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Pere woke up sweaty and restless. It was morning, but it felt like the same night refusing to end. Seiyefa and their mother lay beside him on the floor, breathing lightly, like people who had learned how to sleep inside worry.
He stared at the ceiling and realised he no longer believed his own words. Sometimes he thought about how their names sounded like promises: Pere — wealth, poured hopefully over a baby who now counted coins. Seiyefa — nothing is impossible, a small hope folded into a girl. In this room, with its cracked walls and thin soup, those meanings felt like someone else’s prophecy.
He slipped outside. The compound was already moving—buckets, greetings, someone arguing softly about money. He sat on the step and rubbed his face.
The door opened behind him. Seiyefa came out and sat next to him.
“You didn’t sleep,” she said.
He shook his head. “You?”
She gave a small shrug. “My eyes were closed.”
They sat in silence for a moment.
“There’s no work today,” he said. “Boss cut more days.”
She nodded slowly, as if she’d been expecting it. “So what now?” she asked.
Before, he would have said, “God will open another door.” Or, “Things will turn around.” The sentences lined up in his mind, old and rusty, but none of them came out.
“I don’t know,” he said.
Seiyefa turned to look at him properly. “Preye called,” she said. “From America.”
Pere’s jaw tightened. “America again.”
“He’s there now,” she went on. “Working one warehouse night shift. Petroleum engineering degree and an American master’s in business, but he’s packing boxes in some warehouse over there, always scared that one small mistake will have immigration putting him on a plane. He said, watching his back all the time, too tired to even complain properly.”
She paused. “He also said Mama Preye is sick in Nembe. They say she may not last. He can’t even come home until his papers are settled. He’s there praying his mother doesn’t die before his green card comes.”
She glanced at him. “It’s funny that you’re here declaring this administration will favour you. He’s there begging that his own administration won’t remember him. Between both of you, who is really better off?”
This time, Pere’s laugh came out bitter. “Trust you to turn all this into a proverb.”
“Proverb, but I’m not wrong,” Seiyefa said quietly. “You’re here trying to name this heat a blessing. He’s there turning fear into ‘opportunity.’ All of us are just trying not to drown.”
He rubbed his face again. “I also heard from Cousin Ebimini,” he said. “From the UK.”
Seiyefa’s eyebrows lifted. “What did he say?”
“He finally got his residency,” Pere replied. “Big English. Papers. He said he’s now working for the city council. Road sanitation. Cleaning streets, washing roads and gutters. He said the job is embarrassing for a former well-respected Abuja real estate agent. Last week, someone called him a monkey and told him to go back to the jungle. On top of it, after tax and bills, he too is choking.”
Pere sighed. “He told me he feels small, but at least his smallness pays on time. That over there, even his shame has rent. I didn’t know whether to congratulate him or tell him sorry.”
They sat with that for a moment.
“So,” Seiyefa said quietly, “Preye is in America, afraid to breathe wrong. Ebimini is in the UK, scrubbing roads. We are here, calculating seasoning cubes. Everybody is poor, just in different currencies.”
Pere almost smiled. “Different kinds of poverty,” he said. “Ours without a passport. Theirs with visa and residency.” No administration seems to be favouring anybody regardless of location.”
They fell quiet again.
“I’m tired,” Seiyefa said at last. “Not just body tired. Tired of pretending this is fine.”
Inside, their mother coughed and shifted. Soon she would get up, pray over them and repeat the familiar lines: “This year will favour us.” Pere felt a sharp ache in his chest. He didn’t despise her words. He just no longer knew where faith ended, and denial began.
A young man walked into the compound with a bundle of papers and started pushing them under doors. When he reached them, he handed one to Pere and kept moving.
COMMUNITY MEETING, it read. At the primary school.
Topic: “Rising rents, light, and how we are coping.”
At the bottom, in smaller writing: Come if you are tired.
Pere almost laughed. It sounded like a joke God would make.
“Are you going?” Seiyefa asked.
“I don’t do meetings,” he said. “People shout, nothing changes.”
“You don’t do meetings,” she said quietly, “but meetings are doing you. Rents, light, fuel, everything. Whether you talk or not.”
He stared at the paper.
He thought of all the hours he had spent speaking to the mirror, declaring change that never came. All the days he had gone to church and shouted “Amen” while prices rose faster than his salary. All the times he had told Seiyefa and his mother, “Don’t say negative things,” as if words alone moved policy. Nothing had stopped the heat.
“I’ll go,” he said, almost surprising himself.
Seiyefa nodded. “I’ll come with you.”
He looked at her. “You?”
“I live here too,” she said. “My own suffering is not by proxy.”
Pere picked up the jerrycan and joined the queue at the tap. The water came in a thin, stubborn stream, like it too was tired but refusing to stop completely.
When they went back inside, their mother was already sitting on the edge of her mattress, Bible open on her lap.
“Come,” she said. “Let us pray. This administration will favour—”
“Mummy,” Pere cut in, more sharply than he meant to. “Can we… not say that part today?”
She stared at him as if he had slapped her. Seiyefa held her breath.
“So what should we say?” his mother whispered.
Pere did not have an answer that wouldn’t break something. He sat down beside her anyway and took her hand.
“Let’s just say we are tired,” he said. “And see what God does with that one first.”
For a while, nobody spoke. Then, quietly, his mother began to pray, this time without mentioning any administration, here or abroad.
It did not cool the room. But Pere stayed…
The post BN Prose: This Administration Will Favour Me and Family (II) by Toyosi Onikosi appeared first on BellaNaija – Showcasing Africa to the world. Read today!.
The 2026 World Cup is buzzing with excitement and will be hosted across the United States, Canada and Mexico, with 48 teams involved for the first time. This will give bettors more to read before the first ball is kicked: more group paths, more outsiders, more travel demands and more chances for a favorite to […]
The post World Cup 2026 Odds Breakdown: What Bookmakers Are Saying About the Tournament Favorites appeared first on Complete Sports.
Comoros have booked a date with African champions Nigeria after thrashing Sudan 30-0 on aggregate in the first round of the qualifiers for the women’s football event at the 2028 Olympic Games, reports Completesports.com. The Coelacanths were ruthless over the two legs, recording a 17-0 victory in the first leg before sealing qualification with a […]
The post 2028 Olympic Qualifiers: Comoros Thrash Sudan, Set Up Super Falcons Showdown appeared first on Complete Sports.
The suspension of airtime and data credit services by Nigeria’s telecommunications operators has disrupted a service used by an estimated 40 million subscribers and drawn attention to a little-understood corner of the country’s digital economy.
