AOC faces renewed scrutiny over Bronx roots after high school nickname resurfaces

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s tough Bronx persona is under fresh scrutiny with a resurfaced childhood nickname from her suburban upstate New York upbringing casting doubt on that publicly portrayed image.

The progressive champion’s latest spat with President Donald Trump over the Iran strikes again called into question her true upbringing when she declared on X that she was a “Bronx girl” to make a point against the president. 

The 35-year-old “Squad” member wrote in part on X last week: “I’m a Bronx girl. You should know that we can eat Queens boys for breakfast. Respectfully,” she said, referring to the president’s upbringing in Queens as she called for his impeachment over his decision to bypass Congress in authorizing U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. 

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Ocasio-Cortez was born in the Bronx but moved to Yorktown – which is nearly an hour outside New York City — when she was 5 years old and went on to attend Yorktown High School, from where she graduated in 2007.

She was considered an accomplished student there and well-thought of by teacher Michael Blueglass, according to a 2018 report by local media outlet Halston Media News. 

“There, known by students and staff as ‘Sandy,’ she was a member of the Science Research Program taught by Michael Blueglass,” the report states.

“She was amazing,” Blueglass said, per the report. “Aside from her winning one of the top spots and going to the [Intel International Science and Engineering Fair], she was just one of the most amazing presenters in all of the years I’ve been at Yorktown. Her ability to take complex information and explain it to all different levels of people was fantastic.”

After high school, Ocasio-Cortez attended Boston University, where she majored in economics and international relations, per the report.

Ocasio-Cortez’s “Sandy” nickname — which carries a more suburban and preppy tone — appears to undercut her politically crafted image as a tough, inner-city fighter, one she has portrayed since her famous 2018 congressional campaign, where she eventually ousted former 10-term Congressman Joe Crowley. 

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New York GOP Assemblyman Matt Slater, who now represents Yorktown, added to the scrutiny of Ocasio-Cortez’s persona in the wake of her brush with Trump and released images of Ocasio-Cortez from his high school yearbook. He claimed he and the rising Democratic star attended Yorktown High School at the same time when she was a freshman and he was a senior. 

“I saw the attacks on the president and her [Ocasio-Cortez] claims that she’s a big, tough Bronx girl,” said Slater. “To sit there and say that she’s a Bronx girl is just patently ridiculous.” 

“Everybody in our community knows this is just a bold-face lie,” said Slater on “Fox & Friends First” last week. “She grew up in Yorktown, she was on my track team.” 

“She’s lying about her background, she’s lying about her upbringing,” Slater claimed.  

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Slater’s post sent social media ablaze and prompted Ocasio-Cortez to respond after an image of her family’s home in Yorktown was posted online. 

“I’m proud of how I grew up and talk about it all the time,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X Friday, responding to the post. “My mom cleaned houses and I helped. We cleaned tutors’ homes in exchange for SAT prep.”

“Growing up between the Bronx and Yorktown deeply shaped my views of inequality & it’s a big reason I believe the things I do today!”

Maine governor stunned when peppered with cocaine questions: ‘What the f—?’

Maine Democrat Gov. Janet Mills was at a loss for words last month during a trip to the nation’s capital when pressed about her alleged cocaine use. 

“What the f—?” Mills replied when asked if “sniffing cocaine at work” is a “human right.”

Mills refused to answer the question, which was followed by, “How much more does an eight-ball cost with inflation?” Mills ignored the second question and continued walking. 

A source shared the video with Fox News Digital after reporting Friday revealed the Department of Justice contradicted Mills’ decades-old claim that the investigation over her alleged cocaine use was politically motivated. 

DEM GOVERNOR’S DECADES-OLD POLITICAL PERSECUTION CLAIM OVER ALLEGED COCAINE USE DISPUTED BY BOMBSHELL MEMO

In early 1990, the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) in Maine, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Maine’s Bureau of Intergovernmental Drug Enforcement (BIDE) investigated Mills, then a sitting district attorney in Maine, after a drug suspect accused her of using cocaine. 

