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Alaska Democratic Senate hopeful Mary Peltola faced ridicule Thursday night after her use of notecards during a debate with Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan drew mocking responses from GOP critics — including a pointed jab from her incumbent opponent.

Sullivan is in an unusually close race with Peltola, a former congresswoman, that is further complicated by another candidate with his same name but a different middle initial, as Republicans fight to hold their narrow Senate majority.

"Really, Mary? Reading off a script? You can't cue-card your way through the Senate," Sullivan wrote on X after Peltola appeared to have a notecard-sized paper with bullet points that she looked down at for several seconds while responding to earlier questions.

GOP SENATOR, EX-HOUSE DEM EMERGE FROM ALASKA’S ‘JUNGLE PRIMARY’ DESPITE FAR-LEFT MEDDLING

The criticism quickly became a flashpoint in the candidates' debate-night exchanges, with Republican commentators seizing on Peltola's apparent use of prepared notes.

"Mary, blink twice if you are okay. It seems you can't string a sentence together without reading from the talking points your Lower 48 handlers wrote you," NRSC official Joanna Rodriguez posted on X.

Another social media user took aim at Peltola's apparent reliance on notes even while discussing personal details.

"Mary Peltola can't read her name or that she's a grandmother without needing a cue card," the user wrote, adding a laughing emoji.

After Peltola appeared to read from her card another time, Sullivan cut in that he had a question for the moderators.

'THEY WERE SPYING': SULLIVAN SOUNDS ALARM ON JOINT RUSSIA-CHINA MOVES IN U.S. ARCTIC ZONE

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"We weren't supposed to get these questions beforehand, were we?" he asked the debate moderators.

"No sir," Alaska's News Source reporter Wil Courtney replied. "Absolutely not," added Alaska Public Media chief editor Lori Townsend.

"OK," Sullivan said. "I’m just watching my opponent."

Peltola defended herself, interjecting that she was better "prepared."

The Republican Party's research arm hit back on X, highlighting a clip of Peltola appearing to read from her card:

"Mary Peltola — who did not introduce a single bill to help Alaska fisherman during her first term in Congress — has to read off of a script when talking about Alaska's fishing industry," the party tweeted.

The debate also turned personal when Sullivan confronted Peltola over allegations that she mistreated former staffers, citing reporting by The New York Times and claiming that 25 employees had quit while working for her.

Peltola rejected the allegations as "outright fabrications or mass exaggerations of the truth," arguing that the election should not be about her "worst day."

The heated exchange prompted moderators to call for decorum and warn that microphones could be shut off if the candidates continued interrupting one another. Sullivan maintained that the allegations reflected a pattern of behavior, while Peltola accused her opponent of exploiting the controversy for political gain.

The candidates also faced questions over Alaska's long-discussed liquefied natural gas pipeline after moderators reported South Korea had not committed to investing in the project despite President Donald Trump's public promotion of a potential deal.

Sullivan defended the administration's efforts, arguing Seoul had committed funding through a broader trade agreement while acknowledging that the specific investment amount remained under negotiation.

DEM SENATE HOPEFUL VOWS TO UNLEASH ALASKA OIL — BUT HER RECORD TELLS A DIFFERENT STORY

Peltola also expressed support for the pipeline but cautioned against raising expectations without firm commitments, saying Alaska should not be "promoting falsehoods that just have no substance."

Both candidates emphasized the project's economic potential, although the exchange exposed uncertainty over whether promised foreign investment would materialize.

Peltola previously became the first Democrat in decades to represent Alaska in the House after the death of Republican Rep. Don Young, and her Senate candidacy again carries potentially sweeping statewide and national repercussions.

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The showdown comes as Republicans fight to defend their narrow Senate majority, with Sullivan's seat emerging as a major Democratic pickup opportunity in a state President Donald Trump carried in 2024. The Cook Political Report rates the contest a toss-up, making Alaska one of several battlegrounds that could determine which party controls the chamber in January.

Fox News Digital reached out to Peltola’s campaign for comment.

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Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has unveiled a plan that could allow the conditional early release of up to half of those detained under a state of emergency that authorities used to arrest more than 90,000 people in the past four and a half years as part of an effort to curb violent criminal gang activity.

