Fox News 2024-07-02 20:03:12


Biden campaign says where fundraising dollars would go if he drops out of race

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Biden campaign tells donors all fundraising cash would go to Kamala Harris if Biden drops out

President Biden’s campaign staff were on damage control this weekend, working to shore up support among a top donor class deeply shaken by Biden’s performance at last week’s debate.

A top campaign official held a phone call with Biden’s top donors on Sunday and stated that if Biden were to drop out of the race, all his funds would go to Vice President Kamala Harris. Some of the donors went so far as to ask for refunds, according to NBC News.

Campaign Chair Jennifer O’Malley Dillon is reportedly scheduled to hold another call with more donors later Monday.

Donors and even some of Biden’s family members have raised questions about Biden’s debate preparations and whether his aides might be to blame for Thursday’s disaster. The White House pushed back on the suggestion in a statement.

“The aides who prepped the President have been with him for years, often decades, seeing him through victories and challenges. He maintains strong confidence in them,” Biden campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz said in a statement.

Panicked Democrats across the country are raising questions about Biden’s candidacy following the debate, though it remains extremely unlikely that Biden would drop out.

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Democrat donors press campaign on Biden’s health, stamina in private calls: report

The Biden campaign held a call with donors on Monday to assuage their concerns after President Biden’s shaky debate performance, as critics of the president within the Democratic Party are calling for him to withdraw from the race entirely. 

“It was a damage control call,” one member of the meeting told Axios. 

Biden’s campaign
has faced a flurry of questions and held multiple meetings with donors to project confidence and answer questions from donors in the days following the president’s debate with former President Trump.  

“I don’t know what the pathway forward is, and I think they are trying to figure that out, too,” an anonymous donor told Axios. “We all saw what we saw.”

Some of Biden’s top donors are reportedly breaking from the president, with Hollywood supporters reporting that the president’s debate has made them anxious and disillusioned, according to Variety. 

“It’s just really hard to see how we keep supporting him. He needs to dig deep about whether he can in good conscience be our nominee,” Hannah Linkenhoker, an advisor to several donors, told the outlet.

A top campaign official held a phone call with Biden’s top donors on Sunday and stated that if Biden were to drop out of the race, all his funds would go to Vice President Kamala Harris. Some of the donors went so far as to ask for refunds, according to NBC News.The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Jeffrey Clark.

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Dem lawmaker says Biden’s debate was a ‘catastrophe from which there may be no recovery’: Report

Top Democratic donor Whitney Tilson says a House Democratic lawmaker texted him following President Biden’s disastrous debate performance to say that Biden’s candidacy may never recover from the night.

“Biden’s debate performance was a catastrophe from which there may be no recovery,” the lawmaker said, according to the New York Times.

Tilson only shared the quote on condition of anonymity for the lawmaker, the Times reported.

The news comes amid growing unease behind the scenes of the Democratic party. While party leaders remain lock-step behind Biden in public, reports of panic, shock and even anger continue to spill out from the party machine.

Biden campaign chairwoman Jennifer O’Malley Dillon was on damage control Sunday and Monay in calls with Biden’s top donors, some of whom reportedly asked for refunds.

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If Joe Biden steps aside, who takes his place?

This is an excerpt from an opinion article by Fox News contributor Liz Peek:

By the time this column is published,
 President Joe Biden may have announced that he is pulling out of the 2024 presidential campaign. There is simply no other path forward for the incumbent president. The entire country now knows what audiences of Fox News and other right-leaning news organizations have known for some time: Biden is in rapid decline and cannot possibly serve for another four years. 

A new CBS/YouGov poll conducted after the debate showed that 72% of the public no longer thinks Joe Biden has the “cognitive and mental health to serve as president”; almost half of Democrats say he should not be running.  

The White House, and party leaders, have been lying to the public for some time about Biden’s capability. They deserve to be punished for their duplicity; polls suggest voters will deliver that comeuppance in November. 

Biden’s family gathered over the weekend at Camp David, purportedly to have their photo taken, but surely also to discuss the future of the campaign. Even if they have decided to throw in the towel, there is unlikely to be an immediate announcement. Democrat leaders will have to plan the difficult path forward. That there is evidently no Plan B in the works is astonishing; where have they been? 

Those echoing Biden’s vows to keep on fighting are either delusional or self-interested. Vice President Kamala Harris can be counted on to support Joe’s ongoing campaign; she knows there’s not a chance in a million that Biden, if somehow reelected, will still be president in 2028. She stands to become the country’s first female president, simply by sticking it out and convincing voters Joe can do the same. As Nikki Haley so presciently said many months ago, “A vote for Joe Biden is a vote for Kamala Harris.”  

In addition, Harris understands that if there is a coup – if Democrat grandees assume the power to pick a new candidate – she will not top the list. True, her approval ratings are currently higher than Joe’s (39.4% vs 37.9% according to Nate Silver’s Project 538), but she proved a dismal campaigner in the 2020 primaries and has been a dreadful vice president. 

