NationalWatch

President Biden and former President Trump’s tense Thursday night match-up was the first debate since 1960 to not feature a live audience.

CNN CEO Mark Thompson told Axios earlier this week that he was aiming for “an absolutely classic debate,” similar to the first-ever televised debate between former Presidents Kennedy and Nixon in 1960. 

It was one of several details that spurred comparisons online between the CNN Presidential Debate and the historically significant first debate between Kennedy and Nixon.

Political commentator S.E. Cupp wrote on X, “Maybe the most consequential debate since Nixon/Kennedy?”

TRUMP LEADING BIDEN AHEAD OF CNN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE, SUPPORT FROM BLACK VOTERS WAY UP SINCE 2020: POLL

President Biden, left, and former President Trump speak at the CNN Presidential Debate. (Getty Images)

Nixon, who had just spent the better part of a decade as vice president in the Eisenhower administration, had led then-young Sen. John F. Kennedy in most national polls ahead of the event, according to the National Constitution Center.

However, Kennedy’s team took a more media-savvy approach, accepting an invitation for a media walkthrough before the event and opting for wearing makeup for the cameras, according to reports.

Nixon, feeling the toll of both the intense campaign trail and a recent hospital stay, appeared tired and unhealthy. 

PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: HOW MUCH DID THE DEBT GROW UNDER BIDEN AND TRUMP’S TERMS?

It was the first debate without a live audience since the first televised debate in 1960. (Pictorial Parade/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

It was widely reported that people who watched the debate on television thought Kennedy won, and people who listened to it on the radio thought Nixon won. Kennedy went on to win the election by a narrow margin.

RealClearPolitics elections analyst Nathaniel Rakich made the comparison to Thursday’s debate on X.

“The modern version of the Nixon-Kennedy debate: People who only read the transcript will think Biden won, people who watch or listen will think Trump won,” he wrote.

THE MANY FACES OF DONALD TRUMP FROM PAST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES

From left to right, Senator John F. Kennedy (1917 – 1963), Don Hewitt of CBS News and Vice President Richard M. Nixon (1913 -1994) at the first televised presidential debate on Sept. 26, 1960. (CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)

Others also compared Biden to Nixon after the 81-year-old president appeared tired and sometimes unfocused while sparring with his rival on screen.

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Former Trump 2020 campaign aide Tim Murtaugh wrote on X, “It’s funny. They say that people who listened to Kennedy and Nixon debate on the radio thought Nixon won because he spoke well and made good arguments. But people who watched on TV thought Kennedy won because he looked better.”

“Biden lost both groups tonight,” he added.

ATLANTA – With the first presidential debate in their 2024 election rematch now in the rearview mirror, President Biden and former President Trump stay in the South as they hold rallies in states they’re aiming to flip come November.

Following their face-to-face on-stage showdown at the CNN Presidential Debate Thursday night in Atlanta, Georgia – where Biden struggled with a raspy voice and delivered halting answers – the president heads to Raleigh, North Carolina, where he’ll hold a rally Friday in a state he lost to Trump by a razor-thin margin in 2020.

Trump, whom pundits declared the winner of the debate, will be rallying Friday in Virginia, which he lost by 10 points four years ago.

A RASPY BIDEN DELIVERS A HALTING DEBATE PERFORMANCE

It’s been two decades since a Republican carried Virginia in the race for the White House. 

You have to go back to then-President George W. Bush, who won the Commonwealth in his 2004 re-election victory.

But recent polling indicates a close contest.

CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLL IN VIRGINIA 

A Fox News poll conducted June 1-4 indicated the Democratic president and his Republican predecessor in the White House each with 48% support in a head-to-head match.

In a multi-candidate race, Biden stands at 42% and Trump at 41%, with Democrat-turned-independent Robert K. Kennedy at 9% and Green Party candidate Jill Stein and independent Cornel West each at 2%.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally Saturday, March 2, 2024, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

University of Lynchburg political science professor Dave Richards, asked about the apparently deadlocked race in his state, said “politics down here are in a confused state and I think that’s being reflected in the polling, where there’s not a clear front-runner.”

At a closed-door Republican National Committee retreat for top-dollar donors earlier this spring at a resort in Palm Beach, Florida, senior Trump campaign advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita and veteran pollster Tony Fabrizio spotlighted internal surveys that suggested both “Minnesota & Virginia are clearly in play.”

“In both states, Donald Trump finds himself in positions to flip key electoral votes in his favor,” the survey, which was shared with Fox News, emphasizes. 

And according to a memo from the Trump campaign obtained last week by Fox News, the former president’s team is aiming to open 8 offices in Minnesota and 11 in Virginia and hire staff to manage the new locations.

THIS REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR SAYS HIS STATE IS IN PLAY IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia agrees, at least when it comes to his state.

A couple of days ahead of the Fox News poll’s release, the governor said in a Fox News Digital interview that “we’re here in June and there’s still a lot of water to go under the bridge, but Virginia looks like it’s in play and that’s pretty exciting.”

Former President Donald Trump and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin meet for the first time in June 2024. (Trump Campaign)

Youngkin will join Trump at Friday’s rally at the historic Greenbriar Farms in Chesapeake, Virginia.

The governor’s appearance will likely spark more speculation about Youngkin as a possible running mate. The two politicians met in person two weeks for the first time ever, as they discussed flipping Virginia in the autumn election.

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When asked in a recent interview with Fox News’ Aishah Hasnie about Youngkin, Trump said he’s “great” and “I think I could consider it.”

Biden on Friday will be in Raleigh, North Carolina’s capital city. The Biden campaign said that the president and First Lady Jill Biden will be joined by “Grammy-nominated artist, entrepreneur and philanthropist Fat Joe, in addition to multi-platinum musician and entrepreneur E-40.”

The president lost the state by just 74,000 votes four years ago. The latest polls in the state indicate Trump with a mid-single digit advantage.

As he aims to be the first Democrat since former President Obama in 2008 to carry North Carolina, he’s beefed up his campaign’s footprint in the state and flooded the airwaves with ads.

President Joe Biden gestures as he delivers remarks on his economic plan during a visit to Abbotts Creek Community Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, on January 18, 2024. REUTERS/Nathan Howard (REUTERS/Nathan Howard)

Biden’s stop next week will be his fourth so far this year in North Carolina, which has seen a surge of new residents since the 2020 election that potentially may benefit the Democratic incumbent.

“I think with the fact that only 75K votes differentiated between Trump and Biden, and the fact that registered Republicans have a higher turnout rate than registered Democrats, I think Biden’s campaign sees the opportunity,” Michael Bitzer, chair of the politics department at Catawba College.

But Bitzer emphasized “it’s an opportunity only if they invest in the ground operations to make that turnout work.”

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

There were several heated moments and pointed jabs during the first 2024 presidential debate between President Biden and former President Trump on Thursday night. 

Discussing a variety of topics, including immigration and the border, the war in Israel, and abortion, the candidates managed to land some punches and challenge one another on their respective records. 

CNN FLASH POLL SHOWS TRUMP AS CLEAR WINNER OF FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: ‘STUNNING NUMBER’

Here are the top five moments from the presidential debate, which was hosted by CNN.

President Biden and former President Trump debated on Thursday night.  (Getty Images)

1. ‘I didn’t have sex with a porn star’

During the debate, Biden hit Trump over the various criminal cases he is involved in, including the New York trial that ended with Trump’s conviction for falsifying business records. The records were related to alleged hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who Trump allegedly had an affair with. However, Trump shot back at Biden, claiming, “I didn’t have sex with a porn star.”

PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE SHOWDOWN BETWEEN BIDEN, TRUMP WAS FESTIVAL OF THE UNPRECEDENTED

2. Trump slams Biden Afghanistan withdrawal 

“He was so bad with Afghanistan,” Trump claimed during the debate, calling it “such a horrible embarrassment.” 

“He should have fired those generals like I fired the one that you mentioned, and so he’s got no love lost, but he should have fired those generals,” he added. “No general got fired for the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country, Afghanistan, where we left billions of dollars of equipment behind. We lost 13 beautiful soldiers and 38 soldiers were obliterated.”

TRUMP RIPS BIDEN FOR NOT FIRING GENERALS AFTER BOTCHED AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL: ‘INCOMPETENCE’

3. Biden denies wrongdoing, calling it ‘outrageous’

The president slammed Trump’s claims he could be prosecuted, brushing it off as “outrageous.” 

“Joe could be a convicted felon with all of the things that he’s done,” Trump claimed. 

