NationalWatch

President Biden’s team reportedly is fearing photos included in Special Counsel Robert Hur’s imminent report on the handling of classified documents could impact his 2024 re-election bid. 

Axios reported that Biden’s aides do not expect criminal charges as a result of the investigation, but they are concerned about potentially embarrassing photos included in Hur’s expected report that could be released as soon as this week. The images could show how Biden stored classified materials, which were discovered in late 2022 in the garage of Biden’s Delaware home, as well as in a private office he used. The classified documents were carried over from Biden’s time as former President Obama’s vice president. 

Biden’s aides told Axios that they are fearful former President Trump’s campaign could use the photos against the Democrat incumbent ahead of their likely 2024 rematch. 

Trump himself is facing more than 40 counts, including obstruction of justice and willful retention of national defense information, for improperly storing classified documents at his private residence at Mar-a-Lago in Florida after leaving the White House following a probe by Special Counsel Jack Smith. 

BIDEN INTERVIEWED BY SPECIAL COUNSEL ABOUT CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS

With Hur’s report looming, Biden’s aides are concerned Trump’s campaign could attempt to contrast the handling of the two investigations. 

Hur, a former U.S. attorney nominated by Trump in 2017 and a former clerk for conservative Chief Justice William Rehnquist, is obligated to write a report about the investigation, and Biden’s aides told Axios they expect the report could come as soon as this week, though the exact timing of its release is unknown. 

Biden has defended the storing of classified documents in the past. 

“By the way, my Corvette is in a locked garage, so it’s not like they’re sitting out on the street,” he once said. 

In a CBS “60 Minutes’ interview last fall, Attorney General Merrick Garland vowed to make public a special counsel’s report related to another matter – the one related to Hunter Biden – “to the extent permissible under the law,” and promised to explain the “decisions to prosecute or not prosecute, and their strategic decisions along the way.”

10 UNANSWERED QUESTIONS ABOUT BIDEN’S CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS

“Usually, the special counsels have testified at the end of their reports, and I expect that that will be the case here,” Garland said. 

The Justice Department told Axios that Garland is also committed to releasing Hur’s report as well. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Anthony Coley, a former senior adviser to Garland, accused the Biden team of slow-walking discovery in the case. 

“Against the backdrop of former President Trump’s indictment on charges of willful and deliberate retention of classified documents, the Biden team’s drip, drip, drip of information made the discoveries seem even worse,” he wrote in an op-ed. 

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley accused former President Trump of “playing politics” with the border crisis Sunday after he called on Republican senators to kill a bipartisan border bill.

Haley made the comments during a Sunday morning appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” with host Dana Bash. She agreed with Bash that Trump was seeking to halt progress on illegal immigration in order to continue using it as a political issue.

“He is absolutely playing politics. Of course he is, by telling [senators] not to do anything,” Haley said. “But what they do need to do is put a tough immigration law in place.”

Haley went on to say that a “Remain in Mexico” provision must be included in any reform bill to make sure illegal immigrants “never step foot on U.S. soil.”

WHAT NIKKI HALEY TOLD FOX DIGITAL ABOUT WHAT SHE NEEDS TO DO TO KEEP RUNNING

She also addressed Republicans who argue Biden already has all the tools he needs to ensure border security if he were to start enforcing the law.

WHERE TRUMP AND HALEY STAND IN THE LATEST POLL IN A KEY REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY STATE

“Yes, Biden could go back to some of the laws… but three million illegal immigrants came under Trump,” she said. “That’s because the asylum laws are not strong enough. We need to strengthen the asylum laws so we don’t have people coming in here for loose reasons.”

Haley also addressed a statement she made last week suggesting that U.S. states have the right to secede from the union. She clarified that the U.S. Constitution does not allow states to secede, but added that friction between states like Texas and the federal government is caused by Washington not acting in the interest of voters.

2024 SHOWDOWN: HALEY TARGETS BIDEN AND TRUMP AS ‘GRUMPY OLD MEN’

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“People don’t think the government is listening to them. I’ve been 400 miles on that border, Dana. When you see what those ranchers are going through, when you see what those people in Eagle Pass are going through, and when you see what’s going on in New York and other cities across the country – because now every city is Eagle Pass – we’ve gotta start getting this under control,” she said.

Former President Trump revealed his criteria for a running mate on Sunday, but he told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo that he won’t announce a vice presidential pick “for a little while.”

Trump made the comments in an interview with Bartiromo that aired on “Sunday Morning Futures.” He said the most important factor is to ensure his running mate would be able to step up and handle the presidency in the case of an emergency.

“What criteria are you using to identify who your running mate is?” Bartiromo asked.

“Always it’s gotta be who is going to be a good president. Obviously you always have to think that, because in case of emergency. Things happen, right? No matter who you are, things happen. That’s gotta be number one,” Trump responded.

TRUMP, RFK JR SIDE WITH TEXAS IN BORDER FIGHT WITH BIDEN ADMIN AS 25 STATES SHOW SUPPORT

“Who is your running mate?” Bartiromo pressed.

“Well, I have a lot of good people. I have a lot of good ideas,” he added, saying he “talks to everybody.”

VOTERS SHARE TOP RUNNING MATE CHOICES FOR TRUMP IF ELECTED: ‘IT HAS TO BE SOMEONE YOUNGER’

“You know, I called [South Carolina Sen.] Tim Scott and people like Tim Scott, and I said you’re a much better candidate for me than you are for yourself,” Trump said. “When I watched him, he was fine. He was good, but he was very low key.”

“I watched him in the last week, defending me and sticking up for me and fighting for me – I said, man, you’re a much better person for me than you are for yourself,” he continued.

Trump went on to praise South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as well, noting that she said publicly that she would never run against him, “because I could never beat him.”

TRUMP ASKS SUPREME COURT TO KEEP NAME ON COLORADO BALLOT

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Trump also denied reports that his campaign had reached out to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to explore a potential ticket with him early on in the campaign season. Trump said the interaction “never happened.”

A Democrat representing a swing House district that could prove crucial for both parties in this year’s election is remaining silent over calls from within the nation’s largest teachers union to rescind its endorsement of President Biden over the war in Gaza.

Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Conn., a former teacher and National Education Association (NEA) member, first ran for Congress in 2018 with the backing of the union, specifically its president, Becky Pringle, who campaigned for her. 

However, the congresswoman has yet to publicly speak out on the organized effort from within the union to halt the Biden endorsement until there is a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.

Hayes’ office also didn’t respond to Fox News Digital’s multiple requests for comment concerning the effort and whether she believed the NEA should continue its support for Biden.

STACEY ABRAMS’ ONCE-POWERFUL VOTING RIGHTS GROUP FACES MASSIVE LAYOFFS AS IT STRUGGLES WITH MILLIONS IN DEBT

According to a January report by The Nation, a faction of rank-and-file NEA members are demanding the union’s endorsement of Biden for re-election this year to be revoked until the president “secures a ‘permanent cease-fire,’ stops ‘sending military funding, equipment, and intelligence to Israel,’ and commits ‘to a fair due process for asylum-seekers and refugees.’”

The report said a petition circulating within the union says signatories will withhold their voluntary donations to the group’s political action committee, the arm of the organization that supports candidates running for office.

DISPUTED TRUMP-BACKED MICHIGAN GOP CHAIRMAN INVESTED THOUSANDS IN COMPANY DISPOSING ABORTED FETAL REMAINS

“As a Palestinian American, it hurts,” one union member told the outlet, “because our union has been very focused on racial and social justice, and supporting him when he is not only funding but also sending weapons killing my people sends me the message that we don’t matter and that we are collateral damage and that’s OK.”

Hayes narrowly won re-election by just over 2,000 votes in the 2022 midterms, and the seat is likely to be a top target for Republicans as they aim to maintain and expand their majority in the House of Representatives.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Hayes is running unopposed in the Democratic primary, while her 2022 opponent, former Republican state Sen. George Logan, is hoping for a general election rematch in November. His only opponent in the GOP primary is public sector worker Michelle Botelho. 

Election analysts largely view the race as leaning Democratic.

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

The U.S. Supreme Court will soon debate whether former President Donald Trump should be removed from Colorado’s primary ballot, the first of what could be several legal challenges by Trump to confront the nine justices.

At issue is whether Trump committed “insurrection” by inciting a crowd to storm the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, 2021, and whether that would make him constitutionally ineligible to be re-elected president. That, in turn, could block him from appearing on a state primary ballot as a candidate for that office.

