NationalWatch

Presumptive Democratic nominee for president Vice President Kamala Harris will be rallying in Philadelphia next week with her highly anticipated running mate pick. Harris is expected to announce her running mate by Monday.

On Tuesday, Aug. 6, Harris will hold her first rally with her VP pick in Philadelphia during the campaign’s four-day, battleground state tour. Harris and her vice presidential nominee will hit Michigan and Arizona, too. 

The campaign’s decision to rally in Pennsylvania on the first day suggests Harris’ running mate may be Gov. Josh Shapiro, who has been floated at the top of the list of possible running mates in recent weeks. 

KAMALA HARRIS’ TREATMENT OF STAFF UNDER SCRUTINY AS REPORTS OF POOR OFFICE CULTURE RESURFACE

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to supporters during a campaign rally at West Allis Central High School on July 23, 2024 in West Allis, Wisconsin. Harris made her first campaign appearance as the party’s presidential candidate with an endorsement from President Biden. (Photo by Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)

Elected as Pennsylvania attorney general in 2016 and re-elected in 2020, Shapiro gained national recognition for his investigations into sexual abuse allegations within the Catholic Church and his legal challenges against several Trump-era policies, including the Muslim travel ban, the rollback of ACA contraceptive coverage and environmental deregulation.

HARRIS’ SHIFT FROM TOUGH-ON-CRIME PROSECUTOR TO SOCIAL JUSTICE ADVOCATE FACES SCRUTINY FROM CONSERVATIVE GROUP

Vice President Kamala Harris was tasked early on in the Biden administration with addressing the root causes of mass migration from Central and South America. (REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt/Pool)

The vice presidential short list also includes Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

ABORTION, ‘FREE’ EDUCATION AMONG TOP ISSUES FOR HARRIS VOTERS

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks during a campaign event with President Biden, not pictured, at the Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg)

Following President Biden’s early July suspension of his re-election bid and his endorsement of Vice President Harris, all eyes are now on her imminent choice for the crucial vice presidential role.

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Harris and her vice presidential pick will also visit Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia and Nevada to court voters in these crucial battleground states. 

As of now, the Harris campaign has still “made no decision on a running mate,” according to a campaign statement Tuesday night, Reuters reported. 

During Vice President Kamala Harris’ run for president in the 2020 election cycle, the then-California senator proposed a new health care plan that had potentially high costs for the American middle class.

An archived version of Harris’ campaign website reviewed by Fox News Digital details her “Medicare For All Plan,” which Harris, who personally authored the proposal, promised would provide “comprehensive health insurance that covers every American.”

Harris cited fellow presidential primary rival Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Medicare For All plan as the model for how to pay for her plan, with the then-California senator specifically pointing to an “income based premium paid by employers, higher taxes on the top 1%, taxing capital gains at the same rate as ordinary income, among others.”

Harris also provided a link to the Sanders plan, which included a 7.5% payroll tax increase for employers and a 4% increase in income taxes on households making over $29,000.

HARRIS MOCKED FOR ‘FAKE’ SOUTHERN ACCENT DURING GEORGIA RALLY

Vice President Kamala Harris. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

While Harris praised the Sanders plan for having “good options,” she accused the Vermont senator of going too far with the 4% tax increase, instead proposing that the new tax only apply to households making over $100,000.

“I would tax Wall Street stock trades at 0.2%, bond trades at 0.1%, and derivative transactions at 0.002%. Think of it like this: that’s a $2 fee on a $1,000 trade by investors and big banks,” Harris continued. “I would also end foreign tax shelters by taxing offshore corporate income at the same rate as domestic corporate income. Together, these proposals would raise well over $2 trillion over ten years, more than enough to make up the difference from raising the middle class income threshold.”

However, the proposed 7.5% bump to employer payroll taxes and 4% tax hike on households over $100,000 was panned by critics, including those who ended up joining Harris in a future President Biden administration.

Then-Biden Deputy Campaign Manager Kate Bedingfield, who would go on to serve as the White House communications director from 2021-2023, called the plan a “Bernie Sanders-lite Medicare for All and a refusal to be straight with the American middle class, who would have a large tax increase forced on them with this plan.”

JD VANCE ADDRESSES PAST CRITICISM OF TRUMP AFTER HE’S CHOSEN AS VP: ‘BOUGHT INTO MEDIA’S LIES AND DISTORTIONS’

Despite Harris’ pledge to target employers and high-income households with the burden, some experts argue the cost would mostly be borne by middle-class workers.

Thomas Savidge, a research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, told Fox News Digital that any payroll tax increase to employers is likely to be passed on to employees in the form of lower wages.

Vice President Kamala Harris. (FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

“The cost of payroll tax increases are ultimately borne by employees,” Savidge said. “Increases in payroll taxes on employers take money away that could have been used to increase employee pay, offer better benefits, or hire additional staff.”

Savidge noted that the 4% increase in income taxes would cover a large percentage of the American middle class and would be especially harmful in the current economic environment, where concerns over inflation already have many tightening their belts and spending less.

According to U.S. Census Bureau data, over 37% of U.S. households make over $100,000 and could be impacted by the tax, representing a large chunk of middle-class workers.

THE ‘WEIRD’ CAMPAIGN: THE STUNNING DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HARRIS AND VANCE COVERAGE

Savidge also argued that the Harris proposal represents the most “extreme” way to tackle American concerns over the cost of health care, noting that such a plan would distort the market while having significant impacts on wait times and quality of care.

“This is an extreme way to go about it,” Savidge said. “It’s going to end up making the problems that we have much worse.”

Harris’ current campaign website does not yet include her platform, and the new Democratic nominee also has yet to unveil a new health care plan.

The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital inquiry on whether Harris stood by the plan or if she would support one similar to it in this campaign.

Sen. JD Vance speaks at a press conference on May 13, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah, File)

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However, the Harris proposal was slammed by the office of Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who the Trump campaign has touted as its “policy attack dog on Kamala Harris.” 

“After four years of sky-high inflation rushing household budgets, the last thing the American people need is another tax hike from Kamala Harris, Vance spokesman William Martin told Fox News Digital. “Her middle class tax increase would hit millions of households, and has drawn comparisons to Bernie Sanders from this in her own party. There is no place for her weak, failed and dangerously liberal agenda in the White House.”

Vice President Kamala Harris caused a wave of criticism on social media after appearing to suddenly use a southern accent during a speech in Atlanta.

“You all helped us win in 2020 and we gonna do it again in 2024,” Harris, who is from California, told Atlanta rally goers while seemingly debuting the new accent.

The accent immediately caught the attention of critics on social media, who accused the presumptive Democratic nominee of pandering to her audience.

“Kamala Harris went to speak in Atlanta and now has a southern accent,” OutKick founder Clay Travis said on X, including a clip of the moment. “Why do people do this? It’s just so transparently fake.

JD VANCE ADDRESSES PAST CRITICISM OF TRUMP AFTER HE’S CHOSEN AS VP: ‘BOUGHT INTO MEDIA’S LIES AND DISTORTIONS’

Vice President Kamala Harris. (Reuters/Hannah Beier)

“Do people do this with any other regional accents?” Travis questioned in a subsequent post. “I don’t think so. No one goes to Massachusetts and suddenly talks like a Kennedy. It’s only the South.”

Travis’ post garnered several replies from critics of the vice president’s accent.

“It’s what sociopaths do,” one reply said.

“It’s called mirroring and it is a strong narcissistic tendency,” another user said.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at Westover High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on July 18, 2024. (ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images)

THE ‘WEIRD’ CAMPAIGN: THE STUNNING DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HARRIS AND VANCE COVERAGE

The moment also caught the attention of conservative columnist Ian Haworth.

“Kamala Harris’s fake southern accent puts Hillary Clinton to shame,” Haworth said on X, referencing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s widely mocked use of a southern accent at various stages of her career in politics.

The viral moment comes as Harris continues to try her footing on the trail after being elevated to the top of the Democratic ticket last week, with Georgia being one of the key swing states likely to decide November’s election.

Former President Trump won the state by just over five percentage points in 2016, only to have President Biden narrowly flip it to his column by less than one percentage point in 2020.

