Midwest
DeSantis campaign accuses Haley of 'insulting' Iowans by saying NH will 'correct' caucus results
With just a week and a half to go until the Iowa caucuses kick off the Republican presidential nominating calendar, the war of words between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is reaching fever pitch.
DeSantis and Haley are neck and neck for second in the latest polls in the Hawkeye State, far behind former President Donald Trump, who remains the commanding frontrunner for the GOP nomination as he makes his third straight White House run.
But Haley has soared in recent months, catching up with DeSantis for second place not only in Iowa but also in national surveys, and surpassing the Florida governor and narrowing the gap with Trump in the latest polls in the New Hampshire primary, which will be held just eight days after the caucuses.
Campaigning in Milford, New Hampshire, on Wednesday, Haley told the large crowd listening to her that “we have an opportunity to get this right. And I know we’ll get it right, and I trust you. I trust every single one of you. You know how to do this. You know Iowa starts it. You know that you correct it.”
ONLY ON FOX: HALEY PUSHES BACK BUT DOESN’T CATEGORICALLY RULE OUT BEING TRUMP’S RUNNING MATE
Nikki Haley speaks at a town hall in Rye, New Hampshire, on Jan. 2, 2023. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Pointing to her home state, which on Feb. 24 will hold the first southern contest in the Republican presidential primary schedule, Haley added “and then my sweet state of South Carolina brings it home.”
The comment appeared to be tailored to Granite Staters, and the crowd cheered Haley’s remarks.
Recent political history backs up Haley’s comment. The past three winners of the Iowa Republican presidential caucuses – former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in 2008, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania in 2012, and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas in 2016 – all came up short the next week in New Hampshire. And none of them went on to win the GOP nomination.
FIRST ON FOX: HALEY FUNDRAISING SOARS THE PAST THREE MONTHS
Then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the winner of the 2000 Iowa GOP caucuses, also lost the following week in New Hampshire, but went on to capture the nomination and then the White House.
Haley has placed plenty of emphasis on a strong finish in New Hampshire, and her upward momentum in the state has accelerated since she landed the endorsement last month of popular Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, who joins her at each of her campaign stops.
But she’s also spent plenty of time and resources in Iowa, and returns to the state on Thursday. Since launching her campaign last February, Haley’s held roughly 150 town halls, just about equally divided between Iowa and New Hampshire.
Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, left, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his wife, Florida first lady Casey DeSantis, at a campaign event in Bettendorf, Iowa, on Dec. 18, 2023. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
But another popular GOP governor, Kim Reynolds of Iowa, didn’t seem to care for Haley’s remark.
Reynolds, who endorsed DeSantis in November, took to social media soon after Haley’s comment grabbed attention to write, “I trust Iowans to make their own decisions. No ‘corrections’ needed!”
And DeSantis campaign communications director Andrew Romeo charged that Haley’s “closing argument is insulting Iowans by saying their votes will need to be corrected.”
“Meanwhile, Ron DeSantis is closing strong in Iowa by outworking and outorganizing the competition day in and day out,” Romeo added.
On Thursday morning, DeSantis argued in a local radio interview in Iowa that Haley was “incredibly disrespectful to Iowans to say somehow their votes need to be corrected. I think she’s trying to provide an excuse for her not doing well.”
Haley and DeSantis clash during the fourth Republican presidential primary debate, which was held on the campus of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on Dec. 6, 2023 (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
While he’s spent plenty of time in New Hampshire, DeSantis appears to be staking his campaign on a strong finish in Iowa.
GOP NOMINATION RACE: WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES FOR DONALD TRUMP
“We’re going to win here in Iowa. We have the organization in place,” DeSantis told Fox News Digital in an interview last month.
DeSantis predicted that the caucus results “will be very clarifying in terms of who is the real deal and who is not.”
Haley has been careful not to state what kind of finish she expects in either Iowa or New Hampshire.
“I need to be strong in Iowa, strong in New Hampshire, strong in South Carolina. That’s what I intend to do,” Haley said Tuesday in a Fox News Digital interview.
But the next day, Sununu made some predictions.
