Left-wing filmmaker drops bomb on Dems over Russiagate ‘lies’
Left-wing movie director Oliver Stone slammed Democrats for weaponizing federal law enforcement and “lying” in their attempts to charge the president with Russian collusion during the 2016 election.
Stone, meanwhile, applauded President Donald Trump for taking steps to find out what really happened, adding that he is “absolutely” right that the federal government has been weaponized to attack political opponents.
Trump recently signed a new executive order directing the FBI to immediately declassify files concerning Crossfire Hurricane, the initial investigation launched in 2016 that sought information on whether members of the Trump campaign were colluding with the Russians to undermine the election. The president has also taken steps to go after the law firms involved in the scandal, including by suspending the security clearances for their attorneys and barring them from entering any federal buildings.
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“Russiagate – we paid for it,” Stone said. “I applaud [what Trump is doing], and I hate what they did with Russiagate, I really do. I think it’s – again, the lying, the lying, the lying, and selling that to the American people.”
When asked if he felt Trump was right about there being weaponization of the federal government against conservatives, Stone responded: “There was.”
Stone, who has produced several documentaries supporting Russian narratives about Ukraine, added that the underlying premise behind Russiagate – that Russia is a nefarious actor – is wrong and “un-American.”
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“They are potentially our best partners, as are the Chinese. I mean, we have this mentality that they’re the enemy,” Stone said. “That’s all been inculcated by propaganda. If you go out there to China, and you go out to Russia, you don’t hear that kind of vituperative dialogue.”
However, while Stone said he agreed with Trump’s approach to taking on those involved with Russiagate, he did lament the president’s attacks on pro-Palestinian protesters over alleged antisemitism.
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“I don’t like this new thing about censorship coming from Trump,” said Stone. “Against the anti – what he calls ‘antisemitic news’ – I mean, I don’t agree. I don’t know where he’s coming from, and it’s not what he promised.”
Anti-Trump protesters ditch the ‘jammies’ — asked what they’re so mad about
NEW YORK– Over 1,200 protests spanning all 50 states took place on Saturday, rallying against President Donald Trump’s administration, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), reciprocal tariffs, federal layoffs and immigration reform.
Fox News Digital spoke with protesters in New York City about why they were demonstrating, what they hoped their protesting would accomplish and if they had been personally affected by DOGE.
“[I’m] protesting how horrible things have become in our country,” said May, who lives in Manhattan and held a sign she was reusing from protesting Trump’s first term. “I mean, we’ve been taken over by a bunch of robber barons who are trying to take away all of our rights, benefits, and liberty.”
May joined thousands of others in New York City’s Bryant Park, who also carried signs which opposed budget cuts and Project 2025, while supporting Planned Parenthood and chanting critiques against the administration.
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“I am protesting what is happening with this blessed country, the democracy that was advanced democracy now in transition to a dictatorship, and we are almost in a fascist state right now — only because the rule of law is bending right now, and it may break,” shared Yalena, who is from Ukraine and has lived in the U.S. for over three decades.
One resident from Ridgewood, Queens, Mary, held a sign that stated “Stop Republican Chaos.”
“I am outraged,” Mary said. “The Republicans in Congress are enabling Trump to do many, many things. Everything he’s doing is wrong, and they know it, and they are enabling it. The Republicans must go. They’re causing chaos. People have to vote blue for every office, always.”
When asked what she hoped the protest would accomplish, Marty from Yonkers, who considers herself to be “a proud higher education ‘diversicrat,’” said she wanted people to know that everyone is “ticked off.”
“I mean, this isn’t just you sitting at home in your jammies being ticked off. A lot of people are, and it goes back to ‘you don’t agonize, organize,'” she told Fox News Digital.
Last weekend, over 200 “Tesla Takedown,” protests were also organized around the U.S. to rally against Trump-appointed DOGE head, Elon Musk, and the department’s related budget cuts.
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Several protesters, including Josh from Queens, said they hadn’t been personally affected by the DOGE budget cuts, but noted that everyone knew someone who had — especially in education and science.
