the Sierra Club Foundation and the Sixteen Thirty Fund collectively received over $13 million from pro-environmental donors, according to grant reporting.

It’s unclear if those donations were made for the express intent of opposing data center constructions.

Even so, across the board, the groups affirm that data centers are costing more resources than they are worth — at the expense of local communities’ environmental wellbeing.

Power the Future disagrees.

RAPID RISE OF AI PUTS NEW URGENCY ON CONGRESS TO UNLEASH AMERICAN ENERGY

Beyond generating tax revenue for local communities and creating employment opportunities, Power the Future argued that the data centers enable the U.S. to stay competitive with foreign powers.

“Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has called opposition to that buildout a ‘surrender’ to China,” Power the Future wrote in its datacenter report.

“The compute infrastructure that trains AI models, processes intelligence data and powers the next generation of American economic and military advantage has to be built somewhere.”

Although the group’s founder, Daniel Turner, believes that part of the opposition may well come from legitimate local concerns about unwanted development in rural areas, he’s skeptical of the money being pumped into the picture.

‘BAD IDEA’: CONSERVATIVES WARN RED STATE DATA CENTER BILL WILL DERAIL TRUMP’S VISION OF ENERGY ‘GOLDEN AGE’

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“There is certainly a lot for communities to discuss around data centers. But is it a paid operation by radical green groups who see banning data centers as the new banning the gas stove or banning the leaf blower?” Turner said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Power the Future has found 188 local opposition groups across 24 states that oppose data center expansion, according to their research.

Senate Republicans are eyeing the chance to go after Graham Platner now that Maine’s Senate race is locked in.

Platner’s position as the Democratic nominee against Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, was all but cemented Thursday when Maine Gov. Janet Mills dropped out of the race over a lack of cash flow.

Mills’ exit is two-pronged. It could signal that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the Democratic establishment are losing their grip, given that Mills was handpicked by Democratic Party bosses to challenge Collins.

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It also opens up a new line of attack for Republicans, who plan to lean into Platner’s past progressive views and his connection to his main backers: Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

“This is the new Democrat Party,” Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital.
”I don’t know how to, I don’t even know how to digest all that nonsense. This is crazy.”

Scott, who chairs the Senate’s campaign arm, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, painted Platner as the “extreme” candidate compared to Mills’ more centrist image.

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He previewed points of attack against Platner, including his insults of rural White voters, old Reddit posts where he blamed women for rape, and his “absolute condescension towards minorities, and Black people specifically.”

“Schumer … went after Mills, and what do you find yourself with? Exactly the opposite,” Scott said.

Still, Platner, who has never held elected office, is polling ahead of Collins, who is seeking a sixth term in the Senate.

RealClearPolitics has Platner ahead by an average of nearly eight points. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., who chaired the NRSC when Republicans flipped the Senate in 2024, told Fox News Digital that the last time Collins ran, she was behind in early polling as well.

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“Every poll, going right up to Election Day, and she ended up winning by eight points,” Daines said. “Susan Collins is a tough out and she’s going to win Maine.”

Republicans also see Platner’s ascension as the continuation of a shift in the Democratic Party from the old-guard establishment to more progressive candidates, following the success of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani — another victory story from Sanders’ and Ocasio-Cortez’s stable of candidates.

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They’re hoping to tie Platner to Mamdani, whom Republicans have painted as a proverbial boogeyman in contrast to more centrist Democratic candidates.

“The Democrats continue to nominate far-left candidates,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told Fox News Digital. “This is the Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, AOC, wing of the party that is in control.”

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz is zeroing in on five states as the Trump administration escalates its crackdown on fraud, waste, and abuse, he told Fox News Digital. 

“We’ve written letters to Minnesota, California, a letter to Florida because we’re worried about the durable medical equipment fraud, New York, Maine, and there are more coming,” Oz told Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview, adding that his concern expands to all 50 states, as well. 

Oz has escalated federal pressure on states to tighten anti-fraud enforcement following Minnesota’s $250 million “Feeding Our Future” scheme. CMS is leaving no stone unturned, he said, looking at programs such as Medicaid and hospices also revealing foreign influence in the fraud scheme. 

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

“We know the Cuban government seems to be implicated in some issues in South Florida, where you have twice as many durable medical equipment suppliers selling wheelchairs and knee braces than McDonald’s,” said Oz.

The anti-fraud task force, led by Vice President JD Vance, announced in February that durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS) suppliers will be targeted through a nationwide moratorium.

“The Vice President’s task force continues to work closely with Dr. Oz and CMS to track down and root out fraud,” said a Vance spokesperson to Fox News Digital. “The task force is committed to ensuring that American tax dollars are used for the benefit of the American people, and will continue to successfully do exactly that.”

Oz said that he suspects a lot of foreign governments are involved in the fraud schemes taking place across the country targeting specific areas.

“We have evidence that foreign nationals certainly are involved in a lot of this fraud. There’s a Russian mafia presence in Los Angeles. There’s Chinese mafia presence, for example, in Flushing Queens [New York,]” Oz said.

MINNESOTA ‘ON THE CLOCK’ AS HHS THREATENS PENALTIES OVER CHILDCARE FRAUD SCANDAL

Four hundred hospices in Los Angeles were suspended after officials flagged an unusually high concentration of providers in the area.

The programs, designed for people in the final six months of their life, had very high survival rates – where in some cases everyone survived.

“We also began to notice that there were some folks who were probably not honorable doctors who were designated to supervise patients in multiple hospices,” said Oz. “A lot of hospitals had foreigners that owned them, or they were able to cheat by keeping the numbers of their membership low enough that they don’t have to actually report their outcomes.”

Oz said the auditor of California informed Gov. Gavin Newsom of hospice fraud evidence in 2022.

MINNESOTA FRAUD WHISTLEBLOWER SAYS ‘LACK OF GUARDRAILS WAS PRETTY SHOCKING’

“The fact that we can suspend more than 400 hospices from getting paid in just a few weeks highlights the reality that no one was watching the till for the last several years,” said Oz. 

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

“In 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation placing a moratorium on new hospice licenses – a policy that remains in effect today, preventing bad actors from entering the system while strengthening oversight of existing providers,” a spokesperson for Newsom previously told the New York Post of hospice fraud in the state. 

SENATE REPUBLICAN EXPANDS CHILD CARE FRAUD CRACKDOWN TO MORE BLUE STATES

Oz recently put all 50 states on notice ordering governors to identify and remove noncompliant Medicaid providers.

Oz gave governors and state Medicaid leaders 10 business days in April to tell CMS whether they will commit to conducting a swift “revalidation” of high-risk Medicaid providers and provide a proposed timetable, alongside a separate 30-day deadline for a broader provider-revalidation strategy, escalating federal pressure on states to tighten anti-fraud enforcement.

“We can audit states that don’t want to comply with the revalidation request,” said Oz.

“Let’s revalidate, which means double check that everyone is providing services within Medicaid, especially for these high-risk services where these are the things your family would normally do for you,” he said.

Oz pointed to examples of autism babysitters, non-emergency transport to clinics, and services such as carrying and delivering groceries that may fall outside of Medicaid scope, possibly revealing fraud.

“Like what do these people actually have as credentials to allow them to be able to this? And so we asked this question of all the states and all 50 now are charged within 10 days of telling us whether they want to work with us,” he said. 

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Officials suspect the fraud costs Americans billions of dollars each year.

“This is an important issue for Americans to recognize because the states run Medicaid, but the federal taxpayer foots the bill,” said Oz.

Democrats who rallied with liberal activists at nationwide “No Kings” protests just weeks ago were widely mocked for pivoting to offer the United Kingdom’s King Charles III a royal welcome in Congress and elsewhere.

