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Jenny Honeycutt, a business owner, and Mark Smith, a state legislator, advanced in a crowded GOP primary to replace outgoing Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., on Tuesday evening.

Because no candidate garnered more than 50% of the vote needed to win outright, the primary now heads to a runoff that’s slated to take place on June 23.

The vacancy arose when Mace, a firebrand conservative, announced her decision to run for governor of the Palmetto State.

During her time in Congress, Mace has attracted attention for being one of the eight Republicans who voted with Democrats to remove former U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in 2023, for championing legislation on cybersecurity and forcing a vote on releasing the Epstein Files earlier this year.

FIRST ON FOX: RETIRED AIR FORCE COLONEL WHO PILOTED LAST FLIGHT OUT OF AFGHANISTAN REVEALS NEW MISSION

Mace, who has taken on a national profile, said she would look to continue her work at the state level.

“South Carolina needs a governor who will drag the truth into sunlight and flip the tables,” Mace said during her announcement speech.

S.C. 01, a safely Republican district, has been held by the GOP for much of the past forty years. Aside from Rep. Joe Cunningham, D-S.C., who held the seat from 2019 to 2021, Republicans have controlled the district since 1981.

FIRST ON FOX: REPUBLICAN FIREBRAND NANCY MACE LAUNCHES BID FOR SOUTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR

Mace last won reelection in 2024 in a 58.2% to 41.6% victory over Democratic challenger Michel Moore, a businessman.

Honeycutt, who runs a law firm that helps clients navigate regulations, has positioned herself as a pro-family political outsider, highlighting issues like law and order, the country’s fiscal picture and family finances as key priorities on her website.

According to FEC records, Honeycutt raised just north of $345,600 as of the end of May.

Mark Smith, also a small business owner, led a funeral home service before running for the South Carolina House of Representatives. He has served in state legislator since 2020, and, according to his biography, helped cut taxes and support local law enforcement in that role.

Smith garnered $750,700 in campaign donations, according to FEC records.

WATCH: MACE SAYS TRUMP’S ENDORSEMENT HASN’T SEALED SC GUBERNATORIAL RACE: ‘IT’S A DOG FIGHT’

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A third contender in the race, Jay Byars, raised $220,600. He began a political career in 2011 when he was elected to the Dorchester County Council and has remained in the job for four terms. On the private side, Byars began several companies, including a storage service and Good Faith Caregivers, a home care business.

Notably, Mace has not endorsed in the race to replace her.

The State Department will begin offering a “premium” expedited service allowing foreign business and tourist visa applicants to come to the U.S. to secure interview appointments within 10 days at select U.S. embassies and consulates for an additional $750 fee.

The department will unveil a pilot program that will allow applicants to pay the $750 fee on top of the standard $185 visa application fee to schedule an interview at select embassies and consulates within 10 days of payment, according to a notice set to be published in the Federal Register this week, The Associated Press reported.

The program will run from July 1 to Dec. 31 but could be extended depending on demand, according to the outlet.

STATE DEPARTMENT TO ASK FOR BONDS OF UP TO $15,000 FOR VISA APPLICATION FROM A DOZEN MORE COUNTRIES

The embassies and consulates participating in the program are expected to be announced before July 1.

The new expedited service could help reduce visa interview wait times amid broader Trump administration changes to visa screening and compliance rules.

FOREIGN TRAVELERS SOON TO PAY ‘VISA INTEGRITY FEE’ TO VISIT US COSTING $250

The federal government has expanded several visa screening and compliance measures, including requiring bonds of up to $15,000 for visa processing in some countries it says have high overstay rates and requiring years of personal history information, such as social media accounts, to be disclosed.

Those new requirements have contributed to delays in visa processing for foreigners in countries around the world.

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The fee for the expedited service does not guarantee that a person will receive a visa, but it could cut down on wait times for visa interviews for people in countries that are not part of the Visa Waiver Program, which can be at least several months.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tom Steyer conceded California’s governor’s race Tuesday, saying it was clear he lacked the votes needed to move on to November.

“It’s now clear that we do not have the votes necessary to advance to the general election in November,” Steyer wrote in a letter posted on X.

A week after California’s jungle primary, the field has narrowed to two candidates. Former Fox News host Steve Hilton will face former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in the November gubernatorial election.

The billionaire hedge fund founder-turned-environmental activist entered the race after spending more than a decade involved mostly in state politics and environmental activism. Steyer, who has spent more than $200 million of his own fortune on his gubernatorial campaign, previously lost his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.

FORMER HHS SECRETARY XAVIER BECERRA ADVANCES TO CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR GENERAL ELECTION, AP PROJECTS

During the gubernatorial campaign, he embraced a progressive platform, calling for the abolition of ICE, hefty taxes on the wealthy and universal healthcare. He earned the endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who has previously railed against billionaires being involved in politics.

Steyer argued that powerful corporate interests played a major role in the outcome of the race in his concession message.

“By spending $55 million – the most ever against a single candidate in a California primary – they showed the lengths they would go to in order to protect a status quo that only serves them and their profits,” he wrote, referring to opposition spending by corporations including Chevron, PG&E and Meta.

TRUMP-BACKED HILTON ADVANCES TO CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR SHOWDOWN WITH EX-BIDEN CABINET SECRETARY BECERRA

“This campaign proved that business-as-usual depends on politics-as-usual, and there is no going back,” Steyer wrote. “We must continue to fight for a system where democracy serves Californians, not corporations – and where you do not have to be a billionaire to run on single-payer, or on breaking up monopolies, or on calling out a corrupt system when you see it.”

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California’s governor’s race is decided through a “jungle primary” system that pits all candidates against one another on the same ballot, regardless of party. The top two finishers advance to November’s general election, meaning candidates from the same party can ultimately face off in the final contest.

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Republican Steve Hilton has won one of the two tickets to the November California gubernatorial election in the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in steering the nation’s most populous state and the world’s fourth-largest economy.

Hilton, a one-time British political strategist turned American conservative commentator and former Fox News Channel host who is backed by President Donald Trump, will advance to the general election, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.

Democrat-dominated California holds what’s known as a jungle primary in which all candidates, regardless of party affiliation, appear on the same ballot, with the top two finishers advancing to the general election.

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

The big question is who Hilton will face in November.

His top two rivals heading into primary day were Xavier Becerra, a former California attorney general who later served as a Cabinet secretary in former President Biden’s administration and would make history as California’s first Latino governor in modern history, and Tom Steyer, a billionaire hedge fund founder turned environmental activist who unsuccessfully ran for his party’s 2020 presidential nomination and who has shelled out over $200 million of his own money in his bid for governor.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican, as well as Democratic candidates former Democratic Rep. Katie Porter, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, were among the whopping 61 candidates on the ballot.

Hilton is hoping to become the first California Republican to win a gubernatorial election since then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2006 re-election two decades ago.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Alex Padilla mulled launching Democratic bids for governor, but both last year announced they would take a pass. That resulted in the lack of a clear Golden State gubernatorial frontrunner for the first time in more than a quarter century.

MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS DOG SWALWELL AS DEM RIVALS SEIZE OPENING IN CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR’S RACE

And the race was overshadowed for much of last year, as the devastation from the Los Angeles-area wildfires and President Donald Trump’s immigration raids grabbed headlines in California.

But the showdown for governor entered the spotlight earlier this year when one of the leading candidates, Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, dropped out of the race and then resigned from Congress following a political implosion after facing multiple allegations of sexual assault and misconduct that he continues to deny.

Swalwell’s exit from the race opened the door for first Steyer and then Becerra to rise in the polls.

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Steyer, who unsuccessfully ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, spent more than $200 million of his own money to blanket the airwaves and the internet with ads. Meanwhile, more than $80 million in outside money has also been spent on the race.

