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Democrats roasted for thanking Stephen Colbert one day after his late-night era came to a close
X users roasted Democrats Friday after the party’s official account posted a tribute to comedian Stephen Colbert one day after his late-night era came to a close.
"Thank you, Stephen Colbert," the account stated in a post accompanied by a photo collage of the former "Late Show" host alongside former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, former first lady Michelle Obama, and former Vice President Kamala Harris.
The post sparked backlash on the platform, with critics mocking the party for celebrating a comedian often viewed as openly partisan.
Former Trump White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer wrote, "He did a great job of using the public airwaves to carry your water."
"Thank you for what? For being an activist for the Democratic Party?" another user asked.
DEMOCRATS FAWN OVER STEPHEN COLBERT FOR HOLDING 'TRUTH TO POWER' AFTER CBS CANCELS SHOW
"I guess he deserves this."
Republican commentator Matt Whitlock joked, "Dang, I can’t believe people thought this show was more about politics than entertainment."
Another roasted the party for practically "admit[ting]" that Colbert was its propagandist.
COLBERT'S FINAL YEAR MARKED BY ATTACKS ON TRUMP, LIBERAL TALKING POINTS AND CELEBS KISSING HIS RING
X User Sonny joked, "Totally normal late night comedy program where a political party is mourning its loss by posting photos of all of the candidates the late night comedy program promoted for free."
A LOOK BACK AT STEPHEN COLBERT'S MOST PARTISAN MOMENTS AS ‘THE LATE SHOW’ HOST
Broader criticisms attacked Colbert's comedy style as repetitive or as an unfunny collection of Trump-bashing.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE
President Trump himself celebrated the end to Colbert's "Late Show" run with a Truth Social post on Thursday.
"Colbert is finally finished at CBS. Amazing that he lasted so long! No talent, no ratings, no life. He was like a dead person. You could take any person off of the street and they would be better than this total jerk. Thank goodness he’s finally gone!" the president wrote.
Fox News Digital reached out to CBS for comment.
From gym injuries to top-40 mysteries, these are five telltale signs you are past your prime
Getting old sucks.
I'm turning 34 this year and even though I still have plenty of gas left in the tank, there are times when I'm reminded of my advanced age.
For example, earlier this week, I either bruised my sternum or strained a pec muscle while incline bench pressing a shockingly low amount of weight (still more than Mamdani, though).
For 48 hours, I couldn't even take a deep breath without my chest feeling like it was getting crushed, and all I could think was, "This never happened to me when I was 21."
AGING HITS A DRAMATIC TURNING POINT AT ONE SPECIFIC NUMBER, SCIENTISTS DISCOVER
Athletes have plenty of telltale signs that it's time to hang it up, but what about us civilians?
It may not be as simple as your bat speed slowing down or getting run down in the open field by a linebacker, but there are indicators that will let you know when you're past your prime.
Here are five of the surest signs that your best years are behind you.
We'll start with a sneaky one, and one that might happen more gradually than some of the others.
I've never been a fashion forward guy, but I could always dress myself without sticking out like a sore thumb.
That doesn't seem to be the case anymore, because if it wasn't for my wife I'd probably look like a reverse Marty McFly, wearing fashion trends from 15 years earlier.
NEW YORK MAGAZINE WRITER WANTS TO BRING BACK SMOKING FOR VERY NIHILISTIC REASONS
Did you guys know cargo pants are back in style? I didn't, because whenever I see someone wearing them out in the wild, something in my brain tells me that guy is probably in danger of getting his head dunked in a toilet by some letterman jacket-wearing jock.
And don't even get me started on the "loose jeans" trend.
When I was coming of age, chicks wore jeans that looked like they took 45 minutes to put on and just as long to take off.
Now, girls who weigh 98 pounds have pant legs that look like they were ripped from the set of "My 600lb Life."
I've given up on trying to keep up, and if you're over the age of 30, you probably should too.
Have you ever gone to play a game of pickup hoops with your boys or maybe hopped in on a few games of beach volleyball while on vacation?
NAVY VET REVEALS THE DAILY MOVEMENT AND NUTRITION HABITS THAT KEEP HIM FIT AFTER 35
Maybe you feel fine in the moment and you're even showing glimpses of your younger, more vibrant self.
Then you wake up the next morning and you feel like you just got hit by a bus; muscles you didn't even know you had are now throbbing in pain.
Congratulations, you're old!
And you can stretch all you want, bucko, it's not going to help turn the clock back.
Even if you aren't out there acting like it's game seven of the Stanley Cup Final, you're bound to feel like you need an ice bath the next day.
I once agreed to sub in for a friend on his corporate flag football team, and I was out there tearing it up.
KNEE PAIN IS BECOMING MORE COMMON IN YOUNGER ADULTS FOR TWO SPECIFIC REASONS
I felt like I was back in college playing intramural ball, until I went to a party later that evening and could barely peel myself off the couch because my lower back locked up so badly.
I had just turned 30 not too long before that and that was my first sign that I probably should hang my football cleats up for good.
If you're over a certain age (and it differs for everyone), then you know there is a stark difference between "grabbing a drink" and "going out to the bars to drink."
ALCOHOL POSES THESE 8 RISKS TO OLDER ADULTS, EXPERTS WARN
They call them "bars," but let's be honest, these are straight up clubs, and they are places no one who is old enough to rent a car should ever be caught dead in.
If you've ever been out at one of these "bars" and you think to yourself that the music is too loud or that they packed way too many people in there, then you need to leave, because you're too old.
