FCC commissioner rips NBC over Harris’ last-minute SNL appearance: ‘Plainly designed to evade’ the rules
The senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission lambasted NBC’s decision to host Vice President Kamala Harris on “Saturday Night Live” in the final episode ahead of Election Day, while not offering equal time to former President Trump or other candidates in the presidential cycle. “This has all the appearances of, at least some leadership at NBC, at SNL, making clear that they wanted to weigh-in in favor of one candidate before the election. That’s exactly why, for decades, we’ve had an equal time rule on the book, is to prevent that. Because remember, broadcasters are placed in a special position of trust. They’re not just like any other person with a soapbox on the corner. They have a license from the federal government that obligates them to operate in the public interest,” FCC commissioner Brendan Carr told Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview Sunday morning. Carr was reacting to Harris’s last-minute appearance on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” just days ahead of Election Day. The FCC commissioner had weighed in on X this weekend that the broadcasting company had violated the FCC’s equal time rule by hosting the Democratic presidential nominee, but not Trump or other presidential candidates such as Jill Stein or even Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – who is still on election ballots after dropping out of the race earlier this year and endorsing Trump. The Federal Communications Commission’s equal-time rule was established in 1934 and requires radio and television broadcast stations to provide the same amount of time for competing political candidates. There are exceptions to the rule such as newscasts, documentaries and political debates. TRUMP, HARRIS CAMPAIGNS MAKE FINAL PLAYS AS NATION SITS BARELY ONE DAY FROM ELECTION DAY “NBC has structured this in a way that’s plainly designed to evade the FCC’s rules. We’re talking 50 hours before Election Day starts, without any notice to other candidates, as far as I can tell,” Carr continued. “And after previously coming out and saying they weren’t going to do this precisely because they did not believe that they could do this consistent with election laws and the FCC’s equal time rule.” “I think every member of the FCC needs to speak up immediately, given how close we are to an election and make clear that we will follow through, enforce our laws. And I think every single remedy needs to be on the table in these circumstances,” he said. KAMALA HARRIS APPEARS ON ‘SNL’ IN FINAL EPISODE BEFORE ELECTION Harris was scheduled to fly to Detroit on Saturday evening, but her flight landed at Laguardia, teeing up speculation she would appear on “SNL” during its final airing ahead of Election Day. Harris did in fact appear on Saturday evening, depicting the “mirror image” of herself while speaking with former “SNL” cast member Maya Rudolph, who was depicting the Democratic nominee for president. Harris’ appearance came at the end of the cold open, which poked fun at Trump for wearing a sanitation vest at a rally last week, as well as Joe Biden’s repeated gaffes. Rudolph, depicting Harris, wondered during the sketch: “I wish I could talk to someone who’s been in my shoes. You know, a Black, south Asian woman running for president. Preferably from the Bay Area.” Harris then was revealed to be sitting across the table from her, leading to cheers from the audience. Harris grinned and said, “You and me both, sister.” “I’m just here to remind you, you got this. Because you can do something your opponent cannot do. You can open doors,” she said in a shot at Trump, referring to him climbing into a garbage truck last week while on the campaign trail. KAMALA HARRIS TO APPEAR ON ‘SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE’ TONIGHT: REPORTS “The American people want to stop the chaos,” Rudolph said at a later point in the sketch, with Harris adding, “And end the drama-la.” “With a cool new step mom-ala. Get back in our pajama-las. And watch a rom-com-ala,” Rudolph said, with the two later touting their “belief in the promise of America.” Carr is urging his fellow FCC commissioners to join him in calling for action and investigation into NBC hosting Harris on Saturday evening. “One commissioner standing alone, there’s no real consequence that I can impose at this point. You need the FCC chairperson or at least three commissioners on the FCC to agree to take action. We’ll see if we end up there with this commission or otherwise,” he said. “At the end of the day, the penalties range all the way up to potentially, in egregious situations, license revocations. And in my view, every single remedy needs to be on the table, at least as an initial matter. What we investigate more and find out – maybe they have some defense that I’m not aware of – but all remedies should be on the table because you obviously have to engage in some sort of response that if this proves to be an entire violation, there is a consequence sufficient enough that no broadcast station does this again. Whether it’s to benefit Republican or Democrat, that doesn’t matter to me. We have rules on the books, we have to uphold them.” ‘SNL’ TAKES AIM AT KAMALA HARRIS’ ‘MIDDLE-CLASS FAMILY’ FAMILY RESPONSE DURING ‘FAMILY FEUD’ SKIT Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller told the Fox News Channel earlier this weekend that SNL did not extend an invitation to Trump. Campaign spokesman Steven Cheung lambasted Harris’ appearance as a sign of desperation to appeal to voters as “her campaign spirals down the drain into obscurity.” “Kamala Harris has nothing substantive to offer the American people, so that’s why she’s living out her warped fantasy cosplaying with her elitist friends on Saturday Night Leftists as her campaign spirals down the drain into obscurity. For the last four years, Kamala’s destructive policies have led to untold misery and hurt for all Americans. She broke it, and President Trump will fix it,” Cheung told Fox News Digital