“We know Trump is going to win the caucus in Iowa,” Sununu said at a Haley campaign event in Londonderry, New Hampshire. “But again, Nikki coming in second place when nobody thought it could happen, that’s going to happen and give her even more momentum.”
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Read the full article from Here
Nolan Winter, Nick Boyd comment on flagrant, technical fouls vs UCLA
Wisconsin forward Nolan Winter and guard Nick Boyd explain what happened with their flagrant and technical fouls in the Badgers’ win over UCLA.
MADISON – Wisconsin men’s basketball got the palette-cleanser it needed.
After losing to its last three high-major opponents by double-digit margins, the Badgers enjoyed a double-digit lead for almost the entire game en route to an 80-72 win over UCLA on Jan. 6 at the Kohl Center.
“The thing I like about tonight is we showed some fight and some togetherness and some heart,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said after the game. “And it wasn’t perfect, but when you have heart and you have fight, you always have a chance. … We were physically and emotionally engaged and after it.”
BOX SCORE: Wisconsin 80, UCLA 72
Wisconsin boasted a balanced scoring attack. Nick Boyd had a team-high 20 points, followed closely by Nolan Winter with 18 and John Blackwell with 17. Andrew Rohde also had 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
UCLA, meanwhile, relied on 18 points from Eric Dailey Jr. and 16 points from Tyler Bilodeau while the Bruins were playing without standout guard Skyy Clark.
Here are three takeaways from the win:
Badgers benefit from far superior 3-point shooting
One of the many what-ifs from Wisconsin’s 16-point loss to then-No. 6 Purdue was its 3-point shooting. UW went a mere 4 of 25 against the Boilermakers, marking its second consecutive game with sub-20% perimeter shooting.
The Badgers’ Jan. 6 win over UCLA was a much different story, as they made more 3-pointers in the first nine minutes against the Bruins than they did in all 40 minutes against Purdue.
UW finished the game with 33% shooting, going 10 of 30. But the perimeter shooting was more of a difference-maker than one might surmise from glancing through the final box score.
The early 3-pointers helped the Badgers claim 16-4, 28-9 and 38-19 leads throughout the first half – a sizeable enough cushion to withstand UCLA’s 14-4 run in the second half without the outcome ever seeming in serious jeopardy.
“When you see your teammates shoot with confidence and you see see them go in a few times, then it’s contagious,” Blackwell said. “It rubs off on others to make other shots and just be aggressive.”
Gard similarly said the improved 3-point shooting “creates energy.”
“As much as you try to say, ‘Don’t get emotionally attached to your shot going in or not,’ I thought we got good looks,” Gard said. “We knocked them down. We took the right ones. And that energizes both ends of the floor.”
Meanwhile, UCLA – ranking 16th in the NCAA in 3-point shooting at 38.6% ahead of the Jan. 6 game – had uncharacteristically lackluster shooting from deep, missing its first 14 3-point attempts and ultimately going 1 of 17. The Bruins’ lack of Clark – a 49.3% 3-point shooter – surely played a factor in that.
Wisconsin shows improvements, imperfections in halfcourt defense
As much as Wisconsin’s improved 3-point shooting captured the spotlight, the Badgers’ improved halfcourt defense also was instrumental in the Badgers enjoying a double-digit lead for much of the game.
“We were connected,” Gard said. “We were energetic. We were physical. We were covering for each other. We had each other’s back.”
UCLA averaged .969 points per possession in the first half, and the Bruins did not score outside of fastbreak opportunities until the 13:23 mark in the half.
UCLA was better in the second half, but even then, its 1.029 points per possession over the course of the entire game was the fewest allowed by UW to a high-major since holding Marquette to exactly one point per possession on Dec. 6.
“Our communication was really high-level,” Winter said. “These last two days of practice probably have been some of our best practices all year from a communication standpoint and a defensive standpoint.”
That’s not to say Wisconsin’s defense was perfect against the Bruins, however. UCLA made six straight shots at one point in the second half, and Gard picked out a few other issues with UW’s halfcourt defense.
