NationalWatch

FIRST ON FOX: Over the next month and a half, former President Trump’s campaign will be opening dozens of new offices in seven pivotal swing states, complete with hundreds of newly hired staffers, Fox News has learned. 

As President Biden and Trump appear headed for a rematch in November, the two will likely put a lot of energy into the seven swing states — Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina — that could decide the election. 

In the latest Fox News Poll, the two were in a virtual dead heat in Pennsylvania, with Trump leading Biden 49% to 47%. The difference is within the margin of error. 

In Arizona, Trump won in a five-way matchup with Biden, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Jill Stein and Cornel West, posting 43% to Biden’s 39%.

BILL MAHER VOWS TO DO ‘EVERYTHING HE CAN’ TO MAKE SURE TRUMP LOSES ELECTION 

Trump’s forthcoming changes to swing state campaign infrastructure comes as Biden criticizes Trump over his infrequent presence in key locations. Trump spent time in Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire during the Republican primaries as Biden began ramping up his campaign for the general election. 

With several criminal cases pending against Trump, time spent on the road campaigning could be limited, and critics have said Trump is slow to ramp up his ground game.

BIDEN TEAM SEEKS TO PIN ‘BASEMENT’ CAMPAIGN REPUTATION ON TRUMP

Michigan Republican Party Chairman Pete Hoekstra told The Associated Press this week the RNC and Trump campaign had yet to invest in building up the election effort in what promises to be a critical state come November. 

“We’ve got the skeleton right now,” Hoekstra told The Associated Press. “We’re going to have to put more meat on it.”

His observation coincided with news President Biden’s re-election effort had opened 100 new offices and enlisted over 350 new staff members in Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania, adding to the already established swing state staffers working on the ground. 

“Donald Trump claiming he has a plan to build a battleground state operation while they don’t have money, lay off state staff and close community centers feels eerily similar to some other imminent Trump plans that never came to fruition, like the long promised infrastructure week or his Obamacare replacement. We’ll believe it when we see it,” Biden campaign spokesperson Seth Schuster said in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

But the RNC and Trump’s campaign pushed back on the idea that they’re behind schedule.

“We don’t feel the need to talk about the tactics because we lead with our candidate — he’s a winning candidate,” Republican National Committee spokeswoman Danielle Alvarez said in an interview with Fox News Digital. 

“We are doing all the tactics,” Alvarez emphasized. “We are raising the money. We are deploying the assets. It all is happening.”

She explained that Trump and the RNC aren’t always going to publicize the steps being taken to ensure victory. 

RFK JR IS THE MOST POPULAR INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE IN THE LAST 30 YEARS: KATIE PAVLICH

“We win when we lead with our candidate. They lose when they lead with their candidate,” she added. 

Alvarez claimed the Democratic Party “cannot put their guy out there” and is forced to lead “with their tactics.”

Trump’s campaign noted that the infrastructure it expects to roll out in critical states over the next 30 to 45 days is early compared to past cycles. Usually, a non-incumbent presidential nominee is not definite until the RNC convention in the summer, and the committee and campaign do not merge until then. 

WHAT NBC’S RONNA MCDANIEL DEBACLE REVEALS ABOUT THE STATE OF JOURNALISM TODAY

Earlier this year, it was revealed that, in 2023, the RNC posted its worst fundraising since 2013, only pulling $87.2 million and reporting roughly $8 million in available cash on hand.

In the month of January, Trump saw his cash on hand dwindle to $30 million, while his spending outpaced his fundraising. Biden’s campaign brought in $42 million in the same period and boasted a $130 million war chest for the general election. 

However, last month, both the committee and Trump’s campaign saw improvement. The RNC pulled in $10.6 million, while making gains in cash on hand in February. Trump’s campaign managed to rake in over $20 million last month, boosted by primary victories, while also upping his cash on hand to $42 million.

While fundraising appeared to bounce back as Trump’s campaign merges with the committee, concerns over Trump’s financial situation still remain. The former president has been ordered to make various payments in his criminal cases. 

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The RNC and campaign further pushed back at suggestions action hasn’t taken place sooner in the key states due to legal fees for the former president and poor fundraising hauls. Both the committee and campaign expressed confidence, noting that all assets are in line to cover all costs. 

They conceded that the Democrats are expected to enjoy a monetary advantage but claimed Trump doesn’t need as much money to win. 

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

Facing a polling deficit with seven months to go until the November election, President Biden on Thursday will receive some help from his two most recent Democratic predecessors in the White House.

Biden will team up with former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton at a fundraising extravaganza in New York City that the president’s campaign says will bring in over $25 million for his re-election bid.

The star-studded event will include what’s being billed as an “armchair conversation” with the three presidents moderated by late night TV talk show host Stephen Colbert and musical performances from Lizzo, Queen Latifah, Ben Platt, Cynthia Erivo, and Lea Michele.

The campaign says over 5,000 people will attend the gathering, which is being held at the storied Radio City Music Hall in midtown Manhattan.

CAN TRUMP LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD WITH BIDEN IN 2024 FUNDRAISING FIGHT?

Tickets range from $225 – to get in the door – to $100,000 for a photo with all three presidents – and up to $250,000-$500,000 to attend an intimate reception with Biden, Obama, and Clinton. The fundraising haul will help Biden boost his already formidable cash advantage over his Republican challenger, former President Donald Trump.

“The numbers don’t lie: today’s event is a massive show of force and a true reflection of the momentum to reelect the Biden-Harris ticket,” campaign co-chair Jeffrey Katzenberg touted in a statement.

And Katzenberg argued that “this historic raise is a show of strong enthusiasm for President Biden and Vice President Harris and a testament to the unprecedented fundraising machine we’ve built.”

WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS NATIONAL POLL SHOWS IN THE BIDEN-TRUMP REMATCH

Just as important, the teaming up of the three presidents is intended as a show of force to rally the Democratic base behind Biden.

“This is a great event that showcases the Mount Rushmore of modern Democratic presidents,” longtime Democratic strategist Maria Cardona told Fox News.

Cardona, a veteran of the Clinton White House who later served as a surrogate for Obama’s two presidential campaigns and Biden’s 2020 election and reprising that role this year, said the three presidents “will make an unequivocal statement of how meaningful the Democratic agenda has been to this country and to American families.”

While the president holds the upper hand over his predecessor in the fundraising battle in their election rematch, Trump currently enjoys the early edge over Biden in public opinion polling – both in most national surveys and in many of the surveys in the six key battleground states the incumbent narrowly carried to win the White House in 2020.

REPUBLICANS TOP DEMOCRATS IN THIS KEY MOTIVATING FACTOR IN THE BIDEN-TRUMP REMATCH

That includes a five-point advantage for Trump over Biden in both a head-to-head and a five-way ballot match up in a Fox News national poll conducted March 22-25 and released on Wednesday. 

The fundraiser comes less than a week after Obama spent a couple of hours at the White House, meeting with his former vice president. But it was far from a social gathering.

The two presidents, joined by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, headlined an organizing call highlighting the 14th anniversary of the landmark healthcare law known as the Affordable Care Act.

Obama’s stop at the White House comes as he reportedly has warned Biden that the 2024 rematch with Trump will be extremely close.

Senior Obama adviser Eric Schultz emphasized that the former president “will do all he can” to support Biden and “he looks forward to helping Democrats up and down the ballot make the case to voters this fall.”

“Our strategy will be based on driving impact, especially where and when his voice can help move the needle,” Schultz added in a statement.

The Trump campaign pilloried the fundraiser, with spokesman Steven Cheung arguing that the event is a sign the president needs to “trot out some retreads like Clinton and Obama.”

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The 81-year-old Biden, who four years ago made history as the oldest American ever elected president, will continue to face questions about his mental and physical durability, even his recent vigorous State of the Union address.

The president also needs to show that he can energize younger voters, progressives, and Black and Latino Americans, who are all key parts of the Democratic base. Biden is also facing primary ballot box protests – materializing in “uncommitted” votes – over his support for Israel in its war in Gaza against Hamas.

But the former president is also dealing with plenty of problems. 

