Former Vice President Mike Pence took to social media last week to blast Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar over her stance on Israel.

The GOP 2024 candidate accused her of antisemitism, posting a video with multiple clips of her and news shows and the message, ‘Stand with Israel’ at the end. 

‘@IlhanMN has consistently shown over her years in Congress that she would rather support terrorists instead of America’s most cherished ally,’ Pence alleged.

‘I welcome @Isaac_Herzog delivering remarks at a Joint Session of Congress because America will ALWAYS Stand with Israel!’ he noted. 

Earlier in the day, Pence said the Democrats could not be allowed to abandon Israel. 

‘@IlhanMN, Israel is one of our greatest and most important allies. Your defense of terrorists and attacks on the Jewish state are sickening. There is no place for antisemitism in our society. I will never apologize for standing with Israel. Stand with me,’ he wrote. 

Pence is also fundraising with this angle, claiming that antisemitism ‘has taken over the radical Left.’ 

Omar’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Omar said on Twitter the day before Pence’s tweets that there is ‘no way in hell’ she would attend when Israeli President Isaac Herzog delivers an address to a joint session of Congress next week, saying his presence sends an ‘absolute wrong signal’ amid tensions between Israel and the West Bank.

‘There is no way in hell I am attending the joint session address from a President whose country has banned me and denied [U.S. Rep. from Michigan] Rashida Tlaib the ability to see her grandma,’ the congresswoman said in a series of tweets. She also said the U.S. government should not have invited him to speak in the first place.

‘The United States can and should use its diplomatic tools to engage with the Israeli government, but giving the current government the honor of a joint televised address sends the absolute wrong signal at the wrong time,’ Omar continued.

Herzog, who was elected president in 2021, is scheduled to address Congress on July 19.

Omar added, ‘Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s address comes on behalf of the most right-wing government in Israel’s history, at a time when the government is openly promising to ‘crush’ Palestinian hopes of statehood — essentially putting a nail in the coffin of peace and a two-state solution.’

She said the invitation also comes as Israel’s ‘cabinet members directly attack President Biden’ and as the country conducts an overhaul of its judicial system.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush will also reportedly not be in attendance, according to Jewish Insider.

Omar was removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee in February as her congressional colleagues pointed to controversial remarks she had made about Israel. The vote, 218 to 211, fell strictly along party lines, with one member voting ‘present.’

The vote came after a heated debate, during which Democrats accused the GOP of going after her based on her race. Omar, who has apologized for 2019 remarks widely seen as antisemitic, defended herself on the House floor, asking anyone was surprised she was being targeted. 

Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said Omar has at times ‘made mistakes’ and used antisemitic tropes that were condemned by House Democrats four years ago. But that’s not what Thursday’s vote was about, he said.

‘It’s about political revenge,’ he asserted.

Fox News’ Lawrence Richard and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Former Vice President Mike Pence was among a handful of Republican presidential candidates who failed to make a splash with the announcement of his second-quarter fundraising total, bringing into question whether he will be able to participate in the first GOP debate next month.

Since launching a campaign for the White House on June 7, Pence raised only $1.2 million, according to his campaign.

Combined with the $2.6 million that was reportedly raised by Committed to America, a super PAC supporting Pence’s candidacy in the race, the former Indiana governor’s second-quarter total reaches approximately $3.8 million.

The total raised by the Republican presidential hopeful – who faces an uphill battle to serve as the nation’s commander in chief – puts Pence on the low end in fundraising, compared to his GOP challengers, sparking concern from Pence supporters.

Former President Donald Trump – who has dominated the Republican race for president thus far – hauled in more than $35 million during the April-June second quarter of 2023 fundraising, Trump’s campaign confirmed to Fox News last week. That’s nearly double the $18.8 million the Trump campaign brought in during the January-March first quarter of fundraising.

Second to Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has brought in an impressive $20 million in fundraising during the first six weeks of his campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, his political team told Fox News last week. Never Back Down, the super PAC supporting the Florida governor’s presidential run, also told Fox News that it has hauled in $130 million in fundraising since the committee launched in early March.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s Republican presidential campaign and two aligned political committees brought in $7.3 million during the April-June second quarter of 2023 fundraising, according to FEC reports. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie reported bringing in $7.5 million in the first 25 days following his June campaign launch.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum’s presidential campaign reported raising $11.7 million in the 23 days from June 7 — when the governor declared his candidacy for president — through the end of the month, which marked the close of the April-June second quarter of 2023 fundraising. That figure, shared first with Fox News on Friday, included a $10.2 million personal investment from Burgum.

