NationalWatch

EXCLUSIVE: With less than two weeks until Election Day, the Trump campaign is giving its closing message to voters: Vice President Harris “broke it” and former President Trump “will fix it,” officials told Fox News Digital as they previewed their strategy for the final stretch. 

Fox News Digital spoke exclusively with Trump campaign officials about the former president’s strategy to rally supporters to the ballot box on Nov. 5, or before, by focusing heavily on the economy and the crisis at the southern border.

“Kamala Harris for the last four years has wrecked the economy and the border,” Trump campaign senior advisor Tim Murtaugh told Fox News Digital. “Donald Trump will fix both of them.” 

Murtaugh said that “the beauty of this election cycle is that everybody who is going to vote has lived through the Trump years and the Harris years.”

TRUMP MEETS WITH LATINO LEADERS AFTER NEW POLL SHOWS HIM 11 POINTS AHEAD OF HARRIS IN KEY VOTING BLOC

Republican presidential nominee former President Trump waves at a campaign rally at Greensboro Coliseum on Oct. 22, in Greensboro, N.C. (AP/Alex Brandon)

“They have experienced both administrations. When Trump was president, the economy was fantastic, inflation was nonexistent, the border was secure, and the world was at peace,” Murtaugh said. “By contrast, under Harris’ leadership, the economy is in shambles, inflation is still sky-high, our border has been erased, and the world, at large, is on fire.”

Trump has relentlessly hammered home that message in stop after stop as he crisscrosses the country campaigning in the final weeks of the cycle, something his campaign believes has given him momentum over the vice president who they say has largely shifted her message to attacking the former president.

“Trump is talking about solving problems for Americans while Kamala Harris is focused exclusively on attacking him,” a campaign official told Fox News Digital.

Harris on Tuesday accused Trump of seeking “unchecked power” and being “unhinged and unstable.”

But the Trump campaign said the former president is “asking people to vote for something, while she is asking for people to vote against something.” 

“He is selling optimism and positive messages to fix the problems she and President Biden created,” a campaign official said. 

The latest Fox News Poll shows Trump ahead of Harris 50% to 48% nationally.

Republican presidential nominee former President Trump attends a game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Jets on Oct. 20, 2024. (Evan Vucci-Pool/Getty Images)

“Donald Trump is leading all the battleground states, and the momentum and polling averages continue to move in his direction,” Murtaugh said, citing national trends.

Campaign officials pointed to ads being run in the battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin by vulnerable incumbent Democrats who have sought to distance themselves from Harris.

KAMALA HARRIS ‘HAS BECOME TOXIC’ FOR PENNSYLVANIA, TOP KEYSTONE STATE LAWMAKER SAYS

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., is running an ad in the Keystone State highlighting how he “bucked Biden” and “sided with” Trump while painting the Democrat senator as an “independent.” The ad features a Republican woman and her Democrat husband and does not once mention Harris. 

Similar ads featuring Trump are running in Wisconsin for Sen. Tammy Baldwin and in Michigan for Sen. Elissa Slotkin.

“Democrat Senate candidates are spending Democrat donor money promoting Donald Trump in the Blue Wall battleground states,” an official said.

People wave signs at Former President Trump’s rally in Butler, Pa., on Oct. 5, 2024. (Matthew McDermott for Fox News Digital)

And the latest USA Today/Suffolk University poll also showed Trump leading by a margin with a key group: Latino voters. Trump is leading Harris by 11 percentage points in that critical voting bloc. 

“But the polls are only theoretical election results and polls don’t win races. Actual votes win elections, and that’s why we’re continuing to accelerate,” Murtaugh added. “And we’ll run through the tape on Election Day.” 

The Trump campaign said it is confident they have the “momentum.”

“President Trump will be relentless and tireless,” an official told Fox News Digital. “He’ll be barnstorming the country — rinse and repeat — over and over and over again until Election Day.” 

TRUMP MAKES FRIES AT PENNSYLVANIA MCDONALD’S: ‘I’VE NOW WORKED FOR 15 MINUTES MORE THAN KAMALA’

Trump held events in battleground Georgia on Tuesday, holding a massive rally with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, country music singer Jason Aldean and former collegiate athlete Riley Gaines.

Trump this week made a campaign stop at a McDonald’s location in Pennsylvania to mock Harris for claiming that she once worked at the fast-food chain.

Republican presidential nominee former President Trump works the drive-through line as he visits a McDonald’s restaurant, Oct. 20, 2024 in Feasterville-Trevose, Pa. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

“The McDonald’s trip was an encapsulation of his positive message,” an official said. “He is a cheerful, optimistic guy who knows he can fix it. And what was the Harris campaign’s reaction? They mocked it.” 

‘BLUE WALL’ DEMOCRAT ALIGNS WITH TRUMP IN NEW PITCH TO VOTERS BEFORE ELECTION

The Harris campaign blasted that campaign stop as a “staged photo-op,” saying Trump “doesn’t understand what it’s like to work for a living” and that the vice president “has a record of standing up for workers and taking on bad actors who rip people off, and she’ll do the same as President.”

Donald Trump worked as a fry cook on Sunday afternoon at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s, claiming he has now worked at the fast-food chain longer than Vice President Harris. (Brooke Singman)

The next scheduled stops for Trump include major campaign rallies in Tempe, Arizona; Las Vegas; Traverse City, Michigan; Novi, Michigan; State College, Pennsylvania; and then a massive rally on Sunday at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

Campaign officials said the former president will continue to engage with the press and sit for major media interviews. On Friday, Trump will be interviewed for the Joe Rogan podcast. Rogan has 17 million subscribers on YouTube and 14 million on Spotify. 

And his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, will also continue engaging with the media and has already held major campaign events this week in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada. In the coming days, Vance will be in Waterford, Michigan, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

But Trump campaign surrogates are also hosting major events, including Donald Trump Jr. campaigning in battleground states; a Trump campaign bus tour; and Women for Trump visiting areas damaged by recent hurricanes.

Republican presidential nominee former President Trump shakes hands with former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during a rally in Glendale, Ariz., on Aug. 23, 2024. (REUTERS/Go Nakamura)

Even Dr. Phil and RFK Jr. are joining forces to host a “Make America Healthy Again” event in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

And Trump campaign officials expressed the importance of early voting and are encouraging their supporters to “vote by any way they possibly can.” 

“Whether they vote by mail, vote early in person, vote on Election Day, we want them to make a plan to vote,” an official said. “We need people to show up. And we are getting to the point where persuasion is almost over, and now we are getting to turnout.” 

Meanwhile, Harris’ campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

HARRIS CAMPAIGN ANNOUNCES CONCERT SERIES WITH BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN TO MOBILIZE VOTERS AHEAD OF ELECTION DAY

Harris, though, is expected to deliver what’s being described as a major “closing argument” address next Tuesday – one week until Election Day – on the Ellipse, which is just south of the White House and north of the National Mall. The Harris campaign spotlighted that then-President Trump headlined a large rally of supporters at the Ellipse on Jan 6, 2021.

Her campaign this week also announced a new concert series featuring Bruce Springsteen and former President Obama, while the Democratic National Committee launched a new Taylor Swift-themed, get-out-the-vote campaign for young voters. 

Democrat presidential nominee Vice President Harris speaks at the vice president’s residence in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

As for President Biden, he’s largely stayed off the campaign trail as Harris alternates between promising to continue the policies and vision of the Biden-Harris administration while also promising to bring “a new way forward.” 

But on Tuesday, Biden weighed in. 

BIDEN CALLS FOR TRUMP TO BE ‘POLITICALLY’ LOCKED UP AT NEW HAMPSHIRE EVENT

“We got to lock him up,” Biden said of Trump. However, the president quickly added, “Politically lock him up, lock him out. That’s what we have to do.” 

A Trump campaign official reacted, telling Fox News Digital that “for four years, it has been clear to the American people that the Biden-Harris administration has been using the weight of the federal government to go after Donald Trump and his supporters.” 

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The official added, “Two weeks before the election, Joe Biden finally confirmed it.”

Earlier this year, there was some media chatter about when the Biden campaign would go “full Hitler.”

What that meant was, if they started talking about Donald Trump and the Nazi leader so early, what ammunition would they have left for October?

VIDEO SHOWS DEM-ALIGNED INDIVIDUAL FIDGETING WITH MONTANA BALLOT BOX

Well, it’s late October, and the Hitler assault has begun.

It’s not like no one has heard this before. Trump’s detractors across the media landscape have periodically compared him to Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini. Magazines have depicted him with a little mustache. He’s been dismissed as an aspiring dictator who would blow up American democracy, with few of the guardrails that constrained him in his first term.

But now we have John Kelly, his second chief of staff, denouncing his ex-boss in a series of three on-the-record interviews with the New York Times, which were recorded and posted on the paper’s site.

CNN commentator Scott Jennings addressed former Trump chief of staff John Kelly’s claim that former President Trump once spoke favorably of Hitler in comments that Trump has refuted. (CNN)

Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general who lost a son in Afghanistan, said he was going public because he was disturbed by Trump’s attacks on “the enemy within,” which, as the former president told me in our weekend interview, included Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi. And Kelly was equally concerned that he might use the military against Americans.

Kelly says in the Times audio that Trump meets his definition of a fascist. And in the context of wanting his generals (such as Kelly and Pentagon chief Jim Mattis) to be personally loyal to him, “He commented more than once that, ‘You know, Hitler did some good things, too.’” 

KAMALA HARRIS’ CLOSING MESSAGE IS UNCLEAR, DONALD TRUMP DOMINATES MEDIA BY GOING OFF SCRIPT

Kelly says he told the president “you should never say that” and explained some of the history of Nazi Germany. (Hitler’s generals tried to kill him more than once.)

