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Meet Analilia Mejia, the Sanders-AOC backed progressive who just won election to Congress

Published

2 hours ago

April 17, 2026

Analilia Mejia, a one-time labor organizer backed by progressive champions Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, is headed to Congress.

Mejia, running on a platform that emphasized Medicare for All, a $25 minimum wage with the first $40,000 tax-free, a wealth tax, abolishing ICE and holding President Donald Trump and his administration accountable, convincingly defeated Republican candidate Joe Hathaway in Thursday’s special election in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District.

With her nearly 20-point victory, Mejia will fill the final eight months of the term of Gov. Mikie Sherrill, the more moderate Democratic representative who stepped down from Congress in November after winning New Jersey’s gubernatorial election.

Mejia, who is likely to align herself with the so-called “Squad” of younger, diverse and progressive House Democrats, called herself the “sassy new member of Congress” in her victory speech.

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The special election came as the GOP clings to a fragile House majority. Republicans would have relished the opportunity to pick up the seat, but they faced a steep uphill climb to flip the suburban district Sherrill won by 15 points in her 2024 re-election and carried by roughly the same margin in last year’s gubernatorial election.

Hathaway, a former Randolph Township mayor and current council member who was unopposed for the GOP congressional nomination, aimed to paint Mejia as too far to the left for the district. He told Fox News Digital the choice for voters was “between a common sense, practical independent leader who’s gotten things done at the local level in New Jersey and knows the issues, contrasted with someone who’s running on pure ideology, far left-wing ideology, Squad-backed ideology.”

“I think we have the right math, the right bipartisan coalition to come together to win this thing on April 16,” an optimistic Hathaway predicted.

But Hathaway came up far short, given the rough political climate facing Republicans and the traditional headwinds for the party in power.

THIS PROGRESSIVE ORGANIZER WINS SPECIAL ELECTION, EARNING TICKET TO CONGRESS

Mejia, on Thursday night, pushed back against the claims she’s a radical.

“My opponent has spent his whole campaign calling me names and saying my ideas are too radical. But we know, that is a mind trick, on brand for a spin doctor, but easily countered if you just open your eyes,” Mejia said. “It is not radical to say that one of the wealthiest nations in the world should do more to protect the health of its people.”

Here’s a closer look at Mejia and where she stands on the issues.

Mejia was born in New Jersey and is the daughter of Colombian and Dominican immigrants.

After working as a union organizer, Mejia served as national political director on the 2020 Sanders presidential campaign. She later worked in the Department of Labor in former President Joe Biden’s administration.

Mejia pulled off an upset in the February Democratic primary, narrowly edging out a more moderate rival, former Rep. Tom Malinowski, in a field of 11 candidates. While Mejia was the clear choice of the party’s left flank, the rest of the field divided the moderate and center-left vote.

Besides the backing of Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, Mejia was also endorsed by other top progressive leaders, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Reps. Ro Khanna of California, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Pramila Jayapal of Washington state, the former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

PROGRESSIVES NOTCH ANOTHER WIN OVER DEMOCRATIC MODERATES AS SANDERS-AOC ALLY NEARS CONGRESS

Mejia’s nomination victory was another big boost for the left against the establishment since now-New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, sent shock waves across the nation with his Democratic primary victory in June 2025.

Mejia repeatedly took aim at Trump’s unprecedented crackdown on illegal immigration and called for scrapping Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency most visible in the aggressive tactics used in the administration’s massive deportation effort.

REPUBLICAN SEEKS BLUE-STATE BREAKTHROUGH, DISTANCES FROM TRUMP WHILE TAKING AIM AT ‘SOCIALIST’

“I say abolish ICE now,” Mejia said on the campaign trail. “You can’t reform it. It’s not fixable. Get it out.”

After her primary victory, Mejia gave credit to her stance on immigration in the wake of backlash against the Trump administration following the January fatal shootings in Minnesota by federal agents of two U.S. citizens protesting immigration operations.

“I think the fact that I was bold and unafraid to speak the truth was incredibly important,” she told reporters. “I think voters feel that they want to have a representative that actually represents them, and they cannot watch what’s happening in Minnesota, what happened in Chicago, what happened in California, what happened in Morristown across this district.”

Mejia, like many on the left, has railed against rulings by the conservative-dominated Supreme Court.

“The Supreme Court has been captured by right-wing radicals who care more about doing Trump’s bidding than the rule of law,” Mejia charged on her campaign website.

She supported “articles of impeachment against Justices Thomas and Alito” for what she says is “their corruption and conflicts of interest.”

Mejia also backed “term limits for newly appointed Supreme Court justices, a binding code of ethics with real enforcement for all federal judges.”

