Roseanne Barr is not holding back. 

During a recent interview, the comedian called out the television industry’s hypocrisy, especially after late-night host Jimmy Kimmel made his return to his show. 

‘It just shows how they think. I got my whole life ruined, no forgiveness, all of my work stolen and called a racist for time and eternity for racially misgendering someone,’ Barr said on NewsNation. ‘It’s a double standard.’

Her comments come just as ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ returned to ABC, days after the host was suspended over his comments on conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

In 2018, Barr faced her own public controversies. 

At the time, she tweeted about former Barack Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, which triggered ABC’s cancellation of her show, ‘Roseanne.’

She wrote on Twitter that political figure Jarrett, who is Black, looked like the ‘Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby.’

Though Barr deleted the tweet within hours and issued a public apology, ABC wasted no time in cutting ties. The network canceled the ‘Roseanne’ reboot.

Channing Dungey, who was ABC Entertainment’s president at the time, issued a scathing statement: ‘Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show.’

Looking back on her 2018 cancellation, Barr said Kimmel criticized her publicly despite having his own controversial past.

‘He called me a racist even though I said repeatedly, which they repeatedly censored, that it was a mistake,’ Barr told the outlet. ‘I thought that the woman was a white woman from Iran.’

Barr went on to call the controversy a double standard.

‘He called me a racist even though he himself appeared in blackface on their network many times,’ she added, referencing Kimmel’s past comedy sketches that resurfaced in 2020.

That abrupt shutdown marked a turning point in Barr’s career, one she said the network and media have never allowed her to recover from.

Barr predicted Kimmel’s comeback would be met with celebration from fans. 

‘I think he’ll cheer himself on and his fans, all — what is it? — 2,000 of them. They’ll feel heartened and like they won another battle against Trump and the people of the United States. So, it’ll be a big celebration,’ she told the media outlet. 

‘Maybe if he had defended me, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.’

Fox News Digital has reached out to Barr for additional comment.

After a nearly weeklong suspension from ABC, the late-night host returned to ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ Tuesday night, opening with a somber, 30-minute monologue, walking back the comments that got him pulled off the air.

‘I don’t think there’s anything funny about it,’ Kimmel said, tearing up as he addressed the assassination of conservative activist Kirk earlier this month. 

‘Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what … was obviously a deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make.’

Kimmel acknowledged his original remarks may have been a misfire.

‘Felt either ill-timed or unclear or maybe both,’ he admitted.

Kimmel was suspended by Disney Sept. 17 after outrage erupted over his Sept. 15 monologue, in which he took direct aim at conservative media in the wake of Kirk’s murder.

‘We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them,’ Kimmel said during the controversial episode. ‘And doing everything they can to score political points from it.’

Broadcasting giants Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar Media Group, both of which carry dozens of ABC affiliates, announced they would be preempting Kimmel’s show due to what they called ‘ill-timed and insensitive’ commentary.

Vice President JD Vance spent most of his North Carolina speech Wednesday talking about public safety and backing law enforcement, but the day’s most viral moment came from a quick exchange with a young supporter in the crowd.

A boy near the press area called out during a Q&A session and Vance invited him to speak. 

‘I skipped school today,’ the boy named Henry said. ‘I was wondering if I could get a picture with you.’

Vance smiled and beckoned Henry up to the stage as the room erupted in cheers.

Vance answered, ‘Henry said ‘I skipped school. Can I have a picture with you?’ Well, I guess I got to have some excuse to skip school, so I might as well get a photo with Henry.’

Henry walked to the stage in a red Trump hat and an American flag T-shirt. They shook hands and Henry pulled out his phone. Vance leaned in for the selfie as the crowd roared. The vice president gave him a quick pat on the back and returned to the microphone.

Vance kept the tone easy for a beat and joked that the next request might be a reporter asking for a photo. He said he was not holding out hope for questions that easy and moved back to policy and press questions.

The rest of Vance’s remarks focused on law and order and support for police. He called for keeping violent offenders behind bars and praised local officers. 

He later circled back to the moment as he wrapped. ‘Henry, I hope you got the photo you needed,’ he said, drawing another round of applause.

The White House’s official Rapid Response 47 account also shared the moment, which currently has over 15K likes on X.

