NationalWatch

As the U.S. mulls over a plan to withdraw troops from Iraq, its Kurdish allies have a message: Don’t forget us. 

“This is not the time to reduce coalition forces in Iraq,” Treefa Aziz, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s special representative to the U.S., told Fox News Digital. 

“Extremist groups like ISIS and armed militias continue to pose a serious threat to the people of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.”

The U.S. announced plans to shrink the U.S. “footprint” in Iraq and end the current mission of coalition forces – including the Kurds – to fight ISIS, but declined to say how many of the 2,500 troops currently stationed there would remain. 

“A decade ago, Kurdish Peshmerga forces worked alongside U.S. troops to defeat ISIS and continue to actively combat ISIS remnants to prevent a resurgence of terror today,” Aziz said. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) “has been a reliable security partner for the United States and remains ready to enhance cooperation.”

But now, if Baghdad is pushing the U.S. out of Iraq, the U.S. could feel it must honor that request or risk making another enemy in the Middle East. The KRG says it would be “willing and able” to host U.S. coalition forces in its territory. 

The current mission is now set to end by September 2025, with a plan to keep the number of forces on the Iraqi side to back up the 900 U.S. troops in Syria until at least 2026. 

News of a plan that could amount to a significant drawdown of U.S. forces called to mind 2019, when former President Donald Trump announced plans to pull out of Syria and the Kurds felt abandoned by a partner they had fought alongside for years – leaving them open to an attack by Turkish forces.  

PENTAGON PLANS TO SHRINK US ‘FOOTPRINT’ IN IRAQ

Trump, at the time, left the Kurds with a warning to their longtime enemies: “I have told Turkey that if they do anything outside of what we would think is humane . . . they could suffer the wrath of an extremely decimated economy.”

Syrian Kurdish security forces stand by as former detainees suspected of being members of the Islamic State (IS) group are released in Syria’s northeastern city of Hasakeh on Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Delil souleiman/AFP via Getty Images)

The U.S. relationship with the Kurds – an indigenous group of daring fighters whose quest for their own formal state has been unsuccessful – spans back decades. 

When the Turks denied the U.S. passage into Iraq for the invasion in 2003, Iraqi Kurds helped the U.S. overthrow Saddam Hussein. 

The Kurds have fought with U.S. coalition forces since they reentered Iraq in 2014 to fight ISIS, and the U.S. pledged arms support and humanitarian aid. 

The group faces attacks from terror groups on all sides. And as Iran increasingly encroaches on the Iraqi government, Baghdad has the KRG in a choke-hold, officials say. 

US, IRAQ TEAM UP TO KILL 15 ISIS OPERATIVES

“There is growing concern regarding efforts to weaken the federal system in Iraq. The constitutional framework, which is designed to ensure shared governance, is disregarded,” one Kurdish official said.

“The continued suspension of oil exports from the Kurdistan region has placed significant economic strain. More than a year and half later, we have yet to see the resumption of these exports.” 

The KRG has been trying to work with the Iraqis on a power-sharing agreement with no real results.

Supporters of pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party chant slogans during the Newroz celebrations, in Istanbul, Turkey, on March 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

“Some of these actions appear to align with external influences rather than the broader national interest,” the official said, referring to Iranian influence. “With the assistance of our allies, we believe these issues can be resolvable through constructive dialogue and cooperation.”

The KRG is also asking the U.S. government to “honor its commitment” included in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to “provide the KRG with a comprehensive air defense system. 

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The law required the Department of Defense to submit and implement a plan for providing the Iraqi security forces and  Kurdistan Region with air defenses by July 2024. 

“As a steadfast U.S. ally that is regularly targeted by extremist violence, the KRG requires assurances that it will be protected from all threats, both internal and external,” said Aziz. 

Gen. Michael Kurilla, the commander of U.S. Central Command, told the House Armed Services Committee in March that ISIS-K, which launched a horrific attack in Moscow earlier this year, “retains the capability and the will to attack U.S. and Western interests abroad in as little as six months with little to no warning.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is facing heavy criticism after sending mixed messages on whether the Biden-Harris administration has been using FEMA resources to support migrants last week.

Jean-Pierre flatly denied that FEMA resources were going to migrants in a press conference last week, but she stated the opposite when asked about the issue in the fall of 2022.

“Former President Trump is accusing the Biden administration of using FEMA funding to support undocumented migrants.  How is the White House responding to that?” a reporter asked during a Friday press conference.

“I mean, it’s just categorically false. It is not true. It is a false statement,” Jean-Pierre responded, going on to cite a Washington Post fact-check article on the subject.

LAWMAKERS OUTRAGED OVER FEMA FUNDING CONCERNS

Social media critics then compared her statement to comments made in 2022, where she appeared to explicitly state that FEMA resources were available to illegal immigrants.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ‘FAILED TO ACT’ IN HURRICANE HELENE AFTERMATH: REP. CORY MILLS

She made the statement during a Sept. 16, 2022, press conference when Jean-Pierre was asked about assisting cities in handling the busloads of migrants being sent across the country from Texas.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre sent conflicting messages about whether FEMA funds are going to migrants. (White House)

“FEMA Regional Administrators have been meeting with city officials on site to coordinate — to coordinate available federal support from FEMA and other federal agencies,” Jean-Pierre told reporters at the time.

GEOGRAPHIC TERRITORY OF HURRICANE DISASTER IS ‘GIGANTIC’: REP JARED MOSKOWITZ

“Funding is also available through FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter program to eligible local governments and not-for-profit organizations upon request to support humanitarian relief for migrants,” she added.

Scrutiny on the Biden-Harris administration’s use of FEMA funds comes amid catastrophic flooding in North Carolina. Vice President Kamala Harris announced a $100 million package to support the state.

Critics pointed out, however, that the package was much smaller than the $157 million in foreign humanitarian support Harris had announced for Lebanon the same day.

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“The people of Lebanon are facing an increasingly dire humanitarian situation. I am concerned about the security and well-being of civilians suffering in Lebanon and will continue working to help meet the needs of all civilians there,” she wrote on X.

Vice President Kamala Harris joined a group of volunteers to assemble emergency relief kits on Saturday in North Carolina. (Pool)

“To that end, the United States will provide nearly $157 million in additional assistance to the people of Lebanon for essential needs such as food, shelter, water, protection, and sanitation to help those who have been displaced by the recent conflict. This additional support brings total U.S. assistance to Lebanon over the last year to over $385 million,” she added.

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

A 100-foot wide “Vote for Trump” sign in upstate New York is stirring controversy after the City of Amsterdam claimed it’s a big, glowing code violation.

Sticker Mule CEO Anthony Constantino told Fox News Digital he installed the sign on top of the old Fownes glove factory to symbolize the return of American manufacturing and what he calls “the triumph of the underdog against insurmountable adversity.” 

“I think that’s what President Trump did. He triumphed against massive adversity. He’s still doing that with bullets flying by his head,” Constantino said. “And we triumph too. Nobody thought we could build a massive sticker company or a massive tech company in upstate New York.”

But his company now faces adversity in the form of legal action by the City of Amsterdam to prevent the “displaying” and “illumination” of the pro-Trump sign, which is visible from the New York State Thruway. 

TRUMP’S RETURN TO BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA, SITE OF FIRST ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT, IS ‘GUTSY,’ SUPPORTERS SAY

Sticker Mule installed a 100-foot “Vote for Trump” sign on the tallest building in Amsterdam, N.Y.  (Sticker Mule)

According to court documents, the sign violates city code because it “presents a dangerous distraction and impacts traffic flow,” especially at night when it is illuminated. Local officials allege Sticker Mule was informed it would need a permit and several variances to install the sign in August, but the company never responded before the sign went up Oct. 1.

Constantino and his legal team contest the city’s claims. The CEO believes Amsterdam’s Democratic Party-endorsed independent mayor is anti-Trump and has vowed to fight a temporary injunction that requires the sign to be covered up. Amsterdam Mayor Michael Cinquanti did not respond to requests for comment. 

Dressed in a black T-shirt that said “Trump For Peace,” Constantino describes Sticker Mule as “the internet’s fastest growing printing company” with 1,200 employees in 39 countries. His online business began by making stickers but has since expanded to print T-shirts, buttons and magnets and even operates its own online store platform, Sticker Mule Stores. He is proud to report that Sticker Mule has created nearly 1,000 manufacturing jobs in the U.S. over the past few years.

“I like to move fast and do interesting things,” Constantino told Fox News Digital. Success in business gave him the means to reinvest in his hometown of Amsterdam, and the Fownes factory was one of several buildings he bought and restored, filling them with machines and workers. 

FORMER NFL STAR AND TRUMP SUPPORTER ANTONIO BROWN JOINS VOTER REGISTRATION EFFORT IN KEY SWING STATE

Sticker Mule CEO Anthony Constantino speaks at an event in New York.  (Paul Antonelli)

“Fownes was a glove manufacturer that left my hometown when I was 2 years old in 1984,” he said, explaining that Amsterdam was “decimated” by job loss when the factory, with its iconic “Fownes” sign, closed its doors.  

“This Fownes sign for years symbolized American manufacturing going to China,” Constantino said. Now, the $150,000 “Vote for Trump” sign sits in its place, heralding a new era of American manufacturing jobs.

