NationalWatch

A gag order against former President Donald Trump in a federal election interference case is being weighed by a three-judge panel after they heard arguments in a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., on Monday.

During the two-and-a-half hours of arguments, the appeals court judges appeared skeptical of both sides on whether to reinstate an order from a trial judge that prevented Trump from making inflammatory comments against prosecutors, potential witnesses and court staff.

Cecil VanDevender, a lawyer with Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office, argued that a gag order is necessary to prevent intimidation and threats against participants in the case where Trump is accused of scheming to overturn the 2020 election.

Meanwhile, Trump lawyer John Sauer urged the court to revoke the order.

NEW YORK JUDGE LIFTS TRUMP GAG ORDER IN CIVIL FRAUD TRIAL OVER FREE SPEECH CONCERNS

The court did not immediately rule, but the outcome of Monday’s arguments will set parameters on what Trump, as both a criminal defendant and the leading candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, can and cannot say as the trial date nears. 

The judges hearing the case include Cornelia Pillard and Patricia Millett, both appointees of former President Barack Obama, and Brad Garcia, who joined the bench earlier this year after being nominated by President Biden.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan first imposed the partial gag order Oct. 17, blocking Trump from making statements targeting Smith, his staff, witnesses and court personnel. 

TRUMP GAG ORDER IN ELECTION CASE IS ‘UNCONSTITUTIONAL’: LAW PROFESSOR

The order was later put on hold pending a previous appeal from the former president before being reinstated by Chutkan on Oct. 29.

The order does not prevent Trump from airing general complaints about the case, and Chutkan has said the former president is still allowed to assert his claims of innocence and that the case is politically motivated.

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Trump has continued to deny any wrongdoing in the case, and has argued that it is part of an effort to prevent him from winning the presidency in 2024. He has also sharply criticized those involved in the case, including Smith, whom he often refers to as “deranged.”

Fox News’ Jake Gibson, Brandon Gillespie and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

HOOKSETT, N.H. – Republican Gov. Chris Sununu’s the busiest politician on the presidential campaign trail in the crucial primary state of New Hampshire this week, and he’s not even running for the White House.

Sununu teamed up on Monday afternoon with former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley at a town hall in Hooksett.

On Monday evening, he’ll join former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who’s making his second bid for the GOP presidential nomination, at a town hall in Nashua.

And on Tuesday, he’ll team up with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for a campaign event in Manchester, New Hampshire’s largest city.

GAME ON IN IOWA AS DESANTIS AND HALEY BATTLE FOR SECOND PLACE BEHIND TRUMP 

Sununu said he’ll endorse one of those three candidates when he decides on whom he’ll back in the 2024 Republican presidential race sometime after Thanksgiving.

“I’m not endorsing anyone yet,” the governor told reporters after the conclusion of the Haley event. “Nikki’s done a great job. She’s been really pounding the pavement… Her message seems to resonate.”

WITH CLOCK TICKING TOWARDS FIRST VOTES IN THE GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION RACE, THIS CANDIDATE REMAINS IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT

Sununu told Fox News Digital that his endorsement would be much more than just a one-day announcement.

“If I get behind a candidate, I’m going to get behind a candidate,” he emphasized.

And he later added that he’d put muscle behind his endorsement, “110%.”

“That’s the fun part. Are you kidding? I’m not going to do an endorsement and sit on my hands. When I do an endorsement, it’s going to be a six-, seven-, eight-, nine-week push, whatever it is, to really make sure folks know where we are. I tend to not leave anything on the table,” he emphasized.

And Sununu, who’s won election and re-election to four two-year terms as New Hampshire governor, said he’d help whichever candidate he backed “put together a ground game. I think we know how to do it pretty well here.”

HALEY, DESANTIS, RAMASWAMY, SHARE PERSONAL, EMOTIONAL STORIES

But he’s also tempered expectations that his endorsement might move the needle in the Granite State, telling Fox News last month that “I’m never a big believer that endorsements matter as much as the press think they do.”

Asked if he could see himself serving in a potential Haley, DeSantis or Christie Cabinet, Sununu told Fox News on Monday that “I don’t need anything out of Washington. I just want a great candidate and great president and I think there’s a huge opportunity for that. No, nothing for me. I’m ready to go get a real job.”

The governor, who flirted with a White House run of his own before announcing in early June that he wouldn’t launch a 2024 campaign, has been a vocal GOP critic of former President Donald Trump, who remains the commanding frontrunner for the Republican nomination as he seeks to win back his old job.

“He’s got a floor, but he’s also got a ceiling,” Sununu said as he pointed to Trump’s large lead in the latest New Hampshire polls. “And when you look at the fact that well over 50% of the Republican core-based voter wants somebody else, the fact that in New Hampshire you can have independents that come out – I believe in record numbers – most of which won’t vote for yesterday’s news in terms of Donald Trump.”

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And the governor emphasized that “these candidates have a lot of opportunity to make up a lot of ground quickly.”

New Hampshire’s secretary of state announced last week that the date of the primary will be Jan. 23, eight days after the Iowa caucuses, which lead off the GOP presidential nominating calendar.

Granite State voters are known for traditionally being late deciders when it comes to their state’s treasured first-in-the-nation presidential primary.

As for when New Hampshire voters will decide whom they’ll back for president, the governor said, “They always make them after Thanksgiving, and I think this year even later than normal.”

“I think a lot of folks are just going to wait and see where this thing goes in late December and early January and make up their minds,” Sununu added.

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

Former President Donald Trump’s personal physician has released his medical report, giving the former president a clean bill of health and praising his recent weight loss and improved diet.

The report, released Monday by Dr. Bruce Aronwald, who has served as Trump’s physician since 2021, comes as concern over President Biden’s health continues to grow ahead of the 2024 presidential election, specifically regarding his age and cognitive ability. 

Trump’s physician said the former president’s performance on cognitive exams was “exceptional.” The report was notably released on Biden’s 81st birthday.

WATCH: WHITE HOUSE ISSUES BRUTAL RESPONSE TO BIDEN’S ‘INAPPROPRIATE’ NICKNAME GIVEN BY ANTI-ISRAEL CRITICS

“I am pleased to report that President Trump’s overall health is excellent. His physical exams were well within the normal range and his cognitive exams were exceptional. In addition, his most recent extensive laboratory analysis remains well within normal limits and was even more favorable than prior testing in some of the most significant parameters, most likely secondary to weight reduction,” Aronwald wrote.

He wrote that Trump’s cardiovascular studies were “normal,” that all of his cancer screenings came back negative, and that he had “reduced his weight through an improved diet and continued daily physical activity, while maintaining a rigorous schedule.”

“It is my opinion that President Trump is currently in excellent health, and with his continued interest in preventative health monitoring and maintenance, he will continue to enjoy a healthy active lifestyle for years to come,” Aronwald added.

BIDEN USES TRUMP’S OWN WORDS AGAINST HIM IN BIDE TO RECAPTURE THIS MAJOR VOTING BLOCK FOR DEMS IN 2024

A recent NBC poll indicated 59% of registered voters have “major concerns” about Biden’s physical and mental health as he eyes a second term, with an additional 27% having either “moderate” or “minor” concerns.

