Anti-Israel protests borrow playbook from social justice movements: experts
The anti-Israel movement roiling major American cities and college campuses following the outbreak of Israel’s war with Hamas bears a striking resemblance to other movements favored by social justice activists, experts suggest. Since the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas terrorists, an outpouring of protests across the world have not condemned the terror group but rather the Jewish state, which continues to reflect on the loss of more than 1,200 Israelis who died in the massacre last month. The most extreme displays from Hamas-sympathizing supporters seem to be coming from American college campuses. Particularly concerning demonstrations were witnessed at once-prestigious institutions such as Harvard and New York University, among others. Aside from college campuses, the anti-Israel movement also found its way to the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in Washington, D.C., where supposed pro-Palestinian demonstrators grew violent and clashed with police. Other protests have taken place outside the State Department, where demonstrators held handcrafted signs with anti-Israel slogans like “Israel = Cancer of the Middle East.” DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST MEMBERS OF CONGRESS HAVE NOT CONDEMNED VIOLENT ANTI-ISRAEL PROTEST TARGETING OWN PARTY HQ Those protests, and similar ones in recent American history, according to observers who’ve watched the issue unfold and offered their perspectives to Fox News Digital, are part of a much larger problem meant to “destabilize this country.” Brooke Goldstein, a human rights attorney who serves as the executive director of The Lawfare Project, said she believes it’s time for law enforcement officials to open an investigation to find out how the protests are organized, as well as whether the protests are connected to foreign governments or terrorist organizations. “We need to call these protesters what they are. They are not pro-Palestinian. There is no Palestinian democracy movement. There’s no Palestinian peace movement. They are pro-Hamas,” she said. “We need to take a long hard look at how a significant segment of our population has become radicalized. Law enforcement and lawmakers have, for too long, turned a blind eye to the operations of foreign governments within our borders, especially Qatar. They have ignored the relationship between designated terrorist groups and student groups on campus.” “These protesters are not progressive, and they are not nonviolent. Their purpose is to destabilize this country and there’s an urgent need for law-enforcement to open an investigation into how they are being organized and whether or not they are tied to foreign governments or foreign terrorist groups,” she added Other reasoning behind several of those protests, which have been complex and unpredictable in many instances, boils down to the teachings and activism of “left-wing academics” who have long supported certain racial divides and expect others to do the same, according to Christopher F. Rufo, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of City Journal. IN PROTESTS AGAINST ISRAEL, ‘AMERICAN WAY OF FREEDOM’ IS BEING ‘DEEPLY CHALLENGED,’ SAYS AUTHOR AND HISTORIAN “The left-wing academics who have been cheering on violent ‘decolonization’ against Jews have been pushing the same hideous rhetoric against ‘whiteness’ for years. Same ideology. Same hatred. Same bloodlust,” Rufo said. Rufo noted that several on the “academic left treat the Hamas fighter as a noble savage who symbolizes revolt against the West and through whom the academic can experience the thrill of violence. “The fighter is seen as the physical embodiment of the jargon: ‘decolonization,’ ‘resistance,’ ‘power,’” he added. “Time to connect the dots and fight it together.” Similarly, Lisa Daftari, editor-in-chief of The Foreign Desk, said she believes the rise in antisemitism across the country represents the “cross-sectionality” of social justice movements and other groups that place a particular focus on support for left-wing ideas. “A significant contributor to the rise of antisemitism, especially among those under 25 and on college campuses, is the cross-sectionality of social justice movements and organizations that are telling young people, ‘If you care about various human rights such as gay rights, trans rights, race issues, then you need to demonize Israel,” she said. “It is now on the social justice ‘checklist’ to condemn Israel. “Similarly, we are seeing Israel portrayed as a country of White, privileged people, the offspring of Europeans who immigrated there. This is absolutely false,” Daftari added. “Israel is made up of a diverse patchwork of people from