Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to visit Rae Bareli today, first time after winning Lok Sabha seat
Rahul Gandhi is also scheduled to meet the family of the late Captain Anshuman Singh who died in the July 2023 Siachen fire, showing exceptional bravery and saving three lives.
Mumbai Weather Update: IMD issues yellow alert for heavy rainfall today; check full forecast
It declared a holiday for the first session of the day for all the BMC, government and private schools and colleges in Mumbai municipal limits in order to avoid inconvenience to students.
Biden surrogate Newsom says calls by Democrats for president to step aside ‘not helpful’
HOOKSETT, N.H. – Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, who’s a top surrogate for President Biden’s re-election campaign, is taking aim at the small but growing number of Democrats urging the president to end his re-election bid. “It doesn’t help. Let’s be candid here,” Newsom said as he spoke with reporters during a stop Monday in New Hampshire, the third swing state that the governor has campaigned in on behalf of Biden since Thursday. Following his extremely rough debate performance a week and a half ago in his first face-to-face showdown with former President Trump, Biden has been attempting to prove that he still has the stamina and acuity to handle the toughest and most demanding job in the world. And he’s trying to prove that he has the fortitude to defeat Trump. The debate was a major setback for Biden, who at 81 is the oldest president in the nation’s history. His halting delivery and stumbling answers at the showdown in Atlanta sparked widespread panic in the Democratic Party and a rising tide of public and private calls from within his own party for him to step aside as its 2024 standard-bearer. BIDEN TELLS CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS CALLS FOR HIM TO DROP OUT ‘ONLY HELPS TRUMP AND HURTS US’ Over the past week, six House Democrats have publicly called on Biden to end his re-election bid. And on Sunday, Fox News and other news organizations reported that four House Democrats who hold top positions on key committees said on a private conference call that the president needed to step aside. Asked by Fox News about the political damage from such calls from within the party, Newsom said “obviously, it’s not helpful, but it’s a handful of people.” SOME TOP HOUSE DEMOCRATS URGE BIDEN TO STEP ASIDE And the governor emphasized that the “overwhelming majority of the caucus” is still supporting Biden. “Every single stop that we’ve had in the six days that I’ve been out, we’ve had to change venues because there were so many people showing up. They’re not giving in to the cynicism, fear, they’re showing up.” Biden, in a letter sent to congressional Democrats on Monday as they returned from the July 4th holiday recess, reiterated that he’s “firmly committed to staying in this race” and argued that “the question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now. And it is time for it to end. We have one job. And that is to beat Donald Trump.” “Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us,” the president added. “It is time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump.” Newsom spoke with reporters soon after White House officials defended Biden’s health and denied he was ever treated for Parkinson’s disease. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre fielded a barrage of questions on Monday afternoon over recent reports that a top neurologist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center met with Biden’s physician at the White House in January. WHITE HOUSE SAYS PRESIDENT NOT BEING TREATED FOR PARKINSON’S “Has the president been treated for Parkinson’s? No,” she told reporters after being pressed further on the matter. “Is he being treated for Parkinsons? No, he’s not. Is he taking medication for Parkinson’s? No. So, those are the things that I can give you full-blown answers on.” Asked if he had any concerns about Biden’s cognitive abilities, Newsom responded, “I don’t.” “I have spent as much or more time than probably any other governor in the country with him,” Newsom emphasized. “I’ve spent a lot of time with him privately, been with him in many public settings. I was with him just a few days ago with other governors. Been on the phone late at night and early morning, in many, many stressful situations and very casual conversations. And no, I don’t have any doubt about that.” A handful of national polls conducted entirely after the debate and released last week contained plenty of red flags for the president – including Trump widening his single-digit edge over Biden and deepening concerns of Americans about whether Biden was up to the task of running the country. TRUMP