NationalWatch

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich told an audience at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library that Democratic Party leaders will not rest until former President Donald Trump is in jail.

Gingrich speculated that Trump’s political opponents’ main goal is to prevent the former president from standing in the upcoming presidential election due to President Biden’s poor approval ratings.

“Their goal is to put him in jail. Literally. I mean, if they can get to the right place, they will have him in chains,” Gingrich told the audience in Simi Valley, California, on Wednesday.

NEWT GINGRICH: THIS IS NOT A WAR AGAINST TRUMP, IT IS A WAR AGAINST AMERICANS

He continued, “And their hope is that if the American people see this guy in chains, they won’t vote for him.”

However, Gingrich suggested that the overzealous effort to remove Trump as a candidate could prove the ultimate undoing of the officials seeking to imprison him.

“Now, what’s happening, of course, is because they’ve gone to overkill — I mean, you get to do one of these. But, you do three or four or five of them — people get the joke.”

NEWT GINGRICH ROASTS JOHN KERRY’S CLIMATE CONFERENCE TRIP: ‘DEEPLY COMMITTED TO TAKING YOUR MONEY’

The former house speaker said that the repeated failures have only served to bolster Trump as the election draws closer, and that Democrats can expect an “explosion of outrage” if the latest bids to put Trump in prison succeed.

“What they’re likely to have, I think, is an explosion of outrage across the whole country on a scale we have not seen in our lifetime, because people are going to just say, ‘This whole thing is rigged,’” Gingrich said.

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He added, “It’s absurd, but the danger is that they have the power of the government.”

Former President Donald Trump delivered his own closing argument in the non-jury civil trial stemming from New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit Thursday, saying he “did nothing wrong,” that his financial statements were “perfect” and blasting the case as “election interference.”

Closing arguments in the trial began Thursday morning. The former president and 2024 GOP frontrunner was expected to deliver his own closing statement, but New York Judge Arthur Engoron rescinded the court’s offer for him to do so on Wednesday. 

During Trump attorney Chris Kise’s closing statement, he requested permission for Trump to speak – a request Engoron denied, but, regardless of the judge’s decision, Trump began to deliver his own remarks. 

NEW YORK JUDGE ENGORON RESCINDS OFFER FOR TRUMP TO DELIVER CLOSING ARGUMENT IN NYAG CIVIL TRIAL

Trump said his financial statements were “perfect,” and stressed that the bank loans were repaid and are “as happy as can be.”  

Trump acknowledged that there was an “error” made regarding one “triplex,” but said that mistake was “immediately corrected” and was an “honest mistake.” 

“When you say don’t go outside of these things, I’m an innocent man, persecuted,” Trump said to Engoron, while blasting the case as “election interference,” and saying if he is “not allowed to talk about it, it’s a disservice.” 

Engoron told Trump to wrap up his remarks within one minute, but Trump fired back, saying: “You can’t listen for more than one minute?” 

“Mr. Kise, please control your client,” Engoron said to Trump’s attorney.

Engoron then asked Trump: “Haven’t you been sued before?” 

Trump replied: “Yes.” 

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But the former president went on, saying: “I did nothing wrong, they should pay me for what I’ve been put through.”

Trump defended his business empire and said he was sued to get publicity. 

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. 

President Biden has consistently held several closed-door meetings with his top donors to alleviate their concerns heading into the 2024 election, including worries about his age and energy, according to a report.

Biden’s attempts to suppress their anxieties have occurred since the launch of his re-election campaign last spring. The meetings have taken place at the White House and included at least six sessions, each consisting of between four and eight people, and have covered an array of issues, such as how to handle former President Trump if he wins the Republican nomination and abortion rights.

Individuals familiar with the matter told the Washington Post, which first reported on the behind-the-scenes gatherings, that Biden’s age and energy were also among their concerns.

HILLARY CLINTON SAYS BIDEN’S AGE IS A LEGITIMATE ISSUE: ‘PEOPLE HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO CONSIDER IT’

“It has dispelled anybody who has any doubts about his determination and his energy and his passion,” a person familiar with the meetings told the Post. 

“It just gives him some seasoning. That is good. It gives him energy, which is very good,” they said. “And these people who are wondering if he has lost a step, they leave and are like, ‘That was great.'”

In addition to his top contributors, other individuals that Biden has known for some time have been in attendance, according to the report. The meetings have occurred in areas of the White House not considered “official workspaces,” where political activity can be discussed, such as the Map Room and a private dining room.

However, other reports from Wednesday indicate Biden previously showed the donors the Oval Office. The White House Counsel’s office allegedly warned him last year to stop to prevent any potential legal issues, Axios reported.

While the exact people who have attended the discussions are unknown, former Disney CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, a left-wing megadonor who co-chairs Biden’s campaign, has facilitated the meetings. Katzenberg told Reuters last year that he believed attacks on Biden’s age would backfire on those who made it an issue, and added his age is his “superpower.” 

The worries of his top supporters align with those acknowledged by other prominent Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, who has said Biden’s age is an issue and people have a right to consider it.

Clinton made the comments last May during a Financial Times panel after the moderator referenced an incident when Biden almost tumbled down a flight of stairs.

DAVID AXELROD WARNS BIDEN’S ‘AGE ISSUE’ IS CONSISTENT CONCERN AMONG VOTERS: ‘ONE THING YOU CAN’T REVERSE’

“There was that heart-stopping moment when he almost fell over coming down the stairs a day or two ago,” the outlet’s editor said. “He didn’t use a railing, and Jill wasn’t there with him.” 

“Every time that happens, your heart is in your mouth because these things could be consequential. Is that a concern?” he asked.

“It’s a concern for anyone,” Clinton responded. “We’ve had presidents who had fallen before who were a lot younger, and people didn’t go into heart palpitations.”

“But his age is an issue, and people have every right to consider it,” Clinton added. “But, you know, he has this great saying – and I think he’s right – don’t judge him for running against the Almighty but against the alternative. I am of the camp that I think he’s determined to run; he has a good record that, three years ago, people would not have predicted would have gotten done.”

David Axelrod, a former adviser to former President Obama, also brought up worry over Biden’s age among voters in November.

“I have no concerns about polls a year out. I mean, you have to look at them and analyze them and adjust,” Axelrod said. “But I was in a situation as a strategist for Barack Obama in 2011 where we were facing some difficult polls.”

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“The one number in the polling that was concerning, and in the CNN poll that followed after The New York Times poll, had to do with age, and that is one thing you can’t reverse no matter how effective Joe Biden is behind the scenes,” he added. “In front of the camera, what he’s projecting is causing people concerns, and that is worrisome,” 

The White House and Biden’s campaign did not immediately provide a comment. 

FIRST ON FOX — It was another solid fundraising quarter for Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz as he builds resources for his campaign for re-election this year to a third six-year term in the Senate.

The conservative firebrand lawmaker brought in $5.5 million during the October-December fourth quarter of 2023 fundraising, according to figures shared first with Fox News on Thursday morning.

Cruz’s haul from his three fundraising committees is up slightly from the $5.4 million he brought in the previous three months. He raised $4.4 million during the April-June second quarter and $1.8 million during the first three months of 2023. 

The senator’s fourth quarter haul is also a $3.7 million increase from the final three months of 2017, the similar fundraising quarter during his 2018 re-election campaign.

TEXAS: THE RED STATE DEMOCRATS CONTINUOUSLY DREAM OF TURNING BLUE, BUT KEEEP FALLING SHORT

The senator’s team also highlighted that, additionally, the Ted Cruz Victory Fund brought in $1.4 million that was transferred to the National Republican Senatorial Committee — the Senate GOP’s campaign arm — and to the Republican Party of Texas.

The campaign showcased that they had 78,000 unique contributions, with an average contribution of $36.67, from Texans in 247 out of the Lone Star State’s 254 counties, as well as supporters in all 50 states. 

The Cruz campaign also reported that it closed out 2023 with over $7.3 million cash-on-hand.

