Amid Harris’ youth polling surge, latest figures show Biden did better with Black voters
A comparison of polls taken before and after President Biden’s decision to end his re-election bid depicted the fledgling Vice President Kamala Harris campaign gaining momentum with one notable exception. Harris, who could be the first Black female president and first president of South Asian descent, lost ground to Biden among Black voters, according to a recent analysis. Delving into the crosstabs, or categorized responses, in New York Times/Siena polling from July 2 and July 24, Biden performed five points better than former President Trump with Black voters. In the July 2 survey, Biden enjoyed 56% support among Black voters to Trump’s 13% — or a gap of 43 points. 9/11 TERRORIST FEARS TRUMP WILL BE ELECTED AND EXECUTE HIM, AS HE ASKS FOR FRENCH TRANSFER However, in the latest poll wherein Harris replaced Biden as the Democratic name, the vice president garnered support from 65% of Black respondents compared to Trump’s 17%. That calculates to a 48-point spread and a difference of five. The disparity was first highlighted in a larger comparison of the two overall polls by Harvard Institute of Politics polling director John Della Volpe. In a chart titled, “Harris Sees Dramatic Improvement Among Young Voters, Hispanics, Independents,” the MSNBC contributor depicted how Harris enjoyed a 29-point swing in her favor over Biden with voters aged 18-29. Hispanic voters polled by the Times swung Harris’ way 33 points, and overall registered voters moved seven points her way – offering a 49-49 tie with Trump. LAWMAKERS ON TRUMP ASSASSINATION TASK FORCE SHARE RARE BIPARTISAN COMMITMENT However, Washington Free Beacon editor Peter Hasson posted Della Volpe’s chart and flagged the fact it also showed Harris losing five points among Black voters to Trump, whom Democrats often brand as racist or discriminatory against minorities. During an address in Philadelphia earlier this month, Harris claimed Trump “stokes hate” and “incites fear.” Trump, however, has often highlighted relevant parts of his presidential record, such as working with Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., to establish “opportunity zones” in minority communities. For his part, Trump has made overtures to the Black community during his current campaign, including announcing a planned trip to Chicago this week to join a question-and-answer session with the National Association of Black Journalists. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP He also will hold a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – the majority-Black capital of the Keystone State. It will be his first event in the commonwealth since he was nearly assassinated about three hours westward in Butler on July 13. Following a 2016 rally near Lansing, Michigan, Trump was lambasted from his left for ruminating aloud to Black voters with Democratic proclivities in underserved communities, “What the hell do you have to lose?” His opponent at the time, Hillary Clinton, called the remark, “so ignorant, it’s staggering.” Biden notably told a New York radio show popular within the Black community in 2020 that “if you have a problem figuring out whether you are for me or Trump, then you ain’t Black.”
Texas border floating barrier in Rio Grande can stay for now, court rules
A federal appeals court has ruled that a floating barrier in the Rio Grande meant to curb the flow of illegal migrants from Mexico into Texas can remain in place for now. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a previous decision by a panel of the court who said the buoys must be moved in December, saying the court had abused its discretion in granting a preliminary injunction. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott responded to the ruling on social media, calling the court’s decision “justice.” “Biden tried to remove them. I fought to keep them in the water,” the Republican wrote. “That is exactly where they will stay.” BIDEN BORDER PLAN OFFERS NEITHER ‘INVESTMENT’ NOR ‘SOLUTIONS’: IMMIGRATION WATCHDOG The buoy barrier was installed near the border town of Eagle Pass, Texas, with anchors in the riverbed. The buoys brought legal challenges from the Biden administration, which accused Texas of putting a barrier on the international boundary without permission in violation of the Rivers and Harbors Act. The Biden administration also said the water barrier raised humanitarian and environmental concerns. GOV. GREG ABBOTT SAYS BIDEN EXECUTIVE ORDER MAKING ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSINGS ‘WORSE’: ‘GASLIGHTING’ AMERICANS The Biden administration also is fighting for the right to cut razor-wire fencing at the border and for access to a city park at the border that the state fenced off. The broader lawsuit in district court is set for a trial beginning on Aug. 6. Fox News’ Michael Dorgan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Harris will rally with high-stakes running mate pick in Philadelphia next week
