The Hitchhiker’s Guide to how the VP debate is sometimes more memorable than the presidential debates
It’s doubtful that this week’s debate between Vice Presidential nominees Tim Walz and JD Vance will command quite the same attention as the debate between the nominees: Vice President Harris and former President Trump. But historically, tilts between the running mates are often more pugilistic. A lot feistier. More fun to watch. And sometimes, more memorable. It’s hard to say why the undercard can be more intriguing than the main event. But first round playoff games in hockey are often better matches than the Stanley Cup Finals. I’ve long asserted that the American League and National League Championship Series is generally more competitive baseball than what you experience during the World Series. Perhaps it has something to do with the vice presidential candidates introducing themselves to the audience. They simply aren’t as well known. “Who am I? Why am I here?,” quipped late Rear Admiral James Stockdale when independent Presidential candidate Ross Perot tapped him as his 1992 running mate. IN CONGRESS – LIKE BASEBALL – THERE’S ALWAYS NEXT YEAR Stockdale’s folksy line immediately drew laughter and applause from the crowd gathered that night in Atlanta. “I’m not a politician. Everybody knows that. So don’t expect me to use the language of the Washington insider,” said Stockdale from his lectern wedged between future President Clinton’s running mate, then-Sen. Al Gore, D-Tenn., and Vice President Dan Quayle. While Gore and Quayle quarreled, their verbal fusillades caromed back and forth in front of Stockdale. He was mostly a mute bystander. At one point, trying to get in a word edgewise, Stockdale abruptly blurted that he felt like he was in the “middle of a Ping-Pong” match. Later in the debate, moderator Hal Bruno of ABC News asked if mudslinging tactics were “necessary” in the campaign. Stockdale replied he didn’t hear the question. “I didn’t have my hearing aid turned on. Tell me again,” Stockdale requested of Bruno, again triggering howls from the audience. Sometimes the VP candidates must feel each other out. EXPERTS PREVIEW VANCE-WALZ DEBATE, SAY USUALLY ‘FORGETTABLE’ VP BOUT ‘MIGHT BE DIFFERENT’ THIS TIME “The first time I ever met you was when you walked on the stage tonight,” said then-Vice President Dick Cheney to former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., then John Kerry’s running mate at the 2004 VP debate. Running mates sometimes try to appear more down-to-Earth than those at the top of the ticket. “Nice to meet ya,” declared former Alaska Governor and 2008 VP nominee Sarah Palin (R) as she shook the hand of then-Senator Biden on stage in St. Louis. “Can I call you Joe?” “You can call me Joe,” responded the future president with a smile. Mr. Biden tried to exude an “aw, shucks,” lunchpail personae in the 2012 VP debate. He deployed lay language when trading barbs with GOP VP nominee and future House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc. “When we look weak, our adversaries are more willing to test us. They’re more brazen in their attacks,” said Ryan. CONTINGENT ELECTIONS: WHAT THEY ARE, AND WHAT TO EXPECT IF 2024 TRIGGERS ONE “With all due respect, that’s a bunch of a malarkey,” countered the future President. Palin tried the same thing, using phrases like “doggone it” and winking at the audience not once, but four times, to punctuate her responses. Vice Presidential debates are often stocked with wry humor. “If you won’t use any football stories, I won’t tell any of my warm and humorous stories about chlorofluorocarbon abatement,” promised then-Vice President Gore during his debate with GOP VP nominee Jack Kemp in 1996. Gore was known for his views on global warming and environmental policy. A former congressman and Housing and Urban Development Secretary, Kemp also starred at quarterback for the San Diego Chargers and Buffalo Bills in the American Football League before it merged with the NFL. A lot of people would pay to be a fly on the wall during some of the debate prep. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., has been playing Walz during the sessions with Vance. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has portrayed Vance during his rehearsals with Walz. THE MAN IN BLACK: JOHNNY CASH STATUE UNVEILED IN THE CAPITOL But you don’t even have to be a fly on the wall for these debates. Sometimes a fly just shows up – and lands on the head of former Vice President Mike Pence. Such was the case when Pence debated Vice President Harris four years ago in Salt Lake City. But Vice Presidential debates do grow testy. Besides the fly, many best remember the 2020 Harris/Pence debate for the Vice President repeatedly declaring “I’m speaking,” beseeching Pence to wait his turn. Viewers also remember Pence and Democratic VP nominee and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., talking all over one another during their 2016 debate. In the first televised VP debate in Houston in 1976, GOP Vice Presidential nominee and future Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., depicted World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam were “Democrat wars.” He then added that “the pardon of Richard Nixon is behind us. Watergate’s behind us.” “I