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Alina Habba takes on major role in Trump campaign, dishes on his highly anticipated RNC speech

Alina Habba takes on major role in Trump campaign, dishes on his highly anticipated RNC speech

MILWAUKEE — EXCLUSIVE: Alina Habba, an attorney and legal spokesperson for former President Donald Trump, is taking on a major new role that she hopes will help accomplish the “critical” task of sending him back to the White House this November. Habba is now serving as a senior adviser to Trump’s re-election campaign, a promotion that comes after she gained national recognition in her legal role, which saw her win in court for the former president more than any of his other attorneys despite having only been on his team since 2021. Fox News Digital sat down with Habba ahead of Trump’s highly anticipated speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where she discussed her new role and gave a preview of what the former president will say to the audience of delegates and supporters who, earlier this week, cheered his triumphant return following a failed assassination attempt. TRUMP TO FORMALLY ACCEPT REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION IN SPEECH ALTERED AFTER ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT “Moved, I think, is the best word for it. I was moved,” Habba said when asked how she felt seeing Trump, sporting a bandage on his wounded ear, enter the convention hall on Monday night to massive cheers and applause. “I think America could see it’s a different President Trump today.”  “I never in my life thought I would live through that, let alone live through it and say, ‘That’s also my friend.’ And that’s been very difficult for me,” she said. “It’s traumatic, but I’m proud of him.” Habba described her promotion as a “great honor” and said it would provide her, as a mom, with the opportunity to discuss issues important to women across the country. She still plans to fulfill her duties as an attorney for Trump, citing ongoing cases in which she’s involved, but also plans to now be a “voice for President Trump” in order to speak on a wider range of issues. VP FINALIST MARCO RUBIO ARRIVES AT RNC WITH PRAISE FOR TRUMP FOLLOWING SELECTION OF JD VANCE AS RUNNING MATE Trump’s campaign said earlier this week that the former president — following his brush with death — will use his speech to call for unity in the face of tragedy instead of criticizing his political adversaries. Habba expanded on that, telling Fox that Trump’s speech changed “dramatically” following Saturday’s events. “Without getting into details, I will say that I think it’s authentic. Everything he does is authentic, and I think that his perspective on life … has changed,” she said. “Not that he wasn’t already a great fighter, but I think that the country needs to hear from him in a different light.”  “I just don’t see how he couldn’t, because of what he actually went through. So it’s going to be authentic. It’s going to be genuine. And I think it’s going to be what the American people need to hear.” KATIE BRITT TAKES SWIPE AT KAMALA HARRIS AMID DEBATE TALK: VANCE WILL ‘RUN CIRCLES’ AROUND HER Habba will give her own speech to the RNC ahead of Trump on Thursday, something she says is emotional for her. “It takes a lot to rattle me these days. I’ve been through a tremendous amount with him. But this one means a lot to me. So I will not be speaking about legal issues. I will be speaking about him, and I’m excited to do so, and let the American people know the President Trump that I know,” she said. Habba’s promotion has been received well and, according to multiple people who are familiar, has already led to a boost in fundraising for the Trump campaign. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “The greatest part about what she does is she doesn’t speak from opinion. It’s based on legal facts and procedures, and she does it in a way that’s articulate, powerful and gorgeous to boot,” Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., said of Habba as he stopped by to talk amid the interview with Fox. “Brains and beauty is a dangerous combination in this game,” he said. Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and Brooke Singman contributed to this report. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Pelosi told Biden he’ll lose to Trump and take down House based on polls: report

