Dem mayor does a 180 in response to Trump’s historic rally in his town
New York City Mayor Eric Adams slammed former President Trump’s historic Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday for promoting “hateful words” from an invited guest speaker, despite Trump’s favorable shoutout to the mayor during the massive rally.
“And you know who I want to thank?” Trump said Sunday evening from the sold-out arena. “Mayor Adams. Because Mayor Adams has been treated pretty badly. You know, when he said that this whole thing with the migrants coming into New York, this is just not sustainable. You know, we can’t do it. We’re trying to run a city, we got 100,000 migrants coming. We can’t do it, we just can’t do it, it’s not feasible, it’s not good.”
“He said it very nicely,” Trump continued. “I said, ‘Well, he’s going to be indicted by these lunatics for saying that.’ A year later, he got indicted.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Adams’ office for reaction to the shoutout, inquiring if the mayor agreed with Trump’s comments and for reaction to the rally overall. Adams’ office directed Fox Digital to a post from the mayor lambasting the event for the use of “hateful words,” seemingly referring to a comedian who joked about Puerto Rico ahead of Trump’s speech.
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“The hateful words that were used by some at today’s rally at Madison Square Garden were completely unacceptable. No matter who says it, hate is hate and there is no place for it in our city. As Americans, we always should stand up against racism, antisemitism, and misogyny,” Adams posted on X.
“Yesterday, ahead of today’s rally, I talked about how we all need to turn down the temperature that fuels hate and violence. I am once again renewing those calls,” he added.
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Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, host of the popular podcast “Kill Tony,” sparked bipartisan backlash after he cracked a joke hours ahead of Trump taking the stage at Madison Square Garden that Puerto Rico is a “floating island of garbage.”
“I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the… ocean right now.” Hinchcliffe said. “I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”
The Trump campaign released a statement distancing itself and Trump from the remark.
“This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” Trump campaign senior adviser Danielle Alvarez noted in a statement, according to reports.
Hinchcliffe, whose comedic background is rooted in roasting celebrities and other comics, joked at another point: “These Latinos, they love making babies, too. Just know that they do. There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside, just like they did to our country.”
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The comic brushed off outrage from Democrats, and a handful of Republicans, such as Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., in an X post responding to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., slamming the joke during a livestream.
“These people have no sense of humor. Wild that a vice presidential candidate would take time out of his ‘busy schedule’ to analyze a joke taken out of context to make it seem racist. I love Puerto Rico and vacation there. I made fun of everyone… watch the whole set. I’m a comedian Tim… might be time to change your tampon,” Hinchcliffe posted.
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Last year, Adams slammed the federal government’s handling of the immigration crisis, calling on President Biden to declare a state of emergency for the crisis, which the mayor has since linked to the motivation behind his historic corruption indictment last month.
“The immigration system in this nation is broken. It has been broken for decades. Today, New York City has been left to pick up the pieces. Since last year, nearly 100,000 asylum seekers have arrived in our city asking for shelter,” Adams told reporters last year as buses of immigrants were transported to the Empire State. “That’s almost the population of Albany, New York.”
“We are past our breaking point,” the mayor added. “New Yorkers’ compassion may be limitless, but our resources are not. And our partners at the state and federal levels know this.”
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Adams is embroiled in a corruption case after Manhattan federal prosecutors hit him with a five-count indictment on fraud, bribery and corruption charges last month. Adams is accused of soliciting illegal campaign donations from foreign entities and falsifying paper trails to cover it up, according to a 57-page indictment.
“I think they upgraded his seat in an airplane. That’s a very serious charge,” Trump joked of Adams’ charges during the event.
“They’ve upgraded my seat a lot, too. I used to fly commercial. I don’t fly so much anymore, but they’d see me back there and sure, would you like an upgrade,” Trump continued. “I don’t know, maybe it’s something else.”
Despite no evidence Adams was indicted over his previous remarks on the immigration crisis, he also pinned blame for the corruption scandal on his comments bucking the Democratic Party over immigration last year.
