Category: USA Politics

Rumors are swirling on social media about the future of Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner after several of his events were canceled and a report from Politico accused the candidate of sexual assault ahead of a key deadline in the race. 

Maine resident Jenny Racicot, 41, told Politico over the course of three interviews that Platner forced her to have sex five years ago, a claim that Platner denied in the story. Additionally, the report says that a man Raciot dated afterward confirmed she had told him about the incident, which was also corroborated by emails between Racicot and her therapist. 

“I remember him grabbing my pelvis and being really forceful of me,” Racicot told the outlet about the incident, which allegedly took place while the two were intoxicated. “I remember the specific moment where I thought to myself, like, ‘This is no longer my choice.’”

In a statement to Politico, Platner said, “These allegations are troubling, serious, and false. Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue.”

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The Platner campaign posted a video on X shortly after the Politico story published where Platner again called the allegations “false” and that he was going to “reflect” on the best path forward. 

“So, regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful the political reality it will inflict, we are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to, and the goal of defeating Susan Collins,” Platner says in the vide. “Those were the goals when we launched this campaign, and they remain my goals today.”

Over the last few days, multiple Platner events over the 4th of July holiday weekend and Monday were canceled without an official explanation or comment from the campaign, Bangor Daily News reported on Monday, other than one event organizer saying that an event in Gorman was canceled due to Platner “not feeling well.”

The news of the canceled events led conservative outlets and pundits to speculate whether there is an underlying reason for the cancellations.

“Graham Platner cancels MULTIPLE scheduled town hall events as progressive allies tease another scandal is about to hit his campaign,” the Maine Wire news outlet posted on X. “Augusta town hall for last night – CANCELED Gorham town hall tonight – CANCELED Sanford town hall tonight – CANCELED. There are no other upcoming events listed on his FB page, or on Mobilize.”

“Graham Platner no-showed Fourth of July celebrations across Maine,” the National Republican Senatorial Committee posted on X in response to the Maine Wire post. “Now, he’s canceling everything else. We wouldn’t want to be seen in public either… “

“A well-placed source told us that Graham Platner is dropping out of the Maine Senate race this week,” the Washington Reporter posted on X. “Note that Platner has yet to release his Q2 fundraising totals, a sign he may have underperformed expectations. “

FORMER PRIMARY RIVAL RESURFACES TO CHALLENGE SCANDAL-PLAGUED GRAHAM PLATNER IN MAINE SENATE RACE

Fox News Digital reached out to the Platner campaign for comment on both the canceled events and the Politico report. 

In addition to the online rumors, predictions on the online prediction market Polymarket surged over the weekend, with users betting that Platner would drop out before the midterms.

Platner has been at the center of multiple controversies since launching his campaign, including infidelity, alleged physical abuse of an ex-girlfriend, a Nazi-linked tattoo, disparaging comments about the military, referring to himself as a “communist”, scrutiny over his working-class bonafides, and a variety of inflammatory posts on a deleted Reddit account.

Despite the controversies, Platner has held a polling lead on incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins, although a recent Fox News Poll showed only 44% of respondents believing he has “good character” while 47% said he is “too extreme” for the state.

Now that Platner has won the Democratic primary, the next key date is 5 p.m. on Monday, July 13. Under Maine law, if Platner formally withdraws as the Democratic nominee by that deadline, the Maine Democratic Party can replace him on the general election ballot by selecting a new nominee through its party process, with the replacement required to be chosen by July 27.

If he remains the nominee past the July 13 deadline, the party generally loses its ability to substitute another candidate through the normal replacement process, except in limited circumstances defined under state law.

Seattle socialist mayor Katie Wilson is facing protests ahead of today’s U.S. World Cup match in her city as members of the local Chinese and Vietnamese communities are accusing her of abandoning their neighborhoods to crime and open air drug dealing.

One organizer went so far as to accuse progressive Wilson of treating Seattle’s Chinatown International District (CID) as a “human dumping ground” for homeless and drug addicts.

While Seattle has hosted some of the World Cup’s biggest matches, including today’s U.S. versus Belgium match, residents and business owners in the CID and “Little Saigon” say their neighborhoods are missing out on the economic benefits due to safety concerns leading people to avoid the area, according to local outlet KIRO 7.

