Ex-Karnataka CM Jagdish Shettar quits Congress to return to BJP
Shettar cited his long association with the BJP, and said many of his well-wishers wanted him to join back the party.
Maine’s top court won’t rule on Trump ballot eligibility until Supreme Court decision in Colorado
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court decided Wednesday evening it will not move forward on whether former President Trump can stay on the state’s ballot until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a similar case barring Trump from the ballot in Colorado. The state’s top court decided unanimously to dismiss Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ appeal of an order requiring her to wait for the Supreme Court’s decision before withdrawing, modifying or upholding her decision to keep Trump off the ballot on Super Tuesday in March. “The Secretary of State suggests that there is irreparable harm because a delay in certainty about whether Trump’s name should appear on the primary ballot will result in voter confusion. This uncertainty is, however, precisely what guides our decision not to undertake immediate appellate review in this particular case,” the court said. MAINE SUPERIOR COURT ISSUES A STAY ON STATE’S DECISION TO BAR TRUMP FROM PRIMARY BALLOT Bellows decided in December to remove the former president from the primary ballot after deeming him ineligible under the insurrection clause in the Constitution, but a judge put her decision on hold pending the outcome in Colorado. Trump, who is the Republican frontrunner in the presidential race, said that Bellows should have recused herself and accused her of being biased against him. He also said her decision disenfranchised voters in Maine and plays into a larger effort by some Democrats to keep him off the ballot. Bellows claimed she was obligated to make a decision after several residents of Maine challenged Trump’s right to be on the ballot, but vowed she would ultimately abide by a court’s ruling. MAINE OFFICIAL APPEALS HER REMOVAL OF TRUMP FROM VOTING BALLOTS TO STATE’S TOP COURT The Supreme Court has never ruled on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which is a post-Civil War clause prohibiting anyone who “engaged in insurrection” from holding office. Some people contend Trump’s role in attempting to overturn his loss to President Biden in the 2020 presidential election and the events that took place at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, qualify as an insurrection. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in the Colorado case on Feb. 8. Super Tuesday will take place in about six weeks on March 5. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
‘Focus on merit’: Oregon county axes diversity office that cost nearly $1 million a year
Officials in an Oregon county are dismantling their nearly $830,000 a year diversity, equity and inclusion office, despite outcry from those who oppose rolling back social justice initiatives. “[We] believed that it was really important to focus on merit, fairness and equality, not to racialize the workplace and the county,” Clackamas County Commissioner Ben West told Fox News. “We didn’t want that in our county any longer.” UNIVERSITY QUIETLY DROPS FACULTY DEI REQUIREMENTS IN FREE SPEECH ‘VICTORY,’ CIVIL RIGHTS ORG SAYS Clackamas County’s equity efforts began in 2004 with a volunteer advisory council. Then in 2020, as racial justice protests swept the nation — and raged for more than 100 consecutive nights in nearby Portland — the county created a three-person Equity and Inclusion Office. County Commissioner Mark Shull proposed defunding the office last spring, calling it an “unnecessary expense” that “only foments friction.” This month, the county’s administrator sent a memo to employees announcing the office would dissolve as of Feb. 5. Its two full-time positions are being transferred to other departments. One position will focus on the county’s compliance with federal and state civil rights laws, while the other will support “community engagement and communications efforts that are accessible and inclusive for all populations,” according to the email, which was shared with Fox News. ‘LET THIS SERVE AS A WARNING’: ANARCHISTS CLAIM RESPONSIBILITY FOR BURNING CAR OUTSIDE CITY LEADER’S HOME Reaction has been mixed. Last August, residents both in favor of and in opposition to cutting the DEI department packed a county commissioners meeting. Some taunted West as he tried to speak, according to local news reports. At least five Clackamas County mayors previously signed onto an open letter urging the commissioners to expand equity and inclusion efforts, not cut them. More than 700 other community members, business owners, organizations and politicians also signed the letter. “This is not about a budget, it’s not about a financial crisis — it’s about racism, sexism and all the things that this country is trying to overcome,” Emmett Wheatfall, a former Clackamas County diversity manager, told The Oregonian last year. Wheatfall retired in 2019, before the county established its new equity office. WATCH MORE FOX NEWS DIGITAL ORIGINALS HERE Clackamas County is one of three counties that make up the Portland metro area. While its residents lean Democratic, they have favored Republican gubernatorial candidates in the past several elections. West — who was a plaintiff in the case that made gay marriage legal in Oregon and has a Black son — said the move demonstrates the county’s commitment to a “diversity of ideas” rather than identity politics. “We value you regardless of your immutable traits,” West said. “Those are not the things that make you unique and special to Clackamas County. It’s that individual spark inside you that does, that makes you a person.” The DEI field saw a surge in popularity during the political unrest following George Floyd’s killing in 2020. Numerous universities, companies and government offices have rolled back their diversity initiatives in recent months. To hear more from West, click here.
