Category: fox-news/politics/elections

Susan Collins to write in Nikki Haley for president, bucking Trump

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, reiterated to reporters that she still supports former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley for president despite Haley no longer being in the race for the Republican nomination. 

The Maine Republican will write in Haley's name on her ballot in November rather than former President Trump or President Biden, according to local CBS reporter Dan Lampariello. 

Collins' office confirmed to Fox News Digital her plan to vote for Haley. 

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A spokesperson for the Maine senator noted she has previously said she'd be supporting Haley and not Trump. 

BIDEN DRAGS DOWN MICHIGAN SENATE RACE AS COOK POLITICAL REPORT DECLARES 'TOSS UP'

"I will not be voting for either candidate. I am going to write in Nikki Haley’s name," Collins said, according to another local outlet. 

The Republican senator previously endorsed Haley late in the Republican primary, calling the candidate "extremely well-qualified."

"She has the energy, intellect and temperament that we need to lead our country in these very tumultuous times," Collins said of Haley. 

However, Haley exited the primary race soon after the endorsement. 

The former South Carolina governor's departure from the race didn't change Collins' position though. 

"I cannot support former President Trump. I voted to convict him on the second impeachment charges, so I don't think it should come as a surprise that I cannot support him," she said in March, weeks after Haley had already suspended her campaign. 

DEM SENATOR HELPS BLOCK BIDEN JUDICIAL NOMINEE AMID CONTROVERSY OVER TRANSGENDER INMATE

As Collins pointed out in the spring, she was one of seven Republican senators in 2021 who voted to convict Trump for allegedly inciting insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, when some of his supporters rioted at the U.S. Capitol. 

And while Trump has become the clear Republican nominee and is slated as of now to take on Biden in November, it's apparent Collins' mind has not changed on the situation. 

Trump's campaign did not immediately provide comment to Fox News Digital. 

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Congressional Dems plot revenge for Supreme Court ruling on Trump immunity

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Democratic lawmakers are already calling for congressional action to respond to the Supreme Court's decision on presidential immunity, arguing that the decision is a blow for democracy while empowering former President Trump.

But the forceful outcry is a stark contrast to Democrats mostly downplaying concerns regarding President Biden's chances of beating Trump in November.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has threatened to introduce articles of impeachment against the Supreme Court's conservative justices when Congress is back in session next week.

"The Supreme Court has become consumed by a corruption crisis beyond its control. Today’s ruling represents an assault on American democracy. It is up to Congress to defend our nation from this authoritarian capture," Ocasio-Cortez said on X, formerly Twitter.

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Another Democrat, Rep. Joe Morelle, of New York, said he would introduce a resolution to reverse the Supreme Court's decision.

He wrote on X after the ruling came out: "The conservative, extremist majority on the Supreme Court has decided former President Trump is above the law. Today's decision further erodes the public’s confidence in our institutions and poses as great a threat to our democracy as the former president's behavior."

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Trump's classified documents case that presidents do have immunity for official acts while in the White House, and that those acts cannot be used as evidence against them in a trial. However, it also ruled that not all of a president's actions are official, and left it to a lower court to decide which of Trump's actions constitute which.

Democrats argued that it gave Trump a vast legal shield over matters he should be prosecuted for. It also almost guaranteed that the ex-president will not have a federal trial in his classified documents case before November.

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It prompted Sens. Tina Smith, D-Minn., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to renew their calls to expand the Supreme Court.

But to stand any chance of doing so, Democrats would need to win commanding victories in the House, Senate and White House – and several polls since Thursday night's debate show Biden's appeal slipping among general election voters.

Discussions surrounding Biden's viability as a candidate have swirled in the media and among pundits on the left after the 81-year-old president's poor performance in his debate against Trump last Thursday. 

