FBI calls for public tips on children hurt in 'gender-affirming' surgeries
The federal law enforcement agency shared the message Monday on social media.
"Help the FBI protect children. As the Attorney General has made clear, we will protect our children and hold accountable those who mutilate them under the guise of gender-affirming care," the posts on X and Facebook read. "Report tips of any hospitals, clinics, or practitioners performing these surgical procedures on children at 1-800-CALL-FBI or tips.fbi.gov."
Fbi Email Instructs Employees Not To Promote Pride Month On Bureau Time: 'Focused Only On Our Core Mission'
Chloe Cole responded to the FBI's post on X by noting, "I'm a detransitioner and I've spoken personally with hundreds of others that have been seriously injured by this practice. We want to see this burnt to the ground."
President Donald Trump issued an executive order earlier this year titled "Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation."
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The order noted, in part, that "it is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called 'transition' of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures."
In an April memo, Attorney General Pam Bondi noted, "The Department of Justice will not sit idly by while doctors, motivated by ideology, profits, or both, exploit and mutilate our children. Under my watch, the Department will act decisively to protect our children and hold accountable those who mutilate them under the guise of care."
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In a statement provided to Fox News Digital on Tuesday morning, a Justice Department spokesperson noted, "As Attorney General Bondi has made clear, this Department of Justice will use every legal and law enforcement tool available to protect innocent children from being mutilated under the guise of 'care.'"Original article source: FBI calls for public tips on children hurt in 'gender-affirming' surgeries
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USA Today
41 minutes ago
- USA Today
Oklahoma will require teachers from NY, California to prove they back 'America First'
Oklahoma's new "America First" teacher certification test will require educators from California and New York to agree with conservative curriculum. Teachers from California and New York who want to work in Oklahoma public schools will be required to pass a certification test to prove they share the state's conservative political values. Regardless of the subject or grade they teach, they'll have to show they know "the biological differences between females and males" and that they agree with the state's American history standards, which includes teachings of a disproved conspiracy theory that the Democratic Party stole the 2020 presidential election from President Donald Trump. The state department of education will implement the new certification test for teachers from the two largest Democrat-led states "who are teaching things that are antithetical to our standards" to ensure newcomers "are not coming into our classrooms and indoctrinating kids," Oklahoma schools Superintendent Ryan Walters, said in an interview with USA TODAY. Walters has dubbed the new requirement an "America First" certification, in reference to one of Trump's political slogans. Oklahoma's Republican Governor Kevin Stitt appointed Walters, a Republican, to the helm of the state's education department in Sept. 2020 and voters then elected him for a second term in November 2022. Oklahoma is offering teaching bonuses that go up to $50,000 to attract teachers from across the nation and has seen "a dramatic increase in teachers wanting to come to Oklahoma," Walters said. The new test is meant to ensure they weed out teachers with opposing views from the state's standards. The state, like many others, has a persisting teacher shortage. He said the test will only apply to teachers from California and New York, for now, because those states specifically teach lessons that are antithetical to those taught in Oklahoma. "A lot of the credit goes to Gavin Newsom," Walters said. He alleged California under the governor has implemented lessons on "gender theory," and that won't be allowed in Oklahoma schools. (The California Healthy Youth Act, passed in 2016, requires that public school lessons across the state "must be inclusive of LGBTQ students" and same-sex relationships and teach students about "gender, gender expression, gender identity, and explore the harm of negative gender stereotypes" and "about all sexual orientations and what being LGBTQ means.") Oklahoma's 'America First' Test Nonprofit conservative media company Prager U is helping Oklahoma's state department of education develop the test. The company previously helped develop the state's new high school history curriculum standards, which includes lessons on how to dissect the results of the 2020 election, including learning about alleged mail-in voter fraud, "an unforeseen record number of voters" and "security risks of mail-in balloting." The new curriculum also teaches the contested theory that COVID-19 emerged from a lab leak and removed a prior proposal for lessons about George Floyd's murder and Black Lives Matter. "These reforms will reset our classrooms back to educating our children without liberal indoctrination," Walters wrote in a post on X on April 29. "We're proud to defend these standards, and we will