all over the world, including those who have been there long before the official founding of the State in 1948. There are Black, brown and White people in Israel coming from Africa, the Middle East, South America and all over.” REPUBLICANS BLAST PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTS AT DNC: ‘NATION’S CAPITAL IS UNDER SIEGE’ Following the protests outside the DNC headquarters, Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif, said during a recent appearance on “The Faulkner Focus” that many anti-Israel protesters are being “duped” into supporting Hamas terrorism. “The Hamas object was to attack and kill as many Israelis as they could… on Oct. 7, retreat, regroup and then do it again,” Sherman said at the time. “And that’s not me speaking, that’s top Hamas leadership. I think some of the demonstrators support that plan. Others are duped into the idea that somehow a truce that allows Hamas to regroup and repeat will bring peace, and obviously that isn’t the case.” Last month, Pastor Dumisani Washington, a Black activist and the founder of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel (IBSI), called out Black Lives Matter chapters he believed were expressing support for Hamas’ terrorism against Israeli civilians for embodying an “evil beyond description,” in an interview with Fox News Digital. “The price that’s paid for organizations like Black Lives Matter to feign concern about Baltimore, Oakland, Ferguson… to feign concern only to use those people and even the deaths there to then demonize Israel some 6,000 miles away, is an evil beyond description,” Washington said. “People are being destroyed for the sake of antisemitism and anti-Zionism.… How are we defending the people of Gaza by celebrating this type of blood and gore?” Rather than express sympathy for the more than 1,200 Israelis murdered
Michigan Senate candidate says he was offered $20 million to challenge Rep. Tlaib instead
A Michigan businessman allegedly offered a Democrat candidate for the Michigan Senate $20 million to drop his current candidacy and run against House Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-MI., instead. The candidate — Hill Harper — reportedly declined the offer. Linden Nelsen, the businessman and political donor, pitched the offer last month, according to Karthik Ganapathy, a spokesperson for Harper’s campaign, the New York Times reported. The conversation between Harper and Nelson was “respectful on both sides,” according to Ganapathy. Harper and Tlaib could not be reached for comment. But in a post on X — formerly known as Twitter — on Wednesday, Harper wrote, “I will not be bought, or bossed, or bullied.” LEGAL GROUP CALLS ON MICHIGAN BAR TO INVESTIGATE, SANCTION TLAIB OVER ANTI-ISRAEL RHETORIC “For me, this isn’t about one person or one phone call. It’s about a broken political and campaign finance system that’s tilted towards the wealthy and powerful. I’m running for the U.S. Senate because I believe the wealthy and powerful have too much representation in Washington. I’m running to be a voice for the people. I will not be bought, or bossed, or bullied,” he said. Politico first reported on the allegations of the offer and reached Nelson briefly on Wednesday, but the call quickly concluded, and Nelson would not respond to repeated requests for comment. Harper, an actor and entrepreneur, faces an uphill battle to succeed Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. But he has positioned himself as a progressive option and joined other Democratic calls for a ceasefire earlier this month. Tlaib also has called for a ceasefire. “The answers to ensure long-term peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians are neither simple nor pain-free, but one truth stands firm: violence against defenseless children, trapped and frightened, is abhorrent, regardless of who is behind it,” Harper reportedly wrote in a statement. DEM SENATE HOPEFUL URGES BIDEN TO DROP OUT OF 2024 RACE AMID PARTY INFIGHTING OVER GAZA Tlaib, a progressive “Squad” member, was censured this month for her statements about the Israel-Palestine war. whose members have glamorized Hamas in its war battle with Israel after the terror group attacked and killed hundreds of innocent Israeli civilians last month, Fox News Digital exclusively learned last week. The group is hidden from non-members and does not appear on the platform’s search engine, though Fox News Digital was able to gain access to it. The group’s founder, Maher Abdel-qader, who has extensive ties to Tlaib and has also been linked to other liberal politicians, has come under fire in the past for his antisemitic social media posts, including questioning whether the Holocaust ever occurred. Fox News’ Houston Keene contributed to this report.
