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South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott was pretty clear as he dropped out of the Republican presidential nomination race and said he had no plans as of now to endorse another candidate.

“The best way for me to be helpful is to not weigh in,” he said in a live interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy.”

As he suspended his campaign, Scott was polling in the upper single-digits in the latest GOP presidential nomination surveys in Iowa — the state that leads off the Republican calendar — and his home state of South Carolina, which holds the first southern contest. Additionally, the senator stood in the mid single-digits in New Hampshire, which holds the first primary and votes second after Iowa.

The big question with just nine weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses is which of the remaining candidates will Scott supporters back?

WHY TIM SCOTT DROPPED OUT OF THE 2024 REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Scott, a rising star in the GOP and the only Black Republican in the Senate, was showcasing what he called an “optimistic, positive message anchored in conservatism,” as he ran for the White House.

A Scott ally told Fox News that “you’re talking about the most favorably viewed Republican in America right now. So he has a pretty unique coalition of supporters.”

“I think you’re going to see that support spread among several candidates because there’s not a particular subgroup that he was catering to. He had a really broad coalition of support. That’s what happens when you have someone as likable as Tim Scott,” said the strategist, who asked for anonymity to speak more freely.

FORMER GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE URGES SOME REMAINING CONTENDERS TO FOLLOW HIS FOOTSTEPS

The strategist emphasized that Scott supporters would be highly sought after by the campaigns of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former United Nations ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

Both candidates quickly issued statements praising Scott after he dropped out of the race. 

DeSantis and Haley are battling for second place in the GOP nomination race, far behind former President Trump, who remains the commanding front-runner as he makes his third straight White House run.

Nicole Schlinger, a longtime Iowa-based strategist, told Fox News on Monday that “there isn’t necessarily a natural place for Tim Scott supporters to all flock as a group. I think these people are going to go back to the drawing board and kick the tires on someone else.”

“This is going to be all about who is going to court them,” Schlinger added.

Haley’s campaign announced on Monday that they are reserving $10 million to run TV, radio and digital ads in Iowa and New Hampshire starting next month.

It is the largest ad buy to date by the Haley campaign and dwarfs what the DeSantis campaign, as of now, plans to spend to run spots next month in the two crucial early voting states. However, much of the advertising on behalf of the Florida governor comes from the DeSantis-aligned super PAC Never Back Down, rather than the campaign.

When she was South Carolina governor, Haley named Scott, who had just been elected to a second term in the House, to the Senate in December 2012 to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Jim DeMint.

FIREWORKS AT LAST WEEK’S THIRD REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY DEBATE

Haley and Scott share many of the same political friends, allies and donors, which caused some friction as they both ran for the White House.

Dave Wilson, a veteran South Carolina-based Republican consultant, told Fox News that Scott’s departure from the race “gives a level of comfort to South Carolina voters to not have a split between hometown names. When you had Scott and Haley both on the ticket, there was a question for some voters as to which one you throw your support behind.”

Scott, as he ran for president, spotlighted his faith and was a strong supporter of a 15-week federal abortion ban. 

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Scott’s suspension of his campaign, along with former Vice President Mike Pence departing the race late last month, leaves social conservatives and evangelical voters without their two strongest champions, and such voters play an out-sized role in Republican presidential politics in both Iowa and South Carolina.

“Tim Scott and Mike Pence were surging resources in Iowa, looking to attract evangelical supporters, and unlike Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis is making headway with those voters,” DeSantis campaign communications director Andrew Romeo argued in a statement to Fox News.

Romeo emphasized that evangelical voters “will continue to see Ron DeSantis as the only true conservative in this race who will fight and win the big battles important to faith communities in the Hawkeye State.”

Schlinger told Fox News that Iowa evangelicals may be able “to find a good home with Ron DeSantis, or President Trump, or Nikki Haley.”

Wilson emphasized that if you’re “talking to evangelical voters, these campaigns have to figure out how they’re going to message to an audience that’s looking beyond headlines.”

Additionally, pointing to the Florida governor’s wife, Wilson argued that “in all reality, Casey DeSantis is probably the best voice that Ron DeSantis has when it comes to winning over the evangelical vote, because she can speak to that audience with true sincerity.”

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

“Squad” member Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is to face a rematch in the 2024 Democratic primary to keep her House seat against former Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels. 

Samuels, who was narrowly defeated by Omar by just about 2 percentage points in the 2022 primary, announced Sunday that he will once again try to unseat the prominent House progressive. “Ilhan hasn’t helped herself,” Samuels said, after formally announcing his campaign on WCCO News Talk 830 Radio. “She has made missteps, even after the last race. There are some folks who are coming [to support me] because of what I am, who I am, and what I will do. And some are coming because of what she’s done and what she’ll do.”

Omar won re-election twice despite making comments in her first term that were widely criticized for invoking antisemitic tropes and suggesting Jewish Americans have divided loyalties. 

But Omar, a Somali American and Muslim, has come under renewed fire for condemning the Israeli government’s handling of its war against Hamas. 

“We have to remember that Israel is our ally,” Samuels said of the conflict on WCCO. “Hamas is in fact a terrorist organization. But our number one allies are justice and peace.” 

IRAQI-BORN MUSLIM REPUBLICAN RUNNING AGAINST OMAR CALLS OUT ‘HAMAS SQUAD’ AMID CRITICISM OF ISRAEL

“Our congresswoman has a predilection to divisiveness and conflict,” Samuels said of Omar in an interview with The Associated Press ahead of his official announcement Sunday. 

The Jamaican-born Samuels still maintains that his narrow primary loss in 2022 showed Omar was beatable, and that he could have won if they had competed later in the general election, where Omar won 74% of the vote over a little-known Republican in the staunchly blue district. 

The big issue in 2022 was the future of policing in Minneapolis, which descended into violent rioting and protest following the 2020 death of George Floyd in police custody. 

Omar was among the progressives who slammed former President Barack Obama for criticizing the “defund the police” movement as just a “snappy slogan.” “It’s not a slogan but a policy demand,” she posted on Twitter, now known as X.

ADL LEADER SAYS ‘SQUAD’ HAVE ‘MARGINALIZED THEMSELVES,’ LOST INFLUENCE WITH RADICAL POSITIONS ON ISRAEL

In contrast, the centrist Samuels helped lead the opposition that defeated a proposal on the city ballot in 2021 that arose from the “defund” movement and would have replaced the police force with a revamped public safety agency. Samuels thinks safety will be a top issue again.

“The long tails of the George Floyd and COVID issues continue, with empty storefronts and empty strip malls because people don’t want to invest anymore. They don’t think it’s safe,” Samuels said.

Omar issued a written statement Sunday touting her work in Congress and for her district, including fighting to combat climate change and codify abortion rights. She also noted her part in securing an affordable housing facility for veterans in Minnesota and a public safety measure that provides mental health support and services for victims of gun violence.

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“Right-wing donors have targeted me since I first entered public life,” Omar said in the statement, which also accused Samuels of taking hundreds of thousands in contributions from far-right donors and political action committees. “If we’re going to stop Donald Trump, we need record turnout, and I am confident in our ability to drive turnout, particularly in a presidential election year.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Maryanne Trump Barry, the older sister of former President Donald Trump, has died Monday at the age of 86, the New York City Police Department has confirmed to Fox News.

Barry was a former federal appellate judge who retired in April 2019, according to the New York Times.

In 2016, Trump called his sister a “highly respected judge” while noting they disagree on public policy issues.

Four years later, Trump dismissed secret audio recordings released of Barry saying he had “no principles” and was “cruel.”

TRUMP DISMISSES SECRET AUDIO OF SISTER CALLING HIM ‘CRUEL’: ‘WHO CARES?’

“Every day it’s something else, who cares?” Trump said in a statement at the time, according to the Washington Post.

The Post’s story about the recordings appeared one day after the White House hosted a private memorial service for Robert Trump, the president’s younger brother, who died Aug. 15, 2020, at age 71.

The recordings of Barry were made by Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, who published a scathing tell-all book on the president and their family.

“Donald is cruel,” Barry told her niece in the secretly recorded conversation in 2018.

