NationalWatch

Voters in three small South Dakota counties on Tuesday rejected initiated measures to require hand-counting of ballots in future elections.

The votes in Gregory, Haakon and Tripp counties were an unusual step even as other places in the U.S. have considered moving to hand-counting in the wake of former President Donald Trump’s claims of 2020 election fraud.

The measures sought to prohibit the use of tabulating machines and would require hand-counting, which local election officials said would cost more money and require more election workers, who might be difficult to find. Election experts say counting ballots by hand isn’t as accurate as machines tabulating the votes.

3 SOUTH DAKOTA COUNTIES TO VOTE ON RETURNING TO BALLOT TABULATION BY HAND

The measures might not be the only ones put to a vote in South Dakota. Citizens in dozens of other counties are circulating petitions for hand-counting measures, according to Jessica Pollema, president of SD Canvassing, a group which supports the efforts. Other hand-count initiatives could “possibly” appear on November ballots, she said. Pollema did not immediately respond to a phone message or email for comment on the election results.

Voters in three small South Dakota counties rejected a proposal to require all ballots to be hand-counted in future elections.

Todd and Tripp County Auditor Barb DeSersa, who opposed the measure, said, “Well, obviously, the voters have spoken, but I feel that they believe … we’d be going backwards in time and there is confidence in the machine. There was no reason not to have confidence.”

Turnout in Tripp County was 37%, which is typical for a primary election, she said. The three rural counties have a combined 7,744 active registered voters, according to an online report.

South Dakota’s primary election will be the first to undergo a post-election audit, a new process from a 2023 law that requires all counties to hand-count the results from two races in 5% of precincts to compare with the official results. But Tripp County will hand-count the whole election for its audit, per the county commission, DeSersa said. In 2022, Tripp hand-counted its general election ballots.

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Fall River County hand-counted its primary election ballots, after the county commission voted earlier this year to do so. County Auditor Sue Ganje said it took about 40 election workers over six hours to hand-count 1,913 ballots.

Former President Trump heads to Democratic-dominated California on Thursday evening to kick off a three-day fundraising swing as he builds resources for his 2024 re-election rematch with President Biden.

The former president will headline a fundraising dinner hosted by tech investors David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya, two of the heaviest hitters in Silicon Valley and co-hosts of the hot “All-In” podcast.

Tickets at the sold-out event range from $50,000 per person to get in the door all the way up to $500,000 per couple for special access as part of the host committee. Sources tell Fox News the event is sold out.

THIS IS HOW MUCH A TOP PRO-TRUMP SUPER PAC HAULED IN LAST MONTH

Former President Trump arrives at Trump Tower in New York City on Thursday after he was found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in his criminal trial. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)

“I think it is just very telling; I would never have predicted that you’d have a sold-out fundraiser targeting tech leaders in Pacific Heights and for a Republican candidate,” Harmeet Dhillon, a Republican National Committee (RNC) member from California, told Fox News.

Dhillon, a longtime Bay Area-based attorney who’s part of Trump’s legal coalition, is attending the fundraiser.

TRUMP GUILTY VERDICT IN CRIMINAL TRIAL FIRES UP HIS FUNDRAISING 

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, a Trump ally and potential 2024 running mate who spent time a few years back in the San Francisco area working for hedge funds in the tech sector, was instrumental in putting the top-dollar fundraiser together.

Trump heads south to Beverly Hills for a Friday fundraiser and a Saturday finance event in Newport Beach in Orange County.

Former President Trump speaks to supporters at a rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, on May 11. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The trip doesn’t mean the Trump campaign thinks overwhelmingly blue California may be in play. 

Instead, Trump’s swing, like two sold-out fundraisers in the Bay Area on Wednesday headlined by Vice President Harris, and President Biden’s San Francisco area fundraisers last month, are the latest proof that the Golden State remains a crucial ATM for campaign cash.

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Trump’s campaign on Monday said it and the RNC, fueled in part by the former president’s guilty verdicts in his criminal trial, hauled in a stunning $141 million in fundraising in May.

Trump was found guilty of all 34 felony counts in the first trial of a former or current president in the nation’s history.

The former president’s campaign highlighted that in the first 24 hours following Thursday evening’s verdict, it and the RNC brought in nearly $53 million in fundraising, which counted toward May’s total. 

President Biden and Vice President Harris wave at a campaign event at Girard College in Philadelphia on May 29. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The Biden campaign has also been fundraising off of the Trump verdict, and a source familiar told Fox News that “the 24 hours after the verdict were one of the best fundraising 24 hours of the Biden campaign since launch.”

Trump has been aiming to close his fundraising gap with Biden. In April, his campaign and the RNC for the first time outraised the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee. 

And on Wednesday, Make America Great Again Inc., a leading super PAC supporting Trump’s campaign, said it raked in nearly $70 million in fundraising in May.

Fundraising, along with public opinion polling, is a key metric used to measure the strength of candidates and their campaigns. Money raised can be used to build up grassroots outreach and get-out-the-vote operations, staffing, travel and ads, among other things.

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

Democrats’ contraception bill failed a key procedural vote on Wednesday as Republicans slammed the broad proposal over parental rights and religious liberty implications. 

The Senate voted 51-39 against moving forward with the “Right to Contraception Act.”

The bill needed to garner 60 votes in order to move forward in the upper chamber. 

JON TESTER CAMPAIGN ADMITS ‘HARD TRUTH’ SENATE RACE WILL BE EXPENSIVE AND CLOSE

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., is seated before a Senate Rules and Administration Committee. On Monday, he addressed a gun legislation deal that could become law. (Elizabeth Frantz/Pool via AP)

Ahead of the cloture vote, a majority of Republican senators had already signed onto a statement led by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., attacking the measure as an attempt to “score cheap political points.”

“Today every Senator must take a stand: if you agree all Americans deserve access to contraception, then vote yes on the Right to Contraception Act,” Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in floor remarks prior to the vote. 

‘PARENTAL RIGHTS’: GOP WARNS DEM SENATE BILL IS ABOUT MORE THAN CONTRACEPTION

A package of PlanB One-Step, an emergency contraceptive pill, is seen in security packaging at a CVS Pharmacy in Washington, on July 7, 2022. (REUTERS/Sarah Silbiger)

But Republicans claimed that it wasn’t quite that simple. 

Per the group of GOP lawmakers, the bill “infringes on the parental rights and religious liberties of some Americans and lets the federal government force religious institutions and schools, even public elementary schools, to offer contraception like condoms to little kids.”

DEMS IN HOT SEAT FOR ALLEGED ETHICS VIOLATIONS OVER ALITO RECUSAL DEMANDS

Sen. Rick Scott led more than 20 other Republicans in a statement condemning the Democratic contraception bill. (Getty Images)

Top Pro-Life group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America described the measure as “misleading” in a press release, noting the effect its provisions would have on the funding Planned Parenthood is eligible to receive and that which Pro-Life pregnancy centers are allowed. 

“It’s ‘show-vote’ season in the Senate,” Senate Pro-Life caucus Chair Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., said on Wednesday. 

BALANCE OF POWER: MESSY GOP PRIMARIES COULD BOOST DEMOCRATS IN SWING STATE RACES

Pro-life demonstrators hold signs while marching past the U.S. Supreme Court during the 46th annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Jan. 18, 2019. People from around the nation gathered in Washington D.C. today for the annual rally against abortion, which included a video message from President Trump and an address by Vice President Mike Pence.  (Getty Images)

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“This is another example of Democrats bringing forward deeply deceptive legislation to make political points and try to offer cover to vulnerable Democrats,” she said. 

However, “The devil is in the details,” the senator explained. “This bill isn’t about access to contraception.  It’s about pouring more taxpayer dollars to abortion purveyors like Planned Parenthood, while further trampling religious freedoms and parental rights.”  

The first major swing state poll following former President Trump’s guilty verdict in his New York City trial last week revealed a solid lead for one candidate just five months ahead of the November general election.

Georgia voters favor Trump over Biden 49% to 44% in a head-to-head matchup, according to the Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday, which was taken following the former president’s highly publicized and intensely scrutinized conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records.

Trump’s lead over Biden grew to a six-point spread (43%-37%) with the inclusion of independent presidential candidates Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (8%) and Cornel West (3%), as well as the Libertarian Party’s Chase Oliver (3%) and the Green Party’s Jill Stein (2%).

