Harris’ backing of bail fund during George Floyd protests dampens Trump ‘prosecutor’ campaign pitch
Vice President Kamala Harris is working overtime to prove she has what it takes to not only defeat former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election but also in the courtroom, even as a bail fund she once backed to help free violent criminals appears to still be taking in donations. Speaking at a campaign event on Monday, Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, reflected on the work she consumed herself with before serving in the U.S. Senate and as vice president, which included a seven-year stint as the district attorney for San Francisco. “I was the elected attorney general, as I’ve mentioned, of California. Before that, I was a courtroom prosecutor,” she said from Wilmington, Delaware. “In those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds — predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain.” “So hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump’s type,” she added. “In this campaign, I will proudly… put my record against his.” KAMALA HARRIS-BACKED ‘FREEDOM FUND’ THAT PUT MURDERERS, RAPISTS BACK ON STREETS STILL UP AND RUNNING Harris’ remarks, which she amplified on X, came one day after President Biden announced he would not seek re-election to the White House. Asked whether Harris planned to take on Trump in court using her prosecutorial experience, Harris campaign spokesperson James Singer told Fox News Digital, “No. The vice president was highlighting to the American people the truth: Donald Trump has been found guilty of 34 felonies, liable for sexual abuse, and a fraud judgment obligated him to pay a $175 million penalty.” “She has firsthand experience prosecuting people like Donald Trump: predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain,” Singer added. But Harris’ tough talk about serving as a prosecutor in California may crumble quickly due to her past support for the Minnesota Freedom Fund in June 2020 amid Black Lives Matter riots following the death of George Floyd. During her 2020 campaign for president, which lasted for less than 11 months, Harris supported the bail fund that helped violent criminals get out of prison. As of Monday night, the website was running and accepting payments. “If you’re able to, chip in now to the @MNFreedomFund to help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota,” Harris posted on X, then Twitter, back in 2020, urging people to donate to the fund during the 2020 campaign. Harris — a large opponent of the cash bail system during her previous presidential campaign — promoted the bail fund in June 2020 to help bail Black Lives Matter rioters out of jail, but only a fraction of the more than $41 million actually went to freeing rioters. Minneapolis station FOX 9 reported that the fund spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to free an alleged knife murderer and a convicted rapist who was facing charges of sexual assault and kidnapping, among others. Another criminal, George Howard, 48, also reaped the benefits of the funds. He allegedly became involved in a road rage altercation on an Interstate 94 entrance ramp before he shot another driver, according to Minneapolis police — weeks after bailing out on domestic assault charges. DEMS HYPE HARRIS AS TRUMP ‘PROSECUTOR’ IN ELECTION, BUT CRITICS SLAM HER LEGAL CAREER Surveillance video recorded the moments when the driver of a blue BMW confronted Howard, who was driving a white Volvo, according to St. Paul’s KSTP-TV. The victim can be seen punching Howard, then collapsing. The victim, later identified as Luis Damian Martinez Ortiz, 38, got back into his car, then drove into the median. He was pronounced dead at the hospital with a gunshot wound to the chest, according to city officials. Howard had been out on $11,500 bond in connection with a domestic assault case since Aug. 6, court records show. That’s when the Minnesota Freedom Fund bailed him out. The Minnesota Freedom Fund admitted to its role in putting Howard back on the streets. “We are aware of reports of the tragic and fatal shooting in Minneapolis earlier this week allegedly involving George Howard, an individual the Minnesota Freedom Fund had previously provided with bail support,” the group wrote on social media at the time. “MFF believes that every individual who has been arrested by the law enforcement is innocent until proven guilty, and if a judge deems them eligible for bail, they should not have to wait in jail simply because they don’t have the same income or access to resources as others.” Harris called for an end to the “unjust and broken” cash bail system during her 2020 campaign, claiming it “disproportionately harms people from low-income communities and communities of color.” Harris, however, had different feelings during her tenure as district attorney in 2004, when she appeared to suggest the need to raise cash bail prices because the county “require[d] people who have been arrested to pay a lot less than other counties,” according to a Washington Free Beacon report. “On a daily