NationalWatch

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Nikki Haley has been making the same argument for months — she would be a stronger Republican standard-bearer than former President Trump to take on President Biden in November’s general election.

“Look at any of the general election polls. There was one that came out yesterday. It said that Donald Trump lost by seven points to Biden,” Haley told the crowd at a campaign event in Hilton Head, South Carolina, on Thursday. “I defeat Biden by up to 17 points.”

Now, the former two-term South Carolina governor who served as U.N. ambassador during the Trump administration is throwing more shade at her former boss.

Haley took to X to jab at Trump. She posted a photo of the former president in a mock Halloween costume titled “Weakest General Election Candidate Ever.”

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

“Democrats are ecstatic about the prospect of running against Donald Trump,” Haley argued. “They couldn’t dream up a worse general election candidate if they tried. Between his legal drama, his terrible poll numbers, and his confusion, Trump will hand Democrats a big victory.”

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

A couple of hours later, Trump went to his Truth Social platform to make the opposite case, spotlighting polls that indicated he would match up stronger than Haley against President Biden in the general election.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung brushed off the attack, charging in a statement that “Nikki Haley is a stone cold loser who is becoming more irrelevant by the day.”

Haley faces a steep uphill climb for the GOP nomination against Trump, who remains the commanding frontrunner in the Republican race as he makes his third straight run for the White House.

Trump won last month’s Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary — the first two contests in the GOP presidential nominating calendar — by double digits.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended his campaign two days before the New Hampshire primary, leaving Trump and Haley as the last two major candidates in a field that stood at nearly 15 contenders last August.

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

The next major contest on the Republican schedule is Haley’s home state, which holds its GOP primary on Feb. 24. The latest public opinion survey in South Carolina — from Monmouth University and the Washington Post — indicated the former president has a formidable 26-point lead over Haley.

However, Haley, speaking with Fox News Digital on Thursday after a campaign event at a popular eatery in the Palmetto State’s capital city, reiterated her goalposts.

“It’s just about keeping that momentum going. We got 20% in Iowa. We got 43% in New Hampshire. Let’s bring it a little bit closer so that we can get closer in to him [Trump] and make it more competitive going into Super Tuesday,” she said.

Fifteen states will hold GOP presidential nominating contests on Super Tuesday, which this year will take place on March 5. Thirty-six percent of all Republican presidential delegates will be up for grabs in those primaries and caucuses.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

South Carolina voters surveyed in the Monmouth/Washington Post polls said they believe Trump has a greater chance than Haley of defeating President Biden in November. Forty-two percent said they believe Trump could definitely beat Biden in the general election. Only 21% of South Carolina Republicans said Haley could definitely beat Biden.

“Trump’s electability is a concern for some primary voters. It’s just that this group is nowhere near large enough to put Haley in striking distance of the front-runner,” Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, said in a statement.

Longtime Republican pollster Neil Newhouse told Fox News that “Republican primary voters don’t vote on who they think has the best chance to beat Biden… Republican primary voters vote on policy and personality, not on electability.”

Newhouse, a veteran of multiple GOP presidential campaigns, argued that spotlighting electability is “generally the last dying cry of a moderate Republican who is getting ready to lose.”

Fox News’ James Levinson contributed to this report.

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

President Biden’s thoughts about former President Trump appear to be more vulgar behind closed doors than in public despite he and other Democrats routinely calling for “civility” and “decency” in politics.

On Biden’s first day in office, he lectured his staff about the importance of respect and said, “I am not joking when I say this, if you are ever working with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I promise you I will fire you on the spot. On the spot. No ifs, ands or buts.”  

However, Biden has been at the center of multiple reports detailing how he’s prone to outbursts and “angry interrogations” of staff when not in the public eye. That demeanor appears to have continued as the president takes aim at Trump in private to his close allies and aides.

During conversations with his confidantes, Biden has allegedly referred to Trump as a “sick f—” who enjoys seeing others encounter setbacks, Politico reported Thursday. 

WH AIDES CLAIM BIDEN PRONE TO OUTBURSTS, ‘ANGRY INTERROGATIONS’ BEHIND CLOSED DOORS: ‘GET THE F—K OUT’

The publication spoke to three individuals who heard Biden make the remarks. One of those individuals added Biden also recently called Trump a “f—ing a–hole.”

Trump’s campaign fired back at the president for his alleged comments.

“It’s a shame that Crooked Joe Biden disrespects the presidency both publicly and privately,” senior Trump campaign adviser Chris Lacivita told Politico. “But then again, it’s no surprise he disrespects the 45th president the same way he disrespects the American people with his failed policies.”

BIDEN’S HISTORY OF BERATING, SCOLDING AND INSULTING REPORTERS, FROM ‘STUPID SON OF A B—-’ TO ‘GET EDUCATED’

Conservatives took to social media Thursday evening blasting Biden for his comments about Trump.

Steve Guest, who previously worked for Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and the Republican National Committee, called Biden a “fraud” and included a screenshot of the report where Biden lectured his staffers about decency.

“As Biden tries to jail Trump through his Justice Dept, Biden’s operatives leak vulgar attacks on him,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton posted on X.

“Yes the angry, petty, vengeful man who rages about Trump in private would never sic his DOJ on his predecessor and 2024 competitor,” author Julie Kelly posted on X. “Rule of law and whatnot. I am sure Trump’s defense attorneys are VERY interested in this for selective prosecution claims.”

“Biden has always been a lowlife and ignoramus,” Fox News’ Mark Levin posted on X.

A White House spokesman, when asked for comment by Fox News Digital, used the word “snowflake” to describe media coverage of the president’s foul language.

Past reports have suggested Biden is inclined to yell at White House aides behind closed doors and drag them in for “angry interrogations.” The reports have alleged Biden has such a “quick-trigger temper” that some White House staffers attempt to dodge meeting him one-on-one.

“Some take a colleague, almost as a shield against a solo blast,” Biden aides said last summer.  

The president’s alleged outbursts have included expressions such as “God d—it, how the f— don’t you know this?!,” “Don’t f—ing bulls— me!” and “Get the f— out of here!”

Biden’s tactics generally came in the form of “angry interrogations” until it became apparent to others in the room that they didn’t know the answer to a question. It allegedly became so routine that staff named it “stump the chump.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“No one is safe,” one administration official previously said.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Fox News Digital’s Nikolas Lanum contributed to this report.

The Biden administration sent millions in government assistance to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for FY24 amid allegations of terrorist ties against federal employees prior to the administration’s pause of new funding. 

The administration announced a pause on new funding would be enacted last week over allegations that some of its members were “involved” in the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack in Israel. The U.S. government had already earmarked $51 million for FY24 prior to the pause.

The funds were a result of an emergency request for Gaza and the West Bank following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel, and the war that resulted.

“The pause decision was well after the initial tranche to UNRWA’s oPt Flash Appeal of $51M,” a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “That funding was obligated back in mid-November in the early part of the crisis, about 100 days before the Jan. 26 pause.”

Some politicians criticized the spending following the State Department’s pause in funding. Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell blasted President Biden on the floor on Tuesday for the aid, while calling for a stronger retaliatory response against Iranian proxies. 