 “This man is a criminal. This man — you’re lucky. You’re lucky. I did nothing wrong. We’d have a system that was rigged and disgusting. I did nothing wrong,” he added. 

Biden shot back, “the idea that I did anything wrong is outrageous.”

TRUMP’S CLEAR-CUT DEBATE VICTORY OVER BIDEN RAISES AWKWARD QUESTION ABOUT 2024 CAMPAIGN

4. Biden says he is ‘not for a late-term abortion — period’

Biden pushed back on Trump after the former president said he would allow late term abortions to occur.

“So that means he can take the life of the baby in the ninth month and even after birth? Because some states Democrat-run take it after birth. The former governor of Virginia: ‘put the baby down, then we decide what to do with it.’ So, he’s willing to, as we say, rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month and kill the baby. Nobody wants that to happen — Democrat or Republican. Nobody wants that to happen,” Trump said. 

But Biden claimed, “You’re lying. That is simply not true.” 

According to the president, he is “not for a late-term abortion — period. Period.” 

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5. Trump claims Biden ‘has become like a Palestinian’

While discussing Israel’s war with terrorist group Hamas in Gaza, Trump slammed Biden, who he said doesn’t want to let Israel “finish the job.”

“He’s become like a Palestinian, but they don’t like him because he’s a very bad Palestinian. He’s a weak one,” he said. 

“I’ve never heard so much foolishness,” Biden responded.

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

A Fox News Digital focus group of Republicans, Democrats and Independents used dials to react live to former President Trump’s criticism of President Biden’s economic record, saying he inherited no inflation when he took office.

During the CNN Presidential Debate, moderator Jake Tapper asked Trump to account for his proposal for a 10% tariff on all goods coming into the U.S. on how he would ensure that it wouldn’t worsen inflation. 

Trump said it wouldn’t drive prices higher, but force countries like China “who have been ripping us off for years” to pay the U.S. a lot of money. 

Democrats, Independents, and Republicans react to the presidential debate using dials.  (Fox News Digital)

“It’s going to just force them to pay us a lot of money, reduce our deficit tremendously and give us a lot of power for other things,” Trump said. 

These comments received the most positive response from Republicans and Independents as indicated by the dials, which shot upwards. Democrats’ reception was moderately negative, dipping slightly downwards. 

PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE SHOWDOWN BETWEEN BIDEN, TRUMP WAS FESTIVAL OF THE UNPRECEDENTED

Trump conceded his opponent’s point that he inherited “the largest tax [and regulation] cut in history.” 

“That’s why we had all the jobs,” Trump said. “And the jobs went down and then they bounced back. That’s why he’s taking credit for bounce-back jobs. You can’t do that.” 

With these comments, Republicans and Independents were largely in agreement, showing positive reaction, while Democrats’ reactions remained neutral to negative. 

“He also said he inherited 9% inflation. He inherited almost no inflation. And it stayed that way for 14 months. And then it blew under his leadership because they spent money like a lot of people who didn’t know what they were doing,” Trump said. 

President Biden and former President Trump debated on Thursday night.  (Getty Images)

With these comments, Independents notably diverged from Republicans, showing a more negative reaction. Republicans’ and Democrats’ reactions mostly stayed the same. 

Elsewhere in the debate, Trump said “the only jobs [Biden] created are for illegal immigrants and bounce back jobs that bounced back from COVID.” 

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A flash poll conducted by CNN after the presidential debate showed Trump soundly defeating President Biden. 

Democrats wholeheartedly reacted favorably to President Biden’s remarks on how he wants to tackle the economy, according to a focus group that offered their approval in real time during Thursday’s presidential debate, according to a Fox News Digital focus group. 

The group of Republicans, Democrats and Independents used dials to react live to the beginning of the debate where Biden argued that his economic record was not worse than former President Trump’s.

“Let’s look at what I was left with when I became president. What Mr. Trump left me,” Biden said. “We had an economy that was in freefall. The pandemic was so badly handled. Many people were dying.” 

BIDEN RIPPED FOR ‘OLD’ APPEARANCE, ‘WEAK’ VOICE DURING FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: ‘DEEPLY ALARMING’

Democrats reacted positively to President Biden’s remarks on the economy during Thursday’s presidential debate.  (Fox News Digital)

“The economy collapsed. There were no jobs. The unemployment rate rose to 15%” added Biden. “We’re in a situation where if you take a look at all that was done in his administration, he didn’t do much at all. By the time he left, things were in chaos.”

Democrats in the focus group agreed with the president, as opposed to Republicans and Independents, who went in the completely opposite direction. 

The Republicans in the focus group nearly unanimously disagreed with Biden’s view on the Trump economy. 

During the debate, both men sparred over inflation, with Biden saying Trump’s economy was so bad, there was no room for price increases that many Americans have had to live with in the past few years. 

TRUMP VOWS HE ‘WILL NOT BLOCK’ ABORTION PILLS OR MEDICATION IF ELECTED, SAYS HE BELIEVES IN ‘EXCEPTIONS’

The debate dial appears during the debate between President Biden and former President Trump.  (Fox News Digital)

Democrats also agreed with Biden’s criticism of Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Approval by Republicans and Independents trended downward.

Independents, however, seemed to agree somewhat when Biden said he wanted to cap “corporate greed” to lower prices of necessities like gas, groceries, prescription drugs  and housing. 

“There’s more to be done,” he said. “Working-class people are still in trouble. The combination that I was left with and corporate is the reason why we’re in this problem right now.”

President Biden and former President Trump debated on Thursday night.  (Getty Images)

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“We’re working to bring down the price around the kitchen table and that’s what we’re going to get done,” he added. 

Following the conclusion of the CNN Presidential Debate, Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., fired back at reporters when asked if he would support the idea of replacing President Biden.

“I would never turn my back on President Biden. Never turn my back on President Biden. I don’t know a Democrat in my party that would do so. And especially after tonight, we have his back,” Newsom said.

“We run, not the 90-yard dash. We are all in. We’re going to double down in the next few months. We’re going to win this election,” he continued.

When questioned about Biden’s performance, Newsom said he cared about “the substance.”

ADAM CAROLLA SAYS HE’S LEAVING ‘HORRIBLE’ CALIFORNIA, PANS ‘SOCIOPATHIC’ NEWSOM: ‘SLIPPERY EEL OF NOTHINGNESS’

Left: President Biden. Right: California Gov. Gavin Newsom. (Getty Images)

“How about the substance? I care about the substance. I care about the substance,” Newsom said without explaining what he meant. 

Newsom assured reporters that he was not going to turn his back on the president and was confident he was fit to be the country’s leader.

“I spent a lot of time with him. I know Joe Biden, I know what he’s accomplished in the last three and a half years. I know what he’s capable of. And I have no trepidations,” Newsom said.

ROGAN SAYS DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS ‘SETTING UP GAVIN NEWSOM’ FOR 2024 PRESIDENTIAL RUN AMID BIDEN SCANDALS

Gov. Gavin Newsom and his wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom, photographed with President Biden, have been married since 2008. (David McNew)

Leading up to the debate, rumors continued to swirl that Newsom, a possible candidate for president in 2028, had been tapped as a Biden surrogate leading up to the November presidential election.

Back in February, podcast host Joe Rogan speculated the Democratic Party was preparing to swap out Biden with Newsom on the 2024 presidential ticket. 

“Don’t you think that that’s a ruse, him running for president?” Rogan asked, later arguing, “I think they’re gonna get rid of him, I think they’re gonna move him out, they’re gonna force him to step down. That’s what I think.”

GAVIN NEWSOM ‘WANTS TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT’ IN 2024, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST SAYS

Gov. Gavin Newsom with President Joe Biden (Getty Images)

Following the debate, Newsom brushed off concerns about Biden’s performance, saying “we’ve all had those nights” and that the president has repeatedly pushed through concerns about his age.

“He never gives up. He’s never giving up, fighting for us, fighting for democracy, our future kids, our grandkids. So we’ve got to have this back in this respect. And yeah, I hope he does come back, and I hope he is back on the stage in another debate,” he told MSNBC’s Alex Wagner in a post-debate interview.

When pressed if he was “ready to take on Donald Trump,” hinting that he could be a potential replacement for Biden, Newsom again denied the rumors and gave his full support to the president.

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“Absolutely not. I will never turn my back. That’s my personal point of view. I do not know one Democrat that would do that,” Newsom said. 

Fox News Digital’ Alexander Hall contributed to this report. 