Former President Trump. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

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The state figures to be one of the closest races again in 2024, with the Real Clear Politics polling average showing Trump with a narrow 3.6 point lead over Harris on Wednesday.

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

Vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance says he was prepared for the deluge of negative media coverage that came after former President Trump tapped him to be his running mate.

In an interview with NBC News, Vance said he does not believe Trump is disappointed about picking him.

“No,” Vance said. “I mean, I knew that when I came out of the gate there was going to be a couple of days of positive media coverage and then immediately they would go and attack me over everything that I had ever said in my life.”

“The price of entry of being on the national ticket and giving me an opportunity to govern is you have to … take the shots, and so I sort of expected it,” he added. “I think that, frankly, the people who’ve made a lot of money and acquired a lot of power screwing the country up are not going to go easily.”

JD VANCE ADDRESSES PAST CRITICISM OF TRUMP AFTER HE’S CHOSEN AS VP: ‘BOUGHT INTO MEDIA’S LIES AND DISTORTIONS’

Vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance says he was prepared for the deluge of negative media coverage that came after former President Trump tapped him to be his running mate. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Vance went on to say he would want to target border policy once in office, essentially undoing the work of Vice President Kamala Harris. President Biden tapped Harris to address the flow of illegal immigration in 2021.

THE ‘WEIRD’ CAMPAIGN: THE STUNNING DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HARRIS AND VANCE COVERAGE

“It all starts with strength — strong borders, strong families, a strong economy and a strong president,” Vance said in a recent rally speech. “Of all of Kamala Harris’ faults, the worst of all is that she left America weak and vulnerable. The entire world now knows that she helped cover up Joe Biden’s declining mental capacity for years.”

Sen. JD Vance went on to say he wants to target border policy once in office, essentially undoing the work of Vice President Kamala Harris. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

“Our adversaries,” Vance added, “are licking their chops and the world is in disarray because of weak American leadership.”

Vance also defended comments that Democrats have used to attack him. A highlight was an old interview in which he criticized Harris and various Democratic women as “childless cat ladies.” He clarified the comment to NBC but did not back down or apologize.

KAMALA RIDES TSUNAMI OF POSITIVE PRESS, BUT SKEPTICS SEE A RISKY CHOICE

“What I was criticizing and continue to criticize is a particular neurosis in American leadership that I think leads people to say crazy things, like you shouldn’t have children because climate change is a threat to the future,” he told the outlet. “Climate change may very well be a problem, but it is not a problem that should motivate people to not have families. And I think that attitude is quite damaging. It’s quite destructive.”

Sen. JD Vance faced criticism from Democrats for calling Vice President Kamala Harris and others “childless cat ladies.” (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

“I’ll keep on calling it out, even though I’m sure that Democrats will misrepresent what I say,” he added. “I just think that the substance of what I said is actually quite defensible.”

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Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., jumped to Vance’s defense on the issue in recent campaign appearances. She and top Trump adviser Jason Miller have been traveling with Vance as he makes his way to rallies across the country.

“I’m here today because of the nasty attacks on JD Vance claiming that he’s anti-woman,” Luna said at a rally in Nevada. “Can you believe that? This is, mind you, by the same party that can’t define what a woman is.”

EXCLUSIVE: A new conservative watchdog group is launching an interactive map that tracks instances of political violence “perpetrated by leftist organizations” in the U.S., it claims.

New Tolerance Campaign (NTC), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, announced the launch of its “Hate Map,” an interactive system that will allow users to track instances of political bias through an “unbiased, detailed account of incidents, ensuring a more balanced and thorough perspective.”

“There are organizations and individuals across the country on the left today who are promoting, inspiring and, in some cases, directly engaging in physical violence against those with whom they disagree,” Gregory T. Angelo, president of New Tolerance Campaign, told Fox News Digital in an interview. 

NTC created a catalog of left-leaning groups with a history of events that turned violent, such as protests, vandalism, physical assaults, threats and intimidation.

HARRIS’ BACKING OF BAIL FUND DURING GEORGE FLOYD PROTESTS DAMPENS TRUMP ‘PROSECUTOR’ CAMPAIGN PITCH

The New Tolerance Campaign is launching an interactive “Hate Map.” (New Tolerance Campaign)

Angelo specifically called out the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit they say “has become something of a partisan cudgel.”

HOUSE REPUBLICANS REPLACE AMERICAN FLAGS AT UNION STATION AFTER ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS

“Whether it’s corporate boardrooms that have been infected by the woke mind virus, whether it is colleges and universities that continue on an ever leftward drift, or activist nonprofits like the ACLU and the Southern Poverty Law Center, who have basically just started carrying water for America’s progressive left, the institutions have been taken over by leftist forces going back decades,” Angelo said.

The NTC president said some examples of recent violent incidents include the 2012 shooting at the Family Research Council, the 2017 shooting at a Republican practice session for the Congressional Baseball Game, and the attempted assassination of former President Trump this month.

The New Tolerance Campaign is seeking to catalog “instances of political violence.” (New Tolerance Campaign)

“These were not isolated events. They’re part of a larger pattern of hate and violence promoted by the left,” Angelo said.

“We are going to continue to catalog hate and the promotion of violence on the left,” he said. “Sadly, I don’t think that that number is going to be going down anytime soon. If anything, it’s going to be going up, and we will be here as a resource for members of the media, for elected officials, for everyday Americans and people in academia to use this in their research when it comes to calling out hate across the country.”

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NTC said the map will consist of a wide range of coverage, be updated regularly and be a user-friendly interface, according to a press release obtained by Fox.

Efforts to reach the Southern Poverty Law Center for comment were unsuccessful at press time.

Donald Trump and his allies keep talking about a coup.

I don’t quite see what that gets them.

It seems more an expression of frustration than anything else. The campaign spent two years preparing to run against Joe Biden, with frailty and mental acuity an overriding issue, and now they’ve got an energetic, 59-year-old vice president who has not been fully defined the way presidential nominees usually are by this point.

THE ‘WEIRD’ CAMPAIGN: THE STUNNING DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HARRIS AND VANCE COVERAGE

In his interview with Laura Ingraham, Trump said: “They staged a coup against the President of the United States. They went in and they told him, you’re leaving. You’re way down in the polls, 17 points, I think. It’s like you’re in a fight with somebody, and you’re really winning, and they take him out and they put somebody else in. Nobody ever heard of this before. This is a coup.”

Now I can understand the argument that 14 million people voted for Biden in the primaries and none for Harris — though she was on the ticket with him — and that they have been disenfranchised.

Then the mainstream media and Democrats led by Nancy Pelosi, through increasingly blatant leaks, pressured Biden into stepping aside.

A side-by-side view of former U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. (Getty Images)

But the reason it’s not a coup is that Harris, armed with the president’s endorsement, was the only candidate who emerged. Not one Democrat challenged her. Not Gretchen Whitmer, not Gavin Newsom, not Pete Buttigieg, not Josh Shapiro, not any of the other names that have been bandied about. 

Now that reflects in significant measure the worry about a backlash for passing over the first black woman and Asian-American woman to seek the presidency. Harris also deserves credit for assembling enough delegates to win in just 32 hours. So she ran unopposed. 

JD Vance, in a recording obtained by the Washington Post, told donors in Minnesota that the VP represented a unique challenge.  

KAMALA RIDES TSUNAMI OF POSITIVE PRESS, BUT SKEPTICS SEE A RISKY CHOICE

“All of us were hit with a little bit of a political sucker punch,” Vance said. “The bad news is that Kamala Harris does not have the same baggage as Joe Biden, because whatever we might have to say, Kamala is a lot younger. And Kamala Harris is obviously not struggling in the same ways that Joe Biden did…

“Let’s be honest, 10 days ago, the two candidates who were running for president, everybody had an opinion about ’em. Love ’em or hate ’em, everybody has an opinion about Donald Trump and Joe Biden after the past eight years. But Kamala Harris, people don’t really know.”

Now that’s candor behind closed doors.

Former US President Donald Trump arrives at the Republican National Convention (RNC) at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, on Wednesday, July 17, 2024.  (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

It also underscores that the battle to define the vice president’s image over the next few weeks will make or break her candidacy.