BIDEN CAMPAIGN SPOTLIGHTS MASSIVE JUNE FUNDRAISING HAUL IN 2024 ELECTION REMATCH WITH TRUMP

Elected Democratic officials have largely defended Biden since then, however, arguing he's still the best candidate to beat the ex-president in November – while others have stayed silent. 

A new CBS News and YouGov poll released over the weekend showed nearly three-quarters of Democratic voters believe Biden does not have the cognitive health to serve as president. 

A USA Today/Suffolk University poll released Monday shows Trump leading Biden 41% to 38% among nationwide voters.

But the aforementioned Democratic lawmakers did not respond to queries from Fox News Digital about whether they were concerned Biden's performance in the debate would enable Trump, who they view as a threat to democracy, to win in November.

Morelle said earlier this week that he "wouldn't write Joe Biden off because of one bad performance," according to local outlet WXXI.

He indicated, as others have, that Biden himself should decide his own viability. "I think he has to make a decision, his family and his inner circle about whether they think he feels he can still fulfill his obligations." Morelle said.

Meanwhile, Ocasio-Cortez, who has publicly broken with Biden on certain issues in the past, appeared on video days after the debate urging Latin American voters watching the Copa America soccer tournament to support Biden.

AOC threatens Supreme Court articles of impeachment over immunity ruling

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., threatened to bring articles of impeachment against the Supreme Court after Monday's immunity ruling regarding former President Trump. 

"The Supreme Court has become consumed by a corruption crisis beyond its control," Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X. "Today’s ruling represents an assault on American democracy. It is up to Congress to defend our nation from this authoritarian capture. I intend on filing articles of impeachment upon our return." 

The ruling in question said a president has absolute immunity from prosecution for "actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority," and "presumptive immunity" for official acts in general. The court said there is no immunity for unofficial acts.

CONGRESSIONAL DEMS BLAST RULING ON TRUMP IMMUNITY: 'EXTREME RIGHT-WING SUPREME COURT'

Fox News Digital reached out to Ocasio-Cortez's congressional office seeking clarification on who in particular she intends to impeach, but did not immediately hear back. 

Ocasio-Cortez was not the only congressional Democrat to blast the Supreme Court’s ruling.

In a statement, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., vowed that "House Democrats will engage in aggressive oversight and legislative activity with respect to the Supreme Court to ensure that the extreme, far-right justices in the majority are brought into compliance with the Constitution." 

NY DEM SLAMS 'SQUAD' MEMBER'S PROFANITY-LACED RANT AT RALLY WITH AOC: 'UNHINGED'

"Today’s Supreme Court decision to grant legal immunity to a former President for crimes committed using his official power sets a dangerous precedent for the future of our nation," Jeffries said. 
 

"This is a sad day for America and a sad day for our democracy," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote on X. "The very basis of our judicial system is that no one is above the law. Treason or incitement of an insurrection should not be considered a core constitutional power afforded to a president." 

The court's ruling did not say whether any of Trump's alleged actions fell under his constitutional powers, leaving such matters to be sorted out by a lower court.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Axios omits crucial details about economists who say Trump will destroy the economy

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

FIRST ON FOX: A letter signed by 16 top economists warning of the economic dangers of electing former President Trump, which is being amplified by the Biden campaign and other Biden surrogates, is littered with signatories who have either donated to Biden or supported him politically in the past.

"While each of us has different views on the particulars of various economic policies, we all agree that Joe Biden's economic agenda is vastly superior to Donald Trump," the economists wrote in a letter first reported on by Axios this week that has been promoted by various members of the Biden campaign on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

A Fox News Digital review of the letter’s Nobel Prize-winning signatories shows political donations to President Biden's 2020 and 2024 campaigns. The signatories also donated tens of thousands of dollars to other Democrat candidates and signed previous letters supporting Biden's agenda, including attacking "selfish and restless" Trump.

Economist Joseph Stiglitz, the Columbia University professor who reportedly spearheaded the letter, previously signed a letter supporting Biden’s Build Back Better agenda and donated $1,250 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020. 

