NationalWatch

Republicans put the White House on blast Friday for a pair of statements on the deaths of Rachel Morin and Jocelyn Nungaray that did not acknowledge that both were allegedly killed by illegal immigrants.

The statements, issued days apart this week, offered “condolences” to the victims’ families, but declined to comment on active law enforcement investigations. In each case, the White House said anyone found guilty of crimes “should be held accountable, to the fullest extent of the law.”

Earlier this month, authorities arrested 23-year-old Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez, a native of El Salvador who entered the U.S. illegally and is accused of being behind the murder of Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five who was found brutally raped and murdered near a Maryland hiking trail in August.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Rachel Morin,” a White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. “We cannot comment on active law enforcement cases. But fundamentally, we believe that people should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law if they are found to be guilty.”

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

Victor Hernandez-Martinez is accused of the rape and murder of Rachel Morin on August 5, 2023, in Bel Air, Maryland. (Hartford County Sheriff’s Office/Tulsa Police Department)

In Houston, the body of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray was found Monday in a creek. Johan Jose Rangel Martinez, 21, and Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, 26, both Venezuelan migrants, are accused of strangling the girl to death, according to the Houston Police Department. 

A White House spokesperson told NBC News Friday, “Our hearts go out to the family and loved ones of Jocelyn Nungaray. 

Jocelyn Nungaray, 12, was found strangled to death in a Houston creek this week. (Fox Houston courtesy of the Nungaray family)

“We cannot comment on active law enforcement cases,” the spokesperson continued. “But fundamentally, anyone found guilty of this type of heinous and shocking crime should be held accountable, to the fullest extent of the law.”

Republicans lambasted the statements, issued days after each case made headlines, and criticized the Biden administration’s border policies. 

“Crooked Joe Biden is a disgrace,” the Trump campaign said Friday on social media. “The brutal murders of these Americans is on the hands of Biden — and the evil Biden migrants he released into our country.” 

MARYLAND DEMS MOURN MOM ALLEGEDLY MURDERED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT BUT BACK BIDEN’S BORDER ORDER

Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, left, and Johan Jose Rangel Martinez have been charged in the killing of Jocelyn Nungaray in Houston, Texas, on Monday, June 17. (Harris County Jail)

“Shameful,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala. “Innocent people murdered by illegal immigrants and the @WhiteHouse still REFUSES to accept responsibility.” 

“Pathetic,” wrote Kim George, a GOP candidate for Congress in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District. “Weak leadership is to blame for these senseless deaths. Nothing can be said to change what happened, but the families deserve better. They deserve #justice.”

The deaths of Morin and Nungaray, and the alleged murder of Georgia college student Laken Riley by an illegal immigrant before them, has fueled GOP attacks on Biden’s immigration policies. The White House and Biden campaign, in turn, have accused Republicans of undermining border security after a bipartisan immigration bill failed in the Senate thanks to GOP opposition. Former President Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, reportedly encouraged his allies in the Senate to tank the deal.

“Donald Trump is making Americans less safe by blocking the border deal,” the Biden campaign told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

MOTHER OF RACHEL MORIN: THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION DOESN’T ‘VALUE LIFE’

Biden speaks with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers as he visits the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, on Jan. 8, 2023.  (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

However, the GOP-controlled House Committee on Homeland Security on Friday released an analysis that pointed to several Biden border policies they claim allowed these tragedies to happen.

The committee called out the White House and Department of Homeland Security for reversing many of Trump’s policies, including reinstating catch-and-release and ending the requirement for asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for their claims to be processed. It also claimed the administration has not requested the necessary funds to increase detention space or use the existing space authorized by Congress. 

As for the bipartisan Senate deal, House Republicans claimed it would still have permitted the suspected Venezuelan nationals to commit their alleged crimes by permitting them to enter the country if they were among the first 5,000 people encountered on any given day before a week of encounters recorded at that level. 

“My heart aches for these women and their families and loved ones. These tragedies could have been avoided if the Biden administration would simply enforce the laws they swore to uphold. It’s truly that simple,” said Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn.

“Americans no longer feel safe in their own communities and neighborhoods. It does not have to be this way. Our Committee will continue to do everything possible to ensure justice for these victims, and accountability for the public officials ultimately responsible for these tragedies.”

Under fire for his handling of the situation at the border in recent months, the president has announced multiple executive actions aimed at reforming America’s immigration system.

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The most recent action, which was announced Tuesday and offers a pathway to legal status for some half a million undocumented spouses and family members of U.S. citizens, has been panned by critics who argue it will further incentivize illegal crossings.

“The president may think our homeland security is some kind of game that he can try to use for political points, but Americans know this amnesty plan will only incentivize more illegal immigration and endanger Americans,” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said after Biden’s announcement.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Lee, Louis Casiano, Bill Melugin and Griff Jenkins contributed to this report.

Former President Donald Trump expressed enthusiastic support for displaying the Ten Commandments in public and private schools, calling for a “religious revival” in the U.S.

Trump made te comments on Friday via his proprietary social media platform, Truth Social, following high profile stories covering Louisiana’s recent mandate to display the text in schools.

“I LOVE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS, PRIVATE SCHOOLS, AND MANY OTHER PLACES, FOR THAT MATTER. READ IT — HOW CAN WE, AS A NATION, GO WRONG???” Trump asked in the post, which was typed in all caps.

LOUISIANA GOVERNOR DEFENDS 10 COMMANDMENTS IN SCHOOLS MANDATE: ‘THE US IS FOUNDED ON JUDEO-CHRISTIAN VALUES’

Former president Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a rally at Racine Festival Park in Wisconsin. (Taylor Glascock for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Trump continued, “THIS MAY BE, IN FACT, THE FIRST MAJOR STEP IN THE REVIVAL OF RELIGION, WHICH IS DESPERATELY NEEDED, IN OUR COUNTRY. BRING BACK TTC!!! MAGA2024.”

Louisiana is the first state to require the display of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom after Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed a bill into law Wednesday. 

Under the legislation, H.B. 71, a poster-sized display of the Ten Commandments in “large, easily readable font” is required in all public classrooms, from kindergartens to state-funded universities. Over the weekend, Landry touted the bill at a fundraiser in Tennessee.

The displays, which will be paired with a four-paragraph “context statement” describing how the Ten Commandments “were a prominent part of American public education for almost three centuries,” must be in place in classrooms by the start of 2025.

TEXAS LT. GOV. DAN PATRICK PLEDGES TO PASS TEN COMMANDMENTS BILL AFTER LOUISIANA PASSES SIMILAR LAW

A monument bearing an inscription of the Ten Commandments, erected in 1956, is pictured in the Central Park of Albert Lea, Minnesota. (DAVID BREWSTER/Star Tribune via Getty Images)

The Ten Commandments are a list of decrees believed to have been revealed by God to the Jewish prophet Moses on Mount Sinai, outlining fundamental ethical laws.

The first and most important commandment is to acknowledge God’s nature as supreme deity of the universe, while subsequent commandments include directives not to kill, steal, commit adultery, or covet the goods of another. Other commandments direct humanity to honor the Sabbath and respect one’s parents.

Critics accuse the law of violating the First Amendment by compelling religious texts in public institutions. 

The American Civil Liberties Union has already announced their intention to challenge the mandate — pointing to a previous U.S. Supreme Court decision in Kentucky in 1980, in which the high court struck down a similar mandate for the display of the Ten Commandments outside courthouses on First Amendment grounds.

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A man wears a hat that reads “Make America Gospel Again” as he joins a group of pro-life supporters in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, DC.  (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has pledged to pass a Ten Commandments mandate in his own state, and Oklahoma lawmakers are considering a similar bill.

Trump’s comments on the need for a “religious revival” in the U.S. are some of his most stridently pro-religious remarks to date. 