The impossible-to-miss sign attracted “major interest,” according to Constantino. To celebrate its installation, his political action committee, StickerPAC, plans to host a “Trump Sign Lighting Party” Oct. 7 at 6 p.m. A news release about the event says UFC superstars Henry Cejudo, Kelvin Gastelum and Tracy Cortez will join Constantino to speak and support the “historic event.” 

According to a representative for Constantino, House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., is also expected to speak at the event. Stefanik’s office did not respond to a request for comment. 

“The enthusiasm just went through the roof. We’ve got three UFC superstars that wanted to come see it. We’ve got people that want to come from all over the state of New York, people that want to fly in or drive in from all over the country, really, to see the sign get lit up,” Constantino said.

‘TIGHTEST RACE SINCE 2000’: HARRIS-TRUMP SHOWDOWN HITS FINAL STRETCH UNTIL ELECTION DAY

The “Vote for Trump” sign in Amsterdam, N.Y., has been covered after a court-issued injunction. (Paul Antonelli)

But the festivities may be cut short by legal action from Amsterdam. On Oct. 3, the city code enforcer sent a notice of violation to Sticker Mule that gave the company two days to remove the “Vote for Trump” sign. The city also requested an injunction from the Supreme Court of the State of New York to prevent the sign from being displayed.

“The affidavit claims, without evidence, that the city will suffer irreparable harm because the sign is a dangerous distraction for drivers due to its novelty and the fear that people will stop to take pictures of it,” said Sal Ferlazzo, general counsel for Sticker Mule. “The court, based solely on the city’s presentation and without any opportunity for me to respond, did initially grant a preliminary injunction and restraining order.” 

A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 8 at 10 a.m. Until that time, the court ordered Sticker Mule to refrain from “displaying any sign and/or illumination of any sign on the roof of 26 Elk Street.” 

On the advice of legal counsel, Sticker Mule has temporarily covered up the pro-Trump sign to comply with the court order.

TRUMP-VANCE TICKET HAS DONE COMBINED 63 INTERVIEWS SINCE AUGUST COMPARED TO 24 FOR HARRIS-WALZ

The illuminated “Vote for Trump” sign at 26 Elk St., Amsterdam, N.Y.  (@stickermule | Instagram)

“I think it’s deeply disturbing,” Constantino said of the city’s action. “I brought nearly a thousand jobs to my hometown, which was decimated when the Fownes company and other companies left. And I’m trying to do something positive, exciting for the community.” 

He suggested Mayor Cinquanti has “TDS” — Trump derangement syndrome — and is fighting the sign for political reasons.

“They do know that they are in violation,” Cinquanti told The Daily Gazette. “They’ve been cited, and we’ll just let that play out as we would with any code violation.”

The mayor, who according to the newspaper has previously called Trump his least favorite president in American history, insisted the city’s objections to the sign are about safety, not politics. 

“I don’t care what the sign says, but distracting the attention of drivers on the freeway is something that needs to be looked at, and that’s what we’re doing,” he told the outlet. 

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“Any sign that represents a hazard to the safety of drivers concerns me,” he added. “Anyone who violates city codes is an issue that we deal with, and we are in the process of dealing with it and trying to alleviate what I consider a hazard.”

Regardless of the city’s objections, Constantino said Monday’s event will continue as planned, “featuring UFC Superstars, Free Fish Filets, Cybertrucks and a beautiful Trump sign.”

“The sign is a beautiful sign whether you’re a Democrat or Republican. The sign is a big win for upstate New York, a big win for Amsterdam, New York. It’s a beautiful and uplifting sign. And I think it’s going to become a major tourist attraction, especially if Trump wins,” Constantino said. 

“It’s going to be a unifying event. I’m inviting Democrats and Republicans alike to come watch me unveil the sign. We don’t want all the division going on in this country anymore.” 

A growing group of Muslim voters in Georgia say they will not back either Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump in next month’s election because of both candidates’ support of Israel amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Harris has said she supports Israel’s right to defend itself and would not withhold weapons from the country, but has also called for a ceasefire in Gaza, while Trump said recently he is Israel’s “protector” and reaffirmed his support for the Jewish state.

In battleground Georgia, where Trump narrowly lost in 2020 to President Joe Biden, the Peach State could help determine whether Harris or Trump wins the presidency.

The Muslim population in Georgia could also impact which candidate wins the state’s 16 electoral votes. Muslim voters across the country are virtually tied between Harris and Trump, with Harris only securing a single-point advantage, according to a recent poll by the Arab American Institute.

KAMALA HARRIS’ SUPPORT WITH ARAB AND MUSLIM COMMUNITIES IN MICHIGAN IS ‘TENUOUS’: DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST

A growing group of Muslim voters in Georgia say they will not back Vice President Harris or former President Trump over their support of Israel. (Getty Images)

Kristen Truitt, a Muslim American voter in Atlanta, has voted for Democrats in prior elections but now says the party will not have his support over its position on Israel.

“Just to give unlimited funds and access to Israel, I think that is totally ridiculous,” Truitt told Fox 5 Atlanta.

This comes just ahead of the one-year mark of the ongoing war in Gaza between Israeli forces and Hamas terrorists. The conflict began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel and took more than 250 hostages, which prompted retaliatory action from Israel’s military.

The Hamas-run government’s Gaza Health Ministry estimates that more than 41,000 people have been killed in the conflict, although it does not distinguish between civilian and terrorist deaths. More than 1,500 people have reportedly been killed in Israel since the start of the conflict, with most of them being killed on Oct. 7 and its immediate aftermath.

TRUMP SAYS ISRAEL SHOULD HIT IRAN’S NUCLEAR FACILITIES, SLAMMING BIDEN’S RESPONSE

Vice President Kamala Harris during a campaign event at the Philip Chosky Theatre in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (Rebecca Droke/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The growing group of Muslim voters in Georgia and across the country have said they will not vote for Harris or Trump due to both sides’ vocal support of Israel in its war in Gaza, and the conflict is now expanding to include Israel attacking Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanon.

“What we’re trying to say is we should really do away with the logic of voting for the ‘lesser of two evils,'” Kareem Rosshandler, Georgia co-chair of the “Abandon Harris” campaign, told Fox 5.

The “Abandon Harris” campaign group is urging Muslims to vote third-party to send a message to Republicans and Democrats that they need to earn the votes of the Muslim community.

“I think the main one is to say that the Muslim community in the United States won’t be taken for granted,” Rosshandler said.

Rosshandler said the group has already secured commitments from more than 10,000 Muslim voters to support third-party candidates. Some third-party candidates, including Libertarian Chase Oliver and the Green Party’s Jill Stein, have been critical of Israel’s war in Gaza.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a town hall event in Fayetteville, N.C., Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)

The loss of Muslim voters is expected to hurt Harris more than Trump, as the Republican candidate has previously struggled to secure Muslim votes.

“That would essentially have a greater adverse impact on the Harris-Waltz ticket than it would on Trump-Vance,” Emory University assistant professor of law Alicia Hughes, who is also a voting expert, told Fox 5 Atlanta. “Trump, historically, has not been able to count on those votes.”

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Hughes also says that if Harris or Trump were more vocally critical of Israel, it may not help their election chances either.

“There’s a great possibility that you would lose more from the change than you would actually gain,” she said.

Absentee voting in Maine is getting underway, with the state’s four Electoral College votes up for grabs and a number of other national, statewide and local races on the ballot.

Maine is one of two states in the U.S. — the other is Nebraska — that does not use a winner-take-all system for all its electors. In the presidential race, two electors are given to the winner of the statewide popular vote, while one elector is awarded to Maine’s District 1 and District 2, respectively.

A “vote here” sign at the entrance of the Waterville Junior High School polling station during the election in Waterville, Maine, Nov. 3, 2020.   (Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz)

Maine is mostly Democratic, but its vast 2nd District is critical for a Trump victory

Maine is one of several Democratic-leaning northeastern states. President Biden won here by about nine points in 2020, improving on Hillary Clinton’s margin four years earlier. And it hasn’t voted for a Republican at the statewide level since 1988. It is ranked Likely D on the Fox News Power Rankings.

Like Nebraska, it also allocates its electoral votes by congressional district. The winner of the statewide tally receives two votes, with another vote for the winner of the presidential tally in each of its two districts.

The small coastal 1st District is solid blue territory. The 2nd District, which is predominantly rural and represents almost all the land area of the state, leans conservative.

Trump won the 2nd District by 7.4 points in his last race, and it’s ranked Likely R this cycle. The former president will look for a win here to get one step closer to the 270 electoral votes he needs to win the presidency.

Key downballot races in today’s early voting states

The same district is also home to a competitive House race.

Maine’s 2nd District: Incumbent Rep. Jared Golden is one of five Democrats running in districts Trump won in the last presidential election (Golden won by 6 points). The former Marine made headlines this year when he said he “didn’t know” whether he would vote for Biden again and was one of the first Democrats to question Biden’s mental fitness. This time, he’s up against Maine State Representative and former NASCAR driver Austin Theriault, who says he wants “more balance and less extremism” in politics. This race is a Power Rankings toss-up.

How to vote in Maine

This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Maine.

TRUMP CAN WIN ON THESE 3 KEY ISSUES, MICHIGAN VOTERS TELL FOX

Voting by mail

Absentee ballots are beginning to be sent to voters after clerks were required to have received printed ballots to be sent out by Saturday. Applicants do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. The state must receive a ballot application by Oct. 31, and that ballot must be delivered to county officials by Nov. 5.

