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Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Hegseth ‘has great jeans': Defense Department taps into MAGA's obsession over Sydney Sweeney ad
The Department of Defense tapped into the MAGA movement's obsession with the American Eagle advertising campaign featuring actress Sydney Sweeney on Monday afternoon, as it shared an image of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's outfit with the caption: '@secdef has great jeans.' Sweeney has faced criticism for the ad campaign, which critics have argued includes racist messaging, provoking outrage from the right in response. Even President Donald Trump jumped into the fray, praising the ad after it was reported that Sweeney is a registered Republican in Florida. Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Vice President JD Vance have also made statements in support of Sweeney. The president addressed reporters on the runway in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Sunday night. 'She's a registered Republican?' Trump asked. 'Now I love her ad.' Trump took to Truth Social on Monday morning to say that 'Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the 'HOTTEST' ad out there.' 'It's for American Eagle, and the jeans are 'flying off the shelves,'' he claimed. Critics of the American Eagle ad campaign have accused the company of spreading 'racist' and 'Nazi propaganda.' Some have argued that it pushes eugenic ideals with its wordplay on 'jeans' and 'genes.' Some of those slamming the ad campaign have argued that the two phrases harken back to the debunked racist theory pushed by the Nazis that the human race can be improved via selective breeding. 'Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color,' Sweeney says in one of the ads. 'My jeans are blue,' she adds, before a narrator says, 'Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.' ''Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans' is and always was about the jeans,' American Eagle said in response to the criticism. 'Her jeans. Her story.' 'We'll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way,' the statement added. 'Great jeans look good on everyone.' The tweet by the Department of Defense featuring the jeans-clad Secretary of Defense faced mockery on X. 'We're not a serious country anymore,' the group Republicans Against Trump wrote. 'Hey parents, I know your son or daughter maybe in harm's way and doing a lethal job, but triggering the libs is our ultimate goal here at DOD,' said former Illinois Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger. 'He'll tell you all about them, along with America's top secret attack plans, on a signal group chat,' said Sarah Longwell of The Bulwark. 'I just want a serious government—and particularly a serious Department of Defense—that doesn't waste time or energy shilling for the egos of its leadership with glam shots like this. Don't you? Surely this isn't an unreasonable expectation,' said Heath Mayo, founder of Principles First. Former CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr asked, 'Is this what the Pentagon thought was important today?'
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Ohio Senate race among those to watch in 2026 election
President Donald Trump's agenda in the second half of his second term will hinge on whether Republicans can maintain control of Congress in next year's midterm elections. Ohio's Senate race could be a player in deciding which party controls the chamber. In the Senate, where the GOP has a slim 53-47 majority, being the party in charge is vital for the president and his ability to pass key legislation priorities and confirm nominees, including any potential Supreme Court vacancies. Get The Scoop: Sign up for our weekly Ohio politics newsletter Heading into 2026, congressional Republicans look to keep their legislative advantage but face the challenge of precedent. Often, the party that does not hold the White House fares better in midterm congressional elections. The Buckeye State represents one of Democrats' few pickup opportunities, and even then it will not be an easy flip. Republican Sen. Jon Husted was picked by Ohio's governor to fill the seat vacated by Vice President JD Vance at the start of the year, and Husted will be on the ballot next November to keep his spot. Husted has a long history in Ohio politics having served as lieutenant governor, secretary of state, speaker of the House and a state senator. Ohio has become reliably Republican in recent years, making the fight to flip it tough for Democrats. Democrats' best shot probably is former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who lost his bid for reelection last year to Sen. Bernie Moreno. In 2024, Moreno defeated Brown by less that four percentage points in the same election where Trump defeated Kamala Harris by more than 11 in Ohio. However, Trump is not on the ballot himself next year. During the midterm election in Trump's first term in 2018, Brown won reelection despite a Republican sweep of nonjudicial statewide races. Brown was first elected to the Senate in 2006 and also reelected in 2012. Brown previously served as a congressman, Ohio secretary of state and as a state lawmaker. The race between Brown and Moreno set a record as the most expensive non-presidential election in U.S. history with both sides spending more than $470 million total. In March, Brown announced he was forming a nonprofit that aims to highlight the plight of workers and push Republicans and Democrats to enact policies that benefit them. Axios reported that Brown met with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in late July as part of the top Senate Democrat's efforts to lobby Brown to run again. Brown has also been named as a possible candidate for Ohio governor. Gov. Mike DeWine cannot run again due to term limits. Here are the other Senate races to watch across the country heading into the 2026 midterm elections. Open race in North Carolina set to be one of the most competitive North Carolina's two-term senior senator, Republican Thom Tillis, announced in June that he would not be seeking reelection. Already a top target for the Democrats, the North Carolina race was set to be one of the most competitive Senate battles in 2026, even with Tillis on the ballot. Now, the open seat has attracted high-profile contenders on both sides of the aisle. Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, announced his campaign formally on July 28 after weeks of speculation. On the Republican side, Lara Trump, the president's daughter-in-law and former co-chair of the Republican National Committee, said she considered jumping in. But after she announced July 24 that she would not run for the seat, President Trump gave his backing to Republican National Committee chair and former North Carolina GOP Chair Michael Whatley. Retirement makes Michigan Senate race a toss-up In Michigan, another retiring incumbent has set the stage for a toss-up race next year. Sen. Gary Peters, a Democrat, announced in January that he would not seek a third term. Republican Mike Rogers, a former congressman with Trump's endorsement, is his party's expected nominee. Rogers ran in 2024 and lost narrowly to Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin. Among Democrats, Rep. Haley Stevens and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow lead the pack of 2026 candidates. Republicans target Sen. Jon Ossoff in Georgia Georgia's Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff must fend off a pack of conservative lawmakers to hang on to his seat in 2026. Alongside fellow Georgia Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock, Ossoff won a runnoff election in January 2021 that secured him a first term in Congress and his party a chamber majority. Republicans looking to unseat him include Rep. Buddy Carter, a former pharmacist who represents the Savannah area. Carter was first to throw his red hat in the ring. But others, including Rep. Mike Collins, have since joined the contest. Carter and Collins are coveting Trump's support, an endorsement that could carry weight with Georgia's deep-red electorate pockets. GOP Senate primary race in Texas could shake things up Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn stands a good chance of winning a fifth term against a Democratic challenger next November in the red-leaning Lone Star State. But first, he must make it through what is promising to be a tough primary against the state's attorney general, Ken Paxton. Cornyn has served in the Senate since 2002, but early polls showed him down double digits to Paxton. More: Texas AG Ken Paxton's wife files for divorce 'on biblical grounds' National Republicans have expressed concern that Paxton, who has faced indictments, impeachment and, more recently, a very public divorce, could cost the GOP their safely held Texas seat in a general election. Democrat and former Rep. Colin Allred, who ran unsuccessfully against Sen. Ted Cruz in 2024, has announced his campaign for 2026. Texas state Rep. James Talarico has said he is 'seriously considering' a run as well. Sen. Lindsey Graham facing GOP primary in South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, has also drawn a GOP challenger in his 2026 bid for reelection. Paul Dans, the original author of Project 2025, a sweeping conservative agenda to overhaul the federal government, announced his candidacy at an event in Charleston July 30. The primary contest will likely pit MAGA voters in the Palmetto State against one another. Though Graham has been a regular target of criticism from Trump − displeased by the lawmaker at times breaking from the GOP leader − he is now an ally to the president and has already received Trump's 'complete and total endorsement.' Dans' primary challenge will be an uphill battle. Should Graham come out on top, he is heavily favored to win a fifth term. A pack of Democrats are vying to face Graham or Dans in the general, though South Carolina is generally considered a safely red seat. Democrats see chance to pick up Maine Senate seat Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is about to wrap her fifth term in the Senate, and while she has yet to formally announce her bid for reelection, many colleagues expect her to run again. Her position as one of the upper chamber's most independent voices has kept her in favor, and in office, with her left-leaning state, though Democrats still see this upcoming race as one of their top pickup opportunities if two-term Gov. Janet Mills decides to run. Collins has garnered a reputation for being one of the few congressional Republicans willing to tell Trump no. She voted against two of his major legislative priorities this summer – a sweeping tax and spending bill, as well as a $9 billion cut to public broadcasting and foreign aid funding – and has openly criticized some of the president's nominees. Willingness to oppose Trump typically comes with the president's full public ire – and often a MAGA-aligned primary opponent. But Collins is the only Republican senator to have won a state in which Democrats won the popular vote in 2024. Her unique position seems to, at least for now, have kept Trump from speaking out against who many view as the GOP's best chance to keep their seat in Maine. Several Democratic candidates have announced campaigns against Collins, including David Costello, who ran unsuccessfully against Maine's Independent Sen. Angus King in 2024. All eyes are most focused on Mills, the state governor who has also tussled with Trump but hasn't yet said whether she will run. Minnesota senator retiring, but state likely to stay with Democrats Minnesota's Democratic Sen. Tina Smith announced earlier this year that she plans to retire at the end of her term, calling the decision "entirely personal." With the state's blue tilt, Smith's seat has a good chance of staying in Democrats' hands. Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and Rep. Annie Craig are among the front-runners for their party's nomination. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris' running mate, opted back in February not to run for the Senate. On the Republican side, former NBA player Royce White is running again after losing his bid against Sen. Amy Klobuchar in 2024. Former Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze has also announced his campaign for the GOP nomination. New Hampshire senator retiring creating open race Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire announced she would not be seeking another term in 2026 either. Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas, who launched his campaign in April, is widely seen as a strong contender to succeed Shaheen. Republican Scott Brown, a former Massachusetts senator and former ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa in Trump's first term, is among a handful of candidates competing on the GOP side. Like Minnesota, Cook Political Report has rated New Hampshire's race leaning Democrat. Iowa Senate seat likely to stay with GOP In Iowa, Sen. Joni Ernst, a Republican, has the advantage, with Cook Political Report rating her race likely Republican. Three Democrats so far have launched bids in hopes of beating those odds: Nathan Sage, the former chamber of commerce director from Knoxville; state Rep. J.D. Scholten; and state Sen. Zach Wahls. Nebraska Senate race could be surprisingly competitive Nebraska is widely seen as a Republican stronghold with incumbent GOP Sen. Pete Ricketts, though there could be a surprisingly competitive race in 2026 with Independent candidate Dan Osborn jumping back into a statewide election. Osborn came within 7 percentage points of beating Sen. Deb Fischer in 2024, a closer-than-expected margin in the GOP-dominated state. Osborn, a former labor leader, is a registered Independent but received campaign contributions from Democrats in his last campaign (money he told NBC he did not ask for). Ricketts, a former Nebraska governor and part owner with his family of the Chicago Cubs, is running for a full term after being appointed to the job in January 2023 upon the resignation of Republican Sen. Ben Sasse. USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau Chief Anthony Shoemaker contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Will Ohio matter in 2026 race to control the US Senate?