The other week, my wife and I went out with a few of our friends and we ended up at a fairly popular place in downtown Fort Lauderdale. This place is usually slammed to the gills with live music acts playing there every weekend, but since it was 3 in the afternoon on Derby Day, we made up six of the 12 people in there (including the bartender).
And you know what, I LOVED it.
I've never been happier to be out with my friends. I could actually hear them talk, the music was at a reasonable volume, and when my wife inevitably sent me to the bar to fetch her another hard cider, I didn't need to stand there like a jackass for 20 minutes while the lady behind the bar eventually made her way over to me to take my order.
And let's get one thing straight before we move on, an actual bar is a rickety old hole in the wall that is never more than half full, is playing '70s rock at a whisper, and has ACTUAL barstools where people can sit and drink and watch a game without being elbowed in the ribs by a guy dancing to Usher and trying to get lucky.
If you tell me we're going to a "bar" and we end up anywhere other than that, I'm leaving and I'm well within my rights to do so.
Picture this: You're working out at your local gym and you forget your headphones, so you are subjected to whatever radio station that gym decides to blare through its speakers.
You hear a song, then another, and then one more after that, and suddenly you realize you have no idea who any of these people are.
What's more, you can't even make out the instrumentation.
Was that a synth or a sousaphone? What are they even saying?
You thought you knew music, but this stuff sounds like it's being picked up from a broadcast in another solar system.
It happens to all of us, though for me it hit me far sooner since my musical tastes consist almost entirely of artists who broke up before I was even born.
This really doesn't even have to apply to music, either.
I can't tell you how many times I've been scrolling X to see what's going on in the world, only to be greeted by a pop culture aggregator account posting something that looks like a Babylon Bee article.
"You'll never guess what Lil Durk said to Sexy Redd to rizz her up in front of Lil Uzi Vert while at the Teen Choice Awards."
Those are all real people that I had to look up and confirm exist.
I had to give up on keeping up with contemporary pop music back in college, so if you're in your 30s and trying to stay hip to the scene, you might as well be the real-life embodiment of the Steve Buscemi "how do you do, fellow kids" meme.
I alluded to this one above, but the most telling sign that you are past your prime likely comes in the form of gym sessions turning into life-or-death propositions.
You probably remember lifting weights in college. It was magical.
STAY FIT IN YOUR 40S AND BEYOND WITH THESE SMART WORKOUT TIPS
You would load the bar up, do your lift of choice, be sore for 36 hours if you really pushed yourself, and then do it all over again.
Nowadays there are entire exercises I skip for fear of snapping something in half.
Deadlifting feels like playing Russian roulette with my spinal column, and hang cleans are something I do every once in a blue moon if I'm feeling bold and the health insurance is up to date.
Recovery times also get elongated after you reach a certain age.
Can you believe I used to lift six days a week?
I'm not talking preacher curls either. I would be benching, squatting and deadlifting twice a week for each.
Now if I do one of each in a seven-day span, I throw myself a miniature party.
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If you're still able to lift with the same intensity and frequency as you did in your early 20s, you're either a freak athlete, a genetic anomaly, or you're abusing anabolic steroids.
Everyone reaches a point where they just have to look themselves in the mirror and say, "I ain't as good as I once was."
If you thought more than one of these five looked familiar, then it might be time to buy some white New Balances and fall asleep watching golf in a recliner, because there's no turning back time now.
Father Time comes for us all, just accept it.
Knicks will take commanding 3-0 lead as Cavaliers face must-win Game 3 at home in Conference Finals
Some series and games just feel inevitable. There are others that have a lot more mystery and suspense. Unfortunately, the Eastern Conference Finals is not a series that has much intrigue. Going into it, I think the vast majority of us expected the Knicks to win the series. The question wasn't so much whether the Cavaliers would lose, but in how many games. Game 3 looms as a must-win for the Cavs to prove any doubters wrong.
In the first round of the playoffs, the New York Knicks looked like they were purposefully trying to find ways to make the series more difficult. They eventually beat the Hawks in six games and lost two games by a total of two points. In the second round, the 76ers couldn't even put up a fight against the Knicks. In this series, they have taken the first two games of the Conference Finals.
Game 1 is the game that most people will talk about. The Knicks looked like they were going to drop the opener of the series, and they were down 22 points with about seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. They outscored the Cavs 44-11 in the fourth quarter and overtime. It was a brutal stretch for the Cavaliers, and an even worse look for James Harden, who was exploited over and over again.
The Cleveland Cavaliers didn't even bother putting up a fight in Game 2 of the series. Sure, they won the first quarter, but then they were outscored in the following three quarters. We've known they aren't very good on the road in the postseason. They have two wins on the road, both against the Pistons. The Game 7 win against Detroit was the only truly convincing win they've had as a visitor.
KNICKS STORM BACK TO SHOCK CAVS IN GAME 1 AS JAMES HARDEN'S DEFENSIVE PLAY COMES UNDER SCRUTINY
Harden is taking a lot of flak for his defense in Game 1, but the reality is that it is a coaching problem, not a Harden problem. When you're up that many points, and you see Harden being exploited, you have to take him out of the game. You need to change match ups and strategy, but instead, they assumed they would win, and the Knicks made them pay. The Cavs look lost, but a return home, where they are 6-1 in the postseason, could be what they need to get right.
