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DAVID MARCUS: Woke Virginia tears down statue of Geneva Convention pioneer
Do not adjust your calendars. You may have seen images this week of Confederate statues coming down in Richmond’s capitol grounds, and thought we had slipped back in time to the tumult of 2020, but no. Rather, the commie Commonwealth of Virginia is still tearing down American history in the year of our Lord 2026.
As bad as the removal of all of these monuments has been, this particular round of damnatio memoriae on Friday, captured in its illiberal net the statue of a man named Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire, whose work provided a major contribution to the Geneva Convention, the global gold standard of wartime humanitarian rules.
McGuire served as a Confederate surgeon for almost the entirety of the Civil War, saving countless lives. One life he failed to save was that of General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, who died under the doctor’s care. A Jackson statue also came down on Friday.
Once again, the good Dr. McGuire could not save Stonewall.
It was under Jackson’s command in 1862 that McGuire established a new humanitarian principle of warfare that we still have with us today, not just in the United States, but across the world.
In May 1862, after the First Battle of Winchester, 6 Union army doctors were captured. It was then that McGuire convinced a reluctant Jackson to release them, and established, with Northern agreement, the Winchester Accord, after which both sides released doctors as non-combatants.
McGuire himself would be released by the North under the accord in 1864, and would go on to be present for the Confederate surrender at Appomattox Courthouse.
The Winchester Accord would be adopted by the Geneva Convention, offering protection to medical personnel in wars that they still enjoy today, and yet, despite all of this, his statue was toppled, just like all the others.
As usual, the destroyers of monuments brook no nuance in their march to destroy American history. If you wore the wrong uniform, your statue has to go and you have to be disgraced.
According to Democratic state Senator Mike Jones, McGuire’s statue had to be removed because, "I remembered seeing white only, colored only pictures in my mother’s scrapbook, and so to have that as a visual and then for these things to remain to remind this area of what took place, I think it’s wrong."
I’m sorry, but the fact that Jones is made uneasy by metal statues because they remind him of racism that occurred 70 years ago is the kind of silly claptrap that should have been left in the madness of 2020, and yet here we are.
Allow me to go a bit further and argue that if you took the accomplishments of every person involved with having McGuire’s statue removed, they would not begin to equal his contributions to the humanization of modern military conflict.
It really is incredible. Day and night, night and day, the progressive left goes on and on about alleged war crimes committed by Israel, or the United States, and yet in their ignorance and simple-mindedness they are defaming a man who played a key role in creating the definitions of those very alleged crimes.
TRUMP V. SMITHSONIAN: A TIMELINE OF HOW THE WHITE HOUSE FIGHT OVER 'WOKE' HISTORY UNFOLDED
The same people who freak out with hair afire when the Trump administration tries to make the Smithsonian museums just a skosh more patriotic, are perfectly happy tearing down a statue of a man whose work saved thousands, maybe millions of lives.
Democrats will insist that unlike in 2020, when mobs just tore statues down willy-nilly, this decision went through a process run by democratically elected officials, and sure. But we all know that there is never a conservative on the blue ribbon panels they create to destroy Southern heritage.
The very slight silver lining in all of this is that McGuire’s statue, as well as the other two removed on Friday, will be moved to battlefield sites by the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation.
A spokesperson for that vital organization said, "Preservation is more about the future than the past … At the core of all we do is the belief that our shared history can unite the people of our nation; that there is strength and inspiration for our own times to be found in the struggles of the past."
Hear Hear.
But those statues belong where they were, in the place of honor the capitol originally provided.
Make no mistake, reports of the demise of Woke 1.0 aren’t just exaggerated, they are nonsense, as Friday’s statue removals prove, and our fight against this anti-historical intolerance must not wane, but rather grow in its strength and dedication.
Triathlete who survived alligator attack tells harrowing story of his escape: 'I got super lucky'
A triathlete who survived an alligator attack in the Savannah River shared his story with OutKick OutDoors.
Jonathan Bruney took a trip to the Georgia/ South Carolina border for what he thought would be a routine day of training for an upcoming Ironman competition.
"This was a work trip for me as a coach to bring my athletes down to the river on a recon course day, is what we call it," Bruney explained.
BOATER SCARED OFF ALLIGATOR, THEN USED ROPE TO STOP BLEEDING AFTER FLORIDA WOMAN LOST ARM
"We all went down to Augusta, we got ready to swim, and this was just going to be a nice, easy zone-two, low-heart-rate day. Just going through each portion of the course."