Oral arguments are scheduled for Thursday at 10 a.m. ET, and an expedited ruling could come within days or weeks.

The issues have never been tested at the nation’s highest court and are framed as both a constitutional and political fight with enormous stakes for public confidence in the judicial system and the already divisive electoral process.

TRUMP ASKS SUPREME COURT TO KEEP NAME ON COLORADO BALLOT

The wording

The 14th Amendment, Section 3 of the Constitution states, “No person shall… hold any office… under the United States … who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States… to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”

Colorado’s highest court in December ruled that clause covers Trump’s conduct on Jan. 6, 2021, and therefore does apply to a president despite not being explicitly indicated in the text. 

“President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of president,” the state court wrote in an unsigned opinion. “Because he is disqualified, it would be a wrongful act under the election code for the secretary to list him as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot.”

SUPREME COURT TO DECIDE IF TRUMP BANNED FROM COLORADO BALLOT IN HISTORIC CASE

The issue could turn on whether the high court interprets “officer of the United States” to apply to a president’s conduct in office.

The arguments

Trump’s legal team in its merits brief said, “The [Supreme] Court should put a swift and decisive end to these ballot-disqualification efforts, which threaten to disenfranchise tens of millions of Americans and which promise to unleash chaos and bedlam if other state courts and state officials follow Colorado’s lead and exclude the likely Republican presidential nominee from their ballots.”

The Constitution treats the presidency separately from other federal officers, Trump’s team argued.

“The president swears a different oath set forth in Article II, in which he promises to ‘preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States’ — and in which the word ‘support’ is nowhere to be found,” like it appears in Section 3, Trump’s team wrote.

But lawyers for the Colorado voters challenging Trump’s eligibility said in response, “The thrust of Trump’s position is less legal than it is political. He not-so-subtly threatens ‘bedlam’ if he is not on the ballot. But we already saw the ‘bedlam’ Trump unleashed when he was on the ballot and lost. Section 3 is designed precisely to avoid giving oath-breaking insurrectionists like Trump the power to unleash such mayhem again.

“Nobody, not even a former President, is above the law,” the brief added, comparing Trump to a “mob boss.”

Also at issue:

TRUMP BACKED BY 27 STATES IN SUPREME COURT FIGHT, WHO WARN OF 2024 ‘CHAOS’ IF HE’S REMOVED FROM BALLOT

– Whether state courts or elected state officials can unilaterally enforce constitutional provisions and declare candidates ineligible for federal office — so-called “self-executing” authority — or is that exclusively the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress. Also, whether Trump can be disqualified without a thorough fact-finding or criminal trial.

– Whether this issue is a purely “political” one that voters should ultimately decide.

– Whether the U.S. Senate’s acquittal at his impeachment trial over Jan. 6 makes him therefore eligible to seek re-election.

– And whether Section 3 prohibits individuals only from “holding” office, not from “seeking or winning” election to office.

The impact

More than a dozen states have pending legal challenges over Trump’s ballot eligibility.

At least 16 state courts and secretaries of state have already concluded his name can appear on the ballot. Colorado and Maine are the only two so far to keep his name off.

Other states are saying stay tuned. The Oregon Supreme Court earlier this year dismissed a related lawsuit but told a coalition of voters that, based on what the U.S. Supreme Court decides, they can refile again.

In conducting what are expected to be lengthy and contentious oral arguments, the justices will likely be forced to revisit the events of Jan. 6 and the pivotal speech Trump gave to supporters just before Congress was to certify the Electoral College ballots.

Trump has repeatedly claimed he was not trying to incite violence and that his speech was protected by First Amendment guarantees, especially pertinent as the top federal office holder.

The storming of the U.S. Capitol left 140 law enforcement officers injured, and lawmakers and Vice President Pence fled a mob that breached the building.

The Colorado decision has been on pause pending the U.S. Supreme Court’s final ruling.

MAINE’S TOP COURT WON’T RULE ON TRUMP BALLOT ELIGIBILITY UNTIL SUPREME COURT DECISION IN COLORADO

The state’s 2024 presidential primary ballot with Trump’s name on the Republican ballot has already been certified by the Colorado secretary of state.

But if Trump is ultimately declared ineligible for public office before the state’s March 5 primary, any votes cast in his favor would be nullified.

The Supreme Court has traditionally been reluctant to get involved in overtly political disputes, especially involving elections.

The partisan blowback over the 2000 ruling in Bush v. Gore still resonates, creating the impression among the public that many of the justices harbor partisan political intentions.

“Sometimes the Supreme Court has no choice but to be involved in the election cases because that is an area where, unlike most, the Supreme Court doesn’t even have discretion over whether it takes the case,” said Brianne Gorod, chief counsel at the Constitutional Accountability Center. 

“There are some voting rights and election cases that the Supreme Court is required to resolve on the merits.”

And beyond …

It is important to note the legal debate over “insurrection” comes to the Supreme Court on a ballot eligibility question.

Special counsel Jack Smith is separately prosecuting Trump for alleged election interference leading up to the Jan. 6 riot, but the former president is not charged specifically with “insurrection” or “rebellion.” The four charges he faces relate to conspiracy and obstruction. Some legal scholars have pointed out Section 3 does not require a criminal conviction to take effect.

The Supreme Court could soon be asked to decide an important component of Smith’s federal case — whether Trump has “absolute immunity” for alleged crimes committed in office.

A federal appeals court is considering the question, and the issue could soon reach the high court on an expedited basis. 

Trump’s criminal trial was scheduled for March 4, 2024, but it is likely any Supreme Court consideration of the issues would force a delay, perhaps past the November election.

The former president also faces a state criminal prosecution for alleged election interference in Georgia; a federal criminal prosecution in Florida for alleged mishandling of classified documents that is also led by the special counsel; and a New York state criminal case over allegedly falsifying business records for hush money payments to a porn star. 

And there are various civil claims against Trump, from lawsuits: by U.S. Capitol police officers over Jan. 6; alleged fraud involving various Trump-related businesses; and an $83 million defamation judgment stemming from an alleged sexual assault.

It is unclear if any of these cases will eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court on appeal on the merits. Some may not be considered for years.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

In the short term, any further petition with the name “Trump” on the cover could severely strain public confidence in a judicial institution designed to hover above partisan politics.

“I don’t think that the court really follows the political calendar,” said Thomas Dupree, a former top Justice Department attorney in the George W. Bush administration. “I think they’re aware of the fact, obviously, that we’re in an election year, but I don’t think the fact that we’re in an election year is going to be driving the outcomes of any of these decisions.”

The ballot case is Trump v. Anderson (23-719).

President Biden holds a campaign event in Nevada Sunday, two days ahead of the crucial western battleground state’s presidential primary.

Biden’s stop this weekend in Las Vegas comes a day after he quickly cruised to a landslide victory in South Carolina’s Democratic presidential primary and scored his second straight convincing win in his party’s 2024 nominating calendar.

The president, moving toward an all-but-certain nomination, on Saturday grabbed roughly 95% of the vote in the Palmetto State as ballots continued to be counted into the night.

“In 2020, it was the voters of South Carolina who proved the pundits wrong, breathed new life into our campaign and set us on the path to winning the presidency,” Biden said in a statement soon after the race was called.

BIDEN AIMS TO SOLIDIFY SUPPORT AMONG BLACK VOTERS AT THE BALLOT BOX

“Now, in 2024, the people of South Carolina have spoken again, and I have no doubt that you have set us on the path to winning the presidency again — and making Donald Trump a loser — again.”

Biden trounced his two long-shot Democratic primary challengers, Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota and Marianne Williamson, the bestselling author and spiritual adviser who’s making her second straight White House run.

A week and a half earlier, the president wasn’t on the ballot in New Hampshire because the state’s Democrats held a primary in violation of the Democratic National Committee’s 2024 nominating calendar. But he still won 64% of the vote, thanks to a well-funded write-in effort by top Granite State Democrats. 

No delegates were up for grabs in New Hampshire’s unsanctioned primary, but 55 were at stake in South Carolina’s primary, with Biden expected to win the lion’s share.

South Carolina, where Black voters play an outsize role in state Democratic politics, for the first time led off the party’s official presidential nominating calendar.

And much of the credit goes to Biden, who orchestrated an upending of the Democratic National Committee’s long-running nominating calendar to place the Palmetto State first.