Trump, who last year made history as the first president or former president to face criminal charges, now faces four major trials and a total of 91 indictments – including federal cases on his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and on handling classified documents. There’s also a massive civil fraud judgment that Trump is appealing. He will have to juggle his appearances in court with his time on the campaign trail.

The 77-year-old Trump will also need to court the sizable block of Republican voters who backed Nikki Haley in the GOP nomination race. The former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina governor was Trump’s last remaining rival before she ended her White House campaign earlier this month. Haley’s support is shining a spotlight on Trump’s weakness with suburban and highly educated voters.

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

The White House is escalating a labor dispute at a major mine in central Mexico, an action backed by powerful labor unions, but it could have a devastating effect on workers and the economy.

The United States Trade Representative (USTR), which is housed in the White House, is pursuing the case by leveraging a little-used tool in the 2020 United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

The Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM), is a provision that allows the government to take enforcement action against factories if they fail to comply with domestic freedom of association and collective bargaining laws. As part of its effort, the USTR successfully convened the first-ever RRM tribunal to review concerns brought by labor officials in the U.S. and Mexico.

“This announcement upholds the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to creating a more level playing field for workers to feel empowered and using every enforcement tool at our disposal to safeguard workers’ rights,” U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said after her office filed its initial motion to convene the RRM tribunal.

BIDEN ADMIN SCRUBS WEBPAGE SHOWING HOW TAXPAYERS FUND UNION ACTIVITIES

However, the process has faced considerable pushback from the Mexican government, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the owner of the mine, Grupo Mexico, which has argued the U.S. government doesn’t have jurisdiction in the dispute. Critics have also warned the process, which is expected to conclude with a ruling as early as Friday, has lacked transparency.

The case dates back more than a decade and a half when, in 2007, the powerful Mexican miners’ union Los Mineros went on strike at Grupo Mexico’s San Martin mine in Sombrerete, Zacatecas, which produces a high quantity of Mexico’s lead, zinc and copper supplies. The strike was related, in part, to safety conditions at the site.

According to legal filings reviewed by Fox News Digital, the San Martin mine reopened 11 years later, in 2018, when the mine’s operator struck a deal with Los Trabajadores Coaligados, a coalition of workers that voted to return to work and end the strike. In June 2023, the Mexican Conciliation and Arbitration Board, a government panel, confirmed in a ruling that the strike was over and San Martin could operate as normal.

REPUBLICANS WARN BIDEN ADMIN’S FOREIGN FARM WORKER RULE IS ‘GIVEAWAY TO BIG LABOR’

Still, that same month, USTR invoked the USMCA’s RRM and requested the Mexican government review whether workers at the mine were being denied their rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining. The request was in response to a petition filed by Los Mineros alongside the AFL-CIO and the United Steel Workers (USW).

On Aug. 22, 2023, despite Mexico’s assertion that the case was outside the scope of the USMCA, USTR formally requested the first-ever RRM tribunal.

“USTR should have never brought this RRLM case because it is jurisdictionally defective, and there has been no denial of rights at the mine,” said Jonathan Stoel, a partner at the law firm Hogan Lovells, which represents the San Martin mine. “The RRLM process since the June 2023 petition has been conducted unfairly by the U.S. government and has been rife with procedural violations.

“The U.S. government’s own documents that were made public as a result of our FOIA request revealed that USTR rejected a similar petition containing the same facts in 2020 and confirmed that this petition is more about politics than alleged labor violations.” 

BIDEN ADMIN SLOW-WALKING GAS PIPELINE SUPPORTED BY LABOR UNIONS THAT WOULD EXPAND ENERGY ACCESS

Those documents, reviewed by Fox News Digital, show USTR officials in the Trump administration expressed skepticism about invoking the RRM in the case. The revelation came in an October 2020 memo sent to then-U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

In filings submitted to the RRM tribunal convened by the U.S. last year, the San Martin mine has echoed some of those same concerns, arguing its facility falls outside the USMCA’s jurisdiction since its products are not exported to the U.S. and that the labor dispute predates the signing of the trade agreement.

Rep. Carol Miller, R-W. Va., a member of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, penned a letter to Tai in late January, saying the RRM process has a limited scope and warning against abusing the provision.

“Once again, Joe Biden is failing to promote fair trade or prioritize U.S. trade interests,” Miller told Fox News Digital in a written statement. “The Biden administration’s choice to use RRM to reopen already settled labor disputes that have no impact on American industry demonstrates a lack of seriousness in their trade agenda.”

SOME GEORGIA WORKERS WOULD FIND IT HARDER TO BECOME UNION MEMBERS UNDER A NEW BILL

And the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business federation, filed a brief in the case, saying it was concerned about the broader implications of a North American nation invoking the RRM in the future. 

“The U.S. government’s pursuit of this case violates a central principal upon which the U.S. legal system was built. The principle is that laws do not have retroactive effect unless the lawmakers expressly specify otherwise,” the chamber’s November brief stated. 

“The facts upon which the U.S. government relies to support its case involving the San Martín mine occurred before the USMCA was negotiated, prior to the USMCA’s passage by the U.S. Congress, and prior to its entry into force.”

Overall, the case, which may ultimately lead to the forcible closure of the San Martin mine, could have a major impact on the local economy in Sombrerete and Mexico’s economy at large. The mine employs about 1,000 workers and, last year, the mine produced more than 1.4 million tons of lead, zinc, copper and silver, key minerals for a wide variety of technologies and products, according to financial filings.

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And it could further benefit Los Mineros General-Secretary Napoleon Gomez Urrutia, who is facing criminal charges and was ordered by a Mexican court to pay $54 million in an alleged embezzlement scheme, Mexico Business News previously reported. One of Los Mineros’ demands to end the San Martin strike was for the Mexican federal government to drop its charges against Urrutia.

The USTR, AFL-CIO, USW and Los Mineros didn’t respond to requests for comment for this story. 

The pro-choice movement had every reason to be nervous about the Supreme Court hearing.

After all, this was the same high court that overturned 50 years of precedent by overturning Roe, and by a 6-3 conservative majority.

Now, two years later, the same court was getting a crack at an increasingly popular form of medical abortions with the pill called mifepristone.

HOW THE MEDIA DOWNPLAYED TRUMP’S MAJOR VICTORY ON THE MASSIVE BOND BUT PLAYED UP HIS NEW YORK TRIAL DATE

Who could stop the justices if they decided to ban these pills, which are especially important in states where abortion has been banned or severely restricted?

With a single ruling, the court could tip the scales in favor of the pro-life movement by cutting off this lifeline for millions of women.

But it didn’t turn out that way.

Based on the audio of Tuesday’s oral arguments, most justices across the ideological spectrum are opposed to outlawing these pills.

With the exception of Sam Alito and Clarence Thomas, leaders of the anti-Roe wing, the justices made clear that they don’t want to get into this fight.

More than two decades after the FDA approved the use of mifepristone as safe and effective, it looks like the drug will remain widely available.

WHY THE TRUMP BOND CRISIS LOOKS LIKE A CONCERTED EFFORT TO RUIN HIM

When you have Ketanji Brown Jackson and Neil Gorsuch embracing the same point, that is the judicial equivalent of a flashing green light.

Abortion has been a difficult subject for Republicans in the post-Roe era. Democrats have won numerous special elections with candidates who ran heavily on the issue. On Tuesday, one such Democrat flipped a Republican seat in the Alabama House.

In my Mar-a-Lago interview with Donald Trump, he said Republicans who take too hard a line on abortion, such as opposing exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother, are destined to lose. In embracing a ban on abortions after 16 weeks of pregnancy, later modified to 15 weeks, he said something that stuck with me: “You have to follow your heart. But you also have to get elected.”

The stakes are high in the Supreme Court case because mifepristone is now used in 60 percent of all abortions in America. 

The skeptical justices expressed concern about the impact on federal regulation if they substituted their views on complicated subjects overseen by the likes of the Food and Drug Administration.

Jackson said there is a “significant mismatch” between the claims made by the anti-abortion doctors and their lawsuit “seeking an order preventing anyone from having access to these drugs at all.”

