NationalWatch

President Biden is experiencing approval ratings lower than any other modern president at this point in their term.

Biden’s job approval rating currently sits at 39%, a slight uptick from October and November when it was reported at 37%, according to a new poll from Gallup. 

His approval rating has dipped under 40% five times during his term.

Biden’s poor performance is the lowest among modern presidents seeking re-election at this point in their term, according to Gallup.

TRUMP EDGES BIDEN AGAIN IN NEW 2024 POLL, BUILDS SUPPORT WITH YOUNGER VOTERS

At this point in his first term, former President Donald Trump held an approval rating of approximately 45%, the analytics company reported.

Former President Barack Obama held a 43% approval rating at this same point. All other presidents reaching back to Jimmy Carter had approval ratings above 50%.

TRUMP KEEPS MASSIVE LEAD, HALEY TIES DESANTIS FOR SECOND IN NEW 2024 GOP PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY POLL

George W. Bush boasted the highest approval rating of the group with 58%.

Biden is complaining to close aides as his low approval rating continues to frustrate him and first lady Jill Biden, according to a new media report.

“After pardoning a pair of turkeys, an annual White House tradition, Biden delivered some stern words for the small group assembled: His poll numbers were unacceptably low, and he wanted to know what his team and his campaign were doing about it,” The Washington Post reported.

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“He complained that his economic message had done little to move the ball, even as the economy was growing and unemployment was falling, according to people familiar with his comments, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private conversation,” according to The Post, whose headline noted Biden’s “dismal poll numbers.”

The Biden family’s complaints date back months, with Joe and Jill Biden telling “aides and friends that they are frustrated by the president’s low approval rating and the polls that show him trailing former president Donald Trump,” the report continued. 

Fox News’ Jeffrey Clark contributed to this report.

Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt called Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis the one presidential candidate with the leadership skills and experience needed for the job.

“I think it’s the leadership, but it’s even more than that, It’s just the get-it-done attitude and a guy that just doesn’t back down,” Stitt told Fox News Digital on Thursday aboard a campaign bus in eastern Iowa as he stumped for DeSantis with just about three weeks to until the Iowa Caucus. 

“I mean, who takes on Disney, the largest corporation in your state with the most influence and power if you’re not just trying to do the right things?” he added. “No politician does that. That’s why you look at DeSantis and say this is a guy that’s going to be based on principles.”

Stitt explained that he felt it was important to come to the Hawkeye State and tell Iowans face to face why he believes DeSantis is the right candidate while outlining examples of where DeSantis has led, including during the coronavirus pandemic.

“COVID is a perfect example,” Stitt said. “We were having to push back against a Republican administration to just keep our schools open. I mean, Fauci was running everything at that time, and I just watched how he led and I know he’s the right guy for the job.”

TRUMP KEEPS MASSIVE LEAD, HALEY TIES DESANTIS FOR SECOND IN NEW 2024 GOP PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY POLL

“We need somebody that can be there for eight years, not just four years and so I thought it was important for me to come out to Iowa and share from another governor’s perspective why I personally support him.”

Stitt told Fox News Digital that the top two concerns Iowans have expressed to him during his visit are the economy, border security and spending.

“The economy is really affecting everybody right now, inflation is at record highs, the spending is out of control in D.C. in both Republican and Democrat administrations. They keep spending more than we bring in,” Stitt said. “You know, if you bring in four trillion, let’s spend four trillion, we can’t keep printing money, which is going to devalue the dollar.”

DESANTIS ARGUES TRUMP ‘WILL SAY IT’S STOLEN, NO MATTER WHAT’ IF FORMER PRESIDENT LOSES IN IOWA OR NH

“So we need a president that’s not afraid to go up there and shake up the baseball game that’s going on in Washington, D.C., and all those counties and everybody that’s living off of the regular America.”

With just about three weeks to go until the Iowa Caucus, former President Donald Trump holds a commanding lead against his Republican opponents in polls both nationally and in Iowa where the Real Clear Politics average shows him leading DeSantis by 32 points.

Stitt dismissed the idea that Trump’s lead is insurmountable and pointed to recent elections where the polls have been wildly inaccurate.

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“Here’s the deal: national polls mean absolutely nothing,” Stitt said. “Think about this, in my re-election the polls were showing I was going to lose, or a dead heat, and I won by 15 points. I think people are just so sick of polls. In Florida, not one newspaper endorsed DeSantis and he won by 20 points. The people are going to make the decisions and it’s all going to come down to Iowa and New Hampshire, so I think it’s a new day on January 16 when DeSantis wins Iowa. It’s going to be unbelievable.”

Stitt says his interactions with Iowa voters and their enthusiasm gives him confidence that DeSantis’s message is resonating.

“I really do I think he’s connecting with voters, again, you know if you’re the president and you can only be in for four years, you’re basically a lame duck day one,” Stitt said. “It’s just so difficult to get the momentum, and the deep state just kind of tries to outlast you.

“You have to have that threat of re-election and coming back and being there for eight years to actually move the needle and get policy done, and that’s kind of hard to explain if you’re not in this game and you don’t understand exactly how it works,” he went on. “But that’s something that you can’t discount. That’s very, very important.”

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

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

What’s Happening? 

– Biden commutes sentences for 11 convicted of drug crimes

– Nikki Haley closes in

– Look back on 2023’s most memorable political gaffes

Festivus for the Rest of Us

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., released his annual Christmas “Festivus” report Friday for the ninth year in a row, outlining $900 billion in government waste. 

Among notable instances, the National Institutes of Health allocated funds to study Russian cats on treadmills, photos of Barbies were utilized as identification to obtain COVID relief funds, the Department of Defense lost $169 million of outdoor-stored military gear, $6 million went towards tourism in Egypt by the United States Agency for International Development, and the Small Business Administration provided over $200 million to “struggling” music artists such as Post Malone, Chris Brown, and Lil Wayne.

Up from $30 trillion in debt in 2022, this year’s debt amounts to $34 trillion, the report also highlights. 

White House

‘LACK OF RESPONSIVENESS’: Menendez blocks 2 Biden nominees over frustration with border negotiations …Read more

‘UNJUSTIFIED DISPARITIES’: Biden commutes sentences for 11 convicted of drug crimes …Read more

‘UNNECESSARY BURDENS’: Biden admin unveils strict hydrogen regulations in victory for environmentalists …Read more

Capitol Hill

AGE VERIFICATION: Mike Lee introduces bill cracking down on commercial porn sites …Read more

‘ZERO TOLERANCE’: House leftists include antisemitism in resolution condemning Islamophobia, ‘anti-Palestinian discrimination’ …Read more

Tales from the Campaign Trail

‘SMARTEST MOVE’: Experts weigh in on why it would be a ‘smart’ political move for Biden to oppose CO ruling …Read more

BASHING BIDEN: Democrat Dean Phillips attacks Biden for trying to upend traditional primary election process …Read more

CAMPAIGN THEME: Biden’s key 2024 message will be Trump as ‘threat to democracy’: report …Read More

SURPRISE POLL: Nikki Haley closes to within 4 percentage points of Trump in New Hampshire poll …Read more

Across America

STUMBLES & BUMBLES: Most memorable political gaffes and blunders of 2023 …Read more

HELP ON THE WAY: ICE ramps up staffing at southern border to aid CBP with new migrant surge …Read more

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

President Biden’s re-election campaign will push former President Trump as being a “threat to democracy” as a primary component of the 2024 presidential election, according to a report. 