Bianco, who launched his campaign for governor in April of last year, was among the top contenders in the race until Trump’s endorsement of Hilton in early April blunted his momentum.

A top Jewish Democrat and member of the House Intelligence Committee called for Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner to exit the race, adding that if the scandal-plagued oyster farmer were running in New Jersey, he would be “buried under the Meadowlands.”

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, the subject of a recent profile that compared him to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and said he wants to be a “bulwark” against Democrats’ newfound leftist impulses, suggested there is no room for Platner on the party’s midterm ticket.

When asked by CNN if his aversion to Platner should be read as a recommendation that Democrats instead vote for moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins, Gottheimer offered another off-ramp.

“No, what I would suggest is that Graham Platner get off if he wins today, which I assume he will because there’s no one actively campaigning against him, that he get off the ballot and let another Democrat step in,” Gottheimer said.

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

Platner is the frontrunner in Tuesday’s primary, as Gov. Janet Mills suspended her campaign and other candidates, including Bangor’s David Costello, have failed to gain traction.

“If this were Jersey and you had a candidate who abused women, obviously has a Nazi tattoo that — now it’s clear that he knew was a Nazi tattoo: not to mention many of his other lies and his comments and extremist comments; pro Hamas — a terrorist organization — other things of that nature. He should get off the ballot.”

Gottheimer, who represents Bergen County’s deep-blue New York City suburbs and the rural ruby-red Skylands of the state’s northwest, said that if Platner tried to run in the Garden State, “we’d throw him off the ballot or bury him under the Meadowlands.”

PLATNER CONTROVERSIES FUEL SPECULATION ABOUT LITTLE-KNOWN MAINE BALLOT REPLACEMENT PROVISION

Former Teamsters President James Hoffa Sr. was also purportedly buried beneath Giants Stadium after his disappearance decades ago.

Gottheimer said Platner should leave the ballot when he wins Tuesday, and let someone more “qualified” replace him.

He said separately that socialists should not be considered true members of the Democratic Party no matter their cataloged affiliation, and that the hard left wing is not where the mainstream of the U.S. is.

“I think it’s really important that we speak out when we see some of these issues that are a challenge,” he said, referring again to Platner.

He said he doesn’t believe Platner will be the ultimate contender for the Democrats against Collins by November.

He alluded to Mills’ statement that her campaign is not over, but only suspended.

FORMER PRIMARY RIVAL RESURFACES TO CHALLENGE SCANDAL-PLAGUED GRAHAM PLATNER IN MAINE SENATE RACE

“Hopefully today you’ll see Janet Mills, even though she is the governor, left the race, her name is still on the ballot. We’ll see how well she does. And I think that’s going to be a sign of the frustration,” he said, while questioning how female voters could support someone facing allegations of violence against women.

He also appeared to blame President Donald Trump for the New York Knicks’ narrow loss to the San Antonio Spurs at home on Monday.

The president was loudly booed by the largely liberal fan base but at the same time was welcomed into Madison Square Garden by team owner and Republican donor James Dolan and some faint “U-S-A” chants could be heard under the rancor on the ABC broadcast.

“[Trump] brought in some bad mojo into the Garden last night and p—ed off a lot of people — but don’t worry,” he said of the Knicks’ chances in the finals overall.

While Gottheimer joins Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman in ridiculing Platner, he retains support from 1992 Clinton campaign architect James Carville, who said on his podcast that, as a Louisianan, he understands oyster farming is “hard a—work” and that Platner’s apparent PTSD is something voters should better understand.

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“Maybe we need a combat veteran right on that Senate floor who is [expletive] up, who every time these [expletives] go to vote for another war … Maybe they need to look at this guy before they start sending young people off to fight wars and see what the consequence of it is,” he said, according to RCP.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Platner campaign for comment.

President Donald Trump moved one step closer Tuesday to locking in immigration enforcement funding through the end of his presidency. 

Republicans’ $70 billion immigration enforcement and border security measure advanced along party lines during a test vote of 213-211. All Democrats present voted “no” during the procedural vote, which tend to be party-line.

The Senate-passed measure now heads to a vote on final passage in the House, where it is expected to be approved as early as Tuesday evening. Given Republicans’ slim majority in the lower chamber, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., can afford to spare just a handful of votes.

“We need to fully fund this department, especially at a time of heightened security threats,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Tuesday. 

DOZEN GOP REBELS FAIL TO PERMANENTLY KILL TRUMP’S CONTROVERSIAL $2B FUND

Some conservatives who want commitments from leadership to vote on legislation codifying Trump’s executive orders targeting illegal immigration and border security initially withheld their support during the test vote. However, the GOP lawmakers ultimately supported the measure’s advancement following discussions with leadership.

“We need to codify what the president has done across the board,” Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, told reporters Tuesday. “So we’re going to fund the people who will try to keep the bad guys out, but we haven’t codified the actions to prevent them to do to come back here in three years or so.”

Tuesday’s vote came after the Senate approved the GOP-authored measure largely along party lines 52-47 last week, with Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, joining Democrats to vote against the package. House Republicans chose to leave Washington for the weekend rather than begin advancing the bill Friday. 

Republicans have sought to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for months amid entrenched opposition from Democrats, who refused to sign off on new funding without sweeping reforms. 

“Giving a $70 billion blank check to ICE, who has a history of brutalizing, terrorizing communities, killing U.S. citizens, is not what we should be doing,” House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., said Wednesday. “Those agencies need accountability and oversight. We should not be giving them more resources without also conditioning accountability.”

Democrats’ objections helped spark the longest shutdown in American history, though, in the end, the party secured no reforms.

GOP leadership ultimately decided to pursue the partisan budget reconciliation process to fund both agencies through fiscal year 2029, allowing the party to steer around Democrats’ opposition.

Trump initially gave congressional Republicans a June 1 deadline to secure funding for ICE and CBP, but intra-party opposition to the president’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” delayed the measure’s passage. Some Republicans feared people convicted of violent offenses, including assaulting police officers, in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot could access taxpayer funds.

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Meanwhile, Democrats labeled the funding pot a “slush fund” designed to pay off the president’s political allies.

A coalition of congressional Republicans also rebelled against the inclusion of $1 billion in security upgrades for the president’s ballroom project, which is already under construction. The president has previously said the East Wing project would be funded through private donations.

Republicans’ sweeping immigration enforcement and border security package cleared the House on Tuesday, ending a months-long standoff with Democrats over funding President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown agenda. 

The $70 billion immigration enforcement measure passed 214-212 over the fierce objections of Democrats, who unanimously voted against the package. Rep. Kevin Kiley, I-Calif., an independent who caucuses with Republicans, also joined Democrats in opposing the measure.

Meanwhile, every GOP lawmaker present voted for the Senate-passed legislation, which funds Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) through fiscal year 2029.

Tuesday’s vote is a major victory for House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who could spare just a handful of defections given Republicans’ fragile majority.

TRUMP ON VERGE OF SECURING $70B ICE FUNDING VICTORY AFTER HOUSE CLEARS HURDLE

The measure now heads to Trump’s desk, where he is expected to sign it into law.

The GOP-authored bill, known as the Secure America Act, provides $38 billion for ICE and a $26 billion infusion for the Border Patrol. It would also create a $5 billion funding pool to be controlled by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.

Kiley, who recently switched his party affiliation to independent, said he opposed the bill because it lacked reforms to immigration enforcement and bypassed the traditional appropriations process, which requires some buy-in from Democrats.

“The idea that we’re actually going to now weaken one of the few pillars of sanity we have, which is the annual bipartisan appropriations process, and set this precedent that when you don’t reach bipartisan agreement, you can just do an end run around it … that’s hugely problematic to me,” the California lawmaker told reporters.