First Lady Jill Biden has received scathing criticism for pushing her feeble husband forward. Indeed, her over-the-top boosterism – her insistence that he’s sharp as a tack and absurd lauding of his debate performance – is cringe-worthy.  

But, beyond personal ambitions (who wouldn’t want to be on Vogue’s cover this month?), Jill is also trying to protect her stepson, and knows that without Joe in the White House, Hunter could end up in jail. He has already been convicted of a felony, a real one unlike the manufactured charges brought against former President Donald Trump, and faces another trial shortly. 

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Biden donors ‘freaked out’ by his reliance on teleprompters at private fundraisers

President Biden is facing intense scrutiny over his apparent reliance on teleprompters in closed-door meetings with Democratic donors in the fallout of last week’s presidential debate.

MSNBC political analyst John Heilemann revealed on his “Impolitic” podcast that donors are “freaked out” that Biden can’t go off script during their private fundraisers. 

“One of the things, to go back to my various donor friends, something that in, of course, the last six months, has come up a bunch of times with donors who have had Joe Biden at their house, they are all freaked out by one thing that you guys will understand. He shows up- and it’s a group of people, the friendliest people you can imagine, they’re all writing him big checks. He speaks for about 15 minutes on prompter at every little dinner event,” Heilemann said on Friday’s podcast. 

“He never ad-libs. He’s never just off prompter… I mean, you’re sitting with a bunch of, like, 40 multimillionaires who are writing you giant checks. You have 15 minutes of remarks to give over dinner, and you’re on prompter. Again, does that make him a bad president? No. Does that make him unfit to be president? No. Does it freak donors out that he needs to be on prompter? It freaks them out,” he said.

“This was an hour and a half off prompter, that’s what it looks like right now. And he got better as the debate went on, but in its worst moments, it was like, that’s why they keep him on prompter. And that is not an issue that’s gonna go away,” Heilemann added.

That explosive claim was confirmed the next day by Anthony Scaramucci, former President Trump’s short-lived White House communications director-turned-Biden supporter.

“I went to President Biden‘s fundraiser in East Hampton and I thought he did quite well reading the teleprompter today and meeting with people,” Scaramucci wrote on X before warning, “However, that is not going to be enough to prove to the American people that he’s up for another 4 years.”

The Wall Street Journal also reported on the “overly controlled” donor meetings involving his use of a teleprompter. “Some donors described one of the events as overly controlled, with Biden reading from a teleprompter and providing little one-on-one time for meaningful exchanges with the donors who propel the campaign,” the Journal wrote Saturday.

This is an excerpt from an article by Joseph A. Wulfsohn

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Michigan governor warned Biden campaign her state is no longer winnable after debate debacle: report

Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer told President Biden’s campaign that her state was no longer winnable after Biden’s disastrous debate performance last week, Politico reported Monday.

The news arose from a call between Whitmer and Biden campaign Chair Jennifer O’Malley Dillon. Sources familiar with the call told the outlet that Whitmer expressed frustration that her name was being raised as a replacement for Biden in the wake of the debate.

She disavowed any effort to force Biden to drop out of the race, something a growing number of Democrats are pushing for. Another source told Politico that she gave Dillon a general warning that Michigan was no longer winnable for Biden following his debate performance.

Whitmer’s reaction mirrors that of other prominent Democrats, who have rallied to Biden in public while reportedly panicking and raising doubts about his candidacy in private.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and former House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., reaffirmed their support for Biden during television appearances Sunday.

Pelosi claimed Biden only struggled in Thursday’s debate due to former President Trump’s on-stage “lies,” while Clyburn argued his poor performance was merely due to “preparation overload.”

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VP Harris caught ‘lying’ about Trump’s position, Elon Musk immediately crushes her for it

X owner Elon Musk ripped Vice President Kamala Harris for “lying” on Monday about former President Trump’s position on a national abortion ban. 

Harris declared in a post on Musk’s site that “Donald Trump would ban abortion nationwide.” She added, “President @JoeBiden and I will do everything in our power to stop him and restore women’s reproductive freedom.”

The post was hit with a rejoinder from Community Notes, the platform’s way for readers to offer context to messages viewed as false or lacking context. In this case, users posted information from CNN, BBC, The Associated Press, The New York Times, and Trump’s own Truth Social account that went against Harris’ claim. 

TRUMP VOWS HE ‘WILL NOT BLOCK’ ABORTION PILLS OR MEDICATION IF ELECTED, SAYS HE BELIEVES IN ‘EXCEPTIONS’

Trump has said abortion limits should be left to the states, and he recently posted a video on Truth Social detailing his position. 

“My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both. And whatever they decide must be the law of the land — in this case, the law of the state,” Trump said. 

The AP report used to fact-check Harris was bluntly headlined, “Trump declines to endorse a national abortion ban. He says limits should be left to the states.”

Musk scolded Harris for “lying” on his social media platform. 

“When will politicians, or at least the intern who runs their account, learn that lying on this platform doesn’t work anymore?” Musk asked.

During CNN’s Presidential Debate last week, Trump was asked about his stance on abortion, and whether he would block abortion medication for women. 

