Jewish AG’s convention boycott exposes deepening Israel fault line among Michigan Democrats
LANSING, MI – Michigan Democrats gather Saturday in the battleground state’s capital city to hold their 2026 state nominating convention amid controversy over recent antisemitic harassment and open hostility within the party over U.S. support for Israel. Democratic Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who is Jewish, recently announced she wouldn’t attend the confab due to security concerns, after anti-Israel party activists shouted down pro-Israel speakers, including Rep. Haley Stevens, at a prior convention in April. This weekend’s convention comes as a growing number of Democrats push for cutting military aid to Israel, amidst the Israeli government’s ongoing war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza. The convention is also being held just a few weeks after Abdul El-Sayed, a vocal critic of Israel who describes their military actions as “genocide,” narrowly edged Stevens to win the Democratic Senate nomination for a crucial seat the Democrats must hold in the midterm elections. DEMOCRATIC MICHIGAN AG ACCUSES HER PARTY OF ‘ABSOLUTELY NOT’ DOING ENOUGH TO COUNTER ANTISEMITISM “I don’t feel safe going. I feel like my presence isn’t going to be welcome. I don’t want to get chased around. I don’t want to get harassed. I don’t want to get yelled and screamed at. I don’t want to get booed off the stage, irrespective of what I’m saying,” Nessel said during a roundtable discussion last month. “I believe that if I go, that is what will happen because it’s been happening to me.” Responding, the Michigan Democratic Party said it is “committed to ensuring party-hosted events are safe and secure environments for all attendees.” “We reject antisemitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of hateful conduct. We are working diligently with stakeholders, elected officials, and party membership to prepare for our August convention and look forward to welcoming Michigan Democrats to the Lansing Center on August 29,” state party spokesperson Derrick Honeyman said in a statement. CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLL IN MICHIGAN’S BLOCKBUSTER SENATE RACE Joan Lowenstein, endorsement chair of the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus, told Fox News Digital she hasn’t “talked to anybody who thinks they will be unsafe at this convention.” But Lowenstein, who also sits on the Michigan Democratic Party Central Committee, added, “Some people think it will be unpleasant and why should they bother.” But other Jewish Democrats in Michigan are very concerned. “People are traumatized from the previous convention. Many people I talked to, many super progressive people, are really traumatized by the way they were treated, and the way Haley Stevens was booed, and the way other candidates were treated,” Rabbi Asher Lopatin told Fox News Digital last week. Lopatin, who was interviewed after joining Republican Senate nominee former Rep. Mike Rogers at a campaign event to unveil Democrats supporting Rogers, referred to Nessel’s decision not to attend the convention and said “it just shows how terrible these extremists are that they’re intimidating even the attorney general of our state.” WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN THE MIDTERM RACES SHOW But Lopatin emphasized, “We got to be strong. We got to be proud. We got to be courageous. The Jewish community cannot cower.” Stacy Gittleman, a lifelong Democrat who is supportive of Israel, attended the April convention. “I saw more Palestinian flags than American flags on the floor,” Gittleman, a writer who published her observations at the convention on substack, told Fox News Digital this week. Gittleman said the jeers and what she highlighted as a “lack of decorum and disrespect” were signs to her of “how far left our party is drifting.” The convention is being held as some Jewish leaders in Michigan are circulating an open letter urging Jewish Democrats and independents in the state to sign their names in support of Rogers. The news was first reported last week by the Jewish Insider and confirmed by Fox News Digital. “This is sort of a do-or-die moment,” a person involved with the letter who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely told Fox News Digital. “There are many lifelong Democrats who are feeling homeless. … It’s not just a leftward drift but has turned into an anti-Jewish drift as well.” DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB Lowenstein, who doesn’t support the petition, said those behind the letter “feel it’s an existential issue, and I think that represents a lot of people. And, so, they have to do what they have to do.” “It’s sort of 50/50,” she added. “Half the people I talk to say, ‘I could never vote for Abdul El-Sayed because of things he’s said about Israel and, consequentially, the Jewish community. And the other 50% say ‘it is so important for Jews as Americans to have an Democratic Senate that I could never vote for Mike Rogers.’” Rogers and El-Sayed are running to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. The race is among a dozen that will determine if the Democrats win back the Senate majority from the GOP. Rogers, in an interview last week with Fox News Digital, reiterated that he’s not asking Democratic voters to become Republicans. And he highlighted concerns he’s heard from Democratic Jewish voters in Michigan. THESE 12 MIDTERM RACES WILL DECIDE WHICH PARTY CONTROLS THE SENATE “I’ve talked to two young women who were at University of Michigan who were afraid to walk to class. They couldn’t display their Star of David. To say that they’re afraid is probably an understatement,” he said. Rogers said “the violent rhetoric … is going to make a difference” in the general election. El-Sayed is a former Wayne County Health Department director who, if elected in November, would make history as the nation’s first Muslim senator. The epidemiologist who unsuccessfully ran for governor as an insurgent candidate in 2018 has made support for Medicare for all a major component of his campaign and has also called for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). But it’s El-Sayed’s stance and comments on Israel that have angered some Jewish people in Michigan, a
