Donald Trump Poll News

Vote-by-mail data in three key states shows the edge Democrats enjoyed in 2020 has plummeted, something one expert said is a great sign for Republicans and former President Donald Trump.

“It’s great news that Republicans are starting to early vote,” Jimmy Keady, the founder and president of JLK Political Strategies, a Republican consulting firm, told Fox News Digital. 

The comments come as the Democratic edge in vote-by-mail requests has shrunk significantly in Florida, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, according to data by Decision Desk HQ, signaling a shift in voter habits that have defined the last two elections.

FIRST ON FOX: HARRIS AIMS TO TROLL TRUMP – AGAIN – OVER CROWD SIZES

Former President Donald Trump attends a town hall meeting moderated by Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders at the Dort Financial Center in Flint, Michigan, on Sept. 17, 2024. (JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

According to the data, the Democratic lead in vote-by-mail requests has shrunk by over 5% in Florida, nearly 15% in North Carolina and over 35% in Pennsylvania.

Getting voters out to early in-person voting or to vote by mail can free up resources for campaigns, Keady said, allowing them to focus their attention on lower propensity voters who often play a big role in deciding elections.

“I’m sure voters complain all the time about text messages, about getting mail, about getting robocalls to go vote,” Keady said. “Campaigns are now sophisticated enough that once you go vote, those stop… once a voter goes to vote, and those stop, that allows resource allocation from that voter to another voter.”

Getting those lower propensity voters out could play a huge role in states like Pennsylvania and North Carolina, which are both expected to once again be swing states with razor-tight margins.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Leadership Conference, at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKING IN THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE SHOW

Vice President Kamala Harris holds a lead of less than a point in Pennsylvania, while Trump holds a similarly sized lead in North Carolina, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average, meaning the ground game to turn out voters on each side could be the deciding factor in the election.

The Democratic advantage in mail-in and early voting very well might have been the difference in the 2020 election, but Keady sees shifting momentum for the GOP on that front in 2024.

“It definitely signals that A, there’s turnout… but B, also that the base has adopted, kind of being able to accept that early voting is a proper and mostly secure way to vote,” Keady said.

Former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024 in Uniondale, New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

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That will help Republicans compete with Democrats in an area the party was at a decided disadvantage in 2020, Keady noted, something that could swing another close election in the GOP’s favor.

“As Republicans, we have to start getting the base to early vote, to do mail-in ballot, to do these things that we know are safe and secure, to get people out to the polls,” The Democrats have done this really well, for years.”

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

Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, has spent the last month reviewing plans, strategics and potential tough questions ahead of the Oct. 1 CBS Vice Presidential Debate against Democrat Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, according to a source familiar with the preparations by former President Trump’s running mate. 

House Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., was selected to play Walz during mock debates to prepare Vance for the Minnesota governor’s “folksy” Midwestern style, the source told Fox News Digital. 

The source revealed that Vance has been doing most of his preparations at his home in Cincinnati or in online sessions with his team. 

Members of Vance’s inner circle – including his wife Usha –  as well as Trump campaign strategist Jason Miller have been involved in prep sessions. The source said those helping Vance are immersing themselves in honing Walz’s debate style by watching videos of his past debates from his previous campaign runs. 
TRUMP-VANCE TICKET HAS DONE COMBINED 58 INTERVIEWS SINCE LAST MONTH COMPARED TO 18 FOR HARRIS-WALZ

Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, speaks to a crowd during a rally at the Berks County Fairgrounds on Sept. 21, 2024 in Leesport, Pennsylvania.  (Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images)

The source also pointed to Vance’s frequent media interviews as helping him prepare for the upcoming debate, set to take place in New York City.

During regular appearances on Sunday shows, Vance has gained experience in engaging in debate often with contentious network hosts and responding to attacks, the source added. 

Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., speaks at a rally featuring former President Trump and running mate JD Vance on July 27, 2024, in St Cloud, Minnesota.  (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

VANCE SAYS HE WILL KEEP CALLING HAITIAN MIGRANTS ‘ILLEGAL ALIENS’ DESPITE PAROLE STATUS

Meanwhile, Walz’s mock debates will feature U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg acting as JD Vance’s doppelganger, the Associated Press reported, citing people with knowledge of the candidate’s preparations. 

Trump already faced off against President Biden in a June 27 debate hosted by CNN, and Biden’s disastrous performance set into motion his eventual departure from the race and endorsement of Harris. After Trump and Harris took the stage in Philadelphia on Sept. 10 in the second presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle hosted by ABC News, Trump said on TRUTH Social there would be “no third debate.” 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks onstage at a Harris-Walz campaign rally at Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 21, 2024.  (Caroline Gutman for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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Meanwhile, Harris said in an X post over the weekend she would accept the terms of a debate on Oct. 23 hosted by CNN. During his campaign rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Saturday, Trump said Harris has done one debate, while, “I’ve done two. It’s too late to do another. I’d love to, in many ways, but it’s too late. The voting is cast.”

Fox News’ Caroline Elliott and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Vice President Kamala Harris holds a narrow lead over former President Trump in the crucial battleground state of Michigan, a new poll finds. 

With just 41 days until the presidential election on Nov. 5, Democratic candidate Harris is up three points over Republican Trump, 48% to 45%, according to a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll of 500 likely voters in the Great Lake State. 

The poll was taken Sept. 16-19, after the first and possibly only debate between Harris and Trump, and after a second assassination attempt against Trump on Sept. 15. It has a 4.4% margin of error. 

NEW POLL INDICATES WHETHER HARRIS OR TRUMP IS MAKING GAINS WITH YOUNGER VOTERS

Harris speaks at a Labor Day event at Northwestern High School in Detroit, Michigan, September 2, 2024. (JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

Six third-party candidates will also appear on the Michigan ballot, including independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who suspended his campaign last month and endorsed Trump. Though each polled under one percent, any of them could play spoiler if the margin between the two major party candidates tightens, according to David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center.

“If the Kamala Harris margin shrinks to a 1-point lead, the entire state hinges on the fringes of the Michigan ballot,” he told USA Today. “The behavior of third-party voters — people who are mocked for wasting their votes — could make the difference if they rotate to either Harris or Trump.”

HARRIS-TRUMP SHOWDOWN: PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEES HIT KEY BATTLEGROUND STATES AS ELECTION APPROACHES

Trump attends a town hall meeting moderated by Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders at the Dort Financial Center in Flint, Michigan, on September 17, 2024.  (JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

Kennedy has sought to remove his name from the ballot in several states since throwing his support behind Trump, including in Michigan. However, he is fighting to place his name on the ballot in New York, where he was disqualified, in an apparent attempt to pull support from Harris in the reliably blue state. 

Last month, the Michigan Supreme Court, in a split decision, reversed a lower court order that would have removed Kennedy’s name from the ballot. The Michigan Secretary of State’s office has said minor party candidates cannot withdraw from the race once they have gained ballot access. Kennedy has appealed his case to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. 

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING IN THE 2024 ELECTION

The major party candidates for president: Vice President Kamala Harris (left) and former President Donald Trump.  (Getty Images)

Michigan, along with fellow Rust Belt states Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, are together known as the “Blue Wall.” The trio have voted for the same presidential candidate, usually a Democrat, in every election since 1988. The exception was in 2016, when Trump captured all three states in his upset victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Four years later, President Biden defeated Trump in Michigan and the other Blue Wall states, also winning battleground states Arizona, Georgia and Nevada in the 2020 presidential election. 

The Trump and Harris campaigns have prioritized these Blue Wall states in campaign stops throughout the summer.  

The USA Today/Suffolk University poll found that Harris leads Trump by three points, 48% to 45%, in bellwether Kent County, which is home to Grand Rapids and surrounding suburbs. Trump won the county in 2016, 48% to Hillary Clinton’s 45%, while Biden prevailed there in 2020, winning 52% of the vote to Trump’s 46%.

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There is a significant gender gap between the major party candidates, with Harris leading among women 56% to Trump’s 37% support. Men preter Trump over Harris by a margin of 54% to 39%, according to the survey.

Trump leads slightly with independent voters, 42% to 41%.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Missouri and North Carolina joined the growing list of states that have started early voting in the 2024 election Tuesday.

Here’s everything you need to know about the key races and how to participate.

North Carolina is one of the most competitive states this cycle

North Carolina last voted for a Democrat president in 2008, when then-Sen. Barack Obama won the state by 0.3 points, or 14,177 votes.

Trump pulled out a convincing 3.7 point win in 2016, but that margin shrank to 1.3 points against Biden in 2020.

Late last month, the Fox News Poll had the two 2024 presidential candidates just a point apart from each other, with Democrat nominee Vice President Harris at 49% and GOP nominee former President Trump at 50%. North Carolina is ranked a Toss Up on the Fox News Power Rankings.

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The state has become more competitive as its population has grown. Over the last full decade, North Carolina added roughly 1.1 million people, the fourth-largest gain among all states.

Much of that growth has been in urban and suburban areas like those in solidly blue Mecklenburg and Wake counties.