The general also said that Trump referred to soldiers as “losers” and “suckers” and could not understand their sacrifice. If this and other passages sound familiar, it’s because it’s been previously reported in the Atlantic and elsewhere, rather obviously with Kelly as a background source.

Enten found Trump’s gains among independent voters in key swing states remarkable and a good sign for his campaign. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung fired back, saying the former official was offering “debunked stories,” had “beclowned” himself and was suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome.

My question is this: Are John Kelly’s comments going to change the mind of any Trump voters?

They may dismiss the comments as old news. Or say Trump didn’t really mean it, he was just letting off steam. Or question Kelly’s motivation in going public in the final stretch of the campaign.

CBS NEWS GAVE A ‘PATHETIC RESPONSE’ TO DECEITFUL EDITING ACCUSATIONS: HOWARD KURTZ

It’s not that I’m defending the comments as reported by Kelly, who’s free to say what he wants. I have absolutely nothing good to say about Hitler or the Nazis. I don’t agree with everything Trump says, just as I don’t agree with everything Kamala Harris says.

But how many Trump voters, having lived through nine years of media attacks on the 45th president, having watched the violence of Jan. 6, are going to abandon him now? The answer, in my view, is very few. 

US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks at a watch party after a presidential debate with former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at the Cherry Street Pier in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 10, 2024.  (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Still, it gave the vice president an opening, since yesterday’s bombshell was detonated by a man who was the highest-ranking staffer in the Trump White House. She read a statement to reporters in Washington without taking questions:

“It is deeply troubling and incredibly dangerous that Donald Trump would invoke Adolf Hitler, the man who is responsible for the deaths of 6 million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Americans. All of this is further evidence for the American people of who Donald Trump really is,” Harris said.

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I once had a candid chat with Kelly at a White House media party, and when I looked up 10 other reporters had surrounded us, straining to hear what the man who kept a low profile with the press had to say. At the time, the former Homeland Security secretary was being touted as the guy who’d bring military discipline to a chaotic White House after Reince Priebus was let go.

Now the “full Hitler” moment has arrived. Whether it has much impact on a candidate who has survived two impeachments, the fallout after Jan. 6 and two assassination attempts is, at the very least, in doubt.

A major House Democrats’ PAC announced it will be spending $4 million in the closing days of this election cycle in hopes of ousting a Republican incumbent in an otherwise deep-blue state.

House Majority PAC’s funds are the first major partisan investment in support of former New Jersey Working Families Party leader Sue Altman, according to the Huffington Post. Altman is facing off against Rep. Tom Kean, Jr., R-N.J., a Trump supporter known as a moderate Republican during his preceding state Senate tenure. 

Kean, buoyed by the district’s history of being slightly redder than other parts of the Garden State and having the name recognition as the son of former Gov. Tom Kean, is hoping to win his first reelection since unseating former Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J., last cycle.

The western end of the district, along the Delaware River in Warren County, is often geopolitically linked to the reliably “swing” Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania. From there, Kean’s district branches northward to the Delaware Water Gap and eastward along US-22 through rural areas to the bluer Newark suburbs, notably encompassing former President Donald Trump’s Bedminster golf club.

NJ BATTLEGROUND HOUSE DISTRICT POLL FINDS TIGHT RACE

Sue Altman is facing off against Rep. Tom Kean, Jr., R-N.J., a Trump supporter known as a moderate Republican during his preceding state Senate tenure.  (Associated Press)

It is also one of a handful of districts won in 2020 by both President Joe Biden and a Republican congressional candidate.

The PAC’s first ad takes aim at Kean’s pro-life record during his time in Trenton, claiming he had supported “extremist” abortion policies.

Elon Musk’s America PAC has conversely invested millions in advertising favoring Kean, according to the New York Times.

A Monmouth Poll last week found Kean leading Altman by two points, within the margin of error. Kean’s advantages were on the subjects of the economy, jobs, crime and immigration, while Altman won respondents over on corruption and abortion, according to the survey.

TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT SPURS OFFICIALS IN NJ COMMUNITY TO DRAFT VIP SECURITY PLAN

A vehicle passes the Welcome sign to Lebanon, New Jersey, in Rep. Tom Kean Jr.’s district. (KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images)

A Kean campaign spokesman told NJ.com that “no amount of national Democrat money is going to spare Sue Altman from the consequences of her radical record.” The spokesman characterized Kean as a “moderate problem solver” and Altman as a “professional activist.”

Meanwhile, Altman campaign manager Rob West previously told NJ Spotlight News that polling has shown the race to be a “jump-ball.”

The Times and other outlets reported the race has become such a close concern, New Jersey Gov. Philip Murphy urged House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., to help Altman via House Majority PAC.

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A view of the entrance to Trump National Golf Club, which sits in New Jersey’s 7th District, off I-78 and Somerset County Rte 523. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Kean’s seat remains one of few in the Garden State friendlier to Republicans than naught. Before it was slightly redrawn to include additional suburbs of New York City, Democrat Josh Gottheimer’s Skylands-area seat was held for many years by conservative Republican Scott Garrett.

Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., a former Democrat, represents the other corner of the state in Cape May, and was preceded for 25 years by Republican Frank LoBiondo. 

Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J., has represented the upper portion of the Jersey Shore in Congress since 1981. He remains the longest-tenured congressman in state history.

Vice President Kamala Harris doubled down in her comparison of former President Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler, saying at a CNN town hall that she believes Trump is a “fascist.” 

“Yes, I do, yes, I do,” Harris told moderator Anderson Cooper when asked if she believes Trump is a “fascist.” 

Later in the discussion, Harris said Trump would ask US military leaders to be more like Hitler’s. She also accused the former President of admiring dictators like Kim Jong-Un.

Harris joined CNN for a town hall event Wednesday evening, speaking to Pennsylvania voters outside of Philadelphia. The town hall event kicked off at 9 pm on Wednesday from Chester Township, which is located less than 20 miles outside of Philadelphia.

Cooper asked Harris about her social media post earlier Wednesday that compared Trump to Adolf Hitler at the start of the debate. Harris doubled down that she believes Trump is “unstable,” but did not directly compare him to Hitler. 

HARRIS LIKENS TRUMP TO HITLER IN SCATHING REMARKS, SAYS HE WANTS SAME MILITARY LOYALTY AS GERMAN DICTATOR

ASTON, PENNSYLVANIA – OCTOBER 23: Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a CNN Presidential Town Hall at Sun Center Studios on October 23, 2024 in Aston, Pennsylvania. With less than two weeks to Election Day, Harris spent the day in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and made a visit to Famous 4th Street Delicatessen to greet supporters. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

JIMMY KIMMEL NOT ‘MENTALLY PREPARED’ FOR KAMALA HARRIS TO POTENTIALLY LOSE THE ELECTION

“I do believe that Donald Trump is unstable, increasingly unstable and unfit to serve. And I don’t necessarily think that everyone has heard what you and I have heard repeatedly, which is the people who know Donald Trump best, the people who worked with him in the White House, in the Situation Room, in the Oval Office, all Republicans, by the way, who served in his administration, his former chief of staff, his national security adviser, former secretary of defense and his vice president have all called him unfit and dangerous,” Harris said. 

ASTON, PENNSYLVANIA – OCTOBER 23: Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a CNN Presidential Town Hall at Sun Center Studios on October 23, 2024 in Aston, Pennsylvania. With less than two weeks to Election Day, Harris spent the day in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and made a visit to Famous 4th Street Delicatessen to greet supporters. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) (Getty images)

Harris said on X earlier Wednesday that “Trump is out for unchecked power” and similar to the Nazi Germany dictator.  

“He wants a military like Adolf Hitler had, who will be loyal to him, not our Constitution,” Harris posted. “He is unhinged, unstable, and given a second term, there would be no one to stop him from pursuing his worst impulses.”

Harris went on during the town hall to cite former Trump White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, who claimed to the media on Tuesday that Trump wanted “Hitler’s generals.”

FAR FEWER NEWSPAPERS ARE ENDORSING HARRIS THAN BACKED CLINTON OR BIDEN

“And then today we learned that John Kelly, a four-star Marine general who is his longest serving chief of staff, gave an interview recently, in the last two weeks of this election, talking about how dangerous Donald Trump is. And I think one has to think about why would someone who served with him, who is not political, a four-star Marine general, why is he telling the American people now? And frankly, I think of it as is: He’s just putting out a 911 call to the American people, understand what could happen if Donald Trump were back in the White House,” she said. 

Harris’ and Kelly’s comments come after Trump has faced two close assassination attempts amid heated rhetoric this election cycle. 

Donald Trump is addressing the Faith and Freedom Road to Majority Conference at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC, on June 22, 2024  (Andrew Leyden/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Trump hit back on his social media site Truth Social following Harris and Kelly’s remarks that Kelly “made up a story out of pure Trump Derangement Syndrome Hatred.“

“Thank you for your support against a total degenerate named John Kelly, who made up a story out of pure Trump Derangement Syndrome Hatred! This guy had two qualities, which don’t work well together. He was tough and dumb. The problem is his toughness morphed into weakness, because he became JELLO with time!” he posted. 

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“The story about the Soldiers was A LIE, as are numerous other stories he told. Even though I shouldn’t be wasting my time with him, I always feel it’s necessary to hit back in pursuit of THE TRUTH. John Kelly is a LOWLIFE, and a bad General, whose advice in the White House I no longer sought, and told him to MOVE ON! His wife once told me, at Camp David, John admires you tremendously, and when he leaves the Military, he will only speak well of you. I said, Thank you!”

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

Vice President Kamala Harris joined CNN in Pennsylvania for a town hall with undecided voters on Wednesday, where the Democratic presidential nominee doubled down on her rhetoric comparing former President Donald Trump to Nazi Germany dictator Adolf Hitler. 

