JD Vance says Haley Stevens’ endorsement of GOP’s Mike Rogers will ‘certainly’ help Michigan Senate race
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Vice President JD Vance addressed Rep. Haley Stevens’, D-Mich., endorsement of GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers over his Democratic opponent, Abdul El-Sayed, saying that he believes the endorsement will “certainly” help Rogers in the midterm. Vance spoke to reporters at Joint Base Andrews following two rallies for GOP candidates in New York and Ohio, responding to a question from Fox News Digital about the impact that Stevens’ endorsement will have on the race. “I certainly think it helps,” Vance said. “I mean, the message is whether you’re a reasonable Democrat, a Republican, a conservative, an independent or just a liberal who loves the United States of America. El-Sayed is a crazy person and Mike Rogers is a patriot.” MICHIGAN DEM CLAIMS STEVENS SHOT DOWN ROGERS ENDORSEMENT RUMOR HOURS BEFORE TURNING ON EL-SAYED “I do think it drives home the message, maybe gives certain voters who, you know, wouldn’t normally vote for a Republican permission, knowing that the Democratic Congresswoman of Michigan is going to support Mike Rogers.” The vice president then emphasized that Rogers is a “good guy” and said he believes Michiganders are seeing El-Sayed as a “crazy guy” that would not be good for the state. EL SAYED’S LEFT-WING ALLIES ATTACK ‘EVIL’ STEVENS AFTER BOMBSHELL ROGERS ENDORSEMENT Stevens endorsed Rogers on Sunday, while taking a swipe at El-Sayed in the process. “Hey Michigan, as you may have seen, our Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, Abdul, said that I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away,” Stevens said. “And he’s right, and that’s why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today. I don’t belong in Abdul’s campaign.” MAMDANI, HASAN PIKER AMONG RADICAL LEFT-WING VOICES ERUPTING OVER HALEY STEVENS’ ENDORSEMENT SWITCH Both El-Sayed and Rogers penned opinion pieces for Fox News Digital on Monday ahead of Election Day, with the two candidates laying out their reasoning for entering the race. “I’m running for Senate because no Michigander deserves to be left behind,” El-Sayed wrote. “That’s why we’ve held over 700 events in over 120 cities. I’ve sat down with Michiganders from all walks of life, all of whom are hurting from the Rogers-Trump agenda and are hungry for change.” EL-SAYED, ROGERS CLASH OVER MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, TRUMP AND GUNS: 5 FIERY DEBATE MOMENTS Rogers didn’t spare El-Sayed from criticism in his piece, noting his Democrat opponent’s connection to far-left communist streamer and activist Hasan Piker. “As a former Army officer and FBI street agent, I would never have imagined that I would be running against someone who associates with terrorist sympathizers. El-Sayed has invited someone to our state who openly proclaims, ‘America deserved 9/11.’ He took donations from individuals linked to terrorist organizations.” ABDUL EL-SAYED REPORTEDLY CALLED HASAN PIKER WARNING HIS RHETORIC WAS ‘COSTING’ VOTES Stevens also criticized El-Sayed’s connection to Piker following her endorsement of Rogers, and has previously said Piker “should be condemned” for his extremist views. During a livestream in May, Piker directed investigators to Neville Roy Singham as a target of subpoenas issued by the Treasury Department, saying Singham’s “operation” in the U.S. includes the openly Marxist ANSWER Coalition and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, known as PSL. “I think that ultimately the target is probably Singham and his operation from PSL to ANSWER Coalition to CodePink — like anything that he has ever financed,” Piker said. “Not sure how much money he has now, but he’s been a funding vehicle for a lot of political movements in the country, like a lot of activism, and they hate that s—, so they’re trying to jam them up.” HASAN PIKER BRUSHES OFF DEMS WHO SEE HIM AS A LIABILITY, NAMES HIS ’28 CHOICE A Fox News Digital investigation found that Singham has pumped $285 million into six organizations including $22.44 million to the People’s Forum, a hub for communist organizing in New York City; $1.33 million to CodePink; $68.7 million to Justice and Education Fund Inc., a nonprofit that funnels money to anonymous projects overseas; $1.098 million to BreakThrough BT Media, a propaganda arm; and $16.76 million to Tricontinental Ltd., a pro-communist think tank. The Party for Socialism and Liberation and ANSWER Coalition share office space at the People’s Forum and share leadership with the People’s Forum. After Vance returned to Joint Base Andrews in Washington, D.C., on Monday afternoon, El-Sayed and Rogers both held rallies in Michigan in a final message to voters. HALEY STEVENS’ ENDORSEMENT STUNT BACKFIRES WITH EL-SAYED SETTING SINGLE-DAY FUNDRAISING RECORD On Vance’s final rally blitz, he spoke to voters in Ohio and New York, advocating for Jon Husted, Vivek Ramaswamy, Andrew Constantino, among others. He was joined by Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Donald Trump Jr. during his remarks. Crowds of a couple of hundred supporters gathered at the two airport hangars where Vance spoke in the two states as he delivered his message encouraging Republicans to get out to the polls for Tuesday’s midterm elections.