TRUMP ADMIN CUT FUNDING TO UN AGENCY NOW ACCUSED OF PARTICIPATING IN HAMAS ATTACK ‘FOR REASON’: REP. MCCAUL

“As I’ve said before, there is no room for the tired cast of corruption and terrorism in the future of the Palestinian people. As such, Senate Republicans will not accept any legislation that allows taxpayer dollars to fund UNRWA,” McConnell said. 

At the time the pause was implemented, about $300,000 had been approved for UNRWA but not yet obligated, the State Department spokesperson said. The approved funds were frozen as a result of the pause.

“No further funds will be approved for UNRWA during the pause,” the department said. “The majority of UNRWA’s funding comes from donors other than the United States.”

According to a USAID fact sheet, the funds were assigned to go toward food assistance, protection, shelter and settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. 

The Biden administration has sent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to UNRWA in recent years — arguing the agency provides much needed humanitarian aid to Palestinian territories — after reversing former President Trump’s decision to cut funding to the group. 

Critics have long argued that UNRWA is directly tied to Hamas terrorists. 

On Tuesday, New Jersey GOP Rep. Chris Smith introduced a bill, known as the “Stop Support United Nations Relief and Works Agency Act of 2024,” that would cut off U.S. funding.

Twelve UNRWA employees were allegedly “involved” in the Oct. 7 attack, and additional U.S. funding could resume subject to an investigation from the United Nations. 

UN’S TOP COURT ALLOWS ISRAEL TO KEEP FIGHTING IN GAZA, ORDERS IT TO ‘ADHERE TO THE GENOCIDE CONVENTION’

UNRWA, citing information provided by Israeli authorities, fired the accused employees last week and announced an investigation “to protect the agency’s ability to deliver humanitarian assistance” and “establish the truth without delay,” Reuters reported. 

Meanwhile, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters Tuesday the federal government supports “the work that UNRWA does” and called it “critical” to the region. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“There is no other humanitarian player in Gaza who can provide food, medicine at the scale that UNRWA does,” Miller said. “We want to see that work continued, which is why it is so important that the United Nations take this matter seriously, that they investigate it, that there is accountability for anyone who is found to engage in wrongdoing, and that they take whatever other measures are appropriate to ensure that this sort of thing cannot happen again.”

Fox News’ Peter Aitken contributed to this report. 

FIRST ON FOX: A group of House Republicans is demanding that President Biden use his executive powers to address the border crisis, a pointed message as White House and Senate negotiators work on a compromise to address the issue.

“Speaker Mike Johnson wrote to you in December of 2023, urging you to take executive action to secure the Southern Border. House Republicans have passed H.R.2, legislation that would help stop the flow of illegal immigration and protect our communities,” the letter led by Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, said.

“Your actions alone created this catastrophe, and you have the power to fix it. You can choose to direct your administration to vigorously enforce the laws on the books today, thereby stemming the tide of illegal immigration and protecting our communities.

‘SENSE OF HOPELESSNESS’: MICHAEL MCCAUL SOUNDS ALARM ON BORDER PATROL MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS

“Or you can choose to perpetuate this national security and humanitarian crisis through your unequivocal failure of leadership for the American people.”

It’s a sign of the House Republican conference falling in line behind House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and his skepticism of the ongoing bipartisan border security talks.

The House passed H.R.2, a strict border security and immigration bill, last summer. It would have revived Trump-era policies like Remain In Mexico, while broadening border agents’ expulsion authority, among other measures. Democrats have panned the bill as a nonstarter.

WATCH: MIGRANTS CLAIM ASYLUM ON COLD JANUARY NIGHT AS CBP UNION LEADER TALKS BORDER CRISIS

Johnson has held onto H.R.2 as House Republicans’ default position on the border talks. Hinson’s letter makes clear that it’s a sentiment shared by his rank-and-file as well.

It puts the eventual border security deal’s fate more into question, even before the bill text is released.

In her Friday letter, Hinson accused Biden of having “undermined” border security through administration policies and executive orders.

MAYORKAS BLAMES MEXICO, CONGRESS FOR HISTORIC BORDER SURGE; CALLS FOR MORE FUNDING AND ‘REFORM’

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

“The U.S. Southern Border is being overrun by illegal immigrants. The responsibility for this crisis lies with you. Under your direction, your administration has intentionally and systematically undermined U.S. border security by perpetually refusing to enforce countless laws that have worked to secure our Southern Border and prevent illegal immigration,” she wrote.

“On January 20, 2021, – your very first day in office – you immediately took executive action to halt border wall construction and issued a moratorium on deportations and immigration enforcement. Your administration has repeatedly ignored Congress’ authority and issued over immigration and border policies that have clearly signaled to illegal immigrants, traffickers, and cartels that America’s borders are open.”

President Biden’s reelection campaign ended 2023 with nearly $117 million in its coffers, far ahead of his potential GOP rivals as they seek to woo big Republican donors.

Former President Trump’s campaign committee closed out the year with $33 million, and Nikki Haley, Trump’s last major rival for the GOP nomination, ended 2023 with around $15 million.

The campaign totals are only a partial picture. Trump donors contributed a total of $188 million in 2023 to support various committees, yet that was offset by paying tens of millions in legal bills of the former president, the Wall Street Journal reported. Across the board, Trump and his outside political groups had around $65 million cash on hand by Jan. 1.

Haley, who came in second place in New Hampshire and third place in Iowa, is still buoyed by a steady flow of campaign donations in her uphill fight against Trump.

HALEY TRAILS TRUMP IN HOME STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA AHEAD OF STATE’S PRIMARY ELECTION: POLL

In the week after the New Hampshire primary, Haley’s campaign raised more than $5 million, according to a source familiar with the fundraising.

Her fundraising spree hasn’t let up as she attended 10 fundraisers in a two-week span. At a series of donor meetings in New York and Florida, Haley brought in $2.5 million.

Haley’s campaign has pointed out that with Trump as the nominee, down-ballot races for House and Senate could be impacted.

At one meeting with high-dollar GOP donors in Florida on Wednesday, both Haley and Trump’s campaigns made their pitches to the meeting of the network known as the American Opportunity Alliance (AOA). Haley’s campaign manager, Betsy Ankney, told the group that Trump’s former ambassador to the U.N. was the last hope at preventing a Trump vs. Biden rematch in 2024 that a majority of Americans don’t seem to want.

“We know the House is gone if Trump is the nominee,” a source familiar with the campaign told Fox News Digital. “There are 18 seats held by Republicans that Joe Biden won in 2020, 10 of them by five points or more,” the source added. “November’s Senate map highly favors Republicans, but that favorability won’t last past this year “Because there are no Democrats up in Trump states in 2026 or 2028.”

NIKKI HALEY EXPLAINS COMMENTS ON WHETHER TEXAS CAN SECEDE FROM THE UNITED STATES

At the Florida AOA fundraiser, Susie Wiles, a top adviser on the Trump campaign, pitched the former president at the meeting despite his rocky relationship with some GOP donors. The case for Trump, according to reports, centered around the low possibility of Haley’s path to victory. She didn’t win either of the first two nominating contests, and South Carolina — her home state — looks to be no different.

