NationalWatch

Ohio’s top election official is demanding that Democrats stop using his state as an excuse to justify their expedited nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris for president at a virtual meeting next month.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose sent a letter to DNC Chairman Jamie Harris on Thursday calling out party officials for deceptively claiming the Buckeye State’s ballot access deadline requires them to nominate a presidential candidate before the party convention in Chicago on Aug. 19-22. 

“I’ve seen numerous media reports and interviews within the past week in which you repeatedly cite Ohio’s August 7 ballot access deadline as justification for your committee’s intent to conduct a ‘virtual nominating convention,’” LaRose wrote to Harrison. “As you know, the Ohio General Assembly made an exception to the ballot access deadline for the 2024 presidential election, passing legislation signed by the governor that temporarily extends it to September 1, 2024.”

The Democratic National Committee announced Wednesday it will hold a virtual roll call vote on the party’s presidential and vice presidential nominees weeks before the convention, purportedly because of a ballot-access conflict in Ohio. Harrison and other Democratic officials have insisted the early vote is necessary because of an Aug. 7 deadline under Ohio state law. 

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

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)

“Since May, MAGA Republicans in Ohio have played games with our democracy and threatened to keep Democrats off the general election ballot. Just this week, after President Biden withdrew from the race, Republicans like Speaker Mike Johnson threatened litigation to challenge the Democratic nominee’s place on the ballot and disenfranchise voters,” a DNC spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

“The Democratic Party is undertaking an open, fair, and democratic process to select our nominee, ensure we meet all legal requirements – not just in Ohio, and move forward as a united Democratic Party with a candidate who can defeat Donald Trump in November,” the spokesperson added. 

BIDEN’S CABINET DOUBLES DOWN ON SUPPORT FOR PRESIDENT AMID CALLS TO INVOKE 25TH AMENDMENT

DNC chair Jaime Harrison has insisted the party must nominate a presidential candidate before an Aug. 7 deadline to secure ballot access in Ohio, contrary to what the state elections chief has said.  (Screenshot/NBC/Today)

Under DNC rules, candidates have until July 27 to declare their candidacies with the convention and until July 30 to show they’ve met the qualifications for nomination. The earliest delegates can begin voting electronically will be Aug. 1, assuming Harris is the only candidate to declare and meet the required qualifications and delegate support threshold.

Although unlikely, if more than one candidate declares and meets those requirements, a period of up to five days will be allowed for each candidate to make the case for nomination to the delegates before voting can begin.

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

The United Center in Chicago, where Democrats will hold their 2024 presidential nominating convention. (Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

Harris announced she’d locked up the nomination within 36 hours of Biden’s exit from the race, noting she’d won commitments of backing from a majority of the nearly 4,000 delegates.

“I am proud to have earned the support needed to become our party’s nominee,” she wrote in a social media post just after midnight early Tuesday morning.

Contrary to what Democrats are saying, LaRose argued there is nothing in Ohio state law that would keep the eventual Democratic presidential candidate off the ballot so long as a candidate is nominated before Sept. 1.

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“As the state’s chief elections officer, I’ve confirmed with our state’s attorney general that Ohio law does not require the DNC to conduct a ‘virtual roll call’ prior to your scheduled August convention dates,” LaRose wrote. 

“I’m confident that your attorneys are well-aware of this fact, and I suspect your current rhetorical posturing is part of a plan to replace the incumbent president without a contested convention or any kind of democratic process. It’s clever, if not completely antithetical to your party’s relentless finger wagging about threats to democracy, but I ask that you stop using Ohio to justify your course of action.”

LaRose concluded his letter with an assurance that so long as the Democrats nominate candidates for president and vice president before Sept. 1, they will appear on the Ohio ballot. 

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

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed consequences for Hezbollah after a rocket attack killed 12 children and wounded dozens more on Saturday.

Netanyahu cut short his trip in the U.S. and immediately began traveling back to Israel following Saturday’s attack. A Hezbollah rocket struck a soccer field in northern Israel as children on the field – located in a Druze community in northern Israel – were running toward a bomb shelter.

“Citizens of Israel, like you, I was horrified. I was horrified to see the terrible images following Hezbollah’s murderous attack on Majdal Shams,” Netanyahu said in a statement in Hebrew. “Among the victims were young children playing soccer, along with other victims. Our hearts are all broken by these scenes.

“We embrace the families, and we embrace the entire Druze community in this difficult moment, which is also our difficult moment,” he added.

WRECKAGE OF SCHOONER THAT SANK IN 1893 FOUND IN LAKE MICHIGAN

Israeli security forces and medics transport casualties from a site where a reported strike from Lebanon fell in Majdal Shams village in Israel on July 27, 2024. (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images) (JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

“Since I was informed of the disaster, I have been holding continuous security consultations and [began] to expedite our return to the country. I will convene the security cabinet immediately upon my arrival,” Netanyahu continued.

TRUMP GREETS NETANYAHU AT MAR-A-LAGO, SAYS WORLD WAR III COULD HAPPEN IF HARRIS WINS

“I can say that the State of Israel will not remain silent. We will not let this go unanswered,” he vowed.

Israeli security forces and medics transport casualties along with local residents, at a site where a reported strike from Lebanon fell in Majdal Shams village in Israel on July 27, 2024. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images) (ALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, together with the IDF’s Chief of the General Staff, LTG Herzi Halevi, conducted a situational assessment on the attack on Saturday.

The IDF said approximately 30 projectiles were identified crossing into Israel from Lebanon on Saturday. 

ODDS OF ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH WAR ‘INEVITABLE,’ EXPERTS FEAR: ‘TOTALLY PESSIMISTIC’

According to Israeli Channel 12, the country’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on a TV news show, “We are approaching the moment of an all-out war in the north against Hezbollah, we will react in a disproportionate way,” he reportedly said in a translated note on X by Israeli journalists Ben Caspit and Dafna Liel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress days before the Hezbollah attack on Israel. (Getty Images)

Earlier this month, Yakkov Amidror, the former national security adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, discussed with Fox News Digital the likelihood of an imminent full-blown war between the Jewish state and the Lebanon-based terrorist movement Hezbollah.

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Saturday evening, the Biden White House issued a statement condemning the strike and reaffirming President Biden’s support for Israeli security.

“We condemn this horrific attack that reportedly killed a number of teenagers and children playing soccer on a Saturday evening in the village of Majdal Shams in northern Israel. Our hearts go out to the families of those who lost loved ones today, and we are praying for a speedy recovery for those who have been injured,” the White House said. “Israel continues to face severe threats to its security, as the world saw today, and the United States will continue to support efforts to end these terrible attacks along the Blue Line, which must be a top priority. Our support for Israel’s security is iron-clad and unwavering against all Iranian backed terrorist groups, including Lebanese Hezbollah.”

Fox News’ Benjamin Weinthal contributed to this report

Republicans have been urging Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to pick up a key legislative proposal that would require states to verify proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections. 

They argue the bill is critical to ensuring election integrity in November, but it has so far stalled in the upper chamber.

Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., co-chair of the House Election Integrity Caucus, spoke to Fox News Digital about this on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wis.

She described election integrity as the “premiere issue” of the 2024 election cycle, noting that only five Democrats voted in favor of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which was introduced by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. The bill aims to require states to obtain proof of citizenship – in person – when registering an individual to vote and require states to remove non-citizens from existing voter rolls. 

“Everyone should be talking about the SAVE Act and the fact that 198 Democrats voted for non-citizen voting in our elections,” Tenney said. “Nothing interferes more with our elections and our democratic process than to allow people who have not created and given up the responsibilities of citizenship, but are receiving the benefits of citizenship. And I think that’s really important. One citizen, one vote.” 

5 KEY TAKEAWAYS OF BIDEN’S ADDRESS TO THE NATION FROM THE OVAL OFFICE

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has so far declined to call the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act to a vote.  (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

“Make sure that no one’s vote is diluted, that that’s sacred, the right to vote. The most profound expression of our self-governance is that sacred right to vote,” she said. 

Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y., also criticized Schumer for not calling the bill for a vote in the Senate given there have been more than 10 million known encounters of people illegally crossing American borders during the Biden administration and another estimated 2 million known “got-a-ways” who evaded Border Patrol and escaped into the U.S. interior. 

