McCormick eyes ‘ruby red’ county to put him over the top in tight PA Senate battle


Longtime Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey and Republican challenger Dave McCormick are still wading through their election results, with McCormick’s campaign saying that even though the race is tight, the Republican will prevail. 

“McCormick is up 30,679 votes with more to come, as ruby red Cambria County is still outstanding. While votes continue to be counted, any way you slice it, Dave McCormick will be the next United States Senator from Pennsylvania,” Elizabeth Gregory, McCormick’s communications director, said in a comment Thursday provided to Fox News Digital. 

More than 98% of the votes have been tabulated in the high-stakes Senate race, with McCormick showing a slight lead over Casey, at 48.94% to Casey’s 48.49% support, Fox News’s race results show. The results are too close to make an official call, and they will likely face a recount. As of Thursday afternoon, 31,503 difference in McCormick’s favor. 

Cambria County, which is home to the city of Johnstown, is a reliably red jurisdiction that was granted a two-hour extension of polling hours on Tuesday after a “software malfunction” temporarily delayed the scanning of ballots in the precinct. The county has voted for Republican presidential candidates each cycle since Mitt Romney’s 2012 run. 

BATTLEGROUND STATES’ RECOUNT RULES VARY WIDELY, HERE’S A LOOK AT HOW THEY WORK

McCormick speaking at rally with Trump behind him

Former President Trump listens as Senate candidate David McCormick speaks during a campaign rally in Reading, Pennsylvania, on Nov. 4, 2024. (Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images)

Pennsylvania has three recount options: statewide automatic recounts ordered by the secretary of the commonwealth; recounts ordered by a county election board; and recounts that are ordered by the court. 

‘VINDICTIVE’: DEMOCRAT IN TIGHT SENATE RACE BLASTED BY GOP RIVAL FOR SWIPE AT MCDONALD’S AFTER TRUMP VISIT

President Obama with Sen. Casey and former Gov. Wolf

Former President Barack Obama joins Sen. Bob Casey and Gov. Tom Wolf at a campaign rally for Pennsylvania Democrats on Sept. 21, 2018, in Philadelphia. (Getty Images/Mark Makela)

An automatic recount would occur in this case if a candidate’s margin of victory is no more than 0.5% of total votes cast. A recount submission must be submitted to the Pennsylvania Secretary of State’s office no later than 5 p.m. on the second Thursday after Election Day. 

The Casey campaign touted earlier Thursday that they, too, are confident that the senator will end the campaign with another re-election win. 

KEY BATTLEGROUND STATE VOTER REGISTRATION DATA SHOWS INFLUENTIAL SHIFTS FAVORING GOP

Dave McCormick in interview

Journalist Chuck Todd speaks with GOP Senate Candidate Dave McCormick after touring the Lackawanna Petroleum And Gas College on May 10, 2022, in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania. (Getty Images)

“The count in Pennsylvania is still continuing,” Casey for Senate spokesperson Maddy McDaniel said earlier on Thursday. “Yesterday, the vote margin shrunk by 50,000 votes and this race is now within half a point, the threshold for automatic recounts in Pennsylvania. With tens of thousands more votes to be counted, we are committed to ensuring every Pennsylvanian’s vote is heard and confident that at the end of that process, Senator Casey will be re-elected.”

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Casey has served in the Senate since the 2006 cycle. He faced his most uphill election battle this year against McCormick, an Army combat veteran and former CEO of hedge fund Bridgewater Associates. 

Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report. 



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Republicans within striking distance of House majority as key races remain too close to call


The majority in the House of Representatives appears within reach for Republicans, who have already won control of the Senate and White House.

Associated Press race projections show Republicans holding 209 seats compared to 196 seats for Democrats as of Thursday afternoon.

A total of five sitting House lawmakers are projected to lose their re-election bids so far – three Republicans and two Democrats.

Several races involving GOP incumbents in California are still too close to call and are likely to be pivotal to the House majority. 

SPEAKER JOHNSON RIPS ‘LACK OF LEADERSHIP’ IN BIDEN ADMIN’S HELENE RESPONSE: ‘ALARMED AND DISAPPOINTED’

Speaker Mike Johnson

Speaker Mike Johnson has expressed confidence in keeping the House. (Getty Images)

Republicans in three Arizona districts, as well as GOP lawmakers in Nebraska, Iowa, and Oregon are also still awaiting result projections.

Whichever party reaches 218 victories first will hold the House majority in the 119th Congress.

But House Republican leaders have been touting confidence in their eventual victory, with the top four House leaders already formally announcing bids to hold the same spots in a January House majority.

“It appears we’re going to hold the House and flip the Senate,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told Fox News Digital on Wednesday night. “California’s the main state still. You know, in a lot of those close races, our incumbents are leading the way — by small margins, but we knew there would be small margins.”

HOUSE GOP LEADERS RIP ACTBLUE AFTER DEM FUNDRAISING GIANT HIT WITH SUBPOENA

Steve Scalise speaks during Day 2 of the Republican National Convention

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said margins were expectedly tight. (REUTERS/Mike Segar)

It’s a far cry from House Democrats, whose hopes of winning the majority are rapidly decreasing. Multiple sources told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that Democrats were bracing for Republicans to win complete control of Congress and the White House.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., pointed out that a Republican victory is not a forgone conclusion, however.

“It has yet to be decided who will control the House of Representatives in the 119th Congress. We must count every vote and wait until the results in Oregon, Arizona and California are clear,” Jeffries said in a statement that also congratulated President-elect Trump.

JOHNSON BLASTS DEM ACCUSATIONS HE VOWED TO END OBAMACARE AS ‘DISHONEST’

Jeffries at Capitol presser

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has urged patience as the votes are counted. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Democrats have scored key wins in projections by unseating Republican incumbents in three New York seats – Reps. Marc Molinaro, Brandon Williams and Anthony D’Esposito.

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Republicans are projected to flip three seats as well – one vacated by a Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., to run for Senate, and two districts held by moderate Democrats in Pennsylvania. 

The GOP also saw former House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry, R-Pa., projected to survive his toughest race yet as of Thursday afternoon. 

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



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Where does Trump’s New York sentencing stand after massive election win?


Following his massive election victory, President-elect Donald Trump is still scheduled for sentencing in his Manhattan criminal case later this month, with presiding Judge Juan Merchan first ruling whether to dismiss the charges altogether after the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling earlier this year. 

Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records following his Manhattan criminal trial in May. District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office worked to prove that Trump falsified the business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to quiet her claims of an alleged affair with Trump in 2006. Trump has maintained his innocence in the case. 

Trump is scheduled for sentencing on Nov. 26, which is already a four-month delay from the original date of July 11. 

Trump’s lawyers had asked Merchan to overturn the former president’s guilty verdict in New York v. Trump after the Supreme Court ruled in July that former presidents have substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts in office, but not for unofficial acts. Merchan is expected to rule by Nov. 12 as to where the charges stand.

“A normal judge would dismiss this case, and then the DA would have to decide, what – if anything – remains, so that we could consider re-bringing the case. But Judge Merchan has shown himself to be nothing but an ordinary judge. And so the catch-22 here is, if he was normal, he would dismiss it, but because he’s not normal, he’ll probably deny it. But because it’s an immunity claim, that gives the Trump defense team the right, the legal right, to immediately appeal his denial,” Cully Stimson, deputy director of the Heritage Foundation’s Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, told Fox News Digital. 

TRUMP’S ‘MODERN DAY SALEM WITCH TRIAL’ VERDICT SIGNALS ‘OPEN SEASON’ ON FORMER PRESIDENTS: EXPERTS

Donald Trump pointing with US flags behind them

Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump takes the stage to address supporters at his rally, at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, November 6, 2024. (Brian Snyder / Reuters)

Stimson said that even if Merchan denies Trump’s claim of immunity, the Trump team appeals the decision, and an appellate court also denies Trump’s claim, the president-elect would not face incarceration. 

“For all intents and purposes, no matter what happens if [Merchan] denies it, and the appeals court … follow the judge, and then the judge gets to sentence him. Even then the Justice Department will come in and say, ‘Look, under the Supremacy Clause, you cannot impose a criminal sentence, especially one of incarceration on a sitting president.’ And so that case will be on ice until after Trump gets out of office. But as a practical matter, this case and the Fanni Willis case are over,” he said. 

Judge Merchan poses for photo

Judge Juan Merchan poses for a picture in his chambers, Thursday, March 14, 2024, in New York. (AP Photos)

Trump pleaded not guilty in the case and denied any such affair with Daniels. The now-president-elect had railed against the trial as a “sham,” while calling Merchan “corrupt” and “conflicted,” appearing to refer to the judge’s familial ties to the Democratic Party. Trump also lambasted the case as “lawfare” promoted by the Biden-Harris administration to hurt his chances of succeeding in the 2024 presidential election. 

Trump cannot pardon himself upon his inauguration, as it was a state case. 

