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FIRST ON FOX: A group of leading bipartisan senators conducting oversight of homeland security and governmental matters are demanding answers from FBI Director Christopher Wray and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after an alleged Iranian agent was charged by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for orchestrating a scheme to assassinate a politician or U.S. official — potentially former President Trump. 

Pakistani national Asif Merchant was charged with seeking to carry out a murder-for-hire, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York’s office said earlier this month. 

“This dangerous murder-for-hire plot exposed in today’s charges allegedly was orchestrated by a Pakistani national with close ties to Iran and is straight out of the Iranian playbook,” Wray said in the press release. “A foreign-directed plot to kill a public official, or any U.S. citizen, is a threat to our national security and will be met with the full might and resources of the FBI.”   

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Top bipartisan senators are demanding answers from Director Wray and Secretary Mayorkas on an alleged Iranian agent who sought to arrange a murder for hire plot potentially against Trump.  (Getty Images/ Department of Justice)

In a joint letter to Wray and Mayorkas on Wednesday, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., Ranking Member Rand Paul, R-Ky., Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Ranking Member Ron Johnson, R-Wis., noted that the court documents detailed Merchant had been “orchestrating his assassination plot since at least April 2024 when he ‘flew from Pakistan to Istanbul and then on to Houston, Texas on or about April 13, 2024, to recruit individuals to carry out his plot to assassinate U.S. government officials.” 

The senators pointed to a Fox News Digital report citing multiple federal law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation, who claimed that the FBI was watching Merchant before he entered the U.S. According to those sources, the bureau needed him to enter the country in order to cement their case and arrest him. 

‘PATH TO JUSTICE’: DURBIN URGES AUSTIN TO RETHINK REVOKING 9/11 MASTERMINDS’ PLEA DEALS

Arresting Merchant at Customs would not have allowed agents to get the evidence necessary regarding the plot, per the sources. 

“In light of this new information and to understand the extent of FBI’s and DHS’s awareness of Merchant and his plot, including the justification to allow him to enter the U.S.,” Peters, Paul, Blumenthal, and Johnson asked that the FBI and DHS leaders provide answers on when and how the Pakistani national became known to the FBI, what the bureau knew at that time, and if they shared the information with Secret Service. 

The lawmakers further asked the entities for information on whether the FBI sponsored Significant Public Benefit Parole (SPBP) for Merchant for “security interests.” The suspect was allegedly allowed entry through SPBP, which grants non-citizens entry to the U.S. on a temporary basis. 

KAMALA HARRIS LED DEMS IN 2018 CALL TO REJECT MORE FUNDING FOR BORDER PATROL, ICE

Asif Merchant, 46, is accused of trying to kill a political figure in the United States. He was let into the United States via immigration parole, federal law enforcement sources told Fox News.  (Justice Department)

They additionally questioned Mayorkas and Wray on the information provided to DHS by the FBI prior to the decision to allow Merchant into the country. “Did FBI inform DHS about Merchant’s assassination plot? When and how did DHS officials become aware of Merchant?” the senators questioned. 

In their correspondence, the senators noted that a request made last month is still outstanding for “documents and information from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), including any intelligence regarding a series of enumerated threats known or being investigated in advance of the July 13, 2024 rally,” where Trump survived an assassination attempt.

The initial request on July 24 came in response to an attempted assassination against Trump at an outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The shooting wounded the former president’s ear, leaving him bloodied, and killed one spectator as well as critically injuring two others.

GOOGLE EXECS PRESSED TO TESTIFY AFTER ADMITTING TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT SEARCH OMISSIONS WERE BY DESIGN

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump was rushed offstage during a rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“Please explain what, if any, steps federal law enforcement has taken to investigate any connection between Merchant’s assassination plot and the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump,” the lawmakers requested in the latest letter. 

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The FBI confirmed receipt of the letter to Fox News Digital, but declined to comment. 

DHS did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication. 

Fox News’ Louis Casiano, Bill Melugin, David Spunt and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report. 

MINNEAPOLIS – A retired police lieutenant in Minnesota is pushing back against the narrative that Gov. Tim Walz is a “moderate” and tells Fox News Digital that the governor “intentionally” let Minneapolis burn during the 2020 riots because he “truly doesn’t like police.”

“He is not a moderate, he has never been a moderate and here in Minnesota he has been anti-police, he has raised taxes, he is nowhere near being a moderate,” retired Minnesota State Patrol Lt. John Nagel told Fox News Digital.

“He’s anti-police, defund the police, when you have police families, and we have an officer killed in the line of duty, when that family looks at the governor and says we don’t want you at the funeral. That should tell you a great deal of how law enforcement in general feels about Walz.”

Last year, the widow of Pope County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Owen, who was killed in the line of duty responding to a domestic violence call, told Walz he was not invited to her late husband’s funeral because “he does not support law enforcement,” Alpha News reported.

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Retired Minnesota State Police Lt. John Nagel blasted Gov. Tim Walz’s relationship with police.

Nagel told Fox News Digital that a major reason law enforcement in Minnesota is unhappy with Walz was his slow response when asked to send in the National Guard as the city burned during the 2020 George Floyd riots, which Walz has faced fierce criticism for since becoming the Democratic vice presidential nominee.

Nagel, who is running for office as a Republican in Minnesota House District 46A, explained that he believes the slow response was due in part to a political calculation.

“We’re hearing this over and over and over again, he let Minneapolis burn,” Nagel said. “I think he intentionally let Minneapolis burn.”

MINNESOTA MURDER STATS ROSE UNDER WALZ’S LEADERSHIP AS HE TRIES TO TIE VIOLENT CRIME TREND TO TRUMP: DATA

Building goes up in flames during the George Floyd riots in 2020. (Getty Images)

“I think it was all part of a much greater scheme because he truly doesn’t like the police. [Minnesota Attorney General] Keith Ellison has never liked the police. They have been involved with people who are defunding the police.”

Walz, who publicly backed “alternatives to policing” as the Minnesota City Council was pushing to disband the police department in 2020, has been widely criticized by Republicans for not doing more to support law enforcement during the riots. 

“Tim Walz let Minneapolis burn for three straight nights without doing anything,” GOP Rep. Pete Stauber, who represents Duluth, Minnesota and surrounding areas, previously told Fox News Digital. “And he called the riots, he stated their actions were, this is a quote, ‘righteous anger.’ Hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to family businesses and buildings in Minneapolis.”

Stauber told Fox News Digital the “vast majority” of law enforcement in Minnesota are “disgruntled” with Walz’s “lack of support.”

MINNESOTA DEM LAWMAKER DEFENDS WALZ AGAINST ‘RADICAL’ LABEL FROM GOP: ‘COULDN’T DISAGREE MORE’

Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz appear on stage together during a campaign event at Temple University in Philadelphia. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Nagel, who served in uniform for 30 years, told Fox News Digital that Democrat policies are “hurting Minnesota,” causing people to leave “in droves” and argued that Walz has played a key part in the “dismantling of public safety in Minnesota.”

Fox News Digital asked Nagel what he thinks voters who were not familiar with Walz need to know about him from a veteran law enforcement officer’s perspective.

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“I think they need to understand that he’s not truthful, I think they need to understand that he’s power hungry, they need to understand that he’s not doing this for the good of the people,” Nagel said. 

“He’s doing it for the good of himself, and he is going to be lockstep with whatever the Democrats want, and I think it would be, just take a look at Minnesota, he’s ruined Minnesota along with this trifecta of the Democrats. Can you only imagine what he’s going to be able to do with your federal tax dollars? And when North Korea decides to knock on the door, he and his president, are they going to be able to actually handle a national crisis when he couldn’t handle a crisis in Minneapolis?”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris-Walz campaign for comment and did not receive a response.

President Biden claims Vice President Kamala Harris is not going to distance herself from his economic policy agenda.

Reports have circulated that the Democratic presidential nominee is seeking to stand apart from the policies of the Biden administration, which insiders say are too unpopular and could prove to be a liability.