“First of all, the Supreme Court just approved the abortion pill and I agree with their decision to have done that, and I will not block it,” Trump said, referring to mifepristone. 

Trump applauded the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022 and return the decision on abortion access to the states. The landmark Dobbs decision did not make abortion illegal nationally but rather found that abortion was not a right guaranteed by the Constitution.

“I put three great Supreme Court justices on the court and they happened to vote in favor of killing Roe v. Wade and moving it back to the states. This is something that everybody wanted,” Trump said. “Now the states are working it out.” 

TRUMP SAYS HE ‘WILL NEVER ADVOCATE IMPOSING RESTRICTIONS ON BIRTH CONTROL’ OR OTHER CONTRACEPTIVES

Trump came in for criticism for claiming the decision was something “everyone wanted.” Polls have consistently shown a majority of Americans want abortion to be legal in some aspect, while differing as to how far into a pregnancy it should be.

A Gallup survey last year found 61 percent of Americans think overturning Roe was a “bad thing.”

Trump said every state is “making their own decisions right now.” 

“They’re all making their own decisions right now and right now the states control it,” Trump said. “That’s the vote of the people.” 

But Trump maintained that, like former President Ronald Reagan, he believes in “exceptions.” 

“I believe in the exceptions. I am a person that believes, and frankly, I think it is important to believe in the exceptions,” Trump said. “Some people, you have to follow your heart, some people don’t believe in that. But I believe in the exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. I think it’s very important.” 

The Biden campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Mark Wahlberg is ‘living every guy’s fantasy’ with new onscreen romance

Mark Wahlberg is living the dream in more ways than one.

The “Boogie Nights” star is appearing alongside Halle Berry in a new Netflix movie next month titled “The Union” in which his character, a blue-collar worker, gets a second chance with his high school sweetheart who happens to be a secret agent superspy.

“… Halle, her and I have known each other for such a long time, and this movie is going to be so great because it’s every guy’s fantasy, to think that they got a shot with Halle Berry,” he told Fox News Digital.

Referring to the characters, he continued, “They were childhood sweethearts, and they come back together. He basically waited 25 years for her to come back, walk back through that door and into his life, and it happens, and there isn’t anything he wouldn’t do to prove himself to her if he got a second chance. For me, that was the whole motivation of the character: just do anything he could to not screw it up again.”

HALLE BERRY SUFFERS WARDROBE MALFUNCTION IN HILARIOUS BEHIND-THE-SCENES FOOTAGE

Wahlberg, happily married to his wife of 15 years, Rhea Durham, admitted that playing romantically opposite anyone is always “a little weird,” but the couple is secure in their relationship.

“I think it’s a little weird anyway when you’re portraying some sort of romance onscreen, it’s not normal, but my wife knows that she is my everything,” he said. “She is the most special woman in the world.”

WATCH: MARK WAHLBERG SAYS WORKING WITH HALLE BERRY IS ‘EVERY GUY’S FANTASY’

The couple share four children: Ella, 20, Michael, 18, Brendan, 15, and Grace, 14. 

Last week, Wahlberg shared photos of himself accompanying Ella on a shopping trip near Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina, where she attends college.

MARK WAHLBERG ADMITS HE ALWAYS FALLS ASLEEP DURING A CERTAIN BEDTIME ROUTINE WITH WIFE

The “Family Plan” star posted a photo of him sitting in a chair next to racks of clothes and wrote in the caption, “When you go visit your daughter at college and end up in Love Shack Fancy #family #girldad.”

He and Ella also posed together with big smiles on their faces in a photo Wahlberg shared on Instagram, writing, “So proud of this young lady.”

“Dad has only a few purposes in life, to do what they want when they want me to do it. And I don’t mind doing that, we had an amazing time down in Charleston,” he told Fox News Digital.

The 53-year-old added, “Only for her, her sister, her mom, will I go into a store like that.”

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More in line with his own taste, Wahlberg continues to expand his own brand, Municipal, which just opened its Pro Shop on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood, California.

“Everything that we do is aspirational. It doesn’t matter where you come from, where you start, there isn’t anything you can’t accomplish if you’re willing to do the work. It’s how I live my life every day. Everyone who’s a part of Municipal …for us, it’s all about the dream, the plan and the hustle, making things happen,” he said of the brand.

WATCH: MARK WAHLBERG REVEALS ONE THING HE’LL ONLY DO FOR THE WOMEN IN HIS FAMILY

Municipal was co-founded in 2019 by Wahlberg and Harry Arnett.

Arnett told Fox News Digital, “I mean, this has been 15 years in the making. The very first time that Mark and I ever met, we started talking about the need to do a brand that was going to totally change the game with fashion, cool-factor style, but also the stuff you just wear everywhere.”

MARK WAHLBERG REVEALS TEQUILA DOESN’T JEOPARDIZE EXTREME EXERCISE REGIME

He continued, joking that he and the noted fitness devotee “have very similar lifestyles,” adding, “But in a weird way, Mark’s constantly multitasking, in the gym, outside of the gym, everywhere you go, stuff that goes seamlessly and performs better than anything else, and that was kind of our dream for Municipal. And here we are 15 years later, standing in the Municipal store, it’s pretty surreal.”