Airtime credit has become a critical service for millions of Nigerian prepaid mobile subscribers who rely on small advances to stay connected between recharges.The service operates through partnerships between telecom operators and specialised value-added service providers that manage the underlying technology and customer eligibility systems.A regulatory dispute over the FCCPC’s DEON consumer lending framework led operators to suspend airtime and data credit services, affecting an estimated 40 million users.The controversy has exposed the growing overlap between telecommunications and financial services, raising broader questions about digital lending regulation in Africa’s largest economy.
Much of the public debate has focused on the legal dispute between telecommunications companies, value-added service providers, and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).
Less attention has been paid to a simpler question: how airtime credit actually works, who provides it, and why it has become the subject of a major regulatory battle.
What is airtime credit?
Airtime credit allows prepaid mobile subscribers to receive a small advance on airtime or data when they run out of credit, with repayment automatically deducted from their next recharge.
The process typically takes only a few seconds. A subscriber either attempts to make a call with insufficient airtime or initiates a request through a USSD code.
The system assesses the subscriber’s recharge history and usage patterns before offering an eligible credit amount. Once accepted, the airtime or data is credited instantly, and the advanced amount plus a service fee is deducted when the subscriber next tops up.
Unlike traditional loans, airtime credit does not require an application process, collateral, or conventional debt recovery procedures. Instead, repayment is embedded within the telecom billing system.
The service has gained popularity because Nigeria’s mobile market is overwhelmingly prepaid. According to industry data, Nigeria had approximately 185 million active mobile subscriptions as of early 2026.
For many users, airtime credit serves as a temporary bridge between recharges, allowing them to remain connected when their balance runs out.
Who Provides the Services?
Although consumers generally associate airtime credit with their mobile network operator, the service is usually delivered through partnerships between telecom companies and specialized value-added service (VAS) providers.
The telecom operator provides access to its network infrastructure, billing systems, and customer channels.
Third-party VAS companies typically handle the underlying technology, customer eligibility models, and operational management.
Industry players say these firms often develop the scoring systems that determine eligibility and manage the day-to-day operations of airtime lending platforms.
Publicly identified operators in the sector include Fonyou Technologies, Nairtime, ERL Telecoms, and several other licensed providers.
The exact commercial arrangements between operators and vendors vary and are generally not disclosed publicly.
Industry sources say revenues generated from service fees are typically shared between telecom operators and service providers.
How is the Market Structure?
Industry executives say it is common practice for telecom operators to work with multiple vendors simultaneously for airtime credit and other value-added services.
Traffic may be allocated through various operational arrangements, including load balancing, regional allocations, or other vendor management systems.
However, the details of these arrangements are largely proprietary and are not typically disclosed publicly.
Supporters of the model argue that the presence of multiple providers encourages competition and innovation while reducing operational risks associated with relying on a single vendor.
How Big is the Market?
Determining the precise size of Nigeria’s airtime credit market is difficult because there is no publicly available industry-wide database covering all operators and vendors.
Industry estimates generally place the market in the hundreds of billions of naira annually, with some estimates ranging between N300 billion and N400 billion in yearly airtime and data credit transactions.
These figures should be treated as estimates rather than audited market totals.
While publicly available financial disclosures from telecom operators suggest airtime lending generates substantial revenue, no comprehensive industry study has been published that conclusively establishes the market’s exact size.
Similarly, some industry participants have challenged claims that the market is worth up to N3 trillion annually, arguing that these figures are not supported by publicly available financial disclosures or regulatory filings.
Why was the Service Suspended?
The dispute centres on the FCCPC’s Digital, Electronic, Online and Non-Traditional Consumer Lending Regulations, commonly known as the DEON Regulations.
The regulations, introduced in 2025, expanded the FCCPC’s oversight of digital lending activities.
The Commission’s interpretation of the rules brought airtime and data credit services within the scope of consumer lending regulation, requiring participating companies to comply with the DEON framework.
In early April 2026, the FCCPC moved to enforce the regulations. Following the directive, telecom operators suspended airtime and data credit services while regulatory and legal questions were being resolved.
The FCCPC has maintained that it did not order operators to suspend the services and has described the suspensions as commercial decisions taken by the companies.
The dispute subsequently moved to the courts. In April 2026, the Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria (WASPAN), which represents licensed value-added service providers, obtained interim court orders restraining aspects of the FCCPC’s enforcement actions against its members.
Separate court proceedings involving Nairtime Nigeria also resulted in interim orders concerning access to telecom platforms.
On 22 May 2026, the FCCPC announced the suspension of DEON enforcement while legal and regulatory issues were being addressed.
Following that decision, Airtel and Globacom restored their airtime credit services. Other operators have been restoring services more gradually, depending on their individual compliance and operational arrangements.
What does it mean for users?
For millions of Nigerians, airtime credit functions as an informal financial safety net embedded within the telecommunications system.
Industry estimates suggest around 40 million subscribers regularly used airtime or data credit services before the suspension.
While detailed demographic data is not publicly available, industry stakeholders say the service is particularly important for prepaid users who may not have immediate access to cash or formal credit products.
The controversy has therefore raised broader questions about how regulators should treat digital services that operate at the intersection of telecommunications and financial services.
Whatever the eventual outcome of the court cases and regulatory reviews, the dispute has highlighted the growing importance of airtime credit within Nigeria’s digital economy and the challenges of regulating products that blur the traditional boundaries between telecom services and consumer finance.
Jeff Bezos is ramping up his challenge to Elon Musk’s Starlink in Africa, with Amazon seeking regulatory approval to establish its first satellite gateway on the continent in Kenya, a move that could reshape competition in the region’s fast-growing satellite internet market.
Amazon is moving to challenge Starlink in Africa by seeking approval to build its first satellite gateway in Kenya, deepening competition in the region’s fast-growing broadband market.The facility would connect Amazon’s low-Earth orbit satellite network to terrestrial internet infrastructure, improving speed and reducing latency.Kenya’s strong tech ecosystem and Starlink’s rapid growth have made the country a key battleground for satellite internet providers.The Bezos-Musk rivalry could accelerate internet access, coverage and competition across Africa’s underserved regions.
Amazon’s local unit, Amazon Kuiper Kenya Limited, has applied to the Communications Authority of Kenya for an International Gateway Operator licence, according to a notice published in the Kenya Gazette.
If approved, the licence would allow the company to establish and operate satellite earth stations and related infrastructure used to transmit internet traffic between Kenya and international networks.