Business owners are reporting a significant decline in foot traffic and business despite being less than a mile from Lumen Field. As frustrations mount, many are blaming Wilson’s leadership and taking to the streets to protest against her in front of World Cup crowds.

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At one rally, Gary Lee, a CID advocate, said into a microphone that “Wilson claims to be an advocate for marginalized communities of color, but all she did was turn the CID into a human dumping ground and we’ve had enough,” KIRO 7 reported.

In an interview with the outlet, Lee said, “When I look at the TV, I see that the waterfront is jampacked, Pioneer Square is jampacked. When I go over to Chinatown, it’s just like dead.”

“I hate to say it, but it feels like a ghost town,” he said of the CID.

Fox News Digital reached out to Wilson for comment, however, the mayor did not respond by the time of publication.

SEATTLE’S SOCIALIST MAYOR KATIE WILSON SLAMMED FOR CUTTING SHORT INTERVIEW OVER BASIC PUBLIC SAFETY QUESTION

When CID residents started venting their frustrations, Wilson responded, “We’ve definitely seen, like, a lot of energy was put into trying to make sure that as visitors are coming, they are, you know, venturing out of that downtown corridor.”

In a statement sent to KIRO 7, Wilson’s office said that “crime and disorder issues in the CID have gone unaddressed for far too long. We continue to work with the CID community to address their concerns and ensure it is a safe, active, and vibrant neighborhood.”

Meanwhile, Fox 13 Seattle reported that community activist and former city council member Tanya Woo said many businesses in the district are seeing a 10-20% decline in sales.

Woo called on community members to join her in walking to the stadium area on Monday to “personally invite fans to eat, shop, and experience the Chinatown-International District.”

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“Many businesses in the Chinatown-International District are reporting sales declines compared to this time last year. Although thousands of FIFA fans are coming to Seattle, our neighborhood has largely become a rideshare pickup and drop-off zone,” she wrote.

In another post, Woo wrote that “Seattle’s Chinatown International District should be benefiting from the FIFA World Cup, not being left behind.”

The high-stakes fight between the left-wing and the center-left establishment for the future of the Democratic Party is moving to a much larger stage.

After victories by far-left and socialist candidates in dark blue congressional districts in New York City and Colorado the past two weeks drew national attention, the spotlight now shifts to battleground Michigan.

That’s where moderate Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., who is backed by Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the establishment; and former Wayne County Health Department Director Abdul El-Sayed, a left-wing candidate endorsed by progressive champions Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.,and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., are colliding in a crucial Senate showdown.

The winner of the Aug. 4, 2026, Democratic primary will face-off in the midterm elections in November against former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, who is on a glide path to the GOP nomination. The winner will succeed retiring Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, a Democrat. 

CRUCIAL SENATE BATTLE ROCKED AFTER MAJOR PLAYER DROPS OUT OF RACE

The seat is a top Republican target and is a must-hold for the Democrats as they aim to win back the Senate majority from the GOP, which currently controls the chamber with a slim, but manageable, 53-47 margin. The leading nonpartisan political handicappers at Cook Political Reporter rate the Senate race in Michigan as a toss-up.

Matt Bennett, one of the leaders at the Third Way, a leading center-left Democratic organization, told Fox News the primary in Michigan “is much more significant” than the intra-party ballot box showdowns the past two weeks in “very, very blue districts” in New York City and Denver.

The showdown in Michigan became a two-way race on Sunday, after progressive state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, once the third major Democrat in the primary, suspended her campaign.

“I may be suspending this campaign, but I am not leaving the fight,” McMorrow pledged in a statement Sunday as she ended her Senate bid.

McMorrow, who has seen her national profile expand in recent years and was running as a progressive in an ideological space between El-Sayed and Stevens, suspended her campaign amid faltering poll numbers and fundraising that weren’t keeping pace with her two main rivals.

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McMorrow pledged to fully support whichever Democrat wins the primary and will ultimately face-off with Rogers, who is running for the Senate for a second straight cycle after losing in 2024 to now-Sen. Elissa Slotkin by a razor-thin margin.

Following McMorrow’s announcement, Stevens praised her fellow Democrat by calling her an “important voice” for policies that benefit Michigan families. Stevens then argued that she is the strongest Democratic candidate to win the primary and defeat Rogers in November.

“As we enter the final month of the primary election, I’m excited to continue to make my case to Michiganders why I’m the strongest Democrat to defeat Mike Rogers this November, lower costs, protect manufacturing jobs, and stand up to Trump’s abuses of power,” she added.

