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

VP ON DAY 3: Don’t miss day three of the RNC as JD Vance — the vice presidential nominee — takes the stage! Follow for more updates.

What’s happening…

-65% of Democrats say Biden should drop out of race

-Top 5 moments from the RNC 

-86% of Americans concerned about violence in the election

Most prominent Democrat to revolt so far

Powerful Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff called on President Biden to drop out of the 2024 race on Wednesday. 

“A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the President can defeat Donald Trump in November,” he said in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

Schiff was selected as one of the “top two” Senate primary winners in California. The winner of the Senate race will take the seat of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein. 

The House Democrat praised Biden’s accomplishments while in office, claiming, “Joe Biden has been one of the most consequential presidents in our nation’s history, and his lifetime of service as a Senator, a Vice President, and now as President has made our country better.”…Read more

Schiff became the 20th Congressional Democrat to call on President Biden to drop out of the 2024 race. (Getty Images)

White House

PARTY POOPED: 65% of Democrats say Biden should drop out after debate disaster, poll finds …Read more

‘PRETTY DAMN GOOD’: Biden describes his mental acuity, but do voters agree? …Read more

Tales from the Campaign Trail

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: Longtime Trump critic says president has unique chance to unite country …Read more

‘BELIEVE YOU CAN WIN’: Former Clinton campaign spox says Dems are acting like ‘losers’ about Biden ouster …Read more

‘RUBBER STAMP’: Harris tests Vance attack line after congratulatory voicemail …Read more

Convention Chatter

‘DENIAL OF TRUTH’: Riley Gaines visits RNC with message for New York AG Letitia James, Democrats claiming to be party for women …Read more

TOP 5 MOMENTS: Recap Nikki Haley’s standing-O, ‘Babydog’ predictions, and more …Read more

BEST IN SHOW: All about Babydog: The governor’s pet that stole the show at the RNC …Read more

Babydog Justice sat in a chair next to Gov. Justice as he gave his address at the RNC. (Getty Images)

Across America

SOCIETY ON EDGE: 86% of Americans are concerned about acts of violence throwing the country into chaos, new poll finds …Read more

‘VERY KIND’ CALL: Widow of rally victim describes talk with Trump …Read more

‘SECURED THE PRESIDENCY’: Stephen A. Smith says shooter ‘just handed Donald Trump the election’ …Read more

DEADLY GROUND: Trump would-be assassin climbed AC unit to shooting perch: report …Read more

‘FIGHT’ SONG: Trump supporters have new rallying cry after assassination attempt …Read more

‘SAVED THE PRESIDENT’S LIFE’: Pennsylvania sheriff defends local officers who confronted Trump rally shooter …Read more

‘A TOUGH GUY’: Trump assassination attempt victim fighting for his life …Read more

‘HE SCOUTED’: Former Secret Service agent breaks down Trump rally shooter’s deadly preparations …Read more

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The Democratic Party plans to formally nominate President Biden as the party’s 2024 nominee in a vote prior to their convention, according to a Wednesday letter.

The letter, sent to the Democratic National Convention Rules Committee from committee co-chairs Leah Daughtry and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, details plans to hold a virtual roll call for delegates, saying it is necessary to avoid potential litigation in Ohio and elsewhere. News of the vote comes as Democrats remain deeply divided over whether Biden should serve as the party’s nominee. The party will hold a rules meeting regarding the convention on Friday.

“Our discussion on Friday of how the Convention will operate will include discussion of a virtual voting element, which will end before the in-person Convention,” says the letter, which was obtained by Fox News Digital.

The letter confirms that virtual voting will begin no sooner than Aug. 1. It must conclude by Aug. 7 to avoid ballot access issues in Ohio. Frank LaRose, the Ohio secretary of state, repeatedly warned the Democratic Party that its plans to nominate Biden at the Aug. 19 convention violated Ohio law. The state’s election laws require a presidential candidate to be certified at least 90 days before Election Day.

NBC’S CHUCK TODD SAYS BIDEN’S ‘ENTIRE NARRATIVE’ WILL ERODE AS HE STAYS IN RACE: ‘HIS AMBITION COMES FIRST’

The Democratic Party plans to formally nominate President Biden as the party’s 2024 nominee in a vote prior to their convention, according to a Wednesday letter. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“Having enough time to finalize our nominees and make sure they are on ballots around the country is critical. That is the driving reason for conducting a virtual voting process,” the letter states.

“No matter what may be reported, our goal is not to fast-track,” Daughtry and Walz added. “Our goals are to uphold our tradition of transparency, our commitment to an effective nominating process that delivers a nominee on all state ballots, and ultimately to set our nominees on a path to victory in November.”

The compressed schedule puts even more pressure on the growing number of Democrats who are hoping to pressure Biden to drop out of the race. So far, 20 Democrat lawmakers have publicly called for him to withdraw.

HOUSE DEMOCRATS CIRCULATE LETTER TO DELAY BIDEN NOMINATION UNTIL CONVENTION: REPORT

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., was the latest lawmaker to defect, issuing a statement to the Los Angeles Times praising Biden as “one of the most consequential presidents in our nation’s history.”

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., told the Los Angeles Times in a statement, “I have serious concerns about whether the president can defeat Donald Trump in November.” (Screenshot/NBC News)

“But our nation is at a crossroads,” he said. “A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the president can defeat Donald Trump in November.”

REP SCHIFF EXPRESSES DOUBTS AS TO WHETHER BIDEN CAN BEAT TRUMP: ‘DEBATE RIGHTFULLY RAISED QUESTIONS’

“While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone, I believe it is time for him to pass the torch. And in doing so, secure his legacy of leadership by allowing us to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election,” he added.

The Washington Post recently grilled President Biden about the embellished stories he has told audiences throughout his career. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Biden has insisted he is staying in the race, though the number of Democrat lawmakers calling for him to drop out is growing almost daily.

MILWAUKEE — Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance will “run circles” around Vice President Kamala Harris in a debate, Alabama Sen. Katie Britt told Fox News Digital in an interview at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

Britt, a rising star in the GOP who delivered the official Republican rebuttal to President Biden’s State of the Union address earlier this year, praised Vance ahead of his highly anticipated convention speech Wednesday night and predicted Americans would “love” him the moment they get to know him.

“I am excited to watch him debate Kamala Harris because it will not even be a contest. With all due respect to the vice president, our next vice president of the United States, JD Vance, is going to run circles around her. No doubt,” Britt said.

VP FINALIST MARCO RUBIO ARRIVES AT RNC WITH PRAISE FOR TRUMP FOLLOWING SELECTION OF JD VANCE AS RUNNING MATE

Republican Alabama Sen. Katie Britt, left, and Vice President Kamala Harris. (Getty Images)

“I am honored not only to call JD a colleague, but to call him a friend … The best part about it is we’ve gotten to know each other as people, and when the American people get to know JD Vance, they are going to love everything about him.”

Britt later said Vance’s life story of pulling himself up by his bootstraps and pushing through “unimaginable” circumstances was part of why he is “uniquely suited to push forward President Trump’s agenda of secure borders, safe streets, stable prices, and really showing strength across the globe.”

She described the feeling of seeing Trump enter the convention hall on Monday to stand alongside Vance for the first time since his attempted assassination over the weekend as “electric.”

VANCE, HARRIS DISCUSS DEBATE IN ‘BRIEF AND RESPECTFUL’ FIRST PHONE CONVERSATION SINCE VP NOD

Former President Trump applauds as Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance gestures on Day 2 of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on July 16, 2024. (REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz)

“It was amazing. I mean, you could feel the energy,” Britt said. “Watching him walk in to “God Bless America,” there was a peace and a hope and a resiliency that not only came from him, but I think radiated across the entire arena.”