“We had a couple ball-screen mistakes – one we hedged way too far, one we didn’t hedge at all,” Gard said. “Other than that, I thought we were pretty solid, and a lot of good things to build upon. We’ll have to continue to get better on that end of the floor.”
What happened with Nolan Winter’s flagrant foul, Nick Boyd’s technical foul
The Wisconsin-UCLA game ended with some drama as the officiating crew handed out a Flagrant 1 and offsetting technical fouls.
Winter received the flagrant foul after a somewhat of a hard foul on Eric Dailey Jr. as the UCLA forward attempted a layup.
“Yeah, it was a hard foul,” Winter said of his flagrant. “I didn’t really mean to get a flagrant, obviously, but I didn’t want to give him any free points, especially at the end of the game. … We played to the whistle.”
Gard pointed out that UCLA was “pressing us until the very end,” too.
After Winter’s foul, Dailey appeared to give Winter a light shove. Boyd and others ran to Winter’s defense, and Boyd made contact with Dailey. Boyd and Dailey received offsetting deadball technical fouls after replay review.
Boyd saw Dailey “push my guy,” he said after the game.
“Over these last couple weeks, man, we’ve just been getting pushed around too much,” Boyd said. “So I just had to have his back. That’s the mentality we’re carrying with us the rest of the year. We get pushed. We’re stepping right back up.”
UCLA coach Mick Cronin, unlike many of his peers this season, did not hold a postgame press conference at the Kohl Center. So Gard was the only coach in a position to share his thoughts on what transpired.
Gard’s thoughts were shaped by other officiating decisions that he did not want to specifically identify.
“I’m not going to get into refereeing, and those guys got a really hard job,” Gard said. “But there was some actions on the other end that if they get them under control, then that never happens because the play would have been whistled dead. … I’ll deal with that with the league in terms of we should have never gotten to that based on some other stuff.”
Blough is only two years into his coaching career after retiring from playing after the 2023 season. He has spent the last two seasons as the Washington Commanders’ assistant quarterbacks coach, helping young quarterback Jayden Daniels emerge as a strong franchise player for Washington. Late in the 2025 season, Commanders quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard took the Stanford head coaching job, leaving Blough to serve as the interim quarterbacks coach for the rest of the season.
While backing up Jared Goff in Detroit, Blough was often described by the coaching staff as an excellent backup and strong offensive mind.
“I love the kid, if I’m being totally honest with you,” Campbell said back in 2021. “He’s just a little football player. And when I say that, I mean that in the highest regard. Look, he’s smart. He’s extremely smart. He knows where to go with the football, I love his timing. He knows how to command the huddle, he communicates well and on top of that, he’s a hell of a dude, by the way. He just is. So, he has not disappointed. He’s doing a good job. He’s out there competing with the rest of those guys.”
As of now, this is the only known candidate for the Lions’ offensive coordinator position, but it’s still early in the process. When more candidates emerge, we’ll have a tracker so you can see all of the names in one place.
Suspected Milwaukee drunken driver drives into sheriff deputy, footage shows
A 21-year-old, accused of drunken driving the wrong way on Interstate 43 and crashing into a Milwaukee sheriff’s deputy on January 1, was charged with second-degree reckless endangering safety and a driving while under the influence, second offense.
Provided by Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office
A 22-year-old pregnant Milwaukee woman was found dead in a house fire that was intentionally set, leaving behind a 3-year-old daughter.
The family of Gladys Johnson is heartbroken at their loss. Her death occurred 33 years almost to the day that her brothers died in a fire.
Gladys Johnson was discovered by her mother, Michelle Johnson, following a fire at their residence in the 2800 block of North 26th Street on Jan. 5.
The Milwaukee Police Department said a 21-year-old man has been arrested for arson. Police said the man intentionally brandished a firearm and then started a house on fire.
The man who was arrested is the father of Johnson’s daughter and unborn child, according to Josie Johnson-Smith, Gladys Johnson’s aunt.
Police said Gladys Johnson’s cause of death is officially undetermined and under investigation, but the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the death a homicide.
