Harris plays mashup of Trump’s ‘enemy within’ comments at Erie rally, shortly after crowd chants ‘lock him up’
Vice President Kamala Harris’ criticisms of former President Trump and her drawing of connections between his agenda and that of the conservative Project 2025 initiative spurred chants at an Erie, Pennsylvania, rally reminiscent of the 2016 White House race. Shortly after the crowd erupted in “lock him up” retorts – similar to Trump rallygoers’ reaction to Hillary Clinton’s mishandling of classified communications during the 2016 cycle – Harris played a mashup of clips in which Trump warned of dangers from “the enemy within.” “The worst people are the enemies from within… those people are more dangerous; the enemy within; than Russia and China. These people should be put in jail the way they talk about our judges and our justices,” Trump collectively stated in some of the television clips played. “You heard his words,” Harris said after the montage. “He’s talking about the enemy within, Pennsylvania. He’s talking about the enemy within our country, Pennsylvania. He’s talking about how he considers anyone who doesn’t support him or who will not bend to his will, an enemy of our country. It’s a serious issue,” she said. TRENDS ARE GOOD IN SWING COUNTY GOP CHAIR CALLS ‘LITTLE PENNSYLVANIA,’ PREDICTS REPEAT OF 2016 In recent comments on the matter to Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo, Trump spoke about such “enemies,” and quipped that while China and Russia are “dangerous” at times to deal with, “the thing that’s tougher to handle are these lunatics that we have inside like Adam Schiff.” Schiff, a congressman from Burbank, Calif., is currently the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate against Republican retired MLB star Steve Garvey. In Erie, Harris said Trump opened the door to using the military to “go after” groups, hypothesizing that they might include journalists critical of him, election officials he clashes with or judges that rule against his will. The Democratic nominee said that, therefore, voting for Trump would be a “huge risk for America” and that her GOP opponent is “increasingly unstable and unhinged.” Reached for comment, the Trump campaign rejected her warnings, expressing that it was the “Harris-Biden administration that weaponized our justice system to go after President Trump with trumped-up charges in an effort to silence their political rivals.” “If Kamala wants to cry about ‘unchecked’ abuse of power, she should look in the mirror,” said Pennsylvania Team Trump spokesman Kush Desai. PA TOWN ROILED BY TALK OF MIGRANT HOUSING IN CIVIL-WAR-ERA ORPHANAGE BUILDING Meanwhile, Harris’ preceding comments about the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling in Trump’s favor led to the aforementioned “lock him up” chants. Harris appeared to sidestep any agreement with such expression, telling the crowd, “hold on, hold on,” and advising that they make their voice heard instead at the ballot box. “The courts will handle that. Let’s handle November, shall we?” Harris said. “Look, anybody who said they would terminate the Constitution of the United States should never again stand behind the seal of the President of the United States – never again.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Prior to the rally, Harris stopped at a local business, and was greeted upon arrival in Pennsylvania’s only beachfront city by Democratic Mayor Joe Schember and State Rep. Ryan Bizzarro, D-Erie, according to reports. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., offered the warm-up speech, and the Democratic nominee was ultimately introduced by Karen Kalivoda, a retired civil servant and Erie native. On the other end of the Commonwealth, Trump was participating in a Pennsylvania town hall hosted by South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem at an exposition center near King of Prussia.
