NationalWatch

The Department of Homeland Security announced Friday that it is shielding an extra 300,000 Haitian nationals from deportation and offering them work permits, citing the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the country.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorka said he is extending and redesignating Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months until February 2026. The redesignation allows Haitian immigrants, including those in the country illegally, who were not covered by prior designations to apply for the protection and for work authorization.

To be eligible, Haitians must have been in the U.S. as of June 3. DHS predicts that it will allow an estimated 309,000 additional nationals to file for TPS, on top of those already protected.

TRUMP REPEATEDLY HAMMERS BIDEN ON BORDER CRISIS TURNING US INTO ‘RAT’S NEST’: ‘KILLING OUR PEOPLE’

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas speaks on Capitol Hill, on Wednesday, April 10. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)

TPS grants protection for nationals in countries found to be unsafe for them to be returned and is based on three grounds: armed ongoing conflict, environmental disasters or “extraordinary and temporary conditions.” 

“Several regions in Haiti continue to face violence or insecurity, and many have limited access to safety, health care, food, and water. Haiti is particularly prone to flooding and mudslides, and often experiences significant damage due to storms, flooding, and earthquakes. These overlapping humanitarian challenges have resulted in ongoing urgent humanitarian needs,” DHS said in a release.

“We are providing this humanitarian relief to Haitians already present in the United States given the conditions that existed in their home country as of June 3, 2024,” Mayorkas said in a statement. “In doing so, we are realizing the core objective of the TPS law and our obligation to fulfill it.” 

BIDEN ADMIN SHIELDS 330,000 IMMIGRANTS FROM DEPORTATION; TOP DEM SAYS ITS NOT ENOUGH

There are currently 16 countries designated for TPS, including Venezuela, Ukraine, Honduras, El Salvador and Afghanistan. Mayorkas re-designated Venezuela last year, a move expected to have protected over 470,000 nationals. 

The use of TPS has repeatedly sparked pushback from Republicans and immigration hawks, who say that the use of TPS encourages illegal immigration from those countries, with people coming in anticipation of the next redesignation. When the Venezuelan TPS redesignation was announced, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sources told Fox News that the decision will only compound the problem at the border and draw even more Venezuelan migrants because of the “pull” factor of being granted TPS status and the ability to get work authorization.

Unaccompanied minors walk toward U.S. Border Patrol vehicles after crossing over from Mexico on May 9, 2023, in El Paso, Texas. A surge of immigrants is expected with the end of the U.S. government’s COVID-era Title 42 policy, which for the past three years has allowed for the quick expulsion of irregular migrants entering the country.  (John Moore/Getty Images)

ILLEGAL ACCUSED OF RAPING NY TEEN AFTER SLIPPING INTO SAN DIEGO FROM TURKEY

There were 163,781 encounters of Haitian nationals at the border in Fiscal Year 2023, and that number has already been exceeded in Fiscal Year 2024. The Biden administration has also allowed Haitians to be flown into the U.S. for parole as part of the parole processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans (CHNV). That program allows 30,000 nationals into the country each month.

The U.S. has been facing a three-year crisis at the southern border, which has become a top political issue ahead of the November election.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

Republicans have blamed the crisis on border policies implemented by the Biden administration, which in turn has said it needs more funding and reforms from Congress, blaming Republican obstruction.

It has taken a number of moves to tackle the crisis, including a new limit on asylum applications and a “parole in place” for some spouses of U.S. citizens. The administration has noted that there has been a 40% drop in encounters since the limit was announced, but Biden took heat from former President Trump on Thursday over his handling of the crisis.

 CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“He’s the one that killed people with the bad border including hundreds of thousands of people dying, and also killing our citizens when they come in. We are living right now in a rat’s nest,” Trump said in Thursday’s debate.

FIRST ON FOX: A bipartisan group of House lawmakers is set to introduce a resolution calling on President Biden to declare the month of July as “American Patriotism Month.”

The resolution, which recognizes the U.S. as the “greatest country on Earth” and aims to affirm support from the House of Representatives for the special designation for the month of July, is expected to be introduced by Texas GOP Rep. Roger Williams on Friday.

Pointing to several events and dates that are of significance to U.S. history – including July 4, 1776, when the U.S. declared its independence from British rule – the resolution expresses the importance of “patriotism” and how it has united Americans in the past.

The resolution, which was reviewed by Fox News Digital, states that “patriotism has bonded citizens of the United States of America since the foundation of our country,” adding that the “people of the United States hold a deep love for this country and have showed this through patriotic acts throughout history.”

MARYLAND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FACES BACKLASH OVER PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, ‘MANDATORY PATRIOTISM’

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers will introduce a resolution Friday, calling on President Biden to declare the month of July as “American Patriotism Month.” (iStock, Getty Images)

“The divide in our country is clearer than ever, and there is no better time to rally behind American pride,” Williams told Fox News Digital. “Throughout history, we have created holidays for many groups, but fail to adequately celebrate the patriots who made our freedoms possible.”

He added: “Any man or woman, regardless of their background, can be a patriot, and American Patriotism Month is an opportunity to remind us of the values that make our nation great. There is no reason for Biden to deny an opportunity to embrace American pride.”

Co-sponsors include: Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola of Alaska, Republican Rep. Kat Cammack of Florida, Republican Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, Republican Rep. Barry Moore of Alabama, Republican Rep. Diana Harshbarger of Tennessee, Republican Rep. Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma, and Republican Rep. Nathaniel Moran of Texas.

Highlighted in the resolution are the patriotic actions taken by Americans to “protect democracy and liberty” abroad and at home during World War II. (Photo by Roger Viollet via Getty Images)

Also mentioned in the resolution are the events of June 6, 1944, when “over 73,000 Americans stormed the beaches of Normandy to protect democracy and liberty,” and remarks from past presidents who pushed for unity throughout the United States.

The text specifically highlights remarks from the inaugural addresses of former Presidents John F. Kennedy, who insisted that Americans should “ask what you can do for your country,” and Ronald Reagan, who said that “no arsenal or no weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.”

The resolution specifically highlights patriotic remarks from the inaugural addresses of former Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. (AFP, Getty Images)

Touting the “leadership of United States Presidents and the American people,” the resolution notes that “America was triumphant in the cold war against the Soviet Union and emerged as the beacon of hope for the free world.”

THESE 3 POPULAR EXPRESSIONS DATE BACK CENTURIES, SURROUND THE 4TH OF JULY AND AMERICAN HISTORY

Also recognized in Williams’ resolution, which has received support from the Eagle Forum, is the resounding unity in the U.S. following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in New York City. At that time, the resolution notes, “American patriots rushed to help one another, defend our country, and defend the values that as Americans we so deeply believe in.”

Lit by the bright lights of Times Square in New York City, US flags hang from the scaffolding of a construction site four days after the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

The resolution also praises those aboard United Airlines flight 93 on September 11, who “fought against the hijackers and saved thousands of American lives,” as well as the “181,510 Americans [who] joined the ranks of Active Duty service and 72,908 [who] enlisted in the reserves” in the year after the attacks.

10 MOST PATRIOTIC US STATES AHEAD OF JULY 4: SEE IF YOUR HOME STATE MADE THE LIST

“It is because of patriotic men, women, and children throughout all of history that America is the greatest country on Earth,” the resolution states. “Patriotism is a selfless act of love for one’s country and fellow citizens.”