Pelosi told Biden he’ll lose to Trump and take down House based on polls: report

The walls appear to be closing in on President Biden’s re-election campaign. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., reportedly told President Biden in a phone call that polls are showing he cannot defeat former President Trump in November and that him staying in the race could destroy Democrats’ chances of taking the House in November. The phone call marked the second time Pelosi and Biden spoke since the president’s disastrous debate performance against Trump on June 27, according to a CNN report Thursday citing four sources briefed on the call. The sources also told CNN that the former speaker did not tell Biden to drop out of the race.  The report came just hours before the Washington Post reported that former President Barack Obama told his allies in recent days that he believes Biden needs to reconsider his candidacy.  ADAM SCHIFF CALLS ON BIDEN TO EXIT PRESIDENTIAL RACE AS DEM CONFIDENCE DWINDLES In terms of the Pelosi call, Biden responded by pushing back, telling her he has seen polls that indicate he can win, one source told the outlet.  Another one of the sources described Biden as getting defensive about the polls and that at one point, Pelosi asked Mike Donilon, Biden’s longtime adviser, to get on the line to talk over the data. It is unclear when exactly the call took place, but one CNN source says it was held within the last week. Pelosi and Biden also spoke in early July. A spokesperson for Pelosi tells Fox News Digital that the congresswoman would not comment on private conversations with the president.  “Speaker Pelosi respects the confidentiality of her meetings and conversations with the President of the United States. Sadly, the feeding frenzy from the press based on anonymous sources misrepresents any conversations the Speaker may have had with the President,” the spokesperson said in a statement.  Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately receive a response. Pelosi is a longtime Biden ally. She led House Democrats for the entirety of Biden’s two terms as vice president and served as House speaker for the first two years of his presidency, ushering major pieces of Biden’s agenda through Congress, including the American Rescue Plan and the bipartisan infrastructure law. In the wake of the debate, Pelosi said she would support whatever the president decided to do, although several reports indicate that she was encouraging lawmakers to continue to put pressure on Biden to reconsider his decision to run for re-election. PELOSI ‘CONVINCED BIDEN WILL LOSE,’ WORKING THE PHONES WITH HOPES TO ‘EASE HIM OFF THE TICKET,’ REPORT SAYS Biden has faced mounting calls to step aside since his disastrous debate performance and his campaign has been in disarray ever since. The campaign had believed that the attempted assassination of Trump, in which he sustained a wound to the right ear, had tamped down calls for Biden to step aside. But on Wednesday, influential Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff called on Biden to drop out, telling Fox News Digital in a statement that he has “serious concerns about whether the President can defeat Donald Trump in November.” Reuters, citing a top White House source with direct knowledge of the matter, reported earlier Thursday that Pelosi backed Schiff’s call for Biden to drop out of the race, although her office did not address the report when asked by Fox News Digital. Schiff and Pelosi both represent California districts in the House. “Nancy is all over this. She doesn’t miss. Schiff wouldn’t move without her approval,” the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters. Last week, a number of House Democrats told The Hill that Pelosi was advising members in their conference against rallying to Biden before there is a broader discussion over whether he is the best candidate to defeat Trump.  “I did have a conversation with her, she is very concerned,” one House Democratic lawmaker told The Hill. “It’s not like she’s like, ‘We’re sticking with this guy.’” Fox News’ Brian Flood and Chris Pandolfo, as well as Reuters contributed to this report. 

JD Vance by the numbers: First speech signals heavy campaign presence in battleground Rust Belt

JD Vance by the numbers: First speech signals heavy campaign presence in battleground Rust Belt

