NationalWatch

Oil and gas industry leaders are skeptical of Vice President Kamala Harris’ stance on critical state issues and are calling for clarity on her positions before Election Day.

Harris said there is “no question” she would be in favor of banning fracking, during her 2020 presidential campaign, but after becoming the 2024 Democratic nominee, the vice president said that she will not ban hydraulic fracturing if elected.

“As a native Pennsylvanian, who understands the importance of oil and gas to local communities and consumers nationwide, I have to be skeptical of the vice president’s pivot on fracking. And we still haven’t seen an energy policy plan,” Jeff Eshelman, Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) President & CEO, told Fox News Digital.

HARRIS DODGING FLIP-FLOP ATTACKS AS FACELESS SURROGATES FLIP KEY POSITIONS: ‘PLAYING POLITICS’

Vice President Kamala Harris during the second presidential debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pa., on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024.  (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg)

Eshelman added that her shift signals that fracking is a winning issue.

HARRIS CLAIMS SHE ‘MADE CLEAR’ HER POSITION ON FRACKING IN 2020 – TRANSCRIPT SHOWS ANOTHER STORY

“If the VP is now endorsing a pro-fracking plan, we are the experts and would encourage a meeting with oil and gas producers. However, Harris’ endorsement of hydraulic fracturing shows how important energy issues are to voters who understand increased oil and natural gas development is key to bringing down gas prices and decreasing reliance on foreign oil,” Eshelman said. “Her shift makes it clear that unleashing abundant and affordable American energy resources through safe and responsible fracking technology is a winning issue.”

The issue remains of top concern to swing state voters in Pennsylvania, as well as on a national level, after a New York Times/Siena College poll released in September found that 43% of voters somewhat or strongly oppose a ban on fracking.

A fracking drill rig in a remote location in the mountains with wispy clouds in the sky at dusk.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) echoed the questions surrounding her position. 

“I think the Vice President should be held to account for what exactly she means. And she has been successful to this point in not having to say a lot. And I would posit the reason why she is all of a sudden talking about fracking is because the path to the presidency runs through Pennsylvania, and they know full well how important the oil and gas sector is to the nearly half a billion people in the state of Pennsylvania that are employed in and around the industry,” said Amanda Eversole, Executive Vice President of API.

API also suggested that swing state voters could be a driving force behind her decision to change face on the issue.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall on Thursday, in Tucson, Arizona.  (Ross D. Franklin)

“President Trump – we know where he stands on energy. But voters deserve to know what the vice president’s philosophy is, and just articulating support of hydraulic fracturing is not enough. There are a lot of questions that voters deserve to have answers to.”

A spokesperson for the Harris campaign told Fox News Digital that the vice president has been clear on where she stands on the issue.

“Vice President Harris was proud to cast the tie-breaking vote on the largest ever investment to address the climate crisis and under the Biden-Harris administration, America is more energy secure than ever before with the highest domestic energy production on record. The Biden-Harris administration ignited an American manufacturing boom and created 300,000 energy jobs, while Trump lost nearly a million, and his Project 2025 would undo the enormous progress we’ve made the past four years. 

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“Vice President Harris is focused on a future where all Americans have clean air, clean water and affordable, reliable energy, while Trump’s lies are an obvious attempt to distract from his own plans to enrich oil and gas executives at the expense of the middle class,” the campaign told Fox.

House lawmakers are back on Capitol Hill Monday afternoon to begin their final week in session before Election Day – and a possible partial government shutdown.

Congress has just five days to find an agreement on funding the government at the start of the new fiscal year on Oct. 1. If no deal can pass the Republican-held House and Democrat-controlled Senate by then, thousands of federal employees could be furloughed and multiple government programs temporarily shuttered.

Both Republicans and Democrats agree that some sort of short-term extension of this year’s funds, called a continuing resolution (CR), is needed to buy negotiators more time. They differ on how to get there, however.

SHUTDOWN FEARS MOVE HOUSE REPUBLICANS TO PROTECT MILITARY PAYCHECKS

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson is navigating a way forward on government funding. (Getty Images/AP)

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has not given an indication of what his plan might be after his plan of a six-month CR combined with a measure requiring proof of citizenship in the voter registration process failed last week.

Fourteen Republicans joined all but three Democrats in successfully voting down the bill, much to the chagrin of Johnson allies who had hoped it would be a strong opening salvo in his negotiations with the Senate.

Several GOP lawmakers who spoke with Fox News Digital last week said they expected Johnson to hold a vote on a “clean” CR through December – something desired by Democrats and some senior Republicans – which conservatives would see as an unequivocal loss.

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

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was opposed to Johnson’s initial plan, which failed. (Reuters/Mike Segar)

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, policy chair of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, made clear that he blamed his fellow Republicans for leaving the GOP in this position.

“What we were trying to put forward was a provision that would get spending into the next year, allow us to reconstitute government with a new Congress, hopefully with a Republican House, Senate and White House . . . clear the decks so you’re not debating all this crap in December, get rid of the possibility of an omnibus, and, oh, by the way, have a real fight on the [Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act],” Roy said.

“But they wanted to be political Nostradamus and saying, ‘I’m going to tell you what’s going to happen.’ Well, no s— that’s what’s going to happen when you kill it in the cradle.”

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

Rep. Chip Roy criticized Republicans who tanked the conservative plan.

There’s no guarantee, however, that Johnson’s CR would be just a “clean” straightforward extension. 

Several GOP lawmakers have suggested they would back adding additional Secret Service or disaster relief funding to such a measure.

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And with Johnson’s razor-thin four-seat majority in general, it is all but certain that he will need help from Democrats to get any CR across the finish line. 

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

A federal judge temporarily blocked Tennessee’s law that prohibits adults from aiding minors in obtaining abortions without parental approval.

U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger said in a Friday ruling that the state cannot “make it a crime to communicate freely” about legal abortion options even in a state that bans abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with some exceptions.

The law will now be placed on hold as the case moves through court.

“The Tennessee General Assembly apparently determined that, when the topic at hand is ‘abortion trafficking,’ the best interests of the pregnant child are not merely a secondary consideration, but unworthy of particularized consideration at all,” Trauger wrote.

TENNESSEE SUED OVER LAW BANNING ADULTS FROM HELPING MINORS GET ABORTIONS WITHOUT PARENTAL CONSENT

A pro-abortion access demonstrator holds a sign during a rally, May 14, 2022, in Chattanooga, Tenn. (AP)

Earlier this year, lawmakers in Tennessee’s Republican-controlled Legislature passed legislation that was then signed by GOP Gov. Bill Lee making it illegal for an adult who “intentionally recruits, harbors, or transports” a pregnant minor within the state to obtain an abortion without consent from the child’s parents.

Anyone convicted of breaking the law would be charged with a Class A misdemeanor, which requires nearly one year in jail. The law does not include exemptions for minors who may have been raped by their parents, but a biological father who raped his daughter and caused her pregnancy cannot pursue civil action.

The Tennessee law, which took effect July 1, mimicked Idaho’s “abortion trafficking” law that was enacted last year, the first state to enact such legislation. But a federal judge has since temporarily blocked Idaho’s law as the case moves through court.