Biden’s campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, said the president’s camp would attempt to frame the election as having drastically high stakes with the “fate of American democracy” on the line.

“We are treating this election like it will determine the fate of American democracy – because it will,” Chavez Rodriguez said in a campaign memo, according to Bloomberg. 

“The threat Donald Trump posed in 2020 to American democracy has only grown more dire since then,” Chavez Rodriquez added. “He is running a campaign on revenge and retribution – and at the expense of Americans’ freedoms.”

CHAIRS OF GROUP THAT LED EFFORT TO BOOT TRUMP FROM COLORADO BALLOT DONATED TO BIDEN

The strategy is nothing new, as Biden and Democrats have been pushing the statement for some time now. However, it exemplifies how they plan to further lean into it for what they appear to view as a likely rematch with Trump.

Several prominent Republicans have started to push back against the claim and told Fox News Digital this week that it is Biden’s party that is working overtime to undermine the vote.

They pointed to Democrats’ efforts to keep Trump off the ballot, imprison him, stifle free speech on social media and rewrite election laws while fighting measures designed to protect ballot integrity. The ongoing efforts, they said, are a much more significant threat to democracy than the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot Biden and Democrats frequently cite.

DEM-APPOINTED COLORADO JUSTICE SAYS TRUMP BALLOT BAN UNDERMINES ‘BEDROCK’ OF AMERICA IN FIERY DISSENT

Democrats have most recently thrown their weight behind state-level legal efforts to prevent Trump from appearing on 2024 presidential ballots, including in Colorado, where the state Supreme Court ruled 4-3 this week that the former president violated the Constitution’s 14th Amendment when he “engaged in insurrection” concerning Jan. 6, and should be disqualified.

“Democrats cynically used the COVID-19 pandemic to radically undermine long-standing election laws on the fly and then started pushing for non-citizens to vote in U.S. elections,” Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told Fox News Digital. “Now the left is working to remove political opponents from the ballot in a shocking display of disregard for the American people’s right to choose their candidates.”

“These attacks on the democratic process drive down voter confidence and trust in the electoral system. Meanwhile, the RNC and our partners are fighting to make sure the American people choose their presidential candidates, not the courts,” she said, adding that the RNC was trying to protect election integrity by fighting for policies to ensure only American citizens vote in elections.

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The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment. 

If there is one thing Americans can expect from an election season, it is a plethora of political gaffes, and 2023 did not disappoint.

From the GOP presidential primary to the White House, America’s politicians continued to stumble and bumble their way toward 2024.

Let’s get the easiest target out of the way first.

Biden takes a tumble

Perhaps the single-most memorable political gaffe of the year occurred June 2 when President Biden was sending off graduates at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Biden delivered a commencement address and stood on stage to shake the hands of every last graduate, but he collapsed to the floor as he turned to leave.

Americans have seen Biden trip and fall previously, most often on the steps leading up to Air Force One, but his tumble at the Air Force Academy was by far the most drastic of his presidency so far. Secret Service and military members nearby rushed to lift the president off the ground.

FEDERAL INVESTIGATORS FLOATED SEX TRAFFICKING CHARGES AGAINST HUNTER BIDEN, DOC SHOWS

 

VP Kamala Harris’ favorite holiday meal: word salad

Vice President Kamala Harris served Americans a generous helping of word salad throughout the year, but her most recent verbal stumble came just in time for Christmas.

Harris appeared on MSNBC’s “The Last Word” with Lawrence O’Donnell earlier this week to discuss former President Trump’s recent claim that illegal immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.”

THOUSANDS OF BLUE STATE RESIDENTS FLOCK TO IDAHO, BRINGING CONSERVATIVE POLITICS WITH THEM: DATA

Her attack on Trump didn’t land how she planned, however.

“You know, every election cycle we talk about this is the most election of our lifetime,” Harris said. “Lawrence, this one is, this one is.”

“We are literally talking about people who are attempting to divide our country in the most crude, frankly, and profound way,” she said. “We are talking about those who are intent and purposeful to, to attack fundamental freedoms.”

“The freedom to be free from fear of violence and hate … the freedom to just … be. The freedom to just be,” she added.

Harris’ biggest gaffe came in July, however, when she gifted the American people with an incomprehensible and repetitive definition of the word “culture.”

“Culture is — it is a reflection of our moment in our time, right? And in present culture is the way we express how we’re feeling about the moment,” Harris said at a New Orleans music festival.

NEW YORK, CALIFORNIA EXODUS CONTINUES, BUT ‘CATASTROPHIC EFFECT’ OF BIDEN ECONOMY MAY BE ON THE WAY: EXPERTS

“And we should always find times to express how we feel about the moment that is a reflection of joy, because as you know, it comes in the morning,” she added.

“We have to find ways to also express the way we feel about the moment in terms of just having language and a connection to how people are experiencing life. And I think about it in that way, too,” Harris finished.

‘Twitter Spaces’ crashes DeSantis campaign launch

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made the brave and potentially innovative move to launch his 2024 presidential campaign on what was then called “Twitter Spaces.”

The highly anticipated announcement, set to be made via a conversation with X CEO Elon Musk and tech entrepreneur David Sacks, was plagued by tech issues, with mobile apps repeatedly crashing and participants on the call unable to speak or hear one another.

Nearly 700,000 users logged in to hear the announcement roughly 20 minutes after it was set to launch. The event was then abruptly shut down without explanation.

“The servers are straining somewhat,” Musk was heard saying at one point.

DeSantis’ opponents were quick to jump on the stumbling start.

“This link works,” Biden tweeted, with a link to donate to his campaign.

Former President Donald Trump’s MAGA War Room tweeted an image of the Twitter Spaces with the words “failing to launch…” emblazoned across the top.

Vivek Ramaswamy goes to the bathroom

Entrepreneur and 2024 presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has had many viral moments on the campaign trail, but none of them compare to an interview he conducted last week on X.

Ramaswamy appeared in an X “Spaces” conversation with Musk, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, influencer Andrew Tate and Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. At one point during the conversation, participants called out Ramaswamy for appearing to have taken his phone into the restroom.

Ramaswamy could be heard talking about how he is “super pro-human – and I mean all humans … uh, you know, humans in America” while the sound of splashing water could be heard in the background.

Jones jumped on the sound immediately: “Somebody’s got their thing on while they’re peeing!”

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Host of the conversation Mario Nawfal jumped in to attempt to fix the situation. “Vivek, Vivek, that’s your phone, Vivek. I’m not able to mute you.”

“Sorry about that,” Ramaswamy responded.

“Well, I hope you feel better now,” Musk quipped.

“I feel great, thank you,” Ramaswamy finished.