THESE FIVE DEMOCRATIC-HELD SENATE SEATS ARE MOST LIKELY TO FLIP IN NOVEMBER

Cruz spokesman Nick Maddux told Fox News in a statement that “we continue to see an increase in energy and support from patriots across the Lone Star State and the nation. Texans are fired up to re-elect Senator Ted Cruz and ensure that Texas remains our nation’s conservative stronghold.”

Additionally, he argued that “the stakes could not be higher as the radical left threatens to dismantle our Texan way of life, which is why Senator Cruz will continue blazing his campaign trail with the people of Texas to ensure that we keep Texas Texas.”

Cruz has said that his re-election bid is “going to be a firefight,” and there is a large field of Democrats gunning to win their party’s nomination and face off with him in November.

Cruz, who narrowly defeated then-Rep. Beto O’Rourke in a hard-fought 2018 Senate battle, touted in a Fox News Digital interview last year that, after former President Trump, “there is no Republican in the country that Democrats hate more than me.”

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He added that is “something I wear as a badge of honor. There is no Republican that they would like to beat more than me.”

Cruz was significantly out-raised in that 2018 showdown by O’Rourke, and Rep. Colin Allred, the most prominent of the Democrats running to take on Cruz, topped the senator by nearly $2 million during the second quarter of 2023, but the senator topped Allred in the third quarter by roughly $600,000.

Allred has yet to announce his fourth quarter fundraising. Candidates for the Senate have until Jan. 15 to file their reports with the Federal Election Commission.

Senate Democrats are defending their fragile 51-49 majority in November’s elections.

Republicans need a net gain of either one or two seats to win back the majority — depending on which party controls the White House after next year’s presidential election. 

The math and the map favor the GOP, as the Democrats are defending 23 of the 34 seats up for grabs, including three in red states and a handful in key general election battlegrounds.

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

A federal appeals court said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis violated the First Amendment rights of former Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren, who DeSantis suspended from office in 2022 over neglect of duty and incompetence.

In a unanimous ruling on Wednesday, a three-judge panel on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals said a lower court failed to consider certain First Amendment violations made by DeSantis when he removed Warren and remanded the case.

DeSantis suspended Warren in 2022 via executive order for “neglect of duty,” after the prosecutor declared he would not prosecute anyone who violates state abortion restrictions, nor would he prosecute those who violate prohibitions against certain types of gender-transition treatment for minors. 

The Eleventh Circuit panel found DeSantis “lacked probable cause to believe Warren neglected his duty or war incompetent.” 

FLORIDA GOV. RON DESANTIS SUSPENDS ‘SOROS-BACKED’ STATE ATTORNEY WHO REFUSED TO ENFORCE ABORTION BAN

“The First Amendment prevents DeSantis from identifying a reform prosecutor and then suspending him to garner political benefit,” U.S. Circuit Judge Jill Pryor wrote. “On remand, DeSantis must prove that unprotected activity, such as Warren’s actual performance or his policies, motivated him to suspend Warren.”

The panel consisted of Pryor, an Obama appointee, U.S. Circuit Judge Kevin Newsome, a Trump appointee, and U.S. District Judge Anne Conway, a George H.W. Bush appointee. 

A DeSantis spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

FLORIDA PROSECUTOR ANDREW WARREN SUES GOV. RON DESANTIS OVER SUSPENSION

Following DeSantis’ suspension of Warren last year, the governor told Fox News at the time: “I do think that some of these prosecutors that have very militant agenda in terms of ideology have been able to get away with a lot in other states … We’ve had prosecutors around this country that think they can pick and choose which laws to enforce.”

DeSantis has called Warren a “Soros-backed” prosecutor and taken credit for firing him in stump speeches as he campaigns for the 2024 Republican nomination for president. 

Warren sued DeSantis after he was suspended last year, claiming that the suspension was retaliation for opposing the governor’s policies and positions.

“This is what we’ve been fighting for from the beginning — the protection of democracy,” Warren posted on X after the panel ruled in his favor. “We look forward to returning to the district court for the relief that has been denied to me and all the voters of Hillsborough County for 17 months: reinstating the person elected by the voters.” 

COURT UPHOLDS GOV. RON DESANTIS’ SUSPENSION OF PROSECUTOR WITH ‘MILITANT AGENDA’

Tallahasee-based U.S. Judge Robert Hinkle previously found that DeSantis’ decision to suspend Warren violated the U.S. Constituion and Florida state Constitution, but upheld the suspension anyway.

The lower court identified six factors that influenced DeSantis’ decision and said two of those factors violated Warren’s First Amendment rights. However, Hinkle ruled the governor would have suspended Warren based on the other four factors anyway and ruled in DeSantis’ favor.

The Eleventh Circuit said two more factors identified by the lower court were protected by the FIrst Amendment and sent the case back to Tallahassee for reconsideration. 

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“On remand, DeSantis must prove that unprotected activity, such as Warren’s actual performance or his policies, motivated him to suspend Warren,” the court said. 

Earlier this week, Warren announced he’s not seeking re-election as state attorney. DeSantis appointed Suzy Lopez to replace him and Lopez is running for reelection. 

Fox News Digital’s Kyle Morris contributed to this report.

Former President Donald Trump signaled during an Iowa Town Hall event on Fox News Wednesday night that he has already decided who he will choose to be his running mate in 2024. 

“I can’t tell you that really, I mean, I know who it’s going to be,” Trump said when he was asked who his running mate will be in 2024.

“We’ll do another show sometime,” Trump said when pushed by host Martha MacCallum to “give us a hint.”

“What about any of the people who you’ve run against?” MacCallum asked. “Would you be open to mending fences with any of them?”

OBAMA INCREASINGLY WORRIED ABOUT TRUMP BEATING BIDEN, REPORT SAYS: ‘INCALCULABLE DAMAGE’

“Oh, sure. I will, I will,” Trump responded. “I’ve already started to like Christie better.”

“Christie for vice president?” MacCallum joked.

TRUMP TAKES NO CHANCES AS IOWA’S REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CAUCUSES APPROACH

“I don’t see it, I don’t see it,” Trump said. “That would be an upset. Christie for vice president. Ladies and Gentlemen, I’d like to announce, nah.”

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced earlier in the day that he has suspended his presidential campaign. 

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Speculation about Trump’s potential running mate has run rampant in recent months with a variety of names being floated including GOP Congresswoman Nancy Mace, South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem, Trump’s GOP opponent and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.

The website OddsChecker.com currently lists Noem as the betting favorite followed GOP Congresswoman Elise Stefanik and GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. 

Closing arguments in the non-jury civil trial stemming from New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit against former President Trump and his business empire are expected to be delivered Thursday.

The trial began in October, after James sued Trump, his family and his business empire claiming he inflated his financial statements and deceived banks.

NEW YORK JUDGE ENGORON RESCINDS OFFER FOR TRUMP TO DELIVER CLOSING ARGUMENT IN NYAG CIVIL TRIAL

Trump and his family have denied any wrongdoing. The former president has repeatedly said his assets were actually undervalued. Trump has repeatedly said his financial statements had disclaimers, requesting that the numbers be evaluated by the banks.

Closing arguments are set to begin at 10 a.m. ET. It is unclear if Trump will be present for the proceedings. 

Judge Arthur Engoron on Wednesday rescinded the court’s offer for Trump to deliver his own closing argument in the case Thursday.

Engoron had initially approved the request for Trump to make his own closing statement, but said the former president would be required to limit his remarks to “commentary on the relevant, material facts that are in evidence, and application of the relevant law to those facts.”

Engoron said Trump would be prohibited from introducing new evidence or commenting on “irrelevant matters” and said he could not “deliver a campaign speech” or speak ill of court staff or the attorney general.

However, Trump attorney Chris Kise, in an email to Engoron, said Trump has “been wrongfully demeaned and belittled by an out of control, politically motivated Attorney General” and he should be allowed to “speak about the things that must be spoken about.” 

DEUTSCHE BANK SOUGHT OUT ‘WHALE’ OF A CLIENT IN TRUMP, BENEFITED FROM RELATIONSHIP, FORMER EXECUTIVE TESTIFIES

Kise also requested to postpone closing arguments, citing the death of Trump’s mother-in-law, Amalija Knavs, whom Kise said Trump “was very close to.” 

