David Edwards

Fox News contributor Dagen McDowell attempted to spin higher gas prices caused by President Donald Trump's strikes on Iran by noting that Americans weren't yet experiencing "food rationing" as they did in World War II.

"According to AAA, the national average hit $3.22 today," Fox News host Martha MacCallum told McDowell on Friday. "That's a 30-cent increase since the strikes in the Middle East began."

She pointed out that Trump had told Reuters that he was not personally concerned about the price of gas.

"If they rise, they rise," the president said.

"I don't mean to belittle what people will experience when they go to fill up," McDowell said. "We are looking at nationwide gas prices running $3.50 a gallon to $3.90 a gallon."

"That being said, I will just repeat what my father would always say. People get upset about, you know, gas prices, and he would hold up the food rationing, the coupon book from World War II, and say, this is what we went through when our men and our boys were fighting for our freedom then," she added. "So perspective is much needed here."

"People went years without, nobody bought a new car for years during the war, and people would typically say, well, when the war is over, we'll do this, or we'll do that," MacCallum agreed. "But they, you know, understood the big picture importance."

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt attempted to spin an Iranian "unconditional surrender" as something that was for President Donald Trump to decide.

During a press gaggle outside the White House on Friday, a reporter asked Leavitt about Trump's demand for an unconditional surrender.

"What does the president mean when he calls for unconditional surrender?" the reporter wondered. "Is he saying that the regime has to fully relinquish control?"

"What the president means is that when he, as commander-in-chief of the U.S. armed forces, determines that Iran no longer poses a threat to the United States of America and the goals of Operation Epic Fury has been fully realized, then Iran will essentially be in a place of unconditional surrender," Leavitt said. "Whether they say it themselves or not, frankly, they don't have a lot of people to say that for them because the United States and the state of Israel have completely wiped out more than 50 leaders of the former terrorist regime, including the Supreme Leader himself."

Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV) suggested that James Talarico, a Democrat running for U.S. Senate in Texas, was possessed by demons.

The West Virginia Republican attacked the Texas hopeful during a Friday interview with MAGA influencer Benny Johnson.

"You're fighting for light," Johnson said while introducing Moore. "Christians throughout the world, quite frankly, under persecution. Christians always are the ones who get persecuted, beheaded, slaughtered."

"They're always the ones who get trod under and nobody ever talks about them and it's evil," he continued. "You're a man of faith yourself that is actually talking about it."

For his part, Moore claimed that protesters had demonstrated outside of his church in West Virginia, but did not allege they broke the law.

"I had people protesting me outside of my church. My family and I going on," he explained. "They showed up from wherever the hell they're from. And, you know, me and my family were just trying to go to Mass. And here they are. You know, I mean, no, no space is sacred to them."

"Now we just got to make sure that James Talarico doesn't get into the Senate," Johnson said before ending the interview. "I mean, that guy saying that Jesus loves abortion and loves transing of the kids and that God is non-binary. I feel dirty, Congressman, just repeating his blasphemes and heresy on my show. I'm telling you what he says. It is antithetical to the Bible. It's actually anti-Christian. It's actually Antichrist's ideology."

"I think he is demonic," Moore remarked. "And I think we need to keep an eye on that and watchful eye because there are other forces of work in my view."

Johnson replied: "It's a defiling of God's order. It's a defiling of God's nature. Yeah. And it's pretty simple. It's nice. Even a even a, even a community college graduate like me can get it, Congressman."

Talarico, a 36-year-old part-time Presbyterian seminarian and former middle school teacher, has built a political platform rooted in Christian theology and social justice. Talarico uses scripture to champion the poor and vulnerable, relying on Christ's teachings to challenge corporate interests and political divisions. He has gained national attention for using his theological background to criticize Christian nationalism, condemning it as a "betrayal of Jesus of Nazareth" that "worships power in the name of Christ."

On his campaign website, Talarico references "a barefoot rabbi" who issued two overriding commandments: love God and love your neighbor, "because there is no love of God without love of neighbor." He writes that "every single person bears the image of the sacred; every single person is holy — not just the neighbors who look like me or pray like me or vote like me," and calls for followers to adopt the spirit of that rabbi who "walked into the seat of power and flipped over the tables of injustice," arguing it is time to "start flipping tables."