For Biden, there was a bigger mission this weekend in South Carolina than just winning the primary and collecting delegates.

The president is aiming to solidify his support among Black voters in South Carolina and across the country. Those voters, who four years ago boosted Biden first to the Democratic nomination and ultimately into the White House, appear less energized in 2024.

The president’s approval ratings among Black voters, who are a crucial part of the Democratic Party base, have eroded over the past three years, which is a significant concern for his re-election chances.

DNC CHAIR TELLS NIKKI HALEY SOUTH CAROLINA DEMOCRATS ‘ARE NOT BAILING YOU OUT’

And while Black voters overwhelmingly cast ballots for Democratic candidates in the 2022 midterm elections, Republicans made gains. 

Former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner for this year’s Republican nomination, is making a play for Black and Hispanic voters.

Trump often points to endorsements from Black celebrities as a sign of his support in the Black community. And Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, a former 2024 GOP White House candidate and the only Black Republican in the Senate who endorsed Trump last month, has become a top surrogate for the former president.

While Trump suggests “there is much more enthusiasm now” for him among minority voters, there’s little polling evidence to back up his claims.

But even a slight shift of voters from Biden to Trump — or the possibility of some Black voters frustrated with a lack of progress on key issues sitting out the 2024 election — could potentially make the difference in crucial battleground states like Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that Biden narrowly won in 2020.

Black voters carried Biden to a landslide victory in the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary four years ago, igniting his 2020 campaign after earlier setbacks.

In a sign of the importance of the Black vote, the president kicked off his re-election bid last month at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, where nine Black parishioners were killed in a 2015 mass shooting.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

But some Democratic leaders have been raising concerns regarding the president’s underwhelming support among some Black voters.

The president enjoys the backing of the DNC as he seeks a second term in the White House, and national party chair Jaime Harrison, back in his home state, told Fox News Digital on Saturday morning in Columbia, South Carolina, that “this president wanted to send a signal to Black folks, not only here in South Carolina, but across the nation, that we see you, we hear you and you matter.

“That is why it’s important for the president and the vice president and the first lady and the second gentleman to come into a state and to show up even when they know that they’re going to win. And that they’re going to win decisively.”

Biden was in California for meetings and campaign fundraisers as the results were tabulated in South Carolina.

But he called into a South Carolina Democratic Party celebration after the race was called.

“What happened?” he joked on the call. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. And you’re not rid of me. I’m coming back.”

Next up is Nevada, where 36 delegates are up for grabs in Tuesday’s Democratic primary. While Biden and Williamson are on the ballot in the Silver State, Phillips is not since he declared his candidacy for president in late October, after the state’s filing deadline had passed. 

Spanish-speaking voters, with whom Republicans have also made gains, play an influential role in Nevada elections.

In a strange twist, there are two Republican presidential nominating contests in Nevada. A GOP primary will also be held Tuesday and a Republican caucus on Thursday.

In 2021, when Democrats controlled Nevada’s governor’s office and legislature, the state switched from running caucuses to a state-run primary. But the state GOP objected and eventually decided to hold caucuses. No delegates will be at stake in the primary, while all 26 will be up for grabs in the caucus.

Former President Trump is the only remaining major candidate running in the caucus, while former U.N. Ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is the sole major GOP contender on the primary ballot.

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

A Maine Republican state senator told Fox News Digital this week progressives in the historically purple state are pushing a “radical” agenda with recent legislation in an attempt to turn Maine into California. He pointed to the decision to remove former President Trump from the ballot as an example of how the state has gone overboard attacking democracy.

Maine GOP State Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham and State Sen. Trey Stewart issued a response to Democratic Gov. Janet Mills this week, warning that Democrats in the state have embraced a “California agenda” and pointed to several examples where they say Democrats are moving the state in a direction most voters don’t want. 

Trey Stewart spoke to Fox News Digital after the speech and said, “Maine appears to be in a race to the bottom under Democrat leadership and really rivaling some of the historically liberal states on the West Coast” while “trying to jockey for worst state in the country.”

Stewart pointed to energy policy as a prime example.

MAINE LOBSTERMAN HEARS MYSTERIOUS CRIES FROM THE WATER THAT LEAD TO MIRACLE RESCUE

“You’ve seen Democrats really kowtowing and bowing down to the special interest groups, namely in the solar and wind lobby, doing basically whatever they want to do at the expense of Maine ratepayers,” Stewart said. 

“And so that’s why you’re seeing some of the highest electricity prices in the country, right here in Maine, when they don’t have to be. You’re also seeing really radical and crazy proposals coming out of August, including bans on things like plastics. We made a lot of national headlines with an electric vehicle mandate to say that we are going to go to 40% all electric vehicle fleet in one of the coldest states in the country, which is rural and spread out, by 2030.

“It’s completely unrealistic. As we know, these vehicles will not do well up here when you’ve got ten feet of snow and it’s minus ten degrees outside. Your battery power isn’t going to be able to get you where you need to go, and so forcing these choices on Maine consumers is absolutely ridiculous and is, frankly, pretty dangerous, actually.”

SUSAN COLLINS, KEY SENATE GOP MODERATE, WON’T BACK TRUMP IN 2024

Additionally, Stewart said parental rights are under attack in Maine and pointed to a recent bill that was killed in the state legislature that Republicans say was essentially a promotion of “sex trafficking” and “sex tourism” because they say it would have endangered children.

Stewart says the bill, LD 1735, would have allowed “for a non-parental custodian to take a child in Maine for the purposes of sex change, surgery and other procedures, without the parents’ consent.” 

“It was a carryover bill from last year, garnered a ton of national headlines and opposition and, thankfully, because of that, I believe, we were able to push back in committee on that and put a spotlight on it,” Stewart said. “And so much so that the Democrats agreed with us to kill the bill in committee. Now, that doesn’t mean this is over, not by a long shot.”

In late December, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, ruled that Trump was barred from running for president in her state because he allegedly “engaged in insurrection” through his actions leading up to and during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. 

Stewart told Fox News Digital that decision is out of step with where most Mainers are, in both parties, and has been opposed by most of the top politicians in the state.

MAINE LAWMAKER WARNS RESIDENTS ALARMED BY TRANSGENDER YOUTH BILL THAT STRIPS PARENTS’ RIGHTS: ‘HUGE OUTCRY’

“Look, whether you like the guy or you don’t like the guy, that’s not the way that you beat him,” Stewart said. “If folks have an issue with Donald Trump, we live in a democratic society. You’re allowed to voice that opinion at the polls this November. You can make that choice to do something different, and that’s fine. That’s up to the people to decide. We will respect it. We will honor that decision. What’s not fine is to basically run a kangaroo court, which is what happened.“

Stewart added that the move contradicts Democrats’ claims that they are protecting democracy and “flies in the face of a lot of the taglines and the talking points that the left has been clamoring about for the last few years here, and really is completely, a backwards way of approaching this situation.”

“The left is hypocritical all the time. They claim to care about low-income folks, and then they raise their heating bill,” Stewart said. “You know, they claim to care about folks in generational poverty, and then they pass policies that make it even harder. They claim to care about democracy, and then they try to rig an election. You can’t make this stuff up. It doesn’t pass a straight face test. I know that Maine people are buying it. I know that people around the country are buying it.”

Stewart told Fox News Digital that Maine is “not really a blue state” but more a purple state that fluctuates between who is in power every few years but has been under Democrat control recently and the decisions made have “rubbed a lot of folks the wrong way.“

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“They really want to push the envelope as much as they can, and, like I said, they’re vying for the title of, you know, most liberal in the country and pushing their agenda as far as they possibly can, which is only going to hurt Maine people and, in fact, the rest of the country as well,” Stewart said. 

“So, it’s really important that we win. Common sense can rule the day here. It all happens this November.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Maine Democratic Party for comment but did not receive a response.

South Carolina is once again handing President Biden a ballot box victory.

The Associated Press on Saturday projected that the president would win South Carolina’s 2024 Democratic presidential primary, with the news service making its call 23 minutes after the polls closed in the Palmetto State at 7 p.m. ET.

The quick projection came as no surprise, as Biden was expected to trounce his two long-shot Democratic primary challengers, Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota and Marianne Williamson, the best-selling author and spiritual adviser who’s making her second straight White House run.

“In 2020, it was the voters of South Carolina who proved the pundits wrong, breathed new life into our campaign, and set us on the path to winning the Presidency,” Biden said in a statement soon after the race was called.

