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EXCLUSIVE: A State Department memo reveals that an international technology collective, now under a U.S. global terrorism designation, provided services to overseas terrorist groups and violent far-left agitators causing chaos in American cities, according to a copy obtained by Fox News Digital.

“Far-left terrorism poses a profound threat to the United States and the broader West,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Today, the United States sanctioned Autistici/Inventati – a major far-left tech collective whose services are used by the most active and violent Antifa cells in the United States and across the world.”

Autistici/Inventati, called the A/I Collective by the State Department, is an Italy-based group that builds highly sophisticated digital infrastructure used by violent left-wing organizations in the United States and Europe, along with Islamic terrorists, according to the State Department. The collective’s services include encrypted chats and email, web hosting, secure video conferencing and streaming and anonymity shields, according to the memo.

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“These tools are specifically designed to support the operations of far-left terrorist networks, built to enable them to organize, recruit, communicate, disseminate propaganda, share target information and tactics, and carry out violent attacks – all while remaining anonymous, untraceable, and beyond the reach of the law,” says the State Department’s memo.

A/I Collective has officially been deemed a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. The designation bars Americans and U.S. financial institutions from doing business with the group and freezes any assets it has under U.S. jurisdiction. Violators can face civil or criminal penalties.

The memo identifies Portland-based Rose City Antifa, known for its violent rioting and destruction, as one of the U.S. groups that relied on A/I Collective tools and services.

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Rose City Antifa is listed in the memo alongside a media organization that the State Department says uses A/I Collective tools to disseminate information to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which is proliferating inside the United States, Hamas, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hezbollah and others.

The memo also accuses the militant abortion-rights group “Jane’s Revenge” — which declared “open season” on pro-life organizations and threatened escalating attacks after the leaked Supreme Court draft signaling Roe v. Wade would be overturned — of using the collective’s services.

The State Department memo says the collective provides its services exclusively to left-wing extremists, screening users for ideological alignment before allowing them access to its tools.

The collective claims to host roughly 16,000 mailboxes, 1,500 websites, 5,500 mailing lists and 10,000 “blogs” on a custom-built platform. The State Department says militants frequently use those services to disseminate target information, tactical manuals and techniques and communiqués about recent attacks.

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The memo stressed that while the infrastructure is overseas, it supports domestic far-left groups that for years have wreaked havoc in the United States, mostly under the label of Antifa, or antifascism.

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“There will be no refuge for violent extremists who wage war on our civilization and plot to undermine law and order, destroy critical infrastructure, assault political opponents, or conspire to conceal their crimes from authorities,” Rubio said. “We will use all the tools and authorities at our disposal to fight terrorism and protect our way of life from terrorist coercion.”

The memo cites several examples of violent or terrorist activity that the State Department says was facilitated through A/I Collective technology.

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The memo identifies a far-left extremist media group that describes itself as a “tool” for militants worldwide to share “essential information” to be “acted upon.” According to State, the group relies on A/I Collective services to publish official communiqués and calls to action for U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations.

The memo says Rose City Antifa relied on A/I Collective tools and services to organize and incite violent and criminal acts, including disseminating an online flyer urging supporters to use laser pointers against U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopters.

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“All you need is a laser. Leave home – they can see where the laser is coming from,” the flyer said. “Go to a park, a field, or some other public place, and once the clock strikes 9 unleash your beam at the cop copter. Mask up. Coordinate with friends to throw a laser party!”

“Let’s take back the night together!” it continued. “It won’t take many of us to ground the helicopters!”

The memo says at least one man answered the call to action. Federal records show he later pleaded guilty to aiming a laser at a CBP helicopter, forcing the aircraft to abort its planned landing.

The memo says Rose City Antifa also used A/I Collective tools to disseminate personal information about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel and calls for targeted attacks against ICE agents “in their homes” and in public.

“Jane’s Revenge” used A/I Collective tools to “publish official communiqués and claims of responsibility for violent and criminal acts and to incite copycat attacks,” according to the State Department.

Notably, Jane’s Revenge claimed responsibility for the May 2022 firebombing of a crisis pregnancy center in Madison, Wisconsin. The following day, a cryptic message appeared on a blog affiliated with the group.

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“This was only a warning. We demand the disbanding of all anti-choice establishments, fake clinics, and violent anti-choice groups within the next thirty days,” the message said. “This is not a mere ‘difference of opinion’ as some have framed it. We are literally fighting for our lives. We will not sit still while we are killed and forced into servitude. We have run thin on patience and mercy for those who seek to strip us of what little autonomy we have left.”

In the following months, several more posts appeared claiming responsibility for vandalism of pregnancy centers across the country, including smashed glass windows and doors and graffiti. The State Department memo says that four members of the group were later federally charged for “‘conspiracy against rights’ through threats of force and intimidation.”

The memo also refers to far-left extremists in Atlanta using A/I Collective tools and services in a violent attempt to “prevent the construction of a law enforcement training center.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also weighed in.

“Far-left extremists, their fronts, and their enablers should be on notice: We will bring the full weight of our economic tools to bear,” he said. “Political terrorism has no place in our society, and we will continue to cut the financial lifelines of these groups until they are eliminated.”

Abroad, the memo says far-left extremists in France, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands used A/I Collective tools to claim responsibility for attacks on rail systems this year and to disseminate instructions for making improvised incendiary devices intended to disrupt railways.

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Anarchists who claimed responsibility for sabotaging infrastructure supporting the Transalpine Pipeline, a major crude-oil artery into Central Europe, also used A/I Collective tools, according to the memo. The State Department says the same was true of the far-left Vulkangruppe, which has targeted German infrastructure since 2011 and claimed responsibility for a January attack that knocked out power to roughly 45,000 Berlin households.

In 2025, President Donald Trump declared Antifa to be a terrorist organization.

Fox News Digital reached out to A/I Collective, Rose City Antifa and Jane’s Revenge.

An armed man arrested Aug. 2 at President Donald Trump‘s California golf course allegedly had first lady Melania Trump’s schedule and detailed information about U.S. Secret Service (USSS) personnel, according to reports.

Jeanine John Taele, 38, had more than 200 pages of writings that included schedules for the first lady and members of the president’s USSS detail, The Associated Press reported, citing information revealed during a Los Angeles County court hearing Wednesday.

The New York Post reported that prosecutors said Taele had seven notebooks containing 208 pages of drawings and sketches of Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles in Rancho Palos Verdes, lists of USSS schedules, details about individual security personnel and copies of Melania Trump‘s schedule.

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The writings also included detailed lists about surviving “off the grid,” according to the AP.

Los Angeles County Judge John Lonergan Jr. called the allegations “alarming” during Wednesday’s hearing.

“This case itself is alarming in this day and age with the violence that is creeping into our everyday lives, especially with our partisanship in the political environment” ahead of the midterms, Lonergan said, according to the AP.

The judge suspended criminal proceedings after a pretrial evaluation indicated Taele was not mentally fit to stand trial and sent the case to a mental health court, the AP reported.

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Taele was arrested earlier this month after plainclothes federal agents spotted him walking the grounds of the golf club, taking photographs and videos and appearing to monitor security-planning activities ahead of Trump’s visit, Fox News Digital previously reported.

Deputies who detained Taele allegedly found a 16-round magazine loaded with hollow-point ammunition in his pants pocket, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Authorities searched his vehicle and recovered a loaded pistol with a round in the chamber and another magazine containing hollow-point ammunition.

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Taele claimed he worked for the State Department and was at the golf course for a security detail.

Investigators later searched Taele’s Downey home and recovered an illegally modified AR-platform rifle, a .45-caliber pistol, body armor, high-capacity magazines, bulk ammunition, radio signal devices and multiple notebooks containing what authorities described at the time as “concerning statements.”

The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, USSS and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department have been investigating the case.

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Taele, a Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, will remain jailed until a Sept. 9 hearing at Hollywood Mental Health Court, according to the AP.

Taele’s public defender, A.J. Bayne, cautioned against drawing conclusions about his client’s motives.

“He’s a veteran, he served our country, and I don’t know enough right now, but he has a family that loves him, that has huge support for him,” Bayne told the AP, adding that “people assume too much” about Taele’s motives.

The USSS previously told Fox News Digital that it does not comment on specific protective intelligence matters, but “thoroughly investigates any information or activity that may reasonably be perceived as a protective intelligence concern or indicate a potential threat or directed interest toward any individual under Secret Service protection.”