“I have a lot of friends who are teachers [and] the cuts from the Department of Education are pretty scary … I work directly with special needs students, and I’m worried that some of that funding might be cut as well,” he told Fox News Digital.
Trump has seen his poll numbers slip in recent weeks, although he has generally seen better numbers thus far than at any point during his first presidency. His administration has moved at a breakneck pace since January on his initiatives, and Trump’s team has remained confident that his various moves on issues from trade to immigration to government downsizing will benefit the nation long-term.
Wendy, a professor living in New Jersey, said she was particularly concerned about cuts to higher education and science.
“I know scientists who have had grants cut, significant grants cut,” she said. “Grants that help get women into science, and girls interested in science and grants that help move science and knowledge forward in the United States.”
On DOGE’s “Agency Efficiency Leaderboard,” which details which government agencies have saved the most from canceled contracts and other methods to cut costs, the Department of Education ranks in second place. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) ranks in 13th place, as of March 30.
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According to DOGE, it claims on its site it has saved Americans $140 billion, or $869.57 per taxpayer, while critics say it’s been opaque about its methodology and accounting.
“I haven’t been affected, but I used to work at the NIH and a lot of my colleagues have been fired as a result, so scientific research is being halted because of DOGE,” said one unnamed, masked protester, holding a sign which had the scientific symbol for “resistor.”
“Hands Off!” is a grassroots movement supported by civil rights groups, labor unions and other advocacy organizations and is described on its website as a “nationwide mobilization to stop the most brazen power grab in modern history.” The protests that took place this weekend are being regarded as the largest nationwide display of opposition since Trump began his second term and occurred just after the Trump administration implemented a baseline duty of 10% on all imports to the U.S.
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The White House and Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
NBA legend trashes league’s product, says star player ‘needs to be f—ing arrested’
Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal had tough words for Los Angeles Clippers guard Ben Simmons in a rant against the NBA’s current product.
O’Neal sounded off on the game in the latest episode of the podcast.
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“People get mad. It’s just a product of what I’ve seen,” the Los Angeles Lakers legend said. “I’ve seen what greatness is, been there, played with them. I don’t see that all the time over there. So, you want me to give these mother—-rs the same props you giving them? That s— will never happen. You can call it hate if you want.
“Even with the word ‘hate,’ like these f—–g kids, they like to throw that word around. If you ain’t f—–g great and I’m great, how the f— can I hate on you? That don’t make no f—–g sense. I’m in the f—–g building, and you not in the building, so how the f— can I hate on you?”
O’Neal said he wants to see greatness on the court and lamented that “a lot of these mother—ers can’t play.”
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He pointed to Simmons, a three-time All-Star whose career has been marred by injuries. He went from averaging 14.3 points per game with the Philadelphia 76ers to averaging fewer than seven points per game with the Brooklyn Nets and now with the Clippers. All of that while he averaged around $35.4 million per year in salary and has earned more than $200 million in his career.
“Ben f—ing Simmons, that mother—er needs to be arrested. Jayson Tatum can play. He’s alright. I’m not going to bash him. But Ben Simmons needs to be f—–g arrested. ($250 million) for that bull—- Get the f— out of my face. Robbing people, man. You can’t do that.”
The NBA’s current product has found a lot of criticism over the last few years. With more teams taking 3-pointers and stars not playing the entirety of the 82-game schedule, fans responded by turning the game off.
Ratings were a hot topic of conversation earlier in the season.
Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla even said he’d “rather watch something else.”
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The NBA playoffs are poised to change that with superstar talent in the running for a title, including the Lakers and LeBron James.
Gen Z’s newest nickname is here — and it’s not a compliment
Ghosted on dating apps, rejected by colleges and passed over for jobs – rejection isn’t fleeting for Gen Z. In fact, it’s becoming a defining feature of their collective identity.
As young adults come of age in a culture shaped by hyper-curated digital existences, political tumult and cultural and economic instability, a new pattern has emerged – Gen Z is facing more rejections at more critical life stages than any recent generation.
