Author: Fox News

Alex Murdaugh’s defense lawyer, Dick Harpootlian, playfully aimed a rifle at the prosecution table and said “tempting” during a demonstration Tuesday in Walterboro, South Carolina.

Forensic engineer Mike Sutton, a defense expert, was on the stand explaining the trajectory of the shots that killed Maggie Murdaugh June 7, 2021. 

With Sutton’s guidance, Harpootlian was trying to show Colleton County jurors the shooter’s stance when the .300 Blackout rifle was fired, but briefly pointed the weapon at prosecutors.

“Tempting,” said Harpootlian mischievously before chuckling.

ALEX MURDAUGH: TIMELINE OF ONCE-POWERFUL SOUTH CAROLINA LAWYER’S SPECTACULAR DOWNFALL

Alex Murdaugh’s defense lawyer Dick Harpootlian playfully points a gun at prosecutors during a demonstration involving forensic expert Mike Sutton (right) Feb. 21 in Walterboro, South Carolina. (Fox News)

The stunt prompted South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, who was seated at the prosecution table, to break into in a broad smile, as the gallery erupted in laughter.

Harpootlian, who is also a Democratic state senator, quickly composed himself after the flash of levity.

MAGGIE MURDAUGH’S SISTER RECOUNTS ALEX MURDAUGH’S ‘STRANGE’ COMMENT AFTER MURDERS IN TEARFUL TESIMONY

 “I don’t know how I can do this, so I’m not pointing at somebody,” he said, before turning his back to the gallery and continuing with the demonstration in the opposite direction.

Maggie Murdaugh crime scene recreation showing a 5-foot-2 shooter’s possible stance and gun angle to hit the quail pen. A projectile struck the pen during the June 7, 2021, slaying. Maggie’s body is shown in the foreground covered in a gray sheet, as yellow markers identify the location of shell casings. (Defense exhibit)

Sutton, a ballistics and acoustics expert, testified that based on the angle of the shots the shooter was likely 5 feet 2 to 5 feet 4 inches tall or crouched down in an awkward position.

Harpootlian asked Sutton to position him with the rifle in the way Murdaugh, who is 6 foot 4, would have to hold it in order to achieve the same angle. 

 “In my opinion, it’s very unlikely that [Murdaugh] fired that shot,” Sutton testified. “It puts him in an unrealistic shooting position. It’s not an aiming position. It’s not a shooting position.”

Murdaugh is accused of fatally shooting his wife, Maggie, 52, with a rifle and Paul Murdaugh, 22, with a shotgun. 

Sutton also conducted a series of tests recreating the shootings at the family’s sprawling 1,700-acree hunting estate known as Moselle. 

ALEX MURDAUGH’S SON, PAUL, CONFRONTED HIM ABOUT ‘BAGS OF PILLS’ BEFORE DOUBLE SLAYING

Maggie and Paul were found near the property’s dog kennels, about 380 yards as the crow flies from the main residence, where Murdaugh was allegedly napping during the slayings.

From left, Buster Murdaugh, 26, his mother Maggie Murdaugh, his brother Paul Murdaugh and his father Alex Murdaugh. Alex is accused of fatally shooting Maggie, 52, and their son, Paul, 22, June 7, 2021. (Facebook)

Sutton could barely hear the rifle when it was fired by the dog kennels while he was at the main house, and the defense played an audio recording of this experiment.

“If you’ve got the TV on, no way you could hear that shot,” Sutton testified.

 The shotgun, which is quieter, wasn’t audible at all, he added. 

 In earlier testimony Tuesday, Murdaugh’s only living son, Buster Murdaugh, testified for the defense. 

He said his father was “destroyed, heartbroken” after the double slaying. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Suzann Pettersen, a 15-time LPGA Tour winner, defended Tiger Woods on Tuesday after he faced harsh backlash over his tampon prank during the Genesis Invitational last week, saying that she doesn’t believe Woods “meant to be offensive in any way.” 

Woods, 47, issued an apology for discreetly handing reigning PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas a tampon after he outdrove him on one hole in the first round of the tournament.

Tiger Woods of the United States (L) and Justin Thomas of the United States walk off the ninth tee during the first round of the The Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on February 16, 2023 in Pacific Palisades, California.  (Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

The moment was caught by photographers

OLYMPIC GREAT MICHAEL JOHNSON SLAMS TIGER WOODS FOR TAMPON PRANK: ‘NEVER BEEN A LEADER’

“It was supposed to be all fun and games, and obviously it hasn’t turned out that way,” Woods said. “If I offended anybody in any way, shape or form, I’m sorry. It was not intended to be that way. It was just we play pranks on one another all the time, and virally I think this did not come across that way.”