In this game, I expect the Cavs to throw the kitchen sink at the Knicks. That doesn't mean they are going to win, but this is a game they have to win. If they lose it, this one won't go more than five games. Even if they win, it might not go more than five.
I'm taking the Knicks here because the Cavs are the more tired team, have no momentum, and are not making adjustments. This series has always felt like a formality, with the expectation that New York makes it to the Finals. Give me the Knicks with the points in this one.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024
Chair-hogging wars heat up as cruise travelers use sneaky tactics amid crackdowns
Chair hogging has long been a problem on major cruise lines — and now a few popular companies are cracking down on so-called pool pirates.
For decades, cruise passengers have practiced a time-honored tradition of grabbing anything they can find — towels, flip-flops, even dolls — to reserve lounge chairs by the pool for hours when the individuals are nowhere to be found, according to several cruise blogs.
Now, social-media reports indicate Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) is getting serious about the issue.
CRUISE PASSENGERS COMPLAINED ABOUT CABIN PROBLEM, NOW SHIPS ARE MAKING A BIG CHANGE
"Norwegian Cruise Line is earning praise from passengers for actually enforcing its chair-hogging policy," according to the unrealcruises Instagram account.
"Crew members aboard Norwegian Escape have been actively marking unoccupied chairs and removing towels and personal items from loungers left unattended," the post continued.
"Passengers reported that crew members began marking reserved chairs with stickers at approximately 10 a.m."
The post went on, "If the chairs were not occupied an hour later, crew members removed items, so other guests could use the space. The enforcement has received overwhelmingly positive reactions from cruisers."
Fox News Digital reached out to Norwegian Cruise Line for comment.
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The cruise line's official policy about reserving chairs can be found on its company website.
"Pool, deck and [theater] chairs may not be reserved," the website states.
The policy continues, "Topless sunbathing is not permitted. Boom boxes or loud radios are not permitted."
It adds, "Roller blades, roller skates, skateboards, scooters, surfboards, bicycles and similar items may not be utilized on-board, except for mobility aids related to special needs, as approved by the ship's management."
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Cruise passengers sounded off on Facebook, Reddit and Instagram about the deck drama.
"We faced this on the [Norwegian] Bliss, but my husband was my hero," one NCL passenger wrote on Facebook recently.
"I avoided the confrontation. He went and put the stuff on the ground behind the chairs, and we came and sat down. He would tell them they know the rules, and too bad for behaving worse than a child."
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Another traveler responded by saying, "You shouldn't touch people's belongings. … Have the attendant do it."
Another cruise passenger noted, "Some ships have a better deck supervisor who will deal with these entitled folks."
One traveler on Instagram said, "Peace at last."
Another traveler in r/Cruise on Reddit said, "I’m not a chair hog, but I know why people do it. Because they’re entitled, and they think the rules don’t apply to them."
Many passengers applauded timestamp systems that provide a clear way to monitor chair usage. Others made the distinction between how families are reserving the chairs.
"If you're using the pool or whatever attraction where you are saving your chair, absolutely fine," a traveler in r/Cruise said.
"If you are eating lunch at the buffet or in some other area of the ship while your towel and hat [have] been sitting on a chair for the past hour — not fine."
Military families want DOJ to distribute nearly $800M from French cement company found guilty of bribing ISIS
In November 2017, Chief Petty Officer Kenton Stacy was injured in Raqqa, Syria, while clearing the second floor of a hospital that ISIS had booby-trapped with explosives. Now a quadriplegic, Stacy, his wife Lindsey and their four children are part of a lawsuit brought by military families against the French cement company Lafarge recently found guilty by a French court of paying millions of dollars in bribes to ISIS to keep their factory open in ISIS-controlled territory in Syria.
"I mean, they were essentially funneling money to fund terrorists and ISIS and all these heinous crimes and evil acts," Lindsey Stacy told Fox News while standing by the side of her husband, the former Navy Explosives Ordnance Disposal (EOD) specialist, who just had another surgery to deal with injuries sustained in Syria nine years ago.
"It's very overwhelming, Kenton struggles mentally and physically with his own battles and the kids and I, we have our own struggles," she said. "It's hard to juggle, especially when our oldest son has cerebral palsy and he requires his own 24-7 care."
President Donald Trump praised Stacy's service to the nation in his 2018 State of the Union Address to Congress. Army Staff Sgt. Justin Peck bounded into a booby-trapped building to rescue Kenton and then gave him more than two hours of CPR while medics worked to save his life.
9/11 FAMILIES CELEBRATE 'HISTORIC, LANDMARK DECISION' IN LONG-RUNNING SAUDI ARABIA LAWSUIT
"Kenton Stacy would have died if not for Justin’s selfless love for a fellow warrior. Tonight, Kenton is recovering in Texas. Raqqa is liberated... All of America salutes you," Trump said.
In a landmark ruling in April, a French court convicted Lafarge, the world’s largest cement manufacturer, of providing material support to a terror group and sentenced its former CEO to six years in prison. Eight former Lafarge employees were found guilty. Lafarge is appealing.
The company acknowledged the court’s finding describing the issue as a "legacy matter," which was "in flagrant violation of Lafarge’s Code of Conduct."
Nearly 1,000 plaintiffs, most of them military families, are part of earlier litigation in the Eastern District of New York.
"They were killed, in Syria, by a gruesome terrorist organization that was funded in part by Lafarge. And that's not an allegation. That is undisputed fact. Lafarge [pleaded] guilty to doing that in 2022," said Todd Toral, the lawyer from Jenner & Block representing Stacy and about 25 other families.
