NationalWatch

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

1 DAY AWAY: Don’t miss the Fox News simulcast of the CBS News Vice Presidential Debate, tomorrow at 9 p.m. ET. Learn more.

What’s happening…

-Trump and Vance have done significantly more interviews than Harris-Walz

-Trump narrowly leading Harris in two swing states

-Walz views on single payer health care might come back to bite Harris

Left, Right Take Center Stage 

Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will face off in a vice presidential debate Tuesday evening, with Fox News airing special programming across its key platforms, including the Fox News Channel and Fox News Digital. 

Vance and Walz will travel to New York City for their first and only scheduled debate of the election cycle. The debate will be held at 9 p.m. EST. The debate will be moderated by “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell and “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan. 

The Fox News Channel, FOX Business Network, Fox News Digital, Fox News Audio and Fox Nation will air special programming of the debate. …Read more

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz (Getty Images )

White House

‘NOT WITHDRAWING’: Pentagon finalizes plan to shrink US footprint in Iraq …Read more

Capitol Hill

SUBPOENA: Comer looking to force DHS to share agency’s Walz-China …Read more

SCHOOL’S OUT: Congress in recess until after election, leaves these key battles on horizon …Read more

BIDEN-HARRIS BLUNDERS: Senate GOP teams up to take on Harris policy pitfalls in pre-election video series …Read more

Tales from the Trail

WHO’S MORE ACCESSIBLE?: Trump-Vance have done significantly more interviews than Harris-Walz …Read more

NOT SO BLUE ANYMORE: Pa. county voters show how deep the ‘purple’ vote runs in Biden’s old backyard …Read more

EARLY VOTING BREAKDOWN: Early voting begins in Nebraska and Washington, DC …Read more

CLOSING THE GAP: Trump narrows Harris’ lead in battlegrounds of Michigan, Wisconsin: poll …Read more

‘RECORD IS HIS ENDORSEMENT’: Vulnerable Dem senator still withholding endorsement from Vice President Harris just weeks before crucial election …Read more

FLASHBACK: Walz’s past views on government-run health care could come back to haunt Harris campaign …Read more

‘NOT FEELING MY BEST’: Dem rep warns donors Harris campaign ‘underwater’ in Michigan …Read more

EYE OF THE STORM: Harris-Trump showdown: Hurricane Helene in eye of the campaign storm …Read more

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris split (Fox News )

Across America

TOSSED OUT: Blue-state governor bucks several of his party’s progressive initiatives …Read more

‘IMPREGNATED HIS KID’S NANNY’: Liberal pundit, VP Harris’ husband slammed for bizarre exchange on reshaping ‘masculinity’ …Read more

TERRORIST TAKEDOWN: Hamas leader killed in Lebanon was UNRWA employee …Read more

‘LOST SIGHT’: Nantucket residents tell Supreme Court feds ‘lost sight’ of mission to protect endangered whales amid green new deal push …Read more

MOTION TO DISMISS: Embattled mayor refuses to back down as legal team acts to get bribery charge dropped …Read more

IMPROPER PEEK: Veterans Affairs staffers reportedly viewed medical records of JD Vance and Tim Walz, prompting probe …Read more

GRIM FAREWELL: Single Utah mother, 33, raising money for her own funeral after cancer diagnosis gives her 3 months to live …Read more

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

It’s doubtful that this week’s debate between Vice Presidential nominees Tim Walz and JD Vance will command quite the same attention as the debate between the nominees: Vice President Harris and former President Trump. But historically, tilts between the running mates are often more pugilistic. A lot feistier. More fun to watch. And sometimes, more memorable.

It’s hard to say why the undercard can be more intriguing than the main event. But first round playoff games in hockey are often better matches than the Stanley Cup Finals. I’ve long asserted that the American League and National League Championship Series is generally more competitive baseball than what you experience during the World Series.

Perhaps it has something to do with the vice presidential candidates introducing themselves to the audience. They simply aren’t as well known.

“Who am I? Why am I here?,” quipped late Rear Admiral James Stockdale when independent Presidential candidate Ross Perot tapped him as his 1992 running mate.

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Stockdale’s folksy line immediately drew laughter and applause from the crowd gathered that night in Atlanta.

“I’m not a politician. Everybody knows that. So don’t expect me to use the language of the Washington insider,” said Stockdale from his lectern wedged between future President Clinton’s running mate, then-Sen. Al Gore, D-Tenn., and Vice President Dan Quayle.

While Gore and Quayle quarreled, their verbal fusillades caromed back and forth in front of Stockdale. He was mostly a mute bystander. At one point, trying to get in a word edgewise, Stockdale abruptly blurted that he felt like he was in the “middle of a Ping-Pong” match.

Precedent suggests that the Vice Presidential debate between Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance will likely be a more entertaining bout than the main event – its presidential counterpart. (Getty Images)

Later in the debate, moderator Hal Bruno of ABC News asked if mudslinging tactics were “necessary” in the campaign. Stockdale replied he didn’t hear the question.

“I didn’t have my hearing aid turned on. Tell me again,” Stockdale requested of Bruno, again triggering howls from the audience.

Sometimes the VP candidates must feel each other out.

EXPERTS PREVIEW VANCE-WALZ DEBATE, SAY USUALLY ‘FORGETTABLE’ VP BOUT ‘MIGHT BE DIFFERENT’ THIS TIME

“The first time I ever met you was when you walked on the stage tonight,” said then-Vice President Dick Cheney to former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., then John Kerry’s running mate at the 2004 VP debate.

Running mates sometimes try to appear more down-to-Earth than those at the top of the ticket.

“Nice to meet ya,” declared former Alaska Governor and 2008 VP nominee Sarah Palin (R) as she shook the hand of then-Senator Biden on stage in St. Louis. “Can I call you Joe?”

Vice Presidential candidates often try to present themselves as more down-to-earth than their Presidential counterparts, as well – case in point: then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s folksy greeting of then-Delaware Sen. Joe Biden at their 2008 faceoff. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

“You can call me Joe,” responded the future president with a smile.

Mr. Biden tried to exude an “aw, shucks,” lunchpail personae in the 2012 VP debate. He deployed lay language when trading barbs with GOP VP nominee and future House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc.

“When we look weak, our adversaries are more willing to test us. They’re more brazen in their attacks,” said Ryan.

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“With all due respect, that’s a bunch of a malarkey,” countered the future President.

Palin tried the same thing, using phrases like “doggone it” and winking at the audience not once, but four times, to punctuate her responses.

Vice Presidential debates are often stocked with wry humor.

Wry humor is another staple of Vice Presidential standoffs, such as Al Gore’s 1996 promise to refrain from telling “warm and humorous stories about chlorofluorocarbon abatement” should opponent Jack Kemp steer clear of sharing football anecdotes. (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)

“If you won’t use any football stories, I won’t tell any of my warm and humorous stories about chlorofluorocarbon abatement,” promised then-Vice President Gore during his debate with GOP VP nominee Jack Kemp in 1996.

Gore was known for his views on global warming and environmental policy. A former congressman and Housing and Urban Development Secretary, Kemp also starred at quarterback for the San Diego Chargers and Buffalo Bills in the American Football League before it merged with the NFL.

A lot of people would pay to be a fly on the wall during some of the debate prep. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., has been playing Walz during the sessions with Vance. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has portrayed Vance during his rehearsals with Walz.

THE MAN IN BLACK: JOHNNY CASH STATUE UNVEILED IN THE CAPITOL

But you don’t even have to be a fly on the wall for these debates. Sometimes a fly just shows up – and lands on the head of former Vice President Mike Pence. Such was the case when Pence debated Vice President Harris four years ago in Salt Lake City.

But Vice Presidential debates do grow testy.

Besides the fly, many best remember the 2020 Harris/Pence debate for the Vice President repeatedly declaring “I’m speaking,” beseeching Pence to wait his turn.

The fly that landed on then-Vice President Mike Pence’s head during his 2020 skirmish with then-California Sen. Kamala Harris was far from the ugliest thing to transpire onstage that night. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Viewers also remember Pence and Democratic VP nominee and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., talking all over one another during their 2016 debate.

In the first televised VP debate in Houston in 1976, GOP Vice Presidential nominee and future Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., depicted World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam were “Democrat wars.” He then added that “the pardon of Richard Nixon is behind us. Watergate’s behind us.”

“I think Sen. Dole has richly earned his reputation as a hatchet man tonight,” responded future Vice President and then-Sen. Walter Mondale, D-Minn.

VANCE VS. WALZ: THINK VP DEBATES DON’T MATTER? JUST LOOK AT THESE 6 EXAMPLES

And future President George H.W. Bush drew the ire of female voters when he appeared to speak condescendingly to 1984 Democratic Vice Presidential nominee and Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, D-N.Y., – the first woman to ever appear on a major party ticket.

“Let me help you Miss Ferraro about the difference between Iran and the embassy in Lebanon,” said Bush.

“Let me just say, first of all, that I almost resent, Vice President Bush, your patronizing attitude that you have to teach me about foreign policy,” shot back Ferraro.

Then-New York Rep. Geraldine Ferraro accused her Republican opponent, incumbent Vice President George H.W. Bush, of unnecessary condescension in a spat over foreign policy at their 1984 debate. (Photo by © Wally McNamee/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

The congresswoman noted she had served nearly six years in the House by that point.

But one zinger from a Vice Presidential debate is without question one of the best lines in the history of American politics.

During the 1988 campaign, the press corps and some in the public jeered at Quayle as Bush 41’s running mate. His youthful looks and frequent verbal faux pas made Quayle seem unprepared for the job. Quayle was 41 years old at the time. But he had already served nearly eight years in the Senate and four in the House. To compensate, Quayle often spun his youth in the same way that late President “Jack Kennedy” captured the imagination of Americans.

HOW TO WATCH THE FOX NEWS – CBS NEWS VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE SIMULCAST

Compared to Quayle, 1988 Vice Presidential nominee and Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, D-Tex., presented himself as poised, stately and steady. Bentsen and his handlers were well aware of Quayle’s “Jack Kennedy” comparisons. And so during the debate in Omaha, Neb., Bentsen waited for Quayle to bait his own trap.

