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MORNING GLORY: I asked Trump if he was prepared to remove Iran’s new leaders

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 05:00:57 -0400

"Can you or the American military or the Israeli military get to what’s left of their third string and their fourth string and their fifth string? Do you know where they are? Can you kill them?"

I posed those questions to President Donald Trump Monday, July 13.

"Yeah, I do, but we don’t want to talk about that," the president replied.

TRUMP SAYS HE LEFT INSTRUCTIONS TO 'BOMB' IRAN 'AT LEVELS' NEVER SEEN IF HE IS ASSASSINATED

"But we certainly are watching, yeah," he added. "I know a lot about that subject. I know a lot, but I don’t think it’s appropriate to talk about it right now."

Trump’s restraint about clearing the bench of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is interesting.

The public faces of the rump regime in Iran — President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi — don’t have any authority over the killers with the guns. (Trump puts the number of Iranians massacred by the regime over two days in January at 52,000, so we know the ruthlessness of the men in charge.) When the campaign against Iran by the U.S. and Israel opened on February 28, those strikes devastated the first and second tiers of "leadership" in Iran. Pezeshkian and Araghchi were not important enough to be in the command bunkers.

TRUMP CALLS TERRORIST IRANIAN A ‘CANCER.’ IS HE FINALLY THE ONE TO REMOVE IT?

Sixty-eight-year-old Ahmad Vahidi emerged from the wreckage and his "retirement" after the wipeout of the senior leadership of the Islamic Republic to take command of the IRGC. Imagine how utterly ruthless a benched and passed-over killer must be, and how many grudges he must hold against those who put him out to pasture in the first place.

Eli Lake is among the most respected national security reporters in the U.S. On Tuesday, July 14, Lake wholly agreed with what Trump told me Monday: It is unrealistic to expect the Iranian people to rise up only months after such a traumatic mass murder.

Instead, Lake explained, students of the history of regime collapses tell us we ought to be watching for splits within the ranks of the men with guns. That’s how revolutions against dictators and their henchmen at the top begin and then gain momentum. The lower levels of security services or a cadre within the military become unwilling to join in the killing anymore. They see the end game and they don’t want to be around or on the wrong side when everything falls apart. Sometimes they flee. Sometimes they turn the weapons on the top men. When that begins, Lake added, it can accelerate quickly.

US CLAWS BACK KEY CONCESSION TO IRAN AFTER FRESH ATTACKS ON COMMERCIAL SHIPS IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ

With the first Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) torn up by the IRGC, all bets were off. I’ve called the MOU the equivalent of "halftime" in the battle with Iran since it was inked, but was surprised when the rump regime came out of its locker room first and began shooting at ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Iran received a thin lifeline of oil revenue from the MOU when we lifted the blockade. The blockade is back, as are the bombings. If the president does indeed ratchet up the air campaign, the already tattered Iranian economy will struggle to meet basic needs.

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The suffering of the population doesn’t matter to Vahidi et al. They can loot the country (and will) and assign whatever imports are getting in to themselves, just as the Hamas terrorists did in Gaza. They may be living underground, but the IRGC bosses won’t be hungry.

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The vast masses of Iranians know the truth — though they dare not speak it. But if even a handful of colonels or even junior officers decide the time has come for them to rule and save the country (and themselves), they can act. If they succeed, they can shrug off the awful burden of "Twelver" theology and rule as normal juntas rule: with absolute power but without making war on the world.

It only takes a few people to crack the whole of the IRGC tyranny. Trump says to the public that he isn’t going to rush that takeover. But who knows what he and the Israelis see and hear courtesy of their intelligence communities. The allies certainly had all the information they needed on February 28. Don’t doubt that they have more and add to their collection every day.

Hugh Hewitt is a Fox News contributor and host of "The Hugh Hewitt Show" heard weekday afternoons from 3 PM to 6 PM ET on the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast on Salem News Channel. Hugh drives Americans home on the East Coast and to lunch on the West Coast on over 400 affiliates nationwide, and on all the streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel’s news roundtable, hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6pm ET. A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996 where he teaches Constitutional Law. Hewitt launched his eponymous radio show from Los Angeles in 1990. Hewitt has frequently appeared on every major national news television network, hosted television shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for every major American paper, has authored a dozen books and moderated a score of Republican candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and four Republican presidential debates in the 2015-16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio show and his column on the Constitution, national security, American politics and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump over his 40 years in broadcasting. This column previews the lead story that will drive his radio/ TV show today.

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CHAD WOLF: Canada can't expect free trade while leaving our northern border vulnerable

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 05:00:56 -0400

The longest international border in the world has a security problem, and Canada is not treating it with the urgency it deserves.

Recently, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin laid out a sobering picture of how people from 78 nations have been apprehended crossing the northern border. U.S. agents are now arresting a terrorist on the watch list nearly every week at the northern border, and over the past year alone, enough fentanyl to kill 17 million Americans has been seized coming through Canada. Cartel organizations, squeezed by the intensified enforcement operations and physical infrastructure along our southern border, are pivoting north.

Federal prosecutors have unsealed a string of recent cases documenting organized smuggling networks operating directly through the northern border. They are the front edge of a corridor that cartels and transnational criminal organizations are actively developing.

CANADA'S PRIME MINISTER REFERS TO US ECONOMIC TIES AS A WEAKNESS

Congressional Republicans are rightly raising the alarm, holding hearings and pressing Canada for action. And the Trump administration is recognizing exactly what leverage it holds.

On July 1, the United States declined to renew the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in its current form, opting instead for annual reviews until the agreement expires in 2036. Ottawa and Mexico City wanted the 16-year extension. Washington said no. Canada's economy is deeply woven into American markets. Roughly $900 billion in trade moves across this border every year. Canada wants predictability and a long-term framework. The Trump administration holds the pen.

Canada has long been a country that enjoys open access to American markets while keeping its own rigorously walled off. Canada’s bad trade behavior must be called out.

ALBERTA SEPARATISTS SAY THEY HAVE ENOUGH SIGNATURES FOR REFERENDUM ON LEAVING CANADA

Canada's dairy supply management system often functions as a government-sanctioned cartel, setting production quotas, controlling prices and throttling foreign competition behind tariff walls that can exceed 200%. U.S. dairy producers have filed repeated USMCA dispute complaints over Canada's manipulation of tariff-rate quotas, arguing that Ottawa deliberately underfills import access in ways that violate the agreement's terms.

Canada's illicit cigarette market is one of the most sophisticated contraband networks in North America, and it runs directly through the same corridors being used to move hard drugs and people. When law enforcement executed Manitoba's largest drug bust in history in May 2026, police found 1.35 million contraband cigarettes sitting in the same evidence locker.

Investigators with decades of experience tracing illicit tobacco networks have noted that contraband cigarette revenues are a consistent funding stream for the same organized crime networks moving fentanyl south. Ottawa has known for years that the illicit tobacco pipeline and the drug pipeline share infrastructure, financing and personnel. The enforcement response has not matched the scale of the problem.

NEW MEXICO AG LAUNCHES CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION INTO DEA OVER ALLEGATIONS AGENTS LET FENTANYL FLOOD STATE

In telecommunications, Canada has maintained legislative restrictions on foreign ownership for its Big Three carriers since 1993. Bell, Telus and Rogers operate in a market legally shielded from American or other foreign competition, producing some of the highest wireless prices in the developed world for Canadian consumers. American telecom companies cannot meaningfully compete in Canada. That door swings in only one direction.

The same dynamic governs Canadian aviation. Roughly 78% of domestic Canadian flights are operated by Air Canada or WestJet, with foreign carriers locked out by restrictions that prevent American airlines from serving routes within Canada. Canada's own Competition Bureau has recommended opening the market. Ottawa has not acted.

This is the pattern: Canada extracts the benefits of a rules-based trade relationship with the United States while maintaining sector-by-sector protections that no serious economic partner would defend.

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The northern border is becoming a genuine national security concern, and Canada has neither the resources nor the political urgency to treat it as one on its own. The Trump administration is direct about the trajectory. What happened on the southern border, where cartels have immense power and control nearly every crossing point, will come north unless the cooperation deepens and hardens fast.

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The Trump administration has made it plain that a new USMCA framework, and the trade certainty Canada badly wants, is available. The price is serious border enforcement, real resources, closed loopholes on small-package drug shipments and accelerated passage of the legal tools Canadian law enforcement needs. Trade sectors that have operated as protected monopolies for decades should be on the table too.

Canada is a close ally and the relationship is worth protecting. But close allies do not get permanent exemptions from accountability, especially when fentanyl is flowing, cartels are scouting, and the border remains vulnerable. The United States has leverage. The question is, will Canada finally take action.

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SEN ELIZABETH WARREN: The housing bill is law without Trump. Families need Congress to keep sprinting

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 05:00:11 -0400

The biggest housing bill in more than 30 years is finally law. For more than two weeks, President Donald Trump refused to sign the bill — not because he had a problem with it, but because he cared so little about the squeeze families are facing that he sat on the bill for so long, it became law without him.

President Trump calls the affordability crisis a "hoax" and has called this landmark legislation "minor." But overwhelming numbers of Americans understand that the affordability and housing crises are anything but minor. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is an important step toward doing something about it.

This new law establishes powerful federal incentives to get communities across the country to build more housing. It removes outdated rules, so that housing can be built more quickly. It makes it cheaper to build manufactured housing.

CONGRESS EYES RARE BIPARTISAN HOUSING WIN WITH OR WITHOUT TRUMP'S HELP

The bill also stops private equity from buying up single-family homes. For years, I’ve been raising the alarm about private equity taking over industries, stripping them for parts, and running businesses into the ground. Congress had never before held private equity accountable for anything. That changed with the passage of this major bipartisan bill. Nearly 90% of voters support this law, and it wouldn’t have happened without the leadership of Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., mayors across the country, and everyone who helped push it across the finish line.

There is much more we need to do to lower housing prices. I’ve proposed dozens of additional ideas, from ending tax benefits for private equity landlords to making more investments to build housing, and we should start moving forward on them. This legislation is proof that when faced with a crisis this severe, even with a disinterested president, Congress can act. But the affordability crisis doesn’t end with housing. So rather than pat ourselves on the back, it’s time to start sprinting.

