How Trump’s overnight tariffs are already shaking up politics next door
OTTAWA, Canada — As new tariffs came into effect on Tuesday, analysts say that if Canada’s Liberal Party holds onto power, the party can thank President Donald Trump in part for such a reversal of political fortune.
Since Trump’s inauguration, Canada’s official opposition Conservative Party – once leading the governing Liberals by a wide margin – has seen their popularity in public-opinion polls gradually decline.
An Ipsos poll released last week found that, for the first time since the Liberals won the last federal election in 2021, they’re ahead of the Conservatives by two points, with 38% popularity compared to the Conservatives at 36%. Six weeks earlier, the Conservatives were leading the Liberals by 26 points. A general election is expected to be called as early as this spring by Trudeau’s successor, who will be announced on Sunday.
Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Global Public Affairs, told Fox News Digital that he has never seen a party experience such a rapid and dramatic drop during his four-decade career in polling.
WHO IS PIERRE POILIEVRE? CANADA’S CONSERVATIVE LEADER SEEKING TO BECOME NEXT PRIME MINISTER AFTER TRUDEAU EXIT
He believes the Conservatives’ decline is attributable to two factors.
Justin Trudeau, whose personal popularity has plummeted since he became Canada’s 23rd prime minister in 2015, will step down as head of the Canadian government and Liberal Party on March 9; “And the threat from Trump to use economic force on Canada to bend us to his knee and possibly absorb us as a 51st state,” explained Bricker, about the president’s planned tariffs against Canada and his repeated references regarding annexation.
Throughout February, Nanos Research found the gap narrowing between the Liberals and Conservatives, who the month before were poised to form a “super-majority” government with as many as 240 members of Parliament (MPs) in an expanded 343-seat House of Commons that takes effect after the next general election.
“That’s completely out the window now,” said Nik Nanos, founder and chief data scientist of the Canadian polling firm, who also believes Trudeau’s imminent departure and Trump’s rhetoric against Canada have contributed to the Liberals’ bump in the polls.
The president “has effectively changed the ballot question from: Is it time for a change? – which was bad news for the Liberals – to who can best deal with Donald Trump, the new existential threat to the Canadian economy?” offered Nanos.
He explained that Canadian Conservative Official Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre and his party played a part in the Liberals’ boost by “showing they were a little out of touch” in focusing on the Liberal government’s tax on carbon emissions and vowing to remove it while Canadians became increasingly concerned about Trump’s threats.
“In hindsight, when the Conservatives had a 27-point advantage in our polling, it didn’t have anything to do with Pierre Poilievre being strong or liked, or the Conservatives being brilliant strategists,” said Nanos. “It all had to do with dislike of Justin Trudeau and people wanting change and the Conservatives being the agent of change.”
According to the Ipsos poll, 86% percent of 1,000 respondents said that they want a general election “immediately” to have a federal government “with a strong mandate” to deal with Trump’s tariff threat.
Bricker said the Liberals’ lead in the polls, particularly in Canada’s most populous provinces of Ontario and Quebec, over the Conservatives could even widen should Mark Carney, the former governor of the central banks of England and Canada and the frontrunner in the Liberal leadership race, succeed Trudeau as prime minister.
INFLUENTIAL LEADER OF CANADA’S ONTARIO PROVINCE SEEKS TRUMP, MUSK MEETING: US ‘NEEDS US LIKE WE NEED THEM’
Veteran Canadian pollster Angus Reid said the latest polling by his company found that 51% said Carney and the Liberals were best suited to improve relations with the U.S., including on tariffs, compared to 35% who chose the Conservatives under Poilievre, who is seen by many Canadians as holding a “Trump-light agenda.”
From south of the border, the president has “eroded Conservative support because it completely changed the political dynamic in Canada, completely changed what could be considered the most important ballot question that was all about getting rid of some of the baggage from the Trudeau era,” explained Reid, founder and chair of the Angus Reid Institute.
“Now it’s one of defending the sovereignty and economy of the country.”