Discussing the resolution, Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, insisted there’s “no reason for Biden to deny an opportunity to embrace American pride.” (Getty Images)

Paying tribute to the more than “2,000,000 military personnel who are enlisted to defend the freedoms of all Americans in a selfless act of patriotism,” the resolution also notes the significance of teaching “the younger generations about the importance of United States patriotism and loving one’s country.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Williams’ resolution calls on Biden to “issue an annual proclamation designating ‘American Patriotism Month,'” just one day after the president went toe-to-toe with his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, in a heated debate.

President Biden and former President Donald Trump squared off in their high-stakes 2024 election debate rematch on Thursday and the contrast between the pair could not have been more stark, body language expert Susan Constantine tells Fox News.

Constantine says the physical difference between the candidates was noticeable from the moment they both took the stage in Atlanta, and that set the tone for the rest of the evening, with Trump purveying strength and confidence in his mannerisms, while Biden showed a tired and slow demeanor, made worse by his raspy voice, mumbled answers and oftentimes dazed looks.

“I was really concerned because the minute [Biden] walked out on that stage, I felt he [was] not feeling good,” Constantine said. “His skin was pale, it was pasty, and he literally looked like a dead man walking.”

BIDEN’S ‘DISASTER’ DEBATE PERFORMANCE SPARKS MEDIA MELTDOWN, CALLS FOR HIM TO WITHDRAW FROM 2024 RACE

Biden looks on as he participates in the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections with former President Trump on June 27, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

“It was as if everything were in slow motion,” she continued. “His fingers and his lack of illustrators when he was talking, he was like a frozen statue up there on the stage. It really was painful to watch. [Trump] had a more serious demeanor. He didn’t make a lot of facial gestures as we normally see him do. He didn’t flash his great big smile at anybody. He was very serious when he walked out on the stage, and it really didn’t change at all through the entire debate.”

Constantine added, “It made Biden look exceptionally weak, and made Donald Trump exceptionally powerful.”

Biden’s campaign blamed the raspy voice on a cold, but the president’s uneven debate performance grabbed the vast majority of headlines from the debate, sparking a new round of calls from political pundits and some Democrats for the president to consider stepping aside as the party’s standard-bearer. 

But top Biden allies pushed back against such talk as they defended the president and targeted Trump for lying throughout the debate. 

Constantine says that it was clear that Biden had rehearsed many of his answers and went through his scripted answers very fast so as not to forget his lines. But when he did fail to recollect lines, it tripped him up, resulting in him giving long stares, oftentimes without blinking, which she describes as a “stalker stare.” 

“And the minute he forgot a couple of words, it was all over with, right, and then you could see that dropped mouth, and it was that dumbfounded look,” she explained. “His eyes would become very open and almost zombie-like. So he had that very flat stare in his eyes.”

MEDIA CALLS FOR BIDEN TO WITHDRAW FROM 2024 RACE AFTER ‘DISASTER’ CNN DEBATE PERFORMANCE: ‘IT’S OVER’

Biden and Trump debated in a high-stakes debate Thursday night and a body expert says their gestures told a lot about them. (Getty Images)

She also said Biden had too many cosmetic injections which physically prevented him from making proper expressions.

“He was really way too botoxed out, and that is a real problem because it can create some cognitive issues because when you shut down those emotions through facial effects, it can affect your brain,” Constantine explained. “It really almost felt abusive in my opinion, to literally allow him … [to] go through that kind of pressure knowing that he is in this high cognitive decline was to me, almost abusive.”

“And it was sad to watch. My heart broke,” she added. “I mean, literally, I could have cried watching him try to force these words out the best he could and it was just super hard to watch. The emotion that I felt, of sympathy, of empathy, because he just truly looked pathetic.”

Trump, on the other hand, showed discipline and commanded his stage space, Constantine said, adding that the lack of an audience played to Trump’s advantage as it kept him focused on the debate and not distracted.

She said Trump also used his hand movements to convey his messaging. He also expressed his emotions in his face, and said that when he is hurt or attacked, it is noticeable as his face droops downward in a sad gesture.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

Trump used his hands to convey his point in the debate. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

“He’s a big guy with big hands, right? And he captures the attention,” Constantine said. “He’s very big, and wide and open, and so everything in his gestures and in his movements are big and boisterous. His hands are no more than additional communicators of what he’s saying.”

Constantine said Trump used a chopping motion when he was serious and used an “okay” sign when he was concentrating on something that was really important. He also gave an “L” sign at ear level which she terms as “listen and learn” while he also moved his hands towards his chest as if he is playing an accordion. 

“[Trump’s gestures] are much more rapid and much more commanding, much more intense. But that goes along with his personality so it is in sync with his personality,” Constantine said. “We’ve seen politicians where their gestures are so synchronized and they’re so on point that it loses its authenticity. He left that window open so that he was able to gesture, stay within that balance, stay within the frame, connect with the audience, or on camera and not over gesture but just gesture enough to get his point across.” 

“Very powerful,” she added. 

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.  

Some members of the Fox News Digital focus group had a change of heart on how they planned to vote after watching the debate.

“Cognitive ability … this is the highest office, and for me, it’s very important that I trust the executive to understand and be cognitively competent,” one member of the focus group, who changed their support from President Biden to former President Donald after the debate, said of their reasoning.

The comments come after the first debate between Biden and Trump, who will square off in a rematch of the 2020 election.

BIDEN RIPPED FOR ‘OLD’ APPEARANCE, ‘WEAK’ VOICE DURING FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: ‘DEEPLY ALARMING’

President Joe Biden speaks as he participates in the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections with former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at CNN’s studios in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27, 2024. Republican presidential candidate former U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks during the CNN Presidential Debate at the CNN Studios on June 27, 2024, in Atlanta, Georgia.  ((Photo by Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images); (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images))

Biden, who has faced growing questions about his fitness to continue serving in the nation’s highest office, looked to dispel any notion that he lacked the physical and mental capacity for four more years as president. However, many critics point out that his performance only did more to deepen those fears among voters.

“From the very first moment, Biden looked old, hard to understand, confused, saying scary things, and just throwing mud,” Fox Business’ Larry Kudlow said shortly after the debate.

“I’ve lived four years with Trump, I lived three and a half years with [Biden]. I’ll take the other four.”

Those observations were shared by the Fox News Digital focus group, with one member saying that one only had to play back video of the debate to see why the night solidified his support for Trump.

TRUMP VOWS HE ‘WILL NOT BLOCK’ ABORTION PILLS OR MEDICATION IF ELECTED, SAYS HE BELIEVES IN ‘EXCEPTIONS’

“I’ve lived four years with Trump, I lived three and a half years with [Biden],” the member said. “I’ll take the other four.”

Overall, 10 of the 15 members of the group said they were supporting Trump after the debate.

Asked whether any moments for Biden stuck out, some respondents praised the president for his positions on taxes and childcare. Nevertheless, the group expressed concern overall when it comes to Biden’s ability to lead the country.

President Joe Biden speaks as he participates in the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections with former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at CNN’s studios in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27, 2024. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

“I don’t think anyone is going to remember anything he said tonight,” one member said. “They’re going to remember how he said it.”

For its part, the Biden campaign insists the debate was a net negative for Trump and helped make the case for the president.