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, gave his first speech since receiving the Republican Party’s nomination for vice president on Wednesday, and it could offer a look into his future role on the presidential campaign trail.  The “Hillbilly Elegy” author mentioned his home state of Ohio 12 times during his remarks. “We gotta chill with the Ohio love. We gotta win Michigan too here,” Vance, an Ohio State University alumnus, said to the crowd. The second most-mentioned states were Michigan and Pennsylvania, with both being talked about by Vance six times. FLASHBACK: A LOOK AT DONALD TRUMP’S REMARKS AT THE 2016, 2020 REPUBLICAN CONVENTIONS Kentucky was also a significant state for Vance, as he spent a portion of his childhood there with his grandmother, “Mamaw.” The state, which differs from the others as it traditionally votes red, was also mentioned by the Republican four times. Vance also referenced three times the pivotal Midwestern battleground state of Wisconsin, where the Republican National Convention is taking place. His heavy emphasis on these Rust Belt states comes as former President Trump has already signaled his intent to use Vance to his advantage in Midwestern swing states. CHUCK SCHUMER PUSHED TO DELAY DNC AS CONCERNS PERSIST OVER BIDEN’S CANDIDACY “[Trump] just said, ‘Look, I think I’ve got to go save this country. I think you’re the guy who could help me in the best way,’” Vance recalled Trump’s phone call to him on Fox News’ “Hannity.” “You can help me govern, you can help me win, you can help me in some of these Midwestern states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and so forth,” he said Trump told him. Vance was elected to the Senate in Ohio in 2022, where he has served since. Vance has significant name identification in Ohio as he’s focused much of his time in Congress on workers and families in the state. For example, Vance has continued to be active in pursuing regulatory reform for railways in the wake of the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which caused chemicals to spill in the area, despite the story no longer being regularly featured in the news cycle.  ADAM SCHIFF CALLS ON BIDEN TO EXIT PRESIDENTIAL RACE AS DEM CONFIDENCE DWINDLES The senator also made headlines when he joined striking United Auto Workers members in Toledo, Ohio, breaking from a traditionally anti-union Republican Party stance.  Both Trump and Vance appear to see the Ohio Republican as a key to relating to disaffected White workers in the Rust Belt. In a 2016 interview following his memoir’s release, Vance explained, “I may be White, but I do not identify with the WASPs of the Northeast. Instead, I identify with the millions of working-class White Americans of Scots-Irish descent who have no college degree.”  COULD BOB MENENDEZ RUN FOR RE-ELECTION AFTER BEING FOUND GUILTY OF CORRUPTION? “To these folks, poverty’s the family tradition. Their ancestors were day laborers in the southern slave economy, sharecroppers after that, coal miners after that, and machinists and mill workers during more recent times. Americans call them hillbillies, rednecks or White trash. I call them neighbors, friends and family,” he said at the time.  In his Wednesday remarks, Vance made a promise to this very group. “To the people of Middletown, Ohio, and all the forgotten communities in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, in Ohio, and every corner of our nation. I promise you this. I will be a vice president who never forgets where he came from,” he said.  Shortly after the announcement of Vance as Trump’s running mate, the campaign announced an indoor rally in Michigan this Saturday, when both Trump and Vance will speak to voters at a rally in Grand Rapids. The event will notably be the first rally since the attempted assassination of Trump at an outdoor rally in Pennsylvania over the weekend.  Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Vance claims social conservatives will always ‘have a seat’ in GOP during discussion of faith

Vance claims social conservatives will always ‘have a seat’ in GOP during discussion of faith

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance on Thursday spoke about his personal experiences with Christianity and the importance of social conservatism. Vance gave a speech at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s God & Country Breakfast, where he attempted to quell concerns that the Republican Party is drifting away from religious and socially conservative voters. “There has been a lot of rumbling in the past few weeks that the Republican Party of now and the Republican Party of the future is not going to be a place that’s welcoming to social conservatives. And really, from the bottom of my heart, I want to say that is not true,” Vance told the audience. PRO-LIFE GROUPS RALLY BEHIND TRUMP VP PICK JD VANCE DESPITE HIS SUPPORT FOR ‘ACCESSIBLE’ ABORTION PILLS He added, “Social conservatives have a seat at this table, and they always will, so long as I have any influence in this party. And President Trump, I know, agrees.” The Republican Party has softened many of the social policy pillars within its platform, including the traditionally sacrosanct issue of abortion. The platform, drafted by the former president and his top aides, was passed on Monday by a committee dominated by Trump supporters, which met behind closed doors in Milwaukee ahead of next week’s Republican National Convention. The platform, titled “America First: A Return to Common Sense,” is the GOP’s first in eight years, as the 2016 document was duplicated in 2020. Following Trump’s lead, the document spotlights that abortion is best handled by the states. However, for the first time in 40 years, the document makes no mention of a federal abortion ban, which the presumptive GOP presidential nominee has emphasized that he opposes. SOFTENED ABORTION LANGUAGE IN TRUMP-APPROVED GOP PLATFORM IRKS SOME SOCIAL CONSERVATIVES Instead, the new platform stresses, “We will oppose late-term abortion while supporting mothers and policies that advance prenatal care, access to birth control, and IVF (fertility treatments).” The commitment to IVF accessibility also raised eyebrows, as the practice usually requires the destruction of fertilized human embryos. Vance himself caused an uproar in pro-life circles last week after saying in an interview with “Meet the Press” that he supports the abortion pill mifepristone “being accessible” after the Supreme Court ruled against pro-life advocates who sued to end its Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval.  CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Vance’s stance also shocked Catholic groups, since the potential vice-president converted to the faith only a few years ago.  While failing to address∂ the abortion pill issue during his speech, Vance did offer personal testimony to the audience about his reconversion to Christianity after years of atheism. “What really brought me back to Christ was finding a wife and falling in love and thinking about what was required of me as a husband and as a father,” Vance said. “And the more that I thought about those deeper questions, the more that I thought that there was wisdom in the Christian faith that I had completely discarded and completely ignored, but was most relevant to the questions that were presented in my life as a husband and father.” Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser and Brianna Herlihy contributed to this report.