Another poll released last month found 76% of voters agreed Biden is “too old” to serve another term.

Additionally, Republicans have increasingly said Biden does not have the “cognitive ability” to serve another four years, including Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, the former White House physician for Presidents Obama and Trump.

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“He’s got these people that surround him that are inappropriately encouraging him to continue to run because it builds up who they are and what they do. But our border, our wars overseas, our economy, you know, it’s just a disaster right now. And he just can’t do the job. And it’s just on display every day that he’s not capable of doing this job anymore,” Jackson warned during an appearance on Fox & Friends on Monday.

Fox News’ Taylor Penley contributed to this report.

The White House issued a brutal response Monday to what it said was the “inappropriate” nickname President Biden has been given by critics of his support for Israel amid its war with Hamas terrorists.

Dubbed “Genocide Joe,” Biden has increasingly become the target of far-left protests across the country, including by some in his own party accusing him of supporting an effort to wipe out Gaza and the Palestinian people. 

“We’re not worried about nicknames and bumper stickers. I mean, it’s First Amendment free speech. The president’s focused on … making sure that we can continue to support Israel as they fight a terrible terrorist group, Hamas,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby initially told New York Post reporter Steven Nelson, who asked him for a response to the nickname during the White House press briefing.

DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST MEMBERS OF CONGRESS HAVE NOT CONDEMINED VIOLENT ANTI-ISRAEL PROTEST TARGETING OWN PARTY HQ

Kirby then shifted his response to blast those using the term “genocide” in a context outside of referring to the express goal of Hamas: the complete eradication of Jews.

“People can say what they want on the sidewalk, and we respect that. That’s what the First Amendment is about. But this word genocide is getting thrown around in a pretty inappropriate way by lots of different folks,” he said. 

“What Hamas wants, make no mistake about it, is genocide. They want to wipe Israel off the map. They’ve said so publicly on more than one occasion, in fact, just recently. And they’ve said that they’re not going to stop,” he said, adding that attacks like that of Oct. 7 would continue to happen “again and again and again.”

BIDEN USES TRUMP’S OWN WORDS AGAINST HIM IN BID TO RECAPTURE THIS MAJOR VOTING BLOCK FOR DEMS IN 2024

Kirby acknowledged that there had been “too many” civilian deaths within Gaza as a result of military action, but that Israel was “not trying to wipe the Palestinian people off the map.”

“Israel’s trying to defend itself against a genocidal terrorist threat. So if we’re going to start using that word, fine, let’s use it appropriately,” he said.

Kirby’s comments come just over a week after tens of thousands of anti-Israel protesters descended on the White House, demanding a cease-fire in the war but refusing to denounce Hamas for its civilian-targeted brutality. 

BIDEN’S APPROVAL RATING SINKS OVER ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR; SUPPORT FOR TRUMP IN 2024 RISES: POLL

“Genocide Joe needs to halt his actions immediately and realize that he’s going to face massive opposition from Democrat voters next election,” one protester told Fox News at the demonstration.

Earlier this month, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., a member of the far-left “Squad,” accused Biden of “complicity” in the deaths of Palestinian children via his support for Israel.

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“Your silence is deafening. Your complicity is even worse,” Tlaib wrote in an Instagram post directed toward Biden. “A whole generation of children is being wiped out in front of us.”

A Democrat congressman is walking back a comment he made against former President Trump over the weekend that sparked a social media firestorm.

“Yesterday on TV, I mistakenly used the wrong word to express the importance for America that Donald Trump doesn’t become President again,” Rep. Daniel Goldman of New York posted on X on Monday. 

“While he must be defeated, I certainly wish no harm to him and do not condone political violence. I apologize for the poor choice of words.”

Goldman was referring to a comment he made over the weekend while discussing Trump’s actions on January 6.

‘SMUG’ DEMOCRAT MOCKED FOR ‘ACCIDENTALLY’ ADMITTING BIDEN DID TALK BUSINESS WITH HUNTER: ‘EPIC FAIL’

“His rhetoric is really getting dangerous,” Goldman said during an interview with President Biden’s former press secretary Jen Psaki on her MSNBC show.

“More and more dangerous. We saw what happened on January 6th, when he used his inflammatory rhetoric now, and his recent truth social post is incredibly, incredibly scary for anyone that might be trying to work in government. And it is just unquestionable at this point that man cannot see public office again. He is not only unfit, he is destructive to our democracy, and he has to be eliminated.”

BIDEN HAS ‘RESTORED THE INTEGRITY’ OF JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, HOUSE DEMOCRAT TELLS ABC

Goldman’s comment drew criticism on social media from conservatives pointing out that the congressman was using “dangerous rhetoric” himself.

“Sometimes they slip and say the quiet part out loud,” radio host Mike Ghallager posted on X.

“I hope Speaker Johnson censures this nut job!!!,” pro-Trump operative Alex Bruesewitz posted on X. 

“By using his own ‘logic,’ Goldman should never see public office again,” Trending Politics co-owner Collin Rugg posted on X.

Several conservatives on social media didn’t accept Goldman’s clarification including Twitchy Managing Editor Sam Janney.

“You knew exactly what you were doing and what you were saying … you are only walking this back because you don’t like being held accountable for your own words,” Janney posted on X. “We see you.”

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In a statement to Fox News Digital, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said, “Democrats have been calling for violence against President Trump and his supporters since 2016.”

“This is not new or surprising rhetoric,” he added.

Republican lawmakers in the U.S. are heaping well-wishes on Argentina’s newly elected president, a self-described “anarcho-capitalist” they say poses an “existential threat to progressives.”

Javier Milei has been compared to former President Donald Trump for his bombastic ways. He’s promised to slash government spending in Argentina by 15% and replace the country’s currency with the U.S. dollar, among other reforms.

Right-wing U.S. officials were quick to praise his victory on Sunday. Elected Democrats were largely silent, however.

“Here’s the most compelling reason why American progressives detest Javier Milei: If Argentina can elect a government with a mandate to restrain and downsize government, so can we,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said after the win. “It’ll work there. And then here. That, my friends, is an existential threat to progressives.”

PINK FLOYD’S ROGER WATERS DENIED HOTEL RESERVATIONS IN SOUTH AMERICA AFTER ANTISEMITISM ACCUSATIONS

Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., praised him, “Congratulations to President-elect [Milei]. Hopefully, this will be the first of many wins for freedom and democracy against socialism in Latin America.”

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Mike McCaul, R-Texas, called Milei’s win “decisive” and said, “I look forward to a promising new chapter for this bilateral relationship in addressing rampant corruption, Chinese encroachment, and other shared priorities together.”

ARGENTINA ELECTION SHOWDOWN AS LIBERTARIAN OUTSIDER LOOKS TO TAKE DOWN ESTABLISHMENT CANDIDATE

Trump also congratulated him on his TruthSocial page, “Congratulations to Javier Milei on a great race for President of Argentina.”

“The whole world was watching! I am very proud of you. You will turn your Country around and truly Make Argentina Great Again!” Trump wrote.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., also extended well-wishes. 

Milei, a libertarian economist, campaigned on a platform pushing smaller government in order to achieve economic success. He has made public appearances wielding a chainsaw as a symbol of his desire to cut spending. 

