Despite ties to defendants, Texas Supreme Court justice didn’t recuse himself from sex abuse case
Two decades ago, John Devine worked with the law firm of Paul Pressler and Jared Woodfill, later defendants in a Southern Baptist abuse case.
House committee asks Columbia for records of foreign donations, DEI and more in antisemitism probe
House Education and the Workforce Committee Chair Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., sent a letter to Columbia University on Monday asking for documents and information relevant to Congress’ investigation into soaring antisemitism at American college campuses that reached a fever pitch in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. The 16-page letter, addressed to Columbia University President Dr. Minouche Shafik, Columbia Trustees Co-Chairs David Greenwald and Claire Shipman, Barnard College President Dr. Laura Rosenbury, and Barnard College Board of Trustees Chair Cheryl Glicker Milstein, provided examples of how, as Foxx categorized it, “an environment of pervasive antisemitism has been documented at Columbia for more than two decades before the October 7, 2023, terrorist attack.” The documents and information requested are said to relate to “Columbia University’s response to antisemitism on its campus and its failure to protect Jewish students, faculty, and staff.” “Columbia has consistently allowed anti-Israel groups to violate university policies and shown its commitments on antisemitism to be hollow,” Foxx wrote. HOUSE COMMITTEE THREATENS HARVARD SUBPOENA, ACCUSES IVY LEAGUE SCHOOL OF ‘OBSTRUCTING’ ANTISEMITISM PROBE The committee is seeking all reports of antisemitic acts or incidents and related documents and communications made to Columbia administration since Jan. 1, 2021, as well as information about the university’s own policies and procedures about how the prestigious New York City institution is supposed to deal with discrimination and harassment. Included on the list of 25 specific items sought by the committee were all documents and communications “relating to or reflecting sources of funding for Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine, Columbia-Barnard Jewish Voice for Peace, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, Columbia Law Students for Palestine, Columbia Social Workers 4 Palestine, and Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine, including, but not limited to university, departmental, faculty, and student organization funds, as well as foreign donations.” Foxx is also seeking documents showing the annual total amount of foreign donations and funding (including but not limited to governmental bodies, nongovernmental organizations, and private individuals) to Columbia since Jan. 1, 2021, by country; documents sufficient to show all foreign donations and funding to Columbia of $50,000 or more since Jan. 1, 2021; and documents sufficient to show all donations and funding to Columbia from Qatari sources (including but not limited to the Qatar Foundation, governmental bodies, nongovernmental organizations whether incorporated in Qatar or elsewhere, and private individuals) since Jan. 1, 2021. Besides information on foreign funding of anti-Israel protests, Foxx is also seeking communications related to any efforts by Columbia students, faculty and staff to engage in the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel since Jan. 1, 2021, as well as Columbia’s budget mandates for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs. In her letter, Foxx cited “numerous incidents of antisemitic assaults, harassment, and vandalism at Columbia,” over the past several months, including incidents of Jewish students being beaten or targeted by demonstrators who tore down posters of Israelis taken hostage by Hamas militants. ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS CLASH WITH NYPD OFFICERS IN FIERY SCUFFLE THAT LED TO ARRESTS: ‘NYPD, BURN IN HELL’ The letter asks the university to provide communications related to a list of specific incidents aimed at Columbia students, faculty, staff and any other affiliates since Oct. 7, including, but not limited to those directed at an Israeli student outside Columbia’s library on Oct. 11, a Jewish Columbia Law student on Oct. 19, an Israeli Columbia student on Oct. 24, and a Jewish student in a campus dining hall on Nov. 9. Chants have called for death to Jews and student email threads have similarly wished for death to Israel Defense Forces veterans on campus. The letter also noted how “numerous Columbia faculty have made antisemitic remarks and statements of support for Palestinian terrorism both prior to and after the October 7, 2023, terrorist attack.” Some of the most egregious examples, the letter said, included professor of modern Arab politics Joseph Massad penning an article after the Oct. 7 attack comparing the “Palestinian resistance” to “Europeans resisting the Nazi occupation” and also referring to Israel as “cruel colonizers” and the Palestinian Authority as “the collaborator PA.” Massad is also accused of espousing antisemitic tropes, including calling the Israeli military “baby-killing Zionist Jewish volunteers for Israeli Jewish supremacy,” labeling Israelis “cruel and bloodthirsty colonizers,” and saying Zionism is a “genocidal cult.” The letter also cited how another university employee, Hamid Dabashi, Columbia’s Hagop Kevorkian professor of Iranian studies and comparative literature, had made numerous virulently antisemitic statements dating back years, including deeming Israel “a racist, apartheid state.” While Columbia suspended its campus chapters of the anti-Israel groups Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) on Nov. 10, 2023, the letter asserted that “the university has repeatedly failed to enforce this decision and has allowed these groups and others to hold unauthorized antisemitic, anti-Israel events without consequence,” the letter said. Foxx said that stands at odds with Shafik’s Oct. 9, 2023, commitment that “our first priority has been to make sure everyone connected to Columbia is safe” and Columbia’s statement that “President Shafik has repeatedly said that we will not tolerate antisemitic actions and are moving forcefully against antisemitic threats, images, and other violations as they are reported.”