Trump’s policy agenda and respect for Evangelical Christians’ concerns has made him a popular choice for religious-minded voters, but the former president has remained vague about the specifics of his own beliefs.

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

A new poll that shows former President Trump down by only single digits to President Biden in deep blue New York should set off alarm bells, according to longtime Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf. 

“What it tells you is that people are generally dissatisfied,” Sheinkopf told Fox News Digital in an interview Friday. “We’re now under five months away from the election. They’re not happy about taxes. They’re not happy about crime. They’re not happy about the state of disorder. And generally, when there is disorder, the out party tends to benefit, whether it be Republicans or Democrats.” 

Sheinkopf, who has worked on more than 700 political campaigns, said the results from the recent Siena College poll that showed an eight percentage-point spread between Biden and Trump in New York, 47%-39%, point to how a significant number of voters dislike both candidates.

“People are not worried about the former president’s convictions,” he said of Trump, who was found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records last month in New York court. 

TRUMP PULLS WITHIN SINGLE DIGITS IN DEEP BLUE STATE BIDEN WON BY 23 POINTS IN 2020

A Siena College statewide poll of New York found President Biden, left, with just an eight percentage-point lead over former President Trump. (Getty Images)

“What they’re worried about is the present set of circumstances. They’re not happy about Trump. Frankly, if you look at the ‘hating them both’ kind of grouping, which appears in polls all the time, they’re not happy about Biden. They don’t know what to do, so they’re not making a decision. That’s why they’re locked in the center in so many places, and they’re locked in close numbers when they shouldn’t be in states that Biden should be winning handily.” 

If the election results in November are anywhere close to the snapshot in the Siena College poll, it would be a historic showing for a GOP presidential candidate in New York and a sign of deep trouble for Biden, who won the state by 23 points in 2020.

“While Biden maintains the support of three-quarters of Democrats, Trump has support from 85% of Republicans and leads Biden 45%-28% with independents,” Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said in a statement. 

“A gender gap has reopened as men support Trump 46%-42% and women favor Biden 51%-33%. White voters are evenly divided. And while Biden has a commanding lead with non-White voters, Trump garners support from 29% of Black and 26% of Latino voters,” he added.

WHAT THE LAST FOX NEWS NATIONAL POLL SHOWS IN THE 2024 BIDEN-TRUMP REMATCH

People gather for an election rally for former President Trump at Crotona Park in the South Bronx in New York City on May 23. The Bronx borough, home to a large Latino community, has been a Democratic base for generations of voters, and the rally comes as Trump looks to attract more non-White voters. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The survey of registered voters in New York showed Biden’s job approval rating at 45% approve to 53% disapprove, and his favorability underwater at 42% favorable to 53% unfavorable, his lowest numbers yet recorded by Siena College. 

While the numbers aren’t good for Biden, they’re even lower for Trump, a native New Yorker. The former president stands at 37% favorable and 59% unfavorable, according to the survey.

Even so, the closer-than-expected gap between a Democratic incumbent and Republican challenger echoes the surprisingly strong showing by New York Republicans in 2022’s gubernatorial contest, when Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul defeated former GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin by just 6.4 percentage points, the closest margin since 1994. 

Zeldin told Fox News Digital that the Siena College poll is consistent with other recent polls that show Biden trending down in the Empire State. An Emerson College/The Hill/PIX11 poll last month showed Biden with just a seven percentage-point lead over Trump, 48%-41%. 

“If New York is polling this close, that bodes well for polling in other states that have a much closer party registration between Republicans and Democrats,” Zeldin said.

TRUMP HOLDS LARGE LEAD OVER BIDEN IN STATE OBAMA WON TWICE

Former President Trump holds a rally in the historically Democratic South Bronx in New York City on May 23. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

He said issues that New Yorkers care about, including immigration and the economy, have trended to the right since he ran for governor. 

“The border crisis was in the top three issues for many New Yorkers who now have that issue as their number one issue. [New York City Mayor] Eric Adams’ numbers are worse. Kathy Hochul’s numbers are worse. Joe Biden’s numbers are worse. So as far as the Democratic brand and profile of Democratic elected officials, that is also very helpful for the Trump campaign,” said Zeldin. 

But could New York really be in play for Trump? The presumptive Republican nominee has insisted he will win the state, but Sheinkopf remains skeptical.

“Trump has to somehow convince people that he’s not reckless. And Biden has to somehow convince people that he steered the ship well, that the economy isn’t as bad as people might think. In fact, it’s really not. Inflation is down, jobs are up, but people feel insecure,” he said. 

Biden and Trump will each have the opportunity to make their respective cases at the CNN Presidential Debate in Atlanta on Thursday. Sheinkopf said that for Biden to perform well, he will need to speak clearly and appear strong. 

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“Every word that he says will be parsed. He is the President of the United States, the most powerful man on the planet, versus Trump, who was the most powerful man on the planet, who somehow continues to function, raising lots of money and being credible even though he’s a convicted felon. 

“We’ve never had anything like this before. [If] the president can’t show strength, it won’t matter whether Trump’s been a convicted felon or not. That is what’s so extraordinary.” 

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

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

After their first debate next week in their 2024 election rematch, President Biden and former President Trump will stay in the south as they hold rallies in states where they’re trying to expand the map.

Following their face-to-face on-stage showdown Thursday evening in Atlanta – the capital and largest city in the key southeastern battleground state of Georgia – the president heads to North Carolina, where he’ll hold a rally Friday in a state he lost to Trump by a razor-thin margin in 2020.

While Biden’s in North Carolina, Trump will be holding a rally Friday in Virginia, which he lost by 10 points four years ago.

HOW BIDEN AND TRUMP ARE PREPARING FOR NEXT WEEK’S PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

File photos of President Biden (left) and former President Donald Trump  (AP Photo/Alex Brandon / Curtis Means/DailyMail.com via AP, Pool)

It’s been two decades since a Republican carried Virginia in the race for the White House. 

You have to go back to then-President George W. Bush, who won the Commonwealth in his 2004 re-election victory.

But recent polling indicates a close contest.

CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLL IN VIRGINIA 

A Fox News poll conducted June 1-4 indicates the Democratic president and his Republican predecessor in the White House each with 48% support in a head-to-head match.

In a multi-candidate race, Biden stands at 42% and Trump at 41%, with Democrat-turned-independent Robert K. Kennedy at 9% and Green Party candidate Jill Stein and independent Cornel West each at 2%.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally Saturday, March 2, 2024, in Richmond, Virginia  (AP Photo/Steve Helber) (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

University of Lynchburg political science professor Dave Richards, asked about the apparently deadlocked race in his state, said “politics down here are in a confused state and I think that’s being reflected in the polling, where there’s not a clear front-runner.”

At a closed-door Republican National Committee retreat for top-dollar donors earlier this spring at a resort in Palm Beach, Florida, senior Trump campaign advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita and veteran pollster Tony Fabrizio spotlighted internal surveys that suggested both “Minnesota & Virginia are clearly in play.”

“In both states, Donald Trump finds himself in positions to flip key electoral votes in his favor,” the survey, which was shared with Fox News, emphasizes. 

THIS REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR SAYS HIS STATE IS IN PLAY IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia agrees, at least when it comes to his state.

A couple of days ahead of the Fox News poll’s release, the governor said in a Fox News Digital interview that “we’re here in June and there’s still a lot of water to go under the bridge, but Virginia looks like it’s in play and that’s pretty exciting.”

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and and former President Donald Trump met earlier in June at Trump’s private country club in Loudon County, Virginia (Trump campaign)

Youngkin will join Trump at next week’s rally, sources familiar confirmed.

The governor’s appearance will likely spark more speculation about Youngkin as a possible running mate. The two politicians met in person last week for the first time ever, as they discussed flipping Virginia in the autumn election.

