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GOP challenger Joe Kaufman to run in Florida’s 25th district; will face either Moskowitz or Wasserman Schultz
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Joe Kaufman knows what it’s like to lose a close race in a historically Democratic District. In fact, in the 2024 election cycle, Kaufman ran in the closest congressional race in the state, narrowly losing in the 23rd district to incumbent Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., a two-term congressman who has sought to build a moderate profile.
Florida has just completed its redistricting process, and this time around, Kaufman is confident that he can win, despite the Republicans facing headwinds.
Kaufman confirmed to Fox News Digital that in 2026, he will be running in the new 25th District, although it remains unclear exactly who his opponent will be or if he faces a primary challenger.
Moskowitz said on Monday that if he runs, it will be in the 25th District, while it appears that incumbent Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who would be seeking her 12th term in Congress, is also weighing running in the same district.
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Joe Kaufman is running as a Republican candidate in the newly formed 25th District in Florida. (Joe Kaufman)
Kaufman brings a battle-tested strategy and message to the race, on the heels of his near-victory in 2024:
«Yes, we had 48% of the vote. It was the closest race in all of Florida and the highest percentage of any Republican to ever run for that seat. But back then, I got in very late in the game and this time around our numbers are much better, and we’ve been able to form those coalitions that we needed to last time. We’ve done that now, and I will win this seat this time.»
Kaufman bills himself as a «terrorist hunter» and brings strong foreign policy credentials to the table.
«I do counter-terrorism research, writing and lectures.» He says he’s been involved in «the shutdown of terrorist charities and the imprisonment of terror-related individuals. Recently, I led the shutdown of a pro-Hamas conference that was to take place in Coral Springs, and the organizers, including CAIR and the South Florida Muslim Federation, they were upset, so they sued me and the Marriott Corporation in federal court. They sued us not once, but twice and I’m proud to say that we won not once, but twice.»
«He says in regard to foreign policy, «I’ve been very involved these past few years in what’s been taking place. 17 years ago, I was honored to co-found a group called Cyrus Force with his majesty, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who we believe is going to be soon to be a future leader of Iran.»
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., speaks during a press conference on new legislation to support Holocaust education nationwide at the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 27, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Despite being a foreign policy hawk, Kaufman is opposed to putting troops on the ground in Iran.
«No, I don’t support ground troops, at least not from the United States. I don’t want to see what took place in wars past happen here with seeing Americans come back in body bags. I feel the same way about our friends in Israel.
«But there are third parties that want to get involved, and I say, give them the green light to do so. So, if there’s any ground troops…they shouldn’t be from America or Israel. It should be from these third parties.»
Kaufman is a strong advocate for vocational training in high school, and a critic of the Affordable Care Act.
«Well, for one thing, I support putting vocational training in all of the high schools in America. And it’s a project I want to initiate as a congressman. Too many kids today are staying home with their parents after they graduate high school. They need to have real job skills so they could make money, get out of their parents’ homes, be able to have their own families, and eventually, purchase their own house of their own.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) speaks during a press conference. Moskowitz currently represents the 23rd district of Florida. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Congressional Integrity Project)
«Also, I don’t like the Affordable Care Act. It was never affordable. It’s been taking hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies, thanks to the Democrats. And I think we need a new health care system that costs the American government less and costs the American taxpayer less and better quality. And I think we could have that without Obamacare.»
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Historically, the party of the incumbent president loses seats in midterm elections the vast majority of the time. In what is widely believed to be a difficult year ahead for Republicans, Kaufman acknowledges the current engagement in Iran and the lingering effects of Biden-era inflation as challenges.
«Well, a lot of it has to do with the war overseas, but I believe that that’s going to be short term. I think that’s, that’s going to end soon. Also, with regards to inflation, we’re still dealing with the Biden years where Joe Biden initiated very heavy inflation for our country.
Donald Trump (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
«And thank you, President Trump, for doing the things that would bring inflation down. So I’m looking forward to low inflation, better affordability and very soon an end to the war, and results overseas that allow us to have peace in the Middle East and more peace in world.»
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Kaufman says the Democratic Party is fundamentally broken, and Republicans can win on messaging in 2026.
«Well, the Democrats, they’ve allowed people, an untold amount of people, to cross our borders, some of which have been terrorists and members of terror cells. They’ve hurt the values in the United States. They’ve destroyed our healthcare system with an Affordable Care Act that was never affordable. They’ve done everything possible to destroy our nation, and we need to make that change.»
florida, elections, midterm elections, foreign policy, war with iran
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President Donald Trump delivered a 37-minute speech for America’s 250th birthday after a weather delay in the dark of night that was lit up by a Guinness world-record-setting fireworks display stretching from July 4 into July 5 at Washington, D.C.’s National Mall.
While thousands outlasted the rain and dodged nature’s thunderstorm light show, many Americans might have missed the president’s historic remarks.
