NationalWatch

A woman was arrested after allegedly tossing a red liquid onto Vice President Kamala Harris’ motorcade during a campaign visit to Phoenix.

Anasilvia Gomez-Zamora, 30, was taken into custody in connection with the incident, which happened at around 6 p.m. on Friday near 7th Street and Southern Avenue. 

She was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, endangerment and resisting arrest.

BIDEN BORDER VISIT UNDERSCORES KAMALA HARRIS’ SHRINKING ROLE IN HANDLING MIGRANT CRISIS

The woman was standing on a sidewalk near where the motorcade was driving when she threw a red liquid, according to Phoenix Police. The liquid landed on eight Phoenix Police officers on motorcycles.

“The motor officers were able to continue the motorcade as they progressed through their route. Other officers in the area were able to locate and arrest the woman responsible,” Sgt. Phil Krynsky told Fox 10.

Police said the liquid was determined to be non-hazardous.

VP KAMALA HARRIS DODGES QUESTION WHETHER SHE’D DEBATE TRUMP RUNNING MATE

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Gomez-Zamora was booked into jail in Maricopa County on Saturday but has since been released.

Harris was visiting Phoenix to campaign on her “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour in support of abortion access for women in the U.S., her fourth trip to Arizona as vice president.

Republicans are gearing up for what could be an epic showdown for majority control of the Senate with several contentious elections around the country later this year.

Democrats control the U.S. Senate with a 51-49 majority, but Republicans are looking at a favorable Senate map in 2024, with Democrats defending 23 of the 34 seats up for grabs. Three of those seats are in red states former Donald Trump carried in 2020 — West Virginia, Montana and Ohio.

Five other seats, one of which is held by an independent, are in key swing states narrowly carried by President Biden in 2020 — Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Texas and Florida, where incumbents Ted Cruz and Rick Scott, respectively, are seeking re-election, appear to be the only potentially competitive GOP-held seats up for grabs next year.

‘TOUGHEST UPHILL CLIMB’: RACE FORECASTER REVEALS SHIFT TOWARD GOP IN TOP 2024 SENATE RACE

Ohio

Longtime Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown is the only member of his party to win a non-judicial, statewide election in Ohio in the past decade. As Brown runs in 2024 for a fourth six-year term representing Ohio, he is facing heavy targeting by Republicans in the state that was once a premier general election battleground but has shifted red over the past six years.

Trump carried Ohio by eight points in his 2016 presidential election victory and his 2020 re-election defeat. Last year, Trump’s handpicked Senate candidate in Ohio, Sen. JD Vance, topped longtime Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan by six points despite Ryan running what political experts considered a nearly flawless campaign.

Brown, who has served as a congressman, state lawmaker and Ohio secretary of state during his nearly half-century career in politics, has reportedly raked in $5.7 million in the first two months of 2024, giving his campaign $13.5 million on hand.

Two Republicans who ran unsuccessfully against Vance for the 2022 GOP Senate nomination in Ohio — state Sen. Matt Dolan and businessman Bernie Moreno — are in the race to oust Brown.

Dolan, a former top county prosecutor and Ohio assistant attorney general, launched his campaign in January 2023. Dolan, whose family owns Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Guardians, shelled out millions of his own money to run ads for his 2022 Senate bid.

He surged near the end of the primary race, finishing third in a crowded field of Republican contenders, winning nearly a quarter of the vote.

Moreno, a successful Cleveland-based businessman and luxury auto dealership magnate, declared his candidacy in April. An immigrant who arrived in the U.S. legally from Colombia with his family as a 5-year-old boy, Moreno also shelled out millions of his own money to run TV commercials to try and boost his first Senate bid. But he suspended his campaign in February 2022 after requesting and holding a private meeting with Trump.

In July, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose joined the race, launching a much-anticipated Senate campaign. The state’s primary election is scheduled for March 19.

Montana

Democrats breathed a sigh of relief when Sen. Jon Tester of Montana announced earlier this year that he would seek re-election in 2024 in a state Trump carried by 16 points in the 2020 presidential election. The Democratic incumbent, who’s running unopposed, had hauled in a formidable $15 million in fundraising as of the end of 2023.

Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL and Purple Heart recipient who notched more than 200 missions in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere around the globe, launched a Republican Senate bid in late June.

Sheehy, the CEO of Bridger Aerospace, a Montana-based aerial firefighting and wildfire surveillance services company, enjoys the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s (NRSC) backing and received an endorsement from Trump last month.

Sheehy will face off against four other GOP hopefuls, including former Montana Secretary of State Brad Johnson, in the state’s June 4 primary election.

Rep. Matt Rosendale, a hard-right congressman, had initially launched a bid for the Senate seat before withdrawing from the race.

Following his withdrawal, Rosendale, who narrowly lost to Tester in the 2018 Senate election, said he would seek re-election in Montana’s 2nd Congressional District. That plan, however, was halted last week when Rosendale announced he was suspending his House campaign, citing “current attacks” against him.

West Virginia

With Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., not seeking re-election, the race for the Senate in West Virginia is looking brighter for Republicans as they seek to flip the seat from blue to red.

Last year, NRSC Chairman Sen. Steve Daines said, “We like our odds in West Virginia.”

Right now, the main action is in the Republican Senate primary, where popular Democrat-turned-Republican Gov. Jim Justice has the backing of the NRSC and Trump. Among Justice’s six Republican challengers, the leading rival for the GOP Senate nomination is GOP Rep. Alex Mooney, who represents the state’s 2nd Congressional District and has received support from the fiscally conservative Club for Growth.

The first Democrat to jump into the race following Manchin’s departure was 32-year-old Zachary Shrewsbury, a native West Virginian and Marine Corps veteran. Two other Democrats — Don Blankenship and Glenn Elliott — are also running.

Manchin announced in November he would not be seeking re-election to his post in the upper chamber, saying in a video posted to X he believes he “accomplished what I set out to do for West Virginia” during his tenure in the Senate. Manchin, who previously served as governor of the state, was first elected to the Senate to represent West Virginia in a 2010 special election.

The state’s primary election is slated to take place May 14.

Wisconsin

In Wisconsin, incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., is looking to retain her post in the upper chamber and clinch a third term in office.

Baldwin, who announced her candidacy in the race last April, has represented the Badger State in the Senate since 2013. She previously served in the Wisconsin State Assembly and represented the state’s 2nd Congressional District in the House from 1999 to 2013.

Running unopposed, Baldwin has received strong support from her party on a state and national level. However, Republicans are eager to make an attempt to win the seat this cycle.

GOP businessman and real estate mogul Eric Hovde launched his bid for the Senate in February and quickly became a target for Democrats as the party seeks to maintain control of the seat.

The Senate Majority PAC went up with a $2 million ad buy last week targeting Hovde as a “multi-millionaire California banker.” The ad attempted to portray Hovde as an “out-of-touch carpetbagger” whose interests don’t align with those of the Wisconsin constituency.

Recognizing the ad campaign, Mike Berg, the communications director for the NRSC, wrote on X: “How bad are @TammyBaldwin and @SenSchumer panicking about @EricHovde?”

Hovde previously ran in 2012 but lost in the GOP primary to former Gov. Tommy Thompson. Baldwin went on to win the general election that year.

