Majority of voters think Biden is cognitively unfit to serve as president: poll
A poll released by CBS News on Sunday found that more voters have doubts about President Biden’s cognitive abilities after Thursday’s presidential debate. The poll, which was conducted between Friday and Saturday, found that 18% of voters thought Biden’s debate performance inspired confidence, while 44% believed that former President Trump’s performance did. Only 21% of polled voters believed that Biden presented his ideas clearly. When asked earlier in June if Biden had the mental and cognitive health to serve as president, 35% of respondents said he did. After the debate, that number dropped to 27%. Sixty-five percent of polled voters said Biden did not have the mental and cognitive health to serve as president when asked on June 9. That number has increased to 72%. JILL BIDEN’S EX-HUSBAND CALLS HER OUT FOR DEFENDING ‘STRUGGLING’ JOE BIDEN, ‘KEEPING HIM IN THE RACE’ When the respondents were asked about President Trump’s mental and cognitive abilities, around 50% voted in favor of Trump and 49% voted against him. Among respondents who were registered Democrats, 55% said Biden should continue running and 45% believed he should step aside. EUROPEAN OFFICIAL APPEARS TO LIKEN BIDEN TO FAILED ROMAN EMPEROR AFTER DISASTROUS DEBATE PERFORMANCE Biden’s poor performance at the CNN presidential debate has fueled anxieties about his chances of being re-elected. Both Republicans and Democrats have called for the president to end his campaign. The New York Times editorial board and the editorial board of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution have called for Biden to drop out of the race. After the debate, the Times’ editorial board wrote that the “greatest public service Mr. Biden can now perform is to announce that he will not continue to run for re-election.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Biden campaign and Trump campaign for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Ex-Rep. Charlie Rangel, 94, questions whether Biden belongs in nursing home, not White House
Former Harlem Congressman Charles Rangel — who is 94 years old — wondered whether President Biden belongs in a nursing home instead of the White House following last week’s debate disaster. “I have never been more shocked and embarrassed by any presidential debate than I was last Thursday,” Rangel, who served in Congress from 1971 to 2017, said Sunday on 770 WABC radio’s “The Cats Roundtable.” “One [candidate is] a convicted felon who has no respect for the truth, for morality. The other seemed so damned confused I didn’t even know whether he knew where the hell he was at in terms of responding to the moderator.” Rangel, a Democrat, told host John Catsimatidis he “would not object” to both candidates taking cognitive tests to determine their fitness. Trump is 78, just three years younger than Biden. FAUCI GIVES HIS OPINION ON WHETHER 81-YEAR-OLD BIDEN IS FIT TO RUN FOR A SECOND TERM “It’s clear that Biden was shaky in responding … One has to think about what happens in [the next] four years.” Biden’s debate performance was so troubling that voters have to be reminded that Trump could be sentenced to prison time for his conviction in the Stormy Daniels hush money case, Rangel said. BIDEN DEBATE DEBACLE: 10 EYE-OPENING MEDIA RESPONSES, FROM MSNBC PANIC TO ‘THE VIEW’ CALLING FOR REPLACEMENT He said in most states Republicans and Democrats will vote for their party nominee despite their flaws, and the election comes down to seven battleground states. “If Trump is in jail, Republicans will vote for him. If Biden is in a nursing home, [the Democrats] are going to vote for him,” he said. BIDEN’S ‘DISASTER’ DEBATE PERFORMANCE SPARKS MEDIA MELTDOWN, CALLS FOR HIM TO WITHDRAW FROM 2024 RACE But Rangel wasn’t ready to abandon Biden, noting he was good on the stump the day after the debate. “He was so on point, so articulate. He was better than he was at the State of the Union [address]. And I wondered, ‘Where the hell was that Joe Biden [during the debate]?’” he said. Biden intends to seek re-election despite calls from the liberal New York Times, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and even some Democrats that it’s time for him to step aside for the good of the party and the country. During the debate, Biden frequently stumbled over his answers and at one point froze and then said “I beat Medicare.” Rangel, during the latter part of 46 years in Congress, struggled with his physical health but appeared mentally sharp.