“President Trump’s campaign is fueled by small dollar donors across the country from every background who are sick and tired of Crooked Joe Biden’s record-high inflation, wide open border, crime and chaos. President Trump continues to dominate Biden in every single battleground poll, and we are more confident than ever that he will take back the White House in November,” said Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt in a statement.

Trump has made his legal fights a central theme of his political campaign, accusing Democrats of using “ridiculous” lawsuits and criminal charges to keep him off the ballot. In the early days of the GOP primary last year, he did see a dramatic rise against Republican rivals as he faced more and more indictments.

However, the Trump payments to law firms fighting four criminal cases and several civil trials caught Haley’s attention.

“He can’t beat Joe Biden if he’s spending all his time and money on court cases and chaos,” Haley posted on X this week.

The post-Iowa and New Hampshire fundraising figures for the Trump campaign have not been released, so it’s unclear what boost he may have seen after his commanding victories in the first two contests.

Haley did appear to get a boost from donors after Trump said anyone who donated to Haley’s campaign following his initial victories would be “will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp.”

Haley’s campaign says it raised half a million dollars from selling more than 15,000 “permanently barred” T-shirts.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Though Trump has had a stormy relationship over the years with some in the GOP donor class, he has been making an effort this cycle to mend fences and court top-dollar contributors.

“I think they’re running a much more sophisticated campaign this year than ever before,” a major GOP bundler who asked to remain anonymous told Fox News Digital in a previous interview. “And so, as part of that, they’re looking to consolidate Republican support, both politically and financially.”

Term limits have been discussed for decades among voters and elected officials, leading many to question whether the possibility of such a change to the American political landscape could ever reach fruition.

A September 2023 poll found that a majority of adults, 87%, favor limits on the number of terms each member of Congress is allowed to serve.

The Pew Research Center study also found that term limits are almost equally popular among both Republicans and Democrats. Among those who were surveyed, 90% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said they supported them. Democrats and Democrat-leaning voters largely agreed, with 86% giving the nod to limits on how long a lawmaker can serve in either body of Congress.

Despite the polling data, a measure introduced last year by Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., was “killed” by the House committee it was referred to, preventing it from making it to the full House for a vote.

HOW EXODUS FROM CONGRESS COULD SHAPE 2024 ELECTION

That bill, H.J.Res.11, an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, would have limited those serving in the House to three terms, for a total of six years, and those serving in the Senate to two terms, for a total of 12 years.

Shortly after the measure was introduced in January 2023, it was referred to the House Judiciary Committee. It wasn’t until eight months later, in September 2023, that the bill was considered by the committee and shot down by four Republicans and all Democrats who served on the committee. In total, the measure received 17 “ayes” and 19 “nays”.

Fox News Digital reached out to the four House Republicans who voted against the measure – Reps. Darrell Issa of California, Tom McClintock of California, Scott Fitzgerald of Wisconsin, and Harriet Hageman of Wyoming – in an attempt to better understand the rationale behind their decision, which differed greatly from that of their GOP colleagues on the committee.

Hageman, who has represented Wyoming’s at-large congressional district since 2023 after defeating former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney in the red state’s 2022 Republican primary election, said she voted against the measure because she disagrees with the notion of “forcibly” removing lawmakers from their posts. She insists that was up to voters at the ballot box.

“Haven’t we learned from Democrat stunts against President Trump that it’s a terrible idea to undemocratically remove candidates from the ballot for arbitrary reasons? Term limits would deny voters a choice they may want to make,” Hageman said. “Also, in a time when unelected career federal bureaucrats are wielding more power than ever before, using regulations to carry out the agenda of radical, leftist, environmental extremists, why would we make them even more powerful by forcibly removing members of Congress who know how to fight against them?”

“We already have term limits, although we call them elections, and in the House we have them every two years,” she added. “You only have to look at the seat that I currently hold for the people of Wyoming to see that if voters are dissatisfied, they can always change horses. I’ve held more than 50 town halls across Wyoming since 2022, and when this topic comes up, I always very clearly explain why I’m opposed to term limits. Voters know where I stand.”

Similar to that of Hageman, Fitzgerald argued that he has held “the same position on term limits” since he was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in 1994. Elected officials, Fitzgerald said, are “held to account every time their name appears on a ballot.”

“In the House, Members of Congress are elected for two-year terms and that ensures representation is always aligned with the constituency,” he added.

Both Issa and McClintock did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment about their September 2023 vote on the measure.

McClintock, however, described his opposition to term limits during a Judiciary Committee gathering following his vote against Norman’s amendment. McClintock said he disagreed with limiting the number of terms members of Congress can serve after seeing how the California State Assembly functioned after its enactment of term limits in the 1990s.

“I left the assembly in 1992 when the term limits had no practical effect yet on the membership and I returned four years later when they had had complete and total effect. And the differences I observed were absolutely jarring. They achieved the opposite of their intended effect,” McClintock said at the time.

HOUSE REPUBLICAN PUSHES AGE LIMITS FOR PRESIDENT, MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

The “four members that sided with Democrats,” Norman said, had “different answers” for why they chose to vote against the measure.

“Some said they didn’t like the three and two, in other words, three terms in the House for six years and the [two terms for] 12 years in the Senate, and others just said they were against it,” he said.

“At the end of the day, we have got to do something about people, you know, coming up to Congress and just living and not going back home and living under some of these disastrous legislations that they’re passing,” he added.

Despite there being some GOP opposition to term limits, which Norman found to be “disappointing,” the South Carolina Republican told Fox he plans to bring forth similar legislation when a new president is elected.

Acknowledging that his future proposal would be a “tall order” for members of Congress, Norman said, “I’m going to bring it back up and talk to the four on the judiciary that were against it and then see if we can’t get the two-thirds vote [in the House].”

Reaffirming his commitment to the issue, Norman added, “We’re going to try it again. It’s going to take the executive branch being behind it, meaning the president, hopefully, will push this and make this a key vote. 

“What I’m tired of is we have candidates on both sides of the aisle, Democrat and Republican, that are campaigning on term limits,” Norman said. “Their stand is that they’ll come serve for a short time and go home. That just hasn’t happened.”

Noting that several House members “have been here 20 plus years” and that the Senate “might as well be a nursing home,” Norman said when members “reach a certain age and a time in Congress, [they] need to go home.”

Norman also said he believes Americans have a right to know who favors or disagrees with term limits by the full House holding a vote on a measure like the one he proposed.

“It’s important for Americans to see who is fighting and voting against term limits versus those who are in favor of it. This is a very important vote to highlight to the American people. It’s an 80/20 issue – 80% of the public favors term limits, 20% don’t. They know the consequences if they vote against this kind of bill,” he said.

“I’m optimistic we’ll get it as soon as we get a new president,” Norman concluded.

Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., who also voted in support of Norman’s amendment last September in the Judiciary Committee, said she believes most politicians are “just talking heads” when it comes to term limits.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Unfortunately, our Constitution has been distorted since our founding times with an enormous growth of the federal government,” the congresswoman said. “Therefore, term limits should be considered as one of the solutions. However, most politicians are just talking heads and are afraid to put their money where their mouth is, so the term limits bill conveniently failed in the committee.”

