NationalWatch

FIRST ON FOX: Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen, a Democrat facing an uncertain future in Congress, is under scrutiny because of her backing of President Biden and Vice President Harris, particularly concerning their approaches to inflation and illegal immigration, just ahead of a close Senate election in the state come November.

“Jacky Rosen rubber-stamped the Biden-Harris agenda over 95% of the time,” a new independent expenditure ad from the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) tells viewers. 

Titled “Failed,” the ad will run across Nevada on both TV and digital platforms. It is part of the NRSC’s $100 million advertising blitz across the country.

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Jacky Rosen is being criticized for “rubber-stamping” the Biden-Harris administration’s agenda. (Getty Images)

“They spent our tax dollars giving illegal immigrants COVID checks and hotel rooms,” the ad says. 

It further highlights high inflation being experienced by Americans under the administration and underscores simultaneous “taxpayer benefits for illegal immigrants.” 

“Jacky Rosen failed Nevada families,” the video claims. 

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Rosen spokesperson Johanna Warshaw said, “Jacky Rosen is ranked one of the most bipartisan, independent, and effective Senators because of her proven record of putting partisan politics aside to do what’s right for Nevada. Meanwhile, Sam Brown has a record of putting MAGA extremism ahead of hardworking Nevadans by pushing plans to ban abortion, gut Social Security and Medicare, and block a bipartisan deal to secure the border.”

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Democrat Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen and Republican former Army Capt. Sam Brown. (Getty Images/Sam Brown for Nevada)

In a June Fox News Poll, Nevadans reported feeling negatively about their financial situations. Nearly half of those polled said they are falling behind financially, at 49%. Only 13% believed they were getting ahead with their finances. Roughly 4 in 10 said they were holding steady.  

Views of the economy nationally worsened in a July Fox News Poll in which 76% of voters said they had reduced their spending to pay for basic expenses. This is an increase of five points since October 2022 and up nine points from when it was first asked in March 2022. 

The most likely groups to report cutting back on spending were Republicans (86%), households making $50,000 or less (83%), nonwhite voters (80%), women (79%) and voters under 30 years old (78%). 

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

Additionally, border security and immigration was reported as one of the top “deal-breaker issues” among all registered voters in a May Fox News Poll. The issue was the No. 1 deal-breaker in determining votes among Republicans and was one of the biggest issues among both Democrats and independents as well. 

Rosen voted in favor of the Biden-Harris Inflation Reduction Act, which has been criticized by Republicans and aligned groups for not doing enough to actually address high prices. According to FiveThirtyEight’s analysis of votes in 2023, Rosen, alongside Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., voted with the Biden-Harris administration 98.6% of the time. 

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A group of about 100 migrants attempt to illegally enter the U.S. on March 21, 2024. (James Breeden for New York Post/Mega)

Rosen is competing against the Republican candidate, retired Army Capt. Sam Brown, who was severely injured while deployed in Afghanistan.

When the state’s Senate race rating by the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan political handicapper, shifted from “Lean Democratic” to “Toss Up” in April, Brown said, “Nevada is now a toss-up because Jacky Rosen is a rubber stamp for Joe Biden and has made things worse for Nevadans, from high prices to the open border.”

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“We are going to win in November, secure the border and make Nevada more affordable for middle-class families.”

NRSC spokesperson Maggie Abboud said in a statement, “Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Jacky Rosen’s policies made life unaffordable for Nevada families. Instead, they prioritized opening our southern border and giving taxpayer benefits to the illegal immigrants they let in.” 

Rosen’s campaign did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication of this story. 

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said Tuesday that Vice President Kamala Harris, who is also the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, could fix issues like the border crisis, the economy and crime in her current capacity as vice president but has failed to do so.

This comes as Harris has begun making promises of what her administration would do if she defeats former President Trump in November to become the next president, including being stronger on border security, fighting for the middle class and working to pass gun reform such as universal background checks, red flag laws and an assault weapons ban.

But Republicans are hitting Harris over the policies the Biden-Harris administration has pushed during her time as vice president for issues of immigration, the economy and crime.

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Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said Tuesday that Vice President Kamala Harris could fix issues like the border crisis, the economy and crime as vice president. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

“Kamala Harris could fix the border now. She hasn’t,” Jordan wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “She could fix the economy now. She’s made it worse. She could clean up Democrat-run cities now. But raises money to bail out rioters.”

President Biden tapped Harris in 2021 to address the root causes of mass migration from Central and South America, although some Democrats and members of the media have recently claimed that Harris was never appointed as “border czar,” even though several of the same media outlets previously described her as such.

Biden said in March 2021 that Harris was leading the effort to coordinate with Mexico and other Northern Triangle nations — Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador — to address issues such as the surge of migrants at the Southern Border.

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Republicans are hitting Harris over the policies the Biden-Harris administration has pushed during her time as vice president on issues like immigration, the economy and crime. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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Last month, the House passed a resolution condemning Harris as the border czar over her handling of the mass migration crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. The resolution passed by a 220-196 vote.

Jordan’s mention of Harris raising money to bail out rioters is a reference to her making social media posts in June 2020 encouraging people to donate to the nonprofit the Minnesota Freedom Fund “to help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota” after the death of George Floyd, who was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis in May 2020.

Rep. Celeste Maloy, R-Utah won Tuesday’s Utah Republican primary election for the state’s 2nd congressional district. 

Maloy faced off against her combat veteran challenger Colby Jenkins. Maloy will take on the Democratic nominee come November. 

Utah’s 2nd district, which includes cities such as Cedar City and St. George, has been a reliably Republican voting district and is considered non-competitive going into the general election. 

From left, Rep. Blake Moore, R-Utah, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., Reps. Celeste Maloy, R-Utah, John Curtis, R-Utah, and Burgess Owens, R-Utah, attend a swearing-in ceremony in the Rayburn Room of the U.S. Capitol after Maloy was sworn in on the House floor on Tuesday, November 28, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The district’s Republican primary featured the involvement of several influential figures, including former President Trump, who endorsed Maloy earlier this month. 

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, weighed in on the race much earlier, endorsing Jenkins in April. 

“Too many Republicans in Congress have voted to expand the size, scope and cost of the federal government, in many cases deferring to congressional GOP leaders bent on advancing the Democrats’ agenda. Now more than ever we need bold conservatives in Congress,” the conservative Republican said at the time. “We need Colby Jenkins. His commitment to the Constitution, fiscal responsibility, limited government, and individual liberty make him the best candidate to represent Utah’s values in Washington.”

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Trump endorsed Maloy, despite others backing her opponent.  (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

After gaining Lee’s surprise endorsement, Jenkins went on to defeat Maloy at the Utah GOP nominating convention 57%-43%. They both ultimately moved on to the primary, according to Deseret News. 

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., also endorsed the Republican challenger. The two Republican senators even cut a promotional video for Jenkins that was posted on the candidate’s YouTube channel. 

Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy backed Jenkins too, calling him “America first,” and crediting Lee with having introduced them.

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Ramaswamy, pictured here, said Lee introduced him to Jenkins.  (Micah Green/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In addition to Trump’s support, incumbent Maloy boasted the backing of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and that of the three other Republican House members from Utah, Reps. Blake Moore, John Curtis, and Burgess Owens.

Lee had notably spent time ahead of the primary election espousing his support for Jenkins on social media and urging Utahns to vote. 

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Lee’s endorsement surprised many. (Bill Clark)

“1. Who has already voted for Colby Jenkins? 2. Who plans to vote for Colby Jenkins, either today or tomorrow? 3. Who would eagerly vote for Colby Jenkins, if only they lived in Utah’s second congressional district? I’m in category 3. How about you?” the senator wrote on one of his X accounts on Monday. 

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Maloy assumed the House seat after winning a special election in November 2023 to succeed former U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart. In her short time in the lower chamber, Jenkins pointed to Maloy’s voting record and criticized her for compromising with Democrats on spending bills and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reauthorization. 

In response to his criticism during a debate earlier this month, Maloy said, “Angry talking points and hyperbole and hardline stances aren’t really a formula for winning, but they do sound really nice on the campaign flayer,” reported Deseret News.

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

A former professional basketball player has won the Republican primary to take on three-term Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., in the fall.

Royce White, who played with the Sacramento Kings in the NBA in 2014, bested a crowded field of candidates in the North Star State, armed with key endorsements from former President Trump’s circle.

That includes support from Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.; Arizona Senate hopeful Kari Lake; and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. He was also backed by the state GOP.

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Former professional basketball player Royce White ran in the Minnesota Republican primary. (Getty Images)

White has previously described himself as a “MAGA extremist,” according to the Star Tribune, and has closely aligned himself with the ex-president’s right-wing populist stances.

His victory appears to be a rebuke of the Minnesota GOP. White beat out retired U.S. Navy officer Joe Fraser, his top rival, despite the latter having support from two former GOP senators and a former governor.

Royce has raised just over $125,000 in individual contributions this election cycle and is heading into the general election with nearly $53,000 cash on hand.

