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Colbert's final year marked by attacks on Trump, liberal talking points and celebs kissing his ring
Marked by relentless attacks on President Donald Trump, left-wing talking points and celebrities kissing his ring, Stephen Colbert's final year with CBS comes to a close when the curtain falls on his show on Thursday night.
Colbert has been the face of "The Late Show" ever since his predecessor, David Letterman, stepped down in 2015. The outspoken liberal transformed CBS' long-running late-night show into #Resistance television, dedicating monologue after monologue to attacking Trump while elevating Democrats and boosting their agenda.
Colbert launched a yearlong farewell journey after CBS announced in July 2025 that it had canceled "The Late Show." In July, Colbert declared, "For the next 10 months, the gloves are off."
COLBERT LASHES OUT AT CBS, SAYS CANCELLATION ‘REINFORCED A NARRATIVE’ OF ‘KNEE BENDING’ TO TRUMP
After the president taunted him over the cancellation, Colbert quipped casually, "Go f--- yourself" on the show.
Colbert has not held back when it comes to attacking the Trump administration, and the show has been littered with guests who share his ideology. MS NOW hosts Jen Psaki, Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow and CNN anchors Jake Tapper, Kaitlan Collins and Anderson Cooper have appeared on the show, while other liberal late-night hosts such as Jimmy Kimmel, John Oliver and Seth Meyers have also visited the "Late Show."
Former President Barack Obama laughed earlier this month as he slighted Trump on the show, suggesting that Colbert himself would make a better president.
DEMOCRATS FAWN OVER STEPHEN COLBERT FOR HOLDING 'TRUTH TO POWER' AFTER CBS CANCELS SHOW
Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Cory Booker, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Jon Ossoff, Sen. Mark Kelly, former Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Rep. Adam Schiff, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Rep. Jim Clyburn, Rep. Ruben Gallego, former Secretary John Kerry, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, former first lady Michelle Obama and Biden-era press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre all paid their respects as the "Late Show" often served as a revolving door for the Democratic Party's leadership as Colbert prepared to sign off.
Far-left actors Mark Ruffalo and Jane Fonda were among the Hollywood elites who also stopped by during Colbert’s final months on air to fawn over him. Bette Midler even serenaded Colbert with a parody of her famous song, "Wind Beneath My Wings," attacking Trump and urging the audience to sing, "You never kissed the orange a--."
Hollywood trade publication Variety even noted that the final months of the show have been largely spent fluffing Colbert.
"What has ended up making it to air has been an increasingly puffy tribute to the show’s own host. The endless bouquets being tossed Colbert’s way have started to make the studio smell a bit cloying," Variety correspondent Daniel D’Addario wrote.
"The show’s focus on its own host’s misfortune has become outsized and a bit dramatic, especially because so many other institutions are in crisis," D’Addario continued. "With everything else going on in the world, we have to go through a monthslong celebration-of-life for a comedian whose job is coming to an end?"
USA TODAY CALLS STEPHEN COLBERT, AMERICA'S LEAST FUNNY COMEDIAN, A 'GALLANT COMIC AVENGER'
In February, Colbert made waves when he alleged an interview with Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico was blocked by CBS due to equal time constraints. Instead of airing the Talarico sit-down on television, it was posted to the program’s YouTube channel. Many suggested that Colbert essentially drummed up publicity to help Talarico defeat his firebrand opponent, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, in a primary because he would be more palatable in a general election.
CBS denied Colbert’s claim, and The New York Times eventually reported that Talarico knew the interview would only air online well in advance. FCC Chair Brendan Carr told reporters, "You had a Democrat candidate who understood the way that the news media works, and he took advantage of all your sort of prior conceptions to run a hoax, apparently for the purpose of raising money and getting clicks."
When Colbert and his guests weren’t mocking Trump, they were typically criticizing CBS for pulling the plug on the show. Colbert’s beef with CBS started before his show was canceled, as he fumed that then-CBS parent company Paramount settled an "election interference" lawsuit with Trump for at least $16 million — a sum that could reach north of $30 million — ahead of Skydance Media’s acquisition of the company.
"I believe this kind of complicated financial sentiment with a sitting government official has a technical name in legal circles. It’s ‘big fat bribe,’ because it all comes as Paramount’s owners are trying to get the Trump administration to approve the sale of our network to a new owner, Skydance!" Colbert said.
"You may take our money, but you will never take our dignity," he continued. "You may, however, purchase our dignity for the low, low price of $16 million. We need the cash."
Days later, CBS announced that "The Late Show" would air its final episode in May 2026, and the FCC approved Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount shortly afterward. CBS insisted canceling "The Late Show" was "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night," but many believe the decision was made to appease Trump and the FCC before the merger.
Colbert has slammed CBS on a regular basis ever since, frequently using his platform on the network to criticize its management.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE
"Me being canceled reinforced a narrative that CBS already had a nimbus of knee-bending that they had created around themselves, because even their lawyers said there was no reason to cut the check, and then they did and gave no rationale for why they changed their minds. And then, suddenly, they got their broadcast license," Colbert told The Hollywood Reporter this month.
Colbert recently welcomed Letterman, who celebrated the end of his former show by smashing a CBS logo by tossing furniture off the building. As Letterman signed off, he said to Colbert, "Thank you for everything you’ve done for our country."
Colbert asked the comedian if he had any final words for the viewers and Letterman said he had something to say to CBS.
He said, "In the words of the great Ed Murrow, good night and good luck, motherf------!"