“If the president of the United States, the commander in chief, is saying to his generals, in essence, ‘Why can’t you be more like Hitler’s generals?’ Anderson, come on. This is a serious, serious issue. And we know who he is. He admires dictators, sending love letters back and forth with Kim Jong-Un,” Harris said of Trump on Wednesday evening in a town hall moderated by CNN’s Anderson Cooper. 

Earlier Wednesday, former Trump administration chief of staff John Kelly claimed to the media that Trump praised “Hitler’s generals” for their loyalty. Harris posted on X that Trump is “out for unchecked power” before also comparing Trump to the Nazi dictator. 

“Donald Trump is out for unchecked power. He wants a military like Adolf Hitler had, who will be loyal to him, not our Constitution,” Harris posted to X earlier Wednesday. “He is unhinged, unstable, and given a second term, there would be no one to stop him from pursuing his worst impulses.”

HARRIS DOUBLES DOWN ON ‘FASCIST’ COMMENTS AT START OF CNN TOWN HALL: ‘UNSTABLE’

ASTON, PENNSYLVANIA – OCTOBER 23: Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a CNN Presidential Town Hall at Sun Center Studios on October 23, 2024 in Aston, Pennsylvania. With less than two weeks to Election Day, Harris spent the day in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and made a visit to Famous 4th Street Delicatessen to greet supporters. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

Cooper pressed Harris about the rhetoric in his first question to the Democratic nominee on Wednesday evening, sparking Harris to double down and also say she believes that Trump is a “fascist.” 

“You quoted General Milley calling Donald Trump a fascist. You, yourself, have not used that word to describe him. Let me ask you tonight, do you think Donald Trump is a fascist?” Cooper asked Harris towards the start of the town hall. 

“Yes, I do. Yes, I do,” Harris responded. 

Harris’ comments come after Trump survived two assassination attempts on his life since July. Trump has blamed the attacks on heated rhetoric from Democrats. 

HARRIS LIKENS TRUMP TO HITLER IN SCATHING REMARKS, SAYS HE WANTS SAME MILITARY LOYALTY AS GERMAN DICTATOR

Harris spoke directly to the undecided battleground state voters during the live town hall Wednesday, including telling one voter that if she wins on Nov. 5, her administration will be different than Biden’s. 

WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 5: (L-R) Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Barack Obama, and U.S. President Joe Biden arrive for an event to mark the 2010 passage of the Affordable Care Act in the East Room of the White House on April 5, 2022 in Washington, DC. With then-Vice President Joe Biden by his side, Obama signed ‘Obamacare’ into law on March 23, 2010. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“Considering you’ve been in the position of vice president for the past four years under the Biden administration, how can we expect you to deviate from the direction of that administration compared to your own? How can we differentiate your policy and your beliefs from that of Biden’s?” the audience member asked Harris. 

Harris, who has previously said while on the campaign trail that she couldn’t think of anything she would have done differently from Biden, said Wednesday that her administration would be different than Biden’s leadership. 

HARRIS-TRUMP SHOWDOWN: NEW NATIONAL POLL SHOWS WHO HAS THE EDGE 2 WEEKS FROM ELECTION DAY

“First of all, my administration will not be a continuation of the Biden administration. I bring to this role my own ideas and my own experience. I represent a new generation of leadership on a number of issues, and believe that we have to actually take new approaches,” Harris said. 

“For example, what we talked about in terms of housing. My experience that leads to that priority, includes what I did to take on the big banks around the foreclosure crisis. When I brought billions of dollars to homeowners that were the subject of predatory lending. I know what homeownership means to the American people, not to mention what it meant to my mother, who worked very hard and saved up, so that by the time I was a teenager, she was able to buy our first home.”

President Biden stepping aside and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris made Michael Moore extremely happy.  (Tierney L. Cross)

The town hall event kicked off at 9 pm on Wednesday from Chester Township, which is located less than 20 miles outside of Philadelphia. The event was held after CNN proposed holding a third presidential debate — including Biden’s first debate before dropping out of the race — on Oct. 23. Harris accepted the invite and Trump declined, leading to the town hall. 

HARRIS STUMBLES ON THE BORDER WHEN PRESSED ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION: ‘IS A BORDER WALL STUPID?’

Harris was also pressed about her border and immigration policies, including a bipartisan bill that would provide funding for a border wall that Harris previously lambasted as a “stupid” idea when promoted by Trump during his administration. 

“Let’s talk about this compromise bill that you want to pass if you are elected. You said that’s going to be a priority. It includes $650 million in funding for the border wall. That’s something Republicans wanted, that was part of the compromise. Under Donald Trump, you criticized the wall more than 50 times. You called it ‘stupid, useless, and a medieval vanity project.’ Is a border wall stupid?,” Cooper asked Harris. 

“Let’s talk about Donald Trump and that border wall,” Harris said while laughing. “So remember, Donald Trump said Mexico would pay for it. Come on, they didn’t. How much of that wall did he build? I think the last number I saw was about 2%. And then when it came time for him to do a photo op, you know, where he did it? In the part of the wall that President Obama built.”

This aerial picture taken on December 8, 2023 shows the US-Mexico border wall in Sasabe, Arizona. (VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images))

“But you agreed to a bill that would earmark $650 million to continue building that wall,” Cooper pressed. 

“I pledge that I am going to bring forward that bipartisan bill to further strengthen and secure our border. Yes, I am, and I’m going to work across the aisle to pass a comprehensive bill that deals with a broken immigration system,” Harris responded. 

“We need a president who is grounded in common sense and practical outcomes, like, let’s just fix this thing. Let’s just fix it. Why is there any ideological perspective on this? Let’s just fix the problem,” she continued, adding that non-citizens need to “earn” citizenship. 

“So you don’t think it’s stupid anymore?” Cooper continued. 

“I think what he did and how he did it was, did not make much sense because he actually didn’t do much of anything. I just talked about that wall, right? We just talked about it. He didn’t actually do much of anything,” she responded. 

HOSPITAL THAT DELAYED EMERGENCY ABORTION BEARS BLAME FOR GEORGIA WOMAN’S DEATH, FAMILY’S LAWYER CLAIMS

Pennsylvania is a key state again this election, with both Harris and Trump vying to win the state to clear the path to an overall victory. Trump narrowly won the state in his successful 2016 election against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, while Biden declared victory in the Keystone State in the 2020 election. 

Harris leaned into her support of abortion during the town hall, claiming that red state abortion policies have led to women’s deaths. The Harris campaign and Democrats have previously claimed that at least two women in Georgia died due to “restrictive” abortion laws, with OB-GYNs subsequently criticizing the narrative as a misleading story pushed by the media. 

JIMMY KIMMEL NOT ‘MENTALLY PREPARED’ FOR KAMALA HARRIS TO POTENTIALLY LOSE THE ELECTION

“Trump abortion bans, some that make no exception, even for rape or incest. One of the areas I specialized in as a prosecutor was crimes against women and children. The idea you would tell a survivor of a violation to their body that they have no right to make a decision about what happens to their body next. This is what’s happening in our country. You all may have heard the stories. Women have died. Women have died because of these laws and the suffering,” Harris said. 

ASTON, PENNSYLVANIA – OCTOBER 23: Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks as CNN moderator Anderson Cooper looks on during a Presidential Town Hall event at Sun Center Studios on October 23, 2024 in Aston, Pennsylvania. With less than two weeks to Election Day, Harris spent the day in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and made a visit to Famous 4th Street Delicatessen to greet supporters. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

Harris called for the end of the filibuster last month in an effort to pass a law restoring abortion access nationwide, which was slammed by lawmakers and conservatives as an attack on democracy. The filibuster is a Senate rule that allows a minority to block legislation pending a supermajority vote, so ending it would make it easier to pass laws related to abortion rights.

Cooper pressed Harris on the matter Wednesday, asking: “You’ve talked about codifying Roe v Wade. That would require 60 votes in the Senate, a majority of the House. That’s a big, that’s a big leap. We don’t have that yet. If that’s not possible to codify it in the House, what do you do?”

Harris responded that it was time to revisit the filibuster. 

“I think we need to take a look at the filibuster, to be honest with you. But the reality of it is this, let’s talk about how we got here. When Donald Trump was president, he hand-selected three members of the United States Supreme Court with the intention that they would undo the protections of Roe v Wade,” she said. “And they did as he intended. And now, in 20 states, we have abortion bans.” 

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Harris’ appearance unfolded as the Wall Street Journal published a new poll finding Trump in the lead nationally, at 47% support to Harris’ 45%. 

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

Former President Donald Trump hit back at remarks made by Vice President Harris on Wednesday in which she compared the Republican presidential nominee to Adolf Hitler while referencing comments made by a former Marine general who served under the Trump administration.

During a press conference Wednesday at the official vice presidential residence in Washington, Harris amplified the claim of former Trump White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, who said Trump wanted “Hitler’s generals.” 

Harris said her GOP opponent is “unhinged” and seeks “unchecked power.”

“It is clear from John Kelly’s words that Donald Trump is someone who, I quote, ‘certainly falls into the general definition of fascists,’ who in fact vowed to be a dictator on day one and vowed to use the military as his personal militia to carry out his personal and political vendettas,” Harris said.

HARRIS LIKENS TRUMP TO HITLER IN SCATHING REMARKS, SAYS HE WANTS SAME MILITARY LOYALTY AS GERMAN DICTATOR

White House chief of staff John Kelly listens as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a briefing with senior military leaders in the Cabinet Room of the White House October 5, 2017.  (Andrew Harrer-Pool/Getty Images)

Harris also took to social media on Wednesday to further push her rhetoric, comparing Trump to Hitler.

“Donald Trump is out for unchecked power. He wants a military like Adolf Hitler had, who will be loyal to him, not our Constitution,” Harris tweeted Wednesday. “He is unhinged, unstable, and given a second term, there would be no one to stop him from pursuing his worst impulses.”

