25 House Democrats reportedly prepared to call on Biden to step down
Dozens of House Democrats are reportedly ready to call on President Biden to step aside as he faces continued scrutiny over his disastrous debate performance last week.
At least 25 Democratic lawmakers will call for Biden to relinquish the Democratic nomination if he “seems shaky” in the coming days, Reuters reported citing an unnamed House Democratic aide.
A second House Democratic aide said moderate House Democrats in competitive districts were getting hammered with questions about Biden in their districts this week.
U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett became the first congressional Democrat to call for Biden to withdraw from the presidential race on Tuesday. He told NBC News in an interview that he hoped other Democratic lawmakers would follow his lead.
“He has to be honest with himself,” Democratic Representative Mike Quigley, a moderate from Illinois, told CNN on Tuesday. “It’s his decision. I just want him to appreciate at this time just how much it impacts, not just his race, but all the other races coming in November.”
Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, and Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., each predicted on Tuesday that former President Trump would defeat Biden in November.
Reuters contributed to this update.
President Biden’s son Hunter Biden has joined meetings with the president and close staff at the White House this week following a Biden family meeting at Camp David on Sunday.
Hunter Biden has joined the president in meetings with top aides, closely advising his father and popping into meetings and phone calls with the president, according to a report from NBC News, citing multiple White House sources.
The White House sources told NBC News that the president’s son’s sudden presence at meetings has caused confusion for some White House staff, with the reaction being, “What the hell is happening?”
The report noted that while it is not unusual for Hunter Biden to be around the White House for events, his participation in meetings with top aides is not a common occurrence.
Fresh off a conviction last month in a federal court in Delaware over gun charges, Hunter Biden remains under indictment for tax-related felonies. Like the case in Delaware, the president’s son has pleaded not guilty to those charges.
Hunter Biden was also reported to be one of the biggest advocates for his father staying in the race during a gathering at Camp David in the aftermath of the president’s poor debate performance, with some critics arguing the president using his son as a top adviser has become a conflict of interest.
“It’s just a pure and simple massive interest in his dad staying president so he can pardon not only Hunter, but Joe and the rest of the family for the crimes they committed, and probably Merrick Garland, too, for his role in the cover-up,” Mike Howell, the executive director of the Oversight Project at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital’s Michael Lee contributed to this report.
Forward Party co-founder Andrew Yang on Wednesday told “Fox & Friends” that the “dam is about to break” as more Democratic voices come forward to demand that President Biden step aside.
Yang, who ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination in 2020, said Biden should let go of his party’s nomination in 2024 “for the good of the country.”
“I think that the Democratic Party has a lot of talent. I think there are reasonable governors around the country, by the way, I think he’s meeting with a number of those governors today.”
Yang predicted that Democrats will have an open convention in August and floated several names as possible replacements for Biden, including Governors Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan.
“I think that’s healthy for democracy,” Yang said. “The fact is, a majority of voters were concerned about Joe before the debate. Now, it’s a clear majority. And he talks about defending democracy. I think democracy would have been better served if we had a real primary. But a contested convention, at least, is still much better than coronation of a candidate that, in this case, is best served by following George Washington’s example and stepping aside for the good of the country.”
Former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley dunked on ABC’s George Stephanopoulos after their tense exchange last year about President Biden’s mental acuity resurfaced on Tuesday.
During an interview last August on “Good Morning America,” Haley repeated her assertion that “a vote for Joe Biden is a vote for Kamala Harris.”
“There’s no way Joe Biden is gonna finish his term,” Haley said, “I think Kamala Harris is gonna be the next president and that should send a chill up every American spine. But also think the fact that we have a primary-“
“Excuse me, excuse me,” Stephanopoulos interrupted with a scowl on his face. “How do you know Joe Biden’s not gonna finish his term? What is that based on?”
“Ask Americans, do you think he’s gonna finish his term? Do you think that he’s actually gonna finish what he started?” Haley responded. “We look at the decline he’s had over the last few years. You have to be honest with the American people, George. There’s no way that Joe Biden is gonna finish out a next term. We can’t have an 81-year-old president. We have to have a new generational leader. The Senate has become the most privileged nursing home in the country. We’ve got to start making sure we have a new generation. Everybody feels that- Republicans, Democrats and independents feel that, and it’s time that the media acknowledge that.”