In his first ad since clinching the nomination, airing in battleground states, blames Harris for the mess at the border, with the tagline: “Failed. Weak. Dangerously liberal.”

Vance has also had a rough rollout. CNN reports that he said several years ago: 

“We think babies are good because we’re not sociopaths…

THE RACE TO DEFINE KAMALA HARRIS, AS PELOSI ENDORSES HER AND NO CHALLENGERS EMERGE

“And the fact that so many people, especially in America’s leadership class, just don’t have that in their lives.

“You know, I worry that it makes people more sociopathic and ultimately our whole country a little bit less, less mentally stable.”

As for Twitter, “almost always, the people who are most deranged and most psychotic are people who don’t have kids at all.”

As I’ve argued, the mainstream press seems far more interested in Vance’s history of controversial statements than in Harris’ past ultra-liberal stances, including promoting a bail fund for BLM rioters in 2020. 

US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at Westover High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on July 18, 2024.  (ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images)

The New York Times described her old clips and comments as “weaponization” by Republicans, as if the media don’t have an obligation to dig as well. 

In other news from the “Ingraham Angle” interview:

–Trump made a false accusation against the president on classified documents. “Now, with Biden, he really was convicted of that case. He was let go of that case. And, by the way, you’re talking about many more [documents]. And he didn’t have the Presidential Records Act…They said he was incompetent and, therefore, he can’t stand trial, and yet he would have been allowed to be president.”

Biden wouldn’t have to stand trial because special counsel Robert Hur declined to bring charges. He voluntarily contacted authorities upon realizing that he had many classified documents from his vice-presidential years and turned them over.

Trump, who was indicted for withholding documents, boasted that the case had been thrown out – by the Florida judge he appointed, Aileen Cannon, who has made many rulings favoring him. That is being appealed.

–He sent mixed signals on the debates, saying he will “probably” debate Harris, “but I can also make a case for not doing it.”

–Trump cleaned up a furor over telling a Christian audience that they won’t have to vote in four years because he will have fixed everything. He said he was telling them “you never vote. This time, vote. I will straighten out the country. You won’t have to vote anymore. I won’t need your vote. You can go back to not voting.”

–The former president said Harris “got rid of the laugh. I noticed I haven’t seen that crazy laugh that she’s got. She’s crazy. That laugh, that’s the laugh of a crazy person.”

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With less than 100 days to go, there may not be many laughs in what promises to be an ugly campaign.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called out the White House after a recent intelligence report found that Iran is trying to sabotage former President Trump’s presidential campaign, arguing that the Biden-Harris administration’s policy of “weakness and appeasement” strengthens Tehran.

The findings were revealed during an Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) press briefing on Monday. An official said that U.S. spy agencies “observed Tehran working to influence the presidential election,” likely because Iranian leaders want to avoid escalating any conflicts with the U.S. 

The regime is allegedly using “vast webs of online personas and propaganda mills,” to spread disinformation. Though the ODNI did not explicitly say that Iran was aiming at Trump, an official said they “haven’t observed a shift in Iran’s preferences” since 2020, meaning that Tehran was still targeting the Republican candidate.

Speaking to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, Pompeo said that he was not surprised by Iran’s attempts to influence the election. The Fox News contributor explained that Iran was “isolated, broke, and weak,” when he left office in January 2021 — and accused the Biden administration of enabling the Iranian regime.

IRAN TRYING TO SABOTAGE TRUMP’S PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: US INTELLIGENCE

Mike Pompeo told Fox News Digital that Iran’s targeting of the Trump campaign was “not surprising.” (Getty Images)

“It is not surprising that the Iranian regime would want to do everything in its power to prevent a second Trump administration,” Pompeo said.

“The Biden-Harris administration, on the other hand, has pursued a program of weakness and appeasement, and Iran is flush with cash and powerful once more as a result.

The former Secretary of State also said that Tehran “despises” American values and expects them to continue interfering with the 2024 presidential election.

“It will do everything it can to meddle in our democracy to support Kamala Harris, who will continue the same policies of weakness and keep the regime rich and powerful,” Pompeo added.

On Monday, the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran denied the interference allegations. 

TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: SENATE GRILLS SECRET SERVICE, FBI OFFICIALS 

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump stands on stage with Melania Trump and other members of his family during the Republican National Convention, July 18, in Milwaukee.  (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

“Iran does not engage in any objectives or activities intended to influence the U.S. election,” a spokesperson said. “A significant portion of such accusations are characterized by psychological operations designed to artificially pep up election campaigns.”

Tehran has also been accused of a separate plot to kill Trump on July 13, after a gunman shot the former president at a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally. The Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran has called the claims “unsubstantiated and malicious.”

During a joint hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, the FBI’s deputy director Paul Abbate said that officials are “not ruling anything out,” regarding Iran’s possible involvement.

An election official sits in front of a portrait of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during the registration of candidates before the country’s presidential elections last month at the Interior Ministry in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

“We have no information that there are any co-conspirators, foreign or domestic, including Iran, related to this, but we’re not — I want to be clear — we have no evidence of that,” Abbate explained. “We’re not ruling anything out. We’re looking into all possibilities and leaving our minds open to that.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman contributed to this report.

A Republican primary candidate for governor of Delaware, Mike Ramone, said in a conversation with Fox News Digital that he intends to beat what he called one-party rule in President Biden’s home state. 

Currently serving as the minority leader of the state House, Ramone said he intends to flip the governor’s office red for the first time in more than three decades come November. 

“Delaware has been controlled by one party for 32 years. And I am here to give Delaware a choice,” Ramone said. “Balance brings discussion and discussion brings vetting, and vetting avoids unintended consequences…. There is the far red and the far blue that both will be out to vote. But I believe that many far-blue might even consider that they can do better also in the state of Delaware.” 

Under Democratic leadership, Ramone argued that Delaware has morphed into one of the worst states when it comes to education, health care, safety, traffic, and business friendliness. 

He said it’s the only state in the nation that had negative GDP. 

“We need to go back to line item reviews of every single expense we make because we’re spending people’s taxes. It’s not our money. It’s their money. And I do think Ronald Reagan had it best, you know, ‘Are you better off today than you were then?’ And if people feel they’re better off, we won’t have a Republican,” Ramone said. “But if they feel that they’re tired of the drama in politics, if they feel they want to have a leader who leads from the front but supports from the back, if they feel that it’s time to move into the technology and the job development in fintech, in pharma, in other aspects like Pete DuPont did for our state when he moved us into being the corporate capital of the world, then they’re going to vote for Mike Ramone. They’re going to vote for a business person.”

Ramone, who has more than 40 years of experience in the business sector, said Delaware voters need to consider “management style” when electing their leaders.

KAMALA HARRIS EYES GOVERNORS FROM BATTLEGROUND STATES AS POSSIBLE VP PICKS

Mike Ramone has won eight elections in a state House district dominated by Democrat voters.  (Mike Ramone Campaign )

“The way we manage our state currently is dysfunctional. Our education system is one of the highest funded and one of the lowest in results. Our health care system is absolutely havoc-ridden,” he said. “I do not believe digesting hatred or negativeness or tainting facts is something I will ever be part of … I just think there are so many things we can do better. We need to stay focused. We need to create a vision.” 

According to latest voter registration data available this month, Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly two to one in the state. Delaware also has about 16,600 more independent voters than registered Republicans, and Democrats currently control nine statewide offices. Additionally, Ramone’s campaign comes at a pivotal point nationally after Biden exited the presidential race. 

“Joe Biden. We are all proud of Joe. I’m a Republican, and I can say that because he’s the first Delawarean to ever become a president of the country,” Ramone said. “And I think that’s just wonderful. However, I don’t think the style of leadership we watched in the last years of presidential campaigns and so forth are what’s indicative of Delaware.” 

Mike Ramone said Delaware has one of the highest funded and lowest performing education systems in the country.  (Mike Ramone Campaign )

Ramone, who first went into business at age 20, taking out an $8,000 loan to open his first flower shop, said he’s willing to put his reputation on the line to run the state in a way that’s “fiscally responsible” again. 

Delaware lost the three c’s – credit cards, chemicals and cars – when two major car manufacturers, the juggernaut DuPont, and MBNA closed their doors, Ramone said. 