The lackluster fundraising total also raises doubts about Pence’s eligibility to compete in the first presidential debate next month.

The first Republican presidential primary debate of the 2024 cycle – which will be hosted by Fox News and is slated to be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 23 – has a list of requirements from the Republican National Committee that candidates must meet in order to take the stage.

To reach the debate state, a candidate must have 40,000 unique donors to their campaign committee (or exploratory committee), with ‘at least 200 unique donors per state or territory in 20+ states and/or territories.’ The RNC says candidates must present their fundraising figures at least 48 hours prior to the first debate.

A campaign aide told the New York Times on Friday that Pence, 64, has not reached the 40,000 individual donors that are required.

In an effort to reach the 40,000 threshold, a WinRed site supported by Burgum’s campaign is offering donors a $20 gift card if they donate at least $1, with a limit of one per person.

To make the stage, candidates will also have to reach 1% in three national polls, or 1% in two national polls and 1% in a poll conducted in one of the four early-voting states in the GOP presidential nominating calendar – Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, a Democrat, is facing criticism for ‘Nixonian tactics’ after her administration admitted to creating a list of her most vocal critics and providing it to local authorities.

‘The list was made in response to a request from the Boston Police Department after the Mayor had been harassed and physically intimidated by individuals for several months outside her home, at city functions such as the annual neighborhood parks coffee hours, and at other public events,’ Wu spokesman Ricardo Patron said in a statement to the Boston Herald.

The acknowledgment by the administration that it had compiled the document came after the list was uncovered in an email obtained through a public records request by Wu’s opponents, the outlet noted.

The tactics used by the administration raise concern over whether Wu and her administration are attempting to silence or intimidate her critics, many of whom have protested outside of her home.

‘The request (from police) came after many of the individuals on the list repeatedly impeded the Dorchester Day Parade to harass Mayor Wu and her family and staff, yelling through megaphones at her and her children for nearly ninety minutes as they marched in the parade despite being asked by parade organizers to leave the parade route,’ Patron said, according to the Herald.

‘Following the Dorchester Day Parade on June 5, 2022, Boston Police met with City staff on June 10 to make a safety plan for the upcoming Bunker Hill Day parade on June 12, and the then-Captain of the District overseeing Charlestown asked for a list of individuals who had been involved in public disruption and harassment of the Mayor at the Dorchester Day Parade and outside her house,’ Patron added. ‘The email was sent as a follow-up immediately after that meeting.’

The Herald reported that Wu’s actions drew comparisons from some critics to the late President Richard Nixon, who was famous for compiling lists of political opponents.

Sent via email from Wu’s former Director of Constituent Services Dave Vittorini to Boston Police Capt. Robert Ciccolo, the list, as reported by the Herald, contains the names of ‘Wu’s most vocal opponents, such as [Boston City Council at-large candidate Catherine Vitale], several anti-vaccine activists who have been protesting Wu’s house, and North End restaurant owners who have opposed Wu policies.’

The list included no reason as to why the names were given and also listed the ‘Mendoza Brothers from the North End’ and ‘A woman with the last name of Thuy who was arrested before,’ the outlet stated.

Wu aides Tiffany Chu and Brianna Millor were also cc’d on the email, which was sent after loud protests at the mayor’s home in the Roslindale neighborhood of Boston last year.

Last year, an ordinance was passed in the city prohibiting protests outside of Wu’s home during certain hours.

Wu, the first woman and the first Asian-American to hold the top political office in Boston history, was sworn into office in November 2021.

The country’s five most stressed-out cities are all run by Democrats, according to a new study. 

WalletHub used 39 metrics — from the unemployment rate to suicide rates — to compare over 180 cities across the U.S., including the country’s 150 most populated cities, to determine where Americans are the most and least stressed.

According to WalletHub’s findings, Democrat-run blue cities dominated the top of the list for carrying the most stress:

Cleveland, OhioDetroit, MichiganBaltimore, MarylandBirmingham, AlabamaPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaShreveport, LouisianaMemphis, TennesseeFayetteville, North CarolinaSt. Louis, MissouriAugust, Georgia

Each of the top five cities has a Democrat mayor, and only one of the top 10 is headed by a Republican.

Cleveland, which has the country’s second-highest poverty rate of large cities, also struggles with a crime rate that’s 5.5 times above the state average and 4.3 times above the national average.

