The Biden admin is behaving as if Harris, not Trump, won the election
The soon-to-expire Biden administration is behaving as if an invading foreign power is about to take over and the house must be burned down to keep the “invaders” from succeeding.
In the past few weeks, the cynicism meter has ticked up several notches because of the decisions made by the outgoing president and others in his administration. First came the pardons of Hunter Biden, and then roughly 1,500 others, including a former Pennsylvania judge who used his private jail system to incarcerate juveniles, pocketing the profits. Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro ripped the pardon, saying Biden got it “absolutely wrong” in what has been called a “kids for cash” scandal.
Among the other questionable pardons and clemencies was one Biden issued for Rita Crundwell, the former comptroller of Dixon, Illinois. Crundwell was convicted in 2013 and sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison for stealing over two decades almost $54 million from the town of 15,000 people. It is said to have been the largest municipal fraud in U.S. history. Crundwell, now 71, admitted to embezzling from the city, and using the stolen funds to support a lavish lifestyle. According to WTTW, “Officials recovered only $40 million of the stolen city money from court settlements, the work of auditors and proceeds from the liquidation of Crundwell’s assets.
GET TO KNOW DONALD TRUMP’S CABINET: WHO HAS THE PRESIDENT-ELECT PICKED SO FAR?
Biden has been engaging in a fire sale of steel barriers ordered during the previous Trump administration to build a wall and secure the southern border. These were materials paid for with taxpayer money. It is part of what appears to be a cynical plan to frustrate the incoming Trump team and make their border-control job more difficult. I don’t recall a transition like this in our history.
Then came the drones. The administration claims they are not from U.S. adversaries and pose no threat to public safety. They have also claimed to know nothing about them. If they know nothing, how can they assert they are not from foreign entities and will not harm people?
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The drones have been seen for weeks over New Jersey and New York and have lately been spotted over California and Nevada. A woman called into a D.C. talk show and said she and her daughter had seen 30 drones flying over Southern Maryland. Ex-Maryland Republican Governor Larry Hogan has posted pictures of what he says are drones flying over his home in the D.C. suburbs. With no credible information coming from the Biden administration, conspiracy theorists are in full swing, along with accusations of a cover-up.
While Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams says he will cooperate with the incoming Trump administration in removing migrants in the country illegally, even from his “sanctuary city,” other Democrat mayors and governors are promising to resist deporting even those who have committed crimes and to “Trump-proof” their cities and states.
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Incoming “border czar” Tom Homan has promised to send teams of agents into resisting cities and states controlled by Democrat politicians and remove migrants. An October Fox News poll indicates they have the support of an overwhelming majority of Americans.
According to the poll of registered voters, support for deportation has increased dramatically since 2015. “Among nonwhite voters, 57 percent now support mass deportations, while only 33 percent said they did in 2015. Additionally, 91 percent of Republicans now say they support deportations – a 21-point increase since 2015. Rural voters’ support has risen by 20 points, urban voters by 19 points, and men’s support increased by 16.” Even Democrat support for deportations has increased to 42 percent from 34 percent in 2015.
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It doesn’t appear to matter to the Biden administration, which has five weeks to go. They are behaving as if Vice President Kamala Harris, not Trump, won the election and voters can be ignored.
The second Trump administration will have a lot of cleaning up to do. If their promised policies are shown to work, look for public approval to remain high as they and a GOP congressional majority seek to reverse the damage caused by the Biden administration.
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Liberal host explodes at possibility of Harris becoming blue state governor
Ana Kasparian of “The Young Turks” erupted at her co-host when he suggested Vice President Kamala Harris could be the future governor of California, whether one likes it or not.
As some liberals continue to grieve over President-elect Donald Trump’s victory over Harris, others are debating the vice president’s political future. DNC fundraiser Lindy Li mocked “delusions” of Harris “running for governor of California, possibly in 2026,” but others have speculated it just might be possible.
