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FIRST ON FOX: Abortion is not a primary issue on the ballot for Black voters this election, according to Chicago Southside Republicans Chair Devin Jones. Instead, he said, Black voters – particularly men – are much more concerned about financial opportunities and entrepreneurship.

“I think if the Trump campaign definitely hit harder on the issues that specifically impact the Black community, for instance, inflation, which has made it harder to afford basic necessities, I think there is a jobs crisis, unemployment and an entrepreneurship crisis in the Black community,” Jones told Fox News Digital in an interview. “And so if there were surrogates who specifically outlined policies that talked about those things and directed it to the Black community.”

Former President Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, hopes to earn more of the Black vote in what is turning out to be a neck and neck race against Vice President Harris, the Democrat nominee, and has previously said he’s growing in popularity among Black men.

PRO-LIFERS BLAST TRUMP ‘BETRAYAL’ WITH SHIFTING ABORTION STANCE, ANSWER ON FLORIDA AMENDMENT 4

Republican presidential nominee former President Trump responds to a question from a reporter during a campaign event in Howell, Mich. (Nic Antaya/Getty Images)

During Trump’s first term, he championed several initiatives aimed at Black voters, including opportunity zones and funding historically black colleges. 

“This is a very progressive area,” Jones said of Chicago. “And a lot of our issues, as far as joblessness, the housing crisis, the lack of entrepreneurship opportunities, is because of a state and local government that produces heavy regulation, heavy taxation, which means that there’s less opportunity. So, I think if he could speak to how at the federal level he would be a partner to us as we fight against local overreach, that would go a long way to capturing kind of those on the fence and even some Black Democrats.”

Jones also said when he’s talking to people on the ground, he doesn’t normally “hear people talking about abortion like that,” even though the issue of abortion has been catapulted in recent weeks to the spotlight for both the Democrat and Republican platforms. 

HARRIS REPEATS DEBUNKED CLAIM TRUMP WANTS TO ‘BAN’ ABORTION DURING FIRST CAMPAIGN RALLY SINCE BIDEN QUIT RACE

Arizona residents rally for abortion rights in Phoenix after the state Supreme Court ruled that an abortion ban law from 1864 is enforceable. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

“Abortion is an issue because the vast majority of abortions are because of financial issues,” Jones said. “So, if you remedy the lack of economic opportunity and ability to provide for families, you will see a decrease in abortion,” Jones said. “Now me, personally, I would like to see President Trump and any Republican have a hard line stance against abortion.”

Trump’s latest – and clearest – comments about Florida’s Amendment 4, which would upend the state’s ban on abortions after six weeks’ gestation and enshrine a constitutional right to abortion in the state, may blunt some of the criticism he’s received from pro-life advocates. After Trump made remarks on Thursday that appeared to indicate he might back the amendment, he told Fox News Channel’s Bryan Llenas on Friday afternoon: “I’ll be voting ‘no.'”

JD VANCE VOWS TRUMP WOULD NOT IMPOSE FEDERAL ABORTION BAN, VETO IT IF IT COMES ACROSS HIS DESK

Pro-life activists protest Aug. 20, outside a Planned Parenthood mobile van offering free vasectomies and medicinal abortions near the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. (Fox News Digital)

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Florida voters will have the final say on Amendment 4 at the polls in November.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.

The 2024 Election season is reaching its crescendo.

Labor Day traditionally marks the final stretch ahead of a presidential election, and there are just nine weeks of campaigning left until Election Day on Nov. 5.

In a slew of states, however, the election actually gets underway this month. In swing state North Carolina, mail-in voting begins on Sept. 6. Early voting begins on Sept. 16 in Pennsylvania and Sept. 26 in Michigan, two other crucial electoral battlegrounds.

With the clock ticking, former President Donald Trump says he has the momentum.

BIDEN TEAMS UP WITH HARRIS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE DROPPING OUT OF 2024 RACE

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Droke)

“We’re leading in the polls now,” the former president said in an interview Friday with Fox News’ Bryan Llenas.

Minutes later, at a rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Trump touted that “our poll numbers are starting to skyrocket.”

NEW FOX NEWS POLL NUMBERS IN 4 KEY BATTLEGROUND STATES

Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris is urging her supporters to “not pay too much attention to the polls because we are running as the underdog.”

Harris, at a rally in Savannah, Georgia, late last week, pointed to her showdown with Trump and said, “We have some hard work ahead of us.”

Vice President Kamala Harris points to supporters as she arrives at a rally in Savannah, Georgia, on Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Most of the latest national surveys show Harris with a slight single-digit edge over Trump, but the presidential election is not a national popular vote contest. It is a battle for the individual states and their electoral votes.

The latest surveys in the seven battleground states that decided the 2020 election between Trump and President Biden – and will likely determine the outcome of the 2024 showdown – indicate a margin-of-error race. Among those polls are a batch from Fox News that made headlines last week.

It is a big change from earlier this summer when Biden was still running.

Biden’s disastrous performance against Trump in their late June debate turned up the volume of existing doubts from Americans that the 81-year-old president would have the physical and mental stamina to handle another four years in the White House. It also sparked a rising chorus of calls from top Democratic Party allies and elected officials for Biden to drop out of the race.

National and battleground state polls conducted in July indicated Trump had opened up a small but significant lead over Biden.

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. (Getty Images)

The president dropped his re-election bid on July 21 and endorsed his vice president, and Democrats immediately coalesced around Harris, who quickly enjoyed a boost in her poll numbers and in fundraising.

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Still, pollsters and political analysts stress that the Harris-Trump contest remains a coin-flip at this point.

While Trump touts his standing, the vice president predicts that “this is going to be a tight race until the very end.” 

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

Six weeks after he ended his re-election campaign amid rising calls from his own party to drop out of the race, President Biden returns to the campaign trail for the first time on Monday.

It will be the first of a “robust” schedule of campaign appearances by the president on behalf of Vice President Kamala Harris over the next two months, a White House official tells Fox News.

“President Biden will be leaning in heavily over the next several months to finish the job,” White House communications director Ben LaBolt said.

Biden will team up with Harris, whom he endorsed and who replaced him atop the Democrats’ 2024 ticket, at a Labor Day event in Pittsburgh, a union stronghold and the biggest city in the western half of the key battleground state of Pennsylvania.

TRUMP TOUTS HE’S WINNING; HARRIS CALLS HERSELF THE ‘UNDERDOG’

President Biden stands with Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, left, and first lady Jill Biden during the first day of the Democratic National Convention on Monday, Aug. 19, 2024 in Chicago. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

It is part of a full court press by the Harris campaign on Labor Day in some of the seven key swing states that will likely determine the winner of the vice president’s election showdown with former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.

LaBolt said that going forward, Biden will be “campaigning to elect Vice President Harris and Governor Walz and spending time with core constituencies with whom he has a long relationship, continuing to deploy investments in manufacturing, infrastructure, and emerging industries like clean energy, and strengthening our alliances on the world stage.”

NEW FOX NEWS POLL NUMBERS IN 4 KEY BATTLEGROUND STATES

Biden’s disastrous performance against Trump in their late June debate turned up the volume on existing concerns from Americans that the 81-year-old president would have the physical and mental stamina to handle another four years in the White House. It also sparked a rising chorus of calls from top Democratic Party allies and elected officials for Biden to drop out of the race, which he did on July 21.

Biden was showered with chants of “thank you, Joe” as he teamed up with Harris on Aug. 15 in Largo, Maryland, for their first joint appearance since his departure from the 2024 race. While it was billed as an official White House event to announce that the federal government had negotiated lower prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies that will likely save Americans billions of dollars, the gathering had the feel of a political rally.

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

Four days later, Biden was praised and applauded on a much larger scale, as he gave the headliner address on the first night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. It was a remarkable moment for a president, who weeks earlier was essentially pushed out of the race by his own party.

Harris, in a surprise appearance, joined her boss at the podium inside Chicago’s United Center following his speech.

Since replacing Biden as the party’s standard-bearer, Harris has enjoyed a rise in the polls and a surge in fundraising as part of the wave of momentum and energy she continues to ride.

Biden remains popular with many in the base of his party, and the president has a long history of campaigning on behalf of fellow Democrats. He was the most requested Democratic Party surrogate during the 2018 midterm elections when the party reclaimed control of the House.

BIDEN PASSES TORCH TO HARRIS AT FIRST NIGHT OF DEMOCRATS’ CONVENTION

A source in Biden’s political orbit told Fox News that the president continues to have “a lot of political appeal and juice with some of the key voters that we’re going to need to win in November.”

The strategist, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, told Fox News that “the stakes of the election are what got him to run for re-election. It’s what he thinks about every single day… Just because it’s not his name on the ticket doesn’t mean that he doesn’t care just as much about winning this election. That’s why you’ll see him fighting, because all the stuff that he said when he was running he still believes.”

“Going to Pittsburgh, talking about the economy and reaching the voters that he has strength with, I think you’ll see him do that a lot,” the source added.

The president said this weekend that his stop in Pittsburgh, a city he has frequently visited over the years, would be the first of many campaign trail appearances between now and November’s election.

President Biden speaks to reporters outside of St. Edmond’s Roman Catholic Church in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, after attending a mass on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

“I am on the road from there on,” the president told reporters on Saturday.

However, there are some risks with putting Biden back on the campaign trail. While his approval ratings have slightly edged up since he dropped his re-election bid, they remain well underwater.

Additionally, while Harris repeatedly works to portray herself as a leader who will chart a “new path forward,” Biden is a reminder to voters of the present and the past.

Sources in the Harris campaign confirm that going forward the president and vice president will campaign together at times – and that Biden will focus on Pennsylvania, as well as Michigan and Wisconsin, the two other 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.

