‘Captain Canada’ firebrand unloads on Trump with profane one-liner as trade war escalates

Ontario premier fires back after Trump mocked him as less impressive than his late brother Rob Ford on Truth Social

August 26, 2026 7:00am EDT / Fox News

By Ashley J. DiMella Fox News

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6403886809112

US imposes 50% tariffs on Canada as trade talks collapse

Fox News correspondent Alex Hogan reports on the collapse of U.S.-Canada trade talks, which prompted 50% tariffs on $20 billion in Canadian goods. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney criticizes the tariffs, warning they will burden consumers.

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A simmering trade rift between President Donald Trump and Canadian officials burst into the open Monday as Ontario Premier Doug Ford sharply escalated his attacks on the president amid a widening tariff fight between the longtime allies.

“He can kiss my a– as far as I’m concerned. We’re going to go at him full steam, and we buy 400% more cars than anyone in the world,” Ford said in an interview with Toronto radio station Newstalk 1010 Monday in response to Trump’s threat of new tariffs on Canadian autos, auto parts and steel.

Trump mocked Ford on Monday as “less charismatic, intelligent, and overall unimpressive” than his late brother, former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, who became embroiled in a major 2013 scandal over his use of crack cocaine, which he later admitted.

The Ontario premier, dubbed “Captain Canada,” has since emerged as one of the country’s most outspoken critics of Trump’s trade threats.

TRUMP TRADE CHIEF WARNS CANADA WALKED AWAY FROM ‘THE BEST DEAL’ TO TRIGGER 50% U.S. TARIFFS

Ontario Premier Doug Ford at a joint press meeting today at Queens Park. Ford was under fire for hiring his newly elected nephew to caucus.(R.J. Johnston/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

The tariff fight is unfolding on two tracks: new 50% U.S. tariffs on certain Canadian goods took effect Aug. 22, with Canada set to retaliate Sept. 8, while Trump separately threatened to raise tariffs on Canadian autos and auto parts to 50% beginning Jan. 1, 2027.

The White House referred Fox News Digital to Trump’s Truth Social posts when approached for additional comment.

“America has been carrying Canada for decades, but no longer! The U.S.A. will always be far bigger, richer, and stronger than Canada. Without the United States, Canada couldn’t survive — It’s where they get all of their money and, because of their current bad leadership, primarily Governor Carney, and his Flunky, Ford, they will not be allowed to keep taking advantage of the United States — Their key to survival,” Trump added in a post.

TRUMP MUST CLOSE THE BACK DOOR CHINA USES TO EXPLOIT NORTH AMERICAN TRADE

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office at the White House on May 6, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Carney, who was elected into office last week, is expected to meet with President Trump to discuss trade and the recent tariffs imposed on Canada.(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

He claimed Canada imposes tariffs of 400% or more on U.S. farmers and said he plans to end what he describes as unfair trade treatment of American companies and producers. Trump also threatened further economic pressure, claiming much of the electricity, oil and gas Canada receives is transported through the U.S. and calling on the country to “fall in line.”

CANADA REPORTEDLY SCRAPS JOINT BRIDGE CELEBRATION WITH US AFTER TRUMP RENEWS TARIFF THREAT

[image_5]

U.S. President Donald Trump pauses while delivering remarks at the David S. Mack Center for Training and Intelligence on August 14, 2026, in Garden City, New York.(Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Beyond tariffs, Trump also escalated the rhetoric Tuesday by floating a proposal to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America.”

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The current tariff fight traces back to late 2024, when Trump threatened 25% tariffs on Canadian goods and later joked during a meeting with then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that Canada could become the 51st state.

Fox News Digital reached out to Ford for comment.

Ashley J. DiMella reports on politics for Fox News Digital.

California Dems trigger outrage after siding with convicted child sex offenders in shocking vote

August 26, 2026 7:16am EDT / Fox News

GOP California state senator seeks to squash state law provision allowing people convicted of certain sex crimes to serve on school boards

By Alec Schemmel Fox News

Sen. Suzette Valladares, R-Santa Clarita, tried to stop certain convicted sex offenders from serving on school boards, but California Senate Democrats rejected her proposal. (Credit: Office of Senator Suzette Valladares)

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California Senate Democrats rejected Republican Sen. Suzette Valladares’ effort to close a “loophole” allowing some people convicted of sex crimes against minors to seek public office, including school-board seats.