Paris 2024 Olympics 100m: Farzaneh Fasihi – Iran’s record-breaking sprinter
Tehran, Iran – It’s 2021, in Konya, Turkey, at the fifth edition of the Islamic Solidarity Games. Farzaneh Fasihi’s heart races as she bends into position at the start line, the lingering effects of a COVID-19 infection still wearing her down. Her chest is tight, but she’s determined to compete. The starter’s gun goes off, and she lunges forward as swiftly as she can, her legs churning faster than ever before. When she crosses the finish line, she collapses; not from exhaustion, but from the overwhelming emotion of breaking her own 100-metre sprint record, clocking a lightning-fast time of 11.12 seconds to win the silver medal. “On the night before a race, memories of my life gush through my mind. All the hardships I’ve endured and all my successes pass before my eyes like a film reel,” Fasihi told Al Jazeera, speaking in a Zoom interview from Belgrade, Serbia. She is at a training camp ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics, which kick off July 26, and where Iran’s fastest female runner of all time will compete in her favourite event, the 100-metre sprint. Fasihi is no stranger to challenges, but a strong support system in her personal life has seen her through it all. Farzaneh Fasihi of Iran wins a sliver medal in the 100-metres at the fifth Islamic Solidarity Games in Konya, Turkey on August 09, 2022 [Mustafa Ciftci/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images] “I didn’t want to do it’ Born in 1993 in Isfahan, Iran, Fasihi, 31, hails from an athletic family. Her father was a volleyball player, and her brother a swimming and diving champion. “Before I got married, my father attended all my training sessions,” she recalls. “My mother also attended all my competitions. Without their support, I could not have succeeded.” From age five to 12, Fasihi did gymnastics. She recalls how her first foray into competitive sprinting was more by chance than design. “In middle school, my gym teacher forced me to participate in a running competition. I didn’t want to do it,” Fasihi remembers. That day, she broke the Isfahan provincial record, igniting her passion for track and field. In 2016, she made her international debut. Fasihi’s team performed well above expectations, winning the silver medal in the 4×400 metre relay at the Asia Indoor Athletics Championship in Doha, Qatar. But her standout performance did not catapult her sprinting career to new heights. With little support from the Iranian track and field federation, she left it all behind and became a personal fitness trainer. That all changed in late 2018, when she decided to give competitive sprinting a second try. A year later, that decision led to an unexpected outcome: she married one of her coaches, Amir Hosseini, who has been her staunchest supporter. Farzaneh Fasihi during a training session with coach and husband Amir Hosseini at Aftab Enghelab Sports Complex in Tehran, Iran [Maryam Majd ATPImages via Getty Images] Fasihi constantly works on her technique and power, which are essential for an elite 100-metre sprinter. Athlete training facilities in Iran are not up to the same standards as other nations that invest heavily in sport [Maryam Majd ATP Images via Getty Images] In 2020, with a support structure now firmly established with Hosseini, Fasihi’s career literally took off. She participated in the World Athletics Indoor Championships, where the relatively unknown runner scorched the track with a sensational entry record time of 7.29 seconds in the 60-metre sprint held in Belgrade, Serbia. Not only had Fasihi come out of nowhere to post a fast time – but she had also created history by becoming the first Iranian woman to compete at the championship. Her shock performance in Belgrade was where she was first given the nickname “Jaguar,” a testament to her ferocious speed off the starting block. A year later, in 2021, she signed with the Serbian athletics club BAK, becoming the first female legionnaire – which effectively means a club signs and sponsors a foreign athlete to relocate and compete for them – in Iran track and field history. “Becoming a legionnaire was a new path. It was a great