TRUMP ENDORSEMENT TAKES CENTER STAGE IN BRUTAL SWING STATE PRIMARY AS ACCUSATIONS OF ‘DISLOYALTY’ FLY

Former President Trump, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and President Biden. (Getty Images)

The all-important independent vote was evenly split between Trump and Biden at 45% each.

Fifty percent said they agreed with the guilty verdict against Trump, while 44% said they disagreed. However, a whopping 54% said the verdict will have no effect on their vote, and 23% said it will make them more likely to vote for the former president.

Just 18% of independents and 5% of Republicans said the verdict made them less likely to support Trump.

HALEY, CHRISTIE STAY SILENT ON TRUMP GUILTY VERDICT AS GOP OUTRAGE GROWS OVER ‘UN-AMERICAN’ SILENCE

Former President Trump in attendance at UFC 302 at Prudential Center June 1, 2024, in Newark, N.J. (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Concerning Trump’s election interference case in Fulton County, a 54% majority said they believed Trump did nothing illegal, but 25% believe he did act unethically. Forty-one percent said they believed Trump did something illegal.

Trump holds a double-digit advantage over Biden when it comes to which candidate would better handle voters’ top issues in the race, including immigration (56%-39%), the economy (58%-38%), the Israel-Hamas war (53%-39%) and the war between Russia and Ukraine (54%-41%).

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Voters also believe Trump would be the best candidate to preserve democracy (49%-46%), but Biden held a slight advantage on the issue of abortion (47%-45%).

Biden’s job approval in Georgia stood at 36%, with 60% disapproving.

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

Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester’s campaign ceded on Tuesday that it faces a significant challenge in trying to hold onto his Senate seat in the two-time, Trump-won state come November. 

“As we enter the general election, it’s clear Montana’s U.S. Senate race will be the most competitive in the country in 2024,” wrote campaign manager Shelbi Dantic in a memo following the Montana Senate primaries. 

Tester won the Democratic nod, while former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy officially received the Republican nomination as expected. 

‘PARENTAL RIGHTS’: GOP WARNS DEM SENATE BILL IS ABOUT MORE THAN CONTRACEPTION

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) speaks to reporters as he walks through the Capitol Building on February 05, 2024 in Washington, DC.  (Anna Moneymaker)

The Montana Senate race is considered one of the most competitive races in the country in the 2024 elections, with non-partisan political handicapper the Cook Political Report labeling it as one of three “Toss Up” Senate matches. The blue lawmaker in a red state is at serious risk, particularly as Democrats contend with several other tough races to spend money on. 

If Sheehy manages to unseat Tester in November, it could help Republicans take back the majority in the upper chamber. 

“Here’s the hard truth: This will be an expensive and close race,” Dantic explained. 

DEMS IN HOT SEAT FOR ALLEGED ETHICS VIOLATIONS OVER ALITO RECUSAL DEMANDS

Sen. Jon Tester and Republican Montana Senate candidate Tim Sheehy (Kevin Dietsch/Louise Johns)

She blamed the skyrocketing cost of winning in Big Sky Country on “a tidal wave of outside spending and super PAC interference.”

“And like all of Jon’s races, Montana’s Senate election will likely be decided by just a few thousand votes,” Dantic added, laying out expectations for election margins. 

Tester’s campaign manager is confident he will win, nonetheless. According to Dantic, the organization and grassroots coalition necessary to pull off a victory will work in his favor. Dantic claimed Tester’s supporters include “Republicans, independents, veterans, Native Americans, women, rural voters, young voters, and seniors across the state.”

BALANCE OF POWER: MESSY GOP PRIMARIES COULD BOOST DEMOCRATS IN SWING STATE RACES

The Montana Senate race is considered one of the most competitive races in the country in the 2024 elections. (Education Images/Universal Images Group)

Following his easy primary win Tuesday, Sheehy said in a statement, “America is at a crossroads, and we need a new generation of leaders to save our country.”

“I am humbled and honored by all the support and look forward to finally retiring the #1 recipient of lobbyist cash and pro-Biden liberal Jon Tester,” he added. 

ROMNEY SCORCHES BRAGG’S ‘POLITICAL DECISION’ IN TRUMP CASE: ‘MALPRACTICE’

Former President Donald Trump and NRSC Chairman Steve Daines of Montana.  (Getty Images)

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National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman and Republican Montana Sen. Steve Daines said in a Tuesday statement, “The clearest path to a Republican Senate majority runs through Montana. Tim Sheehy will deliver a Senate majority for President Trump, Jon Tester wants to deliver a Senate majority for Joe Biden. That is the choice in this election. President Trump is counting on Montana to elect Tim Sheehy.”

Conservative PAC the Sentinel Action Fund delivered another win for Sheehy on Wednesday, officially endorsing him and launching a seven-figure early and absentee voting initiative in the state. 

Jessica Anderson, President of the Sentinel Action Fund, announced in a statement, “The Sentinel Action Fund is thrilled to endorse Tim Sheehy for U.S. Senate in Montana, and we are committed to using our robust election infrastructure and SkipTheLineMT.vote to turn out voters for Sheehy through absentee vote-by-mail, ballot harvesting, and ballot chasing.”

Republicans slammed a bill being considered by the Senate Wednesday afternoon, claiming their Democratic counterparts are “fearmongering” over access to contraception in order “to score cheap political points.”

“There is no threat to access to contraception, which is legal in every state and required by law to be offered at no cost by health insurers,” more than 20 Republican senators said in a joint statement. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., informed senators on Sunday that they should expect to vote on a bill designed to protect the right to contraception during the week, and later announced that the bill was slated for Wednesday. 

DEMS IN HOT SEAT FOR ALLEGED ETHICS VIOLATIONS OVER ALITO RECUSAL DEMANDS

Sen. Rick Scott led more than 20 other Republicans in a statement condemning the Democratic contraception bill. (Getty Images)

“This is not a show vote. This is a show us who you are vote,” Schumer claimed at a press conference Wednesday ahead of the vote, in response to Republican criticisms of the leader for scheduling votes on messaging bills rather than bipartisan legislation with a higher likelihood of moving forward.

Republicans are criticizing the bill to be considered, the “Right to Contraception Act,” saying it “infringes on the parental rights and religious liberties of some Americans and lets the federal government force religious institutions and schools, even public elementary schools, to offer contraception like condoms to little kids.”

BALANCE OF POWER: MESSY GOP PRIMARIES COULD BOOST DEMOCRATS IN SWING STATE RACES

A package of PlanB One-Step, an emergency contraceptive pill, is seen in security packaging at a CVS Pharmacy in Washington, on July 7, 2022. (REUTERS/Sarah Silbiger)

“It’s just another way for Democrats to use activist attorneys and our courts to advance their radical agenda and that is why we oppose this bill,” the group of senators claimed. 

The group was led by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who is running for GOP leader in the new Senate, wherein Republicans have a good opportunity to regain the majority in November. 

Co-signers of the statement included Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., Mitt Romney, R-Utah, Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Rand Paul, R-Ky., Mike Lee, R-Utah, Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., Ted Budd, R-N.C., James Lankford, R-Okla., Jim Risch, R-Idaho., Mike Rounds, R-S.D., Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., Katie Britt, R-Ala., Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., John Thune, R-S.D., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and Steve Daines, R-Mont.

ROMNEY SCORCHES BRAGG’S ‘POLITICAL DECISION’ IN TRUMP CASE: ‘MALPRACTICE’

Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, speaks during a news conference on the Right to Contraception Act outside the US Capitol in Washington, D.C., US, on Tuesday, July 26, 2022.  (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Top pro-Life group Susan B. Anthony Pro Life America additionally blasted the bill in a letter, claiming it “seeks to guarantee funding to abortion providers by barring federal and state governments from redirecting contraception funding to life-affirming health care providers. Therefore, abortionists and abortion facilities would be entitled to taxpayer funding even if the representative government in their state has redirected such funding from abortion providers to life-affirming providers.”

GOP’S MURKOWSKI LAMENTS TRUMP’S ‘BAGGAGE’ FOLLOWING GUILTY VERDICT

‘Life is the human rights issue of our time and the pivotal issue in 2024 elections,’ Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, told Fox News Digital in a statement. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

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“The Democrats’ deceptive Payouts to Planned Parenthood Act has less to do with access to contraception than with funneling taxpayer dollars to the abortion industry and crushing dissent. Contraception is legal and available in every state and Congress funds contraception through numerous federal programs every year,” the group’s president, Marjorie Dannenfelser, said in a statement. 