Former first lady Melania Trump made the announcement about her mother’s passing on X late Tuesday.

Engoron said he was “sorry to hear the sad news,” but denied the request.

Engoron went on to impose a deadline for Kise to agree, on behalf of Trump, to abide by his rules for the closing argument — a deadline Kise missed.

“Not having heard from you by the third extended deadline (noon today), I assume that Mr. Trump will not agree to the reasonable, lawful limits I have imposed as a precondition to giving a closing statement above and beyond those given by his attorneys, and that, therefore, he will not be speaking in court tomorrow,” Engoron wrote in an email Wednesday.

MELANIA TRUMP ANNOUNCES PASSING OF ‘BELOVED’ MOTHER: ‘WE WILL MISS HER BEYOND MEASURE’

James filed the lawsuit against Trump “under a consumer protection statute that denies the right to a jury,” a Trump spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

“There was never an option to choose a jury trial,” the spokesperson said. “It is unfortunate that a jury won’t be able to hear how absurd the merits of this case are and conclude no wrongdoing ever happened.”

James is seeking more than $370 million from Trump and his family, claiming the funds would be repayment for the profits she claims were illicitly gained.

TRUMP DEMANDS JURY, SAYS NEW YORK AG HAS ‘NO CASE’ IN HEATED TESTIMONY

Back in September, Engoron ruled that Trump and the Trump Organization had committed fraud while building his real estate empire, by deceiving banks, insurers and others, by overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing financing.

“He ruled against me without knowing anything about me,” Trump said on the stand during the trial. “He called me a fraud, and he didn’t know anything about me.”

Throughout the trial, Trump attorneys brought witnesses, like former Deutsche Bank top executives, who testified the banks sought additional business from Trump, who they viewed as a “whale of a client.”

Trump’s defense also brought in expert witnesses, like New York University accounting professor Eli Bartov, who reviewed the Trump financial statements at issue in the case and said he found no evidence of accounting fraud.

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Bartov testified last month that Trump’s financial statements didn’t violate accounting principles, and he suggested that anything problematic — like a huge year-to-year leap in the estimated value of his Trump Tower penthouse — was simply an error.

“My main finding is that there is no evidence whatsoever of any accounting fraud,” Bartov testified. Trump’s financial statements, he said, “were not materially misstated.”

It was an undeniable stunt by Hunter Biden – and it wasn’t even as effective as his last stunt.

The president’s son crashed his own House contempt hearing yesterday, sat in the front row and dramatically walked out – with all three cable news networks following him to the press mob in the hallway. His lawyer ripped the Republican-run committee for refusing to hold a public hearing, and Hunter soon slipped into a waiting SUV while mumbling only a few words to the press. 

None of this was good for his father, whose White House aides are frustrated when Hunter seizes the spotlight, reviving questions about unethical business practices tied to the impeachment inquiry of the president.

TRUMP GOES TO FEDERAL IMMUNITY HEARING, SKIPPING IOWA, SEIZES MEDIA SPOTLIGHT

Just a day earlier, Lloyd Austin’s disappearing act turned into a full-fledged firestorm. We learned–not long after the White House did – that the Pentagon chief is battling prostate cancer.

The idea that nine days after he was rushed to Walter Reed, we finally found out that Austin was being treated for a serious disease, and not the “minor” elective procedure he had claimed, is mind-boggling. Of course we all wish the retired general, who is still hospitalized, a speedy recovery.

For days, Joe Biden couldn’t consult with the man overseeing America’s armed forces, didn’t even know he was in the hospital. The secretary of Defense, who is in the nuclear chain of command, was AWOL. And yet the White House coughed up a statement saying the president still has confidence in him.

All of which makes Biden look weak and unwilling to fire anyone.

The two episodes are unconnected, but they underscore how the administration often seems to lose control of events.

BIDEN TEAM COMPLAINS ABOUT TRUMP COVERAGE; THE ‘FULL HITLER’ CONFRONTATION

When Hunter Biden last made a surprise appearance, outside the Capitol, he spoke to reporters about how he was ready to testify, but not in a closed-door session. At least the public got to hear him and weigh his case.

The argument for public testimony has a certain populist appeal. But the truth is that Hill committees routinely demand private depositions, spending hours vacuuming up details, before they grant a televised hearing. And Biden could be charged with contempt of Congress on that basis alone.

When Hunter and his entourage walked in, GOP Rep. Nancy Mace demanded he be immediately jailed. When they walked about, Marjorie Taylor Greene accused him of being afraid of strong conservative women.

By the time his attorney was making his hallway comments, Hunter briskly walked toward the exit, looking like he was heading back into hiding. The novelty had worn off.

And keep in mind that Hunter is under criminal indictment. So he’s going to continue to be an albatross for his dad.

Meanwhile, bipartisan criticism continues to build over Austin’s shocking lack of candor. Pennsylvania Democrat Chris Deluzio yesterday became the first lawmaker in his party to call for the secretary’s resignation.

The prostate cancer disclosure has brought into sharp relief that Austin did something that might have gotten an ordinary soldier court-martialed for being MIA.

And one broader point: The reclusive Austin rarely talks to reporters or holds news conferences and takes only a handful of journalists on foreign trips. So how can he be an effective advocate for the military and for the commander-in-chief? Maybe it’s time for him to concentrate on healing.

SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE’S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF ON THE DAY’S HOTTEST STORIES

Footnote: Chris Christie dropped out of the presidential race yesterday, after days of insisting he would do no such thing. I thought he’d at least wait till after Iowa, since his departure will mainly help Haley in New Hampshire.

When he was preparing to run, the former New Jersey governor told me he would stay in as long as he had a shot at the nomination. But he came to be viewed as an anti-Trump spoiler, didn’t qualify for last night’s debate, and said last night he no longer had a path.

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“I would rather lose by telling the truth than lie in order to win,” Christie said. He accused Republican lawmakers who endorse him of “cowardice” and “hypocrisy.” And now he’s he’s folded his tent.

DES MOINES, Iowa – It was a slugfest.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, sharing the debate stage in Iowa five days before the state’s caucuses kick off the Republican presidential nominating calendar, spent much of their two-hour showdown Wednesday night attacking each other and disagreeing on policy.

That allowed the absent front-runner in the GOP race – former President Donald Trump – to emerge relatively unscathed in a debate that was held a couple of hours after another contender – former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, suspended his campaign.

Trump, who skipped a Republican debate for the fifth straight time since last summer, was a few miles away in downtown Des Moines, taking part in a Fox News town hall.

WHAT FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP SAID AT A FOX NEWS TOWN HALL IN IOWA

The verbal fireworks ignited moments into the debate, with DeSantis charging that Haley was a “mealymouthed politician who just tells you what she thinks you want to hear just to try to get your vote.”

Haley immediate hit back, labeling DeSantis a liar.

“What we’re going to do is rather than have him go and tell you all these lies, you can go to DeSantislies.com and look at all of those,” Haley argued, in the first of numerous references to a new campaign website.

And she warned the audience at the debate – which took place at Iowa’s Drake University – “don’t turn this into a drinking game. You will be overserved.”

After DeSantis claimed that “Haley’s running to pursue her donors’ issues. I’m running to pursue your issues and your family’s issues,” she returned fire, arguing DeSantis “is only mad about the donors because the donors used to be with him, but they’re no longer with him now.”

And Haley charged that DeSantis’ “campaign is exploding.”

CHRISTIE TAKES AIM AT HALEY AS THE FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR DROPS OUT OF THE GOP PRESIDENTIAL RACE

DeSantis, who was convincingly re-elected to a second term as Florida governor 14 months ago, was once the clear alternative to Trump in the Republican White House race. He was solidly in second place behind Trump, who remains the commanding front-runner as he makes his third straight presidential bid.

But after a series of campaign setbacks over the summer and autumn, DeSantis saw his support in the polls erode.

Haley grabbed momentum during the autumn, thanks to well-regarded debate performances. And in recent weeks she caught up with DeSantis for second place in the polls in Iowa and in national surveys. 

