NationalWatch

Switching out President Biden for someone else may not have been so much about getting someone to defeat former President Trump but rather about saving seats down-ballot. In other words, polling has revealed that Harris does not match up much better than Biden. But it may be just enough to salvage seats.

The Senate will be tough to hold. But this strategy may be all about flipping the House. The current breakdown is 432 Republicans to 220 Democrats with three vacancies. Democrats need to change a little more than a handful of those seats to reclaim the House. 

Democrats have done nothing but rail against Republicans and how they’ve run the House for a year and a half. Republicans gave them plenty of fodder. They took days to elect former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as speaker and then dumped him by the fall. The House then consumed 22 days to elect House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) – after burning through three other speaker candidates first. They’ve dealt with various censures and contempt of Congress resolutions, some of which have gone against the wishes of leaders. Democrats have also highlighted the various stunts of Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Lauren Boebert (R-CO). 

BIDEN DROPPING OUT OF 2024 RACE IS A ‘TECTONIC SHIFT IN POLITICS’: BRET BAIER

President Biden and Vice President Harris are shown on the Truman Balcony at the White House on July 4, 2024. (Tierney L. Cross/via Getty Images)

So, Democrats thought that pandemonium gave them a great chance to win the House. But Biden was nothing but a dead weight. In other words, this maneuver might prove to be more about the House versus the presidency. 

The House returns to Capitol Hill tomorrow. And expect a flurry of questions for Democrats about whether they support Vice President Harris to step into the void or someone else. 

It’s notable that senior leaders like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) are not endorsing anyone. They want to see how this plays out and not tip the scale in favor of any individual.

Former House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) salvaged Biden’s presidential bid in 2020 ahead of the South Carolina primary.

He has supported the president staying in the race but shifted his alliance to Harris today.

CLINTONS ENDORSE KAMALA HARRIS HOURS AFTER BIDEN DROPS OUT

Former President Trump and President Biden (Getty Images)

The Congressional Black Caucus PAC – not the Congressional Black Caucus – has endorsed Harris. The CBC never put out a statement after Biden’s terrible debate performance in late June. But CBC Chairman Rep. Steve Horsford (D-NV) stood by the president, speaking solely for himself.

But when it comes to Harris, it may be about the math – and the Golden State. Forty House Democrats come from California. That’s 9% of the House Democratic Caucus and about 20% of the House Democratic Conference. Harris was a senator from California. So, it may be hard to overcome that. 

It’s also interesting that Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), who ran against the president, was ostracized by some Democrats to the point that he stepped down from a lower-tier leadership position after he raised questions about the president’s viability. The House Progressive Caucus has now endorsed Harris. Some members of the Squad are now backing Harris: Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and Cori Bush (D-MO). 

The “New Dems Coalition,” which is a bloc of mainstream to moderate Democrats, has also thrown its weight behind Harris. Many of the Democrats calling on Biden to step aside in the early going were New Dems.

This has been a slow wave building against Biden. A senior House Democratic leadership source told Fox News the day after the debate that “this was not sustainable.” The source added that those close to the president “have not served him well.”

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

Vice President Harris speaks (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Don’t forget that Schumer met with Biden last Saturday at Rehoboth, Delaware. Schumer put out his statement about that meeting minutes before former President Trump was shot in Pennsylvania on July 13. It was thought that more and more Democrats would have come out last week, trying to push Biden out the door. But the shooting delayed some of that. Otherwise, this conversation may have come several days ago. It never happened because of the shooting.

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Republicans are now starting to question whether Biden is up to serve the remaining months of his term. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said, “If President Biden is not fit to run for president, he is not fit to serve as president. He must resign the office immediately.”

Expect more Republicans to begin calling on Biden to resign. They could also begin to hold hearings and investigations, asking who knew what and when about the president’s cognitive abilities.

Republicans will also target vulnerable Democrats in competitive states and districts, asking what they knew about Biden’s circumstances. And they will also wonder which of those candidates stands behind Harris. For instance, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) faces a competitive re-election bid, and she backs Harris. Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) also faces a tough race, but he did not endorse Harris.

Republicans will likely fold the president’s departure into their House and Senate campaign strategy this fall.

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

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the contest for the White House is a “two-man race” and that only he can beat Donald Trump after President Biden‘s shocking withdrawal from a second-term bid.

Speaking Sunday at a hastily called press conference from his family’s storied compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, Kennedy praised Biden while simultaneously blaming Democratic Party leaders for “hiding” his mental decline.

“I want to begin by commending President Biden for a career in public service: a long, long career and representing and serving our country and for his handling of the many difficulties and challenges, personal challenges and tragedies that he suffered during his life with so much admirable conduct and the empathy that he derives from those experiences,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy, who left the party his family once ruled after it blocked his bid to challenge Biden in primaries, said the Democratic National Committee created a mess by covering for Biden.

RFK JR INTERVIEW: TRUMP, BIDEN ‘BOTH RAVAGED AMERICAN DEMOCRACY AND THE REPUBLIC’

“The reaction of the DNC to that obvious condition was to hide it from the American public and to use their power over the Democratic Party nomination process to make sure that nobody could compete with President Biden in a way that would expose his deficiencies,” Kennedy argued.

Kennedy continued his campaign as an independent, and he has reached double-digits in some polls on a platform that decries “corporate capture,” the affordability crisis, and “forever wars,” according to his campaign website.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at a Cesar Chavez Day event at Union Station on March 30, 2024, in Los Angeles. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Kennedy also called out former President Trump as well as Vice President Harris, who appears poised to head the Democrat ticket. 

“President Trump has a connection to the American people, a populist connection,” said Kennedy. “But in many ways, it’s the same fraudulent connection that we saw with the DNC over the past year, concealing a real purpose of their objective, which was to give us a president that … represents corporate interests rather than the interests of the American public.”

WHAT COMES NEXT FOR DEMOCRATS AFTER BIDEN’S CAMPAIGN SUSPENSION?

“If the Democrats do what I suspect they’re going to do, which is to anoint Kamala Harris, a vice president who is monumentally unpopular within her own party … they’re doing it because it’s the easiest way to hold on to the money,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy said he would consider accepting the Democrat nomination if were it offered to him.

“I would certainly listen to the party elders if they came to me, I would discuss something with them,” said Kennedy. “I’m the only presidential candidate who can beat Donald Trump, and if I were them, I would do that, and I would certainly listen to their proposals.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is shown at a voter rally, Feb. 10, 2024, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. ( Emily Elconin/Getty Images)

“I wouldn’t be the front-runner, because by the time I left the Democratic Party, it was really clear that, and this is the only reason I left that day, that the rules have been rigged to prevent me from winning,” Kennedy said. “So, I would be in the same position as [presidential candidates] Dean Phillips today or Marianne Williamson, which is, you know, sidelined.”

Kennedy added, “I am very content running where I am, and I believe I can win this election. I believe at this point it’s a two-man race or two-person race. Let me put it that way. And, you know, and that I’m in the best position to win.”

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A Fox News Poll from July showed Kennedy receiving 10% of the general electoral vote in a three-way race with Trump and Biden.

A list of former President Obama’s allies and former advisers helped lead the charge in calling on President Biden to drop out of the 2024 race before he officially ended his campaign on Sunday afternoon.

Biden officially dropped out of the 2024 race after weeks of increasing pressure from traditional Democrat allies to bow out after his disastrous debate performance against former President Trump last month, which put concerns surrounding his mental acuity and 81 years of age under increasing scrutiny. 

“My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden posted on X after he dropped out of the race on Sunday afternoon.

“My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this,” he said in a separate social media post.

GROWING LIST OF OBAMA ALLIES, FORMER ADVISERS LOOK TO SINK BIDEN RE-ELECTION BID

President Biden and former President Obama (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque TPX Images of the Day)

Among some of the most noteworthy voices calling on Biden to bow out were allies of Obama’s, including his former adviser, David Axelrod, who said this month that Biden is “not winning this race.” Biden served as Obama’s vice president from 2009 to 2017. 

“There are certain immutable facts of life,” Axelrod said in an interview with CNN while discussing Biden’s age and leadership. “Those were painfully obvious on that debate stage. The president just … hasn’t come to grips with it. He’s not winning this race.”

Axelrod formerly served as Obama’s chief campaign strategist, and he said Biden is used to fighting “his way back from political defeats and against the odds.”

EX-OBAMA ADVISER SAYS BIDEN CAN’T BEAT ‘FATHER TIME’ AND IS ‘NOT WINNING THIS RACE’

“So, his psyche is that he can beat anybody and any long odds,” he said this month. “What he can’t beat is Father Time.” 

“And that’s really the concern here. It’s not about his record,” Axelrod continued.

