Robert Kraft's son launches campaign for Boston mayor
'I love with this city with its many unique neighborhoods, and its people. The people of Boston are hard working, humble, and above all, proud of this city, no matter which neighborhood they come from,' the younger Kraft said in a post on Facebook Tuesday.
'Serving Boston has been my passion and a great source of joy and purpose in my life, which is why I am running for Mayor,' he added. 'I hope you will join my campaign to bring more housing and more opportunity to Boston.'
Josh Kraft, who is running as a Democrat, according to his campaign website, has a father with historically close ties to President Trump. According to his Facebook page, the younger Kraft is the New England Patriots Foundation president.
'I've spent my entire career working in and around the neighborhoods of Boston – from Roslindale to East Boston, from Mattapan to Charlestown, from South Boston to Roxbury, first as employee and then as CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston,' Josh Kraft's Facebook post reads.
Robert Kraft, in October, equated President Trump to a 'drunk fraternity brother' during his first time in the White House, noting their previous longtime friendship.
'I couldn't believe it,' Robert Kraft told Charlamagne tha God on 'The Breakfast Club' radio program. 'It was like having someone who's a drunk fraternity brother become [president of the United States.]'
Earlier in the interview, Kraft said he's a Democrat but that Trump 'became a social friend in the early 90s' when he was going down to Florida.
'And then when my wife of blessed memory died 13 years ago, he was one of four or five people who reached out to me and was really, really nice,' Kraft continued. 'The only donation I ever gave to him was he called me when he got elected. And I made a strong donation to his inauguration.'
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Newsweek
34 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Democrat Says Texas 'Gerrymandering War' Shows Party's New Fiery Path
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. A Texas congressional candidate told Newsweek that Democrats need to use every weapon in their arsenal to counter Republicans' efforts in a "gerrymandering war." "I believe it's imperative at this moment to use every tool that we have to fight back," said Isaiah Martin, a 27-year-old Democratic candidate running in a November special election in Texas's 18th congressional district, which includes much of Houston. "I think the only thing Republicans understand is being thrown out of power without mercy … that's why blue states have got to go and fight fire with fire." Isaiah Martin, a congressional candidate in Texas, told Newsweek that Democrats need to "fight fire with fire" to counter Republican redistricting efforts. Isaiah Martin, a congressional candidate in Texas, told Newsweek that Democrats need to "fight fire with fire" to counter Republican redistricting efforts. Courtesy of Isaiah Martin for Congress' Martin's comments come as the fight over redistricting in Texas has sparked a scramble to redraw congressional maps in other states. Texas Democrats fled their state on August 3, heading to Illinois, New York and Massachusetts, in order to stop Republicans from approving the redrawn House maps sought by President Donald Trump that would give the GOP five more winnable seats before next year's midterm elections. California Governor Gavin Newsom said there will be a special election in November seeking approval of redrawn districts that would allow Democrats to gain five more seats, offsetting any GOP gains in Texas, and other Democrat-led states could follow suit. Martin said other Democrat-led states need to follow suit. "What the Republicans are doing is coming for the jugular for us on every single front and we've got to respond back appropriately," he said, pointing to Vice President JD Vance visiting Indiana this week to discuss redistricting with leaders in that state. "I think it's time to teach these guys a math lesson about the blue state population advantage," he added. "Let them find out the hard way that California and New York are a heck of a lot bigger than states like Indiana, and personally, it's unfortunate that it has to come to this, but we have to make sure we can fight back." 'I Spoke Unapologetically' Martin was forcibly removed from the Texas State Capitol and arrested last month after he refused to yield while speaking at a hearing on redistricting. "What I saw was Republican lawmakers doing everything they can to not listen to folks that have driven hours to go and testify," he said. "So I spoke unapologetically, and ended up with Republicans getting me tossed out of there and thrown in jail." He was charged with disrupting a meeting, resisting arrest and criminal trespassing, CBS Austin reported. The charges were later dropped, and Martin was released after spending 30 hours in jail. "I went right back to Houston … to tell those lawmakers that they weren't stopping anything," he said. "The result has been millions of people talking about this gerrymandering war that Trump started and the response that needs to be levied." On Thursday, the Texas Democrats who fled Texas said they would return, provided Texas Republicans end a special session and California releases its own redrawn maps. However, Texas Governor Greg Abbott is expected to call another special session to push through new maps. Newsweek has contacted Abbott's office for comment via email. "As Democrats across the nation join our fight to cause these maps to fail their political purpose, we're prepared to bring this battle back to Texas under the right conditions and to take this fight to the courts," Gene Wu, Chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, said. Martin said it was up to the Texas Democrats who left the state to determine how long they stay away, but he encouraged them to stay away "as long as possible to give blue states time to respond appropriately." He added that those opposed to the idea of Democrats retaliating by redrawing their maps should ask themselves if they are willing to lose their health care. If Republicans retain power, they "can go and push more cuts to things like Medicare, Medicaid, and the long term goal of cutting Social Security," he said. Martin said that going forward, he wants to talk about "making America more affordable." He said: "Trump's very stupid policies has resulted in people losing jobs and having their grocery bills go up with reckless abandon, and so we need people that can unapologetically call that out, but then also provide a vision for the Democratic Party to help people have more of their own money. "I believe that's where we've got to be moving forward. We've got to be bold. We've got to be audacious, because that's what this moment demands in history."