Harris called Vance to congratulate him after Trump announced him as his running mate and expressed hope they could meet at a vice presidential debate proposed by CBS News to be held at a later date.

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Trump previously accepted a vice presidential debate on behalf of his future running mate to be hosted on Fox News. However, the Biden campaign has only been willing to do the debate on CBS. 

No vice presidential debate has been confirmed yet, but Biden and Trump agreed to two presidential debates. The first was hosted by CNN on June 27 and the second will be hosted by ABC News on Sept. 10.

Fox News’ Julia Johnson contributed to this report.

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

Donald J. Trump is often referred to as “President Trump” or “Mr. President,” and has formerly been known as “Commander in Chief,” “POTUS” and “45,” as he was the 45th President of the United States. He has also enjoyed several other prominent titles.

However, before Trump was the leader of the free world, he was lovingly known as “dad” to five children, including Donald Jr., Ivanka, Eric, Tiffany and Barron, and “grandpa” to 10 grandchildren, beginning with the eldest, Kai.

Kai, 17, is seemingly ready to be cast into America’s political spotlight as she is slated to speak at the 2024 Republican National Convention on Day 3 of the event in Milwaukee.

LIVE UPDATES: REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION

Donald and Melania Trump with family including children, Don Jr., Ivanka, Eric and Tiffany and grandchildren, Kai and Don III. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s vice presidential pick, will also take center stage tonight.

Recently, the daughter of Don Jr. and Vanessa Trump, now divorced, was a regaled guest of Dana White’s at the UFC 303 fight, which she attended opposite her dad. The Florida teen posed for photographs with White, the president of the UFC, former NFL superstar Aaron Rodgers and country music star Jelly Roll, among other A-listers.

Kai, born May 12, 2007, is an enthusiastic golfer. She is active on social media and regularly posts about her golf skills.

Last year, the Florida native started a YouTube channel. She kickstarted the outreach social media page with a video titled, “Get to know Kai Trump!”

“It should overall be a fun channel,” Kai said in the clip.

DONALD TRUMP JR. GAVE DAUGHTER A PUPPY FOR HER BIRTHDAY

Donald Trump Jr. is the father of Kai and four other children; Don III, Tristan, Spencer and Chloe. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

As Kai scampers around a golf course, her friend asks questions, and she gives viewers insight into some of her favorite things, which includes pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks, proscuitto meat and ricotta cheese, and playing pickleball and tennis.

In March, Kai won the ladies’ club championship at the private Trump Golf Club in West Palm Beach. She has posted photographs and clips in the past playing with golf professional and PGA player Bryson DeChambeau.

Mixed into her fitness reels, Kai reminds social media users that she is an undoubted supporter of her grandpa.

On Saturday, while speaking to supporters at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, former President Trump was shot by a lone gunman perched on a rooftop nearby. He was struck in the ear before Secret Service agents covered him and removed him from the stage.

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Former President Trump during a campaign event at Trump National Doral Golf Club in Miami on Tuesday, July 9, 2024. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Before being escorted away, the former president was recorded straight-armed with his fist in the air shouting “fight, fight, fight” to the crowd.

Kai took to Instagram to express her admiration for her grandfather’s unwavering will to wrangle the U.S. political system for the people. She wrote, “We love you Grandpa. Never stop fighting!” 

In mid-June, Kai joined tens of thousands of people at Turning Point USA’s leadership summit event hosted by Charlie Kirk in Detroit. She was photographed with former President Trump, Don Jr. and her brother, Don III, 15.

Trump will return to Detroit on Saturday with Vance for their first campaign rally as the official Republican ticket for the 2024 elections. The rally will be hosted indoors.

Kai’s other siblings include Tristan, Spencer and Chloe.

A new poll released on Wednesday found that 65% of Democrats say President Biden should drop out following his disastrous debate performance against former President Trump. 

The AP-NORC survey – which was conducted July 11-15, mostly completed before the attempted assassination of Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania over the weekend – found that 7 in 10 adults, including 65% of Democrats, say Biden should withdraw and allow his party to select a different nominee.

Overall, 57% of adults say Trump should withdraw from the race and allow his party to name a replacement. But Trump is maintaining support from his party, with 73% of Republicans saying he should stay in the race.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

From Nikki Haley’s standing ovation to political predictions by “Babydog,” here are the biggest moments from Tuesday night at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

1. Nikki Haley wins over the crowd

Former Ambassador and presidential contender Nikki Haley received a standing ovation at her main stage appearance from former President Trump – a signal of a desire for unity after bitter words were exchanged between the two on the campaign trail. 

Haley, who was Trump’s fiercest primary rival, gave the former president her “strong endorsement” during her speech on the RNC stage in Milwaukee, ending months of speculation on whether she would throw her weight behind the former president. 

TRUMP ANNOUNCES OHIO SEN JD VANCE AS HIS 2024 RUNNING MATE

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks on stage on the second day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

“You don’t have to agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for him,” Haley said. “Take it from me. I haven’t always agreed with President Trump. But we agree more often than we disagree.”

2. Ron DeSantis says America can’t afford another ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ presidency

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who also ran against Trump in the primary, got in a good dig against President Biden, telling the cheering crowd that the country “cannot afford four more years of a ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ presidency.” 

The reference to the 1993 film depicting a group of coworkers propping up their deceased boss as a puppet to not ruin a vacation got a laugh out of Trump, who was sitting in the audience.

“My fellow Republicans, let’s send Joe Biden back to his basement and let’s send Donald Trump back to the White House. Life was more affordable when Donald Trump was president,” DeSantis said. “Our border was safer under the Trump administration, and our country was respected when Donald Trump was our commander in chief.”

3. Mom whose son died of a drug overdose drew tears from the crowd

Anne Fundner, who lost her 15-year-old son to fentanyl poisoning, brought the crowd at the RNC to tears Tuesday night with her remarks focused on the importance of securing the border and stopping the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.

Fundner, whose son, Weston, died on Feb. 27, 2022, said the Biden administration “does nothing” to aid the raging drug epidemic or border crisis. Fundner was part of a series of “Everyday Americans” who spoke about real life hardships they’ve suffered living in the U.S. under Biden administration policies. 

TRUMP ARRIVES AT REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION NIGHT 2 WITH FOCUS ON ‘MAKE AMERICA SAFE ONCE AGAIN’

Anne Fundner speaks during the second day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, July 16, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

“I hold Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, the border czar – what a joke – and Gavin Newsom and every Democrat who supports open borders responsible for the death of my son,” Fundner said, prompting a standing ovation and loud cheers from the crowd.

She added: “For that alone, they should be voted out of office,” to which the crowd began chanting, “Joe must go!”

4. Brother of Morin family’s somber reminder of the costs of illegal immigration

The family of a mother of five who was murdered, allegedly by an illegal immigrant, took aim at the Biden administration for having “opened our borders” to the man accused of killing her.

“Rachel, a joyful, accomplished athlete and mother of five was raped and murdered by a suspected illegal immigrant,” Michael Morin, Rachel’s brother, told the crowd on Tuesday night. “This was described as among the most brutal and violent offenses that has ever occurred in Harford County, Maryland, history.”

Rachel Morin went out for a jog on a trail near her home but never made it back. Police found her body in a culvert, covered in bruises and with severe head trauma.

Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, 23, faces a half-dozen charges, including first-degree murder, rape and kidnapping, in connection with Morin’s death.