Federal lawmakers previously attempted to impose term limits for those serving in Congress in 1995, but the proposal failed to advance out of the House, coming up 61 votes short. The amendment offered at the time would have limited members of Congress to 12 years in either chamber – six terms for House members and two terms for Senate members.

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Nikki Haley says she doesn’t need to win in her home state of South Carolina later this month to keep her campaign for the Republican presidential nomination alive.

“Success means being competitive. Closing the gap. Making sure we can continue to go forward as we go into Super Tuesday,” Haley emphasized in a Fox News Digital interview. 

The former two-term South Carolina governor who later served as U.N. ambassador in former President Donald Trump’s administration faces a steep uphill climb for the GOP nomination against Trump, who’s the commanding front-runner in the Republican race as he makes his third straight run for the White House.

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

Trump won last month’s Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary – the first two contests in the GOP presidential nominating calendar – by double digits.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended his campaign two days before the New Hampshire primary, leaving Trump and Haley as the last two major candidates in a field that stood at nearly 15 contenders last August.

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

The next major contest in the Republican schedule is Haley’s home state, which holds its GOP primary on Feb. 24. The latest public opinion survey indicates the former president with a formidable 26-point lead over Haley.

But Haley, speaking with Fox News Digital on Thursday after a campaign event at a popular eatery in the Palmetto State’s capital city, reiterated her goalposts.

“It’s just about keeping that momentum going. We got 20% in Iowa. We got 43% in New Hampshire. Let’s bring it a little bit closer so that we can get closer in to him [Trump] and make it more competitive going into Super Tuesday,” she emphasized.

Fifteen states will hold GOP presidential nominating contests on Super Tuesday, which this year will take place on March 5. Thirty-six percent of all Republican presidential delegates will be up for grabs in those primaries and caucuses.

Since her 11-point loss to Trump on Jan. 23 in New Hampshire, Haley has faced calls to drop out, so Trump can start focusing on defeating President Biden in November’s general election.

But at her campaign event in Columbia and a later stop Thursday in Hilton Head, South Carolina, as well as in a scrum with political reporters, Haley emphasized that “we’re not going anywhere.”

“This is about just closing that gap,” she added “We have a country to save, and I am determined to keep on going the entire way as long as we can keep closing that gap.”

Trump enjoys the backing of many of South Carolina’s top Republican elected officials, including Gov. Henry McMaster and Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott, who in November ended his own White House bid.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

But Haley discounted the former president’s political endorsements in South Carolina and around the nation, telling the crowd in Hilton Head that Trump “has surrounded himself with the political elite. You see all those congressional members around him, the same ones that haven’t done anything for us.”

Haley also took aim at Trump after federal election filings showed that Trump’s political committees spent roughly $29 million in legal consulting and legal fees in the second half of 2023.

Trump made history last year as the first former or current president to be indicted for a crime, but his four indictments, including charges he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss, have only fueled his support among Republican voters.

“His court cases have just started,” Haley emphasized at her event in Columbia, South Carolina. “Do you really think he’s going to win against Joe Biden when he’s spending all of that money on legal fees? He’s not.”

Fox News’ James Levinson contributed to this report

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

President Biden’s acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Patrick Lechleitner, admitted that a terrorist was allowed to roam freely in the U.S. for nearly a year after crossing into the country illegally at the border.

At a briefing on Thursday, Lechleitner said the terrorist was arrested within 48 hours, only after ICE “became aware.”

Lechleitner confirmed a report by The Daily Caller that federal authorities caught a terrorist illegally crossing into the U.S. via the southern border in March 2023. 

However, the terrorist was then released into the U.S. due to a “mismatch” after his name was run through the terror watch list, The Daily Caller reported.

DEMOCRATS DENY BORDER CRISIS, PLACE BLAME ON REPUBLICANS AND TRUMP

The unnamed terrorist was a member of al-Shabab and was captured last month in Minneapolis, according to the outlet.

SPEEDBOAT PULLS UP TO SAN DIEGO SHORE AND DROPS OFF GROUP OF SUSPECTED ILLEGAL MIGRANTS

When questioned by Jennie Taer of The Daily Caller about how many other terrorists have been apprehended in the interior after coming through the border, Lechleitner refused to answer her question.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Instead, he addressed the capture of the al-Shabab terrorist.

“I want to commend our personnel because as soon as we became aware of that — within 48 hours — he was apprehended, and he’s currently in ICE custody,” Lechleitner said. “I think that’s an incredible result — a testament to how professional, quite honestly, how capable our personnel are.”

According to the U.S. State Department, al-Shabab is al Qaeda’s largest, wealthiest and most deadly affiliate. The group has murdered thousands of people in Somalia and the region, including Americans. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for more information.

The U.S. State Department announced Thursday that it was imposing financial sanctions against four Israelis, after they allegedly contributed to violence and instability in the West Bank.

The announcement came hours after President Biden issued an executive order giving the U.S. the authority to impose financial sanctions against any foreign person who acts to threaten peace, security or stability in the West Bank.

“The State Department is today imposing financial sanctions on four Israeli nationals for their destabilizing acts in the West Bank,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said during a press briefing. “Today’s action falls on the steps we took in December to impose visa restrictions on dozens of individuals for…contributing to violence and instability in the West Bank.”

Biden imposed sanctions on Israeli settlers Thursday in the West Bank, after a 17-year-old American citizen was shot and killed there in January.

BIDEN SANCTIONS ISRAELI SETTLERS IN WEST BANK AFTER SHOOTING OF US TEEN

An announcement from the White House on the executive order states, “extremist settler violence” reached record levels in the West Bank in 2023. The sanctions will ban dozens of settlers and their families from traveling to or conducting business in the U.S.

Biden’s order applies to settlers who make “acts or threats of violence against civilians, intimidate civilians to cause them to leave their homes, destroy or seize property, or engage in terrorist activity in the West Bank.”

The action came after 17-year-old Abedel Jabbar, a U.S. citizen, was allegedly shot and killed by an Israeli settler while visiting the West Bank in January. Jabbar’s family said he was visiting the area to learn more about his Palestinian heritage.

TRUMP ADMIN CUT FUNDING TO UN AGENCY NOW ACCUSED OF PARTICIPATING IN HAMAS ATTACK ‘FOR REASON’: REP. MCCAUL

“There is no justification for extremist violence against civilians, whatever their national origin, ethnicity, or religion,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

The four individuals who the U.S. imposed financial sanctions against are David Chai Chasdai, Einan Tanjil, Shalom Zicherman, and Yinon Levi.

The State Department said Chasdai initiated and led a riot that involved setting vehicles and buildings on fire, assaulting Palestinian civilians, and damaging a property in Huwara, which resulted in the death of a Palestinian civilian.

UN CALLS ON COUNTRIES TO RESUME UNRWA FUNDING DESPITE REPORT EMPLOYEES PARTICIPATED IN OCT 7 MASSACRE

Tanjil, the State Department said, participated in assaulting Palestinian farmers and Israeli activists by attacking them with stones and clubs, causing injuries that required medical treatment.

