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A conservative think tank and its public-policy oversight arm filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) suit against the Biden administration seeking any records relating to advice the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) may have offered in regard to the 25th Amendment.

Heritage Foundation Oversight Project attorney Kyle Brosnan characterized the OLC as the equivalent of a White House “law firm” that provides legal advice to the executive branch and its officers, adding the timeline for any responsive documents is June 1 to the present day.

Under Section 4 of the 25th Amendment, a majority of the “principal officers” of the Cabinet would transmit to the Senate president pro tem – currently Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. – a declaration that the sitting president can no longer perform his duties. The vice president would then be named “acting president.” The amendment was ratified following the Kennedy assassination.

In the past, temporary cases have arisen, such as President George W. Bush providing a written declaration that Vice President Dick Cheney would assume his powers while he underwent a medical procedure.

DEMOCRAT STATE OFFICIALS LARGELY BACK BIDEN AFTER DEBATE, AS PARTY CHARI SUGGESTS GOP PULLS TRUMP NOM

President Biden speaks to the United Nations. (Getty Images)

In that regard, prior to filing the suit, Brosnan said the Heritage Foundation made a media request through its press arm, the Daily Signal, to the offices of each of the Cabinet secretaries, and then followed up with FOIA requests with each for such communications.

Oversight Project President Mike Howell noted that one Cabinet agency provided an email response that appeared to show the “White House was taking over the comms” on the matter, in his words. 

In a Wednesday interview with the two attorneys, Howell added that concerns about President Biden’s ability to perform his duties are not new, and the media have particularly recently appeared to make such a case, and that discussions in the media and elsewhere spurred the Oversight Project to use legal means to find out whether any such communications exist.

“We don’t have to take George Clooney’s word for it,” he said, referring to how the longtime Democrat and actor publicly stated following the CNN debate that Biden showed signs of decline at a prior fundraiser.

He further pointed to first lady Jill Biden’s unusually prominent role in a recent Cabinet meeting, which was met with some public backlash.

Howell said Congress has largely shirked its duty to provide oversight when it comes to the question, “Who is really running our country?”

FLASHBACK: BIDEN’S CABINET DOUBLES DOWN ON SUPPORT FOR PRESIDENT FOLLOWING DEBATE 

The Heritage Foundation building on July 30, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

“The media clearly decided it can’t be Kamala Harris, who would be the constitutional successor or somebody else other than Harris/Biden. Right now, an unelected person is, most likely performing the duties of the president with Biden [conducting] ceremonial duties only when his physical state allows. And so Congress controls the timeline,” he said.

Another reason the 25th Amendment is a key topic at present is that there is a very real chance that former President Trump could have been put in a coma or killed by recent attempted assassins, Howell said.

He predicted the trend could continue if Trump were elected, given the heated political rhetoric in some corners on the left.

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President Biden flanked Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Friday, Sept. 20. (AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

However, positing that Democrats have been loath to even consider utilizing the amendment under the current presidency, it gives Trump and Republicans room to excuse a future Trump presidency from being held to a higher standard when it comes to cognition or ability to perform duties.

“Any of those [assassination attempts] are one day likely to partially… The left has no leg to stand on to say the 25th Amendment needs to be invoked.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Justice Department and the White House for comment on the lawsuit.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s trip to the U.S. this week may complicate his relationship with the U.S., particularly if Republicans take power in the November election.

He flew on an Air Force C-17 plane to visit an arms producer in Scranton, Pennsylvania – a swing state – signed bombs with the state’s Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and called former President Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, “too radical.” 

The Ukrainian president said he didn’t think Trump knew how to bring an end to the war and told the United Nations General Assembly the war with Russia “can’t be calmed by talks” and Russian President Vladimir Putin can “only be forced into peace.” That didn’t sit well with people in Trump’s orbit. 

“As someone who has been personally supportive of President Zelenskyy, I was deeply disappointed that he allowed himself to be used that way,” Trump’s former deputy national security adviser Victoria Coates told Fox News Digital. “It was pretty much political theater.” 

During a rally on Tuesday, the former president said Zelenskyy wanted Vice President Kamala Harris to win the election “so badly” and described him as “the greatest salesman in history.”

ZELENSKYY QUESTIONS CHINA’S ‘TRUE INTEREST’ BEHIND PLAN TO END UKRAINE WAR 

The stunts have left conservative Ukraine supporters concerned about the warring nation’s ability to come back to the U.S. next year and ask for more resources if Republicans are in power. 

Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s trip to the U.S. this week may complicate his relationship with the U.S., particularly if Republicans take power in the November election. (Yan Dobronosov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

“I don’t know what he could do [to repair the relationship],” Coates said. “It was a very strange performance, very counterproductive for him being able to come back in a year and argue for more funding.”

“He is too radical,” Zelenskyy this week told the New Yorker of Vance, who’s an outspoken opponent of aid to Ukraine. “[Vance’s] message seems to be that Ukraine must make a sacrifice. This brings us back to the question of the cost and who shoulders it. The idea that the world should end this war at Ukraine’s expense is unacceptable.”

Zelenskyy went on: “My feeling is that Trump doesn’t really know how to stop the war, even if he might think he knows how.”

“It was a very poor move on [Zelenskyy’s] part,” said Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., a close Trump ally and key negotiator in moving the last $60 billion supplemental aid package for Ukraine over the finish line earlier this year. 

His suggestion for Zelenskyy: “Stay out of politics. And maybe come and talk to us about what just happened, because that was a bad move.” 

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a staunch Ukraine supporter, didn’t think it was a bad move at all. 

Zelenskyy called Sen. JD Vance “too radical.”  (Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images)

“Zelenskyy was rightly reacting to some of what Sen. Vance has been saying about his position on these issues,” the Connecticut Democrat said. 

Vance this month pitched a peace plan that would see Ukraine give up much of the land Russia has captured since 2022 in exchange for a demilitarization zone along the front lines, fortifying Ukraine to deter another invasion and a guarantee that Kyiv would not be brought into NATO. 

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., a Trump surrogate, said Zelenskyy deserves any blowback he gets.

“Wherever you fall on the spectrum, the idea that a foreign leader is on US soil, being flown around on a C-17 at a campaign stop for Kamala Harris, criticizing President Trump, in any event, is unreal, and so I hope there’s backlash. It’s unacceptable.” 

ZELENSKYY WARNS VANCE’S PLAN TO GIVE RUSSIA SEIZED LAND WILL LEAD TO ‘GLOBAL SHOWDOWN’

“He made the decision to make those comments. They’re completely out of bounds, and he ought to be called out for it.”

Schmitt suggested the comments did not completely end any chances of further aid in the future, however. 

“I think we should take a clear-eyed view of things like what’s the plan, has Europe stepped up, all of that,” he told Fox News Digital. “But this doesn’t help.”

In his comments to the New Yorker, Zelenskyy suggested that Trump seemed more receptive to his cause than his running mate.  

“These are dangerous signals, coming as they do from a potential vice president. I should say that it hasn’t been like this with Trump,” he said.

“He and I talked on the phone, and his message was as positive as it could be, from my point of view. ‘I understand,’ ‘I will lend support,’ and so on.”

“I don’t take Vance’s words seriously,” he added. “Trump makes political statements in his election campaign. He says he wants the war to stop. Well, we do too,” Zelenskyy added. 

The war in Ukriane is dragging on into its third year. (Oleksandr Gusev/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

Ukraine is expected to receive the last $6 billion in aid from the supplemental over the coming months as the war with Russia presses on toward three years in February. 

Zelenskyy will meet with President Biden on Thursday and propose a new plan for victory. He’s expected to make another plea for the U.S. to allow him to use long-range missiles to strike deep inside Russia. 

Last week Trump said he would “probably” meet with Zelenskyy during his U.S. swing, but no such meeting has been scheduled. 

And at United Nations this week, Zelenskyy suggested that a negotiated peace deal was off the table.

“We know some in the world want to talk to Putin,” Zelenskyy said to the General Assembly, “to possibly hear from him that he’s upset because we are exercising our right to defend our people.”

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Donning his signature green fatigues, he called such views “insanity.” “Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly what’s needed – forcing Russia into peace,” he said.

“Russia is committing an international crime. This war can’t simply fade away, this war can’t be calmed by talks. Actions are needed.”

Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., demanded an immediate investigation Tuesday after city of Madison officials said 2,215 duplicate ballots had been sent out across 10 wards in error. 

Madison officials said the duplicate ballots have identical bar codes and so can’t be counted twice. 

“The City of Madison clerk said the duplicate absentee ballots were sent to one ward yesterday,” Tiffany wrote on X. “Now, they say it’s 10. There needs to be an independent investigation now, not after the election.” 

President Biden won Wisconsin, a key battleground state, by fewer than 21,000 votes in 2020. 

Deputy Clerk of the City of Madison Jim Verbick cited how “there was a human error that occurred,” impacting voters who had the same style or listed the same offices on their ballots, WKOW reported. 

FAMILIES IN SWING STATE AFRAID TO LET KIDS PLAY OUTSIDE AFTER VENEZUELAN MIGRANT ATTACKS MOM, CHILD: LAWMAKER

Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)

In a letter addressed to the City of Madison Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl, Tiffany said he was “demanding answers and transparency” on what happened, citing what he categorized as “the history of controversial and legally dubious election practices carried out by Madison officials in the past.”

“Voters deserve clear answers regarding the full scope of this blunder, how the city plans to restore public confidence in its ability to accurately administer the election, and assurances that those responsible are held accountable,” Tiffany wrote, according to the Associated Press. 

Madison, the state capital, is considered a Democrat stronghold. 

“This was a mistake,” city spokesperson Dylan Brogan told the AP. “The clerk’s office moved to rectify it as quickly as possible.”

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

The clerk’s office described what happened as a “data processing error,” explaining that the duplicate ballots have identical bar codes, so even if a voter submitted two absentee ballots, only one could be counted because the voting system does not accept the same bar code twice.  