Crackdown on critical tech could open Americans to a new national security threat
Americans’ sensitive information could increasingly be processed overseas if restrictions on artificial intelligence data centers slow construction in the U.S., a data privacy advocate and industry executive warned. The warning comes as states and local governments weigh new restrictions on the rapidly expanding data center industry amid concerns over electricity costs, grid reliability and other impacts on surrounding communities. Brittany Kaiser, CEO of Alpha Compute, said state moratoriums and restrictions on new data centers could push American companies to seek computing capacity in other countries as demand from AI continues to surge. “One of my top concerns as a top data protection and privacy advocate is that with data center moratoriums being passed in the United States that it will force Americans and American companies to send our data to be processed abroad in other countries,” Kaiser told Fox News Digital. “American companies are going to still run their AI,” she added. “They’re still going to be purchasing data center space in other countries, and it means our sensitive information will be sent abroad and shared with companies and organizations that might not have America’s best interests at heart.” FROM NETFLIX TO GPS: 10 WAYS THIS HIDDEN TECH INFRASTRUCTURE QUIETLY POWERS MODERN LIFE Data centers are large facilities filled with servers and computing equipment that process, store and transmit information behind many everyday technologies. They support everything from email, social media and internet searches to online banking, streaming services and AI platforms. As demand for AI grows, companies are building increasingly powerful data centers that require vast amounts of electricity, advanced chips and high-speed network connections. Kaiser said the facilities have become critical infrastructure for the digital economy, making decisions about where they are built and who controls the data they handle a matter of growing economic and national security concern. Artificial intelligence, however, requires significantly more computing power, fueling a rapid expansion of data center construction across the country. That growth has sparked pushback in some communities over concerns about electricity costs, water consumption, noise and environmental impacts. Kaiser acknowledged those concerns and said companies should be subject to “common sense regulation” designed to protect communities. “Not all companies are doing it [building data centers] in the same way,” she said. “Some are more responsible than others.” Kaiser said responsible developments can use closed-loop water cooling systems and generate power independently rather than increasing demand on the existing electrical grid. Alpha Compute, she said, is pursuing projects designed to operate “off-grid, behind the meter,” meaning the facilities would generate their own power rather than relying on electricity supplied through the local grid. Kaiser said that approach is intended to prevent the massive energy demands of data centers from straining existing infrastructure or contributing to higher electricity costs for nearby residents. ONE MONTHLY BILL AMERICANS CAN’T AVOID IS QUIETLY SURGING THANKS TO EMERGING INDUSTRY The company is developing a project in Pennsylvania, where Gov. Josh Shapiro recently imposed new requirements on large data center developments. Kaiser said Alpha Compute plans to comply with the regulations and welcomed provisions promoting cleaner energy. Pennsylvania is among a growing number of states confronting the rapid expansion of data centers. In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott has pushed data centers to provide more of their own power and shoulder infrastructure costs as development accelerates across the state. Other governors have gone further. Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul imposed a one-year moratorium on new hyperscale data centers as states grapple with concerns over electricity costs, grid reliability and the pace of development. ONE OF AMERICA’S OLDEST MANUFACTURERS SAYS AI IS CREATING JOBS — NOT REPLACING THEM But she cautioned that policies that significantly restrict domestic development could have broader consequences for America’s position in the global AI race. “Compute power has now become nearly a utility,” Kaiser said, comparing the need for domestic computing infrastructure to energy independence. “We want to have the right to compute,” she said. “We want to be able to process data within our own borders as a national security priority, but also for our own intellectual property to make sure we’re not sending our data abroad.” Kaiser has launched a campaign called “Right to Compute,” advocating for domestic data center development alongside sustainability standards and regulation. “We should have the right to both energy independence as well as compute power,” she said, “so that Americans and American companies can process all of our sensitive data within our own borders.”
