WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert folded under pressure late Tuesday night by issuing a reactionary statement after Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas publicly shamed her for a lack of support.

It's a great reminder that behind every incompetent league is bad judgment.

Engelbert capitulated hours after Thomas, a lightning rod for controversy following her latest violent on-court altercation with Caitlin Clark, cast herself as the victim.

Thomas successfully deflected from the fact that she had just been suspended for striking the league's golden goose.

SUSPENDED ALYSSA THOMAS BLASTS WNBA'S SILENCE AFTER CAITLIN CLARK FOUL, OFFERS NO ACCOUNTABILITY

Despite earning the suspension that fueled the backlash, Thomas still turned herself into the victim, blasted Engelbert and the commissioner predictably folded.

"The WNBA vehemently condemns any and all forms of hate," Engelbert said in the statement on Tuesday.

One has to wonder where fists to the throat rank on the commissioner's list of priorities.

The statement amounted to a complete submission to Thomas, who used her Tuesday media availability to blast Engelbert.

"The safety and well-being of everyone in our community is always the league's top priority. We are aware of Alyssa Thomas' comments, and what she and her teammates have experienced is completely unacceptable and not representative of the WNBA community. The league and our security team have been in contact with the Phoenix Mercury organization and remain committed to protecting all players."

Rather than hold Thomas to her action, Engelbert bent a knee to the wrong player.

During a loose-ball scramble, Thomas struck Fever superstar Caitlin Clark in the throat with her fist.

While officials on the floor inexplicably missed it, the league office later upgraded the play to a Flagrant 2 and slapped Thomas with a retroactive one-game suspension for a "non-basketball act."

Fever coach Stephanie White called the initial no-call "absolutely unacceptable," and Clark ultimately exited the game with a back injury.

Instead of answering for endangering a fellow player, Thomas displayed an astonishing lack of accountability, claiming, "A lot of us, myself included, didn't even know the play took place until after the game."

She then complained that her team was being "painted as thugs," cited severe online harassment and attacked the WNBA for failing to properly notify her of the suspension.

"Honestly, I didn't even know I was being suspended until 10 minutes before it was put on social media," Thomas said, taking a direct shot at the commissioner. "As usual, she remains silent."

CAITLIN CLARK CALLS FOR 'GREAT LEADERSHIP,' SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM DOUBLES DOWN ON WNBA COMMISSIONER CONDEMNATION

Engelbert took the bait. The league office showed it was more interested in validating Thomas' grievances than protecting its biggest gate attraction.

Engelbert has consistently mismanaged the overt physical hostility directed at the league's biggest star.

Hard fouls are routinely minimized, and meaningful discipline often arrives only after public outrage forces the league's hand.

By validating the self-perceived victimhood of a player who had just been suspended for a "non-basketball act" against Clark, Engelbert's administration exposed its priorities.

The WNBA continues to coddle veteran players who resent Clark's spotlight instead of enforcing a consistent standard of player safety.

Engelbert made her choice. It wasn't Caitlin Clark.

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July 4th is more than marking America’s independence with patriotic flags, parades and fireworks. It's about celebrating American ingenuity, our firm belief that our country can engineer solutions to achieve the impossible, from launching the modern age of aviation to landing a man on the moon.

Some of the most compelling evidence of American exceptionalism today is happening thousands of feet beneath the surface of the Gulf of America, where our offshore industry has spent more than a decade solving one of the hardest engineering problems in the history of energy.

More than 100 miles offshore from the Gulf Coast sits a geological layer of sandstone and shale rock deep beneath the seabed called the Paleogene that holds tens of billions of barrels of oil. For years, most of it was considered unattainable. The reservoir pressures – up to 20,000 pounds per square inch, equivalent to an elephant standing on a quarter – exceeded anything existing technology could handle. No equipment had ever been built to work under those conditions.

TRUMP’S ENERGY INITIATIVES MAY FINALLY EXTRACT AMERICA FROM MIDEAST CHAOS

The solution was engineered here, in American waters, by the people who know them best.

Transocean developed the first drillships in the world built to work in these high-pressure conditions. Their Deepwater Titan and Deepwater Atlas are currently operating in the Gulf of America. Trendsetter Engineering designed subsea systems and manifolds capable of operating reliably at pressures once considered beyond reach. Other offshore companies have developed similar equipment that has unlocked the Paleogene.