risk, but I felt deep inside that I had to do it,” she said, hoping that it would inspire other female Iranian athletes. Setting the record straight – this one’s ‘for the people’ In 2023, Fasihi would then go on to win gold at the 60-metre race at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, clocking a scintillating time of 7.28 seconds. As outstanding and celebratory as that personal-best performance was – the setting of a new Asian 60-metre sprinting record would ordinarily be cause for wild celebrations – the day would be remembered for something far more profound. As Fasihi walked to the podium, she turned directly to the camera and shouted: “For the people of Iran. For the happiness of the people of Iran!” Her moment of protest went viral on social media, with Fasihi declining to carry the Iranian flag and instead bowing her head as she shed silent tears, refusing to sing the national anthem on the victory dias. This was her statement, or way, to express the tragedy of the young Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, who in 2022 collapsed and died, allegedly after she was detained by Iran’s morality police for wearing an “improper hijab” (headscarf). Amini’s death made international news headlines and galvanised female activists all over the world through the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement. Fasihi has broken the Iranian 60 and 100-metre sprinting record on multiple occasions and is currently the number one ranked sprinter in Asia for 60-metres. She lives and trains in the capital, Tehran [Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters] Olympic dreaming Two years earlier, Fasihi had already taken the first step towards her Olympic dream when she was selected through the so-called universality placement to participate in Tokyo 2020. Universality placement is a policy set by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowing athletes from underrepresented countries to participate, even if they
At least seven dead as fierce storms lash France, Switzerland, Italy
Authorities say hundreds evacuated as torrential rains cause flooding and landslides. Ferocious storms and torrential rains that lashed France, Switzerland and Italy this weekend have killed seven people, local authorities have said. Three people in their 70s and 80s died in France’s northeastern Aube region on Saturday when a tree crushed the car they were travelling in during fierce winds, the local authority told the AFP news agency on Sunday. A fourth passenger was in critical care, it added. In neighbouring Switzerland, four people have died and another two are missing, according to local police, after violent thunderstorms and melting snow caused flooding and landslides in two southern cantons. Three of the victims were killed early on Sunday in a landslide in the remote Maggia valley, in the Italian-speaking Alpine canton of Ticino, police said in a statement. The three bodies were recovered in the Fontana area of the Maggia valley and they were currently being identified, while another person was missing in the Lavizzara side arm of the valley, Ticino authorities said. Difficult rescue efforts The civil security services said “several hundred” people were evacuated in Valais and roads closed after the Rhone and its tributaries overflowed in different locations. Emergency services were assessing the best way to evacuate 300 people who had arrived for a football tournament in Peccia, while almost 70 more were being evacuated from a holiday camp in the village of Mogno. The poor weather was making rescue work particularly difficult, police had said earlier, with several valleys inaccessible and cut off from the electricity network. The federal alert system also said part of the canton was without drinking water. Extreme rainfall also struck southeastern Switzerland last weekend, killing one person and causing major damage. In northern Italy’s Aosta valley, internet users shared images of spectacular floods and swollen rivers rushing down mountain slopes. Scientists say climate change driven by human activity is increasing the severity, frequency and length of extreme weather events such as floods and storms. Adblock test (Why?)