Another Angus Reid poll found that with Carney as Liberal leader, his party is virtually tied at 44% with the Conservatives, at 45% on voting intention. In Quebec, a Carney-led Liberal Party enjoys 31% support compared to the Conservatives at 22%.
Reid said the annexation and tariffs issue especially resonates with Quebecers more than any other region in Canada.
Carney’s further challenge for Poilievre is that the former “on paper, looks like a Conservative,” said Nanos.
“The guy worked in the banking sector and the private sector, like Goldman Sachs, and chaired, until recently, large enterprises like Bloomberg and Brookfield [Asset Management]. He walks and talks like a Conservative.”
Carney, an Oxford-educated economist who has never held elected office, is expected to call a snap election should he be chosen as Trudeau’s successor.
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If the polling numbers continue to rise in favor of the Liberals, they could not only win the national vote in such a contest but form a majority government, added Reid.
Currently, the Liberals have 153 MPs in the 338-seat House of Commons, which constitutes a minority government.
Conservatives applaud Hegseth flipping script on Hillary Clinton with one picture
Conservatives on social media praised Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday after he responded to an attack from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with a photo that was seen over 2 million times on X.
“Wouldn’t want to hurt Putin’s feelings,” Clinton posted on X over the weekend along with a Gizmodo headline that read, “Trump’s Defense Secretary Hegseth Orders Cyber Command to ‘Stand Down’ on All Russia Operations.”
Hegseth responded to the post with a photo of Clinton smiling with Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov in March 2009 in which the two are holding a “reset” button that was meant to symbolize a reset of relations between the two countries.
The post was quickly praised by conservatives on X.
DEFENSE SECRETARY PETE HEGSETH ARRIVES AT GUANTANAMO BAY, CALLS IT ‘FRONT LINES OF THE WAR’ ON SOUTHERN BORDER
“Crooked Hillary just got OWNED,” Department of Defense press secretary Kingsley Wilson posted on X.
“Call an ambulance …,” Rasmussen Reports posted on X.
DEFENSE SECRETARY HEGSETH SAYS GUANTANAMO BAY IS ‘PERFECT PLACE’ TO HOLD MIGRANTS ‘SAFELY IN THE INTERIM’
“LOL,” conservative commentator Jack Posobiec posted on X.
“Total Secretary Hegseth W,” Greg Price of the Trump White House Rapid Response Team posted on X.
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Hegseth’s post was reposted over 10,000 times on X with over 3,000 comments and over 70,000 likes.
Fox News Digital reached out to Clinton’s office for comment.
Democrats have been highly critical of the Trump administration in recent days and attacked the president as being aligned with Russia based on the heated Oval Office exchange between Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on Friday.
The Trump administration has maintained that the controversy shows Zelenskyy is not serious about peace talks, and Trump has publicly said the Ukrainian president can return to the White House at a later time to resume negotiations.
“We should spend less time worrying about Putin, and more time worrying about migrant rape gangs, drug lords, murderers, and people from mental institutions entering our Country – So that we don’t end up like Europe!” Trump recently posted on Truth Social over the weekend.
Dem governor changes tune on Trump, vows to lead ‘resistance’ against the president
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul now says she will be “leading the resistance” against President Donald Trump, just weeks after telling reporters the opposite.
Hochul said she would “fight back hard” during an interview with NPR’s “Morning Edition” on Monday when asked about New York City’s congestion pricing toll that the Trump administration moved to block last month.
“We offered up an olive branch, [we said] ‘We’ll work with you on infrastructure. Let’s redo Penn Station,'” Hochul said. “Those areas were common ground. But once you draw first blood on us, we’re coming back hard. And I will be leading the resistance on policies like these where you’re hurting New Yorkers directly. This is our decision, not yours.”
Less than two weeks ago, however, the Democratic governor told reporters just the opposite.
KATHY HOCHUL DOES APPARENT ABOUT-FACE ON NATURAL GAS AS NYC UTILITY SIGNALS MAJOR RATE HIKES
“I’ve been asked countless [times] ‘are you leading the resistance?’ – No, I’m governing the great state of New York,” Hochul said when asked about her stance toward the Trump administration, according to the New York Post.
