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‘God is non-binary’: Texas Dem nominee Talarico’s past remarks on abortion, race and gender draw scrutiny
While running as a moderate with bipartisan appeal, Texas state Rep. James Talarico, who defeated Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, for the Democratic Senate nomination, has a history of making controversial statements on matters of religion, race, gender, border security and beyond.
With Talarico in the national spotlight for the first time, many commentators and strategists are resurfacing some of his past remarks. Among them is a 2021 video of Talarico on the Texas House floor in Austin opposing a bill to ban men from women’s sports and claiming that "God is non-binary."
"God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between. God is non-binary," said Talarico, adding, "Trans children are God’s children, made in God’s own image."
A self-identified Presbyterian seminarian, Talarico casts many of his political stances in Christian and biblical language. However, while speaking on a January episode of The Ezra Klein Show, Talarico appeared to equivocate Christianity with other religions, including Hinduism and Islam.
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"I believe that Jesus Christ reveals that reality to us, but I also believe that other traditions reveal that reality in their own ways, with their own simple structures. And I’ve learned more about my tradition by learning more about Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam and Judaism. And so, I see these beautiful faith traditions as circling the same truth about the universe, about the cosmos," he said.
Despite his use of biblical language, Talarico’s stances on many core religious issues stand in stark contrast with most traditional Christian denominations.
He has used the Bible to defend abortion and, on his campaign website, advocates codifying Roe v. Wade into national law. On an episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience" last year, Talarico said the story of Jesus Christ’s incarnation justifies his support for abortion.
"I say all this in the context of abortion, because before God comes over Mary, and we have the incarnation, God asks for Mary’s consent … so to me, that is an affirmation in one of our most central stories that creation has to be done with consent. You cannot force someone to create … so that’s how I come down on that side of the issue."
After the Supreme Court overturned Roe in 2022, Talarico said, "This summer, more than half our population became second-class citizens. Every one of our neighbors with a uterus became the property of the State. And nothing is more un-Christian."
In a video going viral on social media, Talarico appears to be giving a sermon in a church in which he says, "Did they teach you in Sunday school that Jesus Christ himself was a radical feminist?"
Beyond religion, he has also taken stances that break with common scientific understanding. In a Texas House Committee on Public Education hearing, he stated that "Modern science obviously recognizes that there are many more than two biological sexes; in fact, there are six."
During the same hearing, he went even further, saying, "The point is that biologically speaking, scientifically speaking, sex is a spectrum, and oftentimes can be very ambiguous."
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In another sermon, he said that the use of the term "woman" in the context of women’s rights should not be understood as an "exhaustive" term.
"Our trans community needs abortion care too. Defending trans Texans is something we have to do every day at the state capitol, and you better believe I’ll be giving sermons on that too," he said, continuing, "So when I use the word ‘woman,’ it should not be understood as an exhaustive lens through which we understand, examine and interrogate patriarchy. Similar to how we specify anti-Black racism."
In a series of 2020 tweets, Talarico referred to racism as a "virus" spread by all white people, regardless of whether they exhibit its "symptoms."
"White skin gives me and every white American immunity from the virus. But we spread it wherever we go —through our words, our actions, and our systems. We don’t have to be showing symptoms—like a white hood or a Confederate flag—to be contagious," he wrote, adding, "The only cure is diagnosing the virus within ourselves and taking dramatic actions to contain the spread. The first small step is proclaiming loudly and unequivocally that #BlackLivesMatter."
On the Senate campaign trail, Talarico has framed his candidacy as one in opposition to billionaires, who he said are "destroying" the U.S.
"The only thing the media wants to ask me about are trans athletes. The only minority destroying this country is the billionaires," he said during an interview with MSNBC. "Trans people are 1% of the population. Undocumented people are 1% of the population. We are all focused on the wrong 1%. Trans people aren't taking away our healthcare. Undocumented people aren't defunding our schools. It's the billionaires and their puppet politicians."
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He has also harshly criticized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, accusing them of using terror to target immigrant families.
"Those neighbors of ours deserve a lot better than ICE terrorizing them and their children, ICE tearing families apart," he said in an interview with local outlet KRWG.