“I think Kamala Harris would probably win in a cakewalk for governor,” “The Young Turks” co-host Cenk Uygur argued Thursday.
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“No! No!” Kasparian shouted at her co-host. “What are you doing? What are you doing?”
“I’m telling you the reality, whether you like it or not,” Uygur responded. “Democratic voters in California love to obey.”
“I’m gonna move, Cenk! I’m gonna quit my job,” Kasparian said. “I’m gonna quit my job, and I’m gonna move.”
“I’m not saying I’m in favor of it,” Uygur replied. “I’m telling you what’s, like, if they, the Democratic Party, said, ‘We anoint Kamala Harris,’ a giant percentage of Democrats in California would go, ‘Yes! We obey. We will take the loyalty oath. It doesn’t matter how bad she is!’”
ADAM SCHIFF SAYS ‘ENTIRE DEMOCRATIC PARTY’ BEARS THE BLAME FOR HARRIS LOSS: ‘MYSELF INCLUDED’
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“This state cannot survive another incompetent Democrat leading it,” Kasparian said. “No, we just can’t.”
“So, like, people are egging her on, OK? Apparently she’s, like, in a wait-and-see mode,” Kasparian said.
Kasparian then looked into the camera, as if she were talking directly to Harris.
“How about you wait and see, like, your way out of public life? And go do what you’re supposed to do. Go work in the private sector. Go do the lobbying thing — whatever it is. But don’t run as governor of California. Do not!”
Congress passes bill to stop partial government shutdown after missing midnight deadline
Senators voted to pass a new version of a stopgap spending bill early Saturday morning after the midnight deadline for a partial government shutdown came and went.
The Senate advanced the third version of a short-term spending bill by 85 to 11, and it will now head to President Biden’s desk, who has already signaled that he will sign it.
An original agreement on a short-term spending bill was released earlier in the week, totaling 1,547-pages and including a number of policy provisions and disaster aid.
But soon after its release, billionaire Elon Musk and other conservative critics publicly blasted the measure, ultimately resulting in it being condemned by President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance.
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“Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH. If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF. It is Schumer and Biden who are holding up aid to our farmers and disaster relief,” Trump and Vance said in a lengthy statement opposing the bill on Wednesday afternoon.
The initial spending measure would have extended government funding levels for fiscal year 2024 through March 14 and provide over $100 billion in disaster aid for those affected by storms Helene and Milton in the U.S. Southeast earlier this year. There was also a $10 billion provision for economic assistance to farmers in the bill.
Meanwhile, as of Thursday, the U.S. national debt was at $36,167,604,149,955.61 and was continuing to climb rapidly.
SENATE REPUBLICANS TRY TO FAST-TRACK EMERGENCY MILITARY PAY AS THEY BRACE FOR SHUTDOWN
The size of the bill, along with several of its other provisions, including a cost of living raise for lawmakers, prompted the public reaction from Musk and others.
“Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!” he wrote on X.
After heading back to the drawing board, House Republicans emerged on Thursday with a new proposal. The revised measure would have extended current funding levels for three months and included a debt limit suspension for two years, per the request of Trump.
Additionally, it had economic relief for farmers and about $110 billion in disaster aid.
But the bill failed on the House floor Thursday night as Democrats united against it and a significant group of Republicans opted to oppose it as well.
TOP SENATE DEMS POUR COLD WATER ON LATEST GOP SPENDING BILL PLANS: ‘READY TO STAY’ THROUGH CHRISTMAS
“Old bill: $110BB in deficit spending (unpaid for), $0 increase in the national credit card. New bill: $110BB in deficit spending (unpaid for), $4 TRILLION+ debt ceiling increase with $0 in structural reforms for cuts. Time to read the bill: 1.5 hours. I will vote no,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, wrote on X ahead of the vote.
Roy was one of 38 House Republicans that opposed the stopgap bill.