Unrest in JDU-RJD alliance in Bihar? Lalu Yadav’s daughter Rohini ‘takes a dig’ at Nitish after ‘parivaarvad’ swipe
During a speech on Wednesday, Bihar Chief Minister and JDU president Nitish Kumar praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for awarding Bharat Ratna to Karpoori Thakur while simultaneously criticising dynastic politics.
GOP AGs take aim at Dem plea for Biden to shut down critical ammo manufacturer: ‘litany of errors’
FIRST ON FOX – Every republican attorney general in the country blasted their Democrat counterparts for attempting to shutter an ammunition factory in Missouri, a letter sent to the White House Wednesday revealed. In a letter obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital, all 28 GOP attorneys general asked President Biden and White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention director Stefanie Feldman to disregard their Democrat colleagues’ request to end commercial sales from Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, one of the country’s largest ammo manufacturers. Democrats had previously asked the administration to investigate the contracting and manufacturing practices of the plant after a New York Times report alleged that “military-grade rounds” were sold commercially and were connected to mass shootings. But the Republicans say the Democrats’ letter contained a “litany of errors.” “Perhaps those States should focus more on prosecuting crime to stop mass shootings—rather than trying to stop lawful Americans’ use of guns and ammunition. Their tactic is an overt attempt to punish Americans’ exercise of their Second Amendment rights,” they wrote. FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS CALIFORNIA FIREARMS CARRY LAW, CALLING IT ‘SWEEPING, REPUGNANT TO THE SECOND AMENDMENT’ Among the list of “errors” the GOP AGs point out that their Democrat colleages allege that ammunition manufactured for “military use” does not belong in communities. “First, the ammunition manufactured at Lake City and sold into the commercial market is not the primary rifle cartridge used by the United States military. The primary cartridge is proprietary to the Army and may not be sold commercially,” the AGs note. “Second, while the United States military purchases and uses a particular type of ammunition, that is not determinative as to whether it is “military ammunition” that should be banned for public use,” they write. “If the United States military using ammunition precluded that ammunition’s use by civilians, then other widely and commonly available ammunition, including 9mm and 12-gauge shotshells, would also be prohibited for public use,” they argued, adding that Supreme Court precedent “does not support such an openly artificial distinction.” TRUMP TO HEADLINE ‘MOMENTOUS’ NRA EVENT AHEAD OF KEY PRIMARY SHOWDOWN According to the state’s top prosecutors, Lake City only sells ammunition to commercial customers that is legal to manufacture, and it complies with all the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) requirements. The AGs argued that the Democrats’ efforts would undermine national security. “Gun control advocates are firing blanks when they contend that taxpayers are subsidizing mass shooters. They get causality backward. The law-abiding target shooters and gun owners who buy Lake City ammunition are subsidizing national defense and military readiness,” they argue. They note that the Defense Department “sought to avoid a situation when the military needs surge due to a real-world conflict, ammunition is not readily available,” adding that ammunition availability requires facilities, production equipment, a skilled workforce, and supply chains to remain in constant operation. “Machines and production cannot be turned on like the flip of a switch. It takes time to hire and train the highly skilled workers needed to operate production lines to manufacture the highest quality ammunition for U.S. warfighters. Commercial production has allowed Lake City, and its suppliers, to maintain steady labor, maximize equipment run time, ensure a stable supply base, and provide a level of readiness to the U.S. military that would not otherwise be available,” they added. The attorneys general also said that Lake City cannot halt commercial use without a “detrimental loss” to their communities and economy. If it stopped, the AGs allege it would result in an estimated loss of 500–700 jobs or 30%–45% of the skilled workforce now employed at Lake City and “countless more” throughout the supply chain. FEDERAL JUDGE RULES IT UNCONSTITUTIONAL TO BAN GUNS FROM POST OFFICES “Do not be fooled. The anti-gun radicals leading this effort are not honest brokers interested in public safety,” they said. “Gun control advocates want to criminalize making ammunition even while many push back against prosecuting criminals that fire weapons.” “Perpetrators of gun violence should be punished—not the firearm and ammunition manufacturers,” they said. Montana Attorney General Austen Knudsen in a statement to Fox News Digital called the investigation by the New York Times “highly questionable” and, their latest effort to shut down the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant is based on a highly questionable ‘investigation’ by the New York Times.” Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird charged that “if the Biden Administration and anti-gun activists were serious about saving lives, they would start by enforcing the laws on the books to combat violent criminals.” Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey echoed those sentiments, adding that “Lake City Ammunition did nothing wrong.” “We should be focused on the free flow of illegal weapons coming across our border – not taking aim at law-abiding patriots,” Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita said, adding that the border crisis “is exactly why law-abiding citizens need the liberty to defend themselves.”
