Ilhan Omar, another House Dem spotted at Minneapolis federal courthouse
Rep. Ilhan Omar and Rep. Angie Craig, both Democrats from Minnesota, showed up at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis on Saturday and demanded entry.
A source told Fox News that they have been escorted into the building.
Craig later said outside the facility that, “They told us that we are not allowed in the building, that they were rejecting our appeal as duly-elected members of Congress from the state of Minnesota, from observing the detention center.”
“The response was that because the funding for this center came from the One Big, Beautiful Bill, not a congressional appropriations bill, that they were denying our access,” she continued. “We have every right and responsibility if we’re doing our jobs to be here today to see what the conditions are in that detention center, we are going to continue to show up.”
“It was our understanding that we were led in, by the former acting director that allowed us in, he was in that position up until two days ago,” Omar said. “And, you know, we did make a phone call before we came here, to give him a heads up that we were coming, did facilitate our entry into the building. And then ten minutes or so later, as we were making our way into the actual detention center where people were being detained, we were told that we had to come back out, because his higher-ups had made a phone call to him saying that we are no longer allowed to be in the building, and that an explanation would be provided to us once we got upstairs.”
“We are seeing ICE pick up people, not allowing them to have access to their attorneys, to their family members, not allowing access to information that their family members could provide,” Omar added. “We’ve also seen them being denied the ability to contact their members of Congress so that we can liaison and get the proper information that is needed and give comfort to their families of their whereabouts. This hasn’t happened before.”
“There is no freedom when you are being detained and your government is being turned against you. This should be appalling to everyone,” Omar also said.
“In Minnesota, we know how to protect one another. And I have been incredibly, incredibly proud the way our neighbors have shown up for one another. It’s been beautiful to see. And that kind of resistance is why ICE agents seem so angry and agitated, because they have never experienced the kind of love that we experienced here in Minnesota, and we know that they are going to disappear one day, but we will be here caring for one another and carrying out policy with love here in Minnesota,” Omar declared.
Rep. Kelly Morrison, D-Minn., also was at the scene on Saturday.
Fox News’ Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Saturday that 29 people were arrested overnight during anti-ICE demonstrations in downtown Minneapolis.
“It was well over a thousand individuals, we believe that we’re assembled there. And as those individuals broke off from the crowd, we had some other marches that then continued downtown. Ultimately, by 1 a.m., all of these individuals were either dispersed or placed under arrest. There were 29 arrests last night. We are aware of one police officer that was injured from a chunk of ice that was thrown at them,” O’Hara said.
“Obviously, there’s a number of additional marches and protests that we will be monitoring today, and we are fully prepared if things cross the line and become unlawful to make additional arrests if necessary,” he added.
“I also want to acknowledge that the vast majority of people have protested peacefully,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said. “And to the few that have caused damage to property and or harm to others, I need to be very clear. We’re not going to let that happen. If you cause damage to property, or put others in danger, you’re going to be arrested.”
O’Hara told reporters Saturday, “Last night at about 7 p.m., there was a gathering outside the Canopy hotel in downtown Minneapolis. That gathering began as all the other gatherings around hotels had been conducted over the last several days, largely peaceful.
“Mainly a noise protest that was occurring, trying to disrupt the activities at the hotel. Unfortunately, that changed last night,” O’Hara said. “Individuals at the Canopy then began marching on Washington Avenue towards The Depot and the Renaissance Hotel. While they were there, some individuals broke off from that group, and in the rear, they caused some damage to that hotel. Damage to some of the windows and some graffiti damage.”
“They then returned, to the Canopy hotel, where the Minneapolis Police Department responded with well over 200 police officers,” he also said. “We initiated a plan and took our time to de-escalate the situation.”
Footage has captured a mob in downtown Minneapolis trying to breach a hotel where they reportedly believed U.S. Immigration and Customs (ICE) agents were staying.
Unrest has been brewing in the Minnesota city following Wednesday’s ICE-involved shooting of Renee Nicole Good.
Fox News correspondent Garrett Tenney reported that a small group of the demonstrators on Friday had broken into The Depot in downtown Minneapolis and were tossing around furniture inside while others were spray-painting anti-ICE messages on windows.
Outside, the agitators were playing instruments, banging drums and blowing whistles to prevent immigration agents from sleeping and getting rest, according to Fox News correspondent Matt Finn.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety later said, “Minnesota State Patrol Mobile Response Team and members of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources are assisting Minneapolis police with the arrest of people for unlawful assembly.”
Despite large protests erupting in Minneapolis and throughout the country, an immigration expert said that the left’s attempt to paint slain anti-ICE protester Renee Nicole Good as “George Floyd 2.0” is “just not sticking.”
Leading Democrats have responded with outrage after an ICE officer killed Good in a Wednesday confrontation. The Trump administration has said the agent fired in self-defense in response to Good allegedly attempting to run him over with her vehicle.
Democrats have rushed to portray it as an example of unjust violence by the Trump administration.
Hillary Clinton posted on X on Thursday that “last night, at the corner where an ICE agent murdered Renee Good, thousands of Minnesotans gathered in the frigid dark to protest her killing.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told ICE to “get the f— out of Minneapolis” during a Wednesday press conference, a sentiment that was echoed by Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who also posted to the Department of Homeland Security, “Get out of our city.”
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, said that a lot has changed in the several years since Floyd’s killing, including a decline in trust of the mainstream media and a subsequent surge in independent journalism.
“This isn’t 2020 anymore, and a lot of Americans’ eyes have opened during 2020 from the COVID shutdowns, the mandates, the censorship, the nightly riots, the election fraud, and it’s just not going to work anymore,” said Ries. “People can see what’s really happening and decide for themselves, not just take mainstream media’s word for it or mainstream media omission of facts as the truth.”
Ries said that as soon as the fatal shooting happened on Wednesday, she knew “the left is going to try to make this George Floyd 2.0.”
“But within 24 hours, even less, that hasn’t come to pass,” she said.
MINNEAPOLIS – The Minneapolis Police Department was absent from the block where Wednesday’s ICE shooting unfolded, allowing agitators to seize control of the street and erect makeshift barricades that kept others out of the area.