“The whole reason I became an independent is because I think that extreme partisanship here has completely run amok, and it’s doing real damage to the country,” he added.

Republican leaders argued they were forced to use the partisan budget reconciliation process after Democrats repeatedly blocked Homeland Security funding bills. The legislative tool allowed GOP leadership to steer around Democrats’ opposition and pass the legislation at a simple majority threshold in the upper chamber.

DEMOCRAT WHO BROKE WITH PARTY SAYS HIS DHS FUNDING VOTE A ‘MISTAKE’ AFTER 2ND MINNEAPOLIS ICE SHOOTING

“This is a piece that Democrats have said they don’t want to fund because they want open borders,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Tuesday. “They have made it crystal clear, the Democrat Party in Washington, that they want to go back to open borders. And we’re not going to do that.”

For months, Democratic lawmakers refused to fund ICE and the Border Patrol unless it was paired with policy reforms. The party’s hardball tactics sparked the longest government shutdown in history, which largely ended after Trump signed a partial DHS bill in April.

Top Democrats initially took a hard turn against new ICE funding beginning in January after two Americans were killed by federal law enforcement officers during the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis.

Their message stayed largely the same heading into Tuesday’s vote.

“Republicans are pouring your hard-earned tax dollars into an agency that has brutalized and terrorized communities and even killed American citizens,” House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., said Tuesday. “Republican leadership likes to talk a lot about common sense, but where is the common sense in giving this federal agency essentially unlimited funds without a single reform in place?”

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Though Republicans stayed largely united in the ICE funding fight, some conservative lawmakers argued the spending measure should be paired with policy reforms codifying some of the president’s executive orders.

Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., were among the GOP lawmakers who withheld their support for the package during a procedural test vote earlier on Tuesday. Johnson promised the conservative group a vote on border security legislation in the coming weeks, prompting holdouts to support the measure’s advancement, according to a source familiar with the discussions.

The budget reconciliation bill’s passage comes after congressional Republicans failed to meet a June 1 deadline set by Trump to send the measure to his desk.

The quick timeline fell apart after a cohort of Republicans in both chambers revolted against Trump’s roughly $2 billion “anti-weaponization fund.” Some GOP lawmakers, including moderate Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., have since proposed legislation that would curtail the president’s authority to establish the fund.

Southern Poverty Law Center head Bryan Fair defended the left-wing organization’s decision to list mainstream conservative groups on its “hate map” during a fiery hearing Tuesday.

Fair, SPLC’s interim executive, doubled down on the group’s designation of Turning Point USA, a conservative activist organization founded by the late Charlie Kirk, as extremist when pressed by GOP lawmakers. Turning Point was listed alongside White supremacist and neo-Nazi groups in the law center’s 2025 “Year in Hate & Extremism” report released Tuesday. 

The exchange comes as Republicans scrutinize the law center’s close ties to the Biden administration amid the Department of Justice’s pending criminal case against the nonprofit over alleged financial crimes.

“Will you recant it, or are you going to double down and say that these people, including the martyred Charlie Kirk, in fact, somehow deserve to be on your hate list?” Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., asked Fair.

ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE RETIRES GLOSSARY OF EXTREMIST GROUPS AFTER BACKLASH FOR INCLUDING CHARLIE KIRK’S TPUSA

“Congressman, as I said in my statement,” Fair began answering, referring to his opening remarks in which he said he could not address certain topics due to the ongoing criminal probe. 

“No, wait a second,” Issa interjected. “I heard your statement. I only want an answer to your question in the 11 seconds left. Are you going to recant, yes or no? And if you’re not going to, please don’t tell me it’s because now you’re under charges.”

“Your organization did it as much as 16 years ago. Will you take back any part of that?” the California lawmaker continued.

Fair replied, “The SPLC will continue to expose hate and extremism.”

The nonprofit head also defended Turning Point’s “hate map” designation when questioned by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas.

“It is our position that TPUSA expresses views and vilifies other people based on immutable characteristics, exposing them to our listing,” Fair told Roy.

Roy said he would introduce legislation to revoke the law center’s tax-exempt status following the exchange.

INDICTED SPLC CHIEF FACES HOUSE GRILLING OVER ALLEGED SECRET PAYMENTS TO KKK MEMBERS

Turning Point spokesman Andrew Kolvet slammed Fair’s remarks in a post on social media. “Badge of honor,” Kolvet wrote in a statement following the exchange. “Screw the SPLC.”

The hearing came after the Justice Department filed an 11-count indictment against the law center in April over allegedly defrauding its donors by concealing payments to informants within extremist organizations while publicly professing to combat racism.

Fair has denied any wrongdoing and has argued the DOJ charges are politically motivated.

He also dismissed GOP criticisms that the organization has unfairly labeled conservative groups as extremist while ignoring left-wing groups that espouse antisemitism. 

Fair struggled to answer Tuesday when asked by Roy if the law center has labeled any anti-Israel or Islamist groups as extremist.

“Some say we’ve lost our way,” Fair told lawmakers. “That’s false. We’ve never lost our North Star: a fair and just society for every person. All our programs advance that mission.”

Democrats largely defended the law center during the contentious hearing.

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“The SPLC is an enduring institutional beacon of hope for millions of people seeking to create a more perfect union,” House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said in his opening statement. “The Trump administration is thus naturally trying to tear it down.”

Fox News Digital reached out to TPUSA for comment.

Former President Barack Obama’s new presidential center will honor late chef Tafari Campbell — a longtime family friend and trusted member of the Obama household — with the launch of a comfort-food restaurant.

“It honors the award-winning former White House culinary team member and beloved personal chef to the Obama family who tragically passed away in 2023,” the Obama Foundation announced in a press release Monday.

Campbell, 45, drowned while paddle boarding on the Edgartown Great Pond near the former president’s Martha’s Vineyard home in July 2023. He was not wearing a life vest during the tragic accident, police reported. 

The Obamas have called Campbell a “beloved part of our family.”

OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER TO ADD AUTOGRAPHED MUHAMMAD ALI BOXING GLOVES

“Tafari Campbell was known as a warm, fun-loving, and humble soul who used his immense gifts and passion for food to spread joy and bring people together, and a painting of him by Kate Capshaw will hang in the restaurant,” the release added.

Tafari’s Kitchen will feature food inspired by the Obama’s personal stories, such as “Mrs. Robinson’s Red Rice,” which is the family recipe of Michelle Obama’s late mother Marian Robinson.

Chicago-based chef Cliff Rome and Bon Appétit Management will spearhead the menu.

Campbell was first hired by the George W. Bush administration to work at the White House and continued on during the Obama presidency, before building a friendship with the 44th president. 

FAVORITE FOODS OF TRUMP AND HARRIS, PLUS OTHER NOTABLE DISHES OF PRESIDENTS AND VICE PRESIDENTS

He became Obama’s personal chef, leaving the White House at the end of the administration in 2017.

At the time of the accident, a paddleboarder with Campbell told investigators they had seen him standing on his paddleboard and lose his balance before falling into the water.

“When we first met him, he was a talented sous chef at the White House – creative and passionate about food, and its ability to bring people together. In the years that followed, we got to know him as a warm, fun, extraordinarily kind person who made all of our lives a little brighter,” the Obamas said in a statement at the time of his death. 

“That’s why, when we were getting ready to leave the White House, we asked Tafari to stay with us, and he generously agreed. He’s been part of our lives ever since, and our hearts are broken that he’s gone,” the statement continued. 