Tiger Woods of the United States and Justin Thomas of the United States walk across the ninth hole during the first round of the The Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on February 16, 2023 in Pacific Palisades, California.  (Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

Despite the outrage on social media, Pettersen said Tuesday that she believes the gesture “was supposed to be a gag between the two of them.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

“I know Tiger quite well,” Pettersen said after being named Europe’s team captain for the 2024 Solheim Cup, via Sky Sports. 

“I don’t know Justin Thomas as well, but I know kind of Tiger’s humor and that’s a very probably boyish joke between the two of them and I don’t really take it too personal.”

Team Europe’s Suzann Pettersen during a press conference on preview day four of the 2019 Solheim Cup at Gleneagles Golf Club, Auchterarder.  (Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images)

She continued: “I think that was supposed to be a gag between the two of them and unfortunately some cameras caught it in the heat of the moment. I don’t know, I don’t think he meant to be offensive in any way.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“I’m pretty easy on stuff like that. I’m sure it was meant as a joke, not as a harassment to women in general.”

The Genesis Invitational was Woods’ first tournament since The Open Championship last July. He played only three times last year because of a fused back and battered legs from surgeries and a car crash.

A U.K. jury heard testimony accusing Lucy Letby, 33, of injecting one infant dubbed Child M with air in April 2016 before attempting to poison the infant’s twin, Child L, with insulin, reports said Monday.

Child M and Child L are just two of 10 infants that Letby has been accused of attempting to kill on top of the seven babies she is accused of murdering at the Countess of Chester Hospital, just south of Liverpool. Letby has denied all charges against her.

Jurors listened as the prosecution described how doctors and nurses worked to resuscitate Child M, a six-week premature boy, for 25 minutes in the late afternoon on April 9, 2016, by administering CPR and multiple doses of adrenaline after he stopped breathing, according to the BBC.

A court sketch shows Lucy Letby at Warrington Magistrates’ Court via videolink on Nov. 12, 2020. The neonatal nurse is accused of murdering seven babies and the attempted murder of 10 more. (SWNS)

‘SMILING’ NURSE LUCY LETBY ACCUSED OF KILLING BABY GIRL AFTER FOUR ATTEMPTS

The infant was eventually stabilized and was placed on a ventilator before he and his twin brother were discharged from the hospital in May 2016. 

The prosecution alleged Child M collapsed after Letby injected him with oxygen.

Letby, who was assigned to the infant for evening care and noted he had symptoms that were indicative of the brain being starved of oxygen, has denied the accusations.

Brain scans on Child M reportedly found that he suffered no adverse afteraffects. 

Letby abruptly left the court’s proceedings last week after she broke down in tears when testimony began in relation to Child L, whom she has also denied attempting to murder. 

The court heard how the infants started to deteriorate at “pretty much the same time” after Letby also allegedly attacked Child L in the early hours of April 10, 2016 – just hours after doctors had managed to stabilize Child M.

The maternity ward of the Countess of Chester Hospital in the U.K., where Letby worked and is alleged to have killed seven babies between 2015 and 2016. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

BABY ATTACKED BY ALLEGED ‘KILLER NURSE’ LUCY LETBY RECOVERED AFTER BEING MOVED TO NEW HOSPITAL

She has been accused of injecting Child L with a dose of insulin and the doctor on call recounted how he was concerned by the baby’s dropping blood sugar levels – an occurrence that could happen after an insulin dose is administered.

But when asked if she gave the infant insulin, Letby told police officers, who questioned her in 2019, “That wasn’t done by me.”

Letby said she didn’t think she or another nurse could have accidentally administered the insulin dose. 

A blood sample from Child L had been sent from a lab at the nearby Royal Liverpool Hospital that showed insulin had been administered to the infant rather than having been naturally produced by its pancreas, a consultant clinical scientist at the Liverpool facility, Dr. Anna Milan, told the court.

Neonatal nurse Lucy Letby, 33, is alleged to have murdered seven babies.  (Credit: SWNS)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

It was also confirmed that two vials of insulin were issued to the neo-natal unit in 2016, along with six vials in 2015 and two vials in 2014, reported the BBC.

Letby’s case remains ongoing. 

Parents at a Los Angeles area school district spoke out at a Tuesday school board meeting against the administration’s decision to eliminate honors classes in the name of racial-equity because they didn’t enroll enough Black and Latino students.