TRUMP ATTORNEY SOUNDS ALARM ON NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL LETITIA JAMES AMID CIVIL FRAUD CASE

“All he wants to do is appeal to his base. He has no principles. None. None. And his base, I mean my God, if you were a religious person, you want to help people. Not do this,” she allegedly said in the recording published by the Post, referring to the Trump administrations’s so-called zero-tolerance policy at the U.S.-Mexico border that led to children being separated from their parents amid immigration court hearings. The policy was later rescinded.

During her legal career, Barry worked as a federal prosecutor before being nominated by then-President Ronald Reagan to the Federal District Court in New Jersey in 1983, the New York Times reports.

In 1999, then-President Bill Clinton appointed her to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the newspaper added.

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Shortly after Trump was sworn in as president in 2017, Barry then told that court she would stop hearing cases, according to the New York Times.

Fox News’ Brie Stimson contributed to this report.

EXCLUSIVE: Conservative firebrand and Republican Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake is offering a solution to her own party following its multiple election losses last week, telling Fox News Digital that success at the polls would come to the GOP in 2024 because its voters would “show up” to vote for one major name on the ballot.

“When we get President Trump on the ticket, we get some great people who are going to put the citizens of their states and the country first,” Lake said, just days removed from an election night that saw Republicans lose a gubernatorial race in deep-red Kentucky and Democrats winning total control of the Virginia state legislature.

“I have faith that in 2024, people are going to show up in such massive droves because things have gotten so bad. And when President Trump’s on the ticket, they’re going to show up. He brings people out, he brings enthusiasm,” she said.

KARI LAKE BUILDS MOMENTUM WITH MORE BIG-NAME BACKING IN RACE TO FLIP ARIZONA SENATE SEAT

Lake admitted more campaigning could have been done to boost the candidate’s in Tuesday’s election, but said Kentucky was always going to be a tough race for Republicans to flip considering only two GOP governors had been elected in the state over the past few decades. 

She also argued driving up voter enthusiasm in an off-election year was more difficult.

A number of Republicans attempted to blame former President Donald Trump for the losses, including his presidential primary opponent, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

SEN. JOE MANCHIN ANNOUNCES HE WILL NOT SEEK SENATE RE-ELECTION

“Trump endorsed candidate Daniel Cameron loses the Governor’s race in DEEP RED Kentucky. Another loss for Trump. The losing will only end for Republicans if we rid ourselves of Donald Trump. Trump—loser in ‘18, ‘20, ‘21, ‘22 and now ‘23,” Christie wrote on X.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, another Trump opponent, joined in during Wednesday’s Republican presidential debate, saying during his opening remarks, “[Trump] said Republicans were gonna get tired of winning — what we saw last night, I’m sick of Republicans losing.”

When asked about that blame being placed on Trump, Lake pointed to the re-election victory of GOP Gov. Tate Reeves in Mississippi, as well as that of Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, who flipped his state’s gubernatorial seat from Democrats in an election last month.

“He got very involved in those races, and so his endorsement means a lot,” she said.

ARKANSAS GOV SARAH SANDERS MAKES MAJOR ENDORSEMENT IN 2024 REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Lake, in turn, placed some blame for the Kentucky loss on the Republican Governors Association (RGA), who she said “could have done a lot more” to win. She also ripped Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who chairs the organization, for being distracted with her support for DeSantis’s presidential campaign.

“I think that was a misstep, frankly,” she said. 

Lake also responded to criticism that Republican abortion policy also contributed to the losses, including in Ohio where a ballot initiative asking voters if the “right” to an abortion should be enshrined in the state constitution was overwhelmingly approved.

“I’m a big believer that no matter what the abortion laws are, how many weeks, whatever it is, what we need to do as Republicans and, frankly, just as citizens, is figure out why women are choosing to have abortions,” she said.

VP HARRIS SAYS SHE AND BIDEN ‘OBVIOUSLY HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO’ TO WIN RE-ELECTION IN 2024

“Oftentimes it’s because they don’t feel they can afford their baby. And it’s tough in this economy. You know, people can’t even afford life on their own. And then you add a baby to the mix. And it’s a very scary prospect for women,” she added.

Lake argued that Republicans should focus instead on how to help women and families in those situations, and that it could be done through tax breaks and “baby bonuses.”

“I want to make sure that we’re helping women and really, truly give them choices so that they don’t make the tragic choice,” she said.

Lake went on to cite Hungary’s significant abortion rate drop, which fell 23% from 2010-2015, and continued falling thereafter, according to government statistics. The drop reportedly happened without any introduction of new abortion restrictions, and instead came alongside the introduction of “pro-family” government policies, that included defining life as beginning at conception and encouraging adoption. 

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“They cut abortions in half by empowering families, empowering women to be the parents that they could be. And I think that’s where we should be focused right now. We could cut abortions in half, and that would be absolutely wonderful to see all those beautiful babies and see all those wonderful parents who are happy that they made the choice to keep their children,” she said.

The race for Arizona Senate is expected to be one of the most closely watched in the 2024 election cycle. Lake’s only major opponent in the Republican primary is Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb.

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

Fox News’ Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.

South Carolina Senator Tim Scott announced on Sunday night that he is suspending his 2024 presidential campaign.

Scott dropped the news on an episode of Fox News’ “Sunday Night in America” with Trey Gowdy. 

“I think the voters who are the most remarkable people on the planet have been really clear that they’re telling me, ‘Not now, Tim,’” Scott said.

The senator also emphasized he has no plans to endorse another candidate in the Republican nomination race.

FACING NEGATIVE NARRATIVE, SCOTT TOUTS HE HAS MORE MONEY THAN ANY CANDIDATE IN THE RACE EXCEPT TRUMP

“The best way for me to be helpful is to not weigh in,” he said. 

And also gave a thumbs down to the idea that he could serve as the running mate on the Republican Party’s 2024 national ticket.

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“Being vice president has never been on my to-do list,” he said.

The news comes two weeks after former Vice President Mike Pence ended his bid for the White House.

The South Carolina Republican launched his campaign back in May. He has served as a U.S. senator since 2013.

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

Arizona resident Jacob Chansley, the Jan. 6, 2021 rioter dubbed the “QAnon Shaman” whose image was ubiquitous on televisions as he wore face paint with animal fur and horns, plans to run for Congress in 2024.

The 35-year-old filed a statement of interest last Thursday, which, according to the Associated Press, indicates Chansley wants to run as a Libertarian in next year’s election for the 8th Congressional District seat in Arizona.

Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., announced in October that she will not seek re-election to her seat, which the 64-year-old woman was first elected to in 2018. Her term will officially end in January 2025.

JAN. 6 RIOTER ‘QANON SHAMAN’ JACOB CHANSLEY SECURES EARLY RELEASE FROM PRISON TO HALFWAY HOUSE, LAWYER SAYS

Chansley, 35, is widely recognizable as the shirtless and face-painted man who, according to one federal judge, became the “very image” of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Numerous pictures and videos from the riot show Chansley carrying an American flag through the Capitol building as a mob of then-President Trump’s supporters engaged in violent confrontations with police outside. 

Footage from the Capitol showed Chansley being escorted around the building by Capitol Police officers. At one point, at least nine police officers were seen close to Chansley, and none of them slowed him down.

FORMER LAWYER FOR ‘QANON SHAMAN’ SAYS JAN. 6 FOOTAGE WASN’T SHOWN TO CLIENT, CALLS PRISON SENTENCE A ‘TRAGEDY’

After the riot, Chansley was arrested and charged in connection with the riot. He pleaded guilty to civil disorder and violent entry to the Capitol in September 2021. 

Chansley was sentenced to 41 months in prison in November 2021, and after serving about 27 months, was transferred to a Phoenix halfway house in March 2023.

In a lengthy speech at his sentencing hearing, Chansley said he was “wrong for entering the Capitol” and did not excuse his actions.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT APPEALS SENTENCES FOR PROUD BOYS ALREADY TO SERVE DECADE PLUS OVER JAN. 6 CAPITOL RIOT

“I am in no way, shape or form a violent criminal… no way a domestic terrorist,” Chansley said. “I’m a good man who broke the law. … I am truly repentant for my actions.”

