Happy New Year 2025

Tag: conservative

DHS faces lawsuit from conservative group over Biden-era request

FIRST ON FOX: A conservative group is suing the Department of Homeland Security as part of an effort to get what it says is “maximum transparency” about the agency’s handling of criminal illegal immigrants during the Biden administration.

The Center to Advance Security in America (CASA) is suing DHS for records it requested in October during the Biden administration about the release of data on noncitizens on Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s non-detained docket with criminal backgrounds.

The data, released to lawmakers in September, stated that there were 425,431 convicted criminals on ICE’s non-detained docket, and an additional 222,141 with pending criminal charges.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTS SKYROCKET UNDER TRUMP ICE COMPARED TO BIDEN LEVELS LAST YEAR: ‘WORST OF THE WORST’

This photo shows migrants at the southern border encountered in Arizona. (U.S. Border Patrol)

Those include 62,231 convicted of assault, 14,301 convicted of burglary, 56,533 with drug convictions and 13,099 convicted of homicide. An additional 2,521 have kidnapping convictions, and 15,811 have sexual assault convictions.

There were an additional 1,845 with pending homicide charges, 42,915 with assault charges, 3,266 with burglary charges and 4,250 with assault charges.

At the time, the Biden DHS said the data was being misinterpreted, noting it goes back decades, and includes those who are not only free but also those who are incarcerated by federal, state or local authorities but who are not in ICE custody.

CASA requested internal communications and records from ICE and Customs and Border Protection related to the data and the release of the data, including meeting requests, call logs and communications with media outlets. It requested the documents via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

TENS OF THOUSANDS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WITH SEXUAL ASSAULT, MURDER CONVICTIONS IN US: ICE DATA

Alejandro Mayorkas is pictured next to a sighting of a drone in New Jersey. (AP Images/Doug Hood/Asbury Park Press)

The group did not receive a response and so has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colombia to compel compliance from the agency.

“Through DHS’s failure to make a determination within the time period required by law, CASA has constructively exhausted its administrative remedies and seeks immediate judicial review,” the lawsuit says.

“The American people deserve maximum transparency regarding the government’s handling of all illegal aliens, but particularly about those aliens with serious criminal convictions,” CASA director James Fitzpatrick told Fox News Digital.

“This lawsuit will force DHS to provide records and communications related to the release of these illegal alien criminals into communities throughout the country,” he said.

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It is unclear how DHS under the Trump administration will handle the request, given the administration’s significantly different attitude to the release of illegal immigrants. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Trump administration has largely stopped the release of migrants into the U.S., in part due to President Trump’s order declaring a national emergency at the southern border. That, in turn, has meant that migrants can be removed without being offered the ability to claim asylum.

In addition, the administration has launched a mass deportation campaign and has been making significant steps to not only conduct arrests, but also to house illegal immigrants without releasing them and to increase the rate of deportations.

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Fox News Digital reported last week that the arrests of illegal immigrants have skyrocketed in the first weeks of the Trump administration compared to the same period last year under former President Biden.

Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital, primarily covering immigration and border security.

He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter.

February 17, 2025
Ecuador’s presidential election goes to runoff between conservative incumbent, leftist lawyer
- Ecuador will choose its next president in a runoff election in April between conservative incumbent Daniel Noboa and leftist lawyer Luisa González.
- Crime is a major issue for voters. The trafficking of cocaine produced in neighboring Colombia and Peru has contributed to skyrocketing rates of homicide, kidnapping and extortion.
- Ecuador’s National Electoral Council said that with 92.1% of the ballots counted, Noboa received 44.31% of the voite, while González received 43.83%. The 14 other candidates in the race were far behind them.
Ecuador will choose its next president in a runoff election in April between conservative incumbent Daniel Noboa and leftist lawyer Luisa González.

Neither won outright in Sunday’s first-round election, but they were both well ahead of the other 14 candidates and each within a percentage point of garnering 44% of the vote, according to results Monday.

The run-off election set for April 13 will be a repeat of the October 2023 snap election that earned Noboa a 16-month presidency.