While he was leading the pack, Bruney felt a bump on his elbow that turned the whole day into a fight for survival.
FLORIDA MAN GIVES AN INCREDIBLE INTERVIEW ABOUT HOW HE FOUGHT OFF AN ALLIGATOR WITH A FISHING POLE
"I was breathing and sighting on my left side … and he was on my right. That’s when my elbow felt the brute of the force."
Bruney thought the alligator, which he described to be anywhere between five and six feet, was a log.
"I wasn’t even thinking gator," said Bruney. "I’m thinking, ‘Okay, big log floating in the river.’ But then I looked to my right. I’m like, ‘Okay, this is a lot worse than a log.’"
Almost immediately, Bruney's fight or flight instincts kicked into overdrive.
FLORIDA WILDLIFE OFFICIALS CONFIRM 13-FOOT GATOR KILLED ORLANDO WOMAN WITH 'DEATH ROLL' ON RIVER
"This thing’s big enough to barrel roll and rip the arm off if I don’t get away quickly," he recalls.
His next move may have ultimately saved his life, or at the very least, his arm.
"I did have two moderate punches, but that didn’t do anything… [I] went up the snout and squeezed the eye."
Bruney explains that he learned about the eyes being sensitive spots from watching "Shark Week" (who says you can't learn anything from TV shows).
After making it to shore, Bruney wasn't just worried about his own safety, but for the safety of his fellow athletes, too.
"I hope this gator doesn’t bite one of my athletes," he said.
None of the swimmers had their phones on them, so a good samaritan had to dial 9-1-1.
While that was taking place, a friend of Bruney's was able to stop the bleeding using a cord from his swim buoy.
NEARLY 2,000 OCEAN RESCUES OCCUR AS DANGEROUS SURF SLAMS POPULAR BEACHES THIS SUMMER
By the time the first responders arrived, Bruney was starting to feel dizzy and his entire arm was running cold.
He credits the police officers and EMTs, who were first to arrive on the scene, with keeping him calm and treating his wounds.
"The police officers, they came on scene pretty quickly. I mean, within a few minutes I heard their sirens," Bruney said. "They actually wrapped my arm up. Pretty good props to them for knowing what to do. And then the ambulance came."
While the doctors cleared him to continue training for his competition, Bruney admits there was a moment of doubt.
But after giving it some thought, he said there was no way he was going to let this deter him.
"Being able to remove my race entry, that’s not on the books. I can’t do that."
When I asked him whether he would ever go back in the water, Bruney didn't hesitate.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE FROM OUTKICK OUTDOORS
"We’ll be back in there," he said, confidently.
Star student rejected by 16 colleges, hired by Google, gets legal win in racial discrimination suit
A father in Palo Alto, California is declaring a victory in court after a federal judge allowed a civil rights lawsuit alleging anti-Asian bias in college admissions to move forward.
Nan Zhong and his son, Stanley Zhong, filed federal lawsuits against several elite institutions — including the University of California system, the University of Washington, the University of Michigan, and Cornell University. The complaints allege the universities engaged in "racially discriminatory admissions practices that disadvantage highly qualified Asian-American applicants."
One of their cases will now proceed in part against the University of Washington after a federal judge granted the university defendants' motion to dismiss in part and denied it in part.
"We got an exciting ruling from the judge," Nan Zhong told Fox News Digital. "Effectively, the judge ruled in our favor by denying the university's motion to dismiss. So this is a major development in the lawsuit. That means the judge found enough factual allegations to support our allegation."
DUKE LAW'S ALLEGED RACE-BASED ADMISSIONS ACCUSED OF DEFYING SUPREME COURT RULING: DOJ
The ruling centered in part on sovereign immunity. Judge James L. Robart denied the defendants' motion to dismiss Stanley's Title VI claims against the university while dismissing several other claims.
The University of Washington Board of Regents sent Fox News Digital a statement in response to the ruling.
"We're pleased that the court dismissed many of the claims and two of the three plaintiffs. Admission to the Allen School is highly competitive and the vast majority of out-of-state applicants are not admitted because, as Washington’s flagship university, we prioritize Washington residents for admission," a spokesperson said.
"With that ruling, we can now proceed into discovery, request internal documents, internal communication, and most importantly, admissions data," Nan said.
Stanley Zhong, now 21, made headlines after he was rejected by 16 of the 18 colleges he applied to — including top-tier public and private institutions — despite boasting an elite academic record. A 2023 graduate of Gunn High School in Palo Alto, Stanley scored a 1590 out of 1600 on the SAT (99th percentile), held a 4.42 weighted GPA, ranked in the top 9% of his graduating class, and had launched a free e-signing startup featured by Amazon Web Services.
