Adam Nichols

A central Bible verse left Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville puzzled Wednesday — as he compared himself to America’s poorest people.

Tuberville, a member of the conservative Churches of Christ denomination who frequently espouses his beliefs, including posting on his Facebook page, “As a man of Christian Faith, it’s horrifying to witness this decline of morals in America,” was tripped up by the words of Jesus.

“Punishing what?” the Republican uttered at the reference as a Raw Story reporter confronted him over the GOP’s move to throw 750,000 people off Obamacare.

“Some of the people say your party’s, you know, punishing ‘the least of these,’” he was told.

“Punishing what? ‘The least of these?’”

“‘The least of these’ — biblical reference,” the reporter explained, referring to the famous verse in Matthew 25:40, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

Jesus speaks the words, teaching that acts of kindness toward the poor, sick or hungry are acts done for Jesus himself.

“The least of these?” Tuberville asked again, clearly puzzled.

But he soldiered on.

“Well, we’re all getting punished,” he said. “We’re all in the same boat.”

Congress members choose a top-tier health care plan and have about 75 percent of the cost covered by taxpayers.

A rank-and-file member of the House also receives a salary of $174,000-a-year.

Tuberville's home state, meanwhile, is the eighth poorest in the nation, with more than 16 percent of its population living under the federal poverty level.

On Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz announced that roughly 750,000 people have had their ACA coverage canceled, citing fraud.

Vance said those enrollments include people unaware they were enrolled, people with employer-provided coverage, or those earning above 400% of the federal poverty level. He estimated the move will save taxpayers $2.2 billion.

Another 419,000 marketplace enrollees face additional verification. The administration also suspended new agents or brokers for six months.

Officials did not provide details about who lost coverage or how they were informed, and health policy experts question the administration's claims about the scale of fraud.

“Yeah. I mean, good job,” said Tuberville.

“This is the first group that ever tried to clean it up. We're losing hundreds of millions of dollars a day to fraud. We can't afford it.”

Republican senators gave their verdict on Sen. Mitch McConnell's first week back at work Wednesday, with one saying it doesn't matter if the Kentucky politician is able to talk or not.

Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) stared daggers at a Raw Story reporter when asked if McConnell had proved himself capable of doing the job after turning up four times to vote since Sept. 14.

The senator disappeared for weeks after reportedly taking a fall at home on June 14, and being hospitalized until August. He has looked vacant and has yet to be seen speaking — other than to verbally vote the wrong way on a bill.

Fischer was asked if that worried her, and if she thought McConnell should be asked to demonstrate — perhaps with a short video — that he can respond to questions.

"Does he need to? I don't think he needs to," she slapped back.

"He was here for our Farm Bill vote, and he voted. People were saying that he didn't respond, no, he voted."

On Sept. 15, McConnell initially appeared to vote with the Democrats in his first vote back at the Senate, but switched his vote from "no" to "aye" after Republican colleagues, including Chair John Boozman, leaned in and murmured to him.

The bill passed 12-11, a margin his original vote would have reversed.

Many appalled commentators claimed that proved he was in no way competent to represent the people of Kentucky.

"He was very quiet to begin with," said Fischer, returning to concerns that he hadn't been heard speaking. "He spoke [at the Farm Bill vote]. There was disruption, if you watch the video." The video shows McConnell murmur "no," and then change his answer to "aye."

Senator John Hoeven (R-ND), one of the members who directed McConnell on how to vote, told Raw Story it was his fault that the Kentucky senator initially went with the Democrats.

"He had it right," he said.

"It was [a] vote on final passage. I thought we were still doing a procedural vote on motions to challenge the ruling of the chair. So no, he had it right."

He then told Raw Story McConnell would be happy to chat to show how competent he is — despite multiple attempts to talk with him being ignored by him or rebuffed by aides.

"You know, you can visit him," Hoeven said. "He'll be coming in and out for votes and, one of these times he does, you can talk to him and I think you'll find he's the same old Mitch. He's not the most talkative guy in the hall. He's always been that way."

