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Former President Trump told reporters in California on Friday that Vice President Kamala Harris gave “one of the dumbest answers” at this week’s presidential debate when she was asked at the beginning to speak about the impact of inflation.

“The first question she was given at the debate. Gave one of the dumbest answers. They were asking about pricing and would you be better off today or four years ago?” Trump said in Rancho Palos Verdes during a visit to Harris’ home state.

“Prices have gone up at numbers that nobody’s ever seen before, and just the concept of being better off, she didn’t, she didn’t give the answer. She talked about when she grew up. Nobody knew what the hell she was talking about,” Trump said.

As for his own performance, Trump said, “I thought the debate was great,” and “I thought I did very well, but I was fighting three people.”

KAMALA HARRIS PRESSED BY SOME ALLIES TO DO MORE INTERVIEWS

“I was fighting the crazy left radical lunatics at ABC. I think, considered the worst by me, considered the worst broadcaster out there,” he declared.

Trump also said, “I’m here today in California with a very simple message for the American people — we cannot allow Comrade Kamala Harris and the Communist left to do to America what they did to California.”

“The state of California is a mess, with people leaving and nothing’s going to stop them. They going to other states. Some are going to other countries. But what they’ve done, [Gov.] Gavin Newsom and Kamala and I want to say Kamala moreso — she destroyed San Francisco and she destroyed the state,” he added.

“When you look at the kind of destruction that’s taking place, it’s all man-made or woman-made destruction, too. It’s things that should have never happened,” Trump said. “But we’re not going to let that happen with four more years of her in the White House.”

TRUMP ADVISER HITS CAMPAIGN TRAIL TO ATTRACT ARAB AMERICAN SUPPORT IN SWING STATE MICHIGAN

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump appear during the second presidential debate at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia on Tuesday. (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Trump said, “San Francisco can be brought back, just like our country can be brought back, because we’re a nation in decline. The decline of this whole state is one of the sad chapters in what’s gone on with the radical left lunatics that we have to put up with.”

He also called Harris, during her time as San Francisco’s district attorney, the “godmother of sanctuary cities” who was “right out there at the forefront and also the movement of defunding the police, she was there right at the beginning.”

“Kamala refused to seek the death penalty for a gang member who murdered San Francisco Police Officer Isaac Espinoza during a traffic stop, very innocent traffic stop. She didn’t have the decency to call his family, never did, to explain her decision. Why would you do this? Why would you give such leniency to somebody that just killed the police officer?” Trump said.  

From left: Vice President Kamala Harris, President Biden, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former President Trump and Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, are seen together during a Sept. 11 ceremony at Ground Zero in New York City on Wednesday. (Reuters/Mike Segar)

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“This was a major reason why the San Francisco Police Officers Association has refused to endorse her in every single race since she became district attorney. The police don’t endorse her, and she’s got virtually no endorsements now,” he added.

Pope Francis on Friday urged Catholic voters to “choose the lesser evil” between former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. 

The pope criticized Harris’ support of abortion rights as being an “assassination,” while he also chastised Trump, saying “not welcoming migrants is a sin.” 

“You must choose the lesser evil,” Francis told reporters in a press conference held from his papal airplane following a 12-day tour of Southeast Asia and Oceania. “Who is the lesser evil? That lady, or that gentleman? I don’t know. Everyone, in conscience, [has to] think and do this.”

But he also said, “Not voting is ugly. It is not good. You must vote.”

WHITE HOUSE RESPONDS AFTER POPE CONDEMNS ‘GENDER THEORY,’ AFFIRMS BIDEN’S SUPPORT FOR TRANS COMMUNITY

Pope Francis urged Catholic voters on Friday to “choose the lesser evil” between former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. (Reuters)

Harris has said that she wants to codify Roe v. Wade into law if elected, and Trump has promised the “largest mass deportation in American history of our country.” 

The pope didn’t specify which candidate, if either, he personally prefers. 

On abortion, he said, “It is an assassination. On these things we must speak clearly. No ‘but’ or ‘however.'” 

On Trump’s deportation plans, the pope said: “Not giving welcome to migrants is a sin. It is grave.”

“Whether it is the one who is chasing away migrants, or the one who that kills children, both are against life,” he claimed. 

POPE FRANCIS RESPONDS TO CONSERVATIVE CRITICS IN NEW INTERVIEW 

Trump and Harris made their positions on immigration and abortion a focus of their debate on Tuesday. (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Trump previously sparred with the pope in 2016, after the pontiff claimed that his plan to build a wall along the Mexican border was “not Christian.” 

“I’m a very good Christian,” Trump responded at the time in a news conference, “He’s questioning my faith. I was very surprised to see it.” 

Pope Francis accused both Harris and Trump of being “against life” in their stances on abortion and illegal immigration. (Reuters/Yara Nardi    )

Trump called questioning a person’s faith “disgraceful,” claiming that the pope was being used as a “pawn” by the Mexican government. 

The pope has also previously criticized President Biden’s stance on abortion. Biden is a Catholic, but supports a woman’s right to choose, which Francis called an “incoherence” in a 2022 interview, saying that he would leave it to Biden’s “conscience.” 

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There are more than 50 million Catholics in the U.S., including a sizable number of voters in swing states like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

Reuters contributed to this report. 

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

Here’s what’s happening…

– Trump and Vance have had 48 interviews combined since last month, only eight for Harris and Walz

– Mexican government buses migrants to US border

– Putin warns that the US, NATO risk war with Russia if long-range strike bans are lifted for Ukraine

‘The suffering is real’

Two Springfield, Ohio pastors spoke to Fox News Digital about the ministry challenges facing their town that has been thrust into the national spotlight after viral videos of residents complaining of disturbing behavior from Haitian refugees who have settled in the area.

“I think the biggest change that we’ve seen happen has just been sort of a breakdown in the trust of the community and some basic civility has also broken down a little bit,” BJ Newman, a pastor in Springfield, Ohio, told Fox News Digital from Springfield’s Snyder Park on Thursday. “I think the reason for that is because there have been so many changes so quickly… In the 2020 census, there was about 50,000, a little north of that, residents here, now we have, numbers I have been reading, between 15,000 and 20,000 additional immigrants have arrived.”

“I think there’s a larger narrative… that says the only compassionate response in a situation like this is you accept all of these immigrants and shut up. Any sense of raising our hand and saying ‘wait a second, we weren’t considered, we’re suffering her too.’ And the response is something like… you’re racist or you’re a bigot, why are you so anti-immigrant,” Newman said.

Pastors speak out on the situation concerning migrants in Springfield, OH. (Fox News)

“There’s tension in the community, much like the ways that tension has arisen in the past when there have been new members to move into an established area,” the Rev. Adam Banks of First Baptist Church told Fox News Digital, adding that his experience with migrants has been generally positive.

“They have joined right in helping with the sound system, sharing special music, sharing their lovely voices, reading scripture, providing leadership in various capacities in the congregation,” Banks said, adding that he will continue to “welcome” people who “want to celebrate the gift that each person brings and magnify God.”  …Read more

Capitol Hill

BLOCKED: House GOP rolling out bill to block China, American adversaries from accessing US ports …Read more

‘RESPECT OUR WARRIORS’: House GOP veteran proposes key benefit to aid deployed service members …Read more

SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN: Johnson faces major leadership test as GOP wars over government shutdown …Read more

Tales from the Trail

34 TO 1: Trump-Vance ticket has done combined 48 interviews since last month compared to only eight for Harris-Walz …Read more

CASH DASH: Harris brings in big bucks in 24 hours after debate with Trump …Read more

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump shake hands during their debate in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (Getty Images)

‘ONLY OPTION’: Trump adviser Alina Habba hits campaign trail to attract Arab American support in swing state Michigan …Read more

Across America

COMMUNITY ‘UPENDED’: ‘It’ll upend the community’: PA town roiled by talk of migrant housing in Civil War-era orphanage building …Read more

NO ME GUSTA: Half of Latinos haven’t heard of ‘Latinx’ term, overwhelming majority don’t like it: poll …Read more

DEFIANT FANI: Fani Willis likely to defy Georgia state Senate subpoena ahead of Friday hearing, chairman says …Read more

TOUGH ON CRIME?: Gov. Newsom signs bill to resume harsh penalties for smash-and-grab robberies in California …Read more

Video of a shocking smash and grab robbery shows the moment a Sunnyvale jewelry store is overwhelmed by suspects armed with tools and hammers.  (KTVU)

LIKE ‘ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK’: Springfield resident says roads are like ‘Escape from New York’ after Haitian migrants overrun rural town …Read more

Around the World

‘GRAY’ AREA: Lawmakers crack down on CCP influence in US government tech, warn of potential ‘devastating’ cyber attack …Read more

BORDER BATTLE: Mexican government buses migrants to US border as illegal immigration becomes top issue …Read more

A glide bomb is seen under the wing of a Su-34 bomber of the Russian air force during a combat mission in Ukraine. Ukraine is imploring the West to allow it to use ATACMS to strike inside Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

BAD WORDS: New online ‘misinformation’ bill slammed as ‘biggest attack’ on freedoms in Australia …Read more

PUTIN’S RED LINE: Putin warns US, NATO risk war with Russia if long-range strike bans lifted for Ukraine …Read more

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Vice President Kamala Harris spoke for around a half hour to a packed crowd at the McHale Athletic Center of Wilkes University in Pennsylvania on Friday, where she was interrupted at least twice by pro-Palestinian protesters.