Trump responded to Harris’ remarks while also attacking Kelly’s reputation.

“Thank you for your support against a total degenerate named John Kelly, who made up a story out of pure Trump Derangement Syndrome Hatred! This guy had two qualities, which don’t work well together. He was tough and dumb,” Trump wrote. “The problem is his toughness morphed into weakness because he became JELLO with time! The story about the Soldiers was A LIE, as are numerous other stories he told.

“Even though I shouldn’t be wasting my time with him, I always feel it’s necessary to hit back in pursuit of THE TRUTH,” he added. “John Kelly is a LOWLIFE, and a bad General, whose advice in the White House I no longer sought, and told him to MOVE ON! His wife once told me, at Camp David, John admires you tremendously, and when he leaves the Military, he will only speak well of you. I said, Thank you!”

THERE ARE ‘TREMENDOUS ENEMIES WITHIN’ THE US, ITS POLITICAL SYSTEM: ERIC TRUMP

Retired Marine Gen. John Kelly attends his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to run the Department of Homeland Security on January 10, 2017. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Trump’s campaign provided a statement to Fox News Digital on the matter.

“Kamala Harris is a stone-cold loser who is increasingly desperate because she is flailing, and her campaign is in shambles. That is why she continues to peddle outright lies and falsehoods that are easily disproved,” Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung said. “The fact is that Kamala’s dangerous rhetoric is directly to blame for the multiple assassination attempts against President Trump, and she continues to stoke the flames of violence all in the name of politics. She is despicable, and her grotesque behavior proves she is wholly unfit for office.” 

Billionaire Elon Musk commented about Harris’ post on X, saying, “Major incitement to violence against @realDonaldTrump.”

FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP CALLS THE ‘ENEMY FROM WITHIN’ MORE DANGEROUS THAN ANY FOREIGN ENTITY

Kelly, a retired Marine general who worked for Trump in the White House from 2017 to 2019, told the New York Times and The Atlantic that the Republican presidential nominee meets the definition of a fascist, and while in office, Trump suggested Hitler “did some good things.”

Earlier in the day, Trump called Kelly a “total degenerate” who has “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

Trump also took digs at Harris earlier in the day.

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“Kamala Harris did NOTHING as 120,000 Armenian Christians were horrifically persecuted and forcibly displaced in Artsakh,” he wrote. “Christians around the World will not be safe if Kamala Harris is President of the United States. When I am President, I will protect persecuted Christians, I will work to stop the violence and ethnic cleansing, and we will restore PEACE between Armenia and Azerbaijan.”

Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Vice President Kamala Harris stumbled through the Biden-Harris administration’s border and immigration policies when pressed about the border crisis during a CNN town hall moderated by Anderson Cooper. 

“Let’s talk about this compromise bill that you want to pass if you are elected. You said that’s going to be a priority. It includes $650 million in funding for the border wall. That’s something Republicans wanted that was part of the compromise. Under Donald Trump, you criticized the wall more than 50 times. You called it ‘stupid, useless, and a medieval vanity project.’ Is a border wall stupid?,” Cooper asked Harris Wednesday. 

“Let’s talk about Donald Trump on that border wall,” Harris said while laughing. “So remember, Donald Trump said Mexico would pay for it. Come on, they didn’t. How much of that wall did he build? I think the last number I saw was about 2%. And then when it came time for him to do a photo op, you know, where he did it? In the part of the wall that President Obama built.”

“But you agreed to a bill that would earmark $650 million to continue building that,” Cooper pressed. 

OBAMA CLAIMS TRUMP ‘DID NOT SOLVE’ IMMIGRATION ‘PROBLEM.’ THE NUMBERS TELL A DIFFERENT STORY

ASTON, PENNSYLVANIA – OCTOBER 23: Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks as CNN moderator Anderson Cooper looks on during a Presidential Town Hall event at Sun Center Studios on October 23, 2024 in Aston, Pennsylvania. With less than two weeks to Election Day, Harris spent the day in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and made a visit to Famous 4th Street Delicatessen to greet supporters. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

“I pledge that I am going to bring forward that bipartisan bill to further strengthen and secure our border. Yes, I am, and I’m going to work across the aisle to pass a comprehensive bill that deals with a broken immigration system,” Harris responded. 

“We need a president who is grounded in common sense and practical outcomes, like, let’s just fix this thing. Let’s just fix it. Why is there any ideological perspective on this? Let’s just fix the problem,” she continued.  

Vice President Kamala Harris joined CNN for a town hall event Wednesday evening, speaking to Pennsylvania voters outside of Philadelphia. The town hall event kicked off at 9 pm on Wednesday from Chester Township, which is located less than 20 miles outside of Philadelphia. 

Cooper asked Harris earlier in the town hall to explain why just weeks before the first presidential debate with President Biden was still in the race this summer, the administration instituted executive actions that curbed illegal border crossings and had not issued such orders sooner. 

‘UTTER BETRAYAL’: NEW REPORT REVEALS DHS OFFICIAL USED SOCIAL MEDIA TO PROMOTE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

ASTON, PENNSYLVANIA – OCTOBER 23: Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a CNN Presidential Town Hall at Sun Center Studios on October 23, 2024 in Aston, Pennsylvania. With less than two weeks to Election Day, Harris spent the day in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and made a visit to Famous 4th Street Delicatessen to greet supporters. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

“You’re exactly right, Anderson. And as of today, we have cut the flow of immigration by over half. In fact, the numbers I saw most recently, illegal immigration,” Harris told Cooper. 

“If it was that easy without executive action, why not do it in 2022, 2023?” Cooper pressed. 

“Because we were working with Congress and hoping that actually we could have a long term fix to the problem instead of a short-term fix,” Harris responded. 

Border Patrol picks up a group of asylum seekers from an aid camp at the US-Mexico border near Sasabe, Arizona, US, on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. During the first four months of fiscal year 2024, Border Patrol recorded more than 250,000 migrant apprehensions in the Tucson sector in Arizona, the most of any region patrolled by the agency, according to federal government statistics, reports CBS. Photographer: Justin Hamel/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Justin Hamel/Getty Images)

MIGRANTS CAUGHT AT BORDER BUSED, FLOWN OUT OF SAN DIEGO IN POSSIBLE ‘COVER UP’ BEFORE ELECTION: OFFICIAL

“You couldn’t have done one and both at the same time,” Cooper noted. 

Cooper went on to ask Harris if she wished she had “done those executive orders in 2022, 2023,” sparking Harris to say she believes the administration “did the right thing.” 

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“I think we did the right thing. And but the best thing that can happen for the American people, is that we have bipartisan work happening. And I pledge to you, that I will work across the aisle to fix this longstanding problem. I think the American people are demanding it, on both sides of the aisle,” she responded. 

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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and other Democrats in the upper chamber warned Americans in a new report that “counting ballots may take longer” in some places and they “should be prepared to reject misinformation” about the upcoming election.

Schumer, alongside Senate Rules Committee Chair Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., released the report on Tuesday, which was geared at setting voter expectations for Election Day in less than two weeks and urging people to vote.

TIM WALZ SLAMS ELON MUSK AS A ‘DIPS—‘ DURING RALLY WITH OBAMA IN WISCONSIN

Schumer and Democrats warned Americans that results could be delayed. (REUTERS/Cheney Orr)

“Just like 2020, Donald Trump and his allies continue to refuse to commit to accepting the results of the election if he loses while pushing dangerous and divisive rhetoric to sow discord and undermine confidence in our election process. Americans losing faith in the results of our elections doesn’t just risk another January 6th but puts our very democracy at risk,” Schumer said in a statement. 

“Senate Democrats remain committed to ensuring all Americans can vote without fear or intimidation.”

Former President Trump will face off against Vice President Harris in November to determine who will succeed historically unpopular President Biden.

In response to the Democrats’ release of the report, Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital in a statement, “President Trump has always been clear: we must have free and fair elections. The Democrats are the real threat to democracy, weaponizing the justice system against President Trump for the past year to interfere in the election and unconstitutionally remove him from the ballot.”

“Just last night, Joe Biden admitted the Democrat’s strategy has always been to ‘lock him up,’” she added. 

MCCONNELL, GOP DESCEND ON NEBRASKA TO SAVE DEB FISCHER’S ENDANGERED SENATE SEAT

There are less than two weeks until Election Day. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

During a political event in New Hampshire on Tuesday, Biden said, “I know this sounds bizarre. It sounds like if I said this five years ago, you’d lock me up. We got to lock him up,” in reference to Trump, who has been indicted in four court cases. 

Biden quickly backtracked, explaining, “Politically lock him up, lock him out. That’s what we have to do.”

TOP REPUBLICANS ACCUSE FTC CHAIR OF HATCH ACT VIOLATIONS OVER ‘CAMPAIGN-STYLE EVENTS’ WITH DEMS

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump (Getty Images)

In a section of the Democrats’ report titled, “In some states, we may not know the winner on Election Night. That’s OK,” the Democrats explained that processing mail and absentee ballots, as well as the different rules governing the process in different states, could delay final results of the election.

The senators additionally outlined, “Background on Election Procedures,” in certain crucial states that are either presidential or congressional battlegrounds, including Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin.

PENNSYLVANIA SENATE RACE LABELED ‘TOSS UP’ IN LAST-MINUTE SHIFT BY TOP HANDICAPPER

Klobuchar is up for re-election in Minnesota. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

“The right to vote is fundamental to our democracy, and we must do everything we can to protect it and uphold the integrity of the election process,” Klobuchar said in a statement. “That means pushing back on efforts to sow chaos during election season.”

“As this report explains, it also means making sure that Americans know that it is possible that the outcome in some states will not be known on November 5th. While some states have expedited their counting requirements since 2020, we should be prepared to be patient about results in places where counting ballots may take longer. Americans should keep making their voices heard at the ballot box.” 