EXCLUSIVE LOOK INTO TRUMP REPATRIATION FLIGHT ON C-17 MILITARY PLANE TO ECUADOR

Noboa and González are now vying for a full four-year term, promising voters to reduce the widespread criminal activity that upended their lives four years ago.

The spike in violence across the South American country is tied to the trafficking of cocaine produced in neighboring Colombia and Peru. So many voters have become crime victims that their personal and collective losses were a determining factor in deciding whether a third president in four years could turn Ecuador around or if Noboa deserved more time in office.

Noboa, an heir to a fortune built on the banana trade, and González, the protégée of Ecuador’s most influential president this century, were the clear front-runners ahead of the election.

Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa, running for re-election, waves after accompanying his running mate, Maria Jose Pinto, to cast her ballot during the presidential elections in Quito, Ecuador, on Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Carlos Noriega)

Figures released by Ecuador’s National Electoral Council showed that with 92.1% of the ballots counted, Noboa received 4.22 million votes, or 44.31%, while González received 4.17 million votes, or 43.83%. The 14 other candidates in the race were far behind them.

Voting is mandatory in Ecuador. Electoral authorities reported that more than 83% of the roughly 13.7 million eligible voters cast ballots.

Crime, gangs and extortion

Under Noboa’s watch, the homicide rate dropped from 46.18 per 100,000 people in 2023 to 38.76 per 100,000 people last year. Still, it remains far higher than the 6.85 per 100,000 people in 2019, and other crimes, such as kidnapping and extortion, have skyrocketed, making people fearful of leaving their homes.

“For me, this president is disastrous,” said Marta Barres, 35, who went to the voting center with her three teenage children. “Can he change things in four more years? No. He hasn’t done anything.”

Barres, who must pay $25 a month to a local gang to avoid harassment or worse, said she supported González because she believes she can reduce crime across the board and improve the economy.

Noboa defeated González in the October 2023 runoff of a snap election that was triggered by the decision of then-President Guillermo Lasso to dissolve the National Assembly and shorten his own mandate as a result. Noboa and González, a mentee of former President Rafael Correa, had only served short stints as lawmakers before launching their presidential campaigns that year.

To win outright Sunday, a candidate needed 50% of the vote or at least 40% with a 10-point lead over the closest challenger.

More than 100,000 police officers and members of the military were deployed across the country to safeguard the election, including at voting centers. At least 50 officers accompanied Noboa, his wife and their 2-year-old son to a voting center where the president cast his ballot in the small Pacific coast community of Olón.

Testing the limits of laws and norms of governing

Noboa, 37, opened an event organizing company when he was 18 and then joined his father’s Noboa Corp., where he held management positions in the shipping, logistics and commercial areas. His political career began in 2021, when he won a seat in the National Assembly and chaired its Economic Development Commission.

As president over the past 15 months, some of his mano dura, or heavy-handed, tactics to reduce crime have come under scrutiny inside and outside the country for testing the limits of laws and norms of governing.

Luisa Gonzalez, presidential candidate for the Citizen Revolution Movement, speaks after polls closed for the presidential election in Quito, Ecuador, on Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Carlos Noriega)

His questioned tactics include the state of internal armed conflict he declared in January 2024 in order to mobilize the military in places where organized crime has taken hold, as well as last year’s approval of a police raid on Mexico’s embassy in the capital, Quito, to arrest former Vice President Jorge Glas, a convicted criminal and fugitive who had been living there for months.

His head-on approach, however, is also earning him votes.

“Noboa is the only person hitting organized crime hard,” retiree German Rizzo, who voted to get the president re-elected, said outside a polling station in Samborondón, an upper-class area with gated communities separated from the port city of Guayaquil by a river.

‘Things are not going to change’

González, 47, held various government jobs during the presidency of Correa, who led Ecuador from 2007 through 2017 with free-spending socially conservative policies and grew increasingly authoritarian in his last years as president. He was sentenced to prison in absentia in 2020 in a corruption scandal.

González was a lawmaker from 2021 until May 2023, when Lasso dissolved the National Assembly. She was unknown to most voters until Correa’s party picked her as its presidential candidate for the snap election.