‘We have not slowed down’: Minnesota not out of the woods on massive fraud scandal, expert warns
Despite Minnesota’s fraud scandal exploding onto the national scene and costing taxpayers billions, there are growing concerns that the state has still not done what’s necessary to root out the problem. “We have not slowed down, there is no sense in which the fraud has been stopped in Minnesota,” Bill Glahn, a policy fellow at the Center of the American Experiment, told Fox News Digital. Glahn has been warning on social media that Minnesota’s rapid growth in provisional assisted-living licenses, most for small facilities, may be outpacing state oversight. In a recent article, Glahn explained the state’s licensing database showed 364 new facilities with provisional licenses popping up over the past year and called for a 90-day moratorium on new licenses while officials investigate. “We have something along the order of 2,500 of these licensed across the state, but about 20% of them, around three, 400 of them have just been started in the last year,” Glahn explained. FINAL WALZ FRAUD REPORT RIPS ‘CULTURE OF TOLERANCE’ AS MINNESOTA TAXPAYERS FACE BILLIONS IN ALLEGED LOSSES “I’m not sure if there’s a real underlying driver in the demographics or the demand for these facilities, but it’s odd that we have these assisted living facilities linked to Medicaid fraud, at the same time, the Minnesota Department of Health is approving more than one a day. More than one new facility gets approved every single day, 365 days a year. And I don’t think anybody is really giving any thought to, hey, maybe some of this is not on the up and up.” Glahn also pointed to a recent criminal complaint filed by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office against Salman Ahmed Elmi, who was charged Aug. 17 with eight felony theft offenses tied to alleged Medicaid billing fraud, as evidence that fraud is still taking place. The criminal complaint also details alleged ties among the Medicaid-funded businesses, properties previously used to provide commercial sex services and people investigators say were part of a sex-trafficking organization. FAILED PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE WINS DEM PRIMARY FOR MIDWEST GOVERNOR AMID FRAUD SCANDAL FALLOUT “This is two scandals in one,” Glahn said. “You have a commercial sex operation, actual brothels, housed in what were later licensed as assisted-living facilities under the Medicaid program.” Elmi previously received an award from the state for being an “Outstanding Refugee.” “Elmi’s case alone makes clear that this is not old news,” Glahn said. “This particular fraud was going on just a couple of months ago.” Glahn argued that the latest allegations point to a deeper problem within the state agencies responsible for vetting providers and monitoring taxpayer-funded programs which haven’t been properly addressed. “Personnel is policy,” Glahn said. “There isn’t a regulatory mindset under the Walz administration. There isn’t the mindset that we need to trust but verify.” While Minnesota officials and lawmakers have taken some fraud-prevention steps since the fraud scandal erupted onto the national scene, Glahn stressed that the reforms do not address what he sees as the central issue: a lack of accountability for those who failed to identify the schemes earlier “Walz has never cleaned house, he’s never fired anybody for not detecting the fraud or not prosecuting the fraud,” Glahn said. “It’s the same people doing the same thing, and that culture has never changed.” For Glahn, the messaging should start at the top. “They’re just operating as business as usual,” Glahn said. “We don’t have anybody who’s currently in office, currently in charge of state government, at least in the executive branch, who’s doing anything substantive to address the fraud. It’s just amazing how we see these reports every day, and we have Tim Walz traveling the country, traveling elsewhere. He’s a lame duck. He doesn’t seem to have any interest in closing out this chapter of his legacy with any kind of victory on the fraud front.” MILLION-DOLLAR SNAP FOOD STAMP FRAUD SCHEME IN WALZ’S BACKYARD SPARKS OUTRAGE: ‘CRUEL JOKE’ In addition to the perception that not enough accountability has been taken for the scandal, Walz’s Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan is running for Senate while Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar is running for governor despite both being in positions of power during the duration of time the fraud scandal festered. “Amy Klobuchar has come out with her multi-point plan of how she’s gonna fight fraud once she gets in office, if she gets elected in November,” Glahn explained. “I don’t know why we couldn’t implement this stuff today. She’s called for a top-to-bottom audit of state government. She’s got another few data points that perhaps were legislative proposals that didn’t get passed. Tim Walz could call a special session. We could be in session on Monday, passing an anti-fraud agenda, but there’s nothing. So I guess he just fundamentally doesn’t have an interest in the subject.” Fox News Digital reached out to Walz’s office, Klobuchar’s campaign and the Minnesota Department of Health for comment but did not receive a response. The Minnesota Department of Human Services told Fox News Digital in a statement that it has rolled out a series of anti-fraud reforms since the fall of 2024, including identifying 14 high-risk services and freezing the enrollment of new providers in those programs. The agency also said it discontinued the Housing Stabilization Services program, began auditing autism-service providers through onsite visits, instituted licensure requirements for autism centers and disenrolled inactive providers. DHS said it has also expanded pre-payment reviews for providers in 13 high-risk fee-for-service programs and completed revalidation determinations for high-risk providers by the end of May. Since the beginning of 2025, the department said it has stopped payments to 747 Medicaid providers over what it described as credible allegations of fraud and made 824 referrals to law enforcement.
