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Kamala Harris reveals what Biden told her just before crucial debate with Trump that left her ‘angry’

Kamala Harris reveals what Biden told her just before crucial debate with Trump that left her ‘angry’

Former Vice President Kamala Harris revealed in her upcoming book, “107 Days,” that then-President Joe Biden rattled her right before she went head-to-head with then-candidate Donald Trump on the debate stage. Biden reportedly called Harris as she sat in a hotel room preparing for the only debate of her abbreviated campaign. He apparently wanted to wish her luck — and to scold her. The then-president said, “My brother called. He’s been talking to a group of real power brokers in Philly,” according to an excerpt of the book in The Guardian. He then allegedly asked if Harris was familiar with several people related to the matter, which she was not. KAMALA HARRIS COMPLAINS ABOUT ‘IMPOSSIBLE’ LACK OF SUPPORT FROM BIDEN’S COMMS TEAM, INNER CIRCLE “His brother had told him that those guys were not going to support me because I’d been saying bad things about him. He wasn’t inclined to believe it, he claimed, but he thought I should know in case my team had been encouraging me to put daylight between the two of us,” Harris wrote in the book, according to an excerpt of the book in The Guardian. Biden then went on to talk about his past debate performances, leaving Harris confused, “angry and disappointed,” according to The Guardian. She was upset that her boss had called before a critical moment in her political career and made “it all about himself.” Harris added that Biden was “distracting me with worry about hostile power-brokers in the biggest city of the most important state.” Then-first gentleman Doug Emhoff apparently noticed his wife was in distress and advised her to “let it go” before facing off against Trump. HARRIS TAPS DEM EMAILS LISTS TO MARKET NEW BOOK, SPARKING PARTY NEUTRALITY CONCERNS While Harris avoided criticizing Biden during her campaign, she has used her upcoming book to shed light on the tensions between them as she took his place as the Democratic presidential nominee. Harris’ book is set to hit shelves on Sept. 23, but it has already sparked conversations about the 2024 election cycle. In another section, Harris said while “it’s Joe and Jill’s decision” became a mantra ahead of the 2024 election cycle, she said it was “recklessness,” rather than “grace,” according to an excerpt released by The Atlantic. “‘It’s Joe and Jill’s decision.’ We all said that, like a mantra, as if we’d all been hypnotized. Was it grace, or was it recklessness? In retrospect, I think it was recklessness. The stakes were simply too high. This wasn’t a choice that should have been left to an individual’s ego, an individual’s ambition. It should have been more than a personal decision,” Harris wrote. Harris also revealed in her book that then-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was her “first choice” as running mate, not Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. However, she said it was “too big of a risk” because the campaign was “already asking a lot of America: to accept a woman, a Black woman, a Black woman married to a Jewish man.” Fox News Digital’s Deirdre Heavey and Greg Norman contributed to this report.

WATCH: Lawmakers wrestle with how to approach hateful political rhetoric in wake of Kirk assassination

WATCH: Lawmakers wrestle with how to approach hateful political rhetoric in wake of Kirk assassination

In the aftermath of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination, a debate about political rhetoric and its impact on recent spates of political violence has taken hold on Capitol Hill and across the country.  While both Republicans and Democrats have condemned political violence of all kinds, their views vary on how much inflammatory political rhetoric plays a role. Some Republicans have accused the left’s rhetoric of fostering an “assassination culture” on the left, while Democrats have accused Republicans of attacks on free speech.  One member of Congress, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., attempted to steer the conversation towards gun control as opposed to rhetoric as the cause for the increase in political violence. “This isn’t just about what happened to Charlie Kirk. At the same time his tragic killing was happening, three kids were getting shot in school, and that was one or two weeks after another couple of kids were getting shot, in church, at mass, at a Catholic school,” Ocasio-Cortez said.  EXPERTS WARN LEFTIST CELEBRATIONS OF CHARLIE KIRK’S DEATH SIGNAL A DANGEROUS MAINSTREAM SHIFT IN POLITICS But GOP firebrand Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., did not mince words about those who continue to foment hatred for conservatives with inflammatory rhetoric. “We need to shame these people out of polite society, shame them out of existence. They need to be fired from their jobs. They are putting lives in danger,” Mace said. “They are denying that they’re celebrating the political assassination and murder of Charlie Kirk, but they’re liars. They’re lying through their teeth.” Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have called on others to “turn down the heat” in the wake of Kirk’s assassination. Americans from all walks of life have been facing repercussions over their decision to mock, or praise, Kirk’s death, including K-12 education officials, college professors, healthcare professionals, political pundits, writers and a list of other professionals from various sectors and major companies, such as the law firm Perkins Coie, the company behind the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, and Office Depot, among others. FOLLOWING KIRK’S ASSASSINATION, LAWMAKERS REACT TO LETHAL POLITICAL CLIMATE: ‘VIOLENT WORDS PRECEDE VIOLENT ACTIONS’ Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., said that everyone should have “the right to speak freely, otherwise America’s democratic tradition could be threatened.  “Look, there’s a limit to what Congress can do, because, you know, we have the First Amendment, which protects all forms of speech, including hate speech, but we should have a culture of condemning any rhetoric that glorifies violence. I see violence as the downfall of American democracy,” Torres said. “We all should have the right to speak freely, to think freely, without fear of harassment or intimidation or violence. And once we lose the ability to speak freely in the public square then democracy as we know it has come to an end.” Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., suggested possible remedies Congress could take to help reduce inflammatory rhetoric and its potential impact on violence.  CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “You have to look at the role that social media companies play in allowing violent rhetoric to be on their sites. And what more can we do so that law enforcement can see these attacks sooner?” Swalwell asked. “I wait, and stand ready to learn, where there are signs that were missed by law enforcement. Because if that’s the case, we have to do better, because the temperature is only increasing.”

