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Political pundits and other media figures took to social media Wednesday night to declare which Republican presidential candidate they thought won the fourth GOP presidential debate.

Opinions were naturally split between Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley after they repeatedly clashed in heated exchanges throughout the debate, which was held on the campus of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

“Vivek won the debate and it wasn’t even close,” journalist Cassandra MacDonald wrote, while talk radio host Dom Giordano said the debate was “clearly won” by DeSantis.

BIDEN TROLLS DESANTIS, HALEY, TRUMP WITH GIANT BILLBOARDS AHEAD OF FOURTH GOP PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

Radio host Dana Loesch agreed with Giordano, declaring, “DeSantis has won two debates two weeks in a row now. His biggest asset is his record.” The previous debate she referenced was the one between DeSantis and Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom hosted by Fox News’ Sean Hannity last week.

Columnist David Marcus declared Christie the winner, while Newsbusters managing editor Curtis Houck praised DeSantis by pointing to a specific exchange he had with Haley about the threat from China.

DEMOCRATIC MEGA DONOR REID HOFFMAN GIVES $250,000 TO TOP NIKKI HALEY SUPER PAC

“[DeSantis] wasn’t rattled and clearly won this exchange. To argue he’s not tough on China when he’s been saying for years the Chinese Communist Party is America’s biggest threat is ludicrous. Also, anytime you brag about having Wall Street donors is MAJOR cringe,” Houck wrote.

Others declared one candidate the winner who chose not to attend the debate: Former President Donald Trump.

X Strategies CEO Alex Bruesewitz wrote that Trump won, Ramaswamy came in second, and DeSantis and Haley tied for third, while former Republican presidential candidate Larry Elder posted a flattering drawing of Trump with the question, “The winner?”

TRUMP CAMPAIGN LAUNCHING ‘EXTREMELY AGGRESSIVE OPERATION’ IN FINAL STRETCH TO IOWA CAUCUSES

“Trump won this debate,” Rep. Anthony Sabatini, R-Fla, simply wrote, as Fox News contributor Leo Terrell agreed, “President Trump won the debate!”

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The Iowa Republican Caucuses will be held on Jan. 15, 2024, and will be followed by the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 23.

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

Democrat Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a far-left ‘Squad’ member, called for allowing “incarcerated citizens” to vote in federal elections while referencing her support for permitting individuals as young as 16 years of age to cast a ballot.

Pressley made the comments during a Wednesday press conference while introducing legislation alongside Democrat Vermont Sen. Peter Welch that would restore felons’ voting rights. 

“That’s why we’re here today, to introduce the Inclusive Democracy Act — a historic, brand new, first-of-its-kind bill that will end the stain of felony disenfranchisement in America and guarantee the right to vote for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated citizens,” Pressley said.

‘SQUAD’ DEM LASHES OUT AT PRIMARY CHALLENGER FOR SAYING SHE’S ‘NOT CUTE ENOUGH’ TO IGNORE VOTERS

“Our bill is a reflection of bold, progressive, democratic values. Because of Republicans and the Supreme Court stopping at nothing to undermine voting rights and to exclude Black and brown folks from participating in our democracy, we must be just as relentless at protecting and expanding access to the ballot box, including for incarcerated citizens,” she continued.

In late 2022, approximately 4.6 million people were unable to vote due to a felony conviction, according to a study by the Sentencing Project, a nonpartisan research group. The same study found that Black and Hispanic citizens are disproportionately likely to be disenfranchised due to felony convictions.

The “Squad” member pivoted to how “Jim Crow” is not “behind us” and spoke of her support for allowing individuals as young as 16 to vote.

“When the former occupant of the White House can lead a violent insurrection and still run for president while nearly five million citizens can have a criminal record and not even cast a ballot, Jim Crow is not behind us,” Pressley said at the conference.

ILHAN OMAR’S CAMPAIGN CASH TO CONSULTANTS DIPPED BY MILLIONS AFTER HALTING PAYMENTS TO HUSBAND’S FIRM

“Our democracy is on the line, and the stakes could not be higher. As a Boston city councilor prior to my time here in Congress, I was proud to advocate for expanded access to the ballot box. Requiring ballots be made available in multiple languages, expanding early voting in local elections. And in Congress, I led efforts and legislation to lower the federal voting age to 16 and urged the DOJ to aggressively protect voting rights and to fight against voter suppression.”

“So I have been — and I will continue to fight — for voting rights for everyone,” she said. 

The far-left legislation would additionally require incarcerated individuals to be educated on their voting rights and offer systems and resources for voting registration, The Associated Press reported. The bill also requires means to vote by mail for incarcerated people.

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States and territories currently determine a citizen’s voting eligibility for all levels of government. The proposed bill would not change states’ ability to expand or restrict access for state or local elections.

The legislation faces long odds of being passed by the Republican-controlled House.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The House Judiciary Committee launched an investigation this week into whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis coordinated with the House Jan. 6 Committee in their investigations.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., are leading the probe after learning that Willis’ office “coordinated its investigative actions with the partisan Select Committee.”

TRUMP IS NOT IMMUNE FROM CIVIL LAWSUITS RELATED TO JAN 6, FEDERAL APPEALS COURT RULES

The lawmakers say Willis asked the House Select Committee on Jan. 6 to share evidence with her office.

Willis was investigating former President Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia.

Willis charged Trump in August with one count of violation of the Georgia RICO Act, three counts of criminal solicitation, six counts of criminal conspiracy, one count of filing false documents and two counts of making false statements. Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts.

TRUMP BOOKED AT FULTON COUNTY JAIL AFTER CHARGES STEMMING FROM 2020 ELECTION PROBE

But Jordan and Loudermilk said the new information “raises additional questions relevant to the Committee’s oversight of Willis’s politically motivated prosecution of a former President of the United States and several former senior federal officials.”

“The coordination between Fulton County, GA District Attorney Fani Willis, and Pelosi’s January 6 Select Committee, should be concerning to everyone,” Loudermilk said in a statement. “This new information raises questions about Willis’ and Thompson’s commitment to due process, and whether House Rules were violated when the Select Committee failed to properly disclose this material.”

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He added: “We have serious concerns about this behavior and we are seeking the truth.” 

Jordan and Loudermilk sent letters to Willis and former Jan. 6 Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss.

Thompson said he received the letter and said it contained “significant factual errors.” 

“As I have said time and again, the [Jan. 6 Committee] archived its official records in accordance with House rules,” Thompson told NBC News. “Only the Committee on House Administration is in possession of these records, and Mr. Loudermilk is fully aware of this.”

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A Nevada grand jury on Wednesday indicted six Republicans who submitted certificates to Congress falsely declaring Donald Trump the winner of the 2020 presidential election in their state, making Nevada the third to seek charges against so-called “fake electors.”

“We cannot allow attacks on democracy to go unchallenged,” Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford said in a statement Wednesday. “Today’s indictments are the product of a long and thorough investigation, and as we pursue this prosecution, I am confident that our judicial system will see justice done.”