Also, once the ballot is scanned, the voter is marked in the poll book as having submitted an absentee ballot. That is another safeguard against the voter submitting a second ballot, the clerk’s office said.

Brogan said the mistake occurred when two identical files were merged, resulting in the creation of a list with double the names and double the addresses. Up to 2,000 duplicate ballots in one ward were mailed late last week before the mistake was caught and corrected. The clerk’s office has been contacting voters individually to notify them of the error and cautioning them to submit only one ballot, Brogan said. 

“Despite duplicate ballots being sent out, we will only accept one ballot from every voter, and when we get them back we will make sure that we only have one ballot,” Verbick said. 

HARRIS-TRUMP SHOWDOWN: PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEES HIT KEY BATTLEGROUND STATES AS ELECTION APPROACHES

“About 3,000 voters all use the same ballot style, and we had to separate it into two different files to cover that range based on the limitation of the files that we can pull out of the registration system,” Verbick told WKOW. “We tried to combine the two, and instead, one of them got copied instead of combined.”

Former President Trump is shown at a campaign event on Sept. 7, 2024, in Mosinee, Wis. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

“I would just tell the voters that you can destroy one of the ballots,” Verbick said. “Please do not send in both ballots, only one vote, one ballot, and the other can be destroyed.”

When asked about Tiffany’s letter, Verbick told WKOW, “I would just say that [the clerk’s office] is very transparent about anything we do with elections, and I would just leave it at that.” 

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He added that no third party would be investigating the matter at this time.

Brogan told the AP that Witzel-Behl was in the process of responding to Tiffany’s letter and “thoroughly answering all of these questions.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s Tom Tiffany, or who it is, we want everyone to know what happened,” Brogan said.

As of Monday, Madison had sent 27,421 absentee ballots and none had been returned, according to the state elections commission. Brogan said none of the duplicate ballots had been returned since then. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Former President Donald Trump addressed Iran’s plots to assassinate him during remarks in battleground-state North Carolina on Wednesday, saying it was “strange” how the Iranian president received such a large security detail when visiting the United Nations this week.

Trump was speaking about jobs in Mint Hill, just outside Charlotte, when he mentioned the potential Iranian plot to assassinate him.

“Meanwhile, we have the president of Iran in our country this week, we have large security forces guarding him, and yet they’re threatening our former president and the leading candidate to become the next president—certainly a strange set of circumstances,” Trump said.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Tuesday.

IRAN’S LEADER TO ADDRESS UN AMID THREATS OF ASSASSINATIONS AGAINST US POLITICIANS, ELECTION INTERFERENCE

Trump made the remarks about Iran during a campaign event in Mint Hill, N.C., on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Tehran’s potential assassination plot was detailed in FBI documents that Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, released earlier this month, showing other potential targets included President Biden, Nikki Haley, along with other “politicians, military people or bureaucrats.”

Trump said that as president, he would tell any country that threatens a former president that he would “blow your largest cities and the country itself to smithereens.” (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Trump said that if he were president, and a former president came under such a threat, he would tell the threatening country that if they did anything to harm the individual, “we are going to blow your largest cities and the country itself to smithereens.”

“But right now, we don’t have the leadership necessary to do that,” the former president said. “We have two people, not one, that only keep looking, and when you do that, trouble always ensues.”

The Trump campaign on Tuesday said that the former president was briefed on “real and specific threats” from Iran to assassinate him. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Trump said that “we all need to pull together” to put an end to such threats and “bring back American Strength, Power, and Prestige,” which he suggested had diminished during the Biden presidency.

TRUMP BRIEFED ON ‘REAL AND SPECIFIC THREATS’ FROM IRAN TO ASSASSINATE HIM, CAMPAIGN SAYS

On Tuesday, the Trump campaign said the former president was briefed about “real and specific threats” from Iran to assassinate him.

Iran’s aim to assassinate Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, is part of the Islamic Republic’s efforts to “destabilize and sow chaos in the United States,” Trump Campaign Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a press release.

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In addition to the assassination plot, the FBI further confirmed last week that Iranian hackers attempted to supply the Democratic presidential campaign with stolen communication files from the Trump campaign. 

Fox News’ Bradford Betz and Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.

Some House Democrats are already looking at the possibility of investigating former President Donald Trump if they win the House majority in November.

Two top lawmakers, Reps. Richard Neal, D-Mass., and Jamie Raskin, D-Md., did not rule out probing Trump if he won the White House in November.

Neal, the top Democrat on the House Ways & Means Committee who led the probe into Trump’s tax returns in the last Congress, told Fox News Digital it would be “hard to assess” whether he would see himself resuscitating that effort, but he added that the Supreme Court’s recent decision expanding presidential immunity could change the calculus.

“That would be speculative, but I certainly would not back away from the positions I’ve taken over the years on that issue,” Neal said.

CLUB FOR GROWTH POURS $5M INTO TIGHT HOUSE RACES AS GOP BRACES FOR TOUGH ELECTION

Reps. Eric Swalwell and Dan Goldman said they anticipate probes into Trump if he wins in November. (Getty Images)

Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, told Fox News Digital, “I’d rather look to the future than the past, but we’ll do our job.”

In a longer statement provided to Fox News Digital on Wednesday, Raskin accused Republicans of ignoring issues like gun violence and prescription drug costs.

“Instead, for two years, House Republicans have used the gavel to pursue a laughingstock flop of an impeachment investigation to help their presidential nominee and personal cult leader, Donald Trump. Even worse, they have blocked and obstructed Democrats’ efforts to investigate the corruption of Donald Trump and his autocrat allies,” Raskin said.

“Investigating this endless corruption is critical for Congress to create legislative fixes to ensure government serves the people and to put an end to efforts to exploit the presidency and sell out our government to the highest bidder.”

Meanwhile, rank-and-file Democratic Reps. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., said investigations could be warranted into Trump’s family and their business dealings even if the former president lost his re-election bid.

Both singled out his son-in-law and former White House adviser Jared Kushner, whose investment firm got a $2 billion investment commitment from a fund led by Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. 

“His family has some ongoing deals that we learned about after we went out of the majority that I think are worth visiting,” Swalwell said. “The Kushners and the Saudi deal – I think people want some closure on that.”

He took a shot at the House GOP’s probes into the foreign business dealings of President Biden’s son, adding, “If you tell me you’re interested in Hunter Biden, then you probably owe it to the country to be interested in what happened there.”

JOHNSON’S PLAN TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN GOES DOWN IN FLAMES AS REPUBLICANS REBEL

Jared Kushner’s foreign business deals could be probed, Dems suggested. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

Goldman, an Oversight Committee member, told Fox News Digital, “I think if Trump wins, obviously that’ll be the principal purpose [of the committee], is to provide the checks and balances that Congress needs to check, and that Donald Trump especially requires.”

“I think there are a lot of really important, substantive issues that the committee has not investigated this year that are not partisan, that we should be focused on,” he said, adding, “But we also were frustrated this term that obvious, obvious concerns were not investigated.”

“How did Jared Kushner get $2 billion from Mohammed bin Salman for an investment company in something that he had never done before…That’s a tremendous amount of money. There’s been no investigation into that.”

SHUTDOWN FEARS MOVE HOUSE REPUBLICANS TO PROTECT MILITARY PAYCHECKS

Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt responded, “Swalwell and Goldman should get a life. President Trump has endured two fake impeachments, four baseless witch-hunt indictments, and endless investigations into his businesses — all of which have failed because they are not based on facts but rather, they are fueled by the vitriolic Trump Derangement Syndrome that has taken over the Democrat Party.”

Raskin’s investigatory efforts into Trump during this Congress, as leader of the Oversight Committee’s Democratic minority, could also offer a possible preview of what Democrats’ probes could look like in a second Trump term.

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer said Democrats would ‘harass’ Trump if they won. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Earlier this month, he and Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., sent a letter to Trump demanding that the former president prove he did not take a “cash bribe” from Egypt’s president in 2017. The letter was spurred by a Washington Post report that also alleged former Attorney General Bill Barr had blocked a probe into the matter.

Investigating Biden and his family has been a core focus of the committee under Chairman James Comer’s tenure. Comer, R-Ky., released a report recently accusing the president of having committed impeachable offenses – something the White House denies.

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He denied that the intensity of his Biden probe could give Democrats cover to investigate Trump, however – insisting their inquiries into Trump were political.

“If the Democrats want to waste taxpayer dollars and time investigating the Trump administration again for the second time, then that’s their prerogative. But we focused on waste, fraud and abuse and mismanagement by the federal government,” Comer told Fox News Digital.

“If Trump wins…They’re going to harass and obstruct every step of the way.”

PITTSBURGH, PA – A new public opinion poll indicates Vice President Kamala Harris holding the edge over former President Trump in the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania.

Forty-eight percent of those questioned in Monmouth University survey of registered Pennsylvania voters released on Wednesday said they are definitely or probably supporting Harris in the presidential election, with 45% saying the same thing about Trump.

And the poll, conducted Sept. 19-23, indicates Harris holding a four-point advantage over Trump among those who said they are extremely motivated to cast a ballot in the White House race.

The survey is the latest to indicate a close contest in Pennsylvania, which, with 19 electoral votes up for grabs, is the biggest prize among the seven key battleground states whose razor-thin margins decided President Biden’s 2020 election victory over Trump and will likely determine whether Harris or Trump succeeds Biden in the White House.

WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN THE 2024 ELECTION SHOW

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at IBEW Local Union #5 on September 02, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

Pennsylvania, along with Michigan and Wisconsin, makes up the Democrats’ so-called ‘blue wall,’ which the party reliably won for a quarter-century in presidential elections until Trump narrowly carried all three states in his 2016 White House victory. But Biden – with razor-thin margins – won back all three states four years ago.