Let’s start by capping credit card interest rates at 10% — something President Trump promised to do last January. Nearly two-thirds of Americans across party lines support this. Families have already paid $368 million every single day for Trump’s broken promise. They cannot afford to wait a day longer.

STEVE MOORE: POLITICIANS ARE BLAMING THE WRONG VILLAIN FOR AMERICA’S RISING FOOD PRICES

Let’s tackle grocery costs — the No. 1, week after week, financial pressure for families. Dominant corporations across the highly consolidated food industry, from beef to eggs, have been caught engaging in anticompetitive tactics that are driving up grocery prices. Democrats and Republicans support cracking down on grocery store price gouging. Congress can give antitrust regulators more tools to crack down on unfair pricing by major food corporations. And my Price Gouging Prevention Act, which builds on price gouging laws in dozens of red and blue states, would do just that.

Let’s take on the crushing burden of health care costs. Trump and Republicans have ripped health care away from millions, and Democrats will keep fighting to reverse those devastating cuts. But voters want more.

President Trump and Health Secretary Kennedy say they don’t want Americans paying more than the rest of the world for prescription drugs? Let’s pass legislation to get it done. Another area of bipartisan agreement? Cracking down on giant corporations that gobble up every part of our health care system — from insurers to pharmacy benefit managers to your doctor’s office — and then jack up prices. My bipartisan Break Up Big Medicine Act would address rampant consolidation and help make health care more affordable.

SANDERS-AOC BACKED PROGRESSIVE DEBUTS FEDERAL $25 MINIMUM WAGE BILL WITH COALITION OF 100+ ORGANIZATIONS

Another idea that is popular with the vast majority of Americans is lifting the Social Security payroll tax cap to save Social Security for the next generation. With prices skyrocketing, the last thing seniors need is their benefits slashed in 2032 if Congress fails to act. Majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and independents favor eliminating the payroll tax cap so the wealthiest Americans contribute the same percentage of their income as a factory worker or a firefighter. I am working on bipartisan legislation to get this done.

We should also act to increase wages — starting with raising the minimum wage. Under President Trump, inflation is at its highest level in three years, which means more and more families who work full-time jobs earning the minimum wage still live in poverty. Meanwhile, Congress has sat on its hands for almost 20 years. Across the country, more than 80% of Democrats, independents, and Republicans think the current federal minimum wage is too low. They’re right. It’s decades past time for Congress to act.

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The skyrocketing cost of child care is another concern for Americans across party lines. A whopping 82% of voters say federal child care funding would help lower costs. We should cap the cost of child care at no more than 7% of income, expand child care supply, and boost wages for child care workers.

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There are so many more ideas to address the affordability crisis that Democrats, Republicans, and independent voters support — like investing in domestic drug manufacturing, stopping data centers from driving up electricity bills, and taking on corporate profiteering across the economy. With ROAD to Housing, we’ve proven that Congress can act to lower costs. Now it’s time to build on the housing law’s momentum and make life more affordable for all Americans.

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BRET BAIER: Lindsey Graham was a true defender of America and a bridge builder

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 05:00:00 -0400

Lindsey Graham was a consequential senator. If there was an important issue, he was right there on top of it. But that’s not the whole story. The essence of his character, the shaping of his background, the joy he found in people and in the political process, and the joy he brought to those around him, is the big story.

Over the years I had an opportunity to see Lindsey at work on many occasions, and to hear his passion for the issues. He could be the most entertaining person at any dinner table, but his wit was matched by a razor-sharp mind that was always considering how to solve the next problem. He never stopped working. The night he died he’d just returned from Kyiv, Ukraine where he’d met with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Lindsey’s love for people shined through. He had a special appeal and was socially gifted. Maybe that came from his early years hanging out in the back room of his parents’ bar, where he learned the fine art of schmoozing. People from every walk of life crossed his path, and he was interested in them all.

LINDSEY GRAHAM'S SISTER CARRIES ON LATE SENATOR'S WORK, BECOMING SOUTH CAROLINA'S FIRST FEMALE SENATOR

Lindsey also learned early in life the meaning of commitment. His mother died when he was 20, followed by his father months later. Lindsey became the legal guardian for his 13-year-old sister Darline, who once called him "a brother, a father and a mother rolled into one." He raised her to adulthood, and they have always been extremely close. With Lindsey’s death, Darline has been appointed by South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster to finish her brother’s term, which expires at the beginning of 2027.

Lindsey’s death on July 11 at the age of 71 capped a Congressional career that began in 1992 in the South Carolina House, then the U.S. House for eight years, and the U.S. Senate since 2003. From 1995-2015 he simultaneously served in the Air Force Reserves. His passing brought a flood of tributes, including tearful memories from his colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Their disputes melted away as they recalled their friend. What struck me most was how so many of them had stories about Lindsey’s passion for finding common ground so he could get things done.

I often observed that Lindsey loved to make a deal. He could work with anybody and threw himself into the most challenging public issues, laboring alongside people with whom he differed on other issues. He never let the differences get in the way—although he never pulled his punches when he disagreed, and he did passionately disagree with the left on many occasions.

'THE HALLS OF THE SENATE ALREADY FEEL EMPTY': TEARFUL THUNE HONORS LINDSEY GRAHAM AS SISTER TAKES HIS SEAT

Yet those same people summoned up sincere praise for him in the days following his death. Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin spoke with obvious fondness when he recalled emotionally, "Lindsey, for many years, was the only Republican willing to co-sponsor the Dream Act, a bill that I introduced over 20 years ago and reintroduced in successive Congresses, providing protection to undocumented immigrants brought to this country as children, his support took guts. At a time when issues surrounding immigration were becoming politically toxic, Lindsey stuck his neck out for me and for these young people. I will never ever forget."

New Jersey Democrat Corey Booker shared a similar experience, recounting their collaboration on important legislation. He admired Lindsey and appreciated his uniqueness. Booker recounted how a White House negotiator had once told him that "Lindsey Graham was like an unguided missile. That God, he never knew which way he was going to go, whether he would come back and hit you, but when he was aligned, when he would be in the right place at the right time, man, he could get things done that other people couldn't, and bring a lot of light and new possibilities to the efforts."

The day after Lindsey’s death, Senate Majority Leader John Thune spoke in the senate. With tears in his eyes he said, "I come to the floor today with a heavy heart. I look to my right, and I see a desk which we in the Senate refer to and know as the John Calhoun desk is covered with a black shroud, and on top of that shroud is a bowl of white roses. That is present as Lindsey Graham's desk. It's difficult to believe that Lindsey Graham is no longer here with us. That we won't run into him at a media day or share a joke with him at this afternoon's vote. The halls of the Senate already feel empty without him, and I know I'm not alone in that feeling. He was a friend to so many of us on both sides of the aisle."

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One of my favorite interactions with Lindsey came in 2022 at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute in Boston, where an exact replica of the U.S. Senate chamber had been erected. There I hosted a debate between Bernie Sanders and Lindsey Graham, who were fierce ideological rivals, but who shared that common chord of civility and respect.

I remember well Lindsey’s opening remarks: "This place is awesome!" he declared, looking around the senate chamber replica. He explained, "We’re here to honor Ted and Orrin—Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch, who were great friends. They fought like tigers, but they could work together. And I have a different take on things than Bernie, but I like Bernie." I was struck by Lindsey’s reference to Kennedy and Hatch. They were lions in the senate, and Lindsey was too, all belonging to an era when legislative disputes did not carry over into personal grudge matches.

People like Lindsey were working toward a return to that idea, and the debate with Sanders was a step in that direction. The debate displayed their differences, but also surprising areas of commonality, such as on gun control. At the end, they were both smiling, and they agreed that the debate had been fun.

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Lindsey was a big believer in getting along, no matter what it took. During his short-lived campaign for president in 2015, he noted approvingly how Republican President Ronald Reagan and Democratic Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill met together regularly for drinks at the White House, even though they were on opposite sides. "That’s the first thing I’m going to do as president," he promised. "We’re going to drink more."

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Those who knew Lindsey understood that one of his great loves was golf. I played with him many times.

Was he a good golfer? Not particularly. But he was extremely fun to play with. He recognized the importance of the game as a social bonding activity. He’d make you feel good to be with him. Which is one of the most important qualities of a golf partner, a friend, and a statesman.

It’s a big reason we’ll miss having him in our lives.

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Two families sue North Dakota hospital on allegations babies were switched at birth

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 02:55:41 -0400

Two families are suing a North Dakota hospital, alleging hospital staff mistakenly switched two baby boys at birth more than 36 years ago.

Kyle Bylin and Jeremy Morrison were the only two babies born at Unity Medical Center in Grafton, North Dakota, on Jan. 26, 1988, the men and their families said in the lawsuit, according to KVLY. Christian Unity Hospital Corporation, doing business as Unity Medical Center, was named as the defendant.

The plaintiffs allege hospital staff switched the infants and sent them home with the other child’s biological parents, the outlet reported. The two men were then raised by each other’s biological families, allegedly without anyone's knowledge.

The lawsuit says the switch was not discovered for more than 36 years.

FAMILY OF TODDLER FOUND ALIVE IN MORGUE AFTER BEING DECLARED DEAD PLANS LEGAL ACTION

Two years ago, Morrison, who now lives in Colorado, took a DNA test and learned the parents who raised him were not his biological parents. Morrison told KKTV that his aunt provided DNA, and Bylin matched as her nephew. Morrison said he does not have any cousins.

Morrison told the outlet that he always felt different from the family he grew up with.

"I didn't have anyone that looked like me in my family," Morrison said. "I was that blonde-haired kid that stood out in a family full of brown-haired people."

"I know I definitely wouldn't be here in Colorado today if I went home with the right parents," he said. "I would have been working the farm with my older brother that I never knew I had."

Both sets of parents have met their biological sons, but the two men have not met each other, according to KKTV.

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Unity Medical Center denied the allegations and asked the court to dismiss the case with prejudice.

Attorneys for the hospital argued that its staff "possessed and exercised the appropriate degree of skill and learning" and "at all times used reasonable care, judgment, and diligence," according to KVLY.