The Trump administration last month ordered a stop to the controversial congestion toll program, which launched Jan. 5 with the goals of thinning traffic and funding mass transit by imposing a $9 toll on most vehicles entering Manhattan’s core south of Central Park.
NEW YORK GOVERNOR LAMENTS FEDERAL WORKERS BEING ‘UNCEREMONIOUSLY’ FIRED BY TRUMP ADMIN, OFFERS THEM JOBS
Later that month, Hochul met with Trump at the White House for a one-on-one meeting, in which the governor made a case for the program. But Hochul later said the meeting likely did not persuade Trump to change his mind about the program.
On Monday, Hochul also said that it’s up to Democratic governors to be the “firewall” against the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress who threaten to slash federally funded social programs.
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Hochul said that Democratic governors must heed the call “to stand up against this destruction of policies that are helping people and have been in place for decades.”
Karoline Leavitt sends message to Dems who may disrupt Trump’s address to Congress
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reacted Tuesday to Democrats reportedly planning protests and disruptions to President Donald Trump’s primetime address to Congress. Leavitt dismissed the claims, stating Democrats should be thinking about “standing up in applause” for some of what Trump will highlight to the American people.
THEME OF TRUMP’S ADDRESS TO CONGRESS REVEALED
KAROLINE LEAVITT:
The White House press secretary also discussed Trump pausing aid to Ukraine and the possibility of repairing the relationship as the fallout from the explosive meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy continues.
LEAVITT:
Many far-left Democrats are advocating for major disruptions to Trump’s address, ranging from outright walkouts to using noisemakers to drown out Trump’s speech, Axios reported Tuesday. Some of the more moderate ideas floated reportedly include carrying egg cartons to highlight costs, carrying protest signs, and coordinating outfits.
Democratic leaders reportedly encouraged members in closed-door meetings this week to keep their protests civil, however, with many arguing that major outbursts would only help Trump.
SEVERAL DEMOCRATS TO BOYCOTT TRUMP’S ‘PEP RALLY’ SPEECH TO CONGRESS
More traditional protest plans include the Democratic Women’s Caucus encouraging members to wear pink, as well as women with the Congressional Black Caucus discussing plans to wear black. Other members have mulled wearing blue and yellow to show solidarity with Ukraine.
Protests at State of the Union speeches and other major presidential events have grown more common and severe in recent years. While Trump’s Tuesday address is not technically a State of the Union address, it follows essentially the same format.
White House officials exclusively told Fox News Digital that the speech, themed “The Renewal of the American Dream,” will feature four main sections: accomplishments from Trump’s second term thus far at home and abroad; what the Trump administration has done for the economy; the president’s renewed push for Congress to pass additional funding for border security; and the president’s plans for peace around the globe.
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The president is scheduled to speak before all members of Congress on Tuesday at 9 p.m. EST.
Trump’s joint address “will be must-see TV,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital.
TUNE IN: LIVE COVERAGE OF TRUMP’S ADDRESS TO CONGRESS TONIGHT ON FOX NEWS
Insiders on key clues driving the Gene Hackman death investigation
New Mexico authorities launched an investigation into the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, after officials found the couple dead in their Santa Fe home nearly one week ago.
While Hackman and Arakawa’s bodies were found under what detectives are calling “suspicious” circumstances, officials confirmed no external trauma was seen on either Hackman or Arakawa and the case remains open pending autopsy and toxicology results.
Detectives recovered two cellphones, an orange prescription bottle and a 2025 planner while inspecting the residence, according to the search warrant inventory list obtained by Fox News Digital.
Former FBI investigator Bill Daly explained to Fox News Digital why every piece of evidence will play a crucial role in determining when and how Hackman and his wife died.
GENE HACKMAN DEATH: COMPLETE COVERAGE
“After receiving the cell phones, investigators can determine when they stopped moving, when they lost communication, which can tell the time of disablement or death,” Daly said.
Daly noted that investigators are likely looking at “when the pacemaker signal stopped working” to get a better indication of Hackman’s date of death.