Axelrod was soon followed by actor George Clooney calling on Biden to drop out of the race in a bombshell op-ed that was published just weeks after the Hollywood star co-hosted Biden, alongside Obama, for a ritzy campaign event in Los Angeles. Clooney has long had a personal friendship with Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, including vacationing with the first couple in previous years.

From left, former Obama adviser Jon Favreau, President Biden, actor George Clooney (Getty Images)

“It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010,” Clooney wrote in a New York Times op-ed. “He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”

Another ally in Obama’s orbit, Jon Favreau, who served as former director of speech writing for Obama, also called on Biden to drop out of the race this month, saying he attended the fundraiser in L.A. with Clooney and Obama and saw Biden’s state of mental acuity.

OBAMA AGAIN STEPPING INTO ROLE AS JOE’S CLOSER AHEAD OF TRUMP V BIDEN REMATCH

President Obama takes President Biden by the wrist at a fundraising event. (Christopher Gardner via Storyful/File)

“It was not surprising to any of us who were at the fundraiser. I was there. Clooney was exactly right, and every single person I talked to at the fundraiser thought the same thing, except for the people working for Joe Biden, or at least they didn’t say that,” Jon Favreau said during an appearance on CNN this month. 

“I remember my wife, Emily, turned to me after the fundraiser and said, ‘What are we going to do?’ And I said, ‘Well, there is a debate in a week. Either he’ll do well in the debate, and we’ll think he was just tired because he flew all the way back from Europe, and that’ll be that, or he’ll be like this at the debate and then the whole country will be talking about it. So, here we are.”

Favreau, alongside former Obama advisers Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor – known collectively as the “Obama Bros” when they worked in the White House – dedicated the majority of a podcast episode of “Pod Save America” this month to trashing Biden. 

George Clooney with wife Amal Clooney (Dave Benett/Getty Images)

“I thought it was bad, and at times very hard to watch,” Vietor said, referring to Biden’s sit-down interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos after Biden’s debate performance. 

Vietor said it “seems like a clear-cut choice that we’d have a better chance with someone else,” while Lovett added that Biden wasn’t “delivering the message effectively.”

Former President Obama and President Biden (Getty Images)

Up until Sunday afternoon, Biden and his campaign remained adamant that the president would not bow out of the race. 

Obama has remained relatively silent while Biden weighed his options for the election, coming to Biden’s defense after his recent debate performance but not responding to media reports that he was working behind the scenes to promote Biden’s exit.

OBAMA SILENT OVER REPORTS HE’S WORKING ‘BEHIND THE SCENES’ TO FORCE BIDEN OUT OF THE 2024 RACE

“Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know. But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself. Between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the American people straight — and someone who lies through his teeth for his own benefit. Last night didn’t change that, and it’s why so much is at stake in November,” he posted on X at the time. 

As media reports circulated that Obama was working “behind the scenes” to oust Biden from the race, the 44th president remained mum, not denying the reports. Politico reported that Clooney even gave Obama a “heads-up” that his op-ed calling on Biden to bow out of the race was set to publish, with Obama reportedly not objecting to the opinion piece.

Former President Obama (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Obama released a statement on Sunday commending Biden for his work in the Oval Office, but he did not tip his hand as to who he believes should pick up the mantle now that the president is no longer running for re-election. Biden, as well as the Clintons and other powerful Democrats, announced their endorsement of Vice President Harris shortly after Biden’s announcement.

“We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead. But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges. I believe that Joe Biden’s vision of a generous, prosperous, and united America that provides opportunity for everyone will be on full display at the Democratic Convention in August. And I expect that every single one of us are prepared to carry that message of hope and progress forward into November and beyond,” Obama wrote on Sunday in a lengthy statement. 

“Joe Biden has been one of America’s most consequential presidents, as well as a dear friend and partner to me. Today, we’ve also been reminded — again — that he’s a patriot of the highest order,” Obama added. 

Amid the speculation that Biden would drop out, the Associated Press reported that Obama, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi were reportedly working in the background to encourage Biden to drop out due to concerns he could not defeat Trump. 

Pelosi notably suggested this month that Biden’s previously adamant resolve to remain in the race was not his final decision.

‘OBAMA BRO’ CONFIRMS CLAIMS IN CLOONEY’S DAMAGING OP-ED ON BIDEN’S MENTAL FITNESS

“It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,” she said this month on MSNBC. “We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short.”

Obama had joined Biden for a handful of campaign events since last year, but long before joining Biden on the campaign trail – or even endorsing his former running mate – Obama cautioned Biden against seeking the White House, citing fears that the campaign could “damage his legacy,” according to a 2019 New York Times report.

“You don’t have to do this, Joe, you really don’t,” Obama reportedly told Biden in 2019.

Then-President Obama smiles alongside then-Vice President Biden before signing health care insurance reform legislation during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on March 23, 2010. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

“Win or lose, they needed to make sure Mr. Biden did not ‘embarrass himself’ or ‘damage his legacy’ during the campaign,” the New York Times reported, citing two people with knowledge of the conversation.

Biden had made a series of gaffes before becoming Obama’s running mate in 2008, including in 2007 when Biden was about to declare his own run for the White House. On the eve of his announcement, Biden described Obama to a reporter as “the first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.”

‘OBAMA BROS’ GANG UP ON BIDEN AS LONGSTANDING RUMORS OF TENSION LINGER: ‘HARD TO WATCH’

Obama had remained coy about who he would endorse in the 2020 election, saying he would not back anyone during the primary. As Democrat contenders such as Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders dropped out of the primary race and cleared a path for Biden, Obama endorsed his former veep in August 2020.

Joe Biden and son Hunter (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

As Democrats suss out who they will officially nominate for the 2024 election, some in the president’s orbit have pinned blame on his failed 2024 race on donors and “electeds.”

“Now that the donors and electeds have pushed out the only candidate who has ever beaten Trump, it’s time to end the political fantasy games and unite behind the only veteran of a national campaign — our outstanding @vp @KamalaHarris!! Let’s get real and win in November!,” former White House chief of staff Ron Klain posted on X. 

After Biden’s announcement, Republicans have demanded the president resign from office, arguing that if he is unable to run for another term, he’s unable to fulfill his duties as president for the rest of his term.

“If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President. He must resign the office immediately. November 5 cannot arrive soon enough,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in a statement on Sunday.

Former President Trump is shown at the Republican National Convention at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on July 17, 2024. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“If the Democrat party has deemed Joe Biden unfit to run for re-election, he’s certainly unfit to control our nuclear codes,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., added. “Biden must step down from office immediately.”

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Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, also called on Biden to resign hours before he officially announced he was dropping out.

“If Joe Biden ends his reelection campaign, how can he justify remaining President? Not running for reelection would be a clear admission that President Trump was right all along about Biden not being mentally fit enough to serve as Commander-in-Chief. There is no middle ground,” Vance tweeted Sunday morning.

Fox News Digital’s Brandon Gillespie and Liz Elkind contributed to this report.

Days before President Biden announced his exit from the 2024 presidential race on Sunday, Fox News Digital spoke to delegates and attendees in Milwaukee at the Republican National Convention last week about who they think would take his place. 

Mike Stieben, a delegate from Kansas, predicted the Democrats would put forward Vice President Harris if Biden dropped out, but he added that “it doesn’t matter at all because I think she’s a very weak candidate.”

Stieben added that it would be “really problematic for them” if Democrats decided to push Harris to the side in favor of an alternate candidate.

Patti O’Brien, a delegate at the convention, said she didn’t believe Biden would actually drop out because no quality candidate was “waiting in the wings” to take his place.

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

Fox News Digital asked delegates at the RNC last week about what would happen next if Biden dropped out. (Fox News Digital)

“But probably it should go to Kamala,” she told Fox News Digital.

“I think [former President] Trump’s going to mop the floor with anybody they put up,” one attendee said, adding that it seemed Biden was “on the way out the door.”

One attendee said it would be “totally fine” if Harris became the nominee or even California Gov. Gavin Newsom or former first lady Michelle Obama: “The people, I think, are waking up to know that that’s just not the party of the people anymore. So, it doesn’t matter.”

BIDEN ENDS BID FOR 2ND TERM IN WHITE HOUSE AS HE DROPS OUT OF 2024 REMATCH WITH TRUMP

President Biden announced that he was dropping out of the 2024 presidential race on Sunday. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/File)

“I think he understands, and his compatriots understand, he needs to drop out. So, I think he will. I have no idea who they’re going to put up, you know, to replace him. I would hope it wouldn’t be Kamala, but I have no idea,” another attendee said. 

Another attendee told Fox News Digital that she has “mixed thoughts” on who would replace Biden, given that Harris is believed to be the only candidate who can immediately access funds in the Biden war chest: “It’s a really unusual situation.”