According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the shooting happened during an ICE enforcement operation in south Minneapolis on Wednesday. DHS said agents were trying to make arrests when Renee Nicole Good allegedly used her vehicle as a weapon, which the agency said prompted a federal agent to fire shots in self-defense.
Following the shooting, agitators took control of the street where the shooting took place and used makeshift barricades with chairs, trash cans, wood shipping pallets, bicycles and more.
Fox News Digital went to the area surrounding the makeshift barricades and observed agitators directing traffic. No police officers were observed nearby.
Minneapolis police took down the makeshift barricades early Friday morning.
“F— ICE” was spray-painted on one of the wooden shipping pallets. Another nearby sign said “ICE are terrorists.”
The Portland Police Bureau said early Saturday that one person was arrested in the Oregon city late Friday night “after he pushed a bike officer” during a demonstration near an ICE building there.
“On the evening of Friday, January 9, 2026, the Portland Police Bureau activated an Incident Management Team to monitor protest activity in the South Portland Neighborhood near the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building,” it said.
“At approximately 10:15 p.m., officers arrested Andrew Simmons, 39, of Portland, after he pushed a bike officer. Simmons was transported to the Multnomah County Detention Center and lodged on the following charges: Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree and Harassment,” according to the Portland Police Bureau. “To date, the total number of arrests related to ICE protest activity is 80.”
The demonstration came after another shooting involving an immigration agent in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday.
In a Friday X post, Homeland Security said that the two shooting victims, Luis David Nico Moncada and Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, are Venezuelan criminal illegal aliens and suspected members of the foreign terrorist organization Tren de Aragua (TdA).
According to the agency, Moncada and Zambrano-Contreras were shot by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent after the two attempted to run him and others over with their vehicle.
Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo, Alec Schemmel and Michael Sinkewicz contributed to this report.
The Minneapolis Public Schools system announced Friday that students would be allowed to return to campus on Monday, Jan. 12, after in-person learning was canceled Thursday and Friday in the aftermath of a deadly Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in the city on Wednesday.
The school system said, “in-person learning at all buildings will resume on Monday,” but it noted that remote learning is being offered for “families who may need it” through Feb. 12.
The school’s announcement said more information on the remote learning option has been made available to staff and families.
The change in learning options comes amid protests against ICE and the Trump administration following the shooting death of 37-year-old Renee Good, who has been accused of trying to run an ICE agent over with her car, according to DHS.
Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey shrugged off the newly surfaced cellphone video Friday taken by a federal agent of the shooting that killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good.
Alpha News was the first to obtain the video showing a tense exchange between the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent and Good, who was shot and killed while behind the wheel of her car he was standing in front of it. The video also shows Good’s wife, who is seen taunting the agent from outside the vehicle.
In a report that aired Friday on ABC’s “World News Tonight,” Frey was shown the video by correspondent Whit Johnson but appeared not to be swayed by it.
“He walked away with a hop in his step from the incident. There’s another person that’s dead. He held on his cell phone. I think that speaks for itself,” Frey reacted.
“Does that video, that angle change your perspective at all about what may have happened?” Johnson asked.
“I think an investigation could change or affirm my perspective,” Frey responded. “But we’ve [all got] two eyes, and I can see a person that is trying to leave. I can see an ICE agent that was not run over by a car. That didn’t happen.”
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety said early Saturday that multiple people were arrested for “unlawful assembly” during protests in downtown Minneapolis.
“The Minnesota State Patrol Mobile Response Team and members of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources are assisting Minneapolis police with the arrest of people for unlawful assembly,” the department said in a statement.
Authorities responded to the area of the Canopy Hotel on South Third Street and Park Avenue in downtown Minneapolis following reports that demonstrations “were no longer peaceful” and involved property damage, the department said.
The department added that dispersal orders were issued prior to the arrests.
Hundreds of anti-ICE protestors gathered outside the Canopy by Hilton on Friday evening, where they believed some ICE agents were staying.
Protests erupted in Minneapolis this week following the deadly shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, who was fatally shot Wednesday by an ICE agent during an immigration enforcement operation.
Federal officials say the agent fired after Good attempted to “weaponize her vehicle” against officers.
Hundreds of demonstrations against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are planned for Saturday in the wake of Wednesday’s fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.
Indivisible, which describes itself as a grassroots movement on a “mission to elect progressive leaders, rebuild our democracy, and defeat the Trump agenda,” said hundreds of protests were scheduled in Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, Florida and other states.
Many were dubbed “ICE Out for Good,” according to The Associated Press.
In Minneapolis, a coalition of migrant rights groups called for a demonstration at Powderhorn Park, about half a mile from where Good was shot on Wednesday. They said the rally and march would celebrate Good’s life and call for an “end to deadly terror on our streets.”
The Trump administration said Good used her vehicle to try to run over federal officers during an immigration enforcement operation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
GREGG JARRETT: Walz has trump card if charged in widening Somali fraud scandal
“I hereby plead incompetence and stupidity.”
That’s probably the best defense that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz can offer if he is criminally charged in the shocking multi-billion-dollar taxpayer ripoffs that grow larger by the day.
Given his earned reputation, his excuse of incompetence would be credible.
Nearly every social service program receiving federal dollars was fleeced by fraudsters right under Walz’s nose, including child nutrition, daycare, healthcare, housing, and autism aid. Most of the perpetrators were Somalians who comprise a powerful voting block that the governor treasures like gold.
EMMER WARNS WALZ COULD END UP ‘IN CUFFS’ AMID MINNESOTA FRAUD CLAIMS
Walz was repeatedly warned of the swindles as far back as 2019 when he first took office. Instead of stopping the scams and prosecuting the grifters, he indulged them by establishing a culture of permissible fraud.
The scandal has already claimed Walz’s political career, forcing him to abandon his bid for re-election. But if he reckoned that quitting would somehow shield him from legal culpability, he is mistaken. There is mounting evidence that Walz was willfully complicit, deliberately refusing to expose or pursue the monumental thefts and, instead, launching aggressive measures to scuttle any legal scrutiny and criminal consequence.