Variety’s D’Addario observed, "Colbert deserved better treatment from CBS, but watching one person beam while receiving laurel after laurel doesn’t make the argument for his show’s relevance, as it’s frankly not very good TV, and — for this relentlessly political host — not in touch with the concerns of people who have been turning to ‘The Late Show’ for its political perspective."
Rowdy teen takeover hits popular beach hot spot with wave of arrests, assaults, emergency curfew: video
New Jersey officials made a half-dozen arrests after a swarm of youngsters descended on a quaint shore town in the latest viral teen takeover plaguing local communities across the country.
The incident unfolded Tuesday night, when Long Branch police were called to Pier Village – a sprawling oceanfront community clad with rental units and hotels – regarding reports of a massive group of teenagers inciting brawls, jumping on cars and contributing to "disorder" across the boardwalk, according to NJ.com.
Bystander footage shows a line of police officers carrying riot shields and corralling the teens in the street, as various other large groups can be seen weaving between cars as they are escorted out of the area.
NJ POLICE CHIEF SAYS 'OUT OF CONTROL' KIDS FORCED NEW TOWN LAW THAT COULD PUT PARENTS BEHIND BARS
Five people – a 19-year-old and a 20-year-old woman, and three teenagers under 18 – were reportedly arrested on disorderly conduct charges. A sixth teenager was also taken into custody for allegedly eluding police.
Additional arrests are expected due to reports of two separate aggravated assaults – one on the first block of Centennial Drive and a second at the local train station – stemming from the incident, NJ.com reported. Police are also investigating a suspected vehicle theft in the area.
"The City of Long Branch takes these events seriously and will not tolerate conduct that endangers residents, visitors, business owners, or our public safety personnel," Public Safety Director Charles Shirley Jr. said in a statement, according to the outlet.
"Pop-up gatherings of this nature have repeatedly disrupted Jersey Shore communities, and Long Branch is prepared to act decisively whenever public safety is threatened," he added.
The incident forced city officials to implement an emergency 8 p.m. curfew, with law enforcement officers clearing the streets by 9:15 p.m., according to NJ.com.
Authorities reportedly said 69 officers with the Long Branch Police Department were deployed to the scene, along with 70 additional officers from more than a dozen neighboring agencies.
"It’s heartbreaking and it’s frustrating," nearby resident Jason DeSantis told NJ.com. "You just heard the sirens, 5:30, 6 o’clock, just continually more and more and more people coming in."
DeSantis reportedly added that the local Starbucks looked as though "a bomb went off" and the town’s beaches were "disgusting" after the youngsters dispersed.
"It was all over social media — senior skip day in Long Branch," DeSantis said. "They knew about this, you knew it was coming. I just wish the mayor would have been on top of it."
The chaos comes as communities up and down the Jersey Shore are bracing for Memorial Day weekend, with officials in nearby Seaside Heights calling in federal authorities to prepare for the onslaught of crowds.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Long Branch Police Department for comment.
Top off-the-wall Reddit posts haunting Graham Platner’s Maine Senate bid
Maine’s presumptive Democratic Senate nominee is facing considerable backlash over unearthed social media posts where he made controversial statements about race, sexuality, political violence and his own ideological beliefs.
Graham Platner, a 41-year-old Marine Corps veteran, attributed his online behavior to depression and PTSD stemming from serving in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. He says he became accustomed to "crude humor" and "offensive language" while serving as an infantryman.
"I’m sorry for this. Just know that it’s not reflective at all of who I am," Platner said of his previous comments posted online. "I don’t want you to judge me on the dumbest thing I ever wrote on the internet. I would prefer if people could judge me on the person I am today."
While he no longer operates under the "p-Hustle" username on Reddit, thousands of Platner’s deleted posts and comments have been made easily searchable by outlets like the Maine Monitor. It's sparking renewed criticism in his bid to replace incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins and flip the Maine Senate seat blue.
Many of Platner’s old Reddit posts struck a progressive tone on race, but that didn’t stop him from making the occasional off-color comment.
"Why don't black people tip?" he wrote in August 2013.
SCHUMER’S ‘NUMBER ONE TARGET’ SAYS VOTERS WILL SEE HER DEMOCRAT SENATE CHALLENGER AS TOO EXTREME
"I work as a bartender and it always amazes me how solid this stereotype is," he continued. "Every now and again a black patron will leave a 15-20% tip, but usually it [is] between 0-5%. There's got to be a reason behind it, what is it?"
It came in response to a thread on a page called AskReddit where a user prompted: "What is one question you have always wanted to ask someone of another race?"
Platner made liberal use of slurs intended to demean homosexuals and mentally disabled people on his Reddit account.
"Betcha not a single downvoter is a real combat vet," he posted under a now-deleted post on a firearms subreddit. "Feel free to back it up with facts, f--s."
He also used the word "gay" in a derogatory context on multiple occasions.
The Maine Monitor’s repository of Platner’s comments shows he used variations of the word "r-tard" at least 18 times between 2013 and 2021.
"If you believe that, it’s pretty clear you’re, in fact, a r-tard," he wrote under one since deleted post.
While Platner may have used the f-slur, he didn’t express any homophobia on his account. In fact, Platner advocated for greater acceptance of homosexuals in the armed forces.
"I can see how some of the same Marines who would be accepting of gay peers would happily use their officer being a ‘f-ggot" as another reason to s--t on leadership," Platner wrote, consoling a purported Marine officer who reported having had a negative experience being gay in the military.
"Just know this: I can’t imagine how much it must suck not being able to share who you are with the people who are supposed to be your comrades. I’m sorry that we have to work through this bulls--t," he continued.
