NationalWatch

First lady Jill Biden felt she became a “full-fledged” member of the family after Joe Biden had two brain aneurysms in 1988, and she took a more elevated role in family decisions, a new book details. 

“She was exhausted. In the hospital, as she watched Joe’s mother, sister, and brothers debate the best path forward for Joe’s treatment, something in her broke,” an upcoming book titled “American Woman” says describing Jill Biden as the future president underwent medical treatments at Walter Reed in 1988 for brain aneurysms.

“‘Wait a minute!’ she yelled at the group. ‘He’s my husband. I should be making the decision here.’”

The moment, underscored by Joe’s mom urging the family to listen to Jill, marked when Jill Biden says she felt she had “become a full- fledged Biden,” the book details. 

BIDEN TELLS STAFFERS ‘KEY’ TO LASTING MARRIAGE IS ‘GOOD SEX’: BOOK

“The Bidens were stunned, until Joe’s mother eventually agreed: ‘She’s right,’ Jean Biden told the group, settling the matter. That was the moment, as Jill has recounted, that she felt she had become a full-fledged Biden.”

DR. MAKARY CLAIMS BIDEN IS EXPERIENCING ‘AGE-RELATED DEMENTIA’: ‘COGNITIVE DECLINE RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR EYES’

“American Woman,” authored by New York Times White House correspondent Katie Rogers, will be released Tuesday and documents how the role of first lady has evolved in the 21st century, focusing on Jill Biden’s tenure in the White House. 

Joe and Jill Biden married in 1977, following the death of the future president’s first wife and their young daughter in a car accident in 1972. Biden had two other children with his first wife, Beau and Hunter, who were later raised by Jill Biden alongside their younger half-sister Ashley Biden. 

BIDEN TORCHED FOR CLAIMING THAT HE RECENTLY MET WITH DEAD FORMER PRESIDENT OF FRANCE: ‘NOT A HEALTHY SIGN’

As a Delaware senator, Biden had two life-threatening brain aneurysms and doctors said he had a 50-50 shot of surviving.

“If he did survive, there was a chance that the part of his brain that governed his speech would be damaged,” the book continued. 

KJP DODGES QUESTION ON BIDEN’S MENTAL HEALTH AFTER HE CLAIMED TO RECENTLY MEET WITH LONG-DEAD FRENCH LEADER

“For Jill, the diagnosis was the latest setback after a stressful year. She had spent months campaigning on his behalf, despite her discomfort with public speaking. She was raising their three children, Beau, Hunter, and Ashley, who were all in different stages of adjusting to school and life in Delaware.”

Biden’s surgeries were successful, with no reports of an aneurysm since. 

BIDEN CAMPAIGN CALL SIDETRACKED BY FITNESS QUESTIONS, SURROGATES INSIST HE IS ‘IN FULL CONTROL’ 

After Jill Biden experienced the turning point of becoming a “full-fledged” member of the family, she went on to become the “powerful guardian of the Biden inner circle,” the book describes. 

“As the president and his last surviving son, Hunter, have become targets for conservatives in a rapidly toxifying political landscape, Jill has emerged as the powerful guardian of the Biden inner circle, defining herself as a ‘Philly girl’ who is not to be crossed,” the book states. 

The book goes on to note that Jill Biden has been a leading force behind Joe Biden’s re-election campaign, which is partially motivated by a “dislike for Trump.” 

“She is powerful within the Biden White House and was an enthusiastic supporter of her husband’s decision to announce a run for reelection at age eighty,” “American Woman” claims. 

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“Her dislike for Trump was a driving reason behind her support for Joe’s campaign for the presidency, and it remains so for his reelection effort, even if that means he will not leave office until age eighty-six at the end of a second term,” the book later claims.

EXCLUSIVE: Senate Minority Whip John Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican leader, is endorsing former President Donald Trump for re-election.

It’s a key win for Trump from the establishment wing of the Republican Party. The South Dakota Republican is Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s top deputy in the Senate GOP.

“The primary results in South Carolina make clear that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee for president in this year’s pivotal presidential election. The choice before the American people is crystal clear: It’s Donald Trump or Joe Biden,” Thune told Fox News Digital.

TRUMP MOVES CLOSER TO LOCKING UP GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION WITH 20-POINT WIN IN SOUTH CAROLINA

“I support former President Trump’s campaign to win the presidency, and I intend to do everything I can to see that he has a Republican majority in the Senate working with him to restore American strength at home and abroad,” he continued.

“Together we must put an end to the disastrous Biden-Schumer agenda. Our country cannot endure another four years of Bidenomics, continued lawlessness at our southern border, and American weakness on the global stage.”

Thune and Trump spoke by phone on Saturday night after Trump’s commanding victory in the South Carolina Republican primary, a source familiar with the call told Fox News Digital.

It wasn’t clear before now whether Thune, who’s seen as one of McConnell’s potential successors to lead the Senate Republican Conference, would endorse either of the two major candidates for the 2024 GOP nomination. 

ONLY ON FOX: WHAT TRUMP SAID ABOUT HALEY AFTER TOPPING HER IN HER HOME STATE

Like McConnell, he suggested he would support whoever Republican voters chose as their presidential nominee, but Thune has for the most part avoided mentioning the former president.

He previously endorsed South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott’s presidential campaign and was present at Scott’s launch event. Scott dropped out in November and endorsed Trump last month.  

The Sunday announcement puts added pressure on McConnell, who has brushed off scrutiny on whether his frosty relationship with Trump would stop him from endorsing the ex-president in the Republican primary.

McConnell said at a press conference earlier this month when asked about the race, “I’ve stayed essentially out of it and when I change my mind about that, I’ll let you know.”

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Both Thune and McConnell were targeted by Trump for criticizing his handling of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and the 2020 election.

Thune won a landslide re-election victory for a fourth Senate term in 2022 despite Trump calling for a primary challenger against him.

His endorsement of the former president comes after Trump beat former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley in her home state primary on Saturday night. The ex-president won roughly 60% of the vote compared to 40% for Haley.

A new book detailing the evolving role of the first lady in the 21st century argues that former first lady Melania Trump engaged in a “power struggle” with her stepdaughter Ivanka Trump when Donald Trump was president. 

“For her four years in the White House, Melania would wage an internal power struggle with her stepdaughter. Melania called her ‘the princess’ so frequently that a coterie of East Wing aides had adopted the nickname,” the book “American Woman” writes. 

“American Woman,” authored by New York Times White House correspondent Katie Rogers, will officially hit store shelves Tuesday and examines how the role of first lady has evolved this century, focusing much of the book on first lady Jill Biden.  

Fox News Digital reviewed the book before its release, and found it details an alleged struggle for power between former President Trump’s wife and daughter. The book argues that Melania Trump was “going to do her own thing” upon Trump being sworn in as president, including staying in New York City so their son Barron Trump could finish the school year. Trump lauded the first lady shortly after becoming president, while noting she would be bolstered by his daughter, Ivanka Trump. 

MELANIA ‘GOING TO BE OUT A LOT’ ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL, TRUMP SAYS

“I think she’s going to be a fantastic first lady. She’s going to be a tremendous representative of women and of the people,” the new president said. “And helping her and working with her will be Ivanka, who is a fabulous person and a fabulous, fabulous woman,” he said in 2017. 

At the start of the Trump administration, “American Woman” argues, Melania Trump monitored social media and news outlets for personal mentions, while allegedly souring at the plan to elevate Ivanka Trump’s role in the White House. 