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“I always knew that if I stood my ground for all of you, that I would be a target, and a target I became,” Adams said last month. “Leaks and rumors have been aimed at me in an attempt to undermine my credibility and paint me as guilty.”
“Despite our pleas, the federal government did nothing as its broken immigration policies overloaded our shelter system. With no relief, I put the people of New York before party and politics,” he added.
Last week, Adams came to Trump’s defense amid increasing claims from Trump critics, including Vice President Kamala Harris, that the 45th president is a “fascist” and similar to Nazi Germany dictator Adolf Hitler.
“I have had those comments hurled at me by some political leaders in the city; my answer is ‘No,’” Adams said Saturday when asked about the slams against Trump.
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“I know what Hitler has done, and I know what a fascist regime looks like. I think, as I have called for over and over again, that the level of conversation, I think we can all dial down the temperature,” he added.
Trump continued Sunday evening at his historic rally that Adams has been “really great,” citing Adams’ defense of Trump.
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“I have to tell you he’s been really great, and he said they shouldn’t be calling Trump a dictator because it’s not true,” Trump said. That’s nice … very nice.”
Billionaire shrugs off Harris’ flip-flopping, citing himself as an example of why it’s okay
“Shark Tank” host and campaign surrogate for Vice President Kamala Harris, Mark Cuban, appeared to shrug off the Democratic nominee changing several positions between her first and second run for president.
“What did you think of Harris when she was running for president the first time around in 2019?” ABC host Jon Karl asked Cuban Sunday morning on “This Week.”
“I wasn’t paying attention,” Cuban answered.
“You weren’t paying attention?” Karl followed. “You know the position she took. She was Medicare for All, Green New Deal—”
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“But she was representing the state of California,” Cuban remarked. “The People’s Republic of California, right? When you have far-left state, you know, you’re going to do what those — your citizens want. When you’re representing the United States of America, it’s a much broader and—”
“She took those positions when she was starting to run for president the first time,” Karl pointed out.
“I get that, but here’s where we are now. That was not a very long-lived run, and I think she learned the hard way that certain things —” Cuban responded.
Karl asked, “Do you think she believed that, or was she doing it to run?”
“I think she believed it for sure, but she has to speak for herself on those things. What I like about her is she continuously says she’s open-minded, and she’s proved it,” Cuban said.
He added, “I’ve changed a lot of my positions in the last five years. Donald Trump has changed his. I think a lot of reasonable people have changed theirs, and to, you know, to say this was your position for Medicare for All, this was your position on whatever it may be, and to be shocked that somebody changed their mind, it’s a bigger shock that someone’s shocked.”
Cuban acknowledged Harris has had difficulty in explaining her positions and why she has changed her mind on some issues like the border.
“There’s two elements there. She’s only been running for 13 weeks, and when she started to run, when she replaced Joe Biden, she had a deficit in awareness, you know. Even Donald Trump would say, ‘I don’t even know who Harris is. Do you guys know who Harris is?’ And she had negative favorables, and so she had to spend, what is it, the last 13 weeks, just letting people get to know her and getting to see she is vibrant, she is smart, she is open-minded,” Cuban said.
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He continued, “When you are trying to win that battle, you’re not going to answer all the specifications of every, you know, have the opportunity to answer all the specifics, and the proof is in the pudding. She went from, as I said, negatives and, you know, being right where Joe Biden is and in 13 weeks there in a dead heat, and it’s a toss-up.”
Cuban made similar comments when he appeared on “The Brian Kilmeade Show” Friday.
“But when you’re representing the People’s Republic of California, that’s a whole different job than being the President of the United States and representing all Americans. And she’s definitely evolved in her positions,” Cuban said.
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Big bucks waiting for Menendez brothers if they clear this next hurdle
The Menendez brothers could soon be freed from prison, a possibility that didn’t exist when they exhausted all of their appeals more than a decade ago.
Joseph Menendez, who goes by his middle name Lyle, and younger brother Erik Menendez have been in California prisons since 1996, serving sentences of life without the possibility of parole for their parents’ 1989 slayings.
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón this week took a major step toward reducing their sentences, and if the court approves, they could be eligible for parole immediately.