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The investigation was eventually dropped without charges being filed. Mills has maintained that the investigation never had any merit and that she was politically targeted for her Democratic affiliation and criticism of BIDE. In 1990, she and two other district attorneys in Maine criticized BIDE for inflating arrest numbers through excessive enforcement of low-level drug offenders. 

“It’s scary,” Mills told the Portland Press Herald in November 1991. “Maine apparently has a secret police force at work that can ruin the reputation of any who opposes it.”

A March 1995 memorandum from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility (DOJ/OPR), addressed to the deputy attorney general – Merrick Garland was serving as the principal associate deputy attorney general – and unearthed by Fox News Digital, refutes Mills’ claim. It revealed that there was no misconduct by federal or state authorities investigating her case. 

According to the DOJ memo, WCSH-TV reported in December 1990 that Mills was being investigated by a federal grand jury for drug use, citing law enforcement sources. Mills later sued that reporter for libel and slander. The report also prompted Mills’ attorney to demand a grand jury investigation, arguing that “the press received leaks from BIDE law enforcement officials.”

The results of the libel and slander suit are no longer available. The docket for the case showed that the records were disposed of in 2015 in accordance with policy. However, a 1991 Lewiston Sun-Journal article appears to state that the effort to “end drug probe rumors” was thrown out by a judge. 

In January 1992, then-Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., stepped in and requested the DOJ/OPR investigate allegations that Maine’s USAO had “refused to investigate the grand jury leak” and that attorneys had engaged in “intimidation and coercion of witnesses” during the investigation.

Those concerns were initially raised by Patrick Paradis and N. Paul Gauvreau, the House and Senate chairs of the Judiciary Committee of the Maine Legislature, in a letter sent to then-Sen. George Mitchell, D-Maine. The letter suggested that the allegations involving Maine’s USAO “go far beyond the state agency involved.”

Ultimately, no charges were filed against Mills. 

But the Department of Justice (DOJ) also found that all of Mills’ claims were “unsubstantiated,” including allegations that she was politically targeted, that investigators solicited false testimony, that witnesses were coerced or threatened and that BIDE agents leaked grand jury information to the press. 

“The USAO in Maine conducted a proper investigation of serious allegations; no misconduct of any kind can fairly be attributed to any member of that office,” DOJ/OPR concluded in 1995. 

While the DOJ debunked Mills’ claims, she dismissed the allegations against her as politically motivated throughout the investigation.

According to the memo, Mills “announced publicly that she was the victim of a smear campaign” in 1991. 

“I’d say it’s awfully coincidental that this investigation started and was leaked to the press shortly after my public comments about the lack of accountability at BIDE,” Mills said that same year.

Mills also claimed it sets a “very bad precedent when a prosecutor has to look over his or her shoulder every time you put somebody in jail and wonder whether that person is going to find an audience down the street in the BIDE office or down the road in the U.S. Attorney’s Office to say dirty things about you.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Mills’ office multiple times for comment about the memo but did not receive a response.

Earlier this year, Mills accused President Donald Trump of leading a “politically directed investigation” into Maine’s Department of Education. 

During a National Governors Association (NGA) meeting at the White House in February, Mills and Trump publicly sparred over biological men playing in women’s sports. 

Trump said Mills should comply with his executive order preventing transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports, or “you’re not going to get any federal funding,” to which she replied, “We’ll see you in court,” which is exactly where the issue has been tied up. 

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Longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins is up for re-election in 2026, and with Mills’ governorship term limited next year, she would be a competitive Democratic candidate to challenge Collins. 

Mills indicated in April that she did not “plan to run for another office,” but admitted that “things change week to week, month to month,” leaving the door open to a potential Senate bid. 

Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart dead at 90 after cardiac episode, family says

The Rev. Jimmy Swaggart, America’s longest-serving TV evangelist and founder of Jimmy Swaggart Ministries, has died at 90, his family shared on Tuesday.

During a Sunday service in mid-June, Swaggart’s son, the Rev. Donnie Swaggart, asked his congregation to keep his father in their prayers, saying that only a “miracle” could extend his father’s life.