The application marks Amazon’s most significant infrastructure push yet in Africa and signals a deeper commitment to challenging Starlink, Musk’s satellite broadband service, which has built an early lead across several African markets.
The proposed facility would serve as a critical gateway connecting Amazon’s low-Earth orbit satellite network, Amazon Leo, formerly known as Project Kuiper, to terrestrial internet infrastructure.
Ground stations play a central role in satellite broadband operations by linking satellites in orbit to internet users on the ground.
By shortening the distance data travels, they reduce latency and improve connection quality for services such as video streaming, voice calls and online gaming.
Amazon’s decision to place its first African gateway in Kenya highlights the country’s growing importance as a regional technology and connectivity hub.
Amazon’s Project Kuiper is a direct rival to SpaceX’s Starlink.Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty Images
Bezos takes the fight to Starlink
Amazon’s move sets the stage for a direct battle between two of the world’s most influential technology billionaires over Africa’s digital future.
Starlink entered Kenya in 2023 and quickly gained traction among households, businesses and institutions seeking alternatives to traditional broadband providers.
The company now has more than 22,000 subscribers in Kenya and ranks among the country’s fastest-growing internet service providers.
The SpaceX-owned service strengthened its position by introducing hardware financing plans and expanding coverage in underserved areas where fibre and mobile broadband infrastructure remain limited.
Amazon is now seeking to carve out its own share of the market.
The company plans to deploy more than 3,200 low-Earth orbit satellites globally by 2028 as part of its effort to compete with Starlink in delivering high-speed, low-latency internet services.
Amazon has positioned Leo as a broadband network capable of serving households, businesses, governments and telecommunications operators.
Industry reports indicate Amazon is targeting download speeds of up to 400 Mbps for standard users and significantly higher speeds for enterprise customers, placing it in direct competition with Starlink’s offerings.
Amazon targets Starlink’s African lead with first satellite gateway in Kenya. [Photo by VINCENT FEURAY/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images]
Why Kenya?
Kenya has emerged as one of Africa’s most attractive technology markets, thanks to its relatively advanced digital infrastructure, vibrant startup ecosystem and strong demand for reliable internet services.
The country has also become a testing ground for satellite broadband adoption.
Starlink’s rapid growth in Kenya demonstrated that consumers and businesses are willing to pay for satellite connectivity when conventional broadband options fall short.
That success appears to have encouraged Amazon to accelerate its own plans for the market.
A gateway in Kenya could also allow Amazon to support neighbouring markets from a single regional hub, strengthening its position across East Africa while reducing dependence on infrastructure located outside the continent.
The company had earlier applied for a Network Facilities Provider licence in Kenya, another regulatory step toward deploying communications infrastructure in the country.
Africa’s next connectivity race
Africa is increasingly becoming a key battleground for satellite internet providers.
Despite rapid growth in mobile and fibre networks, hundreds of millions of people across the continent still lack access to reliable high-speed internet, particularly in rural and remote communities.
Satellite broadband is widely seen as one of the fastest ways to bridge that gap because it bypasses the need for costly terrestrial infrastructure.
Amazon is also pursuing partnerships with telecommunications companies to expand its reach.
Earlier this year, Amazon Leo signed an agreement with Vodafone to connect remote 4G and 5G mobile sites across Europe and Africa using satellite technology.
The rollout in Africa is expected to be carried out through Vodacom, Vodafone’s African subsidiary.
The partnership could have significant implications for Kenya, where Safaricom, the country’s largest telecoms operator, is partly owned by Vodafone.
Starlink has pursued a similar strategy. SpaceX has partnered with telecommunications operators across Africa, including Airtel Africa, as satellite companies increasingly look beyond direct consumer services and toward supporting mobile networks.
A strategic foothold
If approved, Amazon’s Kenyan gateway would become one of only a limited number of ground stations supporting low-Earth orbit satellite networks globally.
Deloitte estimates that only around 100 such gateway stations were operational worldwide at the end of 2025.
For Amazon, the project represents far more than a licence application.
It is a strategic foothold in a continent where demand for connectivity continues to outpace infrastructure development and where Starlink has already demonstrated the commercial potential of satellite broadband.
For Africa, the growing rivalry between Bezos and Musk could ultimately deliver faster internet, wider coverage and greater competition as two of the world’s richest entrepreneurs compete for a larger share of the continent’s digital infrastructure market.
Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD, one of the fastest-growing players in Africa’s emerging EV market, has been added to a U.S. Department of Defense list of companies alleged to have links to the Chinese military.
BYD has been added to the US Department of Defense’s list of firms allegedly linked to the Chinese military, alongside Alibaba and others.The Pentagon’s list serves as a warning but does not impose immediate sanctions on the named companies.BYD is rapidly expanding in Africa, holding a significant 35% share of the continent’s EV market in 2025 and investing in sales and infrastructure.The US designation may increase global scrutiny on BYD, especially from investors and regulators, despite having little direct impact on its African operations.
BYD was included alongside technology heavyweight Alibaba and several other Chinese firms on the Pentagon’s Section 1260H list, which identifies companies believed to be directly or indirectly connected to China’s military-industrial ecosystem.
While the Pentagon said the list is designed to warn American organizations about potential risks linked to the named firms, inclusion does not result in immediate sanctions.
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The Chinese embassy in Washington rejected the move, telling the BBC that the list is “discriminatory” and arguing that Chinese companies operating abroad have strictly complied with the laws of their host countries.
The designation comes at a critical time for BYD, which has been aggressively expanding its footprint across Africa.
The company has entered multiple African markets through partnerships, vehicle sales, and electric mobility projects aimed at supporting the continent’s transition away from fossil fuels.
BYD’s electric buses and passenger vehicles have gained traction in countries seeking affordable clean transportation solutions, helping position the automaker as a key player in Africa’s growing EV ecosystem.
BYD is rapidly expanding in Africa, holding a significant 35% share of the continent’s EV market in 2025 and investing in sales and infrastructure.
The latest U.S. move is unlikely to have an immediate impact on BYD’s operations in Africa, particularly as the company does not export vehicles to the United States.
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However, the designation could increase scrutiny from investors, regulators, and business partners in international markets.
BYD recently overtook Tesla to become the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer by sales, highlighting its growing influence in the global automotive industry.
BYD has rapidly expanded its presence in Africa’s EV market, growing its market share to 35% in 2025 from just 4% two years earlier, according to the IEA’s Global EV Outlook 2026.
The world’s largest EV maker by unit sales plans to increase overseas sales by nearly 25% in 2026 to 1.3 million vehicles, with Africa among its target growth markets through vehicle sales and charging infrastructure investments.