continue to stand up for honest, pro-America education in every classroom." The state superintendent said some of the history questions will about American government, how the nation came to be and its founding documents. Walters' office shared five sample questions with USA TODAY: Walters said the test will be finished by Aug. 15 and it will be available to prospective teachers the week of Aug. 18. "We're very close," he said. Oklahoma schools have become more has conservative under Walters' took the helm of the state's education department in Sept. 2020, and voters elected him for a second term in November 2022. Along with the changes to the state's history curriculum standards, Walters has ordered public schools to teach the Bible in June 2024. Bible lessons will not be on the new teacher certification exam, he said. Teachers' union leaders: Test will be 'a huge turn off' to teachers amid 'serious teacher shortage crisis' Teachers' union leaders decried the new certification test in interviews with USA TODAY. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said Walters' new test is going to be a "huge turn off" to teachers and that it's not "going to solve a problem." "Teachers in this country are patriotic, and suggesting they're not is insulting," she said. Weingarten went on to criticize Walters for several of his conservative pushes for education in Oklahoma, including bible lessons, and support for a religious charter school, which was blocked by a split Supreme Court vote this May. She called those moves and the implementation of the new test "a major distraction." "Ryan Walters appears to be trying out for MAGA in chief, not educator in chief, because everything that he's doing is about the culture wars, not about the reading, writing and arithmetic," she said. "If he wants to be MAGA in chief then go be MAGA in chief. But let someone else be educator in chief and focus on other things people deserve, which is reading, literacy and wraparound services – and actual teachers who want to be in Oklahoma." Oklahoma and California teachers union leaders agreed. "This is a political stunt to grab attention," said Cari Elledge, president of the Oklahoma Education Association. "All of the mandates coming out of the Department of Education are baseless and are distractions from real issues in Oklahoma." One of those pressing issues is "the serious teacher shortage crisis," she said. "When political ideology plays into whether or not you can teach in any place, that might be a deterrent to quality educators attempting to get a job ... We think it's intentional to make educators fearful and confused." The political climate in Oklahoma has contributed to the teacher shortage, she said, noting there are about 30,000 teachers in Oklahoma who hold state teaching certifications but are not working in classrooms. "We believe the political morale is making it scarier to teach," she said. "We know our jobs are so much more important and at the end of the day it's about the future of our students." The state teachers union told its members in a July 11 letter, which Elledge provided to USA TODAY, that Walters "has no legal authority to vet certified teachers based on political ideology." They say that's because "licensing and certification are governed by state statute, not personal opinion or partisan preferences" and state law "requires us to recognize out-of-state teaching credentials." The letter references part of the state education code that says it "must issue certificates to qualified teachers from other U.S. states and territories if they meet basic requirements, including a criminal background check." The union is also concerned about the state education department's partnership with PragerU "because it's not an educational authority and it's partisan," Elledge said. "OEA is actively monitoring this and other overreaches," the letter reads. "We remain vigilant in protecting the rights of Oklahoma's educators and students." Teachers in Oklahoma don't teach newly implemented conservative ideologies in classrooms, which are expected to be on the 'America First' certification test, Elledge said. "They're not here to give opinions in class; they're here to teach facts," she said. There are not many teachers in Oklahoma who come from California or New York, anyway, because of political differences. "People in Oklahoma have more conservative values," she said. "It's not a destination state for people from California and New York, which is sad because it's a really good place and students here deserve the best they could possibly have." David Goldberg, president of the California Teachers' Association, said he also hasn't heard of an influx of teachers who want to move from California to teach in Oklahoma. But at a time when states are trying to solve teacher shortages, the Oklahoma test is trying to "scare them away," he said. "This almost seems like satire and so far removed from my research around what Oklahoma educators need and deserve," he said. "I can't see how this isn't some kind of hyper-political grandstanding that doesn't serve any of those needs." Goldberg rejects that what teachers need in California – "respect" and a livable wage – is different than what Oklahoma teachers need to thrive. Teachers have a responsibility to take care of kids in both places despite their different education systems, he said. Contact Kayla Jimenez at kjimenez@ Follow her on X at @kaylajjimenez.