How a midterm tie gets settled in the case of the Senate
In the World Cup, they play overtime, then rely on penalty kicks to settle ties. The National Hockey League plays a short overtime, followed by a shootout. NHL games used to end in ties. In the playoffs, the teams keep going – until there’s a winner. In the 2020 playoffs, the Tampa Bay Lightning finally topped the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 after a staggering five overtimes. In other words. They played nearly THREE total games. That’s the equivalent of 26 innings in baseball. Speaking of Major League Baseball, teams play extra innings. And keep playing until one team is ahead and the home team has completed an at-bat in the bottom of the inning. MLB modified its rules a few years ago, introducing a “ghost runner” on second base to start the 10th inning. That’s an effort to end the tie and finish the game sooner. If only there were a method to settle a tie in the U.S. Senate. THE NINE KEY RACES THAT WILL DECIDE WHO CONTROLS THE SENATE, AND WHERE THEY STAND Yes. In the case of a tie roll call vote, the vice president — who doubles as president of the Senate – can vote to break a tie vote. In fact, the VP doesn’t even have to cast a ballot if it’s a tie and the roll call vote is going the way he or she wants. By rule, tie votes go down to defeat in the Senate. But what if we wake up Wednesday morning (if not Friday or Saturday morning or sometime in early December, depending on how hotly contested things are) to discover that the Senate is tied at 50-50? There is nothing in the Senate’s 44 standing rules which serves as a tiebreaker. The Founders didn’t provide a system to bust up a tie and determine which side is in the majority or minority. And no, it’s not written down anywhere that the party of the President is automatically thrust into the majority. Maybe soccer is on to something with penalty kicks. At least there’s a system. There’s nothing concrete to sort out which party controls the Senate if things are deadlocked at 50-50. There was a tie was a Senate tie in 1881 after resignations and political maneuvering. The Senate was also tied for a period in 1954. Nearly ten percent of all senators died during the two-year Congress which stretched from early 1953 to early 1955. However, the Senate featured two ties in recent Senate history. Both instances reflect what the Senate did to sort out which party captured the majority. One tie came after the 2000 election. The other in 2020. Both elections took a while to sort things out. In 2026, Alaska, we’re looking at you. It took until early December, 2000 to determine that Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., defeated then-Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., establishing a 50-50 Senate. In fact, the tie for the Senate from the 2020 election wasn’t even established until two days into the new Congress on January 6, 2021. Yes. That was the day of the Capitol riot. Sens. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., and Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., both won runoffs to set the 50-50 split. In early December, 2000, the Supreme Court finally settled the Florida election dispute between President George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore. Republicans had held the Senate. But then Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., engineered a power-sharing agreement between the parties. This aligned with the election of Vice President Dick Cheney. Lott would serve as the Majority Leader and the GOP technically had the “majority.” But the bipartisan pact granted Daschle some special floor powers. Republicans chaired each committee. However, there was equal representation by both parties on each panel. The full Senate had to ratify this agreement. And it did just that. Such a process is subject to two filibusters requiring 60 yeas. One to bring up the proposal for debate. Another to terminate the debate. Then a simple majority to pass it. But none of that was a problem. The Senate greenlighted it with all 100 senators signing on. Why such smooth sailing? Republicans feared Democrats would stall the agenda of President George W. Bush. So they got on board. Democrats agreed because they knew they were kinda, sorta in the majority. Otherwise, they were relegated to an outright minority. Former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was well aware of those same dynamics in 2001. He insisted that Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., propound – word-for-word – the same accord in 2021 which Lott and Daschle hammered out. Which brings us to a potential tie in 2027. Is there the political will in the Senate – let alone the votes – to agree to such a compact? President Trump is still president. And Vice President JD Vance is still President of the Senate. What would they say about that? Unclear. The Senate isn’t compelled to present a dedicated “majority” or “minority.” The concept of a “Majority Leader” is relatively new – only dating back to the early 20th Century. The Senate is a body of “equals.” Thus, the Founders didn’t expect one senator to wield operational control of the Senate. You won’t find the words “Majority Leader” anywhere in the Constitution. Just Speaker of the House and President of the Senate. If there’s a 50-50 Senate and an impasse, could Vance suddenly have more power? Maybe. As President of the Senate, he can’t debate. He can only preside over the body and break ties. Moreover, would Vance even want to assert more authority? It’s unclear what that could be. And what would all of this do to his plans to run for president in 2028? EVERYTHING TO KNOW ABOUT HOUSE AND SENATE CONTROL, BALLOT MEASURES AND 2026 ELECTION DAY POLL CLOSING In fact, a deadlocked Senate with no power sharing agreement could potentially hamstring Vance. It wasn’t that long ago that the Vice President spent
EXCLUSIVE: Woman allegedly raped by illegal alien after Clinton-appointed federal judge ordered his release