By Friday morning, there appeared to be no agreement between Democrats and Republicans in Congress to work together on a new bill. In fact, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., said the government would go into a partial shutdown at midnight if Republicans did not return to the original stopgap bill.
“I’m ready to stay here through Christmas because we’re not going to let Elon Musk run the government,” Murray said in a statement.
TIM SCOTT’S SENATE CAMPAIGN ARM STAFF REVEALED AHEAD OF CRUCIAL 2026 SWING STATE RACES
Schumer said in remarks on the Senate floor that the original bill would pass in the House if Speaker Mike Johnson brought it to the floor for a vote.
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The third measure, which ultimately passed the House and Senate, was similar to the one that failed the night prior. The bill included economic relief for farmers and disaster aid for those affected by recent storms. However, the final stopgap bill did not include a suspension of the debt ceiling, which Trump had requested himself.
The House passed the short-term spending bill with 366 yes votes, surpassing the necessary two-thirds.
Meet the Republican woman who may become nation’s first Black female governor
EXCLUSIVE: Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears of Virginia could make history next year as the nation’s first Black woman to win election as a governor.
She would also make history as Virginia’s first female governor.
But Sears, in an exclusive national interview with Fox News Digital, emphasized that “I’m not really running to make history. I’m just trying to, as I’ve said before, leave it better than I found it, and I want everyone to have the same opportunities I had.”
Sears, who was born in the Caribbean island nation of Jamaica and immigrated to the U.S. as a 6-year-old, served in the Marines and is a former state lawmaker. She made history three years ago when she won election as Virginia’s first female lieutenant governor.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR THIS POPULAR REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR WHEN HE LEAVES OFFICE IN A YEAR
“You’ve got to remember that my father came to America in ‘63 just 17 days before Dr. King gave his ’I Have a Dream speech,’ she said.
Sears noted that her father “saw opportunity here, even though… you really couldn’t, as a Black person, live where you wanted.”
“And yet, here I am, here I am sitting right now as second in command in the former capital of the Confederate States,” she said. “With me, we can see once again, there are still opportunities, still opportunities to grow, still opportunities to do even better. We are going to be better, not bitter. We’re not going to be victims. We’re overcomers.”
VIRGINIA’S YOUNGKIN ENDORSES HIS LT. GOVERNOR TO SUCCEED HIM
Sears has a major supporter in popular Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who three years ago became the first Republican in a dozen years to win a gubernatorial election in Virginia, a onetime key swing state that had shaded blue in recent cycles.
But Virginia is unique due to its state law preventing governors from serving two consecutive four-year terms, so Youngkin cannot run for re-election next year.
Youngkin told Fox News Digital last month that Sears “is going to be a fabulous governor of Virginia.”
“I have to make sure that we have Winsome Sears as our next governor,” he emphasized. “I’m going to be campaigning hard.”
Making the case that Youngkin as a “successful businessman” has “brought that success to government,” Sears highlighted that “we want to continue what he has begun.”
“There’s still much work to do, still regulations that we’ve got to get rid of, still educational opportunities that are needing to be taken advantage of, and I am the one to carry that, because I’ve been part of that,” she added.
Virginia and New Jersey are the only two states in the nation to hold gubernatorial elections in the year after a presidential election. Because of that both contests received outsizes national attention, and Virginia in particular is often seen as a bellwether of the national political climate and how Americans feel about the party in the White House.
Sears was interviewed in Virginia Beach on Thursday, with a month to go until President-elect Trump returns to the White House.
In late 2022, she described Trump as a liability after Republican candidates that the then-former president had backed underperformed in the midterm elections. And she said that she would remain neutral in the 2024 GOP presidential primary.
“I supported him in 16 and in 20 why? Because I saw that he was good for our country,” Sears noted.
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But she added that Trump “said some things, and it bothered me. And as I said, I come at this as a Christian. And so I figured, well, let’s see if there’s somebody else.”