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Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., is seeking a fourth term (Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

That’s dwarfed by Klobuchar’s $12 million in individual contributions raised. Her war chest is also larger than Royce’s. She entered the race with $6.5 million cash on hand.

Royce remains a long shot to win the general election, however. The state has trended blue in recent years, and Minnesotans have not elected a Republican to the White House since Richard Nixon in 1972.

Klobuchar, the senior senator from the state, has won re-election twice after her first campaign in 2006. She’s the first woman to represent Minnesota in the Senate.

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Retired Navy officer Joe Fraser ran in the Republican Senate primary in Minnesota (Facebook)

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A moderate Democrat, she voted with former President Trump approximately a third of the time 

She won in 2006 with approximately 58% of the vote, followed by 65% in 2012 and 60% in 2018.

Tony Wied won the Republican primary in Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District. 

Former Rep. Mike Gallagher suddenly resigned from the seat in April after representing the district from 2017 to 2024, prompting a sudden primary race to replace him.

After Gallagher announced his stepping down, former President Trump endorsed Republican Tony Wied, a businessman and self-described “political outsider,” for the seat.

“As your next Congressman, Tony will work hard to Unleash American Energy, Stop Inflation, Secure our Border, Support our Military / Vets, and Protect our always under siege Second Amendment. Tony Wied has my Complete and Total Endorsement – He will not let you down!” Trump said in his endorsement.

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The bill, led by House China Select Committee Chair Mike Gallagher, would block TikTok in the U.S. if its parent company, Bytedance, does not divest from it within 165 days of passage. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Former state Sen. Roger Roth, who holds the rank of Captain in the Wisconsin Air National Guard also ran. Roth describes himself as a “Trump conservative”.

A third candidate, State Sen. Andre Jacque currently represents Wisconsin’s 1st district in the state senate. Jacque was endorsed by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, ahead of the primary.

Republican Presidential nominee former President Donald J. Trump endorsed Republican Tony Wied to fill the vacancy in Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District. ( Bill Pugliano)

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“André Jacque is a true American Patriot who is fighting for our values in Wisconsin, from protecting life to supporting our veterans and law enforcement,” Cruz said. I’ve known André since he was in the State Assembly, and I can say without a doubt that he’s the type of fighter we need advocating for Wisconsinites in D.C. He’s got a proven record of strong conservative wins in the Senate, and I’m proud to stand by him in this race!”

Rep. Michelle Fischbach beat out Steve Boyd in the GOP primary for Minnesota’s 7th Congressional District on Tuesday, advancing to the general election where she will face Democrat challenger A. John Peters.

Fischbach, who received an endorsement from the Republican Party’s standard-bearer, former President Trump, has a conservative record in her deep-red Minnesota district, despite drawing the challenge of small businessman Boyd.

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The Minnesota State Capitol (Google Earth)

Fischbach served as a state senator for more than 20 years prior to her election win in Congress in 2020. She also served as lieutenant governor. In 2020, Fischbach flipped the 7th Congressional District red and defeated 30-year incumbent Democrat Rep. Collin Peterson.

Boyd, who has been outspent by Fischbach, has shown support for Jan. 6 rioters and has hosted campaign events allowing some Minnesotans who faced federal charges to talk about their side of the story. 

Boyd has also criticized Fischbach for being too focused on writing legislation and argued that he would take a more conservative stance on cultural issues, the Star Tribune reported. 

He also reportedly claimed he would be willing to shut down the government to curb border crossings and would join Congress’ hard-line conservative coalition, the House Freedom Caucus.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., successfully fended off her primary challengers Tuesday and is advancing to Minnesota’s general Senate election in November.

The North Star State’s senior senator is seeking a fourth term, having first been elected to Congress in 2006 as the first woman from Minnesota to hold the job.

She chairs the Senate Rules Committee and the Senate Democratic Steering Committee, a lower-level caucus leadership role.

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Sen. Amy Klobuchar is seeking a fourth Senate term (Drew Angerer/Getty Image)

Klobuchar faced four other declared challengers in the race, but none posed a serious threat to her re-election.

One of her challengers for the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party nomination, the Democratic Party affiliate in Minnesota, is Steve Carlson, who unsuccessfully challenged her in 2018 and ran against Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., as an independent in 2020.

And just one of Klobuchar’s primary opponents in the race, Ahmad Hassan, has any campaign finance data available on the Federal Election Commission website.

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She unsuccessfully ran for president in the crowded 2020 Democratic primary (Paras Griffin/MSNBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

But Klobuchar is heading into the general election with a significant war chest of roughly $6.5 million cash on hand.

Her national profile skyrocketed during the 2020 election, after more than a decade in the Senate, when Klobuchar launched her own unsuccessful bid for president.

Soon after she launched her campaign in early 2019, Klobuchar was dogged by reports that she mistreated and demeaned her own Senate staffers.

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Klobuchar dropped out of the White House race and endorsed Biden in early 2020 (Jacquelyn Martin/AP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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She dropped out after a poor performance in the South Carolina primary and endorsed President Biden.

Klobuchar faces far better prospects in the November election to keep her seat, however. Minnesota as a state has leaned Democratic in recent years. 

The senator won re-election in 2018 with 60% of the vote and won her seat in 2012 with 65%.

Vice President Harris appears to be singing a different tune when it comes to ensuring “Medicare-for-all,” compared to when she ran for president in 2019.

A campaign official told Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy that Harris will not push the subject of single-payer or “Medicare-for-all” this go around, as she seeks her first term as commander-in-chief.

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,” Doocy asked Harris on Jan. 30, 2019.

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Vice President Kamala Harris’s camp says she does not plan to run on “Medicare-for-all.” (Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein)

“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.

On July 29, 2019, Harris published a piece on her campaign website about her plan to provide “Medicare-for-all.”

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According to the Harris campaign, “Medicare-for-all” won’t be pushed. (iStock)

She wrote, “There is perhaps no more complicated or more personal issue for Americans than health care.” Harris also wrote that the American health care system is “a patchwork of plans, providers and costs” that frustrates people and leaves them powerless against the insurance companies in charge.

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.”

But her plan in July was different from what she proposed in January that year, because it would allow private insurers to offer Medicare plans to their clients.

In an interview with The Hill in October 2019, Harris said she knew she would be called “a flip-flopper” after she backed away from her initial support of “Medicare-for-all,” and developed her own health care plan.

Her plan in January 2019 called on eliminating private insurance. Then in July 2019, she chose to include a role for private insurance companies to privately administer Medicare plans, though under strict rules.

Even in 2017, Harris backed a single-payer plan proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

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Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., proposed a single-payer health care plan in 2019.  (Screenshot/CBS/LateNightStephenColbert)

Harris told constituents at a town hall in Oakland on Aug. 30, 2017, that she planned to co-sponsor Sanders’ forthcoming “Medicare-for-all” bill, explaining that it was “just the right thing to do.”

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“It’s not just about what is morally and ethically right. It also makes sense from a fiscal standpoint,” Harris said at the time.

Harris had previously stated that she supported the single-payer system as a “concept,” but that lawmakers needed to “work out the details.” Her announcement to co-sponsor Sanders’ bill was the first time she had publicly supported a single-payer plan.

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Under this European-style health care system, the government is solely responsible for covering health care costs. Sanders rolled out an earlier version of his proposal during the Democratic presidential primaries in 2016.

The plan was first estimated to cost $13.8 trillion over the first 10 years, but that ballooned to $32 trillion and required an average annual tax increase of $24,000 per household.

Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Democrat Esther Charlestin was declared the winner in Vermont’s gubernatorial primary on Tuesday night, advancing her to face the deep-blue state’s Republican governor.

The race was called for Charlestin, an educator and first-generation Haitian American, who defeated computer scientist Peter Duvall on Tuesday.

The current governor, Republican Phil Scott, has served as governor for four terms and did not face a primary challenger.

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Two Democrats, Peter Duval, left, and Esther Charlestin, right, are vying to run against Vermont GOP Gov. Phil Scott, center. (Fox News)

Charlestin was endorsed by former Democrat Gov. Howard Dean, Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman and Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak.

Duval, a former Underhill Selectboard member, stated on his website leading up to the election, “I am going to lose this election,” but he said a vote for him would help elevate environmental issues in state politics. He also encouraged Republicans and progressives to write in his name in their party primaries.

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The University of Vermont in Burlington (iStock)

Despite being a Republican governor in a heavily Democrat state, Scott remains a popular figure. He received 69% of the vote in the 2022 general election.

Scott has been a critic of Republican Donald Trump and endorsed former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley for president. He said he was one of the 66% of Vermont voters who cast their ballots for Democrat Joe Biden in 2020.

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Vermont Gov. Phil Scott (Glenn Russell/VTDigger via AP/Pool/File)

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer, D- Md., had a stroke over the weekend but is recovering, his office said Tuesday. 

Margaret Mulkerrin, Hoyer’s deputy chief of staff and spokesperson, said he suffered a “mild ischemic stroke” and sought medical treatment. 

