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Democratic socialists seize the moment with extreme, anti-American views that badly tarnish the party
Socialism has long been deemed a dirty word in American politics.
It smacked of a rejection of the capitalistic system that had fueled the country's rise to superpower status, too reminiscent of a dreamy, share-the-wealth philosophy that goes against the grain of fierce corporate competition.
Looked at another way, the U.S. has a mixed system, with a government-run retirement program, government-run health care systems for the elderly and the poor, and a spate of programs to help farmers, small businesses, schools, veterans, the unemployed and so on. It isn’t exactly a European-style welfare state, but perhaps a close cousin.
Right now, socialists are on a roll in Democratic politics.
DEMOCRATS' NEW-WAVE SOCIALISTS ARE WINNING PRIMARIES BUT FACE A HARSH REALITY IN GENERAL ELECTIONS
Following the lead of its most visible champion, Zohran Mamdani, they are shoving the party dramatically to the left – and with some deep, dark elements, especially on foreign policy.
This amounts to a gift-wrapped Fourth of July present to the Republicans, who are happy to spend the next few years running against these new-wave socialists.
Maybe that word no longer carries sinister overtones, because President Trump says the three far-left candidates that the New York mayor successfully pushed for Congress are "Communists." That sounds like a throwback to the 1950s witch hunts known as McCarthyism.
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But this goes beyond Washington and Seattle also electing socialists as mayors, and the obvious point is that most of the country is far to the right compared with the liberal cauldron that is New York City.
The new socialists may have excitement on their side, but some of their views are downright dangerous. And they wage their warfare quite openly under the banner of the Democratic Socialists of America.
"The Democratic Party lets DSA candidates run as Democrats, even though the DSA is ideologically committed to a hostile takeover of the party," says Jonah Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the Dispatch, a conservative, anti-Trump news site. "The DSA isn’t a formal party; it calls itself ‘a political and activist organization, not a party.’ What it is is a fifth column within the Democratic Party. There is no sensible, informed Democrat who thinks these people are good for their party."
What about the left? On the liberal show "The View," Joy Behar announced that "I’m not scared of the term. Social Security is democratic socialism. Partly unemployment insurance is. The people who pick up your garbage, the people who take the fire out of your house. All of these are democratic socialism."
But it gets worse.
The new socialists are fervently anti-Israel, which clearly deserves criticism for Bibi Netanyahu’s endless wars, but cements the view that the Democratic Party, even in New York, has turned its back on our longtime Middle East ally. That reflects the party’s shift as well.
Based on their own words, many of them hate America as well as Israel.
Trump wasted no time escalating his rhetoric: "Assassination is a big deal for them. They are animals… They will kill your people. And that’s what they’re about."
The three congressional candidates successfully pushed by Mamdani are openly pro-Palestine. And the mayor, who has used the phrase "from the river to the sea" – meaning wipe Israel off the map – takes the same stance, even in a city with the largest Jewish population outside Israel.
LEFTIST DEMOCRATS ARE BEING THROWN UNDER THE BUS, AND SOCIALISTS ARE IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT
That seems to be their overriding issue. There’s nothing wrong with the Democratic incumbents who were knocked off – they just weren’t sufficiently anti-Israel.
The most outrageous of the Mamdani-backed winners is Darializa Avila Chevalier, a community organizer and doctoral student who has supported defunding police and prisons, abolishing borders, eliminating ICE, seizing private property and nationalizing major industries.
The day after the savage Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas that butchered 1,200 Israelis and took hostages, Chevalier attended a pro-Palestinian rally in Times Square. She was celebrating a horrifying terrorist assault.
Chevalier has also called Joe Biden a "rapist" and used the F-word against Kamala Harris. And this is not ancient history, with some of the messages posted as recently as 2022.
As pointed out by National Review, Chevalier is hardly alone.
Aber Kawas, the Democratic nominee for a New York state Senate seat, contends that America deserved the 9/11 attacks: Seriously.
"The idea that we have to apologize for, like, a terror attack that, like, a couple people did, and then there’s no apologies or reparations for genocides and for slavery, et cetera, is something that I kind of find, like, reprehensible," Kawas says.