“Joe Biden and his designated border czar Kamala Harris opened our borders to him and others like him, empowering them to victimize the innocent,” Michael Morin said.

He said they had not heard from the White House, but had heard from former President Trump.

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5. Baby Dog’s predictions

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice brought special guest “Babydog” along with him for his address at the GOP convention. It was a move that erupted on social media as political onlookers rejoiced over the appearance of the English bulldog.

TRUMP RUNNING MATE VANCE TO DELIVER ‘THE MOST IMPORTANT SPEECH’ OF HIS CAREER AT REPUBLICAN CONVENTION

Former President Trump during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Justice is the Republican Senate candidate vying for the seat of West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who is not seeking re-election. Justice said Babydog predicted the GOP in November will maintain the majority in the House, flip the Senate and “overwhelmingly” elect the Trump-Vance ticket for the White House. 

Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw and Michael Lee contributed to this report. 

About four in five Americans believe that the country is spiraling into chaos, according to a two-day poll. 

The poll by Ipsos for Reuters was conducted after the assassination attempt on former President Trump at his rally in Pennsylvania and after Trump announced Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, as his vice presidential running mate at the start of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Monday. 

About 80% of respondents agreed with the statement that “the country is spiraling out of control.” 

TRUMP RUNNING MATE VANCE TO DELIVER ‘THE MOST IMPORTANT SPEECH’ OF HIS CAREER AT REPUBLICAN CONVENTION

President Trump, with a bloodied ear, pumps his fist as the Secret Service rushed him offstage on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Trump Campaign Office/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The poll found 86% of Americans are concerned about acts of violence throwing the country into chaos, while 56% are very concerned. According to the survey of 1,202 general population adults aged 18 or older in the United States, 57% said they are very concerned, and 87% said they are totally concerned that Americans will resort to violence instead of coming together peacefully to solve disagreements. 

The poll, conducted online, sampled 1,202 adults, including registered voters – 402 Democrats, 361 Republicans and 331 Independents.

Former President Trump during the Republican National Convention on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

TRUMP ARRIVES AT REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION NIGHT 2 WITH FOCUS ON ‘MAKE AMERICA SAFE ONCE AGAIN’

The poll found 84% of voters surveyed said they were concerned that extremists will commit acts of violence after the election. That marked a significant uptick from the 74% of voters who expressed that fear in the Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in May. 

Former President Trump and Sen. JD Vance attend the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

About 67% of Americans said they feared acts of violence against their community because of their political beliefs. That rose from the 60% of respondents who said the same in a Reuters/Ipsos poll from June 2023.

About one in three respondents said they believed Trump was favored by divine providence after surviving the assassination attempt on Saturday. 

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According to the survey, 43% of registered voters said they preferred Trump, the Republican candidate, while 41% said they preferred President Biden, the Democratic incumbent, but the results fell between the poll’s three percentage point margin of error. The poll found 69% of Americans view Biden as too old to work in government, compared to 49% who see Trump as too old. 

The widow of the volunteer firefighter who was shot and killed over the weekend at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania says the former president called her and was “very kind,” a report says. 

Helen Comperatore wrote on Facebook that Trump phoned her on Tuesday, three days after her husband Corey was struck with gunfire while trying to protect his family during the campaign event in Butler, according to the New York Post. 

“He was very kind and said he would continue to call me in the days and weeks ahead,” the widow reportedly wrote. “I told him the same thing I told everyone else. He left this world a hero and God welcomed him in. He did not die in vain that day.” 

Helen Comperatore told the New York Post on Monday that her husband’s final words were “get down!” 

LIVE UPDATES: TRUMP’S SECRET SERVICE PROTECTION UNDER INVESTIGATION FOLLOWING ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT 

Helen Comperatore, left, wrote in a Facebook post that former President Trump had called her on Tuesday following the rally shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, July 13. (Jeff Swensen/Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“He’s my hero,” Helen Comperatore said to the newspaper from her home in Sarver, Pennsylvania. “He just said, ‘get down!’ That was the last thing he said.”  

“Me and the kids were all there as a family,” she added. “He was just excited. It was going to be a nice day with the family. 

Corey Comperatore, 50, was the former fire chief for the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company. The department now has a memorial set up outside its firehouse featuring Comperatore’s uniform to honor who they described as a “brother, son, husband, father and friend.”  

LAST WORDS OF ‘HERO’ FIREFIGHTER WHO DIED AT TRUMP RALLY SHOOTING REVEALED 

Helen Comperatore, the wife of Corey Comperatore, calls for aid moments after Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on former president Trump during a campaign rally at Butler Farm Show Inc. on July 13, in Butler, Pennsylvania.  (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

Helen Comperatore also said President Biden tried to call her family following the incident but “I didn’t want to talk to him.  

“I didn’t talk to Biden,” she said. “My husband was a devout Republican and he would not have wanted me to talk to him.”  

“I don’t have any ill-will towards Joe Biden,” Comperatore added. “I’m not one of those people that gets involved in politics. I support Trump, that’s who I’m voting for but I don’t have ill-will towards Biden.” 

Former Buffalo Township Fire Chief Corey Comperatore is pictured with his daughters in an undated family photo.  (Helen Comperatore/Facebook)

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Helen Comperatore has described the shooter at the rally, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, as a “despicable kid.”  

Vice President Kamala Harris said in a newly released video that former President Trump selected Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, as his running mate to be a “rubber stamp” for the Republican White House hopeful’s “extreme agenda.”

This comes ahead of Vance’s acceptance speech on Wednesday at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. Trump, now formally the Republican nominee for president, announced Vance as his pick for vice president on Monday.

“Trump looked for someone he knew would be a rubber stamp for his extreme agenda,” Harris said in the video.

“Make no mistake: JD Vance will be loyal only to Trump, not to our country,” she continued.

Harris and Vance spoke by phone after Vance’s nomination in a brief and respectful conversation, Fox News’ Alexis McAdams reports, after Harris left a congratulatory voicemail.

KAMALA HARRIS CONGRATULATES JD VANCE, HOPES ‘THAT THE TWO CAN MEET’ AT VP DEBATE

Vice President Kamala Harris said former President Trump chose Sen. JD Vance as his running mate to be a “rubber stamp” for his agenda. (Getty Images)

Harris also criticized Vance for saying in an interview with ABC News earlier this year that he would not have certified the 2020 election until states submitted pro-Trump electors if he were vice president at the time, noting in the interview that he believes unsubstantiated claims of election fraud in the 2020 election.

“Unlike Mike Pence, Vance said he would have carried out Trump’s plan to overturn the 2020 election,” Harris said.

The vice president further pointed to comments Vance made during his 2022 Senate campaign, when he said he supported a national abortion ban at 15 weeks, with some exceptions such as protecting the life of the mother. Harris also cited in her video Vance’s vote last month against a Democrat-led bill to protect access to in vitro fertilization, or IVF. The bill was blocked by Republicans in the Senate.

“He supports a national abortion ban and voted against protecting IVF,” Harris said of Vance.

Vice President Kamala Harris claimed Sen. JD Vance “will be loyal only to Trump” and not America. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Harris also referenced Project 2025, a controversial initiative organized by conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation and that was authored by a number of conservatives, including some former Trump administration officials.

Project 2025 offers right-wing policy recommendations for Trump should he win the presidency, including replacing civil service employees with Trump loyalists, abolishing the Department of Education, criminalizing pornography, eliminating DEI programs, cutting funding for Medicaid and Medicare, rejecting abortion as health care and infusing the government with Christian values.

