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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., stood by Virginia’s embattled Democratic attorney general candidate Jay Jones who sent text messages fantasizing about putting “two bullets” in his Republican rival’s head and also suggested his ‘fascist’ children should die as well. 

As Jones faces mounting calls to drop out of his race because of the text scandal, with his GOP opponent going so far as saying he should disqualify himself at a Thursday night debate, Jeffries suggested that Jones already did the right thing by apologizing.

“The attorney general candidate has appropriately apologized for his remarks, and I know his remarks have been condemned across the board by Democrats in the commonwealth [of] Virginia and beyond,” said Jeffries, adding, “And that’s the right thing to do.”

JAY JONES INVOKES TRUMP NEARLY 50 TIMES DURING VIRGINIA AG DEBATE, TIES MIYARES TO ‘MAGA’

Fox News Digital reached out to the office of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to ask whether he also stood by Jones but did not receive a response. 

The Virginia attorney general’s race was rocked by resurfaced text messages sent by Jones to a colleague when he was serving as a state delegate. Jones texted Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Hopewell, in 2022, imagining a scenario where he would choose to kill then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert’s over Pol Pot or Adolf Hitler.

Jones wrote, “Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, Hitler and Pol Pot. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head.” He then added in a subsequent text, “Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time.”

Jones also wrote he hoped Gilbert’s children would die. He doubled down in a series of messages, saying that such grief might be “a good thing” if it advanced his politics.

VIRGINIA DEM JAY JONES’ FATHERHOOD-THEMED POST SPARKS OUTRAGE OVER PAST TEXT WISHING HARM TO REPUBLICAN’S KIDS

Despite the graphic nature of these messages, Democrat leaders have largely declined to call on Jones to withdraw from the race. Democratic Party Virginia gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger was pressed repeatedly during her own debate last week but declined to do as much. 

During a Thursday night debate, Jones said he was “ashamed” and “embarrassed” of the surfaced text messages from 2022. “And I am sorry. I am sorry to Speaker Gilbert. I am sorry to his family. And I am sorry to every single Virginian,” Jones continued during the Thursday night debate with his GOP opponent Jason Miyares. 

However, Jones would not provide a clear answer to questions on whether his judgment should be questioned as a result of the text message scandal and other incidents that have surfaced in the news amid his campaign, such as a reckless driving conviction. 

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In addition to the criticism surrounding Jones’ violent political rhetoric, he also faced criticism for allegedly attempting to skirt community service requirements handed down by a judge after getting convicted for reckless driving. GOP candidate Miyares blasted Jones Thursday night, arguing he couldn’t pass a background check to be a prosecutor in his office, or likely any other Attorney General’s office around the country. 

Democratic Party candidate for Virginia attorney general Jay Jones was pressed on accountability and asked why voters should trust his judgment following revelations of politically violent rhetoric he made in 2022 about wanting to kill his GOP rival and a reckless driving conviction that he has been accused of trying to skirt his community service requirements for. 

His GOP opponent, incumbent Attorney General Jason Miyares, accused Jones of going 116 miles per hour on Interstate 64 in Virginia in his opening remarks of a debate Thursday night at the University of Richmond.

Miyares claimed that the day Jones went to court after getting caught for reckless driving, there were four people, including Jones, who had all been caught driving roughly the same speed. But, Miyares claimed, Jones was the only person not to receive a jail or suspended jail sentence. Miyares also claimed Jones sought to undermine his 1,000-hour community service requirement that was part of his conviction, alleging he completed the service for a political action committee he controlled.

JOE SCARBOROUGH TELLS DEM CANDIDATE JAY JONES TO LEAVE RACE OVER VIOLENT COMMENTS AGAINST GOP LAWMAKER

“I was held accountable. And, several years ago, I made very grave mistakes, but I was held accountable not just by the people in my party, but the Virginia State Police,” Jones said when asked why Virginia voters should trust his judgment. 

