NationalWatch

It’s the Democrats’ race to lose. 

That’s the view of liberal activist and filmmaker Michael Moore who has warned Democrats not to fumble their chances of beating former President Trump in November’s presidential election now that Vice President Kamala Harris heads the ticket.

The outspoken and influential Moore told the Guardian that the party is riding on a wave of optimism following President Biden’s decision to bow out of the race after succumbing to unwavering pressure from powerful left-wing voices, including Moore.

“This isn’t just a sugar-high or what [recovering] heroin addicts call a pink cloud,” Moore told the U.K. publication. “It was so depressing for so many weeks and then it was instantly not depressing. I am hopeful now but it’s ours to blow – and we have a history of blowing it.”

MICHAEL MOORE WARNS KAMALA HARRIS TO NOT GO ‘CENTRIST’

Filmmaker Michael Moore attends at the 2019 Vancouver International Film Festival at Vancouver Playhouse on Oct. 5, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada.  (Andrew Chin/Getty Images)

Moore has been here before. He warned Democrats of Trump beating Hillary Clinton in his 2016 movie “in Trumpland” where he said Trump’s message appealed to disenfranchised voters in Michigan and other battleground states. 

In 2020, he took to X and said that enthusiasm for Trump was “off the charts” and pleaded with Democrats to come together to defeat the incumbent. 

Moore says he’s happy Harris chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate and that he’s confident Harris can inflict serious damage on Trump when they debate next month.

“Once anybody gets under that thin skin anything can happen,” Moore says. “On live TV? Trump could explode, start talking like a 12-year-old, though no offense to 12-year-olds, or get up and leave.”

‘I understand why people are nervous it might be a sugar high but Harris and Walz are people of substance. They’re being slow and cautious enough to get it together. It’s just been a couple of weeks. They are going to have to tell us what they’re going to do and hopefully come up with the right thing. And there will be mistakes.”

MICHAEL MOORE SAYS CONTINUING TO PUSH FOR BIDEN AFTER THE DEBATE IS A FORM OF ‘ELDER ABUSE’

Harris and Walz at an election rally. Filmmaker Michael Moore says the Democratic Party is riding on a wave of optimism following President Biden’s decision to bow out of the race and hand the ticket over to Vice President Harris and Tim Walz. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Moore hailed Harris’ decision not to attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to congress last month, signaling a change of direction while urging her to cater to the party’s anti-Israel base.

“Young people hate war and they’re totally against Biden and his support of the war.” 

He says Harris needs to tap into “affordable housing, student debt, peace and the dying planet.”

Moore says the way to beat Trump is to continue doing “weird and cringe until the debate and then nail him.” 

“But nail him with irony, satire and a simple way to point out the beyond weird absolute idiocy and insanity of what these two men are talking about. Reach them on a commonsense level so it doesn’t matter if you’re Democrat or Republican.”

Democrats have been labeling the Trump-Vance ticket as “weird” as part of a new line of criticism, while the Harris-Walz campaign have been criticized for their cringeworthy and scripted online videos. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Democrats have been labeling the Trump-Vance ticket as “weird” as part of a new line of criticism, while the Harris-Walz campaign have been criticized for their cringeworthy and scripted online videos.  (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Last month, Moore joined many on the Left in calling for Biden to drop out of the race and allow Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place.

“May I ask you, Mr. President, for one more brave and bold action?” Moore wrote in a Substack article days before Biden withdrew. Weeks earlier, he accused the Democratic Party of committing “elder abuse” by continuing to push President Biden to stay in the race.

“She will have three and a half months (as they say, ‘an eternity in politics’) to show the American people her smarts, her strengths, her heart,” he continued. “She is fierce, and compassionate, and unstoppable. She will have the power to issue significant executive orders that can provide help to the middle class, protect the environment, restore basic women’s rights.” 

Former President Trump took a swing at Vice President Harris’s recently debuted economic plan, saying the Democratic presidential nominee had gone “full communist.”

“In her speech yesterday, Kamala went full communist. You heard that? She went full communist,” Trump told supporters during a spirited swing-state rally Saturday at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre Township, Pennsylvania.

Calling her “Comrade Kamala,” the Republican presidential nominee blasted her “socialist price controls.”

“Comrade Kamala announced that she wants to institute socialist price controls. You saw that? Never worked before,” he said. “This is the [President Nicolás] Maduro plan in Venezuela [of government price controls], the Maduro plan of the old Soviet Union.

“They tried it there,” he said. “And how did the Soviet Union turn out?”

TRUMP ACCUSES HARRIS OF ‘SOVIET STYLE’ POLICIES FOLLOWING PRICE CONTROL PROPOSAL

Former President Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, pumps his fist after speaking during a campaign rally at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, in Wilkes Barre, Pa. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Trump said Harris’ plan for federal price controls, which her campaign packaged as a solution to “price gouging,” “excessive prices” and “excessive corporate profits,” will lead to rationing and skyrocketing prices.

TRUMP ACCUSES HARRIS OF ‘SOVIET STYLE’ POLICIES FOLLOWING PRICE CONTROL PROPOSAL

“It will cause rationing, hunger and skyrocketing prices,” Trump said. “Just like [the Biden-Harris administration’s] Inflation Reduction Act, which is one of the great scams of all time. Inflation has been so bad, it’s gone up much more than 50%. They say 30%, 40% — many more people are being devastated.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Vice President Kamala Harris wave to supporters during a campaign rally last week in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

On Wednesday, Harris announced that, as president, she would institute a federal price-fixing plan “on food and groceries” in an attempt to stop “big corporations” from taking advantage of consumers.

Harris has framed her economic road map, dubbed “Kamalanomics” by social media pundits, as an “opportunity economy” plan. Her price control plan includes expanded down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers and a $6,000 child tax credit for first-time parents.

Former President Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, speaks during a campaign rally at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Saturday. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Trump said Harris’ economic policy will not work, saying that similar price fixing has been tried — unsuccessfully — by other countries throughout history.

“The things that she said yesterday don’t work. They have never worked,” he said. “They’ve been used by many countries, and in every single event, it ruined those countries.”

RUBBER-STAMPED’: KEY DEM HIT OVER BIDEN-HARRIS SUPPORT ON BORDER, INFLATION

He said Harris is promising “things she can’t deliver.”

“It’s a communist system. … She’s promising to hand out things she can’t deliver. She’ll never get them approved,” he said. “Just like when she and Crooked Joe tried to give away student debt. How did that work out? Not too good.”

Vice President Harris unveiled her economic plan Friday in North Carolina. (Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Trump turned his attention to young voters who looked favorably at Biden’s promise to eliminate student debt, saying a communist takeover may sound good politically but is “very dangerous.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“The students are saying, ‘I love him because of student debt,’ but he got rejected,” Trump said. “Her plan is very dangerous because it may sound good politically, and that’s the problem. … This is Marxist, this is fascist.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, made a pitch to Republican and Libertarian voters in Nebraska while speaking at a rally in Omaha Saturday. 

Walz, who grew up in the Cornhusker State, told the audience, “In Nebraska, you got a slogan here: ‘Nebraska. It’s not for everyone.’ Well, it sure ain’t for Donald Trump, I’ll tell you that. This guy is the opposite of everything here.

“I know where I’m at, and I know my family. Many of you can probably remember when Republicans talked about freedom. They meant it. They would never turn their backs on our allies. The traditional Republican Party before Donald Trump contributed much to this state and this great nation. But he’s not that.

“Today, when they talk about freedom, they mean the government should be free to invade your exam room,” Walz added, referring to abortion. “Or that corporations should be free to pollute the air and water, banks should be free to take advantage of the least fortunate.”

WALZ DEFENDS HIS MILITARY RECORD, PRAISES JD VANCE’S IN FIRST SOLO CAMPAIGN STOP

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who is Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, made a pitch to Republican and Libertarian voters in Nebraska Saturday. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Repeating his often-used line, “Mind your own damn business,” Walz said he also knows the state has a “Libertarian bent.”

TRUMP RECRUITS TULSI GABBARD FOR DEBATE PREP AFTER SHE ‘DOMINATED’ HARRIS IN 2019 PRIMARY

“You don’t need [the] government to tell you about your health care,” he told the audience. “You don’t need [the] government to pick your books out that you can read. Look, folks, this becomes really personal. 

“And, for me, this idea about the health care decisions we make and the choices about our family, that’s your family. You don’t need me. You don’t need Donald Trump. You don’t need anyone in [the] government telling you about your family. But that’s exactly what they’re doing. … If you’re an old-school Libertarian, Republican, Nebraskan, this is the ticket for you. This is the ticket for you.”

Harris-Walz supporters line up for Walz’s rally in Omaha, Neb., Saturday. (Reuters/Mark Makela)

The governor was in Omaha Saturday because Nebraska is one of only two states in the country that awards some of its Electoral College votes by congressional district. And while most of Nebraska is deep red, its 2nd Congressional District has gone for Democrats in recent years.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz rallied together in Las Vegas last week. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Former President Obama won the 2nd Congressional District in 2008, splitting the state’s vote for the first time since 1964 after strategically targeting it, and President Biden won its sole electoral vote in 2020.

