Connect with us

Politics

In deep-blue L.A., Democrats feel worried, betrayed, stoic about Biden's future

Published

on

In deep-blue L.A., Democrats feel worried, betrayed, stoic about Biden's future

Even in the heart of the most Biden-loving parts of Los Angeles County, the president is facing grumbles after his resounding failure of a performance at last week’s debate.

“Biden needs to go sit down, have his medication and take a nap. His time is up,” said Daisy Williams, who voted for Biden in 2020 but said she wouldn’t participate in November’s election after watching last week’s debate. “I’ve never seen something so crazy in my life. We in trouble … That debate was a joke.”

Biden’s debate performance — in which he delivered meandering, sometimes incoherent thoughts in a weak, raspy voice — has shaken among even the most ardent Democrats. While the party shuddered and its leaders hastily began arguing over whether to replace the incumbent president on the ticket, voters in the deepest blue parts of Los Angeles County mulled Biden’s future, too.

California — and Los Angeles County in particular, which supported Biden by 71% in 2020 — is a sea of support for the president. But some precincts in Inglewood and South Central L.A. are even bluer, delivering more than 94% support for the president in the 2020 election.

In a series of informal interviews, some residents in these areas said they’d stand by the president, while others said he should let someone else take on former President Trump in November, perhaps Vice President Kamala Harris.

Advertisement

In the West Athens neighborhood south of Inglewood, where one precinct’s support for Biden reached 95% in 2020, Williams expressed dismay at her options for president. If Biden stepped aside, she said she’d reconsider her decision not to vote.

The 65-year-old certified nurse’s assistant called the election a choice between “a criminal and a person that has dementia.”

Biden does not have any form of dementia, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said in a press briefing Tuesday.

Biden has not publicly wavered from his commitment to running for reelection, though he has reportedly been discussing whether to step aside with his closest family members and advisors.

A CNN poll released Tuesday showed that 56% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning registered voters think their party would have a better chance at winning the election with a candidate other than Biden. The first polls released since the debate show Trump beating Biden.

Advertisement

(Faith Pinho/Los Angeles Times)

Advertisement

But Daniel Rodriguez, a Democrat who voted for Biden in 2020 and plans to again in November, was unfazed by Biden’s shaky debate performance.

“I did see that, but I just think he has a lot of things on his mind,” Rodriguez said. “He’s overwhelmed.”

As a caregiver for people between 50 and 90 years old, Rodriguez, 50, said his job is to advocate for the elderly and “have 100% their back.” His work, Rodriguez said, has shown him that some older adults remain sharp mentally even if they don’t always express themselves well.

“I see people who really had a good head on their shoulders — they still got it going on, they’re still smart,” he said. “So [do] not give up on them, you know? … They have a say-so in this country.”

Advertisement

Janice Gatlin, 66, had the opposite reaction to the debate. She said she kept trying to turn away from the TV screen and Biden’s spectacular failure, but couldn’t stop looking and sat through the whole “upsetting” performance.

“Biden, he’s just at that age where it’s time to retire. Because he was lost! I was embarrassed for him. It hurt me, because I voted for him,” she said. Harris, she added, would be a good alternate. “Time for her to step up,” Gatlin said.

Biden made a handful of public appearances after the debate, including a lively speech he gave the following day at a rally in North Carolina. Critics said he appeared more energetic because he relied on a teleprompter. But for Gatlin, it didn’t matter — the president’s debate performance, she said, showed he is no longer fit for office.

“He needs to step down and think about the country,” Gatlin said, adding that other countries are watching the U.S. election. “Nobody’s scared of him. He’s not even talking loud — no bass in his voice, nothing.”

Advertisement

(Faith Pinho/Los Angeles Times)

For Antinya Walker, 19, who says she will be voting in her first presidential election this fall, the debate made her pick simple: She’s voting for Trump.

Advertisement

The Los Angeles resident, who was running an errand to a local Big Lots, said she believed Biden was against women’s rights. She blamed him for tightened abortion restrictions across the country — though Trump takes credit for appointing the conservative Supreme Court justices who led to Roe vs. Wade being overturned, undoing nationwide abortion access.

Abortion is widely seen as Democrats’ winning ticket in elections. But last Thursday, Biden struggled to articulate a clear vision for restoring abortion care access in the country, instead making a confusing metaphor to a pregnancy’s trimesters and bungling the Democrats’ key issue. Walker said she stopped watching the debate after hearing Biden’s “horrible” response to the question.

“How are we supposed to have faith in a president that can’t even communicate right?” Walker said. “I feel like Trump is our best bet right now. I pray for America.”