Shortly after the college rejections, Google hired Stanley as a full-time software engineer in a position that his family's court filing says typically requires a Ph.D. or equivalent practical experience. Stanley was first scouted by the tech giant in coding competitions when he was just 13 years old.
The family spent over a year researching admissions trends before filing the lawsuits, concluding that anti-Asian bias remains a systemic issue despite recent court precedents.
"The story is much bigger than myself, than my son, Stanley, or our family," Zhong told Fox News Digital. "First of all, I have a younger son, so I don't want him to face the same problem that his older brother faced. I think this is something important we should correct so my future grandkids won't have the same problem again."
Zhong added that since taking their battle public, dozens of families across the country have reached out to share similar experiences.
"After the story came out, we received a lot of communication from other Asian-American families telling us about their story, telling about how highly qualified Asian-American students were rejected left and right," Zhong said. "So this is a large-scale issue and I think of it as an issue that's been around for a long time."
Spokespersons for the University of California system have previously denied the allegations, maintaining that their admissions policies strictly comply with state and federal laws prohibiting race-conscious decisions.
Stanley Zhong was accepted at the University of Maryland and the University of Texas-Austin but decided to take a job offer as a software development engineer at Google in the fall of 2023 instead.
Ex-Hillary Clinton staffer warns Democrats that courting far-left could cost them Jewish voters
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel this week issued a blunt warning to Democratic leadership ahead of the upcoming midterms: Stop minimizing Jewish voters’ concerns, or they’ll walk. Former Hillary Clinton staffer Kaivan Shroff agreed, saying the issue is whether Jewish Democrats will feel like they have to "explain or defend a basic part of their identity to remain in good standing with the party."
Appearing on the Atlantic’s "David Frum Show," Nessel accused the Democratic Party of not valuing its Jewish constituents and making them feel less welcome than members of other minority groups.
"I think it’s a fundamental mistake for the Democratic Party to think that you can just push Jewish Democrats out and simply replace them with any other population," Nessel told Frum on Wednesday’s podcast episode.
DEMOCRATIC MICHIGAN AG ACCUSES HER PARTY OF 'ABSOLUTELY NOT' DOING ENOUGH TO COUNTER ANTISEMITISM
Nessel's comments were echoed by Shroff, a media commentator and former digital organizer for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. Shroff told Fox News Digital that Democrats risk losing key Jewish voters as the party grapples with internal divisions over its ideological direction.
"What Nessel is saying should make Democrats nervous because this isn’t really a debate about Netanyahu or even Israeli policy — it’s about whether Jewish Democrats are starting to feel like they have to explain or defend a basic part of their identity to remain in good standing with the party," Shroff told Fox News Digital. "Ironically, Democrats cannot afford to keep shrinking their political tent in the name of expanding it to folks like Hasan Piker — and then act surprised when pieces of the coalition start walking out."
Shroff added that Democratic leaders should stop courting socialist-aligned candidates and start shoring up the establishment supporters who have long defended the party — especially ahead of the midterm elections.
"Of course, Nessel is a prominent Democrat in Michigan — a state where a lot of this debate has now centered around Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and his affiliation with streamer Hasan Piker, who has made controversial comments that many other Democrats have just condemned as antisemitic," Shroff said. "It’s a critical Senate seat for Democrats to win and they need all their voters and more to show up. So turning off loyal Democrats like Nessel is a huge issue and should be causing major alarm."
MICHIGAN'S DEMOCRATIC AG REFUSES TO ATTEND UPCOMING CONVENTION OVER HARASSMENT CONCERNS
According to Nessel, Jewish Democrats have felt ostracized by their own party following the attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and accused leadership of cherry-picking issues that are relevant to supporters.
"When a Black person says that a phrase that you’re using or the way you’re talking about this issue to me is racist, I’d like you to stop doing it — we respect that," Nessel said on The David Frum podcast.
Nessel then pointed to what she said was a discrepancy in how members of her party handle concerns raised by Jewish voters.
"This has been an outlier to me," Nessel said. "I have people saying, ‘You are not going to tell us what you deem to be antisemitic. We’ll decide what’s antisemitic. That’s not up for you, the Jewish population, to decide.’"
"I find that to be very off-putting and offensive," she continued. "I think that’s totally unacceptable."
Following her condemnation of the Democrats’ treatment of Jewish constituents’ concerns regarding antisemitism, Nessel added that if faced with the choice, she would choose her Jewish heritage over her party affiliation.