Shortly before Tennessee’s law was set to take effect, Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn and Nashville attorney Rachel Welty filed a lawsuit challenging the statute on the second anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 24, 2022, decision overturning Roe v. Wade, returning the power to make laws regarding abortion back to the states.

TRUMP MAKES PLAY FOR WOMEN’S VOTE, VOWS TO ENSURE ‘POWERFUL EXCEPTIONS’ FOR ABORTION

Rep. Aftyn Behn, D-Nashville, talks on a bill brought to the House floor April 15, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP)

Trauger’s ruling sided with the argument from Welty and Behn that the law was “unconstitutionally vague,” particularly pointing out that the word “recruits” is undefined in the law.

The judge also raised concerns about the First Amendment restrictions that she argues the law would impose.

“The freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment is not simply a special protection that the Constitution grants to a few, high-profile speakers so that those speakers can hear themselves talk; it is a protection available to everyone, for the interconnected benefit of everyone, because messages do not gain their fullest power by being uttered, but by being spread,” Trauger wrote.

Behn called Friday’s ruling a “monumental victory” for free speech and the fight for abortion access.

The law will now be placed on hold as the case moves through court. (Getty Images )

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“This ruling doesn’t just protect Tennesseans — it safeguards the freedom to discuss abortion care across state lines, ensuring that we can continue to offer support, share accurate information, and stand up for the rights of those seeking essential health care everywhere,” she told The Associated Press.

Abortions are banned in Tennessee at all stages of pregnancy, with exemptions in cases of molar pregnancies, ectopic pregnancies or to save the life of the mother. Doctors must use their “reasonable medical” judgment in determining whether performing an abortion can save the life of the mother or prevent major injury.

A group of women is currently suing in a separate case to clarify the state’s abortion ban.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Nine high-ranking former national security and military officials who signed a letter Sunday endorsing Vice President Harris’ run for the Oval Office also signed a letter nearly four years ago dismissing Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop as Russian disinformation ahead of the 2020 election, Fox News Digital found. 

A group called the National Security Leaders for America, which bills itself as a bipartisan group of former senior military and national security leaders, published a letter Sunday endorsing Harris for the White House. A total of 741 former high-ranking national security officials signed the letter. 

Fox News Digital pored through the list of signatories and found nine of the former national security chiefs who endorsed Harris also signed a letter in 2020 discounting Hunter Biden’s laptop as Russian disinformation – before media outlets authenticated the laptop after the 2020 election and the FBI ultimately cited the laptop as legitimate in Hunter Biden’s criminal trial earlier this year. 

The signatories who signed both the 2020 letter and the endorsement of Harris include: former Director of National Intelligence Jim Clapper; former CIA Director Michael V. Hayden; former CIA Director Leon E. Panetta; former CIA Director John Brennan; former Acting CIA Director John E. McLaughlin; former CIA chief of staff Laurence M. Pfeiffer; former Department of Defense chief of staff Jeremy Bash; CIA chief of station John Sipher; and former National Intelligence Council Chair Gregory Frye Treverton. 

TRUMP CIA CHIEF KNEW ABOUT INFAMOUS LETTER DISMISSING BIDEN LAPTOP AS PROPAGANDA BEFORE PUBLICATION: REPORT

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper (Reuters/Joshua Roberts/File)

Ahead of the 2020 election, the New York Post published a bombshell report on the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop. 

HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP RE-EMERGES AS MEDIA EMBARRASSMENT AS IT BECOMES KEY EVIDENCE AT GUN TRIAL

Fifty-one former intelligence officials, however, soon after released a statement on Oct. 19, 2020, discounting the laptop as having “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation” in a bid to discredit the New York Post’s report at the time. 

The laptop came into public view after the first son left it at a Delaware repair shop ahead of the 2020 presidential election. 

President Biden hugs son Hunter during the Democratic National Convention, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

The former military chiefs’ 2020 letter played a key role in many media outlets turning their backs on reporting on the laptop as legitimate, as well as providing President Biden with political ammunition to downplay the laptop during his debate against former President Trump during the last election cycle. 

Liberal media outlets, however, changed their tune in 2022 after newspapers such as the Washington Post and New York Times authenticated thousands of his emails on the laptop. The laptop also re-emerged this year when the first son faced a criminal trial in Delaware over his purchase of a firearm in 2018 while he was reeling from a crack cocaine addiction. The trial, which found Hunter guilty on all counts, formally entered the laptop into evidence and was confirmed by the FBI as legitimate. 

FLASHBACK: MSNBC, CNN, CBS TOLD VIEWERS HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP STORY WAS RUSSIAN DISINFORMATION

Former CIA Director John Brennan (Reuters/Joshua Roberts/File)

VIDEO GOES VIRAL OF DEMOCRATS, MEDIA MEMBERS DOUBTING HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP

The former chiefs’ 2020 letter made headlines again this year when a joint report released by three House panels alleged that active CIA contractors “coordinated” with the 2020 Biden campaign just weeks ahead of that year’s election “to discredit serious allegations about Biden family influence peddling” connected to Hunter’s laptop when the 51 former intelligence officials released a statement dismissing the laptop. 

President Biden and Vice President Harris (Win McNamee/Getty Images/File)

Fast-forward to Sunday and the 2024 election, the letter endorsing Harris and signed by hundreds of former national security leaders, including nine from the 2020 letter, lauded her as “prepared and strategic” while slamming  Trump as “impulsive and ill-informed.”

5 TAKES ON THE HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP THAT HAVE AGED POORLY

“We are former public servants who swore an oath to the Constitution. Many of us risked our lives for it. We are retired generals, admirals, senior noncommissioned officers, ambassadors, and senior civilian national security leaders. We are Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. We are loyal to the ideals of our nation—like freedom, democracy, and the rule of law—not to any one individual or party,” the letter published Sunday endorsing Harris reads.

Vice President Harris, Hunter Biden and President Biden (Getty Images)

“We do not agree on everything, but we all adhere to two fundamental principles. First, we believe America’s national security requires a serious and capable Commander-in-Chief. Second, we believe American democracy is invaluable. Each generation has a responsibility to defend it. That is why we, the undersigned, proudly endorse Kamala Harris to be the next President of the United States,” it added.

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National Security Leaders for America president Rear Admiral Michael Smith, USN (Ret.) defended the nine signatories in comment to Fox Digital on Sunday evening, arguing the 2020 letter was “well-reasoned but ultimately incorrect.” 

“One well-reasoned but ultimately incorrect assessment does not undermine a lifetime’s worth of public service. Their assertion that former President Trump is uncommitted to democracy and unprepared to be Commander-in-Chief is well-founded, as is their assessment of Vice President Harris as a strategic and knowledgeable leader.”

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo slammed progressive policies and defended law enforcement in an ardent speech against far-left politics on Sunday.

Speaking at Bedford Central Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, New York, Cuomo began by endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for the upcoming presidential election, calling her “smart and qualified.”

“She is going to unite the Democrats,” the former politician said. “She’s going to bring a new energy. And because the opponent is Donald Trump and we’ve seen that and we’re not going back there again.”

But the Democrat noted that Harris getting into office wouldn’t “solve all our problems” because government “isn’t working for people on a very basic level,” and launched into a six-minute rant against progressive politics.

HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBPOENAS ANDREW CUOMO OVER COVID-19 NURSING HOME POLICIES

Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo slammed progressive policies during a speech in Brooklyn on Sunday. (Getty mages)

“Things are getting worse, not better,” Cuomo continued. “And I think it’s time that we take a fresh look and take a new perspective when we look at what’s going on.”

“Today, we have a great political argument on the Democratic side: Who is more progressive?” he added. “I don’t even think they know what the word means, progressive. You cannot be a progressive if you don’t make progress.”

Cuomo, who served as NYC governor from 2011 to 2021, said that the U.S. was “going backwards” thanks to progressive policies.

“Some people think it’s progressive to say, ‘Defund the police,’” he noted. “Yes, in theory, if everybody had an education and everybody had a job, nobody would need to commit a crime. I get the theory, but it’s not that simple.”

HOCHUL AIDE ACCUSED OF WORKING FOR CCP USED POSITION TO PROMOTE ‘EQUITY’ POLICIES IN RESURFACED VIDEO

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo addressed a church service Sunday in Brooklyn, N.Y. (Photo by Jeenah Moon/Getty Images)

“‘Defund the police’ are the three dumbest words ever uttered in politics,” Cuomo added.

Cuomo also called out the migrant issue in New York City, saying that the government “can’t just have 100,000 migrants coming into New York City and only New York City.”

“Nowhere else in the state of New York, only New York City,” the Democrat stated. “And leave it all up to New York City to pay for hotels, pay for health care, over $10 billion. No plan by the federal government, no real help from the state.”

Cuomo then encouraged the audience to “forget the labels” and remember to vote in November.

A participant holding a Black Lives Matter sign at the protest in 2020. (Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images)

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“Remember the only questions that matter: Who is going to help you and your family and who is going to get the job done?” he concluded. 

Former President Trump indicated during an interview Sunday that he would not make a run for the Oval Office in 2028 if his current bid falls short in November.

Trump was a guest on Sinclair Broadcast Group’s “Full Measure,” hosted by Sharyl Attkisson, which aired Sunday morning.

At the end of the interview, Attkisson asked Trump if he was not successful in his bid for president in November, could he see himself running again in four years?

“No, I don’t. No, I don’t. I think that that will be, that will be it. I don’t see that at all,” the former president answered. “I think that hopefully we’re gonna be successful.”

HARRIS-TRUMP SHOWDOWN: THE EDGE IS CLEAR ON THIS KEY ISSUE

Republican presidential nominee former President Trump speaks during a rally last week in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Trump, 78, is on his third run for president, having beaten Hillary Clinton for the Commander in Chief seat in 2016, and losing to President Biden in 2020. He now faces Vice President Kamala Harris for a second, four-year term in office.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Trump campaign for clarification on the former president’s comments. The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on Trump’s statements.

With over six weeks to go until Election Day on Nov. 5, and early voting and absentee balloting underway in a growing number of states, a number of public opinion polls agree that the race in key battleground states that will decide the 2024 Presidential election is within the margin-of-error.

WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLL SHOWS IN THE HARRIS-TRUMP 2024 SHOWDOWN 

Former President Trump and VP Kamala Harris on the campaign trail.

The polls also show Harris has a healthy advantage among voters when it comes to the issue of abortion, while Trump has an equally large margin in dealing with the border and immigration.

When it comes to the economy, the polls show the issue remains the top issue on the minds of American voters as they prepare to cast their ballot in November.

A Fox News national poll also in the field entirely post-debate spotlighted that 39% of voters surveyed said the economy was their most pressing issue, far ahead of immigration (16%) and abortion (15%). All other issues tested were in single digits. 

HEAD HERE FOR ALL THE MOST RECENT FOX NEWS POLLING IN THE 2024 ELECTION

Immigrants line up after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in Lukeville, Ariz.  (John Moore/Getty Images)

Trump spoke with Attkisson about several issues, including his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, which he said he did “an amazing job” handling.

“I never got the credit for it. Remember that more people died under Biden-Harris than died under Trump,” he said. “And they had a much easier time because when it came in here, nobody knew what it was. It came from the Wuhan labs, which I always said. But nobody really knew what it was, where it came from…nothing. They knew nothing, and we got hit.”

Trump also said he got credit with the military and knocking out ISIS, saying, “we rebuilt the military.”

TRUMP VOWS TOUGH APPROACH TO SANCTUARY POLICIES

Former President Trump raises his fist as he departs a campaign event at Nassau Coliseum, Wednesday, in Uniondale, N.Y.  (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

After speaking about his accomplishments, Attkisson asked him what he does to stay healthy.

“I used to play golf a little bit…but it seems to be quite a dangerous sport, in retrospect,” Trump said, referring to a recent incident in which a man hid in the bushes with a gun before being shot at by Secret Service and fleeing. The man was later arrested, and the matter is being handled as an assassination attempt on Trump.

“I try and eat properly,” Trump told Attkisson, getting back to her question.

The host told Trump she though he ate hamburgers and drank soda, which the former president acknowledged he did.

“But proper hamburgers,” he said. “But I like, perhaps, all the wrong food. But then I say, ‘does anybody know what the right food is?”

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He continued, saying people lectured him for years on what to eat, and they’re gone because they passed away.

“And here I am,” Trump said. “So, I’m not sure I wanna make too many changes.”

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

The U.S. government will be funded for another three months, thanks to a bipartisan funding agreement reached on Sunday that avoids a government shutdown.

The agreement maintains funding until Dec. 20, with the House likely to vote on the bill as early as Wednesday.

The development was announced in a press release by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

“Over the past 4 days, bipartisan, bicameral negotiations have been underway to reach an agreement that maintains current funding through December 20 and avoids a government shutdown a month before the election,” Schumer’s statement reads.

HARRIS-TRUMP SHOWDOWN: WHICH CANDIDATE HOLDS THE EDGE ON THIS CRUCIAL ISSUE

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., leaves at a news conference on Capitol Hill. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLL SHOWS IN THE HARRIS-TRUMP 2024 SHOWDOWN

“While I am pleased bipartisan negotiations quickly led to a government funding agreement free of cuts and poison pills, this same agreement could have been done two weeks ago.”

The bill also includes $231 million for the U.S. Secret Service with conditions that the agency cooperates with congressional investigations.

This breaking news story is developing. Check back with us for updates.

Former President Trump unveiled a new policy proposal, promising to eliminate sanctuary cities throughout the country.

“Today, I am announcing a new plan to end all sanctuary cities in North Carolina and all across our country,” Trump said during a Saturday rally in Wilmington, North Carolina.

The comments come as Trump has continued to hammer Vice President Kamala Harris on border security, noting her role in being appointed the “border czar” before the administration oversaw record-setting illegal crossings during President Biden’s first three years in office.

ELECTION BOARD IN CRUCIAL SWING STATE ISSUES CONTROVERSIAL RULING REQUIRING HAND COUNTING OF BALLOTS

Former President Trump departs a campaign event at the Central Wisconsin Airport on Sept. 7, 2024 in Mosinee, Wisconsin. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

So-called “sanctuary cities,” or jurisdictions that have limited their cooperation with federal immigration authorities, have become controversial in recent years, with critics arguing that the existence of the cities incentivizes illegal border crossings and hampers ICE’s ability to take custody of migrants accused of committing crimes in the U,S.