At issue is AB 2691, a proposal to add sexual assault and human trafficking to the felony convictions that disqualify Californians from elected office. Valladares’ amendment sought to undo Democratic-led changes that allow people convicted of certain sex crimes against minors to remain eligible to seek public office.

“Right now [in California,] someone convicted of sexually abusing a child can still sit on your school board. That’s not a loophole. That’s a choice. And in my perspective, and most, that’s wrong,” Valladares, R-Santa Clarita, said on the California Senate floor while urging colleagues to adopt an amendment that Senate Democrats later rejected on a party-line vote, according to her office.

“Predators who sexually abuse children have no place holding public office. None, not in the Capitol, not on city council, and definitely not on our school boards. AB 2691 was supposed to guarantee that. It started as a simple ban,” she continued. “Convicted sex offenders don’t get to hold public office. Period. But amendments added this summer gutted it, narrowing the bill to cover only tier three offenders and deliberately exempting tier one and tier two.”

SEX CRIMES COULD COST LAWMAKERS TAXPAYER-FUNDED PENSIONS UNDER HAWLEY’S NEW PROPOSAL

State Senator Suzette Martinez Valladares (R-Santa Clarita) debates amendments to a bill that would allow certain child sex offenders to serve on school boards.(Office of Senator Suzette Valladares)

Under the bill’s current language, the new public-office ban would apply to sexual-assault convictions requiring lifetime Tier 3 sex-offender registration. People whose convictions place them in Tier 1 or Tier 2 — categories requiring at least 10 or 20 years on the registry before they can ask a court for removal — would not be disqualified under the proposed law.

Concern was also raised months ago during a Senate committee hearing, when Republican California state Sen. Steven Choi asked Assemblywoman Dawn Addis, the bill’s Democratic author, why people convicted of certain sex crimes against minors could remain eligible to seek office under the amended measure. Addis did not address the specific offenses Choi identified, instead calling AB 2691 a “first in the nation” proposal that would protect survivors and saying she was open to working with lawmakers on other crimes.

“We’re doing a first in the nation bill that would protect the public trust of survivors and would make sure that survivors are really in the lead,” Addis responded. “Happy to continue working with the committee or others if there are other kinds of crimes folks feel need to be addressed. But at the moment, I feel like we have a really important bill that is nation leading, that will uplift survivors and enhance public trust here in California.”

DRAG QUEEN SCHOOL BOARD VICE PRESIDENT ARRESTED ON CHILD PORNOGRAPHY AND ENDANGERMENT CHARGES

A view of the California state capitol building(Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for National Urban League)

California state Sen. Scott Wiener, the Democratic chair of the committee that considered the bill, argued that a broader prohibition based on all three registry tiers would be overbroad. He said California’s registry had historically included both “sexually violent predator[s]” and others who have committed less serious crimes, citing an example of “a gay guy who had sex in a park or in a car and got arrested.”

“Sex offender registry is not punishment,” Wiener argued. “It is a tool for law enforcement to be able to monitor people who may potentially cause a risk. And when we use the sex offender registry as a proxy for anything else, we get into problems.”

State Sen. Scott Wiener of California(Sen. Scott Wiener/California Senate)

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But Sen. Valladares told Fox News Digital that the issue “isn’t complicated” for her.

“I’m a mom. This one isn’t complicated for me. Today, 40 senators had the chance to say convicted sex offenders should NEVER hold public office in California,” she told Fox News Digital. “Ten Republicans stood up to vote for what is right.My amendments would have closed the door. No loopholes. No exceptions. No convicted sex offenders serving in positions of public trust, including on our school boards. Protecting our kids should NEVER be partisan. I’m deeply disappointed, and I’m not done fighting.”

Alec Schemmel is a Politics Reporter for Fox News Digital who is originally from Charlotte, North Carolina but now resides in the Washington D.C.-Baltimore Metro Area.