Added Gorsuch: “This case seems a prime example of turning what could be a small lawsuit into a nationwide legislative assembly on an FDA rule or any other federal government action.”

The advantage of these pills is that patients can order them mailed to their homes, even in states with highly restrictive laws.

If SCOTUS were to uphold the appellate ruling, patients would have to obtain the pills in person, and could only use them for seven weeks.

Most of the justices seemed united on the fundamental question of standing – that is, the eligibility to sue. They pressed both sides on whether the plaintiffs had such standing.

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

If the high court decides they don’t, they don’t have to deal with any of the more nettlesome questions and can dismiss the case.

But that could prove to be only a temporary reprieve. If the next lawsuit is filed by people with clear standing, that exit ramp would be closed to the justices.

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As long as there are lawyers and strong moral feelings on both sides, this sort of litigation will drag on, the legacy of a new and supercharged abortion environment.

Nick Akerman, a former Watergate prosecutor, said that in his 50-some years in law, he has never seen a gag order like the one imposed on former President Trump in his hush money payments case this week. 

New York Judge Juan Merchan issued the gag order on Tuesday following a request from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

“This is so unusual,” Akerman told CNN’s Fredericka Whitfield on Wednesday. “This never happens, in over 50 years in law practice, both as a prosecutor and a defense lawyer.” 

He added, “It’s not done, and the reason it’s not done is because once you start disparaging the judge, disparaging people in the courtroom, you’re putting yourself in harm’s way because that’s the judge that’s going to sentence you.”

TRUMP’S $454m JUDGMENT BOND SLASHED BY MORE THAN HALF IN APPEALS COURT RULING

Akerman added that Trump is “the only one I have ever seen do this and do it in such an outrageous way that it’s really forced the courts – to where does the First Amendment stop and where do we need a gag order in order to protect the judicial system?” 

Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, has been highly critical of the judge, calling the gag order “illegal, un-American, unconstitutional,” saying that Merchan was “wrongfully attempting to deprive me of my First Amendment Right to speak out against the Weaponization of Law Enforcement.” 

Trump even suggested that the gag order was related to Merchan’s adult daughter’s work as the president of a political consulting firm.

“Judge Juan Merchan, who is suffering from an acute case of Trump Derangement Syndrome (whose daughter represents Crooked Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, and other Radical Liberals, has just posted a picture of me behind bars, her obvious goal, and makes it completely impossible for me to get a fair trial) has now issued another illegal, un-American, unConstitutional ‘order,’ as he continues to try and take away my Rights,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. 

MANHATTAN DA BRAGG REQUESTS JUDGE IMPOSE GAG ORDER ON TRUMP DURING HUSH MONEY CASE

In issuing the gag order, the judge cited Trump’s “prior extrajudicial statements,” saying they establish “a sufficient risk to the administration of justice.” 

Merchan ordered that Trump cannot make or direct others to make public statements about witnesses concerning their potential participation, or about counsel in the case — other than Bragg — or about court staff, DA staff or family members of staff.

Merchan also ordered that Trump cannot make or direct others to make public statements about any prospective juror or chosen juror. 

Merchan said in his decision that Trump has made statements in the past during other trials — likely referring to the months-long non-jury civil fraud trial stemming from New York Attorney General Letitia James’ case. 

“lndeed, his statements were threatening, inflammatory, denigrating, and the targets of his statements ranged from local and federal officials, court and court staff, prosecutors and staff assigned to the cases, and private individuals including grand jurors performing their civic duty,” Merchan writes. “The consequences of those statements included not only fear on the part of the individual targeted, but also the assignment of increased security resources to investigate threats and protect the individuals and family members thereof.” 

Akerman added later on X, “Trump’s unprecedented pattern of disparaging and threatening judges, prosecutors and witnesses is self-destructive and makes it more likely he will end up in the slammer.” 

Former Acting U.S. Attorney General Matt Whitaker, who served under Trump, told Fox News, “I think these gag orders are very dangerous… The First Amendment is fairly broad in its protection of our right to speak and speak our minds, and I think ultimately this judge is going to have to tread very carefully.” 

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Trump has had two other gag orders issued against him in recent months. 

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman and Maria Paronich contributed to this report. 

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

What’s happening? 

-Obama reportedly contacting Biden’s team regularly over potential 2024 loss

-How Eagle Pass became the center of the Biden-Abbott feud

-Fetterman offers rare sit down interview with Fox News

Slim Majorities

In a surprise announcement, longtime Democratic Rep. Annie Kuster of New Hampshire says she won’t seek re-election to the House of Representatives this year.

“I always said I was not going to stay in Congress forever – I will not be seeking re-election in 2024,” the six-term representative in the key general election battleground state said in a statement released on Wednesday.

Kuster, an attorney and lobbyist with clients in the health care and pharmaceutical industry before winning election to the House in 2012, highlighted that her tenure in Congress “has been many things – rewarding, frustrating, inspiring, and challenging. But, more than anything, it has been an honor.”

Republicans aim to defend their razor-thin House majority in November’s elections. 

The GOP currently holds a slim majority in the House of Representatives. And that has worsened in recent months as some high-profile Republicans are choosing to resign early, well before their term in office ends.

White House

HANGING UP: KJP ends radio interview after economy question, leaves host stunned …Read more

‘MANY, MANY TIMES’: Biden claims he commuted ‘many, many times’ by train on car-only Francis Scott Key Bridge …Read more

OBAMA WORRIED: Former president reportedly making regular calls to Biden chief of staff, fearing Trump victory …Read more

TWISTING IN THE WIND: Whale of a lawsuit threatens to swallow up Biden green energy agenda …Read more

BUILDING BRIDGES: Buttigieg says gov’t must ‘tear down’ barriers to rebuild Baltimore connection …Read more

‘YOU AIN’T S—‘: Another Biden official targeted with dung drop outside home …Read more

Capitol Hill

‘LEGITIMATE’: Comer rejects Democrats’ latest bid to turn tables on Biden impeachment …Read more

‘OPEN BORDER’: House GOP blames Biden policies after migrant is accused of killing MI woman …Read more

A DIFFERENT FIGURE: Fetterman unafraid to oppose his party in Democrat-controlled Senate …Read more

Tales from the Campaign Trail

FEAR FACTOR: Trump enjoys an advantage over Biden in this key election factor …Read more

Across America

MYSTERY MONEY: South Carolina found a state bank account with $1.8 billion, but they have no idea what it’s for …Read more

PREPARED TO FIGHT: Ohio AG prepared to defend new law banning gender transition surgeries for minors against ACLU lawsuit …Read more

NEW FOOTAGE: How Eagle Pass became the center of Abbott/Biden feud …Read more

‘THERE IS NO FREE MONEY’: NYC officials defend prepaid debit card program for illegal immigrants …Read more

‘LUNATICS’: Conservatives trash NBC News after it bows to left-wing pressure on Ronna McDaniel …Read more

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

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

President Biden’s re-election campaign has been touting recent swing-state appearances as evidence of his presence on the trail ahead of the general election, while suggesting former President Trump was avoiding the important battlegrounds. 

“Joe Biden has hit 8 swing states in 18 days, all while being POTUS. Donald Trump has golfed a lot, all while truth-socialing really hard,” Biden spokesperson James Singer wrote on X, formerly Twitter, Wednesday alongside a graphic of the core swing states.

“Campaigning by the numbers: Biden visited 8 battleground states in 18 days. Trump? One. Just one battleground state,” campaign staffer Daniel Wessel added. 

KEY BATTLEGROUND STATE DEM ANNOUNCEMENT STUNS POLITICAL WORLD: ‘BIG SURPRISE’

In a press release last week, the Biden campaign slammed Trump, claiming “Broke Don Hides in Basement.” In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Biden was notably criticized for campaigning over Zoom webcasts in a temporary basement studio at his home in Delaware. Since then, a candidate who is relatively absent from visibility has been referred to as running a “basement” campaign. 

