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Senate Leadership Fund, Ohio NBC affiliate spar over Sen. Sherrod Brown 'too liberal for Ohio' fact-check

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Senate Leadership Fund, Ohio NBC affiliate spar over Sen. Sherrod Brown 'too liberal for Ohio' fact-check

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There is beef over an Ohio political ad. 

A conservative Super Pac has urged an Ohio NBC affiliate to correct an on-air fact-check by an analyst with a liberal social media history who disputed claims that Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown supported sex changes for minors and biological men in women’s sports — but the Cleveland-based station doesn’t appear concerned. 

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The Senate Leadership Fund put out an ad criticizing Brown for backing President Biden’s “extreme liberal agenda,” claiming the Ohio Democrat backed Biden by “voting to let transgender, biological men participate in women’s sports,” supporting and “allowing puberty blockers and sex change surgeries for minor children,” in addition to supporting Bidenomics.   

The Senate Leadership Fund, which is aligned with Sen. Mitch McConnell and was created to help build a Republican Senate majority, concluded that Brown, who is being challenged by Trump-backed businessman Bernie Moreno, is “too liberal for Ohio.”

WKYC digital anchor and legal analyst Stephanie Haney fact-checked the ad, saying its assertions were false. WKYC aired a portion of the ad before Haney took the Super Pac to task.

‘PREGNANT PERSONS’: OHIO SEN SHERROD BROWN SCRUBBED ‘WOMEN’ FROM BILL ON PREGNANCY

WKYC digital anchor and legal analyst Stephanie Haney declared assertions in a Senate Leadership Fund ad were false. 

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“Let’s start with the claim that Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown supported allowing puberty blockers and sex change surgeries for minor children,” Haney said, noting that the ad cited an interview Brown did in 2023 with WSYX.

“A child’s health care decisions are between them, their parents, their families, their doctors, not politicians,” a clip of Brown said. “I will never agree with anybody that wants to bring politics into the family situation with health care. Period.”

Haney then read a statement from Brown’s campaign team: “Sherrod’s comments cited in the ad were not in support of puberty blockers or gender reassignment surgeries, but instead a call to keep politicians out of decisions that should be made between families and doctors.”

Haney told viewers she could “verify” the Senate Leadership Fund claims were “false.”

Haney, who has called former President Trump “racist” and fawned over former President Obama on her X account, then moved on to the claim about women’s sports.

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CRIME DATA GURU ‘FRUSTRATED’ BY MEDIA INSISTING CRIME IS DOWN UNDER BIDEN-HARRIS: ‘HUGE SPIKE IN OUR CITIES’

Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown

The Senate Leadership Fund put out an ad criticizing Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown for backing President Biden’s “extreme liberal agenda.” (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“When making the claim, the ad refers to a vote in the U.S. Senate from March of 2021. When we pull up this vote on the U.S. Senate website, we see the amendment that was the subject of the vote had nothing to do with allowing transgender people to participate in women’s sports. It was actually only about money,” Haney told viewers.

“Sen. Brown voted against including an amendment in the American Rescue Plan that would have stripped federal funding from Ohio schools if those schools allowed transgender people to participate in women’s sports,” she continued. “So, we can verify, the claim that Brown voted to let transgender biological men participate in women’s sports is false.”

Haney ultimately ruled that two claims made in the ad were verified as “false,” essentially telling viewers the Senate Leadership Fund commercial was misleading on its face.

When the Senate Leadership Fund caught wind of the fact-checking segment, it emailed Haney to suggest the “story is missing some key pieces of information and is misleading voters” and pointed out that she never asked the Senate Leadership Fund for comment before airing the segment.

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In emails obtained by Fox News Digital, Haney pushed back, insisting the ad was a public comment itself and “that statement” was included.

“I went on to fact check the sources cited in the statement, including the WSYX interview and the roll call vote from 2021. Please let me know what you believe to be missing from the piece,” Haney wrote.

The Senate Leadership Fund’s communications team responded with a scathing email.

“I work with fact checkers all the time. Not once has a journalist, or fact checker, not reached out to me for additional information, context or comment,” the Senate Leadership Fund communications director wrote.

“What you did here is not industry practice and it’s unethical. You allowed Sherrod Brown the opportunity to respond. Sherrod Brown’s interview with WSYX and his votes to allow men to play in women’s sports are both ‘public statements.’ Yet, you allowed him to clarify, but did not give us the opportunity to provide more information,” the communications director continued. “Also, I’m not sure why you think the ad being a ‘public statement’ makes a difference here.”