“Based on research we conducted during tonight’s debate, it is clear that the more voters heard from Donald Trump, the more they remembered why they dislike him. Meanwhile, President Biden started slow but finished strong,” a Biden campaign official told Fox News Digital in an email early Friday morning. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The Biden campaign referred to a “survey of undecided voters in a Midwest state” where “debate-watchers agreed that President Biden won the debate and the more they saw of Donald Trump’s erratic and vindictive behavior, the more they remembered why they voted against him in 2020.”

“Over the course of the night, Trump continued to double down on unpopular policy positions and petty and vindictive personal anecdotes, while refusing to address the issues that undecided voters actually care about,” the official added.

Republican voters flatlined after President Biden claimed that no troops have died under his watch – failing to acknowledge the service men and women who have died during his administration.

During a Fox News Digital focus group, Republicans, Democrats and Independents used dials to react live to President Biden’s claim during the presidential debate that no troops died under his watch.

“When he was president, they were still killing people in Afghanistan,” Biden said, referring to former President Donald Trump. “And he didn’t do anything about that.”

“When he was president, we were finding ourselves in a position where you had a notion that we were this safe country,” Biden said. “The truth is, I’m the only president this century, this decade, that doesn’t have any troops dying anywhere in the world like he did.”

CNN FLASH POLL SHOWS TRUMP AS CLEAR WINNER OF PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: ‘STUNNING NUMBER’

US President Joe Biden speaks as he participates in the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections with former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at CNN’s studios in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27, 2024. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

After his statement about the former president’s loss of military lives in Afghanistan, Democrats in the focus group reacted positively. 

Republicans and Independents reacted negatively, with the dial line plummeting. 

Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz in Kabul, Afghanistan the day he was killed by a suicide bomb attack at Hamid Karzai International Airport.  (Mark Schmitz)

Biden’s statement failed to acknowledge the 13 fallen service members who were killed during his administration’s Afghanistan withdrawal in Aug. 2021.

Thirteen U.S. service members, including 11 Marines, one Army special operations soldier, and one Navy corpsman, were killed in the bombing at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.

TRUMP RIPS BIDEN FOR NOT FIRING GENERALS AFTER BOTCHED AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL: ‘INCOMPETENCE’

In Jan. 2024, U.S. Central Command confirmed that three U.S. service members were killed and at least 25 others were injured in a drone attack on an outpost in northeast Jordan near the Syrian border.

Two U.S. Navy SEALs, identified as Navy Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Christopher J. Chambers, 37, and Navy Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class Nathan Gage Ingram, 27, died while conducting a weapons transfer from Iran to Houthi rebels off the coast of Somalia.

MH-60S Seahawk helicopter performing routine flight operation, Atlantic Ocean, July 4, 2018. Five soliders died in a helicopter crash in Nov. 2023. (Image courtesy Petty Officer 3rd Class Thomas Gooley / USS Harry S Truman. Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

Other U.S. service members have also died abroad in training incidents.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Five soldiers died in a helicopter crash in the eastern Mediterranean Sea in November 2023 during a routine refueling mission, and eight U.S. airmen died in a CV-22 Osprey crash in November 2023 in Yakushima Island, Japan.

President Joe Biden was praised by his wife on Thursday following his first presidential debate appearance despite a widely-criticized performance.

First Lady Jill Biden greeted her husband on stage at the debate after-party with a live audience, seeming to celebrate the mere fact that the president responded to moderators’ questions. 

“Joe, you did such a great job! You answered every question, you knew all the facts!” Jill Biden cheered to a smiling Joe Biden on-stage.

JILL BIDEN SAYS HUSBAND IS ‘ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE PRESIDENTS’ IN MODERN HISTORY ‘BECAUSE OF’ HIS AGE

Biden and First Lady Jill Biden speak to supporters at a watch party for the CNN Presidential Debate in Atlanta, Georgia. Biden and Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump faced off in the first presidential debate of the 2024 campaign.  (Tasos Katopodis/Tasos Katopodis)

“And let me ask the crowd. “What did Trump do?” the first lady continued, turning to the audience and gesturing before shouting “Lie!”

The moment has gone viral since the debate, with many articles reporting on Jill Biden’s manner of speaking being reminiscent of praising a child.

Biden’s performance at the debate has been almost universally panned by commentators due to his inarticulate speaking and unstable demeanor.

BIDEN’S ‘DISASTER’ DEBATE PERFORMANCE SPARKS MEDIA MELTDOWN, CALLS FOR HIM TO WITHDRAW FROM 2024 RACE

Jill Biden greets her husband’s supporters at the campaign’s watch party for the CNN Presidential Debate. (Tasos Katopodis/Tasos Katopodis)

Repeated stammering, long periods of silence and facial expressions that conveyed intense confusion have convinced some of Biden’s loudest cheerleaders that the president must step down from the re-election campaign.

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, a longtime Biden ally, wrote the debate “made me weep” and realize Biden should step aside.

“I cannot remember a more heartbreaking moment in American presidential campaign politics in my lifetime — precisely because of what it revealed: Joe Biden, a good man and a good president, has no business running for re-election,” he wrote.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The Bidens can be seen walking with Mayor of Durham Leonardo Williams (R) upon arrival at Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

CNN commentator Van Jones, who cried for joy when Biden won the 2020 presidential election, offered an emotional plea for the president to step aside.

“I love that guy as a good man. He loves his country. He’s doing the best that he can. But he had a test to meet tonight, to restore confidence of the country and of the base, and he failed to do that,” Jones said. “And I think there’s a lot of people who are going to want to see him consider taking a different course now.”

Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.

Heated exchanges ensued between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden during the CNN Presidential Debate on Thursday night, as the two rivals went head-to-head during their second debate since 2020. 

Illegal immigration, abortion, and inflation were among the top issues on the debate stage, as well as climate change and the Israel-Hamas and Russia-Ukraine wars.

The debate comes as Biden and Trump are the frontrunners for the Democratic and Republican parties respectively. This is the first televised debate between the candidates for this election cycle and a second hosted by ABC is scheduled to be held in September. 

Trump did not participate in the Republican primary debates, while the Democratic National Convention (DNC) threw its full support behind Biden and did not hold any debates among his challengers.

BIDEN CAMP DODGES ANSWERING IF PRESIDENT PLANS TO USE PERFORMANCE-ENHANCING DRUGS BEFORE DEBATE

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

Here are the top clashes from Thursday’s debate:

1. “I really don’t know what he said,” Trump-Biden immigration clash

When CNN moderator Jake Tapper asked President Joe Biden to inform voters why he can curb the record-high numbers of illegal migrants crossing the border during Thursday night’s debate, Biden and Trump sparred over their immigration policies, which ended in Biden calling Trump a “liar” and Trump appearing to not understand a portion of Biden’s responses.

After touting Congress’s bipartisan border package that lawmakers bucked earlier this year, Biden said “we find ourselves in a situation where when he was president, he was separating babies from their mothers put them in cages, making sure that the families were separated.”

“That’s not the right way to go. What I’ve done since I’ve changed the law, what’s happened? I’ve changed it in a way that now you’re in a situation where there are 40% fewer people coming across the border illegally, that’s better than when he left office. And I’m going to continue to move until we get the total ban on the total initiative relative to what we can do with more Border Patrol and more asylum officers,” Biden said.

But Trump, appearing to not understand Biden, responded: “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence, I don’t think he knows what he said either.”

“Look, we had the safest border in the history of our country,” Trump continued. “All he had to do was leave it, all he had to do was to leave it. He decided to open up our border, open up our country, to people that are from prisons, people that are from mental institutions, insane asylum, terrorists – we have the largest number of terrorists coming into our country right now.”