Haley also surpassed DeSantis and surged to second place and narrowed the gap with Trump in New Hampshire, which holds the first primary — just eight days after Iowa’s caucuses.

Haley and DeSantis battled over key issues, from the war in Ukraine and the bloodshed in the Middle East to border security and immigration.

In a sharp exchange, DeSantis accusing Haley of being soft on securing the border. Haley returned fire, arguing “you can’t trust what Ron is saying.”

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While DeSantis and Haley spent plenty of time targeting each other, they did step up their attacks on Trump, with both of them criticizing Trump for not showing up at the debate and knocking the former president on policy.

DeSantis slammed Trump for failing to “drain the swamp” and to finish building the border wall with Mexico, and slammed him on the issue of abortion.

Haley targeted Trump for the exploding national debt and not taking a tougher stance against China.

She also aimed to frame the race as a two-candidate contest between her and the former president, stressing “I wish Donald Trump was up here on this stage. He is the one that I’m running against.”

Longtime Republican strategist David Kochel, a veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns and statewide contests in Iowa, was in the debate hall on Wednesday night.

Kochel told Fox News that DeSantis and Haley are “both getting a little bolder in going after” Trump.

“There are two campaigns going on in Iowa right now. One is Trump vs. his expectations and the other one is Haley vs. DeSantis to see who gets the right to take on Trump one-on-one,” Kochel emphasized.

Kochel, who remains neutral in the GOP nomination race, noted that Haley and DeSantis “both want a shot at Trump and the other one’s in the way.”

“She certainly got her licks in. She came across as more polished,” he argued. But he added that DeSantis “knew what he wanted to do tonight.”

And Kochel didn’t see much downside for Trump – who is sitting on a massive lead in the latest Iowa polls – in skipping the debate.

“His people don’t care. They’re with him no matter what,” he said. And he noted that DeSantis and Haley are “in the semi-finals. Trump has a bye week.”

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

Former President Trump, if elected to a second term, said he would alleviate the “chaos” brought to the nation by the Biden administration by securing the southern border, bringing America back to energy independence, strengthening the economy and expanding and strengthening the military.

Trump, the 2024 GOP frontrunner, participated in a Fox News Town Hall Wednesday night in Des Moines, Iowa, just days before the highly-anticipated first-in-the-nation primary contests in the Hawkeye State on Jan. 15.

Trump, who leads the Republican primary field by a massive margin, stands at or above 50% support in the latest polls in Iowa. 

The town hall was co-moderated by “Special Report” chief political anchor Bret Baier and “The Story” executive editor and anchor Martha MacCallum. 

TRUMP ON POTENTIAL 2024 VP PICK: ‘I KNOW WHO IT’S GOING TO BE’

Trump took questions from Iowa voters on a number of issues, but said President Biden has brought “chaos” to the country.

“They have chaos at the border. They have chaos in the military. People are going woke,” Trump said. “We have chaos now. Look at today with Hunter Biden going into Congress and just sitting down and the bedlam that’s been caused today. You have chaos.” 

Trump said the country has “more” chaos with Biden than under his presidency.

“He can’t put two sentences together and he’s representing us on nuclear weapons with Putin and Xi and all of these very smart people—the media hates when I say they’re smart, but let me tell you, they’re very smart and they’re very cunning,” Trump said.

“I think we had very little chaos,” Trump said, reflecting on his administration. “I think most of the chaos was caused by the Democrats constantly going after me.” 

Trump went on to point to the “phony Russia, Russia, Russia” investigation; his impeachments;  and more.

“They had the chaos. They were the ones that caused the chaos,” Trump said. “We didn’t have chaos.” 

Trump said that under his presidency, the United States saw the “biggest tax cuts in history” and “the biggest regulation cuts in history.” 

TRUMP STARTS 2024 IN ‘STRONGEST POSSIBLE POSITION’ IN REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY RACE

“I had no wars. I’m the only president in 72 years—I didn’t have any wars,” Trump said. 

But Trump said Biden and Democrats use the “narrative” that he would bring chaos “because they have nothing else.”

“The new narrative they have, as you know, is I’m going to be a dictator, because a guy like Biden, there’s nothing he can run on—everything he’s turned out, it’s turned out badly,” Trump said.

Trump said under Biden, the border “is a disaster” and “the worst border in history.”

“I think the worst border in the history of the world,” Trump said.

In Fiscal Year 2023 alone, border officials encountered nearly 2.5 million migrant encounters at the southern border–including 600,000 getaways, and 249 people on the terror watch list. 

The GOP frontrunner said that if elected, his second term would begin by “immediately” terminating “every open borders policy of the Biden administration.”

In September, Trump announced his plans to carry out “the largest domestic deportation operation in American history” if he is elected to a second term.

Additionally, he plans to “invoke the Alien Enemies Act to remove all known or suspected Gang Members, drug dealers, or Cartel Members from the United States”—an effort he says will end the “scourge of illegal alien gang violence once and for all.”

Meanwhile, Trump was asked to respond to Biden’s claims, and to say that political violence is “never acceptable.”

“Well, of course, that’s right,” Trump said. “And of course, I’m the one who had very little of it. Take a look at wars again—I didn’t start—I wasn’t involved in wars. We beat the hell out of ISIS. We won 100%. We brought our troops back home.”

He added: “Look at the violence that we’ve had recently.”

COURT DATES AND PRIMARIES: TRUMP FACES COMPETING CALENDARS IN 2024

Trump went on to say that Biden’s presidency is “bedlam.”

“You have a man who can’t lead. You have a man who can’t find his way off a stage after he makes a speech that lasts for about two minutes,” Trump said. “Now, I think bedlam is Joe Biden.”

Trump said Biden is using a “political ploy” by claiming that he “wants to be a dictator.”

But as for being a “dictator,” Trump joked that he would be—but only for one day.

“I’m going to be a dictator for one day. We’re going to do two things: the border—we’re going to make it so tight, you can’t get in unless you come in legally—and the other, we’re going to drill, baby, drill,” Trump said. “After that, I’m not going to be a dictator after that. I’m not going to be a dictator.”

TRUMP FIRES BACK AT JAN. 6 CRITICISM, SAYS BIDEN IS A ‘TRUE THREAT TO DEMOCRACY’

But Trump, who said he has “gotten to know Washington,” and who said “everybody wants to come work for us” in a possible second term, said he was “not going to have time for retribution.”

“I’m not going to have time for retribution,” Trump said. “We’re going to make this country so successful again. I’m not going to have time for retribution.” 

He added: “And remember this, our ultimate retribution is success…There won’t be retribution. There will be success.”

Moving onto the economy, Trump said it is “horrible, except the stock market’s going up.” 

“And I think the stock market’s got markets going up because I’m leading Biden in all of the polls– every poll, every single poll for in states that normally are not easy to lead,” Trump said. “But I would say this we have a situation in which I believe the stock market goes up because I’m leading. I think if I wasn’t leading, the stock market would be 25% lower. And I think, frankly, if I didn’t win, I think the stock market would crash.” 

Moderator Bret Baier pointed to comments Trump made this month in which he said if there is a crash of the stock market, he hoped it would be during “this next 12 months because I don’t want to be Herbert Hoover. The one president I just don’t want to be, Herbert Hoover.”

On Wednesday, Trump clarified, saying that he believes “there will be a crash if I don’t win.” 

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

“And I say that and I do not want to be Herbert Hoover. You know, Herbert Hoover was 1929. He was the president. And that was not a good time to be. I don’t want to be Herbert Hoover and I won’t be Herbert Hoover,” Trump said. 

Trump has been criticized as a “big government Republican” by his GOP opponents for adding $8 trillion to the national debt during his tenure, but he defended his record–especially during the coronavirus pandemic. 

“I say very simply, we were starting to pay down debt,” Trump said. “We were going to pay down a lot of debt when COVID came along. If I didn’t inject this country with money, you would have had a depression, the likes of which you have never seen.”