Here is a recap of some of the highlights.
AMERICA’S NEXT 250 YEARS DEPEND ON PASSING FAITH AND FREEDOM TO OUR CHILDREN
President Donald Trump estimated in his speech that a crowd of 350,000 was cut to 150,000 on the Washington, D.C., National Mall for the record-setting fireworks display over the Washington Monument as part of the Salute to America 250 celebration. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)
‘No dream in history is bigger’ than the American experiment
«In this country, we could achieve the wildest and most impossible dreams, and no dream in history is bigger or more incredible than the one that started on July 4th, 1776,» Trump said. «The war for independence was launched by minutemen, farmers, blacksmiths, tradesmen who took up their muskets against the mightiest army on earth, the most powerful army and unbeatable army – until they met us.»
«No one made them do it. They fought because they knew that a free people must have a free country. Over 250 years, the world has seen the great empires, vast kingdoms, mighty nations and terrible tyrants: They came and they went, but after 2 1/2 centuries, this American republic still stands tall and strong,» the president added.
TRUMP HAILS AMERICA AS ‘MOST EXCEPTIONAL NATION EVER TO EXIST’ IN MOUNT RUSHMORE SPEECH
‘America is a nation of winners’
«Americans won the West and built the modern world, because America is a nation of winners, and today our country is winning again, and we’re winning like never before,» Trump said just before the midway point of the speech. «America is back and we want to keep America great.»
«Together, we are also reasserting the truth that American strength and power is not something to be ashamed of. It is something that we are very, very proud of,» Trump continued. «This country has been the greatest force for peace and justice on earth in the last century. We defeated tyrants, demolished evil, and saved freedom again and again and again.»
‘Nothing Americans cannot do’
«There is no challenge Americans can not overcome,» Trump said before his concluding remarks. «There is no place we cannot go. There is no goal we cannot reach. And there is nothing that Americans cannot do.»
The crowd got 37 minutes of President Donald Trump’s historic America 250 speech and 38 minutes of the largest fireworks display in world history, breaking a Guinness Book of World Records mark as planned by Trump. (Pete Kiehart/Bloomberg)
Thanking those staying into the late hours
«If you think that was easy, it wasn’t,» Trump began in an unscripted salute to the patient and devoted crowd. «And I want to thank everybody because they did the right thing. They saw lightning. And I said, ‘there’s no way; if we have to speak in front of one person at 4 in the morning, I’m going to be here.’
«There’s no way we can be deterred. And they estimated they had 375,000 people before everybody had to leave, and they now have 150,000 people. It’s the craziest thing anyone’s ever seen.
«And I want to just thank you. And I feel so badly about some people. They left it; they couldn’t get back. But, you’re very special people, and we have a very special country. Thank you very much.»
’56 patriots put everything at risk’ for ‘victory for the ages’
«They declare that all men are created equal; that they are endowed with sacred unalienable rights by the hand of our creator, and that among these are life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,» Trump said, «and signing their names to the roster of freedom.»
«Those 56 patriots put everything at risk. Stepped onto the stage of destiny and seized a victory for the ages. And that’s what it was,» he said. «And this is an evening for the ages. I believe this is something very special. This is bigger than if we didn’t have the lightning blaring. We had lightning blaring. But this is bigger, little more inconvenient, but it’s bigger, I think, in its own way it’s more beautiful. From the beginning, we were a nation that live by the motto victory or death and live free or die.»
‘We will always be the best’
«God bless the immortal patriots of 1776, and long live the cause of independence,» Trump said. «May it reign forever and ever and ever. We will always be on top. We will never let our country fall. We will always be the best.»
«Our founders not only won our liberty, they secured it with the most righteous political document ever conceived: It’s called the Constitution of the United States,» Trump said. «Very special, and it’s because of their genius that we remain the finest people on the planet.»
Honoring 11 Gold Star families
«We are honored to be joined by 11 Gold Star family members,» Trump said. «The Gold Star family – that is one of the great tributes. It’s one of the great honors, a tough honor. There’s nothing tougher than that. But these are amazing people.»
Next stop, the moon, then a mission to Mars
«We’re going to be going to Mars very soon, and I think that’s something that we do have in my mind,» Trump said, hearkening to the historic John F. Kennedy going to the moon speech excerpt.
«And we’re going to do the moon and we’re going to go from there. We’re going to go to Mars, and we’re going to continue to be way ahead.»
Defeating communism: We ‘cast the hammer and sickle into oblivion’
«All these talks from the communists, they haven’t got a chance – not even a chance,» Trump said; a theme he reiterated multiple times in the speech. «We don’t want communists in our country. Never worked and it never will work.»
Communism will always be «a loser,» Trump added later.
«Our warriors did not fight communism on battlefields across the world only to have that menace rears its ugly head right back here in America. We’re not going to let it happen. We like to stop a threat like that immediately and before it begins,» Trump said. «It’s like a cancer. You got to cut it out. You got to cut it out fast.»
