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California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom defended President Biden’s ability to serve in office amid growing concerns from Democrats that the president is too old to run for re-election.

In an interview with CNN, Newsom acknowledged that voters “have every right to be concerned” about Biden’s age (80) but insisted he was not concerned.

“I want a seasoned pro that knows how to get things done,” Newsom said. “I’m a little old-fashioned. I want a guy who produces results, and the results are in: It’s been a master class.” 

Newsom’s remarks came in response to a question about a recent CBS News/YouGov survey, which found that only one-third of American voters think Biden will remain in office through a second term. Were the president to win re-election and finish another term, he would be 86-years-old when he leaves office.

DEMOCRAT CONCERNS ABOUT BIDEN’S AGE, HARRIS’ POLL NUMBERS MOUNTING IN RECENT WEEKS: ‘PAINFUL TO SAY’

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (not pictured), Gavin Newsom and Darren Walker (not pictured) have a conversation during the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) meeting at the Hilton Midtown on September 18, 2023 in New York City. In a recent interview with CNN, Newsom said President Biden is a “seasoned pro” who is not too old to be president. (John Nacion/WireImage)

The popular and staunch progressive California governor, who declined to challenge Biden for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination, argued that the president’s record demonstrates he is not too old to lead the country.

“There’s simply no administration in my lifetime that’s been more effective producing more substantive results,” said the 55-year-old Newsom, who has lived through the Nixon, Carter, Ford, Reagan, Clinton, both Bush, Obama and Trump presidencies. 

He pointed to several bipartisan wins for the Biden White House, including deals on infrastructure, gun control, raising the debt ceiling and the CHIPS and Science Act, which incentivized companies to build and manufacture semiconductors in the U.S.

“I mean this, I couldn’t imagine three years ago that this president could accomplish so much in such a short period of time. I mean that,” Newsom emphasized.

BIDEN BLUNDERS: PRESIDENT STUMBLES HIS WAY THROUGH GAFFE-FILLED WINTER

President Joe Biden speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023. Biden, 80, would be 86 were he to leave office at the end of a second term as president.  (Chris Kleponis/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

While Newsom and others, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Vice President Kamala Harris, have defended Biden’s age, other Democrats have expressed hesitancy to the Biden-Harris 2024 ticket.

“I don’t think Biden and Vice President Harris should run for re-election,” Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, a favorite scribe of the liberal establishment, wrote last week, pointing to the fact that Biden would be 82 at the start of a second term.

“It’s painful to say that, given my admiration for much of what they have accomplished. But if he and Harris campaign together in 2024, I think Biden risks undoing his greatest achievement — which was stopping [former President] Trump.” 

Rep. Dean Phillips, a Democrat from Minnesota, told NBC News recently that he believes “there are other candidates who have a far better chance and don’t have the actuarial risk that the president has.”

DESANTIS SAYS TRUMP’S AGE, LIKE BIDEN’S, ‘LEGITIMATE CONCERN’ IN 2024 ELECTION

Vice President Kamala Harris gives remarks, alongside President Joe Biden, at an event celebrating the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act on the South Lawn of the White House on Sept. 13, 2022 in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“Why does everyone have blinders on? Why are we essentially being led to this cliff without knowing what’s on the other side?” Phillps said. 

And former Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile recently admitted she’s “not sleeping at night thinking all is well” and said Democrats should be concerned with making the case for Biden to continue in office.

Amid these concerns, the White House has repeatedly defended Biden’s age and mental acuity when asked by reporters.

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“Look, here’s what I know,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told Fox News’ Peter Doocy last week in response to a question about polling showing voter concerns over Biden’s age. “Here’s what I can speak to. I can speak to that – a president who has wisdom. I can speak to a president who has experience. I can speak to a president who has done historic – has taken historic action and has delivered in historic pieces of legislation. And that’s important.”

In an Associated Press poll this summer, 77% said Biden is too old to be effective for four more years, with 89% of Republicans taking that position along with 69% of Democrats.

Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

The Department of Energy (DOE) quietly promoted a top adviser to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to a senior role overseeing home appliance regulations after he failed to clear Senate confirmation.

The DOE announced last week that Jeff Marootian was appointed to be the principal deputy assistant secretary of the agency’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). The appointment came days after the White House withdrew his name from consideration to lead EERE as the office’s assistant secretary.

While Marootian’s nomination failed after Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., opposed him over the Biden administration’s crackdown on natural gas-powered stovetops, his appointment last week makes him the effective chief of the DOE’s EERE office. 

President Biden has yet to nominate another person to be Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, meaning Marootian, whose new position doesn’t require Senate confirmation, is the most senior official in the EERE office. The office is tasked with issuing and implementing energy efficiency regulations such as those affecting gas stoves and other home appliances.

BIDEN ADMIN BEGINS ENFORCING NATIONWIDE LIGHTBULB BANS, IGNITING BACKLASH FROM GOP: ‘LIBERAL FANTASIES’

Jeff Marootian, President Biden’s former pick for Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the Department of Energy, testifies during a Senate confirmation hearing in November. (Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee)

“Jeff Marootian is an unelected, unaccountable, and unconfirmed bureaucrat who is carrying out President Biden’s orders to attack affordable household appliances,” Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

“These rules are making life more expensive for all Americans by denying them the products they need. Biden and Marootian are coming after appliances in every room of our home – from gas stoves in our kitchen to water heaters in our basement,” he continued. “The administration should put forward a new nominee who will work to lower costs and give consumers choice.”

Barrasso opposed Marootian’s nomination last year, arguing he was more qualified for a Transportation Department role.

EXPERTS WARN BIDEN ADMIN’S WATER HEATER CRACKDOWN WILL HIKE PRICES, REDUCE CONSUMER CHOICE

Marootian was first nominated to take the helm at the EERE office in July 2022 after serving as special assistant to Biden and, prior to that role, director of the Washington, D.C., Department of Transportation. The position has been vacant since Daniel Simmons, who led the office throughout the Trump administration, departed the DOE in early 2021.

Granholm then hired Marootian as her senior adviser for energy efficiency and renewable energy in September 2022. His confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee took place in November, and he was reported out of committee in December, but his nomination stalled at the end of session, forcing Biden to renominate him in January.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm previously said Marootian would be a “natural fit to lead the Department’s largest applied energy office.” (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Manchin then unexpectedly came out in opposition to Marootian’s nomination in May, putting Marootian’s chances of receiving Senate confirmation in jeopardy. Though the White House stood by Marootian at first, it ultimately withdrew his nomination earlier this month.

