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Muhammad Ali grandsons carving path in combat sports despite concerns

Muhammad Ali was The Greatest, but two of his grandsons are carving out unique paths of their own in combat sports.

Biaggio Ali Walsh, 25, will make his pro debut in mixed martial arts Saturday in Saudi Arabia. A week later, Nico Ali Walsh, 23, will be in New York for his 11th bout as a pro boxer. Nico, who made his pro debut in 2021, is 9-1 with one no contest and five knockouts.

Rasheda Ali, mother of the two boys, this week found herself thinking of her famous father, who died in 2016.

“He would be so proud of the boys,’’ she said during a phone interview from Saudia Arabia. “He would probably be with us right now.’’

At the same time, Rasheda Ali acknowledged concerns that her sons might suffer brain trauma widely thought to have contributed to father’s struggle with Parkinson’s disease over three decades.

“There are a lot of people in my circles who are in the neurocognitive world, one in particular who is, like, please tell your kids not to box,’’ Rasheda Ali said. “And some parents snub their nose at the dismay of me allowing my kids to fight.’’

“I love the word allowing,’’ she added, “because my kids are not kids anymore. Even if I had something to say about it, they’re adults and they can make their decisions.’’

The grandsons and Poppy

Growing up, Biaggio said, he and his younger brother grew close to their grandfather even as the man they called Poppy struggled with increasingly slurred speech.

“Our way of communicating with him was magic because he loved magic,’’ Biaggio said. “Coloring and drawing. Like that was our way of communicating with him.’’

There’s no evidence Muhammad Ali would have discouraged his grandsons from fighting professionally, according to Nico. (There are 15 total grandchildren, according to Rasheda, but her sons are the only ones in combat sports.)

“Right before my first amateur fight, I was like, I don’t know Poppy,’’ Nico said of the bout in 2015. “Do you think I should quit?

“I was looking for him to give me permission and he just didn’t give it to me. Since then, I made a promise to myself that I was just never going to quit.’’

Rasheda Ali recalled her father did not attend that fight because he wasn’t doing well. “You can’t really make plans with Parkinson’s,’’ she said.

Biaggio, who played three years of college football before taking up MMA, said he’s aware of the potential dangers but also said, “Honestly, I think MMA’s a little safer than football. You know in football there’s no weight classes. I’m 5-10, I was 180 pounds and the people I had to get past were frickin’ 6-9, pushing 400 pounds and they could run at me as fast as they can and hit me as hard as they want.’’

A mother’s precautions

Ultimately, Rasheda Ali said, she knew she would not be able to stop her sons from entering combat sports.

She also mused, “If my grandmother, Mama Bird, told my father you couldn’t box, then it would be a different world.’’

“I just decided where I was going to allow them to enjoy and pursue their passion and try to be as responsible and try to inform them and educate them as much as I could about the condition and just pray and rest of the time,’’ Rasheda said. “Because I’m always praying. Anytime they go into a ring, even before Biaggio stepped into a cage, I was worried about CTE and other conditions that kind of accompany high-impact sports like football.’’

As a precaution, Biaggio and Nico were not allowed to participate in high-impact sports until they entered high school. And before that, Rasheda Ali said, both of them underwent neurological testing to determine their baseline for concussions.

“I tried my best, but Nico’s eyes light up when he goes into a boxing ring, especially since my dad bamboozled him into continuing a career,’’ she said. “Biaggio, I just want to see him happy.’’

How MMA rescued Biaggio Ali Walsh

There was no talk of combat sports for Biaggio when, as a junior running back at Bishop Gorman High School in 2015, won Gatorade Player of the Year for Nevada. He later accepted a scholarship to California and in 2017 headed to Berkeley.

After redshirting his freshman year, he found himself stuck on the bench.

“I wasn’t getting any opportunities,’’ Biaggio said. “Instead they would come to me for media and have me do interviews for news outlets and all types of stuff. It was a mental battle. I’m sitting there doing these interview and I’m thinking in my head, do you guys know that I’m not playing?

“I almost felt like I was just being used and it just took a mental toll on me.’’

Biaggio transferred to UNLV but he played in just one game that next season and quit.

“When I was done with football, I kind of went down a little dark road,’’ he said. “Living in Vegas, it was super easy to go out and have all this access to alcohol and drugs, all types of stuff.’’

Taking up MMA to get back in shape, Biaggio said he fell in love with the sport and got back on track.  He is 6-1 as an amateur and has won each fight thanks to his fists. On Saturday, he will make his pro debut at an event pitting fighters from the Professional Fighters League and Bellator MMA.

On his move up from the amateur ranks, Biaggio said, ‘I can elbow now and I can knee to the face. …I’m just super excited to be part of this journey.’’