Chris Rabb, a Pennsylvania state rep and Democratic nominee for Congress, blamed the Bondi Beach massacre of Australian Jews on "Zionists." Adam Hamawy, a former Army doctor and now a Democratic nominee for Congress from New Jersey, worked with the "blind sheikh," Omar Abdel-Rahman, who was convicted in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He even testified on the sheikh’s behalf. He now says he’s disavowed Abdel-Rahman’s calls for violence.
Another of Mamdani’s winners, Claire Valdez, would not only abolish ICE but says "detention and deportation have been used as a weapon, not just against immigrants, but against the entire working class."
And out west, Melat Kiros, another socialist running in Colorado, was asked by a local anchor about a firebombing attack on peaceful protesters supporting Jewish hostages held by Hamas – and refused to condemn it.
"I don’t know what was in the heart of the perpetrator," she said.
LEFT, LEFTER AND LEFTIST: DEMOCRATS COULD BE DEFINED BY RADICAL, BIG CITY MAYORS
Ugh. That’s a really low bar – and she failed to clear it.
Do these sound like the kind of people who should be the face of the Democratic Party?
New York Rep. Tom Suozzi has rounded up 12 other Democratic lawmakers to fight back. Under the banner "Promise to America," these more moderate liberals are declaring themselves champions of capitalism, police and patriotism.
"We disagree with MAGA. We disagree with socialism," Suozzi says. "We believe the vast majority of America wants common-sense, mainstream leadership, not political extremism."
It’s a tiny group with little influence, but the Suozzi gang is trying to send a message that the party is not the captive of crazy socialists.
"I’m a capitalist, not a socialist… I’m not ashamed of America," Suozzi told Fox News Digital.
James Carville flipped out in an X-rated rant, invoking Chevalier and saying: "Lady, I ain’t in the same party as you… I don’t want to be in a political party that denies the right of the state of Israel to exist. I just can’t do that."
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The socialists are hot right now, a fringe group that has somehow seized the national spotlight, and which Republicans will spend years attacking.
America deserved 9/11? A barbaric terrorist attack on Israelis should be celebrated? Get rid of the police?
Even if only a handful of far-left zealots are elected, they will set the tone for an increasingly extreme party with views that most voters would deem repulsive.
Mississippi law could create statewide registry of undocumented immigrants
A new Mississippi law set to take effect this week will allow the state's top law enforcement agency to compile a list of all illegal immigrants living in the state, alarming immigrant advocates who fear it could be a new tool to target immigrants as part of President Donald Trump's mass deportation plan.
The law, which will go into effect on Wednesday, states that the state Department of Public Safety "may use all reasonable lawful investigative means available" to determine the number of illegal immigrants residing in Mississippi and their identities, including by collecting their names, addresses, country of origin and whether they are an adult or child.
The department may also list any criminal history and the date, location and status of deportation proceedings.
The agency is instructed to share information on immigrants suspected of violating laws with state and local authorities.
The law does not expressly require or prohibit sharing the database with federal immigration authorities, though other provisions of SB 2114 require the Department of Public Safety and county detention agencies to attempt cooperation agreements with ICE under Section 287(g).
State Sen. Angela Hill, a Republican who sponsored the bill, argued that states have a right and obligation to assist the federal government in stopping illegal immigration, which she claims contributes to crimes such as human and drug trafficking.
Hill said the new measure "seems like commonsense to me."
"In order to address the problems caused by illegal immigration, we need to understand the magnitude of the problem. Identifying the number and identity of illegal aliens in Mississippi is a concrete way to better understand the problem," she said.
The Mississippi law authorizes an ongoing effort to keep track of immigrants illegally in the state for the next two years, which could include people who overstay visas.
Immigrant advocates warn that the law could complicate things in Mississippi as people overstay visas, apply for new forms of legal status and move into and out of the state.
"You can be undocumented today, and then have status tomorrow, and then lose it again next month, and then regain it three months from now," Efrén Olivares, vice president of litigation and legal strategy at the National Immigration Law Center, a nonprofit that advocates for low-income immigrants, told The Associated Press.