Charles’ speech highlighted a contradiction between anti-monarchy rhetoric and public protests involving Democrats and the raucous welcome extended to the British monarch during his address to Congress.

Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., criticized Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., whom he said hypocritically cheered Charles several months after speaking at a “No Kings” protest in Savannah.

“Hold on a minute, wasn’t this the same Jon Ossoff who was just out there a few weeks ago hooting and hollering about ‘No Kings’ at his rally… He’ll shout ‘No Kings’ all day, but once the king comes around, man, he’s got him a front-row seat,” the Jackson lawmaker said.

TIM ALLEN TROLLS ‘NO KINGS’ LAWMAKERS FOR FAWNING OVER ACTUAL KING CHARLES

“I was on my way to hear an actual King speak,” Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., said in a statement after Charles’ address. “Funny how the ‘No Kings’ crowd is nowhere to be found. Guess the outrage depends on who’s talking?”

At a March 29 “No Kings” protest in Minnesota, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minneapolis spoke at an event headlined by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, telling the crowd that the U.S. pledges allegiance to the “Constitution, not a King.”

The day prior, Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., spoke to the press at a “No Kings” protest in his area, saying that the crowd was exercising its freedom of speech against Trump while titling the clip on his social media page “No Kings, not now, not ever.”

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., authored the “No Kings Act” in 2024 in rebuke of the Supreme Court’s ruling that presidents have absolute immunity from criminal prosecution stemming from actions taken under their constitutional authority while in office.

“‘No Kings’ protest leaders welcome KING CHARLES with a standing ovation; you can’t make this up,” quipped former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, as press cutaway shots of Charles’ address to Congress showed multiple ‘No Kings’ Democrats like Beyer smiling or clapping.

‘NO KINGS’ CALLS ITSELF LEADERLESS BUT ITS OWN INTERNAL DOCUMENTS TELL A VERY DIFFERENT STORY

“Look who was elated to see the king – Ms. No Kings,” quipped liberal pro-Israel actor Michael Rapaport, who included photos of a grinning Omar taking photographs of Charles on her phone.

Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., also called out alleged hypocrisy from the royals’ trip:

“Why did I just watch every Democrat in Congress stand and clap for an actual King?” she said, featuring screenshots from Fox News Channel’s House chamber feed.

“‘No Kings’ crowd greets King Charles with a standing ovation,” added right-wing X commentator “EndWokeness.”

“Biggest bull**** artists of the century,” added commentator Robby Starbuck.

Former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli shared another clip from b-roll of Charles’ speech, characterizing Democrats’ position as “No Kings +/- 1.”

Trump himself weighed in on the “No Kings” aspect during an interview with CBS’ Norah O’Donnell after she asked him about Hilton assassination suspect Cole Allen attending such a protest in California.

TRUMP REACTS TO ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTS BY SAYING ‘I’M NOT A KING, I WORK MY ASS OFF’

“No Kings, yeah… If I was a king, I wouldn’t be dealing with you,” Trump retorted.

After Charles departed for London, the Democrat representing former President George Washington’s longtime home lambasted Trump for what he characterized as a concession to the king.

Trump announced Friday he agreed to an apparent request from Charles to remove trade restrictions on whiskey to help Scotland work with Kentucky’s liquor businesses, as the former utilizes the latter’s used barrels.

“Now we’re taking orders from the King of England,” said Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Mount Vernon.

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“George Washington just rolled over.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Beyer, Ossoff and Omar for comment.

Democratic lawmakers are defending redistricting efforts across the country, calling their efforts a necessary foil to similar Republican-led plans, while arguing vulnerable Republicans should have fought harder to prevent the “arms race” reshuffling district lines nationally.

“I feel like the system is fundamentally broken, but let’s be clear, Republicans began the redistricting arms race. And so, Democrats are left with no choice but to level the playing field for the sake of democracy,” Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., told Fox News Digital.

Lawmakers’ comments come as the Supreme Court handed down a decision on Wednesday, reshaping the framework of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and opening the door to the possibility of fresh redistricting efforts ahead of the 2026 midterms.

In its 6-3 decision delivered along ideological lines on Wednesday, the court struck down Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District, which was redrawn in 2024 to have a predominantly Black electorate. The court also ruled that states may not use race to either draw districts that disenfranchise voters or help minority communities support their preferred candidates.

SUPREME COURT ORDERS NEW ARGUMENTS IN PIVOTAL ELECTIONS CASE

It’s unclear which states may re-evaluate their maps in light of the decision.

“This is a very nefarious thing that the Supreme Court has done, and it’s a very desperate thing that Republicans are doing to cling to unearned power,” Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., said.

Since President Donald Trump urged state lawmakers to expand the GOP’s 217-213 majority by eliminating five Democratic seats in Texas, states including California, Utah, Missouri, Louisiana, Ohio, Virginia and North Carolina have followed suit.

Most recently, the Florida legislature approved a plan to eliminate up to four Democratic districts.

DESANTIS LAUNCHES FLORIDA REDISTRICTING PUSH TO POTENTIALLY ADD MORE GOP HOUSE SEATS

While most Democrats have laid blame for the avalanche of redistricting efforts on Trump, others believe a desire to use redistricting to carve out partisan advantages goes back much farther.

“I put this all on Democrats,” Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Texas, said.

“In 2003, when Tom DeLay was majority leader, and he said that he wanted to get rid of five Democrats in Texas, we didn’t respond. We let him slap us around, we let him come around and slap us, and we didn’t do anything about it,” Veasey said, referring to another mid-decade Republican redistricting effort that went unchallenged by Democrats in other states.

Veasey believes this time around, vulnerable Republicans in Democratic-leaning states invited their own demise by not voicing opposition to the Republican efforts in Texas.

“They didn’t say anything. The time to speak up, especially the Republican members from California, the time for them to speak was back then and they didn’t,” Veasey said.

BETO ENCOURAGES DEMOCRATS TO FIGHT ‘FIRE WITH FIRE’ IN TEXAS REDISTRICTING BATTLE

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Rep. Christian Menefee, D-Texas, like many of his Democratic colleagues, lamented the redistricting struggle but argued that pretending that the situation didn’t exist was unrealistic.

“Look, in a perfect world, we would not have any political gerrymandering. We wouldn’t have folks trying to draw black and brown people out of their districts and then putting the partisan cover over the top. But because we don’t live in that world, we’ve got to fight fire with fire,” Menefee said.

FIRST ON FOX: The educational background of the alleged White House Correspondents’ dinner Correspondents dinner shooter Cole Allen is generating renewed scrutiny from critics about the current state of academia and bias in the teaching profession, as well as questions about far-left politics and rhetoric on college campuses, including the specific institutions the alleged shooter attended.

Allen graduated from Cal State University Dominguez Hills in May 2025 with a Master’s Degree in computer science, according to his LinkedIn page. He spent a few years at the Carson, California, institution that multiple university employees who spoke to Fox News Digital said is rife with far-left ideology and antipathy toward countering views to that.

“I was not shocked,” a CSU Dominguez employee, granted anonymity to protect against retribution, told Fox News Digital about the news that Allen was a former student at the university. “Campus policy treats ICE like it is an invading army. There is constant talk of ‘the community under threat.’”

“I hope no one here approves of violence, but continually talking about the government as a threat to the community isn’t healthy.”

UNEARTHED VIDEO REVEALS COLE ALLEN AS QUIET INVENTOR YEARS BEFORE ALLEGED BID TO ASSASSINATE TRUMP

Some professors and administrators at CSUDH emphasize race and division in their teaching, and while they may not be the majority, they are highly visible and appear to be well supported, another employee said. 