Presumptive Democratic nominee for president Vice President Kamala Harris will be rallying in Philadelphia next week with her highly anticipated running mate pick. Harris is expected to announce her running mate by Monday. On Tuesday, Aug. 6, Harris will hold her first rally with her VP pick in Philadelphia during the campaign’s four-day, battleground state tour. Harris and her vice presidential nominee will hit Michigan and Arizona, too. The campaign’s decision to rally in Pennsylvania on the first day suggests Harris’ running mate may be Gov. Josh Shapiro, who has been floated at the top of the list of possible running mates in recent weeks. KAMALA HARRIS’ TREATMENT OF STAFF UNDER SCRUTINY AS REPORTS OF POOR OFFICE CULTURE RESURFACE Elected as Pennsylvania attorney general in 2016 and re-elected in 2020, Shapiro gained national recognition for his investigations into sexual abuse allegations within the Catholic Church and his legal challenges against several Trump-era policies, including the Muslim travel ban, the rollback of ACA contraceptive coverage and environmental deregulation. HARRIS’ SHIFT FROM TOUGH-ON-CRIME PROSECUTOR TO SOCIAL JUSTICE ADVOCATE FACES SCRUTINY FROM CONSERVATIVE GROUP The vice presidential short list also includes Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. ABORTION, ‘FREE’ EDUCATION AMONG TOP ISSUES FOR HARRIS VOTERS Following President Biden’s early July suspension of his re-election bid and his endorsement of Vice President Harris, all eyes are now on her imminent choice for the crucial vice presidential role. Harris and her vice presidential pick will also visit Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia and Nevada to court voters in these crucial battleground states. As of now, the Harris campaign has still “made no decision on a running mate,” according to a campaign statement Tuesday night, Reuters reported.
Key Biden agency slapped with another subpoena related to voter registration push in crucial swing state
FIRST ON FOX: The Republican-led House Small Business Committee has issued a subpoena for President Biden’s Small Business Administration (SBA) after the committee says the agency failed to turn over information related to efforts to funnel resources to help register key swing state voters. “The House Committee on Small Business (Committee) is investigating the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) implementation of Executive Order (EO) 14019 and its related Memorandum of Understanding and Memorandum of Agreement (collectively, the MOU) with the Michigan Department of State (MDOS), which designated the SBA as a Voter Registration Agency in the State of Michigan under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA),” the Small Business Committee wrote to the Small Business Administration on Tuesday. “The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate legislative solutions to the SBA’s use of federal funds to conduct voter registration activities. Unfortunately, the SBA has produced only a small portion of the documents and communications that the Committee has requested and has done so slowly and after multiple attempts by the Committee to obtain any relevant information,” the letter continued. The committee has been investigating Biden’s SBA for months after it announced an MOU in March with the Michigan Department of State to “promote civic engagement and voter registration in Michigan” that it called the “first-of-its-kind collaboration” that immediately raised questions from the committee. HOUSE COMMITTEE DEMANDS BIDEN AGENCY STAFF REVEAL TRAVEL HISTORY AMID ELECTIONEERING CLAIMS “Indeed, in response to the Committee request for all documents and communications related to the MOU, the SBA has only provided 359 pages of largely duplicative documents in the four months since this investigation began,” the letter added. “The SBA’s continual obstruction has hindered the Committee’s ability to consider legislative reforms needed to ensure the integrity of the 2024 elections and equal access to the ballot box for all Americans.” The MOU, which has been uploaded to the Congressional Repository, outlines the coordination between Michigan and the Biden administration where the state will “provide the Agency access to training resources related to the online Michigan Voter Information Center (MVIC)” and “The Agency shall provide voter registration training to all personnel conducting activities under this MOA. “This training shall include information on who is eligible to register to vote, the interactions during which Agency staff must make voter registration services available, instructions to Agency staff on how to refer individuals to register to vote online using MVIC, and an overview of additional information that is available to voters in MVIC,” the MOU continued. The MOU also discusses how the Michigan Department of State would “create a unique URL for the SBA to use to drive online visitors to register to vote,” and that the SBA’s Michigan field office would allow state government officials to facilitate in-person voter registration at the federal agency’s business outreach events. HOUSE GOP CHAIRMAN ACCUSES KEY GOVERNMENT AGENCY OF ACTING AS BIDEN ‘CAMPAIGN ARM’ The committee released the documentation earlier this year in the interest of “transparency” and after seeing the MOU, the committee’s previous concerns that the program is “unconstitutional” and an improper use of taxpayer funds were not assuaged. Earlier this year, the committee expressed concerns that the agreement between the Biden administration meant that the SBA was serving as a “campaign arm” for Biden’s re-election efforts, which now have been effectively passed to Vice President Kamala Harris since Biden dropped out of the race, and she became the presumptive nominee. The committee announced earlier this year that its investigation found that 22 out of 25 SBA outreach events from January to April had taken place in counties with the highest population of Democratic National Committee (DNC) target demographics. Meanwhile, 11 of 15 Michigan counties that showed the largest voter registration increases over the last year have ranked highest in population of young voters and Black voters, according to the committee — two of the left’s most-sought voting blocs. “It is unfortunate that the Committee has been forced to issue yet another subpoena to the SBA,” Committee Chairman Roger Williams told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Sadly, the SBA has repeatedly stonewalled the investigation into their electioneering efforts in Michigan. As I have said before, we want to work with, not against, the SBA to help Main Street, but their unwillingness to cooperate has made it difficult to do so. With less than 100 days till the election, this investigation has never been more important. This Committee will use every tool available to put an end to this abuse of taxpayer resources.” In May, the committee issued its first ever subpoena under the leadership of Williams to SBA Chief of Staff Arthur Plews and his special adviser, Tyler Robinson, after they were said to have been no-shows at scheduled transcribed interviews with the committee and failed to turn over documents related to the program. During the course of its investigation, the committee has asked for “every email and official correspondence between the SBA and businesses related to this MOU; and every email and official correspondence between the SBA and other government agencies related to this MOU” along with “seeking the calendars and travel itineraries for 11 identified SBA employees and any trip summaries, transcripts, or any related documents memorializing reimbursements for the travel and trips.” GOP COMMITTEE DEMANDS ANSWERS ON BIDEN TAXPAYER PUSH TO REGISTER VOTERS IN KEY SWING STATE: ‘INCONCEIVABLE” “On June 14, 2024, the SBA provided 49 different media advisories announcing events from March 2023 through May 2024 but no substantive communications,” the committee said. “Notably, the SBA did not provide calendars or itineraries for any of its employees, nor did it provide any summaries or transcripts of events. Worse yet, as the Committee informed the SBA at the time, the production was not responsive to any of the Committee’s requests.” “After giving the SBA time to comply with these requests and making numerous accommodations as to the prioritization and scope of the requests, the Committee and Ranking Member Ernst sent a follow-up letter to the SBA
Flashback: Harris proposed middle class tax increase for ‘Sanders-lite’ health care plan