Quito’s University of the Americas professor Maria Cristina Bayas said Sunday’s result was “a triumph” for Correa’s party because pre-election polls projected a wider difference between Noboa and González.

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Esteban Ron, dean of the Faculty of Social and Legal Sciences at the International University SEK in Quito, said Noboa will be forced to reengineer his campaign at the risk that he may have already reached his vote ceiling. Ron attributed the outcome to the problems Noboa faced during his administration.

Waiting for her turn to vote in Guayaquil, architecture student Keila Torres said she had not yet decided who to vote for. None, she said, will be able to lower crime across Ecuador due to deep-rooted government corruption.

“If I could, I wouldn’t be here,” said Torres, who witnessed three robberies in public buses over the past four years and barely escaped a carjacking in December. “Things are not going to change.”
February 10, 2025
Conservative firebrand ‘considering all possibilities’ for two key races in Georgia next year

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, one of the most visibile and combustible members of Congress and a top supporter of President Donald Trump in the House, says she is not closing any doors when it comes to a run for the Senate or governor in her home state next year.

“Of course, I’m considering all possibilities. No decisions have been made, but I would be telling a lie if I didn’t say I wasn’t considering it,” Greene said when asked during an interview Thursday evening with the Atlanta Journal Constitution about a possible Senate bid in 2026.

Greene, who is now in her third term representing the heavily red northwest corner of the key southeastern battleground state, added that a bid for Georgia governor was also on the table.

WILL THIS POPULAR REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR JUMP INTO A TOP 2026 SENATE RACE?

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) questions witnesses during a hearing of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement in the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill on June 6, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The congresswoman, thanks to her regular in-your-face social media attacks on the left as well as some well-documented infighting with fellow Republicans in the House, has vastly expanded her national profile over the past couple of years.

WHY SENATE REPUBLICANS ARE OFF TO A STRONG START IN 2026 BALLOT BOX BATTLE

The Senate race in Georgia, where Democrat Sen. Jon Ossoff is facing re-election in 2026, will likely be one of the most competitive, divisive and expensive showdowns of the cycle, as the GOP tries to hold and possibly expand its current 53-47 majority in the chamber.

Democratic Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff arrives before a subcommittee hearing on Sept. 13, 2023 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades)

Georgia and national Republicans are courting popular conservative Republican Gov. Brian Kemp – who is term-limited and cannot seek re-election next year – to run for the Senate.

“I think Gov. Kemp would be a very solid candidate,” Greene said.

TRUMP-BACKED 2024 GOP SENATE NOMINEE IN KEY BATTLEGROUND STATE MOVING TOWARDS ANOTHER RUN IN 2026

Kemp has not weighed in publicly on whether he’ll run for the Senate.

“We’ll see what happens down the road,” he told Fox News Digital late last year.

When asked about his political future, the governor said “I try to keep all doors open in politics.”

If Kemp does not run for the Senate, other Republicans besides Greene who may potentially launch a campaign include Reps. Buddy Carter and Mike Collins, state insurance commissioner John King and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

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In the Republican race to succeed Kemp as governor, Lt. Gov Burt Jones, a top Trump loyalist, and attorney general Chris Carr are expected to be the leading candidates.

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.

February 7, 2025
‘Important lesson’: Conservative activist reveals ‘fascinating’ experience at liberal Sundance Film Festival

A documentary about bridging the political divide in one of the most hotly contested battleground counties in the United States debuted at the Sundance Film Festival this week, leading some to conclude that the historically liberal festival is moving toward the center.

“One of the things that is fascinating about ‘Bucks County, USA’ being chosen as an official selection at Sundance is it appears, in the era of Trump being re-elected, the well-known left-leaning Sundance Film Festival is moving to the middle,” Paul Martino said. “There is a new openness to dialogue,”

Martino, the founder of Bullpen Capital, told Fox News Digital about the documentary series “Bucks County, USA” being screened at Sundance, a Utah festival known for screening films promoting liberal causes and being a place for anti-Trump demonstrations.

KELSEY GRAMMER SAYS CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT IS LOOKING ‘MORE ATTRACTIVE’ TO HOLLYWOOD

Martino, who is featured in the film, told Fox News Digital that the five-part docuseries is “all about the political divisions that happen in the United States focused on where I live, Bucks County, USA.”