BIDEN AIMS TO SOLIDIFY SUPPORT AMONG BLACK VOTERS AT THE BALLOT BOX

“Now in 2024, the people of South Carolina have spoken again and I have no doubt that you have set us on the path to winning the Presidency again — and making Donald Trump a loser — again,” he added.

South Carolina, where Black voters play an out-sized role in state Democratic politics, for the first time led off the party’s official presidential nominating calendar.

And Biden deserved much of the credit, as he orchestrated an upending of the Democratic National Committee’s long-running nominating calendar to place the Palmetto State first.

“If you ever doubt that the power to change America is in your hands, remember this. You proved it. You’re the reason I am president. That’s right. You’re the reason Kamala Harris is a historic vice president,” Biden emphasized last weekend as he spoke at a major South Carolina Democratic Party gathering. 

DNC CHAIR TELLS NIKKI HALEY SOUTH CAROLINA DEMOCRATS ‘ARE NOT BAILING YOU OUT’

Four years ago, the then-former vice president was reeling, after a fourth place finish in the Iowa caucuses and a fifth place showing in the New Hampshire primary. 

Biden rebounded with a distant second place finish to Sen. Bernie Sanders in Nevada’s caucuses, which was followed by a landslide victory in the South Carolina primary. Biden’s demolishing of the rest of the field of Democratic rivals — boosted in large part by the support of longtime Democratic Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina — rocketed Biden towards the party’s nomination and eventually the White House.

National Democrats for years knocked both Iowa and New Hampshire — which led both national parties’ nominating calendars for half a century — as unrepresentative of the party as a whole because the states have largely Caucasian populations with few major urban areas. Nevada and South Carolina, which in recent cycles voted third and fourth on the calendar, are much more diverse than either Iowa or New Hampshire.

While Republicans didn’t make major changes to their 2024 schedule, the DNC last year overwhelmingly approved a calendar proposed by Biden to move South Carolina to the lead position. The president and supporters of the new calendar argued that it would empower minority voters, upon whom Democrats have long relied but have at times taken for granted.

HALEY SAYS ‘CLOSING THE GAP’ WITH TRUMP HER GOAL IN SOUTH CAROLINA GOP PRIMARY

Plenty of political analysts also saw the move as a thank you from Biden to Clyburn and South Carolina for the role they played in his 2020 election.

Spotlighting the significance of going first in the calendar, South Carolina Democratic Party chair Christale Spain told Fox News “it’s a huge deal.”

While Iowa eventually complied with the DNC, New Hampshire adhered to a half-century-old state law that mandates their presidential primary goes first.

New Hampshire held its primary for both parties on Jan. 23, and the Democratic contest was unsanctioned by the DNC, with no delegates at stake.

Biden didn’t file to place his name on the New Hampshire primary ballot and didn’t campaign in the state. But he still won over 60% of the vote in the contest, thanks to a well-funded write-in effort by top Granite State Democrats. 

As ballots continued to be tablulated Saturday evening in South Carolina, Biden enjoyed a massive lead over his challengers,  winning over 95% of the vote. 

Asked by Fox News’ James Levinson if it was time for Phillips and Williamson to suspend their campaigns, DNC chair Jaime Harrison said “campaigns have to make their own decisions. I don’t tell anybody when they should drop out.”

But he added “it looks like Joe Biden’s going to be the nominee of the Democratic Party.”

Biden was on the ballot in the Palmetto State, and South Carolina Democratic Party chair Christale Spain, pointing to the president’s dominance in a state where he’s had long ties, told Fox News on Friday that “this primary is contested, but it isn’t competitive.”

Vice President Harris, on the eve of the primary, highlighted the significance of the state’s new leadoff position.

“South Carolina, you are the first primary in the nation and President Biden and I are counting on you,” Harris said at a campaign event at South Carolina State University. 

“Are you ready to make your voices heard?” the vice president asked the crowd gathered Friday at the historically Black university.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Biden called into a South Carolina Democratic Party celebration after the race was called.

“What happened,” he joked, before asking “what kind of turnout did you have.”

“Thanks everybody. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. And you’re not rid of me. I’m coming back,” he said to cheers. 

The president enjoys the support of the DNC as he seeks a second term in the White House, and Harrison, back in his home state, told Fox News Digital on Saturday morning in Columbia, South Carolina that part of Biden’s mission in the primary was to shore up support from Black voters, a key Democratic Party constituency that boosted him four years ago.

“This president wanted to send a signal to black folks, not only here in South Carolina, but across the nation, that we see you, we hear you and you matter. That is why it’s important for the president and the vice president and the first lady and the second gentleman to come into a state and to show up even when they know that they’re going to win. And that they’re going to win decisively,” Harrison said.

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

A new report is highlighting how federal COVID funds were used in Washington state to give $1,000 checks to illegal immigrants who were ineligible to receive federal economic impact payments during the pandemic due to their immigration status.

The report, by the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC), points to money administered by the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF), which was created by the American Rescue Plan Act and was intended to help state and local governments with their response and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Washington state received $4.4 billion in funding overall from that program.

The report from the group, which calls for a smaller federal government, highlighted how $340 million in funding went to a program that sent $1,000 checks to illegal immigrants in the state. The funds, approved by the Washington state legislature in April 2021, provided “another round of funding for undocumented Washingtonians,” according to an impact report on the program said.

MIGRANT CRISIS BROKE NEW RECORD IN DECEMBER WITH 302K ENCOUNTERS

The Washington COVID-19 Immigrant Relief Fund was first set up in 2020 to grant checks to those ineligible for government assistance programs due to their immigration status. Treasury documents confirm that the state has since provided an extra $340 million in federal relief funds for the one-time cash grants, with 10% of the funding went to community-based organizations to administer the program. 

BIDEN CLAIMS ‘I’VE DONE ALL I CAN DO’ TO SECURE THE BORDER 

“The $340 million project is categorized as a ‘cash transfer’ expenditure under the SLFRF, approved for the State of Washington. This means the Biden Administration directly subsidized ‘undocumented’ immigration under the guise of COVID-19 pandemic relief,” the EPIC report said.

The state said that it had previously invested $128 million of funding from the Trump-era CARES Act for 120,000 immigrants who did not qualify for economic relief, but the funding was not sufficient for the number of applications the program received.

The fund has now ended, with the last payments going out in early 2023. State officials said the fund was an opportunity “to help people who may have been left out of other federal and state resources to address the economic impact of the pandemic.”

The Economic Policy Innovation Center report highlights several other projects related to illegal immigration for which federal funds were used, including programs in Arizona for art, music and dance classes for migrants and expansion of shelters in Massachusetts.

“The Senate is releasing a budget supplemental that includes a bipartisan deal on the border. However, the administration has been actively encouraging illegal immigration by using COVID money from the SLFRF to provide cash assistance, housing, legal aid, and other benefits to undocumented immigrants,” Paul Winfree, president and CEO of EPIC, told Fox News Digital.

Winfree also stressed that there is still $120 billion in unspent money from the fund, and called on lawmakers to stop those funds.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Until Congress claws back this money, it will continue to serve as a magnet for illegal immigration,” he said.

The report comes amid continued concern about the flow of illegal immigrants into the U.S. Congress is currently negotiating a supplemental funding bill, which would include aid to communities receiving migrants. But Republicans have sought to include restrictions on asylum and the administration’s use of parole.

Democrats have started the election year off on a high note with a vast fundraising advantage over their Republican counterparts, who are facing a shortage of cash and party disarray in crucial swing states.

According to year-end reports filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) this week, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) holds nearly three times the cash on hand reported by the Republican National Committee (RNC), and brought in nearly three times as much fundraising in the final month of 2023.

The RNC reported its worst fundraising year since 2013 — or since 1993 when adjusted for inflation — raising just $87.2 million in 2023, and starting 2024 with just over $8 million in cash on hand.

TRUMP, HALEY BATTLE FOR BIG DONORS WHILE BIDEN CAMPAIGN SITS ON MASSIVE CASH RESERVE

The DNC reported $120 million raised in 2023, and a record $21 million in cash on hand, marking a massive $13 million gap between the two committees. It also reported raising $14.7 million in December to the RNC’s $5.3 million.

Although the RNC brought in more direct contributions than the DNC throughout the year, the latter enjoys a joint fundraising agreement with President Biden’s re-election campaign, as well as its other joint fundraising committees, and overall outpaced the RNC, which does not have a joint fundraising agreement, for much of that period.

