Vance’s Midwestern roots appeal to Michigan swing-county voters despite Buckeye ties
Voters in a critical county in the swing state of Michigan believe that Ohio Sen. JD Vance’s Midwestern roots help him appeal to people in Michigan, even if the Republican nominee for vice president is a graduate of a hated rival. “Besides being a Buckeyes fan, he’s got a good story. He grew up kind of truly in poverty and was able to overcome that,” one voter in Detroit told Fox News Digital ahead of a Vance event in the city Tuesday, adding that Vance’s story shows how people can accomplish the “American Dream.” The comments come as the presidential election hits the home stretch, with the venue event in Detroit coming exactly four weeks before Election Day. Michigan figures to play a key role in determining the eventual winner, having narrowly gone for former President Donald Trump in 2016 before another close race swung the state to President Biden in 2020. MELANIA TRUMP ADMITS SHE’S WORRIED ABOUT HER HUSBAND’S SAFETY AS NOVEMBER ELECTION LOOMS: ‘TOXIC ATMOSPHERE’ The 2024 version of the race is shaping up to be close again, with the Real Clear Politics polling average showing Vice President Kamala Harris with a slim 0.5 point lead over Trump as of Wednesday. Wayne County, which includes Detroit and is Michigan’s most populous county, could play a key role in determining who emerges with the victory in the state. While the county has traditionally supported Democratic candidates, Republicans have made inroads with voters in Wayne County since Trump’s 2016 campaign. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, captured just over 26% of the vote in the county during his 2012 campaign, while the late Sen. John McCain was only able to capture just under 25% during his 2008 White House bid. But Trump has performed better during his two runs, garnering over 29% and over 30% of the vote in Wayne County in 2016 and 2020. The Trump campaign is hoping its appeal to working class voters will help it make even more inroads with Wayne County voters, a strategy that Vance is at the center of. “I think that JD Vance is an incredible statesman, effective communicator,” one voter attending the rally told Fox News Digital, adding that the Ohio Senator’s Ohio roots also help shore “up support in the Midwestern states.” HOWARD STERN TELLS HARRIS SUN WILL ‘GO OUT’ IF SHE LOSES: ‘WE’RE IN FOR THE DARKEST SKIES ON THE PLANET’ “He kind of gets the concerns of the country people. Smart as a whip. He knows tech,” the voter said. “Absolutely, even though Ohio and Michigan have a rivalry,” another voter said when asked if Vance’s roots help him in Michigan. “I know that the Midwest Rust Belt states feel very strongly about Vance and of course about Trump.” “JD Vance is a gentleman. He’s energetic. He certainly is a patriot. He served in the Marines for four years… He’s really proved that he is a true American,” the voter added. “I don’t know about them U of M fans. I don’t know how deep that Buckeye traditions go,” another voter quipped, adding that at the end of the day he believes people from Ohio and Michigan are similar and that they will “come together.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Other voters in Detroit praised Vance’s demeanor, arguing that he provided a contrast to his more brash running mate. “He is very well balanced and he’s younger, and he comes from a different upbringing than Trump,” a voter told Fox News Digital. “He’s engaging… He’s got great points.” “JD Vance brings us a lot of great common-sense thinking. He can formulate his answers a lot better than I could,” another voter said. “He can bring the facts to the case so we can bring more people to the table.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Biden and Netanyahu speak after report US president called Israeli counterpart a ‘bad f—ing guy’
President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone on Wednesday for the first time in more than 50 days. It came after fresh tensions emerged in their relationship: Netanyahu refused to approve his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s trip to the U.S. on Tuesday until Biden called him. The call came together in short order after that. Netanyahu spoke with former President Trump earlier Wednesday before he spoke with Biden. Vice President Kamala Harris joined the call along with the president. It comes as Israel has been weighing its options to retaliate for the barrage of missiles Iran fired toward the Jewish state last week. Gallant warned on Wednesday the Israeli response was sure to catch Iran by surprise. “As we have shown until now in this war and in all arenas – whoever attacks Israel will pay a price. Our