Regarding border security, Talarico said during the Texas Democratic Senate debate against Crockett that "Our southern border should be like our front porch. There should be a giant welcome mat out front and a lock on the door."
He continued, "We can welcome immigrants who want to live the American dream. We can build a pathway to citizenship for those neighbors who have been here, making us richer and stronger, and we can keep out people who mean to do us harm."
Talarico defeated Crockett in the Democratic primary by a comfortable margin despite her already having a national following. Now, Democrats believe that Talarico stands a good chance to flip a Texas Senate seat blue for the first time in 33 years.
Among Talarico’s top supporters is progressive Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, who celebrated his primary victory by posting on X that "James Talarico is the future of the Democratic Party."
"He unites working people of all kinds to take on the billionaires who are making life unaffordable. He’s going to show Texas Republicans how powerful working people are when we stand together. On to victory in November," wrote Casar.
JT Ennis, a spokesperson for Talarico's campaign, responded to Fox News Digital's request for comment by dismissing criticism of Talarico’s comments as "stale attacks to mislead Texans."
In an emailed statement, Ennis told Fox News Digital that "John Cornyn, Ken Paxton, Greg Abbott and the billionaires who prop them up are scared of James Talarico for good reason: our campaign is building a movement poised to change the politics of this state and take power back for working people."
"While they lob stale attacks to mislead Texans, we are uniting the people of Texas to win in November."
Meanwhile, conservative pundits believe Talarico will fail to gain the bipartisan appeal needed to flip Texas blue.
Matthew Schmitz, a conservative commentator, wrote on X, "James Talarico’s woke Billy Graham shtick has the same function as Tim Walz’s trans-affirming Elmer Fudd persona. Democrats desperately want a rural/religious-coded white male who can make their most unpopular positions seem American as apple pie."
Talarico will face off against either longtime incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, or state Attorney General Ken Paxton, depending on which candidate emerges victorious from the GOP’s primary runoff election. The Republican runoff election is on May 26**, and** the general election will take place on Nov. 3.
Talarico and Casar did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.
Macron vows nuclear arsenal boost as Europe turns to nukes amid rising global threats
Europe is ramping up its nuclear defenses, as France expands its arsenal and Poland signals interest in closer nuclear coordination with allies.
"I have decided to increase the numbers of warheads of our arsenal," French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday.
He also said France will no longer disclose the size of its nuclear arsenal, reversing previous transparency.
"To be free, one needs to be feared," the French president concluded.
France’s shift comes as Europe faces its most volatile security moment in decades, with Russia’s war in Ukraine grinding on, repeated nuclear threats from Moscow, and renewed questions in European capitals about the long-term reliability of U.S. security guarantees. Recent U.S. military strikes against Iran have added to a sense of global instability.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, meanwhile, signaled his country eventually will try to obtain nuclear weapons.
"Poland takes nuclear security very seriously," he said Tuesday. "As our autonomous capabilities grow, we will strive to prepare Poland for the most autonomous actions possible in this matter in the future."
Polish President Karol Nawrocki, who frequently finds himself at odds with Tusk, said he is "a big supporter of Poland joining the nuclear project."
Poland is a signatory of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty from the 1960s, meaning it is officially committed not to obtaining nuclear weapons.
Tusk said Monday that Poland was in talks with France after Macron offered to deploy nuclear-capable fighter jets to allied countries.
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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 shattered long-standing assumptions about conventional deterrence on the continent and has been accompanied by repeated nuclear saber-rattling from Moscow, including threats tied to Western military support for Kyiv. Russian officials have periodically warned of escalation if NATO deepens its involvement, keeping nuclear deterrence at the forefront of European security planning.
At the same time, questions have resurfaced across European capitals about the long-term durability of U.S. security guarantees, even as Washington continues to lead NATO and maintain nuclear forces stationed in Europe under long-standing alliance arrangements.
Several European governments have sharply increased defense spending since the start of the Ukraine war.
Germany announced a historic military buildup after decades of underinvestment. Poland has become one of NATO’s top defense spenders as a percentage of GDP, rapidly expanding its conventional forces. And leaders in Paris and elsewhere have revived calls for greater "strategic autonomy" — the idea that Europe must be capable of defending itself if the United States shifts its focus elsewhere.