Hunter Biden business associate to testify on Biden’s alleged role in China deals amid impeachment inquiry
Hunter Biden’s business associate involved in his dealings with Chinese energy company CEFC is expected to appear for a closed-door transcribed interview Thursday morning before the House Oversight and Judiciary committees. Mervyn Yan, who worked with the first son on deals with Chinese energy company CEFC, was subpoenaed last November to appear as part of the House impeachment inquiry against President Biden. He is expected to appear at 10 a.m. on Capitol Hill. JOE BIDEN RECEIVED $40K IN ‘LAUNDERED CHINA MONEY’ FROM BROTHER IN 2017, COMER SAYS House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer and Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan notified Yan of his subpoena and explained the reason for compelling his appearance. “President Biden has received money originating from China via James and Hunter Biden, individuals with whom your client has previously engaged in business,” Comer and Jordan wrote to Yan’s attorney. “James Biden maintained a business relationship with Hunter Biden, and the two engaged in several business deals, including a deal with Chinese energy company CEFC China Energy (CEFC), which is closely ties to the Chinese Communist Party through its founder, Chairman Ye Jianming.” Fox News Digital first reported on the funds transferred to Joe Biden in November. Comer said the “money trail” began in July 2017 when Hunter Biden demanded a $10 million payment from a CEFC associate. In a WhatsApp message, Hunter Biden “was sitting with his father and that the Biden network would turn on his associate if he didn’t pony up the money,” Comer said. Hunter Biden in the WhatsApp message allegedly told a Chinese business associate from Chinese energy company CEFC that he and his father would ensure “you will regret not following my direction.” Hunter requested the $10 million wire for his joint-venture with CEFC called SinoHawk Holdings. “I am sitting here with my father, and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled,” Hunter Biden told Henry Zhao, the director of Chinese asset management firm Harvest Fund Management. “And, Z, if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang or the chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction.” Zhao responded, in part, “CEFC is willing to cooperate with the family.” HUNTER BIDEN REQUESTED KEYS FOR NEW ‘OFFICE MATES’ JOE BIDEN, CHINESE ‘EMISSARY’ TO CEFC CHAIRMAN, EMAILS SHOW The Oversight Committee then obtained bank records that showed on Aug. 8, 2017, the $5 million in funds were sent to Hudson West III, a joint venture established by Hunter Biden and CEFC associate Gongwen Dong. The same day, Hudson West III sent $400,000 to Owasco PC — a separate entity controlled and owned by Hunter Biden, Comer said. Days later, on Aug. 14, 2017, the records show Hunter Biden wired $150,000 to Lion Hall Group, a company owned by James Biden and his wife, Sara Biden. By Aug. 28, 2017, Comer said Sara Biden withdrew $50,000 in cash from Lion Hall Group and later deposited it into her and James Biden’s personal checking account. Sara Biden wrote a check to Joe Biden a few days later for $40,000, with a memo line of the check reading “loan repayment.” While President Biden has maintained he was never in business with his son, text messages obtained by Fox News Digital in 2020 revealed that in May 2017 he met with Hunter’s business associates for the Sinohawk venture, specifically Tony Bobulinski. The meeting on May 2, 2017, would have taken place just 11 days before a May 13, 2017, email obtained by Fox News in 2020 that included a discussion of “remuneration packages” for six people in the business deal with CEFC. HUNTER DEMANDED $10M FROM CHINESE ENERGY FIRM BECAUSE ‘BIDENS ARE THE BEST,’ HAVE ‘CONNECTIONS’ The email includes a note that “Hunter has some office expectations he will elaborate.” A proposed equity split references “20” for “H” and “10 held by H for the big guy?” with no further details. The “big guy” has been said to be a reference to President Biden. Also, Fox News Digital in December 2020 reported that Hunter Biden, his CEFC associate, Gongwen Dong, and Joe Biden shared office space in Washington, D.C., in September 2017. Meanwhile, Comer and Jordan, in demanding Yan’s testimony, said they expect he will “provide evidence that is relevant to the impeachment inquiry,” specifically related to his “knowledge of how James Biden and Hunter Biden operated their businesses and structured their financial transactions, and your client may also know whether and how President Biden has been involved in his family’s business dealings.” FLASHBACK: HUNTER BIDEN IN 2017 SENT ‘BEST WISHES’ FROM ‘ENTIRE BIDEN FAMILY’ TO CHINA FIRM CHAIRMAN, REQUESTED $10M WIRE Comer and Jordan also said Yan could be in a position to provide information on whether Joe Biden, as vice president or as president, “took any official action or effected any change in government policy because of money or other things of value provided to himself or his family, including whether concerns that Chinese sources may release additional evidence about their business relationships with the Biden family have had any impact on official acts performed by President Biden or U.S. foreign policy.” They also said he may provide evidence of whether Joe Biden “abused his office of public trust by providing foreign interests with access to him and his office in exchange for payments to his family or him” or “abused his office of public trust by knowingly participating in a scheme to enrich himself or his family by giving foreign interests the impression that they would receive access to him and his office in exchange for payments to his family or him.” Yan’s transcribed interview is expected to take place a day before Hunter Biden business associate Rob Walker appears for testimony and weeks before Hunter Biden appears for his deposition. Biden defied his subpoena
What’s next for Tim Scott: Trump’s running mate or possible 2028 run?
Sen. Tim Scott says potentially serving as Donald Trump’s running mate in November if the former president wins the 2024 Republican nomination is “not on my mind.” But the GOP lawmaker from South Carolina isn’t ruling out another White House run — or another Senate re-election campaign — in 2028. Although his presidential campaign failed to ignite, Scott remains popular with Republican primary voters, and his endorsement had been heavily coveted by the remaining GOP candidates. Scott traveled to New Hampshire Friday to publicly back Trump, who is the frontrunner in the Republican race as he makes his third straight White House run. TRUMP RUNNING MATE SPECULATION SOARS AS FORMER PRESIDENT MOVES CLOSER TO LOCKING UP THE 2024 NOMINATION The senator returned to New Hampshire Monday and Tuesday to campaign on behalf of Trump, who won the primary by 11 points over former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, his last remaining major rival for the nomination. RNC CHAIR MCDANIEL SAYS ITS TIME REPUBLICANS UNITE AROUND TRUMP The GOP nomination race now heads to Haley and Scott’s home state, which on Feb. 24 holds the next major primary on the Republican calendar. “I look forward to spending a lot of time at home. A lot of time campaigning throughout the great Palmetto State. A lot of time talking about why we should have four more years of Donald Trump,” Scott said in a Fox News Digital interview Tuesday. “In my opinion, the faster we coalesce around Donald Trump, the better the country will be.” The senator’s endorsement and teaming up with Trump has sparked further speculation Scott could potentially serve as the former president’s running mate. But Scott insisted it’s “still not on my mind.” “The only thing on my mind is making sure President Trump is our next president. Getting inflation back down. Getting gas prices back down. Reducing the cost of food and increasing the level of enthusiasm and the level of law and order in our country,” he added. Scott downplayed running-mate talk as he dropped out of the race two months ago. But a source in the senator’s political orbit told Fox News Saturday that Scott hasn’t ruled out serving as Trump’s vice presidential nominee if Trump locks up the nomination in the weeks ahead. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Scott remains in the conversation for running mate,” the source added. In his Fox News Digital interview, Scott didn’t rule out another run for the White House. “You know, ‘28’s not that far away. We’ll see what happens by making sure that we’re successful in ‘24,” he said. When he convincingly won re-election in 2022, Scott said it would be his last Senate campaign. But Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, told Fox News Tuesday that “every day I hear from a lot of South Carolinians asking me to reconsider and run again. And, so, you have to listen to your voters moving forward. We’ll see what happens.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Hispanic community leader reveals reason behind Soros’ expensive effort to reverse Dems’ Texas losing streak