On Sept. 1, 2020, Platner responded to a post on the politics subreddit declaring that "White People Aren’t as Racist or Stupid as Trump Thinks."
"Living in white rural America, I’m afraid to tell you they actually are," Platner wrote of the people he is now seeking to represent in the U.S. Congress.
Maine is the whitest U.S. state with an estimated 91.3% of the population being non-Hispanic white as of 2024, according to the Census Bureau.
'MAINE'S MAMDANI': MAINE GOP CHIEF ISSUES WARNING ABOUT NEW CHALLENGER LOOKING TO OUST SUSAN COLLINS
Platner also stated that the general public only cares about certain crimes when white people are victimized.
"The vast majority of which involves handguns," he wrote in response to a post about gun deaths. "It's pretty absurd no one ever talks about that, although I'm assuming it's because handguns mostly kill young black men. Nobody really gives a s--t about things until it's well spoken white kids getting hurt."
On multiple occasions, Platner used his Reddit account to express support for Marxism, which could be problematic in a moderate state such as Maine.
"I got older and became a communist," he posted in November 2021 on an anti-work subreddit.
FETTERMAN CALLS OUT 'ABSOLUTE SOCIALIST' SEATTLE MAYOR AND 'AVOWED COMMUNIST' GRAHAM PLATNER
As recently as April 2020, Platner claimed on Reddit that he was a member of his local chapter of the Socialist Rifle Association (SRA) — a left-wing answer to the NRA that provides firearms training and education. He made over 100 posts to socialist subreddits between 2018 and 2021.
In one such post, Platner described himself as a "vegetable-growing, psychedelics-taking socialist."
"I'm not a communist. I'm not a socialist. I own a small business. I am a Marine Corps veteran," Platner told CNN when the posts first resurfaced as he continues to distance himself from the labels he previously embraced.
In September 2013, Platner expressed his support for using deadly violence against political opponents.
"There are times in this world when, for the good of tolerance and humanity, you need to kill a motherf---er," Platner wrote. "Sadly most people who are true believers in tolerance and humanity find that activity repulsive. Which I suppose is morally good, but pragmatically a shortfall."
BERNIE SANDERS DEFENDS MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE UNDER FIRE FOR REDDIT COMMENTS
Platner was responding to a post cheering on thousands of anti-fascist protestors attacking the offices of a far-right ultra-nationalist political party in Greece.
Describing his left-wing drift following his discharge from the armed forces, Platner stated: "Still got the guns though, I don’t trust the fascists to act politely."
Platner has described Republican politicians as fascists.
Platner also expressed views about animals that some may find unsettling.
On a subreddit dedicated to sharing cute pictures of animals, one user posted a picture of her cat who "had to have surgery to keep her ribs from crushing her heart."
"Why not just get a less f---ed up cat?" Platner responded.
When a user on another subreddit asked for advice on how to humanely kill mice, Platner said that he "drop[s] a 53 lbs kettlebell on their little heads."
"Ends it right quick," he added.
UNEARTHED POSTS SHOW DEM SENATE HOPEFUL PRAISING VULGAR GRAFFITI, MAKING CRUDE PORTA-POTTY ADMISSION
In arguing in favor of cooking lobsters alive, Platner accused those living far from nature of treating animals too much like humans.
"People who aren’t close to nature tend to anthropomorphize the hell out of everything," he said.
In 2019, Platner reacted to a video of an American soldier being shot by the Taliban by stating that the "dumb motherf---er didn't deserve to live."
Platner was criticizing the soldier’s tactical approach to dealing with oncoming fire.
"This video never gets old," he wrote under the "P]Hustle" username. "Dumb motherf--ker didn't deserve to live. At least his stupidity and fat a-- wheezing are available for all future infantrymen to witness and hold in contempt."
"Poor marksmanship on the Taliban's part is the only reason this mouthbreather made it home, he managed to make every possible s--t decision possible when it comes to small unit combat."
VETERAN WHO SERVED IN MIDDLE EASTERN WARS LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN AGAINST SEN. SUSAN COLLINS
While the identity of the wounded soldier is unclear, as the video has since been deleted, commenters suggested that it was Ted Daniels, who earned a Purple Heart for his injuries.
"We don't make jokes about our brothers and sisters dying, that's not something we do, that's not normal," Adam Schwarze, a former Navy SEAL and Marine veteran running for U.S. Senate as a Republican in Minnesota, said on social media.
Platner also, at one point, implied that he had intimate knowledge regarding South American call girls.
"You don’t have much experience with Latin American hookers, do you?" he wrote, responding to another user who claimed that prostitutes in Colombia "are part of a giant sex trade and the women are effectively slaves."
It’s possible Platner was joking, as he often did on the "P-Hustle" account.
"Platner’s perverted and bigoted comments are disqualifying and degrade women, black Americans, the gay community, and even wounded U.S. soldiers," National Republican Senatorial Committee press secretary Bernadette Breslin told Fox News Digital "Try as he may, Platner can’t outrun his own words, and Mainers won’t excuse them in November."
Platner's campaign did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Wednesday on any of his previous Reddit posts.
Top Dem lawmakers duck questions when pressed on Platner's Reddit scandal
Top Democratic leaders refused to answer whether Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s newly uncovered vulgar posts have become a liability for Democrats ahead of the midterm elections.
"I haven’t seen no posts," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told Fox News Digital when asked whether Platner had become a liability to the Democratic Party.
Newly surfaced Reddit posts tied to Platner — from an archive of roughly 2,000 salacious takes — include graphic sexual comments about masturbating in portable toilets and praising explicit graffiti depicting genitalia.