“Mr. Hoyer has responded well to treatment and has no lingering symptoms. He expects to resume his normal schedule next week,” Mulkerrin said in a statement. “Mr. Hoyer’s wife and family extend their deepest thanks to his medical team.”

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Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., had a mild stroke over the weekend, his office said Tuesday.  (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The potential cause of the stroke was not disclosed. 

Hoyer, 85, has served in Congress since 1981. In January, he said he planned to run for re-election. 

“I believe I have more work to complete on behalf of my district, my state and my country,” he said in a statement at the time. “I am blessed to have the good health, strength and enduring passion necessary to continue serving my constituents at this decisive moment for Maryland and America.”

Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Steny Hoyer  (Getty Images)

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Hoyer stepped down as House Majority Leader, where he served as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s top deputy, in 2022, and was replaced by Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York.

Critics have claimed President Biden’s seemingly light schedule and infrequent public appearances since dropping out of the presidential race will harm America’s image abroad, even as the White House stresses recent policy wins. 

“Biden has disappeared from view, Harris is campaigning full-time, and won’t meet with the press,” former national security adviser K.T. McFarland told Fox News Digital. 

“This sends a signal to the world that there is no one in charge in the White House,” McFarland explained. “Our allies wonder whether they can trust us.  Our adversaries see this as a wide open window of opportunity, when they can exploit us without risk of consequences.”

“They know this window of opportunity will slam shut if Donald Trump is elected,” McFarland argued. “We’re in a period of maximum vulnerability.”

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Biden has made few public appearances and his schedule appears lighter than it had been prior to his decision not to seek a second term. 

When Fox News correspondent David Spunt last week asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre why the American people have not heard from the president, she replied that the White House had put out two readouts that day. 

President Biden departs the White House on Aug, 13, 2024, to participate in a Biden Cancer Moonshot event in New Orleans. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Jean-Pierre also stressed that the administration is now in a “different time” and that Americans would “get to see the president… it is certainly the president’s priority, to make sure that we do everything that we can, to protect our national security, right?” 

The press secretary highlighted the push for a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas as well as the administration’s response to Tropical Storm Debby as important issues that have taken Biden’s attention in recent weeks. 

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But concerns about mounting tensions in the Middle East grew more severe this week as Israel revealed intelligence that indicated Iran would launch a significant attack, which would serve as retaliation for the death of Hamas commander Ismail Haniyeh. 

President Biden rides his bike through Gordons Pond State Park in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on Aug. 11, 2024. (Samuel Corum/AFP via Getty Images)

Top U.S. national security leaders said last week that they and allies are directly pressing Israel, Iran and others to avoid escalating the conflict, even as the U.S. moved more troops to the region and threatened retaliation if American forces are attacked.

The White House continued to stress Biden’s focus on a range of issues as proof that he’s not hiding from the public: Biden and the first lady will visit New Orleans this week to highlight the Biden Cancer Moonshot initiative to reduce the cancer death rate by at least half before 2047, NOLA reported. 

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrive to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Aug. 13, 2024. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

“President Biden is working hard and building on the most successful record of any modern administration by delivering more results for the American people,” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates told Fox News Digital. 

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Bates cited “an historic return of unjustly detained Americans from Russia, perpetuating the Biden-Harris manufacturing boom, lowering the costs of prescription drugs, and bringing unlawful border crossings to the lowest level in years” as major recent wins for the administration. 

Bates also leveled criticism at the Republicans for “blocking tough, bipartisan border legislation on behalf of Donald Trump.”

President Biden welcomes the 2023 World Series champion Texas Rangers to the White House on Aug. 8, 2024. (Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Politico reported that Biden will use his final half-year in office to focus on “legacy items” and give Vice President Kamala Harris the lion’s share of the limelight as she seeks to become the first female president of the United States: The White House, for example, will unveil Medicare price negotiation savings this week, which the Biden campaign – and now the Harris campaign – had aimed to focus on as part of the push for votes in November. 

But the White House is still in the early days of a tumultuous economic situation. The president claimed to have “cured the economy” last week just before the stock market stumbled and raised concerns about the economic health of the country throughout the rest of the year. 

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“The July jobs report is being viewed as a recession warning, and the markets are responding accordingly,” Bill Adams, chief economist at the Dallas-based Comerica Bank, said after the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped over 1,000 points, marking a 2.6% shift and the worst day since September 2022. 

Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace and Fox News Correspondent David Spunt contributed to this report.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz made his first solo campaign stop in California, delivering a speech in front of one of the country’s most prominent unions.

“The vice president and I, we know exactly who built this country. It was nurses, it was teachers, and it was state and local government employees that built this nation. People in this room, built the middle class,” Walz said in a speech in front of members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), one of the country’s strongest public sector unions.

The stop marked Walz’s first on his own since being tapped to join Harris on the Democratic ticket, with the duo mostly hitting the road together since the announcement last month.

Walz touted his pro-union credentials, recalling his time as a “due-paying” member of a teacher’s union and his record as governor that made it easier for workers to collectively bargain.

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Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. (Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via Getty Images)

“Here’s a fact they shared with me as I came here to make this opportunity to say thank you… I happen to be the first union member on a presidential ticket since Ronald Reagan,” Walz said. “But rest assured, I won’t lose my way.”

While a stop in deep-blue California might not be seen as an important one on the trail, AFSCME members from all over the country were there to meet and later hear from the country’s potential future vice president.

The union, which according to NPR boasts 1.5 million members of mostly state and local government employees, represents a powerful demographic for the Harris campaign to attempt to solidify support. 

Walz has brought a Midwest and blue collar vibe to the campaign, touting Harris’ working class credentials since joining the vice president on the trail.

“It’s very simple – she stands on the side of the American people and the American worker,” Walz said during a rally in Michigan last week.

While most unions have traditionally supported Democratic candidates, former President Donald Trump has attempted to make inroads with the country’s blue-collar workers and union members, most notably in Rust Belt swing states that will decide the election.

The former president has continued to attempt to make his case to the country’s workers throughout the campaign, targeting hospitality workers by promising to push through a bill that would eliminate taxes on tips.

US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (L) and Minnesota Governor and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz gesture during a campaign rally at the Thomas and Mack Center, University of Nevada in Las Vegas, Nevada, on August 10, 2024.  (RONDA CHURCHILL/AFP via Getty Images)

WALZ ACCUSATIONS OF ‘STOLEN VALOR’ PROMPT BATTLE BETWEEN HOUSE VETERANS

Harris, meanwhile, attempted to chase the same voters by making a similar vow last week, while the Harris-Walz ticket has earned the endorsement of the hospitality union UNITE HERE.

“It’s sad that union bosses continue to be puppets for the Democrat Party and are completely out of touch with the workers they are supposed to represent,” Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital in response to that news.

The Trump campaign’s attempt to appeal to working class voters was also evident in the former president’s selection of Ohio Sen. JD Vance as running mate, who has made a broader pitch to Rust Belt workers to get behind the Republican ticket.

“In small towns like mine in Ohio, or next door in Pennsylvania, or in Michigan, in states all across our country, jobs were sent overseas and children were sent to war,” Vance said in his speech at the Republican National Convention.

“To the people of Middletown, Ohio, and all the forgotten communities in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Ohio, and every corner of our nation, I promise you this,” he continued. “I will be a vice president who never forgets where he came from.”

Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, speaks during a campaign event in Glendale, Ariz., Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

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Meanwhile, cracks in the Democratic Party’s relationship with unions have started to appear, most notably when Teamsters President Sean O’Brien became the first leader of his organization to speak at the Republican National Convention and offer rare openness to support for Republican candidates.

“We are not beholden to anyone or any party,” O’Brien said. “We want to know one thing: What are you doing to help American workers?”

Nevertheless, Walz expressed optimism that American workers would ultimately take his and Harris’ side in November. 

“The only thing those two guys know about working people is how to take advantage of them,” he said, referring to Trump and Vance. “Every chance they’ve gotten, they’ve waged war on workers and their ability to collectively bargain, to take that away from them.”

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

FIRST ON FOX: The bipartisan House task force investigating the attempted assassination of former President Trump is set to visit the site of the shooting later this month.

Task force Chairman Mike Kelly, R-Pa., spoke with Fox News Digital a day after the panel formally kicked off its probe into the deadly July 13 event, where a 20-year-old gunman opened fire during Trump’s speech in Butler, Pennsylvania, and killed one rally attendee.

The Butler visit, happening the week of Aug. 26, will mark the first time the seven House Republicans and six House Democrats appointed to the task force will meet in person to advance their probe. Kelly said nearly all 13 lawmakers are confirmed to attend.

BUTLER DISTRICT ATTORNEY SAYS LOCAL SNIPERS WERE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ROOFTOP SHOOTER FIRED FROM 

Republican candidate Donald Trump, seen with blood on his face, is surrounded by Secret Service agents after shots were fired at a campaign event at Butler Farm Show, July 13, 2024. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)

“There are other members who have never been there, and so we want them to see the actual physical assets that were there that day. We won’t be able to exactly view the crime scene because it’s all been torn down and moved away, but we will have enough personal time on the grounds so people can look out and say, ‘So there’s the roof that the shooter was on,’ and ‘This is approximately where the podium was set up for former President of the United States,’” Kelly explained.