FORMER ROCKER NICKNAMED ‘ARGENTINE TRUMP’ GAINS ELECTION STEAM WITH ANTI-SOCIALIST MESSAGE

Argentina, South America’s second-largest economy, is currently in the middle of a crippling economic crisis. Inflation in the month of October shot past 140% there. 

In addition to calling for a drastic overhaul of Argentina’s government, including abolishing the Central Bank, Milei is also a climate change skeptic and has called to outlaw abortion.

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An interview clip of Milei, which has been widely shared on social media and has become emblematic of his campaign, reportedly translates him as saying, “You can’t give s— leftards an inch… If you think differently, they will kill you.”

Among the only congratulatory messages from a Democratic official came from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“We congratulate [Milei] on his election as President of Argentina. We look forward to continuing bilateral cooperation based on shared values and interests,” Blinken said in a statement.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker appeared to take a page out of the White House’s playbook in likening GOP front-runner and former President Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini over his use of the term “vermin” to describe his political enemies ahead of the 2024 presidential election. 

The Democrat, one of the leading Jewish governors in the country, told MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki,” Trump’s comment is “just one in a long series of remarks, words that Donald Trump has used that are unfortunately reminiscent of the past. Let me just be clear, in Germany, in the 1930s, people that they didn’t want to have power, people that they wanted to separate, segregate. They began calling them immigrants, even people who had been in Germany for generations.” 

“Jews who were doctors, lawyers in government at the time became known as immigrants, even though they were German. And this is a way to begin to segregate people, and then eventually, at least what happened in Germany, is that they turned it into a way to almost dehumanize. And then they did in fact dehumanize and kill people,” Pritzker said. “I don’t know where it’s going with Donald Trump. What I can tell you is the things that he talks about are frightening to those of us who know the history of Europe in the 1930s and 40s. And I’m deeply concerned about his predilection for revenge.” 

During a speech in Claremont, New Hampshire, ahead of Veterans Day last week, Trump vowed, “We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections.” 

RAMASWAMY CLASHES WITH CNN ANCHOR PRESSING HIM ON TRUMP’S ‘VERMIN’ COMMENTS: ‘GIVE ME A BREAK!’

“They’ll do anything, whether legally or illegally, to destroy America and to destroy the American Dream,” Trump said. “The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous and grave than the threat from within. Our threat is from within. Because if you have a capable, competent, smart, tough leader, Russia, China, North Korea, they’re not going to want to play with us.”

Trump, recently endorsed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott at the U.S.-Mexico border, has repeatedly warned that President Biden is leading the globe to the brink of a third World War. 

TRUMP VS. BIDEN: A DRAMATIC DIFFERENCE IN HOW THE MEDIA TREAT EACH CAMPAIGN

The Washington Post condemned the use of the term “vermin,” saying historians sounded the alarm over concerns of it echoing authoritarianism. 

The White House also condemned Trump’s comment last week. 

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“Employing words like ‘vermin’ to describe anyone who makes use of their basic right to criticize the government ‘echoes dictators’ like Hitler and Mussolini,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told reporters, quoting the Post’s coverage. “Using terms like that about dissent would be unrecognizable to our founders, but horrifyingly recognizable to American veterans who put on their country’s uniform in the 1940s. President Biden believes in his oath to our constitution, and in American democracy. He works to protect both every day.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump campaign for comment Monday, but they did not immediately respond.

An Egyptian American woman freed from an Egyptian jail with help from the Trump administration in 2017 recently took to social media to praise Hamas and called it “morally abhorrent” to condemn them in the wake of their terrorist attack on Israel that killed more than 1,200. 

“I don’t condemn HAMAS and never will,” Aya Hijazi posted on X on Nov. 7, a month after Hamas massacred more than 1,200 Israelis. “I don’t condemn Palestinians who exhausted every peaceful way on earth to end their occupation and save their lives.”

“I condemn anyone who asks the world to condemn HAMAS,” Hijazi added.

“You are morally abhorrent with reverse standards. One for the Whites and ones for everyone else. And your standards of occupation, land theft, besiegement and mass murder don’t apply to me.”

BIDEN OFFICIALS REBEL AGAINST PRESIDENT ON ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR, SIGN DISSENT LETTER

Trump and his aides engaged in behind-the-scenes diplomatic efforts to secure Hijazi’s freedom in 2017 after attempts by the previous Obama administration failed. Hijazi, who was 30 years old at the time, was released after spending three years in Egyptian prison on human trafficking charges and was alleged to have ties to the radical Islamist group Muslim Brotherhood.

“I asked the government to let her out,” Trump told The Associated Press at the time. “You know Obama worked on it for three years, got zippo, zero.”

In May 2018, pro-Trump influencers Charlie Kirk and Scott Presler mentioned Hijazi while touting prisoners freed by Trump.

Over the past couple of weeks, Hijazi’s social media accounts have been littered with posts supporting Hamas and Palestinians while slamming Israel.

“There is no amount of ingratitude in the world that can beat Hijazi’s ungratefulness to her country that came to her rescue,” Hussain Abdul-Hussain, research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital. 

INTERNAL STATE DEPARTMENT MEMO ACCUSED BIDEN OF ‘MISINFORMATION’ ON ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR

“Hijazi’s venom in her X posts is not directed against the U.S. only, but against the West at large, which she often depicts as the White Colonial Man,” Hussain added. “The irony is that, had the thought of this West – life, liberty and equality – not spread throughout the world, Hijazi would have been probably locked up at her father’s house, married shortly after puberty, then locked up again at her husband’s house, birthing a dozen children and running the household.”

“Had it not been for this Western thought, Hijazi would have likely been illiterate, her voice never heard outside her family quarters. It was her U.S. citizenship that made the leader of the free world throw America’s weight behind her freedom, and then receive her like royalty in the Oval Office,” Hussain added.

Hijazi endorsed Biden for president in 2020 in a social media post and claimed that Trump only freed her to bolster his “ego.”

However, Hijazi walked back her support of Biden in a recent social media post, calling him “Genocide Joe” and saying there is “no way on earth” she will vote for him again due to his current support of Israel.

Cynthia Farahat, author of “The Secret Apparatus: The Muslim Brotherhood’s Industry of Death,” told Fox News Digital that “no one should be surprised by Aya Hijazi pro Hamas stance.”

“She has and does indeed support the Muslim Brotherhood, and this is why her comments are often featured positively on their official website, something the Brotherhood only does with its overt and covert members and agents,” Farahat said. 

“Hamas is the Palestinian wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. This is a fact not an opinion. This is why she will always be on their side even when they engage in horrific crimes against humanity like their barbaric terror attack against Israel.”

Hijazi, a dual national, was born in Egypt and grew up in Falls Church, Virginia, a Washington suburb. She received a degree in conflict resolution from George Mason University in 2009. According to her Linkedin profile, she received her Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Harvard University in 2021 and served as a “leadership coach” there for 5 months “with a focus on anti black racism and anti sexism.”

RASHIDA TLAIB MEMBER OF SECRET FACEBOOK GROUP WHERE HAMAS TERRORISTS GLORIFIED

Farahat told Fox News Digital that the Trump administration was likely “unaware of her affiliation” with Muslim Brotherhood “and acted based on bad intelligence.”

