Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin is getting hammered by Republicans for comparing the United States under President Donald Trump to Iran's Islamic theocracy, accusing both of showing "authoritarian behavior."

The comments from Martin came amid protests in Minneapolis and across the nation in the wake of last week's fatal shooting of a 37-year-old Minnesota woman and mother of three by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent and in the midst of a wave of massive demonstrations against Iran's cleric-controlled government in recent weeks.

"From Tehran to my birthplace of Minneapolis, people are rising up against systems that wield violence without accountability. In Iran, brave protestors confront a far-right theocratic regime that crushes dissent and denies basic freedoms," Martin wrote. 

The DNC chair, a former longtime Minnesota state party chair, first made the comparison in a social media post last Sunday.

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He added, "Here at home, tens of thousands are marching after the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Good — demanding justice, transparency, and an end to an unchecked federal force that takes lives and tears families apart. Solidarity across borders means opposing authoritarian power everywhere and defending the right to live free from fear and state violence."

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a top Trump ally in the Senate and a longtime proponent of a muscular U.S. foreign policy, bashed Martin.

"Number one, Ken Martin is a worthless piece of crap," Graham charged in an appearance on Fox News' "Hannity." "Can you imagine this guy fighting for freedom? To compare President Trump and the Trump regime to the ayatollah means you got the worst case of Trump derangement syndrome in the world. Go to hell." 

The DNC chair, reacting to Graham's attack, claimed the senator is "a sniveling coward and a Trump bootlicker who hasn’t had a strongly held conviction in decades. I will wear his condemnation as a badge of honor."

And in an MS NOW interview earlier this week, Martin argued that "people are very concerned that basic rights and human rights in this country are being violated by its own government ... this is now who we should be as America, but it's unfortunately who we've become under this administration."

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But Republican National Committee national press secretary Kiersten Pels claimed Friday in a statement to Fox News Digital that "this is a desperate ploy from a man who drove the DNC into financial ruin and political irrelevancy. Ken Martin is so unhinged that he’s comparing Tehran to Minneapolis and encouraging violent obstruction of federal law enforcement."

Democrats are energized, thanks in large part to their pushback against Trump and his sweeping and unprecedented moves in his first year back in the White House. And Martin's controversial comments appear to be getting a thumbs up from his own party.

"I think everyone is giving Ken a pass because he is from Minnesota and Minnesota has not been able to catch a break recently," a DNC committee member who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely told Fox News Digital. "So this is very raw, very personal, and very hurtful for him."

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Asked about Martin's comparison, DNC committee member and longtime Democratic strategist Maria Cardona told Fox News Digital, "Ken Martin is not comparing Iran’s autocracy to Trump’s America. He is comparing Iran’s autocracy to Trump’s autocracy, specifically the absolute immunity Trump has given these lawless ICE agents, their lack of training, their being hired without background checks, and the $50,000 bonuses that guarantee that those ICE agents out there have no interest in and have no idea how to follow the law and how to properly and lawfully track down violent criminal undocumented immigrants."

And veteran Democratic consultant Joe Caiazzo, asked about Martin's comments, charged that "from the rhetoric deployed to policies enacted, and executive orders issued, it’s clear Donald Trump would love to be a dictator."

A source at the DNC told Fox News Digital, "everyone is supporting the general gist of what he is saying."

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The conservative-leaning Wall Street Journal editorial board, in an opinion piece, criticized Martin.

"Overwrought rhetoric on domestic affairs is one thing. Yoking a false image of U.S. authoritarianism to the freedom struggle in Iran is morally obtuse. It’s a slur against his own country," the board wrote in an opinion piece. "It also undermines the Iranian people, who count on the U.S. and call desperately for its help, to say that America is yet another murderous tyranny, comparable to their own. Mr. Martin essentially told Iranians that the U.S. is on the side of their regime."

After Martin's comparison sparked fiery backlash on social media, he doubled down.

"If comparing the U.S. to Iran makes you angry, ask why. Killing protesters. Crushing dissent. Kidnapping and disappearing legal citizens. Ignoring courts. Threatening critics. Terrorizing communities. That’s authoritarian behavior—anywhere. If you’re rushing to defend it, maybe the problem isn’t the comparison. Trump keeps pushing it, Americans aren't buying it, and Minneapolis won’t be silent," Martin said in an additional post on X.