During Vice President Kamala Harris’ run for president in the 2020 election cycle, the then-California senator proposed a new health care plan that had potentially high costs for the American middle class. An archived version of Harris’ campaign website reviewed by Fox News Digital details her “Medicare For All Plan,” which Harris, who personally authored the proposal, promised would provide “comprehensive health insurance that covers every American.” Harris cited fellow presidential primary rival Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Medicare For All plan as the model for how to pay for her plan, with the then-California senator specifically pointing to an “income based premium paid by employers, higher taxes on the top 1%, taxing capital gains at the same rate as ordinary income, among others.” Harris also provided a link to the Sanders plan, which included a 7.5% payroll tax increase for employers and a 4% increase in income taxes on households making over $29,000. HARRIS MOCKED FOR ‘FAKE’ SOUTHERN ACCENT DURING GEORGIA RALLY While Harris praised the Sanders plan for having “good options,” she accused the Vermont senator of going too far with the 4% tax increase, instead proposing that the new tax only apply to households making over $100,000. “I would tax Wall Street stock trades at 0.2%, bond trades at 0.1%, and derivative transactions at 0.002%. Think of it like this: that’s a $2 fee on a $1,000 trade by investors and big banks,” Harris continued. “I would also end foreign tax shelters by taxing offshore corporate income at the same rate as domestic corporate income. Together, these proposals would raise well over $2 trillion over ten years, more than enough to make up the difference from raising the middle class income threshold.” However, the proposed 7.5% bump to employer payroll taxes and 4% tax hike on households over $100,000 was panned by critics, including those who ended up joining Harris in a future President Biden administration. Then-Biden Deputy Campaign Manager Kate Bedingfield, who would go on to serve as the White House communications director from 2021-2023, called the plan a “Bernie Sanders-lite Medicare for All and a refusal to be straight with the American middle class, who would have a large tax increase forced on them with this plan.” JD VANCE ADDRESSES PAST CRITICISM OF TRUMP AFTER HE’S CHOSEN AS VP: ‘BOUGHT INTO MEDIA’S LIES AND DISTORTIONS’ Despite Harris’ pledge to target employers and high-income households with the burden, some experts argue the cost would mostly be borne by middle-class workers. Thomas Savidge, a research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, told Fox News Digital that any payroll tax increase to employers is likely to be passed on to employees in the form of lower wages. “The cost of payroll tax increases are ultimately borne by employees,” Savidge said. “Increases in payroll taxes on employers take money away that could have been used to increase employee pay, offer better benefits, or hire additional staff.” Savidge noted that the 4% increase in income taxes would cover a large percentage of the American middle class and would be especially harmful in the current economic environment, where concerns over inflation already have many tightening their belts and spending less. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, over 37% of U.S. households make over $100,000 and could be impacted by the tax, representing a large chunk of middle-class workers. THE ‘WEIRD’ CAMPAIGN: THE STUNNING DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HARRIS AND VANCE COVERAGE Savidge also argued that the Harris proposal represents the most “extreme” way to tackle American concerns over the cost of health care, noting that such a plan would distort the market while having significant impacts on wait times and quality of care. “This is an extreme way to go about it,” Savidge said. “It’s going to end up making the problems that we have much worse.” Harris’ current campaign website does not yet include her platform, and the new Democratic nominee also has yet to unveil a new health care plan. The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital inquiry on whether Harris stood by the plan or if she would support one similar to it in this campaign. However, the Harris proposal was slammed by the office of Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who the Trump campaign has touted as its “policy attack dog on Kamala Harris.” “After four years of sky-high inflation rushing household budgets, the last thing the American people need is another tax hike from Kamala Harris, Vance spokesman William Martin told Fox News Digital. “Her middle class tax increase would hit millions of households, and has drawn comparisons to Bernie Sanders from this in her own party. There is no place for her weak, failed and dangerously liberal agenda in the White House.”