US Senate Democrats urge Israel to rein in West Bank violence

2026-08-26 10:03:46 UTC / Reuters

By Richard Cowan

August 26, 2026 10:03 AM UTC Updated 1 hour ago

Israeli forces point their weapons as they take part in a raid in Qalandia refugee camp, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 25, 2026. REUTERS/Ammar Awad/File Photo

• Lawmakers ask Netanyahu to investigate deaths of nine Americans killed in West Bank since 2022
• Letter to Netanyahu is signed by 42 of Senate’s 47 Democrats
• Senators also call for halt to additional settlements and illegal outpost construction

WASHINGTON, Aug 26 (Reuters) – U.S. Senate ​Democrats on Wednesday urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to rein in a “surge” of violence by West ‌Bank settlers and mass arrests of Palestinians by Israeli security forces in the occupied territory.

In the letter to Netanyahu, seen by Reuters and signed by 42 of the Senate’s 47-member Democratic caucus, the lawmakers noted increasing levels of “fatal violence by settlers.”

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They also appealed to Israel’s leader to step up investigations ​into the deaths of nine American citizens they said have been killed by settlers or security forces in the ​West Bank since 2022.

The “significant surge” of violence in recent weeks has resulted in “a large-scale response by ⁠Israeli security forces, mass arrests of Palestinians, and reported attacks by settlers on mosques,” the letter stated.

The letter marks the latest ​sign of growing friction between Democrats in Congress and the Israeli government over its handling of the West Bank, with many ​in the party also calling for curbs on U.S. military aid to Israel over its conduct of the war in Gaza.

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It was drafted by Senator Adam Schiff of California, Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York – long one of Israel’s most prominent supporters in Congress – and Senator Cory Booker of New ​Jersey.

Last week, an Israeli man guarding a group of Jewish settlers walked onto Palestinian land and opened fire toward civilians, killing a ​17-year-old and a 70-year-old man, officials said.

The senators urged Netanyahu to issue clear instructions to Israeli police and military to prevent and intervene in violent ‌West Bank ⁠confrontations “regardless of the perpetrators.”

Rights groups have repeatedly documented how Israeli forces are slow to respond to settler violence in Palestinian communities – or stand by as attacks are carried out.

Israeli officials have said authorities including the president and prime minister have repeatedly condemned violence against Palestinians.

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The letter also called on the Israeli government to stop approving additional settlements and construction of “illegal outposts in the West ​Bank” and to take steps to ​remove existing outposts.

Democrats in ​Congress and many of the party’s candidates running in this year’s midterm elections have become increasingly critical of Netanyahu and his government in the wake of Israel’s war in Gaza.

More than 73,000 Palestinians ​have been killed in the conflict, according to Gaza health officials, which began after the ​Hamas-led October 7, ⁠2023, attack on Israel. Nearly 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed in the assault and more than 250 people were taken hostage.

Amid a flagging U.S.-brokered peace deal in Gaza, and escalating settler violence in the West Bank, many Democrats have called for either significantly curtailing – ⁠or completely ​shutting off – billions of dollars in annual U.S. military aid to Israel.

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President Donald ​Trump has said little about the situation in the West Bank. His ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has denounced militant settlers as “Israeli terrorists” and told Reuters this ​month that those responsible for besieging the Palestinian village of Qusra could face U.S. sanctions.

Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Lincoln Feast.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

消息：Meta与美国多州展开儿童隐私案庭外和解谈判

2026年8月26日 16:40 / 联合早报

Meta被美国29个州联合起诉，指刻意设计平台，让年轻用户上瘾。图为一名女子8月18日在加州奥克兰的法院外举起横幅示威，上面写着将近400名据称因受社媒影响而死亡的年轻人姓名。 （法新社）

社交媒体巨头Meta正与美国多个州就一项重大的儿童隐私和消费者保护案件展开庭外和解谈判。

彭博社星期二（8月25日）报道这一消息。Meta在全球拥有超过30亿用户，它被美国29个州联合起诉，指刻意设计平台，让年轻用户上瘾。

如果Meta败诉，各州可能会要求它支付约2000亿美元（约2540亿新元）的罚款，并强制对产品进行修改。

知情人士向彭博社透露，Meta公司已与各州总检察长讨论在庭审中期达成和解方案的可能性。

另据路透社报道，包括内华达州在内几州的州总检察长星期二发布公告，通知媒体即将召开记者会。公告说，届时将宣布“一项涉及一家领先科技公司的重大消费者保护和解协议”。

联邦上诉法院本月早些时候已驳回中止审理的请求。随着庭审进入第二周，已有包括Instagram首席执行官在内的多名证人出庭作证。Meta创始人兼首席执行官扎克伯格预计也会出庭作证。