NEVADA GOV JOE LOMBARDO VETOES MEASURE CRIMINALIZING FAKE ELECTORS

Ford began investigating the fake electors last month. That announcement marked a shift for the first-term Democrat, who previously was quiet on whether he would investigate the fake electors before saying that state law would not allow him to do so.

The fake electors have been charged with offering a false instrument for filing and uttering a forged instrument. Those two categories of felonies have penalties that range from one year up to either four or five years in prison.

Among the fake electors is Nevada GOP chairman Michael McDonald, who has pushed to bypass the state-run presidential primary to nominate a Republican presidential nominee, instead opting for a party-run caucus, which would require voter ID and paper ballots. He did not respond to a phone call requesting comment on Wednesday.

Clark County GOP Chair Jesse Law was also indicted, along with Jim Hindle, who runs elections in rural Storey County. Hindle did not return a voice message left Wednesday requesting comment.

In December 2020, six Nevada GOP members signed certificates falsely stating that Trump won Nevada and sent them to Congress and the National Archives, where they were ultimately ignored. The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol looked into the role these fake electors in key battleground states took in Trump’s attempt to cling to power after his 2020 defeat.

Michigan‘s Attorney General filed felony charges in July against 16 Republican fake electors, who would face eight criminal charges including forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery. The top charge carried a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

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In Wisconsin, 10 Republicans who posed as electors settled a civil lawsuit Wednesday, admitting their actions were part of an effort to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory. Sixteen fake electors also have been charged in Georgia, three of which were also charged in August alongside Trump in a sweeping indictment accusing them of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to illegally overturn the results of the presidential election. They have pleaded not guilty.

Ford had testified in support of a bill that would have criminalized future fake electors. That passed Nevada’s Democratic-controlled Legislature but was vetoed by Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, who said the punishment between four and 10 years in prison was too harsh.

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

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What’s happening:

-Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announces his retirement from Congress…

-White House interns rebel against Biden, demand Gaza ceasefire…

-Watch the highlights from Trump’s town hall on “Hannity” last night…

But his emails…

As vice president, Joe Biden used email aliases and private email addresses to communicate with son Hunter Biden and Hunter’s business associates hundreds of times, according to new records released by the House Ways & Means Committee. But what those communications contain is unclear.

The committee obtained metadata from IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler that reveals Joe Biden used alias email accounts 327 times during a nine-year period — 2010 to 2019 — to correspond with his son, Hunter, and one of Hunter’s key business associates, Eric Schwerin, among others. The committee says 54 of the emails were “exclusively” between Joe Biden and Schwerin, who the committee describes as “the architect of the Biden family’s shell companies.”

Fox News Digital broke the revelation Tuesday night, and on Wednesday, sources close to the matter revealed that the National Archives will hand over to the committee more than 60,000 Biden records — including communications using email aliases …Read more

Capitol Hill

VOTES FOR CRIMINALS: Rep. Pressley introduces legislation to guarantee right to vote for people with felonies …Read more

‘TAKE THIS DOWN’: Schumer chastises House Republican over ‘antisemitic, disgusting’ meme …Read more

‘DESTROY OUR SELF-DEFENSE’: NRA slams Schumer’s attempt to ban so-called ‘assault weapons’ …Read more

CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS?: Comer, Jordan threaten to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for refusal to appear at deposition …Read more

‘OPEN REBELLION’: GOP senator rips Washington Post writer in letter to DOJ, State Department …Read more

SCHUMER, BERNED: Sanders slams funding for ‘right-wing’ Israel in Schumer’s $110B package …Read more

White House

‘COMMON SENSE’: Green energy project on major US military base disconnected over CCP ties …Read more

‘WASTEFUL SPENDING’: Biden’s billion-dollar EV charging program has built zero chargers in two years …Read more

STAND DOWN: White House interns rebel against Biden with letter demanding cease-fire …Read more

Tales from the Campaign Trail

MONEY TALKS: Dem mega donor gives $250,000 to top Nikki Haley super PAC …Read more

‘NEED NEW LEADERSHIP’: Squad member officially teed up against pro-Israel primary challenger …Read more

SHRINKING FIELD: RNC chair McDaniel defends decision to limit debate participation …Read more

FULL COURT PRESS: Trump’s foot is on the gas in this key state …Read more

‘HE MUST BE STOPPED’: Trump unleashes on Kerry’s climate agenda in message to Iowa voters …Read more

TOP MOMENTS: Here are the highlights from Trump’s ‘Hannity’ town hall …Read more

Across America

‘FAILED LEADERSHIP’: Democratic Pennsylvania gov slams Ivy League president over testimony on antisemitism …Read more

RECORD SETTING: Migrant encounters hit daily record at southern border …Read more

OVERRULED: Blue state gov vetoes bill that would have prohibited gender transition surgeries for minors …Read more

OHIO STONED: Ohio Republicans propose sweeping changes to legal marijuana …Read more

ABORTION IN WISCONSIN: WI Republican prosecutor plans appeal in state abortion case …Read more

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, sent a letter Wednesday to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of State Antony Blinken demanding answers regarding a recent Washington Post op-ed that he said suggested “open rebellion” against the United States.

Robert Kagan, an editor at large at the newspaper, wrote a piece last week, claiming that “resistance” to former President Donald Trump, should he win the 2024 presidential election, “could come from the governors of predominantly Democratic states such as California and New York through a form of nullification. States with Democratic governors and statehouses could refuse to recognize the authority of a tyrannical federal government.”

“That is always an option in our federal system,” Kagan added.

JD VANCE FURIOUS OVER FORBES ARTICLE ON HOW TO ‘DECENTER WHITENESS,’ WILL INVESTIGATE AUTHOR’S DEI FIRM

Vance wrote in his letter to Garland and Blinken that Kagan’s piece potentially violates federal law.

“Excuse me? I must have missed that day in civics class,” he wrote after quoting Kagan’s piece. “According to Robert Kagan, the prospect of a second Donald Trump presidency is terrible enough to justify open rebellion against the United States, along with the political violence that would inevitably follow.”

Vance also mentioned in his letter that Kagan is married to Victoria Nuland, who is currently serving as the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, and he asks whether her “close relationship with her husband might compromise her judgment about the best interests of the United States.”

Vance gave Garland and Blinken a Jan. 6 deadline to answer several questions, including whether the Department of Justice will open an investigation into Kagan.

“If not, what factors counsel against such an investigation? Why were those factors inapplicable in President Trump’s case?” he asked.

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“How does the Department of Justice distinguish between heated political rhetoric and evidence of a conspiracy to violate rights or rebel against the United States?” he asked. “In the view of the Department of Justice, could a demand for ‘nullification’ or secession ‘intimidate’ a voter into changing his behavior at the ballot box?”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Kagan, The Washington Post, the State Department and the DOJ for comment.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – As Republicans gather Wednesday for the fourth GOP presidential nomination debate, only four candidates will be on the stage.