Both Harris and Trump have repeatedly made stops this summer in Pennsylvania. And while the campaigns and their allied super PACs are pouring resources into all seven swing states, more money has been spent to run spots in Pennsylvania than any of the other battlegrounds. And both sides have dished out more dollars to reserve airtime going forward in the Keystone State than any of the other swing states, according to figures from AdImpact, a top national ad tracking firm.

The release of the poll comes a couple of hours before Harris returns to Pennsylvania – which is considered a must win state for the Democratic presidential nominee – to deliver what her campaign is billing as a major speech on the economy.

THIS PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE HAS THE UPPER HAND IN THE 2024 CASH DASH

The vice president, at her address at the Economic Club of Pittsburgh, is expected to offer up the most substantial comments on the economy since replacing Biden atop the Democrats’ 2024 ticker just over two months ago.

A senior Harris campaign official said the vice president will spotlight her “pragmatic” approach to the economy and will offer up “practical, realistic solutions.”

The official added that Harris – who has been derided by Trump as “Comrade Kamala” – will describe herself as “a capitalist” who “understands the limitations of government and has always sought to take good ideas from wherever they come and harness the power of innovation.”

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks about the tax code and manufacturing at the Johnny Mercer Theatre Civic Center, on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, in Savannah, Ga. (AP/Evan Vucci)

Her address comes a day after the former president, in a speech in battleground Georgia, gave what was also billed a major economic speech, and vowed to lower taxes on U.S.-based manufacturers.

With less than six weeks to go until Election Day on Nov. 5 and with early in-person voting or absentee balloting underway in nearly two-dozen states, just about every poll indicates that the economy remains the top issue on the minds of Americans.

This, as nation’s economic recovery from the pandemic-inflicted recession continues, but inflation remains a leading concern among voters.

WHICH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE HOLDS THE EDGE ON THE ECONOMY?

When it comes to which presidential candidate can better handle the economy, Trump continues to have the edge – but his margins over Harris differ dramatically depending on the poll.

The former president’s up 13 points over the vice president in a post-debate survey from the New York Times and Siena College, and favored by 7 points in an ABC News Ipsos survey also conducted after the showdown.

But Trump’s advantage over Harris on the economy stands at only 5 points in the LATEST Fox News poll, and just 2 points in an AP/NORC survey.

In Pennsylvania, the new Monmouth University survey indicates Trump holding a three-point edge over Harris when respondents were asked which candidate is more trusted to handle the economy.

Vice President Kamala Harris, right, and former President Donald Trump shake hands during their presidential debate, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. . Photographer: Doug Mills/The New York Time/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Getty Images)

Harris, according to the senior campaign aide, is expected in her speech to premiere some new manufacturing proposals and highlight her ideas to lower costs, invest in American innovation and entrepreneurship, and her goal of “leading the world in the industries of the future.”

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The senior official added that Harris is expected to argue that “for Donald Trump, our economy works best if it works for those who own the big skyscrapers. Not those who build them. Not those who wire them. Not those who mop the floors.”

And that she will reiterate her charge that Trump has “no intention to grow the middle class, because all he cares about is helping himself and billionaires like him.”

Trump has repeatedly charged that Harris’ plans for the economy are inept and potentially dangerous.

“If you think four years of Harris-Biden is bad, that’s nothing compared to four years of Harris-Walz,” the Trump campaign has argued.

Fox News’ Mark Meredith contributed to this report

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

Minnesota Gov. and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz was blasted on social media this week for visiting the upscale Manhattan apartment of Alex Soros, the son of billionaire liberal mega donor George Soros.

“Honored to host Governor @Tim_Walz at my home in New York City!” Alex Soros, his dad’s successor at the multibillion-dollar Open Society Foundations (OSF), posted on X on Tuesday along with photos alongside Walz in front of the New York City skyline.

The post was widely panned by conservatives on social media who made the argument that Walz’s portrayal as a “rural” moderate was compromised by standing next to one of the most prolific progressive families in the United States. 

“All you need to know……” Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham posted on X.

GEORGE SOROS CLOSER TO CONTROLLING 200 RADIO STATIONS DESPITE OBJECTION FROM TRUMP-NOMINATED FCC COMMISSIONER

Gov. Tim Walz was pictured alongside George Soros’ son Alex this week. (Fox News)

“If you squint, you can see the strings on the marionette,” former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy posted on X.

“A post like this does nothing to help Kamala Harris & Tim Walz win — if anything, it hurts them,” journalist Jerry Dunleavy posted on X. “So why would Soros post something like this? To publicly signal his power & influence within the next would-be presidential administration.”

SOROS-LINKED GROUP BLASTS HARRISON BUTKER’S GRADUATION SPEECH, FEARS POWER-SEEKERS ‘THINK JUST LIKE HIM’

Gov. Tim Walz speaks onstage at a Harris-Walz campaign rally at Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 21, 2024. (Caroline Gutman for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

“Real working man’s salt of the earth aesthetic for ol Walzy,” Daily Caller editor-in-chief Geoffrey Ingersoll posted on X. 

“This guy goes around saying he’s a small town midwestern guy who understands the struggles of the middle class and then goes to hang out at the floating home in the sky of the world’s biggest billionaire nepo baby,” digital strategist Greg Price wrote on X.

“Nothing screams Midwestern folksy like a billionaire penthouse view of Manhattan,” Washington Free Beacon reporter Chuck Ross posted on X.

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Alex Soros is the son of liberal billionaire George Soros. (Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“George was better at this than his weird son,” Daily Wire managing editor Brent Scher posted on X. “Why would you post this?”

This is at least the second time that Walz has hung out with Alex Soros in the last month. Photos circulated on social media in August during the DNC showed Soros, his new fiancée, Huma Abedin, and Walz hanging out in Chicago.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris-Walz campaign and the Soros Open Society Foundation for comment but did not receive a response. 

Walz has been widely touted by various media outlets as a VP choice who will help Harris win rural voters in Middle America while George Soros is one of the most polarizing progressive figures in American politics, often criticized by Republicans for implementing a far-left agenda with his vast fortune.

Iran’s recent hack of the Trump campaign is an “explicit tipping of the scales” in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris, according to one former national security official.

Last week, the U.S. revealed Iranian hackers had obtained information on the Trump campaign and tried to distribute it to people linked to the Biden campaign and media organizations since June. 

“It’s no surprise, right?” Robert Greenway, former head of Middle East policy on the National Security Council, told Fox News Digital. “Iran perceives the return of Donald Trump and his policies, which brought them to the brink of financial collapse, as an existential threat.” 

Trump pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 Iran deal meant to stave off a nuclear Iran in exchange for softening of sanctions. Republicans argued the deal did not have enough enforcement. 

MIKE JOHNSON SAYS HARRIS IS IRAN’S ‘PREFERRED CANDIDATE,’ DEMANDS INFO ON TRUMP CAMPAIGN HACKS 

After Biden rolled back sanctions on Iran, Greenway argued, the regime went from 500 centrifuges needed to make a nuclear bomb to 7,000. It went from 5% enriched uranium to 60% (90% is needed for a nuclear weapon.) It went from exporting 400,000 barrels of oil per day in 2019 under the Trump administration’s harsh sanctions to 1.7 million barrels per day today. 

Former President Trump arrives to speak about the tax code and manufacturing at the Johnny Mercer Theater Civic Center, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, in Savannah, Georgia. (AP/Evan Vucci)

“They’ve made a tremendous amount of money. They have had doors opened by the U.S. administration.”

Reports also suggest renewed activity in two nuclear weaponization sites in Iran – Sanjarian and Golab Dareh.

But another Middle East expert shrugged off the incidents, suggesting it could have been as simple as a Trump campaign staffer inadvertently clicking on a phishing scam. 

“The Iranians carry out a bunch of cyberattacks all the time,” said Aaron Stein, president of the Foreign Policy Research Institute. 

“I think this one might be as explained as simply as somebody was silly enough to click on probably an obvious cyber phishing and it would expose the campaign to potential embarrassment if somebody ultimately chooses to publish the documents.”

“I don’t know if [the Iranians] have a favorite in the race,” Stein said. “There have been numerous investigations that the Iranians continue to try and actively plot… to take revenge for the killing of [Iranian General] Qassem Soleimani in the Trump administration.” 

TOP RUSSIAN OFFICIAL LANDS IN IRAN AMID US, UK CONCERNS OVER ALLEGED NUCLEAR DEAL

“But the Iran nuclear deal is dead. I don’t think anybody is going back to it. I ultimately think the approach to Iran would be more or less the same. Trump might be a little more bellicose, but I think in a practical sense, it’ll be more or less the same.” 

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian attends a press conference in Tehran, Sept. 16, 2024. (West Asia News Agency/Majid Asgaripour via Reuters)

“The Islamic Republic is indeed seeking to sow discord of the West,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, Iranian expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said of the campaign hack. “But we cannot be ignorant of the empirical record.”

“The reason the Islamic Republic in 2020 was trying to drive voter turnout on the left, the reason in 2018 and 2019 accounts tied to the Islamic Republic were trying to spoof and amplify methods tied to the progressive left. The reason they tried to hack the Trump campaign very recently, their reason, still the Islamic Republic seeks the assassination of former President Donald Trump, is that Trump was exceptionally successful in his maximum pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic,” he said. 

Iran’s new President Masoud Pezeshkian was in New York City, where he struck a less combative tone at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday. 

“We don’t wish to be the cause of instability in the region,” he told the crowd. “We don’t want war… We want to live in peace.” 

“We know more than anyone else that if a larger war were to erupt in the Middle East, it will not benefit anyone throughout the world. It is Israel that seeks to create this wider conflict,” he insisted. 

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Pezeshkian was elected on a promise that he could convince the West to lift sanctions on Iran’s nuclear program. 

Taleblue predicted that Pezeshkian would take to New York to “prime the press to deliver talking points, that they are indeed interested in nuclear talks, but again, really, they’ll only use nuclear talks as a human shield against real pressure.”