Six Palestinians killed as Israeli forces pound southern, northern Gaza
At least six Palestinians have been killed in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), and several homes have been destroyed as Israeli forces pushed deeper into the city and pressed further into Shujayea in northern Gaza. Israeli tanks, which re-entered Shujayea four days ago, fired shells towards several houses, leaving families trapped inside and unable to leave, residents said. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated that “60,000 to 80,000 people were displaced” from Shujayea in recent days. For those who remain, “our lives have become hell”, said 50-year-old resident Siham al-Shawa. She told the AFP news agency that people were trapped as strikes could happen “anywhere” and “it is difficult to get out of the neighbourhood under fire”. “We do not know where to go to protect ourselves,” she said. Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said residents who managed to flee the neighbourhood say the scale of destruction is “massive”. He said the central areas of Gaza City have also been “pounded” by Israeli forces. “In the past hour, a residential flat was targeted. Medical sources we’ve talked to say at least 15 people have been killed today in the north after people’s homes were directly hit by artillery shells,” Abu Azzoum said. He noted that in Rafah, there was a continuation of “indiscriminate Israeli attacks as residents flee for their lives”. “In the al-Mawasi district – declared a ‘safe zone’ by Israel’s military – they’ve been setting fire to makeshift tent camps where displaced Palestinians have been sheltering,” he added. Speaking at a weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his stance that there was no substitute for victory in the war against Hamas. “We are committed to fighting until we achieve all of our objectives: Eliminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages, ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel and returning our residents securely to their homes in the south and the north,” he said. ‘Empty shells’ Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan meanwhile said there’s been no progress in ceasefire talks. He said on Saturday that the Palestinian group is still ready to discuss any truce proposal that ends the nearly nine-month assault. While the offensive focused on Gaza, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, one man was killed and five were wounded in an Israeli strike near the city of Tulkarem, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The armed wing of Hamas and the allied Palestinian Islamic Jihad reported fierce fighting in both Shujayea and Rafah, saying their fighters had fired antitank rockets and mortar bombs against Israeli forces operating there. Arab mediators’ efforts, backed by the United States, have stalled. Hamas says any deal must end the offensive and bring a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel says it will accept only temporary pauses in the fighting until Hamas, which has governed Gaza since 2007, is eradicated. The Palestinian health ministry said 43 bodies of slain Palestinians arrived at hospitals in the last 24-hour reporting period. At least 111 others were wounded. Israel’s offensive has so far killed at least 37,877 people, according to the Gaza health ministry, and has left the heavily built-up coastal enclave in ruins. Israeli tanks pushed deeper into several districts in the east, west and centre of Rafah, near the border with Egypt, on Sunday, and medics said six people had been killed in an Israeli strike on a house in Shaboura, in the heart of the city. Six bodies from the Zurub family were transferred to Nasser Hospital in the nearby city of Khan Younis, where dozens of relatives paid their respects. 🚨The Palestine Red Crescent crews retrieved the bodies of six martyrs from the Zourab family after their home was targeted by Israeli occupation forces in western Rafah, southern #Gaza Strip. 📷Filmed by PRCS volunteer: Mohamed Al-Saksik. pic.twitter.com/lpxJGfJaew — PRCS (@PalestineRCS) June 30, 2024 Residents said the Israeli army had torched the Al-Awda mosque in the centre of Rafah, one of the city’s best known. Israel has said its military operations in Rafah are aimed at eradicating the last armed battalions of Hamas. It continues to severely restrict the entry of much-needed humanitarian aid, medicine, and fuel into the enclave, which is on the verge of famine. The United Nations and other relief agencies have voiced alarm over the dire humanitarian crisis and the threat of starvation that the assault and Israeli siege have brought for Gaza’s 2.4 million people. “Everything is rubble,” said Louise Wateridge from the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), speaking Friday from the city of Khan Younis. “There’s no water there, there’s no sanitation, there’s no food. And now, people are living back in these buildings that are empty shells.” Adblock test (Why?)
What happens to JD Vance’s Senate seat if Trump chooses him as veep and wins re-election?