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Trump addressed the arrest earlier this month.

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“Well, the only thing I get a little solace from is, they say only consequential presidents. And I am definitely consequential,” Trump said during an appearance on “Fox News @ Night.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and the Office of the First Lady for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Stepheny Price and Landon Mion contributed to this reporting.

Los Angeles’ Democratic mayoral candidates were torched by residents after a debate night in America’s second-most populous city that one voter described as “disgraceful.”

Besides being home to Hollywood, Los Angeles is one of America’s most economically important cities. The city, however, has struggled with recent fires, rising living costs, homelessness and outmigration. Those problems have fueled a particularly contentious mayoral race this year, which included a surprisingly competitive but ultimately unsuccessful bid by Republican Spencer Pratt.

With Pratt out of the race, Democrats Karen Bass, the incumbent, and Nithya Raman, a democratic socialist city council member, are locked in a competitive and bitter runoff for Los Angeles mayor. During last week’s debate, Bass and Raman traded personal attacks and insults, leaving some voters frustrated over what solutions the candidates could offer.

After the debate, voter Stacey Segarra Bohlinger told Fox News Digital she believes Bass and Raman are “both bad” and said, “I wish they could both lose.”

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Bohlinger, who until July served as a committee member on the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council, said that although she was initially “a huge champion” for Raman, “I don’t see substantive differences between the two of them.”

Bohlinger said Raman “reneged on a lot of the initial campaign promises she made” and also criticized the councilwoman’s approach to homelessness, which she described as “a very capitalist approach to what she thinks solving the issue of homelessness is.”

Regarding criticism of Bass, Bohlinger said, “I also agree with a lot of what said about the city not being in a good place right now.”

“She responded really terribly to the Palisades fires. She did not respond well to the Lineage fires,” she said, concluding, “I don’t have much good to say about either of them.”

Asked about her top issue, Bohlinger said the Los Angeles government “has a long sort of history of immense corruption.”

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“If you look up, you know, recent Los Angeles officials who have conviction records for corruption, it’s a really long list. So, I think along with the housing affordability issue [is] accessibility, transparency, more accountability, less corruption,” she said, adding, “We have a lot of sort of political dynasties in the city, and I think that’s a real fly in the ointment. I don’t think much is going to change until the corruption is dealt with.”

Meanwhile, Wayne Spindler, an Encino resident and regular City Hall critic, told Fox News Digital that “a lot of people… are upset.”

“They don’t like either one of them. And a lot of them are going to walk out of this [debate] and not vote,” he said.

Based on the debate, Spindler predicted the election is “going to be close” because “there was not a lot of enthusiasm.”

He said he will be voting for Raman, saying, “What I tell people is you got to go for one of the two.”

“You can’t write in Spencer [Pratt]. Spencer would have been the dream come true. That would have been amazing,” he said.

Another debate attendee, Gregory Wright, a committee member on the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council, told Fox News Digital, “For me, it’s more important that Democrats win whatever part of the Democratic spectrum they’re in.”

“I am in favor of visionary ideas for the future,” he said, adding, “I think socialism is the right direction for the entire world.”

After the debate, Fox News Digital contacted the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council, which co-hosted the event, for comment. Council President Howard Katchen clarified that “the comments by Stacey Segarra Bohlinger and Gregory Wright are their opinions as individuals and do not represent the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council.”

Katchen reiterated that the two spoke as individuals and that their comments did not represent the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council. He called the debate a “success as determined by over 400 attendees, over 700 virtual viewers, NPR LAist live broadcast to what I was told over 500,000 listeners and covered by local, state, national and international media outlets.” He also clarified that “Neighborhood Councils don’t endorse candidates for elected office.”

Joey Tuccio, an animal rights advocate who previously supported Pratt publicly, told Fox News Digital he was outraged after the debate. Referring to his work helping animals and people on Skid Row, he said, “We are doing their job.”

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“We’ve been catering Skid Row for years for free. We’ve got no support from the city. We have rescued over 150 animals. My rescue partner rescued a seven-year-old child that was being sex trafficked by his father. And Karen’s office just said that they are avoiding us because we are ‘haters,’” he said. “I think that is one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever heard in my life, and it’s disgraceful.”

He said that, for now, “I’m going to be not supporting either of them.”

Asked what he is looking for in a candidate, Tuccio said, “We want people that will enforce laws.”

“Specifically on Skid Row, every day, every time we go, we see somebody overdosing, we see dogs that are abandoned, we see children without their parents, and we see good people living on the streets that are so scared,” he said, adding, “It is lawless, and it’s not getting better.”

“People are being robbed there, people are being attacked, people are getting murdered,” he continued. “There’s people hanging themselves… people dying and rotting before anybody finds them. And from the animal side, there are animals that are left there for days and days starving to death. But then we get calls from caseworkers because they can’t get the support of the city.”

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“So, we need people to actually take the reins of this and stop pretending that everything is rainbows and unicorns because it’s not, and we have to have people that don’t ignore the problems.”

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Fox News Digital contacted the Bass and Raman campaigns for comment.

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed told Fox News host Jesse Watters on Monday that he would not defend the Green New Deal when confronted with his past support for the progressive climate proposal, a notable shift from years of publicly embracing it by name.

“Look, I’m not going to defend the Green New Deal,” El-Sayed told Watters after the host confronted him over his past support for the proposal. When Watters reiterated that El-Sayed was on record supporting it, El-Sayed redirected the discussion toward lowering energy costs and creating Michigan jobs by prioritizing renewables.

Michigan, which Trump won in 2024 but lost in 2020, is shaping up to have one of the most competitive Senate races in the country, with the likely narrow results in the state potentially determining control of Congress. Critics charge that El-Sayed is downplaying some of his past beliefs and scrubbing his online footprint to appear more moderate, and therefore more palatable, to Michigan voters.

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Though El-Sayed declined to defend the Green New Deal in front of a national audience, he previously hasn’t been so shy.

A Fox News Digital review of El-Sayed’s deleted social media posts, preserved via the Internet Archive, uncovered dozens of examples of the Michigan Senate hopeful defending the Green New Deal by name.

“Rather than announcing the next iteration of this or that car at [the North American International Auto Show 2019], I’d love to see automakers announce that they support the #GreenNewDeal,” El-Sayed wrote in January of that year.

On the primary campaign trail, Rep. Haley Stevens criticized El-Sayed over his past support for the Green New Deal on the grounds that it could lead to job losses in the automobile manufacturing industry.

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“The struggle for the Green New Deal uplifts the struggle for racial justice,” El-Sayed wrote in April 2019.

The Green New Deal is a 2019 progressive policy framework floated by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., that seeks to gradually transition the United States’ electrical grid away from fossil fuels. Their plan has become synonymous with the left-wing faction of the Democratic Party, leading many Democrats running in competitive races to distance themselves from it.

In another post, from September 2019, El-Sayed wrote, “I believe in a Green New Deal” five times in all caps. He also suggested that the Green New Deal is essential to preserve freedom of speech because there can be no First Amendment “without the freedom to breathe the breath you have to take to speak in the first place.”

“The #GreenNewDeal doesn’t center polar bears or glaciers, it centers those children forced to breath (sic.) in corporate pollution in their communities,” El-Sayed wrote. “I stand with the Green New Deal because it stands for those kids.”

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CNN previously reported that El-Sayed scrubbed large swathes of his commentary from the internet prior to announcing his run for Senate. The deletions appear to have been selective, as he still has some posts up from before he launched his campaign.

In his since-deleted social media posts, El-Sayed endorsed the “defund the police” movement, argued cities spent too much policing poverty and described police departments as “standing armies we deploy against our own people.” In a separate YouTube video that was later hidden, he floated replacing the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms with a constitutional right to healthcare and called Border Patrol agents “white supremacists” while blaming American policies for migration from struggling nations.

Though El-Sayed regularly mentioned the Green New Deal on X prior to running for Senate, he has not posted the phrase even once since announcing his candidacy, a review found. 

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The El-Sayed campaign did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, representatives of President Donald Trump filed a brief in the New York Court of Appeals, arguing the court should throw out his liability finding in a $464 million civil fraud case that centered on Trump’s real estate valuations.

The appeal argues the case had several legal flaws that should have prevented it from being heard in the first place.

“This case should have never been brought, and the judgment cannot stand,” the appeal states. “This case is extremely unusual; it involves not only reams of improper statements targeting President Trump, his family, and his businesses, but also a decision to apply [New York law] against those targets in a completely unprecedented and unlawful way.”