Dem candidate erupts in profane defense of Hasan Piker as party figures distance themselves
The socialist Democrat primed to represent much of America’s birthplace in Congress profanely erupted Thursday at Democrats distancing themselves from far-left streamer Hasan Piker, who once suggested the U.S. deserved the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. Pennsylvania state Rep. Chris Rabb, D-Northwest Philadelphia, is one of several democratic socialists running in November as some prominent Democrats condemn or distance themselves from Piker over his radical left-wing positions and controversial comments. “This is what the institutionalists are focusing their efforts on now: Disavowing Hasan Piker,” Rabb tweeted Friday. WHO IS HASAN PIKER? MEET THE FAR-LEFT STREAMER WHO IS STIRRING UP CONTROVERSY AND DIVIDING DEMOCRATS “Not White Christian nationalists? Not the broligarchs? Not the AI overlords? Nope, the guy encouraging young people to use their collective political power for good,” Rabb wrote. “F— that noise.” SOCIALIST HOUSE NOMINEE’S RADICAL LAW-AND-ORDER VISION: ‘WHAT ARE ILLEGALS?’ In a test of Philadelphia’s socialist-progressive versus establishment divide, Rabb won a four-way primary that included state Sen. Sharif Street, D-North Philadelphia, the son of a former mayor who was endorsed by several mainstream Democrats. Rabb had already embraced his association with Piker during the primary, appearing with the streamer at an event in West Philadelphia in April. He told Piker at the time that he would be “slammed for even talking to you” and called such criticism a “double standard because as a Black progressive, I can’t do this: I’m part of the problem or whatever,” according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Fox News Digital reached out to Rabb and Piker for comment. Rabb’s defense puts him at odds with a growing list of prominent Democrats who have condemned Piker. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called Piker’s comments about American Jews “dangerous and anti-Semitic.” ANTISEMITIC STREAMER FINALLY MAKES DEM LEADER SNAP WITH RARE REBUKE: ‘MALICIOUS’ When pressed by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, who is Jewish, Jeffries said, “I’ve just addressed Hasan Piker’s comments as it relates to the Jewish community as forcefully as I can, and I will continue to do that.” On Tuesday, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., called for a vote on a bipartisan resolution condemning Piker and conservative podcaster Candace Owens. ELISSA SLOTKIN CALLS OUT HASAN PIKER FOR BLAMING JEWISH AMERICANS TARGETED OVER THEIR ISRAEL VIEWS “Hatred is hatred, period. I said it months ago with Rep. Lawler, and Piker has proved it again,” Gottheimer said in a statement. “Telling millions of followers that Jewish Americans are bringing violence on themselves is blatantly antisemitic and one of the oldest tropes in the book,” Gottheimer added. EL-SAYED DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM HASAN PIKER AFTER DISTURBING REMARKS ABOUT JEWISH AMERICANS Gottheimer declared that anyone campaigning with Piker is “complicit” with him. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., also accused Piker this week of “victim-blaming” American Jews and reiterated his earlier description of the streamer as an “unapologetic antisemite.” Schneider warned Democrats risk losing credibility when they condemn controversial figures on the right while “platforming those who espouse hate of any kind” on their own side. Schneider also took a shot at another socialist-aligned candidate running for high office, saying Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed has “refused” to condemn Piker. El-Sayed appeared to distance himself from Piker, telling the Michigan Advance that “nobody speaks for this campaign besides me and my campaign spokespeople” as he faced criticism over his association with the Twitch streamer. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER Rabb faces only independent Dennis Mahoney in November in Pennsylvania’s heavily Democratic 3rd Congressional District and is strongly favored to succeed retiring Rep. Dwight Evans, D-Pa.