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The Senate Leadership Fund then informed Haney that the fact-check was missing “key information,” but the Super Pac preferred to share it with her editor or news director.

Haney obliged and added the station’s news director to the email chain, prompting the Senate Leadership Fund to send another scathing takedown.

“I just want to again reiterate that I have never had a fact checker not reach out before publishing a piece. I think it does a disservice to your viewers and the station’s credibility to not reach out for more information. Frankly, I think this ‘fact check’ was more opinion than fact, and a correction needs to be issued,” the communications director wrote.

“Sherrod Brown voted twice (March 2021 and March 2024) to allow transgender biological men to participate in women’s sports. You’re correct that both these votes involve funding, but men are still allowed to participate in women’s sports at schools that received federal funding because Brown voted against the amendment. If the amendment had passed, men would NOT be allowed to participate in women’s sports at schools that receive federal funding,” Senate Leadership Fund’s communications director continued. “Can you point to the portion of Brown’s interview with WSYX where he states he’s against puberty blockers and sex changes for minors? I couldn’t find it.”

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The Senate Leadership Fund and Haney continued to bicker over email and never came to any sort of agreement, with the pro-GOP group insisting the fact-check was inaccurate, represented “an opinion” and needed to be “updated.” 

“What this boils down to is the fact that not denouncing something does not equate to voting for it, or supporting it,” Haney wrote.

Brown’s office did not respond to a request for comment. 

Brown voted against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act last year. The bill “generally prohibits school athletic programs from allowing individuals whose biological sex at birth was male to participate in programs that are for women or girls.”

In 2021, Brown sponsored an LGBTQ Pride Month resolution that included language about transgender youth participating in sports and their ability to access health care. Brown has long supported legislation that protects the well-being of transgender individuals.

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WKYC and Haney did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comment.

The Senate Leadership Fund stands by the ad. 

“Sherrod Brown fully supports allowing minors to receive puberty blockers and sex changes. He also supports allowing biological men to play in women’s sports. These facts are indisputable, and those who claim otherwise are looking through a partisan lens,” a spokesperson for the Senate Leadership Fund told Fox News Digital. 

ABC’S ‘THE VIEW’ WAS 100% NEGATIVE ABOUT TRUMP FOLLOWING SECOND ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: STUDY

Stephanie Haney

The Senate Leadership Fund stands by its ad criticizing Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown despite Stephanie Haney’s fact-check.

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Haney’s social media history suggests she’s reliably liberal.

“I believe that Trump is racist and I do not support his policies,” she tweeted in 2016. 

“Trump was right. Mexico will build a wall. And will pay for it. To keep Trump out. God help us all. I’m not being dramatic,” she wrote in another 2016 tweet. 

Haney tweeted in 2012, “I love you #Ohio! I’m happy both of my “home states” went Blue tonight! #California #Election2012 #Obama #TeamObama.”

Fox News Digital’s David Rutz contributed to this report. 

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Iowa

Black man says Iowa trucking company fired him over dreadlocks

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Black man says Iowa trucking company fired him over dreadlocks


A Black man alleges in a lawsuit that an Iowa trucking company fired him as a driver because he wouldn’t cut off his dreadlocks, the latest in a series of incidents across the country over an issue activists have dubbed hair discrimination.

Drew Harvey, 26, of Crete, Illinois, accused Des Moines-based TMC Transportation of racism in the lawsuit filed last week in state court against the company and two of its employees. The company didn’t immediately respond Monday to phone and email messages from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Similar issues have arisen in places like Texas, where a Black high school student was suspended because of his dreadlocks. And in Kansas, the American Civil Liberties Union raised concerns over a grade school forcing an 8-year-old Native American boy to cut off his hair after he grew it out for cultural reasons.

In Iowa, Harvey was hired as a flatbed truck driver in June. But one day after beginning orientation, his instructor told him to report to human resources, where he was told his hair was creating a “safety issue” and that he needed to cut his deadlocks or be fired, the lawsuit said.

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According to the lawsuit, Harvey said his hair was “important to his culture and spirituality” and he offered to address the concerns by trimming his hair, styling it differently, wearing it in a hair wrap or purchasing a different hard hat.

