Ex-GOP Governor Makes Bold Accusation Against AOC, Ilhan Omar Over Gaza
The Republican lobbed the accusation after fellow political commentator Maria Cardona argued President Donald Trump is to blame for the recent antisemitic attacks across the U.S., as a result of his support for white supremacist groups like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys.
'That is absolutely nuts. You guys are barely scratching the surface here,' Sununu replied on Monday.
'This isn't just about; we need more Democrats to condemn what's happening,' he continued. 'How about let's get Democrats not joining in on it? How about AOC and Representative Omar don't join those college campuses?'
Ocasio-Cortez and Omar have criticized Israel's ongoing military campaign in Gaza to varying degrees: both have called it a 'genocide,' while Omar physically joined Columbia University's demonstration last year and saw her own daughter arrested for participating.
Sununu argued that the rise of antisemitism in the U.S. 'starts on the college campuses' and 'empowers people to go beyond' words. The panel had been discussing Sunday's attack in Boulder, Colorado, where a man yelling 'Free Palestine' injured eight people.
'I want to be a little bit more specific about what we're talking about here,' said host Abby Phillip.
'I definitely think, to the congressman's point, there are specific things that are being said on these campuses that are antisemitic,' she added. 'But the idea that AOC and … Omar are engaging in those activities, I'm not sure that there's a lot of evidence of that.'
Sununu said, 'They showed up on those campuses. They spoke at the campuses!'
Phillip replied, 'But here's what I'm saying — do you understand what I'm saying? If they show up on college campuses to protest the situation in Gaza, is that, are you saying, automatically the same thing as uttering antisemitic words and using antisemitic language?'
To which Sununu had a very plain response. 'Yes, they're antisemitic,' he said. 'Make no mistake about it, this is all based on antisemitism.'
Phillip: But the idea that AOC and Rep. Omar are engaging in those activities.Sununu: They showed up on those campuses Phillip: If they show up on college campuses to protest, you know, what the situation in gaza is that are you saying automatically the same thing as uttering… pic.twitter.com/r4Vvlq8ZyK
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 3, 2025
When asked what specific evidence he might have that the congresswomen are antisemitic, beyond merely attending demonstrations or criticizing the Israeli government's relentless bombardment of Gaza, Sununu baselessly replied: 'Supporting terrorists?'
The former lawmaker's argument has since been shredded on social media, as neither Omar nor Ocasio-Cortez has ever endorsed terrorists. Both have criticized Israel's military campaign, but also publicly denounced Hamas, as well as Sunday's attack in Boulder.
Phillip said regarding Omar and Ocasio-Cortez, 'There's a difference between protesting and saying and doing antisemitic things.'
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Chicago Tribune
3 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
Why not enough food is reaching people in Gaza
International outcry over images of emaciated children and increasing reports of hunger-related deaths have pressured Israel to let more aid into the Gaza Strip. This week, Israel paused fighting in parts of Gaza and airdropped food. But aid groups and Palestinians say the changes have only been incremental and are not enough to reverse what food experts say is a 'worst-case scenario of famine' unfolding in the war-ravaged territory. The new measures have brought an uptick in the number of aid trucks entering Gaza. But almost none of it reaches U.N. warehouses for distribution. Instead, nearly all the trucks are stripped of their cargo by crowds that overwhelm them on the roads as they drive from the borders. The crowds are a mix of Palestinians desperate for food and gangs armed with knives, axes or pistols who loot the goods to then hoard or sell. Many have also been killed trying to grab the aid. Witnesses say Israeli troops often open fire on crowds around the aid trucks, and hospitals have reported hundreds killed or wounded. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots to control crowds or at people who approach its forces. The alternative food distribution system run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has also been marred by violence. International airdrops of aid have resumed. But aid groups say airdrops deliver only a fraction of what trucks can supply. Also, many parcels have landed in now-inaccessible areas that Palestinians have been told to evacuate, while others have plunged into the Mediterranean Sea, forcing people to swim out to retrieve drenched bags of flour. Here's a look at why the aid isn't being distributed: The U.N. says that longstanding restrictions on the entry of aid have created an unpredictable environment, and that while a pause in fighting might allow more aid in, Palestinians are not confident aid will reach them. 'This has resulted in many of our convoys offloaded directly by starving, desperate people as they continue to face deep levels of hunger and are struggling to feed their families,' said Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA. 'The only way to reach a level of confidence is by having a sustained flow of aid over a period of time,' she said. Israel blocked food entirely from entering Gaza for 2 ½ months starting in March. Since it eased the blockade in late May, it allowed in a trickle of aid trucks for the U.N., about 70 a day on average, according to official Israeli figures. That is far below the 500-600 trucks a day that U.N. agencies say are needed — the amount that entered during a six-week ceasefire earlier this year. Much of the aid is stacked up just inside the border in Gaza because U.N. trucks could not pick it up. The U.N says that was because of Israeli military restrictions on its movements and because of the lawlessness in Gaza. Israel has argued that it is allowing sufficient quantities of goods into Gaza and tried to shift the blame to the U.N. 'More consistent collection and distribution by U.N. agencies and international organizations = more aid reaching those who need it most in Gaza,' the Israeli military agency in charge of aid coordination, COGAT, said in a statement this week. With the new measures this week, COGAT, says 220-270 truckloads a day were allowed into Gaza on Tuesday and Wednesday, and that the U.N. was able to pick up more trucks, reducing some of the backlog at the border. Cherevko said there have been 'minor improvements' in approvals by the Israeli military for its movements and some 'reduced waiting times' for trucks along the road. But she said the aid missions are 'still facing constraints.' Delays of military approval still mean trucks remain idle for long periods, and the military still restricts the routes that the trucks can take onto a single road, which makes it easy for people to know where the trucks are going, U.N officials say. Antoine Renard, who directs the World Food Program's operations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, said Wednesday that it took nearly 12 hours to bring in 52 trucks on a 10-kilometer (6 mile) route. 