Mamdani’s ‘COGE’ rollout gets DOGE’s attention after critics say he ripped off Elon Musk

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani introduced the Commission on Government Efficiency, or COGE, on Thursday in New York, saying the panel would find ways to make city government "work smarter, faster, and more effectively" for working people.

City Hall said COGE will review the city charter, hold public hearings and develop proposals that could go before voters in November.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos responded to the announcement by praising the concept and calling for tax relief.

"This is great and they do deserve that. And, with some of the savings, we can zero out taxes on the bottom half of earners. The best way to put money in people's pockets is not to take it out in the first place," Bezos said on X.

SOCIALIST ZOHRAN MAMDANI LAUNCHES ELON MUSK-STYLE ‘COGE’ CHAIRED BY SOROS-ALIGNED DEM

Mamdani said the commission was aimed at improving how government serves residents.

"For too long, bureaucracy has stood in the way of delivering the housing, transit, childcare and public services our city needs," Mamdani said.

"The Commission on Government Efficiency will take a hard look at how City government functions and identify the reforms we need to deliver faster, smarter and more effectively for working people."

Mamdani said rebuilding public trust requires demonstrating that the government can produce results.

MAMDANI'S WALL STREET COURTSHIP SPARKS CRITICISM OF ANTI-BILLIONAIRE AGENDA

"Restoring faith in government starts with proving government can actually deliver," he said.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said Mamdani’s announcement showed Democrats were warming to an issue they previously criticized when President Donald Trump’s administration pursued federal government efficiency efforts.

"Remember when Democrats ridiculed President Trump and his administration for tackling government waste?" Blackburn said, adding that the idea of cutting government waste had broad appeal.

"Looks like they ran the numbers and found eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse is quite popular," she said.

JASON CHAFFETZ: DEMOCRATS HAVE MADE A FATAL ERROR OPPOSING DOGE

The White House established the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, by executive order on Jan. 20, 2025, saying the office would modernize federal technology and software "to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity."

Matt Van Swol, a conservative commentator and former Department of Energy nuclear scientist, said Republicans’ push for efficiency had been rejected because of its political source.

"It's insane how every Republican idea is bad because it's a Republican doing it," he said.

'MISSISSIPPI MUSK': STATE AUDITOR'S MOGE REPORT FINDS $400M IN GOVERNMENT WASTE

Conservative journalist Nick Shirley also compared the new commission to the Trump administration's DOGE.

"This sounds a lot like DOGE … Weird how your own governor questioned me when I speculated the sudden increase in spending in areas like childcare in NYC and now you do this. (Which is a good thing btw!)," Shirley said.

Shirley argued government efficiency should transcend partisan politics.

"Cutting waste, fraud, and abuse should be the most nonpartisan issue in America as it affects everyone," he said.

Comedian Arynne Wexler criticized the commission from the right.

"Exactly what NYC needs," Wexler wrote. "More government run by socialists."

Mayor Mamdani's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

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'The Mandalorian and Grogu' is a prime example that Disney's Star Wars is on life support

Ever since Disney took over Star Wars, one of America’s most well-known and cherished franchises, it has been eroding.

Is it dead? Not quite, but I’d say it’s on life support. To be charitable, I could say that it’s a shell of its former self.

It used to have one of the most, if not the most dedicated fanbases in all of film and television, but then, Disney took over. The new trilogy bastardized the established canon and disrespected the original characters. Former President of Lucasfilm Kathleen Kennedy decided to go the woke route by staking the claim that "The Force is Female," putting an emphasis on female empowerment over proper storytelling and character development.

Disney also unjustifiably fired Gina Carano from The Mandalorian after season 2, Solo bombed, The Acolyte was an abomination that got cancelled after only one season, and the list goes on.

Sure, there have been some bright spots such as "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," "Andor," though it's been a costly show financially that is not watched nearly as much as it should because of Disney's failure to keep fans interested, and "The Mandalorian" season 1 and parts of season 2.

There’s no better indication that Star Wars is cooked more than what is happening in the box office right now, though.

