NationalWatch

Former President Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, will travel to the key swing state of Arizona Thursday, where he plans to visit the southern border.

Vance will make an appearance in a critical state for the Trump campaign’s hopes of winning the election while also tackling a critical concern of voters in the race by visiting the border, Fox News Digital has learned.

The border stop comes as the Trump campaign has pivoted to running against Vice President Kamala Harris, who was elevated to the top of the ticket after President Biden’s decision to drop out of the race last week.

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

Sen. JD Vance speaks during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 17, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Trump and Vance have made it a priority to highlight how Harris has contributed to many of the unpopular policies of the current administration, particularly the vice president’s role in attempting to identify and solve the “root causes” of illegal migration at the southern U.S. border that resulted in the vice president being labeled the administration’s “border czar.”

Vance sought to highlight the issue the day after Biden’s decision, arguing in remarks to reporters that Harris’ position at the top of the Democratic ticket didn’t change the “political calculus” for the Trump campaign.

“We were running against Joe Biden’s open border, Kamala Harris’s open border. Kamala Harris supported the green new scam. Kamala Harris, frankly, covered Joe Biden even though it was obvious he was mentally incompetent for a very long time,” Vance said at the time.

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)

WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING IN THE KEY BATTLEGROUNDS SHOWS 

Vance expressed a similar sentiment in a meeting with donors in Minnesota Monday, arguing the campaign had a “unique opportunity” to highlight Harris’ record on the border now that she has emerged as the nominee.

Polls have continued to show that immigration and border security are at the top of mind of voters as they get ready to head to the polls in November, even as the record number of illegal crossings of the last few years has waned since peaking in December.

Migrants are apprehended near the border wall in New Mexico on April 12, 2024. (Fox News)

WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING IN THE KEY BATTLEGROUNDS SHOWS 

Those concerns were highlighted in a Gallup poll released last week, with 55% of U.S. adults wanting to see immigration levels reduced, the first time in nearly two decades that Americans have expressed a preference for less immigration. Meanwhile, 25% of respondents said they would like to see immigration numbers stay at the present level and 16% said they would like to see immigration levels increase.

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

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., praised President Biden’s Supreme Court overhaul proposal on Monday but didn’t commit to bringing any of its components to the chamber floor for a vote, where each of them would likely fail. 

“I am particularly pleased President Biden called for undoing the damage of the Court’s recent immunity decision,” Schumer said in remarks on the Senate floor. 

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

A side-by-side of U.S. President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. (Getty Images)

“I think Congress should pursue the idea through legislation, and I’m working with my colleagues on the best way to proceed,” he said. 

In reference to part of Biden’s suggested overhaul, which proposes an amendment to the Constitution to assert that former presidents do not enjoy criminal immunity for acts committed in office, Schumer explained, “An option I am considering is drawing up legislation clarifying that the President is NOT immune from violations of federal law.”

LAWMAKERS ON TRUMP ASSASSINATION TASK FORCE SHARE RARE BIPARTISAN ‘COMMITMENT’; OMITTED REPS QUESTION ABSENCE

The Supreme Court has faced scrutiny from Democrats. (Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States via Getty Images)

The ratification of an amendment to the Constitution is difficult, evidenced by the only 27 amendments to the document, the last of which was approved more than three decades ago in 1992. The task is made even harder by a relatively evenly divided Congress and not enough Democratic trifectas across state governments. 

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

Schumer praised the proposals but didn’t say whether they would see floor votes.  (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Included in Biden’s three requests were term limits for Supreme Court justices, an enforceable ethics code and a constitutional amendment dictating there is no immunity for former presidents against criminal prosecution for actions taken while in office. 

Each would face near-certain failure if brought for votes in the House or Senate, as well as between the states. 

DEMS LIKELY NEED A POLITICAL MIRACLE TO PASS BIDEN’S LONGSHOT HIGH COURT OVERHAUL

Biden revealed his Supreme Court proposal on Monday. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Schumer’s office did not provide comment to Fox News Digital when asked if the proposals would get votes and, if not, why. 

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The White House did not provide comment to Fox News Digital on whether Biden wanted to see the components of his desired overhaul slated for votes in the Senate. 

It’s already been made clear that Biden’s request won’t get an opportunity in the lower chamber, effectively killing any chance it had at becoming law. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., wrote in a statement on Monday, “This dangerous gambit of the Biden-Harris Administration is dead on arrival in the House.” 

FIRST ON FOX: A bipartisan group of more than 50 House lawmakers is pushing the Biden administration to end its pause on new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export permits in compliance with a recent federal court order, arguing the progressive policy is undercutting U.S. energy both at home and abroad.

“From day one, President Biden has waged a whole-of-government attack on the American oil and gas industry,” House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital. “Like most of his executive actions, Biden’s ban on U.S. LNG export permits was blocked by the courts; yet, the Biden Administration’s response has been to flout the Judge’s decision and continue failing to approve these permits.”

Arrington led four Democrats and 46 Republicans in urging the Department of Energy (DOE) to reverse the LNG pause, initiated in January of this year.

The House Democrats who joined the rebuke are Reps. Lou Correa, D-Calif.; Henry Cuellar, D-Texas; Jim Costa, D-Calif.; and Jared Golden, D-Maine.

LAWMAKERS WARN EPA’S CLEAN POWER PLAN 2.0 COULD HAVE CATASTROPHIC IMPACT ON ELECTRIC GRID

Reps. Jodey Arrington, left, and Lou Correa, right, helped lead a letter rebuking President Biden’s LNG export permit pause. (Getty Images)

Correa called LNG “clean and reliable” and said it facilitates “millions of good-paying American jobs.”

“There were considerable negative economic, national security, and environmental impacts as a result of the Administration’s original pause — and they must begin expediting review of existing LNG export permit applications so that we can create American jobs, support U.S. allies, and reduce carbon emissions,” Correa told Fox News Digital.

They are sending the letter – which is also backed by groups like the American Petroleum Institute, the Energy Workforce & Technology Council, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Energy Institute – to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm weeks after a federal judge ordered her to lift the pause on new LNG export permits.

Trump administration-appointed Judge James Cain granted 16 states’ request for an emergency stay on the policy over arguments it harmed their economies, in a massive blow to Biden’s climate agenda.

EPA SUED OVER ‘CAPRICIOUS’ BIG-RIG EMISSIONS STANDARDS

Everett LNG Marine Terminal is pictured on Oct. 31, 2022, in Everett, Massachusetts. (Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)

The 51 lawmakers who wrote to Granholm on Monday said Biden’s policy “reduced the competitiveness of American energy exporters, restricted critical energy supply to key U.S. allies, and politicized an LNG export approval process that should be based on business considerations and market demand alone.”

The letter cited a 2017 study that projected LNG production could create between 220,000 and 453,000 new U.S. jobs and add $73 billion to the American economy by 2040. 

“LNG also emits significantly fewer CO2 emissions than other types of energy sources, making the scale-up of this fuel essential as consumers throughout the world look to reduce their carbon footprint,” they said. “In addition, the export of this fuel was, and continues to be vital for our European allies as these countries overcome the critical energy shortages that ensued following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”

WHY IS THE EPA REGULATING PFAS AND WHAT ARE THESE ‘FOREVER CHEMICALS’?

The House voted mostly along party lines in February to reverse Biden’s LNG permit pause. The White House opposed the bill but stopped short of threatening a veto.

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The White House also rejected a proposal from House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., in April to tie Ukraine aid to a reversal of the Biden LNG policy.

Biden’s pause did have a healthy amount of support from Democrats, however. In May, more than 70 House and Senate Democrats led a letter praising the administration’s decision to pause the LNG permit approval process.

Fox News Digital reached out to the DOE for comment.

Former President Trump is floating names to fill top positions in his Cabinet should he win a second term in November. 

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Gov. Doug Burgum, R-N.D., two of Trump’s former top candidates for vice president, are reportedly both being considered for secretary of state, Trump sources told Axios. Burgum was also noted as a potential contender for energy secretary.

According to the report, Sens. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., are also in the running for secretary of state.

ELON MUSK BLASTS GOOGLE OVER OMISSION OF TRUMP ASSASSINATION SEARCH SUGGESTIONS

Sen. Marco Rubio walks on the stage during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, July 16, 2024. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

Several other people close to Trump are reportedly being considered for positions in a potential Cabinet. 

Top Trump adviser Susie Wiles is reportedly a top candidate for chief of staff. However, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is also a contender for the role.

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

Trump 2024 senior campaign adviser Chris LaCivita could see a counselor or senior adviser role.

Stephen Miller, who previously served in the White House and currently works as senior adviser to the former president, could reportedly be considered for a counselor or senior adviser position. 

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy talks to reporters at the Capitol on Sept. 12, 2023. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, is reportedly a contender for treasury secretary, while Ric Grenell, former acting director of U.S. national intelligence, is being considered for national security adviser.

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Trump has not yet confirmed any of the Cabinet appointments for a second administration if he wins the upcoming 2024 election. 

Former president and current Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump endorsed two Republicans in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District. 

Trump gave his support to two out of six candidates in the House primary election, urging supporters to vote for Abraham Hamadeh or Blake Masters to replace outgoing Republican Rep. Debbie Lesko.