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Biden heads to Wisconsin and Michigan later this week to tout the administration’s efforts to lower costs, for official events that will likely pack a political punch, thanks to the president’s continued appeal with White, working-class voters and union members.

LaBolt said that the president’s schedule going forward “will be robust and he plans to leave it all on the field in securing as much progress as possible for hardworking Americans, be that through implementation or legislative action.”

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

The Senate race in Michigan has emerged as a much bigger Republican pickup opportunity than originally imagined as former Rep. Mike Rogers recently tied his Democrat opponent with a key group, according to a new poll. 

Michigan Republican strategist Jason Cabel Roe was not initially expecting the Republican traction that Rogers is now seeing in the state due to Michigan’s recent history of electing primarily Democrat senators. 

GOP operatives have agreed that the Michigan race’s status has come as a welcome surprise. 

“It seems like Michigan may be a little bit more competitive than Ohio,” a senior Republican strategist told Fox News Digital, remarking that races in West Virginia, Montana and Ohio have been traditionally understood as the best Republican opportunities this cycle. 

TRUMP’S FLORIDA ALLIES OPPOSE ABORTION AMENDMENT AS FORMER PRESIDENT DECIDES HOW TO VOTE

The Michigan Senate race between Elissa Slotkin and Mike Rogers is more competitive than initially predicted. (Associated Press)

“What I’ve seen shows that Michigan is extremely competitive,” he explained. 

The seat is currently occupied by outgoing Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.

In a new AARP-commissioned Michigan poll, Rogers is tied with Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., among voters over 50 years old, 46%-46%. With all voters, the race remains tight, with Slotkin slightly ahead, 47% to 44%. 

Bob Ward, a partner with the bipartisan polling team Fabrizio Ward, said it is “definitely a battleground Senate race.”

GOP SENATORS LOOK TO TIE CRACKDOWN ON NONCITIZEN VOTING TO MUST-PASS SPENDING BILL

Rogers is endorsed by former President Trump. (REUTERS/Jeenah Moon)

Slotkin led Rogers by just one point among registered voters, 42% to 41%, in a separate poll from the New York Times and Siena College in early August. 

Rogers has demonstrated his race as one of the closest this cycle so far and operatives have pointed to several reasons.

HARRIS WAS ‘OPEN’ TO PACKING SUPREME COURT DURING 2019 PRESIDENTIAL BID

Slotkin is currently a House representative. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

Cabel Roe cited the Michigan race as evidence of the importance of candidate quality when it comes to winning elections. He said Rogers, a former congressman and chair of the House Intel committee, is a better prospect than some of the other Republicans running in tight Senate races across the country. 

Further, he noted the fact that Rogers isn’t taking on an incumbent like many of the other Republicans. Because of this, Slotkin faces many of the same challenges in her campaign for the Senate seat that Rogers does. 

One aspect that Cabel Roe said may have been overlooked in considering the competitiveness of Michigan is the relatively large Muslim constituency and their disapproval of the Biden-Harris administration’s actions in the war in Gaza between Israel and terrorist group Hamas. 

HARRIS CAMPAIGN MANAGER IGNORES PRESS CONFERENCE QUESTION AS VP HITS 33 DAYS WITHOUT ONE

Anti-Israel protesters disrupt Vice President Harris during her campaign rally at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, Mich., on Aug. 7, 2024. (Adam J. Dewey/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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Cabel Roe doesn’t expect disaffected Muslim voters to turn to Republicans but said they could choose not to vote at all, hurting Democrats. 

Last month, nonpartisan political handicapper the Cook Political Report shifted the Michigan Senate race from “Lean Democratic” to “Toss Up,” reflecting the election’s competitive nature. Also in the category are Senate races in Montana and Ohio. 

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

Former Democrat congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard weighed in on former President Trump’s appearance at the Arlington National Cemetery, defending his campaign against recent criticism.

Gabbard, who attended the ceremony alongside Trump, said she did not witness the alleged altercation between campaign staff and a cemetery official at the event. The Army released a statement last week saying a cemetery official had been “pushed aside” while attempting to enforce a ban on photography.

Gabbard said during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” that she was told the Trump campaign had received permission to bring a camera for the occasion.

“I checked with the campaign on this question, and they have exchanges with the officials at Arlington Cemetery. They were approved to bring a camera there to document this historic and momentous day that should not be forgotten by any American,” Gabbard told host Dana Bash.

TRUMP IMPERSONATES ELON MUSK TALKING ABOUT ROCKETS: ‘I’M DOING A NEW STAINLESS STEEL HUB’

Former Democrat congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard weighed in on former President Trump’s appearance at the Arlington National Cemetery on Sunday. (Alex Wong)

“Do you think that the campaign will release that communication that you’re talking about?” Bash pressed.

“I thought they already had. I was informed that they had come to an agreement they could bring a camera there. And as far as I know, in the public statements I have seen from the Army is that the matter is closed,” Gabbard responded.

HARRIS SLAMS TRUMP OVER ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY ALTERCATION, PROMPTING FIERY RESPONSE FROM JD VANCE

The Army, however, said in a statement last week that the Trump campaign had been warned about existing bans on photography at the event.

“Participants in the August 26th ceremony and the subsequent Section 60 visit were made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and DoD policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds. An ANC employee who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside,” the Army said.

The Army said in a statement last week that the Trump campaign had been warned about existing bans on photography at the event. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“Consistent with the decorum expected at ANC, this employee acted with professionalism and avoided further disruption. The incident was reported to the JBM-HH police department, but the employee subsequently decided not to press charges. Therefore, the Army considers this matter closed,” the statement continued.

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

The Abandon Biden campaign is relaunching and “intensifying” its campaign, this time focusing its efforts against Vice President Kamala Harris in key swing states.

The campaign released a statement on X last week, announcing that it is “ramping up efforts in key swing states to rally Muslim-Americans and their allies against the Harris-Walz ticket.”

“This action is a direct response to Kamala Harris’ support for the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” the Abandon Harris campaign said in the release.

The movement, which originated in the heavily-Muslim populated city of Dearborn, Michigan, first targeted the re-election campaign of President Biden during primary season, arguing that the president’s continued support for Israel made it necessary for the community to send a message to the Democratic Party.

HARRIS CLAIMS SHE ‘MADE CLEAR’ HER POSITION ON FRACKING IN 2020 – TRANSCRIPT SHOWS ANOTHER STORY

Along with movements such as the “Vote Uncommitted” movement that bubbled up in Dearborn around the same time, the campaigns were able to get over 100,000 voters to cast uncommitted ballots during the Michigan primary earlier this year.

Biden’s decision to drop out of the race in July and the subsequent elevation of Harris to the top of the ticket seemingly cracked the door open that members of the movement may be able to rally support for the Democratic ticket, but tensions between Harris and the campaign’s leaders have continued as the vice president has failed to fully commit to their demands.

“We are not interested in hollow rhetoric, empty platitudes, or shallow calls for a ceasefire while the Biden-Harris administration continues to send weapons to Israel, enabling the indiscriminate slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza and fueling a wider regional conflict,” the campaign said in the release. “Words without meaningful action are meaningless, and the continued complicity in these atrocities will not be tolerated.”

During the primary season, the group was able to spread its influence from Michigan to Wisconsin, two critical swing states in November’s election. Both states have been decided by razor-thin margins in the previous two presidential elections, making the lack of support from a demographic that has leaned heavily Democratic for much of the last 20 years a potentially decisive factor in the states.

Professor Hassan Abdel Salam, founder of Abandon Biden, speaks to a few dozen fellow pro Palestinian activists gathering outside of the Biden campaign rally at the A. Phillip Randolph Vocational Technical Center in Detroit, Michigan, on July 12, 2024, to protest the Biden administration’s support for Israeli attacks on Gaza.  ((Photo by Adam J. Dewey/Anadolu via Getty Images))

HUCKABEE SANDERS BLASTS HARRIS FOR DOING JOINT INTERVIEW WITH WALZ: CAN’T DO IT ‘BY HERSELF’

As of Sunday, the Real Clear Politics Polling average shows Harris with slim leads in both states, coming in with a 1.1 point lead in Michigan and a 1.4 point lead in Wisconsin.

The campaign has also looked to expand to other swing states, having had success pivoting to states such as Minnesota during the primary season.

While the group did not offer support for the campaign of former President Donald Trump, it urged supporters “to avoid falling into the complacent trap of abstaining from the 2024 election” and “to vote against genocide and to support third-party candidates as a clear message that we reject any party that participates in or supports genocide.”

“At this time, we have not issued an endorsement of any specific third-party candidate. If and when that changes, we will announce it,” the release said.

Demonstrators with the group “Abandon Biden” hold signs during a news conference prior to President Joe Biden’s visit in Saginaw, Michigan, on Thursday, March 14, 2024. (Photographer: Nic Antaya/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“Abandon Biden, now Abandon Harris, will not cede a single inch,” the release continued. “We remain firm and steadfast in our convictions and our mission to ensure that the party currently supporting, funding and enabling the Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza is defeated at the polls.”

Reached for comment by Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for Abandon Harris said that the campaign had “extended an olive branch to Kamala Harris and expressed our openness to dialogue” after Biden’s decision to drop out of the race.

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“After nearly a month of waiting, during which she had a disastrous rally in Michigan where she inadvertently revealed her stance on those protesting the genocide in Gaza, we launched Abandon Harris on August 19,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that the organization believes there is nothing Harris can do to regain their support, but noted that they do not encourage anyone to vote for Trump.

