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Maryland GOP Senate candidate Larry Hogan lines up with Biden on abortion, would codify Roe

Maryland GOP Senate candidate Larry Hogan lines up with Biden on abortion, would codify Roe

Maryland Republican Senate nominee Larry Hogan says in a new ad he would codify Roe v. Wade into federal law if elected, allying himself with President Biden on abortion. In the 30-second ad spot, first reported by Politico, the former Maryland governor says, “no one should come between a woman and her doctor.”  “I’m Larry Hogan. As governor, I promised to uphold Maryland law on abortion while providing over-the-counter birth control covered by insurance, and I kept my word,” Hogan says, facing the camera. “Today, with Roe overturned, many have asked what I’ll do in the United States Senate. I’ll support legislation that makes Roe the law of the land in every state so every woman can make her own choice,” he says. LARRY HOGAN WINS REPUBLICAN SENATE PRIMARY IN MARYLAND; GOP AIMS TO FLIP DEMOCRATIC-HELD SEAT Hogan, a moderate former two-term Republican governor, is vying to succeed retiring longtime Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin in blue-state Maryland. His position on abortion, clarified in interviews last week, puts Hogan to the left of most of his party on abortion. Republicans in several states have sought to strengthen abortion restrictions or ban the procedure since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, declaring there is no right to abortion protected by the Constitution.  Democrats, including Biden, have hammered the GOP on the issue, claiming that abortion restrictions deny women healthcare options and that former President Trump would enact a federal abortion ban if he wins in November. Trump has denied the charge and said states should be left to determine their own abortion laws, so long as they contain exceptions for rape, incest and medical emergencies that threaten the life of the mother.  Biden has repeatedly called on Congress to codify Roe into law, which would invalidate state abortion restrictions supported by many Republicans and pro-life Americans.  REPUBLICAN AIMING TO FLIP KEY SENATE SEAT IN DARK BLUE STATE GETS PRAISE FROM THESE TOP DEMS Hogan told the New York Times in an interview last Thursday he supports “restoring Roe as the law of the land” and referred to himself as “pro-choice.” In a follow-up interview with the Washington Post, Hogan, who was raised Catholic, said he is personally against the procedure, but his position that the government should protect abortion rights “wasn’t really a major transformation.”  The latest Fox News Poll shows that the issue of abortion is the biggest single issue among self-described Democrats (24%), suburban women (24%), self-described very liberals (23%), Black voters (17%), those with a college degree (17%), and voters under age 30 (16%).  Democrats are on defense as they fight to keep 23 of the 34 seats up for grabs in November, with their slim 51-49 majority in the Senate at risk. Republicans are targeting three of those seats in states that former President Trump easily carried in 2020 — Ohio, Montana and West Virginia, where Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is not running for re-election. Five more are in crucial general election battleground states.  SIX SENATE SEATS THE GOP AIMS TO FLIP IN NOVEMBER’S ELECTIONS Polls indicate that Hogan remains very popular with Maryland voters, and his late entry in February into the Senate race to succeed longtime Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin gave Democrats an unexpected headache. It will force them to spend time and resources to defend an open seat in a state that was previously considered safe territory. The Democratic Senate nominee in Maryland, Angela Alsobrooks, hopes to make history as the Old Line State’s first Black senator.  Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Democrats plan assault on Trump’s VP pool, mock ‘MAGA Veepstakes’: report

Democrats plan assault on Trump’s VP pool, mock ‘MAGA Veepstakes’: report

Democrats are planning a media assault on former President Trump’s large group of potential running mate picks, hoping to paint the group as extremist, “ultra-MAGA” Republicans. Trump has offered few clues about who he intends to select, leaving the group of roughly a half-dozen major candidates pushing to set themselves apart. Democrats are looking to paint the candidates with the same brush, however, arguing they would all effectively be the same, Axios reported Wednesday. The Democrats, with their reported “Trump’s MAGA Veepstakes” plan, look to focus on key issues like election denial, abortion, healthcare and tax cuts. No major Trump VP candidates have split with him regarding his view of the outcome of the 2020 election, and Republicans remain widely supportive of the tax cuts under the Trump administration. Trump has backed down somewhat on abortion, balking at Republicans who support a federal 15 or 20-week abortion ban. He instead argues each individual state should be allowed to determine its own abortion laws. TRUMP VEEP STAKES: THE PROS AND CONS OF SOUTH DAKOTA GOV. KRISTI NOEM Democrats are universally pushing to re-impose Roe v. Wade’s standards through federal legislation, however. WATCH: POSSIBLE TRUMP VP PICK MAKES MAJOR PREDICTION ABOUT BLACK VOTERS AS BIDEN BLEEDS SUPPORT Top contenders for Trump’s VP pick have adopted a number of strategies to stand out. Some, like North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Vivek Ramaswamy, have gone so far as to attend Trump’s New York criminal trial in Manhattan. A number of other big names have been floated to join Trump on the Republican ticket, including South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. TRUMP’S POTENTIAL RUNNING MATES TO COMPETE FOR APPROVAL AT MAJOR CHRISTIAN CONFERENCE AS SPECULATION SWIRLS Trump, who spent most of the past month sitting on trial in a New York City courtroom while President Biden and Vice President Harris are free to hit the campaign trail, is still weighing his running mate options. He suggested last week he might even wait until the July Republican National Convention in Milwaukee to name his pick. Trump and Biden agreed to plans for a debate, however, and those plans include a clash between Harris and Trump’s eventual running mate.