"It’s practically unworkable, but it’s also very worrisome, because it’s eerily reminiscent of other countries that have created lists of certain groups of people," Olivares added.
Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, a nonprofit think tank that supports immigration restrictions, said state officials must come up with "a credible and fairly foolproof way of correctly determining someone's immigration status."
However, Vaughan argued the law "makes a lot of sense," saying that it "raises the likelihood that someone’s illegal presence is going to come to the attention of federal authorities."
Mississippi has one of the country's smallest percentages of illegal immigrants with fewer than 28,000 people, which amounts to less than 1% of its population, according to the American Immigration Council, citing 2023 Census Bureau data.
Victoria Francis, deputy director of state and local initiatives for the American Immigration Council, a nonprofit that advocates on behalf of immigrants, warned that the law has the potential to redirect law enforcement resources away from protecting the public in favor of investigating immigrants who may be contributing to the economy.
"A mandate like this invites profiling and turning entire communities into targets," Francis told The Associated Press.
American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi's policy and advocacy manager, Lydia Grizzell, added that the law could harm the trust between police and residents.
"That increases the likelihood of individuals not reaching out to law enforcement when it’s needed – and that is opposite of the mission," she said.
More than 100 immigration-related laws have been adopted in states across the country this year.
Republican-led states have sought to support Trump's immigration crackdown by requiring local sheriffs to sign cooperative agreements with ICE, reinforcing eligibility restrictions for public benefits and instructing election clerks to check voter rolls against the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system in an effort to identify noncitizens.
Mississippi's new law appears to be similar to a 2021 executive order by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that directed the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to "use all lawful investigative means available" to determine the number and identities of all "illegal aliens" who had been transported from the nation's southwest border to Florida during the border crisis under the Biden administration.
Meanwhile, blue states have attempted to limit Trump's immigration raids, including by banning cooperative pacts with ICE, prohibiting ICE from wearing masks to shield their identities and barring immigration arrests in schools, hospitals and other sensitive locations without judicial warrants.
At the federal level, the Trump administration has increased enforcement of a decades-old law that requires noncitizens to register with the U.S. government.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Marine missing from USS Anchorage now focus of recovery mission off California coast
Efforts to find a Marine who went missing from the USS Anchorage during integrated training off the coast of Southern California turned to a recovery mission, according to Navy officials.
The Marine was aboard the ship as part of the training with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit based at Camp Pendleton and the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group.
The search began on Thursday before it later turned into a search and recovery operation on Friday, featuring three surface ships and 12 aircraft from the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Air Force.
COAST GUARD HELICOPTER CRASHES DURING ALASKA TRAINING MISSION, INJURING FOUR CREW MEMBERS
The search covered about 2,400 square miles, officials said.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and all who are affected during this difficult time," the Navy said in a news release this week about the missing Marine.
The Marine's name was being withheld pending the notification of family, the Navy said.
The USS Anchorage is an amphibious transport dock ship based at Naval Base San Diego.
This is at least the second time in six weeks that the U.S. military has had to search for missing service members.
The remains of the second of two U.S. Army soldiers who went missing during military training exercises in Morocco were recovered in May, ending a multinational search operation that utilized air, naval and artificial intelligence assets, the Army said at the time.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Argentine soccer player Lucas Trejo loses wife, two children in Venezuela earthquake building collapse: report
The 74-hour search for the family of Argentine soccer star Lucas Trejo ended this weekend after rescue crews recovered the bodies of his wife and two children from the rubble of the apartment building that collapsed in Wednesday's twin earthquakes.
Trejo, 38, a center back for Venezuelan club Sport Maritimo de La Guaira, was in Caracas with his team when earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 struck the country's northern coast.
After learning his family's apartment building had collapsed in Playa Grande, La Guaira, he immediately traveled to the disaster zone to join the search.
"Our building in Playa Grande collapsed. I don't know anything about my family," Trejo wrote on Instagram during the early hours of the search. "Please pray for them and share this message in case someone saw them. I want to believe they weren't there."