“You all want to talk about Joe Biden and Donald Trump, we want to talk about the future of this country. That’s what we have to start doing,” she added.
“Again, you didn’t answer the question,” Stephanopoulos pushed back. “What evidence you have that he’s not gonna finish the term? What Americans feel has no basis on whether he’s gonna finish his term or not.”
“I mean, if you look at the decline… every person should be able to tell what country they were in the week before. He couldn’t do that,” Haley told the anchor. “Every person should be able to tell how many grandkids they have. It’s the reason I’ve asked for mental competency tests for anyone over the age of 75. I don’t care if we do it for over the age of 50! But we need to understand that the people in DC, they’re making decisions on our national security. They’re making decisions on the future of our children’s economic policy. We need to make sure we’ve got someone at the top of their game. Joe Biden is not at the top of his game. You know it. I know it. The American people know it.”
Haley took a victory lap on social media after their exchange went viral.
“Believe me now, George?” Haley taunted the liberal anchor.
Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this update.
Republican National Committee Co-Chair Lara Trump
said the governors who are scheduled to meet with President Biden on Wednesday must want to “see for themselves” whether the aged president remains fit for office.
Trump joined “Fox & Friends First” on Wednesday morning to discuss the fallout from Biden’s disastrous debate performance last week, which has Democrats in full panic ahead of the November election.
“I think a lot of these governors right now are feeling what probably, Joey, most Democrats are, which is that there is a stench and a stain right now on the Democrat Party in the eyes of the American people,” Trump said.
“People look at this party now and they say, wait a minute. There are so many people who knew how bad things had gotten with Joe Biden. And yet, they came out and they lied to the American people about it. Many of them, by the way, are continuing to lie about Joe Biden’s fitness for office right now.”
“Joe Biden is the anchor around the neck of the Democrat [sic] Party right now. It is a disaster for them.”
Former President Trump’s campaign says it has out raised President Biden over the past three months and showcases that it has more cash-on-hand.
Trump’s campaign announced on Tuesday that it and the Republican National Committee hauled in a staggering $331 million during the April through June second quarter of 2024 fundraising, topping the massive $264 million raked in by the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee the past three months.
And the former president’s campaign spotlighted that it had $284.9 million in its coffers as of the end of June, compared to $240 million for Biden.
But Biden hauled in $127 million in June fundraising, topping the $111.8 million Trump raised last month.
“President Trump’s campaign fundraising operation is thriving day after day and month after month. Winning this quarter brought us a cash on hand advantage, which is punctuated by a Biden burn rate that grows while yielding no tangible results for them,” Trump co-campaign managers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles emphasized in a statement.
The Trump and Biden campaign cash reports were released as the president’s campaign tries to flip the script on the brutal narrative coming out of last week’s first debate.
Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this update.
President Biden’s dismal debate performance has sparked panic in the Democratic Party, and now several voters from across the country told Fox News Digital they think Biden should step aside for a new candidate.
“Pass the torch,” Chicago resident Kareem said. “I don’t think he’s doing the things that he’s supposed to be doing.”
Rohan from Florida agreed that the Democrats should “do a swap out.”
“I don’t think [Biden’s] running the show,” Rohan said. “I think that there’s people behind him that are running the show right now, and I find that pretty troubling.”
But Trey from Nebraska said Biden has made decisions to “progress America and at least move us forward.”
“He’s definitely not where I’d want him to be, but I’d rather have a candidate who’s a little sleepy when he has a cold than a candidate with 34 convicted felonies,” Trey said while visiting Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
President Biden is facing calls from prominent network figures, columnists and allies in the media to drop out of the race — but many have stopped short of asking the commander in chief to step down as president despite concerns about his age and mental acuity.
Liberal journalist Jonathan Alter echoed the sentiments of a bevy of media voices who soured on Biden’s candidacy following his widely panned debate performance, writing that the president is “too old to serve” and Democrats should hold an open convention.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Alter said, “I believe the Democrats need a different nominee in order to beat Donald Trump and save the republic from a dangerous man who is bent on destroying it.”
“Biden is too old to be the candidate and to be president until 2029 but he is not too old to serve out his term,” he added.