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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Jackie Robinson statue cleats to be donated to Negro League museum

The bronze cleats that were cut from a Jackie Robinson statue last month will be donated to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum located in Kansas City, Missouri.

The 275-pound statue was taken from McAdams Park in Wichita, Kansas on Jan. 25, and only its feet were left after thieves dismantled it. Three days later, portions of the statue were found burned after the fire department received calls of a trash can fire at another park.

‘We thought it was the absolute right thing to do,’ League 42 founder and executive director Bob Lutz told ESPN.com. ‘It’s looking like the cleats will be delivered by April 11, definitely before Jackie Robinson Day [April 15].’

McAdams Park is home to League 42, a youth baseball league named for the Hall of Famer’s uniform number.

Negro Leagues Baseball Museum president Bob Kendrick said a ceremony will take place for the bronze cleats arrival.

HOT STOVE UPDATES: MLB free agency: Ranking and tracking the top players available.

Earlier this month, Wichita police said they arrested 45-year-old Ricky Angel Alderete in the theft, and more arrests would be forthcoming. Alderete is charged with felony theft valued at over $25,000, aggravated criminal damage to property, identity theft, and making false information.

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Catch all Winter Cup 2024 highlights from USA Gymnastics event

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kayla DiCello is starting the Olympic year strong.

DiCello, who last year won the all-around title at the Pan American Games after being an alternate to the world team, won Winter Cup on Saturday. It wasn’t even close, either. DiCello finished with a score of 56.85 points, more than two points ahead of Skye Blakely.

DiCello scored a 14 or higher on every event, and posted the highest score on vault, uneven bars and floor exercise. She also was the only contender who didn’t have to count a fall.

‘I feel a lot better than I did back in 2021. With all the experience, it’s been very helpful and it helps my confidence and really just trusting myself and trusting the skills that I’m showing,’ DiCello said.

Blakely recovered after a fall on bars, her first event, and finished with 54.65. Reigning U.S. junior champ Hezly Rivera, making her senior debut, was third with 54 points. Trinity Thomas was fourth.

‘It was definitely something crazy, falling off the bar and landing on my head. I didn’t see that happening,’ Blakely said. ‘I had to get it out of my head and move on. A fall doesn’t change what’s about to happen on the next three events.

‘Every single time I compete, it’s experience,’ Blakely added.

Here’s a look back at Saturday’s event;

Not Suni Lee’s day at Winter Cup

This wasn’t the comeback Suni Lee wanted.

The reigning Olympic champion fell on what was already a watered down balance beam routine, and scored just 12.9. That follows two falls on uneven bars, including on the release move she’s hoping to be the first-ever to do.

Lee looked disappointed as she came off the podium after beam, and was comforted by both longtime coach Jess Graba and Laurent Landi, who coaches Simone Biles.

Lee had been struggling with her mount series on beam, and she and Graba made the decision to take it out. Her routine was going well until she did an aerial somersault. She was off-center in the air, and her foot slipped off the side of the beam as she landed. 

Simone Biles approves

Simone Biles likes what she’s seeing at Winter Cup.

Biles isn’t competing here – she and her husband are at a wedding, according to her Instagram account – but she’s watching. “The girls are not playing around this year,” Biles said in a post after the third rotation.

She followed it with another post that just had three fire emojis.

One to go at Winter Cup

Kayla DiCello has the Winter Cup title all but wrapped up.

DiCello, who was an alternate for both the Tokyo Olympic and last year’s world teams, has a 2.10-point lead going into the final rotation. In a sport where gymnasts are often separate by tenths, that’s a massive lead.

DiCello has 42.55 points and has gone over 14 on all three events so far.

The race for second is much tighter, with just four-tenths separating the gymnasts in second through fifth places. 

Suni Lee falls on skill

After looking so good in training, Suni Lee fell on the skill she’s hoping to have named for her.

Lee is doing a release move in which she launches herself off the top bar and does a full twisting forward somersault in a laid-out position before catching the bar again. She did it at least twice Friday in podium training and once during warm-ups Saturday. But she hit the upper bar with her hands and couldn’t grasp it, falling to the mat.

She fell once more time in her routine, one of two she’s doing at Winter Cup, and scored an 11.8. 

Kayla DiCello is halfway to title

Pan American Games all-around champion Kayla DiCello is halfway to another title.

DiCello leads Winter Cup after two events with 28.250 points, posting the highest scores so far on both vault (14.2) and floor exercise (14.050). She’s 0.70 points ahead of Skye Blakely, who’s been part of the U.S. team that won the title at the last two world championships.

Trinity Thomas is third with 27.25 points and reigning U.S. junior champion Hezly Rivera, who is making her senior debut here, is fourth with 26.75 points.