France is the only nuclear-armed nation in the European Union and maintains an independent deterrent separate from NATO’s U.S.-led nuclear umbrella. Any expansion of its arsenal or broader coordination with European partners marks a significant moment in the continent’s post-Cold War security architecture.
Globally, only nine countries are widely believed to possess nuclear weapons: the United States, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel.
The renewed nuclear focus in Europe also is unfolding as global tensions escalate beyond the continent. The U.S. recently carried out major military strikes against Iran, raising fears of a wider regional conflict and stretching U.S. military attention across multiple theaters.
For some European leaders, the combination of Russia’s aggression and instability in the Middle East reinforces arguments that the continent must be prepared to shoulder more of its own defense burden — including strengthening deterrence at the highest level.
Mark Kelly trashes Trump over Iran, claims people 'off the street' would do better than the administration
Sen. Mark Kelly criticized President Donald Trump over the U.S.-Israel strikes in Iran on Wednesday and claimed a random group of people "off the street" would do a better job than the president and his administration in handling Iran.
"I watch this group of people who are supposed to be leading our country — not just the president, Secretary of Defense and others — you know, five people that were on the background on the slide here, and I'm thinking, you could pick a random group of people off the street tonight here in Washington, D.C. — just a random group — and they could probably do a better job than our government is doing right now with this," Kelly argued during a conversation with MS NOW's Jen Psaki.
Kelly spoke about his commander during the first Gulf War — during which he flew several combat missions — and said, "you could just feel just in his core that he understood how significant of an issue this was — that some of us might die."
Trump announced that the U.S. and Israel were striking Iran on Saturday, and strikes have continued. The Pentagon released a new video highlighting the overwhelming power of the U.S. military during the first "100 hours" of Operation Epic Fury. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said U.S. forces "control the skies by launching from the sea" and are finding and destroying the Iranian regime’s mobile missile launch capabilities with "lethal precision."
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"We have six dead Americans who paid the ultimate price. And we have a president — and I'm not going to go into things he's said in the past about the military — but we have a president that I have serious concerns about whether he understands his role here," Kelly told Psaki.
He criticized Trump for not talking about his intention to strike Iran during the State of the Union address.
"His ultimate, you know, job is to protect U.S. service members, protect U.S. citizens," Kelly said. "He talked about it the night of the State of the Union, but why didn't he talk more about this? I mean, he could have discussed this and tried to explain to the American people how is this going to help them with their cost of rent and groceries and healthcare, which, by the way, he made much, much harder for millions of Americans."
"This is not helping people with their everyday lives. And he didn't offer any explanation. I mean, a little video in the middle of the night?" he added.
Democrats have been very critical of Trump's actions, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries even predicting "failure."
"The American people want us to focus on making their life better and making their life more affordable; not getting involved in another endless war in the Middle East that is going to end in failure. This administration somehow found the resources, has found billions of dollars for bombs but can't find any money to actually bring down the high cost of living here in the United States of America," Jeffries said.
"President Trump can walk and chew gum at the same time," White House spokesman Kush Desai told Fox News Digital in a statement. "While the U.S. military continues wrecking the Iranian terrorist regime, the Trump administration at home remains laser-focused on delivering more economic relief for the American people."
"President Trump’s economic agenda unleashed historic job, wage, and investment growth in his first term, and Americans can rest assured that as this same agenda — along with historic drug pricing, trade, and investment deals — continues to take effect, the best is yet to come," the statement added.
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Kelly sued the War Department, as well as Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, in January over the agency's actions to demote him and cut his retirement pay for urging military service members to "refuse illegal orders" in a video message with other leading Democrats.
A federal judge ruled in February that the Pentagon cannot punish Kelly for taking part in a video that called on U.S. military members to defy "illegal orders."
US government contractor accused of stealing $46M arrested on small island, FBI announces
U.S. and French authorities arrested a former U.S. government contractor accused of stealing $46 million in cryptocurrency, the FBI announced on Thursday.
FBI Director Kash Patel highlighted the arrest in a statement on X, saying the arrest of John Daghita on the island of St. Martin was a joint operation between the FBI and the French Gendarmerie.
"Last night, John Daghita – a U.S. government contractor who allegedly stole more than $46 million in cryptocurrency from the U.S Marshals Service – was arrested on the island of Saint Martin by the French Gendarmerie’s premier elite tactical unit in a joint operation with the FBI," Patel wrote.
