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Column: 'Retire and go back under a rock': Biden loyalists push back on my call for Joe to get tested

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Column: 'Retire and go back under a rock': Biden loyalists push back on my call for Joe to get tested

Just like the man they stand behind, backers of President Biden can be a feisty bunch.

Even as more prominent supporters jump ship — Hollywood high rollers George Clooney and Rob Reiner say it’s time for Biden to step aside, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stopped short of saying she wants Biden to stay in the race — true Bidenistas are digging in.

There’s California Gov. Gavin Newsom, of course, and various House and Senate members who believe Biden should stay the course. But I’m hearing directly from readers ticked off about my column suggesting that Biden undergo a full battery of neurological testing (based on assessments by doctors I spoke to) to reassure the public that he’s OK, as he defiantly insists.

“You should get tested and the results be made public,” said Dan Cordova of Albuquerque. “You should also retire and go back under a rock.”

“SHAME ON YOU for adding to the Biden media feeding frenzy,” wrote Marcy Rothenberg of Porter Ranch. “It’s already been reported that President Biden has arthritis; his back is stiff so he walks slowly. He still can ride a bike. Can Donald? No. He can’t even walk a golf course.”

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Even former state legislator and L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl shook a stick at me.

“Instead of joining an echo-journalism ignorant drumbeat, perhaps you might have, as [history professor and essayist] Heather Cox Richardson did, revealed the letter from the President’s actual doctor, Dr. [Kevin] O’Connor, on his neurological exam at the end of February. I hope you will read her as thousands do every day and reveal this in a column.”

I understand and respect Biden loyalty. As I’ve said before, he seems to be a decent and civil man and he’s been a good president.

I also believe, and have often stated, that former President Trump is a menace, and I don’t know who the greater threat to the republic is — him, or all the lemmings in line to hand a second term to a lying, hateful, vindictive, narcissistic felon who failed to deliver on virtually all of his campaign promises (look it up if you don’t believe me).

Readers have asked how I could write a column saying Biden should undergo testing, but not Trump, who has had his own particular set of behavioral issues. I assumed it went without saying that Trump ought to have his head examined. But sure, I’ll get on board with both of them getting a full diagnostic workup.

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I loved the suggestion by Terry Spencer of Highland Park that Biden and Trump should have to take the intentionally confusing California DMV license renewal test, and whoever scores highest wins the election.

The Biden backers seem to fall into one or more of three categories. Those who think his health is good enough to handle the job going forward. Those who think it’s too late to switch to a replacement candidate. And those who would vote for a bean and cheese burrito before they vote for Trump.

“I never give much credence to polls, but Biden still does better against Trump than others,” said Kuehl, who added that the chaos of “changing horses in midstream” would do more damage to the party “than sticking with Joe, who, I think, will win.”

Plausible, but the stream is deep, and the horse’s head is barely above water.

A reader named Mark Richardson, of Encinitas, is banking on a passing of the torch, but not just yet.

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“We’ll see how the next couple of months go, and if he gets elected, he can resign a month after inauguration day, January 2025 and [Vice President Kamala] Harris can take over,” Richardson said.

Also plausible, but the key words are “if he gets elected.” I have serious doubts, and said earlier this month that Biden should pass the baton and walk away with pride, dignity and grace. Not because of his age (lots of older people are fully functioning), but because of his health.

The president didn’t improve his chances with his stiff gait, slack expressions and word stumbles in the June 27 debate. His judgment wasn’t sharp, either. Instead of getting lured into a silly back-and-forth about which candidate is the best golfer, Biden should have said that as the planet melts and women’s reproductive rights have been stolen by Trump’s Supreme Court, he’d rather talk about saving the country than playing golf.

Things did not get much better for Biden in the televised ABC interview a few days later. And as for the doctor’s report cited by Kuehl and countless others, based on a physical Biden had in February, it leaves a lot of questions unanswered.

“An extremely detailed neurologic exam was again reassuring in that there were no findings which would be consistent with any cerebellar or other central neurological disorder, such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s or ascending lateral sclerosis, nor are there any signs of cervical myelopathy,” said the report from Biden’s doctor.

