Chicago City Council approves $70M for migrant care despite voter backlash
The Chicago City Council on Friday green-lit an extra $70 million for the care of illegal immigrants in the Windy City despite a massive backlash from residents that foreign nationals are being prioritized over native Chicagoans. The council voted 30-18 to approve the request made by Mayor Brandon Johnson in order to help deal with the ongoing migrant crisis it is facing. CBS News reported that the vote, which came after an hour of heated debate, accompanied an approval of $48 million in grant money from state and federal governments. That money is on top of a $150 million assigned to migrant care in the budget already. Johnson, along with a number of other mayors, have appealed to the federal government for billions more in funding than it is already providing. BLACK CHICAGO VOTERS RIP MAYOR ON EXTRA $70M FOR MIGRANTS AS RECALL PETITION GATHERS STEAM “Yes, this is a challenge. Do we want to spend this money like this right now? Of course not, but again, we have an obligation, and we have a responsibility to move this ball forward,” said Jason Erwin, the council’s budget committee chair, according to CBS. Johnson’s office had said the funding request was to ensure the city is prepared “should there be any sudden increases in new arrivals sent by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.” The city aims to provide “basic necessities” including food, shelter, medical care, education, vaccines, case management and resettlement support. According to Johnson’s office, the city has at its peak been dealing with more than 2,000 migrants coming in a week. Nearly 40,000 have arrived since August 2022. The mayor has also been calling for more funding, national coordination of resettlement and faster employment documents. VACCINATING MIGRANTS LIKE US CHILDREN WOULD HAVE PREVENTED DISEASE OUTBREAKS AT CHICAGO SHELTERS: EXPERTS However, residents showed up in force at a City Council meeting on Wednesday to protest the request for more funding ahead of the vote, with furious residents accusing the government of prioritizing funds to migrants that should be going to residents. “We need that money in my neighborhood, we need that money on my block,” railed one Black woman wearing a red “Make America Great Again” cowboy hat. “So I’m asking y’all to use our tax money for our people, we need it.” “Vote for the money for these immigrants today and we coming for those seats, you can believe that,” she said. “You better be worrying about your job, you better be worrying about your longevity because we gonna vote and we gonna getcha out, ’cause you ain’t doing right by us, that’s what time it is.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS “They’re showing up here in New York and Chicago attacking people in the streets,” another resident said on Wednesday. “The police are fighting with them in the… shelters that you guys are funding.” Meanwhile, some residents have been pushing to recall Johnson. A group is currently laying the groundwork by gathering signatures for a ballot referendum to change state law, which currently does not allow for the recall of anyone except the governor. Fox News’ Garrett Tenney and Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
Judge rules against NY attorney general, says Trump’s $175M judgment bond will stand
Former President Trump’s $175 million bond judgment stemming from his non-jury civil trial will stand, a New York judge ruled Monday after New York Attorney General Letitia James attempted to invalidate it. Lawyers for James on Monday argued that the court should void Trump’s slashed judgment of $175 million in his non-jury civil fraud trial. James questioned whether the company that posted the massive bond, Knight Specialty Insurance, could actually pay the bond if needed. The court, though, ruled against James, deciding that the bond will stand. The court decided the $175 million needs to be in cash — not in mutual funds or securities where the value can fluctuate. The court said Knight Insurance cannot trade or move the money, but said they will retain control of the account. The court also ruled that Knight Insurance must provide a monthly financial statement to James showing the $175 million in cash, and decided that the agreement cannot change without approval from the court. The hearing Monday lasted for approximately an hour. Trump attorneys are appealing the decision from New York Judge Arthur Engoron, which required him to pay $454 million after Engoron ruled Trump was liable for fraud. An appeals court slashed that $454 million judgment to $175 million while Trump appeals Engoron’s ruling. If Trump loses his appeal, the former president may be liable for the full $454 million. His real estate portfolio may then be exposed to seizure by James. Arguments in the appeal are set for September. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
RFK Jr railing against ‘racially rancid’ voter ID laws in unearthed video