Cruz: Harris made mistake by tapping Walz instead of PA’s Shapiro for VP
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, took aim at Vice President Kamala Harris for her lack of support for Israel, arguing that the decision not to tap Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate was a result of the vice president caving to the “pro-Hamas” wing of the Democratic Party. “You oughta ask yourself why didn’t she pick Josh Shapiro as her VP?” Cruz said during an appearance on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo on Sunday. “The answer is, in today’s Democrat Party, they could not stomach a candidate who was Jewish.” Cruz’s comments come just two days before polls open on Election Day, with both Harris and former President Trump making their final pitches in the seven key battleground states that promise to decide the race. FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: ARIZONA IS TRUMP’S TO LOSE, BUT THIS ELECTION IS ANYONE’S TO WIN Two battlegrounds in particular, Michigan and Pennsylvania, show the struggle Harris has had cobbling together a winning coalition, Cruz argued, noting that the vice president has tried to appease Jewish voters in Pennsylvania despite the administration she serves in being the “most anti-Israel” one in American history. “Kamala Harris is lying to people in Pennsylvania, and we know that because she’s not just some random person off the street, she’s been the sitting vice president for four years,” Cruz said. “Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have been the single most anti-Israel administration this country has ever seen.” The Real Clear Politics polling average shows an extremely tight race in Pennsylvania in the final days of the election, with Trump currently holding a slim 0.3 point lead in the critical battleground state. 5 NUMBERS THAT WILL DECIDE THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION Betting odds for the race are similarly close, with ElectionBettingOdds.com showing Trump with 53.5% chance of winning Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, the latest Fox News Power Rankings rate the swing state as a toss-up. Cruz suggested Sunday that Shapiro, who currently enjoys positive approval ratings among voters in his state, could have helped win the key state for Harris if she had chosen him. “Shapiro might well have won the state of Pennsylvania for her, but the pro-Hamas wing of the Democrat Party could not imagine, could not tolerate, such a thing,” Cruz said. The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Rights group calls for release of minors charged over Nigeria protests
Scenes of young Nigerians fainting while in court in the capital Abuja sparked uproar from politicians, civil society. The Nigerian government is facing increasing pressure to drop charges against dozens of minors amid an uproar over detention conditions since they were arrested over their alleged participation in protests against the high cost of living. A total of 76 people, including 30 children, were arraigned on Friday and charged with 10 felony counts, including treason, destruction of property, public disturbance and mutiny. The minors ranged in age from 14 to 17 years old, the Associated Press news agency reported. Scenes of the young Nigerians fainting while in court in the capital, Abuja, sparked an uproar from politicians and civil society. They have been under detention for three months following their arrests in August. “The footage reveals minors, some so weak that they could barely stand, others fainting from sheer exhaustion and lack of nourishment,” said politician Peter Obi, who unsuccessfully contested the 2023 presidential election. Amnesty International also condemned the minors’ “horrifying detentions for participating in protests against hunger and corruption”, calling it “one of the deadliest attempts to suppress freedom of assembly” so far. The office of the Nigerian Inspector General of Police denied having subjected the detainees to ill-treatment, saying that medical aid was provided to the defendants. It said “age does not exempt individuals from facing legal consequences”. On Friday, police spokesperson Muyiwa Ogunjobi told Nigerian television that “once you are more than seven years old, you can be” arraigned. The minors were granted bail, and their lawyers said the case would come to trial in January. On Sunday, The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), a Nigerian human rights group, called on President Bola Tinubu to use his “leadership position” to release the minors “within the next 48 hours”. “These children and other protesters are detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their human rights,” SERAP said in a statement posted on its website. The group also called on President Tinubu to order an investigation into the “circumstances surrounding the grave violations of the human rights of the children” and other protesters. Nigeria’s Punch news website reported on Sunday that the Minister of Justice and Attorney General Lateef Fagbemi had “commenced” moves to drop the charges against the minors. Frustration over the cost-of-living crisis has led to several large protests in the country in recent months. In August, at least 20 people were shot dead, and hundreds more were arrested at a protest demanding better opportunities and jobs for young people. Adblock test (Why?)
