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Bold prediction: What the Senate GOP campaign chair says about winning back the majority

Bold prediction: What the Senate GOP campaign chair says about winning back the majority

LAS VEGAS – Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, the chair of the Senate Republicans’ campaign committee, for the first time is definitively saying his party will recapture control of the chamber in November’s elections. “We will win the Senate majority” the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) chair said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “Fifty-one is the number that we want to get to. Clearly, there’s an opportunity to get beyond that, but 51 is the number we’ve got to get to,” Daines added, as he spoke along the sidelines of the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership meeting on Thursday in Las Vegas. Democrats control the Senate by a razor-thin 51-49 margin, and Republicans are looking at a favorable election map this year with Democrats defending 23 of the 34 seats up for grabs. SENATE DEMOCRATS CAMPAIGN CHAIR GOES ONE-ON-ONE WITH FOX NEWS One of those seats is in West Virginia, a deep red state that former President Trump carried by nearly 40 points in 2020. With moderate Democrat-turned-Independent Sen. Joe Manchin, a former governor, not seeking re-election, flipping the seat is nearly a sure thing for the GOP. Additionally, in Daines’ home state of Montana and in Ohio, two states Trump comfortably carried four years ago, Republicans are aiming to defeat Democratic Sens. Jon Tester and Sherrod Brown. REPUBLICAN AIMING TO FLIP DEMOCRAT HELD SENATE SEAT IN RED STATE MAKING GAINS  Five more Democratic-held seats are up for grabs this year in crucial presidential-election battleground states. With Democrats trying to protect their fragile Senate majority, former GOP Gov. Larry Hogan of blue-state Maryland’s late entry into the Senate race in February gave them an unexpected headache in a state previously considered safe territory. Hogan left the governor’s office at the beginning of 2023 with very positive approval and favorable ratings. Minutes after speaking with Fox News, Daines made his pitch to top dollar donors and influential conservative activists in order to remedy the cash disparity between GOP campaigns and those of Democrats. “We need your help to close the fundraising gap,” Daines emphasized as he addressed the Republican Jewish Coalition crowd. “We have the right candidates. Let’s get them the resources they need to win.” In his interview, Daines pointed to the GOP’s fundraising gap and acknowledged, “it’s a concern of mine.” “There are winnable races right now that we may not be able to bring across the finish line because of lack of resources. We are literally two months away from the most consequential election of my lifetime,” Daines emphasized. “That’s why we’re working very, very hard to make sure we’re ringing that alarm bell to get to donors.” Democrats have outraised and outspent their Republican counterparts in the 2024 battle for the Senate majority, and looking forward, they have dished out more money for ad reservations for the final two months leading up to Election Day on Nov. 5. Senate Democrats and outside groups supporting them have made significantly larger post-Labor Day ad reservations in four of the seven key Senate battlegrounds, per AdImpact. In Wisconsin, Nevada, Michigan and Arizona each, Democratic ad reservation spending is at least double that of their respective Republican opponents, presenting a stark obstacle for GOP candidates, some of whom already face name recognition issues and the hurdle of taking on an incumbent.  HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS 2024 ELECTION POLLS  Overall, Democrats have an advantage over their Republican Senate foes with nearly $348 million in planned spending in pivotal races across the country ahead of election day, compared to Republicans’ over $255 million.  The relatively small GOP expenditures in Wisconsin, Nevada, Michigan and Arizona appear to be a result of massive prioritized pro-Republican Senate ad buys in Montana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Republicans are managing to outspend Democrats in these states, but their opponents have still boasted similarly large planned spending. In Ohio, while Republicans had $81.9 million reserved, Democratic future spending wasn’t far behind at $78.3 million, according to AdImpact.  Fueling the financial disparity, the surge in Democratic Party enthusiasm and fundraising in the month and a half since Vice President Kamala Harris replaced President Biden at the top of the party’s 2024 ticket in the White House race against former President Donald Trump. “You just saw in the last 48 hours Kamala Harris announce she’s directing $25 million of her presidential campaign dollars down-ballot including $10 million for Senate Democrats,” Daines spotlighted. “There’s not many things Kamala Harris does well but one thing she does well is raise money. So this does have us concerned.” However, Daines said there is a silver lining when it comes to Harris replacing the 81-year-old Biden in the White House race. “What it does is it helps us take the age issue off the table because that was one of the reasons that Biden did so poorly. It was more about his age than anything else,” Daines said. “This now gets us laser focused on policy. This is going to be a policy contrast election….For the first time in decades, we have the results of two different administrations to run against – President Trump’s four years and Kamala Harris’ four years. Two very different administrations – very different outcomes. That contrast, we think will be very helpful for us in the key Senate races.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Elton John speaks out on Trump’s ‘Rocket Man’ nickname for Kim Jong Un: ‘Hilarious’

Elton John speaks out on Trump’s ‘Rocket Man’ nickname for Kim Jong Un: ‘Hilarious’