"Thanks to the International Cooperation Team Serious Crime Unit of the French Gendarmerie National in Saint Martin, and the Groupe d’intervention de la Gendarmerie nationale of Guadeloupe for the outstanding coordination," he continued.
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"FBI will continue working 24/7 with our international partners to track down, apprehend, and bring to justice those who attempt to defraud American taxpayers—no matter where they try to hide," he added.
Daghita's recently-deleted LinkedIn page said he worked for Command Services & Support, a Virginia-based firm run by his father, Dean Daghita, according to the New York Post. The company held contracts with the U.S. Marshalls Service that allowed them to manage digital currency seized by the law enforcement agency.
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Authorities who carried out the arrest found a briefcase full of cash as well as multiple USB drives.
Daghita's arrest comes roughly a month after authorities in Arizona arrested two California teens in an Arizona home invasion tied to an alleged $66 million cryptocurrency plot.
The teens, who are not being identified by Fox News Digital because they are both under the age of 18, allegedly posed as delivery drivers to gain access to the Scottsdale home on Jan. 31, before forcing their way inside and duct-taping and assaulting two homeowners inside.
During the home invasion, one of the victims denied having cryptocurrency, authorities said. An adult son in the home was able to call police from another room. When officers arrived, the teenagers fled but were later caught and arrested.
REP BRIAN MAST: Democrats don’t want war powers, they want to wave a white flag
Right now, American forces are engaged against the Iranian regime’s military infrastructure. Our aircraft are striking targets. Our servicemembers are defending American lives. This is not theoretical. It’s not academic. It’s real.
And in the middle of it, some members of Congress want to pass a war powers resolution to force President Donald Trump to pull U.S. forces out of the region while the threat is still active, still imminent.
That’s not an oversight. That’s surrender dressed up as procedure.
Iran didn’t just wake up yesterday as a bad actor. For 47 years, its regime has chanted "death to America," taken our diplomats hostage, bombed our embassies, armed Hezbollah and Hamas, backed militias that have killed American troops and launched missiles at U.S. bases. These are not just one-off attacks, these are imminent threats against the United States, carried out again and again.
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Every president has tried something different — sanctions, negotiations, diplomatic resets, containment. Iran’s answer has always been the same: stall, deceive, continue to fund terrorism and keep building.
Time and again, weak leaders would rather avoid decisive action and instead hand it over to multinational coalitions and the United Nations — an institution that has become so useless and corrupt it actually named Iran as vice-chair of a U.N. body promoting democracy and women’s rights.
Think about that. Iran — the country that fines, imprisons, flogs and kills women for not wearing their hijab. A regime that limits women’s movement, travel, work and access to basic services. And the U.N. puts representatives of that same regime in charge of women’s rights? The idea that the U.N. would take meaningful action against this threat is downright laughable.
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But it is not just multinational coalitions that have failed to hold Iran accountable. Our own weak leaders in the U.S. have pursued policies that further emboldened the Ayatollahs. President Barrack Obama’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) delivered pallets of cash to Iran and lifted crippling sanctions. The JCPOA did nothing to dismantle Iran’s ballistic missile program or stop Iran’s regional aggression. It was a failed policy that funneled cash right into the pockets of Iran’s proxies and emboldened the regime as it chanted "death to America."
Or we can talk about how under President Joe Biden, Iran gained access to over $16 billion in unfrozen and accessible assets, allowing it to fund terrorism across the globe, and grow the imminent threat Iran has posed against America for decades.
But let’s talk about what is an "imminent threat."
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The killing of American soldiers at Tower 22 in Jordan, that is an imminent threat. The embassy bombings in Beirut in 1983 and 1984 that took hundreds of lives, that is an imminent threat. And over the past two decades, repeated missile and drone attacks against U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria that have put American lives directly in the crosshairs have all been imminent threats. And those attacks happened before Iran had nuclear weapons.
Republicans believe an imminent threat existed, and it certainly exists now when an enemy regime is actively enriching uranium, designing weapons and stockpiling the materials needed to kill Americans.
Democrats act like it’s only imminent when the nuclear warhead is being bolted onto the missile and rolled out onto the launch pad aimed at the United States.