“I have far more experience than many others that sought the office of Vice President of this country. I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency,” said Quayle.

Bentsen pounced.

Democratic Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen’s 1988 quip that Republican opponent Dan Quayle was “no Jack Kennedy” is commonly dubbed one of the most memorable one-liners in recent political history. (Photo by Steve Liss/Getty Images)

“I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy,” said Bentsen.

The auditorium erupted into hales of applause and shouts.

Quayle stewed, staring daggers at his Senate colleague.

“That was really uncalled for, Senator,” fumed Quayle.

Bentsen’s line has echoed for decades, lampooned on everything from Saturday Night Live to 30 Rock.

Just one historic footnote. JFK and Bentsen never served together in the Senate. But they were members of the House during the same period in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

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Running mates have two responsibilities. They must demonstrate that they’re ready to step into the main job. And they aren’t supposed to overshadow the actual nominee. Yet with vice presidential debates, the one-liners often do just that.

EXCLUSIVE – Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance didn’t let a power outage derail his preparations for Tuesday’s debate with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic Party’s running mate.

A source familiar with the senator’s debate prep tells Fox News Digital that over the last month, former President Trump’s running mate took part in a series of murder board sessions with his team.

For those not familiar with the term, a murder board is a group of people who ask tough questions and have candid discussions to help someone prepare for a difficult examination or test, or in Vance’s case, a vice presidential debate.

THE WHO, WHAT, WHERE, AND WHEN OF TUESDAY’S JD VANCE-TIM WALZ VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE 

Sen. JD Vance and Gov. Tim Walz meet Tuesday for the vice presidential debate. (Getty Images )

According to the source, Vance conducted a mock debate over the past week, with Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the House majority whip, playing the role of Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate. Former Trump administration Treasury Department assistant secretary Monica Crowley played the role of one of the moderators from CBS News, which is hosting the debate in New York City.

Halfway through the mock debate, the power went out, as a strong storm slammed through the vicinity of Cincinnati, Ohio, where Vance lives and where the prep session was held. But according to the source, who shared the details first with Fox News, Vance and the team continued on, using lanterns for lighting and cellphones for timers.

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Emmer, who steered the House Republicans’ campaign committee in the 2020 and 2022 cycles, said last week in a Fox News Digital interview that “it’s an honor to be asked to play a very small part in helping JD and President Trump expose the failures of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.”

Emmer and Walz overlapped for four years in the House before Walz won election in 2018 as Minnesota’s governor. “I do know him probably as well or better than most on the Republican side,” he said.

And Emmer, taking a shot at his fellow Minnesotan, argued “the hardest part of playing Walz… is trying to tell lies with a straight face, because that’s what he does. He’s good at the debate game, but there isn’t substance there. There’s a lot of air.”

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Former President Trump, asked Monday if he’s given his running mate any advice, told reporters, “No, he doesn’t need it.”

But he added that he and Vance have “been speaking a little bit back and forth” and that he thought the senator was in “good shape.”

Part of the Trump campaign’s strategy ahead of the debate is to raise expectations for Walz.

“Walz is very good in debates. I want to repeat that. Tim Walz is very good in debates. Really good. He’s been a politician for nearly 20 years. He’ll be very well prepared for tomorrow night,” Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller told reporters on Monday.

Sen. JD Vance speaks during a campaign rally Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Newtown, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson)

Vance, his family, and top aides and advisers arrived in New York City on the eve of the debate.

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Fox News confirmed that Vance will speak to a conference of major Republican donors Monday evening in Manhattan.

According to a source familiar with the GOP vice presidential nominee’s plans, Vance will address the American Opportunity Alliance behind closed doors. That’s a network of major GOP contributors that includes billionaire investors/mega donors such as Paul Singer, Ken Griffin and Warren Stephens. The development was first reported by the New York Times.

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

SCRANTON, Pa.— While northeastern Pennsylvania’s Lackawanna County has been a Democratic stronghold in state and federal elections, voters on the streets of the old coal mining region say the area runs “purple” and will likely be a nail-bitter of an election.

“It’s not as blue as people think. It’s more purple underneath because people are afraid to say anything around here because they think that there’s going to be retaliation. That’s an old thing that goes back generations around here,” David Kveragas told Fox News Digital from a pizza shop on the main drag of Scranton as a storm sloshed rain across the Wyoming Valley last week. 

Lackawanna County is home to cities and towns such as Scranton, Carbondale and Throop, mixing cityscapes backdropped by factories of a bygone era, and dotted with suburbs and expansive farms. The county has long voted blue in state and national elections, last throwing its support behind a Republican in 1984 during President Ronald Reagan’s blowout election when he won each state except Washington, D.C., and Minnesota — the home state of Reagan’s competitor that year, Walter Mondale.

The county has trended right in recent elections, however, teeing up a heightened election battle that will likely help determine how the key battleground state will swing come Nov. 5.

ECONOMY, BORDER, ABORTION DIVIDE BIDEN’S HOMETOWN AS SCRANTON LOOKS BACK ON NATIVE SON’S FIRST TERM

The “Electric City” sign in Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S., on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. Scranton, Pennsylvania has experienced a recent economic turnaround, but the mood among locals about the state of America remains sour. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Between 2000 and 2012, Democratic presidential nominees earned between 56% and 63% of the vote, U.S. News and World Report found. That standard fell below 50% in 2016, when former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton unsuccessfully ran against former President Donald Trump, but still carried a win for the Democratic Party’s ticket even with the lessened support. 

President Biden was born and raised in Scranton until the age of 10, when his family moved to Delaware. Biden’s hometown status likely helped boost his popularity among locals in the 2020 election, winning 53.58% of the vote to Trump’s 45.23% that year. 

As the election cycle comes down to its final five weeks, Fox News Digital spoke to voters on the streets of Scranton to ask about their top election concerns and who they will cast their ballot for come November. Fox News Digital received a mixed bag of responses, with some voters proudly declaring Vice President Kamala Harris’ support of abortion access earned their vote, while Trump supporters said voters only need to look at their pay stubs from the 2016-2020 era compared to today to determine their ballot choice.

A sign for Biden Street in Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S., on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. Scranton, Pennsylvania has experienced a recent economic turnaround, but the mood among locals about the state of America remains sour. Photographer: Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Getty Images)

“If you are a minority and a woman, what is the better choice? I’m not here to knock Trump or any candidate. But as a woman of Puerto Rican descent, I feel it’s really important for us to really sit and discuss the pros and cons of each candidate. But especially as a woman,” a local mom named Adrianna, who is supporting Harris in the election, told Fox News Digital. 

BIDEN CLAIMS TO SEE THE ECONOMY THROUGH THE EYES OF SCRANTON, NOT WALL STREET

Pennsylvania mom Adrianna speaks with Fox News Digital about her support of Harris in the election.  (Fox News Digital )

Adrianna is a mom to a young boy and said that inflation issues and childcare issues have rocked her day-to-day life as she has tried to find a daycare for her son for more than a year. When asked if she believes Harris will correct inflation if elected as president after serving as vice president for three and a half years, she responded, “I hope so.”

“If you are a minority and a woman, what is the better choice?” – Pennsylvania mom Adrianna 

Adrianna said that while inflation concerns her, abortion is her top voting issue. 

“I believe nobody should tell a woman what to do with her body, especially — not to sound sexist — but a man. I think that should be an individual decision that a woman should make,” she said.

PENNSYLVANIA LEADERS IN BOTH PARTIES TALK GROUND GAME AS GOP SEEKS TO UNDO DEM GAINS: ‘MASSIVE SHIFT’

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at Cochise College Douglas Campus in Douglas, Arizona, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

For Trump supporters, the economy, inflation, national security and immigration came in as top concerns for voters. 

“The price of gas is a big issue with me. I do a lot of driving. And I remember back in the day, you know, when you got $20, it’d fill up your gas tank. It’s just going up and up,” Trump supporter John Soentgerath told Fox News Digital.

Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump participates in a Fox News Town Hall with Sean Hannity at the New Holland Arena on Sept. 4, 2024 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

“With all due respect to my Democratic friends, I have a lot of them, [under] this previous administration there has been less take-home pay. The prices of gas [is] up, food. And I like to eat like anybody else. You tell me any mother or father that doesn’t want to put food on the table for their kids, give them treats, ice cream, goodies and things of that nature,” Soentgerath added.

John Soentgerath speaks with Fox News Digital about his support of Trump in 2024.  (Fox News Digital )

Larry West of Scranton told Fox News Digital from a bus stop near The Marketplace at Steamtown that Trump earned his vote for his national security platform as wars continue raging in Ukraine and Israel, saying Harris appears “weak” on foreign affairs. 

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“I’m voting for Donald Trump. And I just believe that as far as globally, I don’t feel that Kamala Harris has what it takes to represent the United States globally. Like especially with all that’s going on with Russia and China,” West said.

Larry West speaks to Fox News Digital about his support of Trump.  (Fox News Digital )

 I don’t feel that Kamala Harris has what it takes to represent the United States globally. – Scranton voter Larry West 

Kveragas told Fox News Digital that he is an independent who “voted against Hillary” in 2016, before becoming a Trump supporter while evaluating the 45th president’s record in office. 

HARRIS SUPPORTERS IN PENNSYLVANIA SAY WORKING CLASS WILL SUPPORT HER

Fox News Digital speaks with Independent voter David Kveragas in Scranton, PA.  (Fox News Digital )

“He straightened out the economy. He got the border under control. He cut regulations. He did pretty much everything you would want a — a realistic person would want — a president to do. So with this election, it’s primarily the economy, obviously. My retirement was up 40% under Trump. I lost the 40%, plus another 20% under Biden. So things are terrible there. The border, which we’re being overrun. Obviously, it’s not just a matter of jobs. It’s a matter of housing and crime fighting, fentanyl, which has run rampant. Fentanyl is killing more people than guns,” Kveragas said.

Skyline of Scranton, Pennsylvania during rain storm.  (Fox News Digital )

On the flip side, a Harris supporter who identified himself as Michael told Fox Digital that “women’s rights” is his top priority this election cycle. 