The hospital also claims the lawsuit may be prohibited by the statute of limitations, pointing to "the length of time that has passed between the alleged incident and the service of this lawsuit."

The plaintiffs are seeking more than $50,000 in damages and have asked for a jury trial.

The hospital also raised comparative fault as a defense, arguing that damages, if any, could be attributable to parties other than the hospital.

The hospital has also demanded a jury trial.

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Unity Medical Center said in a statement to KKTV that it is "currently working to better understand a highly unusual situation involving two men who apparently were separated from their biological parents at some point during their lives," adding: "Both men were born at our hospital on the same day in 1988, and we recognize the profound impact this discovery has had on them and their families."

"Unfortunately, because of the passage of nearly four decades, the medical and staffing records that might have provided additional clarity no longer exist, and no members of the delivery team from that time are still employed by the hospital," the statement continued. "While we deeply sympathize with the men and their families, we have found no evidence to support claims that Unity Medical Center or its staff were responsible for what occurred."

ICE arrests record 238 illegal immigrants in one day during South Texas enforcement operation

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 01:10:35 -0400

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Tuesday that its Harlingen, Texas, field office, working with law enforcement partners, arrested 238 illegal immigrants in a single-day operation that the agency said set a record for targeted arrests in the Rio Grande Valley.

ICE said the arrests marked the highest number of targeted arrests in a single day for Enforcement and

Removal Operations Harlingen.

The June 18 operation resulted in the arrests of illegal immigrants with convictions including attempted kidnapping, sexual battery and drug possession, according to the agency.

BIDEN JUDGE OVERRULED ON KEY TRUMP IMMIGRATION POLICY

"The ICE mission continues to focus on enhancing public safety and restoring integrity to our nation’s immigration system," ICE Harlingen Field Office Director Juan Agudelo said in a statement.

"We will stop at nothing to keep our American communities safe by removing one criminal illegal alien at a time," he added.

The arrests come as the Trump administration continues its crackdown on illegal immigration and seeks to remove criminal illegal immigrants from communities across the country.

ABIGAIL SPANBERGER’S VIRGINIA A ‘HOTBED’ FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIME, DHS SAYS AFTER LATEST RAPE CHARGE

Among those arrested was Manuel Morales-Geronimo, a Mexican national whom authorities identified as a Paisas gang member.

Morales-Geronimo was previously convicted of assault causing bodily injury, possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana, driving while intoxicated, illegal entry into the United States and three counts of illegal reentry, according to ICE.

Jose Alfredo Castillo-Mendoza, also a Mexican national, was arrested during the operation. According to ICE, he was previously convicted of attempted kidnapping, sexual battery and illegal reentry.

ICE AGENTS INSTRUCTED TO END MOST VEHICLE STOPS IN MAJOR POLICY SHIFT

The announcement came the same day President Donald Trump pushed back on a reported DHS move to pause most ICE traffic stops, calling them "one of ICE's most important and effective Crime Fighting tools."

The reported pause followed scrutiny over recent fatal encounters involving immigration enforcement traffic stops.

In a social media post, Trump wrote, "We CANNOT give up one of ICE's most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!"

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The president added that the DHS policy shift would be "playing right into the criminal’s [sic] hands."

Fox News Digital's Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.

Marcello Hernández roasts Jake Paul, Tiger Woods and Bill Belichick in ESPYS monologue

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 00:06:41 -0400

The ESPYS brought some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment to New York City on Wednesday night, a day that typically ranks among the slowest on the sports calendar.

But this year’s ceremony was preceded by a World Cup semifinal match in Atlanta that was already being described as an instant classic. Lionel Messi and Argentina punched their ticket to a second straight World Cup final with a win over England. The defending champions will meet Spain on Saturday in nearby New Jersey, just a short trip across the Hudson River from where comedian Marcello Hernández opened the ESPYS.

The "Saturday Night Live" star wasted little time taking a few jabs at Jake Paul, Tiger Woods and other sports figures.

ESPN'S JOHN BUCCIGROSS NAMES HIS MOUNT RUSHMORE OF ALL-TIME SPORTSCENTER ANCHORS

"Mike Tyson ripped my watch off. Welcome to the ESPYS!" Hernández joked after making a boxing-style entrance in a robe with Tyson as part of his entourage.

"I must say, it's an honor to be here among so many great athletes, and Jake Paul," Hernández began in his roughly 10-minute monologue.

Paul appeared to take the joke in stride, laughing and applauding as cameras cut to him in the crowd. Hernández then stayed on the YouTube star-turned-boxer, needling him over his history of fighting older opponents.

"Jake, that's just a joke. Don't fight me," Hernández continued. "My dad and my stepdad are both here. They're over 50, and I know that's how you like them. So, fight them instead."

Paul kept laughing as Hernández’s bit played out, eventually closing with the comedian shifting attention to his father and stepfather, who were shown in the audience.

Hernández later used Caleb Williams’ "Madden 27" cover as a lead into Woods.

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"I want to congratulate Caleb Williams, the quarterback for the Chicago Bears, who will be on the cover of the new Madden video game. Congratulations to Caleb," Hernández said, before adding, "And Tiger Woods will be on the cover of Grand Theft Auto."

Woods was arrested in Florida in March on charges of DUI after a car crash. The arrest report said a deputy found pain pills in his pocket and observed signs of impairment at the scene. Woods later announced he would take time away from golf to seek treatment.

Hernández also worked North Carolina football coach Bill Belichick into the monologue, using the 74-year-old’s relationship with Jordon Hudson as part of a joke about the New York Knicks’ title drought.

"The Knicks won their first championship since 1973. And to put into perceptive how long ago that was, in 1973 hockey players didn't wear helmets, basketball had no three point line. And in 1973, Bill Belichick was the age his girlfriend is now."

The Knicks later took home the ESPY for Best Team.

Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby and other members of the 2025-26 Knicks championship team took the stage to accept the award, but Josh Hart was noticeably absent. Brunson drew laughs when he joked, "I want to say thank you to the ESPYS for pulling Josh Hart’s invite."

Earlier in the night Brunson also received the "Best Championship Performance" award.

Former NBA player Jason Collins, who died in May at age 47 following a battle with Stage 4 glioblastoma, posthumously received the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage. Former MLB pitcher Jim Abbott received the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance, while Scott Ruskan was honored with the Pat Tillman Award for Service.

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The ESPYS are held every summer, bringing together top athletes and other stars to celebrate the best moments from the past year in sports while honoring figures recognized for courage, service and impact. In past years, the ceremony has been held in Los Angeles, but shifted to New York this year.

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Lindsey Graham’s final act reverberates in Senate as sister is urged to “keep pedaling"

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 00:00:46 -0400

It was 2:35 am et Sunday.

The phone rang, yanking me out of deep slumber.

Calls like these are never good.

In the split second before I answered the phone, my mind traveled to the obvious place for any journalist who covers Capitol Hill and gets a call at that hour.

LINDSEY GRAHAM, SOUTH CAROLINA SENATOR WHO ROSE FROM SMALL-TOWN ROOTS TO GOP POWER BROKER, DIES AT 71

Surely it was about former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

McConnell has been out of service and nowhere to be found for weeks — after being hospitalized with an unspecified illness. The internet was rife with conspiracy theories and conjecture. And, considering the dearth of information, I suspected the worst.

My longtime colleague Jodie Curtis was on the line when I picked up. Jodie is a senior figure at Fox, forced into weekend overnight assignment editor duty because of an illness. Jodie calling to tell me that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was dead.

"Graham?" I asked incredulously. "Not McConnell?"

Emerging from my stupor, I instinctively presumed this might be about the infirm, Kentucky Republican. You’d have better odds presuming that overnight call was about McConnell than hitting an exacta wheel at Churchill Downs.

My instincts immediately kicked in.

What if this was psy-ops by the Russians, Chinese or Iranians. A rouse. A hoax. A hack.

I told my colleague to just wait a moment while we confirmed. It would be easy to get this wrong.

Back in the 1990s, lawmakers "killed" comedian Bob Hope on the House floor, prematurely announcing his death during special orders speeches. Yours truly – and everyone else in Washington – prematurely reported the death of the late Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones (D-OH). She suffered from a catastrophic brain aneurism. Yet after they removed the Congresswoman from life support, she continued to live for a few hours before dying.

However, it became clear that Lindsey Graham was indeed dead. I was quickly on the air. When asked about the shock of Graham passing, I invoked a Native American adage: Death comes. And it’s always out of season.

Lindsey Graham was gone. But who would succeed him on Capitol Hill?

Think all in the family. At least for now.

Sens. Katie Britt (R-AL) and Tim Scott (R-SC) both implored the late senator’s kid sister Darline Graham to follow her brother. President Trump believed it would be a fitting tribute to the senator. So did South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) – who was in charge the appointment.

"It’s my honor to ask his sister to finish his work now," said McMaster.

Darline Graham is a political neophyte. Lindsey Graham adopted his sister after their parents died – and Darline was a teenager.

"Lindsey has always been there for me. And now I will be there for him," said now Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC).

Lindsey Graham was his sister’s caretaker. Now she’s the caretaker of his Senate seat until January.

But who’s next?

South Carolina has a small Congressional delegation. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) quickly excluded himself from the immediate running, noting the importance of remaining in the House. Plucking one of South Carolina’s House GOP members and appointing them to the Senate is a problem for the narrow Republican majority. The Constitution bars appointments to the House. So McMaster would have diminished the GOP’s slim majority had he picked a House member to fill in for Lindsey Graham. It would take months to conduct a special election to fill the vacant House seat.

Appointing Darline Graham solves that problem.

Reps. Russell Fry (R-SC), Nancy Mace (R-SC) and Ralph Norman (R-SC) are all interested in running for the full term. South Carolina will hold a snap primary in mid August. The winner will face Democrat Annie Andrews in November. Lindsey Graham had just secured the Republican nomination for a fifth term last month.

President Trump’s influence will play an outsized role in who gets the nod. He’s already singled out Fry.

But the election will look a little different this fall. November will mark the first time since the mid-1950s that either Lindsey Graham or late, legendary Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-SC) isn’t on the ballot in the Palmetto State.