Arizona

With Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s announcement that she won’t seek re-election, the spotlight for the Senate race in the battleground state of Arizona has shifted to two prominent candidates — Rep. Ruben Gallego, a Democrat who represents the state’s 3rd Congressional District, and Republican Kari Lake, who previously made a run for governor of the state in 2022.

It was reported earlier this year that Gallego, the top Democrat seeking the Senate seat, had raised $3.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Since launching his bid for the seat in January 2023, Gallego’s campaign reported raising $13 million earlier this year.

Lake, a former TV news anchor who has been endorsed by several leading Senate Republicans and Trump, instantly became the GOP frontrunner when she jumped into the race last October.

Politico reported in January that Lake had “raised $2 million in the roughly 11 weeks after she entered the race, but she quickly spent nearly half that haul,” leaving her with a “little over $1 million in the bank — and $308,000 in debt” to start 2024.

Prior to Lake entering the race, Mark Lamb, a Republican who serves as sheriff for Pinal County, filed paperwork to run for the seat last April. Seven other Republicans are also seeking their party’s nomination for the seat in the state’s July 30 primary election.

Pennsylvania

The Keystone State, a perennial general election battleground, will likely live up to its reputation once again in 2024 as it holds what will arguably be one of the most competitive and expensive Senate races in the country.

Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat who served a decade as the state’s auditor general and then treasurer before first winning election to the Senate in 2006, is seeking a fourth six-year term in office.

Casey, who is not expected to face any serious Democratic primary challenge, is the son of a popular former governor.

Republicans appear united behind Dave McCormick, who is making his second straight Senate run. McCormick narrowly lost the state’s 2022 GOP Senate primary election to Dr. Mehmet Oz, who went on to lose in the general election to former Braddock Mayor John Fetterman.

McCormick, a former hedge fund executive, West Point graduate, Gulf War combat veteran and Treasury Department official in former President George W. Bush’s administration, was endorsed by the Pennsylvania GOP in late September, soon after he entered the race.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

Axios reported in January that McCormick had raised $5.4 million in his first quarter as a candidate. Casey’s campaign announced at the beginning of the year that it had raised more than $3.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.

McCormick had been courted by national and state Republicans to run, and his candidacy gives the GOP a high-profile candidate with the ability to finance his own race.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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

Dueling campaign appearances in Georgia Saturday and a high-profile murder that has become a symbol of the border problem provided a sharp contrast between President Joe Biden and his presumptive Republican challenger, former President Donald Trump.

The death of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student allegedly killed by an illegal migrant on the campus of University of Georgia, has become a rallying cry for Republicans, a tragedy that they say encompasses the Biden administration’s handling of the border crisis. While Biden botched her name in Thursday’s State of the Union speech, Trump on Saturday met with her family.

“I met her beautiful mother and family backstage,” Trump told rallygoers in Rome, Georgia on Saturday. “They said she was like the best. She was always the best to us. They admit that she was the best, and she was the first in her class. She was going to be the best nurse. She was the best nursing student. She was always the best. She was the brightest light in every room, they told me.”

He added, “She was the whole world to her parents and to her sister and just to the whole family.”

TRUMP MET WITH LAKEN RILEY’S BACKSTAGE BEFORE GEORGIA RALLY: ‘PROFOUNDLY HONORED’

Trump said that he was “profoundly honored” to have Riley’s family and friends at the rally.

“They’re so incredible,” he continued. “The hearts of hundreds of thousands and indeed millions and millions of Americans and people worldwide, they’re shattered alongside of your beautiful hearts. We share your grief. We share your grief. Thank you, darling. Thank you. Thank you very much. We appreciate it.”

LAKEN RILEY’S MOTHER BLASTS BIDEN AS PATHETIC FOR GETTING DAUGHTER’S NAME WRONG DURING SOTU

In a viral picture, the former president is seen hugging Riley’s parents before the rally.

Riley’s stepfather, John Phillips, was seen wearing a bright red, “Make America Great Again” hat at the rally.

Meanwhile, Biden, who also held a campaign event Saturday, told MSNBC in a pre-recorded interview that he regrets using the term “illegal” during his State of the Union address to describe Riley’s suspected killer. The term “illegal immigrant” angers liberals who prefer to call people who enter the country illegally “undocumented.”

“I shouldn’t have used illegal, it’s undocumented,” he told MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart.

“When I spoke about the difference between Trump and me, one of the things I talked about on the border was his – the way he talks about vermin, the way he talks about these people polluting the blood,” Biden said. “I talked about what I’m not going to do, what I won’t do. I’m not going to treat any, any, any of these people with disrespect. Look, they built the country. The reason our economy is growing, we have to control the border and more orderly flow. But I don’t share his view at all.”

When asked if he regrets his word choice, Biden replied “yes.” 

His remorse came after an off-the-prompter moment at his State of the Union address got him in hot water with some in his party.

Biden first mistakenly referred to Riley as “Lincoln Riley,” and then called her alleged killer an “illegal.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Biden initially defended his use of “illegal” before eventually retracting it during a conversation with Capehart.

Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimpson contributed to this report.

President Biden was interrupted at an Atlanta rally on Saturday by a pro-Palestinian protester who called him “genocide Joe.”

At the Pullman Yards rally in Georgia’s capital city, Biden was quickly interrupted shortly after he began his speech by a screaming protester.

“What are you going to do, genocide Joe,” the protester yelled. “Tens of thousands of Palestinians are dead.”

SOCIAL MEDIA ROILED AS BIDEN ADMITS TO OLD AGE IN BRAND NEW CAMPAIGN AD: ‘I’M NOT A YOUNG GUY’

Before Biden was able to deliver a response to the protester, rally-goers began chanting, “Four more years! Four more years!”

TRUMP-BIDEN: THE GREAT GRUDGE REMATCH

According to FOX 5, the protester was dragged out by Secret Service personnel.

After the crowd settled down, Biden said that he does not “resent his passion.”

“Look, I don’t resent his passion,” the president said about the protester. “There’s a lot of Palestinians who are being unfairly victimized.”

The protesters’ comments come after Biden came out in support of a two-state solution in his State of the Union Address on Thursday.

In his address, Biden asserted that “as we look to the future, the only real solution is a two-state solution.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

“I say this as a lifelong supporter of Israel and the only American president to visit Israel in wartime,” he said.

“There is no other path that guarantees Israel’s security and democracy. There is no other path that guarantees Palestinians can live with peace and dignity. There is no other path that guarantees peace between Israel and all of its Arab neighbors, including Saudi Arabia,” Biden said.

Former President Donald Trump said he met with the family of Laken Riley backstage before speaking at a rally in Georgia on Saturday.

“I met her beautiful mother and family backstage,” Trump told the crowd in Rome. “They said she was like the best. She was always the best to us. They admit that she was the best, and she was the first in her class. She was going to be the best nurse. She was the best nursing student. She was always the best. She was the brightest light in every room, they told me.”

He added, “She was the whole world to her parents and to her sister and just to the whole family.” 

Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student in Georgia, was allegedly killed by a Venezuelan migrant in the country illegally while she was on a jog on Feb. 22. 

