Federal agents deployed to Charlotte for immigration enforcement, despite rejections from local leaders

Federal agents deployed to Charlotte for immigration enforcement, despite rejections from local leaders
Federal agents deployed to Charlotte for immigration enforcement, despite rejections from local leaders
‘No Border Patrol In Charlotte’ rally on November 15, 2025. (Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images)

(CHARLOTTE, N.C.) — A surge of federal agents arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Saturday to take part in immigration arrests despite protests from the mayor and other local officials.

Eyewitnesses filmed and photographed several incidents where masked agents arrested residents. Paula Walker Coleman filmed one of the incidents at a parking lot and told ABC News she witnessed agents arrest another woman who was filming.

“She was close to their car recording and her hand hit their car while recording so they jumped out the vehicle. That’s why she was saying her hand was shaking and that’s what made her touch their car,” Coleman told ABC News.

The Border Patrol operations, led by U.S. Customs and Border Protection commander-at-large Greg Bovino and dubbed “Operation Charlotte Web,” have not yet had any major clashes with local police or people in Charlotte,” sources told ABC News.

“We are surging DHS law enforcement to Charlotte to ensure Americans are safe and public safety threats are removed. There have been too many victims of criminal illegal aliens and President [Donald] Trump and Secretary [Kristi] Noem will step up to protect Americans when sanctuary politicians won’t,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement.

Willy Aceituno, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Honduras, told The Associated Press he was forcibly taken into a Border Patrol vehicle and only released after showing his citizenship documents. Aceituno, who works in the Charlotte area, said he had been stopped twice by Border Patrol on Saturday, and agents smashed one of his car windows.

As word of the surge increased during the week, North Carolina officials dismissed arguments by the Trump administration that an increased federal presence was needed.

“We should all focus on arresting violent criminals and drug traffickers. Unfortunately, that’s not always what we’ve seen with ICE and Border Patrol Agents in Chicago and elsewhere in the country,”  North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, said in a statement Friday.

Stein encouraged North Carolinians to record any “inappropriate behavior” and follow the law.

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, also a Democrat, released a joint statement Saturday with Mark Jerrell, the chair of the city’s Board of County Commissioners, and Stephanie Sneed, the chair of the local board of education, where they expressed support for their constituents.

“It is critical for all residents to feel secure in our community and know they can live their lives without being fearful while walking down the street, going to school, work or the grocery store,” they said.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) said in a statement on Friday that it is not involved in any planning by the federal agents.

“CMPD officers are not authorized to assist with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) administrative warrants, which are civil in nature and not criminal,” the department said.

The North Carolina city of Asheville is also on alert for ICE-related activity in its city, Mayor Esther Manheimer said in a statement Saturday.

“We have learned that Asheville may be a targeted city,” she said. “We believe every person, regardless of immigration status, should feel safe in the community they call home.”

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Ukraine’s Odesa forced onto backup power after overnight Russian attack: Officials

Ukraine’s Odesa forced onto backup power after overnight Russian attack: Officials
Ukraine’s Odesa forced onto backup power after overnight Russian attack: Officials
Nina Liashonok/Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images

(LONDON) — Life support facilities and critical infrastructure in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa were forced onto backup power by overnight Russian strikes on energy targets, Ukrainian officials said early Sunday.

“The enemy continues to deliberately strike civilian infrastructure in the southern part of the Odesa region,” Oleh Kiper, the head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, wrote on Telegram.

“Despite active air defense efforts, last night strike drones again damaged energy facilities, including a solar power plant,” Kiper added. “Fires that broke out were promptly extinguished by the State Emergency Service units. Fortunately, there were no casualties.”

“Resilience points have been deployed in the affected area,” Kiper wrote. “Life-support facilities and critical infrastructure have been switched to backup power.”

The Ukrainian Energy Ministry confirmed Kiper’s report, saying in social media posts that there was “a power outage” in Odesa as a result of Russian strikes.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched one ballistic missile and 176 drones into the country overnight, of which 139 drones were shot down or suppressed. Thirty-seven drones impacted across 14 locations, the air force said.

