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King Charles emphasizes Canada’s ‘self-determination’ as he opens parliament after Trump’s annexation threats

King Charles III used a significant speech in Canada’s parliament on Tuesday to underscore the country’s sovereignty following pressure from US President Donald Trump.

“Today, Canada faces another critical moment. Democracy, pluralism, the rule of law, self-determination, and freedom are values which Canadians hold dear, and ones which the Government is determined to protect,” the king said from the throne in the Senate chamber as he delivered a speech, which laid out the Canadian government’s legislative agenda for the year ahead.

Charles, 76, is on a two-day trip to Canada, the first time he has visited the country since assuming the throne in 2022. He is the head of state in Canada and 13 other Commonwealth realms, as well as in the United Kingdom.

It was the first time in nearly 50 years that a sovereign had delivered the address and was seen by many as a powerful show of support for Canada.

King Charles’ remarks comes as Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to annex Canada and make it the 51st state — a move which Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has repeatedly rebuffed.

During the roughly 26-minute address, which was written by the Canadian government, Charles spoke of the several challenges the nation faced. “The system of open global trade that, while not perfect, has helped to deliver prosperity for Canadians for decades, is changing. Canada’s relationships with partners are also changing.”

King Charles discussed the changing relationship between Canada and the United States.

“The Prime Minister and the President of the United States, for example, have begun defining a new economic and security relationship between Canada and the U.S., rooted in mutual respect and founded on common interests, to deliver transformational benefits for both sovereign nations,” he said.

Charles also referenced protecting Canada’s sovereignty, saying that the government would look at “rebuilding, rearming, and reinvesting in the Canadian Armed Forces.”

He said the government “will boost Canada’s defence industry by joining ReArm Europe, to invest in transatlantic security with Canada’s European partners. And it will invest to strengthen its presence in the North, which is an integral part of Canada, as this region faces new threats.”

The monarch added: “The government will discharge its duty to protect Canadians and their sovereign rights, from wherever challenges may come at home or abroad.”

King Charles on Tuesday also emphasized that “the Crown has for so long been a symbol of unity for Canada,” adding that “it also represents stability and continuity from the past to the present.”

‘Delicate balancing act’

Charles and his wife, Camilla, made their way to parliament by carriage through the streets of the capital.

As the king formally opened a new session of parliament, he outlined some of Carney’s other priorities, which also focused on domestic issues such as more affordable housing, a tax cut for the middle class and the removal of barriers to interprovincial trade — themes the prime minister promised voters during the recent election campaign.

The king alternated between speaking in English and French – the two official languages of Canada – and received a standing ovation after wrapping up the speech.

Jeffrey Dvorkin, journalist and senior fellow at Massey College in Toronto, described the speech as a “delicate balancing act” after the recent unwanted attention from Trump, but one that touched upon key issues and tensions in Canada.

“Geography has been the greatest uniting force. But now under Prime Minister Carney, Canadians are looking overseas for a different set of connections without necessarily separating from the best connections that Canada has with the United States,” he continued.

“But it certainly was a message to the Trump administration that those days of Canada accepting everything that the United States tries to do, those days are over.”

King Charles and Queen Camilla were warmly welcomed on the tarmac as the couple touched down in Ottawa on Monday afternoon by Carney and Canadian Governor General Mary Simpson, the monarch’s representative in the country.

On Monday, Carney – who was elected in March largely on an anti-Trump platform – praised the “historic ties” between Canada and the United Kingdom which “crises only fortify.”

This post appeared first on cnn.com

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Macron’s marital shove disappears from French airwaves

A quick shove. A split-second clip that would have dominated US news for days aired in France for just 24 hours and then it was gone.

When a viral video appeared over the weekend showing French President Emmanuel Macron’s wife, Brigitte, pushing his face just as he was about to deplane during a visit to Vietnam, not a single French newspaper front page featured it the next morning.

Was it because Prime Minister François Bayrou was speaking about the financial efforts the French would have to make under his soon-to-be-unveiled budget? Or that people were detained recently in a string of crypto kidnappings?

More likely, it highlighted a cultural divide between France and the Anglosphere – a long-standing French belief that politicians’ private lives should be protected.

This secret-keeping tradition kept President François Mitterrand’s illegitimate daughter hidden for years. It has also meant a delicate silence around other controversial personal lives, like Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s notorious womanizing.