Harris and Trump are targeting it this year since the election is expected to be close. 

Former President Trump holds a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.   (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Former President Trump rallied a large crowd in Pennsylvania Saturday, a day after Harris laid out her economic vision at a North Carolina rally. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Harris and Walz are also expected to rally in Wisconsin Tuesday as the Democratic National Convention kicks off in Chicago next week.

• As the Democratic National Convention approaches, some Democrats remain concerned about a potential lack of support from “uncommitted” voters, who are angry about U.S. backing for Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
• It is unclear how much leverage the “uncommitted” movement has following the surge in enthusiasm for Harris’ campaign as compared to Biden’s, making voter apathy less of a threat. Nonetheless, Harris and her team have prioritized communication with Arab American leaders.
• The Trump campaign continues its own Arab American outreach with a pitch highlighting the situation in Gaza under Biden’s administration and a promise from Trump’s team to give the community a seat at the table if he wins.

Of the thousands of delegates expected to gather Monday at the Democratic National Convention, just 36 will belong to the “uncommitted” movement sparked by dissatisfaction with President Joe Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

But that small core has outsized influence.

Anger over U.S. backing for Israel’s offensive in Gaza could generate unwelcome images for convention organizers, with raucous protests expected outside and potentially inside the Chicago arena where Harris will accept the nomination Thursday.

CHAOS ERUPTS AT KAMALA HARRIS NYC EVENT AS DNC BRACES FOR CHICAGO UNREST

Top Democrats have spent weeks meeting with “uncommitted” voters and their allies — including a previously unreported sit-down between Vice President Kamala Harris and the mayor of Dearborn, Michigan — in an effort to respond to criticism in key swing states like Michigan, which has a significant Arab American population.

Months of meetings and phone calls between pro-Palestinian activists and the Harris campaign have fallen into an effective impasse. The activists want Harris to endorse an arms embargo on Israel and a permanent cease-fire. Harris has supported Biden’s negotiations for a cease-fire but rejected an arms embargo.

Rima Mohammad, one of Michigan’s two “uncommitted” delegates, said she sees the convention as a chance to share their movement’s concerns with the party leadership.

“It is a way for protesters outside to be able to share their frustration with the party,” she said.

Uncommitted delegate to the Democratic National Convention Abbas Alawieh answers questions during an interview on Aug. 14, 2024, in Dearborn, Michigan. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)

The Democratic nominee meets a key Arab American mayor

Questions remain about the leverage “uncommitted” voters hold now that Biden has stepped aside and Harris has taken his place. Democrats have seen a significant surge in enthusiasm for Harris’ campaign and concerns about voter apathy in key areas, such as Detroit’s large Black population, appear to have diminished.

But Harris and her team have still made communication with Arab American leaders a priority.

During a campaign trip to Michigan last week, Harris met with Abdullah Hammoud, the 34-year-old mayor of Dearborn, a Detroit suburb that has the largest number of Arab Americans of any city in the United States. The meeting was disclosed by a person who was not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The person familiar with the meeting did not provide specific details but said the focus was on Harris’ potential policy, if elected, on the Israel-Hamas conflict. Hammoud declined to comment.

“Vice President Harris supports the deals currently on the table for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza and for the release of hostages,” her campaign said in a statement. “She will continue to meet with leaders from Palestinian, Muslim, Israeli and Jewish communities, as she has throughout her vice presidency.”

Campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez on Thursday held separate one-on-one meetings with leaders in the Arab American community and “uncommitted” movement in metro Detroit.

“They are listening and we are talking,” said Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab American News, who met with Chavez Rodriguez. “But none of us can garner votes in the community without public statements from Harris. She doesn’t need us; she can win over votes by saying and doing the right thing.”

According to Siblani, Chavez Rodriguez agreed that “the killing has to stop.” In response, Siblani said he pressed: “How? There is no plan.”

Lavora Barnes, the Democratic chair in Michigan, said the party would “continue working toward our goal of coming together to defeat Donald Trump and Republicans up and down the ballot.”

“We are committed to continuing these conversations with community leaders, activists and organizations because we want to ensure that everyone in the Michigan Democratic Party has a seat at the table,” Barnes said in a statement.

No agreement on an arms embargo

Some on the Democratic Party’s left have called for including a moratorium on the use of U.S.-made weapons by Israel in the platform of policy goals that will be approved during next week’s convention. But such language isn’t included in a draft platform party officials released earlier this summer, and it’s unlikely that those close to Harris’ campaign would endorse including it.

The Uncommitted National Movement has also requested a speaking slot at the convention for a doctor who has worked on the frontlines in Gaza, along with a leader of the movement. And they have asked for a meeting with Harris “to discuss updating the Gaza policy in hopes of stopping the flow of unconditional weapons and bombs” to Israel, said Abbas Alawieh, another “uncommitted” delegate from Michigan and one of the founders of the movement.

Before a Harris rally just outside Detroit last week, Alawieh and Layla Elabed, co-founders of the movement, briefly met with the vice president. They requested a formal meeting with Harris and urged her to support an embargo on weapons shipments to Israel. According to them, Harris seemed open to the idea of meeting.

However, shortly after news of the meeting became public, Harris’ national security adviser Phil Gordon reaffirmed that she does not support an arms embargo. Alawieh mentioned Wednesday that the group has not received any further response from Harris’ team or the DNC regarding their requests ahead of the convention.

“I hope she doesn’t miss the opportunity to unite the party,” said Alawieh.

The Trump campaign continues its outreach

Elsewhere in metro Detroit this week, Massad Boulos, the father-in-law of Trump’s youngest daughter and now a leader in his Arab American outreach, was holding meetings with various community groups. Boulos has come to Michigan often for the outreach, along with Arab Americans for Trump chair Bishara Bahbah.

According to Bahbah, their pitch highlights the situation in Gaza under Biden’s administration and a promise from Trump’s team to give the community a seat at the table if he wins.

“We have been told by the Trump circle, which is not part of the campaign, that in return for our votes, there would be a seat at the table and a voice to be heard,” said Bahbah.

But any apparent political opportunity for Trump in the Arab American community or the “uncommitted” movement may be limited by his past remarks and policies.

Many Arabs remain offended by Trump’s ban, while in office, on immigration from several majority Muslim countries as well as remarks they consider insulting. Trump also has criticized Biden for not being a strong enough supporter of Israel.

Speaking to an audience of Jewish supporters Thursday, Trump painted the protesters expected in Chicago as antisemitic and invoked an Arabic term that is sometimes used by Muslims to mean war or struggle.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“There will be no jihad coming to America under Trump,” he said.

But Bahbah acknowledges that his and Boulos’ strategy isn’t necessarily aimed at converting voters to support Trump — but to stop them from voting for Harris.

“If I can’t convince people to vote for Trump, having them sit at home is better,” said Bahbah.

She memorably took down Kamala Harris in a viral debate exchange in 2019 and now former Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has been enlisted by former president Trump to give him some valuable insights ahead of his upcoming debates against the 2024 Democratic nominee.

Gabbard, who ran for president in the 2020 Democratic primary, has been recruited by Trump to help him sharpen his preparation ahead of the debates, Fox News Digital has learned.

The former congresswoman memorably scorched Harris in a 2019 primary debate where she hammered Harris for jailing hundreds of Californians for marijuana violations while she was attorney general, yet bragged about her own use of the drug.

KAMALA HARRIS IS AN ‘EMPTY SUIT’ AND CAMPAIGN HANDLERS ARE WORRIED, SAYS TULSI GABBARD

Former president Trump has recruited former Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard ahead of his upcoming debates against Vice President Kamala Harris. (Michael M. Santiago, left, Steven Ferdman, center, Brandon Bell, right.)

“She put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana,” Gabbard said on the debate stage.

Gabbard has already taken part in a practice session with former president Trump at his private club and home, Mar-a-Lago, The New York Times reports.

Trump’s campaign team confirmed that Gabbard has been enlisted by Trump to debate prep and cited her performance in the debates for the 2020 election.

“President Trump has proven to be one of the best debaters in political history as evidenced by his knockout blow to Joe Biden,” Trump’s National Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “He does not need traditional debate prep but will continue to meet with respected policy advisors and effective communicators like Tulsi Gabbard, who successfully dominated Kamala Harris on the debate stage in 2020.”

Gabbard dumped the Democrat Party two years ago to become an independent and has become a fixture among conservatives and was even touted as a potential running mate for former President Trump.

KAMALA HARRIS’ RECORD AS PROSECUTOR IN CALIFORNIA SPELLS ‘TROUBLE’ FOR PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: LAWYER

Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard clashed in the 2020 primaries.  (Getty/Fox News)

In the viral 2019 exchange, Gabbard said she was “deeply concerned” about Harris’ record as a prosecutor.

“She kept people in prison beyond their sentences to use them as cheap labor for the state of California, and she fought to keep a cash bail system in place that impacts poor people in the worst kind of way,” Gabbrad said. 

Harris responded by saying she helped reform the criminal justice system in California “which became a national model for the work that needs to be done.” She also said she supported legalizing marijuana in the U.S.