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I’m not taking any statement from the White House as gospel truth, regardless of who’s in office, and I have questions.

When exactly was the neurologic exam taken and by whom? What is meant by “extremely detailed?” And given the progressive nature of memory and movement disorders, isn’t it possible Biden’s condition has changed in the last six months, and will continue to do so?

As Kuehl noted, there’s a big difference between the opinions of physicians making a diagnosis from a distance and those who actually see the patient in question. I couldn’t agree more, and in fact, I wrote a column chastising people who thought they could diagnose dementia in Biden by watching him on CNN. Dementia is not some catch-all phrase for a memory lapse, which could be caused by any number of things.

But no matter how much you love Biden, hate Trump, or both, I don’t know how anyone could have watched that debate and not be worried about Biden’s health.

Neurological movement disorders are often accompanied by specific symptoms that doctors can spot. Several reached out to me after the debate to say they saw signs of Parkinson’s or a related condition. Two neurologists took note of Biden’s blink rate, facial expressions, stiffness and speech patterns.

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One, Dr. Michael Mahler, a neurology specialist and UCLA faculty member, said he suspected something in the “Parkinsonian” paradigm.

Dr. Jack Florin, who has been a USC professor and had research fellowships at Stanford and Harvard, said he thinks Biden suffers from a Parkinson’s variant called progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), which can involve cognitive impairment that worsens over time and impact mental processing speed, attention and concentration.

The White House report on Biden’s health didn’t convince Mahler or Florin that we know the full story, or that their own impressions of Biden’s condition are off base. Florin suggested that an MRI, if there hasn’t already been one, would be helpful in supporting his theory that Biden has PSP.

Mahler said “some of the disorders in the realm of Parkinsonism are inherently variable,” meaning that they change over time. And “having a normal neurological exam in February (or earlier) means nothing if a person had a stroke or series of small strokes in March.” But he was cautious about making a specific diagnosis, and said medication for certain disorders can produce symptoms that mimic Parkinson’s.

“One thing that Biden has repeated is that functioning as president is a harder test than asking him to draw a clock or recall five words, and that is probably true,” Mahler said. “Yet it is also true that neurologists around the country saw something during the debate other than reassurance that the president was neurologically fit.”

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What I saw was a sad moment in U.S. political history.

A tyrant counting on victory in November.

A weakened president trying to stand tall.

Some of his supporters abandoning him and others doubling down.

It may be that neither candidate gets tested, but come November, all of us are going to be.

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steve.lopez@latimes.com

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How Trump and MAGA Fans Are Talking About the Epstein Case

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How Trump and MAGA Fans Are Talking About the Epstein Case

The crimes and death of Jeffrey Epstein, the financier and convicted sex offender who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges, have long fed conspiracy theories among some of President Trump’s most ardent supporters.

Their interest has reached a crescendo over the past week, after the Trump administration abruptly reversed course on its pledge to disclose previously unknown details about the investigation into Mr. Epstein. In an unsigned memo, the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation said their investigation turned up no evidence that Mr. Epstein kept a “client list” or blackmailed notable people, and confirmed that Mr. Epstein died by suicide.

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Nearly all of the influential right-wing figures speaking out about the case seem to agree that more information needs to be released. Their demands are often accompanied by blame for mishandling the case, aimed at a wide array of figures they deem responsible.

Here is a breakdown of where the president and more than 30 of his most prominent supporters have fallen on the issue, as of Wednesday afternoon.

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Viewpoint: The Justice Department’s investigation was complete, and no further action is necessary.

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  • Attorney General Pam Bondi
  • Deputy F.B.I. Director Dan Bongino
  • F.B.I. Director Kash Patel
  • President Trump

This is the official stance of the Justice Department itself — as well as the F.B.I., which falls under its purview — as indicated in the memo released last week. The memo was unsigned, but those who have been expected to answer for it have included Attorney General Pam Bondi, F.B.I. Director Kash Patel and his deputy director, Dan Bongino.

Last year, before Mr. Trump was re-elected, Mr. Bongino had cast doubt over the case, saying, “I don’t trust any story they tell me about Jeffrey Epstein. There is a reason this client list is hidden.” The Epstein case also gave rise to an angry confrontation between Ms. Bondi and Mr. Bongino, according to officials close to the situation.