Welcome back, Trinity Thomas!

Trinity Thomas sure doesn’t look rusty.

Winter Cup is the first elite-level competition for Thomas since 2019, and she opened with a 14.050 for a gorgeous uneven bars routine. That tied Kayla DiCello’s score on floor exercise for the highest in the first rotation.

Thomas hasn’t exactly been sitting on her couch these last five years. She was a standout at Florida, winning the Honda Award winner as the country’s best collegiate gymnast in both 2022 and 2023. She also shares the NCAA record for perfect 10.0s, with 28. 

Rough start for Skye Blakely

Skye Blakely, a favorite for the all-around title after being part of the U.S. teams that won gold at the last two world championships, has some ground to make up after a fall on her first event, uneven bars. Blakely was doing a backward release from the low bar to the high bar and couldn’t grasp the bar. The crowd gasped as she hit the mat.

Blakely scored a 13.050 – her routine has a 5.8 start value – but she’s likely going to need to be outstanding on her remaining four events and get some help from some other gymnasts. 

Warm welcome for Suni Lee at Winter Cup

No surprise, reigning Olympic champion Suni Lee got the loudest cheers during introductions.

Lee was always going to be one of the main attractions at Winter Cup and now, after Gabby Douglas withdrew, she’s the center of attention. It’s her first meet since she had to pull out of the world team selection camp in September because of a kidney ailment that limited her training.

The second-loudest cheers might have been for Trinity Thomas, who is returning to elite-level competition for the first time since 2019. Thomas was a college standout at Florida. There also was loud applause for Kayla DiCello, who won the all-around title along with a team gold at the Pan American Games last fall. 

When does Suni Lee compete?

Suni Lee is doing two events at Winter Cup, uneven bars and balance beam. Because of the way the draw happened, she won’t be in either of the first two rotations, which should take about an hour.

Her first event will be bars, and she’s the last competitor in the group of eight gymnasts. That means you should expect to see her around 2:45 p.m. Eastern. On beam, she’s the second gymnast in the second half of the rotation. Or around 3:15 p.m.

Is Simone Biles competing at the Winter Cup? 

Simone Biles won’t be competing at Winter Cup. 

She’s already qualified for the national championships as a member of last year’s world team — Winter Cup is a qualifier for nationals — and she doesn’t usually begin her competitive season this early. Look for her at the U.S. Classic, which is May 18 in Hartford, Connecticut. 

What happened to Gabby Douglas?  

Gabby Douglas, the 2012 Olympic champion, was to return to competition for the first time in almost eight years at Winter Cup. But she announced Thursday afternoon that she’s tested positive for COVID and won’t be able to compete.  

‘I was so excited to get back out on the competition floor, but unfortunately, I just tested positive for COVID :(,’ Douglas wrote in part in an Instagram post. ‘… I’m crushed but I’ll see you guys soon!’ 

What’s this new skill Suni Lee is doing?

It’s a release move on uneven bars called a full-twisting Jaeger. Lee launches herself off the top bar and does a full twisting forward somersault in a laid-out position before catching the bar again. She’s hoping to go to the World Cup in Baku next month. If Lee would do the skill there, it would be named for her.

Are the men competing in gymnastics Winter Cup? 

Yes. Shane Wiskus leads fellow Tokyo Olympian Yul Moldauer by 0.4 points after Day 1 of the two-day competition. Wiskus scored 84.450 and was in the top three in three of the six events. His 14.550 was the highest score of the day on floor exercise.  

‘I had a really fun time today and I’m just hoping to have some more fun on Sunday. And then have some more fun at (U.S.) championships and just keep that momentum going,’ Wiskus said. ‘I think too much of my career I got focused on and locked into performance and outcome goals and all that stuff. These last couple of meets are for me and for me only.’  

Moldauer also was in the top three in three of the six events but was hurt by a fall near the end of his pommel horse routine.  

Day 2 is Sunday. 

Two-time U.S. champion Brody Malone, who is coming back from a serious knee injury last year, did three events: pommel horse, still rings and parallel bars. He had the third-highest score of the day on p-bars and was fifth on pommel horse.  

When is the USA Gymnastics Winter Cup?  

The women’s meet is from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday.  

How to watch the USA Gymnastics Winter Cup

You’re going to need your computer. Or your phone. Winter Cup is only available on USA Gymnastics’ YouTube channel. 

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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Nikki Haley bets it all on Super Tuesday after dismal primary night down south

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Nikki Haley isn’t giving up.

Despite a dismal primary performance in her own home state of South Carolina, the former U.N. ambassador is making good on her promise to stay in the GOP presidential primary race and is placing her bets on next month’s Super Tuesday contests when 15 states — or just over a third of all delegates — are up for grabs.