Bukele's plan to cut the prison population was announced on Tuesday night. It would focus on freeing prisoners who were deemed gang collaborators, a broad term that can include various people, including gang lookouts and those who make extortion payments.

"There are many people who have indeed committed crimes, but their crime was collaborating with gangs," Bukele said. "They deserve to be in jail, but we come from a country where collaborating with gangs wasn’t so unusual, and if we were to arrest everyone who collaborated with gangs, we would have to arrest 20% of the population."

Without offering details, the president indicated that authorities plan to analyze cases to determine potential early release with monitoring, which could apply to half of the people detained during the state of emergency.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SAYS FEDERAL AUTHORITIES HAVE ARRESTED MORE THAN 10,000 SUSPECTED GANG MEMBERS

The state of emergency was declared in March 2022 after a surge in violence left more than 60 people dead in a single day. The measure was initially imposed for 30 days but has been repeatedly extended.

The emergency declaration has coincided with a dramatic decline in the country's homicide rate and helped make El Salvador a more appealing tourist destination while also suspending or restricting certain constitutional protections, including the right to be informed of the reasons for detention, the right to access legal counsel and the right to visitation.

El Salvador's president has maintained that the measure was needed to rein in rival gangs MS-13 and Barrio 18.

Human rights groups, meanwhile, have denounced the declared emergency, arguing that it has sparked widespread arbitrary arrests. The groups have repeatedly demanded that Bukele scrap the measure.

NICOLAS MADURO AND WIFE CILIA FLORES FACE NEW CHARGE OF CONSPIRACY TO TORTURE AMERICANS

Human rights organizations have recorded more than 6,000 complaints during the emergency declaration and documented the deaths of at least 575 people in government custody.

The potential release of thousands of prisoners, some argue, is not enough to repair the damage of their prolonged imprisonment.

"The victims of arbitrary detentions don’t just deserve to recover their freedom, but they also deserve to be compensated for the harms caused by the State of El Salvador: the physical and mental harm that imprisonment causes, family suffering, loss of work or studies, reputational damage, among others," exiled Salvadoran lawyer Bertha Deleón wrote on X.

Bukele dismissed widespread criticism from national and international human rights groups, suggesting that they should take the side of the victims of gang violence.

The president also defended the need to keep the state of emergency while also indicating his goal of ending it eventually.

El Salvador's homicide rate has fallen dramatically over the past decade, including during Bukele's presidency, according to government figures. The rate dropped from a peak of more than 100 murders per 100,000 residents in 2015, four years before Bukele took office, to 1.3 per 100,000 in 2025.

But the government has narrowed the definition of homicide to exclude killings by police, murders in prisons and bodies found in unmarked graves.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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The U.S. military is deploying several hundred Army soldiers to Latin America for training and joint exercises with regional forces as the Trump administration expands its campaign against drug-trafficking networks, Fox News confirmed.

The deployment involves soldiers from the Army's 10th Mountain Division based at Fort Drum, New York, with the first troops from a roughly 600-soldier battalion expected to deploy to Panama, according to The New York Times, which first reported the deployment.

A senior U.S. official confirmed to Fox News that the troops are being forward-staged under U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which will determine where they are ultimately deployed.

According to The Times, the troops will first deploy to a new jungle training facility in Panama before eventually training with local forces in Colombia and Honduras.

EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP’S NEW SECURITY ALLIANCE FACES FIRST REAL-WORLD TEST DEEP IN SOUTH AMERICA AS TROOPS DEPLOY

The troops could also support U.S. special operations personnel who are advising local militaries conducting raids against suspected drug traffickers, the outlet reported.

Separately, several hundred soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division are expected to help staff a new Western Hemisphere military command based in Miami.

The deployment comes as the Pentagon continues military operations targeting suspected drug traffickers across Latin America and the Caribbean.

US MILITARY STRIKES ALLEGED NARCO-TRAFFICKING VESSEL IN CARIBBEAN, KILLING 4 'NARCO-TERRORISTS'

Since the campaign began more than a year ago, U.S. forces have conducted dozens of strikes, with more than 235 people killed.