“We’ve been urging Chuck Schumer to take a lot of Republican legislation up over the 118th Congress. I mean, you rewind back to last April when we passed H.R.2, the Secure the Border Act. It would have given us the ability to secure our border. It was a border security bill. And it would have, probably avoided the over 10 million people that have come into this country illegally, the over 2 million known got-a-ways that are now in this country and millions more,” said D’Esposito, who sits on the House Administration Committee, which oversees the Federal Elections Commission and got the SAVE Act to the floor to pass.

“That is sitting on Chuck Schumer’s desk collecting dust,” D’Esposito said. “The SAVE Act says it all. And, you know, if there’s people that are wondering and they lay in bed at night as so often I do and think to yourself, ‘Well, why do the Democrats keep allowing all these people to come into this country illegally?’ Well, the fact that nearly 200 people voted against the SAVE Act, the fact that Chuck Schumer still has yet to take it up in the Senate and probably won’t, is an indicator as to exactly why that border’s wide open.” 

Democrats have been scrambling after President Biden made the bombshell announcement Sunday that he was discontinuing his bid for a second term and endorsing Vice President Harris.

As Harris heads out on the campaign trail for the first time since entering the race, and with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressing Congress last week, the election integrity bill has fallen to the back burner. 

“My senator, one of my senators, Sen. Chuck Schumer, should be taking this bill up immediately,” Tenney told Fox News Digital. “If he really cares about democracy, and he really cares about the rule of law, and he really cares about the citizens that we represent in the state of New York and across this nation. He should tell every Democrat to vote for the SAVE Act in the Senate.” 

Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer’s office seeking comment, but they did not respond.

Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y. is co-chair of the House Election Integrity Caucus.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Schumer, who initially held off on doing so when the charges were first brought, called on Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., to resign after being convicted in a federal corruption case, and Menendez complied on Tuesday, revealing he would resign from the upper chamber after Aug. 20. Tenney suggested that the change in balance of power could result in the SAVE Act coming to a vote after all. 

“That could tip the balance of power in the Senate and could maybe make Chuck Schumer recognize that a couple of vulnerable Democrats are not going to want to vote against the SAVE Act,” Tenney said. 

Biden had promised to veto the legislation if it passes. Doing so, Tenney argued, would be the “death knell” for the election of Democrats. “If you’re going to undermine citizens of this great country by saying that their vote is not important in a democracy, which the Democrats decry all the time, then you are going to undermine our system of government,” she said. 

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

President Biden in 2021 signed Executive Order 14019, which was billed by the White House as “promoting access to voting.” But Republicans argue the order’s broad interpretation of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993 essentially mobilizes the federal government apparatus to become voter registration agencies. 

“That executive order tasked federal agencies to become vote collection sites,” Tenney said. “I think it’s a violation of the Hatch Act, which is undermining an election as well.” 

Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y., is seen in the Fiserv Forum at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wis., on Wednesday July 17, 2024.  (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen, a Republican, has been sounding the alarm about how state agencies receiving federal funding are required under Biden’s executive order to send out voter registration information to anyone who comes into contact with those agencies without any verification of citizenship. 

Essentially, Allen told Fox News Digital at the convention, the order “really weaponizes and federalizes the entire federal government apparatus to be voter registration agencies.” 

“I just don’t believe the federal government has any role in voter registration that should be left to the states,” he said. “Voter file maintenance is the foundation of election integrity.” 

“We have reached out to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services and asked them, please send us a list of your legal non-citizens that you have on file so we can run them against our voter file to make sure no one slipped through the crack,” he said. “But unfortunately, they have denied access to that data. But we’re going to keep pushing. I think there’s a crack in the door, hopefully, for us to get our hands on that data. That’s data that is funded by you as a taxpayer, me as a taxpayer. Everyone funds those lists. And it just makes common sense that only American citizens should be voting in our American elections.” 

Allen said he had a chance to visit with House Speaker Mike Johnson while at the convention to discuss the SAVE Act. 

“That 198 Democrat members of Congress would vote against giving us, as secretaries of state around the country, the tools to verify citizenship is just beyond me. I don’t understand it. But I told Speaker Johnson, keep pushing. That’s why we need to get Trump back in the White House. That’s why we need to have a Senate GOP majority and a House GOP majority,” Allen said. 

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As for Schumer, Allen urged the Senate majority leader to reconsider calling the bill up for a vote. 

“Only American citizens should be voting in our elections,” Allen said. “Give us the tools, the secretaries of state around the country, to verify citizenship. Allow us to do that, and to make sure we have clean voter files.”

Sunday marks one week since President Biden’s political landscape-altering announcement that he was suspending his re-election rematch against former President Trump and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him as the Democrats’ 2024 presidential nominee.

And early Sunday morning, the Harris campaign showcased that the vice president has hauled in a stunning $200 million in fundraising in just under a week since Biden bowed out.

In a release, the campaign touted what they called a “record-shattering haul” and noted that two-thirds of the contributions came from first-time donors, which they argued was “further proof of the tremendous grassroots support for the Vice President.”

SUNDAY MARKS 100 DAYS UNTIL THE NOVEMBER ELECTION

US Vice President Kamala Harris arrives for a campaign event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, on Tuesday, July 23, 2024. Harris, thrust suddenly into the fray after Joe Biden announced Sunday that he wouldn’t seek reelection, has spent the last two days clearing the field of other potential contenders and securing the endorsement of nearly every major Democrat.  (Daniel Steinle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Biden made his move last weekend amid mounting pressure from within the Democratic Party for him to drop out after a disastrous performance in last month’s first presidential debate with Trump.

The embattled president’s immediate backing of Vice President Kamala Harris last Sunday ignited a surge of endorsements for the vice president by Democratic governors, senators, House members and other party leaders. Within 36 hours, Harris announced that she had locked up her party’s nomination by landing the verbal backing of a majority of the nearly 4,000 delegates to next month’s Democratic National Convention. 

ICING ON THE DEMOCRATS’ 2024 CAKE — THE OBAMAS ENDORSE HARRIS

Former President Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama on Friday became the final major party leaders to endorse the vice president.

The Harris campaign has been spotlighting their surge in fundraising over the past week. The haul includes money raised by the campaign, the Democratic National Committee and joint fundraising committees.

On Monday the Harris campaign spotlighted that they hauled in $81 million in the 24 hours following Biden’s announcement.

2024 SHOWDOWN: TRUMP QUICKLY MOVES TO TRY AND DEFINE HARRIS 

The one-day haul easily topped the nearly $53 million former President Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee announced that they brought in nearly two months ago through their online digital fundraising platform in the first 24 hours after Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts in his criminal trial in New York City.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Charlotte, N.C., Wednesday, July 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley) (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

The Biden campaign and the DNC enjoyed a fundraising lead over Trump and the RNC this year. But Trump and the RNC topped Biden and the DNC, $331 million to $264 million, during the April-June second quarter of 2024 fundraising.

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The Trump campaign tells Fox News that they “continue to have robust fundraising” and that they’ve “demonstrated a level of fundraising that we’re satisfied with.”

The Trump campaign highlights that their fundraising efforts are “doing what we need to do.”

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

A video of Vice President Kamala Harris arguing that young people are experiencing “climate anxiety” that causes them to rethink major future plans like buying a house or having a family is making the rounds, despite it being nearly a year old.

Donald Trump Jr. shared the resurfaced video from September 2023, showing the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate making the statements during her national “Fight for Our Freedoms” college tour.

“WATCH: Resurfaced video shows Kamala Harris suggesting that young people should not have children due to climate change,” Trump said in a post on X. “She calls climate anxiety ‘the fear of the future and the unknown of whether it makes sense for you to even think about children.’”

When Harris made the college tour stop on Sept. 19, 2023, she was speaking to an audience at the Reading Area Community College in Berks County, Pennsylvania.

HARRIS CLAIMS ‘CLIMATE ANXIETY’ HAS YOUNG PEOPLE DOUBTING THE ‘SENSE’ OF HAVING CHILDREN, BUYING HOME

She told the crowd the Biden-Harris ticket saw a record turnout of young voters during the 2020 election, inspiring the administration’s initiative toward student loan forgiveness, which recently hit a roadblock in court.

“We’re not going to stop fighting for that. Because young people said, we’re not leaving it to other people to decide how we’re dealing with the climate crisis. You know, I’ve heard young leaders talk with me about a term they’ve coined, ‘climate anxiety,’” Harris said, pivoting, “Which is fear of the future and the unknown of whether it makes sense for you to even think about having children, whether it makes sense for you to think about aspiring to buy a home because what will this climate be?”