Other Republicans were much less willing to discuss McConnell's return. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) dashed into a Senate elevator and avoided eye contact when asked about it.

And Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) uttered just "oh man" when asked.

When pushed for comment, he said, "He's a great guy" as the elevator doors closed.

The Vladimir Putin ally who secretly bankrolled much of Donald Trump Jr.’s Bahamas wedding had apparently met him only once in public — at an event where they bonded over a MAGA outrage.

In what appears to be the only recorded meeting between Trump Jr. and Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev, Trump Jr. ranted about men taking part in women’s sports — and cited a scandal from the 2024 Olympics that had been soundly debunked.

Trump shared the stage with Kremlev at an Istanbul conference held by the disgraced boxing organization the International Boxing Association — of which Kremlev is president — in September 2025.

The event was celebrated in a press release from the IBA — an organization that the International Olympic Committee refuses to recognize because of concerns over financial transparency, ethical governance, and the integrity of refereeing and judging.

Despite this, Trump Jr. said at the event, “I am proud to call Umar not only a leader but a friend.”

Trump Jr. — who has no official connection to boxing and was introduced as the executive vice president of The Trump Organization — admitted he was a misfit at the event, saying, “I probably don’t belong to this incredible family of champions and legends.”

He then launched into a criticism aimed at Olympic boxers that the outraged right-wing claimed had been allowed to compete against women despite being genetically men.

“What I saw at the last Olympic Games was truly sad, especially as the father of a young female athlete. The fairness of sport matters. My daughter has dedicated her life to excellence, and to see those values undermined is unacceptable.

“What Umar is doing — restoring actual fairness, bringing back the purity of boxing and giving the youth of today a chance to step away from the computer and into the ring — is extraordinary.”

Kremlev’s IBA had disqualified Lin Yu-ting, from Chinese Taipei, and Imane Khelif, from Algeria, from its 2023 World Championships over gender-testing issues, though it published no legal medical evidence.

The two, however, went on to win gold medals in the Paris 2024 Olympics after the IOC refused to recognize the IBA’s tests. The issues became a major flashpoint, with President Donald Trump claiming the athletes had “transitioned” from men.

Both boxers are women who were never transgender.

No connection between Trump Jr. and Kremlev was documented after that meeting until a Monday report from ProPublica revealed that the Russian quietly rented a private island in the Bahamas for Trump Jr.’s extravagant wedding to Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson in May, covered the cost of a massive firework display, and had members of his team assist with planning.

The funds reportedly moved through a Dubai-based entity tied to the IBA — and prompted a ferocious outcry over potential corruption.

Kremlev, who was born Umar Lutfulloyev and has a criminal record for extortion and battery, was a leader in a Russian government-backed biker gang called the Night Wolves, a role in which he reportedly connected with Alexei Rubezhnoi, who leads Putin's presidential security service. In 2017, Rubezhnoi personally intervened to install Kremlev at the head of the Russian Boxing Federation, ProPublica reported.

In 2020, Kremlev became president of the IBA and brought in tens of millions of dollars in financing from Gazprom, the Russian state-owned energy giant, according to the report. A former high-level IBA official told ProPublica that Kremlev was "guided by Putin" and was using the sport for political influence.

Photos show Putin and Kremlev together at events, including a 2022 martial arts gathering in Moscow. Putin awarded him Russia's Order of Friendship, a state honor, in the months before Trump Jr.'s wedding.

President Donald Trump’s visit to Ireland next weekend is expected to send tens of thousands of furious protesters onto the streets — but it’s a tongue-lashing from a dignitary actually hosting his visit that might leave him reeling.

Dublin politicians and activists expect seas of people to flood the city's streets to protest the arrival of Trump, who is scheduled to meet Irish leaders in the nation’s capital before helicoptering to his Doonbeg golf resort in County Clare to watch the Irish Open.

“There will be very large protests against Donald Trump,” Paul Murphy, a People Before Profit-Solidarity member of the Irish parliament and a former member of the European Parliament, told Raw Story.