BIDEN TAUNTS TRUMP BY INVOKING FORMER FIRST LADY’S ‘BE BEST’ ANTI-BULLYING CAMPAIGN

“She was aware that her husband had suggested that his eldest daughter would be helping to share the responsibilities of being First Lady, and this was not a development that pleased her. At the time, Ivanka was staking out office space in the West Wing but was eyeing the potential of a revamped East Wing that could be geared to serving the entire First Family, not just the First Lady, according to people familiar with her plans,” the text of the book reads. 

Ivanka Trump was hired as an unpaid adviser to her father in March 2017, joining her husband Jared Kushner as official government employees. 

MELANIA FULLY BEHIND TRUMP’S 2024 CAMPAIGN, SAYS IT WOULD BE A ‘PRIVILEGE’ TO SERVE AS FIRST LADY AGAIN

“The suggestion irritated Melania, who put a stop to the talk of a family-led wing. A month later, Ivanka announced that she would become an official government employee, working as an unpaid adviser for her father,” according to the book. 

As Melania navigated her new role, she allegedly also renegotiated a prenuptial agreement, including stipulations that her son Barron Trump was guaranteed “equal footing with Donald’s other children,” according to the book, citing Washington Post journalist Mary Jordan. Jordan’s book on Melania Trump was previously panned by the first lady’s office as belonging in “the fiction genre.”

MELANIA TRUMP ROLLS OUT ‘AMERICAN CHRISTMAS’ ORNAMENTS, NFTS TO HELP FUND SCHOLARSHIPS FOR FOSTER CHILDREN

In June 2018, Melania Trump came under fire in the media after wearing a jacket with the words “I really don’t care, do U?” ahead of visiting a youth migrant detention center with her husband. The jacket’s message reportedly had no underlying message, the White House said when photos first circulated of the first lady. 

The book, however, claims the jacket wasn’t a message directed at the media, but instead to Ivanka Trump. 

“The two were locked in a quiet competition for press coverage and, to that end, Melania did not think that it was appropriate for Trump’s children to be enmeshed in White House operations,” an excerpt reads. 

MELANIA TRUMP TO SPEAK TO NEW AMERICAN CITIZENS ABOUT RESPONSIBILITY OF ‘GUARDING OUR FREEDOM’

Overall, the book argues, Melania Trump was “frustrated and angry” with how she was portrayed by the media, and that nothing she did “would be enough to escape scrutiny,” including decorating the White House for Christmas. 

“By 2020, when the pandemic was setting in, Melania had taken to wearing elegant robes at all hours. In the evenings, she would occasionally visit her husband in his bedroom, perching on his bed and listening as he placed calls to and received calls from advisers. She busied herself with assembling photo albums of her aesthetic contributions to the White House,” the book states. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the Office of Donald J. Trump regarding the book and its claims, but did not immediately receive a reply.

Trump, who notched another primary win this weekend when he swept the South Carolina GOP primary, recently said the former first lady would ramp up her campaign trail appearances ahead of the 2024 presidential election. 

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“It’s funny, she was a very successful model, very, very successful, and yet she was a private person. She’s going to be out a lot. Not because she likes doing it, but she likes the results,” he said last Tuesday to Fox News’ Laura Ingraham. “She wants to see this country really succeed. She loves the country.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom called on President Biden to debate former President Donald Trump, the GOP frontrunner, arguing that the president could “beat” Trump like he did in 2020.

“Biden beat Trump in the prior debates. I look forward to it,” the California Democrat said during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.

The comment comes as Biden has so far refused to commit to debate Trump, who has a commanding lead in the Republican presidential primary race. Trump, on the other hand, has called on the president to debate him “immediately,” arguing such an event would be “for the good of the country.”

‘THE VIEW’ HOSTS CLASH OVER WHETHER BIDEN SHOULD DEBATE TRUMP, WORRY PRESIDENT ‘CAN LOSE’

Trump’s desire to debate Biden comes despite his refusal to appear for debates against GOP primary foes, something Newsom argued Sunday was “weakness masquerading as strength.”

“This is… pure projection on a guy who refused to debate in his own primary,” Newsom said.

But not everyone believes Biden has much to gain by debating Trump ahead of this year’s election, with the topic recently becoming the subject of a heated debate between the co-hosts of “The View” earlier this week.

BIDEN IS LYING LOW AHEAD OF SUPER BOWL AS COMMENTATORS WORRY THAT HE IS SEEN AS ‘NOT IN CONTROL’ OF THE NATION

Co-host Sara Haines had particularly strong feelings on the topic, warning that only Trump would benefit from the two candidates squaring off.

“Biden can lose, he can lose in a debate,” Haines said. “Trump will not. The people supporting Trump will support him whether he’s there or not. Biden makes one mistake, and the people who are undecided are out.” 

Newsom’s comments also come as speculation about his desire to jump into the race have continued to swirl, something the California governor said Sunday was off the table.

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“I am here celebrating the extraordinary accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration,” Newsom said, calling the continued speculation about his potential run “idle chat” and a “sideshow.”

“It’s not even an interesting conversation,” Newsom continued. “I think it’s a damning conversation, frankly, the other side wants us to have… they love ginning this stuff up.”

From the campaign trail in South Carolina to the Conservative Political Action Conference, some of the leading potential contenders to serve as Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate are turning up the volume in their praise of the former president.

“Let South Carolina send a message to all America. The Republican primary is over and Donald Trump is our nominee,” Sen. Tim Scott stressed as he stood next to Trump at a rally in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on the eve of his home state’s GOP presidential primary.

Scott, the uplifting conservative champion who ended his own White House run in November and endorsed Trump last month, joined the former president on the campaign trail in South Carolina repeatedly this month, including on Saturday night at Trump’s primary night celebration.

“Is South Carolina Trump country?” Scott asked the crowd to loud cheers, at the event in Columbia.

TRUMP MOVES CLOSER TO LOCKING UP GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION WITH 20-POINT WIN IN SOUTH CAROLINA

Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, is one of over a half dozen potential contenders with aspirations of joining Trump on the national ticket who’s been talking up the former president.

Among them is another former rival from the 2024 Republican presidential nomination race – Vivek Ramaswamy.

ONLY ON FOX: WHAT TRUMP SAID ABOUT HALEY AFTER TOPPING HER IN HER HOME STATE

The multi-millionaire biotech entrepreneur, author, and political commentator, speaking Saturday at CPAC, urged any aligned group “that supported me during that campaign, I’m publicly calling on them to use their resources to support Donald J. Trump in his reelection effort. And I want every other Republican candidate who ran for president to do the same thing.”

Ramaswamy also made a handful of stops in South Carolina, to campaign both with and on behalf of Trump, in recent weeks.

Rep. Byron Donald of Florida, a longtime Trump supporter, joined the former president on Friday at the Black Conservative Foundation Gala in Columbia, S.C.

“We have a true opportunity which doesn’t come along very often in politics to elect real leadership back to the White House. And that leadership is in the form of the 45th president, soon to be the 47th president. Donald J. Trump,” Donalds told the crowd.

A day earlier, Donalds espoused a similar message at CPAC, the granddaddy of conservative confabs that has turned into a Trump-fest since the former president first won the White House in 2016. 

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, another longtime Trump supporter and surrogate, in an apparent dig at former 2024 contenders Scott and Ramaswamy, emphasized to cheers at CPAC on Friday that “I’ve always supported the fact that our next president needs to be President Trump.”

“I was one of the first people to endorse Donald Trump to be president,” Noem added. “Last year, when everyone was asking me if I was going to consider running, I said no. Why would you run for president when you know you can’t win?”

Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, the fourth ranking House Republican and another top Trump loyalist, told the crowd at CPAC that “I’m proud to be the first member of Congress to endorse President Trump for reelection.”

And former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate who later turned independent and who has become a favorite among conservatives, also praised Trump at CPAC.

“I’ve met a lot of strong, tough people in my life, I can’t think of a single one who could not only withstand all that is coming at Donald Trump without crumbling, but someone who would actually choose to keep fighting against the entire Washington establishment,” she highlighted.

Noem and Ramaswamy topped the CPAC Trump running mate straw poll this weekend – tied at 15%.

Trump on Saturday took another big step towards locking up the GOP nomination by defeating his last remaining major rival – former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley – by 20 points in her home state presidential primary.

At a Fox News town hall in South Carolina last week, he indicated that at least a half a dozen contenders — including three former rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination — are on his short list for running mate.

During the program, which ran on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle,” Trump was asked about Scott, Ramaswamy, Noem, Donalds, Gabbard, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“Are they all on your short list?” host Laura Ingraham asked the former president.

“They are,” Trump answered. “Honestly, all of those people are good. They’re all good, they’re all solid.”

Scott received a warm welcome from the large crowd of mostly Trump supporters when he arrived at the Greenville, South Carolina, convention center where the town hall was held.

“A lot of people are talking about that gentleman right over there,” Trump said as he pointed to Scott, who was sitting in the front row of the audience.

Asked about Trump’s praise, Scott told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the former president “certainly was very generous and kind with his words. But more important than who his running mate is is making sure that he’s our next president.”

Asked about potentially serving as Trump’s running mate, Ramaswamy also demurred.

“Donald Trump has got to win this election. That’s my sole focus and making sure he wins by a decisive victory,” he told reporters last week during a stop in South Carolina. “And I’m going to do whatever I can to make sure that his presidency is as successful as it possibly can be.”

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While the potential running mate contenders are playing coy, seasoned Republican strategist David Kochel told Fox News the appearances on the campaign trail “of course, are screen tests. I think CPAC is going to play that role as well this weekend – obviously big with the MAGA folks.”

“Trump likes to talk about people that he hires coming out of central casting, so to use the word audition is apropos,” added Kochel, a veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns.

Alex Castellanos, another longtime Republican consultant who worked on multiple White House campaigns, agreed that “of course these guys are auditioning.”

“In a way they have to. They already failed the taste test for occupying a position in the White House,” Castellanos said as he pointed to Scott and Ramaswamy’s failed presidential campaigns.

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

Former President Donald Trump was victorious in South Carolina’s GOP primary on Saturday in a night that provided several highlights and hints about where the 2024 presidential race is heading.

The South Carolina primary battle was called by Fox News for Trump moments after polls closed at 7 P.M. ET on Saturday night. Trump’s rapidly-called victory over former U.N. ambassador and former two-term South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in her home state moves the former president another step closer to clinching the 2024 GOP nomination. 

After the results were announced, Trump quickly took the stage to address his supporters.

“It’s an early evening and a fantastic evening,” Trump told a crowd gathered at the South Carolina state fairgrounds in Columbia, South Carolina.

NFL TEAM OWNER APPEARS ON STAGE WITH TRUMP DURING SOUTH CAROLINA VICTORY SPEECH

“Celebrate for 15 minutes, but then we have to get back to work,” he added, referencing next week’s Michigan primary, and Super Tuesday on March 5 the following week.

In his speech, Trump did not mention Haley by name but did address President Joe Biden.

“We have a great family and we have incredible friends and we’re going to be up here on November 5th and we’re going to look at Joe Biden and we’re gonna look him right in the eye, he’s destroying our country, and we’re going to say, Joe you’re fired, get out, get out Joe, you’re fired,” Trump told the crowd. 

Haley, who earned roughly 40% of the vote on Saturday compared to Trump’s 60%, gave a speech to her supporters after the race was called where she vowed to continue on. 

TRUMP ‘REALLY NOT THINKING ABOUT’ HALEY AFTER SOUTH CAROLINA VICTORY, SAYS HE’S FOCUSED ON BEATING BIDEN

“I’m a woman of my word,” Haley said. “I’m not giving up this fight when a majority of Americans disapprove of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden.”

“We’re headed to Michigan tomorrow. And we’re headed to the Super Tuesday states throughout all of next week.”

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The Haley campaign, who won the 7% independent voters by around 19 points on Saturday night, announced they were going up with a multi-million dollar national cable ad blitz ahead of Super Tuesday.

Nearly 800 delegates are up for grabs on Super Tuesday, with over 150 at stake over the following two weeks. Among the states holding contests on Super Tuesday are delegate-rich California and Texas, and other big states like Florida, Illinois and Ohio will hold winner-take-all primaries on March 19. Polling in many of those states indicates Trump holding large leads over Haley.

The Trump campaign predicted in a memo this  week that the former president would secure the nomination on March 19, even under a “most-generous model” for Haley.

“Let’s see if it happens,” Haley quickly responded when asked by Fox News what she would do if Trump clinches the nomination next month.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report

Several Democrats took to social media Saturday night to poke fun at former President Donald Trump following his victory in the South Carolina Republican primary election, with some even encouraging his last major GOP rival to stay in the race.

The primary was called for the former president and 2024 GOP frontrunner just moments after polls closed Saturday night. Trump celebrated saying he looked forward to telling President Biden in November: “Joe, you’re fired.”

In a statement following the news of Trump’s victory over former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Biden insisted that “Every day, Americans are reminded of the threat Donald Trump poses to our future as Americans grapple with the damage he left behind.”

Biden specifically took aim at Trump over the issue of abortion, saying the former president is “ripping away a fundamental constitutional right women had in this country for 50 years.”

TRUMP WINS SOUTH CAROLINA PRIMARY AGAINST HALEY IN HER HOME STATE, MOVES CLOSER TO CLINCHING GOP NOMINATION

“We are still rebuilding the economy after Trump lost millions of good-paying jobs and sold out working families to give himself and his wealthy friends handouts,” Biden added. “And Trump is promising to once again use the presidency for his own revenge and retribution after January 6 stained our collective consciousness.”

Reacting to the news of Trump’s win, Victor Shi, the youngest elected delegate for Joe Biden in 2020, wrote on X, “Would love if mainstream media also stated pointing out the fact that President Biden won South Carolina by more than 97% of the vote and that almost 60% of Nikki Haley voters said in exit polls that they’d vote against Trump today.”

“Trump is weak and he will lose,” Shi added.

In a follow-up post, Shi insisted that Trump “hasn’t even surpassed 60% of the vote today” and that “he’s in a weak position.”

“The Republican Party is in disarray. Democrats are united behind President Biden,” Shi said.

Democratic political strategist Adam Parkhomenko also weighed in following Trump’s victory, writing in a post to X, “Things are not going well at the Trump event in South Carolina.”

Parkhomenko’s post included a clip of Trump welcoming South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham to the stage as he gave his victory remarks. In the clip, Graham could be seen walking to the mic as the crowd of Trump supporters booed the senator.

Josh Marshall — the founder and editor-in-chief of Talking Points Memo, a liberal political news and opinion website — penned an article titled “Face It: This is a Weak Showing for Trump in South Carolina.”

In the article, Marshall wrote, “I’m not going to speculate what it means for the general election. But this is a lot of persistent opposition for a candidate who has always been running as a de facto incumbent.”