消息：Meta与美国多州展开儿童隐私案庭外和解谈判

2026年8月26日 16:40 / 联合早报

Meta被美国29个州联合起诉，指刻意设计平台，让年轻用户上瘾。图为一名女子8月18日在加州奥克兰的法院外举起横幅示威，上面写着将近400名据称因受社媒影响而死亡的年轻人姓名。 （法新社）

社交媒体巨头Meta正与美国多个州就一项重大的儿童隐私和消费者保护案件展开庭外和解谈判。

彭博社星期二（8月25日）报道这一消息。Meta在全球拥有超过30亿用户，它被美国29个州联合起诉，指刻意设计平台，让年轻用户上瘾。

如果Meta败诉，各州可能会要求它支付约2000亿美元（约2540亿新元）的罚款，并强制对产品进行修改。

知情人士向彭博社透露，Meta公司已与各州总检察长讨论在庭审中期达成和解方案的可能性。

另据路透社报道，包括内华达州在内几州的州总检察长星期二发布公告，通知媒体即将召开记者会。公告说，届时将宣布“一项涉及一家领先科技公司的重大消费者保护和解协议”。

联邦上诉法院本月早些时候已驳回中止审理的请求。随着庭审进入第二周，已有包括Instagram首席执行官在内的多名证人出庭作证。Meta创始人兼首席执行官扎克伯格预计也会出庭作证。

较多美国人看好民主党应对生活负担政策

2026年8月26日 16:45 / 联合早报

美国最新发布的8月份消费者信心指数连续第二个月滑落，跌至七个月新低。消费者最关心物价高企的问题。 （法新社）

（华盛顿综合电）最新民调显示，认为民主党应对生活负担课题的策略优于共和党的美国民众较多，差距达八个百分点。这显示总统特朗普率领共和党迎战11月中期选举居于劣势。

路透社与益普索星期二（8月25日）发布的最新民调结果显示，在951名受访注册选民当中，36%认为民主党在应对生活费问题上有更好的计划或策略，28%选择共和党，其余则表示不确定或认为两党都不理想。

这是这项民调去年10月展开以来，民主党取得的最大领先优势。自特朗普今年2月底对伊朗发动军事打击、引发油价上涨以来，民主党在这项课题上逐渐占据上风。

共和党政治策略师霍夫曼（Jeanette Hoffman）向路透社指出，虽然民调对共和党不利，但从多达37%民众不确定哪个政党表现较好或认为两党都不好来看，民主党的优势并不明显，“恐怕也不能感觉太好”。

另一名共和党策略师尼古拉斯（Christopher Nicholas）则认为，特朗普在回应选民对生活负担的关切上做得不够，使共和党在中期选举中处于劣势。

他建议共和党候选人向选民突出以减税减缓生活负担的政策，同时警告民主党内社会主义分子的影响力日益巨大，导致政策主张走向极端。

担忧物价飙升 美消费信心跌至七个月新低

世界大型企业联合会星期二公布，美国消费者信心指数连续第二个月滑落，在8月份跌至89.4，创七个月来的新低，且低于市场预测。

最新报告指出，燃油价格高企和更广泛的生活费压力，加上招聘活动放缓继续对美国家庭造成压力。消费者最关心的仍是物价，其中高油价是影响信心的重要因素。

最新调查在8月3日至16日进行，由于美伊冲突升温，美国平均汽油价格在这期间持续处于每加仑4美元以上。

较多美国人看好民主党应对生活负担政策

2026年8月26日 16:45 / 联合早报

美国最新发布的8月份消费者信心指数连续第二个月滑落，跌至七个月新低。消费者最关心物价高企的问题。 （法新社）

（华盛顿综合电）最新民调显示，认为民主党应对生活负担课题的策略优于共和党的美国民众较多，差距达八个百分点。这显示总统特朗普率领共和党迎战11月中期选举居于劣势。

路透社与益普索星期二（8月25日）发布的最新民调结果显示，在951名受访注册选民当中，36%认为民主党在应对生活费问题上有更好的计划或策略，28%选择共和党，其余则表示不确定或认为两党都不理想。