BUREAUCRATS HIDE TRUE PRICE OF OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER AS TAXPAYERS HIT WITH INFRASTRUCTURE BILL

The Obama Presidential Center will have a grand opening on June 19 after being in development for over a decade and facing scrutiny for its design, price and costs to taxpayers.

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Taxpayers footed hundreds of millions of dollars in public infrastructure costs that constructed roads, transit, and utility updates around the campus, Fox News Digital previously reported.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Obama Foundation for comment.

One week after President Donald Trump’s endorsement-winning streak in high-profile Republican primaries was snapped, the president’s immense clout over his party is facing another key test in South Carolina’s GOP gubernatorial nomination face-off.

A week and a half ago, the president handed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette 11th-hour support as she seeks to succeed a top Trump ally, term-limited Republican Gov. Henry McMaster.

Evette is facing off in the GOP primary against a handful of top rivals. They are longtime South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman, and multimillionaire businessman Rom Reddy.

Since no candidate was expected to top 50% of the primary vote and land a majority, the top two finishers will advance to the June 23 Republican runoff.

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

The brute force of the president’s endorsement power has been on display in GOP primaries over the past month, with his candidates ousting incumbents he targeted in showdowns in Indiana, Louisiana, Kentucky and Texas that grabbed plenty of national attention.

But Trump’s last-minute endorsement of Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa in the race to succeed retiring GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds — which came on the same day he also backed Evette — wasn’t enough to muscle the three-term congressman to victory.

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

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS LIVE UPDATES ON TUESDAY’S PRIMARIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY

In the South Carolina GOP gubernatorial primary, the major contenders had long been highlighting their support for Trump and his agenda in hopes of landing his support.

Trump, after staying neutral for months, endorsed Evette, praising her as an “America First Patriot” and a “WINNER” in his announcement.

The president also headlined a tele-rally for Evette on the eve of the primary.

Hours later, on the morning of the primary, Evette once again spotlighted the president’s backing of her campaign.

In a social media post, she wrote that Trump “needs a strong partner as Governor who will deliver on our conservative America First agenda. It’s why he gave me his ‘complete and total endorsement.’ Don’t let President Trump down. Get to the polls, bring your friends & family, and VOTE EVETTE!”

But Trump, in a social media post endorsing Evette, also said he expected Evette to choose Henry McMaster Jr., the governor’s son, as her running mate for lieutenant governor.

The comment by the president led to blowback in South Carolina political circles and speculation that McMaster, who succeeded then-Gov. Nikki Haley when she stepped down to serve as U.N. ambassador during Trump’s first term and who is in his 10th year as governor, was trying to give his son a political boost.

But McMaster denied any deal or pressure, and Evette has said she wouldn’t name any running mate until after the primary is over.

And on Friday, the younger McMaster took his name out of contention, saying it was “incredibly humbling” to be mentioned as a possible lieutenant governor candidate, but that “now is simply not the right time.”

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Pointing to what he said was a smaller-than-expected bounce in the polls for Evette, longtime South Carolina political strategist Dave Wilson told Fox News Digital he thinks the Trump endorsement “backfired” because of the president’s push for the younger McMaster to join the Evette ticket.

“In South Carolina, we really don’t take it very well when Washington tries to tell us what to do,” Wilson emphasized.

President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Justice is already facing headwinds among Senate Republicans that could derail, or outright torpedo, his confirmation process. 

And the process to either confirm or deny acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to replace former Attorney General Pam Bondi is already underway in the Senate, with Trump officially sending his nomination to the upper chamber on Monday. 

Blanche’s involvement in the controversial, now-defunct $2 billion anti-weaponization fund, and his actions surrounding the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill rioters are two key breaking points for some Senate Republicans. 

TRUMP EYES NEXT ATTORNEY GENERAL AS KEY GOP SENATOR SIGNALS POTENTIAL ROADBLOCK

His first challenge will be getting through the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., could be the pivotal vote that would make or break his confirmation.

Tillis was vehemently opposed to the anti-weaponization fund, going so far as to offer an amendment to divert the money to the nation’s anti-fraud fund and voting with Senate Democrats every step of the way to ensure there was no chance the move could be made again. 

But for Tillis, Blanche’s comments and actions about the Jan. 6 rioters are his main “circuit breaker.” 

“They better not have said for one minute that the people who beat up police officers, like these right down here, were righteous people,” Tillis said. “You come even close to saying that, you don’t have a [chance] of getting my vote in Judiciary.”

WATCH: DEM SENATOR SNAPS AFTER ACTING AG BLANCHE ACCUSES HIM OF ‘OBVIOUSLY LYING’ IN HEATED EXCHANGE

The skepticism about Blanche, who previously served as Trump’s personal lawyer before making the leap to the DOJ, extends beyond Tillis among those in the GOP. And he’ll receive no quarter from Senate Democrats, either in committee or during a confirmation vote. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., accused Blanche of both shielding Trump from legal consequences and using “the justice system to go after his boss’ political enemies, bringing baseless charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center, Jim Comey and others.”

“Trump and Blanche are cut from the same crooked cloth,” Schumer said.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said it was “hard to say” whether Blanche would have the votes to be confirmed. 

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

“I think obviously most of our members are pretty deferential to who the president wants in these key positions,” Thune said. “He’s already serving in the role and clearly has experience in it. But this is an environment where nothing is a safe or sure bet.”

Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, announced that the committee had received the nomination Monday afternoon.

Grassley said he “worked well” with Blanche and has appreciated “his commitment to transparency and support for law enforcement.” 

“Blanche is well-qualified and has shown his dedication to restoring law and order across our country,” Grassley said in a statement. “The Senate Judiciary Committee’s work to process Blanche’s nomination is underway.”

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Several Republicans were furious over the anti-weaponization fund, and berated Blanche behind closed doors last month over how it would operate, and whether Jan. 6 rioters would have access to the taxpayer money.

How much of a hand he had in that move could also determine his success in a Senate confirmation vote should he make it through the Senate Judiciary Committee. 

“I think it’s gonna come down to the extent of his involvement in this weaponization fund,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said.

Florida Republican gubernatorial primary candidate James Fishback, who has called abortion “a holocaust,” wants to close every abortion clinic throughout the Sunshine State.

“Ron DeSantis is the most pro-life Governor in America, and I intend to build on his incredible work. As Governor, I will shut down the 53 abortion clinics that remain in Florida and replace every single one with a crisis pregnancy center,” Fishback told Fox News Digital in a statement on Tuesday.

“These centers will offer free ultrasounds, baby food, diapers, and counseling, and even prenatal and postpartum care. Abortion is never the answer. Every expecting mom in Florida deserves real support, and as Governor, I will make sure she gets it,” he added.

FLORIDA GOP CANDIDATE LAUNCHES TINDER ACCOUNT TO CAMPAIGN TO YOUNG FEMALE VOTERS

The Guttmacher Institute, which describes itself as “a leading research and policy organization committed to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) worldwide,” indicated in a report earlier this year that as of December 2025 there were 49 clinics providing abortions in Florida, down from 53 as of March 2024.

Last week in a post on X, Fishback asserted, “100% of abortions are murder. And as Governor, I’ll treat them as such.”

OUTCRY OVER YOUTUBER’S DOWN SYNDROME ABORTION PROVES AMERICANS ARE ‘REPULSED BY EUGENICS,’ ACTIVIST SAYS

In another post last week he wrote, “It’s murder. And I’ll prosecute it as such. No more games. Abolish abortion.”

President Donald Trump has endorsed U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., for Florida governor.

Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, former state Rep. Paul Renner, are also running in the contest.

FLORIDA GOP CANDIDATE WANTS 50% ‘SIN TAX’ ON ONLYFANS CREATORS TO FIGHT ‘CULTURAL DEGENERACY’

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The Aug. 18 Florida GOP gubernatorial primary contest is still more than two months away.