Donald Trump at defense table in trial

Former President Donald Trump appears in court with members of his legal team for an arraignment on charges stemming from his indictment by a Manhattan grand jury in New York City on April 4, 2023. Reuters/Andrew Kelly/Pool (Reuters)

Stimson continued that, considering the Supreme Court’s ruling on immunity, it would be impossible to take a scalpel to the case and remove the evidence connected to Trump’s first White House administration and “official acts” in the position, from the evidence connected to his life before he was president. 

TRUMP LAWYERS REQUEST TO MOVE NEW YORK CRIMINAL CASE TO FEDERAL COURT, CITING SCOTUS IMMUNITY RULING

“[Merchan] is not your traditional judge, but he’s not going to say there’s no immunity for Trump because . . . the highest court in the land has said that presidents enjoy absolute immunity for their official acts, and so he’s going to have to recognize that the question is whether he has the temperament and the judgment – which he has proven not to, at least so far – to apply that in a fair and impartial manner and dismiss the charges,” Stimson told Fox News Digital. 

“By dismissing the charges, that just puts the ball back in Alvin Bragg’s court. If Alvin Bragg wants to double down on stupid, which he’s done a lot, he can [reopen the case]. But he’s not going to get anywhere with that, because by then, the president will have assumed office. And the Justice Department will move under the supremacy clause that you cannot bring your case, your criminal case, against a sitting president while he’s the president,” he continued. 

JUDGE MERCHAN DELAYS TRUMP SENTENCING UNTIL AFTER ELECTION

DA Alvin Bragg closeup shot

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks to the media after a jury found former President Donald Trump guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records on Thursday, May 30, 2024, in New York.  (AP/Seth Wenig)

Fox contributor and former Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Andrew McCarthy also wrote in an op-ed for Fox Digital this week that Trump would not face prison time in the case. 

“Understand, Trump is not going to prison even if Merchan metes out an incarceration sentence. Though the charges are felonies, they are not sufficiently serious under New York law to merit immediate detention; Trump will get bail pending appeal,” he wrote. 

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“Given that Trump is not going to be sent to Rikers Island by a Manhattan judge in any event, it would be prudent to postpone the sentence and allow Trump to pursue his immunity appeal. That would avoid the unseemliness of subjecting the next president of the United States to a criminal conviction and sentence when he is about to take office,” he continued. 

“Lawfare was terrible for the country. The resounding win Americans have given Trump should be its death knell,” McCarthy added later in his piece. 



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House leaders move quickly to consolidate power in show of confidence for Republican takeover


The top three House Republican leaders are all running for their roles in the new Congress, a show of confidence that the GOP will prevail in winning full control of the federal government.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., sent letters to fellow House GOP lawmakers on Wednesday night asking for support to remain in those positions.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., made a similar entreaty on Thursday morning.

The current House leadership lineup is not expected to face significant challenges if Republicans prove successful in keeping the chamber.

SPEAKER JOHNSON RIPS ‘LACK OF LEADERSHIP’ IN BIDEN ADMIN’S HELENE RESPONSE: ‘ALARMED AND DISAPPOINTED’

Tom Emmer, Steve Scalise, Mike Johnson

Running to keep their leadership roles are, from left, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise. (Getty Images)

Each promised to work in support of conservative policies alongside President-elect Trump in separate letters obtained by Fox News Digital.

“We can secure our borders, prioritize the needs of Americans above foreigners, promote investment and opportunity through the tax code, return to American energy dominance, dramatically reduce regulations, expand school choice, end the woke agenda, and restore fiscal sanity to Washington – among other pressing items,” Johnson wrote in his letter.

“I’m ready to take the field with all of you, and I am humbly asking for your support to continue leading this Conference as your Speaker.”

HOUSE GOP LEADERS RIP ACTBLUE AFTER DEM FUNDRAISING GIANT HIT WITH SUBPOENA

Scalise’s letter was a four-page memo detailing how congressional Republicans would pass significant conservative reforms using a legislative process called “reconciliation.”

Reconciliation is a way to fast-track legislation on issues like taxes, the debt limit, and federal spending by bypassing the Senate’s 60-vote threshold for passage, instead lowering it to a simple 51-vote majority.

But Scalise signaled Republicans would test those boundaries next year.

TOPSHOT - US President Donald Trump salutes during the presidential inaugural parade on January 20, 2017 in Washington, DC.

Republicans are preparing for President-elect Trump to take the White House. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images)

“Though there are Senate rules limiting what we can fit in budget reconciliation, I want us to be bold and creative so we can include as many reforms in this package as possible,” he said.

“Democrats expanded what is traditionally allowed in reconciliation, and we intend to do the same. Now is the time to go big to advance conservative policies that will make our country prosperous and secure again.”

Emmer in his letter emphasized his role as whip in convincing Republicans to come together on legislation, even conceding that it was a difficult mission at times during the exceptionally disorderly 118th Congress.

JOHNSON BLASTS DEM ACCUSATIONS HE VOWED TO END OBAMACARE AS ‘DISHONEST’

“We will always have disagreements over policy and strategy. That’s a good thing. Governing is messy and imperfect. But I have always believed that there is more that unites us than divides us,” he wrote. “I’ve witnessed this as your Whip, bringing together members from across our conference to hash out these disagreements and find a path to 218 votes.”

“I will always be direct, honest, and transparent. I will never make false promises or try to buy your votes.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., who is term-limited as chair of the Republican Study Committee, the House GOP’s de facto conservative think tank, has announced a bid for House Republican Policy Committee chair.

The role, currently held by Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Ala., is the No. 5 position in the House GOP leadership lineup.

Rep. Kevin Hern

Republican Study Committee Chairman Kevin Hern is also running for a leadership role. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

In his appeal to Republicans, Hern emphasized his good relationship with Vice President-elect JD Vance from his brief time in the U.S. Senate.

The No. 4 House Republican leader, House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., is expected to run for her current position again, though Fox News Digital is also told that she is angling for a Trump administration role as ambassador to the United Nations. Her spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.

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House Republicans are slated to hold their leadership elections on Wednesday next week, their first full day back in Washington since September.

The balance of power in the House has not yet been decided – something House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has pointed out in multiple public statements – but the speedy consolidation of power is a sign Republicans are feeling good about their chances.

The Fox News Decision Desk put odds slightly in favor of the GOP in a Wednesday afternoon update. 



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Biden congratulates Trump, pledges ‘peaceful and orderly’ transfer of power



President Biden addressed the nation from the Rose Garden on Thursday after his vice president, Kamala Harris, conceded the 2024 presidential election to President-elect Trump.

Biden announced he spoke with Trump on Wednesday to congratulate him on his victory and assure him that the entire Biden administration will work with his team “to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition.” 

“That’s what the American people deserve,” Biden said. 

He also praised Harris for running “an inspiring campaign,” and said she has “great character” and “backbone like a ramrod.” 

Hitting themes of unity, Biden spoke about political campaigns as a “contest of competing visions.” 

“A country chooses one or the other. We accept the choice the country made. I’ve said many times, you can’t love your country only when you win. You can’t love your neighbor only when you agree. Something I hope we can do, no matter who you voted for, you see each other not as adversaries, but as fellow Americans.” 

The president also said he hopes the 2024 election will “lay to rest the question about the integrity of the American electoral system.” 

“It is honest, it is fair, and it is transparent and it can be trusted. Win or lose.” 

The televised address comes days after Harris lost the presidential election to Trump on Tuesday.

Harris conceded on Wednesday. In a staff memo, her campaign manager and Biden ally Jen O’Malley Dillon called the defeat “unfathomably painful.” 

“This will take a long time to process. But the work of protecting America from the impacts of a Trump Presidency starts now,” she vowed.

This is a developing story and will be updated.



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Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly announces cancer diagnosis 2 days after winning re-election


Rep. Gerald “Gerry” Connolly, D-Va., announced two days after winning re-election that he has esophageal cancer.

In an “open letter to constituents,” Connolly called the diagnosis he learned about “a few days ago” a “surprise,” adding that aside from “some intermittent abdominal aches and pains,” he had no symptoms. 

The politician said he would begin chemotherapy and immunotherapy right away.

“I will attack this the only way I know how – with Irish fight and humor,” he said, adding that he “may be a bit fatigued due to the treatment” while he does his job in his district and on Capitol Hill. 

COLLEGE STUDENTS AT LIBERTY UNIVERSITY IN VIRGINIA MAKE ‘HUGE LINE’ TO VOTE IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: VIDEO

Rep. Gerry Connolly questions U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., questions U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle as she testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee about the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a campaign event in Pennsylvania, on Capitol Hill, Monday, July 22, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Connolly is currently serving his eighth term in the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia’s 11th District, according to his online biography. His district is centered in Fairfax County and includes the wealthy suburbs outside the nation’s capital.

The 74-year-old won his ninth House term by defeating Republican Mike Van Meter, a Navy veteran and former FBI agent. 

VIRGINIA AG SAYS SCOTUS VOTER ROLLS RULING IS WIN FOR ‘COMMON SENSE’

U.S. Congressman Gerry Connolly

Rep. Gerry Connolly represents Virginia’s 11th District. (connolly.house.gov)

Connolly has been a fixture in northern Virginia politics for roughly 30 years. He was first elected as a Fairfax County supervisor in 1995. In Congress, he has played a leading role in oversight investigations.