Former President Donald Trump, during the CNN Presidential Debate Simulcast Thursday night, repeatedly hammered President Biden over the ongoing crisis at the southern border — saying Biden had wrecked a secure border and turned the U.S. into a “rats nest.”

“He’s the one that killed people with the bad border including hundreds of thousands of people dying, and also killing our citizens when they come in. We are living right now in a rats’ nest,” Trump said.

The U.S. has been facing a historic border crisis, with numbers of migrant encounters that have repeatedly smashed records. While numbers have dropped sharply in recent months from a record high in December, the crisis has overwhelmed communities across the U.S. there have been a number of high profile crimes committed by illegal immigrants.  Republicans have blamed Biden-era policies, while the administration has said it needs more funding and reform from Congress to fix a “broken” system.

TRUMP LEADING BIDEN AHEAD OF CNN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE, SUPPORT FROM BLACK VOTERS WAY UP SINCE 2020: POLL

Trump returned repeatedly to the crisis in the debate, noting crimes including a murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray allegedly by two Venezuelan illegal immigrants in Texas.

Immigrants wait to be processed by the U.S. Border Patrol after crossing the border from Mexico, with the U.S.-Mexico border barrier in the background, on August 6, 2022 in Yuma, Arizona.  ((Photo by Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images))

“They’re killing our people in New York and California and every state in the union because we don’t have borders anymore. Every state is now a border,” Trump said. “And because of his ridiculous, insane and very stupid policies, people are coming in and they’re killing our citizens at a level that we’ve never seen.”

“We call it migrant crime. I call it Biden migrant crime, they’re killing our citizens at a level that we’ve never seen before,” he said.

Trump repeatedly turned questions, not just about the border but about social security, climate change and other topics, into attacks on Biden’s handling of the border crisis. Polls have shown repeatedly that voters largely disapprove of Biden’s handling of border security and it has remained a top issue of concern for many voters.

Biden defended his record on the border when asked about it by the debate moderators, and noted that he had helped to get a bipartisan Senate bill that would provide more funding and a mechanism to limit some entries into the U.S. But it has not yet received enough support to pass the chamber.

President Joe Biden (R) and Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump participate in the CNN Presidential Debate at the CNN Studios on June 27, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. ( Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

“In addition to that, we found ourselves in a situation when [Trump] was president, he was separating babies from their mothers, put them in cages, making sure the families were separated. That’s not the right way to go. What I’ve done since I’ve changed the law.”

He appeared to be referring to a recent executive order that limits some asylum claims when encounters exceed a certain level, which has been followed in the last month by a 40% decrease in encounters. 

“It’s better than when he left office, and I’m going to continue to move until we get the total ban on…the total initiative relative to what we’re going to do with more border patrol and more asylum officers,” he said.

BLUE STATE DEPLOYS OFFICIALS TO THE BORDER WITH SURPRISING WARNING FOR MIGRANTS

Trump shot back: “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either. 

“Look, we had the safest border in the history of our country All he had to do is leave it. He decided to open up our border, open up our country to people that are from prisons, people that are from mental institutions, insane asylums, terrorists. We have the largest number of terrorists coming into our country right now. All terrorists all over the world, not just in South America, all over the world. They come from the Middle East. Everywhere, all over the world are pouring in. And this guy just left it open.”

Biden accused Trump of “lying” and said there’s no data to support what he said.

Trump would later go on to contrast the treatment of veterans to how migrants are being treated.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

“What they’re doing to the VA to our veterans is unbelievable and veterans are living in the street. And these people are living in luxury hotels,” he said.

Trump would later turn a question about drug overdoses in the U.S., many of which come from fentanyl smuggled across the border, into a criticism of Biden on the border.

 CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“The numbers of the amount of drugs and human trafficking in women coming across our border, the worst thing I’ve ever seen — at numbers that nobody’s ever seen, under him, because the border is so bad,” he said.

Biden went back to touting bipartisan efforts and funding fights he had taken on in relation to tackling fentanyl at the border, including money for more fentanyl detection machines. But he claimed Trump torpedoed the deal.

“This bipartisan deal, more fentanyl machines to be able to detect drugs, more numbers of agents, more numbers of all the people at the border. And when we had that deal done, he went he called his Republican colleagues said, ‘Don’t do it. It’s going to hurt me politically.’ He never argued, it’s not a good bill. It’s a really good bill. We need those machines.”

President Biden accused former President Trump of “having sex with a porn star” and said he has “the morals of an alley cat,” but the presumptive Republican nominee maintained that he did not, and accused Biden of being behind his legal cases because “he can’t win fair and square.” 

During the CNN Presidential Debate Simulcast Thursday night, Biden pointed to Trump being convicted on all counts out of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation related to hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. 

Stormy Daniels is questioned by defense attorney Susan Necheles during Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in Manhattan state court in New York City, U.S., May 9, 2024, in this courtroom sketch. (REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg)

TRUMP ORDERED TO PAY MORE THAN $80 MILLION IN E. JEAN CARROLL DEFAMATION TRIAL

Biden also pointed to the case brought against Trump by E. Jean Carroll, who accused Trump of rape and defamation.  

“How many billions of dollars do you owe civil penalties for molesting a woman in public? For doing a whole range of things—having sex with a porn star…while your wife was pregnant?” Biden said. “You have the morals of an alley cat during the night, sir.” 

Former President Donald Trump is leading four percentage points ahead of President Biden, according to a new New York Times/Siena College poll. (Getty Images)

In the E. Jean Carroll case, a federal jury decided Trump must pay an $83.3 million to her for denying allegations that he raped her in the 1990s. Trump’s legal team has requested a new trial and appealed the ruling, but was rejected in April. 

But Trump, Thursday night, fired back, defending himself. 

“I didn’t have sex with a porn star, number one,” he said. “Number two, that was a case that was started, and they moved a high-ranking official—DOJ—into the Manhattan DA’s office to start the case.” 

Trump was referring to Matthew Colangelo, who served as a senior DOJ official in the Biden administration, and left to join Bragg’s prosecution team. 

EX-TOP BIDEN DOJ OFFICIAL NOW PROSECUTING TRUMP WAS ONCE PAID BY DNC FOR ‘POLITICAL CONSULTING’

A jury found Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree in New York v. Trump. Trump has vowed to appeal that verdict. 

“That case is going to be appealed and won. We had a very terrible judge, a horrible judge, the prosecutors were all high-ranking Democrats, appointed people,” Trump said. 

Trump accused Biden, saying he “went after his political opponent because he thought it was going to damage me.” 

“But when the public found out about the cases, because they understand it better than he does, he has no idea what these cases are, but when they found about these cases, you know what they did—my poll numbers went way up,” Trump said. “You know that—because you’re reporting it.” 

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Trump also said his campaign “took in more money in the last two weeks than we’ve ever taken in in the history of any campaign.” 

 “I don’t think any campaign has ever taken hundreds of millions of dollars come pouring in because the public knows it is a scam,” Trump said. “It is a guy that is after his political opponent because he can’t win fair and square.” 

Former President Trump said he “will not block” abortion pills or abortion medication should he be elected president. 

During CNN’s Presidential Debate Simulcast, Trump was asked about his stance on abortion, and whether or not he would block abortion medication for women. 

“First of all, the Supreme Court just approved the abortion pill and I agree with their decision to have done that, and I will not block it,” Trump said. 

BIDEN WAR ROOM BLOG FOR CNN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

Former President Donald Trump holds a rally in the historically Democratic South Bronx on May 23, 2024 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Trump applauded the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and return the decision on abortion access to the states. 

“I put three great Supreme Court justices on the court and they happened to vote in favor of killing Roe v. Wade and moving it back to the states. This is something that everybody wanted,” he said. “Now the states are working it out.” 

Trump said every state is “making their own decisions right now.” 

“They’re all making their own decisions right now and right now the states control it,” Trump said. “That’s the vote of the people.” 

But Trump maintained that, like former President Ronald Reagan, he believes in “exceptions.” 

“I believe in the exceptions. I am a person that believes, and frankly, I think it is important to believe in the exceptions,” Trump said. “Some people, you have to follow your heart, some people don’t believe in that. But I believe in the exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. I think it’s very important.” 

He added: “Some people don’t follow your heart, but you have to get elected also, and because that has to do with other things, you got to get elected.” 

One year ago, abortion rights demonstrators gathered outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., to protest the overturning of Roe V. Wade. (Photographer: Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

TRUMP WAR ROOM BLOG FOR CNN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

But Trump said Democrats are “radical because they will take the life of a child in the eighth month, the ninth month, and even after birth.”