"If that’s the deal that has to be made, and I’ve been really candid about this, I was Jewish before I was ever Michigan attorney general — I’m going to be Jewish afterwards," Nessel said.
MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC SENATE CANDIDATE CLAIMS ISRAEL 'JUST AS EVIL' AS HAMAS
"I was Jewish before I was ever a member of the Democratic Party, and if I have to, I’ll be Jewish afterwards too," she continued.
Nessel also took aim at Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, for previous comments he made following an attempted terrorist attack on a synagogue in West Bloomfield earlier this year, in which he remarked, "Hurt people do hurt people."
MICHIGAN SENATE RACE: EL-SAYED’S TIES TO EXTREMIST FUEL ANTISEMITISM CONCERNS AMONG JEWISH VOTERS
"A lot of us perceived that as sort of making excuses for someone that sought to murder over 100 pre-K schoolchildren and that’s the kind of mentality that bothers me a lot," Nessel said.
She added that although El-Sayed has met with Jewish leaders in the community, his unwillingness to retract his previous comments is cause for concern and risks amplifying such views.
Nessel did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Fox News Digital also reached out to the El-Sayed campaign for comment.
Piker previously told his viewers, "If Jews in America keep putting this idea out there that they are singularly invested in Israel, eventually someone is going to come around and take action, not against the state of Israel, mind you, but against American Jews."
Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., who is Jewish, called out Piker this week in response. In a social media post. She wrote, "This shouldn’t be hard: no community should face the threat [of] violence for their political views. Period,"
Slotkin continued, "That goes if you’re pro-Israel, pro-Palestine, pro-choice, pro-life or any other cause you care about. And blaming the victims of violence for bringing it on themselves only further endangers people."
From spit on to hugged, Riley Gaines unlocks main problem with the WNBA, and it’s as simple as red vs blue
What a difference a red state makes.
Unapologetic and steadfast, Riley Gaines, the nation’s leading advocate for the preservation of women’s sports for biological women, gets under the skin of woke leftists without even trying.
She travels the country, and says that biological men don’t belong. The audacity!
In some places in this country, Gaines gets booed for speaking this simple logic and truth. She gets yelled at. Even spit on for her beliefs.
That was the kind of reception Gaines got at her very first WNBA game in Minneapolis earlier this summer, when she dared to take a sign into the arena that praised Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham for bravely speaking up for girls in girls' sports.
SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM SUPPORTERS RALLY IN INDIANA WHILE DISPLAYING WHAT MAKES AMERICA GREAT
Fast-forward to her second-ever WNBA game, Friday night in Indianapolis at an Indiana Fever game in which former NBA player Royce White (now sometimes going by "Roysha") made a surprise appearance, and Gaines got a much different reception.
Hugs, smiles, requests for photographs.
ROYCE WHITE SHOWS UP TO INDIANA FEVER GAME IN BLONDE WIG AMID WNBA DRAFT PURSUIT
Blue state, red state. Delusional, sensible. Hostile, friendly.
Perhaps this is part of the problem with the powder keg that is the WNBA. There are 15 teams in the league, and only two are located in solid red states: the Indiana Fever and the Dallas Wings. Atlanta, Las Vegas and Phoenix have teams, but those states aren’t reliably red, more purple. The league is adding Cleveland in 2028, so that might help, but the scale will still be far from balanced.
"My main takeaway is that when Minneapolis is booing you, it’s generally a good sign," Gaines told OutKick with a bit of tongue-in-cheek during halftime of Friday’s game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, which the Fever won easily over the Connecticut Sun, 111-91. "Especially for those of us with common sense and an ounce of integrity and a shred of honesty."
If there were people in the Fever crowd on Friday that were more Minneapolis than Indianapolis, you wouldn’t know it. Just a different atmosphere and decorum altogether. And that fuels Gaines.
The poor reception in Minneapolis didn’t deter her at all. Knowing that so many people across the United States agree with her does.
On Friday, as she supported Cunningham and White, Gaines proudly sported a black T-shirt with neon green XX-XY lettering, a label so controversial in some (blue!) WNBA cities that fans at an Atlanta Dream game were recently asked to cover that same shirt.
STEPHANIE WHITE, LET ME 'EDUCATE' YOU ON THE SCIENCE OF WHY MEN DON'T BELONG IN WOMEN'S SPORTS
The nonsense on gender in the WNBA is incessant. And neither White nor Enes Kanter Freedom could stand to sit back and watch it a second longer.