FETTERMAN CHARTS A DIFFERENT PATH, BREAKS WITH FELLOW DEMOCRATS IN THE SENATE

However, Trump’s campaign pushed back on the claim that he isn’t visible in the critical states, noting he will be in two of them next week. Only one event for next week is advertised on Trump’s campaign website, a rally in Wisconsin April 2. The other visit remains unannounced. 

Trump’s team further pointed to Biden’s accessibility and frequency of interviews, as well as his tendency not to accept many questions from the press during speeches or events. In the first three months of 2024, Biden has participated in three on-camera interviews — one with late-night host Seth Meyers, one with Robert Costa of CBS and one with MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart. He did not sit for a Super Bowl interview in February despite the informal establishment of it as something of a tradition for presidents in the 21st century.

DEMOCRATS REPORTEDLY ‘SCRAMBLING’ OVER THREAT OF RFK JR. IN 2024 RACE

In reference to the president’s interview schedule, which also featured several radio and digital hits, spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement to Fox News Digital, “There are lots of folks who can’t keep up with Joe Biden.”

According to the University of California-Santa Barbara’s American Presidency Project, Biden has fallen behind his predecessors when it comes to transparency and press accessibility. During his first term so far, Biden has given only 33 news conferences, compared to Trump’s 57 at the same point and former President Obama’s 69. 

Whether the Biden team’s recent blitz of battleground visits and its effort to highlight a period with few Trump appearances will convince voters that Trump is missing in action remains to be seen. 

“I doubt it,” Republican strategist John Feehery told Fox News Digital.

“Both are pretty old, but Biden is older and more prone to gaffes,” he said, noting the campaign will be “long.”

Erin Perrine, another Republican strategist, called it “laughable” for Biden to compare “campaign styles when Biden hasn’t run an aggressive campaign in well over a decade.”

“Biden’s campaign seems to lack a serious strategy to address his polling consistently lagging on almost every major issue facing Americans,” she said.  

According to fellow GOP strategist Doug Heye, the move by the president’s campaign “makes sense” because “Biden is trying to project an image that he is healthy and vigorous.”

POLL FINDS MOST AMERICANS DON’T SUPPORT ISRAEL’S ACTION IN GAZA AS BIDEN-ISRAEL RELATIONS HIT ‘LOW POINT’

But he noted Biden’s packed schedule “comes with the very real risk that something goes wrong for Biden.” 

Trump doesn’t need to work as hard to maintain this image, Heye explained. “He’s lost some of his fastball but remains a ball of energy,” he added. 

Democratic strategist Max Burns felt differently. 

“In a race that both sides agree will be decided by razor-thin vote margins, it isn’t viable for a candidate to take weeks off the campaign to focus on his personal financial and legal issues,” Burns said. “Trump is spending more and more campaign time at Mar-a-Lago, where he’s holding a nonstop stream of fundraisers to help him pay his enormous civil fraud bond.”

He added that he expects Trump to lose polling stature against Biden the longer he remains away from the campaign trail.

REPUBLICANS TOP DEMS ON KEY FACTOR MOTIVATING VOTER TURNOUT FOR BIDEN-TRUMP REMATCH: POLL

Robert Shapiro, a political science professor at Columbia University, described the Biden campaign’s effort as its way of taking “on the view that Biden is less energetic and more affected by age than Trump.” 

“I do not think this can have any more than a marginal short-term effect now,” Shapiro said. This sentiment was echoed by Heye, who claimed, “None of this matters in March.” The Nov. 5 general election is more than 222 days away 

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While there remains ample time for developments in the election, Shapiro said, “It could have a more cumulative effect” later on. 

What is “more important” for Biden, he said, is his maintained presence in the battleground states and the ability to “draw visible comparisons with Trump on all fronts where Trump is vulnerable.” Trump’s presence or lack thereof “is less an issue,” he added. 

Democrat Marilyn Lands won an Alabama legislature special election on Tuesday considered a bellwether contest on abortion and in vitro fertilization (IVF) ahead of the 2024 November elections. 

Lands, who made reproductive rights a centerpiece of her campaign in deep red Alabama early on by launching an ad in which she shared the story of her own abortion decades ago, defeated Republican Teddy Powell to win the open state House District 10, The Associated Press reported, citing unofficial returns Tuesday. 

The suburban district considered one of the few purple, swing seats encompassing parts of Huntsville and Madison in the deep red state was vacated when former Republican state Rep. David Cole pleaded guilty to voter fraud last year amid allegations he rented a closet-size space to fraudulently run for office in a district where he did not live. 

Powell, a member of the Madison City Council, issued a statement conceding the race and congratulating Lands on her victory. 

“Well I am so excited to get down to Montgomery, and I think this is a giant step forward for Alabama. I think it’s a victory tonight for women, for families, for Alabama in general,” Lands said on camera. “I want to get down there and repeal the bad ban on no exceptions abortion, I want to protect IVF and contraception, but I also want to be a champion for healthcare, mental healthcare but healthcare in general. I really feel like we need somebody down in Montgomery who understands mental health issues, and I’m that one.” 

NEW YORK REPUBLICAN CO-SPONSORS BILL DEFENDING IVF TREATMENT

The rare victory for Democrats in the Deep South state, where Republicans hold all statewide offices and hold a lopsided majority in the Alabama Legislature, comes after the state Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos created during fertility treatments should be considered as having the same status as children under state law in wrongful death lawsuits. 

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, signed a bill into law earlier this month protecting IVF treatments after the February decision prompted some fertility clinics to pause their procedures.

The ruling was issued in a pair of wrongful death cases brought by three couples whose frozen embryos were destroyed at a fertility clinic when a patient from the hospital walked into the storage area, removed the embryos from a cryogenic freezer and dropped them on the ground. 

The decision resulted in a flury of warnings about the potential impact on fertility treatments and the freezing of embryos, which had previously been considered property by the courts.

Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, came out in support of protecting access to IVF after the ruling. 

ALABAMA GOVERNOR SIGNS BILL PROTECTING IVF INTO LAW: ‘PROUD WE ARE A PRO-LIFE, PRO-FAMILY STATE’

But Lands’ campaign also centered on Alabama’s ban on most abortion procedures ushered in after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. 

State House District 10 represents parts of the cities of Madison and Huntsville, which is home to the Army’s Redstone Arsenal and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. 

Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Heather Williams called the victory a “political earthquake in Alabama.”

“This special election is a harbinger of things to come. Republicans across the country have been put on notice that there are consequences to attacks on IVF – from the bluest blue state to the reddest red, voters are choosing to fight for their fundamental freedoms by electing Democrats across the country,” Williams said.

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Lands, a licensed counselor, unsuccessfully ran for the seat in 2022 but lost by seven points to Cole. She will finish the term and will be up for election in 2026 when the governor’s office and other races will be on the ballot. Her opponent Powell, a former Defense Department budget analyst, had leaned into issues including the economy and infrastructure while Lands centered on abortion and IVF. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

A new national poll indicates that Republicans are more enthusiastic about former President Trump returning to the White House than Democrats are about President Biden serving another four years in office.

But Trump stirs more anger and fear from Democrats than Biden does from Republicans, according to the findings in an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey.

Fifty-four percent of Republicans questioned in the poll said “excited” describes how they would feel about a second Trump term as president. Only four in 10 Democrats said the same thing about a Biden victory in November’s presidential election rematch between the White House incumbent and his predecessor.

TRUMP LEADS BIDEN BY DOUBLE DIGITS IN THIS DEEP RED STRONGHOLD: POLL

The poll also indicates that seven in 10 Democrats used the words “angry” or “fearful” to describe how they would feel if Trump won the presidential election.

Fifty-six percent of Republicans said the same thing about Biden if he were to defeat Trump for a second straight time.

LATEST GOP PRIMARY RESULTS SPOTLIGHT THAT ‘THIS IS TRUMP’S PARTY‘

In a race that polls indicate will be extremely close, both excitement and dislike of the two major candidates will likely be crucial motivating factors in firing up the Democratic and Republican bases.

