Former colleagues of disgraced ex-Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., spoke about how the former senator betrayed his country and his own legacy, published in a report by The New York Times on Wednesday.

A judge sentenced Menendez to 11 years in prison on Wednesday, concluding his trial for a "long-running bribery and foreign influence scheme of rare gravity."

The sentence is the harshest ever handed down to a U.S. senator. Breaking down in tears, Menendez pleaded with U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein for mercy in a New York City courtroom. 

DEMOCRATIC SEN. BOB MENENDEZ GUILTY ON ALL CHARGES IN FEDERAL CORRUPTION TRIAL

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie gave a bleak retrospective of how the former N.J. senator will be remembered.

"At a time when our expectations continue to get lower and lower for people in public life, the thing Bob Menendez is going to be remembered for is lowering those standards even further," Christie told The Times, adding, "That’s a hell of an epitaph."

Christie went on to describe how Menendez broke the sacred trust between the public and their elected officials, ignoring an important trade-off required of politicians.

"When you’re in public office, you make a trade: You get influence in return for not getting money," said Christie. "If you believe that you can have influence and money as a public official at the same time, you’re probably going to go to jail."

The former N.J. governor believed that "Bob Menendez just concluded he could have both," adding, "And you can’t."

GARY PETERS, DEMOCRATIC SENATOR FROM TRUMP STATE, WON'T SEEK RE-ELECTION

Former Senator Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., who faced an ethics scandal of his own while in office, had a similar message on Menendez's betrayal of his country.

"I don’t think these can be judged as only part of a pattern of inappropriate conduct or even corruption," Torricelli said. "There was an element here of betrayal to the country and an action contrary to national interests that was almost unique in the history of the United States Congress."

Although there was no shortage of criticism from former colleagues of Menendez, some still loyal to him penned letters to Judge Stein, pleading for leniency in his sentencing. Henry J. Amoroso, a prominent lawyer and friend of Menendez, recalled a time when the former senator showed him compassion during a dinner celebrating the lawyer's 60th birthday. Amoroso had been struggling with a debilitating shoulder injury at the time of the dinner, which made cutting his steak a taxing challenge.

"During dinner, he obviously noticed I was struggling to cut my steak and without any hesitation and without bringing attention to himself, he gently leaned over with his own knife, grabbing my fork and cutting my steak for me while remaining completely engaged in conversation," Amoroso wrote.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE

Menendez's only daughter, MSNBC anchor Alicia Menendez, also wrote a letter to Judge Stein. While the letter did ask the judge to show mercy on her father, as he had already lost his place in the Senate, and even had his name removed from a local elementary school, she did address the irreparable damage already done by the senator to his own legacy, as noted by The Times.

"A legacy of service 51 years in the making has been reduced to a punchline about gold bars," she wrote.

Fox News' Anders Hagstrom and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., joked it might be time for the pro-life movement to welcome the New York Times into the fold for a recent headline from the legacy media outlet that acknowledged the "unborn" as children. 

"You know, I kind of feel like we have a lot of momentum, so there's this issue that the president has introduced, which I'm supportive of, to say the Constitution doesn't give birthright citizenship to people that are here illegally," DeSantis said Friday at the 52nd annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. 

"But it's interesting. Not everyone likes that. And so, The New York Times had a hit piece going against this. And here was their headline, ‘Undocumented women ask: Will my unborn child be a citizen?’" he said.

"So The New York Times is admitting it's not just a clump of cells," DeSantis said. "Let's welcome the New York Times to the pro-life movement."

NUMEROUS US STATES SUE TRUMP OVER BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP EXECUTIVE ORDER AS SUPREME COURT COULD MAKE FINAL DECISION 

The New York Times piece, which ran on Tuesday, quoted illegal immigrants voicing their concern that their unborn children might not be recognized as citizens. 

The piece was in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order on Monday saying that the children of illegal immigrants and those born to legal immigrants with temporary visas should not be recognized as citizens. 