The governor’s own state workers at the Department of Human Services issued a blistering statement blaming him as 100% responsible. Witnesses say he retaliated against whistleblowers and schemed to discredit the well-documented fraud reports.
WALZ’S LONG-RUNNING FRAUD SCANDAL PUTS HARRIS CAMPAIGN JUDGMENT UNDER SCRUTINY
If true, Walz’s aberrant actions run dangerously close to criminal behavior involving cover-ups and obstruction.
Nine federal agencies, including the FBI, are now working to unravel the full breadth and depth of the colossal cons. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has sent scores of investigators and lawyers to Minnesota to prosecute the web of fraud and deceit.
They will inevitably weigh whether Walz should face criminal charges himself.
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Possible Federal Charges
There are several federal statutes to consider. 18 USC 371 makes it a crime to conspire with others to defraud the government. At present, there is no known evidence that Walz directly participated in the scams themselves or accepted money.
However, if he plotted to cover up the fraud by impairing, obstructing or defeating efforts to bring the fraudsters to justice, the conspiracy statute is applicable. So, too, are the various obstruction of justice laws.
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There is also 18 USC 2, the aiding and abetting statute where accomplices are treated the same as the main perpetrators. That law gave rise to the “willful blindness doctrine” recognized by our courts.
An example is a businessman who intentionally ignores or turns a blind eye to his partner’s money laundering, resulting in charges against both. Similarly, a public official such as Walz can be indicted for deliberate inaction where he has a clear duty to act.
Finally, 18 USC 3 is relevant whenever concealment occurs. Whoever knows that a crime has been committed but “hinders apprehension, trial or punishment,” is guilty of accessory after the fact. That bears a striking resemblance to what Walz is accused of doing.
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All of this invites the question of the governor’s motive. If not money, how did he stand to benefit by suppressing the avalanche of fraud? That’s the easy part. Votes.
Walz, together with liberal elites and their media handmaidens, have long dismissed the rumors and reports of Somali-engineered fraud as “racist.” Apparently, in Minnesota it is politically incorrect to enforce the law against immigrants from that particular East African country. It’s just not fashionable.
God forbid that putting criminals behind bars might lose electoral support. It’s chic to turn the other cheek.
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So, the Somalian fraudsters were gifted a “get-out-of-jail” free card, courtesy of the governor and his cronies. Walz, in turn, secured their votes. It was a nifty quid pro quo, but with an alternate currency —votes. As protection rackets go, it was slick.
That cozy arrangement is manifested in a recently uncovered audio recording of a 2021 conversation between Walz’s Attorney General Keith Ellison and Somali hustlers who were soon after convicted of scamming millions of dollars. They were heard leaning hard on the AG to “protect” them in exchange for support and campaign donations.
Ellison eagerly capitulated but now denies any wrongdoing. He returned the cash.
Walz’s Incompetence Defense
It is too early to know whether a criminal case will be filed against Minnesota’s beleaguered governor. The U.S. Attorney and DOJ lawyers are still digging through the mountains of evidence.
However, as noted above, the only tenable defense Walz may be able to conjure up is incompetence and stupidity. It is something that jurors might readily accept.
SCATHING AUDIT REVEALS MORE FRAUD CONCERNS INSIDE TOP MINNESOTA AGENCY WITH FABRICATED DOCUMENTS, ‘MISCONDUCT’
After all, ineptitude became the governor’s calling card. He infamously conceded his own buffoonery in the 2024 Vice Presidential debate when he called himself a “knucklehead.” He was such a gaffe factory that the Kamala Harris campaign squirreled him away from the media.
Walz achieved the impossible. He made his running mate look like a genius. His bizarre on-stage antics were constant fodder for mockery. Baffling verbal goofs, such as boasting that he had “become friends with school shooters,” left voters scratching their heads or snickering.
A series of demonstrable lies about his military service and his peculiar treks to China only compounded the impression of a man who is either a serial fabricator or not right in the head. Maybe both are true.
And who can forget his epic bungling of the George Floyd riots in 2020. He radicalized the tragic death, thereby ginning up the ensuing violence. As Minneapolis burned, Walz dithered. Afterwards, he blamed the looting and torched buildings on systemic racism.
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So, it’s not a stretch to imagine that an indictment alleging Walz was wittingly complicit in his state’s massive welfare fraud scandal might be met with a defense of “misfeasance” (careless or incompetent execution of a lawful duty) to combat the incriminating evidence of “malfeasance” (a deliberate, unlawful act).
It’s a distinction that can mean the difference between conviction and acquittal.
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Should Walz find himself in the dock sometime soon… don’t be surprised if he portrays himself as a blockhead who was intellectually incapable of grasping the obvious.
Minnesota jurors who know the governor would understand completely.
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Rick Harrison marries for fifth time after finding love again at 60 with nurse
“Pawn Stars” host Rick Harrison shared that he is the “happiest I’ve ever been” after finding love again at 60.
On Jan. 3, the reality TV personality and Agripina “Angie” Polushkin, 42, tied the knot at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada during a ceremony officiated by an Elvis Presley impersonator, with a larger celebration planned later this month in Cancun, Mexico.
During an interview with Fox News Digital, Harrison explained why he felt it was the right time in his life to embark on a new marriage.
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“Why not?” he said. “I’m 60 years old, and I’m in good health, you know what I mean?”
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He continued, “You know, I still got all those aches and pains for all the stupid stuff I did when I was young, like motorcycles.”
“But no, I plan on living to — I tell Angie all the time that I promise I’ll take care of her when she gets old,” Harrison said. “I’m going like, ‘I asked [Elon Musk’s AI chatbot] Grok, they’re saying like with AI, I could live to like 150.'”
The couple’s nuptials come after a challenging couple of years for Harrison following the death of his son Adam in January 2024 at the age of 39 from a fentanyl overdose after years of struggling with addiction. In November, Harrison’s mother, Joanne, passed away at the age of 85.
WATCH: ‘Pawn Stars’ host Rick Harrison says he’s ‘happier than I’ve ever been’ after marrying at 60
While speaking with Fox News Digital, Harrison explained that he was choosing to focus on the joy in his life after enduring tragedies.