“Even if we were aware, we put her freedom ahead of her political affiliations. We argued that even if she were Muslim Brotherhood, she should be heard,” Hussain, who is of Iraqi and Lebanese origins and has spent time growing up and working there, told Fox News Digital.

“But it turns out that we were wrong. These Islamists are not interested in making a point, they are after incitement to violence. They don’t argue. They spew venom against America and the West. You read her X posts and you wonder: Did she really grow up pledging allegiance to the flag and the Constitution? Because if she did, it does not really show in her posts.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Hijazi said she is “always very grateful for being freed by the United States and the honorable treatment I received” but is also “heartbroken that the expectation of gratitude equates an expectation of silence over genocide and colonization.”

Hijazi referred to Hussain’s conclusion as a “heartbreaking stereotype,” saying that her cousins in Egypt are all “college educated and fell in love with spouses of their own choosing.” 

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“Indeed, I have huge critiques of many of the White Man’s vices, most notably colonization and foreign policy,” Hijazi continued. “At the same time, most of my time and life’s work is in fact dedicated to critiquing the practices of brown/Muslim/ Men. I don’t ascribe to the idea that any group should be immune to critique, including one’s own.”

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

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

As news of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter’s death continues to spread, many political leaders are turning to social media to honor her legacy.

The wife of former President Jimmy Carter died with her family by her side at her home in Plains, Georgia, on Sunday at the age of 96.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said he and his family joined all Georgians and the nation in mourning Carter’s death.

FORMER FIRST LADY ROSALYNN CARTER DEAD AT 96

“A proud native Georgian, she had an indelible impact on our state and nation as a First Lady to both,” Kemp said. “Working alongside her husband, she championed mental health services and promoted the state she loved across the globe. Their marriage, spanning 77 years, stands as a testament to their enduring partnership. Like that marriage, her achievements will stand the test of time and continue to be celebrated by those who knew her best.”

U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., offered his “deepest condolences” to Carter’s family in a statement Sunday, saying her lifetime of work and dedication for public service changed many lives.

“Among her many accomplishments, Rosalynn Carter will be remembered for her compassionate nature and her passion for women’s rights, human rights and mental health reform,” Ossoff said. “The state of Georgia and the United States are better places because of Rosalynn Carter.”

ROSALYNN CARTER CELEBRATES 96TH BIRTHDAY WITH HUSBAND JIMMY CARTER, PEANUT BUTTER ICE CREAM AND BUTTERFLIES

First Lady Dr. Jill Biden remembered Carter’s “unwavering commitment” to mental health care and the crucial role of caregivers in American life.

“Her passing is a moment of great sorrow, and I want you all to know that my thoughts and sympathies are with you and your family during this challenging time,” the current First Lady said. “In these moments of grief, may we find solace in the enduring grace and strength exemplified by First Lady Rosalynn Carter. Her legacy will serve as a source of inspiration, reminding us to strive for a more compassionate and understanding world.”

JIMMY CARTER HAD ONE OF THE ‘GREATEST SECOND ACTS’ IN AMERICAN HISTORY, CONSERVATIVE HISTORIAN SAYS

Former First Lady Melania Trump said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Carter left behind a meaningful legacy, not just as a First Lady, but as a wife and mother.

“We will always remember her servant’s heart and devotion to her husband, family, and country,” Trump said. “May she rest in peace.”

JIMMY CARTER, LONGEST LIVING US PRESIDENT, TURNS 99

New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., all shared their condolences to the former First Lady on X, with Schumer saying, “America has lost a passionate humanitarian and champion for people all over the world.”

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Also paying tribute to Carter was the Atlanta Braves, who said they are “deeply saddened by the passing of humanitarian and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, announced in a social media post on Sunday that he is “proud to endorse” former President Donald Trump for the 2024 presidential nomination.

“Today, I am proud to endorse Donald J. Trump for President,” Abbott said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Now more than ever, America needs a President who will secure the border and prioritize national security. President Trump is the clear choice to get the job done.”

The former president joined the governor in Edinburg, Texas on Sunday for Abbott’s annual pre-Thanksgiving tradition of serving tamales to Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and Texas National Guardsmen deployed along the southern border under the governor’s Operation Lone Star program.

TEXAS GOV. ABBOTT TO ENDORSE TRUMP FOR 2024 GOP NOMINATION WHEN THEY TEAM UP SUNDAY NEAR US-MEXICO BORDER

The visit is intended to spotlight the combustible issue of illegal immigration and border security.

The border has been a major issue for Republican voters and GOP leaders and politicians for two and a half years, leading to harsh criticism of President Biden’s administration’s handling of the crisis and a surge in border crossings by migrants.

Trump pledged to launch the largest mass deportation effort in American history if he is re-elected and would reinstate travel bans and his 2019 “Remain in Mexico” program, which forced non-Mexican asylum seekers aiming to enter the U.S. at the southern border to wait in Mexico for the resolution of their cases.

GAME ON IN IOWA AS DESANTIS AND HALEY BATTLE FOR SECOND PLACE BEHIND TRUMP 

In 2021, Trump endorsed Abbott as the conservative governor who was seeking re-election and faced multiple primary challenges from the right.

He overwhelmingly won the renomination in March 2022 before defeating his Democratic challenger, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke last November to secure a third term as governor.

Abbott was grateful for Trump’s early endorsement last cycle, according to those in the governor’s political orbit, and he’s now apparently returning the favor.

WITH CLOCK TICKING TOWARDS FIRST VOTES IN THE GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION RACE, THIS CANDIDATE REMAINS IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT

Trump is making his third straight White House run and is currently the commanding front-runner for the Republican 2024 nomination, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley currently vying for a distant second place in the polls.

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Trump’s lead expanded over the spring and summer as he made history as the first former or current president in American history to be indicted for a crime. Trump’s four indictments – including in federal court in Washington D.C. and in Fulton County court in Georgia on charges he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss – have fueled his support among Republican voters.

Paul Steinhauser of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.

Voters in Argentina were heading to the polls Sunday in a presidential runoff election that will determine whether South America’s second-largest economy will take a rightward shift.

Populist Javier Milei, an upstart candidate who got his start as a television talking head, has frequently been compared to former U.S. President Donald Trump. He faces Economy Minister Sergio Massa of the Peronist party, which has been a leading force in Argentine politics for decades.

On Massa’s watch, inflation has soared to more than 140% and poverty has increased. Milei, a self-described anarcho-capitalist, proposes to slash the size of the state and rein in inflation, while Massa has warned people about the negative impacts of such policies.

The highly polarizing election is forcing many to decide which of the two they consider to be the least bad option.

ARGENTINA’S JAVIER MILEI COPIES TRUMP’S PLAYBOOK TO BECOME COUNTRY’S BIGGEST PRIMARY ELECTION VOTE-GETTER

“Whatever happens in this election will be incredible,” said Lucas Romero, director of local political consultancy Synopsis. “It would be incredible for Massa to win in this economic context or for Milei to win facing a candidate as professional as Massa.”

Voting stations opened at 8 a.m. (1100 GMT) and close 10 hours later. Voting is conducted with paper ballots, making the count unpredictable, but initial results were expected around three hours after polls close.