“They will probably try to successfully exploit a permissive environment to sell more oil to China, to generate more revenue to fund its drone program, its missile program and its nuclear program… under patronage from Russia and China.” 

Republicans are set to flip the Senate for the first time this cycle in this week’s Fox News Power Rankings. 

Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris enjoys a small post-debate bump, three new toss-up races emerge in the House, and the GOP loses ground on the governor’s map.

Harris comes out stronger from the first debate

Two weeks after their first debate, Harris is up a point and former President Donald Trump is down the same in an average of high-quality polls.

Polling shifts after debates.

If those numbers sound familiar, it is because they match the shifts after the first debate between President Biden and Trump four years ago.

That could be a problem for Republicans. In 2020, Trump did not narrow the polling gap that the first debate created until a stronger showing in the second. As of today, Harris and Trump have not agreed on terms for a rematch.

Harris gaining with independent voters

FOX NEWS POLL: VOTERS THINK HARRIS DID BETTER THAN TRUMP IN DEBATE

Harris’ improvement comes from independents more than any other group. They backed Trump by eight points in a Fox News survey last month but now prefer Harris by 12. Biden won independents by 15 points in the last election, so an enduring Harris lead in this group could give her an edge on election night. (Poll results among subgroups can be volatile.)

Former President Donald Trump is steady in an unprecedented cycle.

The same post-debate poll has Trump down two points among all voters, leaving the former president at 48% and Harris at 50%. A spread like that on election night gives Trump an electoral college advantage.

Further slippage in support for the former president would change that math.

Republicans are poised to control the Senate

Republicans have enjoyed a head start in the Senate from the beginning of this cycle. Their star candidate in Montana is doing more than anyone to get them to the finish line.

Fox News Power Rankings Senate forecast.

The latest forecast predicts Republicans will take at least 51 seats on election night, while Democrats are expected to take at least 47. That leaves two races in the Toss Up category.

Montana moves out of that category this week.

Fox News Power Rankings Senate map.

This state has been represented for nearly two decades by Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, one of the last rural Democrats, who has leaned on his farming background and gun rights advocacy to exceed expectations in three elections. 

However, Trump won the state by 16 points in 2020, and Tester faces a strong opponent in businessman and former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy. He has run an efficient, disciplined campaign on the economy and the border. 

That makes Montana a better pickup opportunity for the GOP than Ohio, which does not lean toward Trump as much as its western neighbor and where Republican candidate Bernie Moreno has made missteps on the trail.

Sheehy leads with 51% to Tester’s 45% in an AARP poll conducted in late August. The incumbent Democrat is ahead among independents, but that is not enough to overcome this conservative electorate.

Sitting among the peaks that shape Montana’s landscape is a mountain of cash. Over $121 million has been spent by the campaigns and outside groups so far, according to OpenSecrets, with at least $100 million more in reserved spending. That is an extraordinary sum for a race that isn’t competitive at the presidential level and equates to more than $150 per registered voter.

That is what keeps this race tight. Tester has more than three times as much cash on hand as Sheehy, giving the Democrat spending money for local advertising and get-out-the-vote efforts.

If that cash can push this race back within the margin of error, Democrats have a shot at retaining the upper house.

Fox News Power Rankings Senate table.

EARLY VOTING MEANS ‘ELECTION SEASON’ HAS ALREADY BEGUN

Montana moves from Toss Up to Lean R.

With 22 toss-up races, the House is up for grabs

Fox News Power Rankings House forecast.

The House is still a toss-up in the latest forecast. In fact, with three more races joining that category, it is less clear than ever which direction the lower chamber will take.

• California’s 45th district: President Biden won this southern California district by six points last cycle (Dave’s Redistricting), but its heavy and right-leaning Asian American population makes it highly competitive. Republicans are pouring money into the race to protect incumbent Rep. Michelle Steel, whose position on abortion could be an issue with Los Angeles-area voters. She faces Democratic lawyer Derek Tran. This race moves from Lean R to Toss Up.

Fox News Power Rankings House forecast.

• Iowa’s 1st district: A recent Des Moines Register survey showing Harris four points behind Trump raised eyebrows in the Iowa presidential race. It could have a downballot impact as well. Second-term GOP Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks won by six votes in 2020, and while redistricting gave her a more comfortable win in the midterms, she remains vulnerable in this Davenport and Iowa City district. Former State Representative Christina Bohannan is the Democratic candidate. Iowa’s 1st district moves from Likely R to Toss Up.

Fox News Power Rankings House competitive shifts.

• Nebraska’s 2nd district: This Omaha-centered district has been represented by Republican Rep. Don Bacon since 2017. Bacon and the district made news last week when he signed a letter calling for Nebraska to become a “winner-take-all” state before the presidential election. The gamble would have helped Trump if it had succeeded, but calling for the change could put Bacon in danger with some of the centrist voters he has relied on in previous elections. He faces Democratic State Sen. Tony Vargas. This district moves from Lean R to Toss Up.

NEBRASKA GOP SENATOR OPPOSES ELECTORAL COLLEGE CHANGE THAT MAY HAVE HELPED TRUMP WIN RE-ELECTION

Fox News Power Rankings House table.

Republicans run from Robinson in North Carolina

Finally, a sleepy gubernatorial cycle had its wake-up call last Thursday when CNN reported that North Carolina Republican Lt. Gov Mark Robinson referred to himself as a “Black Nazi” on a porn website he frequented between 2008 and 2012. He denied the report.

Fox News Power Rankings governor map.

Robinson is more than embattled in this race. At least four senior staffers have resigned from his campaign, allies have jumped ship, and the Republican Governors Association is not spending another dollar on advertising. 

No one knows how this will impact Trump. Voting has begun with Robinson’s name a few rows down from Trump’s on the ballot, and Democrats are reminding voters about the strong, consistent praise that the former president has offered Robinson. However, calcified support for Trump among Republicans and the state’s history of ticket splitting should keep him competitive. 

Fox News Power Rankings governor table.

In the meantime, the Power Rankings already had the governor’s race at Lean D because of previous Robinson scandals. Now, it moves to Likely D.

Voting underway with six weeks to go until election day

Voting has begun in 21 states, including Wisconsin, North Carolina, Minnesota and Virginia. By the end of the month, more than half of all states will send ballots to voters.

While many voters are expected to cast a ballot early, election day itself is only six weeks away. 

Next week, vice presidential hopefuls Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, will participate in a debate hosted by CBS News in New York City. Fox News will simulcast the debate with special coverage anchored by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum at 8:20 p.m. ET.

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Fox News Media has proposed a second Harris-Trump debate to be moderated by MacCallum and Baier in October.

Violent crimes have dramatically increased during the Biden-Harris administration, according to a recent Department of Justice study that appears to refute consistent claims by the Harris campaign – and some in the media – that serious offenses are on a downward trajectory.

Crimes such as rape or sexual assault, aggravated assault, and robbery increased from 2020 to 2023, the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics revealed earlier this month as part of its National Crime Victimization Survey. Across the board, the survey found total instances of reported violent crimes increased from 5.6 per 1,000 individuals aged 12 and over in 2020, when Trump was still in office, to 8.7 per 1,000 in 2023. 

The study found 9.8 instances of violent crime per 1,000 people aged 12 and over in 2022, which marks the highest rate during the 2020-2023 era. 

Crime is once again a top concern this election cycle, with voters often listing crime behind the economy, ongoing inflation woes, immigration and foreign policy on their list of concerns ahead of voting on Nov. 5. 

‘WEAK-ON-CRIME LIBERAL’: TRUMP CAMPAIGN HITS BACK AFTER HARRIS BLAMES HIM FOR ‘VIOLENT CRIME WAVE’

Crime numbers under the Biden-Harris administration are not as rosy as Democrats would claim, experts say. (Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images)

During Trump’s debate against Vice President Harris on Sept. 10, the 45th president stated that crime is on the rise in the U.S., while linking the trend to the influx of illegal migrants who crossed the border since 2021. 

“All over the world crime is down. All over the world except here,” Trump said. “Crime here is up and through the roof. Despite their fraudulent statements that they made. Crime in this country is through the roof. And we have a new form of crime. It’s called migrant crime. And it’s happening at levels that nobody thought possible.” 

ABC News’ David Muir, who co-moderated the debate, interjected that FBI data shows crime is on a downward trajectory. 

2ND AMENDMENT STEPS IN AFTER COPS STEP BACK IN WAKE OF DEFUND MOVEMENT IN CHICAGO

“President Trump, as you know, the FBI says overall violent crime is coming down in this country,” Muir said, before Trump added that the FBI didn’t include data from the “worst cities.”

The FBI released its quarterly crime report for 2024 in June, which found violent crime decreased by 15.2% between January-March 2024 compared to the same time period in 2023. The FBI data, however, does not include crimes that were not reported to the police. 

On the other hand, the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is one of the most comprehensive federal surveys, according to some experts, which includes interviewing 230,000 U.S. residents on whether they’ve been the victims of crimes, what the crime entailed and if the crime was reported to police. 

BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN SAYS CRIME IS DOWN, BUT INDEPENDENT DATA SHOWS VIOLENT CRIME UP ACROSS 66 CITIES

An NYPD crime scene van in July 2024. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Image)

“When David Muir goes and says the FBI shows that crime is down, that’s not what the FBI is measuring,” Crime Prevention Research Center President John Lott told Fox News Digital in an interview this week. “What the FBI measures is that reported crime went down, and that’s a big difference between total and reported crime. We know most crimes aren’t reported to the police. And the rate that people report crimes to the police depends in part on things like whether they think the guys are going to be arrested or not.”

Lott noted that arrest rates have dipped, with 2022 data showing only 20% of reported violent crimes resulted in an arrest in major cities. 

“So, if people don’t think that the criminals are going to be caught and punished, it reduces the returns for some people reporting the crimes to the police to begin with,” he argued. 