“How much does it bother you that Vice President Harris might soon, for political reasons, start to distance herself from your economic plan?” Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked Biden during a press conference on Thursday.

TRUMP CAMP THANKS WH FOR CONFIRMING THERE’S ‘NO DAYLIGHT’ BETWEEN HARRIS, BIDEN: ‘KAMALA CREATED THIS MESS’

Biden told Doocy on Thursday that Vice President Kamala Harris is “not going to” distance herself from his administration’s economic policies as she seeks to succeed him in the Oval Office. (Fox News)

“She’s not going to,” Biden replied, before walking away from the reporter.

The comment shows surprising confidence in the face of recent reports that Harris is not in lockstep with the administration.

An Axios report published Wednesday claimed the Harris-Walz campaign is consciously seeking to disentangle the vice president from the Biden administration’s unpopular economic policies.

FORMER BIDEN ADVISER SUSAN RICE SAYS HARRIS HAS BEEN AN ‘INTEGRAL ARCHITECT’ OF THE ADMINISTRATION’S AGENDA

Harris speaks at a campaign rally in Las Vegas. (AP/Julia Nikhinson)

Key positions Harris is looking to pivot away from Biden include fracking, decriminalization of illegal immigration into the country and health care – according to the Axios report.

The vice president is reportedly most concerned with tackling inflation in new, more direct ways in order to free herself from the negative baggage that over three years of rapid inflation has created for the Democratic Party.

Harris announced on Thursday her intention to ban “price gouging” on groceries, which have seen a cost increase of over 20% over the last three years.

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White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has previously dismissed questions about Vice President Kamala Harris’ support for President Biden’s economic policies. (White House)

Conversely, the White House has been keen to emphasize unity between Biden and Harris, claiming there is “no daylight” between their individual agendas.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday during the White House press briefing that Biden and Harris have been “aligned” throughout the administration.

“[Harris is] going to lay out her vision. But again, they’ve been aligned, you know, they’ve been aligned for the last three and a half years. There’s not been any daylight,” Jean-Pierre said. 

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance accused the mainstream media of attempting to turn Harris into the “second coming of Abraham Lincoln.”

The senator from Ohio made the remarks while speaking at a rally in New Kensington, Pennsylvania on Thursday.

“I just can’t quite get over how dishonest the American media is about Kamala Harris. Isn’t it the craziest thing,” Vance said at the rally. “Now we have to remember for three and a half years […] Democratic leaders all across the country would say things and the American media would back ’em up. That President Biden, for three and a half years — he’s as sharp as he’s ever been, sharp as a tack. Remember that?”

JD VANCE SAYS HE WANTS A ‘REAL’ DEBATE WITH OPPONENT TIM WALZ, NOT A ‘FAKE NEWS MEDIA GARBAGE’ ONE

Vance speaks at a rally in New Kensington, Pennsylvania. (Fox News)

He continued, “The American media acted for three and a half years like this guy was Albert Einstein — and now they would tell us that Kamala Harris is the second coming of Abraham Lincoln. We don’t buy it. We don’t believe it.”

Vance has made frequent comments about his deep distrust of the mainstream news media since being chosen by former President Donald Trump to be his running mate.

Speaking with Fox News on Wednesday, Vance said he wanted multiple debates with his vice-presidential opponent Tim Walz — but drew a distinction between “real” and “fake” debates.

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Trump and Vance appear on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Vance said he is “not going to do one of these fake debates where they don’t actually have an audience there, where they don’t actually set the parameters in a way where we can have a good exchange of ideas.”

“In other words, we’re not going to walk into a fake news media garbage debate. We’re going to do a real debate, and if CBS agrees to it, then certainly we’ll do it,” he added.

Vance got into a public feud with CNN’s Brianna Keilar after the anchor questioned his military bona fides on air.

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Walz speaks during a campaign rally with Democratic presidential candidate at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

“Because we have, as you introduced him, as a combat correspondent, which is what [Vance’s] title was,” Keilar told her CNN colleague Dana Bash Thursday. “But when you dig a little deeper into that, he was a public affairs specialist, someone who did not see combat, which certainly the title ‘combat correspondent,’ kind of gives you a different impression. So he may be the imperfect messenger on that.”

“Brianna this is disgusting, and you and your entire network should be ashamed of yourselves,” Vance wrote on X. “When I got the call to go to Iraq, I went. Tim Walz said he carried a gun in a war. Did he? No. It was a lie.”

Keilar later appeared to walk back her remarks, acknowledging in a monologue that Vance “served honorably in Iraq.”

Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, quietly erased the words “women” and “woman” from a bill relating to insurance enrollment periods for pregnant women. 

In 2015, the Ohio Democrat introduced the first iteration of the Healthy Maternity and Obstetric Medicine Act. It featured the word “women” 22 times, “maternity” 19 times and “woman” twice. 

By last year, he had scrubbed it of references to women before the bill’s re-introduction. The 2023 version does not make any mention of “women” or “woman.” It also reduced references to “maternity” to only four. 

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Sen. Sherrod Brown scrubbed the word “women” from a bill relating to enrollment periods for pregnant women. (Getty Images)

The measure itself seeks to establish a special health insurance enrollment period for pregnant women by amending the Public Health Service Act to require it by law. 

Introduced several times, including in 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2023, the bill once featured a section titled, “Findings and Purpose.” Within that section, “women” were referenced 19 times in 2015 and 20 times in 2019. 

According to the section, “Pregnancy is a significant life event for millions of women in the United States each year.”

Brown even referred to “sex-based discrimination,” claiming that federal law has determined that “treating pregnancy differently than other conditions” qualifies as such. 

KAMALA HARRIS LED DEMS IN 2018 CALL TO REJECT MORE FUNDING FOR BORDER PATROL, ICE

Sen. Sherrod Brown would not say whether he believed anyone other than women could become pregnant. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The lengthy section was then inexplicably removed from both the 2021 and 2023 versions of the measure. The later iterations of the bill solely rely on the descriptors “pregnant person” and “pregnant individual” rather than “woman.”

When contacted by Fox News Digital, neither Brown’s office nor his campaign answered why the bill was scrubbed of references to women, despite being on the topic of pregnancy. 

Brown’s campaign and office also did not respond to questions from Fox News Digital on whether he believes that anyone other than women can become pregnant or if he could cite an occasion when a man had given birth to a child. 

The senator did not provide any comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication.

GOOGLE EXECS PRESSED TO TESTIFY AFTER ADMITTING TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT SEARCH OMISSIONS WERE BY DESIGN

Sen. Sherrod Brown’s bill once featured the word “women” 22 times. (iStock)

Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, who is endorsed by former President Trump, is running to unseat Brown in November. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Moreno spokesperson Reagan McCarthy said, “By erasing women from a bill centered around women’s health care during pregnancy, Sherrod Brown is saying the quiet part out loud: he doesn’t believe that only women can get pregnant and wants to erase biological women’s unique abilities.”

“Brown isn’t just a far-left extremist, he’s also a bonafide weirdo.”

Brown is running for re-election in Ohio, a red state which has voted for Trump in the past two presidential elections. His race is rated a “Toss Up” by non-partisan political handicapper the Cook Political Report, alongside Senate match-ups in Montana and Michigan. 

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Americans have raised concerns over transgender players in women’s sports. (AP Photo/Samuel Metz, File)

The vulnerable Ohio senator’s removal of “women” from the measure comes as a national debate on gender identity continues, with specific areas of contention in language, women’s sports and school-appropriate content. The decision to omit mention of women follows a trend among Democrats to include transgender individuals, who may be biologically a man or woman but say they identify as something else, in discussions on policy. 

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While only biological women can become pregnant, a woman might say she is transgender and identify as a man. 

Republicans have sought to point out their Democratic counterparts’ ambiguity on inherently gendered subjects. GOP politicians and pundits have often questioned Democrats on the definition of a woman, frequently showcasing their opponents’ unwillingness to put the term in precise words. 

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

The Harris campaign has remained mum on when Vice President Kamala Harris will hold a formal press conference, or why she has not held one since she emerged as the Democratic Party’s nominee, while former President Donald Trump prepares to hold his second press conference in a week this afternoon.