TRUMP, BIDEN SPAR OVER GOLF HANDICAPS AS THEY TRY TO CONVINCE VOTERS THEY ARE NOT TOO OLD FOR THE PRESIDENCY

US President Joe Biden speaks as he participates in the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections with former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at CNN’s studios in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27, 2024. (Getty Images)

2. ‘Alley cat morals,’ Trump-Biden clash over Stormy Daniels allegations

Biden accused former President Trump of “having sex with a porn star” and said he has “the morals of an alley cat,” but the presumptive Republican nominee maintained that he did not, and accused Biden of being behind his legal cases because “he can’t win fair and square.” 

“How many billions of dollars do you owe civil penalties for molesting a woman in public? For doing a whole range of things—having sex with a porn star…while your wife was pregnant?” Biden said. “You have the morals of an alley cat during the night, sir.” 

Trump fired back denying the allegations.

“I didn’t have sex with a porn star, number one,” he said. “Number two, that was a case that was started, and they moved a high-ranking official—DOJ—into the Manhattan DA’s office to start the case.” 

Trump was referring to Matthew Colangelo, who served as a senior DOJ official in the Biden administration, and left to join Bragg’s prosecution team. 

3. ‘I will have that war settled between Putin and Zelinsky as President-Elect before I take office,’ Trump-Biden spar over Ukraine-Russia war

Trump threw several jabs at Biden for giving billions of dollars to Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy to continue its defense against the Russian invasion that began in February 2022 and said if elected, he’d have the war “settled” before taking office.

“He’s given $200 billion, that’s a lot of money,” Trump said. “I don’t think there’s ever been anything like it. Every time that Zelinsky comes to this country. He walks away with $60 billion. He’s the greatest salesman ever.”

“The money that we’re spending on this war, we shouldn’t be spending. It should have never happened. I will have that war settled between Putin and Zelinsky as President-Elect before I take office on January 20. I’ll have that war settled. People being killed so needlessly, so stupidly and I will get it settled, and I’ll get it settle fast before I take office.”

In response, the current president said, “The fact is that Putin is a war criminal.”

“He’s killed 1000s and 1000s of people and he has made one thing clear, he wants to reestablish what was part of the Soviet empire, not just a piece, he wants all of Ukraine,” he said.

“By the way, all that money we give Ukraine from weapons we make here in the United States, give them the weapons, not the money at this point, and I made our NATO allies produce as much funding for Ukraine as we have – that’s why it’s that’s why we’re strong,” he said. 

A RASPY BIDEN GETS OFF TO A HALTING START AGAINST TRUMP IN THE FIRST 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION DEBATE

This composite image shows President Biden, former President Trump and the southern border. ((AP Photo/Gerald Herbert and Fox News))

4. Trump-Biden spar over cognitive abilities, golf handicaps: ‘You are a child’

During the CNN Presidential Debate, CNN moderator Dana Bash presented the age Biden and Trump would be at the end of a potential second term.

Biden would be 86. Trump would be 82. 

Biden defended his age, saying he “spent half my career being criticized about being the youngest person in politics. I was the second-youngest person ever elected to the United States Senate, and now I’m the oldest. This guy is three years younger and a lot less competent.” 

But Trump reminded that he has taken two cognitive tests. 

“I aced both of them, as you know, we made it public. He took none. I’d like to see him take one. Just want a real easy one,” Trump said. 

Trump, an avid golfer, said Thursday night that he recently “won two club championships—not even senior—two regular club championships.” 

“To do that, you have to be quite smart and you have to be able to hit the ball a long way and I do it,” Trump said. “He doesn’t do it. He can’t hit a ball 50 yards. He challenged me to a golf match—he can’t hit a ball 50 yards.” 

“I’ve seen you swing. I know your swing,” Trump fiered back. “Let’s not act like children.” 

But Biden replied: “You are a child.” 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Debate dial shows Democratic voters react favorably towards Biden’s comments on the economy.   (Fox News Digital)

5. Biden-Trump exchange jabs over criminal records

While Biden reminded Trump that the “only person” that has a felony record on the debate stage is Trump, the former president said “when he talks about a convicted felon, his son is a convicted felon.”

“At a very high level, his son is convicted,” Trump said, adding that he’d seek “retribution,” referring to a potential November election victory. 

“As soon as he gets out of office, Joe could be a convicted felon with all of the things that he’s done,” he continued. “He’s done horrible things, all of the death caused at the border, telling the Ukrainian people that we’re gonna want a billion dollars if you change the prosecutor, otherwise, you’re not getting a billion dollars. If i ever said that, that’s quid pro quo.”

“This man is a criminal. This man, you’re lucky, you’re lucky. I did nothing wrong. We have a system that was rigged and disgusting,” Trump said.

Meanwhile, Biden pushed back at the idea that he has done any wrongdoing “is outrageous.”

“It’s simply a lie,” Biden responded. “Number two, the idea that you have a right to seek retribution against any American just because you’re president is wrong. No president has ever spoken like that before. No president in our history has spoken like that before.” 

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report. 

President Biden and former President Trump’s tense Thursday night match-up was the first debate since 1960 to not feature a live audience.

CNN CEO Mark Thompson told Axios earlier this week that he was aiming for “an absolutely classic debate,” similar to the first-ever televised debate between former Presidents Kennedy and Nixon in 1960. 

It was one of several details that spurred comparisons online between the CNN Presidential Debate and the historically significant first debate between Kennedy and Nixon.

Political commentator S.E. Cupp wrote on X, “Maybe the most consequential debate since Nixon/Kennedy?”

TRUMP LEADING BIDEN AHEAD OF CNN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE, SUPPORT FROM BLACK VOTERS WAY UP SINCE 2020: POLL

President Biden, left, and former President Trump speak at the CNN Presidential Debate. (Getty Images)

Nixon, who had just spent the better part of a decade as vice president in the Eisenhower administration, had led then-young Sen. John F. Kennedy in most national polls ahead of the event, according to the National Constitution Center.

However, Kennedy’s team took a more media-savvy approach, accepting an invitation for a media walkthrough before the event and opting for wearing makeup for the cameras, according to reports.

Nixon, feeling the toll of both the intense campaign trail and a recent hospital stay, appeared tired and unhealthy. 

PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: HOW MUCH DID THE DEBT GROW UNDER BIDEN AND TRUMP’S TERMS?

It was the first debate without a live audience since the first televised debate in 1960. (Pictorial Parade/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

It was widely reported that people who watched the debate on television thought Kennedy won, and people who listened to it on the radio thought Nixon won. Kennedy went on to win the election by a narrow margin.

RealClearPolitics elections analyst Nathaniel Rakich made the comparison to Thursday’s debate on X.

“The modern version of the Nixon-Kennedy debate: People who only read the transcript will think Biden won, people who watch or listen will think Trump won,” he wrote.

THE MANY FACES OF DONALD TRUMP FROM PAST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES

From left to right, Senator John F. Kennedy (1917 – 1963), Don Hewitt of CBS News and Vice President Richard M. Nixon (1913 -1994) at the first televised presidential debate on Sept. 26, 1960. (CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)

Others also compared Biden to Nixon after the 81-year-old president appeared tired and sometimes unfocused while sparring with his rival on screen.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Former Trump 2020 campaign aide Tim Murtaugh wrote on X, “It’s funny. They say that people who listened to Kennedy and Nixon debate on the radio thought Nixon won because he spoke well and made good arguments. But people who watched on TV thought Kennedy won because he looked better.”