He is among the more than 700 people sentenced in relation to Capitol riot-related federal crimes.

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Chansley previously called himself the “QAnon Shaman,” but has since disavowed the QAnon movement.

The Biden-Harris campaign’s communications director argued that “a brick wall of MAGA extremism” has contributed to Americans struggling financially and working multiple jobs to make ends meet.

“That’s precisely why we need another four years to continue to finish the job, right? I think it’s important, too, that the president, of course, wants to get all of this done. But we have to be honest about the brick wall of MAGA extremism that we continue to run into when we’re trying to get things done for the American people,” Biden campaign official Michael Tyler told CNN’s Victor Blackwell on “CNN This Morning Weekend” on Saturday.

Tyler was responding to a question about how President Biden has previously said Americans shouldn’t be forced to work two jobs in order to stay afloat and above the poverty line.

“The Labor Department numbers came out for the third quarter; nearly 8.4 million people in this country are working at least two jobs. That’s the highest number since 2019. So, when people are looking for that economic shift, they don’t feel it,” Blackwell said before pointing to a woman who is working three jobs to make ends meet.

BIDEN ADMIN CLAIMS ECONOMIC POLICIES ARE ‘WORKING,’ BUT ITS OWN DATA PAINT A VERY DIFFERENT PICTURE

Tyler argued that the Biden administration needs four more years in the White House in order to “get the work done” on the economy.

US HOUSEHOLD INCOME FELL IN 2022 FOR THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR, CENSUS DATA SHOWS

“Are we going to continue the work to build an economy that grows and the middle out and the bottom up? Or do we want to return to the failed trickle down economic policies that Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans put into place for generations,” he said.

JEAN-PIERRE CONFRONTED WITH POLLS SHOWING ‘BIDENOMICS’ ISN’T POPULAR WITH AMERICANS

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“This is the work that we have to do over the next four years. The president understands the challenges. He understands people’s concerns, and he is doing the work to solve them. And so we have to make sure that everybody gets out and votes on November 2024, so we can get the work done,” he said. 

The Minnesota Supreme Court this week dismissed a lawsuit attempting to keep former President Trump off the ballot in the state, a decision that could impact efforts to prevent Trump from appearing on ballots in Colorado and Michigan. 

The lawsuits seek to use the Disqualifications Clause, or Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

That clause bars individuals who have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against America or who have aided those engaged in such activities from holding office.

The lawsuits cite Trump’s alleged involvement in the Capitol riot Jan. 6, 2021. 

CASES IN COLORADO, MINNESOTA SEEK TO STOP TRUMP FROM BECOMING PRESIDENT AGAIN

“There is no state statute that prohibits a major political party from placing on the presidential nomination primary ballot, or sending delegates to the national convention supporting, a candidate who is ineligible to hold office,” Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson ruled.

The ruling potentially leaves open the possibility Trump could be kept off the ballot during the general election next November. 

But Minnesota is not the only state that blocked challenges to Trump’s candidacy. 

Last month, a federal judge in New Hampshire also dismissed a lawsuit that sought to use the 14th Amendment to keep Trump off the ballot. 

A source familiar with the decisions and proceedings told Fox News Digital the challenges being rejected “sets precedent,” which will make it “harder and harder to keep Trump off the ballot” in other states. 

TRUMP CAMPAIGN SAYS 14TH AMENDMENT ADVOCATES USING ‘LAWFARE’ TO ‘DEPRIVE’ VOTERS OF CHOICE IN 2024

Currently pending is a decision out of a Colorado lawsuit. Watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and six Colorado voters filed their lawsuit in September to block Trump from appearing on the primary ballot, citing the 14th Amendment. 

The Trump team has made multiple motions to dismiss the case, but Judge Sarah B. Wallace has rejected them. 

Wallace has scheduled closing arguments for next week. 

It is unclear when the Colorado case will be decided, but the trial is running through an expedited process to give state election officials enough time to certify which candidates can appear on the primary ballots. 

Michigan is also considering a case on whether Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has the authority to block Trump’s name from appearing on the ballot. She does not believe that she has the power to use the 14th Amendment to keep Trump off the ballot. 

But while precedent could have been set with the Minnesota and New Hampshire decisions, Andy McCarthy, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a Fox News contributor, said it should not be interpreted as “bulletproof.” 

“It gets to the concept known in the law as persuasive authority. The law distinguishes between binding authority in a jurisdiction and persuasive authority, which means if you’re going to go against it, you better have a good reason or a persuasive argument for why you’re going to do it,” McCarthy said. 

“The more current law you get for the proposition that it is not a basis to remove someone, the harder it is for judges to break ground and go the other way, but we shouldn’t pretend that it is bulletproof.” 

McCarthy said “persuasive authority doesn’t have to be followed.” 

“I think, yes, the more precedent you get on the books that this is not an adequate way to go and that what we ought to do is let the public go to the polls on Election Day and decide the election — the more you have people saying that — the better it is,” McCarthy said. 

“But if it looks in September 2024 like Trump can win the election, I wouldn’t put anything past these guys. Anything.” 

Speaking to the theory being tested in Michigan that courts don’t need to be involved, and rather, an elected bureaucrat like the secretary of state or state attorney general can take a person off the ballot, McCarthy said he believed that was a “radical path.” 

“I think they’ll try to resist doing that because it’s pretty radical,” he said. “But desperate times call for desperate measures if it looks like he has the chance of winning.” 

But in terms of the law, McCarthy said he thinks the 14th Amendment argument is a “frivolous theory.” 

“In my mind, the 14th Amendment, Section 3, doesn’t even apply to the presidency because it itemizes the list of offices that people are not eligible for, and it doesn’t mention the president of the United States or the vice president of the United States, which is a strange omission because it does mention electors of the president and goes through pains of mentioning senators and members of the house,” McCarthy explained.

“The theory is that there is a catch-all provision that refers to any federal official, but I don’t think that can sensibly be applied to the president after you’ve gone through the trouble of listing all of these other offices.

“If the drafters of that amendment wanted to include the presidency, they would have said so.” 

The Trump campaign has told Fox News Digital it believes “there is no legal basis for this effort except in the minds of those who are pushing it.” 

“This is nothing more than a blatant attempt by enemies of America to create fake excuses and use lawfare to deprive voters of choosing their next president,” the Trump campaign spokesperson said. 

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Trump is the first former president in United States history to face criminal charges. 

Trump was indicted during special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into alleged interference in the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot. He faces criminal charges in Georgia, New York and from Smith’s separate investigation into his alleged mishandling of classified documents.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges, which included conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Republicans suffered election losses in several states Nov. 7, and one political strategist told Fox News Digital it shows the GOP is playing like a “JV team” that needs to make several key changes.

“When I was looking back at all of the election results, the first thing that I realized was that we had an absence of a cohesive, well-funded machine for conservatives in terms of our tactics,” said Ashley Hayek, executive director of America First Works, who served as the national coalitions director for Trump’s 2020 campaign.

“We are still very much lagging in mail votes and early votes, and I would say the conservative effort is more like the JV football team compared to an NFL team in terms of our ability to turn out voters early through mail and just really mobilize our ground game,” Hayek told Fox News Digital.

In Ohio, where voters approved a measure that enshrined abortion access into the state’s constitution, Hayek told Fox News Digital “Republicans just didn’t turn out” on that issue or the ballot measure that legalized recreational marijuana.

YOUNGKIN FALLS SHORT IN HIS MISSION TO WIN TOTAL GOP CONTROL OF VIRGINIA STATE LEGISLATURE

“I did hear back the day after the election that, in Ohio, mayors’ seats were picked up for Republicans,” Hayek, a political consultant for 15 years, said. “There were some county board seats that were flipped. Some school board seats were picked up. So, Republicans were actively choosing to not engage on those issues, whereas they were still voting in those smaller races.“

One of the things that struck Hayek as a misstep for Republicans in Kentucky was not focusing early and often enough on President Trump’s endorsement of Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who lost by five points in a state Trump carried by 26 points in 2020.

TOP TAKEAWAYS FROM ELECTION DAY 2023 AND WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT THE 2024 SHOWDOWNS

“What was interesting in the Kentucky governor’s race is the fact that the attorney general and the secretary of state — Republicans both won and they both received more votes than the Democrat governor,” Hayek said. 