think Sen. Dole has richly earned his reputation as a hatchet man tonight,” responded future Vice President and then-Sen. Walter Mondale, D-Minn. VANCE VS. WALZ: THINK VP DEBATES DON’T MATTER? JUST LOOK AT THESE 6 EXAMPLES And future President George H.W. Bush drew the ire of female voters when he appeared to speak condescendingly to 1984 Democratic Vice Presidential nominee and Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, D-N.Y., – the first woman to ever appear on a major party ticket. “Let me help you Miss Ferraro about the difference between Iran and the embassy in Lebanon,” said Bush. “Let me just say, first of all, that I almost resent, Vice President Bush, your patronizing attitude that you have to teach me about foreign policy,” shot back Ferraro. The congresswoman noted she had served nearly six years in the House by that point. But one zinger from a Vice Presidential debate is without question one of the best lines
Biden admin’s FEMA ‘equity’ plan faces backlash amid historic hurricane damage: ‘What an embarrassment’
The Biden-Harris administration’s disaster relief agency is facing backlash after its unearthed emergency management blueprint went viral amid the destructive hurricane that recently ravaged the southern U.S. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) website lists a set of three goals as part of their strategic plan to “address key challenges” in emergency management. The number one goal listed in the agency’s priorities is to “instill equity as a foundation of emergency management.” The second goal is “Lead Whole of Community in Climate Resilience” and the third goal is “Promote & Sustain a Ready FEMA & Prepared Nation.” According to FEMA’s plan, “Diversity, equity, and inclusion cannot be optional.” HURRICANE HELENE WREAKS HAVOC ACROSS ASHEVILLE, NC; NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYED, 119 RESCUED “This requires that FEMA’s leadership and workforce demonstrate an increased commitment to integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion in delivering the agency’s mission. FEMA must draw upon its staff’s diversity and range of experiences to consistently inform programming, policy, and decision-making,” the FEMA plan continued. “Through investment in diversity and inclusion efforts – including Employee Resource Groups and multicultural training – FEMA can increase its employees’ involvement and participation in cultivating a culture of inclusion.” After Hurricane Helene broke out, leaving over 100 dead across six states and millions without power, social media users began criticizing FEMA’s strategic plan in the midst of the damage. “I’m sure people who’ve lost loved ones, lost their homes and now see their town underwater feel really great knowing that FEMA’s #1 goal is to be woke. Everything about their terrible response makes sense now. What an embarrassment,” conservative activist Robby Starbuck said in a post on X. “Our government is broken,” wrote author and scientist Robert Malone, M.D., of the agency’s plan. “I heartily disagree – the first priority of FEMA should be emergency response management.” “If FEMA response for #HurricaneHelene is slower, it could be attributed to the agency making equity a ‘foundation of emergency management,’” Gabriella Hoffman, an Independent Women’s Forum’s director, said on X. “Yikes.” FEMA, however, denies that the agency’s strategic plan has interfered with hurricane disaster relief. “That is a lie. We help all people regardless of background as fast as possible before, during and after disasters. That is our mission and that is our focus,” director of public affairs Jaclyn Rothenberg told Fox News Digital. “We care about people, all people. We take our responsibility very seriously to help all communities regardless of background, so that we understand where people are coming from and what their need is so we can provide life-saving and life-sustaining support.” FOX CORPORATION LAUNCHES DONATION DRIVE FOR AMERICAN RED CROSS HURRICANE HELENE RELIEF EFFORTS “In case you’re wondering why the response to Hurricane Helene has been a disaster… Fema’s goal 1 is to instill equity as a foundation of emergency management. This is real,” Libs of TikTok, an influential conservative account known for reposting far-left content, said in a post. “Other government agencies have declared DEI to be part of the scientific process, and therefore beyond the reach of elected officials,” Russ Greene, a senior fellow for economic progress at Stand Together Trust, wrote on X. President Biden got defensive Monday during a press conference when he was pressed by a reporter on who was in command over the weekend to direct hurricane response since he was at his beach home in Delaware. “I was commanding it,” Biden declared from the doorway. “I was on the phone for at least two hours yesterday and the day before as well. I command it. It’s called a telephone and all my security people.” Biden turned again to leave as the reporter began to ask, “Is it not important for the country to see?” The president left and the door closed mid-question. At the start of his remarks, Biden assured that he and his team were “in constant contact with governors, mayors and local leaders” regarding Hurricane Helene. Fox News’ Danielle Wallace contributed reporting.