GENE HACKMAN’S DEATH: WHERE INVESTIGATION STANDS, CHALLENGES AHEAD
“They can do geolocating around the property to see what was pinging around that time, though they won’t be able to tell who without a warrant, but can tell what activity there was before and afterward, even if they’re not suspecting foul play,” he said.
“Toxicology – there could have been some other type of poisoning, possibly food? They’ll go through their trash, fridge … this is stuff the police can do in the meantime while gathering evidence. There are a number of possibilities.”
GENE HACKMAN, WIFE TESTED NEGATIVE FOR CARBON MONOXIDE: SHERIFF
Hackman and Arakawa tested negative for carbon monoxide, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza confirmed at Friday’s press conference. Their residence was tested for the colorless, odorless gas and was cleared by the Santa Fe City Fire Department after authorities found no evidence of a carbon monoxide leak or poisoning.
Mendoza confirmed the last recorded activity on Hackman’s pacemaker occurred on Feb. 17. Authorities assumed this was Hackman’s last day alive, as the Oscar-winner’s body was not discovered for nine more days.
LISTEN: GENE HACKMAN 911 CALL
“According to the pathologist, I think that is a very good assumption that that was his last day of life,” Mendoza said during the press conference.
GENE HACKMAN DEAD AT 95: HIS LIFE IN PHOTOS
Hackman and Arakawa were found by maintenance workers Jesse Kesler and Roland Lowe Begay. Kesler, who worked as a personal contractor for the couple for 16 years, made the frantic 911 call on Feb. 26.
“They’ll take a look at the surrounding community,” Daly said of the gated community where Hackman and Arakawa lived. “They could tell if there was movement in and out of the property after they passed away. There could be some cameras in and around their house to look at just to piece it together.”
Peter Valentin, certified senior crime scene analyst, questioned if the postmortem interval – which is the amount of time, or length of time, between death and discovery – was the same for Hackman and his wife.
In a search warrant affidavit obtained by Fox News Digital, officials revealed that Arakawa’s body was found decomposed with bloating on her face and mummification in her hands and feet. Hackman was also found to have the same signs of decomposition as his wife.
“There was something about the way that his wife was described in the bathroom that I think is worth looking into a bit more,” Valentin said. “And she was in the bathroom. I guess there was a space heater, and there were some pills that seemed to be strewn, and I don’t know where, if that space heater was turned on. That might change the way her decomposition looks.”
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Valentin noted that “having a heat source close to the remains really does change decomposition rate.”
“Mummification occurs when you have heat and low humidity, and so that’s exactly what you’ll get when you have a body decomposing next to a source of heat, like a heater or like a radiator,” he said.
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“However, if the suggestion is that she fell and had some kind of accident, there would have been some kind of evidence of an injury relative to that fall, a perimortem injury. So she would have had head trauma. She would have had a hemorrhage, you know, a brain hemorrhage. She would have had contusions. There would have been evidence of an injury. And the pathologist would have seen that. So the absence of injury is noteworthy.”
Valentin said authorities likely “counted the pills” found near her body and checked when the prescription was filled to work backward and find a dosing schedule to rule out possible theories.
WATCH: SANTA FE COUNTY SHERIFF ADAN MENDOZA DISCUSSES DEATHS OF GENE HACKMAN AND BETSY ARAKAWA
“The thinking is the pills were consumed intentionally, and this is an overdose or something like that,” Valentin said. “If those are intentional acts, a person doesn’t really fall on the floor in a living space. They tend to lay down, sit down, you know, they know what they’re doing. They know what’s going to happen, and they prepare for that.
“That’s not what you see in both situations … the fact that the pills, if they fell, or if the pill container was open, doesn’t necessarily mean it has to do with anything. It could have just been open.”
He added, “So you want to kind of entertain both versions of that scenario. They’re related, they’re coincidental, and you’ll eventually get information later to help you figure that out. But for now, work it two ways.”
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Singer changes rock star lifestyle to work from home and be with his kids
Gavin Rossdale has made some career adjustments to ensure he’s a good dad to his four kids.
During an interview with Fox News Digital, Rossdale explained that his new cooking show, “Dinner With Gavin Rossdale,” came about because he wanted a way to work without leaving his Hollywood Hills home or his kids.