The appeal is the latest instance of President Donald Trump pushing back against what he has characterized as politically charged lawfare that he endured between his two administrations. It also gives Trump a renewed opportunity to push back against some of the penalties that still apply to him from that verdict.

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In 2022, New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Trump, alleging 200 instances of fraud. Specifically, her office alleged that Trump had routinely overvalued properties in New York City to secure favorable loans or insurance rates in violation of New York Executive Law § 63(12). The provision instructs the attorney general to prosecute cases of repeated fraudulent or illegal acts.

The law defines fraud as “any device, scheme or artifice to defraud and any deception, misrepresentation, concealment, suppression, false pretense, false promise or unconscionable contractual provision.”

Trump was found liable in 2023.

As a result, Trump was required to pay $355 million plus interest in damages and was banned from serving as an officer or director of any New York company for two years. 

He was also banned from applying for loans from any New York bank or financial institution for three years. Although an intermediate appeals court later vacated the monetary award, Trump’s lawyers argue the underlying liability finding and the remaining restrictions should also be overturned.

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The appeal filed Wednesday argues against the verdict along five key lines.

The document argues that Attorney General James lacked the authority to bring the case, noting that the case involves private commercial transactions rather than harm to the public. It also contends that Trump’s valuations reflected subjective estimates that lenders independently evaluated rather than fraudulent misrepresentations.

“The only supposed ‘victims’ here are a handful of ultrasophisticated banks and insurers that have never claimed to be injured, were eager to do business with President Trump and his family, and made over $100 million from these transactions,” the appeal states.

The appeal further argues that the prosecution’s premise of overvaluation is based on the misguided idea that real estate has one objective value and that deviations from that value must be fraud.

“Under that breathtakingly broad theory, NYAG can second-guess any business transaction in this State on almost any imagined grounds,” the filing states.

And, on the penalties, the appeal argues that the $450 million disgorgement is excessive, unlawful and even unconstitutional.

Finally, the appeal argues that the politically charged nature of the case, on its own, should have been enough to halt its consideration.

“NYAG cannot point to a single Section 63(12) enforcement action against similarly situated developers (or any other type of defendant) based on practices comparable to those alleged here,” the filing states.

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“Ms. James repeatedly called President Trump a ‘criminal’; promised to ‘investigate President Trump and his business transactions,’ ‘review … Trump-related real estate transactions,’ and ‘take on … his business in New York’; and threatened President Trump’s ‘family’ and ‘anyone in his orbit,” the document states.

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James’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, a centrist Democrat known for bashing his party’s left flank, is more popular among Keystone State Republicans than their own GOP senator, Sen. Dave McCormick, according to a new poll.

The release of the poll this week by the New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer and Siena University is further evidence that Fetterman, who at times breaks with his party and aligns with President Donald Trump, and who is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel, has become increasingly popular among Republicans.

The survey may boost speculation that the first-term senator could potentially bolt the Democrats and become a Republican. But Fetterman has denied that he plans to leave the Democratic Party.

Nearly 3 in 4 Republican registered voters in Pennsylvania (73%) held a favorable opinion of Fetterman, according to the poll. That’s 10 points higher than the 63% of Republicans in the state who viewed McCormick favorably.

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The 73% of Republicans who view Fetterman favorably is a major increase from the 25% who said the same thing in 2024, two years after the senator was elected.

But Fetterman’s standing among Democrats continued to sink, according to the poll.

Just 22% of registered Democrats in Pennsylvania said they had a favorable view of Fetterman, while 63% viewed him unfavorably. That’s a dramatic reversal from two years ago, when 74% of Democrats viewed Fetterman favorably.

The survey also indicated that by a 49%-35% margin, independents held a favorable view of Fetterman.

Matt Beynon, a veteran Pennsylvania-based Republican consultant, told Fox News Digital, “I think a lot of Republicans appreciate the fact that Sen. Fetterman is willing to stick his thumb in the radical wing of his party’s eye on issues like antisemitism.”

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Fetterman’s growing popularity among Republicans has fueled speculation that he leave the Democratic Party before potentially facing a primary challenge when he’s up for re-election in 2028.

The senator, who is a strong supporter of Israel, has increasingly railed against fellow Democrats who have criticized Israeli leaders over their ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza. Fetterman has said he has “no plans” to leave the Democratic Party. But he added if Democrats officially became the “anti-Israel party,” count him out.

“My long-term concern has been with the Democratic Party, as I am a member of that, is that our party is going to back away and turn their back to Israel,” he said last month at a Hill Nation Summit in Washington, D.C.

“If our party ever becomes, and just makes it official, the anti-Israel party, that’s when I would leave because that’s been a moral clarity for me.”

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and other Senate Republicans have reached out to Fetterman regarding a party switch.

“I have had conversations with him in the past, as have many of my colleagues about the challenges he faces in his caucus. And there are many of us who, I think, would welcome the opportunity to have him join the Republican conference, but ultimately that’s a decision that’s up to him,” Thune told reporters in July.

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But Beynon said that regardless of Fetterman’s growing popularity among Republicans, “when it comes time for the senator’s re-election campaign in 2028, those same voters will be reminded that John Fetterman votes with Democrats more than 90% of the time.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the senator’s office for comment regarding the new poll, but did not receive a response at the time this story was published.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe flew to Moscow to meet with Russian intelligence officials, the Kremlin reportedly said Wednesday, after video emerged of a U.S. military transport plane coming in for a landing Tuesday at Vnukovo airport.

President Donald Trump, when asked this morning about Ratcliffe’s visit on “The Glenn Beck Program,” said, “He’s there on, you know, very sort of semi-routine.”

“We would like to see the war with Ukraine end,” Trump added, before saying, “Now something may come out of it.

“We’re working very hard to get that war ended and frankly they both want to see it ended at this point.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House, the CIA and the U.S. Embassy in Moscow for further comment.

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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday, according to Reuters, “All I can ⁠tell you is that there have been contacts via the security services. I can tell you that there have been no meetings with the Russian president.”

The news agency cited the Kremlin as saying Ratcliffe met with Russian intelligence officials.

“Naturally, President Putin is kept informed of everything without delay,” Peskov also was quoted as saying.

The last CIA director to visit Moscow was William Burns in November 2021, three months before Russia’s war against Ukraine started, Reuters reported.

A senior Ukrainian official told The Associated Press that Washington informed Kyiv a delegation would be traveling to the Russian capital and asked it to suspend strikes until it left.

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The official said the request did not apply to all Russian territory, but specifically to Moscow, St. Petersburg and some northern regions. Strikes on other parts of Russia continued, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk publicly.

Video captured a U.S. military transport plane coming in for a landing Tuesday at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport, in a flight that the Kremlin initially claimed it had no information about.

Data from the website Flightradar24 showed that the Boeing C-17A Globemaster III left Joint Base Andrews in Maryland early Sunday afternoon on a flight to Riga, Latvia. The aircraft then traveled from Riga to Moscow on Tuesday morning.

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The last time a U.S.-registered jet made a direct flight to Russia from Europe was in January when special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, visited Moscow for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine, according to Reuters.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Far from the U.S. warships enforcing a blockade at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, nearly 40 million barrels of Iranian crude are sitting aboard tankers in waters near Malaysia, east of Singapore.

The cargo amounts to roughly 20 very large crude carriers’ worth of oil, a floating stockpile that could still give Tehran a way to turn crude already outside the blockade zone into cash even as the blockade sharply restricts fresh exports.

The stockpile poses a test for the Trump administration as it moves from military action and a naval blockade toward what the White House calls its financial “endgame” against Tehran.

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday launched Operation Economic Outcast, promising a “zero-leakage approach” designed to cut off Iran’s remaining sources of revenue after months of pressure on its oil sales, shipping networks and financial enablers.

The blockade appears to be making it substantially harder for Iran to export new oil. China’s imports of Iranian crude have fallen to an estimated 534,000 barrels per day so far this month, down from roughly 823,000 barrels per day in July, according to provisional Kpler data reported by Reuters.

But millions of barrels that moved beyond the blockade line before it tightened remain within potential reach of buyers. Iran has an estimated 80 million barrels of crude held in floating storage, Reuters reported, with roughly half aboard vessels near Malaysia.

That leaves Washington facing a different challenge: stopping Tehran from monetizing oil the blockade did not trap.

