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Dem Senate primary erupts in key state as candidate teams up with radical streamer: ‘America deserved 9/11’
A Democratic candidate in a crucial Senate battleground showdown is taking plenty of incoming fire from his primary rivals as well as the Republican contender in the race as he prepares to team up on Tuesday with a controversial far-left online streamer.
Abdul El-Sayed, the 2018 Michigan Democratic gubernatorial runner-up who is backed by progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders I-Vt., as he seeks his party’s 2026 Senate nomination, is scheduled to hold campus rallies at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University with Hasan Piker, as well as with progressive Rep. Summer Lee of Pennsylvania.
Piker, a potent progressive influencer, could help boost El-Sayed in a competitive and combustible Democratic Senate nomination race thanks to his millions of younger, progressive social media followers on YouTube, Instagram and X.
But the appearance at the campus rallies by Piker — who once said “America deserved 9/11,” and who critics argue is antisemitic due to his sharp criticism of the Israeli government and the downplaying of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel — is alarming to many Democrats.
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El-Sayed’s top two rivals for the nomination have blasted his scheduled appearance with Piker, which was announced less than two weeks after a man rammed his truck into a Michigan synagogue, wounding a guard in what authorities said was a targeted act of domestic terrorism against the Jewish community.
“It is unacceptable for a candidate wanting to represent all Michiganders to campaign with Hasan Piker, a person who is unapologetic about a career of making hurtful and anti-Semitic comments,” Rep. Haley Stevens said in a statement. “With all that’s at stake in this election, we should be focused on the challenges Michiganders are facing and how to fight for them.”
And State Senator Mallory McMorrow, in an interview with the Jewish Insider, called Piker “somebody who says extremely offensive things in order to generate clicks.”
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“That is not somebody that you should be campaigning with at a moment when there is clearly a lot of pain and trauma across our state,” McMorrow added. “You don’t fan the flames and stoke division just to get attention.”
El-Sayed, Stevens, and McMorrow will face off in an early August primary.
It’s not just El Sayed’s Democratic nomination rivals who are criticizing his decision to team up with Piker.
Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and the Anti-Defamation League have charged Piker is antisemitic and Matt Bennett, a leader of the well-known moderate Democratic group the Third Way, slammed El-Sayed as a “disgrace to the Democratic Party.”
Former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, who’s on a glidepath to the GOP Senate nomination in Michigan for a second straight cycle, told Fox News Digital in a statement, “If you would have told me a few years ago that Democrat frontrunners would campaign with known antisemites, I would’ve thought you were crazy. But one thing Abdul continues to prove, there’s no limit to how far left Democrats will go.”
“From calling to defund the police and make Michigan a sanctuary state, to attempting to abolish private healthcare, and now campaigning with an antisemite who claimed ‘America deserved 9/11,’ one thing that’s for certain: Abdul and the Democrats are too radical for Michigan,” Rogers argued.
In the wake of the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack that incited Israel’s war with Gaza, Piker described Hamas, a terrorist organization, as the “lesser of two evils” in the conflict.
Once, when asked if he supported terrorism, Piker answered by saying, “No, I don’t. I don’t support the state of Israel, and I don’t support the state of the United States of America.”
He also faced backlash for praising the “brave” “mujahideen” who injured Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, who lost an eye in Afghanistan.
“What the f— is wrong with this dude? Didn’t he go to war and like literally lose his eye because some mujahideen—a brave f—ing soldier—f—ed his eye hole with their d—?” Piker said.
El-Sayed has repeatedly stood his ground in defending his appearances with Piker. The candidate noted that Piker was allowed by Democrats to stream at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
“It’s about speaking to a broader audience,” El-Sayed said last week in an appearance on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom.”
El-Sayed emphasized that “just because you invite somebody to campaign with you or you’re engaging with them does not mean that you agree with them….Every day, 30,000 people and counting tune in to Hassan’s stream. A lot of folks who don’t watch Fox News, they don’t watch CNN, they don’t watch MSNBC.”
The Senate race in Michigan is one of a handful in this year’s midterm elections that will determine if the Republicans hold their 53-47 majority in the chamber. Michigan, where Democratic Sen. Gary Peters is retiring, is one of the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s (NRSC) top targets as they try to not only hold onto their seats, but also possibly expand their majority.
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Dave McGinnis, former Cardinals head coach and beloved Titans assistant, dead at 74
Dave McGinnis, a former Arizona Cardinals head coach and Tennessee Titans assistant coach, died on Monday. He was 74.
The Titans announced the death of McGinnis, who died after being hospitalized for an illness in early March. The Titans’ news release said that he passed away at Ascension St. Thomas Midtown Hospital with his family by his side.
“My heart aches with the loss of Coach Mac, who was so much more than a coach and broadcaster – he was family,” Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk said in a statement.
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Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell also released a statement on McGinnis.
“As Dave often said, he was a ‘ball coach’ through and through, and no one ever filled that role with more passion, enthusiasm and charisma,” Bidwell said. “Coach Mac truly loved the game and everything – and everyone – associated with it, especially his players. He was one of a kind and will be greatly missed.”
McGinnis found himself in an interim head coaching role during the 2000 season with the Cardinals, the team for which he served as defensive coordinator in 1996. He was retained in the head coaching post from 2001-03.
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In 57 career games, McGinnis went 17-40 with the Cardinals, ultimately being fired after a 4-12 season in 2003.
After he was fired, McGinnis landed with the Titans as a linebackers coach under head coach Jeff Fisher. He would become a mainstay in Nashville, holding that role and eventually being promoted to assistant head coach until 2011.