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The trio of national polls released this week indicated that a majority of Americans give a thumbs down to how ICE is carrying out Trump's push for the mass deportation of millions of undocumented migrants. But there's a wide partisan divide, with Republicans supportive of ICE and the president.

Cardona emphasized that "Trump and ICE are losing public opinion over this, as a majority of Americans know that this should not happen in the United States of America."

And Martin, in his appearance on MS NOW, argued that "if Donald Trump thinks what he's doing in Minneapolis is going to improve his poll numbers, I think he has another thing coming."

An ICE agent shot and killed Good last week during a federal enforcement operation in south Minneapolis. Federal officials have said agents were attempting to make arrests when the woman tried to use her vehicle as a weapon against officers, prompting an ICE agent to fire in self-defense.

Top Democrats, including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, criticized the federal account of the incident and rejected the claim that the officer acted in self-defense. Minnesota has since sued the Trump administration, claiming the immigration enforcement surge in the state is "unlawful" and "unprecedented."

Good’s death sparked widespread protests in Minneapolis, where thousands of ICE agents are now dispatched, and across the nation, with demonstrators calling for changes to federal immigration enforcement.

Trump on Thursday warned that if Minnesota's political leaders don't stop what he argued were "professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place."

Meanwhile, in Iran, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reports at least 2,677 people have been killed in the protests. Other reports say the death toll is over 3,000, with the real number likely to be significantly higher. 

The protests against Iran's dire economic conditions, which have rapidly escalated in recent days, are seen as some of the most violent since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that installed the current system of clerical rule.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) took aim at The New York Times' coverage of a Minneapolis shooting involving an illegal immigrant attacking a federal officer.

On Wednesday, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot a Venezuelan national in the leg after the suspect allegedly attacked the officer with a shovel as part of an ambush.

But the Times' breaking news omitted the migrant's actions that led to the shooting.

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"Breaking News: A federal agent shot an immigrant in the leg in Minneapolis, federal officials said, one week after an ICE officer killed Renee Good in the city," the Times posted on X.

Additionally, the Times' headline read "Federal Agent Shoots Immigrant in Minneapolis, Homeland Security Says," telling readers beneath it that the shooting "comes a week after an ICE agent fatally shot a woman in the city."

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"This despicably misleading headline is exactly why the American people have completely lost faith in the mainstream media," DHS reacted on X. "This journalist knows the facts, was given the truth, and adamantly REFUSES to report it."

DHS went on to lay out "the facts," saying that "federal law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted traffic stop in Minneapolis of an illegal alien from Venezuela who was released into the country by Joe Biden in 2022."

"In an attempt to evade arrest, the subject fled the scene in his vehicle and crashed into a parked car," DHS said. "The subject then fled on foot. The law enforcement officer caught up to the subject on foot and attempted to apprehend him when the subject began to resist and violently assault the officer."

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The statement continued, "While the subject and law enforcement were in a struggle on the ground, two subjects came out of a nearby apartment and also attacked the law enforcement officer with a snow shovel and broom handle. As the officer was being ambushed and attacked by the two individuals, the original subject got loose and began striking the officer with a shovel or broom stick. Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life. The initial subject was hit in the leg. All three subjects ran back into the apartment and barricaded themselves inside. The attacked officer and subject are both in the hospital. Both attackers are in custody."

The Times responded to DHS, saying on X, "Our reporting on this and other ICE shootings reflects what we can independently verify at the time of publication. We publish statements provided by government agencies and officials, but only report these details as facts once we’ve been able to independently verify the claims."

A spokesperson for The New York Times declined to further comment.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is leading legislation aimed at what Democrats describe as President Donald Trump’s "narcissism," seeking to bar sitting presidents from putting their own names on federal buildings. 

"For Trump to put his name on federal buildings is arrogant, and it is illegal," Sanders said in a press release Tuesday. "We must put an end to this narcissism — and that’s what this bill does.

"It’s no secret that President Trump is undermining democracy and moving this country toward authoritarianism," Sanders added. "Part of that strategy is to create the myth of the ‘Great Leader’ by naming public buildings after himself — something that dictators have done throughout history." 

Sanders was joined by Democratic Maryland senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks in introducing the Stop Executive Renaming for Vanity and Ego Act Tuesday, which would "prohibit the naming, renaming, designating, or redesignating of any Federal building, land, or other asset in the name of a sitting President, and for other purposes," according to text of the bill. 