The poll was conducted March 21-25, with 1,282 adults nationwide questioned using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The survey’s overall sampling error is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

With just over seven months to go until Election Day on Nov. 5, Trump enjoys the early edge in public opinion polling – both in most national surveys and in many of the polls in five of the six key battleground states where Biden narrowly topped Trump to win the White House in 2020.

But in another key metric – fundraising – Biden currently enjoys the upper hand.

The Biden-Trump rematch offers up stark contrasts when it comes to their style and demeanor, and on where they stand on key issues, such as the economy, health care and entitlements, immigration, abortion, foreign policy, the war in Ukraine, and America’s overseas role going forward.

CAN TRUMP LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD WITH BIDEN IN 2024 FUNDRAISING FIGHT?

The 81-year-old Biden, who four years ago made history as the oldest American ever elected president, will continue to face questions about his mental and physical durability, even his recent vigorous State of the Union address.

The president also needs to show that he can energize younger voters, progressives, and Black and Latino Americans, who are all key parts of the Democratic base. Biden is also facing primary ballot box protests – materializing in “uncommitted” votes – over his support for Israel in its war in Gaza against Hamas.

The former president is also dealing with plenty of problems. 

Trump, who last year made history as the first president or former president to face criminal charges, now faces four major trials and a total of 91 indictments – including federal cases on his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and on handling classified documents. There’s also a massive civil fraud judgment that Trump is appealing. He will have to juggle his appearances in court with his time on the campaign trail. 

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The 77-year-old Trump will also need to court the sizable block of Republican voters who backed Nikki Haley in the GOP nomination race. The former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina governor was Trump’s last remaining rival before she ended her White House campaign earlier this month. Haley’s support is shining a spotlight on Trump’s weakness with suburban and highly educated voters.

Complicating matters further – the presidential rematch between Biden and Trump won’t be a two-candidate race.

Democratic-turned-Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is working to place his name on state ballots across the country. Kennedy, a longtime environmental activist and high-profile vaccine skeptic who’s a scion of the famous Kennedy political dynasty, is grabbing double-digits in many general election polls.

Green Party candidate Jill Stein and progressive independent candidate Cornell West are polling in the single digits. And the centrist group No Labels is moving ahead with plans to potentially launch a third-party “unity” presidential ticket.

While third-party and independent candidates didn’t play much of a role in the 2020 presidential election, they did in the 2016 showdown between Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. And they may again in 2024.

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

House Republicans are heaping criticism on President Biden’s border policies again after an illegal immigrant was accused of killing a 25-year-old woman in Michigan.

“Biden’s open border policies are costing lives in [Michigan]. TODAY, he could implement border measures, or use the authority that he already has,” Rep. John James, R-Mich., wrote on X. “When is enough, enough?”

Brandon Ortiz-Vite, who is currently behind bars at a jail in Kent County, Michigan, is being charged with murder, carjacking, carrying a concealed weapon and felony use of a firearm after the body of 25-year-old Ruby Garcia was discovered on U.S. 131 in downtown Grand Rapids and identified by investigators. The pair had been in a romantic relationship at the time of the killing, police said.

NEW YORK CITY BEGINS GIVING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS PREPAID DEBIT CARDS AS PART OF $53 MILLION PILOT PROGRAM

In a statement to Fox News Digital, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson confirmed that Ortiz-Vite was in the country illegally at the time of Garcia’s death and that he was previously deported to Mexico in 2020.

It comes after the death of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was killed while jogging on the University of Georgia campus. Riley’s suspected killer, from Venezuela, arrived in the U.S. illegally. Officials said they did not know each other.

“An illegal migrant has been charged with murdering 25-year-old Ruby Garcia from Michigan. The murderer, Brandon Ortiz-Vite, had been deported then re-entered our country illegally. Under Biden, innocent lives are being cut short by people here illegally. Enough is enough,” said Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., chairman of the House Republicans’ campaign arm.

GOP SENATOR OUTRAGED BY WEEKLY REPORTS OF MIGRANT ARRIVALS RELEASED BY DHS

Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., wrote on X, “Laken Riley, Ruby Garcia… How many more innocent Americans have to die before Joe Biden closes the border?”

Another lawmaker, Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., sounded off, “An illegal alien was charged in the carjacking and murder of a 25-year-old Michigan woman. Joe Biden’s open border policies continue to kill innocent Americans.”

Republicans have blamed Biden’s border policies for fueling the current migrant crisis, accusing him of rolling back stricter Trump administration-era rules and refusing to enforce existing immigration laws. The Biden administration in turn has accused the GOP of withholding funding the White House has requested to add more resources at the U.S.-Mexico border – though Republicans argue more funding is meaningless without policy upheaval.

LAKEN RILEY FUNERAL IN GEORGIA COMMEMORATES NURSING STUDENT ALLEGEDLY KILLED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT

A recent string of highly-publicized and unrelated crimes involving illegal immigrants has fueled the GOP’s outrage, including an attack on police officers in New York City.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately hear back.

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is rejecting the latest attempt by Democrats to shift scrutiny onto former President Trump’s inner circle. 

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the top Democrat on the committee, led a letter to Comer on Tuesday calling for a hearing into allegations of “apparent influence peddling and quid pro quo deals” by Trump’s son-in-law and former White House adviser, Jared Kushner.

Comer told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that Kushner’s business was “legitimate” and dismissed the request as a bid to “shield President Biden from oversight.”

AOC TAKES HEAT OVER ‘RICO IS NOT A CRIME’ COMMENT IN BIDEN IMPEACHMENT PROBE HEARING

It comes as the House Oversight Committee’s GOP majority conducts an impeachment inquiry into President Biden over accusations he used his former position as vice president to enrich himself and his family, particularly through foreign business deals. Both the president and the White House have denied wrongdoing.

“Unlike the Bidens, Jared Kushner has a legitimate business and has a career as a business executive that predates Donald Trump’s political career,” Comer told Fox News Digital. 

“Democrats’ latest letter is part of their playbook to shield President Biden from oversight. The House Oversight Committee will continue to investigate President Biden’s abuse of public office and hold the Bidens accountable for their corruption.”

FBI INFORMANT CHARGED WITH GIVING FALSE INFORMATION ABOUT HUNTER BIDEN IN 2020

Raskin and Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., wrote to Comer, “This Committee cannot claim to be ‘investigating foreign nationals’ attempts to target and coerce high-ranking U.S. officials’ family members by providing money or other benefits in exchange for certain actions’ while continuing to ignore these matters. We therefore urge you to work with us to finally investigate Mr. Kushner’s receipt of billions of dollars from foreign governments in deals that appear to be quid pro quos for actions he undertook as senior White House adviser in Donald Trump’s Administration.”

They also accused Comer of having “allowed Mr. Kushner to repeatedly ignore and defy these requests,” citing Democrats’ repeated urging to subpoena Kushner and his firm.

TRUMP HOLDS EDGE OVER BIDEN IN CRUCIAL BATTLEGROUND STATE POLL

At the heart of Raskin and Garcia’s latest letter is a New York Times report from earlier this month that claims Kushner is in the final stages of major real estate deals in Albania and Serbia. The report also noted that those deals are coming to fruition while Trump seeks a second term in office.

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Kushner told the outlet he was “excited” and “working hard” to close the deals.

Democrats’ attention to Kushner’s foreign business ties comes as impeachment investigators focus on the president’s son Hunter Biden and his foreign business dealings in Ukraine and China.

Democrat Marilyn Lands won an Alabama legislature special election on Tuesday considered a bellwether contest on abortion and in vitro fertilization (IVF) ahead of the 2024 November elections. 

Lands, who made reproductive rights a centerpiece of her campaign in deep red Alabama early on by launching an ad in which she shared the story of her own abortion decades ago, defeated Republican Teddy Powell to win the open seat for state House District 10, the Associated Press reported, citing unofficial returns Tuesday. 

“Well I am so excited to get down to Montgomery, and I think this is a giant step forward for Alabama. I think it’s a victory tonight for women, for families, for Alabama in general,” Lands said on camera. “I want to get down there and repeal the bad ban on no exceptions abortion, I want to protect IVF and contraception, but I also want to be a champion for healthcare, mental healthcare but healthcare in general. I really feel like we need somebody down in Montgomery who understands mental health issues, and I’m that one.” 