TRUMP ‘REALLY NOT THINKING ABOUT’ HALEY AFTER SOUTH CAROLINA VICTORY, SAYS HE’S FOCUSED ON BEATING BIDEN

“Even if you set that de facto incumbency aside, it’s quite a lot for a candidate who is, whatever technicalities you want to get caught up in, the presumptive nominee. 40% of Republican primary voters are still showing up to say they don’t want Trump even when they know they’re definitely going to get him,” he added.

Others are looking to Haley to stay in the race to compete with Trump.

During an appearance on CNN, Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., said he believes Haley should stay in the race against Trump.

“I believe Nikki Haley should stay in the race,” Clyburn told CNN’s Jake Tapper.

Clyburn’s comments came after California Gov. Gavin Newsom told MSNBC Saturday during an interview that will air Sunday that he believes Haley is one of the Democratic Party’s “better surrogates” for making the case against Trump.

“I don’t know why Democrats would want her out of the race,” Newsom told the outlet. “She’s one of our better surrogates. I mean, she’s defining the opposition to Trump credibly, effectively.”

“She’s making points I’m applauding every single day,” he added.

Despite many Republican calls for Haley to drop out of the race, the former UN ambassador said Saturday night that she isn’t going anywhere. Haley had pledged to stay in the race even if she lost the Palmetto State, and she said she’s sticking with that.

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“I’m a woman of my word. I’m not giving up this fight when a majority of Americans disapprove of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden,” she told supporters gathered at a watch party in Charleston.

Fox News projected Saturday shortly after polls closed that Trump will win the state’s GOP primary. Trump has three times as many delegates as Haley; he will win up to 50 more tonight.

But Haley intends to keep the race going through Super Tuesday. “We’re headed to Michigan tomorrow. And we’re headed to the Super Tuesday states throughout all of next week,” she said.

The House Republican Conference is bracing for the loss of several top lawmakers at the end of this year, with both rising stars and veteran legislators getting ready to retire after months of chaos.

Financial Services Chairman Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., announced he would be leaving in December after 10 terms in Congress. And just this month, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash.; Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn.; and China select committee Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., all said they’re ending their time in Congress. 

“It just reflects how Congress has just become a bad workplace. And when you talk to members, they’re not happy,” veteran GOP strategist Doug Heye told Fox News Digital.

Heye said he was “not surprised” by McHenry’s exit, noting that he’s at the end of House Republicans’ conference rule imposing three-term limits on top committee spots. However, he called departures like Rodgers’ and Gallagher’s “shockers.”

CONGRESS LIKELY TO PUNT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN DEADLINES AGAIN, SOURCES SAY

“[Rodgers] had time to go still as chair. People typically don’t leave their committee if they have time to go. Gallagher was certainly seen as a real up-and-comer,” he said.

John Feehery, a partner at EFB Advocacy who worked for ex-House Speaker Dennis Hastert, said some of the top Republicans departing are likely not enthused about the prospect of working under another possible Trump administration, but their replacements in the House would likely think differently.

“I think the political implications now are that there were a lot of members who probably weren’t all in on MAGA, and their successors are going to be, I think, much more solidly pro-Trump,” Feehery said. “I also think there’s just a general frustration with the inability for Republicans to really kind of score victories.”

TRUMP ENDORSES EX-KEVIN MCCARTHY AIDE VINCE FONG TO FILL VACANT SEAT AS HIS FORMER AIDES BACK FONG’S OPPONENT

House Republicans have struggled to show a united front for much of the 118th Congress, chiefly due to having a razor-thin majority. The public shows of division, including booting their own speaker from power in October, have sown doubt in the GOP’s ability to hold onto the chamber.

Chairman Green brushed off those concerns and told Fox News Digital even outside of Congress he would keep fighting for GOP wins.

“I won’t speak for others, but I’m ready to continue the fight — in a new capacity. If Republicans are in the minority next year, I’m confident they will continue to do their best to protect the American people from the swamp, but I know from experience that this is difficult to do in the minority. That’s why this upcoming election is so extremely important,” Green said.

Green is leaving Congress after one term leading the Homeland Security Committee, which he called “challenging, rewarding and meaningful.”

SEVERAL SENIOR HOUSE REPUBLICANS STILL SILENT ON TRUMP 2024 AMID GROWING PRESSURE FOR PARTY UNITY

He said he was “hopeful” Republicans keep the majority next year, adding, “Americans aren’t asleep at the wheel. Each day, they feel the strain of inflation and the consequences of big government.”

But if they do, Heye warned that the ranks of GOP committee leadership could look much different.

“I think it’ll be some of both [establishment Republicans and hardliners],” Heye said. “But the majority of Republican members haven’t served in times before Trump, meaning they’re new to this job. They’re still trying to figure out what the job is, and certainly … running the House, they’re new to that. So, that’s a challenge. Then you have some who don’t really want to run committees in the way that committees need to be run. And that presents problems.

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“We’re losing good people who know how to do the job.”

Feehery suggested it’s more likely that those committee spots will be taken by those closest to House GOP leadership at the time.

“My sense is it’s more of the team players who are going to have a better shot of rising up to be chairmen,” he said.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the offices of McHenry, Rodgers and Gallagher.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Nikki Haley isn’t giving up.

Despite a dismal primary performance in her own home state of South Carolina, the former U.N. ambassador is making good on her promise to stay in the GOP presidential primary race and is placing her bets on next month’s Super Tuesday contests when 15 states — or just over a third of all delegates — are up for grabs.

“America will come apart if we make the wrong choices. This has never been about me or my political future. We need to beat Joe Biden in November. I don’t believe Donald Trump can beat Joe Biden,” Haley told a crowd of supporters gathered at her election night watch party in Charleston, South Carolina on Saturday.

TRUMP WINS SOUTH CAROLINA PRIMARY AGAINST HALEY IN HER HOME STATE, MOVES CLOSER TO CLINCHING GOP NOMINATION

“I said earlier this week that no matter what happens in South Carolina, I would continue to run for President. I’m a woman of my word. I’m not giving up this fight when a majority of Americans disapprove of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden,” she said, arguing voters in Michigan and the Super Tuesday states deserved to have a choice as they head to the polls over the next 10 days.

Haley now heads to Michigan, where GOP primary voters will have their say next Tuesday, but with less than a third of the state’s 55 delegates at stake. The rest will be determined at 13 congressional district meetings scheduled to be held on March 2.

What little polling has been done suggests Trump could hold a strong lead in the state, but regardless of that outcome, Haley’s campaign appears set to make Super Tuesday the final stand against Trump’s juggernaut status in the Republican Party.

WATCH: TOP REPUBLICANS SHOWERED WITH BOOS FROM TRUMP VICTORY CROWD, PROMPTING JOKES FROM FORMER PRESIDENT

On that day, March 5, voters in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia will all head to the polls to decide between Trump and Haley.

In a press call with reporters on Friday, Haley campaign manager Betsy Ankney announced a seven-figure ad buy across the Super Tuesday states, the strongest sign ahead of the South Carolina primary that Haley would follow through with plans to stay in the race regardless of Saturday’s outcome.

In his South Carolina victory speech, Trump also said he would continue fighting to win over voters in Michigan and the Super Tuesday states.

WATCH: TRUMP RALLYGOERS REVEAL WHOM THEY WANT AS VICE PRESIDENT

“It’s an early evening and a fantastic evening,” Trump told a crowd of supporters gathered at the South Carolina state fairgrounds in Columbia, the state capitol, just minutes after polls closed and he was declared the victor.

“Celebrate for 15 minutes, but then we have to get back to work,” he added.

