Fox News Politics: Build the Red Wall
Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. What’s happening… -House launches inquiry into Biden’s trans surgery standards -Over 200 Bush, Romney, and McCain staffers call on moderate Republicans to jump ship -10 days until voting starts as election looms Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance returns to the campaign trail Tuesday in battleground Michigan. On Wednesday, former President Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate will hold events in two more crucial swing states – Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. If it feels like déjà vu, it is. “We’re going to make sure that Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan go red,” the first-term senator from Ohio who preaches populism said in a recent Fox News Digital interview in Michigan. Democrats reliably won all three working-class states in presidential elections for nearly a quarter-century before Trump narrowly carried them in capturing the White House eight years ago. However, in 2020, President Biden won back all three states with razor-thin margins as he defeated Trump. The states remain extremely competitive as Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump face off in the 2024 presidential election. Last month’s Republican National Convention was held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s largest city. Trump and Vance held their first joint-campaign rally after the convention in Grand Rapids, Michigan, just a few miles north of where Vance was interviewed by Fox News on Wednesday….Read more STILL ON THE JOB: White House insists Biden is in charge of the country while on second straight vacation …Read more ‘INTENTIONAL FAILURE’: Governor rips Harris after report reveals eye-popping cost of illegal immigration in state …Read more BORDER STONEWALL: Biden-Harris admin refuses to release nationalities of those on terror watchlist …Read more ‘FROZEN’: Trump assassination attempt task force chair questions law enforcement response after site tour …Read more ‘INTERFERENCE’: House launches probe into Biden admin ‘political interference’ in trans surgery standards …Read more FINAL COUNTDOWN: Trump, Harris begin sprint to Election Day …Read more ‘LAWLESSNESS’ FLOODING US: Police vote to likely make or break Harris’ run, retired chief says …Read more TICK TOCK: With 10 days until voting starts, ‘election season’ kicks off sooner than you think …Read more WHALE OF A TALE: RFK Jr targeted by environmental group after gruesome story involving dead animal resurfaces …Read more DEADLOCKED: Republican aiming to flip key Senate seat in deep blue state deadlocked with Democrat: poll …Read more SPLIT TICKET: Group that backs Trump bails on Lake in Arizona for progressive Dem …Read more CAN’T LET THAT HAPPEN: Over 200 former Bush, McCain and Romney staffers implore ‘moderate Republicans’ to vote for Harris …Read more GREEN MTN RED WAVE: Blue state GOP fields record number of candidates …Read more POISON IVY: Anti-Israel agitators hit Cornell University with vandalism, protests on first day of classes …Read more HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LYNDON: Lyndon B Johnson began his presidency after JFK was assassinated …Read more ‘MOTHER’S INTUITION’: Afghanistan withdrawal Gold Star family reveals moment they knew son was in danger …Read more BEACH TOWN BUST: Homeless people taking over popular coastal boardwalk issued ultimatum …Read more Subscribe now to get the Fox News Politics newsletter in your inbox. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
In regulating AI, Texas lawmakers face balancing act between its benefits and harms
A Senate committee discussed the potential pitfalls of artificial intelligence — and overregulating it.
