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BISHOP ROBERT BARRON: Even Judas? Rethinking sin, despair and divine mercy this Palm Sunday
Every year on Palm Sunday, we read, in the Catholic liturgy, one of the great Passion narratives from the Synoptic Gospels. This year, it is St. Matthew's. There are a number of distinctive features in Matthew's account, but the most distinctive and interesting, for me, is the evangelist's treatment of Judas.
No other Gospel stresses the repentance and regret of the traitor more effectively. "Then Judas, his betrayer, seeing that Jesus had been condemned, deeply regretted what he had done. He returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, 'I have sinned in betraying innocent blood.'" This is not callous indifference or self-justification. This is a clear and honest admission of guilt.
Then we are told that Judas flung the money into the temple and "went off and hanged himself." An awful ending to a sad life, the betrayer of Jesus falling into despair and committing self-slaughter. And this is why most figures in the great theological and spiritual tradition have assumed that Judas is in hell. Augustine thought so; Aquinas thought so; Dante depicted him perpetually chewed in the very mouth of Satan. And if his betrayal of the Lord wasn't enough to earn him a place in hell, then his suicide, most theologians agreed, certainly sealed the deal.
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But I want to draw your attention to a counterview—admittedly in the minority—on display in one of the capitals on a column in the magnificent Vézelay Basilica in France.
On one side is a grossly vivid depiction of the hanging of Judas, eyes popping, tongue lolling out of his mouth. But on the other side is a depiction of the Good Shepherd carrying the body of Judas on his shoulders like the lost sheep. And the dead man appears to be smiling.
Pope Francis was so fond of this image that he had a reproduction of it over his desk in his papal office. It showed, for him, the hope that even Judas might have been saved by the overwhelming mercy of the Lord.
Now I know (please don't send me letters of complaint) that we cannot embrace a simple-minded universalism, which says that we are perfectly confident that all people will be saved. We do indeed have to admit to the very real possibility of an eternal rejection of God. And yet St. Pope John Paul II insisted that the Church has never made a definitive statement regarding whether any particular person is in hell. And Pope Benedict said that we should suspend judgment in regard to Judas, committing him to the mercy and justice of God. But again, wouldn't his suicide guarantee that he has gone to eternal perdition?
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Listen to the Catechism of the Catholic Church on this point: "We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives" (2283).
The point is that God, in Christ, has gone to the very limits of God-forsakenness precisely to communicate the divine mercy even to that darkest place. When Jesus says from the cross, "God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" he signals that he has entered the condition of the most desperate sinner. He has not become a sinner, to be sure, but he has willingly embraced the psychological and spiritual state of the sinner.
I am not recommending that we go easy on sin or that we dismiss its awful seriousness. But I am indeed recommending what Paul said: "Where sin abounds, grace abounds the more."
I am indeed insisting that God's mercy is greater than any sin we could possibly commit, even the betrayal of Christ. So, do we despair of those who have taken their own lives? No. We pray for them and commend them to God's mercy.
There is a story told about a French couple in the nineteenth century, she deeply religious, he vaguely agnostic. At one point in their marriage, the wife asked her husband if she could hang a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus over their bed. With little enthusiasm, but out of concern for her feelings, he agreed. In time, due to setbacks in his business and frustrations of his ambitions, the husband fell into a profound depression.
Finally, in desperation, he threw himself off a building and plunged to his death. His wife, utterly bereft and convinced of her own guilt in the matter, became disconsolate. At the end of her strength, she decided to speak to John Vianney, the famous priest of Ars, a man reputed to be a spiritual master and reader of souls. When she got to the small town near Lyon, she was shocked to see that the line of those seeking an audience with the great man stretched for a mile.
In anguish, she knelt at the communion rail and wept. To her utter surprise, she then heard a voice calling her name. It was John Vianney. "How did you know my name? " She asked. He answered, "It doesn't matter." He continued, "You are in despair over the death of your husband. I want you to understand that as he was hurtling to his death, God showed him that image of the Sacred Heart that he had hung over your bed." "How could you possibly know such a thing?" she gasped. "It doesn't matter," he replied. "What matters is that upon seeing it, he repented."
The same Dante who put Judas in the depths of hell also said that all God needs is a single tear of repentance to save a sinner.
