NationalWatch

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are set to face off in their first presidential debate, and the stakes could not be higher. Harris has erased Trump’s comfortable lead in the polls, setting up a razor-thin election with less than two months to go.

The highly anticipated matchup is the first time Trump and Harris will meet in person. It comes just 51 days after President Biden withdrew from the 2024 race and 75 days after his disastrous debate performance.

With Trump set to make a record seventh general election debate appearance, here is a look at what to expect in tonight’s debate as well as his past performances. 

THE MANY FACES OF DONALD TRUMP FROM PAST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris face off Tuesday night in Philadelphia. (Getty Images)

Trump, Harris debate on Sept. 10

Although Tuesday’s debate is the second one of the 2024 campaign season, it is the first time the current nominees will face off. The 90-minute, audience-free debate will take place at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. 

While Harris is hunkering down in Pittsburgh, Trump has forsaken traditional debate preparation. Trump has, however, employed former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to help him refine his skills. Gabbard, who recently endorsed Trump, had her own famous moment on the debate stage, when in 2020, she attacked Harris for her record as a California prosecutor.

TULSI GABBARD GIVES UPDATE ON TRUMP’S DEBATE PREP: ‘HE KNOWS THE ISSUES’

Trump is expected to focus on inflation and immigration, two of the top issues in the 2024 race. The Trump campaign has been linking Harris to some of Biden’s weaker areas, a strategy he is expected to employ in the debate. Harris is expected to focus on abortion rights, which is tied with inflation at 14%, as the second-biggest issue in the race. The overturning of Roe v. Wade has proven to be one of Trump’s greatest political vulnerabilities.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally at the Enmarket Arena Aug. 29, 2024 in Savannah, Georgia. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Trump, Biden debate on June 27

The only 2024 debate between Biden and Trump was the first time a sitting president and a former president ever debated. It is also perhaps the most consequential in history as it ultimately led Biden to abandon his 2024 bid.

During the debate, the president struggled to mount a coherent defense or finish his sentences at times. As Biden wrapped up an argument about his record on border security, Trump quipped, “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said, either.”

FIRST 2024 TRUMP-BIDEN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: TOP CLASHES OVER ISSUES FROM THE BORDER TO UKRAINE

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and President Biden arrive at a campaign event at the IBEW Local Union #5 union hall in Pittsburgh on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The Atlanta debate where Trump and Biden clashed over abortion, immigration, foreign policy and inflation amassed 51.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. At the time, Real Clear Politics had Trump leading Biden by 1.5 points.

Trump, Biden debate on Oct. 22, 2020

Trump and Biden squared off in Nashville, Tennessee, less than two weeks before Election Day. The debate was more subdued than the first round, in part due to new rules that kept each candidate’s microphone muted. 

As Biden and Trump squabbled over personal finances, Trump claimed Biden had made money from foreign entities. Trump further sought to paint Biden as a typical, corrupt politician. A recent report from House Republicans alleged that Biden “participated in a conspiracy to monetize his office of public trust to enrich his family.”

HARRIS WILL HAVE TO ‘FACE OFF’ AGAINST BIDEN, HIS LEGACY IN DEBATE AGAINST TRUMP: NYT COLUMNIST

Trump also questioned Biden’s accomplishments over his nearly 50-year public service career. Trump said he decided to mount a run for president because of the Obama administration’s “poor job.”

“I ran because of you, Joe,” Trump said. “I ran because of you.”

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

Nielsen Media Research recorded 63 million viewers for the final debate of the 2020 cycle. On the day of the debate, Biden led Trump by 7.9 points.

Trump, Biden debate on Sept. 29, 2020

What people most likely recall from this debate is Trump’s constant interruptions that led an exasperated Biden to declare, “will you shut up, man?” The debate quickly descended into chaos as the two sparred over abortion rights and Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. An unrelenting Trump pushed Biden on whether he would “pack” the Supreme Court in the wake of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death. As the two men heatedly talked over each other about the pandemic, Trump declared, “I’ll tell you Joe, you could never have done the job that we did. You don’t have it in your blood.”

Trump did not shy away from making personal attacks on Biden, hurling insults about his intelligence, saying, “There’s nothing smart about you, Joe.”

TEXAS GOV. ABBOTT REVEALS WHICH 3 ISSUES TRUMP SHOULD FOCUS ON DURING DEBATE: ‘LET HARRIS TALK’

Former President Donald Trump, right, joined by members of his legal team, during a news conference at Trump Tower in New York on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. ( Cheney Orr/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

With 73.1 million viewers, the debate in Cleveland was the most watched for a Trump-Biden matchup. Real Clear Politics had Biden leading Trump by 6.1 points on the day of the debate. 

Trump, Clinton debate on Oct. 19, 2016

The final debate of the 2016 cycle had Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton focusing more on personal weaknesses than policy. When Clinton attempted to tie Trump to Russia, he retorted that Russian President Vladimir Putin “doesn’t respect” Clinton or then-President Barack Obama and insisted that he did not know Putin. As the two contended over Obamacare and Social Security, Trump proceeded to call Clinton, “such a nasty woman.”

DEBATE FLASHBACK: TRUMP AND CLINTON’S MOST MEMORABLE 2016 MOMENTS

Clinton repeatedly used the debate to belittle Trump’s character. Clinton’s strongest language came when she challenged Trump’s behavior toward women. Trump pushed back, vehemently denying any claims of inappropriate behavior toward women. “Nobody has more respect for women than I do,” he said. 

A key highlight of the debate came when Trump declined to say he would accept the results of the election (much like his responses in 2020). Trump doubled down on insisting the process was “rigged” and that he would “look at it at the time.”

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally held with Republican vice presidential nominee Senator JD Vance, in Atlanta on Aug. 3, 2024. (Reuters)

Trump, Clinton debate on Oct. 9, 2016 

Trump used this debate as an opportunity to launch a blistering attack against Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton. When questioned about his conduct toward women, Trump stated “there’s never been anybody in the history of politics that has been so abusive to women,” about former President Clinton. Hillary Clinton refused to address his comments about her husband.

TRUMP CLAIMS NO ‘LIFTS’ OR ‘STANDS’ WILL BE ALLOWED AT DEBATE WITH KAMALA HARRIS

Trump and Clinton also quarreled over Russian aggression, Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns and his plans for the “extreme vetting” of immigrants arriving from countries with criminal links.

Trump, Clinton debate on Sept. 26, 2016

Trump’s first presidential debate was the first to surpass 70 million viewers in nearly four decades, gaining a record 84 million viewers. 

Trump came out swinging as he addressed the economy and jobs. As Clinton sought to defend her economic proposals, Trump attacked her political record, declaring she was a “typical politician: all talk, no action.” However, as the debate progressed, Clinton put Trump more on the defensive. At one point, Clinton pushed Trump on his past comments on race and sex, prompting him to say, “It’s all words, it’s all soundbites.”

THE TOP SIXTEEN MOMENTS OF THE FIRST 2016 PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks during Day one of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 19, 2024. (REUTERS/Alyssa Pointer)

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An overview of Trump’s past debates reveals an approach of rapid-fire statements, personal affronts, and ripostes – a strategy aimed at overwhelming his opponents. Additionally, with the race proving to be as tight as it is, Harris is anticipated to face greater pressure as the newer and unproven contender. 

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign just released a new page on its website titled, “Issues,” which includes a 23-point policy platform that comes following weeks of criticism over its absence. 

Pressure has been building on the Harris campaign to put up a policy platform on its website, similar to how former President Donald Trump and others have done in the past. Upon its release this week, however, the platform was met with even more criticism over a lack of specifics.

In particular, one conservative immigration hawk took issue with the policy platform’s failure to clarify Harris’ stance on border wall funding, and whether she still views illegal border crossings as a civil enforcement issue — or rather, a criminal one. 

HARRIS DOUBLES DOWN ON SUPPORT FOR LEFT-WING BENEFIT FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS: ‘SMART SOLUTIONS’

A segment of the border wall in Del Rio, Texas is left unfinished.  (Fox News)

“The Harris campaign finally has an ‘Issues’ page, but — on immigration, at least — there’s no there, there,” Mark Krikorian, the executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, told Fox News Digital. “She doesn’t say if she’d build more border barriers. She doesn’t say whether she still wants to decriminalize border-jumping. The statement just repeats the vacuous nonsense about the ‘bipartisan’ Senate border bill, which was drafted by the Biden-Harris DHS to codify its unlawful schemes to import more illegal aliens.”

Despite indicating a potential Harris-Walz administration would “bring back the bipartisan border security bill,” the new online policy platform did not indicate where Harris stands on funding additional border wall construction. Republicans have pointed to Harris’ public support for the failed bipartisan border bill as evidence she now backs a border wall after once calling it a “medieval vanity project.” 

But Harris campaign officials have said the border bill did not include any new money for border wall construction — it just extended the timeline to spend funds appropriated during Trump’s last year as president. The bill, however, has limits to ensure the money is spent on border barriers.

“Americans should believe Harris’ prior statements and current policies as Vice President,” Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, told Fox News Digital in a statement Tuesday. “She has previously stated numerous times that she opposes a border wall. And on day one of the Biden-Harris Administration, they halted construction of the border wall system.”

BERNIE SANDERS SAYS HARRIS DROPPING FAR-LEFT POLICIES ‘IN ORDER TO WIN THE ELECTION’

Migrants walk along a highway in southern Mexico earlier this summer during their journey north toward the U.S. border. (Edgar H. Clemente/AP Photo)

Meanwhile, while running for president in 2019, Harris indicated during a nationally televised debate that she would not go after illegal border crossings. In a segment on ABC’s “The View,” she reiterated her stance in a riff with the late-Sen. John McCain’s daughter, Meghan. 