Trump said the country “is now coming together on this issue.” 

“It’s been a great thing.”

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Biden, though, said if he is re-elected, he will “restore Roe v. Wade.” 

Trump fired back: “So that means he can take the life of the baby in the ninth month and even after birth? Because some states Democrat-run take it after birth—The former governor of Virginia put the baby down, then we decide what to do with it, so, he’s willing to, as we say, rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month and kill the baby. Nobody wants that to happen—Democrat or Republican. Nobody wants that to happen.” 

Biden replied: “You’re lying. That is simply not true.” 

Biden added that he is “not for a late-term abortion—period. Period.” 

All public schools in Oklahoma are now required to incorporate the Bible and Ten Commandments into their curricula for grades 5-10, primarily for historical context.

Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters issued a memo Thursday informing superintendents across the state their districts are required to incorporate the Bible into lessons.

Walters said in the memo that his directive aligns with educational standards approved in May 2019.

The superintendent told Fox News Digital there is a lack of understanding about the country’s history and the influence the Bible has had since the birth of the U.S., which he blames on the radical left.

TRUMP ENDORSES TEN COMMANDMENTS IN LOUISIANA SCHOOLS

Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters announced Thursday that all schools across the state will be required to teach from the Bible for grades 5-12, beginning immediately. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

“We’ve seen the radical leftists drive God out of schools, drive the Bible out of schools, and we have to make sure that our kids have an understanding of what made America great,” said Walters.

“Not teaching our kids about the faith of our founders and the influence that the Bible had in our history is just academic malpractice.”

He explained that, under his directive, instructors in every classroom across the state would have a copy of the Bible to teach from.

The teachers, Walters said, will teach the Bible from a historical context, particularly in terms of its role in American history and the influence it had on the country’s founders.

LOUISIANA GOVERNOR DEFENDS 10 COMMANDMENTS IN SCHOOLS MANDATE: ‘THE US IS FOUNDED ON JUDEO-CHRISTIAN VALUES’

Public school teachers in Oklahoma will be required to teach from the Bible to help understand the historical context of the country’s beginnings. (iStock)

For example, when students learn about topics such as the Mayflower Compact, which predates the U.S., they will look at quotes from pilgrims referencing the Bible.

Leaders during the Civil Rights Movement also made references to the Bible.

Walters said when Martin Luther King Jr. was in a Birmingham jail, he wrote a letter referencing Bible stories.

TEXAS LT. GOV. DAN PATRICK PLEDGES TO PASS TEN COMMANDMENTS BILL AFTER LOUISIANA PASSES SIMILAR LAW

A police mugshot of Martin Luther King Jr. after his arrest for protests in Birmingham, Ala., in 1963, where he wrote a letter referencing Bible stories. (Gado/Getty Images)

“So, it is essential for a historical understanding of our country’s history that the Bible is included in the curriculum, and we will be requiring it,” Walters said.

Although Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed a bill into law last week requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every classroom by 2025, Walters says Oklahoma is the first to require the Bible be used in all classrooms, effective immediately.

“We’re the first ones, and we’re very proud of that,” he said. “We believe in American values. We believe that the better our students understand American history and American exceptionalism, the better off our state will be and the country will be. So, we are very proud to teach that to our students.”

CIVIL LIBERTIES GROUPS FILE LAWSUIT CHALLENGING LOUISIANA LAW REQUIRING TEN COMMANDMENTS IN EVERY CLASSROOM

High school students in Oklahoma will be taught history lessons about the Bible. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

For those who are not religious, Walters wanted to be clear that lessons that include the Bible are strictly for historical context.

He said it is undeniable that the Bible is a historical document.

“The left can be offended, that’s fine,” Walters said. “They can be offended all they want, but what they can’t do is rewrite history. That is our history. That is the history of this country.”

In his memo Thursday, Walters said the move to incorporate the Bible was not just an educational directive “but a crucial step in ensuring our students grasp the core values and historical context of our country.”

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He also said the State Department of Education may supply teaching materials to ensure the message is delivered uniformly.

The new curriculum will go into effect for the 2024-25 school year, and superintendents across the state were told instructions for monitoring and reporting on the matter will be delivered in the future.

A former press secretary to first lady Jill Biden acknowledged shortly before the CNN Presidential Debate that he believes Democrats are not content with the state of the Biden campaign so far. 

“I don’t think anybody is satisfied right now,” Michael LaRosa told Fox News host Jesse Watters in the run-up to the Thursday night debate when asked if he was “satisfied” with the state of the Biden campaign today.

“Look, after the first debate four years ago, we knew, we saw the data move, we saw it change we knew we won the debate we knew we were probably going to win but the mood of the country is very different now and there’s a lot riding on tonight. There’s a lot of pressure on the president. He does have to pull away at some point.”

LaRosa added, “I don’t think anybody is comfortable. It’s a coin flip.”

JILL BIDEN SAYS HUSBAND IS ‘ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE PRESIDENTS’ IN MODERN HISTORY ‘BECAUSE OF’ HIS AGE

 Michael LaRosa served as the press secretary for first lady Jill Biden (Paul Morigi/Ting Shen)

Earlier this week, LaRosa vocally expressed his frustration with Team Biden’s ongoing strategy. 

“Everything looks and feels so choreographed, scripted and controlled that it doesn’t afford him the opportunities to show off his strengths — humor, empathy and compassion,” LaRosa told the New York Times. 

MICHELLE OBAMA FRUSTRATED WITH BIDENS OVER TREATMENT OF HUNTER’S EX-WIFE: REPORT

President Joe Biden speaks during the United Auto Workers union conference at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, DC, on January 24, 2024. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

“Relatability is his superpower, but you can only relate to someone when their humanity is exposed. That means flaws, mistakes and everything else that comes with imperfection,” he added.

“Those who have known him over the years said he remains at heart the same person… But many, including some on his own team, assume the limits on his public interactions are meant to protect him from age-related mistakes,” the Times wrote Wednesday. 

“There has been simmering discontent within his administration among those who think the president’s inner circle goes too far in shielding him from public exposure.”

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Former President Donald Trump holds a rally in the historically Democratic South Bronx on May 23, 2024 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Fox News Digital reached out to the Biden campaign for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Biden is set to debate former President Trump in a CNN presidential debate on Thursday night that will simulcast on Fox News. 

Former President Trump has a four-percentage-point lead over President Biden in a national poll released ahead of their first 2024 televised presidential debate hosted by CNN on Thursday. 

The latest New York Times/Siena College poll released on Wednesday showed 48% of the electorate say they would vote for Trump, the Republican, if the presidential election were held that same day, while 44% said they would vote for Biden, the Democrat. That contrasts with April’s New York Times/Siena College poll that showed Trump leading Biden by just one percentage point. 

Asked whether Biden should remain the Democratic Party’s nominee, 61% said there should be a different Democratic nominee, while 33% said Biden should remain. That compares to 54% who said there should be a different Republican nominee, while 41% believe Trump should remain. 

The poll showed 26% of Black likely voters would support Trump in the 2024 election. While 65% of Black likely voters said they would support Biden, Trump’s gains represent a significant uptick since 2020. 

According to a New York Times/ Siena College poll conducted June 17-20, 2020, just 5% of Black registered voters said they would support Trump, while 79% said they would support Biden. 

BLACK REPUBLICAN CALLS OUT BIDEN’S ‘REAL RECORD ON RACE’ IN SIX-FIGURE AD BUY TO AIR DURING CNN DEBATE

Notably, for the time, 68% of national registered voters said they disapproved of Trump’s handling of the protests and riots following George Floyd’s death in police custody in Minneapolis. 

Former President Trump, left, is leading four percentage points ahead of President Biden, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll. (Getty Images)

The latest poll of 1,226 registered voters nationwide, including 991 who completed the full survey, was conducted in English and Spanish on cellular and landline telephones from June 20-25. 

It also asked whether participants believed Biden or Trump are too old to be an effective president. A net percentage of 68% agreed Biden is too old, while 39% said the same for Trump. 

TRUMP ENLISTS PROMINENT BLACK REPUBLICANS TO APPEAL TO THEIR PEERS: ‘FISHING WHERE THE FISH ARE’

Former President Trump arrives at a campaign rally in Philadelphia on Saturday.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Conducted following Trump’s criminal conviction in the hush-money case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the poll found just 11% of the electorate were more likely to support Trump after he was found guilty, while just 19% were less likely to support him. Most people, 68%, said Trump’s hush-money conviction made no difference in whether they would back him.