Mike Johnson on the clock
Miami University in Ohio is my alma mater. And for decades, Miami’s football teams played on a field which featured a mystifying, archaic, non-digital game clock which nobody – and I mean nobody – could understand. Not even the players and coaches from Miami. Most clocks tell time. But all that old clock told was ambiguity. THE DIVIDE: HOW A PROTEST OVER ISRAEL EXPOSED A SERIOUS RIFT IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY No one was ever quite sure how many minutes or seconds were left in the game. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., never set foot on Miami’s field. But the clock he’s dealing with in Congress is reminiscent of the bizarre timepiece on the gridiron in Oxford, Ohio. Johnson’s held the Speaker’s chair for less than a month. But he is already on the clock. And much like football games at Miami, no one quite knows how to read the clock or how much time is left in the game for Johnson. The Speaker maneuvered to pass an interim spending bill last week to avoid a Thanksgiving government shutdown. Johnson did so with a margin nearly identical to that of his predecessor to sidestep a September shutdown. Only that bill cost former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., his job. Everyone knew that McCarthy was on the clock this year after it took 15 ballots and parts of five days to elect him Speaker back in January. McCarthy’s clock was far different from the outmoded clock at Miami. McCarthy’s clock was a chronograph with quartz movement. Everyone knew it was just a matter of time with McCarthy. McCarthy finally won the gavel following the longest Speaker’s election since 1859. But to understand Johnson’s clock management, one only need to examine the failure of a procedural vote on the House floor just before lawmakers abandoned town for the Thanksgiving recess. The House was trying to rifle through one more, individual spending bill before the break. This measure would fund Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) programs. Also on the docket: a bill to freeze $6 billion in Iranian assets the U.S. sent to Tehran as part of a prisoner exchange. FIVE FOR FIGHTING: WHO ARE THE MEANEST, TOUGHEST AND ROUGHEST ON CAPITOL HILL? House Republicans have struggled for weeks to pass even their own appropriations bills. That was a hallmark of McCarthy’s tenure. Things haven’t gotten much better under Johnson. In fact, the GOP leadership has either yanked from the schedule or the House has blocked an astonishing four spending bills during Johnson’s abbreviated Speakership. Such was the case last Wednesday when House conservatives teamed with Democrats to bar the House from even beginning debate on the (CJS) appropriations bill and the Iran measure. With no bill to debate, the House brass pulled the plug and sent everyone home a day-and-a-half earlier than expected. “The swamp won,” said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Tex., about Johnson writing yet another temporary spending bill. But he called Johnson “a good man.” Still, Roy was just heating up. “Republican voters are tired of promises to fight. We want to actually see change,” barked Roy on the House steps. A few minutes later, Roy was inside, ranting on the House floor. Roy’s voice cracked in anger as he bellowed about Johnson’s bipartisan gambit to fund the government. “I want my Republican colleagues to give me one thing – one – that I can go campaign on and say we did! Anybody sitting in the (Capitol) complex, if you want to come down to the floor and come explain to me one material, meaningful, significant thing the Republican majority has done besides ‘Well, I guess it’s not as bad as the Democrats,’” beseeched Roy. The Texas Republican had no takers. Except perhaps by Democrats. Republicans might not have a lot to show for their efforts. But considering the chaos on the GOP side of the aisle – punctuated by the three-week vacancy in the Speakership – Democrats will likely deploy Roy’s diatribe about the dearth of GOP accomplishments in every political ad for competitive House contests next year. Roy was relentless in his criticism of how Republicans quickly reverted to old ways under Johnson. That’s why he and other conservatives torched the provision for the House to consider the spending bill and Iran measure. THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE AS TO WHY TENSIONS ARE RUNNING SO HIGH RIGHT NOW ON CAPITOL HILL “We went through an entire month without a Speaker and we just did the same damn thing that we’re doing,” exploded Roy. “I didn’t come here for more excuses. I didn’t come here to have the Speaker of the House assume the position and in 17 days, pass a continuing resolution (the interim spending plan) on the floor of this House through suspension of the rules.” Johnson used a procedure called “suspension of the rules” to approve the emergency spending plan because Roy and other right-wing members would have blocked the House from considering the “rule” required to put a bill on the floor. The House must first approve a “rule” before it considers most major pieces of legislation. No rule? Then no debate on the floor. That is, unless you go around the rule and consider the measure as a suspension bill. House Freedom Caucus Chairman & Rep. Scott Perry, R-Penn., described the CJS/Iran bill as “very, very, weak.” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., was more strident. “We’re going to make sure that he follows through on what he said he was going to do,” said Luna of Johnson. Yours truly asked Johnson why the Speaker’s two-step spending plan “didn’t seem to satisfy some of the arch-conservatives in your caucus.” “I’m one of the arch-conservatives and I want to cut spending right now,” answered Johnson. “But when you have a three-vote majority, as we do right now, we don’t have the votes to be able to advance that right now. In short, it’s about the math. But that might not satisfy the likes of Roy and other conservatives. They
Pope Francis dines with transgender women for Vatican luncheon
Pope Francis hosted a group of transgender women — many of whom are sex workers or migrants from Latin America — to a Vatican luncheon for the Catholic Church’s “World Day of the Poor” last week. The pontiff and the transgender women have formed a close relationship since the pope came to their aid during the COVID-19 pandemic, when they were unable to work. Now, they meet monthly for VIP visits with the pope and receive medicine, money and shampoo any day, according to The Associated Press. “Before, the church was closed to us. They didn’t see us as normal people, they saw us as the devil,” one member of the transgender group, Andrea Paola Torres Lopez, told the AP. Some 1,200 people who are impoverished or homeless also attended the luncheon inside the papal audience hall for a full meal and dessert. VATICAN APPROVES TRANSGENDER PEOPLE RECEIVING BAPTISM, BECOMING GODPARENTS The invitation to the transgender women comes as the Vatican released a controversial document earlier this month affirming that individuals suffering from gender-identity disorders are allowed to be baptized or be named as godparents under specific circumstances. The document is an official response to a dubia submitted by Brazilian Bishop Giuseppe Negri of Santo Amaro seeking guidance on the issue. It was propagated by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and signed by Pope Francis. However, in a somewhat ambiguous clarification, the guidance specifies that in order for individuals with gender-identity afflictions to be baptized, it must not cause “scandal” or “disorientation.” This same stipulation applied to their eligibility to act as godparents or witness marriages, according to the Vatican. The move was praised by LGTBQ+ advocates. POPE FRANCIS: ‘GENDER IDEOLOGY’ IS ONE OF THE ‘MOST DANGEROUS IDEOLOGICAL COLONIZATIONS’ The ruling’s ambiguity is consistent with a variety of theological statements from the Vatican under Pope Francis and can make understanding how to implement the ruling difficult for the clergy. Father Brian Graebe, a priest with the Archdiocese of New York who holds a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, told Fox News Digital previously that the Vatican’s guidance is not contradictory to church teaching, but possibly “deficient.” “There’s nothing in the document that contradicts church teachings. My reaction to it when I read it yesterday was that it’s deficient. The problem isn’t so much in what it says as in what it leaves unsaid,” Graebe said. He continued, “What I was disappointed not to see in the document was affirmation that in the right of baptism itself, whatever name the person has, we call it a Christian name [or] their baptismal name […] what we must affirm is that the correct biological pronouns are to be used.” The Catholic Church teaches that gender ideology and transgender lifestyles are a “grave disorder” in need of correction through spiritual and secular therapy. CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE DEFENDS POLICY TO NOT ADMIT CHILDREN WHO REJECT THEIR BIOLOGICAL SEX “I think the fact that Pope Francis today allows us to approach baptism with this legislation, or to perhaps take care of our best friend’s child, or of friends who ask us to be godfather or godmother, is something that makes us transgender [people] feel more human,” Argentine sex worker Carla Segovia said of the pope, Reuters reported. Fox News’ Timothy H.J. Nerozzi contributed to this report.