Trump vowed to tackle that issue during his rally Saturday, telling the crowd that he would “ask Congress to pass a law outlawing sanctuary cities nationwide, and we will bring down the full weight of the federal government on any jurisdiction that refuses to cooperate” with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Former President Trump raises his fist as he departs a campaign event at Nassau Coliseum, Wednesday, Sept.18, 2024, in Uniondale, New York. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

BIDEN ADMIN’S USE OF BORDER PAROLE REVEALS EYE-POPPING NUMBER OF MIGRANT ARRIVALS IN US

The former president also doubled down on promises to deport all illegal immigrants living in the country, starting with those who pose a danger to public safety.

“As soon as I take office I will surge federal law enforcement to every city that is failing – which is a lot of them – to turn over criminal aliens, and we will hunt down and capture every single gang member, drug dealer, rapist, murderer and migrant criminal that is being illegally harbored,” Trump said. “We will get them out of North Carolina and send them home where they belong.”

Former President Trump speaks during a rally, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Uniondale, New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

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North Carolina is one of seven critical swing states that figure to play an outsized role in this year’s election. Trump, who narrowly won the state in both 2016 and 2020, currently holds only a 0.1 percentage point lead in the state, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average, the narrowest margin of all seven swing states.

A 5-year-old video of Vice President Harris touting her support for a fracking ban resurfaced on social media over the weekend, highlighting an issue that has plagued the vice president in her run for the White House.

“Climate change is the single greatest threat facing our world today. That’s why I am committed to passing a Green New Deal, creating clean jobs and finally putting an end to fracking once and for all,” Harris said during a September 2019 appearance on the “Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon.

Harris, who at the time was a California senator and running for the Democrat nomination for president, had touted her support for such a ban at other points in the campaign, including a CNN town hall earlier in the same month when she said there is “no question” that she was “in favor of banning fracking.”

NBC’S CHUCK TODD KNOCKS KAMALA HARRIS’ ‘MISTAKE’ OF AVOIDING PRESS: ‘ANY FUMBLE’ WILL BE ‘OVERLY SCRUTINIZED’

Vice President Harris (Montinique Monroe/Getty Images)

During her appearance on the “Tonight Show,” which was unearthed by conservative commentators over the weekend, Harris also expressed support for a Green New Deal, a controversial proposal popularized by progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

But the issue of a fracking ban has been the most sticky for Harris during her presidential campaign, with the vice president reversing her stance and vowing not to pursue a ban on fracking during an interview with CNN last month.

“What I have seen is that we can grow, and we can increase a clean energy economy without banning fracking,” Harris said.

Vice President Harris speaks at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute leadership conference, Sept. 18, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

KAMALA HARRIS GRANTS FIRST INTERVIEW TO CNN AFTER WEEKS OF AVOIDING PRESS, TO BE JOINED BY TIM WALZ

The issue of a fracking ban is of even more importance in the vital swing state of Pennsylvania, a state where the method of natural gas extraction is a source of employment and enjoys broad support.

Harris currently holds a narrow lead of less than one point in Pennsylvania, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average, coming in at 48.3% support to former President Trump’s 47.6%.

Republican presidential nominee former President Trump speaks at a rally, Sept. 18, 2024, in Uniondale, N.Y. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

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Trump has seized on Harris’ previous push for a fracking ban in recent weeks, arguing during the debate last week that “fracking in Pennsylvania will end on day one” if she is elected president.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reflected on how students at Columbia University, where she teaches a class, “morphed” from holding “respectful” dialogue on the war in Israel into holding “nasty” protests against the nation that she said were “not student-led.” 

“We basically sat down and answered questions for 45, 50 minutes, and the questions were really raw. I mean, we had a student from Palestine, a Palestinian student. We had a student from Israel, we had students from across the Middle East. We had students from Asia and obviously the rest of the world, struggling to understand what all of it meant. But it was a respectful, informative, open dialogue, and literally at the end of it, the students applauded,” Clinton told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria in an interview that aired Sunday morning of a class she held last year when war broke out in Israel. 

Clinton co-teaches a political course at Columbia University, titled “Inside the Situation Room,” where she joined Columbia University students on the Wednesday following Oct. 7, when Hamas launched attacks on Israel and sparked the ongoing war. Clinton said following the “open dialogue” on campus, she witnessed rhetoric on campus “morph into something that was not student-led.”

“Within a few days, we were doing an event, and we started being protested – the dean and I and our guests – and being screamed at, being called, you know, all kinds of names. What happened in that period? And the best I can sort of unpack it, is that there, there were already existing groups within our country, and particularly on certain campuses like Columbia, who had talking points, they had a plan for protest and disruption, and I watched it sort of morph into something that was not student led, even though students participated, but which had outside funding, outside direction,” she said. 

HILLARY CLINTON CALLED OUT FOR SUGGESTING AMERICANS SHOULD BE ARRESTED OVER DISINFORMATION: ‘QUITE CHILLING’

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks during a panel at the Vital Voices Global Festival on May 5, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Clinton added that “to this day,” she’s still not sure how the outside funding and outside influence swayed college students to join the anti-Israel protests. 

During the 2023-24 college school year, agitators and student protesters flooded college campuses nationwide to protest the war in Israel, which also included spiking instances of antisemitism and Jewish students publicly speaking out that they did not feel safe on some campuses. 

HILLARY CLINTON RECALLS SEEING MELANIA TRUMP AT ROSALYNN CARTER’S FUNERAL: LIKE ‘KID’ OUTSIDE BIRTHDAY PARTY

Pro-Palestinian supporters demonstrate with a protest encampment on the campus of Columbia University on April 29, 2024, in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Agitators on Columbia’s campus, for example, took over the school’s Hamilton Hall building, while schools such as UCLA, Harvard and Yale worked to clear spiraling student encampments where protesters demanded their elite schools completely divest from Israel. 

The former secretary of state went on to say that when she pressed college students about their anti-Israel views, they lacked historical context surrounding politics in Israel and the Middle East. 

HILLARY CLINTON SAYS IT’S A ‘DOUBLE STANDARD’ TO ASK HARRIS ABOUT HER POLICIES

Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks onstage for a celebration of the release of her book “Something Lost, Something Gained” at Dolby Theater on Sept. 20, 2024, in Los Angeles. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

“A lot of the videos on social media gave not just a one-sided view of the conflict, but a totally anti-Israel, pro-Hamas, not just pro-Palestinian view. And for me, it was distressing, because, look, I have my own opinions formed over many years. I am willing to sit down and have a conversation with anybody, but it’s difficult to have conversations with people who hold strong opinions with no factual and historical basis,” she said. 

“And so in trying to talk to students, not just at Columbia, but elsewhere, I would be met with slogans. I would be met with attacks, and, you know, very inflammatory language. And when I would ask, ‘Well, what about, do you know what happened in 2000 at Camp David?’ ‘No.’ ‘Do you know what happened in 1947?’ ‘No.’ ‘Do you know how difficult the relationships have been?’ ‘No.’ ‘Do you know that there are Arab Israelis, and some are serving in the IDF?’ None of that. And this whole chanting of, you know, ‘from the river to the sea.’ What does that mean? What river, what sea? That’s what bothered me,” Clinton said. 