Toral, who is also a U.S. Marine, is seeking compensation for those families from the $777 million Lafarge paid to the Justice Department as part of the settlement. The Justice Department has had that money since October 2022.
AMERICAN VICTIMS OF TERRORISM COULD SOON SUE INTERNATIONAL ORGS IF CRUZ'S BILL PASSES
"I think the ruling by the court in France is significant generally, because it's the first time in many, many years that a corporation, and not just the corporation, but executives at a corporation have been held to account for their misconduct in aiding terrorism," Toral said in an interview with Fox News.
In order to operate in ISIS-controlled areas of Syria, Lafarge paid more than $6.5 million to ISIS from 2013–2014 through its Syrian subsidiary to keep production facilities running. The cement produced at its factory in Jalabiya, a factory which was bought for $680 million months before the Syrian uprising began in 2011, was also used for tunnels and bunkers, which helped the terrorist group.
The lawsuit is significant because it marks the first time a company has faced U.S. charges for supporting a terrorist group.
In October 2022, Lafarge settled with the U.S. Justice Department before the French ruling, paying more than $777 million into an asset forfeiture fund currently controlled by the DOJ, funds which are supposed to compensate victims of the ISIS attacks, many of them American Gold Star families like Hailey Dayton, whose father was the first American killed by ISIS in Syria on Thanksgiving Day 2016.
"I was 15 when my dad was killed," Hailey Dayton told Fox News from her home in Florida. "I saw six guys in Navy white step out of the van. I got so excited because I thought my Dad came back to surprise us. I remember opening the door, huge smile on my face, and I was looking at the men, trying to find my dad and I didn't find, I didn't see him, but instead I saw six guys with tears in their eyes."
The Biden Justice Department denied requests to distribute the Lafarge funds while the case was still pending before a French court. Lafarge was found guilty by that court in April. In February, Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., pressed then-Attorney General Pam Bondi on when the DOJ planned to release the funds to the families.
FEDERAL JUDGE ISSUES $20M VERDICT AGAINST SYRIA FOR TORTURE OF US CITIZEN TAKEN CAPTIVE IN 2019
"In February 2025, my colleagues and I sent you a letter urging the department to review the petitions for remission submitted by the families of those fallen service members, including several of my constituents. The previous administration ignored these victims and our requests and left their petitions unresolved," Biggs said to Bondi during a congressional hearing.
"Congressman, we are aware of that and we're committed to doing everything we can to support the victims and work with you. Thank you for that question," Bondi replied. That was more than a year ago and still DOJ has not distributed the compensation funds.
Now the plaintiffs, most of them military families, say the decision to release the funds rests with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
"I don't know why. I don't know why they're ignoring us. To me, it feels like being a pawn. My dad, he went in when he was 19, he served 23 years," Dayton, the Gold Star daughter of Chief Petty Officer Scott Dayton, said. "To the current Department of Justice, I would, say, make things right."
Lindsey Stacy says she and her family have difficulty making ends meet given Kenton Stacy’s severe injuries.
"There's a lot of families out there that could benefit from these funds. I mean, it's been almost nine years. It would be nice to, you know, for justice to be served. They have been convicted recently in their own country, guilty. It has been a long battle, but it'd be nice just for it to come to an end, get some closure and be able to just take care of our family," Stacy added. "I mean he made a huge sacrifice for our country and it would just be nice if they'd stand right by us and all the other co-plaintiffs."
"We can think of no group of people who are more worthy of receiving compensation from that victim's compensation fund than these families who lost a son, lost a brother, lost a husband, and they deserve to be treated better by the United States of America," Toral, who continues to press his clients’ case, said in an interview ahead of Memorial Day weekend.
The DOJ, which controls the $777 million dollars in penalties forfeited by Lafarge, issued the following statement:
"The Department is committed to compensating all victims to the maximum extent permitted by law. While we cannot comment on a pending matter, the Department will always engage in the appropriate process to evaluate claims and ensure that our brave servicemembers receive any amount of compensation to which they are entitled."
DAVID MARCUS: Trump Derangement Syndrome isn't mental illness, it's mass hysteria
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. raised some eyebrows last week by telling podcaster Adam Corolla that not only is Trump Derangement Syndrome a real thing, but that he has considered officially giving it an ICD (International Classification of Diseases) code.
While the secretary's remark may have been somewhat in jest (he was responding to a joke about a hypothetical TDS vaccine), he has been clear that the phenomenon that has torn apart so many Americans is indeed happening, including in his own family.
And it isn’t just Kennedy sounding the alarm. Psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert argues that Trump Derangement Syndrome is not only genuine, but that it infects 75% of his liberal Manhattanite patients.
"This is a profound pathology, and I would even go so far to call it the defining pathology of our time," Alpert told Fox News Digital last year.
THERAPIST SAYS HE RECEIVED THREATS AFTER CALLING ‘TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME' REAL 'PATHOLOGY'
"It doesn't take long for me to pick up on this: people are obsessed with Trump, they’re fixated, they’re hyper-fixated on Trump," he continued. "And they talk about some of the features of this disorder — they can’t sleep, they feel traumatized by Mr. Trump, they feel restless."
Kennedy and Alpert are completely correct that TDS is a genuine phenomenon, but they are wrong to think of it as a mental disorder that operates primarily on the individual level. What we are witnessing is actually classic mass hysteria.