There was a two-percentage-point lead in respondents who agreed the charges against Trump are mostly politically motivated contrasted against those who believe Trump was charged mostly because prosecutors believed he committed crimes. The majority, 55%, agreed that Trump should not be sentenced to prison in the hush-money case, while 37% said he should be kept behind bars. 

With just over four months until Election Day, Thursday’s debate offers both candidates a rare potential to alter the trajectory of the race. 

President Biden speaks at an event marking the 12th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program at the White House in Washington, D.C., on June 18. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Trump and Biden have not been on the same stage or even spoken since their last debate weeks before the 2020 presidential election. Trump skipped Biden’s inauguration. 

Thursday’s broadcast on CNN will be the earliest general election debate in history. It is the first-ever televised general election presidential debate hosted by a single news outlet after both campaigns ditched the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, which had organized every one since 1988.

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Under the network’s rules, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. did not qualify.

Aiming to avoid a repeat of their chaotic 2020 faceoffs, Biden insisted — and Trump agreed — to hold the debate without an audience and to allow the network to mute the candidates’ microphones when it is not their turn to speak. There will be two commercial breaks, another departure from modern practice. The candidates have agreed not to consult staff or others while the cameras are off.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Former President Trump and President Biden have spent weeks in preparation leading up to their center stage appearances tonight for the highly anticipated CNN Presidential Debate.

The debate is the first of the 2024 presidential election cycle to include both men, and millions of Americans across the country are seeking answers to questions about critical issues important to voters.

However, Americans are also awaiting viral moments brought on by both the remarks and facial expressions of each presidential candidate, especially as neither nominee is a stranger to social media virality.

YOUNG TRUMP SUPERFAN BROUGHT TO TEARS WHILE MEETING FORMER PRESIDENT

President Biden and former President Trump will go head-to-head tonight in the first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle. (Win McNamee/Getty Images/Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

A few times since Biden began his presidency, the incumbent has attracted hundreds of thousands of clicks for a number of speaking gaffes and a few falls.

In 2022, Biden was recorded falling off his bike while cycling in Delaware, which quickly circulated across social media platforms.

Last summer, Biden drew social media attention when he tripped and hit the stage floor during an Air Force Academy graduation ceremony.

Last weekend, Trump went viral during a moment shared with a young fan in Philadelphia where the child was wearing a Trump-like suit and wearing a wig. The kid met the former president, who signed and gifted him with a $20 bill, and the exchange was captured on video. It garnered nearly 900,000 views on X at midday on Sunday.

“I like that kid! So, if your parents don’t want you, I’ll take you,” Trump said in the video.

PRESIDENT BIDEN ALMOST FALLS WHILE WALKING UP AIR FORCE ONE STAIRS

Biden has gone viral for falling down several times since becoming president. (Fox News)

In 2023, following his arrest in Fulton County, Georgia, Trump’s mugshot immediately went viral and has since been used to decorate coffee mugs, sweatshirts and T-shirts, including those sold on his own campaign website.

While there will be no audience present tonight in Atlanta at CNN’s Midtown studio, and microphones will be controlled by media personnel, viewers everywhere will be looking at the candidates for clashing reactions to one another, especially the usually unabashed expressions provided by Trump.

Here are some of the most memorable facial expressions by the former president during previous presidential debates.

Trump reacts to Biden saying he has no COVID plan

During the Sept. 29, 2020, presidential debate between Trump and Biden, hosted by Fox News, Biden said of Trump during the COVID-19 pandemic, “He went on record and said to one of your colleagues, recorded, that in fact he knew how dangerous it was, but he didn’t want to tell us, didn’t want to tell us because he didn’t want us to panic.”

He added, “He didn’t want us. Americans don’t panic. He panicked,” and went on to say that Trump “still doesn’t have a plan” regarding next steps to combat the disease at the time.

Trump reacts to Biden saying he “doesn’t have a plan” during a 2020 presidential debate. (Fox News)

Trump reacts to a question about paying $750 in federal income taxes in 2017

During the same presidential debate on Sept. 29, 2020, Trump was asked by the moderator if he would tell Americans how much he paid in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017, to which he responded, “Millions of dollars.”

He added, “And you’ll get to see it.”

In late 2022, Democrats revealed Trump’s tax returns and made his finances public to the American people, though Trump worked to stop them in court.

HILLARY CLINTON COMPLAINS IT’S ‘IMPOSSIBLE’ TO DEBATE TRUMP, ‘WASTE OF TIME’ TO REFUTE ARGUMENTS

Trump reacts to a question about his federal tax filings during a 2020 presidential debate. (Fox News)

Trump’s reactions during debate with Hillary Clinton

During a 90-minute CNN-hosted presidential debate on Oct. 9, 2016, in St. Louis, Hillary Clinton and Trump went head-to-head on topics including taxes, a travel ban on Muslims, Syrian refugees and two-faced politicians, among other topics.

Early in the debate, Clinton said, “It’s just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country,” 

Trump responded ominously, “Because you’d be in jail.”

Later in the debate the former Secretary of State said, “Well, everything you’ve heard from Donald is not true. I’m sorry I have to keep saying this, but he lives in an alternative reality and it is sort of amusing to hear somebody who hasn’t paid federal income taxes in maybe 20 years talking about what he’s going to do, but I’ll tell you what he’s going to do.”

Trump reacts to energy policy statement from Biden

During the final presidential debate between Trump and Biden on Oct. 22, 2020, at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, the former president and incumbent disagreed over energy policies when Biden said he wanted to move away from fossil fuels.

Biden said of Trump, “He won’t give federal subsidies to the gas, excuse me, to solar and wind,” to which Trump subsequently reacted with “Oooh!” a couple of times.

Trump reacts to Biden’s remarks during an ABC-hosted presidential debate in 2020. (ABC)

Trump reacts to Clinton and climate change remark

The first presidential debate between Clinton and Trump drew over 84 million viewers.

During the debate on Sept. 26, 2016, Clinton said of the former president, “Donald thinks that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese,” to which Trump subtly raised his eyebrows and followed with “I did not. I do not say that.”

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Trump reacts to remarks made by Clinton regarding climate change during an NBC-hosted presidential debate in 2016. (NBC)

President Biden spoke for a maximum of 33 minutes and clocked in at well under half an hour during the majority of the 11 campaign rallies this year at which he gave a solo address – performances that are at odds with the White House’s portrayal of the president’s stamina and that contrast sharply with the numerous lengthy orations delivered by Biden’s 2024 rival: former President Trump.

Biden spoke for more than 30 minutes on just three occasions during the 11 rallies in 2024 examined by Fox News Digital. Rallies are defined as campaign events at which Biden took the stage alone, stood in front of a podium and was joined by cheering supporters, as opposed to intimate campaign stops, fundraising events, or the brief remarks he has made while carrying out his duties as president.

All three rallies at which he spoke for more than 30 minutes occurred during the first two months of 2024. He spoke for 33 minutes at a rally in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, in January; for about 32 minutes during a rally at the Mother Emanuel AME Church in South Carolina, also in January; and for 32 minutes during a North Las Vegas rally in February. 

OBAMA LEADING BIDEN OFF LA FUNDRAISER’S STAGE JUST LATEST EXAMPLE OF ALLIES DIRECTING PRESIDENT

President Biden speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Sept. 15, 2023. (Chris Kleponis/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Biden’s most recent rally came on May 29 in Philadelphia and was one of just two that occurred after March.

OBAMA AGAIN STEPPING INTO ROLE AS JOE’S CLOSER AHEAD OF TRUMP V BIDEN REMATCH

The eight campaign rallies at which he spoke for fewer than 30 minutes are: roughly 20 minutes at an event in Manassas, Virginia, in January; about 10 minutes during an event in Culver City, California, in February; about 25 minutes during a campaign event in Wallingford, Pennsylvania; and just under 30 minutes at a rally in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, in April. He also spoke for about 20 minutes during a campaign rally in Philadelphia in May; about 10 minutes at a rally at a restaurant in Phoenix in March; about 27 minutes during a Las Vegas campaign rally focusing on the economy in March; and about 20 minutes during an Atlanta rally in March. 

 Outside of the election cycle, the 46th president has also delivered far fewer news conferences than his predecessors, which earned him criticism in the first weeks of his presidency. 

Biden notably did speak for more than an hour during the State of the Union on March 7. 