“While I supported Mr. Marootian’s nomination in December, since then the office he’s been nominated to lead has proposed stove efficiency rules that I’ve raised concerns about,” Manchin told Fox News Digital on May 17. “While I appreciate that these rules would only apply to new stoves, my view is that it’s part of a broader, administration-wide effort to eliminate fossil fuels. For that reason, I’m not comfortable moving forward with Mr. Marootian at this time.”

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Since Marootian was hired to advise Granholm on energy efficiency and since his nomination was returned to the White House, the DOE has pursued a number of energy efficiency regulations impacting household appliances including gas stovetops, ovens, clothes washers, refrigerators, air conditioners and dishwashers which consumer advocates have criticized as regulatory overreach. 

“It’s just spreading to more and more appliances. It seems that almost everything that plugs in or fires up around the house is either subject to a pending regulation or soon will be,” Ben Lieberman, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, previously told Fox News Digital.

“Consumers aren’t going to like any of it,” he added. “These rules are almost always bad for consumers for the simple reason that they restrict consumer choice.”

The trolling of former Vice President Mike Pence by Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramswamy’s campaign was called out by X on Monday after the social media giant added a “community note” to the latter’s claim that the former was “copying” one of his “revolutionary ideas.”

“Hey [Mike Pence]. You get an ‘F’ for copying [Vivek Ramaswamy’s] homework. While imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, it’s not cool to rip off his revolutionary ideas and pawn them off as your own. Don’t blame you. Vivek is super smart. [Harvard] and [Yale Law School] degrees,” the Ramaswamy campaign’s war room wrote over the weekend in response to Pence vowing to “shut down the Department of Education.”

However, the X note pointed to former President Ronald Reagan as the one who originally called for the shutting down of the Education Department during his 1982 State of the Union speech. According to the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, cited by X in its note, Reagan said he believed “decisions about education should be made at the local level and that the federal government should play only a minor role in the nation’s schools.”

FORMER SPECIAL FORCES SOLDIER LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN IN VIRGINIA TO FLIP SWING HOUSE SEAT FROM DEMOCRATS

In its post roasting Pence, the Ramaswamy campaign pointed to a separate X post by Ramaswamy from Feb. 28 with a promise to shut down the Education Department, well before Pence began pushing the policy as part of his own presidential campaign, which he didn’t launch until June.

Pence made the policy promise just days after Ramaswamy had given a speech to the America First Policy Institute detailing his own plan for shutting down the Education Department in what his campaign told Fox News Digital was given with “unprecedented detail.”

EX-DHS AGENT WHO INSPIRED ‘SOUND OF FREEDOM’ ‘SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING’ RUN FOR ROMNEY’S SENATE SEAT

Former Vice President Mike Pence and Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. (Getty Images)

A spokesperson for the Ramaswamy campaign told Fox that Republican calls to end federal agencies, such as the Education Department, weren’t new, but that the level of detail Ramaswamy has been offering on the campaign trail was something that was so far unseen.

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Fox has reached out to the Pence campaign for comment.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., attacked a journalist who defended how he dresses, baffling social media users.

The senator took a shot at Nate Silver, the founder of the data news site FiveThirtyEight, after Silver posted a message on X, formerly known as Twitter, defending Fetterman against people who criticize him over his outfits, which regularly consists of hoodies and gym shorts.

“Starting a new political party for people who don’t give a s— either about how John Fetterman dresses or what Lauren Boebert does in a theater,” Silver wrote.

Fetterman, however, responded to the message by insulting him. “I dress like you predict,” Fetterman said to Silver, who is an election and political statistician.

FETTERMAN BLASTED BY CONSERVATIVES AFTER SENATE DROPS DRESS CODE: ‘STOP LOWERING THE BAR!’

Former President Barack Obama, left, supported John Fetterman in Pennsylvania’s hotly contested U.S. Senate race. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Fetterman’s insult confused social media users, given Silver’s message supported the Democrat.

“So Fetterman’s handlers decided to insult a guy who defended him by admitting that their boss dresses like s—???” Greg Price wrote.

“John Fetterman finds it hilarious that he’s turned the senate into a coddling daycare for an emotionally stunted man-child with severely arrested development,” former President Donald Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller said. 

“In which [John Fetterman] attacks [Nate Silver] for arguing that the controversy over his wardrobe is driven by partisans,” Mediaite staff writer Isaac Schorr wrote. “Oh, and in which he ‘dunks’ on him by asserting that Silver’s work is as shoddy as his attire? Bizarre all the way around.”

JOHN FETTERMAN DARES REPUBLICANS TO IMPEACH BIDEN: ‘YOU JUST GOTTA CALL THEIR BULLS–T’

The U.S. Senate recently dropped its dress code requirement, sparking criticism from many conservatives both online and in Congress who suggested the move was made to appease Fetterman.

Fox News Digital on Sunday confirmed that the Senate will no longer enforce a dress code for members of Congress’ upper chamber. Senators will now be allowed to wear whatever they want, but others entering the chamber must comply with the dress code: coats and ties for men and business attire for women. 

Conservatives also responded on X criticizing Fetterman, who has regularly worn casual attire in the building and found a workaround to the legislative body’s dress code rules by voting from the doorway of the Democrat cloakroom or the side entrance, making sure his vote is recorded before leaving.

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks in Philadelphia on Sept. 24, 2022. (The Associated Press)

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“The Senate no longer enforcing a dress code for Senators to appease Fetterman is disgraceful,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., posted on X. “Dress code is one of society’s standards that set etiquette and respect for our institutions. Stop lowering the bar!”

“If my interns can put on a suit so can a U.S. Senator,” Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., wrote.

Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

EXCLUSIVE: The race to replace retiring Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, is gaining steam as another candidate has tossed his hat into the fold, the first since the senator said last week he wouldn’t run for re-election.

Speaking with Fox News Digital, Roosevelt, Utah Mayor Rod Bird, Jr., a Republican, ripped Romney’s tenure in office, arguing the senator didn’t do what he said he would do when first elected in 2018.

“When Romney ran, he campaigned on conservative values and gave a lot of people in our state hope,” Bird said “Many believed he would fight for us, but in many ways he sold us out and didn’t keep his word.”

ROMNEY ANNOUNCES HE WON’T SEEK RE-ELECTION IN 2024, BASHES TRUMP AND BIDEN

Roosevelt, Utah Mayor Rod Bird, Jr. and Republican Utah Sen. Mitt Romney. (Getty Images, Rod Bird, Jr.)

