Pro-Trump NFL Great Rescues Americans Abandoned by Biden Haiti

Luis Cornelio
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Pro-Trump NFL Great Rescues Americans Abandoned by Biden Haiti

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Former NFL player and Trump appointee Jack Brewer has rescued over 60 Americans from Haiti as criminal gangs wreak havoc and the Biden administration fails to properly evacuate stranded citizens. 

Brewer, a former New York Giants player and appointee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights by former President Donald Trump, led these Haitian rescue efforts through his eponymous foundation, as reported by the New York Post. 

The efforts involved helicopter transfers ranging from $15,000 to $80,000, and several volunteers participated in on-the-ground operations, as reported by the outlet.

One rescued American described the harrowing experience in Haiti. “As I was busy evacuating others, the area where my family and I reside was attacked by gangs. My partner and his neighbor’s house were overrun,” he told the Post, speaking anonymously for safety reasons. 

He further elaborated, “There were at least five children, all of whom were US citizens holed up in both that individual’s and their neighbor’s homes. Ultimately they were evacuated in the rescue effort.” 

Founded in 2006, the Jack Brewer Foundation offers disaster and medical relief missions. According to its website, it has delivered over $70 million in medical aid around the world. The foundation’s Serving Ministries efforts aided in the building of churches in Haiti and Malawi and have given away hundreds of Bibles annually. 

As reported by the Post, Brewer began rescuing individuals last month and currently aims to evacuate 300 people. The evacuations have proved risky as on-the-ground volunteers have been forced to recalibrate their efforts due to shootings, the outlet added.

“[One] gentleman, the first day we started coordinating his evacuation, took a bullet to the head,” Brewer said in an interview with the outlet. “He was at his house on the phone … and gangsters broke in.” 

Brewer recounted that one of his close friends visited his father for dinner when seven individuals stormed inside the man’s home. “They had to hold them off with gunfire,” he recounted. 

The private rescue efforts coincide with mounting criticism against the Biden administration for its failure to declare evacuation measures from Haiti. 

Currently, Haiti is facing a leadership vacuum after Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned. His decision came after he failed to return to the country amid the chaos caused by gangs taking control of the airport in the capital city, Port-au-Prince. 

Last month, the Biden administration announced evacuation flights from the northern region of the Caribbean country. However, the federal government issued a disturbing warning, cautioning Americans that if they traveled outside the capital to access these flights, they would be doing so at their own risk. 

Vermont OKs Shakedown of Oil Companies over ‘Climate Change’

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Vermont OKs Shakedown of Oil Companies over ‘Climate Change’

(Headline USA) The Vermont Legislature advanced legislation this week requiring big fossil fuel companies pay a share of the damage caused by climate change after the state suffered catastrophic summer flooding and damage from other natural disasters.

The Democrat-led state Senate, which includes only seven Republicans among its 30 members, was expected to give final approval this week to the proposal. It next heads to the House, where Republicans comprise only a slightly larger percentage with 38 of the 150 total seats (counting right-leaning Libertarian Rep. Jarrod Sammis of Rutland, who caucuses with the GOP).

The measure would create a program similar to the Obama-era cap-and-trade initiatives that sought to impose mandatory carbon credits on fossil-fuel companies and other industries, at the discretion of public officials.

Supporters claim that the funds would be earmarked specifically for infrastructure-related projects made necessary due to weather-related phenomena, for which they routinely scapegoat the energy industry.

“In order to remedy the problems created by washed out roads, downed electrical wires, damaged crops and repeated flooding, the largest fossil fuel entities that have contributed to climate change should also contribute to fixing the problem that they caused,” Sen. Nader Hashim, a Democrat from Windham County, said to Senate colleagues on Friday.

Maryland, Massachusetts and New York are considering similar measures, but Vermont’s bill is moving quicker through the Legislature.

Critics, including Republican Gov. Phil Scott, who is up against the veto-proof Democrat majority, warned that it could be a costly legal battle for the small state to go first.

“Of all the fossil fuel companies in the world, we’re a mosquito compared to a giant,” said Republican state Sen. Randy Brock on Friday after he voted against it. “We might win but the cost in doing so alone is huge.”