The pandemic brought more wealthy, urban Americans from surrounding states, and there are pockets of college voters as well.

Rural areas have experienced some population decline, but they remain a powerful part of the state’s overall vote, and they vote overwhelmingly Republican.

Early voting begins today in Missouri and North Carolina. (Reuters/Nick Oxford)

Key down-ballot races in today’s early voting states

Across the states that begin early voting today, there are three competitive U.S. House races in North Carolina:

• 1st District: Democrat Rep. Don Davis won this open seat in the midterms by less than five points. This year, he’s up against Army veteran Laurie Buckhout for this northeastern district with a high proportion of Black voters. This race is a Toss Up on the Fox News Power Rankings.
• 13th and 14th Districts: Redistricting shifted both of these seats, once based in Raleigh and Charlotte, into sprawling, predominantly exurban and rural districts. That makes them easy targets for Republicans, who are likely to flip both of them this November. In the 13th District, small businessman Frank Pierce, a Democrat, is up against prosecutor Brad Knott, a Republican. In the 14th, it’s Army veteran and nurse Pam Genant, a Democrat, versus state legislator Tim Moore, a Republican.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ON VOTER ROLLS SPURS WATCHDOG GROUP TO SUE MARICOPA COUNTY

The 2024 election is well underway, with roughly 20 states beginning early voting.

How to vote in Missouri

This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Missouri.

Voting by mail

Missouri began absentee voting on Tuesday. Applicants need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. The state must receive a ballot application by Oct. 23, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5.

Early in-person voting

Absentee ballots can be returned in-person through Election Day.

Voter registration

Missouri residents can register to vote online, by mail or in person through Oct. 9.

States that begin early voting this week.

How to vote in North Carolina

This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for North Carolina.

Voting by mail

North Carolina began absentee voting for registered voters on Tuesday, having begun sending absentee ballots to military and overseas voters on Friday. Applicants do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. The state must receive a ballot application by Oct. 29, and that ballot must be delivered to county officials by Nov. 5.

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Early in-person voting

Early in-person voting varies by location in North Carolina. Check the state’s website for more information. The last day to vote in-person is Nov. 2.

Voter registration

North Carolina residents can register to vote online or by mail through Oct. 11. They can also register in-person during early voting between Oct. 17 and Nov. 2.

ARIVACA, Ariz. — An Arizona rancher has seen massive numbers of migrants cross through his ranch, which he blames on not only the ongoing border crisis, but the Biden administration’s refusal to finish Trump-era wall construction.

Jim Chilton, with his wife Sue, own a massive cattle ranch which includes land along the U.S. side of the U.S.-Mexico border. When Former President Donald Trump was in office, he built more than 450 miles of border wall, including both new construction and the replacement of prior fencing and other barriers.

Some of that construction occurred on the Chilton ranch with plans to keep building. However, when President Biden took office in 2021, construction stopped abruptly. Contracts were canceled and a stretch of land on the Chilton ranch was left either open or with Normandy barriers which are easy to traverse. There has been some construction under the Biden administration, but it has been largely limited to repairs and some small gaps.

EX-BORDER PATROL CHIEF RIPS BIDEN ADMIN FOR ALLEGEDLY SUPPRESSING INFO ON MIGRANTS WITH POTENTIAL TERROR TIES

The end of border wall construction on the Chilton ranch. (Adam Shaw/Fox News Digital)

Chilton is furious.

“I am personally outraged that President Biden stopped the wall. The wall works,” Jim Chilton, who spoke at the Republican National Convention in July, told Fox News Digital at his ranch.

“It’s 32 feet high, and it’s got a solid five feet of metal on top, extremely hard to get over. Each of these [bollards] have cement inside. And it’s extremely hard to cut it,” he said.

Border wall stretched along much of the Chilton ranch, but not all of it. (Adam Shaw/ Fox News Digital)

“Biden stopped Trump’s wall. Hopefully, in my opinion, Trump gets elected so he can finish the wall and secure the border,” he said.

After the administration took office, the crisis at the southern border erupted, with record high apprehensions across the border. Those levels have come down this year, but Chilton says he has tracked over 3,560 suspected illegal immigrants on cameras set up in his ranch. He has caught a large number of them on camera.

TOP HOUSE COMMITTEE SHREDS BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN ON BORDER CRISIS IN NEW REPORT: ‘ASSAULT ON THE RULE OF LAW’ 

He says it isn’t the migrants, who turn themselves in to either Border Patrol or a humanitarian group that sets up near the wall gap, that concern him, but those coming in in camouflage and seeking to avoid detection. Backpacks are left on the Mexican side of the wall apparently in preparation for the next group planning to come across.

This image shows migrants caught on camera at a ranch in Arivaca. (Jim and Sue Chilton.)

“People are going north in camouflage and carpet shoes. These are serious hombres,” Chilton said “They want to be in the United States without being detected. The Border Patrol rarely catches them. And many of them are packing drugs or other contraband. Some are MS-13 gangsters trying to get into the country. They don’t want to be apprehended.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

The dangers for the migrants are severe. In the intense Arizona heat, migrants can quickly get dehydrated, disoriented or fall and hurt themselves — and the vastness of the environment means someone may be unlikely to find them. Chilton, who opposes illegal immigration but doesn’t want people to die on his ranch, has set up a number of taps on the water sources for his cattle, so migrants can get clean water if they reach them and avoid dehydration.

Trump has promised to launch a mass deportation operation and to finish wall construction if re-elected. The Biden administration has said that walls are ineffective, and have promoted a strategy of expanding lawful pathways while implementing “consequences” for illegal entry.

Jim Chilton has called for the border wall to be completed. (Adam Shaw/ Fox News Digital)

While numbers hit record highs in 2023, numbers this year have dropped sharply, with a drop by more than 50% since June when President Biden signed an executive order limiting entries into the U.S.

Chilton isn’t too concerned for his own safety, given he knows that most migrants who get deep into the ranch are seeking to avoid detection, but he carries a gun — and drew it when approaching certain areas when he patrolled parts of the ranch with Fox News Digital.

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Chilton, who has owned the ranch since the early 1990s, accused Biden and Vice President Harris of having “welcomed people to come into the United States, and they’ve done everything possible to make it very desirable.”

He pointed to reports of free travel, bank cards, medical care and housing that migrants can get in some parts of the country.

“Why aren’t we creating jobs for people here like veterans and bringing in more people that will need jobs? Why are we providing housing for the undocumented when our own people aren’t getting free hotels? I ask the question, why?“

A new poll indicates surging support among America’s youngest voters for Vice President Harris in her 2024 showdown against former President Trump.

Harris tops Trump by 31 points among people aged 18-29 likely to vote in the presidential election, according to a poll released Tuesday morning by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics (IOP) at the Harvard Kennedy School.

That’s a dramatic switch from Harvard’s survey from this spring, which indicated President Biden topping Trump by just 13 points among likely youth voters.

The numbers in Harvard’s spring survey, as well as similar findings in other polls, raised alarms among Democrats, as younger voters have long been a key part of the party’s base. 

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING IN THE 2024 ELECTION

Vice President Harris waves during a campaign rally in Madison, Wis., on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (Alex Wroblewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Biden dropped his re-election bid in July in the wake of a disastrous debate performance against Trump, and Harris instantly enjoyed a wave of enthusiasm and momentum as she replaced her boss atop the Democrats’ 2024 ticket.

“This poll reveals a significant shift in the overall vibe and preferences of young Americans as the campaign heads into the final stretch,” longtime IOP polling director John Della Volpe said. “Vice President Harris has strengthened the Democratic position among young voters, leading Trump on key issues and personal qualities.”

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Harris grabs the support of 61% of likely voters aged 18-29, according to the poll, with Trump at 30%. Green Party candidate Jill Stein, Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver and independent Cornel West each stand at 1% support, with 6% undecided or refusing to answer.

The vice president’s lead over Trump exceeds the roughly 25-point victory by Biden over Trump among younger voters, according to a Fox News Voter Analysis of the 2020 presidential election.

The latest Fox News national poll, conducted this month, indicated Harris topping Trump by 17 points among voters under age 30.

Republican presidential nominee former President Trump arrives for a campaign rally at Wilmington International Airport, Sept. 21, 2024, in Wilmington, N.C. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The poll points to a number of factors fueling Harris’ very large margin over Trump.

Among them, a significant enthusiasm gap of nearly three-quarters of young Democrats saying they will “definitely” vote, compared to 6-in-10 Republicans, and a jump in Harris’ approval rating as vice president, from 32% in the spring to 44% now. Harris’ favorable rating now stands at plus five points, while Trump’s favorables are 30 points underwater.

Also boosting Harris: She outperforms Trump on key issues and personal qualities asked of both major party nominees in the survey.

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The poll also points to a boost for Harris from social media, highlighting that just over half of young voters questioned “encountering memes about Harris online in the last month, 34% of whom say it positively influenced their opinion. Conversely, 56% have seen memes about Trump, with 26% reporting a negative impact on their perception.”