这是这项民调去年10月展开以来，民主党取得的最大领先优势。自特朗普今年2月底对伊朗发动军事打击、引发油价上涨以来，民主党在这项课题上逐渐占据上风。

共和党政治策略师霍夫曼（Jeanette Hoffman）向路透社指出，虽然民调对共和党不利，但从多达37%民众不确定哪个政党表现较好或认为两党都不好来看，民主党的优势并不明显，“恐怕也不能感觉太好”。

另一名共和党策略师尼古拉斯（Christopher Nicholas）则认为，特朗普在回应选民对生活负担的关切上做得不够，使共和党在中期选举中处于劣势。

他建议共和党候选人向选民突出以减税减缓生活负担的政策，同时警告民主党内社会主义分子的影响力日益巨大，导致政策主张走向极端。

担忧物价飙升 美消费信心跌至七个月新低

世界大型企业联合会星期二公布，美国消费者信心指数连续第二个月滑落，在8月份跌至89.4，创七个月来的新低，且低于市场预测。

最新报告指出，燃油价格高企和更广泛的生活费压力，加上招聘活动放缓继续对美国家庭造成压力。消费者最关心的仍是物价，其中高油价是影响信心的重要因素。

最新调查在8月3日至16日进行，由于美伊冲突升温，美国平均汽油价格在这期间持续处于每加仑4美元以上。

Republicans are furious that Trump has revived tariff drama — just in time for the midterms

2026-08-26T10:00:29.776Z / CNN

Congressional Republicans were all too happy to see President Donald Trump’s unpopular tariffs largely fade from headlines as the midterms inched closer. Now, with just 10 weeks to Election Day, Trump’s decision to again put them front and center has infuriated his party.

Within the span of a few days, the president both ignited a trade war with Canada and announced he was easing tariffs on imported beef — an economic one-two punch that will have particularly acute effects in a slew of states critical to winning congressional control.

Republicans, already struggling to outrun voters’ widespread cost-of-living concerns, are publicly calling on Trump to drop his hard line against Canada. And lawmakers across the Midwest and the South are distancing themselves from the plan to cut foreign beef tariffs, warning that any brief progress toward lowering prices of the grocery staple will be far overshadowed by the pain it causes American ranchers.

“There’s no Republican on the ballot who will tell you they think this is a good idea,” said Doug Heye, a longtime GOP strategist. “Things are too expensive, and it’s hard to see how this [trade war] would do anything to help any Republicans.”

More than a dozen Republican lawmakers have since criticized the economic moves, including staunch Trump allies who nevertheless openly aired their frustration over the fallout in their home states.

Sen. John Barrasso, the chamber’s No 2. Republican, pleaded with the administration for policies that make it “easier — not harder — for Wyoming ranchers to feed America.” Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton called the beef import plan “ill-advised” and urged Trump to reconsider. Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer was blunter: “I’m extremely disappointed by this decision,” she wrote on X.

In the handful of northern states that could swing control of Congress in November, Republicans caught off-guard by the collapse in talks between the White House and Canada have pressed Trump to call off a trade war that could make a broad range of goods more expensive.

“Imposing new tariffs on Canada is a mistake,” said Maine Sen. Susan Collins, who is locked in a tight race to keep her seat. “I really want us to go back to the very friendly, economically beneficial relationship that we have with our Canadian neighbors.”

The chorus of rebukes further underscored the deteriorating relationship between Trump and the Republican lawmakers whose fate will determine the trajectory of his last years in office.

Trump has largely resisted altering his priorities to help buoy GOP lawmakers ahead of November, spending recent months devoted to his pet construction projects, waging an unpopular war in the Middle East and building on his aggressive tariff regime. Republican candidates, in turn, have grown increasingly anxious that the drag created by Trump’s cratering approval ratings will cost them control of the House and possibly even the Senate.

“The haphazard and inconsistent way that these tariffs have been applied has created unnecessary chaos,” said Jason Roe, a Michigan GOP strategist. “Picking fights with our largest trading partners and allies is not particularly helpful.”

Despite the frustration rippling across the GOP, White House officials downplayed the fallout from Trump’s trade decisions, arguing that they are aimed at benefiting voters over the long term.