He said they would also meet with local officials while there, something Kelly himself has already done.

The longtime Pennsylvania Republican lawmaker represents the area where the shooting took place and was at the rally with his family that day.

“I thought the president was dead,” Kelly said matter-of-factly when recalling the initial horrifying moments. 

TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT VICTIM SAYS HE IS ‘SAD’ WITH STATE OF ‘POLITICAL DIVISION’ IN US 

Rep. Mike Kelly is the chairman of the task force. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

He also said it brought back memories of living through the assassination of John F. Kennedy in November 1963 – and Kelly vowed Americans would see more transparency now than they did then.

“To this day, there’s still people – we never really found out what happened that day, and I don’t want that to ever happen again. We’re going to come up with an answer before the end of the year, and working around election schedules and everything else, we’re still going to get the answers the American people need to have,” he said.

Part of that work will also include public hearings when Congress is back in session after Labor Day weekend, Kelly said.

“We’ll try to have as many representatives of law enforcement groups there, if people have any questions,” he said of the end-of-August site visit. “And then we’ll expand on it when we get back into Washington, DC, we will hold public hearings on what it is that we know.”

IRAN THREAT PROMPTS QUESTIONS ABOUT TRUMP GUNMAN’S UNCRACKED ENCRYPTION

Law enforcement officers gather at the campaign rally site for former President Trump. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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Kelly and task force ranking member Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., began their formal investigation on Monday with a pair of letters sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray, and Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas and acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe, respectively, asking for all records they have sent or plan to send to Congress on the shooting.

Kelly, a native of the area, said he had concerns about the rally location’s security even before the event took place – but said those concerns went unheeded.

Another main concern of his is the apparent lack of communication between law enforcement groups monitoring security that day, Kelly said.

“My concern was it wasn’t the right site. And now, in the aftermath, are you telling me that all of these people, there was no coordination, no ability to communicate, and there wasn’t knowledge beforehand that we didn’t have the ability to communicate?” Kelly said. “Somebody didn’t do something at some level.”

Veterans are increasingly publicly criticizing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz over his military record following Vice President Kamala Harris naming him as her 2024 running mate. 

“When your country calls, you are supposed to run into battle – not the other way,” retired Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Behrends told the New York Post last week, when Walz was named Harris’ running mate. “He ran away. It’s sad.

“He had the opportunity to serve his country, and said ‘Screw you’ to the United States. That’s not who I would pick to run for vice president.”

Behrends’ comments were shortly followed by a deluge of news coverage surrounding Walz’s 24 years in the Army National Guard as questions mounted surrounding his service record and claims of “stolen valor” gained traction. 

Walz served in the Minnesota National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery after transferring from the Nebraska National Guard in 1996. He retired as a master sergeant in 2005.

FORMER LEADER OF WALZ’S BATTALION PUBLISHES SCATHING MESSAGE AIMED AT GOVERNOR’S MILITARY CAREER: REPORT

Tim Walz served in the Minnesota National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery after transferring from the Nebraska National Guard. (Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz)

Criticisms have mounted that Walz retired just months before his battalion deployed to Iraq as war raged in the Middle East following the 9/11 attacks. Walz put in his papers for retirement at least five months before his battalion received deployment orders, according to the Minnesota National Guard.

“He subverted the chain of command, and he went around the chain of command. The brigade [sergeant] major had no clue. These are all important facts, and he did it to continually feather his own bed… That was the shameful part of it,” retired Command Sgt. Maj. Paul Herr told Fox News last week. 

While ​​former Minnesota National Guard Command Sgt. Maj. Doug Julin appeared to bolster criticism that Walz retired as the unit prepared to deploy during an interview with CNN. Julin said the battalion – “including my boss, commander, and the command team” – had multiple meetings to discuss deployment months before Walz sought retirement. 

WALZ ACCUSATIONS OF ‘STOLEN VALOR’ PROMPT BATTLE BETWEEN HOUSE VETERANS

The grieving mom of Sgt. Kyle Miller, who died at the age of 19 in 2006, also issued a scathing response regarding Walz’s retirement just before the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery unit deployed to Iraq. 

“My son wasn’t even 21 years old. He couldn’t even buy alcohol. Yet he took the step to serve our country while Walz found the best way to run away,” Miller’s mother, Kathy Miller, told the Daily Mail last week. Kyle Miller was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq while he was deployed by Walz’s former battalion. 

“It was the coward’s way out.”

After retiring, Walz launched a successful congressional campaign, and served as a member of the U.S. House representing Minnesota from 2007 until 2019, when he was then sworn in as the Gopher State’s governor. Harris announced last Tuesday that she selected Walz to join her on the 2024 ticket, after speculation that she would choose Walz, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro or Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly as her running mate. 

Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz attend a campaign rally at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas on Aug. 10, 2024. (Ronda Churchill/AFP via Getty Images)

Walz has subsequently been slammed by a number of veterans for allegedly misrepresenting his service in the military, including identifying himself to the public as a retired “Command Sergeant Major.”

Walz was promoted to the command sergeant major rank following a deployment to Italy in 2004, but did not complete coursework with the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy to retain the rank in retirement. Walz instead retired as a master sergeant, one pay grade below command sergeant major. 

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

The battalion commander of Walz’s former Minnesota Army National Guard unit issued a scathing message on Facebook over the weekend, saying it’s “an affront” to the military if Walz continues using a rank he did not retain upon retirement. 

“By all accounts and on the record, he was a competent Chief of Firing Battery/Gunnery Sergeant and First Sergeant. I cannot say the same of his service sitting, frocked, in the [command sergeant major] chair. He did not earn the rank or successfully complete any assignment as an E9,” John Kolb, retired lieutenant colonel of the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery, wrote on Facebook, according to the Daily Mail. 

“It is an affront to the Noncommissioned Officer Corps that he continues to glom onto the title. I can sit in the cockpit of an airplane, it does not make me a pilot. Similarly, when the demands of service and leadership at the highest level got real, he chose another path,” Kolb wrote in the reported social media post.

Fox News Digital reached out to both the Harris campaign and Walz’s gubernatorial office earlier this week asking why Walz did not complete coursework with the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy before retiring from the Minnesota National Guard in 2005, but did not receive comment explaining the decision. 

Instead, the Harris campaign directed Fox Digital to a Minnesota Public Radio article from 2018, when a public affairs officer for the Minnesota National Guard told the outlet “it is legitimate for Walz to say he served as a command sergeant major.”

VP KAMALA HARRIS PICKING GOV. TIM WALZ AS RUNNING MATE MET WITH MEDIA SCORN: ‘SUCH A WEIRD CHOICE’

Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler refuted Gov. Tim Walz’s 2018 claims that he once carried weapons “in war.” (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

“[The public affairs officer] said the rank changed because Walz retired before completing coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy along with other requirements associated with his promotion,” the article explained. 

Last week, the Harris campaign updated its biography for Walz to omit a reference that he is a “retired Command Sergeant Major,” updating the bio to show Walz “served as a command sergeant major.”

Walz has also come under fire from veterans who say he misrepresented serving in a combat zone. Walz was deployed to Italy in 2003 to assist U.S. operations in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, but has never served in a combat zone. 

In one video shared by the Harris campaign last week, Walz declared he wants to ban guns like the ones he “carried in war.”

DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS GROUP BOASTS IT HELPED MAKE WALZ HARRIS’ RUNNING MATE: ‘FORCE THAT CANNOT BE IGNORED’

Last week, the Harris campaign updated its biography for Walz to omit a reference that he is a “retired Command Sergeant Major.” (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

“I spent 25 years in the Army, and I hunt. I’ve been voting for commonsense legislation that protects the Second Amendment, but we can do background checks. We can research the impacts of gun violence. We can make sure those weapons of war that I carried in war are only carried in war,” Walz said in a video posted by the Harris campaign last week. 

The Harris campaign said last week that Walz “misspoke” when he claimed he carried firearms “in war.” 

“In making the case for why weapons of war should never be on our streets or in our classrooms, the Governor misspoke,” Hitt added. “He did handle weapons of war and believes strongly that only military members trained to carry those deadly weapons should have access to them, unlike Donald Trump and JD Vance who prioritize the gun lobby over our children,” campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt told the media. 

Republican Virginia Senate candidate Hung Cao slammed Walz for suggesting he served in a combat zone. 

“For 20 years, they let this guy go by with a lie that he deployed to Iraq, which he didn’t, and that he retired as a Command Sergeant Major which he did not. I mean, that’s just blatant lies,” Cao, a retired Navy captain, told The New York Post last week. 

Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who joined former President Trump on the 2024 Republican ticket last month, has also criticized Walz for his military record. 