“Blake Masters is a very successful businessman, and an incredibly strong supporter of our Movement to Make America Great Again – He is smart and tough!” Trump told his supporters via a Truth Social post on Sunday. “Likewise, Abe Hamadeh, a Veteran, former prosecutor, and fearless fighter for Election Integrity, has been with me all the way!”

CRUCIAL SOUTHWESTERN BATTLEGROUND HOLDS SENATE, HOUSE PRIMARIES TODAY

Former President Donald Trump during a campaign event at Trump National Doral Golf Club in Miami, Florida. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Trump continued, “In Congress, we need a true Warrior who will work tirelessly with us to Grow our Economy, Stop Inflation, Secure our Border, End Migrant Crime, Support our Great Military/Vets, and Protect our always under siege Second Amendment.”

Other Republican candidates running for the 8th Congressional District seat include former Rep. Trent Franks, Arizona state House Speaker Ben Toma, state Rep. Anthony Kern and local PTA member Patrick Briody.

The highly conservative district will very likely go to whichever Republican candidate wins the primary. The nominee will be facing biosecurity worker Greg Whitten, who is running unopposed for the Democratic Party nomination in the district.

HAVE BATTLEGROUNDS SHIFTED WITH HARRIS AT TOP OF TICKET?

Blake Masters smiles on stage prior to a televised debate with Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly and Libertarian candidate Marc Victor in Phoenix, Arizona. In a Truth Social post over the weekend, former President Donald Trump backed candidates Abraham Hamadeh and Blake Masters — former political allies turned bitter rivals. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

“They will both be spectacular, and I’m pleased to announce that both Blake Masters and Abe Hamadeh have my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next Congressman of Arizona’s 8th Congressional District — THEY WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!” Trump concluded.

Democrats are aiming to unseat two vulnerable Republican incumbents in Arizona districts that President Biden carried four years ago.

In the 1st Congressional District, which includes parts of northeast Phoenix and surrounding suburbs, seven-term GOP incumbent Rep. David Schweikert is the front-runner in a field of primary rivals that includes businessman Robert Backie and former FBI agent and corporate investigator Kim George.

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Abraham Hamadeh smiles prior to a televised debate against Democrat Kris Mayes. In Trump’s double endorsement of Masters and Hamadeh for Arizona’s conservative-leaning 8th Congressional District, the former president praised the pair of Republicans as “two spectacular America First Candidates.”    ( AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

In the southeastern part of the state, Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani is running for a second term in a district that includes much of suburban Tucson.

He’s facing off on Tuesday in a GOP primary that includes challenger Kathleen Winn, who came in third in the 2022 nomination race.

If Ciscomani wins the primary as expected, he’ll face off in November against Democrat Kisten Engel in a rematch of their extremely close 2022 election showdown.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

A former Obama strategist has given a shout-out to a current Midwestern governor for his “aggressive campaign” to join the ticket of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

David Axelrod, the chief strategist for former President Obama’s presidential campaigns, praised Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in a post on social media as reports indicate that Walz is on Harris’ short list to be her vice president.

“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,” Axelrod posted along with a glowing Politico report detailing Walz’s “Midwest grit.”

While much of the veepstakes conversation has centered on four names – Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper – Walz is included on the broader list along with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

AS HARRIS VEEPSTAKES HEATS UP, UNIONS VOICE SUPPORT FOR SHAPIRO

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is on Harris’ short list of potential running mates. (AP Photo/Joe Lamberti, File)

Prior to taking the governor’s office in 2019, Walz served for 12 years in Congress. Before running for Congress, he served for over two decades in the Army National Guard and worked as a social studies teacher.

Walz is a two-term governor of Minnesota. Before running for governor, he served 12 years in Congress. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images, File)

Walz recently made media headlines for branding former President Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, as “just weird” during an MSNBC interview last week.

David Axelrod, the chief strategist for former President Obama’s presidential campaigns, applauded Walz for his “aggressive campaign” to be Harris’ vice president. (Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Concordia Summit, File)

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

Harris and other Democrats have since used the “weird” label to describe their opponents and their policies.

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Trump’s team countered the Democrat’s “weird” campaign on Sunday when Trump spokesman Steven Cheung posted video of Walz calling Trump and Vance “weird” as he stumped for Harris. Chueng accused the likely Democratic nominee and her backers of themselves being out of line for “trying to gaslight everyone into thinking the shooting was staged,” a reference to the assassination attempt at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Vice President Harris, in the week since she launched a new bid for the presidency following President Biden’s departure from the race, is now backing away from several far-left stances she once promoted. 

To garner attention during her primary run for president years ago, Harris catered to the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. She discontinued that campaign in December 2019, and just months later, in the summer of 2020, aligned more with the new radical ideals pushed by Democrats following George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis and the Black Lives Matter anti-police protests and riots that rocked the U.S. afterward. 

In resurfaced clips that began airing in ads by Republican David McCormick’s campaign for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, Harris is seen on camera opposing fracking, stating she would “think about” abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), describing hiring more police officers as “wrongheaded thinking” and weighing the proposal of permitting felons to vote. Harris is also seen saying she was in favor of a “mandatory buyback program” for guns and said private health insurance should be eliminated, according to a summary of the ads’ content by the New York Times. 

On fracking, which is particularly important to the economy in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state during the 2024 race, the Harris campaign reversed course on Friday. An official with Harris’ re-election campaign told The Hill that she will not seek to ban fracking if she is elected president. 

That contrasts with what Harris told CNN while campaigning for the 2020 presidential nomination. 

“There’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking,” Harris said at the time.

HARRIS CLAIMS BIDEN FIT TO CONTINUE IN OFFICE, DESPITE MORE THAN 80 DOCUMENTED ENCOUNTERS IN PAST YEAR

Harris speaks during an NCAA championship teams celebration on the South Lawn of the White House on July 22, 2024 in Washington, DC.  (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Former president and Republican nominee Donald Trump told rallygoers in Minnesota on Saturday how Harris had opposed fracking.

“Oh, that’s going to do well in Pennsylvania, isn’t it?” Trump said. 

“Remember, Pennsylvania, I said it. She wants no fracking. She’s on tape. The beautiful thing about modern technology is when you say something, you’re screwed if it’s bad.”

A Harris campaign official told the Times that Harris staffers plan to paint Republicans who drudge up Harris’ past statements espousing left-wing ideas as exaggerated claims or lies about Harris’ record. The campaign also plans to paint Harris as a candidate with deep ties to law enforcement by highlighting her record as a local prosecutor and state attorney general in California, according to the newspaper. 

Harris speaks at the American Federation of Teachers’ 88th National Convention on July 25, 2024 in Houston, Texas.  (Montinique Monroe/Getty Images)

NORTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR ROY COOPER WITHDRAWS FROM CONSIDERATION TO BE KAMALA HARRIS’ RUNNING MATE

At a November 2018 confirmation hearing, then-Sen. Harris asked Ronald Vitiello, Trump’s nominee to lead ICE, if he was “aware of the perception” of parallels between ICE and the KKK.

Harris campaign officials, meanwhile, told the Times this week that she now supports the Biden administration’s budget requests for increased funding for border enforcement, is no longer in opposition to a single-payer health insurance program and supports Biden’s call to ban assault weapons – but is now against any requirement for private gun owners to sell those weapons to the federal government. 

Regarding health insurance, that means Harris is no longer promoting Medicare-for-All. 

“Kamala Harris spent 20 years as a tough-as-nails prosecutor who sent violent criminals to prison,” Brian Fallon, a Harris campaign spokesman, told the Times. “Her years spent in law enforcement and her record in the Biden-Harris administration defy Trump’s attempts to define her through lies.”

Harris speaks to supporters during a campaign rally at West Allis Central High School on July 23, 2024 in West Allis, Wisconsin.  (Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)

The Trump campaign on Monday highlighted how Harris said in 2019 that she was “open to conversation” about expanding the Supreme Court. But the Harris campaign released a statement this week endorsing Biden’s Supreme Court reform proposal for term limits and ethics guidelines for justices. That proposal does not include adding additional justices to the nation’s highest court.  

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Regarding video of Harris espousing far-left views, “the archive is deep,” Brad Todd, a Republican strategist and ad maker working with McCormick and other campaigns, told the Times. “We will run out of time before we run out of video clips of Kamala Harris saying wacky California liberal things. I’m just not sure that the rest of this campaign includes much besides that.”

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is gaining support among union leaders – including teachers unions – despite his past support for school vouchers. Meantime, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly is fending off criticism he is not pro-union enough, voicing new support for the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act.

More than 50 local labor leaders threw their support behind Shapiro this weekend, including two of Pennsylvania’s largest teachers’ unions: the Pennsylvania State Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). Both opposed Shapiro’s stance on school vouchers but have thanked him for increasing education funding.

“Governor Shapiro knows better than anyone that we don’t have to agree on every single issue to continue to get stuff done. Recent history has taught us that even amongst our brothers and sisters in labor, we are not always aligned in our politics – that’s why it is more crucial than ever that we elevate elected officials whose leadership can unite our Democratic coalition,” the letter states.

AFT President Randi Weingarten has vocally opposed school choice, generating headlines last year for remarking that “privatizing or voucherizing schools is about undermining democracy.” 