The results speak for themselves. Chevron's Anchor project came online in 2024, representing roughly $5.7 billion in development spending. Beacon Offshore's Shenandoah is also producing oil and natural gas. BP's development plan for its $5 billion Kaskida project has secured federal approval and is moving toward first production. Together, these projects mark the opening of a new chapter of American offshore capability.

TRUMP’S ENERGY INITIATIVES MAY FINALLY EXTRACT AMERICA FROM MIDEAST CHAOS

The people who did this work aren't household names. They're engineers and subsea specialists and vessel crews spread across the Gulf Coast, part of a remarkable expertise that shows up when an impossible problem needs solving.

And our people have proven this equipment is safe and reliable.

Safety and containment systems were purpose-built, independently verified, and rigorously tested under federal oversight before a single well was drilled. Offshore consortiums HWCG and Marine Well Containment Co. (MWCC) both maintain 20,000 psi containment systems that can be deployed rapidly in the event of an incident.

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Federal regulations require operators to demonstrate access to containment resources, submit detailed response plans, and conduct robust recurring training exercises before drilling begins. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement requires third-party certification on every major high-pressure component: blowout preventers, subsea trees, wellheads and completion equipment. Nothing goes offshore without it.

This achievement that’s producing more American energy is worth celebrating today, especially during a time when we take stock of what this country is built on. The Paleogene wasn't unlocked by a single mandate or a government program. It was unlocked by an ecosystem of companies, engineers, regulators, suppliers and workers who collectively decided a problem was worth solving and spent years doing it. That's a distinctly American model, and it works.

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The Gulf of America supplies roughly 15% of U.S. oil production. Offshore projects support shipyards, manufacturers, ports, marine operators and skilled trades across the country. There are jobs and investments in all 50 states.

The Paleogene represents the next chapter of that output, backed by existing infrastructure, an experienced workforce, and decades of hard-won operating knowledge. The economic and national security benefits don't happen without the long-term investment decisions and the long-term confidence that make them possible.

At 250, America is still a country that does seemingly impossible things. The Paleogene in the Gulf of America is proof.

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Archaeologists in Peru recently uncovered an unusual find: freeze-dried potatoes that date back centuries before the United States was even founded.

The potatoes, known as chuño, were found at the Tambo Viejo site in the Acarí Valley in southwestern Peru. The discovery was recently published in the Journal of Field Archaeology.

The potatoes date back roughly 500 years, to the time of the Inca Empire, according to Phys.org.

RESEARCHERS DISCOVER 2,500-YEAR-OLD HONEY RESIDUE IN ANCIENT BRONZE JARS

Photos of the ancient food show two wrinkled, brownish, freeze-dried potatoes that still appear to retain their shape and color, looking strikingly like modern-day produce.

The preservation of the potatoes is "excellent," said Lidio Valdez, an archaeology professor at the University of Calgary, who led the excavation.

Valdez told Fox News Digital that the two freeze-dried potatoes are remarkably similar.

"The only difference is the samples found are small, and it seems that over time and due to the aridity of the region, their original size was reduced," he said. "There is no way one can tell their old age from samples."

ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNEARTH ANCIENT BREAD THAT SURVIVED UNDERGROUND FOR 5,000 YEARS

The significance of the discovery, Valdez said, is that it shows the Inca transported food over long distances.

"Freeze-dried potatoes can be produced only at high elevations," he said. "Afterward, the chuño were stored in state-controlled warehouses, most of them built also at high elevations."

"Because the Inca state carried out countless projects throughout the realm, the tasks involved thousands of workers, who had to be fed by the state. Thus, state officials likely mobilized volumes of chuño from the warehouses, transporting them in llama caravans."

At Tambo Viejo, the potatoes were then placed in ceramic vessels and stored underground to avoid food waste.

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Potatoes have high water content, Valdez added, which means they don't survive long "in most places," making Incan preservation methods particularly impressive.

"Place a potato somewhere in your kitchen just for a month and see what will happen," he said. "In places with rain and moisture, potatoes will rot quickly. Therefore, freeze-drying was [and] is an effective way to preserve and store them for long periods of time."

While freeze-dried potatoes may seem like a specialty ingredient, Valdez said the Inca considered chuño a staple food.

"Those who built the empire … palaces, roads and everything else we admire, [like] Machu Picchu … lived off the chuño," he said. "It appears that in Inca times, large volumes of potatoes were cultivated and freeze-dried, then stored in state-controlled warehouses."