Harris became the de facto Democratic nominee on July 21, when President Biden exited the race and passed the torch to Harris through an endorsement. Harris has not held a formal press conference or joined a sit-down interview with the media in the 25 days since Biden endorsed her and she officially clinched the nomination in a subsequent “virtual” roll-call vote less than two weeks later.

Fox News Digital reached out to the campaign this week asking if there were plans to schedule a formal press conference and when, as well as inquiring why the vice president has not held one in more than three weeks. The campaign did not respond to the requests. 

Campaign spokespeople have been pressed about the issue during interviews on news shows, but have also demurred on giving an answer. Instead, both Harris and members of her campaign have said she plans to hold a sit-down interview by the end of August. Details on a date or which outlet will hold the interview have not yet been released. 

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U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has been going around the country on her Economic Opportunity Tour. (Leigh Vogel/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“I’ve talked to my team, I want us to get an interview scheduled before the end of the month,” Harris said last week after a campaign event in Michigan. 

The vice president has been criss-crossing the country over the last roughly three weeks as she works to earn support from voters. Biden dropped out of the race amid mounting concerns surrounding his mental acuity and 81 years of age, leaving Harris with just under 100 days to campaign. 

Harris has taken a handful of questions from the media while on the campaign trail, but she has snubbed the media by not holding pressers or sit-down interviews. Time magazine earlier this month published a glowing cover story on Harris, but the vice president didn’t agree to an interview for the piece. Instead, that article quoted aides and allies who lauded Harris as a formidable candidate against former President Donald Trump. 

US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (L) and Minnesota Governor and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz were slammed on social media for sharing a “cringe” video of themselves interviewing each other.  (Ronda Churchill/AFP via Getty Images)

Pressure has built on the campaign to hold a press conference, including CNN’s Jim Acosta questioning Harris communications director Michael Tyler this week on air. 

“I’m sure this is not going to be the first time you’ve heard this question, but the Trump campaign is also going after the vice president for not doing enough interviews, for not holding a press conference. Would it kill you guys to have a press conference? Why hasn’t she had a press conference?” Acosta asked. 

25 DAYS: KAMALA HARRIS HAS NOT HELD A PRESS CONFERENCE SINCE EMERGING AS PRESUMPTIVE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE

Tyler said that she and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz have been “busy” traveling across the country, citing multiple campaign rallies.

Former President Donald Trump (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

“Michael, you know a campaign rally isn’t really a press conference,” Acosta said to Tyler. “Why hasn’t she had a press conference? She’s the vice president, she can handle the questions, why not do it?” 

Tyler said that Harris will hold a press conference at some point and would sit down for an interview with a media outlet by the end of the month. 

The left-leaning Washington Post editorial board also challenged Harris over dodging the media on Sunday, saying of her opponent, “At least he has taken questions.” 

CNN HOST PRESSES HARRIS CAMPAIGN SPOX ON VP’S SCHEDULE AS SHE AVOIDS PRESS: ‘SHE HAS TIME’ FOR AN INTERVIEW

Trump and allies of the 45th president have used Harris’ lack of media availability as a point of attack. 

​​”It’s pretty sad when you think that somebody that does this for a living can’t answer a question or is afraid to do an interview, and in her case, with a very friendly interview. She’s got all friendly interviewers,” Trump said of Harris Monday evening during his roughly two-hour interview with tech billionaire Elon Musk on X Space. 

Former President Trump said technical issues made his voice sound “somewhat different and strange” during his much-anticipated interview with X owner Elon Musk.  (Getty Images)

Some have said that Harris is pulling a move from Biden’s 2020 playbook, when Biden carried out a cloistered campaign strategy during the pandemic, which earned him the nickname “Basement Joe” from Trump. 

“Kamala Harris should absolutely hold a press conference. One would expect it when she names her vice-presidential pick. But we cannot expect her to break from Biden’s serial avoidance of press conferences,” NewsBusters executive editor Tim Graham previously told Fox News Digital.

FORMER CLINTON AIDE PAUL BEGALA DEFENDS HARRIS AVOIDING THE MEDIA: ‘WHO CARES’?

“Since the 2020 campaign, we have witnessed the bizarre spectacle of Donald Trump granting wide access to networks that suggest he’s a fascist and hammer him daily, while Biden and Harris won’t grant interviews to media outlets that gurgle all over them and their ‘historic accomplishments,’” he continued. “Either they think the press can never be servile enough, or they are projecting a complete lack of confidence in their efforts to put complete sentences together.” 

Vice President Kamala Harris called her husband in a fit of rage after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade earlier this year. (Reuters/Hannah Beier)

Some supporters of the vice president say that her strategy of avoiding the media is a winning one as she continues building out her campaign before the DNC in Chicago next week.  

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“Where is it written that you have to sit down for a press interview?” longtime Democratic consultant James Carville told the New York Times. “They’ve had to pick a vice president, plan a convention, move around, do this, do that, and she’s already agreed to a debate.”

Meanwhile, Trump has been more available to the media, holding press conferences at his homes in Florida and New Jersey, in addition to campaigning, and joining a two-hour conversational interview with Musk this week. Musk invited Harris to join him for a similar interview ahead of the election, but the campaign has not said whether Harris will accept.

Fox News Digital’s Brian Flood contributed to this article. 

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

Celebrities have a “powerful” ability to influence elections and increase voter turnout, a Harvard study found.

“While some polling shows that people claim they aren’t influenced by celebrity voices when it comes to politics, more rigorous evidence indicates that these voices are incredibly powerful,” reads a study conducted by Harvard’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. “Nonprofits report higher rates of online voter registration or poll worker sign-ups when a celebrity promotes these calls to action. This potential impact is why nonprofits, candidates, and elected officials are increasingly seeking ways to engage celebrities.”

Researchers working on the study analyzed the approaches of 15 managers, publicists, nonprofit partners, philanthropic advisers and celebrities, including well-known names such as Hailey Bieber, David Dobrik, Billie Eilish, Trevor Noah, Taylor Swift, Kerry Washington and The Roots co-founder and drummer Questlove.

FOX NEWS POLL: NEW MATCHUP, SAME RESULT – TRUMP BESTS HARRIS BY ONE POINT 

Taylor Swift has the ability to influence elections and voter turnout, according to a Harvard University study. (Marcelo Endelli/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)

“Celebrities, like all of us, face choices about how to engage in democracy. For example, they can serve as surrogates for political candidates, helping to ‘rally the base’ or reach new audiences,” the study reads, adding that there is also evidence that “celebrities can help with candidate fundraising, attracting large crowds to political events or volunteer shifts, which draws press attention.”

Overall, the researchers found that celebrities are motivated to activism not only because of their beliefs, but because it can also be “good for their brands,” something that was supported by a previous study on the issue.

“It helps your audience stay connected to you—a connection based on values, which humanizes an artist and a celebrity in a way that the audience then feels like they know you. And then, when your next film or album comes out, this audience that’s connected to you wants to support you, wants to show up,” Questlove’s Manager Dawn White told researchers.

From left to right, Joseph Patel, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, David Dinerstein and Robert Fyvolent.

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The study argues that the impact celebrities have can be massive, pointing to a 2018 Instagram story posted by Swift to her 112 million followers to register to vote at vote.org. That one post led to 65,000 new registrants in 24 hours and 250,000 over 72 hours.

Swift has continued to make similar posts over the years since, while her following has more than doubled to 283 million over the same time period.

Researchers found that celebrities have a more profound impact on “younger generations,” which are not as easy to reach through traditional “mainstream media and other get-out-the-vote efforts.”

“Their control of and presence on social media positions them as centralized sources of information to be tapped into and utilized by those looking to increase voter participation,” the study reads.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump. (AP/Julia Nikhinson/Rick Bowmer)

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However, the research also found that celebrity impact has been limited by a lack of organization, including a lack of formal programs that would allow them to test and track their efforts.

“Consequently, there is an extraordinary opportunity and potential to grow, mature, and formalize celebrity civic engagement efforts, which can significantly impact civic culture,” the study included. “That being said, the available data indicate that some approaches work better than others.”