HARRIS’ RUNNING MATE FACES RENEWED SCRUTINY AFTER HIS ‘WEIRD’ SOCIALISM COMPARISON RESURFACES

​​”As a Marine who served his country in uniform when the United States Marine Corps, when the United States of America asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did it. I did what they asked me to do, and I did it honorably,” Vance said. “When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did? He dropped out of the Army and allowed his unit to go without him, a fact that he’s been criticized for aggressively by a lot of the people that he served with.” 

When asked about the mounting criticisms from veterans, the campaign directed Fox Digital to a handful of favorable comments from veterans about Walz’s decades-long service. 

“This is the insane thing. Every month thousands of people retire. The fact that Walz did 25 years, 5 OVER retirement eligibility, and 4 years after 9/11, is honorable. Many people at 25 years today would get out even if there was a deployment possibility because they DID THEIR DUTY,” former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, posted to X last week. 

“He was there every single time we needed him for over a decade and Republicans will tell you this too. Everybody who’s worked on the Hill knows that Tim Walz delivered for veterans, on mental health, on the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention Act, he was the lead sponsor, on the GI bill, on VA reform… When the rubber meets the road for veterans especially, Tim Walz has been there,” veteran Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said of Walz on MSNBC. 

“He was as good a soldier as you’ll find,” Joe Eustice, a 32-year veteran of the National Guard who led the same battalion as Walz, told CNN, noting that he is not voting for Walz. 

Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, arrive at a campaign rally in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Criticisms from veterans on Walz’s military career, however, stretch back years, only surfacing at the national level after Harris named him as her running mate. 

VETERAN WHO SERVED IN TIM WALZ’S BATTALION ADDRESSES STOLEN VALOR ACCUSATIONS: ‘FAR DARKER THAN PEOPLE THINK’

“Tim Walz has embellished and selectively omitted facts and circumstances of his military career for years,” Behrends and Herr wrote in a letter published by the West Central Tribune in 2018. 

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“When the nation called, he quit. He failed to complete the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy. He failed to serve for two years following completion of the academy, which he dropped out of. He failed to serve two years after the conditional promotion to Command Sergeant Major. He failed to fulfill the full six years of the enlistment he signed on September 18th, 2001. He failed his country. He failed his state. He failed the Minnesota Army National Guard, the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion, and his fellow Soldiers. And he failed to lead by example. Shameful,” the pair continued. 

Walz is anticipated to join Harris in Chicago next week, where the Democratic National Convention will be held ahead of the final stretch before Election Day. 

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

Fox News Digital’s Gabriel Hays contributed to this report. 

The Harris campaign did not properly prepare for potential attacks on the vice president’s running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, according to political strategists from both sides of the aisle.

“The Walz military record story was clearly a failure of ‘reverse’ opposition research by the Harris campaign,” Democratic strategist Julian Epstein told Fox News Digital.

The comments come as Walz has continued to face scrutiny over his military record, with critics accusing the vice presidential candidate of “stolen valor” for seemingly misleading statements he has made about his service.

Critics have claimed that language Walz has used when describing his time in service had misleadingly suggested that he served in a war zone, including one statement in which he said he would like to ban the kind of weapons he had “carried in war,” despite having never been deployed to a combat zone during his 24 years of service.

MINNESOTA MURDER STATS ROSE UNDER WALZ’S LEADERSHIP AS HE TRIES TO TIE VIOLENT CRIME TREND TO TRUMP: DATA

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks to reporters after a meeting with President Biden at the White House on July 3, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

In response to the controversy, the Harris campaign said Walz “misspoke” when making the infamous “carried in war” remarks.

“In making the case for why weapons of war should never be on our streets or in our classrooms, the Governor misspoke,” campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt told the media. “He did handle weapons of war and believes strongly that only military members trained to carry those deadly weapons should have access to them, unlike Donald Trump and JD Vance who prioritize the gun lobby over our children.”

But the “carried in war” remarks were not the only quotes to raise eyebrows, with critics accusing Walz of being misleading when he boasted of deploying “in support” of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), a deployment that was actually to Italy and not to Afghanistan.

In another instance, Walz harkened back to his experience in the National Guard during a speech on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 before claiming to have “stood one night in the dark of night at Bagram Air Base” and watched the transfer ceremony of a soldier’s body.

While Walz did go to Afghanistan while serving in Congress, he did not deploy to Afghanistan as part of his military duties.

Some former members of Walz’s unit, meanwhile, have accused the Minnesota governor of abandoning his troops and retiring to get out of a planned deployment to Iraq.

MINNESOTA DEM LAWMAKER DEFENDS WALZ AGAINST ‘RADICAL’ LABEL FROM GOP: ‘COULDN’T DISAGREE MORE’

“When the nation called, he quit. He failed to complete the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy. He failed to serve for two years following completion of the academy, which he dropped out of. He failed to serve two years after the conditional promotion to Command Sergeant Major. He failed to fulfill the full six years of the enlistment he signed on September 18th, 2001. He failed his country. He failed his state. He failed the Minnesota Army National Guard, the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion, and his fellow Soldiers. And he failed to lead by example. Shameful,” read an open letter penned by two former members of Walz’s unit ahead of his run for governor in 2018 that resurfaced again this year.

Walz has also faced claims of being misleading about his rank, at various points saying he retired as a command sergeant major, a rank he obtained and served with but did not retire as due to his decision not to complete the required coursework to keep the rank.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a campaign event on Aug. 7, 2024, in Detroit. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

The claim that Walz is a “retired command sergeant major” was also featured on the Harris campaign website, which was later changed to state that he “served” as a command sergeant major.

Such an oversight is one example of where the campaign failed, Republican strategist David Polyansky told Fox News Digital, noting that a campaign would typically catch such “vulnerabilities.”

“I assume part of this is just the abbreviated nature of it,” Polyansky said, referring to the quick timeline between Harris being elevated to the top of the ticket and choosing a running mate. “But the fact of the matter is it’s one of two things, either in their vetting, in their interviews with him, failed to catch some of those potential vulnerabilities, or they knew it and just failed to adequately prepare for the messaging offensive that was about to come.”

TIM WALZ HAS TIES TO MUSLIM CLERIC WITH ANTISEMITIC VIEWS, GAVE STATE FUNDING TO HIS GROUP: REPORT

“Either way… it put them in a tough position on his rollout, put them on the defensive on a vice presidential pick that should have given them an immediate boost,” Polyansky added.

Whether Walz’s military record continues to haunt the Harris campaign will largely be up to former President Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, another military veteran who did serve in Iraq and is “comfortable” with his service record, Polyansky said.

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

“You’re going to see [Walz] have to go up on stage and debate against a guy who is pretty comfortable and confident in his military record,” Polyansky said. “I don’t think that’s going to be the final decision-making point for most voters… but the attention it will get in terms of grabbing earned media can cast a little bit of a negative light on Kamala Harris’ decision-making.”

While Epstein agrees that Democrats mistakenly overlooked the potential controversy on Walz’s record, he argued that Republicans would be better off avoiding a “tit-for-tat” campaign and focusing instead on Harris’ record.

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“More than anything else, Democrats want to memory-hole the Biden/Harris record of the last four years,” Epstein said. “They want to memory-hole Harris’ fringe left views from just five years ago.”

The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

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

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators planning large protests in Chicago at next week’s Democratic National Convention are facing a legal setback.

A federal judge ruled against a demand by the demonstrators for a larger protest route that would take them closer to Chicago’s United Center arena, site of the Democratic convention from Aug. 19-22.

U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood, in her ruling Monday night ahead of a Tuesday afternoon hearing, stated that the protest route provided by the city adheres to the First Amendment of the Constitution while also addressing significant security and safety concerns.

Chicago is designating two public parks and a 1.1 mile parade route outside the United Center’s security zone for protesters.

DEMOCRATIC HEAVYWEIGHTS TO SPEAK AT PARTY’S NATIONAL NOMINATING CONVENTION NEXT WEEK

Activists participate in a pro-Palestinian protest near the U.S. Capitol on July 24, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

However, demonstrators protesting the Biden-Harris administration’s support for Israel in its nearly 11-months-long war with Hamas in Gaza argued they need a larger route, which would take them closer to the convention site, to accommodate the large crowds of demonstrators they are expecting next week.

The Coalition to March on the D.N.C., an umbrella group of organizations on the left that is helping to organize the planned protests, said in a social media posting on Sunday that Democratic Party officials “underestimate our rage, our tenacity, and our steadfast commitment to the precious life of every Palestinian person enduring this horrific genocide. We’re fighting back.”

Additionally, at a news conference in Chicago on Monday hosted by the Council on American Islamic Relations and allied groups, organizers predicted that “the streets will be flooded with thousands of peaceful protesters from all over the country to condemn the horrifying scenes that have come out of Gaza, which have all been funded and supported by our American government. The people’s voices will be clear and unified.”