After the debate, the New York Times’ Maureen Dowd compared Biden to former President Trump and suggested the president was being selfish by remaining in the race.
“He’s putting himself ahead of the country. He’s surrounded by opportunistic enablers,” Dowd said. “He has created a reality distortion field where we’re told not to believe what we’ve plainly seen. His hubris is infuriating. He says he’s doing this for us, but he’s really doing it for himself.”
Dowd wrote that Biden has “clearly been declining” for the last couple of years and “looked ghostly” with a “trepidatious gait” at the debate. She also suggested that Biden did not just have an “off night” and called his blitz towards re-election an “extraordinarily risky bet.”
When asked if Biden was fit to perform his duties for the remainder of his term, Dowd referred Fox News Digital to her column and did not provide further comment.
Fox News Digital’s Nikolas Lanum contributed to this update.
Several New York Times writers have come out urging President Biden to drop out of the 2024 race since the debate.
Alhtough the Time’s editorial board already called on Biden to “leave the race” shortly after his first presidential debate with Donald Trump, other writers recently offered their own calls for Biden to be replaced.
Liberal Times columnist Thomas Friedman topped NYT’s opinion page on Tuesday with his latest piece, “President Biden: Teach Them How to Say Goodbye.” In the article, he suggested Biden step down because it is “what Trump fears most right now.”
“He fears that Biden will demonstrate the difference between a leader and a party who put the country first and a leader and a party who put themselves first, namely Trump and the Republicans who enable him despite knowing how many of Trump’s former advisers say he is unfit for office, despite knowing that Trump tried to overturn the last election, despite knowing that Trump has articulated no real plan for the country’s future other than ‘retribution’ against all who crossed him and his followers,” Friedman wrote.
Times columnist Michelle Goldberg, who said Biden was “too old” to run again in 2022, called on the Democratic Party to at least consider the idea of replacing Biden instead of “resigning ourselves to our current disastrous trajectory.”
“Finding a Biden alternative would be risky and messy, and there’s no guarantee that it would work better than trying to put on a brave face and drag the current president across the finish line. But the Democratic Party’s leaders — the people, let’s remember, who got us into this mess — have no right to condescend to those trying to find a way out,” Goldberg wrote.
Fellow Times columnist Pamela Paul implored Biden to step out of the race as a moral decision since he is “no longer the man” to stop Trump.
“Almost everyone agrees that, above all, Biden is a good man. But in refusing to do the right thing and drop out of this race in favor of an open contest, he is not being a good man right now,” Paul wrote.
She added, “Give us the opportunity to thank you for your service and bid you goodbye while you still stand on high ground.”
The New York Times editorial board was notably one of the earliest high-profile publications to call for Biden to drop out, claiming that continuing his bid would be a “reckless gamble.”
Fox News Digital’s Lindsay Kornick contributed to this update.
A new national poll indicates that three-quarters of voters say the Democratic Party would have a better chance of keeping the White House with someone else other than President Biden at the top of the party’s ticket.
And the survey, released Tuesday by CNN
, suggests that Vice President Kamala Harris performs slightly better than Biden in a matchup with former President Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee.
The new poll was conducted entirely after Biden’s extremely rough performance during last Thursday’s face-to-face showdown between the two major party contenders.
According to the poll, 75% of voters and 56% of Democratic-aligned voters say the Democratic Party would have a better shot at keeping control of the presidency if Biden is replaced as the party’s standard-bearer.
By comparison, 60% of voters and 83% of Republican-aligned voters questioned said the GOP has a better chance of winning the presidential election with Trump as the nominee than with someone else.
Trump holds a six-point – 49%-43% – lead over Biden among registered voters nationwide, which is unchanged from CNN’s previous poll in April. And it’s consistent with Trump’s lead in CNN polling dating back to last autumn.
But the vice president trails Trump by just two points – 47%-45% – in a hypothetical matchup, according to the poll.
Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser and Rémy Numa contributed to this update.
President Biden’s weak first debate may not prove to be his ultimate undoing if history is a barometer. Incumbents often struggle to find their footing but, in the end, win re-election.
Biden Campaign Chairwoman Jen O’Malley Dillon pointed to history to defend the president’s performance, telling NBC in an interview that “every incumbent president that I can remember in my lifetime has had a s—– first debate.”
