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EXCLUSIVE: The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office “allowed political motivations and animus to infect its prosecutorial discretion,” the House Judiciary Committee argued in a report Thursday, saying charges were brought against former President Trump employed a “dangerously low threshold” to prosecute “political opponents.”

The GOP-led committee released a 300-page report Thursday, exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital, titled “An Anatomy of a Political Prosecution: The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office Vendetta Against President Donald J. Trump.” 

TRUMP SAYS NY JUDGE MERCHAN ‘THINKS HE IS ABOVE THE SUPREME COURT’ AFTER BARRING HIM FROM IMMUNITY ARGUMENTS

The committee, led by Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, has been investigating the “unprecedented” multi-year investigation into Trump led by the Manhattan’s DA office since last year, when current DA Alvin Bragg indicted Trump. 

Bragg charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree related to alleged hush money payments made before the 2016 presidential election. Trump pleaded not guilty. His criminal trial is currently taking place in New York City. 

“The DANY has been investigating President Trump since at least 2018, searching for any legal theory on which to bring charges,” the report states. “These charges are normally misdemeanors subject to a two-year statute of limitations, but Bragg used a novel and untested legal theory—previously declined by federal prosecutors—to bootstrap the misdemeanor allegations as a felony, which extended the statute of limitations to five years, by alleging that records were falsified to conceal a second crime.” 

Prosecutors revealed during the criminal trial this week that the alleged “second crime” was a violation of a New York law called “conspiracy to promote or prevent election.” Prosecutors will try to prove that the alleged conspiracy was to conceal a conspiracy to unlawfully promote his candidacy.

“The facts at the center of Bragg’s political prosecution have not changed since 2018 and no new witnesses emerged between then and the date on which Bragg filed the indictment,” the report states. “The Justice Department examined the facts in 2019 and chose not to prosecute the case.” 

But the report points out that even with the DOJ’s decision, Bragg “convened a new grand jury in January [2023] to evaluate the issue.” 

TRUMP TRIAL: FORMER PRESIDENT ‘INNOCENT,’ SAYS DEFENSE AS DA ALLEGES ‘CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY’

“Bragg ultimately settled on a novel legal theory untested anywhere in the country and one that federal authorities declined to pursue to resurrect the matter,” the report states. 

Republicans added that “the only intervening factor, it appears, was President Trump’s announcement that he would be a candidate for President in 2024.” 

The report states that Congress “has a specific and manifestly important interest in preventing politically-motivated prosecutions of current and former presidents by elected state and local prosecutors, particularly in jurisdictions—like New York County—where the prosecutor is popularly elected and trial-level judges lack life tenure.” 

Bragg’s decision to bring charges against Trump after he became a candidate for president “required the Committee to consider potential legislative reforms to insulate current and former Presidents from such politically motivated state and local prosecutions,” the report states. 

NY PROSECUTORS REVEAL ‘ANOTHER CRIME’ TRUMP ALLEGEDLY TRIED TO CONCEAL WITH FALSIFIED BUSINESS RECORDS

Former Manhattan DA prosecutor Mark Pomerantz testified before the committee in a deposition as part of the investigation. Pomerantz declined to answer most questions, but told the committee that was largely due to the then-pending investigation into Trump.

Pomerantz, a donor to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, previously worked on the Trump investigation with ex-prosecutor Carey Dunne under Bragg’s predecessor, former Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance. Both Pomerantz and Dunne resigned after Bragg took the helm and raised doubts about pursuing a case against Trump. 

After Pomerantz resigned, he wrote a tell-all book based on the investigation, which was still ongoing. The book seemingly made the case to charge Trump. 

The committee quoted Pomerantz’s book, which they said revealed “his animus, both personally and politically against Trump.” 

Pomerantz wrote in his book of his “enthusiasm to work on the investigation,” but said it “had nothing to do with [his] views about Trump’s politics.” However, he admitted that he was “not a fan” of Trump, and “had little regard” for him. 

TRUMP FACES MAXIMUM SENTENCE OF 136 YEARS IN PRISON FOR 34-COUNT INDICTMENT

Chairman Jim Jordan told Fox News Digital on Thursday that Pomerantz “left retirement to pursue a passion project of prosecuting President Trump.” 

“He looked high and low for all the possible ways to take down the president. When nothing panned out, he left Alvin Bragg’s office in disgust and wrote a book for the purpose of bringing public pressure on Bragg to bring some charge–and it worked,” Jordan said. “The whole trial is entirely political and everyone knows it.” 

The committee said Bragg’s tenure as district attorney contributed to rising crime in New York City.

“Against the backdrop of District Attorney Bragg’s decision to find any reason to prosecute President Trump are Bragg’s actions to institute pro-crime, anti-victim policies that resulted in an increase in violent crime and created a dangerous community for New York City residents.” 

Bragg issued an early memo directing assistant DAs to avoid prosecuting certain crimes, including trespassing and prostitution.

The memo stated that armed robberies should not be prosecuted as felonies. Instead, the new DA directed armed robberies to be considered as misdemeanor larceny unless someone was shot during the robbery. Bragg also stated that his office would not seek prison sentences except for homicides and other particularly “heinous crimes” like domestic violence felonies, sex crimes, and public corruption. 

TRUMP FILES MOTION REQUESTING JUDGE IN HUSH MONEY TRIAL BE RECUSED AMID DAUGHTER’S DEMOCRAT-AFFILIATED WORK

The committee said that Bragg’s indictment of Trump “opened a dangerous new possibility of politically motivated prosecutions or threatened prosecutions of political opponents, including presidents.” 

“This case establishes a dangerously low threshold for these investigations and prosecutions to commence,” the report states, adding that Bragg has “opened the door for future prosecutions of a former president–or current candidate–that would widely be perceived as politically motivated.” 

Committee Republicans said Bragg inspired other prosecutors to pursue “politically motivated investigations and indictments of President Trump.” 

FLASHBACK: TOP PROSECUTORS IN MANHATTAN DA CASE AGAINST TRUMP RESIGN

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“The fundamental mission of any prosecutor’s office is to uphold the rule of law,” the report states. “And one of the hallmarks of this mission is to ensure that justice is blind—applied fairly and equally. Bragg’s politically motivated indictment of President Trump threatens to destroy this notion of blind justice by using the criminal justice system to attack an individual he disagrees with politically, and, in turn, eroding the confidence of the American people.” 

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

An attorney for former President Donald Trump in the presidential immunity hearing clashed with Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan over a hypothetical question on whether a president who “ordered” a “coup” could be prosecuted. 

“If it’s an official act, there needs to be impeachment and conviction beforehand,” Trump’s attorney John Sauer argued Thursday before the Supreme Court, which is being broadcast publicly via audio only. 

Sauer’s statement was in response to Justice Elena Kagan’s hypothetical question, asking if a president who is no longer in office directing the military to stage a coup would constitute an “official act.”