“You’re supporting a war criminal,” one protester shouted about two-thirds of the way into her speech. 

A second appeared shortly after the first was ushered out, and shouted for several minutes until he also was removed, crying out “Free Palestine” as he was led past the press cordon.

In response, Harris said, “I respect your voice, but right now, I am speaking,” before moving on with the rest of her address over the interjector’s din.

PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTERS TAUNT HARRIS RALLYGOERS AS VEEP SUPPORTER HITS BACK: ‘WHAT ABOUT HAMAS?’

Harris had been introduced by Mary Grace, a local nurse who said she was a longtime Republican who could not support former President Trump.

After thanking Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr., D-Pa., Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Wilkes-Barre Democratic mayor George Brown, all of whom preceded her remarks, she began the crux of her remarks by referencing the ABC News debate from earlier in the week.

“I take it many people here watched it,” she said, as the reference drew applause.

“You’ll remember that night I talked about issues that matter to families across America, like bringing down the cost of living, investing in America’s small businesses, protecting reproductive freedom. And keeping our nation safe and secure. But that is not what we heard from Donald Trump. Instead, it was the same old show, the same tired playbook we’ve heard for years with no plan, no plan on how he would address the needs of the American people. Well, folks, it’s time to turn the page.”

Harris claimed Trump will give billionaires and large corporations “massive” tax cuts while also taking a scalpel to entitlements.

She also said the Republican wants to impose a “Trump sales tax,” which some observers claim to be a reference to the former president’s foreign tariff plans.

DE NIRO, DE BLASIO HEADLINE ‘PAISANS FOR KAMALA’ RED-SAUCE DINNER LIVESTREAM EVENT

US Vice President Kamala Harris during the second presidential debate. (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Harris also spoke about national division, saying “we are not going back” to past years, and instead called for a “new way forward.”

“We need a President of the United States who works for all the American people and that just stops with all the trying to divide us,” she said.

“People are exhausted with that stuff.”

She also called herself the “underdog” in the race, predicting it will be tight in the crucial Commonwealth in which she spoke.

“So Pennsylvania, today I ask you, are you ready to make your voices heard? Do we believe in freedom?” Harris asked

Making the trek north on I-81 from Harrisburg, Shapiro – who many believed was the proverbial runner-up to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in Harris’ running mate consideration – offered a booming endorsement shortly before the candidate came onstage.

“We have proved … that we can ‘get sh—done’!” Shapiro shouted, referencing his gubernatorial administration’s edgy slogan of sorts.

“[We’ve invested] a historic amount in our public schools… when those kids go to and from schools, they deserve to live in safe communities,” he added.

“We want everyone to know that you are valued here, whether you choose to be a lawyer or a laborer, we want you to know you belong here [in Pennsylvania].”

“Where you come from, who you love, and who you pray to – you belong and I got your back,” Shapiro went on, adding Harris’ campaign offers a similar vision.

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Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump and Republican U.S. vice presidential nominee Senator JD Vance, U.S. President Joe Biden and Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris stand on the day of a ceremony marking the 23rd anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks. (REUTERS/Mike Segar)

“She and I have both been prosecutors,” said Shapiro, who served as the separately-elected attorney general during the governorship of predecessor Tom Wolf.

“Kamala Harris has always been for the people… She stood up for our union sisters and brothers.

This time borrowing a line instead from Harris, Shapiro added of Trump’s tenure in the White House, “we are not going back to that.”

“When you go back and look at his record, it was … less jobs and a whole lot less freedom when Donald Trump was in charge,” he said, invoking the abortion issue and claiming women lost “basic freedom to make decisions about their own bodies.”

Shapiro went on to point to Philadelphia, just 100 miles on the other end of the Northeast Extension from where he spoke, saying that Americans “declared our independence from a king [there, once] and we are not going back.”

In response to Harris visiting the Commonwealth, PA Trump Team spokesman Kush Desai told Fox News Digital that Pennsylvanians are fed up with the rising costs of groceries, gas, and utilities thanks to the Harris-Biden administration’s disastrous inflationary, anti-energy agenda.”

“The choice between another four years of retirees scraping by off ramen under Kamala or a return to the peace, prosperity, and stability of the Trump administration couldn’t be easier for Pennsylvanians.”

At the debate in Philadelphia, Harris made reference to the approximate 800,000 Polish-Americans who reside in Pennsylvania. Outside Port Richmond and the Philadelphia area, the counties in and around where Harris rallied Friday have a sizeable such population.

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Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump speaks as he meets with Polish President Andrzej Duda at Trump Tower on April 17, 2024. ((Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images))

In Wilkes-Barre’s Luzerne County, about one-sixth of the population is Polish American, and cities like Nanticoke, Hazleton and Shamokin – in nearby Northumberland County – also host sizable communities.

In that regard, when asked, Desai said Trump is an “especially easy choice” for Pennsylvania’s Polish-Americans, noting his “blossoming friendship” with Polish President Andrzej Duda and his work with Warsaw to build a stronger alliance, including within their shared NATO status.

At the debate, Harris appeared to draw a connection between the Polish-American electorate and her criticisms of how Trump would end the war in Ukraine – which borders Poland:

“Why don’t you tell the 800,000 Polish Americans right here in Pennsylvania how quickly you would give up for the sake of favor and what you think is a friendship with what is known to be a dictator who would eat you for lunch,” Harris said, referring to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

A supporter of Vice President Kamala Harris shouted back at several pro-Palestinian protesters who appeared outside the throng lined up to see the Democratic presidential nominee at Wilkes University on Friday.

“Did I hear something about Hamas?” a Harris supporter who later identified himself as Frank from Stroudsburg, Pa., hollered back at a man waving a Palestinian flag and criticizing the protesters. The man was joined by a female protester, whose own remarks preceded his, and about five other people.

“You are a bull—- spreader,” the male pro-Palestinian protester shot back. “You are the cowardly one here. Come show your muscle… Let the people live; that’s what we want.”

The woman had been shouting at the crowd, trying to make the case that there is little daylight between Harris and former President Trump on the issue of the Israel-Gaza conflict and the Jerusalem government’s response to the October 7 terror attack.

KAMALA HARRIS: WE NEED A ‘CEASE-FIRE’ AND CHART A COURSE FOR A ‘TWO-STATE SOLUTION’

Frank told Fox News Digital after the kerfuffle that he effectively had had enough of the protesters’ invective and had to say something.

“Everybody agrees that the war [in Gaza] is horrible… but they’re complaining about Kamala, who has called for a cease fire.

“[The protesters] are representing the Palestinians, which is fine, but they say nothing about Hamas and the horror that started this whole thing,” Frank added. 

“And they don’t say anything about how Hamas uses the Palestinians as human shields. So, you know, United States has been trying to negotiate a cease fire here for months and months. And the problem is Netanyahu and the right wing of the Israeli government — they don’t even want a two-state solution.”

Frank criticize Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has and will continue engage in indiscriminate bombings of Gazan territory – while underlining additionally that the U.S. made a promise to Israel and should uphold it:

“[America] has a commitment, a long-standing commitment since the year I was born to defend Israel’s right to exist. Hamas’s stated purpose is to end Israel as a state,” he said.

REPORTS OF BIDEN WHITE HOUSE KEEPING ‘SENSITIVE’ HAMAS INTEL FROM ISRAEL DRAWS OUTRAGE

Frank from Stroudsburg, a support of Vice President Harris, pushed back on pro-Palestinian protesters deriding the rally crowd. (Charlie Creitz/Fox News)

“You know, look, these guys have a perfect right to say whatever they want to say, but it’s a very narrow view of everything; what’s really going on here. And virtually everybody wants peace.”

“Kamala Harris is on record as advocating for a cease fire. So, you know, aim your anger where it might do some good.”

After speaking with Frank, Fox News Digital also caught up with Loai, the male protester who had been jawing with the Harris supporter.