The Senate met for the first time Monday afternoon since Graham’s passing.

"Lord, we remember with gratitude his commitment to the responsibilities entrusted to him and the many ways he sought to serve the people of this country. Give comfort, strength and peace to his family, friends, colleagues and all who mourn his passing," prayed Senate Chaplain Barry Black.

The Senate shrouded Graham’s desk with a black cloak. A bouquet of white roses rested on the desk, signifying a new beginning without a Senate titan.

"The halls of the Senate already feel empty without him," said Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD).

'THIS IS NOT NORMAL': AOC UNLOADS ON MCCONNELL'S PROLONGED ABSENCE

Well wishers left notecards and flowers outside Graham’s office in the Russell Senate Office Building.

Senators praised Graham’s tenacity.

"He didn't want to just argue about things. He wanted to actually solve things," said Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) on Fox.

Even until the end.

Over the weekend, Graham appeared to forge a deal on a Russia sanctions measure.

"This could be well, this could well be the end of the war in Ukraine. It could put all the pressure on Russia to finally end their illegal war of aggression," predicted Sen. Angus King (I-ME).

Lindsey Graham first won a seat in Congress in 1994 as part of the "Republican Revolution." That’s the historic class which flipped control of the House for the first time in 40 years. Graham and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) are the only members from that 1994 class still serving in Congress.

Graham earned a national profile barely four years after arriving in Washington. House GOP leaders tapped Graham to serve as one of the House "managers," prosecuting articles of impeachment for President Clinton in the Senate.

"Impeachment is not about punishment," argued Graham before the Senate in January, 1999. "Impeachment is about cleansing the office."

Three years after that, Graham left the House. He became one of 100 in the Senate. But his colleagues conceded that the institution felt hollow at just 99.

"I am comforted by the knowledge that in the end, he has just changed his address. And that one day, Mr. President…." said Thune on the floor, pausing for ten seconds. "We will laugh together again."

The Leader’s voice then cracked as he fought back tears.

"Mr. President, I yield the floor," Thune whispered.

By Tuesday afternoon, Darline Graham became the 2,022nd senator in American history. But the first to immediately succeed her brother.

"He always said that his greatest accomplishment was the way that Darline turned out," said Britt.

"I'm glad that there will be another Sen. Graham and that Darline will serve with us," said

Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE). "That'll allow for some continuity."

Graham’s passing leaves a Congressional chasm.

"It will be difficult to pass anything without Sen. Graham because he's been such a significant voice in the Senate," said Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY).

It’s unclear if any of that will fall to the Senate’s newest member.

LINDSEY GRAHAM'S SISTER CARRIES ON LATE SENATOR'S WORK, BECOMING SOUTH CAROLINA'S FIRST FEMALE SENATOR

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Darline Graham joined her brother’s side when he briefly ran for President in 2015. She says Lindsey taught her how to ride a bike while growing up.

"He would hold on to the bicycle as I pedaled. And he'd run along beside of me. Give me a big push and shout ‘Keep pedaling! Keep pedaling!’ said the new senator. " And then he was the one who comforted me when I stopped pedaling and fell off the bicycle."

Today, Darline Graham is again hopping onto that bicycle to finish Lindsey Graham’s term.

You can almost hear the late senator, in his "upstate" twang shouting to his sister "Keep pedaling! Keep pedaling!"

Louisiana man accused of killing deputy US marshal faces possible death penalty

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 22:39:32 -0400

A Louisiana man has been charged with murder after allegedly killing a deputy U.S. marshal who was shot while serving an arrest warrant, federal officials announced Tuesday.

Multiple law enforcement officers were attempting to serve an arrest warrant related to a prior sexual battery charge when Clarence A. Frazier Jr., 48, of Alexandria, allegedly barricaded himself inside his home and opened fire, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Louisiana.

Frazier is charged with the murder of a federal officer and faces a maximum sentence of life in prison or the death penalty if convicted.

SUSPECT ALLEGEDLY GUNS DOWN DEPUTY IN AMBUSH DURING ROUTINE CALL THAT ROCKED QUIET TOWN, POLICE SAY

Authorities identified the slain deputy U.S. marshal as Drew Hanson, whom officials described as a devoted husband, father and son.

"Tragically, the defendant's alleged actions claimed the life of a dedicated law enforcement officer who was simply doing his duty," Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. "The alleged perpetrator is now in custody and will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law."

According to officials, the shooting occurred July 13, after members of the U.S. Marshals Service and the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office located Frazier at his residence and obtained a search warrant for the property.

HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIAL'S KILLING LEAVES AGENCY 'DEVASTATED' AS VETTING BREAKDOWN EXPOSED

According to the federal criminal complaint, Frazier had failed to appear in state court to face trial on a charge of sexual battery of a person with infirmities.

After announcing their presence, law enforcement officers forced entry into the home, authorities said.

Frazier allegedly barricaded himself inside a bedroom and opened fire on the officers, striking Hanson.

Following a standoff inside the bedroom, Frazier was taken into custody.

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Hanson later died from the gunshot wounds he sustained during the exchange of gunfire.

Trump says Iran released American woman held since 2024 in 'gesture of goodwill'

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 22:00:08 -0400

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Iran has released an American woman who he said was "wrongfully detained" in the country for the past year and a half.

She was identified as Iranian-American citizen Dena Karari by her attorney Jared Genser, who confirmed her release to Fox News. She was reportedly accused of espionage over her work with an American nonprofit helping impoverished children.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the woman was detained in December 2024, during the Biden administration and was recently allowed to leave Iran.

"Iran has allowed an American Citizen, who was wrongfully detained in December of 2024 under the ‘presidency’ of Sleepy Joe Biden, to leave the Country," Trump wrote.

TRUMP REVIVES HIS DECADES-OLD IRAN WARNING AS US RAMPS UP MILITARY PRESSURE: 'REMARKABLY CONSISTENT'

Karari is reportedly now safely outside Iran and in good condition following her release, according to Trump.

Her release marks the first time an American has been freed from Iranian custody since 2023, and represents a notable development amid ongoing military confrontations between Washington and Tehran.

Following her release, Trump thanked Iran for what he described as a "gesture of goodwill."

"The United States of America appreciates this gesture of Goodwill by Iran!" he wrote.

TRUMP SAYS IRAN CEASEFIRE IS 'OVER' AFTER IRANIAN ATTACKS TRIGGER MASSIVE US RESPONSE

Gesner released a statement shortly after Trump’s announcement, saying she had been "trapped in Iran on bogus charges of collaboration with a hostile state and espionage" but is now on her way back to the United States.

According to Genser, Karari was targeted after Iranian authorities linked her to the Children of Mehr Foundation, a U.S.-registered nonprofit that provides books, literacy programs and other humanitarian assistance to impoverished children in rural Iran.

Under the regime, affiliations with U.S.-based organizations operating inside Iran are often viewed with heightened suspicion and can lead to accusations of security-related offenses.

Genser clarified that Karari was never formally imprisoned but was effectively held in Iran through a "coercive exit ban." She was reportedly interrogated dozens of times by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and "suffered enormous physical and psychological hardship."

"We urge Iran to drop all the remaining charges against those who worked locally in support of the Children of Mehr Foundation, who are innocent and committed no crimes," Genser said. "And I personally call on Iran to release both all wrongly imprisoned Americans and those subjected to coercive exit bans and all Iranian political prisoners."

PENCE COMMENDS TRUMP FOR WINNING FREEDOM OF BEIJING'S ZION CHURCH PASTOR EZRA JIN FROM CHINESE DETENTION

Sources previously told Fox News Digital in January 2026 that Iran may have been holding more than eight American citizens and residents in custody, exceeding publicly available data that listed five American hostages in Iran.

Two of the current hostages include Kamran Hekmati, a 61-year-old Jewish man held since May 2025, and Reza Valizadeh, a 49-year-old journalist and dual Iranian-American national held since March 2024.

A U.S. State Department official previously told Fox News Digital that "President Trump is working to secure the release of detained Americans around the world."

"The Iranian regime has a long history of unjustly and wrongfully detaining other countries’ citizens as hostages for use as political leverage. Iran should release these individuals immediately," the official said.

US HOSTAGES IN IRAN FACE HEIGHTENED RISK AS PROTESTS SPREAD, EXPERTS SAY NUMBER HELD MAY EXCEED ESTIMATES

According to United Against Nuclear Iran, Tehran detains foreign nationals on vague charges and uses them as "bargaining chips" to extract concessions from other countries, such as securing the release of frozen financial assets locked up by international sanctions.

Iran has frequently targeted individuals who hold both American and Iranian citizenship, as Tehran does not recognize dual nationality and often treats dual citizens solely as Iranian nationals, limiting their access to U.S. consular assistance, United Against Nuclear Iran said.

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During the most recent major prisoner exchange in September 2023, the U.S. secured the release of five Americans who had been detained in Iran for years. In exchange, the U.S. approved the transfer of $6 billion in frozen funds.

Fox News' Benjamin Weinthal contributed to this report.

Caitlin Clark drops F-bombs at official while arguing Fever weren't getting the same whistle as Valkyries

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 21:55:04 -0400

Caitlin Clark has seen enough...

The Fever star got in an official's face during Wednesday night's home game against the Golden State Valkyries after a no-call appeared to send her over the edge.

On the trip down the floor before the confrontation, Clark drove to the basket and appeared to be shoved by Golden State veteran Kiah Stokes while attempting a layup. No foul was called.

CAITLIN CLARK BREAKS WNBA ASSISTS RECORD TO A CHORUS OF BOOS AS VALKYRIES SPOIL THE MILESTONE

Moments later, with 4:20 remaining in the second quarter, officials whistled a foul on an Indiana teammate.

Clark immediately turned toward the referee, yelling from close range and dropping some F-bombs to argue that the Fever weren’t getting the same whistle at the other end.

Despite the heated exchange, Clark was not assessed a technical foul.

SARAH SPAIN IS ANGRY AND BITTER THAT CHRISTINE BRENNAN WOULD DARE DEFEND CAITLIN CLARK

The rough first half extended beyond the officiating. Clark went into halftime with just two points on 1-of-5 shooting, along with two rebounds and two assists. Before tipoff, Clark acknowledged she would be on a minutes restriction as she continues working her way back from injury under coach Stephanie White's plan.