The White House and the Office of the Vice President did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The top House Democrat signaled that his party is readying to blame Republicans as the threat of a government shutdown grows larger by the day.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., held a news conference on Wednesday where he said Democrats were ‘ready to get to work, ready to meet with anyone, any time, any place in order to avoid a painful Republican-caused government shutdown.’

At the same time, he restated that Democrats would not accept a GOP-led plan to keep the government funded at roughly current levels through Nov. 21, dismissing the measure as a ‘partisan exercise.’

‘Republicans have clearly demonstrated they want to shut the government down throughout this process,’ Jeffries said. ‘An intentional decision was made by Republican leadership in the House and the Senate not to have a single conversation with Democrats. They’re not even pretending as if they want to find common ground.’

The House passed a short-term extension of current federal funding levels, called a continuing resolution (CR), last week. The vote fell largely along party lines, with just one Democrat crossing the aisle in the measure’s favor.

An effort to consider the bill in the Senate hours later was scuttled when most Democrats, along with two Republicans, opposed a vote to begin debating the measure.

Now both parties are blaming one another for a potential shutdown – which could hit at midnight on Oct. 1 if a deal is not passed in both chambers by then.

Republicans are accusing Democrats of recklessly pushing for a shutdown and making unworkable demands in exchange for keeping the government open.

‘REMINDER: House Republicans have already done the job of passing a clean, bipartisan bill to keep the government open,’ Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in a statement on X Wednesday. ‘Now it’s up to Senate Democrats – who have long said shutdowns are bad and hurt people – to vote to fund the American government, or shut it down because they want to restore taxpayer-funded benefits to illegal aliens.’

Republicans have also pointed out that government funding levels have remained relatively steady since fiscal year (FY) 2024, when Democrats supported then-President Joe Biden’s spending priorities.

But Democrats, infuriated by being sidelined in discussions on the bill, have been pushing for the inclusion of enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies that are set to expire at the end of 2025 without congressional action.

Jeffries has also repeatedly made reference to Republicans’ ‘big, beautiful bill,’ conservative legislation that imposed new restrictions and work requirements on Medicaid coverage for certain able-bodied Americans. He and other Democrats have accused Republicans of ripping healthcare away from millions of people, while the GOP has insisted the system is getting reformed to work better for vulnerable Americans who need it.

A short-lived hope for bipartisan discussion was quickly scuttled on Tuesday – Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., had been expected to meet with President Donald Trump this week to discuss federal funding.

Trump called off the meeting, however, accusing Democrats of making ‘unserious and ridiculous demands’ in their push for a compromise deal to avert a shutdown.

‘They must do their job! Otherwise, it will just be another long and brutal slog through their radicalized quicksand. To the Leaders of the Democrat Party, the ball is in your court. I look forward to meeting with you when you become realistic about the things that our Country stands for. DO THE RIGHT THING!’ the president said on Truth Social.

During his Wednesday news conference, however, Jeffries would not say exactly what he opposed in the bill – instead criticizing the process by which it was formed.

‘It’s partisan because it didn’t have the votes in the House in a bipartisan way. There was no conversation. There was no discussion. There was no effort to actually sit down and figure out what type of spending bill would meet the needs of the American people,’ Jeffries said.

‘The notion that we’re supposed to accept that this is a clean continuing resolution is a joke. It’s not. It’s dirty for a wide variety of reasons. I explained it repeatedly, and it continues the assault on the healthcare of the American people.’

He also argued against the point that Democrats approved those same spending levels last year, noting that a majority of his caucus opposed a bill in March that kept those levels extended through Sept. 30.

‘It’s very easy to take a look at the bill in December that was passed with bipartisan margins, and signed into law by then-President Joe Biden, and the bill in March that was jammed down the throats of the American people in a very partisan way and signed into law by Donald Trump,’ Jeffries said. ‘Don’t accept that idea that it’s the Biden spending numbers when the facts say exactly the opposite.’

Democrats introduced their own CR last week aimed at keeping the government funded through Oct. 31, while also reversing Republicans’ Medicaid changes and preventing Trump from making any cuts to funding allocated by Congress – both of which were panned as nonstarters by Republicans.

Eight federal inmates — once on death row for murders, including the killings of fellow prisoners, gang-related stabbings, and the slayings of two campers — have been transferred to a notorious ‘supermax’ prison in Colorado, the Justice Department told Fox News Digital. The news comes as U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi looks to crack down on the previous administration’s sweeping clemency actions.