He referenced the fact that Exxonmobil’s annual sales were $344.6 billion, while Vermont’s annual budget is about $8.5 billion, saying he’d rather see New York or California or another state be first.

Under the legislation, the Vermont state treasurer, in consultation with the Agency of Natural Resources, would provide a report by Jan. 15, 2026, on the total cost to Vermonters and the state from the emission of greenhouse gases from Jan. 1, 1995, to Dec. 31, 2024.

The assessment would look at the affects on public health, natural resources, agriculture, economic development, housing and other areas.

It’s a polluter-pays model affecting companies engaged in the trade or business of extracting fossil fuel or refining crude oil attributable to more than 1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions during the time period.

The funds could be used by the state for such things as upgrading stormwater drainage systems; upgrading roads, bridges and railroads; relocating, elevating or retrofitting sewage treatment plants and making energy efficient weatherization upgrades to public and private buildings.

Exxonmobil did not immediately provide a comment. The American Petroleum Institute sent a letter to the state Senate last week opposing the bill, saying it believes it’s bad public policy and may be unconstitutional.

The group said it was extremely concerned that the legislation “retroactively imposes costs and liability on prior activities that were legal, violates equal protection and due process rights by holding companies responsible for the actions of society at large; and is preempted by federal law,” according to the letter. “Additionally, the bill does not provide potentially impacted parties with notice as to the magnitude of potential fees that can result from its passage.”

Jennifer Rushlow, dean of the Maverick Lloyd School for the Environment and a professor of law at the Vermont Law and Graduate School, said Monday that she thinks Vermont will face legal challenges if the bill becomes law but expected the state to win. Several environmental law clinics have offered to provide support, which could offset the costs, she said.

“Somebody has to go first. And I think the conditions for passage in Vermont are pretty optimal for depressing reasons … because the costs we’ve incurred recently as a result of climate change are very significant and really top of mind and visible,” she claimed.

House Speaker Jill Krowinski said in a statement on Monday that she looked forward to reviewing the bill and assessing its impact toward the state’s climate change goals.

She said she was eager for House committees to look at this and other climate change policies in the second half of the legislative session.

If extreme weather patterns were to become more frequent and damaging over time, adapting and becoming more resilient would cost money, noted Hashim, the Democratic senator from Windham County—and Vermont has few options to pay for the damage.

“We can place the burden on Vermont taxpayers or we can keep our fingers crossed that the federal government will help us or we can have fossil-fuel companies pay their fair share,” he said.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Biden Lies to Gaza Doctor about Seeing Photos She Took Herself

Luis Cornelio
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Biden Lies to Gaza Doctor about Seeing Photos She Took Herself

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) President Joe Biden held a tense meeting with six Muslim-American leaders to discuss the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, NBC News reported Wednesday.

The Tuesday gathering soured when one attendee abruptly exited the room, following accusations that Biden falsely claimed to have seen images depicting the dire conditions of Palestinian children and women in Gaza.

The doctor who presented the photos to the president suggested they were printed from her iPhone, implying Biden couldn’t have accessed them prior. 

“This speaks volumes to the dismissive nature of the administration when it comes to strong-willed action towards a permanent cease-fire or, at a bare minimum, a red line on the invasion of Rafah,” Dr. Nahreen H. Ahmed told NBC News. 

Another attendee, Dr. Thaer Ahmad, departed the meeting early to protest what he perceived as inadequate concern for Palestinians in Gaza.

“The decision to leave was a personal one,” Ahmad explained to the outlet. He claimed that he sought to “to let the administration feel the way that we felt this past six months and kind of get up and walk away from them.”

The gathering seemed to signal a desperate effort by the embattled president to address left-wing criticism over his support for Israel following the Hamas invasion on Oct. 7, which marked the deadliest day for Jewish individuals since World War II. 

Despite initially backing Israel’s military campaign to rescue hostages abducted by Hamas that day, Biden and Harris have recently shifted their stance, now advocating for a cease-fire.

However, concerns have been raised that a cease-fire could pose risks for the women held hostage, as former hostage Mia Regev cautioned earlier this week. According to Regev, all the women in Hamas custody are being sexually abused daily. 