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Mr. Trump himself has also attempted to turn down the volume on the topic, defending Ms. Bondi in a post on Truth Social that encouraged readers to “not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about.” Many of the thousands of replies to Mr. Trump’s Truth Social post overwhelmingly disagreed with him — a rarity on the president’s own platform.

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What’s going on with my “boys” and, in some cases, “gals?” They’re all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! We’re on one Team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening. We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and “selfish people” are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein. For years, it’s Epstein, over and over again. Why are we giving publicity to Files written by Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan, and the Losers and Criminals of the Biden Administration, who conned the World with the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, 51 “Intelligence” Agents, “THE LAPTOP FROM HELL,” and more? They created the Epstein Files, just like they created the FAKE Hillary Clinton/Christopher Steele Dossier that they used on me, and now my so-called “friends” are playing right into their hands. Why didn’t these Radical Left Lunatics release the Epstein Files? If there was ANYTHING in there that could have hurt the MAGA Movement, why didn’t they use it? They haven’t even given up on the John F. Kennedy or Martin Luther King, Jr. Files. No matter how much success we have had, securing the Border, deporting Criminals, fixing the Economy, Energy Dominance, a Safer World where Iran will not have Nuclear Weapons, it’s never enough for some people. We are about to achieve more in 6 months than any other Administration has achieved in over 100 years, and we have so much more to do. We are saving our Country and, MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, which will continue to be our complete PRIORITY. The Left is imploding! Kash Patel, and the FBI, must be focused on investigating Voter Fraud, Political Corruption, ActBlue, The Rigged and Stolen Election of 2020, and arresting Thugs and Criminals, instead of spending month after month looking at nothing but the same old, Radical Left inspired Documents on Jeffrey Epstein. LET PAM BONDI DO HER JOB — SHE’S GREAT! The 2020 Election was Rigged and Stolen, and they tried to do the same thing in 2024 — That’s what she is looking into as AG, and much more. One year ago our Country was DEAD, now it’s the “HOTTEST” Country anywhere in the World. Let’s keep it that way, and not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

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Despite the overall reaction to Mr. Trump’s post, at least one of his influential supporters seemed satisfied with the official narrative. Dinesh D’Souza, a right-wing commentator who directed a film that spread conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, agreed with Mr. Trump that it was “time to focus on more pressing matters.”

On Tuesday, Mr. Trump reiterated that he did not understand the fascination with Mr. Epstein, but also said Ms. Bondi should release “whatever she thinks is credible” on the case. On Wednesday, he went even further and said he no longer wanted the support of those who believed what he called the “Jeffrey Epstein Hoax.”

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Viewpoint: The Trump administration is responsible for a perceived lack of transparency about the Epstein case.

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  • Representative Mark Alford
  • Glenn Beck
  • Representative Tim Burchett
  • Representative Eric Burlison
  • Representative Kat Cammack
  • Tucker Carlson
  • Mike Cernovich
  • Representative Eli Crane
  • Dinesh D’Souza
  • Michael Flynn
  • Representative Marjorie Taylor
  • Benny Johnson
  • Speaker Mike Johnson
  • Alex Jones
  • Senator John Kennedy
  • Charlie Kirk
  • Laura Loomer
  • Representative Anna Paulina Luna
  • Representative Nancy Mace
  • Rogan O’Handley (DC Draino)
  • Jack Posobiec
  • Chad Prather
  • Representative Keith Self
  • Matt Walsh
  • Liz Wheeler

The initial backlash among many of the MAGA faithful, including Republican elected officials and right-wing media figures and other influencers, focused primarily on Ms. Bondi, who had already lost credibility with the base after previously hyping a release of documents related to the Epstein case that ultimately revealed little new information.

Mr. Trump himself mostly dodged their opprobrium. (Last month, though, some renewed interest in the Epstein case came after Elon Musk’s messy falling-out with the president culminated in Mr. Musk accusing Mr. Trump, in a now-deleted post on X, of being named in the F.B.I.’s files.)

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In the days since, many of Mr. Trump’s supporters have remained quick to criticize the administration’s stance that there’s nothing left to uncover regarding the Epstein case while stopping short of calling out or blaming the president himself.