Newsweek
42 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Sorority Girls Are the Right's Latest Obsession
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. If you've taken a quick glance at social media over the last few weeks, you'll likely have spotted two things. The first, viral posts of sorority girls dancing, part of the #RushTok trend that's been picking up steam as university life kicks off in August. The second, equally viral posts that the left is mad about it. Social media is inundated with posts claiming that the videos of sorority girls are proof that America is "back," a return prompted by the election of President Donald Trump and a cultural shift toward conservatism. If the narrative online is to be believed, the comeback has come much to the dismay of the left. But how mad is the left really? While posts outlining their outrage in response to sorority girls receive millions of views online, the outrage itself is harder to find. Sorority Girls Are The Right's Latest Obsession Sorority Girls Are The Right's Latest Obsession Newsweek Illustration/Getty/AP Newsroom As the right zeros in on sorority girls as evidence of a changing political culture, they are ushered into the echelons of the conservative hot girl, a new-age political pin-up, that this time comes complete with choreographed dances and coordinated outfits. But are these videos actually having a political impact outside of the right, or is the idea that they are an invented issue to fan the flames of a culture war? Newsweek spoke with experts to find out more. The Viral Phenomenon of the Sorority Girl Standing in front of red, brick buildings, adorned by circular columns and Greek lettering, sorority girls dance in unison. The movements are synchronized, the smiles are wide, and the energy is infectious. And millions of pairs of eyes fall upon the videos. Sororities and fraternities have been a cornerstone of pop culture for decades, in part thanks to movies like Legally Blonde, The House Bunny and Neighbors. Videos like this have been going viral over the past few years, but they have largely been divorced from political conversations, until now. This interest, though, isn't surprising, according to Diana Z. O'Brien, a professor of political science at Washington University in St. Louis. "For years, there's been extensive media coverage of how both universities and young women tend to lean left politically," O'Brien said. "Against that backdrop, young women at universities participating in activities perceived as more conservative—such as joining certain sororities—is going to spark the interest of some observers." The direct response to these videos is often positive. The comment sections are filled with fire emojis, compliments on their outfits and replies like "go girls!" But with great virality comes great visibility, and there is a significant amount of negativity in response to this trend. According to a recent report from The Independent, some sorority girls have stepped away from posting, and some sororities have advised against posting, or, speaking to the press. Some sororities regularly going viral include Alpha Chi Omega, University of South Carolina; Kappa Kappa Gamma, Oklahoma State University; Alpha Chi Omega, University of Tennessee; Delta Gamma, University of Tennessee; and Delta Zeta, University of Georgia. Newsweek has contacted these sororities for comment via social media message. Looking at the content, it appears there is little either tangentially or tangibly political about it. But that hasn't stopped it from becoming a political symbol. Joe Kinsey, of the outlet Outkick, wrote in a post on X: "The purple hair lesbians have to be furious that SEC sororities ARE BACK." As of press time, that post has been viewed 37 million times. In an email shared with Newsweek, Kinsey said: "After years of being told that biological males should be in the pool winning national championships over U.S. Olympic female swimmers, and that it was the fair thing to do, this country is back to a place where sorority girls & Sydney Sweeney now run the show, and a huge swath of America seems to love that cultural shift." He continued: "Have sorority girls always been doing their thing since TikTok was invented? Sure, but pop culture narratives were being run by fanatics on the coasts with the help of their sympathetic friends in the left-wing media. This country has clearly experienced a shift in the dominant voices with sororities and Sweeney appearing ready to lead the way." Kinsey's comments reference first the discourse over trans women competing in women's sports, something that has been a hot button issue in online culture wars for years. In February, Trump signed an executive order blocking trans women from participating in women's sports, which has been condemned and criticized by advocacy groups and the LGBTQ+ community. A post on X from Fox News about the phenomenon reads in part: "The viral 'RushTok' trend is making waves once more, with some calling it proof that "America is back," describing sorority girls as "warriors on the frontline of TikTok" pushing back on lockdown-era culture and showing renewed Gen Z patriotism." The post has been viewed more than 450,000 times as of reporting. On the other side of the coin, though, are people arguing that there isn't a real political connection here. One post shared a video of the sorority Texas Aephi, University of Austin, and was captioned "MAGA Texas girls are beautiful." The post was shared by an account that highlighted that the sorority is in Austin, which is in Travis County, which voted for