In discussions with worried lawmakers and allies, aides have emphasized that the planned ramp-up of ground beef imports is a temporary solution meant to address shortages and bring prices down ahead of November, two people familiar with the matter said. The order, which is still being finalized, is designed to bolster supply until more gradual efforts to boost US cattle producers begin to show results.

“Do candidates not want to talk about what the GOP is doing to get beef prices down?” one White House official said of the blowback on the administration’s beef plan. “It’s not us saying that American producers are not competitive or not doing their jobs. It’s just us saying we’re in a supply crunch.”

The escalating tariff standoff with Canada, meanwhile, is one that aides have sought to turn into the latest display of Trump’s dealmaking prowess — arguing that the pain of any higher costs will fall disproportionately on its northern neighbor.

Trump officials blamed Canadian leaders for tanking a trade deal as it neared the finish line by making new demands, though Canada has claimed that conflicting signals on the US side ended up nixing the agreement. Trump also appeared to undercut his team’s position, suggesting in a phone interview with CNN that he’d added conditions late in the talks.

“That sounds like me,” Trump said Saturday, adding that “they have to pay a fair amount. And if they don’t pay a fair amount, we won’t make a deal. That’s fine.”

Trump has shown no inclination to restart talks in earnest, signaling he’ll push for even more favorable terms and attacking Canada in a flurry of Truth Social posts that included threats to rename Lake Ontario: “Lake America.”

“I deal with many countries, and Canada is easily the most difficult and unreasonable,” he vented in another social media post.

The two sides still have a couple weeks before the September 8 deadline for Canada to impose its own retaliatory tariffs, a cushion that Republicans have urged Trump officials to take advantage of in pursuit of a deal that averts an all-out trade war.

Trump has repeatedly backed off his most extreme tariff threats in the past in favor of settling for more reasonable agreements that he can tout as victories. And despite the bluster, there’s recognition among some officials that a lengthy trade fight with a close US ally like Canada would be unsustainable and broadly unpopular, a person familiar with the matter said.

Yet the prospect of reaching an economic truce down the road has offered scant comfort to Republicans confronting the more immediate political fallout just two months out from Election Day.

“Roiling the Michigan political scene with this is not super helpful at the moment,” said Roe, who is advising GOP Rep. Tom Barrett in one of the House districts that Democrats are seeking to flip. “We have such a strong economic relationship to Canada that this makes it harder for us to solve some of the affordability issues that are dogging us.”

As for the imported beef plan that Trump officials had hoped would help offset some of those cost concerns, the alarm over its implications has instead spread rapidly through the GOP base — including into the kitchen of Washington’s most popular MAGA hangout.

“From Minnesota to the Texas border, Americans are frustrated that cheaper economies elsewhere are hollowing out our own,” Bart Hutchins, the owner of Butterworth’s restaurant wrote in a DailyWire op-ed. “The expansion will not help the American rancher; it will finish him off.”

In a text message, former Trump strategist and MAGA commentator Steve Bannon offered a more succinct review: “Hate it.”

CNN’s Jim Sciutto contributed to this report.

Michigan GOP lawmaker casts doubt on El-Sayed’s socialist denial as policies tell another story: ‘Sharp odds’

August 26, 2026 5:00am EDT / Fox News

Michigan state Rep Bill Schuette predicts voters will reject El-Sayed’s agenda on ICE, Medicare for All and Israel

By Kiera McDonald, Andrew Mark Miller

Michigan GOP lawmaker says voters won’t buy El-Sayed’s socialist denial

Michigan state Rep. Bill G. Schuette told Fox News Digital Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed’s policies are “emblematic” of socialism and predicted voters will reject them in November.

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Despite Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed denying ties to socialism, a Republican Michigan lawmaker warned his policy agenda tells a different story and predicted voters will reject it in November.

“Abdul El-Sayed can’t define what a woman is, so I’m not surprised he can’t define what socialist is,” Michigan state Rep. Bill G. Schuette told Fox News Digital.

“The facts are all the policies he supports are emblematic of the DSA movement and of this really far-left socialist idea.”

El-Sayed, a former public health official, narrowly defeated establishment-backed Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., securing an upset victory for the party’s progressive wing in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary earlier this month. His nomination follows multiple primary victories by candidates aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), including in New York, Florida and Colorado.