Trump continued, “You had to inject money. We gave businesses that were going bankrupt, temporarily bankrupt, but they needed money. We helped businesses. If I didn’t do that, you would have had a depression in this country. That was a very good investment. And now what they should be doing instead of the kind of debt that they’re building at record levels, they should be paying down their debt and they ought to go into the energy business instead of this Green New Scam business that they’re in.”

Meanwhile, as for a running mate, Trump said he’s already made his pick. 

“I can’t tell you that really, I mean, I know who it’s going to be,” Trump said. 

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“We’ll do another show sometime,” Trump said when pushed by host Martha MacCallum to “give us a hint.”

“What about any of the people who you’ve run against?” MacCallum asked. “Would you be open to mending fences with any of them?”

“Oh, sure. I will, I will,” Trump responded. 

Former Ambassador Nikki Haley responded to a Trump attorney’s defense of his immunity from legal charges as president as “ridiculous” during the last GOP presidential debate before the Iowa caucuses. 

“Do you agree with the argument Donald Trump’s lawyer made in court that a president should have immunity for any conduct, including in ordering the assassination of a political rival unless that president is impeached and convicted by the Senate for that offense first?” CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Haley during a debate on Wednesday night. 

“No, that’s ridiculous,” Haley responded. “That’s absolutely ridiculous. I mean, we need to use some common sense here. You can’t go and kill a political rival and then claim, you know, immunity from a president. I think we have to start doing things that are right and you know Ron said we should have leaders that we can look up to. Well, then stop lying, because nobody’s going to want to look up to you if you’re lying.“

Haley continued, “But what I do think we need to look at is what has President Trump done? You look at the last few years and our country is completely divided. It’s divided over extremes. It’s divided over hatred. It’s divided over the fact that people think that if someone doesn’t agree with you that they’re bad. And now we have leaders in our country that decide who’s good and who’s bad, who’s right, and who’s wrong, that’s not what a leader does. What a leader does is they bring out the best in people and get them to see the way forward.“

HALEY, DESANTIS FIRE SHOTS AT TRUMP IN HEAD-TO-HEAD DEBATE: ‘HE DID NOT DELIVER’

The question from Tapper to Haley was in reference to a comment from Trump lawyer D. John Sauer this week in a Washington D.C. courtroom where he answered with a “qualified yes” when asked if Trump’s immunity from prosecution as president would apply if Trump “ordered S.E.A.L. Team 6 to assassinate a political rival.”

“He would have to be impeached and convicted,” Sauer argued.

JUDGE JUDY ENDORSES NIKKI HALEY FOR PRESIDENT: ‘SHE IS WHIP SMART…SHE IS THE FUTURE’

Sauer said, “There’s a political process that would have to occur under the structure of our Constitution which would require conviction and impeachment by the Senate in these exceptional cases, as the OLC memo itself points out from the Department of Justice you’d expect a speedy impeachment and conviction.”

Sauer argued before a federal appeals court Tuesday that the president has “absolute immunity,” even after leaving office — an argument that the judges appeared to be skeptical of.

Judge Karen Henderson, an appointee of former President George H.W. Bush, fired back, saying: “I think it’s paradoxical to say that his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed allows him to violate criminal law.” 

But Sauer argued that Biden, “the current incumbent of the presidency is prosecuting his number one political opponent and his greatest electoral threat.”

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Meanwhile, Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team argued that presidents are not entitled to absolute immunity and that Trump’s alleged actions following the November 2020 election fall outside a president’s official job duties.

“The president has a unique constitutional role but he is not above the law. Separation of powers principles, constitutional text, history, precedent and immunity doctrines all point to the conclusion that a former president enjoys no immunity from prosecution,” prosecutor James Pearce said, adding that a case in which a former president is alleged to have sought to overturn an election “is not the place to recognize some novel form of immunity.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump campaign for comment but did not immediately receive a response. 

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report

Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis went head-to-head in the fifth GOP presidential primary debate Wednesday night, but not without taking several shots at the front-runner in the race who was absent from the matchup – former President Donald Trump.

Trump declined to attend the CNN debate in Iowa, as he has for previous debates, despite qualifying. The former president instead attended a town hall on Fox News Channel, which was also held in Des Moines, Iowa.

Haley and DeSantis were asked whether Trump has the “character” to be president again.

“I think the next president needs to have moral clarity,” responded Haley, a former two-term South Carolina governor. “I think you need to have moral clarity to understand that it’s taxpayer money, not your own money. I think you need to have moral clarity to understand that when you’re dealing with dictators in the world, that we always have to fight for democracies and human rights and protecting Americans and preventing war.”

CHRIS CHRISTIE DROPS OUT OF 2024 RACE, TAKES SHOTS AT HALEY WHILE ENDING REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN 

“So I don’t think that President Trump is the right president to go forward,” she said. “I think it’s time for a new generational leader that’s going to go and make America proud again.”

“I wish Donald Trump was up here on this stage,” she added later. “He’s the one that I’m running against. He’s the one that I wish would be here. He needs to be defending his record.”

DeSantis said Trump didn’t deliver on multiple campaign promises during his presidency on issues like bringing down the national debt and border security.

“I appreciated what President Trump did, but let’s just be honest: He said he was going to build a wall and have Mexico pay for it. He did not deliver that,” the governor said. “He said he was going to drain the swamp. He did not deliver that. He said he was going to hold Hillary accountable, and he let her off the hook. He said he was going to eliminate the debt and he added $7.8 trillion to the debt. So, we need to deliver and get this stuff done.”

DeSantis later said that unlike Trump, he would have Mexico pay for a border wall as president.

“We will build a wall,” he said. “We will actually have Mexico pay for it in the way that I thought Donald Trump was. We’re going to charge fees on remittances that workers send to foreign countries. Billions of dollars will build the wall.”

“He also promised record deportations,” he continued. “Donald Trump deported fewer people than Barack Obama did when he was president. Biden has let in 8 million people just in four years. They all have to go back.”

DeSantis also hit Trump for not showing up at the debate, saying, “Donald Trump should be on this stage.”

“Every candidate needs to earn your vote,” he said. “Nobody’s entitled to your vote, and he comes in here every now, and then he does his spiel and then he leaves. I’ve shown up to all 99 counties because it’s important. You’re a servant of the people, you are not a ruler over people, and that’s the type of president that I will be.”

The Trump campaign dismissed the attacks when reached by Fox News Digital Wednesday evening.

“When two losers fighting for distant second place are cat fighting in front of 10 viewers on CNN, they don’t have a leg to stand on,” a spokesperson said.

The debate came just five days before the Iowa caucuses kick off the 2024 voting calendar.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie dropped out of the race just hours before the debate started.

Christie, one of the most vocal Trump critics in the GOP, urged voters not to support the former president during his speech announcing his campaign’s suspension at a town hall event in Windham, New Hampshire.

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“I also know though, this is the right thing for me to do. Because I want to promise you this – I am going to make sure that in no way do I enable Donald Trump to ever be President of the United States again. And that’s more important than my own personal ambitions,” Christie said.

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

• A combined 10 candidates — five Democrats and five Republicans — have qualified for ballot access in two special elections to the Georgia Legislature.
• Among the more notable candidates for the seats are former state Rep. Tim Bearden and Republican National Committee Youth Advisory Council Co-Chair C.J. Pearson.
• If no one candidate receives an outright majority of the vote in either Feb. 13 election, the race will head to a March 12 runoff that would coincide with Georgia’s presidential primary.

Five candidates apiece are running in special elections for a Georgia state Senate seat west of Atlanta and a state House seat near Augusta.

Qualifying closed Wednesday for the Feb. 13 votes to replace Republican Mike Dugan in Senate District 30 and Rep. Barry Fleming in House District 125. Dugan resigned to run for Congress, while Gov. Brian Kemp swore Fleming in as a superior court judge on Wednesday.

Members of all parties will run together in the special elections with no primaries to select nominees. If no one wins a majority on Feb. 13, the top two candidates would advance to a runoff on March 12, the same day as Georgia’s presidential primary.