Laura Loomer, a far-right influencer, has long called on Ms. Bondi to resign while absolving Mr. Trump of any responsibility.

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Metadata Shows the FBI’s ‘Raw’ Jeffrey Epstein Prison Video Was Likely Modified

More of a reason for Blondi to resign.

She should just be FIRED.

Trump can like her, but surely he knows she’s bringing him chaos.

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She is harming his spectacular image.

Charlie Kirk, Jack Posobiec and Benny Johnson, who host popular MAGA podcasts, have all pushed back aggressively on the official narrative, urging more transparency and casting doubt on the Justice Department memo’s contention that there is nothing left to release. Complicating matters, Mr. Kirk also caused a mini-uproar when he told listeners on Monday that he was done talking about the Epstein case and would “trust his friends in the administration.” He later said that his words had been misinterpreted and taken out of context and he has continued to discuss the matter.

Meanwhile, Mr. Johnson said on X that he, Mr. Kirk and other “powerful MAGA voices” should be credited with moving the administration to change its approach.

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Just got off the phone with top federal law enforcement contact. The change in approach to Epstein has been dramatic. Expect more disclosures. Some very powerful people inside Admin are now pushing for a Special Counsel and a full press briefing on Epstein findings.

Important to note, this drastic change happened after @charliekirk11 and a number of other powerful MAGA Voices pushed back on the handling of the Epstein case this weekend at the Turning Point conference. They were met with massive roars and applause from the 7000 gathered that could not be ignored.

In short: Our voices are being heard, power to the people 🇺🇸👊🏼

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Numerous Republican members of Congress have blamed or called for more transparency from Ms. Bondi or other members of the Trump administration, including Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, and Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Mark Alford of Missouri, Keith Self of Texas, Eric Burlison of Missouri, Kat Cammack of Florida, Eli Crane of Arizona, Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Tim Burchett of Tennessee. Others in this group include conservative influencers like Rogan O’Handley, Matt Walsh, Glenn Beck, Liz Wheeler, Alex Jones, Chad Prather, Mike Cernovich, Tucker Carlson and Michael T. Flynn.

Viewpoint: Mr. Trump himself bears some share of the responsibility.

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  • Roseanne Barr
  • Tucker Carlson
  • Glenn Beck
  • Mike Cernovich
  • Michael Flynn
  • David Freiheit (Viva Frei)
  • Alex Jones
  • Elon Musk
  • Chad Prather
  • Wayne Allyn Root

Most of Mr. Trump’s biggest supporters are loath to raise questions about his actions, so it is notable that a number of them have called Mr. Trump out directly when it comes to the Epstein case.

Mostly, they have done so delicately and with respectful language, treating their concerns as appeals to the president rather than criticisms of him. For instance, Wayne Allyn Root, a conservative TV and radio host, posted an entreaty to “just release” the files, preceded by hyperbolic praise.

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Trump did something GREAT yesterday…but he still has to deal with Epstein. It’s clear Epstein is not going away. Best 6 months for any president in history. Everything he’s doing is fantastic. Why risk it all on this stupid file? Just release it.

Similarly, Michael T. Flynn, who served as national security adviser for a spell in Mr. Trump’s first administration and remains close to him, urged the president in a post on X to “get ahead of” the public interest in the case, but also assured him that “we want to support every bit of your fight to save America.”

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@realDonaldTrump this is why I said the EPSTEIN AFFAIR is not going away anytime soon. Get ahead of this. We want to support every bit of your fight to save America, none more than me.

CHILDREN WILL NOT BE ABUSED BY ANYONE.

No category nor any class of people should ever get away with abusing CHILDREN.

Enough is enough.

ACCOUNTABILITY is coming either here on earth or at the Gates of Hell, which is where I will be waiting for those who abuse a child.

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For
@LeaderJohnThune
@SpeakerJohnson
Get your troops in line immediately!!!

Others were less measured. Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist and radio host, asked on X, “Why is 47 making the worst moves of his tenure in the last 9 years?” (Mr. Jones has also questioned the administration’s actions and blamed outside forces.) The actress Roseanne Barr, one of Mr. Trump’s most loyal supporters, told the president to “read the damn room.”