“My show came about because of a combination of things. I really wanted to stay home and not have to travel. You know, I live with my three boys half the time, so I didn’t want to always travel to buy them dinner,” he said.
Rossdale admitted he thought that was “crazy” so he’s “got to try and have a job you can just do from home.”
He shares three sons, Kingston, Zuma and Apollo, with Gwen Stefani, and his oldest, Daisy Lowe, with Pearl Lowe.
GWEN STEFANI, GAVIN ROSSDALE SPOTTED KEEPING THEIR DISTANCE DURING FIRST REUNION SINCE SHE WED BLAKE SHELTON
The Bush frontman noted that the “bigger reason” why he decided to launch “Dinner with Gavin Rossdale” is because he didn’t feel like he had “a voice” outside his band and the success he found from that career.
“I just felt like, you know, I have a profile, I have a band. I’ve had a lot of success but not much voice. So I thought, why not go out in some kind of glory and be yourself and sort of have your own voice? Because I felt like I was bizarrely voiceless unless I was singing a song.”
“My show came about because of a combination of things. I really wanted to stay home and not have to travel.”
Rossdale admitted he is also “terrified” of his children following in his footsteps and becoming musicians.
“Well, Daisy, the eldest, she’s not. She’s doing some sort of fashion consulting. But with Kingston and Zuma, my two middle, I’m not even sure if I’m still the best guitar player in the house. It’s kind of annoying to be honest, they are really good, and they’re just getting better all the time, and they seem to have more time to practice than I do, and they’re just so into it.
WATCH: Gavin Rossdale shares inspiration behind new cooking show
“I’m terrified for them because I don’t really know what that means to have a career in music anymore, and I find it really confusing, and I’ve been in it for a long time,” Rossdale said.
The English musician said being young is about taking chances and putting yourself outside your comfort zone.
“I’m terrified for them because I don’t really know what that means to have a career in music anymore, and I find it really confusing, and I’ve been in it for a long time.”
“I should, as an adult, be looking and going, ‘Your choices are crazy. They’re not based in reality.’ But no, that’s not my job. My job is to sort of encourage them to go out into the world, be independent and be strong and get themselves out there,” Rossdale said.
A fond memory Rossdale has of his children following their passions is his youngest son, Apollo, sitting down while his dad cooks dinner and belts out five songs.
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“It’s really, really incredible,” Rossdale said.
When it comes to co-parenting, Rossdale doesn’t have the secret to success. He told Fox News Digital to “call me” when the secret to successful co-parenting is found.
The musician’s latest project, “Dinner with Gavin Rossdale,” premiered on Feb. 13 on VIZIO. The cooking show is set in his Los Angeles home and includes stars such as Serena Williams, Common, and Selma Blair dining at Rossdale’s table.
WATCH: Gavin Rossdale admits he’s ‘terrified’ that his kids are pursuing careers in music
Rossdale personally cooks a three-course meal for his guests while they indulge in conversation.
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Another A-lister that has dined at Rossdale’s table is Brooke Shields. The supermodel’s intelligence surprised the star.
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“She’s incredibly smart. I didn’t go in there thinking she wasn’t incredibly smart. But when you interact with someone, it’s whip-smart. It’s all in the timing. It’s all in the joke. She’s very present and for the most famous person in the world, she is incredibly approachable, and I love that,” Rossdale said.
“Dinner with Gavin Rossdale” can be watched on VIZIO’s free streaming service, WatchFree+.
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‘Sobering’ reminder about a modern obsession that let viral mom hide horror, expert warns
The “power” and “public image” of disgraced Utah parenting blogger and mom of six Ruby Franke, who is facing up to 30 years in prison for child abuse, allowed her crimes against her children to go “unchecked,” according to a criminal defense attorney.
Franke, 43, and Jodi Hildebrandt, a 55-year-old mother of two, ran a joint parenting and lifestyle YouTube channel called ConneXions Classrooms before they were arrested and pleaded guilty to four of six counts of second-degree aggravated child abuse in a St. George courtroom in December 2023.