As she runs for the nomination, Stevens has been backed by millions in super PAC spending, including big bucks from Israel-aligned groups.

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In his statement, El-Sayed praised McMorrow for having the “courage” to challenge what he described as a rigged political system, accusing Democratic Party insiders of spending millions to influence the primary. While he did not name specific groups, the remarks appeared to reference corporate PACs and establishment party leaders such as Schumer.

He then invited McMorrow’s supporters to join his progressive movement to combat big money in politics and defeat the political establishment.

“Throughout this campaign, Senator McMorrow showed what it looks like to fight back against politics that rigs the system against too many of us. While we have policy disagreements, I never questioned whether Senator McMorrow would fight for a better America for my daughters and hers,” he said.

“The same party insiders she had the courage to challenge have been bullying anyone who opposes their chosen candidate. After spending $30 million to drown Senator McMorrow and me out, they’re now spending even more to attack me. It’s everything we are standing up against.”

“I welcome her supporters to our movement to stand up against money in politics, to put money back in pockets, and pass Medicare for All. We cannot allow the establishment to decide our nominee for us.”

THESE MIDTERM RACES WILL DETERMINE WHETHER REPUBLICANS HOLD THEIR SENATE MAJORITY

El-Sayed, who, if elected, would make history as the nation’s first Muslim senator, is an epidemiologist who unsuccessfully ran for governor as an insurgent candidate in 2018. He has made support for “Medicare-for-all” a major component of his campaign.

The far-left candidate has also called for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and is a vocal critic of Israel amid its war with Hamas — even characterizing Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide” against Palestinians.

And El-Sayed, who served as a top surrogate on Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, has vowed not to accept PAC donations.

Schumer and the party establishment view Stevens as more electable than El-Sayed, who has sparked controversy with his past comments. They worry that El-Sayed as the party’s nominee would jeopardize the Democrat-controlled Senate seat by pushing the party too far to the left in a state that President Donald Trump carried two years ago by just over one percentage point.

A victory by El-Sayed over Stevens in next month’s primary would give the far left a major win on a statewide stage, and further boost their momentum in the battle for the Democratic Party’s future.

But Bennet warned against placing too much emphasis on the results in Michigan, as he pointed to other factors in the race.

“I don’t think that even if El-Sayed wins, that means the national party is moving dramatically to the left, as the left will insist if that happens,” he told Fox News Digital. “Some of this is idiosyncratic. There’s a huge Arab American population in Michigan. The Israel issue is more resonant there than it is in other places. And candidates matter.”

Fox News’ Hannah Brennan contributed to this story.

America’s milestone anniversaries have given generations of Americans an opportunity to reflect on the nation’s history, values and progress.

From the Centennial in 1876 to the Bicentennial in 1976, celebrations have had parades, fireworks, historical reenactments, speeches and other patriotic traditions honoring the Declaration of Independence and the nation’s founding in 1776.

As Americans celebrated the country’s 250th anniversary on July 4, those traditions carried into the semiquincentennial with the Great American State Fair on the National Mall, President Donald Trump’s address marking the occasion, military flyovers, performances by the U.S. Army Band and a Guinness World Record-breaking fireworks display with more than 850,000 fireworks.

Fox News Digital looks back at the nation’s biggest birthday celebrations.

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The nation’s first major milestone came in 1826, marking 50 years since the Declaration of Independence was adopted.

Communities across the country organized celebrations and leaders in Washington, D.C., invited former Presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, two of the last surviving signers of the Declaration of Independence, to attend, but both declined due to poor health, according to the National Archives Foundation. However, history took an extraordinary turn when Jefferson and Adams both died on July 4, just hours apart.

Many Americans saw Jefferson and Adams’ deaths as a remarkable coincidence that added to the symbolism of Independence Day. A memorial service honoring Jefferson and Adams was held in Washington, D.C., while dinners, patriotic events and other commemorations helped establish the tradition of celebrating America’s birthday.

The nation celebrated its 100th anniversary in Philadelphia with the 1876 Centennial Exposition, the nation’s first official World’s Fair, which highlighted America’s post-Civil War industrial growth and introduced millions of visitors to groundbreaking new technologies.

The six-month exposition attracted nearly 10 million visitors from around the world to see international arts, cultures and technologies on display, according to the National Archives.

