NationalWatch

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., railed against the House’s antisemitism legislation on Wednesday, blasting it as a “ridiculous hate speech bill” before the legislation was ultimately passed. 

The Antisemitism Awareness Act aims to crack down on antisemitism on college campuses and would expand the legal definition of antisemitism used to enforce anti-discrimination laws. The bill comes at a time when anti-Israel protests are raging at college campuses across the country.

It was passed overwhelmingly by a 320-91 vote in the House, but that’s not before critics like Gaetz came out against its passage, saying on social media that some excerpts of the Bible would meet this bill’s definition of antisemitism.

POLICE AT UCLA MOVE TO BREAK UP ANTI-ISRAEL ENCAMPMENT

“This evening, I will vote AGAINST the ridiculous hate speech bill called the ‘Antisemitism Awareness Act,'” Gaetz wrote on X.

“Antisemitism is wrong, but this legislation is written without regard for the Constitution, common sense, or even the common understanding of the meaning of words. The Gospel itself would meet the definition of antisemitism under the terms of this bill!” 

If passed by the Senate and signed by President Biden, the bipartisan Antisemitism Awareness Act would mandate that the Department of Education legally adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism when enforcing anti-discrimination rules.

Gaetz provided an example of one of IHRA’s definitions of antisemitism, which includes “claims of Jews killing Jesus,” claiming that the Bible would fall under the definition.

‘DEATH TO AMERICA’ RAPIDLY EMERGING AS KEY SLOGAN OF ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS IN US

“The Bible is clear. There is no myth or controversy on this. Therefore, I will not support this bill,” he wrote.

The IHRA defines antisemitism on its website as: “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

Later on Wednesday, Gaetz doubled down on his opposition to the bill.

“I want to Abolish the Department of Education. Not empower them as the “Antisemitism police,” Gaetz wrote. “Turning the DOE into the Antisemitism police would be a deeply unfortunate victory for Antisemitism, actually.”

Critics of the bill attacked it as government overreach and said it would negatively impact free speech on campus.

Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., a Jewish progressive who is the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, also opposed the legislation.

“This definition, adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance or IHRA, includes, quote, contemporary examples of antisemitism, close quote. The problem is that these examples may include protected speech in some context, particularly with respect to criticism of the state of Israel,” Nadler said during debate on the bill. 

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“To be clear, I vehemently disagree with the sentiments toward Israel expressing those examples. And, too often, criticism of Israel does in fact take the form of virulent antisemitism.”

The bill had over a dozen Democratic backers, including Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., who are Jewish, and Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., among others.

Seventy Democrats voted against the bill, while 133 voted against it. On the Republican side, just 21 voted against the bill, with 187 GOP lawmakers in support.

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., who led the bill, told Fox News Digital, “When people engage in harassment or bullying of Jewish individuals where they justify the killing of Jews or use blood libel or hold Jews collectively responsible for the actions of the Israeli government — that is antisemitic. It’s unfortunate that needs to be clarified, but that’s why this bill is necessary.”

Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report. 

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, led Republican senators in demanding President Biden stop any plans for potential U.S. acceptance of Palestinian refugees from Gaza. 

“We demand that your administration cease planning for accepting Gazan refugees until you adequately answer our concerns and focus your attention instead on securing the release of U.S. hostages held by Hamas,” Ernst wrote in a letter to Biden Wednesday evening. 

The letter was signed by 34 Republican senators, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Minority Whip John Thune of South Dakota, Republican conference Chairman John Barrasso of Wyoming and National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chairman Steve Daines of Montana. 

REPUBLICANS ACCUSE BIDEN OF PUTTING ‘MORE PRESSURE ON ISRAEL’ THAN HAMAS AMID COLLEGE RIOTS

The correspondence was prompted by a CBS News report that Biden’s administration is considering allowing some Palestinian refugees from Gaza into the U.S. as refugees. 

According to the report, officials in several agencies in the Biden administration have been discussing over the course of weeks a number of possible plans to resettle some Palestinians in Gaza who have family that are either citizens of the U.S. or are permanent residents in the country. 

The White House did not directly confirm the CBS report when prompted by Fox News Digital. 

“Since the beginning of the conflict, the United States has helped more than 1,800 American citizens and their families leave Gaza, many of whom have come to the United States. At President Biden’s direction, we have also helped, and will continue to help, some particularly vulnerable individuals, such as children with serious health problems and children who were receiving treatment for cancer, get out of harm’s way and receive care at nearby hospitals in the region,” a White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement.

“The United States also continues to be the largest contributor of humanitarian assistance to Gaza to address the dire conditions, and we are pressing hard to get more urgently-needed aid in to more people as soon as possible,” the spokesperson continued. “We have also been clear and consistent: the United States categorically rejects any actions leading to the forced relocation of Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank or the redrawing of the borders of Gaza. The best path forward is to achieve a sustainable cease-fire through a hostage deal that will stabilize the situation and pave the way to a two-state solution.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre did not address a reporter’s questions Wednesday regarding the number of Palestinians the administration plans to relocate and whether the U.S. would help to physically transport them from Gaza. 

BIDEN CAMPAIGN LEANS INTO PENNSYLVANIA ROOTS TO WOO CRITICAL BATTLEGROUND STATE VOTERS

Fox News confirmed with a State Department official that if visas were granted to Gaza refugees who have U.S. citizen relatives, it wouldn’t be through any “new program” or amount to a shift in policy. The official further confirmed such a move would be essentially an extension of existing policy toward Palestinians in the region.

The Republican senators detailed that they “are not confident” in the Biden administration’s ability to “adequately vet this high-risk population for terrorist ties and sympathies before admitting them into the United States.” 

SEN TIM SCOTT SLAMS ‘DISGUSTING’ COURT GAG ORDER RESTRICTING TRUMP’S ‘FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS’

This comes as anti-Israel protests have taken place at 47 of the nation’s top 50 universities, as ranked in 2024 by U.S. News and World Report, in the last two weeks. At the same time, several protests have featured antisemitic intimidation and vandalism, some evolving into riots. 

In New York, approximately 300 people were arrested between April 30 and May 1 at Columbia University, where a building was taken over by demonstrators, and City College. 

The lawmakers pointed to the “little access” that the U.S. and allies have to Gazans in the region, “making it nearly impossible to conduct thorough vetting before admitting them into our country.”

The importance of a thorough vetting process is heightened, according to the senators, “given the fact that the Gazans were the ones who voted Hamas into power in 2006.”

SEN. VANCE QUESTIONS DOJ ON COMPANIES FAVORING MIGRANT WORKERS OVER AMERICANS

Ernst and her GOP colleagues added that the matter of admitting terrorists into the country isn’t a “hypothetical matter,” noting that in fiscal year 2023 alone, 169 individuals on the FBI’s terror watch lists were encountered at the U.S. southern border between ports of entry.

“Our first obligation should be to rescue our own citizens, not Gazans,” the senators said, reiterating their request that Biden focus on American hostages. 

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They further prompted Biden to answer how many refugees he hopes to accept and how his administration would “implement a screening mechanism” to guarantee that “those with terrorist links or sympathies are not accepted as refugees into the United States.”

The State Department did not provide immediate comment to Fox News Digital regarding the report or the GOP senators’ demand. 

Fox News’ Gillian Turner contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., led a bipartisan group in introducing a bill to fortify Taiwan and its supply chain as it continues to face military threats from China, which has made no secret of its plan to facilitate a reunification with the island.

On Thursday, the bipartisan Transpacific Allies Investing in Weapons to Advance National (TAIWAN) Security Act was introduced by Rosen and Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska. They were joined by Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Rick Scott, R-Fla., Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa.

“As China ramps up its military buildup and aggression towards Taiwan, we must not only ensure our strength, but also bolster the strength of our democratic ally, Taiwan,” Rosen told Fox News Digital in a statement. “I’m proud to lead a bipartisan, bicameral bill to deepen the United States’ defense ties with Taiwan, enhance supply chain resilience, and help increase Taiwan’s military readiness.”