He argued the state has the ideal location to become a fintech hub with Silicon Valley-esque initiatives to bring higher-paying jobs in different sectors to the state, not what he called the “$15 Amazon jobs.” 

Ramone described education as a “catastrophe” in the state, arguing that most funding gets tied up in administration in the state’s 19 school districts and department of education, rather than being used in classrooms.

First elected to the state House 16 years ago, Ramone has survived eight separate elections to hold onto his district, which has more registered Democratic voters per capita than the state has as a whole. 

DEMOCRAT GOVERNORS REEL FROM BIDEN’S PUTIN-ZELENSKYY GAFFE, IMPLICATIONS FOR US LEADERSHIP ON WORLD STAGE

Mike Ramone is running as a Republican gubernatorial candidate in Delaware.  (Mike Ramone Campaign )

“My belief is simple. My district is 8,000-something Democrats,” Ramone said. “It’s somewhere around 5,000 Republicans and around 5,200 independents. I’m the only elected official lucky enough to be reelected eight times in the state of Delaware, representing the third party, not the second party. I was in the minority minority. There’s more independents than Republicans, so I think I have a pretty good feel of building relationships. I think I have a pretty big feel of listening, and I think I have my fingers on the pulse of what Delaware is about. Delaware is a state that has an enormous amount of people who are fiscally reasonable, financially conservative, and socially moderate to liberal. In other words, leave people alone. Let them live their lives. But don’t clobber me for taxes and have overzealous government.” 

A father and grandfather, Ramone said he intends to make Delaware a state where younger generations can afford to live and prosper, instead of having to move elsewhere. 

Delaware’s last Republican governor was Mike Castle, who served in the position from 1985 to 1993.

Despite running during a presidential election year, Ramone said he believes his resume and business acumen will win him the governor’s office. 

“When I ran in my district, Mike Ramone signs were right next to a lot of Joe Biden signs, Mike Ramone signs right next to a lot of Donald Trump signs and Mike Ramone signs were in a lot of yards with no signs. So Delaware is small enough that I believe the national rhetoric may involve a higher level of turnout. But I don’t believe that turnout will help nor hurt me,” Ramone said. 

Mike Ramone promised to make Delaware a state where his grandchildren can afford to live and thrive.  (Mike Ramone Campaign)

Any traction for former President Trump in Kent and Sussex counties, Ramone argued, would be offset in New Castle County, where more Democrats would be motivated to bring out the vote against Trump. 

“I think it’s almost what you call revenue neutral. I think it’s going to offset itself. I’m not worried about what goes on nationally. I’m worried about what goes on in my community, in my state, and in each one of our three wonderful counties,” Ramone said. “You get into these campaigns, and they get so busy throwing bombs at each other, they forget to say why they should even be there. I’ll be focused on why I should be there. I’ll be focused on what I can do to help people. I will be focused on making Delaware a better place to live.” 

In Delaware, the governor’s office is term limited, so current Democratic Gov. John Carney cannot run for re-election this year. 

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Ramone will still need to advance through the Sept. 10 Republican primary. 

Jerry Price, a former New York Police Department officer, first announced his GOP bid for governor of Delaware in December. Ramone entered the primary race in May, and a third Republican, Bobby Williamson, launched his bid just earlier this month. For Democrats, current Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long and New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer are competing in the gubernatorial primary.

The winner from each party will face off in the Nov. 5 general election. 

FIRST ON FOX: A Democrat and Republican senator duo are looking to take on higher rates of mental health issues among first responders with new legislation. 

Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., partnered to introduce the First Responders Wellness Act on Wednesday, which would create a grant program that would help provide mental health resources and services to law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical services personnel and public safety telecommunicators. It would also establish a mental health hotline devoted to assisting first responders. 

SCHUMER SILENT ON BIDEN OIL PURCHASE AFTER BLASTING TRUMP FOR ‘BAILING OUT BIG OIL’

Gillibrand and Hawley have partnered to tackle first responder mental health. (Getty Images)

“I’m proud to work with Senator Hawley on this important legislation and look forward to getting it across the finish line,” Gillibrand said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Our first responders put themselves in extremely challenging and life-threatening situations in order to keep us safe. Unfortunately, it takes a toll; first responders face higher rates of PTSD and suicide compared to the civilian population.”

“We must support the men and women who dedicate their lives to protecting ours. The bipartisan First Responders Wellness Act would create a new grant program to provide professional and culturally competent mental health services to law enforcement officers and establish a mental health hotline for the first responder community,” she added.

GOP, DEM SENATORS UNITE TO CONDEMN ‘HORRIFYING’ TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

The lawmakers cited research by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which indicated that first responders are by nature “at great danger of being exposed to potentially traumatic situations that pose risk of harm to them or the people under their care.” (Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Hawley said in a statement, “I’m proud to partner with Senator Gillibrand on another piece of vital legislation. Our first responders put their lives on the line every day for us. The least we can do is support them in the halls of Congress.” 

The bill would put $125 million toward the new grant program over the next five fiscal years. An additional $50 million would be put toward establishing the support hotline over the same time frame.

SCHUMER WON’T COMMIT TO SENATE VOTES FOR BIDEN’S LONG-SHOT RADICAL SCOTUS OVERHAUL

SAMHSA concluded that first responders were at a greater risk for mental health issues. (iStock)

The lawmakers cited research by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which indicated that first responders are by nature “at great danger of being exposed to potentially traumatic situations that pose risk of harm to them or the people under their care.”

“This constitutes a great risk for the behavioral health of first responders, putting them at risk for stress, PTSD, depression, substance use, and suicide ideation and attempts,” the SAMHSA report stated.

TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: NEW TEXTS SHOW LOCAL POLICE SCRAMBLE TO ASSIST WITH COVERING RALLY

Those who responded to the World Trade Center on 9/11 dealt with significant and enduring physical and mental health effects for decades after the terrorist attack. (Getty Images)

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Gillibrand notably represents New York, where the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil occurred in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001, as hijackers deliberately flew two airliners into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Another plane hit the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, while a fourth hijacked plane crashed in a Pennsylvania field after passengers fought to regain control.

The attack killed a total of nearly 3,000 innocent people and injured roughly 6,000 more. Many of the emergency and law enforcement personnel who responded to the World Trade Center on 9/11 have dealt with significant and enduring physical and mental health effects for more than two decades since the terrorist attack.

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

What’s happening…
-Harris staff treatment under scrutiny as report finds a 91.5% turnover rate…
-Harris to name VP by next week…
-Trump endorses two GOP rivals in Arizona race

Under the Axe

A 9/11 terrorist’s plea to a Virginia judge that he be sent home to France from a federal Supermax prison to avoid the prospect of Donald Trump ordering his execution led to outrage from lawmakers on Monday.

A letter from Zacarias Moussaoui to federal Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria lays out the so-called “20th hijacker’s” concerns that a future Trump administration will lead to his swift demise …Read more

(Left: Joe Raedle/Getty Images; Right: Sherburne County Sheriffs Office/Getty Images)

White House

‘COURT’S FUTURE’: Wall Street Journal calls Biden’s plan to ‘reform’ the Supreme Court a threat to the country …Read more

HIGH TURNOVER: Harris’ poor treatment of staff is under scrutiny as report finds 91.5% turnover rate within VP office …Read more

MIXED MESSAGE: White House website justifies SCOTUS lifetime service as Biden seeks term limits …Read more

SHORTWINDED: Biden gives 4-word answer on when he’ll campaign for Harris …Read more

Capitol Hill

IN THE HOT SEAT: New acting Secret Service director, FBI official to face Senate questions on Trump assassination attempt …Read more

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at Westover High School in Fayetteville, N.C., on July 18, 2024.  (ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images)

Tales from the Campaign Trail

DECISION TIME: Harris to name VP by next week, kick off battleground state tour together: report …Read more

‘POLITICAL GUT PUNCH’: Vance breaks with Trump, admits running against Harris presents challenge …Read more

‘HAD OUR BACKS’: As Harris veepstakes heats up, unions voice support for 1 candidate …Read more

DOUBLE DIPPING: Trump endorses 2 GOP rivals in Arizona congressional primary …Read more

SINGLED OUT: Obama strategist shouts out one candidate for Harris running mate …Read more

CHANGING HER TUNE: Harris now backing away from several far-left stances she once promoted …Read more

Across America

WRONG FRAMING: Washington Post admits lack of ‘adequate context’ for front page Israel-Hezbollah story …Read more

WELL PLANNED: Trump shooter ‘carefully planned’ assassination attempt, FBI says …Read more

PARENT ACCOUNTABILITY: Could Trump shooter’s mother, father face charges? …Read more

‘ALL IRAN’: Massacre by Iran’s terror proxy Hezbollah could lead to full-blown war in Mideast …Read more

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

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

Vice President Kamala Harris could name her running mate as soon as later this week or next week.