POLLSTER FINDS ‘ASTOUNDING CHANGE’ IN DEMOCRATIC ELECTORATE SINCE HARRIS’ ASCENSION

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally on June 28, 2024, in Las Vegas.  (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

At the time, critics on social media erupted against Harris’ “climate anxiety” claim, arguing Americans are more likely to consider the rising costs of energy, food and housing when making the decision to have children. The Republican-led House Budget Committee has blamed the Biden administration’s economic policies for leading to the most rapid increase in mortgage rates since 1981. A Gallup poll from May found a record low 21% of Americans think it is a good time to buy a home. 

Despite the original video being nearly a year old, Trump’s repost gained some attention, including from X owner Elon Musk.

RAMASWAMY WARNS GOP ON SEVERAL ‘HARD REALITIES’ TO ADDRESS BEFORE CRITICIZING HARRIS: ‘HURTING OUR CHANCES’

Vice President Kamala Harris called her husband in a fit of rage after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade earlier this year. (Reuters/Hannah Beier)

“She is an extinctionist,” Musk wrote of Harris.

Still, one Democrat gave his two cents in a reply, beginning his post on X with “LOL.”

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“You guys have nothing on her. She’s referencing the anxiety young people have conveyed to her about the future, for example, having children,” the user wrote. “Dishonest and disingenuous. But why would we expect anything else from the Trump campaign? You guys are PANICKING!”

Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance called out Democratic heir apparent Kamala Harris at a campaign rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota on Saturday.

Harris said in a 45-second YouTube video posted on July 16 that Vance would be “loyal only to Trump, not to our country” and a “rubber stamp for [Trump’s] extreme agenda.” 

JD VANCE GETS SECRET SERVICE CODE NAME ‘BOBCAT,’ JOINS ‘MOGUL’ IN BID TO TAKE WHITE HOUSE

Vance countered the Vice President’s attack on his character at Saturday’s joint Trump and Vance rally with his track record of Marine Corps service and small business ownership as well as Harris’ failures in tackling the border crisis.

“Now, I saw the other day Kamala Harris questioned my loyalty to this country. That’s the word she used; loyalty. And it’s an interesting word. Semper Fi: loyalty, because there is no greater sign of disloyalty to this country than what Kamala Harris has done at our southern border,” said Vance.

ST CLOUD, MINNESOTA – JULY 27: Republican vice presidential nominee U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) speaks during a rally with running mate U.S. Republican Presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on July 27, 2024, in St Cloud, Minnesota. Trump hopes to flip the state of Minnesota this November, which hasn’t been carried by a Republican in a presidential election since 1972.  (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

The senator from Ohio didn’t stop with Harris’ record as border czar under President Joe Biden’s administration. 

“And I’d like to ask the vice president, what has she done to question my loyalty to this country? I served in the United States Marine Corps. I went to Iraq for this country. I built a business for this country.”

TRUMP SENIOR CAMPAIGN ADVISOR SLAMS LEFT: TAKING VANCE’S ‘CAT LADY’ COMMENTS ‘BLATANTLY OUT OF CONTEXT’

Vance added, “and my running mate took a bullet for this country. So my question to Kamala Harris is, what the hell have you done to question our loyalty to the United States of America?”

After the crowd roared with applause, Vance answered his own question.

Republican vice presidential nominee U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) walks out with his wife Usha Vance to speak during a rally with running mate U.S. Republican Presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on July 27, 2024, in St Cloud, Minnesota. Trump hopes to flip the state of Minnesota this November, which hasn’t been carried by a Republican in a presidential election since 1972.  (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images))

“And the answer, my friends, is nothing. So let’s send a message to the media. Let’s send a message to Kamala Harris. Let’s send a message to every hardworking patriot from Minnesota across the country. We are ready to have President Donald J. Trump back, and we’re going to work our tails off to make sure it happens,” he concluded.

A Fox News poll released Friday shows former President Trump with 46% support in Minnesota, and Vice President Harris with 52%. 

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Former President Trump and Senator Vance are scheduled to give another campaign rally together Tuesday in Henderson, Nevada.

Former President Trump called Vice President Kamala Harris’ meeting with the Israeli prime minister “terrible and insulting” Saturday, claiming the White House disrespected the Middle East ally.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with both President Biden and Harris in Washington, D.C., Thursday, 

“P.M. Netanyahu of Israel had a terrible and ‘insulting’ meeting in D.C. with Kamala Harris, who also refused to preside over Congress during his speech, which is an obligation of the V.P. Rarely has such a thing happened,” Trump wrote on his social media site, Truth Social.

NETANYAHU REPORTEDLY UPSET WITH HARRIS OVER VP’S ISRAEL REMARKS AS WHITE HOUSE PUSHES BACK

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House in Washington, D.C. (Amos Ben-Gershom(GPO)/Handout/Anadolu )

“Her ineptness will greatly prolong the war and delay the hostage release,” the former president continued. “The same people that embarrassed us in AFGHANISTAN with their gross incompetence, are the ones who are telling Israel not to fight any longer with Hamas. Forget October 7th, they say!”

The post put the word “insulting” in quotations, but it is unclear if Trump was intending to directly quote the prime minister. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.

An Israeli official told Axios Netanyahu was unhappy with Harris mentioning civilian deaths in Gaza and the “dire humanitarian situation there.”

VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS’ ABSENCE AT NETANYAHU SPEECH NOT WITHOUT PRECEDENT

Former President Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, speaks during the final day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.  (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

The White House pushed back against those reports Friday, with one aide telling Fox News, “I don’t know what they’re talking about.” 

Trump went on to repeat an idea he has conveyed in the past, that he is the only rational candidate for Jewish Americans. He offered the same sentiment about Catholic Americans.

“Any Jewish person that votes for Kamala, or a Democrat, should immediately have their head examined. Likewise Catholics, who are being persecuted by this Administration, should not be voting for Radical Left Kamala. VOTE TRUMP 2024. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”

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Former President Trump, left, shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they pose for a photo during their meeting at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. (Amos Ben-Gershom(GPO)/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The White House meeting came before Netanyahu’s meeting Friday with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. 

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

A new poll from The Wall Street Journal has found Vice President Kamala Harris neck and neck with Donald Trump after President Biden vacated the Democratic nomination for November’s election. 

“Only 37% of Biden voters were enthusiastic about him in early July, and now 81% of Harris voters are enthusiastic about her,” Democratic pollster Mike Bocian, who conducted the survey with Republican pollster David Lee, told the Journal. “This is an astounding change.”

The former president maintains a 2% lead over Harris in a two-person race, within the Journal’s 3.1% margin of error, indicating Harris has cut into the six-point lead Trump had over President Biden before Biden withdrew from the race last weekend.

When the field expands to include Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other independent and third-party candidates, the gap slips to a slender 1% lead for Trump over Harris, 45% to 44%. Part of that shift resulted from the change in voter demographics as she has galvanized Democrats and brought high levels of enthusiasm into the party. 

NY TIMES EDITORIAL BOARD URGES KAMALA HARRIS TO ‘DO BETTER’ THAN BIDEN IN TAKING QUESTIONS FROM REPORTERS

Harris raised $100 million from over 1.1 million unique donors between Sunday afternoon to Monday evening after she announced she would run in place of Biden, marking what her campaign claimed to be the “largest 24-hour raise in presidential history.” 

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump. (Getty Images)

The Journal poll does include good news for Trump, however. Republican pollster David Lee pointed out that Trump was trailing Biden in the July 2020 Journal poll by nine points. 

“Donald Trump is in a far better position in this election when compared to a similar time in the 2020 election,” Lee told the Journal.

Voters favor Trump on key issues like the economy, immigration, foreign policy and crime and lean toward Harris on abortion.

“Instead of what was shaping up to be a Trump win, America has a real, bona fide race on its hands,” veteran political scientist and New England College President Wayne Lesperance told Fox News Digital this week. “Game on.”

HARRIS CAMPAIGN CLAIMS SHE NO LONGER SUPPORTS FRACKING BAN SHE TOUTED IN 2019: REPORT

A tied national poll would give Trump an advantage in the Electoral College “given the way the country’s population is dispersed,” according to the Journal. But Harris has yet to pick a vice presidential candidate, with the likes of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz; Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.; and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper likely to shake up those numbers. 