“I would not make it a crime punishable by jail,” Harris said. “It should be a civil enforcement issue but not a criminal enforcement issue.”

“Harris repeatedly said during her CNN interview that her values have not changed,” Ries highlighted in her statement to Fox News Digital. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment on the criticism from Krikorian and others about a lack of specifics in its new online policy platform, but did not receive a response.

The Harris campaign website added an “Issues” page to its website that includes a policy platform from the Harris-Walz campaign. The addition comes 50 days after Joe Biden stepped aside in the race for president. (Harris Campaign Website)

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Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt called the new policy platform “a late-night, half-ass, wish list of policies.” 

“If Kamala really wanted to lower costs and secure the border — why did she cast the tie-breaking vote to cause inflation and support the war on our energy industry, and why is she allowing an invasion of illegal immigrants through our southern border as we speak?”

Not long after the Harris campaign’s “Issues” page was added to its website, social media users pointed out that the new web page contained metadata with language urging voters to reelect President Joe Biden, according to The New Republic. The Biden language was quickly removed, but not before leaving the impression that the Harris campaign copied and pasted from Biden’s documents, the outlet reported.

FIRST ON FOX: The House Judiciary Committee is requesting a briefing from the Justice Department on how it is working to combat “potential conflicts of interest and political bias” in its lawsuit against Google amid reports that the Big Tech giant’s lead attorney is helping prep Vice President Harris for the debate against former President Trump.

Fox News Digital obtained a letter that House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday morning. 

Rep. Jim Jordan, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, speaks during a hearing in Washington, D.C., on June 13, 2024. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“The Committee on the Judiciary and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government continue to conduct oversight of how and to what extent the Executive Branch has colluded with companies and other intermediaries to censor lawful speech,” Jordan wrote. 

HARRIS PREPS FOR DEBATE WITH GOOGLE LAWYER, CREATING ‘CONFLICT OF INTEREST,’ TRUMP CAMPAIGN SAYS

Jordan went on to cite a Fox News Digital report that revealed the lead attorney defending Google in U.S. v. Google LLC, a high-profile antitrust case led by the Justice Department, is simultaneously advising and prepping Harris for the debate against Trump on Tuesday night, which is hosted by ABC News in Philadelphia.

Karen Dunn, who is Google’s outside counsel through law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, is listed in the lawsuit as a “lead attorney.” 

Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., in April 2023. (AP/Susan Walsh)

Dunn is also on Harris’ campaign team to prep her for her debate against Trump. Dunn also advised Harris ahead of her 2020 vice presidential debate against then-Vice President Mike Pence. 

The Trump campaign last month called out a potential conflict of interest. 

Former President Trump and Vice President Harris will debate in Philadelphia. (Getty)

“In light of existing evidence that the Biden-Harris Administration pressured and colluded with Google to censor the lawful speech of American citizens, we write to request a briefing about how the Department of Justice is working to combat potential conflicts of interest and political bias in United States v. Google LLC,” Jordan wrote. 

HOUSE WEAPONIZATION COMMITTEE: BIDEN ADMIN ‘COLLUDED’ WITH BIG TECH, ‘FACILITATED THE CENSORSHIP OF AMERICANS’

“This apparent conflict of interest raises serious concerns about whether Dunn’s relationship with key figures in the Biden-Harris Administration creates a conflict of interest that could inappropriately bias the Department’s approach in United States v. Google LLC,” Jordan added. 

Jordan reminded Garland that when he was nominated attorney general, he pledged to “guarantee the independence of the Department from partisan influence.” 

“This assertion is hard to square with reporting that Ms. Dunn is leading debate preparations for Vice President Harris while she also leads Google’s defense against a Biden-Harris administration lawsuit,” Jordan wrote.

Jordan said that “given this potential conflict of interest,” he is requesting a briefing on how the DOJ is working to combat “this and other potential conflicts of interest and political bias” in the Google case. 

Jordan asked that DOJ staff arrange the briefing by Sept. 24.

Google recently cut a deal with the California government for both entities to pay a combined $180 million to fund state newsrooms. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Neither the Harris campaign nor Dunn responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on Dunn’s work ahead of the debate. 

The Justice Department confirmed receipt of the letter but declined to comment on the matter. 

The revelations come after Google came under scrutiny after the assassination attempt against Trump. Google’s autocomplete search results did not initially register the July 13 assassination attempt against Trump. 

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Google admitted that it initially blocked and eliminated search prompts for the assassination attempt against Trump, saying they were prohibited by design and part of the company’s policy to prevent search results for “hypothetical political violence against current figures.” 

“We do not allow predictions that can be interpreted as accusations against individuals or groups of serious malevolent acts where there is a lack of well-established or expert supporting evidence,” said Google Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Policy, U.S. and Canada Mark Isakowitz.

Lawmakers grilled former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo regarding his handling of controversial COVID-era nursing home policies, demanding he apologize to families who lost loved ones during the coronavirus pandemic.

Cuomo testified before the House select committee investigating coronavirus on Tuesday regarding elderly deaths after patients were being admitted into nursing homes without COVID-19 testing.

On March 25, 2020, the New York State Department of Health issued an advisory under Cuomo’s leadership stating nursing homes “are prohibited from requiring a hospitalized resident who is determined medically stable to be tested for COVID-19 prior to admission or readmission.”

Cuomo claimed during the hearing that it was ultimately up to the nursing homes to decide whether they could take care of the patients, but lawmakers counterclaimed that the advisory prevented nursing homes from denying COVID positive patient admission.

TAXPAYERS LOST MORE THAN $100B TO COVID UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE FRAUD, COMMITTEE FINDS

WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 10: Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo arrives to testify before the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in the Rayburn House Office Building at the U.S. Capitol on September 10, 2024, in Washington, DC. (Kent Nishimura)

“After months of inquiry and investigation, we now know irrefutable what New Yorkers have known for years that Governor Cuomo himself and his most senior aides ordered, directed and executed this deadly executive order counter to CMS and CDC guidance,” Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., said.

“You are culpable for this,” Stefanik told the former governor. “There are families sitting here. I want you to turn around, look them in the eye, and apologize, which you have failed to do. How do you do it?”  

The former New York governor also testified during the hearing that he did not speak to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) before or after the advisory was sent.

ANDREW CUOMO WILL FINALLY FACE QUESTIONS OVER COVID DEATHS. WILL MY FAMILY AND OTHERS LEARN THE TRUTH?

“And they never called me after. You would think if they had a problem with the directive, they would have called if it was so outrageous you didn’t even call it.” Cuomo told the committee, adding that the advisory was “in total compliance with federal guidelines.”

Representative Elise Stefanik, a Republican from New York, grilled Cuomo during the hearing. (Haiyun Jiang/Bloomberg)

Cuomo was blamed for thousands of COVID-related deaths that occurred in nursing homes, which a 2023 report from the NYS Department of Health calculated to be 826 in Suffolk County, 813 in Erie County – which includes Buffalo – and 623 in Queens County.

The former governor directed blame to former President Donald Trump during the hearing, saying that the investigation is part of “old diversions to blame New York and other states for the culpability of the federal response, which was malpractice.”

Republican members on the committee railed Cuomo for shifting the blame on the issue.

“I was hoping that we would see a Governor Cuomo that was less defensive and that was remorseful over what happened in New York. But I see that that person has not shown up today,” Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, said.

WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 10: Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is sworn in to testify before the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in the Rayburn House Office Building at the U.S. Capitol on September 10, 2024, in Washington, DC.  (Kent Nishimura)

In closing, Chairman Wenstrup added that he was “deeply skeptical of the abdication of responsibility on to others that we’ve witnessed, not only here, but publicly.”

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“It appears there’s to be no soul-searching from you, governor. I’m sorry. No self- critique of what could have been done better and improved upon. Just doubling down, blaming others,” Wenstrup said.

Fox News’ Charles Creitz contributed to this report.

PHILADELPHIA – It’s fitting that Tuesday night’s debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump is being held in the key general election battleground state of Pennsylvania.

Harris and Trump will face off at 9 p.m. ET at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, the largest city in the Keystone State. The debate is the first and potentially the only showdown between Harris and Trump.

Both candidates have repeatedly made stops this summer in Pennsylvania, which was one of seven key swing states that decided the outcome of the 2020 election between Trump and President Biden. And Pennsylvania, along with Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada, will likely determine who wins the White House in November.

WHY THE HARRIS-TRUMP DEBATE SHOWDOWN IS SO CRUCIAL

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at IBEW Local Union #5 on Sept. 2, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

While the campaigns and their allied super PACs are pouring resources into all seven states, more money has been spent to run spots in Pennsylvania than any of the other battlegrounds. And both sides have dished out more dollars to reserve airtime going forward in the Keystone State than any of the other battlegrounds in the final eight weeks leading up to Election Day on Nov. 5, according to figures from AdImpact, a top national ad tracking firm.

KAMALA HARRIS, DONALD TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: LIVE UPDATES

“It’s the one state that it’s hard to see someone losing and then still winning the presidential race,” Mark Harris, Pittsburgh-based longtime Republican national strategist and ad maker, told Fox News Digital. “It’s clearly ground zero.”

Harris, a veteran of multiple GOP presidential campaigns said, “You can see that in media reservations and in the candidates’ travel schedules. Clearly, the Trump campaign and the Harris camp believe this is a must-win situation.”