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Former President Trump arrives at Trump Tower in New York City on May 30, 2024. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)

Biden announced Sunday that he will suspend his 2024 re-election campaign amid mounting pressure from within the Democratic Party for the president to drop out after a disastrous debate performance against Trump last month.

The unprecedented announcement also came as an increasing number of Democrat lawmakers publicly called for Biden to step aside and the party’s leadership reportedly engaged in efforts to convince the president, 81, he could not win in November’s general election against former Trump, the 2024 GOP nominee who Biden defeated four years ago to win the White House.

“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president,” Biden, who endorsed Harris, wrote in a public letter. “While it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interests of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.”

Biden said he will formally address the nation about his decision this week.

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

Vice President Kamala Harris confirmed that she will run for the Democratic nomination for president after President Biden’s decision to suspend his re-election campaign.

“I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination,” Harris said in a statement on Sunday. 

‘PROUD OF OUR PRESIDENT’: DEMS HEAP PRAISE ON BIDEN FOR DECISION TO END 2024 CAMPAIGN

Harris confirmed she will run for the nomination. (Photo by Christiana Botic for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Shortly after Biden posted a letter on X revealing his intention to end his re-election bid, he sent out a separate post endorsing Harris for the Democratic nomination. “Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year,” he said. 

The vice president called Biden’s decision a “selfless and patriotic act,” adding that he is “doing what he has done throughout his life of service: putting the American people and our country above everything else.”

WHAT COMES NEXT FOR DEMOCRATS AFTER BIDEN’S CAMPAIGN SUSPENSION?

Biden endorsed Harris on Sunday.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Harris has also received endorsements from former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as well as several Democratic lawmakers. However, many Democrats have issued statements on Biden’s decision without making mention of Harris or endorsing her. 

FROM DEBATE CATASTROPHE TO STANDING DOWN: BIDEN’S ROAD TO THE EXIT

The Clintons also endorsed Harris for president. (Getty Images)

Democratic strategists noted to Fox News Digital that the vice president is in the best position to take on former President Trump with just months to the election. Several Democratic operatives pointed to the fact that Harris was voted for by the same primary voters that chose Biden, and she has already established a campaign and fundraising infrastructure going into the crucial contest. 

Calls for Biden to step aside piled up after his debate performance. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

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Biden’s decision to step aside comes after several weeks of mounting pressure for him to do so following a poor debate performance last month against former President Trump. Before his announcement, 37 congressional Democrats and those who caucus with them had pressed Biden to drop out. 

However, Biden had remained adamant that he was going to stay in the campaign up until his post to X. 

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

Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced Sunday that they are endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic nomination for president after President Biden said he would not seek re-election.

Biden announced Sunday that he is suspending his 2024 re-election campaign and announced his “full support and endorsement” for Harris to take over as the party’s presidential nominee.

In a statement, the Clintons said Biden “has capped his extraordinary career of service with a Presidency that has lifted America out of an unprecedented pandemic, created millions of new jobs, rebuilt a battered economy, strengthened our democracy, and restored our standing in the world. By any measure, he has advanced our founders’ charge to build a more perfect union and his own stated goal of restoring the soul of our nation.”

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

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton.  (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

“We join millions of Americans in thanking President Biden for all he has accomplished, standing up for America time and again, with his North Star always being what’s best for the country,” they said in their joint statement. “We are honored to join the President in endorsing Vice President Harris and will do whatever we can to support her.”

“We’ve lived through many ups and downs, but nothing has made us more worried for our country than the threat posed by a second Trump term. He has promised to be a dictator on day one, and the recent ruling by his servile Supreme Court will only embolden him to further shred the Constitution. Now is the time to support Kamala Harris and fight with everything we’ve got to elect her. America’s future depends on it.”

BIDEN WILL NOT SEEK RE-ELECTION: LIVE COVERAGE

President Joe Biden, left, and Vice President Kamala Harris on the Truman Balcony of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, July 4, 2024. Biden’s reelection campaign limped into the Independence Day holiday, exhausted by a week of the incumbent clawing to maintain his hold on his party’s nomination. (Tierney L. Cross)

Biden’s announcement came after weeks of speculation and pressure from Democrats for him to step aside after a disastrous presidential debate performance against Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump. 

“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president,” Biden wrote in a public letter. “While it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interests of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.”

TRUMP GETS BOOST IN POLLS AFTER BIDEN’S BOTCHED DEBATE 

In a social media post after the letter, Biden backed Harris to take over as the party’s standard-bearer.

“My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this,” Biden wrote.

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The president’s endorsement, along with power players like the Clintons, may dissuade any serious completion from other Democrats who may have mulled a bid for the presidential nomination and could clear a path for the vice president to succeed Biden as the party’s nominee.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

What started as a bad debate ended with the suspension of an incumbent’s presidential campaign.

On Sunday, the president officially dropped out of the 2024 presidential race against former President Trump. Here is a timeline of the downfall of Biden’s re-election campaign:

THE DEBATE

Biden participated in the first presidential debate against Trump on June 27, igniting immediate concern within his party over his fitness after he was seen speaking with a raspy voice, jumbling up his words, and struggling to complete full sentences.

Biden blamed a cold, recent international travel, and one “bad night” for the performance – but this did not ease concern over the commander in chief’s health status.

President Biden speaks to supporters at a campaign event at Renaissance High School on July 12, 2024, in Detroit. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

Concerns over his fitness, mental competency and overall strength as a candidate quickly overtook conversation on the campaign trail and on Capitol Hill – the initial spiral of his campaign.

FIRST DEMOCRAT TURNS ON BIDEN

Biden attempted to divert the conversation by assuring he would not drop out of the race and “isn’t going anywhere,” but his efforts were unsuccessful. 

Within days of the debate, the first Democratic member of Congress called on Biden to drop out of the 2024 race, citing concerns over his ability to beat Trump in November.

On July 2, just five days after the debate, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, became the first of many to break from their party’s nominee.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett was the first elected Democrat to call on Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)

“Instead of reassuring voters, the president failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump’s many lies,” Doggett said in a statement. “I am hopeful that he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw. I respectfully call on him to do so.”

CALLS TO DROP OUT INCREASE

July 8 – Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash.: “He has health care concerns. You saw that at the White House press conference today, where there were not clear answers given. So I just think at, this point, there are other people that could deliver that message better. And the stakes are so high.”

July 9 – Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J.: “I realize this is hard, but we have done hard things in the pursuit of democracy since the founding of this nation. It is time to do so again. And because I know President Biden cares deeply about the future of our country, I am asking that he declare that he won’t run for reelection and will help lead us through a process toward a new nominee.”

CAMPAIGN CRISIS: DEMS WHO HAVE CALLED FOR BIDEN TO DROP OUT OR RAISED CONCERNS ABOUT HIS HEALTH

July 10 – Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., “We cannot unsee President Biden’s disastrous debate performance. We cannot ignore or dismiss the valid questions raised since that night.”

George Clooney, an actor and high-profile Democrat, called on Biden to drop out of the race. (Stefania D’Alessandro/WireImage)

July 12 – George Clooney: “We are not going to win in November with this president. On top of that, we won’t win the House, and we’re going to lose the Senate. This isn’t only my opinion; this is the opinion of every senator and Congress member and governor who I’ve spoken with in private. Every single one, irrespective of what he or she is saying publicly.”

Within two weeks of the debate, nearly two dozen Democratic representatives had called on Biden to be replaced as the nominee.

THE GAFFES CONTINUE

The president was seen making several new gaffes in the crucial days following his performance at the first presidential debate, only elevating concern over his mental competency. 

Biden accidentally introduced Russian President Vladimir Putin instead of the intended speaker, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at the 2024 NATO Summit.

President Biden and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy participate in the launching of the Ukraine Compact at the NATO Summit on July 11, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch)

“And now I want to hand it over to the President of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination, ladies and gentlemen President Putin,” Biden said, walking away from the podium before shuffling back and correcting himself. “We’re going to beat President Putin.”

Asked about Vice President Harris’ ability to win in November if she were the Democratic nominee, Biden referred to Trump as being his vice president.

“Look, I wouldn’t’ve picked Vice President Trump to be vice president, did I think she’s not qualified to be president,” Biden said during a July news conference. 

After the assassination attempt of Trump, Biden said “in America, we resolve our differences at the battle box.” The White House transcription of the speech was edited with the word “battle” crossed out a “ballot” added next to it.

TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

Former President Trump survived an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, suffering a gunshot wound to the ear in the shooting that took the life of one rally attendee.

Former President Trump is surrounded by Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Evan Vucci/AP Images)

On that same day, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., reportedly “conveyed the views of his caucus directly to President Biden” during a one-on-one meeting in Delaware.

Biden, who condemned the attack, saw some relief for his campaign in the days following the Trump rally shooting, but the Democratic push for him to drop out was far from over.

