Ex-FBI Director James Comey, a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump, was asked in a new interview that aired Sunday about his thoughts on the 2024 presidential election.

‘It has to be Joe Biden,’ Comey said in response to a question from Biden’s former White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, during an interview for her show on MSNBC. 

‘And I’m glad he’s willing to serve. It has to be somebody committed to the rule of law, committed to the values of this country,’ he continued. ‘And I’m not talking about policy. People can disagree about policy. There are things above those disagreements that all of us should think about the same way. The president must be someone who abides the law and our Constitution. And there’s no one else but Joe Biden.’ 

Noting that Comey was once a longtime Republican but voted for Biden in 2020, Psaki asked if he’d consider any of the Republican contenders entering the 2024 race. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., recently formally announced their presidential candidacies, while former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy were already in the race.

Comey, who was fired by Trump in 2017 while leading the FBI’s investigation of alleged Russian collusion with Trump’s campaign, claimed in the interview that if Trump returns to the White House there would be ‘four years of a retribution presidency.’ 

‘He could order the prosecution of individuals who he sees as enemies. I’m sure I’m on the enemies list,’ Comey alleged. ‘Because the president constitutionally does oversee the executive branch entirely, which includes the Department of Justice, prosecutors and investigators. And so he could commission, direct that individuals be pursued. He could also direct all types of other conduct that people would maybe take to court to try to stop – but who enforces court orders?’

‘Mostly the United States Marshals Service, which is part of the executive branch and reports to the president. And so President Trump could say, ‘I don’t care what the Supreme Court says or these district judges say, I’m telling the Marshals Service don’t enforce the court order.’ And so our Constitution really does give a rogue president, which is what this would be, tremendous power to destroy.’ 

‘People criticize CNN for their town hall. I want the American people to stare at the threat that we’re facing and understand that they cannot take the next election off,’ he said. 

Psaki noted that during the CNN town hall, Trump would not commit to seeing that Ukraine win the war against Russia. 

‘Should we expect Russia to interfere on his behalf in 2024?’ Psaki asked Comey. 

‘Yes, of course,’ Comey said. ‘Vladmir Putin does not want Joe Biden to be president of the United States for reasons that I hope the American people see because he acts in our national interests. He would very much like Donald Trump to be president again because Donald Trump – for reasons I still can’t explain – very, very fond of Vladmir Putin. And so they will find ways to interfere. I hope our intelligence community is equipped to respond maybe better than we did in 2016. But they’ll come for this election.’ 

Video footage showing a South Carolina-based children’s choir being stopped by a Capitol Police officer from singing the national anthem in the U.S. Capitol has gone viral with millions of views.

Capitol Police said singers with the Rushingbrook Children’s Choir from Greenville were stopped because of a ‘miscommunication,’ which occurred May 26.

Capitol Police initially issued a statement that said they were under the impression the group didn’t have permission to perform in the building but clarified later that they ‘were not aware that the Speaker’s Office had approved this performance.’

Choir director David Rasbach and another choir leader said the visit was approved by the office of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., which the speaker’s office confirmed.

‘I was shocked, I was dismayed, I was stunned,’ Rasbach, who said he secured permission from three congressional offices to perform at the U.S. Capitol, told the Daily Signal. ‘I couldn’t believe that was happening, that they would stop the national anthem, of all songs.’

Video of the event showed the children singing as a Capitol Police officer spoke with two other men. One of the men, who appears to be a congressional staffer, then approached Rasbach. A few seconds later, Rasbach motioned to the choir and cut them off to stop singing.

Some Republicans accused Capitol Police of taking action against the kids due to political bias, but the force said that is untrue and accused the congressional staffer of lying ‘to the officers multiple times about having permission from various offices’ in one emailed statement to the Daily Signal.

‘Recently somebody posted a video of a children’s choir singing the Star-Spangled Banner in the U.S. Capitol Building and wrongfully claimed we stopped the performance because it ‘might offend someone,’’ the Capitol Police said. ‘Here is the truth. Demonstrations and musical performances are not allowed in the U.S. Capitol.’

‘Of course, because the singers in this situation were children, our officers were reasonable and allowed the children to finish their beautiful rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner,’ the statement added. ‘The Congressional staff member who was accompanying the group knew the rules, yet lied to the officers multiple times about having permission from various offices. The staffer put both the choir and our officers, who were simply doing their jobs, in an awkward and embarrassing position.’