2024 Showdown: Trump campaign rejoices after Harris leans in on key issue haunting her vice presidency
ATLANTA – Standing in front of a crowd of over 10,000 people in battleground Georgia’s capital and largest city, Vice President Kamala Harris went on offense over an issue that she and President Biden have been playing plenty of defense over the past couple of years. Harris, near the top of her 18-minute speech, took aim at former President Trump over the issue of border security, which many Republicans see as the vice president’s political Achilles heel. “In this campaign I will proudly put my record against his,” Harris said, before highlighting her border security efforts as California attorney general. Harris argued that Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, “has been talking a big game about securing our border, but he does not walk the walk.” 1 OF THESE 5 DEMOCRATS COULD BE HARRIS’ RUNNING MATE She pointed to a border security bill with some bipartisan support that was making its way through Congress earlier this year before Republicans turned against the measure after prompting from Trump. “It was all set to pass, but at the last minute Trump directed his allies in the Senate to vote it down,” Harris said. 2024 AD WARS: TRUMP, HARRIS RACE TO DEFINE VICE PRESIDENT She charged that the former president “tanked the bipartisan deal because he thought it would help him win an election” and pledged that “as the president I will bring back the border security bill that Donald Trump killed.” Trump, his campaign and allied groups have repeatedly criticized Harris over the past week and a half – since she replaced Biden at the top of the Democrats’ national ticket – over the surge of migrants across the nation’s southern border during the Biden administration. Harris was tasked by Biden in 2021 with leading the diplomatic outreach to tackle the “root causes” of migration in Central American countries. It led to her being dubbed the “border czar” both by the media and Republican opponents, although the White House has rejected that description. The Harris campaign says they are not scared to pick a fight over immigration and border security. However, Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that they “relish the opportunity” to “go head-to-head” with Harris over the issue. HOW LONG WILL THE HARRIS ‘HONEYMOON’ IN THE POLLS LAST? The Trump campaign quickly took to social media to respond to the comments by the vice president at her rally. “Kamala is actually *BRAGGING* about her record on immigration. HERE ARE THE FACTS: As Border Czar, Kamala ferried 15+ million illegals directly into our communities. She thinks illegal immigration “is NOT a crime.” She wants to abolish ICE. She thinks you’re stupid,” the Trump campaign claimed. Hours earlier, the Trump campaign – in its first major ad blitz of the general election – charged that Harris had “failed us” in securing the border. Responding to the ad, Harris campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa reiterated the theme that Trump had a heavy hand in “killing the toughest border deal in decades.” “As a former district attorney, attorney general, and now vice president, Kamala Harris has spent her career taking on and prosecuting violent criminals and making our communities safer. She’ll do the same as president,” Moussa emphasized. As the vice president was arriving at the Georgia State Convocation Center in downtown Atlanta – the same venue where Trump and his running mate Sen. JD Vance will hold a rally on Saturday – the Harris campaign put up a new video that spotlights border security. The video argued that Harris “helped lead the way to record low border crossings and has spent her entire career keeping our communities safe” and charged that Trump “sided with drug traffickers and the cartels to block the strongest, fairest reforms to secure the border in decades.” HOW LONG WILL THE HARRIS ‘HONEYMOON’ IN THE POLLS LAST? The Trump campaign instantly pilloried the video. “Every statement in Kamala’s border ad is an absolute lie. The truth is that President Trump handed the most secure border in history to the Biden-Harris Administration, and they opened it up by erasing every one of his good policies,” the Trump campaign charged. “As Border Czar, Kamala Harris has overseen the worst immigration crisis in American history, enabling drug cartels to smuggle deadly fentanyl across our border and allowing more than 11 million illegal criminals and terrorists from all over the world to enter our country. “ Vance – at two stops in Nevada on Tuesday – turned up the volume on his attacks on Harris over border security. In Reno, he pledged that “in six months, we’re going to re-elect Donald J. Trump, president of the United States. And when we do, we’re going to launch the largest deportation program in American history. If you came here illegally, you got to go back.” On Thursday, Vance will hold a campaign event in Arizona along the U.S.-Mexico border. The Democratic National Committee, in response to Vance’s comments, fired off an email titled “JD Vance Doesn’t Care About Border Security – He Followed Trump’s Orders to “Kill” Bipartisan Border Deal.” Picking a fight on border security may not seem to some like a smart strategy for the vice president’s team. However, a Harris campaign official told Fox News that they are not scared to go on offense on immigration and on the border and charged that Trump does not have any credibility on the issue. The Trump campaign is happy to have the fight. “We relish the opportunity for President Trump, who created the most secure border in history, to go head-to-head with failed Border Czar Kamala Harris, who has overseen the worst border crisis in history,” Leavitt argued. “On the issue of immigration in every single poll, President Trump dominates Harris because Americans know the truth about their records.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Harris mocked for ‘fake’ southern accent during Georgia rally