Tim Walz boasts about having support of Dick Cheney, Bernie Sanders, Taylor Swift during Wisconsin rally
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz held a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Monday to shore up support just three weeks before the presidential election. While warning the crowd about what he said is at stake if former President Trump were to take back the White House, the vice presidential candidate bragged about the unorthodox trio of supporters backing the Harris-Walz ticket. “The road to the Super Bowl, the road to control of the Senate, and the road to the White House, goes right through the NFC North, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Look, you had a Lions fan, a Packers fan and a Vikings fan up here,” Walz said, referring to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Ivers, and himself. “The only thing more amazing is we got Bernie Sanders, Dick Cheney and Taylor Swift on the same ticket.” Cheney, who was vice president to former President George W. Bush, was vilified by Democrats for his hawkish defense of the Iraq War. But last month, Cheney made the stunning announcement that he planned to vote for Kamala Harris as president. TRUMP ALLY TIM SCOTT MULLS BID FOR TOP ROLE AT SENATE CAMPAIGN ARM Taylor Swift also announced her endorsement of Harris last month, just minutes after the presidential debate between the two candidates. Walz used his speech in Green Bay on Monday to hash out a list of grievances against Trump and his running mate JD Vance, who he debated earlier this month. TRENDS ARE GOOD IN THE SWING COUNTY GOP CHAIR CALLS ‘LITTLE PENNSYLVANIA’: IT’LL ‘BE A REPEAT OF ’16′ Walz attacked Trump’s mental acuity and age, alleging that the former commander-in-chief has “been forgetting things.” “He’s confused. He’s a nearly 80-year-old man. He’s ranting and rambling until people get bored and leave his rallies,” Walz said. Walz appealed to men who were on the fence about who they planned to vote for. “I’m going to make a message to the guys here. You got any women you love in your life? Your wives, your daughters, your mothers, and friends? Let’s not forget their lives are literally at stake in this election,” Walz said, invoking Trump’s appointment of three Supreme Court Justices who were instrumentally in overturning Roe v. Wade. “He brags about it. He’s glad my daughter Hope now has fewer rights than her mother had,” Walz said. “That’s what he’s bragging about.” Walz ended his speech by imploring the crowd to vote for Harris, likening them to the “underdogs.” “For Christ’s sake, I’m a Vikings fan,” Walz quipped. “We’re always the underdogs.”
Kamala Harris accused of plagiarizing in 2009 book about being ‘smart on crime’
Vice President Harris is being accused of plagiarizing from several sources in her 2009 book on policing that was released while she was district attorney of San Francisco. The book, “Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor’s Plan to Make Us Safer,” was co-authored with Joan O’C Hamilton. The so-called “plagiarism hunter,” Austrian professor Stefan Weber, found 27 times that Harris, the 2024 Democrat nominee for president, and her co-author allegedly committed some form of plagiarism. He found that “24 fragments are plagiarism from other authors, [and] 3 fragments are self-plagiarism from a work written with a co-author.” TRUMP ALLY TIM SCOTT MULLS BID FOR TOP ROLE AT SENATE CAMPAIGN ARM Manhattan Institute senior fellow and conservative activist Chris Rufo first reported on the allegation on Monday, pointing to multiple examples from Harris’ book in which entire sentences and phrases were apparently lifted from other sources without the use of quotations, though in some cases a footnote cites the source. ‘THE LEFT HAS PERFECTED THIS’: CONSERVATIVES TAKE PAGE FROM OBAMA’S PLAYBOOK IN BATTLEGROUND WISCONSIN “Taken in total, there is certainly a breach of standards here. Harris and her co-author duplicated long passages nearly verbatim without proper citation and without quotation marks, which is the textbook definition of plagiarism,” Rufo wrote. ‘DON’T EVEN KNOW WHO HE IS’: WISCONSINITES TALK HARRIS’ MIDWESTERN RUNNING MATE, TIM WALZ Fox News Digital independently verified that Harris’ book features verbatim and near-verbatim reproductions from a 2008 NBC News report, a press release from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, a Wikipedia page and a report from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), among others. A 2007 press release from John Jay reads: High Point had its first face-to-face meeting with drug dealers, from the city’s West End neighborhood, on May 18th, 2004. The drug market shut down immediately and permanently, with a sustained 35% reduction in violent crime. High Point repeated the strategy in three additional markets over the next three years. There is virtually no remaining public drug dealing in the city, and serious crime has fallen 20% citywide. The High Point strategy has since been implemented in Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and Raleigh, NC; in Providence, RI; and in Rockford, IL. The US Department of Justice is launching a national program to replicate the strategy in ten cities. Harris’ book includes the following: High Point had its first face-to-face meeting with drug dealers, from the city’s West End neighborhood, on May 18, 2004. The drug market shut down immediately and permanently, with a sustained 35 percent reduction in violent crime. High Point repeated the strategy in three additional markets over the next three years. There is virtually no remaining public drug dealing in the city, and serious crime has fallen 20 percent citywide. The High Point strategy has since been implemented in Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and Raleigh, North Carolina; in Providence, Rhode Island; and in Rockford, Illinois. The U.S. Department of Justice is launching a national program to replicate the strategy in ten additional cities. In another instance, a report published by BJA in 2000 says: Although West Palm Beach is less than 1 mile from Palm Beach, one of the most affluent cities in the country, 41 percent of the neighborhood’s 5,360 residents live in poverty and the