The survey also spotlights a widening gender gap of 30 points, up from 17 points in the spring.

“While both men and women are moving toward Harris, the rate of female support eclipses male support,” the poll’s release notes.

Vice President Harris and former President Trump are shown during their presidential debate at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia on Sept. 10, 2024. (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

According to the survey, Harris holds a 53%-36% margin among likely male voters aged 18-29, but her lead surges to 70%-23% among likely female voters.

Pointing to his survey’s results, Della Volpe emphasized that “Gen Z and young millennials’ heightened enthusiasm signals a potentially decisive role for the youth vote in 2024.”

The survey by the Institute of Politics is Harvard’s 48th Youth Poll. Over the past quarter-century, Harvard University has become a leader in gauging young Americans’ political opinions and voting trends.

The latest edition of the poll was conducted Sept. 4-16 with 2,002 people 18-29 nationwide questioned. The survey’s overall sampling error is plus or minus 2.65 percentage points.

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

Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis has been crisscrossing the country to attend fundraisers for her re-election campaign with Democratic allies in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and beyond. 

Earlier this month, Willis traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend her own “2024 Re-Election Fundraising Reception” on Sept. 13. 

“All contributions up to $3,300 are appreciated,” the invitation read. 

Willis also headlined a panel in Washington, D.C., during the Annual Congressional Black Caucus Weekend with Democrat Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, where they discussed ways to “clapback against MAGA.” 

Last week, Willis continued her fundraising swing, holding another “Re-Election Fundraising Reception” in Los Angeles on Sept. 17. 

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis arrives to speak after winning the Democratic primary on Tuesday, May 21, 2024 in Buckhead, Georgia. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

That event drew different levels of contributions. 

“Team Fani” donors were asked to give $101; “Ally” donors were asked for $250; “Partner” donors were asked for $500; and “Supporter” donors were asked for $1,000, with maximum contributions of $3,300 requested. 

Willis, on Sept. 13, had been subpoenaed to testify before Georgia’s State Senate Special Committee on Investigations. 

That committee was holding a hearing as part of its investigation into allegations that Willis had profited off former President Donald Trump’s prosecution and colluded with Democrat officials to bring charges against the former president. 

FORMER SENATOR LAUNCHES 6-FIGURE AD BLITZ AGAINST FANI WILLIS AHEAD OF GEORGIA ELECTION

The subpoena compelled Willis to testify and also to provide documents related to the investigation, and to her relationship with former special prosecutor Nathan Wade. Willis reportedly had an “improper affair” with Wade, who she hired to help bring the case against Trump. Wade later resigned from his position. 

Willis filed an emergency motion to stop the subpoena from compelling her testimony before the Georgia State Senate committee. 

A Fulton County judge, however, denied her motion. 

While in Washington, D.C., Willis also headlined a panel during the Annual Congressional Black Caucus Weekend with Democrat Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, where they discussed ways to “clapback against MAGA.” 

This week, Willis continued her fundraising swing, holding another “Re-Election Fundraising Reception” in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Sept. 17. 

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend her own “2024 Re-Election Fundraising Reception.” (Fani for DA)

That event drew different levels of contributions. 

“Team Fani” donors were asked to give $101; “Ally” donors were asked for $250; “Partner” donors were asked for $500; and “Supporter” donors were asked for $1,000, with maximum contributions of $3,300 requested. 

There were more fundraisers for Willis on Friday and Sunday in Houston.

“Instead of doing her job, Fani Willis is gallivanting across the U.S. raising money and rubbing elbows with her radical cronies in California and Washington — abandoning the families of Fulton County, and her oath to uphold the law,” Greater Georgia Chairwoman and former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler told Fox News Digital. 

“Time and time again, she puts her financial and political interests above serving our citizens,” Loeffler said. “No amount of blue state cash can hide the fact that she’s only fighting for herself.” 

GEORGIA JUDGE DISMISSES TWO CRIMINAL COUNTS AGAINST TRUMP IN FANI WILLIS’ 2020 ELECTION INTERFERENCE CASE

Loeffler launched Greater Georgia in 2021. It is the only organization in the state working to oust Willis ahead of the Nov. 5 election. 

The conservative advocacy group launched a $100,000 ad campaign against Willis earlier this month, aimed at exposing her “failures” ahead of Election Day. 

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis held another “Re-Election Fundraising Reception” in Los Angeles on Sept. 17. (Fani for DA)

Meanwhile, earlier this month, Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee dismissed two criminal counts in Willis’ Georgia 2020 election interference case against Trump, ruling that Georgia prosecutors had no authority to bring the charges that related to the alleged filing of false documents in federal court. 

McAffee, earlier this year, dismissed six other charges against Trump, saying Willis failed to allege sufficient detail. 

Trump had pleaded not guilty to all counts. 

Former President Donald Trump turned himself in in August 2023 at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta after being charged in District Attorney Fani Willis’ investigation into his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state. (Fulton County Sheriff’s Office)

In June, the Georgia Court of Appeals paused the proceedings until it hears the case to disqualify Willis in October.

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The Georgia Court of Appeals said it would hear Trump’s argument to have Willis disqualified on Dec. 5 — a month after the 2024 presidential election. 

In a separate decision earlier this month, though, McAfee upheld the racketeering charge in the case, which has been brought against all the defendants. 

In just the last few days, there’s been a tremendous media pile-on against Donald Trump.

Whether you think that’s warranted or not – much of it is based on his own words – we are back to a Trump-centric universe. Kamala Harris is making little or no news, despite such spectacles as the Oprah show, and Trump, as usual, is back to driving each news cycle.

I have been telling people since 2015 that negative stories are good for Trump because the ensuing debate then unfolds on his terms. In fact, he deliberately uses provocative or inflammatory language as catnip for the press, knowing that even if he’s denounced that will drive coverage for at least a couple of days.

The vice president generally gets such favorable press that many people assume she’s got this race wrapped up. When an NBC poll shows her leading Trump by 5 points, she’s said to have the momentum, although national surveys are basically meaningless.

SCANDALS, FAILED ASSASSINATIONS AND POLITICAL RHETORIC: BOTH SIDES GO HIGH AND LOW

And a New York Times poll shows Trump leading in the key Sunbelt states that the Harris camp hoped to pick off. He has a 5-point lead in Arizona, a 4-point lead in Georgia and a 2-point lead in North Carolina.

That’s within striking distance and in some cases a statistical tie. But the Times piece says that many voters believe Trump “improved their lives when he was president – and worry that a Kamala Harris White House would not.”

That’s the thing. Trump’s already had four years in the Oval Office. And while there was no shortage of chaos – two impeachments, January 6th – plenty of folks remember a strong economy. And they want more details about whether Harris would take the country in a more liberal direction, even as she puts her rhetorical focus on the middle class and small business (as well as abortion rights).

Plus, it’s hard to run as a change candidate when you’re part of the incumbent administration and large numbers see the country as being on the wrong track.

(Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports)

Virtually everyone in America has a set-in-stone view of the former president. His MAGA loyalists have been with him since he said in his first campaign that “I could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue” and not lose support. 

That takes on a more ominous tone now that Trump has barely escaped assassinaton twice – and, after the Florida golf course attempt, blamed the attacks on “danger to democracy” language by Harris and the Democrats. Many in the media have made Hitler comparisons, and the truth is both sides have used incendiary language.

Sometimes Trump just resorts to trolling – “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” – to get chattering classes chattering, even though he much wanted her endorsement.

Let’s look at the coverage in recent days:

TRUMP INDICATES HE WON’T MAKE ANOTHER PRESIDENTIAL RUN IN 2028 IF UNSUCCESSFUL THIS TIME

The Washington Post describes “Donald Trump’s imaginary world,” where “Americans can’t venture out to buy a loaf of bread without getting shot, mugged or raped. Immigrants in a small Ohio town eat their neighbors’ cats and dogs. World War III and economic collapse are just around the corner. And kids head off to school only to return at day’s end having undergone gender reassignment surgery.

“The former president’s imaginary world is a dark, dystopian place, described by Trump in his rallies, interviews, social media posts and debate appearances to paint an alarming picture of America under the Biden-Harris administration.

It is a distorted, warped and, at times, absurdist portrait of a nation where the insurrectionists who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to deadly effect were merely peaceful protesters, and where unlucky boaters are faced with the unappealing choice between electrocution or a shark attack. His extreme caricatures also serve as another way for Trump to traffic in lies and misinformation, using an alternate reality of his own making to create an often terrifying — and, he seems to hope — politically devastating landscape for his political opponents.”

Trump also accused Tim Walz speaking positively about “execution” after a baby is born–though Washington Post’s Fact-Checker says the governor never said that, and that fewer than 1 percent of abortions are performed after 21 weeks of pregnancy.