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The danger is real the moment they begin building the gun; why would we wait until the gun is pointed directly at our heads to act?
By then, it’s too late.
A nuclear-armed Iran would be catastrophic. It would embolden every terrorist proxy it funds and would destabilize the Middle East overnight. And it would put American cities in range of a regime that openly calls for our destruction.
That’s why action now isn’t reckless. It’s prevention and protection for thousands, if not millions, of Americans.
But now we have Democrats in Congress pursuing one of the most dangerous pieces of legislation imaginable.
Forcing U.S. forces to withdraw mid-conflict wouldn’t "de-escalate" anything. It would rip away the protective shield that keeps Americans and our allies safe. Thousands of American civilians live and work in the region. Our diplomats, contractors and businesses depend on U.S. air defenses and rapid response capabilities. Pull that out overnight, and you create a vacuum Iran will gladly fill.
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Our allies — Israel and Gulf partners — rely on our missile defense systems, our naval patrols and our joint operations. Pull out now, and you send one message: if you pressure America long enough, we’ll fold and leave our allies out to dry with American lives at risk.
That’s not deterrence. That’s an invitation.
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Congress absolutely has a constitutional role. But that role doesn’t include sabotaging troops while they’re in harm’s way. The war powers debate should be about protecting American lives — not scoring political points.
If my colleagues truly care about American servicemembers, they should stand behind the mission. President Trump has made his objective clear to Congress and the American people — destroy every single piece of machinery or artillery hardware that is able to reach out and touch Americans because Iran has proved they will use everything in its arsenal to harm Americans every chance they get.
He has complete and total authority under Article II and the War Powers Resolution to remove the imminent threat of Iran against the United States, he’s just the first president with the backbone to finally do it.
I thank him for his decisive actions to keep our country safe, I thank each and every one of my brothers and sisters-in-arms for their service, and may God bless America.
California ‘party mom’ faces reckoning for hosting alcohol-fueled teen sex parties
A California mother dubbed the "Los Gatos party mom" has been convicted of felony child abuse after prosecutors said she hosted alcohol- and sex-fueled parties for young teenagers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
After a trial and several days of deliberations, a jury found Shannon O’Connor, 51, guilty of 48 charges, including two felony sex offenses. O’Connor, also known as Shannon Bruga, faces prison when she is sentenced later this year.
If the court applies the aggravating circumstances, she could face more than 30 years in prison, Rosen said. During the trial, 20 young adults and 41 witnesses testified.
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Deputy District Attorney Joanna Lee alleged O’Connor hosted "chaotic, alcohol-soaked benders," adding that "for many freshmen at Los Gatos High in 2020, their first experience with alcohol ended in overconsumption, vomiting and blackouts."
"[O’Connor’s] house was a place for children to engage in sexual conduct. The defendant groomed the children, normalized sex, encouraged hookups and sexual behavior," she said.
O’Connor was arrested in June 2021 and has remained in custody for more than four years as the case moved through preliminary hearings, motions and a grand jury process that resulted in a 63-count indictment in 2023.
The indictment included 20 felony and 43 misdemeanor counts, among them child endangerment, furnishing alcohol to minors and sex-related offenses. O’Connor had pleaded not guilty to all charges.
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Authorities said O’Connor developed close relationships with groups of teenagers and, at times, was the only adult present at the house parties.
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Jury selection began in late 2025, and testimony stretched roughly 16 weeks before closing arguments. Prosecutors presented dozens of witnesses, including victims identified in court as Jane Does and John Does.
Jane Doe 6 reportedly went on to allege her best friend, a 14-year-old girl identified as Jane Doe 4, experienced symptoms of depression and alcoholism after being sexually and physically abused by boys at the parties.
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"[John Doe 7] would touch her in front of everybody," Jane Doe 6 told the court, according to KRON. "It was bad, it was weird."
The young girl reportedly went on to testify that when John Doe 7 drank alcohol, he would act violently toward the girls at the parties and "no one reacted to it."
"On one occasion, Jane Doe 4 was sitting in [O’Connor’s] kitchen in her swimsuit when John Doe 7 began to punch Jane Doe 4 on her leg," Lee wrote in court documents. [O’Connor] was drinking a glass of champagne and laughed as she watched. John Doe 7 stood over her and continued to kick her legs and stomach all while [O’Connor] was sitting in the kitchen."