“Cases of child abuse are unfortunately familiar, but this one stands out for how power, public image and systemic failures allowed it to go on unchecked,” Jamie E. Wright, a Los Angeles millennial trial attorney and founder/CEO of the Wright Law Firm, told Fox News Digital. “Over the years, Franke built up an online persona as the perfect mom, giving parenting advice to millions. But behind the carefully constructed smiles was a darker truth — a world of starvation, isolation and brutal punishment.”
Wright added that the Franke/Hildebrandt case is “a sobering reminder that social media can mask dysfunction with a gleaming facade.”
MOMMY BLOGGER RUBY FRANKE’S HUSBAND SAYS ‘SOME CRAZY S–T’ WENT ON IN ABUSE ACCOMPLICE’S $5.3M FORTRESS
Prior to meeting Hildebrandt, Franke ran a successful parenting video blog, or vlog, on YouTube called 8Passengers, representing herself, her husband and their six children. The vlog was a success, with more than 2 million followers, generating the majority of her family’s income for years.
But the 8Passengers empire came crumbling down once users started to notice Franke’s unusual behavior and punishments for her children. The story of Franke’s downfall is captured in a new Hulu documentary called “Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke.”
YOUTUBE MOMMY BLOGGER RUBY FRANKE, CO-HOST JODI HILDEBRANDT SENTENCED FOR CHILD ABUSE: ‘DARK DELUSION’
“I want our channel to be a ray of sunshine in a world where people just criticize each other and make each other feel bad,” Franke said in one early video shown in the documentary. “We’re here to show that happy families are reality.”
But other clips shown in the series are not the happy, edited versions Franke posted to social media. They show another side of the mommy blogger — one that had a short temper when her children or husband did things she didn’t like.
UTAH POLICE DISCOVER ‘PANIC ROOM’ INSIDE ABUSIVE MOMMY BLOGGER ACCOMPLICE’S $5.3M DESERT HOME
In one clip, Franke ordered her eldest son, Chad Franke, to “fake being happy.”
“All of a sudden, it wasn’t enough to just interact with her,” Franke’s husband, Kevin Franke, said in the documentary.
MOMMY BLOGGER RUBY FRANKE ASKED DAUGHTER FOR ONE THING BEFORE ARREST: MEMOIR
“I had to interact with the camera … and she would pull it out and say, ‘Kevin, this camera is millions of people watching us.’”
Brannon Patrick, a clinical therapist who briefly worked under Hildebrandt and who is featured in the documentary series, said it was “fascinating” to watch Franke go from “happy” to “upset and angry” in the unedited videos.
“The reality is, everybody has issues and everybody has struggles, and nobody is perfect, and nobody can be perfect. And so on one hand, we’re presenting this ideal thing. On the other hand, the reality is something completely different,” Patrick said.
“Immediately when it all blew up, it was crazy. All these anti-Mormon podcasters … were just going off about it and how the church was complicit in it and just the church’s teachings about sexuality and those types of things … really became front and center,” he explained. “And this triggered those talks … about perfectionism and being fake — acting like you’re one way in front of people but when the doors are closed, it’s actually quite the opposite.”
RUBY FRANKE’S HUSBAND DETAILS WIFE’S ‘CRAZY’ RELATIONSHIP WITH CHILD-ABUSE ACCOMPLICE:
Chad started to see a change in his mother once large checks started rolling in from her constant content creation. His mother had a shorter circuit and would lash out when her children were not behaving the way she wanted them to behave or responding how she wanted them to respond — particularly while she was recording and trying to portray a certain perfect image of her family.
The popularity of 8Passengers began to dwindle after Chad admitted nonchalantly in one of the videos she posted to her account that he had been sleeping on a beanbag for seven months as punishment for his behavior, and Franke’s followers lashed out. Hildebrandt entered Franke’s life after 8Passengers fell apart, and the two pals decided to create ConneXions Classrooms.
“I think we have a culture of perfectionism and shame in many ways, and … [the Franke case] just illustrated it.”
“Jodi just threw fuel on the fire and the fire that was already burning and took it to the extremes,” Patrick said.