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When asked in an interview last week with Fox News’ Aishah Hasnie about Youngkin, Trump said he’s “great” and “I think I could consider it.”

President Joe Biden gestures as he delivers remarks on his economic plan during a visit to Abbotts Creek Community Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, on January 18, 2024. REUTERS/Nathan Howard (REUTERS/Nathan Howard)

Biden on Friday will be in Raleigh, North Carolina’s capital city.

The president lost the state by just 74,000 votes four years ago. As he aims to be the first Democrat since former President Obama in 2008 to carry North Carolina, he’s beefed up his campaign’s footprint in the state and flooded the airwaves with ads.

Biden’s stop next week will be his fourth so far this year in North Carolina, which has seen a surge of new residents since the 2020 election that potentially may benefit the Democratic incumbent.

“I think with the fact that only 75K votes differentiated between Trump and Biden, and the fact that registered Republicans have a higher turnout rate than registered Democrats, I think Biden’s campaign sees the opportunity,” Michael Bitzer, chair of the politics department at Catawba College.

But Bitzer emphasized “it’s an opportunity only if they invest in the ground operations to make that turnout work.”

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

Senate Democrats appear to be hesitating on whether they will attend remarks from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next month to a joint session of Congress. 

“I haven’t made up my mind yet,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told Fox News Digital. 

Asked whether he had specific reservations, he reiterated, “I haven’t made up my mind yet.”

GOP PLOTS MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR AD SPEND IN SWING STATES WITH SENATE MAJORITY IN SIGHT

Several Senate Democrats said they hadn’t decided whether to attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks to Congress next month. (Getty Images)

Last month, bipartisan congressional leaders signed an invitation to Netanyahu to speak to lawmakers as Israel continues to fight terrorist group Hamas in war-torn Gaza. In the letter, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., wrote, “To build on our enduring relationship and to highlight America’s solidarity with Israel, we invite you to share the Israeli government’s vision for defending democracy, combatting terror, and establishing a just and lasting peace in the region.”

While Schumer has been critical of Netanyahu specifically, he signed onto the invitation, justifying his choice to do so by explaining, “America’s relationship with Israel is ironclad and transcends one person or prime minister.”

DEMOCRATS EYE TAKE DOWN OF FEDERAL PROVISION COULD AFFECT ABORTION BY MAIL

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., signed onto the Netanyahu invitation. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

“We’ll have to see what it conflicts with,” Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., said of his potential attendance at the address, which is slated for July 24. 

Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., told Fox News Digital, “I haven’t decided.” 

The same sentiment was echoed by Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, who said he also had yet to determine whether he will attend the Israeli prime minister’s address. 

MIKE PENCE’S GROUP URGES GOP TO OPPOSE MEASURE INCLUDING WOMEN IN FUTURE DRAFT

Schatz said he hasn’t made a decision yet.  (Photo by Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images)

Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who caucuses with Democrats in the upper chamber, claimed, “I haven’t even thought of it,” declining to answer whether he had reservations about going to the address by Netanyahu. 

Vocal progressive Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who are also members of the Democratic caucus, have each already revealed that they won’t be going to the address. Sanders, a prominent critic of Israel’s actions in the war, released a statement after the invitation was extended, saying, “It is a very sad day for our country that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been invited – by leaders from both parties – to address a joint meeting of the United States Congress.”

TRUMP-BACKED CANDIDATE WINS VIRGINIA’S REPUBLICAN SENATE PRIMARY TO TAKE ON TIM KAINE

Warren said she won’t go to Netanyahu’s address.  (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Warren reportedly shared with the Hill her plan not to attend, saying, “Benjamin Netanyahu has created a humanitarian disaster.”

While there is a group of rank-and-file Democrats in the Senate who have yet to make a decision, there were also several who confirmed, without hesitation, that they would be at Netanyahu’s remarks next month. 

“Yes,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., when asked whether she would attend. 

VA DEM TIM KAINE WARNS AGAINST TAKING ELECTION FOR GRANTED AS TRUMP EYES BLUE STATE

Rosen is running for re-election in Nevada.  (Madeline Carter/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., was similarly quick to confirm her planned attendance. The vulnerable incumbent Democrat is currently up for re-election in the swing state of Nevada. Notably, Rosen is only the third Jewish woman to serve as senator in U.S. history. She is also co-chair of the Bipartisan Task Force For Combating Antisemitism. 

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Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Bob Casey, D-Penn., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who face their own competitive elections in November, are also planning to attend the Netanyahu remarks. 

Schumer’s office did not provide comment to Fox News Digital when asked for his response to potential Democratic absences. 

Former President Donald Trump’s phone call to the mother of a Maryland woman allegedly slain by an illegal immigrant reflects similar outreach to “angel families” during the 2016 election, an effective strategy that personalized the border issue and kept it front and center in his campaign.

In a Thursday call with Patty Morin – the mother of Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five who was allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant who entered the country as a “gotaway” last year – Trump expressed support for the Morin family during a conversation that lasted roughly 20 minutes.

Patty Morin said in a press release offered by her attorney that she was “deeply touched by President Trump’s kindness and concern.”

“He was genuine and truly wanted to know how our family was coping,” she added. “He asked about Rachel and showed honest compassion for her untimely death. His words brought comfort to me during this very difficult time.”

ILLEGALS CHARGED WITH MURDER, RAPE AND KIDNAPPING IN A WEEK OF SHOCKING CRIMES ACROSS THE US

Victor Hernandez-Martinez, right, is accused of the rape and murder of Rachel Morin on August 5, 2023, in Bel Air, Maryland. (Hartford County Sheriff’s Office/Tulsa Police Department)

That call was one of several that Trump has made to families battling similar issues, where he has lent hope and compassion to those who have lost family members or other loved ones in recent years due to heinous acts committed by individuals who had come to the U.S. illegally.

In February, Trump reached out to the parents of Laken Riley – the Georgia nursing student who had been brutally murdered, allegedly by an illegal migrant – and described them as “incredible people” who were “devastated” over the untimely death of their daughter.

“A beautiful 22-year-old nursing student from Georgia was barbarically attacked. She was on a morning run … she was a beautiful young woman,” the former president said during a visit to the southern border. “I spoke to her parents yesterday, they are incredible people. They are devastated beyond belief. She was so beautiful in so many ways.”

During his campaign for president in 2016, amid multiple high-profile deaths of Americans at the hands of illegal immigrants, Trump made an effort to bring the issue into national focus.

The fatal shooting of Kate Steinle in July 2015 sparked a national debate about illegal immigration and so-called “sanctuary cities.” The 32-year-old was shot and killed by Jose Ines Garcia Zarate when she was walking with her father and a family friend on Pier 14 in San Francisco.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECTED IN RACHEL MORIN MURDER ENTERED US AS GOTAWAY AFTER BEING RELEASED 3 TIMES: ICE

James Steinle and Liz Sullivan, the parents of Kate Steinle, at their home in Livermore, California. (Michael Macor/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

Garcia Zarate, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who would later be acquitted of the murder, had been deported five times and was wanted for a sixth deportation when Steinle was shot. Trump later referred to the not-guilty verdict in the Steinle murder trial as “disgraceful” and insisted there is “no wonder” why Americans are “so angry with Illegal Immigration.”

At an April 2016 campaign rally, Trump welcomed to the stage several “angel families” – a term to describe relatives of victims killed by illegal immigrants in the U.S. – to share their thoughts on the issue and display photos of the loved ones they had lost.

At one point, Trump handed the microphone to Jamiel Shaw, whose son had been murdered by an illegal immigrant who had been released from jail the day before on prior gun charges.

Highlighting the fact that his son had been killed by an “illegal alien on his third gun charge,” Shaw said at the time, “We demand Americans first.”