When it comes to the delegates needed for either candidate to clinch the Republican nomination for president, Haley faces an extremely steep climb to make the race competitive. 

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Trump, who entered the South Carolina primary with 63 delegates to Haley’s 17, could likely reach the 1,215 delegates needed to clinch the nomination by late March — at the earliest — given the number of delegates up for grabs in the states set to vote between now and then, as well as how those delegates are awarded.

Fox News’ Rémy Numa and 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.

Former President Trump’s victory in the South Carolina Republican primary Saturday night quickly sparked a response from conservatives on social media, many of whom said they believe GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley should step aside and drop out of the race.

The primary was called for the former president and 2024 GOP frontrunner just moments after polls closed Saturday night, with Trump saying he looks forward to delivering his signature line to President Biden: “Joe, you’re fired.”

“Congratulations to President Trump on another DOMINANT primary election victory in SC,” Florida GOP Rep. Byron Donalds wrote in a post on X. “Nikki Haley has lost BIG in every primary & she’s now lost her home state. It’s clear Republicans want President Trump to be our nominee & Nikki Haley has no pathway to victory.”

TRUMP WINS SOUTH CAROLINA PRIMARY AGAINST HALEY IN HER HOME STATE, MOVES CLOSER TO CLINCHING GOP NOMINATION 

Kansas GOP Sen. Roger Marshall also weighed in on Trump’s victory, writing on X, “Congratulations to President Trump for his landslide victory in South Carolina. It’s past time for the GOP to end this political primary charade and unite behind the clear nominee, Donald J. Trump.”

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah said the “(proverbial) lady is now (metaphorically) singing. Trump won. It’s over. Haley should drop out now.”

TRUMP ‘REALLY NOT THINKING ABOUT’ HALEY AFTER SOUTH CAROLINA VICTORY, SAYS HE’S FOCUSED ON BEATING BIDEN 

Radio host and former presidential candidate Larry Elder said that Haley “loses and declares victory.”

Haley, however, has said she is staying in the race.

“I’m a woman of my word. I’m not giving up this fight when a majority of Americans disapprove of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden,” she told supporters.

“Today, in South Carolina, we’re getting around 40% of the vote. That’s about what we got in New Hampshire too. I’m an accountant. I know 40% is not 50%. But I also know 40% is not some tiny group,” she said. “There are huge numbers of voters in our Republican primaries who are saying they want an alternative.”

“We’re headed to Michigan tomorrow. And we’re headed to the Super Tuesday states throughout all of next week,” she said.

Commentator Jesse Kelly called on Trump to take a forward-looking approach as he took another step closer to becoming the nominee.

“Time for Team Trump to tighten up messaging and stop talking about Nikki Haley. And Ron DeSantis. Take the W and focus on Biden. Absolutely zero benefit comes from blasting the ones you’ve beaten,” he said.

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When asked by Fox News Digital whether he wanted Nikki Haley to drop out of the race, Trump told Fox News Digital that he’s “really not thinking about that… I’m not thinking about it.” 

“I’m really thinking about we have to beat Joe Biden,” he told Fox News Digital. “I don’t know if she’s in the race at all, because, you know, I have set records in every single state. I’m not sure that she’s really in the race.”

Fox News’ Emily Robertson, Aubrie Spady and Brooke Singman contributed to this report. 

EXCLUSIVE: Former President Trump said he is not sure Nikki Haley is “even really in the race” after winning yet another Republican primary Saturday night, telling Fox News Digital that he is focused on beating President Biden in the general election in November.

The Fox News Decision Desk declared Trump the winner of the South Carolina Republican Primary just moments after the polls closed Saturday night. Trump defeated former two-term South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in her home state, and came another step closer to clinching the 2024 GOP nomination. 

TRUMP SAYS SOUTH CAROLINA IS A ‘BIGGER WIN THAN WE ANTICIPATED,’ LOOKS FORWARD TO SAYING ‘JOE, YOU’RE FIRED’

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital Saturday night, Trump touted the win.

“I was honored that I received the largest vote in the history of the state — I’m with Senator Lindsey Graham right now and he just told me we received the largest vote by double — we beat the last record,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “So that’s a great compliment to all of the people and to making America great again.”

When asked whether he wanted Nikki Haley to drop out of the race, Trump told Fox News Digital that he’s “really not thinking about that… I’m not thinking about it.” 

“I’m really thinking about we have to beat Joe Biden,” he told Fox News Digital. “I don’t know if she’s in the race at all, because, you know, I have set records in every single state. I’m not sure that she’s really in the race.”

Trump dominated the Iowa Caucuses, left New Hampshire with a commanding victory, swept caucuses in Nevada and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and won South Carolina with a “bigger win” than he anticipated.

“I’m very honored by the elections,” he said. “We’re setting records in every single state.” 

TRUMP WINS SOUTH CAROLINA PRIMARY AGAINST HALEY IN HER HOME STATE, MOVES CLOSER TO CLINCHING GOP NOMINATION

Meanwhile, Haley, after yet another defeat, said she plans to stay in the race for the Republican nomination.

Trump took the stage in South Carolina after the polls closed and he was declared the winner, and said he looks forward to beating Joe Biden in November and saying: “Joe, you’re fired.”

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Trump added that Election Day, November 5, “is going to be the most important date, perhaps, in the history of our country.” 

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Two top Republicans likely didn’t get the welcome they expected from the crowd gathered to celebrate former President Donald Trump’s victory in the South Carolina Republican primary on Saturday.

After being recognized by Trump during his speech, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and state GOP chair Drew McKissick were showered with boos that the former president couldn’t even quell.

“No. No. No. No. Remember —” Trump said, laughing, as he attempted to quiet the crowd’s disdain for Graham. “I love him. He’s a good man,” he added, telling Graham to come over to the microphone. 

TRUMP SAYS SOUTH CAROLINA IS A ‘BIGGER WIN THAN WE ANTICIPATED,’ LOOKS FORWARD TO SAYING ‘JOE, YOU’RE FIRED’

The crowd continued to boo as Graham approached the podium and began to speak. He briefly praised Trump for his victory, and the boos continued, albeit more quietly, as he went back to his spot on the stage.

A few minutes later, Trump recognized McKissick to another round of boos, which appeared to surprise Trump.

“We have a highly opinionated group of people,” he said, laughing. “I’ll tell you, they turned very positive on you very quickly, Lindsey,” he added.

TRUMP WINS SOUTH CAROLINA PRIMARY AGAINST HALEY IN HER HOME STATE, MOVES CLOSER TO CLINCHING GOP NOMINATION

McKissick was re-elected party chair last year, but has dealt with waves of infighting in recent years, while Graham still faces sharp criticism from within his party for what some see as him abandoning Trump in the final days of his term following the Jan. 6 protests at the U.S. Capitol, which turned violent.

Graham was one of the earliest elected officials to endorse Trump and has advocated the former president choosing his Senate counterpart, fellow South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, as his vice presidential running mate.

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New York Jets owner and billionaire businessman Woody Johnson stood in support behind former President Trump in South Carolina on Saturday night after Trump was quickly projected the winner of the state’s primary.

Johnson, who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom during the Trump administration, was on stage alongside his wife Suzanne behind Trump as the former president delivered a speech after his quick victory in the Palmetto State primary on Saturday.

Johnson, a member of the founding family of Johnson & Johnson, has previously expressed support for the former president during the 2024 campaign. 

“Americans remember how good it was or how much better it was on the border, and inflation, and gas prices, and grocery prices, all that, during the Trump administration, and they want to get back there,” Johnson told News’ Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo earlier this month. 