Vice President Kamala Harris drew a large crowd Tuesday afternoon in West Allis, Wis., at a rally.  (Fox News Digital)

In Michigan, Harris and Trump remain in a dead heat, according to a Fox News poll released Friday, which marked a three-point shift for Harris, up from Biden’s 46% in April polling. 

The poll found that men favor Trump by 13 points, while women back Harris by 12. Trump has a two-point advantage with voters over 45 years old, while Harris has a five-point advantage with voters under 35 years old. Whites without a college degree pick Trump by 15 points, and Harris has a three-point advantage among Whites with a degree and voters of color, who back her by 39 points. 

RAMASWAMY WARNS GOP ON SEVERAL ‘HARD REALITIES’ TO ADDRESS BEFORE CRITICIZING HARRIS: ‘HURTING OUR CHANCES’

The race has tightened in battleground states overall, which will prove welcome news for Democrats who pushed for Biden to drop out on word that polling indicated a collapse in those states. 

The Butler, Pa., crowd at former President Trump’s rally (Fox News)

In Minnesota, Harris has a six-point lead, while Trump has a one-point advantage in Wisconsin. The two remain tied in Pennsylvania. 

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Fox News surveys in those battleground states found that Trump is meeting or exceeding his 2020 vote share when put into a two-way race with Harris, with greater support among voters who prioritize the economy and immigration as their top issues. Voters who consider abortion a top issue favor Harris. 

Harris also enjoys higher favorable ratings than Trump in each state except Michigan, where they remain tied. 

Fox News Digital’s Dana Blanton contributed to this report.  

President Biden is set to propose several changes to the U.S. Constitution on Monday to make good on his promise to reform the Supreme Court, according to a report.

In a reversal from the president’s longstanding resistance to changes to the high court, Biden said on Wednesday that Supreme Court reform would be among his top priorities for the remainder of his term in office. Biden announced Sunday that he would not seek re-election after mounting pressure from Democratic Party officials who asked him to step aside after his widely panned debate performance in June.

The president is expected to propose setting term limits for justices on the Supreme Court, which would require a constitutional amendment, and establishing an enforceable code of ethics, which could be enacted by Congress, Politico reported.

BIDEN TO ANNOUNCE SUPPORT FOR MAJOR CHANGES TO SUPREME COURT AMID OUTRAGE OVER RECENT DECISIONS: REPORT

President Joe 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)

Biden is also likely to voice support for a constitutional amendment that would limit immunity for presidents and certain other officeholders after the court ruled in July that presidents cannot be prosecuted for “official acts” during their time in office. The court’s ruling stemmed from a case concerning former President Trump.

The framers of the Constitution intentionally made it difficult to amend. A two-thirds majority of both the House and the Senate needs to pass any proposed amendment, which is then sent to the states for ratification. It must be approved by three-fourths — 38 — of the 50 states to become the supreme law of the land. 

“This decision today has continued the court’s attack in recent years on a wide range of long-established legal principles in our nation, from gutting voting rights and civil rights to taking away a woman’s right to choose, to today’s decision that undermines the rule of law of this nation,” Biden said in public remarks after the court handed down its opinion. 

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

The U.S. Supreme Court is seen, Nov. 15, 2023, in Washington.  (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

Politico reported the specifics of the proposal have not been finalized and could still change. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Biden said Supreme Court reform is “critical to our democracy” in an Oval Office address Wednesday explaining his decision to drop out of the 2024 election.

HARRIS VS. TRUMP: 100 DAYS FROM ELECTION, IT’S A DRAMATICALLY ALTERED PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower, Thursday, May 30, 2024, after being found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)

“Over the next six months, I’ll be focused on doing my job as president. That means I’ll continue to lower costs for hard-working families, grow our economy. I’ll keep defending our personal freedoms and our civil rights, from the right to vote to the right to choose. I’ll keep calling out hate and extremism, make it clear there is no place, no place in America for political violence or any violence ever, period. I’m going to keep speaking out to protect our kids from gun violence, our planet from climate crisis, is the existential threat,” Biden said. 

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“And I will keep fighting for my for my cancer moonshot, so we can end cancer as we know it because we can do it. And I’m going to call for Supreme Court reform because this is critical to our democracy, Supreme Court reform. You know, I will keep working to ensure America remains strong and secure and the leader of the free world.” 

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

The Department of Justice has settled with two former FBI officials over violation of privacy rights.

Former counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page filed suit against the Justice Department over the release of their text message conversations expressing contempt for former President Donald Trump.

According to court documents reviewed by the Associated Press, Strzok settled his case for $1.2 million, while Page received $800,000.

DOJ REACHES SETTLEMENT WITH EX-FBI ‘LOVEBIRDS’ CAUGHT IN ANTI-TRUMP TEXT SCANDAL

Ex-FBI official Peter Strzok was fired in 2018 for sending out anti-Trump texts. (Reuters)

In 2019, Strzok argued in a court filing in Washington, D.C., federal district court that his politically charged anti-Trump messages were protected by the First Amendment even though he sent them on bureau-issued phones while playing leading roles in the probes into both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Strzok, once the FBI’s head of counterintelligence, said he was entitled to “develop a full factual record through discovery,” and that it would be premature to dismiss the case at this early stage. He went on to argue that the DOJ’s position would “leave thousands of career federal government employees without protections from discipline over the content of their political speech.”

“This outcome is a critical step forward in addressing the government’s unfair and highly politicized treatment of Pete,” said lawyer Aitan Goelam, who is representing Strzok. 

DISGRACED EX-FBI AGENT PETER STRZOK REACTS TO DURHAM REPORT ON TRUMP-RUSSIA COLLUSION WITH VICTORY LAP

Republican presidential candidate and former president, Donald Trump, speaks during the final day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.  (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Goelam continued, “As important as it is for him, it also vindicates the privacy interests of all government employees. We will continue to litigate Pete’s constitutional claims to ensure that, in the future, public servants are protected from adverse employment actions motivated by partisan politics.”

Page also filed suit against the FBI and Department of Justice, alleging the government’s publication of her salacious text messages with Strzok constituted a breach of the Federal Privacy Act.

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Lisa Page, former legal counsel to former FBI Director Andrew McCabe, arrives at Capitol Hill to speak before the House Judiciary and Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

“While I have been vindicated by this result, my fervent hope remains that our institutions of justice will never again play politics with the lives of their employees,” Page said in a statement.

Page’s complaint also sought reimbursement for “the cost of childcare during and transportation to multiple investigative reviews and appearances before Congress,” the “cost of paying a data-privacy service to protect her personal information” and attorney’s fees.

Fox News Digital’s Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.

A Democrat seeking statewide office in Pennsylvania is not a fan of Gov. Josh Shapiro and has warned Vice President Kamala Harris that she should look elsewhere for a running mate.

Erin McClelland, a candidate for treasurer, endorsed North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper to be the Democratic nominee for vice president over her governor in social media posts that alluded to criticisms of Shapiro.  

“I want a VP pick that’s secure enough to be second under a woman, is content to be VP & won’t undermine the President to maneuver his own election & doesn’t sweep sexual harassment under the rug,” McClelland wrote on X. “I want someone that can speak to rural voters. That is [Roy Cooper].” 

Her social media post appeared to reference a sexual harassment scandal that rocked Shapiro’s office last year. A former top aide to the governor, Mike Vereb, was accused of sexual harassment by a female subordinate. The governor’s office reached a $295,000 settlement with the accuser. However, Vereb did not resign until six months after a complaint was filed, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. 

FOX NEWS POLL: HARRIS, TRUMP TIED IN PENNSYLVANIA

Erin McClelland, the Democratic nominee for Pennsylvania Treasurer, speaks at an abortion rights rally. (Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Pennsylvania lawmakers heavily criticized Shapiro for his handling of the scandal and Republicans questioned why Vereb was permitted to remain in his position for months after the accuser came forward. 

McClelland’s comments resurrecting the scandal provoked blowback from Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman Sharif Street and other party officials who support the governor. Shapiro, 51, is seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party: a fresh face with a 61% favorability rating, according to a Fox News poll of battleground Pennsylvania, where 19 Electoral College votes are at stake in November.

Josh Shapiro speaks at his swearing in as Governor of Pennsylvania at the State Capitol Building on Jan. 17, 2023, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (Mark Makela/Getty Images)

“Look, everybody’s entitled to their opinion,” Street told reporters Wednesday during a news conference. “Certainly, I think, Vice President Harris, whoever she picks, we’re going to stand behind her, she’s going to do a great job.”