“Every day, there is an emergency and every minute counts. What will the women do there? What will the rest of the captives do there?” Regev questioned, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Paradise Lost: Fla. Leftists Win Ploy to Get Abortion, Pot Referendums on Ballot

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Paradise Lost: Fla. Leftists Win Ploy to Get Abortion, Pot Referendums on Ballot

(Headline USA) With little else to run on, Biden Democrats have resorted to the lowest and most desperate tactics imaginable in a last-ditch bid to pad their numbers. 

While President Joe Biden’s top talking point may be fearmongering about the existential threat that democracy faces if he is not re-elected, the Left’s backup plan is to use wedge issues that play to their favor, such as abortion and drug legalization as bait for otherwise disaffected voters.

Thus, activists have undertaken a mad dash to artificially foist the issues into public debate, even when nobody is clamoring for them.

In Florida, a mass exodus from blue states like New York during the coronavirus lockdowns led many to regard it as a sort of conservative utopia—the Right’s answer to California.

The Sunshine State has turned increasingly red since the 2018 election of GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis, even prompting a relocation by then-President Donald Trump, as well as many of his GOP supporters

A decision by Democrats to cancel their primary election in order to protect Biden resulted in even more gains for the red team as several municipal elections drew stronger Republican turnouts.

However, Democrats are hoping for a drastic reversal that could shift the state back into “battleground” territory if all goes according to plan in the November general election.

The Florida Supreme Court issued rulings Monday allowing the state’s voters to decide whether to protect abortion and legalize recreational use of marijuana, rejecting the state attorney general’s arguments that the measures should be kept off the November ballot.

The court was not ruling on the merits of the measures, but only whether they meet the requirements for clarity and don’t violate the state constitution’s mandate that they only cover one subject.

The court’s ruling came the same day it upheld the state’s ban on most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

State lawmakers had tightened the ban to six weeks while the issue was still in court. Monday’s ruling, therefore, likely paves the way for the six-week ban to go into effect.

ABORTION

The justices by a 4-3 vote approved for the ballot a proposed amendment that would protect abortion, even though the law is not under threat in Florida. The four male justices constituted the majority, while the three women opposed allowing the measure to proceed.

The proposed amendment says “no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.” It provides for one exception that is already in the state constitution: Parents must be notified before their minor children can get an abortion.

The majority rejected Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody’s argument that the proposed amendment is deceptive and that voters won’t realize just how far it will expand access to the procedure.

They also rejected an argument that the measure violates the single-subject clause because it would both allow abortions before the fetus is viable and for the mother’s health.

The opponents had argued that some voters might approve of allowing abortions to protect the mother’s health, but would reject allowing unrestricted abortions before viability. They claimed those were separate subjects.

Under both Florida and federal law, “abortion has historically involved two major interconnected matters: the viability of the fetus and the health of the mother,” the court’s four men insisted.

“The mere fact that electors might not agree with the entirety of the amendment does not render it violative of the single-subject requirement,” the justices wrote.

Writing for the dissenters, Justice Jaime Grosshans argued that the measure’s ballot summary was misleading and should have been rejected.

“The summary does not give the voter any clarity on the decision they must actually make or reveal the amendment’s chief purpose,” she wrote. “Instead, it misleads by omission and fails to convey the breadth of what the amendment actually accomplishes—to enshrine broad, undefined terms in our constitution that will lead to decades of litigation.”

DeSantis’s office issued a statement criticizing the ruling and supporting “the three women on the Court who got it right.” He appointed all three women to the court and two of the four men.

“This amendment is misleading and will confuse voters,” the statement said. “The language hides the amendment’s true purpose of mandating that abortions be permitted up to the time of birth.”

But Anna Hochkammer, executive director of Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition, applauded the decision, calling it “a huge step forward in our ongoing fight to safeguard a woman’s right to have an abortion and to limit government interference in their personal healthcare decisions.”

“The overwhelming response from Floridians from every political affiliation, religion and walk of life signifies that this issue transcends partisan politics; it’s about healthcare, plain and simple,” she claimed.

Florida will now be one of several states where voters could have a direct say on abortion questions this year.