REPUBLICANS ACCUSE BIDEN OF PUTTING ‘MORE PRESSURE ON ISRAEL’ THAN HAMAS AMID COLLEGE RIOTS

The goal of the measure is to strengthen ties between the U.S. and Taiwan while also preemptively addressing any supply chain and readiness challenges it may face. Specifically, Rosen and Sullivan’s bill would require Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to “appropriately consider” enhanced defense industrial base cooperation between the U.S. and Taiwan.

The bill is also bicameral, with a House version introduced by Reps. Michelle Steel, R-Calif., and Steven Horsford, D-Nev.

“It is no secret that Communist China’s evil dictator, [President] Xi Jinping, is planning to invade Taiwan and continue his attacks against democracy in a quest for world domination,” Scott said in his own statement on the bill. 

SEN TIM SCOTT SLAMS ‘DISGUSTING’ COURT GAG ORDER RESTRICTING TRUMP’S ‘FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS’

He emphasized that the U.S. “cannot sit back and let this happen, and that starts with supporting our peaceful and democratic ally Taiwan and its military.”

After months of disagreement between Democrats and Republicans within the upper and lower chambers, a $95 billion foreign aid supplemental package was passed and signed into law by President Biden to support Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan.

The package included $8 billion to strengthen Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific against Chinese threats.

SEN VANCE QUESTIONS DOJ ON COMPANIES FAVORING MIGRANT WORKERS OVER AMERICANS

China spoke out against the foreign aid passage, promising to take “resolute and forceful steps” to defend itself. 

According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian on Monday, “This package gravely infringes upon China’s sovereignty.”

Jian accused the U.S. of violating the “One China” principle by providing military aid to Taiwan, which it contends is part of its territory.

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He further suggested the package emboldens “Taiwan independence separatist forces” on the island.

An admiral in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command recently testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee, telling members that China is preparing with “aggressive military buildup” to be “ready to invade Taiwan by 2027.”

The judge presiding over former President Trump’s unprecedented criminal trial will hold a hearing Thursday morning to consider the remaining alleged gag order violations after fining the 2024 presumptive Republican nominee $9,000 and threatening him with jail time.

Trump’s criminal trial is set to resume at 9:30 a.m. Thursday. Court does not meet on Wednesdays. 

JUDGE FINES TRUMP THOUSANDS OVER VIOLATING GAG ORDER, WARNS ‘INCARCERATORY PUNISHMENT’ COULD BE NEXT

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and prosecutors from his office alleged the former president violated the gag order that Judge Juan Merchan imposed upon him 14 times. 

The gag order bans Trump from speaking publicly about witnesses, court staff and their families. 

Merchan on Tuesday found that Trump violated the order on nine separate occasions, with each violation resulting in a $1,000 fine.

The judge detailed in the order that if Trump carries out “continued willful violations” of the gag order, he could face “incarceratory punishment” if “necessary and appropriate.”

During a hearing on the gag order last week, Merchan said the Trump legal team was “losing all credibility” while defending the 45th president’s comments on social media that violated the order.

“I’ve asked you eight or nine times, ‘Show me the exact post that he was responding to,’ and you haven’t been able to do that once,” Merchan told the Trump team last week.

NY V TRUMP CRIMINAL TRIAL BEGINS ITS 3RD WEEK AS FORMER PRESIDENT ACCUSED OF GAG ORDER VIOLATIONS

The defense team argued in the hearing that Trump was responding to attacks made against him when he posted comments that allegedly violated the order. 

Trump, in response to the ruling, said on social media that Merchan has “taken away my Constitutional Right to FREE SPEECH.”

“I am the only Presidential Candidate in History to be GAGGED,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

“This whole ‘Trial’ is RIGGED, and by taking away my FREEDOM OF SPEECH, THIS HIGHLY CONFLICTED JUDGE IS RIGGING THE PRESIDENTIAL OF 2024 ELECTION. ELECTION INTERFERENCE!!!” he continued.

Trump on Tuesday morning again called on “conflicted” Merchan to recuse himself from the case.

“This is a hoax. This is a judge who is conflicted – badly, badly, badly conflicted. I’ve never seen a judge so conflicted and giving us virtually no rulings,” Trump said outside the courtroom before the trial kicked off its ninth day.

NY PROSECUTORS REVEAL ‘ANOTHER CRIME’ TRUMP ALLEGEDLY TRIED TO CONCEAL WITH FALSIFIED BUSINESS RECORDS

In Merchan’s ruling with regard to the gag order on Tuesday, the judge lamented not being able to fine Trump more than $1,000 per violation. He wrote in the order that it would be “preferable” if the court “could impose a fine more commensurate with the wealth of the contemnor.”

“In some cases that might be a $2,500 fine, in other cases it might be a fine of $150,000. Because this Court is not cloaked with such discretion, it must therefore consider whether in some instances, jail may be a necessary punishment,” he wrote, highlighting again that Trump could face time behind bars if he continues violating the order.

Meanwhile, at 10 a.m., Merchan will invite the jury into the courtroom to resume witness testimony.

So far, prosecutors have called former American Media Inc. CEO David Pecker, former assistant and senior VP of the Trump Organization Rhona Graff, former senior managing director at First Republic Bank Gary Farro, and former lawyer for Stormy Daniels Dylan Howard to the stand to testify.

Trump has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree related to alleged payments made to silence adult film actress Stormy Daniels about an alleged extramarital affair with Trump before the 2016 election. 

TRUMP TRIAL: FORMER PRESIDENT ‘INNOCENT,’ DEFENSE SAYS AS DA ALLEGES ‘CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY’

Bragg must convince the jury that not only did Trump falsify the business records related to hush money payments but also that he did so in furtherance of another crime: conspiracy to promote or prevent election.

Prosecutors will try to prove that the alleged conspiracy was to conceal a plot to unlawfully promote his candidacy in 2016. 

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Typically, on their own, falsifying business records and conspiracy to promote or prevent election are viewed as misdemeanors.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to all counts.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner and House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik are demanding the Justice Department investigate former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, alleging he committed perjury and “knowingly” made false statements while testifying before Congress in 2019.

Turner, R-Ohio, and Stefanik, R-N.Y., first called for an investigation into Cohen in November, after the former Trump attorney admitted in his time on the stand during the trial stemming from New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil fraud lawsuit against the former president that the testimony he gave before the committee in 2019 was “knowingly and intentionally false.” 

NY V. TRUMP: HOUSE JUDICIARY INVESTIGATES BRAGG PROSECUTOR WHO HELD SENIOR ROLE IN BIDEN DOJ

But Turner and Stefanik said they never received a response from the DOJ. 

“To date, we received no response from the Biden Justice Department regarding this criminal referral,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland Wednesday. “This is unacceptable.” 

Turner and Stefanik said the Biden DOJ “eagerly prosecuted two different former Trump senior presidential advisers – Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro – for contesting the lawfulness of a subpoena.” 

“In fact, the Biden Justice Department brought the first contempt-of-Congress prosecutions seen in nearly 40 years,” they said, adding that perjury and false statements before Congress “are crimes that undermine the integrity of the constitutional duty to conduct oversight and inquiries – far more so than contesting the lawfulness of a subpoena.” 

“Yet, despite an admission from Mr. Cohen that he lied under oath to Congress, the Biden Justice Department did nothing,” they wrote. “The double standard is glaring.” 

Turner and Stefanik accused Garland of having “politicized and weaponized the Biden Justice Department to help your boss and hurt his political enemy.” 

“You are trying to protect the reputation of an admitted perjurer, one who just so happens to be set to testify against former President Trump in New York,” they wrote. 

Meanwhile, Turner and Stefanik said what makes “the optics worse” is that a former senior Biden DOJ official, Matthew Colangelo, is a top prosecutor on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s team. Colangelo delivered the opening argument in Trump’s unprecedented and historic criminal trial. 

Turner and Stefanik said Cohen is being used as the prosecution’s “star witness,” despite the fact that he has been convicted of making false statements, and seemingly admitted perjury. 

“Colangelo, of course, is the senior political appointee who served as President Biden’s and your Acting Associate Attorney General, the third most powerful position in the Biden Justice Department, who deployed to Bragg’s office to bring the first indictment ever against a former president – who happens to be your boss’ political opponent,” they wrote. “Mr. Cohen clearly admitted to committing perjury before this Committee.” 