“We remember Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, as well as his stance during Gaza’s Great March of Return,” the spokesperson said. “We have consistently urged voters not to support either the Democratic or Republican parties, while also making it clear that sitting out the election is not an acceptable option.”

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

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. urged President Biden and Israel to take action against Iran after six more hostages were killed, calling Vice President Harris a “wrecking ball on foreign policy.” 

Appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” Graham reacted to the news that Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin was among the six hostages whom the Israel Defense Forces reported finding brutally murdered by Hamas as Israeli forces were close to rescuing them.

“Heartbroken. Yeah. Devastated. Mad. John and Rachel have done everything in their power to help their son be released from captivity after 11 months of captivity,” Graham said, referencing Goldberg-Polin’s parents. “He was murdered by Hamas. Hamas [couldn’t] care less about the hostages or the Palestinians. And if you want the hostages home, which we all do, you have to increase the cost to Iran.”

“Iran is the Great Satan here. Hamas is the junior partner. They’re barbaric, religious Nazis, Hamas,” Graham continued. “They [couldn’t] care less about the Palestinian people. I would urge the Biden administration and Israel to hold Iran accountable for the fate of remaining hostages, and put on the target list oil refineries in Iran if the hostages are not released.” 

The IDF said all six hostages had been killed shortly before the arrival of Israeli forces. 

Hamas terrorists seized Goldberg-Polin, 23, and four of the other hostages at a music festival in southern Israel during the Oct. 7 attack. The native of Berkeley, California, lost part of his left arm to a grenade in the attack. In April, a Hamas-issued video showed him alive but with his left hand missing, sparking new protests in Israel.

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

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., calls Kamala Harris a foreign policy “wrecking ball.”  (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

The Israeli army identified the other dead hostages as Ori Danino, 25; Eden Yerushalmi, 24; Almog Sarusi, 27; and Alexander Lobanov, 33; who were also taken from the music festival. The sixth, Carmel Gat, 40, was abducted from the nearby farming community of Be’eri. The IDF said the bodies were recovered from a tunnel in Rafah, around a half a mile from where another hostage, Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, was rescued alive last week.

Graham accused Harris of “sending a signal” to terrorists in the Middle East that the United States doesn’t have Israel’s back when she boycotted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address before a joint session of Congress.

“She’s been a senator. She’s attorney general. She’s now vice president. Obviously, she has some talent. But here’s what I would say. On foreign policy, she’s been a wrecking ball,” Graham said. “On Israel, she sat there and listened to somebody call the Israeli government and people engaging in genocide and did nothing about it. She boycotted Bibi’s speech to the Congress, sending a signal to Hamas and Iran that America really doesn’t have Israel’s back. She was cheerleading the withdrawal from Afghanistan. She’s bragged about being the last person in the room, the dumbest decision maybe in modern history by American administration.”

“I was in Munich when she warned the Russians not to invade Ukraine. Four days later, they did. She’s been in charge of the border,” he continued. “I don’t know what the hell she’s been doing on the border, but we’ve got more terrorists in our country than any time in history. And fentanyl poisoning is the leading cause of death among young people in America.”

The Israeli army identified the bodies of six hostages found in Gaza.  (Fox News)

“She’s been a wrecking ball on foreign policy,” Graham stated. “It’s been the most incompetent administration I can remember on things that matter to the American people, your safety and your prosperity.”

HARRIS SLAMS TRUMP OVER ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY ALTERCATION, PROMPTING FIERY RESPONSE FROM JD VANCE

Graham was asked about a reported altercation at Arlington National Cemetery, where former President Trump was invited by the families of the 13 U.S. service members killed at Abbey Gate to participate in a wreath-laying ceremony on the three-year anniversary of the Aug. 26, 2021, ISIS-K bombing that happened during the Biden administration’s Afghanistan withdrawal. 

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

“I’m all for looking at what happened. But you know what really is unfortunate? That these families had to go visit their fallen loved ones at Arlington due to incompetence by the Biden administration,” Graham told ABC. “You know, I’ve tried to work with President Biden to get Saudi Arabia and Israel to reconcile. I’ve supported a lot of their … nominees. I’ve known President Biden for a long time, but Vice President Harris bragged about being the last person in the room, cheerleading the withdrawal of all forces that led to the death of these13. Rising terrorism, combine that with a broken border – another 9/11 coming our way. So what I take away from this whole debate about Arlington is why they died, how they died, and the incompetency that led to their death to the American people.”

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“We’ve lost deterrence. Nobody in the world is afraid of Kamala Harris. She has become, in my view, ineffective, in terms of a voice for America. So if you want to avoid more dead Americans, vote for Trump,” he added. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Trump campaign, the 45th president and Gold Star families launched a scathing defense attack against Vice President Kamala Harris over Labor Day weekend, after the Democratic nominee claimed that Trump had “disrespected sacred ground” at Arlington National Cemetery. 

“You should be ashamed and embarrassed [about] your lack of empathy and decency as a human being,” Darren Hoover, the father of Marine Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, said in a video shared by Trump and directed at Harris. “You are only in this for the power and prestige. You don’t care for our military or the citizens of this country.

Hoover was one of eight Gold Star family members who recorded video messages published on Trump’s X account slamming Harris for claiming that Trump had “disrespected sacred ground” last week at Arlington National Cemetery on the anniversary of the Biden-Harris’s administration’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan that left 13 U.S. service members killed. 

Trump joined Gold Star families at the national cemetery in Virginia last Monday for a wreath-laying ceremony to honor the 13 service members who were killed during the terrorist attack at Abbey Gate outside Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport on Aug. 26, 2021. 

HARRIS CONSPICUOUSLY ABSENT FROM PUBLIC MEMORIALS HONORING SERVICE MEMBERS KILLED IN AFGHAN EXIT SHE BACKED

Kamala Harris was called out by Gold Star families over a statement she released about Trump on Saturday. (Getty Images)

Families of those who died said they had invited Trump to the public event, and also had approved a Trump campaign photographer to record the event, Fox News previously reported. 

Following the event, media outlets such as NPR and the Associated Press reported that the photographer had recorded footage in a restricted area that prohibits political activity, with the U.S. Army adding that a cemetery staffer had been ​​”abruptly pushed aside” during the event. 

“Participants in the August 26th ceremony and the subsequent Section 60 visit were made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and DoD policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds. An ANC employee who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside,” the Army said in a statement.

HARRIS LEAVES OUT DEADLY BOTCHED AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL IN SOARING PRO-MILITARY DNC SPEECH

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung argued that the staffer who had blocked the campaign photographers appeared to be having a “mental health episode.” He also specified that the campaign had been granted approval to bring a photographer.

Republican presidential nominee former U.S. President Donald Trump stands alongside Bill Barnett (L), whose grandson Staff Sgt Darin Taylor Hoover died in Abbey Gate Bombing, during a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on August 26, 2024, in Arlington, Virginia. Monday marks three years since the August 26, 2021, suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport, which killed 13 American service members.  (Getty Images )

“The fact is that a private photographer was permitted on the premises and, for whatever reason, an unnamed individual, clearly suffering from a mental health episode, decided to physically block members of President Trump’s team during a very solemn ceremony,” he said.

GOLD STAR DAD SAYS BIDEN-HARRIS ‘DENIED’ SON’S SERVICE AS FALLEN AFGHANISTAN SOLDIERS HONORED IN CALIFORNIA

President Joe Biden sits in a beach chair as his wife, Jill bends over behind him on Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Wednesday, August 28, 2024. The President, who is not seeking re-election is on a vacation with some of his family.  (Leigh Green)

Harris was, meanwhile, conspicuously absent from any public events or memorial services to honor the service members, only issuing a statement Monday morning, while President Biden was in the midst of back-to-back vacations in California and then Delaware. Biden also released a White House statement last week honoring the service members killed. 

ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY EMPLOYEE WHO WAS ‘ABRUPTLY PUSHED ASIDE’ AT TRUMP VISIT WON’T PRESS CHARGES: ARMY

Trump participated in a wreath laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on the third-year anniversary of the Abbey Gate bombing that killed 13 U.S. service members during the Afghanistan withdrawal. (Pool)

The controversy over the Arlington cemetery visit intensified this weekend, when Harris posted an attack against Trump’s visit on Saturday. 

“Donald Trump’s team chose to film a video there, resulting in an altercation with cemetery staff. Let me be clear: the former president disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt,” she posted in part. 

REPUBLICANS SLAM HARRIS FOR BEING ‘LAST PERSON IN THE ROOM’ WHEN BIDEN MADE CALL TO EVACUATE AFGHANISTAN

The post was soon followed by a cascade of messages from the Trump campaign, Trump supporters and Gold Star families slamming Harris for her comments on X, with the loved ones of those who died in Afghanistan shaming Harris for “playing politics” and blaming the Biden-Harris administration for the deaths of the 13 service members. 

​​”Your administration killed my son,” said Steve Nikoui, Father of Lance Corporal Kareem M. Nikoui, “you were not at Dover for the dignified transfer . . . not once have you honored him by saying his name.”

‘YOU’RE FIRED’: TRUMP VOWS PINK SLIPS ON DAY 1 FOR EVERY OFFICIAL RESPONSIBLE FOR ‘AFGHANISTAN CALAMITY’

​​”It’s been three years since my son was killed in action, and myself, my family and other Gold Star families have not seen any support from you or your administration,” said Herman Lopez, father of Corporal Hunter Lopez.

“Why did we want Trump there? It wasn’t to help his political campaign,” Mark Schmitz, the father of Marine Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, said in the video. “We wanted a leader. That explains why you and Joe didn’t get a call.”

