NationalWatch

A Texas man received a nearly three-year-long jail sentence after his criminal conviction for leaving threatening and racist voicemails for California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters. 

United States District Judge R. Gary Klausner sentenced Brian Michael Gaherty, 61, of Houston, to 33 months in federal prison and fined him $10,000. The judge found that Gaherty targeted Waters because of her race and added a hate-crime enhancement to his sentence, the Department of Justice said in a news release. 

“Threats to harm or kill elected officials are anathema to our nation’s values and must not — and will not — be tolerated,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “My office and the entire Department of Justice will continue to combat threats against public officials and other attempts to chill democracy.”

Gaherty pleaded guilty on Jan. 29 to one count of threatening a United States official.

TEXAS MAN ACCUSED OF THREATENING TO KILL REP. MAXINE WATERS IN RACIST VOICEMAILS

Representative Maxine Waters, a Democrat from California and ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, during a hearing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, June 12, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In his plea agreement, Gaherty admitted to threatening to assault and murder Waters on four separate occasions in August and November 2022. The threats were made in four voicemails left at Waters’ district office in Los Angeles County, which all contained profanity and racist language. 

According to an affidavit given by U.S. Capitol Police agent Michael Guest, Gaherty went on a series of racist tirades against the California congresswoman, at one point saying, “Hey, you black b—-.  You f— with my people man. All that racism s— b—-, you up in age, 80 years old and s—, trying to remember 1960 and all that bulls—. And causing controversy b—-.  We got something for your ass now b—-, you black motherf—–.  Yeah, we coming for you bro.”

In August 2022, he threatened to “put a cap” between the lawmaker’s “eyes,” “cut [her] throat,” and “stomp” her. Gaherty also warned that she “better move” because he and his “boys in the area” had a “contract” on her life.” 

Gaherty also left threatening messages with Waters’ staff, according to the criminal complaint.

‘CORRUPT CRIMINAL’: MAXINE WATERS RECEIVES BACKLASH OVER VITRIOLIC RESPONSE TO TRUMP’S GUILTY VERDICT

President Biden is welcomed by Rep. Maxine Waters, center, and Mayor Karen Bass to Los Angeles after arriving on Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024. (Sarah Reingewirtz/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)

“Tell Congresswoman Maxine Waters when I see her on the street I’m going to bust her upside her head,” Gaherty told a staffer. “F—, who this is, tell that lying b—- I’m looking for her.”

Gaherty did not conceal his phone number, allowing U.S. Capitol Police to easily trace the source of the calls via data from T-Mobile and TracFone.

Authorities contacted Gaherty and warned him to stop in October 2022, but he persisted in making violent threats. In a November 2022 voicemail, Gaherty told the congresswoman she “done [expletive] up” by reporting his threats to law enforcement. 

REP. MAXINE WATERS: TRUMP SUPPORTERS ‘TRAINING UP IN THE HILLS’ FOR ELECTION ATTACK

Representative Maxine Waters, a Democrat from California and ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, left, and Representative Patrick McHenry, a Republican from North Carolina and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, right, prior to a hearing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“You better watch your back,” he told her, according to investigators. 

Waters appeared in federal court on Monday and told Judge Klausner that her family members live “in fear every day” because of the threats made by Gaherty, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“This growing effort to target people of color and women of color … has given me nightmares. I am in fear of my life,” Waters said. 

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“I believe that we must all be held accountable. Nobody is above the law.” 

An attorney for Gaherty did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Fox News’ Timothy H.J. Nerozzi contributed to this report.

Political allies, family members, at least one foreign leader and even the Easter Bunny have all stepped in to assist President Biden offstage or direct him during public events, as shown by videos published by news outlets and circulating on social media. 

The self-admitted “gaffe machine” is in the midst of controversy this week after video showed him standing on the stage of a ritzy campaign donor event in Los Angeles with former President Obama and late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, before Obama guided Biden off the stage as he smiled to the crowd. 

As the trio stood onstage smiling toward the crowd, Obama was seen reaching over and taking Biden’s wrist before putting his hand on the current president’s back and walking toward the stage’s exit. The scene sparked a renewed wave of criticism online that Biden is “confused” and “senile” and also jokes that the scene was reminiscent of a senior care home ad.

The Biden campaign pulled in a whopping $30 million from the star-studded fundraiser, which included support from Hollywood stars such as George Clooney and Julia Roberts. 

SOCIAL MEDIA MOCKS BIDEN BEING LED OFFSTAGE BY FIRST LADY

President Obama takes President Biden by the wrist at a fundraising event. (Christopher Gardner via Storyful)

“Former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden offer final waves to Peacock Theater crowd as Obama then grabs Biden’s hand to lead him offstage following 40-minute conversation with Jimmy Kimmel,” Chris Gardner, senior staff writer for The Hollywood Reporter, posted early Sunday morning, accompanied by footage of the scene.

BIDEN LOOKS TO CAPITALIZE ON STAR-STUDDED HOLLYWOOD FUNDRAISER AFTER TRUMP’S MASSIVE CASH HAUL IN BLUE STATE

TV host Jimmy Kimmel gestures toward President Biden, alongside former President Obama, during a campaign fundraiser at Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on June 15, 2024. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

The clip is just one of many in recent months showing an ally, aide or family member stepping in to seemingly direct or guide Biden off a stage or during an event.

Former President Obama is shown with his hand on President Biden’s back as they leave the stage at an L.A. fundraiser. (Christopher Gardner via Storyful)

The L.A. event comes on the heels of Biden’s visit to Italy, where he met with Pope Francis and attended the G-7 summit to discuss additional funding to Ukraine as the nation continues its yearslong war against Russia.

“They are cheap fakes. … They are done in bad faith.”

— White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre

During the trip, scrutiny surrounding Biden’s age and cognitive state was put on the world stage after video circulated of the 46th president standing with Group of Seven world leaders outside. The video shows parachutists landing around Biden, ​​and leaders such as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, left, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, EU Council President Charles Michel (hidden), German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President Biden watch parachutists at the G7 summit on June 13, 2024, in Bari, Italy. (Michael Kappeler/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Biden took a few steps away from the group, seemingly taking in the scene as a parachutist gathered himself after landing. Meloni then walked over to the president, touched his right arm and redirected him back to the group of world leaders.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni directs President Biden during the G7 event. (Fox News/Pool)

BIDEN RIDICULED AFTER READING ‘PAUSE’ INSTRUCTION ON TELEPROMPTER OUT LOUD: ‘I’M RON BURGUNDY?’

The White House denied anything odd about the video, instead arguing that the video used “an artificially narrow frame to hide from viewers that he just saw a skydiving demonstration” and that Biden was “saying congratulations to one of the divers and giving a thumbs-up.”

The pair of high-profile incidents within the space of a week underscore growing concerns about the 81-year-old president’s cognitive state.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday addressed the recent videos of Biden “freezing” at public events as “disinformation” promoted by “right-wing critics.”

“They are cheap fakes. … They are done in bad faith. And some of your news organizations have been very clear, have stressed that these right-wing … critics of the president have a credibility problem because the fact-checkers have repeatedly caught them pushing misinformation, disinformation,” she said.

BIDEN ‘GIVEN A LIST’ OF REPORTERS IN POST-MIDTERM PRESS CONFERENCE: ‘PEOPLE THAT I’M SUPPOSED TO CALL ON’

Biden’s mental fitness has become a focal point this election season, with former President Trump routinely slamming the president for his garbled language in public remarks and repeated instances of Biden appearing confused while trying to find an exit off of a stage after public events.

“It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him – by then a former president well into his eighties – of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness.”

— Special prosecutor Robert Hur, explaining his decision to not pursue charges against President Biden

Earlier this year, Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report investigating the president’s handling of classified documents after his departure as vice president under the Obama administration further compounded concern over the president’s mental acuity. 

President Biden is seen speaking in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Hur announced in February that he would not recommend criminal charges against Biden for possessing classified materials after his vice presidency, calling Biden “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

“Based on our direct interactions with and observations of him, he is someone from whom many jurors will want to identify reasonable doubt. It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him – by then a former president well into his eighties – of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness,” Hur wrote in his report. 

The findings sparked widespread outrage that Biden was effectively deemed too cognitively impaired to be charged with a crime yet could still serve as president.

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

When asked about the series of videos showing people guiding and directing Biden during public events, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told Fox News Digital in a statement that they depict “routine moments for any president.”