YOUTUBE MOMMY BLOGGERS ARRESTED ON ALLEGATIONS OF CHILD ABUSE: ‘FINALLY’
ConneXions Classrooms sold counseling sessions, packages and retreats ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.
In one ConneXions Classroom episode, Franke told her viewers, “If your child comes to you on fire, you don’t pat them on the head and say, ‘It’s OK, I’ll help you.’ No, you beat them, and you kick them, and you hit them with a rod. You cannot put welts on your child’s legs and then lovingly apply gauze and expect healing.”
Patrick said he would diagnose Hildebrandt with clinical narcissism.
“She was really lonely.”
“I don’t use that word lightly because I know it’s thrown around way too much,” he said. “But she was a narcissist. … She was charming enough to draw people in, but she still, to me, felt very disconnected as a human being. She was very convincing in her speech, but she was disconnected. Her family life wasn’t good. She didn’t have any really close friends.”
UTAH CHILDREN’S BOOK AUTHOR SENT DAMNING TEXT TO LOVER BEFORE HUBBY POISON PLOT: DOCS
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In 2023, Utah authorities arrested the two pals and business partners for abusing Franke’s two youngest children, a 9-year-old girl and 12-year-old boy. Some of the abuse occurred in Hildebrandt’s home.
The allegations against Franke and Hildebrandt only came to light after Franke’s son fled Hildebrandt’s Ivins home and ran to a neighbor, who called 911 after seeing the malnourished boy with duct tape on his wrists and ankles.
“Social media helped Ruby Franke build a brand around extreme parenting, which likely made it harder for people to see the red flags,” trauma therapist Malka Shaw, founder of Kesher Shalom Projects, told Fox News Digital. “When someone presents as the authority on family values, there’s often a reluctance to question them—even when the content itself is unsettling.”
HEAR THE 911 CALL:
Wright noted that when “a family’s life becomes abrand, perception triumphs over wellness.”
“And thus secrecy thrives, and controltightens,” she said. “Ruby’s oldest daughter, Shari, has since spoken out about the damage that was done, joining a growing chorus of former child influencers and reality stars who have recently discussed the dangers of living their lives without protections in the public eye.”
Shari explained in the documentary how her mother’s company, 8Passengers LLC, listed Franke’s six children as “employees.”
“When children are treated as commodities, they are vulnerable in every way, shape and form — whether living in a suburban home or in Hollywood.”
Wright said the “most haunting question of all” in the Franke-Hildebrandt case is why the abuse was not “halted sooner.” Shari Franke has also talked about how she tried for years to get the Department of Family and Child Services to take action against her mother in her memoir.
“Child protectionagencies are often under-resourced, hesitant to intervene in cases where the accused is a respected member of the community. A good image can be carefully curated, and a cover for an abuser for years,” Wright explained.
She added that for many Utah locals, the case was a “betrayal.”
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“Franke wasn’t just another influencer; she was a sort of moral authority,” Wright said. “Her fall has sparked a conversation about how child welfare regulations should apply to content creators, and what ethical obligations content creators have to the subjects of their work. How do we protect children in digital media How do we ensure that they’re protected and that their rights and privacy are protected?”
Franke and Hildebrandt were both sentenced to serve four consecutive terms between a minimum of 30 years and a maximum of 60 years in prison.
Ruby Franke spoke publicly for the first time at her sentencing hearing last year.
“For the past four years, I’ve chosen to follow counsel and guidance that has led me into a dark delusion,” a teary Franke said in a statement at the time. “My distorted version of reality went largely unchecked as I would isolate from anyone who challenged me. I was led to believe this world was an evil place, filled with cops who control, hospitals that injure, government agencies that brainwash, church leaders who lie and lust, husbands who refuse to protect, children who need abuse.”
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She continued: “To my babies, my six little chicks, you are part of me,” she continued. “I was the momma duck who was consistently waddling you to safety. … In the past four years, I was consistently leading you to danger.”
The case has prompted discussions about how parenting and lifestyle blogs often present only a sliver of a person’s or family’s reality, as well as children’s rights to their own privacy if their parent is a social media star.