Moscow is intensifying its strikes against critical infrastructure — particularly energy targets — all across Ukraine coinciding with the onset of wintry weather, according to Ukrainian officials. Russian forces have targeted energy infrastructure throughout Moscow’s full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement on Sunday that Kyiv is working to enhance its air defenses in cooperation with Western partners. “We have prepared new strong agreements with Europe to significantly strengthen our air defense, our resilience and our diplomacy,” he wrote on Telegram.

The president also said his government is bolstering its energy grid and securing more natural gas supplies in response to Russian attacks.

“We already have agreements in place for financing gas imports — and we will cover nearly 2 billion euros needed for gas imports to compensate for the losses in Ukrainian production caused by Russian strikes,” Zelenskky said in a statement posted to the presidential office website.

Zelenskyy announced a new deal for gas imports from Greece and said Kyiv is working with European Union, American, Norwegian, Polish and Azerbaijani partners to secure more supplies and arrange financing for additional imports.

On Saturday, Zelenskyy said in a statement that the government’s “winter support elements” include the fixing of electricity and gas prices for households, financing of gas imports and the building of equipment reserves for repairs after Russian strikes.

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Yungblud cancels remaining 2025 tour dates

Yungblud cancels remaining 2025 tour dates
Yungblud cancels remaining 2025 tour dates
Yungblud on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ (Disney/Randy Holmes)

Yungblud has canceled the remainder of his 2025 tour dates. 

The English rocker writes in an Instagram Story that he had recently undergone voice and blood tests that “have raised some concerns.”

“I have been ordered by my doctor to take a break from touring until the end of the year,” Yungblud says. “It is in my nature to run and run until I run myself to the ground without giving a f*** about anything apart from the music and you guys but this time I’ve been told I have to take it seriously and I can’t f*** around.”

The affected U.S. dates include shows in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Cleveland. Yungblud has also dropped off the bill for Limp Bizkit‘s upcoming Latin American tour, and has been replaced by Bullet for My Valentine.

“My heart is broken,” Yungblud says. “I don’t want to do any lasting damage to myself, we are on a journey that I want to last forever. I understand that some of you will be frustrated. I just want you to know that this is so hard for me to do but I promise I will make it up to you.”

He also tells fans that if they sign up at the address at the link with their ticket number, he will send them “a gift.”

Yungblud is scheduled to return to the road in January for a tour of Australia. His next North American tour is set to kick off in May. 

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Pete Townshend makes guest appearance onstage at NYC premiere of ‘Quadrophenia: A Rock Ballet’

Pete Townshend makes guest appearance onstage at NYC premiere of ‘Quadrophenia: A Rock Ballet’
Pete Townshend makes guest appearance onstage at NYC premiere of ‘Quadrophenia: A Rock Ballet’
Pete Townshend and Rachel Fuller pose at the opening night of Pete Townshend’s “Quadrophenia, A Rock Ballet” at New York City Center on November 14, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Glikas/Getty Images)

He wasn’t dancing, but Pete Townshend did appear onstage during Friday’s New York City premiere of Quadrophenia: A Rock Ballet, the latest iteration of The Who‘s 1973 concept album. The production, which debuted in London this past summer, is playing at New York’s City Center through Sunday.

Townshend strolled onstage nonchalantly with a guitar during the “I’m One” portion of the ballet to thunderous applause. He then sat down off to the side of the stage and played — or appeared to play — while Paris Fitzpatrick, who plays the central character of Jimmy, danced.

As the cast took their bows during the end of the show, Townshend made another appearance, sharing with the audience that he wanted the show to be a tribute to its choreographer, Paul Roberts, who died of cancer in September, after working on it right up until the end.

Referring to the ballet, Townshend said, “I brought it to New York out of my own pocket. You all know how I feel about the U.S. of A, but also this city, and I really wanted to bring it here for him and for his husband Phil, and everybody in the company.”

“Thanks for supporting us here,” he added. 

Directed by Rob AshfordQuadrophenia: A Rock Ballet debuted in the U.K. in May. It features an orchestral version of the album by Townshend’s wife, Rachel Fuller. Like the album and the 1979 film, it focuses on Jimmy, a working class mod who yearns for a different life than his parents. 

