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Obama vs Trump: Political giants back opposing candidates in widely-watched Wisconsin Supreme Court contest

Obama vs Trump: Political giants back opposing candidates in widely-watched Wisconsin Supreme Court contest

While reports indicate that the Wisconsin state Supreme Court election is nonpartisan, partisan battle lines have been clearly drawn, with former President Barack Obama and current President Donald Trump backing opposing candidates in the contest. Obama named Judge Susan Crawford as the “only one candidate ready to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of Wisconsinites,” in a tweet on Tuesday, urging voters to cast their ballot early, rather than waiting until the April 1 Election Day. But while Obama is supporting the candidate backed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, Trump has endorsed the state’s former Republican Attorney General Judge Brad Schimel. BIG-MONEY WI HIGH COURT RACE WILL HAVE NATIONAL EFFECTS, AS REDISTRICTING, UNIONS, TRANS ISSUES AT STAKE And like Obama, Trump has urged Wisconsinites to vote early. “Brad Schimel is running against Radical Left Liberal Susan Crawford, who has repeatedly given child molesters, rapists, women beaters, and domestic abusers ‘light’ sentences. She is the handpicked voice of the Leftists who are out to destroy your State, and our Country — And if she wins, the Movement to restore our Nation will bypass Wisconsin. All Voters who believe in Common Sense should GET OUT TO VOTE EARLY for Brad Schimel,” Trump declared in a Truth Social post last week. TRUMP MAKES ENDORSEMENT IN ‘IMPORTANT’ WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT RACE Elon Musk is also backing Schimel. “Vote for Brad Schimel in Wisconsin!” the business magnate declared in a tweet. MUSK PAC STEPS DEEPER INTO WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT ELECTION WITH $100 OFFER TO VOTERS CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The Musk-founded America PAC is supporting Schimel, and offering Wisconsin registered voters $100 to sign a petition opposing “Activist Judges,” and $100 per signer they refer.

Gov. Youngkin proposes withholding state funding from Virginia’s ‘sanctuary cities’

Gov. Youngkin proposes withholding state funding from Virginia’s ‘sanctuary cities’

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, is threatening to withhold state funding from local governments if they do not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement officials. The proposal comes as the governor seeks to eliminate the Commonwealth’s “sanctuary cities,” which are areas that choose to protect migrants without legal status rather than cooperate with federal officials to enforce immigration law. Youngkin first floated the idea of withholding funding in December. The governor has now proposed it as an amendment to the state budget passed by the General Assembly, according to Fox 5 DC. YOUNGKIN TO DRAFT SANCTUARY CITY BAN, MAKING STATE FUNDING CONTINGENT ON ICE COOPERATION The proposal would ensure that state funding does not go to counties or cities with “sanctuary city” policies such as ignoring detainer requests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the outlet reported. The governor has been particularly critical of Democrat-run counties in northern Virginia, including Fairfax. He said there must be full cooperation on immigration enforcement to continue receiving funding. “This is not a decision for people to make locally,” he said, according to Fox 5 DC. “This is for the betterment of all our safety. We are not a sanctuary state and therefore we’re not supporting localities that are declared sanctuary cities.” Chair of the Board of Supervisors for Fairfax County, Jeff Mckay, told Fox 5 DC that Youngkin’s plan would effectively “defund the police,” as he claims that Fairfax County is not a “sanctuary city” and asserts that officials follow all legal detainers. “Ultimately, what he’s saying is, if you don’t agree with his non-lawyer definition of ‘sanctuary city,’ it could affect your law enforcement agency, and he’s doing this because he’s alleging significant crime is occurring,” McKay said. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY STUDENT PROTESTER SUES TRUMP ADMIN TO PREVENT DEPORTATION CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott, a Democrat, has accused the governor of “capitulating” to the Trump administration, which has sought to carry out the president’s plan to mass deport migrants. The General Assembly, which has a Democrat majority, will take up the governor’s proposal next week.

Hegseth fends off reporter’s questions about Signal chat leak: ‘I know exactly what I’m doing’

Hegseth fends off reporter’s questions about Signal chat leak: ‘I know exactly what I’m doing’