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The archaeologist said he had hoped to learn more about the Inca recording system, known as khipus, because Tambo Viejo was an administrative center. Instead, he was surprised to uncover evidence of ancient food preservation.

Valdez described Tambo Viejo as "such a great Inca site," noting that it's been excavated on and off since 2018.

"Many wonderful finds have been discovered at the site," he said. "Almost everything found at the site is unprecedented, which makes Tambo Viejo such a unique center."

The find adds to a growing number of archaeological discoveries that have shed light on the foods eaten — and preserved — by ancient civilizations.

Last year, archaeologists in Italy uncovered preserved food remains in ancient Pompeii, including fruit and fava beans.

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In April, Swiss officials announced the discovery of a charred 2,000-year-old Roman bread loaf unearthed during an excavation in Windisch, marking the first archaeological find of its kind in the country.

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From the minute former President Joe Biden exited the debate stage in Atlanta two years ago, Democrats have wished to put that disastrous night behind them, but for a variety of reasons have been unable to do so.

Even now, barely a month can go by without some Democrat reminding us of the challenges Biden and Democrats faced, culminating in Biden’s withdrawal from the race.

Whether its former First Lady Jill Biden, former VP Kamala Harris, the widely-panned DNC "audit" of what went wrong, or other members of the administration, Democrats are reminding Americans that plainly, Biden had no reason running for a second term.

FLASHBACK: THE DEBATE NIGHT AGAINST TRUMP THAT THREW BIDEN'S REELECTION CAMPAIGN INTO A FREE FALL

They also remind voters that the party as a whole is struggling to recover from the defeat in 2024, a challenge made worse by Harris’ name and record consistently being in the spotlight as she considers a second run in 2028.

Moreover, in doing so, Democrats remind everyone of the lengths they went to hiding Biden’s declining capabilities at the very moment they were asking voters to trust them.

The former First Lady says as much. According to her memoir, she knew something was wrong, writing that she wondered if her husband was having a stroke, yet none of that seemingly mattered when she was forcefully defending him in the hours and days after.

And while voters are – understandably – still angry that the Democratic establishment did not admit what was obvious to the public, the political consequences of that night and the weeks after are still playing out. Indeed, as Carlos Lozada headlined a recent article in the New York Times, "The Biden Verdict is in. It Isn’t Pretty."

Describing a book summing up Biden’s presidency, Lozada writes that "The administration was ‘an ominous interregnum’" and that his term "ended somewhere between tragedy and farce."

Whether due to Biden’s age, stubbornness, or additional factors, throughout his presidency, the country lacked direction and an overarching vision.

Further, when the Biden White House did attempt to steer the country, they were often woefully out of step with what the majority of Americans wanted.

From throwing the Southern border wide open, to economic policies that stoked inflation – which ultimately proved to be Biden’s downfall – and a humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan, the administration simply appeared rudderless.

Likewise, Biden’s emphasis on transgender issues generated considerable backlash, leading to perhaps the most devastating political ad in recent memory, President Trump’s "Kamala is for they/them, I’m for you."

Even when the administration did identify a problem many Americans cared about such as climate change, they routinely failed to promote their policies, resulting in virtually no political points.

At the same time, despite promising to be a bridge between older, moderate Democrats and younger, more progressive Democrats, Biden exacerbated that ideological struggle, setting the stage for the ongoing fight today.

Put another way, rather than bringing both wings of the party together in order to set a new agenda, Biden allowed progressives to rapidly ascend, while the pool of moderates shrunk ever smaller.

To be sure, the consequences of that cannot be overstated, as it threatens the political viability of all Democrats, especially for state or national offices.

While popular in deep-blue pockets, progressives struggle when the electorate expands from ultra-liberal cities to entire states, let alone for the presidency.

And yet, progressives have grown so powerful within the Democratic Party that moderates are being primaried out of existence by an insurgent far-left that could keep the party out of the White House for decades to come.

As evidenced by the New York City primaries last Tuesday, that is no longer hyperbolic. Insurgent socialist candidates, backed by socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani won three races against more moderate candidates.

In that same vein, in Michigan, Maine, and even Texas, where far-left candidates Abdul El-Sayed, Graham Platner, and James Talarico, respectively, have surged in the polls, with Platner and Talarico winning primaries and El-Sayed a frontrunner in his.

In some ways, the rise of the socialist left is the result of frustration with the Democratic establishment that Biden embodied.

Having tried to hide his diminished state, then forcing through Harris without a primary, Biden and his enablers undermined confidence in the Democratic Party’s leadership, creating the conditions for an ascendent far-left.