The executive order, which goes into effect Feb. 19, says that "it is the policy of the United States that no department or agency of the United States government shall issue documents recognizing United States citizenship, or accept documents issued by State, local, or other governments or authorities purporting to recognize United States citizenship, to persons: (1) when that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth, or (2) when that person’s mother’s presence in the United States was lawful but temporary, and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth."

TRUMP’S HOUSE GOP ALLIES PUSH BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP BILL AFTER PROGRESSIVE FURY AT PRESIDENTIAL ORDER 

The New York Times article quotes the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment which says that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

The piece goes on to say that the "provision has since been interpreted to apply to virtually all children born here, regardless of their parents’ status. But some immigration restrictionists believe that there is a legal ground for narrowing its scope." 

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a New York Times spokesperson said of DeSantis' remarks, "Our newsroom covers abortion and immigration impartially as our recent coverage of President Trump's immigration executive order demonstrates, from the logistics of enlisting the military, to legal challenges, to tracking the demographics of who would be affected by deportations, as well as interviews with undocumented women who expect to give birth after the order goes into effect."

On Thursday, a federal judge in Seattle, U.S. District Judge John Coughenour, temporarily blocked Trump’s executive order, calling it "blatantly unconstitutional."

New York Times columnist Thomas Edsall conceded that conservatives are beginning to take control of American culture in a guest essay titled "The Right Is Winning the Battle for Hearts and Minds" on Tuesday.

"The full-scale assault by the conservative movement on liberal domination of the nation’s culture has begun to deliver key victories," said Edsall, after decades of bitterness from conservatives "over the leftward tilt of academia, the literary world, the press, television and streaming video."

Edsall credited Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter, now called X, in 2022 as one of the major catalysts for conservatives gaining control of culture in recent years. X created a space where conservatives felt free to share their ideas without fearing that they may be banned or censored. Mark Zuckerberg's Meta recently followed suit and has begun rolling back content moderation on their sites, ending fact-checking and loosening restrictions on certain types of speech on Instagram and Facebook.

INTERNET ROASTS NYT HEADLINE ABOUT FACT-CHECKERS RULING META CRITICISM OF FACT CHECKS 'FALSE:' 'BEYOND PARODY'

Podcasts were also cited by Edsall as one of the mediums that has helped sway culture to the right, with top podcasters such as Joe Rogan endorsing President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.

Trump's appearances on multiple right-leaning podcasts even sidelined traditional liberal media outlets during the campaign. 

CEOs of the largest tech companies in the world have done an about-face on Trump in the wake of the 2024 election. From virulently opposing him in 2016 and 2020, to donating millions of dollars to his inaugural fund in 2024. Edsall credits regulatory pressure from Trump as one of the reasons for this switch.

"Trump’s threats to use the government’s regulatory apparatus to punish dissident corporations have, in turn, brought to heel major technology players that perform an important role in shaping what constitutes contemporary American culture. Google, Meta, Amazon and Apple’s Tim Cook each contributed $1 million to Trump’s inauguration celebration," Edsall said.

Trump noted this switch-up in a Dec. 16 news conference at Mar-a-Lago, stating, "One of the big differences between the first term — the first term, everybody was fighting me. In this term, everybody wants to be my friend."

MAINSTREAM CULTURE SHIFTS TONE ON TRUMP'S VICTORY

This pendulum swing of culture from left to right has also had an effect on cable news networks, according to Edsall.

"The Trump-Republican November sweep had an immediate effect on the partisan balance of power regarding cable news networks, which have long been crucial players in the dissemination of ideas, values and beliefs from the left as well as from the right," said the columnist, also pointing out that "Despite the closeness of the November election, the two more liberal cable channels, MSNBC and CNN, experienced a severe decline in viewership after Nov. 5, while Fox News ratings rose."

Anya Schiffrin, the director of the technology, media and communications program at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, claimed in an email to Edsall that conservatives are also winning on the communications front.

Schiffrin stated that "part of why the Republicans are so successful is the message rather than the medium. Republicans keep their message extremely simple and focus on topics that have salience. Explaining the nuances of crime statistics and telling people not to worry about crime is not persuasive when people go daily to CVS and see all the toothpaste and aspirin are under lock and key or feel threatened on the street or subway."

