Internet erupts after Biden quickly tosses to first lady at first Cabinet meeting in months
Social media erupted after First Lady Jill Biden presented at what may be one of President Biden’s final Cabinet meetings in the White House.
Biden convened his Cabinet on Friday for the first time since Oct. 2, 2023 – this time with the first lady joining him to speak about the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research.
The president explained Jill Biden’s presence there, saying, “Here and across previous administrations, first ladies have attended these meetings for specific reasons. This is the first time Jill has joined us, and it goes to show how important the issue is, which she is about to speak to.”
He concluded by handing off to his wife, saying, “It’s all yours, kid.”
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The New York Post reported that Jill Biden, seated at the head of the Cabinet Room’s board table, “read from a binder about maternal health initiatives for four-and-a-half minutes after her husband spoke for just two minutes off the top of the meeting.”
The president traditionally sits at the center of the table with Cabinet members seated in order of the founding of their departments. The last sitting first lady to attend her husband’s Cabinet meeting appears to be Hillary Clinton.
The amount of influence the first lady has over Joe Biden, and therefore his administration, has been a frequent source of controversy, and numerous commentators took to social media to criticize her presence at the meeting.
The New York Post said that Jill Biden is “considered by insiders to be the most influential first lady since Edith Wilson, who tightly controlled access to her husband, President Woodrow Wilson, after he suffered a debilitating stroke in October 1919.”
Digital strategist Greg Price referenced this comparison, saying, “She’s literally Edith Wilson except right out in the open in a 24/7 news cycle and nobody in the media cares.”
“Wow. A visibly exhausted Joe Biden just held a full Cabinet meeting for the first time in 11 months and immediately turned the mic over to his wife, Jill,” previous adviser to former President Donald Trump Steve Cortes said. He went on to ask, “Who is running the country?”
Political commentator Kate Hyde observed, “Jill Biden is kicking off the first cabinet meeting the White House has had in almost a year and we’re expected to act like this is normal.”
“Jill Biden is the head of the table at the cabinet meeting. No one voted for her to be there… this must be part of her deal to have Joe drop out of the race,” podcaster Tim Young speculated. “She has no reason to be there.”
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The co-founder of The Federalist, Sean Davis, sarcastically quipped, “I wasn’t aware that our constitutional system of government bestowed any power whatsoever to the unelected wife of the figurehead president.”
“It’s insane that the world’s #1 nuclear superpower just sort of stumbled its way into a power vacuum,” The Hill columnist T. Becket Adams mused. “It’s even more insane that the vacuum has been filled by the former ruler’s wife, who holds no legal governing authority.”
“Is this real?” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., asked. “Is this who’s running the country”?
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“Before President Biden updated his cabinet and the country on the continued achievements of the most successful administration in modern history, he asked the First Lady to join for the top of the meeting to showcase groundbreaking work they are leading to fundamentally change how we fund and approach women’s health research,” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates told Fox News Digital.
“If the only response these critics have are conspiracy theories that devalue historic progress researching women’s health – including terrible diseases – then that says a lot about why more and more American women feel that the right couldn’t care less about them, including as it pushes radical abortion bans,” he added, while also making a dig about Hawley running out of the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Republican issues ultimatum to GOP candidate in swing state after bombshell report
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., issued an ultimatum to North Carolina’s GOP gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson following the bombshell report of his alleged porn scandal, saying that he “owes it to President Trump.”
“If the reporting on Mark Robinson is a total media fabrication, he needs to take immediate legal action,” Tillis said in a Friday post on X.
“If the reporting is true, he owes it to President Trump and every Republican to take accountability for his actions and put the future of NC & our party before himself,” he said.
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Tillis’ statement came after Robinson made a social media video denying his involvement in the scandal and vowing to remain in the race to become the Old North State’s governor.
“Let me reassure you, the things that you will see in that story, those are not the words of Mark Robinson. You know my words, you know my character, and you know that I have been completely transparent in this race and before. Folks, this race right now, our opponents are desperate to shift the focus here from the substantive issues and focus on what you are concerned with to salacious trap, tabloid trash,” he said in the X video.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to Robinson’s campaign for comment.
In comments to CNN, Robinson said that this was “not us.”