She later headed to the locker room after appearing to limp during the second quarter but returned to the bench before halftime to support her teammates.

"Caitlin Clark should've stayed in the locker room. I'm so tired of her," one critic wrote on X.

Another added, "Watching Caitlin Clark play is like watching a toddler have a tantrum."

During the pregame media session, Clark was asked about handling the constant attention surrounding her. "There's gonna be people that love you, there's gonna be people that hate you. It probably means you're doing something right. None of that really affects me," Clark said.

"You know, not every one of you is gonna like me, and I understand that, and you know, that's okay. ... You gotta have thick skin to be in a position like this, and I think I have that too."

She added, "I love you guys, but at the end of the day, if you don't like me, my life's still gonna go on."

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Clark returned to the starting lineup to begin the second half.

The Fever ultimately lost the contest 88-75, tying a season low in points and falling to 14-10.

Clark finished with 13 points, six assists and three rebounds in 26 minutes, but her struggles from beyond the arc continued. She shot 1-for-8 from 3-point range and is just 15.8 percent from deep over her last three games.

Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com / Follow along on X: @alejandroaveela

Joe Flacco went off on Shedeur Sanders for wearing a helmet visor last season: 'You look like an idiot'

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 21:30:45 -0400

Somehow, the 2026 NFL season is rapidly approaching, and equally stunning is the fact that it will once again feature Joe Flacco.

The 41-year-old is with the Cincinnati Bengals organization after a midseason trade in 2025, but spent training camp and the first part of the season with the Cleveland Browns. That Browns quarterback room was, without question, the most interesting one in football.

Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, and then the two rookies, Dillon Gabriel and, of course, Shedeur Sanders. Flacco's role with the team was obvious: help the two rookies grow and develop as they learned the ins and outs of playing quarterback at the highest level.

NFL COACHES AND EXECUTIVES SAY PATRICK MAHOMES IS NO LONGER THE BEST QUARTERBACK IN THE NFL

Both Sanders and Gabriel likely expected Flacco to help them read defenses, recognize blitzes and coverages, navigate a complex playbook, or learn the best ways to recover at the NFL level. But it's doubtful Sanders expected the lesson Flacco wound up giving him on... helmet visors.

In a new episode of Netflix's "Quarterback" show, Flacco absolutely went off on Sanders for his choice to wear a helmet visor in practice. Sanders and Gabriel were first adamant that they're practical choices, then asked why they're not useful since they function as an "eye shield."

"Yeah, but if you wear a visor, it's for looks," Flacco said. "You think you look sweet. It's that era. I don't want my kids to wear visors either. They all want visors. I'm like, 'Guys, they're just annoying. They're gonna fog up.'

"They f***** suck, dude. It's all about look. When I was a kid I wanted a visor too, and then I'm like, 'The visors suck. They don't make sense.'"

He wasn't done there.

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"I would let them wear it, but I would tell them, 'You're a quarterback, bro, you're f****** wearing a visor? You look like a f***** idiot,'" he added. "If you're a quarterback, you can tell (when) you're trying to look too sweet."

Hey, who's going to argue with someone who's been in the NFL since 2008? Well, Sanders, apparently, because he was still wearing one in minicamp ahead of this season. Though this time it was more clear than the mirror-like finish from last season.

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The Browns and Sanders open their preseason schedule on August 15 against the Bears, before starting the regular season on the road against the Jaguars on September 13. For Flacco and the Bengals, they have the Lions in their preseason opener, before hosting Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, also on September 13.

One thing's for certain, Flacco won't be wearing a visor in that game.

Vance warns there will be a 'socialist president in this country' if GOP doesn't fix economy for young people

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 21:25:02 -0400

Vice President JD Vance warned during an interview Wednesday that if Republicans don’t fix the economic missteps of recent decades, young people will elect a socialist president.

Podcaster Joe Rogan revealed during his interview with Vance on "The Joe Rogan Experience" that the rise of democratic socialists in politics has left him shaken.

"Those f---ing people scare me," Rogan declared.

Vance replied by noting that, in his book, "Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith," he laid out the historic norms of a Christian idea of a political economy that has been lost in recent American politics, one which was the norm throughout most of Western history and avoids the pitfalls of free markets and socialism.

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Vance suggested that even if he detests socialism, conservatives should try to understand why young people are drawn to it.

He proceeded to call out how the U.S. in recent decades has "run the experiment where we just try to do everything with low-wage foreigners, whether they're in the United States via illegal immigration or whether they're outside the United States via offshoring and outsourcing. And what it has led to is, I think, a society where socialism is a bit on the rise.

"We were left in quite a hole by 40 years of bad policy," Vance said of his work to undo those underlying issues, arguing that the economic crisis of today cannot just be blamed on the previous Democratic administration.

"This is 40 years of failed bipartisan leadership which has created, really, a kind of shell corporation out of the United States of America. We don't make enough of our own stuff. We don't have enough self-reliance. Our workers don't have enough bargaining power. That has led, in a lot of ways, to this kind of socialism fervor. And we have to keep fixing these problems.

"Again, I think that we're going in the right direction. Maybe people disagree, but it's going to take years to fix this problem. And if we don't, we are going to end up with a socialist president in this country."

He argued that, under President Donald Trump, such issues have at least started to reverse.

"This idea that nobody should own anything, we should all become renters, whereas what we're trying to do is lower interest rates. You actually have seen housing costs stabilize in the country over the last year and a half, frankly because of immigration," he added further. "We had way too many people going after way too many homes. You close the border. This is one of the reasons why rent and housing costs have stabilized a little bit.

'AMERICAN HOUSES ARE FOR AMERICAN PEOPLE': TRUMP HOUSING CHIEF INSISTS IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN WILL LOWER COSTS

"So, I think that unless you go down that pathway of allowing young Americans to own something, socialism is the inevitable outcome," he said, noting that while many Republicans can recognize that socialism is bad, they fail to understand what circumstances drove young people toward it.

Vance recalled a Thanksgiving conversation with friends that underscored the problem, where an engineer revealed he couldn't afford a home in a safe area. Another friend said his childhood San Diego neighborhood that was once filled with military families is now out of reach even for Marine officers.

"We ran the experiment of offshoring all of our industrial jobs, of becoming a services and finance economy and allowing Wall Street to come in and buy every asset of modern life and turn it into an investable, 'line goes up' asset," he warned. "And what has that done? It's created a generation of kids who kind of are attracted to socialism. We have to fix that problem."

Vance argued that, ironically, the democratic socialists play into the hands of big business when they push for open borders.

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"One of the reasons why I'm such an immigration hawk is because it is really important not to flood the country with low-wage immigrants," he said.

"This is why I think the DSA types are a little full of s--- when they talk about helping normal people," Vance added, arguing workers have more negotiating power when immigration is restricted.

"Corporations care way more about open borders than they do about any other policy the DSA cares about. So, while these people say that they're trying to fight for workers, and they're trying to fight for the working man, the actual end result of DSA policy is to flood the country with low-wage immigrants, which will destroy the middle class in this country.

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"In fact, we have run this experiment for decades now, and we have a much weaker middle class than we did before it started."

Tim Walz offers strange defense for pardoning convicted child rapist Trump administration deported

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 21:03:14 -0400

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz publicly defended his vote to pardon a Laotian national who had been under a final removal order after losing legal status following a child sex crime conviction of first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a 10-year-old girl after the Trump administration deported him to Laos last week.

Tou Lue Vang, 42, received a pardon from Minnesota's Board of Pardons on June 10. On Friday, the Trump administration announced Vang's legal status had been revoked and that he had been deported to his home country of Laos.

Asked about the deportation, Walz questioned what the move accomplished.

EXPOSED DOCS REVEAL WHY TIM WALZ BOARD AWARDED REPEAT CHILD RAPIST PARDON: ‘NO FUTURE’

"Did that make us any safer?" Walz said Tuesday, according to KTTC. "Did that make the children that are left behind any more stable?

"Did it improve the idea that we can’t all be judged by our worst day?"

"And I want to be very clear," Walz continued. "These are horrific crimes. They often are."

ALLEGED CUBAN INFLUENCE OPERATIVE, FAMILY IN FEDERAL CUSTODY AFTER RUBIO REVOKES LEGAL STATUS

Walz also said Vang's pardon was not about immigration policy, noting that the Board of Pardons had denied clemency to other applicants facing immigration-related consequences.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Vang's deportation Friday, telling Fox News Digital, "Americans should never have to live in fear that foreign sex predators — shielded from deportation by their own elected officials — could endanger them or their children.

"That's why I terminated his legal status in the United States," Rubio continued. "Vang has now been removed from our country and will never pose a threat to any American ever again."

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SOCCER COACH WHO USED ALCOHOL AND DRUGS TO SEXUALLY ABUSE KIDS LEARNS FATE

Fox News Digital previously reported that Vang admitted to repeatedly sexually assaulting a girl over a period of several years beginning when she was 10 years old.

Vang entered the United States through California in 1994 and was granted legal status during the Clinton administration. Between 2002 and 2004, he repeatedly sexually assaulted the victim in St. Paul, Minnesota. The first assault occurred when she was in the fourth grade. After his conviction, federal officials said Vang lost legal status and was placed under a final removal order.

The Minnesota Clemency Review Commission recommended a pardon for Vang. The Board of Pardons, made up of Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson, later granted the pardon.

The pardon drew criticism from federal immigration officials and Republican lawmakers. Walz defended the decision by citing the victim’s support for Vang’s pardon, among other factors, according to KSTP. A spokesperson for Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office told MPR News that the pardon did not protect Vang from deportation.

At the time, Homeland Security acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis criticized the decision.

"Governor Tim Walz's decision to pardon an illegal alien convicted child rapist so he can remain in our country is disgusting," Bis said.

"These are the criminal illegal aliens he and his Minnesota sanctuary politicians are protecting."

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Fox News Digital has reached out to Walz's office for additional comment.

Fox News Digital's Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.