Wahlberg explained that the goal for the brand is simple, “To create the most amazing athleisure brand on the planet for the everyman. … We want to create something that is very, very special. If you’re going to spend a little extra money, you’re going to spend it on quality. And everything that we do is quality, first, second and third.” 

He’s also dedicated to giving back to the community through the brand, revealing they have plans for golf courses and basketball courts, among other projects.

“When we build our first Municipal golf course, you know who’s going to get a free membership or access to the club and to the fitness component of it? All the people that work for the city and the state and work for municipalities, people who serve their community, it’s always about giving back. Those are the real heroes,” he said.

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The devout Catholic marked the opening of the store with a blessing by a priest, who told the crowd, “Mark has been my great friend for many years. I’m so grateful for him, thank you very much.”

Wahlberg had Diocese of Orange Christ Cathedral Bishop Kevin W. Vann bless his recently opened restaurant, Flecha, as well. 

WATCH: MARK WAHLBERG REVEALS NEW PLANS FOR HIS CLOTHING BRAND TO GIVE BACK

Wahlberg told Fox News Digital at the grand opening in June that he credits his success to, “my faith and my family and just finding good balance. But I have to attribute all my success to my faith.”

The Boston-born and raised star shares his Catholic faith with his upcoming co-star Mel Gibson.

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The pair stars in the new film “Flight Risk,” and Wahlberg plays a wilderness pilot who becomes a crazed hit man.

Wahlberg said he has no intention of taking charge in the air but is excited for the challenge presented by the role.

“I’m not interested in being a pilot. I don’t like flying at all, but I was very interested in playing a villain again,” he said. “I hadn’t done that since ‘Fear’ 30 years ago.”

In “Fear,” Wahlberg played a young Reese Witherspoon’s obsessive and abusive boyfriend, who terrorizes her and her family once she rejects him. 

“To be able to go back there and play somebody who is [a villain] … it’s an amazing character. I think people are going to be shocked when they see the movie. It’s going to be a good one this summer.”

Former senator who served with Biden for over 20 years breaks silence after debate

Former Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, who served with President Biden in Congress for over 20 years, is calling on Democrats to pressure the president into bowing out of the 2024 race following his widely panned debate performance.

Harkin told Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck following the debate that voter perception is that Trump is the candidate best “able to take command of a situation and control the outcome.”

“Of course, Trump’s answers were meandering, gobbledygook, and full of lies, BUT they were said with force and directness,” the 84-year-old Harkin said.

“I also think all incumbent Democratic Senators should write to Biden asking him to release his delegates and step aside so the convention can choose a new candidate,” Harkin added. “A couple of governors may need to do the same.”

BIDEN CAMPAIGN STAFFER REPORTEDLY ATTEMPTED TO SHUT DOWN INTERVIEWS CRITICAL OF THE PRESIDENT: ‘STOP IT HERE’

“Last night was a disaster from which Biden cannot recover,” Harkin said.

The Iowa Democrat said that the president “has gone downhill since his State of the Union speech.”

“Look how he walked and handled himself on the House floor even after the speech, and watch how he walks and uses his arms now,” Harkin said. “Startling!”

THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER CALLS ON DONALD TRUMP TO DROP OUT AFTER DEBATE PERFORMANCE

Harkin’s comments come after Biden’s performance in the CNN presidential debate on Thursday that immediately sparked calls from within the Democratic Party for Biden to drop out of the race over age concerns.

Other Democrats, including Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Whip James Clyburn have rallied behind the president saying his poor performance was due to “preparation overload.” 

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The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

“Folks, I know I’m not a young man,” a Biden campaign ad following the debate said. “But I know how to do this job. I know right from wrong. I know how to tell the truth,” 

“And I know, like millions of Americans know, when you get knocked down, you get back up.”

Analyst warns stocks could plunge 30% as US heads for painful recession

There may be trouble looming on the horizon for the U.S. stock market, according to BCA Research.

In a note to clients last week, BCA Research chief global strategist Peter Berezin warned that, contrary to popular belief, the economy will fall into a recession either this year or in early 2025. 

Should that happen, the S&P 500 could tumble to 3,750, which marks a 30% drop from current levels.

Berezin’s prediction hinges on the belief that the labor market will slow notably in coming months, which will weigh heavily on consumer spending – a major driver of economic growth. The relationship between inflation and unemployment is measured by something called the “Phillips curve.”

SMALL BUSINESSES FACE NEW THREAT: BALLOONING RENTS

“The reason the U.S. avoided a recession in 2022 and 2023 was because the economy was operating along the steep side of the Phillips curve,” he wrote. “When the labor supply curve is nearly vertical, weaker labor demand will mainly lead to lower wage growth and falling job openings. In other words, an immaculate disinflation.”

Berezin also foresees widespread economic pain, with growth slowing sharply in Europe and China. This scenario could further weaken global growth and weigh heavily on international stocks.