Gen. Francis Donovan, commander of SOUTHCOM, previously said the military was considering operations against trafficking networks on land.

"Do I see land strikes as options? Yes. We want all options at the table," Donovan said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

"Those actions might be strikes, arrests, or the takedown of a safe house," he continued. "It could even be something as routine as increasing the use of cargo scanners at border checkpoints."

TRUMP ADMIN'S LIST OF US-DESIGNATED 'FOREIGN TERRORIST' GROUPS IN LATIN AMERICA EXPANDS TO 21

Donovan added that the goal was to create "total systemic friction" for the cartels.

The Trump administration has pursued agreements with allied nations that could allow it to expand military operations against trafficking networks onto land in multiple Latin American countries.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth previously said during a visit to Panama in August that Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to allow the U.S. to carry out joint military operations against criminal groups within their borders, although Guatemala denied reaching such an agreement.

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The U.S. military is deploying several hundred Army soldiers to Latin America for training and joint exercises with regional forces as the Trump administration expands its campaign against drug-trafficking networks, Fox News confirmed.

The deployment involves soldiers from the Army's 10th Mountain Division based at Fort Drum, New York, with the first troops from a roughly 600-soldier battalion expected to deploy to Panama, according to The New York Times, which first reported the deployment.

A senior U.S. official confirmed to Fox News that the troops are being forward-staged under U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which will determine where they are ultimately deployed.

According to The Times, the troops will first deploy to a new jungle training facility in Panama before eventually training with local forces in Colombia and Honduras.

EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP’S NEW SECURITY ALLIANCE FACES FIRST REAL-WORLD TEST DEEP IN SOUTH AMERICA AS TROOPS DEPLOY

The troops could also support U.S. special operations personnel who are advising local militaries conducting raids against suspected drug traffickers, the outlet reported.

Separately, several hundred soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division are expected to help staff a new Western Hemisphere military command based in Miami.

The deployment comes as the Pentagon continues military operations targeting suspected drug traffickers across Latin America and the Caribbean.

US MILITARY STRIKES ALLEGED NARCO-TRAFFICKING VESSEL IN CARIBBEAN, KILLING 4 'NARCO-TERRORISTS'

Since the campaign began more than a year ago, U.S. forces have conducted dozens of strikes, with more than 235 people killed.

Gen. Francis Donovan, commander of SOUTHCOM, previously said the military was considering operations against trafficking networks on land.

"Do I see land strikes as options? Yes. We want all options at the table," Donovan said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

"Those actions might be strikes, arrests, or the takedown of a safe house," he continued. "It could even be something as routine as increasing the use of cargo scanners at border checkpoints."

TRUMP ADMIN'S LIST OF US-DESIGNATED 'FOREIGN TERRORIST' GROUPS IN LATIN AMERICA EXPANDS TO 21

Donovan added that the goal was to create "total systemic friction" for the cartels.

The Trump administration has pursued agreements with allied nations that could allow it to expand military operations against trafficking networks onto land in multiple Latin American countries.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth previously said during a visit to Panama in August that Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to allow the U.S. to carry out joint military operations against criminal groups within their borders, although Guatemala denied reaching such an agreement.

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As the White House's Fraud Ledger shows, the Small Business Administration (SBA) has uncovered more fraud than any other agency. Through Vice President JD Vance's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, the Trump administration is eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse at historic rates.

When COVID shut down the country, small business owners did everything they could to keep their doors open. They drained their savings, skipped paychecks, and fought to keep employees on the payroll.

While small businesses were fighting to survive, fraudsters stole billions from programs meant to keep them afloat. The Biden-Harris administration had years to hold fraudsters accountable. It never did. Under Republican leadership, that era is over.

WHITE HOUSE LAUNCHES INTERACTIVE MAP TRACKING BILLIONS IN SUSPECTED FRAUD

Last month, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler stood with Vice President Vance in Kansas City, Missouri, and announced the suspension of 870,000 borrowers linked to an estimated $39 billion in suspected pandemic fraud, the largest action of its kind in the agency's history.

As chairman of the House Committee on Small Business, I've worked closely with Administrator Loeffler to go after this money and ensure Main Street isn't left high and dry. Every dollar a fraudster took was a dollar a family business didn't get.