They added: “We urge you to stop politicizing and weaponizing the Biden Justice Department – and open a criminal investigation into whether Mr. Cohen committed perjury and knowingly made false statements to the Committee during his testimony in February 2019.” 

MICHAEL COHEN TIKTOK VIDEOS, FUNDRAISING STUN LEGAL OBSERVERS: MAY HAVE ‘TORPEDOED CASE AGAINST TRUMP’

A Justice Department spokesperson confirmed receipt of the letter from Turner and Stefanik, but declined to comment further. 

While on the stand during Trump’s non-jury civil trial stemming from James’ lawsuit in October, Cohen was presented with the transcript of his February 2019 testimony.

When asked if he was being “honest” in front of the House Intelligence Committee in February 2019, Cohen testified: “No.”

“So you lied under oath in February of 2019? Is that your testimony?” Trump attorney Alina Habba asked him.

“Yes,” Cohen replied.

When asked for comment in November after Turner and Stefanik initially referred him to the DOJ, Cohen told Fox News Digital that they “continue to do Donald’s bidding in witness tampering and obstructing justice.” 

“The two members fail to understand the distinction between explicit and implied; which is how the question was asked and accurately responded to,” Cohen. “The topic was further clarified several questions thereafter; which is conveniently and intentionally being ignored. I am not concerned at all with their baseless request.” 

Cohen added: “This is the type of harassment everyone, especially critics, should expect if Donald becomes president again!”

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Cohen, in 2018, pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, making false statements to Congress and tax evasion. He was sentenced to three years in prison.

Meanwhile, as for Colangelo, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, called for an investigation into his role at the Justice Department during the Biden administration. 

Former President Trump railed against the anti-Israel chaos on Columbia University’s campus, calling the school’s president “weak” for not squelching the unrest when it first arose. 

“New York was under siege last night,” Trump said Wednesday during a rally in Waukesha, Wisconsin. 

“She waited so long. She was so weak. She was so afraid. She was so bad,” Trump continued, referring to Columbia President Minouche Shafik. “They could have done this with the tents and it would have gone quickly and no problem.” 

Anti-Israel protesters unified on Columbia’s campus nearly two weeks ago, and have since protested outside the school’s gates, established a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on the Academic Lawn, and even took over a school building, Hamilton Hall, this week. The New York City Police Department, wearing mostly riot gear, conducted a raid inside Hamilton Hall late Tuesday night, clearing the building in about two hours. 

COLUMBIA COPIED BIDEN’S PLAYBOOK OF ‘DON’T’ WHEN ADDRESSING ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS — THEN IT TRIED TRUMP’S

“They did an incredible job. They [overtook] one of the big buildings, beautiful landmark building. Boy, it got the hell beat out of it last night. You know you’re supposed to take care of those buildings. It took a beating. But the police came in. In exactly two hours, everything was over. It was a beautiful thing to watch,” Trump continued. 

BIDEN ONCE RIPPED ‘ANTISEMITIC BILE’ BUT NOW FACES OWN ‘CHARLOTTESVILLE MOMENT’

The protest on Columbia’s campus is just one of dozens playing out across colleges nationwide, with some of the nation’s most elite universities coping with mass protests and encampments demanding schools divest from Israel. Schools such as UCLA, Yale, Harvard, Fordham and UT Austin are just a few of the schools embroiled in the protests. 

“We say justice, you say how. Burn Tel Aviv to the ground,” protesters have chanted on Columbia University’s campus in recent days. “Hamas, we love you. We support your rockets, too,” other chants have included. 

Columbia’s president is facing calls to resign over her handling of the unrest, including New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik urging school trustees to remove Shafik after the school lost control of Hamilton Hall to the radicals on campus. 

COLUMBIA STUDENT MOCKED FOR VIRAL VIDEO TELLING REPORTERS THAT OCCUPIERS MIGHT DIE WITHOUT FOOD DELIVERY

Trump has repeatedly condemned the protests amid his trial in Manhattan, where he is facing 34 felony charges of falsifying business records. Trump has pleaded not guilty to each of the charges, and has largely been kept away from the campaign trail to attend the trial. 

NYPD CRUSHES ANTI-AMERICAN MOB ON NYC CAMPUSES AS MAYOR BLASTS ‘DESPICABLE’ SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT

“What’s going on at the college level… Columbia, NYU and others is a disgrace. And it’s really on Biden,” Trump said last week outside the courtroom.

“He’s got the wrong words. He doesn’t know who he’s backing. And it’s a mess. And if this were me, they’d be after me, they’d be after me so much, but they’re trying to get him a pass. And what’s going on is a disgrace to our country. And it’s all Biden’s fault, and everybody knows it. He’s got no message, he’s got no compassion and doesn’t know what he’s doing,” Trump continued, adding Biden is the “worst president in the history of our country.”

The NYPD arrested an estimated 300 people at Columbia and City College overnight. Following the arrests, an encampment was established on Fordham University’s campus in the Bronx, with the school informing student protesters Wednesday afternoon that they are suspended and banned from campus. 

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Trump is on the campaign trail in Wisconsin and Michigan on Wednesday before he heads back to Manhattan to resume trial proceedings Thursday morning.  

President Biden’s re-election campaign has kept a keen focus on Pennsylvania going into the November general election, as the state promises to be one of the deciding battlegrounds in the match up. 

To bolster their efforts, Biden’s team has worked to highlight his connections to the Keystone State, a move which some suggest could tip the scales in this crucial East Coast swing state. 

“He’s been actively engaged, certainly in southeastern Pennsylvania stuff, forever,” said Daniel Fee, a prominent political strategist in Democratic circles in the Keystone State and founder of The Echo Group, a Philadelphia-based Democratic political consulting firm. He also pointed to Biden’s place of birth in Scranton. 

“He taught at [the University of Pennsylvania] after he was done being vice president. He married a woman from Pennsylvania [who] wears her Pennsylvania pride proudly,” said Fee.

SENATE GRIDLOCK COULD WORSEN WITH ROMNEY, SINEMA, MANCHIN RETIREMENTS: EXPERTS

Jack Doyle, Pennsylvania spokesperson for Biden’s campaign, told Fox News Digital in a statement, “This election is about Scranton vs. Mar-a-Lago,” demonstrating the campaign’s effort to draw a contrast between Biden’s more rural roots and former President Donald Trump’s lavish estate in southern Florida. 

“While Joe Biden is fighting so every Pennsylvanian has a fair shot to get ahead, Donald Trump is fighting his own trials, tribulations and personal grievances,” he said. “In 2020, Pennsylvanians rejected Trump’s extremism and delivered the presidency for Joe Biden, and that’s exactly what will happen again this November.”

According to Ray Zaborney, a Pennsylvania Republican strategist, “Biden is trying to remind voters that he’s from Pennsylvania, obviously.”

GOP SENATORS AIR ‘DEEP CONCERNS’ OVER NPR BIAS, URGE CEO TO ‘START A COURSE CORRECTION’

The president’s strategy is to portray himself as a “blue collar guy from a blue collar town,” he added. 

Berwood Yost, director of Floyd Institute’s Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College, noted that candidates are going to use everything they can to their advantage in 2024, given the competitive nature of the state. And “ensuring that the state’s residents know and understand his connections to the state certainly can’t hurt Mr. Biden,” he said. 

He added that the president “seems to genuinely believe that Pennsylvania in general and Scranton specifically are important pieces for understanding his life’s story, so it makes sense to tell that story to the state’s residents.”

As for the effectiveness of Biden’s attempt, Zaborney said, “Politically, though, it doesn’t seem to help much.”

He noted that in Lackawanna County, where Scranton is located, both then-gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro and then-Senate candidate John Fetterman outperformed Biden. 

“He actually underperformed two of the three row officers (treasurer and attorney general) running on the same ticket as he did in 2020,” Zaborney said. 

And Biden only did “marginally” better than Hillary Clinton in the county, he added.

Mark Harris, another GOP strategist in Pennsylvania, remarked that Biden’s connection to the state is “overblown.” 