After a seven-year absence from the box office, where fans were booing in the theater as Rey was revealed to be a Skywalker in Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, Star Wars made its return on Memorial Day weekend with "Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu." The title within itself should tell you how far Disney’s Star Wars has fallen into creative bankruptcy. It’s a bloated title with the names of the main characters. Imagine Star Wars Episode VI being called "Luke Skywalker and His Father" instead of "Return of the Jedi". It’s that bad.

Anyway, the film ended the holiday weekend at the top of the box office, but it performed worse than the massive Disney Star Wars flop, Solo, when you adjust for inflation. Solo actually defeated "The Mandalorian and Grogu" in both nominal dollars and inflation-adjusted dollars. Solo's $84.4 million three-day opening in 2018 is equivalent to roughly $109–110 million today, about 33% higher than "The Mandalorian and Grogu's" $82 million opening weekend.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE OUTKICK CULTURE COVERAGE

If you compare the four-day holiday openings (both were Memorial Day releases), the gap is even larger. "The Mandalorian and Grogu" earned about $102 million over the four-day holiday weekend, while inflation-adjusted estimates put Solo's 2018 Memorial Day debut at roughly $136.6 million in 2026 dollars. 

And even worse, an independent horror, "Obsession" just surpassed "The Mandalorian and Grogu" for the top spot at the box office on Wednesday. A film that had a budget reportedly around $750,000, directed by a YouTuber and TikToker, just took out a Star Wars film, which reportedly had a production and marketing budget of more than $300 million. If that’s not a clear indication that Star Wars is on life support, I don’t know what is. Word of mouth just trounced a cultural juggernaut brand.

EARLY REVIEWS FOR NEW 'STAR WARS' MOVIE ARE GENERALLY HORRIFIC, BUT DOES ANYONE EVEN CARE AT THIS POINT?

Where "Mandalorian and Grogu," and much of Star Wars has gone wrong, is best described in some of the responses to the movie from the media. The BBC said, "It’s felt like homework" to see Star Wars and try to somehow some way connect to stories and characters that aren’t worth loving or caring for at any significant level. Inverse said, "The Mandalorian and Grogu is Barely A Movie," which is spot on because the movie feels more like a few episodes of a weak Disney+ show that has to be stretched into a movie like butter scraped over too much bread.

Star Wars can no longer print money, simply because of name recognition. The constant reliance on cheap callbacks and recycling characters through cheap imitations is leaving audiences feeling cheated and empty. For example, in this movie, Grogu is a baby version of Yoda, the Hutts are back, the Mandalorian plays a Luke Skywalker figure who falls in a pit to fight a giant monster while visiting the Hutts, there’s a battle on a snow planet calling back to "Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back," and so on. Baby Yoda was fine for a season or two of the show, but now it just feels as if Disney cannot make compelling original characters, or find a way to properly care for the ones that established this franchise in the first place. Disney can’t even compel audiences to care enough to keep a Star Wars movie at the top of the box office for a whole week. It’s damning.

This is what modern-day Hollywood has done to beloved intellectual properties, though. It has desecrated them with woke nonsense, weak storytelling, uncompelling characters, and a belief that sticking to the source material and respecting established lore is old-fashioned. "Star Trek," "Doctor Who," "Marvel: Phase Five" (properly known as the M-She-U), "Lord of the Rings" (Rings of Power), you name it. Hollywood has again and again lit the fire and burned many franchises to the ground to the point they are unrecognizable.

The question is now, "What does Disney do next with Star Wars?" My guess is it tries a reboot of the original trilogy, and the fact that I’m even writing this makes me want to throw up. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see where else Disney goes, especially after the Starfighter movie featuring Ryan Gosling that'll attract audiences because of the actor, not because they care about the Star Wars brand or story being told. Star Wars is a franchise that should have had a century’s-long staying power, yet its grave is already being dug, with the studio scrambling to find a way to salvage the spare parts like Jawas.

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Dakich: sports media has created an ‘industry’ out of complaining about white athletes like Caitlin Clark

Dan Dakich thinks the latest Caitlin Clark complaint is part of a much bigger media problem.

Former ESPN host Cari Champion recently criticized Clark, accusing the Indiana Fever star of receiving favorable treatment from the WNBA and taking issue with the way Clark and her fans carry themselves.