Then-GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump brings a group of people onstage whose relatives had been killed by illegal immigrants, at a campaign rally on April 28, 2016, in Costa Mesa, California. (DAVID MCNEW/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump referred to Shaw as a “great guy” at the rally and insisted that people like him “all have a very similar story to tell” in that “people that shouldn’t have been here, people that should have never been allowed to come over the border” had taken their family from them.

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Due to his support for the families, as well as his vow to “stop” the killings of innocent Americans by illegal immigrants, Trump earned the support of Shaw and many others like him ahead of the 2016 election.

FIRST ON FOX: Two Democratic state attorneys general are being sued on claims that they are violating the First Amendment with “threats” to shut down an organization that seeks to expand aid for survivors of sexual assault with a government-alternative “self-administered DNA collection” kit.

Leda Health Corporation says it is working to “end the cycle of sexual violence” — developing an Early Evidence Kit (EEK) that allows victims to “receive time-sensitive DNA after sexual assault” through a self-collection of evidence, rather than getting a traditional rape kit at the hospital. CEO Madison Campbell filed a lawsuit against New York AG Letitia James and Pennsylvania AG Michelle Henry after the two penned letters in opposition to the at-home alternative kit.

Alex Little, the attorney representing Campbell, emphasized that the lawsuit “focused on threats that those attorneys general made to shut down the company and penalize Miss Campbell for statements they had made about sexual assault and sexual assault victims” while speaking with Fox News Digital during an exclusive interview.

“Ultimately, this lawsuit is about a disagreement about what we should tell survivors of sexual assault. The attorneys general here, as we lay out in the complaint, want those survivors to only receive a very narrow message,” Little told Fox News Digital. “The reality is, we think that victims deserve a broader spectrum of opinions and information. And Leda is part of the process for giving them that information.”

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS BIDEN TITE IX RULE IN 4 STATES: ‘ABUSE OF POWER’

New York Attorney General Letitia James (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

The lawsuit, filed Monday, claims that defendants James and Henry “threatened, coerced, and intimidated Leda Health to stop its business in Pennsylvania and New York.” 

“The lawsuit includes the letters and the sort of threats from both attorneys general, one from Pennsylvania, asking Leda to shut down within seven days or face a lawsuit,” Little said in an interview. “Those threats were tied directly to Leda continuing to send this message to victims that there are alternatives to traditional rape kits.”

Little said the First Amendment rights of Leda Health and its CEO are being infringed upon in the attempt by the Democratic attorneys general to interfere in the company’s messaging.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry testifies during a Senate subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill, July 26, 2023. (Bill Clark/Getty Images)

The suit also stated that the defendants believe “Leda Health and Ms. Campbell cannot tell women who experience sexual assault about alternatives to government-endorsed services (such as traditional forensic exams conducted in hospitals or at law enforcement facilities) because it might discourage victims from seeking these services. Doing so is a ‘deceptive practice,’ the pair claim, even when all the information that Leda Health provides is true.”

The lawsuit states that in Henry’s letter, she called the EEK, which presents an alternative to government services, a “deceptive practice.”

Little said that “both attorneys general think that leaders shouldn’t be telling people they can do this, and that somehow doing so is deceiving them about things like admissibility, what might happen in court.”

An attorney for Lena Health said “this lawsuit is about a disagreement about what we should tell survivors of sexual assault.” (iStock)

“I think what’s so important about this lawsuit is reminding public officials, like attorneys general that if you’re going to use this extreme power you have, you have to do so in a way that respects individual and corporations’ First Amendment rights,” Little said. “The reality is, in this country, victims of sexual assault face a very difficult time and are not being well served. Leda is founded to help that, to change that. And if folks are going to stand in the way, we certainly need to find all legal avenues to make sure that those obstacles are removed.”

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When asked about the lawsuit, Letitia James’ office sent Fox News Digital a copy of the 2019 cease-and-desist letter to Leda Health regarding their kits, where the attorney general’s office said the advertisements for the EEK kits were “reckless.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the office of Henry for comment.

President Biden’s campaign chose to reserve the stage-right podium at Thursday’s debate over the opposing lectern.

By doing so, the Democratic nominee gave his Republican opponent, former President Trump, a choice of offering his closing statement first or last. 

Trump chose to go last in offering a closing statement at the Atlanta debate.

Meanwhile, Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., was informed he did not qualify for the CNN-hosted debate.

That news led to about 50 Kennedy supporters protesting in front of CNN’s New York bureau on 10th Avenue Friday afternoon.

“Just watch, he’s going to be president,” one of the lead demonstrators was heard shouting.

“RFK, let him speak. CNN, don’t be weak,” others chanted.

Kennedy missed the threshold by qualifying in three of four requisite polls, while Kennedy’s representatives told Fox News’ Peter Doocy that the left-leaning network is displaying a double standard.

“The Kennedy campaign points out CNN is holding Kennedy to this requirement, but is not requiring Presidents Biden and Trump to meet this requirement by claiming they are each the presumptive nominee of a political party,” Doocy said on “Special Report” Thursday.

Fox News has reached out to the Biden and Trump campaigns for further comment, while leaders from both parties underlined the importance of the two men going head-to-head.

“Given that there’s only two, and just given the discussion and talk about the preparedness of both candidates, I think people are looking to see Biden perform; looking to see how crazy Trump will be,” former House Democratic Caucus Chair Joe Crowley – who was ousted by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., in 2018 – told The Hill.

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Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., conversely argued to CNN that Trump could take the helm of the debate by laying out how the Mideast is “on fire” under Biden.

“That’s the thing you are going to see… what was the world like under Trump?” he added.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Biden and Trump campaigns but did not immediately receive responses.

Fox News’ Grace Taggart contributed to this report.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Friday called for two illegal immigrants charged with killing a 12-year-old Houston girl to be sentenced to death if they are convicted for the slaying. 

Cruz also blamed President Biden’s border policies for leading to the death of Jocelyn Nungaray, who was found Monday strangled to death in a creek. 

Johan Jose Martinez Rangel, 22, and Franklin Pena, 26, both from Venezuela, are each charged with capital murder.

RACHEL MORIN MURDER: ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT FROM EL SALVADOR CHARGED WITH RAPE, KILLING OF MARYLAND MOM OF 5

Sen. Ted Cruz says that Johan Jose Martinez Rangel, left, and Franklin Pena should be sentenced to death if they’re convicted of killing a 12-year-old Houston girl. (Harris County jail | AP)

“This is horrifying. If guilty, both of these men should receive the death penalty for this horrible crime,” Cruz wrote on X. “These men are illegal aliens and Jocelyn Nungaray would still be alive and with her family if not for Joe Biden’s open border policies. The Biden administration is directly responsible. My heart goes out to Jocelyn’s family.”

The pair were seen with Nungaray on Sunday night before she was killed near a bridge, police said Thursday. Investigators tracked their movements through surveillance footage. 

“In this case the defendant lured a 12-year-old under a bridge, where he and his co-defendant remained with her for over 2 hours, took her pants off, tied her up, and killed her, then threw her body into the bayou,” Harris County Assistant District Attorney Michael Abner wrote.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTED IN BROAD DAYLIGHT RAPE OF 13-YEAR-OLD IN NEW YORK PARK

Jocelyn Nungaray, 12, was found strangled to death in a Houston creek this week. (Fox Houston courtesy of the Nungaray family)

Both suspects entered the United States illegally through Texas, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said. 

“On March 14, Martinez was apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol near El Paso, Texas. That same day he was released on an order of recognizance with a notice to appear,” an ICE spokesperson said. “Pena was apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol on May 28 near El Paso. He was also released on an order of recognizance with a notice to appear the same day he was apprehended.” 