“Biden lost both groups tonight,” he added.

ATLANTA – With the first presidential debate in their 2024 election rematch now in the rearview mirror, President Biden and former President Trump stay in the South as they hold rallies in states they’re aiming to flip come November.

Following their face-to-face on-stage showdown at the CNN Presidential Debate Thursday night in Atlanta, Georgia – where Biden struggled with a raspy voice and delivered halting answers – the president heads to Raleigh, North Carolina, where he’ll hold a rally Friday in a state he lost to Trump by a razor-thin margin in 2020.

Trump, whom pundits declared the winner of the debate, will be rallying Friday in Virginia, which he lost by 10 points four years ago.

A RASPY BIDEN DELIVERS A HALTING DEBATE PERFORMANCE

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 indicated 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, Va. (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. 

And according to a memo from the Trump campaign obtained last week by Fox News, the former president’s team is aiming to open 8 offices in Minnesota and 11 in Virginia and hire staff to manage the new locations.

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.”

Former President Donald Trump and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin meet for the first time in June 2024. (Trump Campaign)

Youngkin will join Trump at Friday’s rally at the historic Greenbriar Farms in Chesapeake, Virginia.

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

CLICK HERE TO GET FOX NEWS APP

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

Biden on Friday will be in Raleigh, North Carolina’s capital city. The Biden campaign said that the president and First Lady Jill Biden will be joined by “Grammy-nominated artist, entrepreneur and philanthropist Fat Joe, in addition to multi-platinum musician and entrepreneur E-40.”

The president lost the state by just 74,000 votes four years ago. The latest polls in the state indicate Trump with a mid-single digit advantage.

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.

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’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.

There were several heated moments and pointed jabs during the first 2024 presidential debate between President Biden and former President Trump on Thursday night. 

Discussing a variety of topics, including immigration and the border, the war in Israel, and abortion, the candidates managed to land some punches and challenge one another on their respective records. 

CNN FLASH POLL SHOWS TRUMP AS CLEAR WINNER OF FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: ‘STUNNING NUMBER’

Here are the top five moments from the presidential debate, which was hosted by CNN.

President Biden and former President Trump debated on Thursday night.  (Getty Images)

1. ‘I didn’t have sex with a porn star’

During the debate, Biden hit Trump over the various criminal cases he is involved in, including the New York trial that ended with Trump’s conviction for falsifying business records. The records were related to alleged hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who Trump allegedly had an affair with. However, Trump shot back at Biden, claiming, “I didn’t have sex with a porn star.”

PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE SHOWDOWN BETWEEN BIDEN, TRUMP WAS FESTIVAL OF THE UNPRECEDENTED

2. Trump slams Biden Afghanistan withdrawal 

“He was so bad with Afghanistan,” Trump claimed during the debate, calling it “such a horrible embarrassment.” 

“He should have fired those generals like I fired the one that you mentioned, and so he’s got no love lost, but he should have fired those generals,” he added. “No general got fired for the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country, Afghanistan, where we left billions of dollars of equipment behind. We lost 13 beautiful soldiers and 38 soldiers were obliterated.”

TRUMP RIPS BIDEN FOR NOT FIRING GENERALS AFTER BOTCHED AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL: ‘INCOMPETENCE’

3. Biden denies wrongdoing, calling it ‘outrageous’

The president slammed Trump’s claims he could be prosecuted, brushing it off as “outrageous.” 

“Joe could be a convicted felon with all of the things that he’s done,” Trump claimed. 

 “This man is a criminal. This man — you’re lucky. You’re lucky. I did nothing wrong. We’d have a system that was rigged and disgusting. I did nothing wrong,” he added. 

Biden shot back, “the idea that I did anything wrong is outrageous.”

TRUMP’S CLEAR-CUT DEBATE VICTORY OVER BIDEN RAISES AWKWARD QUESTION ABOUT 2024 CAMPAIGN

4. Biden says he is ‘not for a late-term abortion — period’

Biden pushed back on Trump after the former president said he would allow late term abortions to occur.

“So that means he can take the life of the baby in the ninth month and even after birth? Because some states Democrat-run take it after birth. The former governor of Virginia: ‘put the baby down, then we decide what to do with it.’ So, he’s willing to, as we say, rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month and kill the baby. Nobody wants that to happen — Democrat or Republican. Nobody wants that to happen,” Trump said. 

But Biden claimed, “You’re lying. That is simply not true.” 

According to the president, he is “not for a late-term abortion — period. Period.” 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

5. Trump claims Biden ‘has become like a Palestinian’

While discussing Israel’s war with terrorist group Hamas in Gaza, Trump slammed Biden, who he said doesn’t want to let Israel “finish the job.”

“He’s become like a Palestinian, but they don’t like him because he’s a very bad Palestinian. He’s a weak one,” he said. 

“I’ve never heard so much foolishness,” Biden responded.

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

Democrats wholeheartedly reacted favorably to President Biden’s remarks on how he wants to tackle the economy, according to a focus group that offered their approval in real time during Thursday’s presidential debate, according to a Fox News Digital focus group. 

The group of Republicans, Democrats and Independents used dials to react live to the beginning of the debate where Biden argued that his economic record was not worse than former President Trump’s.

“Let’s look at what I was left with when I became president. What Mr. Trump left me,” Biden said. “We had an economy that was in freefall. The pandemic was so badly handled. Many people were dying.” 

BIDEN RIPPED FOR ‘OLD’ APPEARANCE, ‘WEAK’ VOICE DURING FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: ‘DEEPLY ALARMING’

Democrats reacted positively to President Biden’s remarks on the economy during Thursday’s presidential debate.  (Fox News Digital)

“The economy collapsed. There were no jobs. The unemployment rate rose to 15%” added Biden. “We’re in a situation where if you take a look at all that was done in his administration, he didn’t do much at all. By the time he left, things were in chaos.”

Democrats in the focus group agreed with the president, as opposed to Republicans and Independents, who went in the completely opposite direction. 

The Republicans in the focus group nearly unanimously disagreed with Biden’s view on the Trump economy. 

During the debate, both men sparred over inflation, with Biden saying Trump’s economy was so bad, there was no room for price increases that many Americans have had to live with in the past few years. 

TRUMP VOWS HE ‘WILL NOT BLOCK’ ABORTION PILLS OR MEDICATION IF ELECTED, SAYS HE BELIEVES IN ‘EXCEPTIONS’

The debate dial appears during the debate between President Biden and former President Trump.  (Fox News Digital)

Democrats also agreed with Biden’s criticism of Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Approval by Republicans and Independents trended downward.

Independents, however, seemed to agree somewhat when Biden said he wanted to cap “corporate greed” to lower prices of necessities like gas, groceries, prescription drugs  and housing. 

“There’s more to be done,” he said. “Working-class people are still in trouble. The combination that I was left with and corporate is the reason why we’re in this problem right now.”

President Biden and former President Trump debated on Thursday night.  (Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“We’re working to bring down the price around the kitchen table and that’s what we’re going to get done,” he added. 

Following the conclusion of the CNN Presidential Debate, Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., fired back at reporters when asked if he would support the idea of replacing President Biden.

“I would never turn my back on President Biden. Never turn my back on President Biden. I don’t know a Democrat in my party that would do so. And especially after tonight, we have his back,” Newsom said.