One Hispanic community leader in South Texas has a simple theory on why liberal billionaire George Soros is investing heavily to reverse Democrats’ losing streak in the Lone Star State: “They’re absolutely scared.” Speaking with Fox News Digital, Mayra Flores, a former Republican congresswoman and the first Mexican-born woman to serve in the House of Representatives, said Soros’ pouring money into the state in a bid to boost Democrat turnout in 2024 was because he didn’t want Republican Hispanic leaders, such as herself, to win over other Hispanics who have traditionally voted blue. Flores was referencing the Texas Majority PAC, a group being partially bankrolled by Soros working to build up progressive infrastructure across Texas in an attempt to elect more Democrats. ARIZONA GOP CHAIR RESIGNS, CLAIMING KARI LAKE’S EXPLOSIVE RECORDING WAS A ‘SET UP’; LAKE CAMPAIGN FIRES BACK “They’re seeing that Hispanics are shifting towards the Republican Party because they’re realizing that we are the party of prosperity, that we want to build a strong economy, that we want to secure the border, that we want to prioritize the people of this country and not prioritize people from outside this country. And I believe that it’s our policies that are winning people over, and the struggle is real,” she said. “George Soros and the Democratic Party are seeing people like myself that resonate with the Hispanic community. They resonate with me. I resonate with them. We have similar stories. I’m bilingual. I speak Spanish and English. We have similar stories, and we share that bond,” she added. A recent report by The Texas Tribune said the group is being run by former staffers from Democrat Beto O’Rourke’s failed campaign for governor and that it had raised nearly $2.25 million last year. RECORD GOP TURNOUT, CALLS FOR HALEY TO LEAVE RACE ROUND OUT TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM THE NEW HAMPSHIRE PRIMARIES According to a Fox News Digital analysis of Texas Majority PAC’s Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings, Soros has given $850,000 as of Dec. 27, $750,000 of which he gave during the first half of 2023 when the group only raised $752,040. In the Tribune’s report, the PAC’s deputy director said that contributions were intended to help local Democrat groups register, contact and turnout voters “on a scale never seen before.” They have the work cut out for them, as Democrats have tried, but failed, to gain traction in a number of major state-wide races in addition to O’Rourke’s 2022 bid. TIM SCOTT SETS CROWD ALIVE WITH ONE-LINER AFTER TRUMP SAYS HE ‘MUST REALLY HATE’ HALEY The closest they came was in 2018, when O’Rourke, a former El Paso area congressman, ran for Senate against incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. In a year with high Democrat turnout as a backlash to the presidency of former President Donald Trump, O’Rourke came within three points of beating Cruz. In 2020, Democrats thought they had another shot at taking out an incumbent Republican, Sen. John Cornyn, with Air Force veteran M.J. Hegar. However, she lost by nearly 10 points. Now Democrats hope to utilize Texas Majority PAC to try and take out Cruz again, who is up for re-election to a third term this year, but, according to Flores, the shift toward Republicans among Hispanics has only been growing stronger and its putting fear into Democrats’ hearts. “They’re scared. They’re absolutely scared. And they don’t want Republican Hispanics like myself to win over other Hispanics. And they know that we’re moving that shift every cycle,” Flores, who is running to win back her seat in Texas’ 34th Congressional District, told Fox. She was ousted following Texas’ redistricting ahead of the 2022 midterms, losing to Democrat Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, but says the shift toward the GOP in the heavily-Hispanic district will bode well for her chances this year. “The American people right now are struggling to pay their rent and their mortgage. They’re a paycheck away from being homeless, and they remember what it was like under the Trump administration. They know that when he was in office, they had more money in their pockets,” Flores said. “Right now they’re not enjoying their money. Their money is going into all the bills and interest rates. They’re not able to enjoy life. And that’s not the American dream,” she added. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Lack of enthusiasm for Biden among New Hampshire Dems could spell trouble for his reelection bid: strategists