Gender transitions for kids ‘lack evidence of safety,’ 23 states say in Supreme Court brief
FIRST ON FOX: Nearly two dozen states — led by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey — are warning that surgical gender transitions lack sufficient medical evidence to prove their safety in an amicus brief filed in the Supreme Court Monday. Surgical sex-change procedures have sparked intense debate, particularly regarding minors. While many states are enacting restrictions and prosecuting doctors who perform these surgeries, liberal states are pushing to maintain broad access to these treatments. “Every state has the right to protect our children from irreversible surgeries,” Bailey said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “As the first state to successfully defend at the trial court a legal challenge to a law protecting children from gender mutilation, Missouri is now taking our litigation strategy to other states.” He added, “all children are worth defending.” TRANSGENDER ATHLETE COMPLAINS ABOUT LACK OF SPORTSMANSHIP FROM FELLOW RUNNERS AFTER WINNING GIRLS STATE TITLE The amicus brief supports North Carolina and West Virginia’s federal cases dealing with “radical transgender ideology.” In April, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit sided with transgender plaintiffs in lawsuits against North Carolina and West Virginia, mandating both states to provide transgender sex-change procedures and treatments. The court argued in its ruling that excluding these procedures breached the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause and constituted discrimination based on sex and gender identity. “The science surrounding gender transition interventions is new and unsettled,” the amicus brief states. “The World Health Organization classified transgender identity as a mental health disorder until just five years ago. These recent, enormous changes make the Fourth Circuit’s core presumption—that these interventions are proven safe and effective—as perplexing as it is demonstrably erroneous.” WOMEN UNDER BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S TITLE IX CHANGES FACE THE ‘EVISCERATION OF LEGAL WOMANHOOD,’ EXPERTS SAY Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming all signed onto the brief. The amicus brief cites an article from the Economist in April 2023 that stated there is a broad consensus that “the evidence is lacking” for these treatments. The brief notes that countries across Europe, including the United Kingdom, France, Finland, Norway and Sweden, have voiced concerns that the risks “outweigh the benefits.” Finland, for instance, has labeled these interventions for minors as “experimental” and suggests that treatment should generally remain at the level of “talking therapy” or counseling. GENDER DYSPHORIA AND EATING DISORDERS HAVE SKYROCKETED SINCE PANDEMIC, REPORT REVEALS: ‘RIPPLE EFFECTS’ CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP More than a dozen states in the U.S. have enacted bans on surgical procedures and hormonal prescriptions for transgender youth. Idaho, North Dakota, Florida, Oklahoma and Alabama have passed laws making it a felony to perform sex changes on children. Several blue states, meanwhile, have enacted “sanctuary state” laws in recent years shielding medical providers from facing penalties for conducting transgender procedures on adolescents.
Trump indicted a second time in election subversion case brought by special counsel Jack Smith
Special counsel Jack Smith has filed another indictment against former President Trump in the election interference case on Tuesday. The new charges narrow the allegations against the Republican presidential nominee following a Supreme Court ruling that conferred broad immunity on former presidents. Sources familiar with the matter tell Fox News that discussions surrounding the superseding indictment will likely not speed things up, and it is unlikely it will go to trial before the November election. This is a breaking story. Check back for updates.
Election experts cautious as Abbott touts voter roll purge
Federal and state law already required voter roll maintenance. Experts warn the governor’s framing of this routine process could be used to undermine trust in elections.
Ex-Obama official predicts Harris will seek new Iran nuclear deal: ‘Has to be the goal’
A Middle East policy expert who helped get the Iran nuclear deal signed into law is anticipating that Vice President Kamala Harris would seek a similar agreement with Tehran if she wins the White House. “The idea that the old nuclear deal can just be restarted, we’re past that. Iran’s progress on its nuclear program has exceeded the previous limitations… a firm, verifiable nuclear deal that corrals and runs the ability to accelerate the nuclear weapon, that has to be the goal,” said Joel Rubin, a Democratic strategist and former Obama administration deputy assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs to the House. “The best way to do that is a nuclear agreement that’s firm and verified… Any realistic president would go for that. And that’s Kamala Harris, she’s a realistic president-to-be.” ISRAEL WARNS US DEFENSE CHIEF IRAN AGGRESSION HAS ‘REACHED ALL-TIME HIGH’ The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, was signed in 2015 by Iran, members of the United Nations National Security Council, and the European Union. Republicans and some moderate Democrats opposed the agreement, arguing it was too weak to successfully restrain the Islamic regime’s nuclear aspirations. Iran hawks in the U.S. also argued the lifting of sanctions on Iran would only serve to embolden its anti-Western leaders. President Trump pulled out of the agreement in 2018. But former President Barack Obama’s allies have maintained it was a necessary compromise to limit the threat from Iran’s nuclear capabilities and a sure way to bring Tehran to the negotiating table. ISRAEL ATTACKS TARGETS IN LEBANON TO THWART HEZBOLLAH’S PREPARED STRIKES: IDF “There has to be a way to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions. If they were to get a nuclear weapon, that would be a threat to the region and to the world, including, of course, the United States. But it is not going to be an easy way forward,” Rubin said. Harris said during her short-lived 2020 presidential campaign that she would rejoin the Iran deal if elected president. While It’s unclear whether she’s retained that stance in her 2024 campaign platform, it could expose her to GOP-led accusations of emboldening Iran at a time when the country is already growing more aggressive toward the U.S. and its allies. NETANYAHU VOWS MORE ‘SURPRISING BLOWS’ AFTER ISRAEL THWARTED ‘THOUSANDS’ OF HEZBOLLAH ROCKETS: ‘NOT THE END’ Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, suggested on Tuesday that Tehran could rejoin talks on a nuclear agreement, according to The Associated Press. Khamenei said there was “no harm” in interacting with an “enemy” in “certain situations.” A State Department spokesperson told RadioFreeEurope, however, that rejoining the agreement “is not on the table right now.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment.