‘America will come apart if we make the wrong choices. This has never been about me or my political future. We need to beat Joe Biden in November. I don’t believe Donald Trump can beat Joe Biden,’ Haley told a crowd of supporters gathered at her election night watch party in Charleston, South Carolina on Saturday.

‘I said earlier this week that no matter what happens in South Carolina, I would continue to run for President. I’m a woman of my word. I’m not giving up this fight when a majority of Americans disapprove of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden,’ she said, arguing voters in Michigan and the Super Tuesday states deserved to have a choice as they head to the polls over the next 10 days.

Haley now heads to Michigan, where GOP primary voters will have their say next Tuesday, but with less than a third of the state’s 55 delegates at stake. The rest will be determined at 13 congressional district meetings scheduled to be held on March 2.

What little polling has been done suggests Trump could hold a strong lead in the state, but regardless of that outcome, Haley’s campaign appears set to make Super Tuesday the final stand against Trump’s juggernaut status in the Republican Party.

On that day, March 5, voters in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia will all head to the polls to decide between Trump and Haley.

In a press call with reporters on Friday, Haley campaign manager Betsy Ankney announced a seven-figure ad buy across the Super Tuesday states, the strongest sign ahead of the South Carolina primary that Haley would follow through with plans to stay in the race regardless of Saturday’s outcome.

In his South Carolina victory speech, Trump also said he would continue fighting to win over voters in Michigan and the Super Tuesday states.

‘It’s an early evening and a fantastic evening,’ Trump told a crowd of supporters gathered at the South Carolina state fairgrounds in Columbia, the state capitol, just minutes after polls closed and he was declared the victor.

‘Celebrate for 15 minutes, but then we have to get back to work,’ he added.

When it comes to the delegates needed for either candidate to clinch the Republican nomination for president, Haley faces an extremely steep climb to make the race competitive. 

Trump, who entered the South Carolina primary with 63 delegates to Haley’s 17, could likely reach the 1,215 delegates needed to clinch the nomination by late March — at the earliest — given the number of delegates up for grabs in the states set to vote between now and then, as well as how those delegates are awarded.

Fox News’ Rémy Numa and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Fox News Voter Analysis: Trump Bests Haley in Her Home State

Donald Trump completed a clean sweep of the first three Republican nominating contests by cruising to a 20-point victory over Nikki Haley in South Carolina. Haley, a native of the Palmetto State and a former governor, pledged to continue her presidential campaign through the Super Tuesday primaries on March 5th despite the loss.

The results of the Fox News Voter Analysis, a survey of more than 2,400 South Carolina Republican primary voters, show Trump’s dominance with the party base—as well as divides within the party that could affect both the remaining primaries and the general election.

South Carolina has an open primary, meaning any voter can choose to participate in either the Democratic or Republican primary, regardless of which party they typically support. Still, most voters (87%) considered themselves Republicans, and Trump won this group by 33 points—just as he did in New Hampshire (Trump +33 points).

Haley was buoyed by support from independents (+29 points) and Democrats (+88 points), though both made up relatively small portions of the primary electorate.

The ideological divides within the party were on full display. Haley won moderates by 26 points, essentially the same as her 25-point edge with moderates in the Granite State. Trump’s margin with self-described ‘somewhat conservative’ voters was narrower than it was in New Hampshire (18 points vs. 25 points), as was his advantage among very conservative voters (+62 points vs. +67 points).

Nearly 6-in-10 voters (58%) considered themselves part of the Make America Great Again movement, and the vast majority of them went for Trump.

It was a different story among non-MAGA voters, who backed Haley by 51 points.

In addition to the ideological fault lines, primary voters were sharply divided along educational lines. Trump continued to dominate among those without a college degree (+37 points), much as he did in New Hampshire (+32 points) and Iowa (+49 points).

College-educated voters favored Haley by 9 points, notably less than her 22-point advantage in New Hampshire. 

Trump continued to show significant strength among rural voters, winning by 32 points. The race was closer in the suburbs (Trump +6 points).

White evangelical Christians were another significant source of strength for the former president—and made up half of the electorate (49%).

Despite his controversial comments attacking Haley’s husband—who is currently deployed overseas with the South Carolina Army National Guard—for not being more visible on the campaign trail, Trump won military households by a 28-point margin.

Haley launched her bid for the presidency with a call for cognitive tests for presidential candidates and has repeatedly questioned Trump’s mental fitness over the course of the campaign. By an 8-point margin, more voters felt she has the mental capacity to serve effectively as president than felt that way about Trump.

Voters were more likely to think Trump would keep the country safe by 14 points (76% said Trump would and 62% said Haley would) and fight for people like them by 19 points (Trump 74%, Haley 55%).