White House accuses GOP of siding ‘with fentanyl traffickers’ by opposing border bill

White House accuses GOP of siding ‘with fentanyl traffickers’ by opposing border bill

FIRST ON FOX: The White House is taking aim at congressional Republicans, claiming that the GOP “sided with fentanyl traffickers’ by opposing a bipartisan border deal earlier this year — days before the bill is again due to hit the Senate, where it will likely face stiff GOP opposition.  The White House is touting the legislation, which would provide funding for border operations, and includes a mechanism to stop entries into the U.S. when encounters reach a certain level. The bill failed a test vote in February, by a vote of 49-50, short of the 60 votes needed to proceed. But, in a letter to senators dated Sunday evening, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., revealed his plan to bring the bill to the floor again. At the heart of the bill is a new temporary emergency border authority to mandate Title 42-style expulsions of migrants when migration levels exceed 5,000 a day over a seven-day rolling average. It also narrows asylum eligibility while expediting the process, provides additional work permits for asylum seekers and funds a massive increase in staffing and other resources at the border. Conservatives have rejected it, saying it doesn’t go far enough and would regularize already-high levels of illegal immigration. But the Biden administration has consistently thrown its support behind the bill, saying it will give the administration a greater ability to tackle the border crisis, and has accused Republicans of rejecting the bill for political purposes. REPUBLICANS UNITE TO BLOCK WHITE HOUSE AND SCHUMER BACKED ‘FAKE BORDER BILL’  In a memo, obtained first by Fox News Digital, Senior Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said that President Biden has made cracking down on fentanyl a top priority, and said the legislation would make significant steps in tackling the smuggling of the deadly illicit drug across the border. “And fighting back against the spread of illegal fentanyl is one of many compelling reasons to support the toughest, fairest bipartisan border security legislation in modern history,” he said. Illicit fentanyl is predominantly created in Mexico using Chinese precursors and then smuggled across the U.S. land border. Bates highlighted provisions in the bill that he said would fund 100 machines to detect fentanyl in vehicles attempting to cross into the U.S. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS “The bill also provides for hiring thousands of new law enforcement personnel at the border to operate those machines and work to stop fentanyl from entering our country and costing more innocent lives,” he said. He noted that supporters of the bill had spotlighted those measures when unveiling the deal, including Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla. Lankford was one of only four in his party to vote in favor of moving forward with the negotiated bill in February. It’s unclear if he would support it again.  “But instead of supporting legislation endorsed by the Border Patrol Union, congressional Republicans sided with fentanyl traffickers,” Bates wrote in the memo. “Rather than working across the aisle to stop fentanyl trafficking, most congressional Republicans stopped legislation to save American lives from fentanyl.” Bates accused Republicans of opposing the bill “sheerly out of politics” and under pressure from former President Donald Trump, and then teed up the vote in the Senate later this week. “So Congressional Republicans have to choose: will they again decide that politics is more important than stopping fentanyl traffickers and saving the lives of innocent constituents?” he said. “Joe Biden knows where he stands,” he added. TRUMP-ERA DHS OFFICIALS SLAM SENATE BILL AS ‘DISASTER’ FOR BORDER SECURITY Republicans have united against the bill, and have rejected claims that their opposition is political, arguing instead that the bill would lock in the existing historic crisis. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., last week discussed the potential revival of the measure, telling Fox News host Maria Bartiromo that Democrats weren’t operating in good faith during the negotiations.  “Democrats were always negotiating for political cover with their failed border bill,” he wrote on X.  “That will still be the case if they decide to bring it up again. It was an awful bill, that’s why it died within 24 hours of it being introduced,” he added.  “The fake border bill will fail, again, because it does nothing to seriously secure the border – just cement outrageous levels of illegal immigration,” wrote Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.  In a statement, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., and Republican conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., said, “Leader Schumer is trying give his vulnerable members cover by bringing a vote on a bill which has already failed once in the Senate because it would actually codify many of the disastrous Biden open border policies that created this crisis in the first place. They have instead called for the passage of border security legislation that was passed in the House last year. That bill would continue border wall funding, and shut down parole processes into the U.S. among other provisions. “If Senate Democrats were actually serious about solving the problem and ending the border catastrophe, they would bring up H.R. 2 and pass it this week,” they said.  Fox News’ Julia Johnson contributed to this report. 