Vice President Kamala Harris caused a wave of criticism on social media after appearing to suddenly use a southern accent during a speech in Atlanta. “You all helped us win in 2020 and we gonna do it again in 2024,” Harris, who is from California, told Atlanta rally goers while seemingly debuting the new accent. The accent immediately caught the attention of critics on social media, who accused the presumptive Democratic nominee of pandering to her audience. “Kamala Harris went to speak in Atlanta and now has a southern accent,” OutKick founder Clay Travis said on X, including a clip of the moment. “Why do people do this? It’s just so transparently fake. JD VANCE ADDRESSES PAST CRITICISM OF TRUMP AFTER HE’S CHOSEN AS VP: ‘BOUGHT INTO MEDIA’S LIES AND DISTORTIONS’ “Do people do this with any other regional accents?” Travis questioned in a subsequent post. “I don’t think so. No one goes to Massachusetts and suddenly talks like a Kennedy. It’s only the South.” Travis’ post garnered several replies from critics of the vice president’s accent. “It’s what sociopaths do,” one reply said. “It’s called mirroring and it is a strong narcissistic tendency,” another user said. THE ‘WEIRD’ CAMPAIGN: THE STUNNING DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HARRIS AND VANCE COVERAGE The moment also caught the attention of conservative columnist Ian Haworth. “Kamala Harris’s fake southern accent puts Hillary Clinton to shame,” Haworth said on X, referencing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s widely mocked use of a southern accent at various stages of her career in politics. The viral moment comes as Harris continues to try her footing on the trail after being elevated to the top of the Democratic ticket last week, with Georgia being one of the key swing states likely to decide November’s election. Former President Trump won the state by just over five percentage points in 2016, only to have President Biden narrowly flip it to his column by less than one percentage point in 2020. The state figures to be one of the closest races again in 2024, with the Real Clear Politics polling average showing Trump with a narrow 3.6 point lead over Harris on Wednesday. The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
Weather Update: Delhi-NCR receives heavy rainfall amid humidity, check IMD forecast for other states here
The state will see widespread light to moderate rainfall over other areas over the course of the next five days. Public warnings have been released by the Dakshina Kannada district administration asking residents to stay away from water and low-lying areas.
Vance brushes off Dem attacks, discusses what issues he wants to tackle as VP
Vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance says he was prepared for the deluge of negative media coverage that came after former President Trump tapped him to be his running mate. In an interview with NBC News, Vance said he does not believe Trump is disappointed about picking him. “No,” Vance said. “I mean, I knew that when I came out of the gate there was going to be a couple of days of positive media coverage and then immediately they would go and attack me over everything that I had ever said in my life.” “The price of entry of being on the national ticket and giving me an opportunity to govern is you have to … take the shots, and so I sort of expected it,” he added. “I think that, frankly, the people who’ve made a lot of money and acquired a lot of power screwing the country up are not going to go easily.” JD VANCE ADDRESSES PAST CRITICISM OF TRUMP AFTER HE’S CHOSEN AS VP: ‘BOUGHT INTO MEDIA’S LIES AND DISTORTIONS’ Vance went on to say he would want to target border policy once in office, essentially undoing the work of Vice President Kamala Harris. President Biden tapped Harris to address the flow of illegal immigration in 2021. THE ‘WEIRD’ CAMPAIGN: THE STUNNING DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HARRIS AND VANCE COVERAGE “It all starts with strength — strong borders, strong families, a strong economy and a strong president,” Vance said in a recent rally speech. “Of all of Kamala Harris’ faults, the worst of all is that she left America weak and vulnerable. The entire world now knows that she helped cover up Joe Biden’s declining mental capacity for years.” “Our adversaries,” Vance added, “are licking their chops and the world is in disarray because of weak American leadership.” Vance also defended comments that Democrats have used to attack him. A highlight was an old interview in which he criticized Harris and various Democratic women as “childless cat ladies.” He clarified the comment to NBC but did not back down or apologize. KAMALA RIDES TSUNAMI OF POSITIVE PRESS, BUT SKEPTICS SEE A RISKY CHOICE “What I was criticizing and continue to criticize is a particular neurosis in American leadership that I think leads people to say crazy things, like you shouldn’t have children because climate change is a threat to the future,” he told the outlet. “Climate change may very well be a problem, but it is not a problem that should motivate people to not have families. And I think that attitude is quite damaging. It’s quite destructive.” “I’ll keep on calling it out, even though I’m sure that Democrats will misrepresent what I say,” he added. “I just think that the substance of what I said is actually quite defensible.” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., jumped to Vance’s defense on the issue in recent campaign appearances. She and top Trump adviser Jason Miller have been traveling with Vance as he makes his way to rallies across the country. “I’m here today because of the nasty attacks on JD Vance claiming that he’s anti-woman,” Luna said at a rally in Nevada. “Can you believe that? This is, mind you, by the same party that can’t define what a woman is.”
