EXCLUSIVE: The super PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 2024 presidential bid is airing its sixth television ad Monday highlighting the GOP hopeful’s ‘War on Woke.’ 

The thirty-second spot, which will air in Iowa and South Carolina as part of a seven-figure ad buy, shows DeSantis deriding ‘woke’ ideology as ‘an attack on truth’ and a form of ‘cultural Marxism.’ 

The ad praises the governor for ‘protecting children from mutilation and indoctrination’ and ‘standing up to woke corporations.’ 

Former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines, who has gained national attention for speaking out against trans women competing against women in sports, makes a cameo in the ad. 

‘He’s drawn a line and he’s said, ‘enough is enough,’’ Gaines says in the video, referring to the governor’s banning of men from competing in women’s sports. 

The ad from ‘Never Back Down’ follows the group’s five previous spots: Once Upon a Time, Punching Back, Anthem, Steel, and Winner. 

DeSantis has proclaimed Florida as the place where ‘woke goes to die’ and has said as president, he would continue to take a firm stance in the culture war. 

EXCLUSIVE: A leading industry group that represents energy workers nationwide is beginning an effort Monday to rank presidential candidates on their energy agenda.

Power the Future is planning to send a detailed questionnaire accompanied by a letter to every presidential campaign to help assess energy policies and inform the public about where candidates stand on a key issue area. The group stressed that candidates should demonstrate sound energy policy that would reverse the impacts of the Biden administration’s climate agenda.

‘Over the past two plus years, American families have become painfully aware about the critical role energy plays in our lives,’ Daniel Turner, the founder and executive director of Power the Future, told Fox News Digital. ‘A series of misguided policy decisions by the Biden administration surrendered American energy independence, contributed to 40-year high inflation and drove a gallon of gasoline past $5, the highest in history.’ 

‘Perhaps never before has the United States needed sound energy policy so urgently,’ he continued. ‘Our goal with this questionnaire is simply creating a platform for a broader and productive discussion on an important topic.’

In a copy of the letter Power the Future is sending to the campaigns – first obtained by Fox News Digital – Turner reiterates that Americans deserve to know candidates’ ‘vision for our energy future.’ 

As part of providing a dedicated platform for broader discussion about campaigns different approaches on energy policy, Turner said his group would ultimately publish all unedited responses it receives from the campaigns to allow Americans to judge for themselves.

In the questionnaire being sent along with the letter, Power the Future will ask candidates if they will reverse President Biden’s day-one actions of killing the Keystone XL pipeline and pausing fossil fuel production on federal lands and waters. The document also asks how candidates will return U.S. oil production to its 2019 level of 13 million barrels per day.

In addition, the group asks candidates how they would refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and ensure nationwide power grid reliability and electricity affordability.

It further questions if candidates would commit to repealing any aspect of the Inflation Reduction Act, Democrats’ massive climate and tax package passed in August 2022. The final question posed probes candidates on whether they believe manmade climate change is ‘an existential threat requiring immediate government intervention.’

‘We’re hopeful each campaign responds with their plan to bring back American energy independence because working families deserve a president who will put them ahead of the failed green agenda,’ Turner told Fox News Digital.

Since announcing they would run for president, nearly every major candidate has outlined broad plans on energy. 

Former President Donald Trump, who continues to lead in Republican primary polls, lists ‘unleash energy dominance’ as a key priority on his campaign website. The website says Trump would ‘unleash the production of domestic energy resources’ while promoting energy security and reducing prices.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has repeatedly criticized Biden’s energy policies, saying earlier this year that the U.S. is ‘gonna need traditional energy much, much longer’ than Biden has said. At the same time, though, DeSantis has pushed some green policies celebrated by clean energy associations and signed an order in 2019 opposing all offshore oil and gas activities off every coast in Florida and fracking in the state.

Other GOP candidates including former Vice President Mike Pence, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott have all stressed the importance of an all-of-the-above energy agenda that involves greater domestic production.

Biden’s main Democratic opponent Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is a longtime environmental activist and has pledged to curb fossil fuel production and push for a rapid transition to green energy.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted Sunday that Wagner chief Yevgeniy Prigozhin’s halted march against Moscow remained an internal ‘Russian matter,’ though adding the challenge could benefit Ukraine’s counteroffensive as Moscow focuses on defending itself ‘against mercenaries of Putin’s own making.’ 