Trump added a warning to potential future communist opposition around the globe.
«The Stars and Stripes cast the hammer and sickle into oblivion before,» Trump said, «and we will do it again if necessary.»
«I don’t think it’s going to be necessary. I think people have learned. They’ve learned what to do and how to handle it, and we’ll get a handle it very well.»
‘Our destiny is written by God’
«We have thrived and flourished because our founders were great, our cause was just, our people are brave, our culture is exceptional, and our destiny is written by God,» Trump said near the end of the speech he apparently cut short after vowing earlier this week to deliver an hours-long address to the world.
«And as we can see here tonight, after 250 years, the spirit of 1776 still lives within us all. It still roars in the hearts of our nation’s capital. It still burns in the heart of every patriot, thunders through every city and town, and is still lights the entire world with the glow of American liberty. And there is nothing like that.»
250 and ‘just getting started’: ‘Best is yet to come’; ‘dawn of the golden age’
Fireworks over the National Mall during the ‘Freedom 250: Salute to America’ Independence Day celebration in Washington, D.C., might have extended to July 5, 2026, but President Donald Trump still made sure they went off for the thousands that waited out the thunderstorm with him Saturday night. (Mehmet Eser/Anadolu)
«At 250 years old, we may be the oldest constitutional republic on earth, but our country is just getting started because the best is yet to come: This is only the dawn of the golden age of America,» Trump said in his conclusion, leading directly into the National Mall fireworks display.
«And on this 250th 4th of July, we declare, just as they did two and a half centuries ago, that for our country and for our children and for the cause of liberty, we are going to take our country to new levels, to levels not reached,» Trump continued. «We’re going to make it bigger, better, stronger, and we’re going to love it even more.»
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«And I just want to thank you,» he added, finishing with words off the script. «The inconvenience of lightning can do that, but lightning will never stop you. And I want to thank everybody and we love you all. And it’s an honor to be your president. Thank you. God bless you all.»
america 250, donald trump, washington dc, white house, history
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La otra cara de la tragedia en Venezuela: «los cobreros» revuelven los escombros en busca de algo de valor
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Leah Stewart, an Australian mother and teacher who lost an arm after a shark attack at Sydney’s Coogee Beach, has been reading messages from supporters around the world during sleepless nights as she continues her long recovery, her family said.
«We’ve been sharing some of the beautiful messages we’ve received with Leah and she’s loved them, finding inspiration from the care and love you’ve all shared,» her brother, Joshua Stewart, wrote in a GoFundMe update on Sunday.
«Leah has had some challenging days but has found real strength from your kindness and support,» he added.
Leah Stewart has struggled with sleep in her recovery and has leaned on the wave of support from family, friends and strangers.
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«Since the incident Leah has had difficulty sleeping, and on those nights she’s been reading back through your messages, not only from her family and community in Australia and her whānau in New Zealand, but also from people all across the world,» he wrote, using the Maori word for family. «They’ve given her real comfort and strength.»
Stewart, mother to a 1-year-old daughter and passionate teacher, was attacked June 13 while on a morning swim close to shore and within the flags at Coogee Beach, according to her family. She suffered life-threatening injuries, including multiple bites across her arms and legs, lacerations, fractures and extreme blood loss.
She was placed on life support, put under a medically induced coma and underwent multiple surgeries in the days after the attack. Her treatment required the amputation of one arm, and the family said more surgeries were scheduled as doctors worked to save her life and stabilize her condition.
Stewart, who woke up from her 10-day coma after doctors reduced her sedation, told her mother and partner, Fernando, «I love you.» Her brother said at the time that her first thoughts were with her young daughter, August.
SHARK ATTACK SURVIVOR WAKES FROM 10-DAY COMA AND SHARES FIRST WORDS WITH FAMILY AT HER HOSPITAL BEDSIDE
«Leah has a long road ahead,» Joshua Stewart wrote after she briefly woke, calling the moment a hopeful first step in her recovery.
Joshua Stewart said the family wanted to apologize for delays in responding to supporters, explaining they have had issues with the GoFundMe messaging system.
«Leah is beyond overwhelmed at the amazing support she has received and that her story has resonated with so many people,» he wrote. «Thank you!»
The fundraiser was launched to help Stewart, her partner and their young daughter through what her family described as a heartbreaking situation. The money will support her recovery, prosthetics, rehabilitation, ongoing care and the major adjustments she will need as she works toward returning to life as a mother.
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Her family also thanked the lifesavers, first responders, helicopter crew and medical team at St. Vincent’s Hospital who helped care for Stewart after the attack.
«As a family we are shocked and devastated that this could happen to our beloved partner, daughter and mother who is so full of life and energy,» Joshua Stewart wrote.
sharks, australia, new zealand, travel safety, beach
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