Referendums to guarantee abortion are set for Maryland and New York, and activists on both sides of the issue in at least seven other states are working to get measures on 2024 ballots.

RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA

The justices voted 5-2 to allow on the ballot a measure that would permit companies already growing and selling medical marijuana to sell it to adults over 21 for any reason.

The ballot measure also would make possession of marijuana for personal use legal.

Moody argued that the proposal was deceptive, in part, because federal law still doesn’t allow recreational or medical use of marijuana. She argued that the court previously erred when it approved the language for the medical marijuana ballot initiative voters passed in 2016.

In the majority opinion, Grosshans rejected Moody’s argument, saying the measure would not confuse voters as it “clearly states that the amendment legalizes adult personal possession and use of marijuana as a matter of Florida law.”

Grosshans rejected an argument by others that the measure violated the prohibition against multi-subject ballot measures because it both decriminalized marijuana and allowed for its sale. Grosshans wrote that those two were logically linked.

“Legalization of marijuana presumes the product will be available for the consumer. Likewise, the sale of personal-use marijuana cannot be reasonably undertaken while possession is criminalized. Selling and possessing marijuana appear, for better or worse, directly connected,” Grosshans wrote.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Lawyer Begs off Satanic Pedophile Case

Ken Silva
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Lawyer Begs off Satanic Pedophile Case

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Last month, Richard “Rabid” Densmore, a member of the Satanic pedophile cult 764, agreed to plead guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor.

But since then, Densmore’s scheduled hearing to plead guilty did not take place, and now his lawyer is seeking to withdraw from the matter.

The lawyer, public defender James Fisher, declined to comment on whether his client’s plea agreement with the Justice Department is still intact. Fisher’s Wednesday motion states that he and Densmore have been in a dispute about his access—or lack thereof—to discovery evidence.

According to Fisher’s motion, the defense attorney received a giant batch of discovery materials on March 22—days before Densmore’s change-of-plea hearing was set to take place. The discovery evidence included “several hundred thousand (at least) pages worth of chat and text exchanges, most of which do not involve any known user names attributed to Mr. Densmore,” the lawyer said.

Fisher said he spoke to Densmore today about the evidence, telling his client that that none of the subsequently obtained messages appeared either inculpatory or exculpatory in nature, that they were voluminous in nature, that defense would have considerable difficulty providing the materials in print form to him, and that he would have difficulty reviewing them.

“Defense counsel did not refuse to provide the materials to Mr. Densmore, but endeavored to explain to him the apparent lack of relevance to his charges, the pending plea offer from the government, or any cognizable defense,” Fisher said.

“Nonetheless, Mr. Densmore asserted that counsel was refusing to provide the discovery to him, expressed his displeasure with counsel’s work on his behalf thus far, stated he was unhappy with undersigned counsel’s representation, and asked for a new attorney on his case.”

Fisher said he’s working to provide the discovery to Densmore in electronic format, but said a “solution compatible with jail policies has not yet been found.”

“The attorney-client relationship has broken down irreparably. Mr. Densmore feels that counsel does not have his best interests in mind and that an irreconcilable conflict exists between counsel and Mr. Densmore. Defense counsel agrees that Mr. Densmore would be better suited with alternative counsel at this time,” the lawyer said.

Densmore’s charges stem from a complaint in August 2022 that a Discord user named “Rabid” was grooming minors to create child pornography and engage in self-harm. The FBI identified Rabid as being Densmore.

According to Densmore’s plea agreement, he sent a message to “Jane Doe,” a female under the age of 18, asking for a picture of her breasts with his username, “Rabid,” written on them. He also sent someone referred to as “Person A” a form of Discord currency called Nitro, in an effort to persuade Jane Doe to send the requested image.

The FBI executed a search warrant on Densmore’s home last February, finding child porn and other material related to the 764 cult.

For some reason, Densmore was a free man for another 11 months.

Then, after he was arrested on Jan. 29, a judge let him loose on bail. Densmore’s bail was revoked after the DOJ filed an emergency motion about the matter.

Other 764 Cases

Densmore is one of a slew of O9A- and 764-affiliated Satanists to be prosecuted in recent months.