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has been a longtime opponent of requiring voters to show proof of identification to cast a ballot, a number of his resurfaced writings and interviews show. The material reviewed by Fox News Digital was published throughout 2008 in the run-up to that year’s presidential election, and included Kennedy referencing voter ID laws as “racially rancid,” and claiming voter fraud was “non-existent.” One of his past writings – a comic book co-authored with investigative journalist Greg Palast and sponsored by numerous liberal and left-wing organizations – specifically claimed voter ID requirements were discriminatory against Black people. DEMOCRATS HOLD MAJOR 2024 ADVANTAGE AS HOUSE REPUBLICANS FACE FURTHER CHAOS, DIVISION “One out of every ten Americans don’t have a government-issued ID because they don’t travel abroad, so they don’t have passports, and they don’t drive a car[,] so they don’t have drivers[‘] licenses. The number rises to one in five when you’re dealing with the African American community. And, indeed, for those people to get a government-issued ID – it’s an obstacle,” Kennedy wrote on page 16 of the comic. On the same page, Kennedy described voter ID laws as “racially rancid,” citing thousands of voters rejected at the polls for having an expired license – or no license at all – during an unnamed previous election being “disproportionately” Black. Kennedy wrote on another page that an Idaho requirement for newly registered voters in the state to show ID to have a mail-in ballot counted was “a new voter Block-the-Vote trick.” He later described voter ID laws as “the newest scam to steal your vote,” and specifically called those turned away from the polls for not being able to prove their identity as “stolen votes.” WATCH: ANTI-BIDEN PROTESTER DERAILS KENNEDY INTERVIEW WITH BLOOD-CURDLING SCREAMS “Voter fraud is non-existent… everybody who has ever studied this – non-partisan, bi-partisan groups – [has] said that it is simply not a problem in this country,” Kennedy also wrote in the comic. Kennedy also claimed voter fraud “doesn’t exist” during a 2008 HuffPost interview while comparing voter ID requirements to Jim Crow laws and accusing Republicans of using fear surrounding voter fraud as an excuse to make it harder for minorities to vote. “Republicans have seized on this in order to erect all kinds of obstacles and impediments that essentially mimic the old poll taxes that were used in the southern states during the Jim Crow period, to keep Black people from voting. Today, they’re directed toward suppressing the votes, not only Blacks, but Hispanics and American Indians, of young people of senior citizens,” Kennedy said. WATCH: NEW BIDEN CAMPAIGN AD MAKES SUBTLE CLAIM ABOUT PRESIDENT’S MENTAL FITNESS That same year, Kennedy admitted in a piece published by liberal outlet Rolling Stone that “the requirement to show a government-issued ID doesn’t seem unreasonable,” but claimed again that traditional Democrat voters, which, at the time, he described as young voters, minorities and seniors, “often have no driver’s licenses or state ID cards.” He repeated similar claims during an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow just days ahead of the 2008 presidential election. “One in five Black voters does not have a driver’s license. That means if you require a driver’s license, you’re getting rid of 20% of the Black voters in this country,” he said. Fox News Digital has reached out to Kennedy’s campaign for comment. Despite his past claims about them, voter ID laws remain popular across the country. Numerous polls taken in recent years have shown more than three-quarters of Americans support requiring proof of identification to cast a ballot. Kennedy is running alongside wealthy entrepreneur and philanthropist Nicole Shanahan, a former Democrat who he announced would join his ticket during a rally in Oakland, California, last month. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Papua New Guinea leader blasts Biden for claiming his uncle was eaten by cannibals
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said Monday that he was offended by President Biden’s recent comments suggesting his uncle was eaten by cannibals in the Oceanic nation during World War II. Marape expressed disappointment in a statement Monday that Biden would suggest his nation was rife with cannibals, noting also that Papua New Guinea was unwillingly pulled into the global conflict in the 1940s. Biden’s comments suggesting his uncle, 2nd Lt. Ambrose J. Finnegan Jr., was eaten in Papua New Guinea, came during a speech to a steelworkers union in Pittsburgh last week. “President Biden’s remarks may have been a slip of the tongue; however, my country does not deserve to be labeled as such,” Marape said in a statement. “World War II was not the doing of my people; however, they were needlessly dragged into a conflict that was not their doing.” “The remains of WWII lie scattered all over PNG, including the plane that carried President Biden’s uncle,” he continued. “Perhaps, given President Biden’s comments and the strong reaction from PNG and other parts of the world, it is time for the USA to find as many remains of World War II in PNG as possible, including those of servicemen who lost their lives like Ambrose Finnegan.” BIDEN’S FALSE CANNIBAL STORY DESCRIBED AS A SIMPLE ‘MISSTATEMENT,’ ‘OFF ON THE DETAILS’ BY THE MEDIA Marape added that Papua New Guinea citizens continue to live in fear of active bombs dating back to the 20th-century conflict. He said the country is littered with human remains, plane and ship wrecks, tunnels and bombs from World War II. BIDEN TAKES HEAT OVER GAFFE URGING AMERICANS TO ‘CHOOSE FREEDOM OVER DEMOCRACY:’ ‘GET THIS MAN OUT OF OFFICE!’ On Wednesday, during his speech at the United Steelworkers headquarters, Biden recalled his uncle’s military service and how he flew a single-engine plane for the U.S. Army to collect reconnaissance. The president said Finnegan was gunned down in Papua New Guinea and his body was never recovered, pointing to the existence of cannibals in the nation. “And he got shot down in New Guinea, and they never found the body because there used to be – there were a lot of cannibals, for real, in that part of New Guinea,” Biden said. After the comments were criticized, though, the White House defended the president. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Thursday that Biden made the comments while having an “emotional moment.” “So, his uncle, who lost his life when the military aircraft he was on crashed in the Pacific after taking off near New Guinea. The president highlighted his uncle’s story as he made the case for honoring our sacred commitment to equip those we send to war and take care of them and their families when they come home,” Jean-Pierre said. Meanwhile, Biden’s remarks came days after his latest call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on April 2. Papua New Guinea has emerged as a potential strategic ally amid tensions between the U.S. and China. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
House GOP blame game erupts after Johnson forces through $95B Ukraine, Israel aid plan
Frustrated House Republicans are trading barbs with their own colleagues after the passage of a $95 billion foreign aid bill with funding for Ukraine and Israel. Different factions of the House Republican Conference feuded over the weekend after the House passed four foreign aid bills via a simple majority vote, while a separate border security bill that needed two-thirds supermajority of the chamber failed to reach that threshold. “[T]he only reason the supermajority procedure was required was that a handful of self-destroying Republicans joined with all Democrats to oppose the Rule which would have allowed it to pass with a simple majority,” Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., wrote on X. “Those so called Republicans killed border security before Schumer could!” House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, shot back, “Those who wanted to force a Senate vote on border security were betrayed by the surrender of leverage, not by opposition to the rule.” TENSIONS ERUPT ON HOUSE FLOOR AS CONSERVATIVES CONFRONT JOHNSON ON $95B FOREIGN AID PLAN “If the speaker wanted to keep his own promises on border security, he would have attached border security to the rule. Those opposed would have been forced to accept it, or oppose the rule,” Davidson responded. A rule vote is a procedural hurdle that sets terms for debate and a final vote on one or several pieces of legislation. It’s decided by a majority in the House Rules Committee, which is the last test for bills before they reach the House floor. Conservative foreign aid skeptics were outraged at the decision by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., last week to advance his four foreign aid bills under one rule vote and a fifth border security bill under a separate rule, arguing that it left Republicans with no leverage to force the Senate to take it up. In protest, three of those skeptics joined all Democrats in killing the bill in the Rules Committee, which forced Johnson to bring the bill up for a vote by forgoing the procedural hurdle in exchange for raising the threshold for passage to two-thirds instead of a simple majority. Predictably, the bill failed with no Democrats backing the measure. DEMS SAVE JOHNSON’S $95B FOREIGN AID PLAN FROM GOP REBEL BLOCKADE Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., took a veiled shot at GOP rebels after the Saturday vote, accusing them of throwing up roadblocks for media attention, “Sadly we have some egos outpacing intellects. Could they survive a day [without] a microphone or camera in front of them? We are here TO GOVERN not play to the press.” On the other side of the argument, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, one of the three Rules Committee Republicans who blocked the border bill from getting a simple majority vote on the House floor, accused GOP leaders of putting it up for “cover.” “Ukraine issues aside, our take down of the SEPARATE border… rule – they needed desperately to pass as cover – has enraged them [because] they now can’t easily lie that border was attached in a package,” Roy wrote on X in an unrelated post. Meanwhile, Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., piled on Barr’s earlier post, “After each sellout, once the fury of Republican voters sets in, the self-serving lies begin. Leadership NEVER proposed to attach ANY border security measure to this Ukraine package. They set up a separate, cosmetic vote to give cover that the Senate would have been free to ignore. The Rules Committee conservatives killed that separate rule.” HOUSE TAKES KEY TEST VOTE FOR JOHNSON’S $95B FOREIGN AID PLAN AFTER DEMS HELP IT ADVANCE But even Johnson himself dismissed arguments that he was in a position to force border security measures through the Democrat-controlled Senate and White House, telling FOX Business’ Larry Kudlow days before the vote, “Some of my colleagues want the speaker of the House to have a magic wand. If we could close the border ourselves, we would have done it a long time ago.” The infighting is not a new phenomenon in the House, but it illustrates the exceptional divides in Johnson’s GOP Conference. House lawmakers are back in their home districts this week, but when they return, GOP leaders will be grappling with just a one-seat majority after the early departure of Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis.