THREE YEARS LATER, AFGHANISTAN WAR VETERANS HAVEN’T FORGOTTEN – HAVE YOU?

“In keeping with the reverence and respect that is given to all members of our military that are buried there, we invited President Trump,” Hoover said. “We are the ones that asked for the video and the pictures to be taken at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.”

GOLD STAR DAD RECALLS KNOCK AT HIS DOOR THAT ‘CHANGED EVERYTHING’

Hoover also added that Trump has “been there for us from the very beginning,” and criticized Harris for “playing politics” over the incident.

Trump published each video on his X account in quote posts responding to Harris. 

Trump’s campaign also slammed Harris for the message, with Ohio. Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, asking Harris to turn her attention to opening an investigation into the 13 service member’s deaths instead of posting on social media. 

BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION IN ‘DENIAL’ ABOUT BOTCHED AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL, HR MCMASTER SAYS

“President Trump was there at the invitation of families whose loved ones died because of your incompetence,” Vance posted to X on Saturday. “Why don’t you get off social media and go launch an investigation into their unnecessary deaths?”

Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt added on X that “Kamala’s stupidity led to one of the most embarrassing events in American history and 13 brave US soldiers being killed.”

“Kamala Harris bragged about being the last person in the room with Joe Biden when they decided on their terrible Afghanistan withdrawal plan,” Leavitt posted. . . . She has never said their names. She has never reached out to their families. For this alone, Kamala does not deserve to be elected. Kamala has already proven that she would be a dangerously incompetent Commander in Chief.”

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

In addition to the deaths of the 13 U.S. service members defending the Kabul airport during the botched withdrawal, hundreds of Americans and tens of thousands of Afghan allies were left in the country under Taliban rule. Critics such as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said the withdrawal paved the way for adversaries such as Russia to invade Ukraine. 

The Taliban ultimately claimed control of Afghanistan following the withdrawal. 

on August 29th, Vice President Kamala Harris, along with Tim Walz, held her first sit-down interview since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye)

Harris previously confirmed that she was the “last person in the room” with Biden before he made the decision to withdraw and also told the media that she was “comfortable” with the operation that ultimately turned deadly and chaotic.

Other commenters and supporters of Trump sounded off on Harris’ attack on social media, including pointing to how Biden was infamously photographed checking his watch on the tarmac of Dover Air Force Base during the dignified transfer of the soldiers when they arrived home in 2021.

The Gold Star families of those killed in Afghanistan railing against Biden and Harris for the botched and chaotic withdrawal, which included leaving an estimated $7 billion in military equipment in the Taliban’s hands, is not new. Loved ones of those killed three years ago have long sounded off that the Biden administration owes an apology to those who served, and some family members joined the RNC in Milwaukee in July, again slamming the Biden administration’s handling of the withdrawal. 

HARRIS ‘LAST PERSON IN THE ROOM’ VIDEO GOES VIRAL ON 3RD ANNIVERSARY OF DEADLY AFGHANISTAN ATTACK

“Look at our faces. Look at our pain, and our heartbreak. And look at our rage. [The Afghanistan withdrawal] was not an extraordinary success,” said Cheryl Juels, the aunt of Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee. “Joe Biden owes the men and women who served in Afghanistan a debt of gratitude, and an apology.”

Republican Presidential nominee former President Donald J. Trump holds his first public campaign rally with his running mate, Vice Presidential nominee U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) (not pictured), at the Van Andel Arena on July 20, 2024, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This was Trump’s first public rally since he was shot in the ear during an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania on July 13. Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images) (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

​​”While Joe Biden has refused to recognize their sacrifice, Donald Trump spent six hours in Bedminster with us,” said the mother-in-law of Nicole Gee at the RNC. “He allowed us to grieve, he allowed us to remember our heroes. Donald Trump knew all of our children’s names, he knew their stories, and he spoke to us in a way that made us feel understood, like he knew our kids.”

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The Harris campaign directed Fox News Digital to Harris’ White House statement last week regarding the anniversary when asked for comment on the eight videos from Gold Star family members Sunday morning. 

“Today and everyday, I mourn and honor them. My prayers are with their families and loved ones.  My heart breaks for their pain and their loss. These 13 devoted patriots represent the best of America, putting our beloved nation and their fellow Americans above themselves and deploying into danger to keep their fellow citizens safe,” Harris wrote in the statement. The statement included the names of each service member who was killed in 2021. 

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report. 

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

Trump-Vance campaign adviser Cory Lewandowksi said that pro-lifers who choose not to vote due to dissatisfaction over former President Trump’s moderate stance on abortion give a “tacit endorsement” of Kamala Harris’ “radical position on abortion.” 

Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Lewandowski, a 2016 Trump campaign adviser who recently joined the 2024 re-election team, was asked about pro-life activist Lila Rose’s recent comments to Politico Magazine.

Rose, who runs Live Action, said in a recent interview that Trump has been “alienating” his base by moving to the center in recent weeks. 

“I think it’s very foolish what he’s doing,” Rose told Politico. “It’s politically unwise, it may cost him the election, and it’s morally unprincipled as well. Right now, it’s all about turnout. If he wants to galvanize his base, he needs to stop trying to pander to Kamala Harris’ base, because they’re never going to vote for him anyway.” 

TRUMP PLEDGES UNIVERSAL COVERAGE FOR IVF TREATMENT ‘BECAUSE WE WANT MORE BABIES’

Corey Lewandowski during the Republican National Convention (RNC) at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Thursday, July 18, 2024.  (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The Republican presidential nominee has spoken out against using the federal government to ban the delivery of abortion medication by mail. Trump also pledged universal support for IVF treatment because “we want more babies.” Despite Democrat Kamala Harris insisting Trump would enact a national abortion ban if elected, Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, has said Trump would veto any such measure. 

Trump has also said in recent days that Florida’s abortion limit after six weeks is “too short.” 

Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, greets supporters on Aug. 29, 2024, in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Trump is campaigning in key battleground states ahead of the November presidential election.  (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

JD VANCE VOWS TRUMP WOULD NOT IMPOSE FEDERAL ABORTION BAN, VETO IF IT COMES ACROSS DESK

“If she chooses to stay home, then by, you know, tacit endorsement, she’s supporting, Kamala Harris, who has had a radical position on the issue of abortion,” Lewandowski said of Rose Sunday. “Many Democrats believe that you can have an abortion not only on up until the last week, but also in some cases after the baby’s been born. What Donald Trump has said was, let’s have the states decide – they are the laboratories of democracy. Let’s turn this back. And that’s what Roe v. Wade really did. And so we see across this country right now opportunities for individuals to go and vote at the ballot box of what they want to see transpire in their state.”

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

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“And every state is going to look a little different,” he continued, responding to  host Shannon Bream. “We have seen some relatively or very conservative states go to a position where women are given opportunities that you would not have expected because of that. But those states understand, whether it’s Ohio or Kansas, that women have the opportunity to make their own decisions, and the states are allowing that to happen. So what Donald Trump has done, and I think by and large, the American people support this, is Roe v. Wade has been overturned because of his three Supreme Court nominees that are now sitting on the bench. And they’ve put it back to the states. And it’s a decision at the local level now.” 

As the presidential race heats up with less than three months until Election Day, candidates in smaller-scale races across the country are also sprinting to the November finish line.

Those include the 435 races that will decide control of the House of Representatives next year.

“I feel sort of bullish for Republicans right now,” veteran GOP strategist Doug Heye told Fox News Digital. “This [presidential] race, especially in the swing states, is going to be so close that, to me, mitigates some of the ‘If Trump wins, Republicans keep the House, if Harris wins, Democrats take it back’ – that mitigates it for me to some extent.”

Democratic strategist Joel Rubin, on the other hand, was confident in his party’s redistricting wins and renewed political enthusiasm since Vice President Kamala Harris took over the mantle from President Biden last month.

KEY SENATOR REPORTEDLY BEHIND HARRIS’ RISE TO POWER WITHHOLDS HIS ENDORSEMENT FOR PRESIDENT

Reps. Mary Peltola, left, and Mike Lawler, right, are vulnerable incumbents defending their seats this year, while both parties are eyeing the districts being vacated by Reps. Dan Kildee, center left, and Abigail Spanberger, center right. (Getty Images)

“These 35, 40 swing districts, I think about 18 to 20 are Biden wins in red seats. So the map looks promising,” Rubin said. “And the thing that’s distinct now from a month ago, obviously, is Democratic enthusiasm . . . I do think Democrats can take back the House with these kinds of numbers and these kinds of structural gains.”

And with ever-shrinking margins in the House in recent years, it’s likely control of the House will come down to just several key races, five of which Fox News Digital highlighted below:

NY-17

Freshman Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., is running against former Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones in the New York suburbs just north of the Big Apple. His district is among several that Biden won in 2020, and Democrats see an opening to win it back.

Both Jones and Lawler have sought to paint each other as radicals, each tying his rival to the most unpopular policy stances in their respective parties. 

Lawler, for his part, has been ranked among the most bipartisan lawmakers in the 118th Congress.

FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: FIVE THEMES EMERGE IN THE BATTLE FOR THE HOUSE GAVEL

Jones, meanwhile, has reshaped himself closer to the center, going so far as to endorse the primary opponent of a former progressive anti-Israel colleague, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, which earned him ire from that faction of House Democrats.

“I think that’s a really important one, that’s a potential pickup for Democrats against a moderate, well-regarded Republican – but in a district that had been blue, and there are . . . seats that Democrats lost in New York that we should not have lost two years ago – and that was the difference between minority and the majority,” Rubin said.

Heye said, “I’m betting on Lawler, he’s a good fit for that district. And I think there are still some divisions on the Democratic side.”