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The report comes as politicians brace for a presidential race and Senate and House races that will determine majorities that are considered too close for comfort.

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This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin convened more than two dozen countries to discuss a “new world order” free from Western hegemony and the global dominance of the U.S. dollar. 

From Tuesday to Thursday, some two dozen members will descend on Kazan, Russia, for this year’s BRICS Summit — offering Putin his biggest global platform since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. 

By reducing reliance on the dollar, the alliance hopes to evade sanctions imposed by the U.S. and the West.

“The dollar is being used as a weapon,” Putin said at the summit. “We really see that this is so. I think that this is a big mistake by those who do this.” 

In a pivotal move, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the summit to showcase their hopes for a more harmonious relationship after decades of cross-border strife. 

It came days after China and India agreed to a deal meant to bring to a close their four-year military standoff over the disputed Himalayan region. 

UKRAINE BLASTS UN CHIEF OVER POTENTIAL MEETING WITH PUTIN AT BRICS, SAYS STAYED AWAY FROM KYIV’S PEACE SUMMIT

This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin convened over two dozen countries to discuss a “new world order” free from Western hegemony and the global dominance of the U.S. dollar. (Alexander Nemenov/Pool via REUTERS)

“Russia-China cooperation in international affairs is one of the main stabilizing factors in the world,” Putin told Xi at the summit. 

Meanwhile, India has been propping up Russia’s economy by purchasing discounted oil that has been sanctioned by much of the rest of the world. 

BRICS — which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — was an idea thought up by Goldman Sachs analysts to describe the growing economic hegemony of China and other emerging markets.

The group is rapidly expanding: Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia joined in January. Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia formally applied — Turkey being the first NATO member to take an interest in the group. Pakistan has also expressed an interest in joining the group.

The alliance now makes up half of the world’s population and 35% of global output. 

Some member states like Egypt receive U.S. military aid and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) hosts U.S. military bases. 

Russian officials already view the three-day summit as a massive success: Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said 36 countries confirmed participation and 24 will send representatives. 

CHINA-DOMINATED BLOC OFFERS IRAN, SAUDI ARABIA MEMBERSHIP IN MOVE THAT SEEKS TO UNDERMINE US

Russia is also courting more nations to join a payment system that would serve as an alternative to SWIFT, which has been used to sanction Russian officials by the West.

While Russia is pushing an anti-western agenda at the summit, members like Brazil, India and South Africa want a less combative tone. They believe the alliance should be used to tailor international institutions to meet the needs of the Global South. They believe they could work to reform the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to serve the needs of the developing world. 

Putin shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via REUTERS)

Creating an alternative to SWIFT would require BRICS-based currencies and financial institutions to conduct international business — and so far BRICS members have not presented a clear plan to replace the dollar. 

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in an address to the summit that BRICS must act as more than a “dialogue club,” and said that 15 years after the creation of the alliance, many of its goals remain unfulfilled. 

He tore into the West’s increasingly frequent threat of sanctions. 

“Over more than three decades since the collapse of the bipolar system, it has become increasingly clear that from the perspective of Western powers, peace, democracy, prosperity, and development can only be achieved through pathways defined by them,” he said.

“This monopolistic outlook has resulted in increased violence, war, and terrorism on the one hand, and unprecedented use of economic and political sanctions on the other.”

Putin shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via REUTERS)

Dollar assets currently comprise around 59% of global foreign currency reserves, down from 70% in 1999. 

Former President Donald Trump has promised “100% tariffs” on nations that snub the U.S. dollar, arguing that losing the dollar as the world currency would be like “losing a war.” 

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“I was a user of sanctions, but I put them on and take them off as quickly as possible, because ultimately it kills your dollar, and it kills everything the dollar represents. And we have to continue to have that be the world currency. I think it’s important. I think it would be losing a war, if we lost the dollar as the world currency,” he told the Economic Club in New York in September. 

“That would make us a Third World country. You’re losing Russia. China is out there trying to get their currency to be the dominant currency.”

The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently contacted Elon Musk’s America PAC about its historic $1 million giveaway to swing-state voters after the agency was warned by lawyers who claimed that the initiative may be illegal.

On Monday, the DOJ was sent a letter from a “group of attorneys and public officials” requesting an investigation into Ameria PAC’s payments to petition signers. The letter, which was obtained by the Washington Post, was addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland as well as Michelle Henry, the Pennsylvania attorney general.

“We are a group of attorneys and public officials, including those who have served in senior legal and law-enforcement roles under every Republican president from Richard Nixon to Donald Trump,” the letter reads. “We write to you today to request that you review payments that are being made by the Elon Musk-founded America PAC to voters in Pennsylvania and other states that experts say raise serious questions under applicable law.”

Musk, the CEO of Tesla, is offering $1 million a day to swing-state voters who sign his political action committee’s petition in support of the Constitution. Only voters in swing states are eligible.

ELON GOES ON CAMPAIGN BLITZ AGAINST GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS, VOWS TO REVEAL BIZARRE ALLEGED SCHEMES

SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk awarded Kristine Fishell with a $1 million check during the town hall at the Roxain Theater, Oct. 20, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (Michael Swensen/Getty Images)

“The payments are framed as being made for signing, or referring others to sign, a ‘petition’ in support of the First and Second Amendments. But only registered voters in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Carolina may receive payments,” the lawyers’ letter says.

“We are aware of nothing like this in modern political history… We urge you to investigate whether America PAC’s payments are prohibited payments for voter registration.”

Fox News Digital did an analysis of the initiative and found it to be in a legally gray area, and it also discovered that other similar initiatives in support of Democratic causes exist. 

FETTERMAN ISSUES WARNING TO DEMOCRATS AFTER ELON STUMPS FOR TRUMP IN PENNSYLVANIA

Elon Musk speaks as part of a campaign town hall in support of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in Folsom, Pa., Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

The giveaway explicitly asks voters to sign a petition rather than register to vote, but the letter sent to the DOJ alleged the petition still encourages registering to vote.

“We recognize that they are framed as payments for signing a petition, or for referring voters who sign,” the lawyers argued. “But many of the payments are restricted to registered voters, so anyone who wishes to get paid must first register.”

The initiative was announced by Musk this week. The PAC plans to give away $1 million to one swing-state voter per day until Election Day.

“Every day, from now through Nov 5, @America PAC will be giving away $1M to someone in swing states who signed our petition to support free speech & the right to bear arms! We want to make sure that everyone in swing states hears about this and I suspect this will ensure they do,” Musk wrote on X on Sunday.

Elon Musk speaks as part of a campaign town hall in support of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in Folsom, Pa., Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

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Fox News Digital reached out to America PAC for comment but did not immediately hear back. The DOJ declined to comment.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.

U.S. newspaper endorsements for the Democratic presidential candidate have dipped by more than 60% this year since 2016 after VP Kamala Harris became the party’s frontrunner, according to a rough estimate by Fox News Digital.

In 2016, more than 240 newspapers endorsed Hillary Clinton, while only 20 endorsed Trump. In 2020, 14 newspapers endorsed Trump, and 120 endorsed Biden.

This year, nearly 80 newspapers endorsed Harris, and fewer than 10 endorsed Trump.

LOS ANGELES TIMES COMES OUT AGAINST POPULAR ANTI-CRIME BALLOT INITIATIVE

Several Democratic voters in Nevada told The New York Times they’re not voting for Vice President Kamala Harris because they don’t believe she will ease housing costs. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Notable endorsements for Harris include the Winston-Salem Chronicle, New York Times, Boston Globe, The New Yorker, Denver Post, The Las Vegas Sun, Los Angeles Sentinel, Seattle Times, The Star-Ledger, Tennessee Tribune, Scientific American and San Antonio Express. 

Endorsements for Trump include the New York Post, The Washington Times and the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The plummeting Democratic endorsements come as the Los Angeles Times editorial board, which endorsed Barack Obama in 2008, Clinton in 2016 and Biden in 2020, decided not to endorse a presidential candidate this year, according to a new report Tuesday.

An LA Times spokesperson declined to comment to Fox News Digital on the report, saying, “We do not comment on internal discussions or decisions about editorials or endorsements.”

THIS TOP ANTI-TRUMP REPUBLICAN GOES ON A BATTLEGROUND STATES BLITZ WITH KAMALA HARRIS

Former President Trump (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The LA editorial board issued presidential endorsements from the 1880s through 1972, only returning to the practice to endorse Obama in 2008. Since then, it has exclusively endorsed Democratic presidential candidates. 

The LA Times released its statewide and nationwide endorsements last week, including Democratic candidates for the U.S. House and Senate.

Newspapers have traditionally endorsed candidates in elections since the 19th century, when papers were more closely tied to political parties. Over time, newspapers shifted to become more independent of the party apparatus, and editorial boards for the newspapers took over endorsements, with the ideological lean of the board often an indicator of the endorsement outcome. 

A stack of newspapers (IStock)

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Several newspapers that historically endorsed Republican candidates either endorsed Biden or declined to endorse any candidate in 2020. The Arizona Republic, which had endorsed Republicans for decades, was one of the few that endorsed Biden.

Some publications that had never endorsed a presidential candidate before, like USA Today, broke with tradition in 2020 to also endorse Biden.

Fox News Digital’s Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report. 

President Joe Biden is seeking to cement his climate legacy by allocating billions of dollars for energy and environment-related projects in the remaining months of his presidency.

Biden ramped up his administration’s energy-related spending in October, announcing several new initiatives after former President Donald Trump said on the campaign trail that if elected, he would “rescind all unspent funds under the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act,” which could directly impact Biden’s climate projects.

On Thursday, the Department of the Interior approved the Fervo Cape Geothermal Power Project in Beaver County, Utah, which seeks to expand geothermal energy on public lands.