“He’s no longer president. He wasn’t impeached. He couldn’t be impeached. But he ordered the military to stage a coup. And you’re saying that’s an official act?,” Kagan asked.

LIVE UPDATES: TRUMP NY TRIAL TESTIMONY RESUMES AS SUPREME COURT HEARS IMMUNITY ARGUMENTS

“I think it would depend on the circumstances, whether it was an official act. If it were an official act, again, he would have to be impeached,” Sauer responded. 

“What does that mean? Depend on the circumstances? He was the president. He is the commander in chief. He talks to his generals all the time. And he told the generals, ‘I don’t feel like leaving office. I want to stage a coup.’ Is that immune [from prosecution]?” Kagan pressed.

SUPREME COURT TO HEAR ARGUMENTS IN TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY CASE

Sauer responded it would “depend on the circumstances of whether there was an official act” if the hypothetical president would be immune from prosecution. 

“That answer sounds to me as though it’s like, ‘Yeah, under my test it’s an official act.’ But that sure sounds bad, doesn’t it?” Kagan said.

TRUMP SAYS NY JUDGE MERCHAN ‘THINKS HE IS ABOVE THE SUPREME COURT’ AFTER BARRING HIM FROM IMMUNITY ARGUMENTS

“That’s why the framers have a whole series of structural checks that have successfully, for the last 234 years, prevented that very kind of extreme hypothetical. And that is the wisdom of the framers. What they viewed as the risk that needed to be guarded against was not the notion that the president might escape, you know, a criminal prosecution for something, you know, sort of very, very unlikely in these unlikely scenarios,” Sauer responded.

“The framers did not put an immunity clause into the Constitution. They knew how there were immunity clauses in some state constitutions. They knew how to give legislative immunity. They didn’t provide immunity to the president. And, you know, not so surprising. They were reacting against a monarch who claimed to be above the law. Wasn’t the whole point that the president was not a monarch and the president was not supposed to be above the law,” Kagan said. 

The back and forth came as the Supreme Court weighs whether Trump is immune from prosecution in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s election interference case. Smith’s case is currently on pause until the Supreme Court issues a ruling. The case charged Trump with 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 case stems from Jan. 6, 2021, when supporters of Trump breached the U.S. Capitol. 

TRUMP SLAMS ‘BIDENOMICS’ AHEAD OF COURT, CLAIMS TO HAVE A ‘GOOD CHANCE’ OF WINNING LIBERAL STATE

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges in August, and called on the Supreme Court to weigh whether a former president can be prosecuted for “official acts,” as the Trump legal team argues. 

The Supreme Court is expected to reach a resolution on whether Trump is immune from prosecution by mid-June. 

Trump is also part of an ongoing trial in New York City where he is accused of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. He pleaded not guilty to each charge. The trial prevented Trump from attending the Supreme Court hearing Thursday. 

BIDEN INSISTS RED STATE WON TWICE BY TRUMP IS SUDDENLY ‘IN PLAY’

The NY v. Trump case focuses on Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen paying former pornographic actor Stormy Daniels $130,000 to allegedly quiet her claims of an alleged extramarital affair she had with the then-real estate tycoon in 2006. Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels. 

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Prosecutors allege that the Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen, and fraudulently logged the payments as legal expenses. Prosecutors are working to prove that Trump falsified records with an intent to commit or conceal a second crime, which is a felony.  Prosecutors this week said the second crime was a violation of a New York law called “conspiracy to promote or prevent election.”

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

Republican legislative leaders in Ohio say they are negotiating with Democrats to assure President Joe Biden appears on the state’s November ballot, but the exact shape of the solution remains murky.

GOP Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman told reporters Wednesday that productive discussions are under way between both legislative chambers and both political parties about how to fix the fact that the Democratic National Convention, where Biden is to be formally nominated, falls after Ohio’s ballot deadline of Aug. 7. The convention will be held Aug. 19-22 in Chicago.

“Certainly, it’s something that’s going to happen. We need to take care of it,” Huffman said, seeming to adjust his earlier stance that it was “a Democratic problem” that was up to the General Assembly’s minority party to work out. He said the answer may be added to an existing bill or it could be contained in a stand-alone measure.

VULNERABLE DEM SENATOR RIPPED FOR IGNORING QUESTIONS ABOUT BIDEN’S PUSH TO ‘BAN’ GAS-POWERED CARS

On Tuesday, Republican House Speaker Jason Stephens expressed support for doing something to fix the problem with Ohio’s deadline not just for this election cycle, but on a longer term basis.

Since Ohio changed its certification deadline from 60 to 90 days ahead of its general election, state lawmakers have had to adjust the requirement twice, in 2012 and 2020, to accommodate candidates of both parties. Each change was only temporary.

Huffman said he also favors a more permanent solution.

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Senate Democratic Leader Nickie Antonio continued to express confidence Wednesday that Biden will make Ohio’s ballot, saying that “all options are being explored.”

“The discussion is there, and it will become reality when we see it,” she said. Antonio said a proxy war between Huffman and Stephens for next session’s speakership is “the elephant in the room” that may be causing delays.

As Ohio nears the May 9 cutoff set by Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, legislation meant to ensure Biden will appear on fall ballots in Alabama cleared the state’s Senate Tuesday. The Alabama bill offers accommodations to the president like those made four years ago for then-President Donald Trump.

Former President Donald Trump slammed the state of the economy under President Biden’s administration, while touting campaign events in the heart of the Big Apple, before he entered the Manhattan courtroom for his seventh day on trial.

“Some very big things have happened, but the biggest seems to be that the GDP just announced us all the way down to 1.6% and it’s heading south. It’s going to get worse. Gas prices in California were just also announced at $7.60. Gasoline is going way up. Energy costs are going way up and the stock market is, in a sense, crashing,” Trump said Thursday morning before heading into the courtroom. 

“This is Bidenomics. It’s catching up with them,” he said. 

His comments followed the Bureau of Economic Analysis estimating the economy grew at an annualized pace of 1.6% during the first quarter, meaning the U.S. economy grew at a slower pace than anticipated. 

LIVE UPDATES: TRUMP NY TRIAL TESTIMONY RESUMES AS SUPREME COURT HEARS IMMUNITY ARGUMENTS 

“The big news today, I think, is the 1.6%. When you look at 1.6 GDP, that’s a number that nobody thought was possible. That’s a real bad number. And it looks like the projections are it’s heading in the wrong direction. And that’s why the stock market’s down so big today,” Trump said.

Trump also touted a handful of rallies he’s planning to hold in New York City, and suggested that he may even be competitive in the liberal state in the November presidential election. 

“I think we have a good chance of winning New York. We’re going to give it a big play. We’re going to the South Bronx to do a rally. We’re going to be doing a rally at Madison Square Garden, we believe.… We’re gonna have a big rally honoring the police and honoring the firemen and everybody. Honoring a lot of people, including teachers,” he said.  