TRUMP PICKS JD VANCE AS RUNNING MATE AS HE BECOMES GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE

Former President Trump’s pick for vice president, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, is set to speak at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Trump has sought to distance himself from the initiative, which has been criticized as an authoritarian and Christian nationalist plan that would undermine civil liberties, saying he knows nothing about it and that parts of it are “absolutely ridiculous and abysmal.”

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“And if elected, [Vance] will help implement the extreme Project 2025 plan for a second Trump term, which would target critical programs like Head Start and Medicare,” Harris said. “But we are not going to let that happen.”

FIRST ON FOX: Milwaukee, Wis.—President Trump is showing “real leadership” to “not just America, but the world” following the attempt on his life over the weekend — drawing a stark contrast between himself and President Biden, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said.

McCarthy spoke with Fox News Digital on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention, nothing that while JD Vance is a strong pick for vice president, this election is “all about Trump and he is stronger than he has ever been.” 

“Seeing President Trump, talking to him the day after the shooting, I mean, it is unbelievable that he is alive,” McCarthy said. “I think just in that sheer moment he taught, not just America, but the world, that he is a real leader.” 

McCarthy told Fox News Digital that in the past several days following the assassination attempt against Trump, he has spoken with numerous world leaders who have called to check in on the former president.

SCALISE TO FOCUS ON TRUMP’S COMPASSION IN RNC SPEECH, SAYS ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT BROUGHT BACK 2017 ‘EMOTIONS’

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and U.S. President Donald Trump react to the crowd as they hold an event on water accessibility for farms during a visit to Bakersfield, California, February 19, 2020. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

“They say he showed real leadership, and that makes America stronger, and makes the world safer in the same instance,” McCarthy said. “And then when they look at the times of President Biden tripping, falling over a bike — that showed a weakness in America.” 

This week, less than 48 hours after the attempt on his life, Trump announced that Sen. JD Vance of Ohio is his pick for vice president. Trump made the highly anticipated announcement on his Truth Social account, amid months of speculation of who his running mate would be. 

But McCarthy doesn’t think it matters. 

“Not taking anything away from JD, but I don’t think a VP is going to matter in this race,” McCarthy told Fox News Digital. “This is all about Trump and Trump is stronger than he has ever been.” 

McCarthy, though, said the Trump-Vance ticket is an “interesting” one, that can draw in non-traditional Republicans. 

Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci snapped this photo of former President Trump in the aftermath of a failed assassination attempt. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

“Just the history of JD and his life experience—being raised by his grandparents, joining the Marines, coming up from nothing, making something of himself, being an author, understanding the Appalachians—that is new for us,” McCarthy said. “But President Trump has always reached out to a lot of Independents and Democrats and I think they know the contrast and the policies that they had under Trump and what world they lived in under President Trump and now President Biden. I think this will be a big night for us in November.” 

VANCE, HARRIS DISCUSS DEBATE IN ‘BRIEF AND RESPECTFUL’ FIRST PHONE CONVERSATION SINCE VP NOD

As for Biden, McCarthy said he has watched the president “utilize the assassination attempt to try to reset his campaign and solidify his nomination.” 

“He is even trying to move it forward ahead of time by having the vote for the nomination early so that there’s not a fight at the convention,” McCarthy explained. “For the first time, I see the Republicans more unified at any given time.” 

McCarthy reflected on his relationship with Biden while serving as speaker of the House. 

“Biden never met with Republicans, and the rhetoric you saw in his State of the Union — that wasn’t a speech to unite the country — he has been this way the whole time,” McCarthy said. “And if you just watch President Trump and President Biden in the last week, one is angry and the other is very somber and uniting and that is President Trump uniting.” 

President Joe Biden exits St. Edmond’s Catholic Church after attending mass in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware on Saturday, July 13, 2024. President Biden left the church approximately 8 minutes after former President Trump was shot at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Leigh Green for Fox News Digital)

McCarthy said he has seen Biden “lashing out.” 

“He has this anger in him — I’ve seen it individually and what I’ve warned people about is the fact that this is a different Joe Biden and I think it is all coming to fruition,” McCarthy told Fox News Digital. 

McCarthy said the divide in the Democrat Party over Biden’s re-election campaign following his disastrous debate performance last month is a “Watergate moment for the Democrats.” 

“Who knew what when? They wouldn’t allow the president to go talk to people, they knew the cognitive problems he had,” McCarthy said. “I have been talking about this for more than a year and they have been attacking me over it, and now it has all been shown.”

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McCarthy reminded that Democrats “changed their own party rules so that nobody could run against him. They changed when the primary would be, starting in South Carolina.” 

McCarthy added: “They did everything they could to hide the fact of why they now want him to be removed.”  

MILWAUKEE – Former President Donald Trump and the Republican Party continue defeating attacks thrown at them by the Democratic Party as the election season comes down to its final months, Wyoming’s secretary of state told Fox News Digital from the Republican National Convention. 

Democrats during the “last 110 days of this election [will] do everything they can to try to blunt our momentum. I think they’re going to fail at that, because the American people see the record of this Biden administration and that it is just opposed to everything that the American people value,” Republican Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. 

Gray is attending the RNC, where he is chairing the Cowboy State’s delegation. Months before Trump officially became the GOP’s nominee for president on Monday, Gray was battling Democrats on the legal frontlines as they worked to prevent the 45th president from even appearing on election ballots. 

Gray said that despite repeated efforts by Democrats to tie Trump up in court cases, and efforts to prevent his name from appearing on the ballot, and the overall “weaponization” of government against conservatives, the GOP and former president have come out victorious. 

WYOMING ELECTION CHIEF MOUNTS FULL-COURT PRESS AGAINST ‘RADICAL LEFT’S’ PUSH TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM BALLOT

Republican Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray.  (Wyoming Secretary of State )

Trump’s classified documents case in Florida was dismissed on Monday, for example, while the Supreme Court ruled in March that Trump can’t be removed from ballots, as well as SCOTUS ruling in another decision this month that Trump has broad immunity from prosecution, which could unravel his guilty verdict in the Manhattan criminal case. 

FAILED EFFORT TO BOOT TRUMP FROM BALLOT EXPOSES ‘RADICAL’ LEFT’S ‘PURE LUNACY’: STATE ELECTION CHIEF

“We just see time and time again, the left trying to weaponize government against conservatives, and I think people are seeing through it. One of the many achievements of Trump, and there are so many, is that he’s really shown the American people just how out of control the mainstream media is and their alliance with the Democrats … But he’s come through it, and we are going to continue to come through it here, as we’re about under 110 days, 115 days from the election,” Gray said. 

Former U.S. President Donald Trump waves to the crowd on the field during halftime in the Palmetto Bowl between Clemson and South Carolina at Williams Brice Stadium on November 25, 2023 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

Gray argued that “the country is on the line,” and pointed to his home state, where he said the Biden administration is looking to “lock up the entire Southwestern section of Wyoming,” which he said would cripple energy initiatives in the state. 

FLORIDA REP. MILLS FLOATS ‘J13’-STYLE COMMITTEE FOR DEMOCRATS’ RHETORIC FOLLOWING TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

A grizzly bear stands out on the Wyoming landscape. (Jackson Hole Ecotour Adventures) ((Jackson Hole Ecotour Adventures))

“He wants no mineral extraction, no grazing, no recreation. We’re talking about coal, oil and gas, [agriculture], recreation. Everything would be decimated if this — what’s called a resource management plan, quote, unquote – is allowed to go through. And that’s just one sort of slice of life of what is on the line in this election,” he said. 