Milei went from blasting the country’s “political caste” on TV to winning a lawmaker seat two years ago. The economist’s screeds resonated widely with Argentines angered by their struggle to make ends meet, particularly young men.

“Money covers less and less each day. I’m a qualified individual, and my salary isn’t enough for anything,” Esteban Medina, a 26-year-old physical therapist from Ezeiza, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, told The Associated Press on the sidelines of a Milei rally earlier this week.

Massa, as one of the most prominent figures in a deeply unpopular administration, was once seen as having little chance of victory. But he managed to mobilize the networks of his Peronist party and clinched a decisive first-place finish in the first round of voting.

His campaign has cautioned Argentines that his libertarian opponent’s plan to eliminate key ministries and otherwise sharply curtail the state would threaten public services, including health and education, and welfare programs many rely on. Massa has also drawn attention to his opponent’s often aggressive rhetoric and has openly questioned his mental acuity; ahead of the first round, Milei sometimes carried a revving chainsaw at rallies.

FORMER ROCKER NICKNAMED ‘ARGENTINE TRUMP’ GAINS ELECTION STEAM WITH ANTI-SOCIALIST MESSAGE

Massa’s “only chance to win this election when people want change … is to make this election a referendum on whether Milei is fit to be president or not,” said Ana Iparraguirre, partner at pollster GBAO Strategies.

Milei has accused Massa and his allies of running a “campaign of fear” and he has walked back some of his most controversial proposals, such as loosening gun control. In his final campaign ad, Milei looks at the camera and assures voters he has no plans to privatize education or health care.

Most pre-election polls, which have been notoriously wrong at every step of this year’s campaign, show a statistical tie between the two candidates. Voters for first-round candidates who didn’t make the runoff will be key. Patricia Bullrich, who placed third, has endorsed Milei.

Javier Rojas, a 36-year-old pediatrician who voted for Bullrich in October, told The Associated Press he’s leaning toward Milei, then added: “Well, to be honest, it’s more of a vote against the other side than anything else.”

Underscoring the bitter division this campaign has brought to the fore, Milei received both jeers and cheers on Friday night at the legendary Colón Theater in Buenos Aires.

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The vote takes place amid Milei’s allegations of possible electoral fraud, reminiscent of those from Trump and former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Without providing evidence, Milei claimed that the first round of the presidential election was plagued by irregularities that affected the result. Experts say such irregularities cannot swing an election, and that his assertions are partly aimed at firing up his base and motivating his supporters to become monitors of voting stations.

Such claims spread widely on social media and, at Milei’s rally in Ezeiza earlier this week, all those interviewed told the AP they were concerned about the integrity of the vote.

“You don’t need to show statistically significant errors,” Fernanda Buril, of the Washington-based International Foundation for Electoral Systems, said in an e-mail. “If you draw enough attention to one problem in one polling station which likely doesn’t affect the results in any meaningful way, people are likely to overestimate the frequency and impact of that and other problems in the elections more generally.”

It was the announcement Senate Democrats were dreading.

When it came, it appeared to strike a major blow to their hopes of holding their razor-thin Senate majority in the 2024 elections.

“I have made one of the toughest decisions of my life and decided that I will not be running for re-election to the United States Senate,” Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia announced earlier this month.

Manchin, a moderate Democrat and former governor, won over 60% of the vote in his 2012 re-election, but his margin of victory fell to just three points in 2018.

CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS 2024 POWER RANKINGS 

The consensus was that Manchin was the only Democrat who could win in West Virginia next year after his state shifted dramatically to the right over the past decade. Former President Donald Trump carried West Virginia by nearly 40 points in the 2020 election.

Democrats control the U.S. Senate with a 51-49 majority, but Republicans are looking at a favorable Senate map in 2024, with Democrats defending 23 of the 34 seats up for grabs. Three of those seats are in red states that Trump carried in 2020 — West Virginia, Montana and Ohio.

Five other blue-held seats are in key swing states narrowly carried by President Biden in 2020 — Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

WITH NINE WEEKS TO GO UNTIL THE FIRST VOTES, THIS CANDIDATE REMAINS THE COMMANDING FRONT-RUNNER IN THE GOP PRESIDENTIAL RACE

“Democrats have multiple pathways to protect and strengthen our Senate majority and are in a strong position to achieve this goal,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesman David Bergstein argued in a statement after Manchin’s announcement.

“In addition to defending our battle-tested incumbents, we’ve already expanded the battleground map to Texas and Florida,” Berstein added, pointing to what he called “unpopular Republican incumbents.”

Texas and Florida, where incumbent senators Ted Cruz and Rick Scott are seeking re-election, appear to be the only potentially competitive GOP-held seats up for grabs next year. 

Here’s a look at the five seats most likely to flip in 2024.

West Virginia

With Manchin not seeking re-election, National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) chairman Sen. Steve Daines said, “We like our odds in West Virginia.”

Right now, the main action is in the Republican Senate primary, where popular Democrat-turned-Republican Gov. Jim Justice has the backing of the NRSC and Trump.

Justice has rasied more money than his main rival, conservative Rep. Alex Mooney, who enjoys the support of the fiscally conservative Club for Growth.

The first Democrat to jump into the race following Manchin’s departure is 32-year-old Zachary Shrewsbury, a native West Virginian and Marine Corps veteran.

Montana

Democrats breathed a sigh of relief when Sen. Jon Tester of Montana announced earlier this year that he would seek re-election in 2024 in a state that Trump carried by 16 points three years ago. The Democratic incumbent has hauled in a formidable $15 million in fundraising so far this year.

Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL and Purple Heart recipient who notched more than 200 missions in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere around the globe, launched a Republican Senate bid in late June.

Sheehy, the CEO of Bridger Aerospace, a Montana-based aerial firefighting and wildfire surveillance services company, enjoys the NRSC’s backing.

Rep. Matt Rosendale, a hard-right congressman, is seriously mulling a bid. Rosendale narrowly lost to Tester in the 2018 Senate election.

Ohio

Longtime Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown is the only member of his party to win a non-judicial, statewide election in Ohio in the past decade. As Brown runs in 2024 for a fourth six-year term representing Ohio, he will be heavily targeted by Republicans in a state that was once a premier general election battleground but has shifted red over the past six years.

Trump carried Ohio by eight points in his 2016 presidential election victory and his 2020 re-election defeat. Last year, Trump’s handpicked Senate candidate in Ohio — Sen. JD Vance — topped longtime Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan by six points despite Ryan running what political experts considered a nearly flawless campaign.

Brown, who has served as a congressman, state lawmaker and Ohio secretary of state during his nearly half century career in elective politics, is well known across the Buckeye State. The senator, known as a champion for populist causes, raked in $3.6 million in contributions during the first three months of this year.

Two Republicans who ran unsuccessfully for the 2022 GOP Senate nomination in Ohio are already in the race to oust Brown.

State Sen. Matt Dolan, a former top county prosecutor and Ohio assistant attorney general, launched his campaign in January. Dolan, whose family owns Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Guardians, shelled out millions of his own money to run ads for his 2022 Senate bid. 

He surged near the end of the primary race, finishing third in a crowded field of Republican contenders, winning nearly a quarter of the vote.