“Today, our hearts are heavy as we share that Brother Swaggart has finished his earthly race and entered into the presence of His Savior, Jesus Christ. Today was the day he has sung about for decades. He met his beloved Savior and entered the portals of glory. At the same time, we rejoice knowing that we will see him again one day,” Swaggart’s family wrote Tuesday.

“He was not just a preacher—he was a worshiper, a warrior, and a witness to the grace and mercy of God. He was a man whose faith was steadfast and always entered whatever door the Lord opened. And the Lord honored that faith,” the statement continued.

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Swaggart preached the gospel of Jesus Christ on television longer than any other American evangelist in history, according to his ministry website. 

Swaggart, who was born on March 15, 1935, in Ferriday, Louisiana, launched into full-time ministry in 1955. He served as the pastor of the Family Worship Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and founded Jimmy Swaggart Ministries.

At his peak in the mid-1980s, Swaggart was the country’s top-rated TV preacher. His services were broadcast to over 2 million households.

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However, his image was bruised after he was linked to a 1987 scandal involving a prostitute that he met in a seedy New Orleans motel. Swaggart never confessed to anything more than an unspecified sin during a televised apology in which he tearfully delivered his “I have sinned speech.” A few years later, he was stopped by police while driving in California with a suspected prostitute in his car.

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Swaggart also made headlines for saying in a televised worship service that he would kill any gay man who looked at him romantically. Swaggart said he made the comment jokingly and did not mean any harm.

Gaza residents expose Hamas’ deadly tactics in calls released by Israel

Israel’s Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which oversees humanitarian and civil efforts in Gaza, released two revealing conversations between Gaza residents and officers from the Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA) for Gaza.

The Gaza residents, who COGAT — an Israeli  says were at humanitarian aid distribution sites, told a CLA officer about how Hamas tries to disrupt the aid system through violence and manipulation. The testimonies reveal that “Hamas fires at Gaza residents near the aid distribution sites, spreads false claims about IDF fire, publishes fabricated data about large numbers of casualties, and circulates fake footage,” according to COGAT.

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State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce acknowledged Hamas’ use of violence to “interfere with aid deliveries to the people of Gaza.”

“This is how Hamas operates — they deliberately fire at people and want it to appear as though the army is the one shooting, so that no one will approach the aid distribution areas,” one Gaza resident told a CLA officer, according to COGAT’s translation.

Another Gaza resident told a CLA officer that Palestinians trying to get aid “encounter thugs on the way” and that “those thugs definitely kill 2, 3, 5 people.”

Fox News Digital was unable to independently verify the identities of the residents.

TENSIONS RISE AS ISRAEL STRONGLY DENIES FIRING ON PALESTINIANS AT GAZA HUMANITARIAN SITE

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a U.S.- and Israel-backed group,  has faced backlash over reports of violent and even deadly incidents around its secure sites. In response to the videos released by COGAT, a GHF spokesperson said that “Hamas is working to destroy the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation because our model is working.”

GHF has pushed back on claims that Palestinians are being killed at its sites. However, it does say that Hamas has killed some of its staff members, “put bounties on our American workers and threatened civilians for accepting aid.”

“To date, there has not been a single casualty at or in the surrounding vicinity of any of our sites. Many of the alleged incidents had no correlation to our sites but deliberate misinformation orchestrated by Hamas-controlled [Gaza] Health Ministry,” a GHF spokesperson told Fox News Digital. 

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Despite the backlash, the GHF is encouraging other organizations — including its critics — to join its mission to bring aid to the people of Gaza while ensuring Hamas does not get its hands on it.

“Ultimately, the solution is more aid. If other groups would join us, we could scale up… We could also collaborate with the U.N. and other groups on other means while ensuring their aid reaches the right people,” the GHF spokesperson said.

Social media reacts to Caitlin Clark being ranked 9th best guard by WNBA players

Social media were on fire when it was revealed that Caitlin Clark received the ninth-most votes among other WNBA All-Stars for the top guard.

There are three voting groups for the WNBA All-Star process: fan rank, media rank and player rank for the guards and frontcourt players. While Clark was first in fan votes (receiving over 1 million and crushing her own record from last year), and third among the media, her fellow WNBA players ranked her ninth among the guards.