LAKEN RILEY’S MOTHER BLASTS BIDEN AS PATHETIC FOR GETTING DAUGHTER’S NAME WRONG DURING SOTU

Trump laid the blame for Riley’s death on President Biden. 

“Biden has implemented a formal policy that illegal aliens who intrude into the United States are granted immunity from deportation,” Trump said. “Thus, when this monster showed up at our border, he was set free immediately under the program. That crooked Joe created it.” 

He added that they were “profoundly honored” to have Riley’s family and friends at the rally. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“They’re so incredible,” he continued. “The hearts of hundreds of thousands and indeed millions and millions of Americans and people worldwide, they’re shattered alongside of your beautiful hearts. We share your grief. We share your grief. Thank you, darling. Thank you. Thank you very much. We appreciate it.”

Vice President Kamala Harris will not commit to debating former President Donald Trump’s eventual running mate.

Harris dodged the question of a vice-presidential debate during a Friday interview with NBC News.

“We just got through the State of the Union. And I’m just so excited about what we accomplished last night and our president,” Harris told NBC. 

KAMALA HARRIS DODGES WHEN ASKED WHETHER BIDEN WILL DEBATE TRUMP: ‘WE’LL GET TO THAT AT SOME POINT’

The vice-president’s evasion of the question is far from unique — the question of whether anyone in the White House will go toe-to-toe with the Trump campaign this fall has been a long-unanswered question.

The question of President Biden’s health and mental fitness has been a long-standing concern of both Republicans and Democrats. A presidential debate is traditionally seen as an opportunity to assess candidates’ ability to think on their feet and speak under pressure.

Harris similarly refused to give a straight answer on Friday when asked whether Biden would debate Trump himself before the 2024 election.

BIDEN BORDER VISIT UNDERSCORES KAMALA HARRIS’ SHRINKING ROLE IN HANDLING MIGRANT CRISIS

Trump, the 2024 GOP frontrunner and presumptive nominee, posted his offer to debate Biden on Wednesday afternoon — just hours after his final GOP challenger Nikki Haley suspended her campaign.

Referencing Trump’s challenge, ABC News correspondent Mary Bruce asked Harris whether Biden would commit to debating his likely rival.

Harris instead pivoted to a discussion of Thursday night’s State of the Union address and claimed that Biden had successfully portrayed himself as “passionate” and “principled.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“But given what you argue is at stake here, will you take the chance to show voters more of what they saw last night to take on Trump directly in debates?” Bruce pressed.

“We’ll get to that at some point, and we’ll deal with that,” Harris replied. “But the point is, right now, on this day after the State of the Union, I think the president laid down the facts for the American people in terms of what’s at stake. And I thought he did an extraordinary job.”

Fox News Digital’s Nikolas Lanum contributed to this report.

A federal court on Friday temporarily blocked the Biden administration from diverting $1.4 billion in funding appropriated by Congress away from border wall construction, one of a number of legal battles between Texas and the federal government.

The ruling stems from a January 2021 proclamation by President Joe Biden that terminated the Trump-era national emergency at the southern border, and ordered a pause on the construction of the border wall. The funds obligated to go to border wall funding in fiscal 2020 and 2021 appropriations were put on pause while agencies reviewed the matter.

“It shall be the policy of my administration that no more American taxpayer dollars be diverted to construct a border wall. I am also directing a careful review of all resources appropriated or redirected to construct a southern border wall,” Biden said.

MAYORKAS CITES ‘IMMEDIATE NEED’ TO WAIVE REGULATIONS, BUILD BORDER WALL IN TEXAS AS IMMIGRATION SURGES

In June of the same year, the Department of Homeland Security issued a plan canceling most border wall projects and would in 2022 amend the same plan to include remediation and the addition of barrier system upgrades such as lighting, cameras and detection.

Missouri and Texas sued, arguing that the reappropriation of funding was illegal and violated the separation of powers, also arguing also that the states will be harmed by more illegal immigration into their states and leading to more costs to them. Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush also sued, and the two lawsuits eventually consolidated.

MAYORKAS CALLS POLICY TO LET 30K MIGRANTS FLY IN EACH MONTH A ‘KEY ELEMENT’ OF BORDER PLAN AFTER LEGAL WIN 

DHS argued that Texas had not established that the failure to build more wall would result in more illegal immigration, claiming that migration increases can be caused by social, economic and political factors.”

U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton, a Trump appointee who had found in favor of the Biden administration in a separate case, ruled in favor of Texas and Missouri and put a temporary injunction on the redirecting of funds.

“Texas has shown injury-in-fact through costs that it has incurred in administering driver’s licenses, education, and healthcare to a rising number of illegal aliens,” he wrote in his ruling. “Traceability is met because Texas has sufficiently demonstrated that the failure to build more physical barriers will reduce the number of apprehensions that otherwise would have occurred. And finally, this controversy is redressable because it is likely that a favorable judicial decision would reduce the financial harms that Texas otherwise would incur.” 

In a statement, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accused Biden of acting improperly “by refusing to spend the money that Congress appropriated for border wall construction, and even attempting to redirect those funds.”

“His actions demonstrate his desperation for open borders at any cost, but Texas has prevailed,” he said. Fox reached out to DHS and the White House for comment.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS ZERO IN ON BORDER CHAOS WITH VIDEO SERIES ON ‘FACES OF BIDEN’S STATE OF THE UNION IN CRISIS’

The administration has consistently said it disapproves of border wall construction, although it has engaged in a number of wall-related projects. In October, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas waived regulations in order to go ahead with projects appropriated in FY 19 funding.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“We have repeatedly asked Congress to rescind this money, but it has not done so and we are compelled to follow the law,” Mayorkas said.

“This Administration believes that effective border security requires a smarter and more comprehensive approach, including state-of the-art border surveillance technology and modernized ports of entry. We need Congress to give us the funds to implement these proven tools.”

An effort by Senate Republicans to stop non-citizens, including illegal immigrants, from being counted on the census for the purposes of apportionment for House seats and the Electoral College was shot down later Friday after the measure failed to gain the support of a single Democrat.

Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., moved to include an amendment, attached to the $460 billion spending package, that would require the Census Bureau to include a citizenship question in any future census, and then bar anyone who isn’t a U.S. citizen from being counted for purposes of congressional district and Electoral College apportionment.

While the bill would also exclude legal immigrants on temporary visas and green cards from the census, the move has been undertaken explicitly to stop illegal immigrants from being counted amid millions of new arrivals at the southern border. It’s similar to a Trump-era effort to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census. Trump’s effort sparked widespread criticism and condemnation from Democrats and left-wing immigration groups who argued that a citizenship question was unlawful and was designed to help Republicans in future elections.

SEN HAGERTY SAYS DEMS ENGAGING IN ‘SHEER POWER GRAB’ BY TOLERATING BORDER ‘CARNAGE’

Hagerty told Fox News Digital last month that he believes that Democrats in “sanctuary” cities and elsewhere are accepting of the effects of the migrant surge because they are hoping to gain greater representation in the House of Representatives and Electoral College by redistricting. 