What should we take from a prayerful reading of Matthew's Passion narrative? God is mercy within mercy within mercy.
Ben Carson points to Gen Z church revival as young Americans push back on secular culture
As America gets set to celebrate the nation's 250th birthday this July, Dr. Ben Carson is on a mission to share how faith and religious principles are central to our founding and identity.
Carson, a former secretary of Housing and Urban Development as well as a retired neurosurgeon, said schools are failing to teach accurate history lessons about America — and are instead influencing students with ideas that undermine patriotism and traditional values.
"A lot of people really don't understand the role of faith in our country," he told Fox News Digital. "They say, 'We're not a faith-based country.' I wonder if those people have read our founding document, the Declaration of Independence, which says that our rights come from our creator."
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Carson cited George Washington’s faith — noting that the father of our country prayed a lot and was dubbed "bulletproof Washington."
"During the Battle of Monongahela, during the French and Indian War, he was the only courier" to escape uninjured, said Carson. "He had two horses shot from beneath him, had four bullet holes in his coat, bullet fragments in his hair — no flesh wounds."
Before he was elected president, Washington was approached by one of the Indian chiefs who was marveling at how Washington was not wounded.
"'I'm an expert marksman and I shot you 17 times, and my men shot you, and pretty soon I told [my men to] stop shooting at this man who's protected by the Great Spirit above,'" Carson said, paraphrasing the Indian chief's legendary words.
During the Constitutional Convention of 1787, when those assembled in Philadelphia struggled with disagreements, Carson recounted how Benjamin Franklin stood before the delegates — and famously reminded them that throughout the American Revolution, they had frequently turned to God for guidance.
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"He said, ‘We need to talk to God.’ And they prayed, and they got up, and they put together the Constitution of the United States, which has lasted as a single constitution for 250 years," said Carson.
"I don't think there's any other country that can say that they've had a constitution without changing it for 250 years. And I think it was a God-inspired document," said Carson.
"And if we continue to follow it, we will continue to do well."
In celebration of America’s 250th, Carson's new children’s book, "Built on Faith," makes the case for America’s founding. It will be published in late June, just ahead of July 4.
The book is part of a joint "America Wins" campaign that includes Kirk Cameron and Riley Gaines, each authoring their own book, through the faith-based children's publishing company Brave Books.
"Instead of being taught fundamentals — reading, writing, arithmetic, appropriate history — [children] are being manipulated," said Carson.
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Carson noted the importance of instilling the belief of American exceptionalism in children.
"I have been to 68 countries, will go to my 69th country this year. And there's no place like America," he said. "We need to do everything we can to teach our children and to preserve it."
With both Passover and Easter fast approaching, Carson noted the holidays connect us to the story of Jesus and to the story of redemption.
"There is such a thing as good and evil. The Bible and our Christianity teach us to love our neighbor — not to cancel your neighbor if they disagree with you," he said.
A spiritual revival has been emerging among younger Americans, as has been widely reported, with members of Gen Z leading church attendance across generations.
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"One of the encouraging things is you may have noticed that a lot of Gen Zers are starting to go back to church, and are starting to realize that the path we were on can't possibly lead to a good place," said Carson. "They just put their brains in gear."
A recent Barna Group poll found that Gen Z is leading a resurgence in church activity, attending about 1.9 times per month— nearly double their 2020 rate — and now outpacing every other generation in regular worship.
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Older generations, such as boomers and elders, attend less frequently, averaging around 1.4 times per month, according to the same research.
Supreme Court prepares to review Trump executive order on birthright citizenship
The Supreme Court is poised to answer a fundamental constitutional question largely ignored for more than a century: Who qualifies as an American citizen?
The justices on Wednesday will hold oral arguments to review President Donald Trump's efforts to limit birthright citizenship in the U.S., a landmark case with the potential to upend the lives of millions of Americans and lawful residents.
At issue is the executive order the president signed on his first day back in office, which would end automatic citizenship for nearly all persons born in the U.S. to undocumented parents, or parents with lawful temporary status in the country — a seismic legal, political, and social shift that critics note would break with more than 150 years of legal precedent.
A ruling is expected within three months but until then, Trump's plans remain on hold.