EXCLUSIVE: An illegal alien who was released from immigration custody by a Clinton-appointed federal judge in August has been charged with allegedly raping a woman inside her own Minnesota home two months later, federal immigration authorities told Fox News. Marcotulio Melendez Diaz, 42, of Honduras, was working as a handyman on Oct. 11, when he allegedly overpowered and repeatedly raped the resident against her will. The assault inside the Mounds View home was captured on her indoor surveillance video, officials said. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) blasted U.S. District Judge Orlando L. Garcia for ordering his release, arguing that the incident could have been prevented if Melendez Diaz had remained in custody. ILLEGAL ALIEN ‘PIRATE’ WHO HIJACKED PLANE TO US FREED BY CLINTON-APPOINTED JUDGE ICE URGES NEW YORK NOT TO RELEASE SALVADORAN NATIONAL ACCUSED OF RAPING 16-YEAR-OLD GIRL ON LONG ISLAND “This is what happens when activist judges side with criminal illegal aliens over Americans,” the agency said in a statement. “ICE arrested him, and an immigration judge ordered his deportation. But a Clinton-appointed federal judge ordered him RELEASED. “And now an American woman has suffered a horrific crime that could have been PREVENTED.” ICE sources told Fox News that Melendez Diaz was initially apprehended and released at the southern border by the Biden administration in April 2024. He was arrested again in Minnesota in January 2026, during Operation Metro Surge, and transferred to ICE detention in Texas, according to the officials. On March 30, an immigration judge issued a deportation order against him, which Melendez Diaz appealed, the authorities said. FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS DEPORTATION OF DOMINICAN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SHOT BY ICE DURING NYC ARREST ATTEMPT While the deportation order was under review, Garcia, a federal judge in the Western District of Texas, ordered his release from ICE custody after granting his habeas petition on due process grounds, finding that his detention had been unlawful or unreasonably prolonged. The ruling allowed Melendez Diaz to return to Minnesota. On Oct. 9, Melendez Diaz’s appeal was rejected, and the Board of Immigration Appeals issued a deportation order against him. Just two days after his deportation order became final, he was charged with rape. Melendez Diaz was charged with felony first-degree criminal sexual penetration involving coercion. He remains in custody and faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
Battleground Dem touts bipartisan record, but can’t name single issue she’d work with Trump on
A Democratic Senate candidate in Minnesota touted her bipartisan record Sunday but could not name a single issue she would work with President Donald Trump on, instead accusing his administration of “continued grift.” The exchange came as Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, Minnesota’s Democratic Senate nominee, campaigns against Republican Michele Tafoya in a race Republicans see as a rare opportunity to flip a traditionally blue state. Flanagan’s answer underscored the sharply partisan nature of the Minnesota race, where she has cast Tafoya as a rubber stamp for Trump and pledged to oppose the administration at nearly every turn. “I just want to be really clear that I’ve got a long track record of working with folks on the other side of the aisle,” Flanagan told Fox News’ Bill Melugin when asked if there were any policies she could see herself working with Trump on. Flanagan pointed to her work at the Children’s Defense Fund–Minnesota and her time in the Minnesota Legislature, where she served alongside a Republican majority and helped pass bipartisan legislation, as evidence of her ability to work across the aisle. “I think that, you know, that proves that I have the ability to work with folks,” she continued. PEGGY FLANAGAN DEMANDS EXPANDING THE SUPREME COURT AND ABOLIHING ICE Flanagan’s bipartisan pitch comes against the backdrop of a campaign built around opposing Trump’s agenda. She has called for dismantling ICE, passing Medicare for All, and reversing the administration’s Medicaid and SNAP cuts, while accusing Trump of using the presidency to enrich himself. “Right now, I’m deeply concerned about the Trump administration, the continued grift, making money hand over fist directly from the Oval Office,” she continued in her response to Melugin on whether she would work with Trump on anything. The Democratic Senate candidate went on to tell Melugin that what she has been “hearing” on the campaign trail is that voters want someone who will be a “check” on Trump, not his ally. “They’re interested in whether people are going to be a check on this guy, and roll back some of the devastating cuts and impacts on Minnesota,” Flanagan concluded in her answer about working with Trump. “That’s the place I’m going to start.” Flanagan is facing Republican Michele Tafoya, a former NFL sideline reporter who has turned the race into a referendum on the massive fraud scandal that unfolded under the Walz administration. Tafoya has argued that Flanagan, who served as Walz’s No. 2 as lieutenant governor, should share responsibility for the scandal, while also tying her opponent to progressive positions, including Medicare for All and dismantling ICE. MN SENATE CANDIDATE RIPPED FOR BLAMING WALZ FOR FRAUD DESPITE BEING HIS #2: ‘KNOWS SHE’S COOKED’ The race has become unexpectedly competitive after Tafoya narrowed the gap in Minnesota, prompting Fox News to shift its rating from “Likely Democrat” to “Lean Democrat.” “The more that Minnesotans learn about me and my opponent and see what my opponent has failed to do over the last eight years alongside [Democratic Gov.] Tim Walz, they’re understanding Minnesota needs change. We need fresh ideas, we need an independent thinker and they’re jumping on board,” Tafoya said in a Fox News Digital interview. Flanagan has repeatedly tied Tafoya to Trump, whose approval ratings are well underwater in Minnesota. “Michele Tafoya is all in for Donald Trump — and he’s all in for her,” Flanagan said last month in a social media post. But Tafoya appears to be putting some daylight between herself and Trump, as she highlights her support for abortion rights. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER “I’m a pro-choice Republican not afraid to stand up to my party,” Tafoya says in a new campaign commercial. “When Trump is right, I will work with him. When he is wrong, I will stand up for Minnesota.” While the ad drew opposition from some Republicans, including Mercedes Schlapp, a senior fellow at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump subsequently signaled support for Tafoya at an Ohio rally he headlined. “You have to vote for Michele Tafoya, who’s a very respected person,” the president said. Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