Zicherman was seen on video assaulting Israeli activists and their vehicles in the West Bank, blocking them on the street. He also tried to break windows of vehicles passing by with activists inside, the State Department noted, adding that Zicherman cornered at least two activists and injured them both.

Levi is accused of leading a group of settlers who created fear in the West Bank. The State Department also said Levi led settlers from the Meitarim Farm outpost, who assaulted Palestinian and Bedouin civilians, threatened them with additional violence if they did not leave their homes, set fire to their fields and destroyed their property.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issued a statement on the sanctions.

“The absolute majority of the settlers in the West Bank are law-abiding citizens, many of whom are currently taking part in Israel’s defense,” he said. “Israel acts against anyone who breaks the law. Therefore, no room for exceptional measures in this regard.”

Netanyahu’s finance minister, Benjamin Smotrich, called the accusations of violence by settlers an “antisemitic lie,” and added that settlements in the region will continue.

“If the price is the imposition of American sanctions on me — so be it,” Smotrich said.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

Washington, D.C., Attorney General Brian Schwalb infuriated residents after claiming the city’s rampant crime crisis cannot be dealt with through law and order.

Angry residents met with community leaders in Washington, D.C., Tuesday for a panel to discuss the rise of violent crime in the city, specifically among juveniles, when Schwalb made the controversial comment.

As residents voiced their concerns and frustrations, the Democrat suggested that if district residents want to be “safer in the long run,” they must take preventative measures rather than arrest and prosecute violent criminals.

“We as a city and a community need to be much more focused on prevention and surrounding young people and their families with resources if we want to be safer in the long run,” Shwalb said in a viral clip from Fox 5. “We cannot prosecute and arrest our way out of it.”

FORMER TRUMP ADMIN MEMBER CRITICALLY INJURED IN WASHINGTON DC CARJACKING RAMPAGE: REPORTS

“Madness,” Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., wrote on X. “DC is emblematic of the pro-crime policies leftists want to export to the rest of the country.”

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES NEW RESOURCES TO COMBAT VIOLENT CRIME IN DC

“Yes you can,” the Republican House Judiciary Committee also posted in response after recent statistics reveal robberies in D.C. are up 11% since Jan. 1.

Will Reinert, national press secretary for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), wrote that Schwalb’s comment was “beyond parody.”

“I would suggest you try prosecuting and arresting your way out of some of this,” conservative commentator and podcaster Mary Katharine Ham wrote in a repost of the video.

Abigail Jackson, communications director for Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., responded to Shwalb’s claim, saying, “yes… you can….”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Gabriel Shoglow-Rubenstein, a spokesperson for the D.C. AG’s office, told Fox News Digital Shwalb is “laser focused” on making D.C. “safer.”

“The Office of the Attorney General is laser focused on using the law to make D.C. safer. This includes prosecuting juveniles and holding them accountable when they commit crimes, which we do for every serious offense where there is sufficient evidence to prove a case,” Shoglow-Rubenstein said. 

“Prosecution, however, by definition, takes place after a crime has occurred, and to truly make the District safer, we need to focus on stopping crime before it happens in the first place,” he added. “Prevention efforts cannot replace effective policing and prosecution, but are equally necessary in order to make D.C. safer now and in the long run.”

Tuesday’s panel, “Understanding Juvenile Carjacking: A Panel Discussion,” was moderated by Councilmember Charles Allen, who is facing a recall effort amid a rise in violent crime in Ward 6. 

Former President Donald Trump leads President Joe Biden with just over 50% support in Georgia, a state Biden won by less than 1 point in 2020.

That’s according to a Fox News survey of Georgia registered voters released Thursday.

Just over half of Peach State voters, 51%, say they would support Trump in a hypothetical head-to-head rematch, while 43% say they’d go for Biden. That puts Trump ahead by 8 points, outside the poll’s margin of sampling error.

FOX NEWS POLL: BIDEN AND TRUMP TIE IN WISCONSIN HEAD-TO-HEAD MATCHUP

Eight in 10 Georgians (78%) say they are extremely or very interested in the race and the vote breakdown among this subgroup is similar: 52% would go for Trump and 43% Biden.

BLACK CONSERVATIVE FEDERATION SAYS GOP, TRUMP CAN RESTORE THE ‘AMERICAN DREAM’ IN BLACK COMMUNITY

Trump receives strong support from his base, including White evangelicals (85%), conservatives (76%), White voters without a college degree (74%), and rural voters (67%). For Biden, it’s liberals (87%), Black voters (71%), voters with a college degree (52%), and suburban women (52%).

Democrats and Republicans are equally likely to support their respective candidates (91% each) while independents go for Trump by 20 points (51-31%).  It also helps Trump that more Republicans (83%) than Democrats (78%) are interested in the election. 

Biden is taking a hit with younger voters as those under age 35 go for Trump by 7 points.

A majority says Biden was legitimately elected in 2020 (60%), yet over 2 in 10 (22%) of that subgroup would vote for Trump in 2024. About a third (32%) believe Biden’s victory was suspect, and they overwhelmingly go for the former president (97% Trump).

“Given that the Democrats won major U.S. Senate races in 2020 and 2022, Trump’s strength in this poll is somewhat surprising,” says Republican pollster Daron Shaw who conducts the Fox News Poll with Democrat Chris Anderson. “We can blather on (correctly) about how ‘anything can happen,’ but the reality is Biden may want to shift his focus and precious resources away from Georgia and onto other potential battleground states, such as North Carolina.”

In a potential 5-way race, Trump still leads the pack, but both the former president and current incumbent lose support to third-party candidates: Trump gets 45%, while Biden drops to 37% support. Other candidates receive a total of 12% support: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (8%), Cornel West (3%), and Jill Stein (1%).

The survey tested another hypothetical 5-way race, which substitutes Nikki Haley for Trump. In this case, third-party candidates help Biden and hurt Haley. Biden comes out on top by 6 points with 35% support among Georgians, followed by Haley at 29%, Kennedy at 18%, West at 3%, and Stein at 1%.

Where do Trump supporters go in this scenario? Just 46% would back Haley, while 31% would vote third-party, 6% wouldn’t cast a ballot at all, and 13% are undecided. Haley gets over 50% support among registered Republicans (52%), but nowhere near the 83% Trump garners in his 5-way race.

Independents splinter when it comes to Haley – 20% back her, while 22% would go for Biden and a larger share, 30%, for Kennedy. By comparison, Trump receives 34% support among independent Georgia voters vs. 21% for Biden and 17% for Kennedy. 

The economy is the top issue nationally, and it’s no different in Georgia as 44% feel they are falling behind financially (43% say they’re holding steady and 12% say they are getting ahead).

When asked the most important issue in deciding their vote this November, 62% say the economy is extremely important, followed by election integrity (53%), health care (51%), and immigration/border security (46%). Abortion comes in at 40% while all other issues fall under 30%: the Israel-Hamas war (28%), climate change (27%), and the Ukraine-Russia war (23%).

Trump comes out on top on most issues. More Georgia voters trust Trump than Biden to handle immigration/border security (+21 Trump better to handle), the economy (+18), Israel-Hamas (+15), and Ukraine-Russia (+11). Voters are split on health care (+2 Trump), election integrity (+1 Trump), and abortion (even). The only issue where Biden comes out on top is climate change (+5 Biden).