Power outage doesn’t slow down Vance’s prep for Tuesday’s VP debate with Walz
EXCLUSIVE – Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance didn’t let a power outage derail his preparations for Tuesday’s debate with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic Party’s running mate. A source familiar with the senator’s debate prep tells Fox News Digital that over the last month, former President Trump’s running mate took part in a series of murder board sessions with his team. For those not familiar with the term, a murder board is a group of people who ask tough questions and have candid discussions to help someone prepare for a difficult examination or test, or in Vance’s case, a vice presidential debate. THE WHO, WHAT, WHERE, AND WHEN OF TUESDAY’S JD VANCE-TIM WALZ VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE According to the source, Vance conducted a mock debate over the past week, with Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the House majority whip, playing the role of Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate. Former Trump administration Treasury Department assistant secretary Monica Crowley played the role of one of the moderators from CBS News, which is hosting the debate in New York City. Halfway through the mock debate, the power went out, as a strong storm slammed through the vicinity of Cincinnati, Ohio, where Vance lives and where the prep session was held. But according to the source, who shared the details first with Fox News, Vance and the team continued on, using lanterns for lighting and cellphones for timers. CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING IN THE 2024 ELECTION Emmer, who steered the House Republicans’ campaign committee in the 2020 and 2022 cycles, said last week in a Fox News Digital interview that “it’s an honor to be asked to play a very small part in helping JD and President Trump expose the failures of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.” Emmer and Walz overlapped for four years in the House before Walz won election in 2018 as Minnesota’s governor. “I do know him probably as well or better than most on the Republican side,” he said. And Emmer, taking a shot at his fellow Minnesotan, argued “the hardest part of playing Walz… is trying to tell lies with a straight face, because that’s what he does. He’s good at the debate game, but there isn’t substance there. There’s a lot of air.” WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS SHOW Former President Trump, asked Monday if he’s given his running mate any advice, told reporters, “No, he doesn’t need it.” But he added that he and Vance have “been speaking a little bit back and forth” and that he thought the senator was in “good shape.” Part of the Trump campaign’s strategy ahead of the debate is to raise expectations for Walz. “Walz is very good in debates. I want to repeat that. Tim Walz is very good in debates. Really good. He’s been a politician for nearly 20 years. He’ll be very well prepared for tomorrow night,” Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller told reporters on Monday. Vance, his family, and top aides and advisers arrived in New York City on the eve of the debate. Fox News confirmed that Vance will speak to a conference of major Republican donors Monday evening in Manhattan. According to a source familiar with the GOP vice presidential nominee’s plans, Vance will address the American Opportunity Alliance behind closed doors. That’s a network of major GOP contributors that includes billionaire investors/mega donors such as Paul Singer, Ken Griffin and Warren Stephens. The development was first reported by the New York Times. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Israel says ‘next phase’ of war with Hezbollah in Lebanon to ‘begin soon’
Israel has warned that it will use “all the means” at its disposal to attack the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah amid growing fears of a ground assault on Lebanon. “The next phase in the war against Hezbollah will begin soon,” Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told a meeting of local council heads in northern Israel on Monday, according to a statement from his office. Earlier, Gallant told troops that Israel would “use all the means that may be required … from the air, from the sea, and on land.” To allow displaced residents of the border area to return safely home, “we will employ all of our capabilities, and this includes you,” Gallant told troops. Hezbollah began low-intensity strikes on Israeli troops a day after Israel launched its assault on Gaza last October in response to an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas. Israel and Hezbollah have traded near-daily fire across the Israel-Lebanon border for almost a year, prompting tens of thousands of people on both sides to flee their homes. Israel’s military escalated the fighting this month, leaving people across the region fearful of even more violence to come. Some Israeli forces have already conducted small-scale ground operations in Lebanon, several international media outlets reported, and Israel’s air force has bombarded targets across the country in recent days. Israel has killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and several of the group’s top commanders in strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut, and continued a campaign of air attacks on Hezbollah sites in eastern and southern Lebanon. More than 1,000 people have been killed since Israel escalated its attacks. Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets and missiles at Israeli targets. On Monday, the Lebanese-armed group said its fighters targeted northern Israel’s Gesher Haziv settlement with a “salvo of rockets”. In a statement, the Lebanese group said it also fired rockets at Israeli military positions in the occupied Golan Heights and fired a long-range anti-ship cruise missile at Kfar Giladi, a rural cooperative community known as a kibbutz. In a separate statement, Hezbollah said it fired Fadi 1 missiles at areas in northern Haifa. In the group’s first broadcast address since Nasrallah’s assassination, Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said it is prepared for any potential ground incursion and a long war. When asked about reports that Israel is preparing for a “limited” ground invasion of Lebanon, US President Joe Biden called for a ceasefire. Asked if he was comfortable with Israel’s plan, Biden replied: “I’m comfortable with them stopping.” However, he did not elaborate on any plans to halt the conflict, or discuss US supplies of weapons and military aid to ally Israel. Israel has told the US about a number of operations, the State Department said on Monday. “I know I’ve seen reports about ground operations. We’ve had some conversations with them about that. They have at this time told us that those are limited operations focused on Hezbollah infrastructure near the border. But we’re in continuous conversations with them about it,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters. Yossi Beilin, Israel’s former justice minister, told Al Jazeera that neither Hezbollah nor Israel “wants a ground battle” because “there is always a lethal price on both sides, people will be killed, and it should be prevented”. He said that both sides need to renegotiate UN Resolution 1701, referring to the 2006 resolution to end the Israel-Hezbollah conflict at the time and pave the way for improved security along the border. “I think we should rebuild the relations between Israel and Lebanon”, Beilin added. Reporting from Marjayoun in southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan said that since the morning, Israeli air strikes have pounded the south of the country. He added that the Bekaa Valley, eastern Lebanon, as well as Baalbek and the road towards Syria have been hit. “The death toll is climbing as well: 136 people killed in the last 24 hours, and that is something that is putting a tremendous amount of pressure on the emergency services. They’re simply running out of people and ambulances to be able to service the entire area,” he said. Among those killed were three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine group, who were targeted in the Kola area of Beirut in Israel’s first attack on the Lebanese capital beyond the southern suburbs. Fatah Sharif, a Hamas top commander in Lebanon, was also killed along with his wife, son and daughter in an air strike on El Buss refugee camp, one of 12 dedicated to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, in the southern port city of Tyre on Monday. The Israeli military confirmed it had targeted him. Sharif was also an employee of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and was suspended from the agency earlier this year following allegations regarding his politics. The UNRWA chief has denied knowing that Sharif was a Hamas commander. “I never heard the word ‘commander’ before,” Philippe Lazzarini told reporters in Geneva. “What’s obvious for you today, was not obvious yesterday.” More than 100,000 people have fled to Syria from Lebanon since the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah this month. About 118,466 new displacements have occurred between September 23 and 27, the UN’s World Health Organization said in a situation report. The agency added that Lebanon’s health system also remains impacted and overstretched by a new escalation of violence in the country. Lebanon’s acting Prime Minister Najib Mikati has said that the government is ready to fully implement the 2006 UN Security Council Resolution 1701 that aimed to end Hezbollah’s armed presence south of the Litani River as part of an agreement to stop war with Israel. Adblock test (Why?)
More than 100 killed by Hurricane Helene
NewsFeed Clean up and rescue efforts are underway after Hurricane Helene wrought havoc across 5 states in the US. More than a 100 people have been killed and hundreds more are missing. Published On 30 Sep 202430 Sep 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
‘Cruel’: Biden administration toughens asylum restrictions at US border
US President Joe Biden’s administration is toughening asylum restrictions at the United States-Mexico border, as the Democrat tries to show voters that his party is taking a harder stance on immigration in the lead-up to November’s election. The new rules announced on Monday, which expand on restrictions announced in June, bar migrants from being granted asylum when US officials deem that the southern border is overwhelmed. “This action has been taken in parallel with other Administration actions that have both increased enforcement and delivered to asylum seekers safe and lawful pathways to humanitarian relief,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement. Under the previous rules, the US government could restrict asylum access when the number of migrants and asylum seekers trying to enter the country between official border crossings hit 2,500 per day. The daily numbers had to average below 1,500 per day for a week in order for the restrictions to be lifted. But under the new regulations, which come into effect just after midnight on Tuesday, the daily numbers will have to be below 1,500 for nearly a month before the restrictions can be lifted. The administration also is now counting all children towards that number, whereas previously only migrant children from Mexico were counted. The changes will make it much more difficult to lift the curbs and allow people entering the country between official border crossings to apply for asylum in the US — and Monday’s announcement was slammed by migrant rights advocates. “This policy bolsters xenophobic and racist rhetoric that falsely portrays immigrants as threats. It will also leave a permanent stain on President Biden’s legacy,” said Eleanor Acer, senior director for refugee protection at Human Rights First. Amy Fischer, director of refugee and migrant rights at Amnesty International USA, accused the administration of “clinging to policies of cruelty when there are solutions on the table”. “Instead of spending billions of taxpayer dollars to fuel cruel border policies that create heartbreaking human rights and humanitarian crises, the United States must invest in a coordinated welcome and reception system that meets the immediate and long-term needs of people seeking safety,” Fischer said. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) also slammed the new rules as illegal. “The asylum law Congress enacted recognizes that people fleeing danger should not be forced to wait and try to secure an appointment to seek asylum. This restrictive rule is not just immoral but illegal,” the group said in a social media post on Monday afternoon. Under US immigration law, any non-citizens on US soil must be granted due process to seek asylum if they fear for their lives or freedom “on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion”. The asylum law Congress enacted recognizes that people fleeing danger should not be forced to wait and try to secure an appointment to seek asylum. This restrictive rule is not just immoral but illegal. https://t.co/zUP4tbnkbl — ACLU (@ACLU) September 30, 2024 Last week, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) also issued new legal guidance for countries on the issue of asylum. Elizabeth Tan, UNHCR’s director of legal protection, noted that Article 31 of the UN Refugee Convention states that countries are barred from penalising asylum seekers for entering the country irregularly in search of protection. “That article is there because many people flee life-threatening situations and they have no other choice but to take irregular manners of travel, and they often don’t have the opportunity to obtain a travel document or a visa before they’ve fled their country,” Tan told reporters. Election issue Immigration remains a divisive issue in the US, and it has been used as a way to gain leverage against political opponents. Republicans and right-wing media outlets have routinely accused Democrats of being lax on border security, despite the Biden administration enacting a slew of restrictions such as the asylum curbs. Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump – who pursued stringent, anti-immigration measures while in office – continues to hit out at his Democratic rival, US Vice President Kamala Harris, on immigration ahead of November’s election. Trump and his running mate JD Vance have promised to carry out the largest deportation campaign in US history if elected. They have also amplified and spread false rumours about Haitian migrants, drawing widespread condemnation. Last week, Harris pledged to continue the Biden administration’s crackdown on irregular crossings at the country’s southern border with Mexico. “The United States is a sovereign nation,” Harris said during a visit to Arizona on Friday. “And I believe we have a duty to set rules at our border and to enforce them.” The Biden administration has defended its policies as helping to stem a surge in irregular border crossings. US border authorities have apprehended roughly 54,000 migrants and asylum seekers so far in September, down steeply from a peak of 250,000 in December, a Department of Homeland Security official said. Adblock test (Why?)
Biden’s old backyard now a key Pennsylvania battleground filled with ‘purple’ votes
SCRANTON, Pa.— While northeastern Pennsylvania’s Lackawanna County has been a Democratic stronghold in state and federal elections, voters on the streets of the old coal mining region say the area runs “purple” and will likely be a nail-bitter of an election. “It’s not as blue as people think. It’s more purple underneath because people are afraid to say anything around here because they think that there’s going to be retaliation. That’s an old thing that goes back generations around here,” David Kveragas told Fox News Digital from a pizza shop on the main drag of Scranton as a storm sloshed rain across the Wyoming Valley last week. Lackawanna County is home to cities and towns such as Scranton, Carbondale and Throop, mixing cityscapes backdropped by factories of a bygone era, and dotted with suburbs and expansive farms. The county has long voted blue in state and national elections, last throwing its support behind a Republican in 1984 during President Ronald Reagan’s blowout election when he won each state except Washington, D.C., and Minnesota — the home state of Reagan’s competitor that year, Walter Mondale. The county has trended right in recent elections, however, teeing up a heightened election battle that will likely help determine how the key battleground state will swing come Nov. 5. ECONOMY, BORDER, ABORTION DIVIDE BIDEN’S HOMETOWN AS SCRANTON LOOKS BACK ON NATIVE SON’S FIRST TERM Between 2000 and 2012, Democratic presidential nominees earned between 56% and 63% of the vote, U.S. News and World Report found. That standard fell below 50% in 2016, when former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton unsuccessfully ran against former President Donald Trump, but still carried a win for the Democratic Party’s ticket even with the lessened support. President Biden was born and raised in Scranton until the age of 10, when his family moved to Delaware. Biden’s hometown status likely helped boost his popularity among locals in the 2020 election, winning 53.58% of the vote to Trump’s 45.23% that year. As the election cycle comes down to its final five weeks, Fox News Digital spoke to voters on the streets of Scranton to ask about their top election concerns and who they will cast their ballot for come November. Fox News Digital received a mixed bag of responses, with some voters proudly declaring Vice President Kamala Harris’ support of abortion access earned their vote, while Trump supporters said voters only need to look at their pay stubs from the 2016-2020 era compared to today to determine their ballot choice. “If you are a minority and a woman, what is the better choice? I’m not here to knock Trump or any candidate. But as a woman of Puerto Rican descent, I feel it’s really important for us to really sit and discuss the pros and cons of each candidate. But especially as a woman,” a local