unemployment rate stands at 20 percent. The physical characteristics of the community are striking: deteriorated houses and businesses, vacant lots with discarded mattresses and piles of trash, and litter strewn throughout the streets, sidewalks, yards, and parks. No new businesses have opened in the area, and few new houses have been built in recent years. And Harris and her co-author wrote: Although West Palm Beach is less than one mile from Palm Beach, one of the most affluent cities in the country, more than a third of the town’s residents live in poverty, and unemployment is high. The community is full of deteriorated houses and businesses, vacant lots with discarded mattresses and piles of trash, and litter strewn throughout the streets, sidewalks, yards, and parks. At the time the community considered adding a court, no new businesses had opened in the area, and few new houses had been built in recent years. LEAD COUNSEL HITS NEW DEM EFFORT TO ‘DELEGITIMIZE’ SUPREME COURT AMID SENATOR’S REPORT ON KAVANAUGH PROBE Harris is running against former President Trump, the Republican nominee. With the election less than a month away, many polls are showing the battle within the margin of error in critical swing states. Harris’ campaign and the White House did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
User’s manual on what House races to watch on Election Night
It’s pretty clear which states to watch to know whether Democrats or Republicans will control the Senate. Contests in Ohio, Montana, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania are all battlegrounds. But it’s a different story to understanding which might control the House. The path to power isn’t direct in the House. A patchwork of districts – hopscotching from northern Maine to the tundra of Alaska – might decide the House majority. So on election night, let me decode the signs to interpret which party may serve in the House majority in 2025. REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: WITH NO GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN, IT FEELS LIKE CHRISTMAS IN SEPTEMBER It’s about the math. Let’s begin with the current breakdown in the House. There are presently 432 House members. 220 Republicans and 212 Democrats. There are three vacancies. Late Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Tex., and Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., died. Former Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wisc., resigned. None of these are swing districts. So, if the House were at full membership with 435 seats, the breakdown would be 221 Republicans to 214 Democrats. The margin is seven. But Democrats only need a net gain of four seats to capture control. Also, note that some districts have morphed – especially in North Carolina – due to redistricting. In fact, Republicans could gain several seats there alone. So here’s the charge for Democrats: hold seats they currently have – and pluck off a handful of seats as they skip around the map. Also, make up the difference from what they will likely lose in the Tar Heel State. This is not a comprehensive list. But it will provide a general feel for the evening. Here’s an early race to watch which could give a you a clue as to the direction of the House: Maine’s 2nd District. Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, faces Republican challenger and former NASCAR driver Austin Theriault. This is a massive, rugged, rural district which stretches north to the Canadian border. Golden is one of the most moderate – and vulnerable Democrats in the House. Former President Trump won the singular electoral vote by carrying this district in 2020. Maine employs a proportional system to divide its electoral votes. If Golden holds this seat, that could serve as an early canary in the coal mine indicating that Democrats are in good shape. But if Theriault prevails, that might signal the House could drift the other direction. TRUMP CAMPAIGN HINTS AT ELECTION DAY TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS FOR VOTERS IMPACTED BY HURRICANES HELENE, MILTON Political analysts believe that Democrats lost the House in New York in 2022. That’s ironic because the former chairman of the Democrats reelection efforts two years ago, former Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y., hailed from New York. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is from Brooklyn. That’s to say nothing of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. Empire State Democrats have an opportunity to make significant inroads if they perform well in House races this year. The fact that it’s a presidential election could also bolster Democratic performance in New York. Democrats already won back the seat occupied by former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., – who was expelled. But Democrats are angling to defeat freshman Reps. Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y., Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., and Nick LaLota, R-N.Y. A clean sweep in the early returns sends a message that Democrats are performing substantially well on the evening of November 5. Democrats will be disappointed if they don’t capture at least three of these seats. Virginia is also a place where both parties have pickup opportunities. A sweep by either side could reveal the overall direction of the night. Freshman Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., faces Democratic challenger Missy Cotter Smasal in the Tidewater area. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., is retiring to run for governor next year. Democrat Eugene Vindman faces Republican Derrick Anderson to succeed Spanberger. The parties could split these races, making Virginia a wash. Veteran Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio and freshman Rep. Emilia Sykes, D-Ohio, are both defending battleground districts in a state which should go overwhelmingly for Mr. Trump. The fact that Republican Vice Presidential nominee and Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, hails from the Buckeye State could influence voter turnout. It’s a boon if Republicans are able to topple either Kaptur or Sykes. And Republicans could be looking at a grand slam if both Democrats lose. However, Kaptur is the longest-tenured woman in House history. Republicans have been trying to defeat her for years. It’s far from clear that they can do so this year. Democrats also have a shot at winning a redrawn seat in Alabama. A federal court decided that Alabama violated the Voting Rights Act by packing Black voters into a single majority Black district. The court ruled that Alabama must retool its Congressional maps, making what was once a Republican district into one favoring Democrats. Shomari Figures hopes to capture that district for the Democrats. In Iowa, Democrats are eyeing two seats – although winning either may be a stretch. One seat pits Democrat Lanon Baccam against Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa. Democrats also hope Christina Bohannan can unseat sophomore Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa. Miller-Meeks squeaked out a victory in 2020 by just six votes. But Miller-Meeks won by seven points in 2022. Democrats would be fortunate to knock off either Nunn or Miller-Meeks. But they definitely believe Bohannan has a bona fide shot at toppling Miller-Meeks. In Colorado, Rep. Yadira Caraveo D-Colo., won her first term by about 2,000 votes. She’s up against Republican challenger Gabe Evans. But it’s believed a strong showing at the top of the ticket in blue Colorado could help Caraveo. TRUMP ALLY TIM SCOTT MULLS BID FOR TOP ROLE AT SENATE CAMPAIGN ARM In New Mexico, Freshman Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-N.M. is in a rematch with former Rep. Yvette Harrell, R-N.M. This district is one of the swingiest in the country and bears watching. Former Rep. Xochitl Torres Small, D-N.M., flipped this district in 2018 after former Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., ran for
Hurricane-hit battleground states face additional voting hurdles in run-up to Election Day
Voters in storm-ravaged parts of the Southeast could face new hurdles at the ballot box this year following the destruction wrought by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, back-to-back disasters that have sparked a flurry of new outreach from states, parties, and even campaigns themselves in a bid to expand voters’ access to the polls and ensure their votes are counted. Though the efforts in the hurricane-hit southern states have taken very different shapes, the shared goal is to increase engagement and participation in the 2024 presidential race, in which candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump remain locked in a virtual dead heat with less than a month until Election Day. In North Carolina, efforts have been focused on helping displaced residents access polling locations in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which barreled onto shore last month as a Category 4 storm, killing more than 220 people and causing billions of dollars in destruction. The bulk of the storm’s destruction was concentrated in western North Carolina and in Georgia, two competitive states that could play a key role in determining the next president. Roughly 17% of North Carolina’s registered voters reside in the counties that were designated as disaster areas in the aftermath of Helene, Michael Bitzer, a professor of politics and history at Catawba College, previously told Fox News. ‘CAN’T WAIT TILL THE LAST MINUTE’: NC CONGRESSMAN RAISES ALARM ON VOTER ACCESS IN AREAS HARD HIT BY HELENE To that end, the North Carolina State Board of Elections voted last week to approve changes for 13 counties in the region, whose access to infrastructure, polling locations and postal services is believed to remain “severely disrupted” through Election Day. State election officials also announced coordination with FEMA and North Carolina Emergency Management to set up portable restrooms, generators and trailers to support the more than 500 polling places in the state’s western region — and an area of devastation that spans some 25 counties. Meanwhile, the Trump campaign also hinted at new efforts to help transport voters to the ballot boxes in hurricane-hit states. Speaking to Fox News in an interview Monday, Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the campaign has been in contact with state and local election officials in the Southeast to survey the damage and ensure voters have access to the ballots. The campaign leadership, she said “has sent a letter “to state and local officials on the ground in North Carolina saying, ‘You need to provide as many accessible voting locations as possible on the ground,’” Leavitt told Fox News, adding: “Our campaign is reviewing how we can possibly provide transportation for voters who need to get to the polls and ensuring they have access to the ballot box.” In Florida, which was battered by both Hurricanes Helene and Milton, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order granting election officials in hard-hit counties additional flexibility to alter their election procedures — including polling locations and requests for mail-in ballot addresses to be changed at the last minute. Meanwhile, Democrats suffered a blow in Georgia last week after a federal judge ruled that she will not order the state to reopen its voter registration process or extend its voter registration deadline in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, rejecting arguments from the Georgia conference of the NAACP, the Georgia Coalition of the People’s Agenda, and the New Georgia Project, which said disruptions from the storm had unfairly deprived them of their right to register. The ruling could have a major impact in Georgia, a key battleground state that narrowly selected Biden by just 12,000 votes in 2020. (A federal judge in Florida also rejected a similar request brought in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, filed by the Florida chapter of the League of Women Voters.) Federal judges in both states claimed that voters had ample time to register for the November election. It is unclear what — or if — the Harris campaign is providing in terms of transport or options for voters in North Carolina or other states that were impacted by the natural disasters, or what specific actions might be taken by Trump’s campaign. Campaign officials did not respond to Fox News’ request for comment.