FORMER BIDEN RIVAL SAYS TRUMP WINS IF ELECTION HELD TODAY, ACCUSES DNC OF STIFLING DEMOCRACY

“The coalition that gave Biden a slim victory in 2020 is in need of reassembly and that may be harder to do this time,” says Anderson. “On the crucial issues of the border and the economy, Georgia voters think Trump is significantly better — Biden will need to make inroads on these issues to win Georgia again.”

Another topic surrounding the presidential candidates is their mental acuity and more voters are extremely or very concerned about Biden’s mental soundness (65% concerned) than they are Trump’s (51%).

Biden’s job ratings are on par with his national ratings, which are underwater: 41% approve vs. 58% disapprove in Georgia.

Georgia voters are ready for change — a lot of it. Nearly 8 in 10 want either a lot (50%) or radical (29%) change in how the country is run, while 2 in 10 say a little (17%) or no change (3%) is necessary.

Trump wins among those who want at least a lot of change, while Biden wins among the remainder. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Conducted January 26-30, 2024 under the joint direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News Poll includes interviews with a sample of 1,119 Georgia registered voters randomly selected from a statewide voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (200) and cellphones (649) or completed the survey online after receiving a text message (270). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. When necessary, weights are generally applied to age, race, education, and area variables to ensure the demographics of survey respondents are representative of the registered voter population.

President Biden imposed sanctions on Israeli settlers in the West Bank on Thursday after a 17-year-old American citizen was shot and killed there last month.

A White House announcement of the executive order states that “extremist settler violence” reached record levels in the West Bank in 2023. The sanctions will ban dozens of settlers and their families from traveling to or conducting business in the U.S.

The order specifically applies to settlers who make “acts or threats of violence against civilians, intimidate civilians to cause them to leave their homes, destroy or seize property, or engage in terrorist activity in the West Bank.”

The move comes after 17-year-old Abdel Jabbar, a U.S. citizen, was allegedly shot and killed by an Israeli settler while visiting the West Bank last month. Jabbar’s family says he was visiting the area in order to learn more about his Palestinian heritage.

TRUMP ADMIN CUT FUNDING TO UN AGENCY NOW ACCUSED OF PARTICIPATING IN HAMAS ATTACK ‘FOR REASON’: REP. MCCAUL

Jabbar was killed while driving a vehicle with his friend, 16-year-old Mohammed Salameh. At least 10 shots were fired through the rear of the vehicle, striking Jabbar and causing the vehicle to flip over.

Salameh survived and claims the shooting was unprovoked. Israeli police said the shooting targeted people “purportedly engaged in rock-throwing activities along Highway 60.” Police have not identified the shooter, but said the incident involved an off-duty police officer, a soldier and a civilian.

Jabbar’s father rejected claims that his son was throwing rocks toward the road, but added that even if he was, “So what?”

“If they were throwing rocks 150 meters to the street, what is it going to do to a tank? Or to a jeep? Or to a car full of soldiers? You’re gonna shoot the car 10 times because a guy threw a rock?” the father, Hafeth Abdel Jabbar, told NBC News.

The State Department imposed other visa restrictions on West Bank settlers in December. Biden’s administration has leaned heavily on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to crack down on the group.

UN CALLS ON COUNTRIES TO RESUME UNRWA FUNDING DESPITE REPORT EMPLOYEES PARTICIPATED IN OCT 7 MASSACRE

“The United States has consistently opposed actions that undermine stability in the West Bank, including attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, and Palestinian attacks against Israelis,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

“We have underscored to the Israeli government the need to do more to hold accountable extremist settlers who have committed violent attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank. As President Biden has repeatedly said, those attacks are unacceptable,” he added.

One member of Netanyahu’s government responded to Biden’s move with derision on Thursday. Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Smotrich claimed that accusations of violence by settlers was an “antisemitic lie.”

AUSTRIA SUSPENDS PAYMENTS TO UNRWA AMID ISRAELI ALLEGATIONS UN WORKERS HELPED, CELEBRATED HAMAS

Smotrich vowed to continue pushing settlements in the West Bank, adding “if the price is the imposition of American sanctions on me – so be it.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Israeli Defense Secretary Yoav Gallant announced that the country’s military would ban the reconstruction of Israeli settlements in Gaza following the war. A few Israeli politicians had called for the settlements to be rebuilt after they were originally dismantled when Israel ceded the territory in 2005.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley stumbled through a question about whether the state of Texas has a right to secede from the United States, and she claimed that it is “their decision to make.”

During an interview on “The Breakfast Club” podcast, Charlamagne tha God asked the 2024 presidential hopeful if she would “use force against Texas if they would try to secede from the Union over the border issue?” Charlamagne referenced a 2010 interview with Haley saying the U.S. Constitution allows for states to secede. 

“I believe in states’ rights. I believe that everything should be as close to the people to decide,” Haley said, adding that she supported Gov. Greg Abbott’s razor wire fencing measure to protect his state amid the growing border crisis.

When pressed about the issue of secession, Haley said that, “If Texas decides they want to do that, they can do that. If that whole state says we don’t want to be part of America anymore. I mean, that’s their decision to make.”

TEXAS GOVERNOR DOING ‘EXACTLY RIGHT THING’ AMID CONSTITUTIONAL BATTLE OVER BORDER ENFORCEMENT: LEGAL EXPERTS

“I don’t think government needs to tell people how to live, how to do anything. I mean, I think that we need to let freedom live,” Haley added. 

“I think you know, states are going to make decisions, but let’s talk about what’s reality. Texas isn’t going to…seceed. I mean, that’s not something that they’re going to do,” Haley said. 

Texas is currently in a standoff with the Biden administration over the state’s razor wire fence along Eagle Pass that has seen record migrant crossings in recent months. The Supreme Court ruled that, temporarily while the case continues in lower courts, the federal government can cut down the fence and Texas can keep building it. 

After the controversial 5-4 decision last week, rumors swirled about how tensions would escalate between the Lone Star state and the federal government. 

FLORIDA GOV. RON DESANTIS TO SEND HUNDREDS OF NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS TO ASSIST GOV. ABBOTT AT SOUTHERN BORDER

Gov. Abbot said he would invoke Article 1, Section 10, which he says was “triggered” by Biden’s inaction at the border. That constitutional provision says, “No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.” 

However, the Constitution does not allow for any state to secede from the Union, even Texas. 

The Texas Tribune wrote, “Even before Texas formally rejoined the nation, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that secession had never been legal, and that, even during the rebellion, Texas continued to be a state.”

When Texas rejoined the Union in 1845, its annexation resolution said that Texas could, in the future, choose to divide itself into “New States of convenient size not exceeding four in number, in addition to said State of Texas.” 

HOW NIKKI HALEY BURNED BRIDGES IN SOUTH CAROLINA–AND STILL PULLS PUNCHES AGAINST TRUMP

However, the language of the resolution merely says that Texas could be split into five new states. It says nothing about splitting apart from the United States. Only Congress has the power to admit new states to the Union, which last occurred in 1959 with the admission of Alaska and Hawaii, the Tribune notes. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia put the issue to rest when he was asked by a screenwriter in 2006 whether there was a legal basis for secession.