Pentagon’s top spies tasked with ‘no-fail’ mission as Hegseth puts foreign midterm meddling in crosshairs
Ever since the 2016 presidential election that first got President Donald Trump elected and the ensuing Russiagate scandal, there has been increased scrutiny on foreign meddling in U.S. elections and threats to the American voting system. Now, 10 years later, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is directing his entire intelligence and spy forces to ensure foreign adversaries do not interfere in Tuesday’s midterms. The Pentagon chief has ordered America’s military intelligence and cyber agencies to mobilize against foreign threats to the 2026 elections by directing his department’s sprawling intelligence apparatus to make election security a priority in what he calls a “no-fail mission.” The September directive reaches beyond U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, instructing the entire Defense Intelligence Enterprise — including agencies responsible for military and geospatial intelligence — to “mobilize every authorized asset, capability, and partnership” against foreign election threats. HOW TO WATCH CRITICAL 2026 MIDTERM ELECTION RACES IN TX, OH, MI, WI, GA, IA, NV, ME AND FL The order puts some of the military’s most sophisticated intelligence capabilities behind a mission that has grown considerably since Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. But with Americans preparing to vote, the extent to which Hegseth’s directive has changed the Pentagon’s existing election-security operations remains unclear. The Department of War declined to provide Fox News Digital with additional details about how the order is being implemented. Cyber Command separately declined an interview request about its election-security efforts. In practice, the directive can mean military intelligence agencies are tasked with identifying foreign hackers or influence operations overseas, warning civilian agencies about threats headed toward U.S. targets and, when authorized, Cyber Command taking action against the foreign actors or infrastructure behind them. The military’s role largely stops at the U.S. border: state and local officials run elections, while agencies such as the FBI and Department of Homeland Security handle the domestic side. The Pentagon’s election security mission is not new. Cyber Command and NSA have spent years tracking and disrupting foreign threats around American elections, including operations targeting Russian actors during previous election cycles. The effort began taking its current shape ahead of the 2018 midterms, when the agencies formed a “Russia Small Group” focused on foreign interference. It later evolved into a joint Election Security Group, combining NSA’s intelligence-gathering capabilities with Cyber Command’s ability to conduct operations against foreign cyber threats. By 2022, then-Cyber Command and NSA chief Gen. Paul Nakasone was describing election security as an “enduring, no-fail mission” — language echoed by Hegseth four years later. “Rest assured, we were doing operations well before the midterms began, and we were doing operations likely on the day of the midterms,” Nakasone said after the 2022 election, describing the military’s role as “understanding your foreign adversaries and operating outside the United States.” The agencies again established an Election Security Group for the 2024 presidential election, but whether that structure was recreated for this year’s midterms has been less clear. Gen. Joshua Rudd, the current head of Cyber Command and NSA, told lawmakers in April that foreign interference was “reasonable to expect based on what we’ve seen in the past” and said his command was “postured and ready to support as required or tasked.” He said at the time that he was unsure whether the Election Security Group had been reconvened. CHINA-LINKED HACKERS INFILTRATED US GOVERNMENT NETWORKS BEFORE FBI TAKEDOWN Five months later, Hegseth issued his department-wide directive, addressed not only to Cyber Command and NSA but also to the directors of the Defense Intelligence Agency and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. The order instructs military intelligence agencies to collect and analyze intelligence on foreign election threats while directing Cyber Command to use its existing authorities and capabilities to counter potential foreign cyber activity in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security. It does not publicly grant new authorities or establish a new election-security organization, instead reinforcing a mission the military has increasingly treated as an enduring responsibility. U.S. intelligence officials, meanwhile, say they have seen no evidence that a foreign adversary has attempted to interfere with voting machines, physical election infrastructure or the counting of votes ahead of Tuesday’s midterms. Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said last week that intelligence officials continue to see nothing contradicting that assessment, but urged Americans to remain “on high alert” for foreign disinformation, particularly as artificial intelligence makes such campaigns easier to spread. But officials continue to track foreign influence efforts from Russia, China and Iran, with Russia remaining the most active foreign influence threat, CNN reported Sunday. U.S. elections are attractive targets for foreign adversaries because the stakes extend far beyond who wins office: influencing American voters or undermining confidence in the process can shape U.S. policy, weaken public support for policies they oppose and deepen divisions without ever touching a voting machine. Lawmakers briefed on classified intelligence last month said Russia was using disinformation to target candidates and undermine confidence in the election, while China’s influence efforts were more narrowly focused on candidates viewed as hostile to Beijing. The Pentagon’s role focuses on threats originating overseas, while state and local officials administer elections and civilian federal agencies lead domestic election-security efforts. Hegseth’s directive makes that overseas mission a priority across the broader military intelligence enterprise, though the Pentagon has not disclosed whether it has resulted in additional personnel, resources or organizational changes ahead of Election Day.