New York Post
3 hours ago
- New York Post
Schwarzenegger taunts Newsom with message targeting Dem redistricting push
Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is pumping up for a new fight. The longtime Hollywood action star, the last Republican governor in Democrat-dominated California, says he's mobilizing to oppose the push by current Gov. Gavin Newsom to temporarily scrap the state's nonpartisan redistricting commission. 'I'm getting ready for the gerrymandering battle,' Schwarzenegger wrote in a social media post Friday, which included a photo of the former professional bodybuilding champion lifting weights. Schwarzenegger, who rose to worldwide fame as the star of the film 'The Terminator' four decades ago, wore a T-shirt in the photo that said 'terminate gerrymandering.' The social media post by Schwarzenegger comes as Democratic leaders in the Democrat- dominated California legislature are moving forward with new proposed congressional district maps that would create up to five more blue-leaning US House seats in the nation's most populous state. Newsom on Thursday teamed up in Los Angeles with congressional Democrats and legislative leaders in the heavily blue state to unveil their redistricting playbook. 4 Arnold Schwarzenegger wears a 'F*** The Politicians. Terminate Gerrymandering' shirt while working out. Arnold Schwarzenegger/X Newsom and the Democrats are aiming to counter the ongoing effort by President Donald Trump and Republicans to create up to five GOP-friendly congressional districts in red state Texas at the expense of Democrat-controlled seats. 'Today is liberation day in the state of California,' Newsom said. 'Donald Trump, you have poked the bear, and we will punch back.' Newsom vowed to 'meet fire with fire' with his push for a rare — but not unheard of — mid-decade redistricting. 4 California Gov. Gavin Newsom embraces former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at a news conference in Los Angeles, Calif. on March 22, 2024. Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag The Republican push in Texas, which comes at Trump's urging, is part of a broader effort by the GOP across the country to pad its razor-thin House majority to keep control of the chamber in the 2026 midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats. Trump and his political team are aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House, when Democrats stormed back to grab the House majority in the 2018 midterms. While the Republican push in Texas to upend the current congressional maps doesn't face constitutional constraints, Newsom's path in California is much more complicated. The governor is pushing to hold a special election this year to get voter approval to undo the constitutional amendments that created the nonpartisan redistricting commission. A two-thirds majority vote in the Democrat-dominated California legislature as early as next week would be needed to hold the referendum. Democratic Party leaders are confident they'll have the votes to push the constitutional amendment and the new proposed congressional maps through the legislature. 'Here we are in open and plain sight before one vote is cast in the 2026 midterm election, and here [Trump] is once again trying to rig the system,' Newsom charged. Newsom said his plan is 'not complicated. We're doing this in reaction to a president of the United States that called a sitting governor in the state of Texas and said, 'Find me five seats.' We're doing it in reaction to that act.' 4 The proposed Congressional district map of California. California State Assembly The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) said 'Newsom's made it clear: he'll shred California's Constitution and trample over democracy — running a cynical, self-serving playbook where Californians are an afterthought, and power is the only priority.' But Newsom defended his actions, saying 'we're working through a very transparent, temporary and public process. We're putting the maps on the ballot and putting the power to the people.' Thursday's appearance by Newsom, considered a likely contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, also served as a fundraising kickoff to raise massive amounts of campaign cash needed to sell the redistricting push statewide in California. The nonpartisan redistricting commission, created over 15 years ago, remains popular among most Californians, according to public opinion polling. That's why Newsom and California Democratic lawmakers are promising not to scrap the commission entirely, but rather replace it temporarily by the legislature for the next three election cycles. 'We will affirm our commitment to the state independent redistricting after the 2030 census, but we are asking the voters for their consent to do midterm redistricting,' Newsom said. Their efforts are opposed by a number of people supportive of the nonpartisan commission. 4 Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a rally about redistricting at the Democracy Center, Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles on Aug. 14, 2025. Getty Images Among the most visible members is likely to be Schwarzenegger. 'He calls gerrymandering evil, and he means that. He thinks it's truly evil for politicians to take power from people,' Schwarzenegger spokesperson Daniel Ketchell told Politico earlier this month. 'He's opposed to what Texas is doing, and he's opposed to the idea that California would race to the bottom to do the same thing.' Schwarzenegger, during his tenure as governor, had a starring role in the passage of constitutional amendments in California in 2008 and 2010 that took the power to draw state legislative and congressional districts away from politicians and placed it in the hands of an independent commission. 'Most people don't really think about an independent commission much, one way or another. And that's both an opportunity and a challenge for Newsom,' Jack Pitney, an American politics professor at California's Claremont McKenna College, told Fox News. 'It's going to take a lot of effort and money to energize Democrats and motivate them to show up at the polls,' Pitney said, adding Newsom's effort 'is all about motivating people who don't like Trump.' Fox News' Lee Ross contributed to this report