Clark finished second among all players largely because fan votes accounted for 50% of the votes to determine starters – Dallas Wings rookie and No. 1 overall pick Paige Bueckers took the top spot.

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Clark has been injured and has struggled lately, going just 13-of-47 from three-point territory in her last three games and missing six of the Indiana Fever’s 16 games this season.

However, lots of social media users said it was more evidence of jealousy of the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer.

“They guard her like she’s prime [Michael] Jordan, celebrate trying to hurt her and downplay her impact any chance they can… The W is so full of ELITE LEVEL haters and they just don’t even hide it anymore,” Barstool’s Kayce Smith wrote on social media.

“She’s easily the best player in the league. These girls are laughable,” another wrote.

“What a funny league filled with petty and jealous women. They hate her but she’s single-handedly the reason they are all making more money. A simple thank you would probably be a good start. What a clown show this league is,” added another.

Robert Griffin III, who noted that the votes were averaged, said, “so that means some players purposely voted her out of the top 15 for her to land at #9,” and told the players to “stop hating.”

“When Jordan, LeBron [James], Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Usain Bolt, Tom Brady and [Lionel] Messi came on the scene, everyone didn’t like them but they recognized their greatness and respected it while competing their butt off to stop them. They didn’t vote them low on purpose,” Griffin III wrote in an extensive post.

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“To vote her 9th when she gets full court pressed, body slammed and excessively fouled by every team she faces? That’s not 9th best guard treatment… That’s the clearest sign of hate for Caitlin Clark there could be… Players are supposed to get it right more than the fans and the media because they know what it takes and what it looks like.. Some WNBA players are letting their jealously of Caitlin Clark get in the way of greatness for the entire WNBA. The only question I have is why. Can we have an honest conversation about it? Why do you think some players don’t respect, hate or are jealous of Caitlin Clark after all she has said to support them?”

One social media user posted a comparison of Clark’s stats to Natasha Cloud’s, who was ranked fourth among her peers.

Clark is averaging 18.2 points, 8.9 assists, five rebounds and 1.6 steals over 33.3 minutes per game this season. Only the Phoenix Mercury’s Alyssa Thomas has more assists per game (9.3), and she’s touched the hardwood in 12 contests this season. 

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Clark and Minnesota Lynx leader Napheesa Collier will be this year’s All-Star captains.

Far-left mayoral candidate who wants to ‘ban all guns’ sparks Jewish flight warning

Political commentator Dave Rubin warned his fellow Jewish Americans on Friday that they should flee New York City if Zohran Mamdani becomes the new mayor in November.

Mamdani, a Ugandan-born Muslim New York State Assemblyman from Queens, won the race to become the Democratic Party’s nominee for New York City mayor, but Republicans and even some Democrats have blasted the democratic socialist as too extreme. 

He has also been criticized for his stance on Israel and refusing to condemn the phrase “Globalize the intifada,” concerning many Jewish New Yorkers amid rising antisemitism.

“This guy is an absolute radical,” Rubin said about Mamdani. “He said that if Bibi Netanyahu showed up in New York City he would arrest him… He’s still chanting ‘From to the river to the sea,’ all of this stuff.”

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Mamdani immigrated to the United States when he was seven years old from South Africa and became a naturalized citizen in 2018 after he graduated from college. 

When asked on a podcast in mid-June about phrases like “From the river to the sea” and “Globalize the intifada,” Mamdani responded, “I know people for whom those things mean very different things, and to me, ultimately, what I hear in so many, is a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights.”

The clip went viral, as Jewish advocacy groups and influencers slammed Mamdani for what they say is a refusal to condemn the phrase “Globalize the intifada,” a rallying cry that has been used by anti-Israel protesters against the war in Gaza. 

Many Democratic Party figures have called on Mamdani to denounce the phrase in recent days, including Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., and MSNBC host Rev. Al Sharpton  

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Sunday, “‘Globalizing the intifada,’ by way of example, is not an acceptable phrase. He’s going to have to clarify his position on that as he moves forward.”

He continued, “With respect to the Jewish communities that I represent, I think our nominee is going to have to convince folks that he is prepared to aggressively address the rise in antisemitism in the city of New York, which has been an unacceptable development.”