“I am proud of that work, and I am proud of making a decision to not just give fancy speeches or be in a legislative body and give speeches on the floor, but actually doing the work,” Harris retorted. Harris previously held the office of San Francisco District Attorney and California Attorney General prior to her position as vice president. 

On Thursday, Gabbard labeled Harris an “empty suit,” arguing her campaign “handlers” are worried about what will happen if she has to explain her policy positions.

“I think she revealed in that [July 2019] debate the same thing that I think her campaign handlers are worried about right now… Kamala Harris is an empty suit,” Gabbard said on “America’s Newsroom”. 

Trump took on Biden earlier this summer in a debate which led to him dropping out of the 2024 race. (Left: (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images), Right: (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images))

“They are trying to create this new version of Kamala Harris to match what their pollsters are telling them, so she can say whatever she needs to say to try to win over voters, which is the most offensive thing because they think we’re so stupid as to forget what her record actually is.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

Referring to her 2019 debate with Harris, Gabbard said the exchange exposed the vice-president’s hypocrisy, which is still relevant to this year’s election.

“What she said was very different than what she actually did, and she had no answer for it,” Gabbard said. 

“She had no explanation. She didn’t even try to own or justify what her actions were. And that’s going to be the key thing here for voters as we head into this election is Kamala Harris will say whatever she thinks she needs to say.”

Former President Donald Trump accused Vice President Kamala Harris of pushing “Soviet style” economic policies after she announced her intention to introduce price controls on groceries.

The Harris campaign announced on Wednesday that she would institute a “federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries” as president in an attempt to stop “big corporations” from taking advantage of consumers.

“If you think things are expensive now, they will get 100 times WORSE if Kamala gets four years as President. Under her plan, Kamala will implement SOVIET Style Price Controls,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Friday.

ECONOMIC COMMMENTATOR WARNS HARRIS’ PRICE CONTROL PLAN ALREADY TRIED IN ‘VENEZUELA, ARGENTINA, SOVIET UNION’

Former President Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally in Bozeman, Montana. The Republican presidential nominee accused Vice President Kamala Harris in a Truth Social post of pushing “Soviet style” policies to artificially control inflation. (AP/Rick Bowmer)

The former president continued, “She will abolish private health care, and make California’s ridiculous tax policies the law of the land, meaning EVERY American will be taxed up to 80% of their income! If you want more CASH and less TAX, VOTE TRUMP!!!”

Harris floated the idea of price controls earlier this week, stating that “there’s a big difference between fair pricing in competitive markets and excessive prices unrelated to the costs of doing business” — adding that “Americans can see that difference in their grocery bills.”

The announcement widespread criticism from commentators and economists who compared the idea to failed communist economies across the world.

DAVE RAMSEY EXPLAINS WHY KAMALA HARRIS’ PRICE CONTROL PLAN WILL NOT CURB INFLATION: ‘IT’S NOT SUSTAINABLE’

A Harvard economist who worked in President Obama’s administration ripped Harris’ plan to curb inflation as not based in “reality.”

The Harris-Walz campaign is championing a bill that would combat alleged “price gouging” on groceries via price controls. Economics and media commentators have compared the policy to similar initiatives in communist nations such as the Soviet Union and Venezuela. (iStock)

“This is not sensible policy, and I think the biggest hope is that it ends up being a lot of rhetoric and no reality,” Jason Furman, the former National Economic Council chair under Obama, told The New York Times in a report published Friday. “There’s no upside here, and there is some downside.”

Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell criticized Vice President Harris’ proposal to implement federal price controls in order to stop “price gouging” on groceries. 

CRITICS BLAST HARRIS’ GRASP OF INFLATION, ATTACK ON BUSINESS AHEAD OF POLICY SPEECH: ‘LUNATIC BEHAVIOR’

“It’s hard to exaggerate how bad this policy is,” Rampell wrote in an op-ed published on Thursday. “It is, in all but name, a sweeping set of government-enforced price controls across every industry, not only food. Supply and demand would no longer determine prices or profit levels. Far-off Washington bureaucrats would. The FTC would be able to tell, say, a Kroger in Ohio the acceptable price it can charge for milk.”

Rampell, who is also an economic commentator for CNN, compared the proposed controls to policies in the Soviet Union and other community countries.

Vice President Kamala Harris holds a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Democratic presidential nominee said in a statement that Americans can see the difference “between fair pricing in competitive markets and excessive prices unrelated to the costs of doing business.” (The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)

“We’ve seen this kind of thing tried in lots of other countries before; Venezuela, Argentina, the Soviet Union, et cetera. It leads to shortages, it leads to black markets, you know, plenty of uncertainty,” she said.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“And beyond that, the specific way this bill is written might actually increase prices because of some of the other language in it, things like requiring companies — public companies to disclose in their quarterly reports, their quarterly earnings reports, how they’re setting prices, which is a great way to help them collude, which normally we don’t want them to do,” she explained.

Fox News Digital’s Jeffrey Clark and Kristine Parks contributed to this report.

BYRON CENTER, MI – Former Rep. Mike Rogers is pushing a populist message as he aims to flip a blue-held seat red in a crucial Senate race that may decide whether the Democrats or Republicans win the majority next year.

“We’re going to have their back after November — folks living paycheck to paycheck,” the Senate GOP nominee in Michigan said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “We’ve got their back — they know it.”

The two public opinion polls conducted in Michigan this month indicate Democratic nominee Rep. Elissa Slotkin with the slight edge over Rogers in a margin-of-error race, in the battle to succeed retiring longtime Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow.

Rogers, a one-time FBI special agent who later served as chair of the House Intelligence Committee during his tenure in Congress, touted his Michigan roots.

A TOP SENATE REPUBLICAN CRISS-CROSSES THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL AS THE GOP AIMS TO WIN BACK THE MAJORITY

Former Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican Senate nominee in Michigan, speaks at a former President Trump campaign rally headlined by running mate Sen. JD Vance in Byron Center, Michigan, on Aug. 14, 2024. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

“When you’re from here, you go to high school here at a public school, you go to college here. You dedicate your adult life here. I think that people understand that,” he emphasized.

Rogers spotlighted that “we’re talking to people where it matters about things that matter in their lives.” 

He was interviewed Wednesday in southwestern Michigan after speaking at a rally headlined by Sen. JD Vance, former President Trump’s 2024 running mate.

“The good news is that they’re laser focused on the issues that matter in people’s lives,” Rogers said of Trump and Vance.

Republican presidential candidate former President Trump, left, listens as Michigan Senate candidate former Rep. Mike Rogers speaks at a campaign rally in Freeland, Michigan, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

He shared a story of a mother of four kids who attended. Rogers said she was “crying in my arms because she’s having a hard time putting food on her kids’ table. That’s heartbreaking. This is her first go around — as she would say — as a Republican.”

Pointing to his own childhood, Rogers said, “I know what it is to struggle at the end of the month when you’re dad’s a teacher with five boys.”

Democrats are not buying Rogers’ message.

“Revolving door Mike Rogers has shown he’s only fighting for himself: he ditched Michigan to go through the ‘revolving door’ in order to get rich and cash out working for companies tied to China, Saudi Arabia, and mega corporations,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesperson Tommy Garcia charged.

“Come November, Michiganders will see Rogers for the self-serving politician he is and reject him,” Garcia predicted.

FOX NEWS POLL: DEAD HEAT BETWEEN HARRIS AND TRUMP IN MICHIGAN

In the four weeks since Vice President Kamala Harris replaced President Biden at the top of the Democratic Party’s 2024 ticket, the Democrats have enjoyed a wave of momentum.

When asked how the dramatic shift at the top of the ticket is impacting his race, Rogers said, “We see the intensity of Democrats up.” 

However, he added, “We thought that was going to happen anyway.”

Rogers said the numbers in his race have not moved, adding, “We’re still in the margin of error with our opponent.”

Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) speaks to United Auto Workers members and others at a rally after marching in the Detroit Labor Day Parade on Sept. 4, 2023, in Detroit. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The former congressman, who is backed by the National Republican Senatorial Committee and who was endorsed earlier this year by Trump, easily won this month’s GOP Senate primary.

Slotkin, who cruised to a victory in the Democratic Senate primary, on Thursday landed a major union endorsement as she won the support of the Michigan chapter of the AFL-CIO.

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

Top Democrats, including President Biden and former U.S. presidents, are headed to Chicago for the Democratic National Convention to celebrate the nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s nominee for commander in chief.  

Here’s who to watch: 

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, arrives to speak at a campaign rally Aug. 10, 2024, in Las Vegas.  (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

President Biden  

President Biden is expected to speak at the convention Monday night, opening the week-long event. 

The highly anticipated speech comes after Biden suspended his re-election campaign in a stunning and unprecedented shake-up following the primary election cycle. 

BIDEN ENDS BID FOR SECOND TERM IN WHITE HOUSE AS HE DROPS OUT OF HIS 2024 REMATCH WITH TRUMP

Just over a month ago, Biden was considered the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, having won each Democratic primary race unchallenged. 

President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, arrive to speak about the administration’s efforts to lower costs during an event at Prince George’s Community College in Largo, Md., Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024.  (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

But after a disastrous debate performance against former President Trump in June, Democrats began mounting a pressure campaign for Biden to suspend his re-election bid. 