Blinken, in appearances on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ and NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ Sunday, reacted to Prigozhin and his mercenaries reportedly coming within 120 miles of Moscow to challenge the Russian defense establishment over the weekend before an agreement brokered by Belarus was reached.

‘Think about it this way. Sixteen months ago, Russian forces were on the doorstep of Kyiv, Ukraine, thinking they were going to take the city in a matter of days, erase the country from the map,’ Blinken told CNN’s Dana Bash. ‘Now, they had to be focused on defending Moscow, Russia’s capital, against mercenaries of Putin’s own making. So this raises lots of profound questions that will be answered, I think, in the days and weeks ahead.’ 

‘We’ve seen this aggression against Ukraine become a strategic failure across the board. Russia is weaker economically, militarily. It’s standing around the world has plummeted,’ he continued. ‘It’s managed to get Europeans off of Russian energy. It’s managed to unite and strengthen NATO with new members and a stronger alliance. It’s managed to alienate from Russia and unite together Ukraine in ways that it’s never been before. This is just an added chapter to a very, very bad book that Putin has written for Russia. But what’s so striking about it is it’s internal. The fact that you have from within someone directly questioning Putin’s authority, directly questioning the premises that upon which he launched this aggression against Ukraine. That in and of itself is something very, very powerful.’ 

‘These are early days for the counteroffensive. It’s going to play out over weeks, maybe even over months,’ Blinken said. ‘And to the extent that Russia is now distracted, that Putin has to worry about what’s going on inside of Russia, as much as he has to worry about what he’s trying to do, not successfully in Ukraine. I think that creates an additional advantage for the Ukrainians to take advantage of. But regardless, they are pressing forward. They have a clear plan. They’re pursuing it.’ 

Bash noted how last year, at the onset of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Biden commented, ‘for God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,’ regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin. The CNN host asked Blinken Sunday if that was still the ‘American position’ after Prigozhin’s actions. 

‘These are decisions for the Russian people. And this entire chapter is an internal matter,’ Blinken responded. ‘It obviously has profound repercussions outside of Russia, including potentially in Ukraine. But fundamentally, this is a Russian matter. It’s not our business. It’s not our purpose to choose Russia’s leaders. That’s up to the Russian people. And we have no beef with the Russian people. On the contrary, what is one of the many, many tragedies of what Putin has done in Ukraine is what it’s done to the Russian people.’  

The secretary expressed a similar sentiment to NBC’s Chuck Todd, noting Prigozhin’s ‘direct challenge to Putin’s authority.’ 

Todd claimed that Putin has notably ‘not blamed the West’ after the Wagner mercenaries marched toward Moscow. 

‘So, I think we’ve seen more cracks emerge in the Russian façade,’ Blinken said. ‘It is too soon to tell exactly where they go and when they get there. But certainly, we have all sorts of new questions that Putin is going to have to address in the weeks and months ahead.’ 

Blinken insisted there’s been ‘no change’ witnessed in Russia’s posture regarding its nuclear arsenal and the U.S. has made no change of its own in response to Prigozhin’s march. 

The secretary also said it ‘remains to be seen’ whether top members of Russia’s military have been replaced to appease Prigozhin, as Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., the top-ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, suggested could occur. 

Biden, Blinken noted, on Saturday brought together the National Security Council and allies and partners to closely coordinate on supporting Ukraine’s counteroffensive. 

‘This is a challenge coming from within to Putin, and that’s where his focus has been,’ Blinken told NBC. ‘Our focus is resolutely and relentlessly on Ukraine, making sure that it had what it needs to defend itself and to take back territory that Russia has seized.’ 

Former Vice President Mike Pence celebrated the one-year anniversary of the fall of Roe v. Wade on Sunday, and vowed to push a national 15-week abortion ban if he is elected president.

Pence made the comments during an appearance on ‘Fox News Sunday,’ one day after the anniversary of last year’s landmark Supreme Court decision that allowed states to regulate abortion.

‘I’m pro-life and I don’t apologize for it, and this weekend we’re celebrating a historic victory, when one year ago the Supreme Court of the United States sent Roe v. Wade to the ash heap of history,’ Pence said. ‘I couldn’t be more proud of the some 20 states that advanced protections for the unborn and support for women facing crisis pregnancy.’