Democrat Mayor Justin Morris Bibb promised to increase the city’s police force after a mass shooting earlier this month. However, City Council member Michael Polensek said this week at a public meeting that Cleveland is down 313 officers from where it was in 2020, lamenting the state of his city and declaring, ‘I’m not going to live like this.’

Detroit ranked No. 2 in large part because of crime, with recent statistics showing that the city’s residents are about four times more likely to be victims of violent crime than Americans living elsewhere.

Baltimore, Birmingham and Philadelphia are also experiencing high crime and murder rates well above the national average under Democrat mayors.

WalletHub’s study comes in the wake of the COVID pandemic and historically high inflation — which remains elevated for basic consumer items such as groceries — and amid spiking rates in several cities. Inflation especially has been a major source of stress, according to experts.

‘Without a doubt, the top financial stressor in 2023 is inflation,’ Eric Weiser, chair of the Department of Psychology at Curry College, told WalletHub. ‘Recent polls indicate that the majority of Americans believe the nation’s economy is doing poorly, and there is little question that inflation is the primary basis of this perception.’

Weiser noted that the cost of ‘nearly everything,’ particularly in larger U.S. cities, is ‘staggering,’ explaining that even if people spend money responsibly, they still need to buy groceries and gas.

‘Those are the sources of most of the pain,’ he said. ‘Consumers are getting hurt at the supermarket and the gas pump, and it does not appear that this situation will be remedied anytime soon.’

Recent figures from the Department of Labor show that inflation has been progressively dropping from its peak last summer. However, a striking 83% of Americans feel stressed about inflation, and 75% feel stressed about violence and crime, according to a recent survey from the American Psychological Association.

To form its rankings, WalletHub graded each metric on a 100-point scale, weighting them differently based on importance to stress. The study then determined each city’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score, considering only each city proper while excluding its metro area. 

The study calculated a total score for its ranking by categorizing its metrics under four broad categories: work stress, including metrics such as job security and average commute time; financial stress, including metrics like median credit score and foreclosure rates; family stress, including metrics such as divorce rates and child care costs; and health and safety stress, which included metrics such as mental health stats and crime rate figures.

Washington, D.C., ranked as the country’s most stressful area for work. Cleveland topped the list for financial stress. Fresno, California, ranked at the top for family stress. And WalletHub found Detroit to foster the most stress due to health and safety issues.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ gaffe-filled week got a little bit worse Friday when she appeared to mistakenly call for lowering population in order to provide cleaner air and drinking water.

‘When we invest in clean energy and electric vehicles and reduce population, more of our children can breathe clean air and drink clean water,’ Harris told a crowd at Coppin State University in Baltimore, Maryland in a speech centered on the Inflation Reduction Act.

Harris seemingly meant to say ‘pollution,’ but her office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The gaffe comes just days after Harris attempted to explain artificial intelligence at a roundtable of labor and civil rights leaders.

‘I think the first part of this issue that should be articulated is AI is kind of a fancy thing,’ Harris said at the Wednesday event. ‘First of all, it’s two letters. It means artificial intelligence, but ultimately what it is, is it’s about machine learning.’

‘And so, the machine is taught — and part of the issue here is what information is going into the machine that will then determine — and we can predict then, if we think about what information is going in, what then will be produced in terms of decisions and opinions that may be made through that process,’ she added.

A day earlier, she was ridiculed for other comments during a roundtable discussion on transportation.

‘This issue of transportation is fundamentally about just making sure that people have the ability to get where they need to go! It’s that basic,’ she said.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, let loose on his Democratic colleagues Friday, blasting them for defending sex change surgery for children.

‘I am not the one who is cruel. Doing a double mastectomy on a 12-year-old girl. That’s cruel. Castrating a ten-year-old boy. That’s cruel. Putting them on permanent hormone therapy and puberty blockers that could prevent them from ever having children permanently changing their physiology. There’s a cruelty to that for sure,’ Crenshaw said during a House health hearing this week.

‘We are not the crazy ones here,’ he added. ‘This has been called a manufactured culture war … If it’s a manufactured culture war, then why are we even debating? Why do you care if it’s banned? So it’s not manufactured.’ 

Crenshaw detailed what he said was a 45,000% increase in transition surgeries at hospitals that conduct the procedures, and that Republicans weren’t ‘making this up.’ He went on to argue that ‘peer influence’ was a major factor in the increase.