"He is arguably the most despised political figure worldwide amongst the Irish population. He encapsulates for people all that is wrong and scary and getting worse about the world.”

And Sara O’Rourke, convenor of the Irish Neutrality League and chair of the Irish Anti-War Movement, said, “We’re not happy he’s coming.

“We wouldn’t invite Putin with a red carpet and we don’t think Trump should be invited to this meet and greet in this official state capacity.”

Street closures and airborne transfers between private properties mean America’s president can be effectively isolated from roiling anger among protesters.

But he will not be able to hide from one of the people scheduled to greet him, both Murphy and O’Rourke said.

Ireland’s President Catherine Connolly has long been outspoken against Trump, calling him a bully and criticizing America’s foreign policy, particularly in the Middle East, where she accused him of enabling genocide in Gaza. And she's promised not to hesitate to tell him that to his face.

On Trump’s last official visit to the nation in 2019, Connolly — who had yet to be elected as president — took part in protests against him.

And Trump apparently has little idea who she is.

“She was a left, independent member of parliament,” said O’Rourke. “ ... Her colors have been pinned to the mast a long time ago.

“She was asked this question during her election campaign, would she meet him? And she said she would have to, … understanding she would need to meet and greet heads of state.

“ … I don’t have a crystal ball, but while our Taoiseach [Micheál Martin] is going to be, I can predict now, smiling and bowing … I don’t think President Connolly is going to do that. I think, if she says anything, it’ll be about peace and diplomacy. Those are very much part of the principles of her."

Murphy agreed.

“I would be confident that she will make the majority of the Irish public’s position clear to Trump. It might be in more diplomatic language than will be heard on the streets, but I think it’ll be clear nonetheless.

“Of all the official people that Donald Trump will come to meet, she’s the one who will tell him the truth. That we support Palestine, we defend neutrality.”

The fact that Trump apparently doesn’t even know Connolly's gender suggests he has little idea of what is to come at the meeting, both said.

“I wonder how well informed he is because, you know, as recently as last week, he referred to her as a he,” said O’Rourke.

And it wasn’t the first time.

Murphy added, “During the White House visit [with Martin on St. Patrick's Day 2026], a journalist asked a question about her criticism of him, and he said something like, 'he’s lucky I exist.' That’s misgendering Catherine Connolly.

“Presumably, if he listens to his advisors — and, when you read this stuff, sometimes he’s not capable of listening to his advisors — presumably part of the briefing they will try to give him will explain, ‘Oh, this is the person who is very critical of you.’

“So who knows? Obviously there’s the potential for a clash there between Donald Trump and President Connolly, it’s definitely possible.”

Trump is set to touch down Saturday before making his way to Phoenix Park — the biggest public park in Europe that's home to the official residence of the president of Ireland. The entire park, including a public zoo, will be shut down by security from Thursday.

The "No Welcome For Trump" protest will start at Dublin's Garden of Remembrance and wind through the city center streets on Saturday afternoon. More protests are expected in County Clare, which is home to Trump's golf club, and at Shannon Airport, which is used by America's military.

President Donald Trump got a stern warning from members of his own party as he was lambasted for shrugging off an issue fast snowballing into a major crisis.

Trump’s refusal to admit Americans are hurting economically — in fact, calling affordability worries a “hoax” and claiming they’d been fixed — is going to clatter him, key Republicans warned as they returned from meeting with constituents.

“I think he knows different,” vice chairman of the conservative Freedom Caucus Rep. Ralph Norman told Raw Story when asked if Trump really believes there’s no problem.

And, when confronted with concerns that the White House is ignoring the issue, he said, "Well, I think they're going to find out if they do. They shouldn't do that."

Norman spoke to Raw Story after weeks of meeting with constituents in his South Carolina district.

Near the top of concerns he heard about was the construction of massive data centers to fuel AI — another issue that Trump has publicly dismissed, claiming that the only communities opposing them choose to be "backwards and poor."

But towering above that was the cost of living issue.