“These have two things in common: 1, they’re cheapfakes presented by discredited rightwing groups who can’t contend with the President’s record and agenda; and 2, their depictions of routine moments for any president have often been fact-checked by mainstream, nonpartisan reporters,” he said Monday.

Biden’s history of being guided and directed offstage or during an event includes video footage from March showing the first lady striding up to Biden during the White House’s Women’s History Month reception. 

First lady Jill Biden tries to get President Biden’s attention during an event in March. (Fox News/Pool)

Jill Biden places her hand on Biden’s back as the president is seen speaking with an attendee, before Jill Biden points to an area off camera and Biden begins walking behind two members of the military.

In January, social media users again criticized the president when Jill Biden took her husband’s hand as he wrapped up remarks on the anniversary of Jan. 6. Jill Biden was seen holding the president’s hand as they walked toward the stage’s exit, appearing to drop his hand when she made it behind a stage partition. 

First lady Jill Biden holds President Biden’s hand as she walks offstage in January. (Fox News/Pool)

In another attention-grabbing scene this month, video footage of the White House’s Juneteenth celebration last Monday showed Biden standing with his arms still as a crowd of people around him danced and clapped to music. Biden smiled and began moving around when Philonise Floyd — the brother of George Floyd – took notice and placed his arm around Biden. The two then shared a fist bump.

PRESIDENT BIDEN APPEARS TO FREEZE AT WHITE HOUSE JUNETEENTH EVENT

Jean-Pierre also addressed the Juneteenth video during Monday’s press conference, saying that Biden standing relatively still while listening to music was “not a health issue” and that others around the president were also standing still during the festivities.

President Biden is shown during the Juneteenth celebration at the White House. (Fox News/Pool)

“That is a weird thing to actually flag, when if you look … at the people who are around him, if you look at the expanded video of the people who are around him, they were not, there were some folks who were not dancing either. And that has been fact-checked. I mean, just because you’re standing up listening to music and not dancing, that is not a health issue. That is just not a health issue,” she said. 

Last month, footage showed a member of the military directing Biden after wrapping up remarks at the White House, which was lambasted by X account RNC Research. 

A member of the military uses his hand to direct President Biden last month. (Fox News/Pool)

In 2022, the Easter Bunny even stepped in to apparently direct Biden away from speaking to members of the media. A person dressed in an Easter Bunny costume was seen approaching the president as he answered a reporter’s questions on Afghanistan and Pakistan. The costumed person placed their hand on the president, before waving and directing him to walk away from the gaggle of reporters.

BIDEN STAFF ABRUPTLY ENDS PRESS CONFERENCE WHILE BIDEN IS ANSWERING QUESTIONS

President Biden and a performer dressed as the Easter Bunny are shown during the Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House on April 18, 2022. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In 2022, a young girl was seen on camera leading Biden off a stage during a Christmas season Toys for Tots event with the United States Marine Corps Reserve in Arlington, Virginia.

The Easter Bunny directs President Biden away from members of the media at the White House in 2022. (Twitter/@craigdillon)

BIDEN DIRECTED OFFSTAGE BY CHILD AFTER TOYS FOR TOTS REMARKS

“Which way do we go?” Biden asked a young girl as she took his hand and walked him in the right direction.

“When I was that age, I could hardly say my name in public,” Biden added. “Actually, I used to stutter when I was a little boy, until I was in high school. It was the only thing everybody – anyway – you’re very impressive.”

Among the president’s instances of others apparently directing him during public events, Biden has also missed cues, including reading a teleprompter’s “pause” instructions in April, abruptly walking off a stage in Arizona last year after spotting a baby in the crowd, asking the whereabouts of a deceased Indiana lawmaker during a press conference in 2022, and a handful of incidents where Biden told members of the media he would take questions from a predetermined list of media outlets.

BIDEN APPEARS TO LOOK FOR DECEASED CONGRESSWOMAN IN CROWD: ‘WHERE’S JACKIE?’

“Now, I’ve been given a list of 10 people that I’m supposed to call on, and you’re all supposed to ask me one question, but I’m sure you’ll ask me more. So, let me start off with the list I’ve been given,” Biden, for example, told reporters during a 2022 press conference. 

BIDEN WHITE HOUSE URGED DEMOCRATS TO CALL BACK WALL STREET JOURNAL AS IT REPORTED ON PRESIDENT’S MENTAL ACUITY

Jean-Pierre last year also abruptly ended a press conference while Biden was still answering questions, with music soon filling the room as Biden thanked reporters. 

The Wall Street Journal published a bombshell report this month detailing interviews with roughly 45 lawmakers and administration officials on Biden’s mental state, which caused alarm that the oldest sitting president in U.S. history is showing his age in meetings.

“The president moved so slowly around the Cabinet Room to greet the nearly two dozen congressional leaders that it took about 10 minutes for the meeting to begin, some people who attended recalled,” WSJ reported. 

BIDEN AWKWARDLY WANDERS OFF STAGE AT ARIZONA CAMPAIGN EVENT AS HE ‘COULDN’T RESIST’ A BABY

The White House hit back that the story and anecdotes were examples of partisan politics working to deride the “savvy and effective” president.

“Congressional Republicans, foreign leaders and nonpartisan national security experts have made clear in their own words that President Biden is a savvy and effective leader who has a deep record of legislative accomplishment,” Bates said at the time. “Now, in 2024, House Republicans are making false claims as a political tactic that flatly contradict previous statements made by themselves and their colleagues.”

BIDEN DISPLAYS SIGNS OF DECLINE IN PRIVATE MEETINGS WITH CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS: REPORT

Just hours ahead of Obama leading Biden off the stage in Los Angeles, Jill Biden defended her husband’s age in public remarks.

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden leave Marine One at Charleston Executive Airport in South Carolina on Aug. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

​​”Joe and the other guy are essentially the same age, so let’s not be fooled,” she said during a campaign event on Saturday, referring to 78-year-old Trump, the New York Post reported. “Let’s not be fooled. But what this election is about, it’s about the character of the person leading our country.”

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“Joe Biden is a healthy, wise 81-year-old, ready and willing to work for you every day to make our future better,” Jill Biden added. “Joe isn’t one of the most effective presidents of our lives in spite of his age but because of it.”

As he fights for his political life, House Freedom Caucus chair Rep. Bob Good of Virginia is facing off against a primary challenger supported by the most powerful politician in the Republican Party – former President Trump.

And the contentious intra-party battle in Virginia’s reliably red 5th Congressional District, in the southern part of the Commonwealth, is pitting conservatives versus conservatives and Trump against some of his biggest allies in the House of Representatives. 

It’s one of the high-profile races on Tuesday as Virginia and Oklahoma hold primary elections.

And if Good loses, he’ll become the first House incumbent from either major party to be defeated by a primary challenger so far this election year.

FOX NEWS POLL: BIDEN, TRUMP IN A DEAD HEAT IN VIRGINIA

Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), Chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, speaks alongside fellow members during a press conference on the government funding bill, at the U.S. Capitol on March 22, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Good incurred Trump’s wrath for being one of just a handful of House Republicans to endorse Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the GOP presidential primaries.

Even though the two-term congressman avoided criticizing Turmp and quickly endorsed the former president after DeSantis ended his White House bid in January, Trump wrote on this Truth Social platform that “the damage had been done!”

Trump last month endorsed John McGuire, a Virginia state senator and former Navy SEAL, who is challenging Good for the GOP nomination.

McGuire also has the backing of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a conservative firebrand and major Trump ally who is a vocal critic of Good who last year broke with the House Freedom Caucus, which is considered the most far-right group of lawmakers in the chamber.

Then-Rep. Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023, as he was ousted as House Speaker. (Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is also targeting Good, who was one of eight Republicans last autumn who joined with Democrats to vote to oust McCarthy from his leadership position.

But Good has the support of Reps. Matt Gaetz and Byron Donalds of Florida, two conservatives who are also strong backers of Trump.

And fellow House Freedom Caucus members, Reps. Chip Roy of Texas and Andy Biggs of Arizona, joined Good in Virginia for a rally on Friday.

Even though he’s being targeted by Trump, Good is spotlighting his support for the former president as he runs for re-election.

“Happy Birthday to the best and next president of the United States, President Trump!” Good wrote on social media on Friday, on the former president’s 78th birthday.

Good also showed up earlier this spring at Trump’s criminal trial in New York City, to show his support for the former president.

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In Virginia’s Republican Senate primary, Trump is supporting Navy veteran Hung Cao. 