What happens when the entire group begins to internalize “no” as the default response?
Author Delia Cai says Gen Z egos or their alleged “sense of entitlement” isn’t what’s at stake – rather, it’s “our expectation of agency in an increasingly mediated world.”
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Last month, she wrote a Business Insider article telling the story of one largely anonymous Gen Zer named Em, recounting the hundreds of rejections they’ve faced while looking to pin down their next opportunity for a potential breakthrough.
Living with a loved one while scraping by on a few hundred dollars a month from contract work, Em lamented living a life they feel is “not worth living at the moment.”
But Em isn’t alone, and the article explores the rejection factor that may be largely fueling many of the titles Gen Zers wear to make them the “unhappiest generation.”
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“From education to careers to romance, never before have young adults had this much access to prospective yeses. And, in turn, never before have young adults been told no so frequently,” Cai writes.
In the dating world, Gen Zers have access to more potential partners than perhaps any other generation before them, and it’s all at their fingertips. Yet, at the same time, the age group is getting married years after their Baby Boomer grandparents did, swiping through potential partners, going out on dates with multiple people only to get rejected and reject others at astronomically high rates.
Cai points out that the fear of rejection may prevent them from taking that next giant leap, leaving them to stay in isolation and swipe through social media, watch Netflix and socially withdraw even further.
Gen Z author and influencer Christian Hodges says his generation has not been taught “how to deal with losing,” and that may be to blame.
“From childhood rec leagues to the ‘No Child Left Behind’ grading system, Gen Z has been socially engineered to believe everyone is a winner,'” he told Fox News Digital.
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Hodges blames the mentality on what he views as a shift toward socialism, arguing that it’s only healthy “capitalism” to send zoomers back to the drawing board to get better before they get their next breakthrough.
Cai’s words about the fear of rejection feed into Gen Z’s reputation as the “loneliest” generation, the most anxious generation and the generation who lacks much-needed communication skills.
On another front, Cai tells the story of a prospective college student from the age group, identified as a 22-year-old star student named Dylan, who felt dejected after receiving a low number of acceptances to the approximately 20 universities he applied to, despite having a 4.7 GPA and experience with varsity sports.
He told the outlet, “I just remember feeling like it wasn’t necessarily our qualifications that mattered, that it was just like, , the right person read it on the right day.”
Hodges acknowledged that zoomers have been “gaslit” into believing a college education will open doors they’ve always dreamed of entering.
“When was networking taught in high school, let alone college?” he asked. “How about real, applicable skills? When were blue-collar fields shown to be undersaturated and a real option?”
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College admissions are similar to the job market in this way. Not only are Gen Zers getting ghosted by potential partners, but they’re also left hanging by prospective employers, and data from career-focused sites points to their fruitless efforts despite applying for numerous jobs.
Cai reported that, of the zoomers she had spoken to, their job rejections typically hovered in the hundreds.
AG Bondi makes an example out of prosecutor who broke ranks in deportation case
The Trump administration has placed a Justice Department (DOJ) lawyer on leave for not “zealously advocating” its position in the case involving a Salvadoran man living in Maryland who was mistakenly deported last month.
Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office placed Erez Reuveni, who argued for the government, in Friday’s hearing in which a judge ruled Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia must be returned to the U.S. by Monday, on indefinite paid leave, Fox News has learned.
“At my direction, every Department of Justice attorney is required to zealously advocate on behalf of the United States,” Bondi told the New York Times in a statement. “Any attorney who fails to abide by this direction will face consequences.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the DOJ for comment.
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Reuveni on Friday admitted that Garcia’s deportation was a mistake, according to the New York Times.
On Saturday, the Trump administration argued in an emergency appeal that U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis can’t force the administration to return Garcia to the U.S.
Xinis on Friday ruled that the government must make arrangements to have Garcia back in the U.S. before Monday at midnight.
