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Centrist Dems turn on far left after the election: ‘Identity politics’ is ‘absolutely killing us’

Centrist Dems turn on far left after the election: ‘Identity politics’ is ‘absolutely killing us’

Centrist Democrats are slamming their far-left colleagues following Election Day, arguing that their emphasis on “identity politics” and other issues handed huge victories to the GOP. Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., argued that President-elect Trump has “no greater friend than the far left.” Like-minded Democrats say racial politics, anti-police rhetoric and gender hysteria are alienating millions of voters. “There is more to lose than there is to gain politically from pandering to a far left that is more representative of Twitter, Twitch, and TikTok than it is of the real world,” Torres wrote on X. “The working class is not buying the ivory-towered nonsense that the far left is selling.” Longtime Democratic strategist James Carville put it more bluntly in a Sunday interview with the New York Times, calling “defund the police” the “three stupidest words in the English language.” “We could never wash off the stench of it,” he said. INSIDE SAN JOSE STATE’S POLICE BATTLE TO PROTECT WOMEN’S ATHLETES THREATENED BY A TRANSGENDER CULTURE WAR Torres is one of several Democratic lawmakers in both the House and the Senate who have called out his party’s “nonsense.” One centrist House Democrat complained to Axios on Monday that the “identity politics stuff is absolutely killing us.” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., argued on Sunday that Democrats are “out of touch with the crisis of meaning/purpose fueling MAGA.” “We don’t listen enough; we tell people what’s good for them. And when progressives like Bernie aggressively go after the elites that hold people down, they are shunned as dangerous populists. Why? Maybe because true economic populism is bad for our high-income base,” Murphy wrote. Not all Democrats are ready to make a change, however. When Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., broke with his party to condemn biological males playing in women’s sports last week, he faced an avalanche of hate. “Democrats spend way too much time trying not to offend anyone rather than being brutally honest about the challenges many Americans face,” Moulton said in a New York Times report. “I have two little girls, I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat I’m supposed to be afraid to say that.” The statement resulted in calls for Moulton to resign, and at least one of his staffers quit in protest. Massachusetts state Rep. Manny Cruz suggested Moulton’s stance was “a betrayal” in a post on X. “Congressman Moulton, your commitment then was protecting the LGBTQ community, standing up for their rights, and compassion. Now, on a political whim, our Congressman has betrayed the words he signed onto just last year by scapegoating transgender youth in sports for the failures of the national Democratic Party and leaders to win the presidential election. You said you ‘would stand with Nagly and with all our community … against all forms of bigotry, discrimination, bullying, and harassment,’” Cruz wrote.  Salem city Councilor Kyle Davis, another Democrat, called for Moulton to resign.  “I’m not looking for an apology from [Moulton], I’m looking for a resignation,” Davis wrote in a post on X. Moulton refused to apologize and instead doubled down in a statement late last week. “I will fight, as I always have, for the rights and safety of all citizens. These two ideas are not mutually exclusive, and we can even disagree on them. Yet there are many who, shouting from the extreme left corners of social media, believe I have failed the unspoken Democratic Party purity test,” he said. “We did not lose the 2024 election because of any trans person or issue. We lost, in part, because we shame and belittle too many opinions held by too many voters and that needs to stop. Let’s have these debates now, determine a new strategy for our party since our existing one failed, and then unite to oppose the Trump agenda wherever it imperils American values.” Fox News’ Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.

DC councilmember facing federal bribery charges wins landslide re-election, but colleagues may oust him

DC councilmember facing federal bribery charges wins landslide re-election, but colleagues may oust him