BIDEN LOSES LEADERSHIP

Calls for Biden to be replaced as the nominee resurfaced, with reports that the president’s most loyal confidants in House and Senate leadership were asking the president to consider dropping out of the race.

Rep. Adam Schiff called on Biden to drop out of the presidential race. (Jerod Harris for Demand Justice)

On July 17, top House Democrat and California Senate candidate Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., called on Biden to drop out.

“A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the president can defeat Donald Trump in November,” Schiff said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

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Former President Barack Obama reportedly told his allies that he believes Biden needs to reconsider his candidacy, the Washington Post reported, citing multiple people briefed on his thinking.

The Secret Service’s explanation for security lapses that allowed a 20-year-old gunman to take multiple shots at former President Trump has continued to evolve, most recently with the agency acknowledging it had denied some requests by Trump’s team for additional security.

Revelations first reported by the Washington Post that the Secret Service denied repeated requests by Trump’s security detail were just the latest in an ever-evolving explanation by the agency, which initially pushed back hard on claims it had issued such denials.

“The assertion that a member of the former president’s security team requested additional security resources that the U.S. Secret Service or the Department of Homeland Security rebuffed is absolutely false,” Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Secret Service, said the day after the attempt on Trump’s life.

But Guglielmi walked back that denial in response to the Washington Post, which reported that denials for more security for Trump had been an ongoing source of tension between his detail and headquarters for more than a year.

TRUMP SHOOTER THOMAS MATTHEW CROOKS’ FORMER GUIDANCE COUNSELOR SAYS HE WAS ‘NOT A MENACE TO SOCIETY’

“The Secret Service has a vast, challenging, and intricate mission,” he told the Washington Post in a statement. “Every day we work in a dynamic threat environment to ensure our protectees are safe and secure across multiple events, travel, and other difficult environments. We execute a comprehensive and layered strategy to balance personnel, technology, and specialized operational needs.”

Guglielmi explained that where the Secret Service might fall short of being able to provide resources, the agency typically leans on local and state law enforcement agencies to fill in the gaps.

“In some instances where specific Secret Service specialized units or resources were not provided, the agency made modifications to ensure the security of the protected,” Guglielmi told Fox News Digital. “This may include utilizing state or local partners to provide specialized functions or otherwise identifying alternatives to reduce public exposure of a protectee.” 

The Secret Service has also offered other explanations for the failures at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, with agency Director Kimberly Cheatle telling ABC news last week that the building the former president was shot from had a “sloped roof” that would have been dangerous for agents.

Two FBI investigators scan the roof of AGR International Inc, the building adjacent to the Butler Fairgrounds, from which Matthew Thomas Crooks fired at former President Trump, on July 14, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

PROFILER SAYS TRUMP SHOOTER, THOMAS MATTHEW CROOKS, LIKELY NOT POLITICALLY MOTIVATED, WAS ‘ORGANIZED THINKER’

“That building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point. And so, you know, there’s a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn’t want to put somebody up on a sloped roof. And so, you know, the decision was made to secure the building, from inside,” she said.

Meanwhile, senators were told during a briefing on the incident last week that the Secret Service had flagged the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, as suspicious over an hour before he opened fire on Trump. The agency also revealed that a countersniper had spotted Crooks and flagged him as a potential threat 19 minutes before the shooting.

But the briefing left many senators frustrated, with many leaving the call and ripping the agency for a lack of transparency and failing to answer detailed questions.

“It’s infuriating,” Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told Fox News Digital after the briefing, noting that Cheatle had admitted “there were mistakes and gaffes” by the agency leading up to the shooting.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle at a press conference on June 4 in Chicago. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)

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“This was kind of a check-the-box, quick briefing. Not providing information, only gives four senators an opportunity to ask questions… this is not providing the kind of information people need,” Johnson added.

The evolving story and lack of transparency have led some lawmakers to call on Cheatle to resign, with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, arguing that the “lapse” in security “requires a change in leadership” for the agency.

 “The unexplained & inexcusable lapse in basic security measures requires a change in leadership at the Secret Service,” Cornyn said in a post on X last week.

Former President Trump stopped his speech to make fun of his hair during a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Saturday.

“I have to just interject, if you would turn off those cameras… see the screen up there of me? That’s very severe, that comb over that’s a severe sucker,” Trump quipped while looking at a screen showing his remarks. “It looks OK from the other side, but that is very severe. I apologize. Man, I looked up there, I said, ‘Whoa, look at that.’ Wow. That’s like a work of art.”

The remarks came at Trump’s first rally since the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where he officially accepted the party’s nomination for president for the third time. It was also the first rally since the former president survived an assassination attempt, coming exactly one week after his brush with death at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. 

TRUMP SAYS HE ‘TOOK A BULLET FOR DEMOCRACY’ AT MASSIVE BATTLEGROUND STATE RALLY ALONGSIDE RUNNING MATE VANCE

Former President Trump speaks at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 20, 2024, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Since the experience, Trump’s campaign has promised to focus more on unifying the country, with the hair joke being the latest example of the former president showing a bit of a softer side.

Voters in Grand Rapids were also the first to see Ohio Sen. JD Vance at a rally since being nominated to join Trump on the ticket, with Vance continuing to make the pitch that Trump will fight for blue-collar workers in states such as Michigan.

Sen. JD Vance arrives at a campaign rally at the Van Andel Arena on July 20, 2024, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

RNC DELEGATES, GUESTS MAKE PREDICTIONS ABOUT BIDEN’S POLITICAL FUTURE AMID REPORTS HE MIGHT EXIT 2024 RACE

Trump also hit that theme in his speech Saturday before bringing the conversation back to his hair, touting his proposal to eliminate taxes on tips while noting all the different types of workers that receive them.

More than 12,000 people piled into Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on July 20, 2024, to see former President Trump and vice presidential nominee JD Vance. (Fox News Digital/Brandon Gillespie)

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“Barbers get tips. I don’t give mine a big tip because I don’t think they do a very good job,” Trump joked to laughs from the audience.

President Biden has defiantly remained in the presidential race despite mounting calls from allies to drop out, and speculation that he would bow out as early as this weekend. 

The Biden campaign has hit back against anonymous sources and speculation that Biden would end his campaign in the coming days, suggesting a pressure campaign was building to force Biden’s hand. 

“There are a lot of anonymous sources out there this week telling y’all what is and isn’t happening on Team Biden-Harris. I’m here – on the record (!) – to give you an overview of what actually happened, what’s to come, and a few thoughts on the very bad things coming out of the Republican National Convention,” Biden campaign spokesman Kevin Muonoz said in a press release late last week. 

The comment was released shortly following Newsmax’s Mark Halperin reporting that unnamed Democratic sources informed him that Biden will drop out of the race as soon as this weekend, that he would not endorse Vice President Kamala Harris to take the mantle, and would call for an open convention during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next month. 

SEN. JOE MANCHIN CALLS ON BIDEN TO STEP ASIDE, PASS TORCH TO ‘A NEW GENERATION’

President Biden speaks during the United Auto Workers union conference in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 24, 2024. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

“It will happen as early as this weekend. A speech has been drafted for him. He will continue on as president, is his intention. He also will not, I’m told, endorse Vice President Harris as his successor. They’re hoping that he will endorse an open process in which the convention will be open to Vice President Harris and a few other candidates in Chicago to pick the Democratic nominee for president,” Halperin said on Thursday. 

CAMPAIGN CRISIS: DEMS WHO HAVE CALLED FOR BIDEN TO DROP OUT OR RAISED CONCERNS ABOUT HIS HEALTH

Axios also speculated the president would drop out this weekend, with unnamed Biden aides allegedly saying the president was warming up to the idea of giving into the calls to bow out. 

The Biden campaign, however, has so far not given an inch on the speculation and calls for the president to drop out, with campaign and White House officials shooting down speculation on social media, releasing press releases and continuing to announce fundraising efforts. 

Biden’s deputy campaign manager doubled down on Sunday that reports of the president dropping out are “false” and that Biden has been clear he is remaining in the race. 

“It is false. And I think that it is false to continue to try to gin up this narrative. Joe Biden has said he is in this race,” deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks said on MSNBC on Sunday. “He is in this race to win it. He is instructing us to continue to carry out a plan to make sure that we are communicating [to as] many voters as possible. Actions speak louder than words, although sometimes, in this case, I wish that our words would speak louder so that people would stop asking this question. But we are doing both. The president has doubled down and said that he is running in this race to win it, and that he is not going anywhere.”

Biden supporters attend a campaign rally at Renaissance High School in Detroit on July 12, 2024. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Biden is currently self-isolating in his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, after he was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Wednesday. He was diagnosed while in Las Vegas, forcing the campaign to cancel events in the city as the president recovers. 