Fox News’ Jamie Joseph, Thomas Catenacci and Kelley Phares contributed to this report

A growing number of political commentators and experts are calling for the Biden administration to denounce the Colorado Supreme Court’s removal of former President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot, arguing it could be a strong political move for him. 

“If Biden were smart, he’d denounce the CO Supreme Court ruling,” former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer posted on X. “He’d call it wrong and show confidence he can win without throwing Trump off the ballot.

“But he won’t do that because he is too afraid of the progressive left and too weak to stand up to them.”

“The smartest move for Biden would be to direct the DOJ to oppose Colorado’s efforts to kick Trump off the ballot,” Fox News Host Laura Ingraham posted on X. 

DEM-APPOINTED COLORADO JUSTICE SAYS TRUMP BALLOT BAN UNDERMINES ‘BEDROCK’ OF AMERICA IN FIERY DISSENT

“Democrats in Colorado are removing President Trump from the ballot because the ‘Democrat’ Party opposes democracy, which is a system where voters get to select their elected leaders,” Republican Congresswoman Mary Miller posted on X. “If Biden and the ‘media’ actually believed in democracy, they would denounce this immediately.”

COLORADO KICKING TRUMP OFF BALLOT SHOWS DEMOCRATS WAKE UP EVERY MORNING ACTING LIKE IT’S JANUARY 6: CONWAY

“This is a good time for Biden to convey the image that he cultivated in the election,” Jonathan Turley, a Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University and Fox News contributor told Fox News Digital.  

“James Freeman Clarke once said ‘a politician thinks of the next election; a statesman thinks of the next generation.’ It is time for Biden to show that he can think of the next generation and oppose this insidious ruling.”

Alex Conant, founding partner at Firehouse Strategies, told Fox News Digital Biden “should do everything he can to distance himself from these efforts.

“The more partisan it looks, the more it will help Trump.”

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David Avella, chairman of GOPAC, told Fox News Digital the issue goes “beyond” President Biden. 

“Americans need a 9-0 ruling from our U.S. Supreme Court justices to send a definitive signal that the Colorado court’s action is unconstitutional,” Avella said.

So far, President Biden has declined to take advice from commentators to denounce the Colorado court ruling and declined to comment on it when asked by a reporter Wednesday.

“Now, whether the 14th Amendment applies, let the court make that decision,” Biden said. “But he certainly supported an insurrection. No question about it. None. Zero. And he seems to be doubling down on about everything.” 

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response.

The Colorado Supreme Court disqualified Trump from appearing on the state’s ballots in 2024, citing the 14tth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021.

Tuesday’s 4-3 ruling is stayed until Jan. 4 because of likely appeals, and it is widely expected Trump will take the case to the Supreme Court. 

Migrant encounters at the southern border have already surged past the 200,000 mark for December, with an average of well over 10,000 encounters a day, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sources tell Fox News — with still more than a week to go in the month.

Sources told Fox that there have already been over 200,000 encounters in December. The record for monthly encounters was set in September, with over 269,000. October saw over 240,000 encounters and the numbers have not yet been released for November.

Last December saw over 252,000 encounters, which was then a monthly record. That number could easily be eclipsed if agents continue to encounter 10,000 migrants a day between now and the end of the month.

UNION PACIFIC WARNS BORDER CROSSING CLOSING DUE TO MIGRANT CRISIS HURTS CROSS-BORDER TRADE AS CHRISTMAS NEARS 

The new surge comes during a year that has seen multiple records smashed for daily and monthly encounters as well as for the fiscal year — in FY23 overall there were over 2.4 million encounters.

On Monday, there were over 12,600 encounters, which itself broke the record for daily encounters after a surge into Eagle Pass, Texas. Sources told Fox that agents were outmanned at approximately 200:1 with migrants. On Thursday, Fox News was on the ground in Lukeville, Arizona, where there was another mass crossing of over 700 illegal immigrants, with massive numbers of adult males mixed in with families from Mexico and Ecuador.

Last week, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs announced that she was mobilizing the National Guard to help federal officials and attempt to reopen the Lukeville port of entry, while accusing the federal government of inaction.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, meanwhile, has expanded his transports of migrants to “sanctuary” cities by flying migrants into Chicago. He also signed an immigration bill this week to allow law enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants in an attempt to stop what he called a “tidal wave” of illegal immigration.

5,000 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS RELEASED EVERY DAY INTO US, ADMIN OFFICIALS PRIVATELY TELL LAWMAKERS

Fox reported last week that Department of Homeland Security officials told lawmakers this month that there were around 670,000 “gotaways” — illegal immigrants who slipped past Border Patrol agents — in FY23, and that they are releasing an average of 5,000 illegal immigrants a day to non-governmental organizations. 

That is in addition to the over 1,600 migrants being paroled at ports of entry each day and the up to 30,000 Haitian, Venezuelan, Nicaraguans and Cubans being flown in each month through the Biden administration’s expanded “lawful pathways.”

SOUTHERN BORDER HIT BY RECORD NUMBER OF MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS IN A SINGLE DAY AS THOUSANDS FLOOD INTO TEXAS

Republicans have blamed the crisis on the administration’s policies, including its rollback of Trump-era border measures, and has called for strict asylum limits and greater border security. The administration has said it is pursuing a strategy of expanding those pathways while increasing consequences for illegal entry, but that it is also dealing with a hemisphere-wide crisis and needs additional funding and immigration reform legislation from Congress. 

A requested $14 billion for border funding from Congress as part of a broader $106 billion supplemental funding request is being debated by lawmakers, with Republicans demanding greater limits on humanitarian parole and higher asylum standards.

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While the Biden administration has reportedly expressed openness to a Title 42-style authority and greater deportations, it is unclear if such a deal is possible given likely opposition from both Democrats, who have opposed such limits, and Republicans, who say that it isn’t enough. 

Lawmakers involved in negotiations have expressed optimism that a deal is possible, but it is unlikely to be agreed to before January.

Former Attorney General Ed Meese has presented arguments to the Supreme Court that they should reject Special Counsel Jack Smith’s requests because he was unconstitutionally appointed in the first place. 

Meese, along with law professors Steven G. Calabresi and Gary S. Lawson, filed a friend-of-the-court brief Wednesday to present the case that Attorney General Merrick Garland’s appointment of Smith — a private citizen — is in violation of the Appointments Clause of the Constitution. 

“Not clothed in the authority of the federal government, Smith is a modern example of the naked emperor,” the brief states. 

“Improperly appointed, he has no more authority to represent the United States in this Court than Bryce Harper, Taylor Swift, or Jeff Bezos,” they argued. 

RED STATE AGS BLAST SPECIAL COUNSEL PUSH FOR SCOTUS TO RUSH TRUMP CASE: ‘PARTISAN INTERESTS’

The brief was filed in response to Smith’s request to the court to expedite former President Donald Trump’s case arguing presidential immunity for his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, which are connected to criminal charges brought by Smith. 

Meese argues that the “illegality” of Smith’s appointment is “sufficient to sink Smith’s petition, and the Court should deny review.” 