In the ballet, Jimmy and the other characters — his childhood friend, the girl he loves, his parents, head mod Ace Face and rocker The Godfather — tell their story solely through dance, costumes and scenery. There are no lyrics or vocals.

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Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene engage in war of words over Epstein investigation

Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene engage in war of words over Epstein investigation
Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene engage in war of words over Epstein investigation
Jason C. Andrew/Politico/Bloomberg via Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — President Donald Trump and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene escalated their feud over the weekend after the Georgia Republican slammed the president and the administration over a number of topics, including the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.

Trump went so far as to withdraw his support for Greene and said he would support a primary challenger.

“Lightweight Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Brown (Green grass turns Brown when it begins to ROT!), betrayed the entire Republican Party when she turned Left,” Trump said in a social media post Saturday morning as part of an online back and forth with Greene.

Greene said Saturday in an X post that she had received death threats.

“As a Republican, who overwhelmingly votes for President Trump‘s bills and agenda, his aggression against me which also fuels the venomous nature of his radical internet trolls (many of whom are paid), this is completely shocking to everyone,” she said.

The conflict began this week after Greene questioned in an NBC News interview if Trump was focused on domestic affairs.

“No one cares about the foreign countries. No one cares about the never-ending amount of foreign leaders coming to the White House every single week,” she said in the interview.

On Friday, Trump responded to her words, telling reporters aboard Air Force One, “she is a very different figure,” and that he was no longer “a fan.”

“Something happened to her over the last period of a month or two where she changed. I think politically, I think that her constituents aren’t going to be happy,” he said. “But when she says, ‘Don’t go overseas.’ If I didn’t go overseas, we might be in a war right now with China.”

Trump added he would consider backing a primary challenger and in a social media post later in the night withdrew his endorsement of the congresswoman.

He wrote, “all I see ‘Wacky’ Marjorie do is COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN.”

“I understand that wonderful, Conservative people are thinking about primarying Marjorie in her District of Georgia, that they too are fed up with her and her antics and, if the right person runs, they will have my Complete and Unyielding Support,” the president added.

Greene pushed back against Trump Friday night in an X post, contending that the president was upset with her after she texted him about the ongoing Epstein investigation.

“And of course he’s coming after me hard to make an example to scare all the other Republicans before next weeks vote to release the Epstein files,” she said. “It’s astonishing really how hard he’s fighting to stop the Epstein files from coming out that he actually goes to this level.”

“I never thought that fighting to release the Epstein files, defending women who were victims of rape, and fighting to expose the web of rich powerful elites would have caused this, but here we are,” Greene said in an X post Saturday morning “And it truly speaks for itself.”

The president, who spent Saturday morning golfing in Florida, slammed Greene in a social media post arguing she, “became the RINO that we all know she always was. Just another Fake politician.”

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Suspect in 3 other killings now linked to teen girl’s 1988 cold case murder: Virginia police

Suspect in 3 other killings now linked to teen girl’s 1988 cold case murder: Virginia police
Suspect in 3 other killings now linked to teen girl’s 1988 cold case murder: Virginia police
mbbirdy/Getty Images

(NORFOLK, Va.) — A man suspected of killing at least three other people has now been identified as the suspect in a teenager’s 1988 cold case murder, Virginia authorities announced.

Laurie Ann Powell, 18, was last seen alive on March 8, 1988, walking along a road in Gloucester County, which is about 60 miles east of Richmond, Virginia State Police spokesperson Robin Lawson said at a news conference on Friday.

Powell’s body was found on April 2, 1988, in the Elizabeth River near Craney Island, which is just off of Norfolk, Lawson said. She had been stabbed multiple times, Lawson said.

Alan Wilmer Sr. — who died at his Virginia home in December 2017 at the age of 63 — has now been linked to Powell’s case via DNA, and if he was alive today, he would be charged with her murder, authorities announced.

Last year, investigators determined Wilmer was also the suspect in three other murders: David Knobling and Robin Edwards from 1987 and Teresa Lynn Spaw Howell from 1989, officials said.

The murders of Knobling and Edwards were from “a series of double murders collectively known as the Colonial Parkway murders,” Lawson said.