And Mejia said she would support “expanding the courts if necessary to restore balance.”

On her campaign website, Mejia stated, “We’re going to cancel all student loan debt.”

And she pledges that she’ll “fight to make college tuition free at community colleges and trade schools for everyone.”

As part of her “economy for everyone agenda,” Mejia argued, “If you work 40 hours a week, you should make at least $40,000 a year, and you shouldn’t pay a dime in federal taxes on that first $40,000.”

And she highlighted that she helped lead the fight in New Jersey to “win the $15 minimum wage.”

“With the cost of living rising every day, it’s time to raise the minimum wage at the national level to $25/hour,” Mejia emphasized on the campaign trail.

Malinowski, an assistant secretary of state in former President Barack Obama’s administration who later represented a neighboring congressional district in northern New Jersey from 2018 to 2022 before losing re-election, was considered the front-runner in the Democratic nomination race heading into primary day.

But Malinowski was the target of a slew of attack ads put out by a group affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which opposed Malinowski because he said he supports conditions on aid to Israel.

The AIPAC-aligned super PAC United Democracy Project dished out more than $2.3 million to take aim at Malinowski, even though AIPAC had previously supported Malinowski in his past congressional elections.

But the AIPAC strategy backfired, because Mejia is much tougher on Israel than Malinowski.

Mejia was the only candidate in the race who raised her hand at a forum in January when asked if they agreed with human rights groups who charge Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in its war with Hamas in Gaza.

Jewish voters make up a key part of the district’s electorate, and Hathaway, in the only debate in the general election, claimed Mejia was antisemitic, noting she has said Israel committed genocide in Gaza.

“She blamed Israel for the attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7,” Hathaway said. “I think Jewish individuals across this district, Republican or Democrat, are very afraid of this kind of rhetoric.”

Mejia pledged to “protect the rights of Jewish constituents” and said her criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza should not be conflated with antisemitism.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Mejia said, “Joe Hathaway’s inability to distinguish between criticism of a government or government official and bigotry is troubling and disgusting in equal measure.”

Mejia last week wrote that she was “honored” after being endorsed by the liberal pro-Israel political group J Street PAC. But her acceptance of the endorsement triggered pushback on the left, with the North Jersey Democratic Socialists of America calling her move a “heel turn.”

Hathaway told Fox News Digital, “I’ve spoken to more members of the Jewish community who have told me they’ve never voted for a Republican in their life, who are going to vote for me in this race. I mean, that shows you where the Jewish community is on the importance of this race and how they are not aligned with Mejia … and her platform.”

It appears Hathaway was right: Some towns with heavy Jewish populations swung significantly to the right in Thursday’s election.

But it wasn’t nearly enough to help Hathaway blunt Mejia’s overall support.

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Meghan Trainor scraps entire tour after third child, admits it’s ‘more than I can take’

Published

1 hour ago

April 17, 2026

Addison Blake

Meghan Trainor hit the brakes on her next big thing.

Trainor abruptly announced she was canceling her upcoming tour as the pop star revealed growing her family and performing across the country is “more than [she] can take on right now.”

“After a lot of reflection and some really tough conversations, I’ve made the difficult decision to cancel ‘The Get In Girl Tour,'” she wrote Thursday on her Instagram Story.

“Balancing the release of a new album, preparing for a nationwide tour, and welcoming our new baby girl to our growing family of five has just been more than I can take on right now, and I need to be home and present for each and all of them at this time,” she added.

MARGOT ROBBIE SETS FIRM HOLLYWOOD BOUNDARIES AS A NEW MOM: ‘I’M GOING TO DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY’

Trainor and husband Daryl Sabara welcomed their third child via surrogacy in January.

The 32-year-old mother of three appeared remorseful as she apologized to her fans.

“I know this will come as a disappointment to my fans, and I am so sorry to let you down,” Trainor wrote. “But I know this is the right decision for my family and me right now.”

“I promise I’ll be back soon, and I can’t wait for you to hear this new record. I’m so proud of it and I’m endlessly grateful for your love and support always.”

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Trainor’s seventh studio album, “Toy with Me,” will be released April 24.

Trainor dealt with backlash after revealing she used a surrogate for her third pregnancy.

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“I didn’t look [at the comments],” Trainor admitted during an appearance on Kylie Kelce’s “Not Gonna Lie” podcast. “I knew fully — because it was after all the hate I was already getting for changing, just for looking different because I took care of myself — so I was like, ‘Oh, they hate me now. They ain’t going like this.'”

“And it was a cloud of tears every night of just worry.”