For example, the employee explained that the university maintains three separate ethnic studies departments, Chicana/o studies, Africana studies and Asian Pacific studies, even though these programs have relatively few majors and graduates. Despite the university facing a serious financial crisis, there are no plans to consolidate them into a single department, which could reduce costs. 

“Faculty who spearheaded the push for an ‘ethnic studies’ requirement in the CSU were almost uniformly rewarded with deanships and administrative positions throughout the CSU,” the employee said.

Additionally, the Chicana/o Studies Department publicly supported Gaza on Nov. 3, 2023, weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre, but did not face any official consequences or requests to apologize, the employee said. 

“Conservative and independent professors and lecturers can expect scorn and insult when they try and actually voice their viewpoints, if not outright censure,” one of the employees told Fox News Digital. 

“Conservative students can realistically expect retaliation from faculty for disagreeing with said faculty member’s political views. I’ve heard a member dismiss a rather good student as being libertarian, ‘And, therefore, he can’t be that smart.’”

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One of the employees suggested that “regular folks from 20 years ago likely “keep their mouths shut” in order to not be branded a “right-wing bigot.”

“If you aren’t ‘anti-racist’ you are part of the problem to many of the most vocal people here. Certainly I’m not comfortable letting my views be fully known and I’m a lifelong Democrat.”

One of the most prominent voices on campus during Allen’s tenure was the school’s president, who often talked about race and labeled the Trump administration as racist.

“We need to be cognizant of how our minds and spirits, minds and spirits, have been contaminated by the residuals of racism and white supremacy,” Thomas A. Parham, former president at Cal State University Dominguez Hills, said during a webinar last fall titled, “Liberation Psychology: Unlocking the Shackles of Conceptual Incarceration,” first reported by Gateway Pundit.

Parham served as the president of CSU Dominguez Hills from March 2018 through this past December, when he stepped down after the school’s Academic Senate passed a resolution of “no confidence” over his leadership during his tenure.

Parham said during the webinar that it was his goal to “disrupt” and “dislodge” individuals who feel “comfortable” with the “way things are” when it comes to race.

“I want to dislodge them from that comfortable category of intellectual, emotional, and behavioral apathy that has been stuck in the way things are and then acting in the way that happens,’ Parham explained in the webinar, which was hosted by the American Psychological Association (APA) Leadership Development Institute.

 “If I need to adjust or disrupt that fragility in order to do that, that is the only thing that is going to instigate change. If I make them too comfortable, then all they do is receive information and passively go about doing it as if everything they’re doing is okay. So, I have to be one that’s unapologetic about being able to confront the fragility.”

Parham also offered criticism of Trump in the webinar, saying, “When you can brag about grabbing women by the privates, that is sexual assault that would wind everybody else up in jail. And 53% of the women still vote for you. Mostly White. You know this is something more than just a political issue.”

At another point in the webinar, Parham claimed the Trump administration doesn’t like minorities, saying, “Everybody knew this current federal administration was not liking Black folk, was not liking Latino folk, and was not down with immigrants. Everybody knew that.” 

One of the CSU Dominguez employees told Fox News Digital, “That’s Parham.”

“He centered race in everything, but only in a Black-White binary despite campus being 2/3s Latino,” the employee said. “He was defiant about not following DOE/admin rules on DEI and always made it feel like if you weren’t far-left, you didn’t share the values of the ‘Toro Family.’ A lot of professors, especially the loudest voices on campus, are the same way. I’m sure a lot of professors aren’t pushing an agenda, but the dominant narrative on campus, including from administration, that the mission of the university is race-conscious, Leftist, and activist.”

MICHAEL SHELLENBERGER: THE LEFT IS GETTING PEOPLE KILLED

On April 17, 2025, a month before Allen graduated, CSUDH faculty and staff joined a press conference and rally as part of the National Day of Action for Higher Education. This was coordinated with other Southern California campuses to protest what organizers called the Trump administration’s “attacks on higher education.”

Dr. Rick Addante, a neuroscientist who spent years working in the Cal State University system and was present during Parham’s webinar, which he posted online, told Fox News Digital he was “shocked and appalled at the kind of vile hate and discrimination that he [Parham] was spewing,” and made the case that the political climate at CSU Dominguez was one that could easily radicalize an impressionable student.

Addante, who has been sounding the alarm on X over alleged liberal radicalization on college campuses over the last few years after being fired from Florida Tech after blowing the whistle on DEI, argues that the rhetoric found in the shooter’s manifesto is indistinguishable from the official “ideological breeding ground” established by Parham. He believes the shooter was “indoctrinated” by an institutional culture that explicitly targets the Trump administration and its supporters.

“When you look at that, and you ask yourself, why is this person willing to run through a gauntlet of Secret Service people to attack the entire line of succession of the United States government and the President of the United States, where do his ideas, where do his thoughts and this drive come from?” Addante said. “Well, to me, you can draw a straight line connecting the two dots because this is clearly what he was indoctrinated with.”

“As far as I’m concerned, they should be yanking funding from all of these places and treating them like the madrasas for the terror breeding grounds that they are,” Addante added.

Beginning in March 2020, Allen’s LinkedIn profile says, he joined C2 Education, a tutoring company, enrolling at California State University, Dominguez Hills, in 2022 to pursue an MS in computer science, graduating in May 2025. That school also confirmed that a person by the same name graduated with a master’s degree that year.

A Dec. 30, 2024, Facebook post from C2 Education congratulated “Cole Allen of C2 Education Torrence on being honored as December teacher of the month.” A photo matching that of Allen was attached to the post.

According to law enforcement officials, Allen’s past includes descending into anti-Trump hate, attending at least one of the three “No Kings” protests organized over the past year by groups including Democratic-leaning nonprofits, like Indivisible, MoveOn and American Federation of Teachers, and a network of socialist organizations.

In the days following the high-profile shooting authorities say was carried out by Allen, social media users began pointing to his educational background and his leftist commentary on social media, while highlighting the allegations in recent years that the education system in the United States has been increasingly promoting and funding far-left ideologies.

“If you’re surprised that the wannabe Trump assassin is a teacher, you haven’t been paying attention,” political commentator Riley Gaines posted on X on Monday in response to a Fox News Digital report highlighting the over $1 billion teachers’ unions have sent to far left causes over the last decade.

“The elephant in the room is that a left wing teacher just tried to assassinate multiple members of the Trump administration after teachers unions spent more than $1 billion on left-wing causes,” Republican communicator Steve Guest posted on X in response to the same report.

In addition to attending CSU Dominguez, in September 2013, according to his online profile, Allen enrolled in the highly competitive California Institute of Technology, known as Caltech, to pursue a BS in mechanical engineering, graduating in 2017.

Caltech has had its own issues with perceptions of far-left curriculum and ideology, highlighted most notably by a National Association of Scholars report that concluded DEI, widely viewed by conservative critics as a key tenet of far-left ideology on college campuses,  is not just administrative at Caltech, it’s inserted into scientific research culture itself. 

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The report explains that “Caltech’s administration is thoroughly saturated with DEI’s broader ideological agenda” and that “DEI was established to operate at every level of campus work.” 

DEI was also a top priority of Parham during his tenure at CSU Dominguez, according to his own words in an exit interview where he took a shot at the Trump administration’s efforts to rein back race-based hiring and curriculum.

“We are acutely aware of the federal government’s hostility toward anything that looks like it wants to be diverse,” Parham said. “Not a surprise to us, but we try to delicately dance, not to skirt the law, but really to be in tune with the law as it is written, and separate out what is someone’s opinion and perspective about what they like and don’t like, versus technically what is legal.”

In the same interview, Parham expressed his reverence for anti-colonialist writer and activist Frantz Fanon, a French political philosopher who died in 1961, who was labeled the “Patron Saint of Political Violence” by The Atlantic in 2024. 