HILLARY CLINTON REVEALS INITIAL REACTION TO BIDEN WITHDRAWING FROM RACE: ‘THIS IS EXCITING!’

Clinton said that so far this year, it “has been much quieter” with “a much more educational environment.”

Hillary Clinton and Fareed Zakaria speak during the 10th Anniversary Women In The World Summit at David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center on April 12, 2019, in New York City. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

She condemned the harassment on college campuses against Jewish students, saying the temperature quickly changed from holding “legitimate” dialogue among students disagreeing with a country’s foreign policies to open antisemitism. 

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest the Israel-Hamas war at the University of Wisconsin Library Mallon on April 29, 2024, in Madison, Wisconsin. (Getty Images)

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“This was screaming at students who were Jewish, it was blocking their entry into classes or into club activities. It was nasty. And so there was something else going on here that was very troubling. And we now, you know, have seen evidence of, you know, obviously foreign money, foreign influence, the algorithms on TikTok, which were anti-Israel right off the bat. And so I think that a university particularly has an obligation to, of course, protect free speech, but also to protect students against harassment and against the kind of behavior that interfered with their learning,” she said. 

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

Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman dodged questions about his and Vice President Kamala Harris’ previous comments against fracking during a Sunday interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“It’s so strange why we keep talking about fracking,” the Democratic senator said when asked about Harris’ reversal on the issue over the last few years. “Back in 2020 I said it might be an issue but that it’s not going to be a defining issue, and now in 2024 we’re still trying about fracking.”

The comments come as Harris has continued to face criticism for her reversal on the issue of fracking over the last few years, going from supporting a ban on the practice during her unsuccessful bid for president during the 2020 election to vowing not to support such a ban last month.

FETTERMAN REAMS OUT NY TIMES FOR PLATFORMING TERRORIST PROPAGANDA AFTER INTERVIEW WITH SENIOR HAMAS OFFICIAL

Sen. John FettermaN (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

But Fetterman insisted that fracking is not an important issue during his interview Sunday, instead pivoting to attacking former President Trump and Ohio Sen. JD Vance for their comments on Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio.

“The other side, they’re talking about eating cats and geese and dogs and saying absurd things,” Fetterman said. “Having a serious policy conversation when the other side is just absolutely on fire.”

Fetterman was then confronted with his own reversal on the issue, including a quote from 2016 in which he called fracking a “stain” on the state of Pennsylvania and another in 2018 in which he said he doesn’t “support fracking at all.” But by 2022 Fetterman had changed his tune, NBC News pointed out, displaying a quote in which he said he “absolutely” supported fracking.

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

FETTERMAN SETS POLITICS ASIDE AFTER TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT, SAYS US MUST ‘TURN DOWN … THE TEMPERATURE’

“What exactly do you like about fracking,” Fetterman was asked.

“It’s strange for some weird gotcha taking quotes out of context and here I am now, I am a United States senator I won by five points,” Fetterman responded. “I fully support fracking and so does Vice President Harris,” he continued, before again pivoting to attacking the Republican ticket for their claims on “eating dogs.”

Fetterman’s home state of Pennsylvania, where fracking remains popular, figures to play a critical role in November’s election, with Trump having narrowly won the state in 2016 before a similarly narrow defeat at the hands of President Biden in the state in 2020.

Former President Trump, speaks during a rally, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Uniondale, New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

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Fetterman acknowledged that the race between Trump and Harris will be “very close,” though he pushed back against the notion that the state’s vote would be “defined by fracking.”

Harris currently holds a narrow lead in the state, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average, garnering 48.3% support to Trump’s 47.6%, a 0.7 point margin.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby deemed the leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, “the major obstacle” to achieving a cease-fire deal in recent weeks. 

During an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” Kirby responded to The Wall Street Journal’s reporting that senior U.S. officials who hoped for months for a cease-fire and hostage release deal now do not expect Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement before the end of President Biden’s term. The report cited administration officials as saying Hamas makes demands and “then refuses to say ‘yes’ after the U.S. and Israel accept them.” 

“It’s certainly apparent to us that Mr. Sinwar remains the big obstacle here to getting a deal. And it certainly is the case that he has done nothing in the recent weeks to prove that he’s willing to move this forward in a good faith way. He is the major obstacle, no question about it,” Kirby said Sunday. “It’s tough to get them to say yes to things that he’s already said that he wanted. So it’s very, very difficult.” 

“But as the president said the other day, everything’s unrealistic until all of a sudden it’s not anymore. And we’re gonna keep trying at this,” Kirby added. “And this idea that we’re just throwing up our hands and ‘well, it’s not gonna happen before the end of the term,’ I can tell ya that’s not where the president is. It’s not where Jake Sullivan or Tony Blinken are. We still believe that there’s a possibility of moving this forward, and we’re gonna keep trying. Those hostages need an effort to get them home. We’re not going to give up on that.”  

ISRAEL SAYS IT CONDUCTED RETALIATORY STRIKES AGAINST HEZBOLLAH IN LEBANON, STRUCK HAMAS IN GAZA

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Kirby reiterated the administration’s position that Israel has a right to defend itself, but acknowledged that some of the criticism of how Israel is handling the conflict has come from the Biden administration as well. 

“They absolutely have a right to defend themselves. And we are still providing them the tools and capabilities to do that. But how they do it matters,” Kirby said.  “President Biden has said that, Vice President Harris has said that to our Israeli counterparts. They need to be doing it in as precise and as discriminant a way to avoid damage to civilian infrastructure and more critically, to civilian life. So it does matter a lot to us.” 

“Fox News Sunday” host Shannon Bream also asked Kirby to respond to the death of Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Akil, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburbs Friday. 

Bream pointed to criticism from Trump administration Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who suggested Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in expressing fear of escalation to Israeli officials after the strike, was not grateful enough to Israel for taking out a man responsible for the death of hundreds of Americans during the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings. 

A poster in the Iranian capital Tehran, featuring Hamas’ new political chief, Yahya Sinwar, on Aug. 13, 2024. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)

HEZBOLLAH IDENTIFIES SECOND TOP COMMANDER KILLED IN ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE IN LEBANON

“Nobody, including Secretary Austin, is shedding a tear over the death of Mr. Akil, who does have American blood on his hands. I think the world’s better for not having him walking around on the planet anymore. But that doesn’t mean we want to see a full out war. We don’t believe, again, that that’s in the best interest of the Israeli people,” Kirby said. 

Akil was one of the Lebanon-based terrorist group’s top military officials, in charge of its elite forces, and had been on Washington’s wanted list for years.

The strike Friday came as the group was still reeling from an attack targeting Hezbollah communications earlier last week when thousands of pagers exploded simultaneously. The attack killed 12 people, mostly Hezbollah members, and injured thousands, according to Hezbollah officials. Israel is suspected of being behind that attack but has not claimed responsibility. 

Israeli security and rescue forces work at the site hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Bialik, northern Israel, on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Gil Nechushtan)

As Hezbollah has been launching rockets into Israel since October 2023, Kirby said the U.S. has been working at “intense diplomacy here now for months to try to prevent an escalation in the conflict up at the blue line with Lebanon.”  