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The case is the fourth of a five-part series of appeals the Supreme Court will consider this term on the merits of Trump's sweeping executive agenda.
The nine-member bench has already tossed out his reciprocal tariffs on most other countries, which relied on an economic emergency law. A separate dispute over ending protections for migrants with temporary protected status will be argued later in April.
Still pending are rulings on the president's ability to fire members of independent agencies, including Federal Reserve governors.
But the administration has been winning most of the emergency appeals at the Supreme Court since Trump took office again, which dealt only with whether challenged policies could go into effect temporarily, while the issues play out in the lower courts-- including immigration, federal spending cuts, workforce reductions, and transgender people in the military.
Trump's order now before the high court for final review would reinterpret the 14th Amendment, which states, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside" — a provision the president argues has been misinterpreted.
Executive Order 14160, entitled "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship," would deny it to those born after February 19, 2025 whose parents are illegal immigrants, or those who were here legally but on temporary non-immigrant visas.
And it bans federal agencies from issuing or accepting documents recognizing citizenship for those children.
"The privilege of United States citizenship is a priceless and profound gift," says part of the order. "But the Fourteenth Amendment has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States."
A Supreme Court ruling on the issue could have sweeping national implications for an issue Trump officials argue is a crucial component of his hardline immigration agenda, which has become a defining feature of his second White House term.
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In its high court petition, the Trump Justice Department said all lower court decisions handed down last year striking down the executive order had relied on a "mistaken view" with potentially "destructive consequences."
"The lower courts' decisions invalidated a policy of prime importance to the president and his administration in a manner that undermines our border security," said John Sauer, U.S. Solicitor General, who will make the case in person at oral arguments.
"Those decisions confer, without lawful justification, the privilege of American citizenship on hundreds of thousands of unqualified people," he added.
Opponents argue the effort is unconstitutional and "unprecedented," and would threaten some 150,000 children in the U.S. born annually to parents of non-citizens, and an estimated 4.6 million American-born children under 18 who are living with an undocumented immigrant parent, according to data from the Pew Research Center.
Separate coalitions of about two dozen states, along with immigrant rights groups, and private individuals — including several pregnant women in Maryland — had filed a class-action lawsuit.
The plaintiffs — including those originally from Taiwan and Brazil — seek to preserve access to citizenship-related benefits including Social Security, SNAP, and Medicaid.
To date, no court has sided with the Trump administration's interpretation of the 14th Amendment, and blocked the order from taking force.
The ACLU and other immigrant advocacy groups in the U.S., have accused Trump of attempting to "unilaterally rewrite the 14th Amendment."
"The federal courts have unanimously held that President Trump’s executive order is contrary to the Constitution, a Supreme Court decision from 1898, and a law enacted by Congress," said ACLU legal director Cecillia Wang, who will argue for the plaintiffs in the courtroom session. "We look forward to putting this issue to rest once and for all in the Supreme Court this term."
Much of the public session is expected to focus on a phrase in the Constitution that the government asserts limits the citizenship right.
"The Fourteenth Amendment has always excluded from birthright citizenship persons who were born in the United States but not 'subject to the jurisdiction thereof,'" said Trump's original order, which the Justice Department essentially interprets as "being subject to U.S. law" — which would give the government discretion to exclude those whose parents are in the country illegally.
But lawyers for the plaintiffs say a century-old Supreme Court ruling affirmed the phrase only excluded automatic citizenship to children born to foreign diplomats or hostile forces.
Supporters of a broad, traditional interpretation point to the 14th Amendment's origins — passed after the Civil War to end the practice of excluding individuals of African descent, including slaves and free persons, from ever becoming U.S. citizens.
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Thirty-one years after its enactment, the Supreme Court for the first time decided the status of children born in the U.S. to alien parents, creating the precedent of how the Citizenship Clause would be applied in future cases.
Plaintiff Wong Kim Ark was born in San Francisco and became a cook, but was subject to the Chinese Exclusion Act and denied reentry to the U-S after a trip abroad.
In its landmark ruling, the high court concluded, "A child born in the United States, of parents of Chinese descent, who, at the time of his birth, are subjects of the Emperor of China, but have a permanent domicil and residence in the United States... becomes at the time of his birth a citizen of the United States, by virtue of the first clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution."