“I like being happy,” he said. “I mean, I do all right.”
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Harrison continued. “I don’t have to work another day of my life and live really, really well. The thing is, everyone wants to be happy. And I know guys with 10 times as much money as me, and they’re not happy. I’m always happy.”
“Because if you’re not, get rid of the thing that’s not making you not happy,” he added. “That’s just sort of my philosophy of life. And I’m the happiest I ever been. Life is good, my kids are doing great, my grandbabies are doing good, I’m really happy.”
Harrison expressed his gratitude that he was able to lean on Angie for support during those dark periods of his life. “She was there for me,” he said. “And that’s the important part. She was there for me.”
Harriosn has previously been married four times. His first marriage was to Kim Harrison, whom he married in 1982. The former couple welcomed sons Corey and Adam before divorcing in 1985. Harrison went on to marry Tracy Harrison in 1986. The TV personality and Tracy, who share son Jake, divorced in 2011. In 2013, he wed Deanna Burditt and became stepfather to her daughters Sarina, Ciana and Marissa, but they divorced in 2020.
Most recently, before his current marriage, he was married to Amanda Palmer from 2021 until their split in 2023.
In early 2024, Harrison met Angie, who works as a nurse, in Las Vegas, where they both live, and the pair went public with their relationship in the summer of 2024, and they became engaged in March.
Harrison previously revealed that he proposed to Angie with a custom 6.5-carat pear-shaped diamond ring from his own Gold & Silver Pawn Shop.
During his interview with Fox News Digital, Harrison joked about how he chose the engagement ring that he gave Angie.
“I figure she deserved it, you know. If I give her a rock that big, she can’t say no,” he quipped.
Harrison went on to recall Angie’s reaction to his proposal.
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“She started crying, I think, and then like, said ‘Yes,’” he remembered.
“And yeah, the diamond is like the size of a nickel,” Harrison joked.
Harrison explained that he actually asked for Angie’s hand in marriage twice after his stepdaughters deemed his first proposal to be unromantic.
“I just came home, ‘Hey, you wanna marry me?’” Harrison recalled of his first proposal. “And then my daughters were like, dad, are you f—— serious? And then like, ‘You have to do way better than that.’ So I redid it in the Casablanca Valley in Chile.”
The North Carolina native described his second proposal as “pretty amazing.”
“I think I really did [it] good,” he said. “It’s this entire valley that’s owned by this one family, and they have a restaurant on the hill, and I rented out the entire restaurant, so no one else was there but us, and they cooked us a special meal. And yeah, I did it right that time.”
Harrison noted that he and Angie had to wed in the United States before tying the knot in Mexico. He said they decided against marrying at a courthouse, instead opting for a “flashy little wedding” in Las Vegas and a small reception at his restaurant, Rick’s Rollin Smoke BBQ & Tavern.
Harrison told Fox News Digital that he “absolutely loved” that an Elvis impersonator officiated their wedding.
“It was so Vegas,” he said.
WATCH: ‘Pawn Stars’ host Rick Harrison shares why he and wife Angie decided on a Vegas wedding
The “License to Pawn” author said it was Angie who suggested marrying in Vegas, and he left the wedding planning up to her.
“Because I know better,” he said. “I mean, I can’t dress myself. I mean, before I met Angie, I had literally FaceTimed my daughters. ‘Do I match? ’Yeah, so I wasn’t gonna do any of that because it’s her special day. She’s never been married before. It’s a big thing for her.”
“I wasn’t even gonna suggest anything because I just knew it,” he added.
“Just a memo to the guys out there: Don’t try to plan anything with your wedding because you’ll just get shot down and get dirty looks and everything like that,” Harrison joked. “Just nod your head.”
Harrison jokingly admitted to becoming emotional during the ceremony.
“I might’ve got a bug in my eye or something like that,” he said. “And then, you know, had to pick it out there. Yeah, that might’ve happened.”
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Harrison said he was moved by “the whole thing” and gushed that his bride was “absolutely amazing.”
“I look at her. She’s beautiful. I’m in love,” he told Fox News Digital. “I have a blessed life.”
“She’s funny, she’s really, really smart,” he added. “And we get along, and she understands my stupid sense of humor, and she puts up with me.”
Harrison has previously described his life with Angie as an “adventure.” While speaking with Fox News Digital, he reflected on what felt different about his relationship with Angie than his past romances.
“All my kids are grown and Angie does really, really well in nursing and some other things, and it’s just we’re happy together,” he said. “We’ve been together for two years, haven’t been in one fight, you know, which I think is a record with any couple.”
“We’re just, we are genuinely happy and we genuinely love each other and life is great.”
WATCH: ‘Pawn Stars’ host Rick Harrison explains why he felt it was right time to marry again at 60
Harrison recalled how he and Angie instantly connected when they first met.
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“I just started talking to her and you have a conversation with her and she’s really, really smart,” he said. “And you know, I’m kind of an egghead myself.”
” I mean I read books on physics for fun,” he added. “But it’s just really refreshing to just be with someone who’s just a genuine person and, I don’t know, there was just something about her when I met her.”
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Harrison also shared his advice for people who don’t believe that it is possible to find love later in life.
“It’s all about being happy,” he said. “It really is. I mean, life is absolutely amazing if you want to make it amazing. It’s a wonderful, amazing world out there.”
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“We live in the greatest country in the world,” Harrison added. “Trust me. I’ve been everywhere, OK. It’d be easier to count the countries I haven’t been to and there’s a reason why everyone wants to come to this country. It’s an amazing country. Anyone can do well here.”
“I mean, if you find someone you love, you get married, even if you’re too old to have babies, try and make some.”
Christian singer invokes ‘6th of January’ in new song asking if ‘we’ve lost our way’
Longtime Christian music artist Amy Grant has released a new original song reflecting on national division that appears to reference the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot and the idealism of the 1960s.
“The 6th of January (Yasgur’s Farm),” is a folk song reflecting on healing and connection amid global unrest that asks, “Have we all lost our way?” according to a press release.
“Yasgur’s Farm” refers to the New York property where the Woodstock music festival took place in Bethel, New York, on Aug. 15-18, 1969.