A voter arrives at a polling location to vote in Portland, Maine, Nov. 3, 2009. (Reuters/Joel Page)

OBAMA TO CAMPAIGN FOR HARRIS IN PENNSYLVANIA, OTHER KEY STATES

Early in-person voting

Maine counties offer early in-person voting, but the start date varies by location. Check the state’s website for more information. Residents may vote in person with an absentee ballot until the Thursday before Election Day.

A box for ballots in a polling area ahead of Election Day at Waterville Junior High School in Waterville, Maine, Nov. 2, 2020.   (Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz)

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Voter registration

Maine residents can register to vote online or by mail through Oct. 15. They can also register in person during early voting and on Election Day.

WISCONSIN — With only one month until the presidential election, very few voters are still uncertain about their choice, but in a battleground state like Wisconsin that has flipped in the past two elections, those undecided voters could make the difference. 

Estimates of still-undecided voters in Wisconsin are in the low single digits, with the latest Marquette Law School poll reporting that just 4% identified themselves as such. 

Fox News Digital spoke with two such voters, who laid out why they are still holding out and what they need to seal the deal. 

TRUMP ATTORNEYS ARGUE JACK SMITH’S OBSTRUCTION CHARGES BE DISMISSED, CITING SUPREME COURT’S ‘FISCHER’ DECISION

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are each fighting to win swing state Wisconsin, which has gone both Democrat and Republican in the past two elections. (Reuters/IStock)

“I got to make up my mind when I fill out the paper,” said 86-year-old Edgar Schiekiera of Waukesha, Wisconsin. 

“I’m going to throw a dart,” he laughed. 

Schiekiera is an immigrant from Germany who noted that he grew up during the Second World War. For him, former President Trump’s comments on foreign policy have been troubling, enough so to make him hesitate to support Trump for a third time. 

“I voted for Trump the first year. I voted for him the second year. I don’t — this time, I don’t know,” he said. 

“I’m from Germany, and things that he’s said about [the] NATO Alliance — he wants quit it, and he doesn’t know what to do,” he said of what’s making him unsure of Trump. “A real danger lives overseas.”

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN ENDORSES KAMALA HARRIS IN NEW INSTAGRAM VIDEO: ‘VISION OF AMERICA’

Undecided voters spoke with Fox News Digital about what they are hoping to see in the remaining weeks of the campaign. (Fox News Digital)

Schiekiera was also concerned about what Trump has said with relation to conflicts around the world, particularly involving Ukraine and Iran. “He can stop the war?” he asked, in reference to Trump’s own claims about the war between Ukraine and Russia. “He cannot stop the war.”

However, he added that “Biden or Kamala Harris—she doesn’t know what’s going to happen,” either. According to him, he isn’t confident that either of the top candidates can effectively lead on the world stage in the current geopolitical climate. 

There are other issues that Schiekiera is taking into consideration as well, such as abortion. “I got my own ideas,” he said. 

He noted that Trump has appeared to change positions on “issues nationally [and] worldwide.”

“Trump’s gone one way, and then he [goes] to another way. He’s undecided what he’s going to do, really.”

DEMOCRATS WORRY ABOUT HARRIS’ CAUTIOUS MEDIA APPROACH IN TIGHT 2024 RACE: ‘VOTERS DESERVE BETTER’

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump meets with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Trump Tower, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in New York.  (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

In contrast, Keon Pierce of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, isn’t considering Trump at all. But he is not sold on Vice President Kamala Harris either. 

“I’m leaning Kamala, but I have to see. She’s got to convince me a little more,” he told Fox News Digital.

“I’m waiting to see who has the best — the best protection for different groups of people. You know, the best rights and best laws that can help all groups of people.”

Pierce explained that he wanted to be sure the president would “help all people. Asian people, Indian people, Black people, everybody.”

When Fox News Digital noted that Harris is both Black and Indian, he responded, “We had a Black president before, and it didn’t necessarily translate to helping the people,” in reference to former President Barack Obama. 

TRUMP CAN WIN ON THESE THREE KEY ISSUES, MICHIGAN VOTERS TELL FOX

Jill Stein is running on the Green Party’s ticket. (Getty Images)

He said he was “open to” Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who will appear on the Wisconsin ballot after a court challenge to see her ousted was denied. 

“It’s possible that I wouldn’t vote as well,” he added. 

As for the Milwaukee area, Pierce explained, “It’s bad here. It’s really segregated here, and opportunities are limited.”

He said he needs to hear more about what will be done to bring more “opportunities, jobs, education, [and] a better school system in the inner city.”

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In the latest Marquette Law School poll, Harris beat Trump among Wisconsin registered voters, 49% to 44%, with third-party options included. 

For the poll, 882 registered voters were interviewed between Sept. 18 and 26. It had a margin of error of +/-4.4 percentage points. 

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

EXCLUSIVE: Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is criticizing the Biden administration’s response to Hurricane Helene while warning the price tag for its recovery could be “one of the most expensive” the U.S. has seen.

“There were some pretty ominous projections, and so Congress acted appropriately,” Johnson told Fox News Digital Friday evening, noting lawmakers freed up roughly $20 billion in immediate funding for FEMA in last month’s short-term federal funding bill. “But, so far, [President Biden, Vice President Harris and Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas] have failed in that response.”

Johnson said he was “alarmed and disappointed” by Biden officials’ comments immediately after the storm suggesting FEMA was too low on funds to deal with Helene’s wrath. 

Mayorkas said “we are meeting the immediate needs” of the hurricane earlier this week but said “FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season.”

NORTH CAROLINA REELING FROM DEVASTATING HELENE AS DEATH TOLL CLIMBS: ‘NEVER SEEN ANYTHING QUITE LIKE THIS’

Speaker Mike Johnson spoke with Fox News Digital after he toured areas in Florida and Georgia hit by Hurricane Helene. (Getty Images)

Biden suggested earlier this week he may want Congress to return for an emergency session to pass a supplemental disaster aid bill.

“They are scrambling to cover their egregious errors and mistakes. And there’s an effort to blame others or blame circumstances when this is just purely a lack of leadership and response,” the speaker said. He noted Mayorkas said in July that FEMA was “tremendously prepared” for weather crises this year. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and DHS for comment.

Johnson also argued lawmakers could not act until an assessment by state and local authorities produced projections of how much needs to be allocated.

“I don’t think those estimates could conceivably be completed until at least 30 days — until after the election, and that’s when Congress will be back in session again,” he said.

HURRICANE HELENE: NORTH CAROLINA RESIDENTS FIGHT FOR THEIR SURVIVAL AS BASIC GOODS BECOME SCARCE

The Republican leader is no stranger to hurricanes. He noted his native Louisiana is still dealing with the damage from Hurricane Katrina today, but his prediction was dire when asked about the cost of recovery after Helene ravaged the Southeast, killing more than 200 people.

He said it could be “one of the most expensive storms that the country has ever encountered.”

“It affects at least six states — a broad swath of destruction across many, many areas — and I think that’s why it’s going to take a while to assess,” Johnson said.

Johnson criticized President Biden’s response to the storm. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

“As soon as those numbers are ready, Congress will be prepared to act,” Johnson vowed at another point.

“I certainly hope the administration is working overtime right now to … help get them prepared.”

As part of immediate response efforts, Johnson has toured areas in Georgia and Florida pummeled by the storm and is poised to visit hard-hit North Carolina in the coming days, he said.

Criticism over FEMA’s response has prompted some conservatives to accuse the Biden administration of diverting disaster aid funds toward supporting illegal immigrants at the border through the Shelter and Services Program (SSP), which was allocated roughly $650 million in the last fiscal year.

TRUMP TARGETS BIDEN, HARRIS OVER FEDERAL RESPONSE TO HURRICANE: ‘INCOMPETENTLY MANAGED’

Both the White House and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have vigorously denied any link between disaster aid and SSP beyond both being administered by FEMA and have said claims of any disaster relief dollars being used to support migrant housing services are false.

“No disaster relief funding at all was used to support migrants’ housing and services. None. At. All,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said in a memo on Friday. “In fact, the funding for communities to support migrants is directly appropriated by Congress to CBP, and is merely administered by FEMA. The funding is in no way related to FEMA’s response and recovery efforts.”

Johnson did not give a definitive answer when asked about the concerns echoed on the right, but he accused Mayorkas of mismanaging DHS.

Homes in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene Oct. 2, 2024, in Chimney Rock Village, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

“There is a lot of controversy about the nonsense that the Mayorkas Department of Homeland Security has engaged in. With their … dangerous open-borders policy and then the relocation efforts of taking illegal aliens and transporting them around the country,” Johnson said. “We have been working every day, House Republicans, to stop the madness.

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“And, so, what happened is that FEMA, because it’s a division of DHS, it’s very clear that they should be focused on helping Americans recover from disasters and not straining resources that go to other programs that are catering to illegals.”

When pressed on whether DHS was able to divert congressionally appropriated funding for disaster aid into SSP, Johnson said, “There are different programs that have different funding.”

He pointed out that House Republicans are seeking to defund the SSP program in the current federal funding discussions for fiscal year 2025.