The government’s crackdown on the above-mentioned Satanic pedophile groups started in November 2021, when the FBI arrested 764 member Angel Almeida. Details of Almeida’s 764 activities weren’t made public until records about his case were unsealed late last year.

More recently, the Justice Department filed charges in December against another 764 member, Kalana Limkin, for allegedly promoting child pornography, sexual extortion, and trafficking, animal cruelty and self-harm of minors.

Additionally, U.S. Marshals arrested 764 member Kyle Spitze in February on child porn charges. Spitze’s disturbing story can be read here.

Also in February, Canadian police announced the arrest of a 14-year-old male who was affiliated with 764.

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.

Buttigieg Mocks Americans Who Don’t Want EVs: ‘Like People Who Wanted Landlines Forever’

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Buttigieg Mocks Americans Who Don’t Want EVs: ‘Like People Who Wanted Landlines Forever’

(Headline USA) Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg claimed that Americans reluctant to purchase electric vehicles are like people who didn’t want to adopt cell phones in the 2000s.

Asked about the slowing sales of electric vehicles despite the Biden administration’s efforts to boost demand with subsidies, Buttigieg insisted Americans need to get with the times.

“Let’s be clear, the automotive sector is moving toward EVs and we can’t pretend otherwise. Sometimes, when these debates happen, I feel like it’s the early 2000s and I’m talking to some people who think that we can just have landline phones forever,” he told Fox News.

He went on to claim that the U.S. will lose a competitive edge against China if it doesn’t embrace this forced transition.

“The reality is that the automotive sector is moving towards EVs, and the U.S. can either fall behind China or we can claim the lead. President Biden wants to make sure that those EVs are made in America, especially again as more Americans choose EVs every single year than the year before,” he said.

Buttigieg also pushed back on the idea that consumers are not ready to part with gasoline vehicles, pointing to how there is a low number of consumers who choose to go back to their gas-powered vehicle after making the switch to an EV.

The Biden official’s comments came the same day that Tesla suffered a dip in its quarterly sales – the first time for the electric automaker in its sales history. In response, Buttigieg argued that part of this dip stems from a growing number of competitors that Tesla now faces in the electric vehicle market, including Stellantis and General Motors.

Former President Donald Trump has ratcheted up his attacks on the Biden administration’s EV push, arguing it will destroy the U.S. auto industry.

“The electric vehicle one is one of the dumbest I’ve ever heard,” Trump said at a rally in Michigan this week. “I want you to use gasoline a lot, because we have more gasoline than any other country anywhere in the world.”

Peekaboo’s New Lawfare Victim: Va. Company Owes $811M for Defrauding Illegals

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Peekaboo’s New Lawfare Victim: Va. Company Owes $811M for Defrauding Illegals

(Headline USA) A company that provides services for immigrants in federal detention was ordered Tuesday to pay more than $811 million in restitution and penalties in a lawsuit alleging it used deceptive and abusive tactics.

Nexus Services must pay roughly $231 million in restitution as well as penalties of $13.8 million to New York, $7.1 million to Virginia and $3.4 million to Massachusetts, according to a judgement filed in federal court for the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg.

The Virginia-based company, its subsidiary Libre by Nexus and its three executives must also each pay more than $111 million in civil penalties.

“This judgment is a victory for thousands of immigrant families who lost their life savings and were targeted and preyed on by Libre,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. “Libre exploited vulnerable immigrants and their families to pad its pockets, and that is illegal and unconscionable.”

James, nicknamed by Donald Trump as “Peekaboo,” joined state attorneys general in Virginia and Massachusetts and the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in a 2021 lawsuit that accused the company of violating state and federal consumer protection laws.

The officials said the company promised to secure immigrants’ release on bond while their immigration claims were being processed but concealed and misrepresented the true nature and costs of its services. They said the company collected thousands of dollars in fees above the face value of the bonds and forced immigrants to wear painful ankle monitors.

U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Dillon noted in her decision that the company isn’t a licensed bail bond agent or a surety company certified by the U.S. Treasury but a “service provider that acts as an intermediary between immigration detainees and sureties and their bond agents.”