The song opens with nostalgia for the hopeful spirit of the late 1960s, referencing Marvin Gaye, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., John Lennon’s “Imagine” and Woodstock. It goes on to suggest the events of “the 6th of January” marked a symbolic break from the idealism of the ’60s counterculture.
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“Hey mister, where’s the road to Yasgur’s farm?” the lyrics say. “He stares at me with pity and alarm. Says that crowd left here long ago, scattered all to hell and Harper’s Ferry, on the 6th of January.”
Later in the song she sings, “I look ahead and realize we’ve lost our way.”
The song invites listeners to “see the world through another’s perspective, and recognize the strength found in collective understanding,” the press release says.
The track will be featured on Grant’s upcoming album of original songs, expected later this year.
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Grant has been a leading figure in Christian music for decades, earning multiple Grammy Awards and is a 2022 Kennedy Center Honoree.
She explained the song is intended to encourage people to listen to opposing viewpoints in order to find solutions.
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“We operate in the world around us and sometimes neglect the power of what we have in our choices,” she said in the press release. “The song observes life and the unrest many of us feel, while knowing we are shaping the world around us daily. Maybe life and problem-solving is more of a ‘we’ than ‘me’ conversation. If we can choose to look through a lens other than our own, maybe there is hope to come together and find a way through the unrest.”
Grant’s management shared with Fox News Digital an interview with Grant where she went into more detail about the inspiration behind the song.
“All of us are making the world what it is, one day at a time. How we welcome ourselves to it. How we welcome each other. If we look at the world around us as ‘us’ and ‘them,’ or if we look at the world as ‘we,'” Grant said. “It’s vital that we sit in unrest without jumping to conclusions of how it can be fixed. And that starts inside… within ourselves.”
‘It’s untrue’: Reality star slams ‘nasty’ Mar-a-Lago club membership claims
“Members Only: Palm Beach” reality star Rosalyn Yellin is setting the record straight on where she stands with Mar-a-Lago after “nasty” rumors about her membership circulated.
During an interview with Fox News Digital, Yellin addressed claims that members of Mar-a-Lago were planning to band together to sign a letter demanding that Yellin’s membership be revoked after she appeared in the new Netflix reality series.
“It’s untrue, it’s a rumor. It’s too sensationalize. Who knows why? People want to write mean things. But the very simple truth is that, number one, I do not talk about the private club on the show. The only time I really mentioned it, I think maybe twice. Once somebody asked me, ‘How did you meet [socialite] Gale Brophy?’ So I mentioned it because that is how I met her,” Yellin began.
“It just came out naturally. I met her at a charity event there when I first joined. And another time when they asked me maybe how much the membership fee was. But other than that, I don’t talk about it. I don’t talk about the people there. I don’t invade anybody’s privacy. I don’t let out any secrets from that club. I don’t talk about anything,” she continued.
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Yellin noted that she’s hosted charity events at Mar-a-Lago and focuses her events on raising money for trafficked women and children, aging-out foster children, cancer patients and veterans.
“So to turn something positive that I’m doing into a negative is just mean, nasty and bullying, especially because it’s not true.”
“So to turn something positive that I’m doing into a negative is just mean, nasty and bullying, especially because it’s not true,” Yellin concluded.
Since being a member of the ritzy, Trump-owned club, Yellin and other “Members Only: Palm Beach” stars have had run-ins with the president over the years.
Yellin took to Instagram after Halloween to share a photo with President Trump, noting that she celebrated the holiday at Mar-a-Lago.
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She told Fox News Digital it’s a “great honor” to see Trump.
“He is the President of the United States. It is a huge honor. I would say that about any president, it would be a huge honor for me to be in the same room with them. And that’s it,” Yellin said.
Yellin’s co-star, Taja Abitbol’s, connection to Donald Trump began decades before she moved to Palm Beach.
WATCH: ‘Members Only: Palm Beach’ star slams ‘nasty’ rumors that she’s being kicked out of Mar-a-Lago
During an interview with Fox News Digital, Abitbol said that her son and Barron Trump went to the same school in New York, and she and Trump are from the same neighborhood in Queens.
“Yes, all the time. And I mean, I know Donald Trump from New York. My son went to the same school as Barron in New York when we still lived there. They both went to Columbia Grammar Preparatory School. And I actually went to the same school as him in Queens growing up. We both went to Kew-Forrest, but obviously he was there many years before me, but we went to the same private school in Forest Hills, Queens, and my son went to the same school as him,” Abitbol said.
Taja’s partner, former New York Yankee David Cone, has golfed with Trump “many times” over the years.
“You know, he’s a big Yankee fan. I just saw him at Yankee Stadium this summer,” Abitbol said.
Abitbol’s co-star, Hilary Musser, told Fox News Digital it’s “not hard” to see President Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
WATCH: ‘Members Only: Palm Beach’ star Taja Abitbol grew up in Queens with President Donald Trump
“Well, I think you already know the answer to that. It’s not hard. I mean, especially back in the day, you know, when he used to walk around a lot more freely, and he would always – he’s super friendly,” Musser said.
Musser said that one night, she was out with “husband number four” for his birthday and Trump came by to say hello.
“And we got a pic[ture],” Musser said, noting this was before Trump got into politics.
“He’s super friendly, super nice. I also was a member of the golf club and I played on the golf team. So, he used to see me around there often. Yeah, he was a great guy in real life, in person. You know, without any politics, he’s never been anything but nice to me,” Musser said.
Musser, who is a member at Mar-a-Lago, last saw the president on New Year’s Eve when he was with the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu.
The reality star told Fox News Digital she’s spent the last 20 New Year’s Eves at Mar-a-Lago and it’s always a “fun party.”
Musser became a member at Mar-a-Lago in 2005. She told Fox News Digital that since joining 20 years ago, she’s been able to run into celebrities on any given day.
WATCH: ‘Members Only: Palm Beach’ star calls President Donald Trump a ‘great guy’
“You could, on any given day, run into any number of celebrities, any number of them. And that celebrity list just keeps getting bigger. I mean, you have Sly Stallone now. Mark Wahlberg lives in Delray. He’s come to do some events in Palm Beach. I would see Rod Stewart all the time. I mean, it’s like living in Beverly Hills, where you go to a restaurant, and you see celebrities and the cool thing to do is just not let it faze you.”