“I think not having and not using Donald Trump’s endorsement earlier was a misstep and a missed opportunity. Not addressing some of the advertising that was taking place on abortion was also a missed opportunity to take that issue head on. So, the Kentucky race is actually a little bit unique in that there’s a lot of dynamics at play there.“

In Ohio, Virginia and Kentucky, Hayek said Republicans were massively outspent by their opposition, specifically on the abortion issue, which is a factor Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America Marjorie Dannenfelser raised in a memo after the election.

“In regards to spending in the state of Ohio, there was a combined $71.6 million in contributions, and the pro-life groups were outspent 2 to 1,” Hayek said. “If you look at Virginia, the amount of money that was spent on ads pertaining to abortion was also pretty astronomical in a lot of those races. 

“At the end of the day, I think conservatives are always going to be outspent, so it just means that we have to be a lot more strategic in how we spend money, how we target voters, how we message, and we need to be more unified.”

Republicans did score some notable victories in New York Tuesday night, a continuation of a red wave that has turned Long Island into a GOP bastion in recent years in a historically blue state. Hayek said it’s a blueprint that needs to be used in other areas.

“I think that goes to show that people are really sick and tired of the left’s policies and that there is an opportunity and a path forward,” Hayek said.  

“When you have a party that is completely annihilating the nuclear family, fighting to take away parents’ rights, increasing your taxes, making it hard to keep your job, wants to defund your police that keep your community safe, it makes a very easy way for people to come in and say, ‘You know what, that’s not right; that’s not what we’re going to do anymore,’ and start winning back those seats.”

Hayek told Fox News Digital Republicans have an opportunity to highlight President Biden’s record and ask voters if their lives are better today than four years ago. But they will need to try and match Democrats’ unity.

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“It doesn’t matter if it’s Black Lives Matter or Occupy Wall Street or abortion, the left will find an issue, they’ll hold onto it and that’s what they’ll use to drive the vote, period,” Hayek told Fox News Digital. 

“The difference between the left and the right is that the left has one message across the board. Conservatives are not really unified in a message, and I think we’re getting closer. But we’re not really there yet.“

The Republican National Committee (RNC) threatened to prevent GOP presidential candidates from taking part in future party-sanctioned debates if they engaged in an open-press event in Iowa next week, drawing backlash from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The threat came prior to an agreement that was announced Saturday between the RNC and organizers of the event to allow GOP candidates to participate.

Prior to the agreement over the format of the forum, in an Oct. 28 letter to the respective presidential campaigns the RNC Counsel’s Office said that any candidate who participates in the Nov. 17 Des Moines event would violate their pledge to not participate in non-RNC-sanctioned primary debates.

“It has come to the attention of the RNC Counsel’s Office that several Republican presidential candidates have been invited to participate in an open-press event in Iowa in November at which they would ‘gather around the table to have a moderated, friendly, and open discussion about the issues.’ In other words, a debate,” the RNC Counsel’s Office wrote in the letter, which was obtained by Fox News.

GOP DEBATE: HALEY TAKES INCOMING FIRE AS PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES BATTLE FOR 2ND PLACE BEHIND TRUMP

“As a reminder, in accordance with RNC Rule 10(a)(11), each Republican presidential candidate participating in RNC-sanctioned primary debates has signed a pledge stating, in relevant part, that ‘if I participate in any debate that has not been sanctioned by the Republican National Committee, I will not be eligible to participate in any further Republican National Committee sanctioned debates,'” the counsel’s office added in the letter.

Should the candidate(s) choose to ignore the warning and participate in the event, or an event similar in nature, the counsel’s office said the candidate(s) said at the time that they “will be deemed to have violated this pledge and will be disqualified from taking part in any future RNC-sanctioned presidential primary debates.”

Five GOP candidates — former President Donald Trump, DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott — were invited to the Family Leader’s “Thanksgiving Family Forum.”

Organizers for the event told Fox News that three candidates — DeSantis, Ramaswamy, and Scott – have confirmed they will attend, with Haley expected to do the same.

The RNC’s former threat to bar Republican candidates from future debates if they take part in the event was met with frustration from DeSantis, who said he would participate in the event “no matter what.”

“I’m going to be there at The Family Leader. I think it’s an important part of this process,” DeSantis wrote in a post to X on Saturday. “There’s no way that should cause the RNC to penalize any candidate. I’ll be here no matter what happens.”

GOP DEBATE FIREWORKS: WHY VIVEK RAMASWAMY TOOK AIM AT RNC CHAIR RONNA MCDANIEL

Following the letter to Republican candidates, Family Leader President and CEO Bob Vander Plaats announced Saturday that he and the RNC had “agreed on the format” for the event.

“The Forum is NOT a debate,” he wrote in a post to X. “Thus, the RNC is giving a thumbs up for candidates to participate. Thanks to the RNC for facilitating a win/win for the process.”

Prior to announcing the agreement Saturday, Vander Plaats told the Des Moines Register that his organization would move forward with the planned event, saying “these forums are not debates.”

DeSantis also accused the RNC of doing Trump’s “bidding” by issuing the threat while speaking to reporters on Saturday, before the agreement was announced by Vander Plaats.

“Bob Vander Plaats is someone that’s been very outspoken, that Donald Trump is not the way forward for the party. And because of that, I think there’s been pressure from Trump’s camp on the RNC to try to do something to stop it,” DeSantis said. “But if I have an opportunity to speak to Iowans about issues that matter to them, I’m going to show up.”

DeSantis also questioned why the RNC would “be doing the bidding of somebody who not only didn’t show up to the last debate, but counter programed a rally.”

“I’ll be there one way or another, we’re going to be there spreading the message, answering the questions,” he added.

The event is set to feature presidential candidates sitting around a table to engage in conversation with Vander Plaats. In order to be invited to the forum, candidates needed to have an RCP polling average of 4.0 or more in either the national polls or the Iowa polls on November 1.

Vander Plaats is one of the major endorsements candidates are seeking. He’s expected to announce around Thanksgiving who he will support in the race.

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Vander Plaats endorsed the last three Republican winners of the Iowa caucuses — Mike Huckabee in 2008, Rick Santorum in 2012 and Ted Cruz in 2016 — but none went on to win the GOP nomination.

Fox News Digital reached out to the campaigns of Ramaswamy, Haley, and Scott for comment.

Fox News’ Jessica Loker and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

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

A top Republican wants to prohibit Harvard and other universities allowing ‘antisemitism’ to go unchecked on their campuses from collecting large sums of taxpayer money.

Harvard and other elite schools have faced scrutiny over rising antisemitic events unfolding on their campuses and their lackluster response to the incidents in the wake of Hamas’ bloody onslaught on Israelis and their subsequent counter-response.

House GOP conference chair Elise Stefanik, a Harvard graduate herself, is now calling for tightening the taxpayer valve on her alma mater and other higher educational institutions and said House Republicans intend to hold them accountable. 

ELITE AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES RECEIVING BILLIONS IN FEDERAL FUNDS SEE RISE IN ANTISEMITISM: ‘GAMED THE TAX CODE’

“It is abhorrent that Harvard and universities across America are enabling horrific antisemitism to run rampant on their campuses,” Stefanik told Fox News Digital. “U.S. taxpayer dollars should be prohibited from funding any institution that promotes antisemitism or anti-Israel bigotry, and House Republicans will hold these extremist institutions accountable for failing their students.”

Fox News Digital reported last week that Harvard, which has been under a microscope following the antisemitic events on its campus, has received billions of dollars in federal funds in recent years.

Between 2018 and 2022, Harvard amassed $3.13 billion in total federal payments, including federal grants and contracts, according to an analysis conducted by OpenTheBooks and provided to Fox News Digital. 

Harvard also acquired generous tax breaks on its endowment. During those same years, the school’s endowment totaled $50.9 billion, and it received $2.17 billion in special federal tax treatment. 

“Are these wealthy universities operating in the public interest or their own special interest? Since these schools are educational charities under IRS code 501(c)3, Congress should hold hearings,” OpenTheBooks founder Adam Andrzejewski said of the taxpayer money.