GETS BOOST IN POST DEBATE POLLS AFTER BIDEN’S BOTCHED PERFORMANCE But a Bloomberg-Morning Consult poll released over the weekend indicated Biden gaining ground on Trump in some of the key battleground states that will likely determine the outcome of the presidential election. Despite his denials, Newsom’s name continuously comes up in media reports as a potential replacement should the president change his mind and decide to end his re-election campaign. Asked if it’s an intentional distraction, the governor said “of course it is.” “Look. It’s intentional. I know how these guys work,” Newsom charged, as he pointed towards conservative media. “This is all very intentionally ginned up in order to create a little mishegoss (a Yiddish word for crazy or senseless behavior or activity).” Newsom said “I don’t take it personally. I don’t take it seriously except to say sometimes I do believe others do take it more seriously than they should. And he argued “I think it’s intentional mis and disinformation and it can be very effective, and we have to counter that and that’s why I’m out here.” Vice President Kamala Harris would be the leading contender to succeed Biden in the long-shot that he steps aside. Asked if Harris – who served as California attorney general and U.S. senator from the Golden State before being elected vice president – could defeat Trump, Newsom said “I have no doubt about that.” But he added that “it’s a hypothetical” and “I don’t expect it’s going to come to that.” Newsom spoke with reporters after a meet and greet at a highway rest area in Hooksett, New Hampshire. Earlier, the governor met privately with longtime New Hampshire Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley and a group of activists in Concord. Later, Newsom headlined a fundraising event
White House briefing fueled with emotion as KJP says Biden not being treated for Parkinson’s
White House officials defended President Biden’s health and denied he was ever treated for Parkinson’s disease, despite a meeting between an expert on the disease and the president’s physician earlier this year. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre fielded a barrage of questions when it came to the president’s health, particularly when it came to recent reports that a top neurologist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center met with Biden’s physician at the White House in January. Reports of the Jan. 17 meeting surfaced as the 81-year-old president faces increased scrutiny over his age and mental acuity in the wake of a poor debate performance on June 27 in Atlanta. When asked about the physician’s meeting, Jean-Pierre said the White House has publicly shared that over the past three years, Biden has undergone a comprehensive exam, which included a meeting with a neurologist. PARKINSON’S DISEASE SPECIALIST MET WITH PRESIDENT BIDEN PHYSICIAN IN WHITE HOUSE Jean-Pierre said the most recent report from February stated that an “extremely” detailed neurological exam was given, assuring there were no findings which would be consistent with any central neurological disorder, like stroke, multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s. “Has the president been treated for Parkinson’s? No,” she told reporters after being pressed further on the matter. “Is he being treated for Parkinsons? No, he’s not. Is he taking medication for Parkinson’s? No. So, those are the things that I can give you full-blown answers on.” Dr. Kevin Cannard, a Parkinson’s disease expert, met with Dr. Kevin O’Connor and two others at the White House residence clinic on Jan. 17, records first reported by the New York Post show. Dr. John E. Atwood, a cardiologist at Walter Reed, also attended the 5 p.m. meeting, according to White House visitor logs. The fourth person in attendance has not been identified. BIDEN REPEATEDLY DODGES QUESTIONS ABOUT WHETHER HE’D TAKE NEUROLOGICAL TEST: ‘NO ONE SAID I HAD TO’ The New York Times reported that Cannard visited the White House eight times in eight months over the last year. In its reporting, The Times said Cannard is a neurologist who published a paper on Parkinson’s recently. White House logs show Cannard visited from July 2023 through March 2024, and anything more recent would not be released until later because of the White House’s voluntary disclosure policy. The Times also reported that records dating back to when Biden was vice president under the Obama administration, that Cannard visited 10 times and took a family tour in 2012, four times in 2013, one time in 2014, four times in 2015 and eight times in 2016. Early during the press briefing on Monday, Biden’s national security spokesperson John Kirby was asked if he had seen the president appear similar to the way he did during the debate. PRESIDENT