DON’T MISS THIS: World’s largest electric carmaker BYD accelerates expansion drive in Africa
The company now finds itself caught in the middle of broader tensions between Washington and Beijing, with analysts warning that China may view the Pentagon’s action as another attempt to contain its technological and industrial rise.
Chinese officials have rejected the allegations, while companies on the list have denied any military links.
For African markets, the development highlights how geopolitical rivalries increasingly intersect with the continent’s energy transition, even as demand for affordable electric mobility continues to rise.
As Congress scrambles to assemble a third reconciliation package, the Chairman of the Republican Study Committee (RSC) struck an optimistic tone in an interview on the Ruthless Podcast.
“On affordability, on fraud, and on defense, I think that we’re going to run a two-minute drill,” Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, said in an exclusive interview released Tuesday morning. “In fact, we’re in the middle of planning for it right now.”
Reconciliation is a budget-related measure that can pass the Senate on a simple majority vote. Most other forms of legislation require 60 votes to bypass the filibuster in the upper chamber.
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The House is expected to vote on the second, immigration-focused, reconciliation bill later this week. The Senate approved the measure last week.
Pfluger lamented that Republicans needed to use reconciliation to pass reconciliation 2.0 and fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP).
“I’m hopeful about this country,” Pfluger said. “But it is a sad state of affairs when you have to do partisan-only bills like reconciliation, especially for defense-related things.”
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Podcast co-host Josh Holmes struck a similar tone.
“[The Democrats] forced it on a partisan basis on something that should be a consensus,” Holmes said. “Particularly at a time of war used to be an afterthought.”
Pfluger outlined his vision for this third bill. He emphasized tackling affordability, fraud, and defense along with housing, energy, and healthcare as central components of the next legislative package.
“3.0 is different,” Pfluger said. “3.0 is us going into our districts, listening to our constituents who are saying, ‘Hey, things are pretty expensive.’ ‘We know it’s not your fault.’ ‘We know, it’s [President Joe] Biden and the inflation that he created, but what can we do for housing, energy, and healthcare?’”
Pfluger believes that congressional action will give Republicans substance to run on in the upcoming midterm elections.
“Our constituents, we have a group of 75 to 80 million people that came out in support of Donald Trump, and we’ve got to get those people back out,” Pfluger said. “We gotta give them something to be excited about. We have to tell them, we heard you in Minnesota, we hear you in California, we know there’s fraud in many states, and we’re going after it.”
Fraud has emerged as a core theme in the Republicans’ message for November. Vice President JD Vance’s Fraud Task Force has uncovered billions in government waste.
Pfluger’s fellow Texan, Rep. Brandon Gill, highlighted fraud in a viral hearing last week. In an interview with Ruthless, the Republican nominee for Governor in Ohio, Vivek Ramaswamy, said that the state and federal governments have approximately $1.1 trillion in improper Medicaid payments.
Pfluger’s interview took place as part of the Ruthless Midterm Interview Series, an ongoing initiative to interview major candidates across the country. The hosts have already interviewed candidates in 15 states, with more scheduled ahead of the November midterms.
Voters in the Lone Star State and across the country will head to the polls for the general election on November 3rd.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, repeatedly declined to weigh in on Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner’s sexting controversy last week, opting to keep her distance from the escalating scandal as Maine voters head to the polls Tuesday.
“I really have nothing to add to it,” Collins told Fox News Digital when asked about the allegations surrounding Platner, the Democratic frontrunner and her presumed opponent.
Collins reiterated that position when pressed further, declining multiple opportunities to comment as scrutiny surrounding Platner intensified ahead of the Democratic primary.
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“As I said to you earlier, I do not have anything to add to this,” Collins said.
Collins’ refusal to engage comes as Republicans have increasingly made Platner’s controversies a central line of attack ahead of the primary. Outside organizations backing Collins have aired ads and amplified criticism of the Maine Democrat, while the senator herself has largely avoided publicly weighing in despite being expected to face him in November’s midterms.
Collins’ recent reluctance to comment differs from her earlier remarks about Platner. Last month, she criticized the Democratic candidate when speaking to Fox News Digital after he mocked a wounded U.S. soldier.
“It’s never appropriate to mock a downed American soldier,” Collins said to Fox News Digital last month. “It’s just appalling.”
But she has repeatedly declined to address the more recent sexting scandal allegations that occurred while Platner was married, which have dominated discussion of the race in the final days before the primary.
The silence also shows the difference in how Democrats have responded to the controversy. Party leaders and allies have increasingly backed, and even formally endorsed, Platner as more controversies continue to surface in his campaign. Democrats have directly targeted Collins over her voting record and argue that flipping the seat remains a top priority despite all the allegations surrounding Platner.
WATCH: MAINE VOTERS DIVIDED ON PLATNER AS SCANDALS SHADOW DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY
Platner has continued campaigning, with top lawmakers such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who reiterated his support for the Maine Democrat to Fox News Digital in an interview Friday night, arguing that Platner is “taking accountability” for his past and that “we need that redemption in this country.”
With polls open Tuesday, Maine voters face a choice that could shape one of the country’s most-watched Senate races, as Platner seeks to move past the controversy and secure a matchup against Collins.
This week, the nation watched as California grappled again with the ordinarily straightforward task of counting votes in an election. While large states such as Florida declare election winners within 24 hours, California may take up to two weeks to count all the votes.
Even Los Angeles cannot count its votes in the time of large states despite giving the Clerk an annual budget of $336 million and a $448,179 a year salary with the help of 1,100 budgeted positions.
In most states, voters would be outraged by the incompetence, waste, and inefficiency. However, in the Golden State, voters shrug, as if they can demand no more from their elected officials than subpar performance.
Call it the Politics of Low Expectations and California is the model for the nation.
CALIFORNIA’S SLUGGISH VOTE COUNTING RIPPED ACROSS THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM: ‘EXTREMELY EMBARRASSING’
For years, my students have asked me what the secret is to a successful marriage approaching four decades (For full disclosure, there is an ongoing contractual dispute over my counting eight years of monogamous dating — leading to two dates on our anniversary cakes). The answer is simple. I reduced her expectations so low that I have exceeded them on a daily basis.
That began with our eloping on New Year’s Eve. We were married after an actual shotgun wedding where the clearly expectant teenage bride’s family was screaming profanities at the teenage groom. After paying $50 and using my high school ring for a wedding ring, we stepped out on the street of Old Town Alexandria as a drunk was retching in the gutter. That left only room for improvement.