Biden eventually caved to the pressure, announcing the suspension of his re-election campaign just days after the Republican National Convention finished with a solidified GOP ticket of Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio. 

The unprecedented announcement to exit the race came as an increasing number of Democratic lawmakers and top Democrats began to publicly call for Biden to step aside. The party’s leadership was also engaged in efforts to convince Biden, 81, he could not win in November’s general election against Trump. 

Biden quickly offered his “full support and endorsement” for Harris to take over as the party’s presidential nominee. 

Hillary Clinton 

Former Secretary of State and twice-failed presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will address the Democratic National Convention Monday night as well. 

Clinton was the first woman to be a presidential nominee for any major political party in 2016.

Former United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton poses at opening night of the new musical “Suffs” on Broadway at The Music Box Theatre April 18, 2024, in New York City. (Bruce Glikas/WireImage)

CLINTONS ENDORSE KAMALA HARRIS HOURS AFTER BIDEN DROPS OUT

Trump, though, won the 2016 presidential election. 

If Harris wins in November, she would become the first female president of the United States. 

Former President Obama

Former President Obama is expected to address the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night. 

Sources told Fox News Digital it was a group of Obama allies and former advisers that helped to lead the charge in calling on Biden to drop out of the race, including his former adviser, David Axelrod; George Clooney, a personal friend of the Obamas; and others. 

Obama, who had Biden as his vice president for two terms, ultimately endorsed Harris after Biden exited the race but not immediately. 

BARACK, MICHELLE OBAMA ENDORSE KAMALA HARRIS FOR PRESIDENT AFTER DAYS OF SILENCE

At first, Obama declared that the party would be “navigating uncharted waters” but said he had “confidence” that the Democratic Party would “be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges.” 

Former President Obama attends an exhibition game between Canada and the United States ahead of the Paris Olympic Games at T-Mobile Arena July 10, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

The process, though, seemingly was just top Democrats publicly rallying around Harris and a surge in grassroots donations in the hours following the announcement of her presidential campaign. 

Obama has called Harris a “happy warrior.” 

Former President Clinton 

Former President Clinton is expected to address the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night. 

The Clintons endorsed Harris quickly after Biden exited the race. 

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Clinton  (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

“We join millions of Americans in thanking President Biden for all he has accomplished, standing up for America time and again, with his North Star always being what’s best for the country,” they said in their joint statement. “We are honored to join the President in endorsing Vice President Harris and will do whatever we can to support her.”

Clinton’s speech is expected to come just before Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, gives his address. 

Gov. Tim Walz 

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz is expected to address the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night. 

Walz, the governor of Minnesota, was introduced as Harris’ running mate last week. 

VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS NAMES MINNESOTA GOV. TIM WALZ AS HER RUNNING MATE: AP

Walz can showcase a slew of progressive policy victories in Minnesota, including protecting abortion rights, legalizing recreational marijuana and restricting gun access to curb shootings. 

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential candidate. (Ronda Churchill/AFP via Getty Images)

Walz was elected to the House in 2006 and re-elected five times, representing Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District, a mostly rural district covering the southern part of the state that includes a number of midsize cities. During his last two years on Capitol Hill, he served as ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. 

Walz won election as governor in 2018 and re-election four years later.

Vice President Kamala Harris 

Vice President Kamala Harris will formally accept the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday night and address the party and the nation for the first time. 

Harris has not held a press conference or participated in a sit-down interview with the media since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee almost a month ago. 

Vice President Kamala Harris will formally accept the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday night and address the party and the nation for the first time.  (Andrew Harnik)

This is the second time Harris is running for president. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Harris launched her first presidential campaign in 2019 for the 2020 presidential cycle. Harris participated in debates but ultimately suspended her campaign before the first primary contest, the 2020 Iowa caucuses.

BYRON CENTER, Mich. — When it comes to the crucial battlegrounds of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, long known as the Democrats’ ‘blue wall’ states, Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance is optimistic they’re “going to be the red wall in November.”

“We’re going to make sure that Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan go red,” former President Trump’s 2024 running mate emphasized in an exclusive national interview with Fox News Digital on the campaign trail in southwestern Michigan this past week.

Democrats reliably won all three working-class states in presidential elections for nearly a quarter-century before Trump narrowly carried them in capturing the White House eight years ago.

HARRIS AND TRUMP TRADE FIRE IN BATTLE FOR THE BLUE WALL STATES 

Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, the Republican vice presidential nominee, headlines a Trump campaign event in Byron Center, Michigan, on August 14, 2024.  (Fox News — Paul Steinhauser)

But in 2020, President Biden won back all three states with razor-thin margins as he defeated Trump.

The states remain extremely competitive as Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump face off in the 2024 presidential election.

Last month’s Republican National Convention was held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s largest city. And Trump and Vance held their first join-campaign rally after the convention in Grand Rapids, Michigan, just a few miles north of where Vance was interviewed by Fox News on Wednesday.

WHAT VANCE SAID IN AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH FOX NEWS DIGITAL

Vance, a first-term populist senator and a leading Trump ally in the Senate, has made stops in all three blue wall states in the past two weeks, and told Fox News that he would be spending plenty of time in the states the rest of the summer and autumn spreading the GOP ticket’s working-class message.

“We’re going to make sure that Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan go red. People are sick of green energy scams that ship our manufacturing jobs to China instead of keeping them right here at home in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. I think we have a great pro-manufacturing, pro-American worker message,” he emphasized.

Republican presidential nominee former President Trump and GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio appear on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Vance said that his pitch to working-class voters is a “core message that Donald Trump and I have in this campaign and this is a good place for people to hear it.”

Vance hails from Ohio, which neighbors both Pennsylvania and Michigan, and his Midwestern and working-class roots in a region long known as the ‘Rust Belt’ were likely key factors in Trump’s decision to name the senator as his running mate.

TRUMP CAMPAIGN PLANS COUNTER-PROGRAMMING DURING DEMOCRATS’ CONVENTION

Before running for Senate, Vance grabbed national attention after his book “Hillbilly Elegy” – which tells his story of growing up in a struggling steel mill city and his roots in Appalachian Kentucky – became a New York Times bestseller and was then made into a Netflix film. The story spotlighted the values of many working-class Americans who became supporters of Trump’s policies.

Fox News observed as Vance spread his Midwestern folksiness with the owners and family of the trucking company that hosted last week’s rally in Michigan.

Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and his wife Usha meet with supporters ahead of a campaign event in Byron Center, Michigan on August 14, 2024. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

Holding the baby of one of the family members, the senator — who was accompanied by his wife — said that he wanted a fourth child.

And later, in his speech at the rally, he spotlighted the instrumental role his grandmother “Mamaw” in his life. The comments have become a key ingredient in his stump speech.

“I was one of the lucky ones – I managed to achieve the American Dream. I managed to build a life because I had a Mamaw that was tough as nails,” Vance told the crowd.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Democrats have repeatedly taken aim at Vance, and have argued that he’s anything but a working-class hero, as they point to his years in San Francisco as a top hedge fund executive  when he worked as a principal in a venture capital firm owned by billionaire Peter Thiel.

Harris — who replaced Biden last month atop the Democrats’ 2024 ticket and who named Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, another Midwesterner, as her running mate — charges that Vance is a “rubber stamp” for Trump’s “extreme agenda” 

“Make no mistake, JD Vance will be loyal only to Trump, not to our country,” Harris has said.

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

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., gave his approval to Vice President Kamala Harris’ newly unveiled economic policy proposal on Friday, calling it “bold and popular.”

“Is it all that I would like? No,” he said in a statement. “Is it an important step forward in making our country a fairer and more just society? Absolutely.”

Sanders lauded the proposal for speaking “to the needs of working families” and taking on “the unprecedented corporate greed that is taking place throughout America.”

TIM SCOTT SAYS AMERICANS ‘SMARTER THAN’ HARRIS ON ECONOMY AMID RELEASE OF CONTROVERSIAL PLAN

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., announced his support for Vice President Kamala Harris’ economic plan. (Getty Images)

Sanders has long-described himself as a Democratic socialist, and has been considered one of the most far-left U.S. politicians. 

Harris’ plan was revealed by her campaign on Friday, including several expansions of policies implemented during the Biden-Harris administration. It specifically targets corporate “price gouging” in the food industry, calling for a first-ever federal ban on it.

It would also drastically expand the child tax credit, granting credits up to $6,000 during a child’s first year. Existing prescription drug price caps would additionally be expanded to everyone, not just senior citizens. 

‘RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH’: ROSEN PANNED FOR BIDEN-ALIGNED VOTES, HIGH HOUSING COSTS

Americans are concerned about the economy going into the election. (iStock)

Harris’ economic agenda would further establish a $40 billion fund to help local governments build more housing, alongside policies to crack down on landlords.

“At a time of unprecedented wealth and income inequality, when the 1% have never had it so good, while 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, Vice President Harris understands that we need to create an economy that works for all and not just the people on top,” Sanders said in a lengthy statement. 

DHS, FBI PROBED FOR INFO ON ALLEGED IRANIAN AGENT’S ASSASSINATION PLOT POSSIBLY TARGETING TRUMP

Harris said she would ban corporate “price gouging.” (Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

He added that Harris “understands that we need to take on the greed of the food and beverage industry, which is making huge profits by jacking up the price of groceries.” 