“Who knew that you were subsidizing the wealthy Ivy League? They don’t need taxpayer help,” Andrzejewski said.

UPENN NOTIFIES FBI OF ‘DISTURBING’ ANTISEMITIC EMAILS ‘THREATENING VIOLENCE’ AGAINST ITS JEWISH COMMUNITY

Stefanik has been outspoken against her alma mater since more than two dozen student groups at the university castigated Israel and supported Palestinians in Gaza shortly after Hamas’ attack on Israeli civilians. 

The Harvard student organizations‘ statement, released on the day of the Hamas attacks, said the events did not occur “in a vacuum.” The groups who signed the letter included the Harvard Islamic Society, the Harvard Jews for Liberation, the Society of Arab Students and the Harvard Divinity School Muslim Association.

“We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence,” the message said.

“For the last two decades, millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to live in an open-air prison,” the statement said. “Israeli officials promise to ‘open the gates of hell,’ and the massacres in Gaza have already commenced. Palestinians in Gaza have no shelters for refuge and nowhere to escape. In the coming days, Palestinians will be forced to bear the full brunt of Israel’s violence.”

The statement also attacked Israel’s “apartheid regime” that they say forced Palestinians into “colonial retaliation.”

Shortly after the letter made rounds on social media, Stefanik took to X and called it “heinous” that Harvard student groups blamed Israel for “Hamas’ barbaric terrorist attacks.”

“Any voice that excuses the slaughter of innocent women and children has chosen the side of evil and terrorism,” Stefanik said.

UPENN DONOR YANKS FINANCIAL SUPPORT OVER SCHOOL’S ‘UNWILLINGNESS TO CALL OUT EVIL’ AFTER HAMAS ATTACK

Jewish students at the university have also reportedly faced “anti-Israel and antisemitic bias” from Harvard professor Marshall Ganz, the Boston Herald reported. 

These events and others prompted some of the university’s influential donors to end their relationships with the school. Due to the increasing incidents, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan withdrew his offer to participate in Harvard’s fellowship programs.

Meanwhile, students are planning to sue Harvard, among other universities, for not doing enough to address the “explosion” of antisemitic incidents on campus, Business Insider reported. 

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“We’re going to show that the universities had notice of acts of hatred and bigotry towards Jewish students, that there was pervasive anti-Jewish bigotry on campus and that administrators and university bureaucrats acted with deliberate indifference, which is the legal term, with respect to campus antisemitism,” lawyer Mark Ressler told the publication.

“Things are out of control on campus,” he said. 

Harvard did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Republicans are all but sure to pick up a new Senate seat in ruby-red West Virginia next year with Sen. Joe Manchin’s retirement ringing like a death knell for Democrats’ presence in state-wide offices there. 

Manchin’s Thursday announcement sent shock waves through Capitol Hill, but it is not the first time he has dealt a blow to his own party — particularly in recent years under President Biden. 

The conservative Democrat announced in December 2021 that he would not support Biden’s $2.2 trillion progressive Build Back Better package, effectively sinking the left-wing wish list. 

It invoked the ire of progressives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who attacked Manchin for forcing Democrats to decouple the package from a more moderate bipartisan infrastructure proposal. 

TOP DEM SENATOR PRESSES BIDEN ADMIN ON OIL DRILLING RESTRICTIONS

“When a handful of us in the House warned this would happen if Dem leaders gave Manchin everything he wanted 1st by moving [infrastructure] before BBB instead of passing together, many ridiculed our position. Maybe they’ll believe us next time. Or maybe people will just keep calling us naïve,” she wrote on X at the time. 

Manchin’s support for Biden’s policies plummeted over the course of his administration as well. A report from polling aggregation site FiveThirtyEight found that Manchin voted with Biden’s position roughly 21% of the time during this Congress.

MANCHIN TORCHES DEMOCRATS ON ENERGY POLICY

Republicans are now confident that Manchin has handed them a victory over Democrats with his announcement that he will not run again in 2024, in a state that overwhelmingly voted for former President Trump in both 2016 and 2020. 

National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chair Steve Daines, R-Mont., released a simple statement on the news, “We like our odds in West Virginia.”

“When a party committee puts out a one-sentence statement, they’re telling you very bluntly how they assess the situation,” GOP strategist Doug Heye told Fox News Digital on Friday. “Clearly, the NRSC believes [Manchin’s] retirement makes this a very, very safe seat for Republicans now.”

While it could very well help Democrats lose the Senate majority, Republicans now likely just need to flip one more vulnerable Democratic seat to win. Democrats have already lacked a reliable vote in Manchin on some of Biden’s more progressive nominees.

VP HARRIS SAYS SHE AND BIDEN ‘OBVIOUSLY HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO’ TO WIN RE-ELECTION IN 2024

This past May, Manchin vowed to oppose all of Biden’s nominees to the Environmental Protection Agency, citing the administration’s “commitment to their extreme ideology,” which he said “overshadows their responsibility to ensure long-lasting energy and economic security.”

He also derailed acting Labor Secretary Julie Su’s nomination to Biden’s Cabinet.

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What Manchin does next is not immediately clear, but he could further pose problems for the Democratic Party down the line — his pledge to “unite the middle” in his Thursday announcement raised eyebrows whether he will challenge Biden for the White House.

“I have made one of the toughest decisions of my life and decided that I will not be running for re-election to the United States Senate,” Manchin said. “But what I will be doing is traveling the country and speaking out to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together.”

Former Democratic Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke criticized President Biden for his administration’s immigration policy, particularly regarding the asylum process that the former lawmaker says fails to deliver on Biden’s 2020 campaign promises.

Speaking at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics on Thursday, O’Rourke said he was optimistic during Biden’s campaign that his border policy would be a drastic improvement over former President Trump’s strategy.

“When Joe Biden was running in 2020, he ran with such incredible moral clarity on this issue: ‘We will no longer put kids in cages because they’re not animals, we will no longer tear babies from the breasts of their mothers,’ literally what Trump was doing in his family separation policy,” O’Rourke said. “‘We’re going to restore the soul of America, and we’re going to live up to our promise.’ Man, that was inspiring to me. I needed to hear that, living on the border and as someone who really cares about that.”

O’Rourke admitted that he believes Biden has been successful in addressing immigration “on some counts” and that his administration’s rhetoric is a “night-and-day” difference when compared to the Trump years.

WHITE HOUSE, SENATE DEMS REJECT GOP BORDER SECURITY PROPOSALS: ‘TOTAL NON-STARTER’

“Biden is not inspiring, I don’t think, any acts of political terror or the kind of slaughter that we saw in El Paso, and yet, on other counts, he’s really failing us,” he said.

“The asylum ban that we see that makes it so hard for people to lawfully, safely, and in an orderly fashion come to this country when they cannot stay in their own,” the ex-congressman continued. “Because why the hell else would you travel 2,000 miles – the length of this continent – much of it on foot, some of it on top, not inside, of a train, called the beast, La Bestia, facing rape, torture, you know, kidnapping by these transnational criminal organizations, only to come to the most heavily militarized border probably anywhere in this hemisphere, if not this planet, where you risk your life. And more migrants have died this year than any year on record.”

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE’S CLAIM BIDEN ‘HAS DONE EVERYTHING’ TO FIX BORDER CRISIS MET WITH MOCKERY: ‘SPEAKS VOLUMES’

O’Rourke, a three-term congressman who lost the 2018 Texas Senate election to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, the 2020 presidential election that ultimately went to Biden and the 2022 Texas gubernatorial election to incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott, also warned that Biden’s immigration policy could hurt his support among younger voters in next year’s presidential election.

A New York Times-Siena College poll released last weekend shows Trump, the GOP frontrunner, leading Biden in five of six swing states with a year until the 2024 presidential election.

“This is critical if you want to win in 2024. It is no secret that Democratic voters are unexcited about Biden — that’s putting it politely. It is no secret, thanks to the poll that we just read,” O’Rourke said. “The young voters especially are leaving his banner in droves. Now will they vote for Donald Trump? Will they vote for [Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]? Will they not vote at all? I don’t know. But let’s give them a reason to vote for the president. Something bold, something big, something that matches the rhetoric that he used in 2020 and inspires voters in 2024 is what’s needed right now.”