Purging voters: Inside Republican efforts to restrict 2024 election vote
On Wednesday, the United States Supreme Court’s conservative majority gave the Republicans a win, voting to uphold Virginia’s efforts to purge voters less than a week before the 2024 election. A federal judge had previously found that Virginia had illegally purged 16,000 voter registrations over the previous two months, however, the Supreme Court granted the largely Democratic-voting state’s Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin an emergency appeal this week. A coalition of independent groups, including the US Department of Justice, had previously sued the state for violating federal election law, arguing the efforts were stripping eligible voters of their right to vote. Youngkin said voters who believe they were improperly removed from the rolls can still vote in the election because Virginia has same-day registration. “There is the ultimate, ultimate safeguard in Virginia, no one is being precluded from voting, and therefore, I encourage every single citizen – go vote,” Youngkin told reporters. On social media, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump had previously blasted the Virginia court’s initial ruling as a “totally unacceptable travesty.” “Only US Citizens should be allowed to vote,” the former president added. The legal win, which comes as Trump and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris duke it out in the dying days of their respective campaigns, represents a broader strategy by the GOP to tighten voting regulations across key states, including Arizona, Michigan, and Nevada. A privacy booth is seen at a polling station located in the Baltimore City Community College (BCCC) Gymnasium in Baltimore, during early voting in Maryland, US, October 26, 2020 [File: Hannah McKay/Reuters] Why is this happening? Across the country, the GOP is targeting voter rolls and absentee ballots, and also monitoring elections. It says this is an attempt to ensure that the election is fair, but its opponents say these are actually attempts to suppress the vote. The Republican focus on election-related legal battles dates back to lingering distrust from the 2020 presidential election. Former President Trump’s false claims that the election was stolen have fuelled enduring scepticism within the party, where a significant number of GOP voters continue to believe in election fraud without substantial evidence. These lawsuits have become a strategy not just for election integrity but for appealing to a base that feels disenfranchised by the previous electoral outcome. How and where else is the GOP challenging the vote? In recent months, Republicans have launched lawsuits in multiple battleground states challenging voting access in attempts to purportedly boost election integrity and oversight. This strategy includes lawsuits aimed at purging suspected non-citizens from voter rolls, restricting the votes of convicted felons, contesting absentee ballot processing, and challenging election worker protections. The results have been mixed. In Alabama, a federal judge ordered Republicans to stop attempting to purge the voter rolls. In Nebraska, another judge upheld the right to vote for those who have completed their felony sentences. And in Georgia, a court declared new rules unconstitutional that would have allowed election results to be more easily contested. A person previously convicted of a felony holds a sign about voter suppression during a Poor People’s Campaign assembly, April 19, 2021, in Jackson, Mississippi [File: Rogelio V. Solis/AP Photo] Here’s a breakdown of what’s happening in some other states: Nevada: Republicans, including Trump-aligned groups, unsuccessfully filed lawsuits challenging voter registration procedures, which sought to remove alleged non-citizens from Nevada’s voter rolls. These legal efforts focused on specific matches between the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles records and current voter rolls. Republicans argued, without evidence, that voters with addresses flagged in a national database may have mail ballots sent to addresses where others could fill them out on their behalf. The move could have potentially axed 19,000 registered voters from Clark County and an additional 11,000 in Washoe County, according to the ACLU of Nevada, which filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit. Republicans have abandoned the effort after the ACLU and others raised technical objections, Nevada Public Radio reported. Arizona: Several lawsuits backed by GOP and conservative groups also challenged Arizona’s election procedures, including absentee ballot handling and voter roll management, aiming to enforce stricter eligibility standards for voting. In May, a Maricopa County judge in Arizona