“Obviously, the stakes are higher for us because we are up against Donald Trump,” she continued. “Obviously, we have more work to do because the president is 81, but it was also a terrible debate in 2012. I was there. I remember it clearly.”
Dillon argued that June was early enough in the campaign cycle for Biden to correct course as several of his predecessors have managed to do.
Presidents Obama, Bush 43, and Reagan each faced scathing reviews of their performance against challengers as they sought, and ultimately won, re-election.
Brett O’Donnell, a Republican communications strategist and president of O’Donnell & Associates, told Fox News Digital that sitting presidents can effectively get lost in the weeds on policy and major issues facing the country and “don’t take debate prep seriously.”
“They deal with these issues in a very deep way, more so than they did as candidates, as president,” O’Donnell said. “So, I think they confuse knowing the issues with being able to perform in a presidential debate.
“I call it the incumbent trap, and it actually goes back further than that because Carter’s first debate with Reagan was a disaster. So, these guys — the incumbents — seem to … they forget the importance of performance as they need to know issues.”
Fox News Digital’s Peter Aitken contributed to this update.
President Biden’s lackluster debate performance has turned the spotlight to Vice President Kamala Harris, who has started to show off a more visible campaign role as November approaches.
Harris suddenly figures to play a defining role in the campaign down the stretch, a turnaround for a vice president that many critics have panned as a potential liability for Democrats in November.
The negativity surrounding Harris even garnered calls for the vice president to step away from the campaign as recently as March, and one Washington Post column called on Harris to “step aside” for “the country’s sake.”
Now, some have speculated Harris could take over at the top of the ticket after Biden’s debate performance. The vice president’s visibility already started to increase before last week.
Media outlets have taken notice, leading to an avalanche of positive press for the vice president in recent months. Harris was called “Biden’s secret weapon in North Carolina” in a report in The Hill, which noted the vice president made her fifth trip to the battleground state last month and has led the outreach to Black communities, a largely Democratic demographic Biden has struggled to court in his rematch with former President Trump.
“She’s one of the administration’s best spokespeople to the Black community,” Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons told The Hill. “The president has been making the case to the Black community as well, but obviously the VP has a different kind of appeal.”
A February report in the Los Angeles Times declared that Harris had finally “found her groove,” citing the vice president’s appeal to younger voters and her voice on issues such as abortion.
“She’s become a top fundraiser for Democrats, an emissary to groups that are lukewarm toward President Biden — in particular Black and younger voters — and emerged as the administration’s most forceful voice on abortion, women’s health and, as Harris frames it, the threat Trump poses to freedom and individual choice,” the story said.
A few months later, a New York Times report declared the “Harris moment has arrived,” calling her the “perfect messenger” for the campaign for issues such as “reproductive rights.”
Some polls have seemingly caught on to the vice president’s strengthening position, with a Politico/Morning Consult poll conducted last month finding the vice president gaining strength with key demographics, including a 67% favorable rating among Black voters.
The poll represented a turnaround for Harris, who had trailed Biden with Black voters going back to the 2020 primary. But she now leads the president in the crucial Democratic voting bloc by four points.
Fox News Digital’s Michael Lee contributed to this update.
Plans are in the works for President Biden to meet on Wednesday with the nation’s Democrat governors in the wake of Biden’s rough performance during last Thursday’s first debate with former President Trump.
Multiple Democratic sources confirmed that the meeting, which is likely to be virtual, was in the process of being scheduled.
The encounter comes after Democrat governors on Monday huddled on a conference call.
Multiple Democrat sources confirmed to Fox News that Democrat governors yesterday held a call to discuss the latest developments regarding President Biden’s 2024 rematch with Trump.
Biden, who at age 81 is the oldest president in the nation’s history, is facing the roughest stretch of his bid for a second term in the White House. This, after his halting delivery and stumbling answers at the debate, sparked widespread panic in the Democratic Party and spurred calls from political pundits, editorial writers and some party politicians and donors for Biden to step aside as the party’s 2024 standard-bearer.
Monday’s call was organized by Democratic Governors Association (DGA) Chair Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota
Sources familiar with the call described it as a forum where the governors discussed how to respond to last week’s debate but that there was no serious talk of urging the president to step aside. One source characterized it as a “gripe session.”
