Architect of Obama victory hits Biden with stark reality check about ‘Father Time’
Ex-Obama adviser David Axelrod argued that President Biden is slated to lose the election to former President Trump in an interview with CNN on Sunday night.
Multiple media figures and Biden allies have called on the president to withdraw from the race after a shaky debate performance last month.
“There are certain immutable facts of life,” Axelrod said in an interview with CNN while discussing Biden’s age and leadership. “Those were painfully obvious on that debate stage. The president just … hasn’t come to grips with it. He’s not winning this race.”
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“He seems not to grasp what the big concern is that people have,” Axelrod said.
Axelrod, who formerly served as President Obama’s chief campaign strategist, said that Biden is used to fighting “his way back from political defeats and against the odds.”
“So his psyche is that he can beat anybody and any long odds,” the strategist said. “What he can’t beat is Father Time.”
“And that’s really the concern here. It’s not about his record,” Axelrod continued.
Biden will turn 82 in November and is already the oldest president in American history.
“Donald Trump is an almost unprecedentedly flawed candidate in so many ways and represents, I do believe, as the president says, a real danger to democracy,” Axelrod said. “But the one person that no one can outrun is Father Time.”
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Axelrod said that political experts he has spoken with about Biden’s candidacy are predicting that it’s “more likely” that the president will “lose by a landslide than narrowly win this race.”
“And if the stakes are as large as [Biden] says, and I believe they are, then he really needs to consider what the right thing to do here is,” Axelrod said.
Axelrod also called out Biden for his post-debate interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in CNN op-ed and accused him of “denial, delusion and defiance.” Biden did not appear to calm concerns in the 22-minute sitdown, his first interview since the debate debacle that has set off an unprecedented party panic with less than four months until the election.
“Biden could be excused for wanting to put his awful debate performance in the rearview mirror,” Axelrod wrote. “That was his purpose Friday in sitting down for the interview — to try and quell the panic that has gripped the Democratic Party.”
“He didn’t succeed,” Axelrod wrote.
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The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Poll compares whether Trump, Hunter Biden should get prison sentences
A new poll has found that Americans are more divided over whether President Trump should face prison time compared to Hunter Biden following their respective convictions in criminal trials.
The survey of 1,088 U.S. adults conducted by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research from June 20-24 revealed that 48% of adults believe Trump should head to prison after being found guilty in New York of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, while 50% said he should not.
Of those polled, nearly 8 of every 10 Democrats believe Trump should be placed behind bars, compared to only around 1 of every 10 Republicans. About half, 49%, of independents say he should, and 46% say he should not.
Trump’s sentencing has been delayed from Thursday, three days before the Republican National Convention opens, to September at the earliest – when early voting in multiple states will already be underway.
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The poll also found that Americans are less divided over whether Hunter Biden should go to prison after being convicted of three felonies in federal court for lying about drug use when purchasing a gun.
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Six in 10 U.S. adults approve of Hunter Biden’s conviction, with much smaller political differences: About 6 in 10 Democrats approve, as do around 7 in 10 Republicans, according to The Associated Press.
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About 6 in 10 U.S. adults also believe Hunter Biden should be sentenced to serve time in prison because of his conviction in this case, with Republicans slightly more likely than Democrats to agree that prison time is warranted.
Homeowner ‘devastated’ after property tax bill skyrockets to unmanageable amount
A suburban Chicago homeowner was “devastated” when a clerical error made his property tax bill skyrocket from $1,800 to over $30,000, but local reports say he isn’t the only victim.
“I was literally devastated,” the homeowner, Darryl Lloyd, told FOX 32 in Chicago.
Lloyd lives in Chicago Heights, an unincorporated Chicago metropolitan area suburb where he purchased his 1950s home for $115,000 in 2006.
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According to the Daily Mail, the single-floor home is 960 square feet and valued at approximately $180,000. An erroneous property assessment, however, brought its value to over $1 million.
“There’s nothing over here worth anything near $1 million,” he told the local media outlet of his neighborhood.