Advertisement

(Faith Pinho/Los Angeles Times)

Still, in this bluest part of L.A. County, Biden retains supporters, folks like Harvey Woodruff, a retired grocery store and security worker.

“He looked a little fatigued. The man’s on the job, what do you expect?” Woodruff said. He said he’s grateful for Biden’s running of the economy in the past four years. “Two thumbs up, excellent job. I see no reason why we cannot have him in there for another term.”

Advertisement

Trump presents a greater threat to the country’s democracy, Woodruff said, adding that he expected Trump would pardon his own criminal conviction if he were elected president.

The 67-year-old was riding his bike from his Inglewood neighborhood, where 95% of votes went for Biden in 2020, to Darby Park, on his way to meet a friend at the beach. After watching Biden’s difficulty at the debate, Woodruff said he was reminded to have a checkup with his doctor.

Politics

Israel shares intelligence warning Iran plotted new assassination attempt against Trump: report

Published

on

Israel shares intelligence warning Iran plotted new assassination attempt against Trump: report

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Israel recently shared intelligence with the United States indicating Iran had developed a fresh plan to assassinate President Donald Trump, according to a Wall Street Journal report Thursday citing people familiar with the matter.

The reported intelligence would mark an escalation in the longstanding threats against Trump, who Iran has repeatedly vowed to retaliate against over the 2020 U.S. strike that killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Gen. Qassem Soleimani. 

The White House referred Fox News Digital to Trump’s remarks Wednesday when asked about the report.

TRUMP FACES UNPRECEDENTED THIRD ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

Advertisement

President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, July 8, 2026. Trump addressed threats against his life after a report said Israel shared intelligence with the United States about an alleged new Iranian assassination plot. (Kerem Uzel/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“They want to take out the U.S. leader — me. I’m on whatever list. I saw this morning I’m on every single one of their lists,” Trump said. “And, so far, I guess I’ve been a bit lucky, but maybe that doesn’t last very long. These are evil, sick people. And we have to root out that cancer. That cancer. You know what you do? You’ve got to cut out cancer early. And that’s the way I feel.”

Fox News Digital has also reached out to Israel’s Embassy in Washington and Iran’s Mission to the United Nations for comment.

The Journal reported the intelligence surfaced as Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have diverged in recent weeks over how to proceed after last month’s conflict with Iran. Netanyahu has advocated for continuing military pressure on Tehran, while Trump has sought to preserve a fragile ceasefire after U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

NETANYAHU REJECTS REPORTS OF A RIFT WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP, SAYS THE TWO REMAIN ALIGNED ON IRAN

Advertisement

President Donald Trump, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House March 25, 2019. The leaders spoke Thursday after The Wall Street Journal reported Israel had shared intelligence with the United States about an alleged new Iranian plot targeting Trump. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Trump and Netanyahu spoke Thursday and agreed to continue coordination between the two countries, according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office, which said Trump also updated the Israeli leader on recent U.S. activity in the Gulf.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump. (Avi Ohayon/GPO)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Iranian mourners at the funeral for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei chanted for Trump’s death and displayed a banner that said, “We Will Kill Trump,” according to the Journal.

Advertisement

Iran has publicly vowed for years to retaliate against Trump over the U.S. operation that killed Soleimani, the former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, in Baghdad in January 2020.

Continue Reading

Politics

Iran ceasefire is ‘over,’ Trump says, and orders additional strikes

Published

on

Iran ceasefire is ‘over,’ Trump says, and orders additional strikes

A tentative armistice between the United States and Iran reached less than a month ago appeared all but dead Wednesday after the two sides traded fresh military strikes, and as President Trump directed further attacks on the Islamic Republic.

The escalation marked a dramatic turn after the Trump administration spent weeks selling a diplomatic breakthrough with Tehran that proved controversial across the political aisle, lifting oil sanctions and a naval blockade on Iran in exchange for the promise of talks over the status of the Strait of Hormuz and its decades-old nuclear program.

Now, speaking to reporters at the NATO summit in Turkey, Trump said he believed the truce — which diplomats describe as a memorandum of understanding — was “over” and that it was a “waste of time” dealing with Iranian leadership.

“They’re scum. They’re sick people,” Trump said of Iranian leaders, whom he had characterized last month as “very rational people” and “very nice to deal with.”

The president’s dim views of the ceasefire agreement’s fate were shared by Iran’s foreign ministry, which issued a statement on Wednesday saying the American attacks, the reinstatement of a U.S. naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, and Israel’s continuing attacks in Lebanon rendered “important and fundamental” parts of the deal “ineffective.”