33 RESCUED FROM VENEZUELAN RUBBLE: SURVIVAL WINDOW DESPERATELY FADING WITH NEARLY 50,000 MISSING
Trejo's father and brother traveled from Argentina to assist firefighters, military personnel and volunteers searching through the debris.
The search ended after rescuers recovered the bodies of Trejo's wife, Yanina Maranella, and their children, Aaron and Ainhoa.
The tragedy prompted an outpouring of support from across the South American soccer community.
EX-MLB PLAYER SAYS WIFE DIED IN DEVASTATING VENEZUELA EARTHQUAKES
Fellow Argentine footballer Edson Tortolero, a close friend of Trejo's, mourned the family's deaths.
"Today my heart breaks into a thousand pieces," Tortolero wrote. "There are no words that can ease so much pain. I ask God to give Lucas strength to endure this unimaginable loss."
Club Sport Maritimo de La Guaira confirmed the deaths in a statement on Sunday.
"We join the grief that overwhelms player Lucas Trejo for the passing of his wife, Yanina Maranella, and of his children, Aaron and Ainhoa Trejo," the club said. "Peace to their souls and comfort for Lucas and all his loved ones."
Trejo's family is among the victims of the earthquakes that devastated parts of Venezuela's northern coast. Emergency crews remain in the region as recovery efforts continue.
Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com / Follow along on X: @alejandroaveela
Rock star forced to issue plea after shocking incident at Philadelphia tour stop
Noah Kahan issued a stern warning to his fans after a messy situation.
A viral video picked up steam Saturday following Kahan's "The Great Divide" tour stop in Philadelphia, which appeared to show pieces of fecal matter on the floor at Citizens Bank Park.
The "Stick Season" singer pleaded with future attendees to prioritize restroom breaks before admitting he once had his own on-stage excrement experience.
KATY PERRY FORCED TO CANCEL BELGIUM FESTIVAL SET HOURS BEFORE TAKING THE STAGE DUE TO SEVERE WEATHER
"If you have to poop at a show please dear god just go to the bathroom lmao," Kahan shared on X Saturday morning.
"I’ve pooped my pants as much as the next 29 year old but you guys gotta understand there’s a venue worker out there with a 1000 yard stare after dealing with that."
Kahan, 29, continued, "I s-— myself onstage in Charlottesville but that's because I am dedicated to my craft."
In the clip shared on TikTok, one user showed off floor seats which were surrounded by what appeared to be fecal matter.
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"45,000 people and I end up seated right behind her," the user's friend wrote.
One person begged to ask if not all was what it seemed, and wrote, "Hear me out... what if it was dirt on their shoes? As a horse girl... sometimes I track mud in like this."
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The creator responded, "She squatted and took a s---. Security was screaming at her to go to the bathroom."
On Sunday's tour stop in Toronto, Kahan asked his fans to take a pledge against bad bathroom standards.
"I solemnly swear I will not s--- my pants," Kahan made fans recite in a video circulating on X. "And, if I do, I won't take it from my pants and put it on the floor."
Kahan released his fourth studio album, "The Great Divide," in April, two years after earning a best new artist Grammy nomination for "Stick Season."
His 57-stop tour began earlier this month in Orlando, and concludes in Paris at the end of the year.
Sloppy bathroom habits appear to be trending in live music venues.
Olivia Rodrigo recently delved into unique behavior she's witnessed at concerts while appearing on KISS FM UK.
"I have been to certain concerts and certain festivals where people wear diapers so that they can be front row of the show," Rodrigo said before adding, "and that's been an experience as a performer that I have smelled."
Lawsuit filed after tree dubbed 'Widow Maker' fatally crushes man at Texas BBQ restaurant
The family of a Texas father of four is suing after the man was allegedly "fatally crushed by the preventable falling" of a "diseased" pecan tree while he was eating at a BBQ restaurant.
Kirk Foyle, 64, died after a May 19 when a tree fell on him at Green Mesquite BBQ in Austin, according to the lawsuit, Fox 7 reported. The tree was hanging over an outdoor patio area where Foyle was eating as storms moved through the area.
The tree, which is referred to in the complaint as a "Widow Maker," was located at 1410 Barton Springs Rd, but parts of the tree extended into Green Mesquite’s outdoor patio area, where Foyle was seated, according to the outlet.