This is an important distinction, because one cannot simply treat an individual for TDS, as Corolla joked, with a vaccine or even therapy. No, the entire system that is encouraging the social contagion has to be addressed, not unlike the trans issue.
LIZ PEEK: THE TRANS FEVER IS OVER — AND AMERICA IS RECKONING WITH THE DAMAGE DONE
In the case of both TDS and trans identity, outside elements are not just influencing the behavior, they are constantly reinforcing it; it doesn’t primarily exist inside the individual, but rather everywhere outside the individual.
There are four basic hallmarks of people affected by mass hysteria. See if any of these seem familiar to you:
HOW TRUMP PANIC BROKE THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND FUELED ENDLESS CRISIS POLITICS
It is perfectly obvious that irrational fear of Donald Trump and his presidency has been fueled by a hysterical media, not just in the news game. On late night TV, The View and even many sports programs, the external message to those suffering from TDS is that Trump is everywhere and in everything.
Trump has been turned into a bogeyman, a term which in fact comes from stories that were told to scare British children of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, the original ‘boneyman."
But this time, centuries later, it is not kids who are terrified, but grown adults. They view the threat of Trump as so existential, so primal, that it forces them to cut ties with loved ones who are aligned with the supposed threat of Trump.
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All of this is then further normalized by think pieces, advice columns and Tik Tok videos urging people to cut ties with their MAGA relations. It is often presented as a moral duty.
If we are going to tackle TDS, and we should, it will not be with injections or sessions lying on couches, but rather by addressing the media that has been inventing and feeding the hysteria for over a decade now.
Mass hysteria has a long history, from the dancing sickness of the 16th century to the Salem Witch Trials. But never have the conditions been better for mass hysteria to spread far and wide, fed to us by the social media algorithm.
Sadly, we seem a long way from fixing the mass media root problems of Trump Derangement Syndrome, with its constant claims that Trump is bringing back Jim Crow and the Confederacy, or that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are his own personal gestapo.
So long as the media and the Democrats continue to treat every single thing that Trump does as the end of democracy, Trump Derangement Syndrome will be with us, and more relationships will be sundered.
Thus far, in history, all known cases of mass hysteria eventually ran their course and ended, and eventually TDS will, as well. But that will happen a lot faster if the media and those in power on the left can diagnose and cure their own hysteria first.
Natalie Maines’ anti-Trump tirade, Zach Bryan’s fence-climbing clash fuel country music’s biggest feuds
All's fair in love and war, and country music.
Natalie Maines recently reignited flames with the current administration after posting a profanity-laced rant targeting President Trump on Instagram where she accused him of destroying democracy.
The Chicks lead singer has been known to battle, and previously exchanged heated words with the late Toby Keith, proving that feuds within the popular genre are nothing new.
Maines, 51, launched the attack against Trump in a blistering post shared on social media.
"Our democracy is disappearing right before our eyes," Maines posted last week. "This fugly s--- is using your gas money to pay the insurrectionists. But don’t worry about it. I’m sure posting selfies will fix everything."
She added, "My last post that called him a fugly s--- got removed. We’ll see how long this one lasts. Repost and help the message live."
While Maines earned support, she also received her fair share of backlash for the comments.
"Natalie Maines is a despicable nobody who clearly suffers from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted her peanut-sized brain," a White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
While performing in London shortly before the Iraq War began in 2003, Maines famously told concertgoers she was "ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas," referring to then-President George W. Bush.
The backlash from within the industry was swift, and included fellow singer Toby Keith, who previously was involved in a war of words with Maines over her disdain for his song, "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)."
COUNTRY MUSIC FEUD TAKES UNEXPECTED TURN AS SINGERS QUASH THE 'BEEF'
"I hate it," Maines told the Daily News about Keith's patriotic anthem. "It makes country music sound ignorant. It targets an entire culture — and not just the bad people who did bad things.
"You’ve got to have some tact. Anybody can write, ‘We’ll put a boot in your a--.’ But a lot of people agree with it."
Keith dismissed Maines' comments and told CMT that she was "not a songwriter." For a while, Keith was known to display a doctored photo of Maines and Saddam Hussein at his concerts.
Kacey Musgraves, 37, reflected on her past while also moving forward to change the narrative on her challenging relationship with another beloved country star, Miranda Lambert.
When asked about reported squabbles with the "Bluebird" singer, Musgraves told Variety their "beef" was "grass-fed, grade A."
"I mean, it’s real and that’s why I love this song, because it’s not coming from some contrived place in a writing room," she said about their surprise duet on her new "Middle of Nowhere" album.
KACEY MUSGRAVES DEFENDS TRADITIONAL COUNTRY MUSIC, SAYS IT’S NOT AS EASY AS IT SEEMS
Musgraves previously discussed their rumored feud in an interview with NPR in which she recalled writing "Mama's Broken Heart," a song Lambert recorded on her 2013 album, "Four the Record."
"We’ve come together after years of really, honestly, not being friends."
The "Deeper Well" singer claimed the song was pitched to Lambert without her "consent or knowledge," and it soon became a "tricky situation."
"She ended up loving the song, and she really wanted it. And I had other co-writers to consider," she said.
The country music queens collaborated for "Horses and Divorces" on Musgraves' sixth studio album, which was released May 1.
Maren Morris took aim at the changing narrative of country music following the 2023 release of Jason Aldean's "Try That in a Small Town" and Oliver Anthony's "Rich Men North of Richmond."