He later questioned why anyone would advocate for continued use of such procedures on children with such high level of risk involved in relation to their future biology and mental health.

‘You might not know that bananas are healthy for kids, but you also know that there’s not much risk to giving them a banana. So it’s not a big deal. This kind of stuff is a really big deal,’ he said. 

‘And when every single piece of evidence shows that there’s not a clear benefit associated with it, you just press pause. Heck, we’re not even pressing pause. We’re saying don’t fund institutions that are actively doing it. We’re doing way less than pressing pause,’ he added. 

Crenshaw then slammed Democrats for ignoring the overwhelming percentage of Americans who polls have shown don’t support such procedures, arguing they should care because the use of taxpayer money was involved. ‘So you do have to care just a little bit,’ he said. 

He went on to argue that ‘roughly 70%’ of U.S. teens going to gender clinics have a co-morbid psychiatric diagnosis that came about prior to the gender issues.

‘That’s a really important fact. Do you not care about that when you’re claiming that refusing this kind of care is causing suicide? Do you not care that those preconditions might have already been there? Is that not a fact that you would want to look at before you automatically propose permanent physiological change as someone,’ Crenshaw said. 

‘We are not the ones being uncompassionate. We are not the ones being cruel. We are the ones saying press pause. There’s an extreme trend going on, and we don’t have the science to back up its benefits. And you can’t argue with that, but please try,’ he added.

EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Ted Cruz is criticizing Democrats for what he believes is a rush to regulate the artificial intelligence sector, and says new rules for AI would be a drag on the U.S. in the critical tech race against China.

‘I am concerned China is investing heavily in AI. I’m also concerned that Democrats want to impose such stringent regulations on the development of AI that it stifles innovation in the United States, and allows China to take the lead,’ Cruz told Fox News Digital after a classified briefing on AI and national security this week.

‘That would be a generational mistake,’ he said of the Democrats’ effort.

Cruz made those comments as lawmakers continue to propose new ideas to regulate AI, including bills that would create new agencies or commissions to impose Washington’s will on the sector. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has led the charge for guardrails on AI in the upper chamber, and says he can devise a regulatory framework to ensure the technology remains innovative while protecting user security and American jobs.

But Cruz argued that federal lawmakers were not in a place where they could reasonably approach rulemaking for AI.

He told Fox News Digital point-blank that he was opposed to Schumer’s regulatory efforts, however they end up.

‘I’m a believer in light touch regulations. And AI, over the coming decades, is certainly going to require a regulatory framework. But at this point, Congress doesn’t have even the barest modicum of understanding,’ Cruz said. ‘So it is far more likely that Congress would do harm than do good.’

‘I believe we need to study the challenges posed by AI, but not put in place barriers to creativity and innovation, because American inventors are leading the world today and should continue to do so,’ he said.

Like most members of Congress, Cruz acknowledged there are both benefits and drawbacks of allowing AI to advance at its current pace. But one thing he said was certain was that the U.S. must stay at the forefront of its development.

‘There’s no doubt AI is the next frontier in technology and more and more It’s becoming the current frontier. There are real and serious threats posed by AI at the same time, there’s enormous upside in terms of it – in productivity and job creation,’ he said.

‘I believe it’s critical that America lead the world in the development of AI, and that China not be allowed to overtake us,’ he said.

China’s severe regulatory environment has slowed the rollout of AI Chatbots and other accessible forms of the tech to the general public, but Beijing has nevertheless made strides. China-based tech startups pulled in nearly $14 billion in funding just in the last six months, according to Reuters.

While Schumer has stressed the need to move quickly on a regulatory framework, he has also indicated it may not be ready until next year. He said he still wants to hold a series of listening sessions with experts in the fall.

‘We’re cutting the woke out of the military,’ declared Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C. ‘Getting this country back on a conservative basis.’

 ‘I think it’s demoralizing to our troops when you see one of our leaders up there in a dress, or they’re doing these drag shows,’ offered Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn.

Conservatives believe the battlefield may be inside the Pentagon. Republicans aimed to give ‘woke’ policies in the armed forces a dishonorable discharge in this year’s defense policy bill.

 ‘My amendment would ban CRT – Critical Race Theory – from any military instruction,’ bragged Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Tex., went a step further.

 ‘We’re focused on building a national defense and a military that is focused on blowing things up and killing people. N on social engineering wrapped in a uniform,’ said Roy.