POST-ELECTION, CHRISTIAN AUTHOR PROVIDES HIS PROOF THAT CULTURAL SHIFT HAS BEEN 'BREWING FOR YEARS'

According to Edsall, conservatives' efforts to discredit liberal talking points and policy, through social media, podcasts and other mediums, have also had a major effect on the cultural shift currently underway.

The Times columnist credited Christopher Rufo, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and the author of "America’s Cultural Revolution," with "almost single-handedly" forcing liberals to retreat on a number of issues.

"Rufo can claim credit (or blame) for the corporate and academic retreat on critical race theory; diversity, equity and inclusion (better known as D.E.I.); and the environmental, social and governance (E.S.G.) movement in corporate investing," claimed Edsall.

This pushback on progressive ideas also made its way into sports and music, as pointed out by Wall Street Journal reporters Aaron Zitner and Meridith McGraw in their Jan. 19 article, "How MAGA Is Taking Back the Culture."

"Instead of taking a knee to call for social justice, N.F.L. players are doing the ‘Trump dance’ in the end zone at football games. Mainstream entertainers, among them the country singer Carrie Underwood and the rapper Snoop Dogg, agreed to perform at events celebrating Donald Trump’s inauguration, something music stars largely shunned eight years ago," the WSJ reporters said.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE

Edsall also placed blame on the elite universities across America for pushing culture to the right.

"Among the most damaging developments for the left include the failure of elite universities, bastions of liberalism, to deal with antisemitic protests during Israel’s attacks on Gaza; the current exodus of reporters, editors and subscribers at The Washington Post, a mainstay of liberal journalism; the discrediting of academia’s commitment to free speech as a result of the disclosure of their cancellation of controversial speakers; the relative absence of conservative professors in most fields; and the requirement that faculty members file annual mandatory diversity statements."

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Edsall left his readers with an ominous warning for the future.

"Trump’s corporate allies are now lodged throughout the American business community. History has shown that turning points like the one we face can be very dangerous. Once leaders with autocratic aspirations, like Trump, as well as his enabler and sidekick Musk, have risen to power, an inflamed, ascendant right follows them, wherever they go."

A recent New York Times/Ipsos survey found the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, don't think transgender athletes should be permitted to compete in women's sports. 

"Thinking about transgender female athletes — meaning athletes who were male at birth but who currently identify as female — do you think they should or should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports?" the survey asked. 

Of the 2,128 people who participated, 79% said biological males who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in women's sports. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or leaning Democrat, 67% said transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women. 

Among 1,022 Republicans, that number was 94%. 

The 81 independents who were interviewed represented the group with the most reluctance to say transgender athletes shouldn't be allowed to compete. Just 64% said they were against it, while 26% refused to answer. Just 3% of the Democrats and 1% of the Republicans refused to answer.

The country saw a notable shift in awareness and opposition to the issue of transgender athletes in women's sports in 2024, when a number of stories sparked national attention and controversy. The issue became a key campaign issue in November's election for President-elect Trump and other Republicans. 

A national exit poll conducted by the Concerned Women for America (CWA) legislative action committee found that 70% of moderate voters saw the issue of "Donald Trump’s opposition to transgender boys and men playing girls' and women’s sports and of transgender boys and men using girls' and women’s bathrooms" as important to them. 

And 6% said it was the most important issue of all, while 44% said it was "very important."

HOW TRANSGENDERISM IN SPORTS SHIFTED THE 2024 ELECTION AND IGNITED A NATIONAL COUNTERCULTURE

Nearly 70% of Americans say biological men should not be permitted to compete in women's sports, according to a Gallup poll last year.

In June, a survey conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago asked respondents whether transgender athletes of both sexes should be permitted to participate in sports leagues that correspond to their preferred gender identity instead of their biological sex. In that survey, 65% answered that it should never or rarely be allowed. When those polled were asked specifically about adult transgender female athletes competing in women’s sports, 69% opposed it.

With Trump about to return to office Monday, Republicans are pushing a bill that will address the issue in Congress. 

The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act passed in the House of Representatives Tuesday and even had support from two Democrats. 