“We are doing everything within our power to prevent these abuses of the law and abuses of taxpayer dollars from the White House and the Democratic Party,” Johnson said.

Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw contributed to this report

Saturday marks one month to go until Election Day on November 5.

As the presidential campaign enters the home stretch, it remains a margin-of-error race nationally and in the seven key battleground states likely to determine the winner of the election between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump.

Both national party chairs are confident of their chances.

“We’re playing offense right now,” Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley said in a Fox News Digital interview earlier this week. “We feel very, very good about the map.”

CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN THE 2024 ELECTION

Vice President Kamala Harris, right, and former President Donald Trump during their first and likely only debate, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

His counterpart, Democratic National Committee chair Jaime Harrison told reporters on Friday that “the enthusiasm is palatable in our party.”

But Harrison emphasized that “we know that this election will come down to the margins, and we’re not taking any vote for granted.”

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING IN THE HARRIS-TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Since replacing President Biden atop the Democrats’ 2024 ticket in mid-July, Harris has enjoyed a wave of momentum and enjoyed a surge in fundraising. In the all-important cash dash, Harris and the DNC appear to hold a large advantage over Trump and the RNC.

And that’s helped bolster what was already a very impressive ground game organizational advantage the Democrats held over the Republicans.

Vice President Kamala Harris waves during a campaign event in Madison, Wisconsin, on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024.  (Alex Wroblewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“We started laying the foundation well before 2024 by investing in our ground game,” Harrison highlighted. “We have been on the ground since the earliest days of this campaign getting our message out.”

The DNC chair touted that there are “more than 312 coordinated offices across the battleground states,” with “over 2,000 coordinated staff…doing the hard work on the ground.”

IN BID FOR DISGRUNTLED REPUBLICANS, HARRIS TEAMS UP WITH CHENEY IN GOP BIRTHPLACE 

But Whatley wasn’t phased.

“The Democrats have a ton of money. The Democrats always have a ton of money,” Whatley said, noting that Trump was outraised in both the 2016 and 2020 elections.

The RNC chair emphasized that “we have the resources we need to get our message out to our voters and to every voter. I feel very, very comfortable about the campaign plan.”

 Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump departs a campaign event at the Central Wisconsin Airport on September 7, 2024 in Mosinee, Wisconsin.  (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

And while the Harris campaign and allied groups have outspent Trump and his aligned groups in the ad wars, Whatley pointed to the former president’s ability to capture free media.

“Donald Trump is out there talking every single day to the voters in a way that only he can. He can generate news. He can go out there and generate social media hits. He can communicate directly with the American voters like no other politician of our generation, so it’s a huge advantage for us,” he said.

Veteran Democratic pollster Chris Anderson, who conducted the Fox News Poll along with longtime Republican pollster Daron Shaw, said with four weeks to go, “my expectations of plausible outcomes range from a narrow Electoral College victory for Trump to a modestly more comfortable victory for Harris.”

TRUMP UPS HIS ANTE IN THE 2024 FUNDRAISING FIGHT WITH HARRIS

But while Harris holds a slight two-point edge in an average of the national surveys, Shaw noted that “the issue profile of this election continues to favor Trump.”

Veteran political scientist and New England College president Wayne Lesperance said that “this presidential contest is shaping up to be one of the closest in history, with the results likely to be slow-coming.”

And longtime Republican consultant Matt Gorman, a veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns, highlighted that “we’re slated for the tightest race since 2000.”

“There are no more debates. There’s going to be a vacuum of news,” he said. “It’s integral the Trump campaign fill that vacuum with a message that puts Harris on the defensive.”

Republican Sen. JD Vance of Ohio (left) and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, the two major party running mates, face off in the vice presidential debate, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City. (Michele Crowe/CBS via Getty Images)

Trump, like Biden, is a well-known commodity. 

But Harris, even after being in the spotlight for nearly two months, is still less well-defined.

“The more voters get to know Vice President Harris, the more they like her,” Democratic strategist and communicator Chris Moyer argued. 

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“It’s imperative that she continues to get in front of swing state voters, and she could afford to do more in the final weeks,” he offered. “She should barnstorm the key states, filling up her schedule with rallies and local interviews and off-the-record stops that produce shareable clips that bounce around social media. They’ve run a nearly perfect race to this point, but many voters still want to know more about who she is, what she believes, and what she will do as president.”

With one month to go, there’s always the possibility of an October surprise that could rock the White House race.

Dennis Daggett, executive vice president of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), speaks to picketing workers outside of the APM container terminal at the Port of Newark in Newark, New Jersey, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. Dockworkers walked out of every major port on the US East and Gulf coasts for the first time in nearly 50 years, before quickly suspending the strike. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The dockworkers strike earlier this week – which closed major ports – could have wreaked havoc on the nation’s supply chain. It could have turned into an October surprise, but the strike was suspended after just two days.

Hurricane Helene, which tore a path of destruction through the southeast, also made an impact on the presidential contest – and there were memories of how Superstorm Sandy rocked the 2012 White House race between then-President Obama and GOP nominee Mitt Romney.

And the strife in the Middle East – between Israel, Iran, and Hezbollah, also threatens to upend the election.

It’s important to note that while Election Day is a month away, in over two-dozen states, early in-person voting, absentee balloting, and voting by mail, are already underway.

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

Former President Trump on Friday said that Israel should attack Iran’s nuclear facilities while mocking President Biden’s answer earlier this week on the subject.  

While speaking at a campaign event in Fayetteville, North Carolina, he said when Biden was asked about Israel attacking Iran, the president answered, “’As long as they don’t hit the nuclear stuff.’ That’s the thing you wanna hit, right? I said, ‘I think he’s got that one wrong. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to hit?’” 

Trump went on to say that nuclear proliferation is the “biggest risk we have.” 

TRUMP SLAMS THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S RESPONSE TO HURRICANE HELENE

Former President Trump on Friday during a campaign event in Fayetteville, N.C., said that Israel should attack Iran’s nuclear facilities while mocking President Biden’s answer earlier this week on the subject.  (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)

The former president said he rebuilt the “entire military, jets everything, I built it, including nuclear” while he was president. “I hated to build the nuclear, but I got to know firsthand the power of that stuff, and I’ll tell you what: we have to be totally prepared. We have to be absolutely prepared.”

He said when Biden was asked about Israel and Iran: “His answer should have been “‘Hit the nuclear first, worry about the rest later.'”

Trump made similar comments in an interview with Fox News on Thursday, telling correspondent Bill Melugin Biden’s response on Israel attacking Iran was the “craziest thing I’ve ever heard. That’s the biggest risk we have. The biggest risk we have is nuclear.” 

TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISORS MOCK BIDEN’S WARNINGS TO ISRAEL TO STICK TO ‘PROPORTIONAL’ IRAN RESPONSE

Many rockets, fired from Iran, are seen over Jerusalem from Hebron, West Bank, Tuesday. The Israeli army announced that missiles were fired from Iran towards Israel and sirens were heard across the country, especially in Tel Aviv.  (Wisam Hashlamoun/Anadolu via Getty Images)

He continued, “I mean, to make the statement, ‘Please leave their nuclear alone.’ I would tell you that that’s not the right answer. That was the craziest answer because, you know what? Soon, they’re going to have nuclear weapons. And then you’re going to have problems.” 

Former deputy director of national intelligence Kash Patel, who served under Trump, said this week: “Iran launched a war into Israel, so to say that the Israelis who are defending themselves and our hostages shouldn’t attack sites in Iran that could kill them – especially when you’re the one who gave Iran $7 billion as a commander in chief and then allowed them to acquire nuclear materials – is wildly political.”

Biden told reporters this week that he and the other members of the G-7 were in agreement that Israel should have a “measured” response to Iran.  (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Following Tuesday’s attack by Iran on Israel, Biden told reporters at Joint Base Andrews, “the answer is no,” of Israel potentially targeting the country’s nuclear program. 

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He added that he and the other members of the G-7 all “agree that [Israel has] a right to respond, but they should respond proportionally,”

A Nebraska Senate race has emerged as one to watch with only weeks until the election, as an independent candidate with controversial backing vies to unseat Sen. Debbie Fischer, R-Neb.

Dan Osborn, a mechanic and union leader, is running as an independent against Fischer, and has prompted two prominent political handicappers to change their ratings of the race, indicating heightened competition. 

Both the Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics recently shifted the race from “Solid” or “Safe” Republican to “Likely Republican.” The race is now alongside that of Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., in each rating system. Sabato’s Crystal Ball also ranks the Nebraska Senate race in the same category as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, but Cook has moved the Texas match-up to a more competitive placement. 

TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM ONLY VP DEBATE BETWEEN VANCE AND WALZ BEFORE ELECTION

Outside groups spending heavily in Dan Osborn’s, right, favor are drawing much of their funding from a George Soros-linked dark money group and another Democratic megadonor. (Reuters/AP)

Osborn is being backed by two outside PACs called Retire Career Politicians and the Nebraska Railroaders for Public Safety. The former has spent $3,004,274 on behalf of Osborn and the latter has doled out more than $400,000 in support of his candidacy so far, as well as over $20,000 explicitly against Fischer, according to OpenSecrets.

Both PACs have recently come under scrutiny for their controversial monetary backers. Democrat megadonor and Vice President Kamala Harris supporter Reid Hoffman, who co-founded LinkedIn, gave $50,000 to Nebraska Railroaders for Public Safety last year. 