“But, I’ll tell you, I’m offended by that… by the post,” Street added. “I’m personally offended, and I’ll have conversations with our nominee for Treasurer, separately.”

WHO IS JOSH SHAPIRO? WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNOR AND POSSIBLE VP PICK

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper is one of the top contenders to be Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate.  (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)

McClelland and Shapiro’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

The treasury candidate remained unapologetic for her comments and doubled down on her thinly-veiled criticisms of Shapiro in an interview with the New York Post. 

“If I were in [Harris’] situation, I would think very strongly about the difficulties that some women experience being in a top-level position, and having men around them that have to be satisfied with being second, third or answering to a woman,” she told the outlet.

McClelland also said she has not spoken with Street since the controversy over her post but believes their relationship will be “fine.” 

BIDEN’S BORDER POLICIES WOULD LIKELY BE EXTENDED IF THIS SWING STATE DEM GOVERNOR IS THE NEW NOMINEE

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

“Someone is offended by a woman with a strong opinion. Color me thunderstruck,” she told the Post. 

McClelland was quick to add though that she would support the Democratic ticket regardless of who is nominated for vice president, but praised Cooper as the best choice.

The North Carolina governor “seems very comfortable in his own skin and does not seem to have very strong ambitions to be president,” McClelland said.

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“I don’t think that he would undercut” Harris, she added. “He’s good on public education, which is an issue that’s important to me.”

The New York Post observed that Shapiro has come under fire from the left for his support for school choice in Pennsylvania. But he’s lost support from Republicans too after he reversed his position on a school choice bill, which he previously supported. 

Former President Trump claimed Friday that conflicts in the Middle East could escalate into a third World War if he loses the 2024 election.

The Republican nominee for president made those remarks as he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort home. Netanyahu traveled to Florida to meet with Trump after meeting with President Biden and the presumptive Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, in Washington, D.C., earlier this week, following his address Wednesday to a joint session of Congress.  

At Mar-a-Lago, Trump told reporters Harris is “worse” on Middle East issues and claimed Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza could expand into a wider regional conflict if she succeeds Biden, who announced Sunday he would not seek re-election. 

“We’ll see how it goes. But if it all works out, if we win, it’ll be very simple. It’s all going to work out. And very quickly,” Trump said. “If we don’t, you’re going to end up with major wars in the Middle East. And maybe a third World War. You are closer to a third World War right now than at any time since the Second World War. We’ve never been so close because we have incompetent people running the country.” 

NETANYAHU TO MEET TRUMP AS ISRAELI LEADER LOOKS TO REKINDLE RELATIONSHIP

Trump meets with Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate Friday, July 26, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla.  (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Trump’s remarks come amid a reported diplomatic flare-up between Harris and Netanyahu, which occurred after their meeting Thursday. 

In comments after the meeting, Harris said she told the Israeli prime minister she “will always ensure that Israel is able to defend itself, including from Iran and Iran-backed militias such as Hamas and Hezbollah.”

“I also expressed with the prime minister my serious concern about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the death of far too many innocent civilians. And I made clear my serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation there,” she added, calling for an end to the war and the release of all hostages held in Hamas captivity. 

Harris’ criticisms of Israel’s conduct in the Gaza war reportedly irked Netanyahu, according to Axios. The prime minister has repeatedly said fighting must continue until Hamas is eliminated, even if hostages are released. 

When asked about Harris’ comments Friday, Netanyahu told reporters Israel still hopes for a cease-fire deal.

NETANYAHU SEEMS TO CONTRADICT BIDEN CEASE-FIRE OFFER: ‘NONSTARTER’ IF ALL CONDITIONS NOT MET

Trump met with Netanyahu for the first time since he left the White House in 2020.  (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

“We’re trying to get one. And I think, to the extent that Hamas understands that there’s no daylight between Israel and the United States, that expedites the deal. And I hope that those comments don’t change that,” Netanyahu said. 

The Mar-a-Lago meeting is the first face-to-face contact Netanyahu has had with Trump since the Republican nominee left the White House in 2020. Their relationship became strained when Netanyahu congratulated President-elect Biden on his victory that year, which prompted Trump to call out the Israeli leader. 

“I haven’t spoken to him since,” Trump told Israeli journalist Barak Ravid that year. “F— him.”

Netanyahu is now making an effort to make amends and secure Trump’s support for Israel in the war against Gaza should the Republican candidate return to the White House after the November election. 

BIDEN JOKES HE WAS ‘12’ WHEN HE FIRST MET ISRAELI PM GOLDA MEIR DURING NETANYAHU VISIT TO WHITE HOUSE

Anti-Israel protesters demonstrate as the motorcade of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travels to Mar-a-Lago, where Netanyahu met with former President Trump July 26, 2024. (Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images)

In Trump’s home, the Israeli leader presented the former president with a photo of one of the Bibas toddlers, children still held captive by Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

Netanyahu said the picture was given to him by the toddlers’ grandfather, who asked him to share it with Trump. 

“Wow, that’s very moving,” Trump said, accepting the photograph. “We’ll get that taken care of.” 

Earlier, protesters gathered in West Palm Beach, Florida, to greet Netanyahu as his plane landed. The prime minister’s visit to the nation’s capital this week also sparked demonstrations that featured antisemitic slogans, calls for Israel’s eradication, vandalism and heated confrontations with D.C. police.   

In his address to Congress, Netanyahu accused Iran of funding the protests and tore into the demonstrators, who have demanded an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

‘CHICKENS FOR KFC’: NETANYAHU RIPS CEASE-FIRE ACTIVISTS IN SPEECH TO CONGRESS AS TLAIB SILENTLY PROTESTS

Netanyahu shared this photo of himself with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida July 26, 2024.  (X/@netanyahu)

“I have a message for these protesters. When the tyrants of Tehran, who hang gays from cranes and murder women for not covering their hair, are praising, promoting and funding you, you have officially become Iran’s useful idiots,” Netanyahu said Wednesday. 

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“Some of these protesters hold up signs proclaiming gays for Gaza. They might as well hold up signs saying ‘Chickens for KFC.’ These protesters chant ‘From the river to the sea.’ But many don’t have a clue what river and what sea they’re talking about.”

The war in Gaza has raged since Hamas’ slaughter of nearly 1,200 people, including more than 30 Americans, in southern Israel Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas continues to hold more than 100 hostages in Gaza, including eight Americans.

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

Gun control activists are ramping up spending to elect presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris president and help Democrats capture the House of Representatives in November. 

GIFFORDS, a gun violence prevention group founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, on Friday announced a $15 million campaign targeting battleground state voters. The ad buy is for television, digital advertising and direct mail, as well as for sending Giffords and surrogates to stump for Harris and down-ballot candidates who support tougher gun laws. 

“With just over 100 days until election day, GIFFORDS will redouble its efforts to support champions who are committed to saving lives — including ensuring that Vice President Kamala Harris becomes the next president of the United States,” said Emma Brown, executive director for GIFFORDS.

The multi-million dollar campaign will focus on swing states like Michigan and Arizona for the presidential election, and swing congressional districts in California and New York, which could determine control of the House of Representatives next year, NBC News first reported.

SOTOMAYOR FACES BACKLASH FOR GUN RIGHTS VIEWS AFTER BODYGUARDS SHOOT WOULD-BE CARJACKER: ‘INCREDIBLY IRONIC’

Giffords speaks during a campaign event for Vice President Kamala Harris, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Joe Lamberti)

“Across the country, Americans are crystal clear: they want elected leaders who stand up to the gun lobby and put public safety first,” said Brown.

GIFFORDS pointed to internal polling conducted in June that found 70% of American voters in battleground districts are “extremely” or “very” concerned about gun violence. The group argues that key groups of voters — particularly women, Latino and Black Americans — strongly support tougher gun laws and will make the difference in close races if motivated to get to the polls.

“This year is critically important, and we look forward to supporting allies committed to preventing gun violence at every level of government — from the state legislative level to Congress, and giving Vice President Harris effective governing partners when she wins in November,” Brown said. 

A Fox News poll conducted in June found that 45% of Americans ranked guns as an “extremely important” issue, making it the 7th most “extremely important” to voters out of a list of 10 issues. The highest-ranked issues were “Future of American democracy” (68%), “Economy” (66%) and “Stability and normalcy” (58%). 