basis, the work I have to do and where I have to put my mind in terms of my priorities is on things like sitting down with Russ [Guintini] my chief assistant and talking with him about the fact we are going to change the bail schedule in San Francisco,” Harris said at the time, according to the outlet. “We are in the process of asking the bench, the judiciary, to reevaluate the fact that we require people who have been arrested to pay a lot less than other counties.” During her 2020 campaign, which she launched in January 2019, Harris faced significant criticism over her prosecution record. Opponents of tough-on-crime prosecution argue it disproportionately affects low-income families and minorities, further entrenching them in the prison system. One of the most criticized aspects of Harris’ record was her handling of truancy cases. Harris supported a truancy law, passed in 2011, allowing district attorneys to charge parents with a misdemeanor if their
Trump early strategy targets state that hasn’t gone red since Nixon
Former President Trump and Ohio Sen. JD Vance are planning a stop in Minnesota, a surprisingly close state that hasn’t gone to a Republican presidential candidate in 52 years. Trump and Vance plan to make the trip to St. Cloud, Minnesota, on Saturday, the campaign announced Tuesday, with a Real Clear Politics report noting that Trump pollster John McLaughlin believes the state is in play. McLaughlin believes Vance, who Trump announced as his running mate on the first day of the Republican National Convention last week, could help put Trump over the top in the state, with the Ohio native expected to have appeal to voters throughout the Midwest. Trump narrowly lost the state to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016, coming up about 1.5% short. The former president’s 2020 performance against President Biden wasn’t as encouraging, with Trump losing Minnesota by about 7% that year. HARRIS GOES OVER THE TOP IN SECURING THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION But polling shows signs that Minnesota, which hasn’t gone to a Republican presidential candidate since Richard Nixon in 1972, could be competitive once again in 2024. A June poll of likely voters in Minnesota conducted by the Star Tribune, MPR News and KARE 11, showed Trump trailing Biden by just 4% in the state, 45-41. The Real Clear Politics polling average in the state is even slightly closer, with Trump coming in only 3 points behind Biden. One poll cited in the average, a Hill/Emerson poll, shows Trump and Biden tied in the typically dependably blue state. The Trump campaign has become increasingly bullish that it can put more states in play in 2024, attempting to expand the map from the most heavily contested swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Minnesota and Virginia have been of particular interest to the campaign, which has insisted the two states could be winnable for the former president. Like Minnesota, Trump has trended favorably in Virginia in recent weeks. The former president now holds a narrow lead in the state, the Real Clear Politics polling average shows, with the two most recently cited polls showing Trump up two and three points, respectively. HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON HARRIS REPLACING BIDEN AS THE DEMOCRAT’S 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE Reached for comment by Fox News Digital, a Trump campaign spokesperson pointed to recent Emerson polling that shows Trump with a one-point lead in Minnesota. The spokesperson also noted that the campaign has opened eight new field offices in the state. Trump has also mentioned Minnesota as a potential state he could grab, touting Vance’s Midwestern roots as a reason the state could be in play in November. “J.D. has had a very successful business career in Technology and Finance, and now, during the Campaign, will be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond,” Trump said in a Truth Social post that announced Vance as his running mate. But Trump and Vance’s trip to Minnesota comes amid a rapidly shifting race, with Biden announcing Sunday that he was dropping out. Biden immediately endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place at the top of the ticket, spurring Democrats to rally around her. Less polling has been done on how Trump would fare against Harris in battleground states, though the former president will hope to get a head start on taking the state with his trip on Saturday. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Trump to meet with Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago on Friday