A recent Fox News Voter Analysis survey revealed that some Democrats in New Hampshire aren’t too excited about the prospect of President Biden serving as their party’s nominee in the 2024 presidential election, posing what could be significant challenges to his reelection bid. The Fox News Voter Analysis, a survey of more than 900 New Hampshire Democrat primary voters, was released Wednesday. More than half (55%) of the respondents said they would be satisfied with Biden as the eventual Democrat nominee, with 13% saying they would be dissatisfied enough that they would not support him in the November election. Iowa and New Hampshire have historically been the first states in the Democrats’ election process. However, Biden and the DNC attempted to change the primary calendar this year to kick off with South Carolina, a state that propelled the president to victory in 2020, to try and increase racial diversity in the election process. That decision created a rift between national Democrats and Democrat voters in the battleground state, which has favored left-leaning candidates in recent national elections. BIDEN WINS NEW HAMPSHIRE DEMOCRAT PRIMARY AFTER WRITE-IN CAMPAIGN Biden won New Hampshire in the 2020 presidential election, depriving then-President Trump of the state’s four electoral votes. Voters in the state also maintained their support for the Democratic Party in the 2016 election, when then-candidate Hillary Clinton narrowly defeated Trump to earn the electoral votes. Prior to Biden’s write-in primary victory in the Granite State on Tuesday night, the Democratic National Committee called the New Hampshire Democratic Party’s primary process “detrimental.” Highlighting the findings from the Fox News Voter Analysis, Colin Reed, a Republican strategist and co-founder of South and Hill Strategies, told Fox News Digital that it “comes as no surprise given [Biden’s] disdain toward the state.” Referencing Biden’s “humiliating fifth-place finish” in the New Hampshire Democrat primary election a little less than four years ago, Reed said, “Biden has been hell-bent on punishing New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary. Even worse was the willingness of New Hampshire Democrats and their state party to stand idly by as their president and party insiders destroyed a long and storied tradition.” The findings from the survey, according to another political strategist, show that Democrats in the state “are not particularly excited about another Biden-Harris term” and could possibly stay at home on Election Day. “New Hampshirites tend to be very practical, level-headed people. They realize that Joe Biden is far too old and lacks the cognitive abilities to be president of the United States,” Kristin Tate, a Republican strategist and columnist for The Messenger, told Fox News Digital. “At the same time, folks in New Hampshire (including registered Democrats) look around and see that every aspect of American life has degraded under the Biden administration. Inflation is still high, our southern border is wide open, and war is breaking out around the globe.” NEW HAMPSHIRE VOTERS FRUSTRATED WITH BIDEN, DNC FOR SKIPPING STATE: ‘WON’T GIVE US THE TIME OF DAY’ “Democrats should be worried. Their core voters strongly dislike Donald Trump but are not particularly excited about another Biden-Harris term,” Tate added. “Ultimately, some percentage of those voters may end up just staying home on voting day. Given how thin the margins were in 2020, this could make all the difference in the outcome of the 2024 election.” In addition to economic hardships, Tate, who has grown to understand the inner workings of New Hampshire politics throughout the years, suggested Granite State residents could be turned off by another Biden term in the White House after “seeing the impacts” of the crisis that has unfolded at the southern border. “For the first time in my lifetime, I am hearing New Hampshire residents talking about the border crisis with a heightened level of concern,” she said. “Until recently, the open border was mostly a theoretical discussion for most East Coasters. But now that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is sending thousands of migrants to East Coast areas, including Boston, residents in the Northeast are seeing the impacts of the border crisis firsthand.” Despite what some Republicans believe should be a concern for Biden as he moves forward in his bid for a second consecutive term in the White House, Kevin Walling, a Democrat campaign strategist and former Biden 2020 campaign surrogate, believes Biden will ultimately receive support from a near totality of Democrats in New Hampshire. Given the stakes of a Trump-Biden rematch this year, Walling said he believes “many of those 13% of Democratic primary voters will come home to the Biden-Harris ticket.” Other recent Fox News Voter Analysis findings revealed that 53% of Republican primary voters would be satisfied with Trump as their nominee, with 35% dissatisfied enough not to vote for him. Due to those findings, Walling believes it’s Republicans, not Democrats, that should be worried ahead of the 2024 presidential election. “That should be a flashing red light to the RNC and GOP strategists and doesn’t even factor in the high number of unregistered and independent voters who turned out last night in support of former Gov. Nikki Haley; that said they would back Biden if it becomes a 2020 rematch,” he said. 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.