Cao faces Scott Parkinson, who has endorsements from Good and other GOP members of Congress. Three other candidates are also vying for the Republican nomination, with the winner challenging Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine in November.

Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) arrives to a caucus meeting with House Republicans on Capitol Hill May 10, 2023 in Washington, DC.  (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

In Oklahoma, the race to watch is in the red-state’s 4th Congressional District, where 10-term Republican Rep. Tom Cole is facing a primary challenge from wealthy businessman Paul Bondar.

Cole, the chair of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, has spent over $3 million as he fights for re-nomination. But Bondar, a first time candidate who made his money in the insurance industry, has shelled out nearly $5 million to try and unseat Cole, who has Trump’s backing.

There are three other candidates on the primary ballot, and if no one tops 50%, there will be a runoff with the two leading contenders in August.

Fox News’ Matt Reidy contributed to this report

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

A progressive “Squad” Democrat could see his career in the House of Representatives end after New York’s congressional primaries next Tuesday.

On one side of the contentious primary race in New York’s 16th Congressional District is Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., a former middle school principal who is backed by the progressive left, including self-described Democratic Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

On the other side is Westchester County Executive George Latimer, a more moderate candidate who has scored backing from Hillary Clinton, the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and former Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., who is vying to get back into Congress himself.

The fight is part of a wider fracture within the Democratic Party caused by Israel’s war in Gaza. 

AOC SLAMMED FOR SAYING ‘FALSE ACCUSATIONS’ OF ANTISEMITISM ARE ‘WIELDED AGAINST PEOPLE OF COLOR’

Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., is a member of the far-left “Squad.” (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call)

Bowman is part of a growing coalition on the left that’s critical of the Israeli government and its treatment of Palestinians, a movement that’s been met with bipartisan pushback.

It sparked a new battle for Bowman on Saturday after he criticized fellow House Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., on the “Night School” podcast for his vocal support of Israel.

“I think that he’s trying to gain political power for himself towards an ultimate objective,” Bowman said.

Torres told Fox News Digital on Monday in response, “I have a general rule of not weighing in against a congressional Democrat who has not weighed in against me. But Bowman’s gratuitous attack on my character might cause me to rethink that rule. Stay tuned.”

‘SQUAD’ MEMBER DEFENDS ‘RIVER TO THE SEA’ PHRASE INTERPRETED AS CALLING FOR ‘EXTERMINATION’ OF JEWS

AIPAC’s political arm also donated more than $1.5 million to Latimer during this campaign cycle, according to financial disclosures.

In response, Bowman and his allies have criticized AIPAC as a right-wing organization despite its bipartisan reputation. 

Westchester County Executive George Latimer (Jeenah Moon for the Washington Post via Getty Images/File)

Ocasio-Cortez called the group a “slush fund for Republican billionaires” on X \this month and previously compared it to the National Rifle Association.

She’s also accused outside groups of spending more than $15 million to unseat Bowman, writing on X, “This is corruption. It is a core threat to American democracy. It also fuels Trump.”

She and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., are holding a rally for Bowman on Saturday before primary day.

Bowman’s comments on the Israel-Hamas conflict are also what inspired Jones, a former ally of Bowman’s in the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), to publicly shun him in favor of his opponent.

NIKKI HALEY WRITES CLEAR MESSAGE TO HAMAS ON IDF ARTILLERY SHELL

“Over the past few months, I have had countless conversations with Jewish residents in my district and across the Lower Hudson Valley who feel anxiety, anger, and fear due to Rep. Bowman’s words and actions. I will always stand up for my Jewish constituents,” Jones said in a statement when the CPC challenged him over his Latimer endorsement.

Bowman could lose his seat in similar circumstances under which he won it, by defeating longtime moderate Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., in the 2020 primary.

A survey by Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill released last week had Latimer leading Bowman 48% to 31%.

Rep. Ritchie Torres is a Democrat from New York. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images/File)

But Democrat strategist Max Burns of Third Degree Strategies argued that Bowman was still popular with voters.

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“I think there’s always going to be a concern that we need to move back to the center. There’s always going to be this fear that we’re alienating voters, but the data just shows that that’s not true,” Burns told Fox News Digital. “I mean, Jamaal Bowman has been incredibly popular in his district. … I do think that at the end of the day, voters are going to look at the candidate that they know, but then the candidate who more likely than not has knocked on their door this cycle.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Bowman, Latimer and Ocasio-Cortez’s campaigns for comment.

The presidential campaign is as frozen as the Arctic Circle.

Virtually nothing seems to melt the ice caps that have encased the race. 

The former president convicted of 34 felonies? Feels like it happened months ago, without exactly dooming the Trump candidacy.

TRUMP FOUND GUILTY BUT, FACING BIDEN, COULD STILL WIN BACK THE WHITE HOUSE

The current president’s son, also convicted of felonies? Now that’s deemed a mere distraction by those who used an impeachment inquiry to try to sink the Biden campaign.

Each attack, each smear, each controversy dominates the news and then quickly yields to the next real or perceived outrage, leaving little lasting impression on the shape of the race.

All this is bad news for Joe Biden, who has an anemic 38 percent approval rating and is on track to lose, despite the apparent closeness of the contest.

While a good or bad debate performance can make or break any campaign, this year’s debates may be President Biden’s last shot at saving his re-election prospects. (Left: Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images, Right: Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

While Trump’s lead in such core battleground states as Michigan and Pennsylvania is often just 2 to 3 points, it’s been remarkably consistent (with the president having a slight edge in Wisconsin). If Scranton Joe can’t win Pennsylvania despite endless trips there, the election is over.

That’s why Biden abruptly challenged Trump to two debates, with the first one, on CNN, in less than 10 days. It’s really his last chance to bring some heat and shake up the race.

Now I could make the argument that the Trump team has lowered expectations for Biden to the point that if he avoids major gaffes and doesn’t fall off the stage, he wins. The CNN rules – two-minute answers, no notes, muting the opponent’s mike – will also favor the president.

VEEPSTAKES VERVE: CONTENDERS CREATE MEDIA BOOMLETS WITH LEAKS AND MANIPULATION

But debates can be overrated. Mitt Romney clobbered Barack Obama in their first debate and it didn’t matter. Hillary Clinton arguably won two or even three of her debates against Trump and it didn’t matter. 

The pressure is on Biden, who’s drilling with former top aide Ron Klain, to show that he’s aggressive and feisty as well as knowledgeable. Trump, who is doing only informal prep, will be hailed by his base no matter what he says or does.

In short, it will take something highly unusual to change many minds. Most Americans already know what they think of these guys.

Prospective voters seem unwilling to budge – even in the face of former President Trump’s 34 felony convictions. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)

The same goes for the Trump veepstakes. As Donald Trump told me, it doesn’t matter much because people vote for the top of the ticket. I think Doug Burgum has a somewhat better chance than when I first interviewed him three weeks ago, on this shorter short list that seems to include Tim Scott, Marco Rubio and J.D. Vance. 

But I can’t see that changing the race’s trajectory. What’s striking is that the anchors are now handling these as “vetting” interviews about each candidate’s record, because they believe one of them may well be moving into the vice president’s mansion.

Trump’s GOP unity day on the Hill got muddied when he criticized Milwaukee, the host city for next month’s convention. Even though Trump said he was talking mainly about crime in the city – which is actually down substantially this year – I’m not sure why he needed to go there.

The 78-year-old Trump is so anxious to depict the 81-year-old Biden as mentally unfit for the job that minor incidents are being exaggerated and distorted. There’s no question, as I said on the air, that Biden often comes across as frail and confused. 

But after a $30-million L.A. fundraiser over the weekend, Obama grabbed his arm and then kept touching his back as they exited the stage. This went viral as the former president was depicted as “leading” his onetime VP away.

Earlier, the New York Post, taking its lead from the RNC, misleadingly cropped a photo as if Biden was talking to no one at the G-7 in Italy. A wider angle showed Biden was saying a few words and giving a thumbs up to a skydiver who had landed next to the world leaders before the Italian prime minister led him back to the group. 

THERE’S ‘CORROSION’ IN HOW THE MEDIA COVERS POLITICS: LUCY CALDWELL

Despite a couple of flashy media headlines, I did not criticize Fox’s coverage, though sometimes that comes with the job. I made a point of saying that the coverage by “Fox & Friends” was perfectly straightforward. We played a clip of Sean Hannity criticizing Biden, but there was no suggestion that he didn’t show the proper footage; he was paired with Joe Scarborough hitting Biden’s critics, as we often do to convey the range of commentary.