The exposition featured Machinery Hall, where visitors saw new inventions, including Alexander Graham Bell’s first telephone and Thomas Alva Edison’s automatic telegraph. The fair also had a Women’s Pavilion that highlighted the scientific and artistic achievements of women during the suffrage movement.

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President Ulysses S. Grant approved sending the original Declaration of Independence to Philadelphia for display at the Centennial Exposition, according to the National Archives. Concerns over the document’s deteriorating condition later prompted efforts to preserve the nation’s founding document.

Fifty years later, Philadelphia again hosted a World’s Fair to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

The 1926 Sesquicentennial International Exposition featured historical recreations and patriotic attractions celebrating the nation’s founding. Organizers built an 80-foot replica of the Liberty Bell illuminated by 26,000 light bulbs that became one of the exposition’s signature attractions, according to The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia.

THE LESSON WE CAN LEARN FROM BICENTENNIAL HISTORY IS TO PARTY LIKE IT’S 1976

Although organizers projected 30 million visitors, fewer than 5 million paid admissions were recorded, and the exposition closed with enormous debts, according to Smithsonian magazine and The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia.

America’s 200th birthday arrived during a period of recovery following the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal.

Philadelphia’s bid to host a Bicentennial World’s Fair was canceled in 1972, leaving the city’s Bicentennial commemoration to move forward as national organizers encouraged celebrations across the country, according to the Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia.

About 66,000 recognized events were held across the country, according to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum. Signature celebrations included Operation Sail, which brought more than 200 tall ships to New York Harbor, and the American Freedom Train, which traveled more than 25,000 miles across the country carrying historic artifacts, documents and works of art.

“Two down and two to go” blared the new wanted poster targeting the two remaining fugitive sons of infamous Mexican cartel kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman-Loera, who is serving life-plus-30-years in Colorado’s federal supermax prison.

On Monday, ICE posted a new wanted poster for two members of “Los Chapitos” — Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar and Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, two of El Chapo’s sons with his first wife, Alejandrina Maria Salazar-Hernandez.

After El Chapo’s final capture in 2016, control of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel shifted to Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada. Following Zambada’s arrest during the Biden administration, leadership passed to Guzman’s four sons.

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Both the Trump administration in the U.S. and the Sheinbaum administration in Mexico have said they are focused on cracking down on cartel’s new leadership.

“Two down and two to go with $10 million reward,” the wanted poster read, with Xs over the faces of the already captured Joaquin Guzman Lopez and Ovidio Guzman Lopez.

The two captured Chapitos are reportedly cooperating with authorities and have not yet been sentenced, but Ivan and Jesus remain “armed and dangerous,” according to ICE.

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The two fugitives are charged with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and operating a continuing criminal enterprise.

Two of Guzman’s four sons have already been captured through Operation Take Back America, an initiative seeking the “total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations” in order to protect U.S. communities from violent crime.

U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Andrew Boutros said in a recent statement that efforts to capture El Chapo’s sons are the latest steps “in our efforts to bring to justice drug lords and other dangerous criminals who poison the American public with illegal and harmful drugs and who otherwise engage in violence and corruption to carry out their and their enterprises’ wide-reaching criminal activities.”

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In his plea agreement, Guzman Lopez admitted that he and his cartel associates committed violence against law enforcement officials, rival drug traffickers and members of their own organization to protect the Sinaloa Cartel’s trafficking operations.

Fox News Digital reached out to ICE and DHS for additional comment and information on the mission to capture the two at-large Chapitos.

The House Judiciary Committee released a scathing report detailing how the left-leaning South Korean government, which some lawmakers say is “aligned with China,” has systematically discriminated against American-owned companies.

The report heavily mentions the case of Coupang, a Seattle-based U.S. company dubbed the “Amazon of Korea,” though it has no relation to Amazon. Coupang has faced strict scrutiny from the Korean government after a data breach. Coupang recently was fined roughly $410 million by South Korea, the largest privacy fine in South Korea’s history.

The Judiciary Committee outlined the timeline of how Coupang came under heavy fire by the South Korean government, from a secret laptop recovery mission to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service calling for Coupang Korea interim CEO Harold Rogers to be charged with perjury. He has yet to be formally charged or indicted and did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Last June, a Chinese national who was a former senior engineer at Coupang began accessing data and consumer information outside of Korea for several months. Coupang’s security team confirmed the breach in November, and the Judiciary report detailed that the former employee admitted to stealing an authentication key to gain access to the data.