Maher skewers wealthy celebs who preached 'we're all in it together' during COVID as Americans struggled

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 21:00:46 -0400

Talk show host Bill Maher blasted celebrities as being comically out of touch during the COVID-19 pandemic Monday, even as they said they were struggling alongside everyday Americans.

On his "Club Random" podcast, Maher talked with his guest, media mogul Byron Allen, about how much they both prefer living in houses rather than even the nicest apartment buildings, where they would have to share walls with other people.

"I don't want to speak for all New Yorkers, but they definitely started to agree with us when COVID hit," Allen said, noting that many New Yorkers fled the city during the pandemic for places like Aspen or the Hamptons.

Maher said it was a perfect example of how wealthy liberal rhetoric during the pandemic did not match actual behavior.

JEFF FOXWORTHY SAYS HOLLYWOOD HAS NOT UNDERSTOOD REGULAR AMERICANS IN A ‘LONG, LONG TIME’

"You know, that's one of my big bugaboos about COVID, and the people who attack me about COVID, is that the bulls--- of, every time I turned on the TV, it was some version of, ‘We're all in it together,’" he recalled. "No we're not, you f---ing a--holes, you f---ing posers."

Maher added that during that time period, "half of us are getting food delivered by the other half. And you're the half that's sitting home in your pajamas talking about how much we're all in it together.

"No, you're going out to the Hamptons. I know you're putting out Instagram political messages about it, and that's awesome," he joked sarcastically.

Maher, despite being a left-leaning celebrity himself, has spoken out numerous times about how his fellow liberal celebrities simply cannot connect to the struggles of everyday people and come across as tone-deaf when they try to do so.

BILLY BOB THORNTON PUSHES BACK ON CELEBRITY ACTIVISM: ‘I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT POLITICS’

He went on to argue that such celebrities are actually insulated from the issues of regular people.

"If we're really all in it together, I got an idea," Maher said. "How about we take turns about who's working for Grubhub? You know, if we're really all in it together, maybe that should be something that has to get passed around. So, some of us are delivering some of the time instead of some of us delivering all of the time, and some of us in our pajamas all the time."

One moment from the pandemic that seemed to illustrate that disconnect was when several celebrities, such as Gal Gadot, Will Ferrell, Mark Ruffalo, Pedro Pascal and Natalie Portman, sang John Lennon’s "Imagine."

While the song is widely known for imagining a utopian global "brotherhood of man" with no religion or countries, the lyrics "Imagine there's no heaven" and "Imagine no possessions" were seen as particularly tone-deaf sentiments from the wealthy celebrities, as millions of people were losing loved ones and livelihoods in a global pandemic.

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Years later, Gadot commented that, in retrospect, the video was "in poor taste."

Nevada Lt Gov: Elon Musk could make space tourism state's next big industry

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 20:18:03 -0400

Nevada Lt. Gov. Stavros Anthony has an unusual plan to rev up the Silver State's entertainment business: space tourism. And with Elon Musk having significant business interests in the state, Anthony won't have to look far to find the man to do it.

Anthony's background has been anything but boring. He had a nearly three-decade career in law enforcement, was a regent in the state's higher education system and served as a longtime Las Vegas city councilman.

He ran a spirited campaign for mayor of Las Vegas and, since 2022, has served alongside Gov. Joe Lombardo, leading the Silver State. The Lombardo/Anthony ticket was the only one in America in which Republicans defeated an incumbent Democratic governor and lieutenant governor.

Recently, Anthony sat down with Fox News Digital at FreedomFest in Las Vegas to discuss his career, the Nevada economy and electoral prospects in 2026 in what is shaping up to be one of the tightest gubernatorial races in the country.

JOE LOMBARDO CRUISES PAST SIX GOP CHALLENGERS TO SECURE NEVADA REPUBLICAN GUBERNATORIAL NOMINATION

Anthony promotes the state as a mecca for the entertainment business, touting a light regulatory touch and a thriving climate for entrepreneurship. He's particularly bullish on professional sports and the nascent space tourism industry.

"If you look at 10 years ago, we didn't have one major sporting activity here in Nevada. They actually would not come here because they thought there would be illegal gambling and corruption and bribery and so on and so forth. In 10 years, we've become the sports capital of the world. Baseball is coming. We have hockey. We have football. We're going to have basketball coming. F1. NASCAR. We have women's basketball, on and on and that just kind of cropped up.

"The thing about Las Vegas is anything can happen here, so it's really not up to me as a lieutenant governor to decide what's the next big thing in tourism. It's the tourist industry that has to decide what's the next big thing.

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"One thing that is of interest is space tourism. I think that might be a future here in Nevada because we have a lot of open land where … somebody like Elon Musk can shoot rockets up into outer space, hang out up there for a while, have some drinks. Hang out with friends.

"What an experience that would be to see the Earth from up there and actually make it a tourist kind of an adventure. So, those are the kind of things that we're constantly thinking about, but it's the private sector that needs to do it. And I am very much in favor of allowing our entrepreneurs to come up with the next best thing and to support them."

Anthony credits his lengthy career with the Las Vegas Metro Police for giving him the problem-solving foundation to launch a successful political career:

"You know, most people think of the policing that they see on television. High-speed pursuits, gunfights, bar fights, chasing people down dark alleys and arresting serious criminals. And that is a big part of policing. But, really, 90% of police work is really solving problems. Going into neighborhoods, finding out what are the issues in those neighborhoods, helping those neighbors solve issues to make their quality of life a lot better.

"I've learned that that's really what I should be doing as an elected official. My job is to go out there and talk to people and find out what the state can do, what a county could do, what a city could do to make their lives better; helping folks live the American dream and not causing problems like higher taxes, higher regulations, getting in their way, those sorts of things. So, that's really what I learned about police work."

President Trump has endorsed the Lombardo/Anthony ticket, and he believes the new no tax on tips policy will prove to be a major electoral boost come November.

"Well, President Trump has endorsed the governor. President Trump has endorsed me. He was just here a couple of months ago to talk about his no taxes on tips, which was a huge thing here in Nevada.

TRUMP ENDORSES NEIGHBORING STATE LIEUTENANT GOVERNORS FOR RE-ELECTION

"I think President Trump will be here. He's welcome anytime to come to the great state of Nevada and talk to folks in Nevada. When he was campaigning, he would have events with 5,000 or 6,000 people attending. So, we have a good relationship with him. We want to have a relationship with him, and I believe he'll be here to talk about some of the great things his administration is doing, not only in the country, but how it's impacting Nevada in a positive way."

Anthony noted that his political philosophy is heavily shaped by his immigrant parents from Cyprus who instilled the values of hard work, self-reliance and fiscal responsibility.

"When they came to the United States, and they didn't have anything, all they could do was find a job and get married and raise a family. … No. 1: you work hard.

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"No. 2: you don't ask the government for anything. You want them to protect you, you want to have roads. But you don't ask them for welfare. You don't ask them for unemployment checks. You don't ask them for food stamps. So, that's not something that they thought the government would do.

"Their responsibility was to work hard, raise a family, buy a home and live the American dream. That taught me a lot. And that's really how I've continued my public service. I am here to support Nevadans in ways that they want support, but I'm not here to carry them. They need to carry themselves, and I think they understand that."

No, Lamar Jackson doesn't deserve to be ranked among the NFL's top 10 quarterbacks

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 20:12:09 -0400

Is Lamar Jackson no longer even a top 10 quarterback in the NFL?

According to at least one respondent in ESPN's annual quarterback survey of executives, coaches, and scouts, the answer is no. Fox Sports Radio host Colin Cowherd agrees.

"I no longer trust Lamar Jackson in a big spot. I'm selling my stock... I'd take Bo Nix today in a fourth-quarter, come-from-behind situation over Lamar," Cowherd said Tuesday.

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Cowherd then ranked his top 10 quarterbacks:

Josh Allen (Bills)
Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs)
Caleb Williams (Bears)
Matthew Stafford (Rams)
Justin Herbert (Chargers)
Joe Burrow (Bengals)
Sam Darnold (Seahawks)
Jared Goff (Lions)
Jordan Love (Packers)
Drake Maye (Patriots)

On the surface, leaving Jackson outside the top 10 sounds like a form of rage-bait.

While arguments that Jackson was on the same level as Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes often felt more like culture-war debates than football analysis, Jackson has been one of the league's premier quarterbacks over the past seven seasons. He won two league MVP awards during that span.

Given his previous regular-season dominance, Jackson's MVP odds this year are rightfully higher than most of the quarterbacks Cowherd ranked ahead of him.

That said, there is a valid counterargument. Though Jackson's ceiling remains among the highest in football, his floor may no longer be.

For one, he was not one of the 10 best quarterbacks last season.

In 13 starts, Jackson averaged just 196.1 passing yards per game, fewer than Michael Penix Jr. and Geno Smith. Projected over 17 games, his 21 touchdown passes would have been roughly league average. He also wasn't the same rushing threat, finishing with just 349 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

By virtually every measure, Jackson was far less dynamic than he had been for most of his career.

Perhaps injuries played a role. Maybe he was never fully healthy. If so, he could certainly return to MVP form this season.

It's also possible that his decline came sooner than expected. That wouldn't be unprecedented. Russell Wilson went from one of the NFL's elite quarterbacks to an average starter in one offseason. Cam Newton experienced a similarly steep drop-off.

Quarterbacks who rely heavily on athleticism often age less gracefully than those who primarily win from the pocket. Jackson is an accurate passer, but his unparalleled running ability has always been central to what makes him special.

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Plus, legitimate questions remain even if Jackson returns to form in the regular season.

As Cowherd noted, Jackson has consistently fallen short in the biggest moments. Despite his regular-season success, his postseason résumé is underwhelming. He is 3-5 in the playoffs with a 60.6% completion rate, a 10-to-7 touchdown-to-interception ratio, and an 84.6 passer rating.

Those numbers lend support to Cowherd's claim that he would trust Bo Nix over Jackson in a fourth-quarter comeback situation. In one playoff game last season against the Bills, Nix showed more big-game clutch ability than Jackson ever has.

If that's one's primary standard for evaluating quarterbacks — how they perform in the biggest moments — then leaving Jackson outside the top 10 becomes a defensible position.