Harris doubles down with ‘Indigenous Peoples’ Day’ post amid outrage over Columbus Day rhetoric
Vice President Kamala Harris doubled down on her recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day amid outrage on social media over her unearthed support of renaming Columbus Day. “This Indigenous Peoples’ Day, I am thinking about the young Indigenous leaders I met in Arizona last week. I am counting on their leadership and looking forward to our partnership,” Harris posted to her campaign X account late Monday afternoon. The post comes as videos of Harris from both 2019 and 2021 have spread like wildfire across social media platforms, spotlighting Harris’ previous comments supporting the renaming of Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day, and admonishing European explorers for unleashing a “wave of devastation for Tribal nations” when they reached the Americas in the late 1400s. “Count me in on support,” Harris told a voter in New Hampshire in 2019 when asked if she supports renaming Columbus Day “Indigenous People’s Day,” footage of the event shows. Harris’ remarks came roughly a month after she launched her ultimately failed 2020 run for the White House. COLUMBUS DAY FLASHBACK: HARRIS EXCORIATED EUROPEAN EXPLORERS FOR ‘WAVE OF DEVASTATION’ TO NATIVE PEOPLES The Trump campaign slammed Harris over her unearthed comments in 2019, in an exclusive comment to Fox News Digital on Sunday. TRUMP CAMP RIPS HARRIS OVER UNEARTHED COMMENTS ON RENAMING COLUMBUS DAY: ‘STEREOTYPICAL LEFTIST’ “Kamala Harris is your stereotypical leftist. Not only does she want to raise taxes and defund the police — she also wants to cancel American traditions like Columbus Day,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “President Trump will make sure Christopher Columbus’ great legacy is honored and protect this holiday from radical leftists who want to erase our nation’s history like Kamala Harris.” DEFACED COLUMBUS STATUE THAT WAS THROWN INTO A VIRGINIA POND FINDS MORE WELCOMING HOME IN NYC SUBURB Back in 2021, Harris said as vice president that the U.S. “must not shy away” from its “shameful past” of European explorers who she said ushered “in a wave of devastation.” “Since 1934, every October, the United States has recognized the voyage of the European explorers who first landed on the shores of the Americas,” Harris said during the National Congress of American Indians’ 78th Annual Convention on Oct. 12, 2021. “But that is not the whole story. That has never been the whole story,” Harris continued in her 2021 speech. “Those explorers ushered in a wave of devastation for Tribal nations — perpetrating violence, stealing land and spreading disease,” she continued. “We must not shy away from this shameful past, and we must shed light on it and do everything we can to address the impact of the past on Native communities today.” Columbus Day is a federal holiday that officially celebrates and recognizes Italian explorer Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the Americas in 1492. Democratic President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed a proclamation in 1934 making Columbus Day a national holiday following lobbying from the Italian American and Catholic communities. Activists in recent years have worked to disassociate the day from Columbus, claiming it celebrates colonialism and genocide of indigenous people, in favor of celebrating Native Americans. Activists have also worked to remove Columbus statues from cities, including toppling such statues during the riots of 2020. President Biden became the first president in 2021 to formally recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day on the same holiday. Harris has consistently celebrated Indigenous Peoples’ Day over Columbus Day, with her official vice presidential X account acknowledging the holiday each year since 2021, while searching for “Columbus Day” on her account turns up no results. COLUMBUS REMAINS, VERIFIED AFTER 500 YEARS, SHOW HE WAS JEWISH: DOCUMENTARY Her X post Monday celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day comes as social media commenters slammed her over the unearthed remarks from both 2019 and 2021. Fox News Digital has repeatedly reached out to the Harris campaign since Sunday regarding her previous comments, but did not receive a reply. Fox Digital reached out to the campaign again late Monday afternoon asking if the vice president would end the recognition of Columbus Day in favor of Indigenous Peoples’ Day considering her latest tweet, but did not immediately receive a reply. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Fox News Politics: Who is to blame for the border?