Democratic vice presidential candidate and Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, delivers the keynote address at the 2024 Human Rights Campaign’s National Dinner in Washington D.C., Saturday, Sept., 7, 2024.  (DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

In the New York Times, conservative writer David French uses self-described “Black Nazi” and pro-slavery GOP candidate Mark Robinson, who’s running for North Carolina governor, to slam Trump.

French says he’s endorsed Kamala “because I believe that a Harris victory gives Republicans ‘a chance to build something decent’ from the ruins of a Trump defeat.

“After enduring weeks of lies about the Haitian immigrants who live in Springfield, Ohio, and an entire news cycle devoted to covering Trump’s connection with Laura Loomer, one of the most overtly racist figures in MAGA America (she once spoke at a conference of white nationalists and declared, ‘I consider myself to be a white advocate, and I openly campaigned for the United States Congress as a white advocate’) — I’m hardening my view. Trump loses now or the Republicans are lost for a generation. Maybe more…

“This has changed the composition of the party. While many decent people remain — and represent the hope for future reform — Trump’s Republican Party has become a magnet for eccentrics and conspiracy theorists of all stripes.” 

64 DAYS: KAMALA HARRIS HAS YET TO DO FORMAL PRESS CONFERENCE SINCE EMERGING AS DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE

Back at the Washington Post, the Trump campaign is described as imploding: 

“In a single 24-hour span at the end of last month, for example, he amplified a crude joke about Harris performing a sex act; falsely accused her of staging a coup against President Joe Biden; promoted tributes to the QAnon conspiracy theory; hawked digital trading cards; and became embroiled in a public feud with staff and officials at Arlington National Cemetery.

“The Swift attack was especially concerning to Trump’s advisers, who are worried about attracting female voters.”

And there are his constant tributes to “the late, great Hannibal Lecter,” the movie serial killer.

“Some campaign advisers are eager to move on from Trump’s and Vance’s unverifiable claims about Haitian immigrants eating cats and dogs — a potentially detrimental news cycle that has stretched into its second week — but also acknowledge that Trump rarely retreats, even when it might be politically advantageous to do so.”

The piece describes Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s first campaign manager, as playing a divisive role, to which he responded: “Same old nonsense that has already been written by the Washington Compost. Your obsession with my volunteer efforts just demonstrates your continued hatred of Donald J. Trump and prove you will stop at nothing to try and prevent him from becoming the 47th President of the United States.”

(Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Post op-ed columnist Ruth Marcus says Trump is “crossing a hazardous new line” by saying it will be the fault of Jewish people, insufficiently grateful for his pro-Israel policies, if he loses the election:

“They threaten, if he does lose, and especially if he continues this line of argument, to unleash the fury of disappointed Trump supporters on Jews. It does not take much to imagine the backlash, and the violence, that could ensue. We Jews know something about being scapegoated…

Trump has long had an unnerving habit of bringing up the fact of people’s Judaism — sometimes mistakenly — on occasions when it seems irrelevant at best. ‘Who would have thought my top guys are Jews?’ Trump observed to aides Jared Kushner, Stephen Miller and Jason Miller aboard Air Force One, according to the New York Times’s Maggie Haberman. (In fact, Jason Miller, as he told Trump, is not Jewish.)” 

By contrast, a Times piece on Harris’ record as a prosecutor soberly finds “a coherent record that is for the most part consistent. Ms. Harris seemed particularly focused on protecting the most vulnerable victims by cracking down on violent offenders while seeking alternatives to incarceration for less serious criminals.” 

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It’s not that each individual story isn’t based on reported facts. But the tsunami of anti-Trump pieces is a reminder of how relentlessly negative his coverage is – his supporters just don’t trust the media – when compared to the general praise for the Democratic nominee.

Footnote: As I was typing this column, I got a statement from Trump saying “the Kamala Harris/Joe Biden Department of Justice and FBI are mishandling the second assassination attempt on my life since July.” He says Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state of Florida should handle the investigations and prosecutions instead.

FIRST ON FOX – A nonpartisan police leadership organization that notes that it is the only national law enforcement advocacy group to endorse political candidates is weighing in on the 2024 White House race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

The Police Leaders for Community Safety said Monday that it is endorsing Harris, in an announcement shared first with Fox News.

The recently formed organization – which says it is led by a diverse group of prominent police professionals who have been at the helm of numerous major national law enforcement leadership groups – highlights that its mission is to champion “policies to make communities and the people in them safer, improve and evolve policing, and safeguard the rule of law.”

The group’s backing gives Harris support from a major law enforcement group following the endorsement earlier this month of Trump by the National Fraternal Order of Police, the country’s largest police union.

And earlier this year, Trump also landed the endorsement of another major law enforcement union – the International Union of Police Associations – as well as the National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO).

NATION’S LARGEST AND OLDEST POLICE UNION MAKES AN ENDORSEMENT IN THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris (Fox News )

“This endorsement reflects Vice President Harris’ track record and unwavering commitment to public safety and the rule of law,” Sue Riseling, chair of Police Leaders for Community Safety, said.

Police Leaders for Community Safety board member David Mahoney, a former Dane County, Wisconsin, sheriff and past president of the National Sheriffs’ Association, said that Harris “spent her prosecutorial career protecting people, supporting victims and holding accountable those who have harmed others and betrayed the public trust. As a lawmaker, she has fought hard for the critical law enforcement-backed policies needed to fight crime and protect the public.”

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Additionally, Board Vice Chair Rick Myers, a former police chief in eight communities in multiple states, said that “too many politicians call themselves tough on crime and say they support law enforcement but then don’t have the courage to do what is right to keep us safe…We need a leader who will protect both the 2nd Amendment and our nation from the scourge of gun violence, and that leader is Kamala Harris.” 

Vice President Kamala Harris arrives to speak during a campaign stop at the Throwback Brewery, in North Hampton, New Hampshire, on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Regardless of downward trends in many crime categories nationally, crime remains a leading issue on the minds of American voters. 

Trump has argued that Harris, a former prosecutor, San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general, is soft on crime and anti-police and has blamed her for persistent crime issues in San Francisco.  

WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLL SHOWS IN THE HARRIS-TRUMP 2024 SHOWDOWN 

The former president and GOP nominee has called for more aggressive policing, less oversight by the federal government, and more military equipment for local police departments.

Former President Trump arrives for a campaign rally at Wilmington International Airport on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024 in North Carolina. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Harris has spotlighted Trump’s legal controversies – he made history earlier this year as the first former or current president convicted of a felony – and argues he has been hostile to law enforcement that has investigated him.

The vice president and Democratic Party nominee spotlights the Biden-Harris administration’s record on law enforcement funding through pandemic relief funds. She advocates for stronger federal oversight and less military equipment for local police departments.

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Harris campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, in a statement following the endorsement, noted that “as a prosecutor who has stood with law enforcement throughout her entire career, Vice President Harris took a tough and smart approach on crime: increasing conviction rates, holding violent criminals accountable, and keeping communities safe. She also worked tirelessly to make the criminal justice system more fair – especially for communities of color.”

She argued that “this November, Americans will choose between someone who spent her career enforcing the rule of law and someone who has been convicted of breaking them.”

The Harris campaign notes that the latest endorsement follows the backing of the vice president by 100 law enforcement officials, including officers who protected the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack by Trump supporters, and over 700 national security officials.

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

Republican incumbent for Iowa’s 1st District, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, received a warning sign from a Monday poll, which placed her slightly behind her Democratic challenger.

The new generic ballot poll from the Des Moines Register shows a Republican trailing three points behind Democrat to fill the district’s seat in the House. It is the closest race in the state, with Republicans favored in all three of Iowa’s other House races.

Miller-Meeks defeated a Republican primary challenger earlier this year, and polls have shown alternating advantage for her and her challenger, Democrat Christina Bohannan.

The Register poll surveyed 811 Iowa adults, including 656 likely voters, from Sept. 8-11. The poll advertises a margin of error of 3.8%. The pollster did not name either candidate during the survey, instead asking respondents whether they favored having a Republican or Democrat fill the seat.

GREG GUTFELD: MILLER-MEEKS ‘MISSED AN OPPORTUNITY’ TO GRILL COVID-ERA OFFICIAL ON THE LIVES RUINED

Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Republican of Iowa, faces a 3-point deficit against her Democratic opponent, according to a new poll. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images))

A spokesman for the Miller-Meeks campaign brushed off the poll in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“To extrapolate from 160 odd interviews when the pollsters didn’t even ask a ballot where they named the candidates is next to worthless,” the spokesman said. “But, yes, this is a competitive race, as Democrats and their backers have already spent millions of dollars on TV advertising distorting the congresswoman’s record.”

“Once voters understand how extreme Christina Bohannan is on the issues, we’re confident that voters in the district will side with Mariannette Miller-Meeks,” the statement continued.

The Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll has found repeated swings in Miller-Meeks’ district throughout the year. In June, the generic ballot poll ended in Miller-Meeks’ favor, with a 53% to 41% matchup between a generic GOP candidate and a Democrat. The reverse was true in a generic poll in February, which had the Democrat leading 49% to 45%.