HARRIS HAULS IN $12 MILLION DURING SAN FRANCISCO STOP AS PELOSI WELCOMES THE VICE PRESIDENT HOME

Demonstrators also suffered courtroom setbacks ahead of last month’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, as they pushed for closer access to the Fiserv Arena, where the confab was held. Protesters ended up making only a minor splash during the four-day convention.

Democratic Party officials are hoping to avoid any type of repeat of their 1968 convention in Chicago, when scenes of fighting among delegates and clouds of tear gas and police batons used to smash protests as divided Democrats brawled over the Vietnam War.

While Democrats are divided over the U.S. response to the soaring death toll among Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas war, political pundits say comparisons to the 1968 chaos are not justifiable.

While there will likely be scenes of anger and dissent outside the security zone amid the expected pro-Palestinian protests, a mostly unified and now energized Democratic Party will meet inside the United Center.

Former Presidents Clinton and Obama, left, and President Biden, center, team up at a fundraiser for the Democratic Party’s ticket, at Radio City Music Hall on March 28, 2024 in New York City. (Getty Images)

The biggest names in the Democratic Party will be center stage at the convention. Fox News confirmed that President Biden, former Presidents Obama and Clinton and former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton have been confirmed as speakers.

The Democrats’ convention comes nearly a month after the president’s blockbuster July 21 announcement that he was suspending his re-election bid and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris following his disastrous performance against former President Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, in their late June debate.

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Biden’s rambling and uneven answers at the debate fueled questions over whether the 81-year-old president had the physical and mental abilities to handle another four years in the White House and sparked a chorus of calls from within his own party to end his 2024 campaign.

Democrats desperate to keep Trump from returning to the White House quickly coalesced around Harris, who last week was formally nominated by the party in a virtual roll call. 

Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, her running mate, gesture during a campaign rally at the Thomas and Mack Center, University of Nevada in Las Vegas on Aug. 10, 2024. (RONDA CHURCHILL/AFP via Getty Images)

Harris has enjoyed a surge in fundraising after replacing Biden three weeks ago atop the Democrats’ 2024 ticket, and her July haul was more than double the funds raised last month by Trump. Additionally, Harris saw another spike in fundraising after naming Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate a week ago.

The vice president and Walz quickly hit the campaign trail with a swing through the key battleground states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona and Nevada that drew large crowds at every stop.

Even though both Harris and Walz have been officially nominated, convention organizers say there will be ceremonial roll calls next week in Chicago. The vice president and the Minnesota governor will both address the convention in nationally televised speeches next Wednesday and Thursday.

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

Lisa Hanson, a former wine and coffee bistro owner thrown into jail for violating Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s lockdown orders, told Fox News Digital that the now Democratic vice presidential candidate essentially “shut down and destroyed” her small business, warning Americans, “You do not want tyranny at this level.”  

A mother of eight children and soon to be 18 grandchildren, Hanson said besides a speeding ticket she received as a teenager, she had always been a law-abiding citizen and owned businesses with her husband for more than 30 years. At the time the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing in 2020, Hanson said The Interchange Wine & Coffee Bistro in Albert Lea, about 90 miles south of Minneapolis, had been open for eight years. 

Her wine and coffee bistro initially complied with the shutdown ordered that March. However, Hanson said she watched for months afterward as Walz never fully re-opened the state when it came to businesses deemed non-essential, such as the bars, restaurants, gyms, dance studios and hair salons. By contrast, the governor never shut down liquor stores, the “big box stores” or even strip clubs. 

“He shut down a lot of the mom-and-pop shops, those folks that were just trying to make a living and provide a great product and a great service,” Hanson told Fox News Digital. “In contrast, he allowed big box stores, etc. to stay open. Really incredible, an incredible use of tyranny against the people.” 

Hanson eventually decided to re-open her business and defied Walz’s renewed shutdown order for bars and restaurants six times between December 2020 and January 2021. 

She was convicted in December 2021 on misdemeanor charges and received the maximum sentence of 90 days and a $1,000 fine. Hanson ended up serving just 60 days. 

MINNESOTA GOP DEMANDS PROBE AFTER NONCITIZEN CLAIMS RECEIVING PRIMARY BALLOT WITHOUT REGISTERING TO VOTE

“This is the story that America needs to hear, that Tim Walz is not some cuddly, joyful coach, like all the things that the MSMs are calling him,” Hanson told Fox News Digital. “That is not who this man is. This man would like to take your rights away. He will take your rights away. Because what happened to me could have happened to anybody. What happened to me will happen to you.” 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a campaign event on Aug. 7, 2024 in Detroit. Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz are campaigning across the country this week. (Andrew Harnik)

“My family has paid a dear price. While I was in jail, I missed out on Christmas with my family, I missed out on my wedding anniversary, and I also missed out on the birth of one of my grandchildren,” Hanson said. “I can never have that time back. That time was stolen from me. My business was destroyed. My business is gone. After everything that happened, Tim Walz and Keith Ellison destroyed my business. They wrecked my life.” 

“I’ve heard some people say that Tim Walz is a real nice guy. Yeah, well he’s not. Take my word for it,” Hanson said. “Through this whole process, I’ve gotten to know other people. Similar things have happened to them when they were trying to run their business and survive. Mostly women, by the way. So Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison really like to go after women. They’re bullies.”

“They’re bullies. And they like to go after women and torment and destroy women’s lives. This is what they have done in the state of Minnesota. So let America know you do not want Tim Walz as vice president. You do not want tyranny at this level,” she continued. “I have seen firsthand. We, the people of Minnesota, have seen what Tim Walz, the type of evil he orchestrates if he is elected as vice president of this country. He, in lockstep with Harris, who is also evil, will perpetuate this same type of evil on the American people. We do not want that. So this is the truth about Tim Walz.”

“I would like to see Tim Walz impeached. I would like to see him prosecuted for the crimes he has committed against the people of Minnesota,” Hanson said. 

When Walz issued a November 2020 executive order that again shuttered dine-in services 100% for both indoor and outdoor bars and restaurants in the state, Hanson said she joined a group of nearly 200 fellow business owners called “Open Minnesota,” believing the governor, supported by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, was operating “in a rogue fashion outside the law.” 

“We had God-given, constitutionally protected rights to be open. There was no statute. There was no law that allowed Gov. Walz to do what he did. He really did step outside of statutory law. But even more important, constitutional law,” Hanson said. “Because we have that right to be able to run our businesses and conduct our lives as we see fit, of course, staying within the rule of law.” 

Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz during a campaign rally at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas on Aug. 10, 2024. (RONDA CHURCHILL/AFP via Getty Images)

“We have a corrupt government that’s coming against us and saying, ‘you do not have the right to run your business,'” she said. “That is not a republic. That is not how a republic acts. It’s a dictatorship.” 

Hanson described to Fox News Digital the moment she learned Walz had been selected as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate.

KAMALA HARRIS PANNED FOR REQUIRING ID TO ENTER ARIZONA RALLY AFTER PREVIOUSLY PAINTING VOTER ID LAWS AS RACIST

“Honestly, my feelings should not have been a surprise. But because of what I know about Tim Walz, because of the tyrant that I know he is. He’s wrecked so many lives in the state of Minnesota. He’s not done wrecking lives. He’s going to continue to wreck lives,” Hanson said. “I don’t use that word loosely, ‘evil.’ But the evil person that he is, it’s no wonder that the evil, Harris picked him to be her running mate,” Hanson said. 

“Tim Walz has accomplished a lot of horrific things in the state of Minnesota in a very short amount of time,” she said. 

Regarding the massive riots after George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, Hanson asked, “Where was our governor? Where was our governor when there was the looting and the burning down? A fellow business owner – their businesses being burned down. Where was our governor?” 

“I have not been to Minneapolis since that took place,” Hanson told Fox News Digital. “I don’t need to go up there. I’ve seen what Tim Walz allowed to happen to Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Minnesota. That man is a wrecking machine. He needs to be stopped.” 

Gov. Tim Walz, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Sen. Tina Smith met with business owners whose businesses were looted and destroyed. (Anthony Souffle/Star Tribune via Getty Images)

Within 24 to 48 hours of first reopening her wine and coffee bistro in December 2020, Hanson said “the state came down on us with a vengeance,” siccing the health department on her business and eventually bringing about a half dozen civil and criminal cases against her. During her trial, Hanson claimed she was denied due process and blamed “rogue judges,” the attorney general, and Walz for operating in “lockstep.” 

“They employed all of their resources against We the People, just trying to run a company, serve a cup of coffee to a willing customer. And they said, ‘nope, you can’t do that,'” Hanson said. “And mind you, there was never an injury. There was never an infection of COVID-19, nor was there ever a death that occurred because I had my doors open and willing customers came in to patronize me.”

Incurring tens of thousands in legal fees and fines, Hanson said eventually her business was forced to close while under intense pressure from the government.  

“What happened to me was no accident, and they absolutely wanted to make an example, right?” Hanson said. “It was like literally living a nightmare.” 