On any given day, my wife is simply grateful that I have not traded the house and car for a handful of magic beans.
California Democrats seem to have applied my approach to matrimony to politics, creating a politician’s dream voter with few expectations.
That is most evident with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s infamous high-speed train to nowhere.
In 2008, voters were promised a 500-mile High-Speed train running from San Francisco to Los Angeles for $33 billion. It is now projected to cost somewhere between $126 billion and $231 billion. After roughly two decades, no track has been laid, and the current plan is to focus on building a track between Bakersfield and Merced.
Without any track to display, Newsom recently stood before a freight train on an existing track to insist that his train is moving speedily along.
One would think that citizens would be coming for their leaders with torches and pitchforks. Instead, there is a collective shrug as if it is perfectly normal to spend more than the entire budget of Amtrak on a non-existent train.
The same leaders have burned billions in other boondoggles, including a massive solar power farm that produced energy at a higher cost and incinerated thousands of birds a year.
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California is facing a growing crisis of rising homelessness, dismal education scores, and an exodus of business and wealthy taxpayers. It has also imposed taxes that make gas the most expensive in the nation while suppressing its own energy industry.
Now, after many voters took the unprecedented step of voting for Republican candidates for governor and L.A. mayor, citizens will wait for weeks to learn the results of an election that would have been called days ago by third-world countries.
The same politics of low expectations are evident in other states. In New York City, voters just shrug when told that they have a budget rivaling that of the entire state of Florida, resulting in awful educational, infrastructure, and other conditions. Voters have watched as wealthy taxpayers have taken their money and jobs to other states.
In return, figures like Mayor Zohran Mamdani promise state-run grocery stores, which will cost tens of millions of dollars to build and operate at a loss.
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In Minnesota, elected officials allowed billions to be stolen in fraud while businesses fled a state rife with rioting and homelessness.
In virtually every major city from Los Angeles to Chicago to New York, public schools are spending massive amounts on education to graduate many students who lack basic proficiency in English and Math. In Baltimore, a student failed all but three of his classes and was ranked in the top half of his graduating class.
Yet, voters reelected the same leaders who have denied generations any real opportunity for advancement. While other countries maintain superior school systems at a fraction of the cost, urban voters cast their ballots like lemmings for the same party and politicians.
In states like California, politics has long been run on Henry Ford’s pitch that you can have any color Model T so long as it is black. This election seemed to offer voters something they had not seen in many years: a real choice between a Republican governor and an L.A. mayor.
As California slowly counts its votes, the odds still heavily favor the continuation of California as a one-party state. Poor services, rising crime, rampant homelessness, hundreds of billions in waste and other failures are treated as virtually inevitable. The result is an electorate that only a politician would love: passive voters who expect little from their government and receive even less.
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BANGOR, Maine — It’s judgment day for Graham Platner, the embattled Democratic Senate candidate in left-leaning Maine who is aiming to oust longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in a crucial race that’s among a handful that will determine if the GOP holds its slim Senate majority in the midterm elections.
Platner, an oyster farmer and military combat veteran who is backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and other top progressive champions, is facing a slew of controversies, which could make his expected Democratic primary victory in Maine much more interesting than originally expected.
Meanwhile, one week after President Donald Trump‘s endorsement-winning streak in high-profile Republican primaries was snapped, the president’s immense clout over his party is facing another key test in South Carolina’s GOP gubernatorial nomination face-off.
Those two ballot box showdowns will take top billing and grab plenty of national headlines as Maine and South Carolina, along with Nevada and North Dakota, hold primary elections on Tuesday.
PLATNER TO SUPPORTERS: ‘MAINE, YOU HAVE MY BACK’
Platner has been playing defense the past month, amid mounting controversy. It includes inflammatory online comments made on Reddit, a well-publicized and now covered-up tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol, recent reports that he exchanged sexually explicit messages with several women while married, and new allegations last week from ex-girlfriends of a history of rape fantasies, heavy drinking and violent episodes. Platner has called the latest allegations of violence untrue.
The negative headlines have triggered some Democrats in the nation’s capital to question whether Platner was damaged goods. The candidate this past weekend thanked Maine voters for continuing to support him.
“When hurtful things I said on the internet a decade ago came out into the public, as I shared my personal journey through PTSD and darkness of recovery and accountability and growth, Maine had my back,” Platner said at a rally Friday not far from his hometown in Down East, Maine.
“Now, as every single piece of that past and journey gets dug up, litigated, and weaponized, you have my back. And when politically motivated, serious and false accusations are made against me. Maine, you have my back.”
SEE IT: MAINE VOTERS SOUND OFF ON PLATNER CONTROVERSIES
Platner, who has acknowledged his battle with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) from his three tours of duty in the war in Iraq with the Marines and one tour with the Army National Guard in Afghanistan, apologized for his controversial Reddit posts after they made headlines last fall soon after he launched his Senate campaign.
And Platner has said he got the skull and crossbones tattoo in 2007 while drinking with fellow Marines stationed in Croatia. He added that he covered up the tattoo with a new design after learning last year that it resembled a Nazi symbol. But new allegations from an ex-girlfriend raise questions about Platner’s timeline regarding knowledge of the tattoo.
Rep. Ro Khanna, the progressive leader from California who organized Friday’s rally with Platner, was asked by Fox News Digital whether he’s concerned if the current allegations, and any potential future ones, could sink Platner’s campaign and hurt Democrats’ hopes of winning back the Senate.
“I’m more concerned about making it clear that we’re opposed to misogyny, those relationships were toxic and volatile, there’s no excuse for that,” Khanna said. “I talked to Graham and he says he was at a very dark period, he had come back from two tours of duty in Iraq as an infantry man seeing violence and death. That doesn’t excuse it.”
But Khanna noted that Platner said “he really grew as a person when he came back to Maine and he was an oyster farmer and he found peace and he is ashamed of that period. To me, that suggests someone taking accountability and improving their lives, and we need that redemption in this country. And I agree with a lot of his economic policies, that we should be taxing the billionaires, we should be focusing on the working class.”
Platner has been considered the all-but-certain Democratic nominee after two-term Gov. Janet Mills, who was backed by longtime Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer and the Democratic Party establishment, dropped out of the race earlier this spring after significantly trailing Platner in fundraising and polling.
He’s facing two long-shot rivals for the nomination in Tuesday’s primary, but Mills’ name remains on the ballot, which she highlighted in a recent interview. A source in Mills’ wider political orbit confirmed to Fox News last week that the governor was receiving calls urging her to get back in the race amid Platner’s controversies. But there’s no active campaign effort on behalf of Mills.