GEORGIA VOTING SYSTEM UNDER SCRUTINY AS TRIAL OVER CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGE DRAWS NEAR

Running in the Senate race as Republicans are former state Rep. Tim Bearden of Carrollton, real estate agent Renae Bell of Tallapoosa, contract administrator Amber Nixon of Carrollton and consultant Robert “Bob” Smith. Ashley Kecskes Godwin of Carrollton is running as a Democrat. The district covers all of Haralson County and parts of Carroll, Douglas and Paulding counties.

Bearden was elected to the state House four times before former Gov. Nathan Deal appointed him as director of the Georgia Public Safety Training Center. Bearden is now the government affairs manager for a billboard company. He’s a former police officer who pushed for expansions of gun rights while in the House.

“My goal is to make sure that this district is set up for a prosperous future,” Bearden told Carrollton radio station WLBB-AM on Tuesday. He said he would seek tougher criminal penalties for trafficking fentanyl and those who injure police officers and firefighters.

Bell is a real estate agent, the wife of Haralson County school Superintendent Jerry Bell, and the former chair of the Greater Haralson Chamber of Commerce. Bell said she seeks to foster limited government, entrepreneurship and self-reliance.

“As a small business owner, the Make America Great Again movement resonated with me. The Trump economy ushered in unheralded prosperity, hope for my grand children’s future, and restored my feeling of safety in my community,” Bell said in a statement.

Republicans running in the House race include conservative commentator C.J. Pearson of Grovetown, Columbia County Commissioner and car wash owner Gary Richardson of Evans, farmer James Steed of Grovetown and software developer John Turpish of Grovetown. The lone Democrat running is cosmetologist Kay Turner of Grovetown. The district covers parts of Columbia and McDuffie counties.

Currently national co-chair of the Republican National Committee Youth Advisory Council, Pearson won notice as a Black middle school student posting videos supporting Republican causes.

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Richardson can’t run for reelection as a commissioner because he’s term-limited after eight years.

FIRST ON FOX: A Florida country music star has released a song supporting Gov. Ron DeSantis touting the governor’s leadership that his presidential campaign says will be played at all events going forward. 

Billy Dean, a member of the Florida Music Hall of Fame with 3 certified gold albums and 11 Billboard country music top hits to his credit, recorded a song called “Never Back Down” which the DeSantis team used to produce a music video supporting the governor. 

“The fight is tough, you gotta stand your ground, and if you still believe in the American Dream then never back down, never back down, never back down, and if you still believe in living free, never back down,” Dean sings in the song. 

The song continues, “They shame us just because we love our country, attacking everything that we hold dear. They shame us for our faith, our flag, our family, so why the hell are they still living here?”

DESANTIS DECLARES IOWA GOALPOST AT FOX NEWS TOWN HALL: ‘WE’RE GOING TO DO WELL HERE’

“I’m a Florida native and resident, who has lived the American Dream,” Dean, nominated for a Grammy in 1992 for his song “Somewhere In My Broken Heart”, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “My dad served in WW2 and lost 2 brothers Harold Mason Dean and Robert Lloyd Dean to the cause. They sacrificed their dreams so I could live mine. My dad did not want me to serve the country with guns and bullets but I can serve with my pen, paper, and guitar.”

“Ron DeSantis is not just Florida’s Governor, he is America’s Governor and he inspired me to write and record a song as a message to all those who put power and party above country, you won’t get away with it without a fight. I owe it to our Veterans to NEVER BACK DOWN”

FIREBRAND HOUSE REPUBLICAN SEEING ‘MASSIVE SURGE’ FOR DESANTIS IN IOWA: ‘CLOSER THAN PEOPLE THINK’

Dean’s song marks the second time in about a year that a star musician has publicly supported his political efforts. In 2022, Johnny Van Zant, lead vocalist of Lynyrd Skynyrd, and his brother Donnie Van Zant of 38 Special wrote “Sweet Florida” with lyrics touting DeSantis’s leadership.

“We got to thank Governor DeSantis for standing and believing for what he believes…he’s been a great governor for us,” Johnny told “Fox & Friends” at the time.

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The song’s release comes less than a week before Monday’s Iowa Caucus where voters will take part in the first election of the 2024 presidential cycle.

DeSantis is currently polling at 16.4% in Iowa, according to the Real Clear Politics average of polls, neck and neck with former ambassador Nikki Haley at 16.6% and trailing former President Donald Trump who sits at 52.2%.

Republican lawmakers threatened to hold up government funding in exchange for stronger border security during a press conference led by Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-M.D., Wednesday afternoon. 

A bipartisan group of lawmakers began talks with White House officials in December, but have been unsuccessful in reaching a deal.

“What you’re going to start witnessing is the House of Representatives doing whatever we can with the tools that are available to us to let the administration know that they are not going to get additional funding for their priorities until we see a secure border,” Rosendale told reporters. 

On Jan. 19, funding will expire for several federal departments, including Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Energy, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development. 

SENATE NOT EXPECTED TO RELEASE TEXT ON BORDER PACKAGE THIS WEEK

On Feb. 2, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Defense Departments will also run out of funding. Congress may have to pass a continuing resolution, known as a CR, to keep agencies temporarily funded until a full budget is agreed upon.

“Don’t tell me this is for want of federal legislation. This is for want of an utter, defiant, lawless refusal to enforce our border,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, a member on the upper chamber’s budget committee, told reporters on Wednesday. 

“I tell President Biden, secure the border or shut it down. We’re not going to continue to fund your government as if nothing had changed, when we’ve got this crisis unfolding on monumental proportions, whether it’s all of government or just the White House toilet paper budget — I don’t know — but there have to be consequences for him doing this.”

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., also in attendance, said the only way to get border security passed is “to hold up whatever we can, whether it’s Ukraine funding, whatever it is they want, and say we don’t get that funding unless we get a secure border.”

DEMS, GOP AT STANDSTILL ON BORDER SECURITY DEAL WITH SEVERAL ‘UNANSWERED ISSUES’ REMAINING

“Otherwise … we’re going to continue to have an open border,” he said.

Rep. Cory Millis, R-Fl., told reporters, “No American should be told that we must pay to secure the borders of another nation in order to negotiate to secure our own.”

Lankford, alongside other lead negotiators Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., began negotiations with U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and other Biden officials a week before the upper chamber was scheduled to go on its holiday recess.

Republicans want several measures included in a deal, including more restrictions on parole and reforming how asylum is granted, making the process more stringent for qualifying for asylum. They also want to increase detention beds and the presence of parole agents.  

Lawmakers hope to strike a deal that will tie border security measures into the national supplemental funding request that would provide some $60 billion to Ukraine and $14 billion to Israel. But GOP lawmakers have insisted that either the supplemental or government funding have some border security conditions attached to it. 

Many hours of private negotiations have transpired since the talks began last month, but no deal has been agreed upon so far. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., spoke with President Biden about the worsening crisis at the southern border on Wednesday, too, urging him to use his “executive authority to secure the southern border,” according to Johnson’s spokesman Raj Shah. 

REPUBLICANS ACCELERATE PROBE INTO BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S ACTIONS TO HOUSE MIGRANTS ON FEDERAL LANDS

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There were over 302,000 migrant encounters in December, after fiscal year 2023 saw a record 2.4 million encounters overall. A recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement report said the agency removed 142,580 illegal immigrants in fiscal year 2023, up considerably from 72,177 in fiscal year 2022 and 59,011 in fiscal year 2021, but still down from the highs of 267,258 under the Trump administration in fiscal year 2019.

Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report. 

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday suspended his campaign for president.

“It’s clear to me tonight that there isn’t a path for me to win the nomination. Which is why I’m suspending my campaign tonight for President of the United States,” Christie said at a town hall event in Windham, New Hampshire.

Christie, a long-shot for the nomination in a race dominated by former President Donald Trump, in recent weeks had faced increased calls from fellow Republicans and from some voters to end his bid to give rival Nikki Haley a boost as she aims to close the gap with Trump.

“I know, and I can see from some of the faces here that I’m disappointing some people by doing this. People who believe in our message and believe in what we’ve been doing,” Christie continued.