Brothels that allegedly hosted political, military leaders raked in ‘astounding’ amounts of money: prosecutors
The three individuals charged with running brothels in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. that allegedly hosted high-profile clientele, including political and military leaders, brought in over a million dollars running the operation, a top federal investigator on the case said Wednesday. According to an affidavit submitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts by the Department of Homeland Security, the alleged ringleaders of the operation, James Lee of California, along with Han Lee and Junmyung Lee of Massachusetts, made the chunk of change while running the service out of high-end apartments in Massachusetts and the Washington, D.C., suburbs since 2020. The affidavit also said the defendants kept “impeccable” records of the operation showing the amounts it brought in. FORMER OBAMA ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL CHARGED WITH HATE CRIME AFTER CONFRONTATION WITH NYC FOOD CART VENDOR “I do not believe that HAN has legitimate employment but I do believe she has made an astounding amount of money running her prostitution business over the last several years,” DHS Special Agent Zachary Mitlitsky wrote, referencing the alleged ringleader of the operation. The affidavit added that two of Han Lee’s bank accounts brought in $965,000, mostly in cash, from Dec. 2019 to Oct. 2023, and that she is believed to have access to other foreign accounts. The DOJ charged the three earlier this month after busting the operation. They face maximum sentences of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and fines of up to $250,000 if convicted. MARYLAND ATTORNEY GENERAL SUSPENDS HATE CRIME TASK FORCE MEMBER CLAIMING BABIES MURDERED BY HAMAS WERE ‘FAKE’ According to prosecutors, the D.C.-area brothels were housed in apartment complexes in Fairfax and Tysons, Virginia, and hosted a variety of consorts from varying backgrounds. The defendants allegedly rented the apartments while paying for the prostitutes’ transportation and flights to the locations. They also said the defendants advertised the prostitution for rates going between $350 and $600, and required solicitors to provide a plethora of identifying information, “not limited to, full name, birth date, credit card information, employer information, and websites,” as well as a “reference if they have one.” “Some of these professional disciplines included, but are not limited to, politicians, pharmaceutical executives, doctors, military officers, government contractors that possess security clearances, professors, lawyers, business executives, technology company executives, scientists, accountants, retail employees, and students,” prosecutors said. VIRAL VIDEOS SHOW FORMER OBAMA OFFICIAL LAUNCH RACIST RANTS AGAINST NEW YORK CITY FOOD CART VENDOR One investigator said “there are potentially hundreds of yet to be identified customers that may include other professional disciplines not included in the list above,” but the DOJ has yet to give any further details on the clientele. Fox News’ Houston Keene and Adam Sabes contributed to this report.
Incumbent Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall wins bid for second term
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Incumbent Erin Mendenhall has won her reelection bid for mayor of Utah’s capital in a ranked-choice contest that included a challenge by Salt Lake City’s former Mayor Rocky Anderson. Ballot returns released Wednesday, which included all scannable ballots in the Salt Lake County clerk’s possession, showed Mendenhall with 58% of the vote to Anderson’s 34%, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. UTAH REPUBLICAN SEEKING TO REPLACE ROMNEY ACCUSED OF FALSIFYING ENDORSEMENTS, STRONG-ARMING GOP FOR SUPPORT “As seemed pretty clear last night, these more final results clearly indicate that Mayor Mendenhall has won reelection,” Anderson said. “I wish her the very best and I hope she and her team succeeds.” Mendenhall’s campaign said Anderson called the mayor Wednesday afternoon to concede. Though the position of mayor is officially nonpartisan, the city is largely Democratic in a mostly Republican state. At her election night party Tuesday, Mendenhall told her supporters she would “regroup for a second term” with new energy and urgency. “This election ends with voters saying loudly and clearly that they want Salt Lake City to keep moving forward together,” Mendenhall said. “Salt Lakers are not afraid of our incredible future. We’re excited by it. This election was a repudiation of cynicism, and it was a rejection of the politics of fear.” An Oct. 24 debate that included three of the mayoral candidates touched on several of the main issues: conserving water, fighting climate change, reducing crime and addressing homelessness. Anderson, who served two terms from 2000-2008, had criticized Mendenhall for not doing enough to ease the rising cost of housing. He proposed mixed income housing built by the city to help solve the problem rather than Mendenhall’s approach, which involves working more closely with developers. This was the first Salt Lake City mayor’s race since the capital, along with a number of Utah cities, instituted ranked-choice voting in 2021. The system allows voters to rank the three candidates, regardless of party. If no candidate claims a majority, the candidate who finishes third is eliminated, and voters’ second- and third-choice picks determine the winner.