dismissed portions of a GOP-led lawsuit challenging the revised state Elections Procedures Manual, citing concerns that some elements of the lawsuit might lead to voter intimidation. North Carolina: A Republican National Committee (RNC) legal effort aiming to purge 225,000 voters in the state, alleging issues with voter registration accuracy, stalled after the state’s Board of Elections won an appeal that will keep the litigation in federal court. The lawsuit, filed in late August, demanded the court make the state’s Board of Elections formulate a strategy to remove those voters from the rolls by September 6, despite federal law barring the systematic purging of voters 90 days before an election, according to the Carolina Journal. The North Carolina State Board of Elections has criticised the GOP efforts as baseless, arguing the timing could cause confusion and disruptions on Election Day. Republicans also argued that ballots with improperly sealed envelopes should be excluded, targeting absentee voting, which has favoured Democrats in previous elections. North Carolina elections officials claim they’ve removed 750,000 ineligible voters from voter rolls since the beginning of 2023. The state has 7.7 million registered voters. Michigan: Republicans in Michigan have challenged absentee ballot verification processes, arguing for stricter enforcement, with ongoing court proceedings to clarify standards. The GOP also sued the state’s Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson over guidance on absentee ballot verification, claiming it lacked proper enforcement detail. Last week, however, a federal judge tossed a lawsuit that targeted the state’s voter roles out. In another case, a state judge reversed a Republican challenge of a tiny number of voter registrations by military and overseas voters, according to the Detroit Free Press. The RNC could potentially appeal the ruling. Supporters of Democratic presidential nominee US Vice President Kamala Harris’s at a campaign event on the National Mall one week before the November 5
Schools to close as air pollution hits record high in Pakistan’s Lahore
Unprecedented air pollution levels prompt authorities to take emergency measures. Pakistan’s second-largest city of Lahore will close primary schools for a week after it saw “unprecedented” pollution levels, government authorities have said. For days, the city of 14 million people has been enveloped by smog, a mix of fog and pollutants caused by low-grade diesel fumes, smoke from seasonal agricultural burning and winter cooling. The air quality index, which measures a range of pollutants, exceeded 1,000 on Saturday – well above the level of 300 considered “dangerous” – according to data from IQAir. The Punjab government also recorded peaks of over 1,000 on Sunday, which it said was “unprecedented”. “Weather forecast for the next six days shows that wind patterns will remain the same. Therefore we are closing all government and private primary schools in Lahore for a week,” Jahangir Anwar, a senior environmental protection official in Lahore, told the AFP news agency. “This smog is very harmful for children. Masks should be mandatory in schools. We are keeping an eye on the health of children in senior classes,” Punjab senior minister Marriyum Aurangzeb told a news conference on Sunday. Smog counters have been established in hospitals, she added. Breathing the toxic air can have catastrophic health consequences, with the World Health Organization (WHO) saying that strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory diseases can be triggered by prolonged exposure. On Saturday, the concentration of deadly PM2.5 pollutants – fine particulate matter in the air that causes the most damage to health – was more than 40 times the level deemed acceptable by the WHO. PM2.5 levels on Sunday morning exceeded that before decreasing slightly. Children particularly vulnerable Last week, the provincial environmental protection agency announced new restrictions in four “hot spots” in the city. Tuk-tuks equipped with polluting two-stroke engines are banned, as are restaurants that barbecue without filters. Government offices and private companies will have half their staff work from home starting Monday. Children are particularly vulnerable because they have less developed lungs and breathe more rapidly, taking in more air relative to their size than adults. Last month, authorities banned schoolchildren from outdoor exercise until January and adjusted school hours to prevent children from travelling when the pollution is most punishing. Pollution in excess of levels deemed safe by the WHO shortens the life expectancy of Lahore residents by an average of 7.5 years, according to the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute. Adblock test (Why?)