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NY vs. Trump: Judge delivers jury instructions as opening statements kick off
The judge presiding over former President Trump’s trial in Manhattan delivered the jury its instructions ahead of the prosecution and defense teams delivering their respective opening remarks Monday morning. Trump arrived at the Manhattan courthouse Monday morning after 12 jurors and six alternates were seated and sworn in on the panel last week. Judge Juan Merchan on Monday morning detailed the panel’s instructions, including reminding the jury that the defendant is presumed innocent unless the prosecution team proves Trump is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The trial, which is anticipated to last six weeks, will allow jurors to take notes, but Merchan reiterated to the jurors that they cannot discuss the case with anyone, adding that they also cannot visit any places where a crime allegedly unfolded, and that they cannot research the case. TRUMP TRIAL: OPENING ARGUMENTS TO BEGIN AS TRUMP FLOUTS GAG ORDER AND ATTORNEY PREVIEWS DEFENSE Merchan also explained to the panel that jurors must operate fairly, that the defense team is not required to prove Trump’s innocence and that the 45th president is also not required to testify. The jurors were reportedly listening intently as Merchan described their rules surrounding the case. The trial is not televised, but the media is permitted in an overflow room in the courthouse. TRUMP’S LEGAL TEAM OFFERS PEEK AT STRATEGY AS OPENING STATEMENTS SET TO BEGIN AND MORE TOP HEADLINES The trial’s origins reach back to October 2016, when Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen paid former pornographic actor Stormy Daniels $130,000 to allegedly quiet her claims of an alleged extramarital affair she had with the then-real estate tycoon in 2006. Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels. Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. He pleaded not guilty to all counts. Prosecutors allege that the Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen and fraudulently logged the payments as legal expenses. Falsifying business records is a misdemeanor, but prosecutors are working to prove that Trump falsified records with an intent to commit or conceal a second crime, which would be a felony. TRUMP HUSH MONEY TRIAL: MEET THE JURORS WHO WILL HEAR BRAGG’S CASE AGAINST THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE Monday’s trial schedule will include opening remarks from both the prosecution and the defense teams and is anticipated to hear from the first witness called by the Manhattan district attorney’s office on Monday, David Pecker. Pecker served as the former chairman of the National Enquirer’s parent company, American Media Inc., and allegedly was a key figure of a “catch and kill” scheme ahead of the 2016 election. Daniels reportedly agreed to grant exclusive rights to the National Enquirer on her claims of an affair with Trump, with Pecker allegedly contacting Cohen to “purchase” Daniels’ silence on the alleged affair. The trial on Monday was supposed to conclude at 2 p.m., ahead of the Jewish holiday of Passover beginning at sundown, but it will wrap up at 12:30 due to a juror’s toothache and dental appointment. Trump slammed the trial in brief comments to the media earlier Monday, calling it a “Biden” trial and saying Americans should “understand” that his criminal trial is taking place “for the purposes of hurting the opponent of the worst president in the history of our country.” “I just want to say before we begin — these are all Biden trials,” Trump said before opening statements were delivered Monday. “This is done as election interference. Everybody knows it.” “I’m here instead of being able to be in Pennsylvania and Georgia and lots of other places campaigning, and it’s very unfair. Fortunately, the poll numbers are very good,” Trump continued. “They’ve been going up because people understand what’s going on.” Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
NY vs Trump: The evidence prosecutors can present if former president testifies
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg can bring up information from cases brought against former President Trump by New York Attorney General Letitia James and E. Jean Carroll in the cross-examination of the 2024 GOP presumptive nominee should he testify in his own defense, the judge presiding over the trial ruled Monday. Bragg and prosecutors in the district attorney’s office filed a motion last week saying they intend to use Trump’s alleged “prior misconduct and criminal acts” to discredit him after he testifies in the criminal trial. TRUMP TRIAL: OPENING ARGUMENTS TO BEGIN AS TRUMP FLOUTS GAG ORDER AND ATTORNEY PREVIEWS DEFENSE Trump has never been convicted of a crime. Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the criminal trial, decided Monday that Bragg’s office can bring up information from James’ lawsuit against the former president — including New York Judge Arthur Engoron’s decision that found him liable of fraud. Trump was required to post a $454 million bond in that case, but an appeals court slashed that judgment in half to $175 million while the former president and his legal team appeal the ruling. Engoron made the decision after a monthslong, non-jury civil fraud trial. BRAGG SAYS HE WILL TRY TO ‘DISCREDIT’ TRUMP IF HE TESTIFIES IN HIS DEFENSE DURING CRIMINAL TRIAL Merchan, on Monday, said Bragg can bring up Engoron’s ruling. Bragg is also allowed to bring up Trump’s alleged violation of the gag order imposed upon him in that case, where Trump was fined more than $10,000. Merchan also imposed a gag order on the former president in his criminal trial. Bragg has