Meese and company noted in the brief that Smith was appointed “to conduct the ongoing investigation into whether any person or entity [including former President Donald Trump] violated the law in connection with efforts to interfere with the lawful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election or the certification of the Electoral College vote held on or about January 6, 2021.”

While Garland cited as statutory authority for this appointment, Meese argues that “none of those statutes, nor any other statutory or constitutional provisions, remotely authorized the appointment by the Attorney General of a private citizen to receive extraordinary criminal law enforcement power under the title of Special Counsel.”

“Second, even if one overlooks the absence of statutory authority for the position, there is no statute specifically authorizing the Attorney General, rather than the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint such a Special Counsel,” the former AG wrote. 

SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH CALLS ON SUPREME COURT TO RULE ON TRUMP IMMUNITY CLAIM

“Under the Appointments Clause, inferior officers can be appointed by department heads only if Congress so directs by statute… and so directs specifically enough to overcome a clear-statement presumption in favor of presidential appointment and senatorial confirmation. No such statute exists for the Special Counsel,” he added. 

Meese, who served as attorney general under former President Reagan, said “the Special Counsel, if a valid officer, is a superior (or principal) rather than inferior officer, and thus cannot be appointed by any means other than presidential appointment and senatorial confirmation regardless of what any statutes purport to say.”

Earlier this month, Smith petitioned the high court to decide Trump’s immunity claims in his case facing charges related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. 

FEDERAL JUDGE DENIES TRUMP’S CLAIM OF PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY IN SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH’S JAN. 6 CASE

Smith asked for expedited consideration of the case to essentially have the high court take over jurisdiction before the lower federal courts have fully decided the matter.

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Smith wants the court to expedite the claims in hopes to keep Trump’s Washington, D.C., trial — scheduled to begin March 4 — on track.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said that the reason residents are leaving the Big Apple in droves is, in part, due to the ongoing rat infestation.

“Some people who have children and families decide they want to go to a place where their children can play outdoors, larger green spaces, you want to see animals — you don’t see animals except for rats in New York,” Adams said when asked about the plunging population data.

“So there’s a combination of things,” he said. “And we are getting rid of those rats, by the way.”

NEW YORK LOST MORE RESIDENTS IN A YEAR THAN ANY OTHER STATE IN THE COUNTRY, US CENSUS DATA SHOWS

The Democratic mayor said that there has been “perfect storm” of reasons why people are leaving New York City-including the cost of living, COVID-19, remote job opportunities along with the rats.

“Well, I think there’s a combination on why people are leaving the city. The city and cities have become unaffordable,” Adams said. “And people left the city during COVID-19 for a short period of time and some decided that they no longer want to come back into cities. Then you have the remote work option where you don’t have to be in an office space to do the job. You could do it from wherever.”

NYC MAYOR ADAMS MIGRANT CRISIS WILL LEAD TO ‘EXTREMELY PAINFUL’ BUDGET CUTS; DOESN’T EXPECT FEDS TO HELP

“And so there’s a perfect storm of reasons that cities are losing their population. And at one time you may have lost 20,000 here, 15,000 here. But now when you start to add up all of those dynamics, it’s a different way of life,” Adams said.

The mayor said that the continued influx of migrants may help the floundering census data.

“So, we don’t want people to leave, but people are also moving into the city. I see first-time New Yorkers over and over again, people are moving in and there are 152,000 migrants,” Adams said. “If you were to do an analysis of those who are behind me, an overwhelming number of them are immigrants. They come from first generations.

“So, they went from their parents coming here trying to be citizens to now they’re in charge of what happens to citizens.”

Of the eight states that saw their populations fall in 2023, New York lost the most residents, seeing 101,984 people depart the Empire State. 

RED STATES SEE 2023 POPULATION GROWTH AS AMERICANS FLEE BLUE STATES, CENSUS DATA SHOWS

That was followed by California, which lost 75,423 residents, Illinois, which lost 32,826, and Louisiana, at 14,274. Pennsylvania saw 10,408 residents leave the state, while Oregon saw 6,021 move away. Hawaii lost 4,261, and West Virginia lost 3,964, according to the new Vintage 2023 population estimates. 

South Carolina and Florida were the two fastest-growing states in the nation, growing by 1.7% and 1.6%, respectively, in 2023.

House Republican Conference Chairwoman Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., said the mass exodus from New York demonstrated “the consequences of Far Left Democrat leadership.”

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“Far Left [Governor] Kathy Hochul and Albany Democrats have made New York so unlivable that our state leads the nation in population loss with more than 102,000 residents leaving in one year alone,” Stefanik said in a statement. “With record crime and cost of living far beyond the national average, New York’s mass exodus is far from over. If Far Left Democrats in Albany don’t start putting the safety and prosperity of New Yorkers before their extremist agenda, there will be no more residents left to tax and fund their radical, socialist programs.”

Mayor Eric Adams’ office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News’ Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is urging President Biden to use his executive authority to impose strict measures to combat the ongoing migrant crisis at the U.S. southern border.

“The wide-open border has caused unspeakable human tragedy for migrants and certainly for our own citizens. During FY2023, CBP seized ‘enough fentanyl to kill the entire U.S. population,’ and fentanyl poisoning is now the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-45. Countless children and adults have been victims of human trafficking and cartels have been emboldened and enriched,” Johnson wrote.

“Local communities have been devastated and terrorists and dangerous criminals have entered illegally and dispersed across our country. We are now more vulnerable to a terrorist attack on our homeland than ever.”

UNION PACIFIC WARNS BORDER CROSSING CLOSING DUE TO MIGRANT CRISIS HURTS CROSS-BORDER TRADE AS CHRISTMAS NEARS 

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials warned this week that the thousands of migrants coming across the border daily was straining their resources to critical levels, as communities along the border continue to also be stretched thin.

“All of this is the direct result of your administration’s policies,” Johnson wrote. “You have clearly undermined America’s sovereignty and security by ending the Remain in Mexico policy, reinstating catch-and-release, suspending asylum cooperative agreements with other nations, ignoring existing restraints on the abuse of parole, and halting border wall construction.”

5,000 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS RELEASED EVERY DAY INTO US, ADMIN OFFICIALS PRIVATELY TELL LAWMAKERS

He called on Biden to impose an executive order empowering border agents to “turn back or detain all illegal aliens encountered between ports of entry,” as well as vastly narrowing parole authority for migrants.

Johnson also demanded that Biden reinstate the Trump administration’s controversial Remain in Mexico policy, strengthen expedited removal processes and resume construction of the border wall.

SOUTHERN BORDER HIT BY RECORD NUMBER OF MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS IN A SINGLE DAY AS THOUSANDS FLOOD INTO TEXAS

Republicans in the House and Senate have forced the White House to the negotiating table on border security by holding up Biden’s $110 billion supplemental aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other causes. The bill also includes funding for the border, but GOP lawmakers argued that the money is meaningless without significant policy changes.

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Johnson has maintained both in public and in private that House Republicans would not agree to Ukraine funding unless the Senate takes up their marquee border security bill known as H.R. 2.

When asked for a response, a White House spokesperson pointed to instances of Biden requesting additional funding for border security and arguing that “House Republicans have refused to fund our border security at the levels we need.”