Activists sound alarm on Missouri abortion amendment: ‘Infinitely more than abortion’
Pro-life activists and leaders in Missouri are sounding the alarm about a sweeping amendment they say would not only result in unrestricted abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, but would also “go way beyond abortion” and enshrine transgender surgeries on children. The amendment is titled the “Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative,” or simply “Amendment 3.” According to the ballot’s description of the amendment, a vote in favor “establishes a constitutional right to make decisions about reproductive health car … and allows abortion to be restricted or banned after Fetal Viability except to protect the life or health of the woman.” DESANTIS ADMIN BLOCKED IN ABORTION AD FIGHT UNTIL AFTER ELECTION DAY, JUDGE RULES Advocates for the amendment, which include Planned Parenthood and ACLU of Missouri, claim that the measure will simply reverse the state’s current abortion law, which, except in cases of medical emergency, bans the procedure starting at conception. However, opponents say the amendment is so vague that it leaves the door open to an array of abuses, including allowing transgender surgeries on children. “This is a massive train bearing down on Missouri,” Mary Catherine Martin, an attorney with the Thomas More Society, told Fox News Digital. Holding up a copy of the amendment’s language, Martin said the measure is significantly longer than other abortion amendments being considered across the country. MAJOR PRO-LIFE GROUP KNOCKS ON 4 MILLION DOORS IN 2024 SWING STATES Another opponent of the amendment, Cassidy Anderson, who helps lead a political action committee called “Vote No on 3,” told Fox News Digital that because the amendment does not define “reproductive health care” or set an age limit, it can easily be used as a legal justification for sex change surgeries on children. “You would think in an initiative that is being advertised as a women’s health care initiative… would say the word ‘woman’ somewhere in the ballot language,” she said. “It never says the word woman, it refers to persons. It doesn’t define age. It doesn’t define sex. It doesn’t define anything.” Anderson’s group has devoted around $3 million to urge Missourians to reject the amendment. Vote No on 3 took in another $1.7 million at the end of October. However, she said they are facing an uphill battle with the other side receiving around $75 million from outside entities like George Soros and Michael Bloomberg. “What does Michael Bloomberg have to do with Missouri politics? But that’s what we’re up against,” she said. Because of this outside funding, Anderson said the amendment’s supporters have been able to outpace her group four-to-one in terms of ad buys. Despite this, she said polling on the issue is showing a “really close split.” Several prominent Republicans in the state, including Gov. Mike Parson and Sen. Josh Hawley, have also spoken out against the amendment. Hawley told Fox News Digital, “Amendment 3 goes way beyond abortion – it would constitutionally protect transgender surgeries for minors without parental consent.” “That’s beyond extreme. And it’s wrong for Missouri,” said Hawley. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Stefanik slams Democrats’ ‘scare tactics’ on Trump’s record with women on IVF, abortion
House Republican Conference Chairwoman Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., slammed Democrats’ “scare tactics” regarding former President Trump’s stance on women in terms of abortion and IVF access on Sunday. At a recent campaign stop in Wisconsin, Vice President Harris claimed that Trump would “ban abortion nationwide,” “restrict access to birth control, put IVF treatments at risk and force states to – get this – monitor women’s pregnancies.” Democrats have run ads across the country on the issue. Trump has repeatedly stated he would not sign a national abortion ban, and Stefanik, in an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” reiterated how Trump “believes this issue should be decided at the states” and supports three exceptions for abortions in circumstances