Vulnerable House Dem backpedals after refusing to condemn phrase seen as calling for ‘extermination’ of Jews
FIRST ON FOX: A House Democrat facing what is expected to be a tough re-election battle refused to condemn a controversial phrase defined as code for the “extermination” of Israel during a clash on social media with her Republican opponent. Last week, Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Conn., who has previously broken with many in her party to denounce antisemitism, got into a fierce back-and-forth with Republican House hopeful George Logan, who questioned where she stood on the phrase “from the river to the sea,” a common phrase being chanted by anti-Israel protesters amid the largely Jewish nation’s war against Hamas terrorists. Logan first referenced the phrase by noting President Biden’s education secretary, Miguel Cardona, had declined to say whether the chant was antisemitic while speaking with reporters at a briefing earlier this month. SWING DISTRICT DEMOCRAT WITH CLOSE TIES TO LARGEST TEACHERS UNION SILENT ON CALLS TO RESCIND BIDEN ENDORSEMENT “Theres nothing unclear about ‘from the River to the Sea.’ This is an antisemitic chant promoting the destruction of Israel. As a member of [the House Committee on Education & the Workforce], where does [Hayes] stand?” Logan wrote on X. “STOP George,” Hayes responded. “You have no moral high ground. You’ve been completely silent about Trump and your MAGA cronies hateful antisemitic tropes. I’m not playing this game with you – people are dying. Stop using this topic as a political game. Count me out!” ‘SQUAD’S’ JAMAAL BOWMAN HONORED RADICAL BLACK ACTIVIST, CONVICTED MURDERER ON MIDDLE SCHOOL’S ‘WALL OF HONOR’ Republican strategist Liz Kurantowicz responded to Hayes, blasting her for not answering the question and declaring that calls for the destruction of Israel were “not a game.” “Same thing to you Liz- just stop! Trump called people vermin and is modeling dictators and you’ve been SILENT! And yes, I met with Muslim constituents & Jewish constituents who have been devastated by the events in Oct 7th. If George lived in the 5th- I’d meet with him too,” Hayes wrote back, throwing a jab at Logan by accusing him of not residing in Connecticut’s 5th Congressional District. Hayes told Fox News Digital, “I have never used that phrase. The fact that it invokes so much pain is enough for me. My voting record denouncing antisemitism is clear. I condemn antisemitism in any form. I will not engage with Logan or any of the [Connecticut] GOP in using Israel or this crisis as a political game.” Nathan Sales, a former counterterrorism official, told Fox News last year that when pro-Palestinian protesters chant “Palestine from the river to the sea,” they are really calling for the “extermination of the Jewish state.” “They think that Israel shouldn’t exist at all,” Sales told “Sunday Night in America.” “This is exterminationist rhetoric and our First Amendment means that we have to tolerate this kind of speech, but the antidote for that kind of abhorrent speech is more speech. We need to expose what these Hamas sympathizers are really all about.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Hayes is running unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Logan, who lost to Hayes during the 2022 midterms, is hoping for a general election rematch in November. His only opponent in the GOP primary is public sector worker Michelle Botelho. Election analysts largely view the race for Connecticut’s 5th Congressional District as “leans Democratic.” Fox News’ Maria Lencki contributed to this report. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
North Carolina Gov. Cooper signs executive order to conserve 1M acres of forests and wetlands
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said a series of environmental directives and goals he initiated to protect and restore forests and wetlands in the state will help counter climate change and aid the economy. Cooper signed an executive order on Monday that in part sets statewide targets for governments and private land-protection groups by 2040 to both “permanently conserve” 1 million acres of forests and wetlands and to restore 1 million new acres of similar lands. The governor also wants 1 million new trees planted in urban areas by 2040. Cooper’s office called the executive action the most significant by a governor to protect the state’s ecosystems since then-Gov. Jim Hunt’s “Million Acre Initiative” for land preservation was announced in 1999. PLANS FOR MINE NEAR GEORGIA WILDLIFE REFUGE PROCEED, ENVIRONMENTALISTS CALL IT A ‘DEATH WARRANT’ “As our state continues to grow, we must be mindful to conserve