The Energy Department also announced nearly $2 billion in funding for 38 power grid projects for clean energy, and on Tuesday, the administration allocated $428 million for 14 clean energy manufacturing projects in former coal communities.

HARRIS TOUTS GROWING UP IN MIDDLE CLASS WHILE PUSHING MANDATE MOST ‘WON’T BE ABLE TO AFFORD’: ECONOMIST

President Joe Biden speaks at NHTI-Concord Community College in Concord, New Hampshire on Oct. 22, 2024.  (Joseph Prezioso)

In early October, the Biden-Harris administration issued a final rule to replace every lead pipe in the U.S. within 10 years as part of Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI). In addition to the rule, the EPA also announced $2.6 billion in new funding for drinking water infrastructure through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

September also saw several new projects launched as part of the final push for the administration’s climate agenda.

LEFT-WING CLIMATE GROUPS SILENT AFTER HARRIS CAMPAIGN DROPS MILLIONS ON PRIVATE JET FLIGHTS SINCE JULY

The Department of Energy announced $3 billion for electric vehicle battery production, while the Department of the Interior will distribute $24 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for land and water restoration through an investment in “climate resilience.” 

The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) approved an offshore wind turbine in Maryland — the 10th approval of a commercial-scale offshore wind project. Trump has stated that if elected, he would end offshore wind projects “on day one” through an executive order, suggesting the energy source causes harm to the environment. 

Wind turbines produce energy from wind at Whitewater Energy’s Wind Turbine Farm in the desert. (Bob Riha, Jr.)

“They destroy everything. They’re horrible, the most expensive energy there is,” Trump said of wind turbines during a campaign event in New Jersey. “They ruin the environment. They kill the birds. They kill the whales.”

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White House’s Deputy Chief of Staff Natalie Quillian told listeners on a press call in October that Biden is “sprinting to the finish” to deliver “on his historic Investing in America agenda.”

The Department of Homeland Security is recommending more than 100 migrants that it has identified as having possible ties to a bloodthirsty Venezuelan gang be put on an FBI watchlist, Fox News confirmed Wednesday, after the agency flagged more than 600 with possible ties overall.

NBC News first reported that DHS has identified more than 600 individuals with possible ties to Tren de Aragua, and that 100 of those are deemed “subjects of interests.” Fox has confirmed that it recommended they be placed on the FBI’s Watchlist for Transnational Criminal Organizations.

Officials do not believe that all of the 600 migrants will be confirmed gang members, and that many will be relatives, victims or witnesses to crimes by the notorious gang members. Officials are making the gang a priority so it does not grow.

WHO IS TREN DE ARAGUA? VICIOUS VENEZUELAN GANG ‘FOLLOWING IN THE PATH OF MS-13’ IN AMERICA 

Still image from social media video shows suspected juvenile Tren de Aragua members based out of the Roosevelt Hotel, who have allegedly been attacking the nearby Times Square in a string of robberies. (Obtained by New York Post)

The gang is believed to have started in the Tocoron prison in the Venezuelan state of Aragua and has since expanded into Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and the U.S. In a statement, DHS said that the identities emerged as part of an ongoing re-screening operation to tackle the gang. 

“As a part of our work to counter TdA, DHS has an ongoing operation to crack down on gang members through re-screening certain individuals previously encountered, in addition to the rigorous screening and vetting at the border,” a DHS spokesperson said.

The agency said that those confirmed or suspected of being gang members will be either referred for prosecution or placed into expedited removal — a deportation process that allows for the quick removal of illegal immigrants.

The statement stressed that those identified in the re-screening “include those already in custody, potential victims or witnesses who are not themselves suspected of being TdA members, and others who may not have any involvement in TdA at all.”

There have been numerous crimes in the last year that have been linked to TdA, in states including Georgia, Illinois, Texas, Colorado and New York.

NEW REPORT WARNS BLOODTHIRSTY VENEZUELAN GANG’S FOOTPRINT WILL REMAIN IN US ‘FOR DECADES’

The suspected Tren de Aragua gang members engaged in illegal activity including illegal dumping and drug use, according to the El Paso County Attorneys Office. (KFOX14/El Paso County Attorneys Office)

The gang is believed to have taken over apartment blocks in Aurora, Colorado, and authorities in New York City have warned that the gang is recruiting children and is linked to dozens of robberies in the sanctuary city. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has also sounded the alarm about the growth of the gang in his state.

Federal immigration authorities announced last week that a confirmed TdA member was arrested in Houston for allegedly recruiting middle school students to become new gang members. 

But the gang’s presence has increased at the same time as a massive migration surge to the southern border, which included a significant number of Venezuelans. While border numbers have dropped sharply since June, the impact of that crisis is still being felt in communities across the U.S.

Experts noted to NBC that the number of identified members is low and could represent a gap in intelligence. Venezuela does not share its databases with the U.S., and relations are frosty. Earlier this year, Venezuela stopped accepting deportation flights from the U.S.

While authorities have put out warnings to Border Patrol agents about possible markers of the gang, they can be hard to identify, while others get past agents as gotaways.

TdA has become an issue in the presidential election as well. Former President Donald Trump announced recently that he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to target and dismantle “every illegal migrant criminal network operating on American soil.” 

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Trump said, if elected, the federal government would “send elite squads of ICE, Border Patrol and federal law enforcement officers to hunt down, arrest and deport every last illegal alien gang member until there is not a single one left in this country.” 

Vice President Kamala Harris, meanwhile, has stressed her support for a bipartisan border security bill to provide additional funding to the border and has also highlighted her history targeting transnational criminal organizations as a federal prosecutor.

Ret. Army Capt. Sam Brown appears to be closing the polling gap with incumbent Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen in battleground Nevada with less than two weeks until Election Day. 

In a new survey, Rosen defeated Brown 49% to 44% among all voters, according to a new AARP poll. 

Among the key demographic of voters 50 years or older, Brown beat the Democrat 49% to 46%. 

TIM WALZ SLAMS ELON MUSK AS A ‘DIPS—‘ DURING RALLY WITH OBAMA IN WISCONSIN

The margin between Sam Brown and Jacky Rosen appears to be shrinking.  (Reuters)

The new poll, which indicates a close race, comes after some expressed concerns over the Republican’s position behind Rosen in recent surveys. While many Republican candidates in crucial states had already improved their stature against incumbent Democrats, Brown was still losing to Rosen by significant margins. 

In a late August poll from CNN, Rosen was leading Brown by a full 10 points, 50% to 40%. In a Fox News Poll during the same month, the Democrat beat her opponent by even more, 55% to his 41%. 

Earlier in the month, a New York Times and Siena College Poll had Rosen besting Brown 49% to 40%. 

In the same AARP survey that Brown has appeared to make gains in, former President Trump topped Vice President Kamala Harris in the swing state, 49%-47%, in a head-to-head contest. With other candidates, Trump still leads Harris 47% to 46%. 

MCCONNELL, GOP DESCEND ON NEBRASKA TO SAVE DEB FISCHER’S ENDANGERED SENATE SEAT

U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen and Jimmy Kimmel pose for a group photo as they thank volunteer workers at a Democratic coordinated campaign canvass launch Oct. 21, 2024, in Las Vegas.  (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

“The huge gaps between the Senate and presidential races in these states were never realistic,” said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics. “At the same time, Democratic Senate candidates have generally had better margins than Harris in almost every competitive state.”

According to Kondik, there is an “upside possibility” for Republicans in the scenario that Trump performs particularly well. 

“He could carry several GOP Senate candidates over the finish line,” he said. 

TOP REPUBLICANS ACCUSE FTC CHAIR OF HATCH ACT VIOLATIONS OVER ‘CAMPAIGN-STYLE EVENTS’ WITH DEMS

Nevada Republican Senate candidate Sam Brown attends a Hispanic roundtable with former President Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, at Beauty Society Oct. 12, 2024, in North Las Vegas. (Ethan Miller)

Nevada Republican strategist Jeremy Hughes said, “Sam Brown has the momentum at the end of this race and is benefiting from a strong early vote performance by Republicans.”

Republicans have appeared to turn out in larger numbers than Democrats in Nevada’s early voting thus far, which is a departure from past elections, according to one veteran political journalist in the state. 

PENNSYLVANIA SENATE RACE LABELED ‘TOSS UP’ IN LAST-MINUTE SHIFT BY TOP HANDICAPPER

While noting that Republicans have an advantage in early voting “at a time when the Ds usually have one,” Jon Ralston, the CEO and editor of The Nevada Independent, wrote. “If that gets larger, big trouble for Dems.” 

Ralston further told Fox News Digital, “It is a surprising, unprecedented turnout pattern in a presidential year.”

“Democrats have usually used early voting to bank votes, and the election is all but over by Election Day. Not this year. Mail ballots sent to everyone changes everything, and it also makes predictions very difficult.”

A Latinos for Trump event Oct. 3, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Hannah Ray Lambert/Fox News Digital)

“Nevadans are surging to the polls because they know we can do better. There is incredible energy on the ground, and working Nevada families are rallying behind Sam Brown’s plan to lower prices, secure the border and make life affordable again. Nevadans have made it clear they are ready for a change, and the momentum is on our side,” Brown campaign spokesperson Raegan Lehman said in a statement. 

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A spokesperson for Rosen’s campaign told Fox News Digital, “Nevada Senate races are always close and competitive, and our campaign is taking nothing for granted.

“We’re confident that voters will ultimately re-elect Jacky Rosen, a bipartisan and independent problem solver who delivers for working families, and reject MAGA extremist Sam Brown, who wants to take away abortion rights, repeal the Affordable Care Act and gut Social Security and Medicare.”

Her campaign additionally pointed to a late June poll, also by the AARP, that showed Rosen and Brown similarly five points apart at 47% to 42%. Brown led Rosen with voters 50 and over by 49% to 44% at the time. 