Welcome to the Fox News’ Politics newsletter, with the latest political news from Washington, D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. Here’s what’s happening… -VP Kamala Harris to sit down with chief political anchor Bret Baier for first formal Fox News interview -Biden warned Iran that killing Trump would be an ‘act of war’ -Trump camp teases Election Day transportation options for voters impacted by Hurricanes Helene, Milton Former President Bill Clinton said to a group of churchgoers Sunday that Georgia nursing student Laken Riley’s murder would not have happened if the alleged killer, an illegal immigrant, was properly vetted. While campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris in the Peach State, Clinton accused Harris’ rival, former President Donald Trump, of tanking negotiations over a bipartisan border compromise in Congress because he wanted it to be a campaign issue. He seemed to suggest that Riley’s death could have been avoided if Congress was able to pass a compromise – despite the alleged killer having already been vetted…Read more SHOOTING BLANKS: Kamala Harris claims she’s got a gun, but 2nd Amendment supporters say: good luck getting yours…Read more COLUMBUS DAY FLASHBACK: Harris excoriated European explorers for ‘wave of devastation’ to Native peoples…Read more TECH CRUNCH: AI sector frustrated by Congress’ slow pace keeping up with advanced tech…Read more ‘LISTEN TO YOUR QUESTION’: NBC News’ Kristen Welker presses House Speaker Mike Johnson on Trump’s cholesterol levels…Read more FALSE NARRATIVE?: Who is Vem Miller, man arrested outside Trump Coachella rally? 4 things to know…Read more WHO’S MORE ACCESSIBLE?: Trump-Vance ticket has done a combined 75 interviews since August compared to 39 for Harris-Walz…Read more ‘LITTLE’ KEYSTONE: Trends are good in the swing county GOP chair calls ‘Little Pennsylvania’: It’ll ‘be a repeat of ‘16’…Read more ‘THE LEFT HAS PERFECTED THIS’: Conservatives take page from Obama’s playbook in battleground Wisconsin…Read more HEALTHY AMERICANS: Harris goads Trump to release medical records after she gets clean bill of health from personal physician…Read more Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
‘Dumb thing for her to do’: Rift between Harris and Biden camps causing internal disruptions, sources say
Sources close to the White House report an ongoing rift between President Biden and his staff and Kamala Harris and her staff – with issues tracing back to the initial weeks following Harris’ nomination by the Democratic Party. The squabbles have ranged from whether Biden’s main surrogates should continue going on TV or be replaced with new Harris surrogates, to debates over whether Biden is undermining Harris’ messaging. Other issues have included complaints from the Harris camp that the White House has not moved quickly enough to add staff to the vice president’s office to help deal with the bigger workload. The revelations surfaced in a new report Axios published Sunday. “Everyone from the president on down knows how important the election is, and we always anticipated a number of staff would want to transition from the administration to the campaign for the final stretch,” a White House official told Axios. However, simultaneously, the White House has been frustrated over the Harris camp’s rules around who can be moved to her office and when, other sources inside the White House told Fox News. Meanwhile, Biden staffers have also reportedly felt dejected over Biden’s exit from the race, sources said, forcing them to play second fiddle to the vice president. PRESIDENT BIDEN PROMOTES PRESS SECRETARY KARINE JEAN-PIERRE TO NEW TOP ROLE “They’re too much in their feelings,” a Harris ally close to the campaign, told Axios. One example of Biden not adequately coordinating his message and schedule, cited by Harris campaign aides, came on Friday. Biden held an impromptu press conference from the White House to update the American public on the government’s hurricane relief efforts. Meanwhile, Harris was campaigning in Michigan at the same time, and the dueling events served to effectively lessen the number of eyes on Harris. Biden was supposed to be out of the country that day, but he reportedly felt it imperative to stay back and oversee response efforts to Hurricanes Milton and Helene. The infighting did not stop there, either. Last week, Harris criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for playing political games and not doing what was best for the American people, after she claimed that the Sunshine State governor ignored her calls to discuss hurricane relief efforts. On Friday, when Biden was supposed to be overseas, he undercut Harris’ narrative about DeSantis when he praised the Florida governor’s work in the wake of the storm, calling him “cooperative” and acknowledging he was doing a “great job.” BIDEN UNDERMINES HARRIS CLAIM THAT RON DESANTIS IS POLITICIZING HURRICANE RESPONSE: ‘DOING A GREAT JOB’ Sources inside the White House told Fox News that Harris creating a rift with DeSantis was a “dumb thing for her to do,” adding that Biden’s team feels like it has