A recent Pew Research poll asked Americans whether they wanted children of immigrants, temporary immigrants or any immigrants lawfully present in the United States to be citizens, and 94% said yes.
Critics of the administration's plans fear a chaotic and unfair patchwork of enforcement that would apply in some states and not others, some families and not others, and that it could be sweeping in scope.
"Under the executive order, that child is born a non-citizen," Amanda Frost, director of the Immigration, Migration and Human Rights Program at the University of Virginia School of Law. "Denied all the benefits and privileges of citizenship and theoretically deportable on day one of their life. And then every single American family having a child will now have to prove their status before that child is considered a citizen by the U.S. government. And that doesn't matter if they go back to the Mayflower. That's what everyone will have to prove going forward."
But immigration reform advocates point to what they call abuses in the system.
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"That is the exploitation of America's birthright citizenship policy... particularly those by nationals of the People's Republic of China," Peter Schweizer, president of the Government Accountability Institute. "Birth tourism is essentially an industry that provides concierge service at every step of the way for a foreign national, in this case China, to pay the firm roughly $100,000, they will transport them to the United States, arrange medical care, arrange citizenship for the child," he added. "And as soon as the child is old enough to travel, they will return back to China."
In oral arguments last May when the Supreme Court first looked at Trump's birthright citizenship order, many on the bench were skeptical of the Trump administration.
The government's position "makes no sense whatsoever," said Justice Sonia Sotomayor, saying it could leave some children "stateless."
"So as far as I see it, this order violates four Supreme Court precedents," added Sotomayor. "And you are claiming that not just the Supreme Court, that both the Supreme Court and no lower court can stop an executive from universally violating those holdings by this Court."
"On the day after it goes into effect — it's just a very practical question of how it's going to work," asked Justice Brett Kavanaugh. "What do hospitals do with a newborn? What do states do with a newborn?" when it comes to determining citizenship on the birth certificate.
"I don't think they do anything different," replied Sauer. "What the executive order says in Section Two is that federal officials do not accept documents that have the wrong designation of citizenship from people who are subject to the executive order."
"How are they going to know that?" asked Kavanaugh, shaking his head.
The case is Trump v. Barbara (25-365), a pseudonym for a Honduran citizen who fears for her and her family's safety. Her child was born in the U.S. in October, months after she joined the lawsuit as the named plaintiff.
North Korean laborers describe brutal forced labor in Russia: 'Working like a cow, earning nothing'
"Wake up before 6 a.m. to the Russian winter. Walk to the construction site as a group. Work from 7 a.m. until 10, 11 p.m., sometimes even midnight. Without breaks. There is no set end time. You finish when the target is met. Rain, snow, it does not matter. We worked with no gloves, no heating, no protective equipment. My hands cracked so badly I could not grip the tools. But you do not stop."
This was the reality for "RT," identified by his initials to protect his identity, a former reported victim of North Korea's overseas forced labor, who described his experience to Fox News Digital.
The man was one of the 100,000 workers sent overseas under North Korea’s state-sponsored labor program.
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"I was told I could earn money," he claimed to Fox News Digital. "That was all. Nobody mentioned a quota. Nobody told me that most of what I earn would be taken. I thought if I went to Russia and worked hard, I could save enough to build a better life for my family. When I arrived, I realized none of that was true. The money was not mine. It was never going to be mine."
A new report published by the international human rights organization Global Rights Compliance shares firsthand testimonies from North Koreans working in Russia.
The report found that Russian companies are employing North Korean workers in violation of United Nations sanctions, often obscuring their identities so laborers do not even know who they are working for. U.N. Security Council resolutions require member states to repatriate North Korean workers, making their continued presence in Russia a potential breach of international sanctions.
The findings offer one of the clearest pictures yet of how North Korea is allegedly sustaining its regime under sanctions: exporting its citizens as labor, extracting their wages, and maintaining total control even beyond its borders.
Global Rights Compliance North Korea advisor Yeji Kim told Fox News Digital, "Every North Korean worker deployed abroad must pay a mandatory monthly sum to the state, known as the gukga gyehoekbun. As one worker told us, it must be paid ‘no matter what, dead or alive.’"