Earlier this month, White joined Freedom, another former NBA star, in saying that they now identify as trans women while also declaring their interest in joining the WNBA next year via the 2027 WNBA Draft.
Freedom and White decided to fight lunacy with lunacy, using their over-the-top declarations as a way to push back on the WNBA’s lack of spine and clarity in the trans in women’s sports dilemma.
If the WNBA can’t define a woman, can’t put clear language into its bylaws that limits participation in the league to strictly biological women, then Freedom and White say that they will take this fight as far as they can. They say that trying to play in the WNBA isn’t talk, that they are prepared to walk that walk if necessary. They are also prepared to fight through litigation if necessary.
While Freedom was ejected from a WNBA game he attended last week in blue Chicago (Sky player Natasha Cloud sniped at him during the game, he responded, fans booed him, and he was ultimately permanently banned from Wintrust Arena), White was received warmly in red Indiana.
No boos. No yelling. Instead, fans approached White with smiles and respect and outstretched arms for handshakes and fist bumps. They asked for photos. They thanked him, told him they loved what he is doing for women's sports.
"You can't expect that, it was overwhelming," White told OutKick, regarding his Indiana welcome. "But...I think people have a lot of appreciation for what Roysha is doing and some of the other people who are fighting as well. It's just so crazy to me the difference in response here in Indiana versus in Chicago (for Freedom). But one city is run by people who have common sense and the other one isn't, so there's that."
Gaines received similar treatment at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
"Let me tell you the difference, being here in Indiana, a home game for the Fever," Gaines said. "The looks that you’re getting are smiles, people are winking. People are coming up and saying thank you. People are expressing their gratitude for the stance that I (have taken).
"Not the same response I had in Minneapolis."
Gaines expects nothing less from blue cities and blue states now. She understands her messaging in those areas requires her to bring a much stiffer upper lip, and an extra layer of Teflon coating.
And even though that's expected, it's not always easy, which is why she so deeply respects and appreciates what Freedom and White are doing. Gaines and White talked at length at halftime of Friday’s game about their convictions on the trans in women’s sports dilemma.
Gaines said that it is ironic that WNBA players like Cloud from the Chicago Sky are missing the point of what Freedom and White are trying to do.
"I was watching the altercation between Enes Kanter Freedom and Natasha (Cloud) where obscenities were yelled back and forth, at least on Natasha’s end at Enes, and I thought to myself, ultimately, Natasha really should be thanking Enes, because what he’s fighting for…is her," Gaines said. "He is fighting for her to have the opportunity and the ability to achieve and to exceed in her sport and even beyond."
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
Others besides White and Freedom are fighting alongside Gaines for the very same thing.
The Indiana Attorney General, Todd Rokita, who sat with Gaines and her husband during Friday's game, has been active in trying to protect girls and women in sports.
"I’m pleased to host my friend Riley Gaines tonight with her husband and we’re having a good time," Rokita told OutKick. "But the fact of the matter is, there are a lot of leaders in this country who see the obvious, and the obvious is that sports teams should only have the same biological sex because there are differences. And I am so happy that these biological men (Freedom and White) are proving the point when they are coming to apply for the WNBA solely because the WNBA can’t get its own bylaws straight."
What is happening in the WNBA, with the ambiguity surrounding eligibility, concerns Rokita because it could just as easily happen elsewhere, which creates a slippery slope.
"As Indiana’s Attorney General, I am looking at this very closely, from the perspective of whether you are for-profit or non-profit, the fact that you have bylaws that make sense and comply with all laws and that they are clear and non-abusive," Rokita said. "And if you can’t define in your bylaws what a woman is and who’s eligible to be on your teams, you’re entering a real gray area in terms of law, in terms of being abusive or deceptive to those you serve.
"If the WNBA can’t make some simple decisions about what their bylaws should read, you may see a lot of states, a lot of my friends, get involved, including Indiana."
Now wouldn’t that be something? How ironic if it is a couple of men pretending to be women, along with red-state fans and politicians, who ultimately save the very woke and leftist and blue WNBA from itself. It really could be as simple as that.
Does the WNBA need more red-state teams? Let me know at: patricia.babcockmcgraw@outkick.com
Byron Donalds shuts down Bill Maher’s claim on GOP primary racism, says 'Florida is a meritocracy'
Florida gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds rejected comedian Bill Maher’s claims that he lost key counties in the recent primary in part due to the racism within the state.
Appearing on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" Friday night, Donalds, the Republican gubernatorial nominee, pushed back on host Bill Maher's assertion that he lost parts of Florida's Panhandle because of the area's predominantly White electorate.