“They are seeing people leave their state. They’re seeing the potential of the next census to lose congressional districts and electoral votes. I think most people in America are shocked to find out that we count the presence of illegal immigrants in determining the allocation of congressional districts and electoral votes,” Hagerty said.

“But if you think about the motives for the crime that’s taking place at our southern border, that is it. That’s what the Democrats are trying to do,” he said. “And it’s a sheer power grab. It’s cynical as hell, and it’s actually the most straightforward explanation of why they would tolerate this carnage and mayhem. It’s in order to retain and gain power.”

Some conservative experts have warned about the potential of the migrant surge on House apportionment in particular. The Heritage Foundation’s Lora Ries published an essay alongside R.J. Hauman, the president of the National Immigration Center For Enforcement, warning that illegal immigration is triggering a “warped representation” in Congress.

WHITE HOUSE CALLS FOR SANCTUARY CITIES TO COOPERATE WITH ICE AMID FUROR OVER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIMES

“Barring the Census from including non-citizens in apportionment is critical in making sure that American citizens — the only population who can and should vote in U.S. elections — are picking America’s leaders,” Ries and Hauman wrote, warning that the crisis is “distorting the representation that states have in the House, and how many electoral votes they have in presidential elections.”

However, Hagerty’s amendment failed after 51 Democrats and Independents voted against the measure or were not present. One Republican, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, also voted against the measure. All other Republicans either voted for the measure or were not present. The vote was 51-45 against. 

The mostly united Republican support for the measure suggests that it could pass in the GOP-controlled House.

In a statement, Hagerty said that the Democratic opposition “confirms that they’re using illegal aliens and sanctuary cities to increase their political power.”

7.2M ENTERED US UNDER BIDEN ADMIN, AN AMOUNT GREATER THAN POPULATION OF 36 STATES

The vote comes as immigration remains a red redhot political issue. President Biden visited the southern border last week and on Thursday at the State of the Union renewed his appeals for Congress to pass a bipartisan border bill.

“Look, folks, we have a simple choice: We can fight about fixing the border, or we can fix it.  I’m ready to fix it. Send me the border bill now,” Biden said.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The bill would increase staffing to the border and funding for cities and NGOs receiving migrants. It would also place a limit on border entries, but conservatives say the 5,000-a-day trigger would normalize already-excessive levels of illegal immigration.

Fox News’ Thomas Catenacci contributed to this report.
 

Just one day after President Biden delivered a State of the Union address many liberals said put to rest questions about his mental fitness, the president raised eyebrows with several gaffes in Pennsylvania.

Biden visited Strath Haven Middle School in Delaware County on Friday for his first swing state campaign stop after outlining his agenda to a joint session of Congress. There, he pitched his plans for a second White House term, promising to protect abortion rights, defending his economic record and calling for new gun control laws. He also made some unforced errors in his speech, which were ridiculed by Republicans. 

“Pennsylvania, I have a message for you: Send me to Congress!” Biden shouted at one point, appearing to mix up the office he’s running for. He was a six-term U.S. senator representing Delaware in Congress before he became vice president in 2008. 

Later in his remarks, Biden said, “we cut the deficit and we added more to the national debt than any president in his term in all of history, than under Donald Trump.” 

BIDEN ASSAILS ‘PREDECESSOR’ TRUMP, GOP IN SHARPLY PARTISAN STATE OF THE UNION SPEECH

Both comments were picked up by the Republican National Committee’s opposition research account and shared far and wide on X. 

At another point, Biden mistakenly referred to the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots as taking place on “July 6th,” and then corrected himself. 

The gaffes illustrate how Biden, 81, must continue to fight off criticisms of his age and mental fitness from Republicans as the general election heats up.

The president did earn praise from many liberals for his “energetic” State of the Union performance on Thursday. 

BIDEN’S STATE OF THE UNION SPEECH REINFORCED MENTAL ACUITY AND AGE CONCERNS, REPUBLICANS SAY

Former CNN journalist John Harwood, known as one of the most sycophantic Biden White House boosters in the media, mocked the president’s critics for saying they were worried about his vitality.

“[T]hose Dems complaining that Biden lacks vigor and fight getting splash of cold water in the face right now,” he wrote, later adding that the “people yapping for so long about Biden not being up to the job look pretty dumb this morning.”

“My fellow Americans the issue facing our nation isn’t how old we are it’s how old our ideas are? Hate, anger, revenge, retribution are among the oldest of ideas,” CNN analyst Juliette Kayyem wrote, quoting from Biden’s speech. “It would seem Biden has landed on a perfect framing for the age issue.” 

Left-wing New York Times columnist Paul Krugman wrote, “A thought: the whole Biden-is-too-old thing was kind of a bubble, in the sense that people were buying it mainly because other people were buying it. Did Biden just burst that bubble?”

LIBERAL JOURNALISTS REJOICE OVER BIDEN PERFORMANCE AT SOTU, CLAIM IT PUTS AGE QUESTIONS TO REST

Republicans saw the speech differently. They questioned why Biden kept shouting to emphasize his points and noted that he spoke very fast at times and slurred his words.

“A lot of the time it was hard to understand what he was saying,” said House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good, R-Va. “He was kind of mumbling and slurring.” 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“We couldn’t understand him. He was so mad,” agreed Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. “The volume was up and down.”

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, remarked the president’s annual address was “reminiscent of an old, angry man standing on his porch screaming ‘get off my front lawn.’”

Fox News Digital’s Jeffrey Clark, Julia Johnson, Elizabeth Elkind and Charles Creitz contributed to this report.

Former President Donald Trump met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and received his endorsement, sparking outrage from President Biden.

Orbán traveled to Florida to visit Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Friday.

The duo discussed “a wide range of issues affecting Hungary and the United States, including the paramount importance of strong and secure borders to protect the sovereignty of each nation,” according to the Trump campaign.

HUNGARY’S ORBAN TO MEET WITH TRUMP, NOT BIDEN, ON VISIT TO US COURTING FOREIGN POLICY

“There’s nobody that’s better, smarter or a better leader than Viktor Orban. He’s fantastic,” Trump said. “He’s a noncontroversial figure because he said ‘This is the way it’s gonna be,’ and that’s the end of it. He’s the boss.” 

The Hungarian leader endorsed Trump following the meeting, claiming the former president is one of the few world leaders who can bring peace.

“It was a pleasure to visit President [Donald Trump] today. We need leaders in the world who are respected and can bring peace,” Orbán said on social media. “He is one of them! Come back and bring us peace, Mr. President!”

HUNGARY PM RIPS WESTERN EUROPEAN IMMIGRATION POLICIES, SAYS HE DOESN’T WANT ‘MINI GAZAS IN BUDAPEST’

Orbán, who has been in office since 2010, has promoted what he calls “illiberal democracy” and has been criticized by international human rights observers, including the U.S. State Department. 

He has received intense scrutiny for leading an increasingly autocratic system in Hungary, including allegations that he has rolled back minority rights, seized control of the judiciary and media and manipulated the country’s election system to remain in power, according to The Associated Press. 

Biden decried the meeting during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania — characterizing the pair as enemies to democracy.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“You know who he’s meeting with today down in Mar-a-Lago? Orbán of Hungary, who’s stated flatly that he doesn’t thinks democracy works, he’s looking for dictatorship,” Biden claimed.