DEMS’ LEFTWARD LURCH GETS LEGS AS EL-SAYED’S MICHIGAN SENATE VICTORY SPARKS PARTY DEBATE

Abdul El-Sayed speaks to supporters at his Get Out to Vote rally in Detroit, Mich., on Aug. 3, 2026. He is seeking to defeat Rep. Haley Stevens in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary and advance to the general election in November. The candidates are vying for Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat to replace retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters.(JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

While El-Sayed has pushed back on the socialist label, he has drawn support from political heavyweights and DSA members like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.

El-Sayed previously told CBS News he wants to build a “broad coalition” of supporters of President Donald Trump and DSA members, saying he doesn’t “do ideology” but favors “solutions that solve problems.” He separately told CNN, “I believe in capitalism, I just believe that capitalism has to be regulated.”

According to Schuette, El-Sayed’s victory is evidence that the Democratic Party has “jumped the shark” by embracing more progressive candidates.

“They’ve gone down a policy rabbit hole of far-left socialism that is at odds with our way of life in Michigan and our way of life in the United States of America writ large,” he said.

Schuette said his biggest concern is that El-Sayed wants to put Michigan on “a completely different track.”

“I’m more concerned about the policies that he’s advocating for that, again, I think are at really sharp odds with the way you can start a business, start a family and live your life in Michigan,” he said.

DSA’S GROWING GRIP ON DEM PARTY HITS NEW TERRITORY AS ESTABLISHMENT FALLS IN LINE

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate primary candidate Abdul El-Sayed and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt, greet the crowd after El-Sayed spoke at The People V. The Powerful rally at the Detroit Opera House on July 18, 2026, in Detroit, Mich.(Sarah Rice/Getty Images)

Some of El-Sayed’s campaign priorities are abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Medicare for All, taxing billionaire wealth and ending U.S. military aid to Israel.

Schuette said affordability will be key in the midterms, saying that El-Sayed’s policies run counter to the “spirit of America.”

“The spirit of America is about entrepreneurship and American ingenuity, hard work,” he said. “Those are the types of policies that Abdul El-Sayed would work directly against.”

Schuette also took aim at El-Sayed’s association with far-left streamer Hasan Piker, who has roughly 10 million social media followers and has said “America deserved 9/11.” Piker endorsed El-Sayed and has attended several of his campaign events.

“The fact that he associates with people like Hasan Piker, who say that America deserves 9/11, I mean, that’s disgusting,” he said.

El-Sayed distanced himself from Piker after the streamer’s comments about Jewish Michigan state Sen. Jeremy Moss, the Democratic nominee in the state’s 11th Congressional District. A recent viral audio clip, which Moss has said is fake, appeared to suggest that his entire reason for running for Congress is to make sure that America continues to support Israel.

Reacting to the clip, Piker said, “If Jews in America keep putting this idea out there that they are singularly invested in Israel, eventually someone is going to come around and take action, not against the state of Israel, mind you, but against American Jews.”

UNEARTHED CLIP OF EL-SAYED REVEALING HIS ‘HATE’ FOR ICONIC MICHIGAN TOWN SPARKS ONLINE FIRESTORM: ‘DARK HEART’

Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan, talks poolside with streamer Hasan Piker at a party for content creators supporting his campaign Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, in Detroit.(Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)

“I want to be crystal clear, nobody speaks for this campaign besides me and my campaign spokespeople,” El-Sayed said in a statement Monday responding to Piker’s comments.

Highlighting the importance of representing Michiganders, Schuette argued El-Sayed doesn’t align with the state, pointing to his resurfaced remarks that he “hates” Mackinac Island and linking football to “toxic masculinity.”

“It doesn’t seem that he likes Michigan very much or our way in America very much either,” he said.

With the midterm elections approaching in November, Schuette said he believes voters will reject socialism and choose “an idea that looks for ways to give the American people more freedom and opportunity and more of their own money back in their own wallets.”

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“I’m confident the people in Michigan will choose that,” he said.

El-Sayed will face Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers for retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters’ seat in a race that could determine control of the Senate.

Fox News Digital reached out to El-Sayed’s campaign for comment.

Kiera McDonald is a Production Assistant for Fox News Digital.