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Once confirmed last November, Coupang reported the breach to the Korea Internet & Security Agency and said roughly 3,000 accounts had been accessed, according to the report.

In December, the committee said that Coupang was instructed to retrieve the stolen data, which was stored on a laptop and at the bottom of a murky river in China. The report alleged that Coupang was told by South Korea’s National Intelligence Service to retrieve the laptop, leading to a covert mission in Chinese territory to recover the data.

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Fox News Digital obtained a video of the laptop ultimately being retrieved. The footage showed a man in scuba gear in a muddy river holding up a Coupang bag which contained the device and consumer data. Fox News Digital has not independently authenticated the footage. 

Following the recovery, CEO Park Dae-jun resigned from the top job at Coupang Inc., and Harold Rogers was then appointed interim CEO of Coupang Corp., the South Korean subsidiary of the parent company, Coupang Inc.

In late December, Rogers and Coupang executives appeared before the South Korean assembly, where he testified under oath that South Korea’s National Intelligence Service instructed the company to retrieve the stolen data.

The Judiciary Committee report backs Rogers’ claim, but South Korean officials quickly berated him at the December hearing, and the South Korean government denied that instruction was given to enter Chinese territory and obtain the laptop.

The committee report details documentation of a meeting that took place between Coupang and South Korea’s National Intelligence Service where “officials ‘told [Coupang] that they were part of the joint government investigation,’ and that Coupang was ‘legally required’ to ‘work with them.’”

After the denial, South Korean officials called for Rogers to face perjury charges, due to his testimony under oath, and the company would later be fined a historic $410 million in June.

SOUTH KOREA’S PROPOSED PLATFORM LAW COULD COST US STATES $525B OVER THE NEXT DECADE, MODEL ESTIMATES

“We regret the circumstances that led to the House Judiciary Committee’s investigation, and we remain committed to finding a constructive resolution so Coupang can once again serve as a bridge to strengthen the U.S.-Korea alliance, accelerating trade and investment that benefits both countries,” a spokesperson for Coupang Inc. told Fox News Digital.

The Judiciary Committee alleged that the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) “has been particularly aggressive in using competition policy to attack American companies,” and that “South Korea has used digital laws and regulations as a way to target American companies and limit their ability to operate successfully in South Korea.”

Despite Coupang and the Judiciary Committee’s pushback, a South Korean embassy spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the country “is fully committed to ensuring a fair and non-discriminatory business environment for all companies regardless of their nationality.”

“The Government of the Republic of Korea regrets that the interim staff report published by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee published appears to be largely based on the unilateral assertions of Coupang and respectfully disagrees with several characterizations in the report,” the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. 

The spokesperson went on to explain that the South Korean Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) imposed the penalties in accordance with their law and that the sanctions remain well below the statutory maximum – despite being the largest issued in Korea. 

The spokesperson added that Coupang was given due process throughout the investigation and retains the right to challenge the decision in court, which the company has said it will do while reaffirming South Korea’s commitment to its strategic partnership with the United States, saying their government will continue engaging with the U.S. Congress to strengthen bilateral economic ties. 

Coupang stock plummeted as the events unfolded, and has tanked more than 45% since the company announced the breach and the South Korean government began retaliating.

OVER 50 HOUSE MEMBERS ACCUSE SOUTH KOREA’S NEW LEFT-WING GOVERNMENT OF ATTACKING US COMPANIES, FAVORING CHINA

The Judiciary report said the “decrease has negatively affected U.S. investors, including public pension funds, mutual funds, and everyday Americans just trying to save for retirement.”

South Korea’s government recently took a sharp turn to the left after Yoon Suk-yeol, a conservative from the People Power Party, was impeached in December 2024, largely because of his decision to implement martial law over “anti-state forces” that he said were led by the nation’s Democratic Party.

President Lee Jae-myung, a Democrat, narrowly lost to Yoon in the 2022 presidential election but won the presidency in 2025. The Democratic Party in South Korea already holds a substantial majority in the National Assembly, and the country is now operating with a full Democratic majority.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., sounded the alarm on South Korea’s distancing from the U.S. during an interview with Fox News Digital in April. Issa sits on the House Judiciary Committee as the most senior member after Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.