WIFE OF HARRIS’ VP PICK SETS SOCIAL MEDIA ABLAZE WITH ‘BIZARRE’ ADMISSION ABOUT 2020 RIOTS

Meanwhile, the Cook Political Report still has Miller-Meeks’ district down as “Lean Republican.” Fox News’ power rankings also had the district as “Likely Republican” in August.

Iowa’s 1st Congressional district has flipped back and forth in polls throughout the year. (REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz)

NEW POLL SHOWS HARRIS SURGING IN IOWA, A STATE THOUGH TO BE SAFE FOR

Some Republican voters in the Register poll expressed frustration with Miller-Meeks for not being supportive enough of former President Donald Trump.

“Our own Republicans are so milquetoast wishy-washy that they’re almost worthless, And that’s the category I would put Meeks in,” Jim Schenk, a 62-year-old Republican told the paper.

“She’s just sitting there not doing anything,” he added. “The only thing you can say about her is that she’s not actively harming us like a Democrat would be doing.”

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Schenk said he believes Miller-Meeks has been hesitant to defend Trump because she knows she represents a vulnerable district.

Acknowledgment of an improper tax credit received by the Democratic Senate nominee in Maryland is giving her Republican opponent some political ammunition – in a race that’s one of a handful which may decide if the GOP wins back the chamber’s majority.

Angela Alsobrooks’ campaign says the chief executive of Prince George’s County – Maryland’s second-largest county – will pay back taxes after improperly taking advantage of property tax breaks.

The tax credits – which Alsobrooks did not qualify for – included one meant for low-income senior citizens and a homestead tax break, which is restricted to homes listed as an owner’s primary residence.

BLUE-STATE REPUBLICAN TOUTS HIS ANTI-TRUMP CREDENTIALS

Democratic Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks speaks at a campaign event on Gun Violence Awareness Day at Kentland Community Center on June 7, 2024, in Landover, Maryland. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Alsobrooks’ campaign says she was not aware of the tax errors, which were first reported by CNN. The campaign adds that the tax error resulted in Alsobrooks paying more in property taxes.

Alsobrooks is facing off with former two-term Republican Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland in a very competitive race to succeed Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin, who is retiring this year after serving nearly two decades in the Senate and nearly six decades as a state and then federal lawmaker. Hogan is aiming to flip a long-held Democratic seat in an overwhelmingly blue state.

SENATE DEMOCRATS CAMPAIGN CHAIR GOES ONE-ON-ONE WITH FOX NEWS

“It’s deeply disturbing that Angela Alsobrooks thinks the rules don’t apply to her. She campaigns on raising taxes while failing to pay her own and taking advantage of tax credits reserved for the poor and elderly. She claims to be unaware of tax laws it was her job to enforce,” Hogan campaign spokesperson Blake Kernen argued.

Kernen added, “Hogan has always stood up for taxpayers and in the Senate he will continue to fight for fairness and fiscal responsibility.”

Former two-term Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland celebrates his victory in the Republican Senate primary, in Annapolis on May 14, 2024. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

Alsobrooks’ campaign noted Hogan – in 2016 – also received a tax break on his Maryland home while he was living in the governor’s mansion in Annapolis. But governors are exempt from residency requirements.

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Democrats control the Senate by a razor-thin 51-49 margin, and Republicans are looking at a favorable election map this year with Democrats defending 23 of the 34 seats up for grabs.

One of those seats is in West Virginia, a deep red state that Trump carried by nearly 40 points in 2020. With moderate Democrat-turned-Independent Sen. Joe Manchin, a former governor, not seeking re-election, flipping the seat is nearly a sure thing for the GOP.

Republicans are also aiming to flip seats in Ohio and Montana, two states Trump comfortably carried four years ago. And five more Democratic-held seats up for grabs this year are in crucial presidential-election battleground states.

With Democrats trying to protect their fragile Senate majority, Hogan’s late entry into the race in February gave them an unexpected headache in a state previously considered safe territory. Hogan left the governor’s office at the beginning of 2023 with very positive approval and favorable ratings.

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

The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee is pushing back against the Supreme Court’s recent presidential immunity ruling, suggesting Democrats are eyeing ways to limit former President Trump’s abilities that were expanded by the high court’s decision.

“It is up to Congress, the representative branch of the people, to defend the constitutional order against presidents who would trample the freedoms of the people,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said at a press conference alongside former GOP Rep. Joe Walsh.

“This declaration is about protecting the freedoms of the people by closing statutory loopholes that could allow a president to exploit the executive power to trample constitutional freedom and liberty.”

He’s helping to spearhead an effort urging members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to sign a “No Dictators Declaration.”

NATION’S LARGEST AND OLDEST POLICE UNION MAKES AN ENDORSEMENT IN THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Rep. Jamie Raskin helped roll out a push aimed at limiting the presidential immunity expanded by former President Trump’s Supreme Court case. (Getty Images)

Raskin, who held the press conference backed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Monday, did not mention Trump by name. 

The website for the effort similarly stresses that “this isn’t a partisan issue.” 

When explaining the “five pillars” of the pledge, however, Raskin alluded to a host of accusations that have been lodged against the former president.

“It’s got five main pillars to it – one, limiting the president’s power to declare bogus domestic and foreign emergencies to seize power and bypass congressional authority. Two, restricting the president’s ability to use the Insurrection Act to deploy the military domestically against the people,” Raskin said.

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“Three – preventing the adoption of partisan, personal and ideological loyalty tests, loyalty oaths and similar authoritarian measures designed to purge the professional civil service, and replace qualified workers with unqualified party loyalists and sycophants.”

“Four, ensuring that presidents who abuse their powers to commit crimes can be prosecuted like all other citizens. Because no one is above the law in America, and those of us who aspire and attain to public office are nothing but the servants of the people,” he continued. 

“And fifth, constraining the president’s ability to use investigative and prosecutorial decisions and resources to pursue personal political vendettas against disfavored groups and perceived enemies of the president.”

The Supreme Court broadened presidential immunity in a key case this year. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Trump’s Supreme Court case stems from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s probe into the ex-president and his allies’ alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Smith filed an amended, superceding indictment against Trump in the case after the court’s conservative majority granted the office of the president broad immunity for “official” acts, the specifics of which were to be determined by lower courts.

Asked by Fox News Digital whether the effort could turn into legislative action if Democrats win the House majority in November, Raskin suggested it was possible.

WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLL SHOWS IN THE HARRIS-TRUMP 2024 SHOWDOWN 

“I hope that when we get back in, that we will be able to have at least a couple of serious hearings about the problem of overreach in the executive branch and weakness to potential tyrants and despots and dictators,” Raskin said.

“I hope that those hearings would lead us to create a legislative package to address these structural deficiencies in our statutory system.”

Raskin is the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. (Reuters/Mike Segar)

He added, “I would hope that Republicans would come along.”

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Walsh, a Tea Party Republican who left office in January 2013 and who has been a vocal Trump critic, also heavily suggested Trump inspired the “No Dictators” effort but noted it brought together himself and Raskin, despite their larger political disagreements.

“We’re locked in arms right now because we have somebody running for president who has promised to be a dictator,” Walsh said. “This is a bipartisan effort every member of the House and every member of the Senate should easily sign and pledge that they don’t want – we will not have a dictator as president.”

One group of voters could fuel a win for Democrats in the Arizona Senate race while also propelling former President Trump to victory in the key battleground state. 

Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris among registered voters in Arizona 49% to 45% in a new poll from the New York Times and Siena College. This was a notable shift from their numbers last month, when Harris came out on top. 

At the same time, Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., bested Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake 50% to 41%. 

‘PRETTY DAMN SIGNIFICANT’: SLOTKIN SUFFERS BLOW IN MICHIGAN AS FARM BUREAU JILTS DEMS TO ENDORSE GOP CANDIDATE

Former President Trump and Rep. Ruben Gallego were both endorsed by the police group. (Reuters)

According to the New York Times, “The respondents who said they were splitting their ticket – supporting Mr. Gallego and Mr. Trump – were much more likely to be Latino, less college-educated and lower-income.”

The poll was conducted in English and Spanish on cell phones and landlines in Arizona and 2,077 likely voters were surveyed between Sept. 17 and 21. The margin of error is +/- 2.5 percentage points for the likely electorate and +/-2.4 percentage points among registered voters.

Gallego voted 100% in line with President Biden and Harris’ administration in the 117th Congress, per FiveThirtyEight, and is by no means a fan of Trump, and the former president is an ardent supporter of Lake. 

Despite their political disagreements, they’ve managed to simultaneously attract a key group of voters. 

RICK SCOTT LEADS EFFORT TO UP SECRET SERVICE PROTECTIONS AFTER 2ND ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT ON TRUMP

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris (Fox News )

“You always have to consider in American politics whether gender is playing a role,” Melissa Michelson, the dean of arts and sciences and a political science professor at Menlo College in California, told Fox News Digital. 

Trump and Gallego are both facing off against women in their respective races. 