Dakich did not see it that way.

The OutKick host used Champion’s latest Clark criticism to unload on what he sees as a sports media industry built around race-based complaints whenever prominent White athletes or media figures are involved.

"Sports media waits on every single move that a white person makes," Dakich said on Thursday's Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich. "The latest is ‘blatant favoritism.’ Well, it can’t be any farther from the truth when talking about Caitlin Clark and the Fever."

Then Dakich took it a step further.

"But an African-American and failed SportsCenter anchor, Cari Champion, is once again whining about Caitlin Clark," Dakich continued. "I’m telling you, man, there’s an industry for African-Americans to whine about every move — whether it’s Jaxson Dart, whether it’s Caitlin Clark, whether it’s me — of every white person. Y’all are doing pretty good with it."

That was the real point.

Dakich was not just defending Clark from one media personality. He was arguing that Clark has become the latest White athlete to be picked apart through a racial lens by people who realize that attacking white athletes makes them popular among a certain segment of the population.

We also need to acknowledge the obvious: Caitlin Clark is popular because people care about Caitlin Clark.

She sells tickets. She drives television ratings. She brings attention to the WNBA in a way no player ever has. Her games matter in the national sports conversation, and every hard foul, technical, facial expression and postgame comment becomes a debate.

CAITLIN CLARK IS THE 'MOST POPULAR ATHLETE IN AMERICA,' WNBA COMMISSIONER DECLARES

It's certainly not because the WNBA is protecting her. In most cases, the opposite is generally true.

It's because she is the biggest star the league has ever had. And even that isn't because she's white. It's because she plays basketball in a way that no woman ever really has. Steph Curry isn't popular because he's Black. He's popular because he hits threes unlike anyone in history. Clark brought that to the women's game.

Dakich also ripped Champion directly for her criticism of Clark.

"Cari Champion, who legitimately, if people are being honest — which they can’t — was the worst employee ever at ESPN," Dakich said.

Champion has publicly framed her ESPN exit as a case of being unappreciated (she also blamed racism because, of course).

She announced in 2020 that it was time to leave ESPN, then later claimed the network made her feel like she "didn’t matter."

That is Champion’s version of the story. But people who worked inside ESPN at the time may remember the situation very differently. I worked there, and Champion’s reputation inside the building was not a secret. I was once assigned to produce an ESPN Radio special involving Champion and my supervisor warned me that she was difficult to work with. In my experience, difficult proved to be a massive understatement.

Dakich described the exit in harsher terms.

"Now think about this: a beautiful African-American woman gets fired at ESPN. Have you turned ESPN on? That tells you how horrible Cari Champion is. But good for her, we’re talking about her," the OutKick host said.

Champion is free to dislike Clark. Nobody has to root for the Fever star. Nobody has to pretend every reaction from Clark is perfect.

JEMELE HILL QUIETLY DELETES CAITLIN CLARK POST FOLLOWING STALKER ARREST

But the idea that Clark has received some kind of easy ride from the WNBA is laughable.

Clark has been shoved, grabbed, mocked, criticized and blamed for the alleged behavior of "her" fans. She has also been expected to carry the weight of an entire league’s newfound popularity while veteran players, media members and commentators continue to preach that she doesn't deserve that attention.

That is the part Dakich clearly finds ridiculous.

"She’s claiming the Fever star gets favorable treatment from the league, along with proclaiming that she, Cari Champion — who is the worst of the worst — doesn’t like how she acts or how her fans act," Dakich said. "See, this is an age-old thing. Weren’t we talking about this three years ago? Of course we were."

The names change, but the playbook does not. Dakich brought up Jaxson Dart for a reason.

Dart recently introduced President Donald Trump at a rally in New York, and the reaction from many corners of sports media was as predictable as it was exhausting. The conversation quickly became another referendum on politics, race, and locker-room dynamics.

That is the pattern Dakich was pointing to.

With Dart, it was a White quarterback standing next to Trump. With Clark, it's a White basketball star bringing unprecedented attention to the WNBA. With Dakich, in his view, it's a White media personality saying things the sports media class does not like.