WEALTHY AMERICANS ARE ANXIOUS ABOUT MAKING ENDS MEET

Stocks notched a new record in mid-May, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average topping 40,000 for the first time ever, but they have since fallen from those highs. 

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
I:DJI DOW JONES AVERAGES 39169.52 +50.66 +0.13%
I:COMP NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX 17879.299559 +146.70 +0.83%
SP500 S&P 500 5475.09 +14.61 +0.27%

The indexes opened slipped Monday morning as investors await key jobs data from the Labor Department. The S&P benchmark was down about 12 points as of mid-morning.

The forecast from BCA Research – one of the gloomiest on Wall Street – comes after a volatile year for the market.

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All three indexes tumbled in mid-2023 amid fears the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates higher than previously expected – and hold them at peak levels for longer. However, they have recouped those losses and more, with the S&P 500 up more than 29% since it hit bottom at the end of October. 

Since the start of the year, the benchmark index is up about 15%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has climbed 3.7%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, has increased about 20% year to date.

Psychologist sounds alarm on ‘concerning’ new social media trend

The latest social media trend, “sadfishing,” is igniting plenty of conversations as users become increasingly drawn to “attention seekers.”

The habit of “sadfishing” is defined as “the tendency of social media users to publish exaggerations of their personality to generate sympathy,” according to a 2021 research paper published in the Journal of American College.

The research found that many “sadfishers” display anxious attachment. It concluded that this “may not be triggered by an acute perceived lack of social support, but rather, may be more strongly related to the persistent trait of anxious attachment.”

PSYCHOLOGISTS REVEAL 7 WAYS PARENTS CAN DRIVE HAPPINESS BY HELPING KIDS FIND THEIR PURPOSE

Don Grant, PhD, national adviser for Healthy Device Management of Newport Healthcare in Los Angeles, California, told Fox News Digital that the phenomenon is nothing new.

The award-winning media psychologist, speaker and published researcher said the trend came to national attention with a campaign featuring Kendall Jenner in 2019, when she posted about her struggle with acne as part of her partnership with Proactiv.

“This person is putting something, you know, that’s kind of vague or sounds, frankly, a little ominous or something sad,” he said about today’s “sadfishing.” 

Grant said that at the beginning and end of his presentations, he proposes questions.

My friends who are close to me know what’s going on with me. They know what my daily life is,” he said.

“If you are putting anything on social media, what is your motivation for what you need or want people to know who are not in your close circle? What is your reason for posting? What’s your motivation for posting something for the whole world [to see]?”

GEN Z TIKTOKER GOES VIRAL FOR TAKING RESUME DOOR TO DOOR DURING JOB HUNT

Grant said that for “sadfishers,” it is case-dependent and can be concerning.

“If it’s chronic, then absolutely. I couldn’t pretend to know or guess what it is for everybody,” he said. 

“But I would say it’s definitely a cry for something.” 

He said the manifestation could be a real diagnosis. On other occasions, it could be a one-off and be fueled by drinking or being under the influence, which wouldn’t draw too much concern, he said. 

Grant said he’s had firsthand experience in seeing posts by people that can cause alarm.

PARENTS ARE SMASHING EGGS ON THEIR KIDS’ HEADS AS PART OF TIKTOK TREND: HERE’S WHAT PSYCHOLOGISTS HAVE TO SAY

“We’ve seen [sadfishing posts] that we’ve actually had to make calls and do welfare checks [about],” he said. “Those of us who know the person or their colleague — we do a welfare check on that because it’s so concerning.”

Grant said he has seen “sadfishing” occur across many age groups and platforms, but that there is variety in the intensity of it, depending on the platform used.

On some platforms, it’s “more static, meaning it’s just a post as opposed to something like TikTok, where you can [post] videos. Some of the videos are even more chilling. If you just see a post and it’s a phrase or two with pictures, or it’s someone saying they’re sad …that’s hard enough,” he said. 

“But when you have a video-based social media platform, you can see them, you can hear the cadence of the [person’s] voice. It’s very dramatic. That’s more impacting.”

Pew Research Center found that the youngest U.S. adults are far more likely to use Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok as opposed to other platforms.

“I would propose that those would be more skewed toward younger generations because the older generations and certainly the digital immigrants aren’t really creators, prolifically on TikTok or even on Instagram,” he said.

WARNING FOR MOMS AND DADS ABOUT POPULAR ‘SHARENTING’ TREND

Sixty-two percent of 18- to 29-year-olds say they use TikTok. That’s much higher than the share among adults ages 65 years and older at 10%, according to the Pew Research Center survey.

Some social media users took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their impressions of the trend.

“It’s attention-seeking behavior, but may come from real anxiety or depression,” one woman surmised.

“I know a number of people who do this,” said another user.

“‘Sadfishing’? That’s basically being a teenager/young adult, lol,” one user posted.

“People don’t have real-life friends … and come here for fake attention from sob stories,” another person commented.

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Grant said social media “can be a great connector,” but he doesn’t think it should be “the primary connector.”

He said rebuilding social relationships in person and speaking with mental health professionals are the smartest alternatives to publicly sharing “sob stories.”