AS LEADER RACE LOOMS, JOHN THUNE TAKES SENATE MAP BY STORM TO BOOST GOP CANDIDATES

Sens. Jack Reed, R.I., and Debbie Fischer, R-Neb. (Reuters)

Retire Career Politicians received $800,000 from the controversial dark money group the Sixteen Thirty Fund in a matter of months. The group is operated by left-wing Washington, D.C., political consulting firm, Arabella Advisers.

While the Sixteen Thirty Fund does not reveal its donors’ identities, billionaire George Soros’ group, the Open Society Foundations, has granted the fund more than $75 million between 2016 and 2022, according to Open Society Foundations’ website. 

The Sixteen Thirty Fund also gave $50,000 to the Nebraska Railroaders for Public Safety. 

KAMALA HARRIS ISN’T ALONE: VULNERABLE DEMS WANT CURRENT FILIBUSTER GONE

Democrat donor George Soros has long used his organization to grant money to groups that back Democratic causes and candidates. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)

Mike Helmink, the co-founder and treasurer of Nebraska Railroaders for Public Safety told Fox News Digital they “reached out to everybody, anybody and everybody to come in on railroad safety issues and independent politics. And what we found is a lot of people on the progressive side and the Democrat side want to participate. And what we’ve found is the Republicans have really circled the wagons around Deb and all of the money and all the commits have gone to Deb.”

He pointed out that without a Democrat candidate in the race, “a lot of consultants and firms don’t have commits if they’re more of a Democrat leaning firm.”

“We really tried to get everybody and get a cross section and really build an organization going forward. You know, we would like to build this for the future, not just a one time and we’re done. You know, we would like to get this and be successful and get a win, get Dan elected and then continue moving forward on the independents and also on railroad safety,” he explained.

Fischer told Fox News Digital, “I think Nebraskans are going to be really, really interested in learning more about the dark money that is spending millions of dollars his way.” 

“Democrat dark money groups are spending millions of dollars backing Bernie Sanders acolyte Dan Osborn because he is a true radical. Osborn supports amnesty for illegal immigrants, has called for illegal immigrants to fill open jobs in Nebraska instead of Americans, and even wants to give Social Security benefits to illegals. Those aren’t Nebraska values,” National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Communications Director Mike Berg said in a statement. 

One of Osborn’s ads notably takes shots at Fischer for donations to her campaign from lobbyists and special interest groups, comparing her to a race car driver with patches on her jacket. “The only thing on the back of my jacket is Nebraska,” he said in the spot. 

JOHN CORNYN FLEXES FUNDRAISING CHOPS AS BATTLE TO SUCCEED MITCH MCCONNELL RAMPS UP

The independent candidate has made his non-affiliation with a political party central to his campaign. However, this has been dashed by reporting from two outlets suggesting that Osborn was once a Democrat and that he did not consider himself an independent until 2016.

“I became an independent in 2016, really, after the Trump-Hillary debates. I just kind of became disenfranchised with the two parties, and it all seemed a little fake to me,” he previously told Semafor.

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But his campaign has disputed this and claimed that he was misquoted. Osborn told a local outlet, “We were talking about how traditionally people in labor are Democrats.” 

Retire Career Politicians and Osborn’s campaign did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication. 

Former President Donald Trump let loose on former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney following her endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris.

Citing her historic defeat by a 2-to-1 margin in 2022 — and the controversial leadership of her father, Vice President Dick Cheney, during the U.S. invasion of the Middle East — Trump called the former Wyoming Republican a “low IQ war hawk.”

“Liz Cheney lost her Congressional Seat by the largest margin in the history of Congress for a sitting Representative. The people of Wyoming are really smart!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

KAMALA HARRIS TEAMS UP WITH LIZ CHENEY IN BIRTHPLACE OF REPUBLICAN PARTY

Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump delivers remarks to the press at Trump Tower in New York City. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

He continued, “She is a low IQ War Hawk that, as a member of the J6 Unselect Committee of Political Hacks and Thugs, ILLEGALLY DESTROYED & DELETED all documents, information, and evidence.”

Cheney, a one-time rising conservative star in the GOP, in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 riot on the U.S. Capitol vowed to do everything she can to prevent Trump from returning to power.

The former representative campaigned for Harris in battleground Wisconsin on Thursday — pushing a message of unity against their mutual enemy’s campaign to return to the Oval Office.

The campaign event took place in Ripon, where a one-room schoolhouse was designated a national historic landmark due to its role in holding a series of meetings in 1854 that led to the formation of the Republican Party.

NIKKI HALEY DEFENDS TRUMP SUPPORT AFTER BEING CALLED OUT BY LIZ CHENEY: ‘THIS IS ABOUT AMERICA’

Former Congresswoman Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., speaks at a campaign event for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at Ripon College in Ripon, Wis. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

“I have never voted for a Democrat, but this year I am proudly casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris,” Cheney told the Wisconsin audience as she formally endorsed the Democrat presidential nominee. “As a conservative, as a patriot, as a mother, as someone who reveres our Constitution, I am honored to join her in this urgent cause.”

Cheney, who has been vocal in emphasizing the importance of defending the nation’s democratic process and of putting country before party, was one of only two Republicans who served on a special select committee organized by House Democrats that investigated the riot at the Capitol.

Trump’s social media remarks lumped together Liz Cheney and her former vice president father — who has also endorsed Harris — writing them off as “two fools” who are “suffering gravely from Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

“Her father, Dick, was a leader of our ridiculous journey into the Middle East, where Trillions of Dollars were spent, millions of people were killed – and for what? NOTHING! 

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Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, left, arrives to speak at a campaign event with former Congresswoman Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., right, at Ripon College in Ripon, Wis. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

“Well, today, these two fools, because the Republican Party no longer wants them, endorsed the most Liberal Senator in the U.S. Senate, further Left than even Pocahontas or Crazy Bernie Sanders – Lyin’ Kamala Harris. What a pathetic couple that is, both suffering gravely from Trump Derangement Syndrome. Good Luck to them both!!!”

Cheney on Thursday warned that “our republic faces a threat unlike any we have faced before: a former president who attempted to stay in power by unraveling the foundations of our republic.”

She argued that Trump “can never be trusted with power again” and emphasized that “in this election, putting patriotism ahead of partisanship is not an aspiration, it is our duty.”

“What January 6 shows us is there is not an ounce, not an ounce, of compassion in Donald Trump. He is petty. He is vindictive. He is cruel. And Donald Trump is not fit to lead this good and great nation,” Cheney said.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Melania Trump is not the only first lady to express pro-choice views. She joins several former Republican first ladies who have shared similar perspectives, often in their memoirs, despite this stance historically contrasting with the GOP platform.

Other spouses of Republican presidents, such as Pat Nixon, Betty Ford, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush and Laura Bush, have been recorded either during or after their husbands’ tenure in office expressing pro-choice views.

“I feel very strongly that it was the best thing in the world when the Supreme Court voted to legalize abortion and, in my words, bring it out of the backwoods and put it in the hospital where it belongs,” Betty Ford said in a CBS News’ “60 Minutes” interview in 1975, two years after Roe v. Wade was handed down.

MELANIA TRUMP’S ABORTION VIEWS IN NEW MEMOIR SPUR OUTRAGE FROM PRO-LIFERS: ‘SHE IS WRONG’

Melania Trump arrives on Day 4 of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on July 18, 2024. (REUTERS/Jeenah Moon)

Following Ford’s comments on premarital sex, marijuana and abortion during the CBS interview, then-President Gerald Ford reportedly joked that she had cost him votes.

As a more conservative first lady, Nancy Reagan avoided taking a public stance against abortion that would put her at odds with former President Ronald Reagan. However, she later revealed her personal position on the issue.

“I’m against abortion, I don’t believe in abortion,” Reagan said at George Washington University in 1994, five years after her husband left the Oval Office. “On the other hand, I believe in a woman’s choice. So, it puts me somewhere in the middle, but I don’t know what you’d call that.”

Barbara Bush, former President George H. W. Bush’s wife, was more reserved in her public statements about abortion and was at odds with her husband’s anti-abortion stance. While she was not as outspoken as Betty Ford, she wrote in her 1994 memoir, “I hate abortions, but I just could not make that choice for someone else.”

Former first lady Laura Bush, wife of former President George W. Bush and daughter-in-law to Barbara Bush, also differed with the former Presidents Bush on abortion. 

PRO-LIFERS BLAST TRUMP ‘BETRAYAL’ WITH SHIFTING ABORTION STANCE, ANSWER ON FLORIDA AMENDMENT 4

Former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, former first lady Barbara Bush. (The Associated Press)

“I think it’s important that it remain legal, because I think it’s important for people for medical reasons and other reasons,” she said in an interview with Larry King Live in 2010. 

Pat Nixon, then-President Richard Nixon’s wife, told reporters during a 1972 press conference – as Roe v. Wade arguments were being considered by the Supreme Court – that she supported the right to choose an abortion, but opposed “wholesale abortion on demand.”

Trump, wife of Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump, wrote the memoir entitled “Melania” that is scheduled to come out on Oct. 8, per the Amazon release date. In the book, according to a preview by The Guardian, she expresses a viewpoint closely aligned with that of former first ladies before her.