argued that Trump has violated that order more than seven times already and wants him to pay a $1,000 fine per violation, while being warned that any future violations could be punishable with up to 30 days of incarceration. Merchan also said Bragg is able to refer to information from Carroll’s defamation case against Trump—specifically the finding that Trump “defamed” Carroll by allegedly making false statements. A federal jury in January decided Trump must pay Carroll more than $83 million in damages after he denied allegations he raped her in the 1990s. TRUMP HUSH MONEY TRIAL: MEET THE JURORS WHO WILL HEAR BRAGG’S CASE AGAINST THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE The jury decided Trump must pay $18.3 million in compensatory damages and $65 million in punitive damages. A federal jury in New York City decided last year that Trump was not liable for rape, but was liable for sexual abuse and defamation. The former president was ordered to pay $5 million in that trial. Trump has repeatedly and vehemently denied the allegation. His denial resulted in Carroll slapping Trump with a defamation lawsuit, claiming that his response caused harm to her reputation. The jury found Carroll was injured as a result of statements Trump made while in the White House in June 2019. Trump and his attorneys are also appealing that ruling. Trump defense attorneys on Friday said each piece of “evidence” Bragg’s team hopes to use are “just distractions.” Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has been charged by Bragg with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. The charges are related to alleged hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all counts. He has blasted the trial as pure politics, a “political persecution” and maintains his innocence. The former president, the first ever to be a defendant in a criminal trial, vowed to “tell the truth” if he takes the stand.
‘Our Revolution’: Far-left lawmakers host event taking aim at ‘anti-peace’ pro-Israel group
A group that’s backing leftist candidates for Congress who want to place conditions on U.S. aid to Israel is hosting a Monday night event aimed at bashing the pro-Israel lobby and “building progressive power in Congress.” Our Revolution, an organizing group founded by self-described “democratic socialist” Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is hosting a town hall featuring Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., along with Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., according to a press release sent Monday morning. The group’s new campaign is “Committed to Countering the Rise in Rightwing, Anti-Peace Lobbying, Including AIPAC’s $100 Million Campaign to Unseat Candidates Calling For a Permanent Ceasefire,” the release said. AGITATOR BEHIND ‘DEATH TO AMERICA’ CHANTS IN CHICAGO CONTRIBUTES TO IRAN STATE TV, HEZBOLLAH-LINKED CHANNEL Monday night’s event is part of “a strategic effort to shore up defenses against well-funded corporate lobbyists,” specifically naming the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) – an organization that works along bipartisan lines to promote the traditional U.S.-Israel relationship. AIPAC has been in the crosshairs of progressive lawmakers in recent months, particularly as it has ratcheted up criticism of those lawmakers for not supporting Israel’s response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Israel’s ensuing ground invasion and airstrikes in Gaza have served to bring long-simmering fractures within the Democratic Party to the surface, with a growing number of young leftists in Congress calling for a harsher stance against Israel, including conditioning military aid on its treatment of civilians in Gaza. IVY LEAGUE ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS’ PROTESTS SPIRAL INTO ‘ACTUAL TERROR ORGANIZATION,’ PROFESSOR WARNS Our Revolution is backing candidates who, among other things, have called for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza. But Republicans and more moderate Democrats warn that a permanent cease-fire will only help Hamas, and could endanger the lives of dozens of Israeli hostages still being held by anti-Israel terrorists since October. The group said AIPAC is “targeting some of our most ardent advocates for peace in Congress.” Fox News Digital reached out to AIPAC for comment. AIPAC is expected to funnel millions of dollars into primary and general election candidates to unseat those progressive lawmakers, including Bowman, who is appearing at the Monday night event. “The candidates Our Revolution is backing have been on the forefront of advocating for a cease-fire in Gaza, as well as voicing their intent to condition U.S. funding of the far-right Netanyahu regime,” the press release said, referencing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. COLUMBIA STUDENT RECOUNTS HAVING ‘FRONT-ROW SEAT TO THE MADNESS’ OF ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS “They have also been at the forefront of the fight for critical progressive issues that will be crucial to driving voter turnout in the 2024 general election, including climate action, student loan relief, affordable housing, comprehensive immigration reform, and racial justice.” Asked for a response to the Monday event, AIPAC told Fox News Digital, “We are proud to engage in the democratic process to help elect pro-Israel candidates, and we will not be deterred by an extremist, anti-Israel fringe. We believe that it is entirely consistent with progressive values to stand with the Jewish state as it confronts aggression from Iran and its terrorist proxies.” A spokesperson for the group also told Fox News Digital that AIPAC is “the largest PAC contributor” to Democratic candidates.