“We still believe that there should be a strong effort to work on that diplomacy and to try to get that – that escalation to stop, to get the situation to stabilize, ” Kirby said. 

Kirby also defended the Biden administration’s handling of Iran, despite criticism from Republicans. 

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“Iran is one of the most heavily sanctioned countries in the world,” Kirby said. “And that’s in part, actually large part, to what President Biden has done. Six hundred sanctions alone just in this administration, 60 sanction regimes. So I don’t buy the argument that we somehow turned a blind eye and just given them cash.” 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, who at times has cozied up to Donald Trump as he tries to win re-election in a state the former president won by 16 points in 2020, has a long history of blaming Trump’s popularity on racism. 

Tester, a lifelong farmer in Montana, has attempted to portray himself as a moderate in his Senate race against GOP challenger Tim Sheehy and has often touted how many times he has worked with Trump. However, Tester also has a long track record of denouncing Trump’s support as a result of racism.

“As Trump spoke directly to rural America, most Democrats ignored it. Trump elevated white voters who had struggled for years as their mostly white communities suffered, as jobs and opportunities disappeared, and as businesses boarded up,” Tester wrote in his 2020 book “Grounded: A Senator’s Lesson on Winning Back Rural America.” 

“Trump turned to the old but effective strategy of lifting them up by pushing down others; by stirring up race-based fears and by giving angry and scared white voters permission to distrust other religions, other cultures, and other people. Trump tapped into the deep, gnarly root of racism in rural America. While we can’t uproot it overnight, we can’t ignore it either.”

MONTANA SUPREME COURT RULING ON GREEN PARTY CANDIDATE COULD SPELL TROUBLE FOR JON TESTER, POLLING REVEALS

Sen. Jon Tester arrives for the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense hearing on June 18, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

In the same book, Tester claimed that a reason people stood by Trump no matter what was because “racial tension was its undercurrent.”

“Trump brought charisma to the politics of millions of ordinary people, making himself relatable, tough, and believable,” Tester wrote. “That’s why, when his own policies hurt American farmers and manufacturers, they marched in lockstep behind him, even despite their own self-interest. And there’s no denying that racial tension was its undercurrent.”

Tester also told the New York Times in 2020 that he “can’t figure out” Trump’s appeal with rural America.

KEY SENATOR REPORTEDLY BEHIND HARRIS’ RISE TO POWER WITHHOLDS HIS ENDORSEMENT FOR PRESIDENT

Tester cast doubt on a recent unfavorable poll of his Montana race. (Reuters)

“There’s no doubt about it, he has an appeal in rural America,” Tester said. “I can’t figure it out, but there’s no denying it. But I will also tell you I think there’s a long-term structural issue. And by the way, I’ve had this conversation with Chuck Schumer several times – that we have to do a better job developing a message so that rural Americans can say, ‘Yeah, those guys, they think like I do.’ Because that’s what Trump has right now.’”

Monica Robinson, a spokesperson for Montanans for Tester, told Fox News Digital that Tester “has been ranked one of the most effective and bipartisan senators because he’ll work with anyone to get things done for Montana.”  

“No matter who is in the White House, Jon Tester always does what’s right for Montana,” she added. “It’s why Jon has consistently stood up to the Biden administration on many issues – from securing the border to protecting Montana from bureaucratic rules that would hurt rural America – and it’s why President Trump signed more than 20 of his bills into law.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesperson Maggie Aboud said, “Jon Tester hates Donald Trump, that’s why he routinely insults Trump’s voters and even called for Trump to be physically assaulted.”

Former President Trump, speaks during a rally, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Uniondale, New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

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“Montanans can see right through Two-Faced Tester’s shameless attempts to tie himself to Trump now that he needs his voters.” 

Many experts believe Montana is the best chance Republicans have to take back control of the Senate in 2024 and recent polling suggests Sheehy has a slight edge.

The Cook Political Report, an independent nonpartisan election handicapper, recently shifted the race from “toss-up” to “lean Republican,” while Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics moved the race to “leans Republican.”

Fox News Digital’s Aubrie Spady contributed to this report

WILMINGTON, N.C. — Fired-up attendees at former President Trump’s North Carolina rally are “praying that he wins” in November, explaining that they are infuriated over Democratic rhetoric regarding the GOP nominee.

Trump held an outdoor campaign rally in North Carolina on Saturday – a battleground state that the Republican nominee narrowly won in the 2020 presidential race.

Rallygoers spoke with Fox News Digital about why they showed up to Saturday’s event, and what their thoughts on the current state of the 2024 election.

“We need Trump to save this country,” Sharron from New Bern, North Carolina, told Fox News Digital.

NY RALLYGOERS PLEAD FOR TRUMP’S RETURN TO RESTORE FUTURE OF BLUE STATE, CITE MIGRANT CRISIS AS MAJOR CONCERN

One rallygoer, Richard, told Fox News Digital that he was at the rally to “get this world straightened back out” and elect Trump in 2024. (Fox News Digital)

One individual, Richard, told Fox that he was at the rally to “get this world straightened back out” and elect Trump in 2024.

Several attendees expressed uncertainty about the fairness of the 2024 election. Asked whether they think it will be fair, one individual said “definitely not.”

“Yes, I hope so,” one woman, Tammy, told Fox News Digital.

‘TRUMP 2024!’: YOUNG SUPPORTER WITH RARE BRAIN DISORDER BEAMS AFTER SURPRISE MEETING WITH FORMER PRESIDENT

“I absolutely do not,” another attendee told Fox. “It infuriates me to the fact that I’m almost in tears. I’m so passionate about it.”

Former President Trump held a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Saturday. (Fox News Digital)

“If he doesn’t get in, we are gonna to lose everything,” she added. “What they put this man through is despicable, and I just pray for him every day.”

Since July, two individuals have attempted to assassinate Trump – one during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the other allegedly on a golf course in Florida.

Several rallygoers said they believe Democratic rhetoric labeling Trump a “threat” contributed to the attempts on his life.

Attendees at Trump’s rally spoke with Fox News Digital. (Fox News Digital)

“I absolutely think its appalling that they continue to do that,” one attendee said. “The day after, they were still making false claims about him, saying he’s a threat to democracy, the campaigns were full of lies and I just can’t fathom how anyone can support this other administration.”

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“That definitely contributed to that. If they call him tyrant, [a] threat to democracy, they make him basically Hitler,” an individual, from South Korea, attending the event told Fox.

Last week, Vice President Kamala Harris rallied in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, a key electorate given its decades of Democratic prominence until the Trump era.

Former President Trump upended the political map in 2016 when he won blue-collar, union-heavy counties like Luzerne and neighboring Schuylkill, Columbia and Northumberland as a Republican nominee.

However, many of those who attended Harris’ Wilkes-Barre rally predicted that trend was coming to an end.

Jill Purdy, whose nearby home of Northampton County flipped red in 2016 but went for President Biden in 2020, said Harris’ strength is explaining her plans for fixing the economy and meeting with foreign leaders.

PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTERS TAUNT HARRIS RALLYGOERS AS VEEP SUPPORTER HITS BACK: ‘WHAT ABOUT HAMAS’

“I think that what resonated with me is Trump saying at the very end [of the debate], ‘I have a concept of a plan.’ So, you know, what is a concept of a plan? None of us can get by with a concept, and you have to have something in your back pocket,” Purdy, a teacher, said.

“So, I really appreciate how she … I would hope she would have done a little bit more and, hopefully, we hear more before the election. But I think she set [her plan] in motion.”

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, speaks at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute leadership conference Sept. 18, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

In Northampton County, Bethlehem Steel’s stacks and coke works once puffed smoke at all hours, signaling solid employment and well-paying union jobs for the Lehigh Valley. 

Now, its steel stacks instead serve as a backdrop for a casino and other smaller venues on the rest of its former property, a silent reminder of the area’s industrial past.

Similarly, in nearby Macungie, Mack Trucks — now owned by Volvo — still produces some of its Bulldog-emblazoned vehicles in Macungie, though its former “world headquarters” nearby sat vacant after its buyout.

HARRIS SUPPORTERS SOUND OFF ON HER BORDER BLUEPRINT

Even in 1981, singer Billy Joel’s “Allentown” described the decline in the area’s industrial might, and the issue has persisted today.

Since 2016, groups like Auto Workers for Trump have formed, citing concern with the Biden administration’s green policies and the offshoring of jobs. And Teamsters President Sean O’Brien became the first such union boss to speak at the Republican National Convention.

But, for voters like Purdy, Harris remains the best hope for her area, she said.

A Trump counter-demonstrator sits outside a Harris rally site in Luzerne County, Pa. (Charlie Creitz)

“I do see a lot of Trump supporters in my neighborhood,” she said. “Though. I’m a teacher. So, I’m familiar with unions. And I do think they are for the ‘common workers,’ so to speak. Those doing the grunt work are still going to favor Harris for the reality of what she can say.”

By contrast, she claimed Trump’s reassurances are “just words.”

“I think most of the people that are [part] of unions are starting to really hear that.”

When asked about Trump’s overtures to energy workers or autoworkers like those at Mack, invoking green restrictions and the like, Purdy said she would defer on that particular aspect.

“I don’t know enough to know whether I hear anything that this is … personally, I still think Kamala probably has a more logical route [on the topic],” she said.

“[Harris] did switch a little on the fracking and that type of thing. I’m OK with people changing their mind for a logical reason. I do worry about the environment, but I can’t speak to what others are really thinking about.”

Purdy said that, as a teachers union member, she does fear Trump would abolish the federal Department of Education. 

The cabinet office was established by former President Carter, and part of the 1980 Republican platform was to do away with the fledgling agency.

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Meanwhile, rallygoers Christian and Annette traveled to Wilkes-Barre from neighboring Hanover Township. They took issue with Trump’s tack on the affordability crisis.

Fox News Digital asked about the disparity between gas prices at the end of his term and today and the similar dynamic in the housing market.

“I don’t believe anything Trump says,” Annette replied. “He lies.”

“The reason [gas] was a dollar in the first place was because nobody was on the road — because there was COVID,” Christian added, recalling empty Pennsylvania roads in 2020.

Annette said Harris “really wants to help us.”

“I believe Harris is really for the middle class,” she said. “Trump always likes to brag about how much money he has.”

A Harris-Walz supporter arrives in Wilkes-Barre in a police-style vehicle with a campaign logo. (Charlie Creitz)

Behind the venue on Franklin Street, Joe Granteed sat in a chair along the major northbound thoroughfare with a sign he said was meant to warn rallygoers and students at Wilkes University against buying what Harris is selling.

Granteed, of neighboring Plains, said it took him some time to think out what he wanted to write on his large poster facing traffic.

“I think she’s desperate,” he said of Harris. “She needs to get a piece of Pennsylvania, but Trump owns Pennsylvania.”

“Don’t be fooled by all her lies. She preys on your youth and inexperience. They promised unity and prosperity and we got chaos and struggles and division,” Granteed’s sign said.

Granteed also suggested Trump got a raw deal from ABC News moderators at the “3-on-1” debate, as he put it.

Meanwhile, on Main Street, Chris M. traveled all the way from Manchester, N.H., to see Harris speak.

Chris said Trump had been a political force until Harris came along.

“He mowed down like 16 competitors in 2016,” Chris said. “No one figured out how to handle him until she came along.”

Former President Trump acknowledges the crowd during halftime of a game between the South Carolina Gamecocks and Clemson Tigers at Williams-Brice Stadium.  (Jeff Blake/USA Today Sports)

While he “loathes Trump,” Chris did admit that, amid persistent inflation, it was the Republican nominee who likely originated the “no tax on tips” plan both candidates put out around the same time last month.

“I did hear that latest thing about what he said [Friday] about taxes. I think it’s a good idea,” he added.

“[But] Harris hasn’t been afraid to address that, even though it’s a weakness under Biden-Harris. So, I don’t know,” he said, adding inflation does not feel as bad as it did under former President George W. Bush in 2008.

In line to get into the McHale Center, Kerry Jones from nearby Dallas said Harris “really puts forth the agenda of the middle class and bringing up the economy for the working people.”

“As opposed to the rich people and the corporate greed and the takeover of our country by interests that are not ours.”

Jones said Harris’ housing plan is “great,” and that it would help her daughters finally move out of her house.

“She nails home that she’s for the working people, and she wants to take our money and put it back into us,” she said.

When asked about energy prices and the overall affordability crisis, Jones said the president has “very little” to do with gas prices because they are subsidized by the feds and assisted by “Republican tax cuts.”

Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., was dealt a blow in the Michigan Senate race this week when the Michigan Farm Bureau’s AgriPac endorsed her Republican opponent, former Rep. Mike Rogers, potentially upending the already close race.

In the latest slate of endorsements, the industry group revealed its support for Rogers, diverging from AgriPac’s recent history of endorsing the Democrat candidate for that Senate seat. The group has not endorsed a Republican candidate for the Senate seat since 2006, backing outgoing Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., in her re-election campaigns in 2012 and 2018.

“I’m honored and grateful to have earned the endorsement of AgriPac and the farmers across Michigan who feed our nation and power Michigan’s economy,” Rogers said in a statement.

“Michigan farmers are struggling mightily under the current administration with rising input costs and burdensome government regulations, and now for the first time in American history we are importing more food than we export. As Michigan’s Senator, our farmers know I’ll always have their back, and I’ll fight to lower costs, slash needless regulations, and pass the Farm Bill, so farmers can thrive and leave a lasting legacy for the next generation to succeed and feed the world,” he wrote.

RICK SCOTT LEADS EFFORT TO UP SECRET SERVICE PROTECTIONS AFTER 2ND ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT ON TRUMP

Rogers received the coveted AgriPac endorsement. (Reuters/File)

The group has palpable influence in Michigan, given that agriculture is one of the state’s top three industries, according to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. Farming in the state contributes “over $100 billion annually to the state’s economy,” per the department. It further employs nearly a million people, or 22% of Michigan’s employment.

Michigan Republican strategist Jason Roe told Fox News Digital that the endorsement is “pretty damn significant.”