“Coach Mac gave so much of himself to this organization over the years, and his passion, loyalty and love for the Titans never wavered,” Strunk added. “He cared deeply about the people around him, and that kindness and authenticity left a lasting impact on everyone who knew him. He held a very special place in our family, and his presence in our lives and within this franchise will never be forgotten. We will miss him dearly, and we will always be grateful for the legacy he leaves behind.”
McGinnis’s coaching career began in 1973 when he was an assistant with TCU. He also held posts with Indiana State, Missouri and Kansas State until the 1986 season when he broke into the NFL with the Chicago Bears.
McGinnis served as linebackers coach for Chicago from 1986-95 before getting a promotion with the Cardinals. He also held roles with the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams before leaving coach after the 2016 campaign.
McGinnis returned to Nashville to join Titans Radio in 2017, where he served as a color announcer for games.
“I love Dave McGinnis, and I don’t know that I’ve met anybody who was created for football, and a football life, more than Coach Mac,” said Burke Nihill, president and CEO of the Titans. “He just loved the game. Obviously, he played it for a long time and coached it for longer, and with everything he has done for us over the years as color commentator and a Titans personality. He lived such a special football life. He was such a special guy.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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US military kills 2 suspected cartel operatives in latest Eastern Pacific lethal strike, SOUTHCOM says
The U.S. military carried out another lethal strike targeting suspected cartel operatives in the Eastern Pacific on Monday, killing two individuals believed to be involved in narcotics trafficking, according to U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM).
“Applying total systemic friction on the cartels,” SOUTHCOM said in a post on X. “On April 13, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” the post continued. “Two male narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No U.S. military forces were harmed.”
The strike comes two days after SOUTHCOM conducted similar operations against two other suspected vessels operated by designated groups.
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Officials said intelligence confirmed those vessels were traveling along known drug trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were actively engaged in narcotics operations.
Two men were killed in the first strike and three in the second, while one individual survived the initial attack.
SOUTHCOM said it immediately called on the U.S. Coast Guard to conduct search and rescue operations for the lone survivor. No U.S. forces were injured in either operation.
The operations are part of a broader U.S. military effort to disrupt cartel-linked trafficking networks at sea, with officials increasingly describing such groups using terrorism-related designations.
The strikes were carried out under Joint Task Force Southern Spear, an ongoing mission focused on targeting transnational criminal organizations operating along key maritime drug routes in the region.
The Eastern Pacific remains a major corridor for narcotics trafficking, where cartels frequently rely on small, fast-moving vessels to transport drugs north toward the U.S. and Central America.
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The use of the term “Designated Terrorist Organizations” reflects a more aggressive posture by the Trump administration, which has expanded the use of military force against suspected narcotics traffickers beyond traditional law enforcement approaches.
SOUTHCOM has not released additional details about the identities of those killed or the specific groups involved.
The command is responsible for military operations in Central and South America and the Caribbean, including counter-narcotics missions aimed at disrupting drug trafficking networks that threaten U.S. interests.
The U.S. has carried out dozens of strikes on suspected drug-smuggling vessels in recent months as part of a broader campaign to dismantle cartel-linked trafficking operations and increase pressure on transnational criminal organizations.
Fox News Digital’s Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.
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Los Angeles hotel industry ‘struggling’ under wage mandate signed by Mayor Karen Bass, new survey finds
Hotels in Los Angeles, California are struggling, a new report from industry researchers claimed in a new report.
“Hotels are struggling to keep up with rising operating costs coupled with falling demand,” the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) researchers said last week.
According to AHLA, the city’s minimum wage mandate and other policies led to increased “costs without flexibility to reflect market conditions and demand levels.”
A phased-in minimum wage hike in Los Angeles mandated up to $30 per hour for airport and hotel workers. The law was signed into law last year by Mayor Karen Bass, mandating that their hourly wage must be raised by $2.50 each year until they reach $30 in 2028.
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The AHLA is the largest hotel association in America, representing more than 30,000 members from all segments of the industry nationwide. Its methodology stated it was a “member survey of Los Angeles hotel operators and owners” that featured “16 questions in multiple-choice, select-all-that-apply, and ranking formats.”
The report claimed that the policies led to reduced hiring and cuts in labor hours. Other issues that arose included delayed or canceled hotel investment and development, reduced airline operations and restaurant closures.
“The report finds that hotels across Los Angeles are facing increasing financial and operational pressure as rising labor and operating costs outpace revenue growth, noting that development is slowing, investment is shifting to other markets, and some hotels have closed or delayed expansion plans,” the report stated.
The report found that none of the members believe Los Angeles is a favorable environment to make investments and 80% said that the city is not a good place for long-term hotel investment. Almost all the members surveyed said that rolling back the regulations would make the city’s market more attractive.
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AHLA said that hotels are the backbone of Los Angeles’ tourism economy, investing millions of dollars in the city every year.
“Los Angeles hotels generate $12.5 billion in annual economic activity, support nearly 64,000 jobs, and produce more than $1.1 billion in state and local tax revenue that funds essential public services,” according to the report.
This isn’t the first time the AHLA has released a report showing adverse effects of the minimum wage mandate after Bass signed it into law. The AHLA previously commissioned another study that found hotels have eliminated or expect to eliminate 6% of positions, roughly 650 jobs, since the Hotel Worker Minimum Wage Ordinance took effect in September.
The Los Angeles City Council and Mayor Bass’ office did not respond to Fox News Digital‘s requests for comment.
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