“South Korea is still an important strategic partner, but their last election led to a left-wing government closely aligned with China that, among other things, has begun attacking American companies,” Issa said.

He explained that Coupang is “owned by and founded by a Korean-American and they have been systematically attacked quite frankly, probably because they’re an American company and effectively a unicorn in South Korea,” Issa added. “We’re seeing that South Korea has adopted the European digital rules which are very much designed to localize rather than accept the great companies that have spread very well around the world because they’ve earned it.”

Issa joined a group of more than 50 GOP members of Congress in a letter to the South Korean ambassador to the United States, Kyung-wha Kang, over what they deemed to be “discriminatory” business practices that are targeting American companies.

A Competere Foundation model in June estimated a $525 billion loss in economic activity in U.S. states over the next decade, including a $123 billion loss for California, a $48.7 billion loss for Texas, a $33.9 billion loss for New York and a $27.4 billion loss for Washington, should South Korea continue to implement policies that would be harmful to U.S. businesses operating in the country.

Proposed pending legislation in South Korea’s assembly, would broaden the power of the KFTC, the same agency members of Congress are currently criticizing for unfairly treating American businesses.

Shanker Singham, international trade and competition economist and CEO of the Competere Foundation, said, “Korea is already an increasingly unfriendly place for U.S. companies to do business,” adding the “looming regulations will make that environment even worse.”

Spencer Pratt sparked widespread online reaction over Independence Day weekend after posting a sharp rebuke of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for using the July 4 holiday to criticize America’s history.

Pratt, a former reality TV star who drew attention with his surprise Los Angeles mayoral run, continued his political commentary by targeting Mamdani, who marked the nation’s 250th Independence Day by delivering an immigration-themed address from George Washington’s desk. Flanked by eight recently naturalized U.S. citizens, Mamdani criticized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, Elon Musk and what he described as the “arena of supremacy” in the United States.

“As we mark 250 years, what do we see?” Mamdani asked. “We see a city of contradictions within a nation of contradictions. We see the wealthiest country in the history of the world — one where children go to sleep hungry while the world’s first trillionaire hungers for more. We see monopolies that dominate every industry and oligarchs who buy elections. We see masked agents terrorizing our streets, eating food cooked by our undocumented neighbors before spiriting them away in unmarked vans. We see a nation whose immense wealth has been built by those with calloused, dirt-streaked hands — those who toil on factory floors and chisel into stone — and we see a nation that has allowed so much of that wealth to be held instead in the soft hands of a precious few.”

In a viral response video, Pratt bashed Mamdani, saying, “Notice how the communists always attack your history.”

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Wearing a T-shirt reading “the anti-socialists social club” and sitting behind a foldout table beside an RV at the site where his home burned down in the Los Angeles Palisades fire last year, Pratt remarked, “We all had to sit and watch that vile, commie mayor sit on the wrong side of our founding father’s desk to try to lecture us about our own history.”

“The communists must attack your history,” he continued. “Why? Because history is what anchors you, it’s what makes us attached to something.”

He referred to communism as “an evil, anti-human religion,” seeking to “destroy what makes us human.”

“The communist destroys your history so he can take your home and rebuild it in his image. That’s why it is your patriotic duty to celebrate today unashamed. It’s ok to love America, not only is it ok to love America, it’s necessary to love America. We are the only bulwark against tyranny on this earth,” said Pratt.

Amid the burned ruins of his Los Angeles home, Pratt urged Americans to “think of your country like a home. What makes your home special? … It’s the memories you have there.”

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“Erasing history is how you demoralize people, how you unmoor them and detach them from their society so you can take it from them and rewrite it in your image,” he said.

Pratt granted that America’s history is not perfect, saying, “our history is messy, our history is violent” but “bad times are part of what makes us stronger, a part of what makes us who we are.”

Turning his fire back to Mamdani, Pratt said, “he has no place to rewrite our history and lecture us about what our country stands for.”

“As a country, we are batting 1,000. Not only is it a miracle that this radical experiment in self-governance even survived past 1776, but we are the champions of the world, be proud of that, be proud of your history,” he said.

During his address, Mamdani, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Uganda, said that every American has “the power to determine what America means.”