Earlier this school year, the Culver City Unified School District (CCUSD) replaced honors classes at Culver City High School with a one-size-fits-all approach that officials said would give students of all races an equal education, the Wall Street Journal reported. Many parents attended the school board meeting to ask the CCUSD administration to reinstate honors classes, which they laid out in a two-page resolution. 

“I have a child in the high school,” one mom told the school board. “It is too easy in his classroom. They say, ‘Mom, they say it’s equity, they say that’s the reason and therefore it’s okay.’ I want my child to be challenged.”

“We are immigrants,” she added. “My family are immigrants. We came to this country to have a better life, a better education, to get out of poverty … we want to be able to give them a better education … because this is why we chose Culver City.”

BIDEN SIGNS ‘RACIAL EQUITY’ ORDER REQUIRING FEDERAL AGENCIES TO BUILD ‘EQUITY ACTION PLAN’

Starting in the fall of 2022, freshmen and sophomores at CCUSD have only been offered one level of English, whereas before they could choose between a grade level class or opt into an honors class, which was available to everyone, the WSJ reported. Administrators argued that this keeps everyone on the same playing field, so students are able to enroll in advanced classes in their junior and senior years of high school. 

A group of parents representing the Culver City Families for Education and Equity introduced the resolution at Tuesday’s meeting, arguing that a history of inequity requires a robust and varied array of learning opportunities, so students at all levels can get the support they need to achieve their highest potential. 

“Our beloved local school district, Culver City Unified School District, is in crisis,” one parent told the school board during the meeting. “We have entrenched patterns of disparity amongst different student populations when it comes to academic performance and an alarming reduction of educational opportunities that are available to every student with no input from key stakeholders: parents, families and students.”

The group focused on more parent and student involvement in the decisions made regarding academics at the district level. 

“Families of students in our district have been offered very little visibility and information on this issue leading to the education of their children and have not being afforded meaningful opportunities to voice their views on the sweeping changes made on access to honors classes for all students,” another parent said. 

Other parents were critical of the district for implementing the “one-size-fits-all” approach that doesn’t address what they believe to be the real problem. 

FIRST-EVE ‘COUNSELOR FOR EQUITY’ APPOINTED AT BIDEN’S DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

“The district has not addressed the underlying issues of underrepresentation experienced by Black and Brown students in honors classes and has replaced previous honors English content with a one size fits all class that is not serving the interests of many students and in particular does not specifically address the need for additional support for underperforming students, while also ignoring the needs of high performing [students],” one parent said. 

ILLINOIS COUNTY INJECTS ‘RACIAL EQUITY’ INTO CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM WITH ORG STEEPED IN CRT: ‘UNPRECEDENTED’

“It’s not working and we’ve thrown the baby out with the bathwater,” another parent said. “My daughter, who is a sophomore has said that it’s not working. She’s been in honors the whole way and as a sophomore now, she says she’s not challenged.”

“She’s now getting like an A +++ in her English class and she’s not being challenged,” she added. “She says the class is kind of a joke, so it’s not working.”

School districts in California and across the country have taken similar action to eliminate honors classes. In 2022, Patrick Henry High School (PHHS) in San Diego told parents it aimed to get rid of 11th-grade History and English honors courses, but in response to parent protests and negative community backlash, the school reversed its decision. 

School districts that have gotten rid of honors classes believe that students who don’t take those advanced classes from a young age get behind their peers and get stuck at lower levels of academic advancement, which makes it harder to enroll in Advanced Placement (AP) classes later on. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Black students make up 15 percent of high schoolers in the country, but consist of only 9 percent of students enrolled in at least one AP course and nearly 25 percent of students are Latino, but they only make up 21 percent of students enrolled in AP courses, according to a report from The Education Trust.

Fox News Digital reached out to Culver City Unified School District. A representative responded: “This is an issue of both academic rigor and equity. The transition from a two-tier system of “Honors and Non-Honors” to ‘College Prep’ classes-for-all was led by our English teachers. We put our trust in our educators who are closest to our students, the teachers who are with them in the classroom day in and day out.

We want to emphasize that the College Prep curriculum is an Honors curriculum, serving all students with the same level of rigor as the Honors curriculum, and one that prepares students to enroll in advanced classes in their final years of high school. Our teachers expect the same high-level outcomes for all students. CCUSD fully supports this well-researched pedagogical approach. We are fully committed to giving the teachers the resources needed to support all students at all levels.” 

A Catholic liberal arts university in northern Virginia is getting ready to cut 10 traditional majors and programs – including theology, religious studies and economics – over a “lack of potential for growth.”

Marymount University’s plan has sent shockwaves through the campus community, drawing widespread condemnation from students and alumni.