Should Sen. JD Vance get the nod from former President Trump to be his 2024 running mate and the ticket wins the White House in November, the Ohio Republican’s Senate seat will be in the hands of a decidedly non-MAGA GOP governor. Trump is expected to make an announcement on his selection by mid-July, and Vance is widely believed to be on his short list. If Vance trades in his Senate seat for the vice presidency, Gov. Mike DeWine, a fellow Republican, will choose who gets to finish his term. Vance hopes it happens. “I care a lot about national defense, I care a lot about whether the troops have what they need to fight,” Vance said on Fox News last week in a conversation related to him potentially serving as vice president. “I care a lot about, frankly, whether when we ask our kids to go to war, we ought to make sure it’s for the right reasons. And so you definitely think about those things, maybe a little bit differently, as a U.S. Marine.” THE VEEPSTAKES GOES ‘APPRENTICE’: WILL TRUMP REALLY PICK RUBIO, VANCE OR BURGUM? Vance could also be a powerful weapon against the Biden campaign, with Vice President Kamala Harris’ former communications director Ashley Etienne calling him the “greatest threat” in a vice presidential debate. “I think JD Vance would pose the greatest threat [to] Kamala Harris, in some respects. I mean he’s an incredible debater,” Etienne told CNN earlier this month. “I think he has this quality that makes him seem palpable to that one to two percent that actually might vote or that is undecided, that will actually pay attention to the debates because most people don’t pay attention to the debates.” TRUMP VP CONTENDER JD VANCE SAYS HE’S A ‘LITTLE BIT HARDER’ FOR BIDEN, OPPONENTS TO ATTACK DeWine will certainly select a fellow Republican to fill the vacant Senate seat if Vance does land on a winning ticket, but he is unlikely to choose as ardent a supporter of Trump’s agenda as Vance. DeWine has had a tepid relationship with Trump, even declining to outright endorse him in the 2024 election. For his part, Trump has slammed the GOP governor for various policies, such as vetoing a bill that banned transgender surgeries for minors last year. DeWine has remained relatively mum on his thoughts on Trump, treading carefully with his support of the 45th president without offering his full-throated backing. Trump did endorse DeWine in his 2018 gubernatorial election, and despite previous criticisms of the governor, Trump again endorsed him in his 2022 election. JD VANCE SLAMS NY V. TRUMP TRIAL AS DEM EFFORT TO DISTRACT THAT THE ‘WORLD IS ON FIRE’ UNDER BIDEN “We have an outstanding person running, Mike DeWine, who quietly, but professionally, goes about doing his job and really well,” Trump said at the time. Under the scenario of a Trump-Vance ticket winning the general election, DeWine has a bevy of Republican options, including both establishment Republicans and a handful of Trump-backed GOPers, such as Rep. Mike Carey, Ohio-based outlet The Plain Dealer reported last week. The governor’s office told Fox News Digital on Sunday when asked about any potential plans to fill a vacancy, that there’s currently “no vacancy on which to comment.” DeWine has multiple factors to consider if he is in fact tasked with filling the seat, including appointing someone with staying power who could retain the seat, The Plain Dealer highlighted. ‘GREATEST THREAT’: FORMER TOP KAMALA HARRIS AIDE REVEALS WHICH TRUMP VP PICK COULD SINK HER CANDIDACY The outlet reported that state Sen. Matt Dolan could be chosen as a potential Vance replacement, or Secretary of State Frank LaRose, or Jane Timken, who received endorsements from both Trump and establishment Republicans during her Senate campaign in 2022. Dolan and LaRose both ran in the GOP primary in an effort to unseat Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in the general, but lost to Trump-backed candidate Bernie Moreno. “If Sen. Vance is elected vice president, most Ohio Republicans in the know expect that Gov. DeWine will appoint a consensus Republican to his seat who will support President Trump’s priorities in Washington and not someone antagonistic to him,” an Ohio Republican operative told Fox News Digital, quelling concern of a potential clash between establishment Republicans and MAGA supporters. Vance has emerged as a strong supporter of Trump, landing him atop the list of likely running mates. The Republican senator in 2016, however, repeatedly slammed Trump, including comparing him to Hitler. The senator has since totally disavowed his comments, and underscored to voters that he’s unafraid to admit when he is wrong. TRUMP-BACKED SENATE CANDIDATE BERNIE MORENO VOWS TO ‘FINALLY RETIRE’ DEMOCRAT SHERROD BROWN “I go back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical a–-hole like Nixon who wouldn’t be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he’s America’s Hitler. How’s that for discouraging?” Vance wrote to an old friend in the winter of 2016. “I’m a Never Trump guy,” Vance said on a separate occasion during an interview with Charlie Rose in 2016. “I never liked him.” Vance has taken the previous comments head-on during interviews with the media, including during an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier earlier this month. INSIDERS PREDICT RUST BELT REPUBLICAN, POSSIBLE TRUMP VP PICK, COULD FLIP BIDEN VOTES IN KEY SWING STATES “Look, I was wrong about Donald Trump,” Vance said. “I didn’t think he was gonna be a good president, Bret. He was a great president. And it’s one of the reasons why I’m working so hard to make sure he gets a second term.” Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller also brushed off Vance’s previous comments, pointing Fox News Digital to Harris’ comments regarding President Biden before she was chosen as his running mate. “Kamala Harris described Joe Biden as a racist who opposed integration of public schools and more or less said that Biden palled around with a former leader of the KKK in Robert Byrd.