On Monday, Trump officially announced his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, whom Gray described as an “inspired” pick who will “strike the right tone” for the ticket. 

BIDEN ADMITS ‘BULL’S-EYE’ COMMENT ABOUT TRUMP WAS A ‘MISTAKE’ AFTER ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

Trump’s pick for Vice President, U.S. Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) arrives on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 15, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Delegates, politicians, and the Republican faithful are in Milwaukee for the annual convention, concluding with former President Donald Trump accepting his party’s presidential nomination. The RNC takes place from July 15-18.  (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

“I think JD Vance is just an inspired pick. Sen. Vance is America First through and through. The Ohio delegation was right in front of the Wyoming delegation, so we were right there as he was going up and being announced. And you can see his engagement. I think he has that grassroots conservatism, that background that is really important in continuing the America First movement,” Gray said. 

TRUMP ANNOUNCES OHIO SEN JD VANCE AS HIS 2024 RUNNING MATE

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives during the second day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee.  (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The Wyoming secretary of state was in the convention center when Trump first joined the crowds Monday evening following his assassination attempt on Saturday during a rally in Pennsylvania. Gray said that the energy on the floor was “electric” and “historic.” 

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“Last night was just electric across the floor and in the Wyoming delegation. Just having President Trump there, that was a historic moment, President Trump coming to the floor. And then also the VP nomination. … And I think we all see that our country is on the line in this 2024 election. The stakes of this election are enormous,” he said. 

MILWAUKEE – Former New York Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin said he’s “tired” of seeing Republicans verbally and physically attacked, arguing that anti-Trump and anti-GOP rhetoric has reached new highs across the years. 

“The rhetoric has gotten so bad between, yes, the bullseye comment, remember Dan Goldman making a comment about how President Trump needs to be eliminated. Bennie Thompson wants to take away Secret Service protection. One of [Thompson’s] aides was just complaining that the shooter Saturday evening had missed President Trump. I’m tired of seeing Republicans attacked like this,” Zeldin told Fox News Digital during the Republican National Convention on Tuesday. 

Zeldin was responding to President Biden backtracking on his comment earlier this month that “it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye,” saying the remark was a “mistake” after a 20-year-old man in Pennsylvania attempted to assassinate Trump during a rally on Saturday evening. Zeldin reflected that verbal and physical attacks against Republicans have been ongoing and heightening for years before a shooter tried to kill the 45th president. 

“I saw it with Steve Scalise with the shooting a few years ago, the attack on Rand Paul, the targeting of Justice Kavanaugh, this very close, near-assassination of President Trump. Yes, we should settle our scores at the ballot box. I agree with that. It’s a truth. It’s something that everyone should preach and everyone should believe in,” he continued. 

FLORIDA REP. MILLS FLOATS ‘J13’-STYLE COMMITTEE FOR DEMOCRATS’ RHETORIC FOLLOWING TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

WASHINGTON, DC, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, UNITED STATES – 2023/03/04: Former Congressman Lee Zeldin speaks on the 3rd day of the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) Washington, DC conference at Gaylord National Harbor Resort & Convention.  ((Photo by Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images))

“Ultimately, we have to confront, head on, the fact that there is a very extensive effort basically throwing everything that they can against President Trump outside of the ballot box to try to prevent him from taking office … It’s gone too far. It’s sick and it needs to end,” he continued. 

BIDEN ADMITS ‘BULL’S-EYE’ COMMENT ABOUT TRUMP WAS A ‘MISTAKE’ AFTER ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to attend Day 2 of the Republican National Convention (RNC), at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., July 16, 2024.  (REUTERS/Mike Segar)

Zeldin said that three days after Trump announced his run for re-election in 2022, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Jack Smith as special counsel to prosecute Trump, while Georgia prosecutor Nathan Wade “was sitting inside the White House Counsel’s Office,” and DOJ official “Matthew Colangelo was putting in his papers to leave the Department of Justice” to take a job in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office ahead Trump’s indictment in the New York criminal case.  

TRUMP ANNOUNCES OHIO SEN JD VANCE AS HIS 2024 RUNNING MATE

Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump applauds as Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance gestures on Day 2 of the Republican National Convention (RNC), at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., July 16, 2024.  (REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz)

DEMS WATCHING THEIR VICTORIES ‘VANISH’ BEFORE THEM, MONTANA SENATE CANDIDATE SAYS AHEAD OF RNC SPEECH

“That was all nine days after President Biden said that we would have to pursue ways outside of the ballot box to take down President Trump,” he said. “I’m not going to just sign up for the fact it’s all just a coincidence.” 

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“Every normal, commonsense, average everyday American is able to see through it. Let’s truly focus on settling the score at the ballot box. Let’s not have to focus on crazy criminal cases and trying to bankrupt the president and all these other attempts that threaten safety.”

As if there was any last lingering doubt, everyone now hates the media.

I know that may sound like familiar news. And that we are largely to blame for our plunging credibility, especially in the supercharged atmosphere surrounding Donald Trump and the campaign, and even more so after the assassination attempt.

For decades, of course, Republicans and conservatives have felt they can’t get a fair shake from the press, who many now see as an arm of the other party, but now it’s Democrats and liberals who hold the White House and are increasingly disgusted with the coverage.

New technology enables both sides to circumvent the dreaded MSM and get their message directly to voters through social media and by their own video. That may get amplified by the tube and the web, without the annoyance of reporters asking questions.

TRUMP SURVIVES SHOOTING, BUT THE POLITICALLY CHARGED BLAME GAME NEVER FADES

A side-by-side view of MSNBC host Joy Reid, U.S. President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump and U.S. Senator J.D. Vance. (Getty Images)

Take JD Vance, Trump’s new running mate, who was chosen in part because of his smooth television performances. Asked by Sean Hannity about the terrible things he said about the former president in 2016, including “cynical A-hole” and “America’s Hitler,” Vance owned it and then declared:

“I bought into the media’s lies and distortions. I bought into this idea that somehow he was going to be so different, a terrible threat to democracy. It was a joke.” 

The Ohio senator then seamlessly pivoted to: “Joe Biden is the one who’s trying to throw his political opposition in jail. Joe Biden is the one who’s trying to undermine American law and order.”

Also taking shots at Vice President Harris, Vance said leading Democrats “all have gone on TV, on radio and newspapers and said for years that Joe Biden can do the job and he’s doing just fine. Well, now we know they were lying, and we should punish them for lying to our faces about it.”

Punish them? How, exactly?

JD VANCE, ONCE A NEVER TRUMPER, IS THE VP PICK TO SHAPE MAGA’S FUTURE

Trump’s pick for Vice President, U.S. Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, arrives on the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

This reminds me of the time that Trump said that NBC and CNN should have their licenses pulled or other action taken for blowing off his Iowa caucus victory speech. I asked him about this in our Mar-a-Lago interview, but he just dwelled on the unfairness of being denied the spotlight he was owed.

Trump is in a special category because he constantly assailed the national media as the “enemy of the people” and attacked journalists by name, instantly downgrading them to “third-rate reporter” and their organizations to “failing.” On the other hand, the former president views himself as counterpunching against nine years of endless media attacks portraying him as a dictator and authoritarian, Hitler and Mussolini, and a man who would undo the fabric of democracy.

Now let’s switch to the other side.

In an often testy interview with NBC’s Lester Holt in which he defended his mental acuity, the president asked about what Trump said during Biden’s own very bad night:

“Why doesn’t the press talk about all the lies he told? I didn’t hear anything about that.”