“I believe that every woman should have a choice to make their own decision,” he said.

Scranton resident Michael speaks to Fox News Digital about his support of Harris in the 2024 election.  (Fox News Digital )

Michael explained that the economy and inflation have also affected his life, saying that he works two jobs to pay the bills and that expenses were much cheaper a decade ago. When asked if he feels Harris is better equipped to handle the economy over Trump, Michael argued that while Trump is a “businessman,” he will “ruin the country.”

“Donald Trump, he is a businessman, yes. But he’s going to ruin the country. He’s going to ruin it. And Kamala Harris, you know, she is more steady-handed. She doesn’t think with an iron fist, and we don’t need that. We’re not trying to go to war with China. [We’re trying to] actually progress in this life. That’s the only thing that we do in this life is to share information and progress,” Michael said. 

GOP GAINS VOTER ADVANTAGE IN PENNSYLVANIA SWING COUNTY NEAR BIDEN’S BIRTHPLACE

Trump’s and Harris’ campaigns have respectively heaped loads of attention on the Keystone State this year, with both candidates repeatedly visiting the massive state, from its rural areas in the rolling hills to industrial cities in the coal and rust belts that run across the state. 

Fox News Digital spoke to both a Trump campaign volunteer and a Harris campaign volunteer, who both work to register Lackawanna voters, door knock and motivate residents to cast a ballot. 

The Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel in Scranton, Pennsylvania.  (Fox News Digital )

Susanne Green is a Trump campaign volunteer and former Democratic voter who began supporting Trump and Republicans in the last decade. 

BIDEN’S HOMETOWN SPEAKS OUT ON BIDENOMICS

“I grew up in a Democrat household. Here in the valley in Lackawanna County, we believed in ‘Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you could do for your country,’” Green told Fox Digital, quoting President Kennedy’s powerful inaugural address in 1961. “And it really does choke me up some because it’s truthful.”

Trump campaign volunteer Susanne Green speaks with Fox News Digital about the election.  (Fox News Digital )

Green said that her politics have not changed, but that the Democratic Party has morphed into something she can no longer identify with. 

“I haven’t changed. The Democrat Party changed. I was a Democrat. I registered as a Democrat when I turned 18, and I voted Democrat in every election until 2016, when I really saw that that wasn’t the direction that our country needed. Our country really needs to really get back to patriotism and believing that our country is great,” she said.

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Green said that when she speaks to locals about the election to motivate them to vote, many Democratic voters will balk at the GOP’s abortion platform. Green said she explains to such voters, most notably suburban women, that Republicans for Choice has long been a powerful vote in the party and that the GOP is not working to place a wholesale ban on abortion.

A mural of “The Office” cast in Scranton, Pennsylvania.  (Fox News Digital )

“I think we can all agree, or most of us can agree, that it should be legal and rare,” Green said in a hat tip to the famous Bill Clinton formulation that abortions be “safe, legal and rare,” a sentiment that has since been purged from the party’s platform in favor of more lax abortion access. 

“That’s how most women that I talk to in my experience over my whole lifetime have said that we wanted abortion to stay legal, but rare.”

Andrew Cutillo, a Harris campaign volunteer in Lackawanna County, spoke to Fox News Digital via a phone call this week and said that he has supported Harris since her campaign launch this summer and touted the VP as someone who can “intuitively” connect with Northeastern Pennsylvania voters based on her middle class upbringing. 

Vice President Kamala Harris holds a rally on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024 in McHale Athletic Club in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. ( Dominic Gwinn/Middle East Images/Middle East Images via AFP)

“Kamala Harris is someone who, you know, intuitively understands what it’s like to grow up or live in Northeast Pennsylvania and Scranton, Pennsylvania, as she grew up middle class. Her kind of focus has been on building a strong middle class,” Cutillo said. “Her focus is on supporting families and understanding what families and communities need, that they can live their lives, that they can not worry about paying grocery bills, not worry about paying all the expenses that come with just trying to raise your family.”

Cutillo added that when he’s out door-knocking or speaking with traditionally Republican voters, including his own dad, people have pulled away from Trump because they are “concerned for democracy,” and view Harris as a potential president who would “govern for the people who don’t agree with her, too.”

Lackawanna County Harris campaign volunteer Andrew Cutillo.  (Fox News Digital )

He said despite the fevered political focus on Scranton and Pennsylvania at large this election cycle, Republican and Democratic neighbors in Northeastern Pennsylvania have and will remain friends no matter how the election shakes out despite any portrayal of “divisiveness” in the battleground state.

Voters in the area remarked that they have been inundated with campaign efforts, with West saying he’s ignored some of the door knockers. 

“I’m flooded with ads, flooded. They have knocked on the door. But I didn’t answer the door because I saw what it was. But we are definitely bombarded with ads,” West said. 

Soentgerath said that he’s seen “a big push from both sides. And again, with all due respect to either side, the bottom line is, if you want change, get up, go to work and pull that lever on Nov. 5.”

While Michael remarked that while he hasn’t seen “too much out here yet,” he noted he has seen more Trump ads than Harris ads.

“So that just means we need to work harder,” Michael said.

Supporters of President Trump turn their backs on the President Biden motorcade. (Aimee Dilger/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Tony Monopoli is a Scranton native who has since moved to another key battleground state, Georgia, and told Fox News Digital that he is supporting Harris in the election. Monopoli was visiting Scranton with his brothers and spoke to Fox News Digital outside of the Lackawanna County Courthouse, where there is a veterans memorial. 

Tony Monopoli, originally from Scranton and now living in the battleground state of Georgia, spoke to Fox News Digital about the election.  (Fox News Digital )

“I think her plans to support small businesses by offering a $50,000 tax credit for small business owners is a big deal. I think her plan to offer $25,000 in first-time homebuyers’ assistance is a big deal, given the cost of homes today. And also, the $6,000 child tax credit for the first year of a child’s life is a big deal,” he explained of his support of Harris.

Fox Digital asked Monopoli if he’s seen more or less campaigning efforts from either candidate in Pennsylvania vs. Georgia, where both candidates are also heavily campaigning for votes.

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“I’d say it’s about the same,” he said. Remarking that he hasn’t “really seen any different” in either area. 

Pennsylvania will again serve as a key battleground state this election cycle as former President Donald Trump and President Biden are anticipated to face a rematch in a state that narrowly voted for Trump in 2016, and elected Biden in 2020 at a 1.17% margin. 

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at the Electric City Trolley Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S., on Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021. ( Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

For Soentgerath, he encouraged voters to do their own homework before casting their ballots, leaning on his concerns over the economy, he said voters should simply review their pay stubs from just a few years ago to help determine their vote.

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“Ask yourself, were you better off now, or were you better off four or five years ago? Look at your last pay stub, your last W-2 form. Look at your last mortgage payment. How about your automobile insurance? How about Christmases when you want to buy things for your loved ones as today? Check it out. Weigh it out. And then take it from there.” 

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

Minnesota’s Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who is currently running to be the next vice president of the United States, once said in a gubernatorial debate that he supports “single-payer health care,” also known as “Medicare-for-all.”

“I think that’s probably the path where we end up,” Walz said in a 2018 debate while running for governor when asked, “Are you for single-payer?”

“And I say that because, be very clear about this, there were no protections for preexisting conditions before the ACA,” Walz continued. “A vote for the ACA was the first time in this nation’s history we had those protections and making sure people have that protection, making sure they were covered, and then making sure we were focused on preventative care, people were finally getting that under the ACA, we started to see health outcomes improve and that’s the real key to driving down insurance premium prices.”

Walz went on to say “let’s be very clear” that there is “no market in health care.”

MINNESOTA GOP LEADER SOUNDS ALARM ON WALZ TRYING TO ‘BAMBOOZLE’ RURAL VOTERS: ‘BERNIE SANDERS IN FLANNEL’

Tim Walz expressed support for single-payer health care in a 2018 debate. (C-Span )

“Because markets by nature would be a failure if someone didn’t have it, there’s not going to be, you cannot simply shrink a pool to the sickest people and say that’s where we are going to manage them when they’re in crisis. That’s not the way to go about this. The way to go about this is making sure everybody has that preventative care, making sure everybody has that access on the front end, you start to drive down prices. The ACA did that.”

Walz’s opponent, Republican Jeff Johnson, then pressed Walz on the issue.

“I’m not sure what your answer was. Do you support single-payer health care?”

“Yes,” Walz said. “That was the answer I just gave you.”

WALZ BLASTED FOR HUDDLING WITH GEORGE SOROS’ SON AT NYC LUXURY APARTMENT: ‘BILLIONAIRE NEPO BABY’

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during the International Association of Fire Fighters Convention on August 28, 2024, in Boston. (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

Johnson interjected, “Are you for it?”

“Yes,” Walz said. “I’m going to push for not paying twice as much as any other industrialized nation. Getting half for it. I’m making sure that the 14 top nations that get the best returns at the least cost make sure you cut out that piece that is simply payer getting between people and their doctors.”

When Johnson countered that “single-payer” means “everybody loses their insurance” and “forced on to one government plan,” Walz countered, “We can do better.”

Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at a campaign rally in Savannah, Georgia, Aug. 29, 2024. (Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz)

The comments from Walz come under the backdrop of Vice President Kamala Harris supporting “Medicare-for-all” when she ran for president in 2019. However, in August, her campaign claimed she will not push the subject of single-payer or “Medicare-for-all” during the campaign.

In 2019, Fox News spoke to Harris in the hallways of Capitol Hill, asking about her plans for providing health care.

“How important is it to your health care plan to get rid of private insurance companies? Because there is some confusion about that,” Peter Doocy asked Harris on Jan. 30, 2019.

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“I’m glad you asked. Yeah. So, the bottom line and the most important is that everyone have access to health care,” Harris said. “That is the goal. That is the purpose for me supporting the policy of ‘Medicare-for-all.’

“If Congress votes in a way that reflects the values and desires of the American people, then Congress will vote for a policy that gives everyone access to health care,” she later said.

Her proposed solution was to provide “Medicare-for-all” because “Medicare works” and “it’s popular.”