“This is not us. These are not our words. And this is not anything that is characteristic of me,” Robinson said. “I’m not going to get into the minutia of how somebody manufactured this, these salacious tabloid lies.”
In CNN’s report Thursday afternoon, the outlet alleged Robinson’s previous use of a pornography site, called “Nude Africa.”
On the pornographic site, Robinson allegedly messaged with fellow users regarding peeping on women in locker rooms as a teenager, describing himself as a “black NAZI” and declaring a fondness for transgender pornography. The candidates’ involvement spanned from 2008 to 2012, according to CNN, well before Robinson entered the political arena in 2019.
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CNN’s report alleged that Robinson used a pseudonym on the porn site, “minisoldr.”
“I came to a spot that was a dead end but had two big vent covers over it! It just so happened it overlooked the showers! I sat there for about an hour and watched as several girls came in and showered,” Robinson allegedly wrote on Nude Africa.
In another post in 2010, CNN reported Robinson allegedly stated, “I’m a Black Nazi!” while discussing Black Republicans.
The allegations come as North Carolina remains a highly contested battleground state as the 2024 election inches closer.
The key battleground states – including North Carolina – had razor-thin margins that decided President Biden’s 2020 election victory over Trump.
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In 2020, Trump narrowly won North Carolina by just over 1 point. The latest polls in the monumental 2024 presidential race suggest a coin-toss race, with the former president holding the slightest edge.
Harris too ‘busy’ serving as vice president to answer questions, senior adviser claims
A senior adviser for Vice President Kamala Harris suggested she’s too “busy” to talk to the press more often as she enters the final weeks of the 2024 presidential election.
Former Atlanta mayor-turned-prominent Harris surrogate Keisha Lance Bottoms was pressed by CNN’s Jake Tapper about how the vice president hasn’t been “sitting down for regular interviews or fielding questions from the press,” particularly in comparison to her GOP rival, former President Trump.
“Why?” Tapper asked. “Why is she not doing more interviews to talk about her policies and answer some of the questions that voters have about her policies and her change on her views on some of them?
“Well, Jake, she’s done interviews,” Lance-Bottoms pushed back. “And I know that we would love- or you would love to see her sit down every single day with CNN and do interviews. But it’s that she’s a very busy person. She’s the vice president as well as a candidate.”
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“And we heard her today talk about her views on these policies,” she continued. “It may not be in the format that the media would like. It may not be that she’s sitting down doing a one-on-one interview, but we heard her today in Georgia talk about her stance on reproductive freedom and if she’s elected as president of the United States, how she would use the power of the pen to make sure that these freedoms are protected.”
Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., have done a combined 15 interviews since last month, while Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, have done a combined 55.
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Other news outlets, including The New York Times and Axios, have been calling out Harris and Walz for dodging the media, noting that Harris has been more reclusive in the first two months of her thriving campaign than President Biden was in the last two months of his faltering campaign.
Most recently, Harris sat down for a lengthy conversation with Oprah Winfrey alongside a roster of A-list supporters including Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ben Stiller, Chris Rock and Jennifer Lopez.
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Harris has yet to hold a formal press conference since she emerged as the Democratic nominee. Meanwhile, Trump has held several in recent weeks.
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Teen who gunned down mom learns fate after disturbing video footage emerges
Carly Gregg, the teenager who fatally shot her mother and attempted to kill her stepfather, was sentenced to life in prison Friday.
The jury in Rankin County, Mississippi, found Gregg, 15, guilty on all counts, and prosecutor Kathryn Newman said Gregg had shown “zero remorse.”
The teen was charged with murder and aggravated assault in the March 19 shooting that killed her mother, 40-year-old Ashley Smylie, and wounded her stepfather, Heath Smylie. She was also charged with tampering with evidence for hiding a security camera after the shooting.
On the first and second counts, Gregg was sentenced to life in prison. On the third count, she received 10 years.
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The ruling came after a week-long deliberation into the shocking murder of Smylie inside the family’s home.
The encounter was recorded on the family’s kitchen surveillance camera, which was shown in court Wednesday. The shocking footage showed the 14-year-old’s seemingly nonchalant attitude as she took a .357 Magnum handgun to her mother’s room and shot her.
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In the video, Gregg is seen texting her stepfather in an attempt to lure him home and ambush him.