Beyond his impact on the Democratic Party, Biden’s presidency handed Trump and Republicans a gift. Despite Fox News polling showing Trump with just a 39% approval rating, and Americans signaling their desire for change, Republicans can – credibly – still run against Biden.

They can ask Americans, do you want to go back to unprecedented inflation and open borders? If not, give us a chance. In fact, they are making that very point. Speaking to CNBC on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stressed that current inflation is nowhere near the 21.5% cumulative inflation seen under Biden and that the Trump administration is still dealing with those effects.

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Whether or not voters buy it remains to be seen, yet it would not be surprising if a considerable number do.

Taken together, midterms are often referendums on the incumbent, and 2026 figures to be no different. But in the aftermath of the Biden presidency, Harris candidacy, the DNC audit, and continued drips coming from Biden administration insiders, Democrats have a number of hurdles to overcome.

Worse still, aside from the tell-all books, Hunter Biden, Joe’s scandal-plagued son continues to make himself an extremely visible presence on Twitter. As one USA Today article described Hunter’s "X-rated X posts" have gone viral, providing voters with constant reminders of a former First Family that many Democrats simply want to settle out of the spotlight.

Ultimately, viewed through these lenses, Joe Biden’s biggest legacy may not just be handing Donald Trump a second term.

Rather, it may be the ongoing polarization and division within the Democratic Party that may allow Republicans, notwithstanding Trump’s low ratings and his own baggage, to avoid losing one – or both – chambers of Congress.

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The American Culture Quiz is a weekly test of our unique national traits, trends, history and people — including current events and the sights and sounds of the United States.

This week's quiz highlights cruise controversies, wedding whispers — and much more.

Can you get all 8 questions right?

Give it a try and see how you do!

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To try your hand at more quizzes from Fox News Digital, click here. 

Also, to take a recent News Quiz — published every Friday — click here.

WWE Night of Champions on Saturday is going to be the scene-setter for what’s to come for SummerSlam in August – and this year’s card is as stacked as ever.

The King and Queen of the Ring will come to an end. There will be three championship matches and one rivalry will write a new chapter. The winners of the King and Queen of the Ring will earn title shots of their choosing at SummerSlam.

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Read below for a preview of the card and predictions.

The two men in the King of the Ring final have their eyes set on gold. Jey Uso, with the backing of The Bloodline, has been on a tear since he entered the King of the Ring Tournament. He has one more mountain to climb before getting another title shot and that’s Oba Femi. "The Ruler" was back to his winning ways after Brock Lesnar picked up a victory over him at Clash in Italy. Femi definitely has that loss in the back of his mind.

Prediction: Jey Uso wins the match. Brock Lesnar interferes and takes out Oba Femi.

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Liv Morgan has made two things clear going into the Queen of the Ring final. She’s vowed to become a double champion and that Iyo Sky has never beaten her one-on-one. Morgan has made it all the way through to the Queen of the Ring final with The Judgment Day by her side. Sky has had to go through it alone to get back a shot at glory. The two top women’s wrestlers on the main roster will meet for a chance at Rhea Ripley’s title. If Sky wins, she could challenge Morgan again or go after Ripley. Who wins is anyone’s guess.

Prediction: Iyo Sky becomes the Queen of the Ring.

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Trick Williams has found massive success since he made his SmackDown debut, winning the United States Championship over Sami Zayn at WrestleMania 42. After dispatching Zayn, a new challenger for his title has emerged. Ricky Saints defeated Carmelo Hayes to become the new No. 1 contender. Saints has been a thorn in Williams’ side – as proven by the last "Friday Night SmackDown" before Night of Champions. However, Williams has proven to be dominant. And he will likely continue that course of action on Saturday.

Prediction: Trick Williams retains the U.S. title

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The bitter feud between U.S. women’s champion Tiffany Stratton and Jade Cargill comes to a head at Night of Champions. Stratton has found herself with strange bedfellows in Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss to counter Cargill’s alliance with Michin and B-Fab. Stratton will need to keep her cool if she doesn’t get the same help during her match against Cargill. There will certainly be some outside interference, but if it stays outside, Stratton may leave Riyadh with her title.

Prediction: Tiffany Stratton retains the women’s U.S. title.

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Will this be the official end of Seth Rollins’ feud with Bron Breakker and The Vision? Even after Rollins defeated Breakker at Backlash, the two have still been going at it. Breakker made his return at WrestleMania 42 to cost Rollins his match against Gunther, reigniting the rivalry. Now, the two will do battle inside a steel cage. The match is expected to be brutal with much animosity between the two competitors.