UNEARTHED POSTS SHOW DEM SENATE HOPEFUL PRAISING VULGAR GRAFFITI, MAKING CRUDE PORTA-POTTY ADMISSION
In another post, he mocked a Purple Heart U.S. soldier that was nearly killed in combat, posting "dumb motherf----- didn't deserve to live."
"I still have to jerk off every time I sit in a portas----er… that blue water smell conditioned me," was among one of the many crude social media posts discovered from Platner’s past.
Progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., declined to comment on whether she would rescind her backing of Platner after publicly endorsing him in the Maine Democratic primary for Senate against Gov. Janet Mills, who pulled out of the race last month after falling behind in the polls.
Warren’s endorsement came after Platner had already been scrutinized for some of his other controversial Reddit posts — including comments praising Hamas’ tactics, telling rape victims to take accountability and asking why Black people don’t tip. This was also after Platner’s chest tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol circulated the internet, as well as his participation on the subreddit "r/SocialistRA," where he described himself as a communist.
WARREN CONFRONTED ON CALLING CONTROVERSIAL SENATE CANDIDATE GRAHAM PLATNER HER 'KIND OF MAN'
"Holy f----, how about people just take some responsibility for themselves and not get so f---- up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to?" Platner posted to a 2013 Reddit thread.
The posts came from a deleted Reddit account with the username "P-Hustle," which Platner has claimed ownership of. All the deleted posts can be found in the Maine Monitor’s Database, a complete archive of all 2,014 posts from his now-deleted account.
Warren defended both Platner and her endorsement in an interview with CNBC last month after a slew of inappropriate posts resurfaced. She referenced his apology and praised his outreach with voters so "they can evaluate not who Graham Platner was, but who Graham Platner is today."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also declined to answer repeated questions about Platner’s posts.
Schumer endorsed Mills, before she ended her campaign, over Platner in the face-off with longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Platner told Fox News Digital last week that he wouldn’t support Schumer as Senate Democratic leader going forward, even after describing their encounter as a "perfectly cordial conversation."
SCHUMER’S ‘NUMBER ONE TARGET’ SAYS VOTERS WILL SEE HER DEMOCRAT SENATE CHALLENGER AS TOO EXTREME
Platner is widely viewed as the presumptive Democratic nominee to unseat Collins in November. Democrats have so far shown little sign of distancing themselves from Platner despite the continued emergence of past obscenities.
A super PAC backing Collins’ reelection campaign has spent $4 million on attack ads against Platner. Pine Tree Results released a new ad targeting Platner this week that directs viewers to a new website highlighting his controversial internet comments.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Platner campaign for comment regarding the new posts brought to light.
Platner has previously defended himself from criticism of these posts by saying he was joking.
"You should read the comments in context. It's very clear I'm joking," he previously told Fox News Digital. "It's called s---posting. It's when you argue with people on the internet and try to bother them."
Taxpayer spending on 'exorcisms' derails Senate testimony: 'What the hell are we doing about it?'
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., railed against California’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal, which is facing scrutiny from the Trump administration over fraud allegations, as Kennedy highlighted reports during a Tuesday hearing that the state covers exorcisms and other faith-based healing practices.
Medi-Cal’s spending practices have faced growing scrutiny as California’s Medicaid spending has more than doubled since 2019, rising from roughly $100.7 billion to a projected $222 billion in 2026.
Just last week, the Trump administration suspended $1.4 billion in federal funding for California home health and hospice programs after Vice President J.D. Vance’s anti-fraud task force identified an estimated $600 million in suspected fraud within the state's Medicaid system.
Kennedy alleged during his line of questioning to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche that taxpayer dollars were being used to cover the cost of exorcisms, a religious practice most commonly associated with the Catholic Church, and other indigenous spiritual practices.
LAWMAKERS IN DEEP BLUE STATE DEMAND AUDIT OVER SKYROCKETING HEALTHCARE COSTS: 'ALARMING NATURE'
"California's got 12% of the population in the last ten years," Kennedy told Blanche. "They're responsible for half of these new so-called health providers to provide exorcisms and other things. Now, what the hell are we doing about it? Why has this gone on for so long?"
Reports that California provides Medicaid coverage for exorcisms and other spiritual rituals were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
In 2024, Medi-Cal expanded coverage for recipients seeking traditional healers and natural helpers within tribal communities. Services covered by taxpayer dollars include music therapy and spiritual interventions such as ceremonies, rituals and herbal remedies, according to a press release from Gov. Gavin Newsom's office.
To be recognized by the state as a traditional healer, a person must have served as a spiritual leader within an American Indian tribe for at least two years and be contracted by an Indian Health Care Provider. Meanwhile, the requirement for a natural helper is less stringent and can apply to anyone considered a "trusted" member of an American Indian tribe.
Newsom said this expansion of coverage for tribal medicine was made to assist in "helping heal the historical wounds inflicted on tribes."
"Like many of the issues that plague successive generations of Native people, those inequities can be traced back to the historical atrocities the U.S. inflicted on tribes across the country," Newsom said in a press release announcing the Medi-Cal expansion. "By supporting greater access to traditional medicine and healing, we are taking another step toward a healthier, brighter future."
It remains unclear how much Medi-Cal has spent covering services provided by traditional healers or natural helpers. The California Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to Fox News Digital's questions by the time of publication.
Angels legend Troy Percival speaks out amid trans athlete crisis, endorses Chad Bianco
Anaheim Angels icon Troy Percival threw his official endorsement behind Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco in California’s closely watched 2026 gubernatorial race, according to an exclusive statement sent to Fox News Digital.