“We run, not the 90-yard dash. We are all in. We’re going to double down in the next few months. We’re going to win this election,” he continued.

When questioned about Biden’s performance, Newsom said he cared about “the substance.”

ADAM CAROLLA SAYS HE’S LEAVING ‘HORRIBLE’ CALIFORNIA, PANS ‘SOCIOPATHIC’ NEWSOM: ‘SLIPPERY EEL OF NOTHINGNESS’

Left: President Biden. Right: California Gov. Gavin Newsom. (Getty Images)

“How about the substance? I care about the substance. I care about the substance,” Newsom said without explaining what he meant. 

Newsom assured reporters that he was not going to turn his back on the president and was confident he was fit to be the country’s leader.

“I spent a lot of time with him. I know Joe Biden, I know what he’s accomplished in the last three and a half years. I know what he’s capable of. And I have no trepidations,” Newsom said.

ROGAN SAYS DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS ‘SETTING UP GAVIN NEWSOM’ FOR 2024 PRESIDENTIAL RUN AMID BIDEN SCANDALS

Gov. Gavin Newsom and his wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom, photographed with President Biden, have been married since 2008. (David McNew)

Leading up to the debate, rumors continued to swirl that Newsom, a possible candidate for president in 2028, had been tapped as a Biden surrogate leading up to the November presidential election.

Back in February, podcast host Joe Rogan speculated the Democratic Party was preparing to swap out Biden with Newsom on the 2024 presidential ticket. 

“Don’t you think that that’s a ruse, him running for president?” Rogan asked, later arguing, “I think they’re gonna get rid of him, I think they’re gonna move him out, they’re gonna force him to step down. That’s what I think.”

GAVIN NEWSOM ‘WANTS TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT’ IN 2024, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST SAYS

Gov. Gavin Newsom with President Joe Biden (Getty Images)

Following the debate, Newsom brushed off concerns about Biden’s performance, saying “we’ve all had those nights” and that the president has repeatedly pushed through concerns about his age.

“He never gives up. He’s never giving up, fighting for us, fighting for democracy, our future kids, our grandkids. So we’ve got to have this back in this respect. And yeah, I hope he does come back, and I hope he is back on the stage in another debate,” he told MSNBC’s Alex Wagner in a post-debate interview.

When pressed if he was “ready to take on Donald Trump,” hinting that he could be a potential replacement for Biden, Newsom again denied the rumors and gave his full support to the president.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Absolutely not. I will never turn my back. That’s my personal point of view. I do not know one Democrat that would do that,” Newsom said. 

Fox News Digital’ Alexander Hall contributed to this report. 

Former President Donald Trump, during the CNN Presidential Debate Simulcast Thursday night, repeatedly hammered President Biden over the ongoing crisis at the southern border — saying Biden had wrecked a secure border and turned the U.S. into a “rats nest.”

“He’s the one that killed people with the bad border including hundreds of thousands of people dying, and also killing our citizens when they come in. We are living right now in a rats’ nest,” Trump said.

The U.S. has been facing a historic border crisis, with numbers of migrant encounters that have repeatedly smashed records. While numbers have dropped sharply in recent months from a record high in December, the crisis has overwhelmed communities across the U.S. there have been a number of high profile crimes committed by illegal immigrants.  Republicans have blamed Biden-era policies, while the administration has said it needs more funding and reform from Congress to fix a “broken” system.

TRUMP LEADING BIDEN AHEAD OF CNN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE, SUPPORT FROM BLACK VOTERS WAY UP SINCE 2020: POLL

Trump returned repeatedly to the crisis in the debate, noting crimes including a murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray allegedly by two Venezuelan illegal immigrants in Texas.

Immigrants wait to be processed by the U.S. Border Patrol after crossing the border from Mexico, with the U.S.-Mexico border barrier in the background, on August 6, 2022 in Yuma, Arizona.  ((Photo by Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images))

“They’re killing our people in New York and California and every state in the union because we don’t have borders anymore. Every state is now a border,” Trump said. “And because of his ridiculous, insane and very stupid policies, people are coming in and they’re killing our citizens at a level that we’ve never seen.”

“We call it migrant crime. I call it Biden migrant crime, they’re killing our citizens at a level that we’ve never seen before,” he said.

Trump repeatedly turned questions, not just about the border but about social security, climate change and other topics, into attacks on Biden’s handling of the border crisis. Polls have shown repeatedly that voters largely disapprove of Biden’s handling of border security and it has remained a top issue of concern for many voters.

Biden defended his record on the border when asked about it by the debate moderators, and noted that he had helped to get a bipartisan Senate bill that would provide more funding and a mechanism to limit some entries into the U.S. But it has not yet received enough support to pass the chamber.

President Joe Biden (R) and Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump participate in the CNN Presidential Debate at the CNN Studios on June 27, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. ( Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

“In addition to that, we found ourselves in a situation when [Trump] was president, he was separating babies from their mothers, put them in cages, making sure the families were separated. That’s not the right way to go. What I’ve done since I’ve changed the law.”

He appeared to be referring to a recent executive order that limits some asylum claims when encounters exceed a certain level, which has been followed in the last month by a 40% decrease in encounters. 

“It’s better than when he left office, and I’m going to continue to move until we get the total ban on…the total initiative relative to what we’re going to do with more border patrol and more asylum officers,” he said.

BLUE STATE DEPLOYS OFFICIALS TO THE BORDER WITH SURPRISING WARNING FOR MIGRANTS

Trump shot back: “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either. 

“Look, we had the safest border in the history of our country All he had to do is leave it. He decided to open up our border, open up our country to people that are from prisons, people that are from mental institutions, insane asylums, terrorists. We have the largest number of terrorists coming into our country right now. All terrorists all over the world, not just in South America, all over the world. They come from the Middle East. Everywhere, all over the world are pouring in. And this guy just left it open.”

Biden accused Trump of “lying” and said there’s no data to support what he said.

Trump would later go on to contrast the treatment of veterans to how migrants are being treated.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

“What they’re doing to the VA to our veterans is unbelievable and veterans are living in the street. And these people are living in luxury hotels,” he said.

Trump would later turn a question about drug overdoses in the U.S., many of which come from fentanyl smuggled across the border, into a criticism of Biden on the border.

 CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“The numbers of the amount of drugs and human trafficking in women coming across our border, the worst thing I’ve ever seen — at numbers that nobody’s ever seen, under him, because the border is so bad,” he said.

Biden went back to touting bipartisan efforts and funding fights he had taken on in relation to tackling fentanyl at the border, including money for more fentanyl detection machines. But he claimed Trump torpedoed the deal.

“This bipartisan deal, more fentanyl machines to be able to detect drugs, more numbers of agents, more numbers of all the people at the border. And when we had that deal done, he went he called his Republican colleagues said, ‘Don’t do it. It’s going to hurt me politically.’ He never argued, it’s not a good bill. It’s a really good bill. We need those machines.”

President Biden accused former President Trump of “having sex with a porn star” and said he has “the morals of an alley cat,” but the presumptive Republican nominee maintained that he did not, and accused Biden of being behind his legal cases because “he can’t win fair and square.” 

During the CNN Presidential Debate Simulcast Thursday night, Biden pointed to Trump being convicted on all counts out of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation related to hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. 