Maine voters Fox News reporters spoke with ahead of the rally were divided on whether Platner’s controversies would impact their opinions of the candidate and whether the allegations would weaken his ability to defeat Collins.
Collins, returning to Maine on Friday after a busy week on Capitol Hill where she reached a milestone by casting her 10,000th consecutive vote in the Senate, was asked by reporters about the latest allegations facing Platner.
“The allegations in the latest story are troubling,” Collins responded. “And I believe that Graham Platner has a lot of questions to answer.”
THE TEN RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE’S MAJORITY
Platner is facing plenty of incoming political fire from Republican groups. A super PAC aligned with Collins has been blasting Platner, running ads spotlighting his multiple controversies.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) charged that Platner is a “fraud.”
“He’s preaching about living a small but decent life growing up in Maine. The truth? Graham Platner is an elitist whose parents sent him to boarding school in Connecticut and bought him a house,” the NRSC wrote.
And the Republican National Committee (RNC) also targeted Platner.
“Graham Platner says his violent and erratic past is being “weaponized” against him. Platner said he would rape someone to show his dominance and “rape was about power,” the RNC research team wrote on X, pointing to the latest allegations against the candidate.
Despite the allegations and the incoming fire from the GOP, no Democratic politicians who have backed Platner have rescinded their endorsements.
“We need to unite and realize that the goal is defeating Susan Collins. And everyone from Schumer to Sanders is unified around that goal,” Khanna told Fox News Digital.
Platner has drawn large crowds and built a healthy fundraising war chest, and Democrats see Maine as a crucial pickup opportunity as they aim to win back the Senate majority.
But beating Collins, a moderate who is running for a sixth six-year term in the Senate and has a history of voting against President Donald Trump’s agenda, won’t be easy. Six years ago public opinion polls indicated the senator was headed to defeat, but Collins defied expectations and won re-election by topping then-Democratic state House Speaker Sara Gideon by nine points.
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There’s a crowded and competitive field of Democrats running for their party’s gubernatorial nomination in the race to succeed the term-limited Mills. On the Republican side, Bobby Charles — former federal investigator — leads eight other candidates, including Jonathan Bush, nephew of the late President George H.W. Bush.
Also in the spotlight, the Democratic primary in the state’s 2nd Congressional District, in the race to replace moderate Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, who announced last year that he would not seek re-election due to political polarization.
Republicans, who are aiming to hold their razor-thin majority in the House, view the mostly rural district which Trump carried in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 presidential elections, as a top pickup opportunity. Former two-term Republican Gov. Paul LePage is uncontested for the GOP nomination.
In South Carolina, Trump’s endorsement is in the spotlight.
The president, a week and a half ago, handed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette 11th-hour support as she seeks to succeed a top Trump ally, term-limited Republican Gov. Henry McMaster.
Evette is facing off in the GOP primary against a handful of top rivals. They are longtime South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, nationally known Rep. Nancy Mace, Rep. Ralph Norman and multimillionaire businessman Rom Reddy.
Since no candidate was expected to top 50% of the primary vote and land a majority, the top two finishers will advance to the June 23 Republican runoff.
The brute force of the president’s endorsement power has been on display in GOP primaries over the past month, with his candidates ousting incumbents he targeted in showdowns in Indiana, Louisiana, Kentucky and Texas that grabbed plenty of national attention.
But his last minute endorsement of Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa — which came on the same day he also backed Evette — in the race to succeed retiring GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds wasn’t enough to muscle the three-term congressman to victory.
Feenstra was narrowly edged by Zach Lahn, a businessman, farmer and former political strategist who was backed by the political wings of MAHA — the acronym for the Make America Healthy Again movement aligned with Trump Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and Turning Point USA, the powerful conservative organization co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk.
In the South Carolina GOP gubernatorial primary, the major contenders had long been highlighting their support for Trump and his agenda, in hopes of landing his support.
Trump, after staying neutral for months, endorsed Evette, praising her as an “America First Patriot” and a “WINNER” in his announcement.
After Trump backed Evette, Mace said that her very vocal push last year for the Justice Department to release the files related to its probe into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein contributed to the president’s backing of her rival.
“I know I put the likelihood of an endorsement on the line when I demanded transparency on the Epstein files,” the lawmaker wrote. “I demanded it because you deserved the truth — ALL OF IT,” Mace emphasized in a post on X.
Trump, in a social media post endorsing Evette, also said he expected Evette to choose Henry McMaster Jr., the governor’s son, as her running mate for lieutenant governor.
The comment by the president led to blowback in South Carolina political circles and speculation that McMaster, who succeeded then-Gov. Nikki Haley when she stepped down to serve as U.N. ambassador during Trump’s first term and who is in his 10th year as governor, was trying to give his son a political boost.
But McMaster denied any deal or pressure, and Evette has said she wouldn’t name any running mate until after the primary is over.
And on Friday, the younger McMaster took his name out of contention, saying it was “incredibly humbling” to be mentioned as a possible lieutenant governor candidate, but that “now is simply not the right time.”
The winner of the Republican gubernatorial nomination will be considered the clear favorite in November’s general election in South Carolina.
State Rep. Jermaine Johnson, trial attorney and 2010 gubernatorial candidate William Mullins McLeod Jr., and businessman Billy Webster, who served as chief of staff to then-Democratic Gov. Richard Riley, are running for their party’s nomination.
Longtime Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham is the clear favorite in the Republican Senate primary, but is facing a tougher than expected challenge from South Carolina businessman Mark Lynch in a race that has devolved into mudslinging.
In Nevada, incumbent Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo is expected to fend off a handful of primary challengers as he seeks re-election. On the Democratic side, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford is the clear favorite over Washoe County Commissioner Alexis Hill.
And in solidly red North Dakota, there is a competitive GOP house primary for the state’s at-large district.
Fox News Digital’s Alexis McAdams, Sally Persons, Jessica Sonkin and Luke Trevisan contributed to this report.
Who can handle “the pressure?”
The new film “Pressure” is an accurate retelling of the fateful days leading up to the Allies’ invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. The success of the D-Day landings were far from a forgone conclusion either as to the date of their launch or its chances of success.
Then General Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower had to make the decision to “go-no go” in the early days of June 82 years ago, and the pressure on “Ike” was enormous and unrelenting. Tens of thousands of soldiers’ lives hung in the balance, as did the fate of millions under Hitler’s evil rule. The film provides a superb lesson on such moments and Ike’s (played by Brendan Fraser) willingness to make the final decision amidst the uncertainties of weather and Wermacht deployments is a testament to the granite from which he was made.