“And that’s what everybody here does. Whether it’s a politician or whether it’s a celebrity, people treat them here the same way they do in Beverly Hills. A wave, a nod, a little bit of enthusiasm, but with couth,” Musser said.
Musser told Fox News Digital you have to have discretion to make it far in Palm Beach.
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“Nobody wants to invite you over if you’re a talker. If you’re gonna brag about having been to their house. You have to have discretion. And, you know, I definitely have discretion. So, like, I’m not going to name-drop whose house I’ve been to because I’ll never get invited back. So that’s never gonna happen. And I don’t need to name-drop them because who cares? It doesn’t matter,” Musser said.
“And it’s not my goal to have been to every beautiful house on Palm Beach Island. It’s organic for me to have been invited to my friend’s homes. And I’m honored and I invite them back. Oh, that’s the other thing. You better have some parties yourself, or you don’t get invited back. You can’t do a one-way thing. It has to be two ways. But I think that’s true all around the world, isn’t it? Like, nobody wants to hang around. Nobody wants people who come to other people’s parties and never throw one themselves,” Musser said.
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Abitbol said that nobody lives like the residents in Palm Beach.
“Honestly, it is like no other, like nobody lives like us. And that’s the whole beauty of it. It really is Fantasy Island. It is paradise. And there’s so many events happening from the beginning of the season to the end of the season,” she noted.
“I think that it is just like nobody lives like us. It’s like the best way to live. I mean, I’ve lived in other places. I’ve lived in New York, Manhattan, the city, the Hamptons. It’s just that nobody lives this. First of all, the sun is shining every day, so how could you not be happy when the sun is shining every day? Similar to LA, but even more so. And you see the palm trees and the ocean. It’s just like everything is better in the Palm Beach weather,” Abitbol said.
“Members Only: Palm Beach” features a group of women who live in the most “exclusive enclaves” of the Florida seaside town. The cast includes Musser, Abitbol, Yellin, Ro-mina Ustayev and Maria Cozamanis.
“Members Only: Palm Beach” is a new Netflix reality series that premiered Dec. 29, 2025.
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Former VP defends military action against Maduro as constitutional and necessary
For years, the people of Venezuela have endured a nightmare imposed by socialist tyranny. Under President Nicolás Maduro, a once-prosperous nation was reduced to deprivation, violence and despair. Families went hungry. Hospitals ran out of medicine. Millions fled their homes. Venezuela became a case study in how socialism destroys everything it touches.
That dark chapter has come to an end.
I have always believed that Maduro must go, and will always be proud of the Trump-Pence administration’s work on Venezuela. Together, we led the charge against Maduro, building an unprecedented coalition of over 60 nations and forging bipartisan consensus in Congress to recognize the illegitimacy of the dictator’s power.
We froze regime assets so they could not use the funds to empower their human rights abuses, while providing nearly $1 billion in aid for the Venezuelan people. For the first time since Sept. 11, 2001, we invoked the Western Hemisphere’s version of a mutual defense pact to show our commitment to Venezuelan security and freedom.
HE FLED THE ‘HUNGER GAMES’ OF CUBA ONLY TO WATCH FREE AMERICANS CHEER COMMUNISM
While we ultimately fell short of our goal to free the people of Venezuela, I was heartened when the president ordered the military raid that captured Maduro and brought him to face justice in the United States.
Thanks to the leadership of President Donald Trump and the professionalism of the United States armed forces, Maduro is gone. His grip on Venezuela has been broken, and a long-suffering people now have a historic opportunity to reclaim their freedom and rebuild their nation.
For years, the United States rightly recognized that Maduro was a dictator with no legitimate claim to rule. He stole elections, jailed political opponents, silenced the free press and turned the machinery of government into a criminal enterprise. Trump deserves the gratitude of all who cherish freedom for taking bold and historic action to end this socialist catastrophe.
JAMES CARVILLE SAYS US WOULD BE ‘RIPE FOR INVASION’ IF TARGETING ‘CORRUPT’ REGIMES WAS LEGITIMATE
No free people knowingly trades prosperity for poverty. Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chávez, forced that decision on Venezuela — replacing free markets with centralized control, seizing the oil industry, commandeering electricity and telecommunications, and crushing private enterprise. The results were as predictable as they were devastating: food shortages, rolling blackouts, massive inflation and the collapse of civil society.
I witnessed the toll of this tyranny firsthand during a visit to the Venezuelan border in 2019. I met displaced families who had fled with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Their heartbreaking stories left no doubt that Maduro’s regime was not merely incompetent, but profoundly cruel.
That cruelty spilled across Venezuela’s borders and spread misery throughout the Western Hemisphere. Millions fled the country, triggering one of the largest refugee crises in modern history. Many eventually made their way to the United States, some illegally and others by exploiting a broken asylum system.
MADURO ARREST SENDS ‘CLEAR MESSAGE’ TO DRUG CARTELS, ALLIES AND US RIVALS, RETIRED ADMIRAL SAYS
At the same time, Maduro’s regime became deeply entangled in international drug trafficking, flooding American communities with poison and destroying countless lives. Even the Biden administration acknowledged the criminal nature of Maduro’s rule, placing a multimillion-dollar bounty on his capture for narco-terrorism and corruption.
Maduro also invited America’s adversaries into our own hemisphere. Russia, Iran, Cuba and communist China expanded their influence under his protection, turning Venezuela into a platform for hostile powers operating dangerously close to our shores — a clear and present national security threat to the United States.
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Trump deserves the gratitude of all who cherish freedom for taking bold and historic action to end this socialist catastrophe.
The progressive left and some on the populist right have criticized Trump’s decision to move forward with absolute resolve in bringing Maduro to justice. The Constitution, however, vests the president with broad authority as commander-in-chief to take limited but decisive action to protect our nation, and he has an obligation to faithfully execute our nation’s laws, including the criminal laws that Maduro stands accused of breaking. Presidents of both parties have exercised these authorities for generations. To deny them now would dangerously weaken future presidents and place America at greater risk.