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security stated to Fox News Digital: “Our hearts go out to Jocelyn Nungaray’s family. The Department cannot publicly comment on an ongoing criminal investigations. That said, anyone who commits a horrific and senseless crime, like the one these individuals are accused of, should be prosecuted to the fullest extent under the law.”

On Friday, Cruz urged Biden to restore the Remain in Mexico policy, a Trump-era directive that required migrants applying for asylum to stay in Mexico while their cases play out in U.S. courts. 

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“He must reinstate Remain in Mexico and end catch-and-release immediately, or we will lose more innocent life,” Cruz wrote. “There is no time for half measures – we need to look at what works, and do it now.”

The slaying of Nungaray came amid a week of kidnappings, murders and rapes blamed on illegal immigrants across the country. 

Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman contributed to this report. 

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

What’s happening…

-White House announces new clean energy subsidies

-Democrats not ‘enthusiastic’ about Biden

-Chicago hides crime woes when Democrat VIPs come to town

8-1 Sweep

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a federal law that bans guns for those subject to domestic violence restraining orders (DVROs) in the first major test of the Second Amendment at the high court this term.

In an 8-1 opinion authored by Chief Justice Roberts, the court’s majority said, “[W]e conclude only this: An individual found by a court to pose a credible threat to the physical safety of another may be temporarily disarmed consistent with the Second Amendment.” Justice Clarence Thomas was the lone dissenter.

Both liberal and conservative justices agreed with the Biden administration that there was a history and tradition of keeping firearms from dangerous persons, despite the lack of any specific ban that may have been in place when the Constitution was enacted in the 1790s.

The Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

White House

SEAFOOD TOWERS: Dem staffer who praised Biden for hooking taxpayers with his student debt blasted for spending habits …Read more

‘RAINBOW LIPSTICK’ ON A PIG: Log Cabin leader blasts Biden for assuming LGBT vote in the bag for Dems …Read more

‘LYNCH MOBS’: Biden admin official who bashed the police as racist, called to defund ICE, earns big promotion …Read more

RULES ‘GREEN LIT’: WH announces new boost to clean energy subsidies …Read more

Capitol Hill

ISRAEL WAR: Senate Dems express uncertainty over attending Netanyahu speech to Congress …Read more

‘GOING TO OWN IT’: Embattled Bowman sorry for calling Oct. 7 rapes ‘propaganda’ …Read more

Tales from the Campaign Trail

RALLYING CRY: Trump spotlighting ‘angel families’ of those killed by illegal immigrants …Read more

‘POOR POLLING’: Democrats, commentators dismiss Trump’s polling gains among Black voters …Read more

‘A DISCONNECT’: Democrats ‘not enthusiastic’ about Biden, warn party strategists …Read more

MIND BOGGLING DONATIONS: Bloomberg shells out millions to boost Biden while billionaire banking heir dishes out millions to back Trump …Read more

CASH DASH: Biden, Trump campaigns tout huge fundraising hauls …Read more

‘MUCH CLOSER’: Burgum touts his family’s relationship with Trump, fueling VP speculation …Read more

‘BAR IS SO LOW’: Biden’s secret weapon in previous national debates may again be a factor during showdown with Trump …Read more

‘MAYBE SOMEDAY’: Trump mocks RFK Jr for not making debate stage …Read more

Former President Trump and RFK Jr. (Eduardo Munoz/Andrew Lichtenstein)

Trials and Tribulation 

‘UNLAWFUL APPOINTMENT’: Trump classified docs judge to weigh alleged ‘unlawful’ appointment of Special Counsel Jack Smith …Read more

‘FIGHT BACK’: AG to sue New York over ‘unconstitutional lawfare’ against Trump …Read more

HEARINGS BEGIN: Hearings in Trump classified documents case begin in Florida …Read more

‘HAIL MARY’: Georgia DA desperate to prevent discovery of her ‘misconduct’: Trump lawyers …Read more

Across America

‘TEMPORARILY DISARMED’: Supreme Court rules on key Second Amendment law …Read more

FOX NEWS POLL: Americans weigh in on new border restrictions …Read more

MATTER OF FAITH?: Louisiana lawmaker gets into fiery debate with CNN anchor over Ten Commandments law …Read more

BACK BEHIND BARS: ICE arrests illegal immigrant previously convicted of child rape, multiple DUIs …Read more

‘BRAZEN’: Rachel Morin’s accused killer was hiding in plain sight: prosecutors …Read more

‘WINDOW DRESSING’: Chicago to hide crime woes when Dem VIPs come to town …Read more

BLOOD MONEY: Deadly drug cartel leaders hit with financial sanctions …Read more

AIR DEFENSE: US to redirect air defense missiles to Ukraine instead of the countries that ordered them …Read more

BOOTLEGGING: Illegally brewed liquor kills at least 34 with dozens hospitalized in southern India …Read more

RUSSIAN INJUSTICE: American ballerina accused of spying stands trial in Moscow for $51 donation to Ukraine …Read more

THE TAXMAN COMETH: Democrats gleeful as California high court kills effort to limit taxes …Read more

Subscribe now to get Fox News Politics newsletter in your inbox.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

Former President Trump’s first day in court for a hearing to determine the lawfulness of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s appointment in the classified document investigation concluded Friday without a decision being made.

Friday’s hearing inside a courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida, ended around 2:30 p.m. after the court heard arguments from the defense and prosecution as well as constitutional lawyers supporting either side’s analysis.

Prior to concluding for the day, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon heard an argument from a lawyer backing up the Trump defense team’s claims.

Josh Blackman of Landmark Legal Foundation argued that Smith did not wield the proper authority to exercise the powers he had been given.

TRUMP CLASSIFIED DOCS JUDGE TO WEIGH ALLEGED ‘UNLAWFUL’ APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH

Donald Trump and Jack Smith (Getty Images)

The arguments were centered on whether the law authorizes the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel, such as Smith. The discussions during the hearing were policy-heavy, as each side sought to prove what is truly meant by the law and what authority is ultimately bestowed on Garland and Smith.

Matthew Seligman, a constitutional lawyer and scholar, argued on behalf of the DOJ during the hearing, pointing to one specific word in a statute that backs Garland’s appointment of Smith in the classified documents case.

The word “appoint” is used in section 533, he pointed out to Cannon. This is significant, he explained, as ordinary employees are not installed via appointment. The word is used in the context of government officials, who are put in place by appointment.

According to Seligman, who is part of a group of constitutional lawyers called Defenders of Democracy, the statute is abundantly clear in granting the attorney general the authority to appoint such officials, or special counsels, to prosecute crimes in the U.S.

DEM STAFFER BLASTED FOR SPENDING HABITS AFTER GOING VIRAL FOR THANKING BIDEN FOR ERASING $8K STUDENT DEBT

Aileen Cannon, the Florida judge overseeing former President Trump’s case (Reuters)

Trump’s lawyers argued that because Smith was unlawfully appointed and not confirmed by Congress, the case should be thrown out.

Defense attorney Emil Bove used the phrase “shadow government” while arguing against the validity of Smith’s appointment.

Bove mentioned the term while describing a situation in which inferior officers, unconfirmed by the Senate, are put in power. “These are the risks we are running,” he said.

DOJ prosecutor James Pearce argued for Smith’s team and opened by telling Cannon that the Trump team’s legal analysis is, “foreclosed by precedent” and that it could lead to “pernicious consequences.”

Smith’s team maintains that Garland has the statutory authority to appoint a special counsel, pointing to US Code 28 Section 516, which gives the AG the authority to prosecute criminal matters and puts the AG in charge of any litigation on behalf of the United States.

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Jack Smith speaks during a news conference in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 1, 2023. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Pearce also told Cannon that while Smith’s team is operating independently on a day-to-day basis, DOJ regulations allow the AG to ask for an explanation of any step taken by the special counsel.