Find the white person. Frame the controversy through race. Pat yourself on the back for being a hero. Devour the praise from like-minded race-hustlers in sports media.

Rinse. Repeat.

Dakich is right that there's an industry built on this pattern, but the more important point he made was this:

"Y’all are doing pretty good with it."

That's exactly why this isn't going to change anytime soon.

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Trump says Iran is 'negotiating on fumes,' believes regime thought they could outwait him

President Donald Trump declared Wednesday that Iran is "negotiating on fumes" and that the regime thought they could outwait him when it comes to reaching a deal to end the war. 

Trump, speaking during a Cabinet meeting about three months after the launch of Operation Epic Fury, said Iran "very much" wants to reach an agreement. 

"So far they haven't gotten there. We're not satisfied with it, but we will be, we will be. Either that or we'll have to just finish the job," the president warned. 

"But their navy has gone, as I've said a thousand times, their navy is gone. Their air force is gone. Everything's gone and they're negotiating on fumes. But we'll see what happens. Maybe we have to go back and finish it. Maybe we don't," he continued. 

LIVE UPDATES: TRUMP SAYS 'NOBODY'S GOING TO CONTROL THE STRAIT,' OR 'WE'LL HAVE TO BLOW THEM UP'

The president also said Iran’s economy "is in freefall" with surging inflation and money that "has no value." He mentioned, "They're just going back to the internet because they're getting clobbered," referencing reports on Tuesday that Internet access in Iran was partially being restored following a lengthy blackout.

"They thought they were going to outwait me, you know, ‘We'll outwait him, he's got the midterms.’ I don't care about the midterms. Look what happened last night. That was the prelude to the midterms," Trump added. 

IRAN AND HOUTHI TERROR PROXY FACING RED SEA THREAT FROM PRO-US AFRICAN NATION

"Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. I'm doing that for the world. I'm not doing it just for us. And we've had great support from other nations, by the way. We don't need it at all. But we've had great support from other nations," Trump also said. "The problem is you always get the support when you don't need it. When you need it, you don't get the support. With Operation Epic Fury, our warriors are ensuring that the world's number one state sponsor of terror never obtains a nuclear weapon. And they won't." 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, following Trump, that diplomacy remains the first option for resolving the war with Iran.

"There's an agreement to be made. We want that to be made. I think there's been some progress and some interest. And we'll see over the next few hours and days whether progress could be made," Rubio said during the Cabinet meeting. 

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth added, "Whether it is through the efforts of your negotiators that they ensure that they never have a nuclear weapon, or we have to go back to the War Department to finish the job that way, we're prepared to do that." 

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Trump says he thinks he'll attend NBA Finals game as Knicks close in on long-awaited championship

President Donald Trump all but confirmed his attendance at the NBA Finals beginning next week, revealing Wednesday that he plans to watch the New York Knicks as they make their first Finals appearance in nearly 30 years.

Trump said at Cabinet meeting at the White House on Wednesday that he initially had plans to attend the Knicks Game 5 at Madison Square Garden, but the team swept the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night to make their first Finals appearance since 1999. 

"I was invited to the – I was going to go on Wednesday, but they closed it out very quickly," he said when asked by a reporter if he planned to attend. 

"Jim Dolan's a great guy. He's, as you know, owns and is in charge of Madison Square Garden. He's having a good year. Boy, what a team. They won all their games. They have some great players. I think I'll be going to one of the games. I was invited by numerous people and Jim. And I think I'll be going. Great, great to see it."

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates. 

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US ally pledges support for Trump's push to break Iran's grip on Hormuz: 'We are ready to contribute'

UNITED NATIONS — The Czech Republic is prepared to help protect freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and is aligning closely with the Trump administration on security, NATO and Israel, Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka told Fox News Digital during an exclusive interview at the United Nations in New York.

Prague already had begun discussions about contributing specialized capabilities to help secure the strategically vital waterway amid growing tensions with Iran, Macinka said while speaking at Security Council-related meetings at the U.N. 

"We are ready to contribute to freedom of passage and the Hormuz trade," Macinka said. 

"We were among the first countries that were ready to contribute … We have no navy, as we are in the middle of Europe," he explained, "But we have some unique passive surveillance capabilities."