McCarthy and three Republican members of Congress involved in inviting the group to the Capitol issued a joint statement, saying they were ‘very disappointed’ that the performance was cut short.

‘We recently learned that schoolchildren from South Carolina were interrupted while singing our National Anthem at the Capitol. These children were welcomed by the Speaker’s Office to joyfully express their love of this nation while visiting the Capitol, and we are all very disappointed to learn their celebration was cut short,’ McCarthy and three House Republicans said. ‘We are delighted that the People’s House has been reopened particularly for our children and we look forward to welcoming more Americans back to the halls of Congress.’

Capitol Police did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

President Biden has signed a debt ceiling increase, raising the government’s borrowing limit and averting a potential default on the national debt. 

The White House announced the bill signing in an emailed statement in which Biden thanked congressional leaders for their efforts. The Treasury Department had warned that failing to increase the government’s borrowing limit would leave the country without cash to pay its bills and more than likely cause an economic catastrophe. 

‘I just signed into law a bipartisan budget agreement that prevents a first-ever default while reducing the deficit, safeguarding Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and fulfilling our scared obligation to our veterans,’ Biden tweeted Saturday. ‘Now, we continue the work of building the strongest economy in the world.’

Republicans had passed legislation in April to raise the debt limit which also curtailed government spending, but Biden and Democratic lawmakers rejected their bill. The two sides went into a standoff that lasted for weeks as Biden refused to negotiate, demanding a clean debt limit increase before any discussion on spending. 

However, as the deadline to raise the borrowing limit or start missing debt payments approached, both sides entered into tense negotiations to work out a compromise. 

The final deal Biden struck with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., — called the Fiscal Responsibility Act — suspends the public debt limit through Jan. 1, 2025 and cuts non-defense spending to near fiscal 2022 levels, capping growth at 1% for the next two years and proposing non-mandatory caps for the four years after. It also claws back some money aimed at the Internal Revenue Service and some unspent COVID-19 pandemic funds. The law increases defense spending by 3% for the first year, below the level of inflation. 

The bill passed with bipartisan support in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, though more Democrats voted for it than Republicans. Lawmakers on the right and left kicked and screamed the whole way and called it a betrayal of their respective values.

Texas Republican Chip Roy, a deficit hawk, referred to the deal as a ‘turd sandwich.’ 

‘Passing this budget agreement was critical. The stakes could not have been higher,’ Biden said from the Oval Office on Friday evening. ‘Nothing would have been more catastrophic,’ he said, than defaulting on the country’s debt.

‘No one got everything they wanted, but the American people got what they needed,’ Biden said, highlighting the ‘compromise and consensus’ in the deal. ‘We averted an economic crisis and an economic collapse.’

Lawmakers have said the debt deal includes an automatic 1% cut to discretionary spending if Congress fails to pass each of 12 appropriations bills Congress traditionally is supposed to enact into law by Jan. 1. 

‘Leaders Schumer & McConnell committed to pass all 12 appropriations bills on time this year—for the 1st time since 2005—under pressure of an auto spending cut I included in the debt limit agreement,’ McCarthy tweeted Thursday. ‘Ending the era of the omnibus & getting Washington back to work!’ 

However, former Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., has called attention to legislative text that says the 1% cuts will happen if ‘there is in effect an Act making continuing appropriations for part of fiscal year 2024 for any discretionary budget account.’ 

‘To put this in more ordinary language, it’s saying that if a continuing resolution (CR) is in place, then there will be 1% cuts (i.e., sequester). A CR is when Congress can’t agree on new appropriations, so they simply extend old appropriations,’ Amash tweeted Thursday, criticizing the bill.

‘This is different from an omnibus. In other words, Congress can avoid the cuts simply by passing (and having the president sign) an omnibus before January 1. That means the 12 appropriations bills don’t have to be separate; they can be combined into one giant bill, along with (absolutely) anything else they want to include.’ 

The national debt stands at $31.4 trillion and growing. 

Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Twitter owner Elon Musk on Saturday voiced support for a Vermont family that was punished by a local school for expressing concerns about a biological male using the daughter’s locker room.

Musk, the outspoken and eccentric billionaire, called the Orange Southwest School District Board’s decision to punish Travis Allen and Blake Allen ‘incredibly unjust.’ He was responding to a tweet from Riley Gaines, a former University of Kentucky swimmer and political activist who’s publicly opposed allowing biological males to compete against girls and women in sports.