Percival, a hero in the Angels’ 2002 World Series championship run, tied his endorsement of Bianco to criticism of California’s progressive leadership and the state’s contested policies regarding transgender student-athletes, which have impacted women's athletics.
In the exclusive statement from Bianco's campaign, Percival praised Bianco’s resistance to state COVID-19 mandates while backing the sheriff’s position on biological sex in sports divisions:
"Sheriff Chad Bianco is the ONLY person I trust to lead California out of failure and back into greatness. Chad had the backbone to face Gavin Newsom and the Democrat establishment during COVID," Percival said, adding, "While the rest of the country was shut down, businesses and churches continued running like normal.
"California needs a governor who respects the Constitution. I’m all in for Chad Bianco and I’m telling everyone I know to do the same. As an athlete, seeing men dominate women’s sports in California is just another reminder we need real leadership and that’s what Sheriff Bianco offers."
With Gov. Gavin Newsom termed out, Bianco has emerged as one of the leading conservative candidates alongside media personality Steve Hilton.
BIANCO SAYS ‘DEMOCRAT POLICY IS INDEFENSIBLE’ AS GOP CANDIDATES TOP CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR POLLING
The endorsement comes at a pivotal moment in the June 2026 primary race.
Bianco has built his campaign around public safety and cultural issues, including promises to repeal California laws protecting transgender student-athletes.
He has also pledged to use state funding pressure to enforce biological-sex categories in school sports.
The issue intensified following Bianco’s recent criticism of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) over Jurupa Valley senior and trans athlete AB Hernandez, who's been dominating girls’ track and field events in recent weeks.
Previously speaking with Fox News Digital, Bianco doubled down on his stance when asked whether school employees should face consequences for complying with state policies regarding transgender athletes and youth gender transitions.
"There is no place in girls' sports for boys to compete against them," Bianco said. "It is ethically and morally wrong to allow them into locker rooms and restrooms."
Bianco continued, "Elected officials are only afraid of one thing, and that's not getting elected again. When they know they're not going to get elected again because they're harming our girls, or they're not protecting our kids, they're going to finally be forced to do the right thing."
Percival's endorsement injects undeniable credibility into Bianco’s campaign just as the Republican primary reaches a boiling point.
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Sen Blackburn says sports betting hearing likely first of ‘several’ as Congress weighs federal action
Sen. Marsha Blackburn says Congress is not done looking into the rapid expansion of sports betting and prediction markets.
In fact, Wednesday's hearing may have only been the beginning.
Blackburn, R-Tenn., who chairs the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Technology, and Data Privacy, told Fox News Digital/OutKick after the hearing that lawmakers now have to determine where Congress should step in and where states should remain in control. Plus, she stressed the importance of protecting the integrity of American sports before the problem gets worse.
"One of the things for consideration today [was] looking at the impact on the integrity of sports and gaming and then saying, all right, how do we make certain that we preserve fair play," Blackburn said.
The hearing, titled "No Sure Bets: Protecting Sports Integrity in America," examined the rise of legal sports betting, sports-related prediction markets, gambling addiction, social media advertising and recent scandals involving alleged manipulation in professional and college sports.
BRENDAN SORSBY AT CROSSROADS: NCAA GAMBLING PROBE COULD END TEXAS TECH QB'S COLLEGE CAREER
Blackburn said one of the biggest takeaways was the need to figure out the proper role for federal regulators versus state gaming officials.
"You heard a good bit today about the regulation on the prediction markets, the difference there against what you have as betting and gaming," Blackburn told Fox News Digital/OutKick. "And we are going to have to parse out what part of that should be federal and what is best left to state regulators."
That question sat at the center of the hearing.
Sports betting is currently regulated primarily at the state level. But prediction markets, which allow users to trade contracts tied to future events, have argued that they fall under federal commodities law and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
That distinction has become more important as some prediction markets have moved into sports-related event contracts.
To critics, that looks a lot like sports betting with a different name.
"You do have to ask that legitimate question, what part of this prediction market participation is going to fall into that betting?" Blackburn said. "And what part is called by just another name, betting? And then what is more of a traditional prediction market, if there is such a thing at this point, and should stay with the CFTC."
American Gaming Association President and CEO Bill Miller was much more direct during the hearing.
Miller accused prediction markets of operating as "backdoor sports betting operations" and argued they are undercutting the state and tribal gaming systems that have been built since the Supreme Court struck down the federal sports betting ban (PASPA) in 2018.
"They are running sports books at a national level without any of the regulatory constraints and frameworks that have been created either in Tennessee or in any other state that has chosen to legalize sports betting," Miller testified.
Former Rep. Patrick McHenry, who now serves as senior advisor for the Coalition for Prediction Markets, pushed back.
McHenry argued that prediction markets are fundamentally different from sportsbooks because users trade against each other, while the platform collects transaction fees.
"In a casino or sportsbook, the house sets the odds and profits when customers lose," McHenry said. "In a prediction market exchange, participants trade with one another, while the platform earns transaction fees for facilitating the market."
Several senators were not buying it.
Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, said he would have a hard time explaining the distinction to people back home.
"If I were hearing that back in Utah, I would say I think something might happen, I’m going to put money down on it, and I have the chance of either making more money or losing money on that," Curtis said. "Tell me how that is not gambling."
Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev. put it even more plainly.
"If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck and looks like a duck, it’s probably a duck," Rosen said.
But prediction markets were only part of the hearing.
Blackburn also made clear she is concerned about young people being exposed to gambling content online.
In her opening statement, Blackburn said sports bring families together and teach young people about "teamwork, discipline, sacrifice, and fair play." But she warned that fans do not want to wonder whether games are being rigged or whether a player missed a free throw "to make an extra buck on the side."