JETS’ OWNER WOODY JOHNSON TAKES SHOT AT ZACH WILSON, PUTS OFFENSE ON NOTICE: ‘WE’VE GOT TO PRODUCE THIS YEAR’

“So I think the most important thing is getting the former president back in the White House, which looks like it’s happening.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson’s representatives but did not immediately receive a response.

WATCH: TRUMP RALLYGOERS REVEAL WHOM THEY WANT AS VICE PRESIDENT

Trump’s rapidly-called victory on Saturday over former U.N. ambassador and former two-term South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in her home state moves the former president another step closer to clinching the 2024 GOP nomination. 

“It’s an early evening and a fantastic evening,” Trump told a crowd of supporters gathered at the South Carolina state fairgrounds in Columbia, the state capitol, just minutes after polls closed and he was declared the victor.

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“Celebrate for 15 minutes, but then we have to get back to work,” he added, referencing next week’s Michigan primary, and Super Tuesday the following week.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report

Former President Trump touted a “bigger win than we anticipated” in the South Carolina Republican Primary Saturday night, saying he looks forward to looking at President Biden in November and saying: “Joe, you’re fired.”

The primary was called for the former president and 2024 GOP frontrunner just moments after polls closed Saturday night, defeating former two-term South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in her home state, and bringing him another step closer to clinching the 2024 GOP nomination. 

TRUMP WINS SOUTH CAROLINA PRIMARY AGAINST HALEY IN HER HOME STATE, MOVES CLOSER TO CLINCHING GOP NOMINATION

“This is really something. This was a little sooner than we anticipated and an even bigger win than we anticipated,” Trump said. “And I was just informed that we got double the number of votes that has ever been received in the great state of South Carolina.” 

Trump then began highlighting the “horror” of the “millions and millions of people coming across the border illegally.”

“We don’t know where they come from, they come from jails and they come from prisons — they come from all sorts of places,” Trump said. “We’re not going to stand for it — you have terrorists coming in.”

Trump vowed to “straighten things out.”

“The border is the worst it’s ever been,” he said. “We’re going to fix it — fix it very quickly.” 

He added: “Our country is going to be respected again. Respected like never before.” 

Trump went on to predict he’ll win the general election in November. 

“We’re going to be up here on November 5th, and we’re going to look at Joe Biden and he’s destroying our country and we’re going to say, Joe, get out, Joe, you’re fired,” Trump said. “Joe, you’re destroying our country.” 

He added: “And we’re going to I just wish we could do it quicker. Nine months is a long time. I just wish we could do it quicker.

Trump said he has “never seen the Republican Party so unified as it is right now– it’s never been like that.”

HEAD HERE FOR LIVE FOX NEWS UPDATES ON THE SOUTH CAROLINA GOP PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY

Trump was on stage with his family— his wife, former First Lady Melania Trump; his sons Barron, Donald Jr., Eric; his daughters Ivanka and Tiffany; his sons-in-law Jared Kushner, and Michael Boulos; his daughter-in-law Lara Trump; and Donald Trump Jr.’s fiancée, Kimberly Guilfoyle.

Trump was also joined on stage by South Carolina GOP Senators Tim Scott, who has been rumored to be a potential pick for vice president, and Lindsey Graham. 

Trump described Scott, R-S.C., as “a dynamo” and a “wonderful, great advocate,” and a “very special man.”

Scott declared South Carolina “Trump Country,” with Graham saying Trump is “the most qualified man to be president, the United States.”

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster was also on stage with the former president. 

The former president also gave a shout-out to Michael Whatley, the North Carolina Republican Party chairman. Trump has endorsed Whatley to be the chair of the Republican National Committee. 

“We gave him our endorsement and he looks to me like he’s going to be going on to the National Republican Party as the boss,” Trump said, adding that he would be working with “Lara [Trump],” and said “we may be putting Kellyanne [Conway] in the group too.” 

TRUMP CAMPAIGN PREDICTS ‘A**-KICKING’ FOR HALEY IN HER HOME STATE, BUT SHE SAYS ‘I REFUSE TO QUIT’

“We like Kellyanne,” Trump said of his former senior counselor and 2020 campaign manager. 

Meanwhile, Trump, looking ahead, pointed to next week’s Michigan Primary, where he predicted a victory because “the auto workers are going to be with us 100% because they got sold out by this country.” 

“We have Super Tuesday, we have more coming,” he said. 

“We have a country that is a failing nation, but we’re not going to have a nation very long,” he said. “We’re not going to allow this to happen. We love our country. We love it dearly. We’re going to fight for our country. We’re in a fight for our rights. We’re not going to let this go on because it is not sustainable as a country.” 

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Trump added that Election Day, November 5, “is going to be the most important date, perhaps, in the history of our country.” 

Trump has three times as many delegates as Haley already, and he will win up to 50 more tonight, according to the Fox News Decision Desk. Haley could not convert her hometown advantage into a win. She told supporters this week that she was not dropping out of the race.

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Former President Donald Trump has won the South Carolina Republican presidential primary, Fox News Decision Desk projects.

Trump’s rapidly-called victory on Saturday over former U.N. ambassador and former two-term South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in her home state moves the former president another step closer to clinching the 2024 GOP nomination. 

The Fox News Decision Desk projected Trump’s primary just after polls closed at 7 p.m. ET in the Palmetto State.

“We’re going to have a gigantic victory here in South Carolina,” Trump predicted on the eve of the primary, as he spoke Friday to roughly 5,000 supporters at a large rally in Rock Hill, in the northern part of the state.

HEAD HERE FOR LIVE FOX NEWS UPDATES ON THE SOUTH CAROLINA GOP PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY

Trump has three times as many delegates as former Haley already, and he will win up to 50 more tonight, according to the Fox News Decision Desk. Haley could not convert her hometown advantage into a win. She told supporters this week that she was not dropping out of the race.

Looking ahead to his all-but-certain general election rematch with President Biden, Trump said “we’re going to show crooked Joe Biden and the radical left Democrats that we are coming like a freight train in November.”

Trump said that the end was near for Haley’s White House bid.

“She’s getting clobbered,” Trump emphasized at a recent rally in North Charleston, S.C., as he pointed to his last remaining major rival for the Republican nomination. “She’s finished.”

And on Tuesday, at a Fox News town hall in Greenville, S.C,. Trump emphasized that “you’re not supposed to lose your home state. It shouldn’t happen,” before added that “she’s losing it bigly.”

The Trump campaign earlier this week predicted an “ass-kicking in the making in South Carolina” for Haley, and that “the end is near” for her presidential run due to “a very serious math problem” she has in the race to lock up enough delegates to win the 2024 GOP nomination.

TRUMP CAMPAIGN PREDICTS ‘A**-KICKING’ FOR HALEY IN HER HOME STATE, BUT SHE SAYS ‘I REFUSE TO QUIT’

But Haley remained defiant, and addressed the calls for her to drop out in a major speech minutes after the release of the Trump campaign memo.

“Some of you — perhaps a few of you in the media — came here today to see if I’m dropping out of the race. Well, I’m not. Far from it,” said the former two-term South Carolina governor who later served as U.N. ambassador in the Trump administration.

“I refuse to quit. South Carolina will vote on Saturday. But on Sunday, I’ll still be running for president. I’m not going anywhere,” Haley emphasized.

She added that “I have no fear of Trump’s retribution.”