“It is about all of the post-COVID policies and all of the things that happened at the school board level once a lot of the parents’ rights movement started, and the film dives into a lot of detail about the political division that happened, and it focuses, ironically, on the friendship of my daughter and her best friend, who is what I would describe as my political rival’s daughter,” Martino explained.

Paul Martino at the Sundance Film Festival (Paul Martino)

Martino, a conservative, told Fox News Digital walking around Sundance was a “fascinating” experience and that he encountered many people who seemed to be open to the movie’s message of listening to the other side.

“Obviously, it is a rather left-leaning crowd in general. But even the people behind Sundance, the people who pick the films this year, said that they felt this film, ‘Bucks County, USA,’ was very important because it was in a Trump re-elected era,” Martino said.

“Understanding and speaking to the other side and understanding who the other side is is important.

MEL GIBSON DOESN’T ‘BLAME’ CELEBRITIES FLEEING HOLLYWOOD BUT VOWS TO ‘FIX’ AS TRUMP’S SPECIAL AMBASSADOR

Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, arrives at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Evan Vucci/AP)

“One of the amazing stories told by one of the filmmakers at Sundance was there’s a guy sitting next to me in a MAGA hat who I would have never talked to on the plane had I not made this movie and realized he had a lot to say to me. And the fact that this film affected even the filmmakers, I think, is a really interesting and important lesson for the rest of the country.”

While many people at Sundance were receptive to the film, Martino told Fox News Digital he did encounter some opposition from people at a question-and-answer session after the screening.

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The marquee of the Egyptian Theatre during the Sundance Film Festival Jan. 28, 2020, in Park City, Utah. (AP/Arthur Mola/Invision)

“I would say one of the only disappointments of the experience was I felt that some people in the crowd, you know, it’s an honor to be in the Q&A at the end of the series and, look, we had everybody up there. We had people who really don’t like each other, who disagree vehemently, and I think it was lost on the audience that all of us were standing there,” Martino said.

“The fact that we all agreed to be part of this, the fact that we were all there and I got asked a question or two that were directed in my direction that I felt were a little bit inflammatory and I kind of chuckled to myself thinking, ‘Did you just watch the movie? And did you just see the fact that we’re all here? Maybe you missed a little something there.’”

Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to [email protected].

January 31, 2025
Scoop: Key conservative caucus draws red line on House budget plan

EXCLUSIVE: DORAL, Fla. — Leaders within the House GOP’s largest caucus are drawing a red line in congressional Republicans’ budget talks.

The Republican Study Committee’s (RSC) steering group is calling for any budget reconciliation plan to ultimately lead to reductions in the U.S. deficit, which occurs when the federal government’s spending outpaces its revenues in a given fiscal year.

“Reconciliation legislation must reduce the federal budget deficit. Our national security depends on our ability to bring about meaningful fiscal reform,” the official position, first obtained by Fox News Digital, said.

RSC leaders met behind closed doors at House Republicans’ annual retreat to hash out their stance. GOP lawmakers were at Trump National Doral golf course in Florida for three days of discussions on reconciliation and other fiscal deadlines looming on the horizon.

TRUMP DHS REPEALS KEY MAYORKAS MEMO LIMITING ICE AGENTS

The Republican Study Committee, led by Rep. August Pfluger, is taking an official policy stance on reconciliation talks

They have been negotiating for weeks on how to use their razor-thin majorities in the House and Senate to pass massive conservative policy changes through the budget reconciliation process.

By reducing the threshold for Senate passage from 60 votes to a 51-seat simple majority, reconciliation allows a party in control of both congressional chambers to enact sweeping changes, provided they are relevant to budgetary and fiscal policy.

At 178 members, RSC is House Republicans’ largest inter-conference group. It often acts as the House GOP’s de facto “think tank” on policy matters.

The group is being led this year by Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas. Its previous chairman is Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., who was recently elected House Republican Policy Committee chair – an example of RSC’s close ties to GOP leadership.

Republican lawmakers have their work cut out for them this year as they work to unify for congressional leaders’ preferred timeline for the reconciliation process.