City Hall denies reported sexual assault allegations against Mayor Eric Adams
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has denied bombshell sexual assault allegations made in a legal filing by a woman who claims to be a former colleague . “The mayor does not know who this person is. If they ever met, he doesn’t recall it. But he would never do anything to physically harm another person and vigorously denies any such claim,” a City Hall spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement. Adams is named as a defendant in a summons filed Wednesday night in the state Supreme Court in Manhattan, The Messenger reported on Thursday morning. The woman who filed the documents is seeking a trial and at least $5 million in damages, the report said. “Plaintiff was sexually assaulted by Defendant Eric Adams in New York, New York in 1993 while they both worked for the City of New York,” the summons says, according to the report. ADAMS SAYS ‘DC HAS ABANDONED US’ AS NYC SLASHES BUDGETS OVER MIGRANT CRISIS The lawsuit also names the transit bureau of the New York Police Department and the Guardian Association of the NYPD as co-defendants. The three-page summons reported by The Messenger did not reveal specific details of the alleged assault. New York civil court permits a plaintiff to file a summons with legal notice to trigger a lawsuit which will be followed by a full complaint with details of the allegations. NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS SAYS PARENTS MAY NEED TO HELP IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS AMID MIGRANT CRISIS: ‘ALL HANDS ON DECK’ The plaintiff’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The court filing was made under the Adult Survivors Act, a 2022 law signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul which allows victims of sexual offenses for which the statute of limitations has passed to file civil lawsuits against their alleged abusers for a one-year period. The summons naming Adams was filed just a day before the Nov. 24 deadline. The controversial New York law opened a floodgate of lawsuits against famous men accused of sexual misconduct, including former President Donald Trump, rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and actor and comedian Russell Brand. More than 2,500 lawsuits have been filed during the one-year period, some of which have targeted employers, or institutions such as hospitals, accused of failing to do enough to stop abuse by doctors or other workers. The large majority, though, have been filed against the state, New York City and local counties and involve allegations of abuse at state prisons and local jail systems. NYC FBI PROBE: ADAMS ADMITS CONTACTING FDNY COMISSIONER ON TURKISH CONSULATE The act was modeled after a previous New York law offering people abused as children a temporary window to file claims. By the time the Child Victims Act’s two-year window closed in August 2021, almost 11,000 people filed lawsuits, many involving the Roman Catholic Church. Adams, a 22-year veteran of the NYPD who achieved the rank of captain, was elected mayor of New York in 2021. He is currently the subject of an FBI probe for allegedly pressuring FDNY officials to open a Manhattan skyrise that now serves as the Turkish consulate before Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited New York City to attend the United Nations General Assembly, despite safety concerns about the structure. Federal authorities have not publicly disclosed the nature of the FBI’s probe into New York City politics, and City Hall Chief Counsel Lisa Zornberg told reporters on Tuesday, “my expectation is that any improper leaks by federal law enforcement officers will be fully investigated by federal law enforcement.” The FBI seized cellphones and electronics from Adams last week. Last month, FBI agents searched the Brooklyn home of Adams’ top campaign fundraiser, Brianna Suggs, prompting the mayor to cancel a planned trip to meet with White House officials in Washington and instead return to New York. Adams has denied any wrongdoing. Fox News’ Danielle Wallace and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Taxpayers are paying for transgender transition procedures in US prisons, internal docs show