Bird — who has served as Roosevelt’s mayor since 2018 — says he hopes to run a campaign based on the “spirit of small-town values” and “principles of individualism, limited government, and freedom.”

“We have a lot of career politicians in Washington serving their own agenda,” he said. “[Romney] was quick to march with radical groups like Black Lives Matter, when he should have been walking down Main Street and talking with small businesses and working families struggling across our state.” 

“My campaign won’t be about him or personalities, it will be about standing up for our God-given, constitutional freedoms and fighting for working families, small businesses, and everyday people who are struggling due to Joe Biden’s failed policies.”

ROMNEY USES BIDEN’S OWN WORDS AGAINST HIM, CALLS FOR PRESIDENT TO JOIN HIM IN RETIREMENT: ‘TIME TO TRANSITION’

Roosevelt, Utah Mayor and Republican Senate candidate Rod Bird, Jr. (Rod Bird, Jr.)

Bird said he grew up in extreme poverty, and that his family even had to live in a 10×20 foot shed after their home was lost in a fire. Since then, he has built the oil and gas supply company Paragon Oilfield Products, which made him a multi-millionaire. 

As Roosevelt’s mayor, Bird has made a name for himself as a staunch opponent of government mandates related to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as pushing to lower taxes for its citizens.

“I grew up with the belief that in America you truly can come from nothing and make what you want of your life,” he told Fox. “I still wear boots and jeans to work every day. I’m someone that understands the struggles of everyday Utahns because I’ve lived them.”

FORMER SPECIAL FORCES SOLDIER LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN IN VIRGINIA TO FLIP SWING HOUSE SEAT FROM DEMOCRATS

In announcing his candidacy in the race, Staggs became the first person to publicly pose a challenge to Romney, who has angered many voters within his own party for his reasoning and support for certain policies and bills. (Trent Staggs)

Romney’s retirement has launched a frenzy of Republicans looking to fill the seat with a more conservative candidate. Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson and Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs have signaled they were launching primary challenges against Romney earlier this year, but Staggs is the only other candidate to have officially launched a campaign for the seat.

Tim Ballard, the former Department of Homeland Security agent who inspired the hit film “Sound of Freedom” said Friday he was “very seriously considering” a run for the seat.

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Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, joked Monday that she would “wear a bikini” on the floor of the Senate following Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s, D-N.Y., directive that the body would no longer enforce a dress code for its members.

Her comments were first reported by an NBC News reporter, but were confirmed by Fox News Digital. Collins made the comments while slamming the dress code directive, arguing it “debases the institution,” which still requires others entering the chamber to comply with the dress code, including coats and ties for men, and business attire for women.

“Obviously, I’m not going to wear a bikini,” Collins said. “But the fact is, as I understand it, I could!”

SINEMA JOINS GOP SENATORS ON BILL TO REVERSE BIDEN ADMIN’S CRACKDOWN ON SCHOOL HUNTING, ARCHERY CLASSES

From right, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., conduct the Senate Appropriations Committee markup of the “Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024,” and the “Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024,” in Dirksen Building on Thursday, June 22, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Fox News Digital confirmed the dress code changes on Sunday after Schumer secretly sent the directive to the Senate’s sergeant at arms.

The change will allow Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., to continue wearing his trademark hoodies and gym shorts he is often seen wearing around Capitol Hill after returning from a six-week hospitalization for depression earlier this year.

He had previously found a workaround to the legislative body’s dress code rules by voting from the doorway of the Democrat cloakroom or the side entrance, making sure his vote is recorded before ducking out.

GOP SENATOR LATEST REPUBLICAN TO THROW HAT BEHIND TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Penn.) arrives for the “AI Insight Forum” at the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on September 13, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

Fetterman was blasted by conservatives following the change, with some suggesting the move was made to appease him. 

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Fox News’ Chad Pergram, Timothy H.J. Nerozzi and Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

The Biden administration proposed to block of thousands of acres from future oil drilling or mining in northern New Mexico in an effort to protect Native American lands.

According to the Department of the Interior (DOI), the proposal would ban new mining claims and oil and gas development across more than 4,200 acres in Sandoval County, New Mexico, located north of Albuquerque. If finalized and implemented, the action would remain in place for up to 50 years.

“Today we’re responding to call from Tribes, elected leaders, and community members who want to see these public lands protected,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. “We look forward to hearing more from the public to inform decisions about how activities, like gravel mining, may impact these lands, including the important cultural and natural resources.”

“We recognize the importance of the Placitas area, both for Tribal Nations and for the local community who visit and recreate in this area,” added Melanie Barnes, the state director of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) New Mexico office.

BIDEN ADMIN REVERSES TRUMP-ERA ACTION MAKING IT EASIER TO BUILD FOSSIL FUEL PIPELINES

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, speaks during a news conference on July 22, 2021, in Denver.  (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

In its proposal, the BLM stated that the action was designed to “protect, preserve, and promote the scenic integrity, cultural importance, recreational values, and wildlife habitat connectivity” in the region. 

The DOI said the Pueblo tribes of San Felipe and Santa Ana have previously advocated for protections in the area which contains archeological resources from hundreds of years ago. The area is also popular for hiking, camping, sightseeing and hunting.  

HOUSE DEMS CROSS PARTY LINES, DEMAND BIDEN ADMIN EXPAND OIL DRILLING

In 2019, Haaland, who at the time served in Congress and as vice chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, introduced the Buffalo Tract Protection Act which would mimic the actions taken Monday. At the time, Haaland said residents and tribal citizens in the region bear the brunt of pollution produced from the area’s many mines.

The Biden administration asserted that the region in New Mexico is home to various archeological resources linked to tribes. (iStock )

Earlier this year, Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., reintroduced the legislation. The pair have also repeatedly called on the DOI to take action blocking mineral development in Sandoval County.

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“It is time we put an end to this years-long debate and withdraw these parcels from future mineral development,” Heinrich said during a March event in Albuquerque alongside Stansbury.

Using information available from the BLM, the Congressional Budget Office issued a report on the Buffalo Tract Protection Act in August concluding that the area impacted by the mineral ban has high potential for sand and gravel extraction and minimal potential for development of other minerals. Sand and gravel extraction is key for various infrastructure projects like roads.

The report projected the land withdrawal would result in a decrease of $2 million in federal revenue.

Former President Donald Trump sparked backlash from conservatives after he criticized the six-week abortion ban of his Republican opponent, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

During an interview on MSNBC’s “Meet the Press” over the weekend, Trump was pressed on his abortion stance as voters turn their attention toward the 2024 presidential election.

