NationalWatch

FIRST ON FOX: A key Republican lawmaker spearheading former President Trump’s outreach to Black voters will debut a six-figure ad buy calling out what he describes as President Biden’s “real record on race” during the CNN Presidential Debate Thursday.

First-term Texas Congressman Wesley Hunt’s Hellfire PAC will air the 60-second ad on Fox News and CNN in major cities in key battleground states including Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin on Thursday night. The ad, which puts a spotlight on several of Biden’s controversial comments on race, is part of Hunt’s strategy to convince Black voters to support Trump in November.

“Joe Biden’s history as a politician reveals a pattern of making explicitly racist comments, authoring and endorsing discriminatory policies, and associating with individuals known as segregationists,” Hunt told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

He announced that Hellfire PAC would begin a national campaign in multiple swing states “to inform voters of Joe Biden’s real history on race.” 

TRUMP ENLISTS PROMINENT BLACK REPUBLICANS TO APPEAL TO THEIR PEERS: ‘FISHING WHERE THE FISH ARE’

A screenshot taken from the Hellfire PAC ad that calls out President Biden’s record on race.  (Hellfire PAC)

The Hellfire PAC video begins with Biden’s own vice president, Kamala Harris, questioning his onetime opposition to school desegregation. In an infamous moment from the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, then-rival candidate Harris said Biden, as a freshman senator in 1975, had worked with segregationist lawmakers to oppose “bussing.” 

“You also worked with them to oppose busing,” Harris told Biden during a primary debate, referencing two segregationist senators. “You know there was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate public schools, and she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me.”

BLACK GOP LAWMAKERS HOLD ‘CONGRESS, COGNAC AND CIGARS’ EVENT IN KEY SWING STATE

Reps. Wesley Hunt (left) and Byron Donalds (right) are hitting the campaign trail to turn Black male voters out for Donald Trump (center).  (Getty Images)

The ad goes on to call into question Biden’s record on civil rights, noting his relationships with segregationist Southern Democrats, including former Sens. James O. Eastland of Mississippi and Herman Talmadge of Georgia. Biden ignited a firestorm in 2019 after he spoke fondly of the “civility” of the old Senate and his ability to work with those he disagreed with, name-dropping those opponents of racial integration. In response to attacks from his then-Democratic rivals, Biden said there is “not a racist bone in my body.” 

The video quotes various cringe-inducing statements from Biden’s lengthy political career, including a campaign event from 2012 when the then-vice president told an audience of Black voters that Republicans are “going to put y’all back in chains.” In another insensitive gaffe quoted from a 2019 campaign event in Iowa, Biden said “poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.” 

TRUMP CAMPAIGN SETS UP SHOP IN BLUE PHILADELPHIA IN THE FIGHT FOR BATTLEGROUND PENNSYLVANIA

The Trump campaign hosts a Black business roundtable in Atlanta, featuring Reps. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas (far left), Byron Donalds, R-Fla., (center) and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Dr. Ben Carson (second from right).  (Matt Reidy | Fox News)

Hellfire PAC’s ad also shows Biden describing his old running mate, former President Obama, as “the first sort of mainstream African American who is articulate, and bright and clean — nice looking guy.” 

Hunt, who is Black, told Fox News Digital that no Republican would get away with the things Biden has said.

“If any Republican had even the slightest history that Joe Biden has on race, they would be ostracized, canceled, and excoriated by the media,” he said. “When Democrat President Joe Biden does it, there’s always an excuse, and, when there’s not an excuse, the behavior and the policies are simply memory-holed.” 

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The ad will air in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Milwaukee and Detroit during the CNN Presidential Debate. Americans across the country can tune in to the Fox News Channel from 9:00 p.m. ET to 11:00 p.m. ET to watch the CNN Presidential Debate Simulcast. Viewers can also tune into Fox’s live coverage before and after the debate for expert analysis.

Hunt traveled to Atlanta for an event with Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., on Wednesday that the duo calls, “Congress, Cognac and Cigars.” Moderated by former ESPN host Sage Steele, the two Black lawmakers will have a discussion in a cigar lounge and field questions about how Black male voters will impact the 2024 election. 

Hunt told Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind in an interview that he aims to help Republicans capture 25% to 35% of the Black male vote — a long-shot goal, though one that would spell almost certain defeat for Biden’s campaign. 

Multiple exit polls show Trump having won 19% of Black male voters in 2020, though the vast majority of Black voters still went for Biden.

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind, Paul Steinhauser, Joe Schoffstall and Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

ATLANTA — In a presidential election rematch where every vote may count, the campaigns of President Biden and former President Trump are reaching out to key constituencies in an attempt to gain an advantage in what may end up being a photo finish.

Aiming to court the small but potentially crucial sliver of moderate Republicans who are disgruntled with Trump as their party’s standard-bearer, Biden’s campaign on the eve of the first presidential debate unveiled an endorsement from former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.

The former military pilot and Iraq War veteran who transformed into a major Republican Trump critic after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters aiming to upend congressional certification of Biden’s 2020 election victory on Wednesday charged that the former president is “a direct threat to every fundamental American value” in a video announcing his endorsement.

Hours later, standing in the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta, Kinzinger said that “if you’d have told me three years ago that ‘You’re going to be endorsing a Democrat for president in three years,’ I probably wouldn’t have believed you.”

FIRST ON FOX: BIDEN CAMPAIGN TARGETS TRUMP OVER ‘NEGLECT OF DUTY’ ON EVE OF FIRST DEBATE

Former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, center, speaks at a Biden campaign news conference in Atlanta on June 26, 2024. Joining him, from left, are former Georgia Lt. Gov Geoff Duncan, former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn and Georgia Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler. (Fox News/Paul Steinhauser)

“But I got to tell you, the stakes of this moment are way too high,” Kinzinger added.

Another vocal GOP Trump critic, former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, joined Kinzinger at the news conference along with former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and Georgia Senate Democrat Leader Gloria Butler.

“Going against the grain as a Republican and supporting Democrat Joe Biden for president is not easy, but I’m not looking at this election through the lens of being a Republican,” Duncan explained. “I’m looking through the lens of being an American. An American that cares more about the future of my country than the [morally] bankrupt nominee of my party.”

Kinzinger’s endorsement and the news conference came on the same day that the Biden campaign launched a new ad in the key battleground states that targets Trump over his actions during the attack three and a half years ago on the U.S. Capitol.

The spot, shared first with Fox News on Wednesday, features Genesee County, Michigan, Sheriff Chris Swanson discussing how he watched in horror as Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and attacked Capitol police officers.

“As a sheriff, it’s awful to watch police officers getting attacked. That’s not supporting this badge and this uniform. I have no desire to work with somebody who divides. That’s not what America is,” Swanson emphasized.

WHICH DONALD TRUMP WILL SHOW UP THURSDAY AT THE FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE?

The ad, the endorsements and the news conference were all part of the Biden campaign’s push to hammer the presumptive GOP presidential nominee over what they call “Donald Trump’s attack on American democracy.”

Biden has long made what he charges is Trump’s threats to democracy a key focus of his presidency, and he has hammered home the point as he runs for a second term in the White House. It is very likely Biden will spotlight the issue in Thursday’s first presidential debate between the two major party standard-bearers.

It’s a pitch that may help the Biden campaign persuade some of the Republicans who supported former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in the GOP presidential primaries to consider voting for a Democrat this autumn.

Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois speaks with Fox News after headlining a Biden campaign news conference at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta on June 26, 2024. (Fox News/Paul Steinhauser)

“There is still a group of Republicans that are kind of very uneasy going with Donald Trump. They feel like … it’s unthinkable to vote for a Democrat. So, they’re trying to sit here and figure it out,” Kinzinger said. “This is an important time for Republicans to come forward and say it’s OK. You don’t have to give up your Republican stripes to vote for a Democrat. All you’re standing for is democracy.”

Asked by Fox News if the Biden campaign’s efforts to attract Republicans are adequate, Kinzinger said, “I think the campaign has certainly made it very clear, particularly in the last few months, that they want to win those Haley voters, those swing Republican voters.”

TOP TRUMP BLACK SURROGATES MAKE THE CASE FOR THE FORMER PRESIDENT

Kinzinger becomes the highest-profile former GOP elected official to formally back Biden, whose campaign earlier in the month named Kinzinger’s former chief of staff, Austin Weatherford, to serve as its national Republican outreach director.

The Trump campaign took aim at Kinzinger, who was one of only two Republicans who served on the Democrat-dominated House committee that investigated the attack on the Capitol.

Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung took to social media, asking, “Who’s Adam Kinzinger? Isn’t he the crybaby?”

Republican Reps. Wesley Hunt of Texas, left, and Byron Donalds of Florida, third from left, and former HUD Secretary Dr. Ben Carson, second from right, attend a Trump campaign Black business roundtable discussion in Atlanta on June 26, 2024. (Fox News/Matthew Reidy)

While the Biden campaign was holding their news conference at the Georgia State House, Trump’s campaign was making a pitch for Black voters at an event just a couple miles away.

The Trump campaign organized what it called a Black American Business Leaders Barbershop Roundtable discussion in midtown Atlanta.

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Leading the discussion were two of Trump’s most prominent Black allies and surrogates: GOP Reps. Byron Donalds of Florida and Wesley Hunt of Texas, and Dr. Ben Carson, a 2016 Republican presidential candidate who later served as Housing and Urban Development secretary in the Trump administration.