Lawler is up against former Rep. Mondaire Jones. (Getty Images)

VA-07

Both Republicans and Democrats are looking at a portion of the Washington, D.C., suburbs in Virginia as a chance for victory in a district that Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., is vacating to run for governor.

The Democrat running is Eugene Vindman, the brother of Alexander Vindman, whose congressional testimony sparked the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump.

On the GOP side is Derrick Anderson, an attorney and former Special Forces Green Beret.

Spanberger won in 2017 by defeating a Tea Party Republican, and the GOP is eyeing a chance to take the seat back.

FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: THREE GOVERNOR’S RACES TO WATCH ON ELECTION NIGHT

“If I were designing, like, a prototype Democrat to run in a swing district, Spanberger is who I would design – perfect for that district, but she’s not running again. So that makes it harder for Democrats, and I know outside groups are putting money into [that race],” said Heye.

Rubin defended Vindman, pointing out both he and Spanberger were relevant to the national security space between his military experience and her time in the FBI.

“I think this is one where he can build off the Spanberger brand,” he said.

MI-08

Another competitive seat will be the one being vacated by Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., at the end of this year. 

Rep. Dan Kildee is leaving Congress at the end of the current term (Getty Images)

The central Michigan district has grown more conservative in recent years, according to Bridge Michigan, though Biden eked out a 2% victory there over Trump in 2020.

That race is between Democratic State Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet and former Trump administration appointee Paul Junge.

Heye said of the open seat there and in Virginia, “What I’ve been hearing for a while now… is that the open seats have become a liability for Democrats with their math in taking back the House.”

MD-06

Maryland’s 6th congressional district could be Republicans’ best pickup opportunity in an otherwise majority-blue state, with Democratic Rep. David Trone leaving at the end of this year.

The vacancy being left by Rep. David Trone in Maryland is Republicans’ best hope of a pickup in that state. (Getty Images)

April Delaney, whose husband John Delaney held the Seat from 2013 to 2017, is running on the Democratic side against Republican former state delegate Neil Parrott.

The district leans blue, but a Washington Post story on the race pointed out that it also has 141,000 unaffiliated voters who could decide the outcome.

Rubin noted he was supportive of Delaney’s bid but conceded that having popular former governor Larry Hogan on the ballot for Senate could inspire more middle-of-the-road people to vote Republican in state congressional races.

Republicans are coalescing around Nick Begich, left, to take on Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola in Alaska. (Getty Images)

AK-At Large

Heye said he was also growing confident about Republicans’ chances in Alaska, where its lone congressional seat will be decided using ranked-choice voting.

“In Alaska, [Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola] could win, but to do so, she’s going to have to massively over-perform,” the GOP strategist said. “If we’re talking two weeks ago, I would say Republicans are split, ranked-choice voting, the Democrats win. That framework doesn’t exist anymore.”

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The general election was meant to be a three-way race between Peltola, Republican Nick Begich, and Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom. 

Republicans have consolidated in recent days, however, with House GOP leadership getting behind Begich and Dahlstrom dropping out of the race.

Peltola, a moderate Democrat, is generally well-liked in the state, which voted for Trump by roughly 10 points over Biden in 2020. Those dynamics now make for what’s expected to be a close race.

Vice President Kamala Harris was recently excoriated by Gold Star family members who accused the Democratic presidential candidate of politicizing an incident at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday.

The messages were posted on former President Trump’s Instagram account. Eight videos, each featuring different parents of service members killed by ISIS-K terrorists amid the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan on Aug. 26, 2021, were published in total.

The videos were released in the wake of a statement published by Harris on Saturday, where the vice president criticized Trump for taking photographs at a wreath-laying ceremony event on Monday. The Army said this week that an Arlington National Cemetery official was “abruptly pushed aside” while interacting with Trump’s staff. 

“As Vice President, I have had the privilege of visiting Arlington National Cemetery several times,” Harris said. “It is not a place for politics. And yet, as was reported this week, Donald Trump’s team chose to film a video there, resulting in an altercation with cemetery staff.”

TRUMP IMPERSONATES ELON MUSK TALKING ABOUT ROCKETS: ‘I’M DOING A NEW STAINLESS STEEL HUB’

Kamala Harris was called out by Gold Star families over a statement she released about Trump on Saturday. (Getty Images)

“Let me be clear: the former president disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt,” she claimed, before adding that she would “never politicize” such an event.

The Gold Star family members maintained that they had asked Trump for photographs, as opposed to Trump taking pictures to advance his campaign. In one video, the father of Marine Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz called Harris’ post “heinous, vile and disgusting.”

“Why did we want Trump there? It wasn’t to help his political campaign,” Mark Schmitz said in the video. “We wanted a leader. That explains why you and Joe didn’t get a call.”

Darren Hoover, the father of Marine Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, said that Harris lacks “empathy and basic understanding” about Monday’s event, and stressed that Trump’s appearance was respectful.

HARRIS SLAMS TRUMP OVER ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY ALTERCATION, PROMPTING FIERY RESPONSE FROM JD VANCE

Vice President Kamala Harris slammed former President Donald Trump over last week’s incident at Arlington National Cemetery. (Getty Images)

“In keeping with the reverence and respect that is given to all members of our military that are buried there, we invited President Trump,” he said. “We are the ones that asked for the video and the pictures to be taken at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.”

Hoover also added that Trump has “been there for us from the very beginning,” and criticized Harris for “playing politics” over the incident.

“You should be ashamed and embarrassed [about] your lack of empathy and decency as a human being,” the father added. “You are only in this for the power and prestige. You don’t care for our military or the citizens of this country.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Desert Diamond Arena, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz.  (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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“You should hang your head in shame at your actions or lack thereof.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment.

A week after Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. suspended his third-party presidential campaign and endorsed former President Trump, he filed a lawsuit against the North Carolina State Board of Elections to get his name removed from the state’s ballot before November. 

When he suspended his campaign, Kennedy said he planned to keep his name on the ballot in safe Democratic and Republican states but didn’t want to be a spoiler in the battleground states. 

Recent polls have shown a close race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris in North Carolina. 

Kennedy’s lawsuit comes not long after he had been trying to get on the North Carolina ballot over the summer by seeking signatures for his We the People party. 

RFK JR. SAYS TRUMP HAS ‘CHANGED AS A PERSON’ AND ‘FOCUSED ON HIS LEGACY’

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speaks to reporters at the Nassau County Supreme Court in Mineola, N.Y., Aug. 21. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah, Pool)

On Thursday, in a 3-2 vote, the elections board denied Kennedy’s request to have him removed there, arguing that nearly 2 million ballots have already been printed in 67 of 100 counties, and it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to redo them with the first deadline for absentee ballots on Sept. 6. 

ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR. LAMBASTS ‘DNC-ALIGNED MAINSTREAM MEDIA,’ ACCUSES THEM OF ENGINEERING HARRIS’ RISE

RFK Jr. endorsed former President Trump last week after dropping out of the presidential race.  (Reuters/Go Nakamura)

“When we talk about printing a ballot, we are not talking about … pressing ‘copy’ on a Xerox machine. This is a much more complex and layered process,” Board Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell said.

“With the November election looming and ballot deadlines fast-approaching, Kennedy has no choice but to turn to this Court for immediate relief,” his lawsuit said.

Kennedy suspended his fledgling campaign last week.  (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

It added that the election board’s decision violated his speech and state election law, The Charlotte Observer reported. 

Kennedy dropped out of the race and claimed he could still become president if neither Trump nor Harris reached 270 electoral votes. On Aug. 23, he joined Trump onstage at their first rally together.

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“Don’t you want a president who’s going to protect America’s freedoms and who is going to protect us against totalitarianism?” Kennedy said at a rally in Glendale, Arizona. 

“Don’t you want a safe environment for your children? Don’t you want to know that the food that you’re feeding them is not filled with chemicals that are going to give them cancer and chronic disease? And don’t you want a president that’s going to make America healthy again?” 

Kennedy’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Vice President Kamala Harris slammed former President Trump after an incident involving his staff and a cemetery official this week, prompting a critical response from Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance.

On Thursday, an Army spokesperson said an Arlington National Cemetery official was “abruptly pushed aside” while interacting with Trump’s staff during a wreath-laying ceremony event Monday. The ceremony honored service members killed by ISIS-K terrorists Aug. 26, 2021, during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The U.S. Army said in a statement the employee was 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.” Trump claimed he took photographs with families of service members who had requested them. 

“[President] Joe Biden killed those young people because he was incompetent,” Trump said during a speech in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Friday. “And then they tell me that I used their graves for public relations services, and I didn’t.”

TRUMP IMPERSONATES ELON MUSK TALKING ABOUT ROCKETS: ‘I’M DOING A NEW STAINLESS STEEL HUB’

Vice President Kamala Harris slammed former President Trump over an incident at Arlington National Cemetery. (Getty Images)

In a statement posted on Facebook Saturday afternoon, Harris accused Trump’s team of disrespecting service members. 

“As Vice President, I have had the privilege of visiting Arlington National Cemetery several times,” the statement from the Democratic presidential nominee said. “It is a solemn place; a place where we come together to honor American heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service of this nation. It is not a place for politics.

“And yet, as was reported this week, Donald Trump’s team chose to film a video there, resulting in an altercation with cemetery staff,” Harris added. “Let me be clear: the former president disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt.”

Harris claimed the incident was “nothing new” from Trump and accused the former president of “call[ing] our fallen service members ‘suckers’ and ‘losers’ and disparage[ing] Medal of Honor recipients.”

“This is a man who is unable to comprehend anything other than service to himself,” Harris added, before promising to “never politicize” service members.