El-Sayed’s silence over mom’s FBI questioning raises transparency concerns
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is facing renewed scrutiny from Republican critics over his mother’s questioning by federal investigators more than two decades ago as part of an investigation into an Islamic charity where she worked. El-Sayed’s Republican opponent, former Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., accused the Democratic candidate of misleading Michigan voters about his views on the Muslim Brotherhood, pointing to reported associations involving members of El-Sayed’s family. El-Sayed previously told Fox News that he has “never been” and will “never be” a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. Fox News Digital is not aware of any direct ties between El-Sayed and the organization. El-Sayed’s campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. CONTROVERSY OVER ABDUL EL-SAYED’S FAMILY TIES TO MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD IGNORED, DOWNPLAYED BY LIBERAL MEDIA “Michiganders cannot trust Abdul El-Sayed. He lies about his physician credentials, his family life, and about how much his disastrous policies will cost Michigan’s families,” a spokesperson for Rogers told Fox News Digital. “Tell the truth, Abdul.” El-Sayed has not publicly addressed the details of his mother’s questioning by federal investigators or the raid on the offices of the Islamic charity where she worked since the Washington Free Beacon resurfaced the reports last month. Federal authorities raided the Missouri office of the Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA), where El-Sayed’s mother, Fatten Elkomy, worked in 2004, according to the Columbia Daily Tribune. The newspaper reported that federal agents questioned Elkomy for approximately three hours during the investigation. In 2008, IARA was shut down by the federal government in connection with alleged violations of federal sanctions and terrorism-related financing restrictions, including allegations involving funding for Islamic militants in Afghanistan and terrorist groups such as the Taliban and al Qaeda. Elkomy was not charged in connection with the investigation, according to multiple reports. Fox News Digital has found no evidence that she facilitated transfers of funds to terrorist organizations. The U.S. Treasury Department did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment about the government’s findings concerning IARA’s alleged connections to the Muslim Brotherhood or why Elkomy was questioned by federal investigators. TRUMP LINKS MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE ABDUL EL-SAYED TO MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD: ‘HE’S A CON MAN’ During his Senate campaign, El-Sayed has sought to distance himself from his mother’s reported political associations, emphasizing that she did not raise him. El-Sayed was raised in Michigan by his father and stepmother after his parents divorced when he was 3. “I have no ties. We have no ties,” El-Sayed told NBC’s Tom Llamas in October. “I have never had these conversations with my mother, I wasn’t raised by my mother.” The scrutiny of El-Sayed extended to the candidate’s fundraisers and campaign events with Islamic leaders, some of whom have reported ties to the Muslim Brotherhood or have been accused of making antisemitic or hateful remarks. The controversy has also included El-Sayed’s campaign appearances with left-wing streamer Hasan Piker. His former Democratic primary opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., endorsed Rogers on Sunday, citing concerns about El-Sayed’s approach to the safety of Michigan’s Jewish community and his repeated campaign appearances with Piker, who previously said, “America deserved 9/11.” “I don’t like a democratic nominee for U.S. senate campaigning and standing with someone who’s saying that America deserved 9/11,” Stevens said during a CNN interview Sunday night. El-Sayed declined to comment on Piker’s remarks during an April interview with POLITICO but later disavowed them during an August appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” EL-SAYED ERUPTS AT GOP RIVAL OVER MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD ACCUSATIONS IN FIERY SENATE DEBATE Amy Mek, founder of the RAIR Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on investigating groups it identifies as connected to terrorism, echoed Rogers’ concerns about national security and El-Sayed’s silence in a statement to Fox News Digital. Mek, who previously testified before Congress about terrorism-related threats in the United States, told Fox News Digital that she believes El-Sayed’s silence on his mother’s questioning reflects political considerations. She also pointed to social media posts by El-Sayed’s half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi, who wrote on X in 2012 that members of their family have “long been” members of the Muslim Brotherhood. In a separate 2013 post that remains publicly available on her account, Abdelhadi said she was “praying for all my family that supports the #MB.” Abdelhadi later recalled her family’s fear of FBI surveillance in a 2016 article titled, “Queer, Muslim, and Unwelcome at the ‘New Stonewall.’” El-Sayed has not publicly addressed his half-sister’s statements in detail but called the tweets “not serious” during his NBC interview, accusing Llamas of “using hearsay evidence from a tweet” to question him about his family’s reported connections to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Mike Rogers dishes on how shock Haley Stevens endorsement unfolded hours before Election Day