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Between 2004 and 2020, Stiglitz donated over $90,000 to Democrat candidates, FEC records show.

Georgetown University Professor George A. Akerlof, who is married to Biden’s Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, donated $25,000 to the Biden Victory Fund and maxed out as a donor in 2020, giving the campaign $5,600.

Akerlof, who donated nearly $90,000 to Democrats between the 1990s and 2022, also signed a letter supporting Build Back Better, and signed a letter in 2020 calling Trump’s re-election effort "selfish and reckless."

Harvard University economist and historian Claudia Goldin donated $500 to the Biden campaign in 2020 and 2024 and has donated over $8,000 to Democrats in recent years. Goldin also signed a 2020 letter endorsing the Biden campaign. 

Economist and mathematician Eric Maskin signed a 2020 letter expressing support for the Biden campaign’s agenda and donated $3,000 to Democrats in recent years, including Senate candidates Raphael Warnock, Beto O’Rourke and Jon Ossoff. 

When reached for comment on his background supporting Biden and Democrats, Maskin said, "Although I am a registered Democrat and have donated money to Democratic candidates on occasion, I have also voted for many Republicans over the years (including Bill Weld and Charlie Baker for governor of Massachusetts)" in a statement to Fox News Digital.

He added that he considers himself to "be more a centrist than a strong partisan in either ideological direction" and pointed to an op-ed he recently wrote against political polarization in favor of a Republican senator and "supported the 2020 Biden agenda on its economic merits and signed the recent letter for the same reasons."

BIDEN REPEATS FALSE CLAIM THAT INFLATION WAS AT 9% WHEN HE TOOK OFFICE AFTER BEING CALLED OUT LAST WEEK

Paul Milgrom, an economist at Stanford University, also previously signed letters supporting Build Back Better and calling Trump’s 2020 campaign "selfish and reckless."

Daniel McFadden, an economics professor at UC Berkeley, donated at least $4,500 to Democrats in 2020. He also signed onto a letter saying Biden's Build Back Better plan will "ease" inflation. He was also part of another letter endorsing Biden in 2020.

Roger Myerson, an economist at the University of Chicago, donated $2,350 to the Biden campaign in 2020 and $250 in 2024 on top of donating over $40,000 to Democrats between 2004 and 2024.

Myerson also previously signed a letter backing Build Back Better and Biden’s economic recovery agenda. The University of Chicago economist took to X after the letter was published, posting, "A dictator from day 1 would be bad for America, and we should testify to that fact as patriotic Americans."

"As economists we can testify that his policies would not help against inflation either," he added.

Economist Edmund S. Phelps wrote an article in 2020 called "The Economic Case for Biden" and also said that everything Trump has stood for in the past has been a "disaster."

INFLATION IS UP 20% SINCE BIDEN TOOK OFFICE

Phelps has also donated to Democrats in the past, including a $1,500 donation to a Democratic House candidate and $25 to Pete Buttigieg.

Paul Romer, an economist at Boston College, has previously described the Trump years as "miserable" and publicly supported his impeachment. Romer endorsed Biden in a 2020 letter, praised Biden’s pandemic plan, and signed a letter in support of Build Back Better.

Stanford University economist Alvin Roth also signed multiple letters opposing Trump and supported the letter that referred to him as "selfish and reckless" on top of donating $1,250 to presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008.

Nobel Prize-winning economist William Sharpe donated $500 to the Biden campaign and $500 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020. Sharpe also signed a letter to business leaders in 2020 arguing that it was time to speak out against Trump and the "threat" he "poses to the Republic."

Robert Shiller, a Yale University economist, donated $1,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020 and over $20,000 to Democrats in total in recent years. In 2019, Shiller said he would support any candidate over Trump.

Princeton University economist Christopher Sims donated $500 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020 and over $9,000 to various Democrats. 