If Iran can still turn that crude into cash, the regime can use the proceeds to pay for imports and potentially finance efforts to rebuild its military even as the blockade restricts fresh exports.

That makes the tankers near Malaysia an early test of whether the administration can deliver the “total isolation” it has promised.

CHINA ORDERS FIRMS TO IGNORE US IRAN SANCTIONS, DARING US TO ENFORCE CRACKDOWN

“The blockade as it’s currently being practiced and enforced against isn’t really stopping the flow of Iranian oil that’s already past the blockade line,” Max Meizlish, a former Treasury official focused on sanctions policy and current senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital.

Iranian oil can move through ship-to-ship transfers, in which cargo is shifted from one tanker to another at sea. The practice can help obscure the oil’s origin before it reaches a buyer, often an independent Chinese refinery.

Simply having the crude outside the blockade zone does not automatically give Tehran usable revenue. Iran still needs to deliver the oil, collect payment and move the proceeds through the financial channels it has used to evade sanctions.

Treasury has said Iran primarily settles oil sales in Chinese yuan, with exchange houses and front companies helping convert those funds into currencies the regime can use. The department has also previously tied proceeds from Iranian oil sales to the Iranian government, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, weapons development and Tehran’s regional proxies.

Meizlish noted that the administration has continued sanctioning Chinese and Hong Kong trading houses, maritime service providers and other entities accused of enabling Iranian sanctions evasion but has stopped short of designating a Chinese financial institution.

The U.S. cut the bank off from access to the American financial system in 2012 over dealings with Iran, Meizlish said, but stopped short of placing it on Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals list. He argued that formally designating the bank could put pressure on its owner, China National Petroleum Corporation, and potentially disrupt a channel used to move Iranian oil revenue.

Meizlish noted that the administration has continued sanctioning Chinese and Hong Kong trading houses, maritime service providers and other entities accused of enabling Iranian sanctions evasion, but has so far stopped short of designating a Chinese financial institution.

“Secretary Bessent didn’t mention China by name,” he said, adding that the issue could become a subject of higher-level engagement between Washington and Beijing.

The administration has already targeted the Malaysia route.

In April, Treasury sanctioned the Hong Kong-flagged tanker Lynn, saying the vessel conducted a ship-to-ship transfer of Iranian crude off Malaysia before delivering the cargo to China.

Meizlish said another option would be to expand pressure on shadow-fleet vessels operating near Malaysia and elsewhere in Asia in an effort to keep that oil from ultimately reaching Chinese buyers.

“The U.S. could expand the blockades in that sense by going after shadow fleet tankers, operating, for instance, off the coast of Malaysia, which is a huge hub for illicit ship-to-ship transfers,” he said.

He said the sharp decline in Chinese purchases suggests the pressure campaign is having an effect, but argued that crude already aboard shadow-fleet tankers remains a potential future source of revenue for Tehran.

“There’s a lot more that we can do,” Meizlish said.

“Unless we expect for this regime to ultimately fall, we should be putting a lot of pressure into interdicting this oil that’s on the market right now on shadow fleet tankers, because this money could eventually go into the regime’s pockets down the road,” he said.

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Asked whether the administration planned further action against Iranian oil cargoes and shadow-fleet vessels near Malaysia, a War Department official told Fox News Digital that U.S. forces would continue “global maritime enforcement” to disrupt illicit networks and interdict sanctioned vessels supporting Iran “wherever they operate, at the time and place of our choosing.”

“Under Operation Economic Outcast, anyone foolish enough to continue doing business with the Iranian regime cannot continue to enjoy access to the global financial system,” a Treasury Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “We will cut every remaining economic lifeline Tehran has.”

Meizlish said money from oil already sitting on shadow-fleet tankers could still wind up in Tehran’s hands and help Iran rebuild military capabilities damaged in the conflict.

Going after those tankers would not be simple. The U.S. Navy is already stretched by operations in the Strait of Hormuz and elsewhere, he said, and seizing ships and their cargo can trigger legal fights over ownership, custody and what happens to the oil afterward.

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Meizlish said Congress could make it easier for the government to seize illicit cargoes. He also argued that Washington should look for ways to expand its capacity to pursue shadow-fleet vessels if the Navy cannot do it alone.

Bessent’s new campaign goes beyond oil, targeting digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping. He also threatened broader secondary sanctions against entities that continue doing business with Tehran.

The drop in Chinese purchases shows Iran is having a harder time getting new oil to market. But millions of barrels are already sitting outside the blockade.

Whether Tehran can still sell that oil, and whether Washington is willing to go after it near Malaysia, will help determine how much “zero leakage” actually means.

With the November midterms approaching, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is joining attorneys general from 23 states and Washington, D.C., in suing the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) over a Trump-backed mail-ballot rule that would impose new federal requirements on how states prepare and send mail ballots.

“I’m suing the Trump Administration to stop their unconstitutional attempt to change the rules and restrict mail-in voting. I’ll remind the President of my track record going up against him in court — and winning — to protect Pennsylvania’s free, fair, safe, and secure elections. I’m prepared to do so again,” Shapiro wrote on X. “Nothing about voting by mail has changed here in Pennsylvania. You can still vote safely and securely by mail.”

“While Donald Trump may try to inject chaos into our elections, the Constitution is clear: the authority to set election rules belongs to the states — not the federal government,” he continued.

The two-dozen-state coalition returned to court two days after the Supreme Court stayed an earlier injunction issued by a Massachusetts federal judge against key parts of Trump’s mail-voting executive order, finding the states’ initial challenge premature because USPS had not yet issued a final rule when they filed suit.

TRUMP SCORES SUPREME COURT WIN ON MAIL-IN VOTING RESTRICTIONS BEFORE MIDTERMS

“The Supreme Court ruling was a major win for the security of American elections. Radical Democrats continue to oppose commonsense measures that protect the security of mail-in ballots and ensure only Americans are electing American leaders,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “The Trump Administration will continue to lawfully enact the agenda President Trump was elected on – which includes the safety and security of our elections.”

At issue is USPS’s newly finalized “Ballot Mail for Federal Elections” rule, which went into effect last week and was published Wednesday. It would require state and local election officials to submit information on intended mail-ballot recipients to a USPS portal, where the agency would compile state-specific lists of enrolled mail voters. It would also require certain mail-in ballot design requirements, such as trackable barcodes, and require officials to submit ballot-envelope designs to USPS for pre-approval.

In their 53-page complaint, the states argue that the rule improperly gives USPS a new role in running elections, forcing election officials to adopt new procedures, share ballot-recipient information and potentially replace already-purchased envelopes as the midterms draw closer. They also argue that Congress, not the president or Postal Service, has the authority to alter election rules, and that USPS skipped a review process for major nationwide changes to postal services or operations.

NEWSOM PROMISES NEW LEGAL FIGHT AFTER TRUMP GETS SUPREME COURT VICTORY ON MAIL-IN VOTING

The coalition is asking the court to block the rule while the lawsuit proceeds and ultimately throw it out, arguing that their new challenge answers the Supreme Court’s timing concern. A separate Massachusetts injunction had temporarily blocked USPS from putting the requirements in place for the November midterms, but the judge lifted that order Wednesday following the Supreme Court’s ruling.

“This Court held that ‘no law enacted by Congress delegates authority to control mail-in voting to USPS,’ and that the President’s directives to USPS were ultra vires,” the states write in their complaint. “The Supreme Court subsequently stayed the injunction—not because Plaintiff States’ claims lacked merit, but because the States ‘lack[ed] standing to bring’ their claims as to the [Executive Order] … As the Court explained, USPS had not yet implemented the EO, but if USPS ultimately adopts a final rule that ‘harms the States, they may challenge that rule.’ USPS then published its final rule two days later.”

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USPS did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment in time for publication.

Delaware Sen. Chris Coons is facing backlash after declaring that the United States is “no longer” the leader of the free world and pointing instead to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as the national leader putting his country “on the line for freedom.”

“I would say we are no longer the leaders of the free world. In fact, if anything Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the primary national leader who is putting his country’s men and women on the line for freedom,” said Coons during the town hall earlier this month.

“We need to earn our place back as leader in the free world in the future,” he added.

Coons’ remarks underscore his long-running alignment with Kyiv at a moment when President Donald Trump is pressing for an end to the war and putting a renewed emphasis on American power and national pride. The Delaware Democrat has been one of Congress’ more outspoken supporters of Ukraine, repeatedly backing military aid, tougher sanctions on Russia and continued U.S. engagement with Zelenskyy’s government.