and protect our natural resources,” Cooper said in a news release following the order’s signing at Falls Lake State Recreation Area east of Durham. The plan, he added, “will help us leave our state better than we found it for generations to come.” Among other items, the order from Cooper, a Democrat in his final year as governor, also directed state agencies to use plants and seeds in landscaping projects that are native to the Southeast, with a preference for North Carolina-native plants. He told agencies to seek federal funding to preserve wetlands that improve the state’s resiliency to flooding and water quality. Several environmental and conservation groups praised Cooper’s order. Some of them said it would help counteract a 2023 state law that when combined with a U.S. Supreme Court decision weakens the regulation of wetlands. Cooper’s action “recognizes how vital wetlands are to North Carolina’s people and wildlife, fisheries and flood protection,” Mary Maclean Asbill with the Southern Environmental Law Center said in a separate news release. Cooper’s office said the order’s goals and directives seek to implement recommendations in a 2020 “natural and working lands action plan” authored by several state offices and departments.
White House says it was Biden’s idea to hold press conference after release of special counsel’s report
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre revealed Tuesday that it was President Biden’s idea to hold what has since become a widely criticized press conference following the release of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report on his handling of classified documents. Jean-Pierre, speaking at the White House press briefing, said “it was the president’s idea” to appear last Thursday in front of the media to defend himself from the findings in Hur’s report, which described the 81-year-old as a “sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.” During the barrage of questions, Biden at one point raised his voice at a reporter and later made a gaffe by referring to Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi as the “president of Mexico.” “He wanted to, it was his idea,” Jean-Pierre said when asked Tuesday about how the unexpected event came to be. She then deflected when a reporter asked “did anyone advise him against it?” BIDEN BLISTERED BY MAINSTREAM MEDIA AFTER ‘DISASTER’ PRESS CONFERENCE “I’m not going to get into private conversations that the president has. The president is the president of the United States,” Jean-Pierre shot back. “If he says he wants to speak to directly to the American people, he’s going to do that.” She also said Tuesday that the White House counsel is looking into the public release of the transcripts of Biden’s conversations with Hur. BIDEN LASHES OUT AT REPORTERS ASKING ABOUT AGE CONCERNS AFTER SPECIAL COUNSEL REPORT At the press conference last week, Biden appeared visibly angered when responding to claims in Hur’s report that Biden did not remember when his son Beau died. Hur, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Biden’s handling of classified documents, concluded he would not bring charges against him in part because a jury would find him to be a “sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory,” despite the acknowledgment that the documents were “willfully” obtained by Biden both as vice president and as a senator. The press conference has since been panned by the media, with outlets such as Axios calling it a “vivid display of an elderly, irritable man struggling on a public stage.” Fox News’ Jeffrey Clark and Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
Stefanik demands New York AG Letitia James be disbarred over Trump case
House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., is calling for New York Attorney General Letita James to be disbarred over her handling of the Trump Organization civil fraud trial, according to a letter obtained by Fox News Digital. Stefanik filed an ethics complaint against James with New York state’s Committee on Professional Standards on Tuesday and accused the Democratic official of weaponizing political bias against former President Trump. “New York Attorney General Letitia James violated the Rules of Professional Conduct by conducting a biased investigation and prosecution of President Trump and by attacking President Trump through extrajudicial statements during a trial,” Stefanik wrote. TRUMP ATTORNEY SOUNDS ALARM ON NY AG LETITIA JAMES AMID CIVIL FRAUD CASE: ‘SHE CAMPAIGNED ON TRUMP’ “In just the first five weeks of the trial that began in October 2023 – before I stopped counting – Ms. James made over 50 highly inappropriate and