Stormy Daniels is questioned by defense attorney Susan Necheles during Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in Manhattan state court in New York City, U.S., May 9, 2024, in this courtroom sketch. (REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg)

TRUMP ORDERED TO PAY MORE THAN $80 MILLION IN E. JEAN CARROLL DEFAMATION TRIAL

Biden also pointed to the case brought against Trump by E. Jean Carroll, who accused Trump of rape and defamation.  

“How many billions of dollars do you owe civil penalties for molesting a woman in public? For doing a whole range of things—having sex with a porn star…while your wife was pregnant?” Biden said. “You have the morals of an alley cat during the night, sir.” 

Former President Donald Trump is leading four percentage points ahead of President Biden, according to a new New York Times/Siena College poll. (Getty Images)

In the E. Jean Carroll case, a federal jury decided Trump must pay an $83.3 million to her for denying allegations that he raped her in the 1990s. Trump’s legal team has requested a new trial and appealed the ruling, but was rejected in April. 

But Trump, Thursday night, fired back, defending himself. 

“I didn’t have sex with a porn star, number one,” he said. “Number two, that was a case that was started, and they moved a high-ranking official—DOJ—into the Manhattan DA’s office to start the case.” 

Trump was referring to Matthew Colangelo, who served as a senior DOJ official in the Biden administration, and left to join Bragg’s prosecution team. 

EX-TOP BIDEN DOJ OFFICIAL NOW PROSECUTING TRUMP WAS ONCE PAID BY DNC FOR ‘POLITICAL CONSULTING’

A jury found Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree in New York v. Trump. Trump has vowed to appeal that verdict. 

“That case is going to be appealed and won. We had a very terrible judge, a horrible judge, the prosecutors were all high-ranking Democrats, appointed people,” Trump said. 

Trump accused Biden, saying he “went after his political opponent because he thought it was going to damage me.” 

“But when the public found out about the cases, because they understand it better than he does, he has no idea what these cases are, but when they found about these cases, you know what they did—my poll numbers went way up,” Trump said. “You know that—because you’re reporting it.” 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Trump also said his campaign “took in more money in the last two weeks than we’ve ever taken in in the history of any campaign.” 

 “I don’t think any campaign has ever taken hundreds of millions of dollars come pouring in because the public knows it is a scam,” Trump said. “It is a guy that is after his political opponent because he can’t win fair and square.” 

Former President Trump said he “will not block” abortion pills or abortion medication should he be elected president. 

During CNN’s Presidential Debate Simulcast, Trump was asked about his stance on abortion, and whether or not he would block abortion medication for women. 

“First of all, the Supreme Court just approved the abortion pill and I agree with their decision to have done that, and I will not block it,” Trump said. 

BIDEN WAR ROOM BLOG FOR CNN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

Former President Donald Trump holds a rally in the historically Democratic South Bronx on May 23, 2024 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Trump applauded the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and return the decision on abortion access to the states. 

“I put three great Supreme Court justices on the court and they happened to vote in favor of killing Roe v. Wade and moving it back to the states. This is something that everybody wanted,” he said. “Now the states are working it out.” 

Trump said every state is “making their own decisions right now.” 

“They’re all making their own decisions right now and right now the states control it,” Trump said. “That’s the vote of the people.” 

But Trump maintained that, like former President Ronald Reagan, he believes in “exceptions.” 

“I believe in the exceptions. I am a person that believes, and frankly, I think it is important to believe in the exceptions,” Trump said. “Some people, you have to follow your heart, some people don’t believe in that. But I believe in the exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. I think it’s very important.” 

He added: “Some people don’t follow your heart, but you have to get elected also, and because that has to do with other things, you got to get elected.” 

One year ago, abortion rights demonstrators gathered outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., to protest the overturning of Roe V. Wade. (Photographer: Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

TRUMP WAR ROOM BLOG FOR CNN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

But Trump said Democrats are “radical because they will take the life of a child in the eighth month, the ninth month, and even after birth.”

Trump said the country “is now coming together on this issue.” 

“It’s been a great thing.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Biden, though, said if he is re-elected, he will “restore Roe v. Wade.” 

Trump fired back: “So that means he can take the life of the baby in the ninth month and even after birth? Because some states Democrat-run take it after birth—The former governor of Virginia put the baby down, then we decide what to do with it, so, he’s willing to, as we say, rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month and kill the baby. Nobody wants that to happen—Democrat or Republican. Nobody wants that to happen.” 

Biden replied: “You’re lying. That is simply not true.” 

Biden added that he is “not for a late-term abortion—period. Period.” 

A former press secretary to first lady Jill Biden acknowledged shortly before the CNN Presidential Debate that he believes Democrats are not content with the state of the Biden campaign so far. 

“I don’t think anybody is satisfied right now,” Michael LaRosa told Fox News host Jesse Watters in the run-up to the Thursday night debate when asked if he was “satisfied” with the state of the Biden campaign today.

“Look, after the first debate four years ago, we knew, we saw the data move, we saw it change we knew we won the debate we knew we were probably going to win but the mood of the country is very different now and there’s a lot riding on tonight. There’s a lot of pressure on the president. He does have to pull away at some point.”

LaRosa added, “I don’t think anybody is comfortable. It’s a coin flip.”

JILL BIDEN SAYS HUSBAND IS ‘ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE PRESIDENTS’ IN MODERN HISTORY ‘BECAUSE OF’ HIS AGE

 Michael LaRosa served as the press secretary for first lady Jill Biden (Paul Morigi/Ting Shen)

Earlier this week, LaRosa vocally expressed his frustration with Team Biden’s ongoing strategy. 

“Everything looks and feels so choreographed, scripted and controlled that it doesn’t afford him the opportunities to show off his strengths — humor, empathy and compassion,” LaRosa told the New York Times. 

MICHELLE OBAMA FRUSTRATED WITH BIDENS OVER TREATMENT OF HUNTER’S EX-WIFE: REPORT

President Joe Biden speaks during the United Auto Workers union conference at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, DC, on January 24, 2024. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

“Relatability is his superpower, but you can only relate to someone when their humanity is exposed. That means flaws, mistakes and everything else that comes with imperfection,” he added.

“Those who have known him over the years said he remains at heart the same person… But many, including some on his own team, assume the limits on his public interactions are meant to protect him from age-related mistakes,” the Times wrote Wednesday. 

“There has been simmering discontent within his administration among those who think the president’s inner circle goes too far in shielding him from public exposure.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Former President Donald Trump holds a rally in the historically Democratic South Bronx on May 23, 2024 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Fox News Digital reached out to the Biden campaign for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Biden is set to debate former President Trump in a CNN presidential debate on Thursday night that will simulcast on Fox News. 

Former President Trump has a four-percentage-point lead over President Biden in a national poll released ahead of their first 2024 televised presidential debate hosted by CNN on Thursday. 

The latest New York Times/Siena College poll released on Wednesday showed 48% of the electorate say they would vote for Trump, the Republican, if the presidential election were held that same day, while 44% said they would vote for Biden, the Democrat. That contrasts with April’s New York Times/Siena College poll that showed Trump leading Biden by just one percentage point. 

Asked whether Biden should remain the Democratic Party’s nominee, 61% said there should be a different Democratic nominee, while 33% said Biden should remain. That compares to 54% who said there should be a different Republican nominee, while 41% believe Trump should remain. 

The poll showed 26% of Black likely voters would support Trump in the 2024 election. While 65% of Black likely voters said they would support Biden, Trump’s gains represent a significant uptick since 2020. 