Last month, Bernie Moreno, a successful Cleveland-based businessman and luxury auto dealership giant, declared his candidacy. Moreno, an immigrant who arrived in the U.S. legally from Colombia with his family as a 5-year-old boy, also shelled out millions of his own money to run TV commercials to try and boost his first Senate bid.

But he suspended his campaign in February 2022 after requesting and holding a private meeting with Trump.

In July, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose joined the race, launching a much-anticipated Senate campaign.

Arizona

With Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema appearing to gear up for a re-election campaign — even though she hasn’t officially announced a campaign — the Senate race in battleground Arizona could be the most complicated of the 2024 cycle.

Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego is already running on the left and has raised more money than Sinema, although the incumbent enjoys a healthy $1 million cash-on-hand advantage.

Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb recently became the first major GOP contender to launch a campaign.

But 2022 GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake instantly became the Republican front-runner when she jumped into the race in October. Lake, a former TV news anchor and strong Trump ally, narrowly lost last year’s election for governor but refused to concede.

Pennsylvania 

The Keystone State, which is a perennial general election battleground, will likely live up to its reputation once again in 2024 as it holds what will arguably be one of the most competitive and expensive Senate races across the country.

Democratic Sen. Bob Casey, who served a decade as the state’s auditor general and then treasurer before first winning election to the Senate in 2006, is seeking a fourth six-year term in office.

Casey, who’s not expected to face any serious Democratic primary challenge, is the son of a popular former governor.

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Republicans appear mostly united behind Dave McCormick, who’s making his second straight Senate run.

McCormick, a former hedge fund executive, West Point graduate, Gulf War combat veteran and Treasury Department official in former President George W. Bush’s administration, was endorsed by the Pennsylvania GOP in late September, soon after he entered the race.

McCormick had been courted by national and state Republicans to run, and his candidacy gives the GOP a high-profile candidate with the ability to finance his own race that’s expected to be one of the most expensive in the country.

The Pennsylvania GOP’s endorsement will likely help McCormick avoid a crowded and combustible battle for the 2024 GOP Senate nomination like the one he faced last year. McCormick ended up losing the nomination by a razor-thin margin to celebrity doctor and cardiac surgeon Mehmet Oz, who secured a primary victory thanks to a late endorsement from Trump. Oz ended up losing the general election last November to Democrat John Fetterman.

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

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas will endorse former President Donald Trump for their party’s 2024 nomination when the two team up Sunday near the U.S.-Mexico border, GOP sources in Texas confirm to Fox News.

The former president will join the governor in Edinburg, Texas, for Abbott’s annual pre-Thanksgiving tradition of serving tamales to Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and Texas National Guardsmen deployed along the southern border under the governor’s Operation Lone Star program.

Trump endorsed Abbott in 2021, as the conservative governor was gearing up for re-election and faced multiple primary challenges from the right. Abbott overwhelmingly won renomination in March of last year before comfortably defeating Democratic challenger former Rep. Beto O’Rourke last November to secure a third term steering Texas.

GAME ON IN IOWA AS DESANTIS AND HALEY BATTLE FOR SECOND PLACE BEHIND TRUMP 

Abbott was grateful for Trump’s early endorsement last cycle, according to those in the governor’s political orbit, and he’s now apparently returning the favor.

WITH CLOCK TICKING TOWARDS FIRST VOTES IN THE GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION RACE, THIS CANDIDATE REMAINS IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT

Trump, who’s making his third straight White House run, is the commanding front-runner for the Republican 2024 nomination, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley currently vying for a distant second place in the polls.

Trump’s lead expanded over the spring and summer as he made history as the first former or current president in American history to be indicted for a crime. Trump’s four indictments — including in federal court in Washington D.C. and in Fulton County court in Georgia on charges he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss — have only fueled his support among Republican voters.

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The former president’s trip to Texas to meet with Abbott near the border will spotlight the combustible issue of illegal immigration and border security. The issue’s long been top of mind for Republican voters, and GOP leaders and politicians for two and a half years have heavily criticized President Biden’s administration over the surge in border crossings by migrants.

Trump has pledged, if he wins back the White House, to launch the largest mass deportation effort in American history, would reinstate travel bans as well as his 2019 “Remain in Mexico” program, which forced non-Mexican asylum-seekers aiming to enter the U.S. at the southern border to wait in Mexico for the resolution of their cases. Trump also said he’d seek to end automatic citizenship for children born in the U.S. to immigrants who entered the country illegally, an idea he proposed during his administration.

Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign has slammed Trump’s “scary” proposals, arguing that it would violate the U.S. Constitution, the nation’s values, and the rights of immigrants.

Border security has also long been a top issue for Abbott, who’s sparred repeatedly with the Biden administration.

The Texas legislature, during a special session called by the governor, this week passed a controversial measure allowing state law enforcement officials to arrest suspected undocumented migrants. Democrats have pilloried the strict immigration bill.

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

Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee is calling for an investigation into the now-defunct House January 6 committee, accusing former and current lawmakers who served on the committee of “deliberately” hiding some of the footage from the Capitol riots.

Lee’s comments came after House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., began releasing more than 40,000 hours of footage taken at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, when protesters angry about the 2020 election results stormed the halls of Congress.

Highlighting the release of the footage in a series of posts to X, formerly known as Twitter, Lee called into question the character of former Republican representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.

“Why didn’t Liz Cheney and Adam Kizinger ever refer to any of these tapes? Maybe they never looked for them. Maybe they never even questioned their own narrative. Maybe they were just too busy selectively leaking the text messages of Republicans they wanted to defeat,” Lee wrote in a post to the platform, which included a video that purportedly showed Capitol police officers facilitating the passage of protesters through the building that day.

SPEAKER JOHNSON BEGINS RELEASING 40,000 HOURS OF JAN 6 FOOTAGE

Cheney and Kinzinger, Lee wrote in another post to X, were “people who helped hide the J6 tapes” and “are cut out of the same cloth as those who will tell you that FISA 702 must be reauthorized without reforms—’because search warrants require too much effort.'”

“We need to investigate the J6 committee,” he wrote in another post.

Lee also took aim at the committee overall, as well as then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who appointed the select committee to investigate what took place at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

“Given the evidence they apparently suppressed, how much footage (and how many other records) do you think Nancy Pelosi and the J6 committee deliberately lost or destroyed?” Lee questioned in one post.

In response to a Friday post by Cheney, which included “some January 6th video” of disgruntled protesters tangling with Capitol police, Lee wrote, “Liz, we’ve seen footage like that a million times. You made sure we saw that — and nothing else. It’s the other stuff — what you deliberately hid from us — that we find so upsetting. Nice try.”

“P.S. How many of these guys are feds? (As if you’d ever tell us),” Lee added in his response to the former lawmaker.

LEFT-WING ACTIVIST CHARGED IN CAPITOL RIOT AFTER SAYING HE WAS JUST THERE TO ‘DOCUMENT’

In another post, Lee wrote, “Taxpayer dollars funded the sham J6 committee.”

The GOP senator also amplified a clip released Friday that shows an officer working inside the Capitol on January 6, 2021, who appeared uncuffed and released a protester. The protester could be seen in the clip giving a fist bump to what appeared to be another officer who was nearby at the time of his release.