TIM SCOTT SAYS BIDEN ‘WILLING TO TANK’ ECONOMY BY GETTING RID OF TRUMP TAX CUTS

“I’ve never seen in any of our data any evidence that there’s any sense of Biden being the hometown boy in Pennsylvania,” he said. 

Harris claimed issues like taxes and immigration far outweigh any influence Biden’s Pennsylvania roots may have. 

“I know they lean on it a lot, but it certainly isn’t something that I think is an effective gambit for them or approach,” he said. 

Yost said that Biden’s strategy “probably helped him in 2020, but his standing among the state’s voters has slid since the last election.”

He suggested it could potentially help Biden strengthen his standing with those lapsed supporters. 

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said, “With just 35% job approval, Joe Biden is floundering in his home state of Pennsylvania. Between higher gas prices, surging crime, and failed Democrat policies crushing families at every corner, it’s no wonder that Pennsylvanians across the commonwealth are increasingly rejecting the failed Biden agenda and supporting President Trump.”

DEM SENATE CANDIDATE ELISSA SLOTKIN’S ‘SMALL CONSULTING BUSINESS’ MAY HAVE NEVER BEEN ACTIVE

Earlier this month, a Fox News Poll showed Biden and Trump in a dead heat in Pennsylvania, 48% to 48%. The vote share between the two in 2020 was 49.85% to 48.69%, Biden to Trump. 

When including several third-party candidates, Trump defeats Biden by a small margin, 44% to 42%. 

There is no doubt that Pennsylvania will be close, Pennsylvania Democratic strategist Mike Mikus emphasized. 

At the same time, Biden’s focus on the Keystone State “definitely helps,” he said.

It “reminds people” why they voted for the president in 2020, Mikus said. 

Fee asserted that Biden’s Pennsylvania affinity was so evident during his career that “he was widely described as Pennsylvania’s third senator.”

But Harris pushed back at this, explaining, “He wasn’t the senator from Pennsylvania.”

“It’s been so long since he’s had any real ties here,” he said. 

Harris likened the roots Biden has highlighted in the state to “a one-liner in his biography,” which isn’t going to resonate with Keystone State voters come November. 

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The Pennsylvania Democratic operatives also pointed to the significance of the state’s proximity to Delaware, which Biden had long-represented in the Senate. According to Democratic Pennsylvania strategist J.J. Balaban, “he was a senator in the Philadelphia media market — the largest media market in Pennsylvania — for decades.”

This has laid the groundwork for a “cultural affinity that goes beyond where he lived as a boy,” he said. 

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

What’s happening? 

-Biden attacks ‘extreme’ Florida abortion ban

-Two House Republicans move to oust Speaker Johnson

-NYC Mayor Adams warns of movement to radicalize young people 

‘Won’t be intimidated by terrorist supporters’

FIRST ON FOX: Anti-Israel radicals have protested outside of Republican Sen. Ted Cruz’s Texas home more than a dozen times in recent weeks, with the agitators reportedly tied to the Students for Justice in Palestine group occupying college campuses nationwide, Fox News Digital exclusively learned. 

Cruz’s home in Houston has been the target of 14 protests since February, including a protest on Friday when one suspect was arrested. Cruz’s office said that the senator remains resolute in his support of Israel, while brushing off the protesters’ tactics of “harassment or intimidation.” 

“Senator Cruz will continue to stand with Israel and support Israel’s right to defend itself and utterly eradicate Hamas. No amount of harassment or intimidation by terrorist supporters will change that,” a spokesman for the senator said.  

Last week, Cruz wrote online that “Pro-Hamas protestors have been screaming and cursing for 2 hours. Banging cowbells & blowing whistles.”

White House

FLORIDA BANS: Biden laments ‘extreme’ Florida abortion ban, blames Trump …Read more

Capitol Hill

ROGUE TWO: 2 House Republicans move to oust Speaker Johnson 6 months after he took gavel …Read more

‘ELECTION INTERFERENCE’: GOP senator fights back against illegal immigrants voting in DC elections …Read more

UN HYPOCRISY: Fetterman blasts UN rights chief over ‘concern’ for anti-Israel agitators …Read more

‘FREE SPEECH’: Tim Scott criticizes Trump gag order fines as First Amendment breach …Read more

A PRICE FOR RIOTING: GOP rep looks to strip financial aid from students convicted in anti-Israel protests …Read more

Tales from the Campaign Trail

MILLION-DOLLAR QUESTION: Trump asks if college riots are intentional to distract from ‘millions’ of migrants ‘pouring into our country’ …Read more

‘STOP IMMEDIATELY’: Trump says ‘weak and ineffective leadership’ at universities must be ‘replaced’ amid violent anti-Israel chaos …Read more

Across America

SWING AND A MISS: Columbia copied Biden’s playbook of ‘don’t’ when addressing anti-Israel agitators — then it tried Trump’s …Read more

‘GLOBAL PROBLEM’: NYC Mayor Adams warns of movement to ‘radicalize young people’ after NYPD arrests hundreds at Columbia, CUNY campuses …Read more

MIGRANT ENCAMPMENT: Hundreds of asylum seekers take up residence at Seattle park after funding for hotel stay runs out …Read more

GOT ‘EM: Agents nab three illegal immigrants with vile criminal history …Read more

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BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Democrat turned independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is firing back against repeated claims that he’s a spoiler in the 2024 election rematch between President Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Kennedy on Wednesday once again argued that he, rather than Biden, is the only candidate who can defeat Trump in November — and showcased a new internal poll conducted by his campaign to make his point — as he announced an unusual “no-spoiler pledge.”

“This is a no-spoiler pledge that we’re announcing today. This is a pledge that I offer to take if President Biden also takes it,” Kennedy said at a news conference where the candidate took no questions from reporters.

Kennedy said his pledge calls for him and Biden to “agree to co-fund in October a 50-state poll with 30,000 or more likely voters. This is essentially, effectively, a zero margin of error, in October of 2024. The survey will test the results of a head-to-head race pitting President Biden versus President Trump and a second head-to-head race pitting me against President Trump.”

KENNEDY MAKES THE BALLOT IN THIS KEY GENERAL ELECTION BATTLEGROUND STATE

Kennedy emphasized that “whoever performs weakest against President Trump in a two-man contest will drop out of the presidential race. This is a spoiler pledge.”

The longtime environmental activist and high-profile vaccine skeptic, who is the scion of the nation’s most storied political dynasty, said he’s “happy to make the same pledge” with Trump. But he added that “Trump is not a spoiler because he can actually win.”

The Biden campaign did not respond to Kennedy’s proposal.

But Democratic National Committee (DNC) spokesperson Matt Corridoni, in a statement to Fox News, charged that Kennedy “is a spoiler – recruited by the MAGA GOP and propped by Trump’s largest donor. His VEEP-like performance today does nothing to dispel that notion – it only reinforces how deeply unserious his campaign is.”

Corridoni is one of a handful of veteran communicators the DNC brought onboard earlier this year to target Kennedy and other third-party and independent candidates.

KENNEDY REVEALS WHAT HE CLAIMS IS HIS PATH TO THE PRESIDENCY

In making his announcement, Kennedy and his campaign manager — daughter-in-law Amaryllis Fox Kennedy — spotlighted a campaign-issued internal poll of over 26,000 respondents from all 50 states that they used to make their point that Kennedy, rather than Biden, has the better shot of defeating Trump in a two-candidate showdown in November.

“The people who think I’m spoiling it for Biden need to look at data,” Kennedy argued.

Kennedy launched his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in April of last year, but in October the 70-year-old candidate switched to an independent run for the White House. 

The Biden campaign and the DNC have repeatedly slammed Kennedy as a potential spoiler whose supporters could hand Trump a presidential election victory in November.

“We are doing everything in our power to get President Biden and Vice President Harris re-elected. It’s critical that we take seriously every possible obstacle to that goal,” Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis emphasized in a recent conference call with reporters. “And let me be clear, that’s exactly what Robert F. Kennedy is in this election. He’s a spoiler.” 