The suburban district, encompassing parts of Huntsville and Madison, is considered one of the deep red state’s few purple swing seats. The position was vacated when former Republican state Rep. David Cole pleaded guilty to voter fraud last year amid allegations he rented a closet-size space to fraudulently run for office in a district where he did not live. 

NEW YORK REPUBLICAN CO-SPONSORS BILL DEFENDING IVF TREATMENT

Powell, a member of the Madison City Council, issued a statement conceding the race and congratulating Lands on her victory. 

The rare victory for Democrats in the Deep South state, where Republicans hold all statewide offices and hold a lopsided majority in the Alabama Legislature, comes after the state Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos created during fertility treatments should be considered as having the same status as children under state law in wrongful death lawsuits. 

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, signed a bill into law earlier this month protecting IVF treatments after the February decision prompted some fertility clinics to pause their procedures.

The ruling was issued in a pair of wrongful death cases brought by three couples whose frozen embryos were destroyed at a fertility clinic when a patient from the hospital walked into the storage area, removed the embryos from a cryogenic freezer and dropped them on the ground. 

The decision resulted in a flury of warnings about the potential impact on fertility treatments and the freezing of embryos, which had previously been considered property by the courts.

Republicans, including former President Trump, came out in support of protecting access to IVF after the ruling. 

ALABAMA GOVERNOR SIGNS BILL PROTECTING IVF INTO LAW: ‘PROUD WE ARE A PRO-LIFE, PRO-FAMILY STATE’

But Lands’ campaign also centered on Alabama’s ban on most abortion procedures ushered in after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. 

Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Heather Williams called the victory a “political earthquake in Alabama.”

“This special election is a harbinger of things to come. Republicans across the country have been put on notice that there are consequences to attacks on IVF – from the bluest blue state to the reddest red, voters are choosing to fight for their fundamental freedoms by electing Democrats across the country,” Williams said.

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Lands, a licensed counselor, unsuccessfully ran for the seat in 2022, losing by seven points to Cole. She will finish the term and will be up for election in 2026 when the governor’s office and other races will be on the ballot. Her opponent Powell, a former Defense Department budget analyst, had leaned into issues including the economy and infrastructure while Lands centered on abortion and IVF. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Former President Obama is holding regular calls with White House chief of staff Jeff Zients amid growing fears that former President Trump will win the 2024 election, the New York Times reported Wednesday.

Obama’s calls with Zients and top aides at Biden’s campaign reportedly center around election strategy and relaying advice from Obama’s team. A senior aide on Obama’s team told the Times that the former president has “always” been concerned about a Trump victory, and he is now working to bolster the Biden campaign any way he can.

The White House and representatives for Obama did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

TIME Magazine also reported on Obama’s increased concern about the 2024 election last week. The publication reported that Obama met personally with Biden on at least two recent occasions and expressed concern that he could lose the 2024 election.

OBAMA BALKED AT BIDEN’S ASSERTION THAT RUSSIA SHOULD ‘PAY IN BLOOD AND MONEY’ AFTER 2014 INVASION: BOOK

Obama reportedly advised Biden to become more aggressive and make the upcoming presidential race a referendum on Trump.

BIDEN PRIVATELY DEFIANT THAT HE DIDN’T BOTCH AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL: BOOK

During a private lunch, Obama told Biden his campaign was unstable, persuading unhappy voters would be a challenge and defeating Trump would be more difficult than 2020, according to a Democrat briefed on the discussion.

NETANYAHU BLASTS SCHUMER, BIDEN OVER WANING SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL

Obama is not the only former president looking to help Biden. He and former President Bill Clinton will both attend a major fundraiser for Biden at Radio City Music Hall in New York on Thursday.

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A spokesperson for Obama’s office highlighted the team’s unity behind Biden in a statement to Fox News Digital last week, saying the Obama Alumni Association hosted an event for Biden’s re-election campaign, during which attendees chanted, “Fired up, ready to go,” in support of the president.

Fox News’ Nikolas Lanum contributed to this report

Longtime Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who many refer to as a “moderate” Democrat that often works across the aisle, has a voting record in lock step with President Biden nearly 100% of the time, sparking allegations of hypocrisy from his opponents.

Brown, who began serving in the U.S. Senate in 2007, is often referred to in media publications as a practical “moderate” in touch with blue-collar workers in the Buckeye State and as recently as this week campaigned on “standing up for people and fighting for Ohio.”

A review of his voting record since Biden took office using VoteView, a database maintained by political scientists from UCLA, shows that Brown voted with Biden 99% of the time from 2021-2023 and 97% of the time since 2023 while representing a state Trump carried by 8 points in 2020.

Brown’s allegiance to Democrats did drop during the Trump years, as he voted with Democrats 91% of the time from 2019-2021 and 95% of the time from 2017-2019. During the eight years of the Obama administration, Brown voted with Democrats 95%-98% of the time.

VULNERABLE DEM SENATOR BLASTED OVER VOTING RECORD AFTER AD TOUTS STRENGTH ON IMMIGRATION: ‘WON’T BE FOOLED’

The Ohio Democrat has also been a reliable vote for Biden when it comes to confirming nominees to high-profile positions. During the Biden presidency, Brown has voted to confirm Biden nominees over 99% of the time compared to 33% in the Trump administration.

During the Obama administration, Brown voted for 100% of the nominees before the Senate.

Brown’s adherence to Biden’s policies is expected to become a major issue on the campaign trail against his GOP challenger, businessman Bernie Moreno, who was propelled to a commanding victory in the primary by Trump’s endorsement, given that Biden is facing historically low approval numbers and is underwater on several key issues.

Additionally, most political experts believe that courting independent voters and perhaps moderate Republicans will be key to Brown’s success in November. Brown’s critics tell Fox News Digital that Brown’s voting record shows he is anything but “moderate.”

TRUMP-BACKED SENATE CANDIDATE BERNIE MORENO VOWS TO ‘FINALLY RETIRE’ DEMOCRAT SHERROD BROWN

“Sherrod Brown parades around Ohio telling voters that he is a moderate, while he votes with Joe Biden 99% of the time and consistently sells out Ohio workers,” Reagan McCarthy, Communications Director for the Moreno campaign, told Fox News Digital. 

“Brown has supported every single reckless spending package that has resulted in rampant inflation, voted for Biden’s attacks on American energy in favor of green energy schemes, and enabled Biden’s open-border invasion. We look forward to exposing his left-wing record and sending him packing in November.”

Philip Letsou, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told Fox News Digital that Brown “can’t run from his record.”

“He’s a far-left liberal who has spent 50 years rubber-stamping the Democrat agenda,” Letsou said. “As Joe Biden has crushed working Americans with an open border and out of control inflation, Sherrod Brown has been there for him every step of the way.” 

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Brown has managed to win multiple re-elections in Ohio despite the state’s shift toward the GOP in recent years by appealing to Republican and Independent voters. Brown told Politico last month that he is going to “run my own race” and “my own brand” while at the same time is “not going to run away from Biden.”

“He’s also delivered more than any president in recent history.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Brown campaign spokesperson Reeves Oyster said, “Sherrod works for Ohio, which is why he’s stood up to presidents of both parties to block bad trade deals, worked with Republicans to make sure border patrol agents and law enforcement officers have the resources they need, and demanded the Biden Administration crack down on Chinese solar products that undercut Ohio manufacturers.” 

The Friends of Sherrod Brown campaign pointed Fox News Digital to examples of Brown standing up to the Biden administration several times, including on trade issues involving China and on the issue of immigration when Biden overturned Title 42.

The campaign also pointed to Brown’s opposition to the nomination of Nelson Cunningham for Deputy U.S. Trade Representative due to his lobbying for foreign union-busting companies and his vocal opposition to Biden EPA emissions rules that negatively affected Ohio.

Donald Trump won a huge legal victory with hours to spare – but you wouldn’t know it from much of the coverage.

A striking number of anchors and pundits, especially on MSNBC, reported Trump’s appeals court victory when it broke on Monday, but soon were describing it as a bad ruling and lamented the fact that once again he seemed to be getting away with something.