Two British economists on the list, Sir Oliver Hart and Sir Angus Deaton, signed a letter in support of Build Back Better. Hart endorsed Biden in 2020 and also signed the 2020 letter calling Trump "selfish and reckless."

Several Biden campaign officials pounced on the story Tuesday morning to amplify the Axios report, including the Biden campaign's rapid response adviser, James Singer, and campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez.

White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates and other Biden surrogates also shared the report and quoted from it, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Tim Murtaugh, who served as Trump's 2020 campaign spokesman, mocked the report on social media Tuesday saying, "How amazing that this happens just in time for Biden to reference it in the upcoming debate (it’s a good bet that he does)."

"It’s almost as much of a stroke of luck as the letter from 51 intelligence officers claiming that Hunter’s laptop was Russian disinformation," Murtaugh continued. "Amazing."

Axios did not note the previous political activism of the economists in the story nor did they note that one of the top signatories is married to Biden’s treasury secretary, Janet Yellen.

Axios did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Biden campaign and all 16 economists for comment.

Popular Republican and Trump running mate contender makes first Senate endorsement in 2024 races

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

EXCLUSIVE - Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who's under consideration as former President Donald Trump's running mate, is weighing in on the GOP Senate primary in a key battleground state.

Scott on Wednesday endorsed former Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan, a former House Intelligence Committee chair who is the front-runner in the August Republican primary in the fight to succeed longtime Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat who is not seeking re-election this year.

The seat is one of a handful that Republicans are aiming to flip from blue to red in the autumn elections as they push to regain the Senate majority they lost in the 2020 cycle.

"Mike Rogers’ commitment to service has always been about putting the American people first. When Mike and I served together, he was a leader who delivered results and fought to expand opportunities for working families and those pursuing their American Dream," Scott said in a statement. "I'm proud to endorse him to be Michigan's next U.S. Senator because I know Mike will bring his servant leadership to the U.S. Senate."

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Scott's backing of Rogers, which was shared first with Fox News, is his first formal endorsement in a Senate race this election cycle, although he's helped other Republican candidates raise money.

Rogers, an Army veteran and a former FBI special agent before serving in Congress, enjoys the backing of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), which is the campaign arm of the Senate GOP. And in March, Rogers landed the endorsement of Trump, the party's presumptive presidential nominee.

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"Senator Scott has been a tremendous champion for conservative values in the U.S. Senate and I’m honored to receive his endorsement," Rogers said in a statement. "Together in the Senate we will work with President Trump to help Michigan families, lower the cost of gas and groceries, and secure the southern border."

Rogers has also been endorsed in recent months by seven other Republican senators, as well as Mike Pompeo, who served as Secretary of State and CIA director in the Trump administration. He's also been endorsed by former Detroit police chief James Craig, who backed Rogers after ending his own Republican Senate nomination bid earlier this year.

As they work to win a Senate election in Michigan for the first time in three decades, Republicans were hoping to avoid a potentially costly and combustible primary.

But Rogers doesn't have the field to himself.

The primary race also includes wealthy businessman and investor Sandy Pensler, who's making his second run for office and has been spending big bucks to run ads targeting Rogers. Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy endorsed Pensler.

Among the others running for the GOP nomination are former Rep. Justin Amash, who as an independent House member joined Democrats in voting to impeach then-President Trump in his first impeachment trial in 2019.

The state primary in Michigan will be held on August 6.

Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, ran unsuccessfully for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination but remains a very popular and influential figure in the party.

The senator, who was known for his ferocious fundraising as he cruised to a Senate re-election in 2022, has strong ties with many leading figures in the GOP donor class. The money raised two years ago served as a down payment for his 2024 national run.

Besides raising money for himself, Scott has also been very active in helping fellow Republicans running for office.

In the 2022 cycle, the senator raised nearly $1 million for other candidates and donated more than $1 million to down ballot races. And two outside groups aligned with Scott spent $13 million on top Senate and House races, while also transferring $5 million to the top super PAC supporting Senate Republicans.