Investigators are now looking into if Wilmer is suspected of committing additional crimes, she said.

“We are still seeking the public’s help through our continued efforts to seek justice for the victims of these and other unsolved crimes,” Lawson said.

“Any tip could be useful in solving other cold cases,” Virginia State Police Capt. Timothy Reibel added.

Powell’s sister, Cindy Kirchner, spoke at the news conference about the 18-year-old’s short life, saying, “She didn’t wait for life to happen — she made it happen.”

“She was bold, brave, spontaneous, full of life, witty, smart and beautifully herself. A true firecracker,” Kirchner said. “She spoke her mind, followed her heart and never apologized for being herself.”

“After 37 years of heartbreak and unanswered questions, our family has finally received the long-awaited news that the murder of our beloved daughter, sister, Laurie Ann, has been solved,” Kirchner said, overcome with emotion. “While nothing can erase the pain of losing Laurie Ann, today we find comfort knowing that the truth has come to light.”

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Dad dead, 5-year-old girl missing after wave pulls them into ocean in Monterey County

Dad dead, 5-year-old girl missing after wave pulls them into ocean in Monterey County
Dad dead, 5-year-old girl missing after wave pulls them into ocean in Monterey County
mbbirdy/Getty Images

(MONTEREY, Calif.) — A father is dead and the search for a 5-year-old girl is ongoing after a large wave pulled them into the ocean in Monterey County, California, authorities said.

A 15-to-20 foot wave swept the little girl and her dad into the Pacific Ocean just before 1 p.m. Friday near the Rocky Point Restaurant, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office said.

When the mom tried to reach out to the girl and the dad, the mom was also swept into the water, authorities said.

While the dad held onto the 5-year-old, the mom made it back to shore, joining a 2-year-old who wasn’t hurt, authorities said.

The dad was rescued from the ocean and given CPR, authorities said. He was taken to a hospital where he was declared dead, according to the sheriff’s office.

The mom was hospitalized in stable condition with mild hypothermia, the sheriff’s office said.

A Coast Guard helicopter is a part of Saturday’s search for the missing 5-year-old.

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California storm latest: LA braces for heavy rain and possible mudslides, flash flooding

California storm latest: LA braces for heavy rain and possible mudslides, flash flooding
California storm latest: LA braces for heavy rain and possible mudslides, flash flooding
ABC News

(NEW YORK) — A storm is dropping rounds of heavy rain on more than 22 million people across Southern California on Saturday, and the rainfall could spark dangerous flash flooding, mudslides and debris flows.

Here’s the latest:

The first round of heavy rain is slamming the region early Saturday morning, and the second round will hit between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. local time.

Rainfall rates could top 1 inch per hour and scattered thunderstorms could bring strong winds, lightning and potentially hail.

Flood watches are in effect in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Riverside and San Diego through Saturday evening. A level 3 out of 4 risk for excessive rainfall and flash flooding is in place for the LA and Santa Barbara areas.

Wildfire burn scar areas are of serious concern on Saturday because they’re extremely prone to flash flooding, mudslides and debris flows. But flooding and mudslides pose a major threat to Southern California in general, beyond just burn scar areas.

Evacuation warnings are in place for certain areas with burn scars, while some evacuation orders have been issued for select areas that have a heightened risk of mudslides and debris flows.

The mountains of Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties will likely see some of the biggest rain totals, with as much as 4 to 6 inches of rain. On average, LA records 0.8 inches of rain in the entire month of November.

The heavy rain will end Saturday night, but an unsettled weather pattern will stick around into early next week with more wet weather on the way. Flash flooding, debris flows, mudslides and landslides will remain concerns for several days as more rain falls over saturated soils and very sensitive areas.

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Will the rich leave New York City after Mamdani takes office? Experts weigh in

Will the rich leave New York City after Mamdani takes office? Experts weigh in
Will the rich leave New York City after Mamdani takes office? Experts weigh in
Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist who says he wants to hike taxes on the rich, set off alarm among some critics about a potential exodus of wealthy people bent on keeping their money out of government coffers.