While the Senate is now controlled by Republicans, the House is now tightly divided while the wait continues for more election results. 

Gerry-Connolly-Congressional-Hearing-Washington,-D.C.

Connolly gestures during a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on “Legislative Proposals to Put the U.S. Postal Service on Sustainable Financial Footing” on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 24, 2021.  (Graeme Jennings/Pool via REUTERS)

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“Be assured I’m full of hope and am sustained by the love, support, and encouragement of my family, friends, and of all of you,” Connolly said in the letter. “My wonderful staff and I look forward to serving you all in this new term and in the future. It is a privilege to represent and serve each and every one of you. See you on the hustings.”

Fox News’ Chad Pergram and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 



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‘Doomed’: Experts say this crucial campaign decision led to VP Harris’ ‘disastrous’ defeat


Vice President Kamala Harris’ failed presidential bid has political strategists second guessing many of her campaign choices, including her selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.

“The choice of Walz was only one of many disastrous mistakes but symptomatic of one larger problem – the Democratic Party leadership is too scared to say no to the hard left progressive wing of the party,” Julian Epstein, longtime Democratic operative and former chief counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, told Fox News Digital.

This hard left opposes commonsense solutions that Gov Shapiro supports – charter schools for example. Or defeating terrorists rather than aping their talking points and positions, which allow them to stay in power and rearm for the next genocidal attack,” Epstein continued. “It’s the hard left progressive wing that looks first to welfare and redistribution rather than economic growth, and to cultural extremism on migration and gender deeply out of touch with the American electorate. Walz was a really bad choice for sure, but their choice was part of a deeper problem.”

Rob Bluey, president and executive editor of The Daily Signal, told Fox News Digital that Walz being added to the ticket was a significant error in judgment.

HARRIS FORMALLY CONCEDES ONE DAY AFTER TRUMP’S SWEEPING VICTORY

Harris and Walz at DNC

VP Harris and Gov. Tim Walz at the Democratic convention. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

“Historically, vice presidents have little impact on a presidential candidate’s fate,” Bluey said. “But in the case of Tim Walz, it proved to be a disastrous decision that doomed Kamala Harris from the moment she made it. Not only was Walz ill-prepared for the national spotlight and media scrutiny, but Harris passed over several better options. Given how little Americans knew about Harris or her policy positions, they were right to question her judgment on this big decision.”

Harris faced scrutiny even from some in her own party over her decision to name Walz, who many view as further to the left than she is, rather than a more moderate choice. Prominent Democrat Josh Shapiro, governor of the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania that Trump carried on Tuesday night, was viewed by some as a more practical choice.

“One of the things that are top of mind is the choice of Tim Walz as vice presidential candidate,” Harris-Walz surrogate Lindy Li told Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich at Howard University. “A lot of people are saying tonight that it should have been Josh Shapiro. Frankly, people have been saying that for months.”

‘SHOULD HAVE BEEN JOSH SHAPIRO’: HARRIS’ VP CONTENDERS PASSED OVER FOR WALZ DODGE MASSIVE CAMPAIGN LOSS

Harris supporter on election night

Supporters react to early election results at Vice President Kamala Harris’ election night rally at Howard University, in Washington, D.C., Nov. 5, 2024. (Reuters/Daniel Cole)

“I know a lot of people are probably wondering tonight what would have happened had Shapiro been on the ticket,” Li continued. “And not only in terms of Pennsylvania. He’s famously a moderate. So that would have signaled to the American people that she is not the San Francisco liberal that Trump said she was.”

Walz was heavily criticized on the campaign trail over questions about his honesty regarding his military service, ties to China, response to the George Floyd riots in 2020, and policy agenda as governor that several Minnesotans who spoke to Fox News Digital described as radical.

Firehouse Strategies founding partner Alex Conant told Fox News Digital that while Walz did not help the ticket, the problems were much deeper.

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Tim Walz

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a campaign rally at Tucson High Magnet School on Nov. 2, 2024 in Tucson, Arizona. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

“Democrats must have a lot of regrets,” Conant said. “Walz didn’t help the ticket, but he’s not why she lost. VP candidates just don’t matter that much.”

“Bigger issues were Trump’s well-run campaign, Biden’s unpopular record, and Harris’ lackluster performance as a candidate – and I’m not sure how she could have changed any of those things.”



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Trump’s big tent: President-elect improved on 2020 performance in 4 counties with big minority populations


For most of the 2024 presidential campaign, public opinion polls suggested that President-elect Trump had historically strong support from minority voters. Now, the election results prove those surveys right.

Thousands of U.S. counties swung rightward compared to 2020, which enabled Trump to overcome his previous deficits with voters and win the national popular vote in 2024 – a feat no Republican has accomplished for 20 years. But four counties in particular highlight Trump’s appeal to constituencies that traditionally have supported Democrats.

“Donald Trump improved his standing with Black and Latino voters for one simple reason: He went directly to them and earned their votes,” said Fox News political analyst Gianno Caldwell. “Presidential Republicans usually do not go to areas that aren’t part of their traditional voting bases. Trump won 90% plus Latino counties, and he has truly put the Republican Party on the map as a multicultural party.”

FOX NEWS VOTER ANALYSIS: HOW TRUMP REGAINED THE WHITE HOUSE

Donald Trump

Trump pumps his fist as he arrives to speak at a campaign event at Nassau Coliseum, Wednesday, Sept.18, 2024, in Uniondale, N.Y.  (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Hispanics account for 45% of residents in Passaic County, in northern New Jersey. Trump won the county with nearly 50% of the vote, improving his 2020 performance by a whopping nine percentage points. The results shocked Democrats, since the party’s 2016 nominee Hillary Clinton won there with 74% of the vote. 

Trump’s victory was more pronounced in Starr County, Texas, formerly a Democratic stronghold on the border with Mexico, where Hispanics make up 97% of all residents. Trump flipped the county for the first time in 132 years, winning with about 57.7% of the vote, according to the Associated Press.

It was a similar story in traditionally Democratic Osceola County, where Trump won 50% of the vote compared to Vice President Kamala Harris’ 48%. Located in central Florida, just south of Disney World, Osceola is 56% Latino. Voters there told FOX 35 Orlando that Trump appealed to them because of their focus on economic issues.

HOW KAMALA HARRIS’ FAILED 2024 PRESIDENTIAL RUN MIRRORS HER ILL-FATED 2020 CAMPAIGN

Graphic shows Trump gains in Democratic counties

President-elect Trump made massive gains in several traditionally Democratic counties nationwide.  (Fox News)

“He appealed to me since day one,” voter Robert Arias said. “I felt like he’s a businessman, and he’ll be able to run our country like a business.”

“Trump is a businessman,” agreed Daniel Pedraza. “He’s got guts.” 

Trump lost Osceola County to Clinton by 25 points in 2016. President Biden defeated Trump there by 14 points in 2020, FOX 35 reported. But he gained 7 percentage points there in 2024 and flipped it red.

TRUMP MAKES GAINS WITH SOME PUERTO RICANS THIS ELECTION DESPITE CONTROVERSIAL ‘GARBAGE’ JOKE

Trump, Melania and Barron on stage at Mar-a-Lago

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump dances on stage with former first lady Melania Trump, center, and son Barron Trump at an election night watch party, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

A Fox News Voter Analysis showed Trump’s crossover appeal to Democratic constituencies was foundational to his success. He improved on his 2020 numbers among Hispanics (41%, +6 points), Black voters (15%, +7 points), and young voters (46%, +10 points).

These rightward shifts were particularly notable among Hispanic men (+8 points), Black men (+12 points), and men under 30 (+14 points) from 2020.

Trump’s strength with Black voters was felt in Anson County, North Carolina, where the Republican candidate won there for the first time since the 1970s and only the second time in more than 100 years. Trump received 50.9% of the vote compared to 48.2% for Harris. Black residents make up 47% of the population in Anson County.

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Overall, Trump improved on his 2020 margin in 2,367 counties nationwide and lost ground in only 240 counties, according to the New York Times. 

“Because of him, Republicans now have a chance to truly compete for the Black vote, and because of him, it appears that the GOP will have the Senate, the House and the White House,” Caldwell said.

The Fox News Polling Unit contributed to this report.



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Bernie Sanders excoriates Democratic Party, calls campaign ‘disastrous’ after Trump victory


Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., excoriated the Democratic Party in the wake of Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential election victory.

The left-wing lawmaker, who is listed as a member of the Senate Democratic caucus, accused the party of abandoning the working class.

“It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them. First, it was the white working class, and now it is Latino and Black workers as well,” Sanders said in the statement.

THE ‘SQUAD,’ WARREN AND SANDERS AMONG PROMINENT POLITICAL FIGURES WHO CRUISED TO RE-ELECTION VICTORIES

Sen. Bernie Sanders

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks on the second day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Ill., on Aug. 20, 2024.  (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

“While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change. And they’re right,” he continued.

Trump decisively defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, winning key swing states including Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

Sanders characterized Harris’ campaign as “disastrous.”

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS DEFENDS MASSIVE COVID SPENDING: ‘I DON’T APOLOGIZE’

Sen. Bernie Sanders

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks on the second day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Ill., on Aug. 20, 2024 (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

“Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from this disastrous campaign?” he asked. 

“Will they understand the pain and political alienation that tens of millions of Americans are experiencing?” he added. “Do they have any ideas as to how we can take on the increasingly powerful oligarchy which has so much economic and political power? Probably not.”

While Republicans won the Senate majority in the 2024 elections, the 83-year-old Sanders, who has served in the chamber since 2007, just won another six-year-term.

HOW KAMALA HARRIS’ FAILED 2024 PRESIDENTIAL RUN MIRRORS HER ILL-FATED 2020 CAMPAIGN

Sen. Bernie Sanders

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks at a labor rally for Harris-Walz in Harrisburg, Penn., on Oct. 27, 2024. (Nathan Morris/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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“Unbelievably, real, inflation-accounted-for weekly wages for the average American worker are actually lower now than they were 50 years ago,” he said in the statement. “Today, despite an explosion of technology and worker productivity, many young people will have a worse standard of living than their parents.”

“Today, despite spending far more per capita than other countries, we remain the only wealthy nation not to guarantee health care to all as a human right and we pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. We, alone among major countries, cannot even guarantee paid family and medical leave,” he asserted.

“Today, despite strong opposition from a majority of Americans, we continue to spend billions funding the extremist Netanyahu government’s all out war against the Palestinian people which has lead to the horrific humanitarian disaster of mass malnutrition and the starvation of thousands of children,” the senator declared in the statement.

Sanders noted in a tweet this week that he was “proud” to vote for Harris.



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How Harris was dogged by ‘border czar’ label, past radical immigration views during failed campaign


Vice President Kamala Harris came into the presidential race with immigration and border security as top issues for voters, but struggled to gain momentum on the issue given her radical past policies as a California senator and her role in the Biden administration’s failure to control the crisis at the southern border.

The Fox News Voter Analysis found that 52% of voters said President-elect Donald Trump was the better candidate to handle immigration, while just 36% said Harris. 

Meanwhile, it was one of the top issues for voters, with 20% saying it was the most important issue facing the country, behind only the economy and jobs (39%) and ahead of abortion (11%) and climate change (7%)

‘LIBERATION DAY’: WHAT TO EXPECT FROM PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP ON BORDER SECURITY, IMMIGRATION

Migrants at the border in AZ

Border Patrol picks up a group of asylum seekers from an aid camp at the US-Mexico border near Sasabe, Arizona, US, on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. (Justin Hamel/Getty Images)

The roots of Harris’ troubles on immigration began in 2021, when the Biden-Harris administration rolled back Trump-era policies including border wall construction and the Remain-in-Mexico policy and aimed to place a moratorium on deportations.

That was followed by a dramatic and historic surge at the border which overwhelmed Border Patrol agents and broke records for encounters, leading to chaos throughout the country as migrants poured in. The Biden administration said it was dealing with a “broken” system and congressional inaction, proposing a sweeping immigration bill that included a mass amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants, but Republicans and others tied the surge to the policies of the administration,.

As those numbers took off, President Biden in March 2021 tasked Harris with leading diplomacy to countries south of the border to tackle what they saw as the root causes of migration — including climate change, violence and poverty. Crucially, it led her to be dubbed the “border czar” by critics and media outlets, although the White House rejected that moniker.

Despite the limits on that role, it made her a figurehead of the spiraling crisis, and she immediately faced pressure to visit the southern border. She visited Mexico and Guatemala but initially shrugged off calls to visit the border.

“You haven’t been to the border,” NBC’s Lester Holt told her, after she claimed she had been to the border.

“And I haven’t been to Europe,” Harris quipped.

WHY NOW? MEDIA OUTLETS LARGELY QUIET ON TIMING OF SUDDEN CRACKDOWN OF KAMALA HARRIS ‘BORDER CZAR’ LABEL 

Trump and Harris in Pennsylvania split image

The Washington Post will not endorse former President Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris.  (Getty Images)

She eventually visited El Paso, Texas, but the controversy stuck, and Republicans would regularly mention the “border czar” when attacking the administration’s policies. Reports also emerged that she was dissatisfied with the assignment. 

In that role, she would go on to raise more than $5.2 billion committed since May 2021 from over 50 companies and organizations to tackle root causes, but the ongoing crisis, which didn’t slow down until 2024, took the spotlight.

This year, she and the administration threw their weight behind a bipartisan border security bill that was introduced in the Senate in January. That bill, which failed to pick up enough support to pass the chamber, would have provided additional funding to the border, including for thousands of additional personnel.

It also included an emergency authority to allow officials to shut down entries at the southern border when they reach a certain level — but conservatives say it would solidify high levels of illegal immigration.

But Trump’s opposition to the bill allowed Harris to accuse Trump of torpedoing the bill for political purposes.

LIVE BLOG: DONALD TRUMP ELECTED AS THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 

Vice President Kamala Harris gestures as she delivers a concession speech for the 2024 presidential election, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, on the campus of Howard University in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Vice President Kamala Harris gestures as she delivers a concession speech for the 2024 presidential election, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, on the campus of Howard University in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough) ((AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Donald Trump learned about that bill and told them to kill it because he preferred to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem,” she said. She also noted a recent drop in border crossings since June after President Biden signed a proclamation limiting asylum entries into the U.S.

“[Trump] can make up whatever lies he wants, but the fact is there’s only one candidate in this race who will fight for real solutions to help secure our nation’s border, and that’s Vice President Harris,” her campaign said.

As a presidential candidate, she also emphasized her past as an attorney general going after transnational criminal organizations “that smuggled guns, drugs, and human beings across the U.S.-Mexico border.”

But she was also hit by her past statements made during her time as a California senator and a presidential candidate in the 2020 election cycle. Her support for gender transition surgery to detained migrants hit headlines and was used as a weapon against her by Republicans.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

She would also move away from past statements in which she called for the decriminalization of illegal border crossings and for the closing of immigration detention centers. She had also mulled ICE starting again “from scratch.”

A Harris campaign adviser told Fox that her positions have been “shaped by three years of effective governance as part of the Biden-Harris administration.”

Ultimately, though, it was not enough to help her overcome her deficit on the issue over Trump, who on Wednesday reiterated his calls to secure the border.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

He has pledged to resume wall construction and launch a mass deportation operation, while ending a number of Biden-era policies when he enters office in January 2025.





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How Kamala Harris’ failed 2024 presidential run mirrors her ill-fated 2020 campaign


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Vice President Harris‘ second failed presidential bid mirrors aspects of her first trek on the campaign trail in 2019, proving to be short-lived and unfocused on key issues important to American voters, experts say.

“Both started with great promise,” Tevi Troy, a presidential historian and former senior official in the George W. Bush administration, told Fox News Digital in an interview. 

“There’s the sense that she’s the savior of the new flavor, the next generation for Democrats, and both kind of failed spectacularly,” he said.

HARRIS NOW THE SECOND DEM CANDIDATE TO LOSE TO TRUMP AND NOT SPEAK TO SUPPORTERS ON ELECTION NIGHT

Kamala Harris closeup shot

Vice President Harris delivers her concession speech, Nov. 6, 2024, at Howard University in Washington, D.C. ((AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

In December 2019, then-Sen. Harris suspended her bid for the presidency 11 months after entering the race, citing a lack of campaign funds and a lag in the polls. It wasn’t long before staffers exposed the disarray in her campaign.

But before she was one of the more prominent early dropouts among the field of Democrat contenders, Harris’ campaign started off with significant momentum, marked by her strong launch that drew a large crowd in Oakland, California. She was initially seen as a top-tier candidate.

However, as the campaign progressed, her campaign’s messaging became unclear and faced tough opposition from then-candidate Joe Biden as well as Elizabeth Warren, Tulsi Gabbard and Bernie Sanders.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS ELECTION RESULTS

Harris concession-speech rally crowd at Howard Univ.

Vice President Harris delivers her concession address at Howard University in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 6, 2024. (Fox News/Caroline McKee)

“Both [campaigns] ran aground on the same two things. No. 1 is her inability to communicate even the most simple idea to the American people. And it’s not because she’s not intellectually capable of doing it, it’s because she is in a box,” Troy said of Harris.

“She’s trapped,” he added. “On the one hand, her inclinations and her voters are on the left, and on the other hand, she wants to win the general election, and to appeal to people in the general election, she has to renounce the more woke policies that she’s espoused throughout her life.”

But to do that, Troy said, would cost her excited progressive big donors.

Harris became the Democrat frontrunner after President Biden suspended his bid for re-election in July amid reports of his declining mental acuity in the wake of a poor debate performance against Republican former President Trump in June. Biden quickly endorsed Harris, who made “reproductive rights” a top issue on the campaign trail, a strategy that would ultimately not win over enough swing state voters. Harris was the Democrat nominee for only about four months.

“I don’t think voters felt like abortion rights were at risk,” another GOP strategist told Fox News Digital. “They largely agreed that the voters should decide, which was President Trump’s message that it should be sent to the states for voters themselves to decide.”

“I think our biggest strength was Kamala’s own words that she had so many far-left San Francisco liberal policy proposals that were all explained by her on camera during the 2020 campaign that we were able to deploy really effectively and target into districts where people have really negative views of those,” the Republican expert said. 

And voters may have wanted more substance from Harris when it comes to the economy and the border. Preliminary data from the Fox News Voter Analysis, a survey of more than 110,000 voters nationwide, provides an early look at the mood of voters as they cast their ballots.

Voters say the economy is far and away the top issue facing the country, followed distantly by immigration and abortion. In a sign of inflation’s economic toll, roughly three times as many voters feel they were falling behind financially as those who feel they were getting ahead.

DEMOCRAT ADAM SCHIFF WINS DIANNE FEINSTEIN’S FORMER SENATE SEAT

crying Harris supporter with other Harris supporters

Supporters react to early election results during Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ election night rally at Howard University in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 5, 2024. (Reuters/Daniel Cole)

Harris also faced the challenge of decoupling herself from Biden but otherwise ran an “expertly run campaign,” according to Philadelphia-based Democrat strategist Mustafa Rashed.

“It was going to be hard to distance herself from the sitting president; she couldn’t use him as a surrogate because he was just not an effective surrogate,” Rashed told Fox News Digital. “He’s not great on the campaign trail, and he’s not popular enough to outweigh the downsides of having him as your partner.”

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Harris conceded to Trump over the phone on Wednesday morning after he clinched a majority of the electoral vote overnight. She gave her concession speech later in the day at her alma mater, Howard University.

“The outcome of this election is not what we hoped, not what we fought, not what we voted for,” Harris said. “But hear when I say … the light of America’s promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting.”

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

Fox News Digital’s Polling Unit contributed to this report.



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Iran ‘terrified’ of Trump presidency as Iranian currency falls to an all-time low


After President-elect Trump’s victory, Iran must now prepare to contend with the man it’s been trying to assassinate for years.

Tehran had reportedly been interfering in the U.S. election on behalf of Vice President Kamala Harris. But with former Trump’s win, the regime will have to prepare for a U.S. leader who is, at the very least, a wild card. 

On Wednesday, the Telegram channel of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IGRC), its military force, posted a video threatening to kill Trump. It ended with footage of a bloodied Trump and the words “We will finish the job.”

Iran has long vowed revenge for Trump approving the 2019 killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani. 

IRAN-BACKED IRAQI MILITIA ATTACKS HAIFA, ISRAEL WITH DRONES

Trump and Khamanei

President-elect Donald Trump and Iranian leader Ali Khamenei   (Getty Images)

“The Islamic Republic has to be terrified that the presidential candidate that they tried to kill has just won the election,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, an Iran expert at the hawkish Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) think tank, told Fox News Digital. 

“The regime knows it can ill afford more exogenous economic shocks. Even the return of maximum pressure alone to the Islamic Republic is going to cause major, major economic problems.”

Iran’s currency tanked to an all-time low Wednesday after Trump clinched victory, signaling its challenges are far from over in the Middle East as war rages on through proxies in both Gaza and Lebanon. 

Donald Trump smiles

After Tuesday’s victory, Iran must now prepare to contend with the man it has been trying to assassinate for years. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The rial traded at 703,000 rials to the dollar, traders in Tehran said, breaking a record before recovering slightly later in the day to 696,150 to $1.

In 2015, at the time of Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, the rial was at 32,000 to $1. On July 30, the day Iran’s reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian was sworn in and started his term, the rate was 584,000 to $1.

And despite U.S. sanctions that critics claim have not been enforced, Iran has been able to export near-record amounts of oil, around 1.7 million barrels per day.  

At the same time, Iran could ramp up production to build a nuclear weapon in a matter of weeks by many estimates. 

“Tehran knows maximum pressure is set to return,” said Taleblu. “During this lame duck period, the nuclear saber rattling threat has to be taken seriously, particularly when its conventional deterrence has been so badly beaten.”

After the Trump administration pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, it imposed harsh sanctions on the regime to stop its funding of proxies abroad, banning U.S. citizens from trading with Iran or handling Iranian money. 

It also punished entities in other countries that did business with Iran by cutting them off from the dollar. 

Khamenei waves

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has led the yearslong campaign to assassinate Trump. (Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Image)

President Biden often waived enforcement of such sanctions, keen to bring Tehran back to the negotiating table to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons and fearful of driving up global oil prices. 

Iran gained access to more than $10 billion through a State Department sanctions waiver that allowed Iraq to continue buying energy from Iran, which the Biden administration argues is necessary to keep lights on in Baghdad. 

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby has insisted none of the funds go to the IRGC or Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei but are “for humanitarian goods.”

IRAN THREATENS TO USE MORE POWERFUL WARHEADS AGAINST ISRAEL IN NEXT ATTACK: REPORT

Iran must also now factor an imminent Trump presidency into how it escalates war with Israel. Israel responded to Tehran’s strikes on Tel Aviv last month with attacks on Iranian military sites, and now Khamenei has vowed harsh countermeasures. 

“Trump’s victory will give Iran pause as it considers striking back at Israel in their tit for tat,” said Sean McFate, adjunct professor at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. 

“During Trump’s previous administration, he scuttled the Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA), strongly embraced Israel and sought to normalize Jewish-Arab relations in the region. I doubt he will support the Palestinians, and he will likely end the Biden-Harris dual policy of support to both sides in the Gaza conflict. None of this is good for Iran.”

Iranian General Qasem Soleimani

Trump ordered a drone strike on Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, center, in 2019. (Press Office of Iranian Supreme Leader/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

But others predicted Trump may actually be less supportive of Israel, Iran’s No. 1 foe in the region, than the Biden administration due to his anti-interventionist tendencies. 

“There’s the unpredictability factor with Trump,” said Chuck Freilich, former deputy national security adviser in Israel. “They don’t know. They’ll be cautious from that point of view with him and more so than they would have been with Biden.”

“Will they be willing to do what has to be done to prevent Iran from crossing, and that may include military action? The Republican Party has become isolationist.

“Biden sent aircraft carrier groups [near Israel] on four occasions in the last year. That’s an unprecedented deployment of American force, both in support of Israel and to deter Iran. Is [Trump] willing to do that?” he added. “I think he will be maybe even less inclined to use military force than Biden would have been.”

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Officially, Iran brushed off the suggestion a Trump presidency could inflict damage on the regime. 

“The U.S. elections are not really our business. Our policies are steady and don’t change based on individuals. We made the necessary predictions before, and there will not be change in people’s livelihoods,” government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.



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‘Should have been Josh Shapiro’: Harris’ VP contenders passed over for Walz dodge massive campaign loss


A handful of Democrats previously in the running to land on the presidential ticket as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate dodged the campaign’s massive loss to President-elect Donald Trump. 

Trump sailed to the 270 needed electoral votes to lock down the win, and Harris conceded the race Wednesday afternoon in a call to Trump. She is also slated to address the nation later Wednesday regarding her defeat. 

In addition to Trump and the dozens of congressional and gubernatorial incumbents and candidates across both political parties who notched victories, Democrats in Harris’ orbit who were floated as vice presidential contenders also emerged as winners for not joining the Democratic ticket. 

Harris courted a number of potential VPs in her truncated campaign window after President Biden dropped out of the race over the summer and ultimately chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to join her on the ticket. The elected officials Harris passed over for VP emerged as winners this cycle. Their political star status rose during Harris’ vetting process, yet they bypassed direct involvement with the Democratic Party’s massive loss to the former president Harris slammed as a “Nazi” and “fascist.” 

HARRIS’ TOP VP OPTIONS ALL HAVE DRAWBACKS THAT COULD TAKE THEM OUT OF CONTENTION

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro 

Gov. Josh Shapiro with VP Kamala Harris

Vice President Kamala Harris and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speak to the press while making a stop at Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia July 13, 2024.  (Ryan Collerd/AFP)

HARRIS WORLD BLAME GAME BEGINS AFTER CRUSHING LOSS TO TRUMP

Democratic Keystone State Gov. Josh Shapiro was touted as a highly likely pick for VP over the summer, before Democrats converged on Chicago for the DNC in August. Pennsylvania was again a top battleground state this election cycle, with pundits viewing the state as the likely decider for the overall outcome of the election. 

Pennsylvania ultimately voted for Trump and moved him across the finish line. 

The popular first-term governor was viewed as a potential key for the Harris campaign to reach the coveted 270 electoral votes to lock up the election. Shapiro, who is Jewish, was also touted as a potential bridge for the Harris campaign to court Jewish voters amid backlash over her previous comments defending anti-Israel protesters who rocked college campuses last year during the war in Israel. 

Harris snubbed Shapiro in favor of Walz, who was relatively unknown to the public outside of Minnesota and Washington, D.C., before becoming Harris’ running mate. 

HERE’S WHERE THE VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES STAND ON TOP ISSUES

​​”You oughta ask yourself why didn’t she pick Josh Shapiro as her VP?” Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said during an appearance on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo just ahead of Election Day. “The answer is, in today’s Democrat Party, they could not stomach a candidate who was Jewish.”

Now that the presidential election is over, Shapiro could make a run on his own for the White House in the future after his name recognition grew on the national level this year and due to him being from the top battleground state of this year’s cycle. 

Sen. Mark Kelly 

Sen. Mark Kelly in closeup shot

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., speaks with reporters while waiting to catch the Senate subway to the Hart Senate Office Building from the U.S. Capitol July 25, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly was also floated as a running mate contender, and pundits and political insiders touted him as a well-known candidate with national star status as a retired NASA astronaut. Kelly is also married to retired Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt in 2011 and has since become a well-known gun control activist. 

LIBERAL TEARS AFTER HARRIS LOSS CONJURES UP MEMORIES OF 2016 CLINTON DEFEAT

Kelly also avoided attaching his name directly to the failed 2024 Democratic ticket, instead focusing on his Senate term. 

Kelly notably flipped late Republican Sen. John McCain’s Senate seat in 2020, notching a historic win for Democrats in the state, and the party holds both Senate seats for the first time since the 1950s. 

He is now positioned to potentially run for president in the future. 

“If Mark Kelly wants to run for president in the future, he’s immediately in the small circle of people who have a shot,” political consultant Andy Barr told Axios early this year. 

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear 

Andy Beshear, Kentucky's Democratic governor

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File)

Kentucky’s governor, Andy Beshear, has served as the Bluegrass State’s leader since 2019 and was viewed as a centrist Democrat who could have appealed to moderate voters at the federal level if he had joined the Harris ticket. 

The 46-year-old also could have appealed to younger voters but was sidelined in favor of Walz. 

MONTAGE: LIBERAL MEDIA PUNDITS PREDICTED KAMALA HARRIS VICTORY

Beshear won a second term as governor in the deep red state last year as speculation mounted he could launch a presidential campaign in the future. 

“I’m sure many people around him are saying, ‘You may have just a perfect formula for a Democrat moving forward’,” Dewey Clayton, a political scientist at the University of Louisville, told the Courier Journal over the summer. 

Tim Walz in Michigan closeup shot

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, speaks at a campaign event in Ann Arbor, Mich., Oct. 28, 2024. (AP/Paul Sancya)

On the flip side, the Harris campaign is catching flak from political insiders who say choosing Walz as the VP nominee was a losing prospect, with many arguing Shapiro would have been the best candidate. 

“As a founding member of She Shoulda Picked Shapiro, I think it’s relatively clear now that she made a mistake,” statistician Nate Silver told The New York Times ahead of Election Day. 

HARRIS WILL NOT SPEAK FROM HOWARD UNIVERSITY ON ELECTION NIGHT AS PLANNED

“Pennsylvania seems to be lagging a little behind the other blue wall states. Meanwhile, Walz was mediocre in the debate, and he’s been mediocre and nervous in his public appearances.”

Harris-Walz surrogate Lindy Li told Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich from Howard University that Shapiro would have likely aided the Harris campaign’s efforts to notch a massive victory. 

Harris supporters on Election Night

Supporters react to early election results at Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ election night rally during the 2024 U.S. presidential election at Howard University, in Washington, D.C., Nov. 5, 2024. (Reuters/Daniel Cole)

“One of the things that are top of mind is the choice of Tim Walz as vice presidential candidate,” Li said. “A lot of people are saying tonight that it should have been Josh Shapiro. Frankly, people have been saying that for months.

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“I know a lot of people are probably wondering tonight what would have happened had Shapiro been on the ticket,” Li continued. “And not only in terms of Pennsylvania. He’s famously a moderate. So, that would have signaled to the American people that she is not the San Francisco liberal that Trump said she was.”

Walz will conclude his second term as governor in 2027. 

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



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Nancy Pelosi appears tearful at Harris concession event


Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., appeared somber and teary-eyed while waiting to see defeated candidate Vice President Kamala Harris make a concession speech on Wednesday.

Arriving at Howard University in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday afternoon, Pelosi was photographed greeting Harris supporters while appearing tearful. 

In a particularly emotional picture, Pelosi pouted as if just about to weep, and had watery eyes. Other pictures showed Pelosi smiling at the event and mingling with attendees.

Harris’ concession speech comes after a historic neck-and-neck presidential race ended with a victory for former President Trump early Wednesday morning. While the election was expected to be a toss-up, the scope of Trump’s victory shocked both sides of the political aisle.

MONTAGE: LIBERAL MEDIA PUNDITS PREDICTED KAMALA HARRIS VICTORY

Nancy Pelosi

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., arrives as supporters wait to hear Vice President Kamala Harris concede the 2024 presidential election at Howard University in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Pelosi and Trump have a great deal of enmity towards each other, regularly insulting each other in public. During a speech in Grand Rapids, Michigan, this week, Trump described Pelosi as something that “starts with a B.”

“She’s an evil, sick, crazy—,” the Republican candidate said, stopping short. “It starts with a ‘B,’ but I won’t say it. I wanna say it.”

Pelosi has fired jabs back at Trump in the past, and recently claimed that he was suffering from “cognitive degeneration” during a recent appearance on MSNBC.

HARRIS WILL NOT SPEAK FROM HOWARD UNIVERSITY ON ELECTION NIGHT AS PLANNED

Pelosi smiling

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., waits to hear Vice President Kamala Harris concede the 2024 presidential election at Howard University in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

“[Voters] have to know that he can’t last as president for four years with his brain deteriorating at the rate that it is… and they may be voting for President Vance, which would be a horrible thing for our country,” Pelosi claimed.

In response, the Trump campaign insulted Pelosi in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“The only thing deteriorating is Nancy Pelosi, who is a decrepit washed up corrupt politician who America can no longer stand,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “She should go back to the City of San Francisco, which she has totally destroyed, and never return.”

Kamala Harris

Vice President Kamala Harris waits before taking the stage for her final campaign rally in Philadelphia on Monday. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

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Fox News Digital reached out to Pelosi’s office for comment, but did not immediately hear back.

Fox News Digital’s Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.



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Harris formally concedes one day after Trump’s sweeping victory


WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris, in her first public comments since losing the 2024 White House race to former President Trump, urged supporters to “accept the results.” 

But Harris on Wednesday afternoon emphasized that “while I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign.”

The vice president spoke at Howard University, her alma mater, where her campaign held a large election night watch party. Harris never addressed the crowd on Tuesday night, as initial optimism about the election turned dour as the clock struck past midnight.

Trump ended up winning a sweeping electoral and popular vote victory over Harris, as Republicans won back the Senate for the first time in four years. Meanwhile, control of the House was still up for grabs on the day after the election.

CLICK HERE FOR FOX NEWS 2024 ELECTION UPDATES

Vice President Kamala Harris

Vice President Kamala Harris gestures as she delivers a concession speech for the 2024 presidential election on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. (Stephanie Scarbrough/AP Photo)

The vice president, who walked to the podium one last time to Beyonce’s “Freedom,” the song that had become Harris’ unofficial anthem, noted near the top of her roughly 12-minute address that “my heart is full today.”

“The outcome of this election is not what we hoped, not what we fought, not what we voted for,” she said. “But hear when I say… the light of America’s promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting.”

HOW TRUMP WON: THE DETAILS FROM THE FOX NEWS VOTER ANALYSIS

The vice president also seemed to take aim at Trump, who for four years has blamed his 2020 White House loss to President Biden on unproven claims of a “rigged election” and who repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to overturn the results. 

“Earlier today I spoke with President-elect Trump and congratulated him on his victory,” Harris said. “I also told him we will help him and his team with their transition and that we will engage in a peaceful transfer of power.”

She emphasized that “a fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election, we accept the results… anyone who seeks the public trust must honor it.”

The vice president also stressed that “we owe loyalty not to a president or a party but to the Constitution of the United States.”

Donald Trump waves to supporters in West Palm Beach, Florida.

President-elect Trump waves to supporters at his election night victory party in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Harris, a former San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general and U.S. senator, ran unsuccessfully for the 2020 presidential nomination. But Biden named his primary rival as his running mate and the two have spent the past four years steering the nation.

TRUMP’S VICTORY CALLED ‘GREATEST POLITICAL COMEBACK’

Harris, for most of the 2024 election cycle, was the dutiful running mate as Biden bid for a second four-year term in the White House.

But everything changed in late June, due to Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Trump.

Trump and Biden at the June 2024 presidential debate.

Former President Trump and President Biden appear during the debate in Atlanta on June 27. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The 81-year-old Biden’s halting and stumbling delivery fueled questions about his physical and mental ability to serve another four years in the White House. And it sparked calls from within the Democratic Party for Biden to drop out of the White House race.

The president finally succumbed to the pressure and on July 21, in a blockbuster announcement that rocked the 2024 election, Biden ended his bid and endorsed his vice president.

The Democratic Party quickly coalesced around Harris, who instantly enjoyed a jump in the polls and a massive surge in fundraising.

The Harris honeymoon continued through the late August Democratic National Convention and into September, when most pundits declared her the winner of the one and only presidential debate between her and Trump. 

Overhead picture of the DNC

Vice President Kamala Harris greets President Biden at the end of the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 19. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

But as the calendar moved from September into October, Trump appeared to regain his footing, and public opinion surveys indicated the former president gaining momentum. 

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Then, in the final days of the campaign, the mood and the vibe appeared to switch again, this time to Harris, who closed out her White House bid on a positive note and didn’t mention Trump’s name during the last 48 hours leading up to Election Day

Meanwhile, Trump struck a more negative and angrier tone on the campaign trail as he crisscrossed the key battleground states in the stretch run.

Harris, in her concession speech on Wednesday, appeared to paint a contrast with Trump.

The view from the press riser as Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, delivers her concession address, at Howard University in  Washington D.C. on Nov. 6, 2024

The view from the press riser as Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, delivers her concession address, at Howard University in  Washington D.C. on Nov. 6, 2024 (Fox News – Caroline McKee)

“I am so proud of the race we ran and the way we ran … over the 107 days of this campaign,” Harris said. “We have been intentional about building community and building coalitions, bringing people together.”

But the former president ended up with a sweeping victory, as Americans returned him to the White House.

Preliminary data from the Fox News Voter Analysis of the 2024 election pointed to a political realignment, as it spotlighted that Trump ran up the score with his MAGA base while narrowing traditional Democratic advantages among Black, Hispanic and young voters. 

Donald and Melania Trump greet guests at Mar-a-Lago

Former President Trump, his wife Melania and their son Barron arrive at an election night victory party in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Harris came close in her bid to become the first woman elected to the presidency, but was unable to make enough gains in the ideological middle of the electorate to offset defections among groups that traditionally vote Democratic. 

The Fox News Voter Analysis is a survey of more than 110,000 voters nationwide which highlights the 2024 campaign’s key dynamics. 

Just as damaging: Harris wasn’t able to escape the massive unpopularity of the Biden/Harris administration, where polls indicated that nearly three quarters of voters said the country was on the wrong track.

The Fox News Voter Analysis spotlighted that in an election where voters across the nation wanted change, they chose Trump’s outsider appeal over Harris’ promise to “turn the page” on the Trump era. 

Fox News’ Dana Blanton and Victoria Balara contributed to this report

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



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JD Vance’s wife, Usha Vance, set to become first Indian American second lady


The White House is ushering in a new era with the election of a second Trump presidency with Usha Vance set to become the first Indian American second lady in the White House.

Vance, who is the daughter of Indian immigrants, will also be the first Hindu second lady.

Vice President-elect JD Vance credited his “beautiful wife for making it possible to do this” after the big win.

“THANK YOU! To my beautiful wife for making it possible to do this,” he wrote on X. “To President Donald J. Trump, for giving me such an opportunity to serve our country at this level. And to the American people, for their trust. I will never stop fighting for ALL of you.”

WHO IS JD’S WIFE USHA VANCE?

Usha Vance, JD vance, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner

Usha Vance, Vice President-elect JD Vance, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner look on as President-elect Donald Trump speaks during an election night event at the Palm Beach Convention Center on November 06, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The attorney has been married to JD since 2014 and they have three children together: sons, Ewan, 6, and Vivek, 4, and a daughter, Mirabel, 2.

Before law school, Vance received a bachelor’s degree in history from Yale and a master’s in philosophy from the University of Cambridge.

USHA VANCE REVEALS HOW SHE DEALS WITH NEGATIVE PRESS COVERAGE OF HER HUSBAND

She completed multiple clerkships after her graduation from Yale, according to an Axios report, including for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh when he was serving on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Usha Chilukuri Vance speaks on Day 3 of the Republican National Convention

Usha Chilukuri Vance, wife of Vice President-elect JD Vance, speaks on Day 3 of the Republican National Convention (RNC), at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., July 17, 2024.  (REUTERS/Mike Segar)

Vance made headlines during the Republican National Committee in July.

“My background is very different from JD’s. I grew up in San Diego, in a middle-class community, with two loving parents, both immigrants from India, and a wonderful sister,” she said. “That JD and I could meet at all, let alone fall in love and marry, is a testament to this great country.”

Usha and JD Vance board plane

Vice President-elect JD Vance, left, and his wife Usha Vance board a plane as they depart Pitt-Greenville Airport following a campaign event in Greenville, N.C., Saturday Sept. 14, 2024.  (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Fox News’ Yael Horan contributed to this report.

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Trump-hating NY pols vow to counter any potential payback


New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James, who’ve spent years prosecuting and disparaging Donald Trump, vowed to fight back against any potential “revenge or retribution” that may be coming their way now that President-elect Trump will be returning to the White House.

Hochul offered congratulations to Trump during a press conference on Wednesday while also commending his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, for a “hard-fought campaign that really lifted up so many issues that matter to Americans.”

She acknowledged that the results may not have been what many had hoped for but reassured her constituents that New York has overcome hard times before.

“That’s why I have the confidence in my team and all those we work closely with that we will get through the uncertainty of a new administration in Washington because, as I said, we’ve done this before,” Hochul said. “I want to be very clear that while we honor the results of this election and will work with anyone who wants to be a partner in achieving the goals of our administration in our state, that does not mean we’ll accept an agenda from Washington that strips away the rights that New Yorkers have long enjoyed.”

FORMER AIDE TO NEW YORK GOV HOCHUL, WHO IS ACCUSED OF BEING CHINESE SPY, WENT ON A TOUR OF THE WHITE HOUSE

New York's Kathy Hochul and Letitia James

New York Attorney General Letitia James, left, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The governor reminded the public that New York is the birthplace of the women’s rights movement, the environmental justice movement, the LGBTQ rights movement and the American labor movement, saying the state will continue to be a “bastion” of freedom and the rule of law.

She also announced the establishment of the Empire State Freedom Initiative, which will focus on areas Hochul and other state officials believe could face threats from the Trump administration. She said the initiative will offer protections for reproduction rights, civil rights, immigration, gun safety, labor rights, LGBTQ rights and environmental justice.

“Our team will do whatever we have to do to identify any possible threats to these rights that we hold dear in the state of New York and protect New Yorkers,” Hochul said. “This will include legislation, rulemaking, appropriations and partnerships with our congressional delegation and including the Biden administration at this time.”

SHOCK NUMBER: TRUMP HAS HIGHER APPROVAL RATING IN DEEP BLUE STATE THAN ITS GOVERNOR

Hochul stern at press conference

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul congratulated President-elect Trump for winning the election, but said she and other state officials are prepared to fight off attempts to strip the state of funding. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

She called on Trump to support New York’s ongoing efforts to obtain funding for major critical infrastructure with the MTA and to back economic development projects like those funded by the Chips and Science Act.

“I will work with him or anybody, regardless of party, on these kind of efforts that I know will benefit the state of New York,” Hochul said. “However, if you try to harm New Yorkers or rollback their rights, I will fight you every step of the way. New Yorkers are resilient. We fought the first time around, and we’ll fight again.”

James also congratulated Trump on his win, but not without spite.

She told the people of New York that she and other state officials would work with Trump and his administration “if possible” but without compromising the state’s integrity or principles.

HARRIS NOW THE SECOND DEM CANDIDATE TO LOSE TO TRUMP AND NOT SPEAK TO SUPPORTERS ON ELECTION NIGHT

New York Attorney General Letitia James wearing black

New York Attorney General Letitia James. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Congressional Black Caucus Foundation/File)

“We did not expect this result, but we are prepared to respond to this result. And my office has been preparing for several months because we’ve been here before,” James said. “We faced this challenge before, and we used the rule of law to fight back. And we are prepared to fight back once again because, as the attorney general of this great state, it is my job to protect and defend the rights of New Yorkers and the rule of law. And I will not shrink from that responsibility.”

Between 2019 and 2021, James said, her office took nearly 100 legal actions against Trump’s previous administration, including when he attempted to put a cap on state and local taxes and tried to eliminate funds and grants for law enforcement officials in New York.

James said her office also fought to protect the Affordable Care Act, prevent a question about citizenship from being on the census, and put a stop to the dismantling of the U.S. Postal Service, among other things.

She also said she knows the Trump administration’s playbook and has a contingency plan in place to respond to any attack on the state.

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“We’re ready to respond to any attempts to cut or eliminate any funding to the great state of New York, as the governor outlined,” James said. “So, despite what has happened on the national stage, we will continue to stand tall in the face of injustice, revenge or retribution.”

“This is not the time to be fearful, New York, but faithful and steadfast, knowing that I, as the attorney general, along with my entire team, we are guardians of the law, and we are prepared, my friends, to fight back,” she added.

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



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Biden says selecting Harris as running mate was ‘best decision I made’


After Vice President Kamala Harris’s speech on Wednesday conceding her loss to President-elect Trump in the 2024 race, President Biden issued a statement saying that selecting Harris as his running mate was the “best decision” he made.

In a written statement, Biden said Harris stepped up to lead a “historic campaign” under “extraordinary circumstances.”

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris

President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris (Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Harris’ campaign, Biden said, “embodied what’s possible when guided by a strong moral compass and a clear vision for a nation that is more free, more just, and full of more opportunities for all Americans.”

SIMONE BILES CALLS FOR BIDEN TO ‘MAKE THINGS SHAKE’ BEFORE LEAVING OFFICE AFTER TRUMP BLASTS HARRIS

Biden said selecting Harris was the first decision he made after he became the nominee for president in 2020.

Vice President Kamala Harris gestures as she delivers a concession speech for the 2024 presidential election, Wednesday, on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Vice President Kamala Harris gestures as she delivers a concession speech for the 2024 presidential election, Wednesday, on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

“It was the best decision I made. Her story represents the best of America’s story. And as she made clear today, I have no doubt that she’ll continue writing that story,” Biden said. 

GOP CHALLENGER UNSEATS REP. SUSAN WILD IN PENNSYLVANIA

The statement came shortly after Harris told supporters at her alma mater, Howard University, that she had lost her race against Trump. 

VP Kamala Harris

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris smiles during a campaign rally at Michigan State University’s Jenison Field House in East Lansing, Mich., Sunday. (Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images)

“The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for,” Harris said. “But hear me when I say, the light of America’s promise will always burn bright, as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting.”

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Harris had planned to address Wednesday’s audience on Election Night with a more upbeat message to deliver. 

Instead, when Harris took the stage, she looked out at a sea of American flags and notably forlorn faces. She was flanked by 30 American flags.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.



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Pro-life advocate says Trump victory is ‘huge’ for Catholic voters: ‘Morality matters’


Catholic voters were the biggest winners in the 2024 election, the head of a pro-life group said.

“The victory is huge for Catholic voters. Trump handily won the Catholic vote,” Shawn Carney, founder of 40 Days For Life, told Fox News Digital. 

“I know the Al Smith Dinner gets a lot of attention for that. That certainly wasn’t a wise move for [VP Harris] to not go to that. But I think it’s more than just dressing up in a dress or a tuxedo and going to a fundraiser. We Catholics always get the impression from, frankly, the Biden-Harris administration that they hated Catholics, and they hate religion.

“We see what they’ve tolerated, in some cases, encouraged what’s happened to the Jews. We saw the DOJ target Catholics and target pro-lifers. And you just got that sense that they didn’t like or respect Catholics.”

7 STATES VOTE TO PROTECT ABORTION RIGHTS, 3 KEEP RESTRICTIONS IN PLACE

Shawn Carney

Shawn Carney, founder of the pro-life national organization 40 Days For Life, told Fox News Digital a Republican win for the Presidential Election was “huge.” (Fox News Digital)

According to exit polling by Fox News on election night, Catholics across the country swung nine percentage points in Trump’s favor, with Trump winning Catholics by 10 points.

Catholics were evenly split between President Biden and Trump in 2020, with 50% favoring Trump to 49% favoring Biden.

ABORTION ‘ON THE BALLOT’ IN 10 STATES THIS ELECTION, BUT IT MIGHT NOT MATTER

While the Catholic swing exceeded expectations on the national level, the margin of Catholic voters favoring Trump was even larger in some of the most critical swing states.

In Pennsylvania, which has 19 electoral votes and was considered the most important swing state by both candidates, Catholics make up a quarter of the electorate. According to Fox exit polling, Catholic voters in Pennsylvania favored Trump by a 13-point margin of 56% to 43%. 

Catholic voters in two of the next largest swing states — North Carolina (16 electoral votes) and Michigan (15 electoral votes) — voted in Trump’s favor by 17 and 20 percentage points, respectively.

Trump also won over Wisconsin Catholics by 16 percentage points, helping to deliver the state’s 10 electoral votes to the former president.

Pope Frances and Our Lady of Guadalupe

Pope Francis holds a thurible of incense as he celebrates a mass for the Virgin of Guadalupe in St. Peters Basilica Dec. 12, 2018, at the Vatican.  (Getty Images)

Carney said Harris “ran on abortion,” pointing to the social issue as the candidate’s downfall.

“Kamala ran on abortion, and she celebrated abortion,” he said. “Her campaign was depressing at best.

“Latinos are against abortion. Catholics are against abortion. And even the liberal Catholics who are going to vote Democrat who may tolerate abortion, they don’t want it shoved down their throats,” he said. “Her barbaric approach to celebrate something that the Catholic Church adamantly teaches against was one of her many downfalls.”

DESANTIS CLAIMS VICTORY OVER FLORIDA ABORTION, MARIJUANA AMENDMENTS AS SUPPORTERS CELEBRATE: ‘PRAISE GOD’

Carney said many Catholic voters were “uncomfortable” with the left “celebrating abortion.”

“I think the other thing that they’ve ignored that Catholics in America still care about, no matter what you hear, is that morality matters,” he said. “And it doesn’t matter how liberal or conservative a Catholic is. There’s still a moral objectivity to it that makes people uncomfortable when it’s celebrated by somebody running for president.”

Pro-abortion rally

Pro-choice Arizona residents rally on a street corner. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Carney said other top issues were freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

“There’s no doubt that Catholics were looking at free speech. And a lot of people have criticized Donald Trump for many of his stances. He’s waffled on abortion at certain times,” he said. “But, by far, he’s been the most pro-life president ever, and he’s been the most pro-free speech president we’ve ever had.”

Carney pointed to Trump advocating on behalf of the Little Sisters of the Poor incident after the religious organization was taken to court for not providing contraception.

“There definitely was that sentiment that, ‘Look, if they’re going to go after Trump, if they’re going to go after Catholics, if they’re going to go after pro-lifers, it’s only a matter of time until they find something in our life that they don’t like or disagree with, and they come after us,'” he said.

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“This was a huge free speech victory for Catholics because the Biden-Harris administration, for the first time, Obama never did this. Clinton never did it. George W. Bush never did it,” he said. “They targeted religious people, particularly Catholics, based on religion and the fact that they had the power to do so.

“And you can’t target Catholics and expect them to vote for you.”





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Ritchie Torres blasts far-left Democrats for Trump win


A Democratic congressman from New York recently blamed progressives for President-elect Trump’s victory this week, arguing that far-left causes actually disenchant certain voters.

Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., claimed that his party has “alienated historic numbers” of minority voters in an X (former Twitter)  post on Wednesday. Torres, a vocal supporter of Israel, pointed fingers at pro-Palestinian protests as one of the causes – as well as the movement to defund police.

“Donald Trump has no greater friend than the far left, which has managed to alienate historic numbers of Latinos, Blacks, Asians, and Jews from the Democratic Party with absurdities like ‘Defund the Police’ or ‘From the River to the Sea’ or ‘Latinx,’ Torres wrote.

“There is more to lose than there is to gain politically from pandering to a far left that is more representative of Twitter, Twitch, and TikTok than it is of the real world,” the Democrat added. “The working class is not buying the ivory-towered nonsense that the far left is selling.”

MONTAGE: LIBERAL MEDIA PUNDITS PREDICTED KAMALA HARRIS VICTORY

Split image of Ritchie Torres and Donald Trump

Ritchie Torres blamed progressive Democrats for President-elect Trump’s win on Tuesday. (Getty Images)

Torres’ comments came in the aftermath of the initial 2024 election results, which found that Vice President Harris had less favorability among Latino and Hispanic voters than President Biden did in 2020.

According to a Fox News Voter Analysis, Biden garnered 63% of Latino support in 2020 while Harris only had 54% this year.

Another Fox News Voter Analysis found that support for Trump among Latino and Hispanic voters jumped from 35% in 2020 to 41% in 2024.

HARRIS WILL NOT SPEAK FROM HOWARD UNIVERSITY ON ELECTION NIGHT AS PLANNED

Donald Trump

Media outlets that spent much of 2024 sounding the alarm the President-elect Donald Trump is a threat to democracy didn’t take it particularly well when it became clear he would defeat Vice President Kamala Harris on election night.  (Getty Images)

The shift came days after the Trump campaign was criticized for hosting comedian Tony Hinchcliffe at a high-profile Oct. 27 rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The comedian made an inflammatory joke about Puerto Rico being a “floating island of garbage,” prompting an outcry.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., attempted to use Hinchliffe’s joke as an opportunity to sway the Latino community shortly after he uttered the remark.

Ritchie Torres gives pro-Israel speech

Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., speaks onstage at the March For Israel at the National Mall on Nov. 14, 2023 in Washington, D.C.  (Noam Galai/Getty Images)

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“That’s just what they think about you,” the congresswoman said during a Twitch stream. “It’s what they think about anyone who makes less money than them. It’s what they think about the people who serve them food in a restaurant. It’s what they think about the people who, who fold their clothes in a store.”



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