Despite his past comments, Biden has claimed in recent years that he was one of the first leaders who held public office to support same-sex marriage. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Trump, on the other hand, holds rallies on a regular basis – outside of when he faced trial in Manhattan regarding 34 counts of falsifying business records.

CELEBS SHOWER BIDEN WITH CAMPAIGN CASH, BUT COULD UNDERCUT ‘SCRANTON JOE’ IMAGE

Trump’s stops have included instances during which he spoke for nearly two hours in Georgia after winning that state’s Republican primary in March. He spoke for 90 minutes at a Wildwood, New Jersey, rally in May. As recently as Saturday, Trump spoke for an hour at a rally on Temple University’s campus in Philadelphia. 

Former President Trump arrives for his campaign rally on May 11, 2024, in Wildwood, New Jersey. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Biden’s relative bevy of campaign events this year are a departure from his 2020 cloistered campaign strategy during the pandemic, which earned him the nickname “Basement Joe” from Trump. However, outside of the election cycle, the 46th president has also delivered far fewer news conferences than his predecessors, which earned him criticism in the first weeks of his presidency. 

BIDEN LOOKS TO CAPITALIZE ON STAR-STUDDED HOLLYWOOD FUNDRAISER AFTER TRUMP’S MASSIVE CASH HAUL IN BLUE STATE

Former President Trump arrives at a campaign rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, May 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Biden began his tenure in the White House with criticism from voters and members of the media for waiting months before holding his first formal, solo news conference in March 2021. The nearly three-month stretch of no full news conferences was the longest a newly-minted president has gone without speaking to the press in at least 100 years. 

GAY TRUMP VOTERS SHATTER DEM ‘LIE’ LGBT AMERICANS ONLY VOTE BLUE, SAYS LOG CABIN REPUBLICANS CHIEF

Data compiled by Fox News shows Biden has held 36 news conferences as of this year, with the pressers lasting an average of 33 minutes. During the same time period during the Trump administration, the 45th president held 60 news conferences, while President Barack Obama held 74. 

President Biden addresses a joint press conference with Finland’s president after the U.S.-Nordic leaders summit in Helsinki on July 13, 2023. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden is set to take the debate stage in Atlanta on Thursday evening, where he will face off against Trump for the first time since their debate on Oct. 22, 2020. The CNN Presidential Debate will air for 90 minutes, including two commercial breaks, far longer than Biden typically spends at a podium on the campaign trail. 

MELANIA TRUMP RETURNS TO CAMPAIGN TRAIL WITH PRO-LGBT REPUBLICAN EVENT APPEARANCE: REPORT

Biden campaign spokesperson James Singer told Fox News Digital when reached for comment that Trump and “the crazy person screaming in the street all speak for longer than 30 minutes” and “no one believes that is a sign of mental acuity – well maybe Dr. Ronny Jackson does.” 

“Every day, Joe Biden is president of the United States, fighting to protect women’s rights, build an economy that works for all Americans rights, and defend democracy at home and abroad. Donald Trump couldn’t do that, that’s why he’s no longer president, spending his weeks golfing, sleeping in courtrooms, and gladhanding racist billionaires who want to cut Social Security,” Singer said. 

Trump has challenged Biden to take a drug test ahead of the event, previously suggesting the president takes substances to enhance his cognitive functioning. While former White House physician Ronny Jackson, who now serves as a Republican Texas congressman, also called on the president to take a drug test ahead of the debate, citing a recent bombshell Wall Street Journal report detailing interviews with roughly 45 lawmakers and administration officials who described Biden as an 81-year-old leader losing his savvy. 

“This is a Biden-specific concern based on the unexplained change in his demeanor during the [State of the Union]. President Trump has been the same his entire life, and there have definitely been no concerning changes. President Trump has also previously offered to take one if Biden does,” Jackson previously told Fox News Digital. 

The White House hit back that the Wall Street Journal story and anecdotes were examples of partisan politics working to deride the “savvy and effective” president. The article, however, was just a more recent example of claims Biden has lost his sharpness, which had been on public display for decades when he served as a Delaware senator and eventually as Obama’s vice president. 

Special Counsel Hur said he would not recommend criminal charges against Biden for possessing classified materials, calling the president “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Earlier this year, Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report investigating Biden’s handling of classified documents after his departure as vice president under the Obama administration further compounded concern over the president’s mental acuity. 

Hur announced in February that he would not recommend criminal charges against Biden for possessing classified materials after his vice presidency, calling Biden “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

TRUMP’S ‘MODERN DAY SALEM WITCH TRIAL’ VERDICT SIGNALS ‘OPEN SEASON’ ON FORMER PRESIDENTS: EXPERTS

“Based on our direct interactions with and observations of him, he is someone from whom many jurors will want to identify reasonable doubt. It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him – by then a former president well into his eighties – of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness,” Hur wrote in his report. 

The findings sparked widespread outrage that Biden was effectively deemed too cognitively impaired to be charged with a crime yet could still serve as president.

President Obama takes President Biden by the wrist at fundraising event. (Christopher Gardner via Storyful)

The report’s findings have been repeatedly cited by critics and the media amid a string of gaffes and missed cues Biden has made in recent weeks, including Obama taking Biden’s wrist to seemingly lead him offstage at a fundraiser in LA this month, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni directing Biden back to a gaggle of world leaders in Italy this month after he took a few steps away from the group to give a thumbs up to a parachutist. 

TRUMP RESURRECTS BIDEN’S ‘DEVASTATING’ 1994 CRIME BILL AS HE COURTS BLACK DETROIT VOTERS: ‘SUPER PREDATORS’

President Biden looks toward parachutists during an event that took place during the G-7 summit in Italy on June 13, 2024. (Michael Kappeler/picture alliance via Getty Images)

The White House has pushed back, saying videos claiming to show Biden motionless or receiving assistance from those around him are “cheapfakes presented by discredited rightwing groups who can’t contend with the President’s record and agenda.” 

The CNN Presidential Debate will kick off at 9 p.m. Thursday from Atlanta, Georgia. Biden is anticipated to head to New York City following the debate, where he will join musician Elton John in a visit to the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village to remember the 55th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. The 1969 riots are viewed as the beginning of the gay rights movement in the U.S. 

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Trump will head to Virginia following the debate, where he will hold a rally in Chesapeake regarding “Joe Biden’s Incompetent Presidency,” according to his campaign website. 

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

REMINDER: Follow Fox News’ live coverage of the CNN Presidential debate beginning at 9 p.m. ET.

What’s happening…

-Michelle Obama frustrated with Bidens over treatment of Hunter’s ex

-Biden’s worst debate outcome is having a ‘senior moment’

-New poll has found confidence in the Supreme Court has plummeted ahead of 2024

Let’s Get Ready to Rumble!

In a presidential election rematch that remains extremely close and where every vote may count come November, it’s no understatement to say that there’s an incredible amount at stake in Thursday’s first of two debates between President Biden and former President Trump.

The two presumptive major party nominees will face off on the same stage at the CNN Presidential Debate, which is being held at the cable news network’s studios in Atlanta, the largest city and capital of the crucial southeastern battleground state of Georgia…Read more

While a good or bad debate performance can make or break any campaign, this year’s debates may be President Biden’s last shot at saving his re-election prospects. (Left: Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images, Right: (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images))

White House

BIG TECH COLLUSION: WSJ: SCOTUS ruling gives Biden admin free rein to censor social media …Read more

MICHELLE MIFFED: Michelle Obama frustrated with Bidens over treatment of Hunter’s ex: Report …Read more

Capitol Hill

‘FREE AND FAIR’: House leaders aim to vote on Trump-backed elections bill next month …Read more

Tales from the Campaign Trail

‘WON’T BE FORGIVEN’: Biden’s worst debate outcome is having a ‘senior moment’, Van Jones says …Read more

NOT YET RECOGNIZED: North Carolina elections board delays recognition of third parties pushing RFK Jr., Cornel West …Read more

DATA ANALYSIS: Biden campaign speeches overwhelmingly brief as mental acuity concerns mount …Read more

ELECTIONS 2024: Biden welcomes Bernie Sanders rallies in key state ahead of election …Read more

DEBATE AD WARS: Trump and Biden campaigns target each other on the airwaves and online ahead of and during CNN Presidential Debate …Read more

Trials and Tribulations

APPROACHING JUSTICE: Bryan Kohberger returns to court for hearing on potential trial date …Read more

Crowds outside the Supreme Court reacting to the Dobbs ruling. (Fox News Photo/Joshua Comins)