After Biden’s disastrous debate, campaign emails supporters on how to defend him: ‘Bedwetting brigade’
The Biden campaign sent out an email to supporters detailing how they can respond to their friends who are critical of President Biden’s debate performance. “If you’re like me, you’re getting lots of texts or calls from folks about the state of the race after Thursday,” reads the email. “Maybe it was your panicked aunt, your MAGA uncle, or some self-important podcasters. It’s a tough position to be in, so I thought it might be helpful to send you a few responses.” The email comes after last week’s first presidential debate between Biden and former President Trump, which resulted in widespread criticism of the president’s performance. BIDEN DEBATE DEBACLE: 10 EYE-OPENING MEDIA RESPONSES, FROM MSNBC PANIC TO ‘THE VIEW’ CALLING FOR REPLACEMENT “This was a game-changing debate in the sense that right now, as we speak, there is a deep, a wide and a very aggressive panic in the Democratic Party. It started minutes into the debate and it continues right now,” CNN’s John King said shortly after the debate was over. “It involves party strategists, it involves elected officials, it involves fundraisers. And they‘re having conversations about the president’s performance, which they think was dismal, which they think will hurt other people down the party in the ticket, and they‘re having conversations about what they should do about it.” In the aftermath of Biden’s performance, calls for the president to step aside and allow for a different nominee have continued to intensify, including from within his own party. While the campaign email acknowledges that “the debate started rough,” it argued that the real takeaway was that “voters saw what a threat Donald Trump is to the country.” BIDEN’S INNER CIRCLE SILENT AS PARTY REELS FOLLOWING ‘EMBARRASSING’ DEBATE PERFORMANCE The email encourages supporters to forcefully push back against those calling on the president to drop out of the race, accusing such critics of being part of the “bedwetting brigade.” “That is the best possible way for Donald Trump to win and us to lose,” the email argues. “Joe Biden is going to be the Democratic nominee, period. End of story. Voters voted. He won overwhelmingly.” The email goes on to argue that Biden dropping out “would lead to weeks of chaos,” which would include “internal foodfighting” and “a bunch of candidates who limp into a brutal floor fight at the convention.” “All while Donald Trump has time to speak to American voters uncontested,” the email continued. “All of that would be in service of a nominee who would go into a general election in the weakest possible position with zero dollars in their bank account. You want a highway to losing? It’s that.” The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
DeSantis touts results from anti-illegal immigrant moves, as ‘sanctuary’ cities struggle with migrant influx
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is touting results in his efforts to make sure Florida is not an attractive destination for illegal immigrants, as new data show that the state’s Medicaid spending on illegal immigrants has dropped sharply. State data obtained by Fox News Digital shows that in FY 2022-2023, $159 million in state and federal dollars went to Medicaid for immigrants. In May 2023, DeSantis signed a law that included a provision that requires hospitals to collect and submit data on the costs of providing health care to illegal immigrants, meaning they must ask patients their immigration status. That went into effect in July 2023, when the new fiscal year began for the state. So far in FY 23-24 as of May (with two months still remaining), the amount spent on Florida’s Emergency Medical Assistance program has dropped to $67 million, a drop of over 