He added, “I see a future where we defend democracy, not diminish it.”

Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.

Billionaire Elon Musk attempted to correct the record on his immigration views after he claimed the press had wrongly labeled him as “anti-immigrant.” 

“Because I am raising concerns about the flood of unvetted illegal immigrants overwhelming American cities, the press will often characterize me as ‘anti-immigrant,’” Musk wrote on X Thursday. 

“As an immigrant myself, nothing could be further from the truth,” he said. 

“I am very much in favor of increased and expedited legal immigration for anyone who is talented, hard-working and honest,” Musk continued. 

ELON MUSK EXPLAINS WHY HE’S RINGING THE ‘ALARM BELL’ ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION: ‘CRUSHING THE COUNTRY’

“It is bizarrely difficult and agonizingly slow to immigrate to the USA legally, but trivial and fast to enter illegally! This obviously makes no sense.”

Nearly 7.3 million migrants have illegally crossed the southwest border under President Biden’s watch, a number greater than the individual population of 36 states, a Fox News analysis found.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) report for fiscal 2023 shows that the number of illegal immigrants on the non-detained docket has soared from 3.7 million in FY 2021 to nearly 4.8 million in FY 2022 to nearly 6.2 million in FY 2023.

Musk, who legally immigrated to the U.S. from South Africa, has ramped up his scorching criticism of Biden’s border policies in recent months. He visited the U.S.-Mexico border at Eagle Pass, Texas, in September, when he declared the “situation is beyond insane and growing fast.” 

ELON MUSK SLAMS TANKED BORDER BILL, SAYS PEOPLE WHO RELY ON LEGACY MEDIA ‘LIVE IN A FAKE ALTERNATE REALITY’

When a bipartisan group of senators introduced compromise border security legislation last month, Musk was among the bill’s critics who argued it would have normalized high levels of illegal immigration.

Last week, he called the legislation “diabolical” and argued the failed bill “deserved to die,” while mocking legacy media coverage of the issue.

Musk responded to an X post from the Biden-Harris re-election campaign, which shared a clip from ABC News’ “Good Morning America” that discussed the bill. The ABC News reporter said the tanked bipartisan deal included some of the “toughest reforms in decades” but “Trump pressured Republicans to kill that bill to deny President Biden a political win.” 

Musk disagreed and ripped how the ABC News story framed the issue.

SENATE TANKS IMMIGRATION, FOREIGN AID SPENDING PACKAGE AFTER GOP BACKLASH AGAINST BORDER PROVISIONS

“People who get their news from legacy TV live in a fake alternate reality. Those so-called ‘toughest reforms’ would have made invasion-level migration permanent. That diabolical ‘Border Bill’ deserved to die and shame on those who supported it,” Musk posted on X. 

The bipartisan border bill included an “emergency border authority” to mandate Title 42-style expulsions of migrants when migration levels exceed 5,000 a day over a seven-day rolling average. 

It also would have narrowed asylum eligibility while expediting the process from years to months, provide immediate work permits for asylum seekers and fund a massive increase in staffing at the border and more immigration judges. In addition, it included increased numbers of green cards, extra funding for NGOs and cities receiving migrants, $650 million for border wall funding and $450 million for countries to take back and re-settle illegal immigrants.

While Biden endorsed the deal as a tough but fair way to give him the authority to solve the border crisis, Republicans in the House immediately declared it a non-starter and conservative opposition in the Senate quickly stacked up.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Musk has unambiguously sided with conservatives on the migrant crisis and accused Democrats of permitting high levels of illegal immigration so that they will vote blue in the future. He has also said Democrats are reluctant to deport illegal aliens who commit crimes since it would be akin to losing potential voters.

“Dems won’t deport, because every illegal is a highly likely vote at some point,” Musk posted on Feb. 26. “That simple incentive explains what seems to be insane behavior.”

Fox News Digital’s Brian Flood, Michael Dorgan and Eric Revell contributed to this report.

Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla. made a new push Friday on bipartisan legislation that would make Daylight Savings permanent. 

S. 582, also coined the Sunshine Protection Act, would make Daylight Savings permanent and add an hour to the day. The Senate unanimously passed the legislation in March 2022 but has been stalled since. 

The bill would allow Arizona and Hawaii, which do not observe daylight saving time, to remain on standard time, as well as American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

THE END OF DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME CAN NEGATIVELY AFFECT YOUR HEALTH

“The antiquated biannual ritual of toggling between times isn’t just an inconvenience—it also has very real impacts on our economy, our energy consumption, and our health,” Markey said in a statement released. “We know the sun will come out tomorrow, so let’s make that sun stay out an hour later by making Daylight Saving Time permanent and passing the Sunshine Protection Act.  You can bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow there’ll be sun … and smiles.”

“We’re ‘springing forward’ but should have never ‘fallen back.’ My Sunshine Protection Act would end this stupid practice of changing our clocks back and forth,” Rubio also said in the announcement. 

Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott also called to “Lock the clock,” calling upon Congress to move forward with the legislation. 

CRIME SPIKES WHEN DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME ENDS, STUDY FINDS

“Floridians are sick of changing their clocks because we all want more sunshine,” Scott said in a statement released. “It’s time for Congress to act and I’m proud to be leading the bipartisan Sunshine Protection Act with Senator Rubio to get this done. When I was Governor of Florida, I signed this bill into law on the state level. Now it’s Washington’s turn and we should finish the job by passing this good bill today.”

Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., introduced similar legislation in the House of Representatives in March 2023. H.R. 1279, also called the Sunshine Protection Act, seeks to make Daylight Savings permanent as well. 

President Joe Biden has not yet taken a stance on the issue, while former President Donald Trump tweeted back in 2019 he was “O.K.” with making Daylight Savings permanent. 

“Making Daylight Saving Time permanent is O.K. with me!” Trump wrote on Twitter at the time, now known as X. 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, FEB. 9, 1942, FEDS ENACT DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME IN DARKEST HOURS OF WORLD WAR II

Approximately 30 states have introduced legislation to permanently end the changing of clocks twice a year since 2015, according to Reuters. Some states have also only proposed to make the change so long as neighboring states do the same, per the outlet. 

Daylight saving time has been in place in nearly all the United States since the 1960s after initially being tried in 1918.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Year-round Daylight Savings was used during World War II and adopted once again in 1973 in an effort to reduce fuel use.

Daylight Savings starts on Sunday, March 10. 

Reuters contributed to this report. 

Senate Republicans pointed to Alabama’s recent law to protect in vitro fertilization (IVF) providers from civil and criminal liability as proof of states’ capacity to self-correct and the reason Democrat-led federal legislation to protect the fertility procedure isn’t necessary.

“Basically every state I know of supports IVF,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., a doctor.

Other Republican senators who spoke to Fox News Digital agreed.

Following a controversial decision by Alabama’s Supreme Court ruling frozen embryos were legally children, the state’s legislature quickly sprung into action to protect IVF. Several clinics conducting IVF shut down their procedures after the court’s decision, but once the state passed a law releasing them from liability, some of the centers began to reopen. 