“Cutting portions of the School of Humanities as well as math and art programs would be detrimental to the diversity of our student body,” student-government president Ashly Trejo Mejia wrote in a letter to the school’s president. “We fear that removing programs will alter the foundation and identity Marymount University was built on.”

The school’s president is backing the controversial plan, which would eliminate bachelor’s degrees in theology and religious studies, philosophy, mathematics, art, history, sociology, English, economics and secondary education. The plan will also eliminate a master’s program in English and humanities.

CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY CRITICIZED FOR NEW ‘GENDER INCLUSIVE’ GUIDE ‘FUNDAMENTAL’ TO SCHOOL’S MISSION: ‘SHAMEFUL’

A building on Marymount University’s campus in Arlington, Virginia.  (Google Maps )

“Universities that will thrive and prosper in the future are those that innovate and focus on what distinguishes them from their competition,” the school stated in an update on the plan this month, which was reviewed by Fox News Digital. 

“Digital disruption, economic conditions, and the explosion of low-cost, online course providers have put pressure on universities to reinvent their institutions in order to compete,” the update added. “Students have more choices than ever for where to earn a college degree, and MU must respond wisely to the demand.”

President Irma Becerra submitted her plan to the board of trustees Wednesday, according to a document obtained by Fox News Digital. The board will officially make a decision on the cuts Thursday. 

CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY TELLS STUDENTS TO REPORT ‘RACE-RELATED STRESS’ LIKE NOT GETTING CALLED ON BY PROFESSOR

“Over the long term, it would be irresponsible to sustain majors [and] programs with consistently low enrollment, low graduation rates, and lack of potential for growth,” Becerra stated in the update. “Recommendations and decisions on programs marked for elimination are based on clear evidence of student choices and behavior over time.”

Marymount University President Irma Becerra is backing the plan to cut several majors. (Charles Mostoller/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

“True to our mission, all university programs will continue to be grounded in the liberal arts and focused on the education of the whole person,” Becerra argued.

Funds that go to the liberal arts programs that are likely to be cut will now be funneled to more popular majors and initiatives.

“Marymount will reallocate resources from those programs to others that better serve our students and reflect their interests,” a spokesperson for the school told Fox News Digital on Monday, adding that the elimination of the majors are supported by “definitive research and a Faculty Advisory Committee, the Academic Policy, Budget and Planning (APBP) Committee.”

The school said the plan, however, is not “not financially driven,” and “will provide the University the opportunity to redeploy resources to better serve students and areas of growth.” 

Students have already been alerted to the prospective changes, according to an email sent by the university’s vice provost and obtained by Fox. They were told that those affected by the changes will still be able to finish their required courses to earn their degrees. No other students, however, will be admitted into programs moving forward.

CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY PAINTING DEPICTING GEORGE FLOYD AS JESUS IS ‘HERETICAL, BLASPHEMOUS,’ STUDENT SAYS

Marymount was founded in 1950 originally as a two-year women’s Catholic school before it expanded to its current university status, with roughly 4,000 enrolled students through its campus located just outside Washington, D.C., in Arlington, Virginia.

Students, staff and alumni are now questioning whether the school can stay true to its roots as a Catholic liberal arts university when degrees in studies such as theology and English are no longer offered. 

“If they want to change the mission, then say that and say what that change is,” Ariane Economos, an associate professor of philosophy who serves as director of the School of Humanities and the liberal-arts core curriculum, told The Chronicle of Higher Education. “But getting rid of theology and religious studies at a Catholic university, that doesn’t fit with the mission.”

Woman holds rosary in Vatican City. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Economos told the outlet that the majority of faculty support keeping the programs at the school, saying she wished “our administration would respect the role of faculty governance in determining the curriculum.”

A petition on Change.org was also formed in support of keeping the majors and has racked up more than 1,000 signatures as of Monday. Alumni feel the elimination of the majors would defy the school’s mission that “emphasizes intellectual curiosity, service to others, and a global perspective,” according to the petition. 

DESCENDANT OF DONOR DEMANDS LAW SCHOOL PAY BACK $3.6 BILLION AFTER ‘WOKE ACTIVISTS’ STRIPPED SCHOOL NAME

The American Historical Association, the U.S.’s oldest professional association of historians, also sent a letter to Becerra last week asking her to reconsider the “short-sighted” plan.

“We urge Marymount University to reconsider this decision, which undermines the university’s commitment to ‘intellectual curiosity, service to others, and a global perspective.’ While the university’s liberal arts core provides one way of addressing this mission, it is essential that students have the opportunity for the deeper study and mastery of a field that comes with majoring in history and an array of humanities programs,” the letter states. 