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday fended off a reporter’s questions about a leaked Signal chat group involving Trump administration officials discussing forthcoming strikes on the Houthis in Yemen.  Hegseth was asked during a press gaggle in Hawaii if the information was declassified before he put it in the Signal chat and if he was using the messaging platform to discuss operations as sensitive as the strikes against the Houthis on a government or a personal device. Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, said he received a request to join the group chat on the encrypted messaging service Signal on March 11 from what appeared to be the president’s National Security Advisor Michael Waltz. Goldberg released screenshots of some of the message exchanges he observed. Goldberg reported that officials were discussing “war plans” in the group chat called “Houthi PC Small Group,” but he decided not to publish some of the highly sensitive information he saw, including precise information about weapons packages, targets and timing, due to potential threats to national security and military operations. TRUMP OFFICIALS ACCIDENTALLY TEXT ATLANTIC JOURNALIST ABOUT MILITARY STRIKES IN APPARENT SECURITY BREACH Speaking in Hawaii Tuesday, Hegseth said the strikes against the Houthis that night were “devastatingly effective.”  “I’m incredibly proud of the courage and skill of the troops. And they are ongoing and continue to be devastatingly effective,” he said. “The last place I would want to be right now is a Houthi in Yemen who wants to disrupt freedom of navigation, so the skill and courage of our troops is on full display.” “It’s a complete opposite approach from the fecklessness of the Biden administration,” he continued. The secretary also repeated his claims that “nobody was texting war plans,” pushing back on Goldberg’s assertion. “As I also stated yesterday, nobody’s texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about that,” Hegseth said. Pressed by a reporter about whether he regrets leaking information in the Signal chat that could have put the lives of U.S. troops at risk, Hegseth claimed he has everything under control. “Nobody’s texting war plans,” he reiterated. “I know exactly what I’m doing, exactly what we’re directing, and I’m really proud of what we accomplished, the successful missions that night and going forward.” Goldberg reported that 18 people were listed in the Signal group, including Hegseth, Waltz, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. TRUMP NOT PLANNING TO FIRE WALTZ AFTER NATIONAL SECURITY TEXT CHAIN LEAK Ratcliffe also put the name of a CIA undercover agent into the Signal chat, Goldberg reported. The editor has described Hegseth’s denial as a “lie,” citing messages he read that laid out a specific time for the attack, human targets, weapon systems and weather reports. He has also said he is considering whether to publish more messages to back up his reporting, as Hegseth and other Trump administration officials seek to discredit him. Hegseth had earlier criticized Goldberg as “a deceitful and highly discredited, so-called journalist who’s made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again, to include the … hoaxes of Russia, Russia, Russia, or the fine people on both sides hoax or suckers and losers hoax. So this guy is garbage.” But the White House has confirmed that the group chat “appears to be an authentic message chain.” “This appears to be an authentic message chain, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said in a statement. “The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials. The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to troops or national security.” The Signal chat has been panned as a massive breach of national security, and many have noted that senior officials are not supposed to discuss detailed military plans outside special secure facilities or protected government communications networks. Watchdog group American Oversight has sued Hegseth and other officials who were in the group chat, arguing that they failed to meet their obligations under the Federal Records Act by using Signal to communicate and plan active military operations. Also on Tuesday, amid scrutiny over the Signal chat, Hegseth participated in some physical training with Navy SEALs. “Kicked off the day alongside the warriors of SDVT-1 at @JointBasePHH,” he wrote on X. “These SEALs are the tip of the spear, masters of stealth, endurance, and lethality. America’s enemies fear them—our allies trust them. Proud to spend time with America’s best.”

Thailand prime minister survives vote of no-confidence

Thailand prime minister survives vote of no-confidence

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of ex-premier Thaksin, won the backing of 319 of 488 Thai lawmakers. Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has survived a no-confidence vote in parliament, defeating a challenge from opposition parties which accused her of being a puppet of her father, billionaire ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra. After a two-day debate in which the opposition attacked 38-year-old Paetongtarn’s management of the economy and national security, as well as her inexperience, MPs voted down the no-confidence motion by 319 votes to 162 on Wednesday, with seven abstentions. Paetongtarn thanked her supporters after winning the vote. “All votes, both for and against, will be a force driving me and the cabinet to carry on working hard for the people,” she wrote on Facebook. The motion comes at a bad time for Paetongtarn. Public confidence in her coalition government’s ability to resolve national problems is low, at only 38.55 percent. Her father, Thaksin, was the most influential and controversial politician in modern Thai history. He returned to the kingdom in 2023 after 15 years of self-exile. Advertisement Thaksin served a few months of an eight-year jail sentence for historic corruption and abuse of power charges in a police hospital before being pardoned by the king, fuelling rumours of a backroom deal to treat him leniently. The 75-year-old remains popular among millions of poorer Thais who prospered under his 2001 to 2006 rule, but he is despised by the kingdom’s conservative elite, who regard him as corrupt and manipulative. Paetongtarn became prime minister last year at the head of a coalition government led by the Pheu Thai Party, the latest incarnation of the political movement founded by Thaksin, after the incumbent Srettha Thavisin was thrown out by a court order. As well as being the youngest person to take the leadership, Paetongtarn is Thailand’s second-ever female prime minister after her aunt, who was removed in a coup in 2014. Thaksin’s shadow looms large During the censure debate, Rangsiman Rome, an outspoken lawmaker with the main opposition People’s Party, accused Paetongtarn of engineering preferential treatment for her father. “You made a deal, a demon deal, to get your father better conditions than other prisoners,” he said in parliament. “The condition was your father will not be in jail for a single day.” Paetongtarn denied the allegation, pointing out that she became prime minister several months after her father’s royal pardon. Thaksin has since spoken openly about government policy but has repeatedly said he only offers his daughter advice. Advertisement Opposition MPs also accused Paetongtarn of avoiding tax and of mishandling the case of 40 Uighurs sent back to China late last month. The repatriation of the Uighurs prompted international condemnation and led to the United States imposing visa bans on some Thai officials. Adblock test (Why?)