The measure is likely to fall short of the 60 votes necessary to move forward on Wednesday when the cloture motion gets a vote.

FIRST ON FOX: A former White House physician-turned-Republican lawmaker says President Biden’s mental fitness is a matter of “national security.” 

“The article’s just documenting what I’ve been saying all along: he’s not fit to be the commander-in-chief,” Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “He’s got significant issues, he shouldn’t have the job. You know, it’s a national security issue for us.”

It comes after a bombshell report in the Wall Street Journal that cited interviews with 45 people over the course of several months, claiming that congressional leaders and others who have met with Biden have noticed he “appears slower now” and is “someone who has both good moments and bad ones.” 

Before being elected to Congress, Jackson served as the top White House physician to former Presidents Obama and Trump. He also served as chief medical adviser for the latter.

BIDEN SAYS WORLD LEADERS ARE SCARED OF ANOTHER TRUMP PRESIDENCY, TELL HIM ‘YOU CAN’T LET’ TRUMP WIN

Texas GOP Rep. Ronny Jackson, a former White House physician, left, and President Biden. (Getty Images)

The Journal’s report has prompted furious pushback from the White House and its allies, who have dismissed it as a GOP-led hit piece.

However, Jackson pointed out that some of the commentary apparently came from Democrats. The report said, “Most of those who said Biden performed poorly were Republicans, but some Democrats said that he showed his age in several of the exchanges.”

The Texas Republican speculated that it could be the beginnings of a political coup against the 81-year-old president.

“I think that the fact that it came out like this, and is so well sourced, tells me that this might be the left’s first attempt to start laying the groundwork to get rid of him,” Jackson said.

Jackson told Fox News Digital that he has sent five letters to the White House since Biden took office in January 2021, urging him to take a cognitive test and to make those results public. All five letters have gone unanswered, he said.

BIDEN ORDER TO BLOCK MOST ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WHEN CROSSINGS SURGE, AS ELECTION NEARS

President Biden’s mental fitness was called into question in a new report. (AP/Evan Vucci)

“I don’t know if it does any good to send another letter at this point,” Jackson said. “They’ve ignored them all.”

There have been several recent polls that show Biden’s age is a top concern for voters.

A March New York Times/Siena College poll found that 61% of respondents who voted for Biden in 2020 agreed with the statement, “Joe Biden is just too old to be an effective president.” 

White House spokesman Andrew Bates hit back at the Journal’s report, saying, “Congressional Republicans, foreign leaders and nonpartisan national-security experts have made clear in their own words that President Biden is a savvy and effective leader who has a deep record of legislative accomplishment.”

“Now, in 2024, House Republicans are making false claims as a political tactic that flatly contradict previous statements made by themselves and their colleagues,” Bates said.

BIDEN SAYS TRUMP ‘SHOULD’ HAVE OPPORTUNITY TO APPEAL CONVICTION, GRINS AND IGNORES QUESTIONS

Former Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., defended President Biden. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

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Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., posted on X, “Many of us spent time with [the Journal] to share on the record our first-hand experiences with [Biden], where we see his wisdom, experience, strength and strategic thinking. Instead, the Journal ignored testimony by Democrats, focused on attacks by Republicans and printed a hit piece.”

“I made clear to the [Journal] regarding the January meeting on Ukraine that the President was absolutely engaged & ran that meeting in a way that brought everyone together. I’m not quoted — I wonder why,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., wrote on X.

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

President Biden’s cognitive performance is once again being thrust into the spotlight following a new report from The Wall Street Journal that the 81-year-old is showing signs of slowing down during private meetings. 

Many Republicans and even some Democrats said the president showed his age in those settings, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing conversations with 45 lawmakers and administration officials about the president’s mental performance. 

White House officials are dismissing many of the accounts, but here are five of President Biden’s recent gaffes.

President Biden reacts after reading “four more years, pause,” off a teleprompter on April 24. (Fox News)

May 20: Biden says Hamas hostage being held in Gaza is at the White House 

President Biden said at a Rose Garden event celebrating Jewish American Heritage last month that American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg Polin, who is currently being held captive by Hamas, was in attendance. 

“My administration is working around the clock to free the remaining hostages, just as we have freed hostages already. And here with us today is Hersh Goldberg Polin,” Biden said, before quickly correcting himself. 

BIDEN MOCKED AFTER ‘I’M IN THE 20TH CENTURY’ GAFFE

“And still he is not here with us, but he’s still being held by Hamas,” Biden then said, recognizing the 23-year-old’s parents, who were in attendance that day. 

May 19: Biden suggests he was vice president during the coronavirus pandemic 

President Biden appeared to claim during a campaign event in Michigan that he was vice president during the coronavirus pandemic and that former President Barack Obama dispatched him to Detroit to help battle the disease. 

“And when I was vice president, things were kind of bad during the pandemic,” Biden said. “And, what happened was Barack said to me: ‘Go to Detroit – and help fix it.’” 

But the coronavirus pandemic, numbered COVID-19 due to global health officials having deemed it an outbreak in 2019, transpired in the latter years of former President Trump’s term, not when Obama was president. Biden was last vice president in January 2017. 

April 24: Biden reads teleprompter instructions out loud 

President Biden, during a speech at a trade union conference in Washington, D.C., appeared to read teleprompter instructions out loud. 

“I see an economy that grows from the middle out and bottom up, where the wealthy pay their fair share, so we can have childcare, paid leave and so much more and still reduce the federal deficit and increase economic growth. Folks, imagine what we can do next, four more years, pause,” Biden said.  

BIDEN TAKES HEAT OVER GAFFE URGING AMERICANS TO ‘CHOOSE FREEDOM OVER DEMOCRACY’

The crowd then broke out in a chant of “Four more years!” while Biden did indeed pause. 

April 23: Biden asks crowd how many times does Trump have to prove ‘we can’t be trusted’? 

Biden, speaking during a campaign rally in Tampa, Florida, said that “now, in America today, in 2024, women have fewer rights than their mothers and their grandmothers had because of Donald Trump.” 

“Look, I don’t think we are going to let them get away with it, do you?” Biden asked the crowd, who shouted “No!” in response. 

“And folks, in a sense, I don’t know why we are surprised by Trump – how many times does he have to prove we can’t be trusted?” Biden then asked the crowd. 

Feb. 7: Biden claims he spoke with German chancellor who died in 2017 

Biden in 2021 claimed he spoke with the late German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who died in 2017, while recalling past conversations during fundraising events. 

Biden attended three campaign reception events in New York, according to his schedule. At his second and third events, he told donors about conversations surrounding Jan. 6, 2021, at his first Group of Seven (G7) meeting as president, which took place in England in June of that year. 

The president said that the late German Chancellor Kohl asked him what he would say if he learned 1,000 people stormed the British Parliament in an attempt to deny the next prime minister from taking office. 

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The annual meeting was not attended by Kohl, as he had been dead for four years, but by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel. 

Fox News’ Landon Mion, Charles Creitz and Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this report. 

Manhattan prosecutors are opposing former President Trump’s request to have the gag order imposed against him lifted now that his criminal trial is complete, saying the court “has an obligation to protect the integrity” of the proceedings.

The former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee was found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree last week. The six-week-long trial stemmed from charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. 

TRUMP ATTORNEYS REQUEST MERCHAN LIFT GAG ORDER AHEAD OF PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE, FOLLOWING END OF TRIAL

Judge Juan Merchan imposed a gag order on Trump before the trial began, barring Trump from making or directing others to make public statements about witnesses with regard to their potential participation or about counsel in the case — other than Bragg — or about court staff, DA staff or family members of staff.

Former President Trump, right, exits Trump Tower in New York City on Monday, April 15, 2024. Jury selection begins today in the so-called hush money trial in Manhattan Criminal Court this morning. Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo speaks in a Department of Justice video. (Fox News Digital/DOJ )

Trump’s team repeatedly appealed the order and have been denied. 

Trump defense attorney Todd Blanche wrote a letter to Merchan on Tuesday afternoon requesting, yet again, that the order be lifted, citing the 2024 presidential election and the first debate against President Biden on June 27, as well as the First Amendment rights of the former president and his supporters. 

However, Manhattan prosecutor Matthew Colangelo, on behalf of Bragg, sent a letter to Merchan arguing against Trump’s requests. 