PUBLIC SAFETY GROUP FINDS FBI VIOLENT CRIME DATA IS HIGHER THAN INITIALLY REPORTED

The FBI collects crime data from local law enforcement agencies, but critics note the data is only as good as the reporting, which is neither comprehensive nor mandatory. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

An opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal this week argued that the National Crime Victimization Survey is far more reliable than FBI crime data for five reasons: NCVS data is finalized before it’s published, unlike the FBI data that shows partial-year data; the FBI overhauled its reporting system in 2021 that makes year-to-year comparisons more difficult; the NCVS study represents data nationally via its surveys, while the FBI data does not include stats from some massive police departments such as the Los Angeles PD; the ​​FBI “isn’t considered a principal statistical agency” and so it is unable to compensate for missing data from agencies such as the LAPD; and the FBI data only includes crimes that were reported to police, while NCVS data includes surveys from individuals who did not report a crime. 

GUN CRIME EXPERT BLASTS RED STATE ‘CHERRY-PICKING’ BY YALE PROFESSOR IN SENATE HEARING: ‘POLITICAL BIAS’

On Monday, the FBI did publish its crime report for 2023 and found violent crime declined an estimated 3% when compared to 2022. That FBI report is based only on reported crimes, and includes data from more than 85% of law enforcement agencies enrolled in the FBI’s program. 

When asked for comment about NCVS data, the White House pointed to a Politifact article published this month that argued that while both the methodology for the FBI data and the NCVS “have value,” FBI data is typically more reliable. The article argued that while NCVS data may include unreported crimes, it might “also capture events that don’t rise to the level of a crime.”

“As PolitiFact explained when they debunked this lie, ‘the FBI data tends to be more rigorous’ and ‘nongovernmental groups have released data’ that ‘aligns’ with those numbers – whereas ‘the victimization survey excludes murders.’ It would track that apologists for the Trump Administration, which oversaw the biggest murder rate increase in American history, would cherry pick a survey that excludes murders altogether,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said. 

“Here are the facts: every year in office, the Trump Administration and congressional Republicans attempted to defund the police by cutting the COPS program; then, in 2020, murders spiked more than ever. Now, after making an unprecedented federal investment in public safety, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have delivered a record *drop* in the murder rate and the lowest violence crime in 50 years.”  

Vice President Kamala Harris previously served as a district attorney in San Francisco, but also has supported bail-fund efforts derided by conservatives that sought to release violent rioters. (Alex Wroblewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Lott, who also served as a senior adviser for research and statistics at the DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs, authored an op-ed for Real Clear Politics this month and detailed that the DOJ survey found that total violent crimes are 55.4% higher in 2023 than in 2020, the end of Trump’s tenure, while rape crimes increased by 42%, robbery by 63%,and aggravated assault by 55%. The DOJ survey does not include surveys on murder, but that category is almost always reported to police departments, and subsequently to the FBI, he noted, and makes up about 1% of the U.S.’ total violent crimes.

The FBI’s quarterly data found murders dropped by 13% in 2023 compared to 2022, but the rate remains 5% higher than pre-pandemic data from 2019, Lott explained. 

The Associated Press published a fact-check following the presidential debate and determined Trump’s claim that violent crime has been on the rise under the Biden-Harris administration was false, citing the NCVS study outlining that the rate of violent victimizations in 2023 was not statistically different from the rate in 2019. 

“​​The 2023 rate was higher than the 2020 (6.6 per 1,000) and 2021 (7.5 per 1,000) rates but was comparable to 5 years ago in 2019 and consistent with the overall downward trend since 1993 (33.8 per 1,000),” the NCVS study states. 

STUDY DEBUNKS ‘RED STATE MURDER’ CLAIM FROM HILLARY CLINTON, DEMOCRATS

Lott countered that the AP report failed to “mention whether the rate is statistically different than in 2020 or 2021.” 

President Biden makes an announcement in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building’s South Court Auditorium at the White House on Nov. 22, 2021. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

“Nor do they mention how large the increases are. Trump’s point was that violent crime had increased during the Biden-Harris administration. The rate in 2022 was statistically significantly higher than in either of those previous years. The violent crime rate in 2022 and 2023 was also significantly higher,” he wrote in his Real Clear Politics op-ed. 

“Total felonious violent crime increased by 19% from 2019 to 2023, and there is only one other time when the increase over four years was larger.”

FLORIDA CRIME TRENDING DOWN WHILE CALIFORNIA SKYROCKETS EXPLAINED BY ONE KEY DIFFERENCE: EXPERT

Lott found that the 55% increase in total violent crime between 2021-2023 was the “largest percentage increase over three years” in the roughly 50 years the NCVS has collected crime data. 

“​​The next largest percentage increase over three years was in 2006 and that was 27%. The percentage increase under Biden is slightly more than twice the largest previous increase. Now, if you want to take it from 2019 for serious violent crime, then what you see is it’s increased by 19% from 2019 to 2023. That’s the second-largest percentage increase in serious violent crime that we’ve ever seen. That’s a huge increase. And those percentage increases are both very statistically significant,” he said. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment on the data, but did not immediately receive replies. 

Former President Trump raised crime under the Biden-Harris administration in a contentious portion of his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

After the NCVS data was published this month, Trump touted it as evidence supporting his debate remark that violent crimes have increased under the Biden-Harris administration. 

“You remember where David Muir tried to correct me that crime is rampant like never before?” Trump said from the campaign trail in California this month. 

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“I guess [the DOJ] probably watched the debate and they heard this foolish man, this foolish fool make that statement to me,” Trump added. 

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

FIRST ON FOX: A Democratic candidate is facing criticism from his GOP opponent in a new radio ad after he declined on multiple occasions to endorse VP Kamala Harris as he runs to represent his deep red state in the U.S. Senate.

“I didn’t join the race to decide who the president is or to tell other people how to decide to vote for the president,” Missouri Senate candidate Lucas Kunce told NBC’s Kristen Welker last week when asked if he would be endorsing the Harris-Walz ticket. 

Kunce, who declined multiple times to endorse Harris when pressed by Welker in the interview, is now the subject of a minute-long radio ad in Missouri from GOP Sen. Josh Hawley that will run this week, mocking Kunce for not standing by the nominee of his own party.

“People are excited about voting for Kamala Harris,” a woman says to another woman in the radio ad, which is running on statewide African American radio. “But not this guy Lucas Kunce.”

HAWLEY DEMANDS SECRET SERVICE ADDRESS TRUMP GOLF COURSE ‘VULNERABILITIES’ EXPOSED BY WHISTLEBLOWER

Democratic Senate candidate Lucas Kunce has not said if he will endorse Vice President Harris. (Getty Images)

“He says he’s a Democrat, but get this, Lucas Kunce is scared to admit he’s voting for Kamala Harris,” the woman says. 

“Wait, Lucas Kunce is not voting for Kamala Harris?” another woman responds.

“He’s too scared to answer the question. The press asked him not once, not twice, not three times, but four different times,” the ad continues. “What is Lucas Kunce afraid of? Kunce comes into our community asking us for our vote, but he won’t tell us about his vote.”

TRUMP GIFTS PENNSYLVANIA MOM OF THREE WITH $100 AT GROCERY STORE CHECKOUT: ‘COMPLETE SURPRISE’

Sen. Josh Hawley  (screencap from Forbes footage)

The ad continues, “It’s weak. It’s unacceptable. I don’t agree with Josh Hawley a lot. But, you always know where he stands. You sure do.”

Kunce has previously declined to endorse Harris, including in a recent debate, which Hawley has focused on in social media posts.

“So ⁦@LucasKunceMO⁩ won’t endorse Kamala Harris,” Hawley posted on X. “Why not? Is he embarrassed of her for some reason? Is he supporting ⁦@realDonaldTrump⁩?”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Kunce campaign manager Caleb Cavarretta said, “Josh Hawley might wish he was Donald Trump or that he was the one running for president, but he isn’t. Lucas Kunce has been clear that this race is about who will better deliver for Missourians and protect their freedom in the U.S. Senate: Him or Hawley.”

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Missouri Senate candidate Lucas Kunce (Courtesy of Lucas Kunce for Senate)

Hawley won the Senate race in Missouri by six points in 2018 and recent polling shows him leading by roughly 10 points in the race with just over 40 days left until the election.

Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro was lambasted online after he took time to autograph a missile over the weekend that is potentially bound for Russian assets in the Ukraine war.

Shapiro, considered the runner-up to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, posted a video of him signing the missile at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant (SCAAP), in President Biden’s hometown.

“We must all do our part in the fight for freedom – from the workers in Scranton who make Pennsylvania the arsenal of democracy to the brave Ukrainian soldiers protecting their country,” Shapiro captioned his video.

“We stand with Ukraine in their just defense of their homeland in the face of Russian aggression.”

However, response from the right was brisk – with conservative commentator David Harris Jr. saying the situation showed “Democrats are now the party of war, and they’re proud of it. Sad.”

“The U.S. should be negotiating peace not fueling war,” added Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.

“I am 100% against this and so are most Americans,” she wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “The U.S. is funding the Ukraine Gov at $1 billion/month to keep it running and funding most of the war by providing weapons, ammo, and equipment.”

ECONOMY, BORDER, ABORTION DIVIDE BIDEN’S HOMETOWN AFTER NATIVE SON’S FIRST TERM

Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks at a Harris-Walz rally in Pennsylvania. (AP Photo)

Other critics contrasted the autograph with Shapiro’s criticisms of former President Trump.

“Zelenskyy just essentially endorsed Kamala in Pennsylvania while with Josh Shapiro autographing ammunition,” wrote Philadelphia commentator Joey Mannarino on X.

“He called Trump and Vance ‘radical’. He also said Trump has no idea how to end the war. How is this not some sort of violation from a man who we are funding?”