Former President Trump speaks during a rally at the Cambria County War Memorial, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Droke)

Mike Butler, a Pittsburgh-based Democratic consultant, told Fox News Digital that when it comes to the White House race, “I don’t think any other state quite swings the needle as much as Pennsylvania.”

It is not just the top of the ticket campaigning in Pennsylvania. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democrats’ vice presidential nominee, and Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, Trump’s running mate, have made numerous stops in the state.

WHO WILL BE SPINNING FOR HARRIS AND TRUMP AT THE DEBATE SHOWDOWN

Pennsylvania, along with Michigan and Wisconsin, are the three Rust Belt states that make up the Democrats’ so-called “Blue Wall.”

The party reliably won all three states for a quarter-century before Trump narrowly captured them in the 2016 election to win the White House.

Four years later, in 2020, Biden carried all three states by razor-thin margins to put them back in the Democrats’ column, as he defeated Trump.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump

Fast-forward to the present day, and Pennsylvania remains a jump-ball, as the latest public opinion surveys in the state indicate a margin-of-error race between Harris and Trump. 

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“It’s going to be a fight to the finish. I think Trump has some advantages,” Harris said. “But its definitely going to be a very tight race.”

Butler noted that Pennsylvania’s had razor-thin margins in the past two presidential elections. “Trump’s numbers are pretty solidly baked in. I can’t see him faring any worse than he did the last two times, which means it’s going to be a very competitive state,” he said.

ABC News signage is installed in the media file center inside the Pennsylvania Convention Center one day before the presidential debate on Sept. 9, 2024, in Philadelphia. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

This isn’t the first time a presidential debate has been held at the National Constitution Center, which opened 21 years ago and is located on the north end of Independence Mall in Philadelphia’s Old City neighborhood.

The venue hosted a 2008 Democratic presidential primary debate.

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

PHILADELPHIA — California Gov. Gavin Newsom is back on the presidential campaign trail.

The high-profile Democrat and two-term governor was one of the top surrogates for President Biden during the president’s re-election campaign.

But other than an appearance – but no speaking role – at last month’s Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, Newsom has mostly been off the campaign trail since fellow Californian Vice President Kamala Harris replaced Biden atop the party’s 2024 ticket seven and a half weeks ago.

Until now.

Newsom will be one of four Democratic governors – along with Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Roy Cooper of North Carolina and Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico – who will be in the debate spin room on behalf of the vice president.

WHY THE HARRIS-TRUMP DEBATE SHOWDOWN IS SO CRUCIAL

California Gov. Gavin Newsom poses for a selfie with supporters at the Democratic National Convention, in Chicago on Aug. 19, 2024. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

Ahead of his stop in Philadelphia, Newsom was in New York on Sunday to headline a fundraiser for Harris and also made media appearances on behalf of the vice president and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, her running mate.

“What Kamala Harris has done in the past eight weeks is unprecedented in U.S. history. She’s closed the gap. We’re not just in the margin of error. We’ve expanded the map of the United States,” Newsom emphasized early Tuesday in an interview on “CBS Mornings.”

HARRIS-TRUMP DEBATE BEING HELD IN EXTREMELY CRUCIAL 2024 BATTLEGROUND

Newsom was a prominent Biden surrogate and defended him after the president’s disastrous performance in his late June debate against former President Trump, the GOP presidential nominee.

Gov. Gavin Newsom campaigns for President Biden at a highway rest area in Hooksett, New Hampshire, on July 8, 2024. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

Biden’s halting debate delivery instantly fueled questions about his physical and mental abilities to serve another four years in the White House and spurred a rising chorus of calls from within his own party for the 81-year-old president to end his bid for a second term. Facing increased pressure from fellow Democrats, Biden, in a blockbuster announcement on July 21, ended his re-election campaign and endorsed his vice president.

KAMALA HARRIS, DONALD TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: LIVE UPDATES

When asked if he would be as voracious for Harris on the campaign trail as he was for Biden, Newsom pointed to his longtime friendship and working relationship with the vice president.

“We knew each other a decade before we both got into politics. One of my oldest friends. So it’s a no brainer,” Newsom told Fox News Digital during the first night of the DNC at Chicago’s United Center arena. “I’m as needed. But obviously all in.”

However, Newsom, who is thought to have long harbored national ambitions of his own, added at the time that he may not be asked by the Harris campaign to hit the trail on behalf of the vice president.

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“We’ll see. Because everybody’s out there. Everybody’s doing everything,” the governor said.

Fast-forward three weeks, and Newsom’s back on the campaign trail.

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

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is plowing full steam ahead on his plan to avert a partial government shutdown at the end of the month, despite growing uneasiness within the House GOP.

Johnson’s plan involves a six-month extension of the current fiscal year’s government funding levels, known as a continuing resolution (CR), and combining it with a GOP bill to require proof of citizenship in the voter registration process.

As of Tuesday afternoon, House Republican leaders are expected to hold a vote on the measure Wednesday – despite at least half a dozen GOP lawmakers already expected to vote against it.

“We’re not looking at any other alternative or any other step. I think it’s the right thing to do,” Johnson told reporters about pairing the CR with the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act.

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

Speaker Mike Johnson is holding firm to his plan on government funding. (Getty Images)

It passed a key test vote on Tuesday to allow for debate and then a vote on final passage of the measure. It passed 209 to 206 with Reps. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., and Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., in opposition; the latter is one of six Republicans publicly against it.

Multiple GOP lawmakers told Fox News Digital that Johnson made similar comments during a closed-door meeting earlier that morning – the House Republican Conference’s first time in one room since returning from their six-week recess.

Some, like Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., applauded his resolve.

“He is ready to fight,” Norman, who said he normally opposes CRs, told Fox News Digital. “Certain things I don’t like, but overall, it’s a good thing.”

But House Republicans granted anonymity to speak freely said they saw little point in taking a vote on a measure that, if it passed their chamber, is virtually guaranteed to be a nonstarter in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

JOHNSON UNVEILS TRUMP-BACKED HOUSE GOP PLAN TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN, SETS UP BATTLE WITH SCHUMER

“Doesn’t have the votes, no solution to the problem,” one GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital in a text message.

Another House Republican said, “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“It’s not going to become law and Biden will never sign it,” they said, pointing out that it would have no effect on this year’s election. “So if anything, you could do this a day after the election, and it would be applied to the following term in the next election, which would be the most reasonable thing to do.”

Rep. Ralph Norman praised Johnson for sticking by his plan. (Getty Images)

“Because now we’re playing with a government shutdown that’s, what, eight weeks before a presidential election?”

Several of the GOP defectors are against CRs as a matter of principle, believing it’s an unnecessary extension of government bloat. Others expressed national security concerns about how a six-month extension with no increases to military funding would affect national security. 

MCCARTHY’S ‘FINAL STRUGGLES’ THREATEN TO HAUNT JOHNSON’S GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN FIGHT

Meanwhile, at least two more lawmakers, Reps. John Rutherford, R-Fla., and Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., expressed skepticism but did not outright oppose it.

“I’m a lean no, but I’m never going to vote to shut the government,” Rutherford told reporters, citing defense funding concerns.

Spartz said she opposed the “omnibus spending” she sees CRs representing, and questioned whether Johnson was serious about gambling with a shutdown.

“Are we really planning to take that hill? Because we’d better bring the American people with us and communicate what’s going to happen,” Spartz said.

And while Johnson insisted on holding firm to his plan, which was also advocated for by former President Trump, others in his conference signaled they’re looking for the next step.

The bill is likely a nonstarter in Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s chamber. (Reuters/Mike Segar)

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., suggested Republicans would eventually agree to a funding extension without other legislation attached, and one that would likely only extend until December – something senior GOP lawmakers and Democrats have advocated for months.

“There’ll be an agreement across the aisle, but probably a short-term CR, I imagine,” Bacon said.

When asked whether congressional negotiators were already working on a Plan B, House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital, “We always have multiple, you know, things available.”

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With just a four-seat majority and at least six defections, Johnson’s bill will almost certainly need Democratic votes to pass the House.

Five Democrats voted for the SAVE Act when it passed earlier this year, but with opposition from their leaders in the House, Senate and White House, it’s not clear whether they would support pairing the bill with a stopgap spending bill.

Washington and Baghdad are working on a plan to draw down the U.S. troop presence in Iraq as soon as next year.

The U.S. and Iraq have reached an “understanding” on plans to have hundreds of U.S. troops leave Iraq by September 2025 and the remainder leave by January 2027, according to a new Reuters report. However, no set-in-stone decision has been made, two defense officials told Fox News, and the timing is in flux. 

While the U.S. pulled out the last of its troops from Afghanistan in 2021, some 2,500 troops still remain in Iraq, and 900 remain in Syria. 

The remaining service members in Iraq are largely focused on combating ISIS under a global coalition, known as Operation Inherent Resolve. Last month, the U.S. carried out a joint raid, killing 15 ISIS fighters in Western Iraq. 

U.S. Army soldiers train at Ain al-Asad Air Base in Western Iraq. (Source: U.S. Army )

When asked about the Reuters report on Monday, Pentagon press secretary Pat Ryder told reporters that U.S. and Iraqi officials “continue to have their discussions” on drawing down troops, as they have been since the start of the year. He would not comment on the accuracy of the report. 

5 US SERVICE MEMBERS, 2 CONTRACTORS INJURED IN ROCKET ATTACK ON AL-ASAD AIRBASE 

“As part of the U.S. Iraq Joint Security Cooperation dialog, we establish the Higher Military Commission, that will look at, the transition of the global coalition, into a long-term U.S. Iraq bilateral security cooperation relationship. And so those conversations are ongoing. And I just don’t want to get ahead of that process.” 