Critics have disagreed with Harris and Democrats’ conclusion that high prices are a product of corporate greed. Republicans have been prompt with their condemnations of the plan, blaming rising prices on spending packages that were spearheaded by President Biden and Harris throughout their administration. 

‘PREGNANT PERSONS’: OHIO SEN SHERROD BROWN SCRUBBED ‘WOMEN’ FROM BILL ON PREGNANCY

Former President Trump panned Harris’ proposal at a press conference on Thursday. (AP/Rick Bowmer)

“The ‘price-gouging’ that they’ve experienced has come at the hands of Kamala Harris and Joe Biden,” Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital in an interview on Friday. “When you artificially stimulate the economy by the federal government and the Democrats spending trillions of dollars, the net effect is high inflation, high interest, high demand and lower supply.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Now Kamala is reportedly proposing communist price control. She wants price controls, and if they worked, I’d go all along with it, but they don’t work. They actually have the exact opposite impact and effect,” former President Trump said Thursday at a press conference.

The plan has also taken heat from a left-leaning Washington Post columnist who titled her op-ed, “When your opponent calls you ‘communist,’ maybe don’t propose price controls?”

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

Actress Jane Fonda and other climate change activists gathered Friday to tout the Harris-Walz campaign as “a proud climate ticket.”

Climate Voters for Harris kicked off a virtual call Friday, two years since the signing of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, to discuss “the historic accomplishments of the IRA. We’ll hear messaging guidance and the best ways for Climate Voters to get involved in the campaign.”

The call was hosted by Sweta Chakraborty, a behavioral scientist, who said there was “palpable” excitement about Harris being the Democratic nominee.

The call also included celebrity appearances from Fonda and TV personality Bill Nye.

IT’S BEEN TWO MISERABLE YEARS SINCE THE BIDEN-HARRIS INFLATION REDUCTION ACT. AND IT’S WORSE THAN YOU THINK

Actress Jane Fonda previously spoke at several events for climate change awareness in southern California. (Stephane Cardinale)

Fonda encouraged people to “vote with climate in their hearts,” claiming the Harris-Walz ticket is “our only hope.”

“Sitting it out, voting for a third-party candidate, this is voting for the orange man,” she told listeners on the call.

Other speakers included former Secretary of State John Kerry; Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass.; and Democratic Washington state Gov. James Inslee.

TRUMP FLIPS SCRIPT ON HARRIS’ ‘DUCK AND HIDE’ MEDIA STRATEGY WITH SECOND PRESS CONFERENCE IN A WEEK

Climate change activists gathered Friday to tout the Harris-Walz campaign as “a proud climate ticket.” (Getty Images)

Inslee said, “Kamala Harris really gets this” issue, sharing a story of being at the White House and the vice president telling him “how excited she was” about climate issues.

Jake Schwartz, interim Climate Voters director for the campaign, said, “Harris-Walz is a proud climate ticket.” 

Bill Nye attends the “The End Is Nye” premiere during the 2022 Tribeca Festival at SVA Theatre June 17, 2022, in New York City.  (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Some speakers took aim at the Trump-Vance ticket, claiming they “cater to polluters” and want to “roll back America’s freedoms.”

Harris is a longtime supporter of climate change, once claiming in a recently resurfaced clip that young people are not buying homes or having kids because of “climate anxiety.”

FIRST ON FOX: A Black advocacy group blasted Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker ahead of the Democratic National Convention in his state, accusing him of failing Black students across Illinois. 

“Governor Pritzker has failed Illinois’ Black students, and he has no one to blame but himself,” Darius Jones, founder and executive director of the National Black Empowerment Action Fund, said in a statement to Fox News Digital Friday. 

The group, which often aligns with Democratic policies and politicians, called out Pritzker, who was on Vice President Kamala Harris’ short list for vice president, for his record on education funding in accordance with state law. 

TIM SCOTT SAYS AMERICANS ‘SMARTER THAN’ HARRIS ON ECONOMY AMID RELEASE OF CONTROVERSIAL PLAN

Pritzker is the governor of Illinois. (John Nacion/WireImage)

“Rather than helping Black students, Pritzker has turned his back on them by systematically underfunding their schools, denying them the high-quality public education that every child is entitled to,” Jones said. 

“This puts multiple generations of Black children who deserve a fair shot at a severe disadvantage as they are ignored by a governor who clearly has other priorities. That’s just wrong.”

‘RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH’: ROSEN PANNED FOR BIDEN-ALIGNED VOTES, HIGH HOUSING COSTS

The Evidence-Based Funding for Student Success Act, which was signed into law in Illinois in 2017, laid out that the government would use a specific formula to determine where to allocate money with a requirement of fully funding public schools by 2027.

DHS, FBI PROBED FOR INFO ON ALLEGED IRANIAN AGENT’S ASSASSINATION PLOT POSSIBLY TARGETING TRUMP

The report criticized Pritzker’s commitment to fully funding schools. (iStock)

According to NBEAF and the Partnership for Equity and Education Rights (PEER IL), Illinois must increase its education funding by over $7 billion by 2027. However, in the years since its passage, the funding has only been increased by the minimum amount of $350 million per year, including during Pritzker’s administration.

“If Illinois does only the bare minimum annually, it will not come close to meeting the law’s deadline for full funding,” the NBEAF report says.

‘PREGNANT PERSONS’: OHIO SEN SHERROD BROWN SCRUBBED ‘WOMEN’ FROM BILL ON PREGNANCY

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

The law requires the state to fulfill its duty in accordance with the Illinois Constitution, which lists its goal as providing “the educational development of all persons to the limits of their capacities.”

Per the report, 95% of Black students’ school districts are currently underfunded. It further claims White students in Illinois are over four times more likely to be in well-funded districts, reinforcing racial disparities in education.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Pritzker’s office did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication. 

The report and criticism of the Illinois governor come just days before Pritzker hosts Democratic leaders from across the country in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention. 

JD Vance hit the campaign trail in Milwaukee on Friday, debuting his family’s four-legged-friend as he hits the road as former President Trump’s vice presidential pick.

Atlas, a German shepherd, energetically bounded up the stairs of a Trump campaign plane despite the rainy weather.

“Atlas had a great time on the campaign trail today, and unlike Kamala, enjoyed meeting the press on the plane!” said Taylor Van Kirk, Vance spokeswoman, in an exclusive comment to Fox News Digital.

VANCE SAYS HE DOESN’T THINK TRUMP ‘NEEDS TO PIVOT,’ PRAISES HIS ‘UNSCRIPTED NATURE’

Vance’s wife Usha also joined her husband and their dog in Milwaukee while campaigning on Friday.

Vance poked fun at his pooch in a post attached to a video on X, which now has over 10k likes.

“Can’t really tell in this video, but he was *not happy* about the wet metal stairs. He’s doing good on the plane though,” said Vance.

TRUMP RUNNING MATE VANCE AIMS TO TURN BLUE WALL STATES RED

“We’ve had two GSDs, and both of them do this thing where they find the one person who doesn’t like dogs and they suck up to them.”

Atlas’ eventful day didn’t end with his boarding of the Trump plane. The flight made an emergency landing back in Milwaukee soon afterward.

JD Vance was led by his German shepherd Atlas up to a Trump campaign plane on Friday afternoon in Milwaukee. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)

“The pilot advised there was a malfunction with the door seal,” said Vance spokeswoman Taylor Van Kirk. “After declaring an emergency, Trump Force Two returned to Milwaukee.”

“As soon as the issue was resolved, the plane returned to its originally planned flight path back to Cincinnati.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

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

The Harris campaign is signaling continued support for ending cash bail and bail reform as the vice president and former prosecutor faces scrutiny over past policies and positions related to crime and law enforcement.

“Vice President Harris believes our criminal justice system should protect and serve all Americans, regardless of their economic status, gender, or race,” James Singer, a spokesperson for the Harris campaign, told Fox News Digital. 

“On the issue of cash bail, she believes that we need a system where public safety, not wealth, determines who should stay behind bars following an arrest. Anyone who is a danger to society should be detained regardless of how wealthy they are.” 

During her public life as district attorney in San Francisco, California attorney general and U.S. senator, Harris’ position on cash bail has varied. 

‘STUPID’ ABOLISHMENT OF CASH BAIL MEANS ILLINOIS STREETS ARE ‘NEVER GONNA BE SAFE’ AGAIN: RESIDENTS

Vice President Kamala Harris arrives at Philadelphia International Airport for a campaign event at Girard College in Philadelphia on Aug. 6. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

In 2019, when she unsuccessfully ran for president, Harris made her position known a little more forcefully. 

“End money bail. Our bail system is unjust and broken,” Harris wrote in a post on Medium. 

“450,000 Americans sit in jail today awaiting trial because they cannot afford to pay bail. Excessive cash bail disproportionately harms people from low-income communities and communities of color,” she said. 

“Black defendants are more likely to be detained before trial and less likely to be able to post bail compared with similarly-situated White defendants. And Black men pay higher bail than similarly-situated White defendants.” 