Loai said he was born in Palestinian territory but now lives locally in the Wyoming Valley.

When asked why he and his group are protesting the Harris rally, Loai said the vice president supports “Zionists [and is] supporting Israel.”

Loai added that both Harris and Trump are “essentially” the same on the matter. When asked who he prefers if he had to choose, Loai quipped, “let’s see who is less smelly.”

Loai, one of the pro-Palestinian protesters, said he hails from Palestinian territory but now lives locally in the Wyoming Valley. He and rallygoer Frank engaged in a back and forth, yelling across the street in front of a Harris rally site. (Charlie Creitz/Fox News)

“We want to see the genocide stop,” he added.

Loai said he also “doesn’t care” about Israel – and personally is not calling for its demise, as other protesters have shouted “from the river to the sea” – a phrase connected to calls for the destruction of Israel.

“We don’t care about Israel; that they exist or not. That’s not our business. We are American here. We want this genocide to be stopped. – Wherever they go, they just [need] to get the Hell out of [the Palestinian territory].”

Fox News Digital’s Matteo Cina contributed to this report.

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – An Ohio town has been thrust into the national spotlight over the last week after separate but similar claims made by vice presidential nominee and Ohio Sen. JD Vance and former President Donald Trump, making the town an unexpected flashpoint ahead of November’s election.

Springfield, Ohio, located roughly 50 miles east of Columbus, bears many of the trademarks of a typical Midwestern town, with a strong history of manufacturing followed by a period of decline that has become a familiar story for many cities just like it.

But Springfield has become one of the most unique towns in the country in recent years, with a flood of migrants from Haiti resettling in the city and suddenly reversing decades of population decline.

Estimates vary on just how many Haitian migrants have moved to Springfield over the last few years, but most settle somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000, a huge population boom for a town that the 2020 census showed had under 60,000 residents. Many of those migrants have come to the U.S. with temporary protected status, allowing them the ability to live and work in the U.S. for a limited amount of time.

HAITIAN REFUGEES ‘DON’T UNDERSTAND THE LAWS,’ FORMER LAWMAKER SAYS AMID FATAL WRECK, CULTURAL CLASHES

Sign welcoming motorists to city of Springfield, Ohio. (Michael Lee/Fox News Digital)

However, as more and more refugees came to the city, tensions between the local population and the sudden burst of newcomers started to bubble to the surface. Those tensions flared most after an October incident last year, which saw a school bus carrying dozens of children collide with a minivan, injuring many of the students on the bus and killing one, 11-year-old Aiden Clark.

Longtime locals have since continued to voice their frustrations, appearing at city council meetings with complaints about unsafe road conditions they claim is due to the influx of drivers unfamiliar with local laws and norms.

The attention on Springfield then became amplified more this week, first when Vance took to X to claim that people in the city have had their “pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country.” 

A day later while giving an answer on immigration and border security, Trump similarly claimed that Haitian refugees in Springfield are “eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats.”

“They’re eating the pets of the people that live there, and this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame,” Trump said in the response.

Rose Groute Creole Restaurant in Springfield, Ohio, a popular Haitian food establishment that opened in August 2023.

SPRINGFIELD PASTORS SPEAK OUT ON HAITIAN REFUGEE CHALLENGES: ‘THE SUFFERING IS REAL’

To date, such claims have not been verified and local officials in Springfield have forcefully denied such incidents have taken place. Nevertheless, the claims have shined an even brighter light on the Ohio town.

Still, struggles remain as the town continues to adapt to its new reality. Former Ohio State Rep. Kyle Koehler, a Republican who represented Springfield and is now seeking a seat in the State Senate to represent the same area, acknowledged that the influx of newcomers has come as a bit of a shock to the city.

“We’ve got an influx of folks that have come in, and I think we were a little bit shocked that it was close to 20,000 people in a community of 60,000, and that’s caused some issues between the folks that live here and the folks that are coming in,” Koehler told Fox News Digital.

Koehler chalked up the disconnect to a difference of cultures, arguing the sudden collision between longtime locals and refugees from another country has “caused some issues.”

Former Ohio State Rep. Kyle Koehler (Fox News)

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“They don’t understand the laws, they don’t understand some of our customs, we don’t understand some of their customs, and that clash and the overwhelming amount of people that have come at one point has really caused some issues,” Koehler said.

But Koehler also stressed how hospitable Springfield’s residents are and argued that the town has much to offer.

“We have a wonderful town,” Koehler said.

A handful of leading senators on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) were briefed Thursday by Acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe on the investigation into the July assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump. 

“I think the American people are going to be shocked, astonished and appalled by what we will report to them about the failures by the Secret Service in this assassination attempt on the former president,” HSGAC Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) Chairman Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told Fox News Digital following the briefing. 

The senator refused to go into details about what he had heard in the meeting, however. 

DEMS RUN ON BORDER BILL REPUBLICANS SAY ‘WAS NEVER DESIGNED TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM’

Four top senators on the Homeland Security Committee were briefed on the investigation into the assassination attempt against Trump.  (Reuters)

Rowe briefed Blumenthal, PSI Ranking Member Ron Johnson, R-Wis., HSGAC Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., and HSGAC Ranking Member Rand Paul, R-Ky., before venturing to the House of Representatives to similarly brief the Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump. 

“I do think that the director is attempting to try to make sure this doesn’t happen again. And so I do appreciate that he’s trying,” Paul said after exiting the briefing. 

TOP HANDICAPPER GIVES GOP’S TIM SHEEHY EDGE AGAINST DEMOCRAT JON TESTER IN MONTANA RACE SHIFT

President Trump famously raised his fist and yelled, ‘Fight!’ to the crowd after surviving an assassination attempt in July. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

He added that “major errors” had occurred on July 13 when Trump was shot in the ear at an outdoor campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and one attendee was killed, while two others were critically injured. 

He detailed that the committee’s bipartisan interim report on the assassination attempt would be coming out in a few days.  

“I think it’s going to identify very specific errors that were made in this,” Paul said. 

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

Johnson was one of the senators briefed.  (Umit Bektas)

Peters emphasized that the forthcoming report will “only be an interim report, because there’s a lot more information that we need to find.” 

“We hope once this report comes out, and we can get the additional information necessary to have a complete report of what happened, as well as steps of what we need to do in the future to make sure that this never happens,” he told Fox News. 

ROGERS ADDRESSES ABORTION AMID SLOTKIN ATTACKS: ‘MICHIGAN VOTERS HAVE ALREADY DECIDED’

Blumenthal predicted that people would be shocked by the report.  (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

Paul additionally told reporters that he had not learned any new information about the shooter’s motive or anything else. 

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The Secret Service provided senators with an initial briefing just days after the assassination attempt, which left many senators unsatisfied. At the time, Johnson said “virtually no information” was shared, and the discussion was primarily meant to “check the box.” 

A Peters aide told Fox News Digital one day after the shooting that the committee would be launching an investigation into the assassination attempt, also revealing that the chairman had been scheduled to speak with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Mayorkas that weekend. 

“Buonasera Tutti,” former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio toasted as he opened a three-hour “Paisans for Kamala” virtual dinner this week in support of Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid headlined by staunch Trump critic Robert De Niro.

De Blasio co-hosted the event with Paul Mercurio, a comedian who works on Stephen Colbert’s CBS late-night program.

During the livestream event, which featured several high-profile Italian Americans, many dinner guests lauded Harris while criticizing former President Trump’s immigration policies from the viewpoint of children or grandchildren of Italian immigrants.

De Blasio noted he had made an intentional visit to the childhood home of one such prominent Italian-American official.

“We just did a little pilgrimage… [to] Little Italy in Baltimore — to the home of Nancy D’Alesandro-Pelosi; where she grew up,” he said, as the former mayor also highlighted the visit on X, posing at Pelosi’s former home alongside Maryland State Sen. James Rosapepe, D-Laurel.

“A dinner expresses who we are — we want to be a family as Italian-Americans — [and] bring everyone together for these amazing candidates,” de Blasio said.

DE NIRO CLAIMS TRUMP COULD ‘DESTROY THE WORLD’

Former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. (Yana Paskova/Getty Images)

Mercurio went on to tell De Niro that Trump has “tapped into something” within his base that have bonded them to him.

De Niro, who once expressed a wish to “punch [Trump] in the face,” replied that he has indeed listened to some of Trump’s supporters.

“I could very well see that there is a way, with them, that’s more for them than with Trump, because Trump doesn’t offer anything,” the actor said.

“We’ve seen this before in other countries and other societies… they think they can control someone like him… God forbid he becomes ‘the boss,’ all the people who thought they could control him, they’ll find out differently.”