Thirty-six Democrats have called on Biden to drop out of the race in the days and weeks following his disastrous debate performance, which put his mental fitness under further scrutiny as he stumbled over his words and appeared more subdued than in previous years. 

Ahead of his COVID diagnosis, Biden hit the campaign trail at a faster clip than before the debate, holding rallies and meetings across the nation, coupled with his official duties as president, including hosting world leaders for a NATO summit earlier this month. Biden delivered a stronger than typical speech during the NATO summit, and received mixed reviews for his first solo press conference of the year. The events, however, have evidently not swayed Democrats that he’s up for the job, as traditional allies continue releasing statements calling on him to drop out. 

“While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone, I believe it is time for him to pass the torch. And in doing so, secure his legacy of leadership by allowing us to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election,” California Rep. Adam Schiff said in a statement last week. 

President Biden speaks at a news conference on the final day of the NATO summit in Washington, July 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Despite speculation Biden would drop out as soon as this weekend, the New York Times reported that the president will not drop out ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Nentanyahu’s visit to the nation’s capital this week. 

KAMALA HARRIS REASSURES DEMOCRATIC PARTY DONORS THAT THERE’S NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT

The president also has a fundraiser scheduled with former late night host David Letterman on July 29 in Hawaii and has received support from Squad members to remain in the race. 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is seen in the Cannon Tunnel on Capitol Hill, April 30, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“There have been lots of Democrats who have been giving little anonymous quotes to the press, to some journalist to print, and I’m not here to knock the press on it,” she said. “I’m here to knock my colleagues on it, because to me, I think that’s, and I’m sorry, I’m going to say because it’s after midnight. That’s bulls—. Like, if you have an opinion, say it with your chest and say it in public,” Squad member, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, said last week in defense of Biden. 

AMBER ROSE CLAPS BACK AT JOY REID AFTER CRITICIZING CONVENTION SPEECH: ‘STOP BEING A RACE BAITER’

The chair of the Democratic National Committee, Jamie Harrison, has also notably not called for Biden to pull out of the race, instead saying earlier this month that Biden is the party’s nominee.

“This ain’t the West Wing… we have had a process, millions voted for Joe Biden and we have our nominee!” Harrison tweeted on July 2.

A mobile advertising truck displaying a political message near President Biden’s beach house in Reboboth Beach, Delaware, Saturday, July 20, 2024. (The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)

Biden is not yet the official nominee for the ticket, but is expected to be formally nominated in a virtual roll call on Aug. 7, DNC Rules Committee members voted Friday. The move leaves Democrats with roughly two weeks to rally renewed support for Biden as their nominee, or for Biden to drop out and let another candidate step up to the job. 

AOC CALLS ‘BULL—-’ ON DEMOCRATS PRIVATELY TURNING ON BIDEN

The speculation mounting around Biden dropping out comes as former President Trump was officially nominated as the Republican Party’s choice for president. Trump joined the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, last week, where he announced Ohio Sen. JD Vance as his running mate and accepted the nomination. 

As Melania Trump watches, former President Trump signs paperwork to officially accept the nomination during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum, Thursday, July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The RNC was held just two days after an assassination attempt nearly ended Trump’s life, leaving him with an injury to his right ear. A shooter opened fire on Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last Saturday, injuring Trump and two others, and killing a 50-year-old married dad who was protecting his wife and family from the gunfire. 

HILLARY CLINTON FLOATED AS ‘MIGHTIEST OF ALL’ BIDEN REPLACEMENTS IN COLUMN, GETS MOCKED ONLINE

Trump addressed the shooting in his highly-anticipated RNC speech, while noting “you’ll never hear it from me a second time, because it’s actually too painful to tell.” 

Sen. JD Vance, former President Trump and Lara Trump, co-chair of the Republican National Committee, during the Republican convention in Milwaukee, on Thursday, July 18, 2024. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

GOV. WHITMER TELLS ‘THE VIEW’ SHE NEVER SAID MICHIGAN’S UNWINNABLE FOR BIDEN: ‘CRAZIEST THING TO THINK’

“I’m not supposed to be here tonight,” he said. “I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of almighty God. And watching the reports over the last few days, many people say it was a providential moment. Probably was.”

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“For the rest of my life, I will be grateful for the love shown by that giant audience of patriots that stood bravely on that fateful evening in Pennsylvania,” he added. 

Former President Donald Trump has surpassed President Biden’s longtime fundraising lead, according to donation filings from June.

Republicans hauled in $66 million throughout the month, propelling Trump’s campaign past the current president’s. June saw the GOP’s biggest monthly haul since 2020, according to the Washington Post.

The latest data comes after Trump’s campaign boasted of out-raising Biden for most of the summer. Trump’s campaign announced in early July that it and the Republican National Committee hauled in a staggering $331 million during the April through June second quarter of 2024 fundraising, topping the massive $264 million raked in by the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee over the same period.

And the former president’s campaign spotlighted that it had $284.9 million in its coffers as of the end of June, compared to $240 million for Biden.

AMBER ROSE CLAPS BACK AT JOY REID AFTER CRITICIZING CONVENTION SPEECH: ‘STOP BEING A RACE BAITER’

Donald Trump arrives to 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)

Meanwhile, Biden’s campaign teeters against waves of Democratic lawmakers calling on him to withdraw.

Even Biden’s nominal allies in Congress have failed to give him ringing endorsements. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., repeatedly saying on Saturday that he’s “our nominee” but he also had a “big decision to make.”

WATCH: 5 OF THE MOST INFLAMMATORY MOMENTS FROM MSNBC HOSTS DURING THE RNC

Warren also seemed to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris being the replacement if Biden did step down, singing her praises as an ideal candidate to prosecute the Democratic case against former President Trump.

“Joe Biden is our nominee, and he has a really big decision to make. Joe Biden has been a transformational president,” Warren told MSNBC, going on to praise his record. “I am deeply grateful to Joe Biden for all that he has accomplished.”

Warren seemed to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris being the replacement if Biden did step down, singing her praises as an ideal candidate to prosecute the Democratic case against former President Trump. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

In the face of mounting numbers of Democrats calling on him to step down for fear he’ll lose to Trump, Biden has repeatedly insisted he is staying in the race. Yet Warren, sounding like reportedly skeptical former Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier this month, appeared to give Biden yet another off-ramp.

AOC CALLS ‘BULL—-’ ON DEMOCRATS PRIVATELY TURNING ON BIDEN

“Joe Biden is our nominee. As I said before, he has a really big decision to make,” she said. “But what gives me a lot of hope right now is that if President Biden decides to step back, we have Vice President Kamala Harris who is ready to step up, to unite the party, to take on Donald Trump, and to win in November. Remember, 80 million people voted for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in 2020.”

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the assassination attempt on Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump at the White House on July 14, 2024 in Washington, DC.  ( Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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Warren’s interview came on the heels of Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., calling for Biden to leave the race this week, joining dozens of House Democrats, Fox News Digital previously reported. 

Fox News’ David Rutz and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report 

Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Penn., is calling on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign following an assassination attempt against former President Trump at a campaign rally last weekend in Pennsylvania.

Boyle is the first Congressional Democrat to urge Cheatle to step down.

“I am calling on Director Cheatle to resign immediately following last weekend’s shooting of a Presidential candidate in Western Pennsylvania,” Boyle said in a statement on Saturday.

“The evidence coming to light has shown unacceptable operational failures,” he continued. “I have no confidence in the leadership of the United States Secret Service if Director Cheatle chooses to remain in her position.”

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

Rep. Brendan Boyle is the first Congressional Democrat to urge Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to step down. (Getty Images)

Trump survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, when gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire from the top of a building. One rally spectator was killed shielding his wife and daughter from the gunfire, while several others were injured, including Trump, who suffered injuries to his ear.

The Secret Service has faced intense criticism in the aftermath of the shooting over concerns about how Crooks was able to gain access to the rooftop that had a line of sight to Trump as he was speaking at the rally.

Several Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, have called for new leadership at the Secret Service following the shooting.

“Last week’s near-assassination of former President Trump was a grave attack on American democracy,” McConnell wrote Wednesday on the social media platform X. “The nation deserves answers and accountability. New leadership at the Secret Service would be an important step in that direction.”

But Cheatle said she has no plans of stepping down from her position.

“I do plan to stay on,” she told ABC News.

SECRET SERVICE RESPONDS TO REPORT THEY ‘REPEATEDLY’ DENIED REQUESTS TO TRUMP SECURITY DETAIL IN THE PAST

Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump attends Day 2 of the Republican National Convention (RNC), at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., July 16, 2024.  (REUTERS/Callaghan O’hare)

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said he has “100% confidence” in the Secret Service after the shooting. The Secret Service operates under DHS.