Cannon was reportedly very active during the hearing, asking questions of both sides, including asking Bove about the text of Section 533, “What is a special attorney or assistant? What is the difference?”

At the end of the hearing, after hours of arguments on dense and complicated legal issues, Cannon seemed to home in on one issue: whether Garland had any direct role in Trump’s indictment.

Cannon asked Pearce if there had been any oversight by Garland on Smith’s team in relation to the issue that Garland has repeatedly assured Congress that Smith is acting independently and that there has been no coordination with the Biden White House.

Pearce assured the judge that Smith’s team had complied with all the DOJ regulations governing the special counsel.

Cannon is expected to issue a written order in the coming days.

Fox News Digital’s Julia Johnson and Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.

The Republican National Committee launched a lawsuit this week seeking to ensure only citizens can vote in Burlington, Vermont, elections.

Residents of Burlington, the Green Mountain State’s largest city, approved the charter change in March 2023 that permits noncitizens to vote in municipal elections.

Vermont Republican Gov. Phil Scott later vetoed state approval of the measure, but was overridden by the legislature.

BIDEN’S BORDER CRISIS WREAKING HAVOC ON K-12 SCHOOLS: TOP GOP LAWMAKER

The RNC said such elections influence Vermont’s education budget, which contradicts the state constitution’s requirement that only citizens can vote on matters affecting the state.

“Americans should decide American elections,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.

“Democrats’ persistent efforts to enable noncitizen voting dilute the voices of Americans in Vermont and across the country,” he said.

In comments to Fox News, an RNC spokesperson added that Democrats’ “persistent efforts” to let noncitizens vote is “alarming.”

“Combined with their catastrophic border crisis, noncitizens’ voting prioritizes illegal immigrants over U.S. citizens and jeopardizes our elections,” the spokesperson said.

FLASHBACK: PA REPUBLICANS DRAFT BILL DIVERTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM SECRETIVE BIDEN DHS FLIGHTS TO DELAWARE

Vermont Republican Gov. Phil Scott initially vetoed the city’s charter change, but was overridden. (Philscott.org)

While noncitizen suffrage remains illegal in federal-level elections, Burlington is not alone in permitting such.

In the Burlington suburb of Winooski, 11 people took advantage of the town’s “all-resident” voting policy, according to NPR.

Bordering Washington, D.C., the city of Takoma Park, Maryland, recently celebrated 30 years of being the first municipality in the nation where noncitizens are permitted to vote. 

A 2023 city statement on the matter said 20% of the approximately 350 noncitizens there cast ballots in the 2017 off-year elections.

Takoma Park’s 1992 policy change was notably spearheaded by resident and then-American University law professor Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md. 

It requires identification and proof of residency, according to a city statement.

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Washington, D.C., itself also allows noncitizen voting in municipal races.

In February, a New York State appeals court overturned New York City’s noncitizen suffrage provisions, while several states in the heartland banned the practice in the early 1900s.

In 2020, Florida and Alabama voters overwhelmingly approved state constitutional amendments by-referendum, declaring only citizens can vote within those states.

Politically, Burlington is otherwise best known as the city where high-profile Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., started his political career. The self-described “democratic socialist” served as the city’s mayor from 1981 to 1989.

Fox News Digital reached out to the city of Burlington for comment. A person who answered the phone at city hall directed Fox News Digital to a communications official who did not respond.

Thanks to a tidal wave of fundraising following his conviction in the first criminal trial of a former or current president, Donald Trump has all but erased President Biden’s once massive fundraising advantage in their 2024 election rematch.

In May, for a second straight month, the former president and the Republican National Committee significantly outraised Biden and the Democratic National Committee. And the president’s formidable cash-on-hand advantage over Trump has seemingly evaporated.

The Biden campaign’s months-long lead in the cash dash allowed his team to drown out Trump on the airwaves and to build an impressive ground game operation in comparison to the Trump campaign’s much more frugal foundations.

But Trump’s fundraising boost since clinching the GOP nomination in early March, and his surge since being convicted of 34 felony counts in his New York City trial, now allow him to match Biden in the ad wars and to potentially build a sizable ground operation.

BIDEN HAS A MASSIVE MAY FUNDRAISING HAUL, BUT COMES UP FAR SHORT OF TRUMP

Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower, Thursday, May 30, 2024, after being found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)

While Biden’s campaign has spent upwards of $65 million to carpet the airwaves with ads in support of president’s re-election, according to AdImpact, a leading national ad tracking firm, the Trump campaign has yet to launch a general election ad buy.

But Biden’s ad wars advantage may soon be challenged. Make America Great Again (MAGA) Inc., a top super PAC supporting the former president, announced a $100 million ad blitz this summer. The group’s announcement came immediately after it landed a staggering $50 million contribution from conservative banking heir Timothy Mellon.

When it comes to the ground game battle, the Biden campaign on Thursday announced that it had reached 200 campaign offices and 1,000 staffers in the key battleground states that will decide the 2024 election rematch.

BLOOMBERG, CONSERVATIVE BANKING HEIR MELLON, SHELL OUT MILLIONS TO BOOST BIDEN, TRUMP

“With just over four months until the election, Donald Trump couldn’t match our battleground infrastructure if he tried,” Biden campaign battleground states director Dan Kanninen said in a statement. 

Kanninen argued that “while Trump’s team is desperately trying to spin their lack of infrastructure as ‘strategic,’ the bottom line is that Donald Trump cannot buy back the time he has lost — and invisible campaigns don’t win.”

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/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller pushed back, as he pointed to polls in the key battleground states that indicate Trump with a slight edge.

“What Biden could use is 1,000 more votes in states like Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, because he’s losing to President Trump in all of them!” Miller claimed.

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Trump’s campaign says that it and the RNC have offices in the key swing states, but declines to give specific numbers. The campaign reiterates that its paid staff and volunteer operation are “expanding daily.”

But Trump’s campaign for a couple of months has emphasized that it is building a “leaner” operation than it had in 2020 when the then-White House incumbent ran for re-election. It is planning an operation with fewer offices and staff, and to a degree outsourcing, as it relies on allied groups to beef up its ground game.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump walks to the podium at a campaign event Tuesday, June 18, 2024, in Racine, Wisconsin. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps) (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

“There will definitely need to be some catching up to do for Trump to try to match the infrastructure that Biden has built,” Greg Moore, a regional director for the conservative advocacy powerhouse Americans For Prosperity, told Fox News.

But Moore, a longtime veteran of the group’s formidable grassroots outreach and ground game efforts, said “there’s still a fantastic opportunity for the Trump team to be able to start to grow that infrastructure and focus on building out a true, authentic, grassroots strategy.”

Pointing to the Trump campaign, Moore argued that “there’s no question there’s a ton of energy in the supporters. The level of enthusiasm among Trump’s supporters is higher than the level of enthusiasm among Biden’s supporters, which means while the staff gain might lean toward Biden, actually recruiting authentic volunteers is an area where Trump should have an advantage.”

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

Senate Democrats appear to be hesitating on whether they will attend remarks from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next month to a joint session of Congress. 

“I haven’t made up my mind yet,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told Fox News Digital. 

Asked whether he had specific reservations, he reiterated, “I haven’t made up my mind yet.”

GOP PLOTS MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR AD SPEND IN SWING STATES WITH SENATE MAJORITY IN SIGHT

Several Senate Democrats said they hadn’t decided whether to attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks to Congress next month. (Getty Images)

Last month, bipartisan congressional leaders signed an invitation to Netanyahu to speak to lawmakers as Israel continues to fight terrorist group Hamas in war-torn Gaza. In the letter, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., wrote, “To build on our enduring relationship and to highlight America’s solidarity with Israel, we invite you to share the Israeli government’s vision for defending democracy, combatting terror, and establishing a just and lasting peace in the region.”