Taxpayers are paying for transgender inmates in U.S. prisons to transition to another gender if a medical assessment deems it necessary, according to a June Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) memo obtained by the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project. The memo, discovered through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request this week, details the “immediate implementation” of a new pathway for inmates to undergo invasive surgery to transition to their desired gender. The last time clinical guidance for BOP was released was in 2016. All evaluations and procedures are overseen by an advisory group called the Transgender Clinical Care team. Medical review meetings are attended by a pharmacist, psychiatrist, physician and social worker from the group. “Healthcare providers should utilize a gender-affirming approach, including using the individual’s preferred name and pronouns during each clinical encounter,” the memo reads under the section Gender-Affirming Medical Assessment. “This also includes using non-gender specific terminology (ex. genital instead of penis/vagina or chest instead of breast) for anatomical body parts or asking if the patient has a preferred term to be used.” ACLU SUES INDIANA OVER DENIAL OF SEX REASSIGNMENT SURGERY FOR INMATE WHO STRANGLED 11-MONTH-OLD TO DEATH Some operations listed in the BOP clinical guidelines funded by taxpayers include hormone therapy, feminization and masculinization procedures such as permanent hair removal, male chest contouring, breast augmentation, scrotoplasty, hysterectomy and other surgical operations. “It’s crazy when you look at the document, the sophistication of the apparatus they built to govern just transitioning prisoners,” Mike Howell, director of the Oversight Project — Heritage Foundation’s investigative branch — told Fox News Digital in an interview. “And we have other investigative work that shows in state prisons, overwhelmingly and disproportionately transgender prisoners account for sex crimes,” he said. “And we’re just like, diluting these people with taxpayer dollars and giving them surgeries.” TRANSGENDER INMATE TO BE TRANSFERRED TO WOMEN’S FACILITY, GET SURGERY AFTER LAWSUIT Sam Dewey, Heritage Foundation’s attorney, said the BOP guidelines apply to all federal inmates, regardless of what crime they are serving time for. “So this policy applies not to some kid who made some mistake, got caught up with the wrong people on the streets,” he told Fox News Digital. “This would apply here and there for hardened criminals.” “And why are our tax dollars going to that, when these people are in jail to be punished?” he said. Lawsuits have already been underway for transgender inmates seeking sex reassignment surgery. A Minnesota transgender inmate is being moved to a women’s prison and will receive a vaginoplasty as well as $495,000 to settle a discrimination lawsuit against the state Department of Corrections, according to a June ruling. ACLU, LGBT GROUPS SUE MISSOURI AG OVER GENDER TRANSITION EMERGENCY RULE The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in August against the Indiana Department of Corrections on behalf of a transgender inmate, Jonathan C. Richardson, also known as Autumn Cordellionè, who was convicted of strangling his 11-month-old stepdaughter to death in 2001. Fox News Digital has reached out to BOP for comment.