Harris quickly coalesced Democratic Party support in the two days after President Biden’s blockbuster July 21 announcement that he was ending his 2024 re-election bid against former President Trump and endorsing his vice president.

With Harris now considered the party’s presumptive presidential nominee – thanks to what her campaign says are verbal commitments of support from a majority of the delegates attending the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Chicago – focus has now turned to whom she’ll choose as her running mate.

A number of the politicians considered near the top of her list have been campaigning on behalf of the vice president the past few days.

2024 AD WARS: TRUMP, HARRIS, RACE TO DEFINE THE VICE PRESIDENT 

Vice President Kamala Harris arrives for a campaign event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, July 23, 2024. (Daniel Steinle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

A couple of potential contenders – such as North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer – in recent days have taken their names out of the mix.

But with the clock ticking toward the expected announcement, here are five top Democrats who are believed to still be in contention to serve as the vice president’s running mate.

Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona

The 60-year-old Kelly, a former Navy pilot and NASA astronaut, has represented swing state Arizona in the Senate since 2020.

He won a special election to succeed the late GOP Sen. John McCain, becoming the first Democrat in four decades to hold the seat. Kelly easily won re-election in 2022.

HOW LONG WILL THE HARRIS ‘HONEYMOON’ IN THE POLLS LAST?

As a border-state Democrat, Kelly has highlighted his differences with the Biden-Harris administration when it comes to combating the influx of migrants over the southern border with Mexico. That could come in handy as the Trump campaign and Republicans repeatedly blast Biden and Harris over the issue of border security.

Sen. Mark Kelly speaks with reporters at the U.S. Capitol on July 25, 2024. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

Kelly is the husband of former Rep. Gabby Giffords of Arizona, who was severely injured in a 2011 shooting and has become a prominent gun safety advocate. 

BORDER SENATOR EYED AS VP PICK COULD HELP HARRIS WITH KEY WEAKNESS

The senator would not only help Harris with the electoral map and the message, but also with the money. Kelly is a proven fundraiser who hauled in nearly $90 million for his 2022 re-election, when he won a full term in the Senate.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro

Shapiro, 51, served six years as Pennsylvania’s attorney general before winning election as governor in 2022.

If named to the ticket, it’s likely the governor would give the Democrats a boost in Pennsylvania, a crucial northeastern battleground state.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speak to the press while making a stop at the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, July 13, 2024. (Ryan Collerd/AFP via Getty Images)

Shapiro could also make history as the first Jewish vice president in the nation’s history.

The governor, who has been campaigning on behalf of Harris in Pennsylvania the past few days, obviously helps her with the map, but also with money, as Shapiro raised big bucks for his 2022 gubernatorial victory and has continued to build strong bonds with top dollar national donors.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz

The 60-year-old Walz is in his second term as governor of Minnesota, a state that Democrats have reliably won in presidential elections but which is now considered to be competitive.

Walz can also showcase a slew of progressive policy victories, including protecting abortion rights, legalizing recreational marijuana and restricting gun access.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a news conference for the Biden-Harris campaign during the Republican National Convention, July 17, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Joe Lamberti)

While Minnesota isn’t considered a top battleground state, the Trump campaign since the spring has signaled that it would try to put the state in play. But having the plainspoken Walz on the national ticket could also help Harris in the two neighboring Midwestern swing states – Wisconsin and Michigan.

And Walz, the chair of the Democratic Governors Association, has helped steer the organization to record-breaking fundraising this year.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg

The former South Bend, Indiana, mayor went from long shot to a top contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

As transportation secretary, the 42-year-old Buttigieg has been one of Biden’s most visible Cabinet members, often speaking out on behalf of the administration in TV interviews.

Pete Buttigieg speaks during a news conference in Long Beach, California, on Thursday, July 18, 2024. (Tim Rue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Buttigieg, a Rhodes scholar who also served in the war in Afghanistan, made history as the first openly gay person confirmed to a presidential Cabinet position.

While Indiana is solidly red, Buttigieg now calls neighboring battleground Michigan home. He’s also a veteran of the Sunday talk shows and cable news networks, who would help Harris with the message, and has presidential level fundraising experience from his 2020 White House bid.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear

The 46-year-old Beshear was elected attorney general in 2015 and four years later won election as governor in deep red Kentucky.

Last November, he was re-elected by five points in a state Biden lost by 26 points in 2020.

Beshear is following in his father’s footsteps. Steve Beshear won election and re-election as Kentucky governor in 2007 and 2011.

Gov. Andy Beshear speaks to a joint session of the state Legislature on Jan. 3, 2024, in Frankfort, Kentucky. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File)

The younger Beshear has been effective in keeping his distance from the national party by focusing on state issues and highlighting economic progress and his handling of natural disasters. But he’s also spotlighted his support for abortion rights and his progress on health care and education.

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While Beshear on the ticket wouldn’t help Harris with the map – Kentucky’s bright red in presidential elections – he’s drawn stark contrasts with Trump running mate Sen. JD Vance in interviews the past week, which could help with the message. As for the money, Beshear has built bonds with national donors. 

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

Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., on Tuesday fended off a primary challenge from another Republican putting pressure on him from the right — ahead of what is expected to be a tight contest in November.

Ciscomani won the GOP primary for the 6th Congressional District ahead of Kathleen Winn, who placed third in the 2022 primary for the seat.  He will face Democrat Kristen Engel in November, who received more than 49% of the vote against him in the 2022 contest.

CRUCIAL SOUTHWESTERN BATTLEGROUND HOLDS SENATE, HOUSE PRIMARIES TODAY 

WASHINGTON – MAY 10: Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz.,  leaves the House Republicans caucus meeting at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington on Wednesday, May 10, 2023.  (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Ciscomani brandished bipartisan credentials and has repeatedly defended his ability to work with Democrats. Winn, however, challenged the narrative that it was a district that wanted a moderate representative.

“We keep hearing this as a moderate district. I believe it’s a conservative district,” she said this month according to the Tucson Sentinel.

Winn had also accused Ciscomani of refusing to engage with her.

“My opponent is not acknowledging I exist,” Winn said.

TRUMP ENDORSES 2 GOP CANDIDATES IN SAME KEY ARIZONA HOUSE PRIMARY

Ciscomani, however, has been able to tout the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.

“Congressman Juan Ciscomani is doing an incredible job representing the great people of Arizona’s 6th Congressional District,” Trump said on Truth Social in May. “Juan is working hard to Secure our Border, Defend our Wonderful Military and Veterans, Promote Election Integrity, and Expand American Jobs and the Economy.”

The district is judged to be a tossup by the Cook Political Report, which rates the race an R+3. In 2022, Ciscomani got 50.7% of the vote, compared to the 49.2% of Engel.

Former President Donald Trump had endorsed Ciscomani. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

It’s one of a number of close races in the swing state, where the presidential race is expected to be close. There are a number of House and Senate races being closely watched.

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The contest grabbing the most national attention is the race to succeed Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who is not seeking another term in office. In terms of the presidential contest, the state was won by Trump in 2016 and by President Biden in 2020.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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

Kari Lake won the Republican Senate primary in Arizona on Tuesday evening, setting up a heated race against Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., in November for the open seat being vacated by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz.

Lake defeated Pinal County, Arizona Sheriff Mark Lamb for the nomination. 

Gallego won his bid for the Democratic nomination to the Senate as well, officially securing the party’s nod to succeed Sinema. 