Plenty of pundits and pollsters are making the case that Kennedy also could pose a similar problem for Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

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And as Kennedy has increased his appearances on conservative media the past couple of months, the former president and his campaign have increasingly characterized Kennedy, whose populism on some issues seems similar to Trump’s, as a far-left politician.

Trump this past weekend repeatedly went on his Truth Social site to blast Kennedy, charging he was a “Democrat ‘Plant’” and “far more LIBERAL than anyone running as a Democrat.” The former president argued that “A Vote for Junior’ would essentially be a WASTED PROTEST VOTE.”

Kennedy fired back, saying in a social media post, “When frightened men take to social media they risk descending into vitriol, which makes them sound unhinged,”  

And, he claimed, “President Trump’s rant against me is a barely coherent barrage of wild and inaccurate claims that should best be resolved in the American tradition of presidential debate.”

Kennedy’s goal is to get on the ballot in all 50 states, which is a costly and time-consuming venture for independent candidates.

Kennedy’s campaign announced earlier this week he would be on the ballot in California, which has 54 electoral votes, the most of any state. Kennedy secured the nomination of the American Independent Party, a minor third party.

Kennedy’s also on the ballot as an independent in Utah and in Hawaii through a newly formed political party. Two weeks ago, Kennedy also made the ballot in Michigan, a crucial general election battleground state, courtesy of another third party.

And his campaign said Kennedy has collected enough signatures to meet ballot access thresholds in the battlegrounds of North Carolina and Nevada, the swing state of New Hampshire, as well as Nebraska and Iowa.

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

The White House has a new curator and Donna Hayashi Smith is the first Asian American to hold the post.

The White House announced her appointment Wednesday, the start of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

WHITE HOUSE DENIES SECRET PLOT TO OUST KARINE JEAN-PIERRE AS BIDEN FACES MORE BAD NEWS

Originally from Wahiawa, Hawaii, Hayashi Smith joined the White House curator’s office in 1995 and has now served under five presidents. She had been serving in an acting capacity since last year after the retirement of her predecessor, Lydia Tederick.

As curator, Hayashi Smith will oversee the care of thousands of artifacts in the White House collection, cataloguing and preserving everything from presidential portraits to furniture and more.

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Hayashi Smith led the curator’s office through a process in 2022 to ensure that the White House continues to be recognized nationally as an accredited museum.

First lady Jill Biden cited Hayashi Smith’s service under five presidential administrations and said she looked forward to working with her to preserve the White House’s “living history.”

Georgia’s governor gave the final approval on Wednesday for a bill requiring jailers across the state to check the immigration status of inmates and work with federal immigration officials instead of sheltering people who are in the U.S. illegally.

Gov. Brian Kemp signed the bill into law at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth, making most of the provisions effective immediately.

Kemp also signed a separate law requiring cash bail for an additional 30 crimes, while also restricting people and charitable bail funds from posting cash bonds for more than three people per year unless they meet requirements to become a bail company, according to The Associated Press. The bail law goes into effect on July 1.

The Republican governor said the immigration bill, “became one of our top priorities following the senseless death of Laken Riley at the hands of someone in this country illegally who had already been arrested even after crossing the border.”

GEORGIA IMMIGRATION BILL THAT WOULD COMPEL LAW ENFORCEMENT TO WORK WITH FEDERAL OFFICIALS GOES TO GOV. KEMP

Jose Ibarra was arrested in February on murder and assault charges in the death of 22-year-old Laken Riley, a nursing student at the University of Georgia.

Ibarra, 26, unlawfully crossed into the United States in 2022, immigration officials said. It is not clear whether the suspect applied for asylum or not.

“If you enter our country illegally and proceed to commit further crimes in our communities, we will not allow your crimes to go unanswered,” Kemp said.

GEORGIA AG FILES SUIT AGAINST BIDEN ADMINISTRATION FOR TITLE IX REVISION: ‘DESTROYING WOMEN’S SPORTS’

As the bill moved through the state legislature, Democrats expressed concerns it would turn law enforcement officials into immigration police, resulting in communities becoming less willing to work with police and report crime.

Opponents also pointed to studies suggesting immigrants are less likely than native-born Americans to commit crimes.

Under the law, local governments will be denied state funding if they fail to cooperate.

ANTI-TRUMP DA BAILED ON DEBATE TO ‘SCHMOOZE’ WITH CELEBS, IS CHALLENGED TO A REMATCH

Jails are also required to apply for an agreement with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to allow local jailers to help enforce immigration law. Even though local jailers can assist with enforcement, they are unable to make immigration-specific arrests outside of jails.

As for the changes to cash bail, the Republican-backed bill requires criminals to be held on bail to keep them locked up.

The bill also takes away from efforts championed by former Republican Gov. Nathan Deal in 2018, allowing judges to release most people accused of misdemeanors without bail.

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Supporters said judges would still have the discretion to set exceptionally low bails. A separate part of the 2018 reform requiring judges to consider someone’s ability to pay would still remain law.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Republicans are hammering independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over a resurfaced video where he says individuals in red states are more likely to commit heinous crimes and “murder you.”

In a resurfaced video, posted by former President Donald Trump’s MAGA War Room X account Wednesday, RFK Jr. is seen making the disparaging comments about Republicans at a 2005 IdeaCity speech.

“Red state people are more likely to murder you, to impregnate your teenage daughter, to commit a violent crime against you, to commit a nonviolent crime against you, to watch Desperate Housewives on TV, to buy pornography, to buy degenerate video games like ‘Grand Theft Auto,’” RFK Jr. told a crowd.

Social media users, including several Republican members of congress, immediately hit back at what they called “divisive attacks.”

RFK, JR REVEALS PATH TO PRESIDENCY AS BIDEN, TRUMP CAMPAIGNS TARGET RACE ‘SPOILER’

“I’m proud to be from the most conservative state in America and represent the best of our country. RFK Jr.’s divisive attacks are disqualifying,” Sen. John Barasso, R-Wyo., wrote in a post in X.

“I’m proud to represent one of the reddest districts in Texas. RFK Jr.’s attacks on red state America are not backed up by facts or reality. He is unhinged and further left than Bernie Sanders! Texans won’t forget!” Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, said.

“The Hoosier state is as red as they come,” Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., who is running for the Senate, posted on X. “Far-left RFK Jr’s baseless, unhinged attacks on the values of Red State America will be remembered in November.”

“RFK is no friend to conservative red states like West Virginia!” Riley Moore, a GOP congressional candidate in West Virginia, said. “Stop pretending this guy is a moderate.”

RFK JR. CHALLENGES TRUMP TO DEBATE AFTER ‘DEMOCRAT PLANT’ ACCUSATION

During his remarks, RFK Jr. blasted the Saturday morning media pundits as “gas bags” and claimed their commentary about former President George W. Bush winning because red states were ‘morally robust” compared to “degenerate” blue states was “not true.”

RFK Jr. went on to claim that he looked at red states and blue states to determine which was “more moral” using criteria “that most of us use to judge morality”

“I found the lowest divorce rate in America was Massachusetts, a blue state. The highest divorce rate was Texas, a red state. The lowest teen pregnancy rate was Massachusetts. The highest was Texas,” RFK Jr. added.

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MAGA War Room posted the video just days after RFK Jr. challenged GOP nominee Trump to a presidential debate, after the former president called the independent a “Democrat plant.”

RFK Jr. on Wednesday argued that he, rather than Biden, is the only candidate who can defeat Trump in November — and showcased a new internal poll conducted by his campaign to make his point — as he announced a “no-spoiler pledge.”

“This is a no-spoiler pledge that we’re announcing today. This is a pledge that I offer to take if President Biden also takes it,” Kennedy said at a news conference where the candidate took no questions from reporters.

Fox News Digital reached out to RFK Jr’s presidential campaign.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed reporting.

Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a bill long sought by counties seeking help to manage huge influxes of mail-in ballots during elections in the presidential battleground state and to avoid a repeat of 2020’s drawn-out vote count.

The bill comes barely six months before Pennsylvania could play a decisive role in selecting the next president in November’s election between Democratic President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, a Republican.