BIDEN FACES THE MOST CONSEQUENTIAL WEEKEND OF HIS POLITICAL CAREER Kirby told the reporter the last thing he was going to do was talk about every meeting he has ever had with the president, adding that he is the president’s spokesperson. “What I can tell you is, what I saw in that debate is not reflective of the man and the leader and the commander in chief that I have spent many, many hours with over the last two and a half years in terms of the specificity of the way he probes the questions he asks,” Kirby said. “Just this morning, he was asking me questions about the situation on the European continent that I couldn’t answer, and I told him I had to get back to him.” As the meeting progressed, reporters continued to show frustration with White House officials for not being straight forward, even accusing the president’s communications team of answering questions then coming back and clearing up what they said previously. BIDEN TAKES BLAME FOR ‘BAD NIGHT’ IN DEBATE AGAINST TRUMP: ‘MY FAULT, NO ONE ELSE’S FAULT’ Still, after taking an onslaught of questions from reporters trying to get every single detail about the president’s health and whether he was still fit to serve as president, with some members of the press questioning her credibility, Jean Pierre expressed frustration. Jean-Pierre told members of the press she takes offense to the demeanor of the reporters, as every day she and her team meet with them during a press briefing, and they do their best to provide the information they have at that time. “That’s what we do, and we understand that freedom of the press. We respect the freedom of the press,” Jean-Pierre said. “To say that I’m holding information or allude to anything else is unfair, it is really, really unfair. I think people who are watching and have been watching this briefing for the past week, could say that we are doing our best in this briefing to provide the information that we have. “I will be the first one to admit, sometimes I get it wrong. At least I admit that,” she said. “And sometimes I don’t have the information. And I will always, always admit that. But I do take offense to what was just happening at the beginning of this briefing. It’s not OK.” Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo and Timothy Nerozzi contributed to this report.
Biden admin rebuffs lawmakers’ claims new energy standards will exacerbate ‘dream-killing’ housing costs
The Biden administration on Monday rejected claims from Congress and homebuilder groups that new energy efficiency standards for home construction will make a bad economic situation even worse. In late May, the Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) and Department of Agriculture enacted updated energy efficiency standards for new home construction that reflect 2021 International Energy Efficiency Conservation Code (IECC) parameters for federally-financed homes. The pushback comes after nearly 20 lawmakers sent a recent letter demanding the president halt adoption of the new efficiency standards, set to be enforced, citing affordability and inflationary concerns. In comments to Fox News Digital, a Biden-Harris administration official rejected claims the new standards will further burden first-time homebuyers and families already facing record high prices. STATE DEM LEADERS RALLY BEHIND BIDEN AFTER DEBATE “As a result of this rule, energy efficiency improvements will cut costs by hundreds of dollars per year, saving homeowners tens-of-thousands of dollars over the lifetime of the home,” the official said. “[HUD, USDA] and the Department of Energy are providing billions of dollars in resources and support to builders to ensure these standards help homebuyers see lower energy bills, ensure their homes are more resilient to extreme heat and cold, and even see benefits to their health.” In a separate statement, HUD officials wrote that the adoption of the 2021-IECC will yield “significant annual and lifetime cost savings to homeowners and renters, improves resident health and comfort, and increases the climate resilience of both single family and multifamily covered housing.” According to a HUD fact sheet, the agency calculated an $80 per month energy bill savings for houses built under 2021-IECC versus the prior standards. Current IECC standards were drafted in 2009 and put into effect in 2015. In their letter, more than a dozen House lawmakers led by Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., warned Biden the adoption of 2021-IECC standards would exacerbate the housing affordability crisis and price some households out of the market altogether. Cline’s letter, co-signed by Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, Dan Meuser, R-Pa., and 15 other lawmakers, said 44 states thus far declined to adopt the 2021-IECC