That bill will advance to the Republican-controlled Senate, and, if it passes there, Trump will get to sign it into law early in his term. 

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

A new report from The New York Times revealed how President Biden tried and failed to prove his physical vigor to critics constantly calling into question his age and fitness for the job.

For the piece detailing what Biden and his team did to try and minimize the public’s impression that he was a "faltering" president, reporters spoke to people close to Biden who noted that the president wanted to display his physical prowess to combat scrutiny of his age.

"But at times, people familiar with his thinking recalled, Mr. Biden’s pride — along with an old-school view that displaying physical vitality was the antidote to age concerns — could get in the way," the Friday report disclosed.

MSNBC'S LAWRENCE O'DONNELL GUSHES OVER BIDEN'S ACHIEVEMENTS IN FINAL INTERVIEW: 'LIKE A MAGIC TRICK'

As the outlet noted, Biden’s longtime strategist Mike Donlon had told the president in 2022, "Your biggest issue is the perception of age." Biden "acknowledged the concerns," but the "warnings only ignited his defiant, competitive streak," The Times reported, suggesting that this attitude fueled his decision to run for re-election in 2023, after initially suggesting he would not.

"Finally elected on his third try, Mr. Biden suggested that he would be a transition president," the piece stated. "But his pride, plus a string of legislative accomplishments and a strong showing in the 2022 midterms, drove him to seek re-election and set out on a quixotic mission to prove his vitality."

Biden’s pride also reportedly prompted him to try and show off his physical competence to the public. The report continued, "Mr. Biden, who exercised on a stationary bike most days, made decisions that he thought would showcase vigor. But, at times, they had the unintended effect of showcasing his advancing years."

BIDEN ENTERED OFFICE AS MEDIA DARLING, BUT INACCESSIBILITY, SECRECY AND TRUMP WIN LEAVES LEGACY TATTERED

The report provided several examples, the first being that Biden "refused to wear an orthopedic boot" after fracturing his foot while playing with his dog just ahead of the inauguration.

"He did not want to be seen as weak — a 78-year-old president with his hand on the Bible and a large, telltale contraption on his foot. He wore his leather brogues instead."

Sources told The Times that the fracture "did not heal" as a result, and it has contributed to a "shuffling gait that has continued through his presidency."

It also mentioned his bike riding mishap stemming from his desire to look fit. 

"Mr. Biden still wanted to prove that he was physically agile," the report read. "He enjoyed biking at his home near Rehoboth Beach, Del., but during the summer of 2022, when he stopped to talk with a group of onlookers and reporters, his feet got caught in the toe cages on the pedals."

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE

Biden fell off his bike and reporters caught it on camera. The clip went viral and became fodder for Biden’s critics, who even turned "Mr. Biden’s fall into a political attack on T-shirts," The Times added. 

Then came the "worst mishap," it continued, pointing to when "Mr. Biden tripped over a sandbag at the Air Force Academy commencement."

"It took five seconds for Secret Service agents to help the president to his feet, an eternity when seen on television."

The White House did not immediately reply to Fox News Digital's request for comment. 

The year is ending and, shockingly, it was filled with less drama than most people predicted. Self included. Last year’s annoying list focused on the enemies of sanity like teachers union boss Randi Weingarten and Greta Thunberg, climate extremist turned full-time lefty activist. 

Of course, 2024 still had drama. A lot of it can be traced to some of its annoying people and there are too many to list here. We get to make fun of the worst of them.

Let’s begin with a bipartisan spirit. Both left and right find MSNBC "Morning Joe" hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski super annoying. I’m practically a founding member of the "Joe is a Joke" caucus. Until recently, that was a mostly conservative clique.

They spent years saying awful things about President-elect Trump and other conservatives. Scarborough’s lie about President Biden being coherent earned him "Worst Quote of the Year" from the Media Research Center. Scarborough told the audience: "This version of Biden intellectually, analytically, is the best Biden ever." He threw in an "F---you," for good measure. Remarkably, both he and Biden are still employed.