The Biden administration has reversed several of the Trump administration’s border policies since 2021. It has also attempted to open new pathways for legal entry into the U.S. while making it more difficult to claim asylum without previous authorization, a policy O’Rourke described as an “asylum ban.”

“More migrants have died this year than any year on record. And last year more migrants had died than any year on record,” O’Rourke said. “They’re drowning, they’re dying of dehydration and exposure in the desert, and these are little babies and mothers and f***ing human beings who don’t deserve to be treated that way.”

He added: “And when you ban them from coming to this country lawfully and when they know to stay in Honduras, or El Salvador or Haiti is to die in Honduras, El Salvador and Haiti, and they have no other choice but to try to come into this country between ports of entry, risking drowning and death and imprisonment, and yes, some level of separation that is still taking place in this country.”

WHITE HOUSE FUNDING REQUEST INCLUDES $14 BILLION FOR BORDER AS CRISIS HITS NEW RECORDS

The White House announced last month that it would use executive authority to sidestep environmental and historical protection regulations to build segments of border wall in Texas. Biden had said during his 2020 campaign that he would not build “another foot” of Trump’s wall.

The Biden administration has also expanded some forms of relief for migrants, including expanding the Temporary Protected Status program and the use of immigration parole for certain new arrivals.

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“And look, I understand he has an argument to make when he says, ‘Look, this Congress will not work with me and you know, the majority in the House of Representatives aren’t going to do anything to improve the situation at our border to treat people with the humanity that they deserve,'” O’Rourke said.

O’Rourke also highlighted that Democrats held majorities in the House and Senate during the first two years of Biden’s presidency and claimed immigration reform was not prioritized during that time. He also said Biden could move faster on granting parole and work authorization to new migrant arrivals.

President Biden already faces increasing doubts about his ability to win re-election next year, but now Democrats must confront the prospect of a growing list of potential 2024 challengers running as third-party candidates.

Major Democratic Party victories on Tuesday in the 2023 off-year elections gave Biden a much-needed boost after a slew of well publicized polls suggested he was trailing former President Donald Trump — the commanding GOP nomination front-runner — in a 2024 rematch.

But Thursday’s announcement by 2016 Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein that she will make another White House run next year was not welcome news for Team Biden.

WAS BIDEN A BIG WINNER IN THE DEMOCRATIC VICTORIES IN THE 2023 ELECTIONS?

Plenty of Democrats still blame Stein’s 2016 campaign for putting Trump in the White House. Her vote totals seven years ago in the key battlegrounds of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin topped Trump’s margins over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in each state.

A couple of hours after Stein’s news broke, moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin announced he wouldn’t seek re-election next year in heavily red West Virginia, deflating his party’s hopes of holding their Senate majority in 2024.

TOP TAKEAWAYS FROM ELECTION NIGHT 2023 AND WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT THE 2024 SHOWDOWNS

Manchin, who has openly flirted with the possibility of launching a third-party presidential bid, highlighted in his announcement video that in the coming months he would travel across the nation to see “if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together.”

There has been rampant speculation Manchin could join a potential bipartisan national ticket that the centrist group No Labels is considering launching next spring.

Veteran New Hampshire-based political scientist Wayne Lesperance, the president of New England College, noted that Manchin potentially “creates new troubles for Team Biden’s re-election.”

“Manchin has options — none of which are good for the president. He can decide to make a White House run on his own. He can join a No Labels-fueled effort to run. Even if he decided to just travel to battleground states and urge voters to support moderate or centrist campaigns, the impact will be felt by Team Biden,” Lesperance said.

Biden is already facing independent presidential runs by environmental advocate and high-profile vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a scion of the Kennedy family political dynasty, and outspoken progressive university scholar Cornel West.

Recent polls indicate that Biden faces rising concerns from American voters over his age. Surveys suggest that many Americans, including plenty of Democrats, do not want the president to seek a second term in the White House, and a handful of influential Democrats have suggested that the 80-year-old president should drop out of the 2024 race and pass the baton to a new generation.

The president is currently facing long-shot primary challenges from a pair of Democratic rivals.

TRUMP EDGES BIDEN IN ANOTHER 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION POLL

Three-term Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, who launched a primary challenge against the president late last month, has been arguing that Biden cannot beat Trump in 2024. The recent polls released over the past week gave Phillips plenty of fresh ammunition.

Spiritual adviser and best-selling author Marianne Williamson, who is making her second straight White House run, is also challenging Biden.

Pointing to the strong performance by Democrats at the ballot box earlier this week, Biden 2024 re-election campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said Thursday that “we’ve heard the press and pundits count Joe Biden out time and time again, but we know he always proves them wrong.”

“On Tuesday, voters in states across the country proved the pundits wrong,” Chavez Rodriguez emphasized.

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During a trip Thursday to speak to the United Auto Workers in Illinois, Biden himself took aim at media coverage of the latest surveys suggesting he’s losing to Trump in hypothetical 2024 matchups.

“Because you don’t read the polls,” Biden pointed out. “Ten polls. Eight of them, I’m beating [Trump] in those places. Eight of them. You guys only do two. CNN and New York Times. Check it out. Check it out.”

Asked if he believed he was trailing Trump in the key battlegrounds, the president answered, “No, I don’t.”

It’s not clear if Manchin will join a potential national ticket that No Labels is considering launching, and independent candidates like Kennedy and West face high hurdles when it comes to getting on the presidential ballot next year in states across the country.

In addition, some of these candidates could theoretically pull more support from Trump than Biden in a likely multiple-candidate 2024 presidential election field.

Lesperance noted “the fact that polling numbers suggest that voters are unhappy with the prospect of another Trump-Biden contest, add that to the candidacies of Jill Stein, RFK Jr., and Cornell West, and it’s hard not to conclude that the president’s prospects are more difficult. Political headaches abound.” 

Biden — at least outwardly — isn’t fazed. 

On Thursday, at a fundraising event in Chicago, he pointed to the election results from earlier in the week and said, “Democrats had an incredible night once again.”

Referring to Trump, the president asserted that “we haven’t stopped winning, and he hasn’t stopped losing.”

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

Republican Jeff Gunter, a dermatologist, candidate for U.S. Senate in Nevada and the former ambassador to Iceland under the Trump administration, is touting his past support for a Pride group known to promote radical gender ideology and bash law enforcement as part of its support for the Black Lives Matter Movement (BLM).

According to Gunter’s campaign website, he lists as “triumphs” his participation in the 2019 Reykjavik Pride Parade, an $11,000 grant awarded by the U.S. government to the Reykjavik Pride organization that same year “to promote equal rights,” and said that he “demonstrated U.S. commitment to LGBTI+ rights during the 2020 Reykjavik Pride event.”

Reykjavik Pride’s history with radical gender ideology includes what one local Iceland media outlet reported was the group’s planning lectures about transphobia and LGBTQ school children as part of its Pride 2020 celebration, in addition to the president of the organization boasting about marching in drag during that year’s parade and inspiring a friend’s child to cross dress.

KENTUCKY GOVERNOR RACE IN DEAD HEAT AS GOP CHALLENGER MAKES FINAL PITCH TO VOTERS, LEANS INTO TRUMP SUPPORT

Photos posted on social media by Reykjavik Pride show that on a number of other occasions, the group included drag queens as part of its celebrations that had children in attendance. One of those celebrations, the 2022 “family Rainbow Festival,” involved children dancing with drag queens in front of the crowd.

Other photos also included sexually explicit performances at events over the years.

Additionally, the group’s 2020 Pride celebration, held in the wake of the death of George Floyd in the U.S., included lectures calling to defund the police and expressed support for BLM.

REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE ANNOUNCES LOCATION, CRITERIA FOR FOURTH GOP PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

When reached for comment, Gunter told Fox News Digital that his participation in the Reykjavik Pride events was within his capacity as U.S. ambassador, that it was in support of former President Donald Trump’s “campaign to decriminalize homosexuality around the world and to stand against brutal regimes like Iran who continue to criminalize gays.”