4 hours ago
Takeaways from the Trump-Putin meeting: No agreement, no questions but lots of pomp
WASHINGTON -- The much-anticipated summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin began with a warm welcome and a flyover by screaming jets at a U.S. military base in Alaska but ended with a thud Friday after they conceded that they had failed to reach any agreements on how to end the Russia-Ukraine war. After about 2 1/2 hours of talks at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, the two men appeared before reporters for what had been billed as a joint news conference — but they took no questions. 'We had an extremely productive meeting and many points were agreed to, there are just a very few that are left,' Trump said. 'We didn't get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there.' Putin, welcomed into the U.S. after being shunned by Western allies since early 2022 for ordering the invasion of Ukraine, thanked Trump for hosting the meeting and suggested with a chuckle that the next time the two sit down it could be in Moscow. Here are key takeaways from the summit: Putin got a red carpet welcome and even rode in Trump's presidential limousine from the tarmac to the summit venue. There, the pair were joined by two of their top aides: Secretary of State and national security adviser Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff for Trump and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and national security adviser Yuri Ushakov for Putin. Putin, who spoke first after the meeting concluded, lauded the historical relationship between the United States, Russia and the former Soviet Union, recalling joint missions conducted by the two countries during World War II. He said the U.S. and Russia share values, a standard talking point for Russian officials when trying to woo Trump and his aides. Putin also noted that Trump has frequently said the Ukraine war wouldn't have happened had he won the 2020 election. "I think that would have been the case," the Russian leader said, a comment sure to please Trump. However, there is no indication and no way to prove that Moscow would have acted differently toward Ukraine had Democrat Joe Biden not been elected. Trump had gone into the meeting hoping to get Putin to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine — or at least a commitment from Russia to enter into negotiations to reach one. Instead, Trump conceded that 'we haven't quite got there' and said he would be conferring with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO leaders about next steps. Trump said he and Putin had made some significant progress toward the goal of ending the conflict but gave no details on what that entailed and had to acknowledge that they had been unable to bridge substantial gaps. 'I believe we had a very productive meeting,' Trump said. 'We haven't quite got there, but we've made some headway. So, there's no deal until there's a deal.' In a subsequent conversation with Sean Hannity of Fox News Channel, Trump again offered no details on his discussions with Putin. Amid drawn-out diplomatic moves to end the war, time is appears to be on Putin's side. That gives a leg up to Russian forces, who have used their larger numbers to slowly grind down defenses in eastern Ukraine 3 1/2 years into the conflict. Putin got a pleasant reception from the leader of the free world on U.S. soil and walked away hours later without either providing details on what they discussed, whether a ceasefire was any closer to reality or what the next steps would be. Putin praised Trump for the 'friendly' tone of the talks — Trump said nothing publicly about the killing of Ukrainian civilians in Moscow's attacks — and for 'understanding that Russia has its own national interests.' Putin said Moscow and Washington should 'turn the page,' with relations having sunk to the lowest point since the Cold War. Putin appearing in the U.S. for the first time in 10 years was celebrated as a sign that Moscow was no longer a pariah on the global stage. In a social media post, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told followers that the Western press would be on the verge of 'losing their minds.' 'For three years, they talked about Russia's isolation, and today they saw the red carpet being rolled out to greet the Russian president in the United States,' she said. Both men said the talks were 'productive' but the lack of any announcement of solid achievements was revealing. The news conference ended up being less than 15 minutes of rather standard diplomatic comments — and gave no indication that any concrete results were achieved — and offered little departure from their previous comments on the war in Ukraine. Trump has made it a feature of his second term to parry questions from reporters in front of world leaders, but in the clearest sign of his disappointment, the president abruptly cut short his plans to take questions. Trump had gone into the summit saying here was a 25% chance that the summit would fail and that it was meant to be a 'feel-out meeting,' but he had also floated the idea of bringing Zelenskyy to Alaska for a subsequent, three-way meeting if things went well. It's unclear what comes next.