then-Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024. Generally speaking, when it comes to politics, young women tend to identify as liberal. Polling from Gallup shows that an average of 40 percent of young women identified as liberal between 2017 and 2024, an increase from 32 percent for 2008 to 2016, and from 28 percent for 2001 to 2007. Newsweek spoke with pop culture content creator Morgan Harris, aka @Yaptrapped, about this trend. "The schools that are famous in Rushtok and really gave rise to it are mostly located in the South, I think these sorts of videos can act as a sort of advertisement for who conservative young women are even though in reality you have no idea of the political leanings of everyone that is in that video," Harris said. O'Brien echoed this, telling Newsweek that the conversations should center on the sorority members themselves, rather than "just the political meanings outsiders attach to them." New Chapter in the Culture Wars Playbook Amid the disparate online discourse about the trend lies a question: Why are social media trends like this used in online culture wars, and what role do they play? Dr. Mary Anne Franks, Eugene L. and Barbara A. Bernard professor in intellectual property, technology and civil rights law at George Washington University Law School, told Newsweek via email: "Fabricated controversies are the currency of the online culture wars, and that is why the right tends to win them." "Outrage bait like "liberals HATE this new trend!" doesn't just activate tired stereotypes and trigger negative emotional responses, it also serves to distract us from true outrages and exhaust the psychological resources we need to process and respond to them," Franks said. Newsweek also spoke with Dr. Stacey Kerr, an independent researcher, and Mardi Schmeichel, an associate professor in the College of Education and Human Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, who shared joint responses about the trend. "The political right's framing of sorority videos as "making the left mad," despite no evidence of widespread outrage, is a classic right-wing tactic: manufacturing a fake conflict as a way to signal dominance," they said. "The truth of the claim doesn't matter; in fact, the falsity is part of the point. By claiming that feminists and liberals are furious, right-wing commentators get to perform a win on two fronts: they cast themselves as lighthearted defenders of "fun" and "tradition" and they invite their audience to savor the imagined spectacle of their opponents seething." "Part of why this works so well in the context of RushTok is its sheer popularity: the videos draw huge audiences and have become an easy cultural reference point," they added. Newsweek also spoke with Deen Freelon, a professor at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, about the trend. "This seems to be the latest iteration of a broader phenomenon in which conservative individuals accuse left-leaning people of holding views the latter deny holding," Freelon said. "I think it shows how little the right understands the left [although the opposite may be true as well], and how much popularity and money there is to be gained in stoking division around even the most trivial of matters," Freelon added. A Trump supporter wears a MAGA hat outside the Stellantis plant in Sterling Heights, on the outskirts of Detroit on October 16, 2024. A Trump supporter wears a MAGA hat outside the Stellantis plant in Sterling Heights, on the outskirts of Detroit on October 16, 2024. CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images Pom-poms, Pep, and Politics The online obsession with sorority girls comes at a time when conservative politics has become obsessed more generally with women. Whether it's the rise of the conservative hot girl, the proliferation of the trad wife, or the conservative female influencer, the face of right-wing politics is changing. There's a new political poster girl in town, and she's putting on her MAGA cap with a manicured hand. While the actual politics of sorority girls is blurry, the aesthetic plays into the shift and new gendered era of politics that has been unfolding online in recent years. This may be playing a part in why conservatives have latched onto this content. Catherine Rottenberg of Goldsmiths, University of London, told Newsweek: "These images of sorority girls dancing and ostensibly celebrating 'America'—are part of a larger MAGA gendered aesthetic." Rottenberg said that the celebration of these clubs and organizations, and the way they are framed, reinforces a gender binary: "The idea that we need women to be women and men to be men." Rottenberg added that while distraction might be "part of the strategy," with this trend, it is also indicative of a wider promotion of "ideas of gender and femininity." Kerr and Schmeichel echoed this, telling Newsweek: "Women's bodies and choices have always been a political battleground, and the women participating in these hyper-feminized sorority performances are primed to serve as avatars for a "victorious" traditional America, with young, white, conventionally attractive women joyfully embracing old-school femininity in open defiance of what the right paints as liberal efforts to stamp it out." The content creator @yaptrapped highlighted a similar theme, telling Newsweek: "Conservatives need beautiful young conservative women to sell the dream of the traditional family to young conservative men and so I can see how those videos would be a powerful advertisement for that, even though it is a false advertisement based on details you couldn't possibly know about people in an internet video."