TRUMP-MUSK INTERVIEW: 5 BIGGEST TAKEAWAYS FROM THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION TO THE US BORDER CRISIS 

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, waits to speak at a campaign rally in Wayne, Mich. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

The statement was met with swift backlash from Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance, who suggested Harris “get off social media.”

“President Trump was there at the invitation of families whose loved ones died because of your incompetence,” Vance wrote on X. “Why don’t you get off social media and go launch an investigation into their unnecessary deaths?”

Karoline Leavitt, who served as an assistant press secretary during the Trump administration, also criticized Harris on social media.

“Kamala Harris bragged about being the last person in the room with Joe Biden when they decided on their terrible Afghanistan withdrawal plan,” Leavitt wrote. “Kamala’s stupidity led to one of the most embarrassing events in American history and 13 brave US soldiers being killed.

“She has never said their names. She has never reached out to their families,” Leavitt added. “For this alone, Kamala does not deserve to be elected. Kamala has already proven that she would be a dangerously incompetent Commander in Chief.”

Former President Trump and Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, the vice presidential candidate, on the first day of the Republican National Convention July 15, 2024. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

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Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump and Harris campaigns for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. believes former President Donald Trump has “changed” as a person compared to his first administration.

Kennedy made the observation while appearing as a guest on an episode of the “All-In Podcast” on Friday.

“If President Trump wins […] people are going to see a very different President Trump than they did in the first term,” Kennedy told the hosts about the former president. “I think he’s changed as a person, and I’ve known him for, you know, 30 years.”

RFK JR BLAMES ‘CENSORSHIP’ FOR FAILED CAMPAIGN, GIVES DETAILS OF TALKS WITH TRUMP

Former Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gives remarks at the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel in Phoenix, Arizona. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

“I think he’s interested in his legacy now,” Kennedy said at another point. “He wants to leave behind some accomplishments, and he wants to make our country better. And I think he’s, you know, he’s listening to a wider range of voices. He’s preparing to govern right now.”

Kennedy, who began the 2024 cycle running for president as a Democrat, then shifted to run as an Independent, suspended his campaign last week and endorsed Trump — a historic move for a member of the Democrat Kennedy family dynasty. 

Trump also appointed Kennedy to his transition team alongside fellow former Democratic lawmaker Tulsi Gabbard — a move to broaden his campaign’s coalition and appeal to non-GOP voters.

KENNEY FAMILY MEMBERS DENOUNCE RFK JR’S DECISION TO ENDORSE TRUMP AS A ‘BETRAYAL OF VALUES’

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at 1st Summit Arena at the Cambria County War Memorial, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Rebecca Droke)

During the podcast interview this week, Kennedy was also asked if he ever sought or was offered the position of vice-president.

The independent candidate said he never had any interest in the number two slot, joking that it was the “worst job in Washington” for someone like him.

“I had no interest in being vice president, I grew up in politics — vice president is the worst job in Washington. You have no budget, you have no staff. Your budget actually all comes from the White House. So if you do something that offends the president, he can take away your plane, he can take away your staff,” Kennedy told the podcast hosts. 

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Former Republican presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump shake hands during a campaign rally at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.  (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

“And the only thing you really have is the Naval Observatory, which is the official residence of the vice president. He can essentially put you on house arrest,” the independent candidate continued. “And I have very strong views on issues and I felt like if I took that job I’d be on house arrest.”

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Former President Trump offered his impersonation of SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk at an event in Washington, D.C., this week, drawing laughter from a crowd as he pretended to be talking about the development of rockets. 

Trump told an audience at the annual Moms for Liberty conference Thursday that Musk gave him a “tremendous endorsement” and described him as a “very different kind of a guy as he thinks [when] he talks.” 

“With Elon, it’s like, ‘well, you know, I’m doing a new stainless steel hub that can get us around the engines much quicker,’” Trump said. “’Because there’s a problem with the type of engine going into space nowadays.'” 

“’But in the end I think we can have a good hookup because of the new foils that are coming up,'” Trump joked. 

TRUMP-MUSK INTERVIEW: 5 BIGGEST TAKEAWAYS FROM THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION TO THE US BORDER CRISIS 

Former President Trump gives his impersonation of SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

“And I’m hearing everything that’s going through his mind. But he is like, he’s a super genius guy,” Trump added. 

ELON MUSK CALLS OUT HARRIS FOR OLD POST SAYING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARE NOT CRIMINALS 

Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of X Holdings Corp., speaks at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in May in Beverly Hills, California. Musk and Trump recently participated in an interview on X. (Apu Gomes/Getty Images)

The former president recently did a lengthy interview in mid-August with Musk on X and said Thursday that “I think we are going to do another one too.” 

President Trump acknowledges Spacex founder Elon Musk after the successful launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at the Kennedy Space Center on May 30, 2020 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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“I’m a huge fan of his electric car, I think it’s incredible, his car,” Trump also said. “I think of he does and I’m a big fan of electric, but they don’t go far and they are expensive.” 

The White House is full of unique job opportunities. 

While there are certain jobs for which a political background will make you a more favorable candidate for the role, there are many that require skills that aren’t political. 

Even the leader of the country doesn’t necessarily need a political background, although many often have one. 

The only written requirements to be president, as outlined in the Constitution, are that the individual must be a natural-born citizen of the country, at least 35 years old and a resident of the United States for 14 years. Former President Trump became the 45th president without having held any government position prior to being elected to lead the country in November 2016. 

There are numerous jobs at the White House that aren’t necessary political, such as working on the team that prepares meals daily and for large events.  (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images I Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

THE WHITE HOUSE: A HISTORICAL LOOK INSIDE AMERICA’S MOST ICONIC RESIDENCE

Take a look at unique White House jobs you may be unaware of that don’t require an extensive political background of those hired. 

1. Executive pastry chef and executive chef
2. Calligrapher
3. Social aides
4. ‘Body Man’

1. Executive pastry chef and executive chef 

You may not need a political background for either of these jobs, but your background in cooking or baking will have to be up to par. 

The executive chef at the White House has a lot of responsibilities beyond just cooking for the president. The executive chef is also in charge of coming up with menus for state dinners, social events, receptions and official luncheons, according to The Associated Press. 

Cristeta Comerford, who was the first woman to ever hold the role, was the White House’s executive chef for almost 30 years.

Before working at the White House, where she earned an assistant chef role in 1995 and later was named executive chef in 2005, she worked at a series of hotels in Chicago and restaurants in Washington, according to The Associated Press. 

Cristeta Comerford spent almost 30 years as the White House executive chef.  (Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

FROM COOKING FOOD AT THE WHITE HOUSE TO CREATING FRESH MEALS FOR CLIENTS, GREEK CHEF HAS ‘AMAZING’ JOURNEY

“I always say food is love,” Jill Biden said in July 2024 regarding Comerford’s retirement. “Through her barrier-breaking career, Chef Cris has led her team with warmth and creativity and nourished our souls along the way. With all our hearts, Joe and I are filled with gratitude for her dedication and years of service.”

While the White House’s executive chef takes care of the food served, the executive pastry chef is dedicated to desserts. 

The White House’s pastry chef, Susan Morrison, spends a lot of her days planning and making desserts for events taking place at the White House, although there is another order of business that is usually on her mind. 

“I spend all year thinking about the White House gingerbread house, but we don’t begin baking until November. Then, for about four days after Thanksgiving, we work tirelessly to build the house before moving it to the State Dining Room, where more than 60,000 guests will cycle through,” Morrison told Oprah.com. 

“And it has to look as perfect as it did on day one, which means it can’t melt, it can’t be affected by humidity and it can’t be touched!”

One job of the executive pastry chef at the White House is putting together a gingerbread house each year.  (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

FAVORITE FOODS OF TRUMP AND HARRIS, PLUS OTHER NOTABLE DISHES OF PRESIDENTS AND VICE PRESIDENTS

Before working at the White House, Morrison had an extensive baking background, including working at the Ritz-Carlton in Tysons Corner in McLean, Virginia, per the source. 

2. Calligrapher

If you have beautiful handwriting and artistic skill, you may just be the next White House calligrapher. 

Calligraphers play a large role in making documents and invitations look elegant through their process of carefully constructing each letter on the page. 

This person is responsible for writing invitations, menus and letters for the White House, according to Reader’s Digest. 

5 WEIRD FACTS ABOUT THE WHITE HOUSE

This is a job for which you don’t need a political background, but one in design and art is neccessary. 

Calligraphers are responsible for creating designs for invitations and menus. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

3. Social aides

While an extensive political background isn’t required for this job, White House military social aides spend a lot of their time attending presidential events. 

Individuals in this role are members of the military who act as assistant hosts at White House functions. 

They often speak with those in attendance and help events run smoothly. 

This job comes in addition to other military duties. There is no additional pay for the role, according to The Washington Post. 

BIDEN HUNKERS DOWN IN WHITE HOUSE WITH NO PUBLIC EVENTS ON SCHEDULE AGAIN

The biggest events social aides work are state dinners, per the source. 

4. ‘Body Man’

An individual known as the president’s “body man” is someone who is a personal aide to the president. 

The body man, or body woman, is by the president’s side very often and is responsible for keeping the leader of the nation’s life in order. 

Reggie Love was Barack Obama’s personal aide during his presidency.  (Jim Watson/AFP/GettyImages)

“Most of it is showing up, solving problems and trying to anticipate the needs and issues that may arise,” Reggie Love told Politico in 2015 about being Barack Obama’s body man. 

Love also shared what he kept with him at all times while he was working for the president. 