In my view, there’s little doubt that most of the media believe Trump will win the election, and here’s the proof.

The New York Times just ran a deep dive on how the Trump resistance is already laying the groundwork to battle and stymie him in a second term.

Polls have consistently shown former President Trump holding significant leads over President Biden in most key swing states. (Getty Images)

These groups “are drafting potential lawsuits in case he is elected in November and carries out mass deportations, as he has vowed. One group has hired a new auditor to withstand any attempt by a second Trump administration to unleash the Internal Revenue Service against them. Democratic-run state governments are even stockpiling abortion medication.

“A sprawling network of Democratic officials, progressive activists, watchdog groups and ex-Republicans has been taking extraordinary steps to prepare for a potential second Trump presidency, drawn together by the fear that Mr. Trump’s return to power would pose a grave threat not just to their agenda but to American democracy itself.” 

SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE’S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF ON THE DAY’S HOTTEST STORIES

A newspaper simply doesn’t devote the enormous resources the Times did to this investigative piece without believing a Trump victory is at the least very likely.

Some groups are described as “wary” of discussing their plans for fear of signaling a lack of confidence in the Biden campaign, which is exactly what it signals.

And that brings us back to the CNN debate.

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Biden is really running out of time to change the narrative of the race. The debate will probably be a wash, but it’s his only shot. Otherwise, the frozen campaign will wind up freezing him out.

A Secret Service agent was robbed at gunpoint in California over the weekend, according to local law enforcement. It happened at the same time President Biden was in California for a star-studded Los Angeles fundraiser.

On Saturday, June 15, just after 9:30 p.m., the Tustin Police Department said officers responded to a call about a possible robbery that happened at the Tustin Fields 1 residential community.

Upon arrival, officers discovered the victim was a member of the Secret Service and that his bag was stolen at gunpoint.

During the incident, police said an agent-involved shooting happened.

HOLLYWOOD SLAMMED FOR PUSHING YOUNG AMERICANS TO VOTE FOR BIDEN: ‘THE LAST THING MY GENERATION WANTS’

Police are searching for this car in connection to the robbery. (Tustin Police Department)

The suspect(s) were not found, and it is unknown at this time whether the suspect(s) was injured as a result of the incident, police said.

Officers found some of the victim’s belongings in the area and the incident is being investigated.

Police are looking for a 2004-2006 silver Infiniti FX35 or similar vehicle that was seen leaving the scene. 

BIDEN CAMPAIGN RAISES $30 MILLION AT CELEBRITY FUNDRAISER AS TRUMP COURTS BLACK VOTERS IN DETROIT

A Secret Service agent was robbed at gunpoint in Tustin, California, on the same day President Biden was attending a star-studded Los Angeles fundraiser. (Getty Images)

Authorities said there is no known threat to the public.

The Tustin Police Department is looking for assistance from the public in identifying the subject(s) involved in the crime and are urging anyone with information to call 714-573-3372. 

President Biden was in Los Angeles for a campaign fundraiser on Saturday night.

LATE-NIGHT DNCTV? COLBERT, KIMMEL FUNDRAISE FOR PRESIDENT BIDEN

President Biden speaks beside former President Obama during a campaign fundraiser at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on June 15, 2024. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Barbra Streisand were among those in attendance at the star-studded event, which reportedly raised more than $30 million.

Tickets for Saturday’s gala at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles, which an invitation described as a “historic night,” ranged from $250 for a single person to get in the door to half a million dollars for special access, photos with Biden and former President Obama and invitations to an after-party.

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The fundraiser comes less than three months after CBS’ Stephen Colbert participated in a lavish record-setting fundraiser that brought in $26 million for the Biden campaign.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

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

A prominent Democrat power broker is facing racketeering and other charges in New Jersey, the state’s attorney general revealed Monday.

Businessman George Norcross is facing the charges in connection to government-issued tax credits. State Attorney General Matt Platkin alleged Norcross and others got property rights along the state’s Camden waterfront and collected millions of dollars in state-backed tax credits.

Prosecutors say Norcoss and his associates “used their political influence to tailor New Jersey economic development legislation to their preferences. After the legislation was enacted in September 2013, members and associates of the Norcross Enterprise conspired to, and did, extort and coerce others to obtain — for certain individuals and business entities — properties and property rights on the Camden, New Jersey waterfront and associated tax incentive credits.”

The indictment further alleges that Norcross “led a criminal enterprise whose members and associates agreed the enterprise would extort others through threats and fear of economic and reputational harm and commit other criminal offenses to achieve the enterprise’s goals.”

NEW JERSEY REVIEWING TRUMP GOLF COURSES’ LIQUOR LICENSE AFTER FELONY CONVICTION

Prominent Democrat power broker George Norcross is facing racketeering and other charges in New Jersey, the state’s attorney general revealed Monday.

The indictment also charges Norcross’ brother Philip, a lobbyist; lawyer Bill Tambussi; former Camden Mayor Dana Redd; Sidney Brown, the CFO of trucking company NFI; and John O’Donnell, a northern New Jersey businessman, according to Politico.

Norcross never held elected office himself but nevertheless wielded massive power in New Jersey politics. He was also a key member of the state’s Democratic National Committee.

NEW DOCS SHOW BRAGG SPENT $1M ON ATTORNEYS TO BLUNT HOUSE PROBE OF TRUMP CASE AMID CITY BUDGET CUTS

Norcross was known to be friends with powerful Democrats such as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, among others.

Norcross was known to be friends with powerful Democrat figures, such as former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, among others. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

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Another of Norcross’ brothers, Donald, is a member of the House of Representatives. He was not named in the indictment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Former President Trump holds an 18-point lead over President Biden in Iowa, according to a new poll in a one-time crucial general election battleground state that’s shifted to the right over the past decade.

Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, stands at 50% with Biden at 32% among likely voters in a Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll released on Monday.

Democrat turned independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who says he’s qualified to make Iowa’s ballot, grabbed 9% support, with Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver at 3%, and 3% backing other candidates, according to the survey.

Iowa was a one-time swing state, which former President Barack Obama carried in the 2008 and 2012 elections. But Trump won the state by 9 points over Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016 in his White House victory and by 8 points over Biden four years ago in his re-election defeat.

WILL THIS POTENTIAL TRUMP RUNNING MATE’S FUNDRAISING PROWESS HELP HIM IN THE VEEPSTAKES?

Former President Trump holds an 18-point lead over President Biden in Iowa. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson and Evan Vucci)

Trump’s 18-point lead over Biden is up from a 15-point margin the former president held over his Democratic successor in the White House in the previous Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll, which was conducted in February.

The poll was conducted June 9-14, entirely after Trump was found guilty of all 34 felony counts in the first trial of a former or current president in the nation’s history.

BIDEN STRIKES GOLD IN CALIFORNIA, ONE WEEK AFTER TRUMP’S MASSIVE HAUL IN BLUE BASTION

The president’s approval rating in the poll stood at 28%, with two-thirds disapproving of the job Biden is doing in the White House.

And Biden’s favorable rating was also deeply underwater, at 33% favorable and 66% unfavorable.

Trump won Iowa by 8 points over Biden four years ago in his re-election defeat. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Trump, by comparison, held a 51%-47% favorable/unfavorable rating in the survey.

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The poll questioned 632 likely voters in Iowa, with an overall sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

The president was last in Iowa in April 2022. Trump made numerous stops in Iowa last year and early this year, ahead of the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses.

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

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he will bring a law to ban bump stocks to the Senate floor this week after the Supreme Court ruled to reverse a ban on the item by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) under former President Donald Trump. 

At a press conference on Sunday, Schumer said, “The Senate can help restore this public safety rule, and next week, it will try. As majority leader, I have the ability to allow a unanimous consent vote, and we’ll see just what Republican MAGAs do: Will they allow it to go forward, or will they cower to MAGA and hurt the American people?” according to a clip shared by CBS News. 

ELIZABETH WARREN WARNS DEMS TO STAND FIRM ON TAX HIKES AS FIGHT LOOMS OVER TRUMP-ERA CUTS

Schumer announced his plan days after the ruling. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Schumer’s office did not respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital on the timeline for a vote this week. 

After the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 last week to strike down the ATF rule, the Democratic leader said, “Senate Democrats are ready to pass legislation to ban bump stocks,” adding that in order to do so “we will need votes from Senate Republicans.”