FIRST ON FOX: A group of House Republicans is jumping into the fight between the U.S. and China’s dispute over the global agency charged with regulating athletes’ use of performance-enhancing drugs.

“We, the undersigned members of Congress, are writing to express our grave concern regarding recent developments involving the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and its handling of doping allegations,” a letter to WADA President Witold Banka read.

“The transparency and integrity of global sports are at stake, and we believe it is imperative to address these issues promptly and thoroughly.”

BALANCE OF POWER: TRUMP CAMPAIGN SLAMS SEN TESTER AS ‘RADICALLY OUT OF TOUCH’ AFTER ABORTION AD ROLLOUT

U.S. and China tensions have flared up once again around the Olympics. (Getty Images)

The letter by Reps. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., and Morgan Griffith, R-Va., first pointed to allegations that WADA kept secret that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for banned substances before the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, news it was forced to disclose after being uncovered by journalists.

“It has now come to light that two additional Chinese swimmers, including one member of China’s 2024 Paris Olympics team, tested positive in 2022 for a banned drug,” the lawmakers wrote.

An investigation by China’s anti-doping body blamed contaminated hamburger meat for the drug’s existence in the two swimmers’ bodies, a finding WADA did not dispute.

U.S. officials have accused WADA of a lack of transparency for weeks leading up to the recently ended Paris Olympics. A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee held a hearing in June with star swimmers Michael Phelps and Allison Schmitt, when they said athletes had lost faith in the international agency.

CHINESE SHIPBUILDING CAPACITY OVER 200 TIMES GREATER THAN US, NAVY INTELLIGENCE SAYS

Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., led the letter. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

WADA has defended itself by accusing the U.S. of putting it in the middle of the country’s own geopolitical disputes.

A top WADA official told the BBC in late July, “Certain individuals [in the US] are attempting to score political points purely on the basis that the athletes in question are Chinese.”

The GOP lawmakers are asking the body to hand over “a detailed account” of its probe into the 23 Chinese swimmers it cleared and explain why it did not disclose the results publicly sooner, as well as a demand to commission a third-party independent investigation into the decision.

“The American public, athletes, and the global sports community deserve answers. We stand by the principle that sports should be free from corruption and that those who violate anti-doping rules must be held accountable, regardless of nationality,” the letter said. 

The sporting tensions are part of the growing rift between the U.S. and China, with relations between the two superpowers at their frostiest level in modern history.

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China has responded to the U.S.’s allegations with accusations of double-standards, calling for more drug testing for American athletes.

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However, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) told Fox News Digital that it supports Lesko’s letter.

“Those with nothing to hide would embrace the opportunity to answer questions and provide the information stakeholders need to feel confident that the rules are being evenly enforced,” said USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart. “We deeply appreciate every effort to ensure accountability, transparency, and a strong global anti-doping regulator on behalf of clean athletes.”

Fox News Digital reached out to WADA for comment.

The favorability ratings of both Vice President Harris and former President Trump are on the rise as a greater number of Americans are saying they are “extremely motivated” to vote in this November’s election, a new poll has found. 

The Pew Research Center survey of 9,201 adults – including 7,569 registered voters – has revealed that Harris’ overall favorability rating has increased from 36% to 44% since May, while Trump’s has gone up from 39% to 42%. 

Among voters who identify as Democrats or Democrat-leaning independents, Harris’ approval has jumped from 65% to 83%, while Trump’s is at 79% among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. 

Nationally, Harris is slightly leading Trump among all voters, 46% to 45%, while Robert F. Kennedy Jr. trails in third with 7%, according to the poll. 

FOX NEWS POLL: NEW MATCHUP, SAME RESULT – TRUMP BESTS HARRIS BY ONE POINT 

Vice President Kamala Harris, left, and former President Trump. (Getty Images)

The poll also found that 70% of Harris supporters are saying they are “extremely motivated” to vote, up from 63% of Biden supporters who felt the same way in early July when he was still in the presidential race. 

Meanwhile, 72% of Trump supporters that were surveyed reported feeling the same way, up from 63% in July. 

Even though Biden has abandoned his re-election bid, the poll found that he still has just a 37% approval rating among the American public. 

POLLING GURU CAUTIONS PUBLIC AGAINST OVER RELYING ON POLLS: IN LAST TWO ELECTIONS, ‘THEY UNDERESTIMATED TRUMP’ 

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally, on Saturday, Aug. 10, in Las Vegas.  (AP/Julia Nikhinson)

But one number that has changed is the number of “double negative” voters who earlier this year indicated to pollsters that they did not like either candidate, according to the Pew Research Center. 

In May, a quarter of American voters said they held both unfavorable views of Trump and Biden, but now with Harris in the race, that number has fallen to 14%. 

Former President Trump arrives before speaking at a campaign rally on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, in Asheville, N.C.  (AP/Matt Kelley)

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The poll was conducted from Aug. 5-11. 

Former President Trump told a crowd in Asheville, North Carolina, on Wednesday that under the Biden-Harris administration, a new category of crime involving migrants has developed, and is “beyond control.”

The Republican presidential nominee was expected to spotlight an economic argument against Vice President Kamala Harris at a campaign event at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center’s Thomas Wolfe Auditorium. It was Trump’s second stop in the crucial southeastern battleground state in the three-and-a-half weeks since Harris replaced Biden at the top of the Democrats’ 2024 ticket as the presumptive nominee.

While Trump spoke about price hikes under Harris costing the typical household $28,000, and credit card debt exploding to the highest it has ever been, he made sure to segue into the issue surrounding the border and illegal immigration.

NYC MIGRANT ACCUSED OF RAPING WOMAN IN BROOKLYN HAD ICE DETAINER PLACED ON HIM: REPORT

Former President Trump told a crowd in Asheville, North Carolina, that under the Biden-Harris administration, a new crime “beyond control” was created called, “migrant crime.”

Trump said no country could sustain what is happening in the U.S. at this time, when millions of “illegal aliens” pour into the country from unknown countries.

“They all said I was wrong when I said that migrant crime will reach epidemic proportions, and now it’s much worse than that,” Trump said. “It’s a lot worse than epidemic proportions. It’s beyond control. We have a new category of crime. It’s called migrant crime, and I think it’s gonna end up being the worst category of all.”

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

Over 100 migrants attempt to enter the U.S. illegally on the Texas southern border on March 21, 2024. (James Breeden for New York Post / Mega)

He said in the past week, there have been situations involving migrants accused of rape, murder and other crimes.

On Tuesday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents located and arrested a Haitian immigrant who was previously released on a $500 bond despite facing charges of raping a child in Massachusetts.

HAITIAN MIGRANT CHARGED WITH RAPE OF 15-YEAR-OLD GIRL ENTERED VIA CONTROVERSIAL PAROLE PROGRAM: SOURCES

Cory B. Alvarez allegedly raped a teenage girl at a Massachusetts motel that housed migrants. (Fox News)

The migrant, 26-year-old Cory Alvarez, allegedly raped a teenage girl at a Massachusetts motel that housed other migrants in March. He entered the U.S. lawfully in June 2023 in New York City, and was sponsored by someone in New Jersey.

A Nicaraguan migrant accused of raping a woman this week near a popular beach boardwalk in Brooklyn had an ICE detainer placed on him after he previously was arrested for sexual assault, but he managed to walk free after striking a deal with local prosecutors, a report says. 

Daniel Davon-Bonilla, 24, had been out on the streets since June, when he was arrested late Sunday night for the alleged attack in Coney Island, according to the New York Post. The Big Apple is a sanctuary city, meaning local law enforcement generally does not cooperate with ICE detainers, which are requests that the agency be notified before the immigrant is released from custody and to keep them in custody until ICE can take custody of them.

AXIOS HIT WITH COMMUNITY NOTE AFTER CLAIMING HARRIS WAS NEVER ‘BORDER CZAR’

A mugshot of David Davon-Bonilla, who has been charged in the rape of a woman on Aug. 11 in New York City’s Coney Island neighborhood. (Obtained by the NY Post )

“Nothing good is going to happen from this,” Trump said. “And now it’s getting more and more violent.”