The reckless driving criticism coincides with criticism about text messages Jones sent to someone about his Republican political rival in 2022. Jones fantasized in the text exchange about putting “two bullets” in the head of then-GOP Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert. Jones also fantasized about violence against Gilbert’s children in the text exchange, which has earned him a lot of heat amid the campaign for attorney general.

“I’ve taken accountability for my mistakes, and I know that people in Virginia right now demand and deserve leaders who accept when they make mistakes and can acknowledge that and ever been held accountable. This job right now demands someone who will hold Donald Trump accountable,” Jones said when pressed by the debate moderator for a clear answer on why voters should trust his judgment. 

“For the last nine months, Jason’s had 50 chances to sue the administration, to protect us, to protect our workers, to protect our health care, to protect our K-12 funding, funding for law enforcement. And his office hasn’t done a thing because he’s too weak and too scared to stand up to the president.”

WATCH: KAINE DEFENDS JONES AMID AG CANDIDATE’S TEXTS ENVISIONING MURDER OF GOP LEADER: ‘STILL A SUPPORTER’

Miyares pushed back, however. He argued he has “sued both administrations,” meaning the Biden and Trump administrations. Miyares touted his record supporting veterans and their GI benefits in the courts and circled back to comments about how he has been tough on crime to “protect all Virginians.”

“Every day I work to make Virginians more safe, more prosperous. That’s been our mission,” Miyares said. “This office is an executive office. If Jay Jones wants to fight the fights in Washington, then he should run for Congress.” 

Miyares frequently called Jones a “politician” and not a prosecutor throughout the debate. Miyares added that Jones was hurting Virginiains with his soft-on-crime stances, such as voting in favor of an early-release program for felons.

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While lambasting Jones over his policies Thursday night, Miyares noted how one of Jones’ public safety agenda items is to protect children. He used it as an opportunity to drill down on the “two bullets” scandal that has gotten national attention. 

“How can anybody who’s ever worked in any of the crimes against children — all of the areas of federal and state local law department — how can they ever take you seriously, be the top prosecutor knowing that you view the children should die to advance a political agenda?” Miyares asked. 

“How can you ever say you want to represent people to think differently than you politically? Now that we know that you want to see violence against those because they have the wrong ideas.”

Virginia Democratic attorney general candidate Jay Jones appeared to come out swinging during a spirited debate at the University of Richmond on Thursday — but more so against the president of the United States than his own Republican opponent, incumbent Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares.

A tally by Fox News Digital counted 37 references to “Donald Trump” or “Trump” as well as a dozen mentions of “the president” by Jones, whose campaign had been embroiled in dueling scandals between texts envisioning the murder of a former top Republican and the adjudication of his 116-mile-per-hour reckless driving arrest in New Kent, Virginia.

When Miyares accused Jones of being a politician more than a prosecutor, the Democrat replied that the Republican says “a lot about prosecuting cases, but he can’t seem to prosecute a case against Donald Trump to save his life.”

Miyares did reference a singular 2025 case against the Trump Department of Veterans Affairs over education benefits, which Jones later acknowledged.

VIRGINIA DEM JAY JONES’ FATHERHOOD-THEMED POST SPARKS OUTRAGE OVER PAST TEXT WISHING HARM TO REPUBLICAN’S KIDS

But Jones continued to slam Trump for “illegally firing” federal workers through DOGE efforts and claimed 350,000 Virginians will lose healthcare because of the president.

“As attorney general, I can’t wait to see Donald Trump in court. I will never flinch or back down from him,” Jones pledged.

“I relish that fight because this is about us here in Virginia. It’s not about some guy in Washington who’s telling us what to do.”

‘CONSUMED WITH HATE’: WINSOME-SEARS, JASON MIYARES UNLOAD ON DEMOCRAT JAY JONES OVER VIOLENT TEXTS

After several Trump name-drops, Miyares appeared to borrow a line from another Republican president — Ronald Reagan — to verbally shake his head at the Democrat’s persistent references.