TRUMP SAYS GUILTY VERDICT IS A ‘SCAR’ ON NEW YORK JUSTICE SYSTEM, VOWS TO ‘KEEP FIGHTING’

“The People oppose any immediate termination of the Orders and agree with defendant’s proposal for further briefing. We request that the Court adopt the same briefing schedule that the Court set for all other posttrial motions, with defendant’s motion due on June 13 and the People’s response due by June 27,” he wrote. 

Colangelo said Trump’s request “asserts that the stated bases for the Court’s Orders no longer exist ‘because the trial has concluded.’” 

“The Court’s Orders, however, were based not only on the need to avoid threats to the fairness of the trial itself, see March 26 Order at 3, but also on the Court’s broader ‘obligation to prevent actual harm to the integrity of the proceedings’; to protect ‘the orderly administration of this Court’; and to avoid ‘risk[s] to the administration of justice.’” 

Justice Juan Merchan looks on as Republican presidential candidate and former President Trump attends his criminal trial over charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, at Manhattan state court in New York City on May 30, 2024 in this courtroom sketch. (REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg)

TRUMP GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS IN NEW YORK CRIMINAL TRIAL

Colangelo said that their interests “have not abated, and the Court has an obligation to protect the integrity of these proceedings and the fair administration of justice at least through the sentencing hearing and the resolution of any post-trial motions.

“The People’s opposition will address whether, if at all, it would be appropriate to tailor aspects of the Court’s Orders given the conclusion of the trial,” he wrote. 

Trump was fined $10,000 for violating the gag order during the trial. Merchan also threatened Trump with jail time for further alleged violations.

“The last thing I want to consider is jail,” Merchan said. “You are [the] former president and possibly the next president.” 

Former President Trump arrives to Trump Tower on 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)

“The magnitude of that decision is not lost on me,” Merchan said. “Your continued willful violation of the court’s order…constitutes a direct attack…and will not be allowed to continue…It is not allowed to continue.” 

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Trump and his defense attorneys have maintained that the former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee should not be bound by the gag order, saying it violates his First Amendment rights as well as the First Amendment rights of his supporters. 

Trump’s sentencing date is set for July 11, just four days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where he is expected to be formally nominated as the 2024 Republican presidential nominee. 

Fox News’ Maria Paronich contributed to this report. 

FIRST ON FOX: A battle is raging among those close to former President Trump over who he should endorse in Nevada’s brutal Republican Senate primary, which has turned heads in recent months.

Accusations of “disloyalty” have taken center stage in the fight, with multiple sources close to Trump and his campaign telling Fox News Digital about an ongoing effort to sway the former president as he considers swooping in to back either Army veteran Sam Brown or former U.S. Ambassador to Iceland Jeff Gunter ahead of Tuesday’s primary.

A vocal group of Trump insiders in favor of Gunter becoming the Republican nominee to face incumbent Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen has sought to highlight Brown’s hesitancy to back Trump in the early months of the Republican presidential race, something he did only days ahead of the Iowa caucuses in January when victory for Trump was all but guaranteed.

HALEY, CHRISTIE STAY SILENT ON TRUMP GUILTY VERDICT AS GOP OUTRAGE GROWS OVER ‘UN-AMERICAN’ SILENCE

From left to right, dermatologist and former U.S. Ambassador to Iceland Dr. Jeffrey Gunter, former President Trump and former U.S. Army Capt. Sam Brown. (State Department/Getty Images/Sam Brown for Nevada)

A separate group of Trump insiders backing Brown is challenging that notion, telling Fox the pro-Gunter faction is “lying” about Brown’s perceived “disloyalty” and that the former president will “likely” back him ahead of the primary, potentially at his Las Vegas rally on Sunday.

“Sam Brown is not seen as a loyal America First fighter,” one source close to Trump’s family and his campaign told Fox. “He’s not seen as a loyal ally to President Trump. That’s something I’ve definitely heard multiple times. I wouldn’t go so far as to say there is any fierce hatred of him, but he’s not seen as a strong America First fighter.” 

“The president has endorsed in all of these races, and in this one he hasn’t, so it’s not all that hard to read between the lines here,” the source said, pointing to the timing of Brown’s endorsement of Trump, as well as an interview with Punchbowl News published the day after Trump’s indictment in Fulton County, Georgia, last August in which Brown declined to say whether he was “comfortable” sharing the Republican ticket with the former president.

Nevada’s Republican primary is the only battleground Senate race that the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), which is backing Brown, has weighed in on where Trump has so far declined to endorse a candidate. Trump endorsed Montana’s Tim Sheehy, Ohio’s Bernie Moreno and Michigan’s Mike Rogers all before their respective primaries.

Trump endorsed Nevada Republican John Lee, a candidate for the U.S. House, on Monday. A day after the endorsement, he posted a video on Truth Social encouraging Nevadans to vote next week but notably made no mention of Brown or Gunter.

RFK JR.’S PAST SUPPORT FOR HIGHER GAS PRICES AND ELECTRIC CARS SURFACES, OLD INTERVIEWS SHOW

Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) waits to speak during a groundbreaking ceremony at the Brightline West Las Vegas station on April 22, 2024 in Las Vegas. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

The reason for that, the source said, is twofold; Trump is reluctant to pick a fight with national, establishment Republicans and endorsing the NRSC-backed candidate would “undermine his message to the base” that he is fighting to bring to the table “loyal America First fighters.”

“That’s probably the only part of this that’s really propping Sam up. He’s run multiple times and lost, he doesn’t have very much energy or enthusiasm, he does very little media … he’ll put out cookie-cutter tweets and do an interview every once in a while, but he’s not like on the front lines fighting for the president day in and day out.”

Another like-minded source close to Trump conceded that Brown’s backing from the NRSC, what he called “Mitch McConnell money,” gave the candidate “leverage” for gaining Trump’s support but argued the real question was whether Republicans were willing to “nominate someone who is not going to support the president.”

“In the past he’s been dismissive of Trump, and that’s the rub right now that Nevadans are trying to sift through,” the source said. “I don’t need another Mitt Romney in the U.S. Senate. I need a candidate who’s going to win and represent Nevadans and the Republican movement, and I don’t know if that’s Sam Brown.”

Both sources predicted Trump would remain neutral in the race and forego making an endorsement ahead of the primary, but also said the unpredictability of the former president could mean a last minute weigh-in.

INSIDERS PREDICT THIS POSSIBLE TRUMP VP PICK POSES ‘EXISTENTIAL THREAT’ TO KEY AREA OF BIDEN SUPPORT 

Former U.S. Ambassador to Iceland Dr. Jeff Gunter speaks with Roll Call at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City, Nevada, on Memorial Day, Monday, May 27, 2024. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“If he does endorse, I think he would endorse Jeff. I think, at this point, the NRSC has pushed so hard for him to endorse Sam, but he hasn’t done it, and there’s a reason for that,” one of them said.

A source from the pro-Brown camp, who said they recently spoke with Trump, took a different view, telling Fox the claims made by the pro-Gunter sources were “simply just not accurate.”

“[Trump] thinks Gunter is a weirdo, and served him poorly as ambassador,” the source said, adding that the reason Trump had yet to endorse Brown was not anything out of the ordinary.

“He just is never quick to do these things unless he has a long-standing relationship. In all the conversations, especially given that Sam was literally the top door-knocker for Donald Trump in the 2016 race and was an original grassroots MAGA guy, that is just something that’s not factoring in any serious way. It’s what people who want him not to do it are trying to push,” they added.

The source predicted with “a really high level of confidence” that Trump would ultimately endorse Brown ahead of the Tuesday primary, saying the Sunday Las Vegas rally was the “logical” place to do it, but, if not, then it would be shortly after.

NIKKI HALEY SILENT ON TRUMP’S NYC CONVICTION AS OTHER PROMINENT REPUBLICANS SPRING TO HIS DEFENSE

Republican Nevada Senate candidate, former Army Capt. Sam Brown. (Sam Brown for Nevada)

Another source who said they had spoken with Trump about the Nevada race on “three or four occasions” told Fox that Trump had a “productive” meeting with Brown when he visited Mar-a-Lago earlier this year and believed he would ultimately win the race.

The source also pointed to the sparse polling done on the race so far that suggested Brown was a heavy favorite to win the primary, his past support for Trump before launching his second campaign for Senate, as well as his open support for the former president since endorsing him in January.