Both Carson and Donalds are widely considered to be on the larger list of potential Trump running mates.

Republican Reps. Byron Donalds of Florida, left, and Wesley Hunt of Texas headline a Black voter outreach event titled “Congress, Cognac, and Cigars” on June 4, 2024, in Philadelphia. (Fox News/Paul Steinhauser)

Later Wednesday, 24 hours ahead of the first presidential debate that is being held in Atlanta, Hunt and Donalds were set to hold their second edition of “Congress, Cognac, and Cigars,” a GOP outreach effort for Black male voters that they’re holding in some of the key swing states.

Polling this year indicates that while Biden retains a very large margin of support among Black voters, Trump has made gains with the key electorate that for generations has been a major part of the Democratic Party base.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. 

TRUMP VS. BIDEN: The gloves will be off and the world will be watching. Stay in the know for more updates.

What’s happening…

-Biden admin urging experts to drop age limits on trans surgeries

-Hillary Clinton releasing pre-election book

-Denmark imposes first carbon tax on animal farts

Confident Smugglers

Social media is proving to be an essential tool for human smugglers illegally transporting migrants across the southern border; and the cash-hungry traffickers aren’t afraid to boast about their illegal operations, often flaunting their cash on apps and bragging about the ease at which they can evade authorities.

In August, 22 people were indicted in Arizona for recruiting truck drivers using Snapchat posts of cash glamorizing illegal migrant smuggling. Many of the posts claimed drivers can make hefty sums of money without the risk of being arrested. Read more here…

Multiple migrants wade through the Rio Grande River in Eagle Pass, Texas on September 27, 2023. Border crossings through Eagle Pass continues to strain law enforcement as an unprecedented number of migrants enter the United States each day.  (Benjamin Lowy for Fox News Digital )

White House

‘CAN YOU BELIEVE?’: Karine Jean-Pierre claims she had more rights growing up than children today …Read more

SHOCKING EMAILS: Biden officials urged experts to drop guidance calling for age limits on trans surgeries …Read more

Capitol Hill

‘COVER-UP’: GOP sens look to force answers from HHS Secretary Becerra on COVID-19 origins …Read more

COURTING CONTROVERSY: House GOP will sue DOJ for Hur-Biden audio tapes, Johnson says …Read more

Tales from the Campaign Trail

HILLARY’S ‘WARNING’: Hillary Clinton releasing pre-election book …Read more

ELECTION WHISPERS: New details emerge about Obama, Biden secret 2024 meetings …Read more

‘TOTALLY BANANAS’: Chris Hayes claims pro-Israel lobbying group caused defeat of leftist NY congressman …Read more

ON NOTICE: This House Democrat could be the next ‘Squad’ member targeted …Read more

Hillary Clinton enjoys a lavish night out. (Fox News Digital)

Across America

‘COLLUDED’: Active CIA contractors allegedly at heart of promoting narrative Hunter laptop was Russian disinformation …Read more

CROSSING THE TRACKS: NTSB claims railroad interfered in East Palestine probe …Read more

RULES FOR THEE: Felony case against LA prosecutor spilled out of co-workers’s boozy clash with cops: docs …Read more

FOR MORALE: Ukraine’s Zelenskyy visits troops on front lines under pressure from Russia’s onslaught …Read more

EXCLUSIVE: Israel to boost water plant’s output as UN threatens to cut aid amid safety issues …Read more

FART TAX: Denmark imposes world’s first carbon tax on flatulent farm animals …Read more

ASSANGE FREED: Julian Assange secures freedom following plea deal with US, sentenced to time served …Read more

NEW MESSAGING: Blue state deploys officials to the border with surprising warning for migrants …Read more

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FIRST ON FOX: A letter signed by 16 top economists warning of the economic dangers of electing former President Trump, which is being amplified by the Biden campaign and other Biden surrogates, is littered with signatories who have either donated to Biden or supported him politically in the past.

“While each of us has different views on the particulars of various economic policies, we all agree that Joe Biden’s economic agenda is vastly superior to Donald Trump,” the economists wrote in a letter first reported on by Axios this week that has been promoted by various members of the Biden campaign on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

A Fox News Digital review of the letter’s Nobel Prize-winning signatories shows political donations to President Biden’s 2020 and 2024 campaigns. The signatories also donated tens of thousands of dollars to other Democrat candidates and signed previous letters supporting Biden’s agenda, including attacking “selfish and restless” Trump.

Economist Joseph Stiglitz, the Columbia University professor who reportedly spearheaded the letter, previously signed a letter supporting Biden’s Build Back Better agenda and donated $1,250 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020. 

EXPERTS PREDICT INFLATION ELECTION TROUBLE FOR BIDEN: ‘TOO LATE’ TO FIX

Former President Trump and President Biden (Getty Images)

Between 2004 and 2020, Stiglitz donated over $90,000 to Democrat candidates, FEC records show.

Georgetown University Professor George A. Akerlof, who is married to Biden’s Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, donated $25,000 to the Biden Victory Fund and maxed out as a donor in 2020, giving the campaign $5,600.

Akerlof, who donated nearly $90,000 to Democrats between the 1990s and 2022, also signed a letter supporting Build Back Better, and signed a letter in 2020 calling Trump’s re-election effort “selfish and reckless.”

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China, July 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Harvard University economist and historian Claudia Goldin donated $500 to the Biden campaign in 2020 and 2024 and has donated over $8,000 to Democrats in recent years. Goldin also signed a 2020 letter endorsing the Biden campaign. 

Economist and mathematician Eric Maskin signed a 2020 letter expressing support for the Biden campaign’s agenda and donated $3,000 to Democrats in recent years, including Senate candidates Raphael Warnock, Beto O’Rourke and Jon Ossoff. 

When reached for comment on his background supporting Biden and Democrats, Maskin said, “Although I am a registered Democrat and have donated money to Democratic candidates on occasion, I have also voted for many Republicans over the years (including Bill Weld and Charlie Baker for governor of Massachusetts)” in a statement to Fox News Digital.

He added that he considers himself to “be more a centrist than a strong partisan in either ideological direction” and pointed to an op-ed he recently wrote against political polarization in favor of a Republican senator and “supported the 2020 Biden agenda on its economic merits and signed the recent letter for the same reasons.”

BIDEN REPEATS FALSE CLAIM THAT INFLATION WAS AT 9% WHEN HE TOOK OFFICE AFTER BEING CALLED OUT LAST WEEK

Paul Milgrom, an economist at Stanford University, also previously signed letters supporting Build Back Better and calling Trump’s 2020 campaign “selfish and reckless.”

Daniel McFadden, an economics professor at UC Berkeley, donated at least $4,500 to Democrats in 2020. He also signed onto a letter saying Biden’s Build Back Better plan will “ease” inflation. He was also part of another letter endorsing Biden in 2020.

President Biden has received backlash over his “Build Back Better” agenda from Republicans and Democrats. (Reuters)

Roger Myerson, an economist at the University of Chicago, donated $2,350 to the Biden campaign in 2020 and $250 in 2024 on top of donating over $40,000 to Democrats between 2004 and 2024.

Myerson also previously signed a letter backing Build Back Better and Biden’s economic recovery agenda. The University of Chicago economist took to X after the letter was published, posting, “A dictator from day 1 would be bad for America, and we should testify to that fact as patriotic Americans.”

“As economists we can testify that his policies would not help against inflation either,” he added.

Economist Edmund S. Phelps wrote an article in 2020 called “The Economic Case for Biden” and also said that everything Trump has stood for in the past has been a “disaster.”

INFLATION IS UP 20% SINCE BIDEN TOOK OFFICE

Phelps has also donated to Democrats in the past, including a $1,500 donation to a Democratic House candidate and $25 to Pete Buttigieg.

Paul Romer, an economist at Boston College, has previously described the Trump years as “miserable” and publicly supported his impeachment. Romer endorsed Biden in a 2020 letter, praised Biden’s pandemic plan, and signed a letter in support of Build Back Better.

Stanford University economist Alvin Roth also signed multiple letters opposing Trump and supported the letter that referred to him as “selfish and reckless” on top of donating $1,250 to presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008.

Nobel Prize-winning economist William Sharpe donated $500 to the Biden campaign and $500 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020. Sharpe also signed a letter to business leaders in 2020 arguing that it was time to speak out against Trump and the “threat” he “poses to the Republic.”

Former President Obama confers with President Biden during a ceremony to unveil Obama’s official White House portrait on Sept. 7, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Robert Shiller, a Yale University economist, donated $1,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020 and over $20,000 to Democrats in total in recent years. In 2019, Shiller said he would support any candidate over Trump.

Princeton University economist Christopher Sims donated $500 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020 and over $9,000 to various Democrats. 

Two British economists on the list, Sir Oliver Hart and Sir Angus Deaton, signed a letter in support of Build Back Better. Hart endorsed Biden in 2020 and also signed the 2020 letter calling Trump “selfish and reckless.”

Several Biden campaign officials pounced on the story Tuesday morning to amplify the Axios report, including the Biden campaign’s rapid response adviser, James Singer, and campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez.

White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates and other Biden surrogates also shared the report and quoted from it, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Tim Murtaugh, who served as Trump’s 2020 campaign spokesman, mocked the report on social media Tuesday saying, “How amazing that this happens just in time for Biden to reference it in the upcoming debate (it’s a good bet that he does).”