“I walk through these doors every day — several times a day. I’ve never seen this happen,” Lee wrote in response.

In releasing the remaining footage from the Capitol on January 6, 2021, Speaker Johnson said in a statement: “When I ran for Speaker, I promised to make accessible to the American people the 44,000 hours of video from Capitol Hill security taken on January 6, 2021. Truth and transparency are critical.”

Some video was made available to the public on Friday, with the bulk of it to be released gradually over time, Johnson said.

Johnson said his decision to release the remaining footage “will provide millions of Americans, criminal defendants, public interest organizations, and the media an ability to see for themselves what happened that day, rather than having to rely upon the interpretation of a small group of government officials.”

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Johnson said that roughly 5% of the footage would likely be held back due to “sensitive security information related to the building architecture,” and that some faces would be blurred “to avoid any persons from being targeted for retaliation of any kind.”

It is being made public through the House Administration Committee’s subcommittee on Oversight.

Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

A new poll suggests that significantly more voters trust former President Donald Trump in handling the ongoing crisis at the southern border compared to President Biden — just as the U.S. remains wracked by a historic migrant crisis.

The Marquette Law School Poll asked respondents who would handle immigration and border security better. Of those polled, 50% said Trump, 27% said Biden, 7% said about the same and 16% said neither.

Respondents also believed Trump to be better on the economy by a 21-point margin. It also found him preferred on the Israel-Hamas war, foreign relations and Medicare and Social Security by just one point. Biden was preferred on abortion policy and climate change.

TRUMP SAYS HE WILL CARRY OUT THE ‘LARGEST DOMESTIC DEPORTATION OPERATION IN AMERICAN HISTORY’ IF ELECTED 

The poll comes as the U.S. continues to face a migrant crisis now deep into its third year. There were more than 249,000 migrant encounters in October, the highest October on record.

That comes after more than 2.4 million migrant encounters in FY23 — itself an annual record – and more than 600,000 gotaways.

Republicans have hammered the Biden administration for its handling of the migrant crisis, blaming it on its policies — including the rolling back of Trump-era policies like the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) and border wall construction, as well as decreased interior enforcement. 

In the House, Republicans have passed a sweeping bill that would strictly limit asylum and increase border security measures — including resuming wall construction. But it has not received support from Democrats, which would be needed for it to pass the Senate. Republicans have also moved to impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas — although a bid to do that failed in the GOP-controlled House this week.

Trump, running for the presidency in 2024, has promised to carry out the “largest domestic deportation operation in American history” if elected.

THOUSANDS OF CHINESE NATIONALS, GOTAWAYS AT THE SOUTHER BORDER SINCE OCT 1: SOURCES 

Meanwhile, the Biden administration has said it is dealing with a hemisphere-wide crisis, and is in need of resources and immigration reform legislation to fix what it says is a “broken” immigration system. It also says it is using a strategy of implementing “consequences” for illegal entry while broadening “legal pathways” for migration.

It has called for the passage of legislation it unveiled in early 2021, which not only would have broadened immigration paths but also would have granted amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants already in the country. It has yet to pick up any Republican support. The White House recently requested an extra $14 billion in supplemental funding for “border operations.” That includes money for for migrant services and housing, anti-fentanyl technology and more border agents.

A fact sheet put out by the White House stressed that the Biden administration’s strategy is “focused on enforcement, deterrence and diplomacy” that includes a massive expansion of “lawful pathways” into the U.S.

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“The request we have made of Congress today provides critically needed funding to equip the Department of Homeland Security with the people and tools it needs to prevent cartels from moving fentanyl through our ports of entry and to enforce our immigration laws in an orderly and effective way,” Mayorkas said in a statement. 

Meanwhile, the crisis has not only affected border communities but also cities and states deeper in the interior. New York City on Thursday announced deep budget cuts, including to policing and education, which it blamed on the billions it is spending on dealing with the more than 110,000 migrants that have come through the “sanctuary” city in the last year.

DES MOINES, Iowa – He trails former President Donald Trump by at least 25 points in the latest polls in the state that leads off the Republican presidential nominating calendar, but Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis remains confident.

“We’re going to win here. We have what it takes,” DeSantis vowed in a Fox News interview in Iowa’s capital city.

The Florida governor spoke minutes before he sat down with former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and multi-millionaire biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy – two of his 2024 GOP White House rivals – in front of a large crowd of social conservative voters in a state where evangelicals play an outsized role in Republican politics.

DeSantis is making a strong showing in Iowa central to his bid to defeat Trump, who remains the commanding Republican front-runner as he makes his third straight run for the White House.

DESANTIS, HALEY, RAMASWAMY, GET PERSONAL AS THEY SIT SIDE-BY-SIDE

But Haley, who’s enjoyed momentum in the polls in recent months thanks in part to well-received performances in the first three GOP presidential primary debates, has leapfrogged DeSantis for second place in New Hampshire – which holds the first primary and votes second in the Republican schedule – and her home state – which holds the first southern contest.

Now, she aims to make a fight of it in Iowa, where she’s pulling even with DeSantis in some of the latest polls.

“The momentum is real. The excitement is there. We’re going to keep working hard to win every Iowan’s vote. We’re not going to give up on Iowa,” Haley touted in a Fox News Digital interview Friday ahead of a town hall in Newton, Iowa.

COULD THIS IOWA EVANGELICAL LEADER’S ENDORSEMENT PUT  DENT IN TRUMP’S COMMANDING LEAD?

With under two months to go until the January 15 caucuses, Haley returned to Iowa showcasing over 70 new Hawkeye State endorsements. And Haley is set to launch a $10 million ad blitz in Iowa and New Hampshire in two weeks.

Asked what kind of finish she needs in Iowa, Haley responded, “we don’t look at it as what do we have to have. The way I look at it is, we’re not going to stop until we get every single person’s vote. That’s the focus.”

But Haley, who only last month opened her headquarters in Iowa, is playing catch up with DeSantis, who been all-in on the Hawkeye State for months. Between his campaign and the DeSantis-aligned super PAC Never Back Down, the Florida governor has built up a formidable ground game. 

“We’re going to get the job done,” he pledged.

In a major boost for DeSantis, the Florida governor landed the endorsement earlier this month of Gov. Kim Reynolds, who is very popular among Hawkeye State Republicans. Reynolds’ backing helped DeSantis alter a negative narrative.

Reynolds is scheduled to spend Saturday campaigning with DeSantis at multiple stops in Iowa. 

DeSantis called the endorsement “a huge plus for us.”

He’s also aiming to land the endorsement of Bob Vander Plaats, the president and CEO of The Family Leader, the influential social conservative group that hosted Friday’s presidential forum.

Vander Plaats backed former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in 2008, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania in 2012, and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas in 2016 — all three of whom went on to win the Iowa caucuses, but failed to capture the GOP presidential nomination.

When asked about winning the support of Vander Plaats, DeSantis told Fox News “we would love that endorsement…I think after this forum, that may be a time when they want to dig in.”