‘WHITE DUDES FOR HARRIS’ EVENT MEANT TO DRUM UP SUPPORT FOR VP DRAWS BACKLASH

Shapiro endorsed school vouchers during his 2022 campaign and has voiced support for them as governor, but he recently abandoned the initiative amid a budget impasse with the divided state legislature.

The plans would have publicly funded scholarships, allowing students in low-performing public schools to attend a private school of their choice. 

Weingarten has not weighed in on the veepstakes, but a source close to Weingarten told Fox News the two are personally friendly, and Weingarten also expects the debate over school vouchers to remain a state issue as the DNC education platform opposes school choice.   

Weingarten told Fox after Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at the AFT conference in Houston on Thursday, “I’ve had endless requests to weigh in on the VP candidates this week, particularly Josh Shapiro. I have not weighed in, and I certainly don’t intend to publicly.”

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)

A network of more than two dozen public education advocacy groups pushed Harris to eliminate Shapiro from consideration last week over his support for school vouchers, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.  

“We respectfully ask you not select Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who has supported education policies mirroring Project 2025,” the letter states.  

Weingarten has not commented on the letter, but Shapiro’s endorsement from her Pennsylvania chapter followed.

HARRIS CLAIMS BIDEN FIT TO CONTINUE IN OFFICE, DESPITE MORE THAN 80 DOCUMENTED ENCOUNTERS IN PAST YEAR

A source close to Weingarten emphasized that the Pennsylvania chapter’s endorsement should not be viewed as Weingarten’s support for one VP candidate over another.

Kelly, meanwhile, said that he would vote in favor of the PRO Act, following criticism that he was one of only three Senate holdouts in the Democratic caucus to withhold his co-sponsorship. The measure would make it easier for workers to form and join unions.

John Samuelsen, president of the Transport Workers Union, told ABC News last week, “Why would the Democrats even consider a senator for the vice presidency if the senator doesn’t support the PRO Act?”

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., speaks with reporters while waiting to catch the Senate subway to the Hart Senate Office Building from the U.S. Capitol on July 25, 2024, in Washington, D.C. Multiple news outlets are reporting that the senator from Arizona and former astronaut is one of many candidates being vetted to be the vice presidential running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

Similarly, former AFL-CIO organizing director Richard Bensinger said on X, “Only 3 Democrats refused to sign on to the Pro Act, one of whom was Mark Kelly. The right to organize unions is the most important thing to labor so that’s a hard no.”

Following that outcry, Kelly insisted in interviews he has always been supportive of the legislation and intends to vote in support of it.

Below is the letter endorsing Shapiro from 50 PA labor leaders, provided to FOX by an affiliated group.

MEDIA RAMPED UP EFFORT TO TIE TRUMP TO PROJECT 2025 FOLLOWING BIDEN DEBATE DISASTER, HARRIS EMBRACES ATTACK

A Message to our Democratic Brothers and Sisters,

Pennsylvania is home to over half a million union workers who play a critical role not just in our workplaces, but in our neighborhoods and our communities. Organized labor built the Pennsylvania and the United States we know and love today – at its heart, being part of a union means belonging to a community that values the rights and dignity of everyday people. At this moment in history, the role of unions is more critical than ever, and we take seriously the commitment of our elected officials to support and promote the union way of life. No one has been more steadfast in their commitment to working people than Governor Josh Shapiro.

Governor Shapiro’s leadership has not only safeguarded our rights but also fostered a climate of economic security and opportunity. From expanding apprenticeship programs, to investing in workforce development, to defending against attacks on collective bargaining, Governor Shapiro’s initiatives have been instrumental in enhancing the livelihoods of working Pennsylvanians. His words illustrate a deep understanding of the challenges faced by our members, and his actions demonstrate a commitment to creating an inclusive Commonwealth where every worker has the freedom to chart their own course and the opportunity to thrive.

As we continue to navigate unprecedented and challenging times, it is reassuring to have leaders like Governor Shapiro who are unwavering in their commitment to the needs and concerns of working families – his dedication to upholding the principles of fairness, equality, and justice in the workplace has set a commendable example for leaders across the nation.

As the only Governor in the nation with a divided legislature, Governor Shapiro knows better than anyone that we don’t have to agree on every single issue to continue to get stuff done.

Recent history has taught us that even amongst our brothers and sisters in labor, we are not always aligned in our politics – that’s why it is more crucial than ever that we elevate elected officials whose leadership can unite our democratic coalition and remind us that, above all else, we share a vision for a fairer, stronger, more inclusive Commonwealth and country. Governor Shapiro shows up every day to stand alongside us in the fight for that vision, and through tumult, we remain united by our shared interest in championing working people and investing in workers, families, and communities.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is seen at the Celebration of Freedom Ceremony during Wawa Welcome America on July 4, 2023 in Philadelphia. (Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images)

Now more than ever, our country deserves leaders who have the backs of working people. Make no mistake – Governor Shapiro has always had our backs, and the men and women of organized labor will continue to have his.

In Solidarity,

Stephen M. Aldrich, Business Manager – IBEW Local 269

Philip Ameris, President – Pennsylvania Laborers’ District Council Robert Bair, President – Pennsylvania Building & Construction Trades Council Aric Baker, 

President/Assistant Business Manager – IBEW Local 459 Daniel Bauder, President – Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO Tricia Barnes-Vargo, Business Manager – IATSE Local 8 

Gregory Bernarding, Business Manager – Pittsburgh Regional Building Trades Greg Boulware, President – AFSCME DC 33

Kevin C. Boyle, Business Manager – Iron Workers Local 401

Ryan N. Boyer, Business Manager – Philadelphia Building Trades Council Kenneth J. Broadbent, Business Manager – Steamfitters Local 449

Robert Brooks, President – Pennsylvania Professional Firefighters Association

Bryan J. Bush, Business Manager – Sheet Metal Workers Local 19

Aaron Chapin, President – PSEA

James Cassidy, Business Manager – Insulators Local 2

Rob Cellucci, Business Manager – Insulators & Allied Workers Local 14

Angela Ferritto, President – Pennsylvania AFL-CIO

Dionne Gary, Vice President – 1199C National Union of Hospital & Healthcare Employees

April Gigetts, President – AFSCME DC 47

William Hamilton, President – Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters

James Harper Jr., Business Manager – Laborers Local 413

Bernie Hall, Director – USW District 10

Darrin Kelly, President – Allegheny-Fayette Central Labor Council AFL-CIO

Chuck Knisell, Vice President – United Mine Workers of America District 2

Mark Lynch Jr., Business Manager – IBEW Local 98

Kenneth M. Mash, President – APSCUF

Fran McLaughlin, Business Manager – IUPAT District Council 21

Thomas C. Melisko Jr., Business Manager – IUOE Local 66

Shawn McCullough, Business Manager – Roofers & Waterproofers Local 30

Thomas R. McIntyre, Business Manager – IBEW Local 5

Chuck McQuilkin, Vice President – Philadelphia FireFighters & Paramedics, IAFF Local 22

Brad Mickatavage, Business Manager – Boilermakers Local 13

Wayne Miller, Business Manager – Sprinklerfitters Local 692

George C. Pegram, Business Manager – Plumbers Local 690

Dennis Pagliotti, Business Manager – Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Local 1

James Reilley, Business Manager – IUOE Local 542

Ralph Sicuro, President – Pittsburgh FireFighters, IAFF Local 1

Michael Stanton, President – Boilermakers Local 154

Samuel Staten Jr., Business Manager – Laborers Local 332

Arthur Steinberg, President – AFT Pennsylvania

William C. Sproule, Executive Secretary-Treasurer – Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters

James Snell, Business Manager – Steamfitters Local 420

Mike Sukal, Administrator – AFSCME Council 13

Joseph G. Swenglish, Sr. National Representative – Utility Workers Region 2

Stephen Sweeney, Administrator – Reinforced IronWorkers 405

Esteban Vera Jr., Business Manager – Laborers Local 57

Mark Wildsmith, Business Manager – Cement Masons Local 592

Joseph M. Williams, Business Manager – Elevators Local 5

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Wendell Young IV, President – UFCW Local 1776

Ross Nicotero III, President – ATU Local 85

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.

In his letter sent from ADX Florence in Colorado, Moussaoui argued he previously pledged his “collaboration” with U.S. authorities against al Qaeda operatives like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and asked Brinkema to order the transfer.

“Instead, your honor might concur that there is a possibility of, not a probability, that if the ex-U.S. President Donald Trump was to be reelected, he will sentence me to death by presidential executive order,” the terrorist wrote. 

MAYORKAS ‘BASICALLY TOOK A CRAP ON 9/11’ BY INVOKING DOMESTIC POLITICAL EXTREMISTS AT MEMORIAL: GUTFELD

Donald Trump and French-born al Qaeda terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui. (Getty Images)

In his lengthy, handwritten letter laying out his argument, he made references to presidential power as well as the Trump Justice Department’s decision to drop charges against Gen. Michael Flynn, now retired, after a guilty plea for lying to federal agents.

Critics argue that France’s strong opposition to the death penalty presented a significant obstacle for the U.S. when seeking the extradition of Earth Day co-founder Ira Einhorn from France to Philadelphia in 2001 to stand trial for the murder of his girlfriend.