KAMALA HARRIS ONCE PLEDGED TO CLOSE IMMIGRATION DETENTION CENTERS ‘ON DAY ONE’ AS BORDER RECORD UNDER SCRUTINY

Migrants at the southern border and Vice President Kamala Harris. Democrats have argued that Harris never served as a “border czar.” (Getty Images)

Fox News Digital reached out to both the Harris and Trump campaigns for comment.

Still, despite calling the migrant situation “beyond control,” Trump told the crowd in Asheville he has a plan if he is elected.

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“If Kamala wins, you will have mass amnesty and citizenship for all the Biden-Harris illegals that poured into our country,” he said. “If I win, you will have the largest deportation operation in American history starting at noon on Inauguration Day 2025.”

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

Vice President Kamala Harris could be “playing politics” by allowing her subordinates to take the lead on her making major policy shifts, rather than pushing them herself, a Republican strategist says.

Unnamed officials for Harris have announced her flip-flopping on key issues that she previously supported during her 2019 presidential run, such as fracking and “Medicare for All,” but Harris herself is yet to be vocal about the position shifts.

While the Harris campaign appears to be pushing a reworked agenda, one political strategist told Fox News Digital that “anonymous on background campaign staffers do not take public policy positions, candidates and elected officials do.”

“The American public should presume that every position taken by Harris during her previous campaign for president and the positions taken by the Biden-Harris administration are exactly hers today, until she herself explains otherwise,” Dallas Woodhouse, American Majority-North Carolina State Director, told Fox. 

KAMALA HARRIS, TIME COVER GIRL: IS HER SURGE AGAINST TRUMP FUELED BY AN ENDLESS MEDIA HONEYMOON?

Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris waits to speak at a campaign rally at United Auto Workers Local 900 on August 8, 2024 in Wayne, Michigan. Kamala Harris and her newly selected running mate Tim Walz are campaigning across the country this week.  (Andrew Harnik)

“The American public will never accept a candidate changing all their stated positions from just a few years ago without thorough examination and explanation,” he added.

Fracking

Harris said that she would ban fracking if elected during her first presidential bid – a key issue among a critical voting bloc in battleground states such as Pennsylvania.

“There’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking, I have a history of working on this issue,” Harris said in 2020.

Republicans, including former President Trump, have used her past comments on the issue to blast her in several campaign ads since she launched her 2024 campaign.

Campaign officials for the Democratic nominee are now saying that Harris will not ban fracking if she’s elected president.

Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz appear on stage together during a campaign event at the Liacouras Center at Temple University on August 6, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  (Andrew Harnik)

“Medicare for All”

Harris published her plan for “Medicare for All” during her 2019 presidential campaign, writing that her goal was to “end these senseless attacks on Obamacare” and that she believes “health care should be a right, not a privilege only for those who can afford it. It’s why we need Medicare for All.”

“The idea is that everyone gets access to medical care. And you don’t have to go through the process of going through an insurance company, having them give you approval, going through the paperwork all of the delay that may require. Let’s eliminate that,” Harris wrote in 2019.

Additionally, then-Senator Harris cosponsored Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Medicare for All Act of 2019.

Despite her past support, a campaign official told Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy that Harris will not push the subject of “Medicare-for-all” this cycle.

AMERICANS CRITICIZE KAMALA HARRIS’ ‘COWARDLY’ AVOIDANCE OF PRESS AS CANDIDATE

Colin Reed, Republican strategist, former campaign manager, and co-founder of South and Hill Strategies, told Fox News Digital that Harris’ shift appears difficult to believe.

WAYNE, MICHIGAN – AUGUST 08: Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally at United Auto Workers Local 900 on August 8, 2024 in Wayne, Michigan.  (Andrew Harnik)

“When Vice President Harris ran for the White House five years ago, she was a sitting U.S. Senator and the former attorney general of the largest state in the nation. In other words, an extremely accomplished individual with plenty of time on the national stage to form opinions on the big issues,” Reed told Fox. “The idea that she could over the span of five changes, just change her tune on a dime on a slew of major big ticket items strains credulity,”

Reed highlighted her shift on “Medicare For All,” which he says “would cost $44 trillion dollars – more than our entire $35 trillion dollar national debt.”

“Either she was wrong then or is playing politics now, and voters will figure it out whenever she decides to answer questions in an unscripted setting,” Reed said.

The suggested position shift comes amid Republicans using her past stances on issues, such as fracking, against her 2024 presidential campaign.

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Fox News Digital asked the Harris campaign if she will be personall announcing her new stance on the key issues.

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and her past support of federal funding for sanctuary cities is being used against her ahead of her critical re-election battle in November. 

“Senator Tammy Baldwin voted nine times to support federal funding for sanctuary cities,” the ad from Minority Leader Mitch McConnell-aligned group One Nation. 

The group cited several occasions when the Democratic senator voted against measures that would have prevented federal funds from going to cities that institute sanctuary policies.

CASEY TIED TO CHINESE FIRM HE CLAIMED MCCORMICK-LED COMPANY INVESTED IN TO ‘PROFIT’ OFF FENTANYL CRISIS

Tammy Baldwin is being criticized in a new ad for her past votes supporting federal funding for sanctuary cities.  (Getty Images)

One Nation’s new ad marks the launch of its $7.5 million statewide advocacy advertising effort in Wisconsin, a pivotal swing state that could determine both the presidential election and which party will be in the majority in the Senate.

The multi-million dollar Wisconsin effort is part of the group’s $88 million buy that began in April. 

The video additionally hits Baldwin for voting in favor of amnesty for “11 million illegal immigrants.” The ad notes that this vast group includes criminals. 

BALANCE OF POWER: TRUMP CAMPAIGN SLAMS SEN TESTER AS ‘RADICALLY OUT OF TOUCH’ AFTER ABORTION AD ROLLOUT

A group of over 100 migrants attempting to enter the US illegally rush a border wall Thursday, March 21, 2024. In the process the migrants knock down Texas National Guardsmen before they are halted  by the border wall. (James Breeden for New York Post / Mega)

Further, the ad refers to a man, reportedly an illegal immigrant, who was arrested in 2019 for several assaults, including the groping of a 13-year-old girl. 

“Tell Senator Tammy Baldwin to stop protecting illegal immigrants and start protecting Wisconsin,” it tells viewers.

Baldwin’s campaign did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication. 

‘FEEL BETRAYED’: TOP CONSERVATIVE GROUP BLASTS VULNERABLE DEMS ON INFLATION IN MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR AD BLITZ’: 

Tammy Baldwin and Eric Hovde will face off in the election in November. (Getty Images)

“Senator Tammy Baldwin had nine opportunities to make Wisconsin safer by opposing federal funding for sanctuary cities” said One Nation President and CEO Steven Law. “Instead, Senator Baldwin voted to make Wisconsin communities less safe.” 

Earlier this year, Baldwin voted with Senate Democrats not to continue with an impeachment trial for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. “Impeachment is a sacred and solemn duty of Congress that is solely reserved to hold those accountable for high crimes and misdemeanors. This is a responsibility that I do not take lightly. Unfortunately, what we had in front of us today entirely failed to meet that high standard, lacked evidence, and was just an attempt to score cheap political points, while moving us no closer to fixing the real issues we face at our Southern border,” Baldwin said in a statement following her vote in favor of dismissing the articles of impeachment. 

This split shows DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and migrants at the southern border. ((Photos by David Peinado/Anadolu via Getty Images and Andrew Harnik/Getty Images))

The Democratic senator has expressed her support for a border security bill that was negotiated between a Republican, Democratic, and independent senator, but ultimately failed to garner any support from Republicans. Many even claimed the measure would have exacerbated the existing border crisis. 

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Since Republican senators’ rejection of the border bill touted by Democrats, Baldwin and others in her caucus have accused the GOP of being the ones unwilling to take action on the southern border. 