Norah O’Donnell: Secrets of the gut microbiome and how it impacts our long-term brain health

August 26, 2026 / 7:05 AM EDT / CBS News

I have always been interested in the idea of food as medicine, and the significant role our diets play in our long-term health. On the latest episode of “Healthful,” I sat down with Dr. Laura Cox, an assistant professor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Cox is an expert on the gut microbiome and what it means for our neurological health.

The gut microbiome “is the trillions of microbial cells that live in our guts,” she explained, describing it as “a community of microbes that supports our health” by making vitamins, educating our body’s immune system and even protecting us from pathogens.

The gut microbiome can affect our brains by changing our immune systems and our metabolism, Cox said.

Her work also focuses on whether gut health is linked to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Here are some of the takeaways from our conversation —watch it on YouTube and listen wherever you get your podcasts:

Can GLP1s help prevent Alzheimer’s disease?

According to Cox, researchers are learning more about the effects of GLP-1 drugs, which are used to treat diabetes or obesity, on our gut health.

“GLP-1s can affect the gut microbiome because they can act on the gut barrier and change some of the immune interactions,” Cox explained, adding that GLP-1 drugs can have a “direct effect on the brain.”

Researchers often refer to Alzheimer’s disease as “Type 3 diabetes” because of its link to insulin resistance.

“So the GLP-1 might have a direct protective effect in preventing Alzheimer’s disease,” Cox said. “Now in late stage, it doesn’t seem to have an effect. And it may be too late of an intervention there. But there may be a pathway for disease prevention very, very early on.”

The possible link between Parkinson’s, the gut and constipation

Gut inflammation is a “primary pathway” through which the gut microbiome can impact certain neurological diseases, such as Parkinson’s, Cox said.

“Parkinson’s disease is one of those diseases with the most evidence that the gut microbiome is involved,” Cox said.

Neurological diseases have “different signatures,” she said, and research has found that “constipation symptoms can precede” the onset of Parkinson’s by 20 years.

Cox said alpha-synuclein, the misfolded proteins that cause Parkinson’s disease, can sometimes start in the gut and spread up the vagus nerve — the nerve that carries signals between your brain, heart and digestive system.

According to Cox, studies have shown that cutting the vagus nerve, a surgical procedure known as a vagotomy, can reduce the risk of Parkinson’s.

Parkinson’s patients can also have a “gut inflammatory signature” that looks similar to that of inflammatory bowel disease because of an overabundance of proteins called lipocalin and calprotectin, Cox said.

“One of the things that we understand about Parkinson’s is that oftentimes, there’s a genetic risk plus an environmental risk on top of it,” Cox said. “We know that there are many pathways to Parkinson’s. So there are other environmental toxicants that can lead to this. We think the gut microbiome is a really important pathway there.”

Morning and night breast milk have different hormones

During pregnancy, according to Cox, a mother’s gut microbiome changes to look like her baby’s microbiome.

“She gets higher levels of what I like to call baby bacteria,” Cox said, which include the yogurt bacteria Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium.

And during breastfeeding, studies indicate a mother can respond to the changing microbiome needs of her baby, Cox said.

“There are some studies that suggest that the mom can kind of respond to the baby, and if she senses inflammation, she can kind of send out different signals,” Cox said. “We know that breast milk contains many different components to feed an infant’s gut microbiome.”

Furthermore, new research shows the breast milk a mother produces in the morning is different in composition than the breast milk produced at the end of day, containing higher levels of hormones designed to either help their infants stay awake or sleep.

So mothers who pump breast milk can label the two different types.

“For example, there’s higher levels of melatonin, the sleep hormone, in the late-night milk,” Cox said. “So then there’s higher levels of cortisol, the awake hormone, in the a.m. milk. And so the thought is, if you separate that, you might be able to get your baby to sleep better.”

Vitamin B serves several important functions

Cox said vitamin B is crucial to our health because it plays several roles in the body.

“It tunes the immune system,” Cox said. “It supports brain health. And it’s been linked to many different neurologic diseases.”

Cox explained that researchers can study a sample of your gut microbiome and sequence it to determine what chemicals your microbiome is producing and if it’s potentially the source of a vitamin B deficiency.

“We’re trying to say not just how can I have a generic healthy microbiome, but what is your microbiome lacking?” Cox said. “What is it producing? And so how can we keep everything in balance that way?”