Sources also told Fox News that the Biden campaign was aware of the call ahead of time.
“Democratic governors are some of the President and Vice President’s most proactive and vocal supporters because they’ve seen how the Biden-Harris Administration’s accomplishments are directly benefiting their residents. The Biden/Harris team is in constant communication with the governors and their teams, including about yesterday’s meeting,” a national Democratic official familiar with the call who asked for anonymity to speak more freely told Fox News.
Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this update.
Insurance giant seeking massive rate hikes as state’s coverage crisis escalates
State Farm is looking to raise insurance rates for some California customers by more than 50% as the insurance giant weighs its future in The Golden State.
In a filing to the California Department of Insurance, the company’s subsidiary in the state requested to hike homeowners insurance policies by 30%, condo policies by 36%, and renter’s policies by a whopping 52%.
“State Farm General Insurance Company (“State Farm General”) is working toward its long-term sustainability in California,” the company told FOX Business in a statement. “Rate changes are driven by increased costs and risk and are necessary for State Farm General to deliver on the promises the Company makes every day to its customers.”
State Farm is California’s largest home insurance provider, and the company has made a number of moves in recent years to pull back on its exposure in the state.
NATIONWIDE DROPPING PET INSURANCE FOR 100,000
The insurance giant announced last year that it would stop accepting new home insurance applications in California due to “historic” increases in construction costs and inflation.
Then in March, the company said that it would cut 72,000 home and apartment policies in the state because of inflation, regulatory costs and increasing risks from catastrophes. California’s insurance commissioner, Ricardo Lara, referred to the situation as “a crisis” at the time, and is now raising further concerns following the company’s new request for rate hikes.
HOME INSURANCE RATES HAVE SURGED NEARLY 40% SINCE 2019 – BUT THEY’RE RISING FASTEST IN THESE STATES
“State Farm General’s latest rate filings raise serious questions about its financial condition,” Lara said in a statement. “This has the potential to affect millions of California consumers and the integrity of our residential property insurance market.”
Lara emphasized that the rate increases would have to be approved by the California Department of Insurance. The DOI approved a 6.9% rate increase for State Farm in January 2023, and an intervenor group approved a 20% rate hike for State Farm homeowners and condo policies in December.
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“We will use all the Department’s investigatory tools to get to the bottom of State Farm’s financial situation,” Lara reiterated. “We take this process seriously.”
Pop star threatens to ‘bring down’ music industry, fears she will be ‘punished’ in cryptic post
Bebe Rexha attacked the music industry in a fiery series of X posts Tuesday.
Rexha, 34, first found success as a songwriter and has written hits for Eminem, Selena Gomez, Tyler Hubbard and Nick Jonas, to name a few. She’s released three of her own studio albums, in addition to appearing on numerous chart-topping singles.
The “Say My Name” singer, who has been with Warner Records since the beginning of her career, claimed she could “bring down a BIG chunk of this industry” in a series of posts.
BEBE REXHA SEEMINGLY EXPOSES FAT-SHAMING BOYFRIEND KEYAN SAFYARI
“I AM frustrated. I Have been UNDERMINED. I’ve been so quiet for the longest time,” Rexha wrote. “I haven’t seen the signs even though people constantly are bringing them up and they have been SO OBVIOUS. And when I have spoken up I’ve been silence and PUNISHED by this industry.
“Things must change or I’m telling ALL of my truths. The good the bad and the ugly.”
BEBE REXHA HOSPITALIZED AFTER BEING STUCK BY CELL PHONE DURING CONCERT, SUSPECT ARRESTED
Rexha’s representatives did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
She responded to one fan wondering “what happened again” with, “Again? You haven’t even heard 5 percent. You have NO IDEA.”
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One fan suggested, “nobody should be forgiven for the time they took your name out of Hey Mama.” Rexha simply responded, “My love. That? Compared to all the other stuff you don’t know about? That’s Child’s play.”
David Guetta’s 2015 song, “Hey Mama,” was co-written by Rexha, Guetta and a number of other people. While she was initially given a co-writer credit, she did not receive credit for vocals on the track, which also featured Nicki Minaj and Afrojack, a situation that’s since been rectified.