WOMAN KILLED BY FLYING RESTAURANT UMBRELLA IN FREAK ACCIDENT AT SOUTH CAROLINA LAKESIDE RESTAURANT
The tree was allegedly never properly inspected by restaurant staff or management at a neighboring business, Aspen Hatter, despite being "located on, or in part on, property owned and controlled" by the businesses, according to the lawsuit.
The complaint alleges that staff at the two local businesses allowed the tree, which allegedly showed signs of disease, to rot and decay without warning customers or taking action to maintain it or remove it.
The lawsuit names Green Mesquite BBQ and nearby property owners as defendants.
"Defendants knew, or in the exercise of reasonable care should have known, of the dangerous, diseased, decayed, and/or structurally compromised condition of this tree and failed to inspect, maintain, remove, and/or warn of its dangerous condition," the complaint alleges.
"Prior to May 19, 2026, the Widow Maker was in a dangerous, compromised, decayed, diseased, and/or structurally defective condition," it reads. "Upon information and belief, the Widow Maker's dangerous condition was visible, apparent, or discoverable upon reasonable inspection, and had existed for a sufficient period of time that defendants knew or, in the exercise of ordinary care, should have known of its condition."
According to the Foyle family, he was sitting on the outdoor patio when the tree "suddenly and violently broke at or near its base and fell" as storms were moving through the area. Foyle's cause of death was determined to be blunt trauma sustained as a result of being struck by a falling tree branch, according to the Travis County Deputy Medical Examiner, the complaint says.
SISTERS, FRIEND CHARGED IN TEXAS MOM'S STABBING DEATH
Green Mesquite has alleged that the tree was struck by lightning the night it crushed Foyle, but his family and their attorneys contend that this never happened and that the lack of upkeep was the reason for his death, according to Law & Crime.
The filing also claims that the property owners of the area where the tree was located took out a $960,000 deed of trust used to refinance the property just a week after Foyle’s death.
The defendants are accused of gross negligence, and the Foyle family is seeking $1,000,000 in damages related to the man's death, mental anguish and legal costs.
Fox News Digital reached out to Green Mesquite and Aspen Hatter for comment.
Chiney Ogwumike's defense of Alyssa Thomas reinforced everything critics say about the WNBA media
It takes remarkable intellectual gymnastics to watch the WNBA suspend Alyssa Thomas for striking Caitlin Clark in the throat and still argue that the controversy was driven more by optics than by the hit itself.
Yet that's exactly where parts of the league's media landed.
When Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas hit Caitlin Clark in the throat last Wednesday, the league eventually corrected the officials' mistake by upgrading the play to a Flagrant 2 and issuing a one-game suspension.
Some WNBA analysts searched for ways to justify the contact.
Among the most egregious defenses came from former WNBA star and ESPN analyst Chiney Ogwumike.
On Sunday, Ogwumike framed the incident as a broader discussion about officiating and social media optics.
WNBA SUSPENDS ALYSSA THOMAS FOR 'RECKLESSLY' HITTING CAITLIN CLARK IN THROAT DURING SCRAMBLE
Rather than squarely criticizing Thomas for the hit, she suggested Clark "can embellish contact in certain situations."
The twisted reasoning from Ogwumike lost a lot of people.
"This was a marquee matchup. When you look at Alyssa Thomas and Caitlin Clark, they're both dominant players, but Alyssa plays on the edge. I know her, and Caitlin, at times, can embellish contact in certain situations," she said.
"Instead, the league found itself in a position where it had to be reactive. Rather than controlling the game through officiating, it ended up responding after the fact by doing something it rarely does, issuing a suspension for a non-call.
"I'll add one more thing. I think that largely happened because of the optics. Watching the play live, in real time, I didn't think much of it because players hit the floor all the time. But once narratives started forming around a freeze-frame image, that changed everything. I do think the league was reacting to the optics of that image."
Reactions on X called out Chiney's bias against Clark.
"And this is why nobody respects Chiney’s opinion on ball," one fan responded.