The company said in a statement that it intends to appeal the judgement, calling it a “shocking departure from normal American jurisprudence” as it was decided “without evidence, without a trial and without a damages hearing.”

“We continue to remain committed to serving our clients – people who suffer and sacrifice for a better life, and who do not deserve to be political pawns in an American legislature or an American courtroom,” the company added.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Trump Sues Trump Media Co-Founders, Seeking to Void Their Stock Holdings

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Trump Sues Trump Media Co-Founders, Seeking to Void Their Stock Holdings

(Headline USA) Donald Trump is suing two co-founders of Trump Media & Technology Group, the newly public parent company of his Truth Social platform, arguing that they should forfeit their stock in the company because they set it up improperly.

The former U.S. president’s lawsuit, which was filed on March 24 in Florida state court, follows a complaint filed in February by those co-founders, Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss. Their lawsuit sought to prevent Trump from taking steps the two said would sharply reduce their combined 8.6% stake in Trump Media. The pair filed their lawsuit in the Delaware Court of Chancery.

Trump’s lawsuit claims that Litinsky and Moss, who were both contestants on Trump’s reality-TV show “The Apprentice,” mishandled an attempt to take Trump Media public several years ago, allegedly putting the whole project “on ice” for more than a year and a half.

But it also targets the pair over their Delaware suit against Trump, saying that it was one of several attempts they made to block Trump Media’s ultimately successful plan to go public. Trump Media accomplished that goal by merging with a publicly traded shell company called Digital World Acquisition in March.

Trump Media shares have fluctuated wildly since its stock market debut. On Tuesday, the stock closed at $51.60, up 6%, valuing the entire company at $5.9 billion.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Former ESPN Host Says 2021 Interview w/ Biden Was Completely ‘Scripted’

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Former ESPN Host Says 2021 Interview w/ Biden Was Completely ‘Scripted’

(Headline USA) Former ESPN host Sage Steele reportedly revealed this week that her 2021 interview with President Joe Biden was entirely “scripted” by network executives, likely in cooperation with the White House.

Steele said that before the interview, she was handed a “script” of prepared questions she could ask Biden.

“That was an interesting experience in its own right because it was so structured,” she told Fox News. “And I was told, ‘You will say every word that we write out, you will not deviate from the script and go.’”

Many of the questions written for Steele had to do with COVID vaccine hesitancy among athletes. Her role, she said, essentially was to give Biden an opportunity to defend pushing the jab onto the public.

“To the word. Every single question was scripted, gone over dozens of times by many editors and executives. Absolutely. I was on script and was told not to deviate,” she explained to Fox News. “It was very much ‘This is what you will ask. This is how you will say it. No follow-ups, no follow-ups. Next.’”

The former anchor said the questions were written and approved by “the top executives, the decision makers are, the president of our company, the CEO.” And though she couldn’t confirm whether they had been sent to the White House in advance, she said she is confident that’s “what happened.”

Steele said that looking back at the interview, it’s “heartbreaking” to consider how many guardrails have been set up to protect Biden.

“I think it’s really heartbreaking that the people who love Joe Biden and say they truly care about him have allowed it to get to this point,” Steele said. “So I’m not even looking at this from a political angle or my beliefs in anything. This is the human side of it. And when someone is struggling, we allow them to continue to be in the spotlight and put them out there in the first place when they knew there were issues?”

Biden has become heavily dependent on cheat sheets and note cards during his interactions with the press. In fact, he uses them so frequently that some Democratic donors have raised concerns about it.

“The staged Q&A sessions have left some donors wondering whether Biden can withstand the rigors of a presidential campaign, let alone potential debates with former President Trump, 77,” Axios reported earlier this year.

Muslim Leaders Reject Chance to Meet w/ Biden as Anger over Gaza Festers

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Muslim Leaders Reject Chance to Meet w/ Biden as Anger over Gaza Festers

(Headline USA) Last year, President Joe Biden hadn’t even spoken a word at the White House celebration of Ramadan before someone shouted out “we love you.” Hundreds of Muslims were there to mark the end of the holy month that requires fasting from sunrise to sunset.

There are no such joyous scenes during this Ramadan. With many Muslim Americans outraged over Biden’s support for Israel’s siege of Gaza, the White House chose to hold a smaller iftar dinner on Tuesday evening. The only attendees were people who work for his administration.