“There he goes again,” Miyares said. “Fifteen times he said the name of the president. Not one time did he say the name of a victim. That tells me he’s a politician, not a prosecutor.”

Reagan famously defused a tense 1980 debate with then-President Jimmy Carter by remarking, “There you go again,” after the Georgia Democrat mischaracterized his record on support for Medicare.

JAY JONES’ ‘TWO BULLETS’ SCANDAL OVER VIOLENT TEXTS EXPECTED TO DOMINATE VIRGINIA AG DEBATE

Later in the debate, Jones again invoked Trump, criticizing Miyares for being too cozy with the White House.

“[While] they hang out at MAGA rallies together, I will see Donald Trump in court to hold him accountable for Virginia,” he said.

Jones also pointed to Trump’s words of endorsement of Miyares, in which he reportedly said the Republican will never “let us down.”

TRUMP, VANCE BLAST DEMOCRATS FOR BACKING VIRGINIA AG CANDIDATE OVER TEXTS FANTASIZING GOP LAWMAKER’S MURDER

Jones said that should be translated to show that Miyares works for the administration more than Virginia.

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“We have a chance to chart a very different future. Donald Trump doesn’t run this commonwealth. Jason Miyares seems to think that that’s who his boss is. He’d rather be Donald Trump’s pro bono attorney than do his job,” Jones claimed.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

On “The Ingraham Angle” Thursday, former Trump advisor Jason Miller called Jones a “special kind of sick.”

Three labor unions filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Thursday, arguing that the federal government violated the First Amendment rights of visa holders legally in the U.S. by using a program to search their social media for specific viewpoints, including criticism of the U.S. government and Israel.

United Auto Workers, Communications Workers of America and the American Federation of Teachers sued the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

This comes after the State Department said it had revoked the visas of at least six people over social media comments made about late conservative activist Charlie Kirk following his murder last month.

“Plaintiffs represent thousands of people whose speech is chilled by the threat of adverse immigration action if the government disapproves of anything they have expressed or will express,” the lawsuit reads.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO VET LEGAL IMMIGRANT APPLICANTS FOR ‘ANTI-AMERICANISM’ AND ANTISEMITISM

Administration officials have purported that foreigners do not have the same constitutional rights as U.S. citizens and do not have a right to hold a visa, as the federal government seeks to target them for speech.

“The United States is under no obligation to allow foreign aliens to come to our country, commit acts of anti-American, pro-terrorist, and antisemitic hate, or incite violence. We will continue to revoke the visas of those who put the safety of our citizens at risk,” State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement.

The lawsuit points to high-profile cases and the comments of federal officials to argue that a government program uses artificial intelligence and other automated tools for surveillance of visa holders’ posts and targets people critical of the Trump administration and what the government considers to be “hateful ideology.”

The federal government has broadly defined support for terrorism to include criticism of U.S. support for Israel and the Jewish State’s military action, as well as support for Palestinians. The government has used this as a justification to cancel visas.

FEDERAL JUDGE LAUNCHES SCATHING BROADSIDE OF TRUMP’S EFFORTS TO DEPORT PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTERS

The unions’ complaint cited the case of green card holder Mahmoud Khalil, who was released in June following months in detention after the government attempted to deport him for participating in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University.

The lawsuit said the immigration threats over views disapproved by the government have prompted some union members to withdraw from publicly affiliating with their unions at organizing events, step down from leadership roles and “deleted, refrained from, or otherwise altered their social media and online engagement with the unions.”

“This loss of engagement has harmed the plaintiffs’ ability to further their organizational missions and impeded their ability to carry out their responsibilities, which include recruitment, retention, and organization of union members; advocacy on behalf of union members; and the promotion of civic and political engagement among union members,” the lawsuit said.

Many union members have stopped expressing their views because “the government has promised and proven that saying the wrong thing can trigger life-altering immigration consequences, particularly for visa holders and Lawful Permanent Residents,” the complaint reads.