She also pointed to the explosion of legal sports betting on mobile devices.
"What was once limited to a handful of locations is now available in almost every single corner of the country," Blackburn said during the hearing. "It is carried with you night and day. It is right there on your mobile device."
Currently, sports betting is legal in 39 states and Washington, D.C. Prediction markets are largely legal in all 50 states.
Blackburn then turned to young people.
"Our young men are in crisis, with over one third of boys between the ages of 11 and 17 admitting to gambling last year," Blackburn said. "Sixty percent of those who have seen gambling content online said they had it surfaced through their social media algorithms. It was served to [them]. They didn’t search for it. This is not safe. It needs to stop."
She added during the hearing that "advertising to minors is disgusting."
After the hearing, Blackburn told Fox News Digital/OutKick that companies cannot simply say they are not targeting minors while advertising in spaces where minors spend time.
"I do indeed think that they need to bring some clarity to this," Blackburn said. "I thought whether it was gaming or whether it was prediction markets, the fact that they’re both advertising on these social media platforms — now we know who is the primary audience and the target audience when it comes to these platforms like Instagram, like Snapchat, TikTok."
Blackburn said those platforms are designed to capture younger users and keep them engaged.
"You look at the fact that you’ve got these advertisements and these pop-up ads and algorithms that continue to bring things back to these children," Blackburn said. "It’s not a one and done... It is the repetition."
That, she said, is where the industry's defense is not good enough.
"It is insufficient to say, ‘We do not market to teenagers and we do not market to young people under the age of 18 or 21,’ when those are the places that they are advertising," Blackburn said.
Dr. Harry Levant, director of gambling policy at the Public Health Advocacy Institute and a recovering gambling addict, delivered some of the most forceful testimony of the hearing.
He warned that microbetting, bets tied to rapid in-game events, is especially dangerous.
"The human brain is not built to absorb an addictive product every 10 seconds or less," Levant testified.
Levant argued that sports leagues, gambling companies, data providers and technology companies have created a model that pushes fans toward constant in-game wagering.
"Sports have become the equivalent of a nonstop slot machine because of these data deals," Levant said.
Scott Sadin, co-founder and co-CEO of Integrity Compliance 360, also testified that some bets are more vulnerable to manipulation than others.
"I certainly would categorize a couple of different types of markets as more vulnerable or more susceptible to manipulation," Sadin said. "Generally speaking, player props, microbetting, in-game markets, circumstances in which an individual or singular person may have more impact than a group."
That matters because recent scandals have already raised concerns about athletes, inside information and suspicious betting patterns.
Blackburn referenced "high profile examples of match-fixing in the NBA and MLB" in her prepared opening statement and said they challenge Americans’ trust in the integrity of sports.
One of the clearest examples is the federal case involving Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, who were indicted on charges tied to an alleged scheme to rig specific pitches so bettors could cash prop bets. Both players have pleaded not guilty, and MLB said in March that the pitchers would remain on non-disciplinary leave without pay while the league’s investigation and legal proceedings continue.
Tennessee Sports Wagering Council Executive Director Mary Beth Thomas testified that Tennessee has already moved to block some of the highest-risk bets. She said the state bans individual college player prop bets, live team props for college sports and wagers tied to injuries or penalties.
Thomas also said Tennessee regulators had investigated 25 potential integrity cases involving suspicious betting activity that could have indicated the use of inside information. She said 17 of those matters had been closed and referred to sports governing bodies or law enforcement, including 13 referrals to the FBI.
Blackburn praised Thomas during the hearing and pointed to the work being done by state regulators. But she also said Congress now has to decide whether that state-by-state approach is enough.
"That is one of the issues that we as a committee are going to need to address," Blackburn told Fox News Digital/OutKick. "What is going to be a minimum federal standard and the states can set their regulation accordingly? Do we want to do this, or is this an activity that should be left directly to the states?"
Blackburn said the committee is not finished.
"This was the first of what I think will be several hearings," she said.
Blackburn said states are already exercising their authority, including through lawsuits against some prediction-market companies. But she warned that inaction could push more gambling activity into offshore or illicit spaces without real oversight.
"One of the concerns is the fact that you would see more offshore illicit, illegitimate activity, that there would be no way for there to be any governance or oversight," Blackburn said.
That, in her view, is why Congress cannot ignore the issue.
"Making certain that laws are in place in the physical space are replicated in some way in the virtual space is going to be important for Congress to step in and take an action," Blackburn said.
JOHN YOO, MICHAEL TOTH: Aloha State lawsuits push radical climate agenda
For years, California was the poster child of environmental overkill. That distinction now belongs to Hawaii. About 2,400 miles away from the West Coast and with no oil fields of its own, the Aloha State depends on imports to fuel its tourism industry, run its grid and make everyday life possible.
But Hawaii’s oil dependence hasn’t kept it from waging an all-out litigation war against energy companies. Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez along with Honolulu and Maui are suing the oil and gas industry for untold billions based on alleged climate-related harms. These sweeping cases reveal the political corruption that infects Hawaii’s legal system and demands federal investigation and pre-emption of Hawaii’s shakedown of the energy industry.
First, the lawsuits conveniently exclude the state’s sole refinery and leading supplier of gasoline and jet fuel, Par Pacific and its subsidiary Par Hawaii. According to campaign finance filings, its executives have donated to the state’s Democratic leaders, including Gov. Josh Green. But under Hawaii’s theory of the case, the energy refiners in the state, not to mention its energy users, produce the emissions that most directly harm the islands’ environment.