‘So happy for volleyball player and friend, Blake Allen,’ wrote Gaines, who also posted a screenshot of a Daily Signal story on the Allens. ‘For feeling uneasy undressing next to a boy in her locker room, she was suspended from school and her dad lost his job. They told her she would only be let back in if she publicly apologized for her feelings of discomfort.’

Blake Allen was suspended from school for two days in October following an incident where a transgender student who was born male but identifies as female allegedly watched Blake and her teammates change in a locker room, causing them to feel uncomfortable. Several of Blake’s fellow female students told the Daily Signal that they asked the student to leave, but the student didn’t immediately do so.

Blake’s father, Travis Allen, was suspended from his middle school soccer coaching job without pay for publicly defending his daughter and calling the trans student a male, according to the Daily Signal.

After the punishments, the Allens filed a lawsuit against the school district that was recently settled. The settlement reportedly requires the Vermont School Boards Insurance Trust to pay $125,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees to the Allen family.

Under the arrangement, the district will also reinstate Travis Allen as middle school soccer coach and scrub any records of discipline against either him or his daughter from school records. The settlement additionally requires the Orange Southwest School District Board and school officials named in the Allens’ lawsuit to remove any content posted online by the school related to the locker room incident as well as from bulletin boards at Randolph Union Middle/High School displaying ‘love and support’ messages to the trans student.

‘The Vermont School Boards Insurance Trust made the decision concerning the payment in order to cap defense expenses in what would otherwise be years of litigation,’ Layne Millington, superintendent of the Orange Southwest Supervisory District, told the White River Valley Herald. ‘The district has made no admission of wrongdoing. Our policies are unchanged and we will continue to comply with our policies and the law.’

The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which represented the Allen family, described the outcome as a major win.

‘The settlement of Blake and Travis Allen’s case is a resounding victory for freedom of speech,’ Phil Sechler, senior counsel at the ADF, told the Daily Signal.

‘Calling a male a male shouldn’t have cost Travis his job and gotten Blake kicked out of school,’ he added. ‘We are very glad that the school agreed to do the right thing by giving Travis his coaching job back and dropping the discipline against Blake. Everyone has the right to speak freely, and we are grateful that this settlement further protects that right.’

According to the lawsuit filed in October, the Allens were punished ‘for expressing their view on a matter of profound public concern: whether a teenage male who ‘identifies’ as female should be permitted to change in a girls’ locker room, regardless of the discomfort experienced by the girls in that room.’

Blake Allen allegedly said that the transgender student who watched the female volleyball players change was ‘literally a dude’ when discussing the incident with fellow students. Her father referred to the same student as a biological male in an online discussion with the student’s mother, who reportedly said the incident was made up.

According to the ADF, Blake had to write a ‘reflective essay’ about the locker room incident and participate in a ‘restorative circle’ as part of her initial punishment, with the school determining whether she had been sincere and done enough.

‘We are grateful that the school recognized it was wrong to suspend Blake from school and Travis from his coaching position simply for exercising their freedom of speech,’ Sechler told the White River Valley Herald. ‘No one should lose their job or get suspended from school for voicing their opinion or calling a male a male and we are glad to see this case resolved favorably, not only for Blake and Travis, but for all students and coaches to be able to speak freely and without fear of retaliation.’

Saturday wasn’t the first time this week that Musk waded into a transgender debate. The Daily Wire on Thursday accused Twitter of canceling the company’s popular and controversial documentary ‘What Is a Woman?’ from premiering on the social media platform due to two instances of ‘misgendering,’ or calling a person by their biological sex instead of their preferred gender identity. Musk responded that Twitter made a mistake and encouraged people to watch the film.

‘This was a mistake by many people at Twitter. It is definitely allowed,’ Musk tweeted. ‘Whether or not you agree with using someone’s preferred pronouns, not doing so is at most rude and certainly breaks no laws.’

Musk later wrote that ‘every parent should watch this,’ referring to the Daily Wire film.

Texas GOP Rep. Ronny Jackson, a former White House physician, is continuing to raise flags over President Biden’s health, concluding that he is ‘not fit mentally or physically’ after the president fell on stage Thursday during a commencement ceremony at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

‘I don’t wanna sound like a broken record, but I’m just going to say it again: This man’s not fit mentally or physically to be our president, and it’s a bad situation for us,’ Jackson said during a Friday evening appearance on Fox News Channel’s ‘Hannity.’ ‘Part of the job of the President of the United States is to inspire confidence and project power, and he’s not doing that. He can’t do that, he’s too old to do that, and I think it’s a shame.’