The U.S. initially invaded Iraq in 2003, toppling Saddam Hussein’s regime and drawing down its troop presence from wartime levels in 2007 and leaving altogether in 2011, before returning in 2014 at the head of the coalition to fight the Islamic State.

ISRAEL STRIKE IN LEBANON REPORTEDLY KILLS 4 HEZBOLLAH OPERATIVES AS REGION BRACES FOR POSSIBLE IRAN ATTACK

Other nations, including Germany, France, Spain and Italy, also contribute hundreds of troops to the coalition. Under the reported plan, all coalition forces would leave the Ain al-Asad Air Base in the western Anbar province and significantly pull back their presence in Baghdad by September 2025.

While their mission is focused on the Islamic State, the U.S. troop presence serves as a strategic position against the growing threat of Iran. U.S. forces in Iraq have shot down rockets and drones fired towards Israel in recent months, according to U.S. officials. 

U.S. troops re-entered Iraq to fight the Islamic State in 2014. (History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani has said he appreciates the U.S. help, but forces there have become a target for instability, often targeted and responding with strikes not coordinated with the Iraqi government. Al-Sudani is walking a tight line between an alliance with both Washington and Tehran. 

Defense experts argue that U.S. resources in Iraq indirectly benefit Iran because of the Iraqi government’s close alignment with the regime.

“Our continued presence, while necessary during the fight against ISIS, now risks contributing to instability rather than achieving long-term peace,” Jason Beardsley, a former senior Defense official, told Fox News Digital.

“Recent events have shown that Iraqi forces are increasingly capable of managing their own security,” the Army and Navy veteran said. 

U.S. forces had left Iraq in 2011 after toppling Saddam Hussein but returned three years later as part of a coalition to fight ISIS. (Getty Images)

“With the current Iraqi government heavily influenced by Iranian-backed Shia factions, including the Popular Mobilization Front, maintaining U.S. troops doesn’t effectively counterbalance Iran. In fact, our resources end up indirectly benefiting those aligned with Iranian interests, making this a misguided strategy.”

“The Iranians have done a fantastic job infiltrating the Iraqi Security Forces,” said Bill Roggio, a senior fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “But this ensures Iranian dominance in Iraq.”

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“They get free rein in Iraq to do their bidding. And as far as the fight against the Islamic State goes, this is going to be harmful as well. Islamic State has not been defeated, as much as the Trump and Biden administrations have said,” he went on. “I also don’t see how the U.S. is going to maintain troops in Syria. Without the troops in Iraq, they’re going to be isolated.”

However, according to Roggio, “As currently situated, the U.S. either needs to put more troops in to secure themselves from militia attacks, or they need to be withdrawn.”

A single congressional district in the state of Nebraska could wind up playing a critical role in deciding the outcome of this year’s presidential election.

“It could decide who the eventual winner will be,” Jimmy Keady, president of JLK Political Strategies, a national Republican consulting firm, told Fox News Digital of Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District.

That district, which encompasses Omaha and the Council Bluffs metropolitan area, could play an outsized role in determining the next president thanks to Nebraska’s unique way of dividing up its Electoral College votes. Unlike most states that have winner-take-all systems, Nebraska awards one Electoral College vote to the candidate who wins each of its three congressional districts, while the winner of the state overall receives the remaining two votes.

Nebraska has long been forgotten about in presidential politics thanks to its longtime solidly red disposition, making it a rarely talked about location on a map full of critical swing states. 

TEXAS GOV. GREG ABBOTT’S DEBATE ADVICE FOR TRUMP: ‘LET HARRIS SPEAK’

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at IBEW Local Union #5 on Sept. 2, 2024 in Pittsburgh. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

However, that red reputation does not always hold true in the 2nd Congressional District, which has swung back and forth in recent elections. President Biden took the district and its one electoral vote in 2020, while former President Donald Trump emerged with a victory in the district in 2016. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, won the district during his 2012 bid for president, but former President Barack Obama captured the electoral vote in 2008.

The Second Congressional District’s lone vote has never been the deciding factor in an election, but in a year in which the presidential race looks as close as ever, it could end up playing a decisive role.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump gestures as he departs a campaign event at Central Wisconsin Airport on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024 in Mosinee, Wisconsin. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

TRUMP AND HARRIS ON COLLISION COURSE AS 2024 CAMPAIGN ENTERS FINAL STRETCH

“With swing states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin continuing to be labeled as tossups and a potential 269-269 Electoral College, Republicans should prioritize securing this seat that could get them the necessary 270,” Keady said.

Though such a scenario remains unlikely, a look at the election map shows a path to the Omaha area’s potential deciding role. If Vice President Kamala Harris were to win the “Blue Wall” swing states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, while former President Donald Trump secures all the other swing states of Nevada, Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina, as well as a swing district in the similarly positioned state of Maine, the Electoral College vote would stand at 269-268 for Harris. 

A Harris win in the district gets her to the needed 270 and an election victory, while Trump taking the district would result in a 269-269 tie and send an already dramatic election to the House of Representatives.

Playing such a role might just be fitting for the district, which is one of only seven in the country, the Cook Political Report gives a Partisan Voting Index Score of “EVEN,” meaning the district traditionally votes in line with the national electorate.

This map shows a hypothetical situation in which Nebraska’s Second Congressional District holds the key to who wins the election. (270 To Win)

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That fact will not be lost on Republicans, Keady argued.

“With the Democrats propping up a nominee that has not earned a single vote on the national stage, Republicans have the opportunity to make a play to win this seat for President Trump,” Keady said. “By staying focused on kitchen table issues that move voters to the right – the economy, illegal immigration, and public safety – Republicans have a good shot at picking up this seat and securing the presidency.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. are hosting a Gold Medal ceremony for the 13 U.S. service members killed at Abbey Gate during the Afghanistan withdrawal. 

Johnson is expected to posthumously present the Gold Medal, Congress’ highest honor, to the 13 fallen Americans who were killed during the August 2021 ISIS-K suicide bombing at the Kabul Airport. 

He opened the ceremony on Tuesday by naming the fallen and apologizing to their families. 

The 13 U.S. service members killed at Abbey Gate were: Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez, Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan W. Page, Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, Navy Petty Officer Third Class Maxton W. Soviak, and Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss. 

GOLD STAR FAMILIES SLAM KAMALA HARRIS FOR ‘PLAYING POLITICS’ OVER TRUMP’S VISIT TO ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

A display showing fallen American military members is displayed for a news conference by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

“Our nation owes a profound debt of gratitude to these service members and those here today who were with them in Kabul. We also owe them something deeper, and that is an apology to the families who are here. I know many of you have yet to hear these words, so I will say them. We are sorry,” Johnson said in opening remarks. “The United States government should have done everything to protect our troops. Those fallen and wounded at Abbey gate deserved our best efforts, and the families who have been left to pick up the pieces continue to deserve transparency and appreciation and recognition to you and the families who are not here. I can promise you this you are not alone in shouldering the burdens from that day. And although we can never fully measure your loss, we can and we must memorialize the ultimate sacrifice that was paid.”

The attack also left roughly 170 Afghans dead. Tuesday’s ceremony comes two days after Rep. Mike McCaul, the Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released a scathing 350-page report that took a fine-toothed comb to the military’s 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal and highlighted areas of serious mismanagement. 

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, speaks about his panel’s Afghanistan report at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. He is joined by Republican lawmakers and families of the military members who were killed during the evacuation.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The Republican-led report opens by harkening back to President Biden’s urgency to withdraw from the Vietnam War as a senator in the 1970s. That, along with the Afghanistan withdrawal, demonstrates a “pattern of callous foreign policy positions and readiness to abandon strategic partners,” according to the report.

The report also disputed Biden’s assertion that his hands were tied to the Doha agreement former President Trump had made with the Taliban establishing a deadline for U.S. withdrawal for the summer of 2021, and it revealed how state officials had no plan for getting Americans and allies out while there were still troops there to protect them.  

On the three-year anniversary of the attack, Trump joined the families of the slain 13 U.S. service members at Arlington National Cemetery. 

Biden and Vice President Harris were absent, and though they released statements that day, did not publicly name the 13 fallen. 

Donald Trump stands alongside Misty Fuoco, whose sister Sgt. Nicole Gee died in Abbey Gate Bombing, at a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on Aug. 26, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Harris later accused Trump of playing politics with the visit, but in a series of short videos, eight families said they had invited Trump, and bitterly blasted the Biden-Harris administration over the pullout that left 13 U.S. service members dead three years ago. 

The vice president criticized Trump’s team for taking photographs and videos at a wreath-laying ceremony event. The Army said that an Arlington National Cemetery official was “abruptly pushed aside” while making sure that Trump’s team was “made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and DoD policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds.”

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The Gold Star families who lost loved ones in the botched Afghanistan withdrawal blasted Harris over her attack on Trump’s visit paying respect to the fallen. 

Fox News’ Morgan Phillips, Nicholas Kalman and Andrea Vacchiano contributed to this report. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. 

Years before Vice President Kamala Harris ascended to the top of the Democratic presidential ticket, she promoted a third-strike crime policy for drug dealers as San Francisco’s district attorney that was promptly shut down by law enforcement for being too easy on narcotics peddlers. 

Harris served as San Francisco’s DA from 2004 to 2011, when she was then elected attorney general of California. In her second year in office as the Golden City’s district attorney, Harris proposed a drug enforcement policy that would have prosecuted drug dealers upon their third arrest. Under the proposal, dubbed “Operation Safe Streets,” ​​police in the city would have detained and released drug dealers two times before finally charging them upon their third arrest. 