LGBTQ group reveals which Dem nominee is sponsoring Halloween event featuring drag shows
As the Trump administration’s efforts have choked off federal funding for LGBTQ groups, Keisha Lance Bottoms, former mayor of Atlanta and Georgia’s Democratic gubernatorial nominee, is sponsoring an upcoming Halloween event open to children that will include drag shows. “From 5-8, the little monsters roam free trick-or-treating through spooky trails and glowing Halloween worlds, and when night falls, the hallo queen show explodes with music, costumes and pure Halloween spectacle,” ColGay Pride, an LGBTQ+ group based in Columbus, Georgia, said in a video. Notably, the group’s programming states that the “adults-only” portion of the night, which includes the drag shows, will begin after 9 p.m. Even so, Lance Bottoms’ support of the Halloween event, which includes a haunted walk, s’mores, an adult-and-kids costume contest — all centered around gender expression — adds to her record of supporting LGBTQ-related content around children. POWERFUL LGBTQ+ GROUP’S ENDORSEMENTS COULD TANK VULNERABLE DEMS OVER RADICAL YOUTH TRANS AGENDA ColGay Pride describes its goal as “promoting diversity, inclusion and equality for the LGBTQ community in Columbus and the surrounding areas and create a supportive and affirming environment through our programs and events.” The group, which is throwing its final Halloween celebration after 13 years, said President Donald Trump’s federal funding cuts had made it dependent on individual contributions. “We are closing our doors next year,” the group wrote. “It has become far too difficult to raise money when our financial aid was cut off completely under Trump, when our own citizens — the very people we have served for twenty years — do not donate. Sometimes you simply reach a point where enough is enough.” The group thanked Lance Bottoms for her support in a post to Facebook with a “digital sponsorship certificate.” It’s unclear how much she contributed to the event. Bottoms’ gubernatorial bid has been complicated by political liabilities. The Campaign Finance Commission fined her $37,000 in 2021 for accepting over $60,000 in contributions that exceeded legal limits and $110,000 that exceeded debt caps. She also announced that she would not pursue re-election as mayor of Atlanta amid a COVID-19 crime during which homicides spiked by 58% over levels from the year before. In addition to those controversies, Bottoms has received criticism from conservatives for her stances on gender policy. GOP FRONTRUNNER IN KEY GUBERNATORIAL RACE FORCED TO ANSWER ABOUT HIRING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS: ‘I DON’T KNOW’ Recently, in a gubernatorial debate, the former mayor said she would have vetoed the Riley Gaines Act, a piece of legislation that banned biological men from competing in women’s sports. “I believe that decisions about who competes and how people compete shouldn’t be happening at the state Capitol. I don’t support the government making decisions about who should compete in athletics. I believe that decision should be left to respective athletic associations,” Bottoms said. That comment, in particular, has become a key campaign quote for her opponent, Rick Jackson, a businessman and the Republican nominee to replace outgoing Gov. Brian Kemp, as they set out to attack Bottoms’ far-left positions on issues of gender and sexuality. “Keisha Bottoms and the other Democrats said they’d have vetoed the Riley Gaines Act. They won’t protect girls’ sports, but they will open the floodgates for woke ideology in our schools. We’re going to make sure they don’t get the chance,” the campaign said in a post to X, highlighting the debate moment. Bottoms’ sponsorship of the upcoming Halloween event isn’t the first time she has supported drag-themed activities. In 2019, as mayor, she invited Ms. Terra Cotta Sugarbaker, a drag queen, to host a story hour after the Fulton County library system removed a scheduled “drag queen story time” from its events. “Ms. Terra Cotta Sugarbaker and all our LGBTQ friends are always welcome at Atlanta City Hall. How about we host your next story hour? Let’s make it happen!” she wrote in a post to X. RILEY GAINES AND MYKAYLA SKINNER SEND MESSAGE TO SIMONE BILES ON WOMEN’S SPORTS DEBATE AFTER SCOTUS RULING The Bottoms campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the upcoming event, what was included in her sponsorship or whether it was appropriate to have children present for events centered around sexuality and gender expression. Having cleared her primary, Bottoms will face off against Jackson in the state’s Nov. 3, 2025, general election.