prejudicial comments on social media. This complaint respectfully requests that the Attorney Grievance Committee conduct an investigation and issue an immediate interim suspension, disbar Ms. James as an attorney and counselor-at-law, or suspend Ms. James.” She accused James of having “pursued a personal vendetta against President Trump since he first was elected” to the White House. WATCH: TRUMP LAYS INTO ‘CORRUPT’ NEW YORK AG LETITIA JAMES FOR BEING ‘STUCK’ OFF CAMPAIGN TRAIL AT FRAUD TRIAL James had made clear even before taking office as attorney general in 2019 that she had her sights set on Trump. During her 2018 election night party, she vowed to shine light in “every dark corner of his real estate dealings, and every dealing, demanding truthfulness at every turn.” Last month, as part of her ongoing trial, James called for $370 million in fines against the former president and his co-defendants, as well as a total ban on his participation in New York’s real estate industry. TRUMP UNLOADS ON JUDGE, NY AG FOR TARGETING HIM ‘FOR POLITICAL REASONS’ DURING UNPRECEDENTED TESTIMONY “It’s been her explicit mission since she announced her run for office to go after President Trump. Such behavior not only undermines the integrity of the legal process but also violates the Rules of Professional Conduct to which James, as a licensed attorney, is bound,” Stefanik told Fox News Digital. “While all Americans possess the right to express their opinions on matters of public interest, attorneys – particularly state attorneys general – are held to a higher standard due to their unique role as officers of the court. Her conduct not only constitutes a breach of her professional responsibilities but also risks irreparable harm to the public’s already eroding trust in our legal institutions.” Stefanik, the No. 3 House Republican, is among Trump’s most vocal allies in Congress. She has also generated speculation as a potential vice presidential pick for the former president’s re-election campaign.
Wisconsin’s GOP-led Legislature makes second attempt to draw maps before Supreme Court does
Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled Senate is taking another shot Tuesday at passing a new legislative map before the liberal-controlled state Supreme Court does it. It marks the second time in less than a month that the Legislature has tried to enact new Senate and Assembly boundaries before the court issues its order drawing the lines. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoed the Legislature’s last attempt, which was based on maps he proposed but that made changes to protect Republican incumbents. This time, GOP legislative leaders are talking about passing the Evers maps without any changes. When asked last week if he would sign his own maps, Evers responded “Why not?” while also voicing skepticism that the Legislature would actually approve them. WISCONSIN REPUBLICANS WOULD MAINTAIN MAJORITY IN PROPOSED LEGISLATIVE MAPS, BUT WITH REDUCED DOMINANCE The political stakes are huge in the presidential battleground state, where Republicans have had a firm grip on the Legislature since 2011 even as Democrats have won statewide elections, including for governor in 2018 and 2022. Consultants hired by the Wisconsin Supreme Court last week said that maps submitted by the Republican Legislature and a conservative law firm were gerrymandered. They did not raise concerns about any of the four Democratic-drawn maps, including one submitted by Evers, but left the question of constitutionality to the state Supreme Court. Analyses of the Evers maps show they would likely greatly reduce Republican majorities in the Legislature, which stand at 64-35 in the Assembly and 22-10 in the Senate. WISCONSIN CONSULTANTS LABEL GOP’S REDISTRICTING MAP PROPOSALS AS GERRYMANDERS The consultants determined that the four remaining maps were virtually the same, and that they or the court could tweak them to bolster how well each map meets certain criteria, including contiguity, political balance and the preservation of communities of interest. The state elections commission has said the new maps must be in place by March 15 in order to meet deadlines for candidates running for office in November. Litigation continues in more than a dozen states over U.S. House and state legislative districts that were enacted after the 2020 census. The Wisconsin Supreme Court also has been asked by Democrats to take up a challenge to the state’s congressional district lines. The lawsuit argues that the court’s decision to order new state legislative maps opens the door to challenging the congressional map. Republicans hold six of the state’s eight congressional seats.