“It is imperative to guarantee that women have autonomy in deciding their preference of having children, based on their own convictions, free from any intervention or pressure from the government,” Trump reportedly wrote.

VANCE, WALZ SPAR OVER ABORTION AND IMMIGRATION IN FIRST AND ONLY VP DEBATE 

President George H.W. Bush, left, and first lady Barbara Bush reunite with former White House mates, former President Ronald Reagan and former first lady Nancy Reagan during the Republican National. Convention in April 1992. (Getty)

“Why should anyone other than the woman herself have the power to determine what she does with her own body? A woman’s fundamental right of individual liberty, to her own life, grants her the authority to terminate her pregnancy if she wishes.

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“Restricting a woman’s right to choose whether to terminate an unwanted pregnancy is the same as denying her control over her own body. I have carried this belief with me throughout my entire adult life.”

The former first lady drew criticism from pro-life advocates on social media after the excerpts were published just a month away from Election Day. This year, the Republican Party’s official platform also softened its language on abortion, as former President Trump also said he would not support a federal abortion ban.

Michigan voters attending former President Donald Trump’s Saginaw rally Thursday told Fox News Digital that the former president needs to focus on the economy to win the critical swing state, particularly job creation and curbing inflation.

“Opening up the pipelines to get the jobs back,” one voter who attended Trump’s rally on the campus of Saginaw Valley State University said when asked which issue the former president needs to focus on to win Michigan.

The comments come as Trump made yet another visit to the crucial swing state of Michigan, a state that could play a decisive role in determining who wins November’s election. It also marked the second time the former president visited mid-Michigan in just a few weeks, a blue collar area of the state where the campaign believes it can make inroads with voters in what promises to be a close race.

TRUMP’S 2ND TERM FOREIGN POLICY LIKELY TO FOCUS ON ‘STRENGTH’ AND ‘DETERRENCE’: EXPERT

Voters in Michigan told Fox News Digital how former President Donald Trump can win the critical swing state. (Fox News)

Vice President Kamala Harris is set to visit the same area of the state Friday, signifying the importance of Michigan as the clock nears the end of a dramatic election season.

Polls show Michigan as a toss up as of Wednesday, with the Real Clear Politics Polling average giving Harris a thin lead of just 0.7 points in the state. However, polls also showed Trump trailing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Biden in Michigan by 5.3 and 5.7 points respectively, numbers that turned out much more favorable to Trump on election day.

Trump narrowly won Michigan in 2016 before dropping it to Biden in another close race in 2020, but voters in mid-Michigan believe Trump’s focus on the economy should help put him over the top in 2024.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a campaign event at Saginaw Valley State University on Oct. 3, 2024 in Saginaw, Michigan. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

VOTERS IN CRITICAL MICHIGAN COUNTY FOCUSED ON ECONOMY, CANDIDATE CHARACTER AS 2024 RACE TIGHTENS

“Bring inflation down and safety and security in the state of Michigan,” one voter told Fox News Digital.

“Illegal border crossings and the economy,” another voter said. “Keeping jobs in America, lowering inflation.”

However, other voters signaled that Trump could win on a range of issues, including national security and reducing crime in inner cities.

“Our national security does come first. But if the people at home, if they can’t make ends meet, they’re living in misery, that’s just as important,” a voter told Fox News Digital. “Being truthful to the American people, which he has been.”

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump concludes a rally at Saginaw Valley State University on Oct. 3, 2024 in Saginaw, Michigan. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

“Focusing on the inner cities. Putting together ways to decrease the violence,” another voter said.

Meanwhile, one voter who said she was at the rally to support Trump said that the former president could lead the charge in helping Michigan residents see the issue of abortion differently.

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“I think one of the bigger things to look at has been abortion… Michigan has been one of the stronger states in supporting that,” the voter told Fox News Digital. “He can do a very good job in getting us to just see the value of life.”

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

Billionaire business tycoon Elon Musk quipped in a post on X that when he mentions former President Donald Trump in Los Angeles, people recoil in response.

“If I bring up Trump in LA, people react like they got shot with a dart containing rabies and crystal meth,” Musk wrote, adding the face with tears of joy emoji.

The post has earned more than 25 million views so far, as well as scads of comments.

ELON MUSK’S PRO-TRUMP SUPER PAC LAUNCHES WEBSITE TO INCREASE CANVASSERS IN BATTLEGROUND STATES

Elon Musk, right, said he will be there Saturday to support former President Trump at his rally in Butler, Pa. (AP/Gene J. Puskar/Julia Nikhinson)

GOP Sen. Mike Lee of Utah replied, “Maybe that’s because they’re already rabid and high on meth.”

“LOL,” Fox News contributor Sara Carter wrote when responding to Musk’s comments, “Californian’s [sic] often behave this way even when you don’t mention Trump – it’s in the water.”

In another recent post, Musk joked that the planet “will literally explode if DJT loses!” adding in a followup tweet, “But, seriously, Trump must win or America is in deep trouble.” 

TRUMP SPEAKS WITH ELON MUSK ABOUT MAKING STARLINK AVAILABLE TO PEOPLE POST-HURRICANE HELENE

Elon Musk said people who rely on legacy media for news “live in a fake alternate reality.” (Getty Images)

Musk, a celebrity business magnate who has endorsed the Republican presidential hopeful during the 2024 election cycle, is slated to attend a Trump campaign rally on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, where the former president was nearly assassinated in July.

“I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery,” Musk tweeted in July on the heels of the shocking attempt on the prominent politician’s life.

In a press release last week, the Trump campaign noted, “President Donald J. Trump will return to Butler, Pennsylvania to hold a rally on the very same ground where he came within a quarter of an inch of losing his life less than three months ago.”

In addition to backing Trump, Musk has been a vociferous critic of the Democratic Party.

In a post last month he asserted, “The reason the Democratic Party is so soft on criminals is that criminals vote overwhelmingly Democrat – they don’t want to offend their customers!” Musk continued, claiming that the “Democrat Party is literally the party of criminals.” 

ELON MUSK PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR SECOND AMENDMENT: ‘TYRANTS’ DISARM THE PEOPLE

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump departs a campaign event at the Central Wisconsin Airport on Sept. 7, 2024, in Mosinee, Wis. A recent poll has Trump trailing Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris in the battleground state.  (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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Musk suggested in a July tweet that, “the Democratic Party has moved so far left that the Republican Party is now closest to the center.”

A close House race in New York was rocked by an October surprise when photos surfaced of the incumbent Republican congressman in blackface as part of a Halloween costume years ago.

Rep. Michael Lawler, R-N.Y., who is white, is pictured dressed like pop sensation Michael Jackson, complete with bronzer to darken his face in an October 2006 photo reported by the New York Times. Lawler does not dispute the photo’s authenticity and has issued an apology to anyone who has taken offense, though he said it was not his intention to dress in blackface.

“As has been well-documented – most recently by the Daily Beast – I was a so-called ‘Super Fan’ of Michael Jackson, so much so that I was mentioned by name in his biography for my outspoken support of him and the Jackson Family.  I loved Michael’s music, was awed by him as a performer, and by his impact on pop culture,” Lawler said in a statement. “One of my greatest memories is attending his concert at Madison Square Garden before his untimely death.  

“When attempting to imitate Michael’s legendary dance moves at a college Halloween party eighteen years ago, the ugly practice of black face was the furthest thing from my mind. Let me be clear, this is not that. Rather, my costume was intended as the sincerest form of flattery, a genuine homage to one of my childhood idols since I was a little kid trying to moonwalk through my mom’s kitchen.  

FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: HARRIS TICKS UP AND SENATE REPUBLICANS TAKE CHARGE

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., talks with reporters after a meeting of the House Republican Conference in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, June 4, 2024.  (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“I am a student of history and for anyone who takes offense to the photo, I am sorry.  All you can do is live and learn, and I appreciate everyone’s grace along the way,” he said. 

The 38-year-old Lawler, a moderate first-term lawmaker from the Hudson Valley, is seen as a rising star in the GOP conference who is running for re-election in a suburban swing district. His Democratic opponent in New York’s 17th Congressional District is former Rep. Mondaire Jones, a Black man. The Jones campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Photos show Rep. Michael Lawler pictured in October 2005, dressed as pop star Michael Jackson complete with bronzer to darken his face. Lawler did not dispute the authenticity of the photos.  (Published by the New York Times)

The race is one of 22 toss-up contests that may well determine which party controls the House of Representatives next year, according to Fox News’ Power Rankings.  

Lawler is not the first politician to be wrapped up in recent controversy over a costume that resembled blackface. Former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, faced calls to resign after a photo from his medical school yearbook surfaced which pictured men in Ku Klux Klan robes and blackface. Northam denied he was in the photo but admitted he once used shoe polish to darken his face for a dance contest in the 1980s in which he too dressed like Jackson.

NEW YORK REPUBLICAN WRANGLES WITH CNN HOST HITTING TRUMP’S ECONOMIC POLICIES

Lawler is up against former Rep. Mondaire Jones. (Getty Images)

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also faced controversy in 2019 when photos surfaced of him wearing blackface in 2001. The prime minister said in an interview after the fact that he could not give a definitive number on how many times he had worn blackface. 