Back in February, Trump announced that affordability was a problem of President Joe Biden’s administration, and that he was fixing it.

“They would say affordability, everybody would say, ‘Oh, Trump caused–,’ no, they cause the affordability problem,” he said. “And we’ve solved it. And we’re going still lower, but we’ve solved it.”

Half a year later, long-term interest rates are higher than they’ve been since President George W. Bush’s administration, a six-month war with Iran is sending prices rocketing and Trump’s economic approval rating has been at historic lows for several weeks.

Arkansas Republican Rep. Bruce Westerman echoed Norman.

"It always comes up,” he told Raw Story about the prominence of cost of living worries as he speaks to constituents.

“You know, people drive by gas stations every day and they see the price at the pump and they, you know, much like in the Biden administration, they feel it at the grocery store and everything they buy.

“So they are looking for relief.

"I don't think the affordability problem is all the way solved yet. I think that a lot of the policies we put in place had things heading in the right direction — until we saw the war in Iran, which affected oil, which affects everything."

And Lauren Boebert (R-CO), usually a staunch supporter of Trump’s policies, said ranchers in her district are mad at the president.

“I'm worried about my farmers and ranchers,” she said.

“Like, seriously, my ranchers are like, p—ed over this beef stuff, and, you know, I want to get a farm bill passed. I want to get WRDA passed. I want us to get authorizing bills. Like we're like, that's the stuff I'm worried about.”

She did, however, voice reluctance to blame Trump.

“Affordability. But you can't just throw out that word,” she told Raw Story.

“I mean, Democrats made things unaffordable under Joe Biden. I mean, inflation was sky high and they did nothing to solve it, and now all of a sudden they want to pretend like they have the answers.”

She added, “I think that there are steps that we're doing to work on it. I mean, the Venezuela oil deal — love it! There's some things we're doing amazingly, some things we certainly can do better on.”

MAGA Rep. Nancy Mace hurled an expletive Tuesday as she learned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bragged on live TV that he manipulated Donald Trump into attacking Iran.

Viewers were left gasping as Netanyahu revealed he ran an "influence" campaign he claimed helped drag America into the widely unpopular war — that has now been going on for six months, has killed an estimated 18 Americans and left Trump's popularity ratings plummeting.

Mace was told about the claims as she walked what looked like a Havanese she called Millie into the Capitol Friday.

"If it's true, it's kind of f----ed up," said the South Carolina Republican, who is leaving Congress in January after stepping down to unsuccessfully run for governor. She added that she hadn't seen the video of the Israeli leader speaking.

Another MAGA-ally in Congress, Anna Paulina Luna (FL), also said she hadn't seen the video, but commented, " I will say, no-one can manipulate Trump."

Facing grim poll numbers ahead of October elections, Netanyahu sat down with Israeli network Channel 14 Sunday to make his case to voters. Speaking in Hebrew, he described decades of opposition to Iran and claimed it eventually paid off.

“I’ve been against Iran for almost 40 years… it took a long time to bring the United States to its senses,” Netanyahu said in Hebrew, according to Zeteo’s Prem Thakker.

“[I’ve had] close to 1,000 hours on American television with the ability to influence the United States — with the intimate knowledge of all its leaders, both those who support us and those who don’t support us — the ability to navigate this field, through it.”

“The gall," wrote Thakker. "In English, Netanyahu lavishes praise on U.S. leaders. In Hebrew, he boasts of how he manipulated them.”

And journalist Max Blumenthal wrote, “Netanyahu explicitly cites how the U.S. media has served as a compliant springboard, a vessel for his influence operation on, if not the populace, at least the consultants and members of Congress who engage with cable news more than their actual constituents.”

Bloomberg reported in March that a White House insider revealed Trump’s decision to launch a war against Iran was “partly motivated by pressure from outside allies” — chief among them being Netanyahu.

Speculation that Netanyahu had “pulled” Trump into the deeply unpopular conflict was so strong that Trump felt compelled to respond: “Israel never talked me into the war with Iran,” he wrote in a social media post in late April.