“They become mantras and symbols of possibility. When I see Fannie Lou Hamer talking about — I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired — it sometimes creates the mood and the ambiance that allows me to kind of move forward,” Parham said when asked about the “black intellectuals” that are “meaningful in his life.” “When I see Fanon, which is kind of my daily mantra, say that Each generation, out of relative obscurity, must reach out and seek to fulfill its legacy or betray it — I go to work every day and go to bed every night deciding, have I fulfilled or betrayed the legacy that I’ve been blessed to inherit by my ancestors and my elders?”

In his farewell email to the university, obtained by Fox News Digital, Parham said he hoped his “lasting legacy” was his “commitment” to DEI measures. 

CSUDH’s interim president, Mary Ann Villarreal, appears to have made racial “equity” a key part of her resume as well, joining the university after serving as “vice president for institutional excellence at the American Association of Colleges and Universities, a global membership organization dedicated to advancing equity, innovation, and educational excellence,” according to her bio.

Before that, Villarreal served as the vice president for equity, diversity and inclusion.

MS NOW HOSTS CALL OUT ‘DISTURBING’ LEFT-WING THEORIES THAT WHCD SHOOTING WAS A ‘FALSE FLAG’

“I am excited to join CSUDH in advancing its vital mission of serving California students in all their diversity and promise,” Villarreal said after her appointment in a press release on the school website. “Dominguez Hills is a beacon of inclusivity and a vital anchor for its community.” 

A spokesperson for CSU Dominguez pointed Fox News Digital to their previous statement on April 27 that said, “CSUDH reiterates its condemnation for the act of violence at the WHCA dinner. The university community is grateful for law enforcement’s swift response and greatly relieved that no one was seriously injured.”

In response to questions about the climate on campus, the spokesperson said, “CSUDH is committed to creating a safe, healthy environment in which our campus community can thrive and exchange ideas. Our mission is to provide a transformative educational experience that helps students in their academic and career journeys.”

The statement continued, “CSUDH upholds the tenets of the First Amendment: our staff, faculty, and students, each of whom has their own perspectives and life experiences, are free to engage in dialogue and debate. No one is discouraged from speaking their mind, and the university cannot and will not intervene in individual expression unless it violates the law. CSUDH urges anyone experiencing retaliation or harassment to make a report so that the university can respond appropriately and provide any necessary supports.”

A Caltech spokesperson told Fox News Digital the shooting incident is “deeply troubling” and that “we unequivocally denounce all forms of political violence and extend our concern and support to all those impacted by this incident.”

“Caltech is firmly committed to—and solely focused on—advancing knowledge; promoting critical, data-driven inquiry; and providing the next generation of scientists and engineers with access to research and learning experiences that drive discovery, innovation, and technological advancement.”

The spokesperson also pointed to reporting on community members and classmates who have said Allen was  actively involved with the Caltech Christian Fellowship club and fencing during his time at Caltech.

Nicole Neily, president of the education watchdog Defending Education, pointed to a 2024 report her organization released highlighting the “activist pipeline” on college campuses.

HOW UNIVERSITY INDOCTRINATION TURNED DEADLY, AND WHY ONE SCHOLAR SAYS IT’S ONLY GETTING WORSE

“Colleges of education have strayed far from their mission of providing best practices and tactics for teachers, instead focusing on leveraging pupils to combat a so-called ‘oppressor-oppressed matrix,’” Neily said. 

“For far too long, teachers have viewed their role as ‘agents of social change’ rather than of educators – and the results of this sea change are obvious when looking at test scores. America’s students deserve to learn reading, writing, and arithmetic – not be enlisted as child soldiers in progressives’ war on our country’s values.” 

Skeptic Research Center, a project of The Skeptics Society, released a study in 2025 suggesting a correlation between a high level of education and being more open to supporting political violence.

“Americans with the highest level of formal education were also the most supportive of political violence,” the study stated, adding, “[Thirty-six] percent of those with a graduate or professional degree agreed at least somewhat with the statement ‘If you are protesting something unjust, it is reasonable to damage property,’ while 40 percent agreed that ‘Violence is often necessary to create social change.’”

Addante told Fox News Digital that Saturday’s shooting should be a wakeup call to the threat of radical ideology on college campuses nationwide. 

“Where did the manifesto come from? Where did the ideas that drove the manifesto and the actions and the threats, where did they come from? They didn’t come from Reddit, they didn’t come from social media,” Addante said.

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“They might have been exacerbated by Reddit and social media and Bluesky, and sure, blame them too. But we’re not going to solve anything by blaming BlueSky and Reddit. We’re going to solve things by addressing the root cause, which is actually the ideological breeding grounds and where he was trained to think this way by the actual employed people receiving federal funds who specifically spent five — four years, five years teaching him literally this. That is what we’re not doing as a country in focusing and that’s why it’s going to continue to happen over and over again because there are a thousand of these institutions around America.”

Fox News Digital’s Peter D’Abrosca and Asra Q. Nomani contributed to this report.

EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security lambasted Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and the state’s refusal to cooperate with ICE after an illegal immigrant convicted of child sexual abuse was released from jail despite calls for state officials to turn him over to federal authorities.

Both Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson have repeatedly criticized the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement posture, with the mayor comparing President Donald Trump’s America to Jefferson Davis’ Confederacy.

Johnson has accused Trump of “declar[ing] war on Chicago” and using DHS as a “private, militarized, occupying force,” while pledging to fight them in the streets, the legislature and the judiciary. The state operates under the Illinois TRUST Act, a law championed by Springfield Democrats and signed by former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner that prohibits the use of state and local resources for most civil immigration enforcement purposes.

“Governor Pritzker continues to refuse to do his job to protect his citizens from illegal alien crime and instead chooses to smear our law enforcement,” Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital.

NOEM, IN ILLINOIS, CALLS OUT GOV. PRITZKER, CHICAGO’S MAYOR OVER THEIR HANDLING OF CRIMINAL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

“Where is the investigation into his own policies that allowed this pedophile to be released from jail and be loose in Illinois communities?” she added of the Hyatt Hotels heir and potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate.

Bis called on Pritzker to “end this insanity and stop releasing pedophiles into our communities.”

DHS told Fox News Digital exclusively that ICE officers went to Chicago and arrested Guatemalan national Erik Giovanni-Quiroa, who had been released from jail after his ICE detainer was ignored following a conviction for aggravated sexual abuse of a five-year-old child.

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Giovanni-Quiroa, who also had a 2011 firearm-battery conviction, was given a three-year sentence on the pedophilia charge but ICE instead encountered him on the streets.

Last week, ICE conducted a targeted vehicle stop and arrested Giovanni-Quiroa after his detainer was denied, forcing agents to locate him themselves.

Officials said Giovanni-Quiroa refused to stop and briefly fled before being placed in federal custody.

Bis said “sanctuary” politicians in Illinois and elsewhere continue to wrongly protect criminal illegal immigrants and allow them to reoffend and perpetrate additional crimes against Americans.

ICE previously called on Illinois law enforcement to begin honoring ICE detainers, as Director Todd Lyons wrote to Attorney General Kwame Raoul noting that DHS says more than 4,000 illegal immigrants are in state custody.

Giovanni-Quiroa illegally entered the U.S. under the second Bush administration and has been essentially a beneficiary of the aforementioned TRUST Act.

In the heat of “Operation: Midway Blitz” in June, Raoul published a memo reiterating key provisions of the law as a “refresher for Illinois law enforcement agencies.”

“It is important to note, however, that although the Illinois TRUST Act prevents the use of state and local resources for civil immigration enforcement purposes, it does not prevent law enforcement officers from taking action to maintain peace and ensure public safety within their jurisdiction,” Raoul wrote.