In a July Fox News Poll, Baldwin led Republican businessman Eric Hovde 54-43%. However, the Republican primary had yet to occur when the poll was taken. Hovde officially won the GOP nod for Senate in Wisconsin on Tuesday night, fending off any challengers. 

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

EXCLUSIVE: House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., is demanding that a local elected official in her district resign after reportedly comparing former President Trump to a “rabid dog” after he was shot.

Christine Paige, a member of the Potsdam Town Council, has faced bipartisan backlash over her comments, which were first reported last month by local media.

“Far Left Democrats supporting political violence and the assassination of President Trump are shameful and do not deserve to represent the great people of the North Country,” Stefanik told Fox News Digital.

“Potsdam Town Board Member Christine Paige must be condemned by the NY Democrat State Party, and she must resign in disgrace after she said shooting President Trump would be like ‘putting down a rabid dog.’”

BUTLER DISTRICT ATTORNEY SAYS LOCAL SNIPERS WERE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ROOFTOP SHOOTER FIRED FROM 

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., is the No. 4 House GOP leader. (AP/Mariam Zuhaib)

A screenshot of a now-deleted Facebook comment viewed by Fox News Digital showed Paige commenting on a post about the attempted assassination, “I have seen no credible proof that he’s a human being. Maybe you know something we don’t. To me, it would be akin to putting down a rabid dog.”

Potsdam Town Council Supervisor Marty Miller, a Democrat, responded in a lengthy media statement that said Paige’s comment “is not in any way shared” by the rest of the board.

TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT VICTIM SAYS HE IS ‘SAD’ WITH STATE OF ‘POLITICAL DIVISION’ IN US 

Former President Trump gestures while surrounded by Secret Service agents after shots were fired at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

“I can tell you firsthand this selfish act of one person’s satisfaction has been a nightmare for me and the rest of the Board the last couple of weeks,” Miller said, adding that the town council has been inundated with “phone calls, voicemails, and emails” on the matter.

Miller pointed out, however, that the town council cannot oust one of its own members. He also endorsed Stefanik for re-election, calling her a “strong” leader in a statement to Fox News Digital.

But Paige said she will not resign from her post, according to NNY360.

IRAN THREAT PROMPTS QUESTIONS ABOUT TRUMP GUNMAN’S UNCRACKED ENCRYPTION

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Fox News Digital reached out to Paige for comment on Stefanik’s demand.

It’s part of the continued fallout from the July 13 shooting at Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania, rally. A 20-year-old gunman opened fire from a rooftop outside the rally’s security perimeter, hitting Trump in the ear and killing one rally attendee and injuring two others.

New York’s Democratic Attorney General sent a letter to Big Tech companies demanding they step in and “protect” users of their respective websites from election “misinformation.”

“While misinformation has been a concern in past elections, with the rise of gen[erative] AI, barriers that prevent bad actors from creating deceptive or misleading content have weakened dramatically,” James wrote in a letter sent to 10 social media and AI companies, including Meta, Google and OpenAI.

The letter, sent this week and first obtained by ABC News, requested in-person meetings with the tech companies to walk James through the companies’ “meaningful steps to protect voters” to prevent election misinformation, the outlet reported. The letter did not address any penalties for not complying with James’ requests, but ABC noted, that “implicit in any request from the state attorney general is the possibility of an enforcement action.” 

Fox Digital reached out to James’ office regarding the letter, including what penalties the companies could face for not complying, but did not immediately receive a reply. 

GOOGLE HAS ‘INTERFERED’ WITH ELECTIONS 41 TIMES OVER THE LAST 16 YEARS, MEDIA RESEARCH CENTER SAYS

State Attorney General Letitia James seen during public safety announcement to prevent gun violence at City Hall.  (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The prevalence of artificial intelligence apps and programs has led to an increase in deceptive and convincing videos to spread on social media in recent years, including ones targeting Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. James — who is a well-known critic of Trump’s and campaigned in 2018 on prosecuting him — said AI-created videos could cause confusion in the lead-up to election day. 

BIDEN AGENCY ‘LIKELY’ VIOLATED FREE SPEECH BY WORKING WITH BIG TECH TO CENSOR ELECTION CONTENT: COURT

Big Tech’s influence over elections, however, has become a lightning rod of criticism in recent years, most notably in 2020 when reports first surfaced of Hunter Biden’s now-notorious laptop. The New York Post broke the story of Hunter Biden’s laptop just days before the 2020 election in an article that detailed the first son’s overseas business communications. 

Twitter and Facebook moved to restrict the article from spreading on social media, however, deeming it misinformation as liberal media outlets and former intelligence officials slammed the laptop and report as “Russian disinformation.” 

Hunter Biden was found guilty on all counts by a Delaware jury.  (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

The laptop re-emerged earlier this summer when the first son faced a criminal trial in Delaware over his purchase of a firearm in 2018 while he was reeling from a crack cocaine addiction. The trial, which found Hunter guilty on all counts, formally entered the laptop into evidence and was confirmed by the FBI as legitimate. 

BIDEN DOJ TO FIGHT COURT ORDER THAT BLOCKED FEDS FROM COLLUDING WITH BIG TECH TO CENSOR SPEECH

The suppression of the story was seen as likely swaying the outcome of the 2020 election, when President Biden defeated Trump. 

New York Attorney General Letitia James exits the courtroom for a lunch recess during the former President Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial at New York State Supreme Court on November 13, 2023 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP RE-EMERGES AS MEDIA EMBARRASSMENT AS IT BECOMES KEY EVIDENCE AT GUN TRIAL

“Silicon Valley giants use powerful reactive and proactive methods of social manipulation to shift public opinion and influence election outcomes,” the Heritage Foundation’s Hans von Spakovsky and Daniel Cochrane wrote in a piece earlier this year. “Reactive methods usually involve censoring or deplatforming voices out of step with progressive values.”

“One of the most infamous examples is Facebook and Twitter’s suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story ahead of the 2020 presidential election.” 

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Twitter has since been sold to tech billionaire Elon Musk, who renamed it X and now touts the service as a freewheeling platform for free speech. 

One of West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s most prized possessions is set to hit the auction block against his will later this month, and the Republican U.S. Senate nominee said the situation reeks of blatant politics.

In 2009, the Democrat-turned-Republican rescued the Greenbrier luxury resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, from bankruptcy by purchasing it from CSX. 

This week, Justice said the big banks never would have acted against the Greenbrier property now if he were not poised to flip the deciding seat in a narrowly-divided U.S. Senate.

Justice’s campaign and his gubernatorial office declined to respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment, but the governor told the Parkersburg News-Sentinel the situation is another “terrific burden” that comes with potentially upsetting the political apple cart.

MANCHIN SENATE SEAT RACE HEATS UP AS JUSTICE JUMPS IN: ‘I’M WORRIED ABOUT THIS NATION’

President Trump shakes hands with Gov. Jim Justice, who announced he would switch parties from Democrat to Republican during a Make America Great Again Rally at Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington, West Virginia, Aug. 3, 2017. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

“I truly believe if I wasn’t running for the U.S. Senate, you never would have heard about this in 10 million years, and we would have just continued to do exactly what we’re doing with JPMorgan, and everyone would have been happy in the neighborhood,” Justice said.

With longtime Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.V., retiring, Justice is heavily favored to flip the seat in his race against Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott. If the rest of the Senate map remains static and Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, becomes vice president, Republicans will win control of the upper chamber.

Justice, whose official biography describes him as the “largest farmer” east of the Mississippi, and his family are involved in more than 100 companies in the agriculture, coal, real estate and hospitality industries. The resort, halfway between Beckley, West Virginia, and Roanoke, Virginia, is known for its opulence and formal dress code.

In a statement, the Justice Companies said the governor and JPMorgan have had a decades-long, good-faith relationship and that the $142 million lien on the Greenbrier now sits at $9.4 million.

The statement said that, as of July, Justice was informed JPMorgan sold the loan to Baltimore-based Beltway Capital-McCormick 101 “despite the existence of a mutual agreement to resolve the outstanding obligations…” It was ultimately declared in-default.