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“It’s almost as much of a stroke of luck as the letter from 51 intelligence officers claiming that Hunter’s laptop was Russian disinformation,” Murtaugh continued. “Amazing.”

Axios did not note the previous political activism of the economists in the story nor did they note that one of the top signatories is married to Biden’s treasury secretary, Janet Yellen.

Axios did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Biden campaign and all 16 economists for comment.

PHOENIX, Ariz. — A U.S. Army veteran running for Congress is working double time to save America from the “left-wing lunatics” he says have “hijacked” the country and are “hell-bent on destroying it.”

Republican Abe Hamadeh, 33, a former Maricopa County prosecutor running to represent Arizona’s 8th Congressional District, told Fox News Digital in an interview that a “new generation” of leaders was needed to take on the wide-ranging problems facing the nation, and that he was committed to being the “fighter” everyday Americans have been looking for.

“When I took the oath of office as an Army intelligence officer in the reserve and served overseas, I took my oath to the Constitution seriously,” Hamadeh said, vowing he would “never compromise” on the issues that have made America great. 

“I’m just seeing our country being hijacked by left-wing lunatics who are hell-bent on destroying it. So I think it’s going to take a new generation of fighters who don’t back down, who will never surrender, and never compromise on the issues that have made our country great,” he said.

BIDEN DEBATE PREP FOCUSED ON WAYS TO ‘TRIGGER’ TRUMP AS FORMER PRESIDENT RELIES ON CAMPAIGNING: REPORTS

Republican Abe Hamadeh, a U.S. Army Reserve intelligence officer, is running to represent Arizona’s 8th Congressional District. (Abe for Arizona)

“I think people right now are looking for courage. They know all the problems… They all see the border, and they all see our elections are compromised, but they want somebody to go in there and fight and do something about it.” 

Hamadeh, who has never held elected office, is a son of first-generation immigrants from Syria and Venezuela, and has served in the U.S. Army Reserve in an intelligence role since 2016. He deployed to Saudi Arabia from 2020-2021, where he worked in a counterterrorism capacity following the 2019 terrorist attack in Pensacola, Florida at the hands of a Saudi Arabian pilot.

He was the Republican nominee for Arizona attorney general during the 2022 midterm elections, but narrowly lost by less than 300 votes to his Democratic opponent. A recount automatically triggered by Arizona law because of the narrow margin cut the Democrat’s lead by nearly half.

Hamadeh unsuccessfully challenged the result in court, maintaining that thousands of provisional ballots went uncounted.

FAITH VOTERS WILL ‘DECIDE THIS ELECTION,’ ACCORDING TO PROMINENT GOP MEMBERS

Republican Arizona congressional candidate serves as an intelligence officer with the U.S. Army Reserve. (Abe for Arizona)

Now he says one of the first issues he would work to address as a member of Congress is election integrity.

“We have so many people who have distrust in our elections because of the incompetence and possible corruption of so many of our election officials and people who refuse to acknowledge that there are some huge failures in how our elections are run,” Hamadeh said, referencing his 2022 race. “It’s just a complete mess… It was just so much chaos. Without addressing it and without accountability, it’s going to increase.” 

His plan includes banning certain outside money from helping fund election operations, as well as putting a stop to ranked-choice voting at the federal level.

The ongoing border crisis is another issue Hamadeh said would be a top priority if elected, an area he hopes to work closely on with former President Trump and Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake should they also win their elections in November.

HOW TO WATCH THE CNN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE SIMULCAST ON THE FOX NEWS CHANNEL

Former President Trump endorsed Republican Abe Hamadeh to represent Arizona’s 8th Congressional District. (Abe for Arizona)

He’s grown close with both throughout his campaign, and secured their endorsements early on in the primary race despite going up against a more well-known Blake Masters, who unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 2022.

“President Trump and Kari Lake have endorsed me and so many great people, because they’ve seen it takes a certain type of mental toughness to go through any political campaign,” Hamadeh said. “They just want somebody who knows that they’re unwavering in their support to make our country great. And that’s exactly what I intend to do when I’m in Congress.”

“People want something new and different, and they expect you to go out there, meet the people and know what issues matter to them and fight for them and not just give them lip service. The voters in this district, especially in Arizona, are hungry for something to be done about our border. They want something to be done about our elections. They just want some push back against what they see is our country being stolen from them right in front of them.”

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Republican Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake and Republican Arizona House candidate Abe Hamadeh (Abe for Arizona)

Hamadeh faces a crowded Republican primary field, including Masters, hoping to replace retiring GOP Rep. Debbie Lesko, but is confident his support from Trump and Lake, as well as his experience serving the country, will carry him across the finish line when voters head to the polls.

The winner of the July 30 primary will be the heavy favorite to win the November general election since analysts rate the race as either “safe” or “solid” Republican.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

It’s the biggest question surrounding Thursday night’s CNN Presidential Debate, which is the first of two on-stage showdowns between President Biden and former President Trump in the 2024 election rematch.

Which version of the former president will show up at the prime-time debate in Atlanta, the capital and largest city in the southeastern battleground of Georgia?

Will it be the undisciplined candidate who continuously interrupted Biden and debate moderator Chris Wallace dozens and dozens of times at their first debate in the 2020 election? 

Trump appeared to lose his cool, failed to condemn white supremacists, and his performance was widely panned by political pundits and viewers alike.

FIRST ON FOX: BIDEN CAMPAIGN RIPS TRUMP OVER ‘NEGLECT OF DUTY’ ON EVE OF FIRST 2024 DEBATE

Then-President Donald Trump speaks as then-Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden listens during the first presidential debate hosted by Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S., on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. (Kevin Dietsch/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images )

The then-president re-worked his strategy and his disciplined and measured performance in the second 2020 general election debate was a vast improvement. But it was too late, as Biden ended up winning the presidential election.

“If he replicates that performance, Donald Trump’s going to have a very good night,” longtime Republican consultant and veteran debate coach Brett O’Donnell told Fox News.

HOW TO WATCH THE CNN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE SIMULCAST ON THE FOX NEWS CHANNEL

O’Donnell said his advice to Trump is “watch the second debate you had with Joe Biden in 2020 and replicate that performance. Watch it over and over and replicate that performance in this debate.”

“He was measured but firm,” O’Donnell said of Trump. “You can be aggressive and passionate without being offensive.”

Then-President Donald Trump (left) and then-former Vice President Joe Biden debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, on Oct. 22, 2020. (Kevin Dietsch/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

O’Donnell knows a bit about coaching presidential candidates ahead of their debates. He assisted in debate preparations for George W. Bush in 2004, GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona in 2008, and Republican standard-bearer and then-former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in 2012. 

This election cycle, O’Donnell coached Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ahead of his debate performances in the Republican presidential primaries.

TRUMP, BIDEN, AIM TO USE POST-DEBATE RALLIES IN THESE STATES TO PUT THEIR RIVAL ON DEFENSE

O’Donnell argues that Trump has been more disciplined in this race, saying that “for the most part, he’s been talking about the things that he needs to talk about. That’s price of gas and groceries and the fact that people can’t afford their home or mortgage payments and can’t afford to buy their first house. Those are the kind of things that people want to hear answers to.”

Former President Donald Trump attends a rally June 9, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Eric Thayer/Washington Post via Getty Images)

“Most Americans think that their personal world and the world in general is in chaos, and they’re looking for someone who’s going to restore order, and I don’t think that talking about personal issues helps either person,” O’Donnell said of both Trump and Biden.

Along those lines, O’Donnell said Biden should avoid calling Trump a “convict,” as the president has multiple times since Trump last month was convicted on all 34 felony counts in the first criminal trial in the nation’s history of a former or current president.

“I think that’s a huge mistake. I think that plays into Trump’s strengths. First of all, I think the American people want this debate to be about their issues and not about the candidates’ issues.,” O’Donnell said. “So if Joe Biden makes this about himself and Donald Trump, that only helps Donald Trump because it deflects away from the issues they should be talking about.”

O’Donnell added that “highlighting this allows Donald Trump to talk about the justice system in a way that resonates with a lot of Americans. I think it’s a mistake.”

He also warned against Trump focusing on Biden’s age. At 81, Biden is the oldest president in American history and his health and mental fitness has been a major concern among voters, according to public opinion polling.

President Biden’s re-election campaign scolded MSNBC and CNN on Wednesday for ignoring a “Black Voters for Biden-Harris” rally in Philadelphia. (Demetrius Freeman/Washington Post via Getty Images)

“I would let Joe Biden’s debating make that argument rather than Trump mentioning it directly,” O’Donnell suggested. 

He predicted that “Biden is likely to be loaded with some clever line like Ronald Reagan had back in 1984” and that if “Trump does the job that he needs to do in the debate, I think that the age factor might be on display by itself without him provoking it.”

Trump for weeks has ridiculed Biden as “weak, failed and incompetent” and said that the president “doesn’t have a clue,” as he’s questioned whether the White House incumbent will be ready for the debate.

But on Tuesday, the Trump campaign attempted to recast Biden as a capable debater, with senior adviser Jason Miller telling reporters that the president “has been doing this successfully for 50 years.” 

O’Donnell, who spoke with Fox News ahead of Tuesday’s comments from Miller, cautioned the former president from “setting the bar low for Joe Biden.”

“We should have high expectations for Joe Biden’s debate performance. After all, he’s the President of the United States,” O’Donnell said. 