CHRISTIE RAMPS UP ATTACKS ON HALEY AS SHE CLOSES THE GAP WITH TRUMP 

And the former governor, one of the most vocal Trump critics in the GOP, emphasized “I also know though, this is the right thing for me to do. Because I want to promise you this – I am going to make sure that in no way do I enable Donald Trump to ever be President of the United States again. And that’s more important than my own personal ambitions.”

That comment brought applause from the crowd listening.

Sources indicated that Christie would not be announcing an endorsement for anyone in the 2024 presidential race at this time. One of the sources speculated that Christie would wait until after the results of next Monday’s Iowa caucuses — the first contest in the GOP presidential nominating calendar — before making any potential endorsement announcement.

Haley, a former two-term South Carolina governor who later served as ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration, has soared in recent months, becoming the main rival to the former president, who’s making his third straight White House run.

Christie told reporters last week that “I’ve also said I also know when I’m not doing well, and I dropped out after the New Hampshire primary eight years ago because I didn’t do as well as I thought I would. I have no interest in doing this if it doesn’t lead to success. So that’s the bottom line.” 

IS TRUMP UP BY NEARLY 20 POINTS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE OR IS HALEY HOT ON HIS HEELS?

The two most recent public opinion polls among likely voters in New Hampshire’s Republican presidential primary, which were released on Tuesday, both indicated Christie at 12% support, in third place far behind Trump and Haley.

Considered one of the best communicators in the GOP, Christie was once a strong Trump ally but became one of the former president’s most vocal GOP critics.

Christie, who was first elected governor of deep-blue New Jersey in 2009 and overwhelmingly re-elected in 2013, first ran for president in the 2016 cycle.

He placed all his chips in New Hampshire, but his 2016 campaign crashed and burned after a disappointing and distant sixth-place finish in the state. He was far behind Trump, who crushed the competition in the primary, boosting him towards the nomination and eventually the White House. 

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Christie became the first among the other GOP 2016 contenders to endorse Trump, and for years was a top outside adviser to the then-president and chaired Trump’s high-profile commission on opioids. However, the two had a falling out after Trump’s unsuccessful attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Biden. 

Christie publicly mulled a 2024 presidential run for over a year and a half before formally announcing his candidacy at an event in New Hampshire last June. Similar to his 2016 White House run, Christie once again placed most of his chips in the Granite State, where independent voters and moderates play an influential role in the state’s storied presidential primary.

The former governor, known for the kind of in-your-face politics that Trump has also mastered, criticized his rivals for not being more aggressive in taking on Trump. And he argued that he was the only contender with the chops to potentially take down Trump on the debate stage. But the former president skipped out on the debates, depriving Christie of any face-to-face confrontation with Trump.

Christie becomes the latest Republican to drop out of the increasingly slimmed down field of GOP presidential contenders.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum ended his bid early last month. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina dropped out in November. Former Vice President Mike Pence suspended his presidential campaign on Oct. 28, during his address to the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership summit in Las Vegas, Nevada.  

Four lesser known candidates who all failed to qualify for the GOP presidential debates had already suspended their campaigns. There are former CIA spy and former Rep. Will Hurd of Texas, Mayor Francis Suarez of Miami, Florida, business leader and quality control expert Perry Johnson, and 2021 California gubernatorial recall election candidate and former conservative talk radio host Larry Elder.

Another long-shot for the nomination, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, remains in the race.

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

Republicans and Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee clashed at the first hearing to examine whether DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas should be impeached over his handling of the crisis at the southern border – and as state attorneys general explained how the crisis had harmed their states.

The committee held the first impeachment hearing at a time when the migrant crisis is setting records at the border, with over 302,000 migrant encounters in December, and a current release rate of over 85%. 

Republicans and Democrats have been deeply split over what has caused the crisis and those divisions were on display as Republicans pointed at the Biden administration, and Democrats accused Republicans of not working with them to fix the crisis. 

HOUSE HOMELAND DEMOCRATS BACK MAYORKAS, SLAM GOP ‘SHAM’ AHEAD OF IMPEACHMENT HEARING 

“Secretary Mayorkas has brazenly refused to enforce the laws passed by Congress and has enacted policies that knowingly make our country less safe,” Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., said. “What we’re seeing here is a willful violation of the oath of office taken by Secretary Mayorkas.”

Republicans have blamed an expanded catch-and-release, a rollback of Trump-era policies, an “abuse” of humanitarian parole to release migrants into the interior, and the ending of border wall construction as factors in what has encouraged a massive and historic migrant crisis. Green also said his committee’s investigation has uncovered 100 instances where Mayorkas has misled the public.

DHS and Democrats have rejected that narrative, pointing to what it says are a large number of recent removals and returns and saying that authorities need more funding and a comprehensive immigration reform package – including a $14 billion supplemental funding request currently being negotiated in Congress. 

Ranking member Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., accused Republicans of throwing “political red meat” to their base in an effort to keep campaign money coming in during an election year.

“It’s now campaign season, and Republicans recently rolled out their impeachment proceedings against the secretary like the pre-planned, pre-determined political stunt it is. This is not a legitimate impeachment,” he said.

Thompson also defended Mayorkas’ conduct in office.

“The facts show Secretary Mayorkas is doing his job across all the department’s many critical homeland security missions, including border security and immigration enforcement. Despite what Republicans would have Americans believe, Secretary Mayorkas is enforcing immigration law,” he said.

Republicans invited three Republican attorneys general from the heartland to describe the impact the crisis had on their states. Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen described an explosion of fentanyl pouring into the state, with authorities on track to have seized half a million dosage units in 2023, from over 6,000 in 2020. 

The drug is produced primarily in Mexico using Chinese precursors and then shipped across the southern land border. It can be fatal in tiny doses and is often hidden in other drugs so users don’t know they are ingesting fentanyl. Republicans have linked the fentanyl crisis to the border crisis. 

MAYORKAS TELLS BORDER PATROL AGENTS THAT ‘ABOVE 85%’ OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS RELEASED INTO US: SOURCES 

Knudsen said he believed the border had been largely secured under the Trump administration, but that work had been undone under the leadership of Mayorkas.

“Secretary Mayorkas is the architect of that destruction. The American people are watching. They know that our border was secured just a few years ago. They see the devastation metastasizing in our communities from drugs and human trafficking. The conclusion is clear, Secretary Mayorkas has violated his oath, and I urge this body to impeach,” he said.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond described the crime his state had seen, citing stats that the Oklahama Department of Corrections is housing more than 500 illegal immigrants convicted of violent crimes. 

“Illegal immigration cost Oklahoma taxpayers more than $750 million each year with a minimal offset return,” he said.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said the number of illegal immigrants who have entered the U.S. since 2021 is larger than the population of his state.

“These numbers are not an accident. There is only one reason eight million people illegally cross a sovereign nation’s border – because they know that they can get away with it,” he said. “There has been an orchestrated lack of enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws. [Mayorkas] has failed to do that which is most fundamental to his mission. Protect our border.”

Frank Bowman, a law professor at the University of Missouri, called as a witness by Democrats, was skeptical of the impeachment claims being made – warning that impeachment cannot be used for policy disagreements.

“Official conduct must meet a very high threshold of seriousness. It must also be of a type that corrupts and subverts political and governmental process, and it ought to be plainly wrong, regardless of legal,” he said. “The most commonly encountered categories of impeachable conduct are official corruption, abuse of power, betrayal of the nation’s foreign policy interests, subversion of the Constitution. There is no serious allegation of which I’m aware that the secretary has done any of those things.”

Meanwhile, DHS issued a memo ripping into the impeachment effort, pointing to prior comments from Republicans who say the threshold for impeachment has not been met. It also argued that it has stopped more fentanyl in the last two years than in the previous five years combined.

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“Members of Congress serious about addressing these challenges should oppose this baseless impeachment that is going nowhere and instead work with the Department to keep America safe by properly funding DHS’s vital missions and reforming our broken immigration laws,” the agency said.

Former President Obama is becoming increasingly anxious about the closeness of the 2024 presidential election and fears former President Trump could take back the White House, according to a report.