SUPREME COURT TO HEAR ARGUMENTS IN TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY CASE

Trump is facing his second week in Manhattan court this week, as part of an ongoing trial where he is facing 34 charges of falsifying business records in the first degree. He has pleaded not guilty to all counts. 

The case focuses on Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen paying forme pornographic actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 ahead of the 2016 election to allegedly quiet her claims of an affair with Trump in the early 2000s. Trump has repeatedly denied having an affair with Daniels. 

Prosecutors allege that the Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen, and fraudulently logged the payments as legal expenses. Prosecutors are working to prove that Trump falsified records with an intent to commit or conceal a second crime. Prosecutors identified the second cri this week as “conspiracy to promote or prevent election.” 

TRUMP SAYS NY JUDGE MERCHAN ‘THINKS HE IS ABOVE THE SUPREME COURT’ AFTER BARRING HIM FROM IMMUNITY ARGUMENTS

The trial Thursday is expected to continue with testimony from former American Media Inc. CEO David Pecker, who oversaw outlets such as the National Enquirer. Judge Juan Merchan may also issue a ruling on Trump’s alleged gag order violations, which could result in Trump paying a $1,000 fine for each of the at least 10 alleged violations. 

Trump continued in his comments Thursday that Biden is a “diaster” of a president, while pointing to issues such as the ongoing anti-Israel protests on college campuses and the Biden administration’s border policies. 

BIDEN INSISTS RED STATE WON TWICE BY TRUMP IS SUDDENLY ‘IN PLAY’

“This is the worst run country right now, probably anywhere, just about. You don’t get much worse,” he said. “We have a president who is the worst president in the history of our country.”

Early Thursday morning, Trump stopped by a construction site in the city to thank construction workers for their support.

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“We have a big case today — this judge wouldn’t allow me to go, but we have a big case today at the Supreme Court on presidential immunity,” Trump said to the press, referring to the Supreme Court weighing whether Trump is immune from prosecution in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s election interference case. 

“A president has to have immunity,” he added. “If you don’t have immunity, you just have a ceremonial president.”

Former President Donald Trump stopped by a construction site in New York City to thank them for their support amid his ongoing trial.

The former president’s caravan pulled up to meet the hundreds of fans and union workers seeking autographs and selfies on Thursday morning.

Trump told reporters on the scene that he appreciated the “amazing show of affection” ahead of his appearance in Manhattan court and a key U.S. Supreme Court hearing on presidential immunity in Washington.

“We have a big case today – this judge wouldn’t allow me to go, but we have a big case today at the Supreme Court on presidential immunity,” Trump said to the press.

TRUMP SAYS NY JUDGE MERCHAN ‘THINKS HE IS ABOVE THE SUPREME COURT’ AFTER BARRING HIM FROM IMMUNITY ARGUMENTS

“A president has to have immunity,” he added. “If you don’t have immunity, you just have a ceremonial president.”

Trump also took the opportunity to jab at President Biden, accusing the president of purposefully allowing the nation’s border to be overrun.

NIKKI HALEY WINS 150K VOTES IN PA REPUBLICAN PRIMARY DESPITE DROPPING OUT

“You could close the borders with one phone call,” the presumptive GOP presidential nominee said. “Close up the borders, Joe. Our country is going to hell.”

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Trump pleaded not guilty to all 34 counts.

For prosecutors to secure a criminal conviction, they must convince the jury that Trump committed the crime of falsifying business records in “furtherance of another crime.”

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New York prosecutor Joshua Steinglass on Tuesday said the other crime was a violation of a New York law called “conspiracy to promote or prevent election.”

Prosecutors will try to prove that the alleged conspiracy was to conceal a conspiracy to unlawfully promote his candidacy.

Former President Donald Trump had some fun on social media at the expense of a former member of his administration — even after a presidential endorsement.

Trump took a swipe at former Attorney General William Barr on Thursday, following Barr’s endorsement of Trump for president earlier this month.

“Wow! Former A.G. Bill Barr, who let a lot of great people down by not investigating Voter Fraud in our Country, has just Endorsed me for President despite the fact that I called him ‘Weak, Slow Moving, Lethargic, Gutless, and Lazy,'”. Trump wrote via his proprietary social media service, Truth Social.

“Based on the fact that I greatly appreciate his wholehearted Endorsement, I am removing the word ‘Lethargic’ from my statement,” he added. “Thank you Bill. MAGA2024!”

FORMER AG BILL BARR RIPS ‘POLITICAL’ TRUMP HUSH MONEY CASE, SAYS ‘REAL THREAT’ TO DEMOCRACY IS PROGRESSIVE LEFT

Earlier this month, Barr slammed New York prosecutors for the “obviously political” Trump hush money case, calling it an “abomination” as jury selection continues in the landmark trial. 

Barr, who led the Department of Justice under former President Donald Trump, argued the case signals what the real threat to democracy is in his opinion — the “excesses of the progressive left.”

TRUMP SAYS NY JUDGE MERCHAN ‘THINKS HE IS ABOVE THE SUPREME COURT’ AFTER BARRING HIM FROM IMMUNITY ARGUMENTS

“This case is an abomination,” Barr said during “America’s Newsroom” on Wednesday. “It’s obviously political. Seven years after he pays hush money to try to come up with this case. It’s also, as you say, it’s not only far-fetched… they’re trying to predicate it on a federal crime which wasn’t prosecuted.”

During the interview, Barr was directly asked if he would be voting for Trump in the upcoming presidential election.

“I’ve said all along, given two bad choices, I think it’s my duty to pick the person I think would do the least harm to the country,” said Barr. 

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“And in my mind, I will vote the Republican ticket. Trump may be playing Russian roulette, but a continuation of the Biden administration is national suicide in my opinion.”

Barr previously withheld his support from Trump during the primary season, expressing a desire for Republicans to pick a different candidate.

Fox News’ Bailee Hill contributed to this report.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institution of Allergy and Infectious Disease, will testify publicly before a congressional panel in June, marking the first time he has done so since retiring from government at the end of 2022.

Fauci has agreed to testify before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, a House panel investigating the origins of COVID-19 and the government’s response to the pandemic, subcommittee Chair Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, announced Wednesday. 

Wenstrup said the hearing will allow Americans to hear directly from Fauci about Fauci’s role in overseeing and shaping pandemic-era polices and promoting “singular questionable narratives” about the origins of COVID-19.

Fauci appeared in front of the Select Subcommittee for a closed-door, two-day, 14-hour transcribed interview earlier this year.

THE GREAT COVID COVER-UP: SHOCKING TRUTH ABOUT WUHAN AND 15 FEDERAL AGENCIES

“During Dr. Fauci’s closed-door interview in January, he testified to serious systemic failures in our public health system that deserve further investigation, including his testimony that the ‘6 feet apart’ social distancing guidance — which was used to shut down small businesses and schools across America — ‘sort of just appeared,’” Wenstrup said. 