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Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, the administration has searched for online posts to target foreigners for the potential rescinding of their visa.

On his first day back in office, Trump signed an executive order to ensure visa holders “do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles, and do not advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to our national security.”

Over the summer, the State Department said it would start requesting that applicants make their social media accounts public for government monitoring and that interviews with applicants would determine who may pose a threat to national security.

Reuters contributed to this report.

A conservative policy group is unveiling a new digital archive of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani’s political record, aiming to highlight what it calls the New York City mayoral candidate’s “radical agenda” through years of public statements, legislation and campaign pledges.

The website, mamdanifile.appdc.org, was first shared with Fox News Digital ahead of its planned public release later this week. Developed by the American Principles Project (APP), the archive includes 43 entries spanning 2020 to 2025.

APP President Terry Schilling told Fox News Digital the goal is to document Mamdani’s record in his own words.

“Zohran Mamdani’s daily barrage of wild ideas, utterly detached from regular Americans, prompted us to launch the Mamdani Tracker to expose his madness,” Schilling said. “His radicalism may get covered up by the complicit left-wing media, but we’re reminding New Yorkers before Election Day of the chaos he’s plotting for NYC — and warning America: This is the Democrats’ agenda at your door. Mamdani’s vision is the Democrat agenda.

DNC EMBRACES SOCIALIST MAMDANI AS RESURFACED ANTI-ISRAEL REMARKS RAISE ALARM: ‘BIG TENT PARTY’

“If they take New York, they’re coming for you next. In tight races in New Jersey and Virginia, where they’re pushing Mamdani’s extremism into schools and communities, we’re investing millions to halt this insanity and drive commonsense voters to the polls.”

Each entry cites a primary source, such as a campaign statement, bill text or archived video clip with links allowing users to verify context for themselves.

Among the site’s entries are Mamdani’s 2020 campaign pledge to guarantee “queer- and trans-inclusive medical care to all — including children — through a single-payer system” and his call to mandate curriculum reviews in K–12 schools to eliminate “transphobia, racism and xenophobia.”

“We need to fully decriminalize both the buying and selling of consensual sex,” an essay on Mamdani’s archived campaign site titled “Feminism for All” states.

MEET MAMDANI’S RADICAL ADVISORY CIRCLE THAT INCLUDES COMMUNIST ACTIVIST, ANTI-ISRAEL ADVOCATES

The archive also highlights legislation Mamdani co-sponsored that would let inmates choose facilities based on gender identity and fund gender-transition procedures for prisoners. It also includes a 2025 quote for the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club Candidate Questionnaire in which he said he would be “proud to host and fund Drag Story Hours.”

Each page features video clips, screenshots and original documents, giving the compilation a digital “paper trail” effect that APP says allows voters to see and hear Mamdani directly.

The release comes as Mamdani debated Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa in a televised forum Thursday evening. 

A Fox News Poll also released Thursday found Mamdani maintaining a double-digit lead over both challengers.

The American Principles Project says it plans to expand the site before Election Day as part of a broader push in local contests across New York, New Jersey and Virginia, where cultural policy and parental rights have become defining issues.

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Mamdani’s campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani appeared to backtrack on his position about Hamas laying down arms in Thursday night’s mayoral debate.

“Of course, I believe that they should lay down their arms,” Mamdani said on the debate stage in New York City alongside former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa.

Mamdani was responding to a question from a moderator who said his previous answer, made to Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum, was “confusing,” after he dodged questions when she asked if he believes Hamas should lay down weapons and leave leadership in Gaza, according to the ceasefire agreement it entered into. 

“I don’t really have opinions about the future of Hamas and Israel beyond the question of justice and safety,” Mamdani said, reiterating that both Hamas and the Israeli military should abide by international law. 