“Obviously, marching in a pride parade doesn’t constitute an endorsement of anything and everything that someone may be saying or doing in parades across the globe,” Gunter said. 

“To clarify, I never gave the organization money, in fact it was authorized before I arrived. In addition, I declined to give money to them in 2020 and gave it instead to an advocacy group to support those who are disabled. I also officially asked the Icelandic Ambassador to the U.S. to remove the BLM endorsement from the official Icelandic Government Website,” he added.

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When asked whether the Icelandic government complied with the request, a spokesperson for Gunter said they did not.

Gunter also took a jab at fellow Republican Sam Brown, one of his opponents in the Nevada GOP Senate primary, whom he called “Scam Brown.” 

Brown is “more in line with Iran than Donald Trump on this issue,” he added. “It’s just one of the many reasons that he refuses to endorse Donald Trump for 2024 and will barely say his name.”

“I’m proud of my work supporting the Trump agenda abroad. And I’m 110% supporting Donald Trump in 2024,” he added.

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Gunter is one of eight candidates vying for the Republican nomination in Nevada’s Senate race, which is expected to be one of the most closely watched of the 2024 election cycle and could determine which party controls the chamber.

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

Republican Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn is pressing for the Senate Judiciary Committee to issue a subpoena for convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s flight logs in order to identify possible perpetrators partaking in his “horrific conduct.” 

“Since we’re in the business of issuing subpoenas now, here are a few more that I’ve filed,” Blackburn told the committee during a Thursday hearing looking into possible subpoenas being pushed by Democrats related to a Supreme Court ethics probe.

“A subpoena to Jeffrey Epstein’s estate to provide the flight logs for his private plane. Given the numerous allegations of human trafficking and abuse surrounding Mr. Epstein, we’ve got to identify everyone who could have participated in his horrific conduct,” she said.

SPEAKER JOHNSON TELLS NYC TO AXE SANCTUARY CITY STATUS IN RETURN FOR MIGRANT FUNDING: ‘UNCONSCIONABLE’

Blackburn went on to slam efforts by Democrats on the committee to target justices on the Supreme Court, and said they should be focusing on “real issues.”

“If you want to take up our time and go there, Mr. Chairman, we can go there. This is a sad day in the history of this prestigious committee, but I’m confident that the American people see this sham for what it really is,” she said.

Following Blackburn’s resistance, as well as that of her Republican colleagues on the committee, Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., halted the authorization of the Supreme Court subpoenas.

WATCH: PROTESTER DERAILS BIDEN SPEECH WITH DEMANDS FOR CEASE-FIRE IN GAZA

A spokesperson for Blackburn told Fox News Digital that the senator would push for the Epstein subpoena again at another committee hearing next week that will again address the Supreme Court probe subpoenas.

Dubbed by some in the media as “The Lolita Express,” Epstein’s plane was allegedly used to fly underage girls to his private island in the Carribean, as well as his other homes around the U.S. and other parts of the world.

A number of big-name actors, politicians and other public figures have reportedly been passengers on the plane at some point, including former Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker, Prince Andrew, billionaire businessman Bill Gates, and a number of others.

VP HARRIS SAYS SHE AND BIDEN ‘OBVIOUSLY HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO’ TO WIN RE-ELECTION IN 2024

There is currently no evidence to suggest anyone who flew on Epstein’s plane participated in any crime.

Epstein pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and sex trafficking conspiracy in July 2019 in a New York court after being accused of having preyed on dozens of victims as young as 14.

He was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell the following month. His death was ruled a suicide.

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Epstein previously pleaded guilty in Florida to charges of soliciting and procuring a person under age 18 for prostitution.

Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mitch McConnell often tells the story of a letter that his father, a foot soldier in World War II, wrote to his mother while he was stationed in Eastern Europe in 1945, as the United States was liberating the region from Nazi rule.

“I think the Russians are going to be a big problem,” A.M. McConnell wrote, foreshadowing the communist takeover to come.

SEN. MCCONNELL FACES QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS HEALTH, ABILITY TO SERVE FOLLOWING TWO HEALTH SCARES

Almost 80 years later, his son is still warning of Russia. From his perch as the long-time Republican leader in the U.S. Senate, McConnell has emerged as perhaps the strongest advocate in Congress for sending billions of dollars in American assistance to Ukraine as the country fights Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, aligning himself with President Joe Biden and majority Democrats in the process.

It’s hardly a change in outlook for the Kentucky senator, who was first elected to the Senate in 1984 and was shaped by the era when President Ronald Reagan was fighting the Cold War and U.S. foreign policy was centered on the Soviet threat.

But while McConnell still thinks of himself as a Reagan Republican, many in his party no longer do.

As he faces the end of his fourth decade in the Senate, McConnell’s unwavering advocacy for Ukraine has set him apart from many of his GOP colleagues, many of whom are deeply skeptical or outright opposed to U.S. involvement abroad — particularly in Ukraine. It’s an increasingly prevalent view in the Republican Party, shaped under the influence of former President Donald Trump, who has railed against “forever wars” and praised Putin.

“Honestly, I think Ronald Reagan would turn over in his grave if he saw we were not going to help Ukraine,” McConnell said in an interview with The Associated Press this week. He called the Ukraine aid, which Biden has asked Congress to pass as part of a $105 billion request for Israel and other countries, a “no brainer.”

The Republican dissension has created a pivotal political moment, one that could forever shape the fate of Ukraine and the strength of American influence abroad. Stressing urgency, the White House has pushed Congress to approve the massive foreign aid package, which would also aid Israel in its war with Hamas and replenish American military stockpiles at home, by the end of the year.

But while earlier rounds of assistance passed Congress easily, the path for aiding Ukraine has grown perilous as the war enters its second brutal winter.

Almost more than any other issue, the debate over Ukraine divides the GOP along generational and ideological lines — especially as Trump is the leading candidate for the GOP nomination next year.

Cutting off assistance from Ukraine would be “a huge setback for the United States,” and the country’s reputation as the leader of the free world, McConnell said.

He sees the potential consequences as even bigger than the Biden administration’s chaotic and deadly 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The current moment is “a time of unique American vulnerability,” he said.

It is also a uniquely vulnerable moment for McConnell, who rarely ventures far from the views of his GOP conference. While his position is unequivocal on sending Ukraine more assistance, and several colleagues are behind him, many are hesitant to speak in strong terms about the need to keep Putin at bay.

Others are outright opposed to the aid, and they have begun to directly challenge the Republican leader’s support for it in ways that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.

“One of the things I worry about is we have leadership negotiating with the president,” said Ohio GOP Sen. J.D. Vance, who is in the first year of his term, of McConnell’s recent talks with the White House and the leader’s support for tying Ukraine and Israel aid together. “I want to make sure that leadership is actually being representative of the views of the conference.”

Vance, who has pushed to separate the aid for the two countries, says his views are closer to new House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republicans in the House, which passed legislation last week that would aid Israel but not Ukraine. Vance argues the United States does not have enough of a plan for winning the Ukraine war.

“I think the fact that Speaker Johnson has a little bit more agency is in part because he is the Speaker of the House,” Vance says. “But it’s also important because he has a membership that is much, much more in tune with where Republican voters actually are.”

Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, who has also criticized the Ukraine aid, said that “nationally, the Republican leader right now is the speaker of the House of Representatives.”

“We need to support his efforts, we need to understand the challenges he faces, and certainly not undermine him,” Johnson said.

The Republican schism in the Senate was most pronounced on Sept, 30, as the House and Senate scrambled in a rare Saturday session to keep the government open before funding expired at midnight on Oct. 1. McConnell was insistent that short-term aid to Ukraine would have to be in the deal, but relented when several of his colleagues, even some of those who were like-minded, endorsed a House plan that would not include it.

McConnell walked out of a private conference meeting and declared that the Republicans would vote against advancing a bipartisan Senate bill that included the aid — a rare public reversal for the leader. His move made the House bill the only funding option left, and it easily passed the Senate. The government stayed open but the Ukraine aid was left unresolved.

McConnell downplays the decision, arguing that “the most important thing at that particular moment was to avoid a government shutdown. The rest of it was sort of incidental.”