REP. MATT ROSENDALE SAYS HE’S NOT RUNNING FOR RE-ELECTION: ‘TAKEN A SERIOUS TOLL ON ME’

GOP LAWMAKERS RALLY AROUND GOLD STAR DAD ARRESTED AFTER HECKLING BIDEN DURING SOTU

Cassidy cited Alabama’s fast legislative work in his explanation against federal legislation on IVF. 

“Once you get the federal government involved, it’s going to open the door to some mischief that goes far beyond what you originally wanted to,” he said. 

“The issue that brought this debate was happening in Alabama, and they’ve dealt with it in legislation,” added Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. 

According to Rubio, a larger conversation is necessary “about what’s right and appropriate and legal and protected when it comes to discarding the extra human embryos that are not going to be used.”

“It’s legal in all 50 states,” said Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who introduced a resolution this week affirming support for IVF. 

TRUMP INSTALLS TOP ALLY AND DAUGHTER-IN-LAW TO STEER REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE

Scott’s resolution expresses support for IVF and families looking to expand but doesn’t carry the weight of a bill or make changes to the law. 

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., who spearheaded a bill to enshrine protections for IVF into law, slammed the resolution.

“They’re covering their a—s,” Duckworth said of her Republican colleagues. “That’s what they’re trying to do. A resolution doesn’t do anything.” 

DID BIDEN PASS OR FAIL? FORMER PRESIDENTIAL SPEECHWRITERS GRADE THE STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS

Duckworth attempted to force a vote last week on her IVF bill, asking for unanimous consent to move it to the floor. However, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., objected to it. 

Duckworth said Republicans had not been approaching her to negotiate a potential bipartisan measure either. 

And its unclear whether Democrats would be willing to make concessions to work with their Republican colleagues on a bill. 

“The Duckworth bill is a perfect bill,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. “Her bill is just a person has a right to access IVF, and a provider has a right to provide IVF. It’s not a mandate. It just protects the patient, protects the provider.”

COMER INVITES HUNTER BIDEN, BUSINESS ASSOCIATES TO TESTIFY PUBLICLY MARCH 20 AMID IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

Scott notably didn’t rule out legislation to protect the procedure in the future. 

“I think we’re gonna do everything we can to make sure it continues to be legal,” he said. 

Other Republicans similarly left the door open. 

A federal bill to protect the fertility procedure is “certainly a discussion we can have, but at this point it’s protected in every state,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. 

“If it ever became an issue, I would consider it,” added Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah. “But there’s not a state in the country that does not protect IVF.”

TOP TAKEAWAYS FROM BIDEN’S WILD WEEK

According to Romney, it doesn’t require “federal addressing at this stage.”

“If there was a point there needed to be federal action on it, I would definitely be supportive,” agreed Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla. 

“I believe that way Alabama handled it was good.”

A number of Democratic senators were critical of their GOP colleagues‘ claims federal protections aren’t needed now. 

“I think that’s wrong,” claimed Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn. “Absolutely, we need to protect people’s capacity to access” IVF. 

SEN. SCHMITT SAYS BIDEN FAILED TO ADDRESS KEY ISSUES DURING ‘DIVISIVE,’ ‘BIZARRE’ SOTU ADDRESS

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., expressed skepticism over Alabama’s new law, telling Fox News Digital legal scholars believe “it raises as many questions as it answers.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Without the protection of Roe v. Wade, the states can do what the Alabama court did and effectively end IVF in the state,” she warned. 

According to Warren, if congressional Republicans were “truly committed to protecting IVF,” they would be in favor of a bill to do so federally. “But, so far, they are not.” 

Nikki Haley made it clear when she exited the Republican presidential nomination race earlier this week that she intends to keep speaking out.

“While I will no longer be a candidate, I will not stop using my voice for the things I believe in,” Haley emphasized as she announced on Wednesday that she was suspending her White House campaign after former President Donald Trump swept 14 of 15 GOP nominating contests on Super Tuesday.

Haley also made clear this week that a third-party run on a potential No Labels presidential ticket was not in the cards.

“What I will tell you is I’m a conservative Republican. I have said many, many times, I would not run as an independent. I would not run as No Labels because I am a Republican, and that’s who I’ve always been,” she reiterated in a “Fox and Friends” interview.

GOP TAKEOVER: TRUMP INSTALLS TOP ALLY AND HIS DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AT TOP TWO POSITIONS AT RNC

But how much of a voice she has among Republicans and what kind of future she has in the GOP depends very much on Trump, who has dominated the party since he first won the White House eight years ago.

The former two-term South Carolina governor who later served as U.N. ambassador in the Trump administration 13 months ago became the first major candidate to challenge Trump for the 2024 nomination. And before she dropped out, she was the last rival standing.

Haley, who had turned up the volume on the former president over the past six weeks, refused to endorse Trump as she bowed out of the race.

HALEY DOESN’T ENDORSE TRUMP AS SHE ENDS 2024 BID

And Haley, who captured a quarter to over a third of the vote in a handful of the Republican contests after scoring 43% in New Hampshire’s late January primary, highlighted that “it is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it, who did not support him, and I hope he does that.”

“At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away. And our conservative cause badly needs more people. This is now his time for choosing,” Haley said.

Haley’s support in the primaries spotlighted Trump’s weakness among moderates and suburban voters. But even before she finished her speech on Wednesday, Trump made it clear he wasn’t extending an olive branch to his former rival.

“Nikki Haley got TROUNCED last night, in record setting fashion,” Trump wrote in a social media posting as he trashed her.

Haley has a big decision to make in the days or weeks ahead – does she hold out against Trump – or endorse the former president.

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu – a vocal GOP Trump critic who endorsed Haley and was one of her top surrogates – on Friday in a handful of interviews endorsed the former president but said he stood by his past criticism.

Much of Haley’s fate going forward rests with Trump, who on Friday installed top allies to run the Republican National Committee.

“She needs to step back and take stock of where things stand and pay attention to what President Trump says and does,” longtime GOP strategist David Kochel told Fox News.

Kochel, a veteran of numerous Republican presidential campaigns, said that a lot will depend on November’s presidential election results.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Haley repeatedly argued on the campaign trail that a Republican Party with Trump at the top of the ticket was headed for trouble in November and that she would be a more effective standard-bearer to take on President Biden.

Koch said that “if Trump loses in November, Haley’s going to be proven right,” but that conversely, a victory by the former president would likely spell trouble for Haley’s GOP future.

Haley in many ways ran as a Reagan Republican – from promoting a muscular foreign policy to advocating fiscal restraint – in a party Trump and his populist America First movement has transformed.

That transformation of the GOP – as well as her vocal criticism of Trump – could make any future Haley White House run extremely complicated.

“Haley is a conservative from the old mold,” longtime Republican strategist and communicator Ryan Williams said. “The party continues to drift further to the right and even if Trump isn’t a candidate in the future, you’ll see more candidates in the mold of Trump running for national office.”

Williams predicted “that leaves Nikki Haley in a position that’s on the outskirts of where the party’s headed….It indicates she may not have a future as a national candidate in the Republican Party.” 

Kochel agreed that “the party isn’t going back.”

“It’s definitely a different party. It’s more populist .. It’s more anti-establishment and anti-elite,” he said. “But i don’t think we know yet what the party’s going to look like.”