mom named Adrianna, who is supporting Harris in the election, told Fox News Digital. BIDEN CLAIMS TO SEE THE ECONOMY THROUGH THE EYES OF SCRANTON, NOT WALL STREET Adrianna is a mom to a young boy and said that inflation issues and childcare issues have rocked her day-to-day life as she has tried to find a daycare for her son for more than a year. When asked if she believes Harris will correct inflation if elected as president after serving as vice president for three and a half years, she responded, “I hope so.” Adrianna said that while inflation concerns her, abortion is her top voting issue. “I believe nobody should tell a woman what to do with her body, especially — not to sound sexist — but a man. I think that should be an individual decision that a woman should make,” she said. PENNSYLVANIA LEADERS IN BOTH PARTIES TALK GROUND GAME AS GOP SEEKS TO UNDO DEM GAINS: ‘MASSIVE SHIFT’ For Trump supporters, the economy, inflation, national security and immigration came in as top concerns for voters. “The price of gas is a big issue with me. I do a lot of driving. And I remember back in the day, you know, when you got $20, it’d fill up your gas tank. It’s just going up and up,” Trump supporter John Soentgerath told Fox News Digital. “With all due respect to my Democratic friends, I have a lot of them, [under] this previous administration there has been less take-home pay. The prices of gas [is] up, food. And I like to eat like anybody else. You tell me any mother or father that doesn’t want to put food on the table for their kids, give them treats, ice cream, goodies and things of that nature,” Soentgerath added. Larry West of Scranton told Fox News Digital from a bus stop near The Marketplace at Steamtown that Trump earned his vote for his national security platform as wars continue raging in Ukraine and Israel, saying Harris appears “weak” on foreign affairs. ‘SCRANTON JOE’ ALIENATING BLUE-COLLAR DEMS WITH RITZY CELEB CAMPAIGN GIGS: POLITICAL INSIDERS “I’m voting for Donald Trump. And I just believe that as far as globally, I don’t feel that Kamala Harris has what it takes to represent the United States globally. Like especially with all that’s going on with Russia and China,” West said. Kveragas told Fox News Digital that he is an independent who “voted against Hillary” in 2016, before becoming a Trump supporter while evaluating the 45th president’s record in office. HARRIS SUPPORTERS IN PENNSYLVANIA SAY WORKING CLASS WILL SUPPORT HER “He straightened out the economy. He got the border under control. He cut regulations. He did pretty much everything you would want a — a realistic person would want — a president to do. So with this election, it’s primarily the economy, obviously. My retirement was up 40% under Trump. I lost the 40%, plus another 20% under Biden. So things are terrible there. The border, which we’re being overrun. Obviously, it’s not just a matter of jobs. It’s a matter of housing and crime fighting, fentanyl, which has run rampant.
Harris campaign ‘underwater’ in key battleground state, Dem rep warns donors
Democratic Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who is running for a Senate seat this cycle, recently warned donors that Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is “underwater” in the key battleground state, according to a report. “I’m not feeling my best right now about where we are on Kamala Harris in a place like Michigan,” Slotkin told donors during a virtual campaign event with Democratic New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker last Wednesday, according to Axios. “We have her underwater in our polling,” Slotkin added, according to audio Axios obtained from the event. TRUMP NARROWS HARRIS’ SMALL LEAD IN BATTLEGROUND MICHIGAN, WISCONSIN, POLL FINDS Latest polling shows former President Donald Trump closing in on Harris in the key battleground states of both Michigan and neighboring Wisconsin. Harris received 48% of support among likely Michigan voters in a New York Times/Siena College poll this week, while Trump garnered 47% support in the poll — effectively locking the pair in a tie well within the poll’s margin of error. ‘HE IMPREGNATED HIS KID’S NANNY’: PSAKI RIPPED AFTER CLAIMING EMHOFF ‘RESHAPED’ MASCULINITY A USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll of likely voters in the Great Lake State released last week found Harris was up three points over Trump. That poll had a 4.4% margin of error. ROGERS ADDRESSES ABORTION AMID SLOTKIN ATTACKS: ‘MICHIGAN VOTERS HAVE ALREADY DECIDED’ Michigan is once again a key battleground state this year, as Harris and Trump zigzag campaign events across the state, as well as in other key states such as Pennsylvania, Georgia and Wisconsin. The Axios article noted that if Trump secures votes from the Sunbelt States across the southern portion of the U.S., he would only need to win either Michigan, Wisconsin or Pennsylvania to declare victory. While Harris’ easiest path to victory is locking down Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Trump won Michigan in his 2016 election against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by a 0.23% margin. President Biden won by 2.78% in the state in 2020 when he faced off against Trump. TRUMP-ENDORSED HOUSE CANDIDATE SOUNDS ALARM ON CHINA’S GROWING INFLUENCE IN BATTLEGROUND STATE Slotkin, who has served in the U.S. House since 2019, announced her Senate run last year after Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow said she would not seek re-election. Her remarks that Harris is “underwater” in Michigan could have been campaign rhetoric to drum up donations, but the campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s inquiry for additional comment on the campaign event. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Fox News Digital also reached out to the Harris campaign for comment on the report, but did not receive a reply. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Comer subpoenas DHS for records relating to Walz’s alleged ties to Chinese Communist Party