Mayors want work permits extended to keep migrants employed, receive new asylum seekers
More than 40 mayors and county executives from around the country are calling on the federal government to extend work authorizations for illegal migrants, saying that without the measures thousands will lose their jobs, businesses will suffer and districts will find it harder to cater to new asylum seekers. The elected officials – which include New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson – wrote a letter on Monday to Department of Homeland Security Secretary (DHS) Alejandro Mayorkas and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Ur Jaddou, calling for automatic extensions for existing work permits of at least 540 days. Historically, migrants have been granted a 180-day grace period if their Employment Authorization Document (EAD) renewal application is still pending. In 2022, USCIS extended the 180-day grace period to 540 days due to lengthy processing delays. MAYORKAS DUCKS RESPONSIBILITY ON BORDER CRISIS, MIGRANT FIGURES: ‘CONGRESS IS THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN FIX THIS’ That extension expired on Oct. 26 and now the mayors are requesting a “permanent automatic extension of work authorization” in the form of an interim final rule that extends work permits for 540 days or longer. “Without this, hundreds of thousands of immigrant workers will lose their work authorization, businesses will lose staff, and our cities and counties will face an increasing challenge to provide shelter to the public,” the mayors and county executives wrote. “If DHS does not address this impending crisis, local economies will suffer additional harm in the face of large job losses.” DENVER MAYOR BLAMES REPUBLICANS AND TRUMP FOR $5M CUTS TO PAY FOR MIGRANT CRISIS The signees wrote that local businesses are still struggling to address the current labor shortage and cannot handle further disruptions to their operations by losing immigrant workers. “We are concerned that the lengthy delays in adjudicating renewal applications for work authorization have not improved.” They wrote that as of June 2023, there were approximately 263,000 EAD renewal applications pending. Given these delays, they wrote, hundreds of thousands of immigrants will likely experience a lapse in their work authorization in the coming months. “As a result, cities and counties are bracing for similar events to transpire, and we are already hearing from businesses who may soon be forced to lay off their workers until their renewed EADs arrive.” The officials also wrote that if extensions are not granted it will “significantly impact our ability to receive newly arrived asylum seekers.” “Cities and counties across the United States are quickly running out of shelter space. If hundreds of thousands of already-employed immigrants lose their jobs, they are likely to lose their homes, and this will result in cities and counties experiencing even greater difficulty providing shelter space and additional services to the public,” the letter reads. “If DHS does not implement a permanent change to the automatic extension, any temporary extension should be for a period of no less than three years, to allow sufficient time for USCIS to work through the extensive work permit renewal backlog. We ask that you act swiftly so that the communities we represent do not experience the destabilizing effects of immigrant workers falling out of the workforce.” The signees are part of a group called the Cities For Action (C4A), made up of nearly 180 U.S. mayors and county executives who advocate for “humane immigration policies that strengthen their cities and reflect the nation’s values of inclusion and opportunity.” Adams, who has criticized the federal government’s response to the crisis, saying it would destroy New York City, said the migrants have a right to work in the Big Apple. At least 170,000 illegal migrants have arrived in New York since the spring of 2022. “New York City thrives on the diverse and dedicated contributions of these community members and stripping people of their right to work is simply un-American,” Adams said in a statement accompanying the letter. “I’m hopeful the federal government acts swiftly to protect the stability and security of hundreds of thousands of immigrant workers and their families.” CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Meanwhile, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, who last week announced cuts to public services to help fund the cost of his city’s migrant crisis, also signed the letter. About 40,000 migrants, mostly from Venezuela, have arrived in Denver over the past year, and more than 3,500 are living in city-funded hotel rooms, according to the Colorado Sun. “Over the past few weeks, Denver has seen record-high numbers of migrants arriving in our city, and very few have the ability to work and make a living for their families,” said Johnston. “This has created simultaneous humanitarian and fiscal crises for our city, forcing us to look at significant budget cuts and reduction in services. We know that the ability for migrants to work is critical to Denver’s success, and it is imperative that DHS take immediate action to prevent even more migrants from losing their work authorization.”