NRA DIGS UP HISTORY TO PUSH BACK ON KAMALA HARRIS’ CLAIM ON ‘ASSAULT’ BAN

Giffords exits following a campaign event for Vice President Kamala Harris, Thursday, July 25, 2024 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Joe Lamberti)

Erich Pratt, the senior vice president for Gun Owners of America, a Second Amendment group, cast doubt on the contention that gun control is a motivating issue for large swathes of voters.

“It’s undeniable that the policies of Kamala Harris and this administration are responsible for the crime crisis our nation currently faces. Threatened confiscation of common self-defense firearms, coupled with soft on crime officials at the state and local levels in major urban centers across the country, have not helped Americans feel safe,” Pratt told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

“If groups like GIFFORDS really cared about reducing violence, they’d be urging Harris, a former prosecutor herself, to mobilize U.S. attorneys offices against violent criminals. But instead, they would prefer to push unconstitutional disarmament that leaves everyday Americans defenseless. That won’t play well with swing state voters.”

WHO IS MARK KELLY? WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE SENATOR FROM ARIZONA AND POSSIBLE VP PICK

Harris prepares to swear in Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) with his wife Gabrielle Giffords in the old senate chamber for the Ceremonial Swearing on Jan. 3, 2023, in Washington, D.C.  (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Gabrielle Giffords, a former Democratic representative from Arizona, was grievously wounded in a 2011 assassination attempt when a gunman shot her in the head at an event in her district. The former congresswoman co-founded her eponymous group a decade ago to “end the gun lobby’s stranglehold on our political system,” according to the GIFFORDS website. 

Her husband is Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., who is reportedly one of the top contenders to be Harris’ running mate. 

Giffords appeared at an event for Harris on Thursday at the Salt & Light church in Pennsylvania, where she met with community activists in Philadelphia. The predominantly Black neighborhood where she spoke has been impacted by gun violence, including an incident last weekend in which three people were killed and at least six others wounded. 

Giffords spoke briefly about her long recovery from the shooting in 2011, which killed six people during a meeting with constituents at a Tucson grocery store. Harris’ other surrogates, including Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton, framed the November presidential contest as a choice between Harris, who would sign a ban on assault weapons, and more gun violence under Republican Donald Trump, who gun-rights groups back.

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“We are overwhelmed with violence all across America from rural Pennsylvania to inner city neighborhoods like where we are today,” McClinton said. “We as voters can make a decision on having a more violent United States or safer communities in every part of America.”

Both Giffords and McClinton, an ally to Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is also under consideration for the Democratic vice presidential nomination — dodged questions about the veepstakes. Giffords aides told the Associated Press the event had long been planned before President Biden dropped out and endorsed Harris for his job, and certainly before her husband emerged as a potential candidate to run on the 2024 ticket. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

One of six House Democrats who broke with the party this week to condemn Vice President Kamala Harris‘ handling of the southern border endorsed her presidential campaign bid Friday. 

Rep. Don Davis of North Carolina also said North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, would be an “excellent” choice as a running mate. 

“The stakes of this presidential election are incredibly high, with far-reaching implications,” Davis said in a statement.

TRUMP SLAMS BIDEN’S ‘TERRIBLE’ OVAL OFFICE ADDRESS ON ABRUPT EXIT FROM 2024 RACE: ‘IT WAS A COUP’

Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C., has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, a day after criticizing her handling of the southern border.  (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

While endorsing Harris, Davis said the administration must address the migrant crisis at the border, which has become a top issue for voters. 

“These issues cannot be overlooked,” said Davis. “I will continue to advocate for comprehensive immigration reform, including securing the border and other issues impacting eastern NC families.”

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

This split shows Vice President Kamala Harris and Border Patrol agents. ((Photo by Chris duMond/Getty Images and Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images))

Republicans have criticized Harris’ record on the border, at a time when record numbers of illegal immigrants have entered the United States. Harris was informally named by President Biden as the “border czar” in 2021.

She was tasked with handling the root causes of mass illegal immigration from Central and South America. 

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In July 2021, Harris introduced a five-point general strategy to combat the “root causes” of illegal immigration. 

The plan did not include specific policies but instead called for “diplomacy, foreign assistance, public diplomacy, and sanctions” to “establish a fair, orderly, and humane immigration system.”

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

Vice President Kamala Harris publicly pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “get this deal done” and agree to a cease-fire to end Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, but Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, won’t say whether she’s also pushing terror group Hamas to relent at the negotiating table.

Harris’ remarks urging Israel to make a deal, which came after her “frank and constructive” meeting with Netanyahu on Thursday, were lambasted by former President Donald Trump in public and, reportedly, by Netanyahu in private.

“I think her remarks were disrespectful,” Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, told reporters while standing alongside Netanyahu on Friday afternoon. “They weren’t very nice pertaining to Israel. I actually don’t know how a person who’s Jewish can vote for her, but that’s up to them. But she was certainly disrespectful to Israel, in my opinion.”

The current iteration of the proposed deal has two phases, Harris revealed. Phase one calls for a full cease-fire, “including a withdrawal of the Israeli military from population centers in Gaza.” The second phase would see the Israeli military withdraw from Gaza “entirely.”

Harris said that there was “hopeful movement in the talks to secure an agreement on this deal,” but when asked several times by Fox News Digital whether she is applying the same pressure to Hamas leaders to accept the terms as she is to Netanyahu and Israel, her office did not respond.

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

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House in Washington D.C., on July 25, 2024.  (Amos Ben-Gershom (GPO)/Handout/Anadolu )

“Israel has a right to defend itself, and how it does so matters,” Harris told reporters Thursday. “It is time for this war to end. And end in a way that Israel is secure, all the hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity and self-determination.”

Harris condemned Hamas as a “brutal terrorist organization” that has “committed horrific acts, but she still lobbied to “get the deal done so we can get a cease-fire to end the war.”

CONSERVATIVE THINK TANK DROPPING $18 MILLION TO HIGHLIGHT ‘EXTREMIST’ HARRIS AGENDA ON PARENTAL RIGHTS

“As I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done,” Harris said. “So to everyone who has been calling for a cease-fire, and to everyone who yearns for peace, I see you, and I hear you.”

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

Harris also stressed a “serious concern about the scale of human suffering in Gaza.”

Netanyahu was unhappy with Harris’ mentioning of civilian deaths in Gaza and characterization of the “dire humanitarian situation there,” an Israeli official told Axios, adding that there was some concern that the remarks could actually impede progress toward the cease-fire that Harris apparently desires.

But an aide to Harris dismissed that notion.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress on Wednesday. (Getty Images)

“I don’t know what they’re talking about,” an aide told Fox News. “President Biden and Vice President Harris delivered the same message in their private meetings to Prime Minister Netanyahu: It’s time to get the cease-fire and hostage deal done.”

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The aide added: “And this is what the Vice President said publicly as well. The public comments tracked with her previous comments on the conflict. She started with underscoring rock-solid support for Israel and then expressed concern about civilian causalities and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, as she always does. The meeting between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Vice President Harris was serious and collegial.”

Former President Donald Trump criticized Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday as a “bum” responsible for the influx of migrants flowing across the U.S.-Mexico border during her tenure in the Biden administration.

Trump made the comments about Harris at the Turning Point USA Believers Summit in West Palm Beach, Florida. This comes after Harris secured enough delegates for the Democratic Party’s top nomination after President Joe Biden dropped his re-election effort, although the party’s candidate will not formally be nominated until next month’s convention.

“Three weeks ago, she was a bum, a failed vice president and a failed administration with millions of people crossing. And she was the border czar, now they’re trying to say she never was,” Trump said, referring to recent claims by some media outlets that Harris was never the border czar, although several of the same outlets previously described her as such.

“They’re deleting it all over the place,” he added. “They want to take it [down] because we have the worst border in history. And three and a half years ago, we had the best border that we’ve ever had.”

TRUMP ANNOUNCES TO CROWD HE JUST TOOK OFF THE LAST BANDAGE AT FAITH EVENT AFTER ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

Former US President and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at Turning Point Action’s “The Believers Summit” in West Palm Beach, Florida, on July 26, 2024.  (CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)

President Biden tapped Harris in 2021 to address the root causes of mass migration from Central and South America.

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

Earlier this week, the House passed a resolution condemning Harris as the border czar over her handling of the mass migration crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. The resolution passed by a 220-196 vote, with at least six Democrats joining Republicans to condemn Harris.

During his remarks on Friday, Trump botched Harris’ name. He appeared to struggle to pronounce “Harris” and said there are multiple ways to pronounce her first name.