They began the day in high spirits, because the deadline had arrived for New York’s attorney general to be able to freeze his bank accounts, seize his properties and perhaps sell off some of his iconic buildings.

WHY MSNBC DOESN’T WANT RONNA MCDANIEL – OR DONALD TRUMP – ON ITS AIRWAVES

The reason, of course, was that Trump was unable to post a $464-million bond that would have allowed him to pursue his appeal without forfeiting some of his real estate holdings.

But when five appellate judges, seemingly out of the blue, slashed the bond requirement to $175 million – and gave him 10 days to come up with the money – the usual battalion of Trump-bashing former prosecutors, including Andrew Weissmann, who was lead prosecutor for Bob Mueller’s largely unsuccessful Trump investigation before becoming an MSNBC legal analyst. Weissmann pivoted to what he called an “ongoing schism” among Trump’s lawyers.  

What most of those covering the story didn’t say was that the ruling was a stinging rebuke to the trial judge, Arthur Engoron, and AG Letitia James. To demand that the former president come up with nearly half a billion dollars was punitive and wildly excessive, and the judge gave James almost everything she wanted. Although there’s no written opinion, it’s impossible to read the appellate decision any other way, given that the judges reduced the draconian penalty by well over half.

What was Trump going to do, flee the country? He’s running for president!

Now it’s true that this may only be a temporary reprieve. Trump was found liable for inflating the value of some of his buildings and golf courses, despite the fact that the banks that loaned him money did their own analysis and were fully repaid.

At first James, the Democrat who campaigned on a platform of going after Trump, sought damages of $250 million – then boosted it to $370 million. Engoron rolled over and gave her almost everything she wanted, as he has throughout the litigation.

So the Trump Organization could be badly wounded if he ultimately loses, and is barred from being an officer of any New York corporation for three years, as James demanded.

WHY THE TRUMP BOND CRISIS LOOKS LIKE A CONCERTED EFFORT TO RUIN HIM

But while it’s hard to predict what courts may do, isn’t it possible that an appeal court that found the half-billion bond demand absurdly high could also reduce the $370-million penalty that Engoron granted as equally excessive?

The media coverage quickly gravitated to a second court ruling that went against Donald Trump. This one, however, was widely expected.

Judge Juan Merchan ruled that the hush money case will begin on April 15, less than three weeks away. Trump’s lawyers had tried a Hail Mary, asking that the case be further delayed or tossed out entirely. 

Such motions rarely succeed, and the judge had already granted a delay from the planned mid-March start date.

This case, brought by Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg, is the least important and most openly partisan of the four indictments against Trump. And yet it is virtually certain that the Stormy Daniels trial will be the only criminal case that reaches a verdict before the election.

That verdict can be appealed, of course, but it’s hardly impossible that a Manhattan jury, in a borough largely opposed to Trump, could convict him. Then we would find out whether hypothetical polls about some independents and Republicans being less likely to vote for a convicted former president.

Trump will try to convince his supporters that this is another case of weaponizing law enforcement against him – especially since Bragg seemed to drop the probe for a time and charged what usually would have been a misdemeanor to a felony.

But the media were so thrilled to have an offsetting ruling that the Washington Post ran this headline: “Trump Reels from Competing Court Decisions as Trials Disrupt Campaign.”

Reels? After a surprise victory on the bond question and a predictable setting of a New York trial date?

It goes without saying that any politician not named Trump would be finished within a day or two if charged with paying off a porn star. But the media were convinced that every previous indictment would damage him and everyone now agrees they boosted him in the polls.

At issue in the hearing was whether Bragg’s office gave Trump’s team enough time to review thousands of pages of documents obtained from federal prosecutors. But it turned out only 300 of those pages involved Michael Cohen, the former Trump fixer who served time and now will be the trial’s star witness.

In the fall of 2016, Trump’s campaign worried that Stormy Daniels would go public with her account of having a one-time sexual encounter with him, which he has always denied. Cohen arranged for her to be paid $130,000 to buy her silence. Trump is charged with approving the reimbursements, though Cohen’s credibility is obviously subject to challenge.

Judge Merchan scolded one of Trump’s lawyers, at one point asking how much experience he had as a prosecutor. He said the defense allegations on the documents were “unbelievably serious,” adding:

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“You are literally accusing the Manhattan D.A.’s office and the people assigned to this case of prosecutorial misconduct and trying to make me complicit in it.”

The former president vowed to appeal, saying, “I don’t know how you can have a trial like this in the middle of an election, a presidential election.” But jury selection is almost certain to begin on April 15.

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By yesterday, the media had moved on to the horrifying collapse of the Baltimore bridge hit by a massive cargo ship, the raids on three of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ homes, and, yes, Judge Merchan’s gag order against Trump in the hush money case. His split decision on Monday had quickly faded from the headlines. 

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced Tuesday that attorney and tech entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan will be his vice presidential running mate heading into the November general election.

A native of Oakland, California, the 38-year-old Shanahan is a philanthropist with a long history of donating to Democrat and left-leaning causes, including supporting President Biden in his 2020 election bid before switching to Kennedy when he launched his own run for the Democrat nomination last year.

Kennedy announced Shanahan by praising her insight into “how Big Tech uses AI to manipulate the public,” her athletic ability, and willingness to be a “partner” in a number of policy areas, including on securing the border.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. EXPECTED TO ANNOUNCE WEALTHY FEMALE ENTREPRENEUR AS VICE PRESIDENTIAL RUNNING MATE

Shanahan initially dropped her support for Kennedy after he decided to run as an independent, but later got behind him again by giving $4 million to the super PAC that boosted his candidacy with a John F. Kennedy-themed campaign ad that ran during the Super Bowl in February.

Shanahan also previously donated to Democrat presidential candidates Marianne Williamson and Pete Buttigieg during the 2020 presidential race, and threw more than $150,000 behind progressive Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon’s 2020 election bid.

She is the founder and president of Bia-Echo Foundation, a private firm that describes its mission as focused on “new frontiers in reproductive longevity & equality, criminal justice reform and a healthy & livable planet.” 

Shanahan was previously married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin, a marriage that ended following reports she had an affair with Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk, which both of them deny. She has one daughter from her marriage with Brin.

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Following her divorce from Brin, Shanahan met partner Jacob Strumwasser, who works for bitcoin software company Lightening Labs. The two participated in a “love ceremony” last year to celebrate the commitment to their relationship.

Shanahan’s wealth and ties to major donors would likely benefit Kennedy as he aims to improve his fundraising efforts.

“I want a partner with strong ideas of how to reverse those dire threats to democracy and to our freedoms. I managed to find a technologist at the forefront of AI. She has spent the last decade relying on neural networks, artificial intelligence, and cutting edge science, to identify abuses in our government,” Kennedy said of Shanahan as he introduced her at a campaign event in her hometown.

Kennedy described her as “a woman who grew up right here in Oakland. The daughter of migrants who overcame every daunting obstacle and went on to achieve the highest levels of the American dream” and as “a fellow lawyer, a brilliant scientist, technologist, a fierce warrior mom.”

Shanahan, a life-long Democrat, told the crowd that she was leaving the party.

“The Democratic Party is supposed to be the party of compassion. It is supposed to be the party of free speech, and most importantly, the party of the middle class and the American dream,” Shanahan said.

“While I know many Democrats still abide by those values…I do believe they’ve lost their way in their leadership,” she argued.

And she urged “disillusioned” Democrats and Republicans to support Kennedy’s independent White House bid.

The Trump-aligned super PAC Make America Great Again Inc. took aim at both Kennedy and Shanahan.

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a far-left radical that supports reparations, backs the Green New Deal, and wants to ban fracking. It’s no surprise he would pick a Biden donor leftist as his running mate,” MAGA Inc. spokesman Alex Pfeiffer charged in a statement.

Fox News’ Jamie Vera 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 appear to be in panic mode as they scramble to save President Biden’s re-election hopes from the threat of independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign, a call hosted by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) revealed Tuesday afternoon.