“This raises significant concerns about public health officials and the validity of their policy recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also learned that he believes the lab leak hypothesis he publicly downplayed should not be dismissed as a conspiracy theory. As the face of America’s public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic, these statements raise serious questions that warrant public scrutiny.”

THIS WILL BE THE END TO FAUCI’S NIH AS WE KNOW IT

Wenstrup said that the panel will also hold a public hearing with EcoHealth Alliance President Dr. Peter Daszak on May 1 that will serve as a crucial component into the origins of COVID-19 and provide essential background ahead of Fauci’s public hearing.

Fauci was a leading figure on both former President Trump and President Biden’s coronavirus response teams. Before his retirement, he had worked for over 50 years in the American public health sector, advising every president since former President Reagan. 

Fauci was a regular guest on cable news, primetime television, late-night shows and podcasts, offering his medical advice throughout the pandemic. Over time, he became a politically divisive figure on the left and right regarding issues such as masks and lockdown policies.

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Famously, he sparred with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., in committee hearings over the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and whether his department within the National Institute of Health funded gain-of-function research.

Paul has claimed that recently discovered government officials from 15 federal agencies knew in 2018 that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was trying to create a coronavirus like COVID-19.   

These officials, Paul says, knew that the Chinese lab was proposing to create a COVID 19-like virus and not one of those officials revealed this scheme to the public.

President Biden sparked outrage Tuesday when he made the Sign of the Cross while rallying against abortion restrictions.

Biden made the ostensibly pious gesture in Tampa while Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried complained about Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state’s tightening six-week ban on abortion.

“We come back here to the state of Florida, where Ron DeSantis felt like he needed to run for president, so 15 weeks wasn’t good enough,” said Fried. “We had to go to six weeks.”

BIDEN ‘DOESN’T UNDERSTAND THE CATHOLIC FAITH,’ BISHOP SAYS: ‘I’M NOT ANGRY AT HIM, HE’S JUST STUPID’

As Fried spoke, Biden motioned the cross by touching his forehead, chest and shoulders in the traditional formula.

The Sign of the Cross is an ancient expression of piety that has existed since at least the third century and is commonly used by Catholic and Orthodox churches as a form of blessing.

“Biden’s use of the Sign of the Cross in support of abortion is a disgusting insult towards all Christians, but especially of Catholics whom he claims as his own,” Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

BIDEN MOCKS TRUMP FOR LEGAL WOES: ‘A LITTLE BUSY RIGHT NOW’

He added, “The Sign of the Cross is a sacred gesture used by believers to bless themselves, ask forgiveness, or to protect them from temptation. Instead, Biden has turned this ancient Christian practice into an endorsement of abortion extremism.”

Biden has leaned into his Catholic identity in his presidential campaigns, asserting himself as a devout believer despite blatant disregard for non-negotiable church teachings.

Last week, a bishop in Michigan accused Biden of “stupidity” regarding the dissonance between his religion and politics.

“I don’t have any anger towards the president. I feel sorry for him. I’m not angry at him, he’s just stupid,” said Bishop Robert Gruss of the Diocese of Saginaw. “It’s not stupidity in the derogatory way, it’s stupidity in the sense of […] he doesn’t understand the Catholic faith.”

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“No Catholic, regardless of their position on abortion, can support this grotesque abuse of religious piety,” Burch told Fox News Digital about Biden making the Sign of the Cross. “Voters of faith need to wake up and understand what is at stake this November.”

He added, “The new abortion religion, which seeks to mock and ultimately destroy Christianity, is on the ballot.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Bishop Gregory Parkes in the Diocese of St. Petersburg — the geographic region of the Catholic Church that has jurisdiction over Tampa — for comment on the president’s abortion rally.

“Bishop Gregory Parkes consistently teaches about the Catholic Church’s position on abortion,” a spokesperson for the diocese told Fox News Digital. “Also, Bishop Parkes and the bishops of Florida have recently issued a statement to educate people on the Catholic Church’s teaching on abortion and why they should vote no on Amendment Four.”

Amendment Four, as proposed by Florida pro-choice groups earlier this year, would dictate that “no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.”

The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops released a statement this month saying, “We urge all Floridians of goodwill to stand against the legalization of late-term abortion and oppose the abortion amendment. In doing so, we will not only protect the weakest, most innocent, and defenseless of human life among us, but also countless women throughout the state from the harms of abortion.”

Republicans have a lot of work to do when it comes to healthcare policy, according to Wisconsin GOP Senate candidate Eric Hovde.

Health care costs are so high in some areas of the Badger State that many struggle to even access treatment, Hovde told Fox News Digital in an interview.

“You know, the left loves running on Obamacare, and they think they, you know, own health care,” Hovde said. “I think Republicans are making a mistake not talking about it because of the cost of health care since Obamacare was passed, but more importantly than even the cost, the access to care has gone significantly down.”

“Everybody is having struggles, particularly in our rural communities, with getting access to health care,” he added. “America’s health care system is broken, and Obamacare, which was supposed to be a solution, has only made cost and access to care worse.”

This issue became one that is personal to Hovde after he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in his 20s.

“As someone who was diagnosed with MS at 27 years old, I know on a personal level that we need reforms that provide patient-first solutions to provide greater price transparency, lower costs and improved accessibility,” Hovde said.

Though he intends to make healthcare a major priority of his campaign, other issues facing Wisconsinites include economic insecurity, the southern border crisis, and crime, according to Hovde.

“I would say the economy is the biggest thing,” he said. “I was talking with a younger person who was 21 or 22 years old and she looked at me and said, ‘I’m working two jobs. I work all the time, and I still have to live with my parents. Everything costs way too much.’ So that would probably be the biggest thing that I hear consistently about is the cost of all goods and how expensive everything is.”

SHIRTLESS GOP US SENATE CANDIDATE TAKES COLD PLUNGE IN WISCONSIN LAKE, CHALLENGES DEMOCRATIC OPPONENT

“The border is a huge issue. It’s affecting our state now. People are very concerned about that. So I’d say that’s another big issue,” he added.

The most important issue for each voter depends on where in Wisconsin one lives, Hovde suggested. “If you’re over in Milwaukee, [it’s] crime,” he said. 

“Crime is a very prominent issue here in Milwaukee. Whereas here in the Northwoods or the western part of the state, it’s largely smaller rural communities where they don’t have a crime problem.”

Hovde, who has repeatedly criticized career politicians for their efforts to serve special interest groups rather than their constituents, announced last month that he would donate his congressional salary to charity if he’s elected later this year.

Hovde draws strong distinctions between himself and his rival, Democrat Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who was first elected to the seat in 2012.