Those who have called out Mr. Trump personally also included Elon Musk and David Freiheit, an influencer who goes by the handle Viva Frei, as well as Glenn Beck and the right-wing commentators Mike Cernovich and Chad Prather, who also called for greater transparency from the Justice Department.

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Viewpoint: Forces outside the administration are responsible for gaps in public understanding of the Epstein case.

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  • Steve Bannon
  • Roseanne Barr
  • Representative Tim Burchett
  • Dinesh D’Souza
  • Tucker Carlson
  • Representative. Marjorie Taylor Greene
  • Alex Jones
  • Jack Posobiec
  • Roger Stone
  • President Donald J. Trump

Some of Mr. Trump’s supporters have looked further afield for explanation, opining that Mr. Trump and his administration are not (or are not solely) responsible for the unmet public interest in Mr. Epstein’s case. In many instances, these statements began to look like new conspiracy-theory threads.

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Roger Stone, a longtime adviser to Mr. Trump, said without evidence on Sunday that the Justice Department under the Biden administration had destroyed evidence relating to the case.

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When Kash Patel, our FBI Director, tells us there are no Epstein records — even though we saw with our own eyes that DVDs and hard drives were seized from Epstein’s properties — he’s telling us the truth.

I believe that evidence was destroyed by Christopher Wray and Biden’s DOJ.

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Some influential figures blamed both Mr. Trump or his administration and others outside it. Tucker Carlson, for instance, has been critical of Ms. Bondi’s handling of the case and has pushed back against Mr. Trump’s efforts to tamp down on questions. At a public appearance over the weekend, he also strongly implied Mr. Epstein was engaged in spycraft on behalf of the Israeli government. (Naftali Bennett, the former Israeli prime minister, called Mr. Carlson’s claim “categorically and totally false.”)

Mr. Trump himself has also been pushing unfounded theories about the Epstein files, including saying that they were a fraudulent creation by former President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and other liberal figures.

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Others advancing theories about entities outside of the administration include Stephen K. Bannon, the Trump adviser turned influential podcast host; Marjorie Taylor Greene; Tim Burchett; Roseanne Barr; Jack Posobiec; and Dinesh D’Souza.

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Mamdani sparks firestorm with resurfaced comment on abolishing private property: 'He's a communist'

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Mamdani sparks firestorm with resurfaced comment on abolishing private property: 'He's a communist'

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Zohran Mamdani’s past comments are once again coming back to haunt his New York City mayoral campaign, as a resurfaced video reveals the socialist candidate floated the “abolition of private property.”

“My platform is that every single person should have housing, and I think faced with these two options, the system has hundreds of thousands of people unhoused, right? For what?” Mamdani questioned in a resurfaced video that has been clipped and reposted across conservative social media.  

“If there was any system that could guarantee each person housing, whether you call it the abolition of private property or you call it, you know, just a statewide housing guarantee, it is preferable to what is going on right now,” Mamdani said. 

“People try and play like gotcha games about these kinds of things, and it’s like, look, I care more about whether somebody has a home,” he said. 

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UNEARTHED SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS EXPOSE RADICAL ANTI-ISRAEL VIEWS OF MAMDANI’S DAD: ‘COLONIAL OCCUPATION’

New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani briefly speaks with reporters as he leaves the Dirksen Senate Office Building on July 16, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (hoto by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

The clip drew widespread condemnation from conservatives, including GOP Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, who told Fox News Digital, “He claims to be a socialist, whether it’s wanting to abolish private property or wanting to seize the means of production, these are communist ideas right out of the playbook of Karl Marx.”

“The fact that too many members of the media, too many members of the Democrat Party, are willing to go along instead of calling him out on it is disturbing, and I think that if the majority of New Yorkers knew what this guy truly stands for and how destructive and dangerous his policies are, there’s no way that they vote from, because so many in our city. Led places where socialism and communism destroyed their lives,” Malliotakis, whose mother fled communism to the United States from Cuba, said.

GOP Rep. Mike Lawler, who represents New York’s 17th Congressional District, also took issue with the post. 