Advertisement

The truce’s unraveling was underscored by Trump ordering the U.S. military to launch a series of strikes against Iran on Wednesday afternoon to “further degrade their ability to threaten” the commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

“The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement on social media.

Earlier in the day, Trump signaled that the United States planned to “hit them hard” and floated the possibility of taking over Kharg Island, which is vital to Iran’s economy. His remarks quickly prompted oil prices to rise and global stock markets to fall, a worry that Trump acknowledged but which did not seem to sway his decision-making in relation to Iran.

“If we hit Iran, oil goes up a little bit, it is all right,” Trump said. He later added that the United States may “do some other thing that could lift it a little bit, but I don’t think it’s gonna lift it a lot at all.”

As Trump signals the continuation of fighting, his administration has been seeking more than $67 billion in funding to cover expenses related to the Iran war, a request that Congress has not yet approved as lawmakers have been split over the president’s handling of the conflict.

Advertisement

“The American people are paying the price for Trump’s total failure in Iran,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement Wednesday. “Our troops are back in harm’s way and high gas costs are continuing to punish working families.”

The president’s stance on the war marked the latest setback to a fragile truce that has barely held since the 14-page agreement was signed June 17, as the U.S. and Iran engaged over the last few weeks in cycles of attacks and counterattacks.

Trump was noticeably angrier at Iran on Wednesday as he cast doubt over the deal. Last month, Trump had complimented Iranian leadership for trying to reach a peace deal and celebrated the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping route for the world’s oil and gas. But based on his remarks, it was clear he was out of patience.

“I am not happy with them,” Trump said. “They’re cuckoo. There’s something wrong with these people. For 47 years, they’ve been the bully of the Middle East and they are not the bully anymore. They are not the bully anymore.”

Trump expressed frustration with Iran’s negotiators and their resistance to abiding by U.S. demands to reopen the strait. When asked if he intended to send troops to Iran, the president dismissed the idea.

Advertisement

“Why would I go in now?” Trump said. “I’d go in when they’re completely eliminated or an agreement is made.”

Still, the president kept the door open for negotiations, saying that his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner “want to negotiate.”

“They’re good people, Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, but they have to come back to me,” Trump said. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s just a waste of time dealing with [the Iranians]. They’re liars.”

The latest breakdown to the ceasefire followed a now-familiar chain reaction of tit-for-tat attacks, starting with a series of strikes on three oil tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, including a Qatari vessel carrying natural gas, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center.

The Qatari tanker was off the coast of Oman when it was hit and caught fire, the maritime monitor said, in what experts say was a move to thwart ships attempting to use an alternate transit route to the one Iran specified. Iran did not claim responsibility, but a report on Iranian state television said the Qatari tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings to turn back.

Advertisement

The two other vessels were damaged but were able to continue to their destination, according to the U.K. group.

Qatar, which has played a vital role in facilitating negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, condemned the attack on its tanker as “unacceptable.”

The U.S. responded with a wave of strikes against more than 80 Iranian targets aimed at “impos[ing] heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway,” according to a statement from U.S. Central Command. That tally included roughly 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps small boats in the strait.

Iranian state media said U.S. strikes targeted Sirik, Qeshm Island and Bushehr and Bandar Abbas, while a U.S. drone strike on the port city of Mahshahr killed one Revolutionary Guard member.

Ahead of the strikes, the White House revoked the 60-day temporary license given to Tehran to sell and deliver oil during the truce.

Advertisement

Iran’s military countered with its own strikes on 85 U.S. military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait; it also shot down an MQ-9 drone, according to a statement on Wednesday.

Kuwait said its military intercepted two ballistic missiles and 13 drones, but that none had resulted in material damage or casualties.

Global oil prices surged 6% on news of Trump’s reversal on the deal, rising to more than $78 a barrel, down from the peak during the war but still above prewar levels.

The renewed violence appeared to have little effect on the funeral for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Feb. 28, in the war’s opening hours.

The funeral, a days-long period of mourning, is set to end on Thursday, when Khamenei’s body will return from Iraq to be buried in the city of Mashhad, his birthplace. Negotiations were to begin once more.

Advertisement

In his remarks Wednesday, Trump said Iranian leaders had asked for a “timeout” to attend the funeral, and that he had promised not to kill them.

“And I said give it to them, and they start shooting missiles,” Trump said.

Whether those talks — which were meant to deal with the thorniest issues between the two countries, including the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear program — will go ahead remains unclear. Iran, for its part, maintained a defiant attitude.