Elton John is speaking out about what he thinks of former President Trump nicknaming North Korea Leader Kim Jong Un “Little Rocket Man” after one of the singer’s hit songs. The “Tiny Dancer” singer told Variety in an interview at the Toronto Film Festival last week that he thought Trump’s nickname for the dictator was “hilarious” and made him laugh. “I laughed, I thought that was brilliant,” John said. “I just thought, ‘Good on you, Donald.’ … Donald’s always been a fan of mine, and he’s been to my concerts many, many times. So, I mean, I’ve always been friendly toward him, and I thank him for his support. When he did that, I just thought it was hilarious. It made me laugh.” In 2017, Trump and Kim traded threats of destruction as North Korea carried out a slew of high-profile weapons tests aimed at acquiring an ability to launch nuclear strikes on the U.S. mainland. Trump said he would rain “fire and fury” on North Korea and derided Kim as “Little Rocket Man,” while Kim questioned Trump’s sanity and said he would “tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire.” FRIENDLY RELATIONSHIP WITH KIM JONG UN IS ‘NOT A BAD THING,’ TRUMP SAYS Their relationship seemed to thaw in 2019 when Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to meet with a dictator of North Korea. The former president has since described their relationship as friendly. “I got along with Kim Jong-un of North Korea. Remember I walked over […] the first person to ever walk over from this country,” the former president said to a crowd during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania last week. 2024 SHOWDOWN: ANTI-TRUMP REPUBLICAN LIZ CHENEY SAYS SHE’S BACKING KAMALA HARRIS John also weighed in on the upcoming U.S. presidential election, telling Variety that he won’t use his stage to tell concertgoers who to vote for this fall. “I don’t go on stage and say to people, ‘You must vote for the Republicans, you must vote for the Democrats.’ It’s none of my business how they vote. They come to see me, and I’m so grateful they have,” John said. “What I want by saying that last night … there is a danger, as Dick Cheney said the other day. America is in a very volatile position. And it’s a country I love, and I’ve always loved, and I’m so thankful that it made me who I am.” “I just want people to vote for things that are just, things that are important to people: the right to choose, the right to be who you are, and not let anybody else tell you who to be. And that goes all the way up to the Supreme Court,” the “Your Song” singer continued.

Florida Republican, Democrat team up to tackle student loan debt as Biden-Harris forgiveness bids derail

Florida Republican, Democrat team up to tackle student loan debt as Biden-Harris forgiveness bids derail

A seemingly unlikely duo is pushing for Congress to do something about ballooning college debt that’s plaguing millions of Americans. Reps. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., and Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., introduced a bill to cap federal student loan interest at 3% this week, and Luna told Fox News Digital that she’s already gearing up to lobby Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., for a House-wide vote. “I actually fully anticipate having that conversation in person when we return next week,” Luna said. TRUMP AND HARRIS IN TOSS-UP RACES IN KEY SWING STATES PENNSYLVANIA, GEORGIA, NEVADA: POLL She wants Johnson to fast-track the bill under a procedure known as “suspension of the rules,” which allows legislation to bypass the normal committee process in exchange for raising the threshold for passage from a simple majority to two-thirds – which both Luna and Moskowitz anticipated the bill would see. “I think this would pass if you put this to the floor. In fact, if you bypass committee, I think this would probably get two-thirds. I mean, I think it would pass overwhelmingly,” Moskowitz told Fox News Digital. Luna similarly said, “I think it would be really hard for any member to vote against it.” She also suggested creating a discharge petition for the bill – a measure that would force a piece of legislation up for a vote if the petition got a majority of House lawmakers’ signatures.  KAMALA HARRIS GOES VIRAL WITH ‘CRINGE’ NEW ACCENT AT DETROIT RALLY, SPARKS ‘FOGHORN LEGHORN’ COMPARISONS   Discharge petitions rarely, if ever, succeed in forcing a House-wide vote themselves, but Luna said that just the creation of one could be enough to pressure leadership into action. “I talk to people that are just like, ‘I am literally paying off loans from 15, 20 years ago, and because the interest rate is so high, we’re not even able to make a dent,” Luna said. “It’s turning Americans into indentured servants.” It comes after the Biden-Harris administration’s multiple attempts at mass student loan forgiveness keep getting blocked by GOP-led states and even the conservative-leaning Supreme Court. President Biden has managed to implement more narrowly targeted forgiveness measures, however. And while Luna and Moskowitz’s opinions on Biden’s initiative differ, both said they have heard people on both sides of the aisle express a need for reform to the student debt system. “Quite frankly, we both, we both were working on this issue in a silo, and then in a conversation one day, we both brought it up,” Moskowitz said of how their partnership on the issue came about.  KAMALA HARRIS HAS YET TO DO FORMAL PRESS CONFERENCE SINCE EMERGING AS DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE “Everybody knows it’s a problem. . . . Let’s start here, where we have some common ground, where people who can’t afford an education can go get a loan, but they won’t be saddled with debt for the rest of their lives.” Both also dismissed concerns about giving each other’s side a win during the hyper-partisan environment of an election year. “I can’t be concerned about that, because at the end of the day, if we’re going to make progress for the American family, I’m not interested in this credit nonsense,” Moskowitz said. “If I’m out there criticizing Republicans who wanted to deny Joe Biden a win on something, I can’t then partake in that behavior myself, right?” Luna said, “Ultimately, we as a country will take a win.” “I know that we’re in an election year, and I will say that I wish, and I hope that [Democrats] will look at this legislation not like it’s being drawn from, and passed by, the Republican body, but that, you know, it’s something that would be a net positive,” she said. At of the end of 2023, roughly 43 million Americans shared the burden of some $1.6 trillion student loan debt in the country, according to federal data. Nearly 95% of that debt is in federal loans, according to the Education Data Initiative, which also cited the average federal student loan interest rate as 5.99%.