“By the way, there are numerous ways of saying her name … It doesn’t matter what I say. I couldn’t care less if I mispronounce it or not. I couldn’t care less,” he said. “Some people think I mispronounce it on purpose, but actually I’ve heard it said about seven different ways. There are a lot of ways.”

TOP DEMOCRATIC SUPER PAC LAUNCHES MASSIVE $50M AD SPEND FOR HARRIS LEADING UP TO DNC

US Vice President Kamala Harris delivers the keynote speech at the American Federation of Teachers’ 88th National Convention in Houston, Texas, on July 25, 2024. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

Additionally, Trump said Harris must be defeated in a “land slade,” a mispronunciation of “landslide.” 

The former president also again purported that Democrats are trying to steal elections and claimed to the Christians in the crowd that Americans will not have to vote at the end of his presidency because “it’ll be fixed” by then, a comment Democrats are criticizing as fascist and an attempt to refuse to leave office.

“If you want to save America, get your friends, get your family, get everyone you know and vote,” Trump said. “Vote early. Vote absentee. Vote on Election Day. I don’t care how, but you have to get out and vote. And again, Christians get out and vote just this time.”

Former US President and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at Turning Point Action’s “The Believers Summit” in West Palm Beach, Florida, on July 26, 2024. (CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump also highlighted that he appointed three Supreme Court justices — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — and that he “will once again appoint rock solid conservative judges who will protect religious liberty and not let Marxist lunatics rewrite our constitution.”

The Harris campaign criticized Trump’s speech as “bitter” and “bizarre.”

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“Tonight, Donald Trump couldn’t pronounce words, insulted the faith of Jewish and Catholic Americans, lied about the election (again), lied about other stuff, bragged about repealing Roe, proposed cutting billions in education funding, announced he would appoint more extremist judges, revealed he planned to fill a second Trump term with more criminals like himself, attacked lawful voting, went on and on and on, and generally sounded like someone you wouldn’t want to sit near at a restaurant – let alone be President of the United States,” Harris campaign spokesperson James Singer said in a statement.

“America can do better than the bitter, bizarre, and backward looking delusions of criminal Donald Trump,” Singer continued. “Vice President Kamala Harris offers a vision for America’s future focused on freedom, opportunity, and security.”

The House of Representatives is officially off to an early start for its summer recess – a five-week period when lawmakers are back home in their districts focusing on local issues and their own re-election bids.

They will return on Sept. 9 – exactly three weeks from the deadline to fund the government in the next fiscal year.

That means the GOP-run House will have to compromise with the Democrat-controlled Senate or risk a partial government shutdown, with some federal offices shuttered and potentially thousands of government employees furloughed.

It’s all but certain at this point that a short-term extension of the current year’s funding, known as a “continuing resolution” (CR), will be needed to avoid a partial shutdown.

BIDEN ENDS BID FOR SECOND TERM IN WHITE HOUSE AS HE DROPS OUT OF HIS 2024 REMATCH WITH TRUMP

Capitol Hill is in for an intense funding fight when House lawmakers return in September. (iStock)

“I’ve always said we’d have to do a CR,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., told reporters earlier this week. “And then whoever wins the election will make the decision. Do you want a deal by the end of the year, or do you want to kick them to the next Congress? I hope, my advice to whoever wins, would be do it by the end of the year.” 

House GOP leaders had laid out an ambitious plan to finish their 12 individual appropriations bills before the current recess, momentum that was derailed by intraparty disagreements about where Republicans’ starting point should be.

GOP rebels pushed for spending bills rife with culture war amendments on issues like transgender surgeries and abortion, arguing that it was the Republicans’ right as a majority to leverage from the most conservative starting point.

Rank-and-file Republicans, however, were uneasy about being forced to take politically unpopular votes on measures that would not become law anyway, with no chance of passing the Democrat-controlled Senate.

So far, six of 12 bills have passed the House floor, while the Senate has not passed any.

TRUMP SAYS BIDEN ‘IS NOT FIT TO SERVE’: ‘WHO IS GOING TO BE RUNNING THE COUNTRY FOR THE NEXT 5 MONTHS?’

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole said a stopgap funding bill is likely necessary. (Getty Images)

The main discussion when lawmakers return in September will likely surround what a CR would look like in terms of length and what, if any, riders are attached.

Allies of former President Trump have pushed for a CR to extend into the new year in the hopes that Republicans will take back the White House and Senate. But senior GOP lawmakers expressed concern that it would add unnecessary drama to what’s already expected to be an action-packed first 100 days of the new administration. 

Some Trump allies are now also pushing for any CR to be paired with the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE Act), a GOP-backed bill that would add a proof-of-citizenship requirement to the voter registration process.

“We have been in session week after week for months after Speaker Johnson passed a two part omnibus, fully funding the Biden/Harris agenda in May…For what? Messaging? When the reality that we ALL know is that we will be forced to vote on a CR by Sept 30th which is the government funding deadline,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., wrote on X.

“And since we all know a CR is coming you would think we would be working on one that makes an impact like attaching the SAVE Act for example because our elections matter. But nope, we are up here voting at 9 pm tonight on bills that won’t see the light of day in Schumer’s Senate for nothing.”

KAMALA HARRIS’ PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN RAISES NEARLY $50 MILLION WITHIN HOURS OF BIDEN ENDORSEMENT

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wants a Trump-backed elections bill attached to a potential stopgap funding deal. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In his comments to reporters earlier this week, however, Cole signaled that he was not enthusiastic about the idea.

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“I haven’t really thought about it yet, it’s not a big deal to me. But again, if it can’t pass the Senate, it isn’t going to be an effective CR,” Cole said. “So a real CR, you know, I’m more interested actually in disaster relief. That’s something that I think the two sides can come together on.”

When reached for comment earlier this week about GOP frustrations over the spending process, a spokesperson for Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Fox News Digital: “The House has made significant progress in advancing FY25 appropriations bills. The House Appropriations Committee has diligently moved all 12 bills out of committee and the House has passed 75% of government funding for the upcoming fiscal year, while the Senate has yet to even consider a single appropriations bill. The House will continue its successful effort to responsibly fund the government for FY25 when it returns from its district work period.”

Sunday marks 100 days until Election Day 2024.

It also marks one week since President Biden’s political landscape-altering announcement that he was suspending his re-election rematch against former President Trump.

Biden made his move amid mounting pressure from within the Democratic Party for him to drop out after a disastrous performance in last month’s first presidential debate with Trump.

2024 SHOWDOWN: TRUMP QUICKLY MOVES TO TRY AND DEFINE HARRIS 

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 re-election bid. (Evan Vucci, Pool via AP)

The embattled president’s immediate backing of Vice President Kamala Harris last Sunday ignited a surge of endorsements for the vice president by Democratic governors, senators, House members and other party leaders. Within 36 hours, Harris announced that she had locked up her party’s nomination by landing the verbal backing of a majority of the nearly 4,000 delegates to next month’s Democratic National Convention. 

ICING ON THE DEMOCRATS’ 2024 CAKE – THE OBAMAS ENDORSE HARRIS

Former President Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama on Friday became the final major party leaders to endorse the vice president.

Harris also hauled in a staggering $129 million in fundraising following Biden’s announcement, which her campaign touted on Thursday morning.

“It’s go-time for both sides,” longtime Republican consultant David Kochel told Fox News.

Besides uniting and exciting Democrats, the replacement of Biden by his vice president as the party’s standard-bearer – which is expected to become official during a virtual roll call of convention delegates that starts on Aug. 1 – has given Harris a bump in public opinion polling.

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

What was once a margin-of-error race between Biden and Trump had turned into a clear edge for the former president in the weeks after their June 27 debate showdown in Atlanta. However, with Harris now at the top of the ticket and Biden out of the race, surveys indicate it is back to a margin-of-error race.

“Instead of what was shaping up to be a Trump win, America has a real, bona fide race on its hands,” veteran political scientist and New England College President Wayne Lesperance said. “Game on.”

While Harris faces the monumental task of going from zero to 60 in an extremely condensed timeline, she is not starting from scratch, as she immediately inherited Biden’s large campaign apparatus with its vast ground-game resources in the key swing states.

However, Harris does face a crucial immediate task – choosing a running mate – which could come as early as the next week or two.

Biden and Trump are both well-known commodities to American voters.

However, Kochel, a veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns who remained neutral in the 2024 Republican primary, emphasized that most Americans know so little about the vice president’s record and that both the Trump and Harris campaigns are “in a race to define” Harris.