The development also wasn’t unexpected. A week before the government funding deadline, McConnell told Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, on a call that it “would be impossible” for Congress to pass the full package with Ukraine money included, according to a person familiar with the situation who granted anonymity to discuss it.

Republicans supportive of the aid have laid blame for the delay generally on Biden and congressional Democrats, saying that they need to articulate the importance of helping Ukraine and provide a detailed plan.

As he continues to push for the aid, McConnell’s style is not to strong-arm his colleagues, or the Republican-led House. He has spoken with new Speaker Johnson, but he said he just repeated to him what he has said publicly about Ukraine for months. “That’s not my job” to convince others, he said.

Republican Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas, a McConnell ally who has spoken out in favor of the Ukraine aid, says he thinks McConnell has managed to stem his losses so far.

“There’s a number of us who feel strong and certain about the rightness of this cause, others are more persuadable,” Moran said. “And I think the leader has done a really good job of keeping the two sets of senators together.”

One way McConnell is managing the challenge is by endorsing a push from GOP senators to include border policy in the aid package for Israel and Ukraine — a gambit that introduces difficult immigration issues and could threaten its ultimate passage, but appears essential to winning Republican support. Bipartisan talks are underway to try and find consensus around changes on that issue.

McConnell has also drawn from the lessons of history, emphasizing the connections between the two wars as he urges an unflinching defense of democracy and the West.

After the Cold War ended, McConnell often says, the U.S. focused more on terrorism, partially through two wars in Iraq. As China has emerged as an adversary and Russia has re-emerged, and Israel is now at war with Hamas, “what we have now is both — both the terrorism issue and the big power competition issue all at the same time, which is why I think singling out one of these problems to the exclusion of the others is a mistake.”

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Failing to pass the aid would be “a disaster for Ukraine and disaster for us,” McConnell said. He questions what has happened to the belief in America’s global leadership.

“For myself, I’m still a Reagan Republican,” McConnell said. “And I think that’s the best path for us in the future. But look, in our democracy, the voters make that decision.”

Police in Nebraska arrested a suspect Friday after former Republican Arizona Sen. Martha McSally said she was sexually assaulted two days ago while running along the Missouri River on the Iowa-Nebraska border.

The suspect, identified by authorities as 25-year-old Dominic Henton of Papillion, was taken into custody in Omaha early this morning, according to the Council Bluffs Police Department.

The department announced last night that an arrest warrant was issued for Henton for one count of Assault with Intent to Commit Sexual Abuse in relation to the incident Wednesday in Council Bluffs, a city that is adjacent to Omaha. 

Investigators released images they say show Henton following McSally “eastbound over the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge and then southbound onto the trail.”

FORMER ARIZONA SEN. MARTHA MCSALLY SAYS SHE WAS SEXUALLY ASSAULTED WHILE ON RUN IN IOWA

“Senator McSally can be seen walking in front of Henton in the photos,” the Council Bluffs Police Department said.

Police say McSally was assaulted “as she was jogging on the River’s Edge Service Road south of I-480 bridge underpass.”

“McSally fought off the attacker and chased him into a dense area of brush near the I-480 bridge,” Council Bluffs Police added. “McSally lost sight of the suspect prior to the officers arriving.”

Henton was described as a White male who is believed to be a transient who frequents the area of the riverfront on both sides of the Iowa-Nebraska border.

McSally, who has previously spoken about being a rape survivor, detailed the ordeal in an Instagram video. She said she was running along the river when a man came from behind her and “engulfed me.” She noted that she was slated to speak in Omaha, Nebraska, about “courage and heart, and how to be a brave heart.”

IOWA GROCERY STORE WORKER MURDERED, SUSPECT SHOT BY DEPUTY

“And I just had it put to the test,” she said. “A man came up behind me, and he engulfed me in a bear hug, and he molested and fondled me until I fought him off.”

“I was in a fight-flight-or-freeze, and I chose to fight,” she added. “I ran after him, I threw my water bottle at him, and I chased him into the brush, where he was then hiding as I called 911 and waited for the police to come. I don’t think they found him, and I’m OK.”

McSally previously spoke about being raped by a superior officer while serving in the Air Force. She made the disclosure during a 2019 Senate hearing on sexual assault allegations in the military.

“My drive to fight against sexual assault in the ranks is not from the outside looking in,” she said at the time. “And it is deeply personal.”

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McSally served several terms in Congress before being appointed to the Senate after the passing of John McCain. She was defeated in a 2020 special election by Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, a former NASA astronaut.

Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report. 

Senate Republicans are demanding answers from the Justice Department amid revelations that the agency “engaged in a campaign of covert surveillance” of congressional staffers, calling the move “a true attack on our democracy.” 

Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa; Ted Cruz of Texas; and Mike Lee of Utah penned a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland after a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by Empower Oversight revealed that the Department of Justice had subpoenaed a Senate staffer’s private phone and email logs as both House and Senate lawmakers investigated the origins of the Trump-Russia probe during the Trump administration.

FLASHBACK: ROSENSTEIN THREATENED TO ‘SUBPOENA’ GOP-LED COMMITTEE IN ‘CHILLING’ CLASH OVER RECORDS, EMAILS SHOW

“We write to express deep concern regarding recent revelations that the Department of Justice engaged in a campaign of covert surveillance of the personal communications of attorneys advising congressional oversight committees,” they wrote. “The decision by unelected government bureaucrats to investigate the elected congressional representatives and congressional staff trying to hold them accountable is a true attack on our democracy.”

The FOIA request revealed that the Department of Justice had subpoenaed Google for all telephone connection records and text message logs for the chief investigative counsel to the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Jason Foster. At the time, Grassley was the chairman of the panel and was investigating DOJ misconduct. 

The senators also pointed out that further records indicated that the personal records of a House staffer working on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence were additionally “targeted as part of this vendetta campaign.” 

“Notably, in January 2018, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein threatened to subpoena HSPCI staff personal records during a confrontation over the Justice Department’s failure to comply with the committee’s compulsory process,” they wrote. “But even so, the targets of the Department and FBI were not limited to Republican staffers.”

The senators noted that Democrats in Congress have also called for investigations into the targeting of their private communications.

FBI RECEIVED ‘CRIMINAL INFORMATION’ FROM OVER 40 CONFIDENTIAL SOURCES ON JOE BIDEN, HUNTER, JAMES: GRASSLEY

The senators said that Empower Oversight had submitted a FOIA request for all relevant documents, including grand-jury subpoenas, communications between various offices and correspondence with the press, but stressed that “additional measures must be taken to ensure openness and accountability.” 

“Notwithstanding the investigation by the Department’s Inspector General, Congress is entitled to conduct its own parallel review of this important matter,” they wrote.

Grassley, Cruz and Lee are demanding the DOJ provide all names of all DOJ officials who “drafted, supervised, or approved the issuance of the grand jury subpoenas in question or otherwise related to the consolidated leaks case.”

They also requested the names of all people employed in both the Senate and House who received subpoenas, and the names of all people in the Senate and House for which subpoenas were sought.

The senators requested the “specific predicate, criteria or evidence that justified” the DOJ seeking those grand jury subpoenas for personal records belonging to members of Congress and their staffers and families.

Grassley, Cruz and Lee are also demanding information on “all other means” the DOJ used to search for information, including specific databases and use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

FISA COURT OPINION REVEALS A US SENATOR, STATE SENATOR, STATE JUDGE GOT SWEPT UP IN 702 QUERIES

They also are seeking information regarding former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s involvement in the approval or issuance of the subpoenas, or information to prove that they were executed “without his knowledge or consent.”

The senators requested that the DOJ identify all organizations subpoenaed, such as Google, Verizon, Apple AT&T and others, as part of the leaks case for information on members of Congress, their staffers and their families.

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“This extensive and far-reaching effort to use grand jury subpoenas and perhaps other means to gather the personal communications records of congressional staffers and their families with little or no legitimate predicate is absolutely unacceptable,” they wrote. “The executive branch overreach and gross violation of separation of powers apparent in this case no doubt shocks the conscience and shakes public confidence in our justice system to its core.”

They added: “The public deserves answers.”

The senators gave the Department of Justice a deadline of November 22 to respond.

The DOJ did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.