“We have,” said Holt. “We have. We reported many of the issues that you had in that debate.”

“No you haven’t.”

“We will provide you with them,” Holt said.

“Oh, God love you,” the president said, sounding exasperated.

Biden pressed NBC’s Lester Holt on media coverage of the first presidential debate during an exclusive interview on Monday. (NBC screenshot)

PRESSURE ON BIDEN BUILDS AS GEORGE CLOONEY SAYS HE’S UNFIT AND POLITICIANS PRIVATELY AGREE

Biden naturally likes that story line, which suggests the press is falling down on the job because of a lesser standard applied to Trump.

Some of the president’s allies on the left are also expressing disgust with the fourth estate.

MSNBC host Joy Reid said there is “really a deep concern and lack of confidence in, not us at this table or us at MSNBC, but us as the media writ large.”

Not us at MSNBC! I love that part.

Her beef is that “the media will acquiesce to trying to convince people that the things they’ve been experiencing for the last five, six years didn’t happen.”

She continued: “And people are concerned and expressing concern that we won’t be the guardians of memory and that we will allow Donald Trump, as he is, you know, bathed in the glory and grandeur of his party, to rewrite himself, as both a hero and a victim…And that that will then happen without a guardian saying: ‘Wait, stop!’ and then the media will acquiesce to this rewrite.”

On what planet are the media rolling over for the notion that the last half-dozen years “didn’t happen?”

And in what galaxy are the media quietly going along with the idea that Trump is able to “rewrite” history?

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Reid uttered these words on Monday, her first show after the former president came within an inch of being murdered on live television. 

No sign of compassion there, just the righteous anger of whacking the media.

U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., sat down with Fox News Digital at FreedomFest in Las Vegas to discuss the 2024 election, immigration, Second Amendment rights, and the government response to the COVID pandemic. 

As former President Trump and the GOP brand have expanded throughout the American heartland in many areas that were once swing states, Burlison said he believes that the Democratic Party has abandoned his home state ideologically.

“When I was first elected in the Missouri House, I sat across the aisle from people that were friends of mine that were part of the Democratic Party who were pro-life…There were members who were part of the pro-Second Amendment caucus…and that’s not an option today and I think that people that that once held, that still hold those values that once found a place in the Democratic Party, there’s no place for them anymore…It’s not that Missouri has moved ideologically, I think it’s the Democratic Party has left them.”

U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., participates in the Republican Study Committee news conference to unveil their FY2025 budget proposal in March.  (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

WHITE HOUSE GRILLED ON FLOW OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS TO GOVERNMENT DEI PROGRAMS

Burlison has been a tireless critic of the Biden administration’s immigration policies, and said the issue will pay dividends for the GOP in 2024.

“This is unprecedented levels of illegal immigration and I think that his [Biden’s] executive orders directly undermined the authority of Customs and Border Patrol, and now we have this crisis situation … over 10 million people that we know of have come across the southern border illegally, and then we have over 2 million people that are known got-aways,” he said. “When the Biden administration talks about job numbers, and he’s taking credit for this surge in jobs…the fact is that more than half of those jobs are occupied by someone who was not living in the United States before Joe Biden became president. And so, that is a disturbing factor.”

Energy production and independence are also issues that Burlison is championing in Congress, and he said will resonate with the American electorate come November. 

“I think we need to return to an America that was energy independent, that was the America of abundance and that was what we were on track for that under the previous administration under President Trump. Look, in my lifetime I’ve heard so many people running for president claim that they were going to make America energy independent: we would be a net exporter of electricity, net exporter of fuels, and natural resources. That didn’t happen until President Donald Trump,” Burlison said. “The one nexus [for the economy] is energy independence and having abundant energy in the future. If America can go back to being a net exporter, and we reduce our costs for oil…natural gas, and other things, then I think we’re going to solve a lot of our problems.”

While Biden pledged to govern as a moderate after defeating democratic socialist Bernie Sanders in the 2020 primary, Burlison argues that Biden reneged on that promise.

President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign in Philadelphia. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“I would love to have a moderate Joe Biden as president, but that’s not who we have. I think that his office…the inmates are running the prison I think that the staff are running the show, and those staff are a lot more progressive than Joe Biden has ever been as an elected official, so it’s a disturbing trend, and I hope that we change course,” Burlison said. 

GOP LAWMAKER HIGHLIGHTS LINGERING DIVIDES: ‘IT’S THE CONFERENCE AGAINST THE CONFERENCE’

One of the most important issues for Burlison is Second Amendment rights. He said he believes that Republicans have work to do to fine-tune their messaging on the issue.

“I think that we need to do a better job of communicating the value of people having the right to carry a firearm. The FBI numbers, even under the Obama administration, they did a report that showed that two and a half million times a year someone uses a firearm to save a life or stop a rape, stop a violent act, and those are amazing numbers and there’s anecdotes for every one of the two and a half million stories like that,” he said. “But what ends up being covered in the media are the horrific shootings that occur and while they are absolutely horrible, and we should do everything we can to try to stop those, we can’t ignore the fact that firearms overwhelmingly save lives.”

The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (llison Robbert/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Burlison is a vehement critic of both parties on spending.

“It’s not only a financial crisis, but it is a security crisis. We are at a debt to GDP level that we have not seen since World War Two, and we didn’t just complete a war. In fact, we’re looking at wars that the United States may have to get into in the future, and we can’t afford it, so we have to fix this, and we don’t…we have a spending problem in D.C. and, the thing that I’m most disappointed in is my Republican colleagues who are not willing to make the necessary cuts,” he said. “They’re not willing to do what’s important and necessary for the future of America, and look, cutting is difficult, but it’s something that we’re going to have to do if we want to save this country.”

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During the COVID pandemic, Burlison emerged as a champion of civil liberties, and an opponent of government overreach, and pledged that another attempt to enact policies, such as shutdowns and lockdowns, would not take place without a fight.

“This [the government reaction to COVID] was a horrific situation. We saw what a totalitarian regime might look like in America,” he said. “We got a taste of that and, I hope, I think that there’s a lot of patriots who are not going to let that happen again, and I think that there’s a lot of legislators that are trying to pass bills to make sure that…we don’t see those losses of liberty again.”

The family of a mother of five who was allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant slammed the Biden administration on Tuesday night for having “opened our borders” to the man accused of killing her.

Michael Morin, the brother of Rachel Morin, spoke at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Morin was killed in August after going out for a jog on a trail near her home in Maryland. Police found her body in a culvert, covered in bruises and with severe head trauma.

“Rachel, a joyful, accomplished athlete and mother of five was raped and murdered by a suspected illegal immigrant,” Michael Morin told the crowd at the Republican National Convention. “This was described as among the most brutal and violent offenses that has ever occurred in Harford County, Maryland history.”

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECTED IN MARYLAND MOM RACHEL MORIN’S MURDER FACES MAXIMUM PENALTY IF CONVICTED 

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – JULY 16: Family members of Rachel Morin speak on stage on the second day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 16, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  ((Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images))

Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, 23, faces a half-dozen charges, including first-degree murder, rape, and kidnapping, in connection with Rachel Morin’s death. Officials said Martinez Hernandez, who has suspected gang ties, fled his home country in February 2023 after a warrant was issued for the murder of a woman there.

He made three unsuccessful attempts to enter the United States before making it across the border on Feb. 13, 2023 near El Paso, Texas, authorities said.

Rachel’s brother slammed those who advocate for open borders.

“Open borders are often portrayed as compassionate and virtuous. But there is nothing compassionate about allowing violent criminals into our country and robbing children of their mother,” he said.