Former President Trump is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago on Friday. The planned meeting comes during Netanyahu’s visit to the United States. Netanyahu is set to first visit Washington D.C. where he will address Congress on Wednesday, and meet with President Biden on Thursday afternoon for a bilateral meeting. He is expected to join Biden to later meet with the families of Americans held hostage by Hamas. Netanyahu’s visit comes amid the war between Israel and Hamas after the terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023. “Looking forward to welcoming Bibi Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida,” Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, posted to his Truth Social. KAMALA HARRIS TO SKIP NETANYAHU’S ADDRESS TO CONGRESS, WHILE TOP DEM SENATOR BOYCOTTS ALTOGETHER “During my first term, we had Peace and Stability in the Region, even signing the historic Abraham Accords – And we will have it again,” Trump continued. “Just as I have said in discussions with President Zelensky and other World Leaders in recent weeks, my PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH Agenda will demonstrate to the World that these horrible, deadly Wars, and violent Conflicts must end.” Trump added: “Millions are dying, and Kamala Harris is in no way capable of stopping it.” Netanyahu had requested to meet with Trump. FLASHBACK: TRUMP SAYS BIDEN ‘BETRAYED ISRAEL AND THE JEWISH COMMUNITY,’ VOWED TO STRENGTHEN RELATIONS IF ELECTED IN 2024 In 2018, the Trump administration moved the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem – a relocation long debated in Washington – and one that showed the U.S. officially recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. During his administration, Trump also recognized Israeli sovereignty over Golan Heights; withdrew the U.S. from the U.N. Human Rights Council; and brokered the Abraham Accords. The Abraham Accords was a historic peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates that normalized relations and created bilateral agreements regarding “investment, tourism, direct flights, security, telecommunications, technology, energy, health care, culture, the environment, the establishment of reciprocal embassies, and other areas of mutual benefit.” Netanyahu will also address Congress on Wednesday, after being invited by the bipartisan leaders of both the House and the Senate back in May. But Vice President Kamala Harris has declined to preside over his address, because she will be in Indiana for an event that was previously scheduled, according to an aide. Harris, who on Monday became the presumptive Democratic nominee for president following Biden’s campaign suspension, will not attend Netanyahu’s address. The vice president serves as the president of the Senate.
Bob Menendez resigns from Senate amid Democrat pressure after guilty verdict
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., resigned from the Senate after significant pressure from Democrats to do so following a guilty verdict in his federal corruption case. The New Jersey Democrat was found guilty on all 16 counts, which included charges of extortion, bribery, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, wire fraud, and acting as a foreign agent. The trial lasted nine weeks and the jury deliberated for three days before reaching a verdict. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., immediately called for Menendez’s resignation, despite initially holding off from doing so after the charges were announced. “In light of this guilty verdict, Senator Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country, and resign,” he said in a statement. JD VANCE BY THE NUMBERS: FIRST SPEECH SIGNALS HEAVY CAMPAIGN PRESENCE IN BATTLEGROUND RUST BELT Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., echoed Schumer’s call in his own statement, along with nearly every other Senate Democrat. Menendez has expressed his intention to appeal the conviction. CHUCK SCHUMER PUSHED TO DELAY DNC AS CONCERNS PERSIST OVER BIDEN’S CANDIDACY The New Jersey senator has served in the chamber since 2006 and was re-elected twice. Before being a senator, Menendez served for several terms in the House of Representatives. In 2015, Menendez was indicted on charges of conspiracy, bribery, and honest services fraud in relation to gifts from a wealthy ophthalmologist who the government alleged he was doing political favors for in return. However, a mistrial was declared in 2017 when jurors could not agree on a verdict. By 2018, prosecutors said they would not seek to retry the senator. ADAM SCHIFF CALLS ON BIDEN TO EXIT PRESIDENTIAL RACE AS DEM CONFIDENCE DWINDLES If Menendez did not take the recent advice of Democrats to resign following the verdict, some had threatened the route of expulsion from the Senate. But that would require a two-thirds majority vote in the chamber, which can be difficult to achieve among lawmakers. COULD BOB MENENDEZ RUN FOR RE-ELECTION AFTER BEING FOUND GUILTY OF CORRUPTION? Expulsion is also a rarely used mechanism and no lawmaker has been cast out of the chamber since the 1800s. There was an effort to expel former Sen. Bob Packwood, R-Ore., in 1995, but he ultimately resigned to avoid that fate. Only 15 senators have ever been expelled. Fourteen of those expulsions were due to support for the Confederacy during the Civil War. In other cases, efforts to expel senators, in many instances for corruption, have ended due to the lawmaker leaving office. On some occasions, expulsion proceedings were also dropped.