It’s the smallest debate stage at this point in the Republican presidential primaries in over a generation, and it pales in comparison to the nine GOP White House hopefuls who crowded on stage at a nomination debate in December 2015, during the last time the party experienced a fierce battle for the nomination.

And that’s just fine with Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel.

“I think it’s good because you’re having more time to hear from these candidates on the debate stage,” McDaniel emphasized in a Fox News Digital interview.

McDaniel, interviewed on the eve of the fourth debate, said we “are having a stage that allows the voters to hear from legitimate candidates for president, and we don’t have people auditioning for book deals and media contracts and cabinet positions.”

“They are running in Iowa and New Hampshire and Nevada and South Carolina and they’re going to have time to address the major issues that the voters care about,” McDaniel added as she pointed to the four early voting states in the GOP nominating calendar.

The RNC can take credit for the shrinking stage, as its rising debate polling and donor qualifying thresholds contributed to the rapid winnowing of a field that once numbered over a dozen contenders.

The criteria have been heavily criticized by the now-former candidates who were excluded from the stage.

“The RNC’s clubhouse debate requirements are nationalizing the primary process and taking the power of democracy away from the engaged, thoughtful citizens of Iowa and New Hampshire,” North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum charged as he dropped out of the race on Monday.

TRUMP CAMPAIGN PREVIEWS ‘EXTREMELY AGRESSIVE’ PUSH IN IOWA 

Burgum, who made the stage at the first two debates but failed to qualify for the third, argued that “the RNC’s mission is to win elections. It is not their mission to reduce competition and restrict fresh ideas by ‘narrowing the field’ months before the Iowa caucuses or the first in the nation New Hampshire primary.”

Asked about Burgum’s comments, McDaniel told Fox News “everybody knew the rules before they got in. They loved them when they were on the stage. They don’t like them when they’re not on the stage.”

DESANTIS STOPS IN ALL OF IOWA’S 99 COUNTIES, BUT WILL IT HELP HIM CLOSE THE GAP WITH TRUMP?

But she added: “I have the greatest respect for Gov. Burgum. He would have been a much better president than Joe Biden. I feel that way about all the candidates, whether they make the stage or not. But we do have to have criteria….We don’t want 12 people on the stage like we had in 2016 going into Iowa where we still had two stages and the candidates were given very little time to actually address major issues.”

And defending the RNC’s criteria, she emphasized: “The threshold is not crazy. It’s six percent. You’re probably not going to win the presidency if you’re not pulling in at least six percent right now.”

Former President Donald Trump, the commanding front-runner for the Republican nomination as he makes his third straight White House run, is skipping his fourth straight debate. Trump and his 2024 campaign team have repeatedly called on the RNC to cancel the remaining debates.

McDaniel, asked to respond to Trump’s comments, pointed to the Democrats’ nominating process, where the national and state parties are rallying around President Biden as he seeks a second term in the White House. The Democratic National Committee is not sanctioning debates between Biden and his long-shot rivals – and Florida Democrats last week kept those rival candidates off their primary ballot.

GAME ON IN IOWA WITH THE CAUCUSES CLOSING IN 

“We’re watching what the Democrats are doing. They’re not putting other candidates on the ballot. They’re not having debates. They’re not letting their primary process play out. And it’s making Democrat voters upset,” McDaniel argued. 

“So we’re letting the process play out. It’s in the hands of the voters,” she added, in a comment which some Republicans would vehemently disagree.

Asked if she can work with Trump if he wins the nomination, McDaniel said: “Absolutely. I’m going to work with the nominee. I have a great relationship with President Trump. I have a great relationship with these candidates and anybody who we nominate to beat Joe Biden, I’m going to be 100% behind.”

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The immediate question facing the RNC is whether they’ll continue to host nominating debates, with the next two expected to be held next month in Iowa and New Hampshire ahead of the caucuses and primary. The RNC could potentially decide to allow state parties to team up with media organizations to run any future debates.

Sources with knowledge of the national party committee’s thinking say the RNC is not expected to make any decision on upcoming debates until after Wednesday’s showdown at the University of Alabama.

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

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Ted Cruz said the Biden administration “funneled” more than $66 million in taxpayer dollars to nonprofits and academic institutions for “misinformation research,” in what he calls an effort by the federal government to “censor Americans” while attempting to “absolve” itself of “liability for infringement of Americans’ First Amendment rights.”

Cruz, R-Texas, is now demanding the State Department, FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the National Science Foundation turn over information regarding their role in “helping facilitate the censorship of Americans’ constitutionally protected speech online.”

The move comes as part of Cruz’s months-long investigation into Big Tech’s content moderation and alleged censorship practices. Cruz’s office says the ongoing investigation has “exposed the extent to which suppression of free speech on social media has been driven by government agencies and non-governmental third parties that receive funding from taxpayers.”

HOUSE WEAPONIZATION COMMITTEE: BIDEN ADMIN ‘COLLUDED’ WITH BIG TECH, ‘FACILITATED THE CENSORSHIP OF AMERICANS’

In letters to the State Department, FBI, CISA, and NSF, Cruz said the Biden administration “directly” flagged content to social media companies, but also “funneled money to private-sector third parties, including nonprofits and academic institutions that then pressured social media companies to remove content and accounts.” 

“By laundering taxpayer dollars through third parties, government agencies tried to absolve themselves of liability for infringement of Americans’ First Amendment rights,” Cruz wrote.

Cruz provided examples, including one in which the State Department made an effort to “counter foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation efforts” and sent social media companies lists of individuals that they identified as “inauthentic.” But Cruz’s investigation revealed that those lists included not only foreign actors but “everyday Americans.” 

Cruz also said the National Science Foundation sent millions of dollars to fund “Election Integrity Partnerships” at Stanford University and the University of Washington. Cruz said those programs successfully influenced social media companies into “moderating” millions of tweets flagged by CISA and the FBI.

Cruz pointed to a 2021 interview with the leader of the Stanford University program. Cruz said the lead researcher suggested taxpayer dollars were “intentionally channeled through a third party so that the government could evade First Amendment liability.”

“Just because the government hires a hitman to kill speech does not absolve the government of guilt,” Cruz wrote in the letters. “Regrettably, the examples described above appear to be just a handful of numerous instances of third parties being awarded taxpayer dollars and other government support to suppress speech.”

Cruz added: “It has also become apparent that our nation’s higher education institutions were often used as conduits through which the government could police speech online.”

JORDAN SUBPOENAS BIG TECH CEOS FOR RECORDS ON ‘COLLUSION’ WITH BIDEN ADMIN TO ‘SUPPRESS FREE SPEECH’

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., signed onto Cruz’s letter to the FBI.

Cruz asks the agencies to provide detailed information regarding their taxpayer-funded grant-making and non-governmental partnerships processes. The deadline for the agencies to respond is Dec. 19, 2023.