Host Shannon Bream confronted Pence with polling showing that a large majority of Americans are opposed to a blanket national ban on abortion. Pence called on every candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination to commit to pushing a ‘minimum standard’ of a 15-week abortion ban if they are elected.

‘That would align American law with most of the countries in Europe that literally ban abortion after 12 to 15 weeks,’ Pence said. ‘Our laws at the national level today are more aligned with North Korea, China and Iran than with other Western countries in Europe.’

‘A decisive majority of Americans would support legislation that bans abortion after unborn children are capable of pain at the 15-week mark,’ he continued. ‘We cannot rest or relent until we restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law.’

Pence was among many politicians on both sides of the aisle to mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade’s fall this weekend. Former President Donald Trump spoke at the Faith & Freedom Coalition Gala in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, and claimed to be ‘the most pro-life president’ in U.S. history.

‘From my first day in office, I took historic action to protect the unborn, very historic. Nobody else did anything near what we did,’ he said. 

Vice President Kamala Harris also posted a video this weekend in which she marked the one-year anniversary of the end of Roe v. Wade, claiming it was a tragedy for women’s rights.

‘One year ago, the United States Supreme Court took a constitutional right from the people of America,’ she wrote. ‘Today, we stand with the majority of Americans who believe the right to choose is fundamental.’

Former Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was in attack mode Sunday morning in response to former President Trump’s recent comments, calling him a ‘three time loser’ who made ‘absurd’ claims on his indictment. 

‘He is a three time loser. We do not need our party to go to a fourth loss,’ Christie said in an appearance on ABC’s ‘This Week.’

Christie, who is running for president in the Republican primary, took issue with Trump’s speech at the Faith and Freedom Coalition gala Saturday night in Washington, D.C., where he told attendees, ‘I’m being indicted for you.’

‘I listened to Donald Trump’s speech last night, and he had the audacity to say that he got indicted for us. I don’t know how it benefited the American people for him to take highly sensitive intelligence and secret documents out of the White House, to stonewall the government on returning them for over a year and half, to subject himself to a raid by the FBI even though they had asked to voluntarily return this stuff, and to then be subject to an indictment, which is obviously going to be one of great trouble for the country because no one wants to see this happen,’ Christie said on ABC.

Trump is being indicted on 37 federal charges in relation to his alleged refusal to hand over classified documents. 

‘Donald Trump says that’s for us? It’s absurd. The same way he has absurdly claimed in the past week that he won the 2020 election,’ Christie continued. 

Christie, who endorsed Trump in 2016, spoke at the Faith and Freedom Coalition event on Friday, where his criticism of Trump was received with a flurry of boos from attendees. 

‘He’s unwilling to take responsibility for any of the mistakes that were made,’ Christie said in his speech. ‘Any of the faults that he has. And any of the things that he’s done. And that is not leadership, everybody, that is a failure of leadership.’

The former New Jersey governor said Sunday that he ‘expected the boos’ and that Trump supporters ‘need to hear the truth.’

‘People understand that folks need to take responsibility for what they do,’ Christie said on ABC. ‘They need to hear the truth too: that character is the single most important element for the president of the United States.’

The cracks in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ‘rotten regime’ are being exposed as armed Wagner Group mercenaries briefly turned against their benefactor and marched against Moscow, a former NATO commander said Sunday.

Retired Adm. James Stavridis said during an appearance on MSNBC’s ‘The Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart’ that the short revolt shows ‘enormous weakness’ in more than just Russia’s military, whose failure, he says, has been on full display over the course of the war with Ukraine.

‘What is now on display are the cracks in [the Russian] political establishment running all the way up the spine of the country,’ Stavridis said.

The march on the capital led by Yevgeny Prigozhin and the late-night deal that eventually halted it has raised questions over Putin’s reputation as a leader who is willing to ruthlessly punish anyone who challenges his authority. Under the terms of the agreement, Prigozhin will go into exile in Belarus but will not face prosecution and his forces won’t either.

That may open the door for others who are unhappy with Putin’s two-decade grip on power, especially after his ill-fated invasion of Ukraine.

‘If you are a dictator, the worst thing you can show the world is that kind of weakness,’ the retired admiral said.

Stavridis said the cracks appearing in Putin’s regime have him concerned about Russia’s nuclear arsenal, which he called ‘the real highway to the danger zone.’