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump says major US banks 'discriminated against me' as White House preps debanking executive order
Debanking is back in the spotlight this week after President Trump said Tuesday that the country's two largest US banks, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Bank of America (BAC), denied him as a customer. "The banks discriminated against me very badly, and I was very good to the banks," Trump said on CNBC's "Squawk Box," adding that "they discriminate against many conservatives." For years, Republicans have claimed that US banks have denied accounts to certain customers for political reasons. Crypto companies have warned more recently that they weren't permitted to get banking services during the Biden era. "I had hundreds of millions. I had many, many accounts loaded up with cash. I was loaded up with cash, and they told me, 'I'm sorry, sir, we can't have you. You have 20 days to get out,'" Trump said of his experience losing bank accounts with JPMorgan Chase. The president said he then went to Bank of America "to deposit a billion dollars plus" and was similarly denied. "He said, 'We can't do it,'" Trump told "Squawk Box" while also referencing pressure on banks from Washington, D.C., regulators as a key reason for why he and others have been denied banking services. "I ended up going to small banks all over the place," Trump added. The president's comments came in response to a Wall Street Journal report late Monday stating that the White House is preparing to draft a related executive order around debanking that would fine banks found discriminating against customers on political grounds. Bank of America did not immediately offer a response to Trump's comments. "We don't close accounts for political reasons, and we agree with President Trump that regulatory change is desperately needed. We commend the White House for addressing this issue and look forward to working with them to get this right," a JPMorgan spokesperson said in emailed comments. Both of these giant lenders and their CEOs have denied debanking customers on political grounds. Learn more about high-yield savings accounts, money market accounts, and CD accounts. Trump first brought visibility to the debanking issue back in January when he confronted Bank of America's Brian Moynihan about it during a live Q&A at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "I hope you start opening your bank to conservatives," Trump told Moynihan. The president also appeared to include JPMorgan Chase CEO Jame Dimon in his confrontation. "I don't know if the regulators mandated that because of Biden or what, but you and Jamie and everybody else, I hope you open your banks to conservatives, because what you're doing is wrong," Trump added. Two months later, the Trump Organization sued major credit card lender Capital One (COF) for allegedly debanking hundreds of its accounts following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol in Washington, D.C. Bank regulators have already eliminated one element in supervision that has been pointed to as a culprit of debunking, known as reputational risk. Critics said this element of supervision was previously too subjective, allowing regulators additional room to penalize lenders for taking on customers they deemed risky. "The heart of the problem is regulatory overreach and supervisory discretion," a spokesperson for the Bank Policy Institute, a D.C. banking industry advocacy group, said in an emailed statement. "The banking agencies have already taken steps to address issues like reputational risk, and we're hopeful that any forthcoming executive order will reinforce this progress by directing regulators to confront the flawed regulatory framework that gave rise to these concerns in the first place," BPI added. Each of the bosses for these big banks has addressed the issue by also pointing a finger at regulators. "We have not debanked anyone because of political or religious relationships, period," JPMorgan's Dimon said during a podcast interview earlier this year, in which he acknowledged that debanking happens. "The reality is that if they gave us clarity from the regulatory thing and avoid the second-guessing, that would be helpful," Bank of America's Moynihan said in a CBS interview on Sunday. David Hollerith is a senior reporter for Yahoo Finance covering banking, crypto, and other areas in finance. Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest stock market news and events moving stock prices Sign in to access your portfolio