More reacted, including former NFL lineman Geoff Schwartz.
"Wrong. The league made the right call. Chiney has always hated Caitlin and pushes false narratives. This is a PR clean up for AT and no one is buying it."
"So did Caitlin embellish getting a hand to the neck? I’m lost here."
Schwartz posted his thoughts on X, calling out the shockingly few folks in the media taking Clark's side in this matter.
"Has anyone outside of Lisa Leslie in the WNBA TV media sphere defended Clark. Or at least discussed how that wasn’t a basketball play? Put any blame on Thomas at all? Just seems like everyone is finding ways to make that play seem normal or making Thomas a victim. Seems odd. Like we all see the video. We’ve all watched ball."
It's clear that by framing a play that resulted in a suspension as an optics problem, Ogwumike shifted the conversation away from Thomas' actions and toward the reaction to them.
Physical play against Clark is often framed as something she simply needs to accept rather than something officials should consistently police. Comments like Ogwumike's are likely to reinforce that perception.
By framing a play that resulted in a suspension as an optics problem, Ogwumike shifted the conversation away from Thomas' actions and toward the reaction to them.
If enough fans decide the league and its media are more interested in protecting enforcers than protecting Caitlin Clark, they should not be surprised when they start tuning out.
Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com / Follow along on X: @alejandroaveela
JT Poston posts a 12 on a single hole at Travelers Championship in stunning meltdown
Golf humbles many, including those who are the best in the world.
Just ask J.T. Poston at the Travelers Championship on Sunday.
What started out as a chance to put a low score on the card at the 13th hole after getting greenside in two shots, Poston, the world No. 32 in the Official World Golf Ranking, posted a 12 in an absolute meltdown that derailed his entire day.
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While Poston may not have been in contention, he wasn’t picturing himself at the bottom of the leaderboard by the end of the tournament, but the 12 was the main reason behind finishing 6-over and 1-over on the tournament for 69th place out of 72.
So, what exactly happened to Poston?
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Well, the 13th hole began with a perfect tee shot that found the middle of the fairway. Then, his second shot found a greenside bunker, but professionals sometimes don’t mind finding those bunkers because of how great their short game is. A good bunker shot and Poston has a chance at birdie on the par-5.
But things went awry from there, as the bunker shot came out quite short, leaving him with a chipping situation. Again, professionals understand that’s not the end of the world, with a chance at par after a solid chip.
The nightmare was just beginning for Poston, though, as his fourth shot went clear across the green and ended up in the water on the other side.
From there, Poston had to drop not once, but three separate times because he couldn’t get his ball back on the green. On his 10th stroke, he finally got the ball into a putting position.
Poston still had to keep going, putting his 11th stroke and missing it before a tap-in 12 and ending the meltdown in front of the fans.
Poston spoke about the multiple drop balls near the water that continued to roll back into the drink.
"It’s not really rough, where you can kind of blast it out," Poston said, per Golfweek. "It’s into the grain, but it looks like you can get enough golf ball on it, which is why I kept trying to hit a good chip."
Poston was asked if he even thought about putting it out of the greenside rough with his chips clearly not working out.
"I feel like it’s just going to hop and that takes all the speed out of it," he responded. "And you’ve got this big false front you got to get it over. So my worry with trying to putt it was it would not have enough speed to really get there."
Poston didn’t bounce back on the 14th hole either, as he posted a double bogey on the par-4 to put himself down even more. In the end, Poston posted a 76 on the day to finish off his tournament.
Meanwhile, the Travelers Championship will come down to a playoff that must be played on Monday after Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler found themselves deadlocked at 21-under after the latter sank a putt to force it. Hovland's putt to win it all just missed and Scheffler took advantage of the open opportunity.
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Scottie Scheffler drains clutch putt to force sudden-death Monday playoff with Viktor Hovland at Travelers
For most professional golfers, a five-month gap between PGA Tour victories barely qualifies as a drought.
For world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, it’s long enough to make people wonder if something is wrong.
The Travelers Championship made that notion look pretty silly, even if Scheffler still has to wait until Monday morning to see if the drought ends.