“What gender scholars will tell you is that when women are running, they face additional challenges,” she explained. 

With Trump’s election in 2016, his strength among those without college degrees became evident. He’s also shown an ability to appeal to non-White voters, including Latinos, who are considered integral to the Democrats’ coalition. 

‘I’VE NEVER SEEN THIS’: TOP REPUBLICAN DETAILS LEVEL OF SECRET SERVICE ‘LACK OF COOPERATION’

Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake is endorsed by Trump. (Getty Images)

His enduring appeal to these types of voters is on display in the latest poll as well. “And yes, those same voters would be more likely to prefer the Latino candidate,” said Michelson, explaining the preference of some of those voters for Gallego in the Senate race. 

She noted that Latinos tend to vote Democrat more often than not and that they also tend to vote for Latino candidates. “If a candidate before you is both your shared racial group and your shared party, then that’s easy,” Michelson remarked. 

When it comes to women perhaps feeling inclined to vote for women candidates, she pointed out that gender isn’t “as strong of an identity or as strong of a motivator of vote choice.”

“People just don’t think about their gender the same way they think about their race.”

The potential for a split result in Arizona, with Trump winning the presidency and Gallego taking the open Senate seat, would be notable given the recent decline in split-ticket voting. 

HARRIS, TRUMP DEADLOCKED IN PENNSYLVANIA AS FORMER PRESIDENT TRAILS IN OTHER ‘BLUE WALL’ STATES: POLL

Trump has made gains among Latinos. (Getty Images)

Republican strategist Kevin Madden said the vote is ultimately “candidate-dependent.”

“Sherrod Brown in Ohio and Ruben Gallego in Arizona are examples of two candidates running very carefully tailored races that are customized to their state’s political environment,” he told Fox News Digital. 

It’s true that Gallego has made a concerted effort to reach a male, Latino audience. For Cinco de Mayo this year, his campaign held a watch party in Glendale at JL Boxing Academy for a match between champion Mexican boxer Canelo Álvarez and fellow fighter Jaime Munguía, who was undefeated until that point. The venue was reportedly outfitted with large screens displaying the fight, and the event featured food trucks serving birria tacos and Mexican Cokes outside. 

The watch party was expected to draw over 100 guests, mainly Latino Arizonans and their families. 

Gallego held another boxing event last week at the same venue. 

“They’re doing whatever they can to get out of the national political jet-stream and make their campaign less of a proxy on the presidential contest,” Madden said. 

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Michelson claimed that recent endorsements from the Arizona Police Association (APA) for both Gallego and Trump could encourage the increasingly rare practice of split-ticket voting. Despite backing Trump and reportedly endorsing Lake during her 2022 gubernatorial bid, the union chose Democrat Gallego in the Senate race in 2024. 

However, Lake did get the backing of a separate police union, the Arizona Fraternal Order of Police, earlier this month.

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

Newly emerged footage shows then-Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., chanting “down, down with deportation” at a parade in Los Angeles in 2018 when she was pursuing more aggressively left-wing positions on immigration.

The video, obtained by Fox News Digital, took place at the 2018 Annual Kingdom Day Parade, where she was named Grand Marshal.

In the clip, she can be seen joining in with a chant of “up, up with education, down, down with deportation” as she chants along while also applauding and smiling.

HARRIS SHIFTS KEY POSITIONS ON BORDER, ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AS CAMPAIGN PROMISES ‘PRAGMATIC’ APPROACH

Sen. Kamala Harris is pictured at a parade in California. (Obtained by Fox News Digital.)

The video was first reported by the Daily Mail Online, which also noted that in the video is actor Jussie Smollett, who would eventually be convicted of falsely claiming to have been attacked by Trump supporters in Chicago.

Harris came to Smollett’s defense shortly after he falsely claimed he was attacked by Trump supporters, saying, “This was an attempted modern day lynching. No one should have to fear for their life because of their sexuality or color of their skin.”

Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Dee Rees, U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, Jussie Smollett, Natalie Portman, Josiah Bell attending the Martin Luther King, Jr. Kingdom Day Parade in Los Angeles on January 15, 2018.  (Sheri Determan/Alamy Live News)

Harris adopted left-wing proposals in her 2019 presidential primary campaign. She promised to expand the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) by executive order — which gives protection to illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as minors.

She said she would eliminate age requirements on applications, and use parole authority to create a “parole in place” program to put those illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship. 

Disgraced actor Jussie Smollett (Left) appeared in a resurfaced 2018 video that featured then-Senator Harris (Right) (Chicago Police Department via Getty Images | Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Since becoming the 2024 presidential nominee, she has faced scrutiny over her role overseeing the root causes of the migrant crisis at the southern border — which led to her being dubbed the “border czar.”

She has also shifted some of her campaign positions, moving more to the center. Her campaign confirmed to Fox earlier this month that she changed her positions on a number of immigration and border-security policies, including decriminalizing illegal crossings and closing immigration detention centers.

‘TOTAL BULLS—’: TRUMP CAMPAIGN RIPS ‘PREPOSTEROUS’ HARRIS PRO-BORDER WALL NARRATIVE AFTER MEDIA REPORT

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

The campaign says now that she is “continuing to ensure sufficient resources to enforce our laws and prioritize detention and removal for individuals who pose threats to public safety and national security, as well as ensure compliance with immigration proceedings and decisions, including removal.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

She has repeatedly backed the bipartisan Senate package that emerged from negotiations in the chamber earlier this year, which increases funding for the border, including ICE bed space, and a mechanism to limit asylum entries into the U.S.

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“While Donald Trump is wedded to the extreme ideas in his Project 2025 agenda, Vice President Harris believes real leadership means bringing all sides together to build consensus,” spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg said in a statement last month. “It is that approach that made it possible for the Biden-Harris administration to achieve bipartisan breakthroughs on everything from infrastructure to gun violence prevention. As President, she will take that same pragmatic approach, focusing on common-sense solutions for the sake of progress.”

Former President Donald Trump said Monday afternoon that his “first call” if re-elected to the Oval Office will be made to Chinese President Xi Jinping to enforce a trade deal from the end of his tenure as 45th president. 

“My first call, I’m going to call up President Xi. I’m going to say, ‘You have to honor the deal you made. We made a deal. You’d buy $50 billion worth of American farm product.’ And I guarantee you he will buy it. 100% he will buy it,” Trump said Monday during a campaign event in Smithton, Pennsylvania. 

Trump struck a trade deal with China in 2020 that included Beijing’s commitment to halt intellectual property theft, refrain from currency manipulation, cooperate in financial services and purchase an additional $200 billion of U.S. products over two years, including up to $50 billion of U.S. agriculture. 

In return, the U.S. vowed to reduce tariffs on some products made in China, but keep duties the White House has imposed on $375 billion worth of merchandise. 

US, CHINA SIGN HISTORIC PHASE ONE TRADE DEAL

Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump, looks on during a campaign stop to address Pennsylvanians who are concerned about the threat of Communist China to U.S. agriculture at the Smith Family Farm Sept. 23, 2024 in Smithton, Pennsylvania. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The deal was dubbed the “phase one” trade agreement and came amid the U.S. and China’s 18-month trade war.

“Biden and Harris, they’re never going to enforce anything… That group is a disaster. It’s a disaster for our country in so many ways, but certainly the farmers are one of those ways,” Trump said of the current administration and the deal. 

Tractor with combine on farm field and chimney rock, Scotts Bluff National Monument; Scottsbluff, Nebraska, United States of America. (Hawk Buckman/Design Pics Editorial/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The 45th president joined a panel of farmers on Monday afternoon as part of a Protecting America Initiative event, which is a group led by Trump’s acting director of national intelligence Richard Grenell and former New York Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin that works to prevent China from infiltrating U.S. “farmland, food supply, education system, energy production, manufacturing chains, and our national security.”

WHY ‘PHASE ONE’ CHINA TRADE DEAL DOESN’T NEED CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL, UNLIKE USMCA

President Joe Biden, left, greets China’s President President Xi Jinping, right, in Woodside, USA, Nov. 15, 2023. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool, File)

Trump added that in addition to calling on China to honor its 2020 trade deal, he would tell Xi to enforce a death penalty on fentanyl dealers sending the fatal drug to the U.S. via the Mexico border. 

STOCKS CELEBRATE PHASE ONE TRADE DEAL WITH RECORD HIGHS

“Second thing I’m going to do is, I’m going to say you have to give the death penalty to your fentanyl dealers who are sending fentanyl. You know, in China, they give the death penalty. They don’t have a drug problem because they give the death penalty,” Trump said. 

Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump, (L) speaks on during a campaign stop to address Pennsylvanians who are concerned about the threat of Communist China to U.S. agriculture at the Smith Family Farm Sept. 23, 2024 in Smithton, Pennsylvania. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

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“But I’m going to say, second thing — and this affects you also, it affects everybody,” Trump told the panel of farmers. “… We’re losing hundreds of 1,000s of people a year. Comes through the southern border. Now, the weakest border in history. It was the best border we ever had when I was there. We built hundreds of miles of wall and everything else, and it was the best border. Now it’s a weakest. I had a handshake deal with him, it was going to happen very quickly, and then this side didn’t, didn’t do anything about it, he said. And he suggested to me, ‘Anybody sends fentanyl to the United States, it’s the death penalty. They get the maximum penalty.'” 