A super PAC allied with Scott announced earlier this month it would spend $14 million to help Republicans grow support among Black voters.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Key Dem Senate candidate who accused opponent of election denialism has history of questioning results

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FIRST ON FOX: The Democrat running in one of this year's top Senate races, who accused his opponent of election denialism, also has a history of questioning the legitimacy of the vote.

Rep. Colin Allred, the Democratic nominee in Texas' Senate race, recently launched attacks against incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz for avoiding directly saying he would accept the results of the upcoming election, but appears to have forgotten his own statements openly suggesting that future election outcomes may need to be questioned.

"Ted Cruz views questions about our democracy as part of a cynical partisan game. Our democracy isn’t a game. It’s fundamental to who we are as Americans. Ted Cruz is a danger to our freedoms and shared values. We must fire him this November," Allred wrote on X, referencing an appearance by Cruz on liberal network CNN, where he clashed with one of its hosts asking if he'd accept the results this November.

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Cruz pushed back during the interview, questioning why the media never asks Democrats if they would accept election results. He argued that laws in place allowing for results to be challenged on the basis of voter fraud were there for a reason, and hit back at the host's claims there was no fraud during the 2020 election.

Allred, in fact, warned of such fraud ahead of the 2020 election, specifically during an August 2019 appearance at a town hall in Garland, Texas. During the event, he peddled claims that the 2016 election results were due to Russian interference by referencing the Mueller report and Russia hacking into election databases. He also argued there was a need to have "paper trails" on electronic voting machines.

"What we saw in that report may color some of what is happening here, in terms of a willingness to accept foreign interference in elections and things like that. And I think this has raised an entirely new specter for us, which is, is our next election going to be a legitimate one? And that, I think, is a proximate danger for our democracy," Allred said during an appearance on a local radio show in September 2019, again referencing the Mueller report.

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He similarly told a meeting of the Richardson Area Democrats a month later that he was troubled by "the idea that the next election might not be legitimate," suggesting then-President Trump might attempt to use foreign influence to boost his chances at re-election, and said he was "worried still about some of the abilities to hack and change voter rolls and even change vote totals."

Allred said at another town hall meeting that same month that the reason for the then-ongoing Trump impeachment inquiry was "because the legitimacy of the next election was put into question by this President’s actions." 

He said during a Capitol Hill press conference the following year, "We have to decide in this country who’s going to determine our elections. This is only the beginning of this. The Russians in 2016, other foreign influences in 2018. In 2020, there will be other adversaries who will try to take advantage of this."

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Allred continued using similar rhetoric following the 2020 election, including in a 2022 Business Insider article, where he warned of election subversion in that year's midterm elections and in 2024.

"I think there's a very real possibility that we will see in the next two elections, get some results sent to us for ratification – whether it's presidential, congressional or Senate, that's not consistent or that we're gonna have to question… I think that's the reality of the situation we can no longer pretend like these elections are just going to continue to proceed the way they have in the past," he said.

Fox News Digital asked Allred's campaign the same question CNN posed to Cruz: Whether he would accept the outcome of the 2024 election. It offered no response.

Josh Stewart, a spokesperson for Allred's campaign, told Fox regarding the congressman's past questioning of elections, "The only person in this race who tried to overturn a free and fair election is Ted Cruz. Texans saw it with their own eyes on Jan. 6, and come November, they are going to hold him accountable."

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Tom Cole wins crowded GOP primary to fight for 12th term in November

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Longtime House Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., won his Tuesday night primary and is on track to clinch his 12th term in the House of Representatives this November.

Cole, who currently serves as chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, was facing a crowded GOP led by opponent Paul Bondar. Bondar is a political outsider and a businessman who has poured millions of his own dollars into the race.

The senior Republican has represented Oklahoma's 3rd congressional district since January 2003. The district encompasses part of Oklahoma City and the city of Norman.