A Washington, D.C. councilmember accused by federal authorities of accepting $156,000 in bribes is expected to appear in court this week just days after he won re-election in a landslide.  The legal saga surrounding D.C. Ward 8 Councilman Trayon White Sr. is unfolding as the D.C. Council is considering expelling him from his position. Last week, the Democrat secured re-election by capturing nearly 76% of the vote, defeating Republican challenger Nate Derenge by a tally of 20,181 to 3,940. “I feel confident that the people of Ward 8 have spoken. I feel like I’m going to win by a landslide but I’m still humbled and prayerful. I hope [it] sends a loud message to the DC Council about keeping the decisions in the hands of the people.” White told WJLA on Election Day.  “I’m under a lot of scrutiny right now on this season in my life but I am forever prayerful and grateful for all God has done in my life and the people that have been supporting me along the way,” he added.  DC COUNCILMAN STUFFED POCKETS WITH ENVELOPES OF CASH IN ALLEGED BRIBERY SCHEME, FEDS ALLEGE  The Justice Department, citing a criminal complaint charging White with bribery, alleges that “beginning in June 2024, White corruptly agreed to accept $156,000 in cash payments in exchange for using his position as a D.C. Councilmember to pressure government employees at [the] Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and [the] D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services to extend several D.C. contracts.”  “The contracts at issue were valued at $5.2 million and were for two companies to provide Violence Intervention services in D.C.,” the Justice Department added.   “According to the complaint, White’s agreement with a confidential human source (the owner of the companies) – including the source’s payments to White of $35,000 in cash on four separate occasions (June 26, July 17, July 25, and August 9, 2024) and the source showing White a document reflecting how White’s three-percent cut was calculated based on those contracts – was captured on video,” the DOJ also said.  White reportedly faces up to 15 years in prison if he is convicted.  FBI ARRESTS DC COUNCILMAN WHO IN 2018 ACCUSED JEWISH FINANCIERS OF ‘CLIMATE MANIPULATION’  In September, White – who once chaired the Committee on Recreation, Libraries, and Youth Affairs – was removed from that committee position by the D.C. Council, according to Fox5 DC.  The local station reported that the Council has brought in an outside legal firm to help it conduct an investigation into White’s alleged actions, with a report on that expected by Dec. 16.  If the Council decides to expel White, that would not happen until early next year, Fox5 DC reported.  White is expected to appear at a court hearing on Wednesday, Nov. 13, for his federal case.  He previously rejected a plea deal and prosecutors are now asking for jury selection to begin in July 2025, according to WTOP.  Fox News’ Pilar Arias, David Spunt and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

Trump names Stefanik UN ambassador: report

Trump names Stefanik UN ambassador: report

President-elect Trump reportedly named Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., as the United States’ ambassador to the United Nations.  “I am honored to nominate Chairwoman Elise Stefanik to serve in my Cabinet as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter,” Trump said in a statement to the New York Post.  Stefanik, chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, confirmed the appointment in a statement of her own to the outlet.  “I am truly honored to earn President Trump’s nomination to serve in his Cabinet as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations,” Stefanik told the Post. “During my conversation with President Trump, I shared how deeply humbled I am to accept his nomination and that I look forward to earning the support of my colleagues in the United States Senate. President Trump’s historic landslide election has given hope to the American people and is a reminder that brighter days are ahead — both at home and abroad.”  STEFANIK SLAMS DEMOCRATS’ ‘SCARE TACTICS’ ON TRUMP’S RECORD WITH WOMEN ON IVF, ABORTION Stefanik, the fourth-highest ranking House Republican, is a frequent figure on television where she advocates for the GOP side on a number of issues, including Israel and what she refers to as the “Biden Crime Family.”  By contrast, the Biden-Harris administration’s U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, does not seek much press coverage.  IRAN’S CYBER STRIKE ON TRUMP CAMPAIGN: STEFANIK SLAMS FBI FOR ‘ELECTION INTERFERENCE’ TO AID DEMS Stefanik, who was elected to her sixth term in the House last week, made national headlines for grilling the presidents of Ivy League universities about the rising antisemitism on college campuses in the wake of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel.  “The work ahead is immense as we see antisemitism skyrocketing coupled with four years of catastrophically weak U.S. leadership that significantly weakened our national security and diminished our standing in the eyes of both allies and adversaries,” Stefanik added in her statement to the Post. “I stand ready to advance President Donald J. Trump’s restoration of America First peace through strength leadership on the world stage on Day One at the United Nations. “

Montana’s road to red: How the state shifted to all GOP leadership for the first time in over 100 years

Montana’s road to red: How the state shifted to all GOP leadership for the first time in over 100 years