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If you see a post that makes you worried about a loved one, pick up the phone and give the person a call, Grant suggested.

“Real-life connection to me is the antidote for just about any problem,” he said. 

‘Rust’ armorer serving sentence makes ‘bombshell’ accusation before Alec Baldwin trial

Hannah Gutierrez Reed is requesting immediate release from prison as the “Rust” armorer prepares to seek a new trial.

Gutierrez Reed’s lawyer accused the prosecution of withholding “bombshell exculpatory evidence,” which would have led to a “fundamentally different trial and likely a different outcome,” according to court documents filed June 27 and obtained by Fox News Digital.

The armorer’s team claimed the state did not disclose a report that found “unexplained toolmarks on critical surfaces of the trigger and sear” of the Pietta 45 Colt revolver replica used on the Western film set. Gutierrez Reed’s attorney, Jason Bowles, pointed out that the marks were not “the result of the damage incurred during the FBI’s impact testing.” The marks also “do not appear to be original manufacturing marks or use and abuse toolmarks based on [their] irregular orientation,” according to the report.

The state “buried this information” and it was “never disclosed” to Gutierrez Reed or her legal team, Bowles wrote.

ALEC BALDWIN’S ‘RUST’ ARMORER SENTENCED TO MAXIMUM TIME IN FATAL ON-SET SHOOTING

Additionally, Bowles claimed the state then “called the expert at trial and sat idly by as he perjured himself during cross-examination.”

The report showing the “unexplained” toolmarks would likely have “bolstered” Gutierrez Reed’s defense, according to the court documents.

“Ms. Gutierrez Reed’s principal defense theory was that no one had committed a crime and that this was a tragic accident, and if there was any negligence, it was on the part of producers, as found by OSHA,” court docs read. “This defense would have been imminently bolstered by a legally unforeseeable intervening cause – such as a firearm malfunction – that caused Ms. Hutchins’ death.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to special prosecutors in the case for comment.

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Gutierrez Reed was responsible for the firearms on the Western film set where cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed on Oct. 21, 2021. Hutchins had been preparing a close-up shot when a gun Alec Baldwin was holding discharged.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer sentenced Gutierrez Reed to 18 months in prison after she was convicted in March.

“I find that what you did constitutes a serious, violent offense,” Sommer said after handing down the sentence. “It was committed in a physically violent manner. A fatal gunshot done with your recklessness in the face of knowledge that your acts were reasonably likely to result in serious harm.”

“You were the armorer, the one that’s to be between a safe weapon and a weapon that could kill someone. You alone turned a safe weapon into a lethal weapon. But for you, Mrs. Hutchins would be alive, a husband would have his partner and a little boy would have his mother. Please take her.”

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Gutierrez Reed’s trial, which began Feb. 21, saw testimony from weapons experts, FBI and Santa Fe County authorities, and crew members who witnessed the fatal shooting. The prosecution largely focused on Gutierrez Reed’s behavior as an armorer, alleging she didn’t do her job correctly.

“Hannah Gutierrez knew that Baldwin was loose. She knew it,” special prosecutor Kari Morrissey said during closing arguments. “She didn’t do anything about it, even though it was her job. It was her job. It is her job to say to an A-list actor, if, in fact, that’s what you want to call him, ‘Hey, you can’t behave that way with those firearms.’ That is her job. That is what they pay her for. That is the job that she applied for. That is the job that she accepted.”

Gutierrez Reed’s legal team had told the jury that the prosecution hadn’t presented enough evidence to convict the armorer of involuntary manslaughter.

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Jewish prosecutors in blue city blow whistle on alleged antisemitism in DA’s office

A growing number of deputy district attorneys in Los Angeles says they have concerns about antisemitism in the office after months of silence on the issue from their boss, which culminated in clashes between anti-Israel agitators and counterprotesters outside a synagogue in a heavily Jewish neighborhood in the city.

Violence erupted outside the Adas Torah synagogue on Pico Boulevard last week, prompting condemnations from a range of prominent Democrats, including President Biden, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

But according to a number of Los Angeles prosecutors, there was notable silence from the district attorney tasked with prosecuting criminal acts in connection to the clashes: George Gascon.

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“I hate going to work and entering a building where I feel like my boss will treat me differently simply because I’m Jewish, and that’s how I feel and many others feel,” said Brian Schirn, a veteran prosecutor helming the DA’s narcotics division.

Key issues Schirn and other deputy district attorneys brought up were Gascon’s slow response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel; his endorsements from local political groups accused of antisemitism, including the People’s City Council, a group dubbed “blatantly antisemitic” by the American Jewish Council’s Los Angeles chapter; and the fact that between a third and half of the nearly two dozen whistleblower retaliation lawsuits filed by fellow deputy district attorneys come from Jewish plaintiffs.

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They say he took an aggressive posture after pro-Israel counterprotesters joined the Adas Torah clashes, but not against the antisemitic mob that kicked things off. They say Jewish prosecutors have been passed over for more than a dozen promotions to prominent head deputy positions. And they say Gascon only addressed Hamas’ bloody Oct. 7 rampage in Israel after a letter from more than 130 employees asked him to do so.