The San Francisco Police Department, however, refused to take part in the plan, detailing in a letter to Harris that such a proposal would likely allow criminals back on the streets to re-offend immediately after being detained. 

“This proposal asks us not to arrest, but instead detain and release observed narcotics sales suspects pursuant to Penal Code Section 849(b) P.C. When the same suspect is arrested the third time for narcotics sales, your office would then charge all three counts,” then-Police Chief Heather Fong wrote in a letter to Harris in 2005 which was obtained by Fox Digital. 

‘SICKENING’: VP HARRIS SLAMMED BY SCHOOL SHOOTING VICTIMS’ FAMILIES OVER RECENTLY UNEARTHED COMMENTS

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at IBEW Local Union #5 on Sept. 2, 2024 in Pittsburgh. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

“The proposal would result in a double standard, as adults would be released while juveniles would be booked. Additionally, narcotics dealers who sell drugs near a school would be released after only a brief detention,” Fong argued. “Undoubtedly, this would send the wrong message to observant children who unfortunately witness drug dealing activity on a regular basis.” 

KAMALA HARRIS CALLED FOR REMOVING COPS FROM SCHOOLS TO FIGHT RACIAL ‘INEQUITIES’ IN 2019 INTERVIEW

Then-District Attorney Kamala Harris walks into the courtroom shortly before the hearing convened in San Francisco on April 29, 2004. (Photo By Paul Chinn/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

Fong added in the letter to Harris that while the left-wing city was sympathetic to those suffering with drug addiction issues, the police department and community did not hold drug dealers in high regard. 

“The San Francisco Police Department fully supports treatment programs for users who desire to break their cycle of addiction. However, the community and the Police Department are not sympathetic to those who sell narcotics and exploit for profit the weakness of others,” Fong wrote. 

VOTERS REPORT KAMALA HARRIS IS MORE RADICAL THAN TRUMP: ‘TOO LIBERAL OR PROGRESSIVE’

“We believe drug dealers should be held accountable for their actions. Therefore, we believe the public would not view a ‘detain and release’ program favorably.”

Fong capped off the letter by telling Harris that the department would not participate in such a proposal. 

“After carefully considering the pros and cons of this proposal, we decline to participate in such a program. We would prefer a program where a suspect has been arrested three times for narcotics sales without being rebooked, be bundled together for a District Attorney warrant. Under such a program, the evidence against a defendant would be tripled and the case(s) would certainly have more jury appeal.”

A local outlet, The Daily Journal, reported in 2006 that Harris’ chief of the criminal division in the DA’s office responded to Fong that he was willing to risk potential negative media from the program and that the city should plow ahead with the plan. 

“It is true that San Francisco is home to some media outlets that may perceive of this program as being too tough on narcotics offenders, because more dealers will wind up behind bars as a result of this approach,” then-Criminal Division Chief Jeff Ross wrote, according to the outlet. 

HARRIS FLIPS ON ANOTHER POLICY POSITION: BANNING PLASTIC STRAWS

“I’m sure you would agree that we must pursue effective enforcement approaches without regard to whether there might be critical media coverage.” 

The proposal ultimately failed and did not go into effect. 

A pedestrian crosses a street in the Outer Sunset district by Ocean Beach on June 26, 2023 in San Francisco. (Photo by Loren Elliott via Getty Images )

Fast-forward to the current election cycle, Harris’ 2005 plan was resurrected by California critics who say the vice president’s bravado as a “tough” prosecutor is rewriting history. 

The Harris campaign has broadcast ads touting Harris’ record on law and order, focusing on her years as a prosecutor in Alameda County, San Francisco and as attorney general of the state. 

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“As a tough prosecutor, Kamala Harris dealt with men like Trump all the time: Rapists, con men, frauds, criminals – she’s used to guys like Trump, used to putting them in their place,” a narrator for a pro-Harris ad released last month stated. 

Law enforcement and Republicans in the state hit back against such ads, the Daily Mail reported.

“The campaign is trying to completely reinvent reality,” Republican California Rep. Kevin Kiley said. “Those of us who have actually lived in California – in particular in San Francisco where she was DA but Los Angeles as well – know all too well what the reality was.”

“She was a champion of San Francisco’s sanctuary city policy, she wanted drug dealers to go without being prosecuted until the third attempt, and she herself said in her own book that she was a progressive prosecutor.”

San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris speaks to supporters before a No on K press conference Oct. 29, 2008 in San Francisco. San Francisco ballot measure Proposition K seeks to stop enforcing laws against prostitution. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Kevin Cashman, who was deputy chief of the San Francisco Police Department when Harris proposed the drug dealer proposal in 2005, told the outlet that police officers were “shocked” by the proposals. 

“We immediately saw that it wouldn’t be effective for our mission of keeping San Francisco safe,” he told the Daily Mail. 

“The District Attorney called the strategy she recommended Operation Safe Streets. We in the police department called it Catch and Release, because we would have to catch them, identify them, and then release them back in the community without any action taken.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign about the 2005 proposal but did not receive a response by the publication deadline.

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

A high-ranking leader within the Secret Service has been asked to retire following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, Fox News Digital has learned. 

Michael Plati, office of protective operations assistant director, has been asked to retire and is ending his tenure with the service in the coming days.

Plati was asked to step down by senior leadership, including Acting Director Ronald Rowe.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the United States Secret Service for comment and is awaiting its response. 

The USSS is preparing to brief Congress in the coming days about lessons learned from the July 13th attempt on Trump’s life.

This is a developing story. Please check back soon for further updates.

A resurfaced American Civil Liberties Union questionnaire from when Kamala Harris was running for president in 2019 has revealed that she supports gender transition surgeries for detained migrants and that she wants to slash funding from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

The document, which was first reported on by CNN, also asks then-Sen. Harris for her views on topics such as the U.S. prison system, D.C. statehood, abortion access and the decriminalization of drugs. 

“The Vice President’s positions have been shaped by three years of effective governance as part of the Biden-Harris Administration,” a Harris campaign adviser told Fox News this week when asked about her responses. 

Harris had written in the document that “Our immigrant detention system is out of control, and I believe we must end the unfair incarceration of thousands of individuals, families and children. 

HARRIS FINALLY ADDS POLICY PAGE TO CAMPAIGN WEBSITE, DEVOTES SEVERAL SECTIONS TO TRUMP 

Then-Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks to members of the media at her alma mater, Howard University, on Jan. 21, 2019 in Washington, following her announcement that she would run for president that year.  (AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

“I was one of the first Senators after President Trump was elected to advocate for a decrease in funding to ICE. I have led efforts to urge the Senate Appropriations Committee to decrease detention dollars. As president, I will fight to pass my DONE (Detention Oversight Not Expansion) Act into law which would increase oversight of Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities, slash detention by at least 50%, and halt funding for the construction or expansion of new facilities,” she said. 

When asked by the ACLU if “as President will you use your executive authority to ensure that transgender and nonbinary people who rely on the state for medical care — including those in prison and immigration detention — will have access to comprehensive treatment associated with gender transition, including all necessary surgical care?,” Harris responded yes. 

“It is important that transgender individuals who rely on the state for care receive the treatment they need, which includes access to treatment associated with gender transition. That’s why, as Attorney General, I pushed the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to provide gender transition surgery to state inmates,” Harris wrote. 

“I support policies ensuring that federal prisoners and detainees are able to obtain medically necessary care for gender transition, including surgical care, while incarcerated or detained. Transition treatment is a medical necessity, and I will direct all federal agencies responsible for providing essential medical care to deliver transition treatment,” she added. 

YOUNG SWING STATE VOTERS DELIVER ADVICE FOR KAMALA HARRIS 

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris greets people after speaking during a campaign stop at the Throwback Brewery, in North Hampton, N.H., on Wednesday, Sept. 4. (AP/Steven Senne)

Harris also indicated to the ACLU in 2019 that she would commit to ending the use of ICE detainers. 

“As Attorney General, I issued a bulletin on December 4, 2012 informing all California law enforcement that they did not have to comply with ICE detainers. As president I will focus enforcement on increasing public safety, not tearing apart immigrant families,” she said. 

When the ACLU asked Harris “Since drug use is better addressed as a public health issue (through treatment and other programming), will you support the decriminalization at the federal level of all drug possession for personal use?,” she also responded yes. 

Harris wrote in the ACLU document that she supports defunding ICE. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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“Throughout my career I have supported treating drug addiction as a public health issue, focusing on rehabilitation over incarceration for drug-related offenses,” Harris said in her response. 

Former President Trump and Vice President Harris are neck and neck ahead of their first – and potentially only – debate in Philadelphia on Wednesday, according to a new survey of voters that has some pollsters seeing a “warning sign” for Democrats.

Harris leads Trump 49% to 48% among registered voters, showing a race that has tightened since August when Harris held a 3-point lead against Trump, according to an NPR/PBS News/Marist National Poll released Wednesday morning.

Among those who say they definitely plan to vote, the survey found Harris edging Trump by 3 points, 51% to 48%.

Trump, however, leads Harris among Independent voters 49% to 46% – a 14-point shift from August when Harris commanded an 11-point lead in a field that had multiple candidates, such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the poll found.

LIVE UPDATES: KAMALA HARRIS, DONALD TRUMP MEET IN PHILADELPHIA FOR PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE TONIGHT

New polling shows former President Trump and Vice President Harris locked in a dead heat ahead of their presidential debate in Philadelphia on Wednesday. (Emily Elconin/Getty Images, File)

Republican pollster Whit Ayers told PBS News that the swing in independent support is a “warning sign” for Harris’ campaign.