DOUG SCHOEN: DEMOCRATIC BATTLE PITS MODERATES VS. PROGRESSIVES FOR SOUL OF THE PARTY
Ideally, American voters would look for Ike’s qualities in every presidential election — for the ability to make the best decisions on the most important choices — but that’s not how it turns out. Rarely do voters think about the biggest decisions and who ought to make them. Usually, voters are carried along by their own sense of their own well-being as well as cross-currents in the culture that are driving deep divides across the country’s vast electorate.
If there is an incumbent in the Oval Office seeking re-election, it is almost always a “referendum election” on how he has done in the job.
But when there is no incumbent, American voters use entirely different calculations.
One theory of how Americans actually pick presidents when “change” dominates the country’s political atmosphere and there is no incumbent: Voters choose the candidate with the personality type most different from the incumbent when the incumbent isn’t running. This grand theory of presidential politics is often associated with David Axelrod, longtime advisor to former President Barack Obama and the Democrat’s answer to Karl Rove when it comes to a grasp of the big and the small details of American politics.
A second “grand theory” is the “capital versus the countryside.” One of America’s sharpest analysts of politics over the past half century is Michael Barone. A decade ago, the American Enterprise Institute scholar observed “The capital versus the countryside: that’s the new political divide, visible in multiple surprise election results over the past eleven months. It cuts across old partisan lines and replaces old divisions — labor versus management, North versus South, Catholic versus Protestant — that traditionally divided voters.” Another way of putting this divide is coastal elites v. “fly-over” country.
Combine both approaches and you get the classic four square box. A candidate of either party has a general personality either like or not like the incumbent, and a candidate represents the Beltway or the anti-Beltway sentiments.
Two candidates who embodied change from the termed-out incumbent as well as being anti-Beltway were Presidents Obama and Trump. Joe Biden was very much a creature of the Beltway and the elites who despised Trump, and when Trump roared back with the greatest political comeback in American history it was very much countryside v. capital at work.
The 2028 cycle unofficially kicked off with first big, splashy profile of an almost-certain candidate in the form of a lengthy Wall Street Journal profile of former Ambassador to Japan, Mayor of Chicago, Chief of Staff to Obama and Deputy Chief of Staff to President Bill Clinton as well as former Congressman and investment banker Rahm Emanuel.
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Emanuel is as close to the complete Beltway insider as Democrats will come in the 2028 cycle. He’s also very smart, exceptionally skilled in the dark arts of politics, and a traditional center-left Democrat. While as combative as Trump, Emanuel is sheep-dipped in the language of legacy media and very much an intellectual and master of the details.
He is also Jewish and his middle name is Israel. Can such former qualifications among Democrats be turned again from the disabilities they now represent in a party deeply infected with antisemitism.
“Outsiders” likely to be opposite Emanuel on debate stages in early 2027 — let the games begin! — are California Governor Gavin Newsom, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Members of Congress Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ro Khanna. All four and probably more will want to run against both Trump and the Beltway.
Expect from Emanuel some obligatory critiques of Trump — “the most corrupt White House in history, one run like EBay” has been penciled in on Democratic talking points — but mostly a focus on education and the reality of an eroding middle class. Emanuel will have to find his way through a Democratic Party poisoned with anti-Israel and indeed antisemitic tropes, but his is the candidacy most likely to keep Republicans awake at night. Emanuel could awaken the long dormant Henry “Scoop” Jackson/Sam Nunn pulse in the Democratic Party. His four years as Biden’s Ambassador to China polished his foreign policy credentials and gave him an appreciation for the menace of Xi Jinping.
The GOP field is also beginning to emerge. As with the Democrats, there’s a divide within it, one certain to appear in the debates of 2027 and the primaries of 2028.
Hugh Hewitt is a Fox News contributor and host of “The Hugh Hewitt Show” heard weekday afternoons from 3 PM to 6 PM ET on the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast on Salem News Channel. Hugh drives Americans home on the East Coast and to lunch on the West Coast on over 400 affiliates nationwide, and on all the streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel’s news roundtable, hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6pm ET. A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996 where he teaches Constitutional Law. Hewitt launched his eponymous radio show from Los Angeles in 1990. Hewitt has frequently appeared on every major national news television network, hosted television shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for every major American paper, has authored a dozen books and moderated a score of Republican candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and four Republican presidential debates in the 2015-16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio show and his column on the Constitution, national security, American politics and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump over his 40 years in broadcasting. This column previews the lead story that will drive his radio/ TV show today.
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The Democratic Party is turning against Israel.
Increasingly, Democrats running for office, kowtowing to their base, disavow any allegiance to our long-time ally in the Middle East. A recent New York Times survey found 74% of Democratic voters opposed “providing additional economic and military support to Israel”, with the number even higher among young people.
Someone needs to ask the anti-Israel crowd: who are you for?
Are they for Hamas, the terror group in Gaza that outlaws homosexuality, steals aid meant for their countrymen and provoked the current war with the Jewish state by slaughtering 1,200 innocents on October 7, 2023?
FOX NEWS ‘ANTISEMITISM EXPOSED’ NEWSLETTER: DEMOCRATS, INDEPENDENTS TURN ON ISRAEL
Or are anti-Israel Democrats aligning with Iran, which is guilty of mowing down tens of thousands of peaceful protesters in cold blood? A repressive regime that routinely calls for “Death to America” — Israel is at war with Iran, because Iran’s proxies in Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen wage constant attacks on their men, women and children.
Democrats are, in effect, supporting terrorists. It is a binary choice. You are either backing Israel or you are backing those organizations fighting on behalf of Iran.
It is time to make Democrats openly avow that alliance.
DOUG SCHOEN: AS A DEMOCRAT, I BACK TRUMP’S IRAN STRIKE — MY PARTY IS WRONG
They will argue that their opposition to Israel stems from sympathy for the Palestinian people, or dislike of Bibi Netanyahu, Israel’s long-time leader. But Palestine is governed by Hamas; polling in the region shows a solid majority of the people of the West Bank and Gaza supported Hamas’ reign of terror and attack on Israel. If you denounce the state of Israel because you deplore the military aggressiveness of Netanyahu, shouldn’t you also denounce Palestinians for backing the thugs that burned babies alive on October 7?