On the campaign trail in the closing days of the South Carolina primary, Haley told supporters that “I will take the bruises. I will take the cuts. This is going to be messy and I’ll take the hurt because I believe nothing good comes easy. Sometimes we have to feel pain to appreciate the blessing.”

Haley also turned up the volume this month in her verbal attacks on Trump, from his legal entanglements to his controversial comments on NATO, the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and Trump’s mocking her husband — who is overseas on a military tour of duty.

Trump grabbed a majority of the votes last month in Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary victories, and won by a landslide earlier this month in the Nevada and U.S. Virgin Island caucuses.

HALEY ACCUSES TRUMP OF SIDING WITH A DICTATOR AND TYRANT’

Trump only made a handful of stops in South Carolina this month, while Haley campaigned relentlessly. But the final public opinion surveys indicated the former president maintaining a large double-digit lead.

While South Carolina is home to Haley, the former president enjoyed the backing of the state’s governor, nearly the entire congressional delegation and scores of state lawmakers and local officials.

Veteran South Carolina-based Republican consultant Dave Wilson pointed to Trump’s “groundswell” in the state and highlighted the former president’s “ground forces.”

Wilson, who remains neutral in the primary, also noted that “Nikki Haley is reintroducing herself to South Carolina” because “almost a million people have moved into the state since she was governor.”

South Carolina holds open primaries, which means Republicans, independents, and even Democrats could vote in the GOP presidential nominating contest, as long as they didn’t cast a ballot in the Feb. 3 Democratic presidential primary.

TRUMP RUNNING MATE AUDITIONS ON THE SOUTH CAROLINA CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Independents helped fuel Haley’s 43% showing in New Hampshire, where she lost to Trump by 11 points. 

But while independent voters have long played a crucial and influential role in the first-in-the-nation primary, they are much less of a factor in South Carolina’s more conservative electorate, where evangelical voters enjoy prominence in GOP contests.

Regardless of the results in South Carolina, Haley in recent weeks repeatedly pledged to stay in the Republican presidential nomination race at least through March 5, when 15 states hold contests on Super Tuesday.

“We are focused on every state before us. Now it’s South Carolina on Saturday. Then it will be Michigan [which holds a primary on Tuesday, Feb. 27], then it will be Super Tuesday states and we’ll take it from there,” Haley told Fox News Digital in an interview on Wednesday in North Augusta, S.C. “Our goal is that we’re giving voices a chance to be heard.”

And on Friday, Haley’s campaign announced they were going up with a multi-million dollar national cable ad blitz ahead of Super Tuesday.

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Nearly 800 delegates are up for grabs on Super Tuesday, with over 150 at stake over the following two weeks. Among the states holding contests on Super Tuesday are delegate-rich California and Texas, and other big states like Florida, Illinois and Ohio will hold winner-take-all primaries on March 19. Polling in many of those states indicates Trump holding large leads over Haley.

The Trump campaign predicted in their memo that the former president would secure the nomination on March 19, even under a “most-generous model” for Haley.

“Let’s see if it happens,” Haley quickly responded when asked by Fox News what she would do if Trump clinches the nomination next month.

Fox News’ Kirill Clark and Deirdre Heavey contributed to this report

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

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Supporters of former President Donald Trump attending his final rally ahead of Saturday’s South Carolina Republican presidential primary shared who they’d like to see as his vice presidential running mate in the November general election.

Fox News Digital spoke with just a few of the nearly 6,000 supporters who showed up to Winthrop University’s campus in Rock Hill, South Carolina on Friday, waiting for hours in line to see and hear the former president bash President Biden, as well as his Republican rival Nikki Haley, a name not uttered once by those listing a number of others they said would make a good second-in-command.

“I like Kari Lake a lot. I think she’d be great,” one supporter told Fox, referencing the conservative firebrand and likely Republican nominee in the race to flip Arizona’s Senate seat. 

KRISTI NOEM OFFERS 5 REQUIREMENTS TO SERVE AS TRUMP’S VP

A number of others suggested Lake, as well as former presidential candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, both of whom are strong backers of Trump’s bid to retake the White House.

“I think Vivek … I like what he’s said,” one supporter told Fox, citing Ramaswamy’s “refusal” to bash Trump in the earlier days of the primaries, unlike the other candidates previously vying for the nomination. “He’s also a minority, so it’s not like it’s just another White person who supports him, so I think that’s a big thing.”

Some suggested Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, neurosurgeon and former Trump official Ben Carson and Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., but one name stood out more than all the others: South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.

NIKKI HALEY SAYS NO CHANCE OF BEING TRUMP VP, SAYS SHE ‘WOULD’VE GOTTEN OUT ALREADY’

“I like his Christian values, the way he stands for Trump, the way he loves Trump, and I believe he’s good support from Trump,” one supporter said of Scott, while another praised his record as a conservative senator.

Trump revealed at least a few names on his shortlist for a running mate while participating in a Fox News town hall earlier this week. The list included Scott, DeSantis, Noem, Ramaswamy, Donalds and former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat turned independent who became nationally known after her run for the presidency in 2020, as well as for her sharp criticism of Biden.

Haley, who many considered a potential choice for Trump’s vice president earlier in the campaign cycle, acknowledged to Fox this week there was zero chance she would be selected as his running mate, a view likely solidified by her refusal to leave the race despite being a heavy underdog with little chance of becoming the Republican nominee.

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“I wouldn’t be doing this if I was worried about a political future,” she said. “I would’ve gotten out already. I’m doing this trying to wake up our country.”

After providing the names on his shortlist, Trump also ruled out any suggestion Haley would end up his running mate.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

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

Nikki Haley’s team has given its strongest indication yet that the former ambassador plans to stay in the race for the Republican nomination through Super Tuesday by announcing a seven-figure ad-buy in various states. 

“We know that the math is challenging, but this has never just been about who can win a Republican primary,” Haley’s campaign manager Betsy Ankney said Friday on a call with reporters, according to NPR. “This battle is about who can win in November, defeat the Democrats and finally get our country back on track.”

Former President Donald Trump continues to lead as voters head to the polls in Haley’s home state of South Carolina, with Haley trying to prove her viability with a competitive finish. Polling ahead of the primary indicated Trump has commanding double-digit lead. 

Haley made clear in the days ahead of the primary that she planned to stay in no matter the outcome of Saturday’s primary, saying she would “refuse to quit” and that “on Sunday, I’ll still be running for president. I’m not going anywhere.”

NIKKI HALEY SAYS NO CHANCE OF BEING TRUMP VP, SAYS SHE ‘WOULD’VE GOTTEN OUT ALREADY’

In a separate interview this week with NPR, Haley once again raised her concerns about Trump as president, arguing that Trump brought “chaos” and “division.” She made clear that she has “even more concerns about Joe Biden being president.” 

Her fight has brought her significant financial backing, with her campaign managing to pull around 5,200 donors who had backed President Biden in the 2020 election, including over 1,600 donors who gave more than $500,000 to Biden, according to Politico.

HALEY COURTS INDEPENDENTS, DEMOCRATS AS SHE AIMS TO AVOID A BLOWOUT TO TRUMP ON HER HOME TURF

Haley’s campaign highlighted the “large dollar” donations of $200 or more from over 55,000 individuals in January alone as proof of her backing. She also siphoned more than 10,000 donors who had supported Trump in 2020. 

Haley’s refusal to back down has infuriated the Trump campaign: A memo from the campaign argued that Haley would face an “a—kicking in the making in South Carolina” and predicted “the end is near” for her campaign.