Nicolás Maduro must answer for his crimes. He must answer for the corruption that hollowed out a nation, for the violence that muzzled dissent, and for the drug trade that took the lives of countless American citizens. Justice long delayed will finally be served.
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The Venezuelan people now stand at the threshold of a remarkable opportunity. They deserve a rebirth of freedom — a new Venezuela governed by Venezuelans, rooted in the recognition of God-given liberties, committed to free markets and sustained by free and fair elections. They deserve a future defined not by fear, but by hope.
Today, thanks to President Trump and the brave men and women of our armed forces, that future is within reach. Libertad can finally be restored. And as freedom takes root again in Venezuela, it will strengthen security and prosperity across our entire hemisphere — just as America has always stood ready to do.
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Huckabee grandkids strike archaeological gold with 2,000-year-old coins in cave
The children of Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders are now archaeologists in training.
Sanders, her husband and her children made a recent discovery during an archaeological tour of a previously unknown cave in the West Bank, Israeli news agency TPS-IL reported Tuesday.
The finds were first announced by the Yesha Council, an umbrella organization for Jewish communities in the West Bank.
3,000-YEAR-OLD EGYPTIAN FORTRESS UNCOVERED ALONG ROUTE TIED TO BIBLICAL EXODUS
The cave sits near the community of Na’ela in the Binyamin region. The family was taking a guided tour of the area, which included visiting Shiloh, the ancient biblical capital.
U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee was accompanying his family during the trip when the coins were unearthed. The children were accompanied by professional archaeologists and had metal detectors on hand.
The five coins — which may date to the Bar Kokhba Revolt period, between 132 and 135 A.D. — sent the children screaming.
“Grandpa, look what we found!” the grandchildren said, per TPS-IL.
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The family also found fragments of a second-century jar in another cave.
In a statement, Ambassador Huckabee said he has “a special place in my heart for ancient Shiloh.”
“Watching my kids uncover and hold coins buried for more than 2,000 years was unforgettable.”
“It’s amazing to come to a place that proves that miracles can happen, 3,000 years ago and even today,” he said.
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In a statement to Fox News Digital, Gov. Sanders said her family’s experience was one she will not forget.
“Watching my kids uncover and hold coins buried for more than 2,000 years was unforgettable,” the governor said.
Sanders added that the experience was “another reminder that the Holy Land isn’t just a place we see on the news — it’s foundational to the Christian and Jewish faiths alike.”
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Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department for additional comment.
This isn’t the first time that children have made significant historical discoveries while exploring Israel.
Last December, a 12-year-old girl was hiking with her family when she discovered an ancient Egyptian amulet in Hod Hasharon.
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At Tel Azeka, a little girl found a 3,800-year-old amulet tied to the Canaanite people.
Jennifer Lawrence unleashes violent rant after her son is bitten by a dog
Jennifer Lawrence has a bone to pick with dogs everywhere.
Following a screening of her new film, “Die My Love,” on Wednesday, Jan. 7, in New York City, the 35-year-old actress shared that after having children, her perspective on dogs has changed, saying, “I just see them as a threat.”
“One of them bit my son, and that made me just want to obliterate every dog,” she revealed, per People. “I’m just like, ‘I’m going to take out you and your f—ing family. You and your friends. I’m going to go to China and take care of your friends over there. Anyone who looks like you is dead.'”
Lawrence also said she chose to rehome her dog, Princess Pippi Longstocking, who she adopted in 2017, after having children.
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According to E! News, the “Silver Linings Playbook” star revealed that her dog now lives with her parents, adding that her dog “did not like New York,” and that after her children were born, “dogs became so scary.”
Lawrence shares two sons with her husband, Cooke Maroney: Cy, 3, and a second child who they welcomed in 2025.
The actress is nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in her latest film, which she stars in alongside Robert Pattinson, but missed out on a nomination at the Actor’s Awards. Lawrence joked about her close friend, actress Emma Stone, receiving a nomination at the award show, joking, “she’s been beating me for decades, and it’s an honor.”
“All of our friends were like, ‘Congratulations, Emma,’ and then I would just do, like, a sad face,” she said. “And then every time she’s tried to, like, talk today, I’ve just been like…‘If you can talk, why are you not so sorry?’”
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In the movie, Lawrence portrays a young mother who descends into madness, sparking the concern of her partner, played by Pattinson.
Lawrence had her big break in the industry in 2010 when she starred in “Winter’s Bone,” leading her to receive her first Academy Award nomination. She later gained international fame and became a household name when she starred as Katniss Everdeen in the “Hunger Games” franchise.
When speaking with Variety in June 2023, Lawrence revealed she would love to play Katniss again, telling the outlet, “If Katniss ever could ever come back into my life, 100 percent.”
A prequel film, “Sunrise on the Reaping,” set 24 years before the events of the first movie, is set to premiere in November 2026, could give Lawrence the chance to reprise the role, as her character makes an appearance in the epilogue of the book the film is based on.
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“Jennifer Lawrence’s performance in the first four movies is a big part of the reason why I want to be an actor. She’s amazing,” Maya Hawke, who stars in the prequel, said during a recent appearance on the “Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon.” “I’m just such a big fan of hers, and so to be anywhere near that franchise means the world to me.”
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Who would take power if Iran’s Islamic Republic were to fall amid mounting protests
As anti-regime protests continue to spread across Iran and questions swirl about the durability of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s rule, a central question looms: Who would actually take power if the Islamic Republic were to collapse?
The answer, according to regional experts and Iranian opposition figures, is far from clear. It may depend less on ideology than on how the regime falls and whether Iran’s security forces fracture or hold.
Collapse matters as much as succession
Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the critical variable is not simply whether the regime collapses, but how it happens.
IRAN ON THE BRINK AS PROTESTERS MOVE TO TAKE TWO CITIES, APPEAL TO TRUMP
“Despite being supreme leader, one has to wonder, especially post-war and with limited public appearances, how much Khamenei is directly governing the affairs of the country,” Ben Taleblu told Fox News Digital. He warned Western governments against backing a cosmetic transition that merely reshuffles elites.