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The outlet reported that a representative from the Cook County Assessor’s Office acknowledged a permit had been erroneously added to Lloyd’s property, creating the sharply inflated number and, though the window to appeal that tax bill has passed, they plan to process a corrected bill for the property soon.
At the same time, thousands of other Chicagoans have seen property tax errors, according to an analysis released by the Cook County Treasurer’s Office.
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“More than a month before tax bills were to be mailed, the Assessor’s Office acknowledged it erred in calculating land values for more than 4,400 homes in the south and southwest suburbs. That led to severe overassessments for homes on larger plots of land,” the analysis read.
“The errors were discovered too late in the process for them to be corrected before tax bills were calculated, printed and mailed. The 4,400 erroneous bills were put on hold pending corrections, with the hope they could still be completed by the July 2 mailing deadline,” it continued.
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Blue city hosting DNC makes public plea for help weeks before VIP arrivals
Chicago’s explosive Fourth of July weekend left 19 people dead and more than 100 others wounded in shootings, including multiple mass shootings, across the Windy City in a four-day span, according to police.
The victims included two women, Neekshia Strong, 45, and Capri Edwards, 24, who lost their lives shielding children from gunfire on Independence Day, FOX 32 Chicago reported. Bullets struck all three of the boys with them, ages 5, 8 and 8. One of the boys died.
“There was also a 1-year-old at that location inside the home, who luckily and thankfully was not harmed but was traumatized by the event,” Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling told reporters during a Monday morning news briefing.
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Those victims were all from a single shooting. Police responded to dozens over the weekend, including an incident in Little Italy that left eight people wounded between the ages of 18 and 74.
We need every single person to step up. We need people to start coming forward. We need people to take responsibility. Help us help you. We want to take these people off the street.
“These are not just numbers on pages, these are not just headlines in the news,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said during the briefing. “No, these are our fellow Chicagoans, our neighbors, family members, who’ve lost their lives.”
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Snelling slammed the “brazenness” of a suspect who could barge into a home and shoot at women and children and repeatedly called on residents to come forward with information.
“Just think about that again, children who are being shot in our city,” he said. “Somebody knows something. Somebody knows who the offenders are in these cases, and it’s really important that we work with our communities and our communities understand that we’re trying to work with [them].”
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He also took a subtle swipe at some of Illinois’ progressive bail reforms that allow more suspects out of jail before their trials and said his focus is on the victims.
“We have to take them off the street, and we have to keep them off the street so they don’t destroy other families,” he said.
Johnson vowed consequences for violent criminals and placed the blame on “generations of disinvestment” and illegally purchased firearms, which he said are fueling a culture of violence in Chicago, using the example of a 16-year-old with an AK-47.
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Someone like that has a history of violence long before they unlawfully obtain a weapon, he said.
“We will not let criminal activity ruin and harm our city,” he added.
In just over a month, the city will host the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
Leaders are hoping to keep the city’s violence problem out of view during the event, with cordoned-off safe zones and a huge increase in security.
While murders have declined two years in a row after rising in 2020 and 2021, violent crime as a whole, led by soaring robberies, has climbed in the Windy City, police statistics show. Yearly car thefts nearly tripled between 2020 and 2023 from 9,910 to 29,287.
‘Mass brawl’ forces plane to make emergency landing after just 36 minutes
A Ryanair “flight from hell” was diverted for an emergency landing just 36 minutes after takeoff due to a “mass brawl” that broke out between travelers aboard the aircraft, according to passengers.
The flight departed from Agadir, Morocco, to London on Wednesday when the disturbance broke out mid-flight, the Sun reported.
“It was so stressful. It was like the flight from hell,” an unnamed passenger told the outlet. “And it all escalated from that one passenger wanting to change seats.”
The passenger described how a male passenger had asked a female passenger to switch seats with him so he could sit closer to his family. The woman, who was sitting with her daughter, refused, which triggered an outburst from the man.
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The woman’s husband came to her defense, and the two men came to blows, according to the passenger, who described a subsequent “snowball effect” that led to a “mass brawl.”