Hispanic House Republicans compare Biden to Venezuelan leader Maduro over ‘outrageous’ SCOTUS plan
A trio of Cuban American House Republicans is comparing President Biden to some of Latin America’s most notorious autocrats over his proposal to transform the Supreme Court. Florida GOP Reps. Maria Salazar, Mario Diaz-Balart and Carlos Gimenez recorded a video earlier this week arguing that Biden’s plan falls in line with methods used by former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and current President Nicolás Maduro, whose recent re-election was widely denounced by the international community as illegitimate. Salazar said Biden’s plan “is outrageous” and “goes against the system, the American exceptionality, that we all enjoy.” BIDEN, HARRIS CALL FOR SUPREME COURT TERM LIMITS, CODE OF CONDUCT, LIMITS ON PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY “I mean, look, we’ve seen this happen in history time and time again. When somebody, for political reasons, tries to change the institutions – the Supreme Court, by the way, has been instrumental in maintaining the rule of law and democracy in this country,” Diaz-Balart said. “It is highly dangerous, unacceptable, and that is real threat to democracy and to all of the freedoms that we enjoy in the United States.” Gimenez chimed in, adding, “We had a great example of a threat to democracy yesterday, when the Maduro regime invalidated an election and tried, or is trying to, stay in power.” “What’s the first thing that Hugo Chávez did when he became president 24 years ago? He actually reformed the Supreme Court of Venezuela, so he made things legal for himself,” Gimenez continued. “Touching the judicial system is one way to maintain power, and so this is really, really dangerous for the national security, for our security, and the security of democracy here in the United States.” TRUMP IMMUNITY CASE: SUPREME COURT RULES EX-PRESIDENTS HAVE SUBSTANTIAL PROTECTION FROM PROSECUTION Salazar then jabbed Democrats’ warnings that former President Trump represents a threat to democracy, adding, “The president of the United States is saying that he wants to change the democracy. Not President Trump, but President Biden. So be very careful, because touching the Supreme Court is touching the core of the American system.” Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment. Biden detailed his plan for a binding code of ethics as well as a constitutional amendment limiting presidential immunity and mandated term limits for Supreme Court justices in an op-ed published in the Washington Post on Monday. The plan was near-universally heckled by Republicans, but Biden’s Democratic allies, who have been pushing for similar or more radical Supreme Court changes, praised the initiative. DEMOCRATS TO CONFIRM NOMINEES BY VIRTUAL ROLL CALL WEEKS BEFORE DNC IN CHICAGO TO AVOID LEGAL CHALLENGES “Clear ethics violations and increasing politicization have made clear that SCOTUS is broken – and that reform is urgently needed to restore Americans’ faith in the integrity of the Court,” Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., who has proposed legislation on the issue, wrote on X. However, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., signaled that any such changes would not be taken up by a GOP-controlled House. “This proposal is the logical conclusion to the Biden-Harris Administration and congressional Democrats’ ongoing efforts to delegitimize the Supreme Court. Their calls to expand and pack the Court will soon resume,” Johnson said Monday. “This dangerous gambit of the Biden-Harris Administration is dead on arrival in the House.”