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer subpoenaed the Department of Homeland Security for records related to Democratic vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz’s alleged connections to the Chinese Communist Party, Fox News Digital has learned. Comer, R-Ky., who announced last month that his committee launched an investigation into those alleged “longstanding” ties, is seeking records including intelligence reports, documents, and communications from Homeland Security. Fox News Digital reviewed the subpoena, directed to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. HOUSE OVERSIGHT INVESTIGATING WALZ OVER ‘LONGSTANDING CONNECTIONS’ TO CHINA The subpoena comes after a whistleblower notified the committee of the existence of a non-classified, Microsoft Teams group chat among DHS employees, as well as additional intelligence reports, that allegedly contain information regarding Walz’s alleged connections to the CCP. “The committee has recently received whistleblower disclosures informing the Committee of serious concern among Department of Homeland Security personnel regarding a longstanding connection between the CCP and Minnesota Governor Timothy James Walz,” Comer wrote in the subpoena cover letter to Mayorkas. The non-classified Microsoft Teams group chat is titled “NST NFT Bi-Weekly Sync,” and allegedly contains information relevant to Comer’s probe. House Oversight Committee officials told Fox News Digital that information regarding Walz and China have been memorialized in both classified and unclassified documents under the control of DHS. “Specifically, through whistleblower disclosures, the Committee has learned of a non-classified, Microsoft Teams group chat among DHS employees—titled ‘NST NFT Bi-Weekly Sync’—that contains information about Governor Walz that is relevant to the Committee’s investigation,” Comer wrote. “The Committee has also learned that further relevant information regarding Governor Walz has been memorialized in both classified and unclassified documents in the control of DHS.” Comer is subpoenaing Mayorkas for all documents and communications in the Microsoft Teams group chat from July 1, 2024, to present, as well as any uploaded or embedded attachments and documents referring to or relating to Walz or his gubernatorial office or staff. TIM WALZ WOULDN’T CALL FOR TIKTOK BAN ON GOVERNMENT DEVICES EVEN THOUGH OVER 75% OF OTHER STATES DID Comer is also subpoenaing all intelligence information reports and regional intelligence notes from November 2023 to present related to Walz. Comer, last month, revealed that Walz has “engaged and partnered with” Chinese entities, making him “susceptible” to the CCP’s strategy of “elite capture,” which seeks to co-opt influential figures in elite political, cultural and academic circles to “influence the United States to the benefit of the communist regime and the detriment of Americans.” Comer has pointed to reports that Walz, while working as a teacher in the 1990s, organized a trip to China for Alliance High School students. The costs were reportedly “paid by the Chinese government.” Comer is investigating Walz’s 1994-created private company named “Educational Travel Adventures, Inc.,” which coordinated annual student trips to China until 2003 and was led by Walz. The company reportedly “dissolved four days after he took congressional office in 2007.” Comer said Walz has traveled to China an estimated “30 times.” “In its investigation, the Committee has highlighted the importance of U.S. officials being cognizant of CCP political and psychological warfare efforts that seek to threaten national security,” Comer said last month. Comer then pointed to Walz’s time in Congress, noting he served as a fellow at the Macau Polytechnic University — a Chinese institution that characterizes itself as having a “long-held devotion to and love for the motherland.” “At the time he disclosed serving as a Macau fellow, Mr. Walz also had significant credit card debt,” Comer said last month upon launching the investigation, noting that in 2019, Walz headlined the 27th National Convention for the U.S. China Peoples Friendship Association in Minnesota. “Governor Walz spoke alongside the president of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, which, a year later, the Department of State exposed as ‘a Beijing-based organization tasked with co-opting subnational governments,’ including efforts to ‘directly and malignly influence state and local leaders to promote the PRC’s global agenda,’” Comer said. WALZ APPOINTEE WITH APPARENT CCP TIES COULD EXPOSE POTENTIAL VEEP’S NATIONAL SECURITY WEAKNESS, LAWMAKER SAYS Comer said Walz himself has “admitted that he does not ‘fall into the category that China necessarily needs to be an adversarial relationship.’” “Despite bipartisan efforts to identify and defeat CCP unrestricted warfare against America, Governor Walz continues problematic engagement with concerning entities and individuals,” Comer wrote. Comer also pointed to a March 2024 meeting Walz had with Consul General Zhao Jian to discuss “China-U.S. relations and sub-national cooperation.” Comer, in his letter to Mayorkas Monday, said his committee’s investigation of the CCP began long before Walz became the Democratic vice presidential nominee, and said it is focused on understanding “the extent of the CCP’s infiltration and influence campaign and to identify legislative reforms to combat CCP political warfare targeting prominent Americans for elite capture.” “In particular, if a state governor and major political party’s nominee for Vice President of the United States has been a witting or unwitting participant in the CCP’s efforts to weaken our nation, this would strongly suggest that there are alarming weaknesses in the federal government’s effort to defend the United States from the CCP’s political warfare that must be urgently addressed,” Comer wrote. “Along those lines, the Committee is currently considering legislative solutions to ameliorate deficiencies it already has identified among government agencies’ strategies to combat CCP political warfare.”