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Coons spoke with Dover, Delaware, Councilman Andre Boggerty alongside Rep. Sarah McBride in a virtual town hall Tuesday hosted by the Kent County Democratic Committee focused on local issues.

Coons has been a vocal advocate for sustained U.S. support for Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, repeatedly pressing for military assistance and tougher sanctions on Moscow. Coons visited Kyiv in 2022 to meet with Zelenskyy and recently visited Odesa with Senate Foreign Relations Committee members in February to reiterate “the ironclad, bipartisan support” for Ukraine, according to a press release.

Nick Adams, special presidential envoy for American tourism, exceptionalism, and values, told Fox News Digital Coons’ comments are “the essence of America last.”

“The United States is today, has been since 1776, and with God’s grace, always will be the leader of the free world. To suggest otherwise is to ignore our Constitution and the blood shed by our heroes who made sure that our Declaration of Independence would not just be a theoretical document but the beginning of a new era in the history of humanity,” said Adams.

Adams added that no other nation can hold a candle to America, pointing to its constitutional freedoms, founding principles of liberty and belief that natural rights transcend government authority.

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“To say otherwise is to reveal an unbelievable ignorance as to what our nation is, where we came from, and how our destiny will always be shaped by the principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” Adams added.

Conservative critics seized on Coons’ remarks, accusing him of being “anti-American.”

“Wow! This is truly sick behavior. Sen. Chris Coons — a Democrat who nobody has ever heard of, but nonetheless a U.S. Senator — says the U.S. is ‘no longer the leaders of the free world’ because ‘Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the primary national leader,’” wrote the White House’s Rapid Response account on X.

“Imagine asserting this. What an absolute clown,” wrote one user.

“Chris Coons has always been an anti-American fraud. He’s a total coward,” said another person.

ZELENSKYY PRESSURES US AND EUROPE FOR MORE ‘AIR DEFENSE’ ASSISTANCE AMID ONGOING WAR WITH RUSSIA

“What an embarrassment he is — Ukraine hasn’t held elections since 2019,” commented a user.

The Russia-Ukraine war has dragged on for more than four years, with Kyiv holding off a larger Russian force while facing manpower shortages and relying heavily on continued Western weapons.

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Zelenskyy met with Trump in the Oval Office on July 28, where the two discussed licensing Ukraine to produce Patriot missile interceptors as Kyiv seeks to strengthen its air defenses.

Coons’ office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s press inquiry. 

A federal judge appointed by former President Joe Biden is siding with the Trump administration in refusing to dismiss a case against a House Democrat accused of assaulting federal immigration officers.

Two of the three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit refused to dismiss the Department of Justice (DOJ) case against Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., stemming from a 2025 incident at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Newark, New Jersey.

An unannounced visit to the Delaney Hall detention center by a group of Democratic officials devolved into chaos in May 2025 that culminated in a physical standoff between federal lawmakers and ICE agents and the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. McIver was charged with three counts, including assaulting and impeding federal officers.

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She attempted to get the case thrown out, arguing that she is immune from prosecution because her actions were part of her official duties as a member of Congress.

She also accused the DOJ of unfairly singling her out, with her congressional office calling the charges “vindictive.”

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But the 2-1 decision, made by Biden-appointed Judge Cindy Chung and Trump-appointed Judge Stephanos Bibas, stated that McIver’s argument of legislative immunity would not stand for two of the three counts, while the third count was sent back to a lower court for further review.

Court documents say McIver allegedly “slammed her forearm” into a federal officer trying to arrest Baraka. On that count, the federal appellate court agreed with a lower court decision that her “alleged intervention into the Mayor’s questionable arrest had no cognizable connection to any legislative function” protected by the Constitution.

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The second count alleged that McIver used both of her forearms to “strike [an officer] as she returned inside of the secured area of Delaney Hall.”

The two judges wrote, “Like the acts charged in Count One, the acts of pushing past and forcibly striking someone are unambiguously non-legislative: they are not integral to the legislative process.”

Judge Thomas Ambro wrote in dissent, “When an Executive Branch official prevents a Member from entering a DHS facility, she is denied effective access to an oversight inspection.”

McIver herself said in a statement that “the court got it wrong.”

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“Today’s decision chills that authority and emboldens the Trump administration to continue persecuting our most vulnerable communities, those who try to defend them, and anyone who dares hold the president or his lackeys accountable. I will not fold to this administration. We are exploring every possible option. The administration will not stop me from doing my job or standing for what is right. This is not over,” McIver said.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said Tuesday he was going to keep a piece of President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom as a paperweight “after we all blow it up.”

“In about 10 to 15 years, we are all going to be sitting here with smiles on our faces,” Krasner said, according to video footage obtained by WCAU. “And I’m going to have a paperweight sitting on my desk. And do you know what that paper weight’s going to be? It’s going to be a piece of the ballroom after we blow it up.”

Krasner, who has previously called Trump a fascist and said he would hunt down Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, made the comments while speaking at George Washington’s historic home in Philadelphia during the city’s annual slavery commiseration, according to WCAU.

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Krasner first called Trump “a pain in the a–,” to which an audience member responded, “No, he’s the devil!”

Krasner then responded, “He’s the devil, all right, well there is some evidence to that effect.”

“The man himself is the embodiment of hate. He is the embodiment of ignorance. He is the embodiment of depriving people of their vote and their education. That’s who he is,” Krasner continued.

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Krasner was specifically bashing Trump for deciding to replace a slavery exhibit at the Washington home under a March executive order titled, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.”

Under the order, the National Park Service replaced the panels dedicated to showcasing the history of George Washington’s slaves with more broad displays of U.S. history. A protracted legal battle between the city and the Trump administration most recently saw a federal appeals court side with the federal government and rule that Philadelphia had no legal right to dictate the content of the displays at the federally owned site.

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Despite the city’s loss to the federal government in the legal fight, Krasner remained defiant.

“This memorial will be here, the educational content will be here,” Krasner railed Tuesday. “People will be coming to see it, not for a year or two, or not even 20 years. They will be coming to see it as long as this federal park is here.”

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“But let me tell you what will not be here,” he continued.

“There will not be a ballroom. There will not be a Kennedy Center renamed for a fool,” Krasner said.

Krasner did specify that the envisioned demolition would be “in an official ceremony, just to be clear, in an official ceremony we’re gonna blow it up and we’re gonna give the taxpayers their money back by selling old pieces as paperweights, and I’m gonna have one on my desk.”

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The White House fired back at Krasner’s comments about the ballroom project.

“President Trump continues to implement long-overdue and necessary renovations to beautify the People’s House as we approach our great Nation’s 250th anniversary of independence. Thanks to the Builder-in-Chief, the White House will be properly glorified and remain in excellent condition for generations to come. Only people who suffer from a severe and incurable disease known as Trump Derangement Syndrome would find a problem with that,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

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When reached by Fox News Digital, Nate Herring, the U.S. Secret Service’s lead public affairs specialist, said, “The U.S. Secret Service investigates anything that can be perceived as a threat toward our protectees. Out of concern for operational security, we do not discuss matters of protective intelligence.”

Fox News Digital contacted Philadelphia’s Justice Department for further comment.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s unusual public praise for President Donald Trump is raising political eyebrows, with observers suggesting the break from his usual posture could foreshadow how the Democrat positions himself ahead of 2028.

Newsom heaped praise on Trump accounts, or 530a accounts, which the president created with the help of Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Cory Booker, D-N.J., to provide a market-indexed nest egg beginning at $1,000 for children born during his second term.

“Gavin Newsom, who fancies himself a 2028 nominee, has come out and said that he completely supports this and that he thinks it’s the best thing President Trump has ever done,” conservative writer Charles Hurt said in response.

“He is so thirsty,” Hurt went on, adding on “Fox & Friends Weekend” that the remark reminded him of how some Democrats broke ranks to praise Trump’s “No Tax on Tips” plans that reduced federal levies on restaurant and service gratuities.

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Former George W. Bush White House press secretary Dana Perino said on Fox News’ “The Five” that she believes Newsom’s comments are indeed a “2028 play.”

“I think this is going to pit some of the 20 candidates [against each other at debates if they are collectively asked] ‘Will you keep Trump accounts?’” she said. Perino suggested Newsom would have the upper hand and could point to his early support to counter allegations of political expediency.

California Assembly Minority Leader Alexandra Macedo told Fox News Digital that the rare collaboration on Trump accounts is encouraging but should be the rule, not the exception.