Later, former Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, who said his maternal side is “fully Italian,” joined the dinner sporting a “White Dudes for Harris” hat and spoke about the values he believes Harris brings to the table.

De Blasio soon displayed a slice of pizza and proceeded to eat it with a fork — in an apparent homage to a 2014 controversy that erupted when he dined in the same fashion in Staten Island.

De Blasio argued he remains correct that it is the proper way to eat a pie.

Former CIA Director Leon Panetta later appeared and said he supports Harris because Trump appears to support isolationism, remarking that such behavior “didn’t work before World War II.”

“[There is] the importance of presidents standing up to tyrants… not appeasing them,” he said.

Later, actor Steve Buscemi said Harris struck the right tone as a descendant of immigrants.

WATCH: DE BLASIO DEBATES SEAN HANNITY

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the second presidential debate at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia on Tuesday. (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“Most immigrants are just looking for a better life, better opportunities, and they don’t deserve to be punished for pursuing that dream,” Buscemi said. “Kamala Harris is smart, strong, kind and inclusive.”

When Pelosi appeared at the dinner, she recounted how her family lived for multiple generations in the Little Italy neighborhood of Baltimore that de Blasio visited.

“My grandfather and his contemporaries came here thinking the streets would be paved in gold — little did they know they would pave the streets when they got here,” said Pelosi, whose father and grandfather, both named Thomas D’Alesandro, were mayors of Baltimore.

“It is an important race because of [Trump’s attitude toward immigrants] and so many other reasons. We must not take this election for granted,” she said.

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Anthony Scaramucci was the White House communications director for less than two weeks. He was dismissed from his position after he went on an on-the-record, profanity-laced rant about other members of the Trump administration. (Reuters/Joshua Roberts)

Pelosi went on to cite a speech by former President Reagan, highlighting the fact she was quoting a Republican, and saying that he understood in the speech that the Statue of Liberty is a “beacon of hope.”

She claimed to have recited the quote to Republicans, who did not applaud: “I said, ‘They don’t applaud for Ronald Reagan?’”

Near the close of the dinner, one of Trump’s former officials — who notably broke with the president years ago — appeared.

Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci quipped, in addressing de Blasio, “Can you imagine me, you and [former Republican Vice President] Dick Cheney getting together to support Vice President Harris?”

“Yes, I can imagine it because each of us understands the systemic danger involved with the potential reelection of Donald Trump,” he said, before pledging $5,000 to Paisans for Harris.

“I bet they didn’t discuss Kamala’s support for ending Columbus Day, a very important national holiday for Italian Americans, named after the Italian explorer who discovered the Americas!” Karoline Leavitt, Trump campaign national press secretary told Fox in a statement.

“While Kamala Harris is supported by these disconnected California elites who wouldn’t know their Sunday dinner costs 21.5 percent more thanks to Kamala’s economic policies, President Trump will continue to earn the support of everyday Americans who want to lower costs, secure the border, and Make America Great Again,” Leavitt added.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., expressed skepticism about a recent poll that showed him losing his Senate seat in Montana, which prompted two prominent political handicappers to shift their race ratings to give Republicans an advantage. 

“If you look at the AARP poll, there’s absolute inconsistency with reality,” he told reporters on Thursday. 

In particular, Tester took issue with how similar his polling stature was to Vice President Kamala Harris.

TOP SENATORS BRIEFED ON ‘MAJOR ERRORS’ LEADING UP TO TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

Sen. Jon Tester arrives for a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security hearing at the U.S. Capitol on April 10, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Samuel Corum)

Republican Senate candidate Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL, led Tester in the poll, 49% to 41%. Former President Donald Trump similarly led Harris 56% to 41%. 

“Give me a break,” the Montana Democrat said of him garnering the same percentage as Harris. 

“We’re not saying it isn’t a good poll,” he added. 

DEMS RUN ON BORDER BILL REPUBLICANS SAY ‘WAS NEVER DESIGNED TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM’

Sen. Tester suggested he was defeating his Republican opponent by a significant amount in internal polls.  (Getty Images)

According to Tester, “It’s a margin-of-error race right now.” 

The AARP poll was conducted by the bipartisan polling team of Fabrizio Ward (R) & David Binder Research (D). Between August 25-29, 1,064 likely voters were interviewed, with an overall sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Tester also told reporters that he didn’t have any thoughts on the Cook Political Report moving his race to “leans Republican.”

Asked whether he was concerned about being down in the polls, he responded, “I’m not.”

TOP HANDICAPPER GIVES GOP’S TIM SHEEHY EDGE AGAINST DEMOCRAT JON TESTER IN MONTANA RACE SHIFT

Senate Candidate for Montana Tim Sheehy speaks on Day 2 of the Republican National Convention (RNC), at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 16, 2024.  (REUTERS/Mike Segar)

In a recent interview with Fox News Digital, National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chairman Steve Daines, R-Mont., for the first time claimed the Republicans would take back the Senate majority in the upcoming election.

“We will win the Senate majority,” he said. 

“Fifty-one is the number that we want to get to. Clearly, there’s an opportunity to get beyond that, but 51 is the number we’ve got to get to,” he explained.

On Thursday, Tester also answered why he has yet to endorse Harris, explaining, “Because I want to be about Montana.”

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

Tester took issue with how similar his polling stature was to Vice President Kamala Harris. (Getty Images)

Despite his refusal to explicitly issue an endorsement of Harris, Tester was reportedly personally responsible for recruiting her to run for the Senate in 2015, when he served as Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) chairman. 

Even more recently, Tester was supportive of President Biden’s choice of Harris as his running mate in 2020, writing on X, “My friend @KamalaHarris is a proven fighter and an excellent pick for Vice President. As VP, I’m confident she will continue to fight for working families across this country. Looking forward to supporting her and @JoeBiden in November.” 

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Tester has been re-elected in Republican Montana twice but has not appeared on a ballot with Trump before. Trump won the state twice, in both 2016 and 2020. 

Sheehy notably boasts the endorsement of Trump going into the competitive election. 

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

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., is facing criticism from his Republican opponent for images in a campaign ad that show the border wall as his campaign touts his efforts to secure the southern border despite his past opposition to wall construction, which Casey has called “a waste of money.”

A recent ad by Casey says he has “voted repeatedly to secure the border” and has voted “25 times to secure the border.” During the spot, the backdrop on the screen shows the border wall and what appears to be Trump-era wall construction.

The move is similar to moves by the Harris campaign, which has also shown images of the border wall in its ads despite shutting down most wall construction.

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

This screenshot shows an ad by Sen. Bob Casey’s campaign (Screenshot)

But the vulnerable Democratic senator has a history of mostly opposition rather than support for the wall. In 2019, he said “building a wall is a waste of money” and that the U.S. should be “investing in border infrastructure and security technology at ports of entry, where most illegal smuggling happens.”

“President Trump doesn’t seem to get it. He’s not getting a concrete or steel wall along the width of the border — never, ever, ever, ever,” Casey said on X.

“If President Trump is serious about stopping illegal drugs, then he should stop talking about building an ineffective wall and start talking about hiring more people and beginning 24-hour surveillance of vehicle screenings,” Casey said in an interview the same year.

Casey also voted against a border security deal that would have combined permanent status for young illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children in exchange for border wall funding. 

The Biden administration halted border wall construction in early 2021 after entering office. Casey’s votes suggest support for that move. He repeatedly voted against measures introduced by Republicans that blocked the cancellation of wall contracts. He has also voted against the House GOP border security bill, which included border wall funding, and against an amendment in 2022 to replace funding for a chief readiness support officer with $500 million for border wall construction.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick, right, believes Pennsylvania voters are realizing the importance of the 2024 election. (Reuters I Associated Press)

Fox News Digital has previously reported that Casey supported a border fence in 2006 but later voted against a number of fence-related funding amendments in the years after that.

This year, Casey has thrown his support behind a bipartisan border security measure that would have increased funding to the border and would limit asylum entries into the U.S. It has found support with the Biden administration, including Vice President Kamala Harris. The bill includes a limited amount of border wall funding, but only a fraction of the billions that had been requested by former President Trump.

Dave McCormick, the Republican challenging Casey for his Senate seat, accused him of lying about his record in the ads.

“Bob Casey is yet again lying to the commonwealth. He’s weak and desperate to cover up his extreme record of opposing a wall, supporting open borders and enabling the flood of fentanyl pouring into the country,” McCormick said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Pennsylvanians are sick of the liberal hypocrisy and ready for a strong leader who will fight every day to finish the wall, secure the border and protect our communities.”

The Casey campaign defended his record on the border, pointing to his support of a bipartisan 2013 immigration reform bill by the ‘’Gang of Eight” that included adding 700 miles of fencing to the border along with other measures, including a pathway to citizenship for some illegal immigrants.