HALEY ACCUSES TRUMP OF SIDING WITH A ‘DICTATOR AND A TYRANT’ AS SHE BLASTS HIM OVER LACK OF PUTIN CRITICISM

Lara Trump, daughter-in-law to former President Trump, blasted Haley in an interview with Fox News Digital for staying in despite “obvious” proof that Haley has “no path.” 

“Why stay in the race? Why fight against the Republican nominee, the person who is leading the party?” Lara Trump said. She also suggested that Haley might bank on Trump’s legal struggles to hinder his ability to run. 

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“I will say that any person who is not standing up and fighting back in the face of that, calling it out for exactly what it is – election interference – should not be running for President of the United States,” Lara Trump said. 

Nikki Haley’s campaign team did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment by time of publication. 

Fox News Digital Remy Numa and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report. 

Former President Donald Trump claims that his wife Melania is expected to make more regular public appearances on the campaign trail.

Trump made the remarks during his interview at a Fox News townhall earlier this week with host Laura Ingraham. 

“It’s funny, she was a very successful model, very, very successful, and yet she was a private person. She’s going to be out a lot. Not because she likes doing it, but she likes the results,” he said Tuesday. “She wants to see this country really succeed. She loves the country.”

TRUMP SAYS IT’S ‘CRAZY’ HOW CHRISTIANS, PEOPLE OF FAITH CAN VOTE FOR DEMOCRATS

“You know, a lot of first ladies would go out — they want to be everywhere. They get angry at their husband because he’s not introducing them,” Trump continued. “If I didn’t introduce Melania, she’d be very happy about it. She’s just a different kind of a person.”

Melania has been largely absent from her husband’s 2024 presidential bid thus far, making few public appearances and staying out of the media.

TRUMP REVEALS VP SHORTLIST INCLUDES DESANTIS, SCOTT, RAMASWAMY, NOEM, DONALDS, GABBARD

Her absence, until recently, has been explained by the passing of her mother, Amalija Knavs, earlier this year. But as the campaign season becomes more intense, political commentators have questioned whether she will step back into efforts supporting Trump.

Trump also expressed appreciation that Melania has been dedicated to raising their son, Barron Trump.

“Her life revolves around that boy. It’s so important to her,” Trump said. “At the same time, it also revolves around our country and the success of our country. She’s raised a lot of money for charity. She’s a private person.”

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“And she loves the country,” Trump added. “She’s going to be out a lot, but she does it for the good of the country, not for her. She’s somebody with a lot of confidence. She doesn’t need that.”

Trump’s Fox News town hall came four days before South Carolina’s Republican presidential primary, which commences Saturday. 

The latest public opinion polls indicate that he maintains a very large double-digit lead over former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, his last major rival for the GOP nomination.

CHARLESTON, S.C. – FIRST ON FOX — Republican South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott slammed what he called a “two-tiered standard” concerning President Biden mulling executive action to handle the border crisis, and how former President Trump was treated during his presidency when he attempted to do the same thing.

“Well, there’s no question that there’s a two-tiered standard in our national media. The way they cover President Trump versus the way that they use kid gloves to cover Joe Biden. There’s no question about that,” Scott said during a Thursday interview with Fox News Digital when asked about reports that Biden is weighing executive action to crack down on asylum-seeking.

“More important, however, is that when we had President Trump in office, we actually had a basically sealed southern border. Crossings were around a thousand a day. Under President Biden in December, we had 10,000 crossings on average per day,” he added. “That contrast should be what the media is covering.”

TRUMP VP AUDITIONS: SCOTT RAMASWAMY HIT TRAIL IN SOUTH CAROLINA ON BEHALF OF FORMER PRESIDENT

An administration source told Fox earlier this week that Biden is considering executive action to restrict the ability of migrants to claim asylum amid historic numbers of border crossings facing the country, but that it’s one of “several” plans being looked at.

An administration official also stressed that there have been no final decisions on what actions, if any, could be taken and that exploring policy options does not mean they will come to pass.

One of the options reportedly on the table is use of 212(f) of the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows the president to restrict certain categories of foreigners who are deemed “detrimental to the interests of the United States.” Trump attempted to use it but was blocked by a federal court, a ruling later upheld by the Supreme Court.

HISPANIC HOUSE DEMS ACCUSE BIDEN OF LEAVING THEM IN DARK ON POSSIBLE EXECUTIVE ACTION AT BORDER

The former president also faced sharp criticism from Democrats and members of the liberal media for attempting to use executive action on immigration, including being called “xenophobic” and “racist.”

Biden has yet to face the same widespread level of criticism, although some of the more progressive Democrats have lashed out at the idea of Biden reverting to the previous administration’s approach.

“Democrats CANNOT solve immigration problems by adopting Trump-like policies,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., wrote in a post on X, while Rep. Jesús García, D-Ill., claimed, “President Biden would be making a grave mistake if he moves forward with this policy.”

DEMOCRAT IN CRUCIAL SENATE RACE UNDER FIRE FOR PAST AMNESTY, SANCTUARY CITY ‘SUPPORT’ AS BORDER CRISIS SPIRALS

The possible executive action by Biden comes just under two weeks after the House of Representatives narrowly voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the border crisis.

During a gaggle with reporters after casting his vote in the South Carolina primary earlier in the day, Scott told Fox that he “certainly” supported Mayorkas’ impeachment, and he praised the House for having the “courage” to take such action. However, he admitted the task likely wouldn’t go anywhere in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

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“The best way to eliminate Mayorkas being the secretary is to actually fire Joe Biden,” he said. “If we really want to change the trajectory of the country as it relates to immigration — illegal immigration — we have to do so by having someone, a commander-in-chief, who respects our borders, who wants to close our borders.”

Fox News’ Adam Shaw and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley says there is zero chance of her becoming the vice presidential nominee alongside former President Donald Trump.

Speaking with Fox News’s Bret Baier in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, during the final days of her campaigning in the state.

“We’re gonna see what happens tomorrow,” Haley told Baier. “But look, the problem when people say, ‘Why is she doing this? Why is she doing that?’ At first, they were like, ‘She’s doing this because she wants to be vice president.’ I think ’we’ve pretty much settled that. I’ve said it for months, it’s done.” 

TRUMP REVEALS VP SHORTLIST INCLUDES DESANTIS, SCOTT, RAMASWAMY, NOEM, DONALDS, GABBARD

“I wouldn’t be doing this if I was worried about a political future,” she added. “I would’ve gotten out already. I’m doing this trying to wake up our country.”

Trump previously acknowledged during a Fox News townhall that Ron DeSantis, Tim Scott, Vivek Ramaswamy, Kristi Noem, Bryon Donalds and Tulsi Gabbard are on his running mate shortlist. 

Trump has many times reiterated that he has ruled out Haley as his running mate, despite some Republicans who had hoped for a combined ticket.

TRUMP EXPECTED TO MOVE CLOSER TO CLINCHING GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION WITH LIKELY BIG WIN OVER HALEY IN SC

Asked on Friday if she would be willing to drop out of the Republican primary in order to team up with Democratic candidate Rep. Dean Phillips on a unity ticket, Haley said no.

“I’m running as a Republican. I’m running trying to wake people up that, if they nominate Donald Trump in this primary, we will lose a general election,” Haley said.

The Trump campaign predicted an “a**-kicking in the making in South Carolina” for Haley, and that “the end is near” for her presidential run due to “a very serious math problem” she has in the race to lock up enough delegates to win the 2024 GOP nomination.

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South Carolina is Haley’s home state, where she previously served as governor.

Haley has already lost the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary to Trump, but has said she has no plans to get out of the race. 

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