A patriotic woman from Massachusetts took matters into her own hands after leaders in her state decided to boycott the Great American State Fair out of anger at President Donald Trump — and she showed no mercy to those who made that decision.

«I came here to represent Massachusetts because I didn’t want the public to walk into an empty room. I wanted somebody to be there,» said Donna Festinger, who paid her own way from the Bay State to the nation’s capital to celebrate 250 years of American independence.

Festinger is manning her state’s booth at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall, part of the Trump-aligned Freedom 250 event that began on June 25 and ends on July 10.

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She had a clear message for Massachusetts leadership, along with the leadership of other states who also declined to participate in the celebration.

«I’m very disappointed that Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts decided — their governments decided not to support this effort to celebrate our American heritage,» she said. «It’s actually shameful.»

«It makes me feel like they really don’t love America or Massachusetts — my governor,» she said of Democrat Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, who has had some very public spats with Trump.

Festinger, a former teacher who paid her own way to the event in Washington, D.C., and arrived at the beginning of the celebration, says she plans to stay through the entire 16-day event.

Massachusetts resident Donna Festinger occupies her state’s booth at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on July 1, 2026. (Hannah Brennan/Fox News Digital)

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She told Fox News Digital that she thinks the state boycotts are actually a point of unity for the American public, «because most people are upset about it and do not understand why a governor would do that.»

«And so that’s actually uniting people, Democrats, Republicans, independents, and agreeing that every state should be proud of our country,» Festinger speculated.

She added: «I think the Trump administration is working hard to bring the country together.»

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Meanwhile, Healey, known for her rabid anti-Trump streak, mocked the fair in an interview with Boston Public Radio.

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey also hosted a news conference on Thursday, pushing back on the Supreme Court’s decision. (David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Asked whether she would welcome Trump if he visited the state, she reportedly said the president is «too busy with his Great American State Fair down there that everybody’s bailing on.»

She also claimed, without evidence, that Trump is using the fair to «get money into his own pocket,» and falsely claimed that states were being charged to participate in the fair.

Festinger also recently garnered some backup at the Massachusetts booth.

Judith Kalaora, a Boston resident, stood at the state’s stand dressed to the nines in a Revolutionary War uniform to honor Deborah Sampson, a Massachusetts woman who disguised herself as a man to fight the British.

Judith Kalaora of Massachusetts honors female Continental Army soldier Deborah Sampson at the Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C., on July 1, 2026. (Hannah Brennan/Fox News Digital)

«I’m hopeful that my being here will unite folks to realize that Boston and Massachusetts have a great spirit, and that that spirit can unite the United States through our nation’s heritage and through our military history,» said Kalaora.

«I believe that the United States, in 250 years, has accomplished many more achievements than other nations have accomplished in 400 and 500 years,»

Eleven states, all run by Democrats, decided to skip the fair.

Some had explicitly anti-Trump reasons for declining to participate, like Illinois Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker, citing what he said is Trump’s «politicization of America 250 activities.»

Oregon’s leadership expressed a similar sentiment, though did not mention Trump by name.

«The State of Oregon will not be participating in the Great American State Fair due to both the cost of participating in the Fair and growing concerns that the event in Washington, D.C. is shaping up to be a more partisan affair than originally presented,» Democrat Gov. Tina Kotek’s office said in a statement.

People visit «The Great American State Fair» during a heatwave in Washington, D.C., on July 1, 2026. Tens of millions of Americans sweltered under furnace-like temperatures this week as central and eastern cities hunkered down for a heat wave set to last through the July 4 holiday weekend. (Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images)

Kalaora, however, remains optimistic.

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«Times change, and emotions change, and that’s okay, as long as we still remember that we’ve done great things,» she said.

«I’m happy to be here.»

Política

Cambio

Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev., a swing-district Democrat who touts herself as a bipartisan dealmaker, told a liberal audience she wants to «work across the aisle» before saying moments later that watching Pete Hegseth testify made her want to «beat the s— out of him.»