On the all-important question of being able to win in November, Trump had a resounding 30-point advantage.

A clear majority thinks Trump should have won in 2020, as 58% believe Joe Biden was not the legitimate winner four years ago. Trump won these voters by a 70-point margin; Haley won those who believe Biden won legitimately by 53 points.

At the same time, half were concerned that Trump is too extreme to win the general election, including 31% who were very concerned.

Far fewer (33%) worried that Haley was too extreme, including 14% very concerned.

These concerns may explain why 6-in-10 Haley voters (59%) say they would not support Trump in the general election if he were the nominee; very few of her supporters (12%) would be satisfied if he were the nominee.

A majority of Trump voters would ultimately back Haley if she wins the primary; 44% would not.

In a sign of the modest boost Haley got from those who did not align with the Republican Party, 8% of her voters said they would not support her if she were the nominee. By comparison, all of Trump’s supporters (99%) would back him in the fall if he wins the primary.

Most Trump voters (89%) described their decision as a vote for their preferred candidate rather than against Haley. Haley voters, on the other hand, were split: 53% cast their ballot as a mark in her favor; 47% as a vote against Trump.

Overall, majorities held favorable views of Trump, Haley, and Senator Tim Scott (who dropped out of the presidential race in November and endorsed Trump before the New Hampshire primary). Views of South Carolina’s other Senator, Republican Lindsey Graham, were less favorable.

As it has been in each Republican primary thus far, immigration was the top issue on voters’ minds, with the economy second.

Most primary voters (83%) supported building a wall along the southern border and felt immigrants generally hurt the country (74%) rather than help it (22%).

Immigration voters were a major source of strength for Trump (+51 points), much as they were in New Hampshire (+48 points). 

Trump also held a significant edge among those who felt the economy was the most important issue (+21 points).

His advantage on the issue was powered by the 29% who said they were falling behind financially (Trump +43 points), while the race was somewhat closer among those breaking even (Trump +18 points).

The relatively small group of voters who said they were getting ahead financially backed Haley by 33 points.

Haley also had a major advantage (+52 points) among those who saw foreign policy as the most important issue facing the country—but they accounted for just 8% of the electorate.

Trump’s comments on NATO—suggesting he would tell Russia to do ‘whatever they want’ to members of the alliance that did not meet their obligations to spend on national defense—caused a stir on the campaign trail. Most primary voters (75%) said being a NATO member is good for the U.S., with 35% saying membership was a very good thing.

Those who saw the alliance as very good for the U.S. backed Haley by 28 points, while those who felt it was only somewhat good went for Trump by a similar margin (+31 points). Almost all of those who felt NATO has been a bad deal for the U.S. backed Trump.

Haley and Trump also diverged on their support for aid to Ukraine in its fight against Russia, and voters split as well.

Voters who opposed aid to Ukraine backed Trump by 55 points; those who favored aid aligned with Haley (+19 points).

Military aid to Israel in the fight against Hamas was notably less divisive.

In sum, half preferred the U.S. take a less active role in solving the world’s problems—and this group backed Trump by 43 points. He also won those who felt the country should be more active on the world stage (+29 points), while those who felt the current U.S. approach was about right backed Haley (+21 points).

Trump has recently been said to signal openness to a national ban on abortion after 16 weeks of pregnancy. Three-quarters of South Carolina Republicans would be on board with a similar approach.

Notably, fewer (55%) would back a ban after six weeks of pregnancy.

All told, a majority said abortion should be illegal in all or most cases—and these voters backed Trump by 44 points. Haley won those who felt abortion should be legal by a narrower 17-point margin.

Despite recent court rulings against him, Trump’s legal troubles do not appear to be a significant drag on his primary prospects. One-quarter thinks the charges he faces are legitimate investigations into potential wrongdoing, while far more view them as politically motivated attacks.

In addition, one-quarter or less think Trump did something illegal with regard to his possession of classified documents (27%), his actions with regard to the vote count in 2020 (26%), or the events of January 6, 2021 (20%).

The Fox News Voter Analysis is a survey of more than 2,400 South Carolina Republican primary voters conducted February 20-24, 2024. Full methodological details are available here.

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AI technology could help US, allies monitor China’s Taiwan invasion intensions

China has stepped up its diplomatic and military pressure against Taiwan, alarming U.S. officials and allies in the region that Beijing is looking to take back the island by force.

If projections of a Chinese military invasion to retake Taiwan are accurate, the U.S. can utilize artificial intelligence (AI) and other technology that will indicate to forces in the region that China isn’t engaging in yet another provocative military exercise but is launching the invasion so many predict.

According to experts, AI and machine learning (ML) can help the U.S. and its allies in the region improve the speed and efficiency of war plan development, intelligence assessments and targeting effectiveness.

Retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, who serves as senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital AI and ML can help U.S. intelligence experts process the immense amount of surveillance data covering China and the Western Pacific Ocean the U.S. is ingesting. 

‘This data needs to be rapidly processed, evaluated and disseminated, and AI and ML can make that a more agile and efficient process. This, in turn, can give the U.S. military and policymakers decision-making advantages,’ Montgomery added.

Decision-makers can easily misinterpret the intentions of hostile forces, mistaking training exercises as an actual prelude to military action. New technology can prevent the possibility that miscalculation will lead to an unnecessary armed confrontation. 

‘When we are left in a spot where we can no longer derive enemy intentions — would-be enemy intentions — from their disposition in the field, we must go deeper, and that requires data, compute, talent. … What are those indications and warnings?’ Adm. Samuel Paparo, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet who was recently nominated to lead U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, told a conference hosted by the Defense Innovation Unit, as reported by Breaking Defense. 

Paparo said the erosion of strategic, operational and tactical warnings is a real concern.

‘It presents a challenge to the joint force in our ability to go deeper, to find those indications and warnings that will enable us to be postured to support our allies and partners, and — if so — called by the commander in chief and answer to the readiness to defend Taiwan should the PRC decide to settle matters by the use of force,’ Paparo was quoted as saying in a Breaking Defense article.

The growing fear among policymakers in Washington is that China is preparing to invade Taiwan and reunify it with the mainland by force, reversing decades of democratic self-rule. China ramped up its military activities in the Taiwan Strait following Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi’s controversial visit to Taiwan in August 2022. China sent 727 aircraft in and toward Taiwan’s airspace in 2022 and sent 850 planes in the first half of 2023, according to the Stimson Center.

Some in Beijing perceived the former House speaker’s visit as the U.S. moving away from its long-held recognition of the ‘One-China’ policy that has undergirded the approach to Taiwan since 1979. Several military officials have warned recently that China plans on invading Taiwan in the coming years. 

‘Taiwan is clearly one of their ambitions, and I think the threat is manifest during this decade, in fact, in the next six years,’ Adm. Philip Davidson, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in 2021.

It’s not just policymakers and observers of the region saying China will attack Taiwan. Chinese President Xi Jinping is on record and been candid about his ambitions toward Taiwan ahead of the 100th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.

In his 2023 New Years address, Xi said reunification with Taiwan was inevitable and that the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation will be achieved by 2049, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the PRC. As far back as 2012, Xi said ‘achieving rejuvenation is the dream of the Chinese people.’

And a resolution adopted by the CCP Central Committee in November 2021 stated, ‘Resolving the Taiwan question and realizing China’s complete reunification is a historic mission and an unshakable commitment of the Party.’

A recent war game conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies predicted a U.S. victory over China, with staggering deaths and casualties, including ‘dozens of ships, hundreds of aircraft and tens of thousands of service members,’ for the U.S. and its allies. 

Other war games conducted by the Department of Defense, the House Select Committee on China and various other think tanks resulted in similar conclusions. 

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Conservatives take aim at Haley after Trump wins South Carolina primary: ‘No pathway to victory’

Former President Trump’s victory in the South Carolina Republican primary Saturday night quickly sparked a response from conservatives on social media, many of whom said they believe GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley should step aside and drop out of the race.

The primary was called for the former president and 2024 GOP frontrunner just moments after polls closed Saturday night, with Trump saying he looks forward to delivering his signature line to President Biden: ‘Joe, you’re fired.’

‘Congratulations to President Trump on another DOMINANT primary election victory in SC,’ Florida GOP Rep. Byron Donalds wrote in a post on X. ‘Nikki Haley has lost BIG in every primary & she’s now lost her home state. It’s clear Republicans want President Trump to be our nominee & Nikki Haley has no pathway to victory.’

Kansas GOP Sen. Roger Marshall also weighed in on Trump’s victory, writing on X, ‘Congratulations to President Trump for his landslide victory in South Carolina. It’s past time for the GOP to end this political primary charade and unite behind the clear nominee, Donald J. Trump.’

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah said the ‘(proverbial) lady is now (metaphorically) singing. Trump won. It’s over. Haley should drop out now.’

Radio host and former presidential candidate Larry Elder said that Haley ‘loses and declares victory.’

Haley, however, has said she is staying in the race.

‘I’m a woman of my word. I’m not giving up this fight when a majority of Americans disapprove of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden,’ she told supporters.

‘Today, in South Carolina, we’re getting around 40% of the vote. That’s about what we got in New Hampshire too. I’m an accountant. I know 40% is not 50%. But I also know 40% is not some tiny group,’ she said. ‘There are huge numbers of voters in our Republican primaries who are saying they want an alternative.’