The many gaffes and the recent fall he endured show that Biden, according to Jackson, is offering a ‘package that doesn’t sell around the world.’

‘I think his lack of physical ability and his physical decline is now starting to highlight the cognitive decline that we’ve been watching for so long now,’ Jackson said. ‘It’s a package that just doesn’t sell around the world, and it’s becoming a national security issue for us. We have to do something about.’

‘To think that this man thinks he can be president at the age of 86 when he’s 80 right now [and] could be in office for another six years is just malpractice on part of the White House in the West Wing to allow this to be happening, for him to even be talking about running for another term,’ he continued. ‘Somebody needs to be held accountable. People like Jill Biden and people that surround him and are supposed to love him and care about him, they should be doing something about this, and they should be stopping this because it’s a shame.’

Jackson said it has reached a ‘point where our commander in chief needs a walker’ in order to maneuver around at events.

‘Could you imagine? It would be a better image than what we’re seeing right now — seeing him creep around in a walker,’ he said. ‘At least he wouldn’t be falling flat on his face in front of the entire world.… It’s embarrassing for him, and it’s embarrassing for our country.’

Jackson, who said he prays that Biden does not get re-elected next year, said he does not ‘honestly think he can finish the time he’s got left, built should he finish that time, there’s no way this man can be our president for another four years.’

Jackson previously served as the White House physician to former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, and has repeatedly questioned whether Biden is cognitively fit for office.

In April, Jackson circulated a letter among House Republicans demanding that Biden take a cognitive test or drop out of the 2024 race. The latest letter, first obtained by Fox News, came shortly after Biden announced that he will seek re-election next year.

‘We call on you to either resign immediately and renounce your bid for reelection or submit to a clinically validated cognitive screening assessment and make those results available to the public,’ read Jackson’s letter, which was addressed to Biden.

The letter cited Biden’s age, public gaffes and polls showing many Americans doubt the president’s mental fitness.

‘When you first announced your bid to run in the 2020 presidential election, questions and concerns were raised surrounding your cognitive abilities. Those concerns have only increased because your mental decline and forgetfulness have become more apparent since you were elected,’ Jackson wrote in the letter.

Jackson led previous calls for Biden to take a cognitive test, including one in July 2022 that was signed by more than 50 House Republicans.

In February, Jackson called for an end to the ‘cover-up’ of Biden’s health after the president’s physical claimed that he is healthy and fit to serve as commander in chief.

‘The majority of Americans can see that Biden’s mental health is in total decline, yet there is no transparency from the White House on what’s going on, if anything, to address this issue and his inability to do his job,’ Jackson told Fox News Digital at the time. ‘Yesterday’s written physical exam report released by Biden’s physician, Kevin O’Connor, further confirms that this administration is still adamant about concealing the truth.’

The Biden administration has repeatedly brushed aside concerns about Biden’s acuity. Earlier this year when GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley proposed that politicians over 75 take mental competency tests, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said attacks on Biden over his fitness for office failed in the past.

‘You know, we’ve heard these types of attacks or remarks before. And, you know, if you go back to 2020, they said that the president couldn’t do it in 2020 and attacked him there, and he beat them,’ Jean-Pierre said. ‘Maybe they’re forgetting the wins that this president has had over the last couple of years. But I’m happy to remind them anytime.’

FIRST ON FOX: Utah’s largest police union has tossed its support behind one Republican candidate seeking to replace GOP Sen. Mitt Romney in the 2024 Senate election.

‘The Utah Fraternal Order of Police unanimously endorses Trent Staggs for United States Senate,’ a press provided to Fox News Digital stated. ‘Mayor Staggs has been a longtime supporter of law enforcement and specifically the FOP. He continually shows through words and actions what it means to support law enforcement and he received the unanimous endorsement of our executive board and trustees.’

‘He understands the need to protect our safety as well as our working conditions, and we wholeheartedly endorse his candidacy,’ the union added.

The union’s endorsement of Staggs, who has served as the mayor of Riverton since 2018, marks the group’s first Senate primary endorsement. In prior elections, the Utah FOP backed now-Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, as well as former Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah.

Brent Jex, president of the Utah Fraternal Order of Police, told Fox News Digital that Staggs ‘has stood up for the blue even during recent times when it was politically expedient to keep law enforcement at arms length.’

‘He’s had our back, and now we have his,’ Jex added.

Responding to the endorsement, Staggs told Fox News Digital that he is ‘honored’ to have the union’s support and vowed to continue his support for them.