He then criticized the Biden administration for its policies at the border.

RACHEL MORIN’S MOM RIPS BIDEN’S INDIFFERENCE TO BORDER CRISIS: HE’S IN AN ‘IVORY TOWER’

Rachel Morin was dragged off a hiking trail Aug. 5, 2023, and brutally murdered.  (Family handout)

“Joe Biden and his designated border czar Kamala Harris opened our borders to him and others like him, empowering them to victimize the innocent,” he said.

He said they had not heard from the White House, but had heard from former President Donald Trump.

The speech came on day two of the RNC, where the theme was “Make America Secure Again.” Republicans repeatedly hammered the administration on the ongoing crisis at the southern border, accusing it of fueling the crisis by opening the border and rolling back Trump-era policies.

Before Morin spoke, attendees heard an emotional speech from Anne Fundner, a mother who lost her son to fentanyl. 

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The Biden administration says it has worked to solve the hemisphere-wide crisis, but has struggled because Congress has failed to provide funding and comprehensive immigration reform.

But it has pointed to reduced numbers since President Biden unveiled an executive order to limit some entries across the border last month. Since then, officials say, there has been a 50% drop in crossings. 

Fox News’ Michael Ruiz and Rebecca Rosenberg contributed to this report.
 

Several delegates at the Republican National Convention (RNC), including Arizona’s Stacey Goodman and Joe Neglia, were spotted donning ear bandages that mirrored the one being worn by former President Trump after he was wounded during an assassination attempt at his Pennsylvania rally on Saturday.

“Yesterday when he came in, and there was that eruption of love in the room, I thought, ‘what can I do to honor the truth? What can I possibly do?'” Neglia told Fox News Digital. “And then I saw the bandage and I thought, I can do that. So, I put it on simply to honor Trump and to express sympathy with him and unity with him.”

Neglia said he made the bandages en route to Milwaukee, where the convention is taking place this week. Trump has been wearing a bandage on his right ear where the bullet shot by Thomas Matthew Crooks’ pierced through his skin.

BIDEN CAMPAIGN, DNC RESTART REPUBLICAN CONVENTION COUNTERPROGRAMMING AFTER TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

GOP convention delegates wearing ear bandages in tribute to Donald Trump surviving an assassination attempt. (Elizabeth Elkind/Fox News)

“There’s a male version and a female version because there are only two genders!” Neglia said. Other attendees were spotted sporting the look, too.

Trump received a warm welcome, again, from delegates at the RNC on Tuesday night, where lawmakers, activists, and everyday Americans spoke about immigration, crime, and the fentanyl crisis – fitting the night’s theme of “Make America Safe Again.” This time, Trump arrived alongside his newly picked running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, where they took seats in Trump’s family box. 

MILWAUKEE VOTER VOWS TO VOTE TRUMP SINCE RESIDENTS ‘HAVEN’T GOTTEN ANYTHING’ UNDER DEMOCRATS IN DECADES

(Elizabeth Elkind/Fox News)

Trump arrived on Day 2 of the convention just in time to hear Sen. Ted Cruz, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson and his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, among others. 

He also heard from former UN ambassador Nikki Haley – his final rival to drop out of the race – and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who had also challenged Trump for the Republican nomination. Both have now endorsed the former president, as the Republican Party becomes more unified behind their standard-bearer. 

PELOSI ‘CONVINCED BIDEN WILL LOSE,’ WORKING THE PHONES WITH HOPES TO ‘EASE HIM OFF THE TICKET,’ REPORT SAYS

Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump and Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance applaud on Day 2 of the Republican National Convention (RNC), at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., July 16, 2024.  (REUTERS/Mike Segar)

LIVE UPDATES: REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION

Republicans enthusiastically rallied behind Trump, with many thanking God for protecting Trump from narrowly surviving an assassination attempt over the weekend. The lawmakers also slammed President Biden’s “soft-on-crime policies,” and for the crisis at the southern border –  two key issues central to the Republican platform.

“He has inspired a movement,” Rubio said in his speech. 

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Trump is not scheduled to speak until Thursday, the final night of the convention, where he will formally accept the Republican Party’s nomination for president.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley made her highly anticipated appearance at the Republican Convention, taking the stage to a mixture of cheers and boos from those in attendance.

Haley, who was former President Donald Trump’s fiercest primary rival, gave the former president her “strong endorsement” during the appearance in Milwaukee, ending months of speculation on if she would throw her weight behind her former rival.

But the initial reaction to Haley’s arrival stood in stark contrast to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Trump’s chief primary rival during the 2016 campaign, who received a standing ovation from those in the crowd, including Trump themselves.

BIDEN ADMITS ‘BULL’S-EYE’ COMMENT ABOUT TRUMP WAS A ‘MISTAKE’ AFTER ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

Former Republican presidential candidate and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley speaks during the second day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 16, 2024. (PEDRO UGARTE/AFP via Getty Images)

Nevertheless, Haley tried to send a message of unity, acknowledging that not everyone has to agree with Trump 100% to support him in this year’s election.

“You don’t have to agree with Trump 100 percent of the time to vote for him,” Haley said. “Take it from me. I haven’t always agreed with President Trump. But we agree more often than we disagree.”

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz speaks at the Republican National Convention. (Fox News)

TRUMP ANNOUNCES OHIO SEN JD VANCE AS HIS 2024 RUNNING MATE

Haley, who served as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations before running against him, was not always a sure bet to speak at the convention. However, after a failed assassination attempt on Trump at a Pennsylvania rally Saturday, a message of unifying behind the former president soon spread across the Republican Party.

The former South Carolina governor was followed on stage by another former Trump primary rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who continued to preach the message of unity during his remarks.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at the RNC. (Fox News)

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“My fellow Republicans, let’s send Joe Biden back to his basement and let’s send Donald Trump back to the White House. Life was more affordable when Donald Trump was president,” DeSantis said. “Our border was safer under the Trump administration, and our country was respected when Donald Trump was our commander in chief.”

MILWAUKEE – South Carolina GOP Senator Tim Scott is pushing back after the Democratic mayor of Milwaukee said “I don’t buy it” when asked about former President Donald Trump gaining popularity with Black voters. 

“Well, November 5th, you will have to buy it. It’ll be sold,” Scott told Fox News at the Republican National Convention in Wisconsin.

“I think there’s probably a reason why Tim Scott wasn’t selected to be the vice president even though Mr. Trump is supposedly trying to make inroads with African Americans,” Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said Tuesday during a press conference when asked about Scott’s outreach to the Black community. “I don’t buy that, I just don’t.”

Johnson added that he doesn’t think Scott has “the juice” to convince Black voters to vote for Trump.

TIM SCOTT DELIVERS ROUSING RNC SPEECH AFTER TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: ‘DEVIL CAME TO PENNSYLVANIA’

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson dismissed the notion that Republicans are growing their support among Black voters.  (Fox News/Getty)

“I think black people across the United States know that President Joe Biden’s agenda has been delivering not just for the United States, but specifically for Black people,” Johnson said. 

Scott, who held an event at the RNC promoting voter outreach to the Black community, told Fox News that “if we market our message” Trump will “see the highest turnout of African-American voters we’ve seen since he’s been running for president.”

“President Trump has been very successful and very effective in meeting the moment for African-American voters like he has for the rest of the country,” Scott said.