ILLINOIS ENDING CASH BAIL A ‘BACKDOOR’ DEFUND MOVEMENT THAT WILL SPARK POLICE EXODUS: EXPERTS

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks as Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz looks on during a campaign event at Girard College in Philadelphia on Aug. 6. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

But in 2004, Harris said one of her top “priorities” during the first 100 days of serving as a DA would be to make bail more expensive, the Washington Free Beacon reported. 

“On a daily basis, the work I have to do and where I have to put my mind in terms of my priorities is on things like sitting down with Russ [Guintini] my chief assistant and talking with him about the fact we are going to change the bail schedule in San Francisco,” Harris said in an interview. “We are in the process of asking the bench, the judiciary, to reevaluate the fact that we require people who have been arrested to pay a lot less than other counties.”

She also commented that individuals were coming to San Francisco “to commit crimes because it’s cheaper to do it.”

AFTER ONE YEAR, ‘AMERICA’S MOST DANGEROUS LAW’ IS DAMAGING POLICING PROFESSION IN ILLINOIS, SAYS LOCAL SHERIFF

Vice President Kamala Harris arrives to speak at a campaign rally in Las Vegas on Saturday.  (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

“You know, we have to do something about that,” she said. “Those are things I’m spending my time on.”

Later in 2014, while she was attorney general, Harris’ office argued against the release of nonviolent criminals because they wanted to keep them for cheap labor, the Washington Examiner reported.

“Extending 2-for-1 credits to all minimum custody inmates at this time would severely impact fire camp participation — a dangerous outcome while California is in the middle of a difficult fire season and severe drought,” lawyers from Harris’ office wrote in a filing.

Abolishing cash bail is generally considered a progressive approach to criminal justice. But as such reforms have been implemented in states like New York, data shows that bail elimination can lead to higher recidivism rates. 

The Data Collaborative for Justice concluded in February that “the elimination of money bail increased recidivism for people charged with nonviolent felonies, with recent criminal history, and with a recent violent felony arrest, while it decreased recidivism for people charged with misdemeanors and people with no recent criminal history.” 

Critics of Harris have said she has a pattern of flipping her positions on potentially controversial policies depending on what will favor her politically. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

A former elected public safety official in California, who criticized Harris for her role in championing the state’s notorious crime law, said Harris’ purported ability to combat drug and violent crime was “all foam and no beer.”

“That’s really her principle. She doesn’t want to take a position because she doesn’t know how it will impact her future,” a former official told Fox News Digital. 

Meanwhile, the Trump campaign is characterizing the elimination of cash bail as a “catastrophe.”

“Eliminating cash bail is a catastrophe for public safety and puts more violent criminals back on the streets to cause further mayhem,” Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital. “In cities and states with Dangerously Liberal prosecutors like Kamala Harris, crime has skyrocketed and daily life has degenerated and it is all thanks to the turnstile justice these radical, left-wing policies create. Kamala Harris is a dangerously liberal hypocrite and only President Trump and JD Vance can clean up our streets and make America safe again.”

The abortion issue has taken center stage this week in Montana in the midst of a closely watched U.S. Senate race. 

On Wednesday, the state’s supreme court invalidated as unconstitutional a law restricting abortion access for minors to those who obtained parental consent.

“No politician should be in the business of making health care decisions for women,” a spokesperson for Sen. Jon Tester replied to Fox News Digital’s request for comment, adding that the Democratic incumbent “will continue to fight for Montana women to have the freedom and privacy to make their own personal health care decisions.”

The farmer-turned-lawmaker faces a tough bid in the otherwise red state, and along with senators up for reelection in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia is seen as vulnerable in this cycle. Abortion, at the same time, remains likely the top social issue.

A spokesperson for Tim Sheehy, Tester’s Republican opponent, said the military veteran is dismayed by the court’s decision.

“As the father of four young children, including two young daughters, Tim is troubled by this decision that weakens parental rights and puts young girls at risk,” the Sheehy For Montana spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

“This move by the Montana Supreme Court should concern every Montanan — parents absolutely should be a part of their child’s health care.”

TRUMP CAMPAIGN SLAMS JON TESTER AS RADICALLY OUT OF TOUCH AFTER ABORTION AD ROLLOUT

An abortion-rights demonstrator holds a sign during a rally, May 14, 2022, in Chattanooga, Tenn. (AP)

Montana’s Republican governor, meanwhile, delivered a strong response, tearing into the high court for striking down the state law requiring parental consent for minors to have abortions, while the state’s vulnerable Democratic senator hailed the decision, saying women should be able to make their own health care decisions.

“I’m deeply concerned and disappointed by today’s ruling from the Montana Supreme Court, which states parents do not have a fundamental right to oversee the medical care of their young daughters,” Gov. Greg Gianforte, a Republican, said in response. “In its ruling, the Court has wielded its gavel like a hammer against one of the fundamental rights in our history: the right of parents to consent to the medical care of their minor children,” he added.

The ruling backed-up one from a lower court that ruled the law unconstitutional, as it pertains to the state-level founding document in particular.

TESTER TO SKIP DNC IN CHICAGO

U.S. Highway 89 is shown near Gardiner, Mont., on July 15, 2020. (Brett French/Billings Gazette via AP)

Associate Justice Laurie McKinnon, elected to the nonpartisan bench in 2012, wrote that minors enjoy a “fundamental right to privacy” the same way adults do.

“[That] includes procreative autonomy and making medical decisions affecting his or her bodily integrity and health in partnership with a chosen health care provider free from governmental interest.”

The ruling was unanimous, with Chief Justice Mike McGrath recusing himself from the case.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

President Biden gestures while speaking to Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester (Getty images)

Following the effective overturning of Roe v. Wade via the 2022 Dobbs decision before the U.S. Supreme Court, Tester had warned that ruling “means women and doctors will be put in jail when exercising this long-held right in states across the country.”

“For nearly 50 years, women have been able to make their own healthcare decisions without interference from the government… No judge or politician should be telling women how to live their lives or undermining their fundamental right to privacy,” Tester said.

The abortion issue has also caused political strife for moderates in key states, as well as in campaign politics – as former President Trump sought to distance himself from deep-red Alabama’s ruling in favor of the personhood of embryos. 

Trump said in February he fully supports in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and urged Yellowhammer State lawmakers to protect the practice despite the ruling.

The Montana law, passed in 2013, was promptly challenged by Planned Parenthood and had been subject to a court injunction preventing its implementation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The whole world is watching.

They want to see what unfolds this week in Chicago as Democrats convene their quadrennial political convention and anoint Vice President Harris as their 2024 standard-bearer.

But, the mantra “the whole world is watching” is from 1968.

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: WIN OR LOSE, HARRIS MUST ATTEND THE JAN. 6 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CERTIFICATION

That was a battle cry from demonstrators who descended on the Democratic convention in Chicago in 1968. They brawled with delegates, reporters and police. The war in Vietnam raged. And anti-war protesters wanted the world to know how they felt. So what better opportunity to converge on the Democratic convention and air their grievances – often within the view finder of a television camera.

The 1968 Democratic convention was the most volatile in American history.

Democrats hope to avoid such controversies this year. But with raucous, anti-Israel protests raging on college campuses and across the nation all spring, that may be tough to avoid. Moreover, this highlights the schism in the Democratic Party over the Middle East.

As they said in 1968, the world is watching.

Long before the demonstrations, political observers were already making comparisons between 2024 and 1968. After all, Democrats announced plans to hold their convention in Chicago. Parallels between 1968 and 2024 intensified.

1968 was the year where American society changed. The year featured massive disintegrations in political order. Meantime, social disarray reigned in the streets. 1968 was a temporal storm. A set of months and days on a calendar – metamorphosed into indelible and at times horrific images for history.

2024 might not rival 1968 yet. But its tumult stands out – even against other recent years of bedlam and chaos.

Kamala Harris is pictured over a view of the United Center, as preparations are made for the Democratic National Convention, scheduled for Aug. 19-22.  (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Vietnam besieged President Lyndon Baines Johnson in 1968. Republicans won three Senate seats and an attention-grabbing 47 House seats in the 1966 midterms. Johnson may have lost political support. But he never lost his political acumen. Johnson barely won the 1968 Democratic primary in New Hampshire and knew what to do.

Like President Biden in 2024, Johnson didn’t formally contest New Hampshire, Johnson ran as a write-in. Mr. Biden’s only true competition in the primary was Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn. Much of the party upbraided Phillips for even challenging the President, lashing out at suggestions that the President wasn’t fit enough for another term.

In 1968, Sen. Eugene McCarthy, D-Minn., held Johnson to just under 50 percent of the vote in New Hampshire.

Flustered, but keen to the political stakes, Johnson bowed out in late March 1968.

“I have concluded that I should not permit the Presidency to become involved in the partisan divisions that are developing in this political year,” declared Johnson in a legendary Oval Office address.

In fact, President Biden’s words echoed those of Johnson when he made the decision to drop out after his disastrous debate performance with former President Trump in late June.

“I’ve decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. That’s the best way to unite our nation,” said the President.

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: WHAT A ‘YACHT ROCK’ SUMMER LOOKS LIKE ON CAPITOL HILL

Political violence was a hallmark of 1968. The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. fueled riots across the nation.