The Biden-Harris SBA knew COVID fraud was rampant and still failed to act. In 2023, the SBA’s Office of Inspector General estimated that more than $200 billion in pandemic loans may have gone to fraudsters. Agency leadership at the time stated the actual number was closer to $36 billion.

When our Committee asked then-SBA Administrator Isabella Guzman to explain the $164 billion difference, she refused to testify. So, we kept digging.

WHITE HOUSE PUSHES 'WATERSHED' FRAUD-FIGHTING REFORM IN CONGRESS AS VANCE CONVENES TASK FORCE

Our Committee spent 18 months investigating the pandemic loan programs. What we found was deeply disturbing. Rather than fixing its own broken controls, Biden's SBA pointed fingers at the private lenders it worked with. It even floated ending collections on fraudulent loans under $100,000, valued at about $11 billion, because it didn't want to appear to be strong-arming borrowers.

Unfortunately, pandemic loans aren't the whole story.

Just look at the 8(a) program, which helps disadvantaged small businesses compete for federal contracts. It only works if those firms do the work themselves. Pass-through schemes, in which the winning firm hands the job off to someone else, cheat the very businesses the program was meant to help.

In an effort to rein in fraudulent spending, Administrator Loeffler did something nobody had done in nearly 50 years: she audited the entire program. When hundreds of firms refused to hand over their financial records, she moved to kick them out. The SBA has also closed loopholes that let loans be issued in the names of children and the deceased, some of whom are listed as being older than 115.

House Republicans have helped lead this recovery from the start, and are ensuring these reforms stick. In June, the House passed my COVID Fraud Transparency Act, which requires the SBA's inspector general to report quarterly to Congress on COVID loan fraud. My Committee also advanced pragmatic anti-fraud bills, including Rep. Dan Meuser's (R-Pa.) Small Business Lending Fraud Prevention Act and my bipartisan Put America on Commission Act.

I've spent my career in the car business, and I know that paying commissions delivers results. My bill, the Put America on Commission Act, would reward Americans who come forward with credible tips about pandemic loan fraud, funded by penalties paid by convicted fraudsters.

When I became chairman, I said we would not write this money off. Democrats spent four years ignoring this fraud and were ready to forgive billions of dollars. House Republicans, alongside Administrator Loeffler and Vice President Vance, will continue pursuing it so that the next time mom-and-pop shops need help, they won't have to stand in line behind fraudsters.

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A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that a federal ban on gun possession by convicted felons cannot be constitutionally applied to some people whose prior offenses did not involve violence or threats indicating a risk of misusing firearms.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued two rulings clarifying when the federal prohibition on gun possession by convicted felons can be enforced under the Second Amendment.

The court, which includes several judges appointed by President Donald Trump, upheld the firearms restriction against a man with a conviction stemming from a carjacking but ruled that the ban could not be applied to another man based on his prior drunk-driving convictions.

One of the cases decided on Tuesday involved James Bost, who pleaded guilty to terroristic threats, criminal conspiracy, false imprisonment and simple assault in Pennsylvania state court following a 2002 carjacking.

MAJOR APPEALS COURT DECLARES NEW JERSEY AR-15 BAN UNCONSTITUTIONAL IN LANDMARK SECOND AMENDMENT RULING

Bost was later indicted on federal firearms charges after authorities found him in possession of a gun despite his prior convictions. He sought to dismiss the charges, arguing that the federal ban violated his Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

U.S. Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas, writing for the majority in the decision against Bost, said people convicted of crimes demonstrating a risk of physical violence through the misuse of firearms may presumptively be disarmed based on those convictions alone.

"The right to keep and bear arms has limits, and this is ​one: Those who pose a risk of physical violence from misusing guns can be disarmed before that risk becomes a reality," wrote Bibas, an appointee of President Donald Trump.

In a separate case involving Edward Williams, the court ruled that the federal firearms restriction could not constitutionally be applied to him based on his prior convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol in the early 2000s. One of those convictions triggered the federal ban, which generally applies to offenses punishable by more than one year in prison.