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MAMDANI’S FAILURE TO WALK BACK THESE POSITIONS COULD CAUSE RECKONING IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY: ‘FIVE-ALARM WARNING’

Zohran Mamdani campaigning in New York City subway

Candidate for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a press conference while campaigning outside a Subway station in New York City, on April 1, 2025. (REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)

“Zohran Mamdani’s call to abolish private property is dangerous and un-American,” Lawler said. 

“It’s the kind of radical socialist nonsense that would destroy livelihoods in the Hudson Valley and across New York. This will bring economic chaos, and New Yorkers deserve better than out-of-touch extremists pushing communist agendas that threaten our way of life.”

“Mamdani’s call to abolish private property isn’t just radical, it’s dangerous,” Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital. “Stripping this fundamental right would devastate families, close small businesses, and destroy entire communities, all while handing more power to the government. Private property is a cornerstone Constitutional principle. It represents the essence of personal freedom, economic opportunity, and the American Dream. We must defend it.”

“Mamdani isn’t offering a housing plan — he’s pushing a communist manifesto. The idea of abolishing private property is fundamentally anti-American and wildly out of touch with the real issues New Yorkers face,” Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital. “Families are fleeing the City and our State because of high costs, crime, and broken leadership — not because there’s too much freedom. New York City has to decide: do they want a mayor who believes in safety and prosperity, or a communist who wants to seize your home?”

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The comments sparked a social media firestorm as well. 

“Yea, this guy is definitely not a communist,” Donald Trump Jr., who recently spoke to Fox News Digital about the prospect of Mamdani being mayor, sarcastically posted on X. 

“He is a communist,” GOP Sen. Ted Cruz responded to the viral clip on X.

Zohran Mamdani campaigning in New York City

New York City mayoral candidate and Democratic State Rep. Zohran Mamdani campaigns in New York City on April 16, 2025. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

“Like I said he’s a communist,” Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen posted on X.

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“Yes, you heard that right,” New York GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik posted on X.  “Like the true Communist he is, Commie Mamdani supports the “abolition of private property.” This is the NY Democrat Party @KathyHochul you lead and you have failed to condemn this dangerous insanity.”

“Meet the new leader of the Democrat party, everyone,” GOP Sen. Roger Marshall posted on X. “He’s a literal communist.”

Since his surprise victory in the Democratic primary rocketed him to nationwide recognition, Mamdani has faced heated criticism and been labeled a “communist” for a variety of positions he has espoused, including on social media where resurfaced clips have come back to haunt him.

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Rep. Garcia of Long Beach asks RFK Jr. to explain targeting of HIV/AIDS funding for cuts

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Rep. Garcia of Long Beach asks RFK Jr. to explain targeting of HIV/AIDS funding for cuts

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach) is calling on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to explain why the Trump administration has repeatedly ordered cuts to HIV/AIDS programs both at home and abroad.

In a letter to Kennedy dated Thursday, Garcia asserted that the cabinet secretary has a history of peddling misinformation about the virus and disease, and that the planned cuts — which he called “alarming and unprecedented” — would cost lives.

“We are concerned that your motivations for disrupting HIV funding and delaying preventative services and research are grounded not in sound science, but in misinformation and disinformation you have spread previously about HIV and AIDS, including your repeated claim that HIV does not cause AIDS,” wrote Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.

Health and Human Services officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday morning. Kennedy couldn’t immediately be reached.

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Both President Trump and Kennedy have previously defended the sweeping cuts to Health and Human Services programs and staff under Kennedy’s leadership. Agency spokespeople have said they would allow for a greater focus on Kennedy’s priorities of “ending America’s epidemic of chronic illness by focusing on safe, wholesome food, clean water, and the elimination of environmental toxins.”

Kennedy has said the department under his watch “will do more — a lot more — at a lower cost to the taxpayer.”

Garcia’s letter — which he co-wrote with Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), the ranking Democrat on the Health Care and Financial Services subcommittee — requested that the health department produce a list of all HIV/AIDS-related funding it has cut and an explanation for how those funds were identified for elimination, as well as other documentation and communications around several of the largest cuts.