“Although some provisions of federal immigration statutes are criminal, deportation and removability are matters of civil law, not criminal law [and] whether an individual is lawfully present in the United States is a question of federal civil immigration law.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Raoul for comment on the current case, as well as Pritzker and Johnson.

When Rauner signed the TRUST Act in 2017, he said it would “continue Illinois’ history of welcoming immigrants and help law enforcement focus on stopping violent crime and protecting Illinois residents.”

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In that statement, Rauner also cited a federal court decision from the Chicago-based Northern District of Illinois in which an Obama-appointed judge whom President Joe Biden later promoted to an appeals court found flaws in ICE’s detainer process.

Judge John Z. Lee said in his 2019 order in Jimenez-Moreno v. Napolitano that immigration detainer orders exceeded DHS’ statutory authority but he also acknowledged a Philadelphia federal court ruling that ICE detainer requests do not violate the Tenth Amendment as alleged.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito pushed back on claims this week that ending deportation protections for Haitian migrants was racially motivated, pressing an attorney to explain how that argument works when the policy has been applied broadly to migrants from many countries.

“You have a really large — you have a really broad definition of who’s White and who’s not White,” Alito, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, said during oral arguments, challenging a claim leveled by the migrants’ lawyer that the Trump Department of Homeland Security (DHS) intentionally targeted non-White migrants when it decided to terminate their temporary protected status (TPS).

The exchange came as the Supreme Court weighed a high-stakes case over the Trump administration’s authority to end TPS protections for tens of thousands of Haitian and Syrian migrants. 

The high court’s decision could strip their legal protections and have similar implications for hundreds of thousands of other migrants, meaning DHS could then move to detain and deport them.

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Congress created temporary protected status as a form of protection for migrants fleeing war and natural disaster, and the law requires DHS officials to periodically review whether an origin country qualifies under those terms.

Attorney Geoffrey Pipoly, representing the migrant plaintiffs during oral arguments, argued the courts had some authority to review the government’s TPS decisions and that the decision to end the protected status for Haitians, in particular, did not follow the law because it was driven by racial bias against “non-White immigrants.”

“The president has disparaged Haitian TPS holders specifically as undesirables from a ‘s—hole country,’ and days after falsely accusing them of ‘eating the dogs and eating the cats of Americans,’ he vowed that he would terminate Haiti’s TPS, and that is exactly what happened,” Pipoly said.

Alito grilled the lawyer over the claim, noting the government’s TPS terminations applied to a range of countries.

“Do you think that if you put Syrians, Turks, Greeks and other people who live around the Mediterranean in a lineup, do you think you could say those people, that all of them, are they all non-White?” Alito asked.

“I don’t like dividing the people of the world into these groups.”

Alito began to test Pipoly on which bucket he would sort various nationalities into, White versus non-White, leading Pipoly to argue that the bar for finding racial animus was low.

SCOTUS TO REVIEW TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDER ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP

“Irrespective of how you do the classification … bare dislike of an unpopular group is a sufficient basis,” Pipoly said.

The case is centered on whether courts can review the government’s TPS decisions and the processes that went into reaching those decisions. Migrants’ lawyers have also made arguments that DHS officials failed to properly assess a country’s conditions or relied on unlawful factors, such as whether termination was of national interest.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) told the Supreme Court those decisions are not subject to judicial review and fall solely under the purview of the executive branch. The DOJ warned that allowing challenges could open the door to widespread litigation over immigration policy. 

The migrants’ lawyers, meanwhile, argued in court papers that the DOJ had taken an “extreme position that would insulate flagrantly unlawful executive action from judicial review.”

COURT OF APPEALS TO HEAR ORAL ARGUMENTS IN HIGH-PROFILE DEPORTATION SUIT INVOLVING VENEZUELAN NATIONALS

The conservative justices appeared largely sympathetic to the Trump administration’s arguments, while the liberal justices zeroed in on whether the government’s alleged racial bias could be unconstitutional.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, an Obama appointee, suggested Trump’s public claim that migrants are “poisoning the blood of America” would be a violation of constitutional prohibitions on discrimination by the government, since it was “showing that a discriminatory purpose may have played a part in this decision” to end temporary protected status. 

Homeland Security has already terminated the legal status of migrants from six countries, including Venezuela and Honduras, moves that the Supreme Court temporarily greenlit through previous emergency requests. The high court is making a decision on the merits regarding the Haitians and Syrians, meaning it will carry finality and could apply more broadly.

The status of migrants from seven other countries remains on hold while the case is pending, including more than 6,000 Syrian and almost 350,000 Haitian migrants, as well as those from Ethiopia, Myanmar, Yemen, Somalia and South Sudan.

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The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling by the end of June.

Fox News’ Bill Mears contributed to this report.

The Pentagon will withdraw 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany, a spokesperson confirmed to Fox News Digital.

The redeployment comes amid President Donald Trump’s escalating feud with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and other NATO allies after tensions over their response to the conflict involving Iran.

“The Secretary of War has ordered the withdrawal of approximately 5,000 troops from Germany,” chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told Fox News Digital. 

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“This decision follows a thorough review of the Department’s force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theater requirements and conditions on the ground.

“We expect the withdrawal to be completed over the next six to twelve months.”

About 38,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Germany, where U.S. European Command is headquartered at Ramstein Air Base. The base and other American installations have long served as key logistics hubs and command centers supporting U.S. military operations in Europe and the Middle East.

The U.S. troop presence in Germany has been a point of political debate in recent years. In 2020, Trump ordered the withdrawal of roughly 12,000 troops from the country, but the plan faced bipartisan resistance in Congress and was not completed before President Joe Biden took office.

Merz, speaking Monday in Marsberg, criticized the U.S. approach to Iran, saying Washington was being “humiliated by the Iranian leadership” and expressing hope the conflict would end “as quickly as possible.”

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Trump’s comments followed those remarks, marking the latest flash point between the two leaders, who have previously clashed on issues, including tariffs and defense spending.

On Wednesday, Trump said in a Truth Social post his administration was “studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany,” adding that a decision would be made “over the next short period of time.”

He also sharply criticized Merz, saying he “doesn’t know what he’s talking about” regarding Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

“The Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Tuesday.

TRUMP’S ‘ECONOMIC FURY’ SQUEEZES IRAN — BUT CAN TEHRAN OUTLAST THE PRESSURE?

“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about! If Iran had a Nuclear Weapon, the whole World would be held hostage.

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“I am doing something with Iran, right now, that other Nations, or Presidents, should have done long ago. No wonder Germany is doing so poorly, both Economically, and otherwise!”

Fox News Digital’s Alex Koch and Peter Doocy contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump appeared to joke during remarks at the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches in Florida on Friday that the U.S. would be “taking over” Cuba “almost immediately,” while recognizing attendees including former Rep. Dan Mica.

“And he comes from originally a place called Cuba, which we will be taking over almost immediately,” Trump said.

“Cuba’s got problems. We’ll finish one first. I like to finish a job,” he continued.

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Trump then riffed on a hypothetical show of American force.

“On the way back from Iran, we’ll have one of our big — maybe the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier — the biggest in the world,” he said. “We’ll have that come in, stop about 100 yards offshore, and they’ll say, ‘Thank you very much, we give up.’”

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The president did not elaborate further.

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for clarification if the remarks were hypothetical or outlining policy plans.

President Donald Trump turned a microphone problem into a comic riff during remarks at The Villages in Florida, asking staff to “turn the mic up please” before joking he was “screaming my a– off because the mic is no good.”

The moment came during a wide-ranging, joke-heavy speech before the Florida retirement community, where Trump bounced between policy remarks, crowd work and off-the-cuff riffs, and, at one point, quipping, “What’s more secure than The Villages?” as he played to the audience.