Woman accused of defacing WWII Memorial with spray paint indicted by federal grand jury
The woman accused of vandalizing the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., was formally indicted Friday, Fox News Digital has learned. Melissa Farris was charged on two counts, including destruction of a veterans’ memorial and destruction of government property. The Kentucky woman allegedly spray-painted the words “Clean hands, dirty money” in bright pink paint and dumped bubble soap into the fountain at the center of the memorial, according to authorities. WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL ON NATIONAL MALL VANDALIZED WITH PINK SPRAY; FOUNTAIN OVERFLOWING WITH BUBBLES Federal prosecutors allege that cleanup and restoration costs already exceeded $1,000. Farris did a Facebook live before turning herself in and her arrest Aug. 14, in which she admitted to the alleged vandalism the day before. “It’s me. I am going to turn myself in,” she said. “I’m outside district federal court. I am just trying to do the right thing. … I was trying to get people to listen. … I tried to reach the media. I tried to fight back. I tried to ignore it.” Farris claimed she lived in a paper-thin camper that she “boarded up with cardboard in the winter to feel a little bit warmer.” Fox News Digital has reached out to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for comment. WWII MEMORIAL VANDALISM SUSPECT IN CUSTODY, CHARGED WITH TWO FELONIES, PIRRO SAYS “Vandalizing our World War II Memorial is a despicable attack on a sacred monument honoring the Americans who fought and died for our freedom,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said in a statement after Farris was charged. “Those Americans include my father and grandfather.” Pirro said the charges carry penalties of up to ten years in prison. “Our beautiful World War II Memorial was just hit by Spray Painting Vandals,” President Donald Trump wrote earlier this month on Truth Social. “THERE CAN BE NO GREATER INSULT TO THOSE AMERICAN HEROES WHO DIED IN WORLD WAR II. First the Reflecting Pool, now this. We are on their trail! Where do these animals come from???” Several people, including Olympic canoeist David Hearn, were arrested in June for allegedly vandalizing the newly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, but the charges were dropped earlier this month. TRUMP BLAMES VANDALS FOR DEAD GRASS ON NATIONAL MALL WHERE HE HOSTED 4TH OF JULY CELEBRATION Prosecutors cited evidence indicating the damage may have stemmed from a botched renovation rather than vandalism. U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche on Aug. 16 said he “absolutely” supported Pirro’s decision to drop the charges, “as does President Trump,” he told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Trump has spoken out against the decision this month, saying he “disagrees 100%” with Pirro’s decision. Fox News’ Robert McGreevy, Bonny Chu and Ashley J. DiMella contributed to this report.
Reagan-era official warns ‘red-green alliance’ has shared goal of ‘destroying’ America
A former Reagan administration national security official is sounding the alarm over what he calls a growing “red-green alliance” between radical Islamists and far-left socialists, warning the unlikely ideological partners are joining forces around a shared anti-American agenda. Frank Gaffney sat down with Fox News Digital to discuss the growing influence of the Democratic Socialists of America and what he believes are the true intentions and potential threats to U.S. national security. “One can argue that the Sharia supremacists are pursuing communism with a God, or at least a patina, a veneer of religiosity to it,” Gaffney explained. “Fundamentally, they’re at the hip in totalitarianism. Yes, with different outcomes in mind, but still perfectly willing to make common cause for the immediate shared objective of destroying the United States, which stands in the way of either of their ambitions.” DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS SEIZE THE MOMENT WITH EXTREME, ANTI-AMERICAN VIEWS THAT BADLY TARNISH THE PARTY “So that’s where we find ourselves at the moment — with a red-green axis that seeks the destruction of our country and is making that a goal being pursued now in the Democratic Party.” Gaffney served as assistant secretary of defense for international security policy under former President Ronald Reagan and graduated from Georgetown University with a Master of Arts in international studies from Johns Hopkins University. He founded the Center for Security Policy think tank in Washington, D.C., in 1988 and currently serves as the president of the Institute for the American Future. The “red-green alliance” describes the political cooperation between far-left movements, represented by the color red, and Islamist movements, represented by green. ISRAEL, JEWS TARGETED WORLDWIDE AS WELL-FUNDED LEFTIST, ISLAMIST GROUPS JOIN FOR ‘NAKBA 78’ PROTESTS The Reagan-era official argued that while the far left and Islamists have different ultimate goals, they share a common adversary in the American constitutional system, which he said stands in the way of both movements’ ambitions. These concepts were recently debated during a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing titled “Hidden in Plain Sight: Confronting the Muslim Brotherhood Network in America” that took place earlier this month. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, questioned Kyle Shideler, director and senior analyst for homeland security and counterterrorism at the Center for Security Policy, about whether the Muslim Brotherhood partners with groups such as the Democratic Socialists of America and characterized that relationship as the “Red-Green Alliance.” COUNTERTERRORISM EXPERT WARNS ABDUL EL-SAYED SENATE BID RAISES HOMELAND SECURITY CONCERNS Shideler agreed with Cruz’s characterization and said he has seen evidence that the “red-green alliance” shares a “revolutionary objective” to squash Americanism, including the Constitution. “This threat cannot be ignored because it is politically inconvenient,” Cruz posted to X. “A counterterrorism expert testified that the Muslim Brotherhood and the DSA are united by a shared hatred of America — and a revolutionary objective to overthrow the U.S. Constitution.” AGITATORS UNITED BY CHINESE MONEY, HATE FOR AMERICA TARGET DATA CENTERS, EXPERTS WARN Gaffney agreed with the sentiment during his interview with Fox News Digital, taking it one step further to say the two movements are “perfectly willing to make common cause” around what he described as an “immediate shared objective of destroying the United States.” TRUMP ADMIN ACCUSES HAMAS OF BACKING GAZA FLOTILLA, SANCTIONS ACTIVIST AND MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD NETWORKS “What they have in common is much more important than their differences,” Gaffney explained. The “red-green alliance” has also been scrutinized by some Muslim critics of radical Islamism. In May, Fox News Digital spoke with Dalia Ziada, a Muslim scholar who was forced to flee Egypt after criticizing Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. She said that the nexus of radical Islamism with the radical left in the “red-green alliance” threatened the U.S., American politics and Western society. “For five or seven years now, we have been seeing some kind of a ‘sinful marriage’ between the radical left and radical Islamism, the groups that hate Western liberal democracies and desire to destroy them,” she told Fox News Digital. A Fox News Digital investigation found roughly 425 organizations spanning communist groups, Muslim advocacy organizations and anti-Israel activist coalitions are part of a coordinated transnational protest network that collectively brings in about $1 billion in annual revenue.