The “Made You Look” singer explained the couple chose surrogacy as the “safest way” to welcome their third child after Trainor struggled with her health and the possibility of an autoimmune disease.

“Every day when we knew she was alive in someone else, we were like, ‘Is she OK?'” Trainor told Kelce. “You know, like you go cuckoo, you go crazy. There’s so much that goes into it, but we had an amazing surrogate who was so good to us and texts us everything and we got to talk all the time.”

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Fox News AI Newsletter: Tech company cuts 1,000 jobs in AI-driven restructuring

Published

1 hour ago

April 17, 2026

Addison Blake

IN TODAY’S NEWSLETTER:

– Snapchat parent company cuts 1,000 jobs in major AI-driven workforce restructuring

– The AI you use every day is biased — and it’s quietly shaping your worldview, new report says

– First-ever moratorium on AI data centers passes Maine legislature

TECH SHAKE-UP: Snapchat parent company cuts 1,000 jobs in major AI-driven workforce restructuring – Snapchat’s parent company, Snap, announced it is laying off approximately 1,000 employees—about 16% of its full-time workforce — as part of a major restructuring effort driven by the integration of artificial intelligence. The tech firm expects the cuts and AI-driven workflow efficiencies to yield over $500 million in annualized savings, following pressure from an activist investor to streamline operations and rein in costs.

CODED INFLUENCE: The AI you use every day is biased — and it’s quietly shaping your worldview, new report says – A new report from the America First Policy Institute reveals that popular artificial intelligence systems consistently lean left and possess a subtle ideological bias that can quietly shape users’ worldviews. The findings suggest that these hidden design choices not only reflect ideological assumptions but can actively persuade and influence public opinion on key political and social issues, raising transparency concerns over AI’s growing role in daily life.

TECH BOOM BRAKES: First-ever moratorium on AI data centers passes Maine legislature – Maine is poised to become the first state to impose a moratorium on large artificial intelligence data centers, advancing legislation that would pause approvals for hyperscale facilities requiring over 20 megawatts of power until October 2027. The move, which reflects growing national backlash over power grid strain and environmental impacts, will serve as a major test case for how states balance the massive energy demands of Big Tech with local economic and ecological concerns.

COPYCAT RISK: Molotov cocktail attack on Sam Altman’s home sparks fears of copycat strikes against tech executives – Following a predawn Molotov cocktail attack on OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s San Francisco home, federal authorities are on high alert for copycat strikes against other high-profile tech executives. The suspect, Daniel Moreno-Gama, was motivated by anti-AI extremism and allegedly carried a manifesto listing additional AI executives and their addresses, prompting San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins to pursue aggressive prosecution amid escalating rhetoric surrounding artificial intelligence.

EVOLVED HACKING: AI is now powering cyberattacks, Microsoft warns – According to a new report from Microsoft Threat Intelligence, cybercriminals and nation-state actors are increasingly utilizing artificial intelligence to accelerate and scale their cyberattacks. Hackers are using generative AI to write convincing phishing emails, build malicious infrastructure and dynamically generate malware, significantly lowering the technical barrier to entry for cybercrime and prompting calls for stronger digital security measures.

WATCH OUT: Is Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta AI getting too smart? – Meta has unveiled its foundational AI model, Muse Spark, equipping its Meta AI assistant with advanced multimodal capabilities like image comprehension and parallel task handling across apps like WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook. Fox News Digital details that the upgrade is part of Mark Zuckerberg’s aggressive push toward a “personal superintelligence,” allowing the AI to seamlessly analyze photos, answer complex health queries, and simultaneously execute multi-step planning tasks.

OPINION: SEN BERNIE SANDERS: Artificial intelligence is coming for the working class. We must fight back – Sen. Bernie Sanders is calling for a federal moratorium on new artificial intelligence data centers until strong safeguards are enacted to protect the working class from widespread job displacement. Sen. Sanders warns that AI oligarchs are deploying revolutionary technologies to replace human workers entirely, urging Congress to rethink the American social contract and ensure the AI boom benefits everyday citizens rather than just billionaires.

COSTLY CONVENIENCE: OPINION: AI tax filing sounds easy — until it leaves you owing the IRS thousands of dollars – While using AI chatbots like ChatGPT to file taxes may seem like a convenient shortcut, relying on them can lead to costly errors and severe IRS penalties due to the tools’ inability to accurately apply complex tax codes. Expert Hemant Bhargava cautions taxpayers to treat AI as a translator rather than a decision-maker, emphasizing that consumer AI systems frequently miscalculate liabilities and fail to securely handle highly sensitive financial data.