When asked what stopped the pop star from speaking out, she said, “THEY PUNISH YOU.”
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Another follower suggested Bebe was drumming up support for her latest single, “I’m The Drama,” a claim Rexha denied.
“Marketing? I have no budget for that. IM FED UP,” she wrote.
She did not reveal the source of her “sadness,” but the “I’m a Mess” singer assured her fans she appreciated their support.
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“This is not just coming from a place of anger. It’s sadness,” Rexha assured her fans. “I’m sitting in my hotel room in London Crying my eyes out. I’ve felt hopeless for the longest time. I’ve been walking a lot through this city and meeting fans and they have really ignited something inside of me.”
Couple’s wedding takes horrific turn after masked gunmen invade, shoot groom in the head
A day of celebration quickly took a dark turn after a groom was shot in the head by armed robbers during his backyard wedding reception in Missouri.
Manuel and Dulce Gonzalez had been together for over a decade and were already the parents of two small children when they held an intimate wedding ceremony for about 50 of their close friends and family in the backyard of their St. Louis home Friday, Fox 2 Now reported Monday.
Just before 1 a.m. on Saturday, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department responded to a home in Dutchtown for reports of a shooting.
Witnesses told police two masked gunmen entered the party and demanded money from guests, police said.
FAMILY OF SOUTH CAROLINA BRIDE KILLED ON HER WEDDING NIGHT AWARDED $1.3M SETTLEMENT
As one of the men was going through guests’ pockets, an armed man stood behind the groom with a gun pointed at him, police said.
At one point, police said a shot was fired, and Manuel was struck in the head.
FLORIDA MAN KILLED IN CHRISTMAS MORNING HIT-AND-RUN HOURS AFTER BEING BEST MAN IN DAD’S WEDDING
Both suspects fled on foot. They failed to steal anything from the victims.
“They took nothing, yet they took everything from us,” Yaribeth Pena, the bride’s sister, told FOX 2 Now.
NEWLYWED DIES IN CARIBBEAN HONEYMOON MISHAP DAYS AFTER TYING KNOT
Manuel was transported to a hospital and remains in critical condition.
“We need prayers that he will come through this,” the family said in a post on a GoFundMe page dedicated to the couple.
On Sunday, the family told FOX 2 police detectives had not yet collected all the evidence and hadn’t interviewed all the witnesses.
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“He’s a good father, a good husband to my sister. He’s a hard worker,” Pena said. “He’s just an all-around good person that — I don’t know — he didn’t deserve this.”
So far, no arrests have been made.
NBA star who went against the grain and stood for national anthem signs new deal
Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac, who famously stood for the national anthem while his other colleagues knelt before a game in the bubble in 2020, reportedly agreed to a contract extension on Tuesday.
Isaac and the Magic agreed to a five-year, $84 million contract extension, ESPN reported. It will keep the forward in Orlando through the 2028-29 season.
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The 26-year-old New York native played in 58 games during the 2023-24 season – the most he has played in since the 2018-19 season. He averaged 6.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. He earned votes for the NBA 6th Man of the Year Award.
However, Isaac caught the attention of the sports world when the NBA returned from the coronavirus pandemic and played games in a bubble atmosphere. Amid a summer of racial unrest, many players decided to take a knee during the national anthem to raise awareness about social injustice in the U.S. in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.
Isaac decided to stand for “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
BRONNY JAMES SAYS HE DIDN’T GET ‘THAT MUCH OF AN OPPORTUNITY’ TO ‘SHOWCASE WHAT I CAN REALLY DO’ AT USC
“For me, that was kind of the highlight of my early career of being in the NBA, was 2020. It was after the tragic death of George Floyd, and we were ushered into the NBA ‘bubble,’ where there was just so much pressure,” Isaac told OutKick contributor Riley Gaines on her “Gaines for Girls” podcast in October. Not even just in the bubble, but just around the world with the rise of the Black Lives Matter organization and movement.”
“For me, it was simply about offering another solution. I saw the issue. I saw the problem. I saw what happened to George Floyd. And as I listened to the tone and the rhetoric of the Black Lives Matter organization and movement, I never truly felt comfortable,” he added.
Isaac later tore his ACL in the bubble and missed the rest of the games. He spent the next two seasons on the bench recovering from the injury.