of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother. “When it comes to IVF, that is a false smear,” Stefanik told “Fox News Sunday” host Shannon Bream. “President Trump wants to expand access to IVF, make birth control available, and the reason why Democrats are only talking about this issue is these are scare tactics because they are losing on every other issue. Whether it’s the economy, the border, safety and security around the world, we’re going to run and win, and I think that women when they look at the key top issues, they are increasingly looking at their lives were much better under President Trump versus the crises that we’ve seen under Kamala Harris today.” DOZENS OF FEMALE TRUMP STAFFERS, SURROGATES BLAST MARK CUBAN AS ‘MISOGYNISTIC’ IN NEW CAMPAIGN AD Stefanik also slammed Harris for failing to condemn Mark Cuban’s recent remarks about female Trump supporters. Cuban faced backlash for suggesting on “The View” last Thursday that Trump neglects to surround himself with “strong, intelligent women,” claiming that they intimidate and challenge him. Stefanik pointed to how she, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump have been traveling across the country as surrogates of the Trump campaign. Stefanik also noted that under Trump’s administration, the U.S. had “the highest number of women ever in the workforce, the largest wage and salary increase for working women ever,” and “child care was affordable.” The congresswoman also highlighted how inflation drove up grocery, energy and utility costs, impacting women, as well as the safety issues for women arising from the lack of border security. “Kamala Harris did not condemn Mark Cuban’s just disgraceful comments saying that President Trump does not surround himself with strong, intelligent women,” Stefanik said. “Whether you compare it to the first lady, his daughter Ivanka Trump or so many senior level women that are working in support of his campaign.” Asked if she would accept Cuban’s apology issued after the backlash, Stefanik responded by noting how Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, described Trump supporters as “deplorables” in 2016, “then they called us Nazis, then Mark Cuban said there are no strong or intelligent women around President Trump, and just yesterday you had Kathy Hochul smearing voters who support Republicans as ‘anti-American.’” HOUSE OVERSIGHT RAMPS UP DEMANDS FOR WHITE HOUSE TO RELEASE ACCURATE BIDEN ‘GARBAGE’ TRANSCRIPT “President Trump is running to unify this country on the goals of securing the border, strengthening the economy,” she said. “So Kamala Harris should condemn that, and they didn’t, the campaign failed to do that, and that’s offensive to so many women across this country, not just elected official women. Gold Star moms, Gold Star wives, women veterans who are proudly supporting President Trump.” Stefanik later discussed Election Day predictions for Congress. She deemed New York the “epicenter” of the House majority, as several first-term Republican incumbents face competitive challenges from Democrats in the deep blue state. “President Trump on the ballot is a net gain to every Republican candidate for Senate and House,” Stefanik said. “I’m from New York, obviously, New York is the epicenter for the race for the House Republican majority, Republicans, when it comes to early voting, increased by 50% compared to where we were in 2022, and that was cycle where of course we flipped those five House seats.” “Kamala Harris is underperforming Joe Biden in every single swing district across the country if you look at Joe Biden’s performance in 2020,” she said. “I think on a good night we can win up to 10 seats, Shannon, which would be a sizable Republican majority. We’re not taking anything for granted, but the issues are on our side.… On every top issue, Republicans are winning. President Trump is winning, and I think we could be in for some surprises on Election Day that House Republicans will overperform the predictions.”
Delhi pollution: Air quality worsens in capital, AQI worst in India at…
Despite the temporary relief provided by the winds, Delhi saw a spike in pollution levels following Diwali, with a noticeable jump recorded on Sunday.