Montana has officially solidified itself as a red state, ending a long period of Democratic leadership with the ousting of the last statewide Democrat in the 2024 election. Montana’s first two senators, selected after joining the union in November 1989, were Republican. The state elected another set of Republicans to the Senate in the early 1900s, but Montana would not see another GOP pair elected to the chamber until 2024 – more than 100 years later. And for the first time since 1897, Montana is seeing a sweep of Republican leadership across the Senate, governorship and congressional seats. But Montana’s road to red started in 1997, the year the state started consistently electing Republicans to the House of Representatives. NAVY SEAL OUSTS 3-TERM SEN. JON TESTER IN MONTANA SENATE RACE When Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, took office in 2007, he locked in a predominantly blue Montana with two Democratic senators and a Democratic governor that year.  IN & OUT: TRIO OF LONGTIME DEM SENATORS ELECTED SAME YEAR WERE VOTED OUT IN 2024 But the state saw a significant shift in 2014 when Republican Sen. Steve Daines flipped one of the long-held Democratic Senate seats in Montana – the beginning of a red wave that would eventually overtake the entire state. As of 2021, Montana’s gubernatorial seat has remained consistently occupied by a Republican. Tester eventually became the only Democrat to hold a statewide seat in Montana, but his 18-year stand came to an end on Tuesday when Republican Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy ousted him in one of the most closely watched Senate races of the 2024 cycle. Daines recently spoke with Fox News Digital about Montana’s changing electorate. “I think what’s happened is Montana, in terms of their voting and their thinking, has moved a bit more right,” said Daines. “The biggest problem for the Democrats is they’ve moved so far left. This is not the same Democrat Party that I grew up with here in Montana.” Daines, who chaired the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) for the 2024 election cycle, noted that the shift to the right is also the result of many Republicans having moved to Montana from blue states over the years.  “We’ve just seen an influx of New Montana residents over the course of the last five, six years. And those new residents, from states like California, Oregon, Washington, even Colorado, are fleeing heavy-handed blue states and coming to a red state,” the senator said in an interview. “And so it’s not just the quality of life that is attracting these newly minted Montanans. It’s also the quality of leadership. They want to see center-right leaders who hold their values as they flee these liberal states. So we refer to these new Montanans as political refugees, not as political missionaries. They’re coming to join us, not to change us.” As of 2025, Montana will be represented by Daines, Sheehy, Gov. Greg Gianforte, Rep. Ryan Zinke and Rep.-elect Troy Downing.

State education chief ‘on GOP radar’ launches gameplan for nixing cabinet department

State education chief ‘on GOP radar’ launches gameplan for nixing cabinet department

EXCLUSIVE: As President-elect Donald Trump privately storyboards his cabinet choices, one top state official who is rumored to be on the shortlist for Secretary of Education is releasing his game plan for shifting the department’s duties to states and parents, Fox News Digital has learned. In a memo to Oklahoma parents and school administrators, Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters will state that the federal agency has “hijacked our education system using taxpayer dollars to impose harmful policies and control what’s taught in our schools.” Some issues Walters said he is bringing to the fore both in the memo and what he is calling a Trump Education Advisory Team to be announced Monday. The Department of Education is a relatively new stand-alone cabinet agency created under former President Jimmy Carter, which his successor, Ronald Reagan, called to shutter during his 1982 State of the Union. OKLAHOMA SCHOOLS CHIEF BILLS KAMALA HARRIS $474M FOR COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION Tenets include ending “social indoctrination” in the classroom and promoting patriotism through curriculum. In a Friday interview, Walters said the team will organize priorities for schools to be in line with Trump administration education policies, based on what the president-elect has signaled that he will do in that regard. With the prospect of a shuttered Department of Education, Walters said that he will plan out how to fill any holes left by federal programs and develop legislative recommendations. At an October rally in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Trump said he is “going to close the Department of Education and move education back to the states.” “And we’re going to do it fast. We’ll get somebody great [as secretary].” He namedropped former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y. who had accompanied him, as well as Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Walters also remains “on Republicans’ radar” in that regard, according to Education Week. He said on Friday that Democrats failed to challenge Trump on education policy likely because his positions already resonated with the American public, alluding to the recent scholastic controversies in Virginia and elsewhere. “We’re going to be the tip of the spear in instituting President Trump’s agenda. This is to ensure that we are in complete alignment with the most aggressive, comprehensive and conservative education agenda the country has ever seen,” he said. Walters said he is confident that Trump will follow through and shutter the agency, and that it will result in increased aptitude among students less burdened by red tape, redundancies to state agencies, and social policy edicts. STATE SCHOOLS CHIEF DIRECTS MILLIONS TO FUND A BIBLE IN EVERY SCHOOL “I mean, President Biden came out in the middle of the summer and told us we had to put boys in girl’s bathrooms,” he said. Whether Trump ultimately chooses him, Walters said he will remain focused on bringing Oklahoma in-line with Trumpian policies, and creating a roadmap for other states. Improving education, he added, goes far beyond curriculum and will have lasting impacts on the economy, jobs and more. “Parents wanted to hear that . . . our schools are not here to tell our kids this is an evil, racist country and building this indoctrination,” he said. “We want to support families and school choice.” The transition plan he crafted also depicts how the education system can continue to run without the influence of teachers’ unions that comes with the present top-down system. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP He said that American Federation of Teachers boss Randi Weingarten put his picture on a screen after Trump’s during a recent union convention, and that his response was Tuesday’s “definitive win” by pro-school-choice candidates. “It’s just it’s so exciting to see this agenda come to fruition,” he said.  In the current Congress, Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala., also authored a bill abolishing the Department of Education. It was referred to and remains in committee.  Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump campaign for information on the cabinet shortlist, as well as to the Department of Education for a response to Walters’ plans. A representative for the latter referred Fox News Digital to the Trump campaign.