“They refused to provide the resources we requested in 2022 and in 2023. For example, in Fiscal Year 2022 and 2023, President Biden requested additional funds to hire more Border Patrol agents, House Republicans voted against those measures. In August 2023, House Republicans refused to take up the President’s emergency funding request for border security – instead, they put forward a CR that would have cut 800 CBP agents. When President Biden presented Congress with another supplemental request for border security in October, House Republicans refused to take it up. Instead, Speaker Johnson and House Republicans decided to go home in mid-December,” the spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement after publication.

“If Speaker Johnson and House Republicans had their way, there would be 2,000 fewer CBP agents and officers at the border – just look at the bill they voted for in May 2023.”

Referencing the ongoing negotiation between Senate Republicans and the White House, the spokesperson said Biden was “working to find a bipartisan agreement that will make a real difference at the border.”

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. blasted the California lieutenant governor for calling on the state’s secretary of state to “explore legal options” to remove former President Trump from the ballot.

Kennedy blasted Golden State Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis in a tweet after her Wednesday orders to Secretary of State Shirley Weber to look into “legal options” to take Trump off the ballot.

“Someone needs to explain to Lt. Governor Kounalakis that in democracy, we choose candidates by VOTING,” Kennedy wrote. “Not by legal maneuvers to get them off the ballot.”

CALIFORNIA LT. GOV CALLS FOR STATE TO ‘EXPLORE EVERY LEGAL OPTION’ TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM ’24 BALLOT

“Kounalakis has close ties to Gavin Newsom (of course), Kamala Harris, and Nancy Pelosi. She isn’t just an individual with an agenda,” he continued. “She is deep in the Democratic party establishment.”

Kennedy wrote that in “so-called banana republics and authoritarian countries, voters can only choose from a slate of officially approved candidates” and warned it’s “starting to look like that here too.”

“We can restore real democracy,” Kennedy said. “Electing me President is one step, but what it will take is a full mobilization of an engaged citizenry.”

“Democracy doesn’t come when the elites who have usurped it finally relent,” he added.

Fox News Digital reached out to Kounalakis’ office for comment.

A day after the Colorado Supreme Court disqualified Trump from appearing on the state’s ballots in 2024, Kounalakis asked California’s secretary of state to “explore every legal option” to do the same.

Kounalakis sent a letter to Weber dated Wednesday, Dec. 20, and referencing Colorado’s recent ruling, which stated Trump was ineligible to appear on the state’s ballot as a presidential candidate because of his role in “inciting an insurrection” at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

“This decision is about honoring the rule of law in our country and protecting the fundamental pillars of our democracy,” Kounalakis, who launched a campaign to run for California governor in 2026, wrote. “Specifically, the Colorado Supreme Court held in Anderson v. Griswold (2023 CO 63) that Trump’s insurrection disqualifies him under section three of the Fourteenth Amendment to stand for presidential re-election. Because the candidate is ineligible, the court ruled, it would be a ‘wrongful act’ for the Colorado Secretary of State to list him as a candidate on that state’s presidential primary ballot.”

The gubernatorial candidate told the secretary of state that California “must stand on the right side of history,” and is “obligated to determine” if the former president is ineligible to be on the ballot for the same reasons he was deemed ineligible in Colorado.

Kounalakis said Colorado’s decision could be the basis for California’s decision.

“The constitution is clear: you must be 35 years old and not be an insurrectionist,” Kounalakis wrote, though in an earlier version of the letter that hit social media, she wrote, “you must be 40 years old…”

She also said this is not a matter of political gamesmanship, but instead is a “dire matter that puts at stake the sanctity of our constitution and our democracy.”

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Colorado’s disqualification was made under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and tied to the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

The 4-3 ruling is stayed until Jan. 4 because of likely appeals. Three justices on the Colorado Supreme Court dissented.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed reporting.

In a move that’s sure to spark more speculation about a potential 2024 presidential run, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia will return next month to the state that for a century has held the first presidential primary in the White House race.

Manchin, who for months has openly flirted with making a third-party White House run next year, will return to the New Hampshire Institute of Politics on Jan. 12 to headline Politics and Eggs, a must stop for potential and actual presidential contenders.

The announcement of Manchin’s visit – by Saint Anselm College and the New England Council, which co-host Politics and Eggs – also noted that a new organization founded by the senator to “empower moderate voices around the country… is launching a listening tour in January starting in New Hampshire.”

Manchin’s visit is sure to grab plenty of media coverage, as it comes three days before the Iowa caucuses kick off the Republican presidential nominating calendar and less than two weeks before New Hampshire’s primary, which is the second contest in the GOP schedule.

MANCHIN: ‘I’D NEVER BE A SPOILER’

Manchin has plenty of fellow Democrats terrified that the moderate from West Virginia will unintentionally hand the White House over to former President Donald Trump if he runs.

But Manchin dismisses such warnings, rejecting claims from fellow Democrats that a third party run would hurt President Biden’s chances of re-election in a likely rematch next year with Trump, who remains the commanding frontrunner for the GOP nomination.

DEMOCRATS WORRY ABOUT MANCHIN THROWING THE 2024 ELECTION TO TRUMP

“I would never be a spoiler for anybody, and I don’t agree with… the analysis that they’ve come up with,” Manchin told Fox News’ host Brett Baier on “Special Report” last month.

And he reiterated that “I would never be a spoiler” in an interview last week on Fox News’ “Hannity.”

Manchin has said he worries that the 81-year-old Biden, saddled with deeply underwater approval ratings, isn’t up to the task of defeating Trump next year. And Manchin has repeatedly warned, “I believe that Donald Trump being elected again would destroy democracy as we know it.” 

WATCH: WHAT JOE MANCHIN SAID IN HIS FOX NEWS’ ‘SPECIAL REPORT’ INTERVIEW

Manchin made national headlines last month by announcing that he wouldn’t seek re-election next year in the Senate, striking a major blow to the Democrats’ hopes of holding their razor-thin majority in the chamber in 2024.

He also teased a potential third-party presidential campaign and in the ensuing days told NBC News that he’d “absolutely” consider a White House run and CBS News that there’s “plenty of time” to make a decision. 

In a CNN interview last weekend, he said, “There is no timeline,” on when he would make a decision.

Manchin argues that national politics has increasingly become too polarized, leaving millions of voters in the middle of the ideological spectrum without much of a voice in the nation’s capital.

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And much of the speculation surrounding a possible Manchin national run focuses on No Labels, the influential centrist group that’s seriously mulling supporting a bipartisan, third-party presidential ticket, if Biden and Trump are the major party nominees in the 2024 election.

The visit to the New Hampshire Institute of Politics next month will be Manchin’s second in less than a year.

The former No Labels chair grabbed plenty of national attention in July as he served as honorary co-host of the group’s “Common Sense” town hall at the institute, where they unveiled their policy proposals.

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

Claims that former President Donald Trump and the GOP pose a grave “threat to democracy” have become a key Democrat talking point ahead of the 2024 elections, but several prominent Republicans and experts say it is really President Biden’s party that is working overtime to undermine the vote.