“‘Medicare-for-all‘ will cover all medically necessary services, including emergency room visits, doctor visits, vision, dental, hearing aids, mental health, and substance-use disorder treatment, and comprehensive reproductive health care services,” Harris wrote. “It will also allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices.”

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

Fox News’ Greg Wehner and Peter Doocy contributed reporting.

As the death toll and devastation from Hurricane Helene soars in the southeast, both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will be briefed by officials on Monday, as the destructive storm is smack in the middle of the White House race with just over five weeks until Election Day.

Trump is making a stop in Valdosta, Georgia, to receive a briefing on the devastation, assist with relief distribution and “deliver remarks to the press,” according to his campaign.

Harris headed back to Washington, D.C., on Monday morning, cutting short a western campaign swing. The White House said the vice president would travel to Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters once she arrives in the nation’s capital, where she will be briefed on the impact of the hurricane and the federal response to support rescue and recovery efforts.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON HELENE’S HAVOC

A van flows in floodwaters near the Biltmore Village in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on Sept. 28, 2024 in Asheville, North Carolina. Hurricane Helene made landfall Thursday night in Florida’s Big Bend with winds up to 140 mph. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

Over 120 people have been killed by Helene since the hurricane made landfall in Florida late Thursday before tearing a path of destruction through the interior Southeast. The storm sparked millions of power outages and billions of dollars in property damage as it smashed through the southern Appalachian Mountains and into the Tennessee Valley. 

SCENES FROM THE STORM’S PATH OF DESTRUCTION

Among the hardest hit states were North Carolina and Georgia, two of the seven key battlegrounds whose razor-thin margins decided President Biden’s 2020 election victory over Trump and are expected to determine the outcome of the 2024 showdown between Harris and Trump.

Trump at a Sunday rally in battleground Pennsylvania took aim at the administration and Harris over the storm, accusing the president of “sleeping” at his beach house in Delaware as the storm blasted the Southeast.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at Bayfront Convention Center in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Droke)

And speaking with reporters as he arrived in Valdosta, the former president charged that “the federal government is not being responsive.”

Biden returned to the nation’s capital on Sunday afternoon to monitor federal relief efforts.

The White House noted that over 3,300 federal workers have been deployed to support storm response efforts in the impacted states, and at least 50,000 personnel from across the country and Canada are responding to the massive power outages in affected areas. 

Biden told reporters the federal government is giving states “everything we have” to assist with their response to the storm and that “we’re not leaving until the job is done.”

CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING IN THE HARRIS-TRUMP SHOWDOWN

Biden said he would tour the storm-damaged areas later this week as long as his presence on the ground would not hamper rescue and recovery efforts.

“I’m committed to traveling to the impacted areas as soon as possible, but I’ve been told that it would be disruptive if I did it right now. We will not do that at the risk of diverting or delaying any of the response assets needed to deal with this crisis,” he told reporters on Monday.

Trump, at his Sunday rally, attacked Harris for attending “fundraising events with her radical left lunatic donors” in California this weekend. He argued that Harris “ought to be down in the area” where the storm caused destruction.

On Monday, Trump repeated the dig, saying “the vice president, she’s out someplace campaigning looking for money.”

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a rally on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024 in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The White House said Harris spoke Sunday with the governors of Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina and that “the Vice President intends to visit impacted communities as soon as it is possible without disrupting emergency response operations.”

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In a Saturday statement, Harris said that she and the president “remain committed to ensuring that no community or state has to respond to this disaster alone.”

The response by elected officials to natural disasters can vastly impact their political fortunes on the campaign trail.

Trump faced criticism early in his White House tenure as Puerto Rico struggled to recover from a powerful storm. The then-president was criticized for throwing paper towels to the crowd as he stopped by a relief center during a storm-related visit to the island.

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

At least a dozen staffers at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs improperly accessed the medical records of both vice presidential nominees, Republican Sen. JD Vance, of Ohio, and Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, over the summer, according to a report. 

Those employees are under criminal investigation for potentially violating federal health privacy laws, The Washington Post reported. The unauthorized views came from staffers within the Veterans Health Administration and were uncovered by Veterans Affairs investigators, who notified the Vance and Walz campaigns, sources familiar with the probe told the Post. 

It’s the first time veterans were both parties’ vice presidential nominees since Democrat Al Gore and Republican Jack Kemp during the 1996 election. 

Law enforcement officials told the Post that VA Inspector General Michael Missal’s office shared evidence with federal prosecutors related to several health system employees, including a physician and a contractor who “spent extended time” viewing the medical files of former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mates. 

FOX NEWS MEDIA WILL PRESENT SPECIAL LIVE PROGRAMMING OF VANCE-WALZ DEBATE

The potential motive for accessing the medical records is under investigation, and investigators are still trying to determine if Vance and Walz’s information was shared as a result of the breaches, the Post reported. 

Veterans Affairs improperly staff reportedly improperly accessed records of Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz.  (Getty Images )

“We reported to law enforcement allegations that VA personnel may have improperly accessed Veteran records,” VA Press Secretary Terrence Hayes said in a statement to Fox News Digital, regarding the report. “We take the privacy of the Veterans we serve very seriously and have strict policies in place to protect their records. Any attempt to improperly access Veteran records by VA personnel is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.” 

Hayes referred Fox News Digital to the Department of Justice for further queries.

The VA employees under investigation, including the physician and contractor, accessed the medical records using their VA computers and did so mostly from their government offices, the Post reported. Some of the staffers in question reportedly told investigators they were simply curious to see the files of Vance and Walz given both candidates have defended their military records on the campaign trail. 

JD VANCE ACCUSES TIM WALZ OF ‘LYING’ ABOUT MILITARY SERVICE: ‘STOLEN VALOR GARBAGE’

Walz in particular faced criticism for ending his 24-year career in the Army National Guard to run for Congress months before his unit would deploy to Iraq. 

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs building in Washington, D.C., on July 22, 2019.  (ALASTAIR PIKE/AFP via Getty Images)

Vance, who served four years in the U.S. Marines and deployed to Iraq for about six months in 2005, has accused Walz of being “dishonest” about having served in combat zones. 

Law enforcement officials told the Post that the VA staffers under investigation did not access any disability compensation records, which have more security protocols than health information. 

A source at VA shared with Fox News Digital an internal memo sent out Aug. 30, 2024, by VA Secretary Denis McDonough “upholding our commitment to protect privacy.” 

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The message reminded VA staffers that veteran information “should only be accessed when necessary to accomplish officially authorized and assigned duties as an employee, contractor, volunteer, or other personnel.” The secretary said “viewing a Veteran’s records out of curiosity or concern – or for any purpose that is not directly related to officially authorized and assigned duties – is strictly prohibited.” 

The memo also warned VA employees that “failure to comply with these requirements may result in disciplinary action, including removal, as well as referral to law enforcement for civil penalties and criminal prosecution.” 

Social media critics are dragging second gentleman Doug Emhoff for his previously admitted affair with his family’s nanny after he joined MSNBC host Jen Psaki for an interview where he was lauded for reshaping “the perception of masculinity.”

“​​Psaki to Doug Emhoff: ‘You reshaped the perception of masculinity’ PS: He impregnated his kid’s nanny,” popular conservative X account End Wokeness posted Sunday. 

The account was reacting to a snippet from Emhoff’s interview with Psaki, who previously served as President Biden’s White House press secretary before joining MSNBC, where Psaki heaped praise on Emhoff for reshaping masculinity. 

KAMALA HARRIS’ HUSBAND DOUG EMHOFF ‘RESHAPED THE PERCEPTION OF MASCULINITY’: MSNBC HOST

Emhoff commented on being considered a “wife guy.” (MSNBC screenshot)

“There is also an important, interesting part about how people have talked about your role is how your role has reshaped the perception of masculinity,” Psaki said. “I’m not sure you planned on that, but you are an incredibly supportive spouse. Has that been an evolution for you? Do you think that’s part of the role you might play as first gentleman?”

“It’s funny. I’ve started to think a lot about this. I’ve always been like this. My dad’s always been like this. To me, it’s the right thing to do, support women. It is mutual with Kamala and I. We support each other, we have each other’s back,” Emhoff responded. 

He added, “I’ve said many times when we lift up women, we support women, whether it’s pay equity, child care, family leave, and all of these issues in this post-Dobbs hellscape. Women should not be less than. Women should not have less rights and be treated differently. That’s not the American way.”

MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: TRUMP APPEALS TO MEN WITH ‘RETRO, MACHO’ VIEWS, WHILE EMHOFF EMBODIES ‘SUPPORTIVE’ MEN

Clips of the exchange spread like wildfire on social media as critics cited that just last month, Emhoff admitted to having an affair with his family’s nanny during his first marriage years ago. The nanny’s close friend claimed to the media that the nanny became pregnant during the affair with Emhoff, but did not keep the baby. 

Critics also slammed Psaki for the “softball interiew.” 

“Emhoff also once impregnated his child’s nanny. Jen still says she’s a journalist,” Fox News contributor Joe Concha posted on X in reaction to the clip. 

Psaki continued in the interview that aired Sunday by asking Emhoff if he’s familiar with “a pop-culture phrase, ‘wife guy,’ which you’ve kind of been known as.”

KAMALA HARRIS’ HUSBAND DOUG EMHOFF ADMITS TO EXTRAMARITAL AFFAIR THAT LED TO BREAKUP OF FIRST MARRIAGE

Vice President Kamala Harris hugs second gentleman Doug Emhoff after speaking at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 22, 2024. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

“I have heard about it,” Emhoff said.

“A ‘wife guy,’ a ‘proud wife guy.’ How do you feel about it?” she asked.

DOUG EMHOFF’S EX-WIFE RESPONDS AFTER SECOND GENTLEMAN ADMITTED TO AFFAIR WITH NANNY

Emhoff joked, “If I do something annoying to Kamala, and she gets upset, I’ll just show her that article.”

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff speaks alongside Vice President Kamala Harris during a reception celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month in the Rose Garden of the White House on May 20, 2024. (Getty Images)

Emhoff admitted to having an affair with his family’s nanny shortly after the Daily Mail published a report in August that he got his daughter’s nanny pregnant. The nanny’s close friend told the outlet that she did not keep the baby, but did not elaborate further. 