"It is so steeped in, weirdly, like patriotism or quasi-patriotism, lots of like, overt hypermasculinity, Whiteness—that’s just like how it’s been from the jump," she said.
"It does feel like the flame is getting hotter, so maybe it's this last stand of hatefulness," she told the New York Times' podcast.
The "My Church" singer challenged Brittany Aldean in 2022 after the former "American Idol" contestant shared a get-ready-with-me video where she boasted, "I’d really like to thank my parents for not changing my gender when I went through my tomboy phase. I love this girly life."
Country singer Cassadee Pope tweeted, "You’d think celebs with beauty brands would see the positives in including LGBTQ+ people in their messaging. But instead here we are, hearing someone compare their "tomboy phase" to someone wanting to transition. Real nice."
Morris added, "it's so easy to, like, not be a scumbag human? Sell your clip-ins and zip it, Insurrection Barbie."
Brittany swiftly responded, "Karen (sic) Morris, thanks for calling me Barbie." Shortly after their social media interaction, Morris created an online fundraiser through sales of a T-shirt, and more than $150,000 was raised to benefit transgender programs.
Earlier this year, Gavin Adcock reignited his ongoing feud with Zach Bryan months after nearly getting into a physical altercation with the country singer.
Adcock — who is currently promoting his new single, "Wannabe" — took to social media to share a photo of his near-fight with Bryan at an Oklahoma festival last year.
"How bad this song wants to come out on Friday," Adcock playfully captioned the photo, which featured Bryan attempting to scale a fence in an effort to fight Adcock.
COUNTRY SINGER GAVIN ADCOCK’S SHOW ERUPTS AS FAN STORMS STAGE, GETS TACKLED
Bryan previously dubbed some fans "Karens" after they showed disappointment over his recent show cancellation midway through the concert.
On an Instagram post about the backlash Bryan received, Adcock commented, "Still don't know how to treat fans."
After one Bryan fan asked Adcock what happened when he threatened to fight him in Oklahoma last year, Adcock responded, "I took my fat paycheck and played for 20k of his hometown fans. That's what happened."
In September, Adcock shared a video of the "Revival" singer yelling at him from behind a chain-link fence at the Born & Raised Festival, where both musicians were slated to perform along with Parker McCollum and Cody Jinks.
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"You want to fight like a man? Open the gate," Bryan said before slamming his hands against the fence separating the country music stars. The "Pink Skies" singer climbed over the fence and into the venue before being held back by security personnel in another video shared online.
Adcock addressed the incident in an Instagram video captioned "Rotten fruit falls on its own," shared with his nearly 1 million followers.
"Well, like I already said, I don't think Zach Bryan's a very good person. He wasn't locked out of the festival," Adcock said in the clip. "He had been there all day with his multiple security guards."
At the time, Adcock said he didn't have a reason to fight Bryan, but decided to stir him after receiving threats.
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"I don't think anyone's scared of Zach Bryan," Adcock continued. "I'm just an adult, and fighting him would have only meant going to jail, missing my set, and falling into a Zach Bryan lawsuit – and we all know he likes to manipulate people with money."
The country stars' feud first ignited after Adcock blasted Bryan for blowing off a young fan.
"We waited 3 hours outside to meet Zach Bryan… he completely blew everyone off and drove away like a jerk," the fan wrote on social media at the time.
Bryan reportedly replied in a now-deleted comment, "You’re not entitled after someone plays two and a half hours to a picture or a hello. GOMD [Get off my d---]."
Ex-mob capo alleges furious RFK weaponized the FBI against his father over Marilyn Monroe
A notorious New York mobster became a target of the federal government after Marilyn Monroe allegedly called out his name during an encounter with Robert F. Kennedy, his son claimed.
Appearing on the "Hang Out with Sean Hannity" podcast, former Colombo crime family captain Michael Franzese detailed a bombshell account passed down by his late father, underboss John "Sonny" Franzese.
Franzese said Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy ordered FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover to target Franzese's father after Marilyn Monroe allegedly mentioned the mobster during an intimate encounter with Kennedy. Franzese said his father claimed he had an affair with Monroe after meeting her at Manhattan's Stork Club.
"Now this is my father telling me this, right, she's with Bobby Kennedy," Franzese said of the legendary starlet. "And he said, 'One night they were having fun together, and she screamed out my name.'"
MARILYN MONROE 'COULD BE TROUBLE,' JACKIE KENNEDY WARNED JFK: AUTHOR
"She said at that point [Kennedy] got on the phone with Hoover, and he said, 'I don't know who this Sonny guy is, but put him in jail.'"
Franzese, one of the highest-earning Mafia figures to publicly leave organized crime, said his father shared the story after Franzese's mother died in 2012.
He said the conversation started after he asked his father why federal agents constantly surveilled their home instead of focusing on other Mafia figures.
"I said, 'Why you? I mean Colombo was there, all these other guys, Genovese, but you?'" Franzese said. "First time I ever asked him that. So he said to me, 'I didn't want to tell you while your mother was alive, because I'm respectful.'"
Franzese said the alleged targeting of his father made sense in hindsight.
"I said, 'You know what, Dad, I know you embellish things a little bit, but that kind of makes sense,'" Franzese said. "I don't know if you remember back then, J. Edgar Hoover would never even admit that the Mafia existed because we had something on him back then."
Sonny Franzese was arrested in 1967 and later convicted of orchestrating multiple bank robberies across the country. He was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison but was eventually paroled. In 2011, he was sentenced to prison again on racketeering conspiracy charges. He died in 2020 at age 103.