Pennsylvanians offer mixed answers on where Harris stands on key issues: ‘Better than the alternative’

Pennsylvanians offer mixed answers on where Harris stands on key issues: ‘Better than the alternative’

With Vice President Harris hunkering down in swing-state Pennsylvania in the lead-up to her debate with former President Donald Trump this week, Fox News Digital decided to ask people in Pittsburgh where they think she stands on key issues. Lately, Harris has taken heat for appearing to waffle on issues like taxation – particularly on gratuities, after Trump made a similar campaign pledge to end the policy – as well as claiming she will secure the southern border. And last week, Harris’ campaign confirmed to Fox News that her position had changed on several immigration-related policies, including decriminalizing illegal border crossings and closing detention centers. Richard Walker of Pittsburgh said he believes Harris stands in favor of allowing fracking in places like Pennsylvania – as other states like New York currently have blanket moratoriums. ‘TOTAL BULLS—’: TRUMP CAMPAIGN RIPS ‘PREPOSTEROUS’ HARRIS PRO-BORDER WALL NARRATIVE AFTER MEDIA REPORT As for her stance on the nationalization of health care, Walker said he hasn’t heard what her position is, but remarked it should be more affordable than at present.  When asked whether she would be the best candidate to bring down the inflated prices of groceries and other commodities, Walker suggested she would be, but added he saw prices rise before she and President Joe Biden took office. Walker indicated the same about the border crisis, in that he believes Harris is trying to secure the border, but that it has long been a problem. He told Fox News Digital he is not sure whether Harris can win his home state, calling it a “toss-up” – but suggested she has a good shot at winning next week’s debate. “I hope so,” he said. On Penn Avenue, sporting a classic green and white Randall Cunningham jersey, Tyrone Murray joked that he might not seem like the typical Pittsburgher, given such attire. But, he said he is from the Steel City and believes Harris will win statewide in November. “I think the women are going to take over,” he said. “I think that’s the difference in her winning – women [votes] period.” He appeared to agree with Walker that the border has long been a crisis, and that Harris is putting forth an effort. HARRIS SHIFTS KEY POSITIONS ON BORDER, ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, AS CAMPAIGN PROMISES PRAGMATIC APPROACH As for the cost of consumer goods and whether Harris will help bring them down, he remarked, “They can’t go any higher.” “Everything’s been going up since the virus hit. You know, it didn’t make any difference who was president.” He went on to urge Harris to endorse an expansion of fracking, noting the economic and regional importance of American natural gas. Waiting for his bus downtown, Ron – who declined to give his last name – said he believes Harris does support a secure southern border. In terms of fracking, Ron said he believes Harris is more in favor of fracking than not, but supports restrictions and regulations on it. In terms of the debate, he said Harris has trouble with public speaking, but offered her a good shot at winning the debate and the election: “I think she’s better than the alternative,” he said. Meanwhile, fellow Pittsburgher Vijay Kumar said he believes she leans more toward renewables than fracking or drilling for fossil fuels. Kumar said that while there is “always room for improvement” in securing the border, he believes Harris has tried to “ask people to follow the rules” when it comes to immigrating to the U.S. “I think she is doing a good job. If the question is like, is there something else that could be done? Definitely, yes.” Off William Penn Place near the Drury Plaza Hotel, Anita told Fox News Digital she believes Harris supports a secure border, and proffered that she will win both the debate and Penn’s commonwealth in November. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “I think she’s going to do great [at the debate],” added Nancy, who was walking with her friend, Lavonte, nearby. When asked what he thought Harris’ position is on the border, Lavonte instead blamed Congress for torpedoing a recent compromise border bill between Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz. “They use it as a political football,” he said. “Congress needs to get their behinds together and pass a bill that’ll take care of that… You see what Trump did.” Trump has been blamed for lobbying against the legislation.  Local resident Charlie Cane remarked that he believes Harris will win the debate next week, calling it the match-up of a “prosecutor versus a criminal.” He added he believes she is the right candidate to bring down inflation in food and housing prices, while saying she “could do better” on border security. Fox News’ Bill Melugin and Adam Shaw contributed to this report.