It's also reasonable to identify 10 quarterbacks entering the 2026 season with fewer unanswered questions.

We don't know whether Jackson is fully healthy, whether his athleticism has begun to decline, how he will adapt under a new coaching staff, or how committed he is to football long term. Nearly every offseason brings reports questioning his dedication to the game or his happiness in Baltimore.

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Those concerns don't exist to the same degree for many of the league's other top quarterbacks. Mahomes, Allen, Stafford, Burrow, Maye and Caleb Williams all enter the season as safer projections than Jackson. The debate is how he compares to quarterbacks such as Jordan Love, Jared Goff, Jayden Daniels and Sam Darnold.

Put simply, it's fair to ask whether Lamar Jackson is still a top-10 quarterback. And until he delivers in the biggest moments, such questions will remain valid.

Bloodhound K-9 unit helps bring Georgia manhunt to end with arrest of suspect accused of shooting woman

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 19:38:53 -0400

A 10-hour manhunt in Georgia came to an end Tuesday after a bloodhound helped deputies track down a "dangerous" suspect accused of shooting the mother of his child and fleeing on foot.

The suspect was identified as Darian Berry Sr., 46, a convicted felon, according to the Butts County Sheriff’s Office.

The domestic incident unfolded Tuesday morning in the city of Flovilla, roughly 50 miles south of Atlanta, officials said.

"He made the choice to run, but he could not outrun the determination of law enforcement or the incredible tracking ability of the bloodhounds that ultimately helped bring him into custody," the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

FLORIDA WOMAN CHARGED WITH MURDER EVADING POLICE AFTER BODY FOUND IN SHALLOW GRAVE, SHERIFF SAYS

Deputies first responded after reports of a domestic incident involving Berry.

According to his charges, Berry allegedly attempted to confine or restrict his victim. He was also accused of arson and stalking.

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As deputies arrived, Berry allegedly fled on foot and was believed to be armed with a handgun, prompting a major search effort.

The Georgia community was further placed on a BOLO ("be on the lookout") alert as authorities worked to locate the suspect.

Officials said the Georgia Department of Corrections K-9 Unit bloodhound played a key role in helping authorities locate Berry, who was taken into custody by Tuesday evening.

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Berry now faces multiple charges, including aggravated assault, stalking, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, obstruction, two counts of arson, battery, family violence and false imprisonment.

EXCLUSIVE: Pence pushes to rename bill for Lindsey Graham, recalls final talk: 'Bring Putin to the table'

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 19:31:42 -0400

FIRST ON FOX: Former Vice President Mike Pence is calling on Congress to rename Sen. Lindsey Graham's signature Russia sanctions legislation after the late South Carolina Republican, telling Fox News Digital there would be "no more fitting tribute" to one of the Senate's most influential national security hawks.

In an exclusive interview, Pence said Graham's years-long push for tougher sanctions against Russia should become both his legislative legacy and a permanent reminder of his unwavering support for Ukraine and America's allies.

Pence argued Congress has a rare opportunity to honor Graham by passing the bipartisan sanctions package he spent years championing and sending it to President Donald Trump with the senator's name attached.

GRAHAM REPORTEDLY REFUSED MEDICAL HELP BEFORE SCHEDULED TV APPEARANCE

"I also believe it'd be altogether fitting to put Sen. Lindsey Graham's name on that bill," Pence told Fox News Digital. "Send it to the president, have him sign it into law."

Pence said Graham viewed Russia's invasion of Ukraine as one of the defining geopolitical challenges of the era and believed economic pressure was essential to forcing Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate.

"He never had any illusions about who we were dealing with — with Vladimir Putin," Pence said.

The former vice president, who has traveled to Ukraine twice since Russia's invasion, said Graham understood that Ukraine represented "a frontier of freedom" and consistently pushed both Republican and Democratic administrations to stand firmly with America's allies.

When asked whether the sanctions legislation could ultimately become Graham's greatest achievement, Pence said it may well define how history remembers the longtime senator.

"I think it could be," Pence said.

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He pointed to Graham's decades-long advocacy for Israel, Ukraine and a stronger NATO alliance, saying the senator remained remarkably consistent throughout his public career.

Pence said Graham also played an important role in encouraging NATO allies to increase defense spending during the first Trump administration, while remaining one of Israel's fiercest advocates on Capitol Hill.

For Pence, however, Graham's final legislative push is inseparable from one of their last conversations together.

He still remembers the meeting vividly.

Pence and his wife, Karen, had just landed at Reagan National Airport and were making their way through the terminal when they spotted Graham heading toward another gate.

As he almost always did, Graham began by asking about Pence's family.

The senator wanted updates on Pence's son, a Marine Corps fighter pilot, and his son-in-law, a Navy fighter pilot. Pence said Graham never forgot to ask about them.

But after briefly catching up, the conversation shifted to the issue occupying Graham's attention in his final months.

"We went straight into a conversation about Ukraine sanctions," Pence recalled.

Pence thanked Graham for leading the effort and mentioned a Wall Street Journal opinion piece supporting tougher sanctions against Russia.

Graham immediately leaned in.

"He did one of those — puts his finger in my chest — and said, 'You just stay on this. This is the way we're gonna get this done. This is the way you bring Putin to the table.'"

The two men embraced before heading toward separate gates.

"We parted with a handshake and a hug," Pence said.

LINDSEY GRAHAM, SOUTH CAROLINA SENATOR WHO ROSE FROM SMALL-TOWN ROOTS TO GOP POWER BROKER, DIES AT 71

Looking back, Pence said that brief airport encounter perfectly captured the man he had known for decades.

Graham enjoyed talking about family and could always be counted on for a joke, Pence said, but the personal conversation rarely lasted long before he returned to public policy.

"He was a very serious legislator," Pence said. "He was a man who was deeply committed to policy."

Pence said Graham's convictions never changed, whether the issue was supporting the military, standing with Israel, protecting unborn life or confronting authoritarian regimes like Russia, Iran and China.

"He never wavered," Pence said.

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The former vice president said he learned of Graham's death Sunday morning and remains deeply saddened by the loss of someone he first came to know during the Republican Revolution of the 1990s before serving alongside him in Congress and later in the Trump administration.

"I was taken aback by the news," Pence said. "I really, really have a heavy heart to this hour."

Pence said he hopes lawmakers finish the work Graham dedicated years to advancing.

"I really do believe there would be no more fitting tribute to the life and vision of Senator Lindsey Graham than for Congress to pass and the president to sign the tough Russia sanctions bill," Pence said.

"I'm going to continue to champion that in the days ahead."

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Monica Lewinsky details her 'dark decade' and moving past public shame

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 19:31:26 -0400

Monica Lewinsky is reflecting on her experience with shame and how she was able to overcome it.

During a recent episode of her podcast, "Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky," the 52-year-old activist spoke with actress Jamie Lynn Sigler about her memoir, "And So It Is...: A Memoir of Acceptance and Hope," with Lewinsky telling her the title resonated with her.

"It's such a big part of reclaiming, actually. You really can't move through all the steps until you've had acceptance," she said. "A lot of my progress during my dark decade really came about from integration and being able to integrate like, 'OK, I couldn't leave Monica Lewinsky the White House intern in the past,' like I had to find a way to not be ashamed and bring her with me, all the things. And so you can't integrate until you've accepted."

She said there was "so much work" that went into her journey of self-acceptance and integrating the two versions of herself, noting, "It's hard enough out there. How do I make it not so hard in here?"

JENNIFER LOPEZ TAKES BLAME FOR BEN AFFLECK DIVORCE, SAYS SHE NEEDED TO 'FIGURE' HERSELF OUT AFTER SPLIT

Lewinsky entered the public eye in 1998 when it was revealed she had a sexual relationship with the president of the United States at the time, Bill Clinton, when she was a 22-year-old White House intern. This led her to receive intense media scrutiny and public ridicule for many years.

Having experienced such intense scrutiny in the public eye, she can "appreciate" when her friends approach her "when they're in a state and need connection and need to be heard and that it doesn't feel like a burden."

"I have to remind myself because I feel those things so often, and I think, especially in my kind of dark decade, it was really hard because I felt like there was no … it wasn't a wave like, 'Oh, I'm in this bad place, but now this good thing happened.' And that sort of it just felt like it was always bad. And when you thought it couldn't get worse, it got worse."

Looking back, Lewinsky said what she experienced is still "pretty miraculous" to her and leads her to think about "awful things" that happen to people "and how we hold them and what they end up being able to provide."

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"Pre-'98, I was a really good disassociater," she explained. "I had a really rich fantasy life. Not that I fantasized making things up, you know what happened, which people accused me of for a while, but it's those things saved me."

When speaking with Fox News Digital in May, Lewinsky bluntly admitted, "There have been some very dark moments," and that she wouldn't "sugarcoat" her experiences.

She went on to say that she "was severely impacted by having billions of strangers thinking negatively about me," and that part of her healing journey involved "energy work."

"I've done an enormous amount of energy work for 20 years, which, if there are any woo-woo people in the room or anybody who saw 'The Secret,' you remember about this idea of energy coming toward you and negative thoughts being ... energy coming toward you," Lewinsky said.

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The scandal led to Clinton's impeachment in December 1998 on the grounds of perjury to a grand jury and obstruction of justice. He was acquitted two months later.

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Digital entrepreneur credits the World Cup with teaching about soccer and boosting her monthly income

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 19:29:14 -0400

What's better than adding a few zeroes to your monthly income? How about adding a few zeroes while growing your fan base and learning something?

That trifecta has been pulled off by social media influencer, model, and digital entrepreneur Skylar Mae. She gives the credit to the World Cup.

That's very humble of her in my opinion. Not everyone is going around adding $100,000 to their monthly income because of a soccer tournament.

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She had to be in the right place at the right time and be willing to not only create content, but learn about the ins and outs of soccer along the way.

Lesser digital entrepreneurs would have tapped out. Skylar leaned in and became a source of luck for some diehard fans.

"I've had people asking me to learn soccer chants while wearing soccer socks and shorts because they swear it'll help their team win, and even make sure I send the custom right before kickoff because they're convinced it'll bring them good luck," she said, The Mirror reportsThe Mirror.