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If the legislation should pass, a federal building, piece of land or other federal asset that is currently named after a sitting president must be reverted to the name established by federal law before that president took office, according to the text of the bill. 

The legislation follows Democratic outrage over the renaming of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. to The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts in December 2025. 

When asked about the senators' remarks and legislation, the White House told Fox News Digital the Trump administration isn't focused on "branding." 

"Overdue upgrades of national landmarks and lasting peace deals are historic initiatives that would not have been possible without President Trump’s bold leadership," White House spokeswoman Elizabeth Huston told Fox News Digital Wednesday. "The administration’s focus isn’t on smart branding, but delivering on President Trump’s goal of Making America Great Again."

Previous presidents have had their names etched into the nation’s landmarks and institutions while still in office. Washington, D.C., for example, was named in 1791 while George Washington was serving as president as the new federal capital took shape. And, in 1930, Interior Secretary Ray Lyman Wilbur said the Boulder Canyon Project’s dam would be called the Hoover Dam during Herbert Hoover’s presidency. 

The Trump administration announced in December 2025 that the center's board of trustees unanimously voted to rename the center, saying Trump saved the institution from financial ruin during his second term. 

Presidents appoint the majority of the board's trustees, and Trump dismissed the previously appointed Board of Trustees "who do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture" in the early weeks of his second administration. Trump also serves as the center's chairman of the board, the first president to fill the position. 

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When asked about the legislation, Trump–Kennedy Center Vice President of Public Relations Roma Daravi underscored Trump's work to revitalize the center after "years of neglect." 

"President Trump deserves credit for saving America’s cultural center after years of neglect — as the very legislators attacking him now sat idly by while the center fell into disrepair," Daravi said. "Thanks to the chairman’s leadership and record-breaking fundraising, the Trump Kennedy Center is a thriving, bipartisan institution that welcomes patrons of all backgrounds — even those peddling baseless legislation to score political points." 

President of the Trump–Kennedy Center Richard Grenell told Fox News Tuesday that "President Trump has saved the arts institution," noting that when he was tapped to lead the center, it was relying on debt reserves to pay staff. 

"The board put President Trump forward, because President Trump saved the Kennedy Center. We have, for decades, watched the Kennedy Center be ignored by the very people now who are standing up and complaining about the rescuer," Grenell said. "They're complaining about the fireman who's come in to literally rescue and put out the fire."

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Grenell said in 2025 that he was rolling out a "commonsense plan" to make the center prosperous again, including getting rid of debt, expanding fundraising and its endowment and restoring programming that the administration argues appeals to a broader national audience. Fox News Digital previously reported the center nearly doubled its fundraising during the Kennedy Center Honors awards show in 2025 compared to the Biden administration, raising a record $23 million during the December 2025 event. 

Democrats feverishly came out against the renaming of the iconic cultural center, and Sanders said in December 2025 he would introduce legislation to prevent sitting presidents from renaming federal property after themselves, slamming the Kennedy Center name change as showing Trump's alleged "arrogance" and "narcissism." 

Van Hollen said Tuesday that "Trump doesn’t get to slap his name on any public institution he chooses."

"We don’t have kings or dictators in America, and this legislation stops him or any future sitting president from creating monuments to glorify themselves — because these landmarks belong to the people, not to self-worshipers," the Maryland senator continued. 

The U.S. Institute of Peace also was formally rebranded as the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace in December 2025 as the administration continues working to dismantle the agency. 

The institute is an independent, national institution funded by Congress that was established in 1984 under the Reagan administration to promote peace and diplomacy on the international stage. 

The White House defended the rename in a comment to Fox News Digital at the time, saying the agency is a "a bloated, useless entity that blew $50 million per year while delivering no peace," adding that Trump "ended eight wars in less than a year."

Lawmakers filed a lawsuit to remove Trump's name from the Kennedy Center in December 2025, while the shuttering of the Institute of Peace is still embroiled in court battles focused on whether the Trump administration controls the congressionally created agency. 

Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J.; Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; and Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., joined the trio in co-sponsoring the legislation. 

The Washington Post took some heat on social media this week after promoting a column about Erika Kirk’s wardrobe. 