Across America

EXCEPTIONS: Supreme Court rules to allow emergency exceptions to Idaho’s abortion ban …Read more

SUPREME DISTRUST: New poll finds confidence in SCOTUS has plunged ahead of key decisions on presidential immunity, Jan. 6 …Read more

JUDICIAL INTERFERENCE: Judge rules Montana law defining sex as only male or female is unconstitutional …Read more

FINAL DINNER: Child killer served Little Caesars pizza as last meal before execution …Read more

FLEEING THE SCENE: Jailhouse call busts driver after runaway tire killed college student: police …Read more

‘HEARTBROKEN’: Texas couple believed to have been swept away in flash flood in Utah …Read more

TAIWAN’S CHINA WARNING: Taipei issues travel advisory after Beijing vows to execute independence supporters …Read more

FAILED COUP: Bolivia grapples with aftermath of failed coup attempt as nation strives to restore stability …Read more

CONFLICT THREATENS EXISTENCE: Christians in Israel, Palestinian territory splintered by war pray for peace …Read more

LOCKED UP: Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández sentenced to 45 years in US prison …Read more

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

President Biden’s age is viewed as much more of a liability than former President Donald Trump’s, according to a new poll conducted ahead of the CNN presidential debate on Thursday. 

While 81-year-old Biden is just three years older than Trump, who turned 78 this month, about 67% of Americans say Biden is too old to be president, nearly twice as many as the 37% who said the same for Trump, according to a Gallup poll released on Wednesday. 

The results of the poll, conducted June 2-23, following Trump’s conviction in the Manhattan hush money trial, are in line with prior Gallup polling showing that 31% of Americans are willing to vote for a presidential candidate over age 80, and 63% are willing to vote for a candidate over age 70.

TRUMP LEADING BIDEN AHEAD OF CNN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE, SUPPORT FROM BLACK VOTERS WAY UP SINCE 2020: POLL

Former President Donald Trump and President Biden will debate Thursday.  (Associated Press )

In the June survey, Gallup said that half of respondents were asked whether each candidate is too old to be president, while the other half of respondents were asked whether they are concerned that each candidate is too old to be president. It showed that 59% were “very concerned” about Biden’s age, versus 18% about Trump’s. 

“When factoring in those who are ‘somewhat concerned,’ a combined 76% are concerned Biden is too old for the job, while 38% are concerned about Trump,” Gallup said.

Gallup assessed that Biden’s age is not just a potential liability among Republicans and independents – majorities of whom say that he is too old and that they are very concerned about it – “but also among a sizable minority of Democrats.” The poll found that 44% of Democrats say Biden is too old, and that 31% are very worried about it. 

BLACK REPUBLICAN CALLS OUT BIDEN’S ‘REAL RECORD ON RACE’ IN SIX-FIGURE AD BUY TO AIR DURING CNN DEBATE

Former President Donald Trump walks on stage to deliver the keynote address at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Policy Conference at the Washington Hilton on June 22, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Trump was 70 in 2017 when he took office, and Biden was 78 in 2021. 

Before them, Ronald Reagan had been the oldest U.S. president. He was 69 at the start of his presidency in 1981 and was 77 when he left office in 1989. 

A separate survey, the New York Times/ Siena College poll conducted June 20-25, also asked whether participants believed that Biden or Trump are too old to be an effective president. Its results released on Wednesday showed that a net percentage of 68% agreed that Biden is too old, while 39% said the same for Trump. 

President Joe Biden is seen here in a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the Oval Office of the White House on June 17, 2024.  (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

With just over four months until Election Day, Thursday’s debate offers both candidates a rare potential to alter the trajectory of the race. 

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Trump and Biden have not been on the same stage or even spoken since their last debate weeks before the 2020 presidential election. Trump skipped Biden’s inauguration. 

Thursday’s broadcast on CNN will be the earliest general election debate in history. It is the first-ever televised general election presidential debate hosted by a single news outlet after both campaigns ditched the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, which had organized every one since 1988.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

President Biden’s campaign repeatedly dodged answering a point-blank question about whether Biden plans to take any drugs to enhance his performance during the CNN Presidential Debate on Thursday evening. 

Biden’s opponent at the debate, former President Trump, has led a rising chorus – that has come to include lawmakers – demanding that Biden take a drug test before the showdown. Those advocating a screening suggest that Biden may be motivated by a desire to quell mounting concerns about his mental acuity. 

Given the controversy, Fox News Digital reached out to the Biden campaign, White House and Trump campaign asking if the respective candidates have any plans to use performance-enhancing drugs for the debate.

The Biden campaign twice avoided a direct answer to the question.

“Donald Trump is so scared of being held accountable for his toxic agenda of attacking reproductive freedom and cutting Social Security that he and his allies are resorting to desperate, obviously false lies,” Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt told Fox News Digital on Wednesday evening. 

MOST BIDEN RALLY APPEARANCES ARE SHORTER THAN A SITCOM, HELPING FUEL STAMINA CONCERNS

Former President Trump, left, is leading four percentage points ahead of President Biden, according to a new New York Times/Siena College poll. (Getty Images)

When asked in a follow-up email for a “yes” or “no” response, Hitt said her original statement answered the question.

“The accusation from Trump on drugs is a ‘desperate, obviously false lie,'” Hitt added. 

The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

In contrast, the Trump campaign issued a direct response when asked if Trump planned to take any performance-enhancing drugs for the debate.

“Absolutely not,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karolina Leavitt told Fox News Digital. 

She added, “President Trump has naturally elite stamina and doesn’t need performance enhancing drugs, unlike Joe Biden, who many are saying will be drugged up for the debate like he was at the State of the Union. President Trump has repeatedly asked Joe Biden to participate in drug testing. What does Team Biden have to hide?”

Despite the accusations of his political adversaries, there is no clear evidence that Biden has used any performance-enhancing drug or other similar substance during his tenure in the Oval Office.

OBAMA LEADING BIDEN OFF LA FUNDRAISER’S STAGE JUST LATEST EXAMPLE OF ALLIES DIRECTING PRESIDENT

Still, Trump has challenged Biden to take a drug test before the Thursday night debate, previously suggesting that Biden uses substances to enhance his cognitive functioning. Trump, when issuing his challenge to Biden, volunteered to also take a drug test.

Former White House physician Ronny Jackson, who is now a Republican congressman representing Texas, has also called on Biden to take a pre-debate drug test. Jackson cited the dozens of lawmakers and administration officials who described Biden as losing his mental edge in interviews for a recent bombshell Wall Street Journal report.  

President Biden is seen speaking in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

“This is a Biden-specific concern based on the unexplained change in his demeanor during the [State of the Union],” Jackson previously told Fox News Digital. “President Trump has been the same his entire life, and there have definitely been no concerning changes. President Trump has also previously offered to take one if Biden does.” 

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In response to the Wall Street Journal report, the White House dismissed the unflattering portrait of the president as nothing more than partisan politics working to deride a “savvy and effective” Biden. 

Earlier this year, special counsel Robert Hur raised further concerns about Biden’s mental acuity within a report detailing Biden’s handling of classified documents after his time as vice president in the Obama administration.

President Biden salutes while arriving during an event in the Indian Treaty Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. (Michael Reynolds/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Hur announced in February that he would not recommend criminal charges against Biden for possessing classified materials after leaving government service, describing the 81-year-old Biden as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

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“Based on our direct interactions with and observations of him, he is someone from whom many jurors will want to identify reasonable doubt,” Hur wrote in his report. “It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him – by then a former president well into his eighties – of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness.”

Former President Trump speaks to supporters at a rally to support local candidates on Sept. 3, 2022 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The findings sparked widespread outrage that Biden had been effectively deemed too cognitively impaired to be charged with a crime yet was still serving as president.

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The report has been repeatedly cited by critics and the media amid a string of gaffes and missed cues from Biden in recent weeks. 

Those include: former President Obama taking Biden’s wrist to seemingly lead him offstage at a fundraiser in Los Angeles this month; Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni directing Biden back to a gaggle of world leaders in Italy this month after he took a few steps away from the group to give a thumbs up to a parachutist; and viral video showing the president standing relatively motionless during a Juneteenth concert event at the White House. 

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre last week addressed the recent videos of Biden “freezing” at public events, describing the footage as “disinformation” promoted by “right-wing critics.”