To make their case, they point to Democrats’ efforts to keep Trump off the ballot, imprison him, stifle free speech on social media, and rewrite election laws while fighting measures designed to protect ballot integrity. Those ongoing efforts, they say, are a much bigger threat to democracy than the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot Biden and Democrats frequently cite.

Biden summed up those efforts in a speech last year about saving the “soul of the nation” from Trump and his fellow Republicans, claiming they represented “an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic,” were “a threat to American democracy,” and “a clear and present danger” to all Americans.

Most recently, Democrats have thrown their weight behind state-level legal efforts to prevent Trump from appearing on 2024 presidential ballots, including in Colorado, where the state Supreme Court ruled 4-3 earlier this week that the former president violated the Constitution’s 14th Amendment when he “engaged in insurrection” concerning Jan. 6, and should be disqualified.

TRUMP CALLS CLAIMS HE’S A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY A ‘HOAX,’ SAYS BIDEN IS THE REAL THREAT: ‘I WILL SAVE DEMOCRACY

“Democrats cynically used the COVID-19 pandemic to radically undermine long-standing election laws on the fly and then started pushing for non-citizens to vote in U.S. elections,” Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told Fox News Digital. “Now the left is working to remove political opponents from the ballot in a shocking display of disregard for the American people’s right to choose their candidates.”

“These attacks on the democratic process drive down voter confidence and trust in the electoral system. Meanwhile, the RNC and our partners are fighting to make sure the American people choose their presidential candidates, not the courts,” she said, adding that the RNC was trying to protect election integrity by fighting for policies to ensure only American citizens vote in elections.

Legal expert and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley agreed, calling the Colorado court’s ruling “the most anti-democratic opinion in decades,” and arguing that Democrats’ claims about protecting democracy “would be more compelling if they were not supporting the effort to block voters from being able to vote for Trump and canceling primaries in states like Florida.”

VETERANS SHAME DEMOCRAT IN TOP 2024 HOUSE RACE FOR WEARING ARMY UNIFORM DURING EVENT DESPITE NEVER SERVING

“It is also difficult to claim the mantle of the defender of democracy when your party is actively fighting for the censorship and blacklisting of those with opposing views,” Turley added. “The best way to defend democracy is to practice it by supporting both the right to vote and to free speech in others, including those who hold opposing viewpoints.”

Turley’s reference to censorship concerns accusations the Biden administration engaged in efforts to violate Americans’ First Amendment rights by working with Big Tech platforms to police controversial social media posts pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic and the president’s son, Hunter Biden.

The Supreme Court agreed in October to review a court-ordered ban on certain communications between the Biden administration and Big Tech after state attorneys general from Missouri and Louisiana accused high-ranking government officials of working with social media companies “under the guise of combating misinformation.” 

COLORADO KICKING TRUMP OFF BALLOT SHOWS DEMOCRATS WAKE UP EVERY MORNING ACTING LIKE IT’S JANUARY 6: CONWAY

Democrats challenging Biden for the party’s presidential nomination, including author Marianne Williamson, Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., and now-independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., all fault the Democratic National Committee for silencing them by refusing to hold primary debates.

Prior to shifting to running as an independent, Kennedy also faced the wrath of his fellow Democrats at a July House hearing on the “weaponization” of the federal government intended to address censorship.

Democrats on the committee unsuccessfully attempted to halt the hearing and instead use it to blast comments previously made by Kennedy that they said were anti-Asian and antisemitic.

“This is an attempt to censor a censorship hearing,” Kennedy said in response.

Despite their actions, recent polling has shown Democrats hold an advantage in swing states when it comes to which party is most trusted on the issue of protecting democracy.

FORMER TRUMP ADVISER KELLYANNE CONWAY LEADS CHARGE TO OVERHAUL GOP ABORTION STRATEGY, END DEMS’ 2024 ADVANTAGE

According to Republican strategist Garrett Ventry, that advantage is attributed to Democrats’ “obsession” with talking about “threats to democracy” in place of issues where they fail to win over the American people, such as the economy, prices and jobs.

“They know they can’t talk about those issues because the American people know that they’ve handled those in a very abysmal way. The border is wide open, inflation has been very high over the last couple of years, the economy is stagnant and people feel like their financial situation is worse,” he told Fox.

“There is no greater threat to democracy in our republic than the Democrat Party,” Ventry said. “When Donald Trump was sworn into office, he never went after Hillary Clinton. He didn’t go after Barack Obama. He didn’t go after his political opponents. We didn’t have state attorneys general and state secretaries of state and district court judges trying to get Joe Biden off the ballot.”

Ventry pointed to Biden’s Department of Justice targeting other individual Americans, including Catholic church-goers, parents attending school board meetings to express concern over what was being taught to their children, and lower-income Americans through the hiring of 87,000 new IRS agents.

BIDEN APPROVAL RATING SINKS TO ALL-TIME LOW IN NEW NATIONAL POLL

“They’ve used every lever of government, whether it be the federal government, or state courts, to try to attack their political opponents here. And you’re not seeing Republicans do the same across the country,” he added.

Former Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., a strong advocate for ballot reform and voter turnout since leaving the Senate in 2021, told Fox that Democrats call Republicans “election deniers,” and attempt to silence them whenever they object to their anti-democratic actions.

“Democrats fight commonsense safeguards to prevent voter fraud, encourage activist DAs to throw leading political opponents in jail, and empower unelected judges who interfere in presidential elections,” she said, adding that she was working in Georgia, a state expected to be competitive in 2024, to “actively pushing back against the Left’s work to undermine election integrity.” 

“To prevent the further takeover of our elections, it’s imperative that every state remains vigilant in defending actual democracy rather than just protecting Democrat rule,” she said.

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Loeffler argued that Democrats would “rather gain power by moving the goalposts than by defending their policies and track records,” and that they know they’ll “have a lock on elections and government power” if they abolish voter ID laws, restore voting rights for felons, allow ballot harvesting, and legalize same-day voter registration.

“It’s the number one reason they look away while the U.S. breaks records for illegal immigration: non-citizen voting is at the top of their wish lists this Christmas,” she said before adding that the Colorado court’s ruling to keep Trump off the ballot was just the latest example of Democrats’ “non-stop work to undermine democracy and interfere in the 2024 elections.”

As the 2024 election draws closer, the latest efforts by Democrats to stop Trump by any means necessary have begun to give pause to some of the party’s thought leaders, including former Biden official Tim Wu, now a professor at Columbia University.

“This may be an unpopular post, but I think we need to realize that using undemocratic means to fight candidate Trump increases the odds of losing democracy itself,” he wrote Thursday.

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

Fox News’ Alexander Hall contributed to this report.

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

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

What’s Happening? 

-Harvard finds more evidence of plagiarism 

-Sen. Mike Lee moves to gut Biden admin’s pause on gun export licenses

-Mexican President mulls fight over Texas immigration law

Christmas Crush

Migrant encounters at the southern border have already surged past the 200,000 mark for December, with an average of well over 10,000 encounters a day, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sources told Fox News — with still more than a week to go until January.