POLITICO SEEMS BAFFLED AT REPUBLICANS CREDITING ‘DIVINE INTERVENTION’ FOR SAVING TRUMP FROM ASSASSINATION

Senator Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina, attends the Independence Day parade in Merrimack, New Hampshire, US, on Tuesday, July 4, 2023. (Mel Musto/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Scott acknowledged to Fox News that it is difficult for Republicans to make inroads with Black women, who he called the most “loyal” and “fierce” voters in the Democratic Party. However, he argued that Black men are “very different.”

“They are what I call gettable,” Scott said. “If we sell our message sincerely, accurately, with passion, I believe that selling our message to the African-American community will result in a lot of strong turnout. 15%. I do not think it is unrealistic. We could go higher. But if we get to 15%, this game is all over.

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Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said he doesn’t think SEn. Tim Scott has “the juice” to convince Black voters to vote for Donald Trump. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

A USA Today/Suffolk University poll released last month found that support for Biden among Black voters has dropped roughly 20 percentage points in the swing states of Michigan and Pennsylvania since the last election. 

Fox News polling showed that Biden led Trump by 64 points with Black voters in July 2020. Today, Biden’s lead has shrunk to 42. 

MILWAUKEE — Republican Florida Rep. Cory Mills floated the idea of a “J13” committee styled after the Democrats’ Jan. 6 committee after Democrats’ anti-Trump rhetoric in the lead-up to the assassination attempt on the 45th president’s life. 

“Look, I think we need to identify the hypocrisy here. Whenever President Trump on Jan. 6 said, “Go home peacefully,’ but he was upset about things, he doesn’t have control of what people who are evil or have intent to cause bodily harm does. But yet they ridiculed him, and they still utilize the J6 argument as a way to try and vilify Republicans,” Mills told Fox News Digital from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. 

“Well, what about other rhetoric that has been said by Maxine Waters? ‘Get in the face of your elected officials,'” he said, paraphrasing California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters’ 2018 comment encouraging supporters to harass President Donald Trump at the time.

“‘Put a bullseye on Trump,'” he said, paraphrasing President Biden’s comment this month to donors just ahead of the assassination attempt against Trump Saturday during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Biden backtracked on the comment after Trump was shot in the ear in Pennsylvania. 

BIDEN ADMITS ‘BULL’S-EYE’ COMMENT ABOUT TRUMP WAS A ‘MISTAKE’ AFTER ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

Rep.-elect Cory Mills, R-Fla., attends a news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center about a resolution requesting information from the Biden administration on Ukraine funding Nov. 17, 2022.  (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Mills asked if those remarks were not also incitement of violence and if Democratic politicians would face a select committee similar to the J6 committee that investigated the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. 

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“Are they not going to be also with a J13-style select committee, as we did with J6, so that we can go ahead and play a tit-for-tat on how this works? I think that we need to understand that the games that they continue to play, that the idea of their hyper-polarization of our political system, is really on them. And it’s not on the Republican Party, who is trying to take it and dial it down a notch. It’s them weaponizing our government to go after the opposition.” 

President Biden speaks at a campaign rally in Madison, Wis. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)

On the first day of the convention Monday, Trump announced JD Vance as his his running mate. Mills praised the freshman Ohio senator as a strong supporter of Trump’s America First agenda. 

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The Florida congressman added that Vance’s background from a blue-collar family will likely speak volumes to voters, striking a similar chord to his own upbringing. 

U.S. Sen. JD Vance and wife Usha Chilukuri Vance look on as he is nominated for the office of vice president on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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“I grew up in a broken home where drug addiction and substance abuse, and things like this, was prevalent, and it destroyed our family,” Mills said. “My father spent time in prison. My mother spent time, because I was raised by my grandparents. And we lived in poverty. I can remember us living on around $6,800 for an entire year. We believed in having to hunt and fish.” 

Former President Trump, a Republican presidential nominee, and Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance react during the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee July 15, 2024.  (Reuter/Mike Segar)

Mills argued that Vance’s background from a working-class family before his nomination as Trump’s running mate will resonate with many Americans. 

“What [Vance] represents is the fact that your socioeconomic background that you’re born into doesn’t define you. That is what makes America so great, this idea of American exceptionalism, this idea of us becoming a great nation is equal opportunity. The fact that there is no glass ceiling. That you don’t have to be born into a legacy family or generational wealth. You can build that yourself through your own hard work and your dedication and commitment.

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“I think his youth, I think that the fact that he’s still an outsider who has not been corrupted by the political world, I think that his upbringing, it’s contrasting in many ways to what President Trump has done and also complementary in many ways,” Mills said. 

FIRST ON FOX: A former senior Homeland Security official and FBI agent is calling for a bipartisan commission to be formed to investigate the assassination attempt on former President Trump, arguing the public has lost trust in the federal agencies.

Mark Morgan most recently served as acting head of Customs and Border Protection under the Trump administration and also had a 20-year career with the FBI, including as a former SWAT operator and tactical instructor, and with the FBI’s critical incident response group. 

He spoke to Fox News Digital Tuesday about the ongoing reviews of Saturday’s assassination attempt.

“Here’s the reality that we have to face for those of us who were past and even those that are currently involved in these agencies. … America’s trust in the Department of Justice, the FBI, Congress, it has dropped precipitously the past few years. That’s just the reality,” Morgan said.

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Former President Trump, a Republican presidential candidate, pumps his fist as he is rushed into a car at a rally July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The assassination attempt has drawn bipartisan scrutiny from Congress over how the gunman was allowed to get so close to Trump and get multiple shots off at the former president. The heads of the House Oversight and Homeland Security committees have demanded briefings from agency heads. In the Senate, both Homeland Security Committee Chairman Gary Peters and ranking member Rand Paul announced they will investigate the matter. President Biden has directed an independent review of the incident, and the FBI is investigating.

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“So, the challenge is that although we have these investigations that are going to go on, I just don’t think the public trusts these agencies to really come forth with a comprehensive review and then a series of meaningful recommendations with respect to how we need to improve. And I also don’t think America trusts that they’re going to come forward with meaningful accountability for those that were involved in what is clearly a colossal security failure,” Morgan said.

The head of the Secret Service this week called the shooting “unacceptable,” while DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas called it a “failure” of the agency. But Morgan says if he were one of the agency heads, he would have already resigned.

Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan talks to reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House Oct. 8, 2019, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“In my opinion, if I was a Secret Service director, I would have already tendered my resignation and handed it to the president. But, just like the secretary of DHS, their ego won’t let them do the right thing,” Morgan said.

Morgan said he would like to see Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who previously chaired the Senate Homeland Security Committee, lead the commission. 

“He’s got the experience. He led the House Homeland Security committee on the Senate side. He knows DHS, how they operate, knows how the Secret Service operates. And I also think he’s got credibility on both sides of the aisle,” Morgan said.

He also said there would need to be experts from multiple administrations as part of the commission. 

“But let’s do a true bipartisan commission and look at it from A to Z because, right now, we’re going to have congressional committees doing their thing. We’re going to have the DHS IG and Secret Service doing their thing. We’re going to have the FBI doing their investigation in the shooting,” Morgan said.

“So, we’re going to have all these different stovepipe things that are happening, really independent of each other. And that’s why I see the commission would bring all those in together.

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“So, I’m not saying you stop any one of those things. What I say, though, is the commission would act as the umbrella to bring all those things together and to produce a single full and complete comprehensive report regarding just all the circumstances around it,” he said.

He also said the commission could look at the Secret Service as a whole, including methodology.

“This is a clear indication and justification that needs to happen. And so I don’t think you’re going to get that with these individual entities doing their thing. But the most important thing is, I don’t think the American people are going to have confidence in any of those entities regardless of what they report.”