done everything it can to provide Harris with opportunities to demonstrate leadership, but she has fumbled them. At least one source who spoke to Fox News said the Harris campaign’s poor messaging on this was due to its own poor planning, not the White House’s. The Harris campaign declined to comment when reached by Fox News Digital. But, Andrew Bates, White House deputy press secretary, extolled Biden’s continued support for Harris in a statement to Fox News Digital. “President Biden endorsed Vice President Harris immediately after leaving the race, rejecting other approaches that would divide the party, and has attested to her leadership abilities and continually made clear his support for her,” Bates said. “While ensuring that all critical White House functions are fully staffed, we have made significant changes to guarantee the Vice President’s team has all of the support and resources that they need,” Bates said. “This builds on a strong, trusting relationship between both teams, which has been critical to successfully executing an unprecedented transition to a new candidate.”
An Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities could backfire
Since Iran’s October 1 missile attack on Israel in response to the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, there has been much speculation about how Tel Aviv will retaliate. Some observers have suggested that it could hit Iranian oil installations, and others, its nuclear facilities. US President Joe Biden’s administration seems to oppose both options, but it has approved the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defence system and United States troops to Israel, possibly in anticipation of an Iranian response to an Israeli strike. Meanwhile, Biden’s political adversary, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, has egged on Israel to “hit the nuclear first”. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner has also suggested the same. While Trump, Kushner and other staunch Israel supporters are happy to cheer on an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, they likely know very little about the consequences of another such Israeli attack that targeted an Iraqi nuclear site. Israel’s destruction of Iraq’s French-built Osiraq nuclear reactor in 1981 actually pushed what was largely a peaceful nuclear programme underground and motivated Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to invest in the pursuit of a nuclear weapon. An aggressive act against Iran’s nuclear programme will likely have a similar effect. A ‘pre-emptive’ strike Iraq’s nuclear programme started in the 1960s with the USSR building a small nuclear research reactor and providing it with some know-how. In the 1970s, Iraq purchased a bigger reactor from France – called Osiraq – and expanded its civilian nuclear programme with significant French and Italian assistance. The French government had made sure that technical measures were in place to prevent any possible dual use of the reactor and it shared this information with the US, Israel’s closest ally. Iraq, which was a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and had its nuclear sites inspected regularly by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was not “on the brink of” developing a nuclear weapon, as Israel falsely asserted. Nevertheless, the Israeli government, which was facing growing discontent domestically and a potential loss at the approaching legislative elections, decided to proceed with the “pre-emptive” strike. On June 7, 1981, US-made F-15 and F-16 fighter jets flew from Israel, refuelled mid-air, and carried out a strike on the Osiraq reactor, completely destroying it and killing three Iraqi civilians and one French engineer. The attack provoked nationalist fervour among Israelis that helped Prime Minister Menachem Begin pinch a narrow victory in the elections three weeks later. A trove of declassified US documents released in 2021 demonstrates that Israel’s strike did not eliminate Iraq’s programme, but rather made Saddam more determined to acquire a nuclear weapon. It also motivated more Iraqi scientists to sign up to work on their nation’s nuclear programme. As Iraqi nuclear scientist Jafar Dhia Jafar wrote in his memoir: “the Israeli bombing of Tammuz I [i.e. Osiraq] had infuriated many, and they were practically forming a line to participate in ending the Jewish state’s monopoly of nuclear weapons in the Middle East.” They proved to be more valuable to Saddam than the hardware – the reactor – that he lost in the attack. In the following years, Saddam’s regime made nuclear activities clandestine and started reaching out to nuclear powers like Pakistan to seek assistance in developing capabilities that could be used to produce a nuclear weapon. It also tried to rebuild the destroyed reactor. These efforts slowed down only in the early 1990s due to the first Gulf War, which decimated Iraqi infrastructure, and the subsequent sanctions, which drained state coffers. The consequences of a strike on Iran Over the past few years, a number of Iranian nuclear scientists have been assassinated. Most