And Kochel emphasized that “Trump is unique. I don’t think there can be another Trump.”

He said the party may once again take a sharp turn.

“If you can go from Mitt Romney [the senator from Utah and 2012 GOP presidential nominee] to Donald Trump in four years, you can go from Donald Trump to something very different,” Kochel argued.

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

Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., will not seek re-election in Montana’s 2nd Congressional District, pointing to “current attacks” against him as the reason for deciding to exit the race. 

Rosendale entered the Montana Senate race in February, but suddenly dropped out less than a week after his announcement. 

The congressman then filed to run for re-election in his Montana district, but he announced Friday he will not be running for another term.

“Since that announcement, I have been forced to have law enforcement visit my children because of a death threat against me and false and defamatory rumors against me and my family,” Rosendale said in a statement announcing his campaign suspension. “This has taken a serious toll on me, and my family. Additionally, it has caused a serious disruption to the election of the next representative for MT-02.”

DONALD TRUMP ENDORSES ‘AMERICAN HERO’ TIM SHEEHY IN BATTLEGROUND SENATE RACE

“To me, public service has truly always been about serving, not titles or positions of power. The current attacks have made it impossible for me to focus on my work to serve you,” Rosendale continued. “So in the best interest of my family and community, I am withdrawing from the House race and will not be seeking office.”

MONTANA CONSERVATIVE FIREBRAND WITHDRAWS FROM SENATE RACE AFTER TRUMP ENDORSES OPPONENT

Rosendale added that “it has been my honor to serve you and may God bless each and every one of you.”

Rosendale’s exit leaves the Montana seat open in 2025, as Republicans attempt to hold onto their already slim majority in the House.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

In the running for Rosendale’s now-open Montana seat include State Auditor Troy Downing, Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen, former Montana State Sen. Ric Holden and former DEA agent Stacy Zinn.

Fani Willis, the Fulton County District Attorney behind the high-profile election-interference case in Georgia against former President Trump that she also risks disqualification from, has drawn Democratic and Republican challengers in her re-election bid this fall. 

Christian Wise Smith, a former Fulton prosecutor and Atlanta city solicitor who lost out to Willis in the 2020 race, announced on X Friday that he has “officially qualified” to run for the position again. 

Attorney Courtney Kramer, who the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says worked as a litigation consultant for President Trump’s legal team, has also launched a Republican bid for the role. Kramer, the newspaper reports, has described Willis as turning the district attorney’s office into a “clown show.” 

“The moment she decided to indict President Trump and 19 other defendants was the moment I said I had enough,” Kramer was quoted by the newspaper as saying. “The resources that were used in that investigation could’ve been used for many other things and been much more beneficial for the citizens of Fulton County.” 

JUDGE IN TRUMP’S GEORGIA CASE FACES ELECTION CHALLENGE FROM CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY 

Willis is facing allegations that her affair with special prosecutor Nathan Wade benefited her financially and should disqualify her from the case against Trump.  

Willis and Wade have both denied the allegations and have claimed that their romantic involvement started after Wade was hired in 2021. Willis claimed in court testimony that she would always reimburse Wade for her portion of their shared travels in cash. There are no receipts for those reimbursements, and one witness claimed that their relationship had started as early as 2019.  

FULTON COUNTY ETHICS BOARD WON’T HEAR COMPLAINTS AGAINST FANI WILLIS 

In the last primary in 2020 for the Fulton County District Attorney position, Wise Smith received around 23% of the Democratic vote, running on a platform that included commitments to no longer seek the death penalty, end cash bail and decriminalize the possession of drugs, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 

When asked earlier this week about challengers, Willis told the newspaper “This is a democracy that we live in, so people have a right to run for office. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

“But they should come prepared for a fight,” she added. “They should know that my heart is still in this work. My heart will continue to be in this work.” 

Fox News’ Brianna Herlihy contributed to this report. 

HOUSTON – The Republican Party is once again completely under the thumb of former President Donald Trump.

The former president’s picks to serve as chair and co-chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) – Trump ally and North Carolina GOP chair Michael Whatley and daughter-in-law Lara Trump – were unanimously confirmed on Friday by voice votes as the RNC held a recently planned general session.

“Over the next eight months, the RNC will work hand in glove with President Trump,” Whatley declared in his acceptance speech.

And Lara Trump, speaking minutes later, emphasized that “we have one goal. The goal on November 5th is to win. And as my father-in-law says, bigly.”

WHO IS NEW TRUMP-BACKED RNC CHAIR MICHAEL WHATLEY?

Whatley, who was the RNC’s general counsel, succeeded longtime chair Ronna McDaniel, whom Trump picked to steer the national party committee after he won the White House in 2016. Her departure on Friday came after Trump earlier this year repeatedly urged changes at the committee – after lackluster fundraising last year and his opposition to the RNC’s presidential primary debates – which essentially pushed McDaniel out the door.

“The state of our party is strong,” McDaniel declared in her departure speech.

And pointing to the RNC’s fundraising rebound in January and February, McDaniel touted “the best two months of fundraising the RNC has ever had when we didn’t occupy the White House.”

TRUMP MEETS WITH MCDANIEL, THEN CALLS FOR CHANGES AT THE RNC

While fundraising will be a major focus going forward, as the Trump campaign and the RNC aim to compete with the rival Democratic National Committee and President Biden’s campaign, continuing and beefing up already existing RNC programs dedicated to election integrity will also be a top priority.

“Everyone in this room and every voter across the country knows that we must protect the sanctity of their vote,” said Whatley, who’s been a strong supporter of Trump’s unproven claims that his 2020 election loss to Biden was due to massive voter fraud.

After highlighting that he “worked closely with Chairwoman McDaniel to build our election integrity program from scratch,” Whatley stressed “we will do more.”

Trump also installed campaign adviser Chris LaCivita as RNC chief of staff. LaCivita, a longtime Republican strategist and RNC veteran, will continue to keep his role as one of the two top advisers steering Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.

“The RNC today. It’s not going to look the same next week. There’s obviously going to be changes,” LaCivita told reporters ahead of the gathering. But he declined to get into details.

The RNC gathering came in the same week Trump swept 14 of the 15 GOP primaries and caucuses on Super Tuesday – which moved him much closer to officially locking up the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. It also comes just two days after Trump’s last rival for the nomination – former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley – dropped out of the race.

“He’s the presumptive nominee. He’s going to be our nominee. He’s going to be the guy to beat Joe Biden, and it’s normal for the presumptive nominee of the party to run the RNC,” longtime RNC committee member from Mississippi, Henry Barbour, told Fox News on the eve of the meeting.

New Hampshire GOP chair and former RNC committee member Chris Ager, who attended the meeting, emphasized that “Donald Trump is the presumptive nominee and this is the party of Trump.”

“The people at the RNC know and like Mike Whatley, so he’s a good choice and Lara Trump is a trusted adviser to the president, so why not give him the tools he needs to get the job done. If he trusts those people, let’s give him what he needs to get that win in November,” Ager told Fox News ahead of the meeting.