BANGOR, Maine — Republican Sen. Susan Collins believes that Graham Platner, her likely Democratic challenger in November’s midterm elections, is too extreme for voters in her New England state.

But Platner, pushing an economically populist agenda as he takes aim at corporate influences and advocates for the working class, argues it’s moderate Collins who is the “radical” one.

With the support of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Rep. Ro Khanna of California, Platner is aiming to unseat the longtime Republican senator in left-leaning Maine.

The race is among a handful that could determine if the GOP holds onto its slim Senate majority in the midterm elections, and the oyster farmer has been forced onto defense in recent weeks amid mounting controversies and negative headlines.

IT’S JUDGMENT DAY FOR EMBATTLED DEMOCRAT GRAHAM PLATNER

While Collins has mostly kept quiet about Platner’s political baggage, she has weighed in on his agenda.

Among his many progressive policy stances, Platner, on his campaign website, urges “passing a constitutional amendment to ban billionaires buying elections!”

And he highlights that he’s “a strong supporter of a Medicare for All system” and that he “will support a path to citizenship and an end to the mass deportation machine.”

Asked if Platner is too far to the left for voters in her northern New England state, Collins responded in a Fox News Digital interview last month, “I believe that will be the conclusion of Maine voters. But, obviously, I don’t take anything for granted.”

But Platner challenges that it’s Collins who is too “radical.”

CLICK HERE FOR FOX NEWS LIVE UPDATES ON TODAY’S PRIMARY ELECTIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY

“My response is that, trying to bring down costs for working Mainers. Trying to make sure that our communities don’t get emptied out because housing has become unaffordable for young people. Trying to create a system in which we are not seeing our health care system utilized as a way of just screwing working people all for the benefit of a health care insurance CEO,” Platner responded in a Fox News Digital interview last month.

“I don’t think that’s radical at all,” he added, claiming: “I think, in fact, that what most Mainers agree is what we have to be doing.”

Rather, he claimed that “what’s radical is somebody like Susan Collins, who, for decades now, has made sure that we pass policies that are going to help corporations and billionaires to the detriment of working people, supporting over and over and over again, illegal and insane foreign wars.”

“She voted to send me to Iraq, and now she continues to vote to support the war in Iran,” Platner charged. “I’m sorry that I think is much more radical to the people of Maine than having a health care system that doesn’t collapse before our eyes.”

PLATNER TO SUPPORTERS: ‘MAINE, YOU HAVE MY BACK’

Despite his numerous controversies, Platner has drawn large crowds and built a healthy fundraising war chest.

Democrats see Maine as a crucial pickup opportunity in the 2026 midterms as they aim to win back the Senate majority in the fall.

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But beating Collins, a moderate who is running for a sixth six-year term in the Senate and has a history of voting against President Donald Trump’s agenda, won’t be easy. Six years ago, public opinion polls indicated the senator was headed to defeat, but Collins defied expectations and won re-election by topping then-Democratic state House Speaker Sara Gideon by nine points.

The embattled leader of a left-wing nonprofit accused of secretly funneling money to members of extremist groups while publicly committing to “confronting hate” is headed for the hot seat on Capitol Hill.

Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) interim CEO and President Bryan Fair will testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday as a congressional probe into the civil rights group’s now-defunct informant practices heats up.

Fair’s anticipated testimony comes as federal prosecutors secured an 11-count indictment against the law center in April for alleged financial crimes, including defrauding its donors by concealing payments to members of extremist groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, United Klans of America, the Aryan Nation and other neo-Nazi groups. 

“There are a lot of legitimate questions about what the SPLC was doing with donor money and how they were using it to basically fund the type of hate that they were pretending to be going after,” Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, told Fox News on Monday.

NEO-NAZIS, ‘SADISTIC’ BIKERS AND CHARLOTTESVILLE ORGANIZER: 5 OF THE MOST SHOCKING SPLC INFORMANTS

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is also probing the law center’s ties to the Biden Department of Justice on civil rights matters. The panel’s investigation predates the criminal indictment.

“For me, the biggest takeaway is the fact that the Biden White House and the Biden Justice Department helped make the Southern Poverty Law Center the standard,” Jordan told Fox News’ Sean Hannity last week. 

Republicans have sharply criticized the Biden Justice Department’s use of the nonprofit’s notorious “hate map” that targeted conservative groups, including Turning Point USA, Moms for Liberty and the Family Research Council.

“The purpose of doing that was to basically stifle their ability to get the conservative message out,” Gill told Fox News.

The Department of Justice filed a superseding indictment last week specifying that the law center covertly transferred more than $4 million in donor funds to bank accounts under fictitious names to pay members of extremist groups between 2010 and 2023. 

The nonprofit ostensibly sought to infiltrate the organizations to monitor their activities, but allegedly did not disclose the payments to donors and engaged in conduct that prosecutors say amounted to bank fraud.

The new indictment, filed in the Middle District of Alabama, also alleges that an SPLC employee paid two Klan members $1,200 per month to stay in the hate group after the unnamed individuals approached the law center in 2010 requesting help to exit.

Some of the money was allegedly used by extremist groups for recruitment purposes and for the reimbursement of expenses related to cross-burnings and Ku Klux Klan attire.

The law center has denied any wrongdoing and argued the criminal charges are politically motivated.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, SPLC counsel Abbe Lowell vigorously pushed back against fraud allegations and maintained that the law center’s informant program helped combat extremism. 

“The SPLC did not lie to its donors, it did not mislead banks it did business with, and its informant program prevented violence and saved lives,” he continued.

SPLC FACES BLOWBACK FROM ‘HATE MAP’ TARGETS AFTER DOJ FRAUD INDICTMENT

Federal prosecutors allege that one informant whom the law center paid more than $270,000 helped plan the deadly 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va. 

According to the indictment, the law center directed the informant to attend the demonstration and “made racist postings under the supervision of the SPLC.”

Jordan’s panel in May subpoenaed the law center for documents related to its alleged coordination with the Biden administration and hiring members of extremist groups as “field sources.”

The law center is also under congressional scrutiny for significantly increasing its profits during the years it operated the controversial informant program.

The nonprofit’s revenue grew from $38.7 million in 2010 to more than $129 million in 2023, amounting to a 233% increase, according to the superseding indictment.

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Democratic lawmakers have slammed Republicans’ probe of the law center.

“I just think that this is really misplaced and misguided,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., told Fox News. “It’s essentially targeting an organization to make an example of them and call them out when they have been the leader in taking on antisemitism and taking on white nationalism.”

“There’s a lot of other places we should be looking at if we’re worried about organizations that spread hate, maybe start with the administration,” she added.

Alveda King, the niece of Martin Luther King Jr. and chair of the American Dream at the America First Policy Institute, and Ryan Bangert, senior vice president for strategic initiatives and special counsel to the president at Alliance Defending Freedom, are also expected to testify before the Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

Fox News Digital reached out to a spokesperson for the law center before publication.

Dan Scully contributed to this report.

Senate Republicans have struggled to move the ball on President Donald Trump’s voter ID and citizenship verification bill, but a late-night vote in the upper chamber breathed some life into an issue once thought dead. 

During the Senate’s marathon “vote-a-rama” to advance the GOP’s $70 billion immigration enforcement package, Republicans tried twice to attach the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act to the massive bill. 

They failed both times, with a cohort of Republicans joining Senate Democrats to stymie the effort, which was destined to fail either way given that the amendments from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, had to break through the filibuster. 

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

Graham’s attempt was to attach the modified version of the SAVE America Act, which included several policy additions, like barring men in women’s sports, that Trump demanded months ago.