Antifa-linked sites go dark after State Department terror designation of tech collective
Websites tied to Portland’s Rose City Antifa and the militant abortion-rights group Jane’s Revenge began going dark in the days after the State Department designated their Italy-based technology provider a global terrorist entity. Fox News Digital first reported this week that the State Department had designated Autistici/Inventati, known as the A/I Collective, as a specially designated global terrorist over its alleged support for violent far-left networks. “Today’s news demonstrates the extent to which the A/I Collective was the digital infrastructure of the global Antifa terror network,” a State Department official told Fox News Digital. RUBIO PUTS ENTIRE WORLD ON NOTICE AGAINST RISE OF ‘POISONOUS’ FAR-LEFT TERROR ‘MASKED AS EQUALITY’ “Just one day after the extremist collective was designated as a specially designated global terrorist, an untold number of servers and websites — used by far-left extremists to plot violent attacks, target federal agents, and conceal their crimes from law enforcement — have been shut down,” the official said. Among them was Rose City Counter-Info, a Portland-based website the State Department says Rose City Antifa used to publish personal information about Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel and organize violent activity against federal agents. 15 ANTIFA RADICALS INDICTED, 12 ARRESTED IN SWEEPING FEDERAL PROBE INTO MINNEAPOLIS ANTI-ICE OPERATIONS The State Department said the group used the site to distribute an online flyer urging supporters to use laser pointers against Customs and Border Protection helicopters. Federal records show one man later pleaded guilty to aiming a laser at a CBP helicopter, forcing the aircraft to abort a planned landing. Jane’s Revenge also used A/I services to publish communiqués claiming responsibility for attacks on pregnancy centers and to incite copycat violence, according to the State Department. The group claimed responsibility for the May 2022 firebombing of a crisis pregnancy center in Madison, Wisconsin. The NoBlogs platform, which is hosted by A/I and contains thousands of sites, was intermittently unavailable Friday. Some individual pages remained accessible while others returned errors or timed out. The State Department has not said whether any U.S. agency directly disabled A/I infrastructure or whether the outages resulted from decisions by the collective, its vendors or its users after the designation. FBI SAYS NEW MISSION CENTER HAS IDENTIFIED ‘NEFARIOUS’ PROTEST FUNDING AND SUBJECTS The sanctions action blocks Americans and U.S. financial institutions from doing business with A/I and freezes any assets it holds under U.S. jurisdiction. The State Department says A/I provided encrypted chat and email services, web hosting, secure video tools and anonymity services to violent left-wing groups in the United States and Europe. The department also said a media organization using A/I services disseminated material from Hamas, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hezbollah and other designated terrorist groups. A/I denied the allegations in a statement posted on a NoBlogs-hosted page. The collective described itself as “a small, volunteer-run, technology collective from Italy” that provides tools for “digital self-defense.” SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER “We will not back down,” the group said. “Antifascism and anticapitalism are not terrorism. Protesting is not terrorism. “The terror designation of the A/I Collective dealt a devastating blow to the transnational far-left networks that have plagued America and our allies for years,” the State Department official said.