Jurors also heard from law enforcement investigators, forensic specialists and medical professionals throughout the trial.
Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen praised the young victims who testified.
"This defendant not only didn’t protect these children, she endangered their safety, coordinated their sexual assaults, and she tried to get them not to tell," Rosen said. "These brave kids came forward to tell the truth about what happened and to put a stop to it."
The mother of one of the victims called O’Connor a child predator who is "getting what she deserves."
The judge will now determine whether aggravating factors should be applied at sentencing — a decision that could increase O’Connor’s prison term. Prosecutors argued those factors include the vulnerability of the victims and what they described as O’Connor’s sophisticated planning of the crimes.
O’Connor is scheduled to be sentenced on March 26.
Fox News Digital's Julia Bonavita contributed to this report.
'Quiet Death': What to know about the American torpedo that sank Iranian warship, killing 87
The sinking of the Iranian warship IRIS Dena by a single Mk 48 torpedo has put renewed focus on the U.S. Navy’s primary undersea weapon, a heavyweight torpedo that first entered operational service in 1972 and has been steadily upgraded for modern naval warfare.
The strike on the IRIS Dena marked the first time since World War II that a U.S. submarine used a torpedo to sink an enemy ship.
"In the Indian Ocean, an American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet Death," War Secretary Pete Hegseth said at a press conference on Wednesday.
The Navy says the Mk 48 has long served as its principal undersea weapon, designed to "defeat all threat surface ships and submarines in all ocean environments."
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The Mk 48 is a submarine-launched torpedo that uses information from the launching submarine and its own sensors to find and strike submarines or surface ships.
Physically, the weapon is built for destructive power. According to Navy specifications, the torpedo measures 21 inches in diameter, weighs about 3,744 pounds and carries a 650-pound high-explosive warhead.
According to the Department of the Navy's fiscal year 2025 budget estimates, a single Mk 48 torpedo costs approximately $4.2 million.
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Lockheed Martin, one of the Mk 48 torpedo program’s primary contractors, says it can be guided in real time by wire from the launching submarine, allowing operators to update targeting information and adjust its course after launch.
If the wire connection is lost, the torpedo can switch to autonomous homing, relying on digital guidance systems and onboard signal processing to continue its pursuit independently.
Over time, the torpedo has evolved through hardware variants known as "Mods," each integrating upgraded sensors, guidance and control systems, and propulsion improvements.
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The current fleet includes the Mod 7 configuration, developed in partnership with the Royal Australian Navy, while Mod 8 is in development and Mod 9 is being pursued as a rapid prototyping effort, according to the Department of War’s Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Report by the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation.
In addition to hardware upgrades, the Mk 48 undergoes recurring software updates known as Advanced Processor Builds, or APBs, which modify tactics, classification algorithms and operator interfaces to improve performance in increasingly complex undersea environments.
Team USA hockey hero Jack Hughes 'exclusively' dating Canadian pop star: report
There is at least one Canadian who is a big fan of Jack Hughes despite breaking the country's heart.
Roughly a week and a half after the New Jersey Devils star gave the United States their first gold medal in men's hockey since 1980, it was reported that he and Canadian pop star Tate McRae are "exclusively" dating.
The two were spotted several times in New York City late last year, and McRae even attended one of Hughes' games in New Jersey when he returned from a hand injury back in January.
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"They started casually seeing each other late last year, so it’s still new, but they are exclusively seeing each other," a source told Us Weekly. "She thinks he is a really cool guy and they have been having a lot of fun together. She has been so supportive of his career and has been loving going to the games and cheering him on."
McRae was born in Calgary and attended Western Canada High School.
Hughes became an American hockey hero when, just minutes after losing teeth from a high stick, he found the back of the net in overtime, sneaking a puck past Canada goaltender Jordan Binnington to break a 46-year drought for the United States.
In the days after, Hughes and his teammates partied in Miami and visited President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., along with an invitation to the State of the Union. In his NHL return last Wednesday, he received a standing ovation from his New Jersey faithful.