Sen Kennedy’s IQ dig at VP Harris sparks backlash from White House, DNC
A comment Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., made Tuesday about how American voters feel about Vice President Kamala Harris sparked online backlash from the White House and Democratic National Committee (DNC). Kennedy made it clear he wasn’t speaking for himself during an appearance on Fox News’ “The Story” with Martha MacCallum, citing recent polling that continues to show high disapproval ratings for Harris and President Biden. “I’m not saying that this is accurate, but I can read a poll, and the American people have concluded that President Biden is old, and he needs soup and an early bedtime,” the senator said. “They have concluded that Vice President Harris is not capable — that when her IQ gets to 75, she should sell,” he continued. “Again, I’m not saying that’s fair or accurate, but that’s the conclusion today that the American people have reached. They’re pretty disgusted.” KAMALA HARRIS REACTS TO ROUGH BIDEN POLLS: ‘WE’RE GOING TO HAVE TO EARN OUR RE-ELECT’ The dig at Harris’ intelligence prompted responses on X, formerly Twitter, from White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates and Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison. “Shameful and undignified comments like these from [Kennedy] start a fire sale on one’s credibility,” Bates wrote Tuesday evening. “Bless his heart,” wrote Harrison. “[G]uess Senator Foghorn is a bit upset that our VP has done more for the working families of Louisiana than he has done over the entirety of his unproductive senate career.” Kennedy’s office declined to comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Wednesday. During his appearance on Fox Tuesday, the senator argued that the Biden administration “has embraced the neo-socialist, woke wing, loon wing of the Democratic Party. I mean, just look around. The American people might be poorer under President Biden, but they’re not stupid. “They see an open border. They experience inflation. They see the rampant crime,” he said. “The American people look around and see the world on fire — the war in Ukraine, the war in the Middle East, the embers smoldering in China — and they have concluded that, fair or unfair.” ABC NEWS ASKS KAMALA HARRIS HOW MUCH ‘RACE AND GENDER’ CONTRIBUTE TO HER DISMAL POLLING During an interview with CNN on Sunday, Harris reacted to a number of polls showing former President Donald Trump was ahead of President Biden in hypothetical election match-ups, as well as in battleground states. “We’re going to have to earn our re-elect, there’s no doubt about it,” she said. “It is absolutely right in a democracy with free and fair elections that the candidates, the people who want to continue in leadership have to make their case, and have to make it effectively,” she continued. “And that means communicating in such a way that the message is received about the accomplishments and what we care about.” According to the RealClearPolitics national average of polls, Harris has a 54.6% unfavorable rating, compared to 36.5% favorable, while Biden has a 55.5% unfavorable rating, compared to 40.6% favorable. Fox News’ Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.
Manchin says third-party ticket is a ‘long shot’ for potential candidates, including himself
After floating a third-party presidential bid, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said in a new interview on a local radio station that it would be a “long shot” for any third-party candidate, including himself, to win the presidential election in 2024. “I know that a third-party candidate, myself or anyone else who wants to jump into that fray, is really a long shot,” Manchin said on West Virginia’s “Watchdog Radio” show. “But if you can get a movement to where you can move the two established parties, the Democrat and Republican, back to where their roots are, where they’ve come from and what they’ve been able to produce over all these years, they can get back to some normality.” Manchin also touted electoral reforms such as term limits and other strategies that could bolster the interest of middle-of-the-road voters. He and his daughter have been soliciting the attention of rich political donors to launch a centrist political group, the Wall Street Journal reported over the summer. JOE MANCHIN ANNOUNCES HE WILL NOT SEEK SENATE RE-ELECTION Manchin is also trying to bolster ranked-choice voting, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference, eliminating the need for separate runoff elections by reallocating votes until one candidate secures a majority. “Right now you can’t compete in the system we have because it’s a closed system. You only have a duopoly of Democrat and Republican – you have very little activity,” he said. Manchin announced earlier this month he would not seek re-election to the Senate. He has since been mulling his future in politics. VP HARRIS SAYS SHE AND BIDEN ‘OBVIOUSLY HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO’ TO WIN RE-ELECTION IN 2024 “When America is at her best, we get things done by putting country before party, working across the aisle, and finding common ground. Many times this approach has landed me in hot water, but the fight to unite has been well worth it,” he said in a video posted on X. “After months of deliberation and long conversation with my family, I believe in my heart of hearts that I’ve accomplished what I set out to do for West Virginia. I’ve made one of the toughest decisions of my life and decided that I will not be running for re-election to the United States Senate,” he added. Manchin said recently that he would “absolutely” consider entering the 2024 presidential race. The senator has long fueled speculation of a presidential run by aligning himself with the third-party “No Labels” organization. Fox News Digital has reached out to Manchin’s office for comment. Fox News’ Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.