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,304

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,304

Here are the key events on day 1,304 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Published On 20 Sep 202520 Sep 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Here is how things stand on Saturday, September 20: Regional security Estonian officials say three Russian MiG-31 fighters entered Estonia’s airspace “over the Gulf of Finland” for a total of 12 minutes on Friday and called for NATO talks over the “unprecedented and brazen intrusion”. Moscow denied violating Estonia’s airspace, with the Russian defence ministry claiming its jets flew over neutral waters of the Baltic Sea as they travelled from northwestern Russia to the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad. The incident came a week after more than 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace and drew immediate condemnation from NATO and European countries. NATO spokesperson Allison Hart accused Moscow of “reckless behaviour” and said the alliance had scrambled aircraft to intercept the Russian jets. British Defence Secretary John Healey said that Russia’s “reckless and dangerous activity” was “the third violation of NATO airspace in recent days”. France’s Ministry of the Armed Forces also responded, saying in a statement: “This incursion into Estonia is unprecedented for more than 20 years”. United States President Donald Trump said he had not been briefed on the incident but said, “I don’t like when that happens.” It “could be big trouble”, he added. Fighting Ukrainian forces launched a wave of drone attacks on Russia, killing a 55-year-old man in the village of Amon, in the Kursk region, and a truck driver in the village of Otradovka in the Belgorod region, according to an official and the Russian state-run TASS news agency. Ukrainian forces attacked the Belgorod region with more than 100 drones and more than 15 munitions in a 24-hour period, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram. In Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said two people were wounded in a Russian attack on the Dnipro region. Zelenskyy also said on X that Russian forces launched close to 90 drones at Ukraine overnight, targeting Ukraine’s Donetsk, Kyiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions, alongside Dnipro. “Our warriors managed to neutralise most of them,” Zelenskyy said. Separately, a crew of journalists from Ukraine’s Channel Five and their driver were injured by a landmine near Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, Ukrinform reported on Saturday. Russian forces seized the village of Muravka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region and Novoivanovka in the Zaporizhia region, according to TASS. Politics and diplomacy Advertisement European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented a 19th package of sanctions on Russia, urging members of the European Union to adopt new curbs on Russia’s exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Zelenskyy welcomed the measures, saying they “marked an important step that will increase pressure on the Russian war machine and produce a tangible effect”. Trump said he and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed Russia’s war on Ukraine in a call on Friday. “I believe he would like to see it ended,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office of Xi’s view of the war, after the call. Adblock test (Why?)