Trump first flagged the audio issue while discussing immigration and inflation under former President Joe Biden.

“Tell them to turn up the microphone,” Trump said. “Will you please turn up the mic?”

TRUMP HIT IN THE FACE WITH MICROPHONE, QUIPS OPERATOR ‘BECAME A BIG STORY’

“You pay these guys a lot of money, and then you get up, and the mic isn’t on properly. And then they want their money,” he continued. “And I don’t believe in paying people to do a bad job.

“I’m screaming my a– off because the mic is no good,” he added. “Turn the mic up please.”

Trump opened the speech by joking about why he chose to appear at The Villages despite recent security concerns after the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner shooting Saturday night.

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“They say on my life I should be indoors at a secure facility where I can quietly, beautifully and safely play out my term,” Trump said. “I said, what’s more secure than The Villages?”

He also praised the Florida community as “the single largest community of seniors anywhere in the world,” before joking about the size of the overflow crowd.

“They have an overflow room that’s bigger than this,” Trump said. “Why the h— didn’t I go there? To start off.”

He repeatedly teased the crowd about age while arguing his administration had delivered for seniors.

“I don’t happen to be a senior,” Trump said. “I’m much younger than you. I’m a much younger man than you. Look at you old guys.

“But I feel I can relate to you anyway.”

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Trump also singled out his regular rally supporters near the stage, calling them “front row Joes.”

“They’re all over. I can’t get rid of them,” Trump said. “They are sick individuals, but we love them.”

At another point, Trump defended what he calls “the weave,” his term for jumping between topics mid-speech.

“I love the weave because the weave is great,” Trump said. “Someday, I won’t come back, and they’ll say, ‘all right, he shot.’ That’s the weave. I call it the weave because you get a lot of stories into one little sentence.”

Trump later joked about traveling with Dr. Mehmet Oz while discussing Medicare and Medicaid.

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“We have a man here who knows more about Medicaid, Medicare, medical crap than any human being,” Trump said.

“It’s the most boring trip I’ve ever made,” he added. “He’s telling me about Medicare, Medicaid. All I want to do is take care of you. I don’t care, I said, ‘You work out the details.'”

While discussing prescription drug costs, Trump also recounted a conversation with what he described as a wealthy friend seeking cheaper weight loss medication overseas.

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“He called it the fat shot,” Trump said. “I’ve given it that name, the fat shot.”

The microphone complaint was ultimately one of several unscripted moments as Trump moved between policy and personal banter, delivering a speech that, at times, resembled a stand-up-style riff more than a traditional political address.

President Donald Trump informed Congress Friday that a ceasefire with Iran has ended hostilities and reset the clock on congressional war powers limits, but legal experts say ongoing military operations complicate that claim.

“For War Powers Resolution purposes, the hostilities that began on Saturday, February 28 have terminated,” a senior administration official told Fox News Digital. 

“Both parties agreed to a 2-week ceasefire on Tuesday, April 7 that has since been extended,” the official went on. “There has been no exchange of fire between U.S. Armed Forces and Iran since Tuesday, April 7.”

The White House formally notified Congress in a letter Friday under the War Powers Resolution that it considers hostilities to have ended following the ceasefire.

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“Despite the success of United States operations against the Iranian regime and continued efforts to secure a lasting peace, the threat posed by Iran and its proxy forces remains significant. Accordingly, the Department of War continues to update its force posture in the AOR in select areas to counter Iranian proxy forces’ threats and to protect the United States and its allies and partners,” Trump wrote in a letter to Congress Friday.

“As the situation evolves, I will continue to update the Congress on noteworthy changes in the United States Armed Forces presence, consistent with the War Powers Resolution.”

For decades, presidents of both parties have pushed the limits of the War Powers Resolution, seeking flexibility to conduct military operations without being hindered by a congressional vote.

The law requires the president to end the use of U.S. forces within 60 days of entering hostilities unless Congress authorizes the operation, with a limited extension allowed for withdrawal.

The more than two-month conflict has exposed sharply different interpretations of the law and whether the White House must seek congressional approval. Bombing ceased on April 7, but U.S. forces continue enforcing a naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz — an operation widely considered an act of war.

“A ceasefire does not automatically suspend the War Powers 60-day clock,” said John Bellinger, who served as legal adviser to the State Department and National Security Council under President George W. Bush.

He pointed to the continued presence of U.S. warships and thousands of troops enforcing a blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, arguing American forces “are clearly still conducting military operations and are in potential danger.”

U.S. forces have continued boarding and seizing vessels suspected of violating the blockade, at times using force to disable ships before Marines conduct inspections.

Stephen Pomper, policy chief at the International Crisis Group and a former senior National Security Council official, was more direct.

“I don’t think it’s a very credible interpretation. It’s certainly not based on the text of the statute,” Pomper said.

“There’s still an enormous American deployment. There’s an active blockade, which is an act of war.”

Trump is far from the first president to test the limits of the War Powers resolution, experts noted. 

During the late 1980s “Tanker War” with Iran, the George H.W. Bush administration argued that individual naval engagements did not amount to sustained hostilities. In 1999, the Clinton administration maintained that congressional funding for the Kosovo campaign effectively constituted authorization.

More recently, the Obama administration argued that U.S. involvement in Libya did not rise to the level of “hostilities” under the War Powers Resolution, even as American forces supported air operations. The Biden administration made similar arguments in defending certain U.S. deployments tied to Yemen.

“We have seen Republican and Democratic administrations alike bypass the act in creative ways,” Nicholas Creel, Associate Prof. of Business Law at Georgia College and State University told Fox News Digital.

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Congress has periodically challenged similar interpretations in past conflicts but has rarely forced a withdrawal of U.S. forces. Courts have also largely stayed out of War Powers disputes, leaving presidents with significant latitude to define the scope of hostilities.

If Congress does not act, the administration could continue operations without new authorization.

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“It’s really up to Congress, and as often as not, Congress doesn’t want to push back,” Pomper said.

Matt Zierler, an international relations professor at Michigan State University, told Fox News Digital that Congress likely does not have the “real will” to fully execute the War Powers Act because other powers, such as passing appropriation bills that would restrict defense spending, would be more effective. Even so, Zierler said sequestration measures could come at a political loss.

“It’s a big political loss, potentially for Congress, if they start cutting off funding,” Zierler said, suggesting that the president could claim the cut in funds by Congress is hurting troops and national security. 

“It is a political or symbolic game, but it’s not necessarily something that most members of Congress want to play, because, you know, they don’t have all the intelligence,” Zierler said. “They don’t know what’s going on, and it can get really messy.”

Asked about the 60-day clock on Thursday, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told reporters: “I have not spent a great deal of time worrying about that.”

A large Roman Catholic diocese pushed back at criticism Friday after Pope Leo XIV appointed a former illegal immigrant as a bishop amid heightened tensions between the Vatican and Washington over refugees and ICE enforcement.

Leo nominated Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala as bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, which covers all of West Virginia. Menjivar-Ayala originally arrived in San Ysidro, California, smuggled in a car trunk after making several prior attempts as a teenager to flee guerrilla war-torn El Salvador.

The bishop has also been critical of increased immigration enforcement measures, calling them a human rights concern and responding directly to critiques of the church from fellow Catholics in the Trump administration like border czar Thomas Homan.

After commentary piled up on social media Friday, Wheeling diocese spokesman Tim Bishop told Fox News Digital Menjivar-Ayala’s appointment is a blessing to West Virginians, praising the clergyman’s pastoral work and service.

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“Bishop Evelio came [to America] some time ago looking for a better life and better opportunities, and thank God he did because he will shepherd the faith of our diocese,” Bishop said.