Mace, who already owns a Havanese called Liberty and who insiders say recently adopted Millie, stopped to talk to a protester outside the Capitol who was holding a sign that read: "$40,000,000,000,000 Rick4Dictator.com" and told Raw Story he was planning a presidential run.

"I needed an animal in my life," she told him. "Another one."

Rudy Giuliani has been ordered to prepare for trial after he failed to silence “sordid” sex claims hurled against him — and a lawyer made famous by a movie took up his accuser’s case.

The disgraced former New York City mayor and Donald Trump lawyer must sit for a deposition before the end of January next year — and be ready to go before a jury by the end of March, according to a judge's order filed in New York Supreme Court this week.

It follows a 3-year fight by Noelle Dunphy, who claims she was subjected to booze-and-Viagra-fueled sexual harassment, including being forced to have sex, while working for Giuliani between 2019 and 2021. She claims to have recordings of many of Giuliani’s demands.

The order from Manhattan Judge Nicholas Moyne quashes efforts by Giuliani’s legal team to have the case thrown out — and brushes aside arguments that he’s too sick and poor to stand trial.

“This has been going on a long time,” Dunphy’s lawyer, Bill Robedee, who took over the case in May, told Raw Story.

“The wrongs that were done to Noelle were done nearly a decade ago and it’s time to get her the resolution that she deserves.”

Giuliani's lawyer, Adam Katz, did not respond to interview requests from Raw Story.

Dunphy’s lawsuit is seeking $10 million in damages. In it, she claims she was hired by Giuliani for “business development work and other work,” but he harassed her and demanded sex until he fired her, owing $2 million in unpaid wages.

“Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former US Attorney, once hailed as ‘America’s Mayor,’ is a sexist sexual predator and abuser,” she said in the lawsuit.

The suit added, “Giuliani threatened [Dunphy] with further retaliation if she did not stay silent, stating that his private investigators and political connections to President Trump enabled him to retaliate in other ways, express and implied."

“This is a pretty sordid case,” Robedee said.

“It's just another window that you can peek into to kind of get a look at … the vapid depravity of those who rule over us. It reminded me of when I first started going through the Epstein files online.”

Giuliani has scrambled to get the case dismissed, with his legal team claiming Dunphy never actually worked for him, but instead the pair “dated for a few months.”

But Moyne refused to dismiss earlier this year.

Giuliani’s team has also argued he’s too ill to stand trial, and too poor to pay any resulting damages.

The former mayor, 82, was hospitalized in May with severe pneumonia and placed in a medically induced coma that required a ventilator. He later described having a near-death “spiritual experience.”

In 2024, he filed for bankruptcy after being ordered to pay $148 million in damages to two election workers he was found to have defamed with election tampering claims in Georgia. A federal judge dismissed the filing in 2024.

He has also been disbarred in New York and Washington, D.C., after he lied repeatedly about the 2020 election results.

“The challenge with Mr. Giuliani in the last year or so,” said Robedee, “Is that he seems to be very ill and, at the same time, he seems to be flying all around the world.

“... In July, he addressed the Italian parliament. The day we were in court, I believe the same day, he was at Castel Gandolfo for a conference and was photographed with the Holy Father. … He was in Bulgaria, he had a big birthday party at our embassy in Greece.

“And, you know, for a guy who’s not working and is poor, who pays for these private jet flights? … I think there’s a lot of question marks around what the true state of Mr. Giuliani’s health is and what the true state of his income and asset status is.”

Robedee is probably best known for representing Colin Warner, a Black man in Brooklyn who was jailed for 21 years for a murder he did not commit. The successful fight to free him was told in the 2017 movie “Crown Heights.”

When he began his law career in New York City, he said, Giuliani was widely revered.

“He was the Italian-American lawyer that took on the mafia,” he said. ”Whether you loved him or hated him, you admired him.

“You can’t delight in a fall from grace as spectacular, as humiliating, as what’s happened to Rudy Giuliani.”