The sign for Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia.  (Google Maps )

A philosophy professor at the school, Adam Kovach, added in comment to ARL Now that the “consequences” of the changes “have not been thought through,” and that the planned shift in resources is “vague.”

“The administration claims program closures will allow the university to shift resources to grow programs with larger enrollments and to create innovative new programs, but this is all vague and aspirational,” Kovach told the outlet.

“We have not heard any definite plan for how to grow,” Kovach added. “We have not seen evidence these changes will lead to cost savings that could just as well be achieved without closing programs. The strategy appears to be, wreck first and find out what to build later.”

FLORIDA UNIVERSITY HAS ADOPTED ‘RADICAL DEI PROGRAMMING THAT SEGREGATES STUDENTS BY RACE,’ CRITIC CLAIMS

Though Marymount provided Fox News Digital with comment on the matter, the school did not answer questions about how much the school expects to save through the cuts or how the reallocated funds would specifically be distributed.

“Marymount University’s mission is unchanged. We will continue to prepare students for in-demand careers by offering them a robust education grounded in the liberal arts,” Marymount’s spokesperson said. 

“However, Marymount is indeed making changes to better position the University for long-term growth and success. One of those is investing in programs with growth potential, aligned with student demand, to give Marymount a competitive advantage.”

Last year, the school saw higher enrollment rates, new sports teams, and even new academic programs, such as an intensive English program that caters “to international students and other individuals for whom English is not a primary language.” The school also even considered building a new athletic facility, ARL Now reported.

Among Becerra’s initiatives since becoming the school’s president in 2018 were advocating for Dreamer students – illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as dependents – including launching a scholarship fund back in 2020 that received praise from Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine. 

She also penned an op-ed for Forbes last year calling for “cognitive diversity” – which is defined as the inclusion of people who think and solve problems differently than others – to be included amid discussion on diversity, equity and inclusion in workplaces.

As the board readies to make its final decision on the plan, student-government president Mejia stressed that alumni “want to be proud of their alma mater.”

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

“Current and future alumni want to be proud of their alma mater and they fear that with this action their success will be hindered by a weakened perception of their MU education from a program that no longer exists,” Mejia wrote to Becerra.

While former President Trump continues to work out nicknames for his potential 2024 presidential rival, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is still managing to stay out of the fray while building his resume and eyeing more Republican-backed victories on issues like education, crime and immigration.

DeSantis embarked on a pro-police tour of blue cities on Monday, traveling to the New York City, Philadelphia and Chicago areas and meeting with sheriffs, chiefs of police and other local law enforcement officials who feel unsupported by their local governments, his political team told Fox News Digital.

While DeSantis has not announced a 2024 presidential run, he is frequently floated as a top contender to face off against Trump in the Republican primary. The governor is also releasing an autobiography on Feb. 28, titled “The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival,” which is viewed by political pundits as another sign he is readying an announcement.

DESANTIS SLIGHTLY EDGES TRUMP AS PREFERRED LEADER OF REPUBLICAN PARTY: POLL

Trump recently insisted on his Truth Social site that contrary to his frequent mocking and name-calling of DeSantis, he rarely thinks about the governor. “I don’t even think about it — A very unimportant subject to me!!!” he declared last week.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks as he announces a proposal for Digital Bill of Rights, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

DESANTIS KICKS OFF PRO-POLICE TOUR IN DEMOCRAT-RUN CITIES AS WHITE HOUSE RUMORS SWIRL

The former president targeted DeSantis days later after Fox News exclusively reported the details of DeSantis’ pro-police tour on Sunday.

“Ron DeSanctimonious wants to cut your Social Security and Medicare,” Trump wrote Sunday night, “closed up Florida & its beaches, loves RINOS Paul Ryan, Jeb Bush, and Karl Rove (disasters ALL!), is backed by Globalist’s Club for NO Growth, Lincoln Pervert Project, & ‘Uninspired’ Koch — And it only gets worse from there. He is a RINO in disguise!, whose Poll numbers are dropping like a rock. Good luck Ron!”

The virtually one-sided feud between Trump and DeSantis began in November, when the former president branded him “Ron DeSanctimonious” just three days before the midterm elections. When Election Day came, the Wall Street Journal published comments by Trump threatening to release dirt on DeSantis if the governor decided to run for president.

“If he did run, I will tell you things about him that won’t be very flattering,” Trump told the outlet. “I know more about him than anybody other than perhaps his wife, who is really running his campaign.”