The former International Monetary Fund chief’s arrest on sexual assault charges in New York in 2011 abruptly ended his political career just as he was emerging as a leading presidential contender.

The same unwritten rules surfaced in 2014, when Closer magazine published photos of former President François Hollande – disguised by a motorcycle helmet – arriving at the apartment of a friend, where he was reportedly meeting actress Julie Gayet.

At the time, Gayet was his girlfriend, even though he still had a live-in partner, Valérie Trierweiler.

The story caused a stir, but Hollande’s office condemned the “invasion of privacy,” and the media soon backed off.

At a press conference, Hollande faced only one question about his personal life and deflected it with the remark, “private affairs are dealt with in private,” silencing the throng of French journalists and leaving foreign reporters stunned.

So when the video of the Macrons began circulating, the initial media response was swift but short-lived. French outlets played the clip on loop, dissected it briefly, and moved on.

But that core rule is now being tested.

“Over time, these kinds of personal stories have become far more difficult to contain than they were 30 or even 20 years ago,” said Thierry Arnaud, an international correspondent and veteran journalist at BFMTV.

“It’s true we didn’t make a big deal of it, but it’s deeply embarrassing for Macron. You’re intruding on a couple’s intimate moment and it’s uncomfortable, both for him and for those watching.”

Macron’s relationship with Brigitte was always unconventional. They met when he was just 15, and she was his drama teacher at a private school in Amiens. She was 24 years older, married, and a mother of three.

What began as mentorship grew into something deeper, and by the time Macron graduated, he had vowed to one day marry her. “Whatever you do, I will marry you,” he reportedly told her as a teenager.

Their story was used as campaign material in 2017, they made a point of making their relationship public, posing in glossy French magazines and describing their marriage as a celebration of an atypical but loving modern family. Any critics were labeled misogynists.

“It was completely a badge of honor at first, a special kind of glamour that added to his (Macron’s) image of being daring both politically and personally. He fell in love with his teacher as a teenager and pursued it, come what may. Over time, that picture has eroded,” Arnaud said.

After the Vietnam shoving incident, the couple publicly displayed unity that very evening, walking hand in hand through the streets of Hanoi in a clear effort to quell any rumors of domestic discord.

But the line between public and private is blurring. Traditionally, the Élysée Palace has maintained a strict policy of never commenting on rumors or politicians’ personal lives. However, with the rise of social media and disinformation campaigns they are being dragged into these personal controversies, challenging that long-held stance.

In March, conservative commentator Candace Owens revived an absurd conspiracy theory with a YouTube video titled “Is France’s First Lady a Man?”

Promoted widely on X, Owens called it “likely the biggest scandal in political history.” Since then, Owens has produced numerous videos about Brigitte Macron for her 4 million YouTube subscribers, including a multi-part series called Becoming Brigitte.

Although the claims are completely baseless and Brigitte Macron has successfully sued two French women for spreading them it has elicited a response from the president.

At a Paris event in March 2024, Macron addressed the rumor head-on saying that the worst part of being a president is having to deal with “the false information and fabricated stories.”

“People end up believing them, and it disrupts your life, even in your most private moments,” Macron said.

His words now feel prophetic, with the world speculating on a deeply intimate exchange we may never be let into.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

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Germany’s leader has criticized Israel’s conduct in Gaza. Here’s why that’s a big deal

For decades, Germany has stood squarely in Israel’s corner, its dark history of Jewish persecution shaping its modern-day policy of virtually unquestioned backing.

In the aftermath of the Hamas October 7, 2023, attacks, the question of German political and military support for Israel was raised – and reaffirmed by then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

But comments by new Chancellor Friedrich Merz in recent days have put Germany’s support for Israel under the spotlight.

“We are dismayed by the fate of the civilian population and the terrible suffering of the civilian population” in Gaza, the chancellor said on Tuesday while on a visit to Turku, Finland.

The question of what provoked Merz’s sharp change in tone toward Israel remains unclear. Peter Lintl, an analyst from the German Institute of International and Security Affairs who focuses on German-Israeli relations, believes Merz wanted to get into office, start conversations with Israeli leaders and get an understanding of the direction of travel before outlining his stance.

Merz followed his Tuesday comments by questioning the current actions of the Israel Defense Forces inside Gaza.