The brothers claim they shot their father, former RCA Records executive Jose Menendez, in self-defense, arguing they thought he was going to kill them after they warned him they planned to expose him as a child sex abuser. They also killed their mother, Mary “Kitty” Menendez, who was sitting next to Jose eating ice cream in their Beverly Hills living room when they opened fire.
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Their first trial ended in a mistrial, when jurors couldn’t agree on their fate. After a second trial in the mid-1990s, in which some of their evidence about the alleged sexual abuse was excluded, jurors agreed with prosecutors that their motive was greed.
New evidence that could corroborate their sex abuse claims has yet to be examined by a court, but those claims helped push Gascón toward requesting reduced sentences for the brothers, he told reporters Thursday.
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The DA formally made the request in court Friday for the sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole to be reduced to 50 years to life in prison.
Here’s what happens next:
- The judge will either accept Gascón’s recommendation or reject it, depending on whether he believes the brothers have been rehabilitated or if their release is in the interest of justice.
- If he agreed to hand down a new sentence, he wouldn’t be bound by the one presented to him and could choose something different.
- If the judge reduces the sentence, the brothers could become eligible for parole because they were under 26 at the time of the crime and have served over 25 years already.
- State corrections officials say the parole board would then have six months to schedule parole hearings.
- If the parole board agrees they should go free, then the case goes to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has final say.
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If they do get out, a logical next step is figuring out how to make a living. Although state law bars them from collecting any inheritance they would have received from their victims, they have a few prospects already.
“The Menendez murders are on the Mount Rushmore of high-profile, almost legendary — if that’s even an appropriate description — murders in American history, right up there with the JFK assassination, the Manson/Mansfield killings and Robert Durst,” said Doug Eldridge, a celebrity brand expert and the founder of Achilles PR.
“There is name recognition across at least two generations and would be a draw even with a younger audience that isn’t familiar with the backstory but leans into the genre.”
He told Fox News Digital they could immediately pick up a documentary deal with a streaming giant like Netflix for their first paycheck.
The brothers may be better off financially and emotionally if they control the narrative themselves and take ownership of any projects they do, said pop culture expert Perez Hilton, who said he would jump at the chance to interview either of the brothers if they got out.
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Hilton also predicted that at least one of them might end up divorced after signing up for social media, which didn’t exist when they went to prison in the summer of 1996. Both of them married while behind bars.
“Imagine that, like all of a sudden you’ve been locked in prison for 34-plus years. You married someone because you never thought you were going to get out. Then, all of a sudden, you’re free,” Hilton told Fox News Digital. “You’re on social media. You quickly learn the ways of social media and, the thing is, even while in prison, they had women sending them letters. That’s how they met their wives. … Their DMs are going to be flooded.”
Lyle Menendez previously gave a public hint at what he plans on doing if he is released.
The elder Menendez brother said he’s been studying for a master’s degree and working on how he might reintegrate with society when he called into a live interview with lawyer Mark Geragos at CrimeCon 2024 in Nashville.
“Well, I’m hoping that … I’ve had these discussions with corrections officials who are in charge of letting formerly incarcerated people return to the prisons to do good work, and they are definitely open to and would like me to continue to work on this idea of transforming prison yards so that it creates living environments and communities that produce better neighbors,” Lyle said.
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While in prison, he has been working on therapy groups with other inmates and plans to continue his advocacy work for survivors of childhood sex abuse, he added.
“I’ve had talks with Rosie O’Donnell about creating a foundation where we would go and try to speak to the forums in those groups and help in that space,” Lyle added. “It’s an area that I spend a lot of my time in.”
‘MAGA’ dress designer forced to remove Trump signs from store after police are called
A dress designer and shop owner in Occoquan, Virginia, is at a loss following a bizarre encounter with a local woman who called the police on his boutique for demonstrating his First Amendment rights by hanging Trump signs out front.
Andre Soriano, an atelier dress designer who is well-known for curating the “Make America Great Again” gown singer-songwriter Joy Villa wore to the 2017 Grammy Awards, received legal notice that he must remove signs in support of former President Trump from his business.