Former President Trump speaks at a campaign event at the South Carolina Statehouse, Jan. 28, 2023, in Columbia, South Carolina. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

FLORIDA GOV. DESANTIS REPEATEDLY TARGETED BY FALSE VIRAL CLAIMS AMID 2024 SPECULATION

Trump’s attacks against DeSantis so close to the election were widely condemned by conservatives, and while Republicans went on to underperform on the national level, losing the U.S. Senate and only retaking the House by a few seats, DeSantis cruised to an historic 19-point win in Florida, a onetime battleground state.

The day after the election, the former president lashed out a DeSantis again, writing, “Now that the Election in Florida is over, and everything went quite well, shouldn’t it be said that in 2020, I got 1.1 Million more votes in Florida than Ron D got this year, 5.7 Million to 4.6 Million? Just asking?” 

Trump later unleashed a more than 400-word tirade against DeSantis, slamming the governor as “average” and lacking “class” and “loyalty.” He criticized DeSantis for ordering lockdowns in Florida, saying the governor “didn’t have to close up his State, but did, unlike other Republican Governors,” and he credited himself for DeSantis’ 2018 gubernatorial win against disgraced Democrat Andrew Gillum.

Former President Trump speaks at a campaign event at the South Carolina Statehouse, Jan. 28, 2023, in Columbia, South Carolina. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Trump’s critique of DeSantis for locking down the state is a peculiar one. DeSantis did not issue his first and only stay-at-home order for the state until April 1, 2020, more than two weeks after Trump, as president, announced his “15 Days to Slow the Spread” plan, which recommended that governors shut down schools, restaurants and other public places.

While DeSantis, like most governors across the country, followed the guidance and briefly shut down the state, he was one of the first to reopen, which brought on a wave of Democratic backlash that continues today. The governor has since vowed that the state would never lock down again, and that one of his biggest regrets was not pushing back against the Trump administration’s recommendations, which he primarily blamed on Dr. Anthony Fauci, leader of the White House’s COVID-19 response.

Still, Trump, who formally announced his 2024 presidential run on Nov. 15, a week after the midterms, has repeatedly slammed DeSantis’ pandemic response on Truth Social in recent weeks.

According to a new poll by Monmouth University, the governor would win a hypothetical head-to-head match against Trump by a 53% to 40% margin, and he is preferred over Trump among nearly every major voting bloc in the party, except among those earning less than $50,000 a year and people age 65 and older. Other polls, however, have shown Trump leading DeSantis. 

Former South Carolina Governor and U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, the only other Republican to officially announce her 2024 presidential run besides Trump, took her first shot at DeSantis last week by saying his controversial parental rights law did not go far enough.

“There was all this talk about the Florida bill — the ‘don’t say gay bill.’ Basically what it said was you shouldn’t be able to talk about gender before third grade. I’m sorry. I don’t think that goes far enough,” Haley told supporters in New Hampshire. “When I was in school you didn’t have sex ed until 7th grade. And even then, your parents had to sign whether you could take the class.”

Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the United Nations, during an event in Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023. (Photographer: Sam Wolfe/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley speaks to supporters during her speech Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, in Charleston, South Carolina. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

RON DESANTIS SENDS TWO PLANES OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TO MARTHA’S VINEYARD

Another potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, on Sunday blasted DeSantis’ education initiatives as “big government” and even “authoritarian.”

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, another potential candidate, has also fired shots at DeSantis in recent weeks.

“I’m ranked the most fiscally conservative governor in the country,” he told Politico this month. “I’m No. 1 in personal freedoms. Sorry, Ron, you’re No. 2.”

DeSantis has largely refrained from taking any direct shots at Trump or others, but he said he considers the criticism “positive feedback” during an appearance on “Fox & Friends” Monday morning.

“If you’re an office holder, and you’re just sitting there twiddling your thumbs and not getting anything done, no one ever says anything,” the governor said. “You can kind of just fly under the radar. But when you’re out there leading, when you’re out there setting the agenda, not just for Florida, but really for the nation, which we’ve done over the last few years, people see that. And the people that don’t necessarily like that are going to respond accordingly. But I can just tell you, if people are not firing at me, then I must not be doing my job.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks as he announces a proposal for Digital Bill of Rights, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

The governor is traveling to blue-led cities to tout his efforts to support law enforcement and reduce crime in Florida, where he recently proposed legislation to strengthen bail laws, toughen penalties for sex criminals and other anti-crime measures.

According to the governor’s office, DeSantis implemented the largest recruitment package for law enforcement officers in state history last year, awarding $5,000 signing bonuses to officers willing to relocate to Florida from blue states.