The Washington Post published a Jan. 8 piece headlined, "Erika Kirk is walking a fine line in a glittering pantsuit," which put a spotlight on wardrobe decisions the Turning Point USA CEO has made since her late husband, Charlie Kirk, was assassinated last year. 

"Kirk, a mother to two toddlers, continues to take on public-facing leadership duties while promoting traditional ideas about prioritizing marriage and motherhood, and her clothes are attempting to walk the same high wire… her styling of late suggests that she’s aware that she now needs to be able to blend into mainstream, secular, political contexts well enough to be taken seriously — but not so well as to be mistaken for a career woman or a feminist," Washington Post fashion writer Ashley Fetters Maloy wrote.

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The column, which went on to detail specific outfits recently worn by Kirk, irked many when it was shared on X by the newspaper on Jan. 10. Many appeared to take issue with the wording of the social media post. 

"Column: Erika Kirk, a mother to two toddlers, continues to take on public-facing leadership duties while promoting traditional ideas about prioritizing marriage and motherhood. Here’s how her clothes are attempting to walk the same line," The Washington Post wrote on X in a post that was widely criticized. 

Former Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema wrote, "For crying out loud will this s--- never end."

"Erika isn’t ‘prioritizing marriage’ because a radical leftist shot and killed her husband Good Lord. These people will never stop attacking the Kirk family," longtime Kirk family friend Jack Posobiec wrote. 

"I've been reporting for a quarter century now, and I still remember at my first daily newspaper job, we had to read a style guide that specifically cautioned reporters to be very careful about describing women's clothes in depth because it can be viewed as sexist," Axios reporter Marc Caputo responded. 

Pundit Jason Rantz asked, "How does this get printed?" 

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Conservateur founder Jayme Franklin added, "The left will lament how difficult it is to be a woman in America by claiming that we’re unfairly judged for our appearance and demeanor. Yet, in reality, the only women who are routinely subjected to that exact kind of scrutiny, are conservative women, who are met with the most vicious and antiquated attacks imaginable from the very people who profess to champion women’s empowerment."

Many others took to social media with thoughts on the piece:

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Erika Kirk was named the CEO of TPUSA after her husband's death.

The Washington Post did not immediately respond to a request for comment.  

Barry Morphew, accused of killing his wife Suzanne Morphew, is back in court Monday for the first time in months, as prosecutors and defense attorneys prepare for the next phase of a case that began with her disappearance on Mother’s Day 2020.

Morphew is expected to enter a plea in an Alamosa County courtroom on first-degree murder charges tied to his wife’s death.

Suzanne disappeared from the couple’s home in Chaffee County on May 10, 2020, prompting a massive search that initially turned up few answers.

Morphew was first charged with her murder in 2021, but those charges were dropped the following year after prosecutors cited issues with the case and said they were close to discovering new evidence that could change its direction. His defense team argued at the time the case was dismissed because prosecutors were unlikely to win at trial.

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After the charges were dropped, Morphew left Colorado and relocated to Cave Creek, Arizona — more than 600 miles from where Suzanne disappeared. While living there, he kept a low profile and used aliases, including "Bruce" and "Lee Moore." Acquaintances later told Fox News Digital they were unaware of his connection to the high-profile Colorado case until his re-arrest.

Suzanne’s remains were discovered in September 2023 in a shallow grave in the San Luis Valley, roughly an hour south of the family’s home. An autopsy later ruled her death a homicide.

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According to court records, a powerful animal tranquilizer known as BAM — a combination of butorphanol, azaperone and medetomidine — was found in Suzanne's bone marrow. Prosecutors said the presence of a metabolized form of the drug indicates she was alive long enough to process it, ruling out accidental or environmental contamination.

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The indictment alleges Morphew had access to BAM through his work with deer and was the only private citizen in the area known to possess the drug at the time of Suzanne’s disappearance. Investigators have also pointed to evidence involving a tranquilizer dart rifle found in the home, along with phone and vehicle data they say contradict Morphew’s account of events.

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A Colorado grand jury re-indicted Morphew in June 2025. He was arrested in Goodyear, Arizona, extradited to Colorado and later released on bond in September after supporters helped post part of his $3 million bond. He remains under house arrest with an ankle monitor.

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Legal analysts said the defense is expected to focus on alternate suspect theories as the case moves forward.