Republicans are also dealing with disarray in a number of their party organizations in multiple swing states that will be crucial to the party maintaining, or growing, its majority in the House, winning a majority in the Senate and retaking the White House.

STACEY ABRAMS’ ONCE-POWERFUL VOTING RIGHTS GROUP FACES MASSIVE LAYOFFS AS IT STRUGGLES WITH MILLIONS IN DEBT

Last week, the now-former chairman of the Arizona Republican Party, Jeff DeWitt, suddenly resigned from the role amid allegations he unsuccessfully tried to bribe GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake not to launch a campaign. The state party also struggled financially throughout last year amid lower contribution levels and hundreds of thousands in legal costs related to the 2020 presidential election.

In Michigan, newly elected state GOP chairman Pete Hoekstra and ousted former chairwoman Kristina Karamo have been battling over who is actually in control of the party, while a number of other state party officials are facing felony charges for their alleged role in a fake electors scheme attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state.

In Nevada, Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald was indicted in a similar fake electors scheme, and in North Carolina, the state Republican Party’s FEC report shows that it burned through cash and is now $72,000 in debt.

DISPUTED TRUMP-BACKED MICHIGAN GOP CHAIRMAN INVESTED THOUSANDS IN COMPANY DISPOSING ABORTED FETAL REMAINS

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on advertising by Republican presidential candidates in an effort to secure the party’s nomination, delaying the party an opportunity to coalesce around a single candidate and focus on the general election.

“The Republican National Committee has become a financial dumpster fire at a time when they literally cannot afford it,” DNC spokesperson Alex Floyd told Fox News Digital. 

“With the 2024 field already having blown through millions attacking each other and GOP state parties descending into infighting and heading toward bankruptcy, Republican donors may want to consider just lighting their money on fire themselves rather than wasting time giving it to the RNC,” he added.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the RNC for comment.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

A source familiar with the RNC’s fundraising told Fox News Digital that it raised more than any other Democrat or Republican committee in 2023 except for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) when accounting for direct fundraising and not including transfers from other joint fundraising groups.

The source also said the RNC has already made significant financial investments in staff buildups across 15 battleground states, as well as in early voting and ballot-harvesting initiatives, but did not say whether that was directly related to the party’s low cash on hand.

Fox News reported this week that the RNC raised $12 million in January, more than any month in 2023.

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.

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Democratic Party officials have a clear message to their voters: Don’t skip Saturday’s presidential primary in South Carolina, and instead cast a ballot for Nikki Haley three weeks later in the Palmetto State’s Republican nominating contest.

“Nikki, just understand that South Carolina Democrats are not going to vote for you. I want you to get that message loud and clear this morning,” Democratic National Committee chair Jaime Harrison told reporters as the polls opened in his home state.

On Saturday morning, as polls opened in South Carolina, there were reports that some Democrats received text messages urging them to forgo voting on Saturday and instead cast a ballot in three weeks. Both the Haley campaign and SFA Fund, an aligned super PAC, denied having any involvement with the text messages.

Haley, a former two-term South Carolina governor who later served as U.N. ambassador in former President Donald Trump’s administration, scored plenty of support from independent voters and even some crossover Democrats in last month’s Iowa Republican caucuses and New Hampshire GOP primary, which were the first two contests in the Republican Party’s presidential nominating calendar.

Haley, the last remaining major rival to commanding front-runner Trump, grabbed 43% of the vote a week and a half ago in New Hampshire. 

WILL SOUTH CAROLINA DEMOCRATS BOOST BIDEN AGAIN AT THE BALLOT BOX?

The next key contest in the GOP calendar is South Carolina’s Republican primary on February 24. The latest public opinion survey in the state indicates Trump holding a 26-point lead over Haley.

While the GOP primary is open to all voters regardless of party preference, people who cast a ballot in Saturday’s Democratic primary are not allowed to vote again in three weeks in the Republican contest. 

BIDEN AIMS TO SOLIDIFY SUPPORT AMONG BLACK VOTERS AT THE BALLOT BOX

Democratic Party officials for weeks have been spotlighting to South Carolina voters Haley’s conservative policies during her tenure as governor and calling her the “mother of the MAGA movement.” 

Harrison said his message to Haley is that “we are not going to vote for you because you didn’t do anything for us. You didn’t do anything for us. So, we’re not bailing you out. We’ve got two MAGA apples in this field that’s left, and both of them are rotten. And so, Democrats in South Carolina aren’t bailing either one of them out.”

Haley and her campaign for months have argued she would be a stronger GOP nominee than Trump to face off in November’s general election with President Biden.

Asked for a response to Harrison’s comments, Haley’s campaign told Fox News that “nothing would make Democrats happier than Donald Trump being the Republican nominee. Poll after poll shows Nikki trounces Biden. They know they can’t beat her.”

Biden’s landslide victory in the South Carolina primary four years ago boosted him towards the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and ultimately the White House. 

And he’s expected to win big again this time around, against his two long-shot primary challengers, Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota and Marianne Williamson, the best-selling author and spiritual adviser who’s making her second straight White House run.

HALEY SAYS ‘CLOSING THE GAP’ WITH TRUMP HER GOAL IN SOUTH CAROLINA GOP PRIMARY

Both Phillips and Williamson campaigned heavily last month in New Hampshire’s unsanctioned Democratic presidential primary, which Biden easily won as a write-in candidate.

But Phillips hasn’t set foot in South Carolina in a week, and Williamson skipped any recent in-person campaigning in the Palmetto State.

“We would have expected more from the candidates who filed to be on the ballot. We encourage them to come into the state. They were welcome to come in. It was open for them. Our county parties were waiting,” South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Christale Spain told Fox Digital.

She emphasized, “It was disappointing to see that candidates filed, but did not really come here to compete in the way they did in New Hampshire.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Biden made multiple campaign stops in South Carolina last weekend and Vice President Kamala Harris headlined a rally on Friday, on the eve of the primary.

Even though he wasn’t on the ballot in New Hampshire, the president grabbed 64% of the vote in the Democratic primary, thanks to a well organized and funded write-in effort.

When asked where Biden needs to finish in South Carolina’s primary to consider it a success, Harrison demurred.

But he told Fox News Digital that Biden was already a winner, especially with Black voters who play an outsized role in South Carolina Democratic politics.

“The president wanted to send a signal to Black folks, not only here in South Carolina, but across the nation, that we see you, we hear you, and you matter,” Harrison stressed. “That is why it’s important for the president and the vice president and the first lady and the second gentleman to come into a state and to show up, even when they know that they’re going to win. And that they’re going to win decisively. They are saying to folks that you matter.”

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

Independent, Republican and unregistered voters in New York’s Westchester County are being urged to register as Democrats ahead of the Democratic congressional primary between “Squad” member Rep. Jamaal Bowman and pro-Israel candidate George Latimer, mailers obtained by Fox News Digital show.  

“Community and family transcend politics,” Westchester Unites, a group in Westchester County that works to advocate for “community over party,” said in mailers to local voters. “Especially when antisemitism is on the ballot.” 

The mailers call on voters to “combat” antisemitic hate by making “our voices heard.”

“But you can only do so if you are enrolled Democratic by February 14,” one of the mailers obtained by Fox News Digital shows. 

SQUAD MEMBER IN FIRE ALARM FIASCO TAKES HEAT FROM WITHIN HIS OWN PARTY: ‘NEED NEW LEADERSHIP’

The mailer does not cite Bowman or his Democratic challenger Latimer, the current county executive of Westchester County campaigning for Congress on a pro-Israel platform, though it targets voters in Bowman’s district. 

“Why change your enrollment?” a text message from the group reviewed by Fox News Digital asks. “Because this district is overwhelmingly Democratic, which means the next Member of Congress will essentially be determined in the Democratic primary.” 

‘SQUAD’ MEMBER FACES ATTACK FROM WITHIN OWN PARTY OVER ISRAEL STANCE AMID DEM INFIGHTING ON GAZA

Bowman is up for re-election this year, but his run has been mired in controversy over comments some voters and national viewers have slammed as anti-Israel. Bowman’s district encompasses Westchester County’s southern suburban areas and parts of the Bronx, and is home to a large Jewish community.

The “Squad” member has come under fire for calling for a cease-fire shortly following the war between Israel and Hamas, for boycotting Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s speech to Congress this past summer, and defending Rep. Pramila Jayapal when she was criticized for saying that Israel is a “racist state.” Late last year, Bowman also saw an event intended to spread “healing” amid antisemitism devolve into protesters demanding that the congressman represent Jews in his district when making policy decisions. 