South Dakota Gov. Noem fills 2 legislative seats after state Supreme Court ruling on conflicts of interest
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has filled two legislative seats, one of them empty for months as she sought and awaited a state Supreme Court opinion on legislator conflicts of interest. Last fall, Noem had asked the high court to weigh in on legislator conflicts of interests related to state contracts after a state senator resigned her seat and agreed to a settlement to pay back about $500,000 of federal coronavirus aid she received for her preschool business. The court heard oral arguments last month in a rare meeting of the three branches of state government, and issued its its opinion on Friday, backed 4-1 by the justices. KRISTI NOEM SHARES VISION FOR AMERICA IN NEW BOOK AMID SPECULATION ABOUT RUNNING AS TRUMP’S VP Justice Mark Salter wrote: “The contract restriction stated in (the South Dakota Constitution) is not a categorical bar on all contracts funded by the State. Instead, it prohibits a legislator, or former legislator within one year following the expiration of the legislator’s term, from being interested, directly or indirectly, in contracts that are authorized by laws passed during the legislator’s term.” Top Republicans in South Dakota’s GOP-led Legislature welcomed the opinion for providing clarification. They don’t expect upheaval for the Legislature. “It looks to me like a sound decision rooted in the plain meaning of (the constitutional provision),” said Republican House Majority Leader Will Mortenson, an attorney. “It means that legislators can still have driver’s licenses, they can still get park passes, and that it’s still illegal for the Legislature to pass a law and then turn around and get a contract based on it.” SOUTH DAKOTA GOV. NOEM SEEKS TO BOLSTER TEXAS SECURITY EFFORTS AT US-MEXICO BORDER Republican Senate President Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck, also an attorney, said he isn’t aware of a lawmaker who has a conflict under the court’s opinion. In a statement Friday, Noem said: “The court acted swiftly to provide clarity for both the executive and legislative branches, and we are grateful for their work.” On Saturday, Noem named former state representative Kristin Conzet, a business owner in Rapid City, to a vacant House seat. On Monday, the governor appointed Mike Walsh, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and retired law enforcement officer in Box Elder who runs a polygraph examinations and background investigations business, to the Senate seat. South Dakota’s ongoing legislative session began last month.