Trump calls ISS crew from Houston to praise space pioneers and offer ‘Oval Office time’
President Donald Trump on Friday spoke with American astronauts aboard the International Space Station from Houston, where he honored the Artemis II crew moments earlier. Trump joked at the beginning of the phone call that many Americans would love to travel to space. “I wouldn’t do it,” he said from NASA’s Johnson Space Center. “I hate to admit it. I would not want to do it. But some people love it more than anything.” TRUMP TO TRANSFORM SPACEFLIGHT FROM SPECTACLE TO STATUS QUO TARGETING 3 LAUNCHES PER DAY The astronauts said they were “thrilled” to speak with Trump and that they were “in the middle of several spacewalks,” with another one planned for next week. Trump called the crew a group of “pioneers” for their efforts in space exploration. He welcomed other officials to speak to the ISS crew and offered to welcome the astronauts to the White House when they return. ‘WOKE’ MILITARY ACADEMIES TARGETED IN NEW BLUEPRINT FOR SWEEPING WARFIGHTING OVERHAUL “We’re going to see you when you get back,” he said. “In fact, if you want Oval Office time, right?” A short time earlier, Trump honored the crew of the Artemis II with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and signed an executive order establishing the U.S. Space Force Academy. “It will be at that same level when you serve West Point, Air Force, Coast Guard, Navy, Annapolis,” Trump said, comparing it to the other U.S. military academies. “It’s going to be at that level.”
Illegal immigrant tuition perks put 4 states in Trump DOJ crosshairs
The Trump administration filed lawsuits against four states Thursday over laws allowing illegal immigrants to receive financial benefits offered to state residents, including in-state tuition, state grants and state-funded student loans. The Justice Department argued that laws in Oregon, Washington, New Mexico and Arizona allowing illegal immigrants to receive benefits are in violation of a federal law that states an illegal immigrant is ineligible to receive higher education in-state benefits unless those same benefits are available to every U.S. student. “This is a simple matter of federal law: Colleges cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens,” Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said in a statement. “This Department of Justice will not tolerate American students being treated like second-class citizens in their own country.” DOJ SUES NEW JERSEY OVER LAWS GIVING ILLEGAL ALIENS IN-STATE TUITION, SAYS CITIZENS TREATED AS ‘SECOND-CLASS’ The latest lawsuits bring the number of states facing legal challenges over laws granting illegal immigrant students the same benefits as lawful residents to 21. The Justice Department has won its cases in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Illinois. “Our efforts will not cease until President Trump’s promise is fulfilled: Illegal aliens will not receive benefits denied to American citizens,” Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward, Jr. said in a statement. The difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition costs at public universities in the four states is significant. The complaint showed that for the 2026-2027 school year, Washington residents would pay $13,406, compared with $44,460 for out-of-state students at the University of Washington. This means illegal immigrants could receive a $31,054 discount if they earned a high school diploma or equivalent in the state, lived there for at least one year for reasons other than attending college and signed an affidavit saying they would seek permanent residency when eligible. TRUMP’S JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SUES NEW YORK, OTHER BLUE STATES OVER TUITION FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS The Justice Department’s lawsuit against Arizona also showed a significant difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition costs, with the largest gap at Arizona State University totaling $24,448. The lawsuit alleged that in fall 2025, 432 illegal immigrants received in-state tuition benefits at Arizona State University amounting to $10.5 million in reduced tuition. The lawsuit also cites a report from the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting that estimates more than 3,600 illegal aliens per year could qualify for in-state tuition under Arizona’s law. A spokesperson for the Arizona Board of Regents, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said the school system follows state law. “We are reviewing the lawsuit and will work closely with Arizona leaders on the appropriate next steps,” a spokesperson said. The benefits extend beyond tuition costs. COURT CHECKS PRITZKER AS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SCORES ANOTHER IMMIGRATION WIN In Oregon, only in-state students enrolled at Oregon Health & Science University can receive a Rural Nurse Scholars Scholarship, which covers the full cost of tuition and a $1,500 travel stipend. The Justice Department alleges that illegal immigrants are eligible for the scholarship under state law. In Washington, not only do illegal immigrants qualify for in-state tuition and grants, but the state also created a financial aid program for illegal immigrants living in the state who are unable to obtain federal financial aid. The program is known as the Undocumented Student Support Loan Program, and it was created under a bill passed in 2020. Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said in a statement to Fox News Digital that he stands by the state’s laws. “Washington state won’t be bullied into changing how we provide opportunities for young people in our state,” Ferguson said. “We’ll see them in court, and we expect to win.” A June 2024 report estimated that roughly 408,000 illegal immigrants were enrolled in higher education, with 29.1% arriving in the United States at age 17 or older. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER Lawsuits are pending in Minnesota, Virginia, California, New Jersey, Kansas, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maryland, Colorado, New York, Connecticut and Vermont. Fox News Digital reached out to Oregon, New Mexico and Arizona’s governors’ offices for comment.