Republicans are working on enacting President Donald Trump’s agenda (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Wednesday that he intends to have a House-wide vote on an initial budget resolution in late February.

But once Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., departs for the Trump administration as expected, House Republicans will not be able to afford any defections to pass legislation along party lines. In the Senate, the GOP can lose two lawmakers to still meet the 51-vote threshold.

And President Donald Trump outlined several specific policies he wants Republicans to include in their reconciliation legislation – including no taxes on tips or overtime pay and more funding for the U.S.-Mexico border – which could add to the federal deficit if not paired with significant spending cuts.

Republicans have floated various ways to achieve those cuts, including adding work requirements to federal benefits and rolling back progressive regulations enacted during the Biden administration.

Johnson said he wanted Republicans’ final product to be deficit-neutral or better.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT DOGE AND ITS QUEST TO SLASH GOVERNMENT WASTE, SPENDING

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has said he is aiming for a reconciliation bill that will be deficit-neutral (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

“Anything we do, is going to be deficit-neutral at least, and hopefully deficit-reducing, because we think we’ve got to change that trajectory,” he said on Wednesday. “So that is part of the healthy discussion we’ve been having. And everyone has lots of opinions about that, of course. And, the opinions are welcomed.”

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The U.S. is running a cumulative deficit of $710 billion in fiscal year 2025 so far, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. It’s $200 billion more than the same period in FY 2024.

Meanwhile federal revenues were $1.1 trillion through December, a decrease of 2% from the same period prior, the group said.

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to [email protected]

January 30, 2025
‘Catastrophic threat’: Conservative group’s roadmap shows how Trump can use military to thwart cartels

FIRST ON FOX: A top conservative group is offering a roadmap as to how President Donald Trump can effectively deploy the military to secure the southern border, arguing that there is a “substantial historic precedent” for such a use.

“A broad and diverse set of options and legal authorities are available to the second Trump Administration for using the resources and capacities of the U.S. military to ensure the integrity of the border with Mexico,” the Heritage Foundation report, obtained first by Fox News Digital, says. “Additionally, there is substantial historical precedent for an active U.S. military role in border security and managing migration crises.”

The report, “How the President Can Use the U.S. Military to Confront the Catastrophic Threat at the Border with Mexico,” argues that an “unchecked growth” of Mexican cartels, as well as illegal immigration and narcotics have “deepended and accelerated,” posing a destabilizing threat to the U.S.

TRUMP DHS MAKES KEY MOVE AGAINST MIGRANTS ALLOWED IN VIA CONTROVERSIAL BIDEN PAROLE PROGRAMS

This split shows the southern border wall and troops at the border. (Getty Images)

Simultaneously, it argues that there has been a “rapid deterioration” in U.S.-Mexico security cooperation and Mexico’s own anti-cartel operations.

It is a view shared by the new Trump administration. Trump issued an executive order on day one to deploy the military to the border as part of a slew of broader efforts to secure the southern border and crack down on illegal immigration.

TRUMP DHS REPEALS KEY MAYORKAS MEMO LIMITING ICE AGENTS, ORDERS PAROLE REVIEW

Authors Robert Greenway, Andres Martinez-Fernandez and Wilson Beaver argue for a number of follow-up measures to confront the threat of the cartels and what they see as a “reluctant” Mexican government.

“The first steps on this front should consist of measures, such as substantial bolstering of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) border security capacities, increasing restrictions on formal and informal border crossings, ramping up U.S. law enforcement efforts, targeting illicit financial flows tied to the cartels, and sanctioning corrupt Mexican officials,” they wrote.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump wave as they board Air Force One on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, for a trip to North Carolina and California. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

The report stressed the need for appropriate funding from Congress and planning from agencies in order to prevent impacting other missions. It highlighted the potential for military equipment for immigration purposes, including deportation.

“When it comes to large-scale illegal-alien detention and deportation, some of the underused but most impactful resources include U.S. military transport vehicles and facilities around the world which could support detention and repatriation of illegal aliens, including to higher-risk and extra-hemispheric countries of origin,” it says.