“The answer is clear,” Scalia wrote. “If there was any constitutional issue resolved by the Civil War, it is that there is no right to secede. (Hence, in the Pledge of Allegiance, ‘one Nation, indivisible.’)”

Fair Fight, the once-powerful voting rights group founded by two-time failed gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams in Georgia, is laying off nearly all of its staff amid continuing struggles with millions in debt, according to a report earlier this week.

Fair Fight, which played a pivotal role in recent Democrat victories in the state by helping boost voter turnout, has racked up massive legal bills from its court battles pertaining to voting rights, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

As a result, around 75% of its staff will be cut, which includes slashing its grassroots organizing, voting rights, fundraising and media efforts, as well as cutting back on the use of outside consultants and vendors.

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

Lauren Groh-Wargo, the former campaign manager for Abrams’ unsuccessful bid to unseat Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in 2022, told the AJC that she would be returning to the group as its interim leader in a “restructuring” effort in the face of its $2.5 million in debt and only $1.9 million on hand.

Additionally, Salena Jegede, Fair Fight’s board chair, told the AJC that slower fundraising, coupled with increasing litigation costs had left the group with a “serious funding deficit that makes our current trajectory unsustainable.”

HISPANIC COMMUNITY LEADER RAISES BIG BUCKS IN QUEST TO FLIP DEM-CONTROLLED BORDER CONGRESSIONAL SEAT

“While we are disappointed by these realities, we are not discouraged,” Jegede told the outlet. “We will adapt to this new phase of the fight for democracy by restructuring the organization to focus on how we serve Georgia and American voters for the 2024 cycle and beyond.”

Abrams founded Fair Fight in 2018 to address alleged voter suppression in the wake of her first loss to Kemp. The group’s operation expanded in 2019 to include a political arm in the form of Fair Fight PAC.

It played an outsized role in President Biden’s victory in the state in 2020, as well as those of Democrat Sens. John Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, who were both elected in tight runoff races in Jan. 2021.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Fair Fight most notably challenged Georgia’s 2021 voting law aimed at ensuring election integrity, something Abrams frequently referred to as “Jim Crow 2.0.” Its suit against the law was ultimately unsuccessful, and the group was ordered to pay a quarter million dollars in legal costs by a federal court last year.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Fair Fight for comment.

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

Fifty-nine House Democrats joined Republicans to pass a bill to deport illegal immigrants caught driving under the influence on Thursday.

The measure passed 274-150 with mainly GOP votes. One hundred fifty Democrats voted against it.

“In the United States, someone dies in a crash with an impaired driver every 45 minutes. I lost two of my young newlywed constituents to an illegal immigrant driving under the influence of alcohol,” Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala., who introduced the bill, told Fox News Digital.

KEY REPUBLICAN COMES OUT IN FAVOR OF IMPEACHING MAYORKAS, SAYS HE SHOULD BE ‘TRIED FOR TREASON’

The bill would make people who were charged with a DUI and are in the U.S. illegally automatically eligible for deportation and permanently inadmissible.

Just last month, an undocumented migrant from El Salvador who had been deported four times was accused of killing a mother and son in a car crash that police said involved alcohol.

Republicans have long pushed for stricter immigration and border security measures, but the issues have taken on a particular urgency this year as polls show likely 2024 voters being increasingly concerned about the state of both.

President Biden has recently ramped up his rhetoric on the border as well, recently pledging to “shut” the U.S.-Mexico border if granted the ability in legislation that Senate and White House negotiators are currently working toward.

WATCH: MIGRANTS CLAIM ASYLUM ON COLD JANUARY NIGHT AS CBP UNION LEADER TALKS BORDER CRISIS

Meanwhile, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has made the border a central focus of his since taking the gavel in October. He led a delegation of more than 60 House Republicans to Eagle Pass, Texas, and has repeatedly hammered Biden over policies Johnson said have fueled the migrant crisis.

House GOP leaders are also expected to hold a chamber-wide vote on impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who has been involved in the Senate-White House talks over the border.

The White House and its allies have accused Republicans of playing politics with the border and insisted that the crisis must be fixed by Johnson approving more funding and authority for the president.

MAYORKAS BLAMES MEXICO, CONGRESS FOR HISTORIC BORDER SURGE; CALLS FOR MORE FUNDING AND ‘REFORM’

“They don’t want to solve the problem, they want to keep the problem going as a campaign issue,” Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said during debate of the DUI bill. “So don’t come up here and talk about the problems on the southern border if you won’t give the president any means to deal with it.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

Moore argued, “They made it a campaign issue when Biden came in on day one.” He accused Biden of fueling the border crisis by repealing Trump administration policies like Remain In Mexico.

“Biden has every tool in the tool box to shut the southern border down… we don’t need more money, we need to apply the laws that are on the books,” Moore said.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley continues to trail former President Donald Trump by a wide margin in her home state of South Carolina ahead of the state’s GOP presidential primary later this month, according to a recent survey.

Trump, who carried the Palmetto State in both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, holds a commanding 22-point lead over Haley, who served as governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017, according to the findings of a Monmouth University-Washington Post poll released Thursday.

Of the potential Republican primary voters who were surveyed, 58% said they currently support Trump, compared to 32% who said the same for Haley.

Ever since the presidential contest became a two-person race, both Trump and Haley have witnessed an uptick in support. A similar Monmouth University poll released in September showed Trump with 46% support and Haley with 18% support among South Carolina Republicans.

BIDEN TOPS TRUMP IN NEW POLL, BUT LEAD SHRINKS AGAINST THIRD-PARTY CANDIDATES

In all age groups, the survey revealed that Trump leads Haley with a majority of support among both men and women.

Those who were surveyed also believe Trump has a greater chance of defeating President Biden in November. Forty-two percent said they believe Trump could definitely beat Biden in the general election, while 29% said he probably could. Only 21% of South Carolina Republicans said Haley could definitely beat Biden, with another 42% saying she probably could.

Trump’s legal woes are also not a concern among Republicans in the state, with 60% saying they believe the Republican Party should keep Trump on the ticket if he wins the nomination but is convicted of a crime related to the 2020 election. Similarly, 62% said they would still cast a general election ballot for Trump in that situation, while only 17% said they would vote for Biden.

“Trump’s electability is a concern for some primary voters. It’s just that this group is nowhere near large enough to put Haley in striking distance of the front-runner,” Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, said in a statement.

HALEY EXPECTS TO HAUL IN $1.5 MILLION AT WALL STREET FUNDRAISERS TO FUEL GOP PRESIDENTIAL BID AGAINST TRUMP

The poll also showed Trump, who placed first in both the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire Republican primary elections, with greater support from South Carolina voters on a number of issues, including the economy and foreign policy.

Additionally, Trump holds a slight advantage, 35% to 26%, over Haley when it comes to being trusted to handle abortion policy. Thirty-three percent said they trust both candidates equally on the issue.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Betsy Ankey, Haley’s campaign manager, made the case for the former governor’s candidacy to a network of Republican mega-donors known as the American Opportunity Alliance.