Sources told Fox that already since December there have been over 200,000 encounters. The record for monthly encounters was set in September, with over 269,000. October saw over 240,000 encounters and the numbers have not yet been released for November.

Last December saw over 252,000 encounters, which was then a monthly record. That number could easily be eclipsed if agents continue to encounter 10,000 migrants a day between now and the end of the month.

White House

‘RELENTLESS REGULATION’: Republicans highlight 2023 wins against Biden climate agenda …Read more

PHONE LINE REOPENS: US, China military leaders hold highest-level call since before Pelosi’s Taiwan visit …Read more

FLY ME TO THE MOON: VP Harris says US, along with ‘international astronaut,’ will land on lunar surface this decade …Read more

Capitol Hill

‘DETER AND COUNTER’: Bipartisan group of senators wants Biden to have a ‘forceful’ response to Iran-backed militia attacks on US troops …Read more

CLICK, CLICK, BOOM: Mike Lee moves to gut Biden admin’s pause on gun export licenses …Read more

Tales from the Campaign Trail

‘STOLEN VALOR’: Veterans shame Democrat in top 2024 House race for wearing Army uniform during event despite never serving …Read more

Across America

FOLLOW THE MONEY: Major Biden donors steer group that brought anti-Trump Colorado lawsuit …Read more

COPY MACHINE: Harvard finds even more instances of Harvard president using ‘duplicative language’ amid plagiarism claims …Read more

CROSS-BORDER BATTLE: Mexican president mulls legal fight over Texas immigration law …Read more

FRESH ACCUSATIONS: House widens probe into Harvard President as plagiarism accusations mount …Read more

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

The board chairs of the group that brought the lawsuit leading to former President Trump’s removal from the 2024 Colorado ballot had previously donated large sums to President Biden’s campaign and victory fund, filings reviewed by Fox News Digital show.

The Colorado Supreme Court disqualified Trump from the ballot on Tuesday under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution over the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots.

“We do not reach these conclusions lightly,” the court’s majority wrote. “We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach.”

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a self-identified “nonpartisan” watchdog group, brought the Colorado lawsuit against Trump on behalf of “six Republican and unaffiliated Colorado voters including former state, federal and local officials,” the group wrote on its website in early September.

DEM-APPOINTED COLORADO JUSTICE SAYS TRUMP BALLOT BAN UNDERMINES ‘BEDROCK’ OF AMERICA IN FIERY DISSENT

CREW’s leaders, meanwhile, have showered Biden with thousands of dollars in donations when he previously went head-to-head against Trump.  

Beth Nolan, a former general counsel at George Washington University who also served as counsel to former President Clinton, steers CREW’s board as its chair. According to Federal Election Commission records, Nolan sent $2,800 to Biden’s campaign and $3,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020.

In addition to Nolan, CREW’s vice chair, Wayne Jordan, donated substantial amounts to Biden’s presidential apparatus by pushing $300,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020. Jordan is married to Democrat megadonor Quinn Delaney, who added $650,000 to Biden’s victory fund during the last election cycle, records show. 

RFK JR. ISSUES STARK WARNING AFTER COLORADO COURT BLOCKS TRUMP FROM BALLOT: ‘COUNTRY WILL BECOME UNGOVERNABLE’

Neither Nolan, Wayne nor CREW responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Despite its self-identified “nonpartisan” status, CREW has long been viewed as a left-leaning organization. David Brock, founder of the liberal groups Media Matters for America and American Bridge, previously ran the group as its board chair.

In early 2017, Brock huddled with donors at a posh resort in Florida to map out how his constellation of organizations would “kick Donald Trump’s a–” throughout his presidency, according to documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

Brock had ostensibly stepped away from his position as CREW’s board chair at the time of the gathering. However, the documents detailing the upcoming goals and efforts of how his groups would attack Trump during his presidency include the watchdog group. 

The documents specified how CREW would hit Trump with “a steady flow of damaging information, new revelations, and an inability to avoid conflicts issues.” These actions, in turn, would force the Trump administration to defend “illegal conduct in court.”

CREW has also received vast sums from major Democratic donors, including George Soros. Between 2017 and 2021, two nonprofits in the Soros-funded Open Society Foundations network combined to give CREW $2.85 million in funding, which largely went towards general operating support, according to its grant database.

CREW’s involvement on behalf of the six voters ultimately led to Tuesday’s Colorado Supreme Court ruling to remove Trump from appearing on the state’s ballots. The watchdog group’s website states Tierney Lawrence Stiles LLC, KBN Law LLC, and Olson Grimsley Kawanabe Hinchcliff & Murray LLC were also involved with the effort. 

“We just won before the Colorado Supreme Court in our challenge to keep Donald Trump off the ballot as disqualified under the 14th amendment for engaging in insurrection,” CREW President Noah Bookbinder said on X following the ruling. “A huge moment for democracy. More to come soon.”

In a 4 to 3 ruling, the court argued that under section 3 of the 14th Amendment, Trump is “disqualified” from holding the office of president in connection to his alleged role on Jan. 6, 2021, and therefore, would not appear on the 2024 ballot.

According to the 14th Amendment, no person shall hold public office who has taken an oath to support the Constitution and “engaged in insurrection or rebellion.” The Colorado justices argued Trump violated this clause. 

“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability,” the amendment reads.

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Justice Carlos Samour, one of the three Democrat-appointed justices who dissented, wrote that the decision “risked chaos in the country” and urged that “there must be procedural due process before we can declare that individual disqualified from holding public office.” Trump’s campaign has vowed to “swiftly” appeal the Colorado court’s decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, where observers largely believe it will be overturned.

Vice President Kamala Harris announced Wednesday that the United States will land an “international astronaut” along with Americans on the moon by the end of the decade.

Speaking at the third convening of the U.S. National Space Council under the Biden administration, Harris addressed the “importance of international collaboration on human space exploration,” noting how the Artemis program “is the most ambitious space exploration effort in generations.” 

“For the first time in more than half a century, the United States will return astronauts to the lunar surface. We will establish the first lunar base camp and the first station in lunar orbit — all of this in collaboration with our allies and partners,” Harris said. “For example, the service module that will help carry Artemis astronauts to the Moon was built by the European Space Agency.  And Europe, Japan, and Canada will make significant contributions to the lunar space station.”

“Today, in recognition of the essential role that our allies and partners play in the Artemis program, I am proud, then, to announce that alongside American astronauts, we intend to land an international astronaut on the surface of the moon by the end of the decade,” the vice president said. “This announcement and this meeting of our National Space Council is further demonstration of our belief in the critical importance of international partnership… I believe we are all here together because we agree space is a place of extraordinary opportunity. So, our task – dare I say our duty – as nations must be to work together to make that opportunity real and to preserve it for future generations.” 

WHAT’S INSIDE THE MOON? MYSTERIES THAT ARE STILL BEING DECODED

The council made no mention of who the international moonwalker might be or even what country would be represented, according to The Associated Press. A NASA spokeswoman later said that crews would be assigned closer to the lunar-landing missions, and that no commitments had yet been made to another country.

The move comes as the United States believes China is preparing for potential battles in orbit, according to Politico. 