“You couldn’t get two more different people,” Hovde said.

“I’ve spent my life in the private sector, building companies. I’m a serial entrepreneur. I’ve created thousands of jobs through the different companies I’ve built and turned around. I live in the real world, I know what it’s like to buy my own health insurance, but more importantly, the insurance for hundreds of thousands of employees,” he said.

TRUMP THROWS SUPPORT BEHIND REPUBLICAN BUSINESSMAN LOOKING TO FLIP WISCONSIN SENATE SEAT: ‘GO OUT AND WIN’

“I understand how our globalized, financialized economy operates. Senator Baldwin has spent her entire life in politics from the time she graduated from college. She’s your classic career politician,” he added. “She came out of college, ran for Dane County Board of Supervisors. From that she went on to the [Wisconsin] State Assembly. From that, she went on to Congress and now has two terms in the Senate. She’s never operated in the real world. She operates in a political bubble. She doesn’t know the real middle class America, the struggles and the issues they face.”

Referring to her voting record as “atrocious,” Hovde said Baldwin voted “for all this debt that has fueled the inflationary crises.”

“She’s voted in support of President Biden on the border,” he added. “She supported the Iranian deal that President Biden signed with Iran. I mean, insanity. It blew up on Obama, and then he goes and doubles down on that, and she supports him.”

Hovde said Baldwin changes when each election cycle nears. She “comes back during election time, makes these staged events, acts like she’s a moderate, and everybody in Washington knows she’s one of the most progressive liberals there are in the entire Senate,” he said.

Though he has yet to receive his party’s nomination for Senate, Hovde got a boost in support from former President Donald Trump earlier this month.

During a visit by the former president to Green Bay for a campaign rally, Trump praised Hovde as a “man who’s doing really good” and is “just about even in the polls” before giving him his “complete and total endorsement.”

“I’ve met Eric and I’ve studied Eric because we have to get it right. [He’s] running against some very fine people, really, but I’ve looked it out, and they’re going to have other opportunities,” Trump said at the time. “Eric, I am giving you my complete and total endorsement, so go out and win.”

Hovde said he appreciates Trump’s endorsement and compliments. “It helps with the Trump voters. … It’s a positive,” he said.

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Wisconsin’s primary election is slated for Aug. 13. Hovde is running against half a dozen other Republicans who are seeking the party’s nomination.

At first glance, it might seem like inside baseball.

A bunch of former prosecutors and cable pundits talking to each other about how much they don’t like Donald Trump and how he’s in deep legal trouble? Doesn’t that happen every day in green rooms and the corner bar?

But this, as disclosed by Politico, is different. These are some of the most prominent commentators in the media universe, and they appear to be consulting/coordinating/conspiring about their main target.

DAVID PECKER CALMLY LINKS TRUMP, MICHAEL COHEN TO SUPPRESSING STORIES, PUSHING FAKE NEWS

Even if that’s not the case, it looks awful.

It plays into the hands of conservatives who back Trump that the media are part of the resistance, determined to bring him down at all costs.

They can now say that it is a cabal, confirming all their darkest suspicions about the press determined to bring him down.

Every Friday, these media hotshots join in a secret, off-the-record Zoom call.

In a high-road description, the piece says the goal is to “intellectually stress-test the arguments facing Trump on his journey through the American legal system.” But a beat later it says, “most are united by their dislike of Trump.”

The origins of the group are telling, beginning during the Jan. 6 hearings, when committee staffers began briefing legal commentators on their work. I can think of classified military matters that haven’t remained secret as long.

TRUMP BLASTS JUDGE AFTER BARRING HIM FROM ATTENDING IMMUNITY ARGUMENTS

Who’s doing the zooming? Norman Eisen, an Obama administration official who worked with House Democrats on Trump’s first impeachment and is a CNN legal analyst, is the founder. 

He’s joined by Bill Kristol, a leader of the anti-Trump conservatives; longtime Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe; Watergate figure John Dean; and George Conway, ex-husband of Kellyanne, co-founder of the Lincoln Project and a fixture on MSNBC. 

AT A TURNING POINT? COLUMBIA ARRESTS AND ANTI-JEWISH HARASSMENT SHUT DOWN CAMPUS

That’s just the beginning. There is MSNBC analyst Andrew Weissman, who investigated the fruitless Russian collusion accusations against Trump as a prosecutor for Bob Mueller; why would anyone doubt his objectivity?

There are CNN legal analysts Jeffrey Toobin, Elliott Williams and Karen Agnifilo, along with L.A. Times columnist Harry Litman. And there’s Mary McCord, a former DOJ official who co-hosts an MSNBC podcast. 

Sometimes there are guests, which is also revealing. After Trump was held liable in E. Jean Carroll’s first defamation and sexual assault suit, her attorney, Roberta Kaplan, addressed the group. And, says Politico, former conservative judge J. Michael Luttig, who spearheaded a campaign to kick Trump off state ballots under the 14th Amendment, was another guest. The Supreme Court rejected the anti-democratic move.

Despite efforts to rationalize this as a meeting-of-great-minds exercise, I’m not buying it. Even Politico concedes the calls could “breed groupthink” – what a shocking thought.

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And cable news drives plenty of other coverage, particularly when certain themes are constantly pounded.

All these folks are smart enough to think for themselves. Which makes it surprising that they lack the common sense to see how troubling the Zooming looks.

EXCLUSIVE: Former President Trump said New York Judge Juan Merchan “thinks he is above the Supreme Court,” after “prohibiting” him from attending arguments Thursday on presidential immunity, telling Fox News Digital it is “the most important case in many years” before the high court. 

The former president and presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee spoke exclusively to Fox News Digital on Wednesday after spending the last two days in a Manhattan courtroom for opening arguments and witness testimony in his unprecedented criminal trial. 

Trump had requested to attend arguments at the Supreme Court when it holds oral arguments about the former president’s immunity on Thursday, but Judge Merchan, who is presiding over the trial, rejected that request. 

TRUMP TRIAL: FORMER PRESIDENT ‘INNOCENT,’ SAYS DEFENSE AS DA ALLEGES ‘CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY’

“Because he thinks he is above the Supreme Court, he is prohibiting me from going to the presidential immunity hearing where some of the great legal scholars will be arguing the case — the most important case in many years on the Supreme Court,” Trump told Fox News Digital.  

The Supreme Court is expected to rule in June on whether Trump is immune from prosecution by Special Counsel Jack Smith out of his investigation into 2020 election interference. 

“Without presidential immunity, the presidency becomes a ceremonial position only, it will be decimated,” he continued. “He’s prohibiting me from going. He is a radical left Democrat.” 

When Trump requested to attend the Supreme Court arguments last week, Merchan told his attorney: “Arguing before the Supreme Court is a big deal, and I can certainly appreciate why your client would want to be there.” 