Scheffler and Viktor Hovland finished regulation tied at 21-under Sunday at TPC River Highlands, setting up a rare Monday playoff at the Travelers Championship after weather and darkness prevented the tournament from being decided before the end of the day.
The playoff is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. ET on the par-4 18th hole. The Travelers Championship playoff format is sudden death, meaning the player with the lower score on a playoff hole wins. If Scheffler and Hovland tie the hole, they keep going until someone finally separates.
For Scheffler, it means the winless streak is not over yet.
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For Hovland, it means one more chance to take down the best golfer on the planet after refusing to let Scheffler pull away during a tense, rain-delayed final round.
Scheffler entered the Travelers with just one victory in 2026, which came all the way back in January at The American Express. Of course, "just one victory" is doing a lot of work in that sentence.
It's not like Scheffler has played poorly this season. Quite the opposite, in fact. The world's top player had eight top-five finishes in his first 13 starts this season, including his win at The American Express and runner-up finishes at the Masters, RBC Heritage and Cadillac Championship. He finished third at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and tied for fourth at the U.S. Open last week.
Now, he has another chance to turn a close call into a trophy.
But he will have to sleep on it first.
Scheffler started the final round one shot behind Hovland after a wild first three days in Connecticut. He opened with a 64, nearly shot a historic 59 on Friday before settling for a 60, then posted a 67 on Saturday that left him in solo second place, one back of Hovland.
From there, it looked like Scheffler had a familiar script in front of him.
The best golfer on the planet had 18 holes to hunt down another trophy.
Instead, Hovland made sure the Travelers Championship would need more than 72 holes.
Scheffler, who rarely needs help from other players, got some early help from Hovland. The Norwegian, who birdied 18 on Saturday to post a 64 and take the lead from Scheffler heading into the final round, made bogey on his first hole Sunday to fall back into a tie with Scheffler.
Scheffler had a ho-hum front nine, making one birdie and one bogey for an even-par 35. Hovland dropped a shot on the front with a 36, which allowed a number of players back into the tournament. Collin Morikawa shot a 61 in the final round, posting the clubhouse lead at 20-under several hours before Scheffler and Hovland finished.
For a while, it looked like Morikawa might be the player Scheffler had to beat.
Then Hovland made his move.
Scheffler made birdies at Nos. 10 and 13 to move to 21-under and take a one-shot lead over Morikawa’s clubhouse number. Hovland, who also made birdie on No. 13, and U.S. Open winner Wyndham Clark were still lurking two back, but Scheffler appeared to have control of the tournament when heavy rain started hammering TPC River Highlands and forced a weather delay.
After the delay, Hovland completely reversed the momentum.
He birdied No. 14 to pull within one, then added another birdie at No. 15 to grab a share of the lead. Suddenly, Scheffler was no longer coasting to his 21st PGA Tour victory. He was trying to survive Hovland’s late charge.
Scheffler had his own chance to regain control, but his birdie putt on No. 17 lipped out, leaving the two players tied heading to the 72nd hole.
Both players hit solid approach shots on No. 18, but Scheffler found himself slightly farther away than Hovland. The American gave it too much pace, sending it well past the hole and leaving himself 8 1/2 feet coming back for par.
It wouldn't have mattered if Hovland drained his 25-foot birdie putt, but it just leaked wide of the hole at the end. That meant Scheffler would need to make his putt to send the pair to a playoff.
Is there any doubt what happened next? Scheffler drained the putt, gave an enthusiastic fist pump, and shook Hovland's hand as the two almost certainly exchanged "See ya tomorrows."
It will be the PGA Tour’s first Monday playoff since Rory McIlroy defeated J.J. Spaun in a three-hole aggregate playoff at the 2025 Players Championship last March. This one will be much simpler. Scheffler and Hovland will head back to the 18th hole Monday morning, and the first player to win a playoff hole wins the tournament.
For Scheffler, the situation is familiar in one way and unusual in another.
He has been here before at the Travelers. In 2024, Scheffler defeated his friend Tom Kim in a playoff for his first victory at TPC River Highlands. It only took one hole for Scheffler to beat Kim.