“California Democrat Jeff Gunter is a scam artist who paid himself and his consultants millions of dollars from his campaign. Gunter continues cutting his ad buys because he lied about how much money he would self-fund on his campaign. Voters can’t trust California Democrat Jeff Gunter,” NRSC communications director Mike Berg told Fox, referencing a shift in the Gunter campaign’s spending on ad buys that appeared to show him reducing the amount he initially announced he would spend across the state.

Gunter’s campaign pushed back when pressed on the spending change, telling Fox the campaign was not cutting spending, but rather shifting to other sources of digital and Spanish language advertising. It added that $3 million had already gone out the door, citing Gunter’s FEC reports, and “wasn’t disputable.”

“The NRSC has shown they are incapable of both advocating for America First principles and running a race in a skillful or articulate manner,” a source close to Gunter’s campaign told Fox.

TRUMP GUILTY VERDICT REVEALS SPLIT AMONG FORMER GOP PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY OPPONENTS

Former President Trump is seen in attendance during the UFC 302 event at Prudential Center on June 1, 2024 in Newark, New Jersey. (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Brown told Fox, “I supported President Trump in 2016 and knocked doors for him in 2020. I’ve always believed in his vision for America and I continue to stand by him today. I look forward to working with President Trump to win Nevada this November and would be honored to receive his endorsement.”

Fox has also reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.

Nevada Democrats are having their own fun in the meantime, using the fact that Trump has not endorsed Brown to take digs at the candidate, including in multiple posts pointing out Trump making no mention of him in his video calling on Nevadans to vote.

“After begging at Mar-A-Lago, calling Trump his personal inspiration, and embarking on a far-right media tour to tout his MAGA credentials, it’s deeply embarrassing that Sam Brown still doesn’t have the Donald Trump stamp of approval he’s so desperately seeking,” Nevada state Democrat Party spokesperson Katharine Kurz told Fox. 

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“While Sam Brown continues stumbling over himself to suck up to Donald Trump, he’s also proving to voters that he will always put partisan politics over doing what’s right for Nevadans.”

Brown and Gunter are facing a crowded primary field that includes former state Rep. Jim Marchant and veteran Air Force pilot Tony Grady. The winner of Tuesday’s primary is expected to face Rosen in the November general election.

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

FIRST ON FOX: A conservative super PAC announced on Wednesday that it is endorsing GOP Montana Senate candidate Tim Sheehy while also rolling out a 7 figure investment into encouraging Montanans to vote early.

“Today, the Sentinel Action Fund endorsed Tim Sheehy for U.S. Senate in Montana. Along with the endorsement, the Sentinel Action Fund announced a seven-figure investment and the launch of SkipTheLineMT.vote, a new initiative to educate Republican voters on how to request absentee ballots,” the group announced in a press release promoting the website SkipTheLineMT.vote.

Sheehy, a Purple Heart recipient, was also endorsed by GOP presidential nominee and former President Trump, won the GOP primary in Montana on Tuesday night and will face incumbent Dem. Sen. John Tester in what many believe is a strong opportunity for Republicans to take back control of the Senate.

“The Montana Senate race will be one of the most important elections for Republicans to retake the Senate majority in 2024,” Jessica Anderson, President of the Sentinel Action Fund, said in the press release. “The Sentinel Action Fund is thrilled to endorse Tim Sheehy for U.S. Senate in Montana, and we are committed to using our robust election infrastructure and SkipTheLineMT.vote to turn out voters for Sheehy through absentee vote-by-mail, ballot harvesting, and ballot chasing.”

NEW ELECTION INTEGRITY GROUP WILL POUR MILLIONS INTO PAYING, PROTECTING WHISTLEBLOWERS ON ‘FRONT LINES’

A Voter fills out their ballots on at a polling place (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Sentinel Action Fund, which bills itself as the “only conservative Super PAC with a year-round ground game committed to turning out absentee, early vote, and ‘day of’ voters,” is focused on competing with Democrats for the early vote in key swing states which typically has been something Republicans have been criticized for not focusing on in the past in large part due to concerns about voter integrity.

“We also think that Montana has made some really great strides in election integrity over the last four years. That gives more security and comfort for voters to vote early and absentee,” Anderson told Fox News Digital. 

“I think the message is that reforms have been made that provide more security and comfort for Montana voters who vote early, to vote the absentee, and in particular, those low propensity voters that are not consistent habitual voters but will come out for Trump will come out for a big Senate race like this,” Anderson continued. 

CALIFORNIA SUES BEACH CITY OVER VOTER ID LAW BACKED BY MAJORITY OF RESIDENTS

Tim Sheehy, founder and chief executive officer of Bridger Aerospace and US Republican Senate candidate for Montana (Louise Johns)

“The lowest barrier to entry for them to vote is to vote early or to vote absentee. So we’re excited about the make-up of the state, which is why the Skip The Line Montana site is kind of this catchall where all voters can go get information about how to vote early and see all the rules that govern how the election is run.”

Sentinel Action Fund’s announcement comes a day after former President Trump Republican National Committee on Tuesday announced the launch of what they call their “Swamp The Vote USA” effort to promote early voting.

It’s a major reversal from Trump’s stance four years ago, when he repeatedly condemned early-in-person voting and mail-in balloting and said they were to blame for what he argued was massive election fraud that led to his defeat at the hands of President Biden.

“Republicans must win and we will use every appropriate tool to beat the Democrats because they are destroying our country,” Trump argued in his statement.

Anderson told Fox News Digital that Trump’s quote is “fantastic.”

“I thought it actually shows just how much he’s willing to embrace, legal ways to and tactics and methods to turn voters out,” Anderson said. “He is he’s not leaving any stone unturned. So our effort is completely complementary.”

“I think the party has made a tremendous decision, and a very shrewd kind of investment that’s now following to embrace absentee ballots and early votes while also calling for election integrity. We can do two things at once.”

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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)

Montana, a state Trump won by 16 points in 2020, is now the home of Senate race that the Cook Political Report ranks as a “toss up.”

“Jon Tester has failed Montanans, consistently voting in line with Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden while pretending to be a so-called ‘moderate.,'” Anderson told Fox News Digital.

“Montanans know Jon Tester does not represent them and their values, so they have taken the important step to nominate Republican Tim Sheehy,” Anderson continued. “Sheehy is a trusted conservative champion who will fight for Montanans in Washington and support President Trump’s efforts to restore integrity in the courts and curtail the overreach of the federal bureaucracy. We look forward to his victory this November.”

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report
 

FIRST ON FOX: A number of top Republicans are taking aim at those in the party who have refused to speak out against former President Trump’s guilty verdict in his New York City trial last week, a group that includes former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Republicans overwhelmingly rushed to Trump’s defense after he was found guilty Thursday on all 34 counts of falsifying business records, and those most closely aligned with the former president are making sure those who haven’t know their lack of action isn’t going unnoticed.

“I think it’s important for Republicans to be united on a basic reality that many independents and even a good number of Democrats plainly see: this trial was a sham,” former presidential candidate and staunch Trump surrogate Vivek Ramaswamy told Fox News Digital. 

RFK JR’S PAST SUPPORT FOR HIGHER GAS PRICES, ELECTRIC CARS SURFACES, OLD INTERVIEWS SHOW

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former President Trump and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (Getty Images)

“It’s a disgrace that a former U.S. president was convicted of a felony, where the jurors were told they didn’t have to even agree on what the crime was. It’s un-American,” he said.

Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville took a more somber tone, telling Fox that Americans are now experiencing “an all-out war on our constitutional republic.” 

“These soft RINOs are letting their hatred for Donald Trump blind them from fighting to save our country. They need to either get on board or officially announce they prefer a socialist, communist regime,” he said. 

INSIDERS PREDICT THIS POSSIBLE TRUMP VP PICK POSES ‘EXISTENTIAL THREAT’ TO KEY AREA OF BIDEN SUPPORT

Republican Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, left, and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (Getty Images)

“This is way bigger than Donald Trump. It’s about preserving the things that make our country the envy of the world. No true conservative should be able to say they care about America if they stand by and do nothing as the left destroys it.”

Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn told Fox that “every American should be frightened by the left’s brazen escalation of their two tiers of justice.”