“One thing I fear is the Western temptation for a Maduro-type or Egypt-type model,” he said, referring to scenarios in which entrenched security forces retain power under new leadership. “That will only be playing musical chairs at the top and will not provide the Iranian people a pathway for meaningful change.”
Ben Taleblu argued that Iran’s opposition faces a logistical challenge more than an ideological one: translating sustained street protests into organized political power before security forces reassert control.
The decisive role of security forces
Multiple experts agreed that Iran’s future hinges on whether the regime’s coercive apparatus, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Basij militia and the regular military, remains intact.
Ben Taleblu said the key factor is whether segments of the security forces defect, refuse orders or fragment. “What has to be chipped away is the regime’s coercive power,” he said, adding that a transition would require sustained protests, economic strikes and cracks within security units.
Without that, analysts warn, Iran could see a scenario in which clerical figureheads disappear but real power remains in the hands of armed institutions.
“That’s the fear,” Ben Taleblu said. “If the state plays musical chairs, the street will not settle for it. That means a bumpier road ahead.”
TRUMP SAYS US WILL INTERVENE IF IRAN STARTS KILLING PROTESTERS: ‘LOCKED AND LOADED’
Could the military take over?
Some analysts point to historical precedents, including Egypt, where the military stepped in amid unrest. Benny Sabti, an Iran expert at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said a military-led transition cannot be ruled out, but would be fraught.
“IRGC generals could theoretically attempt a coup,” Sabti told Fox News Digital, stressing that Iran’s military institutions are not monolithic. He distinguished between the IRGC, which he described as an ideological and asymmetric force, and the regular army, which he said is more professional and nationally oriented.
Sabti highlighted former armed forces chief Habibollah Sayyari as an example of a figure who has voiced limited criticism from within the system. Still, he cautioned that criticism alone does not make a leader and said charisma matters deeply in Iranian politics.
“There is a problem of charisma,” Sabti said. “In Iran, it is very important.”
Political prisoners and internal leaders
Despite international attention on jailed activists, experts are skeptical that Iran’s next political leadership would emerge from within the country’s prison system.
Ben Taleblu said decades of repression have made it nearly impossible to cultivate political leadership inside Iran. “What will come from within are the forces of revolution,” he said. “Political leadership has to be built outside.”
Sabti echoed that view, saying freed prisoners would likely become part of a broader system rather than dominant leaders.
“There won’t be leaders coming out of prison,” he said. “They will be part of a new system, but not charismatic leaders.”
The exiled opposition and the Pahlavi question
Supporters of Reza Pahlavi say he is emerging as a focal point for opposition mobilization amid escalating unrest. On January 8, Pahlavi publicly called on Iranians to chant at 8 p.m. from their homes or in the streets and his aides said large crowds responded across multiple cities, including Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Ahvaz and Tabriz.
Those close to Pahlavi describe him as advocating a secular, democratic Iran committed to human rights, while rejecting claims that he is seeking to restore the monarchy. Pahlavi has repeatedly said the form of Iran’s future system should be decided by the people through a free constitutional process.
“My role is not to tip the scales in favor of either monarchy or republic,” Pahlavi said. “I will remain entirely impartial in the process to help ensure that Iranians finally have the right to choose freely.”
Banafsheh Zand, an Iranian-American journalist and editor of the “Iran So Far Away” Substack, told Fox News Digital that Pahlavi is the only viable unifying figure capable of guiding a transition, a view strongly contested by others in the diaspora.
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“The only person who can see this through is the crown prince,” Zand said, arguing that any prominent figure inside Iran would be swiftly eliminated by the regime. She dismissed alternative opposition figures as lacking legitimacy inside the country.
Zand said chants supporting Pahlavi during recent protests reflect genuine sentiment, not fabrication, though such claims are difficult to independently verify amid internet shutdowns and state censorship.
Some experts caution that while Pahlavi has visibility in the West and among parts of the Iranian public, he remains a polarizing figure, particularly among Iranians wary of monarchy or external influence.
Rajavi and organized opposition groups
Another long-standing opposition movement, the Mujahedin-e Khalq, led by Maryam Rajavi, has received backing from some senior U.S. political figures from across the aisle over the years, including former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Rudy Giuliani.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Rajavi said change “will not come from outside Iran, nor will it be delivered by the will of foreign capitals,” arguing that only an organized, nationwide resistance can overthrow the Islamic Republic.
Rajavi pointed to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran and its “Resistance Units” as the core force behind recent uprisings, claiming they have played a decisive role in organizing protests and confronting security forces at the cost of heavy casualties. She said the National Council of Resistance of Iran does not seek power for itself, but instead proposes a six-month provisional period following the regime’s overthrow, culminating in free elections for a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution for a democratic, secular republic.
“Once established, all authority will be transferred to that Assembly, which will both select the provisional government and draft the constitution of the new republic,” Rajavi said. “Gender equality in all its facets, the separation of religion and state, autonomy for Iranian Kurdistan and many other urgent matters have been ratified in detail by the NCRI.”
Rajavi also cited what she described as broad international backing for the NCRI’s platform. Critics and analysts interviewed by Fox News Digital dispute the group’s level of support inside Iran. Sabti said the MEK’s history of violence in the 1980s and its rigid ideology have alienated younger Iranians.
Speaking to an NCRI conference in Washington D.C. last November, Pompeo pushed back against critics, stating “A thriving, democratic, popular government in Iran—not a theocracy, not a monarchy, not an oppressive regime. This will be a great thing for the entire world. We are waiting for that day, and it will be a blessing to us all.”
Ben Taleblu also warned against Western governments “playing favorites” among exiled factions, saying legitimacy must ultimately come from inside Iran.
No clear successor and a long road ahead
Despite intense speculation, experts agreed on one point: there is no clear successor waiting in the wings.
“We are not there yet,” Sabti said, noting that Khamenei remains alive, and the security forces have not fractured.
Ben Taleblu described the moment as a marathon rather than a sprint, warning against simplistic narratives about regime collapse.
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“This is about getting the best bridgehead to a post-Islamic Republic Iran,” he said, “so that the forces of revolution inside can finally become voters and choose their own fate.”