Some pollsters say that the “honeymoon period” for the Harris campaign is over as support for the candidates appears neck and neck after an initial surge of enthusiasm for the Democrat. (Sarah Rice for The Washington Post via Getty Images, File)

“She had the honeymoon period,” Ayers said of the initial excitement that Harris generated among Democrats after President Biden exited the race.

The latest results of the New York Times/Siena poll released on Sunday also found the two candidates locked in a dead heat.

In that poll, Trump seemingly shrugged off a burst of enthusiasm for Democrats after Harris entered the race, garnering the support of 48% of likely voters, compared to 47% who indicated support for the vice president. 

NEW POLL SHOWS TRUMP HOLDS LEAD WITH ‘REMARKABLY RESILIENT’ SUPPORT

The NPR/PBS News/Marist National Poll also showed Trump up with Latinos voters 51% versus 47% for Harris, a 9-point swing since August.

On the issues, the survey found that a majority of Americans consider Trump better equipped to handle the immigration crisis (53% to 46%), the economy (52% to 48%) and the Middle East (51% to 47%). Harris, however, is perceived as the candidate to better handle the abortion issue, 56% to Trump’s 42%.

Republican strategist Kevin Madden told PBS News that Harris’ initial surge of support and enthusiasm was an “enormous sugar high” because she was “a new candidate not named Trump or Biden.” Now, Madden says recent polling shows that burst of excitement subsiding.

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“This race has snapped back to where it always was, which is a very, very close contest, amongst a very bitterly divided electorate, and that this election is going to be very, very close and it’s going to come down to a few hundred thousand voters in a handful of states,” Madden told the outlet.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Lee contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: A program is being rolled out and overseen by the House of Representatives this week that is aimed at boosting transparency in the high-profile fight for control of Congress.

“We’re excited to really ramp the program up, roll it out, as we come into the final eight weeks before the election,” House Committee on Administration Chair Bryan Steil, R-Wis., told Fox News Digital in an interview about the program, which has been used in several election cycles.

More than a dozen House races are expected to come down to razor-thin margins in November. Democrats are fighting to win back control from the House GOP and the fight is likely to be close either way.

The House Committee on Administration is moving to boost accountability efforts at the polls for such races through the Election Observer Program.

BERNIE SANDERS SAYS HARRIS DROPPING FAR-LEFT POLICIES ‘IN ORDER TO WIN THE ELECTION’

House Committee on Administration Chair Bryan Steil is launching this year’s Election Observer Program. (Getty Images/File)

Congressional staffers are eligible to volunteer for a training program that would set them up to be poll watchers in the upcoming election. 

They would then be sent out to districts, not including their own, if requested by a congressional candidate in a close race.

“I think uniquely this Congress, we can raise awareness, engagement and participation in the program,” Steil said. “This is a program that’s been around for some time, and it’s been a successful program. My staff has participated in it, and I think it’s an important piece of the puzzle as we work to enhance the integrity and Americans’ confidence in our elections.”

He said it is imperative to boost the program’s visibility so that candidates and incumbents running across the political spectrum in November know it is available to them.

HARRIS TEAM MOVES TO SOFTEN POTENTIAL DEBATE IMPACT ‘BEFORE IT EVEN HAPPENS’ AND MORE TOP HEADLINES

The program trains congressional staffers to be volunteer poll watchers. (Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)

Asked if he had any particular security concerns about this year’s elections, Steil said he was “frustrated” by a lack of answers from the Biden administration in response to his probing of a June executive order aimed at using federal resources to bolster voter access.

“The administration continues to hide the ball on the work they’re doing as it relates to President Biden’s executive order, and I think there’s areas in particular as it relates to noncitizen voting that we should work to continue to get in place,” Steil said.

The House’s Election Observer Program is one of several election security measures Steil has used his committee gavel to focus on.

Democrats, meanwhile, have panned several key GOP-led election efforts as voter suppression. 

Congressional Democrat leaders are also opposing a short-term government funding bill that is attached to legislation mandating proof of citizenship in the voter registration process. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called the Republican plan “extreme.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is opposed to Republicans’ combination of government funding and a noncitizens voting bill. (Getty Images)

Steil said he hopes Democrats utilize the program as they had before, though he conceded that election integrity issues have become highly political.

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“A lot of things that did not used to be viewed as partisan in nature, in particular as it relates to election integrity, have become an attempt by the left to try to weaponize the efforts in the other direction,” he said. “We’ll see how our Democratic colleagues respond to a program they participated in the past.”

“But I am of the view that we have an opportunity to take this program and move it up to the next level, both in visibility and in participation.”

NEWFIELDS, N.H. — After six months of contests, the final states hold primaries in the 2024 election cycle as voters in Delaware, New Hampshire and Rhode Island head to the polls on Tuesday.

And grabbing the most attention, the competitive and combustible Republican and Democrat gubernatorial primaries in New Hampshire in the race to succeed GOP Gov. Chris Sununu, who isn’t running for re-election after winning four straight two-year terms as the Granite State governor.

And the race in New Hampshire, a perennial general election swing state, is considered by political pundits as the only competitive governor’s race in the nation this year.

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Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire is interviewed by Fox News Digital on July 11, 2024, in Newfields, N.H. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

The polling and fundraising front-runner for the Republican nomination is former Sen. Kelly Ayotte, a former state attorney general who narrowly lost her Senate re-election in 2016 after breaking with former President Trump after the release of the infamous “Access Hollywood” video.

But Ayotte endorsed Trump this year as he runs to win back his old job in the White House.

WHAT AYOTTE TOLD FOX NEWS ALONG THE NEW HAMPSHIRE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Her opponent, former state Senate President Chuck Morse, has spotlighted his conservative credentials and his support for Trump. But the former president stayed neutral in the race.

Ayotte, who received Sununu’s endorsement this summer, told Fox News earlier this year that “the path that Gov. Sununu has us on is one of prosperity, one of more freedom. … I want us to continue down that path. I appreciate his leadership and the work that he’s done, and I want to continue his success for this state.”

Former Sen. Kelly Ayotte, the front-runner for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in New Hampshire, speaks with voters at the Hampton Beach Seafood Festival on Sept. 7, 2024. (Kelly Ayotte campaign)

Morse has repeatedly questioned Ayotte’s conservative credentials as a senator and her support for Trump.

“I think there’s a big difference between myself and Kelly Ayotte,” Morse said this summer. “I started as a conservative, and I finished as a conservative as Senate president, and I promise you, I will be a governor that’s a conservative. … That’s not what Kelly did when she went to Washington.”

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Ayotte, pushing back on Morse’s attacks, has pointed to Morse’s unsuccessful bid in 2022 for the GOP Senate nomination, and she added that “I’ve known Chuck a long time, and this is a sad way for him to end his political career.”

Former New Hampshire state Senate President Chuck Morse, who’s running for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, shakes hands with voters at the Milford, N.H., Labor Day parade on Sept. 2, 2024. (Chuck Morse gubernatorial campaign)

The winner of the Republican nomination will face off in an eight-week sprint to the general election against either former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig or Cinde Warmington, the only Democrat on New Hampshire’s Executive Council, which is an elected five-member panel that approves state agency heads, judges and major state contracts.

Similar to the Republican gubernatorial primary, the Democrat’s nomination battle has also turned into a war of words.

In a state hard hit by the opioid crisis, Craig recently released an ad criticizing Warmington’s past work as a lobbyist for drugmaking giant Purdue Pharma, known for producing the controversial painkiller OxyContin.

Warmington fired back with an ad of her own as she charged that Craig went on the attack to deflect from her record of steering New Hampshire’s largest city through crime and homelessness crises.

Democrat Rep. Annie Kuster of New Hampshire marches in an Independence Day parade on July 4, 2022, in Amherst, N.H. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

Also grabbing the spotlight in New Hampshire is the race to succeed retiring six-term Democrat Rep. Annie Kuster in the 2nd Congressional District, which covers the western half and northern region of the state.

Kuster is backing Colin Van Ostern, a former staffer and former executive councilor who narrowly lost the 2016 gubernatorial election to Sununu.

But Sen. Maggie Hassan, a former governor, and former four-term Gov. John Lynch are supporting Van Ostern’s rival, Maggie Goodlander, a former top lawyer in President Biden’s administration who served as a deputy assistant attorney general at the Justice Department and who is married to Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.

Democrat candidates in New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District Maggie Goodlander and Colin Van Ostern take part in a primary debate on June 7, 2024, in Manchester, N.H. (NH Today Show)

The Democrat congressional primary turned nasty with carpetbagger allegations directed at Goodlander, who hadn’t lived in the district for years and, through her husband, also has connections to top Democrats, including former President Clinton and former Secretary of State and 2016 Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

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Vikram Mansharamani, who ran unsuccessfully for the 2022 GOP Senate nomination, and Lily Tang Williams, who’s making her second straight bid for the congressional nomination, are considered the front-runners in a crowded Republican primary field.

Delaware also has an open-seat gubernatorial race, as Democrat Gov. John Carney is term limited. Carney, who won three terms as Delaware’s lone member of the U.S. House before serving two terms as lieutenant governor and later won election and re-election as governor, is running instead as mayor of Wilmington, the state’s largest city.

Gov. John Carney of Delaware (Rachel Wisniewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long, New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer and National Wildlife Federation CEO and former state Natural Resources Secretary Collin O’Mara are running in the Democrat primary to succeed Carney. 