President Biden directed an independent review of security at the rally. Cheatle said in a statement last week that the Secret Service will cooperate in the independent review and work with Congress on any oversight action.

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Republican lawmakers have vowed to conduct congressional investigations into the shooting, and Cheatle is expected to testify before the House Oversight Committee on Monday.

“Americans demand answers from Director Kimberly Cheatle about the Secret Service’s historic security failures that led to the attempted assassination of President Trump, murder of an innocent victim, and harm to others in the crowd,” Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in a statement. “We look forward to Director Cheatle’s testimony on Monday, July 22 to deliver the transparency and accountability that Americans deserve.”

FIRST ON FOX: A Democrat staffer, who recently announced on social media that he has joined the Biden-Harris campaign as a deputy press secretary, works as a “drag queen” on weekends, according to his social media bio and social media posts reviewed by Fox News Digital

Eric Lipka, who most recently worked in Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s, D-Mass., office before joining the Biden campaign, said he was “thrilled to share” that he has “joined the Biden-Harris campaign as deputy press secretary for Pennsylvania!” in a X post on Wednesday.

The post, which is now private, racked up hundreds of thousands of views over the last few days with several replies congratulating him, while others mocked him for joining the Biden campaign’s “sinking ship” and pointed out his bio that reads, “on weekends: drag queen.” The popular Libs of TikTok social media account amplified Lipka’s draq queen gig with a follow-up post that has garnered 1.5 million views over the last few days. 

WHITE HOUSE PROMOTES BIDEN OFFICIAL WHO COMPARED POLICE TO SLAVE PATROLS, WANTS TO ABOLISH ICE

Eric Lipka was recently hired by Biden’s PA campaign to serve as deputy communications director. (Eric Lipka on X)

Lipka, who goes by the drag queen names “Erotica,” “Erica Lipka,” and “Erotica the Drag Queen” on social media, has several social media accounts on X, Facebook, and Instagram, but most of them were private as of Friday and then all of them were locked down shortly after Fox News Digital reached out to the Biden campaign for comment on Saturday afternoon. 

However, a Fox News Digital review found Lipka’s name tagged in dozens of public Facebook posts dating back to 2021 when he was still a college student at Georgetown University. The public Facebook posts were often promotions for upcoming drag brunches, drag shows, and other events featuring drag queens, including Lipka.

Earlier this year, he performed at Hampden Sydney College, a private Virginia liberal arts school for men, for their Unity Alliance Lavender Ball, an event that featured several drag queens. Another post from April 2024 lists Lipka as one of the drag queens participating in an “Elevate your brunch” drag event the following month.

In January 2024, Lipka was listed as one of the drag queens participating in an event called “Saint Saturday” in Richmond, Virginia.

Dozens of other posts over the last few years show him participating in drag shows in Reheboth Beach, multiple Maryland venues, Connecticut, and various LGBTQ-friendly venues across Washington, D.C. In an April 2023 Facebook post, Lipka is listed on a promotion flyer for an event called “Looney’s Pub presents Brunch Tunes” in College Park, Maryland.

NEW WHITE HOUSE DIGITAL STAFFER CHEERED SOCIAL MEDIA BAN ON TRUMP: ‘WHAT TOOK THEM SO LONG?’

President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. (Getty Images)

“The girls that drag together, [eggplant emoji] bottoms down together,” drag queen Nubia Love-Jackson said in a 2022 Facebook post accompanied by a photo of Jackson and Lipka. Lipka replied, “babyyyyy u already know.” 

The Biden campaign defended Lipka in response to a Fox News Digital inquiry about him participating in drag shows, saying they were “proud” to have him on their team.

“We’re proud to have a team of 200 talented Pennsylvania staffers, including Eric, highlighting Trump’s record killing 275,000 jobs across the commonwealth and his discriminatory and extreme Project 2025 agenda to make life worse for our families,” said Jack Doyle, the Pennsylvania communications director for the Biden campaign.

Lipka’s Instagram, which is now private, also showed him tagged in multiple photos promoting events featuring drag queens in Washington, D.C. and Connecticut, many of which were also public on Facebook. One of Lipka’s posts shows him and ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ season 15 winner Sasha Colby last year at a DC venue with the caption, “When 2 worlds collide: staffing the boss to meet [Sasha Colby].”

Lipka described the encounter in detail on his Linkedin profile from when he served as a “communications intern” for Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., and brought his “perspective as a gay latino” to the office. He noted that one of the projects that he helped spearhead to build Garcia’s “brand” and “name I.D” was connecting his office with ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ season 15 winner Sasha Colby for a “meet-and-greet at a D.C. LGBTQ+ venue.”

“We then pushed this to our LGBTQ+ lists, which went viral in that community,” Lipka continued.

Lipka’s private X and Instagram accounts, which are under the “Erotica” drag name, have thousands of followers combined. The X bio says “woman from the neck up” and the Instagram bio says “DC’s twirling twunk,” which is a term used among the “LGBTQ community to describe males (typically gay) with the face of a twink (boyish-looking, pretty) but the body of a hunk (muscular, jocky),” according to Urban Dictionary.

Interior Department spokesperson Tyler Cherry was appointed to the role in 2021. (Getty Images)

The Biden campaign hire comes amid the Biden White House facing backlash for a couple recent controversial hires. Tyler Cherry, who previously worked for the Department of the Interior, was promoted to the White House last month as a deputy press secretary. Cherry, however, faced backlash for several unearthed tweets, including comparing police to slave patrols and one 2014 anti-Israel post that went viral because it echoed a lot of the rhetoric currently heard on college campuses.

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He also came under fire for deleting thousands of his tweets after Fox News Digital reporting. Another recent controversial hire was Andy Volosky, who joined the White House digital team earlier this month to serve as the new deputy director of platforms.

Fox News Digital revealed that he celebrated social media companies “finally, mercifully” banning President Trump on their platforms and asked “What took them so long?” in a 2021 blog post days before President Biden took office.

The Biden White House previously defended both hires, saying in two separate statements that they were “proud” to have them on their team.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Former President Donald Trump declared Saturday that he “took a bullet for democracy” while firing up a crowd of voters in Grand Rapids, Michigan, at his first rally since surviving an assassination attempt last week. 

More than 12,000 people piled into the Van Andel Arena, home to the Grand Rapids Griffins hockey team, to see him and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who are coming off a packed week at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, where each accepted their respective nominations to appear on the GOP ticket together.

“They keep saying he’s a threat to democracy. I’m saying, ‘’What the hell did I do to democracy?’ Last week I took a bullet for democracy,” Trump said as the crowd cheered, referencing an often used Democrat talking point. “What did I do against democracy? Crazy.”

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

Former President and 2024 presidential nominee Donald Trump with Sen. and vice presidential nominee JD Vance, attend their first campaign rally together at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Saturday. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Vance spoke ahead of Trump, and dedicated part of his time on stage to slamming Vice President Kamala Harris, asking rallygoers “what the hell” she has ever done and noting his own service as a U.S. Marine.

“I’ve served in the United States Marine Corps … What the hell have you done?” Vance said.

“What has she done other than collect a check from her political offices?” he asked, before going on to talk about his grandmother, who he calls “Mamaw,” and his upbringing.

Harris ripped Vance after his Wednesday speech at the RNC in which he accepted his role on the 2024 ticket.

“It was compelling. It’s a compelling story. But it’s not the full story,” Harris said after Vance’s RNC speech. “Frankly, what is very telling is what he did not talk about on that stage. He did not talk about Project 2025, the 900-page blueprint for a second term. He did not talk about it because their plans are extreme, and they are divisive.”

RNC DELEGATES, GUESTS MAKE PREDICTIONS ABOUT BIDEN’S POLITICAL FUTURE AMID REPORTS HE MIGHT EXIT 2024 RACE

Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance. (Getty Images)

Vance later spoke to rallygoers about the various challenges facing the nation under President Biden’s administration, including the fentanyl crisis, the border crisis and the economy.

Trump took the stage after Vance, beginning his speech by saying that he “shouldn’t be here right now, but something very, something very special happened.” He took a moment to recognize the supporters who were injured or killed at the rally last week.

“We continue to pray for the recovery of the two citizens who were wounded in that evil attack – David Dutch and James Copenhaver, two really incredible people,” the Republican frontrunner said. “We remain in contact and send our deepest respect to the families.”

ALINA HABBA TAKES ON MAJOR ROLE IN TRUMP CAMPAIGN, DISHES ON HIS HIGHLY ANTICIPATED RNC SPEECH

More than 12,000 people piled into Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Saturday to see former President Donald Trump and vice presidential nominee JD Vance at their first joint rally, and the first since Trump was struck by a would-be assassin’s bullet but survived. (Fox News Digital/Brandon Gillespie)

Trump also acknowledged the death of Corey Comparatore, calling him a “hero” for protecting his family from the bullets.

“Corey Comparatore was a brave firefighter who died, [his] funeral [was] yesterday,” Trump said. “Corey was a hero. And we will carry his memory in our hearts for all time.”

Later in his speech, Trump conducted a “poll” with the audience members about who should become the Democratic nominee if President Biden steps down from the race.

“We’re going to do a poll, and it’s going to be a very nice poll and great. Who is your favorite candidate? Who would you like?” Trump said.

GOV. WHITMER TELLS ‘THE VIEW’ SHE NEVER SAID MICHIGAN’S UNWINNABLE FOR BIDEN: ‘CRAZIEST THING TO THINK’

Former President and 2024 presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally with Sen. and vice presidential nominee JD Vance at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

“So who would you like to most run against, if you’re us, if we want to win? Ready? Kamala Harris? Crooked Joe Biden?” Trump asked. The audience booed louder in response to Biden.

Trump also engaged with the crowd on a personal level, and while he was speaking about electric cars, he suddenly recognized an audience member who was a union member.

“Are you the same guy? Yes? No kidding,” Trump said. “Pretty good memory, right? Unlike somebody else that I happen to be running against.”

The Republican then encouraged the worker to get up on stage and joked around with him.

“He’s a serious union guy, a United Auto Workers [worker],” Trump said. “He does not carry guns. Come on up here, look at him. Look at the shape he’s in.”

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with an autoworker on stage at a campaign event Saturday at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

“I’m glad to see this guy,” the union worker said energetically at the podium. “I told you, we’re gonna get 85 million of us out there to vote for him. So let’s go home from this rally and do our part.”

The former president also slammed Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, calling her a “terrible” leader.

“Well, you have a terrible governor here who did a terrible job. Whitmer — I’d like to run against her, actually,” Trump laughed.

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Michigan is expected to be one of the most closely watched battleground states in November, and could narrowly determine who will serve the American people in the White House for the next four years.

Polls have largely suggested Trump leads Biden in every battleground state, as well as in some states that have trended more Democratic in recent years. That comes as a growing number of Democrats call for Biden to step aside from the 2024 race, in favor of Harris or another candidate.

Fox News Digital’s Andrea Vachianno contributed to this report.

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

Fox News host Jesse Watters recently conducted a sit-down interview with former President Trump to discuss last week’s failed assassination attempt.

The interview, which will premiere on “Jesse Watters Primetime” on Monday night at 8 p.m. ET, featured both Trump and his vice presidential candidate JD Vance. Vance currently serves as a U.S. Senator representing Ohio.

The three men discussed the assassination attempt against the former president last week. Gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks shot at Trump from a roof in the middle of a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, wounding the presidential candidate on his right ear.

Trump revealed during the interview that he was not warned about Crooks by the U.S. Secret Service.

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

Former President Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance on “Jesse Watters Primetime.” (Fox News)

“Mistakes were made,” Watters told Trump. “They were monitoring this guy for an hour beforehand. No one told you not to take the stage?”

“Nobody mentioned it,” the former president replied. “Nobody said it was a problem.” 

“[They] could’ve said, ‘Let’s wait for 15, 20 minutes, 5 minutes.’ Nobody said…I think that was a mistake,” he added.

Trump later questioned how Crooks could get on the roof in the first place.

RNC DELEGATES, GUESTS MAKE PREDICTIONS ABOUT BIDEN’S POLITICAL FUTURE AMID REPORTS HE MIGHT EXIT 2024 RACE

Jesse Waters interviews former President Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance. (Fox News)

“How did somebody get on that roof?” Trump questioned. “And why wasn’t he reported, because people saw he was on that roof.”

“When you have Trumpers screaming, the woman in the red shirt, ‘There’s a man on the roof,’ and other people, ‘There’s a man on the roof and who’s got a gun,’…that was quite a bit before I walked on the stage. And I would’ve thought someone would’ve done something about it,” Trump said.

Trump, who appeared at the Republican National Convention with a large bandage on his ear, has reportedly recovered well from the injury. On Saturday, his former physician, Texas Congressman Ronny Jackson, released a detailed report about Trump’s health.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

“He will have further evaluations, including a comprehensive hearing exam, as needed. He will follow up with his primary care physician, as directed by the doctors that initially evaluated him,” he continued. “In summary, former President Trump is doing well, and he is recovering as expected from the gunshot wound sustained last Saturday afternoon.”

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“I am extremely thankful his life was spared. It is an absolute miracle he wasn’t killed,” Jackson added.

California Senate candidate Steve Garvey called the about-face by Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., on President Biden’s re-election bid an act of “selfish desperation” after Schiff realized his Senate campaign had been outraised by more than $1 million.

“Adam Schiff’s recent act of selfish desperation to abandon his presidential nominee has caused a clear reaction from his supporters on his social media,” Garvey, the Republican candidate vying to fill the late Dianne Feinstein’s seat, told Fox News Digital. “It’s now clear to his supporters what has been clear to millions of Americans for years, that Adam Schiff only cares about Adam Schiff, and Californians deserve a senator that puts them above politics.”

Schiff called on Biden to drop out of the 2024 race earlier this week, saying in a statement to Fox News Digital that a “second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the President can defeat Donald Trump in November.”

Garvey remarked in a social media post this week that it was “not surprising” Schiff called on Biden to step aside “less than 24 hours after it was reported that our campaign out-raised Adam Schiff’s campaign by $1.2 million.”

ADAM SCHIFF CALLS ON BIDEN TO EXIT PRESIDENTIAL RACE AS DEM CONFIDENCE DWINDLES

Adam Schiff, left, and Steve Garvey (Getty Images)

Garvey said this is the first time in 14 years a Republican statewide candidate in California has surpassed the fundraising of a Democratic candidate.

“It’s understandable that they felt they had to take dramatic action when this news came out,” he added. “When Adam Schiff announced that he believes President Biden shouldn’t seek re-election, it dominated the news cycle for the day, helping in part to bury our fundraising success story.”

Between April 1 and June 30, Garvey reportedly raised $5.4 million to Schiff’s $4.1 million.

Garvey also questioned why Schiff was quick to call on Biden to drop out of the presidential race but did not call on him to resign.

“The question must be asked: If Schiff doesn’t believe Biden can be an effective candidate, why does he believe that he can continue to be an effective president? It’s clear from Schiff’s own words that he is very concerned about his and other down ticket’s chances this November,” Garvey said.

Earlier this week, Schiff praised Biden’s accomplishments while in office, claiming, “Joe Biden has been one of the most consequential presidents in our nation’s history, and his lifetime of service as a Senator, a Vice President, and now as President has made our country better.

“But our nation is at a crossroads,” the California representative warned.

Schiff noted that whether Biden withdraws from the race is the president’s choice, but he said this week, “I believe it is time for him to pass the torch.” (Getty Images)

Schiff noted that whether Biden withdraws from the race is the president’s choice, but he added, “I believe it is time for him to pass the torch.”

He also suggested Biden would “secure his legacy of leadership by allowing us to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election” if he follows the advice to leave the race. 

“But make no mistake, whoever our party ends up nominating, or if the nomination remains with the president, I will do everything I can to help them succeed,” the California Democrat made clear. “There is only one singular goal: defeating Donald Trump. The stakes are just too high.”

SPECIAL COUNSEL ROBERT HUR ‘VINDICATED,’ ‘DESERVES AN APOLOGY’ AFTER BIDEN DEBATE PERFORMANCE: ANALYSTS

In March, Schiff grilled special counsel Robert Hur and defended Biden during a contentious House hearing about his February report that described the president as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

In that February report, Hur said he would bring no criminal charges against the president after a months-long investigation into his alleged improper retention of classified documents related to national security.

Schiff told Hur his report “disparage[d] the president” and insisted Hur knew his report “would have a maximal political impact.”

“Based on our direct interactions with and observations of him, he is someone from whom many jurors will want to identify reasonable doubt,” the report stated. “It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him — by then a former president well into his eighties — of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness.”

Schiff continued to press Hur and accused him of knowing he would start a “political firestorm” with the language he used. Hurr said “politics played no part whatsoever” in the investigation.

“What you did write was deeply prejudicial to the interests of the president. You say it wasn’t political, and yet you must have understood,” Schiff said. “You must have understood the impact of your words. You must have understood the impact of your decision to go beyond the specifics of a particular document, to go to the very general, to your own personal prejudicial, subjective opinion of the president, one you knew would be amplified by his political opponent. When you knew that would influence a political campaign, you had to understand, and you did it anyway. You did it anyway.”

Garvey, a former professional baseball player, will take on Schiff in the Golden State’s Nov. 5 election. The race is considered “Solid Democratic” by nonpartisan political handicapper the Cook Political Report, giving Schiff an edge over his opponent.

Garvey, a former professional baseball player, will take on Schiff in the Golden State’s Nov. 5 election. (Steve Garvey)

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Schiff’s announcement made him the 20th congressional Democrat to urge Biden to exit the race. He is also the most prominent House Democrat to do so.

So far, a combined 35 Democrats from the House and Senate have called on Biden to drop out of the 2024 election.

Fox News Digital’s Julia Johnson and Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Vice presidential nominee JD Vance slammed his Democratic counterpart Kamala Harris Saturday, asking Michigan supporters ‘what the hell’ she has ever done and noting his own service as a U.S. Marine.

The swipe came as Vance and former President Donald Trump addressed voters at their first joint campaign event as running mates, and the first rally since a would-be assassin tried, but failed, to take Trump’s life last week.

Thousands piled into the Van Andel Arena, home to the Grand Rapids Griffins hockey team, to see the pair, who are coming off a packed week at the Republican National Convention (RNC) where each accepted their respective nominations to appear on the GOP ticket together.

“I find it hard to believe that a week ago an assassin tried to take Donald Trump’s life, and now we have this crowd in Michigan to welcome him back,” Vance said after taking the stage.

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

Donald Trump named J.D. Vance as his 2024 running mate on Monday. (Getty Images)

He quickly began taking shots at Vice President Kamala Harris: “I’ve served in the United States Marine Corps … What the hell have you done?”

“What has she done other than collect a check from her political offices?” he asked, before going on to talk about his grandmother, who he calls “Mamaw,” and his upbringing.

Harris ripped Vance after his Wednesday speech at the RNC in which he accepted his role on the 2024 ticket.

“It was compelling. It’s a compelling story. But it’s not the full story,” Harris said. “Frankly, what is very telling is what he did not talk about on that stage. He did not talk about Project 2025, the 900-page blueprint for a second term. He did not talk about it because their plans are extreme, and they are divisive.”

He later discussed the various challenges facing the nation under President Biden’s administration, including the fentanyl crisis, the border crisis and the economy.

RNC DELEGATES, GUESTS MAKE PREDICTIONS ABOUT BIDEN’S POLITICAL FUTURE AMID REPORTS HE MIGHT EXIT 2024 RACE

Michigan is expected to be one of the most closely watched battleground states in November, and could narrowly determine who will serve the American people in the White House for the next four years.

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

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Former President Donald Trump and vice presidential nominee JD Vance are rallying voters Saturday for their first joint campaign event as running mates, but also for the first rally since a would-be assassin tried, but failed, to take Trump’s life last week.

Thousands piled into the Van Andel Arena, home to the Grand Rapids Griffins hockey team, to see the pair, who are coming off a packed week at the Republican National Convention (RNC) where each accepted their respective nominations to appear on the GOP ticket together.

“I find it hard to believe that a week ago an assassin tried to take Donald Trump’s life, and now we have this crowd in Michigan to welcome him back,” Vance said after taking the stage.

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

Donald Trump named J.D. Vance as his 2024 running mate on Monday. (Getty Images)

He quickly began taking shots at Vice President Kamala Harris: “I’ve served in the United States Marine Corps … What the hell have you done?”

“What has she done other than collect a check from her political offices?” he asked, before going on to talk about his grandmother, who he calls “Mamaw,” and his upbringing.

He later discussed the various challenges facing the nation under President Biden’s administration, including the fentanyl crisis, the border crisis and the economy.

RNC DELEGATES, GUESTS MAKE PREDICTIONS ABOUT BIDEN’S POLITICAL FUTURE AMID REPORTS HE MIGHT EXIT 2024 RACE

Michigan is expected to be one of the most closely watched battleground states in November, and could narrowly determine who will serve the American people in the White House for the next four years.

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

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Thousands of people lined the streets of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Saturday to show support for former President Trump at his first rally since a would-be assassin tried, but failed, to take his life last week.

“Fight, fight, fight!” some in the swing-state crowd began to chant as Fox News Digital asked if there was any sense of nervousness after what happened at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a 20-year-old gunman killed one rallygoer, critically wounded two others and shot Trump in the ear.

“West Michigan is fired up, and they are ready for a change in Washington,” Michael Markey, the Republican candidate for Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District, told Fox as he greeted rallygoers waiting in the growing line to enter the Van Andel Arena.

RNC DELEGATES, GUESTS MAKE PREDICTIONS ABOUT BIDEN’S POLITICAL FUTURE AMID REPORTS HE MIGHT EXIT 2024 RACE

Thousands lined the streets of Grand Rapids, Mich., July 20, 2024, to attend former President Trump’s first rally since the failed assassination attempt against him. (Fox News Digital/Brandon Gillespie)

Republican congressional candidate Michael Markey speaks with supporters of former President Trump outside Trump’s rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., July 20, 2024. (Michael Markey for Congress)

“Just one week ago, West Michigan stood in prayer for President Trump, the victims of the attack in Pennsylvania and our nation. Today, we are enthusiastically standing in line to see President Trump and show him we are are ready to fight, fight, fight,” Markey said.

Some rallygoers told reporters they spent the night outside the arena, while others said they showed up nearly 12 hours early to get a spot in line.

It’s unclear how many thousands of people will pile into the arena, which can hold up to 12,000, but the rally is Trump’s first joint campaign appearance alongside his vice presidential running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, which is expected to add more excitement.

ALINA HABBA TAKES ON MAJOR ROLE IN TRUMP CAMPAIGN, DISHES ON HIS HIGHLY ANTICIPATED RNC SPEECH

Thousands lined the streets of Grand Rapids, Mich., July 20, 2024, to attend former President Trump’s first rally since the failed assassination attempt against him. (Fox News Digital/Brandon Gillespie)

Thousands lined the streets of Grand Rapids, Mich., July 20, 2024, to attend former President Trump’s first rally since the failed assassination attempt against him. (Fox News Digital/Brandon Gillespie)

The rally is being held as the Secret Service continues to face questions about the assassination attempt and how the shooter was able to climb on top of a building unhindered with a direct line of sight to Trump as he spoke.

The agency reportedly requested additional support from local law enforcement to beef up security at the event in Grand Rapids.

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Trump and Vance officially accepted their party’s nominations for president and vice president at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee earlier this week.

Saturday’s rally is expected to kick off at 5 p.m. ET.

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

Vice President Kamala Harris held a brief conference with the Democratic Party’s top donors yesterday in a show of support for her running mate.

Harris spoke with approximately 300 major Democratic Party donors on Friday, telling them there was nothing to worry about within President Biden’s campaign, despite the media kerfuffle.

“I will start by sharing something with all of you, something I believe in my heart of hearts. It is something I feel strongly you should all hear and should take with you when you leave, and tell your friends too,” Harris told the donors, according to multiple reports. “We are going to win this election. We are going to win.”

CAMPAIGN CHAIRS SAY BIDEN IS BOTH ‘MORE COMMITTED THAN EVER’ TO PRESIDENTIAL RACE AND ‘ASKING FOR INPUT’

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event in Kalamazoo, Michigan. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

“We know which candidate in this election puts the American people first: our President, Joe Biden,” Harris said in support of her running mate.

Harris spoke to donors via video for approximately five minutes, championing the Biden administration and sharply criticizing former President Donald Trump’s rhetoric at the Republican National Convention.

“Let me be clear: Trump’s convention this week was one big attempt to distract people,” Harris reportedly told donors. “He wants to distract attention away from his record and his Project 2025 plan. Can you believe they put it in writing? It is further empirical evidence that the stakes of this election couldn’t be higher.”

SCHUMER ‘FORCEFULLY’ TOLD BIDEN HE SHOULD DROP HIS RE-ELECTION BID: REPORT

President Joe Biden speaks next to Vice President Kamala Harris as he delivers a statement the day after Republican challenger Donald Trump was shot at a campaign rally, during brief remarks at the White House in Washington, D.C. (REUTERS/Nathan Howard)

The call was intended to quell fears among party donors that backlash against Biden from within his party could prove disastrous for his campaign.

However, Harris did not take questions from the donors following her short address, causing some to wonder what the point of the communication was.

Additionally, the call came on the same day that nearly a dozen Democratic lawmakers voiced preference for Biden to drop out of the race.

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President Joe Biden speaks at the 115th NAACP National Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. (AP Photo/David Becker)

Biden has been consistent and clear that he intends to stay in the race and run against Trump in November as the Democratic Party nominee.

While critics of the administration within the Democratic Party have treated Biden’s re-election bid as a decision yet to be made, the White House has been consistent and firm in its statements that he is indeed running.

“The president’s in this race,” Campaign Chair Jen O’Malley Dillon told the hosts of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Friday morning. “You’ve heard him say that time and time again.”