REPUBLICANS BACK STOPGAP SPENDING BILL INTO 2025 IN ANTICIPATION OF GOP WINS

A rule banning bump stocks was struck down by the court. (Photographer: Jill Connelly/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

It’s unlikely that the bill to codify the invalidated bump stock ban will be brought to the floor for a vote if sought by unanimous consent, wherein any senator can object. 

“The far-right Supreme Court continues their unprecedented assault on public safety by reversing the commonsense guidance issued in 2018 by the ATF,” Schumer said in a statement after the ruling. “Bump stocks have played a devastating role in many of the horrific mass shootings in our country, but sadly it’s no surprise to see the Supreme Court roll back this necessary public safety rule as they push their out of touch extreme agenda. They’re even further to the right of Donald Trump.”

TRUMP SELLS SENATE REPUBLICANS ON PLAN TO WIN OVER WORKERS IN CLOSED-DOOR MEETING

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 last week to strike down the ATF rule. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)

The rule banning bump stocks, which are firearm accessories that allow a weapon to fire in more rapid succession, was put in place during the Trump administration after the deadly mass shooting in Las Vegas that saw 60 people killed and 500 wounded.

TOOL TO STOP ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT EMPLOYMENT COMES TO SENATE AS BORDER CRISIS RAGES

The rule was originally put in place during the Trump administration. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

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Following the decision, Trump’s campaign said the court’s ruling should be respected. 

“President Trump has been and always will be a fierce defender of Americans’ Second Amendment rights and he is proud to be endorsed by the NRA. During a time when our border is open to terrorists and criminals, and migrant crime is on the rise, the right to keep and bear arms has never been more critical, and Joe Biden wants to take that right away from law-abiding Americans. President Trump won’t let that happen,” campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. 

Vice President Harris’ former communications director recently said there is one Republican who would be the “greatest threat” to her vice presidency if chosen as former President Trump’s 2024 running mate.

Ashley Etienne, who served as Harris’ communications director in 2021, told CNN on Friday that she believes Ohio Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, is an “incredible debater” and could present a challenge to Harris in the upcoming election.

“I think JD Vance would pose the greatest threat [to] Kamala Harris, in some respects. I mean he’s an incredible debater,” Etienne told CNN. “I think he has this quality that makes him seem palpable to that one to two percent that actually might vote or that is undecided, that will actually pay attention to the debates because most people don’t pay attention to the debates.”

Etienne, who also served as deputy assistant to President Biden after his 2020 victory, said Vance is “super smart,” “quick-witted” and could pose a threat to Harris on the debate stage.

INSIDERS PREDICT RUST BELT REPUBLICAN, POSSIBLE TRUMP VP PICK, COULD FLIP BIDEN VOTERS IN KEY SWING STATES

Vice President Harris (Morry Gash/File)

“I think he’s just got a quality about him where he’s super smart and sharp and quick-witted. I just think it’s going to be a challenge to see the two of them face-to-face. I mean, maybe it’s just me, but I think he’s going to be the greatest threat,” she said.

DEMOCRATS ‘FEAR’ THIS POSSIBLE TRUMP VP PICK WHO ‘COULD SPELL THE END FOR BIDEN’: INSIDERS

The comment comes as Harris’ disapproval rating remains high with 55% of registered voters having an unfavorable opinion of the vice president, according to a Fox News national survey from May.

Sen. JD Vance, a Republican from Ohio, speaks to the media outside the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse in New York City on May 13, 2024. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg)

Vance is on Trump’s short list for vice president along with several other top Republican contenders. However, it was recently revealed that the first-term senator was one of only three from the candidate pool who had vetting documents requested from Trump’s campaign team.

Vance has shown staunch support for Trump throughout his campaign and legal woes, recently joining the former president at a Manhattan courtroom where he was eventually found guilty on 34 charges related to falsifying business records.

Fox News Digital previously reported on Vance’s Silicon Valley donor network, which could help boost Trump’s ticket if he is chosen as Trump’s VP nominee.

Vance, after serving as a Marine in the Iraq War, moved for a handful of years to San Francisco to work as a venture capitalist in the tech industry.

And Vance – the author of the bestselling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” which was made into a Netflix film – two years ago won his own crowded and combustible GOP Senate primary thanks in part to Trump’s late-in-the-game endorsement. 

“JD has a Rolodex of Silicon Valley contacts that very few Republican figures can get to. And he put some of those to use on behalf of [Republican U.S. Senate candidate from Ohio Bernie] Moreno,” a source in Vance’s political orbit previously told Fox News.

Former President Trump welcomes JD Vance, then-Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Ohio, to the stage at a campaign rally in Youngstown, Ohio, on Sept. 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar)

Trump recently told Fox News that he has “a pretty good idea” of who his vice presidential pick will be, an announcement that he confirmed could be made at the Republican National Convention in July.

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Fox News Digital reached out to Harris for comment.

FIRST ON FOX: A group of 24 Republican state attorneys general have filed an amicus brief in former President Trump’s classified documents case, asking a Florida court not to grant special counsel Jack Smith’s gag order request, calling it “presumptively unconstitutional.”

“Free and fair elections in the United States depend on candidates’ ability to speak about important issues of the day. Attempts to stop a candidate from speaking out harm more than just the candidate. They also hurt the voters, who are denied access to crucial information, and the States, which are responsible for managing elections,” the amicus brief filed Monday in the Southern District of Florida stated. 

“And when agents of one candidate seek a court order to muzzle discussion on matters relating to important electoral issues, that restraint raises even more fundamental First Amendment concerns,” the brief said. 

Led by Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, the group of top state prosecutors argue that “[e]ach branch of government, even the judiciary, should be cautious about abridging core political speech—especially core political speech relating to a presidential election. 

JUDGE REFUSES TO GAG TRUMP IN CLASSIFIED DOCS CASE, SAYS SPECIAL COUNSEL MOTION FAILED ‘BASIC’ REQUIREMENTS

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

“Unfortunately, the special prosecutor’s request here does not reflect that caution,” the brief states. 

Last month, Smith’s team filed a motion to U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon, who is presiding over the classified documents case, requesting that she prohibit Trump from making statements that “pose a significant, imminent, and foreseeable danger to law enforcement agents participating in the investigation and prosecution of this case.” Trump claimed in a campaign appeal that FBI agents were “locked & loaded ready to take me out & put my family in danger.”

Prosecutors said Trump’s “grossly misleading” claims cited a standard FBI form that details limiting the use of force to emergency situations. The same form was used when federal agents searched for documents at President Biden’s home.

The AGs in their brief argued that Smith’s request asked the court “to curtail that right by ordering a prior restraint on President Trump’s constitutionally protected speech. Such an order is presumptively unconstitutional.” 

TRUMP PREVIEWS CLOSING ARGUMENTS IN ‘SHAM TRIAL’: ‘VERY DANGEROUS DAY FOR AMERICA’

Former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida was searched by the FBI in 2022. (Getty Images)

“If granted, this request would prevent the presumptive Republican nominee for President of the United States from speaking out against ‘the prosecution and the criminal trial process that seek to take away his liberty,’” they wrote.

“That prosecution, of course, is led by a Department that President Trump’s political opponent controls.”

“Politics has no place in a criminal prosecution,” Bird said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Everyone has the right to free speech, including President Trump. This unconstitutional gag order would prevent President Trump from defending himself while he is on the ballot and deny Americans their right to hear from both candidates ahead of an election.” 

Bird was joined by attorneys general of Florida, West Virginia, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.

JACK SMITH ASKS JUDGE TO RESTRICT TRUMP STATEMENTS AFTER ‘INFLAMMATORY’ REMARKS ABOUT FBI RAID

Special counsel Jack Smith arrives to give remarks on a recently unsealed indictment including four felony counts against former President Trump on Aug. 1, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

“Once again, we are witnessing a prosecutor seek to keep the presumptive Republican nominee for President from speaking in the midst of an election,” Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody. “The First Amendment, at its core, is designed to protect political speech, and I along with my colleagues will not stand idly by and watch the Biden administration trample the free speech of a Florida citizen.”

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The AGs argued in their brief that “[t]o be sure, there are times when a gag order, even of a political candidate, may be justified.” 

“But this Court need not find the distant boundary of when such an order is justified because the facts here do not justify such an extraordinary restraint,” they said. 

Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was blasted on social media over the weekend for a Father’s Day post, which the New York Democrat eventually deleted, showing off his backyard grill.

“Our family has lived in an apartment building for all our years, but my daughter and her wife just bought a house with a backyard and for the first time we’re having a barbeque with hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill!” Schumer posted on X on Sunday. “Father’s Day Heaven!”