"You did lose the ‘Redneck Riviera’ badly," Maher said, referring to Donalds’ losses in Calhoun, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hardee, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, and Washington counties — rural counties where roughly 94% of Republican voters are White.
STEPHEN A SMITH ADMITS BYRON DONALDS COULD MAKE HIM A REPUBLICAN, CALLS HIM ‘THE REAL DEAL’
"I can’t get with you on a lot of this policy stuff," Maher continued. "But I think it would be great if the country did have [its] first Black, Republican governor."
Maher went on to praise Donalds for his willingness to run in "this post-racial world" where constituents don’t care about the "color of their skin," but he added that "we’re not quite there yet though."
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"The Redneck Riviera, which is the Panhandle," Maher began. "I think there are people there who still would not — you’re a Republican, you’re a Trumper — they should love you and they don’t. I think there is still racism."
"Let’s talk a little bit about the Panhandle," Donalds replied, beginning his rebuttal. "There are counties we did incredibly well in that we won. There were some counties that we fell a little short in, that’s okay."
WATCH: BYRON DONALDS BRUSHES OFF GOP DEBATE DEMANDS AS RIVALS LAG FAR BEHIND IN POLLS
Donalds then pointed out the crowded Florida primary field which had 11 Republicans on the ballot, with candidates "who had various lines of support."
"The number one thing overall, we closed out 48% of the vote in Florida," Donalds said. "800,000 votes [is] a long way to becoming the nominee."
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Donalds went on to push back against Maher's argument that racial bias influenced the primary results, insisting that Florida is a place where people can pursue opportunities in elected office.
"Florida really has become the microcosm of what we all want," Donalds said. "It's a meritocracy. And it's about the best person with the best views, the best skills, the best talent moving forward to represent your state or to represent a district in your state, and Florida exemplifies that."
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However, former Florida state Sen. Dave Aronberg was not as quick to attribute Donalds' showing to the crowded primary field.
"When you look at the primary numbers, Byron Donalds falling short of 50% does raise some legitimate questions," Aronberg told Fox News Digital. "Yes, there were 11 names on the ballot, but few of his opponents were viable contenders, and Donalds had a massive fundraising and name recognition advantage compared to the rest of the field. It wasn't exactly a neck-and-neck dogfight."
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Aronberg added, "When you see him underperforming in certain rural pockets, it's hard to completely dismiss race having played at least some quiet role." "Going into November, Republicans have a massive advantage in party registration and financial resources. But this will be no cakewalk based on what we saw in the primary, along with President Trump’s lagging poll numbers and the quality of his Democratic opponent."
‘CAPTAIN CANADA’ FIREBRAND UNLOADS ON TRUMP WITH PROFANE ONE-LINER AS TRADE WAR ESCALATES
Maher later challenged Donalds on his campaign platform by pointing to President Donald Trump’s tariffs impacting affordability across the country — especially in Florida.
"I don't feel like the president's policies are making that affordable part easy for you," Maher said.
A POPULAR COCKTAIL HAS A TRUMP TRADE PROBLEM YOU PROBABLY DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT
"Even the Wall Street Journal, which is usually pretty far right, calls this trade war with Canada the ‘dumbest trade war,’ that's the title," Maher continued. "It says Republicans are already getting pounded on the campaign trail over his tariffs and inflation, mostly because of the war. Byron, are you getting pounded on the campaign trail?"
"I think that people in Florida are thinking about their pocketbooks. Well, that's like anywhere else," Donalds said.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE
He went on to defend Trump’s tariffs on Canada, adding that the president is reevaluating trade policies that are not working for the American people.
"But I would rather have a chief executive that looks at these deals and engages these other countries and fights for Americans, [rather] than just lets them roll knowing that they're not gonna be in the interest of small businesses," Donalds said.
College football Week 0 betting picks for North Carolina v. TCU and San Jose State vs USC
Can you believe we are already there? We've reached that point in the year when we have football once again. Looking at the calendar, it is wild to me that we are almost at the end of August. Time really does fly when you're having fun.
It has been a good year for sports betting, and it is now getting even better as we have Week 0 starting today with college football returning. College Football is back, and so is our betting slate. Let's get to it.
Both of these teams started last year against each other, and I have to imagine both are looking for better outcomes than their 2025 campaign. North Carolina was rocked in head coach Bill Belichick's first game at the helm. They looked lost on both offense and defense and fell 48-14.