Lake initially ran for governor of the state in 2022 but was defeated by now-Gov. Katie Hobbs, D-Ariz. Prior to her gubernatorial run, Lake was a news anchor for a local Arizona television station and had been working in the media for 27 years. 

GOP, DEM SENATORS UNITE TO CONDEMN ‘HORRIFYING’ TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

From left to right: Republican Pinal County, Arizona Sheriff Mark Lamb, Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and former Republican Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake. (Getty Images)

Lake challenged the results following her gubernatorial election loss. She still contends that there were significant irregularities in 2020 and 2022, echoing claims that former President Trump and a great number of his supporters have made about the elections. The concern has led to the Republican National Committee (RNC) devoting significant time and money to election integrity efforts. 

SCHUMER WON’T COMMIT TO SENATE VOTES FOR BIDEN’S LONG-SHOT RADICAL SCOTUS OVERHAUL

Lake ran for governor in 2022. (REUTERS/Mike Segar)

Lamb has been sheriff in Pinal County since being elected in 2017. He rose to prominence in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he refused to enforce a stay-at-home order from Republican then-Gov. Doug Ducey. 

“It’s unfortunate that we’re here, but I need to make a stand for the people and for freedom,” he said at the time, according to the Associated Press. “I don’t want to cite, fine or arrest fine people.”

TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: NEW TEXTS SHOW LOCAL POLICE SCRAMBLE TO ASSIST WITH COVERING RALLY

Lamb did not enforce a stay-at-home order during COVID-19. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Consequences for violating the Arizona pandemic-era order included fines of $2,500 and up to six months of jail time. 

Lake had an advantage in the Senate competition with significant name recognition already from her 2022 campaign. Further, she enjoyed Trump’s endorsement as well as numerous other Republican lawmakers. 

CORNYN DRIVES RECORD FUNDRAISING AS SENATE LEADER RACE TO SUCCEED MCCONNELL DRAWS NEAR

Trump endorsed Lake in the race.  (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

With Sinema’s decision to leave the Democratic Party and not to run for re-election in Arizona, Gallego ended up running unopposed in the Democratic primary race. 

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Gallego and Lake will now face off in the general election on Nov. 5. 

Arizona’s open Senate seat is rated as “Lean Democratic” by non-partisan political handicapper the Cook Political Report. It is joined in the category by Senate races in swing states Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, which both have Democratic incumbents. 

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

Pro-Trump GOP candidate Jeff Zink won Tuesday’s primary in Arizona’s deep-blue 3rd Congressional District.

Zink defeated 29-year-old Jesús David Mendoza, a software engineer and political newcomer who ran as the more moderate Republican in the race.

CRUCIAL SOUTHWESTERN BATTLEGROUND HOLDS SENATE, HOUSE PRIMARIES TODAY

Primaries were held Tuesday to fill the seat being vacated at the end of this year by Rep. Ruben Gallego. (Getty Images)

Zink, who unsuccessfully ran for the seat in 2022, previously made headlines for being one of the thousands of people who attended former President Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021 “Stop The Steal” rally, which was followed by a riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Despite the victory, he’s still a long shot candidate to win Arizona’s most heavily-Democratic congressional district.

The area is majority Latino and Hispanic, encompassing significant portions of Phoenix. 

HAVE BATTLEGROUNDS SHIFTED WITH HARRIS AT TOP OF TICKET?

Candidate Jeff Zink has aligned himself closely with former President Trump. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report ranks it D+24, making it the most left-wing congressional district in Arizona.

It’s being vacated at the end of this year by Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who is running for Senate against Republican candidate Kari Lake in November.

ARIZONA SENATE CANDIDATE SAYS MARK KELLY WOULD GIVE HARRIS ‘JOLT’ AS VP

Gallego is leaving his House seat to run for Senate, likely against Kari Lake. (Reuters/Mike Segar)

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Gallego represented the district from the beginning of 2023, having previously held Arizona’s 7th Congressional District from 2015.

The progressive military veteran is expected to be formally named the Democratic candidate to succeed Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., who is not seeking re-election.

Minnesota’s Democratic Gov. Tim Walz was blasted on social media after telling a group of Democrats that socialism is what some people would call “neighborliness.”

“Don’t ever shy away from our progressive values,” the Minnesota Democrat said on a “White Dudes for Harris” call on Monday night. “One person’s socialism is another person’s neighborliness.”

The comment was widely criticized by conservatives on Twitter, including Manhattan Institute senior fellow Ilya Shapiro, who responded on X with “weird,” a reference to recent Democratic attacks against GOP presidential candidate JD Vance and former President Trump.

“Neighborliness killed members of my family,” journalist Karol Markowicz posted on X. 

BLACK MALE VOTERS HAVE SURPRISING REACTION DURING MSNBC ROUNDTABLE WHEN ASKED ABOUT COMMUNITY TRUMP SUPPORT

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is believed to be a top candidate to be VP for Kamala Harris.

“One person’s gulag is another person’s vacation home,” conservative commentator Ryan James Girdusky posted on X.

“Oozing of desperation from the man who let Minneapolis burn for days,” former Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Mike Murphy posted on X. 

“Send this guy to campaign in South Florida,” National Review’s Jim Geraghty posted on X.

KAMALA HARRIS’ TREATMENT OF STAFF UNDER SCRUTINY AS REPORTS OF POOR OFFICE CULTURE RESURFACE

Gov. Tim Walz speaks at a press conference after two police officers and a first responder were shot and killed on Feb. 18, 2024, in Burnsville, Minnesota.

“Socialism = ‘neighborliness’ for the freakish Left… Shows how far we’ve fallen that the Governor of one of our states feels free to say this,” American Majority CEO Ned Ryun posted on X. 

“Taking people’s stuff at gunpoint doesn’t make you a good neighbor,” Nate Madden, an adviser to Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, posted on X.

Vice President Kamala Harris (Reuters/Kevin Mohatt/Pool)

Fox News Digital reached out to Walz’s office for comment but did not receive a response.

Walz is widely believed to be on VP Kamala Harris’ short list for vice president and it was reported Tuesday that she is expected to make her decision by next week.

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“Whether he makes it or not, there’s no doubt MN Gov. @Tim_Walz is running the most aggressive campaign for VP in the field,” former Obama adviser David Axelrod said this week.

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

FIRST ON FOX: A group of House Republicans is accusing the U.S. Secret Service of a potential “pattern of negligence” amid continued fallout over the attempted assassination of former President Trump.

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., is leading a letter to acting USSS Director Ronald Rowe raising alarms about a recent report suggesting the agency could be facing some negative revelations in a forthcoming Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General report about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

“It is unfathomable that an assassin was able to gain access to and fire shots at President Trump from an unsecure building with a direct line of sight to the rally stage. It is equally unfathomable that public reporting suggests that U.S. Secret Service had identified the building as a potential vulnerability and failed to include that vulnerability within the security perimeter or otherwise ensure the security of the roof,” the lawmakers wrote of the July 13 shooting at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

TRUMP SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW GUNMAN EVADED SECURITY

Rep. Andy Biggs is leading a letter to acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe. (Getty Images)

The letter then pivoted to a Politico report, stating, “Public reporting indicates that the Secret Service is in possession of a draft report by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General (DHS OIG) focused on Secret Service’s preparation for and response to events on January 6, 2021.”

“The story specifically states that the release of the report ‘could cast light on a series of embarrassing security lapses for the agency,’” the letter said.

“Congress, and the American people, deserve to understand whether the security lapses at the July 13, 2024, rally are part of a larger pattern of negligence on the part of the Secret Service.”

TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: TEXTS REVEAL OFFICERS WERE AWARE OF THOMAS CROOKS 90 MINUTES BEFORE SHOOTING

Former President Trump is surrounded by Secret Service agents after shots were fired at a campaign rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Republicans are asking Rowe for a summary of the DHS watchdog report’s findings and recommendations for the Secret Service, and how those steps were carried out ahead of the Trump rally shooting, by July 31.

The letter is also signed by Reps. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., and Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo.

The Secret Service has been under a mountain of scrutiny in the wake of the shooting, which saw a 20-year-old gunman kill one rally attendee and critically injure two others. Trump himself was shot in the ear and rushed offstage by security agents.