“The powerful have always known their answer. America, in their view, is an arena of supremacy where only a select few are allowed freedom,” Mamdani said. “Where not all are created equal. America, if you ask them, becomes less the more people it welcomes. America, they will tell you, belongs only to those with the right accent or the right shade of skin. The rest of us, they insist, should be grateful for merely being allowed to visit. How small they are, how weak, how unoriginal. At every moment in our past, those who led through exclusion and isolation have tried to win power and enrich themselves by turning us against one another.”

SPENCER PRATT’S UNEXPECTED POLITICAL RISE FROM MTV VILLAIN TO KAREN BASS CHALLENGER

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He also remarked, “We are told that America is exceptional because we are richer, stronger, more powerful than everyone else. The truth, my friends, is that America is exceptional because here nothing is fixed into place.”

“The frontier may be closed, we may have walked on the moon, but the work of fulfilling the values first enshrined in the Declaration of Independence — that work endures, my friends, and it belongs to us all. It belongs too to our newest Americans, those standing here with me today.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment and had not received a response by publication.

A popular stretch of California’s Mendocino County coastline is being handed over to an Indigenous peoples group after a Gov. Gavin Newsom-backed state commission approved the transfer of 136 acres of beach and coastal bluffs.

The property, which includes Blues Beach just south of Westport, will be transferred from the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to Kai Poma, a nonprofit founded by representatives of the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians, Round Valley Indian Tribes and Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians.

Caltrans gave final regulatory approval to the deal on June 26.

“For the first time in California’s history, land managed by Caltrans and owned by the state was transferred to Kai Poma, a nonprofit established by three local Native American tribes with ancestral ties to the region,” Caltrans District 1 announced in a statement last week. “Once transferred, Kai Poma will own and maintain the 136-acre site and protect sensitive natural resources and Native American cultural resources.”

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The state acquired the windswept shoreline and rocky bluffs in the 1960s as part of plans tied to Highway 1 expansion and the creation of a scenic overlook for motorists, according to the California Coastal Commission.

In recent years, the beach has drawn large summer and holiday crowds, with public access largely unregulated. State planning documents say visitors have camped and partied on the beach, driven through sensitive areas, damaged cultural resources and left trash behind.

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Tribal leaders have described the land as culturally and spiritually significant. The coastal waters are used for traditional gathering, including seaweed and abalone, and the shore has hosted youth cultural camps.

Kai Poma is expected to conduct cultural, archaeological and environmental surveys before developing a long-term resource management plan for the land. The nonprofit has also worked with the Coastal Commission on a public access plan that will keep the property open to visitors from sunrise to sunset.

The transfer required years of work and a change in state law. Until 2021, Caltrans did not have authority to transfer state-owned property to tribal governments. That changed when Newsom signed legislation sponsored by state Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, allowing such conveyances.

“With 136 acres now officially transferred into tribal stewardship, one of the most spectacular stretches of the Mendocino Coast will be forever protected,” McGuire said in a statement. “This agreement, the first of its kind in California, gives these three dynamic Native American tribes the rightful opportunity to reclaim sacred lands and cultural traditions on this special piece of earth. And it’s about damn time.”

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The law bars commercial activity on the property and requires continued public access.

Supporters say the transfer will protect one of the region’s most scenic stretches of coast while returning sacred land to the descendants of the people who historically stewarded it.

“This is beyond huge,” Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians Chair J. Carlos Rivera told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s enormous from our tribal perspective that we are basically obtaining the land that our people once lived on before colonization.”

With the commission’s approval complete, Caltrans staff are expected to record the deed transferring the property from the state to Kai Poma.

Fox News Digital reached out Newsom, the coastal commission, Round Valley Indian Tribes and Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians for comment.

Controversial and outspoken outgoing Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, is facing online backlash after comments she made over the Independence Day weekend revealing what she thinks the United States owes Black women.

“When it comes to answering the question of what America owes black women, the answer is everything,” the Texas congresswoman said during an interview at the Essence Festival of Black Culture, which was held in New Orleans over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

“When we think about the sacrifices that black women have made, from the moment we were stolen from our homelands and transported into this country, to the fact that black women continue to stand as the backbone — specifically of the Democratic Party — we know that black women are always the ones doing the labor, but we are also the ones that are the first targets of any harm,” Crockett continued.

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The Essence Festival of Black Culture, which is linked to Essence Magazine, says it brings together iconic black voices to celebrate culture, community and commerce.