“Any insinuation that the Holy Father made this or any other appointment in any way to increase vitriol or insinuate that it gets back at the president of the United States is absurd,” Bishop added, noting he was not speaking for Leo.

The Roman Catholic Church “worries about the lamb, not the elephant or the donkey,” he said.

Meanwhile, “Letters from Leo” publisher and former DNC delegate Christopher Hale tweeted the bishop is a “remarkable choice” by Leo to lead a “state that is over 90% White and voted for President Trump by 42 points.”

Media outlets in the United States and France highlighted the appointment in light of Leo’s reported aversion to Trump’s immigration enforcement policies.

At a 2025 forum, Menjivar-Ayala said criticism of the Catholic Church’s stance toward immigration enforcement is not a question for him to answer but for those officials to discern how they are living the Gospel after he was asked about Homan’s comments that bishops at a national conference in Baltimore were “wrong” in rebuking illegal immigration enforcement.

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“The question is for them, for those who claim to be Catholic but are not seeing the face of Christ in the migrants,” Menjivar-Ayala said, according to World Catholic Report, which also said the newly minted West Virginian advised caution about characterizing illegal immigration as similar to murder and theft.

Menjivar-Ayala tried as many as three times as a teenager to flee to the U.S. but was caught each time, including once by Mexican authorities who imprisoned him.

Amid guerrilla warfare and extreme poverty in his home country in the 1980s, Menjivar-Ayala was first deported to Guatemala by Mexican authorities who caught him in the border town of Tijuana, according to an interview with U.S. Catholic. He then attempted to travel through the Guatemalan jungle on a second attempt but returned home on his own.

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Finally, Menjivar-Ayala was successful after a bribe was paid to secure his release from a Mexican prison in Chiapas, and an elderly American smuggled him and three others through the San Ysidro border checkpoint while they were crammed in the trunk of the man’s car, according to The Washington Post.

Menjivar-Ayala told U.S. Catholic he found odd janitorial jobs but eventually relocated to Hyattsville, Maryland, near extended family, where he cleaned a UPS site.

It was there in Prince George’s County where he first began working as a youth minister and was able to obtain a green card for legal residence through what he said was an extant religious visa policy.

The Washington Post characterized Leo’s move Friday as another effort to “elevate” American clergy relevant to tension points with the Trump administration.

President Donald Trump has lambasted Leo — born Robert Prevost in Illinois — and quipped that he much prefers his “brother [Louis who] is MAGA all the way.”

Trump has said he has “nothing against” Leo, who has a right to disagree on subjects like the legitimacy and human rights aspects of the Iran conflict and illegal immigration crisis.

POPE LEO XIV STRONGLY SUPPORTS US BISHOPS’ CONDEMNATION OF TRUMP IMMIGRATION RAIDS: ‘EXTREMELY DISRESPECTFUL’

In 2025, Menjivar-Ayala criticized Trump’s immigration enforcement push in a Catholic Standard column, “This Ordeal is the Passion,” which featured an image of a suspect being detained by federal authorities.

“The Church remembers Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus in a spiritual and sacramental way during Holy Week and the Easter Triduum, but some people actually experience the Passion in a tangible and personal way in their very lives. Among them are members of the immigrant and refugee communities today,” Menjivar-Ayala wrote, referring to the Passion of Christ, Jesus’ crucifixion, death and resurrection.

“Yet, while redemptive suffering is a grace, it would be better still if these injustices and infamies did not happen at all,” the bishop later added, calling for people to speak up in the style of martyred St. Oscar Romero.

He went on to say that the “dark side of anti-immigrant animus” cannot be allowed to take hold and called some recent enforcement behavior a “violation of fundamental human rights,” while also appearing to reference actions taken against the Catholic Church in that regard.

Trump’s Department of Health & Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement recently canceled an $11 million contract with Catholic Charities of Miami that had aided in housing unaccompanied minors, according to the Miami Herald.

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While Trump has not yet been able to meet with Leo, the first American pope has held audiences with Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Obama confidant David Axelrod.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Vatican, White House and DHS for additional comment.

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President Donald Trump signed a 45-day extension for Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Thursday night after the Senate rejected the three-year extension passed by the House, the White House confirmed to Fox News Digital.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., warned House leaders Tuesday that including a provision in the FISA extension to permanently ban the Federal Reserve from issuing central bank digital currencies (CBDC) would make it “dead on arrival” in the Senate. As Thune suggested, the three-year extension ultimately failed to pass the Senate due to opposition from Democrats.

As a temporary measure, the Senate approved a 45-day extension of the controversial national security law by unanimous consent. Trump subsequently approved the short-term renewal. 

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Once the 45-day period ends, Congress will be forced to begin the FISA extension process all over again.

FISA allows the federal government to compel phone and internet providers to provide information about foreigners using their platforms without a warrant, including communications with American citizens. 

Civil libertarians long have argued that the law undermines the privacy of Americans and potentially violates the Fourth Amendment. Those working in law enforcement and intelligence agencies, meanwhile, maintain that FISA is an indispensable tool in thwarting terrorism, drug trafficking and ransomware attacks.  

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More than 20 Republicans maintained their opposition to the FISA extension, even with the CBDC ban attached. 

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“We should all be standing up for the Fourth Amendment,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said during a debate over the extension Tuesday. 

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Republican leadership included the CBDC ban to appease conservative holdouts concerned that a government-issued digital dollar could expand federal visibility into Americans’ transactions.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is ramping up efforts to crack down on food stamp fraud nationwide, targeting what officials say is a loophole allowing some wealthy individuals to qualify for government benefits.

Secretary Brooke Rollins posted on X this week that a single state has 14,000 individuals on SNAP benefits who also drive luxury vehicles like Ferraris, Bentleys and Lamborghinis. 

She warned fraudsters the USDA is working to close a loophole under the Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility policy used to qualify for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits despite having the financial means to purchase cars for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Rollins told Fox Business this week that the department is “getting very, very close to being able to fix that” loophole.

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SNAP, the largest federal anti-hunger program in the United States, has long been a target of conservatives pushing for reforms, and Rollins spoke to “The Ingraham Angle” on Thursday night to shed light on just how widespread some of the issues are.

“We’ve found 500,000 people getting more than one benefit illegally. We found 244,000 dead people. This is just the red states,” Rollins said about what she’s discovered going through the data from the states that have agreed to provide it since her first day on the job.

“We have arrested 895 different people in the last year for illegally using the food stamp system and, of course, now we’re talking about what is happening with that money.”

USDA data shows 4.2 million fewer food stamp recipients during President Trump’s first year in office as the administration continues to crack down amid reports from all across the country that food stamps are being misused.

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“Food stamp waste and fraud is out of control,” Republican congressional candidate in Orange County and CAL DOGE Director Jenny Rae Le Roux told Fox News Digital. “California alone loses nearly $14 million every day from SNAP to EBT skimming, out-of-state and country beneficiaries and eligibility lapses at a time when technology exists to close every gap, quickly.”

In March, Fox News Digital reported on a Minnesota man, Rob Undersander, who said that despite being a millionaire, he was able to qualify for food stamps. Undersander has been sounding the alarm on the issue ever since and has testified on the issue in Minnesota and before Congress.

“Reintroducing basic guardrails like an asset test is a commonsense step to restore integrity, ensure benefits go to those who truly need them and protect the long-term viability of the program,” America First Policy Institute Health & Harvest Campaign Director Matt Schmid said in March. 

“This isn’t about taking help away. It’s about making sure SNAP works the way it was intended to.”

Additionally, the USDA issued a press release Thursday outlining the “reorganization” plan Rollins has within the SNAP program, which includes moving food nutrition resources and staff out of Washington, D.C. to other cities like Indianapolis, Dallas, Denver and Kansas City.