TRUMP RALLY SHOOTING VICTIMS’ FAMILIES BREAK SILENCE, THANK COMMUNITY FOR ‘OUTPOURING OF SUPPORT’

The pushback led to the resignation of former Director Kimberly Cheatle last week after a heated House Oversight Committee hearing.

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Rowe testified in an equally high-pressure scenario before the Senate on Tuesday, where he told lawmakers on the Homeland Security and Judiciary committees that the rally shooting was a “failure” of his agency.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Secret Service for comment.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., didn’t criticize President Biden’s Department of Energy for a massive oil purchase to help replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) despite slamming former President Trump in 2020 for attempting to include a similar purchase in a stimulus package. 

The DOE announced a purchase of 4.65 million barrels of oil Monday to replenish the SPR, which has been tapped by the Biden administration, to assist with high gas prices. 

The department bought the oil for an average price of $77. 

GOP, DEM SENATORS UNITE TO CONDEMN ‘HORRIFYING’ TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

Schumer did not criticize Biden’s oil purchase in the same manner he did a similar requested purchase under Trump. (Getty Images)

“From the beginning, this administration has put the economic and energy security of the American people first. This milestone is a proof point that when the Biden-Harris administration makes and implements a plan, we deliver for the American people,” Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said in a statement. 

“As promised, we have secured the 180 million barrels back to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve released in response to Putin’s war in Ukraine, and we accomplished this while getting a good deal for taxpayers and maintaining the readiness of the world’s largest Strategic Petroleum Reserve.”

SCHUMER WON’T COMMIT TO SENATE VOTES FOR BIDEN’S LONG-SHOT RADICAL SCOTUS OVERHAUL

Granholm announced the addition to the reserve to replenish the supply.  (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

There was little response to the oil purchase, which was not heavily advertised by the president or the White House. For Democratic and Republican lawmakers, it went largely undetected as the investigation into the failures that led to the attempted assassination of Trump earlier this month attracted most of their attention. 

Two key pieces of legislation related to online safety for minors and a potential expansion to the child tax credit were slated for votes during the week, drawing additional attention.

TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: NEW TEXTS SHOW LOCAL POLICE SCRAMBLED TO ASSIST WITH COVERING RALLY

Schumer didn’t comment on Biden’s oil purchase. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Schumer’s office did not provide comment to Fox News Digital when asked if there was a difference between Trump and Biden’s oil purchases for the SPR and whether the president was similarly “bailing out” large oil companies. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Trump’s administration sought to include $3 billion for purchasing oil to replenish the SPR at a low price in the $2 trillion pandemic stimulus package. Oil was roughly $30 per barrel in March 2020 as prices trended sharply downward. The Trump administration’s proposal was ultimately excluded from the final draft of the legislation following significant pushback from Democrats. 

CORNYN DRIVES RECORD FUNDRAISING AS SENATE LEADER RACE TO SUCCEED MCCONNELL DRAWS NEAR

An oil barrel is pictured near the Kokolik River, which winds through the National Petroleum Reserve in northern Alaska.  (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

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Schumer referred to the Trump administration’s request as a “$3 billion bailout for big oil,” Roll Call reported at the time. 

The Trump campaign did not provide comment to Fox News Digital. 

Libertarian Party presidential candidate Chase Oliver is on a mission to slash government and promote free-market solutions to America’s problems. 

In an age of rising government spending across the board, it’s an ambitious goal, but Oliver has already knocked off both Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Donald Trump in securing the Libertarian Party’s nomination.

TRUMP COURTS LIBERTARIANS TO DRAW PARTY ACTIVISTS AWAY FROM RFK JR.: ‘IF WE UNITE, WE ARE UNSTOPPABLE’

Recently, he sat down with Fox News Digital at FreedomFest in Las Vegas for an interview.

Often billed as America’s third-largest political party, the Libertarian Party considered appeals by both Trump and RFK Jr., before moving forward with Oliver after seven closely contested rounds of voting at the party’s national convention in Washington, D.C., in May.

Oliver is a former Democrat who supported Barack Obama in 2008, before becoming disillusioned with the party’s foreign policy.

Libertarian presidential candidate Chase Oliver says he’s running because “voters deserve to have more than two options on their ballot.” (AP)

Oliver argues that the two-party system is rotten, and that both parties are fundamentally failing Americans when it comes to individual and economic freedoms.

“Well, I’m running for president because I think voters deserve to have more than two options on their ballot,” he said. “They deserve to have a choice that’s fighting for each and every person’s individual liberty that supports the power of free markets, voluntary exchange, and doesn’t seek to use government as the solution on the left or the right. And so I’m happy to be that choice for voters.”

TRUMP, IN HOSTILE TERRITORY, FACES BOOING DURING LIBERTARIAN PARTY CONVENTION AS MEMBERS PICK THEIR NOMINEE

Prior to being elected the Libertarian Party nominee, Oliver was most famous for acting as an alleged spoiler in Georgia’s 2022 U.S. Senate race, forcing the election into a runoff. Oliver disputes the term “spoiler.”

“Well, I always say you can’t spoil what’s already rotten, which is the two-party system. But I was happy to be a choice for those voters. We had a runoff system for that very reason. And it’s why I encourage things like preferential voting or instant runoff voting, ranked choice voting, whatever you want to call it,” he said. “Because that removes the so-called spoiler effect and allows for voters to put their first preference first and, rank it on down the line. So I was happy that I paused the voting for about four weeks, but the eventual winner was the guy who was leading on the first ballot. So I don’t really feel like I spoiled [the race].”

Georgia Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock emerged victorious in the 2022 Senate race, in which Chase Oliver ran as a Libertarian. (Paras Griffin/Getty Images)

Oliver said he’ll start making considerable cuts to the size of government on day one.

“The first pledge that I would make is that any budget sent to me that isn’t balanced would be a vetoed budget…We have to challenge the Congress to actually start cutting government, and it has to come from, not just one department or the other,” he said. “In fact, you can remove whole departments…things like the Department of Education can immediately be dismantled, removing that from the federal taxpayer’s balance sheet. But in every department of government, there’s at least redundancies…I would cut down everything, including the third rail of American politics, Social Security.”

Oliver said he believes that Social Security is an unsustainable “Ponzi scheme,” and calls for it to be replaced with a program based on market investments.

“It’s bankrupt. It’s a Ponzi scheme. We’ve paid into the system. We don’t get out what we were promised. And ultimately, it’s going to go belly up because the math just doesn’t work. And so it is a failed federal program. Much like many federal programs,” he said. “It costs too much and it doesn’t deliver. And I think it’s better for us younger voters or for younger folks especially, to be given our money back so we can invest in the marketplace. I don’t want to take it away from my parents or grandparents who are living on those benefits, but I’m never going to get those benefits, even if I pay in until the day I retire.”

LIBERTARIANS SELECT CHASE OLIVER AS PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE, VERY LITTLE SUPPORT SHOWN FOR TRUMP, RFK JR

On immigration, Oliver said he believes that market equilibrium will solve the immigration problem. He’s an advocate for free movement of people across borders, but also a staunch opponent of the welfare state.

“The free market is going to bring the jobs here…If we had a free movement of people, they would come, if there’s work here. They wouldn’t, if there isn’t. I understand we have got to remove the welfare benefit. That is something that libertarians have been fighting for over 50 years,” he said. “We can walk and chew gum at the same time. We can tear down the welfare state, while also allowing people to come in here and work.”

Oliver’s foreign policy and economic policy converge on a vision of American leadership where economic engagement and trade drive our values and interests, as opposed to overseas military involvement.

“Some of the most patriotic people are people who have fled these authoritarian dictatorships in Latin America and around the world,” he said. “We need to let them come here and utilize their economic output, their economic power here…And ultimately, what you do is…we export our values with market forces and with free and voluntary exchange, instead of the bomb, the bullet and the drone. 

People stand on a section of the Berlin Wall at Potsdamer Platz.  (Fox News)

“This actually…helped tear down the Berlin Wall. It wasn’t just Ronald Reagan saying ‘tear down the wall.’ It was Wrangler jeans and McDonald’s and Coca-Cola and all the American exceptionalism that people wanted on the other side of the Iron Curtain that helped tear down these things and bring those forces to bear.”