While Schumer has been critical of Netanyahu specifically, he signed onto the invitation, justifying his choice to do so by explaining, “America’s relationship with Israel is ironclad and transcends one person or prime minister.”

DEMOCRATS EYE TAKE DOWN OF FEDERAL PROVISION COULD AFFECT ABORTION BY MAIL

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., signed onto the Netanyahu invitation. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

“We’ll have to see what it conflicts with,” Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., said of his potential attendance at the address, which is slated for July 24. 

Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., told Fox News Digital, “I haven’t decided.” 

The same sentiment was echoed by Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, who said he also had yet to determine whether he will attend the Israeli prime minister’s address. 

MIKE PENCE’S GROUP URGES GOP TO OPPOSE MEASURE INCLUDING WOMEN IN FUTURE DRAFT

Schatz said he hasn’t made a decision yet.  (Photo by Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images)

Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who caucuses with Democrats in the upper chamber, claimed, “I haven’t even thought of it,” declining to answer whether he had reservations about going to the address by Netanyahu. 

Vocal progressive Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who are also members of the Democratic caucus, have each already revealed that they won’t be going to the address. Sanders, a prominent critic of Israel’s actions in the war, released a statement after the invitation was extended, saying, “It is a very sad day for our country that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been invited – by leaders from both parties – to address a joint meeting of the United States Congress.”

TRUMP-BACKED CANDIDATE WINS VIRGINIA’S REPUBLICAN SENATE PRIMARY TO TAKE ON TIM KAINE

Warren said she won’t go to Netanyahu’s address.  (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Warren reportedly shared with the Hill her plan not to attend, saying, “Benjamin Netanyahu has created a humanitarian disaster.”

While there is a group of rank-and-file Democrats in the Senate who have yet to make a decision, there were also several who confirmed, without hesitation, that they would be at Netanyahu’s remarks next month. 

“Yes,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., when asked whether she would attend. 

VA DEM TIM KAINE WARNS AGAINST TAKING ELECTION FOR GRANTED AS TRUMP EYES BLUE STATE

Rosen is running for re-election in Nevada.  (Madeline Carter/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., was similarly quick to confirm her planned attendance. The vulnerable incumbent Democrat is currently up for re-election in the swing state of Nevada. Notably, Rosen is only the third Jewish woman to serve as senator in U.S. history. She is also co-chair of the Bipartisan Task Force For Combating Antisemitism. 

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Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Bob Casey, D-Penn., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who face their own competitive elections in November, are also planning to attend the Netanyahu remarks. 

Schumer’s office did not provide comment to Fox News Digital when asked for his response to potential Democratic absences. 

Amid the circulation of videos on social media in recent weeks which appear to show President Biden’s mental acuity dwindling and a recent Wall Street Journal report adding fuel to the speculation, low expectations for his performance ahead of the debate next week against former President Trump could buck his chance of victory.

However, “low expectations” will be used to Biden’s advantage, according to one expert.

“I’d be wary of assuming that Biden’s going to have a bad performance, or of talking down his potential performance because he has surpassed expectations at the 2020 debate, at the State of the Union address, and at the press conference where they were talking about his mental acuity,” presidential historian and author Tevi Troy told Fox News Digital.

“That doesn’t mean he’s always all there, and I fully recognize that he is not the person he was in 2012 when he debated very effectively against Paul Ryan,” added Troy, who served as a senior HHS official in the President George W. Bush administration. “But when you lower the expectations of your opponent’s performance, it’s easy for the opponent to exceed those expectations strategically. It’s something to worry about.”

WHITE HOUSE ‘CHEAP FAKES’ RESPONSE TO BIDEN VIDEOS PART OF PUSH FOR SOCIAL MEDIA CENSORSHIP: EXPERT

President Biden, left, and former President Trump. (Win McNamee/Getty Images | Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Thursday’s presidential debate will be the first between the GOP and Democratic frontrunners, since neither Trump nor Biden participated in party primary debates – a first in several decades. 

Troy, also a senior researcher at the Bipartisan Policy Center think tank, believes the real problem for Biden next week “is it’s easy to run against Trump when Trump’s in office, but now Biden’s in office and people are still unhappy with one situation.”

“They’re unhappy with the illegal immigration, they’re unhappy with inflation, and they’re unhappy with the sense that Biden doesn’t have it and doesn’t know what’s going on or isn’t on top of his game. So, the ‘memory campaign’ is a bit of a hard thing to pull off in this circumstance,” he said.

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE DOUBLES DOWN ON ‘CHEAP FAKE’ BIDEN VIDEOS: ‘SO MUCH MISINFORMATION’

Former President Trump arrives to Trump Tower on Thursday, May 30, 2024 after being found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)

Meanwhile, a GOP strategist told Fox News Digital “the bar is so low” for Biden, “so him making it through a sentence is seen as a success in the eyes of the Democrat party.”

“After the State of the Union, everyone was saying it was a great success for him, simply because he made it through with a few notable stumbles. He had a couple, but I think voters can’t forget, and they have to truly understand, like, what Joe Biden is actually saying. His union address was one of the most divisive speeches I’ve seen,” the source said.

“What voters really need to focus on are his policy positions,” the source continued. “The platform that he ran on in 2020 that he’s going to unify the country. And I think a lot of voters can get behind that. But we have seen the exact opposite during his entire time as president. And I think Donald Trump can make a really good case about that. And on top of that, just being able to stumble him up a couple times.”

BIDEN’S ‘PERPETUAL STATE OF CONFUSION’ ON DISPLAY IN NORMANDY AMID RISING COGNITIVE QUESTIONS

President Biden speaks at a campaign event at Pullman Yards on March 9, 2024 in Atlanta. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, the White House is working to discredit videos of the president online, terming them “cheap fakes,” which are edited out of context, slowed or sped up.

“The discredited right-wing critics of President Biden who spread other debunked lies, including that the 2020 election was stolen, are clearly threatened by the wide range of nonpartisan fact-checkers that have pulled back the curtain on the cheap fake smears they’re forced to rely on – since the last thing they want to discuss is Joe Biden’s agenda to cut taxes for working families and keep bringing violent crime to historic lows,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told Fox News Digital this week.

The president’s mental acuity has become the center of political discourse this month after a bombshell Washington Journal report, which the White House dismissed, revealed that many lawmakers on Capitol Hill had questions about Biden’s mental acuity after many said his aging was apparent in private meetings.

FOX NEWS POLL: TRUMP HITS 51% SUPPORT IN ARIZONA, UP FROM 49% IN MARCH

As of Thursday, President Biden is the frontrunner in a hypothetical matchup against former President Trump for the first time since October, as positive views of the economy inch up — hitting their highest level thus far in the Biden presidency, according to a new Fox News national survey.

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Since May, there has been a 3-point change in the presidential race. Trump was ahead by one point last month, while Biden is up by two points today: 50%-48%. That’s well within the margin of error. Biden’s current 50% support is his best this election cycle; he hasn’t been ahead of Trump since October 2023 and that was by just 1 point (49%-48%).

Fox News Digital’s Dana Blanton contributed to this report. 

Former President Trump released a video Thursday mocking independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for not meeting the requirements to appear at the first presidential debate.

The short video, recorded aboard Trump’s private jet, addressed reports that Kennedy had insufficient support in national polls and did not appear on enough state ballots to earn a spot at CNN’s upcoming debate.

“I know RFK Jr. wants to try to get onto the stage on Thursday, and I’d love to have him frankly, because I don’t think he’s much of a debater, and he’s got some very liberal, radical left ideas,” Trump said in the video. “But you have to get certain numbers, that was the criteria, and he’s way below those numbers. He’s not coming close.”