“But a trial in New York Supreme Court… is also a big deal,” Merchan said last week, requiring the former president to be in his Manhattan courtroom on Thursday, instead of at the high court in Washington, D.C. 

A ruling from the Supreme Court on the issue of presidential immunity is expected by late June. 

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges. 

“Virtually every legal scholar and expert in the country said that this case should not have been brought, that there was no crime, that everything was done properly and that this is a case that should be dropped immediately,” Trump told Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

“It’s an embarrassment to Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrat Party who are duly standing behind it and the judge is totally conflicted — totally conflicted,” he said. 

“If falsifying a business record is because a bookkeeper wrote down ‘legal expense’ in paying a legal fee, that’s not falsifying,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “They call it a legal expense — and that’s what it was. It was a legal expense.” 

He added: “It was legal fees paid to a lawyer — that’s called a legal expense.” 

NY PROSECUTORS REVEAL ‘ANOTHER CRIME’ TRUMP ALLEGEDLY TRIED TO CONCEAL WITH FALSIFIED BUSINESS RECORDS

Trump’s criminal trial stemming from Smith’s investigation has been put on hold pending a Supreme Court decision on whether Trump is immune from prosecution. 

Smith charged the former president with 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. Those charges stemmed from Smith’s investigation into whether Trump was involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and any alleged interference in the 2020 election result.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges in August.

Meanwhile, Trump also requested to skip court on May 17 to attend the high school graduation of his youngest son, Barron. 

“The other thing is, the judge is prohibiting me from going to my son’s graduation from high school — my son Barron, who has worked very hard and he’s a great student,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “He can’t have his father at his graduation because of a vicious judge that’s totally conflicted.” 

TRUMP WARNS THAT IF HE LOSES PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY, SO WILL ‘CROOKED’ JOE BIDEN

Trump added: “He should never be allowed to do this case.” 

Trump and his attorneys had sought Merchan to recuse himself from the case due to his daughter’s Democrat-affiliated political work. 

Merchan’s daughter, Loren, has a leadership role and ownership stake at Authentic Campaigns Inc., which Trump lawyers say “services exclusively Democrat clients” and is “the #21 ranked vendor in the country in connection with the 2024 election.”

TRUMP FILES MOTION REQUESTING JUDGE IN HUSH MONEY TRIAL BE RECUSED AMID DAUGHTER’S DEMOCRAT-AFFILIATED WORK

Some of Authentic’s top “featured clients” on its website include campaigns associated with Trump opponents — including “President Biden, Vice President Harris, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Congressman [Adam] Schiff, Congressman [Hakeem] Jeffries, Congressman [Dan] Goldman, Congresswoman [Lauren] Underwood, and Congresswoman [Summer] Lee.” The website also features its work for the Democrat-backed “Senate Majority PAC,” and the Democrat-backed “House Majority PAC.” 

Merchan said he saw no basis for recusal. 

As for Barron’s graduation, Merchan has yet to formally grant or deny Trump’s request, and instead has said he will make his decision based on how the trial is going. 

President Biden seemed to suffer a verbal slip-up during a speech at a trade union conference in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

Biden, reading off a teleprompter, appeared to incorporate script instructions in the middle of his speech, resulting in an awkward applause line. The moment came during a section of his remarks straight out of a campaign stump speech.

“I see an America where we defend democracy, not diminish it. I see an America where we protect freedoms, not take them away,” Biden said. “I see an economy that grows a lot in the bottom up where the wealthy pay their fair share, so we can have child care, paid leave and so much more, and still reduce the federal deficit and increase economic folks.

“Imagine what we could do next. Four more years, pause,” he said before laughing.

TRUMP ‘VERY HONORED’ BY DESANTIS ENDORSEMENT AFTER FLORIDA GOVERNOR SUSPENDS PRESIDENTIAL RUN

Biden attended Wednesday’s conference to receive an endorsement from the North American Building Trades Unions (NABTU).

FLORIDA NO LONGER IN PLAY AS A SWING STATE AS GOP VOTERS SURGE OVER DEMS BY NEARLY 900K: DESANTIS

Throughout his speech, Biden blasted former President Donald Trump as being anti-union and a defender of the ultra-wealthy. He went on to contrast his and Trump’s economic policies as the “Scranton” plan and the “Mar-a-Lago” plan, referring to his hometown in Pennsylvania and Trump’s residence in Florida.

Biden’s teleprompter mix-up is only the latest in the president’s long list of gaffes. Just on Tuesday, he delivered fodder to conservative commentators by mistakenly saying he and his party “can’t be trusted.”

Biden was speaking at a Florida campaign rally at the time, focusing on abortion in particular. During his critique of Trump’s abortion stance, he flipped the tables on himself.

“I don’t know why we’re surprised by Trump. How many times does he have to prove we can’t be trusted?” Biden said.

BIDEN ONCE RIPPED ‘ANTISEMITIC BILE’ BUT NOW FACES OWN ‘CHARLOTTESVILLE MOMENT’

Audience members could be heard laughing after his comment, but Biden continued, seemingly not noticing the mistake.

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Biden’s critics on X had a field day with the gaffe, with many saying they were surprised to find themselves agreeing with the president.

Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown faced immediate backlash Tuesday after video circulated of him refusing to answer a question about whether he supports the Biden administration’s push to “ban” gas-powered cars.

“Senator Brown, do you think that gas cars should be banned,” Brown was asked while walking down the street in Washington, D.C. in a video posted online. 

After Brown didn’t answer and kept walking, he was asked if he “supports the EPA’s decision to ban gas cars?”

Brown again declined to answer before he was asked a third time a “yes or no” question asking, “Should gas cars be banned?”

VULNERABLE DEM SENATOR BLASTED OVER VOTING RECORD AFTER AD TOUTS STRENGTH ON IMMIGRATION: ‘WON’T BE FOOLED’

Brown declined to answer a third time and continued on his way.

“While facing his toughest election yet, Sherrod Brown is running from his decades-long record of supporting green energy schemes that burden hardworking Ohioans with higher prices and cripple our energy sector,” Reagan McCarthy, communications director for Brown’s Senate opponent, Republican businessman Bernie Moreno, told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

“Make no mistake, Brown supported Joe Biden’s radical anti-energy agenda since day one of this administration.”

Moreno also posted the exchange on X, saying, “Sherrod Brown won’t answer because the truth is that he is a green new deal radical that wants to crush American autoworkers and hand our industry to China.”

VULNERABLE DEM SENATOR FLIP-FLOPS ON SUPPLYING ENERGY TO CHINA IN MIDDLE OF RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN

“Sherrod Brown and Joe Biden don’t just want to ban gas cars, they want to overhaul the entire American economy to appease their far-left base,” National Republican Senatorial Committee Spokesman Philip Letsou told Fox News Digital. 

“The Democrats’ green energy agenda is enriching China while wreaking havoc on American manufacturers, and Sherrod Brown is with them every step of the way.” 