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O’Donnell said his advice for Biden “is be careful that you don’t fall into the incumbent trap… Many if not most incumbents in their first debate, whether it’s Ronald Reagan or George H.W. Bush or George W. Bush or Barack Obama, most incumbents perform poorly in their first debate going for the second term.”

“So the advice to Biden is avoid the incumbent trap because if he falls into it, it’s doubly bad because of all the age arguments,” he added.

And O’Donnell emphasized that Biden has “got to somehow frame the race as a choice in defense of his record over the past four years. That is a tall order, but that’s something he has to do in order to justify picking him over Donald Trump.”

“Neither of these candidates has really framed the race up yet for the American voter to understand how they should decide the race,” O’Donnell argued. “And I think the debate is a perfect place for them to do that. And I think that Joe Biden needs to frame the race as a choice between him and Donald Trump. And Donald Trump needs to make this race a referendum on Joe Biden.”

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

A group of top economists published a letter this week warning voters that former President Trump would be a disaster for the economy if he wins election, but many of them made the same warnings in 2016.

Of the 16 Nobel Prize-winning economists who signed Tuesday’s letter, at least nine made similar warnings about the economic danger of electing Trump in 2016. Their letter this election cycle highlights their fears about inflation.

“Many Americans are concerned about inflation, which has come down remarkably fast. There is rightly a worry that Donald Trump will reignite this inflation, with his fiscally irresponsible budgets,” the economists wrote, according to Axios.

The group is led by Joseph Stiglitz, who won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2001. The other co-signers include George Akerlof (2001), Sir Angus Deaton (2015), Claudia Goldin (2023), Sir Oliver Hart (2016), Eric Maskin (2007), Daniel McFadden (2000), Paul Milgrom (2020), Roger Myerson (2007), Edmund Phelps (2006), Paul Romer (2018), Alvin Roth (2012), William Sharpe (1990), Robert Shiller (2013), Christopher Sims (2011) and Robert Wilson (2020).

BIDEN CLAIMS TO SEE THE ECONOMY THROUGH THE EYES OF SCRANTON, NOT WALL STREET

A group of top economists published a letter this week warning voters that former President Trump would be a disaster for the economy if he wins election, but many of them made the same warnings in 2016. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)

Several of the laureates were among a group of 370 economists who urged voters not to support Trump just days before the 2016 election. Others derided Trump’s economic policies both before and during his term.

BIDEN’S HOMETOWN SPEAKS OUT ON BIDENOMICS

The 2016 letter argued Trump “promotes magical thinking and conspiracy theories over sober assessments of feasible economic policy options.” They also said Trump had “a deep ignorance of economics and an inability to listen to credible experts.”

“If elected, he poses a unique danger to the functioning of democratic and economic institutions, and to the prosperity of the country. For these reasons, we strongly recommend that you do not vote for Donald Trump,” they wrote.

Polls show most Americans believe former President Trump, left, would handle the U.S. economy better than President Biden. (Getty Images)

That letter featured signatures from Deaton, Hart, Maskin, Myerson, Phelps, Romer, Roth and Shiller.

BIDEN’S MOVE TO LIFT RESTRICTIONS ON NOTORIOUS DICTATORSHIP RECEIVES BACKLASH

“Academic economists are ruled out” of working in Trump’s administration “unless they’re some kind of extremist,” Shiller said in an interview with the Lindau Nobel Laureates group in 2017.

Siglitz made similar criticisms of Trump ahead of the economic conference in Davos in 2016.

“Unfortunately for [Republicans], I believe he is going to fail,” Siglitz said of Trump. “What he is doing is trying to create a protectionist wall, not to manage the economy better.”

Nobel laureate economists claim President Biden is the safer option for the U.S. economy in 2024. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Hart also went into greater detail about his misgivings on Trump in a 2016 interview with CNBC.

“I’m very concerned about the possibility of a Trump presidency,” he said days before the election. “I think it would be disastrous for the economy as well as other things and I felt compelled to speak out.”

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Despite their predictions, the American economy thrived during Trump’s term prior to the coronavirus pandemic, with the poverty rate reaching an all-time low in 2019, wages steadily rising and the unemployment rate low.

Active Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) contractors “colluded” with the Biden campaign when releasing a statement dismissing Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop as Russian disinformation ahead of the 2020 election, and the then-CIA chief was likely in the loop before the statement’s release, according to a joint report released by three House panels shows. 

“We knew that the rushed statement from the 51 former intelligence officials was a political maneuver between the Biden campaign and the intelligence community. Now with this interim report, we reveal how officials at the highest levels of the CIA were aware of the statement and CIA employees knew that several of the so-called former officials were on active contract with the CIA. The report underscores the risks posed by a weaponized federal government,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said in a press release Tuesday.

The House Judiciary Committee, its Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence released a report Tuesday titled, “The Intelligence Community 51: How CIA Contractors Colluded with The Biden Campaign to Mislead American Voters.” 

The report found that active CIA contractors “coordinated” with the Biden campaign just weeks ahead of the 2020 election “to discredit serious allegations about Biden family influence peddling” connected to Hunter’s laptop when 51 alleged former intelligence officials released a statement dismissing the laptop. 

The former intelligence officials released a statement on Oct. 19, 2020, discounting the laptop as having “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation,” in a bid to discredit the New York Post’s bombshell report on the laptop at the time. 

HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP RE-EMERGES AS MEDIA EMBARRASSMENT AS IT BECOMES KEY EVIDENCE AT GUN TRIAL

Chairman Jim Jordan listens as Attorney General Merrick Garland appears before a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Sept. 20, 2023, on Capitol Hill. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

FLASHBACK: MSNBC, CNN, CBS TOLD VIEWERS HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP STORY WAS RUSSIAN DISINFORMATION

“The report reveals new information detailing how the highest levels of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), up to and including then-CIA Director Gina Haspel, were made aware of the ‘Public Statement on the Hunter Biden Emails’ by 51 former intelligence officials prior to its approval and publication,” the press release says, outlining of Haspel’s likely knowledge of the letter. Haspel served as CIA director from 2018 to 2021 during the Trump administration. 

The CIA’s chief operating officer, Andrew Makridis, testified that he informed Haspel or Deputy Director Vaughn Frederick Bishop about the statement ahead of its release, and the report indicates that CIA chiefs had the opportunity to vet the validity of the statement discrediting the laptop of Russian disinformation. 

The laptop re-emerged earlier this month when Hunter Biden faced a criminal trial in Delaware over his purchase of a firearm in 2018. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

CNN BOSS, POLITICAL DIRECTOR SPIKED HUNTER BIDEN CONTROVERSY, AUDIOTAPES REVEAL: ‘WE’RE NOT GOING WITH’ STORY

The report also included internal CIA emails where intelligence officers lamented the political nature of the statement. 

“This frustrates me. I don’t think it is helpful to the Agency in the long run. Sigh,” one unnamed CIA official said in an email on Oct. 20, 2020, a day after Politico published the statement discounting the laptop as disinformation.  

Another unnamed colleague responded to the email, noting that some of the signatories were current CIA contractors. 

VIDEO GOES VIRAL OF DEMOCRATS, MEDIA MEMBERS DOUBTING HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP

President Biden speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Sept. 15, 2023. (Chris Kleponis/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“I also love that at least a few of the random signatures belong to individuals currently working here on contracts…,” the emailed response reads. 

Hunter Biden and his wife Melissa Cohen in Wilmington, Delaware, during his trial. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The 2020 statement was signed by former CIA directors such as John Brennan and Leon Panetta, as well as former Director of National Intelligence Jim Clapper, in addition to former CIA acting director Michael Morell and former CIA inspector general David Buckley. 

5 TAKES ON THE HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP THAT HAVE AGED POORLY

Morell – who helped draft the statement and said it would provide President Biden with a “talking point” in a 2020 presidential debate – was actually a contractor with the CIA when the letter was issued, according to the report. While Buckley was also a contractor at the time of the letter, according to the report, citing CIA documents. 

“It is extremely concerning that signatories of the Hunter Biden statement were on contract with the CIA at the time of the statement’s drafting, review, and publication. This revelation shows that Morell, Buckley, and likely other signatories were receiving U.S. taxpayer funds while engaged in a politicized project to mislead American voters on behalf of the Biden campaign. Such an overtly political action would be illegal under the Hatch Act for a permanent CIA employee. Congress ought to consider whether to extend this important prohibition to CIA contractors as well,” the report states. 

The Hatch Act is a federal law that forbids most civilian federal employees, including intelligence community operatives, from engaging in partisan political activities. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the CIA and White House Wednesday morning regarding the report’s findings, but did not immediately receive responses. 

SECRETARY BLINKEN SILENT ON PAST EFFORTS TO DISCREDIT HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP AFTER FEDS ENTER IT INTO EVIDENCE

Biden did use the statement as a “talking point” during his final 2020 debate against President Trump, claiming that the dozens of signatories proved the laptop was Russian propaganda.  

“There are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what he’s accusing me of is a Russian plant,” Biden said at the time of Trump. “Five former heads of the CIA, both parties, say what he’s saying is a bunch of garbage. Nobody believes it except his good friend Rudy Giuliani.”  