‘We’re headed to Michigan tomorrow. And we’re headed to the Super Tuesday states throughout all of next week,’ she said.

Commentator Jesse Kelly called on Trump to take a forward-looking approach as he took another step closer to becoming the nominee.

‘Time for Team Trump to tighten up messaging and stop talking about Nikki Haley. And Ron DeSantis. Take the W and focus on Biden. Absolutely zero benefit comes from blasting the ones you’ve beaten,’ he said.

When asked by Fox News Digital whether he wanted Nikki Haley to drop out of the race, Trump told Fox News Digital that he’s ‘really not thinking about that… I’m not thinking about it.’ 

‘I’m really thinking about we have to beat Joe Biden,’ he told Fox News Digital. ‘I don’t know if she’s in the race at all, because, you know, I have set records in every single state. I’m not sure that she’s really in the race.’

Fox News’ Emily Robertson, Aubrie Spady and Brooke Singman contributed to this report. 

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WATCH: Top Republicans showered with boos from Trump victory crowd, prompting jokes from former president

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Two top Republicans likely didn’t get the welcome they expected from the crowd gathered to celebrate former President Donald Trump’s victory in the South Carolina Republican primary on Saturday.

After being recognized by Trump during his speech, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and state GOP chair Drew McKissick were showered with boos that the former president couldn’t even quell.

‘No. No. No. No. Remember —’ Trump said, laughing, as he attempted to quiet the crowd’s disdain for Graham. ‘I love him. He’s a good man,’ he added, telling Graham to come over to the microphone. 

The crowd continued to boo as Graham approached the podium and began to speak. He briefly praised Trump for his victory, and the boos continued, albeit more quietly, as he went back to his spot on the stage.

A few minutes later, Trump recognized McKissick to another round of boos, which appeared to surprise Trump.

‘We have a highly opinionated group of people,’ he said, laughing. ‘I’ll tell you, they turned very positive on you very quickly, Lindsey,’ he added.

McKissick was re-elected party chair last year, but has dealt with waves of infighting in recent years, while Graham still faces sharp criticism from within his party for what some see as him abandoning Trump in the final days of his term following the Jan. 6 protests at the U.S. Capitol, which turned violent.

Graham was one of the earliest elected officials to endorse Trump and has advocated the former president choosing his Senate counterpart, fellow South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, as his vice presidential running mate.

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Trump ‘really not thinking about’ Haley after South Carolina victory, says he’s focused on beating Biden

Former President Trump said he is not sure Nikki Haley is ‘even really in the race’ after winning yet another Republican primary Saturday night, telling Fox News Digital that he is focused on beating President Biden in the general election in November.

The Fox News Decision Desk declared Trump the winner of the South Carolina Republican Primary just moments after the polls closed Saturday night. Trump defeated former two-term South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in her home state, and came another step closer to clinching the 2024 GOP nomination. 

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital Saturday night, Trump touted the win.

‘I was honored that I received the largest vote in the history of the state — I’m with Senator Lindsey Graham right now and he just told me we received the largest vote by double — we beat the last record,’ Trump told Fox News Digital. ‘So that’s a great compliment to all of the people and to making America great again.’

When asked whether he wanted Nikki Haley to drop out of the race, Trump told Fox News Digital that he’s ‘really not thinking about that… I’m not thinking about it.’ 

‘I’m really thinking about we have to beat Joe Biden,’ he told Fox News Digital. ‘I don’t know if she’s in the race at all, because, you know, I have set records in every single state. I’m not sure that she’s really in the race.’

Trump dominated the Iowa Caucuses, left New Hampshire with a commanding victory, swept caucuses in Nevada and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and won South Carolina with a ‘bigger win’ than he anticipated.

‘I’m very honored by the elections,’ he said. ‘We’re setting records in every single state.’ 

Meanwhile, Haley, after yet another defeat, said she plans to stay in the race for the Republican nomination.

Trump took the stage in South Carolina after the polls closed and he was declared the winner, and said he looks forward to beating Joe Biden in November and saying: ‘Joe, you’re fired.’

Trump added that Election Day, November 5, ‘is going to be the most important date, perhaps, in the history of our country.’ 

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Burning down the House: February has been an unmitigated disaster for Republicans

Ah… Watch out!

You might get what you’re after.

Cool babies.

Strange. But I’m not a stranger.

I’m an ordinary guy.

Burning down the house. —Talking Heads. ‘Burning Down the House.’ 1983

David Byrne’s hypnotic, octave plunge between the lyrics ‘watch’ and ‘out’ is a sonic caveat.