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa. – locked in a tight re-election race with businessman David McCormick – was seen shaking hands with Zelenskyy as Shapiro wrote a message on the missile.

Other critics pointed out that chaos was erupting elsewhere in the commonwealth while Shapiro, Zelenskyy and Casey were touring the ordnance plant.

SCRANTON OPENS UP ABOUT ‘BIDENOMICS’

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks during the roll call of states at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 20, 2024. (Reuters/Kevin Wurm)

Philadelphia native Jack Posobiec, a right-wing commentator and senior editor at Human Events, shared video of that city enveloped in illegal “car meets” and the responding police activity.

At least three people were arrested and a police official told WCAU they have photos of numerous others who took over Center City, set off fireworks, did donuts with their cars, injured police officers and caused mayhem into the wee hours of the morning, disrupting neighbors.

Video posted to X also appeared to show an Apple Store in Center City being looted Monday night.

“This was going on in Philadelphia while Josh Shapiro was taking selfies with artillery shells and Zelensky,” Posobiec said on X.

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The former Central Scranton Expressway – now the President Biden Expressway – diverges from I-81, which continues toward Binghamton, New York. (Charles Creitz)

In an official statement, Shapiro said Pennsylvania is the “birthplace of American freedom” and Pennsylvanians therefore stand with Ukrainians in their fight against “naked aggression.”

He also noted Pennsylvania will sign an agreement with the Ukrainian state of Zaporizhizhia that will “foster collaboration for years to come.”

In regard to the agreement, Pennsylvania Secretary of Community & Economic Development Rick Siger told WHTM that the pact will “help support the future economic revitalization of Ukraine, while boosting our economy and creating jobs for Pennsylvanians.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Shapiro and Casey for further comment but did not receive a response at press time.

FLASHBACK: VP Kamala Harris, while serving as California’s attorney general, sided with an illegal immigrant’s bid to acquire a license to practice law in a move that was opposed by the Obama administration. 

Harris, who is expected to be making a visit to the southern border this week, supported in a 2012 Supreme Court brief the desire for 35-year-old illegal immigrant Sergio Garcia to be granted a law degree by the State Bar of California, arguing that the government could not block him from doing so. 

“No law or policy prevents this court from admitting Garcia to the State Bar,” Harris’ office wrote in the brief. “In fact, admitting Garcia to the Bar would be consistent with state and federal policy that encourages immigrants, both documented and undocumented, to contribute to society.”

Harris’ stance on the issue put her at odds with then-president Barack Obama, whose Department of Justice opposed the move and said it would violate 1996 federal immigration law, San Jose Mercury News reported.

VIDEO RESURFACES OF HARRIS CHANTING ‘DOWN WITH DEPORTATION’ AT 2018 PARADE WITH DISGRACED ACTOR

Kamala Harris butted heads with the Obama administration on immigration several times (Getty Images)

“In the view of the United States, (federal law) prohibits this court from issuing a law license to an unlawfully present alien,” government lawyers wrote at the time.

The state bar, civil rights groups and Latino lawmakers in the state all came out in support of Garcia, the report notes, though Harris’ endorsement “made the difference,” Kevin Johnson, the dean of UC Davis’ law school, told the Sacramento Bee earlier this year. 

HARRIS SHIFTS KEY POSITIONS ON BORDER, ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AS CAMPAIGN PROMISES ‘PRAGMATIC’ APPROACH

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Leadership Conference, at Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

“When the highest law enforcement officer of a state weighs in and says this is legal, this is permissible, this is possible, the Supreme Court of the State of California listens,” said Johnson, who also represented the State Bar of California in support of Garcia’s case. “She could have ducked and covered and tried to avoid any political controversy. But she sided with the State Bar of California and Sergio Garcia, so, I respect her for that.”

Garcia ultimately became the first undocumented immigrant to practice law in California after the state Supreme Court sided with him and legislation was passed that allowed the licensing of individuals regardless of immigration status.

Garcia was ultimately awarded the Medal of Valor by AG Harris before becoming a citizen and voting for Harris on the presidential ticket along with Joe Biden in 2020, CBS News reported.

MIGRANT CRIME CRISIS COMES TO NANTUCKET, MARTHA’S VINEYARD, PLAYGROUNDS FOR RICH AND FAMOUS

Immigrants line up at a remote U.S. Border Patrol processing center after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on December 07, 2023 in Lukeville, Arizona.  (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

The Garcia situation was one of several examples where Harris was to the left of the Obama administration, which Harris referenced during the 2019 presidential primary when she spoke out against deportations for illegal immigrants who haven’t committed any crimes beyond crossing the border. 

“Well, thank you. I will say — no, absolutely not, they should not be deported,” Harris said. “And I actually — this was one of the very few issues with which I disagreed with the administration, with whom I always had a great relationship and a great deal of respect.”

“But on the secure communities issue, I was attorney general of California,” Harris continued. “I led the second-largest Department of Justice in the United States, second only to the United States Department of Justice, in a state of 40 million people.”

Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at a campaign rally in Savannah, Georgia, U.S., August 29, 2024.  (REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz)

“And on this issue, I disagreed with my president, because the policy was to allow deportation of people who by ICE’s own definition were non-criminals. So as attorney general, and the chief law officer of the state of California, I issued a directive to the sheriffs of my state that they did not have to comply with detainers, and instead should make decisions based on the best interests of public safety of their community.”

Harris reiterated her differences with Obama on illegal immigration in 2019 interview with Univision’s Jorge Ramos where she said that Obama was “wrong” when it came to deportations and ICE detainers. 

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

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Multiple outlets reported this week that Harris’ campaign is considering a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday, although details have not been decided. The vice president’s critics were quick to dismiss the possible trip as a “political stunt.”

The latest Scripps News/Ipsos Poll, released last week, shows that approximately 54% of all respondents “strongly” or “somewhat” support the idea of mass deportation, according to the poll. 

On the subject of immigration in general, respondents favored Trump (44%) to Harris (34%) as better able to handle the issue.

Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw and Timothy HJ Nerozzi contributed to this report

There is so much bias and bluster in cable news that it’s hard to know what to believe.

Depending on the network, the coverage can seem like bouncing between alternate galaxies.  

And overall trust in the media has of course plummeted to new lows.

Most people don’t even trust the fact-checkers, so we don’t have a basic agreement on what’s true or not in this insane presidential race, a common base of information that everyone can then debate.

PILING ON: A TSUNAMI OF ANTI-TRUMP PIECES OFFER A STARK CONTRAST WITH KAMALA’S UPBEAT COVERAGE

That’s true even of the podcasters and social media influencers who have made such an impact in the mediasphere.

Fox News draws the most scrutiny, of course, because its audience far eclipses that of its two main cable news rivals. But there is almost no scrutiny of MSNBC as an uber-liberal organization. Maybe that’s because so many New York Times and Washington Post employees are either paid contributors or regular guests, so the leftist environment comes to seem normal.

Once in a blue moon, someone writes the “hey, that place is pretty darn liberal” piece. But another barometer is former Biden press secretary Jen Psaki, who has her own show, and Symone Sanders-Townsend, the former top aide to Vice President Kamala Harris, co-hosting a weekend show. 

Former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris (Getty Images)

To be fair, there are some good journalists at MSNBC. Whatever Steve Kornacki says at the big monitor, I believe him. MS also benefits from news packages by seasoned NBC reporters.

Mediaite’s Colby Hall says it’s common knowledge that “MSNBC has figured out a lucrative model designed around programming that appeals to progressive, liberal, and left-of-center viewers, eyeballs that they then sell to multibillion-dollar corporations to advertise pharmaceutical products, cars, and fossil fuels…

“With a crucial election approaching, MSNBC’s naked advocacy for the Harris-Walz campaign has only become louder and further afoot from what a news network would reasonably do.”

TRUMP BLAMES KAMALA RHETORIC FOR 2ND ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT AS DEMOCRATS BLAME HIM FOR HAITIANS IN OHIO

Hall says he’s made the same arguments about Fox, “but MSNBC pretty much gets a pass from the same set of group-thinkers eager to farm engagement from one another on social media.”

I’ll have more to say on that in a moment.

“There is also the relentless pro-Harris fawning pervasive on the network, perhaps best exemplified by Chris Hayes saying that Kamala Harris’s performance in her debate with Trump was the ‘best performance’ in history because Trump ‘couldn’t control her mind.’ There is Donny Deutsch admitting that he ‘kind of fell in love’ with Harris after her campaign kickoff speech.”

MSNBC host Jen Psaki speaks at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin on Sept. 6, 2024. (Joseph A. Wulfsohn/Fox News Digital)

Bottom line: “Perhaps most damning is the complete lack of reporting on air of stories that are in any way negative about Harris… Let’s not pretend that they are anything close to a news outlet when, in recent weeks, they have looked more like an arm of political propaganda working on behalf of the Democratic Party.”

Now, what most critics overlook, because it doesn’t fit the narrative, is that Fox has a news division, of which I am a part. These hard-working journalists and producers do their best to play it straight. 

Naturally, the most attention is paid to the high-profile conservative hosts on the opinion shows after 5 p.m. But it’s a mistake to represent that as all of Fox News.

SCANDALS, FAILED ASSASSINATIONS AND POLITICAL RHETORIC: BOTH SIDES GO HIGH AND LOW

Here’s the proof. On big nights – conventions, debates, elections – Fox’s coverage is anchored by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum of the news division, in my view the best in the business. On CNN, the coverage is anchored by Jake Tapper and Dana Bash or Anderson Cooper.

But at MSNBC, it’s an all-liberal pundit lineup: Rachel Maddow, Nicolle Wallace, Joy Reid, Chris Hayes, Lawrence O’Donnell, maybe Alex Wagner. Ever since Brian Williams, well after the controversy that cost him the NBC anchor job, left MSNBC, there hasn’t been even the fig leaf of a nationally known broadcaster who attempts to play it down the middle.