The eight former death row inmates were transferred Tuesday to the U.S. Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility in Florence, Colorado, also known as ‘ADX,’ Justice Department officials confirmed. 

They were among the 37 death row inmates whose sentences Biden commuted in late December — prompting criticism and complaints that the record clemency and commutation actions were done as a political ‘Hail Mary,’ and without proper vetting.

More of the death row inmates are expected to be moved to ADX, some within weeks, according to one individual familiar with the matter.

The 37 death row inmates commuted by Biden are all expected to be moved to the facility by ‘early next year,’ the Justice Department source told Fox News Digital.

The effort comes as Bondi and the Trump administration have sought to reverse some of the Biden administration’s efforts on criminal justice reform for certain criminals, and instead moved to prioritize violent crime and cracking down on the nation’s worst offenders.

Though a commutation cannot be fully reversed, Justice Department officials told Fox News Digital, Bondi has prioritized ways to penalize these individuals, in coordination with directives from Trump, and to ensure that the ‘conditions of confinement’ are ‘consistent with the security risks those inmates present because of their egregious crimes, criminal histories, and all other relevant considerations,’ according to an earlier DOJ memo. 

The eight inmates sent to ADX this week were each convicted of first-degree murder within federal jurisdiction. 

Many had been convicted of crimes that were especially heinous or violent. One individual was convicted of murdering a married couple who was camping at a campsite in the Ouachita National Forest in July 2003. 

Another was convicted of kidnapping, robbing, and murdering a 51-year-old local bank president by tying him to a concrete block and chain hoist, and tossing him off of a bridge and into a lake. 

Many had also killed prisoners while serving time — a factor that can be used in weighing whether to transfer a convicted felon to a higher-security prison.

ADX is the only true federal ‘supermax’ prison in the U.S., and its inmates are as notorious as the prison’s reputation. Among them are Ramzi Yousef, convicted in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing; Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the Boston Marathon bombers; former Sinola Cartel leader Joaquín Guzmán, or ‘El Chapo’; and Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, the co-founder of al-Qaeda.

‘President Biden’s decision to commute the death sentences of these monsters showed abhorrent disregard for our justice system and total disrespect for victims’ families already suffering through immense loss,’ Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

‘After meeting with many of the victims’ families at the Department of Justice and promising to take action on their behalf, eight of these prisoners have been transferred to the Colorado super-max prison ADX. This will ensure that they spend the remainder of their lives in conditions consistent with the egregious crimes they committed,’ she added.

Shortly after her confirmation as attorney general, Bondi issued a memo aimed at ‘restoring a measure of justice’ to the victims’ families. 

The measures granted by Biden earned more criticism than former President Barack Obama: As Fox News reported at the time, the vast majority of Obama’s clemency actions focused on commuting the sentences of federal inmates who met certain criteria outlined under his administration’s Clemency Initiative.

Bondi hosted victims’ families earlier this year to hear their concerns about the commutations, DOJ said. Some said they had been stunned by the eleventh-hour commutations, and that they not been given a heads-up by the Biden administration.

In February, Bondi issued a memo to the Bureau of Prisons ordering an evaluation of where these prisoners should be detained.

Taylor Budowich, White House deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel, is set to leave the administration at the end of the month, Fox News has confirmed.

Budowich’s exit marks the most significant staff departure of President Trump’s current administration. 

A longtime Trump advisor and one of his most trusted communicators, Budowich is returning to the private sector. The California native’s role gave him broad influence over messaging and personnel decisions inside the West Wing.

Senior Trump advisor Stephen Miller, in a statement provided to Fox News Digital by the White House, called Budowich ‘one of the true MAGA faithful who has poured out his heart for this movement and our President. He is universally admired and respected. No matter the issue or need, his insights and talents are sought after and valued deeply. He is and remains a cherished and loyal ally to us all.’

Vice President JD Vance said Budowich is ‘an invaluable asset to this administration and someone I’ve personally relied on countless times during an amazing first year in office.’

‘His oversight of the White House’s communications team has been an incredible success, where they’ve done an outstanding job touting the truly historic accomplishments of President Trump’s second term,’ Vance continued in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. ‘In addition to all this, he’s played an integral role in coordinating this administration’s cabinet agencies and our Office of Public Liaison. He’ll be sorely missed, but I’m sure there are big things ahead for Taylor.’