Those are the very first lines of the Talking Heads ‘80s anthem ‘Burning Down the House.’ The listener is forewarned. A tumultuous musical adventure lies ahead. The pending libretto is gnarly gibberish. Words which fit together — but don’t make any sense. A near homage to ‘I Am the Walrus’ by the Beatles.

Like Byrne’s lyrics, what’s going on these days in the U.S. House of Representatives, doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Watch out. The House is seemingly out of control right now. Political arsonists are striking matches and pouring gasoline all over the place.

Republicans hold the majority. But they’ve been burning down their own House.

‘Things have not been functioning well at all and that needs to change,’ beseeched Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn.

Chaos grips the House.

That’s saying something, considering this is an institution which practically mastered dysfunction.

‘We can’t get anything done,’ lamented Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill.

Lawmakers are exasperated.

‘My Republican friends are barely hanging onto this majority by their fingernails,’ said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee.

My house…

Is out of the ordinary.

That’s right.

Don’t want to hurt nobody.

House Republicans have blocked their own bills — drawn up with the blessing of GOP leaders — from hitting the House floor a staggering six times in the past eight months. The House usually requires the lawmakers approve a ‘rule’ to allocate debate time and dictate whether amendments are in order. Only then can legislation come to the floor. 

The majority usually votes yes, greenlighting the debate. The minority customarily opposes the rule. But Republicans have torched their own rule six times. That’s a startling figure. Previous majorities only defeated two rules in the previous 23 years.

Republicans have struggled for 13 months now with their narrow majority. It started with the 15-round Speaker’s race in January of last year — an exercise not witnessed since 1858.

‘We only had a two-vote margin at the end (of our majority),’ said former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

But Pelosi could empathize with the contemporary struggles of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

‘I don’t think people understand how hard it is,’ said Pelosi ‘Respect members on both sides of the aisle. Build consensus. Prioritize your issues. Don’t put people out on a limb on things that aren’t important.’

T. S. Eliot wrote that ‘April is the cruelest month’ in his seminal poem, ‘The Waste Land.’

Back on Capitol Hill, Johnson, might argue with Elliot about the brutality of April.

February has been an unmitigated disaster for House Republicans. More things have gone wrong for the GOP than points scored in the NBA All-Star Game.

To wit:

Republicans torched two of their own ‘rules.’ They failed during their first attempt to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas — before impeaching him by just a solitary vote after the GOP took a mulligan. Johnson even put a bill on the floor to aid Israel — which promptly failed. That was an unforced error. Conventional wisdom is that Johnson shouldn’t have pressed on the Israel bill — especially since the defeat came moments after the failed impeachment vote. And Republicans even saw their meager majority dwindle even further. 

Former Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y. won a special election in New York to succeed expelled Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y. The GOP majority will shrink from 219 Republicans to 213 Democrats when the House swears-in Suozzi on Wednesday. That means Johnson can only lose two votes on any given roll call and still pass a measure — sans Democratic assistance.

On the morning after Suozzi’s victory, Ryan Schmelz of Fox News Radio asked Johnson how he’d ‘handle a narrow majority.’

‘Just as we do every day. We just do a lot of member discussion,’ replied Johnson.

It’s about the math. But how they’ve done things ‘every day’ hasn’t provided a victory.

This is why some Republicans are taking aim at Johnson. They’ve regretted the House ditching former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. That’s why McCarthy allies are particularly infuriated at how bad things have been in the House of late.

‘Whatever the cards were for McCarthy are the same cards that are being dealt to Speaker Johnson,’ said Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla. ‘All it did was take a crowbar to it and make it worse.’

Some Republicans criticized the leadership for indecision and making late play calls.

‘They’ve got to start thinking strategically over the long-term. Not just what’s in front of us,’ said Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla.

Some lawmakers are certainly making long-term strategic decisions. They’re getting out.

So far, five committee chairs have announced their retirements: Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Kay Granger, R-Tex., Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., special China committee Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wisc., Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry, R-N.C. and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn.

Green said he wouldn’t seek re-election shortly after the House impeached Mayorkas. Green will serve as the lead impeachment manager (or prosecutor) as the House presents its case to the Senate. Green saw that as an opportunity to go out on top.

‘My point being, you go out for the win, right? And I’ve accomplished what I wanted to do,’ said Green.

A recent poll by Monmouth University found that only 17 percent of people surveyed approve of the job Congress is doing. But not everyone believes political paralysis is bad.

‘Let me just tell you something about the people I represent,’ said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Tex. ‘They don’t want this body to keep passing more laws and spending more money for the sake of it.’

This is the ‘burning down the House’ problem which bedevils lawmakers. Especially as two government funding deadlines loom.

We talked about February and April earlier. So expect March to enter like a lion.

So not only burning down the House. But perhaps shutting down the government, too.

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