Four Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., voted against it. Their defections prevented the bill from even getting 50 votes, a prerequisite for success if Republicans were to launch a talking filibuster. 

But Lee’s attempt did hit 50 votes, with Collins flipping her vote to support the original version of the SAVE America Act. 

Lee cheered the moment on X shortly after as the vote-a-rama still raged and noted that, with Vice President JD Vance serving as a possible 51st vote, the SAVE America Act could pass.

WATCH: HAWLEY FUMES AFTER 4 GOP SENATORS HELP SINK TRUMP-BACKED VOTER ID LAW

“That means that but for the Zombie Filibuster, the House-passed SAVE America Act would now be on its way to the White House for President Trump’s signature,” Lee said. 

The moment was a big victory for the legislation, which thus far has wallowed in the Senate for months.

Conservatives like Lee have pushed Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to launch a talking filibuster to grind down Senate Democrats and pass the legislation at a simple majority threshold.

SEN LEE DARES DEMOCRATS TO REVIVE TALKING FILIBUSTER OVER SAVE ACT, SLAMMING CRITICISM AS ‘PARANOID FANTASY’

But Thune hasn’t pulled the trigger out of concern that Republicans wouldn’t stay together to bat down a deluge of Democratic amendments that could substantially change the legislation or target other elements of Trump’s agenda. 

Senate Republicans did launch a quasi-floor takeover to debate the SAVE America Act in March, but the steam behind that push has since fallen off substantially. 

The other option for Republicans would be to nuke the filibuster, something Trump has demanded they do sporadically throughout his second term.

Again, it’s an issue that Republicans aren’t unified on, and one that several fear could haunt them if and when Democrats regain control of the upper chamber. 

Trump has also shifted his ire to the Senate rules referee, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth Macdonough, who ruled that the SAVE America Act didn’t pass muster to be a part of the immigration package at a 50-vote threshold. He’s called on Thune to fire her a handful of times in recent months. 

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“We have every right to change her, and should do so, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump said on Truth Social. “As long as she’s there, we will never get our desperately needed, SAVE AMERICA ACT, approved, and put into full force and effect!”

But, like the talking filibuster or outright nuking of the filibuster, it’s a move Thune isn’t in a hurry to make. 

“That’s not a new request, as you all know, and as is typically the case, the parliamentarian, the rulings break both ways,” Thune said. “And, you know, we lose a few, we win a few, but that’s been true when Democrats have been in the majority, too.”

A U.S. Army Apache chopper went down near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday and the to individuals crewing the craft were rescued, the New York Times reported, citing two individuals briefed on the episode.

“The pilots are fine,” President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, “nobody injured.”

“We are gonna issue a report tomorrow,” he said, reiterating that “the pilots are fine.”

TRUMP VOWS ‘TOTAL VICTORY’ OVER IRAN WITHIN WEEKS AS NETANYAHU CONFIRMS CEASEFIRE

Fox News Digital reached out to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) on Tuesday.

The U.S. is continuing to conduct a blockade against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

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ARMY CUTS HELICOPTERS, PUSHES ‘AMAZON FOR WAR’ AS DRONE COMBAT RESHAPES MILITARY

“U.S. forces disabled an unladen oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, June 8, after the vessel violated the ongoing blockade against Iran by attempting to sail to an Iranian port,” the latest CENTCOM press release stated.

“U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) disabled Palau-flagged M/T Marivex as it transited international waters in the Gulf of Oman toward Iran. An F/A-18 Super Hornet from USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) fired a precision munition into the ship’s engineering and steering spaces after the crew failed to comply with directions from U.S. forces. Marivex is no longer sailing to Iran,” the release continued.

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

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“CENTCOM forces have disabled seven non-compliant vessels, redirected 134 ships that complied, and allowed 42 vessels supporting humanitarian aid to pass since initiating the blockade on April 13,” CENTCOM added.

BANGOR, Maine — It’s judgment day for Graham Platner, the embattled Democratic Senate candidate in left-leaning Maine who is aiming to oust longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in a crucial race that’s among a handful that will determine if the GOP holds its slim Senate majority in the midterm elections.

Platner, an oyster farmer and military combat veteran who is backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and other top progressive champions, is facing a slew of controversies, which could make his expected Democratic primary victory in Maine much more interesting than originally expected.

Meanwhile, one week after President Donald Trump‘s endorsement-winning streak in high-profile Republican primaries was snapped, the president’s immense clout over his party is facing another key test in South Carolina’s GOP gubernatorial nomination face-off.

Those two ballot box showdowns will take top billing and grab plenty of national headlines as Maine and South Carolina, along with Nevada and North Dakota, hold primary elections on Tuesday.

PLATNER TO SUPPORTERS: ‘MAINE, YOU HAVE MY BACK’

Platner has been playing defense the past month, amid mounting controversy. It includes inflammatory online comments made on Reddit, a well-publicized and now covered-up tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol, recent reports that he exchanged sexually explicit messages with several women while married, and new allegations last week from ex-girlfriends of a history of rape fantasies, heavy drinking and violent episodes. Platner has called the latest allegations of violence untrue.

The negative headlines have triggered some Democrats in the nation’s capital to question whether Platner was damaged goods. The candidate this past weekend thanked Maine voters for continuing to support him.

“When hurtful things I said on the internet a decade ago came out into the public, as I shared my personal journey through PTSD and darkness of recovery and accountability and growth, Maine had my back,” Platner said at a rally Friday not far from his hometown in Down East, Maine.

“Now, as every single piece of that past and journey gets dug up, litigated, and weaponized, you have my back. And when politically motivated, serious and false accusations are made against me. Maine, you have my back.”

SEE IT: MAINE VOTERS SOUND OFF ON PLATNER CONTROVERSIES

Platner, who has acknowledged his battle with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) from his three tours of duty in the war in Iraq with the Marines and one tour with the Army National Guard in Afghanistan, apologized for his controversial Reddit posts after they made headlines last fall soon after he launched his Senate campaign.

And Platner has said he got the skull and crossbones tattoo in 2007 while drinking with fellow Marines stationed in Croatia. He added that he covered up the tattoo with a new design after learning last year that it resembled a Nazi symbol. But new allegations from an ex-girlfriend raise questions about Platner’s timeline regarding knowledge of the tattoo.

Rep. Ro Khanna, the progressive leader from California who organized Friday’s rally with Platner, was asked by Fox News Digital whether he’s concerned if the current allegations, and any potential future ones, could sink Platner’s campaign and hurt Democrats’ hopes of winning back the Senate.

“I’m more concerned about making it clear that we’re opposed to misogyny, those relationships were toxic and volatile, there’s no excuse for that,” Khanna said. “I talked to Graham and he says he was at a very dark period, he had come back from two tours of duty in Iraq as an infantry man seeing violence and death. That doesn’t excuse it.”

SEE IT: DEM SENATORS DODGE ON BACKING PLATNER AS MAINE CANDIDATE’S SCANDAL CLOUDS FINAL DAYS BEFORE PRIMARY

But Khanna noted that Platner said “he really grew as a person when he came back to Maine and he was an oyster farmer and he found peace and he is ashamed of that period. To me, that suggests someone taking accountability and improving their lives, and we need that redemption in this country. And I agree with a lot of his economic policies, that we should be taxing the billionaires, we should be focusing on the working class.”

Platner has been considered the all-but-certain Democratic nominee after two-term Gov. Janet Mills, who was backed by longtime Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer and the Democratic Party establishment, dropped out of the race earlier this spring after significantly trailing Platner in fundraising and polling.