HARRIS DOUBLES DOWN ON SUPPORT FOR LEFT-WING BENEFIT FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS: ‘SMART SOLUTIONS’

McCormick accused Casey of lying about his record. (Getty Images)

It also pointed to broader border security votes Casey has made, including voting for electronic verification systems, emergency funding for security and Border Patrol hiring, a 2023 appropriations bill that included $10.7 billion in border security funding and a 2021 amendment to create a deficit-neutral reserve for immigration enforcement.

“Sen. Casey has voted more than 25 times to secure our border, working with Republicans to add physical barriers, hire more Border Patrol agents and invest in border security technology to stop the illegal flow of fentanyl and keep Pennsylvanians safe,” spokesperson Kate Smart said.

The campaign also noted McCormick’s opposition to the bipartisan bill introduced this year. McCormick called that legislation a “capitulation” and said it would solidify high levels of illegal immigration.

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“David McCormick opposed the toughest border security bill in modern history that was backed by Border Patrol agents and written by members of his own party because he cares more about playing petty politics than keeping Pennsylvanians safe,” Smart said.

The ad is not the only wall-related ad controversy in the Senate race. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, featured the southern border wall in a recent Senate campaign ad despite having previously claimed the wall proposed by former President Trump was “racist.” 

Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is facing his last critical leadership test of this year as congressional lawmakers grapple with a looming government shutdown deadline at the end of this month. 

The House Republican Conference is at odds over how to proceed with funding the government in the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. A growing contingent of GOP lawmakers are resigned to a short-term spending patch called a continuing resolution (CR) until December to give negotiators more time to work out next year’s federal spending.

Conservatives on Johnson’s right flank, however, want him to keep fighting for a six-month CR attached to a bill that would require proof of citizenship in the voter registration process – which the Democrat-controlled White House and Senate have called a nonstarter.

Johnson was forced to delay a planned vote on that bill last week amid a wave of Republican defections from lawmakers who saw it as a “messaging” tactic without a sufficient plan to get the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act enacted.

CLUB FOR GROWTH POURS $5M INTO TIGHT HOUSE RACES AS GOP BRACES FOR TOUGH ELECTION

House Speaker Mike Johnson is holding firm to his plan on government funding. (Getty Images)

How he navigates the political quagmire could be pivotal for the Louisiana Republican in the House GOP’s December leadership decisions.

A majority of GOP lawmakers who spoke with Fox News Digital saw little appetite for a coup – particularly so close to the election – but several did acknowledge that Johnson would face backlash if he fully acquiesced to Democrats on spending.

“If there’s an omnibus, I think he’ll likely get challenged for speaker,” one GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital, noting the challenge would be significant.

Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., a member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, admitted there was room for blowback but did not see any imminent threat to Johnson.

JOHNSON UNVEILS TRUMP-BACKED HOUSE GOP PLAN TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN, SETS UP BATTLE WITH SCHUMER

“If he really flubs this, and people feel like they were deceived – but I don’t see that he’s on that path now,” Burlison said.

Freedom Caucus member Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., noted he was close to Johnson personally but said broadly, “I think if we get jammed with an omni it will be a significant factor in any kind of leadership elections across the board.”

He said it was “not really a topic of conversation at this point” but added that it “could be part of the calculus” for others.

Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., said there were no ongoing conversations about replacing House Speaker Mike Johnson if he falls short on spending but said it “could be part of the calculus” for some. (Getty Images )

Meanwhile, Reps. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, and Cory Mills, R-Fla., who have not shied away from criticizing the speaker, suggested it was inevitable that he would face some sort of rival.

“I think in order for Mike Johnson to remain speaker, in my humble opinion, it’s going to require some Democrats to help him,” Nehls told Fox News Digital, adding that House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, would be a “great” candidate.

Jordan was one of several Republican leaders who ran for speaker after the ouster of ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., over McCarthy’s own handling of government spending last fall. Jordan’s bid was derailed by opposition from moderates, however.

Mills, who came out against Johnson’s CR plan, said, “I think he’s gonna have a significant leadership challenge regardless.”

MCCARTHY’S ‘FINAL STRUGGLES’ THREATEN TO HAUNT JOHNSON’S GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN FIGHT

“I don’t think this is going to be that pivotal moment where it’s a make or break, but what I will say is, is that the one guarantee that I continue to try and sound the alarm on or beat the drums on, is…we’re heading towards economic collapse,” Mills said.

Meanwhile, another conservative lawmaker who spoke with Fox News Digital anonymously was emphatic that, unlike his predecessor, Johnson is safe from a political coup.

Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, guessed House Speaker Mike Johnson would need Democratic votes to win the speakership next year if the GOP has the majority. (Nathan Howard)

“I think just what little conversations I’ve had with him last weekend, what little conversations I’ve had with him and staff, I think they are genuine in wanting to make sure we don’t end up with an omnibus,” that conservative said.

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In addition to pressure from within his own conference, Johnson is also having to navigate government funding talks while the Republicans’ 2024 nominee, former President Donald Trump, is actively calling for a partial shutdown if election security legislation cannot be passed.

Johnson, for his part, has told reporters that he is still sticking firmly to his course and would work through the weekend on the issue.

“We’re going to continue to work on this. Whip is going to do the hard work to build consensus, we’re going to work through the weekend on that. And I want any member of Congress in either party to explain to the American people why we should not ensure that only U.S. citizens are voting in U.S. elections,” Johnson said earlier this week.

If Republicans lose the majority, Johnson will only need a majority vote of his conference to remain its leader. A Speaker of the House, however, needs a majority of the entire chamber – meaning the GOP would likely need to be in lock-step for him to win.

Former President Donald Trump’s senior adviser, Alina Habba, has hit the campaign trail to attract Arab support in the key swing state of Michigan. 

Habba, who also is an attorney on Trump’s legal team, is a first generation American. Both of Habba’s parents are from Iraq. 

Habba has been crisscrossing Michigan since Thursday, participating in nearly a dozen events and engaging in meetings in Arab American communities — including with Indian Americans and Chaldean Americans. 

“As someone who understands how tight-knit and faith-driven these communities are, I’m incredibly proud to be here with the Arab American communities in Michigan,” Habba told Fox News Digital. “Many of us have roots in countries where we left behind persecution for the freedom that we now cherish.” 

ALINA HABBA TAKES ON MAJOR ROLE IN TRUMP CAMPAIGN

Alina Habba speaking on the final night of the Republican National Convention on Thursday, July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Habba told Fox News Digital it is “vital that we speak up to protect that freedom here in the United States.” 

“We cannot allow our country to go down the same dangerous path,” Habba said. “Donald Trump is the only option to ensure our values and way of life are safeguarded.” 

Metro Detroit has the world’s largest population of Iraqis outside of Iraq, with an estimated 187,000 people. 

On Friday, Habba toured the Chaldean Foundation and the community. Habba also spoke to children at a school in the community and spoke to local leaders. 

THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS

“The Chaldean community is driven by its faith and close-knit family ties,” Habba told Fox News Digital, adding that Trump’s policies are attractive to them, and “resonating with independents, moderates, and traditional Republicans, especially here in battleground states like Michigan.”

Alina Habba visits a Chaldean community in Michigan. 

Also on Friday, Habba is participating in a “Trump 47 Agenda Policy Tour” event with Vivek Ramaswamy, Rep. Tim Walberg, Tudor Dixon and more in Farmington Hills, Mich. 

Alina Habba visits a Chaldean community in Michigan.  (Alina Habba)

“The Trump 47 Policy Tour is working, and we’re seeing results in key areas like Oakland County,” Habba said. “The Chaldean community, with its 10 Catholic churches in Metro-Detroit, is a strong, faith-based force, and we stand united behind President Trump.” 

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According to the latest Fox News Power Rankings, key swing states like North Carolina, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Nevada are listed as “toss-ups.”

Michigan, though, is listed as “lean Democrat.” 

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Two local pastors spoke to Fox News Digital about the ministry challenges facing their town that has been thrust into the national spotlight after viral videos of residents complaining of disturbing behavior from Haitian refugees who have settled in the area.

“I think the biggest change that we’ve seen happen has just been sort of a breakdown in the trust of the community and some basic civility has also broken down a little bit,” BJ Newman, a pastor in Springfield, Ohio, told Fox News Digital from Springfield’s Snyder Park on Thursday. “I think the reason for that is because there have been so many changes so quickly…. In the 2020 census, there was about 50,000, a little north of that, residents here, now we have, numbers I have been reading, between 15,000 and 20,000 additional immigrants have arrived.”

The comments come as the town where Newman works has been thrust into the national spotlight, attention that has only grown since Ohio Sen. JD Vance and former President Donald Trump highlighted the town in back-to-back days earlier this week.