Michigan Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers praised Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens for putting America ahead of her party Monday while accusing Democrats of viciously attacking the congresswoman after she stunned her party by endorsing him over Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed. Rogers told Brian Kilmeade on the “Brian Kilmeade Show” that Stevens’ endorsement “flipped this thing upside down,” saying the congresswoman called him Sunday morning while he was on his way to church before ultimately deciding to publicly back his campaign following her bruising primary loss to El-Sayed. “This is a congresswoman who just stood up and said, ‘America is more important than my party right now,’” Rogers said. “And we cannot elect somebody who is so anti-Jewish, who is divisive, who’s angry, who was mean about his politics. It’s just the wrong thing to do.” EL SAYED’S LEFT-WING ALLIES ATTACK ‘EVIL’ STEVENS AFTER BOMBSHELL ROGERS ENDORSEMENT Rogers’ comments came as Fox News reported Monday that Stevens’ endorsement triggered backlash from top Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Schumer called the move a “despicable betrayal,” while Pelosi accused Stevens of “dangerously” betraying Michigan families by backing Rogers. The endorsement marked a dramatic break for Stevens, who had stopped short of explicitly endorsing El-Sayed in the weeks after losing the Democratic primary but continued to publicly align herself with the party. During an October CNN interview, Stevens was repeatedly pressed on whether she supported El-Sayed and declined to explicitly say she endorsed him, instead stressing that she was “still on the team” and planned to support Democrats on the ballot. The tensions between the former primary rivals had been building in the closing stretch of the race. Stevens pressed El-Sayed to condemn an outside group’s ad linking U.S. support for Israel to higher grocery prices, which she called antisemitic, before El-Sayed’s campaign asked her to stay away from its remaining campaign events. El-Sayed said his campaign did not produce the ad and that he disagreed with its contents. MICHIGAN DEMOCRAT HALEY STEVENS BACKS EL-SAYED AFTER NARROW PRIMARY DEFEAT, CALLS SOCIALISM ‘DANGEROUS’ Meanwhile, days before she publicly endorsed Rogers, Stevens’ fiancé, Jason Turkish, had already broken with the Democratic nominee. Turkish, a Jewish Michigan attorney and registered Democrat, told reporters at a Rogers campaign event that he planned to vote for the Republican, arguing that El-Sayed’s rhetoric on Israel had made the Jewish community “less safe.” Turkish described his decision as “putting country before party.” Still, even hours before the endorsement, Stevens appeared to be denying that she planned to back Rogers. Fox News Digital reported Monday that Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., said she spoke with Stevens around midnight Saturday and was told reports of an impending Rogers endorsement were a “rumor” and “not true.” However, hours later, Stevens was standing alongside Rogers at a Detroit church service, where she ultimately announced she would cross party lines and endorse him over El-Sayed. “We didn’t know what was going to happen. We were driving to the church yesterday morning when the call came in,” Rogers said. “I just invited her to come in. She decided between when she got in the car and she got to the church, she was going to not only withdraw the endorsement, but endorse me.” DEMOCRATS WHO ‘NEVER VOTED REPUBLICAN’ BACK ROGERS OVER EL-SAYED IN RAZOR-CLOSE RACE Rogers, who said the pair had a “great conversation” on the phone, also pushed back on suggestions that Stevens had received anything in exchange for the endorsement, saying his campaign had no advance knowledge that she planned to back him. “Absolutely not. Matter of fact, we didn’t know what was going to happen,” Rogers said when asked whether he had offered Stevens anything. “She said, ‘I’ve not asked anyone to go with me, I’m just telling you what I’m doing.’” Rogers then took aim at Democrats who have attacked Stevens since her announcement. “They want to attack Haley Stevens for saying, ‘I’m a Democrat, I’m voting Democrat up and down the ticket, except for one race, Abdul El-Sayed. I am voting for Mike Rogers,’” Rogers said. ROGERS ARGUES EL-SAYED IS VULNERABLE WITH 2 TRADITIONALLY DEMOCRATIC BLOCS AS OBAMA HEADS TO MICHIGAN “Their whole plan now is to come out and attack her with viciousness,” he continued. “She’s the only one in the Democrat Party today that has enough common sense to know you elect somebody that hates a group of people this much, it’s gonna be a disaster for Democrats and America.” During his appearance on Kilmeade’s radio show, Rogers was pressed on a New York Times/Siena poll released Sunday that showed El-Sayed leading him 53% to 42% among likely Michigan voters, a significantly wider margin than other surveys of the race. Rogers rejected the findings, pointing to his campaign’s internal polling and modeling, which he said showed the race within one or two points. “We have it as a one- or two-point race,” Rogers said. “Our polling, our modeling and polling shows this is tied or we’re up by two. So we think that’s closer to the truth.” Rogers also argued that the poll underestimated his support among Black voters in Detroit, saying his campaign had made “great inroads” in the community. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER His comments come after Stevens publicly questioned El-Sayed’s outreach to Black voters. During the October CNN interview, when she would not explicitly back El-Sayed, Stevens said she had urged El-Sayed and his campaign to deliver a speech to the Black community. “But yeah, I mean, that didn’t happen,” Stevens said at the time. “That speech hasn’t happened.”
Vance’s campaign blitz puts him at the forefront of the GOP’s midterm push, as insiders praise packed schedule
SWANTON, Ohio — As Republicans rally ahead of a midterm election that will determine whether the GOP maintains control of both chambers of Congress, Vice President JD Vance is taking to the campaign trail once again to speak with voters in New York and Ohio on Monday. Vance’s role in the midterm blitz has been eyed by many top GOP strategists and insiders who say his actions on the trail could offer insight into what a 2028 run might look like for the 42-year-old vice president. “Vice President Vance is constantly on the road,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told Fox News Digital. “I believe he’s been in just shy of 50 battleground districts and or states this cycle. He’s been a workhorse. I mean you look at Donald J. Trump, who’s out there constantly. He just doesn’t stop. And of course, people don’t maybe notice than the vice president is keeping a schedule himself that is frankly incredibly impressive.” EXCLUSIVE: INSIDE VANCE’S INTIMATE CAPITOL HILL HUDDLE AS REPUBLICANS CONFRONT TOUGH MIDTERM TERRAIN Vance has held 19 rallies since the GOP midterm convention in early September and dozens of events across the country prior to the convention in Dallas. His role in the midterm has fueled further speculation about his potential run for president in 2028. Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer explained that his midterm campaign efforts add to his resume, but that his fundraising abilities and his role as finance chair of the Republican National Committee will also be an important advantage that Vance would have in a run for president. SECOND LADY USHA VANCE KEEPS ‘OPEN MIND’ AMID JD VANCE 2028 SPECULATION “I think which makes this vice president unique, though, is that it’s a combination of the policy chops that you just mentioned, but the political chops,” Spicer told Fox News Digital I’ve noted this over and over again that, like, he is the first vice president to ever be the finance chair of the RNC.” “His network of donors is going to be a massive advantage if he runs in ’28,” he added. TRUMP TOLD DONORS ‘WE NEED TO ELECT JD,’ SOURCE CONFIRMS, AS HE WEIGHS VANCE OR RUBIO IN 2028 Vance has repeatedly told reporters that he is focused on his current portfolio of work and has shied away from questions concerning a potential run for the Oval Office. He is, however, the favorite in several prediction markets. President Donald Trump told reporters in late October that he is focused on the midterms before looking at which Republican may run in 2028, saying: “It’s early. We are very early right now. We have to get through the midterms. We’ll see how it goes.” As for the work Vance is doing off the campaign trail, former White House Chief of Staff and former RNC Chairman Reince Priebus compared the responsibilities of former Vice President Kamala Harris to Vance, saying that Vance has had to take charge of more key issues — from leading the anti-fraud task force to negotiating a peace deal in the Middle East. “If you compare it to the portfolio of Kamala Harris, whose first job was to secure the border, it ended up being a complete and total disaster,” Priebus told Fox News Digital. “He’s a trusted administrator of huge problems facing our country. So that is very clear. He’s a little bit of a whiz kid too.” POLL FLASHES WARNING SIGNS FOR REPUBLICANS IN 7 BATTLEGROUND SENATE RACES Pollsters predict that Democrats have an edge in the House as the midterms approach, while the Senate remains “on a knife edge,” according to Priebus. The former RNC chairman noted that traditional red and blue waves are far rarer now that in previous midterm elections, noting a smaller number House seats shift between parties every cycle. THE NINE KEY RACES THAT WILL DECIDE WHO CONTROLS THE SENATE, AND WHERE THEY STAND “There are so few districts in our entire country that are up for grabs,” Priebus said. “At 435 house seats, how many are really in play? Maybe 30? And in those 30, there’s probably only about 5,000 votes in each of those 30 that could go either way. So, that’s why you have ripples, I think, nowadays and not waves. The Senate races are all on a knife edge.” While President Trump is known for hosting a staggering number of rallies, Vance’s increased presence in the midterm blitz has led to his name emerging alongside President Donald Trump as the face of the party, according to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. “I think a lot of people have seen him in the shadows of Donald Trump, not as an individual campaigner,” Meadows told Fox News Digital. “But as someone who would continue the Trump legacy.” THE ONE LINE FROM JD VANCE’S GOP KEYNOTE THAT REVEALS HIS VISION FOR AMERICA “I think for the first time, a broader spectrum of people are seeing JD Vance as the campaigner, and not as a campaigner for him personally,” Meadows said. “And, you know, I point out that most of his dynamic interactions have not been in Iowa or New Hampshire or South Carolina.” GOP members of Congress have also noted the increased presence of the vice president as they fight to maintain the majority in the House. Rep. Brandon Gill, R-TX, told Fox News Digital he traveled with Vance to Texas and noted the impact that the vice president had in the state. “Kamala Harris couldn’t go out and campaign for people because nobody would want to see her,” Gill said. “The American people love Vice President Vance. I mean, at all the rallies I’ve been out with them, they were packed, people were fired up.” The vice president held two rallies ahead of the midterm on Monday, one in Rome, New York and the other in Swanton, Ohio – advocating for GOP congressional candidates and pushing for the Republicans to maintain the majority. “Take your friends, take
House Dems demand Haley Stevens’ exile as Jeffries reveals deadline on deciding her fate
House Democratic leaders are holding off on deciding whether to punish Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., after she endorsed a Republican in Michigan’s Senate race, drawing calls from fellow Democrats for her removal from the party’s House caucus. Stevens endorsed former Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., over Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, a former public health official, on Nov. 1 — just two days before Tuesday’s midterm elections. The decision prompted sharp criticism from Democrats, including lawmakers who want Stevens expelled from the House Democratic Caucus, but party leaders are waiting until after the elections to address her future. HALEY STEVENS RIPPED BY FELLOW DEMS FOR REFUSING TO EXPLICITLY BACK EL-SAYED: ‘STAY THE F— OFF TELEVISION’ A senior Democratic aide told Fox News Digital that House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., would likely support House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., in his response to Stevens’ endorsement. HALEY STEVENS’ FIANCE HAMMERS EL-SAYED, SAYS HE’LL VOTE FOR ROGERS “Haley Stevens made a terrible decision, blindsided everyone and isolated herself from the House Democratic caucus. We will have a discussion about appropriate next steps upon our return,” Jeffries told POLITICO. Spokespeople for Jeffries and Aguilar did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment. Stevens, a four-term lawmaker, is leaving Congress at the end of the year after narrowly losing Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary to El-Sayed. Since her loss, Stevens has taken a lukewarm approach to supporting El-Sayed’s campaign while also criticizing his approach to Israel and Jewish and Black voters. BLACK VOTERS, JEWISH DEMOCRATS IN MICHIGAN WARY OF VOTING FOR EL-SAYED, SAY ‘HE’S TAKING ADVANTAGE’ That fragile peace ruptured over the weekend when El-Sayed’s campaign publicly asked Stevens to abstain from appearing at any of his events even after she said she would attend church with him and Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., in a bid to mobilize Black voters. Stevens apparently blindsided fellow Democrats when she then appeared at another church alongside Rogers and his wife and subsequently endorsed the Republican ahead of Election Day. EL-SAYED’S PAST MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD COMMENTS RAISE RED FLAGS AS HE EYES POWERFUL ROLE Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., said during a Sunday appearance on CNN that Stevens had reassured her “multiple times” over the weekend that she would not endorse Rogers. “I don’t know what changed between late Saturday and Sunday morning,” Dingell said during another CNN appearance Monday. And the endorsement also spurred her ouster from the Michigan state Democratic Party. Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Curtis Hertel wrote on X that Stevens “is not a current member of the Michigan Democratic Party, nor will she be in the future” after she backed Rogers. In the House, Democratic officials, such as Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., have already called for Stevens’ removal. “Deplorable and embarrassing. Capitulating to fascism, Islamophobia, racism and the policies hurting everyday Americans makes you unfit to serve with the Democratic caucus,” Ramirez wrote on X. “Shame on Haley Stevens. She must be removed from the caucus.” HALEY STEVENS CONDEMNS HASAN PIKER BUT RALLIES BEHIND EL-SAYED AFTER NARROW PRIMARY LOSS Ramirez did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., echoed Ramirez’s claim and added that Stevens “has no place in our party,” according to POLITICO. Vocal organizations aligned with the Democratic Party, such as the IfNotNow movement, have also formally called on the congresswoman to be removed from the caucus, calling her endorsement a betrayal to the party. “As national organizations representing Jewish, Muslim, and Democratic voters opposed to Donald Trump’s war on Iran, which is responsible for the rising costs of gas and groceries and an affordability crisis that is taking a heavy toll on working families at a time when the future of our democracy is at stake,” the organization said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital. “We call on House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries to expel Congresswoman Stevens from the Democratic Caucus and strip her of her committee assignments.” If Stevens was removed from the caucus, she would no longer be able to attend its weekly meetings in the U.S. Capitol. Democrats could also pursue action against her committee assignments, though the process and authority for doing so would need to be determined under the applicable caucus and House rules. And it appears Stevens’ staff has also shunned her over the endorsement. When Fox News Digital reached out to her office for comment on the backlash from House Democrats, an automated response from her communications director said he is “no longer with the Office of Congresswoman Haley Stevens” as of Nov. 1, the day she backed Rogers.
Union boss stuns with major Republican endorsement as election nears
The leader of one of the nation’s oldest and largest unions stunned political observers by issuing a surprise endorsement for a Senate Republican stalwart over the weekend. Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien, who famously nearly came to blows with now-Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin during a Senate hearing before ultimately becoming acquaintances, issued a ringing endorsement of Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., signaling a major break from national union sentiment that has tended to favor Democrats. “Just voted in the State of Florida for the first time, and very proud to have cast a ballot for Sen. Ashley Moody,” O’Brien, whose 123-year-old union is about 1.3 million-strong, announced Sunday. 5 TAKEAWAYS FROM FLORIDA SENATE PRIMARY: GOP SEN ASHLEY MOODY WILL FACE DSA’S NIXON “Sen. Moody has been extremely helpful working with the Teamsters to protect workers’ pensions, defend good-paying jobs, and support well-funded union apprenticeship programs.” “The Teamsters look forward to working with Sen. Moody in her role on the Senate HELP Committee to pass the Faster Labor Contracts Act and get this critical legislation signed into law to protect American workers,” he added. FRUSTRATED BLUE-COLLAR UNION BOSSES RIP SOCIALIST POLITICIANS, WARN OF LABOR EXODUS FROM DEM PARTY O’Brien, a self-described “lifelong Democrat,” previously spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention, but emphasized at the time that the Democratic Party had snubbed his request to speak at its convention. “If the far-left want to criticize me and attack me, that’s OK. If the far-right wants to do the same, that’s great. I represent 1.3 million hardworking men and women,” O’Brien said at the time. Fox News Digital reached out to the Teamsters as well as Moody’s campaign for comment. Moody, a former state attorney general, said in a statement that she was proud to have O’Brien’s endorsement: “I’ll always fight to protect hardworking Americans, strengthen good-paying jobs, and ensure resources are available to train our next generation. It’s been great to deliver for Florida’s working families,” she said. After O’Brien endorsed Moody, the lawmaker’s Democratic opponent responded by posting a photo she once took with O’Brien and writing that “Ashley Moody never walked the line with you.” AOC BACKS FLORIDA DEM ANGIE NIXON FOR US SENATE: ‘I’M PROUD TO ENDORSE HER’ “But ok brother. Shout out to all the rank and file Teamsters that are voting for me. I will always stand with you,” Democratic nominee Angie Nixon, a state lawmaker from Jacksonville whose platform is considered DSA-aligned, wrote on X. O’Brien also caught heat for voting in Florida, which appeared to signal a move from his hometown of Boston. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER “Be union leader — move to a famously anti-union state — vote for a famously anti-union candidate — Brag about it — really cool stuff man,” a top commenter on O’Brien’s post said. Other critics characterized O’Brien as a “scab”, union jargon for someone who crosses a strike picket line to return to work for the company with which they are at odds. The Teamsters leader’s announcement marked a noteworthy development with polls set to open nationwide in a matter of hours.