Former Attorney General Eric Holder, one of Obama’s closest confidants, told USA Today that if Trump were to win the Republican nomination and beat President Biden this November, there could be “incalculable damage” brought upon the country. 

Holder confirmed Obama “absolutely” holds the same views when asked by the publication.

“I think that’s what motivates him. I think that’s what will continue to motivate him,” Holder responded.

MICHELLE OBAMA SAYS SHE IS ‘TERRIFIED ABOUT WHAT COULD POSSIBLY HAPPEN’ IN 2024 ELECTION

Individuals within Obama’s inner orbit further said he believes the race would be extremely close, according to USA Today. Due to this, Obama will try to “move the needle” toward Biden with calculated moments throughout the campaign.

Others said Obama thinks the 2024 landscape has “major structural advantages that will favor Republicans” and believes Trump winning again would be “dangerous.”

“President Obama is going to do everything he can to help in that regard, and that means campaigning, but it also means sharing strategic advice with [Biden],” Holder told the publication. “And who better than President Obama to be a primary advisor to the campaign?”

The former president’s unease comes on the heels of his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, saying she is “terrified” about what could happen in the 2024 election. 

‘ANIMATED’ OBAMA URGES BIDEN TO STEP UP CAMPAIGN, ‘MOVE AGGRESSIVELY’ TO COUNTER TRUMP: REPORT

During a recent podcast appearance, Michelle Obama was asked about what keeps her up at night and her biggest fear. 

“It has less to do with me personally and more to do with the world that we’re in,” she responded. “There’s such thing as ‘knowing too much,’ and when you’ve been married to the President of the United States who knows everything about everything in the world, sometimes you just want to turn it off.”

While she noted concerns ranging from wars across various regions and the future of artificial intelligence to climate change and voter turnout as being problems on her mind, America’s upcoming presidential election remains chief among them.

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“Those are the things that keep me up, because you don’t have control over them. And you wonder, where are we in this? Where are our hearts? What’s gonna happen in this next election?” she said. “I am terrified about what could possibly happen, because our leaders matter. Who we select, who speaks for us, who holds that bully pulpit affects us in ways that sometimes I think people take for granted.”

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

Fox News Digital’s Alexander Hall contributed to this report.

Former President Trump is leading President Biden in Michigan, marking a distinct shift of support away from the current White House, a new poll finds.

The survey, conducted by polling company Glengariff Group, found that Trump leads Biden in the state by 8% in a one-on-one election scenario.

The incumbent president was selected by 39% of respondents in a head-to-head match-up, and Trump received 47%.

POLL REVEALS ALARMING LEVEL OF FEAR OF WHETHER 2024 ELECTIONS WILL BE ‘FAIR,’ BALLOT COUNTING ACCURATE

Approximately 3% of the Michigan respondents stated they would vote for another candidate, and 11% said they were still undecided.

When accounting for third-party candidates, Trump’s lead against Biden grew to 12%.

Significantly, only 17% of respondents stated that Biden deserves another term as the nation’s leader; 77% of respondents said they wanted someone else in the White House.

BIDEN’S POLLING PROBLEM: RUNNING FOR REELECTION IN 2024, PRESIDENT ENDS 2023 UNDERWATER

By comparison, 33% of voters surveyed said they believe Trump deserves another term in office. Approximately 62% said they believe someone else should be elected.

The poll was commissioned by the Detroit News and WDIV-TV. It was conducted between Jan. 2 and Jan. 6.

It surveyed 600 likely voters in Michigan and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4%.

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Biden previously won Michigan by three points in the 2020 presidential election.

Last month, the Michigan Supreme Court rejected an attempt to remove Trump from the state’s 2024 Republican primary ballot.

However, the Colorado Supreme Court on Dec. 19 and Maine’s secretary of state on Dec. 28 disqualified Trump from appearing on their respective state primary ballot in 2024. The disqualification, which was made under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, is related to Trump’s alleged role in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman contributed to this report.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice once rejected a legislative budget by showing a plate of cow dung he brought from a farm to the state Capitol on a silver platter. He hoisted the hind end of his pet English bulldog in the House chamber in response to criticism. And he was always ready with a poster board or prop to illustrate a point.

Justice will deliver his final State of the State address Wednesday night, bringing a close to one avenue for his quirky, unpredictable speeches. The popular two-term Republican governor is running for Democrat Joe Manchin’s U.S. Senate seat in November.

The 6-foot-7 (2-meter) Justice will leave big shoes to fill — literally and metaphorically.

WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATORS LOOK AHEAD TO FENTANYL CRACKDOWN AND EDUCATION FUNDING

A former billionaire who owns dozens of businesses, Justice, 72, has always put on a show never seen before under the Capitol dome.

Gone this time next year from the Statehouse will be Justice’s overused adverbs such as “really, really,” the informal “lotta lotta,” or, in order to get his point across, “more than good sense.”

He refuses to use teleprompters or speak from a script, and his staff has admitted they are often as surprised as anyone by what he says or does.

During his first State of the State in 2017, he referred to the West Virginia budget as “an 18-karat dog’s mess.”

Usually at Justice’s side — or on his lap — is his grumpy-looking English bulldog, Babydog, who sometimes dresses up, such as when she wore a hat with a giant bow for a briefing ahead of the Kentucky Derby.

In 2022, Justice ended his televised address by flashing Babydog’s rear to the crowd in response to singer and actress Bette Midler, who called West Virginians “poor, illiterate and strung out” in a tweet after Manchin refused to support President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better agenda.

“Babydog tells Bette Midler and all those out there: Kiss her heinie,” Justice said, grinning, to a standing ovation.

Justice has been described as “folksy” for his unique, rambling speaking style, a characterization he embraces. He’s said West Virginia is on an economic “rocket ship ride” and has called himself a frog who’s proud of his pond.

“I speak in real common language. … Really and truly you know that I am talking to you, just like we were sitting in your house and I was talking to you,” he said during his 2022 State of the State. “I’m not talking down to anybody. I don’t believe in it.”

REPUBLICAN WV DELEGATE CALEB HANNA RESIGNS TO FOCUS ON STATE AUDITOR CAMPAIGN

In 2017, he brought to his inauguration an ax and tackle box that he bought for $200 on the side of the road from a woman who had fallen on hard times.

“I carry the tackle box and the ax every day,” he said. “I can’t stand how good we are and how troubled we are and how many people are hurting.”

Not everyone has been charmed by Justice, who has sparred with politicians from both sides. He’s been critiqued for not spending enough time in Charleston, instead devoting time to other activities like coaching a girls’ basketball team near his home on the Virginia border.

Justice has also been criticized for underfunding everything from public schools to the state’s foster care system, and advocates for low-income residents say he has failed to meet the challenges facing the neediest citizens.

Others have groaned that stunts like the Babydog hind-end episode are unprofessional and hurt the state’s image. Justice has also received attention for failing to pay fees for safety violations at family coal mines and millions in unpaid business debt.

State Democratic Party Chair Mike Pushkin took a jab at Justice in November, saying residents deserve a politician who “shows up to work, pays his debts, and brings more to the U.S. Senate than just a cute dog.”

Six months after taking over as governor as a Democrat, Justice announced at a rally for then-President Donald Trump that he was switching to the GOP.

He oversaw the response to two statewide teachers’ strikes, COVID-19 and the ongoing opioid epidemic, which has claimed lives in West Virginia at a higher rate than any other state.

During the pandemic, the pro-vaccine governor said residents who went unvaccinated were “entering the death drawing.”

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He has also focused on economic development and tourism. West Virginia has long ranked near the bottom of U.S. health and economic statistics. Justice has consistently condemned jokes made at the state’s expense.

“I don’t subscribe to that, and I know you don’t either,” he said during his 2021 State of the State.

Instead, Justice calls West Virginia a “diamond in the rough.”

When he reintroduced a proposal to cut the state’s personal income tax, Justice said legislative leaders told him to either give up or “make a big splash.”

“And so here comes me cannonballing into the pool,” the governor during last year’s State of the State. “By God, I’ll make a big splash.”

After lawmakers agreed to a compromise cut of 21.25%, Justice signed it in early March.