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Rubin warned that Mandani’s New York could be yet another place Jewish people have to flee from for their safety.

“I’ve said it on my show for weeks with this guy, if he wins in the fall, if you are Jewish, you leave New York City, period. And the Jews have an awful lot to do with a thriving New York City for over a hundred years. But you get the Hell out,” Rubin warned. “Unfortunately, that’s a bit of the story of the Jews, but you get out. There will be pogroms.”

“Already right now in New York City, they don’t have functioning police,” Rubin added. “Well, wait till this guy gets in charge where he’s already calling for defunding the police, and all of the rest of it.”

He argued that citizens’ ability to defend themselves may be compromised as well, pointing to a tweet from Mamdani saying, “We need to ban all guns.” 

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“I mean, regardless of what your feelings are on guns or the difference between, you know, a semi-automatic and a handheld or whatever, ‘ban all guns,’ I mean, no, that’s a constitutionally guaranteed right,” Rubin added. “So he is a radical of radicals.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani for comment and did not receive an immediate reply.

New detail on Bryan Kohberger’s plea deal emerges as families rip agreement

The family of Kaylee Goncalves — one of the victims of Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger — said Monday they were sent “scrambling” and “jumped into panic mode” after Kohberger accepted a plea deal to avoid the death penalty.

Kohberger, 30, is accused of killing Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, in a 4 a.m. home invasion attack on Nov. 13, 2022.

Goncalves’ 18-year-old sister, Aubrie, said she refuses to stay silent and reaffirmed her family support for the death penalty in this case. She said she was unable to attend the family’s meeting with prosecutors in person to make her case.

She said what the victims’ families have endured since the murders is “beyond comprehension,” pointing to delays and the relocation of proceedings that made it harder for loved ones to attend. She argued that the justice system has placed “heavy burdens” on people “already carrying unimaginable grief” but that they have attempted to hold on to hope.

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“We’ve believed in the process. We’ve had faith in the system. But at this point, it is impossible not to acknowledge the truth: the system has failed these four innocent victims and their families,” Aubrie wrote on the family’s Facebook page.

“These are not just names or headlines. Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, and Xana Kernodle were beautiful human beings who touched countless lives,” she continued. “They are not just ‘The Idaho Four.’ They were sons, daughters, siblings, and friends—real people with real dreams. They deserve to be remembered for who they were in life, not only for the tragedy of their deaths. But before that can truly happen, they deserve justice. Nothing less.”

The introduction of the plea deal weeks before the scheduled trial is “both shocking and cruel,” she said, adding that the families could have had time to “process, discuss and potentially come to terms with the idea of a life sentence” if it had come sooner.

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“Bryan Kohberger facing a life in prison means he would still get to speak, form relationships, and engage with the world,” she said. “Meanwhile, our loved ones have been silenced forever. That reality stings more deeply when it feels like the system is protecting his future more than honoring the victims’ pasts.”

She said the justice system “was created to serve and protect—not to retraumatize grieving families,” adding: “time and time again, we find ourselves blindsided, unheard, and unsupported.”

“This last-minute plea deal feels less like an act of justice and more like an afterthought,” she said. “We are not asking for vengeance. We are asking for accountability. We are asking for dignity for our loved ones. And we are asking—pleading—for a justice system that truly lives up to its name.”

The family said in another post that they vaguely spoke to prosecutors Friday about the possibility of a plea deal but that it was a “hard no” for them. They said the majority of the conversation was about the upcoming trial and nothing prepared them for the next steps.

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They said they received an email Sunday night that sent them “scrambling” and they “immediately jumped into panic mode and started making phone calls and sending emails.”

The family met with the prosecution again on Monday to reiterate their support for Kohberger receiving the death penalty.

“Unfortunately all of our efforts did not matter,” the family said. “We DID OUR BEST! We fought harder than anyone could EVER imagine.”

The four victims had all been stabbed multiple times with a large knife, according to prosecutors. Police recovered a Ka-Bar sheath that they allege had Kohberger’s DNA on it near Mogen’s body.