This is not McRae's first hockey player — she dated Cole Sillinger of the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2021 to 2023 before getting into a relationship with Australian music artist The Kid Laroi.
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'Under siege': Inside the growing radical Islam threat critics say is hiding in plain sight in deep red Texas
A shooting in Austin, Texas, over the weekend that left three innocent people dead and is being probed as a terror-related incident is putting a renewed focus on the potential spread of radical Islam in the United States, particularly in deep red Texas where concerns about Islamic fanaticism are hitting a fever pitch.
The deceased shooting suspect, identified as Ndiaga Diagne, was a 53-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Senegal and lived in Pflugerville, Texas, after entering the country in 2000.
Diagne was wearing a shirt that said "Property of Allah" and another shirt underneath that depicted the Iranian flag. The FBI said the shooting, which came shortly after the U.S. and Israel's attack on Iran, was "potentially an act of terrorism."
The likelihood that Diagne was motivated by religious ideology, bolstered by a CBS News report on his social media presence, has prompted widespread alarm about the rise of radical Islam in Texas along with the heightened scrutiny of possible Iranian sleeper cells activating in the United States in response to recent U.S. military strikes on Iran.
"Texas is currently under siege by Islamists who want to reshape our state and America as a whole," Republican Congressman Chip Roy, running for attorney general in the state, told Fox News Digital.
"The tragic shooting over the weekend in my home of Austin, Texas, is another example of why we need to pause immigration until the system is fixed. We need to stop bringing people into our country who want to kill us."
Social media have been littered with examples in recent days of accounts voicing concern about possible radicalization in mosques throughout Texas.
"330 mosques in Texas… and an average of 2 new ones per month," conservative influencer account End Wokeness posted on X.
"These mosques are popping up all over the place," a former Austin police officer told Fox News Digital. "I have no doubt in my mind that there's radicalization going on in these mosques. There has to be."
While it is unclear what mosque Diagne attended in Texas, if any, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has released dozens of sermons and lectures from Texas and has published a compilation video of extremist imams in Texas from 2018-2025.
The compilation video shows imams from cities across Texas praising Khamenei, leading "down with Israel" chants, saying "Muslims will kill the Jews," promoting "jihad," and highlighting what MEMRI describes as examples of radical ideology.
"There is a great deal of troubling activity from many influence groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, pro-Hamas organizations, and Shi'ite organizations, who express open support for Iran and have pledged allegiance to Khamenei," MEMRI Executive Director Steven Stalinsky told Fox News Digital.
Last year, MEMRI highlighted the Islamic Center of Pflugerville, led by Mufti Umer Farooq Saleem, who hosted a children's story night where he told attendees that Israel "is the illegal state of the Jews."
Fox News Digital reached out to the Islamic Center of Pflugerville for comment.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the Muslim man who rammed a white truck into a crowd full of New Year’s revelers in New Orleans last year and fired shots at police officers killing 14 and injuring more than 30, was born and raised in Beaumont, Texas.
Jabbar lived in Houston before committing the crime, inside a mobile home just about a seven-minute walk from the Masjid Bilal Mosque and Darul Arqam Islamic school. Shortly after the attack, that mosque sent congregants a message to direct FBI inquiries to a special-interest group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and avoid speaking to the media.
Fox News Digital reached out to Masjid Bilal for comment.
Roughly 30 miles south of Masjid Bilal Mosque, the Islamic Education Center of Houston has drawn the attention of MEMRI, which posted a video showing children pledging allegiance to Khamenei in 2022, along with a 2019 video of young boys pledging allegiance to the now-deceased leader.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Islamic Education Center of Houston for comment.
Similar allegiance to the fundamentalist Iranian regime and hardline Shiite ideologues can be found all across the country and a Fox News Digital investigation published earlier this week analyzed hours of sermons and scores and found that precepts shaping Tehran’s worldview, from its clerics to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, are also being preached on American soil by proxies for Iran’s propaganda.
"What we're seeing is years of deliberate investment by the Islamic Republic inside the United States," Andrew Ghalili, policy director at the National Union for Democracy in Iran, told Fox News Digital.
TEXAS GOV GREG ABBOTT CALLS FOR CAIR TO BE STRIPPED OF NON-PROFIT STATUS
"This is happening on American soil, and it's just another way in which the regime poses a direct threat to the United States, this time not with missiles but through infiltration," he said.