Sears pointed to July’s attempted assassination of Trump as the moment that changed her mind.
“I was waiting to hear a change, and after he was shot and he was accepting the nomination, I heard him say, ‘miracles are happening every day. I am one of those. God has spared my life. And so, I humbly ask for your vote.’ I was on board right then,” she emphasized.
But a top Trump supporter in Virginia, conservative radio host John Fredericks, has continued to criticize Sears.
“She’ll ruin Republicans’ chances in Virginia in 2025 and we need a different GOP candidate that REALLY has President Trump’s back,” he argued last month on his radio program and in a social media post.
Asked if she’d like Trump to campaign with her over the next 10 months leading up to the 2025 election, Sears said, “I think he’s going to be having a lot to do in, well, in D.C. And if he wants to come here, fine. If he wants to help, fine. I mean, you know, we could use all the help that we can get.”
THIS DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKER IS RUNNING FOR VIRGINIA GOVERNOR
Sears, who launched her gubernatorial bid in early September, avoided a competitive primary when Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares announced last month that he would seek re-election rather than run for governor.
Three-term Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer, is her party’s candidate for governor.
Spanberger announced 13 months ago that she would run for governor in 2025 rather than seek congressional re-election this year. While a Sears-Spanberger general election showdown is expected, recent reports indicate longtime Democratic Rep. Bobby Scott is mulling a gubernatorial run.
“We will see what shakes out on the Democrat side, but I will face whoever comes, because I believe that we have the better policies,” Sears said.
She is viewed by political pundits as more socially conservative than Youngkin, who hailed from the GOP’s business wing.
Asked if Sears was too far to the right for Virginia voters, Youngkin pushed back in his Fox News Digital interview, saying, “Not at all. And Winsome is a commonsense conservative leader. We have been partners literally from day one. We campaigned together. We were elected together. We have governed together.”
But the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), pointing to the criticism from Fredericks, who chaired Trump’s Virginia campaign in 2016 and 2020, argued that “Virginia Republicans are kicking off the 2025 election divided and already publicly calling out Winsome Sears.”
“This once again confirms that Sears will have to run even further to the right and take deeply harmful and out-of-touch positions to win the GOP nomination,” DGA national press secretary Devon Cruz claimed.
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Sears, asked about the DGA criticism, which also includes spotlighting her stances on issues such as abortion and IVF, argued that “the Democrats are trying to figure out a way to hit me… I don’t worry about it. I let them say what they want to say. I am proven, proven to do the right thing.”
“I’ve always said I’m a Christian first and a Republican second. That’s always who I am,” she added. “So it must mean that I don’t care about politics. I care about serving.”
Questions swirl around newly released Jan 6 report as GOP senators demand answers
EXCLUSIVE: Senate Republicans are demanding answers on whether confidential human sources from Justice Department agencies beyond the FBI were used on Jan. 6, 2021, while also questioning whether Inspector General Michael Horowitz thoroughly reviewed classified and unclassified communications between handlers and their sources, warning that without that review, there may be a “major blind spot” in his findings.
Horowitz last week released his highly anticipated report that there were more than two dozen FBI confidential human sources in the crowd outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but only three were assigned by the bureau to be present for the event. Horowitz said none of the sources were authorized or directed by the FBI to “break the law” or “encourage others to commit illegal acts.”
But now, Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., are demanding further information from Horowitz, writing to him in a letter exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital that it is “unclear” if his office reviewed the use of confidential human sources by other DOJ components during the Capitol riot.
DOJ IG REVEALS 26 FBI INFORMANTS WERE PRESENT ON JAN. 6
“This IG report was a step in the right direction, but Senator Johnson and I still have questions the Justice Department needs to account for,” Grassley told Fox News Digital. “The American people deserve a full picture of whether Justice Department sources from its component agencies, in addition to the FBI, were present on January 6, what their role was, and whether DOJ had knowledge of their attendance.”