DIGITAL DOPPELGANGER: Meta reportedly building an AI version of Mark Zuckerberg to interact with company employees – Meta is reportedly developing a photorealistic, artificial intelligence-powered version of CEO Mark Zuckerberg to interact directly with company employees, according to a recent report. Zuckerberg has been actively training the AI character on his own mannerisms and strategies to foster stronger internal connections, a move that aligns with the tech giant’s broader ambition to integrate “personal superintelligence” across its platforms.

MAJOR REVAMP: Allbirds drops sneakers, reinvents itself as an AI infrastructure company – San Francisco-based footwear brand Allbirds is abandoning its sneaker business to reinvent itself as an artificial intelligence infrastructure company called NewBird AI. The stunning pivot involves a $50 million convertible financing agreement to acquire high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs), aiming to meet the massive, unmet demand for AI cloud computing capacity among enterprise developers.

‘KEEP UP’: Reese Witherspoon warns AI is three times more likely to replace women – Actress Reese Witherspoon took to Instagram to urge women to embrace artificial intelligence, warning that jobs traditionally held by women are three times more likely to be automated by the emerging technology. Witherspoon’s concerns align with a recent UN study, and the Hollywood star is encouraging her followers to actively learn about AI so they aren’t left behind in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

LATTE UPGRADE: Starbucks uses ChatGPT to suggest drinks based on mood as expert warns of hidden downsides – Starbucks has launched a beta integration with ChatGPT, allowing customers to receive customized beverage recommendations tailored to their mood, taste, and even the weather. Fox News Digital reports that while the AI tool offers a fun and highly personalized ordering experience, experts warn it could quietly manipulate consumer behavior by consistently nudging users toward sweeter, higher-calorie drinks that satisfy impulsive emotional cravings.

SPOT ON: AI could be coming for your wine as experts turn to technology for industry overhaul – Scientists have developed an AI-powered handheld sensor called RipenAI that uses machine learning and optical technology to instantly determine the ripeness of grapes directly on the vine. This revolutionary, non-destructive tool could transform the winemaking industry by optimizing harvest timing and improving the overall quality and efficiency of wine production.

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Clarence Thomas praised after rare televised address warning of progressivism goes viral

Published

2 hours ago

April 17, 2026

Addison Blake

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas drew widespread attention on social media after giving a rare, televised address warning that the country’s founding principles are under threat from modern progressivism and urging a return to founding American values.

“Progressivism seeks to replace the basic premises of the Declaration of Independence, and hence our form of government,” Thomas said Wednesday at the University of Texas at Austin, later discussing values of devotion mentioned in our founding document.

“The willingness to do anything for our principles that has throughout American history been most indispensable. It is that devotion that we are missing today and that we must find in our hearts if this nation is to endure,” he added.

Clips of Thomas’ remarks quickly went viral online, with reposts from figures like billionaire Elon Musk and comedian Rob Schneider.

I WORKED FOR JUSTICE ALITO. WHAT I SAW UP CLOSE SHATTERS THE MEDIA SMEAR

“Fox & Friends” host Brian Kilmeade noted Friday that while it’s rare, “when you hear from Clarence Thomas, it’s usually important.” His co-host, Lawrence Jones, agreed, calling the speech a “unifying” and “non-political” message.

JACKSON PUBLICLY AIRS GRIEVANCES WITH CONSERVATIVE COLLEAGUES OVER TRUMP-ERA RULINGS

Fox News legal editor Kerri Urbahn described it as the “best speech I have ever heard in my life on the Declaration of Independence.” She said the speech was “more powerful” given Thomas’ upbringing in the Jim Crow South and his early hardships.

“Clarence Thomas was born into deep poverty. He didn’t even have a bed to sleep in until he was seven years old,” Urbahn told “Fox & Friends” Friday. “And yet here he is as a Supreme Court justice, championing this document, our founding documents, despite the evils and abuses that occurred, especially in the beginning of the country.”

SOTOMAYOR WALKS BACK REMARKS CRITICIZING KAVANAUGH, SAYS COMMENTS WERE ‘INAPPROPRIATE’

She added that Thomas’ core message was a reminder that “God gives us rights, not government,” and warned the nation is losing the “sense of courage” required to maintain a working and free society.

Others online echoed that sentiment, including Sen. Mike Lee, who wrote on X in response to a news article about the speech: “Progressivism is an existential threat to America.” Conservative influencer Nick Sortor posted, “Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas just dropped a TRUTH BOMB.”

The viral moment comes after President Donald Trump told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo he is “prepared” to appoint up to three Supreme Court justices during this term. Trump suggested Justice Samuel Alito may be eyeing retirement and noted he has a “shortlist” of replacements. A source close to Alito has said the justice currently has no plans to step down.