Moussaoui’s letter depicted a marked change in his previous demeanor, as his 2006 trial was rife with insults and courtroom outbursts, including his refusal to stand and a retort after learning he escaped the death penalty: “You’ll never get my blood: God curse you all.”

In court, he also claimed – then recanted – that he was supposed to have hijacked a fifth plane and flown it into the White House.

In the letter, the terrorist further wrote he believes there is still time before Inauguration Day 2025 for a transfer to be worked out with French authorities: “May your honor and your court enter an order as soon as your court finds appropriate and grant me my different request petition.”

The Eastern District of Virginia clerk’s office confirmed to Fox News Digital that Brinkema’s chambers had received such a letter. A copy was first published on the Legal Insurrection website.

9/11 VICTIMS BLAME ‘SPINELESS’ POLITICAL LEADERS, SOCIAL MEDIA AFTER BIN LADEN LETTER GOES VIRAL

Smoke pours from the twin towers of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, in New York City. (Robert Giroux/Getty Images)

In response, a dozen U.S. senators wrote to both President Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland, urging them to ignore the plea.

“It has come to our attention that Zacarias Moussaoui – the only person to be convicted in a U.S. court for his role in the devastating terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 – has submitted a request to the U.S. Department of Justice to be transferred to his home country of France to serve the remainder of his life sentence,” the letter reads.

“No consideration whatsoever should be given to this convicted terrorist’s preferences for where to serve his sentence for his heinous crimes, and we demand that you swiftly deny his transfer request and force him to spend the remainder of his pathetic life imprisoned in the country he and his fellow terrorists attacked 23 years ago,” continues the letter, which was spearheaded by Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, R-Fla.

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., who also signed the letter, added that Moussaoui and his co-conspirators “committed a heinous crime against our nation, inflicting damage and grief upon the victims and their families that can never be repaired.”

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The Brooklyn Bridge and the Tribute in Light (Fox News Photo/Joshua Comins/File)

“The Biden administration must deny this request and ensure he continues to face justice in the U.S.,” Hoeven said.

Another signatory, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said any terrorist who played a role in 9/11 should never leave a U.S. prison.

“Under no circumstances should Zacarias Moussaoui be allowed to serve his sentence in France,” Blackburn said.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, echoed that sentiment, saying Biden and the Justice Department should “unequivocally deny this request. Moussaoui committed heinous acts against the United States on September 11 and he should remain imprisoned in the country he attacked.”

Other signatories included Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., Mike Braun, R-Ind., Bill Cassidy, R-La., Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., and Idaho Republicans James Risch and Mike Crapo.

Moussaoui was originally arrested in August 2001 after suspicions about his attempt to take flight training classes. He also allegedly received $14,000 in a wire transfer from fellow 9/11 co-conspirator Ramzi bin Alshibh, who never made it to the U.S. because his visa application was denied. 

A spokesperson for the Justice Department said it is a matter of policy not to discuss prisoner transfer requests or whether they are pending.

However, the spokesperson added that Moussaoui is serving a life sentence for “terrorism offenses” and the DOJ plans to “enforce this life sentence in U.S. custody.”

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

The key southwestern general election battleground state of Arizona holds primaries on Tuesday, which will set the stage for likely competitive autumn showdowns that may determine control of the House and Senate.

The contest grabbing the most national attention is the race to succeed Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, the Democrat-turned-independent who is not seeking a second six-year term in the Senate.

Kari Lake, the front-runner for the Republican Senate nomination, on the eve of the primary teamed up with former President Trump for a tele-rally. Lake is a top surrogate for the former president as he seeks to regain the White House and gave an address two weeks ago at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

SINEMA’S BLOCKBUSTER 2024 ANNOUNCEMENT

Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake speaks during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 16, 2024. (Reuters/Mike Segar)

Lake, the former TV anchor and major MAGA supporter who never acknowledged her narrow 2022 election defeat for governor, enjoys Trump’s backing as she runs for the Senate in a race that is one of a handful that may determine if the GOP wins back the chamber’s majority.

WATCH: KARI LAKE OFFERS OLIVE BRANCH TO THESE VOTERS IN ARIZONA

Besides enjoying the Republican presidential nominee’s support, Lake also has a major fundraising advantage over her two GOP primary rivals: Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb and neuroscientist Elizabeth Reye.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/File)

When Sinema announced in March that she wouldn’t run for re-election, she was already facing a challenge from Democrat Rep. Ruben Gallego, who launched his Senate campaign last year. Gallego is unopposed in Tuesday’s primary for the Democrat nomination.

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Democrats control the Senate with a 51-49 majority, but Republicans are looking at a favorable Senate map with Democrats defending 23 of the 34 seats up for grabs. Three of those seats are in red states Trump easily carried in 2020: West Virginia, Montana and Ohio.

Five other seats are in key swing states narrowly carried by President Biden in 2020: Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Rep. Ruben Gallego (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images/File)

In the race for the House, the GOP holds a fragile majority in the chamber. And in Arizona, Democrats are aiming to unseat two vulnerable Republican incumbents in districts Biden carried four years ago.

In the 1st Congressional District, which includes parts of northeast Phoenix and surrounding suburbs, seven-term GOP incumbent Rep. David Schweikert is the front-runner in a field of primary rivals that includes businessman Robert Backie and former FBI agent and corporate investigator Kim George.

There’s a crowded field of Democrats vying for their party’s nomination.

In the southeastern part of the state, Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani is running for a second term in a district that includes much of suburban Tucson.

He’s facing off on Tuesday in a GOP primary that includes challenger Kathleen Winn, who came in third in the 2022 nomination race.

If Ciscomani wins the primary as expected, he’ll face off in November against Democrat Kisten Engel in a rematch of their extremely close 2022 election showdown.

Meanwhile, in the red-leaning 8th Congressional District, Trump has endorsed both major candidates in the Republican primary, Blake Masters and Abe Hamadeh, who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate and state attorney general in 2022.

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

President Biden’s push to impose radical changes to the Supreme Court caters to the left-wing base of the Democrat party from an administration that was once billed as a “moderate,” critics argue.

On Monday, Biden and Vice President Harris, who is now running at the top of the presidential ticket for Democrats in November, backed drastic measures for Congress to adopt, including term limits, ethics rules and a constitutional amendment to limit presidential immunity.

Biden, in an op-ed published in the Washington Post, said he has “great respect for our institutions and separation of powers” but “what is happening now is not normal, and it undermines the public’s confidence in the court’s decisions, including those impacting personal freedoms. We now stand in a breach.”

The move marks a nearly 180-degree pivot for Biden, who had generally bucked plans even from within his own party to make such changes to the high court. 

‘STOP PRETENDING’: CONSERVATIVE ACTIVIST WANTS DEMS BEHIND SCOTUS ETHICS RULES TO TAKE THEIR OWN MEDICINE

President Biden walks down the steps of Air Force One at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on July 17, 2024. (Susan Walsh/AP)

During the early years of his political career in the Senate, Biden called President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s plans to place term limits on older justices and packing the court “a bonehead idea.” Packing the court, or court packing, is a term for increasing the number of justices on a court.

On the campaign trail in 2020, he resisted calls to expand the size of the court, saying that it would undermine its credibility.

With Monday’s announcement, Biden hasn’t said he wants to pack the court. But on his way out the Oval Office door, he’s endorsing plans from the most radical wing of his party.

“The far-left calls to destroy the Supreme Court were answered first by a candidate desperate to save his failing campaign,” said Carrie Severino, president of Judicial Network.

BIDEN, HARRIS CALL FOR SUPREME COURT TERM LIMITS, CODE OF CONDUCT, LIMITS ON PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY

President Biden speaks at a campaign event at Pullman Yards in Atlanta on March 9, 2024. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)

“Now they will be championed by a candidate who needs to cater to dark money groups in the Arabella Advisors network like Demand Justice, Fix the Court and a host of other pop-up groups funded by liberal billionaires,” she added.

Arabella Advisors is a dark money fund that feeds various left-wing causes. Notably, Harris’ communications director, Brian Fallon, is the former head of Demand Justice, which is an Arabella-funded group that advocates for court packing.

Fix the Court, another Arabella-connected group, pushes for term limits for Justices.

“[Biden is] trying to gin up his base with this gimmick,” said GOP strategist Matt Gorman.

TRUMP IMMUNITY CASE: SUPREME COURT RULES EX-PRESIDENTS HAVE SUBSTANTIAL PROTECTION FROM PROSECUTION 

Vice President Harris (Erin Schaff/Pool via Reuters)

“The idea that Joe Biden would advocate for term limits is laughable. The left can’t stand that they don’t control the court, so they’ll do whatever they can to take it by legislative force,” he said.

The ideological swing of the high court shifted when former President Trump appointed Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. The conservative block is certainly not always in a lockstep vote, but Democrats in Congress and in the White House have nevertheless claimed that about the Republican-appointed majority.

“President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris want to end-run the Constitution and destroy the Supreme Court because they can’t control it,” said Severino.

“Biden and Harris are declaring war on the separation of powers with this announcement,” she added.

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

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates responded, “As he stands up for the rule of law and the integrity of the Supreme Court, President Biden is grateful for the support these proposals are receiving from bipartisan legal experts, members of Congress, and large majorities of the American people. 