Former Trump rival Nikki Haley demands ‘Haley Voters for Harris’ to ‘cease and desist’
EXCLUSIVE – Former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is demanding that a group claiming to represent former Haley voters who support the presidential campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris stop using her name. “Kamala Harris and I are total opposites on every issue. Any attempt to use my name to support her or her agenda is deceptive and wrong,” Haley said in a statement shared first with Fox News on Tuesday. “I support Donald Trump because he understands we need to make America strong, safe, and prosperous.” Haley’s comments were directed toward a political action committee (PAC) that was previously known as “Haley Voters for Biden.” The group started featuring Harris’ name on Sunday, after President Biden ended his re-election bid and endorsed his vice president to succeed him as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee. WHAT’S NEXT FOR HARRIS NOW THAT SHE’S SEEMINGLY LOCKED UP THE DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION Haley launched her own White House bid in February of last year, becoming the first major Republican candidate to challenge former President Trump for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. And she was the last rival to Trump left standing before she dropped out of the race in early March. Even after ending her campaign, Haley continued to grab up to 20% of the vote in some of the ensuing Republican presidential primaries. ONE TIME TRUMP RIVAL HALEY IN GOP CONVENTION SPOTLIGHT Haley was a very vocal critic of the former president during their heated primary race. But in late May, in her first public comments since announcing the end of her 2024 campaign, Haley said she would vote for Trump. And in a speech last week at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she formally endorsed Trump. The group, which says it’s a coalition of former Haley voters, pledged their support for Harris soon after Biden endorsed his vice president. “We support @JoeBiden‘s recommendation and will immediately change the name of our organization to Haley Voters for Harris. There is no time to lose,” the group wrote in a social media posting on Sunday afternoon. The group, which changed the name of its page on X and on its website, also spotlighted that it has no affiliation with Haley or her aligned political committees. “We also do not and never claimed to speak for Nikki Haley. We are reaching out to a subset of Haley voters who will vote their consciences,” the group wrote. “Haley said Trump had to earn our votes. He has done nothing to do so – constantly deriding her – and picked Vance as his running mate.” But a letter from a law firm representing Haley’s presidential campaign, shared with Fox News, demanded that the group “cease and desist from any unlawful use of Ambassador Haley’s name in your political action committee name, and from any use of her name, image or likeness that implies her support for the election of Kamala Harris as President of the United States.” “Any use by you of Ambassador Haley’s name, image, or likeness is without her permission. Ambassador Haley has been clear in her support of Harris’ opponent. Any intimation that Ambassador Haley supports Harris is intentionally false and misleading,” the letter continued. The letter warns that if the group fundraises under the name “Haley Voters for Harris” or a similar name, the Haley campaign will alert investigative authorities, including the Justice Department and the FBI. Less than 36 hours after Biden’s blockbuster news, Harris announced that she had locked up the nomination. “I am proud to have earned the support needed to become our party’s nominee,” the vice president wrote in a social media post just after midnight early Tuesday morning. Harris showcased that she’d won commitments of backing from a majority of the nearly 4,000 delegates to next month’s Democratic National Convention, which kicks off Aug. 19 in Chicago. As much of the Democratic Party – including governors, senators and House members as well as party leaders – quickly coalesced behind Harris following Biden’s blockbuster news, state delegations to the convention started huddling the past two days and announced their support for the vice president. And an Associated Press survey of Democratic delegates indicated by late Monday that Harris had gone over the top. Last week, before Biden ended his bid, Haley reiterated her criticism of Harris when it comes to the crisis at the nation’s southern border. In her address at the GOP convention, Haley emphasized that the vice president “had one job… and that was to fix the border. Now imagine her in charge of the entire country.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Vulnerable Dem senator credited with recruiting Harris to Senate still hasn’t endorsed her for president
Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, who is involved in one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country, is yet to endorse the presidential campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris despite recruiting her to the Senate and referring to her as a “friend.” Several high profile Democrats have endorsed Harris for president after President Biden stepped down but when contacted by Fox News Digital this week about his endorsement, Tester’s office pointed to a Sunday press release from Tester thanking Biden for his public service and his support of an open nomination process. Tester’s office did not respond when asked if he would wait until the Democratic National Convention in August to endorse Harris given that talks of an open primary seem to have subsided and Harris has locked up the delegates necessary for the nomination. Tester’s relationship with Harris goes back many years and the Montana senator was reportedly directly involved in recruiting Harris to the Senate in 2015 when he was chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). MSNBC, CNN LEFT ‘BLOWN AWAY,’ WITH ‘CHILLS’ AFTER HARRIS’ FIRST CAMPAIGN SPEECH: ‘JUMPING OUT OF MY SEAT’ “It gets me in on leadership meetings and allows me to influence where the party is going, what the party’s going to do … to focus on things that are important,” Tester said about his role at DSCC in 2014. In 2020, Tester called Harris a “friend” while touting her nomination as vice president in a social media post. NEW YORK TIMES COLUMNISTS SAY OTHER DEMOCRATS MORE ‘ELECTABLE’, ‘EXCITING’ THAN KAMALA HARRIS “It’s surprising that Jon Tester is trying to distance himself from Kamala Harris after he recruited her to run for Senate, strongly endorsed her for Vice President, and voted with her 100% of the time on her tie-breaking Senate votes,” NRSC Spokeswoman Maggie Abboud told Fox News Digital in a statement. “It seems like Tester is trying to fool voters in an election year.” Tester is widely viewed as one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the Senate as he runs for reelection in a state that former President Trump won by 16 points in 2020. Tester, who has been attempting to frame his record as more moderate as he faces a tough reelection, called on Biden to step down last week after speaking with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Fox News Digital reported. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The Cook Political Report ranks Tester’s race as a “toss up.”
Biden’s visit to Austin is back on for Monday
The president will speak at the Lyndon Baines Johnson presidential library to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
GOP congressman calls on Harris to ‘immediately’ invoke 25th Amendment over Biden’s ‘declining health’
FIRST ON FOX – Republican Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles sent a letter to Vice President Kamala Harris urging her to invoke the 25th Amendment amid mounting concerns surrounding President Biden’s “declining health,” Fox News Digital exclusively learned. “Whether you were aware of Mr. Biden’s declining health throughout his tenure, the implications of allowing him to remain in his current capacity are extraordinary. Barring Mr. Biden’s own willingness to resign, we urge you to immediately invoke the 25th Amendment and force the issue,” the letter sent Tuesday to Harris reads. “We are in an unprecedented era in American history – at the behest of senior members of his own party, President Biden presumably approved the release of a statement this past Sunday removing himself from November’s presidential contest. The Democrat-led pressure campaign to remove President Biden as the party’s standard bearer, while highlighting the Left’s own dubious commitment to democracy, has left the United States with a powerless, lame duck Commander-in-Chief for the next six months,” Ogles continued in the letter. BIDEN ENDS BID FOR SECOND TERM IN WHITE HOUSE AS HE DROPS OUT OF HIS 2024 REMATCH WITH TRUMP The U.S. Constitution’s 25th Amendment states that “whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.” WHITE HOUSE, FAMILY OFFER CONFLICTING ACCOUNTS IF BIDEN’S HEALTH INFLUENCED DECISION TO DROP OUT The letter comes after Biden bowed out of the presidential race on Sunday afternoon, announcing the bombshell decision in a letter posted to X. Biden was self-isolating in Delaware due to a COVID-19 diagnosis when he ended his re-election campaign, and is expected to return to the White House on Tuesday. Ogles told Fox News Digital that Biden exited the race “because he isn’t up for the job of president, and everyone in America knows it.” GOP SENATOR DEMANDS CABINET INVOKE 25TH AMENDMENT AGAINST BIDEN AFTER SUSPENDING HIS RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN “I’ve said for over a year that Biden’s ever-declining health has rendered him incapable of leading the nation. With his recent reclusion following a supposed COVID diagnosis, it is now more apparent than ever that he must resign or be forced out. Since Biden has made it clear he will not resign, it is imperative that Vice President Harris move forward with invoking the provisions of the 25th Amendment to remove him forcibly. The safety and well-being of the American people and our nation depend upon it,” Ogles continued. For years, Biden’s health has been of concern to conservatives, including former White House doctor Ronny Jackson, before the concerns snowballed following Biden’s disastrous debate against former President Trump last month. The debate performance opened the floodgates to legacy media outlets and Democratic allies calling on Biden to drop out over concerns surrounding his mental fitness and age as he prepared for an election rematch against Trump. Ahead of Biden dropping out of the election, the president and his administration hit back that Biden’s mental fitness is sound and that he does not have dementia, Parkinson’s or other concerning diseases. Harris’ office told Fox News Digital Tuesday morning that she believes Biden is currently capable of serving as president. TRUMP SAYS BIDEN ‘IS NOT FIT TO SERVE’: ‘WHO IS GOING TO BE RUNNING THE COUNTRY FOR THE NEXT 5 MONTHS?’ Biden’s mental acuity first came under the national spotlight in 2024 when former Special Counsel Robert Hur in February published his report investigating the president’s handling of classified documents after his departure as vice president in the Obama administration. The report stated Hur would not recommend criminal charges against Biden for possessing classified materials, calling the president “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” ‘PROUD OF OUR PRESIDENT’: DEMS HEAP PRAISE ON BIDEN FOR DECISION TO END 2024 CAMPAIGN His mental fitness again came under scrutiny when the Wall Street Journal published a piece earlier this year based on dozens of interviews with lawmakers and administration officials who characterized Biden as losing his mental edge and showing his age in meetings. The White House slammed the article as a partisan hit piece. POTENTIAL HARRIS WHITE HOUSE MURKY AS VP ‘NEVER EXHIBITED A CORE SET OF BELIEFS’: DEM STRATEGIST The Republican lawmaker continued in the letter that “our nation still faces malign actors with global ambitions,” and despite divisions “tearing apart the Democrat Party,” it could benefit U.S. enemies “to act during an extended lame duck period.” “This Administration’s responsibility in augmenting each of these developments notwithstanding, maintaining Joe Biden as the nation’s President could further diminish our ability to respond to pacing threats. He is ill-equipped to handle the challenges of the modern Presidency, and if he is unable or unwilling to resign, we urge you to act now,” it concluded. Following Biden dropping out of the race, which the White House said was not related to his health, the president endorsed Harris as the Democratic Party’s nominee.
Jeffries, Schumer endorse Kamala Harris for president
The top two Democrats in Congress have announced they are getting behind former Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed President Biden in the November election. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., held a press conference at Senate Democrats’ campaign headquarters on Tuesday amid mounting speculation over whether they would endorse Harris. “Now that the process has played out from the grassroots bottom up, we are here today to throw our support behind Vice President Kamala Harris,” Schumer said. Biden made the explosive announcement that he would not seek another term in the White House on Sunday afternoon as a growing chorus of Democrats voiced concerns about his mental and physical fitness for mounting another campaign and even serving another four-year term. BIDEN ENDS BID FOR SECOND TERM IN WHITE HOUSE AS HE DROPS OUT OF HIS 2024 REMATCH WITH TRUMP The 81-year-old leader instead endorsed Harris, who is more than 22 years Biden’s junior. A flurry of Democrats quickly followed suit, including former President Bill Clinton and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 150 House Democrats have backed Harris. TRUMP SAYS BIDEN ‘IS NOT FIT TO SERVE’: ‘WHO IS GOING TO BE RUNNING THE COUNTRY FOR THE NEXT 5 MONTHS?’ The move has spurred Republicans to accuse Democrats of staging a “coup” against Biden in an effort to coronate Harris because they were afraid the president would lose to former President Trump in November. Left-wing lawmakers who spoke with Fox News Digital on Monday, however, insisted the primary was still open to whomever wanted to compete – though they were certain Harris would still win. “You’re seeing Democrats coalesce around Vice President Harris. I have endorsed her. Ultimately, in order to have a primary, you have to have a challenger. No one is challenging her,” said Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla. “And so, right now it is an open process, right? You’ve seen potential people come out who could run and they’re endorsing her. And so that is the open process that’s happening.” KAMALA HARRIS’ PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN RAISES NEARLY $50 MILLION SINCE BIDEN ENDORSEMENT When asked if he would advise potential challengers to stay out, he said, “I’m not discouraging anything but these people, right, folks at a high level, governors, senators…they’re not saying they’re gonna throw their hat in the ring, they’re endorsing Vice President Harris because they also think she’s the best person for the job. So it’s tough to say ‘We want to process,’ when right now you don’t even have a challenger.” Enough delegates have now backed Harris for her to formally win the Democratic nomination at the party’s naming convention in August. Earlier this month, a source familiar with discussions told Fox News Digital that Schumer and Jeffries pushed for the DNC to delay its process of formalizing Biden as the nominee.