Grassley told Fox News Digital that Horowitz and his team “must redouble its efforts to make sure it has reviewed all relevant information and provide a sufficient response to our inquiry.”
Johnson told Fox News Digital he believes the report made public last week “may have only provided a fraction of the story regarding the presence and activities of confidential human sources or undercover federal agents in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021.”
“I urge the Inspector General’s office to be fully transparent about their work to ensure that Congress and the public have an accurate and complete understanding about what it actually reviewed,” Johnson said.
DOJ INSPECTOR GENERAL DOES NOT DENY FBI INFORMANTS WERE AMONG JAN 6 CROWD
In their letter to Horowitz, Grassley and Johnson noted that the inspector general’s office received more than 500,000 documents from the Justice Department and its components as part of its investigation.
“According to the report, your office obtained: CHS reporting, thousands of tips provided to the FBI, investigative and intelligence records from the FBI case management system, emails, instant messages, and phone records; contemporaneous notes of meetings and telephone calls; chronologies concerning the lead-up of events to January 6; after-action assessments; training materials and policy guides; and preparatory materials for press conferences or congressional testimony as well as talking points,” they wrote.
Grassley and Johnson told Horowitz “it is vital” that his office “more precisely explain what records it sought and received from all DOJ component agencies.”
Grassley and Johnson are demanding answers on whether Horowitz obtained evidence on whether other DOJ component agencies had tasked or untasked undercover confidential human sources in the Washington, D.C., area or at the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.
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They are also asking if all communications were obtained between DOJ component agency handlers and confidential human sources or undercover agents present in the D.C. area, and whether he has received classified and unclassified non-email communication platforms used by the FBI.
Grassley and Johnson are also demanding Horowitz share all FD-1023 forms, or confidential human source reporting documents, used in the investigation with them.
As for his initial report, Horowitz “determined that none of these FBI CHSs was authorized by the FBI to enter the Capitol or a restricted area or to otherwise break the law on January 6, nor was any CHS directed by the FBI to encourage others to commit illegal acts on January 6.”
The report revealed that the FBI had a minor supporting role in responding on Jan. 6, 2021 – largely because the event was not deemed at the highest security level by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Horowitz, though, said the FBI took significant and appropriate steps to prepare for that role.
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According to the report, there were a total of 26 confidential human sources in the crowd that day, but only three of them were assigned by the bureau to be there.
One of the three confidential human sources tasked by the FBI to attend the rally entered the Capitol building, while the other two entered the restricted area around the Capitol.
If a confidential human source is directed to be at a certain event, they are paid by the FBI for their time.
Fauci reportedly holds ‘professor’ role at elite university but never teaches
Dr. Anthony Fauci joined Georgetown University’s faculty last year as a “distinguished university professor” but has yet to teach a single course, a new report says.
Georgetown announced in the summer of 2023 that Dr. Fauci, the former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, would be serving as “a Distinguished University Professor in the School of Medicine’s Department of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases,” as well as an appointment at the university’s McCourt School of Public Policy.
Georgetown calls the role bestowed on Fauci its “most significant professional honor” that is reserved for faculty members “whose extraordinary accomplishments in scholarship, teaching and service have earned them significant recognition in the Academy.”
However, as the College Fix reported on Friday, Fauci appears to have not taught any courses at the school since his appointment.
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Fox News Digital reviewed the course catalog available on Georgetown’s website going back to the Summer 2023 semester and didn’t find any course listed with Fauci as an instructor since that time.
The private Jesuit college said Fauci would “participate in medical and graduate education and engage with students,” in its initial announcement.
Since his appointment, Fauci has “given lectures, seminars and fireside chats for undergrads and for students and others from the School of Medicine, School of Health, School of Public Policy, Law Center and Walsh School of Foreign Service,” instead of teaching, according to an August interview with The Georgetowner. He also “made himself available for one-on-one meetings. ”
Fauci also joined the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown as a “Distinguished Senior Scholar” in April 2024.