As for direct military action against cartels, the authors say that it should be a “last resort,” with joint military action with Mexican coordination being the ideal condition.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

“However, in the appropriate context, unilateral U.S. military action may be employed to disrupt cartel activity and prompt cooperation from a resistant Mexican government,” it says.

It argues that Mexico is unlikely to change its stance with the election of President Claudia Sheinbaum, even in response to what the authors argue is a dramatically escalating threat from the cartels.

“Today, drug cartels are the fifth-largest employer in Mexico, with between 160,000 and 185,000 members,” they wrote. “Cartels are also equipped with military-level weaponry, including anti-aircraft weapons and armored vehicles, while increasingly employing advanced technologies, such as drones and signal jamming systems.”

The report also touts other uses for the military, including aiding border wall construction, helping supplement an overstretched Border Patrol, and the use of intelligence and surveillance methods to detect cross-border activity, as well as migrant detention at U.S. military facilities.

People are seen boarding a U.S. military aircraft. The White House announced on Friday that “deportation flights have begun” in the U.S. (White House)

The report comes after a flurry of activity from the administration, including the deployment of the military to the border, to tackle the border threat and limit illegal immigration.

Troops began arriving in El Paso, Texas, and San Diego on Thursday evening, providing 1,000 U.S. Army personnel and 500 Marines from Camp Pendleton in California.

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“This represents a 60% increase in active-duty ground forces since President Trump was sworn-in Monday,” then-acting Defense Secretary Robert Salesses said in a statement late Wednesday.

There are already 2,500 U.S. service members stationed at the southern border.

Fox News’ Christina Shaw contributed to this report.

Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital, primarily covering immigration and border security.

He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter.

January 27, 2025
‘Ms. Rachel’ strikes deal with Netflix following conservative parents’ boycott

Evercore ISI senior managing director Mark Mahaney analyzes Uber and explains why he’s raising his Netflix price target on ‘Varney & Co.’

Parents looking for “Hop Little Bunnies” and other nursery rhymes by singer and songwriter Ms. Rachel to entertain their children will soon have another place to go besides YouTube.

Rachel Accurso has struck a deal with Netflix, and four episodes that “will include interactive lessons that teach letters, numbers, colors, shapes, and more” will be available for streaming on the platform starting on Monday, Jan. 27.

The episodes will be in English with subtitles available in 33 languages, Netflix says.

“With more than a billion views, Accurso has been described by some parents as their children’s Mister Rogers,” a press release states.

CONSERVATIVE PARENTS CALL TO BOYCOTT ‘MS. RACHEL’ OVER LATEST PRIDE MONTH VIDEO: ‘KIDS LOOK UP TO’ HER

“Ms. Rachel” is bringing her programming to Netflix on Jan. 27, 2025. (Netflix / Fox News)

Moms of toddlers are rejoicing on social media after the announcement was made.

“Thank God lol I’m so tired of my YouTube being filled with her,” one mom wrote in a Facebook group. “Now I can just go on Netflix.”

“Finally getting away from YouTube ads!” another chimed in.

“Omg I can cancel YouTube premium now,” a toddler mom wrote.

NETFLIX RAISES U.S. SUBSCRIBER PRICES, ATTRIBUTES SUCCESS TO ‘SQUID GAMES’ AND NFL GAMES PAUL-TYSON FIGHT

Aron Accurso and Rachel Griffin-Accurso, also known as Ms. Rachel, at Room To Grow’s 25th Anniversary Gala held at the Ziegfeld Ballroom on Oct. 25, 2023, in New York City. (John Nacion/Variety / Getty Images)

Accurso is a 42-year-old Maine native, according to Bangor Daily News. She has more than 13 million subscribers on YouTube, and millions follow her on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, as well.

Last summer, the popular children’s YouTube creator sparked backlash on social media after she posted a video celebrating Pride Month – and issued a pointed message to parents who took issue with her remarks.

Ms. Rachel on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (Nathan Congleton/NBC / Getty Images)

The educational content creator, who is a viral sensation among babies and toddlers, seemingly anticipated fallout with some of her audience, then added, “To those who are going to comment, they can’t watch this show anymore because of this support, no worries and much love your way,” she said.