A typical worker earns roughly $800 a month for up to 420 hours of labor. From that, between $600 and $850 is deducted for the quota, along with additional payments for travel debt and communal living expenses, Kim said.
What remains is approximately $10. If workers fall short, the deficit carries forward, leaving some in debt for an entire year, according to Kim.
One worker described the quota as a "lump on his back" that dictated every aspect of his life abroad.
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"Every month you must pay," RT claimed. "There is no negotiation. If you fall short, the debt carries forward to the next month. We were told, ‘The quota must be met by any means necessary, even if it meant paying out of their own pocket.’ You came to earn and you leave with nothing. And if you fail too many times, they send you home. Home does not mean relief. It means blacklisting, interrogation, and sometimes your family paying the price."
Fox News Digital reached out to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and North Korea’s mission to the United Nations for comment and did not receive a response in time for publication.
The report identified what it said are all 11 International Labour Organization indicators of forced labor across 21 testimonies from workers in three Russian cities who did not know each other. These include debt bondage, restriction of movement, withholding of wages, excessive overtime, physical violence, surveillance, deception, isolation, abuse of vulnerability and abusive conditions.
Upon arrival in Russia, passports are immediately confiscated and retained by North Korean security officials, according to the report.
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"My passport was taken the day I arrived," RT said. "I never held it again. I could not leave the worksite freely. The city was right there, beyond the fence, but we were sealed off from it. A few times a year, we were allowed out, but only in groups, heads counted, with a fixed time to return."
Physical violence was reported in several cases, including one instance in which a worker was beaten so severely he could not work for two weeks. Surveillance onsite was described as constant, with collective punishment used to force workers to monitor one another.
Workers described living in overcrowded containers infested with cockroaches and bedbugs, with access to only one or two showers per year and in some cases just a single day off annually.
One worker told investigators they were forced to "lead lives worse than cattle."
When asked how central the program is to North Korea’s economy, Kim said: "The U.N. Panel of Experts estimates approximately $500 million annually from the labor program alone. For a country under the most comprehensive sanctions regime in U.N. history, that is a critical revenue stream. It sustains the political elite, funds internal patronage networks and underwrites military ambitions, including nuclear development."
The findings come as North Korea also is reported to have supplied weapons and troops worth as much as $14 billion to support Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The report’s authors warn that host countries play a critical role in enabling the system by allowing it to operate within their borders.
The people who made it into the report are among the few who managed to escape the system. RT said he now feels an obligation to speak out.
"We are people just like you but working like a cow," he said. We have families. We left home because we wanted to give our children something better, and what we found was a system that took everything from us."
He said thousands remain trapped.
"I want people to know that right now, today, there are men on construction sites in Russia working 16 hours a day, sleeping in containers, earning nothing, with no way to call home and no way to leave. Their names are not in any report. Nobody knows they are there. But they are there. And if I could say one thing to them, it would be — the world is starting to listen. Please hold on."
Woman helping cancer-stricken friend executed in alleged carjacking attack: 'Heard a scream'
A Texas woman is dead after being shot in an alleged carjacking while visiting her cancer-stricken best friend.
Marietta Allison traveled from Austin to Houston to accompany friend Cassie Daniel to her second treatment for stage 4 ovarian cancer on Saturday, March 7.
Following a day at the hospital in which Allison took care of Daniel as she received a round of chemotherapy, the pair of friends left around 10:30 p.m. to spend the night at a nearby friend’s house.
When there was no parking at the building, Allison dropped Daniel and her father off and circled the block to find somewhere to leave the car.
"We were putting our things away, and I heard a scream and then a gunshot," Daniel told Fox News Digital. "I felt like something large dropped to the floor, and I was like, ‘Was that a gunshot?’"
When Daniel realized Allison had not returned from parking the car, she began to worry.
"I stepped out into the living room and told my friends, ‘Was that a gunshot?’" Daniel said. "She was like, ‘Have you heard from Marietta?’ and I said no. And my friend said, ‘Well, I just tried to call her, and she didn't answer.’"
Feeling as though something was wrong, Daniel went to the last known location of Allison’s phone, where she found Allison lying on the sidewalk surrounded by police officers.