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He played in only 11 games in the 2022-23 season before finally becoming healthy last year.
Archaeologists unearth ancient relic believed to be tied to Moses, Ten Commandments
Archaeologists conducting excavations at the site of a church have unearthed a marble shrine containing a relic that they believe may be tied to Moses receiving the Ten Commandments.
The shrine contained a 1,500-year-old ivory box adorned with Christian motifs, according to an Innsbruck University press release.
The item was discovered by archaeologists from Innsbruck University in southern Austria under an altar inside a chapel at the summit of Burgbichl, a small hill, in the municipality of Irschen.
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Since 2016, archaeologists from the University of Innsbruck have been carrying out excavations in Irschen, which is a part of the Carinthian Drava Valley.
“We know of around 40 ivory boxes of this kind worldwide and, as far as I know, the last time one of these was found during excavations was around 100 years ago – the few pyxes that exist are either preserved in cathedral treasures or exhibited in museums,” Gerald Grabherr, the lead archaeologist, said in the release.
One motif shows a man turning his head with a hand rising out of the sky above him, placing something between the person’s arms, followed by depictions of biblical figures.
ARKANSAS PREACHER WHO WAS SHOT WHILE SHARING GOSPEL FORGIVES GUNMAN: ‘WE CAN’T HOLD BITTERNESS AND ANGER’
“This is the typical depiction of the handing over of the laws to Moses on Mount Sinai, the beginning of the covenant between God and man from the Old Testament,” said Grabherr.
The last motif depicts a man in a chariot with two horses harnessed to it. The motif also features the same hand coming out of the clouds, pulling this figure up into heaven.
“We assume that this is a depiction of the ascension of Christ, the fulfillment of the covenant with God. The depiction of scenes from the Old Testament and their connection with scenes from the New Testament is typical of late antiquity and thus fits in with our pyx; however, the depiction of the Ascension of Christ with a so-called biga, a two-horse chariot, is very special and previously unknown,” Grabherr said, according to the press release.
The researchers discovered two Christian churches, a cistern and the personal belongings of the settlement’s former inhabitants.
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Towards the end of the Roman Empire that when times were more uncertain, settlers resided on hilltops that were easier to defend, abandoning the valley, Grabherr said in the release.
Researchers are conducting further investigations into the origin of the ivory, the metallic components and the wooden parts that were also found in the marble box.
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“The archaeological and art-historical significance of the pyx cannot be denied,” said Grabherr.
Mother of drunk driving victim reacts to Justin Timberlake’s DWI joke
The mother of a drunken-driving crash victim is speaking out to express her disappointment after Justin Timberlake appeared to make light of his June 18 DWI during a Saturday show in Boston.
“So, uh, is there anyone here tonight that is driving — no, I’m just kidding,” he said during the show, seemingly joking that members of his own audience might be driving under the influence. He went on to thank his fans for 30 years of support.
The former *NSYNC star was charged with one count of driving while intoxicated along with citations for failure to keep right and failure to stop at a stop sign for the alleged drunken-driving that occurred after midnight in the Hamptons in New York last month.
Sheila Lockwood, whose 23-year-old son, Austin, was killed by a drunken driver in 2018, told Fox News Digital that Timberlake has one fewer fan after his comments in Boston.
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE BREAKS SILENCE ON DWI CHARGE AT CHICAGO CONCERT
The Moms Against Drunk Driving (MADD) national ambassador said “there is nothing funny about” the charges filed against the international pop star.
“It’s very disappointing. He has a huge platform that he could be using to bring awareness to this,” Lockwood said. “It is a national crisis. Every 79 seconds, someone’s killed or injured from drunk driving, and he’s standing on stage making a joke of it. It’s not funny.”
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Lockwood noted that Timberlake’s legal case is still ongoing and added that he “should have not mentioned anything about it at all” or instead taken “the opportunity to make it a teaching moment and raise awareness and admit that his choices were not good that night.”
“It’s not funny, and as a mom that has lost a son, it’s very disheartening. He lost a fan here. I don’t think it was appropriate, and there’s nothing funny about it. What message does it send to young fans?” she said.