‘ABSOLUTELY A COMMUNIST’: MAMDANI DODGES LABEL, BUT HIS RECORD AND EXPERT SAY OTHERWISE

“I’m proud to be one of the first elected officials in the state who called for a ceasefire and calling for a ceasefire means ceasefire,” Mamdani said on the debate stage on Thursday. 

“That means all parties have to cease fire and put down their weapons. And the reason that we call for that is not only for the end of the genocide, but also an unimpeded access of humanitarian aid. I, like many New Yorkers, and I’m hopeful that this ceasefire will hold.”

Mamdani said he hopes President Trump’s negotiated ceasefire is “durable” and “just.”

MAMDANI BREAKS SILENCE ON FREED ISRAELI HOSTAGES IN STATEMENT THAT DOESN’T MENTION TRUMP

Shortly after Mamdani’s response, social media accounts labeled his comments as a “new answer.”

In Mamdani’s Fox News interview on Wednesday, he said it was too early to give credit to Trump for the peace agreement.

Republican Curtis Sliwa, the only candidate to mention Trump by name in his response to news of the Israeli hostages being released, took issue with that stance on the debate stage.

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“The president of the United States should have been applauded by you, Zohran Mamdani, and you, Andrew Cuomo,” Sliwa said. 

Mamdani has been widely criticized in recent months for his positions on Israel, including his hesitancy to definitively condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada.”

“I want to be very clear,” Mamdani said on the debate stage. “The occupation is a reference to international law and the violation of it, which Mr. Cuomo has no regard for since he signed up to be Benjamin Netanyahu’s legal defense team during the course of this genocide.”

President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to major American cities loomed large over Thursday night’s New York City mayoral debate.

During Thursday night’s debate, the candidates, Democrat Zohran Mamdani, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa, were asked about the “threat hanging over the city” of National Guard troops being sent to New York City. All three candidates indicated they would oppose troops being sent to the city.

“If the president ordered troops to hit the streets of New York now, how would you respond?” a moderator asked.

“We do not need the National Guard here in New York City,” Mamdani answered.

ZOHRAN MAMDANI LAUNCHES ANTI-TRUMP TOUR ACROSS FIVE BOROUGHS IN NEW YORK CITY

“If it was safety that President Trump was so concerned about, he would send them to the eight out of ten states that have the highest levels of crime in this country. But he won’t because they’re all run by Republicans,” he asserted.

“What New Yorkers need is a mayor who can stand up to Donald Trump and actually deliver on that safety,” he added. “When Donald Trump sent ICE agents on people in Los Angeles, Andrew Cuomo said that New Yorkers need not overreact. That is the furthest answer that New Yorkers are looking for. They are looking for someone who will lead, someone who will say that they will have their back, someone who will actually fight for the people of this city.”

Cuomo said “the answer in the subways is not more National Guard. … More NYPD is the answer.”

ZOHRAN MAMDANI LEVELS COUNTERPROPOSAL AFTER CUOMO CHALLENGES HIM TO DEBATES IN ALL 5 NYC BOROUGHS

He asserted that Trump is “not sending in the National Guard to do any real function. It’s control. It’s power.”

“He’s trying to say these Democrats don’t know how to run these cities, and it’s a political gesture by sending in the National Guard,” he continued, adding that if Mamdani is elected, Trump “will take over New York. Forget the National Guard.”

Sliwa similarly said, “There’s no need for the National Guard in New York” adding “there are other cities that could desperately use their help in dealing with their crime crisis.”

HERE’S EVERYTHING YOU MISSED FROM ZOHRAN MAMDANI’S FIRST FOX NEWS INTERVIEW

Asked for a show of hands on whether there are any circumstances in which they would allow the New York Police Department to cooperate with National Guard troops sent by Trump, not a single candidate raised his hand.

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With under three weeks until Election Day, Mamdani holds a double-digit lead in the race for the nation’s most populous city, but Cuomo is narrowing the gap, according to the latest public polling.