50%. MIGRANT MEDICAID COSTS CUT IN HALF IN FLORIDA FOLLOWING DESANTIS’ POLICY CHANGE: REPORT The data was first reported by Politico, which noted the connection between the law and the drop in Medicaid spending. While patients aren’t forced to answer, activists warned that it could have a chilling effect on immigrants seeking medical care. Illegal immigrants are not eligible for Medicaid under federal law, but states are required to provide care in an emergency. The bill DeSantis signed included other provisions designed to make Florida less welcoming for those who have entered illegally. They include mandatory E-Verify, a ban on NGOs and local governments issuing IDs to illegal immigrants, moves to suspend licenses of employers who employ illegal immigrants, and more money for a transport program to move illegal immigrants to “sanctuary” jurisdictions. In remarks on “Hannity,” DeSantis noted he had already banned “sanctuary” jurisdictions in Florida, but took more action when President Biden entered the White House. “We knew we’d get no support from the federal government. So we’ve had to do all these different things at the state level to be able to deter illegal immigration into our state,” he said. He also connected the law to the drop in Medicaid spending: “We made sure when you have people show up at the hospital that we’re asking about immigration status, and that’s caused the Medicaid expenditures to plummet by 50%,” he said. In remarks to reporters he noted other moves, including increasing enforcement to the southern Florida coast to stop illegal immigrants getting in by boat, transports of migrants to places like Martha’s Vineyard and sending troops to Texas to help stop illegal immigration. MAYORKAS MOVES TO SHIELD HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS FROM DEPORTATION BACK TO TROUBLED CARIBBEAN NATION He also noted legislation that prevented driver’s licenses given to illegal immigrants in other states from being recognized in the Sunshine State. “So we’ve been able to do a lot on that to deter people from wanting to come,” he said. The moves have sparked outrage from immigration activists, who say the moves are cruel and anti-immigrant. Meanwhile, some businesses have said they have seen an exodus of workers, which is hurting their bottom line in industries like agriculture. “Maybe they think the crops are gonna pick themselves,” one business owner told NPR in April. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS But while places like Miami have traditionally been a key arrival point for illegal immigrants, Florida has avoided some of the hazards connected to the migrant crisis that have left some blue cities and states struggling. Last week, Mass. Gov. Maura Healey sent officials to the border to warn migrants that the state’s shelter system is full and cannot accept new arrivals. Healey had declared a state of emergency last year over the crisis. Elsewhere, cities like New York City, Boston and Chicago have pleaded with the federal government to give them more funding and migrants expedited work permits in order to alleviate the burdens that the surge in new arrivals has caused. Those cities and states have often stressed their more welcoming approach to migrants, and have even in some cases admitted it may be encouraging migration. The moves tap into a national debate over how to handle illegal immigration. The Biden administration has taken measures to make the process at the border more orderly, in a way it says is more in line with U.S. values. It has called for Congress to provide more funding and sweeping immigration reforms to make that happen. Republicans, meanwhile, have blamed the administration for fueling the crisis with its policies, and have called for stricter border security and limits on entry into the United States.