VP Harris faces backlash in crucial swing state after her ‘disastrous’ anti-fracking position resurfaces
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is facing renewed criticism for her past support of banning fracking, which she boldly proclaimed while running for president in 2019, particularly from critics pointing out the popularity of fracking in Rust Belt states like Pennsylvania. “There’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking,” Harris said during a 2019 town hall on CNN as a presidential candidate. “And starting with what we can do on day one around public lands, right? And then there has to be legislation, but, yes, that’s’ something I’ve taken on in California. I have a history of working on this issue and to your point we have to just acknowledge that the residual impact of fracking is enormous in terms of the health and safety of communities.” In a statement to Fox News Digital, National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Marinella, said, “Kamala Harris is the most far left progressive presidential nominee in history, and extreme Democrats in the Rust Belt now own every single policy she supports.” RFK JR’S VOW TO BAN FRACKING MET WITH INTENSE CRITICISM “A fracking ban would be disastrous for workers and families, and extreme Democrats’ mission to force Biden to step aside and replace him with San Francisco radical Kamala Harris shows exactly how out of touch they are with their voters.” “Banning fracking would cause home electricity costs to skyrocket and devastate Western PA’s natural gas economy,” Republican state Rep. Rob Mercuri, who is running for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 17th District, told Fox News Digital. “Clean natural gas production is America’s best opportunity for reliable and affordable energy needs well into the future. Expanding America‘s energy economy will provide thousands of good union and non union jobs for hard-working Pennsylvanians. As your congressman, I will always support the production of clean natural gas.” Harris also faced intense criticism from conservatives on social media after Biden announced he was dropping out of the presidential race and endorsing his vice president. “Kamala Harris is even more extreme than Joe Biden – She wants to ban fracking and kill countless jobs in states like PA for American workers,” Donald Trump Jr. posted on X. KAMALA HARRIS’ PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN RAISES NEARLY $50 MILLION SINCE BIDEN ENDORSEMENT “This is who Bob Casey just endorsed for the presidency,” GOP Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick posted on X in response to Sen. Bob Casey’s endorsement of Harris. “Dear Pennsylvania… take it from this Californian, don’t let Kamala Harris anywhere near your energy sources,” former acting Director of the United States National Intelligence Ric Grenell posted on X. “She’s a radical environmentalist even for California. Even Obama eventually read the science and agreed to fracking. As Attorney General, Kamala worked overtime to make sure liquid natural gas (LNG) terminals were not built throughout the entire state of California.” “Fracking supports tens of thousands of jobs in swing states like Pennsylvania,” Power The Future founder and Executive Director Daniel Turner posted on X. “There’s no question that energy is on the ballot in November.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign but did not receive a response. The fracking process, which involves injecting water into shale rock at high pressure to extract natural gas, has revolutionized the oil and gas industry by allowing producers to reach large quantities within shale rock that were previously unattainable and cost-prohibitive to drill. As a result, oil and gas production in the U.S. has nearly tripled over the past decade. More than 95% of new wells use hydraulic fracking, accounting for about two-thirds of natural gas production and half of oil output in 2018, according to the American Petroleum Institute. Proponents argue that fracking is critical for the U.S. becoming energy independent and is also the reason for a sharp drop in carbon dioxide emissions over the past decade. Opponents, however, say fracking pollutes drinking water and air and releases greenhouse gases into the ozone, contributing to global warming. Overall, the fossil fuel industry in Pennsylvania supports about 50,547 jobs, a 2021 report published by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection showed. Pennsylvania, believed to be one of the states the 2024 election will hinge on, is the second-largest producer of natural gas in the U.S. behind only Texas, according to the Energy Information Administration. Driven largely by its natural gas production and power plant generation, Pennsylvania is the largest electricity exporter in the country. Fox News Digital’s Jonathan Garber and Thomas Catenacci contributed to this report