His opposition to a Ten Commandments bill went viral when he declared: "Maybe they should try following the Ten Commandments before mandating them," demonstrating his conviction that genuine faith should guide political action rather than serve as political theater.

Fox Business host Stuart Varney pressed Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer on a poor jobs report that "doesn't look good for the Trump economy."

Before Varney's interview with Chavez-DeRemer on Friday, Fox Business correspondent Connor Hansen noted that the economy lost 92,000 jobs in February instead of the expected gain of 59,000.

"Healthcare lost 28,000 jobs following a large spike in January," he observed. "Leisure and hospitality lost 27,000. Construction losing 11,000. The federal government with 10,000 less jobs and manufacturing down 12,000."

"Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer joins me now," Varney announced. "Madam Secretary, 92,000 jobs out in February. Fewer jobs in healthcare, fewer jobs for information services because of AI, the weather hurt things, government employment down."

"If you add it all up, it doesn't look good for the Trump economy," the host pointed out.

"Yeah, I couldn't agree with you," the secretary disagreed. "I think we have to address the fact that this is not a good report in its raw numbers, but we have to also talk about why this possibly has happened, this snapshot in time."

Chavez-DeRemer placed the blame on winter storms and a health care strike in California.

"But overall, we've gained 60,000 new jobs over the last two months," she insisted.

"And we did get revisions for December and January," Varney replied. "69,000 fewer jobs created than previously reported. So can we rely on your numbers?"

"Yeah, absolutely," Chavez-DeRemer remarked. "I think the president, that's exactly what he was questioning early in the year when he took office."

"We don't like to see these revisions," she added. "We want to make sure that we have integrity through BLS, we have integrity in the numbers."

Fox News hosts Lawrence Jones, Ainsley Earhardt, and Brian Kilmeade called masculinity into question after President Donald Trump received soccer legend Lionel Messi's pink soccer jersey.

On Friday, the trio of co-hosts reflected on an event Trump had with Messi the day before.

"During the event, the team handed Trump a pink Inter Miami jersey and a pink-colored soccer ball," Kilmeade noted.

"I don't know the answer to this, but I hope you do. Why pink? Is that their color? Is it breast cancer?" Earhardt wondered.

"No, I was shocked that they picked pink," Kilmeade said.

"It might be because someone on the team or someone who owns it," Earhardt speculated.

"Every day's breast cancer day if they're pink," Kilmeade mused.

"It's just interesting that a male team is pink," Earhardt remarked.

"It shows people very comfortable with their masculinity," Kilmeade observed.

"I love it when a guy wears a pink button-down shirt," Earhardt volunteered before noting that her boyfriend, Fox News host Sean Hannity, didn't wear them anymore.

"The honeymoon is over," she complained.

"He put a ring on it already," Jones said. "He doesn't have to impress."

"Maybe you have to get married," Kilmeade offered. "If you have an idea for Ainsley to get him to show them to wear pink, please call us. 1-886-TELL-FOX."

According to reports, Messi chose pink to honor South Florida flamingos.

Special government employee Corey Lewandowski is expected to leave the Department of Homeland Security when Secretary Kristi Noem departs later this month.

Sources told Fox News correspondent Jacqui Heinrich that Lewandowski's departure became evident soon after President Donald Trump said he was firing Noem.

"I'm told the president spoke with Kristy Noem just before that Truth Social post went out," Heinrich reported on Thursday afternoon. "I'm further told that Corey Lewandowski is expected to leave with her. Of course, the rumors of an affair between the two were one of the factors that I'm told compelled the president to remove her as DHS secretary. Both of them are married, and she had faced questions about her alleged affair during testimony on the Hill this week under oath, she did not deny it as she called the reports garbage, but she never denied sexual relations with Cory Lewandowski."

"And I'm told that he's expected to leave his post as a special government employee and advisor to her when she departs the Department of Homeland Security," she added. "Unclear so far, I'm trying to still get information on whether 'leave with her' means go with her to this new role that we are still fleshing out what exactly that entails."

"But the president was unhappy, I'm told, with, quote, 'many of her unfortunate leadership failures,' which included Minnesota, her public statements in the fallout to that deportation campaign there, also the ad campaign, the $200 million in spending, and these rumors of an affair [with] Corey Lewandowski."