The affair with a nanny occurred before Emhoff’s relationship with and eventual marriage to Harris. 

“During my first marriage, Kerstin and I went through some tough times on account of my actions. I took responsibility, and in the years since, we worked through things as a family and have come out stronger on the other side,” Emhoff said over the summer, acknowledging the affair, but not naming the nanny. 

HOW KAMALA HARRIS’ HUSBAND’S CHEATING SCANDAL COULD HELP TRUMP, EXPERT SAYS

Emhoff and his first wife, Kerstin Emhoff, were married from 1992 to 2008 and share two adult children. Harris married Emhoff in 2014, and helped co-parent his children, who call their stepmom “mommala.” 

The divorce cited “irreconcilable differences” as the motivation behind parting ways, the New York Post reported. 

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Harris knew about the affair before they married, and the Biden 2020 campaign knew about it when it was vetting her for Biden’s vice presidential pick.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment on the interview and social media reactions as well as for comment on the affair itself, but did not immediately receive a response. 

Fox News Digital’s Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report. 

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

Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will face off in a vice presidential debate Tuesday evening, with Fox News airing special programming across its key platforms, including the Fox News Channel and Fox News Digital. 

Vance and Walz will travel to New York City for their first and only scheduled debate of the election cycle. The debate will be held at 9 p.m. EST. The debate will be moderated by “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell and “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan. 

The Fox News Channel, FOX Business Network, Fox News Digital, Fox News Audio and Fox Nation will air special programming of the debate. 

VANCE VS. WALZ: THINK VP DEBATES DON’T MATTER? JUST LOOK AT THESE 6 EXAMPLES

Gov. Tim Walz, left, was the first to accept debate terms set by CBS News, proposed for Oct. 1. (Getty Images)

Fox News will begin broadcasting special coverage at 8 p.m. Tuesday, kicking off with debate preview analysis from “Jesse Watters Primetime” until 8:20, when the Fox News Channel will then air “FOX News Democracy 2024,” which will be hosted by Bret Baier, Martha MacCallum, Jesse Watters and Laura Ingraham. 

EXPERTS PREVIEW VANCE-WALZ DEBATE, SAY USUALLY ‘FORGETTABLE’ VP BOUT ‘MIGHT BE DIFFERENT’ THIS TIME

Fox News’ Sean Hannity will also join the coverage live from the debate’s spin room. Congressional correspondent Aishah Hasnie and senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich will also report live from the spin room. 

The Fox News Channel will present “FOX News Democracy 2024: CBS Vice Presidential Debate” between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. Tuesday, which is a simulcast of CBS’s vice presidential debate. 

Vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance laughs with a supporter at a campaign stop on Saturday, Sept. 28. (Trump-Vance Campaign)

JD VANCE DEBATE PREP STRATEGY INCLUDES TAPPING PROMINENT LAWMAKER TO PLAY WALZ

The debate will last 90 minutes and wrap up at 10:30 p.m. The debate will include two four-minute commercial breaks, and campaign staff will not be permitted to interact with their respective candidates during the breaks, per debate rules. 

Microphones for Vance and Walz will not be muted during the debate, unlike the recent presidential debates, but CBS could turn off their mics if moderators find it is warranted. 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz delivers the keynote address at the 2024 Human Rights Campaign’s National Dinner in Washington D.C., on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

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Vance won the coin toss and will deliver the final remarks. 

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

Former President Trump has narrowed Vice President Kamala Harris’ small lead in the battleground states of Michigan and Wisconsin, new polling by the New York Times/Siena College finds. 

Among likely voters in Michigan, Harris received 48% support, while Trump garnered 47%, locking the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees in an essential tie well within the poll’s margin of error. Harris polled at 49% among likely voters in Wisconsin, while Trump received 47% support in the same state where polls usually overestimate backing for Democrats, according to the Times. 

The Times pointed to the economy, which remains the most important issue for voters, as Trump’s strength on economic issues helps him edge away at Harris’ slim lead in the two northern battlegrounds. 

The new poll contrasts with August’s New York Times/Siena College survey, which has Harris leading Trump by four percentage points, 50% to 46% among likely voters, in the battlegrounds of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania as well. That poll was the first conducted as the race reshaped with Harris becoming the presidential nominee following President Biden’s July departure from the contest.  

FOX NEWS POLL: HARRIS, TRUMP IN CLOSE RACE IN NORTH CAROLINA

Former President Donald Trump speaks to attendees during a campaign rally at the Prairie Du Chien Area Arts Center on Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.  (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Now with less than 40 days until the Nov. 5 election, New York Times/Siena College polling places Harris ahead of Trump by nine percentage points in Nebraska’s Second Congressional District, whose sole electoral vote could be critical in the Electoral College. The Times says Harris could receive exactly 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House if she picks up that district – given the vice president also wins Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and Trump is victorious in the Sun Belt battleground states. 

Though Ohio does not fall into the battleground state category for the presidential race, it’s home to one of the nation’s most competitive Senate contests between Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown and GOP challenger Bernie Moreno. New York Times/Siena College polling has Trump six points ahead of Harris in Ohio, whereas Brown leads Moreno by four points.

TRUMP VISITS WISCONSIN TOWN SHAKEN BY MIGRANT CRIME: ‘CROSSED KAMALA’S WIDE-OPEN BORDER’

Vice President Kamala Harris poses during the “Unite for America” live-streaming rally in Farmington Hills, Michigan, on Sept. 19, 2024.  (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Democrats have enjoyed an advantage for months in presidential contest polling in Wisconsin, which has been determined by less than a percentage point in four of the last six elections, including the 2020 race, the Times notes. Meanwhile, Biden carried Michigan by three points in 2020, while Trump won that Wolverine State in 2016 by three-tenths of a point. 

Abortion was placed as the second most important issue among Michigan and Wisconsin voters. 

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The new poll found 18% of voters in the two states listed abortion as their top issue, noting an uptick since May when 13% of voters in Michigan and Wisconsin marked it as their determining cause. On abortion, Harris leads Trump by 20 points in Michigan, but now only by 13 points in Wisconsin. Harris had a 22-point lead over Trump in August on the abortion issue in the Badger State. 

Nebraska and Washington, D.C., began early voting on Monday. Here is the information you need to register and vote in both.

Nebraska’s 2nd district could be critical on the path to 270

Nebraska is red territory. Former President Trump won the state by 19 points in the last presidential election and 25 points in 2016.

But the state has long allocated its electoral votes differently than most other states, and that could give Harris an opportunity.

The scenario goes like this: Vice President Harris wins Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and the less competitive states that President Biden won in 2020 (i.e. excluding Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina). 

That gives her 269 electoral votes, resulting in a tie that would, in the end, very likely hand Trump the election.

To win with the majority of the electoral college, either Harris or Trump needs 270 votes.

Nebraska’s 2nd district would provide that one extra vote.

(Maine and Nebraska are the only states that award electoral college votes both to the winner of the statewide vote, and the winner of the same vote but separated by congressional district.)

The district has voted for two Democrats and two Republicans in the last four elections:

• In 2020, Biden won with 51.95% to Trump’s 45.45%.
• In 2016, Trump won with 47.16% to Clinton’s 44.92%.
• In 2012, Romney won with 52.85% to Obama’s 45.70%.
• In 2008, Obama won with 49.97% to McCain’s 48.75%.

Omaha and its suburbs make up a significant part of the district’s population, and the city has a disproportionately high percentage of people with a college education. That gives Harris the edge. Nebraska’s 2nd district is ranked Lean D on the Fox News Power Rankings.

Nebraska’s 2nd district is also, of course, home to a U.S. House race. Center-right Republican Rep. Don Bacon has held the seat since 2017, but as last week’s Power Rankings revealed, he is locked in a close battle with second-time rival and Democratic State Sen. Tony Vargas. The district is ranked a Toss Up.

Finally, Nebraskans will also vote in two U.S. Senate races this year. The one to watch is the regular election between incumbent Republican Sen. Deb Fischer, who has won the seat twice beginning in 2012, and independent challenger Dan Osborn, a Navy veteran and local union leader. Fischer has a clear advantage, but the race moved to Likely R last week.

How to vote in Nebraska

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

Voting by mail

Nebraska began absentee voting on Monday. Applicants do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. The state must receive a ballot application by Oct. 25, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5.

Early in-person voting

Nebraska will begin early in-person voting on Oct. 7, and it will run through Nov. 4.

Voter registration

Nebraska residents can register to vote online or by mail through Oct. 18. They can register in-person through Oct. 25.

Voters can head to the polls early by mail or in-person in most of the U.S. (REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz)

How to vote in Washington, D.C.

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

Voting by mail

Washington, D.C., began absentee voting on Monday. Registered voters do not need to apply for a ballot, as the district will begin sending ballots to all active registered voters this week. Ballots can be returned by mail or in person through election day.

Early in-person voting

Washington, D.C. will begin early in-person voting on Oct. 28, and it will run through Nov. 3.

Voter registration

Residents of the nation’s capital can register to vote online or by mail through Oct. 15. They can also register in-person during early voting (Oct. 28-Nov. 3) and on election day.

The halls of Congress will be empty the next six weeks as lawmakers brace for a very different situation in Washington — and potentially in the United States — when lawmakers return after Election Day.

The House and Senate are in recess until Nov. 11. 

The break gives vulnerable legislators ample time to campaign before voters head to the polls on the first Tuesday of November. Leaders on both sides of the aisle, meanwhile, are busy making plans for the final weeks of the 118th Congress, known as the “lame duck” session.

When lawmakers file back in, it will be on the cusp of a new presidential administration and possibly a new balance of power in Congress.

DOES IRAN’S HACKING OF THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN PROVE THEY WANT KAMALA HARRIS TO WIN THE ELECTION? EXPERTS WEIGH IN

Speaker Mike Johnson’s handling of key issues when Congress returns will likely depend on whether Vice President Harris or former President Trump wins the election. (Getty Images)

They’ll also spend the bulk of their time during the five weeks in session between Election Day and the end-of-year holidays wrestling with at least three deadlines.