Mamdani stands at 46% support among likely voters in the most recent survey in the race from Quinnipiac University. Cuomo had 33% support in the survey and Sliwa stood at 15% in the poll.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser, Andrew Mark Miller and Deirdre Heavey contributed to this report.

NEW YORK, N.Y. – The three men running to be the next mayor of New York City, the largest city in the United States, clashed on multiple occasions on the debate stage Thursday night on issues ranging from the war in Gaza to public safety to housing costs.  

Public safety was discussed throughout the debate, with Mamdani’s past disparaging comments about police and his calls to defund the New York City Police Department taking center stage. 

“He believes in defunding the police, disarming the police, disbanding the police,” Cuomo said. “That’s who he is.”

Mamdani attempted to distance himself from his past tweets, pointing out that they were from 2020. 

HERE’S EVERYTHING YOU MISSED FROM ZOHRAN MAMDANI’S FIRST FOX NEWS INTERVIEW

All three candidates discussed their plans to address the housing crisis in New York City with Mamdani’s plan to “freeze the rent” drawing sharp criticism from Cuomo and Sliwa.

“Freeze the rent only postpones the rent,” Cuomo said about Mamdani’s plan, making the case that many of Mamdani’s opponents have made that rent freezes would do more harm than good to housing stock. 

Mamdani attempted to distance himself from his past support of legislation to decriminalize prostitution and faced criticism from both his opponents on that subject.

Mamdani’s past statements on Israel were another flashpoint during the debate. At one point, Mamdani said, “of course” he supports calling on Hamas to disarm, despite dodging questions on that subject the previous day in an interview with Fox News Channel.

“I have denounced Hamas time and time again and it will never be enough,” Mamdani said. 

Republican Curtis Sliwa told Mamdani, “Jews don’t trust that you’ll be there for them when they are victims of anti-Semitic attacks.”

Experience was also brought up several times in the debate, focused on Mamdani and Cuomo making the case that they were the candidate with the right resume to lead the city going forward.

“This is not a job for a first timer,” Cuomo said of Mamdani, adding, “he’s literally never had a job.”

“Thank God I’m not a professional politician because they have helped create this crime crisis in the city that we face,” Sliwa said, criticizing both of his opponents’ records. 

Mamdani shot back with a line directly at Cuomo on the experience issue.

“What I don’t have in experience, I make up for in integrity,” Mamdani said to Cuomo. “What you don’t have in integrity, you could never make up for in experience.”

With under three weeks until Election Day, Mamdani holds a double-digit lead in the race for the nation’s most populous city, but Cuomo is narrowing the gap, according to the latest public polling.

The tightening contest underscores how Cuomo’s independent bid continues to draw support from disaffected Democrats following embattled Mayor Eric Adams’ withdrawal from the race.

‘ABSOLUTELY A COMMUNIST’: MAMDANI DODGES LABEL, BUT HIS RECORD AND EXPERT SAY OTHERWISE
 

Mamdani, the 33-year-old democratic socialist state lawmaker from the New York City borough of Queens who shocked the political world in June with his convincing win over Cuomo and nine other candidates to capture the Democratic Party’s mayoral nomination, stands at 46% support among likely voters in the most recent survey in the race, from Quinnipiac University.

Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 amid multiple scandals and who is running as an independent candidate in the general election after losing the primary, had 33% support in the survey, which was conducted Oct. 3–7.

Sliwa, who for a second straight election is the Republican mayoral nominee in the Democratic-dominated city, stood at 15% in the poll.

Quinnipiac’s survey was the only major poll in the field entirely after Adams, a Democrat who was running for re-election as an independent, dropped out of the race. 

In Quinnipiac University’s previous poll, conducted in early September, Mamdani held a 22-point 45%-23% lead over Cuomo, with Sliwa at 15% and Adams at 12%.