NY DEM TEES UP PRIMARY AGAINST ‘SQUAD’ MEMBER UNDER FIRE FOR ISRAEL STANCE, FIRE ALARM FIASCO

Bowman has repeatedly denounced antisemitism amid criticisms of his previous remarks, as well as condemned Hamas’ attack on Israel when the war began on Oct. 7. 

The New York congressman also faced controversy this fall after he pulled a fire alarm in the House of Representatives before lawmakers voted to avert a government shutdown. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count for triggering the fire alarm. 

REP BOWMAN SAYS THERE MUST BE ‘CLEAR DISTINCTION’ BETWEEN ISRAEL’S CITIZENS, GOVERNMENT

Latimer, who has 35 years in New York politics under his belt, emerged this summer as a potential candidate to face off against Bowman when local headlines in July declared that New York Jewish groups and Democrat donors were meeting with the county leader to test the waters for a potential run. 

Latimer announced his run in December, pitching himself to voters as the candidate “who will listen to every voice, not just those who agree with him, & who will deliver on the issues that matter” if elected to Congress. 

The group behind the mailers and texts sent to local Republicans and Independents urging them to switch parties was organized by a group called the Teach Action Fund, according to the New York Post. 

‘SQUAD’ DEM REP JAMAAL BOWMAN FIRE ALARM FOOTAGE RELEASED AFTER GUILTY PLEA: ‘BOLD-FACED LIAR’

Dan Mitzner told Fox News Digital that the group is not explicitly targeting Republicans and Independents in the district, but working to ensure all Jewish residents and unaffiliated voters are registered. 

“This inclusive and empowering voter education and mobilization program is a first for the district and comes at a critical time,” Mitzner, political director of the Teach Action Fund, said in a press release provided to Fox News Digital. 

“The reality is that with an alarming rise in antisemitic rhetoric and incidents, our Jewish community here at home is under threat,” Mitzner added. “It’s essential that the next person we elect to Congress cares about the safety and well-being of the Jewish community and all our neighbors.”

Mitzner added that only 15% of Democrats voted in the party’s 2022 primary, which he said was “bad for the district, bad for democracy, bad for the country, and bad for accountability.”

Just this week, Westchester Unites opened a voter education office in New Rochelle, according to the press release, where voters can visit for registration and absentee-ballot information and assistance. 

“We are investing six figures in the first phase of this campaign, and we will not shy away from making sure as many voters as possible have their say between now and the June primary. The stakes for our community are too high to sit on the sidelines,” the press release states. 

Bowman’s campaign hit back at the push to register Jewish Republicans and Independents as Democrats, arguing it is an effort to bolster Latimer’s chances in the primary. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“George Latimer held a fundraiser hosted by a Trump mega-donor and has welcomed Republican-funded Super PACs to spend in this race, so it’s no surprise supporters are asking Republicans to vote in a Democratic primary,” campaign spokesman Bill Neidhardt told the New York Post. “George Latimer has abandoned the Democratic Party and voters across the district are deeply disappointed.”

The race between the New York Democrats is already hotly contested, and anticipated to be a nail biter. Bowman defeated three-term incumbent Eliot Engel when he first secured his spot in the House, which was one of the biggest Democratic primary upsets of 2020. Latimer, meanwhile, has long-established roots in the area as a political leader who champions his record of never losing an election in his career.

Neither campaign responded to Fox News Digital requests for comment.

COLUMBIA, S.C. – President Biden isn’t too concerned about winning Saturday’s Democratic presidential primary in South Carolina.

He’s expected to carry the contest in a landslide.

South Carolina, where Black voters play an outsized role in Democratic politics, for the first time is leading off the party’s official presidential nominating calendar, thanks in large part to Biden.

And state Democratic Party chair Christale Spain told Fox News on the eve of the contest that “this primary is contested, but it isn’t competitive.”

But for Biden, there’s a bigger mission than just winning big in the Palmetto State primary.

CONCERNS RAISED OVER LACK OF ENTHUSIASM AMONG BLACK VOTERS FOR BIDEN RE-ELECTION

The president is aiming to solidify his support among Black voters in South Carolina and across the country. Those voters, who four years ago boosted Biden first to the Democratic nomination and ultimately into the White House, appear less energized in 2024.

The president’s approval ratings among Black voters, who are a crucial part of the Democratic Party base, have eroded over the past three years, which is a significant concern for his re-election chances.

And while Black voters overwhelmingly voted for Democratic candidates in the 2022 midterm elections, Republicans made gains. 

HALEY SAYS ‘CLOSING THE GAP’ WITH TRUMP HER GOAL IN SOUTH CAROLINA GOP PRIMARY

Former President Donald Trump, the commanding front-runner for this year’s Republican nomination, is making a play for Black and Hispanic voters.

Trump often points to endorsements from Black celebrities as a sign of his support in the Black community.

And Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, a former 2024 GOP White House candidate and the only Black Republican in the Senate who endorsed Trump last month, has become top surrogate for the former president.

“Have you seen our poll numbers with African Americans and with Hispanic Americans? But I’m not that surprised because I see it, I feel it,” Trump argued as he campaigned in New Hampshire ahead of that state’s presidential primary.

While Trump suggested that “there is much more enthusiasm now” for him among minority voters, there’s little polling evidence to back up his claims.

But even a slight shift of voters from Biden to Trump – or the possibility of some Black voters frustrated with a lack of progress on key issues sitting out the 2024 election – could potentially make the difference in crucial battleground states like Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.

Black voters carried Biden to a landslide victory in the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary four years ago, igniting his 2020 campaign.

The president, campaigning in South Carolina last weekend, thanked the largely Black audience at a state Democratic Party gathering for helping him win the White House, adding “you’re the reason Donald Trump is a loser.”

Looking ahead to his likely rematch with Trump in November, Biden told the crowd “you’re the reason we’re going to win and beat him again.”

In a sign of the importance of the Black vote, the president kicked off his reelection bid last month at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, where nine Black parishioners were killed in a 2015 mass shooting.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

But some Democratic leaders have been raising concerns regarding the president’s underwhelming support among some Black voters.

Spain told Fox News the key is to get the message out.

“I do believe that it’s not enthusiasm, it’s information,” she said.

And Spain predicted support would solidify “once we share the information about how President Biden and the Democrats have been delivering on things.”

Vice President Harris, who made history as the nation’s first female and Black vice president, told the crowd at a get-out-the-vote rally at a historically Black university in Orangeburg on the eve of the primary that “South Carolina, you are the first primary in the nation and President Biden and I are counting on you.”

And pointing to Trump, Harris argued that “for years, the former president has stoked the fires of hate and bigotry and racism and xenophobia for his own power and political gain.”

“The former president has told us who he is, and it is on us, then, to recognize the profound threat he poses to our democracy and to our freedoms,” she warned the crowd.

Fox News’ James Levinson contributed to this report

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

ORANGEBURG, S.C. – Vice President Harris, on the eve of South Carolina’s Democratic presidential nominating primary, highlighting the significance of the state’s leadoff position.

“South Carolina, you are the first primary in the nation and President Biden and I are counting on you,” Harris said at a campaign event at South Carolina State University. 

“Are you ready to make your voices heard,” asked the crowd gathered Friday at the historically Black university.

South Carolina, where Black voters play an outsized role in state Democratic politics, for the first time is leading off the party’s official presidential nominating calendar.

HALEY SAYS ‘CLOSING THE GAP’ WITH TRUMP HER GOAL IN SOUTH CAROLINA GOP PRIMARY

And much of the credit goes to President Biden, who orchestrated an upending of the Democratic National Committee’s long-running nominating calendar to place the Palmetto State first.

“If you ever doubt that the power to change America is in your hands, remember this. You proved it. You’re the reason I am president. That’s right. You’re the reason Kamala Harris is a historic vice president,” Biden emphasized last weekend as he spoke at a major South Carolina Democratic Party gathering.  

HALEY, TRUMP, TRADE SHOTS OVER WHO’S THE WEAKER CANDIDATE AGAINST BIDEN

Four years ago, the then-former vice president was reeling, after a fourth place finish in the Iowa caucuses and a fifth place showing in the New Hampshire primary. 