Referring to Israel’s expanded operations and the humanitarian crisis in the territory, the German chancellor said that he “no longer sees any logic as to how they serve the goal of fighting terror and freeing the hostages. In this respect, I take a very, very critical view of what has happened in the last few days.”

Tuesday’s language came hot on the heels of a thinly veiled threat from Merz in Berlin on Monday. “The Israeli government must not do anything that its best friends are no longer prepared to accept,” he said.

Merz has also done the previously unthinkable and questioned whether Israel may be violating international law.

National interest

The change of tone is particularly striking because of Germany’s long-standing stance on Israel, that is connected to a theory known as “staatsraison” or national interest.

The connection of staatsraison and Israel were made by then-Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2008.

She told the Israeli parliament, or Knesset, that the “historical responsibility of Germany is part of my country’s national interest (staatsraison). This means that, for me as German chancellor, Israel’s security is never negotiable.”

Similar words were also used by Scholz in the wake of the October 7 attacks in which Hamas militants killed more than 1,200 people in southern Israel and kidnapped some 250 others.

Since Merkel’s speech, and particularly after she stepped down as chancellor in 2021, “the term got a life of its own,” the analyst Lintl says.

“It appeared that if you want to be a respected politician, you have to use the term because it came to signal … that Israel’s security is German staatsraison. It is the minimum threshold we use to distance ourselves from the past,” Lintl says.

That “past” refers largely to the Holocaust in which the Nazis killed more than 6 million Jews.

In Finland on Tuesday, Merz was quick to reiterate he is not abandoning staatsraison entirely. “Israel’s security and existence are, as we have been saying for many years and decades, part of our German staatsraison,” but he has clearly set out to clarify it.

Lintl added: “We didn’t know how this government will conduct itself, or how this government policy toward Israel will look – right now we have more of an idea.”

It remains unclear if Merz and Germany’s relationship with Israel will shift significantly.

Merz has maintained he will continue to talk with Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu. Merz has also said he would find “ways and means” for Israel’s prime minister to visit Germany given the ICC (International Criminal Court) arrest warrant out for him.

For now, the statements from Israel seem muted, and respectful.

The Israeli Ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor told German TV Tuesday morning, “when somebody criticizes Israel, and when Friedrich Merz makes this criticism, we listen very carefully because he is a friend.”

Inke Kappler contributed reporting.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

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Judge in Diego Maradona trial stands down following documentary scandal

A judge has stepped down from the criminal proceedings regarding the death of Argentine football legend Diego Armando Maradona.

An Argentine court had removed the judge, Julieta Makintach, after one of the defendants in the Maradona trial requested her disqualification due to a possible lack of impartiality and for allegedly authorizing the filming of a documentary during court hearings.

Makintach accepted the court’s disqualification.

In a previous hearing, she had stated that her brother is a partner at the production company mentioned in the case, but it had nothing to do with a potential documentary about Maradona.

Maradona, world-famous for scoring the goal that won Argentina the 1986 World Cup, died of heart failure in November 2020. Argentine prosecutors have accused eight medical staff of “simple homicide” in the footballer’s death.

The trial for seven of the eight defendants began in March, with the eighth due to be tried by jury after the initial proceedings finish. The charges carry a possible sentence of eight to 25 years in prison.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

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Biden’s presidential health reports showed no sign of recently revealed aggressive cancer

Former President Joe Biden’s official health reports during his White House tenure did not show signs of aggressive prostate cancer, a Fox News Digital review of the health documents shows. 

Biden, who suffered two brain aneurysms in 1988 that nearly claimed his life, received clean bills of health in 2021, 2023 and 2024, according to former White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor’s annual reports on the president’s state of health. 

Biden was scheduled to receive a physical by the end of January 2023 but delayed the evaluation due to a busy travel schedule, the White House reported at the time. The former president had a roughly 15-month period between his 2021 physical and one conducted in February 2023. 

Fox News Digital reviewed the three reports posted by the White House in 2021, 2023 and 2024 and found that there were no signs indicating aggressive prostate cancer was on the horizon for the 46th president — though concerns over skin cancer were a common theme throughout the three reports. 

2021 

Biden’s White House physician released the president’s first annual health report in November 2021, declaring Biden a ‘healthy, vigorous’ man. 