Retired police officer Jerry Price, state House Minority Leader Michael Ramone and small business owner Bobby Williamson are seeking the GOP gubernatorial nomination.

There are also primaries for the open lieutenant governor’s seat and for the state’s U.S. House seat as Democrat Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester is running to succeed retiring Sen. Tom Carper, a fellow Democrat.

In Rhode Island, Democrat Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse faces a long-shot primary challenge from Mike Costa, a former GOP gubernatorial candidate.

State Rep. Patrick Morgan is the front-runner for the GOP Senate nomination and would face a steep uphill climb to defeat Whitehouse in November’s general election in the reliably blue state.

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

In what may be the defining moment of the 2024 presidential election, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump face off Tuesday in their first and potentially only debate.

And with a margin of error race with eight weeks to go until Election Day and early voting getting underway this month in some crucial battleground states, there’s no denying how much is on the line as Harris and Trump face-off for 90 minutes in primetime at Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center.

“It’s high, high, high stakes. This is going to be a really, really important moment in the campaign,” longtime Republican strategist and veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns David Kochel told Fox News Digital.

With the presidency up for grabs, the intense jockeying by both candidates and their camps has been heating up ahead of the debate.

HERE’S WHAT TRUMP ALLIES SAY THE FORMER PRESIDENT SHOULD DO IN HIS DEBATE WITH HARRIS

“There’s no floor for him in terms of how low he will go. And, and we should be prepared for that. We should be prepared for the fact that he is not burdened by telling the truth,” the vice president charged in a radio interview on the eve of the debate.

The comment appeared to be the latest stab by Harris to roil Trump in the days leading up to the showdown.

TEXAS GOV. GREG ABBOTT’S DEBATE ADVICE FOR TRUMP: ‘LET HARRIS SPEAK’

Trump has repeatedly insulted the vice president over her intelligence, mockingly nicknamed her ‘Comrade Harris,’ and even questioned her racial identity in the month and a half since Harris replaced President Biden atop the Democrats’ 2024 ticket.

And Trump, using familiar tactics, has been laying the groundwork for what he calls a “rigged” debate as he has repeatedly blasted ABC News – the host of the 90-minute face-off, and accused the networks’ top talent of being biased against him.

MOSINEE, WISCONSIN – SEPTEMBER 07: Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump departs a campaign event at the Central Wisconsin Airport on September 07, 2024 in Mosinee, Wisconsin. A recent poll has Trump trailing Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris in the battleground state.  (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The debate comes as Harris has enjoyed a wave of momentum in both polling and fundraising after taking over as the Democrats’ standard-bearer, but the Trump campaign counters Americans’ honeymoon with the vice president is subsiding.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON THE HARRIS-TRUMP DEBATE

Biden’s disastrous performance in his late June debate against Trump instantly fueled questions about his physical and mental abilities to serve another four years in the White House – and spurred a rising chorus of calls from within his own party for the 81-year-old president to end his bid for a second term. Facing increased pressure from fellow Democrats, Biden, in a blockbuster announcement on July 21, ended his re-election campaign and endorsed his vice president.

“I don’t know if we’ll ever see a debate that was more consequential than the one that drove Biden from the race, but if there is one, it would be this one,” Kochel emphasized.

Pointing to the latest national and key battleground state polls, which indicate a margin-of-error race, he pointed out “this race has settled into an absolute tie, and this may be the only real point that can create a dynamic where these candidates can move up or down.”

Harris and Trump are taking vastly different approaches to preparing for Tuesday’s showdown.

TRUMP AND HARRIS ON COLLISION COURSE AS 2024 CAMPAIGN ENTERS FINAL STRETCH

Harris spent most of the past four days hunkered down in a downtown Pittsburgh hotel, taking part in an intensive “debate camp,” which included numerous mock debate sessions. She arrived in Philadelphia on Monday evening, 24 hours ahead of the debate.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a Labor Day campaign event at IBEW Local Union #5 on September 2, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

Trump spent much of this past weekend at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, taking part in less formal ‘policy sessions’ with aides and allies. But Trump also traveled to swing state Wisconsin on Saturday to headline a campaign rally. 

Fox News learned that Trump would be spending Tuesday huddling with advisers at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, before flying to Philadelphia just a couple of hours before the start of the 9pm ET debate, which will be simulcast on the Fox News Channel.

“Trump is prepared for every style because that’s what he’s been doing on the campaign trail; has been doing unscripted pressers, pull-asides, interviews,” Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller told reporters on the eve of the debate.

The former president has repeatedly criticized Harris for sitting for only one major interview, and holding no news conferences, since taking over for Biden as the Democrats’ standard-bearer. And on the eve of the debate, the Trump campaign announced that the former president will hold another news conference Friday in Los Angeles.

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Both candidates come into the debate aiming to achieve certain goals.

For Harris, job number one is doing no damage by avoiding major gaffes. Another goal – appealing to the remaining undecided voters in the race and neutralizing Trump’s repeated accusations that the vice president is more liberal than progressive rockstars Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

Up for discussion – how much Harris will need to push back on Trump’s misstatements.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a top Harris surrogate and a rising star in the Democratic Party, told reporters on Monday that I think he thinks the vice president “is not going to spend her time fact checking Donald Trump. I don’t think that’s a useful exercise.”

And Moore said that Harris, who is much less well known to Americans than Trump, needs to “spend her time presenting her vision for what the future of this country is.”

A top job in the debate for Trump, who faces a large polling deficit among women voters, is to avoid further insulting Harris, who if elected would make history as the nation’s first female president.

Also high on Trump’s to-do list, effectively tie Harris to Biden, who’s approval ratings remain well underwater as Americans continue to deal with lessening but persistent inflation. 

“She can run, but she cannot hide from her tenure during the Biden administration,” senior Trump campaign adviser Corey Lewandowski said Monday on Fox News ‘The Story.’ “So when you look at what this debate’s going to be, it’s going to be the opportunity for Americans to see two candidates who have a fundamentally different view of what this country should look like.”

Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a Trump ally, told Fox News Digital that “the American people know where President Trump stands. They know what they got when President Trump was president.”

Pointing to the vice president, Cotton charged that “Kamala Harris has tried to run as a blank slate.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, another Trump ally, said his advice to the former president is “let Harris talk.”

“The more she talks without talking into a teleprompter, the more she shows America that she’s really not up to the task,” the three-term governor argued in a Fox News Digital interview.

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Republican consultant and Fox News contributor Ari Fleischer, a former White House Press Secretary in then-President George W. Bush’s administration, said that Trump needs to “hit her on policy. Just like you did to Biden in the first debate. That was a disciplined, tough, policy-oriented Donald Trump. I would love to see the same Donald Trump against Kamala Harris.” 

But a big question heading into the debate is whether Trump will listen to the advice he’s getting, and if he can stay disciplined throughout the showdown.

“Trump is going to be himself,” Miller told reporters.

After plenty of debate over the debate, both camps agreed to adhere to the same rules that governed the Biden-Trump debate.

The most contentious rule – the microphones will once again be muted during an opponent’s responses, which pundits see as a victory for Trump. 

And as with the June debate, there will be no studio audience.

Both candidates will be supplied with a pen, pad, and a bottle of water, but are not allowed pre-written notes or props – and will not be allowed to talk with their campaign staff during the debate or during the commercial breaks.

The moderators, ABC News’ David Muir and Linsey Davis, will be the only ones asking questions, according to the rules.

Post-debate, Harris gets right back on the campaign trail, with stops in some of the crucial battlegrounds, starting with two rallies Thursday in North Carolina.

“It is certainly an important moment in the campaign, but it is one moment,” longtime Democratic strategist and presidential campaign veteran Maria Cardona told Fox News Digital. “It was a margin of error race going into the debate, and it will be that afterward,” 

Trump also quickly gets back on the trail, with a stop Thursday in swing state Arizona.

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

It’s impossible to know just how tonight’s debate will go, but polling suggests the pressure is on Kamala Harris.

Almost everyone on the planet knows what they think about Donald Trump, love him or loathe him. But the vice president, who has granted exactly one interview (speaking for 16 minutes) and generally avoids the press, hasn’t debated in four years.

In a New York Times/Siena College survey, 28% said they needed to know more about Kamala; only 9% felt that way about Trump. (Who are these 9%??)

Some warning signs: More than 60% of likely voters want a major change from Joe Biden, but just 25% said Kamala represented that change, while 53% said Trump did. Not a great sign in what is obviously a change election.

HARRIS FINALLY ADDS POLICY PAGE TO CAMPAIGN WEBSITE, DEVOTES SEVERAL SECTIONS TO TRUMP

The upcoming debate between Harris and Trump will feature muted mics and no pre-written notes. (Getty Images)

What’s more, while roughly a third of Trump voters say he’s too far to the right, nearly half say the VP is too far to the left.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Trump will try to hang the Biden record around his opponent’s neck – a tricky situation since any veep isn’t in charge. And Kamala will use her prosecutorial skills not just to debate her opponent but to cite low moments from his four years in office – I’d wager Jan. 6 will come up – as well as pushing her top issue, abortion, where Trump has been softening his stance in a confusing manner.

Overall, the Times found Trump leading Harris 48 to 47% nationally, quickly noting that’s within the 3-point margin of error. And the average of battleground state polls also shows 1- or 2-point leads for either candidate, which is a virtual tie (so the pundits need to stop saying Trump or Harris is “leading” in this or that state, when they know better).

It turns out that Kamala had no second act. Or that she was riding so high that she got virtually no bump from the Democratic convention. After all, the VP had a solid month of the most gushing coverage I’ve ever seen for her joy-filled and vibes-based campaign. Well, maybe Obama in 2008, but even he drew some criticism.