‘If we see continuing chaos, a real breakdown of the Russian security system, a breakdown of control from the Kremlin, I think that job one is to figure out how to secure or participate in securing those nuclear weapons.’

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday was asked about potential concerns regarding the security of Russia’s nuclear weapons.

‘We always prepare for every contingency,’ Blinken said during an appearance on CBS’s ‘Face the Nation.’

‘We haven’t seen any change in Russia’s nuclear posture,’ he added. ‘There hasn’t been any change in ours. But it’s something we’re going to watch very, very carefully.’

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., urged her fellow Democrats to put the abortion issue front and center in their 2024 campaigns, arguing Republicans will lose big on the issue across the country.

Pelosi appeared on MSNBC’s ‘Inside with Jen Psaki’ on Sunday for an extensive interview that focused heavily on abortion and the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Pelosi said abortion remains a winning issue for Democrats, and one that helped stave of disaster for the party in the 2022 midterm elections.

‘Everybody said we’re going to lose 30, 40 seats,’ Pelosi said of the 2022 elections. ‘Last time we lost five and everybody says you had the wrong message. They were saying to me, you’re going to owe an apology to the members because Dobbs is in the rearview mirror. But it wasn’t. It was up front, and it is right up in front of women in our country.’

Pelosi’s interview came the same weekend former President Donald Trump declared himself the ‘most pro-life president’ in U.S. history. Former Vice President Mike Pence also marked the anniversary of the fall of Roe v. Wade by calling on all Republican 2024 presidential candidates to vow to push for a ‘minimum standard’ 15-week abortion ban if elected.

Pelosi went on to say that the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey must be reversed ‘one way or another.’

‘Our country has always been about expanding freedom. Until now, this court, ignoring its own precedent and the right of privacy in the Constitution,’ Pelosi said. ‘So we have to reverse that. And Congress has the right to do that one way or another.’

Pelosi stopped short of calling on Democrats to pack the court, an idea some Democrats have endorsed since Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation solidified a 6-3 conservative majority on the court.

‘The president formed a commission. They did not recommend expansion of the court. That shouldn’t be the end of it, but there certainly should be term limits,’ Pelosi stated.

Pelosi’s confidence comes in stark contrast to that of Pence, who argues Republicans will benefit from campaigning on abortion. He pointed to polling suggesting that a large majority of Americans support a 15-week ban.

‘That would align American law with most of the countries in Europe that literally ban abortion after 12 to 15 weeks,’ Pence said. ‘Our laws at the national level today are more aligned with North Korea, China and Iran than with other Western countries in Europe.’

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., defended Hunter Biden’s attendance at a state dinner where Attorney General Merrick Garland was present, the same week he reached a plea agreement over federal charges.

In an appearance on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ the Minnesota Democrat claimed one thing had nothing to do with the other.

‘You know, I think as the president explained, that’s his son. That’s a separate thing,’ Klobuchar said.

Klobuchar, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the comments after the president’s son pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax last week. He also agreed to enter into a pretrial diversion agreement regarding a separate charge of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.

Hunter was then spotted at a Thursday White House state dinner held in honor of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Garland, who leads the Justice Department, and Klobuchar were also in attendance. 

‘That decision was made by an independent prosecutor who is a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney who had 10 years of experience,’ Klobuchar said about the case. ‘Well-respected Philadelphia Inquirer reported that he was a registered Republican. He looked at the facts and evidence and made that decision.’

‘And by the way, if that’s what the Republicans want to run on in the coming election, good luck, because the president is going to be able to run on the strength of his work in bringing 13 million jobs back to America,’ Klobuchar continued. 

Host Chuck Todd proceeded to press the senator on ‘the perception issue’ Hunter Biden’s attendance posed, asking if she wished the ‘perception were different.’

‘You always wish there were different perceptions, but that’s not reality. Reality is whether or not someone is going to be able to get their insulin. And the president has made changes,’ Klobuchar responded. ‘Reality is whether someone has a job. Reality is when they can go visit their grandma again in an assisted living. Those are people’s realities. Not who is sitting where at a state dinner.’

So far, Garland has faced a barrage of questions following Hunter Biden’s deal and likely lack of prison time. Top House and Senate Republicans have since lambasted the deal as well as the attorney general. 