‘In light of the attacks on law enforcement in recent years, the very first endorsement I sought out was the Fraternal Order of Police,’ Staggs said. ‘I wanted our local officers to know they’d always have my support, and I’m honored to have theirs. They deserve a senator who is willing to stand beside them rather than march against them.’

Staggs — who gained notoriety in 2020 for his opposition to mask mandates amid the coronavirus pandemic — announced last month that he was running for the Senate seat currently held by Romney, who has yet to declare whether he will seek re-election.

In a possible first step toward running for re-election, Romney filed FEC paperwork in April. But his chief of staff told local media that he has not made a final decision.

‘I love my children, and I’m worried about the country they will inherit if I sit on the sidelines,’ Staggs told Fox News Digital in May. ‘For too long, we’ve allowed government bureaucrats to spend away the next generation’s future, and we need more voices willing to push back.’

When asked why he believes Romney may not be an effective leader for the state, Staggs said: ‘Unfortunately, Mitt Romney has let personal beefs get in the way of good governance. From not standing with Mike Lee against raising the debt ceiling to voting for the $1.7 trillion omnibus, he has helped drive us deeper in debt.’

‘He votes to impeach President Trump but then has the nerve to confirm a radical justice like Ketanji Brown Jackson and incompetent cabinet members like open border [DHS Sec. Alejandro] Mayorkas,’ he added.

In announcing his candidacy in the race, Staggs became the first person to publicly pose a challenge to Romney, who has angered many voters within his own party for his reasoning and support for certain policies and bills.

‘Mitt Romney fits in the Senate much better than I do. We’ve elected far too many people who ‘fit in’ in Washington. I’m not going to Washington to make friends, I’m going to make change,’ Staggs declared.

Romney has gone on the record saying that if he were to run, he has no doubt he would be successfully re-elected. He defeated Democrat Jenny Wilson with more than 62% of the vote in 2018.

‘I’m convinced that if I run, I win. But that’s a decision I’ll make,’ Romney said of a potential re-election bid.

Romney was the GOP nominee in the 2012 presidential election but was defeated by former President Obama.

Romney’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

DES MOINES, IOWA – The current top two contenders for the Republican presidential nomination are trading verbal fire over the term ‘woke.’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters on Saturday that ‘woke is an existential threat to our society.’

DeSantis, greeting Republican activists at a major GOP 2024 presidential cattle call in Iowa, the state whose caucuses lead off the Republican White House nominating calendar, was asked about comments former President Donald Trump made two days earlier.

‘I don’t like the term ‘woke’ because I hear ‘woke, woke, woke.’ It’s just a term they use, half the people can’t even define it, they don’t know what it is,’ the former president said on Thursday during remarks at the Westside Conservative Club in Urbandale, Iowa.

Asked about Trump’s comments, the Florida governor said Saturday that ‘to say it’s not a big deal, that just shows you don’t understand what a lot of these issues are right now.’

Trump, who launched his third straight White House campaign last November, is the current commanding front-runner in the polls. 

DeSantis, who’s seen his stature with conservatives across the country soar in recent years in part due to his culture wars battles against some major corporations, school unions, and the media. He often touts that Florida ‘is where woke goes to die.’

The governor is solidly in second place in the GOP nomination polls, far behind Trump but well ahead of the rest of the field of actual and potential contenders. 

DeSantis at the Iowa State Fairgrounds at Sen. Joni Ernst’s Roast and Ride. The annual motorcycle ride, which benefits veterans, this year attracted all of the declared Republican presidential candidates except Trump.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Two top members in former President Donald Trump’s administration who are now rivals to Trump in the 2024 GOP presidential nomination race are heavily criticizing Trump for celebrating North Korea’s appointment to the World Health Organization.

Former Vice President Mike Pence and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who served as ambassador to the United Nations during the Trump administration are taking aim at the former president in interviews in Iowa on Saturday with Fox News. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also took a swipe at Trump over his comments about the North Korean dictator.

‘Congratulations to Kim Jung [sic] Un!’ Trump wrote in the message on his social media platform Truth Social on Friday afternoon.

‘I was surprised to see that,’ DeSantis told Fox News Digital Saturday. ‘I mean I think one, I think Kim Jong Un is a murderous dictator.’ 

Trump linked his message to an article from American Greatness about the North Korean official recently elected to the executive board of the World Health Organization (WHO).