Fauci says Biden’s bid for second term is ‘an individual choice,’ recalls ‘positive’ experience with president
Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday spoke about President Biden’s age following the president’s much-criticized debate performance against former President Trump. Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, appeared on ABC’s “This Week” and was asked about whether Biden, who is 81 years old, should be running for re-election. “You know, I think it’s just an individual choice, and you really can’t generalize,” Fauci said. Fauci, who helped lead the nation’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, said one must look at each person as an individual and evaluate “how they feel, what they feel they can do.” BIDEN REPORTEDLY HUMILIATED BY DEBATE PERFORMANCE, LACKS CONFIDENCE: ‘IT’S A MESS’ “You know, what their passion is, what their energy is,” Fauci said. “Those are the kind of things.” When asked if he was surprised by anything he saw during Thursday’s presidential debate, Fauci said he did not want to comment on anything that “would have political implications.” He added that what he felt comfortable speaking about were his “very positive” dealings with Biden during their time working together. “He asks probing questions. He’s right on point on things,” Fauci said of Biden, without going into detail on specific instances. “So my personal experience has been quite positive with him.” BIDEN DEBATE DEBACLE: 10 EYE-OPENING MEDIA RESPONSES, FROM MSNBC PANIC TO ‘THE VIEW’ CALLING FOR REPLACEMENT With a raspy voice and delivering rambling answers, Biden struggled during portions of Thursday night’s debate. He also lost his train of thought several times, raising concerns among some Democrats and in the media. In the wake of the debate, both The New York Times and Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial boards have called on Biden to step down as the Democratic nominee. The Democratic National Committee, however, has said it will continue to support Biden as the nominee. Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
Fmr top Dems rally behind Biden amid dropout calls, claim debate performance was due to ‘preparation overload’
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and former House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., rallied behind President Biden during television appearances Sunday, saying he should remain in the race despite his disastrous debate performance. The lawmakers admitted during appearances on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Biden had a “bad night” Thursday, but both rejected the growing calls for him to drop out of the race. Pelosi claimed he only struggled due to former President Trump’s on-stage “lies,” while Clyburn argued his poor performance was merely due to “preparation overload.” CNN host Dana Bash opened her interview with Pelosi by citing a poll showing that 72% of Americans believe Biden is no longer mentally capable of holding office. “Well, what do they think about the other guy?” Pelosi asked of voters. “Do they think that he has the integrity to be president after that performance? Let us not make a judgment about a presidency based on one debate.” BIDEN’S INNER CIRCLE SILENT AS PARTY REELS FOLLOWING ‘EMBARRASSING’ DEBATE PERFORMANCE “The fact is, the reaction to the lies of Donald Trump is something that… people are focusing on, and to have a debate where you have to spend half your time negating what he said because he knows nothing about the truth,” she added. “On one side of the screen you have integrity and on one side you have dishonesty.” Clyburn, who was the House assistant Democratic leader until last year, also brushed off Biden’s embarrassing debate in his interview with Bash, saying he has full confidence that Biden can both beat Trump in November and serve as the leader of the free world for four more years. BIDEN DEBATE DEBACLE: 10 EYE-OPENING MEDIA RESPONSES, FROM MSNBC PANIC TO ‘THE VIEW’ CALLING FOR REPLACEMENT “I do not believe that Joe Biden has a problem leading for the next four years, because he’s done a great job of leading for the past three years,” he said. “Joe Biden should continue to run on his record.” Clyburn went on to acknowledge that Biden had a “bad performance” on Thursday, but offered his own explanation for why it happened. BATTLEGROUND DEMOCRATS LEAVE BIDEN HIGH AND DRY AFTER ‘DISASTROUS’ DEBATE PERFORMANCE “I’ve been around these things. I’ve been a part of debate preparation before, and I know when I see what I call preparation overload,” he said. “That’s exactly what was going on the other night. I saw Joe Biden grappling for words and phrases and even numbers that he was loaded up with. But today he arrived in North Carolina, he was freewheeling and he captivated the audience.” Biden has faced growing calls to drop out of the presidential race after his performance on Thursday. The New York Times editorial board argued that him staying in the race would be a “reckless gamble.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial board made a similar argument, calling on Biden to drop out “for the good of the nation.” So far, the formal pressure on Biden to drop out has all been external, however. Like Pelosi and Clyburn, top Democrats in Congress and across the country remain publicly supportive of his presidential bid.