President Trump answers a question during his debate with former Vice President Biden at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, Oct. 22, 2020. (Morry Gash/Pool via Reuters)

The New York Post’s 2020 bombshell report on the contents of Hunter’s laptop was overwhelmingly dismissed by the media in 2020 as “Russian disinformation.” But liberal media outlets changed their tune in 2022 after newspapers such as The Washington Post and The New York Times authenticated thousands of his emails. The laptop hit the public view after Hunter left it at a Delaware repair shop ahead of the 2020 presidential election. 

FBI STILL MUM ON LAPTOP AS IT GETS ENTERED INTO EVIDENCE IN HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL

President Biden walks with his son Hunter Biden. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

The laptop re-emerged earlier this month when the first son faced a criminal trial in Delaware over his purchase of a firearm in 2018 while he was reeling from a crack cocaine addiction. The trial, which found Hunter guilty on all counts, formally entered the laptop into evidence and was confirmed by the FBI as legitimate. 

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“The House Intelligence Committee’s work provided us with solid direct evidence that in the final weeks before the 2020 presidential election, 51 former intelligence officials coordinated with the Biden campaign to falsely cast doubt on an explosive New York Post story and label Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop as ‘Russian disinformation.’ The Committee worked to obtain classified documents from the CIA, including emails, and fought to include evidence of these materials in our report,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, R-Ohio, said in a statement on the report.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will visit Arizona on Wednesday on his first trip to the southern border since the Senate quashed articles of impeachment against him. 

Mayorkas will speak to reporters in Tucson, where he is expected to tout the decrease in illegal migrant numbers after President Biden took executive action on asylum processing three weeks ago. Arrests for illegal border crossings have fallen more than 40% since the executive order went into effect, according to the Department of Homeland Security. 

Border Patrol’s seven-day average of illegal migrant encounters dropped from well over 5,000 to about 2,200, according to the latest Customs and Border Protection numbers obtained by Fox News. Mayorkas said border encounters were “moving in the right direction” in an appearance on MSNBC Wednesday morning. 

“You correctly note that the number of encounters at the southwest border have decreased in the three weeks that we’ve been implementing the president’s proclamation by more than 40%,” Mayorkas told host Mika Brzezinski, adding it was a “remarkable implementation” by immigration enforcement agencies.

RACHEL MORIN’S MOM BLASTS MAYORKAS’ DESCRIPTION OF SLAIN DAUGHTER AFTER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT NABBED

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas sits down for an interview with ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, June 9, 2024. (Screenshot/ABC)

“We are conducting more removal flights than ever before. We are moving people through the system, and those who do not qualify are being removed or returned more rapidly.” 

The latest Border Patrol figures are welcome news for President Biden, who must defend his record from withering attacks by former President Trump at the CNN Presidential Debate on Thursday. 

The U.S. has seen record numbers of migrant crossings at the border, with more than 2.4 million in FY 23 alone, on top of three years of the highest crossings ever seen. Republicans and Trump have hammered Biden over the crisis, arguing that it is his policies — and the rolling back of Trump-era policies — that have fueled the crisis. 

Trump lambasted Biden’s border policies at a rally in Philadelphia over the weekend and accused him of “releasing illegal criminals into our communities to rape, pillage, plunder and to kill.” 

BIDEN OFFERS ‘CONDOLENCES’ BUT NO SOLUTION AFTER LATEST ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT MURDER ALLEGATION

Migrants are processed by the U.S. Border Patrol near the Jacumba Hot Springs after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on June 13, 2024 in San Diego. (Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images)

“Just this week, a 12-year-old girl in Houston, Jocelyn Nungaray, was tied up, stripped, and strangled to death after walking to a 7-Eleven,” Trump said, referencing the suspected murder and sexual assault of a Texas girl who was found strangled to death in a creek last week. 

“Charged with Jocelyn’s heinous murder are two illegal alien savages that Joe Biden recently set loose into our country. They came across our border claiming they feared for their lives in Venezuela.”

Trump has promised the largest domestic deportation operation in U.S. history if elected, and to terminate “every Open Border policy of the Biden administration.” He has also promised to deploy special forces to the border and reinstate his 2017 travel ban.

Biden, on the contrary, has argued that Congress must pass reforms to fix what he calls a “broken” immigration system. He has proposed legislation that Republicans oppose which would grant a pathway to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants present in the U.S. 

BORDER PATROL INTERCEPTS MULTIPLE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SEX OFFENDERS IN A SINGLE WEEKEND

President Biden, left, and former President Trump will face off in a presidential debate hosted by CNN on Thursday, June 27, 2024, when immigration is expected to be a top topic.  (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson and Evan Vucci)

He also backed a bipartisan Senate bill introduced earlier this year, but it has failed to pick up steam in the upper chamber. Biden has blamed Trump for stifling the bill, which included additional funding for border operations and a mechanism to shut down crossings after a certain level.

“Republicans in Congress, not all, walked away from it. Why? Because Donald Trump told them to,” he said in February.

With no progress in Congress, Biden took unilateral action to further limit asylum claims by migrants once average border encounters exceed 2,500 a day. Last week, he also announced a deportation shield for some illegal immigrant spouses of U.S. citizens. He has repeatedly said, however, that it is not enough, and he needs Congress to act in order to fix the system. 

Mayorkas reinforced the president’s arguments on MSNBC, calling on Congress to “fix” the “broken immigration system.” 

CNN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION LOOMS AS TOP ISSUE AMID OUTRAGE OVER 12-YEAR-OLD GIRL’S MURDER

“Remember that our detention capacity — and this is not specific to our administration, this has been historic, ever since the 90s, when I was a federal prosecutor — our detention capacity is not sufficient to meet the number of people we encounter,” he said. “We have to release people into the United States when they are in immigration enforcement proceedings. And we put them on alternatives to detention when that is necessary from an enforcement perspective.” 

House Republicans approved articles of impeachment against Mayorkas earlier this year, accusing him of “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” and breach of public trust.

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However, the Democratic-controlled Senate had the articles declared unconstitutional and dismissed without a trial. 

Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Rep. Lauren Boebert’s victory in Colorado’s GOP primary suggests voters still have an appetite for aggressive, pro-Trump politicians, despite the drama they sometimes bring.

Boebert claimed victory over a field of five other Republican challengers Tuesday night after switching congressional districts, having only narrowly secured a win in 2022. Boebert is among a cast of pro-Trump figures on Capitol Hill who have adopted the former president’s strategy of being constantly on offense and refusing to back down amid scandal.

Boebert’s campaign echoed that of former President Trump, with a hard-line stance on illegal immigration and bashing President Biden’s impact on the economy.

 “Build the wall, deport them all,” was a common refrain at her events.

LAUREN BOEBERT HAS SURGERY TO REMOVE BLOOD CLOT, DIAGNOSED WITH RARE CONDITION

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., leaves the U.S. Capitol after the last votes of the week on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Boebert is expected to also win the November general election. Her new district sweeps across a wide expanse of ranches, ghost towns and conservative parts of the Denver metro area that make up much of the plains of eastern Colorado. Its voters overwhelmingly backed former President Trump in 2020.

BOEBERT RESPONDS TO REPORTS OF FIGHT WITH EX-HUSBAND AT COLORADO RESTAURANT AFTER POLICE CALLED

A November victory would see her replace Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., who announced his retirement this year. Buck cited the divisiveness of today’s politics and his party’s devotion to Trump in explaining his decision to resign. 

Like Trump, Boebert has paired her firebrand politics with a scandalous personal life. She sparked controversy and drew national headlines last September after she and a male companion were escorted out of a Denver theater’s production of the “Beetlejuice” musical for causing a disturbance that involved laughing, singing, recording and vaping.

A November victory would see her replace Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., who announced his retirement this year. Buck cited the divisiveness of today’s politics and his party’s devotion to former President Trump in explaining his decision to resign. Rep. Lauren Boebert’s victory in his district suggests GOP voters have little appetite for such sentiments. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Boebert acknowledged the “unwanted attention” she received after her appearance at the venue and insisted that her words and actions that night had not been meant to be “malicious” or to “cause harm.”

Her opponents in the primary attempted to use Beobert’s dramatic tenure in Washington as a weapon, suggesting she was too focused on attention from the media.

“We’ve seen how Lauren Boebert would represent us,” candidate Deborah Flora, a conservative radio host, said during a debate. “Missing key votes while chasing cameras and being in the center of D.C. drama instead of delivering real solutions for the people.”

Rep. Lauren Boebert has paired her firebrand politics with a scandalous personal life. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

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Boebert urged her voters forward at her victory event Tuesday evening, telling her supporters, “It’s not over.”

“President Trump needs us now more than ever to get him in the race, in the fight, in the White House Nov. 5,” she said. “We have a lot of work to do, don’t slow down. Don’t relent.”

Lawyers for former President Trump have filed the opening brief in their appeal of a court order in hopes of disqualifying District Attorney Fani Willis from the sweeping electioneering case against him in Georgia. 

“The brief persuasively argues that the trial court should have dismissed the case and disqualified DA Willis for her forensic misconduct and the appearance of impropriety between her and former Special Assistant DA Wade, who was her lover and taxpayer-funded financial benefactor,” Steve Sadow, lead attorney for Trump, said in a statement. 

“We are optimistic that the Court will favorably decide the appeal in our favor.”