It's a course that has been friendly to Scheffler after a rough start. After missing the cut in his first trip to Connecticut in 2020 and finishing 47th in 2021, he turned the event into one of his best stops on Tour.
Scheffler finished 13th in 2022, fourth in 2023, won in 2024, finished sixth last year and now has another chance to win again in 2026.
Pretty good.
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Still, the drought technically continues.
That's the strange thing about Scheffler right now.
His dry spells would be career-best stretches for just about everyone else. He keeps putting himself near the top of leaderboards, keeps piling up top-five finishes and keeps making deep Sunday runs at the biggest events in golf.
But when the bar is this high, close is not enough.
Scheffler came to TPC River Highlands looking like he was ready to end any talk of a dry spell before it got too loud. Instead, Hovland dragged him all the way into Monday.
Now, one more hole, or maybe several, will decide whether Scheffler’s drought finally ends or stretches into another week.
Either way, the larger point is pretty clear.
Win or lose Monday, there is nothing wrong with Scottie Scheffler.
Mamdani claims democratic socialists can win ‘anywhere’ as Democrats feud over party’s future
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Sunday that democratic socialists can win across the country, using an interview with ABC News' Jonathan Karl to defend his influence after candidates he endorsed swept New York Democratic primaries and deepened his party's ideological fight ahead of November.
"I think a democratic socialist can get elected anywhere across this country for any position," Mamdani told Karl.
Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, made the claim on "This Week" after Karl asked whether a democratic socialist could be elected president. The exchange came after Mamdani-backed candidates Brad Lander, Claire Valez and Darializa Avila Chevalier won Democratic congressional primaries in New York, with Lander and Chevalier defeating incumbent Democrats.
"I think we are seeing a hunger that is not just felt by New Yorkers, but, frankly, by Americans from coast to coast for a new kind of politics, one that puts working people at the heart of it," Mamdani said.
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The mayor rejected warnings from moderate Democrats that socialist wins in New York could hurt the party nationally, arguing that Democrats need a message beyond opposition to President Donald Trump.
"For far too long, all we’ve had to say as a party is opposition to the current administration," Mamdani said. "What do we have to say beyond that?"
Mamdani said the New York results should be viewed as a broader message for Democrats as they look toward the midterms and the 2028 presidential race.
"What these candidates offer is a vision that extends beyond the midterms," Mamdani said. "It extends beyond 2028."
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Karl pressed Mamdani on Chevalier, who has faced scrutiny over past statements and posts supporting the abolition of prisons, borders and police. Chevalier's campaign site lists "Abolish ICE" among her priorities.
"I think what the Democratic Party can win on nationally is a focus on working people," Mamdani said. "I think that we can have disagreements on policy positions."
Karl asked whether Democrats could disagree on "something as basic whether or not there should be prisons."
"There are prisons," Mamdani said. "And what we’re also showing in this city is that safety is not something that’s up for debate."
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Mamdani also framed democratic socialism as governing pragmatism, pointing to his administration's record on child care, tenants, potholes and crime.
"I think democratic socialism at the heart is pragmatic, because if we cannot deliver for working people, then what is this for?" Mamdani said.
The NYPD said earlier this month that New York City recorded its fewest murders, shooting incidents and shooting victims for the first five months of any year in recorded history. Mamdani cited those figures during the interview while defending his administration.
"What we’ve delivered for working people are the very things we were told were impossible," Mamdani said.
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The interview came as a group of moderate Democrats promoted a "Promise to America" pledge declaring, "We are capitalist, not socialist." The pledge also says Democrats should support "secure borders," "safe communities," "fiscal discipline" and "persuasion over purity."
Mamdani dismissed the anti-socialist push when Karl raised it.
"I’m not interested in writing a manifesto or, frankly, in reading one," Mamdani said. "I’m interested in delivering."
Karl also pressed Mamdani on Israel, including whether he supports Israel as a Jewish state. Mamdani said he supports Israel as "a state with equal rights," but declined to endorse the Jewish-state framing.
"I think any state that privileges one religion over the other is one that I can’t tell you I support, whether it be Israel or Saudi Arabia or anywhere else," Mamdani said.