“Slotkin serves on the House Agriculture Committee and her patron, Debbie Stabenow, is chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. I imagine they are both pretty p—ed about that decision,” he said. 

Stabenow has backed Slotkin and had been encouraging the farm bureau to also support the congresswoman as her successor. 

‘I’VE NEVER SEEN THIS’: TOP REPUBLICAN DETAILS LEVEL OF SECRET SERVICE ‘LACK OF COOPERATION’

Stabenow had a record of receiving the group’s backing. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images/File)

Stabenow told Fox News Digital, “That was very disappointing,” in response to the endorsement. 

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Gary Peters, D-Mich., dismissed the group’s decision, telling reporters at a Christian Science Monitor Breakfast on Tuesday, “The Farm Bureau always endorses – they always endorse the Republican. The only exception has been Debbie Stabenow because she’s chair of [the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry].”

“She’s the only one,” he said. “Otherwise, basically, they’re an extension of the Republican Party.”

Rogers pushed back at Peters’ claim, pointing out that the organization has backed 14 Democrats across the state this cycle alone, including in the House of Representatives.

Slotkin’s campaign did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication. 

HARRIS, TRUMP DEADLOCKED IN PENNSYLVANIA AS FORMER PRESIDENT TRAILS IN OTHER ‘BLUE WALL’ STATES: POLL

Peters said the group was an extension of the GOP. (Reuters/Mike Segar/File)

According to Rogers, “I think their conclusion to endorse us sends a very clear message, not just to the [agriculture] community but the rest of the business community in Michigan.”

As for Peters’ claim likening the group to the Republican Party, Rogers said in an interview with Fox News Digital, “You just insulted the second-largest industry in the state. They have a very thoughtful process, and it tells me he hasn’t visited very many farms recently.”

Such a remark could even hurt Peters if he seeks re-election in 2026, according to Roe.

The race between Slotkin and Rogers has been quickly tightening as the election approaches. New surveys have shown the Republican within reach of Slotkin, though she still has a lead. According to the latest Marist poll, the Democrat beat Rogers by six percentage points among registered voters, 51% to 45%.

GOP SENS CALL ON SCHUMER, DEMS TO TAKE UP BORDER BILLS AS THEY TOUT IMMIGRATION VIGILANCE

The Michigan Farm Bureau’s AgriPac endorsed Rogers for Senate. (Getty/File)

The stakes have been raised in the race, which has surprised some with its level of competitiveness. It is one of only two “toss up” Senate elections, according to top political handicapper the Cook Political Report, alongside the matchup in Ohio. It was previously considered to “lean Democrat” before being shifted in the summer.

Despite Slotkin’s current lead in the polls, Rogers is confident that this particular endorsement will make a difference.

“What it does is it makes people take note,” he said.

He pointed out the plethora of negative ads being run against him but said, “I will tell you one thing about farmers … they know exactly where the bear does its business in the woods; it’s an old expression my dad used to say.”

The former representative said farmers “don’t care about the ads. They don’t care about the misinformation.”

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Rogers said the farming community is instead more concerned with the candidates who met with them and their county boards to discuss agricultural solutions.

He also said the AgriPac endorsement wasn’t just a crucial win among farmers but also independent voters, who are some of the few who remain undecided.

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

Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz appeared to misspeak at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, prompting social media conservative commentators to pounce on the apparent gaffe.

During his speech in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on Saturday afternoon, Walz was discussing gun violence when he became distracted by an audience member who appeared to need water. Walz, the running mate of Vice President Kamala Harris, strayed from his speech to call attention to the rallygoer. 

“Things like we did in Minnesota, to have enhanced background checks and red flag laws, to get guns out of there, to make a difference,” Walz described.

“And I still got my guns to go shoot pheasants in a couple weeks….We need some water, can we get [a] check on him?” the candidate added, while pointing at the attendee.

TRUMP’S GRANDCHILDREN STEAL THE SHOW AT NORTH CAROLINA RALLY: ‘VOTE FOR GRANDPA’

Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a campaign event. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

Around two minutes later, the Democrat brought attention back to the race and began criticizing former President Trump and his running mate JD Vance.

“I’ll bring her home here quick, folks: Look, Kamala Harris made it clear these guys want to instill fear,” Walz began. “They want to tell you that [you should] just get over it, it’s a fact of life. This is the way it is.”

“[Harris] simply has said it doesn’t have to be this way,” he added. “It doesn’t have to be this way. We can’t afford four more years of this.”

Walz then segued into discussing Project 2025, which the Trump campaign has repeatedly disavowed.

HARRIS TELLS OPRAH ANYONE BREAKING INTO HER HOME IS ‘GETTING SHOT:’ ‘PROBABLY SHOULD NOT HAVE SAID THAT’

Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks at a rally in Milwauke. (Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)

Although Walz may have been referring to gun violence or Trump’s rhetoric when he cited “four more years” of an issue, the ambiguity of his statement led conservative commentators to roast the Minnesota governor on social media for what appeared to be a criticism of the Biden administration.

“Dude is campaigning for Trump now?” commentator Rita Panahi wrote on X.

“I’m with Him/Tim,” Donald Trump Jr. jokingly replied.

Trump War Room, an X account run by Trump’s presidential campaign, wrote, “WALZ FINALLY TELLS THE TRUTH: ‘We can’t afford four more years’ of Kamala Harris.”

Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz waves to supporters following a campaign event. (Dominic Gwinn/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

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Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for clarification on Walz’s comments.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign reportedly announced Harris will skip the historic Al Smith dinner, eschewing a decades-old campaign tradition.

The decision was first reported by CNN Saturday afternoon, citing Harris campaign officials. The campaign reportedly told event organizers Harris was instead planning to campaign in a battleground state, but the report did not specify which state Harris will be campaigning in.

The annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner is traditionally held in New York City to benefit Catholic Charities and is hosted by the archbishop of New York.

Every presidential election year, the Republican and Democratic candidates will typically come together to give humorous speeches at the dinner. The tradition began when John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon spoke at the event in 1960.

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Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign reportedly told organizers the presidential nominee would skip the traditional Al Smith dinner. (Getty Images)

There have been exceptions to the tradition. The Al Smith dinner opted not to invite the two major presidential candidates during the 1996, 2000 and 2004 election cycles.

Fox News Digital asked the Trump campaign if the Republican candidate plans on attending the dinner but did not immediately hear back. The last time a Democratic candidate opted out of the event while a Republican nominee attended was in 1984, when President Ronald Reagan gave a speech without Walter Mondale in the audience. 

In 2020, both President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden appeared at the dinner. Neither candidate took shots at the other despite the intensity of the race.

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President Carter and Ronald Reagan shake hands at the 1980 Al Smith dinner. (Getty Images)

“Throughout my life of public service I’ve been guided by the tenets of Catholic social doctrine,” Biden said in his speech. “What you do to the least among us, you do to me.”

“Catholics have enriched our nation beyond measure,” Trump said at the dinner. “The essence of the Catholic faith, as Jesus Christ said in the gospel, ‘Everyone will know you are my disciples.'”

Vice President Kamala Harris waves during a campaign event in Madison, Wis.  (Alex Wroblewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment but did not immediately hear back.

The Associated Press and Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.