When Heath Smylie took the stand Tuesday, he testified that when he opened the kitchen door, “the gun went off in my face before the door was even three to four inches wide open, and everything kind of went pretty fast from there.”
“The gun flashed in my face,” he said. “It went off two more times, but my hand was on the gun after the first shot, and I twisted it from Carly.” Heath was shot in the shoulder during the encounter with Gregg, police said.
During the trial, Gregg’s defense attorney did not deny the teen had killed her mother but attempted to prove the teen was suffering from a mental health crisis and did not remember the shooting.
The five-day trial included expert witnesses and provided insight into Gregg’s mental state.
“Dr. Clark, based on your experience, expertise and evaluation of Carly, do you believe that Carly was able to understand the nature of her conduct and appreciate the difference between right and wrong at the time this incident occurred on March 19?” defense attorney Bridget Todd asked Dr. Andrew Clark, a child and adolescent psychiatrist based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
“I don’t think so,” Clark said.
In closing arguments Friday, prosecutor Michael Smith zeroed in on the damning security footage, saying Gregg “knew what she did.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, there’s no doubt Carly Madison Gregg is the one who killed her mom, Ashley Smylie. There’s no doubt that she attempted to kill Heath Smylie, when she aimed the gun right at his head and shot and hit him. And there’s no doubt that she’s the one who hid the camera, thus tampering with evidence,” he said.
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“She knew exactly what she was doing, and she knew the difference between right and wrong.”
“We would ask that you go back there, and you find her guilty of all three, because she was not insane at the time that this happened,” he said. “She knew exactly what she was doing, and she knew the difference between right and wrong.”
Sheriff charged with fatally shooting judge deposed in rape-related case days earlier
A Kentucky sheriff charged with fatally shooting a judge inside his chambers on Thursday was accused in a lawsuit earlier this week of failing to investigate claims that a local deputy was sexually assaulting women who were under house arrest.
Letcher County Sheriff Shawn Stines, 43, was deposed in a lawsuit filed Monday by two women, one of whom alleged that a deputy forced her to have sex inside the same judge’s chambers where the shooting took place. The woman claims the deputy repeatedly sexually assaulted her for six months in exchange for staying out of jail.
The lawsuit accuses the sheriff of “deliberate indifference in failing to adequately train and supervise” the deputy.
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The deposition came just three days before District Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, was shot multiple times at the Letcher County courthouse following an argument with Stines in Whitesburg, Kentucky State Police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Stines was taken into custody at the location without incident and was charged with one count of first-degree murder, police said. He is being held at nearby Leslie County Detention Center, two counties away.
It is unclear what the pair were arguing about or if it was in any way related to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit stems from a case involving the now-former deputy sheriff, Ben Fields, who pleaded guilty in January to raping a female prisoner while she was on home incarceration.
Fields, who formerly worked as a deputy jailer, was sentenced this year to six months in jail and then six and a half years on probation for rape, sodomy, perjury and tampering with a prisoner monitoring device, The Mountain Eagle reported. Three charges related to a second woman were dismissed because she is now dead, having died from a drug overdose.
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Prisoners under house arrest are required to pay for electronic monitoring, and the women claimed Fields told them he would not make them pay for the monitoring if they would do him “a favor,” per the outlet.
Fields disabled the women’s devices and told the monitoring company that bail conditions had been changed, so the devices were not required. He then used threats of arrest to force the women to have sex with him, according to The Mountain Eagle.
The killing of the judge sent shock waves through the tight-knit Appalachian town. Whitesburg is the county seat of government with about 1,700 residents located about 145 miles southeast of Lexington.
Lead county prosecutor Matt Butler described an outpouring of sympathy as he recused himself and his office from the investigation, citing social and family ties to Mullins.
“We all know each other here. … Anyone from Letcher County would tell you that Judge Mullins and I married sisters and that we have children who are first cousins but act like siblings,” Butler said in a statement from his office to the Associated Press. “For that reason, among others, I have already taken steps to recuse myself and my entire office.”
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Mullins served on the bench in the 47th Judicial District where he oversaw juvenile matters, city and county ordinances, misdemeanors, traffic offenses, arraignments, felony probable cause hearings, claims involving $2,500 or less, civil cases involving $5,000 or less, voluntary and involuntary mental commitments and domestic violence cases, according to the court website.