Sen Tuberville says ‘Trump understands’ school choice will be a ‘focal point’ of 2024 election
FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., has been in talks with former President Trump about the issue of school choice and parental rights, he told Fox News Digital in an interview Wednesday night. Tuberville said the former president “understands” how big of an issue school choice for parents will be in this year’s presidential election as public schools continue to “fail” students, despite the U.S. spending more money per student than most countries in the world. “I’ve talked to President Trump about it, and I think it should be a big focal point in the election,” Tuberville said. “He knows it, and that it’ll be a big factor,” he continued. “And I think parents resonate with that. The last thing I told the parents was: Voices need to be heard. And this needs to be spread, it can’t be a dozen parents, and it’s got to be parents all over the country.” Tuberville, the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Children and Families, hosted a roundtable Wednesday afternoon with GOP Sens. Katie Britt of Alabama, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Ted Budd of North Carolina and Eric Schmitt of Missouri, along with a dozen parents from across the country. Topics like ethnic studies and critical race theory (CRT), boys and girls sports, and how test scores have plummeted after the COVID-19 pandemic were discussed during the roundtable that also marked National School Choice Week. School choice, which provides all families with alternatives to the public schools for which they’re zoned, can be expanded through multiple avenues at the state level, including school voucher programs, tax-credit scholarship programs, individual tuition tax credit programs and deductions, and education savings accounts. These programs can be limited to certain households based on an income threshold or other factors, or they can be expanded universally to all children. BIDEN’S BORDER CRISIS EXPOSES A TOXIC EDUCATION SYSTEM Tuberville said that despite significant federal funding for public schools, it “goes into buildings and teachers’ unions” but not into “the minds of the students.” According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in the 2019-2020 school year, the U.S. spent $870 billion on public elementary and secondary schools. “Basically, this is about parents in charge of their kids,” Tuberville said. “We’re not teaching reading, science and history as much as we should be. They’re more concerned about a social justice agenda in the school.” One of the attendees, Sonja Shaw, the president of Chino Valley Unified School Board in Southern California and a mother of three, agreed that school choice will be a big ballot issue for parents casting a vote this year. “I do because CRT is still a huge issue, and this ties into CRT, it’s just packaged differently,” Shaw told Fox News Digital. “I think the more awareness that we bring, it’s going to bring light, and then just like you’ve seen with parental rights, I just think it’s a matter of parents exposing it.” California became a battleground state for parental rights and school choice issues in local politics last year. Shaw said this is because California is the blue “pilot” for what other state school programs will inevitably follow. OBAMA JUDGE RULES CRT TRAININGS CAN VIOLATE FEDERAL LAW AFTER IT TRAUMATIZED WHITE TEACHER “Whatever’s in California, they’re going to put it everywhere else, it’s just a matter of time,” she said. One of the biggest issues that swept several school boards across the Golden State last year was the parental notification policy that requires schools to disclose to parents if their child identifies as transgender. Shaw’s district was one of the few to implement the policy, and they received backlash from the governor’s office for it. Following Chino Valley’s adoption of the policy, California Attorney General Rob Bonta launched an investigation into the district for “potential legal violations.” Meanwhile, Gov. Gavin Newsom also threatened to sue another Southern California school district for refusing to teach a social studies course that included controversial gay rights activist Harvey Milk. However, it’s not just California in the education fight. Dozens of bills have been introduced in other states — including Arizona, Indiana, Arkansas and others — to establish stronger parental rights policies in public schools. Popularity for school choice is also on the rise. According to ACE Scholarships, a nonprofit committed to helping parents access better education options for their school-age children through private school partnerships, a record 14,090 scholarships were awarded to K-12 children across the country through its program for the 2023-2024 school year. Recently, Republican governors made significant inroads in pushing universal school choice legislation, which did not exist anywhere in the country a few years ago. Nine states have enacted universal school choice, with state Republicans leading the effort. Trump routinely touted school choice during his presidency, once calling it the civil rights issue of “all-time in this country,” and he signed an executive order on Expanding Educational Opportunity Through School Choice toward the end of his term. Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump campaign for comment. Fox News’ Brandon Gillespie and Joshua Q. Nelson contributed to this report.