‘President Biden remains a healthy, vigorous, 78-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency, to include those as Chief Executive, Head of State and Commander in Chief,’ O’Connor wrote in the 2021 report. 

The report included routine screenings of Biden’s heart, eyes and teeth, as well as his occasional gastroesophageal reflux. 

The report noted that Biden also underwent ‘routine’ screenings for both colon cancer and skin cancer. Biden had multiple ‘localized, non-melenoma skin cancers removed’ ahead of his presidency after spending a good deal of time in the sun as a youth, the report stated, but that there were ‘no areas suspicious for skin cancer’ during the 2021 physical. 

The report did find that Biden was increasingly ‘throat clearing’ and coughing during public events. O’Connor stated that Biden had long cleared his throat or coughed during speaking engagements, but such coughing or throat clearing ‘certainly seem more frequent and more pronounced over the last few months.’ 

O’Connor said gastroesophageal reflux was likely the culprit behind Biden’s coughing after conducting multiple lung, oxygen and biological tests. 

The report also noted that Biden’s gait had become noticeably more stiff, which the doctor said required a ‘detailed investigation.’ The stiffened gait was attributed to Biden’s wear and tear on his spine and mild sensory peripheral neuropathy of the feet, which O’Connor said could be addressed with physical therapy and exercise. 

2023 

O’Connor released details on Biden’s second physical as president on Feb. 16, 2023, roughly 15 months after the release of his first presidential physical. The delay between the health assessments was attributed to the president’s busy schedule. 

Biden was notably also diagnosed with COVID-19 in July 2022 during the interim period of his first and second physicals. Biden was reported to have mild symptoms that July and was treated with the antiviral drug Paxlovid. 

The February 2023 physical report found that Biden was in good health and ‘fit’ to serve as president. 

‘President Biden remains a healthy, vigorous 80-year-old male who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency,’ O’Connor wrote in his 2023 health memo.

The report found that Biden’s gait had remained stiff since his last physical, though the issue had not worsened. The report overall found that his heart, lungs, eyes and teeth were all in good health. 

Biden underwent routine skin cancer surveillance, which found a small lesion on the president’s chest that required biopsy. The lesion was removed just a couple of weeks later without issue, a follow-up memo from O’Connor states. 

‘As expected, the biopsy confirmed that the small lesion was basal cell carcinoma,’ Biden’s doctor wrote in a memo after the lesion was removed. ‘All cancerous tissue was successfully removed. The area around the biopsy site was treated presumptively with electrodessication and curettage at the time of biopsy. No further treatment is required.’ 

The 2023 physical health report also provided updates on Biden’s COVID-19 recovery, which the White House doctor said went smoothly in part due to Biden receiving the coronavirus vaccine and two booster shots before the infection. 

2024 

The report on Biden’s final physical examination as president was released Feb. 28, 2024 and again found the president in good health and able to serve as president. 

‘President Biden is a healthy, active, robust 81-year-old male, who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency, to include those as Chief Executive, Head of State and Commander in Chief,’ the most recent memo stated. 

Again, vital organs such as the heart and eyes received a clean bill of health, while Biden’s stiff gait did not worsen in the interim since 2023, though the doctor noted ‘arthritic changes’ that were moderate to severe. 

O’Connor reported that he conducted a neurological exam and determined that no cerebral or neurological issues were compounding the president’s stiff gait. The test did support previous findings of peripheral neuropathy of the feet, the report stated. 

The 2024 physical additionally noted that the lesion removed from Biden’s chest the year prior needed no additional treatment, as basal cell carcinoma typically does not metastasize. 

The report added that Biden had been using a continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, machine when sleeping after he showed symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea. The president had previously reported similar symptoms in 2008 and 2019, O’Connor stated, but that they subsided after sinus and nasal passage surgeries before his presidency.

He also underwent a root canal that year with no complications. 

Who is Dr. O’Connor? 

Dr. O’Connor has overseen Biden’s health since 2009 and built a close relationship with the president and his family, Fox News Digital previously reported. 

‘I have never had a better commander than Joe Biden,’ O’Connor said in a profile interview with his alma mater, New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine, when Biden served as vice president. ‘All politics aside, he approaches his craft with such honor. He’s 100 percent ‘family first.’ He’s ‘genuinely genuine.’’