Colin McCallin, a Colorado-based attorney and former deputy district attorney, previously told Fox News Digital he expects Morphew’s legal team to challenge the prosecution’s narrative and attempt to introduce evidence pointing to another potential suspect as proceedings continue.

Fox News Digital’s Adam Sabes contributed to this report.

A suspect was in custody Saturday after an apparent arson attack set a Mississippi synagogue ablaze, destroying Torahs and prompting an investigation involving the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

The blaze broke out shortly after 3 a.m. at Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, the state's largest synagogue. No congregants were injured, officials said.

Photos from the scene showed severe damage to an administrative office and the synagogue’s library, where several Torahs were destroyed or damaged.

Jackson Mayor John Horhn confirmed that a person was taken into custody following an investigation that also included the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

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"Acts of antisemitism, racism, and religious hatred are attacks on Jackson as a whole and will be treated as acts of terror against residents’ safety and freedom to worship," Horhn said in a statement.

Officials did not immediately release the name of the suspect or what charges the person was facing.

Beth Israel Congregation was previously targeted in a Ku Klux Klan bombing in 1967, an attack linked to the synagogue's involvement in civil rights efforts, according to the Institute for Southern Jewish Life, which also operates from the building.

"As Jackson’s only synagogue, Beth Israel is a beloved institution, and it is the fellowship of our neighbors and extended community that will see us through," the institute said in a statement.

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The American Jewish Committee also released a statement saying it was "outraged" by the alleged attack.

"This hateful act is only the most recent symptom of the dangerous rising antisemitism facing Jewish communities across the country and around the world," it said.

The Anti-Defamation League called the incident a "deliberate, targeted attack on the Jewish community."

"Beth Israel survived a KKK bombing in 1967," ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement. "That it has been attacked again, amid a surge of antisemitic incidents across the US, is a stark reminder: antisemitic violence is escalating, and it demands total condemnation and swift action from everyone — including community leaders, law enforcement, and government officials."

The synagogue's president, Zach Shemper, said the congregation was still assessing the damage and had received outreach from other houses of worship, according to Mississippi Today. Shemper added that services will be suspended indefinitely.

One Torah that survived the Holocaust was not damaged in the fire, the outlet reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A federal judge in Washington state on Friday blocked the Trump administration from enforcing key parts of an executive order that sought to change how states administer federal elections, ruling the president lacked authority to apply those provisions to Washington and Oregon.

U.S. District Judge John Chun held that several provisions of Executive Order 14248 violated the separation of powers and exceeded the president’s authority.

"As stated by the Supreme Court, although the Constitution vests the executive power in the President, ‘[i]n the framework of our Constitution, the President’s power to see that the laws are faithfully executed refutes the idea that he is to be a lawmaker,’" Chun wrote in his 75-page ruling.

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White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital in a statement: "President Trump cares deeply about the integrity of our elections and his executive order takes lawful actions to ensure election security. This is not the final say on the matter and the Administration expects ultimate victory on the issue."

Washington and Oregon filed a lawsuit in April contending the executive order signed by President Donald Trump in March violated the Constitution by attempting to set rules for how states conduct elections, including ballot counting, voter registration and voting equipment.

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"Today’s ruling is a huge victory for voters in Washington and Oregon, and for the rule of law," Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said in response to the Jan. 9 ruling, according to The Associated Press. "The court enforced the long-standing constitutional rule that only States and Congress can regulate elections, not the Election Denier-in-Chief."

Executive Order 14248 directed federal agencies to require documentary proof of citizenship on federal voter registration forms and sought to require that absentee and mail-in ballots be received by Election Day in order to be counted.

The order also instructed the attorney general to take enforcement action against states that include such ballots in their final vote tallies if they arrive after that deadline.

"We oppose requirements that suppress eligible voters and will continue to advocate for inclusive and equitable access to registration while protecting the integrity of the process. The U.S. Constitution guarantees that all qualified voters have a constitutionally protected right to vote and to have their votes counted," said Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs in a statement issued when the lawsuit was filed last year.

"We will work with the Washington Attorney General's Office to defend our constitutional authority and ensure Washington's elections remain secure, fair, and accessible," Hobbs added.

Chun noted in his ruling that Washington and Oregon do not certify election results on Election Day, a practice shared by every U.S. state and territory, which allows them to count mail-in ballots received after Election Day as long as the ballots were postmarked on or before that day and arrived before certification under state law.