Federal funding for discretionary government programs — those controlled by Congress’ annual appropriations process, unlike mandatory programs including Social Security, Medicare and certain state and local government payments — will dry up by Dec. 20 if lawmakers fail to reach an agreement before then.

The deadline originally lined up with the end of the fiscal year Sept. 30, but Congress punted that fight with a short-term extension of the current year’s federal funding levels.

The way that battle plays out will depend heavily on which party controls Congress and the White House next year.

IRAN TRIED TO INFLUENCE ELECTION BY SENDING STOLEN MATERIAL FROM TRUMP CAMPAIGN TO BIDEN’S CAMP, FBI SAYS

“I want to win the election overwhelmingly so we’re in a position to negotiate for all the stuff that has to be done, and winning sets us up for a successful negotiation,” House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., told Fox News Digital.

It’s likely that if former President Trump wins, Republicans will push for another extension into the new year to give the incoming commander-in-chief control over fiscal year 2025 federal spending.

The House GOP majority will likely be more inclined to take an active role regarding government funding if Vice President Kamala Harris wins, though it’s unclear how successful any effort will be considering it’s likely to meet significant resistance in the current Democrat-controlled Senate.

House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., said national security should be one of the top policy priorities of Congress when it returns. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Congress will also have to wrestle with a new National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which sets military and national security policy annually.

Steil contends defense spending and policy, in particular, should take priority when lawmakers return.

“Our adversaries are working against U.S. interests across the globe, and they’re doing that because they see the weakness of the Biden administration’s foreign policy,” Steil said. “So, our need to come back with a strong defense bill to protect our troops, in the interest of national security, is going to be absolutely essential.”

Another key battle on the horizon is the annual farm bill, a broad piece of legislation setting American food and agricultural policy that must be renewed every five years.

The farm bill affects federal food benefits, crop prices and forestry conservation, among other issues.

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

Congress last year extended the 2018 farm bill through the end of December 2024.

Steil said he was optimistic Congress could authorize a new farm bill, noting its importance to the agriculture industry in his state and others.

Meanwhile, Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., a member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, told Fox News Digital he wanted to see his chamber prioritize the fiscal year 2025 funding process.

“We’ve got to recommit to going through the appropriations process, go ahead and get all that moving so we can be successful next year,” he said.

President Biden will be in his lame duck window when Congress returns. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Ogles added, however, that he wants House Republicans to avoid putting their 12 annual appropriations bills into a massive “omnibus” spending bill in December, which the GOP argues furthers government bloat while reducing transparency.

House GOP leaders have insisted they will not advance an omnibus spending bill. 

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But some senior Republicans said they would rather finish the appropriations process this year to leave a clean slate for a new administration.

“I would hope whoever the next president is, whether it’s Vice President Harris or, as I expect, former President Trump, that person decides to make this administration and this Congress do their job,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., told reporters. “I don’t think we should, because we can’t do our job in this Congress, give them a government shutdown crisis [in the first] couple of months. It’s just irresponsible.”

A Hollywood actor is throwing his support behind former President Trump as Election Day is a little more than five weeks away.

“Shazam!” star Zachary Levi revealed his pick for president while moderating an event with former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democrat congresswoman from Hawaii, in Michigan on Saturday.

Levi opened the event by explaining that he initially was backing RFK Jr. in the 2024 presidential election, and when Kennedy suspended his campaign, Levi  knew to whom he was sending his support.

“In a perfect world, in whatever that would look like, perhaps I would have voted for Bobby,” Levi said. “But we don’t live in a perfect world. In fact, we live in a very broken one. We live in a country that has been hijacked by a lot of people who want to take this place way off the cliff, and we’re here to stop that.”

RFK JR JOINS TRUMP ON STAGE IN BATTLEGROUND ARIZONA RALLY FOLLOWING ENDORSEMENT

Hollywood superhero Zachary Levi endorses Donald Trump for president at an event in Michigan. (X/@TulsiGabbard)

Levi added that he grew up in a Christian conservative family and his parents taught him to “have a healthy level of distrust of the government,” adding that Kennedy is the “real deal” and the kind of politician he wanted to support for president.

“We are going to take back this country. We are going to make it great again, we’re going to make it healthy again. And so I stand with Bobby and I stand with everyone else who is standing with President Trump. … Of the two choices that we have, and we only have two, President Trump is the man that can get us there,” Levi said.

TRUMP ACCEPTS LARGEST POLICE UNION ENDORSEMENT, BLASTS HARRIS AS A ‘DEFUNDER’: ‘KAMALA’S CRIME WAVE’

During an event in Michigan on Saturday, actor Zachary Levi endorsed Donald Trump for president. (X/@TulsiGabbard)

Levi starred as the superhero Shazam in two DC movies in 2019 and 2023. The movies are about a young boy who transforms into an adult man after saying the catchphrase. He also starred in the TV series “Chuck” and voiced Flynn Rider in the animated Disney movie “Tangled.”

The actor also brewed a social media storm after expressing his distrust of the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer in a post on X in 2023.

‘SHAZAM’ STAR ZACHARY LEVI RIPS HOLLYWOOD FOR MAKING ‘GARBAGE’ MOVIES: ‘THEY DON’T CARE ENOUGH’

“Shazam!” star Zachary Levi ripped a large portion of Hollywood movies made today as “garbage.” (Reuters)

The controversy began when Levi retweeted a question from Moorhouse Group founder Lyndon Wood, who questioned his followers, “Do you agree or not, that Pfizer is a real danger to the world?”

Levi replied to the question, “Hardcore agree.”

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The brief comment stirred intense backlash from left-leaning X accounts, attacking the actor for “disappointing” them after supporting “antivax propaganda.”

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

Fox News Digital’s Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz attended the Michigan-Minnesota game on Saturday, and was subsequently slammed on social media for a post celebrating his home state’s rival hours after he was booed by college football fans. 

“I’ll always be a Minnesota guy. But after meeting some great people at the Big House, I must admit – Michiganders know how to host a good game day,” Walz posted to his X account following the game. 

Walz’s appearance at the game was underscored by a viral social media video showing college football fans booing his motorcade on Saturday as it made its way to the stadium. 

“VP Candidate Tim Walz p—ed off Michigan fans,” a TikTok user captioned the video that has racked up more than 1.5 million views on TikTok alone.

NOT MINNESOTA NICE: GOP CONGRESSMAN PLAYING TIM WALZ IN DEBATE PREP WITH JD VANCE ARGUES HE’S AN ‘EMPTY SUIT’

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks on stage during the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Michigan fans were seen booing, shouting “Tampon Tim” and “Get out of here” at the Minnesota governor. The fans allegedly began booing due to Walz’s security detail keeping fans in the rain for 30 minutes as he made his way through security, the New York Post reported. 

EXPERTS PREVIEW VANCE-WALZ DEBATE, SAY USUALLY ‘FORGETTABLE’ VP BOUT ‘MIGHT BE DIFFERENT’ THIS TIME

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, wearing a camouflage hunting cap, greets students from U-M after his flight arrived in the rain at Willow Run Airport on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Paul Egan/Detroit Free Press / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

Following Walz posting about his visit to the “Big House” and lauding his state’s rival, critics ripped him for not being loyal to his home state’s team and reminded him that he was booed while making his way to the game. 

WHICH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE HOLDS THE EDGE ON THE ECONOMY?

The University of Michigan notched a 27-24 victory over its Minnesota rival in the Little Brown Jug game on Saturday. The Democratic vice presidential candidate also attended a Michigan tailgate ahead of the game, the New York Post reported. 

WALZ ROASTED AFTER DECLARING ‘WE CAN’T AFFORD FOUR MORE YEARS OF THIS’ AT RALLY

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance (Getty Images)

“A little rain can’t keep us from the big Michigan-Minnesota game! And it’s not gonna stop these students from making sure that everyone on their campus is registered to vote,” Walz posted on X ahead of the game, flanked by supporters. 

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Walz has been preparing for his debate against Republican challenger Vance on Tuesday. The Saturday game is anticipated as his last high-profile public appearance ahead of the debate. 

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

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker became the latest Democrat to defend Kamala Harris’ ever-evolving position on immigration, arguing it is “natural” for the vice president to change her mind over time.

“It’s natural, of course, that you adapt your policies to meet the moment,” Pritzker said during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday. 

The comments come as Harris has faced accusations of “flip-flopping” on several former policy positions by Republicans, including on illegal immigration and the border.

WEALTHY, LIBERAL NANTUCKET, MARTHA’S VINEYARD SEE 6 ICE ARRESTS IN ONE MONTH, INCLUDING MS-13 GANG MEMBER

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Vice President Kamala Harris (Getty Images)

“Kamala Harris continues to flip-flop on policy issues, the latest being the border wall,” Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Ind., said after Harris signaled her support for a bipartisan border bill that includes funding for the U.S.-Mexico border wall. “Too bad we have the receipts. Don’t fall for her false promises; she welcomed this invasion, and if she had any real plans to address the border crisis, she would do it now.”

Other Republicans, such as Trump senior adviser Jason Miller, have argued that Harris has not changed her position on the wall, arguing that she would still stop construction of the barrier if elected.

“Harris opposes the wall, has always opposed the wall, and stopped wall construction as VP,” Miller told Fox News last month.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker speaks during the Clinton Global Initiative meeting on Sept. 19, 2023, in New York City. (John Nacion/WireImage/Getty Images)

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Nevertheless, Harris’ allies have continued to defend the vice president’s evolving views.

“You develop your policies based on what you see happening in the world around you and what you’re able to accomplish in Washington,” Biden administration Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said when asked about Harris’ shifting policies during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” earlier this month. “Every election is about the future and not the past.”

On immigration, Pritizker argued that Harris has supported action on the border, noting her support for President Biden’s bipartisan border deal that failed to make its way through the Senate.

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

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“We finally, under Joe Biden, got Sen. Lankford and a total of 75 senators behind a border security bill and you know who torpedoed that? Donald Trump,” Pritzker said. “So we got to pay attention to the fact that Kamala Harris is actually trying to solve problems.”