Democrats join Republicans in condemning antisemitism at Columbia University
A number of Democrats in the Senate have joined their Republican colleagues in denouncing discrimination against Jewish students at the prestigious Ivy League Columbia University, where an anti-Israel solidarity encampment persists on campus, prompting the institution to move classes online on Monday. “Every American has a right to protest,” Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement. “But when protests shift to antisemitism, verbal abuse, intimidation, or glorification of Oct. 7 violence against Jewish people, that crosses the line.” “Campuses must remain safe for all students.” FETTERMAN HAMMERS ‘A–HOLE’ ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS, SLAMS OWN PARTY FOR RESPONSE TO IRANIAN ATTACK: ‘CRAZY’ Schumer, who represents New York City, where Columbia is located, is the first Jewish majority leader in the Senate and also the highest ranking Jewish elected official in U.S. history. Last week, the anti-Israel demonstration sprang up on Columbia’s campus, with students camping out in tents and demanding that the university divest from all companies with ties to Israel. Since then, the protest has grown in size and presented a safety threat to Jewish students. This has mushroomed into such a concern that an Orthodox rabbi at the school advised Jewish students to leave campus because “Columbia University’s Public Safety and the NYPD cannot guarantee Jewish students’ safety.” New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, another Democrat, also denounced the display of antisemitism at the university, saying she was “appalled.” GOP PREPS ATTACKS ON VULNERABLE DEM SENATORS OVER MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT TRIAL DISMISSAL “Threats of violence against Jewish students and the Jewish community are horrible, despicable and wholly unacceptable,” she said. “Using the rhetoric of terrorists has no place in New York, where we pride ourselves on tolerance and the right of every group to practice their religion in peace.” Others who joined their party members in addressing the encampment were Sens. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., and John Fetterman, D-Penn. “I’m outraged by the vile displays of antisemitism at Columbia University, including threats of violence,” read a post on X from Rosen, who faces a tough re-election battle in November in swing state Nevada. Fetterman, who has emerged as one of Israel’s strongest supporters in his party, compared the demonstration to “Charlottesville for these Jewish students.” Fetterman referenced the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Virginia that drew hundreds of white supremacists and ultimately turned violent, resulting in the death of one woman. “President Minouche Shafik: do your job or resign, so Columbia can find someone who will,” Fetterman added. FETTERMAN HIGHLIGHTS NEED FOR ‘SAFE, PURE, TAXED’ MARIJUANA IN 4/20 PUSH TO LEGALIZE WEED While a number of Democrats have chosen to make public statements on the events unfolding at Columbia, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., blamed the party for allowing it to happen in the first place. “The radical anti-Israel protestors have always been part of the Democratic Party’s base,” he wrote on X. “Now Joe Biden is using them as an excuse to undermine Israel and appease Iran.” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said the administration condemns “echoing the rhetoric of terrorist organizations” in the “strongest terms.” Republicans in the Senate were quick to condemn the encampment at Columbia, and Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., even suggested, “Any student on a visa that is arrested for supporting Hamas needs to be deported immediately.” Many GOP members in the upper chamber have reinforced their support for Israel and the Jewish people frequently throughout the war between Israel and terrorist group Hamas in Gaza. Democrats have been more measured and careful with their commentary on the war and Israel as the party’s divide on the issue expands, making the statements from them regarding Columbia particularly significant. President Biden and Democrats have faced criticism from their Republican counterparts for pulling back from Israel, a major U.S. ally in the Middle East. Biden recently warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that U.S. policy in support of the country could change depending on the actions it takes to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza. Additionally, in the wake of Iran’s recent direct attack on Israel, Republicans quickly blamed Biden and other Democrats, accusing them of emboldening Israel’s adversary to undertake such an audacious attack.