Williams had been sentenced to a term of 90 days to two years, which he served under home confinement. After learning the conviction prevented him from owning guns, he sued to secure a declaration that the law was unconstitutional as applied to his offense.

Writing for the court, U.S. Circuit Judge Paul Matey, a Trump appointee, rejected the Justice Department's argument that historical restrictions on "habitual drunkards" justified applying the federal firearms ban to Williams.

Matey described Williams as "a peaceable ​citizen, capable of bearing arms consistent with the ​design of the Second Amendment."

"And with that ⁠rehabilitation comes restoration of the civic privileges guaranteed to citizens by the Constitution, and the freedom to again exercise the natural right of armed defense against threats and tyranny," the judge wrote.

U.S. Circuit Judge Arianna Freeman, writing separately in disagreement with the majority's reasoning, said she parted ways from the majority opinion "when it says a prior conviction is disarming on its face only if it involved violence or threats."

DOJ THREATENS TO SUE CALIFORNIA OVER 'GLOCK BAN,' ARGUING LAW VIOLATES SECOND AMENDMENT

Freeman argued that the Second Amendment also permits restrictions on people whose criminal conduct demonstrates a credible threat to public safety, even when their offenses did not involve explicit violence or threats.

The judge argued that while convictions for crimes that involve violence or threats qualify, other offenses, such as drunk driving, should be covered as well because they show that a person "poses a credible threat to the physical safety of others."

Joshua Prince, a lawyer for Williams, praised the ruling, saying the decision made it clear that "there does not exist any historical tradition of stripping individuals with non-violent convictions of their Second Amendment rights and whom do not pose ⁠a threat to ​the public in possession of a firearm."

The rulings come amid a series of cases evaluating whether modern gun restrictions are constitutional under a new legal standard established by the Supreme Court's landmark 2022 Second Amendment decision.

In a 6-3 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, the high court held ⁠that modern gun restrictions must be "consistent with this nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation."

Reuters contributed to this report.

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President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that "massive" oil, gas and mineral exploration was expected to begin in Greenland.

"Massive Oil, Gas, and Mineral Exploration is getting ready to begin in our new and beautiful Greenland!" Trump posted on Truth Social.

"There are Experts that are saying that the amount of easily available Oil is far greater than that of almost any land, anywhere in the World and, even more importantly, from a Security Purpose in the Defense and Offense of both the United States of America, and Europe, is second to none," he continued.

"Any future attack on the United States will have to come across Greenland, where our Defense will routinely knock down drones, missiles, or any other form of weapon not yet even conceived," Trump added.

TRUMP'S GREENLAND FIXATION REVEALED AS WARS EXPOSE WHY THE ARCTIC ISLAND MATTERS NOW MORE THAN EVER

Trump said Greenland "gives us time, location, and sightline, like nowhere else in the World!"

Trump did not immediately provide additional details about when or how the exploration would begin.

Greenland's government stopped issuing new oil and gas exploration licenses in 2021, citing environmental and climate concerns. Some previously issued licenses remain valid, although drilling requires additional government approvals. Greenland is believed to hold significant untapped oil and gas resources, but commercially recoverable reserves have not been established.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.

Trump's comments come after the U.S., Denmark and Greenland signed a new security agreement last month expanding U.S. military access to the strategically important Arctic island.

While the U.S. already had extensive military rights in Greenland under a 1951 defense agreement, the new arrangement expands Washington's ability to establish additional military facilities, subject to consultation and procedures outlined in the agreement.

SECURITY EXPERT HAILS TRUMP'S GREENLAND PACT AS A 'BIG DEAL' ON PAR WITH ALASKA PURCHASE

The agreement also restricts military installations by non-NATO countries and establishes safeguards against potentially threatening foreign investments in sensitive sectors, including natural resources and critical infrastructure.

Although Trump had sought to acquire Greenland, repeatedly arguing that U.S. ownership was necessary for national security, the new agreement did not grant U.S. sovereignty over the island.

Greenland is a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, with Copenhagen retaining authority over foreign, defense and security policy while Greenland controls many of its domestic affairs, including mineral resources.

Fox News Digital's Morgan Phillips and Peter D'Abrosca contributed to this report.

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