The Georgia Court of Appeals agreed to hear arguments on Oct. 4 in the appeal by Trump and his co-defendants to have embattled Willis disqualified from the case due to an “improper” affair with former special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

FANI WILLIS’ EX-STAFFER TESTIFIES SHE WAS FIRED AFTER BLOWING WHISTLE ON DA’S SPENDING

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks to the media after winning the Democratic primary on May 21, 2024, in Buckhead, Georgia. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

“Should a prosecutor be disqualified for intentionally and repeatedly violating ethical and professional canons to prejudice defendants for personal or political gain? Yes,” the brief argues.  

“Is disqualification necessary when a prosecutor testifies falsely, conceals misconduct, and creates ‘an odor of mendacity’ that results in a ‘significant appearance of impropriety?’ Undoubtedly so. If this prosecutor deflects attention from her misconduct by claiming on national television that the defendants are dishonest racists for bringing the truthful accusations to light, could anyone have confidence in the impartiality of the prosecutor’s actions? Absolutely not,” it states.

The appeals court paused activity in the case against Trump, all but eliminating any opportunity for Willis to try the former president before the election in November. 

TRUMP’S APPEAL TO DISQUALIFY FANI WILLIS FROM GA CASE GETS OCTOBER HEARING DATE

Willis filed a motion to dismiss that appeal earlier this month, saying the lower court found there was no sufficient evidence to support their claims that Willis has a conflict of interest, and says that there is “no basis” to appeal Fulton Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee’s March ruling allowing Willis to stay on the case.

Trump’s lawyer called the motion a “last ditch effort to stop any appellate review of [her] misconduct.”

Trump was indicted in August along with 18 co-defendants out of the yearslong criminal investigation led by Willis and state prosecutors in Georgia into his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state.

The charges include violating the Georgia RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act; solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer; conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer; conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree; conspiracy to commit false statements and writings; conspiracy to commit filing false documents; conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree; and filing false documents.

Since then, Willis has struggled to avoid roadblocks in her efforts to try Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, before the election.

McAfee in March dismissed six of the charges and said the state failed to allege sufficient detail for six counts of “solicitation of violation of oath by public officer.” 

District Attorney Fani Willis during a hearing in the case of the State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse on March 1, 2024, in Atlanta. (Alex Slitz-Pool/Getty Images)

In February, Michael Roman, a GOP operative and co-defendant in the case, dropped bombshell accusations that Willis had an “improper” affair with Wade, whom she hired to help prosecute the case in November 2021. 

Other co-defendants made similar allegations, and said she financially benefited from her relationship with him by taking lavish vacations together. 

Both Wade and Willis denied they were in a romantic relationship prior to his hiring and said the couple would split the costs of their shared travels; Willis said she reimbursed Wade for her share of the trips in cash.

After evidentiary hearings held in February, Judge McAfee ordered that Wade had to be removed in order to keep Willis from disqualification in the Trump election interference case.

“[T]he established record now highlights a significant appearance of impropriety that infects the current structure of the prosecution team – an appearance that must be removed through the State’s selection of one of two options,” he wrote, adding that Willis and her whole office can choose to step aside, or Wade can withdraw from the case.

Wade subsequently resigned from his post as special prosecutor.

In his March order, McAfee said while Willis’ “reimbursement practice” was “unusual and the lack of any documentary corroboration understandably concerning,” he ultimately decided that the defendants did not present “sufficient evidence” that expenses weren’t “roughly divided evenly.” 

He also said “the evidence demonstrated that the financial gain flowing from her relationship with Wade was not a motivating factor on the part of the District Attorney to indict and prosecute this case.”

“[T]he Court finds that the record made at the evidentiary hearing established that the District Attorney’s prosecution is encumbered by an appearance of impropriety,” McAfee wrote in his order.

GEORGIA PROSECUTOR FANI WILLIS APPEALS AFTER JUDGE DROPS MULTIPLE TRUMP CHARGES

Nathan Wade arrives before Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks after winning the Democratic primary on May 21, 2024, in Buckhead, Georgia. (AP)

“As the case moves forward, reasonable members of the public could easily be left to wonder whether the financial exchanges have continued resulting in some form of benefit to the District Attorney, or even whether the romantic relationship has resumed.”

“Put differently, an outsider could reasonably think that the District Attorney is not exercising her independent professional judgment totally free of any compromising influences. As long as Wade remains on the case, this unnecessary perception will persist,” he said.

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When the defense in March submitted a joint motion for a Certificate of Immediate Review, McAfee said his Order on the Defendants’ Motions to Dismiss and Disqualify the Fulton County District Attorney issued March 15 “is of such importance to the case that immediate review should be had” and allowed the defendants to ask the Georgia appeals court for an opportunity to appeal, which the court granted last month.

EXCLUSIVE – President Biden’s re-election campaign is taking aim at former President Trump over his actions during the attack three and a half years ago on the U.S. Capitol, as they launch a new ad on the eve of the first presidential debate.

The spot, shared first with Fox News on Wednesday, features Genesee County, MIchigan, Sheriff Chris Swanson discussing how he watched in horror as Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and attacked Capitol police officers on Jan. 6, 2021 as they aimed to disrupt congressional certification of Biden’s 2020 election victory over Trump.

The ad includes a clip of Trump at a rally with supporters near the White House ahead of the attack on the Capitol, saying “fight like hell and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

Swanson, in the ad, says “it should have been stopped. That’s neglect of duty.”

HOW TO WATCH THE CNN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE SIMULCAST ON THE FOX NEWS CHANNEL

“As a sheriff, it’s awful to watch police officers getting attacked. That’s not supporting this badge and this uniform. I have no desire to work with somebody who divides. That’s not what America is,” Swanson emphasizes.

Swanson, who has joined several Capitol police officers in pillorying Trump over his actions on Jan. 6, 2021 and travels the country campaigning for Biden, says “I’ll work with anybody who unites. That’s why I’m with President Joe Biden.”

TRUMP, BIDEN, AIM TO USE POST-DEBATE RALLIES IN THESE STATES TO PUT THEIR RIVAL ON DEFENSE

The Biden campaign said the spot is the latest in their massive $50 million ad blitz running this month in the key battleground states that will likely decide the winner of the 2024 presidential election rematch.

The commercial is part of the Biden campaign’s push to hammer the presumptive GOP presidential nominee over what they call “Donald Trump’s Attack on American Democracy.”

Then-President Trump arrives to speak at a rally near the White House, on Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

A release from the Biden campaign said the ad and a news conference they will hold later on Wednesday underscore what they claim is “the stark contrast between Donald Trump’s campaign of revenge and retribution and President Biden’s respect for democracy and law and order.”

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Biden has long made what he charges is Trump’s threats to democracy a key focus of his presidency, and he has hammered home the point as he runs for a second term in the White House. It is very likely Biden will spotlight the issue in Thursday’s first presidential debate between the two major party standard-bearers.

The future of American democracy, at 68%, edged out the economy by two points as the most important issue among registered voters in deciding the presidency, according to the latest Fox News national poll.

President Biden, left, and former President Trump. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson | Evan Vucci)

While voters trusted Trump by five points over Biden on handling the economy, the poll indicated voters by a six-point margin said the president would do a better job than his Republican predecessor at protecting democracy.

As early as this week, the Supreme Court is expected to rule on whether Trump has immunity from criminal charges he faces over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat. In a separate case, the justices are also expected to release an opinion on whether Trump supporters who attacked the Capitol can be prosecuted for obstructing an official proceeding.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

President Biden is heading into the first presidential debate with a notably uneasy base of support, according to a new poll.

An Associated Press poll conducted in partnership with the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research was released on Wednesday, dissecting the public’s attitudes towards the candidates heading into the CNN Presidential Debate on Thursday.

Only 42% of Democrat respondents told pollsters that they were satisfied with Biden as their candidate.

BIDEN DEBATE PREP FOCUSED ON WAYS TO ‘TRIGGER’ TRUMP AS FORMER PRESIDENT RELIES ON CAMPAIGNING: REPORTS

President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign rally at Girard College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

By contrast, approximately six in 10 Republicans are satisfied with Trump as their party’s candidate, according to the poll. About three in 10 adults are dissatisfied with both candidates.

Biden has spent the last five days at Camp David in rural Maryland huddling with at least 16 current and former aides, according to The New York Times, while Trump, who spoke with Fox News over the weekend, has held “policy discussions” with allies to prep for what is expected to be an epic clash on the debate stage in CNN’s Atlanta studios.

An old movie theater and airplane hangar have been outfitted as a mock debate stage, where Biden, despite having varying hours and a non-rigid schedule, is preparing to go on the offensive against Trump on issues like immigration and abortion, as well as push back on claims — appearing to be supported by various videos — that he is confused and frail, The Times reported.

INSIDERS REVEAL HOW BIDEN, TRUMP ARE PREPPING FOR THE 1ST 2024 PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

Joe Biden and Donald Trump debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee during the 2020 presidential election cycle. (Kevin Dietsch/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Trump jokingly asked the crowd at his Philadelphia rally what his approach should be on the debate stage. 

“How should I handle him? Should I be tough and nasty, and just say, ‘You’re the worst president in history.’ Or should I be nice and calm and let him speak?” he asked.

A recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll released on Tuesday found only 12% of Georgia voters between the ages of 18 and 29 intended to vote for Biden. 

Approximately 37% of those young Georgia voters said they planned to vote for Trump.

While Republicans are more likely to be satisfied with Trump as their candidate than Democrats are satisfied with Biden, the two candidates experience nearly identical levels of positivity and negativity across party lines.