In his response to the petition, he did not mention Hamas or use the term “antisemitism,” but in a statement to Fox News Digital, Gascon’s office condemned antisemitism by name and “all forms of hatred.”

“The District Attorney’s Office condemns all forms of hatred, including antisemitism and takes allegations of discrimination seriously,” a spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “Any suggestion that the DA’s Office is sympathetic to organizations that promote hatred, discrimination, violence, or terrorism is unfounded. Our approach to prosecuting demonstrations and counterprotests is driven solely by the principles of law and justice, without any bias toward any group.”

WATCH: Biden DOJ pressured to prosecute violent LA synagogue attackers

According to one of the retaliation lawsuits, Deputy District Attorney Amy Pentz, who is Jewish, was invited to join the office’s “Equity Action Team.” After just one meeting, in which she thanked the panel for including her and said she was concerned about antisemitism, she was kicked out of the group “under the pretext that there were too many lawyers” on the panel, according to court documents.

Another deputy DA suing over alleged retaliation is John Lewin, a veteran cold case prosecutor who recently came home from leave early to help with a murder trial.

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“I have no idea what George Gascon personally believes, but from what I can tell, he doesn’t personally believe anything other than what will further his political ambition,” said Lewin, who is Jewish. “Whether he is antisemitic in his heart, I have no idea. But the people around him and the groups that support him absolutely are.”

He said he takes issue with Gascon seeming to dismiss allegations against anti-Israel protesters who camped out at UCLA before allegedly saying he’d go after counterprotesters “to the fullest extent of the law.”

Video of the synagogue standoff shows anti-Israel protesters and counterprotesters brawling. At one point, a woman could be seen on the ground curled up in a fetal position as a mob kicks her while she’s down.

“The fact that he would outwardly say that he would treat cases with Jewish suspects with the full force of the law, and on the other hand talk about how he wasn’t going to do anything to protesters, is shameful and an overt sign of antisemitism,” Schirn said. “And everything he’s done from the endorsements he’s accepted with people that are so vocally full of Jewish hate through his actions as district attorney are appalling, and the public needs to know so that when they vote, they’re informed as to what this district attorney will and will not do.” 

Gascon’s challenger in the upcoming election, Nathan Hochman, argued that the incumbent’s silence on antisemitic protests on college campuses and outside the Adas Torah synagogue sends the wrong signal to people behind them.

“Vile and reprehensible” speech is protected by the First Amendment, he said, but rioting, violence and hate crimes are not.

And when words transition into illegal conduct, it’s the DA’s responsibility to do something about it, he added.

“You had President Biden weighing in on the Adas Torah synagogue Sunday, Gov. Newsom calling it appalling, Mayor Bass calling it abhorrent,” Hochman told Fox News Digital. “But one person was missing, the person in charge of all prosecutions, all felony prosecutions – the district attorney. His staying silent in the background, not just in connection with this incident, emboldens criminals,” Hochman said.

Gascon’s office denied allegations of antisemitism and said it was working to expand the Equity Action Team once again.

“Regarding promotions and representation within our office, we are dedicated to a fair and transparent process that values the qualifications and contributions of all our employees,” the statement continued. “We are actively working to ensure that our equity and diversity panel reflects the broad spectrum of our community, including Jewish representation.”

Hochman countered that the highest levels of the DA’s office are filled with unqualified personnel.

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Gascon’s No. 2 is Chief Deputy DA Joseph Iniguez, who can be seen in recently released video footage arguing with police as they tried to conduct a field sobriety test on this then-fiance. His former No. 3, Diana Teran, is facing 11 felony charges. And his chief of staff, Tiffiny Blacknell, is a former public defender who has been criticized for calling for an end to prisons, calling police “barbarians” and claiming to have been a looter during the 1992 Rodney King riots while bashing “Westside White liberals.”

“The fact that these three people who lead the DA’s office under Gascon are either unqualified, underqualified or right now being charged with criminal conduct is an indication of the catastrophic incompetence by which Gascon has run that office,” Hochman told Fox News Digital. “And if you add in the 20-plus lawsuits of people he has retaliated against, it just helps cement the truth that Gascon does not deserve to be the DA and can’t actually function as an effective DA.”

Former Levi’s exec launches new brand, TikTok bans pro-women ad

An advertisement launched by the new pro-women’s athletics brand XX-XY Athletics went viral on TikTok last month for its advocacy of the rights of women to compete in women’s-only sports and use single-sex spaces. After the minute-long video garnered significant attention on TikTok, the brand was notified that it was banned from the social media platform for not complying with its “advertising policies.”

“Our review indicates that your advertising content may violate TikTok’s advertising policies by featuring offensive content,” the letter from TikTok stated. The brand was given the option to “revise” their advertisement or appeal the ban. 

Former Levi’s exec Jennifer Sey, the founder and CEO of XX-XY Athletics, spoke with Fox News Digital about the ban, noting the company did not say which guidelines the brand was in violation of, but said the move by the social media giant only strengthened the company’s resolve to continue advocating for women’s sports and female-only spaces. 