Biden rebounded with a distant second place finish to Sen. Bernie Sanders in Nevada’s caucuses, which was followed by a landslide victory in the South Carolina primary. Biden’s demolishing of the rest of the field of Democratic rivals – boosted in large part by the support of longtime Democratic Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina – rocketed Biden towards the party’s nomination and eventually the White House.

National Democrats for years knocked both Iowa and New Hampshire – which led both national parties’ nominating calendars for half a century – as unrepresentative of the party as a whole because the states have largely Caucasian populations with few major urban areas. Nevada and South Carolina, which in recent cycles voted third and fourth on the calendar, are much more diverse than either Iowa or New Hampshire.

While Republicans didn’t make major changes to their 2024 schedule, the DNC a year ago overwhelmingly approved a calendar proposed by Biden to move South Carolina to the lead position. The president and supporters of the new calendar argued that it would empower minority voters, upon whom Democrats have long relied but have at times taken for granted.

Plenty of political analysts also saw the move as a thank you by Biden to Clyburn and South Carolina for the role they played in his 2020 election.

While Iowa eventually complied with the DNC, New Hampshire adhered to a half-century-old state law that mandates their presidential primary goes first.

New Hampshire held its primary for both parties on Jan. 23, and the Democratic contest was unsanctioned by the DNC, with no delegates at stake.

Biden didn’t file to place his name on the New Hampshire primary ballot and didn’t campaign in the state. But he still won over 60% of the vote in the contest, thanks to a well-funded write-in effort by top Granite State Democrats. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

But Biden’s on the ballot in South Carolina, as are his two long-shot primary challengers, Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota and Marianne Williamson, the best-selling author and spiritual adviser who’s making her second straight White House run.

Phillips, who captured nearly 20% of the vote in New Hampshire after heavily campaigning there, appears to have waved the white flag in South Carolina. Phillips last campaigned in the Palmetto State a week ago.

Biden’s expected to once again carry South Carolina by a massive margin.

“This primary is contested, but it isn’t competitive,” South Carolina Democratic Party chair Christale Spain told Fox News on Friday.”

And spotlighting the significance of going first in the calendar, she said “it means, for the first time in this country’s history, that Black voters get to have their voices heard first in the process. Not later on. That southern voters get to go first. Rural voters get to go first. So it’s a huge deal.”

Fox News’ Nick Rojas contributed to this report

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

• Democrats in the New Mexico Legislature have advanced a bill that would make posing as a fake presidential elector a crime.
• Republican state Rep. Bill Rehm slammed the legislation as “politically motivated against a different party,” decrying the felony charges a violation would carry as particularly harsh.
• Violations would be punishable by up to three years in prison and fines as high as $5,000.

New Mexico Democrats who control the Legislature want to make it a crime to pose as a fake presidential elector in one of the few states where Republicans signed certificates in 2020 falsely declaring Donald Trump the winner.

Legislators advanced a bill Friday on a party-line committee vote that would make it a felony starting in the 2024 presidential election to submit a fake elector certificate “knowingly or recklessly.” The Legislature’s Republican minority would need Democratic support to vote down the legislation, which carries criminal penalties like those being considered in a handful of other states.

Republican electors signed certificates in seven states — mostly with battleground contests — indicating falsely that Trump had won the 2020 election, a strategy at the center of criminal charges against Trump and his associates.

FORMER NEW MEXICO GOVERNOR ON THE BORDER CRISIS: THIS IS NOT ABOUT POLITICS

In New Mexico, President Joe Biden won by 11 percentage points, or about 100,000 votes — the largest margin among the states where so-called fake electors have been implicated.

Last year, Nevada Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoed a bill that would have made it a crime to sign certificates falsely stating that a losing political candidate has won, with penalties of between four and 10 years in prison. In Colorado, where there were no false elector certificates in 2020, the Democratic-led Legislature is considering a bill that would make participating in a fake elector scheme a crime and ban people who do from office.

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, a Democrat, in January announced his decision not to prosecute local Republicans who signed the elector certificates — while urging lawmakers to provide legal authority for prosecuting similar conduct in the future and enhance the security of the state’s electoral process.

“We should recognize the seriousness of this conduct,” he told a state Senate panel in January.

On Friday in Santa Fe, Republican state Rep. Bill Rehm of Albuquerque said the legislation is “politically motivated against a different party.” He voted against it, noting that felony provisions are especially stiff. Violations would be punishable by up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000. Fake electors didn’t change Biden’s win in 2020, he said.

“I do not think there was any intent in New Mexico to change the outcome,” he said. “I think that if we could remove the politics that is the undertone of this, it would be a different situation.”

In New Mexico and Pennsylvania, fake electors added a caveat saying the certificate was submitted in case they were later recognized as duly elected, qualified electors. That would only have been possible if Trump had won any of several dozen legal battles he waged against states in the weeks after the election.

Democratic officials have launched separate investigations in some states, resulting in indictments against GOP electors.

In December, a Nevada grand jury indicted six Republicans with felony charges in connection with false election certificates. They have pleaded not guilty.

Michigan’s Attorney General filed felony charges in July 2023 against 16 Republican fake electors, including forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery. For one of them, charges were dropped after reaching a cooperation deal. The top charge carried a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

Three fake electors also have been charged in Georgia alongside Trump and others in a sweeping indictment accusing them of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to illegally overturn the results of the presidential election. They have pleaded not guilty.

The New Mexico bill, from Democrats including Majority House Floor Leader Gail Chasey of Albuquerque, also would establish felony penalties for disrupting election results — defined as knowingly or recklessly suppressing, defacing, altering, forging or otherwise falsifying election documents, or preparing or submitting false election documents.

Republican Party of New Mexico Chairman Steve Pearce has accused the state attorney general of trying to criminalize a process “used by both Democrats and Republicans,” referring to the 1960 presidential election. Democratic electors in Hawaii cast votes for John F. Kennedy despite that state initially being called for Republican Richard Nixon.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

But the outcome of the Hawaii election was unclear, requiring a recount, and Nixon would end up losing the state. After the 2020 election, every court challenge the Trump campaign and its allies filed to contest his loss has failed.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The man appointed to chair Arkansas‘ parole board by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders was fired from a local police department several years ago after lying to investigators about having sex with a minor, documents released by the department show.

Jamol Jones, who Sanders named the board’s chair last week, was fired from the Benton Police Department in 2018 for lying to investigators about whether he had sex with a 17-year-old girl, according to his personnel file released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. The documents were first reported Thursday night by Little Rock television station KATV.

ARKANSAS TOWN WITHOUT WATER FOR TWO WEEKS AS OLD INFRASTRUCTURE FREEZES, FAILS

Jones lied twice to criminal investigators looking into the relationship, and he initially told them he had only talked with the girl. Prosecutors didn’t pursue any charges against Jones, but he was fired for violating the department’s code of ethics by lying to investigators, the documents show.

According to the documents, Jones told an internal affairs investigator that he did not know the girl’s age but he acknowledged he “should have picked up on some clues” including Snapchat messages where she talked about going to classes all day.

A spokeswoman for Sanders did not say whether the governor or her office knew about the investigation into Jones before she appointed him, or whether Sanders believed he should still serve as parole board chair.

“Jamol bravely served our nation in the Army and protected his community as a police officer providing him with the experience and knowledge to serve on the Post-Prison Transfer Board and the Board of Corrections,” spokeswoman Alexa Henning said in an email.

Sanders last week said Jones’ “prior law enforcement experience makes him a clear choice to take on this important role.” His appointment chairing the seven-member panel expires Jan. 14, 2030.

Jones is an Army veteran who also served as a corporal assigned to patrol at training divisions at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Jones did not say whether he had discussed the investigation and his firing with the governor’s office before the appointment.

“I did not break any laws, no charges were filed, but I made a mistake I’ve asked God and my families forgiveness for, and I take full responsibility for my actions,” Jones said in an email. “I am proud of my service to our country and our state, and the support of my wife and family.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

As parole board chairman, Jones also serves as a member of the state Board of Corrections. The revelations about his firing come as Sanders and the panel have been in an escalating fight over who controls the state’s prison system.

A state judge has blocked a law Sanders signed last year that took away the board’s ability to hire and fire the secretary of corrections. Following that ruling, the board fired Sanders’ appointee to the post.

A group trying to stop voter challenges in Georgia says it will appeal a trial court ruling that such challenges don’t violate federal voting rights law.

Fair Fight Action on Friday filed notice that it would ask the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the lower court’s ruling. Democratic lawyer Mark Elias said his firm would handle the appeal without charging Fair Fight.