In 2023, Accurso said she was forced to take a “mental health break” after parents expressed outrage over her co-star Jules Hoffman asking to be referred to with the pronouns “they” and “them” on the show. Hoffman is transgender and non-binary.

Ms. Rachel attends the Sesame Workshop 2024 Benefit Gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on May 29, 2024 in New York City. (Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images)

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Accurso also came under scrutiny when she announced she was creating a fundraiser to benefit children in conflict areas, including Gaza. Jewish mothers called out the YouTube sensation for failing to address the murdered Jewish children or those taken hostage on October 7. Many others questioned why Accurso wasn’t raising money for Israeli children affected by the war. Accurso later disabled comments on the fundraiser post and put out a statement on Instagram.

Her Instagram bio currently links to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.

FOX News’ Yael Halon contributed to this report.

January 23, 2025
UN urges diplomacy as Iran hits nuclear ‘gas pedal,’ conservative commentator tells Trump ‘do not appease’

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The United Nations atomic watchdog on Wednesday sounded the alarm that Iran has hit the “gas pedal” on its nuclear development and urged diplomacy just two days after President Donald Trump re-entered the White House.

The Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told world leaders at the Davos World Economic Forum that Iran has roughly enough uranium, if enriched further, to develop nearly five nuclear weapons.

Rafael Grossi warned that Iran currently possesses roughly 440 pounds of near-weapons grade uranium that has been enriched to the 60% purity threshold, shy of the 90% purity levels needed to develop a nuclear bomb. Roughly 92 pounds of weapons-grade uranium is enough to create one nuclear bomb, reported Reuters.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi looks on as he addresses the media during their Board of Governors meeting in Vienna on Sept. 9, 2024. (REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo)

TASK FORCE CREATED IN AFRICA TO COUNTER TERROR FEARS FROM IRAN AND JIHADI GROUPS

“One can gather from the first statements from President Trump and some others in the new administration that there is a disposition, so to speak, to have a conversation and perhaps move into some form of an agreement,” Grossi said.

Conservative allies of Trump have called on the president to continue with his maximum pressure campaign that was implemented against Iran during his first presidency. Mark Levin, host of Fox News show “Life, Liberty & Levin,” on Tuesday urged the president to “not appease” Tehran when it comes to its nuclear deal.

“Do not embrace the discredited ‘diplomatic solutions’ of the Biden and Obama regimes and think deals can be made with mass murdering terrorists,” Levin said in a post on X. “You do not negotiate with genocidal maniacs, pure and simple.

“Do not appease, as their bloodthirsty ideology cannot be appeased only destroyed,” he warned.

According to the Grossi, Iran has increased its production of uranium enriched to 60% purity levels from an average of 15 pounds each month to more than 65 pounds.

“I think this is a clear indication of an acceleration. They are pressing the gas pedal,” Grossi told reporters, according to Reuters.

The IAEA chief said that while it will take time for Iran to develop the extra centrifuges needed to create more enriched uranium, he believes the international community can expect “to start seeing steady increases from now.”

Iranian newspapers that report Donald Trump has officially taken office as president of the United States are viewed on Jan. 21, 2025 in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)

It is unclear what comments issued by the new Trump administration led Grossi to believe that it might be open to diplomacy given Trump’s repeated commitments to hit Iran with stiff sanctions in a move to end Tehran’s support of state-sponsored terrorism and counter its nuclear program.

Republicans have ardently objected to diplomatic efforts in the past, and Trump, in 2018, pulled the U.S. out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, an international deal that looked to limit Iran’s nuclear program.

Reports this week claimed that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had prohibited the development of a nuclear weapon in an apparent olive branch to Trump, though Fox News Digital could not independently confirm this. This alleged ban also would not necessarily prohibit Tehran from developing its nuclear program.

JOHN FETTERMAN AND LINDSEY GRAHAM ADVOCATE FOR THE DESTRU

President Donald Trump stands after delivering remarks on AI infrastructure at the Roosevelt room at White House in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21, 2025. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria)

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Fox News Digital could not immediately reach the White House to confirm whether Trump plans to pursue any diplomatic efforts to counter Iran’s nuclear program.

January 22, 2025