As the warning goes, a tax increase at the top could drive away affluent New Yorkers and undercut revenue meant to fund proposals like universal child care, free city buses and publicly owned grocery stores.

John Catsimatidis, the billionaire owner of grocery chain Gristedes, told the Free Press in June he may “consider closing our supermarkets and selling the business” in the event of a Mamdani victory. Neil Blumenthal, the co-founder and co-C.E.O of eyewear company Warby Parker, said, “I will never move from New York, but there’s a lot of other people that will and are leaving New York.”

Even Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who ultimately endorsed Mamdani, warned in an interview in June about the possible departure of the wealthy set. “I don’t want to lose any more people to Palm Beach,” Hochul told local outlet PIX 11, underscoring her opposition to a tax increase.

Studies show a race for the exits of this type is highly unlikely, experts at Northwestern University, as well as research organizations the EU Tax Observatory and the Tax Foundation, told ABC News.

Similar tax increases in states like California have typically pushed out a small number of wealthy people, the experts said, but the vast majority stay put for reasons that hold true across income brackets: They like where they live, and want to remain close to friends, family and professional networks.

“There is tax-induced mobility. It’s not non-existent but it’s very small,” Quentin Parinello, policy director at the Northwestern University as well as research organizations the EU Tax Observatory and the Tax Foundation, told ABC News.

“In New York and other big metropolises, people want to be somewhere they can go to the theater, they can have business opportunities, they can hire talent,” Parinello added.

Mamdani says he will put forward a 2 percentage point tax increase for residents making more than $1 million, which would raise the tax rate for high earners in New York City from roughly 3.9% to 5.9%.

The mayor-elect has also proposed hiking the corporate tax rate from 7.5% to 11.5%, which would put New York in a tie with New Jersey for the highest state corporate tax rate nationwide.

“These things together raise about $9 billion, which more than pays for our economic agenda,” Mamdani told ABC’s “Good Morning America” this month.

When asked whether he is concerned the taxes could drive job creators out of New York, Mamdani said: “What I’ve heard from a number of business leaders is that the affordability crisis is also affecting their ability to attract and retain talent. The city’s inability to provide child care means that businesses often have to provide stipends for that child care.”

Both tax measures would require state legislation bearing Hochul’s signature.

Studies from researchers at Stanford University, the Treasury Department and the non-partisan Fiscal Policy Institute show minimal departures among the rich in response to tax increases.

Researchers at Stanford University and the Treasury Department in 2016 examined tax records belonging to all million-dollar earners in the U.S. over a 13-year period, finding “tax flight is occurring but only at the margins of statistical and socioeconomic significance.”

In 2023, the Fiscal Policy Institute examined movement among high earners in the aftermath of a New York state income tax hike two years earlier.

“There is no statistically significant evidence of tax migration in New York,” the study found.

“Movement of rich people on the basis of tax differentials is relatively small,” Jeffrey Winters, a professor of equality development and globalization studies at Northwestern University who studies high earners, told ABC News. “It’s very common for them to threaten to move. The risk is grossly overstated.”

Jared Walczak, vice president of state projects at the non-partisan Tax Foundation, voiced opposition to Mamdani’s proposed tax hike, saying the policy risks a gradual erosion in the high-earner tax base and revenue losses that would accumulate over time.

“The city won’t empty out if taxes rise, but on the margin you expect some people to move,” Walczak told ABC News.

“That hurts the city and the state because these individuals are already paying a lot of taxes and creating a lot of jobs,” Walczak added.

Winters, of Northwestern University, said the focus on wealthy residents risks overlooking the cost-of-living challenges that force low- and middle-income New Yorkers to move elsewhere.

“We are worried about the outflow of the very wealthiest people in major cities like New York when in fact the biggest outflow of people is among those who can’t afford even the basics of staying there,” Winters said.

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‘They could have held out’: Democratic voters support party after shutdown ends

‘They could have held out’: Democratic voters support party after shutdown ends
‘They could have held out’: Democratic voters support party after shutdown ends
Mike Kline (notkalvin)/Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) — As the federal government reopens after the House passed a short-term funding bill Wednesday, Democratic voters across the country reckon with their party’s handling of the standoff — and the fact that in the end, Democrats were not able to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies they shut the government down over in the first place.