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Cole had been expected to get at least a plurality of the vote, given his deep ties to Oklahoma GOP politics, but his reputation for working across the aisle has earned him challenges from his right flank.

Bondar has tried to style himself as a more conservative alternative to Cole, bashing the congressman for being willing to work with Democrats on issues like government funding and Ukraine aid. Cole's campaign has in turn styled Bondar as a carpetbagger trying to buy the race. 

Cole also came into the Tuesday election armed with an endorsement from former President Trump, who won the district by double digits in 2020.

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"Tom Cole is a fantastic Representative for Oklahoma’s 4th Congressional District. As Chairman of the POWERFUL Appropriations Committee, Tom is fighting hard to Secure the Border, Stop Migrant Crime, Strengthen our Military/Vets, Support our Great Law Enforcement, and Protect our always-under-siege Second Amendment," Trump wrote on Truth Social in May. 

"He has almost always voted with me, including on both Impeachment Hoaxes. Tom Cole has my Complete and Total Endorsement – He will not let you down!"

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In addition to supporting Trump, Cole has also been a staunch ally of House GOP leadership. He previously served as head of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), House Republicans' campaign arm, and before taking the Appropriations Committee gavel he served as the top Republican on the House Rules Committee.

Other Republican hopefuls who ran to unseat Cole on Tuesday night are Nick Hankins, Rick Harris and Andrew Hayes.

Vindman wins the Democratic primary for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

Eugene Vindman won the Democratic Party's nomination for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District on Tuesday. 

The race among Democrats comes after the incumbent Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger announced she would not seek re-election in favor of running for governor of the Old Dominion next year. 

Seven Democrats vied for the nomination in the crowded primary election, including: Prince County Supervisor Andrea Bailey; Prince County Supervisor Margaret Franklin; former state House Delegate Elizabeth Guzman; Virginia House Delegate Briana Sewell; Carl Bedell; Clifford Heinzer; and retired Army Col. Eugene Vindman. 

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Vindman and his twin brother, retired Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, gained national attention in 2020 during former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment. The brothers both worked for the National Security Council under the Trump administration, with the congressional candidate helping his brother blow the whistle on Trump’s phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy regarding first son Hunter Biden’s business dealings in the nation. 

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Alexander Vindman testified before Congress against the president amid the impeachment, while Eugene Vindman assisted his brother in raising concerns regarding Trump’s phone call with Zelenskyy. The congressional candidate filed a complaint with the Pentagon's Inspector General in August of 2020 after he was fired from the National Security Council, citing the White House retaliated against him for his role raising concerns regarding the phone call. 

Vindman benefited from massive campaign donation hauls during the primary, raising over $5 million, far more than both Democrats and Republicans working to win the seat, according to Virginia Public Access Project. Vindman outraised his closest competitor in the Democratic primary, Bailey, by roughly 15 times.

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"An advantage in terms of endorsements from top Democrats, the funding advantage that he has in terms of ability to raise money and the fact he has a name that is well-known — that puts him in a position to be better-known than the other candidates,"  Stephen Farnsworth, a political analyst at the University of Mary Washington, told NBC Washington of Vindman ahead of the primary election. 

The 7th Congressional District stretches from central Virginia to Northern Virginia, encompassing counties such as Orange, Culpeper, Spotsylvania, and parts of Prince William County outside of Washington, D.C. The district is currently considered one that leans or tilts towards the Democratic Party, according to various election ratings. 

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Vindman’s fellow Democratic challengers knocked him as someone who is not well-acquainted with the area, noting he’s never held public office. 

"He does not understand the community. He's not very infused in the community. He's not been participating in the community as an advocate," Bailey told the Associated Press.

Vindman has defended his lack of political experience, arguing he will face "zero learning curve" if elected to office, the outlet reported. 

"The people that are attracted to my campaign are attracted to the values that I will bring to this job: the fact that I will fight for priorities, that I put a ready career on the line and lost my military career in standing up to Donald Trump," he said.