standards themselves because they understand the market ramifications. BIDEN’S SCOTUS CRITIQUES LARGELY UNPRECEDENTED, EXPERTS SAY, CONTRASTING WITH CLINTON’S 2000 DEFERENCE “In fact, HUD estimates that applying the 2021-IECC standards would cause new home prices to rise by an average of $7,200 per single-family home. Additionally, National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) data shows that around 107 million households are already unable to afford the median price of a new home,” the lawmakers wrote. “The adoption of this new standard will price an additional 724,525 households out of the market,” it went on. The letter also claimed the new standards will disproportionately hurt underserved communities and first-time homebuyers. A spokesman for Meuser said although the 2021-IECC standards went into effect May 28, there is still time for Biden to pull back on any enforcement. The spokesman cited the federal register, which stipulated compliance dates for FHA-insured single family new-construction 18 months after the May date, one year for multifamily projects and two years for projects in rural or “persistent poverty” areas. In a statement, Cline said Biden-era regulations have already had a negative impact on the Shenandoah Valley, which he represents, adding the adoption of 2021-IECC will “only exacerbate the housing crisis.” Another co-signer, Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., quipped, “first inflation, now this.” Bean said Biden’s energy policies are “killing the American Dream of home ownership.” Bean went on to cite data mirroring that from Kansas City, Mo.’s Home Builders Association that calculated an increase of more than $31,000 in the price of a home. “It’s clear Biden stands with Wall Street billionaires and green radicals, not hardworking Americans,” Bean said. Self said in a statement the new regulations will deliver only “minimal” energy-saving returns while burdening new homebuyers with higher prices. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP A spokesperson for NAHB pointed Fox News Digital to recent congressional testimony by Shawn Woods, a Missouri homebuilder who appeared on the organization’s behalf. “Without adequate review or consideration of how it will affect home buyers or renters, HUD and USDA have rammed through a mandate that will require new, single-family construction financed through both agencies to be built to the 2021 IECC,” he said. Woods also echoed lawmakers’ concerns about the potential inflationary effects on the housing affordability crisis during his prior testimony. Meanwhile, Craig Toalson, CEO of the Home Builders Association of Virginia, praised Cline’s action, predicting mandatory adoption of the standards by HUD and USDA would bring little in the way of “meaningful” energy savings to homebuyers. “[T]his ill-conceived codes policy will deter new construction at a time when increasing the housing supply is crucial to lowering shelter inflation costs,” Toalson said. The present and former standards were drafted by the International Code Council, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit. It formulates building safety codes and provides accreditations and technologies, according to its website.
Potential Harris White House murky as VP ‘never exhibited a core set of beliefs’: Dem strategist
The Democratic Party is in the midst of coping with echoing calls for President Biden to bow out of the presidential race over concerns his mental acuity has slipped, and that he’s unable to serve as president for another four years if he wins re-election. As the party looks for potential replacements if Biden does in fact decide to conclude his political career, Vice President Kamala Harris sits atop the list of likely successors. Harris’ has a long history as a California liberal stalwart, serving as San Francisco’s district attorney in the early 2000s, before serving as the state’s attorney general under former Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, and as U.S. senator from the Golden State before her 2020 election as vice president. If Harris does take up the party’s 2024’s presidential election mantle, it is unlikely Harris’ policies would drastically differ from Biden’s platforms, though she could swing harder to the left on issues such as immigration, abortion and foreign policy. A potential Harris administration is a murky topic, however, as she’s not shown a “core set of beliefs on anything,” according to Democratic strategist Julian Epstein. “[It’s] not clear what a Harris administration would look like as she has never exhibited a core set of beliefs on anything as far as I can see, and her pre-VP federal experience is relatively limited. For the most part, she has been, like many politicians, opportunist. She