Biden gets defensive when pushed on who’s ‘commanding’ Hurricane Helene response
President Biden discussed the federal response to Hurricane Helene during a press conference on Monday, vowed that he would visit some of the most devastated areas – but not yet. At the end of the press conference, which was interrupted by his frequent coughs, the president grew defensive when a reporter pressed him on who was in command over the weekend to direct hurricane response. Biden spent the weekend at his beach home in Delaware. The heated exchange happened at the White House after Biden concluded his remarks and turned to leave the Roosevelt Room. “And the hurricane. Mr. President, why weren’t you and Vice President Harris here in Washington commanding this this weekend?” a reporter yelled as the president exited. “I was commanding it,” Biden retorted from the doorway. “I was on the phone for at least two hours yesterday and the day before as well. I command it. It’s called a telephone and all my security people.” Biden turned again to leave as the reporter began to ask, “Is it not important for the country to see?” The president left, and the door closed mid-question. ASHEVILLE RESIDENTS BATTLING ‘APOCALYPTIC’ AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE HELENE AFTER DEADLY FLOODING, LANDSLIDES At the start of his remarks, Biden assured that he and his team were “in constant contact with governors, mayors and local leaders” regarding Hurricane Helene. The president noted that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell is on the ground in North Carolina and will remain in the Asheville area. Biden recognized reports indicating more than 100 people are dead and about 600 people remain unaccounted for and cannot yet be contacted as a result of the storm. “We’re keeping them all in our prayers and all the lives lost and those particular unaccounted for. There’s nothing like wondering is my husband, wife, son, daughter, mother, father alive and many more who remain without electricity – water, food and communications and homes and businesses have washed away in an instant. I want them to know we’re not leaving until the job is done,” Biden said. “Also want you to know I’m committed to traveling to the impacted areas as soon as possible, but I’ve been told that it would be disruptive if I did it right now,” Biden added. NORTH CAROLINA LAWMAKER COMPARES AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE HELENE TO A ‘WARZONE’ He explained that he would visit later in the week. “We will not do that at the risk of diverting or delaying any – any of the response assets needed to deal with this crisis. My first responsibility is get all the help needed to those impacted areas,” Biden said. “I expect to be there later this week.” “I’m directing my team to provide every, every available resource as fast as possible to your communities to rescue, recover, and to begin rebuilding,” Biden said. In addition to FEMA, Biden said he directed the Federal Communications Commission to help establish communications capability, as well as the National Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Department of Defense “to provide all the resources at its disposal to rescue and assist in clearing debris and delivering lifesaving supplies.” So far, more than 3,600 personnel have been approved so far, the president said. He also approved requests from the governors of Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Virginia and Alabama for an emergency declaration. Biden said that as president he’s seen “firsthand the devastating toll that disasters like this take on families and communities” and has heard “dozens of stories from survivors about how it feels to be lefty with nothing.” He urged those in impacted areas to head to the warnings from emergency officials. “Take this seriously. Please be safe. Your nation has your back and the Biden-Harris administration will be there until the job is done,” Biden said. The president also acknowledged three members of the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department who were seriously hurt in a crash near the Texas-Louisiana border over the weekend. “One of the brave teams that volunteered to be there was from San Diego County Fire Department, set to travel all the way from California to North Carolina to help, but on their way they were in a terrible car accident in Louisiana. We pray for their full recovery. But it was a bad accident,” he said.