Cornel West joins DC reparations protest against Wells Fargo Bank

Cornel West joins DC reparations protest against Wells Fargo Bank

EXCLUSIVE: Unaffiliated presidential candidate Cornel West joined a group of protesters picketing in front of Wells Fargo Bank in downtown Washington, D.C., on Tuesday afternoon – bolstering their demands for reparations.  West, who was initially running under the People’s Party banner before electing to run as an Independent, spoke to Fox News Digital after stopping by to offer support for the protesters.  West’s interaction with the assembled demonstrators suggested he joined the protest on a short deadline, as he said he planned to travel to Harlem, New York, for another event in the afternoon. West said reparations are a fundamental piece of his lifelong “quest for truth and justice.” CORNEL WEST CALLS OUT BIDEN’S PAST CONNECTIONS TO SEGREGATIONISTS, SAYS TRUMP IS ‘FLAWED’ ON RACIAL ISSUES “It’s been that way for 40 years, and we’ve had to keep track of all the financial institutions that played a role in terms of benefiting from that unbelievable, barbaric injustice,” he said of slavery.  “So it’s a question of truth; a condition of truth, as to who was allowed to suffer,” West said, adding that demonstrations like the one on Capitol Hill are a “matter of making sure that people are responsible for their actions.” “This is a way of putting pressure on any institution that benefited from that barbaric institution of slavery – and I’m blessed to be here with my precious brothers.” West, a longtime professor of philosophy and other disciplines at Harvard and Princeton universities, alleged banks like Wells Fargo also benefited from post-Jim Crow injustices. He mentioned the bank’s takeover of Wachovia Bank in 2008 just before he was whisked away by security staff. The bank – founded by Henry Wells and William Fargo in 1852 as an expediter of transactions in the New West during the California Gold Rush – has since grown nationwide and taken over other large firms like Wachovia and CoreStates. DR. CORNEL WEST SAYS HE ‘HATES’ BIDEN’S HYPOCRISY, NEOLIBERALISM AND VOWS TO CAMPAIGN IN PRO-TRUMP AREAS Wachovia, which integrated into Wells Fargo in 2008, found via a 2005 research project that two of its predecessor institutions owned slaves. Then-chairman Ken Thompson said Wachovia was “deeply saddened” by findings reported by NBC News at the time which indicted South Carolina’s defunct Bank of Charleston and the Georgia Railroad & Banking Company. When approached, several of the protesters declined to speak with Fox News Digital, but activist Truth Bey did take a moment to discuss why she joined the picketing. “We are trying to hold the banks accountable for being part of chattel slavery – to be point-blank, all of them were involved in chattel slavery,” Bey said. Bey went on to claim African Americans are the only racial or ethnic group that faced injustice and have yet to receive reparatory compensation in some form. She cited Holocaust survivors and their kin in Germany, as well as Japanese internment camp prisoners in the U.S. as two groups to whom governments have attempted to make amends. In 1942, Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive order that led to the internment of more than 100,000 Japanese Americans.  The Japanese Claims Act of 1948 later offered loss-of-property compensation – and in 1988, a 10-year-tenured office was established within the Justice Department to handle claims for what was a tax-free, $20,000 restitution payment, according to the U.S. National Archives. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP At the protest, other demonstrators who took the bullhorn said the remnants of big banks’ alleged cooperation with or involvement in the slave trade remain “parallel to our very lives today.” Several held signs reading, “We’re coming to get our check.” Eyewitnesses who declined to be identified claimed to have spotted someone waving a Black nationalist flag throughout the crowd of demonstrators.  In 2012, the Obama Justice Department reached a $184.3 million fair-lending settlement with the San Francisco-based banking behemoth, over findings that African American and Hispanic borrowers were charged higher fees or wrongfully entered into subprime loans. Requests for comment from the Washington, D.C., branch and Wells Fargo’s corporate office were not returned by press time. Fox News Digital’s Aubrie Spady and Andrew Murray contributed to this report.