Lawler was photographed in his Jackson costume in New York City when he was a sophomore at Manhattan College, now Manhattan University, a Catholic school in the Bronx where only three percent of the student population is Black, according to the New York Times. 

Lawler, who was class valedictorian in 2009, was well-known for his love of Michael Jackson, the paper reported.

When Lawler was a high school senior in 2005, he flew from New York to California to attend parts Jackson’s criminal trial. The musician had faced allegations of molesting a 13-year-old boy at his Neverland Ranch, though Jackson was eventually acquitted. 

FORMER DEMOCRATIC REP MONDAIRE JONES LAUNCHES COMEBACK BID FOR CRUCIAL SEAT THAT HELPED GOP TAKE HOUSE

Michael Jackson performing “Thriller” on stage at Madison Square Garden as part of his Bad Tour in 1988.  (George De Sota (ID 5073478)/Redferns)

Jackson biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli recounted in his book how he helped get Lawler into the courtroom, according to the Daily Beast. Taraborrelli wrote in “Michael Jackson: The Magic, The Madness, The Whole Story” that the teen had been “so disgusted” by testimony against Jackson “that he couldn’t help but mutter something derogatory under his breath.” 

In Taraborrelli’s account, Lawler was overheard by court officials and “tossed right out of the courtroom.” 

The photos in question were posted to Facebook and depict Lawler dressed in a jacket reminiscent of the one Jackson wore in the “Thriller” music video. 

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The New York Times cited a person familiar with the costume who said that Lawler had used bronzer borrowed from female classmates to darken his skin. 

Lawler’s 2022 victory was one of several Republican victories in crucial New York districts, despite the state’s status as reliably blue overall. The 17th includes stretches through four suburban counties outside of New York City: Dutchess, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester.

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

The Biden administration will not extend the legal status of hundreds of thousands of migrants who came to the U.S. through a controversial Biden-era travel program that was temporarily halted due to discoveries of fraud in the program earlier this year, officials said on Friday.

CBS News first reported that officials had decided not to extend parole for Venezuelan nationals who came into the U.S. via the parole processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans (CHNV.) However, in a statement on Friday, DHS confirmed that it will not be extending parole for any of the four nationalities. Instead, they will have to seek another immigration status or leave the U.S.

“As initially stated in the Federal Register notices, a grant of parole under these processes was for a temporary period of up to two years. This two-year period was intended to enable individuals to seek humanitarian relief or other immigration benefits for which they may be eligible, and to work and contribute to the United States,” a DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital. 

NEW POLL REVEALS TRUMP HAS SIGNIFICANT LEAD ON IMMIGRATION, BORDER SECURITY IN KEY BATTLEGROUND STATE 

“Those who do not have pending immigration benefits or who have not been granted an immigration benefit during their two-year parole period will need to depart the United States prior to the expiration of their authorized parole period or may be placed in removal proceedings after the period of parole expires,” they said.

The program was first implemented for Venezuelans in October 2022 and extended to the other nationalities in January 2023. It allows migrants to use the CBP One app to enter the U.S. on temporary parole for two years and receive a work permit if they pass background checks and have a sponsor. It was part of the administration’s expansion of “lawful pathways” to tackle the border crisis.

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas speaks at the daily press briefing at the White House on July 15, 2024, in Washington, D.C.  (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Through the end of August 2024, nearly 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans arrived lawfully on commercial flights and were granted parole under these processes. The program has received furious opposition from Republicans, some of whom have described the administration as running migrant flights, but under this program, migrants must organize their own travel. Republicans said the program was an abuse of parole, which is limited to a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.

However, the program was paused briefly in August when an internal report unearthed large amounts of fraud in applications of those sponsoring the program. It later unfroze the program after installing what it said were additional vetting and protections against fraud.

BIDEN ADMIN FREEZES CONTROVERSIAL MIGRANT FLIGHT PROGRAM AFTER FRAUD REVELATIONS 

It was expected that the administration would extend the parole status, as it has done with other parole populations. The administration says it will continue to accept applications for the program. Migrants from Haiti and Venezuela will be able to apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) if they arrived before either June for Haitians or before July 2023 for Venezuelans. 

The move will likely infuriate immigration activists, who have cried foul as the administration has moved away from more liberal policies as the election approaches. The administration threw its weight behind a bipartisan border security bill this year that would have allowed for a limit to be placed on asylum entries and given additional funding to border agencies. 

DHS DOCS REVEAL WHERE PAROLED MIGRANTS UNDER CONTROVERSIAL BIDEN FLIGHT PROGRAM ARE LANDING 

Border Patrol picks up a group of asylum seekers from an aid camp at the US-Mexico border near Sasabe, Arizona, on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. (Justin Hamel/Getty Images)

When that bill failed to pass, President Biden signed an order limiting asylum entries in June, which was followed by a sharp drop in arrivals at the border by more than 50%, leading to numbers lower than anything during the current administration. 

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The administration has also touted an increase in removals. Biden followed that up with a “parole in place” scheme for illegal immigrant spouses of U.S. citizens. But in the last week, he announced new measures to prevent that limit on arrivals at the border from being lifted.

It comes as Vice President Harris battles with former President Donald Trump over who is the tougher candidate on border security. Harris has accused Trump of failing to back the border security bill for political reasons, while Trump has accused Harris of being responsible for the crisis at the border.

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Polling shows it to be a top 2024 issue for voters, with many polls showing Trump holding a significant lead over Harris on the topic.

President Joe Biden held the floor for an impromptu Q&A session Friday afternoon during the White House press briefing, where he claimed Vice President Kamala Harris is “in constant contact.” His comments may not come across as music to the Harris campaign’s ears.

In the president’s surprise appearance, he remarked on the port strike, the latest jobs numbers, and briefly on Hurricane Helene. No reporters asked about the administration’s response to the storm, but one asked Biden to assess whether Harris has been deeply involved in policy.

“Well, she’s, I’m in constant contact with her. She’s aware we all, we’re singing from the same song sheet. We, she helped pass all the laws that are being employed,” said Biden.

FOX NEWS POLL: HARRIS TOPS TRUMP BY TWO POINTS

“Now, she was a major player in everything we’ve done, including passage of legislation which we were told we could never pass. And so she’s been, and her, her staff is interlocked with mine in terms of all the things we’re doing,” Biden continued.

President Biden, at a surprise press briefing appearance, sought to connect his administration to the positions of Kamala Harris. (POOL)

The president strongly linked Vice President Harris to the Biden administration’s record over the past 3 ½ years, despite the Harris campaign’s attempts to distance her from everything from “Bidenomics” to inflation to the border crisis, since Biden announced he was ending his reelection campaign, and Harris assumed the mantle of nominee. 

Harris recently changed the Biden fiscal year 2025 plan from a capital gains tax rate of 39.6% on a salary of $1M or more to her own 28%, for example. As illegal migration across the border surged to historic levels, Harris has also insisted she was never in charge of Biden’s border policy, despite Biden personally handing her the reins at the White House in March 2021.

Axios reported that Harris would begin creating some daylight between herself and Biden in August in order to defeat Trump, as inflation raged, wars in Ukraine and the Middle East heated up, the border crisis continued, crime lingered as a concern, and other factors, including Harris’ own weak approval rating, weighed her campaign down. Other outlets and pundits on the left soon followed suit. 

But Biden has reportedly bristled about his vice president distancing herself from him behind the scenes. He has also hinted that he believes he could have won the election had he not dropped out.

HARRIS CAMPAIGN IS IN ‘DANGER ZONE’ AS AMERICANS WORRY ABOUT COUNTRY’S DIRECTION, SAYS CNN DATA GURU

During an appearance on The View last week, Biden said, “I never fully believed the assertions that somehow there was this overwhelming reluctance to my running again. The fact of the matter is, my polling was always in range of beating [Trump].” Biden even joked about jumping back into the race during Friday’s surprise appearance at the White House.

He also began his first White House briefing appearance of his presidency at the same Harris was taking the stage at a campaign event, raising questions over whether it was a communications issue between him and the campaign, or he was trying to upstage her. 

US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks after Iran launched around 200 missiles on Israel, at the Josephine Butler Parks Center in Washington, DC on October 1, 2024. In her remarks, Harris pledged ‘unwavering’ commitment to Israel’s security. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden sparked questions on the topic before, on the anniversary of September 11, by wearing a Trump hat momentarily. The White House referred it to as a “unity gesture” – after Biden spent years casting Trump as a “threat to democracy.”

The Harris campaign has further distanced itself from the Biden administration by mentioning him less and less often as the election nears. During Tuesday’s Vice Presidential Debate, Harris’ running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, only referred to the sitting president by referencing the “Biden-Harris administration.”

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

A “painful” Israeli response weighs over the heads of the Iranian regime after their ballistic missile attacks on Tel Aviv on Tuesday. 

President Joe Biden has insisted that an angry Israel should not strike Iran’s nuclear sites – and should make sure its response is measured – proportional. 

“Iran launched a war into Israel,” said former deputy director of national intelligence Kash Patel. 

“So to say that the Israelis who are defending themselves and our hostages shouldn’t attack sites in Iran that could kill them – especially when you’re the one who gave Iran $7 billion as a commander in chief and then allowed them to acquire nuclear materials – is wildly political.” 