jailed lots of people for marijuana possession and then tweets about her support for legalization. She was a centrist prosecutor, then a social justice warrior,” Epstein told Fox News Digital. BIDEN VOWS TO KEEP WHITE HOUSE, UNDETERRED BY DEMOCRATIC PANIC AFTER DEBATE DISASTER Epstein said that he would expect a hypothetical Harris administration to be a continuation of the Biden administration, while adding that the “creep of the intersectional far left would continue” under such an administration, as Democrats need “a lot of spine, guile and moxie to stand up to the intersectional left,” which Harris has not exhibited on a regular basis. Immigration woes have spiraled under the Biden administration to crisis levels, with a recent study finding there are 16.8 million illegal immigrants currently in the U.S. Out of that figure, more than 7 million people are not under supervision or detained, and more than 9 million are considered getaways or visa overstays, according to a study published by the National Immigration Center for Enforcement. The study found that less than 2% of illegal immigrants are in detention or enrolled in ICE’s Alternatives to Detention programs. HOW WOULD A PRESIDENT HARRIS HANDLE IMMIGRATION, BORDER CRISIS? “Immigration has been a flop for her and the Democrats. Upwards of 80% of the public disapproves of the Biden record on immigration and I still see no signs that the Democrats get this, or even if they do, have the gumption to stand up for what’s right here,” Epstein said, while noting that Harris has also flopped with voters when delivering “word salads and odd non-sequitur profundities.” Harris’ immigration policies, if she runs for president this year, would likely overwhelmingly follow that of Biden’s. Harris has also served as a point-person for the administration on immigration, with the media frequently dubbing her the “Border Czar” – a title the White House spurned – after she was tasked in 2021 with identifying the “root causes” of migration in the Northern Triangle countries. When she ran for president in 2020, however, she established a more liberal immigration platform than her eventual presidential running mate, placing emphasis on offering citizenship and protections to children arriving in the U.S. OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AREN’T UNDER FEDERAL SUPERVISION: ANALYSIS “As president, Kamala will fight to pass immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million people living in our communities and contributing to our economy. While she wages that fight, she will immediately reinstate DACA and implement DAPA to protect DREAMers and their parents from deportation. She will also restore and expand Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of immigrants who would face war or catastrophe if forced to return home,” her 2020 campaign website stated. She additionally called for the “overhaul” of “our immigration enforcement policies” arguing they were “cruel and out of control.” “As president, she’ll close private immigrant detention centers, increase oversight of agencies like Customs and Border Protection, and focus enforcement on increasing public safety, not on tearing apart immigrant families. For Kamala, this is about making America a place that welcomes immigrants searching for a better life,” her 2020 campaign states. Biden’s immigration platform during the 2020 election focused more on reversing Trump-era immigration policies in his first 100 days in office, which also included a line vowing to protect “Dreamers and their families.” “Immediately reverse the Trump Administration’s cruel and senseless policies that separate parents from their children at our border. End Trump’s detrimental asylum policies. End the mismanagement of the asylum system, which fuels violence and chaos at the border. Surge humanitarian resources to the border and foster public-private initiatives,” Biden’s 2020 campaign platform read in-part. Harris has been lauded by progressives for her vow to protect abortion access, immediately lambasting the leaked Supreme Court decision in 2022 that overturned Roe v. Wade, and effectively ended recognition of a constitutional right to abortion. “How dare they?” Harris declared at speech for left-wing PAC focused on electing pro-choice Democrats, EMILYs List, in May of 2022, after the decision was leaked to Politico. “How dare they tell a woman what she can and cannot do with her own body?” Harris asked. “How dare they try to stop her from determining her own future? How dare they try to deny women their rights and their freedoms?” Biden has also become a staunch supporter of abortion access, after shifting his stance when he served as a Delaware senator in the 1970s, when the Supreme Court issued its landmark Roe v. Wade decision protecting abortion rights. “When it comes to issues like abortion, amnesty, and acid, I’m about as