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem expressed her appreciation to President Donald Trump after he terminated her as cabinet secretary.

"Thank you @POTUS Trump for appointing me as the Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas," Noem wrote Thursday on X, noting that she looked forward to working with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in the new position.

Noem went on to tout her "accomplishments" at DHS.

"We have made historic accomplishments at the Department of Homeland Security to make America safe again: we delivered the MOST secure border in American history, 3 million illegal aliens have left the U.S., we have located 145,000 children, FEMA delivered disaster relief at a 100% faster rate, we ushered in the golden age of travel, saved the American taxpayer $13 billion and revitalized the U.S. Coast Guard," she said.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump revealed that he had nominated Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) to be the next DHS secretary.

"A MAGA Warrior, and former undefeated professional MMA fighter, Markwayne truly gets along well with people, and knows the Wisdom and Courage required to Advance our America First Agenda," Trump wrote

Fox News host John Roberts described Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as "rattled" moments after President Donald Trump fired her.

Roberts' network broadcast remarks by Noem as news broke that she would be replaced by Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK).

"That was weird with Kristi Noem, or what?" Roberts observed. "I mean, I assume that she knew. And if she did, that was really demonstrating the art of compartmentalization because she was there before the Sergeants Benevolent Association of New York in Nashville at a conference, giving a speech at the major city's conference."

"And to me, she seemed a little rattled," he continued, "because she usually doesn't make any mistakes when she delivers a speech. And she was making a few there."

As Noem was speaking, Fox News cut to live video of Mullin on the phone as he entered an elevator at the U.S. Capitol.

"I'll be back," Mullin insisted.

"So here's what I'm wondering," Roberts remarked. "Was he really on the phone, or was he pretending to be on the phone? Because, I mean, I've done that a couple of times that there's somebody that I don't want to talk to who sort of comes up to you on the street. You grab your phone, and you pretend you're on a call."

Mullin never returned to the cameras.

President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he had fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem from her initial position.

"I am pleased to announce that the Highly Respected United States Senator from the Great State of Oklahoma, Markwayne Mullin, will become the United States Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), effective March 31, 2026," the president wrote on Truth Social. "The current Secretary, Kristi Noem, who has served us well, and has had numerous and spectacular results (especially on the Border!), will be moving to be Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas, our new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere we are announcing on Saturday in Doral, Florida. I thank Kristi for her service at 'Homeland.'"

Trump noted Mullin was a "MAGA Warrior, and former undefeated professional MMA fighter."

Noem's firing had been rumored after she testified that Trump knew of a $200 million ad campaign to boost her name recognition.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) again insisted that he would refuse to drop out of the race for U.S. Senate after President Donald Trump suggested he would endorse his opponent, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), in retaliation for threatening to disobey the commander-in-chief's demands.

In a post to Truth Social this week, Trump said he would make his endorsement in the Texas Senate race "soon," adding that the candidate whom he did not endorse would be ordered to "immediately DROP OUT OF THE RACE!"

Paxton responded on Wednesday by saying he would stay in the race against the president's wishes.

"I'm staying in this race," the candidate asserted. "I owe it to the people of Texas."

"Well, that's bad for him to say," Trump said on Thursday. "That is bad for him. So maybe, maybe that leads me to go the other direction."

The threat, however, did not change Paxton's mind when he was asked about it on Thursday.

"No, I'm going to give people in Texas a choice," he told MAGA influencer Benny Johnson. "The people in Washington can have their own opinion. The president can have his own opinion, but I've been in this race for almost a year, and we're going to win this race in the runoff."

"So, do you have any indication that President Trump might endorse you?" Johnson wondered.

"Well, I know that John Cornyn has suggested that Susie Wiles, as [Trump's] chief of staff, is behind this. I don't know what's true or not true," Paxton replied.

President Donald Trump insisted that he be "involved" in picking the next leader of Iran after the United States assassinated Ali Khamenei in Operation Epic Fury.

In an interview with Axios on Thursday, Trump revealed that he would not accept Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the former supreme leader.

"They are wasting their time," the U.S. president said. "Khamenei's son is a lightweight."

"I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy [Rodriguez] in Venezuela," he added.