Hanson, who voted for former President Trump in 2016 and 2020, said she is not convinced she will support the Republican nominee in the 2024 election, citing what she has learned about Operation Warp Speed and Trump taking credit for the development of the COVID-19 vaccine. Though she absolutely would not support the Harris-Walz ticket, Hanson argued against the two-party system of government altogether. 

“Donald Trump is not going to save America. We certainly know Biden’s not going to save America, and Harris is not going to save America. The people need to get involved,” Hanson said. 

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Hanson, who briefly ran for state Senate unsuccessfully in 2022, encouraged citizens, parents especially, to get involved in school systems and local government. 

“Electing Donald Trump is not, in my opinion, is not the way to go. For so many reasons,” Hanson said. “We need to change the two-party system. Otherwise, we’re just headed for some big words here: socialism, communism. And I know a whole lot of people that would say we’re already there, just not full-blown yet.” 

DULUTH, Minn. – The Republican Party chair of a rural county in central Minnesota is blasting the prevalent media narrative that Gov. Tim Walz is a “moderate” and tells Fox News Digital that rural voters across the country are being “bamboozled” by that talking point.

“I do have a message for most of our rural people here and anybody else that may be watching this, please, you’re getting hoodwinked,” Lowell Smith, a state college educator and chair of the Crow Wing County GOP in Brainerd, Minnesota, told Fox News Digital. 

“You’re getting bamboozled. He’s lying to you. He is not for rural America. He only cares about very liberal policies that would be embraced by the elite. He’s not for us. He’s basically. You can’t remember who said it, but he really is. Bernie Sanders and flannel. They’re trying to market him as not being that. But he’s a liberal just dressed in flannel. He’s against the Second Amendment. He’s not for rural America.”

Smith continued, “Governor Walz’s values do not align with much of rural Minnesota at all, or for much of rural America. He kind of originally ran to try and be a moderate, but every policy he has taken, everything that he has done since being elected has been ultra liberal and nothing has reflected that he’s a moderate at all, so it made perfect sense that Kamala Harris picked him to be her running mate.”

Smith told Fox News Digital that when he speaks to rural voters in Minnesota, “everybody’s really angry” about Walz “letting the state burn for about four days” during the George Floyd riots in 2020 that caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.

MINNESOTA MURDER STATS ROSE UNDER WALZ’S LEADERSHIP AS HE TRIES TO TIE VIOLENT CRIME TREND TO TRUMP: DATA

A rural GOP chair in Minnesota told Fox News Digital Gov. Tim Walz is trying to “bamboozle” rural voters.

Additionally, Smith pointed to the tax policy and business climate under Walz in Minnesota and said that Democrats in control of the state have “squandered” a $17 billion surplus under Walz’s leadership.

The nonpartisan Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index for 2024, which was published in October 2023, ranked Minnesota as having the 44th best tax climate for businesses in the country.

An analysis published by the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in January found that Minnesota’s tax code was the most progressive of all 50 states, with only the District of Columbia having a more progressive tax code.

“In Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and their personal choices that they make,” Walz told a Philadelphia crowd about abortion during his introduction as Vice President Kamala Harris’ vice presidential pick. “Even if we wouldn’t make the same choice for ourselves, there’s a golden rule: Mind your own damn business.”

Smith told Fox News Digital that rural voters in Minnesota take issue with that claim given Walz’s record on COVID, which he has been widely criticized for by Republicans.

“His policies did not reflect that at all,” Smith said. “He set up a tip line to where, basically, you could snitch off your neighbor if they were not wearing their mask, or they kept their business open and there would be civil fines attached to that.” 

MINNESOTA DEM LAWMAKER DEFENDS WALZ AGAINST ‘RADICAL’ LABEL FROM GOP: ‘COULDN’T DISAGREE MORE’

Democratic vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, speaks during a campaign event on Aug. 7, 2024 in Detroit. Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz are campaigning across the country this week. (Andrew Harnik)

“So that was kind of reminiscent for up here back in communism when you had family members spying on family members and that is not what us in rural Minnesota really believe in.”

Smith told Fox News Digital that residents in his county colloquially refer to Walz as “Tampon Tim” due to his policies on transgender issues, including allowing menstrual products to be placed in school bathrooms across the country, including boys’ bathrooms. Democrats have pushed back against that line of attack, but Smith says that Walz has essentially made Minnesota a “sanctuary state” for transgender issues.

“Embracing that transgender ideology, so much so that he’s made Minnesota a sanctuary state to where if you’re a minor in Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, and your parents do not agree with you, you can drive into Minnesota, then at that point, for lack of a better term, Minnesota can take possession of you and allow you to get that transgender surgery or health care without your parents consent or even knowledge,” Smith said. “Even in Minnesota, if your child is gender confused, the state may step in and take your child and allow health care directives to be directed toward your child against the parent’s wishes. This just does not sit well with us up here.”

TIM WALZ HAS TIES TO MUSLIM CLERIC WITH ANTISEMITIC VIEWS, GAVE STATE FUNDING TO HIS GROUP: REPORT

Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz gesture during a campaign rally at the Thomas and Mack Center, University of Nevada in Las Vegas on Aug. 10, 2024. (RONDA CHURCHILL/AFP via Getty Images)

Smith told Fox News Digital that residents around Brainerd are so fed up with Walz’s policies that a local business along Highway 10 in Royalton, Minnesota, put up a sign seen by thousands of motorists showing Walz with his head inserted in his rear end that reads, “Gov. Walz, Northern MN is trying to see things from your point of view. Sponsored by Rocks & Cows of the North.”

The “Rocks & Cows” refers to a comment made by Walz in 2017 about rural America that the Trump campaign has seized on, but some say was taken out of context.

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Fox News Digital asked Smith what issues rural voters in his county tell him they are most concerned about in the November election.

“The top three issues that we hear first and foremost is our budget nationally as far as our money,” Smith explained.  “We want to ensure that we have a strong economy and that does not look to be going that well. The next thing will be control of crime. Crime is rampant through most of the democratically controlled areas and people want to be safe in their neighborhoods and in their homes.”

“Lastly would be the control of the border, which would be the massive flood or what we hear up here, as they call it, an invasion from other countries into our country every week. Those are the three things that I hear most, from the people in our county.”

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

Republicans have more districts in their corner in the first Fox News Power Rankings House forecast, but overall, the race for a majority is a toss-up.

Fox News Power Rankings projected control of the house map (Fox News)

Two dramatic years in the House haven’t changed voters’ top concerns

Political junkies will tell you that it has been a chaotic couple of years in the House. 

With speaker battles, a debt ceiling crisis, the sixth-ever expulsion of a House lawmaker and the first ever shrinking of the “Squad,” there has been plenty to talk about on television and social media.

At the same time, Americans continue to hold congress in low regard, with only 16% saying they approved of its job in July. (It has been two decades since congress had an approval rating of over 50%).

These might seem like vulnerabilities for the ruling party, but when it comes to their congressional ballot, Americans are putting drama and dissatisfaction aside.

The top issues in the race continue to be the economy, immigration and abortion, and voters are locked in to their preferred party for each of them.

The top three issues in battleground states. (Fox News Power Rankings)

FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: VOTERS’ APPETITE FOR TICKET-SPLITTING WILL DECIDE THE SENATE

Because of that, you can expect similar electoral dynamics in the House as in the Senate. A win for former President Trump will help the GOP stay in power in the lower chamber, as we saw in 2016. A win for Vice President Kamala Harris will likely give the Democrats a win in the House too, as President Biden was able to deliver in 2020.

Fox News Power Rankings final house count prediction. (Fox News)

In the meantime, the race to rule the House starts off as a toss-up.

Five themes across dozens of competitive districts

House forecast themes (Fox News Power Rankings)

Every House seat is up for election every two years, but only a fraction are competitive. In this forecast, 16% of the 435 districts are firmly in play.

There are 19 toss-up races, and with Republicans enjoying a razor-thin majority in the House today, the results in those districts alone will decide which party gets the gavel.

Many of the highly competitive races share key features.

Redistricting

The redistricting process occurs at the beginning of each decade, but a mountain of litigation over racial or partisan gerrymandering issues has left some states redrawing boundaries as recently as May.

The upshot is that several seats are likely to change hands early on election night.

Alabama and Louisiana each have redrawn seats with higher Black voter populations after court rulings. Both seats are represented by vacating Republicans and are Democrats’ best flip opportunities of the night. 

Meanwhile, a state Republican supermajority approved a more favorable map in North Carolina. Three seats currently represented by Democrats will now be open in November, and Republicans are favored in all of them.

Fox News Power Rankings races that lean Democrat. (Fox News)

Redistricting will also affect a highly competitive race in New York.

A district containing Syracuse that currently belongs to Rep. Brandon Williams will shift leftward this year, putting the first-term congressman in a much tougher fight to hold on for a second. New York’s 22nd district is rated Lean D.

Candidate quality

One of the reasons Republicans underperformed expectations in the midterms was candidate quality. In other words, the party fielded nominees who were poor matches for their district, had baggage, or were ineffective campaigners.

This year, the party is working with a stronger bench.