OLBERMANN RECOMMENDS HIS FORMER NETWORK ‘FIRE MIKA AND JOE’ SCARBOROUGH, DOUBLE DOWN ON LEFTIST CONTENT

After that lie, the "Morning Joe" twosome paid a visit to Trump and alienated their far-left base, with Scarborough telling viewers they need to, "Grow up." Their ratings have gone anywhere but up ever since. MSNBC had to add another host and lefty loon Keith Olberman is saying it’s time for Scarborough and Brzezinski to go. Here’s the Variety headline: "Keith Olbermann: How Can MSNBC Save Itself After Trump’s Win? First Step: Fire Mika and Joe."

He’s far from alone. Bluesky is filled with hate for the pair and their show. I’d be surprised if they still have a show on MSNBC by Christmas 2025. I bet they would be, too. 

Me, me, me, me. That’s the voice for narcissistic journalism – Taylor Lorenz. She used to write about tech and social media at The New York Times, The Washington Post, etc. By any fair measure, she’s a social media sensation. She has over half a million followers on TikTok and another half a mil combined between Twitter and Bluesky. Now she has a Substack readership where she promotes COVID-19 paranoia and hatred of health care CEOs.

NYT COLUMNIST THROWS IN TOWEL ON 'NEVER TRUMP' LABEL: WE 'NEVER QUITE GOT THE POINT' OF THE MAGA MOVEMENT

She exited traditional journalism in August after she posted what she claimed was an "obvious meme" calling Biden a "war criminal." Then she got called out for saying she felt "joy" after the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, which she now says was "dubiously edited." And she can usually be found wearing a mask and criticizing those who don’t as, "raw dogging the air and spewing ur disease laden breath all over ur elderly neighbors."

To top it off, she got in an online argument with statistician Nate Silver about her age. Lorenz is still listed in her Wikipedia profile as "age 37–39," taunted him saying, "Just assume I’m 50!" (According to Soap Central, the real number is 40, for those who care.)

But all of these things got people talking about her. That’s the true measure of Millennial, or Gen. X, success. 

JASON KELCE REVEALS WHAT HE REGRETS THE MOST ABOUT PENN STATE FAN INCIDENT

In the normal world, there’s only one Taylor – Taylor Swift. It’s easy to admire Swift and her football star boyfriend Travis Kelce. (She was one of my superstars of 2023.) Both of them had successful years. Her Eras tour did great and Celebrity Net Worth says she’s now worth $1.5 billion. Her boyfriend remains one of the top tight ends in the NFL and his team is a favorite of fans and referees in its quest for a third straight Super Bowl. (Boo here.)

The problem is, I’m sick of them. Be honest, if you don’t think of yourself as a "Swiftie," you are, too. Happens to anyone in the public eye so much that your eye starts to twitch. Despite that, I still wish them great success both individually and as a couple in 2025. (Except for that Super Bowl.) 

When it comes to race-baiting, MSNBC host Al Sharpton outdoes himself, going all the way back to promoting the Tawana Brawley rape hoax. Then there’s his antisemitism. But 2024 put him on the map for something new – allegations of pay for play. 

It came out after the election that Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign gave $500,000 to Sharpton’s National Action Network. That might be fine except it happened right before a super nice October interview. Ooops. 

I could write a whole column about the horror that is "The View." Or 10. I was all set just to highlight how truly awful co-host Sunny Hostin is for managing to outshine her coworkers by being the most despicable Bozo in the ABC clown car. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

Hostin called the GOP "morally bankrupt" and blamed Hispanic support of Trump on "misogyny and sexism." She also advocated for families to boycott Trump supporters at holiday time because it's "more of a moral issue."

But they had to turn it up a notch. Fellow hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar got discussing why they hadn’t seen Vice President-elect JD Vance recently. Behar claimed, "He’s planning the presidency when they get rid of Trump."

Whoopi responded, "So, you think it's Musk/Vance?"

Whoopi followed up with, "Stay away from the stairways. Because, you know, people put their leg out to trip you going down the stairs. Watch out."

They later claimed it was a joke but that’s pretty dark, especially for three women named Sunny, Joy and Whoopi.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM DAN GAINOR