NASA has long stressed the need for global cooperation in space, establishing the Artemis Accords along with the U.S. State Department in 2020 to promote responsible behavior not just on the moon, but everywhere in space. Representatives from all 33 countries that have signed the accords so far were expected at the space council’s meeting in Washington.

“We know from experience that collaboration on space delivers,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, citing the Webb Space Telescope, a U.S., European and Canadian effort.

Blinken also noted that “new challenges have arisen, including from our strategic competitors,” but he did not specify countries. 

The establishment of the Artemis Accords is viewed as a challenge to China’s International Lunar Research Station project, which aims to establish a coalition of nations to build a permanent base on the moon next decade. Russia and Venezuela are among the several countries that have signed on. 

Russia is a partner with NASA in the International Space Station, along with Europe, Japan and Canada. Even earlier in the 1990s, the Russian and U.S. space agencies teamed up during the shuttle program to launch each other’s astronauts to Russia’s former orbiting Mir station.

NASA has included international astronauts on trips to space for decades. 

THE SPACE SHUTTLE CHALLENGER DISASTER OF 1986 SHOOK THE FOUNDATIONS OF SPACE EXPLORATION

Canadian Jeremy Hansen will fly around the moon roughly a year from now as part of the Artemis II mission with three U.S. astronauts. Another crew would actually land; it would be the first lunar touchdown by astronauts in more than a half-century. That is not likely to occur before 2027, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

All 12 moonwalkers during NASA’s Apollo program of the 1960s and 1970s were U.S. citizens. The space agency’s new moon exploration program is named Artemis after Apollo’s mythological twin sister. Including international partners “is not only sincerely appreciated, but it is urgently needed in the world today,” Hansen told the council.

Wednesday was also the fourth anniversary of the establishment of the U.S. Space Force. Former President Trump established it as the first new branch of the armed services since 1947. 

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During Wednesday’s meeting, Harris also announced new policies to ensure the safe use of space as more and more private companies and countries aim skyward. Among the issues that the U.S. is looking to resolve: the climate crisis and the growing amount of space junk around Earth. A 2021 anti-satellite missile test by Russia added more than 1,500 pieces of potentially dangerous orbiting debris, and Blinken joined others at the meeting in calling for all nations to end such destructive testing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The political arena in 2023 brought some standout courtroom moments, with cases involving a former president, the current president’s family, and sitting members of Congress.

With the ramifications of each case still looming ahead of the 2024 presidential year, let’s look back to the top four political courtroom moments of 2023. 

Hunter Biden plea deal falls apart

President Biden’s son Hunter left federal court on July 26, 2023 after his pre-arranged plea deal with the Justice Department fell apart. The dissolution of the deal followed surprising revelations that Hunter Biden is still under investigation for possible Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) crimes. 

Under the agreement, Hunter Biden would have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor tax charges and avoided a full prosecution on a gun charge if he stayed out of trouble for two years. He’s accused of having a gun for 11 days in 2018, a period where he has acknowledged using drugs, despite a law prohibiting “habitual drug users” from owning guns.

FEDERAL INVESTIGATORS FLOATED SEX TRAFFICKING CHARGES AGAINST HUNTER BIDEN, DOC SHOWS

Judge Maryellen Noreika did not accept the plea agreement, questioning its constitutionality and the broad immunity Hunter Biden would have received, leading Hunter Biden to plead “not guilty” instead. 

Since the dissolution of that deal, federal prosecutors have filed three felony gun counts in Delaware and, in December, nine tax counts in California alleging he schemed to avoid paying $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2019.

Trump takes the stand in civil trial stemming from New York Attorney General Letitia James lawsuit

Former President Trump took the stand on Nov. 6, 2023, in the non-jury civil trial stemming from New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit alleging he defrauded banks and inflated the value of his assets. The 2024 GOP front-runner has repeatedly cast James’ years-long investigation and lawsuit as a “disgrace” and an attack on his business and his family.

Taking the stand, Trump deemed the case “a political witch hunt,” insisting that he was worth billions more, not less, than his financial statements said. Trump said that any misstatements were immaterial mistakes and that disclaimers effectively told recipients not to count on the numbers. The disclaimers said, among other things, that the statements weren’t audited.

“This is not a political rally,” Judge Arthur Engoron bristled at Trump at one point, complaining that Trump was giving speeches instead of answering questions and urging defense lawyers to “control” the former president.

TRUMP VISITS MANHATTAN COURT TO BLAST NYAG CASE, PRAISES APPELLATE RULING IN HIS FAVOR

The trial neared its conclusion after more than 10 weeks when testimony from 40 witnesses wrapped up in early December. Closing arguments are set for Jan. 11. 

The suit threatens Trump’s real estate empire and is attempting to stop him from doing business in his native state, alleging he overvalued real estate holding including his  Trump Tower penthouse in New York and Mar-a-Lago residence and resort in Florida, as well as golf courses, hotels, a Wall Street office building and more. 

The trial included testimony from three of Trump’s adult children: Donald Jr., Eric and their sister Ivanka, who was their fellow executive vice president at the Trump Organization before she left the company for the White House. Former Trump fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen took the stand for James’ office.

George Santos charged in federal court

Then U.S. Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., pleaded not guilty on May 10, 2023, in the Eastern District of New York, hours after an initial 13-count indictment was unsealed against him. 

Santos faces a host of charges that he defrauded donors to his campaign, lied to Congress about his wealth, received unemployment benefits while employed and used campaign contributions to pay for personal expenses like designer clothing. 

“The reality is, it’s a witch hunt,” Santos told reporters outside the courthouse afterward, accusing President Biden and his family of receiving deposits from foreign destinations without legal consequences. 

Santos pleaded not guilty again in October to additional charges that he made tens of thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges on credit cards belonging to some of his campaign donors. He was ultimately expelled from Congress on Dec. 1, 2023, after a damning House ethics report, and a special election has been scheduled for Feb. 13, 2024, to choose his replacement. Democrats have put forward Former U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, while Republicans named former IDF soldier Mazi Melesa Pilip as their candidate. 

Bob Menendez indictment

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., his wife Nadine, and three New Jersey businessmen were charged in September in connection to a years-long corruption scheme in which the high-ranking Democrat allegedly agreed to use his position to benefit the Egyptian government in exchange for hundreds of thousands of bribes, including gold bars, cash and a luxury convertible.

A defiant Menendez has refused calls from his own party members – from Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy to local officials – to resign, and has pleaded not guilty to those charges, filed in the Southern District of New York, as well as additional charges of acting as a foreign agent tacked on by the Justice Department in October. 

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Authorities who searched Menendez’s home last year found more than $100,000 worth of gold bars, as well as over $480,000 in cash — much of it hidden in closets, clothing and a safe, prosecutors say. Photos in the indictment show cash that was stuffed in envelopes in jackets bearing Menendez’s name. Investigators also say they discovered a Google search by Menendez for the value of a “kilo of gold,” and DNA of one man prosecutors say bribed him on an envelope filled with thousands of dollars.

Fox News’ Brianna Herlihy, Jake Gibson, Brooke Singman and the Associated Press contributed to this report.