The post was immediately criticized by conservatives accusing him of placing cheese on one of the burger patties prematurely and not knowing how to properly grill the burger.

“Chuck is making an E. coli with cheese,” Cavalry founding partner Michael Duncan posted on X. 

SCHUMER URGES TRUMP ALLIES TO LET LEGAL PROCESS ‘MOVE FORWARD’ AFTER GUILTY VERDICT

Sen. Chuck Schumer deleted his X post. (X/Sen. Chuck Schumer)

“You put cheese on a raw patty,” Popular conservative account “Nuance Bro” posted on X. “Y’all are so bad at pretending to be normal human beings.”

“I get that you’re playing to the masses but literally no one puts cheese on a raw beef patty,” Donald Trump Jr. posted on X. “If you need help learning how to do basic grilling stuff let me know. Nice try relating though. Fuc$&?g communists!!!”

NIKKI HALEY ANNOUNCES HER FATHER’S DEATH ON FATHER’S DAY

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks at a news conference. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Schumer eventually deleted the post which had been “ratioed” by conservative accounts.

“Chuck Schumer just deleted this post where he got insanely ratioed for not knowing how to make a cheeseburger,” LibsofTikTok posted on X. 

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Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., conducts a news conference after the senate luncheons in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, June 21, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“Democrats try to be relatable without being super cringe challenge: IMPOSSIBLE.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer’s office for comment but did not receive a response.

“Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there!” Schumer said in another Father’s Day post that remains on social media. 

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, a top ally and potential running mate of former President Trump, is making the case for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

Scott, who ran unsuccessfully for the 2024 nomination but remains a very popular figure in the GOP, on Wednesday convenes a one-day summit that is drawing top figures in the Republican Party as well as mega-donors who have yet to commit to Trump’s White House campaign.

The all afternoon and evening gathering of Great Opportunity Policy, a Scott-aligned non-profit group that supports his political and policy agendas, will also double as a fundraiser for the former president as Trump enters his final phases in his search for a running mate.

THESE REPUBLICANS ARE CONSIDERED TO BE ON TRUMP’S SHORT LIST 

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., right, speaks in front of former President Trump during a campaign rally on Feb. 28, 2020 in North Charleston, South Carolina. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

The senator helped organize a major fundraiser for Trump earlier this year ahead of the South Carolina primary, and he attended a top-dollar fundraiser in New York City for the former president last month. Additionally, Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, earlier this month launched a $14 million effort to help the former president win over Black and other non-White working class voters that Scott argues could be the deciding factor in November’s elections.

On Wednesday, he will be making the case for Trump to a number of top donors and billionaires, including Ken Griffin, the founder of the Citadel hedge fund, who spent tens of millions during the 2024 Republican primaries in support of Trump’s rivals, and hedge fund executive Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital, who helped finance the campaigns of GOP presidential contender Nikki Haley and Democrat turned independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

VP STAKES: TRUMP MEETS WITH POTENTIAL RUNNING MATES

When asked what his message is to top donors who have yet to fully commit to the former president, Scott told Fox News Digital last month that “it is in the best interest of the United States of America to have four more years of President Donald Trump. It is in the best interest of our economy to have four more years of Donald Trump.”

“The one thing you can discern as a top donor and Republican and, frankly, a strong business person is that a strong economy makes all things possible,” 

Then-GOP presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina speaks with members of the New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women at an event at Saint Anselm College’s New Hampshire Institute of Politics, on May 25, 2023 in Manchester, New Hampshire. (Fox News )

Scott, who was one of roughly a dozen Republican candidates who unsuccessfully challenged Trump for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination before ending his White House bid late last year, endorsed the former president in January.

The conservative senator from South Carolina over the past five months has become a top Trump surrogate and is considered to be among a small group of contenders on the short list as Trump’s running mate on the 2024 Republican ticket.

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Political analysts say that Scott, as a Black evangelical, could help the former president make a sizable dent in President Biden’s lead with minority voters.

Republican presidential candidate former President Trump, right, looks to Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., during a Fox News Channel town hall on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024 in Greenville, South Carolina. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

His campaign trail efforts on behalf of Trump appear to have impressed the former president.

“You are a much better candidate for me than you are for yourself,” Trump has said to Scott a handful of times.

However, pundits question whether Scott’s uneven debate appearances during the Republican presidential primaries could be an issue for him if he faces off against Vice President Kamala Harris this summer in a general election running mate debate.

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

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is pressing her fellow Democrats to take tough stances on new tax policy as lawmakers prepare for the expiration of part of the Trump-era tax cuts after 2025. 

Speaking at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth during its event titled, “The Promise of Equitable and Pro-Growth Tax Reform,” the progressive lawmaker is expected to stress the importance of championing tax reforms to crack down on corporations.  

REPUBLICANS BACK STOPGAP SPENDING BILL INTO 2025 IN ANTICIPATION OF GOP WINS

Sen. Elizabeth Warren pushed Democrats to be tough on their tax stance. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“At the end of the 2025 tax reform process, large corporations must pay higher taxes. A typical billionaire must pay a higher tax rate than a typical middle-class family. Wealthy tax cheats must be sweating because the IRS has enough money to enforce the law,” Warren will say, reported Punchbowl News.

The former presidential candidate is going to make clear to her party that they cannot compromise too much of their goal. “A little money for poor children or a modest tax cut for middle-class families is still a lousy deal when we can’t fund childcare or infrastructure because the wealthiest among us are still sucking up billions in tax breaks,” she will reportedly explain.

TRUMP SELLS SENATE REPUBLICANS ON PLAN TO WIN OVER WORKERS IN CLOSED-DOOR MEETING

Part of the tax law will expire at the end of 2025. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

“Better to let all the Trump tax cuts expire than be accomplices to another slash-and-burn tax bonanza for America’s billionaires,” she will reportedly say, referring to the tax cuts afforded to Americans in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, often referred to as Trump tax cuts. The cuts will expire after 2025, and many Republicans are working to renew them as Democrats plot a different tax policy direction. 

TOOL TO STOP ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT EMPLOYMENT COMES TO SENATE AS BORDER CRISIS RAGES

Sen. Ron Wyden has been negotiating a bipartisan tax framework. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Warren is also reportedly planning to criticize the tax framework that her Democratic colleague Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has been working on for months. Wyden has been engaged with House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith, R-Mo., on a potential bipartisan tax deal. 

The Massachusetts senator is expected to claim Republicans “tanked the deal because they believe they can get even more next year, and Democrats won’t have the spine to stop them,” in a jab at her own party. 

RIOTER VANDALISM TARGETED AFTER DC STATUES DEFACED: ‘LONG LIVE HAMAS’

President Biden plans to raise taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

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Warren’s significant push for Democrats to dig in their heels on tax priorities comes as the Senate Finance Committee’s Democrats are reportedly expected to meet Thursday to plan for 2025.

President Biden, who is vying for a second term in the White House, has said his plan is to allow former President Trump’s tax cuts to expire when 2025 comes to a close. He would additionally increase the tax burden on companies and people making more money.

Warren’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore plans to pardon more than 175,000 marijuana convictions on Monday in one of the most sweeping rollbacks of drug policy in the country.

Moore’s plan would apply to some 100,000 people who were convicted of low-level marijuana possession charges. Marijuana has been increasingly legalized across the country as both a medicinal and recreational drug. 

“I’m ecstatic that we have a real opportunity with what I’m signing to right a lot of historical wrongs,” Moore said. “If you want to be able to create inclusive economic growth, it means you have to start removing these barriers that continue to disproportionately sit on communities of color.”

Moore’s office says the wave of pardons is timed to coincide with Wednesday’s Juneteenth holiday.

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

Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore plans to pardon more than 175,000 marijuana convictions on Monday in one of the most sweeping rollbacks of drug policy in the country. (AP Photo/Brian Witte)

Maryland has fully legalized the cannabis trade within its borders since 2023, though its nearby neighbors like Washington, D.C. and Virginia still have some restrictions. Neither of the latter jurisdictions have issued pardons for marijuana-related crimes.

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, a Democrat, praised Moore’s pardon.

TRUMP RALLY DRAWS SWING STATE VOTERS ANGRY OVER ‘SHAM’ CONVICTION: ‘BIGGEST SCAM EVER’

Maryland has fully legalized the cannabis trade within its borders since 2023, though its nearby neighbors like Washington, D.C. and Virginia still have some restrictions. Niether of the latter jurisdictions have issued pardons for marijuana-related crimes. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)

“While the pardons will extend to anyone and everyone with a misdemeanor conviction for the possession of marijuana or paraphernalia, this unequivocally, without any doubt or reservation, disproportionately impacts — in a good way — Black and Brown Marylanders,” Brown said.