“Joe Biden knows he can’t beat Donald Trump at the ballot box, so he is weaponizing our justice system to manufacture his desired outcome. As a party, Republicans need to stand united behind President Trump and condemn this scheme for what it is: election interference,” she said.

Utah Sen. Mike Lee told Fox, “No Republican should stay silent in the midst of this unprecedented attack on America’s free elections and impartial judicial system. The stakes are too high.”

NIKKI HALEY SILENT ON TRUMP’S NYC CONVICTION AS OTHER PROMINENT REPUBLICANS SPRING TO HIS DEFENSE

Republican Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Republican Florida Sen. Rick Scott (Getty Images)

Florida Sen. Rick Scott told Fox that “Everyone who calls themselves a leader in our party must stand up and condemn this lawless election interference,” a swipe at those silent over Trump but also aimed at Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who he is vying to replace as the Senate’s Republican leader.

“Silence is not merely indifference. It is an endorsement of Joe Biden and the weaponization of our justice system,” he added.

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McConnell came to Trump’s defense following the verdict, writing in a post on X, “These charges never should have been brought in the first place. I expect the conviction to be overturned on appeal.”

Fox has reached out to representatives of Haley and Christie for comment.

Christie spoke extensively on the campaign trail while running in the Republican presidential primaries about Trump’s legal woes, even predicting he would be a “convicted felon” when accepting the GOP nomination at the Republican National Convention in July.

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

Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy has won the Republican nomination in a field of three candidates in the highly anticipated Montana Senate race to unseat the red state’s Democratic Sen. Jon Tester.

Sheehy secured the nomination during Tuesday’s primary, after strong support from conservative leadership in Congress made him the GOP pick to take on the three-term Democrat. 

“America is at a crossroads and we need a new generation of leaders to save our country. Joe Biden and Jon Tester’s reckless agenda has brought us skyrocketing food, housing, and energy prices and an open border allowing illegal immigrants, drugs, and crime to flood into our country,” Sheehy said in a statement after the race was called. 

WAPO ‘SMEAR’ OF HIGHLY-DECORATED IRAQ WAR VETERAN, SENATE CANDIDATE OMITS CRITICAL INFO

Republican Montana Senate candidate and former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy. (Tim Sheehy For Montana)

“As a Navy SEAL, I’ve always put country before self and I’m running for the U.S. Senate to end Joe Biden and Jon Tester’s inflation, seal our border, secure our children’s future, and put America First! I am humbled and honored by all the support and look forward to finally retiring the #1 recipient of lobbyist cash and pro-Biden liberal Jon Tester,” he continued.

The Navy SEAL defeated Montana’s former Secretary of State Brad Johnson in the primary race.

The conservative, a Purple Heart recipient, was also endorsed by GOP presidential nominee and former President Trump, who said he is an “American hero.”

DEM HIT WITH $15 MILLION BORDER-RELATED AD BLITZ IN ‘TOSS-UP’ SENATE RACE

“I LOVE MONTANA!” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social account. “Tim Sheehy is an American Hero and highly successful Businessman from the Great State of Montana. He is strongly supported by our incredible Chairman of the NRSC, Steve Daines, and many other patriotic Senators and Republicans who have endorsed our Campaign to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Sen. Jon Tester asks questions during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Sept. 12, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Republicans are eyeing the Big Sky State as one of their best chances at taking back control of the Senate, as Democrat Tester attempts to hold onto his seat in the red state for a fourth term. 

Tester paints himself as a moderate in the Senate, but Sheehy has charged that he changes his positions in election years.

“You know this is what he does. Five years out of every six he’s a dyed-in-the-wool liberal, firm progressive. Votes lockstep with Schumer, Biden and every other progressive in the country,” Sheey told Fox in November. “And then, for his election year, he tries to shift back to the center and act like he’s a moderate.” 

Tim Sheehy, founder and CEO of Bridger Aerospace, in Bozeman, Montana, on Jan. 18, 2024. (Louise Johns/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Sheehy quickly became the Senate Republicans’ choice to take on Tester on the November ballot, receiving endorsements from Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mont., Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., Ted Budd, R-N.C., Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and John Barrasso, R-Wyo.

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The Navy SEAL was also endorsed by Montana’s Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte and Gov. Kristi Noem, R-S.D.

PHILADELPHIA – First-term Republican Rep. Welsey Hunt was a long way from his home state of Texas on Tuesday.

The military veteran and former President Trump surrogate was in Philadelphia to headline the opening of the former president’s first campaign office in Pennsylvania, a crucial battleground state in Trump’s 2024 election rematch with President Biden.

“The person that’s going to come back and save this country from the brink is Donald John Trump,” Hunt, a Black Republican and rising star in the GOP, told supporters and reporters packed into a small office in the northeastern corner of the city.

While Trump’s fundraising has surged in the wake of his conviction last week in the first criminal trial of a current or former president, and while he holds the edge over Biden in the latest polling in most of the key swing states, Trump and the Republican National Committee are currently facing a large deficit to the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee when it comes to grassroots out reach and get-out-the-vote efforts.

TRUMP LAUNCHES EARLY VOTING PUSH, IN MAJOR REVERSAL FROM 2020 STANCE

GOP Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas headlines the opening of the first Trump campaign office in Pennsylvania on June 4, 2024 in Philadelphia. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

The Biden campaign notes that they have hired over 500 staff and opened more than 175 coordinated offices across battleground states. 

Additionally, in Pennsylvania, which was one of six states Biden narrowly carried in 2020 to win the White House, the president’s re-election campaign and the DNC and the state party have 24 coordinated offices and hundreds of staffers.

TRUMP GUILTY VERDICT IN CRIMINAL TRIAL FIRES UP HIS FUNDRAISING 

President Biden, a Pennsylvania native, has made numerous official and campaign stops in the state – and Philadelphia in particular – since launching his re-election campaign over a year ago. Last week, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned in Philadelphia together for the first time.

President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris wave at a campaign event at Girard College on Wednesday, May 29, 2024 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

“We do need to catch up a little bit, but we are going to open offices all over the state of Pennsylvania,” Vince Fenerty, the GOP chair in Philadelphia and a ward leader for over 50 years, told Fox News.

However, Fenerty emphasized that “we have the time to catch up. People are going to jump on the Trump train and the locomotive is going to move fast.”

“We did it in this part of the city because it’s ethnically diverse, racially diverse, and we want to start here because we want to build a very broad coalition of all Americans to be for President Trump,” Fenerty noted. 

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Philadelphia is overwhelmingly blue. Biden carried the city 81%-18% four years ago over Trump.

However, in an interview with Fox News, Hunt highlighted that “we are going bravely where no Republicans in the past 20-30 years have gone before. We are not playing catch up. We are actually fishing where the fish are.”

“We know that we are making some very good strides in the Black community, and among Hispanic men and Hispanic women,” Hunt added. “So guess what – we are here right now not playing catch up, but to put the final nail in the coffin.”

GOP Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas headlines the opening of the first Trump campaign office in Pennsylvania on June 4, 2024 in Philadelphia. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

Kellan White, a senior adviser for the Pennsylvania Democratic coordinated campaign, fired back, telling Fox News that “Donald Trump is a convicted felon who couldn’t find an actual Pennsylvanian to headline his phony event.”

He charged that Trump has “spent years running racist campaigns, implementing a racist agenda, and hurting Black communities every chance he got as president. In stark contrast, Joe Biden is fighting and delivering for Pennsylvanians — especially for Black Pennsylvanians — by capping the cost of insulin at $35 per month for seniors, creating over 500,000 good paying jobs in Pennsylvania alone, and protecting our democracy and reproductive freedoms.”

The office opening in Philadelphia came a couple of hours after the Trump campaign and the RNC announced the launch of what they call “Swamp The Vote USA,” a new push to encourage Republicans to vote early in person or by absentee ballot. 

The Trump campaign says the new effort to promote early voting is part of the recently announced Trump Force 47 program, the campaign and the RNC’s neighbor-to-neighbor grassroots organizing program “that focuses on mobilizing highly-targeted voters in critical precincts across the battleground states and districts.”

There was grumbling by some Republicans in the Keystone State earlier this spring regarding the lack of any ground game by the Trump campaign and the RNC.

However, Lehigh County Republican Committee member Bobby Arena told Fox News on Tuesday that “everything is changing for the better,” as he pointed to what he said was “the extra support on the ground and offices that are opening around the state.”