Meet 5 Democrats who have been floated as possible Biden replacements
The scrutiny aimed at President Biden following the damaging report released last week by Special Counsel Robert Hur has breathed new life into the belief Democrats will ultimately replace him as the party’s nominee ahead of the 2024 general election. In building his argument for why no charges were recommended following an investigation into Biden’s mishandling of classified documents, Hur detailed in part that Biden’s defense of any potential charges could possibly be that, “Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” The report cited examples when investigators said the president’s memory lapsed, including over when his older son Beau had died, and caused a heightened level of concern among Democrats who previously backed the president despite Republican attacks on his ability to serve. Here are five of the top names being mentioned as potential replacements for Biden should he decide — or is pressured — not to run for a second term: BIDEN TAKS JAB AT HUR REPORT WITH JOKE ABOUT HIS MEMORY, RETURNS AFTER SPEECH: ‘ONE MORE THING I FORGOT’ Newsom has, perhaps, been the most often mentioned name as a potential presidential nominee given his outspoken criticism of national Republican figures, as well as his high-profile clash with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at a debate hosted by Fox News last year. Democrat strategists and members of the media continually mention him as a future presidential hopeful, but that future could come sooner rather than later should Biden’s plans change. Douglas Schoen, a former advisor to President Clinton, wrote in an op-ed last summer that Newsom “wants to run for president in 2024,” but was backing Biden for re-election to garner support for himself. BIDEN’S MEMORY STRUGGLES COULD IMPERIL NATIONAL SECURITY, DEFENSE EXPERTS WARN: ‘NOT ONLY WEAK BUT CONFUSED’ “Gavin Newsom wants to run for president in 2024, that much is clear. The California governor would not be campaigning for President Joe Biden in red states with 16 months until the presidential election if he wasn’t trying to prove his own political bona fides and build a future base of national support for himself,” he wrote. Harris’ presidential ambitions have been known since her first unsuccessful run for the White House in 2020, when she failed to gain support over her Democrat primary opponents, including Biden. Despite her low approval rating and frequent gaffes as vice president, she continues to insist she’s “ready to serve” as commander-in-chief if necessary. GOP SENATOR FUMES OVER BIDEN ADMIN PROVIDING VETERAN MEDICAL RESOURCES TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS Media figures have also mentioned her as a potential replacement for Biden, including the hosts of ABC’s daytime gabfest, “The View,” who suggested she could be a better nominee than Biden following the Hur report. “Why not the vice president? Why wouldn’t Democrats put up the vice president?” one host said. Obama has been one of the more surprising names floated as a potential replacement for Biden, considering her lack of political experience, although the same could have been said for former President Donald Trump during his first White House run. Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, one of the first to float the theory that Obama would replace Biden, doubled down following the release of the Hur report. He has been joined by other media figures and former officials. WATCH: SUPER BOWL AD FEATURES MARINE DRILL INSTRUCTOR RUNNING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS THROUGH BOOT CAMP “The main obstacle stopping the Democratic Party is they have a Kamala Harris problem, which is to say that if they do sideline Biden, the natural person normally that would be the nominee, could be the vice president of that same sitting president. But that vice president is unable, I think, to effectively carry forward that job,” Ramaswamy told Fox News Digital. “If race and gender are your basis for selecting someone for a job, and the identity of your party is tied to that temple of identity politics, then they will risk looking hypocritical if they sideline her after they sideline Biden. And I do think Michelle Obama offers them a convenient path out of that problem,” he added. Despite declining a run for the White House this year, Whitmer appeared to leave the door open for a future presidential run after her convincing re-election win during the 2022 midterm elections, a year that was expected to be a difficult one for Democrats. Whitmer first gained popularity during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, which later turned into a sharp divide over how she handled lockdowns in her state. Nonetheless, it put her on the charts as a national player in Democrat politics. TREASURY CONFIRMS TERMS LIKE ‘MAGA,’ ‘TRUMP,’ ‘KAMALA,’ ‘BIDEN’ USED IN PRIVATE BANK TRANSACTION SEARCHES In Nov., “Real Time” host Bill Maher took a swipe at Whitmer, accusing her of running a “shadow campaign” for president during an interview with Biden primary challenger Dean Phillips, but did not say what made him believe that. Phillips told Maher that before he decided to run for president against Biden, he unsuccessfully tried to recruit Whitmer, saying she would make an “outstanding president.” Beshear has been seen as a rising star within the party given his status as one of the most popular governors in the country, despite being a Democrat leading a red state. That status grew following a big re-election win last year over then-Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who was considered a rising GOP star. Multiple former officials and people familiar with Beshear’s rise told Fox News Digital following his election victory last year that he would be someone to watch as a national political player for Democrats, and didn’t rule out any future aspirations. Those sources cited Beshear’s ability to connect across party lines and bring Republicans and Democrats into his policy fold as something the nation was looking for amid a staunch political divide. Media outlets across the country also sang Beshear’s praises following his