Fresh off headlines that the Democrats’ Senate nominee in Maryland received an improper tax credit, new documents indicate that Angela Alsobrooks also was late in paying thousands of dollars in homeowners association fees.

According to documents obtained by Fox News, Alsobrooks failed to pay $8,121 in homeowners association fees on time in seven cases from 2008 through 2021.

The fees, known as HOA fees, are usually assessed monthly or quarterly by a homeowners’ association to pay for the services it provides.

Alsobrooks, the chief executive of Prince George’s County – Maryland’s second-largest county – faces former two-term Republican Gov. Larry Hogan in a competitive race to succeed Democrat Sen. Ben Cardin, who is retiring this year after serving nearly two decades in the Senate and nearly six decades as a state and then federal lawmaker. 

BLUE-STATE REPUBLICAN TOUTS HIS ANTI-TRUMP CREDENTIALS

Maryland Democrat nominee for U.S. Senate and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks speaks at a campaign event on Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 7, 2024, in Landover, Md. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

The Senate contest in the overwhelmingly blue state is one of a handful that may decide if the GOP wins back the chamber’s majority in the November elections.

Polling in the summer indicated a close contest, but the most recent survey released last week by the Washington Post and the University of Maryland pointed to an 11-point lead by Alsosbrooks. But this month’s acknowledgment of an improper tax credit received by Alsobrooks handed Hogan some political ammunition.

SENATE DEMOCRATS CAMPAIGN CHAIR GOES ONE-ON-ONE WITH FOX NEWS

The Alsobrooks’ campaign said the candidate would pay back taxes after improperly taking advantage of property tax breaks.

The tax credits, which Alsobrooks did not qualify for, included one meant for low-income senior citizens and a homestead tax break, which is restricted to homes listed as an owner’s primary residence.

Alsobrooks’ campaign noted that Hogan in 2016 also received a tax break on his Maryland home while he was living in the governor’s mansion in Annapolis. But governors are exempt from residency requirements.

Angela Alsobrooks, chief executive of Prince George’s County in Maryland, faces former two-term Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, above, in this year’s U.S. Senate race. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News/File)

Democrats control the Senate by a razor-thin 51-49 margin, and Republicans are looking at a favorable election map this year with Democrats defending 23 of the 34 seats up for grabs.

One of those seats is in West Virginia, a deep-red state that former President Trump carried by nearly 40 points in 2020. With moderate Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Joe Manchin, a former governor, not seeking re-election, flipping the seat is nearly a sure thing for the GOP.

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Republicans are also aiming to flip seats in Ohio and Montana, two states Trump comfortably carried four years ago. And five more Democrat-held seats up for grabs this year are in crucial presidential election battleground states.

With Democrats trying to protect their fragile Senate majority, Hogan’s late entry into the race in February gave them an unexpected headache in a state previously considered safe territory. Hogan left the governor’s office at the beginning of 2023 with very positive approval and favorable ratings.

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But three GOP-held seats – Texas, Florida, and Nebraska – are considered competitive with less than six weeks to go until Election Day.

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

Iran’s new president, Massoud Pezeshkian, traveled to the U.S. last week to present a moderate, rational face of the regime to the world.

He claimed in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that Iran did not want to be a source of instability in the Middle East, and only wanted peace. The president spoke of a “new era of cooperation” with the West and made an overture to engage in nuclear talks.

He scored a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of UNGA. 

His new government appears eager to improve its relations with European countries. U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi said after meeting with Iran’s foreign minister that he saw an openness from Iran to have meaningful discussions on its nuclear program.

But is it all for show, or is Pezeshkian steering Iran on a path to peace? 

Experts say Iran is sending Pezeshkian out to project a moderate front on the global stage – but behind the scenes he holds little power. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini pulls all the strings. 

Iran’s President Massoud Pezeshkian traveled to the U.S. to present a moderate, rational face of the regime to the world. (Reuters/Caitlin Ochs)

“[Pezeshkian] is a moderate by the standards of Iran… and the fact that the supreme leader let him run and win signals they want a different relationship with the West,” Ambassador James Jeffrey, who led U.S. diplomacy in countries across the Middle East in the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations, told Fox News Digital. 

Iran’s last president, Ebrahim Raisi, a member of the conservative popular Front party, died in a helicopter crash on May 19. Pezeshkian, an independent, was elected in July. 

NETANYAHU CALLS MIDDLE EAST CONFLICTS CHOICE BETWEEN A ‘BLESSING AND A CURSE’ 

“Economically, they’re in dire straits, despite the fact we’re not enforcing our sanctions on exporting several millions of barrels of oil a day. He’s been tasked to fix this by calming things with Western states. The problem is he’s not the real leader of Iran.”

Pezeshkian’s visit to the U.S. came as former President Trump revealed he’d been briefed about Iranian plots to kill him after Iran hacked information from his campaign and tried to peddle it to Democrats and the media. 

Earlier in the month it was confirmed that Iran shipped ballistic missiles to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine. 

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameini (Iranian Leader Press Office/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

While Iran has long looked to re-engage on a nuclear deal after Trump pulled out of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), it’s now closer than ever to a nuclear weapon. The nation is enriching uranium at 60% – close to the 90% threshold it needs for a weapon – and reports suggest renewed activity at two nuclear weapon test sites – Sanjarian and Golab Dareh. 

“Iran can’t really reverse some of its knowledge that it’s gained by working with advanced centrifuges and higher levels of enrichment,” said Nicole Grajewski, Iran nuclear expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 

Still, Iran is sure to try to lure the U.S. into lifting sanctions and pursuing diplomatic negotiations. 

“We went into this logic hook, line and sinker… in the Obama, and to some degree in the Trump administration, until [Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo took over in mid-2018. We allow these guys to eat our lunch all over the region – in Yemen, in Lebanon and Iraq and Syria.”

“A new president will be tempted in Harris or Trump to try to do a deal with the Iranians, because nobody wants them to get a nuclear weapon, and nobody wants to go to war,” said Jeffrey, who now chairs the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center. 

Iranians elected Pezeshkian, an independent, as president in July. (Majid Asgaripour/West Asia News Agency via Reuters)

“Pezeshkian might be able to advance and put a smiley face on the Iranian offer, just like the 2015 offer, but it will be one-sided.”

WHITE HOUSE DECLINES TO SAY IF KILLING TRUMP WOULD BE AN ‘ACT OF WAR’ 

Vice President Kamala Harris was sharply critical of Trump for pulling out of the Iran deal in 2018. President Biden campaigned on returning to the deal, but failed to do so in office. 

It’s not clear how actively Trump would pursue a deal with Tehran. Just one day apart, Trump said he would threaten to blow Iran “to smithereens” and would be open to negotiating a nuclear deal. 

“As you know, there have been two assassination attempts on my life that we know of, and they may or may not involve – but possibly do – Iran,” Trump said at a campaign event in North Carolina on Wednesday. 

“If I were the president, I would inform the threatening country, in this case Iran, that if you do anything to harm this person, we are going to blow your largest cities and the country itself to smithereens,” he added. 

But speaking to reporters Thursday in New York City, he said talks are necessary because of the threat of a nuclear Iran. 

“Sure, I would do that,” the former president said when asked if he would make a deal with Iran. “We have to make a deal, because the consequences are impossible. We have to make a deal.”

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“Trump certainly scares the Iranians more, because he’s unpredictable, but I think one way Trump is predictable is he will not be able to pass up the opportunity to negotiate a deal. It’s what he loves to do. It’s sort of how he brands himself,” said Jonathan Ruhe, director of Foreign Policy at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA). 

“The same thing always happens – we come in and say, ‘You know, Iran, you better negotiate in good faith this time. We really mean it.’ And then Iran drags out the talks, continues to expand its nuclear program and basically buys time for them to get closer to the bomb.”

The Justice Department charged a former primary opponent of Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., with threatening to send a “Russian-Ukrainian hit squad” to kill his political rival. 

William Robert Braddock III, 41, of St. Petersburg, Florida, was charged with threatening to kill his primary opponent in the 2021 election for the 13th Congressional District of Florida, and a private citizen and acquaintance of his opponent, the Justice Department announced Friday. The indictment, unsealed in the Middle District of Florida on Thursday, describes the targeted individuals as only “Victim 1” and “Victim 2.” 

On June 8, 2021, prosecutors say Braddock allegedly made several threats to injure and kill his primary opponent during a phone call with the second victim, specifically stating that he would “call up my Russian-Ukrainian hit squad” to make the rival candidate disappear. The DOJ said Braddock left the United States after making the alleged threats and was later found to be residing in the Philippines. 

Braddock was recently deported from the Philippines to the United States and made his first court appearance in Los Angeles on Thursday. 

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Rep. Anna Paulina Luna attends a campaign rally for former President Trump at the Aero Center in Wilmington, North Carolina, Sept. 21, 2024. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Luna, an Air Force veteran and former media consultant, was not named in the indictment. While she was running for Congress, however, Luna contended in 2021 civil court documents that Braddock, a fellow GOP challenger and former Marine, was stalking her and wanted her dead. 

A judge granted Luna and a conservative activist and friend of hers, Erin Olszewski, a temporary restraining order against Braddock. He subsequently dropped out of the race, denying the allegations and citing publicity from the case. 

Politico reported at the time that Olszewski had secretly recorded a phone call with Braddock in which he said an alleged “Russian and Ukrainian hit squad” could kill Luna within 24 hours. “Luna’s going to go down and I hope it’s by herself,” Braddock allegedly said in the recording, according to Politico, which said it had obtained the recording in June 2021. “For the better or the good of the majority of the people, we’ve got to sacrifice the few.”

In court proceedings regarding whether the restraining order would be made permanent, Luna, who was endorsed by former President Trump twice, testified that she had only brief in-person contact with Braddock at a political event, but heard from several acquaintances that he was allegedly making threats to have her killed.