He’s facing two long-shot rivals for the nomination in Tuesday’s primary, but Mills’ name remains on the ballot, which she highlighted in a recent interview. A source in Mills’ wider political orbit confirmed to Fox News last week that the governor was receiving calls urging her to get back in the race amid Platner’s controversies. But there’s no active campaign effort on behalf of Mills.

Maine voters Fox News reporters spoke with ahead of the rally were divided on whether Platner’s controversies would impact their opinions of the candidate and whether the allegations would weaken his ability to defeat Collins.

Collins, returning to Maine on Friday after a busy week on Capitol Hill where she reached a milestone by casting her 10,000th consecutive vote in the Senate, was asked by reporters about the latest allegations facing Platner.

“The allegations in the latest story are troubling,” Collins responded. “And I believe that Graham Platner has a lot of questions to answer.”

THE TEN RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE’S MAJORITY

Platner is facing plenty of incoming political fire from Republican groups. A super PAC aligned with Collins has been blasting Platner, running ads spotlighting his multiple controversies.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) charged that Platner is a “fraud.”

“He’s preaching about living a small but decent life growing up in Maine. The truth? Graham Platner is an elitist whose parents sent him to boarding school in Connecticut and bought him a house,” the NRSC wrote.

And the Republican National Committee (RNC) also targeted Platner.

“Graham Platner says his violent and erratic past is being “weaponized” against him. Platner said he would rape someone to show his dominance and “rape was about power,” the RNC research team wrote on X, pointing to the latest allegations against the candidate.

Despite the allegations and the incoming fire from the GOP, no Democratic politicians who have backed Platner have rescinded their endorsements.

“We need to unite and realize that the goal is defeating Susan Collins. And everyone from Schumer to Sanders is unified around that goal,” Khanna told Fox News Digital.

Platner has drawn large crowds and built a healthy fundraising war chest, and Democrats see Maine as a crucial pickup opportunity as they aim to win back the Senate majority.

But beating Collins, a moderate who is running for a sixth six-year term in the Senate and has a history of voting against President Donald Trump’s agenda, won’t be easy. Six years ago public opinion polls indicated the senator was headed to defeat, but Collins defied expectations and won re-election by topping then-Democratic state House Speaker Sara Gideon by nine points.

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

There’s a crowded and competitive field of Democrats running for their party’s gubernatorial nomination in the race to succeed the term-limited Mills. On the Republican side, Bobby Charles — former federal investigator — leads eight other candidates, including Jonathan Bush, nephew of the late President George H.W. Bush.

Also in the spotlight, the Democratic primary in the state’s 2nd Congressional District, in the race to replace moderate Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, who announced last year that he would not seek re-election due to political polarization.

Republicans, who are aiming to hold their razor-thin majority in the House, view the mostly rural district which Trump carried in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 presidential elections, as a top pickup opportunity. Former two-term Republican Gov. Paul LePage is uncontested for the GOP nomination.

In South Carolina, Trump’s endorsement is in the spotlight.

The president, a week and a half ago, handed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette 11th-hour support as she seeks to succeed a top Trump ally, term-limited Republican Gov. Henry McMaster.

Evette is facing off in the GOP primary against a handful of top rivals. They are longtime South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, nationally known Rep. Nancy Mace, Rep. Ralph Norman and multimillionaire businessman Rom Reddy.

Since no candidate was expected to top 50% of the primary vote and land a majority, the top two finishers will advance to the June 23 Republican runoff.

The brute force of the president’s endorsement power has been on display in GOP primaries over the past month, with his candidates ousting incumbents he targeted in showdowns in Indiana, Louisiana, Kentucky and Texas that grabbed plenty of national attention.

But his last minute endorsement of Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa — which came on the same day he also backed Evette — in the race to succeed retiring GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds wasn’t enough to muscle the three-term congressman to victory.

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

In the South Carolina GOP gubernatorial primary, the major contenders had long been highlighting their support for Trump and his agenda, in hopes of landing his support.

Trump, after staying neutral for months, endorsed Evette, praising her as an “America First Patriot” and a “WINNER” in his announcement.

After Trump backed Evette, Mace said that her very vocal push last year for the Justice Department to release the files related to its probe into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein contributed to the president’s backing of her rival.

“I know I put the likelihood of an endorsement on the line when I demanded transparency on the Epstein files,” the lawmaker wrote. “I demanded it because you deserved the truth — ALL OF IT,” Mace emphasized in a post on X.

Trump, in a social media post endorsing Evette, also said he expected Evette to choose Henry McMaster Jr., the governor’s son, as her running mate for lieutenant governor.

The comment by the president led to blowback in South Carolina political circles and speculation that McMaster, who succeeded then-Gov. Nikki Haley when she stepped down to serve as U.N. ambassador during Trump’s first term and who is in his 10th year as governor, was trying to give his son a political boost.

But McMaster denied any deal or pressure, and Evette has said she wouldn’t name any running mate until after the primary is over.

And on Friday, the younger McMaster took his name out of contention, saying it was “incredibly humbling” to be mentioned as a possible lieutenant governor candidate, but that “now is simply not the right time.”

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The winner of the Republican gubernatorial nomination will be considered the clear favorite in November’s general election in South Carolina.

State Rep. Jermaine Johnson, trial attorney and 2010 gubernatorial candidate William Mullins McLeod Jr., and businessman Billy Webster, who served as chief of staff to then-Democratic Gov. Richard Riley, are running for their party’s nomination.

Longtime Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham is the clear favorite in the Republican Senate primary, but is facing a tougher than expected challenge from South Carolina businessman Mark Lynch in a race that has devolved into mudslinging.

In Nevada, incumbent Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo is expected to fend off a handful of primary challengers as he seeks re-election. On the Democratic side, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford is the clear favorite over Washoe County Commissioner Alexis Hill.

And in solidly red North Dakota, there is a competitive GOP house primary for the state’s at-large district.

Fox News Digital’s Alexis McAdams, Sally Persons, Jessica Sonkin and Luke Trevisan contributed to this report.

Vice President J.D. Vance Monday announced that he has referred allegations involving Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to the Justice Department’s fraud division for a potential criminal investigation over alleged fraud in federally funded social services programs.

Vance made the announcement during an appearance on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime,” when he was asked about a report released by the House Oversight Committee alleging that state officials, including Walz and Ellison, were warned of fraud in the state but did not take action to stop it in part because of litigation threats and concerns about being accused of discrimination.

“We’re certainly going to investigate this, Jesse, and I guess now I can make a bit of breaking news because I left the White House to come here to do this interview with you. And before I did, we actually referred this particular case to the Department of Justice for a full criminal investigation. We are not going to do what the Biden administration did and make judgments of the law before all the facts are in,” Vance said.

MINNESOTA FRAUD REPORT ACCUSES STATE AG OF ‘INCOMPETENCE, WILLFUL BLINDNESS OR WORSE’

“But here’s what’s particularly troubling about this to me is, Jesse, you had people within Governor Walz’s office who were saying, you know what? This looks like fraud. It looks like these Somalian illegal immigrants are doing something that’s very shady, and then you had people who shut them down, who shut these whistleblowers down and said, you know, you’re a racist or you’re a xenophobe for asking questions about where taxpayer money is going,” he continued.

“What that means to me, Jesse, is that clearly people weren’t taking fraud seriously. Whether it rises to the level of a criminal violation, we’re gonna investigate it, and of course, if it does rise to that level, we’re going to prosecute it. We have to,” Vance added.

MINNESOTA TAXPAYER DOLLARS FUNNELED TO AL-SHABAAB TERROR GROUP, REPORT ALLEGES

The vice president, who was tapped in February to lead the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud after President Donald Trump announced a “war on fraud” in his State of the Union address, later reiterated his comments on social media.