Two months later, Robert F. Kennedy celebrated his victory at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles after winning the California and South Dakota primaries.

“My thanks to all of you. And now it’s on to Chicago and let’s win there,” presaged Kennedy – an ominous namecheck of what lurked ahead for Democrats.

Sirhan Sirhan – a pro-Palestinian anti-Zionist who popped out from behind an ice machine in the kitchen of the hotel – pumped multiple, point blank shots into Kennedy. Sirhan Sirhan opposed Kennedy over his support for Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.

The current Middle East conflict rocks the country today – taking the place of the Vietnam conflict of the 1960s.

But there are other similarities.

In 1968, former Alabama Gov. George Wallace (D) ran as a third party candidate.

In 2024, Kennedy’s son Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wages a challenge to Vice President Harris and former President Trump.

Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump is rushed offstage during a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

And there’s political violence in 2024, too. A gunman nearly killed Mr. Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania last month.

Once President Biden abandoned his re-election bid, Democrats quickly pivoted to Harris.

This mirrors what Democrats did in 1968. Democrats switched their allegiances to another vice president to be their nominee: Vice President Hubert Humphrey.

Democrats formally rally around Harris this week in Chicago – home of the most-ignominious convention on record.

“Unless they were looking for this comparison, the Democrats are going back to Chicago for what’s expected to be an unusually turbulent convention,” said Luke Nichter, a professor at Chapman University who has written about 1968.

While protesters scuffled with police outside the hall, reporters tangled with security guards inside. Guards roughed up CBS correspondent Dan Rather on the floor.

BEWARE THE IDES OF JULY: TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT, BIDEN ENDS REELECTION CAMPAIGN IN WILD MONTH

Unflappable CBS anchor Walter Cronkite was none too pleased with how authorities manhandled his colleague.

“I think we’ve got a bunch of thugs here, Dan,” said Cronkite on the air.

Tension gurgled between Democratic delegates over Vietnam.

“With (Sen.) George McGovern, D-S.D., as President of the United States, we wouldn’t have to have Gestapo tactics in the streets of Chicago,” said Sen. Abe Ribicoff, D-Conn., of the anti-war senator.

McGovern would have to wait until 1972 to secure the Democratic nomination.

The echoes of 1968 worry Democrats ahead of this year’s convention.

“You have to re-do the right things from the legal point of view. And also from a political point of view. We want everyone to be safe. And I’m holding my breath,” said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill. “We have law enforcement at every level, local, state and federal, give me their assurance that they’re ready for this. And I pray that they are.”

But it’s unclear whether disturbances and civil unrest could supersede the convention narrative.

Former President Bill Clinton raises his hand to the crowd before giving his acceptance speech Thursday night at the 1996 Democratic National Convention at the United Center.  (Harry Hamburg/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)

“As in 1968, a lot of it will depend on how the media covers the protesters,” said Nichter. “A lot of it, like ’68, is going to come down to (whether) the cameras glorify the violence and turn the protesters into the stars during the convention.”

However, 1968 wasn’t the last time Democrats convened in Chicago.

Democrats nominated former President Clinton for a second term in Chicago in 1996. And that isn’t even what most people remember.

In 1996, a pop cultural phenomenon consumed the convention.

Every night, the bopping, electronic tones of Los del Rio and the Bayside Boys would echo inside Chicago United Center. And within a few moments, tens of thousands of Democrats were gyrating to the unmistakable rhythm of the Macarena. On the floor. On the stage. In the aisles. The Democratic National Committee even published an animation on their official webpage, showing people the moves to do with the song.

The Macarena spent an astonishing three-and-a-half-months at number one on the Billboard chart. It was the number one song in the nation for 1996.

By the time the Macarena began to slip on the pop charts that fall, former President Clinton handily vanquished late Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., and returned to the White House.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

In 1968, President Richard Nixon defeated Humphrey.

Democrats hope the end result of their 2024 convention is a lot more like 1996 than 1968.

But win or lose, they probably won’t perform the Macarena.

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

Here’s what’s happening…

– Early voting starts in just 21 days

– RFK Jr. denies seeking a Harris Cabinet position, calling the claim ‘fake news’

– A new poll reveals which vice presidential nominee is favored among voters

‘Concerning Ties’ to the CCP

EXCLUSIVE: The House Oversight Committee is investigating Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and his alleged “longstanding connections” to China and CCP-linked entities, Fox News Digital has learned.

Fox News Digital exclusively obtained a letter that House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., penned to FBI Director Christopher Wray, notifying the bureau of the committee’s investigation into Walz.

“The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is conducting a government-wide investigation into the Chinese Communist Party’s political warfare operations against America and the response from federal agencies,” he wrote. “Vice President Kamala Harris recently announced her vice presidential running mate, Timothy Walz, the current governor of Minnesota.”

Comer said that the committee had been briefed by the FBI on April 22 and July 17 — both briefings occurred before Walz was named Harris’ running mate. However, Comer said that FBI briefers told the committee that the bureau’s Foreign Influence Task Force “investigates exactly the kind of activity that has since come to light about Governor Walz.” …Read more

Vice President Kamala Harris is accompanied by her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, at a rally in Glendale, Arizona, on Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

White House

‘DON’T WANT TO JINX ANYTHING’: Biden says admin is ‘closer than we’ve ever been’ to MidEast cease-fire deal …Read more

Capitol Hill

‘RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH’: Rosen panned for Biden-aligned votes, high housing costs …Read more

‘UNFAIR’: New FTC decision could ‘inject’ DEI into business practices nationwide: GOP commissioner …Read more

Tales from the Trail

‘THAT’S FAKE NEWS’: RFK Jr. denies he sought Cabinet position in potential Harris-Walz admin …Read more

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. denied the accusation that he reached out to Kamala Harris’ team to discuss the possibility of working inside a future Cabinet. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

HARRIS ECONOMIC PLAN?: Critics blast Harris’ grasp of inflation, attacks on business: ‘Lunatic behavior’ …Read more

SNEAK PEEK: Chaos erupts at Kamala Harris NYC event as DNC braces for Chicago unrest …Read more

‘BAD FOR THE U.S.’: Minnesota business owners sound alarm on Harris’ ‘nightmare’ VP pick …Read more

‘WILL NOT WORK’: Dave Ramsey explains why Kamala Harris’ price control plan will not curb inflation …Read more

WALZ VS VANCE: New poll reveals which VP nominee is favored among voters …Read more

WEATHERING THE STORM: Tim Walz doubled down on allowing COVID patients into nursing homes despite 80% death stat …Read more

BLUE WALL BATTLE: Trump running mate Vance aims to turn Blue Wall states red …Read more

‘UNSCRIPTED NATURE’: Vance says he doesn’t think Trump ‘needs to pivot’  …Read more

JD Vance speaks to reporters on Friday, Aug. 16 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Pool/Fox News)

Across America

TROUBLE IN PARADISE: Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home could be closed as election nears, with Palm Beach mayor citing safety concerns …Read more

PROVE IT: Arizona law requiring proof of citizenship to vote supported by 24 state AGs in plea to SCOTUS …Read more

‘LUDICROUS’: Former NYPD cop running for House blasts ‘ludicrous’ claims after wrongful arrest settlements surface …Read more

BLOOD ‘ON THEIR HANDS’: Trump assassination attempt victim’s family vows to get justice …Read more

A memorial for volunteer firefighter Corey Comperatore, an attendee killed during gunfire at a Trump campaign rally, is displayed at the Buffalo Township Fire Company 27 in Buffalo Township, Pennsylvania. (REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)

THE SAGA CONTINUES…: State funds to Dolton cut as embattled ‘supermayor’ tries to reinstate indicted police chief …Read more

‘COWARDLY’: Progressive NYC Dem condemns violent anti-Israel protest …Read more

‘THE PLAYBOOK WORKS’: Youngkin takes victory lap against ‘losing states’ as Virginia marks $1B surplus …Read more

Subscribe now to get the Fox News Politics newsletter in your inbox.

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

FIRST ON FOX: Former Vice President Mike Pence’s conservative think tank is calling out what it says is a significant shift to the left over the last several decades. 

“Over the last 50 years, the Democratic Party has increasingly abandoned ordinary Americans for its most radical fringe,” reads a new memo from Advancing American Freedom (AAF) released ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next week. 

“Here is a sample of positions that Democrats held to in their past party platforms, even as they attack Republicans for believing many of the same things today,” the memo said. “With the next party convention scheduled for August 2024, there is still time for Democrats to restore themselves as a party of moderation.”

TIM SCOTT SAYS AMERICANS ‘SMARTER THAN’ HARRIS ON ECONOMY AMID RELEASE OF CONTROVERSIAL PLAN

Former Vice President Mike Pence’s organization is highlighting the contrast between the Democratic National Committee’s current and past stances. (Getty Images)

The group noted that Pence himself was once a Democrat until changing his registration in 1983. “President Ronald Reagan was a registered Democrat until 1962,” it added. 

According to AAF’s policy director John Shelton, the Democratic Party has “without a doubt” shifted more over the years than the Republican Party has. The group released a similar memo last month looking at the changes in the Republican National Convention platform. 