The exchange also generated criticism from social media users.

“That’s because Sherrod Brown is a Green New Deal radical who agrees with Biden!!!” Donald Trump Jr. posted on X.

Some on social media pointed to the fact that Brown has voted against Biden’s emissions agenda in the past and has pushed back against Biden’s EPA. 

“This is bizarre,” American Commitment President Phil Kerpen posted on X. “He actually voted right! To stop Biden’s EPA gas car ban! I mean, we knew he’d snap back after the election. But he can’t even bring himself to play the part???”

Brown has voted with President Biden nearly 100% of the time and voted to confirm 99% of Biden’s nominees. 

MAGA-ENDORSED BERNIE MORENO SET TO SQUARE OFF AGAINST INCUMBENT SHERROD BROWN IN CRITICAL OHIO SENATE RACE

A Brown spokesperson told Fox News Digital “Sen. Brown doesn’t tell anyone what kind of car they should drive.

“He just wants more cars made in Ohio by autoworkers making middle-class wages. That’s why he has stood up to the administration when their policies were wrong for Ohio’s auto industry, and why he’s fighting to ban Chinese electric vehicles.”

The Biden administration recently finalized a slate of highly anticipated environmental regulations curbing gas-powered vehicle tailpipe emissions as part of its broader efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat global warming.

Under the new plan, automakers will be forced to rapidly curb the emissions of greenhouse gases, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter from new passenger cars, light trucks and larger pickups and vans beginning with model year 2027 vehicles. 

“At a time when millions of Americans are struggling with high costs and inflation, the Biden administration has finalized a regulation that will unequivocally eliminate most new gas cars and traditional hybrids from the U.S. market in less than a decade,” American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers President and CEO Chet Thompson and American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Mike Sommers said in a statement after the EPA rules were announced.

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“As much as the president and EPA claim to have ‘eased’ their approach, nothing could be further from the truth.”

Brown is facing a hotly contested re-election contest against Moreno in November that the Cook Political Report ranks as a toss-up and many believe provides one of the best chances Republicans have to gain control of the Senate in a state Trump carried by eight points in 2020. 

Fox News Digital’s Thomas Catenacci 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 new Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday shows President Biden’s slight lead over former President Trump vanishing despite Trump’s ongoing criminal trial in New York City.

Trump’s trial, related to the 34 counts of falsifying business records he’s charged with, began last week with jury selection and moved into opening arguments this week. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges. 

The poll also found the presidential race to be in a dead heat with Biden and Trump tied at 46% support. 

The two remain tied at 37% with the inclusion of independent presidential candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (16%) and Dr. Cornel West (3%) and the Green Party’s Jill Stein (3%).

‘SQUAD’ MEMBER SURVIVES CHALLENGE FROM CENTRIST DEMOCRAT AFTER ANTI-ISRAEL RHETORIC THREATENED RE-ELECTION

Those numbers mark a significant closing of the gap for Trump, who trailed Biden 48%-45% in Quinnipiac’s March poll. However, with the inclusion of Kennedy, West and Stein, Trump held a one-point lead over Biden 39%-38%. 

Biden’s job approval remained dismally low at 35% support, down from 37% in March, while 61% said they disapprove of his job performance, up from 59%.

Regarding the charges Trump faces in his ongoing New York trial, a plurality of 46% said they believe the former president did something illegal, while 45% said he didn’t. However, 27% believe he did something unethical but not illegal, and 18% believe he did nothing wrong.

COLUMBIA ALUM OBAMA SILENT AS JEWISH FACULTY, STUDENTS FACE ANTISEMITIC HARASSMENT ON CAMPUS

If Trump were to be convicted on the charges, 21% said they would be less likely to vote for him, 62% said it would not affect their vote and 15% said they would be more likely to vote for him.

Trump has argued the trial is pure politics, a “political persecution,” and he maintains his innocence. The former president, the first ever to be a defendant in a criminal trial, vowed to “tell the truth” if he takes the stand.

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He has also argued the trial is unfairly keeping him from the campaign trail, giving Biden an advantage. 

Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

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

Eleven Republicans have been indicted by a grand jury in Arizona and charged with conspiracy, fraud and forgery for falsely claiming that former President Trump had won the state in 2020 over then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden. 

“I will not allow American democracy to be undermined,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a Wednesday video announcing the indictments over the “fake elector scheme.” 

She added, “The investigators and attorneys assigned to this case took the time to thoroughly piece together the details of the events that began nearly four years ago. They followed the facts where they led, and I’m very proud of the work they’ve done today.” 

She added that the co-conspirators were “unwilling to accept” that Arizonans voted for President Biden in an election that was “free and fair” and “schemed to prevent the lawful transfer of the presidency.”

MICHIGAN AG CHARGES 16 ‘FLASE ELECTORS’ FOR DONALD TRUMP IN 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

The defendants include former chair of the Arizona Republican Party Kelli Ward, sitting state Sens. Jake Hoffman and Anthony Kern and an unindicted co-conspirator described as “a former president of the United States who spread false claims of election fraud following the 2020 election,” a clear reference to Trump. 

WITH PRESIDENTIAL RACE ON THE HORIZON, NM LAWMAKERS LOOK TO OUTLAW FAKE ELECTORS 

In December 2020, the defendants wrote on a certificate sent to Congress that they were “duly elected and qualified” electors for Trump, claiming he had won the state. 

Seven others were indicted but had their names redacted, pending charges being served. 

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Alleged “fake electors” have also been charged in Georgia, Michigan and Nevada. 

A new Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday revealed information about Americans’ views on abortion that could surprise voters as the November election draws nearer.

The poll comes as Democrats seek to make abortion a central issue this election year, hoping it will drive turnout across the country in their favor as they seek to win control of the House of Representatives and hold the Senate and the White House.

According to the poll, a record number of Americans (66%) now support legal abortion in some or all cases, the highest level of support ever recorded by the poll in its two-decade history. A plurality of 34% said abortion should be legal in all cases, while 32% said it should be legal in most cases.

‘SQUAD’ MEMBER SURVIVES CHALLENGE FROM CENTRIST DEMOCRAT AFTER ANTI-ISRAEL RHETORIC THREATENED RE-ELECTION

At the same time, support for abortion to be illegal in all cases is at a record low of 5%, while 22% said it should be illegal in most cases.

Strong majorities of 89% and 85% believe abortion should be legal when the life of the mother is in danger and when the pregnancy is caused by rape or incest, respectively.

Democrats have made the issue of abortion a central theme in their campaigns across the country this election year, including warning that Republican control of Congress, in tandem with another four years in the White House for former President Donald Trump, would mean a nationwide ban.

COLUMBIA ALUM OBAMA SILENT AS JEWISH FACULTY, STUDENTS FACE ANTISEMITIC HARASSMENT ON CAMPUS

In what appeared to be an effort to alleviate fears of electoral reprisal, Trump said earlier this month that rather than any national legislation, the issue of abortion should be decided by the states.

He posted a video on Truth Social explicitly affirming his support for in vitro fertilization and emphasizing his support for states determining their own laws for abortion so long as there are exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother.

“The states will determine by vote, or legislation, or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land — in this case, the law of the state,” Trump said. “Many states will be different. Many states will have a different number of weeks… at the end of the day, it is all about the will of the people.”

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His statement drew flak from some pro-life groups, including Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, whose president Marjorie Dannenfelser said she was “deeply disappointed” by the announcement, arguing it was a victory for Democrats.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

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

President Biden made the sign of the cross, a gesture Catholics often make before and after prayer, while listening to pro-abortion comments by a fellow Democrat in Florida.

The president’s actions came Tuesday as Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried, the state’s former Democratic gubernatorial nominee, blasted an upcoming law restricting abortion to within six weeks of gestation. Biden was heavily criticized in response to the move, which several Catholic groups and commentators described as sacrilegious given the Catholic Church’s strict teaching condemning abortion.

“And then we come back here to the state of Florida where [Gov.] Ron DeSantis felt like he needed to run for president and so 15 weeks wasn’t good enough. We had to go to six weeks,” Fried said at the event alongside Biden.

At the moment Fried said “15 weeks wasn’t good enough,” Biden made the sign of the cross, appearing to mock Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ efforts to limit abortion.

Critics of the president, who is a practicing Catholic, said his actions mocked Christians. Kristan Hawkins, the founder of Students for Life of America, said Catholics “should be calling this evil out.” The pro-life group 40 Days for Life said Biden’s gesture is a “stark reminder of the disconnect between his actions and Catholic teachings on the sanctity of life.”

CHRISTIAN LEADERS REACT TO TRUMP’S ‘GOD BLESS THE USA’ BIBLES: ‘MORE TRUMP THAN BIBLE?’

“Biden’s decision to make the sign of the cross in support of abortion extremism is a despicable charade that attempts to co-opt a sacred practice in support of his new abortion religion,” added CatholicVote President Brian Burch. “His gesture openly mocks the Christian belief in the sanctity of life.”

“There is no divine support for destroying the lives of innocent children, and he should know better,” he added. “Biden’s gesture suggests he is either terribly naive, or senile, or callously indifferent to the foundational beliefs of millions of Christians in America.”

The incident comes shortly after a Pew Research poll showed a large majority of Americans are not convinced by Biden’s presentation of himself as a “devout Catholic.” The poll, conducted in late February, found that just 13% of Americans think of the president as “very religious,” while 41% say Biden is “somewhat religious” and another 44% say he is “not at all” or “not too religious.”

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the church has “affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion” for centuries. It adds that the teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable.

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The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

A House Democrat outspoken about his disdain for former President Donald Trump and desire to see him face criminal prosecution is giving his own legally troubled sibling a pass.

Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., a Philadelphia-area congressman who boldly declared in Jan. 2021 that “Donald Trump belongs in prison,” has avoided calling for his younger brother, Democratic state Rep. Kevin Boyle, to also face criminal prosecution despite a warrant being issued for his arrest and a drunken tirade at a local bar that was caught on video.

“In the days following the unprecedented attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, I was one of the first members of Congress to publicly call for Donald Trump to be criminally held responsible. It is reassuring to see that now, at long last, justice is being served. This sends a clear message that nobody, not even the former President of the United States, is above the law,” the congressman’s office said in a statement on Trump’s Washington, D.C. indictment last August. 

‘SQUAD’ MEMBER SURVIVES CHALLENGE FROM CENTRIST DEMOCRAT AFTER ANTI-ISRAEL RHETORIC THREATENED RE-ELECTION

The statement noted the congressman’s 2021 social media posts calling for Trump’s arrest, which used the hashtag “#ArrestTrump.”

In September 2021, a few months after making those posts, the younger Boyle was arrested for harassment and violating a protection from abuse order his estranged wife had filed against him. And earlier this year, he was caught on video at Gaul & Malt House, a Philadelphia-area bar, berating the staff and threatening to use his position of power to close down the establishment in retaliation for being kicked out. 

It’s unclear what prompted his drunken tirade, but bar staff could be heard in the video stating that Boyle started the altercation. 

“Do you know who the f–k I am?” he asked at one point in the video as staff yelled at him to leave. “I’ll close your f—–g bar. This bar is done. Do you know who the f–k I am? This bar is done tomorrow.”

Kevin Boyle ultimately left the bar and faced no charges related to the altercation, but he was subsequently removed by the Pennsylvania state House from his committee chairmanship and barred from entering the Capitol building because of it. Since then, he has been unable to cast votes, and other members have had to vote on his behalf by way of proxy. 

COLUMBIA ALUM OBAMA SILENT AS JEWISH FACULTY, STUDENTS FACE ANTISEMITIC HARASSMENT ON CAMPUS

For weeks, Kevin Boyle’s district offices have remained closed, with constituent services available by appointment only. Even his Democratic colleagues in the House recognized his decline — several leaders supported a procedural move that would have paved the way for his expulsion from the body. They submitted a proposal for a rule change aimed at removing members who were “incapacitated,” thereby ensuring due process and maintaining the integrity of the legislature.

Additionally, an arrest warrant was issued for him earlier this month for again violating his wife’s PFA. 

Following the arrest warrant being issued, Brendan Boyle released a statement saying his brother has a “very serious mental health condition,” and that it had been “a nightmare for our family.”

“Like any family who has a beloved member with a serious health issue, we are doing the best we can to help him get better,” Boyle said, stating that his brother initially made a full recovery after he first experienced symptoms of the unnamed condition in 2021, but had again been showing symptoms in recent months.

The congressman didn’t say whether his brother should face prosecution, nor did he say he should step down from his role as a state representative despite his attribution of the latter’s legal struggles to a mental health issue or his inability to fully represent his constituents in person at the Capitol. 

DEMOCRATS HOLD MAJOR 2024 ADVANTAGE AS HOUSE REPUBLICANS FACE FURTHER CHAOS, DIVISION

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner announced Monday that his office was withdrawing Kevin Boyle’s arrest warrant — a day before voters cast ballots in his primary race against another Democratic opponent — citing “previously unavailable information” coming to light “regarding the Protection from Abuse order.”

When reached for comment, Krasner’s office told Fox News Digital, “While there may or may not be a basis for other charges, there is no longer probable cause for violation of a protective order. This remains an ongoing investigation, and we have no further comment at this time.”

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Voters ultimately didn’t give Kevin Boyle a pass, as he lost the primary to his Democratic opponent on Wednesday. There has been no indication he will not serve out the remainder of his term. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to both Boyles’ offices for comment for purposes of this story.