That poll interviewed 1,368 likely voters in Nevada between June 12 and 18. It also had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points for the sample of voters overall and plus or minus 3.5 percentage points for the over 50-year-old sample. 

The new AARP poll that showed the gap closing interviewed 1,368 likely voters from Oct. 8 to 15. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points for the sample of voters overall and  plus or minus 3.5 percentage points for the over 50-year-old sample. 

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

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer didn’t hold back at a Tuesday rally for Kamala Harris as she rebuked former President Trump’s comments from earlier this month, in which he claimed that if the vice president assumes office, “the whole country will be like… Detroit.” 

Trump’s comments are even more poignant considetring Detroit’s reputation as one of the most dangerous cities for violent crime in the nation.

“I know you all saw what he said about this beautiful city. He called Detroit a failure and a mess, proving he ain’t firing on all cylinders,” Whitmer said before Eminem and former President Barack Obama took the stage to court votes for Harris. “He doesn’t have a clue what the hell he was talking about. And you know what I think? He ought to keep Detroit out of his mouth.”

INTERVIEWING DONALD TRUMP: A LAST-MINUTE BLITZ AND NEW CLOSING MESSAGE

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and former President Trump (Getty Images)

Last month, during his speech at the Detroit Economic Club, Trump said: “The whole country will be like – you want to know the truth? It’ll be like Detroit.”

“Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s your president,” he said. “A mess.”

In 2018, Detroit had the highest violent crime rate of 2,007.8 incidents per 100,000 people, according to the data from the FBI’s 2018 Uniform Crime Report, making it the only midsize or large city in the U.S. with such a high number. 

That year, the city reported 261 homicides and around 13,500 violent crimes, even though its population is less than 700,000. Meanwhile, local officials claim violent crime is down 8% in 2024, and shootings and carjackings have also decreased. 

HARRIS CLAIMS TRUMP WIN WOULD BE ‘CATASTROPHIC’ FOR SOCIAL SECURITY, BUT FIRST TERM TELLS DIFFERENT TALE

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at the Resch Expo Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Oct. 17, 2024. (Getty Images)

Detroit still faces big problems, like a high unemployment rate and many residents living below the poverty line. 

In 2023, the number of homicides fell to 252, the lowest since 1966, but the city has had a changing population. Detroit had nearly 1.7 million residents in the 1960s, but that number dropped to about 620,376 in 2022. 

But the data can be hard to verify since the Federal Bureau of Investigation quietly updated its 2022 crime data to show an increase in violent crimes, despite previous data showing violent crimes had fallen that year, which was touted as a victory for the Biden-Harris administration. 

Detroit police are currently investigating a double shooting that killed an 18-year-old early Monday afternoon. And just a day after the rally, two men are in critical condition after being shot Wednesday morning near Detroit’s New Center district.

CBS NEWS STATEMENT ON CONTROVERSIAL ’60 MINUTES’ EDIT FALLS FLAT ON SOCIAL MEDIA: ‘PUBLISH. THE. TRANSCRIPT.’

“Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s your president,” Trump said of Harris. “A mess.” (iStock)

Both candidates are vying to win the battleground state’s vote with the election just two weeks away. On Friday, Trump also made a Detroit rally stop, promising to put “Detroit first,” “Michigan first,” and “America first.”

Trump told supporters, “Your beautiful place, your beautiful city” was “decimated as if by a foreign army.”

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In a statement to Fox News Digital, Team Trump Michigan communications director Victoria LaCivita said: “Like many Americans, President Trump remembers when Detroit was lauded as the gold standard for auto manufacturing success and revolutionized the industry. Detroit has suffered from globalist policies championed by Kamala Harris that have shipped manufacturing overseas. Detroit’s population has dropped over 60 percent since 1960, maintains the third highest homicide rate in the nation, and a poverty rate for full-time workers three times as high as the rest of Michigan. As President Trump emphasized in his speech, his policies will usher in a new era of economic success and stability for Detroit, helping the city reach its fullest potential.” 

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

The United Kingdom’s Labour Party is pushing back Wednesday on allegations from the Trump campaign that it is providing “illegal foreign assistance” to Kamala Harris. 

Representatives for Trump announced last night they have “filed a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint against the Harris-Walz Campaign and the Labour Party of the United Kingdom for illegal foreign campaign contributions and interference in our elections.” 

“The far-left Labour Party has inspired Kamala’s dangerously liberal policies and rhetoric. In recent weeks, they have recruited and sent party members to campaign for Kamala in critical battleground states, attempting to influence our election,” Trump-Vance Campaign Co-Manager Susie Wiles said in a statement. 

However, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Wednesday that any members of his Labour Party that are in the U.S. are acting as volunteers and “what they’ve done in previous elections, is what they’re doing in this election,” according to The Associated Press. 

LABOUR PARTY TO DESCEND ON US TO HELP HARRIS 

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, center, is denying claims from the Trump campaign that his Labour Party is interfering in the U.S. election in favor of Kamala Harris. (AP/Alex Brandon/Jaimi Joy/Jacquelyn Martin/Pool)

“I spent time in New York with President Trump, had dinner with him, and my purpose in doing that was to make sure that between the two of us, we established a good relationship, which we did, and I was very grateful to him for making the time,” Starmer added. “Of course, as prime minister of the United Kingdom, I will work with whoever the American people return as their president in the elections.” 

The filing from Trump’s campaign mentions a now-deleted social media post from Labour Party leader Sofia Patel, who took to LinkedIn to solicit help from current and former members of the party who would be willing to campaign for Harris in the key battleground state of North Carolina. 

READ THE LETTER BELOW. APP USERS: CLICK HERE

Patel indicated in her post that she had already organized “nearly 100 Labour Party staff” to stump across the key battleground states of Nevada, Pennsylvania and Virginia but had about 10 spots left for anyone willing to head to North Carolina.   

“We will sort your housing,” Patel assured anyone interested.  

DEMOCRAT STRATEGIST JAMES CARVILLE DECLARES HE’S ‘CERTAIN’ HARRIS WILL WIN 

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump waves at a campaign rally at Greensboro Coliseum on Tuesday, Oct. 22, in Greensboro, N.C.  (AP/Alex Brandon)

An attorney for the Trump campaign wrote in the filing that “the language of her post supports a reasonable inference that the Labour Party will finance at least travel and facilitate room and board.” 

“Press reports further support a reasonable inference that the Harris campaign is aware of these efforts, and thus has accepted a prohibited foreign national contribution,” he continued. “Moreover, even if the individuals traveling to the United States were ‘volunteers,’ the Labour Party appears to be using party resources, including paid staff time, to coordinate their travel.” 

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks as she attends a campaign event with former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Brookfield, Wis. (AP/Morry Gash)

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The Harris campaign did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

Fox News’ Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.

Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick slammed his opponent in the highly-anticipated race, Sen. Bob Casey, for “retaliating against McDonald’s” after former President Donald Trump visited a location of the fast-food company in the Keystone State while on the campaign trail. 

A trio of Senate Democrats, Casey, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, issued a letter Monday to the CEO of McDonald’s, slamming the company for reported price gouging, just one day after Trump worked the fryer at a franchise of the fast-food chain during a campaign event Feasterville, Pennsylvania. 

The trio’s letter accused the business of inflating prices on consumers to grow profits, sparking McCormick to slam Casey for using “vindictive pressure tactics, simply because he doesn’t like Donald Trump.”

“After President Trump’s wildly popular visit to the local Feasterville McDonald’s franchise, Bob Casey has stooped to a new low by retaliating against McDonald’s. This is just the latest in a string of anti-business attacks by Casey on Pennsylvania small businesses and employees. Casey is a liberal, partisan, career politician who knows his family dynasty is coming to an end, so he resorts to a vindictive pressure tactic, simply because he doesn’t like Donald Trump,” McCormick told Fox News Digital. 

WOMAN SERVED BY TRUMP AT MCDONALD’S DRIVE-THRU REVEALS DETAILS BEHIND VIRAL EXCHANGE WITH FORMER PRESIDENT

Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick, right, and Senator Bob Casey (D- PA). (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images | Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images)

The senators’ letter, which did not cite Trump, was sent one day after Trump’s visit to a McDonald’s in Casey’s home state of Pennsylvania on Sunday. 

“While McDonald’s is not the only fast food restaurant that has increased prices significantly in recent years, its dominant market position as the largest fast food chain in the United States has an outsize impact on American consumers,” the trio of senators wrote in their letter. “While working families are trying to make ends meet, McDonald’s and its corporate counterparts have continued to grow their profits.”

TRUMP MAKES FRIES AT PENNSYLVANIA MCDONALDS: ‘I’VE NOW WORKED FOR 15 MINUTES MORE THAN KAMALA’

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, left, and Dave McCormick, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate for Pennsylvania, shake hands during a campaign event in Reading, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 9, 2024. (REUTERS/Jeenah Moon)

The letter called on the McDonald’s CEO to address questions such as how the company makes pricing decisions on individual menu items, if McDonald’s provides guidelines to franchisees regarding pricing decisions and if McDonald’s executives received bonuses or other incentive-based compensation between 2020 and 2024. 

McDonald’s hit back that the letter “demonstrates a lack of understanding of our franchise business model.” 

“McDonald’s and our franchisees are committed to keeping prices affordable – from the everyday prices on our menu boards, to our popular $5 Meal Deal and other offers available locally or on the App. This letter demonstrates a lack of understanding of our franchise business model and contains contortions of facts and many inaccuracies. Take the components of the $5 Meal Deal with McChicken, for example – which would have cost 15% more in 2020 than they do today. That’s the opposite of price gouging. We will respond to the letter, and in the meantime, continue to show up for our customers and our communities,” McDonald’s told Fox News Digital in a comment Tuesday. 