Susie Wiles, a top adviser on the Trump campaign, also attended the event in an attempt to woo donors. Trump, who has had a stormy relationship over the years with some in the GOP donor class, has been making a concerted effort this cycle to mend fences and court top-dollar contributors.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“I think they’re running a much more sophisticated campaign this year than ever before,” a major GOP bundler, who asked to remain anonymous, told Fox News recently. “And so, as part of that, they’re looking to consolidate Republican support, both politically and financially.”

The South Carolina Republican presidential primary election is slated to take place on Feb. 24, 2024.

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

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

A federal judge delivered a win of sorts for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday, refusing to take action against the recent Republican presidential drop-out over efforts to deactivate pro-Palestinian student groups protesting on college campuses amid the Israel-Hamas war. 

Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker on Wednesday denied injunctions sought by the University of Florida and University of South Florida chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine to prevent their deactivation on free speech grounds, essentially because nothing has been done to follow through with the directive and the groups are still active. 

State university Board of Governors Chancellor Ray Rodrigues wrote to university presidents in October at DeSantis’ urging, directing them to disband chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine. He argued the groups were violating Florida law deeming it a felony to “knowingly provide material support … to a designated foreign terrorist organization.”

In response to Hamas’ October 7 attack on southern Israel, “and leading up to a “Day of Resistance,” the National Students for Justice in Palestine (National SJP) released a “toolkit” which refers to Operation Al-Aqsa Flood as ‘the resistance’ and unequivocally states: ‘Palestinian students in exile are PART of this movement, not in solidarity with this movement,’” Rodrigues wrote. “These chapters exist under the headship of the National Students for Justice in Palestine, who distributed a toolkit identifying themselves as part of the Operation AlAqsa Flood.” 

JUDGE DISMISSES DISNEY’S LAWSUIT ALLEGING RETALIATION BY DESANTIS

The American Civil Liberties Union sued on behalf of the University of Florida Students for Justice in Palestine chapter to prevent deactivation, but Walker wrote that Rodrigues overstepped his authority. “Neither the Governor, nor the Chancellor, nor the BOG (Board of Governors) have the formal power to punish student organizations,” Warner said.

“This Court does not fault [the students] for feeling anxious about the fact that the Governor — arguably the most powerful man in Florida — has repeatedly disparaged [group] members as ‘terrorists,’” Walker wrote Wednesday, according to Politico. “But this Court rejects counsel’s suggestion that it should find … that [student groups have] standing simply because someone cloaked with great power makes coercive statements.”

Individual university boards of trustees, which have that power, have not taken any steps to disband the groups, and Walker said Rodrigues has acknowledged that the student chapters are not under the control of the national organization. 

“In short, the record demonstrates that neither deactivation nor criminal investigation is imminent,” Walker wrote. “Instead, this Court finds that no actions have been taken in pursuit of deactivation under the Chancellor’s memorandum.”

RON DESANTIS CALLS FOR ILHAN OMAR’S DEPORTATION, EXPULSION FROM CONGRESS FOR ‘SOMALIA FIRST’ COMMENTS

Things could change if the deactivation order is enforced. 

“Florida officials are now on notice that if they attempt to enforce the deactivation order, we will be back in court to uphold our client’s First Amendment rights,” Brian Hauss, senior staff attorney with ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, said in a statement.

While campaigning for president, DeSantis, who has since dropped out of the race, claimed preemptive victory in kicking the pro-Palestinian groups off Florida campuses at a time when anti-Israel demonstrations fanned the flames of rampant anti-Semitism and even threats against Jewish students at other elite American universities. 

“We deactivated them,” DeSantis said during the Republican presidential debate in November. “We’re not going to use state tax dollars to fund jihad — no way.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

In an unrelated case Wednesday, DeSantis achieved another win after a federal judge threw out a lawsuit by Disney against the governor. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

• South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is considering increasing support for Texas’ border efforts, including sending razor wire and security personnel.
• Noem criticized the conditions at the U.S.-Mexico border during a speech to the Legislature, focusing on the threat posed by Mexican drug cartels.
• She has previously deployed South Dakota National Guard troops to the border and accepted a $1 million donation for border deployment in 2021.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said Wednesday that her administration is considering boosting its support for Texas’ efforts to deter immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, such as sending razor wire and security personnel.

The second-term Republican governor blasted conditions at the border in a speech to a joint session of the Legislature, a gathering she requested Monday after visiting the border last week. Noem, once seen as a potential 2024 presidential candidate, has made the border situation a focus during her tenure.

“The United States of America is in a time of invasion,” Noem said. “The invasion is coming over our southern border. The 50 states have a common enemy, and that enemy is the Mexican drug cartels. They are waging war against our nation, and these cartels are perpetuating violence in each of our states, even right here in South Dakota.”

DEAD, NOT ON ARRIVAL: WHERE THE BIPARTISAN BORDER DEAL STANDS IN CONGRESS BEFORE ANYONE HAS EVEN SEEN IT

Border security has taken center stage in numerous states and in Congress, where Republicans are conditioning aid to Ukraine on a border security deal, and pushing to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Even President Joe Biden has said that he would shut down the border if given the emergency authority to do so, as part of a deal.

Noem cited illegal drugs, including fentanyl, and violent crime affecting communities and tribal reservations. She said she plans to “very publicly” support the Oglala Sioux Tribe in its lawsuit filed last week against the federal government, seeking more law enforcement support.

In November, Tribal President Frank Star Comes Out declared a state of emergency on the Pine Ridge Reservation due to increasing crime. A federal judge ruled last year that the federal government has a treaty duty for law enforcement support on the reservation, but he declined to rule on the funding level the tribe sought.

The governor also said South Dakota is willing to send razor wire to Texas. Her administration is “exploring various legal options on how we can support Texas and force (the) federal government to do their job,” she said, and also is considering options to provide personnel.

Democratic state Sen. Shawn Bordeaux said Noem “should focus on South Dakota.”

He added, “I think it’s a shame that she’s using the Mexican border for her own political purposes to try to advance her own agenda and align it with former President Trump, and she’s doing it at the expense of the tribes.”

He said Noem has previously paid little attention to area tribes during his 10 years as a state lawmaker and two years as a Rosebud Sioux tribal councilman.

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION ADMITS BORDER ISN’T SECURE AFTER CLAIMING FOR YEARS IMMIGRATION WAS NOT A CRISIS

“I’m just a little perturbed that we haven’t heard nothing until now and all of a sudden it’s a big thing in the middle of our session to interrupt us with whatever this ploy is to get a little more attention, in my view,” Bordeaux said.

Republican House Majority Leader Will Mortenson said Noem “painted a pretty vivid picture of the situation on the border and made a compelling case, need for action at the border.” Lawmakers will look for specific proposals she might put forth during the ongoing session, he said.

Noem has deployed South Dakota National Guard troops three times to the border, including last year, and she has visited several times, including on Friday. Other Republican governors have deployed troops and visited the border too.

In 2021, Noem drew criticism for accepting a $1 million donation offered by a wealthy Republican donor to help cover the cost of a two-month deployment of 48 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas.