NationalWatch

Vice President Kamala Harris is gaining ground in several key battleground states that are likely to determine the result of the 2024 presidential election.

Election forecasters at the Cook Political Report and the Center for Politics say poll averages have shifted in Harris’ favor by roughly 3 points. Polls in three states have also shifted toward Democrats, with Georgia moving from “lean Republican” to “toss up,” while Minnesota and New Hampshire shifted from “lean Democratic” to “likely Democratic.”

Harris has gained significant ground on former President Trump since President Biden withdrew from the race, with multiple polls now showing her ahead of Trump in the general election.

While Democratic enthusiasm has surged since Harris became the party’s nominee, many political analysts say the honeymoon period is likely to wear off. Harris is already facing heavy criticism for her lack of transparency to the press, and she has yet to take questions from reporters in the 18 days since Biden dropped out.

HARRIS LAPS TRUMP IN CASH DASH THANKS TO FUNDRAISING SURGE

Vice President Kamala Harris is gaining ground in several key battleground states, forecasters at the Cook Political Report and the Center for Politics say. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool via REUTERS)

KAMALA HARRIS SUPPORTERS UNSURE WHEN ASKED ABOUT VP’S POLICY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

She has been busy on the campaign trail, spoken at various events, and given informal remarks to reporters at various points, but hasn’t done a formal press conference or wide-ranging interview since Biden’s withdrawal.

She also failed to appear at the National Association of Black Journalists’ convention in Chicago, where Trump made headlines last week with a heated question-and-answer session, although she could make a future appearance with the group.

Harris failed to appear at the National Association of Black Journalists’ convention in Chicago, where Trump engaged in a sometimes-contentious question-and-answer session. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)

This week, she made headlines by picking Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, but the two have still not been questioned formally in interviews or press conferences. It’s gotten the attention of GOP vice-presidential candidate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio.

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

Vance called out the media for their lack of aggression towards Harris. Speaking at a rally in Detroit, he urged reporters to “show a little bit of self-awareness” and called on Harris to “do the job of a presidential candidate” by speaking to them.

Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, pressed the media to formally interview Harris. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

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Trump himself has accused Harris of hiding behind her teleprompter even as Biden “hid in his basement.”

Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.

Former Vice President Mike Pence’s think tank released a strong rebuke to Gov. Tim Walz’s spot on the Democratic Party ticket for the 2024 presidential election.

Advancing American Freedom — the policy institute founded by Pence following his term as vice president under former President Donald Trump – released a memo Wednesday outlining what the organization calls Waltz’s “radical record.”

“Gov. Walz is actually the perfect pick for Vice President Kamala Harris — a hardcore leftist who appeals to the growing Ilhan Omar wing of the Democratic Party,” AAF Executive Director Paul Tellers told Fox News Digital.

FORMER MINNESOTA GOP GOVERNOR SUMS UP TIM WALZ VP PICK: ‘BERNIE SANDERS IN HUNTING GEAR’

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks at a campaign rally in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

The memo accused Walz of “[fanning] the flames of Black Lives Matter riots” during the 2020 unrest in Minnesota, turning the state into a “murder capital” with a 50% spike in homicide rates, and “[cutting] funding for pregnant women” while “[pushing] abortion-on-demand.”

The think tank also blasted Walz for turning Minnesota into a “trans refugee state,” having “signed legislation allowing children to be taken from their parents if parents don’t support their minor child receiving life altering surgeries or supposed medical treatments.”

The selection of the 60-year-old Walz was not a shocker, as his name was believed to be in contention for the two weeks following Harris’s replacement of President Biden as the party’s standard-bearer.

WALZ’S HANDLING OF BLM RIOTS, STRICT COVID RULES UNDER MICROSCOPE AFTER HARRIS VP PICK

Then-Vice President Mike Pence and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speak to the press after Pence visited 3M World Headquarters in Maplewood, Minnesota. (Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via Getty Images)

Walz, a former congressman, is in his second term as governor of Minnesota, a state that Democrats have reliably won in presidential elections for decades but that the Trump campaign has aimed at flipping this cycle.

The memo touches on multiple common criticisms being offered against the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, such as exacerbation of the border crisis through sanctuary laws and his treatment of religious institutions during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

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Then-Vice President Mike Pence visits Rock Springs Church to campaign for GOP Senate candidates in Milner, Georgia. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)

Pence has largely remained above the fray of the 2024 presidential election after dropping out late last year.

He previously refused to endorse his former running partner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary. At the same time, he made clear earlier this year that he would never support the Biden re-election campaign.

The vice-president’s think tank has offered a “Biden-Harris Accountability Tracker” on their website through which the group catalogs the administration’s policies and offers examples of consequential negative effects.

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

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is ordering all votes for the 2024 presidential election to be cast by paper ballot.

Youngkin issued Executive Order 35 on Wednesday, which codifies election security protocols established under his governance for all future elections.

“The Virginia model for Election Security works. This isn’t a Democrat or Republican issue, it’s an American and Virginian issue,” Youngkin said in an announcement. “Every legal vote deserves to be counted without being watered down by illegal votes or inaccurate machines. In Virginia, we don’t play games and our model for election security is working.”

VIRGINIA SCHOOL DISTRICT LAUNCHES PILOT NO CELLPHONE POLICY USING MAGNETIC POUCH THAT BLOCKS SIGNAL

Glenn Youngkin, governor of Virginia, during the Republican National Convention (RNC) at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

One of the most notable requirements of the security protocol is the exclusive use of paper ballots with a traceable chain of custody, offering a more concrete record of votes cast than widely-used electronic voting machines.

Other aspects of the Virginia voting security protocol include the use of DMV data to verify voter identity, offline counting machines and more.

“We use 100% paper ballots with a strict chain of custody. We use counting machines, not voting machines, that are tested prior to every election and never connected to the internet. We do not mass mail ballots. We monitor our drop boxes 24/7,” Young said. 

HOUSE FREEDOM CAUCUS CHAIR OUSTED BY TRUMP-BACKED CHALLENGER IN REPUBLICAN PRIMARY SHOWDOWN

A voter casts a ballot at a polling location in Fairfax, Virginia.  (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The governor added, “We verify the legal presence and identity of voters using DMV data and other trusted data sources to update our voter rolls daily, not only adding new voters, but scrubbing the lists to remove those that should not be on it, like the deceased, individuals that have moved, and non-citizens that have accidentally or maliciously attempted to register.”

Former President Donald Trump celebrated the codification of Youngkin’s protocols, writing on his proprietary social media platform Truth Social that Virginia is “taking a strong lead in securing the election in November.”

“The beautiful Commonwealth of Virginia, superbly led by Governor Glenn Youngkin, IS TAKING A STRONG LEAD IN SECURING THE ELECTION IN NOVEMBER — PROTECTING EVERY LEGAL VOTE AND KEEPING ILLEGAL ALIENS THAT HAVE BEEN LET INTO OUR COUNTRY FROM VOTING. All votes will be on paper ballots and counted safely and fairly, not by machines connected to the internet — A big security risk.”

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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks to reporters after a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington, D.C.   (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“We must work hard to make sure the Election is FAIR and SECURE!!! EVERY STATE SHOULD FOLLOW VIRGINIA’S LEAD,” Trump continued. “We need volunteers to watch the polls – So important. The Election on November 5th will be the MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION IN OUR COUNTRY’S HISTORY. Thank you Glenn, GREAT JOB!!!”

Election security is a major concern for both political parties heading into this November’s presidential election.

Over the last few elections, both Republicans and Democrats have made various accusations of illegal manipulation of voters.

Video showing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz claiming that he carried weapons of war into actual war has surfaced. A Minnesota National Guard response to Fox News disputes the fact that Walz actually went into battle, but rather he skirted any skirmishes and retired instead, leaving his troops behind.

Walz, who’s the chosen vice presidential candidate for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, served a quarter of a century in the National Guard. 

A video of Walz making the controversial statement can be seen on X.

“I spent 25 years in the Army and I hunt. I’ve been voting for common sense legislation that protects the Second Amendment, but we can do background checks. We can research the impacts of gun violence. We can make sure those weapons of war, that I carried in war, are only carried in war,” Walz said in his speech, aiming toward voters who don’t want guns on the streets.

VETERAN WHO SERVED IN TIM WALZ’S BATTALION ADDRESSES STOLEN VALOR ACCUSATIONS: ‘FAR DARKER THAN PEOPLE THINK’

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris is welcomed by Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, before she delivers remarks at a campaign event, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Eau Claire, Wisc.  (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Behrends, who said he was a member of Walz’s battalion, blasted the governor’s comments.

“To most people, that would mean that he was actually in combat, carrying a weapon in a combat zone and getting combat pay and in a dangerous and hostile environment where he is getting shot at,” Behrends told the ‘Ingraham Angle’ on Wednesday.

Walz never said which war he fought. During his time in the Guard, there were two wars in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, neither of which show on his military record.

JD VANCE ACCUSES TIM WALZ OF ‘LYING’ ABOUT MILITARY SERVICE: ‘STOLEN VALOR GARBAGE’

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz listens as President Joe Biden speaks at Dutch Creek Farms in Northfield, Minn., Nov. 1, 2023.  (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

The Minnesota National Guard told Fox News that Walz was part of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) while he was stationed in Italy with his unit in 2005, but that he retired before his unit went into battle.

“Walz left the National Guard in May 2005 after 24 years of service. His unit was not given deployment orders to Iraq until July. He had put his retirement papers in 5-7 months prior to his retirement in May,” the Minnesota National Guard said.

“Second, there are questions about whether he served in OEF. His battalion was sent to Europe, in his case Vicenza to train units in artillery – his specialty was artillery. If you are deployed overseas in support of OEF according to the National Guard you officially served in OEF, whether you touched foot in Afghanistan or not. That is in his official military service record below.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Walz’s office for comment and received an automated response.

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Walz was named this week as the running mate with Kamala Harris on the Democratic national ticket. Harris, the current vice president, will look to fill the shoes of President Biden and take on former President Donald Trump in the general election.

Trump’s running mate JD Vance spoke to the media about Vice President Kamala Harris’ choice for her potential Vice President. (Fox News)

Trump’s running mate is J.D. Vance, who served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps. While speaking at an event Wednesday in Michigan, Vance said that Walz deserted his fellow soldiers who were heading off to war.

“You abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq,” Vance said.

Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin contributed to this story.

Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday announced her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who immediately set social media ablaze as unearthed clips and headlines exposing his “radical” political career went viral.

The Minnesota Democrat, who was being hyped up to Harris by the far-left faction of her party, including lawmakers like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., accompanied Harris during a Philadelphia campaign rally Tuesday evening kicking off their swing state tour across multiple states.

“One of the things that stood out to me about Tim is how his convictions on fighting for middle class families run deep,” Harris said Tuesday while announcing her VP choice.

Here are five standout remarks by the former lawmaker and potential future vice president, which have been dubbed as “weird” by critics:

Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via Getty Images)

“Weird” goes viral

Walz was responsible for an insult that quickly became a viral hit for Democrats across the United States when he described former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance as “weird.”

“These are weird people on the other side, they want to take books away, they want to be in your exam room, that’s what it comes down to,” he said on MSNBC last month. “Don’t get sugarcoating this, these are weird ideas.”

It’s a quip that the Harris campaign has embraced, and appears to have stuck to the Trump campaign, which in turn has aggressively redeployed the attack against Democrats by attacking their “radical” proposals.

WALZ BACKED ‘SANCTUARY’ POLICIES, SERVICES FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AS GOVERNOR: ‘WIN FOR OPEN BORDERS’ 

“You know what’s really weird?” Donald Trump Jr. responded. “Soft on crime politicians like Kamala allowing illegal aliens out of prison so they can violently assault Americans.”

Vance took advantage of the label over the weekend during an Atlanta rally and listed off several policy positions Harris has espoused.

Walz has not backed off using “weird” during public speeches, using it again after being announced as Harris’ running mate on Tuesday during a Philadelphia rally.

“These guys are creepy and yes, just weird as hell,” he said.

Socialism = neighborliness

When many people think of socialism, they think of forced redistribution of wealth, sky-high tax rates, or the worst crimes of regimes like the Soviet Union.

However, Walz recently painted socialism in a positive light by associating it with “neighborliness.”

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

The clip immediately ignited backlash on social media.

KAMALA HARRIS’ RUNNING MATE TIM WALZ PICTURED IN 1995 NEBRASKA MUGSHOT AFTER DUI ARREST

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks before President Joe Biden at Dutch Creek Farms, Nov. 1, 2023, in Northfield, Minn.  (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

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

“Walz’s statement that socialism is mere ‘neighborliness’ is a lie that disregards the harsh realities countless families have faced under socialist regimes,” Virginia Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares posted on X. 

“Weird,” said Manhattan Institute senior fellow Ilya Shapiro.

“A 30-foot ladder factory”

Walz’s immigration views have been a focus from critics, including his moves to grant driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants and his support for sanctuary policies.

But Walz raised eyebrows by suggesting that, should President Trump attempt to build another wall at the southern border, he would launch his own moneymaking scheme.

“He talks about this wall, I always say, let me know how high it is. If it’s 25 feet, then I’ll invest in the 30-foot ladder factory,” he said on CNN. “That’s not how you stop this.”

The Trump campaign, Republican National Committee, and several conservative critics used the soundbite to attack Harris and pointed to her record as “border czar,” which still haunts her tenure as vice president.

JD Vance criticized Kamala Harris’ running mate selection of Tim Walz. (Getty Images)

“Get off the couch”

Walz appeared to dip his toe in the water of some false claims about Vance on Tuesday, when he talked about his counterpart debating him.

“I can’t wait to debate this guy,” Walz said. “That’s if he’s willing to get off the couch and show up. See what I did there?”

The roar of the crowd, and Harris’ facial expression made it clear they knew to what he was referring to.

VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS NAMES MINNESOTA GOV TIM WALZ AS HER RUNNING MATE

The quip references a false online rumor, debunked by multiple fact checkers, that Vance had claimed in his book “Hillbilly Elegy” to have had sex with a couch.

But despite the repeated debunking, Walz appeared to revel in the false claims and became its most high-profile spreader to date.

Chinese luxury

The New York Post this week unearthed remarks by Walz in 1990 in which he said he praised the living conditions he encountered in China.

“No matter how long I live, I will never be treated that well again,” he told a local outlet.

“They gave me more gifts than I could bring home. It was an excellent experience,” Walz said, adding that he was “treated exceptionally well.”

The remark came in the wake of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989 and amid continued and still ongoing mass human rights abuses in the communist regime.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris attends an infrastructure event addressing high speed internet in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building’s South Court Auditorium at the White House in Washington, U.S., June 3, 2021.  (REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein)

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Walz wasn’t the only member of his family to face the wrath of social media with unearthed clips. His wife, Minnesota’s First Lady Gwen Walz, set social media ablaze Tuesday and Wednesday when a clip from one of her 2020 interviews went viral.

“Again we had more sleepless nights during the riots,” Walz’s wife told KSTP in July 2020. “I could smell the burning tires, and that was a very real thing. And I kept the windows open as long as I could because I felt like that was such a touchstone of what was happening.”

The comment was dubbed as “weird” and “bizarre” on social media.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Vice President Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, said he wants to ban guns he “carried in war” though he never saw combat during his time in the Army National Guard and left the service after being informed that his unit would be deployed to Iraq.

“I spent 25 years in the Army, and I hunt. I’ve been voting for commonsense legislation that protects the Second Amendment, but we can do background checks. We can research the impacts of gun violence. We can make sure those weapons of war that I carried in war are only carried in war,” Walz said in a video posted by the Harris campaign on Tuesday.

Walz joined the Army National Guard in 1981, retiring in 2005 from the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery, where he rose to the rank of command sergeant major. Across his more than two decades of service, he never saw combat, according to an interview with Minnesota Public Radio in 2018.

“I know that there are certainly folks that did far more than I did. I know that,” Walz said, acknowledging that he never saw combat. “I willingly say that I got far more out of the military than they got out of me, from the GI Bill to leadership opportunities to everything else.”

HARRIS, WALZ MADE UNPRECEDENTED ABORTION CLINIC VISIT PRIOR TO PRESIDENTIAL TICKET TEAM-UP

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks at Dutch Creek Farms, Nov. 1, 2023, in Northfield, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Walz retired months after a warning order was issued to his battalion that it would be deployed to Iraq, the New York Post reported Tuesday. Service member Thomas Behrends went in his place, according to the Post, sparking the veteran to slam Walz as “a traitor” and “coward” for retiring before deploying.

“When your country calls, you are supposed to run into battle, not the other way,” the retired command sergeant major told the New York Post. “He ran away. It’s sad.”

TIM WALZ SLAMMED AS ‘POLITICAL CHAMELEON’ AFTER DITCHING FORMER PRO-SECOND AMENDMENT STANCE

Walz ran for Congress instead, winning his race and subsequently being sworn into office in 2007. Harris’ running mate did train with military weapons, including specializing in heavy artillery, and was awarded ribbons for his proficiency in sharpshooting and hand grenades, Minnesota Public Radio reported.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (Stephen Maturen/AFP via Getty Images/File)

Critics on social media slammed Walz and the Harris campaign for running the snippet of Walz calling for a ban on guns he allegedly “carried in war,” pointing to his previous remarks that he never saw combat; others called him out for portraying himself as a gun advocate and hunter despite supporting left-wing gun control legislation.

TRUMP CAMP SAYS HARRIS-WALZ ‘DANGEROUSLY LIBERAL’ TICKET IS ‘EVERY AMERICAN’S NIGHTMARE’

While Walz served as a congressman from 2006 to 2019 representing a rural district that typically voted red, he leaned into his support of the Second Amendment and hunting, with pro-gun groups such as the NRA lauding him for his outspoken support of gun ownership. The National Rifle Association awarded Walz an A rating for his commitment to protecting gun ownership, while Guns & Ammo magazine listed him in 2016 as one of America’s 20 top politicians for gun owners.

VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS NAMES MINNESOTA GOV TIM WALZ AS HER RUNNING MATE: AP

Walz has since changed his tune to champion gun control measures and lost his high marks among the Second Amendment community. The NRA slammed Walz as a “political chameleon” in a statement provided to Fox News Digital on Tuesday after Harris officially announced him as her running mate. 

Audience members are shown ahead of Vice President Harris’ rally with her newly chosen vice presidential running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, in Philadelphia on Aug. 6, 2024. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

“Tim Walz is a political chameleon – changing his positions to further his own personal agenda. In Congress, Walz purported to be a friend of gun owners to receive their support in his rural Minnesota district. Once he had his eyes set on other offices, he sold out law-abiding Minnesotans and promoted a radical gun control agenda that emboldened criminals and left everyday citizens defenseless. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz cannot be trusted to defend freedom and our Constitutional rights,” Randy Kozuch, chair of the NRA Political Victory Fund, said in a statement.

Walz announced in 2017, after the Las Vegas mass shooting, that he was donating the roughly $18,000 he received from the NRA to charity. In the following year, he joined fellow Democrats in calling for gun control measures, including banning so-called assault weapons.

WHO IS TIM WALZ? MEET THE HARRIS RUNNING MATE WHO CALLED REPUBLICANS ‘WEIRD PEOPLE’

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz greets Vice President Harris as she arrives at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on March 14, 2024. (Stephen Maturen/AFP via Getty Images)

Walz wrote in an op-ed in 2018 that his views on guns are “evolving in some ways” but that he’s “always been a reformer.”

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“To finally come together to end gun violence, we’ll need a new approach. We’ll need to build a coalition we haven’t seen before: rural, urban, suburban and exurban folks; gun owners and gun-violence survivors; hunters and advocates and police officers and the young people who are stepping up right now. We’ll need a coalition of folks of good faith who haven’t seen eye to eye but respect the different ways of life in every corner of our state,” he wrote in an op-ed published by the Star Tribune in 2018. 

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

The Heritage Foundation’s advocacy arm will not say if it will heed House Democrats’ demand for a sit-down with its president, Kevin Roberts, about the conservative think tank’s Project 2025.

A Heritage spokesman declined to comment to Fox News Digital on Wednesday when asked about the letter from nearly 40 House Democrats that read, “We write to invite you to meet with Members of Congress to discuss the Project 2025 Presidential Transition Project.”

“The content within this transition plan will permanently damage federal administrative operations and have a direct impact on all our Districts,” reads the letter led by Reps. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., and Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.

“Our offices are increasingly hearing from constituents worried about the impact of Project 2025 on the future of our nation. Many of them see it as an extreme takeover plan to dismantle checks and balances, amass unprecedented presidential power, and exercise total control over our government and our daily lives.”

AMID HARRIS’ YOUTH POLLING SURGE, LATEST FIGURES SHOW BIDEN DID BETTER WITH BLACK VOTERS

House Democratic Reps. Jared Huffman, left, and Ayanna Pressley, right, led nearly 40 lawmakers in a request for a sit-down with Heritage President Kevin Roberts, center. (Getty Images)

The initiative, a set of proposals outlining right-wing policy goals and recommendations for a new Republican administration, has prompted a political firestorm in the middle of the 2024 presidential election cycle.

Former President Trump and his top campaign aides have criticized and distanced themselves from the plan, but that has not stopped Democrats from using it as a political cudgel to accuse the GOP of embracing extremism.

Project 2025 is broken into four parts – policy recommendations, a “Presidential Personnel Database” with recommendations for open administration jobs, an “academy” to train new political appointees, and a roadmap for a suggested first 180 days in office.

LEGAL EXPERTS CALL BIDEN’S COURT OVERHAUL PLANS A ‘PIPE DREAM’

Former President Trump has disavowed Project 2025. (Donald Trump 2024 campaign)

Among its proposed overhauls is the elimination of the Department of Education, and dismantling the Health and Human Services Department’s Reproductive Healthcare Access Task Force, replacing it with a panel to recommend pro-life changes “to ensure that all of the department’s divisions seek to use their authority to promote the life and health of women and their unborn children,” according to its site.

The Democratic letter accused Roberts of not being forthcoming with the fourth pillar of Project 2025, which details the first 180 days of a GOP administration. The Project 2025 website suggests that details of that portion, however, can be viewed in the Heritage Foundation’s book, “Mandate For Leadership: The Conservative Promise.”

“It is time to stop hiding the ball on what we are concerned could very well be the most radical, extreme, and dangerous parts of Project 2025. If we are wrong about that – if your secret ‘Fourth Pillar’ of Project 2025 is actually a defensible, responsible, and constitutional action plan for the first days of a second Trump presidency – then we hope you will publish it, without edits or redaction. Allow the American people to see it and scrutinize it,” the letter said. 

TRUMP CAMPAIGN REJOICES AFTER HARRIS LEANS IN ON KEY ISSUE HAUNTING HER VICE PRESIDENCY

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“Allow members of Congress to see it, so that we can discuss it with you and with the growing number of our constituents who seek to understand what Project 2025 portends for their government and their lives.”

A separate House Democratic initiative, the Stop Project 2025 Task Force, was panned by Roberts as “unserious.”

“It’s amusing how those on the Left seem surprised that conservative policy organizations advocate for conservative policies. Yet instead of addressing the issues caused by this administration and Congress, House Democrats are dedicating taxpayer dollars to launch a smear campaign against the united effort to restore self-governance to everyday Americans,” Roberts said in June.

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., is taking aim at Vice President Kamala Harris in a new ad that ties her to ongoing issues across the U.S. – including inflation, the border crisis and “death to America” protests.

The seven-figure TV ad, called “She Did That,” plays off Harris’ congratulatory call to President Biden in November 2020, where she stated, “We did it, Joe. You’re going to be the next President of the United States.”

“Yep, they did it all right. Now everything is more expensive,” Scott says in the ad, referencing inflation during the Biden administration.

HARRIS TAKES 3-POINT LEAD OVER TRUMP AS SHE GAINS ON KEY ISSUES: POLL

Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz appear on stage together during a campaign event at Girard College on Aug. 6, 2024, in Philadelphia. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

The ad then has Harris repeating “We did it” as Scott highlights images of campus protests that broke out in response to the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

“Yep, now protesters are chanting ‘Death to America’ and burning our flag,” Scott says, before referencing the ongoing crisis at the southern border. 

“They gave money, housing and health care to criminals bringing drugs into our country,” he says.

‘DEATH TO AMERICA’ RAPIDLY EMERGING AS KEY SLOGAN OF ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS IN US 

“I’m Rick Scott, they did it, we’re going to undo it,” he said.

The ad will run across Florida in every media market, his campaign said.

Sen. Rick Scott speaks at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, July 16, 2024. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)

“Senator Scott is fighting to undo the destruction of the Biden-Harris administration’s socialist agenda and is leading the fight to hold Biden and Harris accountable for their litany of failures,” his campaign said. “He will continue to remind Floridians how disastrous four more years of Kamala Harris would be for the state and the country.”

The ad represents the latest effort to tie Harris to the policies of the Biden administration, during which she has served as vice president.

In particular, Republicans have dubbed her the “border czar” over her role in handling root causes of migration – an assignment she was given in 2021. 

Harris’ campaign has rejected the border czar title but have embraced what it sees as the successes of the administration, pointing to a strong economy and a recent sharp drop in encounters at the southern border, and promising to do more if she is elected president.

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“We fight for a future with affordable housing, affordable health care, affordable child care, paid leave. We fight for a future where we build a broad-based economy, where every American has the opportunity to own a home, to start a business, and to build wealth,” Harris said in a speech in Philadelphia on Tuesday. “We fight for a future where we bring down prices that are still too high and lower the cost of living for America’s families.”

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

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

The Democratic Socialists of America took a victory lap on social media after Vice President Kamala Harris named Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her 2024 running mate. 

“Harris choosing Walz as a running mate has shown the world that DSA and our allies on the left are a force that cannot be ignored. Through collective action, DSA and the US left more broadly have made it clear that change is needed. DSA members organized in our workplaces and unions to realign the labor movement to support Palestinian liberation,” Democratic Socialists of America, the largest socialist group in the U.S., posted to X on Tuesday. 

DSA went on to take credit for pressuring Democrats to allegedly snub other candidates in the running, including one “with direct ties to the IDF.” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was reportedly one of the top contenders on Harris’ list of potential veeps and was a volunteer in the IDF in his youth. 

The Democratic Socialists of America has long called for a ceasefire after Hamas launched its attack on Israel on Oct. 7 of last year, with the group failing to condemn Hamas and instead saying the attack was a “direct result of Israel’s apartheid regime.”

HARRIS’ RUNNING MATE FACES RENEWED SCRUTINY AFTER HIS ‘WEIRD’ SOCIALISM COMPARISON RESURFACES

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks to reporters after a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on July 3, 2024, in Washington, DC. Biden met with all of the nations Democratic governors, virtually or in person, in an effort to shore up support following his performance in the first presidential debate against Donald Trump. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“The Uncommitted movement, in which DSA members played crucial roles nationally and in multiple states, pressured the Democratic establishment into choosing a new candidate and backing down from a potential VP with direct ties to the IDF and who would have ferociously supported the ongoing genocide in Palestine,” the DSA continued in its X thread. 

While celebrating Harris’ choice of Walz, the socialist group hammered that their “demands remain the same” regarding the war that has continued raging in Israel. 

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

“Harris must call for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine and put in place an embargo on all arms to Israel,” the group wrote. 

Vice President Kamala Harris says her cursing habit has gotten worse since she entered office.  (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Walz is not a member of the DSA, but has made favorable comments regarding socialism, including last week during a “White Dudes for Harris” campaign call last week that was slammed by conservatives. 

“Don’t ever shy away from our progressive values,” the Minnesota Democrat said. “One person’s socialism is another person’s neighborliness.”

LAURA INGRAHAM: WALZ HAS HELPED TANK LAW ENFORCEMENT IN HIS STATE AND IS ON HIS WAY TO TANKING EDUCATION

Following Harris announcing Walz, former President Donald Trump said he was “thrilled” by the choice, due to Walz’s left-wing policies that he says American voters reject. 

‘NEVER HEARD OF HIM’: HARRIS VP PICK WALZ HAS LITTLE NOTORIETY AMONG TRUMP-VANCE VOTERS IN PA

“If you look at his record with no walls, no security, let everybody in, he’s worse than they are,” he said. “Nobody knew how radical left she was, but he’s a smarter version of her, if you want to know the truth,” “Fox & Friends” co-hosts during an exclusive interview on Wednesday morning. 

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“There’s never been a ticket like this,” he continued. “This is a ticket that would want this country to go communist immediately, if not sooner. We want no security. We want no anything. He’s very heavy into transgender. Anything transgender he thinks is great, and he’s not where the country is on anything.”

Vice President Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, brings a track record to the Democrat ticket that could help energize the country’s left-wing base along with several progressive transgender policies aimed at children.

Walz, a former Army National Guardsman and a former teacher, was one of the first governors to sign into law a bill making Minnesota a “sanctuary state” for children seeking transgender surgical procedures and hormone prescriptions. This laid the groundwork for several of his more progressive LGBTQ policies. 

The law tells courts in Minnesota not to follow prosecutions from other states against people who come to Minnesota for treatments like puberty blockers, hormone therapy or surgery. Before the law was passed, Walz had already issued an order in May 2023 to prevent criminalization of transgender procedures in the state.

MEET KAMALA HARRIS’ RUNNING MATE WHO CALLED REPUBLICANS ‘WEIRD PEOPLE’

Democrat presidential nominee Vice President Harris and running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz arrive at a campaign rally in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

As neighboring states like Nebraska, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota restrict medical providers from performing transgender medical procedures on children, Minnesota’s sanctuary law has turned the state into a key destination for such services.

Many individuals and families have reportedly moved from more restrictive states to Minnesota. Currently, 26 states have placed limits on doctors providing gender-affirming treatments to minors, with New Hampshire being the latest to join this list.

Walz also signed a controversial bill into law that prevents books, which may include explicit material for children, from being removed from public schools in an effort to clap back at parents who complained about certain LGBTQ+ materials in school libraries. 

WALZ’S HANDLING OF BLM RIOTS, STRICT COVID RULES UNDER MICROSCOPE AFTER HARRIS VP PICK

Transgender activists at a protest.  (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

The bill also made it illegal to remove books written by or about LGBTQ+ and minorities. 

In 2023, Walz signed a law banning “conversion therapy,” which also included prohibiting counselors from withholding recommendations for transgender surgical procedures or hormonal treatments for individuals experiencing gender dysphoria.

Another key component of his transgender policy agenda is a law requiring free menstrual products in all public school bathrooms. Often called the “tampon law” in the media, it mandates that tampons and pads be provided at no cost in public schools for grades 4 through 12 to accommodate transgender students. 

After Harris tapped Walz as her running mate, former President Trump’s campaign and its supporters began referring to him as “Tampon Tim.”

“She actually chose Tampon Tim,” Trump campaign adviser Stephen Miller, posted to X following the announcement.

HARRIS LEANING INTO ‘PRO-HAMAS,’ ‘PROGRESSIVE’ WINGS OF DEMOCRAT PARTY WITH WALZ VP PICK: GOP STRATEGIST

Walz championed many transgender policies.

Walz also opposes the traditional definition of marriage as defined as between one man and one woman, further aligning himself with the progressive flank of the Democratic Party who argue the definition is archaic and discriminatory against non-traditional couples. 

As a U.S. House representative in 2012, Walz opposed a proposed constitutional amendment to define marriage solely as a union between one man and one woman. He argued that restricting rights for any group is unconstitutional, saying, “I think we can do better.”

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Walz additionally played a crucial role in supporting legislation that recognizes sexual orientation and gender identity as protected categories under federal hate crime laws. 

Harris and Walz are now traveling across several battleground states to court voters this week, as the pair have already begun attacking the Trump-Vance campaign. 

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

What’s happening…

-Biden shies away from the public with no events on the schedule…

-Squad member Cori Bush loses Democratic primary…

-Rumors swirl as to why Pennsylvanian Gov. Shapiro was snubbed for VP

‘She Did That’

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., is taking aim at Vice President Kamala Harris in a new ad that ties her to ongoing issues across the U.S. – including inflation, the border crisis and “death to America” protests.

The seven-figure TV ad, called “She Did That,” plays off Harris’ congratulatory call to President Biden in November 2020, where she stated, “We did it, Joe. You’re going to be the next President of the United States”…Read more

This split shows Sen. Rick Scott and Vice President Kamala Harris ((Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images and (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images))

White House

MISSING IN ACTION: Biden hunkers down in White House with no public events on schedule again …Read more

Capitol Hill

TEAR YOUR KINGDOM DOWN: Cori Bush warns pro-Israel group to ‘be afraid’ in concession speech …Read more

BAIL OUT: GOP introduces bill targeting endowments while Harris touts loan bailout …Read more

SQUAD DOWN: Reactions pour in from right and left after Cori Bush gets booted from Congress …Read more

Tales from the Trail

‘FEEL BETRAYED’: Top conservative group blasts Dems on inflation in multimillion-dollar battleground ad blitz …Read more

‘BEST’ CASE SCENARIO: Top Minnesotan in Congress trashes Tim Walz’s record as state governor …Read more

‘CANNOT BE IGNORED’: Socialist group takes victory lap after Walz named Harris’ running mate …Read more

TRUMP EFFECT: Mike Rogers clinches Republican Senate primary in Michigan …Read more

HARRIS MAKES GAINS: VP takes 3-point lead over Trump as she closes gaps on key issues: poll …Read more

SQUAD DOWN: ‘Squad’ Rep Cori Bush loses highly contentious primary against pro-Israel Democrat …Read more

NATIONAL CHAOS: Dems’ VP pick hints at future safety of your neighborhood …Read more

‘LETS BE HONEST’: Social media explodes with theory Harris snubbed Shapiro as VP pick for one key reason …Read more

VOTE IS IN: Rep Slotkin wins Democratic Senate primary in Michigan …Read more

POWER RANKINGS: With VP picks, Harris and Trump miss opportunities to broaden their appeal …Read more

STRIKING OUT: Walz’s ‘freedom’ message clashes with record on COVID school closures, indoor mask mandates …Read more

ROE’D WARRIORS: FLASHBACK: Walz joined Harris in unprecedented visit to abortion clinic …Read more

RACE IS ON: With 30 days until voting starts, ‘election season’ kicks off sooner than you think …Read more

‘STOLEN VALOR GARBAGE’: JD Vance blasts Tim Walz for leaving military before Iraq deployment, exaggerating details of service …Read more

WALZ WHO?: WATCH: Harris VP pick has little notoriety among Trump-Vance voters in PA …Read more

OFF GUARD: Democrat mayor slammed Walz for ‘hesitating’ to send in help during BLM riot …Read more

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democrats’ 2024 vice presidential candidate, pictured in a 1995 booking photo following a DUI arrest in Dawes County, Nebraska. (Dawes County Sheriff’s Office)

Across America

TERROR WATCH: Alarming report on terrorists at border prompts outcry from top Republicans …Read more

‘TAKE BACK THE CAMPUS’: Pro-Israel students gather at summit, vow to stand firm against radical agitators …Read more

OUT OF ORDER: Scandal-plagued Illinois mayor boots residents from public meeting as town cuts off government credit card …Read more

‘FAR LEFT NIGHTMARE’ Jewish organizations react to Harris’ Walz pick …Read more

‘KEPT THE WINDOWS OPEN’: Wife of Harris VP pick sets social media ablaze with ‘bizarre’ admission about 2020 riots …Read more

NOT MOUNTAIN DEW: Kamala Harris’ running mate Tim Walz pictured in 1995 mugshot after DUI arrest …Read more

POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY: Tim Walz delayed call for resignation on embattled Dem until after legislature wrapped up …Read more

OUT IN THE OPEN: Dapper suspect in politico kill plot recruited in unsuspecting spots: docs …Read more

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

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Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, attempted to confront Vice President Kamala Harris over not answering reporters’ questions while both of their planes were on the tarmac of a Wisconsin airport on Wednesday.

Vance, who is former President Trump’s running mate, also told a press gaggle at Chippewa Valley Regional Airport that he was trying to get a better look at Air Force Two because it’s “going to be my plane in a few months.”

The Republican told reporters that he worried Harris’ press gaggle “might get a little lonely” because Harris doesn’t answer their questions.

“Hey, guys. How are you?” Vance asked the group as he walked towards them. “I just wanted to check out my future plane, but I also wanted to go say hello to the Vice President and ask her why Kamala Harris refuses… why does she refuse to answer questions from the media?”

TRUMP SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, walked over to Air Force Two after his plane landed at the same airport as Vice President Kamala Harris’. He said he wanted to get a closer look at his “future plane.” (AP / Getty Images)

“And I also thought that the press gaggle following her might get a little lonely,” he added. “I, at least, have enough respect for you all, and for the American people you report to, to come and talk to you and to answer some questions. And so I thought her reporters might actually benefit from that as well.”

Vance described the incident as “a little bit of fun.”

“So I had a little bit of fun. I don’t think the vice president waved at me as she drove away, but, I’m glad to have done it,” he continued. “And I’m glad to be here in Wisconsin, actually trying to persuade people to vote for us as opposed to just giving another scripted speech.”

Vance referenced the incident while speaking to employees of Wollard International, a manufacturing company, later that afternoon.

“We’ve had a good day,” Vance told the audience. “We actually just saw the vice president’s plane on the tarmac. We landed about the same time that she did, and I went over there because I thought it might be nice to check out this plane that’s going to be mine in a few months, if we all take care of business, and I think we will.

“But mostly, actually, I want to go and say hello to the journalists who are traveling along with the vice president, because I figured they must be lonely because Kamala Harris doesn’t take any questions.”

VIDEO FROM TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT VICTIM’S POV SHOWS FIGURE MOVING ON ROOF MOMENTS BEFORE GUNFIRE

Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, the Republican vice presidential candidate, speaks at NMC-Wollard Inc. / Wollard International in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on Wednesday. (Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)

Ammar Moussa, the Harris campaign’s director of rapid response, later called Vance’s behavior “weird” in an X post.

“Okay just to clarify: JD Vance is flying around the country following Vice President Harris,” Moussa wrote. “He approached her plane today because he just wants to talk. And now he’s begging her for a debate?”

“Ummm this is getting weird,” he added.

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, tried approaching Vice President Kamala Harris at a Wisconsin airport on Wednesday. (Getty Images)

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

Vice Presidential nominee Kamala Harris shouted down protesters during a campaign speech in Michigan on Wednesday. 

The protesters, who opposed Israel’s fighting with Hamas, interrupted Harris about midway through her speech. 

At first, Harris addressed those trying to disrupt her by saying she was, “here because I believe in democracy and everybody’s voice matters, but I am speaking now.”

But as the protesters continued shouting her down, Harris became more combative. 

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally Wednesday, in Romulus, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

“You know what, if you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking,” Harris said, eliciting static cheers from the audience. 

Those demonstrating were eventually led away, but not before a tense confrontation between Harris supporters and protesters who screamed at one another.

The exchange came amid a visit by Harris and her new running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, to Wisconsin and Michigan where they hoped to shore up support among the younger, diverse, labor-friendly voters. 

KAMALA HARRIS’ RUNNING MATE TIM WALZ PICTURED IN 1995 NEBRASKA MUGSHOT AFTER DUI ARREST

President Biden’s support of Israel in its ongoing war against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip has been a weak spot for the administration. 

Harris told the day’s first rally in Eau Claire, “As Tim Walz likes to point out, we are joyful warriors.” 

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris is welcomed by Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, before she delivers remarks at a campaign event, Wednesday, in Eau Claire, Wisc.  (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

She said they’re looking at the future with optimism, unlike Trump, the former president and Republican White House nominee, whom she accused of being stuck in the past and preferring a confrontational style of politics — even as she criticized her opponent herself.

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“Someone who suggests we should terminate the Constitution of the United States should never again have the chance to sit behind the seal of the United States,” Harris said, her voice rising.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors allege Hunter Biden was paid by a Romanian oligarch to “influence U.S. policy and public opinion,” while his father, Joe Biden, was vice president, according to new documents. 

The documents were filed by Special Counsel David Weiss in the Central District of California on Wednesday. The filings pertain to Hunter Biden’s tax trial in California. 

The allegations are the closest prosecutors have come to tying President Biden to his son’s overseas business dealings.

Romanian businessman Gabriel Popoviciu is expected to testify against Hunter Biden in the trial, which begins on September 5 in Los Angeles. In the filings, Weiss notes that Hunter Biden had “entered into an oral agreement” in 2015 to help Popoviciu contest bribery charges in Romania.

JURY LIKELY CONSIDERED HUNTER BIDEN’S OWN WORDS IN MEMOIR AS ‘POWERFUL’ EVIDENCE TO CONVICT: EXPERTS

Hunter Biden will stand trial on felony tax charges in early September. He was previously convicted of three felonies in a federal gun trial. (Reuters)

At trial, prosecutors say they will “introduce the evidence described above, including that [Hunter Biden] and Business Associate 1 received compensation from a foreign principal who was attempting to influence U.S. policy and public opinion and cause the United States to investigate the Romanian investigation of [Popoviciu] in Romania.”

In the documents, Weiss alleges that Hunter Biden and his business associate “were concerned that lobbying work might cause political ramifications for [Hunter Biden’s] father [Joe Biden].”

Wednesday’s filing is the first to go into greater detail about Hunter Biden’s international business affairs.

“Business Associate 1 and [Popoviciu] signed a ‘Management Services Agreement’ where Business Associate 1’s legal entity would purportedly provide management services to real estate properties in Romania, but that was not actually what [Popoviciu] was paying for,” the document states.

HUNTER BIDEN ‘DISAPPOINTED’ BY GUILTY VERDICT, TRUMP CAMPAIGN CALLS GUN TRIAL A ‘DISTRACTION’

The allegations are the closest prosecutors have come to tying President Biden to his son’s overseas business dealings. (Michael Reynolds/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In the document, Weiss acknowledges that Hunter Biden’s counsel had asked the court to dismiss allegations about Hunter Biden potentially violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act or FARA.

“The government does not intend to reference allegations that the defendant violated FARA or improperly coordinated with the Obama Administration,” Weiss wrote. “However […] the government will introduce evidence that Business Associate 1 structured a business relationship in an effort to avoid having to register as a foreign agent, and that the defendant and his business partners did reach out to government officials, specifically the United States Department of State.”

Prosecutors allege Hunter Biden and two business associates split more than $3 million in payments from Popoviciu between November 2015 and 2017.

Hunter Biden is charged with failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2019 while also filing false tax returns. He allegedly used the funds to live lavishly, including spending millions of dollars on drugs, escorts, luxury cars and other high-priced items. He has since paid the taxes.

He is charged with three felonies and six misdemeanors in the tax case.  

Hunter Biden arrives at federal court with his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, June 5, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware.  (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

The pretrial hearing for the case is scheduled to take place on Aug. 21 in Los Angeles.

In June, Hunter Biden was convicted by a federal jury in Delaware of lying about his illegal drug use while filling out a form to purchase a gun. He has yet to be sentenced in that case.

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Fox News Digital reached out to Hunter Biden’s legal team for comment but has not yet heard back.

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

EAU CLAIRE, WI – Speaking in front of a sea of supporters in rural Wisconsin, Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday declared that “the path to the White House wins right through this state and with your help, we will win in November.”

Wisconsin is part of the so-called blue wall of states – along with neighboring Michigan as well as Pennsylvania – that the Democrats reliably won in presidential elections for nearly a quarter-century before former President Donald Trump narrowly carried them in capturing the White House eight years ago.

But in 2020, President Biden won back all three states with razor-thin margins as he defeated Trump, and the states remain extremely competitive as Harris and Trump face off in the 2024 presidential election.

So it was no surprise that Harris held her first rally with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz – her newly named running mate – in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, with stops Wednesday in Wisconsin and Michigan. And staying in close proximity was Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio.

KAMALA HARRIS AND HER NEWLY NAMED RUNNING MATE KICK OFF A BATTLEGROUND STATE SWING

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris is welcomed by Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, before she delivers remarks at a campaign event, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Eau Claire, Wisc. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Walz took aim at Trump at Wednesday afternoon’s rally, charging that the former President “sees the world differently than we see it. He has no understanding of service. Because he’s too busy serving himself again and again and again.”

“This guy weakens our country to strengthen his own hands. He mocks our laws. He sows chaos and division amongst the people. And that’s to say nothing of the job he did as president,” Walz argued.

Hours earlier, Trump – in an interview on “Fox and Friends” – belittled the naming to the Democrats’ ticket of Walz, a former high school teacher and football coach turned Democratic congressman in a red district before winning election and re-election as governor.

VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS NAMES MINNESOTA GOV TIM WALZ AS HER RUNNING MATE

“I could not be more thrilled,” Trump said when asked about the announcement from Harris on Tuesday that she chose Walz as her running mate, after also seriously considering Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona.

“I was shocked when, when it came down to the final two, that she didn’t pick Shapiro. I was very surprised,” Trump said.

But the naming of a running mate has been lucrative for the Harris campaign, which highlighted that it had hauled in $36 million in fundraising in the 24 hours since the Walz announcement.

At the rally, which the Harris campaign said attracted a crowd of over 12,000 people to a festival field amid farmland outside this small northwest Wisconsin city, Walz once again argued that Trump and Vance “are creepy and weird as hell.”

Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, hold a large rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on August 7, 2024 (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

Vance, at a campaign event miles away, pushed back on the “weird” label, saying that he and Trump are “normal guys who want to make this country great.”

In a viral moment, Vance appeared to try and troll the vice president, as he approached Air Force Two at Chippewa Valley Regional Airport, where the senator’s campaign plane was also parked.

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“I figured that I would come by and get a good look at the plane because hopefully it’s going to be my plane in a few months,” Vance said in front of Air Force Two. 

And once again pointing out that Harris has yet to sit for a major interview or hold a press conference in the two and a half weeks since she replaced President Biden at the top of the Democrats’ national ticket, Vance told reporters “I also thought you guys may get lonely, because the VP doesn’t answer questions from reporters.”

Biden dropped his re-election bid on July 21, after a disastrous debate performance against Trump in late June prompted increased questions over whether the 81-year-old president had the physical and mental abilities to serve another four years in the White House. It also sparked a rising chorus of calls from fellow Democrats for Biden to end his re-election bid.

Harris didn’t mention her boss at a large rally in Atlanta last week, nor did she or Walz reference the president at their rally Tuesday night in Philadelphia.

But Harris, in her sixth visit to Wisconsin so far this year, praised the president at the top of her comments.

“I want to bring greetings from our incredible president, Joe Biden,” Harris said. “He loves Wisconsin, and I know we are all deeply grateful for his lifetime of service to our nation and for all he continues to do.”

After the crowd broke out in a chant of “Thank you, Joe! Thank you, Joe!,” the vice president responded “that’s right. I’m gonna tell him what you said.”

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

Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said the Democratic Socialists of America celebrated Gov. Tim Walz as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate because the Minnesota Democrat is “proud” to stand with “radical” antisemites and leftists. 

“There’s a reason the Democratic Socialists are celebrating him,” Cruz said on his podcast “Verdict” Wednesday.

“There’s a reason, within minutes of his being announced as VP, you know who tweeted out a tweet praising it? Ilhan Omar, with a picture of her next to him, saying what a fantastic choice this was. And listen, you know, she’s from Minnesota. She represents the radicals in Minnesota. He’s her governor, and they’ve been strong, strong allies. He’s proud to stand with the radical antisemite, Israel-hating radical leftists like Ilhan Omar, and it says volumes.”

Harris announced Walz as her running mate Tuesday morning, which was followed by praise from left-wing Congresswoman Omar. And the Democratic Socialists of America took a victory lap over the choice. 

DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS GROUP BOASTS IT HELPED MAKE WALZ HARRIS’ RUNNING MATE: ‘FORCE THAT CANNOT BE IGNORED’

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, center, speaks during a press conference regarding new gun legislation at City Hall Aug. 1, 2024, in Bloomington, Minn.  (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

“Harris choosing Walz as a running mate has shown the world that DSA and our allies on the left are a force that cannot be ignored. Through collective action, DSA and the US left more broadly have made it clear that change is needed. DSA members organized in our workplaces and unions to realign the labor movement to support Palestinian liberation,” Democratic Socialists of America, the largest socialist group in the U.S., posted to X Tuesday. 

HARRIS’ RUNNING MATE FACES RENEWED SCRUTINY AFTER HIS ‘WEIRD’ SOCIALISM COMPARISON RESURFACES

DSA took credit for pressuring Democrats to allegedly snub other candidates in the running, including one “with direct ties to the IDF.” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was reportedly one of the top contenders on Harris’ list of potential veeps and was a volunteer in the IDF in his youth. The DSA has blamed Israel for Hamas attacking the nation in October, which sparked an ongoing war. 

Vice President Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff wave as they board Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrew in Maryland Aug. 6, 2024. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

“The Uncommitted movement, in which DSA members played crucial roles nationally and in multiple states, pressured the Democratic establishment into choosing a new candidate and backing down from a potential VP with direct ties to the IDF and who would have ferociously supported the ongoing genocide in Palestine,” the DSA continued in its X thread. 

Cruz continued in his comments that the left-wing faction of the Democratic Party didn’t force Harris into choosing Walz as her running mate, arguing that they hold similar “radical” views. 

LAURA INGRAHAM: WALZ HAS HELPED TANK LAW ENFORCEMENT IN HIS STATE AND IS ON HIS WAY TO TANKING EDUCATION

Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz team up for the first time on the campaign trail, hours after the vice president named Walz her running mate on the Democrats’ ticket in Philadelphia Aug. 6, 2024 (Fox News/Paul Steinhauser)

“It’s not that Kamala Harris picked Tim Walz because she was bullied into it by the left wing. It’s because she picked Tim Walz because that’s who she is,” he said. 

“She’s a radical leftist. As you know, there was one nonpartisan source that rated her … the single most liberal senator in the entire U.S. Senate, and (Walz), likewise, he is one of, if not the most liberal governor in the entire country. And I think this is birds of a feather, that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz and Ilhan Omar, they agree with each other. They’re radicals.” 

‘NEVER HEARD OF HIM’: HARRIS VP PICK WALZ HAS LITTLE NOTORIETY AMONG TRUMP-VANCE VOTERS IN PA

Sen. Ted. Cruz and Gov. Tim Walz  (Getty Images)

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Harris became the official presidential nominee for the Democratic Party Monday. She rose to the top of the ticket after President Biden dropped out of the race last month amid mounting concerns among Democrats and Republicans over his mental acuity at age 81. Biden has vowed to finish his remaining months in office after ending his re-election bid. 

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

FIRST ON FOX: Secretary of State Antony Blinken is being called on to freeze aid to Afghanistan following revelations that the assistance could be going to the Taliban. 

A recent report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), a government entity conducting oversight of U.S. aid to the country, determined that two of five bureaus within the Department of State (DOS) couldn’t prove their compliance with counterterrorism vetting.

“Collectively, State could not demonstrate their compliance with its partner vetting requirements on awards that disbursed at least $293 million in Afghanistan,” the report stated. 

Sen. Mike Braun called for a freeze on Afghan aid after it was revealed Taliban could be receiving money. (Getty Images)

Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., said the reported oversight was “deeply alarming” in a letter to Blinken and urged him to stop Afghanistan aid until the issue is addressed. 

‘FEEL BETRAYED’: TOP CONSERVATIVE GROUP BLASTS VULNERABLE DEMS ON INFLATION IN MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR AD BLITZ

The failure of the DOS to fully comply with counterterrorism vetting standards “has strengthened and enriched the Taliban and its terrorist affiliates,” he said. “Further, when funds that are intended for humanitarian and development purposes end up supporting groups that perpetuate violence and instability, U.S. national security interests in the region are significantly undermined.”

“It is imperative that State take immediate remedial and comprehensive action to rectify these issues to prevent similar occurrences in the future,” wrote Braun. 

‘NEVER HEARD OF HIM’: HARRIS VP PICK WALZ HAS LITTLE NOTORIETY AMONG TRUMP-VANCE VOTERS IN PA

Taliban holds a military parade with equipment captured from U.S. army in Kandahar, Afghanistan on November 8, 2021.  (Photo by Murteza Khaliqi/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Further, SIGAR found that $10.9 million in U.S. taxpayer money was paid to the Taliban-controlled government by 38 of the U.S.’s 65 implementing partners. However, the report said the amount was “likely only a fraction of the total amount of U.S. assistance funds provided to the Taliban in taxes, fees, duties, and utilities because UN agencies receiving U.S. funds did not collect data or provide relevant information about their subawardees’ payments.”

In his letter, Braun questioned Blinken over what measures were “being taken against those individuals responsible for the failure to comply with vetting requirements and documentation retention” and asked for a description of what improvements would be made to its “documentation and record-keeping practices to avoid lapses.” 

TRUMP-ENDORSED MIKE ROGERS WINS REPUBLICAN SENATE PRIMARY IN MICHIGAN

Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., said the oversight was ‘deeply alarming’ in a letter to Blinken, pictured  right, and urged him to stop Afghanistan aid until the issue is addressed.  (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

The U.S. has been the largest international contributor of support to Afghans after their government collapsed, allowing the Taliban to take power following the disastrous withdrawal of American troops in August 2021 under President Biden. 

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According to SIGAR, more than $2.8 billion has been provided by the U.S. in both humanitarian and development aid to the country since the withdrawal.

DOS did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication. 

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, is accusing Vice President Kamala Harris of capitulating to radical left-wing voices in the Democratic Party in choosing her running mate for the November election.

“She bent the knee to the Hamas caucus of the Democratic Party,” Vance said during a rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on Wednesday.

He’s the latest GOP critic to accuse Harris of choosing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate against former President Trump and Vance over Josh Shapiro, because the Pennsylvania governor is Jewish. 

Former President Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., have also made the claim.

KAMALA HARRIS’ VP PICK TIM WALZ PREVIOUSLY CHARGED WITH DUI IN NEBRASKA

GOP running mate JD Vance called out Vice President Kamala Harris for her handling of fallout over her own running mate choice. (Getty Images)

“Whatever your views on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro – and obviously he’s not in my political party. He’s criticized me. I criticized him – the amount of rage that you heard from the far left saying, ‘Kamala Harris can’t pick this guy because he’s Jewish,’ is disgraceful,” Vance said.

“I want my kids to grow up in a country where they can be whatever they want to be, and people aren’t attacking them for their ethnic heritage, and that’s somehow considered acceptable.”

VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS NAMES MINNESOTA GOV TIM WALZ AS HER RUNNING MATE

Harris chose Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. (Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via Getty Images)

“It’s not just what these people said about Shapiro. It’s the way that the Harris and the Harris administration and the Harris campaign refuse to push back against it. I think it’s a real scandal,” he said.

The Harris campaign did speak out against the allegations, however, telling the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, in part: “Assertions that Vice President Harris did not select Gov. Shapiro based on his religion or views on Israel are absolutely ridiculous and offensive.”

Republicans have mostly reacted with a mix of glee and relief to Harris’ decision to choose Walz over Shapiro, casting the Minnesota governor as a progressive radical for his COVID-19 policies, support for gender-affirming treatment for minors and government handouts to undocumented migrants.

Harris, whose husband is Jewish, is tasked with navigating the Democratic Party’s ever-widening divisions over Israel, with a growing faction of progressives calling for the U.S. to distance itself from its close Middle Eastern ally.

IT’S OFFICIAL: VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS FORMALLY WINS THE DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION

Gov. Josh Shapiro was thought to be the frontrunner. (Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images)

In the final days before her selection on Tuesday, Harris met with Shapiro, Walz and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly. 

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Shapiro was thought to be a frontrunner for the role as the governor of a key swing state. 

But reports indicate that, in the end, Harris believed Walz would be a better fit due to his his personality and approach to the campaign.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign and Shapiro’s office for comment on Vance’s remarks.

The wife of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ running mate set social media ablaze Tuesday after an unearthed clip of her describing her actions during the 2020 Minneapolis riots went viral.

Gwen Walz is Minnesota’s first lady and the wife of Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was picked by Vice President Harris to be her running mate on the 2024 Democratic presidential ticket.

A pivotal part of Walz’s gubernatorial record was his handling of the death of George Floyd in the state in 2020. Floyd’s death sparked nationwide protests about race and police brutality.

TIM WALZ, KAMALA HARRIS’ NEW RIGHT-HAND MAN, ECHOES LEFT-WING CRIME POLICIES 

Gwen Walz and the 2020 riots in Minnesota. (Getty Images)

“Again we had more sleepless nights during the riots,” Walz’s wife told KSTP in July 2020. “I could smell the burning tires, and that was a very real thing. And I kept the windows open as long as I could because I felt like that was such a touchstone of what was happening.”

Conservative commentators expressed astonishment at Gwen Walz’s remarks after the clip started going viral on social media.

“What might you call this? Bizarre? Abnormal? Peculiar? Eccentric? Offbeat? Quirky?” Noah Rothman, a senior writer at the National Review Online, said. “Gotta be a word that describes reveling in the catharsis represented by the torching of other people’s property.”

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk described the comments as “weird.”

“Profoundly disturbing,” journalist Abigail Shrier said. “We’re going to need to learn a lot more about the Walzes.”

Dustin Grage, the president of a conservative Minnesota-based consulting firm, said the comments were “bizarre,” adding, “Her daughter also coordinated with rioters to let them know that the National Guard would not be activated one night.”

“Everything you need to know about leftist elites can be found in this short clip,” Daily Wire host Matt Walsh said on X. “Tim Walz’s wife sat by the window enjoying the smell of poor neighborhoods burning during the Floyd riots. She did everything but pull out a fiddle.”

Gov. Walz was criticized for his handling of the riots. Conservatives accused him of sitting on his hands as the state was engulfed by riots.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate, applauds her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, as he speaks at Temple University’s Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Aug. 6, 2024, on the first day of their Battleground State Tour.  (Matthew Hatcher/AFP via Getty Images)

As a result of the delayed action, hundreds of businesses across Minneapolis and St. Paul were devastated by the destruction and had to ask their local government for help recovering on top of what they lost during pandemic-related closures.

First lady Walz said she was aware Minnesota was under national scrutiny at the time.

“With COVID-19, the entire state was watching what Tim did,” Ms. Walz said. “But with Mr. Floyd’s death, it was the entire country and the whole world looking at and watching what we did here in Minnesota in response to that.”

RIOTING, LOOTING LINKED TO GEORGE FLOYD PROTESTS LEAVES TRAIL OF DESTRUCTION ACROSS AMERICAN CITIES

That record is now again under scrutiny as Walz is catapulted into the national spotlight, with Republican critics taking aim at how both Walz and Harris handled the 2020 crisis.

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“Minnesota was ground zero for the BLM riots of 2020,” Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said. “Harris egged it on, and Walz sat by and let Minneapolis burn.”

Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential candidate and running mate of former President Trump, poked at Walz’s 2020 record Tuesday, calling his addition to the Democratic ticket “an interesting tag team.”

“If we remember the rioting in the summer of 2020, Tim Walz was the guy who let rioters burn down Minneapolis,” he said of the riots that began in Minnesota in response to the death of Floyd while being arrested in Minneapolis. “And then Kamala Harris was the one who bailed the rioters out of jail.”

Vice President Kamala Harris’ decision to tap Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate elicited mixed reactions from Jewish organizations.

“This is the same guy who famously said, ‘One person’s socialism is another person’s neighborliness.’ Seriously?” read a X post by the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) on Tuesday.

The post came after Harris’ highly anticipated decision, choosing Walz after weeks of speculation about several potential candidates.

Harris’ decision reportedly came down to Walz and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a popular governor of a swing state vital to the vice president’s chance of emerging with 270 electoral votes in November.

HARRIS TAKES 3-POINT LEAD OVER TRUMP AS SHE GAINS ON KEY ISSUES: POLL

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks to reporters after a meeting with President Biden at the White House on July 3, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

But Harris’ decision to pick Walz over Shapiro, the only Jewish candidate under consideration, also brought widespread speculation that the vice president was pressured by members of the Democratic Party more sympathetic to Palestinians as Israel’s war in Gaza continues. Others scolded the “No Genocide Josh” campaign to pressure Harris, arguing that the resistance to the Pennsylvania governor had an “undercurrent of antisemitism.”

“Those in the overly online left who are attacking Josh Shapiro’s pro-Israel positions in a different way than they are attacking non-Jewish veep contenders’ positions, they’re just telling on themselves,” Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., told CNN Monday.

“There is a strong undercurrent of antisemitism to that,” he continued. “It’s unacceptable. Every contender’s positions on all policy issues, their track records in elected office, all of that is fair game. That is totally open to be subjected to interrogation and to questioning by the Harris team, by observers, but holding him to a different standard because of his religion just simply isn’t who we are in the Democratic Party.”

Harris’ choice of Shapiro has also come as some supporters of Israel have worried that the vice president’s support of the Jewish state has waned in recent months, noting that she was the first administration official to call for an “immediate cease-fire” in Gaza and her reportedly rocky relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

‘DEATH TO AMERICA’ RAPIDLY EMERGING AS KEY SLOGAN OF ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS IN US 

The RJC statement also hinted at those fears, pointing out that Harris’ choice of Walz is of “particular concern for the American Jewish community” because of his “embrace of” Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., whom the RJC has called “the most vicious anti-Israel and antisemitic Member of Congress.”

“This is the same disgraceful Ilhan Omar who has trafficked antisemitic conspiracy theories, falsely accused Israel of genocide and apartheid, and voted against funding for the Iron Dome missile defense system that is currently protecting countless innocent civilians in Israel from terrorist rockets,” the RJC said.

Rep. Ilhan Omar has been called “the most vicious anti-Israel and antisemitic Member of Congress.” (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

But other Jewish organizations had a more optimistic take on the Harris selection, with the Jewish Democratic Council for America (JDCA) praising the pick.

“Vice President Harris and Governor Walz align with the vast majority of Jewish voters on every key issue, and we’re confident that overwhelming support from Jewish American voters will make the difference in ensuring their victory in November,” JDCA CEO Halie Soifer said in a press release.

‘SHE DID THAT’: HARRIS HIT WITH BLISTERING 7-FIGURE AD TARGETING HER ON KEY ISSUES HAUNTING VP TENURE

“Vice President Harris has made an exceptional choice by selecting Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. We deeply admire Gov. Walz’s impassioned defense of our values, including reproductive rights and defending our democracy, especially as they both are under attack by MAGA Republicans led by Donald Trump,” added JDCA Chair Ron Klein. “Having been elected at the same time and served in Congress with Tim Walz, I can attest to the fact that Tim. Walz has taken on Republican extremists before and won, and we’re confident that he and Vice President Harris will do so again this November with the strong support of Jewish American voters.”

The move was also lauded by Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, an organization that describes itself as “building a multiracial, multiethnic, intergenerational movement of Jews and allies all across the country who are rising up to build an American future free from white supremacy, antisemitism, and racism.”

Gov. Tim Walz arrives to speak at a press conference on Aug. 1, 2024, in Bloomington, Minnesota. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

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“By choosing Walz, a Governor who broke records investing in public education, infrastructure, paid leave, free college and cutting childhood and elder poverty, Harris sent a clear message to voters: we confront those threatening our safety and freedom for an economy of fear and division with those who invested in them for a care economy,” Bend the Arc CEO Jamie Beran said in a press release.

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

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