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Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at the annual Lincoln Reagan Dinner hosted by the Minnesota Republican Party in St. Paul. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Approximately nine in 10 Democrats expressed negative feelings towards Trump, while nine in 10 Republicans said the same about Biden. 

Approximately seven in 10 Republicans expressed positive feelings about Trump, while a similar seven in 10 Democrats said the same about Biden. 

The AP-NORC poll surveyed 1,088 adults selected to be representative of the U.S. population, drawn from the NORC AmeriSpeak Panel. It has a sampling error of +/-4%.

Fox News Digital’s Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.

Two of former President Trump’s top allies in the House of Representatives are in Atlanta on Wednesday to mobilize Black voters ahead of his November rematch with President Biden.

Reps. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, and Byron Donalds, R-Fla., are hosting an event called “Congress, Cognac, and Cigars” at a cigar lounge in the Peach State alongside former ESPN host Sage Steele.

An invitation to the event obtained by Fox News Digital billed it in all capital letters as “a real conversation about the Black male vote, leadership, and how they will impact the 2024 election.”

Hunt told Fox News Digital in an interview that Black voters, particularly in a state like Georgia, are going to be “paramount” in deciding the winner of the next presidential race.

Rep. Wesley Hunt, left, and Rep. Byron Donalds are hitting the campaign trail to turn out Black male voters for former President Trump. (Getty Images)

DONALD TRUMP HAS PICKED HIS RUNNING MATE AND THEY WILL BE AT THURSDAY’S DEBATE

“The thing is, in the past, the Republican Party has not done a very good job of going to these communities, articulating why our policies are in the best interest of the Black community,” Hunt said. “Black issues are American issues. We just need voices to go articulate that.”

“You don’t have to vote for Democrats anymore because your mama and your grandmother and your parents told you to do it. The Republican Party right now is in your best interest. If you hate what’s going on at the border, if you hate what’s happening with inflation, if you hate crime, I’m telling you that … electing [Trump] and getting him back in office is definitely going to be in your best interest.”

It’s part of a wider strategy for Trump to win 25% to 35% of the Black male vote, Hunt said. Black voters were critical to Biden’s 2020 Democrat primary and general election victories and will likely play a critical role in the fall race.

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President Biden did significantly better with Black voters than Trump in 2020. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

Multiple exit polls show Trump having won 19% of Black male voters in 2020, though the vast majority of Black voters still went for Biden.

“That’s the highest that we’ve ever seen in modern history for a Republican president,” Hunt said. “We need to add about five or six percentage points and grow from what we did four years ago. And given the environment that we’re in right now, we think we can accomplish that.”

Their first “Congress, Cognac, and Cigars” event took place in Philadelphia. Hunt said the next one would be in Milwaukee, the site of next month’s Republican National Convention.

‘THE VIEW’ CO-HOSTS JOIN CLINTON IN SLAMMING WOMEN VOTERS FOR 2016 LOSS: ‘HOPE THAT DOES NOT HAPPEN AGAIN’

Hunt said the Black vote will be critical to deciding who wins the presidency. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

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Hunt said the previous event showed him that Republicans could potentially make some headway with Black women, who overwhelmingly voted for Biden in 2020 as well.

“The biggest takeaway from that event is – again, Byron and I have been really focused on Black men, but there were Black women in that room that raised their hand and stood up and said, ‘Don’t forget about us. I’m a Black woman, I’m voting for President Trump, and I’m fed up with this, too. And I’m not saying you’re going to get as many of us as you are men, but what I am saying is, don’t just cater these events to Black men; cater them to the Black community,’” the lawmaker said.

The vastly different approaches taken by President Biden and former President Trump in prepping for Thursday’s presidential debate have continued to diverge, with the former hoping he can “trigger” the latter in the heat of the moment, and the latter relying heavily on his campaign experience, multiple reports show.

Biden has spent the last five days at Camp David in rural Maryland huddling with at least 16 current and former aides, according to The New York Times, while Trump, who spoke with Fox News over the weekend, has held “policy discussions” with allies to prep for what is expected to be an epic clash on the debate stage in CNN’s Atlanta studios.

An old movie theater and airplane hangar have been outfitted as a mock debate stage, where Biden, despite having varying hours and a non-rigid schedule, is preparing to go on the offensive against Trump on issues like immigration and abortion, as well as push back on claims — appearing to be supported by various videos — that he is confused and frail,” The Times reported.

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Former President Donald Trump, left, and President Joe Biden. (FOX News)

Biden’s mock debates have included his personal attorney, Bob Bauer, playing the role of Trump, the report said, while the team helping prepare him is being led by former White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, and includes National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, current White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, White House counselor Steve Richetti, as well as campaign officials Anita Dunn, Mike Donilon, Ben LaBolt, Jen O’Malley Dillon, Cedric Richmond, Julie Chavez Rodriquez, Quentin Fulks, Michael Tyler and Rob Flaherty.

Former White House official Brian Deese is also expected to assist, according to the report.

Three sources familiar with the debate prep told NBC News that Biden advisors are studying the former president’s recent comments to see what topics might get under his skin most — all an effort to throw off what appears to be a more disciplined Trump as of late.

INSIDERS REVEAL HOW BIDEN, TRUMP ARE PREPPING FOR THE 1ST 2024 PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

Ron Klain, the former White House chief of staff. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

One source told the outlet the goal is to get “rally Trump” to come out, with another specifically pointing to Biden possibly attacking the former president’s 2020 election loss and subsequent actions that led to the Jan. 6 protest as a way to anger him by making him feel he’s being called a “loser.”

Those sources told NBC they believe attacking Trump’s post-2020 election actions could help boost Biden with independent voters who might be turned off by continued claims he actually won the election.

One Biden campaign official told the outlet the president has to walk a “fine line” because they want him to be seen as the “adult in the room.” The official also said Biden didn’t need to “goad” Trump into anything because the two men’s contrasting visions for the country would be clear enough without that.

FAITH VOTERS WILL ‘DECIDE THIS ELECTION,’ ACCORDING TO PROMINENT GOP MEMBERS

Former U.S. President Donald Trump walks on stage to deliver the keynote address at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Policy Conference at the Washington Hilton on June 22, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Trump hit the campaign trail for a rally at Temple University in Philadelphia and the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority conference in Washington, D.C. on Saturday. Fox spoke with him during his Philadelphia stop, where he described the “best strategy” as being around people who scream questions at him.

Trump jokingly asked the crowd during his rally what his approach should be on the debate stage.

“How should I handle him? Should I be tough and nasty, and just say, ‘you’re the worst president in history.’ Or should I be nice and calm and let him speak?” he asked.

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Trump later told Fox he isn’t worried about Biden’s debate preparations and feels confident in his own ability.

“Well, I think if he prepares, he’ll be fine. Then he will forget it within about an hour after preparing. So, we’ll see what happens. We’ll see what happens,” Trump said.

The Fox News Channel will be airing the CNN Presidential Debate Simulcast at 9:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, June 27.

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For months, the media-industrial complex has churned out useless speculation about the veepstakes, much of it generated by the wannabe candidates themselves. 

Out of nowhere, these stories would appear: Tom Cotton, an unusually strong candidate! Ben Carson! Byron Donalds! Glenn Youngkin! People who you knew, whatever their qualifications, didn’t really have a shot at becoming Donald Trump’s running mate.

And then there was the former president himself, who met or campaigned with most of the contenders, watching their TV interviews, in a process resembling “The Apprentice.”

A particularly absurd moment came when Axios reported that Nikki Haley was under “active consideration” for VP. The piece collapsed the next day when Trump put out a statement saying Haley was most definitely not being considered, which was no surprise given the bad blood between them and her lack of an endorsement.

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The final leg of former President Trump’s veepstakes is underway and only three serious contenders live to tell the tale: North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

What made most of the stories shaky is that Trump hadn’t made up his mind. Now he says he has, but hasn’t told the lucky contender. Of course, there’s nothing stopping Trump from changing his mind at the last minute, which he is famously prone to do.

Still, with the vetting process under way and multiple news outlets reporting that it is down to a fortunate trio, I’m inclined to take those stories more seriously.

Those three are Marco Rubio, J.D. Vance and Doug Burgum.

Each brings strengths and weaknesses to the table, so such decisions often boil down to whom Trump is most comfortable with. Eight years ago, it was Mike Pence, who was the ultimate loyalist until Jan. 6.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio are all in contention to be Trump’s running mate for the 2024 presidential election. (Left: Joe Raedle/Getty Images; Center: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Right: Saul Martinez/Getty Images)

Rubio, the only one with a national reputation, might seem a no-brainer. To name the first Hispanic vice president would obviously excite that community, even though it is not a monolith and Cuban-Americans would be the most energized. I don’t see the Constitutional bar against two candidates from the same state as a big deal, as the Florida senator can easily change his address.

I’ve interviewed Rubio several times, but more important, I watched him do town halls in 2016 and he is a charismatic speaker. He has foreign policy chops and has long since mended fences with Trump over their mutual name-calling (“con man”).

RUBIO SAYS BEING TRUMP RUNNING MATE WOULD BE ‘INCREDIBLE HONOR’

As a strong speaker, he would definitely make news – which is also his pitfall. Trump doesn’t like to be overshadowed. From day one, whether overtly or not, Rubio would be running for president in 2028.