Republican presidential candidate former President Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Wednesday, July 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

In his first campaign rally since the presidential race was upended, Trump did not waste any time in trying to define his new opponent.

At a rally in the crucial battleground state of North Carolina, the Republican presidential nominee repeatedly took aim at Harris, whom he derogatorily called “lying Kamala Harris.”

Trump aimed to paint Harris as the “most incompetent and far-left vice president in American history.”

The former president charged that Harris “has been the ultra-liberal driving force behind every single Biden catastrophe. She is a radical left lunatic who will destroy our country if she ever gets the chance to get into office.” 

Additionally, pointing to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent, a far-left champion and two-time runner-up for the Democratic presidential nomination, Trump argued that Harris is “more liberal than Bernie Sanders. Can you believe it?”

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Throughout his more than an hour and a half stream of comments, Trump repeatedly slammed the vice president over border security and crime, two top issues in the 2024 election.

Trump campaign spokesman and senior adviser Steven Cheung said that the former president’s team was ready to go on offense the moment Harris succeeded Biden as the Democrats’ standard-bearer.

“There wasn’t any surprise. We were prepared for it. We had all our assets ready. We had all our content ready. It didn’t surprise anyone,” Cheung told reporters ahead of the Trump rally.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump. (Getty Images)

Harris, pushing back, is pointing to her hefty law enforcement résumé as she spotlights Trump’s numerous legal controversies, including his 34 felony convictions two months ago in the first criminal trial of a former or current president.

“As many of you know, before I was elected as vice president, before I was elected as a United States senator, I was the elected attorney general of California. Before that, I was a courtroom prosecutor. In those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds,” Harris said Monday at an event at her campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware.

“Predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So, hear me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type,” she emphasized as she pointed to Trump’s multiple lawsuits and criminal cases, many of which are ongoing.

Harris repeated the line of attack the next day at a rally in Milwaukee.

With 100 days to go until Election Day, the rhetoric this past week on the campaign trail is just an appetizer of things to come.

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

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

Here’s what’s happening…

– Graham demands FBI director recant testimony

– Johnson makes surprise border trip 

– California Senate Republicans blast Newsom ‘PR stunt’

BIBI AND THE DONALD

Former President Trump claimed Friday that conflicts in the Middle East could escalate into a third World War if he loses the 2024 election.

Former President Donald Trump (L) shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) as they pose for a photo within their meeting at Mar-a-Lago estate, in Palm Beach, Fla., on July 26, 2024.  (Amos Ben-Gershom (GPO) / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The Republican nominee for president made those remarks as he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort home. Netanyahu traveled to Florida to meet with Trump after meeting with President Biden and presumptive Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington, D.C., earlier this week, following his Wednesday address to a joint session of Congress.  
 

Biden Pushed Out

RUNNING IT BACK: How Vice President Kamala Harris got started in politics …Read more

GIVE ME A BREAK: Whitmer on GOP charges replacing Biden was ‘undemocratic’: ‘Give me a break’ …Read more

‘SORT OF CLINICAL’: MSNBC’s Joy Reid contrasts Biden’s ‘close’ relationship with his family with Trump’s family …Read more

‘IT’S NOT WORKING’: Kamala Harris supported ‘Defund the police’ in 2020 radio interview, before Biden campaign said otherwise …Read more

BOUNCED CHECK: Biden campaign co-chair ‘pissed off’ at big donors for cutting off cash to the president …Read more

Trump Assassination Attempt

FACTS ARE ‘CLEAR’: Lindsey Graham demands FBI’s Christopher Wray recant testimony, says it’s ‘clear’ Trump was hit with bullet …Read more

TACTICAL VISIT: GOP lawmakers with sniper, combat experience scope out Trump shooting site …Read more

CLOSE CALL: Trump rally bullet trajectory analysis contradicts FBI ‘shrapnel’ testimony on Capitol Hill: report …Read more

SAVE THE DATE: Trump to return to Pennsylvania for first time since assassination attempt …Read more

PRESIDENT’S EAR: FBI wants to interview Trump after assassination attempt: source …Read more

Capitol Hill

DRAWING CONTRAST: Johnson makes surprise border trip hours after Dems join GOP to condemn Harris on immigration …Read more

Tales from the Campaign Trail

IS NEWSOM OUT?: Is Newsom out of the running in Harris’ VP search? A look at the 12th Amendment …Read more

WHO IS ROY COOPER?: What to know about the North Carolina governor and possible VP pick …Read more

WHO IS JOSH SHAPIRO?: What to know about the Pennsylvania governor and possible VP pick …Read more

CALLED IT: Nikki Haley knew Biden wouldn’t ‘make it to the election’ and be replaced with Kamala Harris …Read more

‘A VERY RAMBUNCTIOUS LIFE’: RFK Jr. says he may need to apologize to past women for alleged sexual assault …Read more

‘NICE LIE’: CBS station slapped with Community Note after claiming Trump misled about Harris-backed bail fund …Read more

Across America

HOMELESS MESS: California Senate Republicans blast Newsom ‘PR stunt’ on clearing homeless camps as ‘convenient timing’ …Read more

STICKING TO IT: Texas sues Biden administration over program giving birth control to teens without parents’ knowledge …Read more

The office of a House Democrat who played a prominent role in former President Trump’s first impeachment is now pushing back against GOP-fueled criticism that he should not be on the task force investigating the attempted assassination of the former president.

Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., who came under fire last year for saying that Trump “has to be eliminated,” is among the Democrats being considered for a place on the bipartisan commission to study the July 13 shooting at Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania, rally, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital. 

“As someone with a lifelong commitment to democracy and the rule of law, Congressman Goldman immediately clarified a misstatement from last November to emphasize his strong condemnation of all political violence. The Congressman demonstrated with pointed questioning during congressional hearings last week that the Secret Service must be held accountable for its unacceptable security lapse, and he is determined to ensure such a failure never happens again,” Goldman’s spokesperson Madison Andrus told Fox News Digital.

FBI WANTS TO INTERVIEW TRUMP AFTER ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: SOURCE

Rep. Dan Goldman is being considered for a role on the bipartisan task force to study the Trump assassination attempt, a source told Fox News Digital. (Getty Images)

Goldman first came to national prominence as Democrats’ lead counsel during Trump’s first impeachment trial. He has remained a vocal Trump critic since coming to Congress in January 2023.

His potential placement on the commission has already invoked the ire of Trump allies since first being reported in Punchbowl News on Friday morning.

Among those leading the criticism is Donald Trump Jr., who recalled that Goldman had said that Trump needed to be “eliminated,” in a November 2023 MSNBC interview, which Goldman has since apologized for.

“Democrats are trying to put Dan Goldman on the committee to investigate the assassination attempt. Just weeks ago he called for DJT to be ‘eliminated.’ Probably not the best person to have on this task force,” Trump Jr. wrote on X.

TRUMP RALLY BULLET TRAJECTORY ANALYSIS CONTRADICTS FBI ‘SHRAPNEL’ TESTIMONY ON CAPITOL HILL: REPORT

Donald Trump Jr., criticized the Goldman reports. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Goldman wrote on X in November 2023, “Yesterday on TV, I mistakenly used the wrong word to express the importance for America that Donald Trump doesn’t become President again. While he must be defeated, I certainly wish no harm to him and do not condone political violence. I apologize for the poor choice of words.”

Philip Letsou, deputy communications director for the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, wrote on the site, “Democrats are evidently planning on stacking the task force to investigate the assassination attempt on Trump with conspiracy theorists like Dan Goldman.”

The House voted to establish the commission in a unanimous 416-0 vote last week. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said the panel will have seven Republicans and six Democrats, chosen by himself and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., respectively.

As of Friday morning, Jeffries’ office told Fox News Digital that no final decisions had been made.

Rep. Mike Kelly, whose district the shooting took place in, is likely to have a spot on the commission. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

But a second source who spoke with Fox News Digital said that another possible contender is Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., who served as State’s Attorney for Prince George’s County for nearly a decade from 2003 until 2011, before coming to Congress in 2023.

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On the GOP side, a senior Republican lawmaker told Fox News Digital that “it seems like half our members want to be on the task force.”

A third source who spoke with Fox News Digital said that Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., was in strong consideration to play a prominent role on the panel. Kelly, whose district the shooting took place in, was present when the shooting occurred.

Kelly was also the leader of the resolution establishing the task force that passed the House this week.