The House Armed Services Committee approved an initial version of the annual defense plan, 58-1. 

That package may have passed on the floor with a coalition of Democrats and Republicans. For 62 years, lawmakers approved the defense bill on a bipartisan basis. 

But that may not be the case this year.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., only has a four seat majority. So McCarthy let conservatives have their say on this legislation – even if those priorities may not wind up in the final version.

House members filed a staggering 1,500-plus amendments to the annual defense policy bill. Live amendments on the floor to legislation is an organic process. No one quite knows what amendments will pass or fail. And, in circumstances like these, it’s hard to track if a bill has the necessary votes. That’s because the underlying measure metamorphoses in real time on the floor. Changing and updating, contingent upon the adoption or failure of amendments. That means lawmakers who were for the bill before may not like how the measure evolved. Of course, another cadre of lawmakers suddenly flip to yea because the bill now contains provisions more palatable to them.

There wasn’t a lot of debate about missiles and troops in this year’s defense bill. But once the amendments hit, it was all about abortion, transgender surgeries and diversity initiatives.

‘We’re voting to get rid of this left-wing, socialistic, woke agenda,’ declared Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., on the floor. ‘Now we can get back to protecting the citizens of this country.’

Conservatives aimed to prohibit service members from using the military’s health plan to pay for transgender treatments. There was an effort to restrict books with ‘radical gender ideology’ in military libraries. Burchett authored an amendment to require those who identify as men to register for the draft.

‘If these folks want to be treated like man, they need to act like men,’ said Burchett.

That said, Burchett’s plan never received formal consideration on the floor.

But no other issue loomed as large as a conservative effort to slash reimbursements for troops or those under the military health care system umbrella to seek abortions across state lines.

‘It feels like House Republicans want to live in the 1950s,’ said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, D-Calif.

There was worry the military culture clash could crash the entire defense bill. Some Republicans fretted that the conservative social policy issues went too far.

‘We were told we’re not going to mess with women traveling out of state. What we are we doing this week? NDAA? Potentially messing with women who are traveling out of state,’ said Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C. ‘We have a chance to show compassion to women this week. And I really just hope we don’t screw it up. I hope we don’t drop the ball.’

Yet despite Mace’s consternation about the abortion plan, she seemingly reversed course to support the very abortion amendment in question.

‘Research told me today, and looking at the amendment and the legislation, it didn’t have to do with the women getting time off after they’ve had the procedure. The military doesn’t reimburse travel for elective procedures as a general policy rule,’ said Mace.

When pressed further, Mace noted that the abortion provision wasn’t ‘going to pass the Senate anyway. It doesn’t matter.’

Democrats honed in on the abortion question.

‘It’s gone,’ said Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. ‘If Republicans insist that it has to be in it, then we will not have (a defense policy bill) this year. If by some unbelievable miracle the Senate allowed that to go through, Biden would veto it.’

Democrats excoriated the GOP for inclusion of the amendment.

‘This is an insult to all who serve – particularly women – in uniform.,’ fumed Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., an Army veteran and West Point graduate. ‘They’re being told your service and willingness to risk your life – we don’t care. You don’t get health care services. You don’t get reproductive health care services. This is un-American.’

Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., characterized the legislation as a ‘culture war document.’

The House eventually approved the package 219-210. The social issue amendments courted the votes of skeptical conservatives. Four Republicans voted nay. Four Democrats voted yea. More Democrats would have voted yea had the legislation not veered so far from center.

‘The far right hijacked this hijacked our national security,’ declared Ryan. 

The House Rejected an amendment by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., to curb money for Ukraine. But Greene still voted yes. That’s because McCarthy tapped Greene to serve on a conference committee, negotiating the final version of the bill with the Senate.

‘That allows me to go and be a voice in the room to talk about removing money going to Ukraine,’ said Greene.

But Democrats reminded Republicans that the House version isn’t the final say.

‘We are going to cut out the cancer that the extreme Republicans have put in the National Defense Authorization Act,’ said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. He characterized some of the provisions as ‘malignant.’

But House conservatives warn the bill better not change too much from the current form or they may balk.

 ‘Striking that balance ought to be a whole lot closer to our position than just defaulting to whatever the Senate says,’ said Chip Roy.

Conservatives are watching McCarthy closely. They remember that he cut a deal with Democrats and President Biden on the debt ceiling in the spring. More Democrats voted for that package than Republicans.

 This means McCarthy could face a new headache with a ‘must-pass’ bill very soon.