Chief of staff Susie Wiles added that Budowich is ‘a dear friend, and I know that President Trump holds him in very high regard. I hate to see him go, personally and professionally, but obviously wish him well in whatever he decides is next.’

And longtime Trump aide Dan Scavino told Fox News Digital that Budowich is ‘an outstanding American patriot and an exceptional friend and colleague, both on the campaign trail previously and here at the White House. His unwavering dedication to advancing President Trump’s Make America Great Again agenda has made him a vital asset in Trump 2.0.

‘Taylor is the kind of person you want by your side in any type of challenge, on any day of the week,’ Scavino added. ‘I am grateful for his service to President Trump and the American people and have complete confidence that he will excel in his future endeavors. I wish him the best of luck.’

Budowich previously served as communications director for Save America PAC and as executive director of MAGA Inc., a pro-Trump super PAC.

He was a spokesman for Trump during and after the 2020 campaign and testified in the classified documents investigation in 2023.

In November 2024, Trump announced Budowich’s appointment as deputy chief of staff, giving him oversight of both communications strategy and personnel.

Budowich’s departure adds to speculation about who might fill his powerful West Wing role as the Trump White House continues shaping its agenda heading into the remainder of the term.

Budowich did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The Democrats have a huge political opening.

With President Trump under fire from all directions — including some in his own party — it’s a rare chance for the opposition to put some points on the board.

And who are the most prominent Dems right now?

One is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The other is Zohran Mamdani.

AOC is uber-liberal, and the New York mayoral candidate is a self-proclaimed democratic socialist.

Many party office-holders, not to mention media and political analysts, say the Democrats’ biggest problem is having lurched too far to the left. A fixation on pronouns, transgender sports and Palestinian rights. 

Does that sound like where most of America is in the fall of 2025?

There are plenty of clickbait headlines out there about AOC weighing a presidential race. But what Axios’ Alex Thompson, who had the scoop, actually reported is that she’s considering a White House run or a Senate race, against Chuck Schumer. So not much has changed.

AOC, now in her fourth term, just barely meets the constitutional requirement that a president be at least 35.

But there’s no question that she’s a dynamic campaigner, prodigious fundraiser and social media phenomenon, with an aura of authenticity.

Even Trump told Fox News, ‘She’s got a little spunk, she’s got a little something.’ But, he said, ‘her philosophy is bad for the country. I don’t think that philosophy can come close to winning.’

It’s true that what plays in her Queens-Bronx district doesn’t necessarily play in Peoria. I think she would beat Schumer, an establishment figure who seems to read all his statements, but even in the state there are plenty of conservative regions between the Bronx and Buffalo. 

On the House floor, the congresswoman condemned Charlie Kirk’s murder, but said:

‘We should be clear about who Charlie Kirk was: a man who believed that the Civil Rights Act that granted Black Americans the right to vote was a mistake, who, after the violent attack on Paul Pelosi, claimed that ‘some amazing patriot’ should bail out his brutal assailant, and accused Jews of controlling ‘not just the colleges — it’s the nonprofits, it’s the movies, it’s Hollywood, it’s all of it.’

She added: ‘His rhetoric and beliefs were ignorant, uneducated and sought to disenfranchise millions of Americans.’ 

So she wouldn’t even vote for a symbolic resolution honoring Kirk, the 31-year-old victim of a targeted assassination. That sort of rhetoric excites her base but isn’t exactly a step toward unity.

Mamdani, who is very likely to become mayor, has a history of socialist rhetoric that he’s trying to soften without retracting it. The inexperienced assemblyman clung to ‘Globalize the Intifada’ — meaning, wipe out Israel — but now says he can see how it’s misinterpreted and won’t encourage its use. He insists that as mayor he would have Bibi Netanyau arrested if he came to the U.N.  

And this isn’t ancient history. In 2022, he wrote on his website: ‘We need to dramatically curtail the power and presence of the N.Y.P.D.,’ cut the force by 1,300 officers through attrition, and cut police overtime and freeze hiring.

Why? ‘A racist police system’ aimed at controlling ‘Black & brown New Yorkers.’

Andrew Cuomo, who has been visiting mosques and churches, has turned much more aggressive, calling Mamdani ‘a man with no beliefs’ and ‘a hypocritical chameleon desperate for attention and adulation.’ But, of course, Cuomo was forced to resign as governor. No one remembers that he pledged to drop out of the race unless he was leading Mamdani by September. 