Trump’s takeover of the RNC is far from controversial. It is traditional, as a presidential election cycle moves from the primaries to the general election for the presumptive nominee of the party out of power, to take control and merge operations. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Barbour emphasized that while “there’s always some drama” at RNC meetings, “it’s really important that the party pull together… and we need the former president leading us on that, bringing us together as a party so we can win not just the White House but the Senate, the House, state, local.”

However, there was some controversy in recent weeks over concerns that the cash-strapped RNC would be forced to pay some of Trump’s massive legal bills. 

The former president faces four major criminal trials and a total of 91 indictments, as well as a $355 million civil fraud judgment which Trump’s appealing. A political action committee affiliated with the former president has shelled out nearly $80 million in the past two years to pay Trump’s many lawyers.

The RNC paid some of Trump’s legal bills when he was in the White House and after he left office. However, McDaniel said two years ago that the committee would stop paying those bills once Trump became a candidate again.

LaCivita said in recent days that the RNC would not be paying the bills. The Trump campaign told Fox News on Wednesday that the committee would  “absolutely not” be providing any of its funds to alleviate Trump’s legal costs.

“Hard no. Absolutely not. Asked and answered,” a spokesperson reiterated.

RNC STARTS 2024 WITH FUNDRAISING SURGE AFTER LACKLUSTER 2023

Barbour recently proposed a non-binding resolution stating that RNC funds could not be used for Trump’s legal bills. However, the resolution was nixed after Barbour was unable to earn the support of RNC members from at least 10 states.

“A small group of us offered a resolution to the committee that essentially said that the number one job and the only job of the RNC is to win elections. And if that’s our job, we need to spend our money on that and not on paying anybody’s legal bills,” Barbour told Fox News.

He emphasized that “while we came up short… it was an important conversation and the Trump campaign has confirmed indeed that they have no plans to spend any RNC dollars on it and will not do it.”

“We appreciate that very much,” he noted.

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

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has not ruled out a chance to serve under former President Donald Trump for a second time should he become the Republican presidential nominee and come out victorious in November.

Pompeo served as Trump’s director of the CIA and secretary of state during his first term. 

On Friday, he was asked about serving under Trump for a second time during a Friday appearance on “Your World with Neil Cavuto.”

TRUMP CALLS FOR DEBATES WITH BIDEN ‘ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, ANYPLACE’

“I don’t often comment on jobs I’ve not been offered,” he said. “If I get a chance to serve and think that I can make a difference, I’m almost I’m almost certainly going to say yes to that opportunity to try and deliver on behalf of the American people,” he told Cavuto. 

Cavuto noted that Trump in the past has demanded strict loyalty from those working under him. 

“I’m confident President Trump will be looking for people who will faithfully execute what it is he asked them to do,” Pompeo replied. “I think as a president, you should always want that from everyone.”

“I must say, as secretary of state, I certainly wanted my team to do what I was asking them to do, and was enormously frustrated when I found that I couldn’t get them to do that,” he added.

TRUMP CONSOLIDATES POWER OVER RNC

Some of Trump’s most ardent supporters when he came into office have turned against him in recent years. Former Vice President Mike Pence drew Trump’s ire when he refused to abide by Trump’s wishes that he reject the certification of some electoral votes during a joint session of Congress held on Jan. 6, 2021.

Last year, he briefly mounted an unsuccessful campaign against Trump to win the Republican presidential nomination. 

Former national security adviser John Bolton called Trump “unfit” to be president in a new memoir. In a January interview with ABC News’ “Good Morning America,” he described what he thinks a second Trump term would look like.

“I think if you look at what Trump did in his first term — which I try and describe in the original book — you can extrapolate from that what a second term will be like, and basically it will be the same except worse,” Bolton told George Stephanopoulos.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Trump has not made any mention of potential running mates or cabinet nominations for his second White House bid. 

No Labels took another step toward forming a bipartisan presidential ticket in November’s general election, as the centrist group’s delegates huddled during a virtual gathering on Friday.

No Labels announced that the roughly 800 delegates who took part in the meeting voted to give a thumbs up to fielding what No Labels has described as a “unity ticket” in the presidential election.

“They voted near unanimously to continue our 2024 project and to move immediately to identify candidates to serve on the Unity presidential ticket,” No Labels national convention chair Mike Rawlings said in a statement.

But the move comes as some high-profile potential candidates for the No Labels ticket have taken their names out of contention.

NO LABELS CHARGES OPPONENTS ARE TRYING TO KEEP IT OFF THE BALLOT

For over a year, No Labels has mulled a third party ticket, as it pointed to poll after poll suggesting that many Americans were anything but enthused about a 2024 election rematch between President Biden and former President Donald Trump.

And No Labels had long said that it would decide whether to launch a presidential ticket following Super Tuesday, when 15 states from coast to coast held nominating primaries and caucuses.

Trump is now considered the presumptive Republican nominee after winning 14 of the 15 GOP nominating contests on Tuesday. Trump’s last remaining rival — former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley — dropped out of the 2024 race on Wednesday.

Biden also ran the table on Super Tuesday, winning 14 of the 15 Democratic contests. And Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota — one of the two long-shot challengers to the president — suspended his White House bid on Wednesday.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST 2024 ELECTION RESULTS FROM FOX NEWS

Both Biden and Trump will formally clinch their party nominations in the next week or two, and their campaigns have now moved into general election mode.

No Labels — as expected — didn’t name its presidential and vice presidential picks on Friday but instead voted to kick off a formal selection process that would lead to the naming of candidates in the coming weeks.

But former two-term Republican Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, a former No Labels leader who was considered a potential contender for the group’s ticket, recently took his name out of contention as he announced a run this year for an open Senate seat in his home state.

And moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who is not seeking re-election and who flirted with a White House run, has also said he won’t launch a presidential bid.

There was plenty of speculation that Haley would consider running on a No Labels ticket if she were to drop her Republican White House bid. No Labels had expressed interest in her earlier this year.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

But Haley repeatedly nixed joining a No Labels ticket, most recently on Tuesday in an interview on “Fox and Friends.”

“What I will tell you is I’m a conservative Republican. I have said many, many times, I would not run as an independent. I would not run as No Labels, because I am a Republican, and that’s who I’ve always been,” she reiterated.

No Labels said it is already on the ballot in 16 states and currently working in 17 other states to obtain access. 

There’s been a chorus of calls from Democrats warning that a No Labels ticket would pave a path to victory for Trump in November, but the group dismisses that criticism.

“That’s not our goal here,” Lieberman told Fox News Digital late last year. “We’re not about electing either President Trump or President Biden.”

Following the No Labels meeting on Friday, Matt Bennett, a co-founder of the moderate Democratic group the Third Way, said in a statement following Friday’s No Labels meeting, “What part of ‘No’ is so hard to understand? Time and again, voters, candidates and election experts have told No Labels that a third-party presidential ticket can’t win and would help Trump.”

But Rawlings praised his group’s proceedings. He emphasized that “earlier today, I led a discussion with the 800 No Labels delegates from all 50 states. These citizen leaders have spent months discussing with one another the kind of leadership they want to see in the White House in 2024. These are some of the most civic-minded, thoughtful, and patriotic Americans I have ever met. They take their responsibility seriously.”

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