Lee made the remarks during an appearance last month before the Sun City Liberal Club in Las Vegas while discussing rare earth minerals and her work supporting MP Materials, a Las Vegas-based company involved in U.S. critical minerals production. The comments come as she seeks re-election in Nevada’s closely divided 3rd Congressional District.

«I want to be bipartisan. I want to work across the aisle,» Lee told the crowd, according to video of the remarks. But moments later, while discussing Hegseth appearing before her committee, she said, «Now listen, it’s so easy. It’s so easy. Like you just wanna beat the s— out of him.»

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«But you got to bite it,» Lee said of wanting to «beat the s—» out of Hegseth.

The Hegseth remark is not the first profanity-laced comment to draw scrutiny for Lee. In April, Fox News Digital reported that Lee deleted an expletive-filled late-night social media post targeting Trump after online backlash, then defended her remarks by saying her «nerve was touched» by what she described as attacks on the Constitution.

«Secretary Hegseth has made life less safe and more expensive for Americans. The war of choice that he and President Trump started has placed more burden on working families by increasing the cost of gas and groceries. And despite promising to immediately review Congresswoman Lee’s request to get Nevada Test and Training Range veterans the health care they need, Secretary Hegseth has dragged his feet for nearly two months,» a spokesperson for Lee told Fox News Digital. «Clearly, there are many areas in which Congresswoman Lee does not see eye to eye with the Secretary.»

Lee’s comments about wanting to beat up Hegseth came while she was teeing up a story to the Sun City Liberal Club about pressing the Secretary of War during a hearing on the Pentagon’s decision to invest in an Australian company while supposedly leaving a U.S.-based one out to dry. Lee said she appealed to Hegseth by telling him she believed in «made in America» and questioned why the Pentagon had invested more heavily in a different Australian company as opposed to MP Materials, an American one. 

«Now listen, it’s so easy. It’s so easy. Like you just wanna beat the s— out of him. I mean yea, but you just got to bite it. So this is what I did – he came in front of my committee twice,» Lee said as she told the story about the rare earth investments.

«You got to lay on their ego, right?» she continued. «Well, three weeks later, they announced a $2 billion investment in MP Materials, okay? I didn’t want to be sweet with Hegseth, okay, I didn’t. But, you know, you got to do what you got to do to get s— done, right?»

U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

«Congresswoman Lee set aside [her differences with Hegseth] on behalf of her constituents to secure an investment in a Nevada-based employer that will create hundreds of jobs in southern Nevada,» Lee’s spokesperson told Fox News Digital. «She will continue putting politics aside and working with anyone — regardless of party — to lower costs, create jobs, and make life better for her constituents.» 

But Republicans took aim at the remarks as evidence that Lee’s bipartisan brand is at odds with how she talks about Trump administration officials behind closed doors.

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«It’s unfortunate for our Republic, near our 250th birthday of this great experiment we call America, that town hall comments like this reveal the truth, and Republican voters should be warned that Democrats, if they take over the majority, will simply spend their time going after President Trump and his administration,» said Mark Bednar, former head of communications for former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy.

Republicans also took issue with Lee’s claim that her exchange with Hegseth helped spur a major Defense Department investment in MP Materials, accusing the Nevada Democrat of overstating her role while using the story to burnish her bipartisan credentials.

«Either Susie Lee believes her words contain the persuasive power of the word of God, or she’s making stuff up and being completely unhinged to boot,» said Republican National Committee spokesperson Nick Poché. «Nevadans deserve a leader who will work to deliver for them, not posers whose only objective in office is to improve their stock portfolios like Susie Lee.»

Democrat Rep. Susie Lee sparked backlash after going on a late-night expletive-filled rant against President Donald Trump. (Madeline Carter/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

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MP Materials eventually signed a major agreement with the Defense Department, including a $400 million Pentagon investment that made the federal government the company’s largest shareholder and other commitments aimed at strengthening the U.S. rare earth magnet supply chain.