PENNSYLVANIA HOUSE VOTES TO CRIMINALIZE BLUETOOTH STALKING

The bill passed on party lines, 102-99, as Democrats backed it and Republicans opposed it, warning that it would open the door to fraud. It faces long odds in the Republican-controlled Senate, however.

Under the bill, county election workers could begin processing ballots up to seven days before Election Day.

Counties have sought that kind of a provision for years, even before 2020’s presidential election, to give them more time to process mail-in ballots and avoid a drawn-out post-election count.

Nearly every state allows time before Election Day for workers to process mail-in ballots. Currently, Pennsylvania doesn’t let counties begin processing mail-in ballots before Election Day.

The County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania backed the bill, saying that having more time to process mail-in ballots before polls close — called “precanvassing” — will help them manage the workload and ensure quicker results.

“This simple change would significantly improve election administration without compromising ballot security,” Lisa Schaefer, the association’s executive director, said in a statement.

Schaefer asked the Republican-controlled Senate to quickly advance the bill to Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s desk so that it can be implemented for November’s general election.

In the Senate, GOP Majority Leader Joe Pittman insisted Wednesday that Pennsylvania must toughen voter identification requirements as a companion to any legislation on election administration.

Democrats have opposed such a change, saying there is scant record of in-person voting fraud and that it will only prevent some registered voters from voting.

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A surge in mail-in ballots in 2020’s presidential election shined a spotlight on Pennsylvania’s requirement after it took four days of counting for news agencies to project Biden as the winner of Pennsylvania, giving him the electoral votes necessary to win the White House.

However, Trump and his allies tried to exploit the days it took after polls closed to tabulate the millions of mail-in ballots to spread baseless conspiracy theories and cast doubt on the legitimacy of the election.

EXCLUSIVE: The judge presiding over former President Donald Trump’s ongoing New York City trial is taking heat from a rare coalition formed to jointly condemn his “dangerous” gag order ruling that it says “poses a dire threat to our democracy.”

The group, made up mostly of prominent Republican candidates running in battleground states crucial to flipping the Senate red in November, includes Pennsylvania’s Dave McCormick, Wisconsin’s Eric Hovde, Ohio’s Bernie Moreno, Michigan’s Mike Rogers, Arizona’s Kari Lake, Indiana’s Jim Banks, Nevada’s Sam Brown, Montana’s Tim Sheehy and West Virginia’s Jim Justice.

All signed onto a joint statement condemning Judge Juan Merchan’s imposition of the “unconstitutional” gag order, which Trump himself has called “election interference.”

RFK, JR REVEALS PATH TO PRESIDENCY AS BIDEN, TRUMP CAMPAIGNS TARGET RACE ‘SPOILER’

“We have deep concerns regarding the gag order imposed on President Trump, as it fundamentally violates constitutional principles and threatens the very essence of freedom of speech and expression in the middle of an election,” the group said.

“The First Amendment of the United States Constitution explicitly guarantees the right to freedom of speech, stating that ‘Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.’ This fundamental right is not contingent upon one’s political affiliation or position of power,” they said.

The group went on to say that “any attempt to silence or restrict the speech of a candidate for president undermines the core values upon which our democracy is built,” and it set a “dangerous precendent” for presidents and other elected officials in the future.

VOTERS IN MAJOR SWING STATE SOUND OFF ON TRUMP TRIAL: VIDEO

“If we allow such actions to go unchecked, it opens the door for authoritarian tendencies to flourish, where those in power can suppress dissenting voices and control the narrative to serve their own interests. Make no mistake: Silencing a candidate for public office, under the threat of imprisonment, poses a dire threat to our democracy,” they said.

The group added that the gag order also affected the American public by inhibiting their “right to information and transparency,” and that they “have a right to be informed about the actions and statements of their elected leaders.”

“In conclusion, the gag order imposed on President Trump is a clear violation of the First Amendment and represents a dangerous encroachment on the fundamental rights that form the bedrock of our democracy. America must stand firm in defense of these principles and resist any attempts to undermine them, regardless of political affiliations or personal opinions,” they said.

BLACK REPUBLICAN WHO SHUNNED DEI BY IDENTIFYING AS ‘AMERICA’ SAYS DEMS’ ‘FREE PASS’ TO MINORITIES IS OVER

Merchan imposed the gag order on Trump before his trial began last month, ordering that the former president cannot make or direct others to make public statements about witnesses with regard to their potential participation or about counsel in the case — other than Bragg — or about court staff, DA staff or family members of staff. He also ordered that Trump cannot make or direct others to make public statements about any prospective juror or chosen juror.

In his ruling, Merchan pointed to Trump’s “prior extrajudicial statements,” saying they establish “a sufficient risk to the administration of justice.” 

Merchan ruled Tuesday that Trump violated the gag order banning him from speaking publicly about witnesses and family members of court officials. He specifically ruled Trump violated the order on nine separate occasions in social media posts, with each violation resulting in a $1,000 fine. The former president was ordered to pay $9,000 for violating the gag order. 

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Following Merchan’s ruling, Trump removed the social media posts found in violation of the order from his Truth Social account. The ruling comes after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office accused Trump of violating the order 14 times since it was imposed last month.

Trump has repeatedly railed against the gag order, calling the case overall a “scam” promoted by the Biden administration and saying the gag order has stripped him of the ability to defend himself against accusations in the case.

Fox News’ Emma Colton and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

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

The House voted to expand the legal definition of antisemitism used to enforce anti-discrimination laws at a time when anti-Israel protests are raging at college campuses across the country.

If passed by the Senate and signed by President Biden, the bipartisan Antisemitism Awareness Act would mandate that the Department of Education legally adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism when enforcing anti-discrimination rules. 

Critics of the bill have attacked it as government overreach and said it would negatively impact free speech on campus.

VIRGINIA TECH POLICE PHYSICALLY CARRY AWAY ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS AMID EFFORT TO RESTORE PEACE ON CAMPUS

Like most issues stemming from Israel’s war on Hamas, the vote divided the Democratic Party. An increasing number of voices on the left, anchored by progressives, have been critical of Israel’s invasion of Gaza and the U.S. government’s position on the war.

The bill had over a dozen Democratic backers, including Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., who are Jewish, and Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., among others.

It passed 320 to 91 on Wednesday.

The opposition was led in part by Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., a Jewish progressive who’s the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.

“This definition, adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance or IHRA, includes, quote, contemporary examples of antisemitism, close quote. The problem is that these examples may include protected speech in some context, particularly with respect to criticism of the state of Israel,” Nadler said during debate on the bill. 

“To be clear, I vehemently disagree with the sentiments toward Israel expressing those examples. And too often criticism of Israel does in fact take the form virulent antisemitism.”

HOCHUL SILENT AS PRESSURE GROWS FOR NATIONAL GUARD TO BREAK UP COLUMBIA’S ANTI-ISRAEL THRONG

On the other side of the aisle, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., voiced his objections to the bill on the morning of the vote.

“This is a poorly conceived unconstitutional bill and I will vote no,” Massie wrote on X, along with screenshots of examples on IHRA’s website of what it defines as antisemitism.

It includes “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor” and “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.”

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., who led the bill, told Fox News Digital, “When people engage in harassment or bullying of Jewish individuals where they justify the killing of Jews or use blood libel or hold Jews collectively responsible for the actions of the Israeli government – that is antisemitic. It’s unfortunate that needs to be clarified, but that’s why this bill is necessary.”

‘DEATH TO AMERICA’ RAPIDLY EMERGING AS KEY SLOGAN OF ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS IN US

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He also reiterated criticism of the anti-Israel protests at colleges like Columbia University, Yale University and others, where tensions have escalated to the point of Jewish students reporting feeling unsafe on campus.

Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., one of the Democrats sponsoring the bill, said there’s “no place for antisemitism on college campuses.”

“We need to take an aggressive and multifaceted approach to keep our Jewish students safe, and that means passing the Antisemitism Awareness Act immediately,” Ryan told Fox News Digital.

Republican senators on Wednesday accused President Biden of being more critical of U.S. ally Israel than the anti-Israel and antisemitic riots that have evolved out of protests on some college campuses across the country. 