The rest of the campaign wasn't much better as the team had a 4-8 record overall. Looking at their wins, there really weren't any that were overly impressive, either. The Tar Heels hope to be better this year, but this is a long rebuilding process. You can't expect it to happen overnight.
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After the win to open the season last year, TCU took down Abilene Christian and SMU. From there they lost on the road to Arizona State and Kansas State. After beating Baylor and West Virginia, the team lost to Iowa State and BYU in back-to-back weeks. They did beat Houston, a ranked team, later in the season. They also had one of the better Bowl Games to watch as they won over USC in overtime, 30-27.
The reason for optimism this season is around Jaden Craig taking over under center. He comes over from Harvard, where he was successful, but the team wasn't very good. Jeremy Payne will be the featured back and could make this a dangerous backfield after a strong 2025.
I like the chances of seeing some good offense from TCU. I don't love the total for the game, as I think it probably goes under 46.5, but we've already lost three points from the opening number. I am instead just focused on the TCU team total. I'll back them to go over 27.5 points. I think they should get a touchdown in each quarter as I still think this North Carolina defense will struggle.
There aren't a ton of lopsided games on the slate for today, but this is certainly one of them. San Jose State is expected to be blown out to start the year. USC has manhandled the Spartans in the past, having crushed them in their past three matches. Collectively, USC has won the last three matchups by a score of 146-38. Last year was an ugly season for the Spartans as they finished 3-9, missing out on any Bowl Game. They also went just 2-6 in the Mountain West.
THREE TEAMS RANKED OUTSIDE THE TOP-12 OF THE COACHES POLL WHO WILL MAKE THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF
USC has a chance to march to its first College Football Playoff berth, but it won't be the easiest path.
They enter the season ranked at number 14 in the nation. That puts them right on the borderline of making the postseason tournament. Either way, they should be able to get a great Bowl Game even if they don't get into the playoffs.
They have some important continuity here as Jayden Maiava returns to action. Last season, Maiava had 3,711 yards and 24 touchdowns. King Miller returns to the backfield as well, and should lead the way for the squad. They did lose Makai Lemon to the NFL, so there are some questions about who steps up as a receiver.
The Trojans are listed at 50.5 for their team total, and I just think that's too high. I wouldn't be surprised to see them win by 30 or 40 points, but I don't think they are going to run up the score either. Maiava probably plays about a half in this game. I'm backing the under 50.5 for the USC team total. I like Miller to get 2+ touchdowns at +195 as a prop as well.
For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024
Death toll from mudslides, flooding at Nepal-China border climbs past 670, nearly 3,000 missing
The death toll from the devastating floods and mudslides along the Nepal-China border has risen to at least 676 people, as rescue operations stall amid poor weather.
After Nepali authorities updated their figures Saturday, the combined toll in Nepal and Tibet rose to 676 dead and nearly 3,000 people missing, according to The Associated Press. Chinese authorities have reported seven deaths and more than 550 missing, while Nepal’s disaster agency said the death toll had climbed to 669 with 2,426 people missing.
Experts believe Wednesday's mudslides and flash flooding across Nepal and China's Tibet region were caused by a large chunk of ice breaking off a glacier and falling into the Lhende Khola River. Rescue operations at the main disaster zone have been complicated by damaged roads and difficulty establishing communication, and look only to get more difficult, as intermittent rain is expected through the weekend.
"Search and rescue operations have been temporarily halted because it is raining, and the weather is foggy," Narendra Pariyar, a top official for Nepal's Rasuwa district, told Reuters.
While Nepalese authorities have stressed they don't need countries to send people to help with general search and rescue, they did request that China send tunnel experts as up to 100 people are still trapped in a mud-filled hydropower plant tunnel.
ARMY BLACK HAWKS AIRLIFT 200-PLUS STRANDED CAMPERS AS MISSOURI FLOODS TRIGGER MORE 350 RESCUES
"We have already made requests for such specialised services and technical assistance in areas where we don't have enough expertise and technical know-how," Nepal's Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal told Reuters.
China dispatched five such workers from Tibet by helicopter to assist, according to the country's state-affiliated Xinhua news agency.
COLOMBIA BUILDING COLLAPSES ON CAMERA AS EARTHQUAKE BRINGS DEATH, DESTRUCTION
Dramatic video showed the rescue of one such person as authorities from Nepal worked to drag the man out of the mud deluge.
Though impending rainstorms are likely to make rescue operations more difficult, officials say a previous threat from a lake that had formed on the border between Nepal and Tibet has substantially subsided.