The letters come amid Cruz’s months-long investigation. Since the onset of the probe, Senate Commerce Committee Republican staff have identified more than 100 National Science Foundation grants between 2021 and 2023, which totaled more than $66 million in taxpayer funding toward “misinformation” research.

The committee found that NSF sent $5 million to the University of Washington to create a “digital dashboard” so that public officials could identify “trending misinformation” and “strategically correct” misinformation on social media; $5 million to George Washington University to create a therapy toolkit and digital reporting assistant for journalists who believed they were the targets of “misinformation-driven harassment campaigns”; more than $100,0000 to Georgia Tech to create a program that writes posts for social media users to counter “misinformation”; and more.

JORDAN DEMANDS BIG TECH RECORDS DETAILING ‘COLLUSION’ WITH BIDEN ADMIN TO CENSOR CONSERVATIVES

Meanwhile, Cruz’s investigation comes amid a similar House Weaponization Subcommittee probe. In June, that panel also said CISA had “facilitated the censorship of Americans directly” and through third-party intermediaries during the Biden administration. 

CISA Executive Director Brandon Wales, in a statement to Fox News Digital in June, said the agency “does not and has never censored speech or facilitated censorship; any such claims are patently false.” 

“Every day, the men and women of CISA execute the agency’s mission of reducing risk to U.S. critical infrastructure in a way that protects Americans’ freedom of speech, civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy,” Wales said. “In response to concerns from election officials of all parties regarding foreign influence operations and disinformation that may impact the security of election infrastructure, CISA mitigates the risk of disinformation by sharing information on election literacy and election security with the public and by amplifying the trusted voices of election officials across the nation.” 

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CISA, which was founded in 2018, was intended to be an agency focused on protecting critical infrastructure and guarding against cybersecurity threats.

Former President Trump said Tuesday that he doesn’t believe President Biden will be the Democratic Party’s standard bearer in the 2024 presidential election contest. 

“I personally don’t think he makes it,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity during a town hall-style event in Davenport, Iowa, on Tuesday. 

Hannity had cited “strong Democratic voices,” like New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, CNN political commentator David Axelrod, CNN contributor Van Jones and others as being “so critical of Biden,” adding that he “is struggling cognitively.”

“I can’t think of in the last couple of months any appearance that he’d had where he wasn’t either mumbling or bumbling or stumbling or having no clue where to go, where to exit. Now my question is: do you think in 11 months he will be their candidate?” Hannity asked Trump. 

BIDEN TO SUPPORTERS: ‘IF TRUMP WASN’T RUNNING, I’M NOT SURE I’D BE RUNNING’

“I think he’s in bad shape physically. Do you remember when he said, ‘I’d like to take him behind the barn’? If he took me behind the barn, and I went like this,” Trump said, puckering to blow air from his mouth, “I believe he’d fall over. I believe he’d fall over, who knows!” 

“And by the way, it was okay for him to say that,” Trump said of Biden’s comment. “He could say that and everybody thought it was so cute. If I ever said it, they’d say, ‘He’s a dictator, he’s a horrible human being.’ You know it’s a whole double standard we have, not only in the law but just about everything else, as you know very well. I personally don’t think he makes it physically. I watched him at the beach. He wasn’t able to lift a beach chair which is meant for children to lift … and mentally I would say he’s possibly equally as bad and maybe worse.” 

HERE ARE THE TOP MOMENTS FROM TRUMP’S ‘HANNITY’ TOWN HALL

Trump continued: “I will say he’s got vicious people surrounding him around that beautiful Oval Office. There are people in that Oval Office that are evil people. Bad people. Smart people. Young, vicious, they are communists.” Trump specifically referred to Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who went up against GOP presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in a debate moderated by Hannity in Alpharetta, Ga. Trump said Newsom’s “slick but he’s got no facts.” 

“I thought he did well,” Trump said of Newsom, “Considering that he didn’t have the facts I thought he did well. He said ‘we have the lowest taxes in the country,’ ‘we have the cleanest streets in the country,’ and I’m saying wait a minute, is he talking about the same place?”

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“I guess they say that Kamala [Harris] would be the odds to beat,” Trump said, as the audience booed in  response to Harris’ name. “Because they’d say if they didn’t give it to her, the African-American vote, the Black vote, would not go to them. And we just had a poll where I’m at 22 and 25% with the Black vote.” 

Former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign says it’s shifting into a higher gear with less than six weeks to go until Iowa’s caucuses kick off the Republican presidential nominating calendar.

“We have an extremely aggressive operation and an extremely aggressive schedule,” Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita told Fox News Digital, as he pointed towards the final stretch leading up to the Jan. 15 contest in Iowa.

LaCivita spoke as he accompanied the former president to Davenport, Iowa on Tuesday, where Trump sat down with Fox News’ primetime host Sean Hannity for a town hall.

“The last couple of weeks, we’ll be blitzing” Trump touted at the end of the town hall. “We’re up by like 30 or 40 points but we’re not taking any chances.”

DESANTIS STOPS IN ALL OF IOWA’S 99 COUNTIES, BUT WILL IT HELP HIM CLOSE THE GAP WITH TRUMP?

The former president — the commanding front-runner in the GOP nomination race as he makes his third straight White House run — has been picking up the frequency of his Iowa stops in recent weeks.

Trump enjoys a very large double-digit lead in the most recent public opinion surveys in Iowa’s GOP caucuses over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley — the ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration — who are fighting for second place in the Republican race in the Hawkeye State.

LaCivita previewed that the Trump campaign is planning a slew of Iowa visits not only from the former president but also from “dozens of surrogates that are going to be storming the state campaigning… in every venue that has people.”

GAME ON IN IOWA WITH THE CAUCUSES CLOSING IN 

He said there were “close to 1500-1600 precinct captains throughout the state that, literally, their sole job is to run each individual caucus that takes place and making sure that the list of the targeted voters supporting President Trump show up.”

LaCivita, a veteran Republican consultant with over three decades of campaign experience, highlighted “the sheer volume of information that we have on caucus voters who’ve voted in the past, potential caucus voters. It’s an enormous amount of data. And this is very much a data-driven operation.”

Trump’s Tuesday town hall in Iowa came three days after he was last in the state, to headline caucus organizing events.

DeSantis was also in the state on Saturday as he accomplished his goal of stopping in all of Iowa’s 99 counties.

At his event Saturday in Jasper County, he was joined by popular Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who endorsed him in early November.

THIS CANDIDATE REMAINS IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT AS THE FIRST VOTES IN THE GOP PRESIDENTIAL RACE NEAR

Also teaming up with DeSantis was Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of The Family Leader, an influential social conservative organization in a state where evangelical voters play an outsized role in Republican politics. Vander Plaats endorsed DeSantis the weekend ahead of Thanksgiving.

DeSantis has repeatedly vowed he’ll pull off an upset by winning Iowa.