“Joe Biden is putting more pressure on Israel these days than he is on Hamas itself or on the pro-Hamas chapters on America’s campuses,” Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said during a press conference. 

Cotton said this wasn’t surprising, citing what he said were “antisemitic elements” of the Democratic Party that have been allowed to “fester and grow for years” under Biden’s watch. Biden has notably criticized Israel and let disagreements between the country and the U.S. be known publicly as Israel continues to battle the terrorist group Hamas in Gaza. 

SEN TIM SCOTT SLAMS ‘DISGUSTING’ COURT GAG ORDER RESTRICTING TRUMP’S ‘FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS’

Biden and his administration’s officials have on several occasions stressed concerns about Israel’s actions to curb civilian deaths as it fights Hamas. The president even threatened that U.S. policy toward Israel would be dependent on the country minimizing civilian casualties after seven aid workers were recently killed by an Israeli strike. 

An encampment protesting Israel’s actions initially began at Columbia University in New York City last month, escalating over the course of roughly two weeks with demonstrators ultimately taking over a campus building. After the building was taken over, the university opted to once again call in the New York City Police Department (NYPD), which arrested 108 people, giving each a trespassing summons. 

Following the beginning of Columbia’s encampment, which gained national media coverage, there have been at least 47 anti-Israel protests at the top 50 universities, as ranked by the U.S. News and World Report in 2024.

SEN VANCE QUESTIONS DOJ ON COMPANIES FAVORING MIGRANT WORKERS OVER AMERICANS

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said Biden “could stop this stuff on a dime” if he chose, suggesting the president could call universities and threaten their federal funding to motivate them to break up the unruly demonstrations. 

However, he said, “It just goes to show you that even old people can s–k,” in reference to Biden, who is 81 years old. 

Kennedy also pointed to poor polling for the president, saying that Biden is not taking action because he is “scared to death to alienate the Hamas wing of the Democratic Party.”

NY DEM SENS SCHUMER, GILLIBRAND AVOID COLUMBIA CAMPUS AS ‘SQUAD’ DESCENDS TO BACK AGITATORS

Cotton excoriated the demonstrations, describing them as “little Gazas that have risen up on campuses across America.” He also called them “disgusting cesspools of antisemitic hate, full of pro-Hamas sympathizers.”

“Fanatics and freaks,” Cotton added. 

According to the Arkansas senator, Biden needs to condemn the “Hamas campus sympathizers” without “equivocating about Israelis fighting a righteous war of survival.” 

SENATE GRIDLOCK COULD WORSEN WITH ROMNEY, SINEMA, MANCHIN RETIREMENTS: EXPERTS

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement Tuesday, “President Biden has stood against repugnant, antisemitic smears and violent rhetoric his entire life. He condemns the use of the term ‘intifada,’ as he has the other tragic and dangerous hate speech displayed in recent days. President Biden respects the right to free expression, but protests must be peaceful and lawful. Forcibly taking over buildings is not peaceful – it is wrong. And hate speech and hate symbols have no place in America.”

However, Biden hasn’t made direct comments condemning the protests and riots and has not indicated any federal action.

Cotton reiterated his calls on the departments of State, Homeland Security, Justice and Education to address the escalating protests and riots. He urged them to revoke visas for students participating and deport them, investigate any funding behind the protests, and stop funding schools that “won’t protect the civil rights of their Jewish students.”

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Cotton and Kennedy were joined by Republican Sens. James Lankford of Oklahoma, Rick Scott of Florida, Joni Ernst of Iowa, John Cornyn of Texas and Roger Marshall of Kansas.

The White House did not immediately provide comment to Fox News Digital.

Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, will soon introduce legislation that would withhold federal financial aid from student protesters convicted of rioting or attacking police in the latest wave of anti-Israel unrest, Fox News Digital has learned.

Police have already arrested hundreds of student protesters for various crimes at anti-Israel encampments across the country. New York City police alone arrested roughly 300 students during late night clearing operations at Columbia University and City College of New York.

“As a nation founded on principles of justice and respect for the rule of law, we must take a firm stance against violence and lawlessness, especially when directed at those who risk their lives to uphold order and protect our communities. My new legislation aims to send a clear message: if you assault a police officer or engage in rioting, you forfeit your right to federal financial aid,” Pfluger told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

“This is not a matter of political ideology but of basic decency and respect for our fellow citizens. The horrific antisemitic riots on college campuses across the country underscore the urgency of this issue. We cannot allow the persecution of Jewish Americans or any community to go unchecked,” he added.

VIRGINIA TECH POLICE PHYSICALLY CARRY AWAY ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS AMID EFFORT TO RESTORE PEACE ON CAMPUS

Pfluger, who chairs the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, went on to say that withholding federal financial support from those convicted will uphold the “safety and well-being of all Americans.”

The lawmaker’s office says the final text of the bill is still being determined, but they expect to introduce it in the near future.

TRUMP SAYS 4 WORDS ABOUT ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES AS ARRESTS SKYROCKET

Clashes between anti-Israel agitators and police continue to take place across the country. Columbia University, the University of Texas at Austin, University of California at Los Angeles, Tulane University, the University of Florida and others have all brought in police to clear out protesters in recent days.

Some of the protesters have dispersed peacefully, but many others have stayed for violent confrontations with police.

CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY REVEALS ‘TRUE COST’ OF ANTI-ISRAEL MOB THAT TOOK OVER ACADEMIC BUILDINGS

Administrators at Columbia noted that they believe outside agitators led the group that broke into and occupied Hamilton Hall on Tuesday. They also said the group of students forced the university’s security personnel from the building.

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The violence left administrators “no choice” but to call on the NYPD, they said.

“We regret that protesters have chosen to escalate the situation through their actions. After the University learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized, and blockaded, we were left with no choice,” administrators said in a statement. “Columbia public safety personnel were forced out of the building, and a member of our facilities team was threatened. We will not risk the safety of our community or the potential for further escalation.”

FIRST ON FOX: Anti-Israel radicals have protested outside of Republican Sen. Ted Cruz’s Texas home more than a dozen times in recent weeks, with the agitators reportedly tied to the Students for Justice in Palestine group occupying college campuses nationwide, Fox News Digital exclusively learned. 

Cruz’s home in Houston has been the target of 14 protests since February, including a protest on Friday when one suspect was arrested. Cruz’s office said that the senator remains resolute in his support of Israel, while brushing off the protesters’ tactics of “harassment or intimidation.” 

“Senator Cruz will continue to stand with Israel and support Israel’s right to defend itself and utterly eradicate Hamas. No amount of harassment or intimidation by terrorist supporters will change that,” a spokesman for the senator said. 

Student agitators have infiltrated college campuses nationwide in recent weeks, including radicals on Columbia University’s campus taking over the campus’ Hamilton Hall building, while schools such as UCLA, Harvard and Yale are working to clear student encampments where protesters demand their elite schools completely divest from Israel. 

ROWDY ANTI-ISRAEL GROUP GATHERS OUTSIDE TED CRUZ’S HOME FOR EARLY MORNING PROTEST: ‘HARASSING MY FAMILY’

The protests follow terrorist organization Hamas launching war in Israel on Oct. 7, which initially fanned the flames of antisemitism on campuses in the form of protests, menacing graffiti and students reporting that they felt as if it was “open season for Jews on our campuses.” The protests have now heightened to the point where Jewish students have been warned to leave campus for their own safety. 

NYPD RELEASE VIDEO SHOWING PROFESSIONAL ‘PROTEST CONSULTANT’ AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

The protests are associated with groups tied to far-left organizations backed by dark money and liberal mega-donor George Soros, Fox News Digital previously reported. Namely, the National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) has had a large presence amid the protests on Columbia University’s campus, as well as on the campuses of UCLA, Tufts and the University of Texas at Austin in Cruz’s home state. 

ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS NATIONWIDE FUELED BY LEFT-WING GROUPS BACKED BY SOROS, DARK MONEY

The NSJP is a national group with at least 200 chapters across the U.S and regularly compares Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to Nazi Germany and the Jim Crow era in the United States and accuses Israel of genocide, Influence Watch reported. NSJP’s origins stretch back to 1993 on UC Berkeley’s campus, according to NGO Monitor. 