RFK JR. FAILS TO MEET REQUIREMENTS FOR FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE, CNN SAYS

Former President Trump speaks before members of the Club 47 group at the Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

“So I hope to see him up there someday, but it looks to me like he’s not going to qualify on many fronts,” Trump continued. “They say he hurts Biden more than he hurts me, and I don’t know if that’s true or not. They say he hurts Biden because he’s a serious left person. If he is, that’s good — I don’t really care.”

In order to qualify for the CNN-hosted debate, candidates are required to receive at least 15% support in four separate national polls. Candidates must also be on the ballot in enough states to make it hypothetically possible to collect the 270 electoral college votes necessary to win the election.

Kennedy — the highest-performing 2024 candidate outside the Republican and Democratic parties — failed to meet the criteria by the Thursday morning deadline, the network said.

DNC KEEPS GOING AFTER RFK JR. SUPER PAC, ALLEGES TRUMP’S LARGEST DONOR PROPPING UP CANDIDACY

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

A CNN spokesperson independently confirmed to Fox News that RFK Jr. did not qualify.

“You have to do better than six or seven points. Maybe someday he’ll be there, but I doubt it,” Trump concluded in his Thursday video.

The independent candidate was only able to produce the necessary 15% support figure in three separate national polls, according to a news release by CNN. The network also reported that Kennedy had not qualified for the ballot in enough states to meet the 270 possible electoral college votes threshold.

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President Biden speaks to the press in the East Room at the White House in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

“Presidents Biden and Trump do not want me on the debate stage and CNN illegally agreed to their demand,” Kennedy said in his own statement on Thursday. “My exclusion by Presidents Biden and Trump from the debate is undemocratic, un-American, and cowardly.”

“Americans want an independent leader who will break apart the two-party duopoly,” he added. “They want a President who will heal the divide, restore the middle class, unwind the war machine, and end the chronic disease epidemic.”

Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis’ “Hail Mary” court filing to halt a court appeal is “an obvious attempt” to prevent discovery of her “misconduct,” according to attorneys for former President Trump.

Last week, Wills argued that the Fulton County Superior Court found there was no sufficient evidence to support their claims that she had a conflict of interest, saying there is “no basis” to appeal Judge Scott McAfee’s March ruling allowing the Atlanta prosecutor to stay on the case.

However, in a legal filing Thursday, Trump attorneys told the Georgia Court of Appeals that “without citation to any applicable authority, the State filed this ‘Hail Mary’ motion to dismiss these meritorious appeals, accusing this Court of ‘improvidently’ granting interlocutory review. There is no proper procedural vehicle for the State to relitigate this Court’s sound decision to hear the merits.” 

“President Trump has filed his response in opposition to the State’s meritless motion to dismiss the interlocutory appeal,” Steve Sadow, lead counsel for Trump said in a statement. “The Georgia Court of Appeals granted us the right to appeal after due and proper consideration. The State’s “Hail Mary” motion is an obvious attempt to stop appellate review of DA Willis’ misconduct.”

GEORGIA PROSECUTOR FANI WILLIS APPEALS AFTER JUDGE DROPS MULTIPLE TRUMP CHARGES

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

“We are optimistic that the Court will deny the motion and proceed to favorably decide the appeal on the merits,” he said.

Trump and several co-defendants alleged earlier this year that Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade were romantically involved prior to his hiring and that she financially benefited from the relationship, allegations they both have denied.

Judge McAfee’s order in March said that Wade had to be removed in order to keep Willis from disqualification in the Trump election interference case in Georgia. McAfee allowed the defense to appeal his ruling, and the appeals court announced last week that it will hear the defense’s case to still have Willis disqualified. 

The appeals court agreed to hear the case on Oct. 4 and paused all other litigation concerning Trump and those defendants until the disqualification matter is settled. 

“The State’s motion to dismiss the interlocutory appeal, which has already been permitted by the Court of Appeals, appears to be a last ditch effort to stop any appellate review of DA Willis’ misconduct,” Sadow said in a statement Wednesday. 

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

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis looks on 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. (Photo by Alex Slitz-Pool/Getty Images)

“The State’s motion deliberately failed to mention that Judge McAfee’s ruling stated an ‘odor of mendacity remains’ from the hearing testimony by the DA and the State’s witnesses. The judge also said there were “reasonable questions” as to whether Willis and former prosecutor Wade testified untruthfully. The State has tried this gambit before with no success,” he said. 

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

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 were not “roughly divided evenly.” 

He also said that “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.”

In February, Judge McAfee held a two-day evidentiary hearing where the defense, led by attorney Ashley Merchant, set out to expose a money trail that would mean Willis has a conflict of interest in the case against Trump and should be disqualified.

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

Former President Trump appears in Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday, May 30, 2024 in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool)

“[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.

“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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Wade resigned from the DA’s office after McAfee’s ruling.

When the defense in March submitted a joint motion for a Certificate of Immediate Review, McAfee said that 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.  

Former New York mayor, billionaire entrepreneur and media magnate Michael Bloomberg contributed nearly $20 million to help boost President Biden in his 2024 election rematch with former President Trump, sources confirm to Fox News.

Bloomberg, a one-time Republican turned independent turned Democrat, wrote a massive $19 million check to the Future Forward PAC, known as the FF PAC, which is the leading super PAC supporting Biden’s bid for a second term in the White House.

And Bloomberg, who briefly ran unsuccessfully against Biden for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, also gave the maximum donation of $929,600 to the Biden Victory Fund, a fundraising committee that benefits the president’s re-election campaign and various Democratic Party committees.

BIDEN HAS A MASSIVE MAY FUNDRAISING HAUL, BUT COMES UP FAR SHORT OF TRUMP

Michael Blomberg speaks at a United Nations Climate Change Conference at The Plaza Hotel, on September 19, 2023 in New York City. (Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Bloomberg Philanthropies)

Sources with knowledge of the transfers confirmed them to Fox News on Thursday evening.

“I stood with Joe Biden in 2020, and I am proud to do so again,” Bloomberg said in a statement to the Washington Post, which was the first news organization to report the massive contributions.

WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLL SHOWS IN THE BIDEN-TRUMP REMATCH

Bloomberg shelled out a staggering $1 billion of his own money on his 2020 Democratic presidential nomination bid.

After he dropped out of the race, he transferred roughly $18 million to the Democratic Party. And he separately announced the funding of a $100 million independent ad campaign to boost Biden’s White House bid.

President Biden speaks at a campaign rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 29, 2024. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Bloomberg, who at 82 is a year older than Biden, according to Forbes Magazine, is the 15th wealthiest person in the world, with approximately $106 billion in assets.

As the news of the Bloomberg contributions was going viral, so was word that conservative billionaire donor Timothy Mellon gave a mind-boggling $50 million contribution last month to a leading super PAC supporting Trump’s White House bid.

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According to a federal disclosure filing on Thursday, Mellon made his contribution to Make America Great Again (MAGA) Inc. the day after Trump was convicted of all 34 felony counts in his criminal trial, which is the first involving a former or current president in the nation’s history.

The New York Times was first to report the contribution from Mellon, who’s an heir to the Pittsburgh-based Mellon banking family.

Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, walks to the podium at a campaign event Tuesday, June 18, 2024, in Racine, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps) (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

In its fundraising filings, MAGA Inc. disclosed that it brought in over $68 million in fundraising last month, with most of the money coming from Mellon, with another $10 million from the conservative mega donors Dick and Liz Uihlein, founders of the Uihlein shipping and packaging company.

The super PAC announced a few days after the Mellon donation that they were reserving $100 million in ad reservations to run spots this summer in support of Trump.

The latest contribution from Mellon follows a previous $25 million donation earlier this cycle to MAGA Inc. Mellon also contributed roughly the same amount to American Values, the main super PAC supporting Democrat turned independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign.

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