MASSIVE GARBAGE HEAP COLLAPSES ONTO HOMES, KILLING AT LEAST 30 AS RESCUERS SEARCH FOR SURVIVORS
The lake had been overflowing into the Lhende Khola River, risking further flooding, but that risk had gone down by Saturday, according to Chinese officials.
Nepal's finance minister Swarnim Wagle estimated the country will need over $4 billion to rebuild after the disaster.
"This is just an estimate. Loss and damage is being assessed," he told Reuters.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Tim McGraw takes hard fall onstage during concert
Tim McGraw took a tumble during a concert this week.
The country superstar was playing at the Riverbend Music Center in Ohio on Thursday night, and during a performance of one of his most iconic hits, "I Like It, I Love It," he stumbled back and fell to the floor.
As seen in video obtained by Fox News Digital, McGraw didn't let the hard fall faze him.
MORGAN WALLEN SMASHES PIANO ON STAGE AFTER EQUIPMENT FAILS MID-PERFORMANCE DURING CONCERT
After his legs splayed in the air, he sat up quickly with a smile on his face. He pulled himself up and got right back into the performance.
McGraw seemed to take the fall in stride after it happened, and he did the same on social media.
WATCH: TIM MCGRAW FALLS ONSTAGE DURING CONCERT
After the show, he took to Instagram to share photos and video from the concert, including one of the fall, writing, "Cincinnati, you started our weekend off on the right foot even if I couldn’t stay on mine 😂 We appreciate you coming out and singing along! Detroit, you’re up!"
"Oh my God !!! Hope you didn't hurt yourself bad!!" one fan commented.
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"It was a great show! And we all got a good laugh since you were ok," another wrote.
Multiple fans told him that they hope his back isn't hurting after the spill – McGraw has been open about the issues he's faced with his back, admitting during a concert in 2025 that things were so bad he nearly considered walking away from music altogether.
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"I've had four back surgeries and double knee replacements, just in the last couple of years," McGraw said during a California show in October.
The "Blind Side" actor said right before his most recent back surgery that spring, "things were getting really bad," with the star "getting depressed over it," which made him consider retirement.
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His surgeon was in the audience, as well as another surgeon who'd operated on his wife, fellow country star Faith Hill. After introducing them to the crowd, McGraw said, "This spring, before I had my final back surgery, things were getting really bad, so I was seriously contemplating and figuring out how to walk away. I didn't want to, but I didn't think it was going to get better."
"But it's gotten better. So, during that process, I had this idea for this song that sort of dealt with facing age and facing all that stuff that comes along with it," before singing the song he mentioned, called "King Rodeo."
Lyrics of the song include: "Hey, King Rodeo, You're lookin' lonely, Like you've lost you're one and only, Adoring crowds are not around you, Whispers and shadows, they surround you."
Fox News Digital's Sarah Sotoodeh contributed to this report.
Florida high school football game delivers one of the most stunning Hail Marys of all time
Another week, another wild moment in the world of high school football.
How great are Football Fridays? Lordy, I'm glad they're back. Just the best.
The latest chaotic scene unfolded in Florida (of course), where No. 9 Pahokee — a longtime powerhouse — pulled off one of the most incredible double-pass Hail Marys of all time to stun Royal Palm Beach on the final play of Friday's showdown.
PEYTON MANNING'S FRESHMAN SON MAKES HIS DEBUT, BUT FREAK RUNNING BACK STEALS THE SHOW
That's right. A double-pass Hail Mary. Never quite seen anything like it.
Let's go ahead and roll the tape before we dive in:
So much going on, I don't know where to begin.
Drawing up a bubble screen lateral from your own 25, and the trusting that the receiver A) stays behind the line of scrimmage, and then B) gets the ball down field enough to give his guy a chance is such a ballsy play to draw up.
Obviously, the receiver had to then make a play — jumping over two guys, breaking a few tackles, and then racing to the end zone as time expired.
I had no doubt that last part would happen, by the way. Pahokee is notorious for speed. For those who don't know, they have a long-standing tradition of chasing rabbits in sugarcane fields down there. True story.
The area has produced several NFL players, including Hall of Famer Rickey Jackson and wide receiver Anquan Boldin.
So, yeah — they know what they're doing down south.
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Anyway, the big obvious question here is whether or not the kid was behind the line of scrimmage when he launched the second pass. It's close, but it appears he pulled it off:
What a play. What a start to this high school football season! Don't forget, just last week we had the mammoth running back up in Tennessee who set the world on fire.
Can't wait to see what's next!
Welcome back, football.