ANNA PAULINA LUNA TO FORCE VOTE ON GARLAND’S ARREST THIS WEEK AFTER DOJ REFUSES CRIMINAL REFERRAL

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna speaks at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 17, 2024. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“Mr. Braddock clearly hated my guts and wanted to hurt me,” Luna said in court, according to The Associated Press. “I started getting very afraid of him. It was horrifying, and it still is.”

“I think he’s an evil person,” she said in September 2021. “I think he has definitely emotionally terrorized me.”

Olszewski testified that she secretly recorded a phone call she initiated with Braddock in which he allegedly claimed the purported Russian-Ukrainian hit squad would respond quickly if he made a single phone call – and also allegedly made veiled threats against her three children if she repeated what he said. Olszewski said she shared the contents of the Braddock call she recorded on an iPad with Luna, and both women called police.

In the new indictment unsealed last week, Braddock is charged with one count of interstate transmission of a true threat to injure another person. 

He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison if convicted, prosecutors said.  

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The case was brought in relation to the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force, which was announced by Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2021 to address violent threats against election workers. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Luna’s office for comment on Sunday but did not immediately hear back. A spokesperson for the GOP congresswoman declined to comment to NBC News about the indictment but said Luna has “faced a growing number of death threats” in the last month, signaling a “broader and more disturbing issue of violence in the political arena.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Wake County, N.C. – Residents in a key North Carolina district revealed what they are hearing on the ground in the battleground state from both Republican and Democratic parties just weeks before the 2024 presidential election.

Fox News Digital spoke with residents in Wake County, North Carolina, a highly populated district that could decide how the state votes in the presidential election. The district voted for the Democratic nominee in the past four presidential elections, but voted Republican in both 2004 and 2000.

Upon speaking with voters, it appeared they were approached through phone calls and text messages more by whichever party they were registered with, but overall, each resident recalled receiving some form of outreach from a political campaign this cycle.

Cameron Wilson, a senior at North Carolina State University, said he believes the Harris campaign has a stronger presence in Raleigh, North Carolina, but added that “among the college students, Trump is definitely kicking her a–.”

NORTH CAROLINA GOP FOCUSING ON ‘HAND TO HAND POLITICAL COMBAT’ TO RAMP UP GROUND GAME IN BATTLEGROUND STATE

Evan, a senior at North Carolina State University, spoke with Fox News Digital about the 2024 election. (Fox News Digital)

Asked how they think their district will vote in November, the residents were torn, but most said they expect it to vote for the Democratic candidate.

“I’m gonna go leans blue, but definitely not the same margin as the last election,” Wilson said of the district’s vote.

“I think around here, with Chapel Hill, Duke, and NC State, not as liberal. But I’d say its probably leaning more one way than the other,” Zack Karagias told Fox News Digital. “I think Kamala is gonna tax the hell out of us. I think Trump’s gonna try and help us.”

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Another individual, Julia, said that “based on all my friends and all my peers, definitely Democratic, but it is hard.”

Resident Zack Karagias revealed whether he thought Wake County, North Carolina, would vote Democratic or Republican in the 2024 presidential election. (Fox News Digital)

Republicans and Democrats have been campaigning heavily to get out the vote in North Carolina, a historical battleground state. Fox News Digital interviewed the Republican and Democratic parties in North Carolina, with both saying that they expect to reach over a million voters through get-out-the-vote efforts such as canvassing, phone calls and text messaging.

“I’ve been getting a ton of texts on a daily basis, automated messages to vote for Trump,” a resident, Evan Davis, said. “It’s nonstop.”

“I’ve signed up for some emails for Trump, but that’s about it,” Karagias said.

“I saw a bunch of Mark Robinson signs all up through here the other day, but then I saw a few Kamala ones.” Wilson added. He said most messages are from the Trump campaign, but that he still gets “some of the left-leaning stuff.”

Fox News Digital spoke with residents in Wake County, North Carolina. (Fox News Digital)

“I’ve been getting some text messaging from Kamala Harris herself. And I haven’t gotten any more phone calls yet,” Julia Smith told Fox.

“It’s hard to say,” she said when asked about which campaign appears to have a stronger presence in the district. “What I consume is more Democratic.”

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Most residents who spoke with Fox News Digital could not name a specific policy proposal by Harris since she became vice president.

Pennsylvania Republican leaders said they are optimistic about their chances to make the Keystone State the one that puts former President Donald Trump over the finish line, while a top Democrat suggested otherwise, laying out how his party is on a path to victory.

State Sen. Cris Dush, a Brookville Republican, who noted he represents seven of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, was asked about the one big blue swath in his district – Centre County, home to Penn State University.

Dush’s district covers all-or-parts-of Jefferson, Elk, Cameron, Centre, Clinton, McKean and Potter counties in Pennsylvania’s lush northwestern forests.

With Republican activist Scott Presler targeting Centre as part of his statewide GOP voter registration push, Dush said the prospect of flipping Centre County is “actually getting very exciting.”

Dush noted neighboring Clinton County, home to Lock Haven, was solidly Democratic until the Trump era. “They just went over 3-to-1 Republican.”

CRISS-CROSSING PA TO REGISTER VOTERS, SCOTT PRESLER SAYS HE’S MOVING THE NEEDLE TO FLIP KEY COUNTIES RED

Pennsylvania State Sen. Cris Dush.

“This is a massive shift that’s coming in rural Pennsylvania… and part of it is that my working class, middle-age and senior constituents are seeing what’s happening to their jobs and with inflation and this craziness,” he said.

“With a man now being able to be called a woman: that kind of stuff too. They’ve just finally had enough.”

At a recent fair in his district, Dush said he was heckled by a young Democrat while speaking to a crowd that included many Gen-Z people. Instead of engaging, he told the crowd the reason the man was upset was that he is one of many who cannot afford to own a home, a car or other “American Dream” mainstays.

“And I’m getting applause from the kids,” he remarked.

In several of Dush’s redder counties, Democrats like Sen. John Fetterman performed better than most last cycle – while GOP nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz still won the areas outright.

In that regard, Dush was asked if that was an aberration or if the areas are truly trending toward the Democrats.

“The fact that they’re putting such restrictions on the development of businesses in the northern tier and western Pennsylvania: There’s not a state in the United States that doesn’t have a Steelers bar in it, and that’s because working-class kids have become our best export. I want them back,” he said.

Farther east, near the New Jersey border, the Lehigh Valley was once home to a booming steel industry immortalized by Billy Joel’s 1981 hit “Allentown.”

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Pennsylvania State Sen. Jarrett Coleman.

Since then, the area has been through several years of transition after the mills and some shopping districts closed. Slowly, it has regained some footing as a warehousing hub, with its vicinity to New York and Philadelphia.

State Sen. Jarrett Coleman, R-Parkland, represents the western half of the Valley, centered around Lehigh County – where Republicans have come within a razor’s edge several times of flipping the congressional seat currently held by Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa.

For many years, the seat was held by anti-Trump moderate Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., and before that, then-Rep. Pat Toomey, and before him, moderate Democrats.

Coleman said he predicts a good year for Republicans in Lehigh County, noting how neighboring Bucks County – part of which he also represents – flipped to majority-GOP registrants through the work of people like Presler.

The economy is a major issue in the district, he noted, as Fox News Digital discussed its industrial past.

“I think that’s because I believe the GOP has done a better job connecting with folks over those kitchen table issues,” Coleman said.

“The one that’s kind of come up a lot lately has been homeownership,” he said.

He noted Vice President Kamala Harris has proposed assistance for homebuyers, while at the same time floating taxation on unrealized gains.

“So on one hand, she’ll help you buy the house, and of course, that will just be [via] tax dollars to help subsidize the down payment… then the administration will tax you out of [it] as the house grows in value.”

“That’s not a solution. That’s another example of the government creating a problem and then trying to swoop in and say they’ve saved the day.”

In a statement, National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Marinella added that the GOP is “on offense in Pennsylvania.”

“The Keystone State is a deep GOP well of flippable seats and ground zero to grow our House majority,” he said, adding several vulnerable Democrats running for re-election do not speak truthfully of their records on the border, inflation and crime.

While he believes Philadelphia and Pittsburgh will “play well” for Harris, Coleman said he has never seen such enthusiasm for the GOP ticket in areas like the Lehigh Valley and key mid-state areas.

“Can the rural vote come back, and can we make up for the votes of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh — and will there be enough folks in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia who are waking up? But I think it’s going to be a question of whether everywhere else can get motivated enough.”

One man who believed otherwise is Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman Sharif Street.

Street, a state senator and son of popular former Philadelphia Mayor John Street, suggested Democrats are the ones whose ground game has been unmatched.

Pennsylvania State Sen. Sharif Street.

“We’ve had over 40,000 volunteers signed up since Kamala became our nominee for president. Vice President Harris has inspired people. We’ve had we’ve had people knocking on doors, canvass launches, over 50 offices opened [in PA],” Street said.

“People are just super excited about supporting Vice President Harris. So yeah, we’re seeing lots of energy, lots of engagement, and the vice president has sort of set the world on fire,” he quipped.

When asked about the candidates appearing to focus in recent weeks on key areas of the state, Street said Harris has been all over the Commonwealth.

When asked about both candidates frequenting Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Street noted there is a key congressional race there between Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Pa., and Republican Rob Bresnahan.

“It’s also hometown territory for Senator Casey,” he added.

When asked about Republicans claiming they are making inroads in Centre, Bucks, Luzerne and the Lehigh Valley, Street said he has not seen such evidence.

He noted that in Centre – the Penn State county – Democrats added a second state representative in Paul Takac, and that Northampton County is now as Democratically-controlled as its bluer-counterpart, Lehigh.

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However, Street said that shift may not be because there are more Democrats in those areas, but because the Republicans have departed from their longtime moderation.

He contrasted Trump-type politicians with past Republicans who have performed well statewide, like Sen. Arlen Specter and Gov. Tom Ridge.

Pennsylvanians of both stripes also largely supported moderate Democratic Govs. Ed Rendell and Robert Casey – the incumbent U.S. senator’s father, he said.

“Our Republicans and Democrats statewide have never been that far apart from each other. Democrats are still pretty much where we always were,” Street said.

Fox News Digital also reached out to the Harris campaign for an interview.