House committee calls for investigation into potential ethics violations by Biden’s education secretary
EXCLUSIVE: The House Committee on Education and the Workforce is calling for an investigation into whether Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona violated the Hatch Act in an email blaming Republicans for the failure of the administration’s student loan repayment plan. The committee penned a letter to special counsel Hampton Dellinger Tuesday in reference to a July 2024 email from Cardona reportedly sent to “student loan borrowers.” The email, reviewed by Fox News Digital, showed the education secretary referencing “Republican elected officials” three times as the reason behind roadblocks to the Biden administration’s student loan repayment efforts. KAMALA HARRIS AND TIM WALZ, ENDORSED BY TEACHERS UNIONS, RECEIVE FAILING GRADE FROM SCHOOL CHOICE GROUP As stated in the committee’s letter, the Hatch Act is a federal law that prohibits government officials from using their “official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.” The GOP-led committee claimed Cardona’s email was “a message that appears to have been sent to aid the Democrat party and the Biden-Harris administration in the November 2024 elections.” It was signed by Republican representatives Virginia Foxx of North Carolina and Keith Self of Texas. “In recent weeks, several federal courts have issued rulings in lawsuits brought by Republican elected officials who are siding with special interests and trying to block Americans from accessing all the benefits of the most affordable student loan repayment plan in history – the SAVE (Saving on a Valuable Education Plan),” the July email from Cardona states. ‘HE IGNORED US’: LOCAL MINNESOTA SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT SLAMS WALZ’S ‘NEGATIVE IMPACT’ ON K-12 EDUCATION Cardona added that the Biden administration will continue to fight for student debt relief, “no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us.” “While we disagree with the Republican elected officials’ efforts here to side with special interests and block borrowers from getting breathing room on their student loans, President Biden and our administration will not stop fighting to make sure Americans have affordable access to the life-changing opportunities a higher education can provide,” he wrote. The letter also mentioned a July 19 press release put out by Cardona’s office after a federal appeals court ruling that blocked President Biden’s student loan debt handout plan. It said, in part, “It’s shameful that politically motivated lawsuits waged by Republican elected officials are once again standing in the way of lower payments for millions of borrowers.” Efforts to reach the Department of Education for comment were unsuccessful.
Biden-Harris border policies wreak havoc on indigenous tribe, says expert: ‘Pushed aside and destroyed’
The Biden administration’s border policies have helped contribute to the destruction of indigenous tribes in Central and South America, according to one expert. Panama’s indigenous Embera-Wounnaan tribe has seen a rapid decay in its way of life over the last three years, with tribal leaders blaming the flood of migrants journeying north from South America and crossing its territory en route to the United States. “What struck me most listening to the five Embera chiefs is how much their concerns reminded me of the past very similar marginalizations of Native American tribes, who were pushed aside and destroyed by gold miners, settlers and U.S. cavalry who prioritized their own narcissistic agendas during the 19th century,” Todd Bensman a National Security Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, told Fox News Digital. BIDEN ADMIN REFUSES TO REVEAL TERROR WATCHLIST NATIONALITIES AS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION EXPLODES ON HIS WATCH The comments come after Bensman’s recent travels to areas around the famed Darien Gap, a large chunk of nearly inhabitable wilderness stretching through Colombia and Panama. The area also is home to the indigenous territory of the Embera, a 19,000-member tribe of hunters and farmers who now find themselves at the center of broader U.S. border security policy. Bensman conducted interviews with all five chiefs of the Embera-Wounaan reservation and detailed their plight in a report for the New York Post, arguing that much of the blame for the situation faced by the tribe rests with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. “Rather that stop this dangerous flow, the White House has encouraged it.” Bensman wrote in the report. “The Biden-Harris administration lavished millions in tax money on United Nations agencies and non-governmental advocacy groups (NGOs) that descended on this region to ease the burdens of Darien Gap travel.” The report outlines how mass migrations to the U.S., which have been encouraged by lax U.S. border policies, have been particularly damaging to the Embera, who have seen their native lands overrun with people, trash and human waste as migrants travel north to the United States. But perhaps worse is the impact the situation has had on many of the tribe’s members, many of whom have abandoned their traditional way of life to chase the quick money that comes with helping facilitate travel through the dangerous wilderness. FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS BIDEN ADMIN MOVE TO GIVE LEGAL STATUS TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SPOUSES OF US CITIZENS “Embera men do pilot pretty much every boat ferrying the immigrants. They are making money,” Bensman told Fox News Digital. But the quick money has also led to an epidemic of drug and alcohol abuse within the tribe, as well as a mass-abandonment of its traditions of hunting, fishing and farming. As a result, many members of the tribe have also begun to suffer from food shortages, a problem exacerbated by passing migrants desperate for a meal themselves. “There is infighting among them now to get at the currency paid by immigrants,” Bensman said. “The villages I saw were greatly changed from how residents described them as being just a few years ago. Radical changes have occurred in some of the places I saw. There is filth and garbage everywhere.” Bensman argued that the current situation faced by the tribe shares many traits with the plight of North America’s indigenous populations, only this time “American and international liberal groups” are the ones “clearly repeating that same terrible old history with the Embera.” “One would think that the liberal progressives who staff the United Nations and all of those NGOs down there, facilitating a new kind of gold rush through tribal lands might occupy a higher moral plane than Gen. George Armstrong Custer or President Andrew Jackson during their days of dealing with indigenous peoples in the way as though they didn’t exist. But economic migrants rushing toward U.S. gold clearly are more important to these organizations,” Bensman said. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS Without a seat at the table to determine their own fate, the tribal leaders were left hoping to send a message to international leaders, including Biden. “Mr. President and you candidates, you are finishing off and you are killing all the Indians on the Comarca!” General Chief Leonide Cunampia told Bensman during their interview. “You have to pay attention to what’s going on in our territory. The immigration is contaminating us!” Bensman argued that instead of helping facilitate travel, the U.S. will have to commit enough resources for air deportations that would hopefully work to deter larger numbers of migrants, though he sees little hope that a potential Harris administration would change the approach of the current one. “A Trump administration will flood the zone with the help Panama wants to close the gap. Hanging in the balance is the future cultural viability of this tribe out there,” Bensman said. “Either administration owes that tribe a seat at the table going forward.” The White House did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment. Get the latest updates on the ongoing border crisis from the Fox News Digital immigration hub.
FLASHBACK: Top Harris campaign aide was key voice in WH push to remove COVID info from tech platforms
FLASHBACK: A current top campaign adviser for VP Kamala Harris was deeply involved in pushing Facebook to suppress “misinformation” in an effort to control the political narrative on COVID and other issues. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted in a letter on Monday while expressing regret that his company, Facebook, was pressured by the Biden-Harris administration to censor Americans, particularly regarding COVID-19 content, bringing to the forefront actions taken by Harris’ deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty as part of that pressure campaign. Flaherty, who previously served as the White House director of digital strategy, helped lead the campaign to target alleged “misinformation” relating to the COVID-19 virus and its vaccinations, FOX Business previously reported. Flaherty emailed Google team members in April 2021 to “connect […] about the work you’re doing to combat vaccine hesitancy, but also crack down on vaccine misinformation,” according to the documents. META CEO ZUCKERBERG ADMITS HE WAS PART OF THE BIDEN-HARRIS CENSORSHIP SCHEME. YOU’VE BEEN WARNED, AMERICA Flaherty continued asking for trends surrounding vaccine misinformation on the website, while offering government assistance in the form of COVID experts at the White House to partner in product work with YouTube. Google, in an internal email, noted that after a subsequent meeting with Flaherty, the White House staffer “particularly dug in on our decision making for borderline content” – which is content that doesn’t cross Community Guidelines but rather brushes up against it, according to YouTube. A week later, Google acknowledged that it sent the White House the total amount of videos removed for COVID vaccine misinformation, while discussing the government’s desire for even more data. “Really [Flaherty’s] interested in what we’re seeing that is NOT coming down,” read an internal Google email between employees, seemingly referring to videos that had not yet been removed. According to internal company communications viewed by FOX Business and reported on in 2023, Flaherty asked Facebook if they could provide government agencies with special access to tools to target users in 2021. “Since it’s a global pandemic, can we give agencies access to targeting parameters that they normally wouldn’t be able to?” Flaherty asked. TRUMP SAYS MARK ZUCKERBERG CALLED TO APOLOGIZE ABOUT PHOTO OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT The idea came up in a conversation about how to convince people worried about side effects around the COVID vaccine to take it. On