O’Connor overwhelmingly remained out of the spotlight during Biden’s tenure until the spring of 2024, when speculation mounted among both conservatives and Democrats that the president’s mental acuity was slipping, with pundits and the media subsequently demanding to hear directly from O’Connor on the state of Biden’s health. 

The White House physician is affectionately known to Biden and his family simply as ‘Doc,’ and was requested by Biden in 2009 to stay on as his physician after serving in the White House Medical Unit under the President George W. Bush administration, according to the profile. 

O’Connor was first appointed to the White House Medical Unit in 2006 for what was intended to be a three-year military assignment, according to his profile published by the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine, from which he graduated in 1992. 

Instead, ‘Vice President Biden asked O’Connor to stay on,’ the profile continues. 

O’Connor complied, marking the beginning of their doctor-patient relationship that has reportedly evolved into a close relationship with the president’s large family. 

Biden’s 2017 memoir, ‘Promise Me, Dad,’ features the president reflecting on his close relationship with ‘Doc,’ including O’Connor joining the family on their annual vacation to Massachusetts’ Nantucket in his capacity as the White House physician and balking at the family’s ‘browsing extravaganza’ on the island. The White House medical unit always travels with a president to best protect his health and safety.  

The physician’s relationship with the family seemingly grew closer, according to the memoir, when the president’s son, Beau Biden, was diagnosed with brain cancer — which ultimately claimed his life in 2015. 

‘Doc was good with Beau, who was still trying to get his bearings in those first few days. Real fear was starting to creep in. Sometimes Beau would grab him when everybody else was out of earshot to get his honest assessment,’ Biden wrote in the memoir. 

‘‘Whatever it is, this is bad,’ he told Beau, ‘but we’re gonna find out what it is. And once we find out what it is, we will have a plan.’’ 

‘‘Promise?’ Beau asked.’

‘‘Promise.’’ 

In another excerpt, Beau Biden requested O’Connor ‘promise’ to take care of his father if he should die. 

‘‘Seriously, Doc. No matter what happens,” Beau Biden said to O’Connor, according to the book. ‘’Take care of Pop. For real. Promise me. For real.’’

Back in 2018, Joe Biden’s sister-in-law, Sara Biden, described O’Connor as a ‘friend’ who provided medical advice to members of the Biden family beyond the eventual commander in chief. 

‘Colonel O’Connor was actually a friend and he — we would frequently ask for his recommendations if any of us had a medical issue, so it was not uncommon to ask him if he had a recommendation,’ she said in a deposition related to a New York state medical malpractice case involving her daughter, Fox News previously reported. 

The state of Biden’s health now?

Biden’s office announced May 18 that the former president had been diagnosed with an ‘aggressive form’ of prostate cancer, which set off concern that such a cancer should have been discovered sooner. 

‘Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms,’ Biden’s team shared in a statement. ‘On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone.’ 

‘While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,’ the statement said. ‘The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.’ 

Physicians have remarked that they are ‘shocked’ that the cancer had not been discovered sooner. 

‘Thank God they found it. (Biden is) a fighter. He’s been through a tremendous amount in his life… with his son, with (his) wife, with (his) daughter,’ Fox News senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel said May 19. ‘Two aneurysms, atrial fibrillation. He’s been through a lot health-wise, but I am absolutely shocked that they didn’t find this earlier.’ 

A spokesperson for Biden confirmed to Fox News on May 20 that Biden’s last known prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, which screens a patient for prostate cancer, was conducted in 2014. 

‘President Biden’s last known PSA was in 2014,’ a Biden spokesperson told Fox News. ‘Prior to Friday, President Biden had never been diagnosed with prostate cancer.’ 

Biden posted to X on May 19 in his first message since publicly revealing the diagnosis to thank supporters. 

‘Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places,’ Biden wrote on X, accompanied by a photo with former first lady Jill Biden. ‘Thank you for lifting us up with love and support.’ 

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

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Romanian populist who ran for president before election was annulled steps away from politics

Romanian populist Calin Georgescu announced his retirement from politics after being barred from running in the country’s presidential election rerun this month. 

The decision comes after Georgescu ran for president late last year and emerged victorious in the first round of voting. However, a top Romanian court then annulled the result after allegations emerged of electoral violations and Russian interference. Georgescu was later banned from participating in this month’s contest, which was won by pro-European Union candidate Nicusor Dan. 