"Also, things like me stretching, pretending I'm preparing for the big game. The funniest requests are always from the really diehard fans. They'll send me requests explaining exactly why I need to mention a certain player, or avoid talking about another team."

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You're not going to get that sort of World Cup knowledge from just anywhere. She's learning straight from the fans themselves and Skylar's been impressed with the amount of thought that's been put into it.

She knows which players aren't liked by the teams they're going up against. The crash course has come from all over the world, not just in the United States where she's based.

She's been surprised by how seriously soccer fans take their rituals, but not by the love of the sport making its way into other aspects of their lives.

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"Absolutely it turns people on. I think that a lot of the passion that fans have for their teams spills into passion in other ways," Skylar said.

"They're excited, they're celebrating, they're emotional and I definitely notice that. When all you are thinking about is soccer and the World Cup for weeks, of course it's going to become a part of your fantasies."

That's a great point and a strong way to wrap it all up. Soccer is on people’s minds right now, so, of course, there's money to be made from a stranger buying content on the internet.

Tom Brady sends clear message to Raiders rookie Fernando Mendoza: Earn your opportunity

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 19:20:39 -0400

Tom Brady built a Hall of Fame career by proving himself every Sunday. He expects Las Vegas Raiders rookie Fernando Mendoza to do the same.

Speaking with Liz Claman on FOX Business' "The Claman Countdown," Brady wasn't interested in fueling offseason quarterback fever. As far as the Raiders minority owner is concerned, Mendoza hasn't earned anything yet.

"Well, I love Fernando, but Fernando is like every other young rookie," Brady said.

FERNANDO MENDOZA'S FIRST PITCH AT MARLINS GAME DRAWS HARSH REVIEWS

"He's got to go out there and earn it like everybody else... none of these young players, none of the rookies have ever had a meaningful snap in the NFL."

For Brady, draft status and offseason hype only go so far.

"Their career and their journey will be determined by the work that they put in, by the adversities that they overcome, by the kind of teammate and team player that they are," Brady added.

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It's the same mindset Brady says he's bringing to his latest venture off the field.

The 48-year-old recently joined digital health company eMed as its Chief Wellness Officer, saying he wants to help give everyday Americans access to the kind of health guidance he relied on throughout his legendary career.

"My body truly was my asset as a football player," Brady recalled.

"So you're right, I was very lucky over a period of time to learn a lot of disciplines that allowed me to take the field feeling very healthy, feeling energized and excited about going out there to try to, you know, win some football games."

Brady wants to bring that same blueprint to people who don't have access to an NFL-caliber support system.

"But when I retired, I realized that there's a lot of people in life that maybe they're not professional athletes, but to a degree, we all are living athletic lifestyles," he said. "We wanna be healthy. We wanna play with our kids. We wanna play with grandkids."

Brady also praised the impact GLP-1 medications have had on helping people begin improving their health.

"There's no debate about the way that this medicine is working right now in terms of keeping people and getting people on their wellness journey started," Brady stated. "And then we do a great job keeping them on that journey."

To Brady, whether the goal is winning the QB1 job or improving someone's health, success comes down to focusing on fundamentals.

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"I realized that a lot of the values that I had as an NFL player transitioned very well to what happens in the workforce," Brady explained. "And it comes down to accountability, discipline, showing up for other people, serving other people."

Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com / Follow along on X: @alejandroaveela

Former Marine running for Congress says Trump is the Antichrist and 'must be killed' in shocking video

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 18:53:48 -0400

A Florida congressional candidate and former U.S. Marine is facing backlash after posting a video calling President Donald Trump "the Antichrist" and saying the president "must be killed."

William Upham, a Republican write-in candidate for Florida's 5th Congressional District who describes himself on X as a prosecutor "running to fix a broken political system," opens the nearly seven-minute video by saying he entered the race to restore bipartisanship, return power to the working class and "fix our broken political system."

The tone quickly shifts, however, as Upham says he has come to believe the country is "broken" and that America is engaged in a spiritual battle.

TWO YEARS AFTER BUTLER, THREATS AGAINST TRUMP KEEP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT IN SHARP FOCUS

"We are led by a president who is the enemy of God," Upham says before citing Bible passages and discussing the oath he took as a Marine officer to defend the Constitution "against all enemies, foreign and domestic."

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He then claims there is "no doubt" Trump is "the Antichrist."

"He is a false messiah. And he is your enemy. And he must be killed," Upham said.

BUTLER MAN’S ONLINE RANTS TO KILL TRUMP END IN GUILTY PLEA AFTER FBI PROBE

Later in the video, Upham urges viewers to question whether they are "worshiping a false idol" before concluding, "President Trump is the Antichrist. And he will be killed and sent to hell. God will prevail against evil."

The U.S. Marine Corps quickly condemned Upham, saying he was medically discharged May 30, 2025.

"The Marine Corps is aware of the disturbing statements made by William Upham," the service wrote on X. "The comments made by Upham are a direct violation of the oath he swore to uphold and are not in keeping with the service's values."

TRUMP FACES UNPRECEDENTED THIRD ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

The U.S. Secret Service also acknowledged the comments in a statement to Fox News Digital.

"The U.S. Secret Service is aware of the comments made by a congressional candidate in Florida, and we investigate anything that can be perceived as a threat toward one of our protectees," a spokesperson said. "Out of concern for operational security, we do not discuss matters of protective intelligence."

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Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao also condemned the remarks, writing on X, "Unacceptable. William Upham is no longer a Marine and does not represent our values or ethos."

Fox News Digital reached out to the FBI, the White House and Upham's campaign for comment.

Hurricanes player William Carrier fills the Stanley Cup full of a Quebecois delicacy

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 18:51:16 -0400

The NHL is gearing up to release its first-ever 84-game regular season schedule on Thursday, but while the focus is shifting to next season, the Carolina Hurricanes are still celebrating the fruits of this season.

Namely, the most famous trophy in all of sports, the Stanley Cup.

Canes forward William Carrier had his day with the Cup this week, and he used it as a vessel for one of the greatest things to come out of Canada since Rush (even though Rush probably came later), the Quebecois delicacy that is poutine.

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Now if you're not familiar with poutine (where the hell have you been?), it's a simple, wonderful dish comprised of golden-brown French fries topped with brown gravy and cheese curds.

There are all kinds of goofy variations on this, and I've tried many, but you will not be able to beat the simplicity of the OG brown gravy and cheese curds combo.

Keeper of the Cup Phil Pritchard shared a video this week of Carrier helping to construct some poutine in the trophy's bowl.

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That looks delicious, and I see a serious pro move happening in that clip.

Notice the parchment paper lining the bowl. Sure, that's going to make clean-up a breeze, but it's also a good safety measure.

Every single time I see the Cup without lining it, I kind of wince. That trophy has been through a lot, and there have been many a child who have been given baths in the bowl.

Imagine going to someone's house for dinner, and they're like, "Yeah, we once used that bowl the salad is in to give our kid a bath."

It wouldn't matter if it happened decades earlier; your appetite would be gone.

I'm sure it's given a good scrub afterward... or they just hit it with a garden hose.

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So, I wouldn't take my chances, and it looks like William Carrier wasn't, either.

I respect that, and damn, do I want some poutine right now.

Los Angeles journalist goes viral keeping calm while a cockroach crawls over her during on-air report

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 18:51:13 -0400

Los Angeles KTLA 5 news reporter Rachel Menitoff went viral Wednesday after a late-night report featuring an unwanted pest.

During Menitoff's live report in Sherman Oaks on an ongoing heat wave Tuesday night, a cockroach appeared to land on Menitoff's stomach before crawling across her neck and chest.

"And it’s a lot more comfortable at this hour, but we’re still in the 80s here in the Valley," Menitoff said. "So, overnight temperatures aren’t necessarily dropping, and this leads to less recovery time from the daytime heat."

Despite the insect's arrival, Menitoff continued her report unfazed as the bug jumped onto her microphone and proceeded to fly away.

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Menitoff’s colleagues covered the video the next morning, sharing video of the reporter after the live shot ended, where she began to brush the bug off of her.

"Oh gosh. Oh, I feel something," Menitoff said.

The morning reporters praised Menitoff's on-air composure, joking that they would not have remained as calm as she was in the same situation.

"That’s our Rachel Menitoff, who is so professional," anchor Megan Henderson said. "She kept her cool. There’s no way I would have been able to keep going."

"I have to hand it to her. She was really calm," reporter Eric Spillman said.

"That’s terrifying," meteorologist Kirk Hawkins said. "Now we’re all going to have nightmares about flying cockroaches."

TERRIFYING CLIP OF LA METEOROLOGIST COLLAPSING ON LIVE TV GOES VIRAL

In a KTLA interview, Menitoff described that she was aware of the cockroach crawling over her but was concerned that she would not be unable to complete the report if she took action.

"I said to myself, ‘Just get through this moment and then kind of shake it off,’" Menitoff said.

"Ironically, the story was about the extreme heat in the Valley, and these cockroaches are attracted to the heat and the warm temperatures and our camera lights," she added. "So, it was sort of the perfect environment for the roaches."

Fox News Digital reached out to Menitoff for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

NEW ZEALAND REPORTER HAS BIRD FLY INTO HER FACE, LEAVING HER BLOODIED

The clip was shared across social media by journalists and commentators who both praised Menitoff's composure and criticized Los Angeles' unclean conditions.

"Had this happened to me, I would have freaked out," The Daily News Drop anchor Jeff Vaughn wrote.

Conservative commentator Steve Guest wrote, "Karen Bass’s LA is overrun by cockroaches. Gross."

"Why I prefer print. KTLA would've had a hefty fine for the number of curses that would've come out of my mouth if this happened to me. What a pro," Arizona Mirror reporter Jerod MacDonald-Evoy commented.

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Former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt remarked, "Nithya Raman has made her district so filthy, you can't even do a quick news hit without cockroaches crawling all over you like some Mumbai slum. The median home price here is $1.5M."

"@RachelMenitoff would’ve crushed it on 'Fear Factor,'" "Good Morning America" co-anchor Gio Benitez wrote.