‘It’s no coincidence that less than a week after President Trump is arraigned by the DOJ, Hunter Biden is pleading guilty to a sweetheart deal with no jail time,’ Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told Fox News Digital in a statement at the time. ‘The DOJ is going for the low-hanging fruit by charging Hunter Biden with a gun felony and two tax misdemeanors, after years of slow walking their investigation.’

‘America has 2 million people incarcerated right now,’ Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., told Fox News Digital. ‘We have six thousand jails. We could have found a place for Hunter. But the truth is, nobody really cares about Hunter Biden. Hunter was a rookie influence peddler and a troubled young man selling access to his dad. He’s a part of the Biden crime family, but he’s not the Big Guy, he wasn’t the VP, and he’s not the inaugurated president.’

Former President Trump also slammed the plea agreement, telling Fox News Digital shortly after the deal was announced that it amounted to ‘a traffic ticket.’ 

‘It is a disgrace to the system, it is a disgrace to America, it is a very unfair situation, it is prosecutorial misconduct, and it is election interference – all wrapped up into one,’ Trump said. 

President Biden has since come out in support of Hunter, telling a reporter, ‘I’m very proud of my son,’ following a discussion on artificial intelligence in San Francisco Tuesday. 

On Friday, Garland denied whistleblower allegations that the Justice Department, FBI and IRS interfered with U.S. Attorney David Weiss’ investigation of Hunter Biden, saying Weiss has ‘complete authority to make all decisions on his own behalf.’

Hunter Biden is scheduled to make his first court appearance in Delaware on July 26. 

Fox News’ Brooke Singman, David Spunt, Timothy H.J. Nerozzi, Jessica Chasmar, Chris Pandolfo, and Brie Stimson contributed to this report. 

Chinese officials reportedly pressed Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Washington’s stance regarding the upcoming 2024 elections in Taiwan during his trip to Beijing last week. 

Though Blinken maintained that the Biden administration would keep an even-handed stance and does not support any meddling, Chinese officials sought to induce Washington’s cooperation against Vice President Lai Ching-te, considered by Beijing as a member of the ‘pro-independence’ wing, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

Lai, the presidential candidate of the incumbent Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), is considered more aggressive in advocating for Taiwanese independence compared to current President Tsai Ing-wen. Tsai cannot seek re-election due to term limits. 

According to the Journal, sources said Chinese officials said when then-President George W. Bush sat in the Oval Office next to then-Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in 2003, he cautioned then-Taiwan president and DPP leader Chen Shui-bian against raising pro-independence sentiment. Taiwan’s 2024 election, scheduled for next January, was a major topic of discussion during Blinken’s meetings with Chinese officials, Journal sources briefed on the matter said. 

Chinese officials also reportedly grilled Blinken on whether the U.S. had vested interested in the outcome of Taiwan’s election and if the United States considered the DPP to be a friend. 

In Beijing, during the first trip made by a U.S. secretary of State in five years, Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Wang Yi, Xi’s top foreign-affairs official. In remarks made after meeting Xi, Blinken reaffirmed to reporters that the United States does not support Taiwan’s independence. 

China and the U.S. in recent years have been cycling in and out of diplomatic flare-ups regarding the Taiwan Strait. China has used measures ranging from cutting diplomatic ties to staging military maneuvers off Taiwan to show its displeasure, according to The Associated Press. 

Last week, Reuters reported that internal security reports from Taiwan’s government warned that China will attempt to interfere in the January elections by ‘illicitly funding Beijing-friendly candidates using communications apps or group tours.’ 

Meanwhile, President Biden on Thursday defended his harsh public comments on China, including calling Xi a dictator just days after Blinken met with the Chinese president, saying his words would have no negative impact on U.S.-China relations and that Biden himself still expects to meet with Xi sometime soon.

In an appearance on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ Sunday, host Dana Bash asked Blinken if he believes Xi is a dictator.

 ‘The president speaks clearly. He speaks candidly. I’ve worked for him for more than 20 years, and he speaks for all of us,’ Blinken said. 

‘The purpose of the trip at the president’s instruction was to try to bring a little bit more stability to the relationship, to demonstrate that we’re committed to managing it responsibly, which really is an obligation for us and an expectation that countries around the world have and to be able to deal very directly with our differences. There’s no secret about those differences,’ Blinken added. ‘There’s no secret about concerns we have about democracy, about human rights, about some of the actions that China is taking around the world and being able to have better, stronger, sustained lines of communication means we can talk about these differences directly.’

The Associated Press contributed to this report.