“Whatever their [TikTok] intention was, it certainly backfired for them because our platform is bigger, and our voice is louder,” Sey said. 

XX-XY Athletics, which launched in March ahead of the latest Title IX changes put forth by the Biden administration and the 2024 Olympics, sells women’s and men’s athletics clothes while advocating women’s rights. 

“If we can do that and put out amazing content that supports it, it becomes normalized to stand up for women and girls and I think for far too long, people on the non-far left have neglected the tools of culture,” she said. “That is how ideas become embraced: through art and through brands. Politics are downstream from culture. We’ve got to win this in the cultural arena and so I think my brand can be a big part of that.”

“This isn’t just about laws, this is about people and changing hearts and minds and having them speak up because the laws will follow that,” she added. “So, that’s what I hope and that’s certainly what we’re experiencing. Women who have come out of the woodwork to support their daughters and dads have come out of the woodwork to say, ‘I’m not going to stand by silently when my daughter is denied opportunity.'”

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Sey described the ad as “very uplifting,” encouraging girls and women to stand up for themselves, stating they deserve their own sports, deserve their own spaces and deserve privacy and safety without being called a bigot. 

“I find it pretty ironic that in running an ad, encouraging women and girls to stand up for themselves and not to back down when they’re called names, we then get called names and are permanently banned from advertising on TikTok for violating their advertising policies, which they did not cite what policy we violated, but they said it was for offensive content,” she said. “So standing up for women and girls is offensive now, apparently.”

“In the wake of #MeToo, when a sideways glance from a guy at work could get him canceled, now women are being told to shut up, sit down and let these guys have what they want. It’s just sort of mind-boggling to me. The misogyny is really astonishing,” she added. “We can’t have a fair fight if males are enabled and allowed to compete in our sports.”

Sey made headlines in 2022 when she resigned as the top brand chief at Levi Strauss & Co. after she had become vocal in her opposition to extended school closures during the COVID pandemic. She worked in the fashion and apparel business for close to 30 years and had always been outspoken about her beliefs regarding women’s rights in sports as a former elite gymnast, but the free speech limits she faced during COVID pushed her to her limit. 

Since her resignation – she says she was forced out, while the company says she left voluntarily – Sey had been outspoken against woke corporations, authoring the memoir “Levi’s Unbuttoned: The Woke Mob Took My Job but Gave Me My Voice.”  

But when she was looking for a new job, Sey said she grew frustrated while interviewing with large, multi-billion dollar retail brands where she was regularly grilled by prospective employers about whether she regretted speaking out against COVID-era school closures and the views she held amid the pandemic. She decided she could no longer be part of the corporate C-suite. 

“I was in this really unique position as a former elite athlete,” she said. “I was an elite gymnast, national champion in 1986 and a very experienced leader within fashion and somebody willing to speak about controversial and uncomfortable truths to start a brand and athletic apparel brand for women primarily, though, we do make men’s clothing, that stands up for women’s sports and spaces. The idea was born and we actually started working last October and we launched March 25.”

In April, the Biden administration finalized its updates to Title IX which many critics argue will erase advancements biological women have achieved in today’s society through its broad interpretation of “sex” and while XX-XY Athletics was already underway, Sey said the proposed changes have only strengthened the brand’s mission. 

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 was originally a 37-word provision barring schools that receive federal funding from discriminating against students on the basis of sex, ensuring equal opportunity for women in the educational setting. The latest version of the regulation, which is on track to go into effect Aug. 1, expands that reach to prevent discrimination and harassment based on gender identity and sexual orientation, which will have significant implications for women-only spaces, free speech and sports. 

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“It actually has generated more interest in what we’re doing [and] more urgency in what we’re doing,” she said. “The Department of Education issued what I would call an illegal rewrite of Title IX. They sort of smuggled in a change which completely erases the original meaning of Title IX, and the original meaning was to protect women and girls’ sex based rights.”

She added that the new rules erase “the original meaning of Title IX.”

She said that anyone who thinks it’s not that many trans-identified male athletes competing in women’s sports should know that there are nearly 600 reported instances of women and girls who have been beat out by transgender women. 

“To tell us we need to just sit down and be quiet because a bunch of males tell us we need to just seems, to me, the most sexist thing imaginable, and we’re not going to do it,” Sey said. 

Sey said transgender identifying females competing against biological women is dangerous and that by affirming that belief “we’re being asked to further this lie that is so fundamental, that men and women are different and that sex is binary.” 

After the TikTok ban, Sey said XX-XY Athletics had its best sales day yet, which she said is indicative of the fact that people are no longer willing to “deny truth.”

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“They’ve pushed us too far, the ideologues who are pushing this issue around gender ideology, which basically states that sex is not binary, and it’s a spectrum and there’s no difference between men and women,” she said. “People thought I was kooky before, [because it] felt like it was a fringe issue… [but] when a platform like TikTok, the largest, most popular platform for young people in the country and the world is banning you for saying women and girls, stand up for yourself, people are just done.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to TikTok for comment. 

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