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Finally, Oliver said he is enthused by last year’s presidential election of the self-described “anarcho-capitalist” and fellow Libertarian Javier Milei in Argentina, and hopes that it is a sign of the rising global appeal of libertarian ideas and principles.

“Ultimately, we’re going to wear them down and, see, hopefully the people back at home rising up against socialism as they did in Argentina, against Peronism,” Oliver said. “We now have a libertarian head of state in South America. I hope he’s not the last one, and I hope we can export that…and bring that to North America as well.”

President Biden’s latest call to overhaul the Supreme Court and his warning that “extremism is undermining public confidence” in the bench, is part of an ongoing pattern of institutional criticism, some legal experts have said. 

Biden called Monday for term limits and ethics guardrails for the justices to “prevent abuse of presidential power and restore faith in the Supreme Court.”

Over the past few decades, Democrats have clamored for institutional change, usually after facing political headwinds from a decision.

Another example followed the 2016 election, when Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts called for the abolition of the electoral college.

BIDEN’S SCOTUS CRITIQUES LARGELY UNPRECEDENTED, EXPERTS SAY

The Supreme Court and President Biden (Getty Images)

Warren argued in 2019 during a campaign stop in Jackson, Mississippi, that non-swing states are not often visited during the general election, and their voters are often overlooked.

At the same time, other Democrats were livid at the fact former presidental candidate Hillary Clinton scored many more popular votes than Donald Trump, but Trump won by 77 electors.

In 2013, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid, D-Nev., invoked the “nuclear option” to eliminate the 60-vote threshold for Senate-vetted nominees.

At the time, Sen. Mitch McConnell warned Reid, “You’ll regret this, and you may regret this a lot sooner than you think.”

Within a few years, McConnell’s premonition came to pass as Democrats erupted at the Kentucky Republican after he utilized Reid’s precedent to extend the “option” to Supreme Court nominees and quickly shepherded Trump’s picks through the confirmation process.

Democrats have decried censorship of journalists on X during Elon Musk’s tenure, while having limited qualms with the Jack Dorsey-led Twitter censoring the New York Post’s Hunter Biden bombshell.

Legal experts characterized the reality of the proposed changes as exceedingly unlikely.

SCHUMER PLANS TO STRIP TRUMP OF IMMUNITY FOLLOWING SCOTUS RULING

“With respect to Biden wanting to institute term limits on Supreme Court justices, this is a pipe dream at best,” said Ken Belkin, a criminal defense and civil rights attorney in New York.

“U.S. Supreme Court Justices’ terms are set by the Constitution, and they are set for life — so long as the justice serves in good behavior. In order to set term limits like President Biden proposes, it would require a constitutional amendment.”

Belkin noted the tenuous process to pass a constitutional amendment. Thirty-eight state legislatures must approve it.

Expanding the court, he noted, could, however, be done through legislative action.

“The attacks on the Supreme Court are being inflamed by certain politicians and media outlets who seem to either have a fundamental misunderstanding of the court’s role or are intentionally misleading the public,” Belkin added.

“The court does not exist to rubber stamp one’s policy preferences whether they be liberal or conservative.”

Another legal expert offered that there is indeed a trend on the left to overhaul institutions.

“Clearly, if the left sees something that it doesn’t like, it ordains it to be a problem that has to be fixed. Here, of course, they are trying to monkey around with the one branch of government that is, that they don’t control, and that is supposed to be independent,” said former Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Malcolm.

Malcolm, now a senior legal fellow at the right-leaning Heritage Foundation, said judges have a lifetime tenure because they are supposed to be independent, and that it is the transition to six conservative justices on the bench that has made the left “go nuts.”

Malcolm noted justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito had been under fire from Democrats for accepting trips from wealthy friends, pointing out silence on that side of the aisle when the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg did the same thing.

Throughout Biden’s decades in office, Malcolm said, Biden has never voiced such support for court reforms, but he has done so with 99 days to go in his political career.

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“This is blatantly political [and] designed to rally the Democratic base,” Malcolm said.

“It’s not about trying to address a so-called problem or a serious effort at reforms.”

As for the political angle of the apparent pattern, Article III Project President Mike Davis said Biden is corruptly trying to “selectively disqualify” justices he doesn’t like.

Members of the Supreme Court sit for a group photo. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

“And our president, who politicized and weaponized his Justice Department to destroy his political opponent, now wants to destroy the Supreme Court who stopped him,” said Davis, whose organization has a textualist interpretation of the Constitution and helps vet and confirm judicial nominees such as Justice Neil Gorsuch. 

“[Biden’s] vice president aided and abetted him every step of the way,” Davis added.

Davis called the behavior on the left “the gravest threat imaginable to our republic,” saying Biden and Harris are essentially trying to destroy a co-equal branch of government.

“Both are the ‘dictator’ and ‘danger to democracy’ they project onto their political opponents,” Davis said.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

ATLANTA, GA – When Vice President Kamala Harris headlines a rally Tuesday evening in battleground Georgia’s capital and largest city, she’ll stand in front of the largest crowd this cycle for the Democratic Party’s national ticket.

Hours before the vice president arrived in Atlanta, the Georgia State Convocation Center – which has a listed capacity of 8,000 people for concerts – was filling up with supporters.

It’s another sign of the energy and excitement that’s returning to the party nine days after President Biden’s blockbuster announcement that he was suspending his re-election campaign against former President Trump and endorsing his vice president.

ONE OF THESE FIVE DEMOCRATS COULD BE HARRIS’ RUNNING MATE

The crowd grows inside the Georgia State Convocation Center ahead of a rally headlined by Vice President Kamala Harris, on July 30, 2024 (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

Biden’s immediate backing of Harris ignited a surge of endorsements for the vice president by Democratic governors, senators, House members and other party leaders and elders. Within 36 hours, Harris announced that she had locked up her party’s nomination by landing the verbal backing of a majority of the nearly 4,000 convention delegates.

2024 AD WARS: TRUMP, HARRIS, RACE TO DEFINE THE VICE PRESIDENT 

“Freedom is on the ballot this November. That is why I will be in Atlanta tonight with @theestallion to talk about the stakes of this election,” the vice president wrote in a social media post on her way to Atlanta.

Rapper Megan Thee Stallion is expected to perform at the rally, which received nearly 20,000 RSPVs ahead of the event.

Vice President and Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks at West Allis Central High School during her first campaign rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 23, 2024. (KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

The stop by Harris is a key test of the Democrats’ momentum on the ground in the key southeastern battleground state where Biden narrowly edged Trump four years ago.

Once a red bastion, Georgia has become extremely competitive in presidential, Senate, and gubernatorial elections in recent cycles, thanks in large part to the growing strength of Black and Latino voters, who make up a key party of the Democrats’ base in the state.

HOW LONG WILL THE HARRIS ‘HONEYMOON’ IN THE POLLS LAST?

But Biden’s disastrous performance against Trump at a late June debate against Trump that was held in Atlanta fueled questions about his physical and mental abilities to serve another four years in the White House.

It also spurred a rising chorus of calls from within his own party for the 81-year-old president to end his bid for a second term in the White House. 

Trump’s edge over Biden in the key battleground states – including Georgia -started to grow in public opinion polling in the wake of the debate.

The former president is intent on winning back Georgia in November.

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio introduces GOP Presidential nominee former President Donald Trump during a rally on July 27, 2024 in St Cloud, Minnesota.  (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

And hours before Harris arrived in Atlanta, the Trump campaign announced that the former president and his running mate – Sen. JD Vance of Ohio – will hold a rally on Saturday at the Georgia State Convocation Center – the same venue where Harris is on Tuesday.

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Trump will likely easily fill the venue, as the former president has been drawing large crowds at his rallies since launching his 2024 campaign over a year and a half ago.

The Harris campaign, ahead of the Atlanta rally, highlighted the campaign’s large ground game advantage over Trump’s campaign in the swing states.

Battleground states director Dan Kanninen noted that the campaign had 24 coordinated offices in Georgia, far ahead of the Trump campaign, which opened its first office in June.

“This battleground advantage will almost certainly be decisive in a race likely to be decided by just tens of thousands of votes,” Kanninen argued.

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