Former President Donald Trump, center, with Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., center left, at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania. (Brooke Singman)

Casey pinning blame for inflation and economic woes on price gouging has been a common theme of his highly-anticipated re-election campaign, which shifted from a lean Democrat race to a toss-up by Cook Political Report in a last-minute update this week. Pennsylvania is viewed as the top battleground state this election cycle that will likely determine the outcome of the federal election, with political eyes also locked on the Senate race that pits Casey against McCormick.

LIBERAL MEDIA HAS MELTDOWN OVER TRUMP’S ‘FIRST DAY’ WORKING AT MCDONALD’S 

“The corporations say your prices are up only because their costs are up,” Casey declared at the DNC over the summer. “They are selling you a lie. It’s in the bag with the diapers. Prices are up because these corporations are scheming to drive them up.”

The McCormick campaign has hit back that the argument is hogwash, saying that prices have increased for consumers due to the federal government’s “wasteful” spending that was “rubber-stamped” by Democrats such as Casey. 

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump works the drive-thru line as he visits a McDonald’s restaurant on Oct. 20, 2024 in Feasterville-Trevose, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Nearly all McDonald’s locations in the U.S. are individually owned franchises, including the one in Feasterville, Pennsylvania, Trump visited on Sunday. 

“I’ve now worked for 15 minutes more than Kamala at McDonald’s,” Trump said through the drive-thru window as he handed out orders. 

PENNSYLVANIA SENATE RACE LABELED ‘TOSS UP’ IN LAST-MINUTE SHIFT BY TOP HANDICAPPER

“I love McDonald’s, I love jobs, I like to see good jobs. And I think it’s inappropriate when somebody puts down all over the place that you work. Think that was a big part of her resume and that you worked at McDonald’s,” he added. 

The McDonald’s that Trump visited is owned by Derek Giacomantonio, who told Fox Digital on Sunday that the franchise opens “our doors to everyone who visits the Feasterville community.”  

KEY BATTLEGROUND STATE VOTER REGISTRATION DATA SHOWS INFLUENTIAL SHIFTS FAVORING GOP

“As a small, independent business owner, it is a fundamental value of my organization that we proudly open our doors to everyone who visits the Feasterville community. That’s why I accepted former President Trump’s request to observe the transformative working experience that 1 in 8 Americans have had: a job at McDonald’s,” Giacomantonio said. 

Former President Donald Trump worked as a fry cook on Sunday afternoon at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s, claiming he has now worked at the fast-food chain longer than Vice President Kamala Harris. (Brooke Singman)

“As a former crew member, I can attest this job is more than burgers and fries, but a meaningful pathway to opportunity. Local Pennsylvania franchisees like me are proud to provide more than 25,000 jobs across the state and I’m honored to showcase my restaurant and the incredible impact of the franchise business model here today,” Giacomantonio continued. 

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Trump’s visit to the McDonald’s has spurred outrage from Democrats, including New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who accused Trump of “laughing at” American workers by visiting the McDonald’s. 

“You’ve got Donald Trump putting on a little McDonald’s costume, because he thinks that’s what people do,” Ocasio-Cortez said during a “Get Out the Early Vote” union event in Pennsylvania. “They’re not trying to empathize with us. They are making fun of us.”

Trump supporters have championed the McDonald’s visit as iconic, posting memes and photos of the former president in support of his re-election. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the trio of senators and Casey’s campaign regarding the letter but did not receive replies. 

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

FIRST ON FOX: A top official in then-President George W. Bush’s administration, who made history as the nation’s first female Department of Agriculture secretary, is the latest leading Republican to back Vice President Kamala Harris over former President Trump.

And the endorsement of the vice president by Ann Veneman – shared first with Fox News on Wednesday – comes as the Harris campaign continues its efforts to court Republicans who didn’t support Trump during this year’s GOP nomination race – and as the campaign aims to cut into  the former president’s support among rural voters.

“As our nation stands at a critical juncture, the upcoming presidential election presents a stark contrast in leadership and values, particularly for rural communities and agriculture,” Veneman said in a statement.

Veneman, who grew up on a peach farm in California and also made history as the first female U.S. deputy secretary of Agriculture – in President George H.W. Bush’s administration – and the first woman to serve as Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, argued that “Donald Trump’s current tariff proposal is dangerous for rural America. It would raise prices on essential goods, harm farmers by undermining key trade relationships, and increase costs for consumers.”

THIS TOP ANTI-TRUMP REPUBLICAN GOES ON A BATTLEGROUND STATES BLITZ WITH KAMALA HARRIS 

File photo of former Secretary of Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, who later served as UNICEF executive director, in New York City on Nov. 28, 2006  ( Photo by David X Prutting/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

And pointing to proposals by Harris and her running mate – Minnesota Gov. Tim  Walz – Veneman emphasized that “their plan for rural communities is a bold vision for the future that invests in economic growth, critical infrastructure, and greater access to care for families.  Together, they offer the leadership we need to help agriculture and rural America thrive.”

Walz last week highlighted the Harris campaign’s plans to improve the lives of rural voters, which include proposals to recruit 10,000 new healthcare professionals in rural and tribal areas through scholarships, loan forgiveness and new grant programs. 

The Harris campaign aims to put a dent in Trump’s strong support in rural communities. The former president carried rural voters by a nearly two-to-one margin in the 2020 election, according to a Fox News voter analysis. 

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Veneman, with her endorsement, also becomes the latest high ranking member of former President George W. Bush’s administration to back Harris. At the top of that lis is former Vice President Dick Cheney.

And Veneman’s endorsement comes two days after Harris campaigned in three key battleground states – Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin – with Cheney’s daughter, former Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris listens as former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney speaks during a Harris campaign town hall in Malvern, Pennsylvania, on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

The younger Cheney, once a rising conservative star in the GOP, in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters aiming to disrupt congressional certification of President Biden’s 2020 election victory, has vowed to do everything she can to prevent the former president from returning to power.

While Trump retains vast sway over the GOP, even a small sliver of Republicans supporting Harris could make a consequential impact in what will likely be a race within the margins in the key swing states.

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The Harris campaign is courting such voters with on-the-ground events and through paid media efforts.

At a campaign event last week in Pennsylvania where Harris was joined by leading anti-Trump Republicans – including former Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan – the vice president was introduced by lifelong Pennsylvania Republicans Bob and Kristina Lange.

The Langes, who own a family farm in Chester County, Pennsylvania, have also starred in a Harris campaign commercial. The Langes say they’ve seen a barrage of hateful and derogatory messages following their appearance in the Harris ad.

But in a Fox News Digital interview last week, they noted that their Republican friends say “that they’re on the same page that we are. They’re approaching us and telling us ‘We’re behind you.’ They’re thanking us for what we’re doing. They’re thanking us for being brave because many people are afraid to speak out against Trump because of revenge and other things like that.”

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

A ballot initiative to implement open primary voting across six states is gaining momentum, according to advocates of the proposal who say it will eliminate “polarizing” and “extreme” candidates from making it onto the ballot, allowing a more diverse group of candidates to represent voters.

Proponents hope this year’s success is indicative of future changes to U.S. elections.

Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, South Dakota, Montana and Nevada qualified for an open primary initiative for the 2024 ballot, Unite America – a philanthropic venture fund – found. Other states across the country already have an open primary system, including Alaska, Texas, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Virginia, among others.

Research from the Unite America Institute reveals that just 8% of voters elected 83% of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022. In 2024, 7% have already elected 84%. Unite America attributed this “primary problem” to the polarization and gridlock hindering Congress and state legislatures from addressing key issues important to voters that often go unnoticed come election season.

Nick Troiano, executive director of Unite America, told Fox News Digital that an open primary system “would literally enfranchise millions of Americans closed out, and that includes independents.”

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Maryland Board of Elections poll workers pass by empty booths during the Maryland state primary election at a polling station in Annapolis, Maryland, on May 14, 2024. (Photo by Jim Watson / AFP)

In an open primary system, voters can choose which party’s primary to participate in, regardless of their own party affiliation. This allows registered voters, including independents, to vote in any party’s primary, promoting broader participation.

By contrast, a closed primary system requires voters to be registered with a specific party to vote in that party’s primary. This approach ensures that only party members can influence the selection of their candidates, often leading to more ideologically consistent nominees but potentially excluding independent voters from the process.

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

Signs directing voters are seen outside a polling place on March 5, 2024 in Mountain Brook, Alabama. (Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)

“So this gives voters a lot more freedom to vote for whom they want, you know, regardless of party. And that’s the belief at the end of the day is that our election system should serve voters, not parties as private organizations,” Troiano told Fox News Digital.

Another advocate of the open primary system is former Colorado Congressman Ken Buck. Buck, who retired as a representative earlier this year to work behind-the-scenes on election reform projects, said that many American voters are currently frustrated with their presidential choices. 

He noted that recent election reforms in various states are primarily focused on Senate and gubernatorial races, rather than the presidential election. This discontent may create an opportunity for meaningful reform in the electoral system, he said.

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“I VOTED” stickers are handed out. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

“AOC beat a member of leadership in the Democratic primary, and she did it again with a very small percentage,” Buck, who endorsed the open primary ballot inititative in his state, told Fox News Digital. “It’s like 12% of the overall registered voters in the in her district, voted for her in that primary, and then, because it’s a blue district, she becomes the member. That’s the example.”

Buck believes that these changes could lead to higher-quality candidates, as current primary systems often allow candidates to win with a small percentage of the vote—sometimes as low as 38%—due to a crowded field. He suggested that such candidates often lack broad support among voters and may prioritize social media appeal over addressing the pressing issues facing constituents. 

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Buck and Troiano said so far, typically the party that is most in control of the state are opposed to the ballot measure.

“So in Nevada, the Democratic Party, and Idaho, it’s the Republican Party,” Troiano said. “But we make the case that this is good for voters today and is good for democracy.”

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