Rockets fly in the sky, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, as seen from Tel Aviv, Israel, October 1 (REUTERS/Ammar Awad)

On Thursday, he revealed that he was “discussing” recommending Israel target Iran’s energy facilities. 

“That put the oil markets into a tailspin, even if we are talking to them about it. It’s not something you muse about publicly,” said former Trump deputy national security advisor Victoria Coates. 

“If you’ve made a decision, and you have something to announce, fine. You want to level with the American people as much as you can. These random comments are really damaging and confusing to the Iranians, because . . . they don’t have any guidelines or guardrails about what might be coming and so they might do something weird.” 

IRAN’S AYATOLLAH KHAMEINI DEFENDS MISSILE ATTACKS ON ISRAEL

Israel’s counterattack could come at any moment. “We will act. Iran will soon feel the consequences of their actions. The response will be painful,” Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters.

Rather than its longtime goal of helping to negotiate a ceasefire, the Biden administration has now shifted its priority to containment – helping the region avoid all-out war between its two hegemonic superpowers. 

“This is the 1930s all over again. G7 leaders – led by President Biden – are urging Israel to have a proportional and limited response against the Iranian regime,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital. 

“The idea of telling Israel what targets to strike ignores reality,” he went on. “Would a proportional response be launching 200 ballistic missiles from Israel into Iran, mimicking what the Iranians did to Israel?”

Former President Donald Trump has not said how Israel should respond to the attacks – which he insists never would have happened under his watch. 

Striking Iran’s nuclear facilities risks provoking all-out war on yet another front for Israel in the eyes of the Biden administration. The Trump team is caught between an anti-war mindset and a penchant for supporting Israel without conditions. It’s unclear whether they still believe the two can exist in harmony.  

Proportionality is “clearly not what Israel is doing,” according to Coates. 

“It really seems to me that after the Prime Minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] left Washington in July, after that visit, some factor, or combination of factors, really changed his calculus,” she said. 

IRAN WARNS OF ‘DECISIVE RESPONSE’ IF ISRAEL CROSSES ‘RED LINES’ 

“He appears to have gotten home with the attitude of, ‘I want to get everything I can get done before the election.’ He’s not really listening to the White House at all, which is unfortunate.” 

After Iranian plots to assassinate him and the hacking of his campaign, Trump did say that if he were president, he would tell Iran, “I’m going to blow you to smithereens” if they harm any U.S. political figures. 

On Tuesday, Trump was asked whether he wished he had responded more forcefully after Iran fired dozens of missiles at U.S. forces stationed in Iraq in 2020, leaving many with traumatic brain injuries. 

“So, first of all, ‘injured.’ What does ‘injured’ mean? ‘Injured’ means — you mean, because they had a headache? Because the bombs never hit the fort,” Trump said.

Tracers from firearms fired into the air in celebration for Iran’s missiles barrage on Israel, are seen over Beirut, Lebanon, on Oct. 1.  (Reuters/Louisa Gouliamaki)

Many rockets, fired from Iran, are seen over Jerusalem from Hebron, West Bank, on Oct. 1, 2024. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“So just so you understand, there was nobody ever tougher on Iraq,” Trump continued, saying ‘Iraq’ instead of ‘Iran.’ “When you say not tough, they had no money. They had no money for Hamas. They had no money for Hezbollah. And when we hit them, they hit us. And they called us, and they said, ‘We’re going to shoot at your fort, but we’re not going to hit it.'”

Defense officials have said more than 100 suffered traumatic brain injuries after the January 2020 attack.

That attack came after Trump ordered the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani due to an uncovered Iranian plot to kill American diplomats and service members. 

Trump vowed to hit 52 Iranian sites “very hard” if Iran were to carry out the plot, representing the 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days after being seized at the U.S. embassy in Tehran in November 1979.

Still, in January, Iran lobbed attacks on two Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops, including the Ain al-Assad military base, and a second facility near Erbil airport.

In March, three U.S.-led coalition forces were killed when multiple rockets hit Taji military base. 

Trump, who withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions on Tehran, has insisted to reporters this week that “nobody [was] ever tougher on Iran” than he was.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Friday that Iran’s missile attack on Israel this week was ‘legal and legitimate.’ (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/West Asia News Agency/Reuters)

‘Look at the World today — Look at the missiles flying right now in the Middle East, look at what’s happening with Russia/Ukraine, look at Inflation destroying the World. NONE OF THIS HAPPENED WHILE I WAS PRESIDENT!’ he wrote on Truth Social. 

Alexander Vindman, the former Trump National Security Council Director for European Affairs for the United States, claimed that the former president was “fearful” of escalation with Iran.  

“Iran struck first and early, during Trump’s presidency, attacking US troops. Trump consistently recoiled in fear inviting further attacks,” he wrote on X. 

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“Fact check: In 2020, Iran fired ballistic missiles at U.S. forces in retaliation for the Soleimani assassination. 110 U.S. service members sustained traumatic brain injuries. Many administration officials remain on an Iranian hit list today,” former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said. 

But Patel argued the Biden administration’s lifting of sanctions on Iran — and the Obama administration’s 2015 nuclear deal — is what led to the attacks in the first place. 

“The JCPOA, which was called the ‘Iran nuclear deal’ for a reason. It was never intended to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon. It literally gave them one on a timeline,” he said. 

“Now I believe they have one, because for four years they haven’t stopped them or slowed them down. They’ve only been successful in politicizing national security.”

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

Here’s what’s happening…

– Hurricane Helene aftermath leaves Mayorkas in hot water

– Trump to reunite with old nemesis to survey storm damage in key battleground state

– Most NYC residents want indicted Mayor Eric Adams to resign

Most Popular Guy in the Party

Former President Obama is preparing to hit the campaign trail next week for Vice President Harris, focusing on key battleground states in the lead up to Election Day, according to a senior campaign official with anonymity to discuss the matter.

Obama, who served back-to-back terms as president from 2009 through 2017, will kick off his drive in the Pittsburgh area of Pennsylvania on Thursday, a state which remains one of the tightest contests in the nation and which could tip the scales for either candidate. 

A Fox News survey of Pennsylvania voters last week found Harris narrowly ahead of Trump by 2 points (50-48%) among registered voters, while the race is tied at 49% each among likely voters. President Biden won the state by more than 80,000 votes in 2020.

President Obama’s Senior Advisor Eric Schultz tells Fox News that the 44th president is determined to help Harris and other Democrats get elected. 

“President Obama believes the stakes of this election could not be more consequential and that is why he is doing everything he can to help elect Vice President Harris, Governor Walz and Democrats across the country,” Schultz said.  …Read More

Former President Obama speaking during the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois on August 20. Obama is preparing to hit the campaign trail next week for Vice President Harris, focusing on key battleground states in the lead up to Election Day. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Capitol Hill

BLOCKING THE BRIEFING: ‘It makes no sense’: Jordan says FBI stonewalling requests for briefing on Iran hack of Trump campaign …Read More

CAUGHT SHORT-HANDED: Mayorkas claim that FEMA is ‘tremendously prepared’ comes back to haunt him amid Helene aftermath …Read More

Cars sit submerged in a flooded area at a used tire dealer after Tropical Storm Helene in Hendersonville, North Carolina, on September 27, 2024.    (Ken Ruinard/USA Today Network via Reuters)

‘AXIS’ OF EVIL?: Taiwan official warns China, Russia, Iran forming ‘alliance’ after Blinken says ‘no axis’ exists …Read More

THRILLER: Blackface photo shakes up toss-up House district in NY …Read More

Tales from the Trail

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Trump to headline NRA event in pivotal swing state two weeks before Election Day …Read More

BORDER BATTLE: Trump holds significant lead over Harris on immigration, border security in key state: poll …Read More

RAZOR-THIN: Harris leads Trump by 2 in national poll, but shows vulnerabilities with non-White voters …Read More

‘I WILL BE THERE’: Elon Musk to attend Trump Pennsylvania rally at site of assassination attempt …Read More

Elon Musk, right, said he will be there Saturday to support former President Trump at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. (AP/Gene J. Puskar/Julia Nikhinson)

NOT ALONE: Melania Trump’s pro-choice stand isn’t that different from other Republican first ladies …Read More

THE BIG 3: Trump can win on these three key issues, Michigan voters tell Fox …Read More

‘PATHETIC COUPLE’: Trump calls Liz Cheney a ‘low IQ war hawk’ after appearance in support of Harris …Read More

Across America

EARLY VOTING BREAKDOWN: Connecticut absentee voting begins …Read More

STAGGERING NUMBERS: Immigrant murder rate ‘tens of thousands’ higher than ICE’s bombshell figures: data expert …Read More

‘LIES THROUGHOUT’: Trump-backed challenger, longtime Dem senator face off in heated debate …Read More

TOGETHER AGAIN: Trump teams up with former GOP nemesis to survey storm damage in key battleground state …Read More

On Nov. 4, 2018, then-Georgia Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp, left, walks with then-President Donald Trump as Trump arrives for a rally in Macon, Georgia. (AP )

‘INCREDIBLY PROBLEMATIC’: Soros-backed dark money network paid New York Dem candidate’s salary …Read More

GET HIM OUT: Most New York City residents want indicted Mayor Eric Adams to resign: poll …Read More

BLUE CITY YELLOWBELLIES: Elon Musk: LA residents recoil at mention of Trump’s name …Read More

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