But the lawsuit said the company told him the proposals weren’t acceptable. Fired, he was sent home on a bus in tears, the lawsuit said.

The suit said the policy was inconsistently enforced and a violation of the Iowa Civil Rights Act. Harvey said that during his short time with the company, he observed several non-Black male and female workers who had long hair. The suit said he was even more upset when he learned online that TMC previously fired another Black man for the same reason.

Harvey is seeking unspecified damages for lost wages and emotional distress.

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Michigan

Trump to make another campaign stop in Michigan this week

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Trump to make another campaign stop in Michigan this week


Former President Donald Trump hosts town hall in Michigan

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Former President Donald Trump hosts town hall in Michigan

02:01

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(CBS DETROIT) – Former President Donald Trump is returning to Michigan for a rally this week.

According to Trump’s campaign, he will be in Saginaw at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 3. Officials say the former president will deliver remarks at the Ryder Center for Health and Physical Education at Saginaw Valley State University.

Trump recently spoke at FALK Production in Walker, Michigan, last week and traveled to Macomb Community College where he hosted a town hall. His running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, visited Michigan last week ahead of the vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News on Oct. 1.

Meanwhile, Trump’s opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, held a campaign event hosted by Oprah Winfrey in Metro Detroit earlier this month.

On Monday, a man was charged after he allegedly claimed he had C4 explosives in his car and sped through a security checkpoint at Trump’s rally in Walker.

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Steven William Nauta has been charged with making a false threat of terrorism, possession of bombs with unlawful intent, fleeing a police officer and resisting or obstructing a police officer, according to the Walker Police Department. He has pleaded not guilty to each count, according to a court official.

Nauta’s plea of not guilty comes on the same day that Ryan Wesley Routh, who allegedly sat outside of Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, with a rifle while Trump was golfing, pleaded not guilty to charges against him, including attempting to assassinate a political candidate.



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Minnesota

The future of medical marijuana in Minnesota

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The future of medical marijuana in Minnesota


NEW HOPE, Minn. — We’re roughly three months away from recreational marijuana becoming legal to sell and purchase in Minnesota, but that big change is sure to lead to other changes when it comes to medical marijuana.

More than 48,000 Minnesotans already purchase cannabis thanks to the state’s medical marijuana program, which began enrolling in 2015. Two licensed retailers, RISE and Green Goods, operate 15 dispensary locations between them across the state.

“I had such a stigma on it and when I gave it a try, I will never go back. I will always be on medical marijuana,” Chelsea Swanson, a patient from St. Francis said. “It has helped with my nausea, with my pain, and it has helped me function. I have gotten off prescription drugs and it is because of marijuana.”

Swanson drives nearly 30 miles to shop at a dispensary in New Hope, but she wouldn’t necessarily have to travel that far or enroll in any regulatory program once recreational dispensaries open in Minnesota, which could happen as soon as next year.

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Still, Swanson insisted it is worth the trip.

“What you are getting here is top quality. It is something grown and made in Minnesota,” she explained. “The plant is a plant, except for we know it’s grown here and it’s not under any harmful chemicals or fertilizers or anything else like that.”

If other states’ transitions are any indication though, the medical cannabis industry is likely to take a hit once recreational weed gets the green light in Minnesota. According to data from Michigan’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency, medicinal sales grossed roughly $1.2M in August 2024, while recreational sales topped a whopping $294 million.

State officials at Minnesota’s Office of Cannabis Management maintain the protocols regulating medical marijuana are the foundation for what will govern general adult use: everything seed to sale happens in Minnesota, not to mention the very cannabis plant and how it’s grown will be subject to the same safety standards.

Where things do differentiate, however, is at the cash register, as medical marijuana will remain tax-free.

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“Every dollar counts, especially with this economy,” Swanson said. “With putting taxes on it, that would be a few hundred dollars a year for me.”

The other difference, according to state officials, is that recreational marijuana will still be subject to limits on possession and potency, while medical marijuana will not.

Besides competing with the recreational market, the medicinal market will see other changes come 2025, including dropping the $200 annual enrollment fee for patients. Also next year, patients will need recertification every three years by a physician instead of every year. 

Additional changes to the medical program under the new law include allowing patients in programs in other states to buy products in Minnesota under a “visiting patient option” beginning in two years, and the age threshold for registered caregivers to purchase cannabis flower will be lowered from 21 to 18.

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