Newsweek
42 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Donald Trump's Approval Rating Plummets With Millennials
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. President Donald Trump's approval rating has plummeted with millennials, hitting its lowest level of the year in August, according to new polling. According to YouGov/Economist polling, in June, 40 percent of millennials approved of Trump's job performance while 53 percent disapproved—a net rating of -13 points. That slid to 41-57 (-16) in July before plunging to 33-56 (-23) in August. The figures show a 10-point drop in net approval in just two months, underscoring growing dissatisfaction among millennials as the 2025 political season intensifies. Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Getty Why It Matters Trump, who has long highlighted strong polling at rallies and press events, now faces slipping approval ratings that could weaken his influence and hurt Republican prospects in the 2026 midterms. After returning to the White House in January with solid numbers, his support has eroded amid economic concerns, tariff backlash and political discontent. Trump and former Vice President Kamala Harris have turned to podcasts and digital outreach to court millennials, a generation wary of legacy media and traditional messaging. Millennials are defined generally as people born from 1981 to 1996. The generation has overtaken baby boomers as the largest age demographic, according to the Pew Research Center. What To Know The poll shows that Trump's declining popularity among millennials is being driven by worsening views on the economy and inflation. "Millennials have yet to see the sweeping national renewal Trump promised," Thomas Gift, an associate professor of political science and director of the Centre on US Politics at University College London, told Newsweek. On the economy, Trump's approval among millennials slipped from 36 percent approval and 52 percent disapproval in June to 38 percent approval and 54 percent disapproval in August, showing that approval and disapproval has edged up the same. Inflation also appears to be a particular weak spot. Approval in this area dropped from 33 percent in June to 27 percent in August, while disapproval rose from 58 percent to 60 percent. The shift suggests heightened concern among younger voters about persistent price pressures. That comes as inflation rose to 2.7 percent in June despite Trump's previous promise to end inflation on day one of his second term. "Starting on day one, we will end inflation and make America affordable again, to bring down the prices of all goods," he said during a rally in Bozeman, Montana, in August 2024. President Donald Trump speaks at the Kennedy Center on August 13, 2025, in Washington. President Donald Trump speaks at the Kennedy Center on August 13, 2025, in Washington. Alex Brandon/AP Meanwhile, job growth slowed sharply in July, with just 73,000 new jobs added—down from 147,000 the previous month, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. After last month's jobs report was published, Trump fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer. In a post, Trump accused McEntarfer—without offering evidence—of rigging the numbers to harm his administration. But that move by Trump was not popular among millennial voters, with only 16 percent saying the decision was justified. There are also concerns about Trump's tariff program. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick predicted $50 billion in monthly revenue from the new import taxes, which came into effect this month. But JPMorgan warned that 60 percent of the increased costs are expected to be passed on to American consumers through higher prices. "On the consumer side, many remain burdened by rising prices under his tariffs, while housing in particular continues to be out of reach for a generation still struggling to get a foothold on the economic ladder," said Gift. According to Federal Reserve data, millennials own less than two-thirds of the real estate that baby boomers owned at the same age. But it's not all bad news for Trump. His handling of immigration remains a relative bright spot with this age group. Approval rose from 33 percent to 41 percent over the same period, while disapproval fell from 58 percent to 50 percent, marking an 8-point net improvement. Throughout his second term, Trump has aggressively expanded immigration enforcement—launching mass deportation operations, increasing raids in sanctuary cities and reviving thousands of old deportation cases. His administration has also dramatically scaled up detention capacity, allocating $45 billion to expand ICE facilities and construct large-scale temporary camps, including a facility in Florida nicknamed "Alligator Alcatraz." But while Trump has continued to push the hardline immigration agenda that helped him win support in 2024, polls indicate that backing for those policies is fading across other demographic groups. Gallup polling from last month showed that 30 percent of Americans now say immigration levels should be reduced, down from 55 percent in 2024. Support for maintaining or increasing immigration has risen across the board, including among Republicans. More broadly, the number of Americans who view immigration as a "good thing" has reached an all-time high of 79 percent, the same poll shows, reversing a steady decline during Joe Biden's presidency and surpassing levels from Trump's first term. What Happens Next Trump's new nominee to run the BLS, E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, hinted at suspending the monthly release of jobs data. August's numbers are due to be published the first week of September.