“It is good to see Gavin Newsom working with the Trump administration and recognizing a good idea when he sees one,” said Macedo, R-Tulare.

“Hopefully this is not Halley’s Comet. Californians should not have to wait another 75 years for Newsom to do it again,” she said.

During a news conference Friday, Newsom said Californians should consider opening a Trump account for their newborns, comparing the program to a Sacramento-based one championed by his wife.

“I’m enthusiastic about encouraging people to get a Trump account. I think it’s incredibly important,” Newsom said at an event alongside first lady Jennifer Siebel Newsom. “It’s one of the best things he’s done, and so we’re here to encourage people to take advantage of this.”

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Newsom warned Californians not to “fall prey” to politics or cynicism, or “even the fear that if I download a Trump account somehow that means something.”

“It doesn’t, it just means something for your kid. It’s not Trump’s money. It’s your child’s money.”

Siebel-Newsom spoke about a similar California program aimed at education expenses called “CalKIDS,” which the Sacramento Bee reported has not had the same successful launch as Trump accounts.

Newsom recently called 2028 presidential conjecture “wildly premature,” but acknowledged toying with the idea while taking steps that signal potential interest, including a nationally televised debate with potential Republican contender Gov. Ron DeSantis on Fox News Channel in 2023. He also told the Los Angeles Times more recently that “I’d be lying” if he said he hasn’t thought about running.

Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom for comment.

Some social media users also expressed surprise at Newsom’s tack.

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“Uh oh… Newsom might have a decent campaign manager telling him to sound moderate, rational and team-building,” one X user said.

“The outgoing Golden State governor and 2028 White House hopeful said that he is ‘enthusiastic’ about Trump accounts, the Republican leader’s initiative that created investment accounts for children under 18, with the federal government depositing $1,000 into accounts for babies born during the president’s second term,” read a tweet from conservative podcaster Chad Law.

“Did something happen to Newsom?” added Defiant L’s, an account known for posting examples of liberals’ self-owns and perceived hypocrisies.

Fox News host Jesse Watters compared the effort to Bush’s much-maligned plan to privatize Social Security, calculating that returns for seniors would have doubled and the program would be solvent instead of facing potential insolvency in the 2030s.

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Newsom also reiterated in a post on X that California was the “first state in the country” to make 5.5 million students eligible for the CalKIDS program for college and career expenses.

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Newsom is one of several potential Democratic candidates representing different segments of the party, including socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Biden administration Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

FIRST ON FOX: Former Army aviator Rep. Matt Van Epps, R-Tenn., said he “vividly” remembers the moment five years ago when he heard the U.S. was withdrawing from Afghanistan with scant shreds of a plan in place.

“I remember my boss at the time in Tennessee state government asked me, like, ‘Hey Matt, are you OK?’ And, you know, I think the frank answer is no, I’m very upset about this,” he told Fox News Digital in an interview. “And as I talked to my colleagues, some who were serving with me in government, others that were still active-duty army and in the military, I think the feeling was generally the same, that we spent so much time and effort and to see that unfold the way that it did was just beyond frustrating.”

To this day, Van Epps believes neither the Biden administration nor former President Joe Biden himself have been “adequately held responsible in the aftermath of just an absolutely chaotic withdrawal that did not have to happen.”

It’s part of what motivated him to introduce a resolution marking Wednesday’s fifth anniversary of the tragic bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, which took the lives of 13 U.S. service members in addition to over 100 Afghanis near the Abbey Gate.

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“We’ve introduced this resolution, first and foremost, to remember that, coming up on five years ago, those 13 brave service members made the ultimate sacrifice at Abbey Gate,” Van Epps said. “And then second to that is that the Biden-Harris administration absolutely failed to withdraw in Afghanistan, and it didn’t have to be that way. And it’s important for the American people to remember what the Biden-Harris administration did in that abject failure, withdrawing from Afghanistan.”

AMERICA’S PROMISE TO OUR AFGHAN ALLIES IS STILL UNFINISHED FIVE YEARS LATER

Van Epps served 10 years of active duty that included deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, spending part of that time as an air mission commander. He then served in the Tennessee Army National Guard.

And his ties to the withdrawal are personal, Van Epps said — two of his friends were on the ground in Kabul when the evacuation was taking place.

“I had two very close friends who were there as part of that evacuation. And they served honorably and heroically and did incredible work with the hand that they were dealt, they just should never have been put in that situation to begin with,” he said.

The Biden administration faced bipartisan backlash for how it handled the withdrawal from Afghanistan amid the Taliban’s lightning-fast takeover of the country.

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The majority of Democrats, however, have defended Biden. Many have said he was carrying out the work of President Donald Trump’s agreement with the Taliban during his first administration in February 2020, which called for the U.S. to withdraw within 14 months.

DEMOCRATS CONDEMN DNC FOR POLITICIZING FALLEN SOLDIERS IN DELETED MEMORIAL DAY POST

Van Epps defended Trump’s peace deal, arguing it cleared the way for a “very deliberate withdrawal from Afghanistan that had conditions that the Taliban and the Afghan government had to meet for us to withdraw our soldiers.”

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“And then the Biden team gets in, totally ignores the Doha agreement where they could have enforced those accountability measures on the Taliban, totally missed and ignored all of these warning signals as the Taliban was gaining ground across the country. They were more interested in optics than operations,” he said.

The chief executive of America’s oldest pro-life organization told Fox News Digital that President Donald Trump’s FDA nominee, Dr. Heidi Overton, could bring renewed scrutiny to mifepristone, the abortion drug at the center of an ongoing federal safety review.

John Mize, CEO of Americans United for Life (AUL), said he has had five or six conversations with Overton, who is known for her pro-life views. She currently serves as Trump’s deputy assistant for domestic policy.

“I think she’s going to bring objectivity to the issue of mifepristone in a way that will expose this drug for the damage it causes women,” Mize said in an interview on Friday, adding that his organization is “optimistic” that Overton will be a “pro-life FDA commissioner.”

Overton’s nomination comes just weeks after an 18-year-old woman in North Carolina was accused of using mifepristone and misoprostol to terminate a pregnancy at 31 weeks, well beyond mifepristone’s FDA-approved limit of 10 weeks.

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Mize has led AUL for two-and-a-half years. The nonprofit has advocated against abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide and other practices it considers threats to human life since its founding in 1971.

If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Mize said he believes Overton is the “right candidate” to lead the FDA, citing her experience in government, clinical medicine and medical research. If confirmed, Overton would take the reins of the agency responsible for regulating abortion medication, including mifepristone.

Mifepristone carries an FDA boxed warning, the agency’s strongest safety warning, for the risk of serious and sometimes fatal infections or bleeding.

Prompted initially by COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the FDA stopped enforcing the drug’s in-person dispensing requirement in 2021 and later removed it permanently after reviewing the available safety data.

Under current FDA rules, patients do not necessarily have to see a physician in person before receiving a prescription, allowing mifepristone to be prescribed after telehealth visit and mailed by a certified pharmacy. Mize wants those rules tightened.

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“Dr. Overton and I share a very similar perspective that the drug is dangerous, particularly in an unregulated way for women,” Mize told Fox News Digital. “I firmly believe she understands the clinical implications of taking a drug with a black box warning and now shipping it in the mail.”

Overton has publicly criticized mifepristone and other abortion drugs, which accounted for about 65% of clinician-provided abortions in 2023, according to the Guttmacher Institute, up from 53% in 2020 before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

In a February 2023 policy brief for the America First Policy Institute, a MAGA-aligned think tank where she previously served as chief policy officer, Overton denounced federal policymakers for expanding access to abortion pills.

She also accused the Biden administration of using the COVID-19 pandemic to wrongly justify allowing mifepristone and misoprostol, a drug that induces early labor, to be sent to patients through the mail.

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Taken together, the two drugs terminate early pregnancies: mifepristone blocks progesterone, a hormone needed to sustain the pregnancy, while misoprostol causes contractions that expel the fetus.

“Abortion is corrosive to children, women, and society broadly because it devalues and extinguishes innocent human life,” she wrote at the time. “America First policies should focus on immediately halting the effort to normalize abortion-on-demand and on broadly recognizing the evidence of the risk posed to women.”

Mize pointed to a 2025 study by the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a conservative think tank, that analyzed insurance claims from 865,727 mifepristone abortions between 2017 and 2023 and found a serious adverse event rate of nearly 11%. This included conditions such as hemorrhaging, sepsis or infection.