Speaker Johnson criticizes Secret Service director for RNC appearance: ‘Why would she?’

Speaker Johnson criticizes Secret Service director for RNC appearance: ‘Why would she?’

EXCLUSIVE: Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is questioning Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle’s decision to appear at the Republican National Convention (RNC) on Wednesday night, as House GOP leaders push for accountability for the security failures that led to the attempted assassination of former President Trump. “I’m not sure what she was doing here. Why would she walk around when she’s under so much scrutiny?” Johnson told Fox News Digital in an interview at the RNC in Milwaukee.  “I don’t understand her decision-making process, and I don’t think she’s fit to lead at this critical time.” LIVE UPDATES: SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR REFUSES TO STEP DOWN AS FBI INVESTIGATES TRUMP RALLY SHOOTER The embattled Secret Service director was seen in the RNC venue on Wednesday, where she was confronted by several Republican senators who have been dissatisfied with her answers thus far on what happened last weekend. Johnson, for his part, is the highest-ranking official so far to call for Cheatle’s resignation in the wake of the deadly rally shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, last weekend.  He’s now commissioning a bipartisan task force, armed with subpoena power, to investigate the security failings that led to a 20-year-old gunman being able to fire shots off a roof just outside of the rally perimeter despite being seen beforehand by local law enforcement and civilians. “Her excuses for this just make no sense,” Johnson said. “I think accountability begins at the top. And I think everybody in this business understands that it’s very important, and it’s critically important for us to get the answers and accountability quickly so that people don’t make up their minds about some conspiracy theory or some sinister plot.” SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR AGREES TO TESTIFY AT HOUSE HEARING ON TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT He warned that “some of those rumors have begun already, and we have to address that immediately.” House lawmakers held a call with Cheatle and FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday to address their concerns about the incident. A source familiar with the call told Fox News Digital at the time that it lasted roughly 45 minutes and offered limited insight. Johnson similarly said on Thursday that he learned “very little” on the call. “That’s the problem,” Johnson said. “They’re not providing answers quickly enough and the answers they do provide are not satisfactory.” The speaker questioned President Biden’s decision to appoint Cheatle in the first place, arguing her focus on diversity efforts within the Secret Service took away from more critical efforts. CONGRESSIONAL BYPASS: MANY DEMOCRATS ELUSIVE ON BIDEN ISSUE “She doesn’t seem to be the most qualified person, and she doesn’t seem to have a great grasp of what her primary responsibility is,” he said. “We’ve all seen and heard the accounts of her suggesting that, you know, that the number one priority was having more diversity in the Secret Service and more female officers, etc. That is not the number one priority. The number one priority is the safety of the persons that they are supposed to be protecting.” The speaker’s office told Fox News Digital that he is aiming to schedule a classified briefing on the shooting next week. Fox News Digital reached out to the Secret Service for comment.