recently, in November 2020, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a nuclear physicist and high-ranking member of the nuclear programme, was shot dead in an ambush near Tehran. Iran has accused Israel of carrying out this assassination and others in the past. While these assassinations may have killed key cadres, they have inspired a new generation of Iranians to pursue nuclear science, part of an Iranian “nuclear nationalism” emerging as a result of the constant attacks on Iran’s nuclear programme. The events since October 7, 2023 have further fuelled this sentiment. A poll conducted between February and May this year showed that not only has public support in Iran for a peaceful nuclear programme remained incredibly high, but that now there is a growing public consensus the country should acquire a nuclear weapon. Some 69 percent of the respondents in the survey said they would support it. Clearly, Israel’s actions so far are only increasing Iranian determination to continue its nuclear programme. A strike on any of its nuclear facilities would make that determination even stronger. And if we are to go by the Iraqi example, it may drive the Iranian nuclear programme underground and accelerate it towards the development of a nuclear weapon. Today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finds himself in his predecessor Begin’s shoes. He is also leading a government widely criticised for various failures, including the one on October 7, 2023. He is also desperate to show the Israeli public a “victory”. But what Netanyahu is doing in Gaza and Lebanon now and will do in Iran will not bring victory to Israel. His strategy produces resentment in these countries and across the Middle East, which will help Iran and its allies rebuild swiftly whatever capabilities they lose to reckless Israeli strikes. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance. Adblock test (Why?)
Nepali teenager hailed as hero after climbing world’s 8,000-metre peaks
Cheering crowds hailed an 18-year-old Nepali mountaineer as a hero as he returned home on Monday after he broke the record to become the youngest person to summit all 14 of the world’s 8,000-metre (26,500-foot) peaks. Nima Rinji Sherpa reached the summit of Tibet’s 8,027-metre (26,335-foot) Shishapangma on October 9, completing his mission to stand on the world’s highest peaks. On Monday, he returned from China to Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, where scores of people waited to see him. “I am feeling very happy,” said the young mountaineer, draped in traditional Buddhist scarves and garlands of marigold flowers, as he emerged to loud cheers at the airport. “Thank you so much, everyone,” he said to his supporters, beaming a wide grin. Sherpa hugged his family while others rushed to offer him scarves and flowers. He later waved to the crowd out of a car sunroof, while proudly holding the national flag. Nepal’s climbing community also welcomed several others who returned after completing the summit of 14 peaks. Summiting all 14 “eight-thousanders” is considered the peak of mountaineering aspirations, with all the peaks located in the Himalayan and neighbouring Karakoram ranges, straddling Nepal, China, Pakistan, Tibet and India. Climbers cross “death zones” where there is not enough oxygen in the air to sustain human life for long periods. Italian climber Reinhold Messner first completed the feat in 1986, and only around 50 others have successfully followed in his footsteps. Many elite climbers have died in the pursuit. In the last few years, mountaineers have been expected to reach the “true summit” of every mountain, which many climbers of the previous generation had missed. Sherpa is no stranger to the mountains, hailing from a family of record-holding climbers, who also now run Nepal’s largest mountaineering expedition company. Raised in bustling Kathmandu, Sherpa initially preferred to play football or shoot videos. But two years ago, he put his camera down to pursue mountaineering. Sherpa, who already holds multiple records from his ascents of dozens of peaks, started high-altitude climbing at the age of 16, by climbing Mount Manaslu in August 2022. Nepali climbers – usually ethnic Sherpas from the valleys around Everest – are considered the backbone of the climbing industry in the Himalayas. They carry the majority of equipment and food, fixing ropes and repairing ladders. Long in the shadows as supporters of foreign climbers, they are slowly being recognised in their own right. “I want to show the younger generation of Sherpas that they can rise above the stereotype of being only support climbers and embrace their potential as top-tier athletes, adventurers, and creators,” Sherpa said in a statement soon after his final summit. “We are not just guides. We are trailblazers.” In recent years, climbers like Sherpa have set record after record, and are hopeful their feats will inspire the next generation of Nepali mountaineers. The record was previously held by another Nepali climber, Mingma Gyabu “David” Sherpa. He achieved it in 2019, at the age of 30. Adblock test (Why?)