Was it a sugar high? Maybe. But the situation has her supporters pretty nervous. Yet all this will be forgotten if she does well in the ABC debate, with Trump working the refs by calling it the “meanest” network.

LIBERAL THINK TANK’S DEEP TIES TO BIDEN ADMIN, FAR-LEFT POLICIES COULD COME BACK TO HAUNT HARRIS CAMPAIGN

Here is one game that both sides are playing. Since both have flip-flopped as they move toward the middle, they are taking old or outdated positions and pretending they are current stances.

This is a particular problem for Kamala, since she has walked away from her left-wing rhetoric of 2019, when she didn’t make it to Iowa. She said she was against fracking, for decriminalizing the border and for abolishing private health insurance. 

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event in Detroit, Michigan, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Emily Elconin/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

And for the most part, she has done this without explanation, other than having anonymous aides say, oh, she doesn’t believe that anymore.

That has enabled Trump to say that despite her reversal, she will ban fracking, a huge issue in Pennsylvania, after all. 

This is where doing more interviews might have helped her, and I hope she’ll do more after the debate.

HOW TRUMP, OR KAMALA, COULD WIN, AS ALL SIDES ZERO IN ON THE DEBATE

On the other side, with Trump opposing Florida’s six-week abortion ban, endorsing free IVF treatments and vowing not to sign a national abortion ban, Harris insists he will sign such a ban – and noting that he bragged about his three justices overturning Roe. This, in turn, has sparked a backlash among some pro-life groups.

Corey Lewandowski told me on “Media Buzz” that Harris is running on abortion because it’s the only issue that favors Democrats, who he argued have the extreme position by allowing the procedure through the ninth month.

Corey Lewandowski, former campaign manager of former US President Donald Trump, during the Republican National Convention (RNC) at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, on Thursday, July 18, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In similar fashion, Kamala insists that Trump will carry out the Heritage plan Project 2025, despite the fact that he has repeatedly disavowed it and called parts of it abysmal.

For voters who don’t follow the campaign as incessantly as journalists and politicos, this may all seem rather confusing. But ultimately the debate, and the election, won’t turn on policy.

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Trump has a four-year term in the White House to praise or pick apart. Kamala has to make viewers on all the networks that will simulcast the ABC debate comfortable with her both as a likable person and a potential commander-in-chief.

My own gut feeling is that this will be the only debate between the two. If one of them starts agitating for more debates later on, that will be the candidate who feels like he or she needs a do-over.

President Biden has signed two executive orders since dropping out of the 2024 race, trailing past presidents at this point during an election year. 

On Friday, Biden traveled to the battleground state of Michigan, where he signed what the White House billed as his “Good Jobs” executive order following a visit with labor union members in Ann Arbor. 

“I signed an executive order to make sure that the most… the largest federal construction projects that are being built in America are built with project labor agreements,” Biden said in Ann Arbor, adding, “It’s a big deal.” 

Biden had signed just one other executive order since his unprecedented July 21 announcement that he was discontinuing his re-election bid and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris. 

HARRIS FINALLY ADDS POLICY PAGE TO CAMPAIGN WEBSITE, DEVOTES SEVERAL SECTIONS TO TRUMP

President Biden leaves St. Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church in Wilmington, Delaware, after attending a mass, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Biden signed an executive order on July 25, establishing an emergency board to investigate a dispute between New Jersey Transit Rail Operations and its locomotive engineers represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. Just days before dropping out, Biden signed a July 17 executive order “on advancing educational equity, excellence, and economic opportunity through Hispanic-serving institutions.”

Biden’s rate is far lower than his most recent predecessors at this point in their presidencies. Former President Trump signed seven executive orders in August 2020. Similarly, former President Obama signed five executive orders in August 2016 during the last year of his presidency. 

Elon Musk is among those commenting online about Biden’s perceived lack of governance. 

“I keep forgetting that Biden is still technically in charge of the country,” Musk, the tech billionaire owner of X, wrote on his platform Sunday. 

Trump, the current Republican presidential nominee, teased a new executive order of his own during a campaign rally in Wisconsin on Saturday. 

“I will sign an executive order banning any federal employee from colluding to limit speech. And we will fire every federal bureaucrat who is engaged in domestic censorship under the Harris regime,” Trump said. 

Former President Trump departs a campaign event at Central Wisconsin Airport, Sept. 7, 2024, in Mosinee, Wisconsin. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House on Monday about Biden’s lag behind Trump and Obama’s executive order record but did not immediately hear back. 

HOUSE DEMS ISSUE RESPONSE TO GOP REPORT ON BIDEN’S WITHDRAWAL FROM AFGHANISTAN

Trump’s seven executive orders in August 2020 included those “targetting opportunity zones and other distressed communities for federal site locations,” “fighting the spread of COVID-19 by providing assistance to renters and homeowners,” and “combating public health emergencies and strengthening national security by ensuring essential medicines, medical countermeasures, and critical inputs are made in the United States.” 

The Republican president’s orders that month also centered on “addressing the threat posed by WeChat, and taking additional steps to address the national emergency with respect to the information and communications technology and services supply chain,” “addressing the threat posed by TikTok, and taking additional steps to address the national emergency with respect to the information and communications technology and services supply chain,” “improving rural health and telehealth access,” and “aligning federal contracting and hiring practices with the interests of American workers.” 

President Biden is hugged by Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., at a signing ceremony after speaking to labor union members about his Investing in America agenda in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Friday, Sep. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

In August 2016, Obama signed executive orders providing an order of succession within the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of the Treasury. 

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That month, the Democrat commander in chief, whom Biden served as vice president, also signed amendments to two prior executive orders from 2014, one that focused on promoting “economy and efficiency in procurement by contracting with responsible sources who comply with labor laws” and another to expand membership on the president’s advisory council on doing business in Africa. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

The Biden-Harris administration’s handling of health care policies under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has resulted in the $266 billion diversion from Medicare to green energy – leading to a 21.5% increase in Part D premiums and a drastic reduction in available plans – according to an analysis by the Health Market and Policy Network, led by Joe Grogan, former domestic policy assistant under the Trump administration.

The administration’s intervention, including a $10 billion subsidy to insurers, is a temporary measure to mask the deeper issues created by these changes, the analysis sent to health care groups on Monday said.

The analysis, which comes just one day before the presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump, also criticized the administration’s handling of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Medicare Advantage (MA) plans for allegedly enabling widespread fraud and costing billions, while cuts and stricter regulations have made it harder for seniors to access benefits. 

HEALTH CARE IS ‘OVERWHELMINGLY COMPLEX’ FOR OLDER ADULTS, EXPERTS SAY: ‘EVER-INCREASING HURDLE’

Vice President Kamala Harris is embraced by President Biden during a campaign event at IBEW Local Union #5 on Sept. 2, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

“With a presidential debate looming and a quick sprint to Election Day, health care policy will be debated vigorously,” Grogan told Fox News Digital. “Because many in the legacy media have been all too eager to advance the Biden administration’s progressive narrative that only greater government control and more deficit spending will make America healthier, a more sober assessment of the Biden-Harris record is essential to help Americans understand the issues.” 

“Our brief analysis reveals a series of failures in health care policy – catastrophically flawed legislation, counterproductive regulations, and an executive branch more committed to control than positive health care outcomes,” he added.

The analysis also states that the Biden-Harris administration “suppressed medical perspectives counter to their preferred narratives and censored dissident scientists.”

By boosting subsidies and offering free plans to people above the poverty line, they encouraged some to falsely claim low incomes, the report claimed. As a result, up to 5 million people were fraudulently enrolled, costing taxpayers $15 billion to $20 billion in 2024. 

“Due to poor oversight of ACA brokers, reports broke this year of ACA plans being switched and of thousands of other Americans being enrolled in ACA-backed plans, all without their knowledge or consent,” the report states.

The Biden-Harris administration’s changes to Medicare Advantage (MA) plans have also reduced payments to insurers and made it harder for these plans to offer extra benefits for seniors. New restrictions and lower payments may lead to higher costs for beneficiaries and fewer benefits like dental and vision care, according to the report.

The administration also “prioritized radical identity politics over medical expertise,” according to the analysis, and in 2021, they offered extra pay to doctors who made plans to focus on race in their care. They also required brain research groups to include diversity goals in their funding applications.

BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION USING TAXPAYER MONEY TO MASK MEDICARE PREMIUM HIKES BEFORE ELECTION: CRITICS

The analysis says the Biden-Harris admin “suppressed medical perspectives counter to their preferred narratives and censored dissident scientists.” (iStock)

In a move critics say is designed to shield the Biden-Harris administration from election fallout, the administration also leveraged taxpayer funds to mask upcoming increases in Medicare premiums last month.

Under the IRA, which was intended to cap out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries, insurers are poised to significantly hike monthly premiums, with average bids for Part D plans expected to triple by 2025.

Americans are also dealing with a spike in the cost of prescription drugs, which has surged nearly 40% over the past decade, easily outstripping the pace of inflation. 

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In response to potential voter backlash, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rolled out a three-year “demonstration project” to subsidize these premiums in August, aiming to keep them artificially low. However, despite the appearance of relief, some critics are saying that taxpayers will fund a dramatic increase in subsidies – from $30 per recipient per month in 2024 to $142.70 in 2025 – raising concerns about the long-term impact on government spending and debt. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment but did not hear back by publication deadline. 

FOX Business’ Megan Henney contributed to this report.