A USDA spokesperson told Fox News Digital Friday the announcement “aligns with the Food and Nutrition Administration’s mission, to nourish those in need through financially sound programs that promote health and work, as well as champion the productivity of American agriculture.”

“As the Food and Nutrition Administration begins its refocusing of operations, all 16 federal nutrition programs will continue without disruption. Pertaining to Indianapolis, it has a lower cost of living, one of the top airports in the country, and has excelled at innovative program delivery.”

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Ultimately, the administration says the reforms will end up helping the people who depend on the assistance the most.

“Since its inception, SNAP has helped our most vulnerable citizens afford the essential and nutritious food they need,” Rollins and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote in a Fox News op-ed in March. “At least, that is what the program is supposed to do.

“Over time, however, SNAP has been taken advantage of, allowing many to game the system and leaving millions of vulnerable Americans without healthy, nutrient-dense food options.”

Fox News Digital’s Katelyn Caralle contributed to this report.

A political firestorm erupted this week after a Washington, D.C., internal police email appeared to reprimand rank-and-file officers for body camera footage allegedly showing them “finess[ing]” their way out of making arrests on reasonable grounds.

The news comes as the Trump administration cracks down on crime in the District of Columbia at the federal level. While crime rates have steadily declined from a peak in 2023, the nation’s capital continues to suffer per-capita violent crime at higher rates than the national average, according to FBI data.

The Metropolitan Police Department confirmed to Fox News Digital that its brass had rescinded an email sent by the captain for Sector 2 of the Sixth Police District, which covers areas north of Marion Barry Avenue and east of the John Philip Sousa Bridge.

“We are seeing more and more BWCs [body-worn cameras] where officers are not making arrests where probable cause or RAS [reasonable amount of suspicion] is apparent. This is leading to complaints to IAD (internal affairs division) and OPC, and it is also leaving victims and complainants unprotected by the police,” wrote Capt. Jerome Merrill.

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Merrill’s letter, first obtained by Washington’s CBS affiliate, said the situation is getting many police officials in trouble for failing to recognize or correct classifications of interactions with the public.

“Please do not try and finesse your way out of an arrest it is not worth the consequences I assure you,” the memo said, urging police to make arrests or apply for warrants before detectives need to follow up on them.

The department told Fox News Digital the information in the email was “incorrect” and that MPD is investigating.

Asked about the situation and whether arrests can be made on reasonable suspicion in any context, former Supreme Court Chief of Police Ross Swope told Fox News Digital that the distinction is “not only typical of most departments, it is the law.”

Swope, who served for decades with the MPD and later wrote texts on police ethics and internal operations, said probable cause requires more than reasonable suspicion.

“It requires a higher degree of certainty,” he said. “[Probable cause] is when the facts and circumstances within an officer’s knowledge would lead a reasonable person to believe that a crime has been committed for which a summary arrest may be permitted.”

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He said Merrill may have viewed body cams and believed in his own view that arrests should have been made, but that he was wrong to instruct officers to make arrests based solely on reasonable suspicion.

Fox News Digital also reached out to the D.C. Police Union for comment but did not receive a response.

But Union President Gregg Pemberton told the CBS affiliate after the fact that he essentially, independently, agreed with Swope.

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“The Union has reviewed Captain Merrill’s email and determined that the reason that our members are not making arrests based on reasonable articulable suspicion is because that’s illegal,” Pemberton told the outlet.

“We would expect a captain of a police patrol district to know that, but unfortunately, this command staff official has proven himself uninformed and incapable of managing police operations in the District of Columbia,” he added.

A controversial Democratic congressional candidate running in a South Texas border district is under fire again as critics accuse him of smearing Border Patrol agents as racists, an allegation his campaign dismissed as “desperate attacks.”

Bobby Pulido, a former Latin music star running to unseat Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz, is taking heat for a recent interview in which he asserted, “It’s always down to race.”

During the interview, which was on a podcast called “Mind of Geniuz,” Pulido accused the Trump administration and Republicans’ immigration enforcement agenda of being motivated by the “theory of White replacement.”

“When President Trump ran, he ran on getting rid of the bad guys. They lied to us,” Pulido said.

“It’s race. It’s always down to race. And I hate to say this, because I hate to inflame it, but I’m going to call it out because that is what it is. Look, when they have this theory of White replacement, they’re saying, ‘Oh, no, no, if it weren’t for this and this and crime,’ they’ll throw in all these other things to dance around the true issue,” he said. “Which is there’s too many Brown and Black people, which they’re saying they’re just going to stay the same and be poor.”

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Pulido noted during the interview, “I do not want to demonize law enforcement.” However, he expressed that when it comes to immigration enforcement, “a lot of the people that are joining, not all of them, okay, there’s a lot of White nationalists that want to join because they want to go hunt down people, right, they’re yahoos.”

“It’s a shame,” he went on, “because then you start branding all ICE agents.”

A spokesperson for De La Cruz’s campaign decried Pulido’s comments as insulting Border Patrol agents.

Notably, just over 50% of Border Patrol personnel are Hispanic. The Rio Grande Valley Sector of the southern border, along which De La Cruz’s district sits, is home to roughly 3,100 Border Patrol agents and personnel, according to Texas Monthly.  

The spokesperson said that “Monica is proud to be raising her kids in South Texas,” emphasizing that “the Border Patrol agents our opponent insults are the same people she spends Friday nights with at a carne asada, sees at her kids’ schools, and prays with at church on Sunday.”

“That’s why she has their back in Congress, and that’s why she’s fighting every day to lower costs for families, protect Social Security and Medicare for our abuelitos, and keep our communities safe,” said the spokesperson.  

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In response, a Pulido campaign spokesperson dismissed the accusations, telling Fox News Digital in an emailed statement, “These desperate attacks prove one thing, the GOP establishment is in full panic mode because Mentirosa [Spanish for ‘liar’] Monica De La Cruz is running a dumpster fire of a campaign and they know they’re going to lose.”

“Bobby Pulido has family and friends who serve in Border Patrol and he has been a lifelong supporter of our law enforcement — South Texas knows that and they’re going to make it loud and clear in November,” the spokesperson added.

Since launching his congressional campaign, he has faced scrutiny for an array of matters, including a resurfaced music video depicting him engaging in lewd acts as well as his long-time prior association with a bandmate convicted as a child sex offender. He has firmly denied knowing the bandmate’s conviction and said he immediately cut off ties when he found out.

He has also faced criticism for sharing the stage with Julión Álvarez, a cartel operative sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department, according to the Daily Wire. A spokesperson for Pulido’s campaign told the outlet that despite the singer-turned-politician calling him “amigo” in a Facebook post, “Bobby and Álvarez are not friends.” The spokesperson said, “This is just another case of Republicans not understanding our culture – ‘amigo’ is a common expression.”

Zach Kraft, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, told Fox News Digital in an emailed statement that “there’s a clear pattern” with Pulido.

“He sides with criminals over law enforcement and families, every time,” said Kraft, adding, “He smears Border Patrol agents after spending decades bringing a convicted child predator, who raped an eight-year-old girl, to local parks and festivals. South Texans know he has no business being anywhere near Congress, and they will reject him in November.”

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Meanwhile, Paul Perez, president of the National Border Patrol Council, told Fox News Digital that “Bobby Pulido insults the Border Patrol agents protecting our community, but he had no problem spending decades knowingly bringing a convicted child sex predator into our neighborhoods or palling around with a sanctioned cartel operative.”

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“The agents who patrol this border, most of them Hispanic, know exactly whose side Bobby Pulido is on. It isn’t ours,” said Perez.

Fox News Digital also reached out to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic National Committee for comment.