‘DANGEROUS’ DEMOCRAT JUDICIAL ETHICS BILL WOULD ALLOW ANY ‘JACKALOON’ TO DEMAND A RECUSAL, SEN. KENNEDY SAYS

“Now, congressional Republicans have a choice to make: will they safeguard conflicts of interests on our nation’s highest court and help presidents remain above the law, or will they side with Joe Biden, conservative former judges, and their own constituents to protect principals that should override any partisanship?” said Bates. 

Notably, the Supreme Court last year adopted a new code of conduct after months of scrutiny from Democrats in Congress. 

“For the most part, these rules and principles are not new: The Court has long had the equivalent of common law ethics rules, that is, a body of rules derived from a variety of sources, including statutory provisions, the code that applies to other members of the federal judiciary, ethics advisory opinions issued by the Judicial Conference Committee on Codes of Conduct, and historic practice,” a statement signed by all the justices said.

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“The absence of a Code, however, has led in recent years to the misunderstanding that the Justices of this Court, unlike all other jurists in this country, regard themselves as unrestricted by any ethics rules. To dispel this misunderstanding, we are issuing this Code, which largely represents a codification of principles that we have long regarded as governing our conduct,” it said. 

Kamala Harris has a long digital history – what we used to call a paper trail – that depicts her as an uber-liberal.

That’s hardly surprising, since for most of her career – from prosecutor to state attorney general to senator – she needed to appeal only to her left-wing base in royal blue California.

But as the Democratic nominee, Harris at some point will have to explain, or explain away, some of those past positions that will not play well in a tight national election, where a series of polls show her in statistical ties with Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin – and up 6 points in Minnesota.

The Trump camp, where the former president called Harris a “bum,” among other epithets, and boasted about mispronouncing her name, is surfacing some of her greatest liberal hits. But the mainstream press has what influential blogger Andrew Sullivan calls “amnesia,” writing that while she might even win, “Harris is one of the weakest and wokest Democratic candidates there is. She cannot credibly appeal to the center after such extreme-left posturing.”

HARRIS CLAIMS BIDEN FIT TO CONTINUE IN OFFICE, DESPITE MORE THAN 80 DOCUMENTED ENCOUNTERS IN PAST YEAR

Donald Trump’s running mate JD Vance and VP Kamala Harris. (Getty Images)

So if and when the Harris Honeymoon wears off, that is the vice president’s challenge. She has to tell voters why she no longer holds these positions, if that’s the case. Maybe it’s because she “evolved.” Maybe it’s because she was largely representing San Francisco at the time. Maybe her time as VP has changed her outlook. But she can’t simply let it slide.

Even the sympathetic press will get over its amnesia eventually.

Some examples: During the BLM riots in the summer of 2020, after George Floyd’s murder, Harris helped promote a bail fund to get the criminals out of jail.

She said in one interview: “They’re not going to let up and they should not. And we should not.”

Harris said in another interview: “It is outdated, and it is actually wrong and backward to think that more police officers will create more safety.”

And during her 2020 campaign she said: “Private prisons are making money off the incarceration and suffering of human beings. One of my first acts of business as president will be to begin phasing out detention centers and private prisons.”

During the same campaign, Harris favored Medicare for All – a Bernie favorite –while acknowledging that would abolish private health insurance. Joe Biden refused to go that far left.

Harris also promised to ban fracking – but has backed off that through an aide’s comments.

HISTORIAN WHO PREDICTED ALMOST EVERY ELECTION SINCE 1984 GIVES TAKE ON TRUMP-HARRIS MATCHUP

When the media instantaneously switched their allegiance from Biden (of course he can serve another four years!) to Harris (she’s a young, fresh voice!), they quickly formed a defensive squad.

Several top news organizations tried to debunk the notion that she’d ever been named border czar. The most embarrassing case was Axios, which said that “the Trump campaign and Republicans have tagged Harris repeatedly with the ‘border czar’ title — which she never actually had.”

Except that in 2021, Axios said: “Harris, appointed by Biden as border czar…”

(Axios updated its story.)

It’s true that it was just journalistic shorthand, and that Harris was assigned to work on the root causes of illegal immigration, and did work diplomatically with Mexico and Guatemala. But why deny that she had that unofficial title?

Those who call the vice president a DEI pick justify it by saying Biden had essentially promised to pick a Black woman.

One guest on FOX Business went far lower by comparing Harris to the Hawk-Tuah girl. (It involves a sexual act. Google it if you need to.) 

Trump, meanwhile, has accused Harris of engineering a “coup.” (Nobody ran against her.) He also said Jews should have their heads examined if they vote for the Democrats (Kamala, of course, is married to a Jewish guy).

President Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, about his decision to drop his Democratic presidential reelection bid.  (Evan Vucci, Pool via AP)

The former president may have lowered expectations by calling Harris “dumb as a rock,” given the almost flawless execution of her first week.

I get the impression that Trump is still trying to figure out how to run against the 59-year-old Harris. (The Washington Post has a nice TikTok on how Donna Brazile and other allies spent weeks planning a Kamala candidacy in case Biden bowed out.)

Now contrast that with the media’s treatment of JD Vance, where no older remark is deemed too small to be resurrected.

The Harris team is trying to paint both Trump and Vance as weird, with a statement referring to his “weird and extreme views.” The Trump camp is trying to depict Harris as weird. The whole thing is, uh, very strange.

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

Vance’s biggest controversy is his 2021 Fox interview saying that a “childless cat lady,” naming Harris among others, doesn’t have a “direct stake” in society and are miserable in their own lives. He has broadened that to include childless media people.

The remarks got him into a spat with Jennifer Aniston, which is not exactly where you want to be – and brought him a scolding by the Wall Street Journal editorial page.

At first, the Ohio senator told Megyn Kelly he was being sarcastic and loves cats.

On Sunday, Fox host Trey Gowdy, a former GOP congressman, told Vance that George Washington and James Madison were among those who had no biological children.

“If you look at what the left has done,” said Vance. “They have radically taken this out of context and, in fact, aggressively lied about what I’ve said. What I do think is true, Trey, and this goes to the heart of what I was talking about three years ago in those comments, but it’s going to be something I continue to talk about, is that the left has increasingly become explicitly anti-child and anti-family.

Former President Trump shakes hands with Sen. JD Vance during the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 15, 2024.   (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

“They’ve encouraged young families not to have children at all because of concerns over climate change. They’ve suggested that people who do have children are somehow being selfish when I think being a parent is actually the most selfless thing that you can do, and again, really does transform your perspective.

“So this is not a criticism. It was never a criticism, Trey, of everybody without children.” 

Harris, by the way, has been deeply involved in raising her husband Doug Emhoff’s children — so says a statement from Doug’s ex-wife.

This is, without question, the most bizarre campaign in American history – and could well turn on perceptions of weirdness. But it sure seems like there’s a double standard, given the media consensus that Trump is a danger to democracy.

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Footnote: With Trump backing off a debate or debates with Harris for now –claiming he’s still not sure who the nominee will be – it’s important to remember one thing.

Trump negotiated those terms with Joe Biden, accepting Biden’s terms. Now he has every right to renegotiate with Harris because she abruptly became the new nominee. Fox News has pitched a debate in September after Trump rejected ABC as biased. I don’t know if any debates will happen, but the former president has every right to work out a new deal.

By the way, it was Biden who insisted on an early debate with Trump so he could shake up the campaign. It was the beginning of the end. Knowing what we know now, how could his team have sent him out there?

U.S. intelligence officials believe that Iran is trying to sabotage former President Trump’s presidential campaign through online influence operations, according to a press briefing on Monday.

Speaking to reporters, an official with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said U.S. spy agencies “observed Tehran working to influence the presidential election,” likely because Iranian leaders want to avoid increased tensions with the U.S.

The official didn’t directly say that Iran was trying to undermine Trump, but that American spies “haven’t observed a shift in Iran’s preferences” since 2020, meaning that Iran was still targeting Trump.

During the briefing, an intelligence official also said Iran is utilizing “vast webs of online personas and propaganda mills to spread disinformation,” in addition to different online campaigns.

TRUMP TELLS JESSE WATTERS THAT HE WAS NOT WARNED ABOUT GUNMAN, DESPITE REPORTS

U.S. intelligence officials believe Iran is meddling in the 2024 election. (Getty Images)

The Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations denied allegations of election interference to Fox News Digital.

“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.”

Earlier in July, Tehran was accused of a separate plot to kill Trump after a gunman shot the former president at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. Shortly after the allegations were made, the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran said that the claims were “unsubstantiated and malicious.”

“From the perspective of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Trump is a criminal who must be prosecuted and punished in a court of law for ordering the assassination of General Soleimani,” the permanent mission said to Fox News Digital at the time. “Iran has chosen the legal path to bring him to justice.”

Iran is not the only foreign adversary accused of meddling with the 2024 presidential election. On July 10, ODNI officials called Russia the “preeminent threat” to the election.

WATCH: THOUSANDS DESCEND ON MICHIGAN TOWN FOR FIRST TRUMP RALLY SINCE FAILED ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attends a meeting with a group of students in Tehran, Iran, on Nov. 1. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

Russia is “undertaking a whole-of-government approach to influence the election, including the presidential race, Congress and public opinion,” an intelligence official said during the July 10 briefing, adding that Russia has grown “more sophisticated” in election interference. The country generally targets the Democratic Party in U.S. elections.