The study received immediate pushback, with the medical community saying it used a flawed methodology. The paper was also not peer-reviewed or published in a medical journal, factors Mize said Overton is aware of.

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“It’s not the whole picture, and Dr. Overton would say that,” Mize said. “But it’s an important indicator as to what’s happening in the real world. So I believe she will do a really good job of evaluating the study.”

Mize said he hopes Overton will impose tighter restrictions on mifepristone after reviewing the evidence, potentially restoring a requirement that women see a doctor in person before receiving a prescription.

He described Overton as “measured” and “methodical” while cautioning that pro-life advocates should not expect her to pursue immediate, sweeping changes at the FDA.

“I don’t get the sense that she’s gonna move quickly on issues,” Mize said.

SUPREME COURT KEEPS BROADER ACCESS TO ABORTION PILL MIFEPRISTONE IN PLACE WHILE LEGAL FIGHT CONTINUES

Dr. Marty Makary, the previous FDA commissioner, resigned in May after clashing with Trump administration officials and Republican lawmakers. He also drew criticism from pro-life activists, who accused the agency under his leadership of slow-walking its safety review of mifepristone.

If confirmed, Overton would inherit the review, which was formally announced in September 2025 and does not have a scheduled completion date. The FDA has noted these types of studies typically take a year or longer to conduct.

After that review is completed, Mize said the next step for Overton, ideally, would be “a longer term, deep dive evaluation on this medication to determine if it should even be on the market.”

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Mize acknowledged that not all the evidence is in yet but made clear that his preference would be to take mifepristone off the market.

“From my perspective, any medication that denies someone the opportunity to live and kills a human being shouldn’t be something that we’re promoting amongst the FDA,” Mize said. “Ultimately, I would love to see this drug removed from the market for those reasons. Culturally, we might not be there right now.”

Overton’s confirmation hearing has not yet been scheduled but is expected to take place after the Senate returns from its summer recess on Sept. 14.

A simmering trade rift between President Donald Trump and Canadian officials burst into the open Monday as Ontario Premier Doug Ford sharply escalated his attacks on the president amid a widening tariff fight between the longtime allies.

“He can kiss my a– as far as I’m concerned. We’re going to go at him full steam, and we buy 400% more cars than anyone in the world,” Ford said in an interview with Toronto radio station Newstalk 1010 Monday in response to Trump’s threat of new tariffs on Canadian autos, auto parts and steel.

Trump mocked Ford on Monday as “less charismatic, intelligent, and overall unimpressive” than his late brother, former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, who became embroiled in a major 2013 scandal over his use of crack cocaine, which he later admitted.

The Ontario premier, dubbed “Captain Canada,” has since emerged as one of the country’s most outspoken critics of Trump’s trade threats.

TRUMP TRADE CHIEF WARNS CANADA WALKED AWAY FROM ‘THE BEST DEAL’ TO TRIGGER 50% U.S. TARIFFS

The tariff fight is unfolding on two tracks: new 50% U.S. tariffs on certain Canadian goods took effect Aug. 22, with Canada set to retaliate Sept. 8, while Trump separately threatened to raise tariffs on Canadian autos and auto parts to 50% beginning Jan. 1, 2027.

The White House referred Fox News Digital to Trump’s Truth Social posts when approached for additional comment. 

“America has been carrying Canada for decades, but no longer! The U.S.A. will always be far bigger, richer, and stronger than Canada. Without the United States, Canada couldn’t survive — It’s where they get all of their money and, because of their current bad leadership, primarily Governor Carney, and his Flunky, Ford, they will not be allowed to keep taking advantage of the United States — Their key to survival,” Trump added in a post.

TRUMP MUST CLOSE THE BACK DOOR CHINA USES TO EXPLOIT NORTH AMERICAN TRADE

He claimed Canada imposes tariffs of 400% or more on U.S. farmers and said he plans to end what he describes as unfair trade treatment of American companies and producers. Trump also threatened further economic pressure, claiming much of the electricity, oil and gas Canada receives is transported through the U.S. and calling on the country to “fall in line.”

CANADA REPORTEDLY SCRAPS JOINT BRIDGE CELEBRATION WITH US AFTER TRUMP RENEWS TARIFF THREAT

Beyond tariffs, Trump also escalated the rhetoric Tuesday by floating a proposal to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America.”

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The current tariff fight traces back to late 2024, when Trump threatened 25% tariffs on Canadian goods and later joked during a meeting with then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that Canada could become the 51st state.

Fox News Digital reached out to Ford for comment.

U.S. Southern Command announced another strike on “narco-terrorists,” killing four in the Caribbean, bringing the roughly one-year totals to at least 227 dead among the 68 reported strikes, including back-to-back days after months of calm in the area.

“On August 25, under Gen. Donovan’s direction, Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere executed a lethal kinetic strike on a go-fast vessel operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean,” SOUTHCOM wrote in a Tuesday night X post. “Confirmed intelligence revealed the vessel’s active involvement in narco-trafficking. The operation killed four narco-terrorists.”

Since September, President Donald Trump’s administration has been striking suspected cartel vessels in the Atlantic and Pacific that it accuses of transporting narcotics.

US KILLS TWO ‘NARCO-TERRORISTS’ IN STRIKE 2 MONTHS SINCE LAST ANNOUNCED ANTI-‘NARCO-TRAFFICKING’ ATTACK

“Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere continues executing precise, lethal operations against the cartels,” SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan said in a statement quoted in the X post. “We will hunt, disrupt, and defeat these narco-terrorist networks.

“SOUTHCOM is resolved to neutralizing cartel terror and violence throughout the region and into the U.S. homeland.”

The U.S. military said Monday two were killed in a strike it launched on a vessel in the Eastern Pacific over the weekend. That strike marked the first in more than two months.

US EYES IRAN FAST BOATS WITH ‘KILL’ TACTICS TESTED IN VENEZUELA DRUG-BOAT STRIKES

The video posted on X showed an image of what appeared to be a moving boat followed by a flash.

The Associated Press reports that this makes at least 227 total deaths from such strikes.

The Trump administration is pursuing deals with allied nations to extend its offensive to land across multiple Latin American countries. War Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a visit to Panama this month that Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to allow the U.S. to carry out joint military operations against criminal groups on their soil.

Guatemala denied reaching such a deal. Ecuador launched similar missions with the U.S. in March.

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Trump has said the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and fatal overdoses claiming American lives.

Reuters and AP contributed to this report.

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed sparked controversy on social media Monday night after comparing Sharia law to Christian canon law during an interview with Fox News anchor Jesse Watters.

“Getting rid of Sharia law is White supremacy?” Watters said to El-Sayed, bringing up past comments from the Michigan candidate opposing a ban on Sharia law and comparing those efforts to White supremacy. “Can you explain that one?”

Sayed responded by comparing Sharia, Islamic law based on religious texts, to Catholic Church law and governance.

“Nobody is trying to push Sharia law on anyone else, just like I hope nobody is trying to push canon law on anybody else, because we live in an America where you should have the freedom of your religion,” El-Sayed said.

TRUMP INAUGURATION PASTOR SAYS DEARBORN CHRISTIANS ‘AFRAID’ TO SPEAK OUT IN MUSLIM-MAJORITY CITY

The comparison sparked pushback on social media from users highlighting the differences between the two viewpoints and traditions.

“He lies and says no one is trying to push Sharia (they are), and draws a false equivalency to Christian Canon law,” Andrew Kolvet, executive producer of “The Charlie Kirk Show,” posted on X. “Canon law determines how Christian leaders, churches, and Christians should live, but Canon law is limited to affairs of the Church (spiritual penalties). Canon law grants great autonomy to the state.”

Kolvet continued, “Sharia law is MUCH more comprehensive, governing all aspects of life, and historically, and according to many contemporary Islamic clerics, dictates the affairs of the state.”

EL-SAYED’S AGENDA PUTS ‘PERMANENTLY’ CHANGED AMERICA ON THE LINE IN MICHIGAN SENATE RACE, GOP FIREBRAND WARNS

“Sharia law is incompatible with Western Civilization,” political commentator Carl Jackson posted on X. “I’m tired of El-Sayed playing the victim card in attempt to avoid legitimate scrutiny of Islam.”

“Yeah, it’s over for him,” Fox News contributor Kaylee McGhee White posted on X. “Rogers by 6.”