"She was lying on the ground, and the paramedics were around her and I could see her purse down on the sidewalk," Daniel said, adding Allison’s wallet was left at the scene.
Authorities quickly learned that the vehicle Allison was driving was missing, launching a frantic search for an apparent carjacker as her loved ones watched helplessly as she was transported to a hospital, where she later died from her injuries.
"She was almost instantly killed, if not just a few seconds later," Daniel told Fox News Digital. "She was shot kind of through the neck and through the head."
Following a brief search, officers found 18-year-old Darius DeWayne Hall driving the victim’s stolen vehicle, resulting in a high-speed chase, according to KHOU 11.
Hall subsequently crashed the vehicle along the Southwest Freeway and attempted to flee on foot, sparking an hours-long standoff in a nearby residential area, according to the outlet.
"I opened my door around 4:15 a.m., and there was an officer on his knees with a shield and one behind him with a gun pointing right down the stairs to that unit where they found him," neighbor Ken Knisely told KHOU 11.
Hall was later taken into custody at around 7 a.m. and charged with capital murder stemming from Allison’s death.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Daniel is choosing to remember Allison as a loving individual who spent her last moments taking care of her friend in need.
"She was literally sitting in the hospital bed, spoon-feeding me a fruit bowl," Daniel told Fox News Digital as she recalled her final day with Allison. "And I was like, ‘Love like this exists.’"
"So I could see the tender care, compassion, empathy and just the love that was there. And at the same time, I was like, this is a precious moment. I had no idea that it would be one of my last moments with her."
The Houston Police Department did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Cruz refuses to take sides between Cornyn, Paxton in high-stakes GOP Senate clash
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz is staying neutral in the combustible GOP Senate nomination showdown in Texas between longtime Sen. John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton.
"I like John. I like Ken. They're both friends of mine. I have supported both of them in the past. I've worked closely with both of them. I've endorsed both of them. I've campaigned with both of them, and so I'm staying out," the conservative firebrand three-term senator said in a Fox News Digital interview on Wednesday.
The winner of the May 26 Republican runoff election will face off with Democratic nominee state Rep. James Talarico in this autumn's general election in a race that's among a handful which may decide if the GOP keeps its Senate majority in the midterms. The GOP currently controls the chamber, 53–47.
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Cornyn edged Paxton by a point in the March 3 primary, as they were the top two contenders among a crowded field of Republican candidates. But since neither of the heated rivals cracked the 50% threshold to win the nomination, the race headed into overtime.
While some of Cruz's top outsider political advisors are supporting Paxton, the senator is declining to take sides.
"I trust the voters of Texas to make this decision," the senator said.
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Talarico, who is considered a Democratic Party rising star, topped progressive firebrand Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a vocal Trump critic, in their party's primary. Talarico is trying to become the first Democrat in nearly four decades to win a Senate election in right-leaning Texas.
The Cornyn campaign and aligned super PACs have spent big bucks to run ads attacking Paxton, arguing that Democrats will flip the seat in the general election if Paxton's the GOP's nominee.
Cornyn, his allies, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the campaign arm of the Senate GOP, repeatedly pointed to the slew of scandals and legal problems that have battered Paxton over the past decade, as well as his ongoing messy divorce.
Paxton, a longtime supporter and ally of President Donald Trump and a MAGA firebrand who grabbed significant national attention by filing lawsuits against the Obama and Biden administrations, has pushed back by repeatedly questioning Cornyn's conservative credentials and past support for Trump.
The president, whose sway in Republican nomination battles remains immense, stayed neutral during the primary campaign.
Hours after Cornyn and Paxton advanced to the runoff, Trump took to social media to announce, "I will be making my Endorsement soon."
Trump added that he would "be asking the candidate that I don’t Endorse to immediately DROP OUT OF THE RACE!"
All signs at the time pointed to Trump backing Cornyn.
But more than three weeks since his social media post, Trump still remains neutral. And that has the MAGA faithful, many of whom are backing Paxton, hopeful that the president will stay out of the race, which would be a major victory for the Texas attorney general.
Paxton traveled to the president's Mar-a-Lago residence last weekend for a Palm Beach County GOP dinner, where he briefly met with President Trump, two sources with knowledge of the encounter confirmed to Fox News Digital. One of the sources called it a "check in" between Trump and Paxton. The news was first reported by Politico.