Georgetown said that Fauci would advance “the right to health” and provide “a critical perspective on identifying and responding to urgent national and global public health concerns” in this additional position.
As the public face of the federal government’s coronavirus pandemic response, Fauci has come under scrutiny for his handling of the pandemic. He faced renewed criticism this month after a report detailing the findings of a two-year congressional investigation into the pandemic was released.
The congressional subcommittee report found that the virus most likely emerged from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, and that social distancing and masking were not backed with scientific data.
The report said Fauci “played a critical role in disparaging the lab-leak theory” among top scientific circles early in 2020 and later to the public. His congressional testimony to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., the report states, misled the public regarding National Institute of Health funding of gain-of-function research at coronavirus labs.
Politico reported earlier this month that President Biden is considering preemptive pardons for Fauci and other political figures ahead of President-elect Trump’s return to the White House in January.
Georgetown did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions about Fauci’s professor role or salary.
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Why legendary artist struggled to sing beloved Christmas classic for WWII troops
For soldiers in France listening to Bing Crosby sing “White Christmas” in December 1944, home must have seemed far away.
The legendary crooner, who first sang the song that reminisces about snowy childhood Christmases, once told his nephew, Howard Crosby, that singing “White Christmas” in front of teary-eyed troops ahead of the Battle of the Bulge was the hardest moment of his professional life.
“I asked Uncle Bing one time, ‘What was the single most difficult thing you ever had to do in your career?’ We were out playing golf one day, and I didn’t know what he was going to say,” Howard told Fox News Digital. “I didn’t know if he was going to say, ‘Well, it was, you know, learning lines for the movies or working with a difficult director.’”
He continued, “He didn’t have to think about it at all. He said, ‘Well, 1944, we were over with the USO troupe.’ And he said, ‘We gave an open-air concert for 15,000 GIs and British Tommies in an open-air field in France.'”
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His uncle told him Dinah Shore and the Andrews Sisters were at the show “‘and we had a lot of laughs and the boys were having a wonderful time, great fun.’ But he said at the end of the show, ‘I had to sing “White Christmas.” And I had to get through the song with 15,000 guys in tears and not break up myself.'”
“And a lot of those boys died the next week in the Battle of the Bulge,” Howard added.
WATCH: BING CROSBY SAID SINGING ‘WHITE CHRISTMAS’ TO WWII TROOPS IN 1944 WAS MOST DIFFICULT MOMENT OF HIS CAREER
He said his uncle loved entertaining troops, considering it his patriotic duty.
The “High Society” star even tried to enlist but was told he was too old.
Howard said that Gen. George C. Marshall, the chief of staff of the Army at the time, told him, “‘Look, Bing, we don’t need you in the front lines. We need you raising money for the war effort.’ So, I think he looked at it as a patriotic duty, and I think he also felt like a special kinship with the boys that we’re serving.”
Howard said that when Bing performed for the troops, he refused to wear his toupee.
“‘[W]e had a lot of laughs and the boys were having a wonderful time, great fun.’ But he said at the end of the show, ‘I had to sing “White Christmas.” And I had to get through the song with 15,000 guys in tears and not break up myself.'”
“He hated that thing,” he said. “He called it a scalp doily. And he never wore it unless he absolutely had to. But he said, ‘If I’m entertaining troops, I’m not going to wear anything phony like a toupee. Forget it.’ So he went onstage without a toupee for the troops, but he also insisted that the front rows at those shows were reserved for the enlisted men. No officers or higher-ups sitting in the front rows. Those were all for the guys on the front lines.”
BING CROSBY, DAVID BOWIE’S ‘LITTLE DRUMMER BOY’ DUET WAS A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE THAT ALMOST DIDN’T HAPPEN
WATCH: BING CROSBY FELT IT WAS HIS ‘PATRIOTIC DUTY’ TO ENTERTAIN THE TROOPS WITH THE USO
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The star’s story about singing in front of the troops mirrors the opening scene of the 1954 movie “White Christmas,” when Crosby, playing a soldier on Christmas Eve 1944, sings the tune for his fellow weary men who listen over the sounds of explosions.