What’s more, Rubio has made a point of not campaigning for the job. He didn’t join some of the other aspirants by showing up for Trump’s Manhattan trial. This, by some accounts, has made Trump question how badly Marco wants the job, but I think it’s just a different style.

Third-term Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a major 2016 primary rival of former President Trump, now sits on his vice presidential shortlist. However, Rubio must exercise caution in how much of Trump’s limelight he might try and seize. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

J.D. Vance is not a household name and has been a senator for less than two years. He gained public notice for his best-selling book “Hillbilly Elegy,” which drew widespread praise (and some criticism) for explaining the kind of White voters who would fuel Trump’s win. He’s also a success story, rising from a tough childhood in which his grandmother had to plead for more food from Meals on Wheels.

But Vance opposed the ex-president in 2016 and was on the “Never Trump” train (“idiot,” “reprehensible”), a stance he conveniently dropped when he ran for office.

Vance undoubtedly has the sharpest intellect of the group, the backing of Donald Trump Jr. and the most pro-MAGA voting record, but his view of the revolution differs from Trump’s. Two years ago, Vance said in an interview that Trump should “fire every single mid-level bureaucrat, every civil servant in the administrative state, replace them with our people.” That, of course, would violate civil service rules.

SEN. JD VANCE ON TRUMP VP RUMORS: THE PRESIDENT HAS NOT ASKED ME

Vance told New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, who knew him before he was an author: “I was confronted with the reality that part of the reason the anti-Trump conservatives hated Donald Trump was that he represented a threat to a way of doing things in this country that has been very good for them.”

The Ohio senator recently told the Washington Post: “The price of being beloved by the establishment is you don’t say anything interesting.”

And that is precisely the problem. Vance will say lots of interesting things, which would draw attention from the boss.

“Hillbilly Elegy” author and freshman Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, once an ardent Trump opponent, changed his tune once he sought federal office and is now a finalist in the former president’s veepstakes. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Which brings us to Doug Burgum. He’s a governor! Has been for eight years. Yes, the governor of the small state of North Dakota, whose three electoral votes Trump would win anyway, but the former president has spent a lot of time with him and really likes him – despite Burgum running against him earlier in the presidential election cycle.

For one thing, he’s a fellow tycoon, having sold his tech company two decades ago to Microsoft for a billion bucks. For another, he’s charming in a subdued way. And Burgum has “the look” – the dignified appearance of a vice president – and Trump loves to embrace those who look like they’re from central casting.

When I interviewed Burgum a few weeks back, he downplayed his chances and said he has a dozen private-sector ideas he’d love to try rather than taking a Cabinet position. He skillfully answered issue questions without missing a beat, sometimes with a crisp one-liner. 

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Having attended the Alvin Bragg case and then read the media coverage, “I think that they were in a different trial than I was at … Americans have already acquitted Donald Trump,” he told me.  

Yet, as one of my colleagues observed, he’s just rough-edged enough and new to the national game that he still seems like a real person.

The mild-mannered gent can also throw a punch. Burgum told FOX’s Martha MacCallum last week that “under Joe Biden, we’re actually living under a dictatorship today where he’s, you know, bypassing Congress on immigration policy; he’s bypassing Congress on protecting our border; he’s bypassing Congress on student loan forgiveness; he’s defying the Supreme Court.” That line of attack has reverberated ever since.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum quickly surged to the top of former President Trump’s vice presidential shortlist after his own unsuccessful candidacy for the Republican nomination. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

So, by the process of elimination, Burgum creates the fewest problems for Trump. He’s not angling to run for president in four years, he’s not going to draw much attention from the president and he has a greater chance than I thought he did when we did our interview.

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Now this is where I have to caution that this reasoned analysis could be off base. Trump could pick Rubio, for instance, or could go with someone not on the list of three. He could change his mind at the last minute. How would we know, since we have no way of checking who he says he’s now picked?

A word about the timing of the announcement: There are many reasons why unveiling a running mate at the convention has fallen out of favor, and his name is Dan Quayle. The media unloaded on George H.W. Bush’s pick, questioning everything from the senator’s intelligence to past ethical questions, and it completely disrupted the convention.

When John McCain picked Sarah Palin, the Alaska governor and hockey mom was a smash hit at the convention. Not until later, under questioning by Katie Couric and others, did she come to be viewed as inexperienced and unprepared.

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So I suspect Trump will announce his choice just before the Milwaukee convention, letting the story play out before the spotlight should understandably shift to the nominee.

But again, with Donald Trump, anything is possible.

A Republican incumbent backed by former President Trump has survived a challenge from the right in her deep-red upstate New York House district.

Rep. Claudia Tenney defeated attorney and businessman Mario Fratto in the Republican primary for New York’s 24th Congressional District. 

Fratto referred to Tenney as a “RINO” (Republican in Name Only) throughout the campaign and accused her of not being conservative enough on various issues, while Tenney tried to paint Fratto as antisemitic and extreme.

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Republicans Mario Fratto and Claudia Tenney (Mario Fratto for Congress | Getty Images)

This is the second time Tenney and Fratto have faced off in a Republican primary for the district. The two clashed in 2022, with Tenney securing just under 54% of the vote to Fratto’s 40%.

Tenney’s win means she has likely secured a fourth term in the House of Representatives, given the conservative leanings of her district.

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She was first elected in 2016 to represent New York’s 22nd Congressional District, but she narrowly lost her 2018 re-election bid in a tough year for Republicans. She was re-elected in 2020 to again represent the 22nd District, but after redistricting across the state, she successfully ran for the 24th District in 2022.

Elections analysts rate the race as either “solid” or “safe” Republican.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

John Curtis won Tuesday night’s primary challenge in Utah, taking one step closer to potentially replacing retiring moderate Republican Sen. Mitt Romney.

Curtis was leading with 52% of the vote when the Associated Press called the race.

He will now proceed to the November general election and face Democratic nominee Caroline Gleich. Utah hasn’t elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1970. 

UTAH GOP CHOOSE TRUMP-BACKED CANDIDATE AS NOMINEE TO REPLACE SEN. ROMNEY, BUT PRIMARY STILL TO COME

(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images/Rick Bowmer)

Runner-up candidate Trent Staggs was at 28.2%. Staggs built his base by calling delegates personally and courting the endorsements of Trump and many of his allies nationwide. The former president wrote on his Truth Social platform in April that Staggs is a “100% MAGA” candidate who knows how to stop inflation, grow the economy and secure the U.S.-Mexico border. 

UTAH GOP CHOOSES TRUMP-BACKED CANDIDATE AS NOMINEE TO REPLACE SEN. ROMNEY, BUT PRIMARY STILL TO COME

Staggs was the first candidate to enter the Senate race, even before Romney announced he was not seeking reelection.

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said Tuesday he would not be supporting former President Trump in his bid to become president again, saying it was a matter of character. (Photo by: William B. Plowman/NBC via Getty Images / Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images )

Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, is currently the longest serving congressman in Utah’s House delegation and positioned himself as an alternative to the Trump-endorsed Staggs. A former mayor of the city of Provo, Curtis, 63, has served in Congress since 2017, winning a special election that year and reelection by wide margins ever since.

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Like Romney, Curtis hasn’t endorsed Trump for president, likely squaring him with Romney’s base, and leans more left on issues like climate change compared to the rest of the Republican flank. 

Another conservative candidate, former state House Speaker Brad Wilson, despite loaning $3 million to his campaign, lost at the April state Republican convention to Staggs and was once considered a leading contender. Meanwhile, candidate Jason Walton positioned himself as a businessman similar to Trump.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

New York state Sen. John Mannion, a former public school teacher, won the Democratic primary in New York’s 22nd congressional district Tuesday night to face Rep. Brandon Williams, R-N.Y., in November. 

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report ranks the district as one of the most competitive in the country, and Democrats are eyeing it as a prime pickup opportunity to retake control of the House next year.

His victory comes despite recent allegations that his New York State Senate office was a toxic work environment “including mistreatment, harassment, and retaliation,” according to an unverified open letter signed by “Concerned Mannion Staff.” Mannion told local outlet CNY that the accusations were a “false political attack.”

WATCH: THIS HOUSE PRIMARY IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE IN CONGRESSIONAL HISTORY

Rep. Brandon Williams, R-N.Y., is one of the most vulnerable House incumbents this cycle. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Williams’ district in central New York includes cities like Syracuse and Utica.

It’s one of 17 House GOP-held districts that President Biden won in 2020, making it a prime target for Democrats.

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Democrats John Mannion and Sarah Klee Hood faced off in a bid to challenge Williams in November. (Mannion For Congress/Sarah Klee Hood for NY)

Williams won his seat in 2022 with roughly 1.5% of the vote, and off-year redistricting has since changed his district’s boundaries to include bluer areas.

The first-term Republican lawmaker is a Navy veteran and currently sits on the committees for Transportation, Science, and Education and the Workforce.

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Williams is supporting former President Trump’s reelection. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)

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Williams came out in support of former President Trump in late January of this year, though with a lukewarm endorsement that didn’t extol the former president directly.

“President Trump will be the Republican nominee for president. Our country is under immense pressure—inflation, chaos at the border, sanctuary cities, fentanyl, cashless bail, crime, energy costs—we can’t endure 4 more years of Progressive fantasies, we need a Republican in the White House. And I have always said our nominee will have my full support to turn this country around,” Williams said on X after Trump won the New Hampshire GOP primary.