He has served as a district judge in Letcher County since he was appointed by former Gov. Steve Beshear in 2009 and elected the following year. Mullins promoted substance abuse treatment for people involved in the justice system and helped hundreds of residents enter inpatient residential treatment, according to a program for a drug summit he spoke at in 2022.
Fan who caught Ohtani’s 50th home run makes decision about what to do with valuable ball
Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani made history Thursday night, becoming the first major league player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season, but he won’t have the home run ball to remember it by.
Craig Mish of the Miami Herald reported an unidentified fan decided to keep Ohtani’s 50-50 baseball from the Dodgers’ 20-4 rout of the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park Thursday night.
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Fans who catch historic baseballs will usually return them to teams for perks, but selling such an item on the market could prove to be more valuable.
According to MLB.com, Aaron Judge’s 62nd home run hit during the 2022 season sold for $1.5 million at auction. But the most expensive baseball ever sold was Mark McGwire’s 70th home run baseball from the 1998 season. It sold the following year for $3 million.
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Mish noted a special ball was used during Ohtani’s at bat, meaning the baseball was authenticated.
Another fan came close to catching the baseball (and possibly a big payday.) The Marlins broadcast showed the fan just out of reach, missing the ball — not once, but twice. The man reached over after Ohtani drove the ball out to the left side of the field and missed it. But the baseball bounced, giving him another chance. He missed again.
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Ohtani hit three homers and stole two bases against Miami on his way to reaching the milestone. The win also secured a playoff spot for the Dodgers.
“It was something I wanted to get over as quickly as possible. And, you know, it’s something that I’m going to cherish for a very long time,” Ohtani said through an interpreter after the game.
Latest COVID strain, XEC, has reportedly spread to at least half of all US states
The latest strain of the COVID-19 virus, XEC, is circulating across the country.
The new variant has been reported in at least 25 U.S. states, according to data from the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS), as WebMD reported.
Some of the states with the highest cases — 10 or more each — include California, New Jersey and Virginia, the data showed.
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As of Friday, the variant is not yet being tracked by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the World Health Organization (WHO).
KP.3.1.1 is still considered the “predominant variant” of the virus, according to the CDC’s website.
Jake Glanville, PhD, an infectious diseases expert and CEO of Centivax in San Francisco, California, told Fox News Digital that XEC represents a shuffling of two descendants of last year’s JN.1 strain.
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“Coronaviruses are mutating continuously, so when new strains become dominant, it tends to be because that strain has an infection or transmission advantage over all the other circulating mutant strains out there,” he told Fox News Digital during an on-camera interview.
XEC is an example of such a new, mutated strain, the doctor confirmed.
“So far, it doesn’t appear to have any distinct symptoms or mode of infection,” Glanville said.
“It might be a little more infectious than some other strains, which is why it’s becoming dominant, but there’s no unique cause for concern for the public.”
The current vaccines are based on the KP.2 strain, which itself is also a descendant of JN.1 and a reasonable match for XEC, Glanville noted.
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“As XEC doesn’t appear to have any unusual infection symptoms, and is pretty similar to the vaccine strains chosen by the FDA this year, XEC is not a unique concern at this time,” the expert said.
“It’s something that vaccine developers monitor to try to understand at what point they need to make a new vaccine, because eventually XEC or some other strain will mutate enough to escape the current vaccine designs.”
It’s always possible that a new variant will evolve into mutations that cause new types of symptoms, Glanville said, but noted that isn’t currently happening with XEC.
“This looks like the coronavirus that we’re used to,” the doctor said.
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Dr. Marc Siegel, senior medical analyst for Fox News and clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, agreed that the current 2024-2025 vaccines should cover the emerging XEC subvariant.
“Common symptoms include sore throat, congestion, cough, fatigue, nausea and loss of taste,” he told Fox News Digital.
“Eventually, XEC or some other strain will mutate enough to escape the current vaccine designs.”
Siegel recommends the updated vaccine for the elderly, people who are immunocompromised, those with chronic illness, and young children who did not get previous COVID vaccines.
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Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved updated COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer for the 2024-2025 season.
The updated mRNA vaccines, Comirnaty and Spikevax, were fully approved for people 12 years and older, while the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine were granted emergency authorization for children 6 months through 11 years of age, according to the FDA announcement.
Fox News Digital reached out to the CDC for comment.