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Thirty-seven people die of drunken driving per day in the United States, Lockwood noted. Her son Austin became one of those 37 people on June 8, 2018. He left Illinois that day, headed for Wisconsin to clean out an acquaintance’s cabin because he “would do anything for anybody,” she said.
He was driving with a friend that Saturday evening when the friend “decided to go over 70 miles an hour on a very dangerous tree-lined narrow road and slammed into a tree and took Austin’s life immediately,” Lockwood said. The driver was sentenced to three years in prison and four years of extended supervision.
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE’S RESPONSIBLE DRINKING COMMERCIAL WITH *NSYNC RESURFACES AFTER DWI ARREST
MADD CEO Stacey Stewart similarly told Fox News Digital that the organization as a whole is “profoundly disappointed by Justin Timberlake’s recent remarks at a concert where he made light of drunk driving, which is a serious crime that has devastating consequences.”
“Drunk driving fatalities have increased by 33% since 2019. More than 13,000 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes in 2022,” Stewart noted. “Impaired driving is never a laughing matter. It is alarming and disheartening when a public figure trivializes such a critical issue. Timberlake has a significant platform and the opportunity to influence millions. Rather than making a joke, he could use his voice to educate his audience about the dangers of impaired driving and encourage everyone to prioritize a safe ride home.”
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Stewart added that MADD is looking toward different solutions to “end this worsening public health crisis,” including “impaired driving prevention technology” in all new vehicles through the federal HALT Act.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Timberlake’s lawyer and his media representatives.
History of Jack Smith’s courtroom smackdowns after landmark loss in immunity case
Special prosecutor Jack Smith suffered two major legal setbacks this week after the Supreme Court ruled against his efforts in two pending cases.
On Monday, the high court ruled that presidents enjoy limited immunity for official presidential actions. On Friday, the high court ruled in favor of a Jan. 6 defendant charged with obstruction for his involvement in the 2021 Capitol riot.
Both decisions significantly set back Smith’s case against former President Trump and add to an already checkered legal track record.
Smith was appointed in 2022 by Attorney General Merrick Garland to oversee an investigation into whether Trump was involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and any alleged interference in the 2020 election result.
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Smith charged Trump with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.
He had pushed to try Trump before the 2024 election, but the Supreme Court’s decisions provided a setback to the trial schedule and a blow to the legal merits of the case.
“I think a big problem is that prosecutors in general often overcharge, partially because it puts a lot of pressure on defendants to accept a plea deal,” John Shu, a constitutional attorney who served in both Bush administrations, told Fox News Digital.
“Jack Smith long has had a reputation, both at (the Eastern District of New York) and main Justice, of being a hyper-aggressive prosecutor. What makes him unusual is that he seems willing to overstretch the meaning and intent of the law in order to meet his conviction and high sentencing goals.”
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From 2010 to 2015, Smith served under Obama’s Attorney General, Eric Holder, leading the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section.
Prior to the Supreme Court’s rulings in the Trump-related cases this term, Smith has incurred more than one high-profile loss.
Most notably, in 2016, he scored a conviction against former Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell on corruption charges. But that conviction was unanimously overturned in an 8-0 ruling by the Supreme Court.
“There is no doubt that this case is distasteful; it may be worse than that. But our concern is not with tawdry tales of Ferraris, Rolexes, and ball gowns. It is instead with the broader legal implications of the Government’s boundless interpretation of the federal bribery statute,” the court wrote.
The court in that decision warned that the “uncontrolled power of criminal prosecutors is a threat to our separation of power.”
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In 2012, Smith charged and prosecuted John Edwards, a former senator and Democratic vice presidential candidate, a prosecution Smith decisively lost. Jurors voted to acquit Edwards of several felony violations of federal campaign finance laws.
In 2017, Smith prosecuted Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., on public corruption charges, which resulted in a mistrial.
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Shu says Supreme Court precedent should have signaled to Smith “to avoid misusing its obstruction provision,” and that the high court’s ruling was “predictable.”
“However, practically — and politically — Smith’s strategy was understandable because DOJ charged hundreds of defendants under those obstruction provisions, including the Jan. 6 defendants,” Shu said.
“Politically, Smith had to charge Trump with [obstruction] because all of those other Jan. 6 defendants also were charged, which underscores the toxic and damaging effects of injecting politics into criminal law prosecutions.”
A representative for Smith did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.