The movie, which stars Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen, is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year and will briefly be re-released in some theaters this month.
The song the movie was named for was originally released in 1942 and Crosby sang it in “Holiday Inn.”
Howard said his uncle knew it would be a hit right away, even if songwriter Irving Berlin didn’t.
He told Fox News Digital that when Berlin was going through all the holiday songs written for 1942’s “Holiday Inn,” including “Easter Parade,” “I’ve Got Plenty to be Thankful For” and “Song of Freedom,” everyone thought his Valentine’s Day song, “Be Careful It’s My Heart,” would be the big hit.
“But when they got to ‘White Christmas’ and Irving Berlin played that, supposedly Bing said to him – because Irving was always very nervous about whether the songs would be successful or people would like them – apparently Bing said to him, ‘Don’t worry about that one, Irving, that song is going to do just fine.’”
Of course, even Bing Crosby couldn’t have imagined the song would go on to be the best-selling single of all time.
Howard said the song is “extremely well-written.”
“It’s a great song. It doesn’t have a tremendous amount of range. So, you know, everybody feels like they can sing it, right?” said Howard, who is a singer himself and sounds a lot like his uncle. “It’s not like the ‘Star-Spangled Banner,’ which nobody can sing, right? And in Bing’s version, you know, he had such a rich baritone. And in the lower notes, what he called the money notes, you know, he said if you can sing the low notes richly, you can make a lot of money.”
Crosby certainly made his fortune with his rich baritone, but Howard said it was never about that for him.
As a devout Catholic who went to Mass every day with his mother as a kid, Crosby refused to ever take money for singing a religious song like “Silent Night” or “O Holy Night,” Howard said.
The “Going My Way” star was also humble and preferred the company of average people rather than the rich and famous.
“He was much more comfortable in the presence of caddies and bellboys and waiters than he was with society people,” he said. “He was terribly, terribly uncomfortable with people who fawned over him and treated him like he was some kind of special celebrity or something. And he had no entourage either.
The star also enjoyed receiving a “backhanded compliment,” Howard revealed, remembering a time when his uncle gave him a record of his to listen to.
“He said, ‘Hey, Howard, did you listen to that record?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I listened to it.’ He said, ‘Well, what did you think?’ Well, of course, what I thought was it was absolutely fantastic. And it was really great in every respect. But I knew better than to tell him that. So I said, ‘Well, you know, for an old guy way past his prime, it wasn’t half bad.’ And he laughed. See, he liked that. He liked a backhanded compliment. But if I’d have come out gushing, he wouldn’t like that. He just … couldn’t take that sort of thing. He didn’t like adulation. It made him very uncomfortable.”
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Crosby had ranches in Northern California, Elko, Nevada and Baja California, where he was able to get away from Hollywood and enjoy the outdoors.
He was also incredibly generous, Howard noted.
Howard said he first played golf with his uncle when he was about 15, and Crosby gave him a sand wedge that he still has in his golf bag.
He remembered a time when they went golfing together and Crosby asked if there were any caddies who played well when there were no other people on the course. So he and his uncle teamed up against two, with two others caddying for them.
“We’re playing for 10 cents a point. The other two caddies are carrying the bags,” he explained. “And we get all done on 18. I think we beat them out of about 40 cents each. So, we collect our dimes and then Bing tips everybody with a $100 bill. The two that played, the two that carried. But I thought to myself at the time, there are hundreds of wealthy, prominent people here in Pebble Beach that would have given their eye teeth to be the other two members of that foursome. And Bing picks up a couple of 20-year-old caddies to fill out our group. That was just typical.”
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Howard said Crosby was so humble that he told Barbara Walters in an interview months before he died that he didn’t think he’d leave a legacy.