Despite Mamdani’s lead in the race for Gracie Mansion, the democratic socialist has struggled to secure endorsements from national party leaders, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

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Mamdani did recently secure an endorsement from Gov. Kathy Hochul, who joined Mamdani on the campaign trail this week, but has since refused to return the favor. 
“It’s a decision that should be made after this general election,” Mamdai said when asked if the candidates are supporting Hochul for re-election. 

A video shared on X shows Erika Kirk at the Turning Point USA office surrounded by staff members, proudly showing them the Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to her late husband, Charlie Kirk.

In the clip posted by Mikey McCoy, Charlie Kirk’s former chief of staff, Erika speaks movingly to the assembled team.

CHARLIE KIRK’S COLLEAGUES AND PASTORS PRAISE HIS PATRIOTISM AS TRUMP READIES HIGHEST CIVILIAN HONOR

In the clip, she can be heard saying, “I wanted you guys all to see the Medal of Freedom and be able to look at it and the back of it.”

“You guys are all part of the legacy. Thank you,” she says warmly.

ERIKA KIRK HONORS LATE HUSBAND CHARLIE IN EMOTIONAL WHITE HOUSE TRIBUTE: ‘A FREE MAN MADE FULLY FREE’

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award in the U.S. It was awarded posthumously to Charlie Kirk by President Donald Trump on Oct. 14, 2025, a date that would have been Kirk’s 32nd birthday. 

CHARLIE KIRK POSTHUMOUSLY AWARDED MEDAL OF FREEDOM ON WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN HIS 32ND BIRTHDAY

Erika accepted the award on her husband’s behalf at a ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House. She also delivered remarks highlighting her husband’s beliefs and sacrifice.

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Charlie Kirk was assassinated on September 10, 2025, while speaking at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley State University in Orem, Utah.

Following her husband’s death, Erika was unanimously appointed CEO and chair of Turning Point USA’s board.

New York City Public Schools filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education on Thursday over its move to cut $47 million in promised grants in response to the schools’ policies regarding transgender students.

The lawsuit asks for the reversal of the move to pull the grants.

City officials said the federal agency stripped funding without the required notice or hearing, after it concluded that school policies allowing transgender students to participate on sports teams and use bathrooms matching their gender identity rather than biological sex violate Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in education.

Last month, the Department of Education gave New York City Public Schools a Sept. 23 deadline to amend the policies or lose current and future funding for 19 specialty magnet schools.

DENVER SCHOOL’S ALL-GENDER BATHROOMS VIOLATE TITLE IX, EDUCATION DEPARTMENT FINDS

Under the policies, “male students who identify as female or transgender are given unqualified access to female intimate spaces,” Craig Trainor, the acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the agency, said in a letter.

Several other school districts, including in Chicago and Fairfax County, Virginia, received similar letters.

New York City school officials affirm that they are fully compliant with Title IX and that the federal department’s “novel interpretation” contradicts state and city laws against sex-based discrimination.

“U.S. DOE’s threat to cut off tens of millions of dollars in magnet funding unless we canceled our protections for transgender and gender expansive students is contrary to federal, state, and local law and, just as importantly, our values as New York City Public Schools,” Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos said in a news release.

An Education Department spokesperson said the agency “sees no merit in this lawsuit.”

The spokesperson added that the magnet school grant program “requires certification of civil rights compliance, which we could obviously not do in the face of NYC’s continued determination to violate the rights of female students under Title IX.”

Under the Trump administration, federal officials have sought to target school districts for policies allowing students to use bathrooms or participate on sports teams that correspond with their gender identity.

Additionally, New York State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa ordered a school district in the New York City suburbs this week to temporarily abandon its new bathroom restrictions for transgender students.

TRUMP ADMIN PUSHES CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS TO ABOLISH ‘BLACK STUDENT SUCCESS PLAN’

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The Massapequa School District implemented a policy last month prohibiting transgender students from using bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identities rather than biological sex.

The district said after the commissioner’s order that it will continue to offer a gender-neutral locker room and bathroom option to “any student who will be more comfortable using such a space.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.