Senior House Dem calls on Biden to step aside, slams campaign’s ‘be quiet and fall in line’ strategy
A sixth House Democrat is now asking President Biden to duck out of the 2024 White House race and accusing his campaign of dismissing concerns from fellow members of his party. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, told CNN host Jake Tapper point-blank on Monday afternoon that he believes the 81-year-old president is not the best candidate to beat former President Trump in November. “I think he should step aside. I think it’s become clear that he’s not the best person to carry the Democratic message,” Smith said. He maintained that Biden did “a great job” so far, citing the U.S.’s economic rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic. DEMOCRATS’ SENATE HOPES COULD HANG ON SPLIT-TICKET VOTING COMEBACK “And then on the other side, we’ve got Donald Trump, who’s a complete disaster,” Smith said. “We’ve got a good message. The president has shown he’s not capable of delivering that message…in an effective way.” Smith also pushed back on Biden allies’ pleas to get the topic of Biden’s fitness for office out of the news cycle. “A lot of Democrats are saying, ‘Well, let’s move on. Let’s stop talking about it.’ We’re not the ones who are bringing it up. We’re not the ones who said ‘Anytime, anyplace,’ and only Joe Biden was on that stage with Donald Trump,” Smith said. “Our constituents are bringing it up, the country is bringing it up. The…campaign strategy of ‘Be quiet and fall in line and let’s ignore it’ simply isn’t working right now.” EX-OBAMA ADVISER SAYS BIDEN CAN’T BEAT ‘FATHER TIME’ AND IS ‘NOT WINNING THIS RACE’ He’s one of several national-level Democrats urging Biden to step aside after his disastrous performance in the CNN Presidential Debate last month. Even some of Biden’s allies raised concerns after he spoke with a hoarse voice, which he said was due to a cold, and stumbled over his own answers several times during the prime-time event. Viewers also observed him appearing tired and noticeably less sharp than he looked the last time he faced Trump in 2020. “There were concerns leading up to it,” Smith said when asked if that event alone made him doubt Biden. “And it hasn’t gotten better since the debate.” The Washington state Democrat also emphasized he was not calling on Biden to resign from the Oval Office early. He added, however, that he could support Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor. For his own part, the president has refused to step aside multiple times since the debate. He also wrote to Congressional Democrats earlier on Monday making clear that he was not budging. BIDEN’S ‘DISASTER’ DEBATE PERFORMANCE SPARKS MEDIA MELTDOWN, CALLS FOR HIM TO WITHDRAW FROM 2024 RACE “The question of how to move forward has been well aired for over a week now,” Biden wrote. “And it’s time for it to end. We have one job. And that is to beat Donald Trump.” Other Democrats calling on Biden to step aside are Reps. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., Angie Craig, D-Minn., Mike Quigley, D-Ill., and Seth Moulton, D-Mass. Fox News Digital reached out to the Biden campaign for comment. Smith’s CNN interview comes before House Democrats are all slated to be in one room together for the first time since the debate, for their regular Tuesday morning caucus-wide meeting. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Fox News Politics: The House Divided
Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. What’s happening… -Biden prepped on how to enter, exit, fundraising room -GOP Rep opens discussion on replacing Biden via the 25th Amendment -Trump sees approval rating top 50% in new poll President Biden is urging congressional Democrats to stop questioning whether he should end his re-election bid and “move forward as a unified party” in order to defeat former President Trump in their 2024 election rematch. And the president, in a letter sent to congressional Democrats on Monday as they return from the July 4th holiday recess, reiterated that he’s “firmly committed to staying in this race” and argued that any further questioning of his candidacy “only helps Trump and hurts us.” Following his extremely rough debate performance a week and a half ago in his first face-to-face showdown with Trump, the president has been attempting to prove that he still has the stamina and acuity to handle the toughest and most demanding job in the world. And he’s trying to prove that he has the fortitude to defeat Trump …Read more BIDEN ‘STAYING IN’: Biden tells congressional Democrats that calling for him to drop out ‘only helps Trump and hurts us’ …Read more COURT DISORDER: Experts weigh in on precedence for Biden’s SCOTUS slam …Read more FITNESS FOR OFFICE: GOP congressman plans discussion on 25th Amendment regarding Biden …Read more BORDER BUST: House votes to defund Mayorkas’ salary in DHS spending bill …Read more ‘SELF-DESTRUCTIVE’: House Dems ‘weakening’ Biden with calls to step aside, lawmaker warns …Read more WHAT WOULD HE DO?: Here’s how a President Pritzker may act on border crisis …Read more STAYS OR GOES: How the printing of ballots could put Democrats on deadline to potentially replace Biden …Read more TRUMP SURGING: Former pres sees approval rating top 50% in new poll, leading Biden on top 2 issues …Read more STEP BY STEP: Biden staff prepped him on how to enter, exit fundraiser room: report …Read more ‘STEP ASIDE’: Hollywood megadonors pull support for Biden, offer warning if he remains nominee …Read more TRIAL POSTPONED: Federal judge postpones Trump’s classified records trial …Read more ‘BIG WIN’: Trump touts Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling as a ‘big win for our Constitution and for democracy’ …Read more BALTIMORE BALLOTS: Baltimore ballot measure would offer new parents $1k under ‘baby bonus’ program …Read more LAW AND DISORDER: Why one blue state county is axing leadership in its juvenile detention system …Read more FRANCE DIVIDED: French parliament divided among far-left, center, far-right after elections …Read more PARIS BURNS: Riots erupt after left-wing coalition posed to win stunning upset election …Read more Subscribe now to get Fox News Politics newsletter in your inbox. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
NYC mayor faces bipartisan blowback over new round of migrant debit cards: ‘The gravy train’ must stop
New York City leaders from both parties slammed a move by Mayor Eric Adams’ administration to distribute another tranche of thousands of prepaid debit cards to migrant families. While Adams’ office claimed at its February inception the program would save the city as much as $7.2 million per year, some city lawmakers decried the latest allocation of 7,300 cards as a signal for more border-crossers to come. Councilman Robert Holden, a Democrat from Glendale, Queens, said the “gravy train for migrants has to stop.” “Giving out free housing, food, and legal aid while protecting them from federal authorities is unsustainable and only makes the crisis worse. This madness needs to end now.” ROCKLAND COUNTY EXECUTIVE TORCHES NYC MAYOR OVER MIGRANT BUSING PLAN Holden’s borough hosts 70 migrant shelters, the most in the city, according to a New York Post analysis released Sunday. Of the city’s zip codes, 10036 in Midtown Manhattan – which includes Fox News’ headquarters – has eight shelters alone within its dense two-fifths of a square mile. A representative for Democratic Councilwoman Gale Brewer, who represents that neighborhood, declined comment. The top Republican on council, Joe Borelli of Staten Island, said sanctuary city proponents may finally be realizing the consequences of their actions. “I think Democrats are finding out the hard way that American cities just can’t be the world’s refugee camp,” Borelli said. “We’re approaching Year Three of the migrant crisis in New York and the argument for these cards seems to be that it’s the ‘least worst’ way of doing things,” added the minority leader, whose party faces a 45-6 Democratic council majority. City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams could not be reached for comment. However, Democratic Councilwoman Julie Won of Long Island City, Queens, lauded the program, saying prepaid cards give migrants “sovereignty and freedom to choose whatever they want to eat” and lets them avoid “rotten” food provided by city contractors. She said all the estimated 60,000 migrants under the city’s auspices should receive such assistance, pointing to the 23 shelters tallied in Long Island City alone. Won said New York City spent $463 million on food procurement last year, and noted she publicly exposed how meals had often gone to waste. She said the debit card program provides better services at less than 1% of the cost of dealing with the food contractors. NYC MAYOR’S AIDE NOW REPORTEDLY COOPERATING IN FEDERAL CORRUPTION PROBE: REPORT Won previously hosted “welcome dinners” for small groups of migrants in her district to help them integrate into the community and get access to essential services, according to Queens news outlet QNS. Several other council Democrats, as well as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who lives in Brooklyn, did not respond to comment requests. However, Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom defended the administration’s decision, while calling on the federal government to “finish the job they started” and process more asylum applications to allow migrants to work. “As we continue to do our part to respond to this global humanitarian crisis, we are finding new ways to help us save taxpayer dollars, invest in our local economy, and support our newest New Yorkers in ways that work for families with children,” Williams-Isom said. “They can buy from local shops, support small businesses, and manage their own resources. When we empower people, we help them achieve self-sufficiency and access the American Dream.” In addition, one resident of the nation’s largest housing project questioned why shelters are being constructed in underserved areas. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Why are y’all sending them here? Send them to Fifth Avenue [or] Park Avenue…” Shawarn Shields of Queensbridge Houses told the New York Post on Sunday. In response to criticisms of the program, a city spokesperson said the debit card program only covers a small fraction of migrants. The spokesperson also pointed to a right-to-shelter policy requiring New York City to find and provide housing to those who are homeless. They also noted migrants are still not allowed to receive federal SNAP food stamp benefits for their daily sustenance. The spokesperson also cited a recent calculation depicting a modest per-migrant meal per-diem of $4. That amount does not go far in New York City, their analysis suggested. Meanwhile, a representative for MoCaFi, the New Jersey-based contractor the city brought in to administer the cards, directed Fox News Digital to recent reporting on the program when asked for response to criticism. The representative added that MoCaFi’s day-to-day focus is serving 50 million unbanked and “under-banked” Americans.
VP Harris blasted over resurfaced clips defending Biden’s mental sharpness: ‘Kamala lied’
Conservatives on social media blasted Vice President Harris over a video compilation of her defending President Biden’s mental sharpness during several interviews and events. “WATCH: Over 6 minutes of Kamala Harris covering up Joe Biden’s cognitive decline,” conservative communicator Steve Guest posted on X along with a video that has received almost a million views. “For years, she said Biden is ‘very bold and vibrant’ and is ‘tireless in terms of working,’” Guest continued. “Kamala claimed Biden ‘is gonna be fine,’ and said he ‘is in good shape, in good health. Kamala LIED.” “No one has lied more to the American people about Joe Biden’s cognitive decline than Kamala Harris!” Donald Trump Jr. wrote on X in response to the video. TRUMP TESTS OUT NEW NICKNAME FOR KAMALA HARRIS AMID SPECULATION SHE’LL REPLACE BIDEN “One of MANY reasons a Kamala switch wouldn’t be as simple as some Democrats think – she’s one of the main characters behind this cover-up,” Republican communicator Matt Whitlock posted on X. “Joe lied. Kamala lied. Jill lied. KJP lied. Democrats lied. CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC lied. WaPo, NYT, LA Times, lied. Online pundits lied,” popular conservative account Fusilli Spock posted on X. “And, they’ll continue to lie, shamelessly, in the pursuit of power.” KAMALA HARRIS SPENT MONTHS SHOOTING DOWN CONCERNS OVER BIDEN’S MENTAL COMPETENCY AHEAD OF THE DEBATE “Our president is in good shape, in good health, and is ready to lead in our second term,” Harris says in one of the clips from an interview in February 2024. In another clip from March 2024 she says, “I’m ready, if necessary, but it’s not gonna be necessary.” The video comes as a growing list of pundits and Democrats in Congress have called for Biden to drop out of the presidential race following his widely panned debate performance in late June that failed to quell questions about his age and mental fitness. Many have suggested that Harris would be the ideal candidate to replace Biden if he does step down. Biden has insisted he is staying in the race and sent a letter to Democrats in Congress on Monday saying he is “firmly committed to staying in this race” and argued that any further questioning of his candidacy “only helps Trump and hurts us.” He also did a phone interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Monday, where he declared, “The bottom line here is that we’re not going anywhere. I am not going anywhere.” “I wouldn’t be running if I didn’t absolutely believe that I am the best candidate to beat Donald Trump in 2024,” he added. “Joe has made it clear he is all in,” first lady Jill Biden told a crowd in North Carolina on Monday. “That’s the decision he’s made. And just as he has always supported my career, I am all in too.” The White House and VP Harris’s office did not respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital. Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report