According to the Director of National Intelligence’s latest report on Russia, the Kremlin targets the Democratic Party to diminish U.S. support for Ukraine, among other reasons.

“We assess that the Russian government and its proxies sought to denigrate the Democratic Party before the midterms and undermine confidence in the election, most likely to weaken U.S. support for Ukraine, and to erode trust in U.S. democratic institutions,” the report reads.

Per the July 10 ODNI briefing, Russia is reportedly also using artificial intelligence to mimic American Southern and Midwestern accents on social media.

“Foreign adversaries continue to experiment with and have adopted at least some generative AI tools to more quickly and cheaply generate authentic looking content tailored primarily for social media platforms that can target specific audiences including in the U.S.,” an ODNI official said.

Former President Trump shakes hands with his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, July 16, 2024. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)

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

Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan, Louis Casiano and David Spunt contributed to this report.

The Harris campaign is dismissing critics of their fundraising efforts that have targeted individual races and genders, arguing the strategy is nothing more than normal campaign work.

The Harris campaign has held multiple fundraisers in the week since she was elevated to the top of the ticket, holding Zoom events with titles such as “Win with Black Men,” “White Dudes for Harris,” and “Karens for Kamala” in hopes of attracting different demographics to the new campaign.

But the events have also earned scorn from critics on social media, with some accusing the campaign of harkening back to “segregation.”

‘WHITE DUDES FOR HARRIS’ VIRTUAL MEETING ROASTED ONLINE: ‘MOST BETA GATHERING IN HISTORY’

Vice President Kamala Harris. (Fox News)

“The Kamala Harris campaign is bringing segregation back in style again,” said one user on X in response to the back-to-back-to-back events.

“It’s all about race with you guys,” another critic said of the events.

The Harris campaign’s “White Dudes for Harris” is scheduled for Monday and may be the most widely panned, with some critics calling the event “racist” and “cringy,” while others have called the event “condescending.”

“There’s nothing more ‘progressive’ than self-loathing White guys with low self-esteem, man buns, and a gender studies degree from SUNY Binghamton thinking if they sign up for something as condescending as this that they’ll make their first Black female friend and maybe get a date. This qualifies as ‘trying too hard’ and is so desperate as to likely backfire,” conservative radio host Jason Rantz told Fox News Digital.

Others have poked fun at potential participants in the events, arguing that it would target men who are soft or weak.

“This will be the most Beta gathering in history,” one user argued.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris attends an infrastructure event addressing high speed internet in the Eisenhower Executive Office Buildings.  (REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein)

‘WHITE DUDES FOR HARRIS’ TO HOLD CALL AFTER 160,000 WHITE WOMEN JOIN ‘KARENS FOR KAMALA’ ZOOM

Nevertheless, the unique Zoom fundraising effort has been at least somewhat successful, with close to 100,000 Black men and women raising nearly $2 million before the “Karen’s for Kamala” call had over 160,000 join the call.

The Harris campaign has also dismissed the critics, noting that former President Donald Trump has engaged in similar tactics.

“I’m a bit confused. This is what campaigns do is build coalition groups. Latino Americans for Trump for example,” Harris campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz told Fox News Digital.

According to a report from the New York Post, allies for Trump in Congress have been holding events tailored towards the Black community, including get-out-the-vote events titled “Cigars, Cognac, and Congress” that have been hosted in predominantly Black communities.

Former President Donald Trump headlines a Republican National Committee spring donor retreat, in Palm Beach, Florida on May 4, 2024  (Donald Trump 2024 campaign)

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Trump has also aggressively courted Hispanic voters, with the campaign rebranding its outreach to the demographic last month by launching the “Latino Americans for Trump” at a rally in Las Vegas, according to a report from NBC News, ditching the former “Latinos for Trump” slogan for a new one that chooses to emphasize that Latinos are Americans.

“Whether you’re African American, Latino American, Asian American, European American, wherever you come from, we are all American,” Jaime Florez, the Hispanic communications director for the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign, told NBC News.

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

A prominent conservative activist and philanthropist is pushing back against President Biden’s newly unveiled plan to make drastic changes to the Supreme Court and impose ethics rules, saying that if the president “were truly serious” about such transformations he’d start with Congress – “where the real corruption is.” 

On Monday, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris threw their weight behind changes to the high court, including term limits, a constitutional amendment limiting immunity for presidents, and a new slate of ethics rules – most of which some legal experts claim would be unconstitutional.

Biden, in an op-ed published Sunday in The Washington Post, said he has “great respect for our institutions and separation of powers” but claimed that “what is happening now is not normal, and it undermines the public’s confidence in the court’s decisions, including those impacting personal freedoms. We now stand in a breach.” 

Leonard Leo, the co-chairman of the conservative legal network the Federalist Society who was reportedly responsible for helping the Trump administration choose Supreme Court nominees, is calling Biden’s bluff.

BIDEN, HARRIS CALL FOR SUPREME COURT TERM LIMITS, CODE OF CONDUCT, LIMITS ON PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY

Leonard Leo speaks at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., on April 23, 2019. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

“No conservative justice has made any decision in any big case that surprised anyone, so let’s stop pretending this is about undue influence,” Leo said in a statement. 

“It’s about Democrats destroying a court they don’t agree with. If President Biden and the Democrats were truly serious about ethics reform, then they would ban all gifts and hospitality of any kind to any public official in any branch of government, starting with Congress, where the real corruption is,” he continued. 

DEMOCRATS TO CONFIRM NOMINEES BY VIRTUAL ROLL CALL WEEKS BEFORE DNC IN CHICAGO TO AVOID LEGAL CHALLENGES

Leonard Leo attends the 2023 Antonin Scalia Memorial Dinner that is part of the Federalist Society’s National Lawyers Convention on Nov. 9, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

“They would close all of the loopholes that allow Members to travel on private jets to fancy hotels and restaurants. With respect to judges, they would include the things where influence peddling is most present and dangerous – and that’s when the liberal Justices rub shoulders with influencers at places like law schools, bar associations, progressive think tanks and their conferences, and other groups and events funded by Left-wing billionaires, where they support real vested interests in the work of the Court,” he added. 

TRUMP IMMUNITY CASE: SUPREME COURT RULES EX-PRESIDENTS HAVE SUBSTANTIAL PROTECTION FROM PROSECUTION 

Leonard Leo, center, chairs a meeting of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom on Sept. 17, 2009, in Washington, D.C. (Shaun Tandon/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden argued the new Supreme Court code of conduct should require justices to “disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity, and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest.”

“Let me be clear,” Leo said. “If Democrats want to adopt an across the board ethics ban for all branches, I am in favor of that: no jets, no meals, no speaking honorariums, no gifts for anyone from anyone for any reason in any branch, starting with Congress.”

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“Until they support that, let’s all be honest about what this is: a campaign to destroy a court that they disagree with,” he concluded. 

Biden is set to speak on his proposed changes to the high court Monday afternoon. 

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

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

President Biden called House Speaker Mike Johnson “dead on arrival” during a strange interaction with a reporter on Monday.

The exchange came shortly after Biden called on Congress to impose term limits and a code of conduct on the Supreme Court. In a statement released earlier on Monday, Johnson condemned Biden’s proposal to “radically overhaul the U.S. Supreme Court,” and argued that doing so would “tilt the balance of power” and erode the rule of law.

“This proposal is the logical conclusion to the Biden-Harris Administration and Congressional Democrats’ ongoing efforts to delegitimize the Supreme Court,” the Louisiana Republican argued. “Their calls to expand and pack the Court will soon resume.”

“It is telling that Democrats want to change the system that has guided our nation since its founding simply because they disagree with some of the Court’s recent decisions,” he added. “This dangerous gambit of the Biden-Harris Administration is dead on arrival in the House.” 

TRUMP TELLS JESSE WATTERS THAT HE WAS NOT WARNED ABOUT GUNMAN, DESPITE REPORTS

President Biden called Mike Johnson “dead on arrival” in a bizarre interaction with a journalist. (Getty Images)

When a reporter asked Biden for his response after he arrived in Austin, Texas, on Monday afternoon, Biden gave a garbled response.

“Mr. President, House Speaker Johnson says your Supreme Court reform is ‘dead on arrival.’ What’s your reaction, sir?” a reporter inquired.

“Who said that?” Biden responded.

“Speaker Johnson said it’s ‘dead on arrival,’” the reporter repeated.

The president then responded, “I think that’s what he is.”

WATCH: THOUSANDS DESCEND ON MICHIGAN TOWN FOR FIRST TRUMP RALLY SINCE FAILED ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

President Joe Biden boards Air Force One at Dover Air Force Base, in Dover, Del., Tuesday, July 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

When the journalist asked for clarification, Biden doubled down on his retort.

“That he is – dead on arrival,” he replied.

The president then vowed that he was going to “figure [out] a way,” to get his proposed radical changes to the Supreme Court passed.

Around an hour later, Biden clarified his remarks during a speech and explained that he was referring to Johnson’s thought process.

“The Republican Speaker of the House said, whatever he proposes, [is] dead on arrival,” Biden said to the audience. “I think his thinking is dead on arrival.”