There's been a dearth of public opinion polling in the runoff, but the two surveys that have been released suggest Paxton holds a single-digit lead.
The race between Cornyn and Paxton is viewed by many Republicans as a battle between MAGA world and the grassroots versus the party establishment for the soul of the GOP.
Illinois knocks off Iowa to reach Final Four after buzzer malfunction delay
For the first time in more than two decades, the Illinois men's basketball team will still be dancing when the Final Four tips off.
Iowa’s underdog run in the NCAA Tournament ended Saturday with a 71-59 loss to a dominant Illinois team. Before Illinois could cut down the nets at Houston’s Toyota Center, a buzzer malfunction caused a loud, roughly 10-minute delay.
The buzzer initially sounded signaling the end of a media timeout with just under eight minutes remaining in the first half. The horn continued blaring for about another seven minutes.
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Players stood on the court ready to play for a couple of minutes before both teams started to warm up as the buzzer continued to sound.
It was finally silenced, to cheers from the crowd, but then the main scoreboard and video screen that hangs over the middle of the court went dark. The game ultimately resumed with the big scoreboard still off. Two smaller scoreboards at each end of the arena were working.
In a statement, the NCAA later confirmed a malfunction happened when the scoreboard system froze, causing the horn to also freeze and blare uninterrupted for several minutes. The jumbotron was eventually shut off to silence the buzzer. Officials added that it could not be properly reset at halftime.
Freshman guard Keaton Wagler scored 25 points to help secure Illinois' first Final Four berth since 2005.
This will be the sixth overall trip to the Final Four for Illinois, which has never won a national title. The Fighting Illini will face either Duke or UConn next week in Indianapolis.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Slain college student’s mother vows ‘fight for justice’ after illegal immigrant charged in Chicago killing
The mother of slain college student Sheridan Gorman is speaking out, vowing a "fight for justice" after the 18-year-old was allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant earlier this month in Chicago.
Jessica Gorman delivered emotional remarks Saturday at a vigil in Yorktown Heights, New York, honoring her daughter, a Loyola University Chicago freshman whose life was cut short in what authorities describe as a sudden, violent attack.
"I want to say this gently, but honestly, as a mom. I'm angry," Jessica Gorman said. "I'm like completely heartbroken, and we are going to fight for justice for our sweet Sheridan, and we're going to fight for change."
While acknowledging that "not everyone" will see the situation the same way, Jessica Gorman underscored what she described as a universal truth shared by parents.
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"At the heart of all of this, we all want the same thing — for your children and for ours to be safe, to be protected, and to come home," Jessica Gorman said. "Because, at the end of the day, that's what this is all about. All of our kids, every single one of them, protecting them, loving them, showing up for them. And that is how we honor her."
Sheridan Gorman, a New York native, was killed at around 1:06 a.m. March 19 while with friends near a pier in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood.
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Officials allege Jose Medina-Medina, 25, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, fired one shot at the Loyola University Chicago student, killing her.
Gorman was reportedly only a few months away from completing her freshman year.
Medina-Medina was apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol on May 9, 2023, and was released into the U.S. under the Biden administration, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
At the vigil, the family’s attorney, Thomas Tripodianos, warned against what he described as growing complacency about public safety.
"If we accept this, even silently, then we are accepting a reality where young people are not as safe as they should be. And that is not acceptable," Tripodianos said. "And there must be justice. Real justice."
Family members and friends also shared memories of Sheridan, remembering her impact on those around her.
"Sheridan, you are deeply loved at Loyola," Steven Betancourt, director of campus ministry at Loyola University Chicago, said. "You are deeply missed, and you will live on in the lives you touched and forever changed."
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The Gorman family has sharply criticized Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, arguing that their daughter’s death "demands accountability."
"She was doing something entirely normal — walking near her campus with friends. She should be here," the Gorman family said regarding comments by Johnson.
The suspect appeared in court Friday and was ordered to remain in custody, according to FOX 32 Chicago.
He faces multiple charges, including first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a gun.
Fox News Digital's Adam Sabes contributed to this report.