Second, the courts in other solidly blue jurisdictions have repeatedly rejected identical cases, citing longstanding precedent putting the federal government in charge of setting interstate and international emissions standards.
But prominent Aloha State judges, including those involved in the Honolulu case, have collaborated with the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) and its Climate Judiciary Project (CJP), which calls the impartiality of the state judiciary into question. The organizations share staff and donors with Sher Edling LLP, the law firm representing Honolulu and numerous other local governments suing energy companies over climate change.
The close relationship between ELI and climate lawyers didn’t stop three justices on the Hawaii Supreme Court from participating in ELI-CLP sponsored events. One of them, Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald further directed his clerk to help an expert working on the climate cases to understand the Daubert standard "used by judges to assess an expert witness’s scientific testimony" and previously provided a "helpful" primer to Kerry Emmanuel, an expert retained by the climate plaintiffs in another case against the energy industry.
Despite these behind-the-scenes efforts, Chief Justice Recktenwald authored the Hawaii Supreme Court’s opinion in the Honolulu case, which delivered a major win for the climate plaintiffs. One of the chief justice’s colleagues displayed his bias even more overtly in a concurrence that suggested the U.S. Supreme Court should reach the same outcome regardless of the text of federal law because the high court "could use a little Aloha."
SUPREME COURT MUST FREEZE THE CLIMATE EXTORTION OF OUR ENERGY INDUSTRY
Third, after the Hawaii Supreme Court declined to dismiss the Honolulu case, the presiding lower state court has let the plaintiffs’ attorneys use discovery to conduct a fishing expedition in service of a broader anti-energy lawfare campaign. Hawaii’s courts should have suspended their proceedings while the foundational legal question underlying the roughly 30 identical lawsuits — whether state tort claims against energy companies for global climate change belong in federal or state court — is currently under consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court in Suncor Energy v. Boulder County.
Outside of Hawaii, judges in California, New Jersey and elsewhere have paused climate litigation for an obvious reason. The Supreme Court gets thousands of petitions every year, but agrees to hear only a tiny fraction of them. In the extremely rare event that a case makes it to the nation’s highest court, there’s a distinct possibility the justices will set a new standard or wipe out entire categories of claims altogether.
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Honolulu is effectively racing to extract maximum document production and hundreds of sworn executive testimonies before a ruling potentially narrows or eliminates the legal basis for all these suits. A court-appointed special master responsible has ordered the energy companies to rummage through their files for 75 years of documents connected with the production and sale of energy products around the world.
Apart from the massive cost that this paper chase would impose on the companies, the documents won’t prove consumer deception. That requires the company to conceal information that the public didn’t know already. Consumers have been aware of global warming for decades but have chosen to use fossil fuels at the same levels they did 50 years ago.
More information about climate change may be helpful but it’s not sufficiently compelling to get most of the world to stop demanding the energy they need to do things they want, like cool their homes, power their devices, and maybe even vacation in Hawaii. That’s assuming the Aloha State hasn’t by then turned on the travel industry for aiding and abetting oil and gas producers.
Michael Toth is the director of research at the Civitas Institute.
Trump task force is tackling $250 billion in government fraud. It’s just getting started
For years, the American government failed to protect its citizens from fraudsters, and instead let people, often foreign-born immigrants from the developing world, take advantage of this nation’s generous spirit and bleed its taxpayers dry. Thanks to President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, the American people are learning in real-time that we don’t have to accept this. Like all anti-civilizational forces, putting up with fraudsters fleecing the American taxpayer is a choice. We choose "no more," and the president’s new Anti-Fraud Taskforce is our instrument of justice.
Vance, vice chair of the Anti-Fraud Taskforce, and Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson, are leading an unprecedented whole-of-government effort in the war against fraud. Unlike the Biden administration, Vance has warned that no amount of fraud is too small to prosecute, saying, "We [did] not prosecute fraud in this country if it’s under $1.5 million dollars per year." How absurd and insulting is that? The average lifetime tax contribution of one U.S. citizen is approximately $500,000. Before the task force, the government would simply turn a blind eye to fraud so large it would wipe out the lifetime tax contributions of three Americans!
This is the fundamental difference between the Trump administration and those that preceded it. If you allow chaos, disorder and criminality, however small, the entire system will collapse. But if you refuse to cede any ground to the criminals, you can take back the whole field of battle. And as Trump has said, we are in a war on fraud. Finally, it’s a war we are winning.
Americans deserve better than to be ripped off and deprived of programs designed to help Americans in need. Perhaps this is the most crucial insight Vance brings to this war. The very programs that helped him and his family at their time of greatest need are at risk of becoming insolvent if something urgent isn’t done and done now.
But going to war requires strategy. Thankfully, the task force has one, and it’s working at unmatched levels. Prior to Trump’s return to office, government agencies waited until fraudsters had already been given a payout before even checking the legitimacy of recipients. Anyone who is familiar with financial prosecutions understands that it’s much easier to police fraud before the money leaves the account.
Previously, the government had a "pay-and-chase" policy, which is idiotic in the extreme. It’s believed that every year the United States loses about $250 billion to fraud but recovers only about $10 billion, a recovery rate of just 4%.
Today, the administration is implementing advanced forensic accounting and fraud detection tools to identify problematic applications before fraudsters are handed a check. Advanced AI tools are being utilized to detect suspicious patterns, inconsistencies and concealment schemes. And they’re targeting more than just Medicare and Medicaid fraud. The task force is also going after high-risk programs like SNAP benefits, student loans and small business loans, to name a few.