Franzese also detailed his gas tax scheme, which he said generated millions of dollars each week. He said the family collected gas taxes without paying the government and that he was personally bringing home around $3 million to $4 million a week.
Sydney Thomas dominates the red carpet in Cannes as her star continues to rise, new MLB power couple & MEAT!
It's rainy, windy, nasty and a complete washout out my window this morning, which means it's a perfect Saturday morning to dump out a fresh, new edition of Saturday Screencaps. You're damn right, I'm counting my blessings for not forcing assistant Screencaps editor SeanJo to work this weekend.
I had a half-day off work Friday so I could play golf with the text group and the wind blew sustained at 20 mph and gusted to 25–30 at times. By the end of the day, all I could think about was just getting inside a structure with four walls. But, at least we were able to golf and I didn't play too badly.
In brighter news, how about this performance turned in by American Sydney Thomas on Friday in Cannes, France? We are witnessing a star in the making. Just last week, I wrote about how the University of Alabama grad was doing celebrity poker and trying to find her footing in the pop culture world.
Uh, I think she's found her footing. This is what American dominance looks like. Biological females doing biological female things in Europe, just reminding the mouthy Europeans that we haven't lost a step even after the Alphabet Mafia tried to destroy American exceptionalism during the Biden years.
– Brandon S. reports in this weekend: This could go under so hard things, but I feel like it goes under teaching your kids basic responsibilities. This is my nine-year-old helping me burn weeds with a flamethrower tip my wife bought me last year for Father’s Day.
My dad passed away eight years ago at 66 years of age. I was 36 I may have been 10yrs old. Myself and 3 brothers were devastated, We had lost our hero. Fast forward to the following spring and my mom is in panic mode because she literally doesn’t know how to do any outdoor work except landscaping. I used that situation as a way to let my kids know, one day I’ll be gone and they’ll have to help my wife out around the house and also know how to take care of their own homes. This pic came up on my phone just now and I thought I’d share. Make Rec Leagues great again and happy Memorial Day weekend everyone.
– Brad S. shows off: Two slabs of baby-back party ribs for the neighborhood rib burn off! (I used the Meat Church recipe.)
– Mike T. in Idaho suggests: Have you watched the Netflix documentary on Ulysses S. Grant? Extremely well done!
Kinsey: I have not watched it. Honestly, I haven't watched much TV this week other than some baseball and the NHL conference finals.
– Kevin in Naples, Fla., writes: Memorial Day weekend is suddenly upon us, it is the advent of summer. That means it is full fledged Yacht Rock season.
Besides the usual suspects like What A Fool Believes, Lowdown, Sailing, Rich Girl, Biggest Part of Me, etc. do you have any dark horse favorites?
For dark horses, I'm rolling with
Sexy Eyes - Dr Hook
Feels So Good - Chuck Mangione
Thunder Island - Jay Ferguson
Moonlight Feels Right - Starbuck
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
Kinsey: While golfing Thursday, I was riding with my buddy Diesel, who turned on the new Keith Urban Yacht Rock songs and I was not pleased in the least. Did we need Urban to cover Yacht Rock songs? Absolutely not. Is this a case of stolen valor? 100%. These country dorks can't stick to their own industry. They ripped off "Fast Cars" from Tracy Chapman and now Urban's stealing "Summer Breeze" from Seals and Croft.
Shame on Keith Urban.
##################
That is it this Saturday morning with the rain pounding the east-facing windows. It's one of those weather weekends we won't soon forget. But, life goes on. It might feel like October, but we have to figure out a way to make the best of it.
That means some retail therapy. I'm going to go out and buy a KombiSystem from Stihl that my dad has sold me on. I'm starting with the edger and the pole saw. That should just about complete my needs with my yard tools. I have the Stihl trimmer and hedge trimmer. Outside of adding a battery Stihl mower, I think this should be it.
Go have a great weekend. I'll see you guys Monday morning.
DOJ, Treasury investigate nonprofits and leaders allegedly coordinating with Cuba in influence campaign
This article is Part I of a Fox News Digital investigative series examining allegations that the communist government of Cuba built an influence network inside the United States that federal authotiries are now investigating. Part I focuses on the network's rapid response following the indictment of Cuban leader Raúl Castro.
Just nine minutes after U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche announced murder charges against Cuban leader Raúl Castro for the 1996 shootdown of two civilian aircraft flown by exile group Brothers to the Rescue, a coordinated rapid response network was already mobilizing across the U.S. to defend Castro and the Communist Party of Cuba.
At 1:54 p.m. on Wednesday, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a Marxist political organization deeply embedded in a "Hands Off Cuba" campaign, published six pre-produced graphics denouncing the indictment as a "BASELESS INDICTMENT OF RAUL CASTRO" and "A PRETEXT FOR ANOTHER WAR."
Hours later, at 3:18 a.m. early Thursday morning, Vijay Prashad, executive director at Tricontinental, a Marxist think tank, wrote on X, "Cuba is not a menace to the world. The United States is a menace to the world. The world stands with Raúl Castro, hero of the Cuban Revolution. The world turns its back on Donald Trump, clown of human destruction." Manolo De Los Santos, executive director of the People's Forum, a New York-based nonprofit, shared the message without a word, as did leaders from CodePink, another leftist organization.