'While we're doing everything that we can to actually respond to the current wave of starvation in Gaza, the conditions that we have are not sufficient to actually make sure that we can break that wave,' he said. Aid workers say the changes Israel has made in recent days are largely cosmetic. 'These are theatrics, token gestures dressed up as progress,' said Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam's policy lead for Israel and the Palestinian territories. 'Of course, a handful of trucks, a few hours of tactical pauses and raining energy bars from the sky is not going to fix irreversible harm done to an entire generation of children that have been starved and malnourished for months now,' she said. As desperation mounts, Palestinians are risking their lives to get food, and violence is increasing, say aid workers. Muhammad Shehada, a political analyst from Gaza who is a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said aid retrieval has turned into the survival of the fittest. 'It's a Darwin dystopia, the strongest survive,' he said. A truck driver said Wednesday that he has driven food supplies four times from the Zikim crossing on Gaza's northern border. Every time, he said, crowds a kilometer long (0.6 miles) surrounded his truck and took everything on it after he passed the checkpoint at the edge of the Israeli military-controlled border zones. He said some were desperate people, while others were armed. He said that on Tuesday, for the first time, some in the crowd threatened him with knives or small arms. He spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing for his safety. Ali al-Derbashi, another truck driver, said that during one trip in July armed men shot the tires, stole everything, including the diesel and batteries and beat him. 'If people weren't starving, they wouldn't resort to this,' he said. Israel has said it has offered the U.N. armed escorts. The U.N. has refused, saying it can't be seen to be working with a party to the conflict – and pointing to the reported shootings when Israeli troops are present. Israel hasn't given a timeline for how long the measures it implemented this week will continue, heightening uncertainty and urgency among Palestinians to seize the aid before it ends. Palestinians say the way it's being distributed, including being dropped from the sky, is inhumane. 'This approach is inappropriate for Palestinians, we are humiliated,' said Rida, a displaced woman. Momen Abu Etayya said he almost drowned because his son begged him to get aid that fell into the sea during an aid drop. 'I threw myself in the ocean to death just to bring him something,' he said. 'I was only able to bring him three biscuit packets'.
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Miami Herald
3 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
Free tax filing program could soon be axed by the IRS. Here's what to know
The Internal Revenue Service is poised to discontinue its Direct File program, which allows millions of Americans to file their taxes for free, drawing criticism from some Democrats. During a tax summit on July 28, IRS Commissioner Billy Long said the cost-free service is 'gone,' according to Bloomberg Tax. 'Big beautiful Billy wiped that out,' he added, referencing the sweeping congressional spending bill signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4. The bill does not outright end Direct File, but it allocated $15 million to the Treasury Department to establish a task force to review the program and assess other options. An IRS spokesperson confirmed the agency is awaiting the task force's findings, which must be delivered to Congress within 90 days. 'We look forward to Treasury's forthcoming report to Congress on the Direct File program and on potential public-private partnership alternatives to Direct File, as required by the One Big Beautiful Bill,' the spokesperson said in a statement to McClatchy News. 'Long is committed to modernizing the IRS and providing a taxpayer experience that meets today's expectations, which includes giving taxpayers transparency into the status of their tax returns and audits,' the statement said. The Direct File program allows eligible taxpayers in certain states to electronically file their federal tax returns directly on the IRS website at no cost. The agency launched the pilot program in 2024, under then-President Joe Biden, making it available to taxpayers in 13 states. It was later expanded to include 25 states, including California, New York, Florida, Texas, Illinois, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Residents of these 25 states reporting W-2 wage income, Social Security income, retirement income, and other credits and deductions are able to use the free service. But, taxpayers with business, rental or gig economy income are ineligible. The IRS website has a brief survey, allowing taxpayers to determine whether they are eligible. The Treasury Department said in October that more than 30 million Americans would be eligible to use the service during the 2025 tax season. Many Republicans have expressed criticism of the Direct File program, arguing it poses a number of problems. 'The program's creation and ongoing expansion pose a threat to taxpayers' freedom from government overreach,' a group of 29 House Republicans said in a December letter to Trump. They argued that the IRS faces a conflict of interest in preparing tax returns because it simultaneously acts as the tax collector and enforcer. The agency 'has little incentive to ensure hardworking Americans do not pay more than they owe in taxes and may instead benefit from families and small businesses paying greater amounts than they are required by law,' the letter said. Sen. Mike Crapo, an Idaho Republican, has also said it's unclear whether the program is legal without congressional approval. Democrats, on the other hand, have long defended the pilot program, contending it saves taxpayers time and money. In a January letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, then a nominee for the role, dozens of Democratic senators and representatives lauded the successes of Direct File. They said it had saved $5.6 million in tax preparation fees in its first year and was on track to save $11 billion per year 'at scale.' Since reports of the IRS' plan to axe the program emerged, several Democrats have expressed their disapproval. 'Direct File was an easy way for Americans to file their taxes for FREE each year,' Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, wrote on X. 'It's a no-brainer — and it's popular. So why in the world did the Trump administration kill it?' she added. 'To give a huge handout to giant tax prep companies like TurboTax that rip Americans off.'
New York Post
3 minutes ago
- New York Post
Biden's longtime aide Mike Donilon says Dems overreacted to disastrous debate
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