“I actually started a flag war here in Occoquan, Virginia,” Soriano told Fox News Digital during a video interview.
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Soriano said though the first few moments of the encounter were pleasant, almost immediately, he was met with irrationality and backlash about the patriotic decor perched at the front of the store.
“The reason I put my Trump dress outside is, so I don’t have to encounter [this],” Soriano said.
Audra Johnson, a political activist and friend of Soriano, recorded the run in and posted it to social media after he texted her for help with the scene.
“I have a video of her hiding in a bush,” Johnson told Fox News Digital. “I don’t know what she was doing.”
“This wokeism is real,” Soriano is heard telling the police officer in one of the videos. “The ‘Karens’ are real. They’re crying for nothing. Because of a sign. Come on.”
“Karen” is a slang term referring to an entitled White person.
“We always have them,” Johnson said. “We have a love of ‘Karens’.”
Soriano and Johnson said that previously, women have thrown stink bombs in the store and popped their heads in to scream derogatory phrases.
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The duo said the woman was hysterically crying in the street and that she did call the police. A lone officer removed the woman from the store’s entrance and Johnson said she was taken to a local restaurant to “calm her down”.
“As an American citizen, as a First Amendment in our great nation, you can express yourself by putting your signs in your home and expressing who you are as an individual, whether it’s religion, whether it’s politics or anything that you feel, without harming anyone,” Soriano said. “That’s just the freedom of artistic expression and being free in America, and nowadays, you can’t even express that.”
Soriano and Johnson live in the residences above the store. After being cited by the city to remove the Trump-supporting signs from the business, they suspended them from their homes, despite having been hung for years prior to the incident.
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However, they were cited a second time to remove some, but not all, the signs.
“We’re just trying our hardest to not get fines we can’t pay,” Johnson said.
“We follow rules,” Soriano said. “We don’t disrespect anyone.”
The business owner is appalled by the ordinance as he believes America is the “land of the free, not the land of what people think.”
“I’m an American designer,” Soriano said. “I am free to express and create whatever I want.”
Soriano, originally from the Philippines, said his mother immigrated the family to America when he was a teenager to live the American Dream.
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“I love America,” Soriano said.
The fashion designer said he was once employed by stars, including Rihanna, Pharrell Williams, Miley Cyrus and Courtney Love, but was blacklisted when he designed the infamous “MAGA” dress from 2017.
“That’s when our lives changed,” he said. “We had death threats.”
“There are a lot of celebrities in Hollywood that are very divisive, and they didn’t really like President Trump,” Soriano said.
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The creative director added that he lost his friends, clients and potential business opportunities in California.
Johnson was also blacklisted as a stage and film actress when she was photographed marching at Rosa Parks Circle in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with a sign that read “Trump is your president.”
“We’re in an industry where we can’t just say what we want or how we feel,” Johnson said.
“We don’t fit the mold.”
NFL star interrupts teammates’ interview with Trump statement after defeating the Cowboys
San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa crashed Brock Purdy’s postgame interview after the team’s win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night wearing a Make America Great Again hat.
Bosa came up behind Purdy and pointed to his hat. George Kittle laughed as the star defensive player ran back toward the locker room.
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“I’m not gonna talk too much about it, but I think it’s an important time,” Bosa said after the game.
It was one of a few instances of active NFL players outright supporting a presidential candidate this election season. Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker also endorsed Trump earlier this year, while Philadelphia Eagles defensive lineman Thomas Booker IV has stumped for Vice President Kamala Harris.
San Francisco won the game 30-24, thanks to a 21-point third quarter.
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Bosa had three tackles, a sack and three QB hits.
The four-time Pro Bowler had 3.5 sacks and 25 tackles going into the game against the Cowboys. The 49ers improved to 4-4 on the year.
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Bosa has been a long-time supporter of Trump, going back to before he was in the NFL. He revealed in 2019 he cleansed his X account of Trump posts and Colin Kaepernick criticism over fears he may not be fully embraced by the city of San Francisco should he get drafted by the 49ers.