“And she said, ‘Well, clearly you realize you’re one of the greatest popular singers, certainly male vocalists of all time.’ ‘No, Barbara, no, no. So many, so many singers better than I am,’” Howard said Crosby told her. “But, you know, he just couldn’t stand the idea of adulation coming his way. So he didn’t think he’d have any legacy at all. And he said, ‘You know, I think people will forget about me a few years after I’m gone. Nobody will remember anything I did.’”
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Howard said he recently saw that his uncle was No. 1 on the iTunes worldwide singles charts ahead of stars like Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga, and he believes Crosby would be completely shocked to see his continued success so many years after his death.
“I think he would be gobsmacked to believe that his song was No. 1 in the second week of December in 2024, completely gobsmacked. He could not have imagined such a thing.”
The quaint East Coast town that’s quickly becoming a celebrity haven
New Hope, Pennsylvania, a quaint town of 2,500 people, is becoming a new celebrity haven as it offers a “peaceful and private lifestyle” away from the hustle and bustle of New York City, according to experts.
Gigi Hadid, Bella Hadid and their mother, Yolanda Hadid, bought a property in the tiny town in 2017, according to Realtor.
The property, which is called Carousel Farm, was purchased for $3.7 million and consists of a 5,0000 square-foot stone house, a barn that can accommodate 16 horses, and an in-ground pool, according to the outlet.
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The listing of the property describes the home as a “gentleman’s estate” where guests can “relax around the pool, go riding on the 32+ acres, or just play your own version of Gatsby.”
In April 2020, Bella and Gigi posed for Vogue’s March issue on their ranch: “Postcard from Home for Vogue,” Gigi captioned her post.
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Gigi’s ex-boyfriend and father of her child, Zayn Malik, also owns a home in New Hope.
Earlier this year, Malik spoke to British Vogue about the benefits of owning a property in the Pennsylvania town and said it’s a “great place to reflect on your thoughts and think about things without the noise of the world.”
He also noted that his home in New Hope gave him the inspiration for his latest album, “Room Under the Stairs.”
The current man in Gigi’s life, Bradley Cooper, also owns a home in New Hope, just down the street from Carousel Farm, according to the New York Post. The outlet reported that Cooper, who grew up just an hour away in Jenkintown, purchased the home for $6.5 million in December 2023.
Cooper’s newly purchased home was built in 1704 and has undergone extensive renovations, per The Post. The home has seven bedrooms, six bathrooms and is 6,300 square feet.
Tabitha Heit, a licensed relator, told Fox Business, “As a real estate agent licensed in both Pennsylvania and New York, I’ve noticed a significant trend of New Yorkers relocating to Pennsylvania.
“There are several reasons for this shift: the slightly milder climate, more affordable living compared to states like New York and New Jersey, and the overall appeal of the area.”
Heit told Fox Business that since inventory has been “tight” for years, the recent increase in demand has been driving up home prices.
“I would imagine celebrities are drawn to this area as well as it likely offers them a more peaceful and private lifestyle. New Hope, with its artsy vibe, is a standout town, and its location – just across the river from New Jersey – makes it incredibly accessible,” Heit noted.
“I would imagine celebrities are drawn to this area as well as it likely offers them a more peaceful and private lifestyle.”
She added, “Doylestown is another hot spot in Bucks County, offering charm, culture and a vibrant community that continues to attract buyers.”
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Carle Robbins, a broker in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, told Fox Business that New Hope and Doylestown are where celebrities like to dine.
“But the celebs live in the surrounding townships: Solebury, Upper Makefield, Plumstead, Tinicum,” Robbins added.
According to Realtor, the median home price in New Hope is $1.3 million. The outlet also noted that New Hope is in the middle of New York and Philadelphia, which makes it an attractive location for commuters.
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The outlet reported that stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, Justin Bieber and Tina Fey have all been seen in New Hope in recent years.