Rapper Cardi B performed at the Big Easy event over the weekend, and Michelle Obama gave a speech.

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Crockett said at the event, which coincided with the celebration of the 250th anniversary of American independence: “So, this Fourth of July, I say celebrate a black woman that you know, because whether it’s an invention that she made, or whether it’s the very democracy that still hangs by a thread right now, there is black woman to thank for her contributions.”

The clip quickly made the rounds on social media, eliciting some incredulous responses.

“I thought the point of Independence Day was to celebrate America as a country not individuals no matter what race they are,” said one social media user.

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“Democracy is not hanging by a thread. That’s insane,” said another.

A third claimed: “Your skin color doesn’t make you special.”

“Thank God in 6 months she’ll be gone,” one remarked, referring to her impending departure from her position in Congress.

Crockett opted instead of running for reelection bid for a U.S. Senate seat in Texas. She lost the primary against James Talarico, who marketed himself as a more moderate candidate to take on Republicans in the Lone Star State.

The two-term congresswoman’s decision not to run for reelection in her district came after its geographical boundaries were redrawn to be more red-leaning.

Crockett’s office did not return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Senate hopeful James Talarico is on the defensive after remarks resurfaced in which he lavished praise on Texas drag queens as “some of the best” in the country.

Talarico, the Democrats’ nominee in Texas’ hotly contested Senate race, made the comment in May 2023 while criticizing a bill in the state legislature banning “sexually oriented performances” on public property and in the presence of minors — a measure that would have likely restricted some drag shows.

He voted “present” on the legislation at the urging of the Texas House LGBTQ Caucus after language explicitly referencing drag performers was stripped from an earlier version, arguing the revised bill would better protect their performances.

“I think Texas is obviously the best state in the nation and I think we produce some of the best drag queens in the nation,” Talarico told The Texas Newsroom. “And I didn’t want any legislation to target them or hurt that industry.”

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Talarico, a 37-year-old state legislator and seminarian, has repeatedly sparked controversy over past remarks on Christianity and gender issues in which he argued, “God is nonbinary,” claimed there are six biological sexes and gushed over transgender children.

The former middle school teacher also raised eyebrows in a resurfaced clip from 2022 in which he argued that scaling back meat consumption is “existential” to combating climate change and praised a left-wing activist group that advocated for dismantling the state’s massive oil and gas industry.

Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton’s campaign hammered Talarico’s drag queen praise in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“This is just one more addition to the long list of out-of-touch, extreme views James Talarico holds that are out of step with the people of Texas,” Paxton spokeswoman Madison Cercy said.

Talarico’s remarks also prompted sharp criticism from the Republican National Committee (RNC), which is working aggressively to keep the open seat currently held by retiring Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, in Republican hands.

“He needs to stay away from kids and stop forcing his creepy trans-for-all agenda on Texas,” RNC spokesman Zach Kraft told Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital reached out to Talarico’s campaign for comment.

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Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, signed the legislation, known as Senate Bill 12, in June 2023, but its enforcement has been subject to years-long legal challenges brought by LGBTQ organizations over alleged violations of First Amendment rights. Under the law, businesses can face up to a $10,000 fine for hosting a prohibited performance and drag performers could also be subject to criminal penalties.

In February, a federal appeals court allowed the state law regulating drag shows to go into effect, while a legal fight over its constitutionality continues.

“I will always work to shield our children from exposure to erotic and inappropriate sexually-oriented performances,” Paxton wrote in a November 2025 press release. “It is an honor to have defended this law, ensuring that our state remains safe for families and children, and I look forward to continuing to vigorously defend it on remand before the district court.”

Republicans’ criticism comes as Talarico is locked in a dead heat with Paxton just months ahead of the November midterm elections, according to recent polling.

A New York Times/Siena College survey released last week found that both candidates are tied, with 47% of the vote among likely voters in Texas.

According to the poll, approximately half of the respondents said Paxton, a Trump ally aligned with the MAGA movement, is too extreme, while just 43% viewed Talarico that way.

Additionally, less than four in 10 respondents believe Paxton has good character or the right kind of morals, while 56% and 51% of voters, respectively, said Talarico does, the survey found.

However, the poll indicated that Talarico could struggle to overcome Democrats’ toxic brand in the Lone Star state, with 53% of respondents viewing the party as too far to the left.