The North Korean Ministry of Public Health’s Dr. Jong Min Pak has been seated on the WHO’s executive board with a term set to last until 2026.

The communist state’s new position on the board allows them say in determining the organization’s agenda and policy prescriptions.

The decision sparked immediate criticism from the government of neighboring South Korea, which pointed to North Korea’s history of ignoring policies put forward by the WHO and its parent organization, the United Nations. 

Pence, who’s expected to launch a 2024 presidential campaign next week in Iowa, told Fox News The World Health Organization let America and the world down during the COVID pandemic. They were literally complicitous in covering up what was happening in China and we held them to account during our administration..’ 

‘Whether its my former running mate or anyone else, nobody should be praising the dictator in North Korea or praising the leader in Russia, who has launched an unprovoked war of aggression in Ukraine,’ Pence said. ‘This is a time when we ought to make it clear to the world that we stand for freedom and we stand with those who stand for freedom.’

Haley, who declared her candidacy for the White House in February, told Fox News that ‘you don’t congratulate a thug. I mean, let’s keep in mind this. This thug has threatened America. It’s threatened our allies over and over again. This is not something to play with.’

‘He’s a terrible individual. He’s terrible to his people. He’s terrible to our allies in the world. And I don’t think he deserves congratulations,’ Haley emphasized.

 Trump became the first sitting American President to meet with a dictator of North Korea when he shook hands with Kim Jong Un in 2019.

‘It started off rough, remember that? I was saying ‘little rocket man’ and he was saying ‘I’ve got a red button on my desk, and I’m willing to use it,” Trump recalled in an April 2023 interview.

‘And then all of a sudden we get a call — they want to meet,’ he added. ‘We would have had that whole situation straightened out shortly after the beginning of my second term.’

Pence and Haley spoke with Fox News on Saturday as they attended Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa’s annual roast and ride, a motorcycle ride that benefits veterans. All of the declared presidential candidates — other than Trump — spoke at the gathering.

Asked for a response, the Trump campaign took aim at DeSantis, which they view as the former president’s top rival for the 2024 GOP nomination.

‘President Trump achieved peace through strength and, as a result, no new wars were started under his presidency. On the other hand, Ron DeSantis is a puppet of the establishment war mongers and doesn’t have the strength, fortitude, or will to stand up against America’s adversaries,’ Trump campaign spokesman Steve Cheung told Fox News.

A federal judge ruled late Friday that a Tennessee law that put strict limits on drag shows is ‘unconstitutionally vague.’ 

U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker in his ruling said the first-in-the-nation law that banned cabaret performances in a public place or anywhere that children could be present was ‘overly broad,’ encouraged ‘discriminatory enforcement,’ and violated the First Amendment rights of performers. 

‘There is no question that obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment. But there is a difference between material that is ‘obscene’ in the vernacular, and material that is ‘obscene’ under the law,’ Parker said in his ruling. 

He added, ‘Simply put, no majority of the Supreme Court has held that sexually explicit — but not obscene — speech receives less protection than political, artistic, or scientific speech.’

FORMER AMERICAN IDOL STAR BLASTS GOP STATE BANS ON DRAG SHOWS FOR MINORS: ‘USING CHILDREN AS AN EXCUSE’ 

LGBTQ theater company Friends of George’s had sued over the law, which it said would hurt their business because they focus on ‘drag-centric performances, comedy sketches, and plays’ with no age restrictions.

The group on Saturday called the ruling a ‘triumph over hate.’

‘Similar to the countless battles the LGBTQ+ community has faced over the last several decades, our collective success relies upon everyone speaking out and taking a stand against bigotry,’ Friends of George’s added in their statement.

One of the bill’s sponsors, Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, called the ruling ‘perplexing’ and said he hopes the attorney general would appeal it. 

‘Sadly, this ruling is a victory for those who support exposing children to sexual entertainment,’ Johnson said. 

Parker, who is a Trump-appointed judge, used the example of a woman dressing as Elvis for a performance, saying she could be in violation of the law because she could be considered a ‘male impersonator.’

While the word ‘drag’ doesn’t actually appear in the law, Republican lawmakers cited drag performances in their hometowns as impetus for it. 

Lawmakers changed the state’s definition of adult cabaret to mean ‘adult-oriented performances that are harmful to minors,’ classifying ‘male or female impersonators’ as adult cabaret performers similar to strippers. 

Gov. Bill Lee signed the law, which went into effect on April 1 but has not yet been enforced because Parker temporarily blocked it in March after the lawsuit. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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