BIDEN CAMP JABS AT TRUMP’S ‘FAILED’ BUSINESS RECORD AS FORMER PRESIDENT LOOKS TO SWAY NATION’S TOP CEOs

“We are arrested and convicted at higher rates for possession and use of marijuana when the rate at which we used it was no different than any other category of people,” he added.

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, a Democrat, praised Moore’s pardon for disproportionately helping “black and brown” residents. (getty images)

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Maryland officials clarified that none of the pardons will result in people being released from prison because none are currently incarcerated, according to the Washington Post.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Nikki Haley announced on Sunday that her father, Ajit Singh Randhawa, has died. 

The announcement came as the U.S., as well as Canada and the United Kingdom, celebrated Father’s Day on the third Sunday of June.  

“This morning I had to say goodbye to the smartest, sweetest, kindest, most decent man I have ever known,” Haley wrote in an X post, sharing a February 2023 photo from a campaign event in her native South Carolina, where she announced that she was running for president. 

“My heart is heavy knowing he is gone,” Haley continued Sunday. “He taught his kids the importance of faith, hard work, and grace. He was an amazing husband of 64 years, a loving grandfather and great grandfather, and the best father to his four children. He was such a blessing to all of us. Happy Father’s Day Dad. We will miss you dearly.” 

HALEY, CHRISTIE STAY QUIET ON TRUMP GUILTY VERDICT AS GOP OUTRAGE GROWS OVER ‘UN-AMERICAN’ SILENCE

Nikki Haley embraces her father Ajit Singh Randhawa during a campaign event to launch her presidential bid, at the Charleston Visitor Center in Charleston, South Carolina, on Feb. 15, 2023. (LOGAN CYRUS/AFP via Getty Images)

The former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations did not disclose her father’s age or cause of death in the post. 

Haley was the last Republican primary presidential contender to drop out of the 2024 race, eventually bowing out and giving a clear path to former President Trump in March.  

In January, Haley briefly left the campaign trail to visit her father in the hospital in South Carolina, Politico reported. Reports at the time said he had an unspecified type of cancer. 

Nikki Haley during a news conference in Sderot, Israel, on Monday, May 27, 2024. (Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

NIKKI HALEY SILENT ON TRUMP’S NYC CONVICTION AS OTHER PROMINENT REPUBLICANS SPRING TO HIS DEFENSE

Randhawa, who was originally from India’s Punjab region, first moved to Canada to get a Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia, then moved to South Carolina in 1969 and taught at Voorhees College, according to Politico.

Nikki Haley meets with a Hamas attack survivor, Tali Biner, during a visit to the ‘Nova’ Festival site on May 27, 2024 in Re’eim, Israel. (Amir Levy/Getty Images)

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Haley, who would go on to become the state’s governor, was born three years later.

The Biden campaign released a new ad Monday morning as part of a $50 million ad blitz ahead of the first presidential debate later this month, highlighting former President Trump’s conviction, and saying “character” is the central dynamic of the 2024 presidential race. 

The new ad, titled “Character Matters,” highlights the verdict in New York v. Trump, when a jury found the former president and presumptive Republican nominee guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges and has vowed to appeal the decision. 

President Biden waves as he arrives, Saturday, June 15, 2024, in Los Angeles, where he attended a campaign event. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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“This election is between a convicted criminal who is only out for himself, and a president who is fighting for your family,” the ad says, highlighting Trump’s legal challenges and saying the president has been focusing on “lowering health care costs and making big corporations pay their fair share.” 

The ad comes ahead of next week’s first presidential debate, which is set for June 27. 

The ad is part of the Biden campaign’s June $50 million paid media campaign. The campaign said the ad will run on general market television and Connected TV in all battleground states and on national cable.

Former President Trump, left, and President Biden. (Getty Images)

“Trump approaches the first debate as a convicted felon who continues to prove that he will do anything and harm anyone if it means more power and vengeance for Donald Trump,” Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler said. “That’s why he was convicted, that’s why he encouraged a violent mob to storm the Capitol on January 6, and it’s why his entire campaign is an exercise in revenge and retribution; because that man is blind to the people a president should be serving and will do absolutely anything for his own personal gain and for his own power.” 

Tyler stressed that, in the 2024 presidential campaign, “character matters, and the President of the United States should be someone who understands that the highest office in the land is about you and your family – not a vehicle to enrich yourself.” 

President Biden, left, and actor George Clooney. (AP/Getty)

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“That is the ethos Joe Biden puts into the job every day: to fight for safer communities, for the middle class, and to ensure that corporations are paying their fair share. It’s a stark contrast, and it’s one that matters deeply to the American people,” he said. “And it’s why we will make sure that every single day we are reminding voters about how Joe Biden is fighting for them, while Donald Trump runs a campaign focused on one man and one man only: himself.”

The Biden campaign on Monday also said the media campaign will target voters in battleground states for June as part of its “aggressive and comprehensive efforts to engage and activate voters who will decide this election.”

The ad blitz also includes a “historic” investment to reach Black, Latino, and Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander voters, with the campaign calling it the “largest investments to date.” 

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The ad campaign comes after the Biden campaign raised a record $30 million at a star-studded fundraiser in Los Angeles hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. Big names, including former President Obama and Hollywood actors George Clooney and Julia Roberts, were in attendance. 

The massive haul comes after Biden attended a star-studded fundraiser in New York City in April, where he raised more than $25 million. 

Meanwhile, the first presidential debate will be hosted by CNN on June 27 in Atlanta.

Nikki Haley announced on Sunday that her father, Ajit Singh Randhawa, has died. 

The announcement came as the U.S., as well as Canada and the United Kingdom, celebrated Father’s Day on the third Sunday of June.  

“This morning I had to say goodbye to the smartest, sweetest, kindest, most decent man I have ever known,” Haley wrote in an X post, sharing a February 2023 photo from a campaign event in her native South Carolina where she announced that she was running for president. 

“My heart is heavy knowing he is gone,” Haley continued Sunday. “He taught his kids the importance of faith, hard work, and grace. He was an amazing husband of 64 years, a loving grandfather and great grandfather, and the best father to his four children. He was such a blessing to all of us. Happy Father’s Day Dad. We will miss you dearly.” 

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Nikki Haley embraces her father Ajit Singh Randhawa during a campaign event to launch her presidential bid, at the Charleston Visitor Center in Charleston, South Carolina, on Feb. 15, 2023. (LOGAN CYRUS/AFP via Getty Images)

The former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations did not disclose her father’s age or cause of death in the post. 

Haley was the last Republican primary presidential contender to drop out of the 2024 race,eventually bowing out and giving a clear path to former President Trump in March.  

In January, Haley briefly left the campaign trail to visit her father in the hospital in South Carolina, Politico reported. Reports at the time said he had an unspecified type of cancer. 

Nikki Haley during a news conference in Sderot, Israel, on Monday, May 27, 2024. (Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Randhawa, who was originally from India’s Punjab region, first moved to Canada to get a Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia, then moved to South Carolina in 1969, and taught at Voorhees College, according to Politico.

Nikki Haley meets with Hamas attack survivor, Tali Biner, during a visit to the ‘Nova’ Festival site on May 27, 2024 in Re’eim, Israel.  (Amir Levy/Getty Images)

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Haley, who would go on to become the state’s governor, was born three years later.

Republican senators are anticipating GOP wins in the upcoming November elections, enough so that some of the usual opponents are willing to pass a stopgap spending bill in September that would push off appropriations bills until 2025, when a potentially Republican Senate majority and White House could play a part in crafting them. 

“I do happen to believe that the continuing resolution that we ought to be looking at come September 30th, when our current spending bills run out of steam, is a spending bill that I think should take us into 2025, probably into March or April of 2025,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, told Fox News Digital in a recent interview. 

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Sens. Lee and Marshall are expressing support for a stopgap spending bill that goes into 2025 so that Republicans can craft it – if they win in November. (Getty Images)

The Utah Republican has been a vocal critic against a cycle of continuing spending resolutions and omnibus bills frequently used in recent years to pass the all-important annual appropriations measures. According to him, a move like this would serve to avoid “the possibility of a lame duck omnibus” bill crafted by a Democratic Senate majority under the Biden administration. 