Carl Davidson, a 64-year-old car salesman from Oakland, California, told ABC News in an interview that he will be “greatly affected” by the expiring subsidies.

“My California coverage is potentially going to go from $580 to $1,240,” Davidson said.

Meanwhile Teresa White, a 67-year-old administrative assistant who is also from California, told ABC News she is most concerned about her son, whose “premiums are going to double.”

“These are young men in their 30s. They are not high-risk … a lot of their friends are just going to forego insurance, and that’s wrong,” White said.

White and Davidson, as well as the rest of the voters named in this article, participated in an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll and were called back to be interviewed about their views.

Even those not directly affected by the expected jumps in health care premiums believe it is a worthy cause. Jeffrey Martin, a 54-year-old electrician from Berkeley, Massachusetts, told ABC News he was “100%” supportive of congressional Democrats’ fight for ACA subsidies.

“I think they could have held out, because I think that they were in the right. I think they were fighting for something important,” Martin said.

Like Martin, 58-year-old Kevin Wolfe of Parkville, Maryland, wished congressional Democrats had “held out” for longer over the subsidies. Wolfe told ABC News in an interview that he is “kind of upset that they voted to end” the shutdown, even going so far as to say that he thinks Democrats “need to shut it down again.”

“I don’t know if we’d have gotten anything, but I think they could’ve held out a little longer to see,” Wolfe said.

The government shutdown — which lasted 43 days in total, making it the longest shutdown in U.S. history — is funded only until Jan. 30, leaving open the possibility for the government to be shut down again if Congress can’t come to an agreement over health care spending by the end of January.

Like Wolfe, White also said that the Democrats should shut the government down again when the short-term funding bill ends, even if it disrupts things like air travel.

“People don’t have to travel, but you have to eat. And if you have a medical emergency, then you have to have care,” White said.

But while voters like White, Martin and Wolfe wished Democrats had fought for longer, many said they believe that Democrats were successful in bringing national attention to the fight over health care taking place in Washington.

“I don’t think it accomplished what its overall goal was, but I do believe it brought more attention to what is going to happen,” Wolfe said.

“I don’t think people realized at all what is going to happen with premiums,” he added.

Davidson added that shutting down the federal government “concentrated the minds of many people who aren’t following politics day-to-day.”

The one thing many Democratic voters were in agreement on: Republicans are to blame for the shutdown. And with the 2026 midterm elections fast approaching, many speculate that the government shutdown will prove to be a stain on Republicans running for reelection.

“People do have a memory when it hits their wallets, so it could have some ramifications for Republicans in the midterms,” Davidson said.

“I figure that the Republicans, who had the House, the Senate and the presidency, and also the Supreme Court — they are responsible for the shutdown,” said 71-year-old Curtis McLeod of Greensboro, North Carolina.

“I hope all the Republicans that held out lose their seat in the next election. That’s all I’m thinking about,” McLeod added.

But there were some Democratic voters who had more ambiguous feelings about the fight over ACA subsidies, especially those who were affected by federal cuts to SNAP that took place during the shutdown.

Dora C., a 59-year-old in southern Texas, told ABC News in an interview that the government “should have never been shut down from the beginning.”

“I’m a grandmother raising three of my grandkids, and I am — and still to this day — I am on SNAP benefits … When they took that away for a short period of time, it did affect me — of course it did — because I’m not feeding only myself, I’m feeding three kids,” Dora said.

“Yeah, I got these SNAP benefits put back in my card, but not all of them,” Dora added.

Others called the government shutdown a “lose-lose situation.”

“I think the Democrats always look kind of weak because the Republicans kind of do whatever they want and get away with it … I think [Democrats were] trying to fight back. And then the one time they fight back, it blows up like this,” said Brittany D., a 29-year-old small business owner from the suburbs of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Vicki, a 57-year-old Democrat from Pennsylvania who declined to provide her last name, told ABC News in an interview that ultimately, the decision congressional Democrats faced to end the shutdown was “a Solomon’s Choice.”

“Do you choose the people that need food, or do you choose people that need health care? I would’ve had a hard decision choosing what to do,” she said.

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