Speaking from Staten Island on Monday morning, DeSantis told “Fox & Friends” that the “woke” approach to law enforcement and crime has failed.

“It’s all putting ideology over public safety,” he said. “It has caused a lot of people to leave these formerly thriving areas.”

The governor has already signed multiple bills in his second term that are popular with Republicans, including granting more authority to the statewide prosecutor for cases related to voter fraud, as well as repealing and replacing the state’s controversial migrant relocation program, which transports illegals out of state.

Last week, DeSantis proposed his “Digital Bill of Rights,” which would ban TikTok from government devices and prohibit any Florida state or local government employee from coordinating with a “Big Tech” company to censor free speech.

Last month, the governor announced his “Teacher’s Bill of Rights,” which would include $1 billion in teacher pay raises but also limit the power of teachers’ unions in the state. It comes almost one year after he signed into law his Parental Rights in Education bill, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by Democrats, which banned teachers from giving classroom instruction on “sexual orientation” or “gender identity” in kindergarten through third grade.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

DeSantis told Fox News on Monday that “this is going to be the most productive legislative session we have had across the board.”

“I think people look at Florida, and they’re like, ‘Man, the governor has gotten a lot done,’ and we have and we’re proud of it. You ain’t seen nothing yet,” he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Tuesday that Russia was pulling back from the New START treaty with the United States which reduces and limits each country’s nuclear arsenal.

“In this regard, I am forced to announce today that Russia is suspending its participation in the strategic offensive arms treaty,” Putin said in his annual address to the nation, just one day after President Biden made a surprise visit to Ukraine.

In his long-delayed state-of-the-nation address, Putin cast Russia and Ukraine as victims of Western double-dealing. He said Russia, not Ukraine, was the one fighting for its very existence.

The speech reiterated a litany of grievances that the Russian leader has frequently offered as justification for the widely condemned war and ignored international demands to pull back from occupied areas in Ukraine.

PRESIDENT BIDEN MAKES SURPRISE VISIT TO KYIV. UKRAINE, MEETS WITH PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures as he gives his annual state of the nation address in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. (Sergei Karpukhin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

The New START treaty, first signed in April 2010, limits the U.S. and Russia from having more than 1,550 nuclear warheads deployed on delivery systems like intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missile or heavy bombers. 

Both the U.S. and Russia are capable of deploying far more than the allotted nuclear warheads as Washington and Moscow have a combined total of more than 13,000 warheads – making up roughly 90% of the world’s nuclear arsenal, according to data provided by the Arms Control Association.

Following the nuclear arms race that largely came to an end with the fall of the Soviet Union, the U.N. has pushed for nuclear disarmament and global warheads inventories have dropped since hitting their peak in 1985, when more than 70,000 warheads were estimated to make up global stockpiles. 

Putin’s speech comes three days before the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russia has continued its attack on Ukraine over the last year despite Western sanctions and losses on the battlefield. Ukraine’s defense has been supported by a number of other countries, most of which are in the West.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and President Biden shake hands at Mariinsky Palace on an unannounced visit, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 20, 2023.  (Evan Vucci/Pool via REUTERS)

Ukrainian officials have said they expect Russia to ramp up its offensive in Moscow’s acknowledgment of the one-year anniversary of the war on Feb. 24.

Biden on Monday met with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Mariinsky Palace to announce an additional half-billion dollars in U.S. assistance. The U.S. has already supported Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars in financial aid and military equipment. 

BIDEN ANNOUNCES MILLIONS MORE TAXPAYER DOLLARS TO ASSIST UKRAINE DURING SURPRISE TRIP TO KYIV

President Biden, left, walks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Cathedral during an unannounced visit, in Kyiv on Feb. 20, 2023. (EVAN VUCCI/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

The new assistance includes shells for howitzers, anti-tank missiles, air surveillance radars and other aid but does not offer new advanced weaponry.

Biden said he visited Ukraine to meet with Zelenskyy and “reaffirm our unwavering and unflagging commitment to Ukraine’s democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.” He said Putin was “dead wrong” in believing Ukraine was weak when he launched the invasion a year ago.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“I am meeting with President Zelenskyy and his team for an extended discussion on our support for Ukraine,” Biden said in a statement Monday. “I will announce another delivery of critical equipment, including artillery ammunition, anti-armor systems, and air surveillance radars to help protect the Ukrainian people from aerial bombardments. And I will share that later this week, we will announce additional sanctions against elites and companies that are trying to evade or backfill Russia’s war machine.”

Fox News’ Caitlin McFall, Nick Kalman and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Dodge has something scary in the works.

It will reveal the last V8-powered muscle car it will ever build at a special event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 20.