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said Biden’s proposed radical changes to the Supreme Court are “dead on arrival.”  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Johnson’s office for comment.

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

FIRST ON FOX: Removals of illegal immigrants from the U.S. interior are sharply down during the Biden administration compared to the Trump administration, a new analysis is revealing, just as the administration and some in the media highlight that its removal numbers overall are increasing.

The new analysis by the National Immigration Center for Enforcement (NICE), a pro-enforcement group, has looked at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data and compared removals by that agency between administrations. Simply put, it found that in terms solely of deportation of illegal immigrants by ICE, numbers are down significantly under Biden compared to the Trump era despite massively increased numbers of migrants arriving under the Biden administration.

The analysis shows that there were 935,346 ICE removals of illegal immigrants during the Trump administration, 31.1% of the more than 2 million encounters.

KAMALA HARRIS AND THE SOUTHERN BORDER CRISIS: A TIMELINE 

Analysis by the National Immigration Center for Enforcement

During the Biden-Harris administration, there have been more than 9.6 million encounters, a significantly higher number. But just 4.4% of those, or 406,638, have been removed by ICE.

The analysis uses ICE official data, which showed that fiscal 2018 and fiscal 2019 saw more than 250,000 ICE removals a year before dropping to 185,000 in fiscal 2020 and just 59,011 in fiscal 2021 during the COVID pandemic. It has since risen to 72,177 in fiscal 2022 and 142,580 in fiscal 2023.

It contrasts with, although it does not directly contradict, claims by the administration and some in the media who have pointed to a sharp increase in overall removals since the ending of Title 42.

“Biden is now deporting more people than Trump” a Reuters headline said this month.

“Trump says he wants to deport millions. He’ll have a hard time removing more people than Biden has,” a Politico story said.

TRUMP EYES MULTIPLE BORDER VISITS AS HE DRAWS CONTRAST WITH ‘RADICAL LEFT’ HARRIS

Those articles and the administration itself have pointed to overall Department of Homeland Security (DHS) returns and removals, including those conducted by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in which a migrant can quickly be turned back at the border before being released. Both articles note that ICE deportations alone are down from the Trump era.

When CBP removals are included, numbers are sharply higher after the end of Title 42 in May last year, when expulsions increased significantly. The Reuters analysis shows that under that metric, Trump saw 1.5 million deportations and returns, while Biden has overseen more than 1.1 million until February this year.

ICE agents are pictured arresting a man. (ICE ERO El Paso/X)

“The majority of all Southwest border encounters during the past three fiscal years resulted in a removal, return, or expulsion. DHS removed or returned over 740,000 individuals in the 12 months after the end of the Title 42 public health Order, more than any year since 2010,” DHS said in a recent fact sheet. “That included more removals to countries other than Mexico than in any prior year ever.”

Critics have noted that those numbers also come during a Biden era that has seen multiple years of record border encounters that far eclipse anything seen during the Trump administration. As that crisis has been ongoing, millions have been released into the U.S., with the number of illegal immigrants on the non-detained docket recently hitting the 7 million mark.

“Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are intentionally dismantling immigration enforcement. While they continue to muddle data and mislead the American people, illegal aliens continue to roam the country and commit heinous, preventable crimes,” Joe Edlow, a former Trump Administration official who also serves on the NICE advisory board, told Fox News Digital. “Biden-Harris deportation numbers being echoed by the media are mostly returns, meaning a migrant voluntarily departed at the border without receiving a formal removal order.” 

“As this comparison clearly illustrates, President Trump was deporting more illegal aliens with a focus on criminals, an effort that is sure to be expanded and properly executed under his leadership. American communities will once again be safe and our border will be secure.”

President Biden walks along the U.S.-Mexico border fence in El Paso, Texas, on Jan. 8, 2023. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

But the high overall removals tap into a broader narrative by the Biden administration that it has successfully tackled the ongoing crisis at the border. It has recently highlighted numbers showing a more than 55% reduction in encounters in recent weeks after an executive order that further limited asylum claims in June.

“We’re also securing our border. Border crossings are lower today than when the previous administration left office,” Biden said in an address to the nation.

Other Democrats have presented the border as a job done, particularly given Vice President Harris’ role in talks with international partners on root causes.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

“Border crossings are down. And one of the reasons is her assignment was diplomacy, and she did a lot of work in other countries to try to stop the flow,” former White House communications director Jennifer Palmieri told Politico. “And the numbers are down.”

It’s a narrative that conservatives, including Republicans in Congress, are pushing back against. House Homeland Security Chair Mark Green told Fox News Digital that “despite the efforts by many in the media to absolve President Biden and border czar Kamala Harris of their dismal record on immigration enforcement, the facts simply will not allow it.”

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“The numbers are clear. The Biden-Harris administration has gutted interior enforcement and made it next to impossible for ICE agents to detain and remove illegal aliens. One federal court has even found that the guidance put in place by DHS on their watch is built on the premise that an official should not enforce the law,” he said. “Biden and Harris have sent an unmistakable signal to the world: If you cross illegally into this country, you will likely be released, and you are almost certainly here to stay, as DHS’ own reporting has documented.”

Politics and elections are about optics. And while Democrats may have shifted some of their optics of late by propelling Vice President Harris to the perch of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, the GOP also bolstered some of its optics of late, too.

It’s no secret that House Republicans struggle to govern. They historically wrestle in their efforts to pass their own legislative initiatives. The House had to bag plans to adopt the annual Financial Services and Agriculture appropriations bills because it lacked the votes. So House GOP leaders cut members loose a week early for the “August recess.” That means no House session this week. And no votes in the House until at least September 9.

But, optics are different from governing. And that’s why Republicans were able to fortify some of their optics, just ahead of the summer break.

First off, escaping Dodge a week earlier than planned gives Republicans extra time to recalibrate their message now that Harris is their main political opponent. GOPers can now tune their message to campaign against Harris. And perhaps more importantly, attempt to link vulnerable Democrats to Harris.

FORCING PRESIDENT BIDEN OUT OF CAMPAIGN MAY HAVE BEEN MORE ABOUT CONGRESS THAN WHITE HOUSE

Republicans are hoping linking vulnerable Democrats to “unpopular” Vice President Kamala Harris is enough to torpedo their re-election prospects. (Getty Images)

“She’s a drag too. She’s the most unpopular Vice President in American history for a reason. People reject their policies,” said Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). That’s the formal organization devoted to electing Republicans to the House.

“She’s never resonated with young voters,” said Hudson. “She’s a horrible politician.”

Republicans believe Harris’s body of work gives them opportunity. And since they frittered away their floor traffic, the Vice President provided them with a major opportunity.

Within hours of President Biden endorsing Harris, House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., authored a resolution to condemn Harris for her role as “border czar.” The House took up Stefanik’s resolution on Thursday – deploying it as a punctuation point for the unofficial start of the campaign season. On the final vote before the recess, the House voted 220 to 196 to condemn how Harris handled the border. All Republicans voted yea. But six moderate Democrats – all from battleground districts – sided with the GOP. They were Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine., Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., Yadira Caraveo, D-Colo., Don Davis, D-N.C., Henry Cueller, D-Tex., and Mary Peltola, D-Alaska.

WHY NOW? MEDIA OUTLETS LARGELY QUIET ON TIMING OF SUDDEN CRACKDOWN OF KAMALA HARRIS’ ‘BORDER CZAR’ LABEL

Republicans wanted to document this vote to either dare Democrats to decry Harris – or put them on the record as supporting her. Republicans would then document this particular roll call vote and use it in ads against Democrats representing marginal districts this fall.

Realizing the vulnerability for both Harris and themselves, Democrats scrambled to re-characterize the vice president’s role with the border. Some advocates handed out talking points to Democrats, noting that there is no such position as “border czar” and that Harris was asked to work on causes which led to the border crisis. That includes stemming the flood of illegal migration to the southern border from the “Northern Triangle” nations of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

But another batch of good optics fell into the GOP’s lap in recent days.

Media outlets’ recent scramble to revise “border czar” comments made about Vice President Harris aptly defines this election cycle’s optics war. (REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein)

Republicans invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a Joint Meeting of Congress last week. The GOP has stood foursquare behind Netanyahu and Israel in its war against Hamas since last October. But Democrats are split. Many Democrats skipped the speech – including Vice President Harris. Usually the VP would co-preside over a Joint Meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

The presence of Netanyahu managed to exploit the divides between Democrats over the Middle East. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., signed onto the invitation for Netanyahu. But Schumer didn’t even shake Netanyahu’s hand when lawmakers welcomed the Prime Minister to the chamber for the speech. Meantime, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., sat quietly in the chamber, holding up a round, black sign. It read “War Criminal” on one side. “Guilty of Genocide” on the other.

“It was ridiculous. There’s no place for that,” groused Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., who challenged a witness to a fistfight at a hearing last year. “I wanted to go over there and take it away from her. I mean, I wasn’t going to. But if it would have been a guy, I would have.”

NETANYAHU REVEALS WHAT KAMALA MISSED: THE REALITY OF IRAN

Mullin added that Tlaib “shouldn’t be serving in Congress.”