“Minnesota state officials are not above the law, and if they facilitated fraud, lied under oath about what they knew, or harassed and intimidated whistleblowers, they must face justice,” Vance wrote on X.

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Vance and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz also previously said they were pausing federal Medicaid reimbursements to Minnesota, which Walz said at the time had “nothing to do with fraud” as he described the effort as a “campaign of retribution.”

“Trump is weaponizing the entirety of the federal government to punish blue states like Minnesota,” Walz said on Feb. 25.

Scandal-plagued Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner used a fiery pre-primary address to pitch universal health care, wealth taxes, a Green New Deal and other far-left agenda items, like floating an idea that billionaires should be jailed for looking at political ads “the wrong way” in remarks about campaign finance reform.

The comment about jailing billionaires earned the candidate backlash from his Republican critics, who pointed out some of Platner’s biggest endorsers are funded by billionaires, highlighted the “Marxist dystopian” nature of the remarks, and joked that Platner must have some sort of affinity for locking people up against their will, referring to recent allegations from an ex-girlfriend.

“We need to get money out of politics. We need to get rid of Citizens United. And, if I had my way, elections would last two months, they will be publicly funded and if a billionaire looked at a TV ad the wrong way, we’d put ’em in jail,” Platner told a crowd of constituents Sunday night in Maine, earning applause. The comments came as Platner was laying out his far-left agenda and railing against conservatives, including calling President Donald Trump “dumb.”

“That’s one way to thank some of his own supporters for their generosity!” quipped veteran Republican strategist Colin Reed, who pointed to Platner’s prominent endorsers, like Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who received several contributions last month from billionaires like George Soros, Pat Stryker, Jon Stryker and Jennifer Pritzker, according to campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets.

PLATNER’S ANTI-CORPORATE CRUSADE HITS AWKWARD SNAG AS RECEIPTS TELL ANOTHER STORY

“Why worry about slowly slipping into a Marxist dystopia? With Graham Platner, you can sprint toward it!” Jason Savage, Executive Director of the Maine GOP, said in response to Platner’s stump speech remarks about jailing billionaires.

“Dude is big on locking people in rooms against their will, apparently,” joked CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings, an apparent reference to recent reporting on Platner’s past romantic relationships, including one ex-girlfriend’s allegation that he once twisted her arm behind her back, pushed her into a bedroom and held the door shut from the other side. Platner has denied the allegations.

‘HE HATED WOMEN’: EXPLOSIVE ABUSE, NEW NAZI TATTOO ALLEGATIONS FROM EXES ROCK PLATNER’S CAMPAIGN

Platner’s campaign has been dogged by controversies since he emerged as a progressive challenger in Maine’s closely watched Senate race against incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins, including recent complaints from multiple ex-girlfriends about his behavior during their relationships. The reports included accusations from one of Platner’s ex-girlfriends, Lyndsey Fifield, who told The New York Times about being trapped in a room by Platner during their relationship more than a decade ago.

“The Platner campaign has already spent more than $14 million and we aren’t even past the primary,” Shawn Roderick, a spokesperson for the Collins campaign told Fox News Digital. “Does Graham Platner really think that American taxpayers should be paying his high-priced political consultants and the tech billionaires who own the platforms where he does his advertising? He is floating this idea to distract from the many disturbing problems his campaign has faced over the past two weeks.”

Platner has also been facing backlash for exchanging sexually explicit messages with multiple women early in his marriage on the platform Kik. Following those reports, Platner was found to still have an active profile on Kik, an anonymous messaging app that has faced criticism from child-safety groups and law enforcement officials. The profile reportedly featured a shirtless mirror selfie of Platner with a towel around his waist, which Republican staffers later appeared to mock outside the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee by showing up in towels.

SENATE CANDIDATE GRAHAM PLATNER SENT EXPLICIT TEXTS TO MULTIPLE WOMEN WHILE MARRIED, WIFE SAYS: REPORT

Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, reportedly disclosed the messages to campaign officials during an internal vetting process, and the campaign has acknowledged the messages existed while arguing the matter was addressed privately between Platner and his wife.

Meanwhile, Platner has argued that the allegations from former girlfriends are politically motivated, while his campaign has accused critics and national media outlets of focusing on private matters and personal attacks rather than the issues affecting Maine voters.

By the time those controversies hit the news, Platner had already faced scrutiny over a tattoo that critics identified as a Nazi-linked symbol, which he later covered up and said he was not aware of its meaning when he got it. One of Platner’s former staffers, Genevieve McDonald, alleged that even though Platner has said he was unaware of the symbol’s association with Nazis when he got the tattoo years ago, he has been aware of its meaning for some time.

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Platner also apologized after his old Reddit posts resurfaced in which he made a series of inflammatory comments about rape, race, political violence, police, rural Americans and military veterans. Platner has said his views have changed and that some of his past comments reflected a darker period in his life after military service.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Platner campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.

A federal judge on Monday struck down President Donald Trump’s $100,000 fee requirement for employers seeking H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers, ruling that the administration exceeded its authority by imposing what amounted to a tax that only Congress can authorize or delegate.

U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin, an Obama appointee, issued the ruling in a lawsuit filed by 20 states in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, according to court filings.

The lawsuit, challenging the fee Trump announced in September, was led by California and named Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, whose department oversees the H-1B visa program, as a defendant. Several federal agencies involved in implementing and enforcing the policy were also named in the suit.

As part of the ruling, Sorokin invalidated agency memoranda, guidance documents, website instructions, FAQs and fee schedules that established and enforced the $100,000 H-1B visa fee.

TRUMP’S $100K H-1B VISA OVERHAUL COULD HIT TECH GIANTS LIKE AMAZON AND MICROSOFT HARDEST

According to the filing, Sorokin ruled that the fee was designed to raise revenue from a lawful program and therefore functioned as a tax rather than a penalty, as the Trump administration had argued. Under the U.S. Constitution, the power to impose or delegate taxes rests with Congress.

“Here, the $100,000 payment requirement for all H-1B petitions does not aim to establish that hiring H-1B workers is illegal,” the filing said. “The payment is not a penalty… because it is not ‘punishment for an unlawful act or omission.’ Hiring workers pursuant to the H-1B program is plainly lawful.”

VANCE TELLS BLUE STATE THEY ‘MIGHT TRY HIRING AMERICANS’ BEFORE SUING OVER TRUMP’S VISA FEE EXPLOSION

The fee also violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), which requires agencies to undergo a “notice-and-comment” period to gather public feedback, the judge ruled. 

Sorokin said the agencies that implemented and enforced the fee failed to adequately explain their reasoning, consider alternative options or assess the policy’s potential consequences, and lacked a valid emergency or foreign-affairs justification for bypassing the process.

“[T]he mere fact that Defendants followed a presidential directive does not grant them free rein to ignore the requirements of the APA,” Sorokin wrote.

ARE AMERICAN WORKERS BEING REPLACED? INSIDE THE H-1B VISA CONTROVERSY

As of Feb. 15, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has received 85 payments of the $100,000 requirement, resulting in $8.5 million in payments, the administration said in a March filing.

The H-1B program provides 65,000 visas annually, with an additional 20,000 reserved for workers with advanced degrees, typically valid for three to six years, according to Reuters. 

Employers generally paid between $960 and $7,595 in fees prior to Trump’s proclamation, court filings said.

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Trump introduced the fee last September, arguing the H-1B visa process was fueling the large-scale replacement of American workers and had “undermined both our economic and national security.” 

His move to address the issue drew widespread criticism from business and tech leaders. 

From 2024 through mid-2025, Amazon received 19,301 H-1B approvals, more than any other major tech company, according to USCIS data. Microsoft also secured 9,914, while Apple received 8,075.