The automaker is discontinuing the current Challenger coupe and Charger sedan at the end of 2023 and replacing them with the all-electric Charger Daytona SRT.

However, it’s sending the V8s off with a bang, releasing a series of “Last Call” models that will be the final editions it ever builds.

HEAR IT: ELECTRIC DODGE CHARGER DAYTONA’S ‘EXHAUST’ UPDATED WITH MORE MUSCULAR SOUND

The 2023 Dodge Challenger Black Ghost was the sixth of seven “Last Call” models revealed. (Dodge)

Six have already been announced, but the seventh remains secret. Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis has only said that it will be a “history making” model, and surely a very powerful one. The wraps were originally supposed to come off of it last fall, but the engine being developed for it kept blowing up during testing.

RAINBOW-COLORED DODGE CHALLENGER REVEALED FOR EYE-POPPING PRICE

Kuniskis said the problem has been identified and solved, and the car should ready to go in the Sin City. A new teaser video offers a cryptic idea of what to expect.

The short clip features the unmistakable sound of a V8 engine as a creepy face obscured by smoke comes onto the screen.

The creature in Dodge’s teaser video looks demonic. (Dodge)

It can only be described as demonic and could reference 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon that is the most powerful muscle car made to date. Its supercharged 6.2-liter V8 rated at 808 hp.

The Challenger SRT Demon is the most-powerful muscle car to date. (Dodge)

Rumor has it that the new car will be able to run on high octane E85 and produce 909 hp.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE FOX NEWS AUTOS NEWSLETTER

That has not been confirmed, but a “24 Months of Muscle” countdown calendar marking the days until the Charger Daytona SRT’s release includes a bottle of moonshine, which is just a different kind of ethanol.

Dodge’s 24 Months of Muscle calendar includes a hint about the new car that will be released before the Charger Daytona SRT, indicated by the triangular Fratzog logo, goes on sale. (Dodge)

For those of you who really like puzzles, the model was previously shown covered by a sheet with only the license plate 1FAST29 exposed. The Demon’s engine was equipped with a 2.8-liter supercharger. Could the new car’s be a little bigger?

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Your guess is as good as anyone’s, but the muscle car world will know in a month’s time. 

Two teenagers and an infant were killed, and three more people were hurt after a shooting on a Chicago interstate highway, officials said Monday.

The shooting occurred Sunday at around 10:30 p.m. on the I-57 expressway near 111th Street in the South Side, Illinois State Police trooper Josh Robinson said.

CHICAGO SHOOTING ON I-57 LEAVES ADULT, 2 CHILDREN DEAD

Nasir Hall, 19, William Smith, 13, and A-mara Hall, 1, died in the incident, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

All three victims of a shooting on I-57 in Chicago — two teenagers and an infant — have been identified.

The victims’ vehicle left the highway and stopped near the top of the 111th Street exit ramp. Two people were found dead at the scene and four were taken to the hospital, Robinson said. One of the four subsequently died.

CHICAGO HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTING LEAVES 2 DEAD

Robinson said the investigation “is still in its infancy.”

State police did not share whether a suspect has been arrested.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Public safety in Chicago is a major factor for voters in the upcoming mayoral election. Mayor Lori Lightfoot has taken the most heat for increased crime, with homicides hitting a 25-year high in 2021 with roughly 800.

A bill that would have given Virginia cities and counties the option to ask local voters to approve a sales tax surcharge to finance school construction has died in the General Assembly.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that the bill would have broadened the special permission the legislature has already given eight counties and the city of Danville.

Democratic state Sen. Jennifer McClellan, who sponsored the bill, said Virginia currently operates under the Dillon rule, which says that local government only exercises powers expressly given to them by the state.

The resources state law currently allows localities to tap — mainly real estate taxes — are not synching up with the soaring cost of school construction, McClellan said.

“We say schools are a local responsibility, that’s what this bill does,” she said.

ANOTHER 6-YEAR-OLD CAUGHT WITH HANDGUN AT SCHOOL, MOTHER CHARGED: REPORT

A Virginia bill for localities to add surcharge to finance school construction has died in the General Assembly. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The bill said any sales tax surcharge could not exceed a 1 percentage point add-on to the state tax.

But Republican Del. Kathy Byron said a new school construction fund, along with increased sums flowing into the state lottery from sports betting taxes, should help localities pay for new schools.

“We need to give these time,” Byron said.

Byron said the General Assembly has been too easygoing about allowing local surcharges, which are increasing the tax burden on residents.

McClellan’s bill was killed by a House Finance Committee panel chaired by Byron on a straight party line vote.