The Saturday emergency appeal seeks to temporarily stay Xinis’ decision until the government has time to properly appeal the ruling.
“Late Friday afternoon, a federal district judge ordered the United States to force El Salvador to send one of its citizens – a member of MS-13, no less – back to the United States by midnight on Monday. If there was ever a case for an emergency stay pending appeal, this would be it,” the government wrote in the emergency appeal reviewed by Fox News Digital.
The government also argued that it “does not have control over” Garcia now that he is in El Salvador.
“Nevertheless, the court’s injunction commands that Defendants accomplish, somehow, Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States in give or take one business day,” the appeal said, calling it “indefensible.”
The filing said that the judge “lacked the power” to require the government “on the clock, to try to force a foreign country to take a discrete action.”
It added, “Abrego Garcia has been found to be a member of a designated Foreign 3 Terrorist Organization, MS-13. Given that status, he has no legal right or basis to be in the United States at all.”
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Xinis on Friday said that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s March 15th expulsion of Garcia violated the Administrative Procedures Act, since it occurred without a judicial proceeding.
The Trump administration has acknowledged Garcia’s removal was an “administrative error,” but has also defended it, alleging that Garcia has ties to MS-13.
“This individual is an illegal criminal who broke our nation’s immigration laws. He is a leader in the brutal MS-13 gang, and he is involved in human trafficking,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a briefing on Tuesday.
“And now MS-13 is a designated foreign terrorist organization. Foreign terrorists have no legal protections in the United States of America. And this administration is going to continue to deport foreign terrorists and illegal criminals from our nation’s interior,” she added.
An immigration judge five years ago said Garcia, who came to the U.S. illegally in 2011 and asked for asylum, could not be deported to his home country, over concerns he would become a victim of local El Salvador gang members.
His request for asylum was denied, but he was given protection from deportation and ICE didn’t appeal the decision.
Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, who is a U.S. citizen, has vigorously campaigned for his return.
Garcia had been working as a sheet metal apprentice in Maryland and was arrested in an IKEA parking lot on March 12 while his 5-year-old son was in the car.
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His lawyers have argued the man had a Department of Homeland Security permit to work in the country, and strongly deny any gang affiliations. They also say that the government has given little evidence to back up its claim.
There was no indication how the government would comply, since he is incarcerated in an El Salvador prison under that government’s custody.
Brooks & Dunn frontman abruptly leaves while playing iconic hit, doesn’t come back
Country music icon Ronnie Dunn has fans concerned after the country star abruptly walked offstage.
During a concert in Indianapolis on Thursday, the 71-year-old Brooks & Dunn member was singing the band’s iconic hit, “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” during the show’s encore when, at one point, he gestured that he was done.
In a video posted to TikTok, Dunn finished his verse in the song before shaking his head at a member of his band, insinuating that he was no longer going to perform.
He faced the audience and pounded his heart before waving and walking offstage.
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“Feel better, Ronnie!!! Thanks for giving us all you could!!” the caption of the video read.
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In another video posted to TikTok, Dunn was seen sitting down on the stage risers during a song.
“Anyone know what’s going on?! Hoping a quick bug, and he’s back on stage tomorrow!” the caption read.
“When they were in Houston he said he was getting over Covid and strept [SIC] throat. He needs to rest and recover,” one user commented on the post.
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Fans took to social media to share thoughts of encouragement and well-wishes to Dunn.
“Praying for you Ronnie! Hope you get better soon,” one fan wrote on the band’s official Instagram page.
“You guys were awesome last night in Indy!!!! My first time seeing yall and definitely was a dream well met!! It looked like you were sick near the end though and I hope you get better soon!!!!!” another wrote.
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Representatives for the band and Dunn did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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Dunn, who returned to the stage Friday night, has not addressed the exit.
Last month, he revealed that he had been battling the flu as well as strep throat.
“Had to fight through the last two shows (the flu and strep aren’t a singer’s friend…) Crowds have been terrific and thanks to the best band and crew in the business we’ve powered through it…he wrote on Instagram.