Ted Cruz breaks with Republicans, slams ‘mafioso’ threats to broadcasters

Ted Cruz breaks with Republicans, slams ‘mafioso’ threats to broadcasters

The US senator has labelled Carr’s comments ‘dangerous as hell’ and something ‘right out of Goodfellas’. A prominent Republican senator has joined the Democrats in criticising threats made by the government of the United States against Disney and local broadcasters for airing Jimmy Kimmel Live. Ted Cruz, who leads oversight of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), said on Friday that FCC chair Brendan Carr’s threat to take regulatory action against networks over the content of their shows sets a dangerous precedent. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Speaking on his podcast, Cruz labelled Carr’s comments “dangerous as hell” and something “right out of Goodfellas”, referring to Martin Scorsese’s iconic gangster movie. “That’s right out of a mafioso coming into a bar going, ‘Nice bar you have here. It would be a shame if something happened to it’,” Cruz said. Carr had threatened to fine broadcasters or pull the licences of those who aired Jimmy Kimmel Live on Wednesday, prompting television network ABC – which is owned by Disney – to suspend the late-night talk show. The owners of dozens of local TV stations affiliated with ABC also said they would no longer air the show. Carr’s threat came in response to the host’s opening monologue on Monday discussing the murder of Charlie Kirk – a friend and political ally of the president – which caused uproar among President Donald Trump’s supporters. “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said, speaking of 22-year-old Tyler Robinson. Advertisement Cruz’s criticism of Carr marks a rare example of a prominent member of Trump’s own party publicly criticising his administration, highlighting deepening bipartisan concerns over attacks on free speech. “We shouldn’t be threatening government power to force him off air,” Cruz said on his podcast. “It might feel good right now to threaten Jimmy Kimmel, but when it is used to silence every conservative in America, we will regret it,” he added. Trump, however, said he disagreed with Cruz and called Carr “an incredible American patriot with courage”. Trump has himself slammed Kimmel’s Kirk monologue, while he also suggested on Thursday that broadcasters critical of his administration should have their FCC-issued licences revoked. “I’m a very strong person for free speech,” he told reporters at the Oval Office on Friday, when asked to clarify his earlier comments. But he continued that broadcasters were so critical of him that they represent an extension of the Democratic Party, something he said was “really illegal”. “That’s no longer free speech … That’s just cheating, and they cheat,” he said. Prominent Democrats and civil rights groups have condemned the Trump administration’s pressure to punish Kimmel and networks that air his show. Democrat and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Carr is “one of the single greatest threats to free speech America has ever known”, as he called for him to resign or for Trump to fire him. Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Friday also asked the FCC’s inspector general to investigate Carr’s actions and comments. The future of Jimmy Kimmel Live remains unclear and Kimmel is yet to publicly comment on his suspension. Adblock test (Why?)

Portugal to recognise a Palestinian state

Portugal to recognise a Palestinian state

Nine other countries, including France and the UK, also plan to recognise Palestinian statehood next week. Portugal has joined Australia, Canada, France and the United Kingdom in announcing plans to recognise a Palestinian state. In a statement on Friday, the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the recognition will take place on Sunday, a day before a high-level conference on Palestinian statehood at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms that Portugal will recognise the State of Palestine,” the ministry wrote in a statement on its website. “The Official Declaration of Recognition will take place on Sunday, September 21st, before next week’s High-Level Conference,” the statement added. According to Portugal’s Correio da Manha newspaper, the country’s centre-right Prime Minister Luis Montenegro consulted with the president and parliament before finalising the decision. It marked the end of nearly 15 years of debate in the Western European country’s parliament, Correio da Manha reported, after the proposal was first put forward by the country’s Left Bloc political party in 2011. People carry a banner with the words ‘Free Palestine’ during a demonstration demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and in support of Palestinians, in Lisbon, Portugal, on April 7, 2024 [Armando Franca/AP Photo] Global outcry Portugal’s announcement comes days after a landmark UN inquiry found that Israel’s war on Gaza amounts to a genocide. At least 65,141 people have been killed and 165,925 wounded since Israel’s onslaught began in October 2023. Many thousands more are believed to be buried under the rubble. Advertisement The Portuguese government first announced its intentions on recognising Palestine as a state in July, citing “extremely worrying evolution of the conflict”, as well as the humanitarian crisis and Israel’s repeated threats to annex Palestinian land. Earlier on Friday, an adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron said that Andorra, Australia, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta and San Marino plan to recognise the State of Palestine alongside France at the high-level meeting it is co-organising with Saudi Arabia in New York on Monday. Canada and the United Kingdom have also said they intend to do the same. They will join some 147 countries, representing 75 percent of UN members, that had already recognised Palestinian statehood as of April this year. Portugal was also among 145 countries which voted on Friday to create an option for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to address the UNGA in New York next week by video, after the United States denied him a visa. Nauru, Palau, Paraguay, as well as Israel and the US, were the five countries that voted no, while six countries abstained. Israel and the US have strongly criticised countries moving to recognise Palestine, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio describing France’s announcement as a “reckless decision” that “only serves Hamas propaganda”. Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich warned last year that a new illegal Israeli settlement would be established in the occupied West Bank for every country that recognises Palestine. Luxembourg considers sanctions Earlier this week, Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Luc Frieden and Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel told a parliamentary commission that their country intends to recognise Palestinian statehood at the UNGA. Bettel also said that he would propose a bill to parliament so that Luxembourg could take further measures, such as sanctions, according to the country’s broadcaster RTL Letzebuerg. Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, has implored countries to take more measures to end Israel’s war on Gaza, including by imposing sanctions and an arms embargo on Israel. Under its 1947 plan to partition Palestine, the UNGA said it would grant 45 percent of the land to an Arab state. At the time, the UNGA had just 57 member states, with dozens of countries under colonial rule unable to vote. Adblock test (Why?)