“They were trying to punch each other,” the 36-year-old passenger told the outlet. “One of the families was part of a larger group, so other passengers started to join in. Then a lady in the row behind started to have a panic attack because of everything going on. She was screaming and there were kids crying.”
During the chaos, the passenger said a male traveler became ill, and the cabin crew gave him oxygen before landing in Marrakesh, Morocco.
Ryanair told Fox News Digital in a statement that a “small group” of passengers became “disruptive” and that another passenger had become ill during the incident, forcing the pilot to divert to Marrakesh and call ahead for both medical and police assistance.
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Local authorities removed the disruptive passengers while airport medics treated the ill passenger, who the airline confirmed had received oxygen.
When medics determined that the ill passenger was not fit to fly, the passenger refused to leave the plane and became abusive toward the crew, the airline said. Police also removed that passenger from the plane.
The airline said that the disruptions and the subsequent removal of the passengers lasted nearly two hours, forcing the airline to delay the flight until the next day.
All affected passengers were provided with overnight accommodation and transport before the flight eventually departed the following day.
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“We sincerely apologize to passengers for this diversion and subsequent delay caused by a small group of disruptive passengers, which was out of Ryanair’s control,” Ryanair said in the statement.
Vulnerable Dem breaks silence on Biden’s fitness to serve, makes demand
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said President Biden needs to prove his ability to serve a second term in the White House, joining a group of Democratic lawmakers scrutinizing the president after a lackluster debate performance last month and a sit-down interview that failed to calm concerns.
“President Biden has got to prove to the American people – including me – that he’s up to the job for another four years,” Tester said in a statement Monday.
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“Meanwhile, I’ll continue to do what I’ve always done: Stand up to President Biden when he’s wrong and protect our Montana way of life,” he added.
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Tester is up for re-election to the Senate in red state Montana, which was won twice by former President Trump.
The statement from the Montana Democrat on Biden and his ability to serve another four years came more than a week after Biden’s poor debate showing and several days following his ABC News interview.
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Tester’s campaign previously did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital after the debate.
In the past, the Democratic senator has sounded sure of Biden’s fitness as president, saying last year he was “absolutely 100% with it.”
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Tester stands a significant chance of being unseated come November, with Republican entities putting substantial resources into backing Senate candidate Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL. Cook Political Report rates the race as a “Toss Up.”
The president of the National Education Association (NEA) was mocked over the weekend for giving a “totally unhinged” speech that reminded critics of a comedy skit from a famous American TV show.
NEA President Becky Pringle banged on the podium, flailed her hands in the air and screamed about winning “all the things” repeatedly at the NEA’s Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly (RA) in Philadelphia. X critics compared the moment to an iconic scene with Dwight Schrute from “The Office.”
During the screechy speech, Pringle called for transformative social justice change in the education system in the pursuit of equity.
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“To unite not just our members, but the nation to reclaim public education as a common good, as the foundation of our democracy, and then transform it into something it was never designed to be—a racially and socially just and equitable system,” Pringle said. “We worked hard to rid ourselves of a tyrannical, deceitful, and corrupt White House, but the reality is that the seeds that were sown during that horrible season continue to germinate.”
“We are the ones who help shape the heart of this nation’s hope and dreams. We are the ones who hold steadfast to the belief in the plausibility of the possible. We are the heirs of all who did this work before us. We must keep going. NEA Delegates, we can do this work. We must do this work,” she added.
“Our students are depending on us to win all the things,” Pringle said, while continuing her screechy pitch. “All the things! All the things! All the things.”
Critics, such as school choice advocate Corey DeAngelis called her speech “off-the-rails” and compared it to a scene from “The Office.”
“These power-hungry control freaks think they own your kids. They’re in a cult that worships government and detests parents. It’s time to defund teachers unions and allow the money to follow the child,” Corey DeAngelis told Fox News Digital. “Becky Pringle pulled a Dwight Schrute. She is off-the-rails and desperate to maintain control over the minds of other people’s children.”