Every network makes its choices and is conscious of its audience. The result may be, as Hall says, dishing out propaganda for the campaign.

Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier of Fox News (Alex Wroblewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Maggie Haberman, the ace New York Times reporter who is also a CNN analyst, has a sunnier view:

“I think that the media does a very good job covering Trump,” she said on NPR. “There are always going to be specific stories that could have been better, should have been better, that are written on deadline, and people are not being as precise as they should be.”

But Haberman argues that there is an industry “dedicated toward attacking the media, especially as it relates to covering Donald Trump and all coverage of Trump. And I think that Trump is a really difficult figure to cover because he challenges news media process every day, has for years. The systems are just fundamentally – they were not built to deal with somebody who says things that are not true as often as he does or speaks as incoherently as he often does.” 

She adds that the press is not a monolith and “most of the information that the public has about Trump is because of reporting by the media.”

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Sure, the right wing goes after the media, widely viewed as liberal – CNN’s nighttime panels are often 6 to 1 against Trump – for criticizing their man or swooning over Kamala. Trump himself is at the forefront of the attacks on the “enemy of the people,” often ripping individual journalists. 

But there’s also a left wing that attacks conservative outlets, and not just Fox, for supposedly being fiercely protective of Trump and harshly critical of Harris. 

Being caught in the crossfire is rather unpleasant, as Maggie knows better than anyone. But taking the heat is part of the job we all signed up for.

House GOP leaders are poised to skirt Republican opposition to their federal funding plan as they race the clock against a partial government shutdown.

“We’ve got a lot of people that honestly think a government shutdown is a good idea, or at least don’t want to take responsibility for avoiding one,” House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., said Tuesday. “It’s not good for the American people, it doesn’t work politically…and you’re sent up here to be responsible.”

Normally, a bill would have to advance through the House Rules Committee and then receive a House-wide procedural vote, known as a “rule vote,” before lawmakers decide on the measure itself.

However, rule votes traditionally fall along party lines, regardless of who supports the bill itself.

JOHNSON’S PLAN TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN GOES DOWN IN FLAMES AS REPUBLICANS REBEL

Speaker Mike Johnson, left, is forced to look toward Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ Democratic caucus for help to pass his funding bill. (Getty Images)

Rep. Ralph Norman, a member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus who sits on the Rules Committee, told Fox News Digital on Monday night that he would support the rule advancing through the panel but would reject it on the House floor.

With opposition bubbling up and just a three-seat majority, House GOP leaders likely do not have the votes to pass the rule.

Instead, multiple people told Fox News Digital they expect Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to put the measure up for a vote under suspension of the rules – meaning it forgoes the House-wide rule vote in exchange for raising the threshold for passage from a simple majority to two-thirds of the chamber.

The bill is a short-term extension of this year’s government funding, known as a continuing resolution (CR), through Dec. 20. The goal is to give Congress more time to negotiate spending priorities for fiscal year 2025, which begins Oct. 1.

A significant number of Republicans are opposed to a CR on principle, arguing it is an unnecessary extension of government bloat. 

SHUTDOWN FEARS MOVE HOUSE REPUBLICANS TO PROTECT MILITARY PAYCHECKS

Rep. Ralph Norman said he anticipates the bill failing in a procedural hurdle. (Getty Images)

However, a government shutdown just weeks before Election Day could come at a heavy political cost for Republicans – something Johnson pointed out to GOP lawmakers at a closed-door meeting on Tuesday morning, three people told Fox News Digital.

Johnson also promised lawmakers they would not be forced to vote on an end-of-year “omnibus” spending bill, which wraps all 12 annual appropriations bills into a massive vehicle – something nearly all Republicans oppose.

Johnson was always expected to need Democratic votes to pass his December CR. Dozens of Republicans have voted against such measures in the past. 

Putting the bill up under suspension of the rules, however, appears to be an indirect acknowledgment that Democrats will need to carry much of the weight for it to pass.

“Having to rely on liberal Democrats to pass anything is very disappointing,” Norman said after Tuesday morning’s meeting.

MCCARTHY’S ‘FINAL STRUGGLES’ THREATEN TO HAUNT JOHNSON’S GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN FIGHT

Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital, “A CR, an appropriations bill, under suspension? That’s not the way to run a railroad.”

Both said they expected Congress to be forced into an omnibus bill, jammed up against the holiday recess.

Johnson did get some backup from House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., however.

House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris defended House Speaker Mike Johnson. (Getty Images)

“I take the speaker at his word that he will not do that,” Harris said when asked about an end-of-year omnibus.

Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters that the CR would get a vote on Wednesday, suggesting suspension of the rules was their likely option.

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Last week, a more conservative CR – one that would’ve kicked the funding fight into March and attached a measure cracking down on noncitizens voting in U.S. elections – was defeated by 14 Republicans and all but three Democrats.

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., one of the 14 rebels who voted against that plan, gave Johnson grace for the position he was in.

“Speaker Johnson’s on the spot,” Burchett told reporters. “He has to do what he has to do.”

Former President Trump on Tuesday is vowing to “launch a historic buildup of American manufacturing muscle and might” through an economic and tax deal he says he will be offering to “every major company and manufacturer on Earth.” 

Trump, speaking during a campaign event in Savannah, Georgia, said his plan for the U.S. economy – which is centered around a “15% Made in America” corporate tax rate – will “create millions and millions of jobs, massively raise wages for American workers, and make the United States into a manufacturing powerhouse like it used to be many years ago.” 

“Here is the deal that I will be offering to every major company and manufacturer on Earth — I will give you the lowest taxes, the lowest energy costs, the lowest regulatory burden. And free access to the best and biggest market on the planet,” Trump said. “But only if you make your product here in America. It all goes away if you don’t make your product here. And hire American workers for the job. If you don’t make your product here, then you will have to pay a tariff, a very substantial tariff.” 

TRUMP GIFTS PENNSYLVANIA MOM OF THREE WITH $100 AT GROCERY STORE CHECKOUT: ‘COMPLETE SURPRISE’ 

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks about the tax code and manufacturing at the Johnny Mercer Theatre Civic Center, on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, in Savannah, Ga.

Trump argued that “with the vision I’m outlining today, not only will we stop our businesses from leaving for foreign lands, but under my leadership, we are going to take other countries’ jobs. 

“We’re going to take their factories,” Trump continued. “We’re going to bring thousands and thousands of businesses and trillions of dollars in wealth back to the good old USA.” 

“Under my plan, American workers will no longer be worried about losing your jobs to foreign nations. Instead, foreign nations will be worried about losing their jobs to America and to bring them back,” he declared. 

“And we will take in hundreds of billions of dollars into our treasury and use that money to benefit the American citizens, and it will not cause inflation, by the way,” Trump said.

The current U.S. corporate tax rate is at 21%. Lowering the corporate tax rate to 15% for all businesses would lower tax revenue by $460 billion per a dynamic analysis by the Tax Foundation, to $673 billion, according to the Tax Foundation’s static analysis. The Penn Wharton Budget Model estimates that tax revenue would be $595 billion lower over a decade under the policy. 

EARLY MAIL-IN VOTING DATA SIGNALS GOOD NEWS FOR REPUBLICANS, TRUMP: EXPERT 

Former President Trump also said Tuesday that he, if elected president again, will “appoint a manufacturing ambassador whose sole task… will be to go around the world and convince major manufacturers to pack up and move back to America.” (AP/Evan Vucci)

Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris has proposed raising the corporate tax rate to 28% from the current 21%, after she had previously supported a 35% corporate tax rate during her short-lived presidential campaign in the 2020 cycle. The Harris campaign has described this as a “fiscally responsible way to put money back in the pockets of working people and ensure billionaires and big corporations pay their fair share.” 

The CRFB’s analysis found that increasing the corporate tax rate to 28% would raise tax revenue by $1 trillion from fiscal 2026 to fiscal 2035. The Tax Foundation’s analysis also projected that it would raise taxes by $1 trillion, while the Penn Wharton Budget Model estimated it would raise $1.2 trillion in revenue in that period. 

Trump ripped Harris during his speech in Savannah on Tuesday, calling her the “tax queen.” 

“They love her in other countries because she forces everybody out of our country into their hands. The tax queen is demanding a 33% tax hike on all domestic production,” he said. “Now, you know you can hate companies and all that, but they still fuel growth and they fuel jobs, they fuel everything.” 

Trump also announced Tuesday that “we will set up special zones of federal land with ultra-low taxes and regulations for American producers” which will be “ideal spots for relocating entire industries that we’ve taken in from other countries. 

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Leadership Conference at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington on Wednesday, Sept. 18. Trump called Harris the “tax queen” on Tuesday during his campaign event in Georgia. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

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He added that he will “appoint a manufacturing ambassador whose sole task… will be to go around the world and convince major manufacturers to pack up and move back to America, where they want to be.” 

FOX Business’ Eric Revell contributed to this report. 

Vice President Harris is reportedly planning on a visit to the southern border in Arizona as immigration remains a top election issue and her campaign attempts to present her as tough on border security, but critics say any border visit is just a “political stunt.”

Multiple outlets reported that Harris’ campaign is considering a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday, although details have not been decided. The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

Should Harris visit the border, it would be her first since she visited El Paso, Texas, in 2021 as she faced pressure over the then-escalating crisis at the southern border and her role overseeing root causes of migration, which led her to being dubbed the “border czar.”

VIDEO RESURFACES OF HARRIS CHANTING ‘DOWN WITH DEPORTATION’ AT 2018 PARADE WITH DISGRACED ACTOR 

Kamala Harris speaks at a Labor Day event at Northwestern High School in Detroit on Sept. 2, 2024. (JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

It comes as a number of polls show she significantly trails former President Trump on the issue of illegal immigration and border security in the wake of a massive migrant crisis that shattered records as millions flooded to the border each year under the Biden administration’s watch.