On Monday, Vance took to social media to write about the town, claiming that “people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country.” 

HAITIAN REFUGEES ‘DON’T UNDERSTAND THE LAWS,’ LAWMAKER SAYS AMID FATAL WRECK, CULTURAL CLASHES

Local Springfield, Ohio, pastor BJ Newman. (Fox News – Michael Lee)

Trump doubled down on the claim during Tuesday’s debate, arguing that Haitian refugees in Springfield are “eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats.”

“They’re eating the pets of the people that live there, and this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame,”  Trump said in a response to a question about immigration.

Many local leaders rushed to the town’s defense, disputing what has become a widespread claim. 

Newman also expressed frustration with the claim, arguing that it has distracted from real issues being faced by Springfield locals as they try to adjust to the boom in the town’s population.

“I think the suffering is real,” Newman said. “One of the reasons that I wanted to speak to this is because I am a pastor, and because I am seeing the local people that I’m ministering to are being affected by it.”

At the heart of the issue, Newman argued, is how quickly the makeup of the town changed, exacerbating cultural differences that have led to tensions between longtime locals and the growing population of refugees from Haiti.

RESIDENTS OF SPRINGFIELD, OHIO ATTEND CITY COUNCIL MEETING TO SHARE FRUSTRATION ABOUT MIGRANT CRISIS HITTING THEIR COMMUNITY

This is the lake where geese have allegedly been poached and slaughtered by Haitian refugees. (Michael Lee/ Fox News Digital)

“I think most people here in Springfield are good people, I think most people here are very kind and hospitable people. And I do think that the massive influx in such a short time has created real stress, real friction, and ultimately, I think that’s the source of all of the difficulty,” Newman said.

That friction has increasingly bubbled up among longtime residents, who have attended city council meetings to attempt to voice their concerns about the influx.

Locals have specifically pointed to road safety issues, arguing that many immigrant drivers have been found responsible for many recent crashes, including some of which have been fatal. 

“The driving in town is horrendous,” former Ohio Republican State Rep. Kyle Koehler told Fox News Digital, adding that much of that can be chalked up to cultural differences and the fact that many immigrants have arrived in Springfield with no license and very little experience driving.

In one high profile incident last October, a school bus with dozens of children collided with a minivan, resulting in over 20 injuries to students on board and one fatality, Aiden Clark.

Hermanio Joseph, a Haitian immigrant, was found responsible for the accident and was later found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and vehicular homicide.

A Haitian community center in Springfield, Ohio. (Michael Lee/Fox News Digital)

FOCUS GROUP REACTS TO TRUMP CLAIM THAT MIGRANTS ARE ‘EATING THE DOGS’ IN OHIO TOWN

“That traumatized this community,” Newman said of the fatal crash. “We mobilized pretty quickly in my role as a minister, and we had to work really hard to do some counseling and to intervene. And I think what that did was that shown a bright flashing star, like ‘wait a second, what’s going on here.’”

However, as some residents mobilized to push back against the influx, others began mounting an effort to defend the Haitian refugees.

At an event across town later Thursday, other religious leaders in town gathered at Springfield’s Covenant Presbyterian Church to highlight their efforts to welcome and assist the growing number of Haitian refugees.

One of those attending the event was First Baptist Church Reverend Adam Banks, who told Fox News Digital that tension in Springfield is expected but can be overcome.

“There’s tension in the community, much like the ways that tension has arisen in the past when there have been new members to move into an established area,” Banks said.

Banks chalked up the current tension in Springfield to a “lack of understanding” and “familiarity” between two cultures not used to each other, but argued that also means there are “more people who are available to share their gifts” and assist with “services in the community.”

A sign welcoming motorists to the city of Springfield, Ohio. (Michael Lee/Fox News Digital)

Banks, who said some members of the Haitian community have attended his services, argued that refugees should be welcomed by the community instead of shunned.

“They have joined right in helping with the sound system, sharing special music, sharing their lovely voices, reading scripture, providing leadership in various capacities in the congregation,” Banks said, adding that he will continue to “welcome” people who “want to celebrate the gift that each person brings and magnify god.”

First Baptist Church Reverend Adam Banks. (Fox News – Michael Lee)

“We do not need any more false information being shared, that really display a fear we have for those that we don’t understand,” Banks said.

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Meanwhile, Newman argued that those who have been members of the community for a long time should be able to be part of the conversation, though they are typically dismissed for voicing any concerns.

“I think there’s a larger narrative… that says the only compassionate response in a situation like this is you accept all of these immigrants and shut up. Any sense of raising our hand and saying ‘wait a second, we weren’t considered, we’re suffering her too.’ And the response is something like… you’re racist or you’re a bigot, why are you so anti-immigrant,” Newman said.

A Haitian illegal immigrant now charged with drug and weapons crimes in Massachusetts was released into the United States by officials at the southern border last year, officials said this week – just as Haitian migration has become a top political issue.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Boston division announced that they had taken Gasnoy Saintilme into custody on Aug. 26 at the Worcester District Court. The Haitian national is charged with conspiracy to violate drug laws, drug distribution, drug manufacturing and unlawfully carrying a dangerous weapon.

ICE said Border Patrol encountered Saintilme in February 2023 after entering the U.S. illegally. He was given a notice to appear before an immigration judge and was released on parole, the agency said in a statement.

HAITIAN MIGRANT ACCUSED OF MOLESTING CHILD IS IN US VIA CONTROVERSIAL BIDEN-HARRIS PROGRAM

ICE agents picked up Saintilme after being alerted by the Worcester Sheriff’s Office. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

He was arrested in Worcester on March 7 on conspiracy to violate drug laws, but was released on recognizance, before again being arrested in April on weapons and drugs charges.

After ICE issued a detainer – a request to local authorities that they be alerted to a potential release so they can take a suspected illegal immigrant into custody – the sheriff’s office notified them when he posted bail. 

“Gasnoy Saintilme unlawfully entered the United States and has now been charged with conspiracy, weapons charges and attempting to manufacture and distribute poison in our Massachusetts communities,” ICE Enforcement and Removals Operation Boston Field Office Director Todd Lyons said in a statement. “We are beyond pleased that our partners at the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office honored our immigration detainer and transferred custody of Saintilme to ERO officers. The Worcester County Sheriff’s Office remains a valued ally in our fight to prioritize public safety in our Massachusetts neighborhoods. ERO Boston will continue our efforts to arrest and remove egregious noncitizen offenders from New England.”

The announcement of Saintilme’s arrest comes as Haitian migration into the U.S. remains a top political issue. This week, former President Trump brought up alleged issues that the town of Springfield, Ohio, is having with Haitian migrants – where there has been a surge in arrivals in recent years.

Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine also announced he’ll be funneling resources to help ease the influx of the approximately 20,000 Haitian migrants that have arrived in the city of Springfield legally under the Biden-Harris administration.

“As these numbers dramatically pick up, there’s some obligation for the federal government to help local communities who had nothing to do with the decision about people coming in, but now find themselves with a massive number of people,” DeWine said Tuesday.

ICE FINDS, ARRESTS HAITIAN MIGRANT WHO WAS RELEASED ON $500 BOND AFTER BEING CHARGED WITH RAPING CHILD IN MA

In Massachusetts, ICE officials announced last week that a Haitian migrant who entered the U.S. as part of the parole processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans (CHNV) was arrested. He is accused of allegedly molesting a 10-year-old boy who lived next door to him.

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Akim Marc Desire, 18, was arrested by police last week in Mansfield, Massachusetts, about 45 minutes south of Boston, and is being charged with indecent assault and battery on a child under age 14, law enforcement sources told Fox News.

Last month, ICE announced it had located and arrested a Haitian immigrant brought in on the same program who had been released on a $500 bond despite facing charges of raping a 15-year-old while staying at a migrant hotel in the state.

Fox News’ Michael Lee and Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland championed a returned to “norms” at the Department of Justice on Thursday, despite controversies that have left Republicans alleging a two-tier justice system.

Speaking to department staff in Washington, D.C., Garland referred to former President Trump’s term in the White House as a “particularly difficult period for the department.”

“When I came back to DOJ in 2021, after a particularly difficult period for the Department, I said that my mission as Attorney General would be to reaffirm and strengthen those norms as the principles upon which the Justice Department operates,” he said. 

Garland, however, failed to mention the department failing to enforce a federal statute against the protesters who were harassing conservative justices at their homes in 2022, slow-walking the trial of the man accused of seeking to kill Justice Brett Kavanaugh while fast-tracking cases involving Trump and writing a letter directing the National Security Division to monitor angry parents at school board meetings, said Fox News legal editor Kerri Urbahn.