‘I choose to be a passive observer of public and social life,’ the 63-year-old Georgescu said in a video posted online late Monday. ‘I choose to remain outside any political party structure … I am not affiliated with any political group in any way.’ 

Georgescu – who ran as an independent in November – said he made his decision to take a step back following the conclusion of the presidential race, which for him indicated ‘the sovereignist movement has come to a close.’ 

‘Even though this political chapter has ended, I am convinced that the values and ideals we fought for together remain steadfast,’ he added. ‘My dear ones, I have always said that we would make history, not politics.’ 

In February, prosecutors opened criminal proceedings against Georgescu, accusing him of incitement to undermine the constitutional order, election campaign funding abuses, and founding or supporting fascist, racist, xenophobic, or antisemitic organizations, among other charges. On Tuesday, he was due to appear at the prosecutor’s office in Bucharest. 

Despite what appeared to be a sprawling social media campaign promoting him, Georgescu had declared zero campaign spending in last year’s contest. A Romanian court then made the unprecedented move to annul the election. 

‘This December, Romania straight up canceled the results of a presidential election based on the flimsy suspicions of an intelligence agency and enormous pressure from its continental neighbors,’ Vice President JD Vance said in a speech at the Munich Security Conference in February. 

‘Now, as I understand it, the argument was that Russian disinformation had infected the Romanian elections, but I’d ask my European friends to have some perspective. You can believe it’s wrong for Russia to buy social media advertisements to influence your elections. We certainly do. You can condemn it on the world stage even. But if your democracy can be destroyed with a few hundred thousand dollars of digital advertising from a foreign country, then it wasn’t very strong to begin with,’ Vance added. 

Georgescu sparked controversy for describing Romanian fascist and nationalist leaders from the 1930s and 1940s as national heroes, according to the Associated Press. He has also praised Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past as ‘a man who loves his country’ and has questioned Ukraine’s statehood, but he claims not to be pro-Russian. 

Georgescu has argued the election was ‘canceled illegally and unconstitutionally,’ and after he was barred from the May rerun, he accused the authorities of ‘inventing evidence to justify the theft’ of the elections. 

Earlier this year, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Bucharest in a show of support for Georgescu. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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Jasmine Crockett shares bizarre song clip calling herself ‘leader of the future’

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, appears to be leaning in on her rising political stardom this week, briefly sharing what appeared to be a fan-made song that referred to the Democratic firebrand as the ‘leader of the future.’

‘Jasmine Crockett, she rises with the dawn. Fighting for justice, her light will never be gone,’ the song went. ‘A voice for the people, standing strong and proud. Infectious with passion, she’ll never bow down. Leader of the future, she’s breaking all the chains. Jasmine you rock girl, keep leading the fight.’

The roughly two-minute-long song was set against what appeared to be photos of Crockett that were lightly animated using artificial intelligence (AI). It ended with a minute of Crockett’s own comments at a recent House hearing.

Fox News Digital observed the video on Crockett’s Instagram Story, where users post highlights that normally disappear after 24 hours. It was also visible on her Instagram Reels tab. Crockett’s official House of Representatives account was listed as a co-author alongside another Instagram account that appears to specialize in AI-generated musical video clips.

Crockett’s account notes that posts are made by her staff unless the letters ‘CWC’ are present. Her account appears to have shared, but not originally posted the video. Fox News Digital reached out to Crockett’s office to ask if she took any part in creating or sanctioning the post.

After Fox News Digital’s inquiry, mention of the video disappeared from Crockett’s page. 

‘A beacon of hope, we know you won’t deceive,’ the song continued at another point. ‘Democratic champion, her mission’s loud and clear. For every single citizen, she’ll always be near. No MAGA could silence the truth she displays. Jasmine, you rock girl, keep leading the fight.’

Crockett has garnered a notable fan base among the progressive left since bursting on the national stage just over two years ago.

She has been known for public comments that have pushed the boundaries of congressional decorum and have even earned her censure threats from her Republican colleagues in the House.

Crockett garnered controversy in late March for referring to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who is in a wheelchair, as ‘Governor Hot Wheels.’ She later clarified in a statement that she ‘wasn’t thinking about the governor’s condition,’ but she did not apologize.