“The era of bullying and extortion is over,” wrote Mohammad Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliamentary speaker. “It leads nowhere. We don’t fold.”

Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior advisor to the supreme leader, posted on X that Trump’s policy had “driven the region towards fire.”

Advertisement

“We had previously warned that the region is not a place for the political gambling of small countries, and we have repeatedly proven that adventures are met with an immediate response,” he wrote.

He added that the Axis of Resistance — a reference to Iran’s network of allied groups in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen — would not be “silent against humiliation and adventurism” and has “its finger on the trigger.”

Bulos reported from Beirut and Ceballos from Washington.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Politics

Omar’s disclosures erased millions, leaving her with potential negative net worth. She won’t explain why.

Published

on

Omar’s disclosures erased millions, leaving her with potential negative net worth. She won’t explain why.

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., refused to address her revised financial disclosures that could imply she has a negative net worth after the progressive lawmaker dramatically reducing the reported value of assets tied to her husband’s business ventures.

“Can you tell us if your husband still has the consulting business and the wine business?” Fox News Digital asked Omar.

The congresswoman stayed silent as she was repeatedly questioned, after previously telling Fox News Digital that the original filing — showing Omar’s reported assets reducing by as much as $29.9 million — was inaccurate and “incomplete” information.

ILHAN OMAR’S OFFICE SAYS SHE’S ‘NOT A MILLIONAIRE’ AFTER $30M FILING REVISED DOWN TO UNDER $100K: REPORT

Advertisement

US Representative Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, speaks during a press conference with family members of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh as members of Congress call for US investigations into Israel’s actions and reintroduce the Justice for Shireen Act, outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, May 18, 2023. The Al Jazeera journalist, who was a dual US citizen, was killed on May 11, 2022. The Israeli army later admitted one of its soldiers likely shot the reporter. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

The controversy surrounding Omar’s finances began when a 2024 financial report estimated that Omar and her husband possessed between $6 million and $30 million in assets, all while the Minnesota fraud scandal within the Somali community was beginning to come to fruition.

A more recent 2025 financial disclosure report shows Omar’s revised value of shared assets between her and husband to sit at a maximum of $125,000 — a multi-million-dollar drop from the year prior. The lower estimate of their assets, $20,000, compared to the low and high debt estimates, $30,000 and $100,000, would imply the Minnesota Democrat could have a negative net worth.

Both her and her husband have separate debts, each ranging somewhere between $15,000 and $50,000 — from her own student loans and her husband’s credit card debt, according to the disclosures.

WATCH: OMAR SILENT WHEN CONFRONTED ON ALLEGED TIES TO MASSIVE MINNESOTA FRAUD SCANDAL

Advertisement

RICHFIELD, MN – AUGUST 08: Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) (C) campaigns with her husband Tim Mynett (R) at the Richfield Farmers Market on August 8, 2020 in Richfield, Minnesota. Omar is hoping to retain her seat as the representative for Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District in next week’s primary election. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

The biggest change in the documents involved Omar’s husband, Tim Mynett. His reported ownership interests in both his winery and venture capital advisory firm, which were previously valued in the millions of dollars, are listed with no value now.

In Omar’s 2024 financial disclosure records, Mynett’s share in his winery was valued between $1 million and $5 million, and his share at the venture capital advisory firm was valued between $5 million and $25 million. Now, his equity interests are both listed at $0.

Omar’s office previously told Fox News Digital that Mynett has partners in both businesses and said the earlier disclosure mistakenly reflected the businesses’ total equity rather than his ownership interest. The office also said the original filing listed assets without accounting for liabilities.

VANCE REFERS TIM WALZ, MINNESOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL TO DOJ FOR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION OVER STATE’S ALLEGED FRAUD

Advertisement

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has publicly voiced his interest in the Ethics Committee opening an investigation into Omar’s personal finances after the 2025 financial reports came out showing the possibility of a $29 million drop in her net worth.

Vice President JD Vance also has previously said the U.S. Department of Justice will be opening a probe into her alleged fraud as part of the administration’s anti-fraud taskforce that he spearheads, though no formal investigations have been shared with the public at this time.

Omar has been reluctant to answer Fox News Digital’s questions about her financial fallout and potential probes to be opened against her.

The Minnesota lawmaker similarly dodged answering any of Fox News Digital’s questions just last month about the revised disclosures.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Advertisement

“There’s also the possibility that it might rain on this sunny day,” Omar replied without responding directly to the content of the question.

Fox News Digital’s Robert Schmad contributed to this report.

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending