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House Republicans are using three key government funding bills to pass conservative priorities on abortion, diversity and drag performances. 

The House is expected to consider appropriations bills this week funding the Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the State Department and foreign operations for fiscal year 2025.

It’s part of an ambitious schedule House GOP leaders have laid out to have their 12 individual appropriations bills passed by August recess.

But in addition to funding the government by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, Republicans are also eyeing the spending race as an opportunity to get at least some conservative social policies over the line before the November election, when they risk losing the House majority. 

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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is expected to hold votes on three culture war-heavy spending bills this week. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

That includes pushing for former President Trump’s border wall – there is $600 million in the DHS appropriations bill for funding its construction, along with a policy provision to force Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to erect physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border as quickly as possible.

Both the DHS and defense bills also block their respective funds from being used for abortion services. 

The defense bill stops use of “paid leave and travel or related expenses of a servicemember or their dependents to obtain an abortion or abortion-related services,” according to the House Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee.

The former prohibits federal dollars from being used to perform abortions for noncitizen detainees of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Likewise, that bill also stops funding from going toward transgender health care-related measures for ICE detainees.

The defense spending bill also bans funding from being used for programs like drag queen story hour, and prevents hiring of drag performers as military recruiters. The subcommittee’s bill summary argues such programs “bring discredit upon the military.”

DRAG PERFORMER SPEAKS OUT AGAINST ALLOWING KIDS TO ATTEND DRAG SHOWS: ‘THIS IS AN ADULT VENUE’ 

Republicans are also eyeing the spending race as an opportunity to get at least some conservative social policies over the line before the November election, including funding for former President Trump’s border wall. (Fox News)

All three bills expected for consideration this week block federal dollars from going toward diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. It’s a priority House Republicans also pushed for in the last spending fight, which resulted in the shutdown of the House Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

Similarly, the defense and DHS bills place restrictions on those departments enacting critical race theory (CRT) programs.

While defense and DHS spending are set to get modest bumps in fiscal year 2025, Republicans are aiming to slash spending at the State Department.

House Republicans are working toward a topline of roughly $1.6 trillion in discretionary government funding. GOP leaders are guided by last year’s Fiscal Responsibility Act, a deal struck between then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and President Biden to raise the debt ceiling and limit federal spending.

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But unlike last year, when the final numbers were inflated by McCarthy and Biden’s side deals, House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., and Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., pledged to forge ahead on the topline number alone.

The defense bill and DHS bill are seeing roughly $9 billion and $3 billion increases from 2024, respectively, while the State Department bill is an 11% cut from last year.

President Biden has already threatened to veto the bills. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

All three are being considered by the House Rules Committee on Tuesday, the last stop before a bill faces a chamber-wide vote. Democrats have already come out in opposition to the House GOP’s plans, however.

Biden threatened to veto all three spending bills in a statement of administration policy on Monday.

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“Rather than respecting their agreement and taking the opportunity to engage in a productive, bipartisan appropriations process to build on last year’s bills, House Republicans are again wasting time with partisan bills that would result in deep cuts to law enforcement, education, housing, health care, consumer safety, energy programs that lower utility bills and combat climate change, and essential nutrition services,” the White House said.

“The draft bills also include numerous, partisan policy provisions with devastating consequences, including harming access to reproductive health care, threatening the health and safety of… (LGBTQI+) Americans, endangering marriage equality, hindering critical climate change initiatives, and preventing the Administration from promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. — An increasingly contentious Democratic Party battle between a member of the far-left “Squad” in Congress and his more moderate challenger that spotlights the party’s deep divisions over the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is taking center stage on Tuesday as New York, Colorado and Utah hold primaries.

And the race between two-term Rep. Jamaal Bowman and Westchester County executive George Latimer in New York’s 16th Congressional District, which covers southern Westchester County [in suburban New York City] and a small portion of The Bronx, is already in the record books as the most expensive congressional primary in the nation’s history.

But the contest could make more history as Bowman, a former middle school principal who four years ago ousted 16-term Rep. Eliot Engel in the Democrat primaries, now faces becoming the first member of the Squad, a progressive group of diverse House Democrats, to be ousted from Congress, and the first House member of either party to be defeated by a primary challenger this cycle.

Bowman, who’s been outspoken about his support for Palestinians amid the war in Gaza and has charged that Israel has committed genocide, has been targeted by roughly $14 million in spending by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the deep-pocketed pro-Israel group that is supporting Latimer.

WATCH: THIS HOUSE PRIMARY IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE IN CONGRESSIONAL HISTORY

Rep. Jamaal Bowman greets Sen. Bernie Sanders while he campaigns in the Bronx, New York City, on June 22, 2024. (REUTERS/Joy Malone)

Progressive rock stars Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York are supporting Bowman and teamed up with the besieged lawmaker at a rally Saturday in the Bronx. The event was anything but a PG-rated spectacle as Bowman repeatedly used profanities.

“We are going to show f—ing AIPAC the power of the motherf—ing South Bronx!” Bowman said at the rally, which was held outside the congressional district’s boundaries.

HEAD HERE FOR LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING FROM THE PRIMARY CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Speaking with reporters on Monday, Latimer called Bowman’s language “inappropriate.”

And Latimer emphasized that “during this campaign I’ve been called a lot of unkind things. I’ve opened up a weekly newspaper in this county and seen myself referred to as genocide George. I’ve had all sorts of claims lobbed at me.”

“I think there’s been a lot of criticism lobbed at me by my opponent that’s unfair and inaccurate,” Latimer argued, “But I don’t think I get it right to use my temper. I don’t think I get the right to curse in public and carry on in a certain way.”

Westchester County executive George Latimer, who is challenging Democrat Rep. Jamaal Bowman in New York’s 16th Congressional District primary, speaks after being endorsed by local clergy leaders on June 24, 2024, in Mount Vernon, N.Y. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

While the Israel-Hamas war is a top issue in the primary, it’s not the only one at play.

Bowman, who’s grabbed plenty of attention during his four years in Congress for his verbal warfare with Republicans and for pulling a fire alarm in a House office building last year during a vote over government funding, is also getting hit for voting against President Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill and against raising the debt limit.

While knocking off an incumbent is extremely difficult – and has yet to be accomplished by a challenger so far this cycle – Latimer, who is a former state senator, is well known in the district.

He’s been endorsed by local mayors and council members, multiple Westchester County legislators, and by former Secretary of State and former Sen. Hillary Clinton. The 2016 Democratic presidential nominee lives close to the district in northern Westchester County.

He spoke with reporters on Monday at an event where he was endorsed by more than a half dozen diverse clergy leaders from the congressional district.

The ads on behalf of Latimer are also a factor. A record $25 million has been spent by outside groups and the two campaigns to run ads in the district, which is located in New York’s pricey media market, according to Adimpact, a well-known national ad tracking firm.

While the Democrat primary between Bowman and Latimer will grab the most attention in Tuesday’s primaries, it’s far from the only contest worth watching.

John Avlon, a former Fox News analyst and one of the founders of the No Labels political organization who later went on to work as an anchor for CNN, is running against former Stony Brook University chemistry professor Nancy Goroff in the Democrat primary in New York’s 1st Congressional District on the eastern end of Long Island, which was won by President Biden in 2020. The winner will face off in November with Republican Rep. Nick LaLota.

In Colorado, seven Republicans are running in the state’s competitive 3rd Congressional District in the race to succeed GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert, who decided to run this year in the more Republican-friendly 4th Congressional District after nearly losing in 2022. 

Rep. Lauren Boebert (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)

Boebert is favored to win the seat in the fourth district, which was left vacant after GOP Rep. Ken Buck retired from Congress.

In Utah, the battle to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Mitt Romney is taking center stage.

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Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and the GOP’s 2012 presidential nominee, is a vocal Republican critic of former President Trump, the party’s 2024 presumptive nominee.

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, speaks to the media about not running for a second term in his office in the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 13, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)

Trump is backing Riverton, Utah, Mayor Trent Staggs, who also has the backing of the Utah GOP after winning the most votes in April’s state party convention.

But Rep. John Curtis, a former Democrat and environmental activist who voted to accept Biden’s victory in the 2020 election, enjoys a solid fundraising lead over Staggs.

Republican Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah, another major GOP Trump critic, is facing a primary challenge from Phil Lyman, another 2020 election denier who easily won the state party convention. But Trump to date has remained neutral and hasn’t endorsed Lyman.

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

When you strip away the hype, blather and speculation surrounding Thursday’s presidential debate, the core narrative is this: Can Joe Biden get it done?

In other words, can the 81-year-old president, beset by doubts about his stamina and sharpness, be sufficiently cogent and aggressive in a way that transforms the campaign narrative? 

But I would suggest that may be the wrong question.

There’s no way that the president, if he doesn’t wander into the curtains, doesn’t turn in a reasonably strong performance after a week of prep at Camp David. Sure, he could stumble, mix things up or just look frail.

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But Biden will clear the absurdly low bar that Donald Trump, Republican allies and conservative commentators have set for him. Dazed, confused, senile, doesn’t know where he is, can’t string two sentences together.

That portrayal is so deeply embedded that Trump’s last-minute effort at course correction – suddenly Biden is a “worthy” debater who “destroyed” Paul Ryan in 2012 – is a drop in the bucket.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at the annual Lincoln Reagan Dinner hosted by the Minnesota Republican party on May 17, 2024 in St. Paul, Minnesota. A recent poll has President Joe Biden leading Trump in the state by two percentage points.  (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

And if Biden just holds his own, most of the media will declare him the winner and insist he shattered expectations.

In my view, the larger question of the CNN debate is focused on Donald Trump.

There’s now a concerted effort by the anti-Trump media to hammer home the message that the former president is losing it.

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Trump rambles quite a bit at his rallies. In his view, he’s entertaining the crowd with yarns that are often semi-facetious or even self-deprecating.

But as his critics see it, Trump, 78, is showing his age through stream-of-consciousness digressions and detours.

So with his weekend appearances in Philadelphia, Trump told the tale of a boat owner telling him they can’t switch to electric because the batteries are so large they sink the boats (the conversation may have been real, but the reality is not).

And then there was his familiar lament about showers.

Trump talked about how much he likes to lather up his beautiful hair because that makes it thicker, and then the water comes out drip drip drip. (I’d wager that the showers at Mar-a-Lago, Bedminister and Trump Tower, at least, provide plenty of pressure.)

Still, Trump knows the difference between doing shtick for adoring crowds and handling a debate. He’ll obviously come on strong, as no one questions his energy level. 

BIDEN TEAM ARGUES THAT ALL UNFLATTERING VIDEOS OF HIM ARE FAKE, BUT THAT’S NOT TRUE

But what most people are missing here is his level of discipline. Trump is perfectly capable of turning it on for as long as necessary.

I speak from personal experience. When I interviewed the former president for an hour at Mar-a-Lago some weeks ago, he was sharp and substantive.

Knowing full well that my audience is more independent, Trump easily fielded questions on abortion, immigration, Israel, indictments, Tik Tok, retribution, law enforcement and other topics–a couple of which had just broken hours earlier. While he got in a few zingers, especially about the 2020 election, he didn’t miss a beat, even about something he’d done in 1985. He acknowledged sometimes using inflammatory language to drive the news cycle.

Now I wasn’t under any illusion that he had morphed into a different candidate. Within a couple of days he was dropping hand grenades again. The risk for Trump this week is that he gets irked and hits Biden with below-the-belt shots. But no one thinks he won’t come out swinging.

Here’s how I see it unfolding: Biden and Trump both perform fairly strongly. And since the president is the one who’s been pilloried as a doddering old fool, the media, as I said, declare him victorious.  

But the bigger surprise in the Atlanta studio will be the more disciplined Trump. And he’ll be aided by the lack of an audience and the muted-mic rule, which will keep him from the constant interruptions that marred his first debate in 2020.

Oh, Trump seems pretty serious. You know, this is not the Trump I remember. He looks more presidential. That may be the reaction among Republicans or independents who were leaning against Trump but might like the more restrained version.

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Of course, debates are unpredictable and I could be wrong. But it’s not just Joe Biden who has the ability to present a different persona. 

Footnote: Both presidents will be rusty, since neither has debated in four years. But Trump has an edge here because he’s constantly doing TV, radio and podcast interviews, enabling him to refine his answers. The incumbent, by largely avoiding journalists and being terse with shouted questions, is unaccustomed to such sparring.

The second day of hearings on motions from both the defense and prosecution in former President Trump’s classified documents case in Florida ended Monday shortly after 5:30 p.m.

Two issues were considered during the day’s hearings: Special Counsel Jack Smith’s funding for the case and its legality, and a potential added provision to Trump’s release conditions to limit some of his speech regarding the raid of his Mar-a-Lago estate. 

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Former President Donald Trump and Special Counsel Jack Smith (Getty Images)

In a hearing that began at 10 a.m. and ran for roughly an hour and 45 minutes, Trump’s defense attorney, Emil Bove, argued that Smith was being “unlawfully funded.” He claimed the funding being used by Smith’s team isn’t authorized by statute, ultimately posing a separation of powers issue. As it stands, the special counsel is operating on an allegedly infinite budget in its effort to convict the former president. 

Notably, Smith was present for the Monday hearing, sitting behind where the prosecution was seated but not quite in the gallery of the courtroom. 

PROSECUTORS WANT ANOTHER GAG ORDER ON TRUMP IN CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS CASE

Smith was present in court on Monday. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon for the Southern District of Florida questioned Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutor James Pearce about his argument that there are indefinite appropriations legally made available to the special counsel. Cannon prodded him over the “limitless appropriations,” to which he provided several examples of similar instances in the U.S. Code. Pearce also noted that eight other special counsels were funded in the same manner, potentially hinting that her ruling could have far-reaching implications in other matters. 

Cannon further probed some of the budget reports regarding the prosecution, showing that nearly $9 million was spent on the case by the special counsel’s office and the DOJ in a matter of months between November 2022 and March 2023. 

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Cannon questioned both sides during the hearings. (REUTERS)

Pearce made a separate argument that even if the funds are determined to be unlawful, that should not warrant the case being dismissed, as Trump’s defense has pushed for. 

Later in the day, the court heard arguments both for and against what amounts to an informal and limited gag order on Trump as a modification to his release conditions. 

ANTI-FREE SPEECH CULTURE IN GOVERNMENT, ACADEMIA: JONATHAN TURLEY

Trump has gag orders in two of his cases. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool/File)

The government sought the speech restriction specifically as it relates to the raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home after he made numerous remarks regarding the FBI agents’ sanctioned use of force during the operation. The prosecution pointed to language that described the FBI as being “locked and loaded and ready to take me out” as having the potential to endanger law enforcement. 

During the second hearing, DOJ prosecutor David Harbach was rebuked by Cannon for his tone and warned to act within the court’s decorum. He argued that the speech restriction on Trump was necessary because of the connection between the former president’s statements and the actions of some supporters. He also claimed that the names of FBI agents involved in the Mar-a-Lago raid had been made public, putting them in danger. 

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However, when Cannon asked for the person who made the names public, Harbach did not tell her, instead saying the prosecution was aware of the person responsible. This seemed to irritate Cannon, who prompted him to ask why they wouldn’t make it public and have that person prosecuted. 

Trump’s defense attorney argued during the hearing that the requested informal and limited gag order was too vague, also claiming the former president’s attacks were obviously targeting Biden and not officers of the law. 

Court resumes Tuesday with a sealed hearing at 11 a.m. and an open hearing at 1 p.m. 

Utah Republican Rep. Burgess Owens is demanding the president of Northwestern University sever school ties with news outlet Al Jazeera following repeated reports of its connection to terrorist group Hamas, Fox News Digital has learned. 

“Turns out that Al Jazeera is not just a platform for anti-Israel, pro-terrorist propaganda; it is also a safe haven for Hamas supporters,” Owens said in comment to Fox News Digital.

“It is unacceptable for any American university that receives hundreds of millions of dollars in annual federal funding to partner with organizations whose members are terrorists or whose reporting incites terror on behalf of Hamas. President Schill testified before Congress that Northwestern was looking into its formal partnership with Al Jazeera, and in light of disturbing reports, I’m calling for immediate answers and action to ensure this corruption is nowhere near American students.”

Owens – alongside Republican Reps. Elise Stefanik of New York, Andy Ogles of Tennessee and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey – sent a letter Friday to Northwestern University President Michael Schill demanding answers on the school’s ties to outlet Al Jazeera, which is funded by the Qatari government. Northwestern has a satellite campus in Qatar, which includes a partnership with Al Jazeera that allows its students “to engage regularly with leading media industry professionals,” according to Northwestern’s website. 

BURGESS OWENS CORNERS ELITE UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT OVER EYE-POPPING DONATIONS FROM HAMAS-HARBORING QATAR

Utah Republican Rep. Burgess Owens in hearing with Northwestern President Michael Schill. (The Committee on Education and the Workforce/Youtube)

Earlier this month, reports surfaced that a journalist who previously wrote for Al Jazeera held three Jewish hostages in his home before he was killed by the Israeli military. The journalist was never an official employee of the outlet, the New York Post reported, but had a byline with the publication and other outlets in Gaza.  

Owens’ letter cited the journalist while demanding answers regarding the school’s ties to the Qatari-backed outlet. 

“On Saturday, June 8, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a daring raid on Hamas to rescue Israeli hostages abducted during the horrific events of October 7. During the raid, the IDF discovered that three of the rescued hostages were held at Abdallah Aljamal’s home in Nuseirat. Aljamal, who was killed during the rescue, was a journalist who had published an article on Al Jazeera and whose information can be found on the Al Jazeera website,” the letter to Schill reads. 

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Northwestern University President Michael H. Schill, seen here when he was president at the University of Oregon, Jan. 1, 2020.  (Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

“Unfortunately, this is not the first time Al Jazeera has been connected to terrorists or terrorist organizations. According to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Al Jazeera and its reporters have been connected to Hamas throughout the Israel-Hamas War. For example, a Palestinian journalist named Mohammad Wishah working for Al Jazeera was discovered to have been a commander in Hamas’s anti-tank missile unit who went on to work in research and development for Hamas, and posted a photograph of himself with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar on social media,” the letter continues. 

TRUMP SLAMS ‘RADICAL LEFT LUNATICS’ CREATING CHAOS ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES NATIONWIDE

A terrorist from Hamas takes part in a military parade to mark the anniversary of the 2014 war with Israel, near the border in the central Gaza Strip on July 19, 2023. (Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/File Photo)

The lawmakers listed other reports linking Al Jazeera to Hamas, including a correspondent accused by the IDF of serving as a “platoon deputy commander” for Hamas, as well as two Al Jazeera journalists accused by Israel of “operating a drone that posed a threat to Israeli soldiers” before they were killed in an airstrike. 

“The fact that Northwestern would partner with Al Jazeera despite evidence showing a number of its journalists are active members, and even leaders, of Hamas, as well as its dissemination of propaganda on behalf of Hamas, is deeply troubling. It is unacceptable for an American university that receives hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding annually to partner with organizations whose members are terrorists or whose reporting propagandizes on behalf of terrorist organizations,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter to Schill. 

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“It is anathema to the American way of life and contrary to our education system which seeks to change hearts and minds through persuasion and dialogue rather than through brute force.”

Rep. Burgess Owens attends the House committee hearing in the Rayburn Building on Feb. 1, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

During a fiery House hearing last month, Owens cornered Schill on the eye-popping sum in donations the elite school has reportedly received from Qatar.

“Do you think it’d be a good idea for the University of Northwestern to partner with a government that harbors terrorist Hamas, and Iranian operatives who fund terrorism? Yes or no?” Owens asked Schill, while sitting in front of a large billboard check prop depicting a $600 million donation from Qatar to Northwestern. 

“I’m not going to engage in yes or no answers,” Schill responded. 

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“Obviously, you don’t have a problem with that,” Owens said. “Northwestern’s school of journalism…” Owens continued before he was cut off by Schill. 

“I’m really quite offended by you telling me what my views are,” Schill interjected. 

Students and residents camp outside Northwestern University during an anti-Israel protest in Evanston, Illinois, on April 27. (Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“Did you know that the Northwestern school of journalism has a formal partnership with Al Jazeera?” Owens pressed the university president, who answered he was only recently made aware of the partnership. 

“I, in fact, just found out about that last week,” he responded. 

STEFANIK SPARS WITH HEAD OF TOP SCHOOL OVER FAILING GRADE ON ANTISEMITISM, STUNNING WHISTLEBLOWER CLAIM

“Let me make you aware of it then, because Al Jazeera – because of their pro-Hamas reporting – the secretary of state, Anthony Blinken, asked the Qatar prime minister to tone down Al Jazeera’s anti-Israel incitement. Also, it was Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt that have blocked Al-Jazeera because they are a pro-Hamas mouthpiece. My understanding is that you have a contract with the Qatar Foundation that expires at the end of the 2027-2028 academic year. Now that you know about Qatar, are you going to still renew that contract?” he asked. 

The hearing, held by the House Education and Workforce Committee, featured testimony from Schill, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block and Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway regarding their handling of campus antisemitism last school year after widespread protests, tent encampments and demands that schools divest from Israel. 

Northwestern President Michael Schill, Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway and UCLA Chancellor Gene Block (University of Oregon/Rutgers/Getty )

Schill told the committee during the hearing that he was “concerned by the agreement” with Al Jazeera, adding “we are going to look into it.”

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

The letter sent Friday demands an update by July 19 on Schill’s investigation into the ties to Al Jazeera, and called on the school president to “take immediate action” and end the Qatar campus’ partnership with the outlet. 

The Weber Arch at Northwestern University on Nov. 13, 2020, in Evanston, Illinois. (Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

“Mr. Schill, in the Congressional hearing held on May 23rd, you expressed concern regarding Northwestern University in Qatar’s partnership with Al Jazeera. You promised in that hearing that you would look into that partnership. In light of these reports, we urge Northwestern University to take immediate action to end the existing partnership between Northwestern University in Qatar and Al Jazeera. We request that you respond to this letter by noon ET on Friday, July 19,” the lawmakers wrote. 

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Fox News Digital reached out to Northwestern University Monday afternoon but did not immediately receive a response. 

Illegal immigration and how to solve the ongoing crisis at the southern border are likely to be top issues at this Thursday’s presidential debate between President Biden and former President Donald Trump — after a string of horrific crimes by illegal immigrants, including the brutal murder of a 12-year-old girl in Texas.

Two Venezuelan illegal immigrants are charged with capital murder in the death of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray in Houston, Texas. One of the two men accused had his bail set at $10 million on Monday. Authorities said she was “lured” under a bridge in Houston before she was tied up and killed. 

The arrests came the same week as the arrest of an Ecuadorian national in the U.S. illegally for a broad daylight sex attack in which police said a machete-wielding man raped a 13-year-old girl at a park. Last week, police also announced that an illegal migrant from El Salvador had been arrested for the murder of Rachel Morin — a Maryland mother of five. The horrific crimes are part of a broader wave of crimes across the U.S. committed by those in the country illegally.

JOCELYN NUNGARAY MURDER: ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT ACCUSED OF KILLING HOUSTON GIRL HAS BAIL SET AT $10M 

Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at the Faith and Freedom Coalitions Road to Majority policy conference in Washington, U.S., June 22, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

The arrests come days before this week’s CNN presidential debate between Trump and Biden, where immigration was already expected to be a top topic, given the ongoing crisis at the southern border.

The U.S. has seen record numbers of migrant crossings at the border, with more than 2.4 million in FY 23 alone on top of three years of the highest crossings ever seen. Republicans and Trump have hammered Biden over the crisis, arguing that it is his policies — and the rolling back of Trump-era policies — that have fueled the crisis.

“These are Biden migrants,” Trump told Fox News Digital last week. “They are flooding our country. They are flooding our cities and states.”

Trump has promised the largest domestic deportation operation in U.S. history if elected, and to terminate “every Open Border policy of the Biden administration.” He has also promised to deploy special forces to the border and reinstate his 2017 travel ban.

SUSPECTS ‘LURED’ TEXAS 12-YEAR-OLD TO HER DEATH, PROSECUTORS SAY 

President Biden has made major moves on immigration in recent weeks. (Getty Images)

Biden, meanwhile, has argued that Congress needs to step up to pass immigration reform to fix what he calls a “broken” immigration system. His administration introduced a bill on day one, but Republicans balked at the inclusion of a pathway to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants already in the U.S.

He also backed a bipartisan Senate bill introduced earlier this year, but it has failed to pick up steam in the upper chamber. Biden has blamed Trump for stifling the bill, which included additional funding for border operations and a mechanism to shut down crossings after a certain level.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

“Republicans in Congress, not all, walked away from it. Why? Because Donald Trump told them to,” he said in February.

Biden has made two major immigration moves in recent weeks as congressional action stalls. One was a move to further limit asylum claims by migrants once average border encounters exceed 2,500 a day. Last week he also announced a deportation shield for some illegal immigrant spouses of U.S. citizens. He has repeatedly said, however, that it is not enough and he needs Congress to act in order to fix the system. 

Biden will likely go into the debate armed with data showing that numbers at the border are trending down. There were 170,723 total encounters at the southern border in May, the lowest month this fiscal year and the lowest May since Biden took office.

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Additionally, Fox News has reported that illegal crossings continue to plummet, with just under 1,900 apprehensions on Sunday, one of the lowest such days since early 2021.

However, Trump will likely highlight the crimes being committed by those who were released into the U.S., particularly those who were released during Biden’s presidency — including the murder of Jocelyn Nungaray.

Fox News’ Greg Norman and Bill Melugin contributed to this report.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor lashed out at her Supreme Court colleagues in a fiery dissent Friday, arguing the court’s ruling in a spousal visa case will prove especially harmful for same-sex couples.

“Same-sex couples may be forced to relocate to countries that do not recognize same-sex marriage, or even those that criminalize homosexuality,” Sotomayor wrote in her dissent that was joined by Justices Elana Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. 

The opinion comes in the case of Sandra Muñoz, an American citizen who married a citizen of El Salvador who was denied an immigrant visa to the United States. Muñoz sued the State Department over the issue, alleging the government did not provide sufficient reason to deny her husband a visa.

The State Department, meanwhile, argued that officials suspected the husband of being a member of the infamous MS-13 gang, citing tattoos the man has that seemingly signal affiliation with the gang. The couple has denied the accusation.

DURBIN ATTEMPT TO FORCE SUPREME COURT ETHICS VOTE BLOCKED AMID ALITO CONTROVERSY

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis/File)

But in a 6-3 decision, the court ruled that Muñoz has a right to marry but that her husband does not have a right to live in the U.S. with her.

“In fact, Congress’s longstanding regulation of spousal immigration −including through bars on admissibility − cuts the other way,” Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for the majority. “As a general matter, Congress sets the terms for entry, and the Department of State implements those requirements at United State Embassies and consulates in foreign countries.”

Coney Barrett was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Chief Justice John Roberts in the majority. 

Yet Sotomayor said in her dissent that the majority’s ruling puts the fate of U.S. couples in the hands of other governments, a burden she argued would fall most heavily on same-sex couples.

The U.S. Supreme Court (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib/File)

CNN’S JIM ACOSTA WARNS SUPREME COURT RISKS CREATING ‘MESS’ BY NOT RULING QUICKLY ON TRUMP IMMUNITY

“The majority’s failure to respect the right to marriage in this country consigns U.S. citizens to rely on the fickle grace of other countries’ immigration laws,” Sotomayor wrote. “The burden will fall most heavily on same-sex couples and others who lack the ability, for legal or financial reasons, to make a home in the noncitizen spouse’s country of origin.”

Sotomayor also took aim at the State Department’s assessment of the man’s tattoos, arguing that some of the images are symbols of “pan-Latinx identity.”

Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images/File)

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“Asencio-Cordero has no criminal record, but he does have several tattoos from his teenage years,” Sotomayor wrote. “They depict a range of subjects, including ‘Our Lady of Guadalipe, Sigmund Freud, a tribal pattern with a paw print, and theatrical masks with dice and cards…Some of these images have deep significance in Latin American culture.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Leaders of the GOP are encouraging voters of faith to cast their vote in November, saying the Democratic Party is targeting people of faith.

Fox News Digital spoke with prominent members of the Republican Party at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority conference in Washington, D.C., about the role faith voters will play in the upcoming election. 

“They play a huge role, a decisive role,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital. “There’s no majority for the Republican Party without voters of faith. And they’re going to decide this election. So we need them to turn out.”

Tulsi Gabbard, former Hawaii congresswoman and candidate on former President Donald Trump’s shortlist for vice president, said the Democratic Party “is trying to erase God from every facet of our public life.”

TRUMP FIRES UP MAJOR FAITH GATHERING JUST DAYS AHEAD OF FIRST DEBATE CLASH WITH BIDEN

Sen Josh Hawley speaks to Fox News Digital at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority conference in Washington, D.C. (Fox News Digital)

“We will play a critical role, especially at a time where we have the Biden-Harris administration and the Democrat elite who, are fundamentally against freedom, including freedom of religion, and have a long track record that threatens people of faith and spirituality,” Gabbard told Fox. 

“You look at those things that happened several years ago, and you look at how that has escalated at a much higher level, an abuse of power, a targeting of people of faith and the Democratic Party that, unfortunately, is trying to erase God from every facet of our public life. Now more than ever people of faith, people of spirituality need to stand up, to defend this fundamental, God-given right and stop those who are trying to take it away from us.”

Trump delivered the keynote address at the event for the major Christian grassroots organization in his continued outreach to voters of faith, a demographic that makes up a large voting block of the Republican Party.

TRUMP’S POTENTIAL RUNNING MATES TO COMPETE FOR APPROVAL AT MAJOR CHRISTIAN CONFERENCE AS SPECULATION SWIRLS

“This is a moment for folks of faith to stand up and be counted and be engaged in the public square, in the marketplace of ideas, and certainly in the November election,” Daniel Cameron, former attorney general of Kentucky, said. “I think the more folks that are Christians get engaged in this process, the better the turnout is going to be.”

Former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard shared what role faith voters will play in the 2024 election. (Fox News Digital)

Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake told Fox that the Christian and Jewish communities are fighting for their First Amendment rights in November. 

“I think it’s going to be massive. I mean, we’re seeing so many things happening that go against our morals and beliefs. For people who are Christian, people who are Jewish right now of all faiths, and they’re realizing that we have a unique right in the United States is called the First Amendment, our freedom to practice a religion of our choice,” Lake said in an interview. “And if we watch our Constitution crumble, we don’t have that ability anymore. This is the last bastion for freedom of religion in this country. And we have to save that and protect that.”

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said that faith voters “are going to play a huge role in this election.”

Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake told Fox voters need to “help save this wonderful country where we do have freedom of religion.”  (Fox News Digital)

Alveda King, niece of Martin Luther King Jr., also noted that “voters of faith have an obligation and a responsibility to unify, to get out and vote. It will make all the difference in the world.”

The Republicans also shared how their faith is at the center of their political philosophy. 

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“The way I was raised, we weren’t raised to talk about politics. We were raised to talk about what was right, what was wrong, what was fair, what was unfair, and ultimately what God said about it,” Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital about his faith. “We learned those tenets before we ever spoke about politics, before I knew what a Republican or Democrat was. And so, while they’ve shaped me since I’ve been an adult, those issues have shaped me since I’ve been a child.”

EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter, R-Ga., wrote a letter to the White House on Monday calling on President Biden to take a cognitive assessment over concerns about his “fragile mental state” and ability to uphold his duties.

In a letter obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital, Carter, who is also a pharmacist, wrote to White House chief of staff Jeff Zients expressing “serious concern” with Biden’s cognitive state and “ability to execute the duties of the Presidency.”

“After numerous examples of the President’s declining mental acuity, it is imperative that the White House remains transparent about the President of the United States’ honest ability to uphold the duties of the office to which he swore an oath,” Carter wrote.

This comes after a recent report from The Wall Street Journal stating that the 81-year-old president was showing signs of poor cognitive performance in private meetings with congressional lawmakers, including by closing his eyes for extended periods, speaking so softly at times that people struggled to hear him and forgetting details about his own energy policy.

BIDEN DISPLAYS SIGNS OF DECLINE IN PRIVATE MEETINGS WITH CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS: REPORT

Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter, who is also a pharmacist, wrote a letter to the White House calling on President Biden to take a cognitive test. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images)

In January, Biden mixed up the names of his two Hispanic cabinet secretaries – Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, according to the report. During a meeting that month with congressional leaders, the president also reportedly moved slowly around the room and started the meeting by reading from notes to make broad points about the need to provide Ukraine with additional aid despite the lawmakers in the room already supporting more funding for the country.

Biden also claimed in February that he spoke at the 2021 G-7 Summit with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who died in 2017, and former French President François Mitterrand, who died in 1996.

The president has also appeared to stumble – on multiple occasions – as he attempted to board Air Force One.

“As a consultant pharmacist for several decades, I have treated patients in nursing homes and recognize the signs of cognitive decline,” Carter wrote in his letter. “The patients I treated slowly experienced mental decline and forgetfulness. This includes repeatedly forgetting names and confusing prior experiences with current events – the same behaviors that the American public and congressional lawmakers have witnessed from the President of the United States.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment on Carter’s letter.

The White House has previously pushed back on criticisms of Biden’s mental acuity as politically motivated.

“Congressional Republicans, foreign leaders and nonpartisan national-security experts have made clear in their own words that President Biden is a savvy and effective leader who has a deep record of legislative accomplishment,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates told The Wall Street Journal earlier this month. “Now, in 2024, House Republicans are making false claims as a political tactic that flatly contradict previous statements made by themselves and their colleagues.”

BIDEN’S FRENCH PRESIDENT GAFFE JUST THE LATEST INSTANCE OF HIS CONFUSION ABOUT LONG-DEAD PEOPLE

The White House has pushed back on criticisms of President Biden’s mental acuity as politically motivated. (Michael Reynolds/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Carter wrote that Biden, as president, must possess a strong cognitive ability when carrying out the domestic and international duties he was elected to do, noting that Americans are concerned about his mental fitness.

“The President of the United States is a position which requires strong mental awareness to protect the interests of the American people,” Carter wrote. “Throughout recent domestic and international crises, Americans are rightly concerned that the President’s fragile mental state is creating a leadership vacuum in a position that demands utmost competence.”

SOCIAL MEDIA ERUPTS OVER BIDEN STUMBLING UP AIR FORCE ONE STEPS AGAIN: ‘VIGOR ON DISPLAY’

Several Republicans have placed increased pressure on the president this year over his age and mental acuity ahead of November’s presidential election between Biden and former President Trump.

Trump, 78, has been criticized by Democrats for his mental acuity after also showing signs of poor memory, giving inaccurate facts and slipping up in public remarks. 

Earlier this month at a Turning Point Action event in Detroit, he called on Biden to take the same cognitive test he “aced” while confusing the name of Texas GOP Rep. Ronny Jackson, who served as his White House physician and medical adviser, and instead referred to him as “Ronny Johnson,” The Associated Press reported.

A recent report stated that President Biden was showing signs of poor cognitive performance in private meetings with congressional lawmakers. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Jackson said Sunday on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that he has sent multiple letters to the White House asking Biden to take a cognitive test, and that he will now be demanding drug tests from the president before and after the upcoming debate with Trump, citing this year’s State of the Union Address in which Biden appeared sharper than his other public appearances.

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“The American people deserve to know that the President can perform the duties of Head of State and Commander-in-Chief, and they deserve full transparency on the mental capabilities of their highest elected leader,” Carter wrote in his letter.

“That is why I encourage the President to perform a cognitive test immediately,” the letter continued. “I implore you to then publish the test results, so the American people know the full mental and intellectual health of their President. The American people can no longer be left to wonder about their safety and security because of the President’s deteriorating mental state.”

FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, the White House physician-turned-House lawmaker, is demanding in a new letter that President Biden submit to a drug test before his Thursday CNN Presidential Debate with former President Trump.

Jackson made his request for a “clinically validated drug test” in a three-page message to Biden and his physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor.

“This drug test should be administered both immediately before and after the debate and should include, but not be limited to, performance enhancing drugs,” Jackson wrote.

He said debates “have given the American public the opportunity to gain critical insight into specific policy positions held by individual candidates, to demonstrate each candidate’s leadership qualities and style, and to observe the candidates’ ability to perform in an unscripted and high-pressure environment.”

CNN HOST CUTS OFF TRUMP SPOKESWOMAN FOR CRITICIZING NETWORK DEBATE MODERATORS: ‘I’M GOING TO STOP THIS’

Texas GOP Rep. Ronny Jackson, left, a former White House physician, said Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report ‘validates’ what he and many Americans have known all along – that President Biden, right, has ‘serious issues.’ (Getty Images)

“American citizens must have absolute confidence in their President’s ability to perform his or her duties as Head of State and Commander in Chief, and the debate performance absolutely should be indicative of an individual’s ability to perfo1m these critical duties free of any performance enhancing drugs or mood-altering medications,” the letter said.

He pointed to a recent Wall Street Journal report that cited interviews with more than 40 people to paint a picture of an 81-year-old leader losing his sharpness even as problems both at home and abroad grow more complex.

Biden and his Democratic allies furiously pushed back on that report, calling it a GOP hit piece.

EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP TAKES DEBATE PREP TO CAMPAIGN TRAIL, CALLS IT A WINNING STRATEGY

Jackson also brought up Special Counsel Robert Hur’s interview with Biden regarding his handling of classified documents, where Hur said a jury could see the president as a “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

He then accused Biden of using performance-enhancing drugs during the State of the Union, describing the president as having been “profusely sweating, yelling at the camera, not blinking, and frequently moving and gesturing with his hands at a rapid rate.”

Biden is going head-to-head with former President Trump on Thursday at the CNN Presidential Debate. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

There have been several recent polls that show Biden’s age is a top concern for voters.

A March New York Times/Siena College poll found that 61% of respondents who voted for Biden in 2020 agreed with the statement, “Joe Biden is just too old to be an effective president.” 

“President Biden, throughout your presidency, over one hundred Members of Congress have called on you on five separate occasions to submit to a cognitive exam, however each of those requests have been ignored by you and your physician Dr. O’Connor,” Jackson wrote. “President Donald J. Trump set a precedent during his presidency to document and demonstrate the sound mental abilities necessary to fulfill the duties of the Office of the President.”

“Unfortunately, President Biden, your refusal to submit to a cognitive exam, and Dr. O’Connor, your unwillingness to address the American people regarding the President’s true mental and physical fitness for duty, has created a condition of great concern for our country as Americans watch the continued decline in our president’s cognitive performance.”

CNN DEBATE MODERATOR JAKE TAPPER’S SHARPEST ANTI-TRUMP COMMENTARY OVER THE YEARS

Before being elected to the House of Representatives, Jackson served as White House physician under both Trump and former President Barack Obama.

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When asked if he believes Trump should also undergo the same drug testing before the CNN Presidential Debate, Jackson’s spokesperson told Fox News Digital, “This is a Biden specific concern based on the unexplained change in his demeanor during the [State of the Union]. President Trump has been the same his entire life, and there have definitely been no concerning changes. President Trump has also previously offered to take one if Biden does.”

White House spokesman Andrew Bates responded to Jackson’s comments by comparing him to a character from “The Simpsons” who’s known to have questionable medical practices. 

CNN has already set the stage for an unfair debate between former President Trump and President Biden by selecting a debate moderator with a “history of anti-Trump lies” and abruptly ending an interview with the campaign’s spokeswoman on Monday morning, according to the Trump campaign.

“CNN cutting off my microphone for bringing up a debate moderator’s history of anti-Trump lies just proves our point that President Trump will not be treated fairly in Thursday’s debate. Yet President Trump is still willing to go into this 3-1 fight to bring his winning message to the American people, and he will win,” Trump national campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital on Monday morning. 

Leavitt was abruptly cut off during an interview with CNN host Kasie Hunt on Monday morning, after criticizing CNN hosts Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, who will moderate Thursday’s debate between Trump and Biden. 

“That’s why President Trump is knowingly going into a hostile environment on this very network, on CNN, with debate moderators who have made their opinions about him very well known over the past eight years. And their biased coverage of him,” Leavitt said on CNN, previewing the debate.

CNN HOST CUTS OFF TRUMP SPOKESWOMAN FOR CRITICIZING NETWORK DEBATE MODERATORS: ‘I’M GOING TO STOP THIS’

“So I‘ll just say my colleagues, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, have acquitted themselves as professionals as they have covered campaigns and interviewed candidates from all sides of the aisle. I‘ll also say that if you talk to analysts of previous debates, that if you’re attacking the moderators, you’re usually losing,” Hunt responded.

EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP TAKES DEBATE PREP TO CAMPAIGN TRAIL, CALLS IT A WINNING STRATEGY

As Hunt tried to redirect the interview back to previewing the debate, Leavitt said it would take just a few minutes to pull up examples of Tapper’s anti-Trump rhetoric across the years. 

“Ma’am, I’m going to stop this interview if you’re going to continue to attack my colleagues,” Hunt said, before Leavitt continued that she was “stating facts” about what CNN hosts have previously said about Trump. 

Former President Trump speaks to supporters at a rally to support local candidates on Sept. 3, 2022, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

“I’m sorry, guys, we’re going to come back out to the panel,” Hunt said. “Karoline, thank you very much for your time. You are welcome to come back at any point. She is welcome to come back and speak about Donald Trump, and Donald Trump will have equal time to Joe Biden when they both join us later this week in Atlanta for this debate.”

Hunt followed up on X Monday morning that when guests join her show, they must “respect my colleagues.”  

CNN DEBATE MODERATOR JAKE TAPPER’S SHARPEST ANTI-TRUMP COMMENTARY OVER THE YEARS

“​​You come on my show, you respect my colleagues. Period. I don’t care what side of the aisle you stand on, as my track record clearly shows,” Hunt posted. 

A CNN spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Monday morning that Tapper and Bash are “well respected veteran journalists who have covered politics for more than five decades combined.”

“They have extensive experience moderating major political debates, including CNN’s Republican Presidential Primary Debate this cycle. There are no two people better equipped to co-moderate a substantial and fact-based discussion and we look forward to the debate on June 27 in Atlanta,” the spokesperson continued. 

Karoline Leavitt leaving Trump Tower on April 25, 2024, in New York. (MEGA/GC Images/Getty Images)

Trump had already predicted that the upcoming debate on CNN had a 90% chance of being unfair toward him, highlighting there was still a “good 10% chance” moderators Tapper and Bash would be fair. 

“Fake [Jake] Tapper and lots of other people that were involved on CNN, [the Biden campaign] wanted to be seated, which I didn’t like. I said we should stand and I think we won that point,” Trump said on Logan Paul’s “IMPAULSIVE” podcast earlier this month. “But I would have agreed to whatever I had agreed to because they didn’t want to do it. They thought that I wouldn’t do it because it’s CNN, but I’ve done plenty of CNN. I did a town hall not so long ago with CNN that worked out well. But I think they’ll be fair. I think they’re gonna try to be fair. As fair as they can be.”

CNN’s Jake Tapper will co-moderate Thursday’s presidential debate. (Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images)

“But I think that it’s important for there to be a debate. So [the Biden campaign] said, ‘You want to debate?’ ‘Yep, I’ll accept. You don’t even have to tell me.’ Then they said CNN, they said the different people that are involved, but let’s see what happens. I used to get along with [debate moderator] Jake Tapper. We’ll see what happens, but it doesn’t matter. Whatever it is, it is,” Trump continued. 

“They might be [fair],” Trump added. “I’d say a good 10% chance.”

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER, WHO CALLED TRUMP’S PRESIDENCY A ‘NIGHTMARE,’ TAPPED TO MODERATE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

Tapper has a long history of espousing anti-Trump rhetoric, including trying to link Trump to Adolf Hitler, as Leavitt mentioned in her brief remarks on CNN Monday. In December, Tapper tied Trump to Hitler following the 45th president’s remark that illegal immigrants were “poisoning the blood of our country.”

In a recent CNN segment, CNN anchor Jake Tapper admitted “Trump was right” when he accused Hunter Biden of corruption with foreign interests during the 2020 presidential debates. (Fox News)

“With four weeks until Ohioans cast the nation’s first votes in the 2024 presidential race, the dehumanizing rhetoric of Adolf Hitler is once again alive and well on the national political stage. This time, of course, in the United States. This time, given life by former president and current Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, whose thoughts on immigrants were made shockingly crystal clear over the weekend,” Tapper said before playing the clip of Trump’s remarks. “If you were to open up a copy of Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf,’ you would find the Nazi leader describing the mixing of non-Germans with Germans as poisoning. The Jew, Hitler wrote, quote, ‘poisons the blood of others.'”

Back in 2020, Tapper also eulogized Trump’s loss to Biden, declaring that “for tens of millions of our fellow Americans: their long national nightmare is over.”

“It’s been a time of extreme divisions, many of the divisions caused and exacerbated by President Trump himself,” Tapper said at the time. 

President Biden speaks during the United Auto Workers union conference in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 24, 2024. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

“It’s been a time of several significant and utterly avoidable failures, most tragically, of course, the unwillingness to respect facts and science and do everything that could be done to save lives during a pandemic. It has been a time where truth and fact were treated with disdain,” he continued. “It was a time of cruelty where official inhumanities such as child separation became the official shameful policy of the United States. But now the Trump presidency is coming to an end.”

TRUMP PREDICTS THERE’S A ‘10% CHANCE’ CNN WILL BE FAIR TO HIM AT FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

Tapper also shamed Trump after his COVID diagnosis in 2020, arguing it was “was a demonstration of a wanton disregard for human life” and that Trump became a “symbol of his own failures.” At the start of the pandemic, Tapper claimed Trump “continues to lie to the American people” about COVID testing.

Trump held a rally in Philadelphia over the weekend on Temple University’s campus, and told Fox News before it that holding campaign events is “really the best strategy” to prepare for Thursday’s debate. 

CNN’S TAPPER CALLS OUT BIDEN DOJ FOR WITHHOLDING HUR TAPES: ‘NO BASIS’

Former President Trump speaks to the media after voting at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center on March 19, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

“We have all these people out here and they are screaming questions. I look forward to the debate,” Trump said.

He added that he’s confident ahead of the debate, while noting he’s not worried about Biden’s preparations for Thursday. Biden traveled to Camp David last Thursday, where he is anticipated to remain until the debate, preparing with senior officials. 

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“Well, I think if he prepares, he’ll be fine. Then he will forget it within about an hour after preparing. So, we’ll see what happens. We’ll see what happens,” Trump said.

Fox News Digital’s Hanna Panreck and Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report. 

Former President Trump says he knows who he will choose as his running mate but says he has yet to reveal to anyone the name of that choice.

When speaking with reporters this weekend, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said he has settled on a vice presidential nominee.

“In my mind, yeah,” Trump said when asked by NBC News at a retail stop in Philadelphia on Saturday if he has decided on his running mate.

WHAT DONALD TRUMP TOLD FOX NEWS ABOUT HIS DEBATE PREP STRATEGY

Former President Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, greets customers and staff at Tony and Nick’s Steaks on Saturday, June 22, 2024 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

When asked if the person he has picked is aware, the former president responded, “No, nobody knows.”

Trump added that the person he has picked will “most likely” attend Thursday’s first debate between Trump and President Biden, which will take place in Atlanta.

“They’ll be there,” the former president added. “I think we have a lot of people coming.”

TRUMP, BIDEN, AIM TO USE POST-DEBATE RALLIES IN THESE STATES TO PUT EACH OTHER ON DEFENSE

Trump was also interviewed at the retail stop by Fox News’ Alexis McAdams and discussed the timing of his running mate announcement.

“I’ll be announcing it right around the time of the convention,” Trump reiterated to Fox News, as he pointed to the Republican National Convention, which kicks off on Monday, July 15 in Milwuakee.

Trump took questions from reporters as he stopped at Tony and Nick’s Steaks, a well-known cheesesteak joint in the city’s South Philadelphia neighborhood. 

Republican presidential candidate former President Trump speaks at a campaign rally on Saturday, June 22, 2024 at Temple University in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

The former president later headlined a rally at nearby Temple University. Philadelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state.

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While Trump heads Monday evening to New Orleans for a campaign fundraiser with House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana as a special guest, the president is scheduled to remain at Camp David as he prepares for Thursday’s debate.

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

FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., is planning to force a vote on directing the House Sergeant-at-Arms to arrest Attorney General Merrick Garland sometime this week.

Luna is sending a letter around to fellow House Republicans on Monday arguing that the Department of Justice (DOJ) undermined Congress by refusing to act on the contempt resolution passed by the GOP majority earlier this month.

“The only option to ensure compliance with our subpoena is to use our constitutional authority of inherent contempt,” Luna said. “In the next few days, I will call up my resolution holding Attorney General Merrick Garland in inherent contempt of Congress, and I look forward to each of you voting in favor of it.”

“Our ability to legislate effectively and fulfill our constitutional duties is at stake. We must act now to protect the integrity and independence of the legislative branch.”

JOHNSON FLOATS DEFUNDING SPECIAL COUNSEL’S OFFICE AMID JACK SMITH’S TRUMP PROBE

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna wants to force a second vote on whether the House should arrest Attorney General Merrick Garland. (Getty Images)

Inherent contempt differs from the criminal contempt resolution passed on June 12. The latter referred Garland to his own department for criminal charges. However, inherent contempt, if passed, could force Garland to stand trial before the House of Representatives and, if found guilty, would lead to his detention by the House Sergeant-at-Arms.

“This is a broad power that courts have recognized as necessary for Congress to fulfill its legislative functions. Under inherent contempt, the individual is brought before the bar of the House by the Sergeant at Arms, tried by the body, and can then be detained either in the Capitol or in D.C.,” Luna wrote. 

She said it “demonstrates the seriousness with which Congress views non-compliance and the potential consequences for those who refuse to cooperate.”

House Republican leaders moved to hold Garland in contempt for refusing to turn over audio recordings of special counsel Robert Hur’s interviews with President Biden, despite a congressional subpoena.

HILL AID INTERFERES WITH FOX NEWS CAMERA CREW DURING TLAIB INTERVIEW

House Republican investigators subpoenaed Attorney General Merrick Garland to hand over audio tapes of special counsel Robert Hur’s, left, interview with President Biden, right. (Getty Images)

Republicans seeking the audio recording argued it would provide critical context about Biden’s state of mind. Democrats, meanwhile, have dismissed the request as a partisan attempt to politicize the DOJ.

The DOJ said it would not prosecute Garland because he was acting on Biden’s own executive privilege claims over the interview tapes.

“The Department of Justice and the attorney general cannot be the ultimate deciders of whether or not a congressional subpoena is enforced. If Congress allows this to happen, we risk being subordinated to the attorney general and being completely neutered in our ability to legislate,” Luna argued. “Why would anyone from the executive branch comply with our demands for information if the enforcement of those demands relies on the actions of another department in its own branch?”

Congress has not invoked its inherent contempt power since 1934, when it resulted in Washington lawyer William MacCracken getting a 10-day jail sentence for not sufficiently complying with a Senate subpoena. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, which backed Congress’ right to exercise its inherent contempt powers in its February 1935 decision in Jurney v. MacCracken.

TRUMP GUILTY VERDICT REVEALS SPLIT AMONG FORMER GOP PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY OPPONENTS

To force a vote on her resolution, Luna will have to deem it “privileged” – meaning House leaders will have two legislative days to act on it. 

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It is not immediately clear if the effort will succeed, however. The resolution will likely get no support from Democrats, and only a few Republicans would need to vote to table the measure, which would kill it before a House-wide vote. 

The House-wide vote on holding Garland in contempt got support from every Republican save Rep. David Joyce, R-Ohio, who opposed it over concerns it would politicize the justice system.

Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ for comment on Luna’s letter.

House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., spoke to Fox News Digital ahead of the 10-year anniversary of her major primary victory en route to her election to Congress, reflecting on turning a red tide in a blue stronghold and the implications that growing GOP momentum in New York could mean for former President Trump come Election Day. 

“Absolutely, Democrats have a New York problem. New York is increasingly Republican, is increasingly pro-Trump,” Stefanik said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “We won the House majority out of New York, beating back Democrats’ illegal attempt to gerrymander and illegally draw districts. We won fair district lines not once, but twice. I’m proud that New York picked up more seats than any other state when it came to winning the majority in the House. And we’re the last line of defense.” 

“President Trump knows and cares deeply about New York, given, you know, he is originally a New Yorker himself, pays very close attention and understands that we will expand this House majority by holding on and flipping seats in New York from blue to red,” Stefanik said. “There is not a single swing district, not just in New York, but across the country where Joe Biden is pulling ahead. President Trump is pulling ahead in every single House district across the country. And that’s why Democrats are running scared, not just in New York, but nationwide.” 

A decade ago on Monday, Stefanik defeated opponent Matt Doheny in a June 24, 2014, GOP primary by more than 20 points. She cruised to victory again that November, besting Democrat Aaron Wolf in the general election to replace retiring Democratic Rep. Bill Owens in New York’s 21st Congressional District, becoming the youngest woman ever elected to serve in Congress in United States history at the time.

ANOTHER HOUSE MEMBER CALLS ON NEW YORK DEMOCRATIC GOV. HOCHUL TO PARDON TRUMP: ‘YOUR SOLEMN DUTY’

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., during a news conference in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, June 13, 2024. Congressional Republicans met with Donald Trump in Washington for a show of support following his felony conviction last month.  (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

That district previously had been won by former President Obama twice. Reflecting back now, Stefanik told Fox News Digital she is grateful not only to Republican voters, but to the independent and Democrat voters in the 2014 election who helped set her on the trajectory to build a strong GOP infrastructure locally, resulting in Republicans flipping multiple county seats and town leadership level positions in a down-ballot red wave in upstate New York. 

“I’m proud to be one of the strongest supporters of President Trump. And my district really tells the story of today’s growing Republican Party,” she said. “It is Trump country and Elise country now.”

While Democrats have performed well nationally over the past two years, Republican candidates have won key races in New York, where several House seat pick-ups proved critical to the GOP regaining control of the lower chamber of Congress by a razor-thin margin. New York is the host of half a dozen competitive House races in 2024 on the heels of a criminal trial against Trump and at a time when President Biden and fellow Democrat, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, are seeing record-low approval ratings. 

“It is a referendum on Democrats’ failed policies, and it’s a referendum on Joe Biden-Kathy Hochul failed policies both at the federal level, but of course, at the state level as well,” Stefanik said of growing GOP momentum in the Empire State. “And we’re continuing to make inroads as Republicans in New York because we represent American values, we represent the rule of law, support law enforcement, we support border security. We support pro-economic growth, lowering taxes, not raising taxes that we continue to see coming out of Albany and Joe Biden.” 

During a presidential election year, the Democratic Party – in New York, in particular – appears to be struggling as progressives and more mainstream party members battle on messaging regarding Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks. 

“Squad” member Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., in a profanity-laced speech in the Bronx, recently lashed out against AIPAC, the pro-Israel group supporting his Democratic challenger, Westchester County Executive George Latimer, in the upcoming primary contest where race has also taken center stage. 

Stefanik, whose questioning of the presidents of Harvard, UPenn and MIT over failures in dealing with anti-Israel campus protests in December, argued that antisemitism is “a part of today’s Democratic Party.”

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., speaks at the Faith and Freedom Road to Majority conference on June 21, 2024 in Washington, DC. Former President Donald Trump will deliver the keynote at the conservative conference later in the weekend. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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“That was not a prepared question. That was a moral question. And I thought it was important to ask a direct moral question. And I was stunned and shocked and appalled by the morally bankrupt answers,” Stefanik said. “But I was proud to demonstrate clearly needed moral leadership on the global stage to combat the scourge of antisemitism. Frankly, antisemitism is a part of today’s Democratic Party, and it needs to be rooted out, and it needs to be destroyed and not allowed to fester the way antisemitism is wreaking havoc on these college campuses, putting Jewish students, Jewish faculty, Jewish community members at risk every day.” 

Turning to November’s election, Stefanik argued that Trump, following his conviction in New York, is gaining more support in response to “the weaponization of the courts to go after Joe Biden’s chief political opponent.”

“And the epitome of that has been Alvin Bragg’s illegal and unconstitutional targeting of President Trump,” she told Fox News Digital. “I have led the effort in terms of legal and ethics complaints, official complaints against Alvin Bragg and the rigged corrupt process. And I’m going to continue to do that. There is no one who has led more opposition in the House or the Senate when it comes to exposing the corruption of Alvin Bragg, where we have a violent crime crisis in New York. Yet he’s doing Joe Biden’s political bidding.”

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., joins former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally on Jan. 19, 2024, in Concord, New Hampshire.  (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The congresswoman has pointed to how the Republican Party is expanding and growing under Trump’s leadership, highlighting historic new GOP support from African American voters, Hispanic American voters and Asian American voters. Stefanik also pointed to recent polling showing that Biden’s “lead among women continues to decline within single digits.” 

Despite Democrats campaigning heavily on abortion access since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Stefanik argued that “President Trump is making inroads among women because women voters care about all issues,” including those related to the economy, national security, family, education and the Constitution. 

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Now serving her fifth term, Stefanik spoke of how she led the national effort to increase the number of Republican women elected to Congress by founding Elevate PAC, also known as EPAC, which creates a road map for conservative women running for office. 

“In 2018, we were down to 13. We’re now up to 36,” Stefanik said. “And EPAC, my leadership operation focusing on supporting Republican women, has been a big part of promoting those women. And they are very supportive of President Trump. And this has all happened at the growing Republican Party under President Trump’s leadership. That’s one of the reasons why you’re seeing in New York state, President Trump’s polling stronger than any Republican presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan. So certainly, over the course of my lifetime, he has a historic pull within single digits today.” 

The Nevada Democratic Party has launched two separate legal maneuvers to disqualify independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and the Green Party ticket from ballot access in the November election.

While both the Biden camp and former President Trump have criticized Kennedy, Democrats in particular still appear sore eight years after figures showed votes for Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein in three swing states accounted for more than Hillary Clinton’s losing margin.

Earlier this week, the Nevada secretary of state’s office announced the Green Party had collected enough signatures to make the ballot.

Just as in 2016, Stein was named their nominee, after the party nominated self-described “ecosocialist” Howie Hawkins III in 2020.

However, the Nevada Democratic Party has since filed a lawsuit challenging the signatures, reportedly claiming too many were invalid to meet the approximate-10,000 threshold cited this week by Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar. 

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Aguilar said the Green Party had submitted 15,000 valid signatures, while the party claimed to have submitted nearly 30,000 overall, according to the Nevada Independent.

The Nevada Democrats were able to review a sampling of signatures following a records request, which then led to the lawsuit.

The party did not respond to multiple attempts by Fox News Digital to procure comment, but executive director Hillary Barnett said in a statement to the Reno Gazette-Journal that the party “filed this challenge to preserve our rights to inspect the petitions consistent with Nevada state law.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, the Green Party of the United States called the Democrats’ lawsuit “frivolous” and intended to divert attention away from third-party support in this cycle.

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“[T]here will be a choice in November that stands against war, genocide and climate catastrophe and for national health care, workers’ rights and the funding of an eco-socialist Green New Deal to address the current climate crisis,” the statement read.

“Their Party has abandoned working people, so the only way the Democrats think they can win the White House is by blocking our candidate from the ballot. This is what voter suppression looks like.”

In regard to Kennedy, Nevada Democrats said the scion of one of its party’s most popular families is ineligible to be on the ballot because he is registered with a disparate group of political parties in various states.

Kennedy, who is a registered Democrat in New York, is running on several lines, including his self-founded We The People Party in two states and the Reform Party in Florida.

The Democrats reportedly argued state law mandates Kennedy be registered without political party affiliation to run as an Independent in the state.

In a statement obtained by the Nevada Independent, Barnett said Nevada has a reasonable process for attaining ballot access and that Kennedy has not met its requirements.

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While Kennedy’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment, his campaign did previously sue Aguilar’s office claiming a policy requiring a third-party candidate name a running mate before gathering petition signatures is unconstitutional.

Kennedy’s campaign claimed the law violates the First and 14th Amendments, and campaign counsel Paul Rossi told The Associated Press that “the court must prohibit what was either rank incompetence or partisan political gamesmanship by the secretary from invalidating petition signatures afforded the highest First Amendment protection by the United States Supreme Court.”

In a statement responding to the lawsuit, Aguilar said Nevada has long respected third-party candidates running for office and that “each of those candidates managed to attain ballot access by following the law.”

Former President Trump’s legal team is back in court on Monday after a Friday hearing in which both sides argued the legality of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s appointment in the classified document case against the former president.

The hearing continues Monday when the two sides again discuss matters related to Smith’s appointment as well as a limited gag order that prosecutors have requested to bar Trump from comments they fear could endanger the safety of FBI agents and other law enforcement officials involved in the case.

Trump’s lawyers have said any speech restrictions would infringe on his free speech rights. Cannon initially rejected the prosecution’s request on technical grounds, saying Smith’s team had not sufficiently conferred with defense lawyers before seeking the restrictions. Prosecutors subsequently renewed the request.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon heard hours of arguments Friday from lawyers for both sides, with Trump attorney Emil Bove asserting that the Justice Department risked creating a “shadow government” through the appointment of special counsels to prosecute select criminal cases.

YOUNG TRUMP SUPERFAN BROUGHT TO TEARS WHILE MEETING FORMER PRESIDENT

Former President Trump and Special Counsel Jack Smith (Getty Images)

Bove mentioned the term “shadow government” while describing a situation in which inferior officers, unconfirmed by the Senate, are put in power.

“These are the risks we are running,” he said.

Prosecutors said there was nothing improper or unusual about Smith’s appointment, with James Pearce, a member of Smith’s team, at one point saying, “We are in compliance. We have complied with all of the department’s policies.”

Cannon did not make a decision on Friday and is expected to issue a written order on the matter in the coming days.

CELEBS SHOWER BIDEN WITH CAMPAIGN CASH BUT COULD UNDERCUT ‘SCRANTON JOE’ IMAGE

Former President Trump arrives at Trump Tower, May 30, 2024, after being found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree in New York City. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)

On Tuesday, Trump’s team is expected to argue in another hearing that the search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida, on Aug. 8, 2022, that turned up the classified documents was illegal and all the evidence found in the search should be thrown out. Trump’s team will also argue that the search could have been done informally with Trump’s consent.

Trump faces charges stemming from Smith’s investigation into his possession of classified materials. He pleaded not guilty to all 37 felony counts from Smith’s probe, including willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements.

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Attorney General Merrick Garland, shown, appointed Jack Smith as special counsel. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana/File)

Trump was also charged with an additional three counts as part of a superseding indictment from the investigation, an additional count of willful retention of national defense information and two additional obstruction counts.

The Associated Press and Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

PHILADELPHIA – As we get closer to the CNN Presidential Debate, both President Biden and former President Donald Trump are now preparing to take the stage.

Biden is prepping out at Camp David, while Trump hit the campaign trail in Philadelphia. Fox News Correspondent Alexis McAdams caught up with Trump before his rally to find out how he is getting ready.

“Well, this is really the best strategy right here. We have all these people out here and they are screaming questions. I look forward to the debate,” Trump said.

Trump asked the crowd during his rally at Temple University what his approach should be on stage.

CNN DEBATE MODERATOR JAKE TAPPER’S SHARPEST ANTI-TRUMP COMMENTARY OVER THE YEARS

President Biden is set to go head-to-head with former President Trump on Thursday in the first general election debate of 2024. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

“How should I handle him? Should I be tough and nasty, and just say, ‘you’re the worst president in history.’ Or should I be nice and calm and let him speak?” Trump asked.

Though no matter his demeanor, Trump told Fox News that he is not worried about Biden’s debate preparations and feels confident in his own ability.

“Well, I think if he prepares, he’ll be fine. Then he will forget it within about an hour after preparing. So, we’ll see what happens. We’ll see what happens,” Trump said.

The former president is on a swing state tour, recently hitting Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Pennsylvania – a list of states Trump won back in 2016 but lost in 2020. According to recent polls, Trump is doing better in those states this time around. Gaining support with young and nonwhite voters, who say they are upset with Biden’s handling of the economy and Gaza.

According to a recent Marist College Poll, Trump is leading Biden by two points in Pennsylvania, a key state on the road to the White House. Trump told Fox News he could be anywhere, but is choosing to stop in urban areas, including a cheese steak shop in South Philly.

TRUMP SAYS ‘FEW COMMUNITIES HAVE SUFFERED MORE UNDER THE BIDEN REGIME THAN PHILADELPHIA’ IN RALLY STOP

“It’s not a game plan. It’s just there’s a lot of love. You know, they want hope. There’s no hope with this guy. Biden is the worst president we’ve ever had. There’s no hope. I’m saying the people need hope. I go out, I see the greatest people. So, we’re in the middle of a pretty rough area and it’s a love fest,” said Trump.

Former President Trump appears at his Philadelphia rally on June 22, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Jim Watson/Getty Images)

Some voters waited for hours outside the rally in record heat. Many said they wanted to hear more about the former president’s plans to fix the border, crime and inflation. This, as a recent Fox News Poll found, 32 % of voters say the economy is in excellent or good shape. It is the highest approval rating on the topic so far during Biden’s presidency. Though, the sentiment seems to be negative when you talk with voters.

“I need to make money to feed my family. I used to pay $200 a week for groceries… now I pay $450 a week. I’m not even making that anymore. So, it’s killing me,” said one Philadelphia voter.

TRUMP, BIDEN AIM TO USE DUELING RALLIES IN THESE STATES POST-DEBATE TO PUT EACH OTHER ON DEFENSE

So far, Trump has not announced a vice president pick. But, said he does know who he will choose.

“Well, if you knew that, you would probably be up for a major raise. We have a lot of viewers who say, ‘who do you like, who do you like? ’There are so many different answers. We have a lot of good ones. I’ll be announcing it right around the time of the convention,” Trump said.

President Biden speaks in North Carolina – a state he’ll visit again shortly after the CNN Debate. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

After the debate, both candidates plan to stay in the South. Biden will stop in North Carolina, a state he lost to Trump back in 2020.

Trump will head to a rally in Virginia. It has been two decades since a Republican carried the commonwealth state in the race for the White House. The former president plans to change that.

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“We are actually two points up in Virginia. Virginia is not a state that a Republican generally wins and has not won in decades. We are leading in Virginia, and we are leading in Minnesota. That one hasn’t been won since 1972. I think we’re going to win a lot of places that people never even thought about, because our country is in dire shape to put it mildly. It’s doing badly,” Trump said.

The Trump campaign says a recent fact-check report debunking the claim that then-President Trump spoke favorably of neo-Nazis in 2017 shows President Biden and his campaign had promoted a “lie” and called on them to not promote the “hoax” again.

Left-leaning fact-checking website Snopes published a piece Saturday debunking claims promoted by President Biden and some members of the media that following the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, Trump called neo-Nazis “very fine people.” Biden has repeatedly cited the false claim, even saying it was the impetus for his 2020 White House run against Trump. 

Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital on Sunday that the Snopes fact check shows Biden and other “corrupt Democrats” promoted a “lie” and “hoax.” 

“The Charlottesville lie was another hoax perpetuated by the corrupt Democrats and their mouthpieces in the fake news media, just like the Hunter Biden laptop, the Russian collusion scandal and so many others, all in an attempt to smear President Trump. Joe Biden’s campaign must end any advertising that pushes this lie because President Trump has, once again, been proven right,” she said. 

LEFT-WING FACT-CHECKER ADMITS TRUMP NEVER CALLED CHARLOTTESVILLE NEO-NAZIS ‘VERY FINE PEOPLE’ IN BLOW TO BIDEN

Former President Trump told Columbia Journalism Review he had to fight off “unbelievably fake stories” during his presidency. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik/File)

Snopes detailed in its fact check that Trump was clear he was not calling neo-Nazis “fine people” when he made the comment at a press conference that year.

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“While Trump did say that there were ‘very fine people on both sides,’ he also specifically noted that he was not talking about neo-Nazis and White supremacists and said they should be ‘condemned totally.’ Therefore, we have rated this claim ‘False,'” Snopes wrote.

The fact check, which comes just days ahead of the first debate between Trump and Biden, now aligns with Trump’s longstanding argument that the remarks were taken out of context before they quickly spread on social media and were promoted by the left and members of the media. 

President Biden (Michael Reynolds/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The protests in Charlottesville in 2017, which played out across two days in August 2017, included White nationalists descending on the city who were met by hundreds of counterprotesters. The protests devolved into violence, including three deaths and dozens of injuries stemming from a car plowing through people and other attacks.

FETTERMAN ‘NOT WRONG’ TO COMPARE COLUMBIA PROTESTS TO CHARLOTTESVILLE, CNN HOST SAYS

Protesters are shown during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Aug. 12, 2017. (Evelyn Hockstein/For the Washington Post via Getty Images)

The protests were condemned by both Republicans and Democrats as a hateful display of bigotry, including Trump at the time, who said in a statement that such protests and violence have “no place in America.” 

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“We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides,” Trump said in August that year. Trump added days later in a press conference that he condemned the “egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence” and came under fire from Democrats for his remarks that there was “blame on both sides” and “very fine people, on both sides.”

Biden cast the events in Charlottesville, and his framing of former President Trump’s response, as the incentive to run for the White House in 2020.

Former President Trump and President Biden (Getty Images)

“With those words, the president of the United States assigned a moral equivalence between those spreading hate and those with the courage to stand against it,” Biden said in 2019 when announcing his candidacy.

Biden has repeatedly pointed to Charlottesville as a moment of shame for the nation, including on the fourth anniversary, when the White House released a statement saying the rally was a “battle for the soul of America was laid bare for all to see.” 

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Earlier this year, Biden was slammed for having his own “Charlottesville moment” as anti-Israel protests spread on college campuses nationwide in the wake of Hamas’ attack on the nation in October, sparking an ongoing war.

“I condemn the antisemitic protests. That’s why I have set up a program to deal with that. I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians,” Biden told reporters in April as the protests raged.

Critics of the president soon sounded off on social media that Biden’s comments echoed claims of what Trump said in 2017 about the Charlottesville riots.

Student protesters gather at their encampment on the Columbia University campus, April 29, 2024, in New York City. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

“This sure sounds like he’s ACTUALLY saying there are very fine people on both sides,” OutKick founder Clay Travis said.

The Federalist’s editor-in-chief, Mollie Hemingway, wrote, “President Biden says there are good people on both sides of October 7.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to the Biden campaign for comment on the Snopes fact check and the Trump campaign’s response but did not immediately receive a response.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

A young fan dressed as former President Trump was brought to tears when he got to meet the real-life former president.

A video shared to social media by Trump deputy director of communications Margo Martin shows Trump approaching his young fan, who was dressed in a suit and tie with a blonde wig made to match the hairstyle of the former president.

Trump can be seen in the video enthusiastically greeting the child and presenting him with a signed $20 bill before posing for pictures, making the young superfan tear up in the process.

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Former President Trump poses with a child dressed as him at Tony and Nick’s Steaks on June 22, 2024, in Philadelphia, before Trump spoke at Temple University. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“I like that kid! So, if your parents don’t want you, I’ll take you,” Trump quipped to the crowd, drawing laughter.

The video quickly went viral on X, garnering nearly 900,000 views as of 3 p.m. Sunday.

The video also drew thousands of reactions from users on X, many taking shots at Trump’s opponent in the election, President Biden.

Former President Trump enthusiastically greets the child and presents him with a signed $20 bill before posing for pictures. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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“Biden would never, and could never,” one user said.

“Can you imagine a young guy dressed up like Joe Biden with an ice cream cone in his hand and no hair on his head?” another user said.

“No videos of Biden ever doing things like this,” added another.

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Others commented on how the moment will likely be cherished by the young Trump admirer forever.

“What an unforgettable moment for this young man,” one user said.

A young fan dressed as Donald Trump looks up admiringly at the former president at Tony and Nick’s Steaks on June 22, 2024, in Philadelphia. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The viral moment happened during Trump’s swing through Philadelphia, with the former president meeting the young boy at the popular Tony and Nick’s sandwich shop.

Trump left a $500 tip at the restaurant, according to a report from Newsweek, taking the moment to also tout his proposal to make tips for restaurant workers tax-free.

Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said President Biden should “pray” for presidential immunity over his border policies that Graham said have opened the doors to violent illegal immigrants to carry out rapes and murders against Americans. 

“Joe Biden better hope and pray there’s presidential immunity, because when he allowed the killer of Laken Riley to be released on parole because [of] lack of capacity, I think he’s subject not only to lawsuit, but criminal prosecution – if there’s not presidential immunity,” Graham said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Graham’s comment came amid discussion about the Democratic Party’s increased criticism of the Supreme Court, including Biden saying earlier this month that the “Supreme Court has never been as out of kilter as it is today,” and the Senate possibly enforcing an ethics code on SCOTUS. 

The Republican senator argued that Democrats are attacking the high court to protect Biden’s record in office, including immigration policies that have led to more than 7 million illegal immigrants crossing the border. 

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT IN LAKEN RILEY’S MURDER INDICTED, ACCUSED OF ‘PEEPING’ ON UGA STAFF MEMBER

Sen. Lindsey Graham speaks with Fox News’ Shannon Bream  (Fox News)

“The border is beyond broken. You have wars in Ukraine. You have the Mideast on fire. When it comes to enforcing the law, Joe Biden has been beyond reckless. He’s taken a parole statute that’s limited in nature and has given a million people parole,” Graham said. 

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Laken Riley poses for a photo posted to Facebook. Riley, a nursing student, was found dead near a lake on the University of Georgia campus on Feb. 22. An illegal immigrant has been charged with her murder. (Laken Riley/Facebook)

Graham cited the murder of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student who was discovered beaten to death in February after going for a run on the University of Georgia campus. The Augusta University student crossed paths with illegal immigrant Jose Antonio Ibarra, according to authorities, and died from blunt force trauma to the head. 

LAKEN RILEY’S MOTHER SPEAKS OUT ABOUT ‘AVOIDABLE TRAGEDY’ AFTER DAUGHTER’S FUNERAL

President Biden speaks at Abbotts Creek Community Center during an event to promote his economic agenda in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Jan. 18, 2024. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

“Laken Riley’s murderer was paroled because they had lack of capacity in El Paso. They let him out under the parole statute because they were full. There’s nothing in the statute that says you can go cause you’re full. And he killed this lady. On and on and on. All of these women who’ve been raped and murdered have one thing in common. The people that killed them, raped them and murdered them were in our custody and let go, I think, illegally,” he continued before suggesting Biden could face prosecution over his border policies. 

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Donald Trump and Jack Smith (Getty Images)

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Presidential immunity has become a hot topic this election cycle, as former President Trump faces a bevy of court cases ahead of the 2024 election. The Supreme Court is expected to issue an opinion regarding whether Trump is immune from prosecution in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s election interference case, which is currently postponed indefinitely.