Then, 24 hours after Blanche's announcement, at 1:46 p.m. on Thursday, BreakThrough News, a media platform aligned with the same activist ecosystem, published a video featuring defiant Cubans, with one man declaring, "We won't hand over Raúl."
Fox News Digital has learned that Justice and Treasury Department officials are investigating U.S. nonprofits and activist groups for allegedly coordinating lobbying, messaging, fundraising, delegations and political organizing efforts with Cuban government officials as part of a possible foreign influence campaign operating inside the United States.
A Fox News Digital investigation has identified 145 nonprofits, labor groups, advocacy organizations and activist collectives across the U.S. that are mobilizing in support of the Cuban government and the Communist Party of Cuba. Together, the organizations report about $1 billion in combined annual revenue.
LAWMAKERS RAISE ALARM OVER NEVILLE ROY SINGHAM'S $278M NETWORK SPREADING CCP PROPAGANDA IN THE U.S.
To U.S. national security officials examining the influence of foreign governments in the U.S., the rapid-response messaging campaign offers a striking example of how quickly the nationwide Cuba "solidarity" infrastructure synchronizes political messaging across nonprofits, media platforms, labor organizations and activist coalitions following major geopolitical developments involving the Cuban regime.
Making the alleged influence campaign even more complicated, the ANSWER Coalition, Party for Socialism and Liberation, BreakThrough News, CodePink, People's Forum and Tricontinental are all part of a network funded by American expatriate tech tycoon Neville Roy Singham, who lives in Shanghai, supporting the Chinese Communist Party and its global agenda, including its defense of the communist regime in Cuba.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokeswoman for the Embassy of Cuba in Washington denied any improper activity and said the country's diplomats operate within the bounds of the Vienna Convention, where Article 41 states that diplomats "have a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs" of a state.
"Cuban diplomats strictly comply with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations," the embassy spokeswoman said, noting that "part of diplomatic work" is to "promote friendly relations" and "interact with organizations and institutions of civil society in the State to which one is accredited."
The embassy added that "it is neither extraordinary, nor a violation of any international or U.S. law, for Cuban diplomats to engage with civil society," and said it doesn't encourage Americans "to overthrow or act against the constitutional order of the United States."
Sources familiar with the probe said investigators are also examining the activities of several prominent activists and organizers connected to the Cuba solidarity movement, including Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin and CodePink D.C. coordinator Olivia DiNucci.
DHS, WAR DEPT JOIN PROBE INTO SINGHAM NETWORK ALLEGEDLY SOWING DISCORD IN US
Federal investigators are also probing about 40 Americans who allegedly coordinated with Cuban government officials to bring goods and supplies to Cuba in "convoys" and "flotillas" earlier this year, sources told Fox News Digital.
The organizations under scrutiny span labor unions, activist nonprofits, solidarity campaigns, travel networks, socialist political groups and media operations.
The pro-communist Cuba ecosystem includes seven clear communities:
600 GROUPS WITH $2B IN REVENUE MOBILIZE 3,000 MAY DAY PROTESTS IN A 'RED-BLUE' ALLIANCE, PROBE FINDS
Investigators are also scrutinizing travel and delegation infrastructure tied to the network, including organizations coordinating labor trips, educational exchanges, people-to-people tours, activist brigades and humanitarian convoys to Cuba.
Under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, Americans who engage in political activities in the United States at the direction or control of a foreign government may be required to register with the Justice Department. Advocacy itself is protected under the First Amendment, and registration under FARA doesn't prohibit political activity. Investigators are examining whether any organizations crossed the line from independent activism into coordinated activity directed by Cuban government officials.
Investigators are examining whether some organizations and activists are coordinating lobbying, messaging, delegations, fundraising and political organizing efforts with Cuban government officials without registering under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, known as FARA, according to sources familiar with the inquiry.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, enforces the decades-old U.S. sanctions regime against Cuba, including restrictions on financial transactions, material support, shipping and the transfer of goods and services to the island.
While humanitarian exemptions and licensed travel categories exist, investigators are examining whether some activists and nonprofit groups coordinated shipments, fundraising, "convoys," flotillas and aid campaigns in ways that may have violated sanctions regulations or evaded reporting requirements.
CHINA SLAMS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OVER US SANCTIONS ON CUBA
Investigators are also scrutinizing whether organizations used intermediary nonprofits, fiscally sponsored projects or generic donation language in ways that obscured Cuba-related transactions that otherwise could have triggered additional compliance scrutiny under OFAC regulations.
One fundraising page soliciting solar panel donations for Cuba instructed donors: "Please do not write ‘Cuba’ in donation comments or on the memo line of checks. Simply write ‘Urgent Aid.’"
Sources familiar with the probe said investigators are also examining the activities of several prominent activists and organizers connected to the Cuba solidarity movement, including Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, CodePink cofounder Medea Benjamin and CodePink D.C. coordinator Olivia DiNucci.
"Cuba is 100% operating a foreign influence operation in the U.S.," said Heritage Foundation senior fellow Mike Gonzalez, a Cuban-born author who has written extensively on communist influence operations in Latin America.
He described Cuba as "ground zero for anti-American revolutionary organizing in the Western Hemisphere."
Gonzalez told Fox News Digital, "Cuba is a prep school for revolutionaries."
"The Cuban regime has spent decades building influence networks inside universities, labor groups, activist nonprofits, churches and solidarity organizations in the U.S.," Gonzalez said. "The key question for investigators is whether these organizations crossed the line from protected activism into coordinated political activity directed by a foreign government."
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