“@AbdulElSayed doesn’t get to bloviate about sharia being a mere ‘practice’ of faith when it’s Islamic jurisprudence used to supplant western jurisprudence,” conservative commentator and radio host Dana Loesch posted on X.

“‘Jesse, the Catholic Church requires ministers to use plant oils in sacraments with the blessings of a bishop, so why shouldn’t courts allow Muslim men to have four wives?'” conservative commentator Michael Knowles posted on X.

“Canon law applies to Catholics,” conservative commentator Pamela Geller posted on X. “There is no compulsion is Canon law. Jewish law applies only to Jews. There is no compulsion in Jewish law. It is voluntary. The sharia is a comprehensive legal system governing every aspect of human life, and asserts authority over non-Muslims.”

“This was a very strange prepared defense from Abdul,” GOP communicator Matt Whitlock posted on X. “I expected him to say it was out of context, not reflective of current views, etc. Instead he accepted the premise and defended promoting Sharia Law – opening that lane up to more attacks.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to the El-Sayed campaign for comment.

El-Sayed previously said he felt religiously obligated to follow Sharia-compliant practices in a 2009 interview with The New York Times.

“Ultimately, the question is, when I die and I stand before God and go through everything I did in my life, I don’t want to say I did it the easy way instead of the Shariah-compliant way,” El-Sayed told the Times.

“Not because of fear but because of obligation.”

Sharia law traditionally prescribed death for people who leave Islam, placed strict restrictions on what women can do and allowed child marriage.

El-Sayed has spoken out against bans on Sharia law, arguing such efforts are rooted in White supremacy.

“The state of Oklahoma voted in a referendum to amend the constitution to ban Sharia law. What does that mean? I don’t know. And yet the voters banned it anyway,” he said in 2022. “The same exact forces that drove Native peoples from their land two centuries ago, destroyed Black Wall Street a century ago, bombed a building decades ago and tried to ban Sharia law not a decade ago, those forces are alive and well today.

“The reason I wanted to go all the way back to the 1830s is because you can’t understand a Sharia ban without understanding the Trail of Tears. You can’t understand the efforts to uproot Muslim Americans without understanding the Tulsa massacre. You cannot understand the challenges we face today without understanding White supremacy.”

Fox News Digital’s Robert Schmad contributed to this report

Despite Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed denying ties to socialism, a Republican Michigan lawmaker warned his policy agenda tells a different story and predicted voters will reject it in November.

“Abdul El-Sayed can’t define what a woman is, so I’m not surprised he can’t define what socialist is,” Michigan state Rep. Bill G. Schuette told Fox News Digital.

“The facts are all the policies he supports are emblematic of the DSA movement and of this really far-left socialist idea.”

El-Sayed, a former public health official, narrowly defeated establishment-backed Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., securing an upset victory for the party’s progressive wing in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary earlier this month. His nomination follows multiple primary victories by candidates aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), including in New York, Florida and Colorado.

DEMS’ LEFTWARD LURCH GETS LEGS AS EL-SAYED’S MICHIGAN SENATE VICTORY SPARKS PARTY DEBATE

While El-Sayed has pushed back on the socialist label, he has drawn support from political heavyweights and DSA members like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.

El-Sayed previously told CBS News he wants to build a “broad coalition” of supporters of President Donald Trump and DSA members, saying he doesn’t “do ideology” but favors “solutions that solve problems.” He separately told CNN, “I believe in capitalism, I just believe that capitalism has to be regulated.”

According to Schuette, El-Sayed’s victory is evidence that the Democratic Party has “jumped the shark” by embracing more progressive candidates.

“They’ve gone down a policy rabbit hole of far-left socialism that is at odds with our way of life in Michigan and our way of life in the United States of America writ large,” he said.

Schuette said his biggest concern is that El-Sayed wants to put Michigan on “a completely different track.”

“I’m more concerned about the policies that he’s advocating for that, again, I think are at really sharp odds with the way you can start a business, start a family and live your life in Michigan,” he said.

DSA’S GROWING GRIP ON DEM PARTY HITS NEW TERRITORY AS ESTABLISHMENT FALLS IN LINE

Some of El-Sayed’s campaign priorities are abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Medicare for All, taxing billionaire wealth and ending U.S. military aid to Israel.

Schuette said affordability will be key in the midterms, saying that El-Sayed’s policies run counter to the “spirit of America.”

“The spirit of America is about entrepreneurship and American ingenuity, hard work,” he said. “Those are the types of policies that Abdul El-Sayed would work directly against.”

Schuette also took aim at El-Sayed’s association with far-left streamer Hasan Piker, who has roughly 10 million social media followers and has said “America deserved 9/11.” Piker endorsed El-Sayed and has attended several of his campaign events.

“The fact that he associates with people like Hasan Piker, who say that America deserves 9/11, I mean, that’s disgusting,” he said.

El-Sayed distanced himself from Piker after the streamer’s comments about Jewish Michigan state Sen. Jeremy Moss, the Democratic nominee in the state’s 11th Congressional District. A recent viral audio clip, which Moss has said is fake, appeared to suggest that his entire reason for running for Congress is to make sure that America continues to support Israel.

Reacting to the clip, Piker said, “If Jews in America keep putting this idea out there that they are singularly invested in Israel, eventually someone is going to come around and take action, not against the state of Israel, mind you, but against American Jews.”

UNEARTHED CLIP OF EL-SAYED REVEALING HIS ‘HATE’ FOR ICONIC MICHIGAN TOWN SPARKS ONLINE FIRESTORM: ‘DARK HEART’

“I want to be crystal clear, nobody speaks for this campaign besides me and my campaign spokespeople,” El-Sayed said in a statement Monday responding to Piker’s comments.

Highlighting the importance of representing Michiganders, Schuette argued El-Sayed doesn’t align with the state, pointing to his resurfaced remarks that he “hates” Mackinac Island and linking football to “toxic masculinity.”

“It doesn’t seem that he likes Michigan very much or our way in America very much either,” he said.

With the midterm elections approaching in November, Schuette said he believes voters will reject socialism and choose “an idea that looks for ways to give the American people more freedom and opportunity and more of their own money back in their own wallets.”

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“I’m confident the people in Michigan will choose that,” he said.

El-Sayed will face Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers for retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters’ seat in a race that could determine control of the Senate.

Fox News Digital reached out to El-Sayed’s campaign for comment.

Marcye Scott, the daughter of late Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., fell short Tuesday in her bid to succeed her father in Congress for the final few months of his term, despite leading the first-round of voting last month.

Former teacher and Gwinnett County school board chairman Everton Blair defeated Scott in the special election runoff for the remainder of David Scott’s term in Georgia’s heavily Democratic 13th Congressional District, which covers parts of metro Atlanta. Blair will hold the seat only through early January, when the winner of November’s regularly scheduled general election takes office.

Blair also ran in the primary to compete for a full-term, but lost to Democratic Georgia state representative Jasmine Clark in the primary earlier this year. Clark will battle Republican Jonathan Chavez in November for the seat, the official term for which will start in January 2027.

AFTER LINDSEY GRAHAM’S DEATH, SISTER JOINS LONG LIST OF RELATIVES WHO REPLACED LATE FAMILY MEMBERS IN CONGRESS

David Scott represented the district for more than two decades before dying April 22 at age 80. At the time of his death, he was seeking a 13th term and facing a competitive Democratic primary challenge from Clark and others.

In 2024, he carried the district with roughly 72% of the vote, while then-Vice President Kamala Harris won about 71% there in the presidential race, compared with roughly 28% for President Donald Trump.

UNEARTHED INTERVIEW EXPOSES DEM SENATOR’S PAST SUPPORT FOR REPARATIONS: ‘THERE IS A DEBT UNPAID’

Marcye Scott entered Tuesday’s runoff after leading the July 28 special election with roughly 46% of the vote, compared with about 38% for Blair, but fell short of the majority required to win outright, leading to the runoff against Blair.

Blair’s victory would restore voting representation to Georgia’s heavily Democratic 13th District and add another Democratic vote to the narrowly divided House for the final months of the 119th Congress. Georgia’s 13th District has been without voting representation since David Scott’s death, although his former congressional offices have remained open under the supervision of the House clerk to provide constituent services, according to the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives.

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According to his campaign’s website, Blair earned graduate degrees from Stanford and Harvard, previously worked with the Obama administration’s White House Initiative on Educational Excellence and, in 2018, was the first Black and youngest-ever member elected to his county’s school board.