The anti-Israel crowd will also regurgitate vague charges of “colonialism” or what the liberal Economist magazine calls “spurious genocide allegations.” Many young Americans don’t know that Israel goes to great lengths to protect civilians as it hunts down Hamas terrorists. They alert the population to upcoming military engagements and avoid schools and hospitals; Hamas takes advantage of that caution by storing weapons next to children and secreting its agents among doctors.
While the American Left berates Israel for its harsh treatment of Palestinians, some on the American Right accuse President Trump of ignoring his America First platform and claim we derive no benefit from our support of Israel. That is not true. There is no other nation in the volatile Middle East, and indeed few in the world, who offer as productive a partnership as does Israel.
MORNING GLORY: ISRAEL IS AMERICA’S MOST IMPORTANT ALLY
Israel’s military, the IDF, is one of the most capable in the world. It benefits from a strong military-industrial and technological base, and is, along with its 170,000 active personnel, battle-tested.
In addition, its Mossad-led intelligence capabilities are considered among the best in the world. The extraordinary targeting and assassination of dozens of senior Iranian officials, coordinated with the United States, reflects Mossad’s expertise. Mossad is only getting stronger thanks to Israel’s powerful tech sector, which is powering an AI revolution similar to that taking place in the U.S.
Israel’s tech industry, home to thousands of start-ups, is renowned for its innovation and venture capital success, and no wonder. Israel has one of the highest ratios of research spending relative to GDP on the globe.
In short, unlike most European countries, Israel consistently provides the U.S. with vital military, intelligence and technological collaboration. It is not solely because the U.S. hosts a large Jewish population that we have partnered with the Middle East’s sole democracy over the years. It is also because the alliance benefits our country.
That is not what Democrats will tell you. They insinuate that our alliance with Israel is somehow shameful and are weaponizing support for the Jewish state against Republicans. Democrat Graham Platner (he of the Nazi-themed tattoo and infamous Kik account), who is running to replace Senator Susan Collins in Maine, derides his opponent for accepting campaign donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobbying group. Last week, Platner posted on X: “Senator Collins is bought and paid for by Benjamin Netanyahu, and she votes accordingly.”
Collins should demand to know who is funding Platner. Is Platner, who has outraised the incumbent, getting funding from American Priorities PAC, a pro-Palestinian super pac backing progressive candidates, that is funded largely by Muslims? American Priorities was set up to counteract AIPAC; why isn’t it getting the same level of scrutiny as the pro-Israel group? Who is behind that organization and where else does their money go?
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The charge that Israel is commanding American politicians is hardly limited to Platner; it is often directed at President Trump. Earlier this year Ruben Gallego, Democrat senator from Arizona, accused Trump of waging war against Iran out of deference to Israeli leader Netanyahu.
Pro-Israel Democrats are also under fire. Politico reports that Democrats competing in numerous primaries this year are routinely condemning their rivals’ ties to Israel, writing “Even tangential ties to the longtime U.S. ally are likely to become campaign issues across the country.”
Some of this anti-Israel sentiment stems from good old-fashioned antisemitism; some reflects criticism of Israel’s military response in Gaza after the Hamas attack of October 7. All of it undermines U.S. self-interest.
Just 25 years ago, on September 11, 2001, Muslim extremists killed nearly 3,000 Americans by flying planes into the Twin Towers in Manhattan. Since 1994, Muslim jihadists have plotted out 140 attacks on U.S. soil against Americans, including driving trucks into crowded streets in New Orleans or shooting up the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.
President Obama warned against Islamophobia, and rightly so. But it isn’t Islamophobia to acknowledge that our country’s alliance with Israel is centered in self-interest, and that Muslim terrorists, such as those enabled by Iran, have been our enemy.
Ask yourself: when was the last time a Jewish terror group attacked Americans?
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Republican senators signaled support for imposing consequences on sanctuary cities after Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin floated a proposal to pull Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers from airports in jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
“I think there should be consequences to cities and states that undercut federal law,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital. “I think they should pay a price for what they do. I agree with what he’s doing.”
Mullin has framed the proposal as a response to sanctuary cities that are limiting or refusing cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and disputes over immigration enforcement funding.
MULLIN WEIGHS USING AIRPORT CUSTOMS AS LEVERAGE AGAINST SANCTUARY CITIES
The plan has received mounting backlash from Democrats as pulling these agents from blue city airports would halt all international travel into major airports. Without customs agents, passengers and cargo are unable to travel internationally, and would also impact Americans coming back to the United States after travelling overseas.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also expressed opposition to the idea, emphasizing the need for open travel.
But, Mullin still says the idea is on the table and actively being considered.
“I think it’s a choice that those cities make and they’d have to weigh the consequences of it,” Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., said. “If they want to be a sanctuary city, they’ve made that choice and they’re getting a response now from Homeland Security.”
Other GOP senators said they had not yet reviewed the proposal and wanted additional details before weighing in.
“I don’t know about this,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-MO., said. “Somebody else asked me about that, and I hadn’t seen that from him yet. So I don’t know. I don’t know what to make of that.”
DHS SECRETARY MARKWAYNE MULLIN SIGNALS CLOSER SCRUTINY OF CUSTOMS AT MAJOR SANCTUARY CITY AIRPORTS
“I need to learn more about it,” Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., said.
“I’m gonna find out what’s going on,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said.
Mullin was grilled last week during a Senate hearing about these threats to pull officers from major city airports, where Democrats referred to the idea as “outrageous” and “insane,” citing the likelihood of chaos and devastating impacts to the economy as a result of the projected high travel rates that would be effectively killed throughout the upcoming summer months.
REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS SEEK TO STRIP DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA OF ITS SANCTUARY CITY POLICIES
Fischer was also questioned on if this proposal were put into action, if she believes it would change how sanctuary cities are cooperating and communicating with ICE.
“I have no idea what the cities would do,” Fischer replied. “I would hope that their law enforcement would cooperate with ICE. ICE is federal law enforcement. They’re doing their job. They’re following the law.”
The proposal comes as the U.S. prepares to host millions of international visitors for the World Cup, which is expected to generate some of the highest inbound travel volumes in years.
A United States Army helicopter gunship went down near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, and the two crew members were safely rescued.
It is not yet known whether the helicopter was shot down by Iranian fire, experienced mechanical failure or encountered some other problem.
The incident occurred a few days after hostilities in the region increased as Israel and Iran exchanged military strikes before stepping back.
US President Donald Trump, while addressing reporters early Tuesday, said that the crew members were fine.
Trump, however, did not provide further details, saying that a report on the incident would be issued soon.
At the time of filing this report, the US military’s Central Command, CENTCOM, has not commented on the incident.