“This deceitful move by JPMorgan is nothing more than the latest political stunt by the Democrats to undermine the next Republican senator from West Virginia,” the statement added.

JUSTICE IN THE SENATE: WV GOV INTERESTED IN CHALLENGING MANCHIN

Gov. Jim Justice during the State of the State address in Charleston, West Virginia, on Jan. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Chris Jackson, File)

Beltway Capital and JPMorganChase did not return requests for comment.

At his Tuesday press briefing, Justice said the foreclosure auction “has to be driven by something.”

“I truly believe it’s a political play. Everybody I talk to says the same thing,” he said. “We weren’t notified. Carter Bank was never asked about their position. In all honesty… if you wanted to sell the $9.4 million obligation, why wouldn’t you have asked Carter Bank?” 

A spokesman for Carter Bank of Martinsville, Virginia, with which Justice reportedly sought a second lien to boost his standing with JPMorgan, said it is aware of the notice of foreclosure sale, but is not the lender who started the process.

“Carter Bank will closely monitor the matter and act in a manner that best protects the Bank and its shareholders,” the spokesman said.

Justice also criticized JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, noting he had longtime ties to the Democratic Party. 

Dimon regularly donated to Democrats throughout the 1990s and 2000s, but as of late has critiqued “Bidenomics” and raised eyebrows among elites when he praised Trump at Davos.

Meanwhile, Democrats rejected Justice’s claim of a campaign-season political ploy, with the state’s party chairman appearing to laugh off the idea of the left conspiring against him.

“Calling Jamie Dimon a ‘friend to Democrats’ is like calling JD Vance an Appalachian,” said State Del. Mike Pushkin of Kanawha County.

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A building at the Greenbrier at Christmastime. (West Virginia Department of Tourism  )

“The Democratic Party had nothing to do with [Justice’s] failure to pay his creditors,” he added.

Bob Wolford, an attorney for Justice, released a statement on the matter, floating potential future damage litigation against JPMorganChase, among other points:

“Let me be clear that the Greenbrier will not be sold, and the Justice family will take all necessary action to ensure that there will not be any adverse impact on their ownership of the Greenbrier or the Greenbrier’s operations and the ability of the Greenbrier to continue to provide world-class service for its guests will be uninterrupted,” Wolford said.

A public notice in the city’s local paper announced the Greenbrier would be sold to the highest bidder Aug. 27 at 2p.m. on the steps of the Greenbrier County Courthouse in Lewisburg — absent further intervention.

The Democratic candidate for vice president, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, posted to X on Wednesday agreeing to a debate Oct. 1 on CBS News.

Walz’s reply came in response to CBS News listing potential dates in an X post for Walz and Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance to debate on the network.

Tim Walz re-posted the graphic, saying “See you on Oct. 1, JD.”

FORMER MINNESOTA RESIDENT UNLOADS ON GOV WALZ AFTER MOTHER DIED ‘OF LONELINESS’ DURING PANDEMIC

Vance responded to the potential debate with Fox News host Laura Ingraham on “The Ingraham Angle.” 

“Look, Laura, we’re certainly going to debate Tim Walz. We just heard about this three hours ago. So we’re going to talk to them and figure out when we can debate,” Vance said.

“I strongly suspect we’re going to be there on Oct. 1, but we’re not going to do one of these fake debates, Laura, where they don’t actually have an audience there, where they don’t actually set the parameters in a right way, where you can have a good exchange of ideas,” Vance added. 

Tim Walz is the first to accept debate terms set by CBS News proposed for October 1. (Getty Images)

“In other words, we’re not going to run and walk into a fake news media garbage debate,” Vance asserted. “We’re going to do a real debate, and if CBS agrees to it, certainly we’ll do it.”

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

According to a Harris campaign official, “Harris for President has accepted CBS’ invitation to a vice presidential candidate debate on October 1. Governor Walz looks forward to debating JD Vance — if he shows up.”

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According to CBS, four dates were proposed: Sept. 17, Sept, 24, Oct. 1, and Oct. 8.

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…

– Biden-Harris admin using taxpayer funds to mask Medicare premium hikes…

– Report claims many illegal immigrants on terror list have been released…

– Trump campaign eyes counter-programming during DNC convention…

With Friends Like These…

President Biden remains bitter toward the top Democrats who organized his ouster from the 2024 presidential race, even as the party prepares a massive sendoff at the Democratic National Convention (DNC), according to a report.

Biden remains frustrated that former President Obama did not tell him to drop out face to face, but rather relied on his influence behind the scenes, Politico reported Tuesday. Biden is also angry at former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who he believes played the major role in forcing him to withdraw, alongside Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the outlet reported, citing three sources familiar with Biden’s thinking.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

A White House source told Politico that Biden views Pelosi as “ruthless” following the events of July. 

News of Biden’s frustration comes as the Democratic Party plans a massive celebratory sendoff for Biden at the DNC. The very party members who forced him to drop out now hail him as an elder statesman ….Read more

Former President Obama, President Biden and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. (Left:(Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images), Center: (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) , Right:  (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images))

White House

JOE-KING AROUND: Biden quips that he is ‘looking for a job’ to audience of content creators …Read more

HOMICIDE DROP?: Death toll lower in Biden’s last year compared to Trump’s: Report …Read more

‘DEATH SPIRAL’: Biden-Harris administration uses taxpayer funds to mask Medicare premium hikes …Read more

A side-by-side view of a Medicare health care card and Vice President Kamala Harris. (iStock/REUTERS)

Capitol Hill

‘DEEPLY CONCERNED’: GOP lawmakers demand answers on fraud within Biden migrant flight program …Read more

‘PLEASANTLY SURPRISED’: Trump push to dismantle Education Department spurs House GOP enthusiasm …Read more

‘RABID DOG’: Stefanik calls on NY official to resign for Trump comments after assassination attempt …Read more

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., talks at the House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing on “Columbia in Crisis: Columbia University’s Response to Antisemitism” on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Wednesday, April 17.  (AP/Mariam Zuhaib)

‘MADE IT WORSE’: Rep. Jordan says Kamala Harris could fix the border, economy as VP but hasn’t …Read more

‘RUBBER-STAMPED’: Key Dem hit over support of Biden-Harris record on border, inflation …Read more

Writing on the Walz

‘THANK YOU’: Walz defends his military record, has kind words for JD Vance’s record …Read more

‘DIED OF LONELINESS’: Former Minnesota resident reveals why she left Gov Walz’s state during heart-wrenching interview …Read more

‘UNFATHOMABLE: Ex-federal prosecutor who charged George Floyd rioters unleashes scathing critique of Gov Walz …Read more

‘TEXTBOOK STOLEN VALOR’: Viral video shows Walz retired military rank falsely identified over a dozen times …Read more

‘SOCIALIST CRUSADE’: Top Minnesota lawmaker sounds alarm on businesses fleeing Walz’s ‘devastating agenda’ …Read more
 

GOP Rep. Pete Stauber is warning the economic policies of fellow Minnesotan Tim Walz (Getty Images)

Poll Position

IN KAMALA WE TRUST?: Americans find Harris more honest than Trump: poll …Read more

POWER RANKINGS: Fox News Power Rankings: Three governor’s races to watch on election night …Read more

Fox News Power Rankings on 2024 gubernatorial races. (Fox News Power Rankings)

Tales from the Trail

‘DIFFERENT BALLGAME’: Election enthusiasm among Dems has jumped dramatically since Harris replaced Biden …Read more

TAMMY’S TRACK RECORD: Vulnerable Dem’s support of sanctuary cities targeted in Wisconsin ad …Read more

CONVENTION CLASH?: Trump campaign picks up the pace, eyes counter-programming during Democrats’ convention …Read more

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Border Security

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Algerian boxer Imane Khelif named Elon Musk and JK Rowling in a criminal complaint filed to French authorities. (Getty Images)

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

EXCLUSIVE: BYRON CENTER, Mich. — Donald Trump’s running mate has an answer to the blunt advice from allies and fellow Republicans that the former president should stick to policy and messaging instead of questioning Vice President Kamala Harris’ crowd sizes at her rallies, her race or attacks on her intellect.