Trump, the frontrunner of the GOP primary, said that he would work with Democrats to pass abortion legislation before taking aim at his presidential race rival DeSantis’ six-week ban in the Sunshine State.

TRUMP ALLEGES PELOSI TURNED DOWN 10,000 SOLDIERS AHEAD OF CAPITOL RIOT: ‘SHE’S RESPONSIBLE FOR JAN 6′

Former President Donald Trump blasted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ six-week abortion ban, calling the policy “a terrible thing.” (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

“I think they’re all going to like me, I think both sides are going to like me,” Trump said. “…What’s going to happen is: you’re going to come up with a number of weeks or months, you’re going to come up with a number that’s going to make people happy.”

“Because 92 percent of the Democrats don’t want to see abortion after a certain period of time,” the former president added.

Trump was pressed on whether he would sign a 15-week federal abortion ban if it came across his desk.

“Well, people are starting to think of 15 weeks, that seems to be a number that people are talking about right now,” he responded, being asked again if he would sign it.

Trump, the frontrunner of the GOP primary, said that he would work with Democrats to pass abortion legislation before taking aim at his presidential race rival DeSantis’ six-week ban in the Sunshine State. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“I would sit down with both sides and I’d negotiate something, and we’ll end up with peace on that issue for the first time in 52 years,” the former president said. “I’m not going to say I would or I wouldn’t.”

“I mean, ‘DeSanctus’ [DeSantis] is willing to sign a five-week and six-week ban,” Trump said in response to whether he would support that level of ban and if he thought it goes too far.

“I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake,” the former president responded.

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

Trump’s comments come as he seeks a third candidacy for the Oval Office against his former protégé DeSantis and a multitude of GOP and Democratic presidential hopefuls. (Fox News)

Users online blasted Trump over his comments, with conservatives saying the abortion issue may hurt him going into 2024.

“Huh. That’s odd. I remember being in the crowd when Trump spoke at the March for Life,” pro-life activist Nicholas Sandmann tweeted.

“I commended the President for an amazing speech. He said: ‘We cannot know what our citizens yet unborn will achieve. The dreams they will imagine. The masterpieces they will create…” he continued.

“Pathetic and unacceptable. Trump is actively attacking the very pro-life laws made possible by Roe’s overturning,” pro-life activist Lila Rose wrote.

“Heartbeat Laws have saved thousands of babies. But Trump wants to compromise on babies’ lives so pro-abort Dems ‘like him,’” she continued. “Trump should not be the GOP nominee.”

“Trump should fire whatever idiot advisor told him to go squishy on abortion. Dumb move. Abortion zealots are never gonna vote Trump just because he’s willing to ‘compromise.’ And innocent babies will be killed in the process,” “The Liz Wheeler Show” host Liz Wheeler posted. “Lose lose. Trump isn’t a centrist. His best move is and always will be to stay based and savage. Hate to see this garbage from him.”

SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser responded to Trump’s comments by saying, “We thank Gov. Ron DeSantis for following the science and the will of the people by signing the Heartbeat Protection Act into law”

The former president’s comments come as he seeks a third candidacy for the Oval Office against his onetime protégé DeSantis and a multitude of GOP and Democratic presidential hopefuls.

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DeSantis has been fighting to close the gap with Trump from his number two position in the GOP primary as former Vice President Mike Pence competes for the GOP presidential nomination as well.

Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy are also fighting for the GOP nod and met DeSantis on the debate stage last month.

Hunter Biden is battling federal prosecutors in trying to have his initial court appearance on federal firearm charges held via video conference, according to an order filed by a federal judge on Monday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Christopher J. Burke issued the order asking Hunter’s lawyers to explain no later than Tuesday why they want his arraignment held via video conference – a request prosecutors have opposed, Burke wrote.

The judge gave prosecutors until Wednesday to provide a reason why the arraignment should happen in person.

United States President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden, exits in J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building in Delaware, United States on July 26, 2023. (Photo by Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

BIDEN’S NIECE UPDATED HUNTER’S COMPANY ON CHINESE SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUND DURING STINT AT TREASURY: EMAILS

Biden could face up to 25 years in prison for federal firearm charges announced last week, including making a false statement in the purchase of a firearm, which carries a maximum of up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release.

The second count, a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federal firearms licensed dealer, can garner up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release.

The third count, possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance, can land up to a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release, according to the documents. 

A courtroom sketch depicting Hunter Biden in a federal courtroom in Wilmington, Delaware on July 26, 2023. (COURTESY: William J. Hennessy, Jr.)

The counts combine to carry a maximum of 25 years in prison and a $750,000 fine. Special counsel David Weiss, a Donald Trump appointee, has overlooked the investigation.

Meanwhile, Biden’s attorneys filed a lawsuit against the IRS on Monday, alleging that agents have “targeted and sought to embarrass” the president’s son.

Biden’s Monday morning filing cites two major examples in IRS agents Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, two whistleblowers who claimed the IRS mishandled aspects of its investigation into Biden.

NATIONAL ARCHIVES SAYS IT HAS 5,000 EMAILS POTENTIALLY LINKED TO ALLEGED BIDEN PSEUDONYM: LAWSUIT

Shapley and Zielger testified before the House Oversight Committee earlier this year, saying they faced various limitations when tasked with investigating the president’s son.

Biden’s lawsuit argues the pair’s status as whistleblowers “cannot and does not shield them from their wrongful conduct in making unauthorized public disclosures that are not permitted by the whistleblower process.”

Supervisory IRS Special Agent Gary Shapley (L) and IRS Criminal Investigator Joseph Ziegler are sworn-in as they testify during a House Oversight Committee hearing related to the Justice Department’s investigation of Hunter Biden, on Capitol Hill July 19, 2023, in Washington, DC.  (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Shapley’s legal team responded to Biden’s lawsuit in a statement Monday morning, dismissing the move as a stalling tactic.

“This suit against the IRS is just another frivolous smear by Biden family attorneys trying to turn people’s attention away from Hunter Biden’s own legal problems and intimidate any current and future whistleblower,” Shapley’s attorneys wrote. 

“The federal judge in Delaware who oversaw the aborted plea deal shot down similar claims against the whistleblowers after they exposed the secret backroom deal between Hunter Biden and the Department of Justice. Neither IRS SSA Gary Shapley nor his attorneys have ever released any confidential taxpayer information except through whistleblower disclosures authorized by statute. Once Congress released that testimony, like every American citizen, he has a right to discuss that public information.”

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Hunter’s lawyer did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment. The Justice Department declined to comment.

Fox News’ Joe Schoffstall, David Spunt, Anders Hagstrom and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

The U.S. Senate recently dropped its dress code requirement, sparking criticism from many conservatives both online and in Congress who suggested the move was made to appease Democratic Sen. John Fetterman.

Fox News Digital confirmed on Sunday that the Senate will no longer enforce a dress code for senators. Senators will now be allowed to wear whatever they want but others entering the chamber must comply with the dress code, which is coats and ties for men and business attire for women. 

Conservatives responded on X, formerly known as Twitter, criticizing Fetterman, who has routinely worn gym shorts and hoodies in the building and found a workaround to the legislative body’s dress code rules by voting from the doorway of the Democrat cloakroom or the side entrance, making sure his vote is recorded before ducking out.

“The Senate no longer enforcing a dress code for Senators to appease Fetterman is disgraceful,” Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene posted on X. “Dress code is one of society’s standards that set etiquette and respect for our institutions. Stop lowering the bar!”

JOHN FETTERMAN BLOWS UP SOCIAL MEDIA WITH NEW MUSTACHE, COMPARED TO ‘BREAKING BAD’ CHARACTER WALTER WHITE

Sen. John Fetterman arrives for the “AI Insight Forum” at the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on Sept. 13, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

“If my interns can put on a suit so can a U.S. Senator,” GOP Congressman Ryan Zinke wrote on X.

“So let me get this straight,” Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller wrote on X. “The entire senate is jettisoning its storied history and debasing itself before the world to accommodate the slovenliness of one man, John Fetterman? Will a single Senator object to this humiliation?”

JOHN FETTERMAN DARES REPUBLICANS TO IMPEACH BIDEN: ‘YOU JUST GOTTA CALL THEIR BULLS–T’

President Biden and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro look on as Sen. John Fetterman delivers remarks following a briefing on Interstate 95 emergency repair and reconstruction efforts, in Philadelphia, on June 17, 2023. (Julia Nikhinson/AFP via Getty Images)

“The Fetterman legacy is now cemented,” Fox News contributor Joe Concha posted on X. “Not for improving the lives of the state he represents, of course, but because he dresses like a sophomore in summer school.”

Fetterman responded to Greene’s tweet on social media by taking a swipe at the House Republicans. 

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Sen. John Fetterman in his office on June 22, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

“Thankfully, the nation’s lower chamber lives by a higher code of conduct: displaying ding-a-ling pics in public hearings,” Fetterman said to Greene.

Fox News Digital’s Pilar Arias and Chad Pergram contributed to this report

Hundreds of climate activists blocked entrances to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Monday afternoon as part of a string of actions set to take place for Climate Week NYC.

The protest – spearheaded by Stop the Money Pipeline, a coalition of 240 eco groups, and protest group Climate Defiance – took place outside the Federal Reserve’s offices in New York City and ultimately sparked a large police response. Linking arms to block the building’s doors, activists called for an end to fossil fuel financing and for government action to end fossil fuel development.

“We need to regulate the end of fossil fuels. We need to end fossil fuels now,” one protester shouted. “Our planet is dying. Our forests are on fire. We are being flooded. The hurricanes are getting worse – the earthquakes, the tornadoes. The planet is crying out, we need to hear her. We need international standards to shut this down. Our lives are on the line, our planet, our home is on the line.”

“They’re not doing anything because their pockets are lined with dirty oil and gas money,” she added.

RFK JR’S VOW TO BAN FRACKING MET WITH INTENSE CRITICISM

Other protesters shouted anti-fossil fuels chants, including, “arrest the real criminals – arrest the climate criminals.”

“Fed Chair Jerome Powell is a climate criminal. He must be brought to justice,” Climate Defiance said in a social media post. “Today we stand in the pouring rain, arm-in-arm with dozens of partners, to do so.”

BIDEN ADMIN REVERSES TRUMP-ERA ACTION MAKING IT EASIER TO BUILD FOSSIL FUEL PIPELINES

Climate Week NYC is an annual event hosted by Climate Group, a nonprofit focused on driving climate action worldwide. The event, which includes dozens of protests and events to raise awareness about global warming, is sponsored by several major corporations, McKinsey & Company, Salesforce, Google, Pepsico and BMW.

Climate activists swarmed the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Monday and called for the arrest of “climate criminals.” (Getty Images | Climate Defiance | Stop the Money Pipeline | New York Communities for Change)

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The Federal Reserve protest, meanwhile, comes as groups like Climate Defiance continue organizing an increasing number of disruptive actions in public places. The group has organized protests in museums, on highly-trafficked roads and highways, monuments, government buildings and officials’ homes.

“Our chests our pounding but our souls are resolved. We are not leaving. We will stay as long as it takes,” Climate Defiance said in a post on Friday after its members organized an action at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. vowed to ban hydraulic fracturing, which is known as fracking, a process of producing oil or natural gas.

Kennedy said in a thread posted on social media that such a ban would come as part of his 10-step plan to “fix the plastics pollution crisis.” He added that fracking provides the feedstock for the majority of domestically-produced plastics, which are largely derived from petroleum products and natural gas.

“I told all of you that this guy is anti-freedom,” energy expert Alex Epstein said in response to Kennedy’s post. “Banning fracking would immediately plunge the US into a depression. And [Kennedy] would do it to ‘solve’ an amorphous ‘plastics crisis.'”

“I know some conservatives who like RFK Jr but this is 100 percent disqualifying,” added Isaac Orr, a policy fellow focusing on energy issues at the Center of the American Experiment. “We rightly criticize Biden for limiting oil and gas production but even he hasn’t been this vocal about banning fracking.”

BIDEN ADMIN REVERSES TRUMP-ERA ACTION MAKING IT EASIER TO BUILD FOSSIL FUEL PIPELINES

Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles on Sept. 15. (Hans Gutknecht/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)

According to the Energy Information Administration, an estimated 2.8 billion barrels, the equivalent of 7.8 million barrels per day, of crude oil were produced directly from tight-oil resources in 2022. The drilling method of fracking is required to reach such tight-oil resources buried deep within subterranean reservoirs.

Overall, roughly 67% of all domestically-produced crude oil — which is the basis of petroleum products — is derived from tight-oil resources, the data showed.

REPUBLICANS MOVE TO PROHIBIT BIDEN ADMIN FROM HURTING LOW-INCOME AMERICANS VIA ENERGY POLICY

In addition, fracking has led to a boon in natural gas production in the U.S. over the last decade. Monthly dry shale gas production, as a result, has skyrocketed from about 5 billion cubic feet per day to more than 80 billion cubic feet a day.

“A ban on hydraulic fracturing — a practice that has been used for over 50 years in the United States and other countries — would result in the loss of millions of jobs, price spikes at the gasoline pump and higher electricity costs for all Americans,” former Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette wrote in a 2021 report on fracking. 

A shale gas well drilling site is pictured in St. Mary’s, Pennsylvania, on March 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)

“Such a ban would eliminate the United States’ status as the top oil and gas producing country and return us to being a net importer of oil and gas by 2025,” Brouillette continued. “It would weaken America’s geopolitical standing and negatively impact our national security.”

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That Department of Energy report concluded that a fracking ban would lead to a 244% increase in natural gas prices, kill 7.7 million jobs, reduce U.S. gross domestic product by $1.1 trillion and lead to $950 billion in labor wage losses.

“Eliminating the primary technology responsible for the growth in United States oil and natural gas production would increase natural gas, transportation fuel and electricity prices initiating a ripple effect of severe consequences to the Nation’s economy, environment, and geopolitical standing,” the report stated.

Kennedy’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

FIRST ON FOX: A Republican senator running for his state’s governorship threw his hat behind former President Trump’s White House bid.

Republican Senator Mike Braun of Indiana, who is running to be the Hoosier State’s next governor, told Fox News Digital that he is endorsing Trump for president in the 2024 race.

“As a Main Street Entrepreneur and political outsider, I’ve seen firsthand how the Washington swamp works against Hoosiers and works overtime to hamper our prosperity,” Braun told Fox News Digital.

SPEAKER MCCARTHY PREDICTS TRUMP WILL BE GOP NOMINEE, SLAMS DESANTIS AS ‘NOT AT THE SAME LEVEL’

Republican Senator Mike Braun of Indiana told Fox News Digital that he is endorsing former President Trump for president in the 2024 race. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

“Donald Trump is a businessman and outsider,” Braun said. “Together, we took on the Washington swamp with a historic victory in the 2018 Indiana Senate race.”

“We installed constitutional conservatives on the Supreme Court who have protected the unborn and our Second Amendment rights, and we disrupted the cozy, self-serving Washington elites who are bankrupting our country,” the Indiana senator continued.

Braun said that “Donald Trump is the candidate capable of returning us to the America First policies that delivered unmatched prosperity and security for the American people.”

“I give Donald Trump my endorsement for President of the United States,” he added.

Braun has been a staunch ally of Trump through his first term and was a loud voice of support behind the former president in his first impeachment trial.

Braun said that “Donald Trump is the candidate capable of returning us to the America First policies that delivered unmatched prosperity and security for the American people.” (Sam Wolfe for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Trump was also a major ally behind Braun’s 2018 Senate run when he defeated then-incumbent Democrat Indiana Senator Joe Donnelly for his seat.

Trump brought in thousands of people to his rallies supporting Braum as the now-senator ran amid a tough midterm election year for Republicans.

Braun’s comments come as a top Republican predicts Trump will take the GOP White House nomination.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy predicted the former president will win the 2024 Republican presidential primary race on Sunday, bashing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as “not at the same level.”

McCarthy made the comments during an appearance on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” with host Maria Bartiromo. McCarthy has previously remained neutral in the GOP primary, declining to endorse Trump in July.

Braun has been a staunch ally of Trump through his first term and was a loud voice of support behind the former president in his first impeachment trial. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“I think he will be the nominee,” McCarthy said about Trump after Bartiromo asked if he thought the former president would be the party’s choice for 2024. “The thing is, President Trump is stronger today than he was in 2016 or 2020, and there’s a reason why. They saw the policies of what he was able to do with America – putting America first, making our economy stronger.”

“We didn’t have inflation. We didn’t have these battles around the world. We didn’t look weak around the world,” he added.

“Well it looks like Ron DeSantis is now trying to work with your colleagues who are pushing for a shutdown,” Bartiromo said.

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“I don’t think that would work anywhere. A shutdown would only give strength to the Democrats,” McCarthy said. “It would give the power to Biden. It wouldn’t pay our troops. It wouldn’t pay our border agents.”

“I actually want to achieve something, and this is where President Trump is so smart, that he was successful in this.” McCarthy continued. “President Trump is beating Biden right now in the polls. He is stronger than he has ever been in this process, and, look, I served with Ron DeSantis – he’s not at the same level as President Trump by any shape or form. He would not have gotten elected without President Trump’s endorsement.”

While McCarthy’s comments do not amount to an official endorsement of Trump, they are a clear message of friendship to the former president. McCarthy had previously offended the Trump campaign with another television appearance in June.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed reporting.

FIRST ON FOX: Lawmakers on the House Select Committee on China are raising alarms about Beijing’s plan to become the next global technology manufacturing center.

Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., a retired Navy helicopter pilot, is introducing a three-part resolution on Monday taking aim at the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s “Made in China 2025” (MIC 2025) initiative. Sherrill’s legislation would formally document Beijing’s strategy and the unscrupulous practices it’s accused of using to accomplish that goal.

It would also urge the relevant U.S. sectors to “take stock” of their own capabilities, according to a one-pager obtained by Fox News Digital, to be more aware of where the U.S. stands next to China now. 

“For too long, policymakers haven’t given the Chinese Communist Party’s ‘Made in China 2025’ plan the attention or urgency it deserves — and that ends today,” Sherrill told Fox News Digital. “We must act swiftly to counter the CCP’s escalating economic aggression and attempts to dominate the technology of the future that is so critical to our economic and national security.”

CHINA’S ‘PROLIFIC’ ESPIONAGE SCHEME TRYING TO ‘HEADHUNT’ BRITISH POLITICIANS, DEFENSE OFFICIALS, UK GOV’T SAYS

Beijing’s “Made In China 2025” initiative has made national security hawks concerned. (Jack Taylor/Pool Photo via AP)

Sherrill said businesses in her home state of New Jersey “have been targets of the CCP’s unfair and illegal trade practices.” 

The MIC 2025 plan has alarmed foreign policy hawks who have accused Beijing of increased instances of intellectual property theft in pursuit of its advanced manufacturing goals. 

“[T]his resolution is a bipartisan call to action for the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to work together to ensure that the U.S. is competitive for the future, and to win this era of strategic competition with the CCP,” Sherrill said. 

CHINESE SHIPBUILDING CAPACITY OVER 200 TIMES GREATER THAN US, NAVY INTELLIGENCE SAYS

Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., is leading the charge in Congress to make sure U.S. industries are better prepared. (Getty Images)

The resolutions package has the backing of China select committee Chair Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Vice Chair Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill. 

Sherrill is holding a press conference rolling out her initiative later on Monday morning.

China’s manufacturing blueprint focuses on 10 key areas, including aerospace equipment, new information technology, medical devices and agricultural equipment, according to the Institute for Security and Development Policy.

CHINA OFFERS TAIWAN PROMISES OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES WHILE RAMPING UP MILITARY DRILLS NEAR THE ISLAND

U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill’s push is supported by the Republican chair of the House select committee on China, Mike Gallagher, R-Wis. (REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo)

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The plan prompted an investigation by the Trump administration in 2018. Among other findings, the administration accused China of using “opaque rules, licensing requirements, discriminatory practices, selective regulatory enforcement, and other barriers to support Chinese firms at the expense of foreign competition.”

Following the report’s release, then-President Trump announced retaliatory tariffs on billions of Chinese goods.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy predicted former President Trump will win the 2024 Republican presidential primary race on Sunday, bashing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as “not at the same level.”

McCarthy made the comments during an appearance on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” with host Maria Bartiromo. McCarthy has previously remained neutral in the GOP primary, declining to endorse Trump in July. 

“I think he will be the nominee,” McCarthy said about Trump after Bartiromo asked if he thought the former president would be the party’s choice for 2024. “The thing is, President Trump is stronger today than he was in 2016 or 2020, and there’s a reason why. They saw the policies of what he was able to do with America – putting America first, making our economy stronger.”

HOUSE SPEAKER KEVIN MCCARTHY ANNOUNCES FORMAL IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY AGAINST PRESIDENT BIDEN

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy predicted former President Trump will win the 2024 Republican presidential primary while bashing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as “not at the same level.” (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Image)

“We didn’t have inflation. We didn’t have these battles around the world. We didn’t look weak around the world,” he added.

“Well it looks like Ron DeSantis is now trying to work with your colleagues who are pushing for a shutdown,” Bartiromo said.

BIDEN BREAKS SILENCE ON POSSIBLE IMPEACHMENT, BLAMES GOP DESIRE TO ‘SHUT DOWN THE GOVERNMENT’

“I don’t think that would work anywhere. A shutdown would only give strength to the Democrats,” McCarthy said. “It would give the power to Biden. It wouldn’t pay our troops. It wouldn’t pay our border agents.”

“I actually want to achieve something, and this is where President Trump is so smart, that he was successful in this.” McCarthy continued. “President Trump is beating Biden right now in the polls. He is stronger than he has ever been in this process, and, look, I served with Ron DeSantis – he’s not at the same level as President Trump by any shape or form. He would not have gotten elected without President Trump’s endorsement.”

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy claims former President Trump, left, is beating President Biden in hypothetical general election polls. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

While McCarthy’s comments do not amount to an official endorsement of Trump, they are a clear message of friendship to the former president. McCarthy had previously offended the Trump campaign with another television appearance in June.

THE SPEAKER’S LOBBY: ELECTION STRATEGY IF 2024 IS A TRUMP VS. BIDEN REMATCH

In that instance, he told CNBC that he was not sure whether Trump was the best candidate to defeat Biden. He soon apologized to Trump and recanted, sending out an email fundraiser declaring Trump to be “the STRONGEST opponent to Biden.”

House Speaker Kevin MccArthy said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is “not at the same level” as former President Trump. (Photo by SERGIO FLORES/AFP via Getty Images)

McCarthy’s compliment to Trump comes as he faces down ardent Trump allies in the House Freedom Caucus over the ongoing budget deal.

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It is unclear whether the HFC will budge, however, as several members held up McCarthy’s own speakership despite Trump’s endorsement.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy responded to polling that shows his unfavorability rising, with one commentator saying Americans find him “annoying” on Sunday.

Ramaswamy responded to the polls during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday” with host Shannon Bream. Bream cited a Fox News Poll showing that unfavorable views of Ramaswamy have risen 12% since August.

“‘Of all the descriptors attached to Vivek Ramaswamy, the 38-year-old political tyro enjoying a bizarre surge in the Republican primary race for second place, the most common one seems to be ‘annoying,’” Bream quoted from an opinion article.

“Why do you think, as more people have gotten to know you, that your unfavorables are up too?” she asked.

RAMASWAMY CALLS HUNTER BIDEN GUN CHARGES A ‘SMOKESCREEN’: THE ‘REAL PROBLEM’ IS BIDEN FAMILY’S FINANCES

GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at the Nixon Library on Aug. 17, 2023, in Yorba Linda, California. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

“We have been taking intense criticism, Shannon, over the last several weeks since I performed well on that second debate, and this is part of the process,” Ramaswamy said.  “So I invite the open debate.”

RAMASWAMY SAYS TRUMP WAS ‘DUPED BY THE ADVISER CLASS’ AHEAD OF POLICY SPEECH ON GUTTING FBI, OTHER AGENCIES

“The reality is many people are annoyed by my rise and believe that a 38-year-old is too young to be U.S. president,” he added. “The fact of the matter is that Thomas Jefferson was 33 years old when he wrote the U.S. Declaration of Independence. He also invented the swivel chair while he was at it, by the way.”

A Fox News poll placed Ramaswamy in third place behind Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Ramaswamy’s unfavorables have spiked as he has gained fame in the Republican primary. (Fox News)

Ramaswamy remains in third place behind Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump. Trump maintains a commanding lead over the rest of the GOP field, however.

DESANTIS SUGGESTS HE IS OPEN TO LAUNCH MISSILES INTO MEXICO TO KILL DRUG CARTELS: ‘DEADLY FORCE AUTHORIZED’

Vivek Ramaswamy, former President Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley (Getty Images)

Ramaswamy insists his campaign is on a path to success, however, pointing to his surge in support over the past several weeks.

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“We came from 0.0% to where we are now,” he told Bream. “I think we’re on track to win this election.”

Former President Donald Trump has lashed out against President Biden’s repeated false claims over the past few weeks, including the Democrat’s latest gaffe about 9/11. 

“Look at all the lies he’d told,” Trump told NBC’s “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker in his first network news interview since leaving office aired Sunday. 

“Look at all the lies he’s told over the past couple of weeks. He said he was at the World Trade Center, and he wasn’t,” Trump said. “He said he flew airplanes. He didn’t. He said he drove trucks, and he didn’t. Everything he says is like a lie. It’s terrible.” 

 Trump added that Biden claimed to have a golf handicap of six, which means he shoots six over par on average – an impressive score for a non-professional. 

“He’s not a six,” Trump added over Welker’s interjection. 

Welker, who newly took over the program from former host Chuck Todd, said she wanted to focus on Trump, not Biden, during the interview because “it’s important that we hear from you.” 

TRUMP OPPOSES AGE LIMITS FOR POLITICIANS, SAYS COMPETENCY TESTS WOULD BE ‘A GOOD THING’

Donald Trump visits the Wall Street and New York Stock Exchange area after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, Sept. 18, 2001. (David Butow/Corbis via Getty Images)

“Well, I’d like you to, but you keep interrupting me,” Trump said. 

At a 9/11 remembrance event at a military base in Alaska last week, Biden falsely claimed that he visited Ground Zero the day after the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York City. By contrast, Trump did visit Ground Zero days after the 2001 attacks, as evidenced in archived photos taken in Manhattan. 

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby avoided a question about 80-year-old Biden’s 9/11 gaffe last week. 

“In the past couple of weeks, the president has lied about being at Ground Zero the day after the Sept. 11 attacks, falsely claimed he saw the Pittsburgh bridge collapse, claimed his grandfather died in the hospital days before his birth,” The Washington Times reporter Jeff Mordock posed during a White House press briefing. “What is going on with the president? Is he just believing things that didn’t happen, did happen? Or is he just randomly making stuff up?”

Former President Donald Trump called out President Biden for claiming he was at Ground Zero following the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001. Trump visited the site in New York City days after the Twin Towers were struck. (Getty Images )

FLORIDA GOP GIVES A VICTORY TO TRUMP OVER DESANTIS BY SCRAPPING A PROPOSED PRIMARY BALLOT RULE

“The president was deeply touched and honored to be able to spend 9/11 with military members there in Alaska and some families,” Kirby said in response. “And he spoke about a visit to Ground Zero, which he did participate in about a week or so after the event. And what that looked and what that smelled and what that felt like. And it has visceral impact on him as it did so many other Americans on that terrible day. And he’s focused on making sure that an attack like that never happens again.”  

Last week, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., launched an impeachment inquiry into Biden’s conduct. 

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was seen walking off during her daily briefing when a member of the press pool asked her to respond to a recent poll suggesting 61% of Americans believe Biden lied about his alleged involvement in the business dealings of his son, Hunter Biden. 

President Biden delivers remarks on the 22nd anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on Sept. 11, 2023. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

In the interview Sunday, Welker also asked Trump, “Mr. President, tell me what you see when you look at your mugshot.“

“I see somebody that loves this country in me. That loves this country,” Trump began. “I see tremendous unfairness. I think very few people would have been able to handle what I handled.”

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In the case related to Mar-a-Lago, Welker asked Trump about a new charge alleging the former president asked a staffer to delete security camera footage so it wouldn’t get into the hands of investigators. Trump’s response criticized the Justice Department’s Special Counsel Jack Smith. 

“False,” Trump said, agreeing he would testify to that under oath. “It’s a fake charge by this deranged lunatic prosecutor who lost in the Supreme Court 9 to nothing, and he tried to destroy lots of lives. He’s a lunatic, so it’s a fake charge, but, more importantly, the tapes weren’t deleted. In other words, there was nothing done to them. And, they were my tapes.” 

Former Vice President Mike Pence reacted to a pair of gaffes from former President Donald Trump on Sunday, as conversation around the age of the Republican and Democratic frontrunners ramps up.

Pence appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union” with host Jake Tapper on Sunday. Tapper pressed Pence to respond to two instances of Trump appearing confused during public events, asking whether the GOP frontrunner should be facing the same scrutiny as Biden.

Tapper played a clip of a speech in which Trump appeared to confuse former President Barack Obama and President Biden before launching into his question.

“In addition to seeming to have confused Obama and Biden, the president, the former president, also went on to say that re-electing Joe Biden would lead to World War II, which, of course, is a war that already happened,” Tapper said.

FIRST ON FOX: DESANTIS KNOCKS TRUMP AND BIDEN ON MASSIVE SPENDING

Former Vice President Mike Pence reacted to a pair of gaffes from former President Donald Trump on Sunday, as conversation around the age of the Republican and Democratic frontrunners ramps up. (Fox News)

“If Joe Biden had made comments like that, Republicans would be all over it, talking about his age, his mental fitness, his sharpness, his acuity. The DeSantis camp has already tweeted that clip out. You have said that, in your view, Biden has lost a step. Do you think that 77-year-old Donald Trump has lost a step as well?” he asked.

WATCH: BIDEN CONFUSES UKRAINE WITH RUSSIA, ZELENSKYY WITH PUTIN DURING GAFFE-FILLED TRIP TO LITHUANIA

“Well, I didn’t hear the speech, so I’d leave it to judgments of others,” Pence began. “But, look, I have said very clearly we don’t need a president who’s too old and we don’t need a president who’s too young. I’m in this race because I believe that I will bring the experience, the energy, and the commitment to a consistent conservative agenda that’s going to be necessary to turn around the failed policies of the Biden administration that have weakened us at home and abroad.”

“When Donald Trump ran for president in 2016, he promised to govern as a conservative. For four years, we did govern as conservatives, but, today, Donald Trump makes no such promise,” he added.

Former President Donald Trump is facing increased scrutiny about his age following a pair of Biden-like gaffes. (Steve Marcus/Getty Images)

Biden, 80, is the oldest person ever to run for U.S. president, followed closely by Trump, 77. Trump himself came out against strict age limits in the U.S. on Sunday, but he did speak in favor of mental competency tests.

“You know, I took a test two years ago, three years ago. And as the doctors said – and it was in front of doctors and a whole big deal at Walter Reed, which is an incredible place. And I aced it. I get everything right. I’m all for testing. I frankly think testing would be a good thing,” Trump told NBC News on Sunday.

BIDEN BLUNDERS: PRESIDENT STUMBLES HIS WAY THROUGH GAFFE-FILLED WINTER

“[You] know, some of the greatest world leaders have been in their 80s. I’m not anywhere very near 80, by the way,” Trump claimed. “I don’t think Biden’s too old, but I think he’s incompetent, and that’s a bigger problem.”

Biden, 80, is the oldest person ever to run for U.S. president, followed closely by Trump, 77. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

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Trump would turn 80 years old within 18 months of gaining office if he wins re-election. Meanwhile, Biden would be 82 at the start of his second term.