Stephen A Smith says there is 'no excuse' for 'biological men' competing in women's sports
Outspoken ESPN star Stephen A. Smith took a clear position in the ongoing debate about transgender athletes' participation in girls and women's sports.
"Biological men should not be competing against biological girls in sports, period," Smith said during an appearance on "Real Time with Bill Maher" after the Olympics' policy on transgender women was mentioned.
"What about protecting the young ladies? Young ladies going up against biological men — biological men — there is no excuse for that."
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Smith then mentioned former University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas.
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"Lia Thomas, for example, was a male, and he was ranked over 400th in the world. … And then he became a she. … And No. 1. Well … does it really take an Einstein to realize that there’s something wrong with that picture?"
Smith has previously spoken about his views on transgender athletes in girls and women’s sports, including during a February 2025 Radio Row interview ahead of that year's Super Bowl.
"So, that’s how I look at it. LGBTQ rights and all that stuff, I’m in full support of that, but when transgender athletes — men — are transitioning to women and they’re competing in female sports, that’s a different animal to me," he said.
"That’s not just about LGBTQ rights. That’s about preying on the rights of females out there everywhere who were born female, and they’re at a decided disadvantage."
Those comments from Smith surfaced around the same time in 2025 when President Donald Trump signed the "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order, which directed federal agencies to interpret Title IX based on biological sex at birth.
The NCAA complied with Trump’s executive order and changed its policy.
Fox News' Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.
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New study reveals most stressed US states, and they aren't where you'd expect
Americans hoping to unwind on their next trip may want to think twice about where they’re headed.
A comparison of all 50 states using 40 indicators of stress — including work, money, family and health factors — found that densely populated states with major metro areas did not top the list, according to a new WalletHub study.
Instead, states across the South and southwest ranked among the most stressed overall.
Louisiana ranks as the most stressed state in the country for 2026, followed by Kentucky, New Mexico, West Virginia and Arkansas, WalletHub found. Rounding out the top 10 were Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Mississippi and Alabama.
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The results may come as a surprise to travelers who might expect New York or Illinois to top the list. Instead, both states ranked lower, with New York at No. 18 and Illinois at No. 30.
Experts say the findings indicate that stress isn’t just tied to fast-paced city life but is often linked to broader economic and health challenges.
"Where we live can shape how much stress we experience," Cassandra D. Chaney, a professor at LSU who studies family stress, said in a WalletHub news release.
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"These realities remind us that stress is not simply an individual problem," she added. "Broader social and economic environments play a powerful role in shaping daily stressors."
In Louisiana, factors such as high poverty rates, limited access to health care and mental health services and job insecurity contribute to elevated stress levels, Chaney noted.
About 16% of residents skipped medical care due to cost, and the state ranks among the worst for poor mental health and depression while also having relatively few psychologists per capita, according to the report. It also recorded the eighth-highest average unemployment rate last year and the lowest job security of any state.
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Kentucky, meanwhile, faces significant financial strain, with one of the highest bankruptcy rates and among the lowest median credit scores in the country.
"New Mexico … faces high crime rates, financial hardship and significant family instability," Chaney added. "Nevada experiences high unemployment and bankruptcy rates, contributing to financial stress among residents."
For travelers to popular destinations such as Nevada (No. 6) and California (No. 12), the data suggests daily life may differ from the experience visitors see.
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Meanwhile, some of the least stressed states may offer clues for those seeking a more relaxing getaway.
South Dakota ranked as the least stressed state, followed by Utah, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Vermont, according to the report. These states tend to perform better in areas such as economic stability, health care access and work-life balance.
They also report higher rates of adequate sleep, an often overlooked factor tied to lower stress levels, according to the report.
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Rounding out the top 10 least stressed states were Hawaii, Virginia, Wisconsin, Kansas and North Carolina.
Experts note that stress is influenced by multiple factors and can vary by individual.
"While we cannot eliminate stress completely, we can become more intentional about how we manage it," Chaney said.
Chip Lupo, an analyst at WalletHub, added in a statement, "There are plenty of small ways to manage stress, from staying active and pursuing hobbies to taking time off work and seeking help from a mental health professional."
The analysis compared all 50 states across four key categories — work, money, family and health and safety — using 40 weighted metrics and data from sources including the U.S. Census Bureau, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.