WITH NINE WEEKS TO GO UNTIL THE FIRST VOTES IN THE GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION RACE, THIS CANDIDATE REMAINS IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT

DeSantis, who earlier this year signed a six-week abortion ban into law in Florida, questioned Trump’s social conservative credentials and argued that “Haley has moved left on a lot of these issues, so I’m really the conservative choice at this point. I think the governor [Reynolds] endorsing me shows that. I think you’ll see us coalesce the support of conservatives on caucus night.”

At the forum, Haley doubled down on comments on her stance on abortion that she made last week at the third Republican presidential debate, in which she urged Americans to find consensus when it comes to limiting abortions.

Haley also reiterated that she is “unapologetically pro-life” and emphasized that “our overall goal is how do we save as many babies as possible and support as many moms as we can.” 

Nicole Schlinger, a longtime Iowa-based strategist with close ties to evangelicals, told Fox News that “this was the answer that I think Iowans were waiting for from Amb. Haley on life issues… I think that was very positive.”

“Gov. DeSantis really came alive during the second half of this forum,” added Schlinger, who’s neutral in the GOP presidential nomination race. “This was a very pro-DeSantis crowd. He got the biggest applause.”

A couple of hours before the presidential forum in Des Moines, Haley landed a surprise endorsement from another social conservative leader in Iowa.

As Haley was taking questions from the audience at a town hall in Newton, Iowa, former state GOP executive director and former president of the Iowa Right to Life Marlys Popma stood to speak.

“I was an undecided voter when I walked in here today, and I am no longer an undecided voter,” Popma said, as many in the crowd applauded. “I just want to tell Nikki that I wholeheartedly support you.”

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While Haley and DeSantis have repeatedly clashed in recent weeks as they battle for second place in the polls behind Trump, who remains the commanding front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination, there were no fireworks at the Family Leader forum.

Asked if it’s getting personal between her and DeSantis, Haley told Fox News “no, it’s not personal. I think Ron’s been a good governor. I think we’re both fighting to save our country. I think we have differences of opinion.”

And Haley, who advocates a muscular American foreign policy compared to DeSantis, Trump, or Ramaswamy, argued that “I have a stronger foreign policy sense than he does. I’ve focused on what I did as governor. He’s focused on what he did as governor. But I was also at the United Nations and dealt with these countries every single day.”

Given a chance to respond to her comments, DeSantis told Fox News Haley “has less than two years at the U.N., which is a corrupt organization that I would defund.”

DeSantis touted his military service in the War in Iraq and his years on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and charged “I think she really represents kind of the failed foreign policy elite that we’ve seen over the last 20-25 years.”

Fox News’ Aubrie Spady and Monico Oroz contributed to this report

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

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo unleashed a fiery response to Biden administration officials who signed on to a dissent letter over President Biden’s pro-Israel stance in its fight against Hamas terrorists — with the former top diplomat saying their moral compass “is broken.”

“People who serve our country in any government institution, whether in the military or the State Department, swear allegiance to the United States and should commit to the mission of the President — elected by the American people — and his Administration,” Pompeo said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “If they are unable or refuse to do so, they should resign or face termination.”

Hundreds of government officials from 40 departments and agencies within the administration signed an anonymous letter demanding a “cease-fire” and opposing the president’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

BIDEN OFFICIALS REBEL AGAINST PRESIDENT ON ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR, SIGN DISSENT LETTER 

“We call on President Biden to urgently demand a cease-fire; and to call for de-escalation of the current conflict by securing the immediate release of the Israeli hostages and arbitrarily detained Palestinians; the restoration of water, fuel, electricity and other basic services; and the passage of adequate humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip,” the letter reads, in part.

Biden and others have argued that a cease-fire would only benefit Hamas, who launched a brutal terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, in which militants murdered over 1,000 Israeli civilians. The administration has pushed for humanitarian pauses in fighting, which Israel has carried out.

Pompeo said the dissent was a problem that plagued him during his time in office “when hundreds of State Department employees worked to subvert the mission of the Trump administration.”

“Then as now, these dissenting staff fundamentally misunderstand their role and authority. Not a single American voted for them or their personal views on foreign policy. Their job is to serve the State Department as it executes the elected President’s foreign policy objectives to keep America safe,” he said. “To do otherwise is not just inappropriate; it is deeply at odds with our Constitutional order and subverts the will of the American people.”

BIDEN ALLIES CONDEMN FAR-LEFT CALLS FOR CEASE-FIRE IN ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR: ‘AMERICANS REMAIN PRO-ISRAEL’

Apart from their general outspokenness about government policy, Pompeo argued that the staff “are also dead wrong.”

“Their moral compass is broken,” he said. 

“It is absolutely right for America to back Israel in its war against the barbaric Hamas terrorists who committed the worst massacre against Jews since the Holocaust. Supporting Israel right now isn’t about politics. It’s about enabling the triumph of good over true evil,” he asserted. “Any staffer who fails to recognize this does not deserve the honor of serving the American people at the State Department or any other government agency.”

Meanwhile, President Biden on Wednesday said he believes that Israel’s military operation in Gaza will stop when Hamas “no longer maintains the capacity to murder, abuse, and do horrific things to the Israelis.”

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“Hamas said they plan to attack Israelis again and this is a terrible dilemma,” he said.

Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom and Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.

Former President Donald Trump and his family attended the funeral of his sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, at a church in New York City on Friday, The New York Post reported.

Barry, a retired judge and assistant U.S. attorney, passed away on Nov. 13 at the age of 86.

According to The Post, “a somber-looking” Trump was joined by former First Lady Melania Trump, sons Donald Jr., and Eric, daughter Ivanka and a number of others at St. Ignatius of Loyola Church on Park Avenue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

TRUMP TO REMAIN ON COLORADO BALLOT AFTER JUDGE REJECTS 14TH AMENDMENT CHALLENGE TO ELIGIBILITY

Trump waited with his family on the sidewalk outside to greet the hearse carrying Barry’s coffin before entering the church.

The Post reported that New York Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan performed the blessing over Barry’s body.

Barry was a former federal appellate judge who retired in April 2019, according to the New York Times. The newspaper, citing people familiar with the matter, reports that she passed away at her home in New York City’s Manhattan borough, with one person saying she was found Monday morning.

COULD EVANGELICAL LEADER’S ENDORSEMENT UPEND TRUMP’S MASSIVE LEAD BEFORE IOWA’S CAUCUS?

In 2016, Trump called his sister a “highly respected judge” while noting they disagree on public policy issues.

Four years later, Trump dismissed secret audio recordings released of Barry saying he had “no principles” and was “cruel.”

“Every day it’s something else, who cares?” Trump said in a statement at the time, according to the Washington Post.

LEFT-WING COMEDIAN MICHAEL RAPAPORT SAYS VOTING FOR TRUMP ‘ON THE TABLE’ IF ANTI SEMITISM NOT ADDRESSED IN US

The Washington Post’s story about the recordings appeared one day after the White House hosted a private memorial service for Robert Trump, the president’s younger brother, who died Aug. 15, 2020, at age 71.

During her legal career, Barry worked as a federal prosecutor before being nominated by then-President Ronald Reagan to the Federal District Court in New Jersey in 1983, the New York Times reported.

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In 1999, then-President Bill Clinton appointed her to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the newspaper added.

Fox News’ Greg Norman and Houston Keene contributed to this report.