an April 5 call, a Facebook employee mentioned how if someone was worried about nosebleeds as a side effect of the vaccine, in an ideal world, they would direct them to information addressing that concern. Flaherty asked the Facebook team, “Are you able to provide resources?” Another Facebook employee replied that doing something like showing them a targeted resource addressing their concern might trigger people. The Facebook employee said they “have to be careful in how we approach.” Flaherty asked, “If people are having the conversation, is the presumption that we let people have it. Direct them to CDC. What then?” A Facebook employee replied, “We all know people that have had the experience that think that FB is listening to them.” The Facebook employee told Flaherty that something like an immediate generated message about nosebleeds might give users “the Big Brother feel” but suggested they show the content on a delay to avoid setting off alarm bells among users. “We should pay attention to those conversations, make sure that people see information, even if it’s not right then,” the Facebook employee said. Flaherty was involved in a tense exchange with GOP Rep. Jim Jordan, of Ohio, during a hearing on Capitol Hill earlier this year when Flaherty claimed that Elon Musk did not face “any adverse government actions” in response to changing the outlet’s censorship policies. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and the Harris-Walz campaign for comment but did not receive a response. “Ultimately, it was our decision whether or not to take content down, and we own our decisions, including COVID-19-related changes we made to our enforcement in the wake of this pressure,” Zuckerberg wrote in his letter to the House Judiciary Committee this week. “I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it. Fox News Digital’s Hillary Vaughn and Chase Williams contributed to this report
California candidates trade blows in key district, as Republican slams Dem over ‘MeToo’ court controversy
A California Republican congresswoman’s campaign is criticizing her Democratic attorney opponent of intentionally crafting a legal defense for a client that blamed victims for their alleged sexual harassment — and the challenger is hitting right back. Rep. Michelle Steel, whose Democratic-leaning Orange County seat is considered a crucial hold for Republicans in November, is facing off with Derek Tran. Tran is an attorney and military veteran who recently defended a former employee of a warehouse market chain who was rebuffing accusations from two women. In the case, plaintiff Luis Pacheco alleged he was wrongfully fired by a warehouse market in San Bernardino County after being accused of sexual harassment by two women with whom he had had “consensual relationships… and still on friendly terms,” according to court documents. ALASKA REPUBLICAN DROPS OUT OF THREE-WAY RACE, DEALING BLOW TO DEMOCRATS NATIONALLY Pacheco claimed the market and other defendants conducted a “sham investigation and automatically terminated [him] because he was male.” “Plaintiff Pacheco was discriminated against for his gender due to the political climate and ‘Me Too’ movement. Plaintiff Pacheco believes Defendants automatically chose the females’ side without considering his explanation of events because of his gender,” documents read. Lance Trover, a spokesperson for Steel, said Tran “based his campaign on protecting women, but chose the side of an alleged sexual abuser.” “Not as a defense attorney but in an effort to enrich his client and himself: Voters deserve an explanation from someone who wants to be their representative in Congress,” he said. In campaign advertisements and correspondence, the Steel campaign has used the “Me Too” references to criticize Tran’s legal defense formulation. VERMONT GOP SEES RECORD BALLOT BOOST AS BLUE STATE CITIZENS SEEK CHANGE However, Tran sold the firm partway through the litigation and the new leadership took over active cases, including Pacheco’s. In a statement to the Orange County Register, Tom Feher — the current attorney of record on the case — said the California Superior Court has ruled Pacheco’s case has merit and will go to trial. “[That is] despite the attempts of the corporation to deny our client access to justice. My job as workers’ rights attorney is to uphold the law and win justice for workers — it’s not about politics.” Tran’s camp, however, has responded by calling Steel the “last person” who should be criticizing others for treatment of victims — “like Derek Tran has spent his career fighting to do.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Michelle Steel puts corporations and political extremists ahead of women’s rights her entire career… Steel even voted against stronger protections for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault by opposing the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2021, and led efforts to ban abortion nationwide without exceptions for rape, incest, or the life of the woman,” a spokesperson for Tran’s campaign said. In regard to the votes, Trover responded that Steel opposed a “partisan” Violence Against Women Act iteration, but supported ensuing compromise legislation. The Cook PVI ranks Steel’s district as D+2, meaning she is one of a handful of Republicans defending seats in Democrat-majority districts. The district’s lines changed slightly after the 2020 census. Recent polls depict the race as a dead heat.