She also appeared to cash in on a spat she was part of during a House Oversight Committee hearing last year, when her response to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., claiming Crockett had ‘fake eyelashes,’ was to mock Greene as having a ‘bleach blonde bad built butch body.’

Crockett later moved to trademark the phrase through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

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FBI reopening investigation into cocaine found at Biden White House

The FBI is taking another look at the cocaine found inside the Biden administration White House in 2023, according to Deputy Director Dan Bongino. 

‘Shortly after swearing in, the Director and I evaluated a number of cases of potential public corruption that, understandably, have garnered public interest. We made the decision to either re-open, or push additional resources and investigative attention, to these cases,’ Bongino said in a post on X. 

‘These cases are the DC pipe bombing investigation, the cocaine discovery at the prior administration’s White House, and the leak of the Supreme Court Dobbs case. I receive requested briefings on these cases weekly and we are making progress. If you have any investigative tips on these matters that may assist us, then please contact the FBI,’ he added. 

The FBI did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for further comment from Fox News Digital. 

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump said in an interview he believes former President Joe Biden or his son, Hunter Biden, left behind the infamous bag of cocaine at the White House. 

‘So … who actually left the cocaine in the White House?’ The Spectator’s Ben Domenech asked Trump. 

‘Well, either Joe or Hunter,’ Trump responded. ‘Could be Joe, too.’  

The bag of cocaine was discovered on July 2, 2023, in a storage locker near the entrance to the White House’s West Wing.  

The Secret Service discovered the cocaine and launched an investigation, which turned up inconclusive for a suspect. 

‘On July 12, the Secret Service received the FBI’s laboratory results, which did not develop latent fingerprints and insufficient DNA was present for investigative comparisons,’ it said in 2023. ‘Therefore, the Secret Service is not able to compare evidence against the known pool of individuals. The FBl’s evaluation of the substance also confirmed that it was cocaine.’

‘That was such a terrible thing because, you know, those bins are very loaded up with … they’re not clean, and they have hundreds and even thousands of fingerprints,’ Trump also said in the interview. ‘And when they went to look at it, it was absolutely stone cold, wiped dry. You know that, right?’ 

The Biden family, including the former president and Hunter, were not staying at the White House when the cocaine was discovered. Instead, the family was staying at presidential retreat Camp David in Maryland. 

Hunter Biden has a long and well-documented history with substance abuse, and he detailed his hourly need for crack cocaine in his 2021 memoir, ‘Beautiful Things.’ He has since gone through recovery efforts and has been sober since 2019, according to sworn testimony in federal court in 2023. 

Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report. 

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GOP Georgia Senate candidate targets vulnerable Jon Ossoff in ad depicting transgender ‘fan’

House Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., is taking aim at Georgia’s senior senator in a new ad highlighting the vulnerable Democrat’s stance on transgender student athletes.

Carter, who is running for Senate, is releasing a 30-second advertisement titled, ‘Ossoff Fan,’ which features a purported transgender woman complaining about Carter’s own Republican stances. It opens by showing a transgender woman, played by a stubble-chinned biological male wearing a wig and a dress, sitting in a living room beside a dumbbell watching Carter on Fox News.

‘He’s been MAGA from the beginning,’ the person says on the phone. ‘He’s been loyal to Trump, defended him during impeachment.’

The person on the other line says, ‘And Buddy helped Trump at the border with deportations.’

The transgender person picks up a trophy and says, ‘And preventing people like me from competing in women’s sports. Buddy Carter even believes there’s only two genders.’ 

‘Now Buddy wants to help Trump in the Senate and beat Jon Ossoff,’ the individual says. ‘It’s just not fair.’ Meanwhile, the voice on the phone quips, ‘After all Ossoff has done for us!’

The ad ends with the transgender person picking up a sign with pink lettering that says, ‘Ossoff for Senate,’ putting on a pair of wedge sandals, and stomping to their car.

The short but punchy advertisement signals that Republicans still believe the debate surrounding transgender inclusion is a potent issue for turning out voters in favor of the GOP. It proved to be a key issue in the 2024 general election, with moderate Democrats spending weeks after the fact decrying their own party’s intolerance to differing views.