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

A conservative nonprofit is suing the Department of Justice after it failed to release records requested under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) pertaining to Matthew Colangelo, a key figure in the New York criminal trial of former President Trump.

America First Legal (AFL) alleged in the lawsuit filed Monday that New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg – the lead official in Trump’s prosecution – hired Matthew Colangelo in December 2022 to reportedly “jump-start” his office’s investigation of Trump, reportedly due to Mr. Colangelo’s “history of taking on Donald J. Trump and his family business.”

TRUMP PROSECUTOR QUIT TOP DOJ POST FOR LOWLY NY JOB IN LIKELY BID TO ‘GET’ FORMER PRESIDENT, EXPERT SAYS

Lead prosecutor Matthew Colangelo previously worked in the DOJ before transitioning to the Manhattan DA’s office. (Fox News Digital | U.S. Dept. of Justice)

The lawsuit states Colangelo previously held senior positions at the DOJ and the New York Attorney General’s Office, “both of which had competing investigations” related to Trump. Colangelo left his high-ranking DOJ post to join Bragg’s investigation of Trump months before the indictment of the former president.

“It is not every day that the number three ranking DOJ official — the Acting Associate Attorney General — leaves his post to join a district attorney’s office. Yet, that is exactly what Mr. Colangelo did,” AFL said in a news release. “This calculated move reeks of partisanship.”

AFL Executive Director Gene Hamilton told Fox News Digital in an interview Tuesday that they had filed a FOIA request in 2023 to obtain Colangelo’s calendars and records discussing Trump to understand his transition from the DOJ to the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

EX-TOP BIDEN DOJ OFFICIAL NOW PROSECUTING TRUMP WAS ONCE PAID BY DNC FOR ‘POLITICAL CONSULTING’.

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

“We’re going to get those records, and we are going to obtain everything from his calendar entries to communications, for everything in between, to show and to help shed a light on this coordinated effort to get Donald Trump, that is unprecedented and has never been done before,” Hamilton said. “Because none of these records are public, and because this is a key central figure involved in the political persecution of Donald Trump, we think it’s vital and critical that we get records.”

After AFL’s initial FOIA request, it received an email from the Justice Department that acknowledged the request and asked for an extra 10 days to process the request due to “unusual circumstances,” according to the lawsuit. On Aug. 28, 2023, AFL replied to the email and agreed “to exclude publicly available news article compilations, provided they were not commented on by department personnel.” 

NY V TRUMP: HOUSE JUDICIARY INVESTIGATES BRAGG PROSECUTOR WHO HELD SENIOR ROLE IN BIDEN DOJ

Former President Trump sits in the courtroom during his criminal trial in New York City on May 21, 2024. (Michael M. Santiago/PoolAFP via Getty Images)

The Justice Department did not release any documents, the lawsuit alleges.

The AFL is not the only party interested in obtaining Colangelo’s records. Last month, Republican House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan sent a letter to New York Attorney General Letitia James demanding that her office turn over Colangelo’s documents. 

“Mr. Colangelo’s recent employment history demonstrates his obsession with investigating a person rather than prosecuting a crime,” Jordan wrote in his letter to James. 

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Colangelo has a lengthy resume in government, working in a variety of legal roles that date to the Obama administration, Fox News Digital previously reported. He most recently served nearly two years in the Biden Justice Department, including as acting associate attorney general and overseeing the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment and Natural Resources, and Tax Divisions.

The Justice Department did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment by press deadline.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.

WILMINGTON, Del. — First son Hunter Biden’s criminal trial kicked off in earnest on Tuesday, beginning with opening statements before hearing from the case’s first witness, a special agent with the FBI. 

Jurors heard testimony and opening statements for more than seven hours on Tuesday, including Biden’s defense team setting the stage that his purchase of a Cobra Colt .38 revolver in October 2018 was a hurried purchase promoted by employees at the gun shop – StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply in Wilmington – who wanted to make a sale. Lowell continued in his opening remarks that the firearm Biden purchased was a “small gun” that was never used in the 11 days Biden had it in his possession. 

“No one is above the law,” argued prosecutors, who told the jury that during the trial they will present evidence showing Biden was a crack cocaine addict who lied on a federal gun form in order to purchase the firearm. 

Biden’s 2021 memoir “Beautiful Things” took center stage Tuesday as prosecutors played excerpts from Biden’s audiobook, which is narrated by Biden, in the courtroom. The excerpts detailed anecdotes such as how he linked up with a female drug dealer he nicknamed “Bicycles” who sold him crack cocaine on the streets of Washington, D.C., how he could serve as a “crack daddy” to dealers due to his spiraling addiction, and how he took cocaine from a stranger in a hotel bathroom in Monte Carlo. 

HUNTER BIDEN’S WIFE LASHES OUT AT FORMER TRUMP AIDE DURING COURT APPEARANCE: ‘PIECE OF S—‘

Hunter Biden, accompanied by his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, leaves federal court on June 4, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Though the excerpts from the book contained salacious details, jurors for the case appeared to lose interest at points while the prosecution team played roughly an hour of audiobook excerpts. Jurors were seen yawning, placing their heads in their hands, and even two jurors throughout the day appeared to close their eyes briefly as testimony continued. 

HUNTER BIDEN’S DRUG USE: WHAT THE PROSECUTION NEEDS TO PROVE AND WHAT WE ALREADY KNOW

The court did erupt into chuckles late in the day when presiding Judge Maryellen Noreika told the court that the chair at the witness stand is fixed in its place due to previous witnesses in unrelated cases rocking back and forth before falling off the stand. The judge, as well as the jury and members of the media, laughed at the anecdote before Noreika added that such an instance is “not so funny to witness.” 

Hunter Biden, son of President Biden, leaves federal court with his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, on the second day of his trial on criminal gun charges in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 4, 2024. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

Biden was joined by first lady Jill Biden, his sister, Ashley Biden, and his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden. During breaks, Biden was often drawn to his wife like a magnet, holding her hand and briefly hugging her and giving her a kiss.

Jill Biden took her front-row seat in the court for the second time since Monday, flanked by daughter Ashley and daughter-in-law Melissa on either side. Ashley Biden was seen becoming emotional during the trial, with Jill Biden placing her arm around her daughter.

HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL: 9 KEY FIGURES WHO MAY TESTIFY

The first lady directed her line of vision almost exclusively toward the judge and defense team, unless her family members or allies approached her for a quick chat. At least twice, Jill Biden took a small stack of papers from her cream-colored clutch handbag, which were delicately folded in half, to read or jot down a quick note.

First lady Jill Biden arrives at federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

The first lady left the courtroom after breaking for lunch. She was in the courtroom as excerpts of the audiobook detailed topics such as Biden’s ability to buy crack cocaine in any city he visited.

Lowell also briefly sat with the first lady during a short break in the morning, smiling as the two chatted. Jill Biden seldom stole glances at media members and others sitting behind her in the court.

US V HUNTER BIDEN: OPENING STATEMENTS TO BEGIN IN FIRST SON’S FEDERAL GUN TRIAL AFTER JURY SEATED

Reports surfaced Tuesday that Melissa Cohen lashed out at a former Trump White House aide, Garrett Ziegler, allegedly pointing her finger at him and saying, “You have no right to be here, you Nazi piece of s—.” Fox News Digital did not witness the tense exchange.

Ziegler later confirmed the encounter, telling NBC News, “It’s sad I’ve been sitting here the whole time and haven’t approached anyone.”

Ziegler leads the nonprofit group Marco Polo and was sued by Biden last year for publishing the contents of his infamous laptop.

Hunter Biden, left, arrives with his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, at federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Prosecutors in the case allege that in October 2018, Biden visited StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply to purchase the Colt revolver and that he lied about his drug addiction when he filled out a federal form to purchase the gun. Biden’s form was ticked “No” when asked if he is an unlawful user of a firearm or addicted to controlled substances.

He is facing charges of false statement in purchase of a firearm; false statement related to information required to be kept by federal firearms licensed dealer; possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.

HUNTER BIDEN’S CRIMINAL TRIAL ON FEDERAL GUN CHARGES BEGINS WITH JURY SELECTION

Biden pleaded not guilty in the case. 

The total maximum prison time for the three charges could be up to 25 years. Each count carries a maximum fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release. 