“Their platform was a complete rejection of what the party once was,” he said in an interview with Fox News Digital. 

‘RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH’: ROSEN PANNED FOR BIDEN-ALIGNED VOTES, HIGH HOUSING COSTS

The group highlights past stances of the Democratic Party on several issues to demonstrate the stark changes. On abortion, Pence’s organization recalled previous DNC platforms in the 1980s and 1990s that acknowledged “the religious and ethical concerns” about abortion and stated their goal to make the procedure “rare.”

DHS, FBI PROBED FOR INFO ON ALLEGED IRANIAN AGENT’S ASSASSINATION PLOT POSSIBLY TARGETING TRUMP

The Democratic National Convention is set to take place next week in Chicago. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Shelton pointed to abortion and illegal immigration as the top two issues that the party has shifted on the most. 

AAF’s memo highlighted strong language against illegal immigration used by the DNC in 1996, stating they “cannot tolerate” it and “must stop it.”

‘PREGNANT PERSONS’: OHIO SEN SHERROD BROWN SCRUBBED ‘WOMEN’ FROM BILL ON PREGNANCY

Immigration has become a top issue for voters. (John Moore/Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The DNC platform at the time also read, “In 1992, our borders might as well not have existed. The border was under-patrolled, and what patrols there were, were under-equipped. Drugs flowed freely. Illegal immigration was rampant. Criminal immigrants, deported after committing crimes in America, returned the very next day to commit crimes again.” 

AAF claimed the Democratic Party “has jettisoned a broad, bipartisan consensus on the critical issues of the day.” The group further criticized media coverage that has portrayed the Republican Party as “extremists,” given the Democrats’ shift. 

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

A Harris campaign video released Thursday featuring vice presidential candidate Tim Walz deadpanning that he eats “White guy tacos” is getting some blowback from critics on social media.  

Adding fuel to the fire was Vice President Kamala Harris’ snarky response in the video, with critics saying it “mocked” White people.  

“I have White guy tacos, and . . .,” Walz says in the campaign video of him and Harris discussing some of their favorite foods.

“What does that mean? Like mayonnaise and tuna? What are you doing?” Harris quipped back.

COULD KAMALA HARRIS BEING A COOK INFLUENCE THE WHITE HOUSE RACE? THE LOS ANGELES TIMES INVESTIGATES

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz caused a firestorm when the Harris campaign released a video during which the two running mates made remarks about ‘White guy tacos’ that left critics angry. 

Walz responded by saying it was “pretty much” just ground beef and cheese.

“That’s OK,” Harris then added. “Do you put any flavor in it?” she asked.

“Uh, no,” Walz responded, garnering a cackle from Harris.

The exchange did not fly with Harris’ and Walz’s critics. Some complained of racism, while others highlighted the double-standard elucidated by the video, arguing that if Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, the GOP vice presidential nominee, were to say something similar about Black people he would get excoriated.

“See, folks, it’s funny that white people hate spices! Not racist at all! Just funny!” posted The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro.

“This isn’t cute. Walz is being used as a clown to mock White people,” said Fox News columnist David Marcus. If Walz doesn’t like spicy food that’s fine, but it has nothing to do with being a White guy.”

“Hispanics are not tacos,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, D-Texas, in response to the remarks. 

Ian Haworth, a conservative speaker, writer and podcast host argued that Walz’s remark would “cause riots if it was done in reverse by a Republican.”

‘THE FIVE’: PICK KAMALA OR YOU’RE A RACIST!

“Crazy that a presidential candidate can just casually let out some blatant anti-white racism and nobody cares,” said the Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh. “Imagine if Donald Trump said that a ‘black guy taco’ was made with fried chicken and watermelon. Nuclear meltdown.”

Even a fan of the Minnesota governor’s appeared to take issue with his comments.  “I really like Tim Walz, but as someone who also really likes cooking with flavor, I will tell you that black pepper is far from the top spice level in Minnesota,” said journalist Brian Shea.

Minnesota DFL (Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party) gubernatorial candidate Tim Walz at Farmfest, August 8, 2018, in Morgan, Minn. 

DON’T LET TIM WALZ’S FOLKSY MIDWESTERN CHARM FOOL YOU – HE’S NO MODERATE

Others, meanwhile, specifically took umbrage with Harris’ part in the video.  Alt-right commentator Jack Posobiec argued that Harris’s comments had mocked White people. 

“The Kamala campaign is now making videos mocking white people for ‘not seasoning their food,’ a popular anti-white meme online. Not even making this up,” said Posobiec.

Harris and Walz defenders praised the pair over the remarks and ridiculed critics for taking issue with them.

“These are the guys calling democrats easily offend-able and hypersensitive,” Micha Efran, a political organizer and executive committee member for the Texas Democratic Party, wrote in a post on X calling out The Daily Wire’s Walsh for getting angry over the comments.

U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (L) and Minnesota Governor and Democratics vice presidential candidate Tim Walz were slammed on social media for sharing a “cringe” video of themselves interviewing each other.  (RONDA CHURCHILL/AFP via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump’s critics on Friday were continuing to pile on him about sarcastic remarks he made Thursday about how the Presidential Medal of Freedom is better than the Congressional Medal of Honor, because you don’t actually have to risk your life to obtain the former. 

“Trump dishonor [sic] Medal of Honor recipients, our nations highest military award for distinguished acts of valor. He deserves nothing but disdain and disqualifies himself from public office,” said Virginia Democratic congressional candidate Eugene Vindman, in reference to Trump’s sarcasm.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“This is not a one-off, this is the way [Trump] thinks about people who serve the country in uniform,” insisted Willie Geist, co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

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

EXCLUSIVE: The chairman of a House committee tasked with overseeing small business and commercial issues sent the Small Business Administration (SBA) a scathing letter Friday outlining how it has purportedly failed to hand over sufficient subpoenaed documents.

Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, previously noted the SBA used a 2021 Biden executive order on “promoting access to voting” to forge a “Memorandum of Understanding” (MOU) with the Michigan Department of State.

The way the MOU has been acted upon is controversial and potentially unconstitutional, Williams has said, as he and others in Congress previously accused the SBA of using it to funnel resources to a swing state in a partisan way. He previously said the SBA is “diverting its resources away from assisting Main Street so it can register Democratic voters” in Michigan. 

On Friday, Williams wrote SBA administrator Isabel Casillas-Guzman to criticize “lackluster production of documents pursuant to the committee’s July 30, 2024 subpoena.”

LAWMAKERS DEMAND ANSWERS FROM TOP MICHIGAN OFFICIAL OVER ALLEGED ‘WEAPONIZATION’ OF TAXPAYER FUNDS FOR ELECTIONEERING

Small Business Committee Chairman Roger Williams, right, is accusing President Biden of using the Small Business Administration as a campaign arm. (Getty Images)

Williams had asked for, and later subpoenaed, travel calendars for agency staff, as well as other key documents in his probe into whether SBA’s work under the MOU is indeed partisan or worse.

“Since the first request was made by this Committee on March 20, 2024, the SBA has produced approximately 500 pages of documents, a substantial portion of which is just one email chain; further, nearly 20 percent of the documents produced by the SBA were entirely unresponsive to the Committee’s requests,” the letter went on.

“It remains unclear why the SBA has slow-rolled productions and wasted time producing documents that were either nonresponsive to Committee’s requests or duplicative.”

WATCHDOG GROUP SUES FEDS FOR RECORDS AS LAWMAKER CALLS VOTER REGISTRATION EFFORTS A ‘SLAP IN THE FACE’

Small Business Committee Chairman Roger Williams is targeting a partnership started by the Michigan Department of State and Small Business Administration chief Isabel Guzman. (Getty Images)

In May, the SBA was also sued on a coinciding front by the conservative Oversight Project, a government transparency watchdog, after it too made Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for similar documentation.

In that filing, plaintiff Mike Howell called the documents sought a “matter of widespread and exceptional media interest in which there exists possible questions about the government’s integrity which affect public confidence.”

In Friday’s letter, Williams said the SBA has provided “zero calendars” despite the subpoena, as well as a document describing the “implementation plan” of its voter outreach work, as required under President Biden’s separate order.

Williams also said he is aware of the aforementioned separate FOIA litigation and that the agency attested therein that such a document does exist.

A source familiar with the committee’s work said government officials also accused the panel of making baseless allegations surrounding the investigation and said the agency is trying to cover up any electioneering.

Williams told Fox News Digital on Friday he remains disappointed at what he characterized as a woefully insufficient response by the SBA.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Instead of cooperating with basic congressional oversight, the SBA has once again given us documents that are not responsive to our requests – despite their claims otherwise. With the presidential election less than three months away, our investigation is more important than ever,” Williams said.

“Let me be clear, this Committee will not stop until we put an end to the SBA’s abuse of taxpayer resources, and ensure they refocus their efforts to the mission of supporting Main Street.”

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who was not party to the letter but has been a key voice in the upper chamber on the matter, said that if the agency has done nothing wrong, then it should welcome “the opportunity to share its work.”

“There is a very simple solution here – for the SBA to stop playing games and be fully transparent.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the SBA for comment but did not receive a response prior to publication.

Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.