Ossoff is a first-term lawmaker who was the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in the Peach State in roughly two decades. Republicans now view Ossoff’s seat as one of the most viable flip opportunities in the upcoming 2026 midterm cycle, when the GOP hopes to keep and expand upon its thin majority in the upper chamber. 

Carter was the first Republican to jump into the contest after Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who was considered a heavy favorite to run against Ossoff, opted to forgo a Senate bid. Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King is also running in the race as a Republican.

Ossoff joined with all other Democratic senators to filibuster the bill from Sens. Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt, both Alabama Republicans, in March, effectively killing the legislation after it advanced out of the House earlier this year. 

Their bill, called the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, is designed to bar transgender athletes from participating in federally funded school athletics at all levels, from elementary school to college.

It would amend Title IX to make it a violation for any school athletic program that receives federal funding to allow a biological male to participate in sports or activities that are meant for women or girls, and defines a person’s sex by their reproductive biology and genetics at birth. 

The measure is similar to an executive order from President Donald Trump in February that argued that the participation of biological men in women’s and girls’ sports was ‘demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls, and denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports.’

Ossoff campaign communications director Ellie Dougherty argued in a statement after this report was published that athletic associations and local school districts could ensure fair and safe competition in school athletics, and accused the GOP’s bill of threatening to usher in ‘extremely intrusive’ federal investigations of children’s bodies.

‘American parents don’t need federal bureaucrats confirming our children’s genitalia,’ Dougherty said. 

The Carter campaign’s ad is also not the first time in the early days of the looming midterm cycle that the vulnerable senator has been targeted for his vote against the measure. 

One Nation, a nonprofit advocacy group closely aligned with Senate Republican leadership, ran an ad last month that accused Ossoff of ‘running point for the radical left’ with his vote to block the men in women’s sports bill. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Ossoff’s campaign for comment on Carter’s ad but did not hear back by press time.

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Politics

Russia, China, North Korea condemn Trump’s $175 billion Golden Dome missile shield

The U.S.’s chief adversaries, Russia, North Korea and China, all of which are nuclear-armed nations, have condemned President Donald Trump’s space-based defensive plan he dubbed the ‘Golden Dome’ as ‘dangerous’ and a threat to global stability. 

The president discussed his $175 billion plan, which will use satellites and other technologies to detect and intercept a missile strike ‘even if they are launched from other sides of the world,’ Trump said last week.

The defensive plan, though it is believed to be years away before being fully operational despite Trump’s three-year goal mark, sparked stiff backlash from the U.S.’s top competitors, who took direct aim at what they called Trump’s ‘arrogance.’

North Korea’s foreign ministry, whose leader shared an uncommonly cordial relationship with Trump during his first term, called it the equivalent of an ‘outer space nuclear war scenario’ that supports the administration’s strategy for ‘uni-polar domination.’

According to local media outlets, the ministry on Tuesday said it was a ‘typical product of ‘America first’, the height of self-righteousness, arrogance, high-handed and arbitrary practice.’

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News’ Digital’s questions regarding the reactions to the plan, intended to resemble Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’ defensive capability.

But the North Korean foreign ministry claimed the defensive strategy was actually an ‘attempt to militarize outer space’ and ‘preemptively attain military superiority in an all-round way.’

Similarly, on Tuesday, Russian foreign minister Maria Zakharova said the strategy would undermine the basis of strategic stability by creating a global missile defense system, reported Reuters. 

But her comments were not the first time Moscow aligned its condemnation of the ‘Golden Dome’ as it issued a joint statement with China earlier this month after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping met for formal talks in Russia.

The duo called the plan ‘deeply destabilizing’ and claimed it erodes the ‘inseparable interrelationship between strategic offensive arms and strategic defensive arms.’

They also argued that it would turn ‘outer space into an environment for placing weapons and an arena for armed confrontation.’

Russia has remained relatively muted in its response following Trump’s Oval Office discussion on the Golden Dome, which came just two days after Trump held a two-hour phone call with Putin. 

But China reiterated its objection to the plan, and following Trump’s announcement on it, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said last week, ‘The project will heighten the risk of turning space into a war zone and creating a space arms race, and shake the international security and arms control system.’

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has rejected the claims that the plan could be viewed as an ‘offensive’ strategy and told Fox News Digital, ‘All we care about is protecting the homeland.’

Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.

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