TRUMP SEEKS WARSHIPS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES TO HELP SECURE STRAIT OF HORMUZ

Macinka warned that Iran posed a global threat through what he described as four main "war tools": nuclear proliferation, drones and ballistic missiles, international terrorism and threats to the Strait of Hormuz. 

"Their nuclear military program must be stopped," he said. "It’s a global risk and global threat."

The comments come as the Trump administration has increased pressure on European allies to take a larger role in protecting international shipping routes amid Iranian threats tied to the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical oil transit choke points. Roughly one-fifth of global oil consumption passes through the narrow waterway connecting the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea.

Speaking after a meeting with foreign ministers in Sweden Friday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio questioned the value of hosting U.S. military bases in allied countries that later restrict American military operations during wartime.

"One of the arguments I always made was that these bases in the region provided us with logistical options that we wouldn’t otherwise have," Rubio told reporters. "And when some of those bases are denied to you during a conflict that we’re involved in, then you question whether that value is still there."

President Donald Trump also has sharply criticized NATO allies over a reluctance to participate in military operations tied to the Iran conflict and securing the Strait of Hormuz. 

Trump said he was "strongly considering" pulling the United States out of NATO after allies failed to join the U.S. campaign against Iran, according to an April 1 interview with Britain’s Daily Telegraph, calling the alliance a "paper tiger."

The Czech Republic, a NATO member since 1999, reached NATO’s benchmark of spending 2% of GDP on defense and has supported calls for Europe to increase military readiness amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Macinka strongly defended the administration’s calls for Europe to increase defense spending and reduce dependence on Washington for long-term security guarantees. 

"We should do our homework and build our defense to become stronger," he said, arguing that Europe had delayed necessary military investments for too long.

He also tied Europe’s defense spending challenges to the European Union’s Green Deal policies, the bloc’s sweeping climate agenda aimed at reducing carbon emissions, calling them ideological and financially destructive. 

"If we get rid of this green, crazy alarmism, then we have enough money to build our defense," he said.

The Czech foreign minister also voiced unusually direct support for Trump and his administration, praising what he described as a global "common sense" shift following Trump’s election victory.

"We are friends of Israel, and we are friends of America," Macinka said. "Especially me as a politician, I'm a friend of the ideology of the current American administration."

Macinka also referenced a clash earlier in 2026 with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the Munich Security Conference, where he criticized Europe’s liberal political establishment and defended the populist wave reshaping parts of Europe and the United States.

EUROPE MUST LEAD ON UKRAINIAN SECURITY GUARANTEES, GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS: 'WE ARE THE NEIGHBORS'

Macinka linked Prague’s strong support for Ukraine to the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, when hundreds of thousands of Warsaw Pact troops occupied the country for more than two decades.

He said that historical experience continues to shape Czech public opinion and support for Kyiv.

"The Czech society feels a big solidarity with Ukraine," Macinka said, describing the war as a "symmetric war" between a powerful Russian military and a Ukrainian army backed by the West.

Macinka highlighted Prague’s leading role in a Czech-backed ammunition initiative supplying Ukraine with artillery rounds collected through international donor efforts. 

Recalling a visit to Kyiv earlier in 2026, he said he received intelligence briefings on battlefield ammunition consumption from Ukrainian military officials.

TRUMP, ZELENSKYY TO MEET FOR KEY DEAL AS NATO ALLIES, RUSSIA WAIT, WATCH

The Czech initiative delivered more than half a million rounds of ammunition in 2026 alone, according to Macinka, helping stabilize the battlefield ahead of possible peace negotiations.

Macinka argued that maintaining a stable front is essential for meaningful negotiations, warning that shifting battle lines will only harden demands on both sides.

With Washington increasingly focused on the Middle East, Macinka also said Europe must begin taking a larger diplomatic role in future negotiations over Ukraine.

"America is quite busy with the Middle East," he said. "Europe should wake up and ask for a place at the table."

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Sharyn Alfonsi out at ’60 Minutes' after feud with Bari Weiss, rips CBS for ‘chilling message’ to newsroom

"60 Minutes" correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi announced Wednesday that CBS News declined to renew her contract months after she lashed out at editor-in-chief Bari Weiss for delaying a segment about allegations of abuses at the El Salvador prison CECOT. 