Ashley Biden arrives at federal court on the second day of Hunter Biden’s trial on criminal gun charges in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 4, 2024. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

The trial continues Wednesday with cross-examination of FBI Special Agent Erica Jensen, who testified about dozens of text messages, metadata, photos and short videos found on phones and iCloud accounts belonging to Biden. 

The defense team is laying the groundwork that at the time of the gun purchase in 2018, Biden had just flown from California to the East Coast, which they appeared to argue would be incongruent with his documented behavior of active addiction. Biden detailed in his book that when he was in active addiction, he missed flights out of fear he would not be able to smoke crack on the plane.

In opening statements, Lowell set the framework that Biden’s purchase of a handgun was hurried by gun shop employees seeking to make a sale. Along with the revolver, Biden also purchased a box of ammunition, a speed loader and a BB gun, evidence presented Tuesday showed.

The defense team highlighted to the jury that they are not arguing Biden was a drug addict, with Lowell saying Biden began drinking alcohol as a teenager before graduating to hard drugs as an adult, citing his traumatic childhood, including losing his mother and sister to a car crash in 1972 that also left him seriously injured. Instead, the defense team argued that the issue at hand is whether Biden believed he was in active addiction when he entered the gun shop to make the purchase. 

The prosecution, meanwhile, presented text message evidence and photos and video in an effort to prove to the jury that Biden was an addict before, during and after the purchase, thus working to prove he lied on the federal gun form. 

Prosecutors presented a list of their anticipated witnesses on Tuesday, including: ex-wife Kathleen Buhle; former romantic partner and sister-in-law Hallie Biden; one of Biden’s former romantic partners, Zoe Kestan; gun shop employee Gordon Cleveland; the man who discovered the gun Biden purchased, Edward Banner; and others. 

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Buhle, who was married to Biden from 1993 to 2017, could take the stand on Wednesday. The former couple share three daughters. 

Court begins Wednesday at 9 a.m. and is anticipated to conclude for the day at 4:30 p.m.

President Biden has shown signs of poor cognitive performance in private meetings with congressional lawmakers, as his age and mental acuity continue to come into question ahead of November’s presidential election.

Biden, 81, is the oldest person to hold the presidency and has faced skepticism from voters and Republican lawmakers about his ability to do his job. Many Republicans and even some Democrats said the president showed his age in private meetings, according to The Wall Street Journal, which spoke with 45 lawmakers and administration officials about the president’s mental performance.

Most of the people interviewed by the outlet who were critical of Biden’s performance were Republicans, although some Democrats said the president showed his age in several exchanges. These interviewees participated in meetings with Biden or were briefed on them contemporaneously, including administration officials and other Democrats who did not express concerns about how the president handled the meetings.

When meeting with congressional leaders in January to negotiate a deal to send additional funding to Ukraine, Biden spoke so softly at times that some people struggled to hear him, five people familiar with the meeting told The Wall Street Journal. The president read from notes to make obvious points, paused for extended periods of time and even closed his eyes for so long that some people in the meeting wondered if he had tuned out.

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President Biden, 81, is the oldest person to hold the presidency. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

In February, when Biden met one-on-one with House Speaker Mike Johnson, the president said a recent policy change by his administration that jeopardizes some big energy projects was just a study, according to six people who were told at the time about what Johnson recalled from the meeting. Johnson was concerned the president had forgotten about the details of his own policy.

Last year, when Biden was negotiating with House Republicans to lift the debt ceiling, his demeanor and command of the details appeared to change from one day to the next, then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and two others familiar with the talks said. He appeared sharp with loose and spontaneous exchanges with Republicans on one day, and mumbled and seemed to rely on notes on other days.

“I used to meet with him when he was vice president. I’d go to his house. He’s not the same person,” McCarthy said.

Previously having a reputation in Washington for being a master negotiator of legislative deals, possessing detailed knowledge of issues and insights into the other side’s motivations and needs and for excelling under pressure, Biden is now perceived, particularly in the last year after Republicans took control of the House, as an aging president with poor cognitive ability at times.

White House officials, however, dismissed many of the accounts from people who have met with the president or been briefed on those meetings, saying such criticisms were motivated by partisan politics.

“Congressional Republicans, foreign leaders and nonpartisan national-security experts have made clear in their own words that President Biden is a savvy and effective leader who has a deep record of legislative accomplishment,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said. “Now, in 2024, House Republicans are making false claims as a political tactic that flatly contradict previous statements made by themselves and their colleagues.”

In Biden’s meeting on Ukraine in January, the president laid out a compelling case for providing aid, according to administration officials and some participants, who said it is common practice to use notes in these meetings. Bates also denied claims that Biden had misspoken during his meeting with Johnson in February about energy policy.

White House officials claimed criticisms of Biden’s mental acuity were motivated by partisan politics. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Administration aides familiar with last year’s debt-ceiling negotiations recalled that Biden was effective, that he was not directly involved and had provided detailed instructions behind the scenes. The aides said McCarthy privately told administration officials at the time that he was impressed with Biden’s performance, and that the former Speaker suggested in public remarks that the president appeared sharp.

The aides said the passage of both Ukraine funding and a debt-ceiling increase without major concessions to Republicans shows he succeeded. 

Former President Trump, Biden’s biggest threat in the presidential election, at 77-years-old, has also faced criticism over his mental acuity as he has shown signs of poor memory, giving inaccurate facts and slipping up in public remarks, allowing both Democrats and Republicans to attack their political foe over mental sharpness.

Some who attended the meetings with Biden blamed his slip-ups on his speech impediment and tendency to be long-winded. People who expressed concern about the president said the behavior they observed suggested unevenness, rather than a confused leader that some of his political opponents have described. The White House said the president’s doctors have found him fit to serve, and that his recent annual physical showed no need for a cognitive test.

Members of the administration provided several examples of other instances they say showed the president was sharp and engaged, including long hours in the Situation Room in April during and after Iran’s missile attack on Israel, and late nights on the phone with lawmakers from the White House.

Voters’ concerns about the mental acuity of Biden and Trump are shaped largely by their speeches and other public appearances.

BIDEN ORDER TO BLOCK MOST ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WHEN CROSSINGS SURGE, AS ELECTION NEARS

Former President Trump has also faced criticism over his mental acuity. (Donald Trump/Truth Social)

During a campaign event in Detroit last month, Biden suggested he was vice president during the COVID-19 pandemic, which started during the Trump administration. The following day, during a Rose Garden event celebrating Jewish American Heritage month, Biden initially said one of the U.S. hostages held in Gaza was a guest at the White House event before correcting himself.

In January, Biden mixed up two of his Hispanic cabinet secretaries, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.

At a February fundraiser in New York, he recalled speaking to German Chancellor Helmut Kohl at the 2021 Group of Seven meeting, despite the fact that Kohl died in 2017. During a different fundraiser that month, he said that during the 2021 G-7 summit he had spoken to former French President François Mitterrand, who died in 1996.

Trump, meanwhile, mixed up then-Republican presidential opponent Nikki Haley with former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat congresswoman from California, during a speech in January. During a rally in Virginia in March, Trump mixed up Biden with former President Obama when commenting on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s opinion of U.S. leadership. At his criminal hush money trial in New York last month, he closed his eyes for extended periods of time.

Following the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, concerns about Trump’s mental state led some of his cabinet officials to discuss whether there should be a greater check on his power and at least one considered invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office.

A spokeswoman for Trump told The Wall Street Journal he is “sharp as a tack.”

Voters’ concerns about the mental acuity of Biden and Trump are shaped largely by their speeches and other public appearances. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

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Concerns about the president’s mental state were amplified earlier this year when Special Counsel Robert K. Hur, who interviewed him for about five hours over two days last October during an investigation into his handling of classified documents, wrote that Biden’s memory had been “significantly limited.” Biden addressed Hur’s report, saying “I know what the hell I’m doing.”

Americans have had limited opportunities to observe Biden in unscripted moments, as he has shown a reluctance to give media interviews. By the end of April, he had given fewer interviews and press conferences than any of his recent predecessors, according to data collected by Martha Joynt Kumar, an emeritus professor at Towson University. His last town-hall-style meeting with an independent news outlet was in October 2021.

Biden has had fewer small meetings with lawmakers as his term has continued, according to visitor logs. During his first year in office, he held more than three dozen meetings of fewer than 20 lawmakers in the West Wing, even with pandemic restrictions. The number dipped to roughly two dozen in his second year, and about a dozen in his third year.

The Wall Street Journal contributed to this report.