Texas has been in the news in recent years as some residents push back on a proposed 400-acre community known as "EPIC City" that critics say is marketing itself as a Muslims-only community. Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton recently sued the developers of that project, alleging the defendants raised tens of millions of dollars while violating securities laws, misleading investors about the project’s nature and location, and misrepresenting how funds would be used.
Concerns about potential Iran-linked sleeper cells are rising as the Department of Homeland Security remains unfunded and Tehran and its proxies threaten retaliation over U.S.-Israeli strikes that American officials say killed nearly 50 top Iranian leaders.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told FOX Business that sleeper cell threats need to be taken seriously after the Austin attack.
"There are other details that will be coming out about the shooter and his connections to terrorism that will make clear [that] this was a lone wolf activity where this shooter intended to wreak havoc here in Texas, here in the United States, because of his ties and sympathies with Iran," Abbott said.
Abbott's office told Fox News Digital in a statement that "Texas will never tolerate ideologies that support terrorism or seek to impose Sharia law" and said that the state has "surged" DPS anti-terrorism task forces and is "working with federal partners to disrupt and eliminate any potential threat."
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News Digital on Monday that she is in "direct coordination with our federal intelligence and law enforcement partners as we continue to closely monitor and thwart any potential threats to the homeland," when asked about any increased threat from sleeper cells in the U.S.
More than 1,500 Iranian nationals who illegally entered the U.S. at the southern border were arrested during the Biden administration, and nearly 50% were released back into the country, Fox News Digital reported last year. The outlet previously reported that at least dozens of individuals on terror watch lists had entered the United States through the southern border.
"The Austin shooter was an Islamic terrorist who never should have been allowed into our country," GOP Rep. Brandon Gill told Fox News Digital when asked about concerns of the spread of radical Islam in Texas.
"This was an absolutely tragic and preventable act of evil, and the people who call Texas home are suffering because of it. My constituents are begging elected leaders to stop the Islamization of North Texas. How many more Americans have to get Allahu Akbar’ed before we realize Islam is a problem?"
Fox News Digital’s Asra Q. Nomani, Jasmine Baeher and Charles Creitz contributed to this report.
AEW star Dustin Rhodes' mastiff takes home prize at world's largest dog show
Pro wrestling legend Dustin Rhodes has held a championship belt in almost every organization he stepped foot in, including most recently being a tag team champion at Ring of Honor.
Rhodes was a fan favorite in WWE, when he was known as Goldust, and was one of the first wrestlers to join All Elite Wrestling when the company started up in 2019. Outside the ring, someone else has become a show-stealer, and he’s a Beast.
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Rhodes’ mastiff, named Beast, has emerged as one of the top show dogs on the circuit in recent years, and he added to his resume on Thursday when he took home third place in the working group open category at Crufts in the United Kingdom – the world’s largest dog show.
"It’s an incredible, incredible show," Rhodes told Fox News Digital. "I guess this is the world’s largest dog show, so, we decided to go big or go home. Amazing, amazing show."
Dogs in the working group are meant to assist and protect their owners.
"Beast is really good with seeing somebody who has high blood pressure or low blood pressure, and we’ll go check them out. He’s a very smart dog," he said. "Mastiffs are amazing, amazing animals, man. I would never own another breed besides a mastiff, and I’ve had all kinds of dogs over my life and mastiffs are just everything – pure, loyal, loving, just crawling on your lap, hurt your bones."
Rhodes said Beast weighs more than him at a whopping 250 pounds, and with that comes a hefty diet. He revealed on X that he spends about $200 a month on food, as Beast enjoys about eight cups a day with dry food, chicken, rice and steak in his diet.
The wrestler said he "never thought" he’d ever get into the dog show business but has found immense success about two years into the endeavor. Now, he has eyes at the top of the charts.
"Go for the (best in show) record," he told Fox News Digital when asked about long-term goals. "Twenty-nine I think for mastiffs. We have 13 right now. So, we’re gonna do our best in the next year and a half, two years, really campaign the dog and advertise the crap out of it. Hopefully, we’ll get there."
Rhodes’ team includes his wife, Ta-rel Runnels, and handler Terry Smith.
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