In just two months of operation, the White House’s anti-fraud task force has exposed not millions, but tens of billions of dollars in fraud that should have been used to help needy American children and families. The Department of Justice’s new Fraud Division, led by Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald, has already put fraudsters on notice. They’ve executed 22 search warrants against fraudulent day care centers in Minnesota, including the "Quality Learing Center." They’ve launched a major crackdown in LA against Medicare fraudsters and even secured multi-year prison sentences against fraudsters in a $522 million healthcare scheme.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz told the vice president in a press conference that he kicked off 800 questionable healthcare providers from the Medicare system, and none of them even bothered to call in to contest the decision!
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Despite the challenges of such operations, billions of tax dollars have already been taken out of the pockets of thieves and returned to the American treasury where they can be used to benefit our own citizens instead of scammers, foreigners and people who hate this country.
The vice president’s leadership is sparking a movement in Washington and beyond. The House of Representatives Oversight Committee launched its own Fraud Division led by rising star Texas Republican Rep. Brandon Gill. The Daily Wire exposed a massive fraud scandal in Ohio during an independent investigation. ICE identified 10,000 fraudulent foreign students enrolled in their Optional Practical Training program. The White House’s task force has set an example for combatting fraud, and other leaders are taking note.
Americans are used to vice presidents getting pet projects put in their policy portfolio, only to see them wither and die on the vine. Does anyone remember Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris as border czar? But instead of offering symbolic gestures and making grand speeches with zero follow through, Vance and Ferguson are doing the opposite. They speak plainly, with unapologetic moral clarity, but they carry a very big and very serious stick.
Putting up with fraud is a choice, and finally, it feels like the American people’s voices are being heard in Washington. We choose no more fraud. Vice President Vance, thank you for choosing America.
MORNING GLORY: US must create a demilitarized zone along the Hormuz Strait
The United States, alongside coalition allies like the UK and France, established two no-fly zones in Iraq in the 1990s after the first Gulf War that followed Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990, which remained in place until the major combat operations in Iraq ended after the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
The northern "no-fly" zone was established in April, 1991. The southern no-fly zone was established in August, 1992. The northern zone was designed to protect Iraqi Kurds from more retribution from Saddam Hussein. The southern zone was established to protect the Shia populations there that Saddam had massacred after his massive defeat at the hands of the "Coalition of the Willing" in the "100 Hours" campaign to expel Saddam s forces from Kuwait. Those two operations were low intensity conflicts and carried on for years. It’s time to reprise that sort of operation.
The Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway, protected by customary law of the sea for as long as humankind has voyaged, though never without peril from pirates or, since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran. While the Iranian navy’s capital ships have been sunk, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps ("IRGC") continues to menace shipping in the Strait via mines, drones and missiles, both short range and longer range.
TRUMP PRESSES NATO PARTNERS ON SUPPORT AS HEGSETH BLASTS HESITATION
The U.S. and its allies can and should recommence combat operations against the IRGC. The rump regime(s) in control of the IRGC or parts of it need to be shattered to an even greater level of destruction as they do not yet understand the depth of their defeat, or in fact relish martyrdom which we should oblige. Their guns and missiles can be silenced. The sooner that President Trump orders that done the better.
After major combat operations end again, they should be followed by a "no fire" zone extending back at least a hundred miles from the coast of the Strait. That distance allows for sustainable defense against most if not all of Iran’s remaining arsenal. If firing continues, the allies shall have to insist on a "no movement" zone in the same area. The Strait is of too much importance to the global economy and all nations to allow a pirate regime that cannot exercise command and control of its armed forces to be close to the shore.
The "no fire/no movement" zone will require ongoing U.S. operations for some time and will also provide the litmus test for whether NATO endures as a useful alliance. Failure to take up its share of the policing of the Strait is simply to stick the U.S. with the tab.
If and when that happens, Europe — 80 plus years after the end of World War II and 30 plus years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union — will need to pay its own way if taking care of international waterways becomes a U.S.-only burden. We can shoulder that burden alone as well as deterrence of China in the Pacific.
If obliged to do that without European help (and not just token help) it will be time to serve notice on the Atlantic Alliance that its sugar daddy days are done. I’m not the only Reagan conservative to feel this way. Europe has changed, not the U.S., and America must take care of itself first, not a wealthy but washed-out Euro-elite that seems to believe it is owed our protection regardless of their feckless defense policies and repulsive neutrality in the conflict with Iran.
This is a hinge moment for the West. Don’t be surprised if our alliances in the Gulf, like "the Quad" in the Pacific, take the front and perhaps only seats at the table with the United States.
Ingratitude burns. Europe’s scalds, especially after not once or twice, but three times having to save the continent from dictators bent on destroying the freedoms of the people living west of Russia. It’s not written in the ages that the "new world" must always come to the defense of the old, especially when the old can fully well pay its own way.
Hugh Hewitt is a Fox News contributor and host of "The Hugh Hewitt Show" heard weekday afternoons from 3 PM to 6 PM ET on the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast on Salem News Channel. Hugh drives Americans home on the East Coast and to lunch on the West Coast on over 400 affiliates nationwide, and on all the streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel’s news roundtable, hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6pm ET. A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996 where he teaches Constitutional Law. Hewitt launched his eponymous radio show from Los Angeles in 1990. Hewitt has frequently appeared on every major national news television network, hosted television shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for every major American paper, has authored a dozen books and moderated a score of Republican candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and four Republican presidential debates in the 2015-16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio show and his column on the Constitution, national security, American politics and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump over his 40 years in broadcasting. This column previews the lead story that will drive his radio/ TV show today.