RFK Jr. says Trump White House will get fluoride out of drinking water
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Saturday that a potential Trump White House would advise communities to remove fluoride from drinking water, which would overturn decades of public health guidance. Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral in water that oral physicians say can help to prevent cavities at the right doses. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes community water fluoridation – the practice of adding fluoride to drinking water to increase its concentration to optimal levels – as a “cornerstone strategy” to prevent cavities and one of the “10 great public health interventions of the 20th century.” However, health agencies warn long-term ingestion of fluoride in excess doses carries various health risks, and critics like Kennedy have campaigned to end community water fluoridation. The Environmental Protection Agency has established a maximum allowable concentration of fluoride in public drinking water to prevent adverse health effects. Kennedy declared the Trump White House would advise bringing that allowable concentration to zero on its first day in power. FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS EPA FURTHER REGULATE FLUORIDE IN DRINKING WATER DUE TO CONCERNS OVER LOWERED IQ IN KIDS “On January 20, the Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water,” Kennedy posted on X. “Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease,” he claimed, adding that former President Trump and first lady Melania Trump “want to Make America Healthy Again.” His statement provoked a wave of criticism on social media and renewed expert concerns about Kennedy – who has often clashed with the scientific consensus on vaccine safety – being placed in a position of authority over public health. “While President Trump has received a variety of policy ideas, he is focused on Tuesday’s election,” Trump campaign senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said in response to media questions about Kennedy’s statement. Currently, more than 200 million Americans, or about 75% of the population, drink fluoridated water. FLUORIDE IN WATER LINKED TO LOWER INTELLIGENCE In 1950, federal officials endorsed water fluoridation to prevent tooth decay, and they continued to promote it even after fluoride toothpaste brands hit the market several years later. In 1945, Grand Rapids, Michigan, became the first city in the world to fluoridate its water supply. Experts have long said that washing teeth with fluoride is not comparable to the risks posed by ingesting fluoride, with the latter potentially triggering harmful neurotoxic effects. Officials lowered their recommendation for drinking water fluoride levels in 2015 to address a tooth condition called fluorosis, that can cause splotches on teeth and was becoming more common in U.S. kids. In August, a federal agency determined “with moderate confidence” that there is a link between higher levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ in kids. The National Toxicology Program based its conclusion on studies involving fluoride levels at about twice the recommended limit for drinking water. Then in September, a federal judge in California cited that study in an order requiring the EPA to further regulate fluoride because high levels pose “an unreasonable risk” to children. “Indeed, EPA’s own expert agrees that fluoride is hazardous at some level of exposure,” U.S. District Judge Edward Chen said. “And ample evidence establishes that a mother’s exposure to fluoride during pregnancy is associated with IQ decrements in her offspring.” Even so, the judge said the court “does not conclude with certainty that fluoridated water is injurious to public health.” RFK JR INDICATES TRUMP ‘PROMISED’ HIM ‘CONTROL’ OVER ‘PUBLIC HEALTH AGENCIES’ Since 2015, federal health officials have recommended a fluoridation level of 0.7 milligrams per liter of water. For five decades before that, the recommended upper range was 1.2 “after evidence increasingly established fluoride’s connection to adverse effects, including severe enamel fluorosis, risk of bone fracture, and potential skeletal fluorosis,” the judge wrote. Skeletal fluorosis is a potentially crippling disorder which causes weaker bones, stiffness and pain. The World Health Organization has set a safe limit for fluoride in drinking water of 1.5. Separately, the EPA has a longstanding requirement that water systems cannot have more than 4 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water. Kennedy has said that Trump has promised to give him “control” over the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), should the former president win the White House on Tuesday. “I stand ready to help him rid the public health agencies of their pervasive conflicts and corruption and restore their tradition of gold-standard, evidence-based science,” Kennedy told the New York Times in a statement. The Trump campaign has said no decisions have been made about Cabinet-level positions or personnel, including the secretaries of HHS and USDA. “No formal decisions about Cabinet and personnel have been made, however, President Trump has said he will work alongside passionate voices like RFK Jr. to Make America Healthy Again by providing families with safe food and ending the chronic disease epidemic plaguing our children,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “President Trump will also establish a special Presidential Commission of independent minds and will charge them with investigating what is causing the decades-long increase in chronic illnesses,” she added. Trump told supporters at a rally on Saturday that he told Kennedy he “can work on food, you can work on anything you want,” except energy policy. “He wants health, he wants women’s health, he wants men’s health, he wants kids, he wants everything,” Trump said. Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan, Alex Nitzberg and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Pune: 35-year-old man killed by speeding car while bursting firecrackers on Diwali, video surfaces
Residents of the locality have demanded strict action against the accused driver and warned of a protest if the police fail to apprehend him, it was stated.