The democratic socialist has a double-digit lead, which is why Gov. Kathy Hochul endorsed him — she saw the train leaving the station. That prompted a swipe by President Trump, who regularly denounces Mamdani — which might not be helpful in New York City — said he’d have to look closely at federal money going to the Apple.

Trump already intervened in the mayor’s race by dropping an indictment against Mayor Eric Adams, though he failed to lure him out of the race with offers of an administration job.

AOC initially declined the back the long-shot Mamdani, the New York Times reports, but when he got hot she endorsed him as having the best chance to beat Cuomo.

The Republicans would like nothing better than to run against Instagram star AOC and Mayor Mamdani as the face of a hyper-liberal party.

And then there’s Kamala Harris, who’s out peddling her bridge-burning book ‘107 Days,’ starting with a Rachel Maddow sit down. I don’t think she could have beaten Trump in 1,000 days. Harris was a terrible candidate — cautious, risk-averse, hiding from the press for a month, unable to separate from Joe Biden.

I assume she has the self-awareness to realize another run for the White House would damage her further. The book takes shots at Biden (‘reckless’ to run again), Pete Buttigieg (couldn’t pick a gay guy), Josh Shapiro (wanted too much power), and Tim Walz (blew the veep debate). Some have clapped back, often through surrogates (Biden folks calling her a lousy VP).  

To bring things full circle, Harris just endorsed Mamdani. But Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries have not, undoubtedly for fear of being tied to whatever he does.

There are, of course, whole swaths of the country that want nothing to do with socialism or the far left.

Kamala Harris’ book focuses attention on the past just when the Democrats are desperate to turn the page.

Only ‘friends and weapons,’ not international laws, can protect against war and authoritarian ambitions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned on Wednesday during an address to the United Nations General Assembly.

The Ukrainian leader, who has been pleading with the international community to do more to counter Russian President Vladimir Putin amid his more than three-and-a-half-year-long war, once again cautioned that Ukraine may have been the first European nation to bear Moscow’s affront to international order, but it will not be the last.

‘Putin will keep driving the war forward wider and deeper. And we told you before, Ukraine is only the first. And now Russian drones are already flying across Europe,’ Zelenskyy said. ‘Russian operations are already spreading across countries, and Putin wants to continue this war by expanding it.

‘No one can feel safe right now,’ he added. 

A general tone of dissatisfaction with the effectiveness of the rules-based system has repeatedly rung out during the UNGA as world leaders condemned a growing disregard of international law and human rights amid rising security threats and geopolitical conflicts. 

Zelenskyy again argued it is cheaper to stop Putin now than attempt to catch up in an arms race, build underground bunkers across cities and under kindergartens and to try and ‘protect every port and every ship from terrorists with sea drones.’

‘Stopping Russia now is cheaper than wondering who will be the first to create a simple drone carrying a nuclear warhead,’ he said.

But it wasn’t only the international community’s failure to stop Putin that Zelenskyy addressed. 

He pointed to the Israeli hostages who are still held in Gaza and the horrific conditions Palestinians live in.

‘There is simply no other way left [that] nations can speak about the pain from stages like this,’ Zelenskyy said. ‘But even during bloodshed, there isn’t a single international institution that can truly stop it. That’s how weak these institutions have become. 

‘What can Sudan or Somalia or Palestine or any other people living through war really expect from the UN or the global system? Just statements,’ he said. 

‘In the end, peace depends on all of us, on the United Nations,’ Zelenskyy said. ‘So don’t stay silent while Russia keeps dragging this war on. Please speak out and condemn it. 

‘Please join us in defending life and international law and order,’ he added. ‘People are waiting for action.’

Dr. Ben Carson, a former neurosurgeon who served as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development during President Donald Trump’s first term, was sworn in on Wednesday to serve as national advisor for nutrition, health and housing at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

‘As National Advisor for Nutrition, Health, and Housing, Dr. Carson will advise both President Trump and Secretary Rollins on policies related to nutrition, rural healthcare quality, and housing accessibility,’ a USDA news release states. 

‘He will serve as the Department’s chief voice on these matters, join Secretary Rollins for her work on the President’s Make America Healthy Again Commission, and partner closely with leadership in USDA’s Rural Development Mission Area.’