The national chapter celebrated Hamas’ initial attack on Israel in October, describing it as an “historic win for the Palestinian resistance,” the New York Times reported in October. 

“This is what it means to Free Palestine: not just slogans and rallies, but armed confrontation with the oppressors,” the group continued at the time. 

The NSJP operates under a fiscal sponsor called Westchester Peace Action Committee Foundation, which previously received a six-figure donation from a nonprofit bankrolled by the Soros network, Fox News Digital previously reported. 

The group and its affiliates have been banned or censured by universities for their support of Hamas, including Brandeis banning the group following calls “for violence against Jews,” while Rutgers University suspended the group in December, as did Case Western in March. 

The protesters outside of Cruz’s home in recent months are tied to Students for Justice in Palestine, law enforcement told the senator, Fox News Digital has learned. 

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PROTESTS: REP. ELISE STEFANIK URGES TRUSTEES TO REMOVE SHAFIK AFTER MOB SEIZES BUILDING

The Houston Police Department confirmed to Fox News Digital that law enforcement have repeatedly responded to Cruz’s home over the protests this year but outlined that the police department can only publicly confirm there have been assemblies outside the residence, not identify specific groups the protesters are affiliated with. 

One protester was arrested on Friday evening, according to law enforcement. Cruz posted on X that evening that protesters were clanging cowbells and yelling for two hours on his street. Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris County Constable’s office for additional details on the arrest but did not immediately receive a reply. 

“This is America in 2024, and this is a result of the sickness that has taken over our universities. This is a result of cultural Marxism that has infiltrated and seized control of the faculty and the administration.”

“So, this is going on right now. It’s nearly 11 pm. Pro-Hamas protestors have been screaming and cursing for 2 hours. Banging cowbells & blowing whistles,” Cruz posted on Friday. 

NYC MAYOR PRAISES POLICE AFTER COLUMBIA RAID, WARNS OF MOVEMENT ‘RADICALIZING OUR CHILDREN’

“When a neighbor who has small kids asked an officer to do something, the protesters screamed that she was a “f—ing b—-!”

Cruz has previously been the ire of liberal protesters working to stage demonstrations outside his house in Houston’s Royal Oaks neighborhood, including in 2021 when 60 to 70 climate activists gathered. This year, the protesters have assembled on a near-weekly basis, condemning Cruz for supporting Israel, Axios reported.  

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“The point is to show that he does have constituents that don’t align with his very bigoted views. … We don’t support him being AIPAC-funded and his allegiance to a foreign government,” one regular protester told Axios Houston in March. 

Cruz has meanwhile slammed the protests raging on college campuses as the result of “cultural Marxism” that has spread within universities. 

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“This is America in 2024, and this is a result of the sickness that has taken over our universities,” Cruz said Monday to Fox News’ Sean Hannity. “This is a result of cultural Marxism that has infiltrated and seized control of the faculty and the administration. These are violent protesters that are threatening the lives and the safety of Jewish students. Let me ask you something, Sean. Where is Joe Biden tonight? Where is the attorney general tonight? Where is the FBI tonight? Where is the governor of New York tonight?”

Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report. 

A springtime lull in illegal border crossings could be the result of increased enforcement efforts by the Mexican government in a bid to help President Biden.

“The Biden administration responds to bad optics,” Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, told Fox News Digital. “The numbers reached a new high in December, and it’s no coincidence that’s when the secretaries met with Mexican officials and then, all of the sudden, the numbers dropped.”

The comments come as the number of illegal crossings at the U.S. southern border with Mexico have continued to decline from an all-time high in December, dipping from nearly 302,000 that month to just over 193,000 in March. That number has declined further in April, according to a report in the Washington Post, with border agents encountering roughly 130,000 migrants attempting to illegally enter from Mexico.

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While the Biden administration has touted the decline, a USA Today report this week noted that the unusual lull in crossings could have more to do with increased Mexican efforts. Most notably, the report notes, is the country’s recent efforts to round up migrants heading for the border and instead bus them south.

The Mexican government’s effort has hurt migrants’ chance of making it to the U.S. border successfully, according to the report, which notes that Mexican police have been intercepting migrants on highways, train routes and at airports and bussing them to the southernmost part of Mexico. Once there, migrants are faced with the choice of attempting to make the long journey north again or abandoning the effort altogether, a tactic that has at the very least caused a delay for some migrants.

Mexico has made a noticeable push in recent months to beef up its immigration enforcement and crack down on attempts to cross its border with the U.S., including a move in February to station troops near the infamous San Judas Break, a hole in the border barrier that thousands of illegal migrants had been using to sneak their way from Mexico into the United States. Another February military operation saw Mexican troops shut down a popular smuggling point on the San Diego-Tijuana border.

The sudden crackdown came shortly after a call by Biden to Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador in late December, when Biden asked for help at the border, according to a report from the New York Times, resulting in a delegation led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveling to Mexico to meet with the Mexican president.

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A Mexican decision to start enforcing its own immigration laws more strictly soon followed, the report notes, which has made it more difficult for migrants to use the country to reach the United States.

The Biden administration once again touted its continued cooperation with Mexico on the border, releasing a joint statement along with López Obrador detailing a Sunday phone call between the two leaders.

“The two leaders discussed how to effectively manage hemispheric migration, strengthen operational efficiency on our shared border, and thereby improve the security and prosperity of citizens of both countries,” read the statement. “In the short term, the two leaders ordered their national security teams to work together to immediately implement concrete measures to significantly reduce irregular border crossings while protecting human rights. President Biden and President López Obrador also pledged to advance initiatives to address the root causes of migration throughout the Western Hemisphere.”

When reached for comment by Fox News Digital, a White House spokesperson credited both its continued work with regional partners and “enhanced enforcement efforts by the U.S. government.”

“Even without significant action from Congress, DHS is maximizing its enforcement operations,” the spokesperson said. “Since May 12, DHS has removed or returned more than 690,000 individuals – the vast majority of whom crossed the southwest border. 690,000 removals and returns is more than every full fiscal year since 2011.”

According to Ries, that sudden cooperation on the border could be the result of a political deal.

“I’m sure the Biden administration and Biden perhaps himself has said to him, ‘look, do you want me to win reelection? You don’t want Trump back in office,’” Ries said.

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Ries noted that such a move was not a “free favor,” noting that the Mexican president demanded $20 billion in aid from the U.S.

That aid was demanded by the Mexican president at a news conference shortly after the first meeting between himself and Biden administration officials, with López Obrador issuing a series of demands, including that the U.S. give $20 billion to Latin American and Caribbean countries. The Mexican president also called for the U.S. to grant work visas to 10 million Hispanics who have worked in the U.S. for over 10 years, end sanctions against Venezuela and end its embargo with Cuba.

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Curt Mills, the executive director of the American Conservative, also believes the sudden lull in activity at the border can be traced to Mexican enforcement, telling Fox News Digital that there has been “more effective pressure” on Mexico in recent months.

“This is an administration that essentially ignored the issue, for the first part of [Biden’s] tenure, didn’t think it was an issue, didn’t give it high priority,” Mills said, adding it was only after widespread outrage had spread about the administration’s failures at the border that it began to act.

Ries argued that the administration relying on Mexico to beef up enforcement allows it to avoid angering progressive allies who oppose stricter border measures, while at the same time limiting the political fallout of a continued crisis.

“He is certainly trying to play both sides in an election year. He has to appease his radical left base that wants an open border, but he also knows that border security is the number one issue for Americans,” Ries said. “He needs to make the border numbers look a little better.”

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Meanwhile, the White House pointed to a failed bipartisan immigration bill as part of the reason for stymied efforts.

“The Administration spent months negotiating in good faith to deliver the toughest and fairest bipartisan border security bill in decades because we need Congress to make significant policy reforms and to provide additional funding to secure our border and fix our broken immigration system,” the spokesperson said. “Congressional Republicans chose to put partisan politics ahead of our national security and rejected what border agents have said they need.”

Get the latest updates on the ongoing border crisis from the Fox News Digital immigration hub.