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The creators of Dwight’s speech based his over-the-top performance upon real speeches by Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
“Blood alone moves the wheels of history!” Schrute said in the episode. “It has been a lifetime struggle. A never-ending fight. I say to you, and you will understand that it is a privilege to fight! We are warriors!… Rise and be worthy of this historical hour! No revolution is worth anything unless it can defend itself! …We must never acquiesce, for it is together, TOGETHER, THAT WE PREVAIL!
Critics said Pringle’s speech carried similar screechy riffs and mannerisms. Pringle proposed transforming the education system with social justice.
“Her overwrought, hyper-partisan tirade amounted to an advertisement for school choice,” said Heritage Foundation research fellow, Jason Bedrick, in a statement to Fox News Digital.
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“During her speech, Pringle claimed the NEA would ‘continue to embrace the profound trust that has been placed in’ them. Apparently, she hasn’t seen the polls showing record-low public trust in public schools,” he added. “Even Pringle’s over-the-top, Dwight Schrute-like theatrics can’t distract from her union’s role in the dismal state of education in this country, from keeping schools closed for far too long during COVID, to shielding bad teachers from accountability–all at the expense of students’ learning.”
Political consultant, Matt Dole, reached a similar conclusion, believing the fictitious Schrute was Pringle’s “speech coach.”
It wasn’t the first time critics drew the comparison.
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During last year’s RA speech, the National Review’s Jack Crowe said, “Pringle believes she’s a revolutionary; that is the only conclusion to be drawn from the truly unhinged speech she delivered.”
“Channeling Dwight Schrute, Pringle urges her colleagues, not to raise the nation’s embarrassing reading and math scores, no, but to ‘fight for freedom,’ the National Review added.
Fox News Digital contacted the NEA for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Inside Livvy Dunne’s surprise for her baseball star boyfriend after he lands major honor
Olivia “Livvy” Dunne could not have been more ecstatic to find out her boyfriend, Pittsburgh Pirates rookie phenom Paul Skenes, made the NL All-Star team after just 10 starts in his big league career.
Dunne wanted to surprise Skenes with a small celebration of pizza and champagne after the news dropped on Sunday, as MLB released the pitchers, reserves and complete rosters for the All-Star Game, which will be held at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on July 16.
The LSU gymnast posted several times on social media about Skenes’ All-Star selection, which made MLB history as he was the first player ever to be selected No. 1 overall and then granted All-Star honors the following year.
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First, Dunne simply shared MLB’s post about Skenes being selected for the game, captioning it, “he’s an ALL STAR!”
She then revealed in a second Instagram Story that she had a surprise being cooked up for Skenes – gold letter balloons that spelled out “ALL STAR” with the pizza and champagne on the kitchen counter.
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Dunne, sporting a long black dress in her TikTok video, gave a look at the surprise she had in store for Skenes.
Once he came home, he was all smiles as he saw what Dunne had ready for him. They both hugged in the kitchen, celebrating another milestone moment in what has been a fantastic start to Skenes’ baseball career.
Skenes, 22, made his MLB debut on May 11 this season against the Chicago Cubs, when he set down seven hitters by strike out over four innings. Since then, he has been one of the best pitchers in baseball, using his electric stuff on the mound to generate a 2.12 ERA over 10 starts.
Skenes flashes a triple-digit fastball on the radar gun with filthy breaking pitches that has troubled big league hitters as much as it did in college with the Tigers.
Skenes has struck out 78 hitters already, while walking just 12 over 59.1 innings.
“You definitely can’t expect it,” Skenes said of his All-Star Game bid, per the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “I think it’s just a product of being present and doing the work that it takes, that kind of thing. The expectation was definitely to win the national championship when we were there. That was the only thing that we wanted to do.
“But in terms of getting drafted first overall, getting called up whenever I was called up, and now the All-Star game, there were no expectations for me. It’s kind of just about doing as much as I can and allowing others to make the decision for me.”
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Skenes and Dunne both hope this is just the first of many to come, but they are certainly making the best of this moment, one they surely will not forget as the All-Star Game fast approaches next week.