Trump also said he would not accept a leader who would force the U.S. to strike Iran again "in five years."

"Khamenei's son is unacceptable to me. We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran," he insisted.

When pressed about a new Iranian leader earlier this week, Trump was unable to come up with a name.

"Most of the people we had in mind are dead," he said.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) said he received a call from President Donald Trump to dispute that he knew about Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's $200 million public relations campaign that was primarily used to boost her image.

Kennedy had grilled Noem about the advertising spending during a Senate hearing this week. At the time, Noem testified that Trump had been aware of her plans.

"They were effective in your name recognition. To me, it puts the president in a terribly awkward spot," Kennedy told the secretary.

On Thursday, Punchbowl News reported that Trump had called Republican senators to ask whether he should fire Noem. The president was said to be "especially upset" about the PR campaign.

"Put it this way, his recollection and her recollection are different," Kennedy confirmed to reporters.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) refused to give Noem a vote of confidence when asked if Trump should replace her.

"Time will tell," Graham said.

United States Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro was eager to dispute reports that she had failed to follow through with President Donald Trump's demand that she prosecute members of former President Joe Biden's administration over the use of the autopen.

Three people familiar with the investigations told The New York Times that Pirro had been unable to make a case against former Biden officials.

"The department’s failure to build a criminal case against Mr. Biden and his aides is the latest example of its increasing inability to follow through on Mr. Trump’s demands and bring indictments against those he wants to be criminally targeted," the paper noted on Wednesday. "But the fact that prosecutors even pursued the matter to begin with reflects the degree to which Mr. Trump has sought to use the levers of government to undermine Mr. Biden’s presidency by seizing on an unsubstantiated theory: that the pardons Mr. Biden issued in his final months in office were invalid because he did not have the mental capacity to consent to them."

On Thursday, Pirro sought to deny that she had given up on prosecuting those who used the autopen.

"We cannot comment on ongoing investigations," she wrote in response to reporting from the Times.

"The Trump DOJ has been an absolute failure!! Excuses, zero consequences!!" one conservative commenter told Pirro on X. "Not a single criminal politician arrested or convicted! We have been lied to again!! Fire @AGPamBondi!"

"You can't comment anyways, because you have *no case*. Give us a break," another person replied.

President Donald Trump was reportedly asking senators if he should fire embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem following her testimony before Congress this week.

Multiple sources told Punchbowl News that Trump has been making phone calls to Senate Republicans to ask "whether he should fire" Noem. House Speaker Mike Johnson was said to have also speculated about replacing the DHS secretary.

"Trump was said to be especially upset about Noem's response when Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) pressed her Tuesday about a government-funded ad campaign that Kennedy said only served to boost her own personal name recognition nationally," according to Punchbowl. "The $220 million contract for the ad campaign was awarded to a firm run by the husband of former DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin. The ads were filmed in October at Mount Rushmore."

Under questioning from Kennedy, Noem had claimed that Trump was aware of plans for the PR campaign.

"They were effective in your name recognition. To me, it puts the president in a terribly awkward spot," Kennedy replied.

"Privately, Republicans are divided about whether this is the right moment for Trump to fire Noem," the report noted. "First, they're worried about whether Senate GOP leaders could find 51 votes for a replacement in the face of universal Democratic opposition, combined with vulnerable Republicans who may want to flash some independence. Trump's harsh immigration crackdown and ICE's operations would be at the center of those confirmation hearings."

Other Republicans worried that replacing Noem would embolden Democrats, according to the report.

Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-MT) was accused of breaking the hand of Marine veteran and anti-war activist Brian McGinnis.

During a break in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Wednesday, McGinnis put his hand through a hole in the wall to prevent Capitol Police from removing him from the room.

A video recorded by another anti-war activist showed Sheehy getting in on the melee by grabbing McGinnis and attempting to force him through the doorway.

"His hand! His hand! Oh!" one onlooker shouted.

"The senator broke his hand!" someone else exclaimed.

"A US Senator just broke the hand of a Marine," another member of the audience yelled. "A US Senator just broke the hand of a Marine; you're a coward."

Sheehy turned and walked away without successfully dislodging McGinnis.

"Yeah, go f--- yourself," someone muttered.