The most notable example is Alaska’s statewide House district. In 2022, moderate Democrat Mary Peltola pulled off a historic upset when she beat former Governor Sarah Palin in the final round of the state’s ranked choice ballot tabulation.

This year, Republicans hope that either second-time candidate Nick Begich or Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom will retake the seat; both have been stronger campaigners.

Peltola is well-liked in her state and has been an advocate on local issues, chiefly the state’s fishing industry. This seat is rated Lean D.

Fox News Power Rankings house races that are toss-ups. (Fox News)

Back on the mainland, Ohio’s 9th district has been in Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur’s hands since 1983. She has crafted a brand around her pro-agriculture and anti-free trade views.

But with Ohio’s rightward drift, this is a very competitive seat.

In the midterms, Republicans fielded a candidate who was in lock step with Trump but struggled to appeal to centrists. This time, state Rep. Derek Merrin will be on the ballot for the GOP, bringing conservative principles and a wealth of campaign experience along with him.

This seat is a toss-up.

Republicans still have candidate issues in some key races. Washington’s 3rd district will be a rematch between first-term Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a Blue Dog Democrat who recently suggested that Biden resign from office, and Joe Kent, her Republican challenger.

Kent, a veteran and former CIA officer, was mired in controversy in 2022. That will continue to be a liability, but Republicans are hopeful that he will run a more disciplined campaign this time. This race is also a toss-up.

Trump helps down ballot Republicans, including in suburban districts

Trump struggled in the suburbs when he last ran for president. According to the Fox News Voter Analysis, he lagged Biden by 10 points with all suburban voters and 19 points with suburban women, leaving him with critical deficits in the battleground states.

House Republicans in city and suburban districts did not fare so poorly. Challengers like Nicole Malliotakis in New York’s 11th district, Young Kim and Michelle Steel in the California suburbs and Maria Elvira Salazar in Miami flipped Democratic districts.

This all suggests that Trump is more helpful to House Republicans than the conventional wisdom might say. He brings out core “MAGA” voters who vote red down the ballot, while allowing candidates to make inroads with moderates and independents.

Fox News Power Rankings races that lean Republican. (Fox News)

The best example is in Nebraska’s 2nd district, containing Omaha and its surrounding suburbs.

At the presidential level, this is a Lean D district (and unlike most, it gets an electoral vote in November). The area has a larger proportion of college-educated voters, who dislike Trump and show up to vote against him.

However, in the House, the race is rated Lean R.

That is thanks to Rep. Don Bacon, a moderate conservative, veteran and Trump critic who has won the district four times from 2016 onwards.

He has another tough battle against state lawmaker Tony Vargas this year, who is running a disciplined and well-funded campaign.

Unlike the presidential race, the Republicans have an edge here so far.

Fox News Power Rankings Democrat vs. Republican “good night” analysis. (Fox News)

Open seats and first-term incumbents

There are several departing Democrats in competitive districts, including Elissa Slotkin in Michigan’s 7th district and Abigail Spanberger in Virginia’s 7th. 

These moderate congresswomen in swingy parts of their states are running for Senate seats this year, leaving highly competitive races behind.

Republicans are hopeful that the departure of these well-known incumbents will give their challengers a boost, but with both parties fielding high-quality replacements, these races will be close (Democrats have an edge in Virginia’s 7th).

FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: WITH VP PICKS, HARRIS AND TRUMP MISS OPPORTUNITIES TO BROADEN THEIR APPEAL

Democrats will also play defense in dozens of districts with first-term incumbents, like Rep. Yadira Caraveo in Colorado’s 8th district. This newly created district includes the northern Denver suburbs and surrounding areas, and Caraveo won it by less than a point last time. This race is a toss-up.

Competitive races in blue states

California and New York run deep blue at the statewide level, but just outside highly populated liberal cities, plenty of districts are in play.

Fox News Power Rankings projected house wins chart. (Fox News)

In California, keep an eye on the 13th district, home of Modesto; the 27th district, north of Los Angeles; and the 41st district, which includes Palm Springs.

Republicans won all three seats by narrow margins in the midterms and are now locked in tough re-election battles with well-funded Democratic opponents. The forecast has Democrats with an edge in the 13th and 27th districts at Lean D, while the 41st is a toss-up.

Across the continent in New York, and Brandon Williams is not the only Republican fighting for his political career.

New York’s 17th, 18th and 19th districts, all in the Hudson Valley region, were hotly contested in the midterms, and two out of the three are now represented by Republicans with strong bipartisan brands. Rep. Mike Lawler is the best known but also has the bluest territory to defend of the two, with Rep. Marc Molinaro in another tight race nearby. Both these races are toss-ups.

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In between them is Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan, whose race starts at Lean D.

Governor rankings are out tomorrow as the countdown to the DNC continues

Voters in 11 states will cast a ballot for governor this year; tomorrow’s Power Rankings takes a look at the most competitive races on the map.

Then, on Sunday, Fox News Democracy 24 special coverage for the Democratic National Convention begins with an all-new Power Rankings Issues Tracker.

Former President Trump spent around two hours on Monday night talking with Elon Musk on X, covering topics including his assassination attempt, U.S. relations with foreign adversaries and the state of the 2024 presidential race. 

Here are five of the biggest takeaways from that conversation: 

Trump says he is going back to Butler, Pennsylvania in October 

Former President Trump announced during the interview that he is planning to hold another campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania, the city where his assassination attempt unfolded in mid-July. 

“By the way, we’re going back to Butler, and we’re going to go back in October. We’re all set up — the people are fantastic in Butler, it’s a great area,” Trump told Musk. “These are incredible people.” 

Trump is seen reacting after being shot in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)

HARRIS CAMPAIGN CRITICIZES TRUMP FOR SERVING ‘SELF-OBSESSED RICH GUYS’ AFTER INTERVIEW WITH ELON MUSK 

“I think I’ll probably start by saying, ‘As I was saying prior to being so horribly interrupted,'” Trump then joked, previewing how he would pick up where he left off on July 13. 

Trump reveals the ‘miracle’ of his assassination attempt 

Trump told Musk that the “miracle” of his assassination attempt in Pennsylvania this summer was that he was looking in the “exact direction” of shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks when he opened fire. 

“And so it hit me at an angle that was far less destructive than any other angle. So that was the miracle,” Trump said, recounting the path of the bullet that struck his ear. “That was — for those people that don’t believe in God, I think we got to all start thinking about that. You have to, you know, I’m a believer, now I’m more of a believer I think.” 

“It was amazing that I happened to be turned just at that perfect angle,” Trump added. 

Trump says ‘we’re going to have the largest deportation in the history of this country’  

Trump told Musk at one point during the interview that “We’re going to have the largest deportation in the history of this country” and “we have no choice.” 

The remark came as the conversation was focusing on the challenges posed by illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border. 

“We’re already overwhelmed Elon, we are overwhelmed,” Trump said. 

Trump, left, spoke with Musk for around two hours on Monday night on X. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images/Marc Piasecki/Getty Images)

TRUMP CHATS WITH MUSK IN LENGTHY, OVERARCHING INTERVIEW AS HARRIS CONTINUES SNUBBING MEDIA 

“And I saw an ad just before I got on the air… I saw an ad by Kamala saying how she is going to provide border security. Where has she been for three and a half years?” Trump said. 

Trump calls Biden the ‘worst president in history’  

Trump called Joe Biden – the current President of the United States – the “worst president in history.” 

Speaking about the events that led to Biden dropping his re-election bid, Trump said Vice President Harris is “incompetent” and “as bad as Biden.” 

“Look she hasn’t done an interview since this whole scam started,” Trump said. “And say what you want, this was a coup. This was a coup of a President of the United States. He didn’t want to leave. And they said, ‘we can do it the nice way, or we can do it the hard way.’” 

Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House on July 24 about his decision to drop his Democratic presidential re-election bid.  (Evan Vucci, Pool via AP)

“Yeah, I mean they just took him out back behind the shed and basically shot him,” Musk responded. 

Trump cited the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, inflation and the “Afghanistan mess” as some of his criticisms of Biden’s administration. 

X MELTS DOWN AFTER TRUMP-MUSK’S INTERVIEW ‘SPACE’ IMMEDIATELY CRASHES 

“Now, Biden is close to vegetable stage, in my opinion,” Trump added during a later portion of the interview. 

Trump says he wants to ‘close up’ the Department of Education  

Trump told Musk that one of his “first acts” that he would do in a second presidential term is to “close up the Department of Education.” 

Trump said he would “move education back to the states where, states like Iowa, where states like Idaho, you know, not every state will do great because the states that basically aren’t doing good now, you look at Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, he, he’s terrible. He does a terrible job. So he’s not going to do great with education. 

“But of the 50, I would bet that 35 would do great. And 15 of them, or, you know, 20 of them will be as good as Norway. You know, Norway is considered great,” Trump told Musk. 

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Trump says as it is right now, the U.S. spends “more per pupil than any other country in the world” despite being ranked further down on lists of countries with the best education systems.