A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 46% preferred Trump on immigration over the 36% who preferred Harris.

Republicans tied the surge to the “open borders” policies of the administration and the rolling back of Trump-era policies, including wall construction and the Remain in Mexico policy. The Biden administration says it needs more funding and reforms from Congress and has pointed to a sharp drop in encounters since President Biden signed an executive order in June putting limits on asylum entries.

They have also pointed to both Harris’ role in the administration as it oversaw the enormous migrant crisis and also her past policy positions as a senator and a presidential candidate in 2019. Fox News Digital reported Monday on video of her chanting “down, down with deportation” at a parade in 2018.

HARRIS SHIFTS KEY POSITIONS ON BORDER, ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AS CAMPAIGN PROMISES ‘PRAGMATIC’ APPROACH

Harris also has repeatedly called for various forms of amnesty for illegal immigration, including the expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival by executive order. She also said she would use parole authority to create a “parole in place” program to put those illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship. She still backs an “earned pathway to citizenship” for illegal immigration by Congress. She had also backed cuts to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

However, since becoming a presidential candidate this summer, her campaign confirmed to Fox this month that she has changed her positions on a number of immigration and border security policies, including decriminalizing illegal crossings and closing immigration detention centers.

Republicans have pushed back against the push to reframe her positions. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., dismissed the visit to the border as a “political stunt.”

“She is not going when it was at its height. She’s going to probably get a totally cleaned-up photo op. And my guess is … she’s going to probably get the same treatment some others get,” he said. “They’re going to clean up the desert, clean everything up so it looks clean for her instead of as bad as it is environmentally, as well as a danger for the people coming across.”

“This isn’t even being cynical. It’s just being a realist. I mean, she’s going down there so she can get some pictures taken over at the border looking like she knows what’s going on,” he said.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

Border wall construction was halted under the Biden administration. (Adam Shaw/Fox News Digital)

A Harris campaign adviser told Fox this month that her positions have been “shaped by three years of effective governance as part of the Biden-Harris administration.”

The campaign says now that she is “continuing to ensure sufficient resources to enforce our laws and prioritize detention and removal for individuals who pose threats to public safety and national security, as well as ensure compliance with immigration proceedings and decisions, including removal.”

She has also repeatedly supported a bipartisan border security bill that would increase funding for the border while also placing a limit on asylum entries into the U.S., and she has hammered Trump for torpedoing the bill amid conservative claims that it would only make the crisis worse. She has also emphasized her record as a prosecutor targeting members of transnational criminal organizations.

“As president, I will bring back the bipartisan border security bill that [Trump] killed, and I will sign it into law. I know we can live up to our proud heritage as a nation of immigrants and reform our broken immigration system. We can create an earned pathway to citizenship and secure our border,” she said at the Democratic National Convention.

But Republicans and immigration hawks have pushed back against the framing by the Harris campaign, arguing that while there may be a short-term drop in apprehensions, the way to solve the border crisis is to change strategy.

Fox Digital asked Biggs what he hopes Harris learns on any trip to the border.

“That they could stop this almost immediately by reinstating Title 42, reinstating Remain in Mexico. They need to stop the CBP One app because in the last 15 months, 815,000, roughly, they brought in. They need to stop the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela (CHNV) program. There are things they could do now, almost immediately shut us down. And I want her to understand that. And I don’t think she’s going to understand that.”

RJ Hauman, president of the National Immigration Center for Enforcement (NICE), was also dismissive of the visit, asking, “What is Kamala Harris planning to do, oversee the installation of ballot drop boxes? Shake hands with illegal aliens as they cross?”

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“Her entire campaign is built on gaslighting the American people, that she doesn’t believe what she actually believes, that she didn’t do what she actually did. The immigration issue is a shining example of this,” he said. “Until she goes door to door apologizing to angel families, or heads back to Washington and hands Biden a pen, the American people won’t be fooled by this final stretch nonsense.”

Democrat-defector Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., said he won’t endorse Vice President Harris in the presidential election after she revealed her support for doing away with the filibuster to pass abortion laws. 

Harris, a former senator herself, told Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) on Tuesday, “I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe.” 

DEMS LOOK TO FORCE VOTES ON EMERGENCY ABORTION AS ABORTION PILL DEATHS MAKE HEADLINES

U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) talks to reporters as he leaves the Senate floor following a vote on January 23, 2024 in Washington, DC.  (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Manchin told Fox News, “I’m not endorsing her,” stressing the importance of the legislative threshold. 

“I’ve been very, very, very clear on how strongly I believe that when you go down that slippery path, you don’t just do it for one issue,” he explained. 

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

Harris said she supported eliminating the filibuster to pass abortion protections. (Jemal Countess)

Manchin has devoted his last several years to protecting the filibuster, which prevents most measures from proceeding to a vote if they cannot clear a procedural hurdle with 60 votes. He has previously described it as crucial to democracy and said if Democrats successfully did away with it, it would be “the saddest day in the history of the United States of America.” 

ENIGMATIC VOTER GROUP COULD SPLIT TICKET FOR TRUMP, DEM SENATE CANDIDATE IN ARIZONA

Sinema and Manchin are credited with preserving the filibuster. (Getty Images)

The West Virginia senator and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., both of whom decided not to seek re-election, were largely credited with preventing Democrats from taking down the filibuster with their slim majority in 2021. Both senators subsequently left the Democrat Party and registered as independents, despite still caucusing with Democrats in the Senate. 

Schumer did not weigh in on the topic. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

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In a statement released on Tuesday, Manchin said, “This threshold stabilizes our democracy, promotes bipartisan cooperation and protects our nation from partisan whiplash and dysfunction. I have always said: ‘if you can’t change your mind, you can’t change anything’ and I am hopeful that the Vice President remains open to doing just that.”

Manchin further specified to Fox News that he wouldn’t be backing former President Trump in the election either. “I’m not endorsing anyone,” he said. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., avoided getting involved during the Democrat leadership press conference, telling reporters, “It’s something our caucus will discuss in the next session of Congress.”

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

Former President Trump was briefed Tuesday about “real and specific threats” from Iran to assassinate the Republican presidential candidate, according to his campaign. 

Iran’s aim to assassinate Trump is part of the Islamic Republic’s efforts to “destabilize and sow chaos in the United States,” Trump Campaign Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a press release. 

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks about the tax code and manufacturing at the Johnny Mercer Theatre Civic Center, on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, in Savannah, Ga. (AP/Evan Vucci)

IRAN SPOUTS ‘PROPAGANDA’ FROM UN PODIUM, CALLS ON MIDDLE EAST TO UNITE BEHIND TEHRAN

“Intelligence officials have identified that these continued and coordinated attacks have heightened in the past few months, and law enforcement officials across all agencies are working to ensure President Trump is protected and the election is free from interference,” Cheung said. 

“Make no mistake, the terror regime in Iran loves the weakness of Kamala Harris, and is terrified of the strength and resolve of President Trump. He will let nothing stop him or get in his way to fight for the American people and to Make America Great Again.” 

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This is a developing story. Check back for updates. 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken could be held in contempt of Congress after a key House committee advanced the penal measure on Tuesday.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee advanced a contempt resolution against the top Biden administration Cabinet secretary, setting it up for a House-wide vote after Congress returns from a six-week recess. A secretary of state has never in history been held in contempt.

“We have a duty of oversight, and no one’s above the law,” McCaul told Fox News Digital Tuesday morning.

HOUSE GOP RELEASES SCATHING REPORT ON BIDEN’S WITHDRAWAL FROM AFGHANISTAN

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul moved to hold Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt of Congress. (Getty Images)

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Fox News Digital, “I’m sure we will,” when asked if there would be a House-wide vote on holding Blinken in contempt when Congress returns in November.

If the House votes to hold Blinken in contempt, he would be automatically referred to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for criminal charges.

HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBPOENAS BLINKEN OVER AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL 

The House GOP majority has already held another Biden official in contempt – Attorney General Merrick Garland. The DOJ declined to prosecute, however. 

House Republicans also voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, though it was quickly dismissed by the Senate.

McCaul has accused Blinken of stonewalling his committee’s probe into President Biden’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.

McCaul sent Blinken a subpoena to appear to discuss the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. (Getty Images)

Blinken was absent from the hearing portion due to a full schedule at the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, however.

In a letter sent to McCaul over the weekend, Blinken urged McCaul to withdraw his subpoena and efforts to hold him in contempt, saying he was “disappointed” with the Texas Republican.

“As I have made clear, I am willing to testify and have offered several reasonable alternatives to the dates unilaterally demanded by the Committee during which I am carrying out the President’s important foreign policy objectives,” Blinken wrote.

But McCaul dismissed the Biden official’s arguments.

“I gave him any day,” McCaul challenged. “Any day in September, and he refuses.”

“He doesn’t have one day in the whole month of September to show up before Congress? I mean, I’ve been very flexible with him since May to try to get cooperation.”

The House prevously voted to hold Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas in contempt (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

It comes after McCaul’s committee released an explosive report detailing Biden administration shortfalls that led to the hasty military withdrawal from Kabul following a lightening-fast takeover of the country by the Taliban.

The Republican-led paper opens by hearkening back to President Biden’s urgency to withdraw from the Vietnam War as a senator in the 1970s. That, along with the Afghanistan withdrawal, demonstrates a “pattern of callous foreign policy positions and readiness to abandon strategic partners,” according to the report.

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The report also disputed Biden’s assertion that his hands were tied to the Doha agreement former President Trump had made with the Taliban establishing a deadline for U.S. withdrawal for the summer of 2021, and it revealed how state officials had no plan for getting Americans and allies out while there were still troops there to protect them.

Two recent House contempt votes that resulted in criminal charges were those against former Trump administration advisers Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro. Both were held in contempt by the previous House Democratic majority for failing to comply with subpoenas from the now-defunct House select committee on Jan. 6.