BIDEN WHITE HOUSE BOASTS BIGGEST STAFF SINCE NIXON, HAS 77 PERCENT TURNOVER

“My checkbook, my passport. I’d have a bag of potato chips just in case I couldn’t find something to eat on the road that day. Tons of water,” Love told the outlet. 

There are lots of requirements that come with the job as an around-the-clock assistant to the president. 

“The biggest part about it is that you want to be prepared to anticipate the needs that may come or arise as the candidate or the principal is making [his] way through the day. It’s everything from making sure they have a proper meal to eat at lunchtime or dinnertime or whatever, to making sure that they are prepared with all the detailed information they may need for an event,” Love told NPR in 2015. 

“There were some days when I would sit next to the teleprompter operator to make sure that while the candidate was on a riff, that the teleprompter operator didn’t get too out of control with where he was scrolling the text. You’re a problem solver,” he added. 

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Before becoming Obama’s body man, Love didn’t have much political experience. In fact, prior to becoming a political aide, he was an aspiring NFL player. 

He wrote about his time working for Obama in the book “Power Forward: My Presidential Education.”

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are both telling their supporters not to pay too much attention to the latest polls – but for very different reasons.

As the 2024 edition of the race for the White House enters the final stretch, Harris is preaching caution amid a surge in fundraising and polling numbers since replacing President Biden atop the Democrats’ national ticket six weeks ago. Trump, meanwhile, has seen his momentum blunted, but also has a history of outperforming underwhelming poll numbers, including during his 2016 campaign.

“This is going to be a tight race until the very end,” Harris told supporters this week at a packed arena in this historic coastal city in Georgia, one of seven crucial battleground states that will likely determine the outcome of the presidential election.

Harris spoke on Thursday after the release of a series of polls – including new surveys from Fox News – that indicated a margin-of-error race in the key swing states and a trio of national polls showing Harris with a very slight edge.

NEW FOX NEWS POLL NUMBERS IN 4 KEY BATTLEGROUND STATES

Vice President Kamala Harris arrives for a rally at the Enmarket Arena in Savannah, Georgia, on August 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

But the vice president told the crowd at Savannah’s Enmarket Arena: “Let’s not pay too much attention to the polls because we are running as the underdog.”

“We have some hard work ahead of us. But we like hard work. Hard work is good work,” Harris said to cheers. “And with your help, we are going to win this November.”

KAMALA HARRIS DEFENDS POLICY REVERSALS AS SHE SITS FOR HER FIRST INTERVIEW SINCE REPLACING BIDEN ATOP DEMOCRATS’ 2024 TICKET

Trump, running to win back his old job in the White House, has repeatedly dismissed the polling bump for Harris and touted his standing.

“She’s not having success. I’m having success,” Trump told Martha MacCallum in an interview last week on the Fox News Channel. “I’m doing great with the Hispanic voters. I’m doing great with Black men. I’m doing great with women. We’re doing very well in the polls.”

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign event, on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in Potterville, Mich. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

For much of this year, polls suggested a close contest between Trump and Biden as the pair engaged in a rematch of their 2020 showdown. Trump opened up a small but significant lead in the weeks after Biden’s disastrous late-June debate performance in Atlanta.

But since Biden ended his re-election bid in a blockbuster July 21 announcement, Harris has benefited from a swell of media attention that’s helped boost the prospects of the Democratic Party ticket.

Harris’ rally in Savannah came at the end of a two-day swing through parts of southeastern Georgia with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. And she arrived at the arena about two hours after sitting for her first network interview since becoming the Democrats’ standard-bearer.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, step off their campaign bus in Savannah, Ga., on Aug. 28, 2024. (Sail Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Georgia had long been a reliably red state in presidential politics until Biden narrowly edged Trump in 2020 to become the first Democrat in nearly three decades to capture the state.

In runoff elections there two months later, Democrats flipped both of the state’s GOP-held Senate seats.

But fast-forward to this summer, as Biden was facing a rising chorus of calls from within his own party to end his 2024 bid, and Trump had begun to build a lead in Georgia.

THIS STATE MAY DECIDE THE 2024 SHOWDOWN BETWEEN HARRIS AND TRUMP

Harris’ trip this week, however, sends a signal that Democrats feel the state is once again in play.

“Georgia, for the past two election cycles, voters in this very state … have delivered,” Harris told the crowd. “You did that, and so now we are asking you to do it again. Let’s do it again.”

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, urges her supporters not to pay attention to the polls, as she headlines a rally in Savannah, Georgia on August 29, 2024 (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

Georgia’s popular two-term Republican governor agrees that his state is very competitive.

“Certainly this is a battleground state,” Gov. Brian Kemp said during a Fox News Digital interview on Tuesday. “I’ve been saying for a long time that the road to the White House is going to run through Georgia. And there’s no path for former President Trump to win, or any Republican … to get to 270 without Georgia.”

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But Kemp, who on Thursday headlined a fundraiser in Atlanta for Trump, added that Georgia “should be one that we win if we have all the mechanics that we need. And I’m working hard to help provide those in a lot of ways and turn the Republican vote out and make sure that we win this state in November.”

Labor Day marks the start of the unofficial final sprint in the presidential election.

Vice President Kamala Harris on July 30, 2024 (left) and  former President Donald Trump on Aug. 3, 2024. Both photographs were taken in Atlanta, Georgia (AP Photos)

One week later, on Sept. 10, the first – and possibly the only – presidential debate between Harris and Trump is scheduled to take place in Philadelphia.

And while Election Day remains more than two months away, some voters will start casting ballots in the coming weeks.

In swing state North Carolina, mail-in voting begins on Sept. 6. Early voting begins on Sept. 16 in Pennsylvania and Sept. 26 in Michigan, two other crucial electoral battlegrounds.

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

Vice President Kamala Harris sat down for her first media interview Thursday since ascending the Democratic presidential ticket, with some critics arguing the CNN interviewer should have taken a tougher approach similar to an interview just weeks before with former President Trump’s running mate.

CNN’s Dana Bash interviewed Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, for a total of roughly 26 pretaped minutes, which aired Thursday night. Harris was asked about inconsistencies in her political record, Trump’s personal attacks and what she would accomplish on day one in the Oval Office. 

Walz was asked about comments he made on the campaign trail related to his military service — that he once carried weapons in war, though he was never deployed to a war zone. 

Some critics say they wish Bash had pressed the pair in the way she grilled GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance in a one-on-one interview just weeks before. 

KAMALA HARRIS OFFERS VAGUE ‘DAY 1’ OVAL OFFICE PLAN IN CNN INTERVIEW: ‘A NUMBER OF THINGS’

Vice President Kamala Harris raised eyebrows when telling CNN’s Dana Bash that her “values haven’t changed” after making complete reversals on far-left positions she held in 2019. (Screenshot/CNN)

“Mixed marks for Bash, who pushed on some necessary subjects, but missed glaring follow-ups,” Fox News contributor Guy Benson posted on X. 

More specifically, Vanessa Santos, president of Renegade PR, told Fox News Digital on Friday, “Dana was fired up when she grilled JD about his ‘cat lady’ comments. If she would’ve brought even half of that energy to the Harris-Walz interview, voters might have learned something last night.” 

“Instead, she let their nonsensical answers go unchecked and unchallenged,” she said. 

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

Bash asked Walz during the interview, “You said that you carried weapons in war, but you have never actually deployed in a war zone. A campaign official said that you misspoke. Did you?” 

Walz replied, “I’m incredibly proud. I’ve done 24 years of wearing the uniform of this country, equally proud of my service in a public-school classroom, whether it’s Congress or the governor. My record speaks for itself, but I think people are coming to get to know me. I speak like they do. I speak candidly. I wear my emotions on my sleeves. And I speak especially passionately about our children being shot in schools and around guns. So, I think people know me. They know who I am. They know where my heart is. And again, my record has been out there for over 40 years to speak for itself.”

“And the idea that you said that you were in war, did you misspeak as the campaign has said?” Bash pressed. 

“Yeah. I said we were talking about, in this case, this was after a school shooting, the idea of carrying these weapons of war. And, my wife, the English teacher, she told me my grammar is not always correct,” he said.

In contrast, during her interview earlier this month with Vance, Bash pressed the Ohio senator for roughly six minutes about his leading the charge on criticizing Walz’s characterization of his military record, challenging his criticisms three separate times during the segment. 

She also pressed him multiple times on his “childless cat ladies” comments from an interview a few years ago. 

ON DODGING THE MEDIA, KAMALA HARRIS ‘OWES RESPONSES’ TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC, SAYS CAMPAIGN ADVISER

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, speaks during a campaign event in Henderson, Nevada, on July 30. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

But critics argued that Bash didn’t ask the hard-hitting questions Americans wanted to hear during her interview of Harris and Walz on Thursday.

In one light exchange, Bash questioned Harris about a viral photo of Harris’ young niece watching her speech at the Democratic National Convention. 

“You didn’t explicitly talk about gender or race in your speech. But it obviously means a lot to a lot of people. And that viral picture really says it. What does it mean to you?” Bash asked.

Harris replied, “I am running because I believe that I am the best person to do this job at this moment for all Americans, regardless of race and gender. But I did see that photograph, and I was deeply touched by it.”

To which Bash followed up, “Did she talk to you about it afterwards?”

“Oh, she had a lot to talk about. She had a lot. She listened to everything. And she listens to everything,” Harris replied.

“Did she give you your hot takes?” Bash asked.

“Oh, yeah, definitely,” Harris said.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz are seen during their CNN interview on Thursday. (CNN)

Michael Knowles, host of the conservative talk radio show “The Michael Knowles Show,” commented, “Dana Bash only did a bad job if you consider her to be a serious journalist.”