According to a New York Times/ Siena College poll conducted June 17-20, 2020, just 5% of Black registered voters said they would support Trump, while 79% said they would support Biden. 

BLACK REPUBLICAN CALLS OUT BIDEN’S ‘REAL RECORD ON RACE’ IN SIX-FIGURE AD BUY TO AIR DURING CNN DEBATE

Notably, for the time, 68% of national registered voters said they disapproved of Trump’s handling of the protests and riots following George Floyd’s death in police custody in Minneapolis. 

Former President Trump, left, is leading four percentage points ahead of President Biden, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll. (Getty Images)

The latest poll of 1,226 registered voters nationwide, including 991 who completed the full survey, was conducted in English and Spanish on cellular and landline telephones from June 20-25. 

It also asked whether participants believed Biden or Trump are too old to be an effective president. A net percentage of 68% agreed Biden is too old, while 39% said the same for Trump. 

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

Former President Trump arrives at a campaign rally in Philadelphia on Saturday.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Conducted following Trump’s criminal conviction in the hush-money case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the poll found just 11% of the electorate were more likely to support Trump after he was found guilty, while just 19% were less likely to support him. Most people, 68%, said Trump’s hush-money conviction made no difference in whether they would back him.

There was a two-percentage-point lead in respondents who agreed the charges against Trump are mostly politically motivated contrasted against those who believe Trump was charged mostly because prosecutors believed he committed crimes. The majority, 55%, agreed that Trump should not be sentenced to prison in the hush-money case, while 37% said he should be kept behind bars. 

With just over four months until Election Day, Thursday’s debate offers both candidates a rare potential to alter the trajectory of the race. 

President Biden speaks at an event marking the 12th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program at the White House in Washington, D.C., on June 18. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Trump and Biden have not been on the same stage or even spoken since their last debate weeks before the 2020 presidential election. Trump skipped Biden’s inauguration. 

Thursday’s broadcast on CNN will be the earliest general election debate in history. It is the first-ever televised general election presidential debate hosted by a single news outlet after both campaigns ditched the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, which had organized every one since 1988.

 CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Under the network’s rules, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. did not qualify.

Aiming to avoid a repeat of their chaotic 2020 faceoffs, Biden insisted — and Trump agreed — to hold the debate without an audience and to allow the network to mute the candidates’ microphones when it is not their turn to speak. There will be two commercial breaks, another departure from modern practice. The candidates have agreed not to consult staff or others while the cameras are off.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Former President Trump and President Biden have spent weeks in preparation leading up to their center stage appearances tonight for the highly anticipated CNN Presidential Debate.

The debate is the first of the 2024 presidential election cycle to include both men, and millions of Americans across the country are seeking answers to questions about critical issues important to voters.

However, Americans are also awaiting viral moments brought on by both the remarks and facial expressions of each presidential candidate, especially as neither nominee is a stranger to social media virality.

YOUNG TRUMP SUPERFAN BROUGHT TO TEARS WHILE MEETING FORMER PRESIDENT

President Biden and former President Trump will go head-to-head tonight in the first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle. (Win McNamee/Getty Images/Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

A few times since Biden began his presidency, the incumbent has attracted hundreds of thousands of clicks for a number of speaking gaffes and a few falls.

In 2022, Biden was recorded falling off his bike while cycling in Delaware, which quickly circulated across social media platforms.

Last summer, Biden drew social media attention when he tripped and hit the stage floor during an Air Force Academy graduation ceremony.

Last weekend, Trump went viral during a moment shared with a young fan in Philadelphia where the child was wearing a Trump-like suit and wearing a wig. The kid met the former president, who signed and gifted him with a $20 bill, and the exchange was captured on video. It garnered nearly 900,000 views on X at midday on Sunday.

“I like that kid! So, if your parents don’t want you, I’ll take you,” Trump said in the video.

PRESIDENT BIDEN ALMOST FALLS WHILE WALKING UP AIR FORCE ONE STAIRS

Biden has gone viral for falling down several times since becoming president. (Fox News)

In 2023, following his arrest in Fulton County, Georgia, Trump’s mugshot immediately went viral and has since been used to decorate coffee mugs, sweatshirts and T-shirts, including those sold on his own campaign website.

While there will be no audience present tonight in Atlanta at CNN’s Midtown studio, and microphones will be controlled by media personnel, viewers everywhere will be looking at the candidates for clashing reactions to one another, especially the usually unabashed expressions provided by Trump.

Here are some of the most memorable facial expressions by the former president during previous presidential debates.

Trump reacts to Biden saying he has no COVID plan

During the Sept. 29, 2020, presidential debate between Trump and Biden, hosted by Fox News, Biden said of Trump during the COVID-19 pandemic, “He went on record and said to one of your colleagues, recorded, that in fact he knew how dangerous it was, but he didn’t want to tell us, didn’t want to tell us because he didn’t want us to panic.”

He added, “He didn’t want us. Americans don’t panic. He panicked,” and went on to say that Trump “still doesn’t have a plan” regarding next steps to combat the disease at the time.

Trump reacts to Biden saying he “doesn’t have a plan” during a 2020 presidential debate. (Fox News)

Trump reacts to a question about paying $750 in federal income taxes in 2017

During the same presidential debate on Sept. 29, 2020, Trump was asked by the moderator if he would tell Americans how much he paid in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017, to which he responded, “Millions of dollars.”

He added, “And you’ll get to see it.”

In late 2022, Democrats revealed Trump’s tax returns and made his finances public to the American people, though Trump worked to stop them in court.

HILLARY CLINTON COMPLAINS IT’S ‘IMPOSSIBLE’ TO DEBATE TRUMP, ‘WASTE OF TIME’ TO REFUTE ARGUMENTS

Trump reacts to a question about his federal tax filings during a 2020 presidential debate. (Fox News)

Trump’s reactions during debate with Hillary Clinton

During a 90-minute CNN-hosted presidential debate on Oct. 9, 2016, in St. Louis, Hillary Clinton and Trump went head-to-head on topics including taxes, a travel ban on Muslims, Syrian refugees and two-faced politicians, among other topics.

Early in the debate, Clinton said, “It’s just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country,” 

Trump responded ominously, “Because you’d be in jail.”

Later in the debate the former Secretary of State said, “Well, everything you’ve heard from Donald is not true. I’m sorry I have to keep saying this, but he lives in an alternative reality and it is sort of amusing to hear somebody who hasn’t paid federal income taxes in maybe 20 years talking about what he’s going to do, but I’ll tell you what he’s going to do.”

Trump reacts to energy policy statement from Biden

During the final presidential debate between Trump and Biden on Oct. 22, 2020, at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, the former president and incumbent disagreed over energy policies when Biden said he wanted to move away from fossil fuels.

Biden said of Trump, “He won’t give federal subsidies to the gas, excuse me, to solar and wind,” to which Trump subsequently reacted with “Oooh!” a couple of times.

Trump reacts to Biden’s remarks during an ABC-hosted presidential debate in 2020. (ABC)

Trump reacts to Clinton and climate change remark

The first presidential debate between Clinton and Trump drew over 84 million viewers.

During the debate on Sept. 26, 2016, Clinton said of the former president, “Donald thinks that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese,” to which Trump subtly raised his eyebrows and followed with “I did not. I do not say that.”

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Trump reacts to remarks made by Clinton regarding climate change during an NBC-hosted presidential debate in 2016. (NBC)