“I think one of the things people actually love about Donald Trump in politics is he’s not unwilling to speak off the cuff. He says what’s actually on his mind. He’s not always filtered. I think that’s a good thing and part of his appeal,” GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, said Wednesday in a national exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.

But Vance, speaking ahead of a campaign event in battleground Michigan, also emphasized that “if you look at this race, we’re talking about policy. That’s 90% of what we’re doing. And I think that’s going to keep on happening.”

Harris has been riding a wave of momentum — witnessed in public opinion polling, in her soaring fundraising and in her large crowds she’s attracting on the campaign trail — in the three and a half weeks since she replaced President Biden atop the Democrats’ 2024 ticket.

TRUMP CAMPAIGN PLANS COUNTER-PROGRAMMING DURING DEMOCRATS’ CONVENTION

Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, the Republican vice presidential nominee, headlines a Trump campaign event in Byron Center, Michigan, on Wednesday.  (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

While criticizing Harris over key issues such as border security, crime and inflation, Trump has also continuously slammed the vice president and insulted her during speeches, news conferences and in social media posts.

Sources in Trump’s political orbit tell Fox News that top advisers to the former president are quietly aiming to persuade him to tamp down the insults to Harris and the questioning of the vice president’s racial identity and instead focus on branding her an ultra-liberal and spotlighting her stance on the border, crime and inflation

TRUMP ARGUES HARRIS IS MORE LIBERAL THAN BERNIE SANDERS — HERE’S WHAT THE VERMONT SENATOR TOLD FOX NEWS 

Trump allies are also publicly pitching Trump to refocus his attention.

“You’ve got to make this race not on personalities,” former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Monday in an interview on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom.” “Stop questioning the size of her crowds and start questioning her position.”

McCarthy emphasized that Trump has “a short time frame to do it, so don’t sit back. Get out there and start making the case.”

During an interview Tuesday with Bret Baier on Fox News’ “Special Report,” former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley — Trump’s top rival from the Republican presidential primaries earlier this year — also had some unsolicited advice for her former boss.

Haley, who reiterated that she wants Trump to win the presidential election, emphasized that “the campaign is not going to win talking about crowd sizes. It’s not going to win talking about what race Kamala Harris is. It’s not going to win. Talking about whether she’s dumb. It’s not. You can’t win on those things. The American people are smart. Treat them like they’re smart.”

NIKKI HALEY HAS BLUNT MESSAGE FOR TRUMP, GOP AS KAMALA HARRIS GAINS MOMENTUM: ‘QUIT WHINING’

Following his interview with Fox News Digital, Vance was also asked about the criticism of Trump from fellow Republicans as he took questions from reporters at the conclusion of his campaign event at a trucking company in this southwestern Michigan town just south of Grand Rapids.

Former President Trump dances as he wraps up a campaign rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota on July 27. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

“To the people who say that Donald Trump should do something different, they had an opportunity to make Donald Trump do something different by challenging him over three separate primaries, every single one of which he won. I think Donald Trump has earned the right to run the kind of campaign that he wants to run,” Vance emphasized.

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But the senator added that “if you listen to what Donald J. Trump says, if you look at what I say, we are prosecuting the case against Kamala Harris on policy.”

And taking aim at Harris, Vance charged that “we’d much rather have an American president who is who he is, who’s willing to offend us, who’s willing to tell us the truth, who isn’t a fake who hides behind a teleprompter.”

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

The Harris campaign appears to be offering maximum inclusivity with unlimited preferred pronoun options for potential new hires to choose from when filling out their applications. 

Immediately after supplying one’s full name and resume, Harris for President job applicants are given a menu of pronouns to choose from, including identifiers such as “Fae/faer,” “Hu/hu,” “Ey/em,” and “Xe/xem,” among others. If, for some reason, none of the nine recommended pronouns the Harris campaign lists work for an applicant, they can check a box that reads “Custom” and enter in whatever pronouns they want. 

Image of Harris for President application that includes a list of nine different pronoun identifiers, as well as an option to create “custom” pronouns if none that are included fit an applicant’s preference.

In addition to its unlimited array of pronoun options, the Harris campaign’s job applications also ask potential new hires to explain how they will “contribute to building a diverse culture” if they are hired. Meanwhile, the applications include a so-called “optional” diversity survey, which the campaign says helps them “evaluate our diversity and inclusion efforts.” The survey asks applicants to once again identify their preferred pronouns, as well as their gender identity and whether they are gay or straight.

JESSE WATTERS: TRUMP’S RUNNING AGAINST A WOKE WOMAN AND A PROGRESSIVE VP

The Harris campaign’s so-called ‘optional’ diversity survey asks potential new hires to share their gender identity and sexual preferences. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment but did not receive a response. 

Earlier this month, a resurfaced clip of Vice President Kamala Harris from 2017 showed the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee calling on “everybody” to be “woke.”

“We have to stay woke. Like everybody needs to be woke,” then-senator Harris said during a 2017 conference. “And you can talk about if you’re the wokest or woker, but just stay more woke than less woke.” Harris also followed up the next day reiterating her comments in a post on X, formerly Twitter, stating, “We have to stay active. We have to stay woke.”

HARRIS SAYS ‘EVERYBODY NEEDS TO BE WOKE’ IN UNEARTHED CLIP SPREADING LIKE WILDFIRE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Vice President Kamala Harris hasn’t answered on-the-record questions from journalists since she was dispatched to insist President Biden had a “bad night” during his disastrous debate performance.  (ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images)

A few days prior to that clip surfacing, Harris also drew mockery from the internet when another clip resurfaced of Harris introducing herself with her name, pronouns and descriptions of her clothing to a group that was visually impaired. “Good afternoon. I want to welcome these leaders for coming in to have this very important discussion about some of the most pressing issues of our time,” a masked up Harris said at the roundtable event discussing the Supreme Court’s Roe v Wade decision and its impact on people with disabilities. “I am Kamala Harris, my pronouns are she and her. I am a woman sitting at the table wearing a blue suit.” Other guests at the table followed suit with similar introductions.

Harris officially took over the Democratic nomination for president on Aug. 5, after President Joe Biden bowed to intra-party pressure over his cognitive decline and announced he would not continue to seek reelection. Upon her entrance into the race, Harris was lauded in the media for her identity politics, including her position as a “daughter of immigrants,” “the first female vice president in U.S. history,” and “the first woman of color to lead a major party ticket.”

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Pronouns mixed with neopronouns.  ((Screenshot/ Gutfeld!))

While running the first time around in 2020 to be the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, Harris purposely highlighted her female pronouns when talking about the presidency. She shared why in a 2019 article from Buzzfeed News.

“I’m articulating it more than I have before, but I’ve always been very aware that for these jobs, we’re asking people to see what they’ve not seen before,” Harris told Buzzfeed in response to questions about her choice of words. It’s necessary, Harris continued, “especially in light of the whole discussion about ‘electability,’ which drives me bananas. It’s important for people to understand that they have to really check how they’re thinking about these things. But we have to help along the way, and part of it is about how we use language.”  

The Democratic candidate for vice president, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, posted to X on Wednesday agreeing to a debate Oct. 1 on CBS News.

Walz’s reply came in response to CBS News listing potential dates in an X post for Walz and Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance to debate on the network.

Tim Walz re-posted the graphic, saying “See you on Oct. 1, JD.”

FORMER MINNESOTA RESIDENT UNLOADS ON GOV WALZ AFTER MOTHER DIED ‘OF LONELINESS’ DURING PANDEMIC

Vance had not yet responded to the debate proposal publicly. Vance and the Trump campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Tim Walz is the first to accept debate terms set by CBS News proposed for October 1. (Getty Images)

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According to a Harris campaign official, “Harris for President has accepted CBS’ invitation to a vice presidential candidate debate on October 1. Governor Walz looks forward to debating JD Vance — if he shows up.”

According to CBS, four dates were proposed: Sept. 17, Sept, 24, Oct. 1, and Oct. 8.