While Tlaib, a Palestinian-American, demonstrated quietly inside the House chamber, raucous protesters paraded around the Capitol. U.S. Capitol Police erected a massive wire fence around the building. It was reminiscent of the barricade they put up after the 2021 riot. One protester said the barriers converted the citadel of democracy into “Fort Netanyahu.”

Anti-Israel activists then released mealworms and maggots at the Watergate Hotel where Netanyahu was staying.

“Squad” member and Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s protest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before Congress sparked indignation among her House colleagues. (Getty Images)

And you thought they only needed the “plumbers” at the Watergate.

By the time Netanyahu spoke, protesters clashed with police outside Washington’s Union Station in the shadow of the Capitol. They incinerated American flags and replaced the Stars and Stripes with Palestinian flags atop poles in front of the station. They spraypainted “Hamas is Comin’” on statues.

Netanyahu blasted the demonstrators as “Iran’s useful idiots.”

TOP JEWISH GROUP FEARS A HARRIS PRESIDENCY WOULD BE ‘FAR WORSE’ AMID RISING ANTISEMITISM

The scene perturbed Democrats.

“How ironic is it that the Prime Minister was talking about them burning American flags that they’re literally proving him right by burning American flags with the Capitol in the background,” said Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla.

Republicans scored the exact optic they wanted: Democrats divided over the Middle East. But the confrontations with police and flag burning only amplified the images.

Democratic Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz noted anti-Israel demonstrators burning flags in protest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s congressional address were “proving him right” in real-time. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Things calmed down by nightfall. That’s when Republicans engineered some additional political stagecraft.

Rep. Brandon Williams, R-N.Y., was heading past Union Station, en route to late night votes in the House. That’s when he got the idea to replace the Palestinian flags with American flags.

“This place was desecrated. Our flag was burned right here. And if we don’t actually do something… we’re going to have a problem in this country,” said Johnson.

SEE IT: THE MOST DRAMATIC PHOTOS FROM WEDNESDAY’S PRO-HAMAS WASHINGTON, D.C. PROTESTS

Williams, Johnson and a few other Republicans headed over to the train station to remove the Palestinian flags. They then re-hoisted Old Glory.

“We recognize that they flew Palestinian flags on these poles today. It was outrageous,” said Johnson. “They’re destroying public property and they’re burning American flags and we’re not going to stand for it.”

You couldn’t have imagined the GOP scripting it much better. Leftist, anti-Israel demonstrators burning the American flag. Republican Congressmen raising the U.S. flag?

Leftist, anti-Israel demonstrators burning the U.S. flag, only for it to be re-raised by Republican lawmakers come nightfall, seems like something out of a PR dream for the GOP. (Nathan Howard/Reuters)

What did we say earlier about optics?

A combination of DC police agencies only arrested 23 persons in connection with the demonstrations. That includes six people arrested inside the Capitol for breaking decorum during Netanyahu’s speech.

Authorities then dropped charges against 11 protesters. Republicans hated to hear that. But the optics matched their narrative that Washington, D.C. is a “lawless place” with “weak prosecutors.” House Republicans immediately demanded briefings on what went down in the streets of D.C. The decision to not prosecute played right into the Republican playbook, too.

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Republicans didn’t need to have much legislation to crow about heading into the August recess. Not when they seemingly emerged victorious in the optics war.

Vice President Harris, both as senator and vice president, has caused controversy with Homeland Security agencies, comparing one to the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), and fueling a since-discredited narrative about Border Patrol agents on horseback allegedly whipping migrants.

ICE and KKK

At a November 2018 confirmation hearing, then-Sen. Harris asked Ronald Vitiello, who was former President Trump’s nominee to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), if he was “aware of the perception” of parallels between ICE and the KKK.

Harris had highlighted a tweet from Vitiello from 2015 in which he said the Democratic Party was comparable to a “neo-Klanist” entity. Vitiello apologized and admitted that those words were offensive.

FLASHBACK: HARRIS TRIED TO DEFUND BORDER PATROL AGENTS, SLASH ICE BUDGET

Vice President Harris (Leigh Vogel/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images/File)

“What is the history that would then make those words wrong?” Harris asked, to which Vitiello said the KKK would be labeled as a domestic terrorist group by today’s standards and was motivated by race and ethnicity and tried to use “fear and force.”

“Are you aware of the perception of many about how the power and the discretion at ICE is being used to enforce the laws and do you see any parallels?” she asked.

Vitiello pushed back by saying, “I do not see any parallels” between the agency and the white supremacist group, and he asked whether she was asking him if the two were in the same category.

“No, I’m very specific about what I’m asking you. Are you aware of a perception that the way that they …” Harris went on before the nominee said, “I see none.”

“Are you aware that there is a perception that ICE is administering its power in a way that is causing fear and intimidation, particularly among immigrants and specifically among immigrants coming from Mexico and Central America?” she asked again.

Harris ended her questioning by asking whether Vitiello could lead the agency if he was not aware of the negative views toward it.

TRUMP EYES MULTIPLE BORDER VISITS AS HE DRAWS CONTRAST WITH ‘RADICAL LEFT’ HARRIS

“Sir, how can you be the head of an agency and be unaware of how your agency is perceived by certain communities?” she asked.

That sparked outrage at the time, with Republicans accusing her of making the comparison for political purposes.

“Kamala Harris is trying to launch her 2020 campaign off of comparing ICE officers to the KKK, and it’s absolutely disgusting,” then-Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel tweeted.

Border Patrol agents on horseback 

Three years later, in 2021, Harris upset Border Patrol agents when she helped fuel a narrative about horseback agents who encountered migrants during the Haitian migrant surge in Del Rio, Texas.

Based on images of agents using their reins to control their horses, some Democrats, including President Biden, accused agents of whipping migrants. Harris did not explicitly mention whipping, but she did pile the pressure on the agents.

“What I saw depicted about those individuals on horseback treating human beings the way they were was horrible,” Harris told reporters. “And I fully support what is happening right now, which is a thorough investigation into exactly what is going on there. But human beings should never be treated that way. And I’m deeply troubled about it. And I’ll also be talking to [Homeland Security] Secretary [Alejandro] Mayorkas about it today.”

Her statement coincided with statements by Biden who promised “they will pay.” Days later, Harris said the images evoked slavery.

AXIOS HIT WITH COMMUNITY NOTE AFTER CLAIMING HARRIS WAS NEVER ‘BORDER CZAR’

Customs and Border Protection mounted officers attempt to contain migrants as they cross the Rio Grande from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, into Del Rio, Texas, on Sept. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)

“Human beings should not be treated that way,” Harris told “The View” hosts. “It also invoked images of some of the worst moments of our history, where that kind of behavior has been used against the Indigenous people of our country, it has been used against African Americans during times of slavery.”

A subsequent investigation faulted the agents for minor infractions but found the underlying claims that migrants were whipped were not true. Mayorkas, who had criticized the agents, would later go on to defend them last year when a reporter would cite the incident.

“Well, let me just correct you right there because actually the investigation concluded that the whipping did not occur,” he said.

The comments from Harris also sparked outrage from Border Patrol agents at the time, who spoke to Fox News.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Again, it is clear that those in charge, a term that is disgusting to use, have no clue about our operations and frankly operate by ignorance and unhinged emotions,” one said.

Harris, however, has not backed down from her remarks on either incident.

“The only ‘plan’ Donald Trump has to secure our border is ripping mothers from their children and a few xenophobic placards at the Republican National Convention,” Harris campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz said in a statement on Monday. “He tanked the bipartisan border security deal because, for Donald Trump, this has never been about solutions just running on a problem. Like everything with Donald Trump, it’s never been about helping the country, it’s only about helping himself. There’s only one candidate in this race who will fight for bipartisan solutions to strengthen border security, and that’s Vice President Harris.”

Immigration will likely be a top priority for Harris if she is elected president, given the ongoing situation at the border. She was tasked with heading international diplomacy to deal with the migration crisis in 2021, which led to her being dubbed the “border czar” by Republicans and media outlets. Her campaign has said that, if elected, she will fight for solutions to strengthen the border. It has also taken aim at signs calling for mass deportations at the recent GOP convention.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper is no longer in the running to be Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate this election season, according to The New York Times.

The Times reported on Monday evening that Cooper informed Harris’ team about his decision to withdraw. It’s unclear what caused him to withdraw.

Cooper has been considered a top contender to be Harris’ running mate in recent days.

John Locke Foundation senior political analyst Mitch Kokai told Fox News Digital earlier on Monday that the North Carolina governor was considered “a good match” for Harris.

TRUMP TELLS JESSE WATTERS THAT HE WAS NOT WARNED ABOUT GUNMAN, DESPITE REPORTS

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper is reportedly no longer in the running to be Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate. (Getty Images)

“Democrats are likely to see Roy Cooper as a good match for Kamala Harris for multiple reasons. First and foremost, Cooper helps bring North Carolina’s 16 electoral votes into play in a way other candidates do not,” Kokai explained.

WATCH: THOUSANDS DESCEND ON MICHIGAN TOWN FOR FIRST TRUMP RALLY SINCE FAILED ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper reportedly withdrew from consideration to be VP Kamala Harris’ running mate. (ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images)

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“He has won six statewide elections since 2000. That’s an impressive accomplishment for a Democrat in a state that has trended right during the same time period.”

Fox News Digital’s Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.

This is a breaking story. Check back for updates.