Paige Spiranac’s shirt sends clear message after she fires back at critic
Golf influencer Paige Spiranac is not afraid to flaunt what she’s got and on Friday she sent a clear message with a shirt she wore while chatting with a friend.
Samantha Marks posted a photo of Spiranac’s shirt while the two talked on FaceTime. Marks wrote on X that she just noticed what it said.
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Spiranac had, “Yes they’re real,” emblazoned across her chest.
Spiranac has been clear about working on her fitness goals and clapped back at a critic last week on X who was upset that the golfer was showing off a little more than what was in her golf bag.
“I went from having my back connect to my thighs to this,” Spiranac wrote on X while contrasting photos of what she looked like at the start of her golf career and what she looks like now. “It’s not the biggest peach now but I’ve been working harder than I ever have in the gym and also with my diet.
“Heck yeah I’m going to show it off! I’m proud of my body and how hard I’ve been working to achieve my fitness goals.”
She’s routinely fired back at comments about her golf attire and the way she’s dressed. In an interview with Sports Illustrated in September 2023, she explained why she wears what she does.
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“I was a gymnast before I switched into golf,” the former All-Mountain West Conference golfer said. “I was so comfortable wearing spandex and very little of it because that’s just what you wear when you’re wearing a leotard and you’re competing.
“When I switched into golf, we were struggling a little bit financially and so I didn’t have the luxury to go out and buy a whole new golf-appropriate wardrobe. And so, I wore what was in my closet which was workout clothes. That’s just how I learned to play the game.”
In July 2023, she called out the “hypocrisy” of comments in a video showing two half-naked baseball players on the mound. She noted that the players weren’t getting negative comments about what they were doing.
“Interesting how different the reaction is online when men choose to show off their bodies,” she wrote on X at the time. “Not one comment on this video calling them attention whores or sluts. Just a ton of women saying baseball is now their favorite sport but those same women harshly judge me. The hypocrisy lol.”
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Spiranac has more than 4 million followers on Instagram and another 1.6 million on TikTok.
HGTV star predicts ‘huge opportunity’ for homebuyers in coming months
The U.S. housing market may be shifting, and some real estate experts believe 2025 could offer new opportunities for buyers.
“I think it’s a huge opportunity for buyers in the next 12 to 18 months,” said HGTV’s “Flipping 101” host Tarek El Moussa during an appearance on “Fox & Friends,” Tuesday.
“I do not see a crash coming.”
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), 2024 had the lowest level of existing home sales since 1995. However, housing inventory rose 5.1% in February compared to the previous month and 17% year over year. Mortgage rates, while still high, have also dropped slightly, with the 30-year fixed rate averaging 6.65% as of late March.
El Moussa acknowledged that while inventory is increasing, the market still isn’t back to normal.
“They’re saying it’s thawing out, but if you look historically, we still have less inventory than a normal market,” he said. “The reason… is [be]cause the majority of people that have a mortgage today, the rates are so low they can’t afford to move, and they can’t qualify to move. So, what’s happening is there’s just nothing available.”
When asked about the impact of the new Trump administration, El Moussa dismissed the idea that political leadership is driving the changes.
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“I don’t think it’s because of the administration,” he said.
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“I think it’s based on the fact that they’re [Federal Reserve] trying to prevent a recession, but they’re also trying to prevent the prices [from going] up because they’re already inflated. So, I think what we’re going to see is the interest rates kind of toggling up and down like they’ve done the last couple of years.”
While home sales typically slow in the winter and pick up in the spring and summer, El Moussa predicts a long-term shift in homeownership trends.
“I see a big change coming into our future, and that change is people are going to be in their homes longer.”
“I think you’re going to see people remodeling their houses, doing additions to their houses,” he said.
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He also noted that the government is increasingly looking to investors to help expand housing availability.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner has shared that the Trump administration is looking to use federal lands to increase the supply of affordable housing and alleviate the shortage on the market. Turner has partnered with U.S Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum to work on identifying what lands could be used.