He said that such a measure would be “put in place, probably after some pretty significant Republican victories” during the 2024 elections “that will lead to Republicans having control of the Senate next year.”

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Republicans are focusing on several vulnerable incumbent Democrats and open seats, putting significant resources into Senate candidates such as Bernie Moreno, Sam Brown, Tim Sheehy and Kari Lake.  (Getty Images)

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., has repeatedly sounded the alarm about returning to a process of regular order, particularly when it comes to appropriations. The continuing resolution suggested by Lee “makes sense to me,” he said, adding that he “absolutely” sees himself pushing for it come September. 

The fiscal hawk explained the stopgap spending bill would “slow down the spending up here,” noting that “Anything other than a continuing resolution—folks up here are going to increase the spending.”

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Marshall has been a proponent of ensuring a regular order appropriations process. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

“Then, we need a commitment when we come back here to go through some type of regular order on the budget process and then work really hard on being ready for budget reconciliation, assuming we win all three levers.”

Republican senators met with former President Trump on Thursday at the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) headquarters in Washington, D.C., with the exceptions of Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who did not attend. The majority of attendees seemed to emerge from the meeting feeling optimistic about Republicans’ odds in the upcoming elections. 

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Trump leads Biden in several key polls.  (Left: Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images, Right: (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images))

The Senate is currently led by a Democratic majority, with a 51-49 split. But Republicans are looking at a much more advantageous Senate election map than their Democratic counterparts, five of whose incumbent senators are in tough battleground state races. Democrats are also losing three caucus members in Sens. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and Joe Manchin, I-W.Va. The West Virginia Senate seat is expected to be an easy Republican pick up, with non-partisan political handicapper the Cook Political Report rating it as “Solid Republican.” As for the seats being vacated in Michigan and Arizona, they are both only considered “Lean Democratic.” 

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Further, Trump has a significant chance of retaking the White House, leading President Biden in polls of several critical battleground states, giving both himself and Republican lawmakers hope. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

Former President Donald Trump’s trial in Manhattan was a “modern day Salem witch trial” that has opened the floodgates to district attorneys across the nation prosecuting former presidents, experts told Fox News Digital. 

“No matter how you twist and warp the traditional role of the prosecutor, it’s always going to have a bad outcome. It’s bad for the legal system. And you now see two DAs — both of whom are Soros, rogue prosecutors — using their office to go after somebody who, if his name had not been Trump, no DA would have even blinked an eye his way. [They are using] the law in a perverted way for purely political reasons,” Heritage Foundation legal fellow Charles “Cully” Stimson told Fox News Digital in a phone interview. 

“It doesn’t even pass the laugh test,” he added. 

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Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump sits in the courtroom during his hush money trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City, on May 21, 2024. After approximately five weeks, 19 witnesses, reams of documents and a dash of salacious testimony, the prosecution against Donald Trump rested its case May 21, 2024, handing over to the defense before closing arguments expected next week.   (Michael M. Santiago/PoolAFP via Getty Images)

Bragg charged former Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree last year, with Trump pleading not guilty and slamming the case as a “scam.” He was found guilty on May 30 by a Manhattan jury.

Trump has maintained his innocence since the verdict, and he has launched an appeal in the case. 

Prosecutors needed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump falsified 34 business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to former pornography actor Stormy Daniels in the lead-up to the 2016 election to silence her about an alleged affair with Trump in 2006.

The House Judiciary, which is chaired by Republican Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, held a hearing Thursday regarding Trump’s prosecution, hearing from four experts on the matter, including Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and Commissioner of the Federal Election Commission Trey Trainor. The committee will hold another hearing next month, one day after Trump is sentenced, when it will host Bragg himself, as well as prosecutor and former DOJ official Matthew Colangelo. 

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, listens as Attorney General Merrick Garland appears before a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Wednesday, September 20, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

“With his unprecedented politicized indictment of President Trump, Manhattan District Attorney Bragg has opened the door for politically motivated prosecutions of federal officials by state and local prosecutors. Other ambitious state prosecutors have already followed Bragg’s lead and pursued politically motivated indictments of President Trump,” committee Republicans said of the hearing Thursday. 

“On April 4, 2023, after campaigning on his experience in investigating President Trump and in response to intense pressure from left-wing activists, Bragg charged President Trump with 34 felony counts for falsifying business records. Falsifying business records is ordinarily a misdemeanor subject to a two-year statute of limitations, which would have expired long ago. While Bragg is systematically downgrading most felonies in Manhattan to misdemeanors, he used a novel and untested legal theory—previously declined by federal prosecutors—to upgrade the charges against President Trump to felonies. Bragg’s case against President Trump has beset by due process and procedural irregularities,” they added. 

Fox News Digital spoke to the authors of “Rogue Prosecutors: How Radical Soros Lawyers Are Destroying America’s Communities,” Stimson and fellow Heritage senior fellow Zack Smith, who explained that the role of the district attorney is to prosecute cases and keep the community safe. The pair both agreed in separate interviews that the case was one that weaponized the legal system. 

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“This clearly is essentially a weaponization of the legal system. And I think if we zoom out and look at the 40,000-foot perspective, I think it quickly becomes clear, that if the defendant wasn’t named Donald Trump, this case never would have been brought. And that’s particularly apparent if you look at the other policies and actions Alvin Bragg has taken since he’s been elected District Attorney,” Smith said. 

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks to the media after a jury found former President Donald Trump guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records on Thursday, May 30, 2024, in New York.  (AP/Seth Wenig)

Smith pointed to Bragg’s “day one memo,” back when he took the office in 2022, which detailed that he would not prosecute those charged with low-level misdemeanors and felonies.  

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He pledged “not to prosecute most other misdemeanors there in Manhattan, pledging not to prosecute many low-level felonies, even many serious felony offenses. Or if he did prosecute them, not to seek a sentence of incarceration by default, and often to seek very lenient sentences for individuals accused of even very serious crimes,” Smith said. 

“So, I think any reasonable observer would look at this and say, that unless this was Donald Trump being prosecuted, this case wouldn’t have been brought.”

Smith explained that while Bragg pursued the lengthy case against Trump, New York City likely suffered as other violent crime continue to play out on the Big Apple’s streets. 

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“I don’t think it will come as a shock that there’s no shortage of violent crime in New York City today — watch the news, look at the stories that are out there. You’ll see often very violent criminals committing acts and being released back into the community again,” he said. 

People stand in Central Park in front of buildings along Billionaires’ Row as trees begin to turn color on October 29, 2023, in New York City.  (Getty Images)

Stimson penned an op-ed with legal scholar John Yoo this month outlining that the NY v. Trump case effectively declared “open season” for America’s more than 2,300 elected district attorneys to pursue cases against former presidents. 

“President Trump’s enemies have been so busy celebrating his conviction in New York last week that they don’t seem to realize what a double-edged sword they’ve unsheathed. Regardless of Trump’s fate on appeal, one or more of the 2,300 elected district attorneys across the country may now feel liberated. They can now pursue former presidents, including President Biden, regardless of the merits of the case, purely for political gain or retribution,” the pair wrote in the op-ed. 

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Stimson and Yoo pointed specifically to Bragg and Fulton County, Georgia, DA Fani Willis for opening the flood gates to DAs prosecutors pursuing cases against other former presidents. Willis brought forth the election inference case against Trump, charging him and 18 co-defendants with racketeering over allegations that they had tried to overthrow the 2020 election. 

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. (Alex Slitz-Pool/Getty Images)

“We are not suggesting that any county prosecutor must retaliate against Biden simply because Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and Fulton County DA Fani Willis prosecuted Donald Trump—though it is hard to see what else would stop rogue progressive prosecutors from continuing to charge Republican presidents. Rather, we are suggesting that the likelihood of other county prosecutors charging former presidents has gone from zero to some undetermined percentage,” they highlighted. 

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DAs, they speculated, could open an investigation into the Biden family regarding whether Hunter and James Biden “were taking money from foreign governments and companies to influence U.S. government decisions,” which would thus involve President Biden. They noted: “A DA would already have the paper trail set out by congressional investigators and IRS whistleblowers.”

James Biden arrives in federal court on hearing there was a verdict, Tuesday, June 11, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware.  (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Or a “creative county prosecutor in Texas” could pursue a case against President Biden for “any number of crimes for his immigration policies on the border,” they added. 

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“Trump’s foes can cheer all they want, but the short-term political gain Bragg and those who support him may reap from this flawed and unorthodox prosecution will potentially be dwarfed by the long-term damage to stability of the Office of the President,” they added.