While Trump has hosted roughly 20 events in Iowa this year, the Florida governor has made around 130 stops, many of them hosted by the DeSantis-aligned super PAC Never Back Down. Additionally, the super PAC has spent millions to put together a formidable ground game in Iowa. 

However, what once appeared to be a two-candidate fight for the nomination is now a three-way battle.

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Haley, who has enjoyed momentum in the polls in recent months, thanks in part to well-received performances in the first three GOP presidential primary debates, has leapfrogged DeSantis for second place in New Hampshire, which holds the first primary and votes second in the Republican nominating schedule, and her home state, which holds the first southern contest.

She aims to make a fight of it in Iowa, where she is pulling even with DeSantis in some of the latest polls.

Last week, Haley landed the backing of Americans for Prosperity Action, the political wing of the influential and deep-pocketed fiscally conservative network founded by the billionaire Koch Brothers. AFP Action has pledged to spend tens of millions of dollars and mobilize its formidable grassroots operation to boost Haley and help push the Republican Party past Trump.

Asked if the DeSantis and Haley get-out-the-vote efforts rival the Trump campaign’s operation, LaCivita argued “they don’t come close.”

“All we have to do is turn out our vote. That’s it,” LaCivita said. “Our base is solid. The amount of extra people we have to convince is negligible.”

Pointing to DeSantis and Haley, he said they “have to convince people to vote for them, vote against us, and then they have to turn them out… that’s not easy.”

Trump made history earlier this year as the first former or current president to be indicted for a crime, but his four indictments — including in federal court in Washington, D.C., and in Fulton County court in Georgia on charges he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss — have only fueled his support among Republican voters.

But Trump’s campaign says it’s not taking anything for granted.

Looking ahead to the final stretch leading up to the caucuses, LaCivita said “our only concern is complacency.”

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

Former President Trump joined Fox News’ “Hannity” on Tuesday night for a town hall discussion on the GOP presidential primary, President Biden, dictatorships, and more.

Trump joined Hannity in Davenport, Iowa, for the town hall, one day before the fourth GOP presidential primary debate in Alabama on Wednesday.

Here are the top moments from Trump’s “Hannity” town hall on Tuesday night.

HANNITY KICKS OFF TRUMP TOWN HALL WITH TOPICS INCLUDING RUSSIA, BIDEN, ‘DICTATORSHIP’ AND MORE

TRUMP SAYS BIDEN WON’T BE THE NOMINEE

Trump predicted President Biden ultimately wouldn’t be the Democrats’ nominee for president in 2024.

The topic arose when Sean Hannity asked Trump about the criticism facing Biden from his fellow Democrats, as well as noted that he seemed to be “struggling cognitively.”

“I personally don’t think he makes it, okay? I haven’t said that. I’m saving it for this big town hall. I’ve never really said that. I personally don’t think he makes it,” Trump answered, to cheers from the audience.

“I think he’s in bad shape physically,” he added before joking about a previous instance in which Biden said he’d like to take Trump to the “back of the barn.”

Trump joked that Biden would “fall over” if he simply blew on him.

“I personally don’t think he makes it physically. I watched him at the beach. He wasn’t able to lift a beach chair, which is meant for children to lift. And mentally I would say he is possibly equally as bad, and maybe even worse,” Trump added.

‘DICTATOR’ FOR ‘DAY ONE’

The former president turned some heads with some of his comments during the town hall, most notably with his comments to Hannity’s question asking Trump to pledge to “never abuse power as retribution against anybody.”

“Except for day one,” Trump said. “I want to close the border and I want to drill, drill, drill.”

Hannity said “that’s not retribution,” with Trump quipping back, “I love this guy, he says, ‘you’re not going to be a dictator are you?'”

“I said, ‘No, no, no, other than day one,” Trump said.

“We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling,” Trump said. “After that, I’m not a dictator.”

Hannity said that it sounded like what Trump was saying was that he would go back to his first-term policies, to which the former president agreed.

Trump’s comments come after multiple media outlets claimed a second term for the former president would result in a “dictatorship.”

Biden’s campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez blasted Trump over the comments, saying in a release, “Donald Trump has been telling us exactly what he will do if he’s reelected and tonight he said he will be a dictator on day one.”

“Americans should believe him,” she said.

‘TALKING POINTS’: TRUMP RESPONDS TO BIDEN

Trump mocked President Biden for his claim that he wouldn’t be running for re-election if Trump wasn’t in the race.

“Well, I think somebody gave him a talking point. They thought that would sound good,” Trump said as the crowd laughed.

“You know, I just found out that Democrats are funding Nikki Haley’s campaign. I hear that Democrats are contributing to Ron DeSanctus’, or Ron DeSanctimonious, to Ron DeSanctus’ campaign. And then you hear the talking points. That’s the only thing they’re good at, cheating on elections and great talking points,” Trump added.

Biden made the statement earlier in the day to a group of supporters at a Boston fundraiser, saying, “If Trump wasn’t running, I’m not sure I’d be running. But we cannot let him win for the sake of the country.”

“I’M GOING TO WIN IOWA”

Trump came out swinging in his town hall, but one of the biggest moments of the night was the former president calling his shot in the Hawkeye State.

The former president declared to Fox News’ Sean Hannity that he would “win Iowa.”

Trump touted the “hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes and tariffs” from China and “gave the farmers $28 billion.”

“That’s why I say I’m going to win Iowa,” Trump said, eliciting cheers from the Hawkeye State crowd.

“My people say, ‘Please sir, don’t keep saying you’re going to win Iowa, you sound so, really, horrible, crass’ — someone said ‘crass,'” Trump continued.

“I said, ‘But it’s true. We’re going to win Iowa,'” the former president continued.

Trump noted again that he “gave the farmers $28 billion” and that he “got it from China” during his administration.

“Who else could do that? Who else would be able to do it, number one, who else would think about it?” Trump asked, adding that he told farmers to “buy more land” and “bigger tractors.”

BLASTING BIDEN’S ‘MAGA’ CRITICISM

Trump’s town hall began with him torching Biden over his criticism of his MAGA movement.

“You know, I see Biden talking about, ‘Oh, MAGA! MAGA!’ MAGA means Make America Great Again. That’s what it means. And that’s what people want,” Trump said to cheers from the crowd.

“They want to see our country be great again. Right now we’re not a great country. We’re a country in decline. We are a declining country,” he added.

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The Biden campaign has ramped up its criticism of Trump as polls consistently show him trailing the former president.

He has frequently blasted the the MAGA movement as “extremist,” and attempted to tie other conservative Republicans into that criticism.

University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill was under pressure during a House antisemitism hearing on Tuesday, as Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., noted that a Penn professor who called for “intifada” against Israel kept his job at the prestigious institution and other antisemitic speakers have been allowed to have events on campus. 

Banks, in turn, noted how former President Trump’s director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Thomas Homan, was prevented from speaking on campus amid anti-Trump student protests, as was India’s now-Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amy Wax, a tenured law professor who opposes the diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, agenda. 

“Just weeks before the Oct. 7 terror attacks against Israel, Penn hosted a Palestine Writes Literature Festival,” Banks said. “The event featured Marc Lamont Hill, who was fired by CNN for calling for the destruction of Israel. It also hosted and included a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement, which has collaborated with the terrorists and maybe most notably, Roger Waters, the really wacky former Pink Floyd vocalist. The same Roger Waters, by the way, who’s publicly used anti-Jewish slurs, desecrated the memory of Anne Frank and has dressed up as a Nazi and floated a pig balloon with a star of David – at many of his concerts. Why in the world would you host someone like that on your college campus to speak at the so-called Palestinian Rights Literature Festival?” 

“I appreciate the opportunity to discuss this. Antisemitism has no place at Penn,” Magill began, before Banks interjected. 

“Why did you invite Roger Waters? What did you think you would get out of him?” Banks said. 

STEFANIK GRILLS HARVARD PRESIDENT OVER STUDENTS CALLING FOR ‘INTIFADA,’ RAMPANT ANTISEMITISM ON CAMPUS

“Antisemitism has no place at Penn, and our free speech policies are guided by the United States Constitution,” she said. 

But Banks pressed specifically, “Why did you invite Roger Waters?” asking Magill, “Do you condemn what Roger Waters stands for?” 

The Penn president claimed that before the event, she issued a “statement calling out the antisemitism of some of the speakers at that conference.” 

“Specifically Roger Waters? Yes or no?” Banks asked. To that, the university president fell silent for a few seconds, adding, “Roger Waters is among them.” 

“So you specifically called out a guy who floated pig balloons with a star of David at his concerts?” Banks responded. “I haven’t seen the condemnation. And I’m going to go look for it after this hearing. And I hope, I hope can find that well-recorded condemnation from you.”

Clarifying, Magill said, “I did call out the antisemitism of some of the speakers at a conference that had more than 100 people.” 

In the aftermath of the Palestine Writes Festival, Banks noted how Magill and her Penn board chairman wrote a memo outlining the university’s free speech policies. In that memo, Magill wrote, “Penn does not regulate the content of speech or symbolic behavior,” including speech “incompatible with the school’s values.” The university president went on to say Penn does not have a policy against hate speech because “defining and policing robust debate, even with respect to the most disturbing issues, is unwise.”

HARVARD, MIT AND UPENN PRESIDENTS PRESSED ON ‘RACE-BASED IDEOLOGY OF THE RADICAL LEFT’ AT ANTISEMITISM HEARING

“That’s what you wrote,” Banks said. “But in 2013, Penn canceled now-Prime Minister Modi’s scheduled keynote address at a Wharton-hosted economic forum in the face of opposition from Indian-American professors. And for the past year, your administration has sought to punish Amy Wax, a tenured law professor, for her stance on DEI and identity issues. And then you canceled an event with former ICE Director Tom Homan due to disruptive student protests simply because he worked for former President Donald Trump.” 

“The fact is that Penn regulates speech that it doesn’t like,” Banks charged. “Everyone gets this, no one more so than the faculty and students who know exactly where the lines are that they’re OK to cross,” Banks surmised, asking Magill, “Why did Penn let Professor Ahmad Almallah off the hook, who led hundreds of students in chanting ‘There’s only one solution, intifada revolution?’ Why does that, professor, still have a job at your university?”

In response, Magill said, “Our approach to speech is as identified. It follows and is guided by the United States Constitution, which allows for robust perspectives. I disagree with the characterization that we treat speech differently and I can’t discuss any individual disciplinary process.” 

Banks went on to call out Penn professor Anne Norton, who he said, “repeatedly denied Hamas’ worst atrocities on Oct. 7” and professor Huda Fakhreddine, who Banks said “romanticized the murder of over a thousand Israeli Jews as, quote, ‘Palestine inventing a new way of life’ and clapped as a speaker said Jews should go back to Berlin and Moscow.”

“Why does that professor still have a job at your university?” Banks demanded. Magill said she was “very troubled” by what he was describing. 

“You’re speaking out of both sides of your mouth. You’re defending it. You allow these professors to teach at your college,” Banks said. “You create a safe haven for this type of antisemitic behavior. You said something earlier about antisemitism being symbolic of the larger society. Your university is a hotbed of it. And one of the reasons that we’re seeing a rise of antisemitism… is an unsafe environment for Jewish college students all over this country. You’re largely responsible for it.” 

The House GOP Conference gave an opportunity for several Jewish students at Penn, Harvard and MIT to speak Tuesday before the hearing began. 

A senior at Penn, Eyal Yakoby, outlined an incident on campus he said happened less than 36 hours earlier.

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“I should not be here today. I should be studying for my upcoming finals. I should be taking in every moment, every experience as an undergraduate student in my senior year of college. So while I should not be here today, I am, because 36 hours ago, I, along with most of campus, sought refuge in our rooms as classmates and professors chanted proudly for the genocide of Jews while igniting smoke bombs and defacing school property,” Yakoby said. 

“The neighboring university’s president immediately released a statement describing this as a ‘brazen display of antisemitism.’ He went on saying, ‘Silence in the face of last night’s demonstration of antisemitism and hate near our doorstep is not an option for me.’ Well, the doorstep of the neighboring university is in fact Penn. And in fact, Penn’s president did choose silence. The neighboring university’s president swiftly denounced the incident, and yet our president could not because the ‘glorious Oct. 7′ and ‘You’re a dirty little Jew, you deserve to die,’ are words said not by Hamas but by my classmates and professors. And because despite all of this, I am adamant and hopeful that we will not accept, least of all embrace, this horrific new normal on college campuses today.” 

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What’s happening:

– House Speaker Johnson gives President Biden ultimatum on Ukraine funding…

– Trump sits down for Iowa townhall on ‘Hannity’ at 9 p.m. ET. Follow the Fox News live blog for the latest updates…

– FBI Director says terror threat level is at an all time high…

– Sen. Tommy Tuberville ends blockade of military promotions after months-long abortion fight…

FB-I Spy

FBI Director Christopher Wray pleaded with lawmakers on Tuesday to continue funding a controversial surveillance tool of the U.S. government.

Wray testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday morning. In his opening remarks, he urged Congress to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which has been both credited with preventing terror attacks on U.S. soil and accused of being a vehicle for spying on U.S. citizens. 

The law lets the government keep tabs on specific foreign nationals outside the country without first obtaining a warrant to do so, even if the party on the other side of those communications is an American on U.S. soil. The program will expire at the end of this year if not reauthorized by Congress.

Fox News Digital is told that congressional leaders are considering attaching a temporary extension of FISA to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), an annual defense spending bill. 

Capitol Hill

‘PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT’: DOJ gave Hunter Biden ‘preferential treatment’ during federal probe, GOP report says …Read more

‘HOLD FIRM’: Top conservative policy leader sends warning to Johnson on Ukraine aid …Read more

FIGHT FOR UKRAINE: Internal memo shows senior Republicans making case for Ukraine aid …Read more

TAKEN TO SCHOOL: Presidents of Harvard, MIT, UPenn pressed on response to antisemitism at House hearing …Read more

SHOOTING BACK AT HUNTER: Special counsel hits back at Hunter Biden requesting Trump, Barr subpoenas …Read more

SINEMA STRESSED: Sinema faces ethics complaint over failure to detail finances in disclosures …Read more

OVER THE HILL: GOP Rep. Patrick Henry not seeking re-election, increasing numbers leaving Congress …Read more

RACE TO 2024: How exodus of lawmakers from Congress could shake up election …Read more

White House

ALL TIME HIGH: FBI director says terror threats elevated to all-time high since Oct. 7 …Read more

HIDING THE TRUTH: State Dept accuses Hamas of refusing to release female hostages to keep them from revealing horrors of captivity …Read more

Across America

‘SUSPICIOUS’ TIMING: Notice to DC residents hints at preparations for Trump trial jury selection …Read more

BORDER ‘OVERRUN’: Shocking scenes as migrants surge into remote Arizona crossing …Read more

KILL SHOT: Liberal activists seek to cripple iconic American firearms manufacturer …Read more

CARTELS IN OUR ‘BACKYARD’: NY sheriff sounds alarm over crisis at Canadian border …Read more

Follow the Fox News live blog for the latest updates…

Former President Donald Trump blasted U.S. Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry in a Fox News town hall event for his climate activism and told the audience that the former Democratic presidential candidate “has to be stopped.”

“I see John Kerry all over the place talking about [how] we have to get rid of our coal plants,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity. 

“And yet China is building one coal plant a week, massive coal plants, and they’re doing it just automatically. And John Kerry wants us to stop doing anything we can. We have a country, we have to fire up our factories. Wind is not going to fire up our factories.”

Moments later, when discussing American energy independence, Trump said, “Our country can be rich again. John Kerry has to be stopped. He’s destroying our country.”

BIDEN ADMIN UNDER FIRE FOR BURNING TAXPAYER FUNDS ON UN CLIMATE SUMMIT TRIP

“This guy, I mean, think of it,” Trump continued. “He goes all over the world in a private jet, by the way. He goes all over the world talking to these people about getting rid of coal plants. They all laugh at him. They, you know, treat him with respect. He’s gone. They say, what an idiot. What a jerk. And then they go ahead and they build their coal plants.”

Kerry has been widely criticized by conservatives for using a private jet while railing against the effects of climate change.

CLIMATE CHANGE REPORTER DEFENDS WORLD LEADERS FLYING TO DUBAI: ‘CAN’T DO A ZOOM CALL WITH 190 COUNTRIES’

Additionally, Kerry has been slammed by conservatives for several controversial comments related to how he would like the United States to address climate change including a recent statement where he called for a halt in new coal power plant production.

“The first step is to stop making the problem worse: stop building new unabated coal power plants,” Kerry said at a climate change summit in Dubai.

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Kerry has also previously dismissed concerns that tens of thousands of coal workers in America could lose their jobs if his policies are carried out describing that notion as a “false narrative.”

At the same conference in Dubai, Kerry pledged to slash emissions from AC units, refrigerators to fight climate change.

Fox News Digital reached out to Kerry’s office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

FIRST ON FOX: A super PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president is taking aim at his GOP primary rival Nikki Haley, again comparing her to Hillary Clinton in a new seven-figure ad buy in Iowa — as the battle between the two candidates heats up and a day before the two go head-to-head in a presidential primary debate.

Fight Right, a political action committee backing DeSantis for the Republican 2024 presidential nomination, says it has spent $1.54 million on the ad buy, which will go out on cable and broadcast in Iowa – where the first-in-the-nation caucuses will take place in January.

The ad cites past remarks from Haley, who served as U.N. ambassador during the Trump administration, in which she said that Clinton who inspired her to run for office.

DESANTIS CHALLENGES TRUMP: ‘WHY ARE YOU RUNNING?’ 

 

It goes on to accuse her of supporting raising taxes and open borders “like Hillary” before also citing recent remarks from JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dinon, who urged “liberal” Democrats to back Haley to give Republicans a choice other than former President Donald Trump.

“Now the globalist Wall Street bankers who financed Hillary’s campaigns are funding Haley’s campaigns,” the ad says.

“And just like Hillary Clinton, Nikki Haley shouldn’t be president,” it says – calling her “wrong for America like Hillary.”

“With ‘Like Hillary,’ we’re cutting through the noise to expose the truth about Nikki Haley’s troubling track record,” David Dewhirst, Chairman of Fight Right Inc.., said in a statement. “From tax hikes to open borders to ties with China, the parallels are striking. Fight Right is dedicated to bringing these facts to the forefront and empowering Iowa voters with the truth.”

The ad buy comes as Haley and DeSantis locked in a fierce battle for second place behind clear frontrunner former President Donald Trump. It’s the latest attempt to compare Haley to Clinton by her rivals. The Trump campaign has also pointed to the times Haley has said she was inspired by Clinton to run for office.

However, the comparison has also been fact-checked by multiple outlets for missing context, specifically that Haley has also stressed her ideological differences with the secretary of state and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate. One of the clips used in the ad, in which Haley says Clinton was “the reason I got into politics” omits her also saying that “I don’t agree with anything that [Clinton] has to say.” 

She said that the inspiration from Clinton came because she had been given multiple reasons why she shouldn’t run but then heard Clinton speak.

“Hillary Clinton was the keynote speaker on a leadership institute, and she said that when it comes to women running for office, there will be everybody that tells you why you shouldn’t but that’s all the reasons why we need you to do it, and I walked out of there thinking ‘That’s it. I’m running for office.’” she told the New York Times in 2011.

Haley’s campaign has also pointed to past remarks in which she has criticized Clinton, including telling voters in 2016 that Clinton would be “disastrous” as president and would be “absolutely worse” than former President Barack Obama.

“This is the sign of a desperate, losing candidate,” Haley spokesperson Ken Farnaso told Fox News Digital. “As Ron DeSantis drops in the polls, Nikki Haley has surged into second place in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina because voters know she is the best candidate to take on Donald Trump and Joe Biden.”

Haley and DeSantis will be joined on the debate stage on Wednesday night in Alabama by entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former N.J. Gov. Chris Christie. Trump has again declined to attend the debate.

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

Republicans in the House and Senate are closing ranks in a bid to force President Biden to deal with the ongoing crisis at the U.S. southern border.

Both Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have signaled that getting any part of Biden’s $106 billion supplemental aid request passed would require concessions on conservative border and asylum measures.

Johnson told GOP lawmakers in a closed-door meeting that passing border security measures is a top goal of his in considering an aid package, two sources who were present told Fox News Digital. 

One said Johnson called border security a “hill to die on” in the ongoing fight, confirming earlier reporting by the Associated Press. 

UKRAINE TO RECEIVE NATO SUPPORT FOR ‘AS LONG AS IT TAKES,’ GAIN ALLIANCE MEMBERSHIP AFTER CONFLICT

House conservatives have been pushing Johnson to not accept anything less than H.R. 2, the GOP’s marquee border bill, which would reinstate Trump administration-era measures such as Remain In Mexico and limit the ability for undocumented migrants to seek asylum, among other policies.

McConnell told reporters at a press conference later that afternoon that he would urge Senate Republicans to vote against advancing Biden’s $106 billion request unless border security measures were included. 

UNITED NATIONS SLAMMED FOR SILENCE OVER HAMAS RAPES, MUTILATION AND MURDER OF ISRAELI WOMEN, CRITICS SAY

It comes after bipartisan compromise talks on the matter fell through over the weekend. Despite that, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., teed up a vote on Biden’s aid request for later this week.

“I’m advocating, and I hope all of our members vote no on the motion to proceed to the shell, to make the point – hopefully for the final time – that we insist on meaningful changes to the border,” McConnell said. 

“We’ve had a number of members who have been involved in it over the years without much success. Now is the time to pay attention to our own border in addition to these other important international concerns.”

President Biden’s supplemental aid request includes funding for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, humanitarian aid, as well as the U.S. border.

The House has already passed a standalone bill with the roughly $14 billion in Israel aid Biden requested, but the funding would be offset by money allocated toward the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), a nonstarter for the Democrat-held Senate. 

GOP SENATORS INTRODUCE STAND-ALONE BILL TO AID ISRAEL WITHOUT MORE FUNDING TO UKRAINE

House Republican leaders have signaled they will only put Ukraine aid on the floor, of which Biden requested roughly $61 billion, if it’s paired with border security measures.

Schumer instead suggested at his own Tuesday press conference that he would allow a vote on a border security amendment crafted by Senate Republicans in addition to the supplemental.

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“I will not interfere with them drawing up an amendment, but it will need 60 votes like any amendment would,” Schumer said.

McConnell panned the idea when asked by reporters later.

“They don’t want to deal with border security in the context of the supplemental. We do, because we know that will guarantee an outcome – because the other parts of supplemental almost all of our members support,” he said.

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, says Republicans want the border “closed” as part of a potential congressional agreement for additional emergency spending requested by the White House and criticized “clueless” Democrats who want to negotiate border provisions.

“Dems want $106B—GOP wants a closed border. That’s the trade. But clueless Dems want to negotiate the border bill. Not going to happen,” Romney said on X, formerly Twitter. “Is an open border more important to Dems than Ukraine and Israel?”

Republicans and Democrats have been struggling to find common ground over how to handle the crisis at the southern border as part of a supplemental spending agreement that includes border security and funding to Ukraine and Israel.

REPUBLICANS CLOSE RANKS, DEMAND DEMS FACE BORDER CRISIS AS BIDEN UKRAINE AID PLAN HANGS IN BALANCE 

The White House requested $14 billion to help it deal with the massive crisis at the southern border. The request includes $6.4 billion for “border operations,” which includes $4.4 billion for holding facilities and reimbursement of support from the Pentagon. It also includes money for DNA collection and over $1.9 billion for Health and Human Services “to support eligible arrivals and unaccompanied children.” 

Related to migrant care is $1.4 billion for shelter and services for migrants released from DHS custody. This is in addition to $800 million distributed to states and non-governmental organizations by the administration to aid the many migrants who have been released into the U.S. interior.

But Republicans want to see higher standards for asylum, limits on parole and other inclusions to make it harder for migrants to be released into the U.S. interior. 

House conservatives have been pushing Speaker Mike Johnson to refuse to accept anything less than H.R. 2, the GOP’s marquee border bill, which would reinstate Trump administration-era measures such as Remain In Mexico and restart border wall construction.

SENATE DEMS SAY ANY CHANGES TO ASYLUM SYSTEM MUST BE COUPLED WITH AMNESTY FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has teed up a vote on Biden’s aid request for later this week, but so far GOP leadership is urging a no vote until there are “meaningful” changes at the border.

Meanwhile, some Senate Democrats have said policy changes should not go ahead unless they are linked to an amnesty for illegal immigrants already in the U.S.

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“As negotiations surrounding the supplemental aid package progress, we are concerned about reports of harmful changes to our asylum system that will potentially deny lifesaving humanitarian protection for vulnerable people, including children, and fail to deliver any meaningful improvement to the situation at the border,” a coalition of 11 Democratic senators said Wednesday. 

“Using a one-time spending package to enact these unrelated permanent policy changes sets a dangerous precedent and risks assistance to our international partners,” they said. “Any proposal considering permanent changes to our asylum and immigration system needs to include a clear path to legalization for long-standing undocumented immigrants.”

Fox News’ Liz Elkind contributed to this report.

President Biden on Tuesday told supporters he’s not sure if he would be seeking a second term in the White House in 2024 if former President Donald Trump wasn’t trying to win back his old job.

“If Trump wasn’t running, I’m not sure I’d be running. But we cannot let him win,” the president said at a fundraiser at a private home near Boston, Massachusetts, according to a pool report.

Biden’s candid comments about his reasons for running for re-election came as he reiterated what he and Democrats have emphasized is the threat Trump poses to American democracy if he wins back the White House. 

“Trump’s not even hiding the ball anymore. He’s telling us what he’s going to do. He’s making no bones about it,” Biden warned.

WILL THESE SIX BATTLEGROUND STATES COST BIDEN THE WHITE HOUSE IN 2024?

The president also once again spotlighted Trump’s recent renewed calls to scrap the Affordable Care Act, the sweeping health care law passed during Biden’s tenure as vice president during then-President Obama’s administration.

The fundraiser, one of three the president was headlining in the Boston area on Tuesday, comes as the president kicked off a fundraising sprint to close the year, to build resources for what will certainly be an expensive re-election effort in 2024.

The president’s remark suggests that Biden may not have run for another four years in the White House if Trump had decided against a 2024 bid.

BIDEN FACES A BIGGER POLLING DEFICIT NOW THAT OBAMA DID A YEAR BEFORE THE 2012 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Trump remains the commanding front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination as he makes his third straight White House run. Trump holds a large double-digit lead over the rest of the shrinking field of Republican rivals for the nomination.

Biden made history in 2020 as the oldest person elected president, as he defeated Trump. 

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The now 81-year-old Biden has long viewed himself as the Democrats’ best shot at keeping Trump from winning back the White House.

But Biden continues to suffer from underwater approval ratings among many Americans and faces concerns – not just from Republicans and independents but also from Democrats – over his physical and mental stamina.

While the president is the commanding front-runner for his party’s 2024 nomination, polls indicate that many Americans – including plenty of Democrats – don’t want the president to seek a second term in the White House. 

Those same surveys spotlight that voters are far from thrilled with the likely prospect of a rematch between Biden and Trump.

Fox News’ Kate Sprague and Kelly Phares contributed to this report

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