‘Today, too many Americans are suffering from the effects of poor nutrition. Through common-sense policymaking, we have an opportunity to give our most vulnerable families the tools they need to flourish,’ Carson noted, according to the release. ‘I am honored to work with Secretary Rollins on these important initiatives to help fulfill President Trump’s vision for a healthier, stronger America.’

Earlier this year, Trump signed an executive order to create a Religious Liberty Commission and tapped Carson to serve as vice chair.

While speaking at the American Cornerstone Institute’s Founders’ Dinner on Saturday, Trump announced that Carson will be awarded the presidential medal of freedom, noting there will be a ceremony at the White House to honor him. 

Then President George W. Bush awarded Carson the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2008.

Carson, who founded the American Cornerstone Institute, ‘is ensuring there is an organization fighting for the principles that have guided him through life, and that make this country great: Faith, Liberty, Community, and Life,’ according to ACI’s website.

Industry insiders are touting progress made by the Trump administration and local law enforcement to crack down on illicit Chinese vapes, which they say will both protect the youth and bring clarity to the domestic vape retail industry. 

The World Vape show announced earlier this month was forced to postpone a Miami, Florida event ‘due to customers experiencing difficulty importing products into the marketplace’ in an industry where the vast majority of imported vapes come from China. 

‘Illicit Chinese vapes are a clear warning sign of a broader and violent  criminal network. These same organizations trafficking fentanyl – and the violence that comes with it – are turning to counterfeit vapes as a low-risk source of cash flow,’ Hugo Barrera, director of South Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, told Fox News Digital.

‘That’s why South Florida HIDTA is actively training law enforcement on how to combat this emerging threat, while also working with prevention partners to educate the public. We’re seeing progress – even trade shows where these illegal deals once took place are shutting down – but there’s still much more to do.’

Over the past 8 months, the administration has vowed to combat the problem of illicit Chinese vapes and choke off the supply chain at the borders and ports after critics in the industry hammered the Biden administration for not doing enough to combat the issue.

Those promises appear to be taking shape at the federal and local level including news of a federal raid earlier this month in Illinois where CBS News reported federal agents seized flavored vaping products. 

‘The Chinese are getting richer while our children get sicker,’ HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted on X at the time. ‘We’re putting an end to that.’

‘We are targeting illegal Chinese vapes and we will stop them from poisoning our children. Just last week, I stood with @AGPamBondi after law enforcement seized 50 truckloads of illegal vapes from a Chicago-area warehouse — 90% of them from China.’

In May, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in a press release it seized almost two million units of ‘unauthorized e-cigarette products’ in Chicago that represented an estimated retail value of just over $33 million. 

‘Responsible community retailers are working hard to provide adult smokers with less harmful alternatives to cigarettes,’ Scott Shalley, president and CEO of Florida Retail Federation and Georgia Retailers, told Fox News Digital.

‘Unfortunately, years of inconsistent (or non-existent) regulatory enforcement has allowed unscrupulous retailers to knowingly sell illicit and illegal Chinese products that continue to flood the market and place consumers – and particularly, our youth – at risk. We applaud the recent uptick in enforcement as we work to weed out the bad actors, protect our youth and provide much needed clarity to the retail industry.’

Earlier this month, HHS announced a massive seizure of imported vaping products amounting to 4.7 million units of unauthorized e-cigarette products with an estimated retail value of $86.5 million.

‘Almost all the illegal shipments uncovered by the operation originated in China,’ the government said in a press release. ‘FDA and CBP personnel determined that many of these shipments contained vague and misleading product descriptions with incorrect values, in an apparent attempt to evade duties and the review of products for import safety concerns.’

State and local jurisdictions appear to have increased vigilance in pushing back on China flooding the market with illicit vapes as well.

In Louisiana, Operation ‘Vape Out’ has resulted in 34,000 illegal vapes being seized and at least 10 arrests while Operation ‘Smoke Signals’ in Florida has yielded at least 27 arrests across 20 vape stores. 

Edgar Domenech, former deputy director and COO of the DOJ’s Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms & Explosives and a strategic advisor for the Tobacco Law Enforcement Network, told Fox News Digital ‘this is more than unauthorized tobacco smuggling.’

‘Federal state and local law enforcement leadership is starting to recognize that these are sophisticated criminal networks trading Chinese vapes alongside hard drugs and guns while they launder profits and evade taxes to cover it all up,’ Domenech said. ‘We need an all-of-government approach to break this monster’s back once and for all.’