Prediction: Bron Breakker gets one back from Seth Rollins.

Wild card: Bronson Reed returns.

==

It will be the match everyone is waiting for. Cody Rhodes, who booked this match, defends the Undisputed WWE Championship against Gunther and Sami Zayn. Rhodes was fed up with the shenanigans between Gunther and Zayn and requested to put the two in his rearview when he spoke to SmackDown GM Nick Aldis. It could end up being a "be careful what you wish for" situation. Gunther is trying to get back on top of WWE while Zayn is hoping to earn his first world title.

Prediction: Cody Rhodes retains the Undisputed WWE Championship

A deadlocked jury for the man accused of sparking the inferno that led to the Palisades Fire has fueled fear that ideology is making its way into the jury box, with one former prosecutor concerned that it could impact Luigi Mangione's trial.

A federal judge on Friday declared a mistrial for the man accused of deliberately causing the Palisades Fire, Jonathan Rinderknecht, after jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict. He was arrested in October 2025 and charged with destruction of property by means of fire, pleading not guilty after he was charged. Ten of the California jurors thought Rinderknecht was not guilty, while two thought he was.

A woman who identified herself as juror number four spoke to media outlets after the mistrial was declared, saying there was "no proof," adding that a retrial, which the government plans to do, would be a "waste of our American dollars."

Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Fox News Digital this could be a case of jury nullification, but gave another reason why members of the jury may have been hesitant to convict Rinderknecht.

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"This could be a case of jury nullification, or it could be a case where the jurors are blaming other people, or government, folks like Karen Bass, the Los Angeles Fire Department," he said. "In this particular case, it took nine months for the Department of Justice to arrest and charge Jonathan Rinderknecht. And during that time, many Angelenos who lost their homes, and there are 12 people who died, were pointing the finger at our local officials saying that they were not prepared for the high winds and ultimately the most devastating fire in California hit his."

While the Rinderknecht deadlock may have been driven by anger at local officials, Rahmani said the Mangione case presents a far more direct nullification threat. Mangione is accused of assassinating UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel in December 2024, a killing that drew widespread public sympathy toward the alleged gunman.

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With Rinderknecht's retrial set for mid-October, around the same time Mangione's federal trial could get underway, Rahmani warned prosecutors have little time to prepare for what he called an unprecedented jury threat.

FEDERAL PROSECUTORS OFFICIALLY FILE INTENT TO SEEK DEATH PENALTY AGAINST LUIGI MANGIONE

"I do think the prosecution should be concerned about jury nullification in the Luigi Mangione case. He's probably the most popular accused murderer I've ever covered in my 25 years of practice," Rahmani said. "And depending on the surveys that you read, anywhere from 10 to 20% of people believe that he was justified in what he did."

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He pointed out that Mangione just needs one person out of a 12 person jury to be sympathetic, and the numbers are in his favor.

"The reason why that's an important number is that you just need one out of 12 jurors if you're the defense. That's 8%. Mangione is a good looking guy, he is smart, he comes from a wealthy family and there's a line of people outside that courtroom every time he makes an appearance," Rahmani said. "Both the feds and the Manhattan DA's office has to be very careful during jury selection and make sure that they remove any sympathetic Mangione jurors from the panel."

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Even if the feds and Manhattan District Attorney's Office successfully remove sympathetic Mangione jurors from the panel, a different threat is still present, the former prosecutor said: stealth jurors.

Stealth jurors — those who hide their true biases to influence a verdict — could pose a serious problem for prosecutors in either of Mangione's cases, Rahmani said.

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"Stealth jurors are a huge problem and it is not easy to identify people that want to get on the panel. Most people don't want to serve as jurors," he said. "So when a juror actually wants to be on the panels, it's one of the most difficult jobs of an attorney to try to ferret them out."

For Mangione, Rahmani said his case differs from Rinderknecht because there may be some jurors who "want to put our health insurance industry on trial."

Ultimately, the former federal prosecutor says the problem expands beyond any single case.

"I do believe jury nullification is more of an issue now than the past for two reasons. The country is more polarized and with social media, you have everyone following these trials in a way that you didn't have before when there was local media coverage only. Now people all over the country are following every single case, especially these high-profile true crime cases," he said.

Fox News Digital reached out to Mangione's defense team for comment.