Trump’s lead just won’t budge: Why the debates may be Biden’s last shot

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

The presidential campaign is as frozen as the Arctic Circle.

Virtually nothing seems to melt the ice caps that have encased the race. 

The former president convicted of 34 felonies? Feels like it happened months ago, without exactly dooming the Trump candidacy.

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The current president’s son, also convicted of felonies? Now that’s deemed a mere distraction by those who used an impeachment inquiry to try to sink the Biden campaign.

Each attack, each smear, each controversy dominates the news and then quickly yields to the next real or perceived outrage, leaving little lasting impression on the shape of the race.

All this is bad news for Joe Biden, who has an anemic 38 percent approval rating and is on track to lose, despite the apparent closeness of the contest.

While Trump’s lead in such core battleground states as Michigan and Pennsylvania is often just 2 to 3 points, it’s been remarkably consistent (with the president having a slight edge in Wisconsin). If Scranton Joe can’t win Pennsylvania despite endless trips there, the election is over.

That’s why Biden abruptly challenged Trump to two debates, with the first one, on CNN, in less than 10 days. It’s really his last chance to bring some heat and shake up the race.

Now I could make the argument that the Trump team has lowered expectations for Biden to the point that if he avoids major gaffes and doesn’t fall off the stage, he wins. The CNN rules – two-minute answers, no notes, muting the opponent’s mike – will also favor the president.

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But debates can be overrated. Mitt Romney clobbered Barack Obama in their first debate and it didn’t matter. Hillary Clinton arguably won two or even three of her debates against Trump and it didn’t matter. 

The pressure is on Biden, who’s drilling with former top aide Ron Klain, to show that he’s aggressive and feisty as well as knowledgeable. Trump, who is doing only informal prep, will be hailed by his base no matter what he says or does.

In short, it will take something highly unusual to change many minds. Most Americans already know what they think of these guys.

The same goes for the Trump veepstakes. As Donald Trump told me, it doesn’t matter much because people vote for the top of the ticket. I think Doug Burgum has a somewhat better chance than when I first interviewed him three weeks ago, on this shorter short list that seems to include Tim Scott, Marco Rubio and J.D. Vance. 

But I can’t see that changing the race’s trajectory. What’s striking is that the anchors are now handling these as "vetting" interviews about each candidate’s record, because they believe one of them may well be moving into the vice president’s mansion.

Trump’s GOP unity day on the Hill got muddied when he criticized Milwaukee, the host city for next month’s convention. Even though Trump said he was talking mainly about crime in the city – which is actually down substantially this year – I’m not sure why he needed to go there.

The 78-year-old Trump is so anxious to depict the 81-year-old Biden as mentally unfit for the job that minor incidents are being exaggerated and distorted. There’s no question, as I said on the air, that Biden often comes across as frail and confused. 

But after a $30-million L.A. fundraiser over the weekend, Obama grabbed his arm and then kept touching his back as they exited the stage. This went viral as the former president was depicted as "leading" his onetime VP away.

Earlier, the New York Post, taking its lead from the RNC, misleadingly cropped a photo as if Biden was talking to no one at the G-7 in Italy. A wider angle showed Biden was saying a few words and giving a thumbs up to a skydiver who had landed next to the world leaders before the Italian prime minister led him back to the group. 

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Despite a couple of flashy media headlines, I did not criticize Fox’s coverage, though sometimes that comes with the job. I made a point of saying that the coverage by "Fox & Friends" was perfectly straightforward. We played a clip of Sean Hannity criticizing Biden, but there was no suggestion that he didn’t show the proper footage; he was paired with Joe Scarborough hitting Biden’s critics, as we often do to convey the range of commentary.

In my view, there’s little doubt that most of the media believe Trump will win the election, and here’s the proof.

The New York Times just ran a deep dive on how the Trump resistance is already laying the groundwork to battle and stymie him in a second term.