Urbahn, appearing Thursday on “America Reports,” criticized the DOJ for providing regular updates on the aggressive Jan. 6 riot prosecutions while staying mum on anti-Israel agitators who have defaced and destroyed private and federal property. The department also slow-walked the Hunter Biden investigation until whistleblowers spoke out, Urbahn said, and then nearly allowed a “sweetheart” plea deal to go through.

FORMER CIA OFFICER ACCEPTED GIFTS FROM CHINA FOR TOP SECRET INFO, SENTENCED TO PRISON

Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“So, we took steps to better protect the Department’s criminal and civil law enforcement decisions and its legal judgments from partisan or other inappropriate influences,” Garland continued.

Garland lamented accusations that the department had been weaponized against political enemies and decried “conspiracy theories, dangerous falsehoods [and] efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants.”

“Our norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon, and our norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics,” Garland told DOJ staff.

SECRET SURVEILLANCE OF CONGRESSIONAL STAFF BY DOJ IN FOCUS AFTER WHISTLEBLOWER ADVOCATES NOTCH COURT WIN

Garland’s statements appear to be a response to accusations coming from across the Republican Party that the DOJ has been weaponized against Trump in recent years.

In June, The Washington Post published an opinion piece written by Garland, which shot down assertions that the department was attempting to influence the 2024 election. 

WATCH: GARLAND SAYS DOJ RETURNING TO ‘NORMS’ UNDER HIS WATCH

Without naming them, Garland alluded to Trump and his allies, who have repeatedly claimed the DOJ was behind the New York criminal case against the presumptive GOP nominee, who was found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records by a Manhattan jury. 

“We have seen an escalation of attacks that go far beyond public scrutiny, criticism, and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work. They are baseless, personal and dangerous,” Garland wrote.

Such attacks, Garland insisted at the time, included “threats” to defund Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith’s efforts to prosecute the former president. 

Garland added at the time, “The Justice Department makes decisions about criminal investigations based only on the facts and the law. We do not investigate people because of their last name, their political affiliation, the size of their bank account, where they come from or what they look like. We investigate and prosecute violations of federal law — nothing more, nothing less.” 

“With all due respect, Attorney General, prosecuting the former president of the United States and the possible future president of the United States and your boss’s political enemy is anything but normal,” Urbahn said.

Urbahn said that Smith has brought “untested legal theories” against Trump.

“They are basically twisting the law in ways that have never been done before in order to fit the facts to get the guy,” Urbahn continued.

Others have pointed out what appears to be hypocrisy on the DOJ’s part with recent treatment of groups lumped together as politically conservative when compared to those categorized as generally liberal.

In 2023, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves announced the conviction of Paula “Paulette” Harlow, 75, of Kingston, Massachusetts, for a “federal conspiracy against rights” and Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act violations for participating in a protest at an abortion clinic in 2020.

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Critics immediately cried foul, noting that Graves had yet to condemn or preview possible prosecution efforts for roughly 200 anti-Israel activists — some armed with pepper spray — who violently rioted at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters and injured at least six Capitol Police officers in November. 

Amid former President Trump’s continued accusations of DOJ weaponization throughout his two federal criminal cases, Garland praised his department’s 115,000 attorneys, agents and other workers for not bending to politics.  (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo, Brooke Singman and Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.

The Vice President Kamala Harris campaign says they hauled in $47 million from nearly 600,000 donors in the 24 hours after her debate with former President Donald Trump on Tuesday night in Philadelphia.

“This historic, 24-hour haul reflects a strong and growing coalition of Americans united behind Vice President Harris’ candidacy that knows the stakes this November, and are doing their part to defeat Donald Trump this November,” Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement.

Tuesday’s showdown was the first time that Harris and Trump had met in person, and the encounter came two and a half months after President Biden’s disastrous performance against Trump in their late June debate in Atlanta.

2024 SHOWDOWN: WHAT A POST-DEBATE POLL SHOWS 

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump shake hands during their debate in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (Doug Mills/The New York Time/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Biden’s unsteady appearance and uneven and meandering answers fueled questions about whether the 81-year-old president was physically and mentally up for another four years in the White House and fueled calls from within his own party to end his re-election bid. Less than a month later, Biden suspended his 2024 campaign and backed his vice president to replace him atop the Democrats’ national ticket.

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

The latest Harris cash haul, which was first reported by the New York Times, is the latest sign of the vice president’s surge in fundraising since becoming her party’s standard-bearer.

At the time this report was published, the Trump campaign had yet to announce any fundraising figures post-debate.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally at Bojangles Coliseum, in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The Harris campaign recently announced that they hauled in $361 million in August, nearly triple the $130 million raised by the Trump campaign.

When asked about the fundraising deficit, Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley told Fox News Digital in the debate spin room that “the Democrats have a ton of money. The Democrats always have a ton of money.”

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However, he emphasized that “we absolutely have the resources that we need to get our message out to all the voters that we’re talking to and feel very comfortable that we’re going to be able to see this campaign through and we’re going to win on November 5.”

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump departs a campaign event at the Central Wisconsin Airport on Sept. 7, 2024 in Mosinee, Wisconsin. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Trump, in a social media post on Thursday, ruled out having another debate with the vice president.

Harris, speaking about an hour later at a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, said, “I believe we owe it to the voters to have another debate. Because this election and what is at stake could not be more important.”

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

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — With the first and potentially only debate between Vice President Harris and former President Trump now in the rearview mirror, both major party nominees are resuming their barnstorming through the key general election battleground states. 

“Ours is going to be a tight race until the end,” Harris told supporters on Thursday at a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina. “We are the underdog… we’ve got some hard work ahead of us…but hard work is good work.”

Harris arrived in North Carolina’s largest city on Thursday afternoon for the first of back-to-back rallies in the key southeastern swing state ahead of a nighttime event in Greensboro.

On Friday, the vice president holds two campaign events in Pennsylvania, site of Tuesday’s debate and the battleground state with the most electoral votes up for grabs.

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

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally at Bojangles Coliseum, in Charlotte, N.C., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

With less than eight weeks until Election Day on Nov. 5 and early voting getting underway in a number of key states, the Harris campaign says it’s entering a new and more aggressive phase as it aims to build on what many political pundits considered a strong debate performance by the vice president.

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

“This is the homestretch. The pace of the campaign is going to get a lot more hectic,” veteran Democrat strategist and former Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile told Fox News.

Brazile, who managed then-Vice President Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign and who’s close to Harris, said that “I wouldn’t take my foot off the gas.”

Vice President Harris and former President Trump shake hands at their debate in Philadelphia on Sept. 10, 2024. (Doug Mills/New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

While Harris takes the stage in Charlotte, Trump will be in Arizona, a crucial southwestern battleground. On Friday, Trump heads to another swing state, Nevada. 

North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada, along with Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin, were the seven states with razor-thin margins that decided the outcome of President Biden’s 2020 election victory over Trump and will likely determine whether Harris or the former president will win the White House this year.

The latest national polls and surveys in the swing states indicate the battle between Harris and Trump remains a margin-of-error race. 

Harris arrived in North Carolina as the latest Fox News Power Rankings, released on Thursday, indicate that Trump has lost his edge in the Tar Heel State as well as in neighboring Georgia, with the battlegrounds now considered toss-ups in the White House race.

Fox News Power Rankings presidential forecast

An hour before Harris arrived in Charlotte, Trump in a social media post ruled out doing another debate with the vice president.

Harris, near the top of her rally, responded, telling supporters “I believe we owe it to the voters to have another debate. Because this election and what is at stake could not be more important.”

For the second straight day, the Harris campaign launched a new digital ad using clips from her debate performance against Trump to spotlight key policy differences with the former president.

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Meanwhile, the Trump campaign fired up a new ad in Pennsylvania that takes aim at Harris over the issue of fracking.

Harris has been pilloried by the Trump campaign and allied Republicans for only giving one major interview since taking over as the Democrats’ standard-bearer and for holding no news conferences. And Trump’s campaign announced this week that the former president would hold another news conference on Friday in Los Angeles. (But it should be noted that Trump took no questions at his previous event that was billed as a news conference.)

Republican presidential nominee former President Trump is shown at a campaign event in Mosinee, Wisconsin, on Sept. 7, 2024. A recent poll has Trump trailing Democrat nominee Vice President Harris in the battleground state. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Sources in the Harris political orbit say the vice president is expected to sit for more media engagements in the coming days and weeks. Harris is expected to take part in a discussion with journalists at the National Association of Black Journalists this month. Harris was criticized by Trump for not attending a prior engagement with the group, which the former president attended in person.

Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, continues a weeklong campaign swing across the battlegrounds. Walz is in Michigan and Wisconsin on Thursday and Friday.

Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, was heading a pair of top-dollar fundraisers in New York City on Thursday, but he is expected back on the campaign trail in the next few days.

Brazile, pointing to the calendar, said that “it’s time to get busy where it matters by engaging with people where they are.”

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

A new survey from the Rainey Center, a D.C.-based policy-research think tank, found that only 9% of American voters think the American Dream is more attainable today.

The survey, which questioned over 1,000 American voters in July, found only 3% of its respondents said the American Dream was “much more” attainable, while 6% said it was “somewhat more” attainable. Meanwhile, 66% of the survey’s respondents said that over the last decade the American Dream has become either “much less” or “somewhat less” attainable.     

Angela McArdle, president of the national Libertarian Party, told Fox News Digital she was not surprised by the results of the survey. McArdle suggested the country was “in very scary territory” when it comes to upward economic mobility, something she said is “a big part” of the American Dream. 

AMERICAN VALUES: ‘IT’S DYING’: PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS WORRY ABOUT FUTURE OF AMERICAN DREAM

In July, McArdle wrote an editorial in Newsweek arguing that an increasing number of Americans, particularly those who are younger, are feeling shut out of the American Dream as a result of declining purchasing power and an erosion of individual liberties. 

The Rainey Center survey similarly found that the younger you are, the more pessimistic people are likely to be about the American Dream. It also found that individual liberties and financial stability ranked among the two most important aspects of the American Dream for respondents. 

“I think we’re in very scary territory, especially if Kamala Harris is elected,” McArdle said, referring to upward economic mobility and the American Dream. McArdle expressed better faith in Trump to revive a more optimistic view of the American Dream.

“Donald Trump, you know, while he’s been very friendly to libertarians, which I greatly appreciate now, he’s not a libertarian. He doesn’t bat 1,000, he’s not going to get it 100% of the time, but I think, aside from every little libertarian nuance, I think he does understand the American Dream.”

TRUMP OUTLINES ECONOMIC POLICIES AT AN EVENT FOR THE ECONOMIC CLUB OF NEW YORK

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

McArdle also echoed her argument from July that said an erosion of individual liberties, such as the enforcement of property rights, could be tied to national pessimism about the American Dream. McArdle added that Harris “doesn’t care about us having property ownership.”

“As you grow and become an adult, you want to be able to save up and make a big purchase, whether that’s a home for a lot of people, or it’s your first car. And when you have a potential president who’s not going to enforce rule of law against property crime, it really takes the excitement out of making a major purchase like that.”

“I think a lot of people, especially in urban areas, are very nervous to open a small business if the police don’t protect your property,” McArdle added. “If, instead, they’re weaponized to come for you over thought crimes, political speech, things of that nature, what’s left of the American dream at that point?”

Harris has praised efforts that stripped funding from law enforcement, and during the George Floyd riots of 2020 she referred to the protesters who caused billions of dollars in property damage and frequently assaulted police as “essential.” During the riots she supported a bail fund movement that was working to get many of the violent rioters released from jail.

“That is, I think, real destruction of the American Dream,” McArdle said, in reference to Harris’ failure to protect property rights.

AS DISTRICT ATTORNEY, KAMALA HARRIS LOOKED OUT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S CRIMINALS

This view shows the shattered front door of a high-end retailer in Chicago. (FOX 32)

Rainey Center President Sarah Hunt told Fox News Digital that the next administration “must make restoring economic prosperity and equal opportunity” a priority if they hope to restore faith in the American Dream.

“Americans are losing hope, and to most, the concept of the American Dream taught to us at an early age by our parents and grandparents truly feels unattainable,” Hunt said. “Young Americans are forgoing the idea of becoming homeowners because of crippling mortgage rates, runaway spending and detrimental inflation. The bottom line: Americans feel like they can no longer afford the American Dream. But there is still hope in reversing course.”

KAMALA HARRIS BLAMED FOR CRIME FAILURES IN CALIFORNIA

Hunt and McArdle both pointed to deregulation as a major factor that could help improve the national pessimism around the “American Dream.” 

CONSERVATIVE ECONOMISTS POUR COLD WATER ON HARRIS’ NEW SMALL-BUSINESS TAX PROPOSAL

“I think many Americans are in jobs where they don’t believe they are fulfilling their potential, or they don’t maybe believe that they can find education or provide an education for their children that will help them fulfill their potential,” Hunt said. “But, you know, a fundamental part of that is having a government that has sensible policies. And, you know, deregulating some of these burdens and regulations that limit our ability to build things or make it harder to start business would go a long way for giving people more opportunity.”

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Meanwhile, McArdle said that while she appreciates Harris paying “lip service” to small businesses, she doesn’t think Harris “realizes or has any regard or cares what the regulatory framework is really like.”

“She talks about lowering taxes for small businesses. Well, that’s fantastic, that’s a great start, but the barrier to job creation is regulation,” McArdle said.

District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to defy a Georgia state senate subpoena for her testimony ahead of a hearing Friday, Fox News Digital has learned.

The Senate Special Committee on Investigations, chaired by Republican state Sen. Bill Cowsert, subpoenaed Willis to compel her testimony related to the committee’s investigation into allegations she misused taxpayer funds. 

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Cowsert said after Willis refused to testify voluntarily, the committee issued a subpoena, adding her legal counsel had indicated to the committee she would not be complying with the subpoena. 

“We think it’s unlikely that she will appear but disappointing that she considers herself above the law,” Cowert said. 

FANI WILLIS FACES NOTHING BUT SETBACKS IN CASE AGAINST TRUMP, THE LATEST PENDING WITH SUPREME COURT

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

If Willis does not appear at Friday’s hearing, the state Senate will seek to compel her attendance through a judicial order that will work its way through the court system the next few weeks. 

“We do have the authority to investigate and to issue subpoenas to compel testimony and the production of documents, and if tested in court, that will be validated,” Cowsert said. 

“She’ll be required to attend, and she’ll be required to produce certain requested documents. It may require a court order for her to obey them, but that’s where we’re headed.” 

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

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis during a hearing in the case of the State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse March 1, 2024, in Atlanta.  (Alex Slitz-Pool/Getty Images)

Friday’s hearing will feature a presentation from David Cook, the former Georgia secretary of the Senate, on the investigative powers of legislative bodies and the ability to subpoena. 

Legislative counsel Stuart Morelli will also testify on the committee’s legal authority to conduct investigations and to subpoena individuals to testify or to produce documents. 

The Republican-led committee was established in January by a resolution that passed by a 30-19 vote.

Willis, who is spearheading the sweeping prosection case against former President Trump, has come under scrutiny after she was accused in February of having an “improper” affair with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she had hired to help prosecute the case.

FANI WILLIS’ EX-STAFFER TESTIFIES SHE WAS FIRED AFTER BLOWING WHISTLE ON DA’S SPENDING

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis celebrates after winning the Democratic primary May 21, 2024, in Buckhead, Ga.  (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

A decision by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee not to disqualify her from the case is now on appeal, and that hearing is slated for December. 

The Georgia Senate committee has already held several hearings, including one featuring the testimony of a whistleblower who said she was fired after she raised concerns about Willis’ office’s alleged misuse of funds. 

Willis said in May she believes the committee has no authority to subpoena her and told a news reporter she “will not appear to anything that is unlawful.”

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“I have not broken the law in any way,” Willis told reporters at a press conference in May. “I’m sorry folks get p—ed off that everyone gets treated equally.”

But Cowsert said the committee members are “all extremely confident that we’re acting within the constitutional and legislative authority of the state Senate.”

A representative for Willis did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

The hearing begins Friday at 10 a.m. ET.

A judge dismissed two criminal counts in the Georgia 2020 election interference case against former President Donald Trump and one other count against allies of the former president.

Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee ruled that Georgia prosecutors had no authority to bring the charges, which related to alleged filing of false documents in federal court. 

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

“President Trump and his legal team in Georgia have prevailed once again,” Trump attorney Steve Sadow said. “The trial court has decided that counts 15 and 27 in the indictment must be quashed/dismissed.” 

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had charged Trump related to alleged 2020 election interference. Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts. 

FANI WILLIS FACES NOTHING BUT SETBACKS IN CASE AGAINST TRUMP

Earlier this year, the judge dismissed six of the charges against Trump, saying Willis failed to allege sufficient detail. 

The case also was thrown into limbo when it was revealed Willis reportedly had an “improper affair” with Nathan Wade, a prosecutor she hired to help bring the case against Trump. Wade was later removed. 

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

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 on Thursday, McAfee upheld the racketeering charge in the case, which has been brought against all the defendants.