“He took my niece’s life,” Johnson-Smith said. “He threatened to kill her before. That’s why she ended up back with her mom.”
The Journal Sentinel does not typically name suspects unless they’ve been formally charged with a crime.
Gladys Johnson was five months pregnant with a baby boy, according to Johnson-Smith. “She was so happy, teaching her daughter that she was going to be a big sister,” Johnson-Smith said.
Fire-related death reopens old wounds
Gladys Johnson’s death reopens old wounds for her mother, who lost two sons in a bar fire in Milwaukee in 1992.
Milwaukee Journal reporting from the time recalls Terrance Bizzle-Johnson, 4, and Antonio Bizzle-Johnson, 2, being found dead on New Year’s Eve 1992 from smoke inhalation after a fire broke out at a family tavern on the north side of the city.
The Journal’s article details a harrowing rescue attempt by family members, including by Josie Johnson-Smith and Michelle Johnson.
Gladys Johnson was the ‘light in our family’
Gladys Johnson was named after her late grandmother.
“She was the most loving person you ever wanted to meet,” Johnson-Smith said. “Her spirit was a light. If you were in a bad mood, she would cheer you up. She was the light in our family.
“Her daughter is 3 years old and can talk, spell, and say her ABCs. She was a good mom.
“We’re just so devastated right now. He’s seemed like a nice man. So many young women have passed away with domestic situations and it’s just overwhelming.
“The only thing I’d ask the community, to the young women out there that are going through situations similar to my niece, speak out. Don’t be ashamed. You have to tell somebody.”
Gladys’ Johnson’s family started a GoFundMe fundraiser to help cover funeral expenses.
Where to find help for domestic violence
Victim advocates can help with safety planning. Calls to advocates are confidential and do not involve law enforcement.
- The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 800-799-7233.
- The National Sexual Assault Hotline is 800-656-4673.
- End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin has a statewide directory of resources at endabusewi.org/get-help.
- Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault has a statewide directory of resources at wcasa.org/survivors/service-providers.
- The Sojourner Family Peace Center in Milwaukee operates a 24-hour confidential hotline at 414-933-2722.
- The Milwaukee Women’s Center offers a 24-hour crisis line at 414-671-6140.
- We Are Here Milwaukee provides information on culturally specific organizations at weareheremke.org.
- Kids Matter Inc. provides free legal services and specialized assistance to individuals caring for children impacted by domestic violence and homicide. Kids Matter can be reached at 414-344-1220 and offers free online resources at kidsmatterinc.org.
Instant takeaways from Cincinnati Bearcats basketball loss at WVU
Dynamite, Floods and Feuds: Washington’s forgotten river wars
3 takeaways as Wisconsin Badgers ‘showed some fight’ in win over UCLA
West Virginia Lottery results: See winning numbers for Mega Millions, Daily 3 on Jan. 6, 2026
Abortion-rights advocates cheer Wyoming Supreme Court ruling; opponents plan constitutional amendment – WyoFile
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
Wyoming Supreme Court rules laws restricting abortion violate state constitution
How strong are Latin America’s military forces, as they face US threats?
Trump says Venezuela will turn over 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil to US | CNN Business
Video: Nvidia Shows Off New A.I. Chip at CES
Pelosi heir-apparent calls Trump’s Venezuela move a ‘lawless coup,’ urges impeachment, slams Netanyahu
-
World1 week agoHamas builds new terror regime in Gaza, recruiting teens amid problematic election
-
News1 week agoFor those who help the poor, 2025 goes down as a year of chaos
-
Business1 week agoInstacart ends AI pricing test that charged shoppers different prices for the same items
-
Health1 week agoDid holiday stress wreak havoc on your gut? Doctors say 6 simple tips can help
-
Technology1 week agoChatGPT’s GPT-5.2 is here, and it feels rushed
-
Business1 week agoA tale of two Ralphs — Lauren and the supermarket — shows the reality of a K-shaped economy
-
Science1 week agoWe Asked for Environmental Fixes in Your State. You Sent In Thousands.
-
Politics1 week agoThe biggest losers of 2025: Who fell flat as the year closed