Liberal critics of Weiss and Paramount CEO David Ellison have accused them of bending the knee to President Donald Trump and trying to curry favor with his administration. Alfonsi, a longtime correspondent for "60 Minutes," insisted late last year that the decision by Weiss to hold the story, "Inside CECOT," was done for political rather than editorial reasons. 

Six months later, Alfonsi said her agent’s attempts to negotiate were ignored by CBS honchos and blasted the network for "abandoning" its mission to prioritize independent reporting. 

"Over the weekend, my contract with CBS News expired, drawing to a close nearly twenty years with the network, including more than a decade at ‘60 Minutes,’" Alfonsi told Fox News Digital. 

'60 MINUTES' CORRESPONDENT LAMBASTS 'CORPORATE MEDDLING' AT CBS, ADMITS SHE COULD BE FIRED

"Following an intense editorial dispute over our CECOT story, repeated attempts by my representation to establish a path forward were met with absolute silence from network executives. The message could not be clearer: my time at ‘60 Minutes’ is apparently over," she continued. "In the coming days, network leadership may attempt to hide behind corporate euphemisms like ‘modernization’ and ‘restructuring’ to explain away my departure. Don't be misled."

Alfonsi, who is technically still employed by CBS News, said that it was "not a routine corporate transition," and instead a "deliberate choice to penalize a journalist for refusing to sanitize factually accurate reporting, and it sends a chilling message to the entire newsroom."

"Fearless, independent reporting has always been the defining standard at ‘60 Minutes.’ Today, CBS management is abandoning that mission, choosing access journalism over accountability and protecting power rather than scrutinizing it," she said. 

'60 MINUTES' REPORTER LASHES OUT AT BARI WEISS AFTER SEGMENT ON EL SALVADOR PRISON YANKED AT LAST MINUTE

"The wall between editorial independence and corporate interest at CBS is being methodically torn down. Journalists willing to challenge authority are being pushed aside in favor of those who will not," Alfonsi added. "If this continues, the result will be a broadcast that looks like ‘60 Minutes’ but lacks the courage and character to produce journalism that matters." 

CBS News did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

In December, Weiss delayed the "Inside CECOT" segment that featured Alfonsi interviewing some released deportees, who described torturous conditions. A CBS spokesperson told Fox News Digital at the time that it was determined the segment needed "additional reporting," reportedly due to concerns about not yet having an on-the-record response from the Trump administration for the newsmagazine segment. 

In a stunning note to fellow "60 Minutes" staffers that quickly leaked to the media, Alfonsi said her segment was being held for political reasons, not editorial ones. Alfonsi told colleagues Weiss had "spiked" the story and not given her a chance to discuss it further.

"Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices," Alfonsi wrote. "It is factually correct. In my view, pulling it now, after every rigorous internal check has been met, is not an editorial decision, it is a political one."

WHO IS SHARYN ALFONSI? ‘60 MINUTES’ CORRESPONDENT IS ALLEGING POLITICAL INTERFERENCE IN HER STORY ON CECOT

She added that "60 Minutes" made requests for comment to the White House, Department of Homeland Security, and the State Department. Their silence was their statement, she wrote, and allowing that to delay the story was effectively giving them veto power.

"If the administration’s refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a ‘kill switch’ for any reporting they find inconvenient," she wrote.

CBS ended up airing the segment in January. 

Alfonsi previously came under fire in 2021 for a "60 Minutes" segment where she challenged Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and painted a narrative that he had given supermarket chain Publix preferential treatment on distributing COVID vaccines because its PAC had donated $100,000 to his campaign.

However, the story came under significant criticism, including from Democrats like Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Jared Moskowitz. Publix had more than 800 locations in the state, making it an ideal location for distributing the vaccines to a state with a high senior population.

Publix fired back against the notion that it essentially bribed DeSantis, calling the suggestion "false and offensive."

Weiss has seen several high-profile talent exits during her tenure, which has been marked by sharp criticism from liberal media observers.

Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn and David Rutz contributed to this report. 

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