“He would have done it. Then we had an election that didn’t exactly work out too good,” Trump added. 

Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump, (C) looks on during a campaign stop to address Pennsylvanians who are concerned about the threat of Communist China to U.S. agriculture at the Smith Family Farm Sept. 23, 2024 in Smithton, Pennsylvania. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Trump was joined by Grenell, Zeldin, Republican Senate candidate to represent Pennsylvania Dave McCormick and other political supporters for the Pennsylvania event. 

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

The Republican Party’s efforts to lock down all of Nebraska’s electoral votes for former President Trump could be jeopardized after a state lawmaker refused to throw his support behind an initiative to change how the state allocates its electoral votes.

Nebraska state Sen. Mike McDonnell, a former Democrat from Omaha who switched his party to Republican this year, issued a statement Monday about his opposition to awarding that state’s five electoral votes as a winner-take-all, like 48 other states currently do.

Maine and Nebraska are the only two states that give two electoral votes to the candidate who wins statewide and one to the winner in each congressional district.

“Elections should be an opportunity for all voters to be heard, no matter who they are, where they live, or what party they support,” McDonnell’s statement read. “For decades, Nebraska has tried to live up to that ideal by allocating our electoral college votes in a way that gives all Nebraskans an equal voice in choosing our President. For Omaha, the city I love and have called home for 58 years, it brings tremendous national attention, is impactful on our local economy and forces Presidential candidates to make their case to all Nebraskans, instead of just flying over and disregarding us.”

HOW A LONE NEBRASKA DISTRICT COULD DECIDE THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

FILE – Nebraska State Sen. Mike McDonnell of Omaha is shown in the Legislative Chamber in Lincoln, Neb., March 1, 2019.  (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)

The senator continued, saying over the past weeks, there had been conversations about whether to change how the electoral college could be allocated.

While McDonnell said he respects the desire some of his colleagues have on the issue, he has taken time to listen to his constituents and national leaders on both sides of the issue.

“After deep consideration, it is clear to me that right now, 43 days from Election Day, is not the moment to make this change,” he wrote. “I have notified Governor Pillen that I will not change my long-held position and will oppose any attempted changes to our electoral college system before the 2024 election.”

TEXAS GOV. GREG ABBOTT’S DEBATE ADVICE FOR TRUMP: ‘LET HARRIS SPEAK’

McDonnell also said he encouraged the governor, and will encourage his colleagues, to pass an amendment next year that gives the people of Nebraska the chance to decide on how the electoral college votes are allocated on the ballot.

“This November, Nebraskans will have the chance to elect candidates at every level who reflect their views, including on this issue,” McDonnell wrote. “That’s how it should be. Nebraska voters, not politicians of either party, should have the final say on how we pick a president.”

The senator’s decision means Republicans do not have the two-thirds majority they would need in Nebraska to pull off a change before the Nov. 5 election.

TRUMP AND HARRIS ON COLLISION COURSE AS 2024 CAMPAIGN ENTERS FINAL STRETCH

A Nebraska senator said he opposes changes to the electoral college votes that would allow Republicans to lock down all five votes for Trump. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Nebraska is one of nine states that Republican candidates have carried in every presidential election since 1964. It also has not had a winner-take-all rule in place since 1991, and most times since then, Republican candidates have captured all of the state’s votes.

But in 2020, President Biden captured the vote for the Second Congressional District in Omaha. Former President Obama did the same thing in 2008.

In order to lock down the presidency, a candidate needs to win 270 of the 538 electoral votes.

In one scenario, Democratic Presidential Candidate Vice President Kamala Harris would win the battlegrounds of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, while Trump wins the other four battleground states of North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada. In that case, Harris would collect 269 electoral votes to Trump’s 268 — which includes four from Nebraska.

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The Associated Press reported that in that scenario, a Trump victory in Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District would create a tie of 269-269, throwing the final decision to the U.S. House of Representatives. At that point, each state would have one vote, a situation that would likely favor Trump. But, if Harris carried the district, she would be president.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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

What’s happening…

-Congress has less than a week to avert government shutdown

-Trump’s ground game shrinks in several key states 

-Newsom rejects bill allowing illegal immigrants to work on campuses

Inch by Inch

Former President Donald Trump leads Vice President Kamala Harris in three crucial swing states, according to a Monday poll from the New York Times.

Trump is leading Harris in Arizona by five points in a 50%-45% spread, and he holds a similar 49%-45% lead in Georgia. Harris is closer to the former president in North Carolina, however, where the race sits at 49%-47%, according to the poll.

The Times conducted its poll from Sept. 17-21, surveying 2,077 likely voters across all three states.

Arizona and Georgia would be major victories for Trump in the general election, as both are states that President Biden won in 2020. Arizona in particular represents a major swing toward Trump, where a Times poll in August found Harris leading by five points.

The Times survey comes days after a Fox News national poll found Harris leading Trump by two points in a 50%-48% matchup.

The new Fox News national survey found a 3 percentage-point shift among registered voters in the 2024 presidential contest since mid-August. Trump had a 1-point advantage in August….Read more

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at Harry Reid International Airport to board a plane after a campaign trip, Saturday, Sept.14, 2024, in Las Vegas.  (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

White House

‘COVER-UP’: Dozens of lawmakers rip into Biden-Harris admin’s child migrant policies …Read more

Capitol Hill

SHUTDOWN COUNTDOWN: Congress has less than a week to avert government shutdown …Read more

‘OUTRAGED’: Mike Johnson says Kamala Harris is Iran’s ‘preferred candidate’ in scathing letter to FBI …Read more

‘CONSTRAINING’ THE PRESIDENT: Top Dem previews Left’s efforts to restrain Trump if he wins in November …Read more

NO CASH FOR TERRORISTS: GOP bill would ban aid to Afghanistan …Read more

Tales from the Trail

EARLY VOTING BREAKDOWN: Maryland and Mississippi are the latest states to begin early voting as of Monday …Read more

SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH: Musk super PAC website aims to increase canvassers in battleground states …Read more

CAMPAIGN EXODUS: 4 Mark Robinson staffers resign in wake of report on porn website posts …Read more

LAW AND ORDER: Harris-Trump showdown: Leading law enforcement group takes sides in presidential election …Read more

UNIQUE ENDORSEMENT: Who is Amer Ghalib, the Trump-backing mayor of the US’s only Muslim-majority town? …Read more

TRAILING NUMBERS: New poll finds Iowa Republican in hot water …Read more

TAKING ADVANTAGE?: Crucial Senate showdown: Hogan says its ‘deeply disturbing’ Alsobrooks improperly benefited from tax breaks on two properties …Read more

CLOSING IN: Trump campaign’s ground game shrinks voter registration gap in key battleground states …Read more

Sen. Kamala Harris is pictured at a parade in California. (Obtained by Fox Digital.)

Across America

FUNDING CHINA’S ARMY: US research dollars may have aided Chinese military technology, GOP-led report say …Read more

STAY IN JAIL: Trump would-be assassin ordered held behind bars …Read more

‘DEVASTATED’: Missing North Carolina college student found dead in South Africa …Read more

BLUE STATE VETO: Newsom rejects bill that would let illegal immigrant students work on campus …Read more

CREEPY: Trump assassination suspect wrote chilling letter months before golf course plot: ‘I failed you’ …Read more

LIKE IN A MOVIE: Tennessee woman attempted to hire hitman to kill wife of man she met on dating website: ‘Needs to seem random’ …Read more

Subscribe now to get the Fox News Politics newsletter in your inbox.

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

EXCLUSIVE – Former Attorney General William Barr says he is “dumbfounded” that the Justice Department released a chilling letter penned by would-be assassin Ryan Wesley Routh on Monday, calling the decision “rash” and serving no purpose “other than to risk inciting further violence.”

Routh is the suspect in former President Donald Trump’s second foiled assassination attempt. The DOJ obtained the letter from a witness who says they received it inside a box delivered to them by Routh several months prior to the assassination attempt.

The box contained several handwritten letters as well as ammunition, among other things. One of the letters, addressed “Dear World,” admitted to an assassination attempt on Trump. He also offered money to anyone willing to finish the job.

“I was dumbfounded that the DOJ made public this morning the contents of the letter that, Ryan Routh, left with an acquaintance prior to the attempted assassination of former President Trump,” Barr said in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT SUSPECT ROUTH NOT TO BE RELEASED

Foremr U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr holds a news conference to provide an update on the investigation of the terrorist bombing of Pan Am flight 103 on the 32nd anniversary of the attack, at the Department of Justice December 21, 2020 in Washington, DC.  ((Photo by Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images))

“The letter calls on people to ‘finish the job’ of killing President Trump, attempts to rouse people in incendiary terms to do so, and offers $150,000 to anyone who succeeds. There was no apparent justification for releasing this information at this stage,” he continued. 