“We’re just in a different world,” said Wa’el Alzayat, who leads Emgage, a Muslim advocacy organization. “It’s completely surreal. And it’s sad.”

Alzayat attended last year’s event, but he declined an invitation to break his fast with Biden this year, saying, “It’s inappropriate to do such a celebration while there’s a famine going on in Gaza.”

After rejections from Alzayat and others, he said the White House adjusted its plans Monday, telling community leaders that it wanted to host a meeting focused on administration policy. Alzayat still said no, believing that one day was not enough time to prepare for an opportunity to sway Biden’s mind on the conflict.

“I don’t think the format will lend itself to a serious policy discussion,” he said Tuesday afternoon.

The refusal to break bread — or even share a room — with the president is fresh evidence of how fractured the relationship between Biden and the Muslim community has become six months after Israel and Hamas began their current war.

When the Democratic president took office three years ago, many Muslim leaders were eager to turn the page on Donald Trump’s bigotry, including his campaign pledge to implement a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.”

But now Democrats fear that Biden’s loss of support among Muslims could help clear a path for his Republican predecessor to return to the White House. This year’s election will likely hinge on a handful of battleground states, including Michigan with its significant Muslim population.

“There are real differences between the two,” Alzayat said. “But emotionally, there may be no differences for some folks. And that’s the danger.”

He added, “It’s not good enough to tell people Donald Trump is going to be worse.”

Several Muslim leaders attended Tuesday’s meeting with Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Muslim government officials and national security leaders. The White House would not name them.

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said “community leaders expressed the preference” of having a “working group meeting,” which she described as an opportunity to “get feedback from them.”

As far as the iftar, Jean-Pierre said that “the president is going to continue his tradition of honoring the Muslim community during Ramadan.”

No journalists were allowed to capture either the iftar or the meeting with community leaders, a change from previous years. Neither was listed on the president’s public schedule. Some people who had attended events in previous years, such as Mayor Abdullah Hammoud of Dearborn, Michigan, were not invited.

Outside the White House, activists gathered in the rain for their own iftar on Tuesday evening in Lafayette Park. Organizers distributed dates, a traditional food for Ramadan, for people to break their fasts at sundown.

The boycotting of Biden’s invitation is reminiscent of a trip that White House officials took to Detroit earlier this year. They faced an icy reception from Muslim American community leaders in the swing state, where more than 100,000 Democratic primary voters cast protest votes for “uncommitted” as part of an organized showing of disapproval for Biden’s approach to the war.

A similar campaign was underway in Wisconsin, another political battleground. Organizers encouraged residents to vote “uninstructed,” the equivalent of uncommitted, in Tuesday’s Democratic primary.

The fighting began on Oct. 7 when Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis in a surprise attack. In response, Israel has killed roughly 33,000 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children. The number comes from Gaza’s Health Ministry. It’s unclear how many are combatants, which Israel accuses of operating in civilian areas, but the ministry said two-thirds of the deaths are women and children.

The Biden administration has continued to approve weapon sales to Israel even as the president urges Israeli leaders to be more careful about civilian deaths and encourages them to allow more humanitarian assistance into Gaza.

Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American–Islamic Relations, said he encouraged other Muslim leaders to decline invitations to the White House if they received them.

The message, he said, should be “unless he calls for a cease-fire, there will be no meeting with him or his representatives.”

“I believe that the president is the only person in the world who can stop this,” Awad said. “He can pick up the phone and literally tell Benjamin Netanyahu, no more weapons, just stop it, and Benjamin Netanyahu will have no choice but to do so.”

Awad has previously clashed with the White House over his comments on the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. Gaza has spent years under an effective blockade by Israel — with help from Egypt — and Awad said he was “happy to see people breaking the siege” so they could ”walk free into their land that they were not allowed to walk in.”

After the comments were circulated by a Middle East research organization founded by Israeli analysts, the White House issued a statement saying “we condemn these shocking, antisemitic statements in the strongest terms.”

Awad called it a “fabricated controversy” and said he had criticized the targeting of Israeli citizens in his same speech.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

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