These groups "are drafting potential lawsuits in case he is elected in November and carries out mass deportations, as he has vowed. One group has hired a new auditor to withstand any attempt by a second Trump administration to unleash the Internal Revenue Service against them. Democratic-run state governments are even stockpiling abortion medication.

"A sprawling network of Democratic officials, progressive activists, watchdog groups and ex-Republicans has been taking extraordinary steps to prepare for a potential second Trump presidency, drawn together by the fear that Mr. Trump’s return to power would pose a grave threat not just to their agenda but to American democracy itself." 

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A newspaper simply doesn’t devote the enormous resources the Times did to this investigative piece without believing a Trump victory is at the least very likely.

Some groups are described as "wary" of discussing their plans for fear of signaling a lack of confidence in the Biden campaign, which is exactly what it signals.

And that brings us back to the CNN debate.

Biden is really running out of time to change the narrative of the race. The debate will probably be a wash, but it’s his only shot. Otherwise, the frozen campaign will wind up freezing him out.

Army vet predicts first red flip of North Carolina district since 1883, citing Biden-era malaise

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

An Army veteran backed by House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik’s women-candidate-recruiting PAC told Fox News Digital this week that she believes she can make history in North Carolina.

Retired Col. Laurie Buckhout said her district is the poorest in North Carolina, and while the economy and jobs are top-of-mind to voters, the first issue they mention to her is immigration.

It is the combination of poverty, an influx of drugs from south of the border and a general malaise in the Biden era that has her potential constituents clamoring for change, Buckhout said. 

She noted her district, which spans from suburban Rocky Mount across nearly 200 miles of small towns to the Outer Banks tourist communities of Duck and Corolla, has not elected a Republican since Chester Arthur was president. 

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"It has been Democrat-led for 141 years, which tells you a lot about why it is the poorest one in North Carolina," she told a large audience at a Wednesday event dubbed "E-PAC" and hosted by Stefanik. "This is our real chance to flip this right now... Democrats are scared."

"My opponent, [Rep.] Don Davis, [D-N.C.] – one of the nicest guys in Congress – is hiding every time Biden comes into the state – they put $850,000 toward him just in the month of May in positive ads."

Speaking to Fox News Digital after the event, Buckhout said it is heartbreaking to see the poverty and signs of drug abuse in many towns where she lives.

"It is poverty. It is jobs. It's the economy. They've been struggling for years. And then you bring Biden in, and he's got his crazy spending and these energy policies that are just crushing [eastern North Carolina] and my highly agrarian district."

However, despite the economic burden, voters tell Buckhout that the border is their top issue.

"I've been talking to some of the poorest folks in the district, and they'll say they're worried about their children's futures."

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In the eastern part of the district, touristy beachfront towns and inland villages are being hit hard by the Biden economy as tourism dollars from the thousands of northerners who vacation there have dropped, she said.

"People can't afford to hop in the car and just go for these long trips anymore. So you see businesses closing, you see little hotels closing. It's a significant impact," said Buckhout, whose hometown of Edenton is one of those soundfront communities.

In response to her criticism, Davis said his primary focus is the families of eastern North Carolina and laid out why he is a "recognized bipartisan leader in Congress."

"I have also been vocal in challenging the White House on issues like WOTUS, the menthol ban, Seymour Johnson AFB job cuts, and the border crisis. I have personally made over 200 visits to counties in the East, traveled to Israel and Ukraine and made multiple trips to the southern border," Davis said.

Pollsters and election analysts in North Carolina also offered their take to Fox News Digital on Buckhout’s confidence in a historic Republican shift in her district:

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One pollster, Professor Peter Francia of East Carolina University in Greenville, said the district has shifted to the right a bit after the 2020 census redistricting, from its comfortable Democratic position.

"The election in the 1st Congressional District in North Carolina will not only be the most competitive congressional election in the state, it could turn out to be one of the most competitive elections in the nation," Francia said.