“They are cheap fakes. … They are done in bad faith. And some of your news organizations have been very clear, have stressed that these right-wing … critics of the president have a credibility problem because the fact-checkers have repeatedly caught them pushing misinformation, disinformation,” she said.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni directs President Biden during a G-7 event. (Fox News/POOL)

Fox News Digital reported earlier this week that after Biden’s cloistered campaign strategy during the 2020 election cycle – which earned him the nickname “Basement Joe” from Trump – Biden has delivered just three campaign rally speeches this year lasting longer than 30 minutes. 

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Biden spoke for more than 30 minutes on just three occasions during his 11 rallies in 2024. Fox News Digital defines rallies in this instance as campaign events during which Biden took the stage alone, stood in front of a podium and was joined by cheering supporters, as opposed to intimate campaign stops, fundraising events or the brief remarks he has made while carrying out his duties as president.

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In addition, data compiled by Fox News shows Biden, in his official capacity as president, has held 36 news conferences as of June 2024, with the interactions lasting an average of 33 minutes. During the same time periods for their administrations, Trump held 60 news conferences and Obama held 74.

The election board of North Carolina has denied two political parties’ bids to nominate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Cornel West as their candidates.

State election officials have confirmed that We the People Party submitted more than the 13,865 valid signatures necessary to register as a political party ahead of the 2024 election. The Justice for All Party similarly turned in more than the minimum number of signatures necessary.

Republican members of the election board on Wednesday backed the two parties’ push for formal recognition, which would allow them to select candidates for the ballot.

NEVADA DEMOCRATS SUE TO KEEP RFK JR., GREEN PARTY OFF NOVEMBER BALLOT

Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. makes a campaign announcement at a press conference in Philadelphia. (Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images)

Three Democrats on the election board blocked the motion, citing concerns about how the third parties presented themselves during the signature gathering process and how voters understood their goals.

A delay has been instituted as officials further investigate whether the two parties presented themselves as coherent political organizations or only as a vehicle for Kennedy and West as “independent” candidates.

Independent candidates in North Carolina are subject to a much higher 83,188 signature threshold to qualify for the ballot.

DNC KEEPS GOING AFTER RFK JR. SUPER PAC, ALLEGES TRUMP’S LARGEST DONOR PROPPING UP CANDIDACY

Presidential candidate Cornel West is seen during a Harlem rally in New York City. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Board Chair Alan Hirsch told leaders of We The People that the challenge is “not intended to deny your status as a party.”

“It’s just to do our job and to be sure that […] the people that signed the petition know the purpose and intent,” he explained.

The elections board will reconvene on July 9 to revisit the parties’ demand for formal recognition.

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President Biden delivers remarks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C.  (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

“Today the Democrat-controlled North Carolina Board of Elections has done Joe Biden’s bidding, willfully ignored North Carolina law, and betrayed the public trust of North Carolinians by voting not to qualify Cornel West or Robert Kennedy Jr. for the presidential ballot,” said Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Whatley.

Whatley blasted the board’s decision to delay certification as a “desperate attempt” to keep Kennedy from the ballot — a situation many Democratic strategists have warned would warn President Biden in November.

“This is one more example of Democrats fracturing trust in America’s democratic institutions and flouting the electoral process in their increasingly desperate attempts to hold onto political power — we are leaving all options on the table to remedy this issue.”

FIRST ON FOX: House GOP leaders plan to take up a bill enhancing protections against noncitizens voting sometime in July, Fox News Digital has learned.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is circulating a memo within his House GOP conference, obtained by Fox News Digital, arguing the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act is necessary. After this Friday, Congress is on a week-long recess for Independence Day, returning July 8.

He unveiled the bill, originally pushed by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, alongside former President Trump in a high-profile press conference at Mar-a-Lago earlier this year.

The 22-page report argues there is “irrefutable evidence” that noncitizens have voted illegally in U.S. elections, placing blame with the 1993 National Voter Registration Act.

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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., unveiled the bill at Mar-a-Lago alongside former President Trump, right. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

“The NVRA does not require states to ask for proof of citizenship when registering an individual to vote in federal elections. Rather, the NVRA relies on individuals to merely attest they are a citizen and eligible to vote. In 44 states, if an individual completes and signs the universal NVRA form (Form), then the state is required by federal law to register that person to vote,” the memo reads.

Johnson’s document also argues that the Biden administration’s border policies have exacerbated the issue by making it possible for more people to illegally enter the U.S.

“The Biden Administration’s efforts to dismantle border security, and related policies, have enabled millions of aliens to enter the country, violate our immigration laws, and exploit a system to obtain [a social security number],” it reads.

It also points to reports that states like Massachussetts, Virginia and Ohio recently purged noncitizens from their voter rolls. 

FAITH VOTERS WILL ‘DECIDE THIS ELECTION,’ ACCORDING TO PROMINENT GOP MEMBERS

The bill was first pushed by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas.

According to the memo, Virginia removed nearly 1,500 people from its voter rolls since May 2023 due to “non-citizen status.” Citing an Electoral Process Education Corp. report, the memo said 335 of those people have cast ballots in Virginia elections in the last four years. 

“Earlier this year, in Massachusetts, Boston Election Department officials disclosed to the Public Interest Legal Foundation that the city had removed 70 non-citizens from the city’s election rolls,” the document says.

Additionally, Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State recently ordered over 130 people to be removed from the state’s voter list, the memo says, adding, “Ohio law imposes a very high bar before a county board of elections can remove someone from the rolls due to noncitizenship.”

Democratic critics of the SAVE Act have argued that it is unnecessary because it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. 

The timing of the vote happening next month would be significant, coming less than six months before Trump’s White House rematch with President Biden.

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Even if passed, however, it is highly unlikely to be taken up by the Democrat-controlled Senate.

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Johnson said at Trump’s Palm Beach home in April, “I’m going to announce to you today here standing alongside President Trump that we will do everything within our to ensure that we do have free and fair elections in this country. 

“It’s the basis of who we are as a nation, and we owe that to the American people. And so what we’re going to do is introduce legislation to require that every single person who registers to vote in a federal election must prove that they’re an American citizen,” the speaker said. “Our bill will establish new safeguards, will put us on par, by the way, with virtually every other democracy around the world that also prohibits noncitizen voting. And this is a critical thing for us to do at a very critical time. Our bill also will require states to remove noncitizens from their existing voter rolls.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

FIRST ON FOX: Ohio GOP Senate candidate Bernie Moreno released an ad on the morning of Thursday’s CNN Presidential Debate linking his vulnerable Democrat opponent’s policies to those of President Biden that will be featured on stage in Atlanta.

“Sherrod Brown voted with Biden 99% of the time,” the Moreno ad says as two men ride a tandem bicycle with the license plate JB SB, the initials of Ohio Democratic Gov. Sherrod Brown and President Biden, in Washington, D.C.

“Sherrod Brown & Biden combined 100 years in office,” the new ad says. “Sherrod Brown & Biden oppose a border wall.”

The ad also says the pair “support amnesty for illegals” and that “prices are up 20%” in the Brown and Biden economy.

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Sen. Sherrod Brown, left, and President Biden. (Getty Images)

“Don’t let extreme liberals Sherrod Brown and Joe Biden take America for a ride,” the ad says at the close before Brown and Biden crash their bicycle.

The Moreno campaign also unveiled JustLikeBiden.com on Thursday, where information on the similarities between Biden and Brown’s policies can be found underneath a banner that reads, “Sherrod Brown is always ridin’ with Biden.”

VULNERABLE DEM SENATOR BLASTED OVER VOTING RECORD AFTER AD TOUTS STRENGTH ON IMMIGRATION: ‘WON’T BE FOOLED’

Republican presidential candidate former President Trump, right, greets Ohio Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Bernie Moreno during a rally at the Dayton International Airport on March 16, 2024 in Vandalia, Ohio. The rally was hosted by the Buckeye Values PAC. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

“Sherrod Brown said it best: his politics are not much different than Joe Biden’s,” Moreno Communications Director Reagan McCarthy told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

“Brown votes with Biden almost 100% of the time and has helped create the invasion at our southern border, a dismal economy with record-high inflation, and a war on American energy. The Biden-Brown agenda is failing Ohio and Ohioans will retire them both in November.”

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Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio and chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, speaks during a hearing in Washington, D.C., on June 22, 2023. (Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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

Brown’s race against Moreno in November will be one of the most closely watched in the country. Many view it as one of the best opportunities Republicans have to take back control of the Senate, which Democrats currently hold by a 51-49 margin. 

The Cook Political Report ranks the Senate race in Ohio as a “toss up.”