The call with members of the press took place immediately after Kennedy announced tech entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan as his vice presidential running mate at a rally in Oakland, California, and included Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., Pennsylvania Lieutenant Gov. Austin Davis, and Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, who all fretted that Kennedy would likely ruin any chance of Biden being re-elected.

“We are doing everything in our power to get President Biden and Vice President Harris reelected. It’s critical that we take seriously every possible obstacle to that goal. And let me be clear, that’s exactly what Robert F. Kennedy is in this election. He’s a spoiler,” Davis said.

WHO IS NICOLE SHANAHAN? MEET THE WEALTHY ENTREPRENEUR RFK JR SELECTED AS HIS VP RUNNING MATE

McMorrow agreed, saying it was important for her to be on the call to share “how horrifying this campaign is and what it really means on the ground for Michigan.”

“Him being in the race means that there is a greater likelihood that Donald Trump will become president again,” she said.

Earlier in the call, Garcia railed against Kennedy as “a tin foil hat conspiracy theorist,” referencing his past skepticism toward vaccines, particularly those aimed at combating the COVID-19 pandemic. He also accused Shanahan of holding an “anti-health agenda” despite a large portion of her introduction as Kennedy’s running mate being focused on Americans’ health, especially that of children.

“He’s turning to Trump mega-donors to really support this, really, spoiler campaign. I think he’s likely interested in trying to get Donald Trump elected. Maybe that’s what this is about. And many of us are not sure, but he is someone that should not be taken seriously as a serious person. I mean, certainly his campaign is quite dangerous,” Garcia said, appearing to launch his own conspiracy theory about Kennedy’s candidacy.

His reference to former President Donald Trump’s donors supporting Kennedy was likely referring to Timothy Mellon, the heir to the Mellon banking fortune who has given millions to outside groups supporting Trump’s third run for the presidency. Last year, Mellon donated millions to American Values 2024, a super PAC backing Kennedy.

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Garcia continued to harp on Kennedy’s past positions on vaccines, referring to his bid for the presidency as “disgusting and shameful,” and calling on him to end his “horrific campaign.”

Davis also focused heavily on Kennedy’s past vaccine rhetoric, but repeated Garcia’s theories on the origination of Kennedy’s campaign.

“The truth is that he was drafted into this race by Donald Trump’s top supporters and is being financed in this race by Trump’s largest donor. That isn’t merely a coincidence,” he said. “He has no realistic path to victory in Pennsylvania. All he can do is take away votes from President Biden and make it easier for Donald Trump to win, and we simply can’t afford to let that happen.”

Davis went on to accuse Kennedy of “deliberately” targeting Black people “with dangerous lies and conspiracy theories” about vaccines, and claimed that any suggestion he was an ally of the Black community was “frankly outrageous, and it’s offensive.”

McMorrow later added, “We cannot afford Donald Trump to be back in the White House, which is what is going to happen if people don’t see RFK for what he actually is, which is Donald Trump with a Kennedy name slapped on him.”

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She went on to fret that Kennedy — like Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein in 2016 — could spoil a key swing state like Michigan for Biden. 

“You don’t need significant support to throw an election to Donald Trump. We saw this play out in 2016 where Jill Stein got 50,000 votes and Hillary Clinton lost by 10,000 votes in Michigan. So it is this type of a campaign — and Kennedy should be smart enough to know better. But I don’t think he does. I think his ego is in the way,” she said.

Earlier this month, the DNC launched an effort to silence the threat from third-party candidates, namely Kennedy, in the form of a team that is expected to actively combat them with legal challenges and opposition research.

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Democrat strategist Lis Smith, who helped lead Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 campaign and is consulting for the DNC on the project, set off a storm of X posts and reposts following Kennedy’s Tuesday speech, referring to the candidate as a “spoiler,” and sharing a video where she accused Shanahan of buying her inclusion on the ticket by donating millions to boost Kennedy before she was named his running mate.

The Democrats weren’t the only ones to go after Kennedy on Tuesday. The Trump-aligned super PAC Make America Great Again, Inc. released a statement that read, “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a far-left radical that supports reparations, backs the Green New Deal, and wants to ban fracking. It’s no surprise he would pick a Biden donor leftist as his running mate.”

The group slamming Shanahan as a Biden donor was in reference to her backing of the president in his 2020 bid for the White House before flipping to Kennedy this election cycle.

Recent polls have shown Kennedy, Stein and independent candidate Dr. Cornel West would pull significant support from both Biden and Trump, but with Biden appearing to be at risk of losing the most potential votes.

The latest RealClearPolitics average of polls has Kennedy reaching 15% in a three-way race against Biden and Trump. The average shows Trump ahead of Biden by 4 points. 

A five-way race including West and Stein has Kennedy’s support at 11%, with Trump having a 2-point advantage over Biden. 

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

Republicans remained relatively quiet on Tuesday as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a challenge regarding the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) actions to make the abortion pill Mifeprisone easier to access over the course of several years. 

Democratic lawmakers sounded off in apparent unison, contrasting with their partisan counterparts and bashing the arguments against the drug and the FDA’s choice to make it more accessible for women. 

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“Judges need to stay out of women’s health care decisions. Getting prescription abortion medication is a personal decision, not the Supreme Court’s or any politician’s. This is another step in Republicans’ fight to ban abortion nationwide and I am having none of it,” wrote Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., added, “The case before the Supreme Court today is not about the safety or efficacy of medication abortion. The FDA has already made it clear that mifepristone is safe & effective.”

“This case is about Donald Trump & the Republican Party marching us toward a full-on national abortion ban,” she continued, tying the case to the upcoming general election.

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Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., stressed, “We cannot afford to go back” in reference to the case being considered. 

“Medication abortion is safe, effective & routine healthcare,” said progressive squad-member Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.

“SCOTUS must protect access to mifepristone & we must affirm abortion care as the human right that it is,” she emphasized. 

PRO-LIFE GROUPS ASSAIL FDA FOR ‘RECKLESS DISREGARD’ IN SUPREME COURT ABORTION PILL CASE

Democratic lawmakers were vocal on social media ahead of and during the arguments, while many GOP representatives and senators focused on other things. The difference between the two parties’ public statements during the case’s arguments comes as abortion is predicted to play a critical role in the 2024 election in November. 

While most GOP senators avoided commentary, some of the particularly devoted Pro-Life politicians sounded off. 

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., posted several fact checks to X, addressing “abortion industry lies.”

“I’m praying for the SCOTUS justices as they hear oral arguments regarding the FDA’s decisions to loosen safety protocols of mifepristone. I hope they will prioritize women’s safety and reconsider the approval of this dangerous drug. #WomensHealthMatters,” wrote the chair of the Senate Pro-Life Caucus, Sen. Cindy Hyde Smith, R-Miss. 

However, the relatively few public Republican remarks on the case on Tuesday doesn’t mean many of the lawmakers aren’t supportive of the challenge. In fact, 145 Republican representatives and senators signed an amicus brief last month in support of the respondents, the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, Et Al.

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On the other hand, 50 senators and 207 House members previously signed a separate amicus brief backing up the FDA and the use of Mifepristone. 

During the oral arguments, the lawyer for challengers to the FDA and abortion medication, Erin Hawley, asked the high court to require the restrictions that were removed surrounding Mifepristone be re-enstated. 

“The lower court’s decision merely restored long-standing and crucial protections under which millions of women used abortion drugs,” she said of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals previous ruling to roll back many of the FDA’s actions starting in 2016 to make it easier to dispense and access the medication. 

Hawley, senior counsel at the Alliance Defending Freedom, is also the wife of Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. 

Many of the court’s justices appeared skeptical of the case’s trajectory to the Supreme Court, given the small pool of affected parties. “This case seems like a prime example of turning what could be a small lawsuit into a nationwide, legislative assembly on an FDA rule,” said conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch. 

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But fellow conservative justices Samuel Alito, who authored the opinion in Dobbs. V. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturning Roe. V. Wade, and Clarence Thomas criticized the idea that the FDA is immune from challenges. 

Alito claimed during the arguments that the agency is seeking to be “infallible.”