Barr, who served during both the Trump and George H. W. Bush administrations, says that “DOJ had more than enough evidence to have Routh detained pending trial, without publicizing these details.”

“Even if DOJ thought it important to provide the letter to the court, it could have redacted inflammatory material or arranged to have the letter submitted under seal. It was rash to put out this letter in the midst of an election during which two attempts on the life of President Trump had been made,” Barr said. 

TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: FBI’S RYAN ROUTH TIP HIGHLIGHTS VETTING DEMAND CHALLENGE, FORMER AGENT SAYS

Ryan W. Routh, suspected of attempting to assassinate Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course, stands handcuffed after his arrest during a traffic stop near Palm City, Florida, U.S., September 15, 2024.   (Martin County Sheriffs Office/Handout via REUTERS)

“It served no purpose other than to risk inciting further violence,” he added. 

The department’s detention memo revealed that Routh traveled from Greensboro, North Carolina, to West Palm Beach, Florida, on Aug. 14, a month before the Sept. 15 golf course incident. One of Routh’s cell phones pinged cell towers near Trump’s golf course and his Mar-a-Lago residence “on multiple days and times” from Aug. 18 to Sept. 15, the detention memo alleged.

Investigators say they also found a book Routh had authored in 2023, titled “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War: The Fatal Flaw of Democracy, World Abandonment and the Global Citizen-Taiwan, Afghanistan, North Korea, WWIII and the End of Humanity.”

TRUMP ASSASSINATION PLOT EXPOSES RYAN ROUTH’S BOMB BUST, BARRICADE WITH ILLEGAL GUN IN PROFESSIONAL DEMISE

A court sketch depicts Ryan Routh as he appears in federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida on Monday, September 23, 2024. (Lothar Speer)

The detention memo also provided a fresh detail on the witness who saw Routh flee the sniper’s nest. The witness made eye contact with the suspect before Routh jumped into a Nissan Xterra and sped away. The witness is credited with photographing the vehicle and reporting it to law enforcement.

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The Justice Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Routh will likely face additional charges in the coming days, which could include aggravated assault for allegedly pointing the rifle at a Secret Service agent and making threats against a former president, State Attorney Dave Aronberg previously told Fox News Digital.

The race between Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, for Senate in Texas is heating up, something one expert believes should serve as a warning to Republicans in the dependably red state.

“Texas is an interesting political environment and will become a bellwether within the next decade,” Jimmy Keady, the founder and president of JLK Political Strategies, told Fox News Digital. “With the recent influx of West Coasters, and a fast-growing Hispanic population, recent elections in Texas are closer than Republicans want.”

The comments come as Cruz seeks to fend off yet another tight challenge from a Democratic opponent, this time from Allred, who has represented Texas’ 32nd Congressional District in the Dallas area since 2019.

CRUZ INTERRUPTED BY ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATOR WHO YELLED, ‘F—ING JEWS’ DURING HEARING ON ‘HATE’

In 2012, Ted Cruz easily topped his Democratic opponent by nearly 16 percentage points. (Jabin Botsford – Pool/Getty Images)

While the Real Clear Politics polling average shows Cruz with a five-point lead in the race, there are some troubling signs for the Republican incumbent, including recent polls that show Cruz with a lead close to within the margin of error.

Allred has looked to capitalize on the momentum, taking to social media to highlight a Morning Consult poll that showed him with a slim lead in the race.

“For the first time in this race, a new poll has us leading Ted Cruz by 1 point. I don’t know about y’all but I’m fired up and ready to WIN,” Allred said on X. “We’ve got 47 days, let’s do this Texas.”

Prominent Republicans have noticed the challenge, with Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita taking to X to question what is “wrong with the Senate race in Texas” and calling for “some real professionals” to “save” Cruz.

Rep. Colin Allred arrives on the House floor for President Biden’s State of the Union address in the U.S. Capitol on March 7, 2024. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

TEXAS DEM’S SENATE AD FEATURES BORDER WALL HE ONCE BLASTED AS ‘RACIST’

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

Some polls leading up to Cruz’s 2018 Senate race with former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, showed a similarly close race, though Cruz was able to hold off the Democratic challenger by under three percentage points.

But that close win was also a stark departure from Cruz’s 2012 victory, when he easily topped former Texas Democratic state Rep. Paul Sadler by nearly 16 percentage points.

That narrowing of the margins in Texas should have Republicans on edge, Keady argued, though he stressed he believed Cruz would be safe in 2024.

The Real Clear Politics polling average shows Sen. Ted Cruz with a five-point lead in his race for re-election. (Allison Bailey/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

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“Texas will stay red this November and Ted Cruz will win re-election,” Keady said. “But Republicans should not take the threat of losing this state lightly. As the Republican Party makes a play for blue states, Democrats are going to start making a play for red states… to hold these seats, Republicans will have to stay disciplined on messaging and prioritize candidate recruitment.”

The Cruz campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Request for comment.

FIRST ON FOX: Dozens of Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate are slamming the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied migrant children who have come into the U.S. since 2021 – alleging a “cover-up” of information and how policies have led to potential exploitation.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, led lawmakers in a lengthy letter to President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, accusing the administration of failing unaccompanied migrant children “by rushing them out of the custody of your Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) into the hands of unvetted sponsors who often continue to exploit and abuse them.”

More than 500,000 unaccompanied alien children (UAC) have crossed the border without a parent or guardian since 2021. When unaccompanied children come to the border, they are currently turned over by Border Patrol to Health and Human Services (HHS) who will attempt to find them a sponsor within the country — typically a family member.

THOUSANDS OF MIGRANT KIDS MISSING ACCORDING TO WATCHDOG REPORT, GOP SENATOR SLAMS DHS: ‘RECKLESS DISREGARD’ 

Migrants walk along the highway through Suchiate, Chiapas state in southern Mexico, Sunday, July 21, 2024, during their journey north toward the U.S. border. ((AP Photo/Edgar H. Clemente))

The letter claims the administration has cut back on background checks and vetting procedures, as part of an effort to speed up the process. They say the administration “continued Vice President Harris’s longtime priority of cutting back on information sharing between HHS ORR and law enforcement related to unaccompanied children and sponsors.”

The letter is led by Grassley, and includes Senate Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Ron Johnson, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, Senate Health, Education Labor and Pensions Committee Ranking Member Bill Cassidy and House Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Tom McClintock. 

The lawmakers point to moves by the administration to limit familial DNA testing, and Trump-era proposals to provide post-release check ups for those handed over to sponsors.

The issue came into the spotlight last year when the New York Times reported on how the agency has been unable to reach 85,000 minors and lost immediate contact with a third of them.

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said at that time that the number “doesn’t sound at all to be realistic” and “what we do is we try and follow up as best we can with these kids.”

“Congress has given us certain authorities. Our authorities end when we have found a suitable sponsor to place that child with. We try and do some follow up but neither the child or the sponsor is actually obligated to follow up with us,” he said.

ICE LOST TRACK OF TENS OF THOUSANDS OF MIGRANT KIDS, DHS INSPECTOR GENERAL FINDS

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, was released from a Washington-area hospital after receiving treatment for an unspecified infection his office said Thursday.  (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

This year, the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General sent a report to Congress finding that, over the past five years, more than 32,000 UACs did not show for immigration court hearings, and that Immigration and Customs Enforcement could not account for the location of all of those who did not appear. 

The lawmakers said that HHS ORR is “actively attempting to cover up the results of its egregious decisions” to roll back vetting, also accusing the administration of silencing whistleblowers. The letter also says that DHS recently informed Grassley’s office that HHS has not complied sufficiently with two out of three subpoenas/information requests from his referral of possible child trafficking rings.

“By not supplying the information law enforcement requested, ORR denied Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents critical information, including the last known addresses of children and sponsors and the identity of other household members,” the letter says.

They also argue that HHS’s alleged failure to vet sponsors has led to the ignoring of possible gang affiliations, with no policy in place to refer suspected gang members for prosecution or investigation. It highlights the death of Kayla Hamilton, allegedly at the hands of an unaccompanied migrant.

HHS CHIEF ‘UNFAMILIAR’ WITH REPORTS THAT AGENCY CAN’T CONTACT 85,000 UNACCOMPANIED MIGRANT KIDS  

“HHS must stop its cover-up and cooperate with law enforcement and Congress to end this crisis and protect unaccompanied children and the American people,” they say. Fox reached out to the White House and HHS for comment.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

The letter comes as immigration remains a top 2024 issue. Republicans have pointed to the historic crisis at the southern border and tied it to the “open borders” policies of the administration.

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The administration says that those numbers have dropped sharply in recent months after President Biden signed an executive order limiting asylum claims at the border. It has called on Republicans to support a bipartisan border security bill unveiled earlier this year. Republicans have said that bill will codify high levels of illegal immigration.