The letter is the latest attempt by Democrats, in coordination with health experts and LGBTQ+ organizations, to challenge what they see as an inexplicable yet coordinated effort by the Trump administration to dismantle public health initiatives aimed at controlling and ultimately ending one of the most devastating and deadly epidemics in human history.

It comes the same day that Senate Republicans agreed to a Trump administration request to claw back billions of dollars in funding for public media and foreign aid, but declined an earlier White House request to include in those cuts about $400 million in HIV/AIDS funding for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, which is credited with saving millions of lives in some of the poorest nations around the world.

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The House had previously voted for an earlier version of the measure that did cut the funding for PEPFAR, which was started by President George W. Bush in 2003. However, senators pushed for the restoration of the funding before agreeing to sign the broader rescission package.

The House must now approve the Senate version of the measure by Friday for it to take effect.

In an interview with The Times, Garcia said he has long viewed Kennedy as a dangerous “conspiracy theorist” who has “peddled in all sorts of lies” about HIV, vaccines and other medical science. Now that Kennedy is Health secretary, he said, the American people deserve to know whether national and international health decisions are being driven by his baseless personal beliefs.

“Folks need to understand what he’s trying to do, and I think that he has to be responsible and be held accountable for his actions,” Garcia said.

In their letter, Garcia and Krishnamoorthi noted that recent scientific advancements — including the creation of new preventative drugs — are making the eradication of HIV more attainable than ever. And yet Kennedy and the Trump administration are pushing the nation and the world in the opposite direction, they said.

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“Since taking office, the Trump Administration has systematically attacked HIV-related funding and blocked critical HIV-related services and care for those who need it most,” Garcia and Krishnamoorthi wrote. “These disruptions would threaten Americans most at risk of contracting HIV, and many people living with HIV will get sicker or infect others without programs they rely on for treatment.”

The letter outlines a number of examples of such cuts, including:

  • The elimination of the HIV prevention division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and termination or delay of billions of dollars in HIV prevention grants from that office.
  • The termination of a $258-million program within the National Institutes of Health to find a vaccine to prevent new HIV infections.
  • The termination of dozens of NIH grants for HIV research, particularly around preventing new infections among Black and Latino gay men who are disproportionately at risk of contracting the virus.
  • The targeting of HIV prevention initiatives abroad, including PEPFAR.
  • The U.S. drawing back from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Many in the medical and foreign aid community expressed grave concerns about Kennedy being appointed as Health secretary, in part because of his past remarks about HIV/AIDS. Kennedy told a reporter for New York Magazine as recently as June 2023 that there “are much better candidates than H.I.V. for what causes AIDS.”

In their letter, Garcia and Krishnamoorthi called out a specific theory shared by Kennedy that the recreational drug known as “poppers” may cause AIDS, rather than the HIV virus, writing, “We are deeply concerned that the Trump Administration’s HIV-related funding cuts are indiscriminate, rooted in a political agenda, and not at all in the interest of public health.”

Kennedy’s skepticism about the link between HIV and AIDS conflicts with well established science that has long been accepted by the medical establishment, and by the federal government. Studies around the world have proved the link, and found that HIV is the only common factor in AIDS cases.

In August 2023, about a week before Kennedy threw his support behind Trump, his presidential campaign addressed the controversy surrounding his “poppers” comment, stating that Kennedy did not believe poppers were “the sole cause” of AIDS, but contended they were “a significant factor in the disease progression” of early patients in the 1980s.

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Garcia and Krishnamoorthi also noted a successful effort by local officials and advocates in Los Angeles County to get about $20 million in HIV/AIDS funding restored last month, after it and similar funding nationwide was frozen by the Trump administration.

The restoration of those funds followed another letter sent to Kennedy by Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) and other House members, who cited estimates from the Foundation for AIDS Research, known as amfAR, that the nationwide cuts could lead to 127,000 additional deaths from AIDS-related causes within five years.

Garcia and Krishnamoorthi cited the same statistics in their letter.

In his interview with The Times, Garcia, who is gay, also said the LGBTQ+ community “is rightly outraged” at Kennedy’s actions to date and deserves to know if Kennedy “is using his own conspiracy theories and his own warped view of what the facts are” to dismantle public health infrastructure around HIV and AIDS that they fought for decades to build.

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