“In reality, her job was not to ask tough questions, as she did of JD Vance, but rather to allow Kamala Harris to check the box of having endured an uneventful interview,” he told Fox News Digital. 

Link Lauren, a TikTok influencer and former senior campaign adviser for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., told Fox News Digital, “It was as if Dana Bash was leading the witness.” 

“She would give options for Kamala to choose from — as if this was the SAT multiple-choice section,” said Lauren. 

“Bash is clearly capable of conducting a hardcore interview in the peak of a critical election cycle. It’s unfortunate she didn’t deploy those skills with Harris and Walz and instead put on kid gloves,” said Santos. 

Santos added that Bash “allowing Walz to blame ‘bad grammar’ for lying about his military record seems like a politically motivated tactic, and is a disservice to Americans.”

‘WHATEVER’: DEMOCRATS REACT TO KAMALA HARRIS’ LACK OF INTERVIEWS

Conversely, some critics say Bash leaned too far into “right-wing talking points” and should have had a more original line of questioning with Harris and Walz.

Sami Sage, co-founder of Betches Media, posted on X, “the CNN interview summarized: Dana Bash: why did you [right wing talking point]? Harris/Walz: because [answer they’ve given 5+ times] Dana Bash: but is it because [right wing talking point]? have you changed your mind on [right wing talking point]?”

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Democratic pollster and strategist Matt McDermott commented, “Kamala Harris and Tim Walz gave a perfectly thoughtful, insightful interview. But the press continues to be plagued by an inability to interview Democrats without the entire conversation being framed as, ‘What is your response to this false Republican talking point?’”

He added, “Framing an interview this way is an absolute disservice to viewers.” 

Others heaped praise on Bash’s performance. Howard Kurtz, host of Media Buzz on Fox News, said, “Anchor Dana Bash did a fine job of pressing the vice president and following up–she does it in a low-key style.” 

The New York Times said, “Dana Bash navigated a tough night adeptly,” and went on to say, “in a setting arranged by the Harris campaign to appear friendly — just three people sitting together at a neighborhood coffee shop in Savannah — it was going to be difficult for Ms. Bash to extract much news out of the vice president. Still, the veteran journalist had a good night.” 

Former President Trump called Florida’s proposed amendment to allow for unfettered abortion access across all nine months as “radical” in an exclusive interview with Fox News on Friday.

Amendment 4, up for vote in the Sunshine State, would end Florida’s 6-week abortion ban by enshrining abortion in the state’s constitution.

“No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider,” reads the ballot initiative.

PRO-LIFERS BLAST TRUMP ‘BETRAYAL’ WITH SHIFTING ABORTION STANCE, ANSWER ON FLORIDA AMENDMENT 4

“You need more time than six weeks. I’ve disagreed with that right from the early primaries. When I heard about it, I disagreed with it. At the same time, the Democrats are radical because the nine months is just a ridiculous situation,” said Trump.

“That way you can do an abortion in the ninth month. And, you know, some of the states, like Minnesota and other states have it where you can actually execute the baby after birth and all of that stuff is unacceptable. So I’ll be voting no for that reason,” the former president asserted.

Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in the 1st Summit Arena at the Cambria County War Memorial on August 30, 2024, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Promising to cut energy bills in half, conduct the largest deportation operation in history and put a 200% tariff on foreign-made automobiles, Trump rallied his supporters in the all-important battleground state of Pennsylvania.  (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law in 2023 the Heartbeat Protection Act, which makes abortion after six weeks illegal in Florida.

“…Doing an abortion in the ninth month is unacceptable to anybody. And I think that, we’re going to have to do something about that. There’s some there’s something in between, but the six is too short. It’s just too short a period. And the nine months is unacceptable,” Trump said today before a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

JD VANCE VOWS TRUMP WOULD NOT IMPOSE FEDERAL ABORTION BAN, VETO IT IF IT COMES ACROSS HIS DESK

Trump previously caused confusion over where he stood on the proposed amendment, as his pro-life stance on the campaign trail has not been absolute.

“I will say this: You have to win elections,” Trump shared in a Fox News town hall earlier this year. “Otherwise, you’re going to be back where you were, and you can’t let that ever happen again. You’ve got to win elections.”

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at 1st Summit Arena at the Cambria County War Memorial, in Johnstown, Pa., Friday, Aug. 30, 2024.  (AP Photo/Rebecca Droke)

The former president also takes credit for the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

“Today’s decision, which is the biggest WIN for LIFE in a generation, along with other decisions that have been announced recently, were only made possible because I delivered everything as promised, including nominating and getting three highly respected and strong Constitutionalists confirmed to the United States Supreme Court,” said Trump in 2022.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally at 1st Summit Arena at the Cambria County War Memorial, in Johnstown, Pa., Friday, Aug. 30, 2024.  (AP Photo/Rebecca Droke)

Trump once called himself “the most pro-life president” in American history at the Faith & Freedom Coalition Gala in 2023.

Amendment 4 is sponsored by a group in Florida called “Floridians Protecting Freedom” based in Sarasota. According to the Florida Department of Elections, the amendment has more than the 8% of statewide registered voter-required signatures to make the ballot at 997,035.

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

Vice President Kamala Harris made a 180-degree turn on her opinion about prosecuting illegal border crossings during her long-awaited first interview since becoming the Democratic Party’s official nominee for president. 

CNN anchor Dana Bash questioned Harris Thursday about whether she still believed illegal border crossings should be prosecuted, something Harris indicated she was against while running her 2019 campaign to become president.

“I believe there should be consequence,” Harris told Bash. “We have laws that have to be followed and enforced that address and deal with people who cross our border illegally. … And let’s be clear, in this race, I’m the only person who has prosecuted transnational criminal organizations who traffic in guns, drugs and human beings. I’m the only person in this race who actually served a border state as attorney general to enforce our laws. And I would enforce our laws as president going forward.”

TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM KAMALA HARRIS’ FIRST INTERVIEW AS DEM NOMINEE: ‘I WILL NOT BAN FRACKING’

Unaccompanied minors walk toward U.S. Border Patrol vehicles after crossing over from Mexico May 9, 2023, in El Paso, Texas.  (John Moore/Getty Images)

Harris’ comments Thursday contrasted with what she has said and done in the past regarding illegal immigration, particularly when it comes to illegal border crossings. 

Besides indicating during a nationally televised debate that she would not pursue people who have crossed the border illegally for prosecution, she told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2015 that “an undocumented immigrant is not a criminal.” She also posted the claim on social media. And in a riff with the late Arizona GOP Sen. John McCain’s daughter, Meghan, during a 2019 episode of “The View,” Harris reiterated her stance.

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

As a U.S. senator, Harris sought to strip funding from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). And as California’s attorney general, she instructed local law enforcement not to adhere to ICE detainers when they request that someone who has committed a crime and crossed the border illegally be held until they can be taken into custody to initiate deportation procedures. 

Harris has also compared ICE to the Ku Klux Klan.

KAMALA HARRIS OFFERS VAGUE ‘DAY 1’ OVAL OFFICE PLAN IN CNN INTERVIEW: ‘A NUMBER OF THINGS’

Fox News Digital spoke to critics who called Harris’ comments “insincere” and “for election purposes” only. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

Fox News Digital spoke to two conservative immigration law experts who called her comments “insincere” and “for election purposes” only. 

“If someone cares about enforcing our laws as they pertain to the border, you would think that they would be a part of and lead an administration that prosecutes sufficient offenses related to crossing the border unlawfully,” said Gene Hamilton, the director of America First Legal, a right-wing legal group founded by former Trump adviser Stephen Miller. 

“The Department of Justice’s prosecution for border-related offenses are at rock bottom. They are lower than even the Obama years, and that’s saying something.”

Hamilton, who served as counselor to the attorney general at the Department of Justice under former President Trump, argued a key metric in determining how seriously an administration is taking border security is the number of illegal border crossings compared to the number of individuals deported. 

Last year, there were 2.4 million illegal border crossings, according to Department of Justice data, Hamilton said. 

Meanwhile, the Justice Department prosecuted around 20,000 of those violations. 

“You know, the numbers — the numbers speak for themselves,” Hamilton argued. He also pointed out that in 2019, under Trump, there were fewer illegal border crossings than the country faced in 2023, but the Trump administration still prosecuted more than five times the number of illegal border crossers than the Biden-Harris administration in 2023.

“As she said last night in her interview, her values have not changed. She said that over and over again,” said Lora Ries, the director of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center. “She is telling her base, ‘Look, don’t worry about what the campaign is saying right now. We just have to say that to try and get elected. But my values have not changed.'”

NBC REPORTER CALLS OUT KAMALA HARRIS FOR SAYING HER ‘VALUES HAVEN’T CHANGED’: ‘HER POSITIONS HAVE CHANGED’

Vice President Kamala Harris raised eyebrows when telling CNN’s Dana Bash that her “values haven’t changed” after making complete reversals on far-left positions she held in 2019. (Screenshot/CNN)

CNN’S KAMALA HARRIS, TIM WALZ INTERVIEW CAN BE SUMMED UP IN JUST TWO WORDS

Ries slammed the Biden-Harris administration for “gaslighting” the American public but argued the Harris campaign “is taking it to another level” by denying Harris was tapped to be the border czar and pretending as if she is not in power and able to enact tougher measures at the border.

“She’s in power right now. If she truly meant it, she would do it now, and she’s not. But to pretend like you’re not in power and not in office right now is a higher level of gaslighting,” said Ries. “I think this is just, you know, for election purposes.” 

Hamilton echoed that statement, calling Harris’ comments Thursday “insincere.”

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