U.S. District Judge Steve Jones ruled last month that Texas-based nonprofit True the Vote did not violate the Voting Rights Act when it announced it was challenging the eligibility of more than 360,000 Georgia voters just before a 2021 runoff election for two pivotal U.S. Senate seats.

STACEY ABRAMS’ ONCE-POWERFUL VOTING RIGHTS GROUP FACES MASSIVE LAYOFFS AS IT STRUGGLES WITH MILLIONS IN DEBT

Fair Fight, a voting rights group founded by former Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, had sued True the Vote and several individuals, alleging that their actions violated a section of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that prohibits voter intimidation.

Although Jones ruled that True the Vote didn’t intimidate or attempt to intimidate any particular voter, he expressed concerns about the group’s methods. Jones wrote that its list of voters to be challenged “utterly lacked reliability” and “verges on recklessness.”

In the weeks after the November 2020 general election, then-President Donald Trump and his supporters were promoting false claims of widespread voter fraud that had cost him the election. In Georgia, two U.S. Senate races that would ultimately decide control of the Senate were headed for an early January runoff election.

True the Vote announced the voter challenges saying it believed voters no longer lived in districts where they were registered and were ineligible to vote there.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Georgia election officials rejected only a few dozen ballots cast in the runoff, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock went on to beat Republican incumbents David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler by tens of thousands of votes, securing Senate control for their party.

House Republicans have subpoenaed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis amid allegations of misconduct, Fox News has learned.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, subpoenaed Willis as she is accused of misusing federal funds in Georgia. She is also alleged to have fired a whistleblower from her office over the same issue.

Willis has made headlines over the past two years as she has charged former President Trump with allegedly attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The subpoena is for documents related to the Fulton County DA’s office receipt and use of federal funds. 

‘THE VIEW’ CO-HOSTS SLAM GEORGIA DA FANI WILLIS FOR ALLEGED AFFAIR WITH TRUMP PROSECUTOR

The subpoena requires Willis to turn over “all documents and communications referring or relating to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office’s receipt and use of federal funds, including but not limited to, federal funds from the Department of Justice’s Office Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.”

In addition, she is being asked to turn over all documents from the same offices “referring to or relating to any allegations of the misuse of federal funds.” 

Willis’s office responded to the subpoena Friday, shortly after it was made public.

“These false allegations are included in baseless litigation filed by a holdover employee from the previous administration who was terminated for cause,” she said in a statement obtained by Fox News. “The courts that have ruled found no merit in these claims. We expect the same result in any pending litigation.”

She added: “Any examination of the records of our grant programs will find that they are highly effective and conducted in cooperation with the Department of Justice and in compliance with all Department of Justice requirements. Our federal grant programs are focused on helping at-risk youth and seeking justice for sexual assault victims who were too long ignored. Our federal grant-funded Sexual Assault Kit Initiative has been cited by the United States Attorney General as a model program. We are proud of our grant programs and our partnership with the Department of Justice that makes Fulton County a safer, more just place.”

It comes after the Judiciary Committee requested the documents on three different occasions, in Aug. 2023, Sept. 2023, and Dec. 2023.

GA SENATE LAUNCHES COMMITTEE TO PROBE TRUMP PROSECUTOR FANI WILLIS FOR ‘IMPROPER’ AFFAIR

“To date, you have failed to comply voluntarily with any of our requests,” the committee wrote in a letter to Willis.

It added: “The Committee’s oversight of your office’s use of federal grant funds is particularly relevant in light of public whistleblower allegations that it has misused federal funding.” 

She stands accused of using part a $488,000 federal grant allocated for the purpose of helping at-risk youths for “frivolous, unrelated expenses,” the letter said. It went on to say the money was used for Macbooks, clothes, and travel.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

Trump has pleaded not guilty in the Willis-led case.

Fox News’ Kelly Phares and Samantha Daigle 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 trial stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s 2020 election interference investigation has been delayed indefinitely, Fox News has learned.

The trial was set to begin on March 4 — a day before the critical Super Tuesday primary contests, when Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Vermont vote to select a GOP nominee.

Washington, D.C., federal Judge Tanya Chutkan on Friday formally vacated the March 4 trial date, saying the court will “set a new schedule if and when the mandate is returned.”

A federal appeals court is considering Trump’s claim of presidential immunity from prosecution for his actions in office. A ruling from that court is expected, and the Supreme Court may eventually review the issue.

The delay comes after Smith in December asked the Supreme Court to rule on whether Trump can be prosecuted on charges relating to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

Additionally, lawyers for Trump filed a motion urging Chutkan to pause proceedings against Trump in the Jan. 6 case while his appeal is pending. 

Chutkan said in December that she does not have jurisdiction over the matter while it is pending before the Supreme Court, and she put a pause on the case against the Republican 2024 front-runner until the high court determines its involvement.

Smith charged the former president with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights. Those charges stemmed from Smith’s investigation into whether Trump was involved in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, and any alleged interference in the 2020 election result.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges in August 2023.

• U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Traynor ruled Friday against Burleigh County, North Dakota Auditor Mark Splonskowski in a lawsuit brought by the latter over the Peace Garden State’s mail-in ballot-counting practices.
• Splonskowski’s challenge specifically concerned the acceptance of mail-in ballots after Election Day, arguing it runs afoul of federal law.
• The lawsuit, backed by a pro-Trump legal group, was discarded after Splonskowski failed to demonstrate that the law harmed him or violated his constitutional rights.

A federal judge in North Dakota has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the acceptance of mail-in ballots after Election Day brought by a county election official and backed by a legal group aligned with former President Donald Trump.

In his Friday ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Traynor said Burleigh County Auditor Mark Splonskowski lacks standing to bring the case, and failed to show he was harmed by the law or that his constitutional rights will be violated. The auditor alleged state and federal law conflict as to the counting of mail ballots received after Election Day.

“According to Splonskowski, following his understanding of federal law will inevitably result in criminal prosecution under North Dakota law because he will have to forego his duty to follow North Dakota election law,” Traynor wrote, adding later, “This is deeply concerning to the Court that an elected official openly advocates for violating the law he was elected to enforce because he has independently concluded it contradicts federal law.”

FORMER NORTH DAKOTA SENATOR TOM CAMPBELL LAUNCHES BID FOR STATE’S ONLY US HOUSE SEAT

The judge also said the reasoning in Splonskowski’s lawsuit, if successful, “could be utilized against” overseas and military voters’ rights to vote.

“This, indeed, is a concerning position for an elected official to take,” wrote Traynor, who also said Splonskowski should have asked the local state’s attorney for an opinion about the legal conflict he alleged.

“He may wish to do so before the next election as it may avoid his potential prosecution … or removal from office,” the judge said in a footnote citing state laws for those avenues.

North Dakota Republican Secretary of State Michael Howe welcomed the ruling as “a win for the rule of law in North Dakota and a win for our military and overseas voters.” About 29% of North Dakota voters cast their ballots by mail in the November 2022 general election.

In September, the judge had asked the parties whether he should dismiss the case because Splonskowski had no approval from the county commission to sue in his official capacity as auditor. He said he brought the lawsuit against the state’s election director as an individual and not in an official capacity. The judge found otherwise.

Splonskowski, backed by the Public Interest Legal Foundation, filed the lawsuit against the state election director in July. He argued he “faces an impossibility in enforcing the law” around whether to accept mail-in ballots received after election day, alleging federal and state law conflict as to when those ballots must be turned in. He claimed he risks criminal penalties.

Foundation spokesperson Lauren Bowman Bis said, “We are disappointed in the Court’s ruling. We believe unresolved elections undermine confidence and that federal law should be followed.”

North Dakota law allows mailed ballots received after election day to be counted by county canvassing boards, which meet 13 days after the election, but those ballots must be postmarked before the date of the election.

In September, attorneys for the Voting Section of the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division filed a statement of interest in the case, saying North Dakota’s law is consistent with federal law, and ensures military and overseas voters have enough time for their ballots to be counted.

The foundation brought voting-related lawsuits in Pennsylvania and Arizona amid Trump’s claims of 2020 election fraud.

Splonskowski was elected in 2022 as the top election official in the county that is home to Bismarck, North Dakota’s capital city.

A similar lawsuit filed last week in Mississippi by Republican entities, including the Republican National Committee, also targets mail ballots received after election day.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Political observers say the efforts would disenfranchise or penalize voters, if successful.