strike will be powerful, precise, and above all – surprising. They will not understand what happened and how it happened,” he told the IDF’s intelligence unit in a briefing. Biden has warned Netanyahu to make sure his response is “proportional” and to avoid hitting Iran’s nuclear facilities. The longtime relationship between the two men soured in the months that followed the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. Further indication of their mutual disdain came on the one-year anniversary of the attacks, when Biden called Israeli President Isaac Herzog over Netanyahu. HOPE FADES FOR A DEAL TO BRING HOSTAGES HOME Since the world leaders’ last call, Israel has launched an aggressive offensive operation in Lebanon, and successfully taken out top Hezbollah leadership over a short timeframe. Israeli airstrikes killed the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and now his successor too, according to Netanyahu. Netanyahu is also known to be distrusting of his defense minister, who he’s tried to fire twice. Gallant has publicly criticized Netanyahu for not articulating a postwar plan for Gaza. In a particularly heated April phone call, Biden asked Netanyahu, “What’s your strategy, man?” according to Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward in his new book, “War.” KAMALA HARRIS COURTS DISILLUSIONED ARAB AMERICANS OVER JEWISH VOTERS, RECORDS SHOW Netanyahu, at the time, said Israel had to go into Rafah, a Gaza-Egypt border city, that he claimed to be a Hamas stronghold. “Bibi, you’ve got no strategy,” Biden reportedly told Netanyahu, who he also allegedly claimed “doesn’t give a damn” about Hamas and “only about himself.” After Israel entered Rafah, Biden said of Netanyahu: “He’s a f—ing liar.” “That son of a b—-, Bibi Netanyahu, he’s a bad guy,” said Biden privately, according to Woodward. “He’s a bad f—ing guy!” Biden said he felt, in Woodward’s accounting, that Netanyahu “had been lying to him regularly.” With Netanyahu “continuing to say he was going to kill every last member of Hamas.” Woodward wrote, “Biden had told him that was impossible, threatening both privately and publicly to withhold offensive U.S. weapons shipments.”
Ratan Tata death: Did Tata Group chairman emeritus have kids? Check here
In several interviews, he has touched upon his decision to remain single, attributing it to personal reasons
What was the religion of Ratan Tata?
Ratan Tata, the chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, has passed away at the age of 86 on Wednesday.
Why did Ratan Tata never marry? Legendary industrialist once revealed…
Ratan Tata relationship fell apart when he moved back to India, and he never married anyone.
Texas overrides local lawsuits to negotiate smaller settlements with polluters, Harris County officials claim
A 2017 law lets the state block local governments, individuals and nonprofits from suing polluters and pursue the cases itself.
Fight over West Texas nuclear waste plan to hit U.S. Supreme Court
A company has long pursued the plan to move “high-level” nuclear waste from power plants across the nation to a storage facility in Andrews County.
Afghan national charged with Election Day terror plot reignites vetting concerns: ‘Glaring alarms’
The arrest of an Afghan national now accused of plotting an Election Day terror attack on behalf of ISIS, and who entered the United States shortly after the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, is reigniting long-standing questions and concerns from Republicans about the vetting of those who came to the U.S. at that time. Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi is said to have obtained firearms and ammunition to conduct a violent attack on U.S. soil and took steps to prepare for the plot. Tawhedi, who was arrested on Monday, is charged with conspiring and attempting to provide material support to ISIS and receiving a firearm to be used to commit a felony or a federal crime of terrorism. Authorities say he liquidated his family’s assets to finance his plan, including purchasing rifles and one-way tickets for his wife and child back to Afghanistan. “This defendant, motivated by ISIS, allegedly conspired to commit a violent attack, on election day, here on our homeland,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray in a statement. “I am proud of the men and women of the FBI who uncovered and stopped the plot before anyone was harmed. Terrorism is still the FBI’s number one priority, and we will use every resource to protect the American people.” AFGHAN MAN IN OKLAHOMA PLOTTED ELECTION DAY TERROR ATTACK IN US ON BEHALF OF ISIS, JUSTICE DEPT SAYS Authorities said Tawhedi entered the United States on Sept. 9, 2021, on a Special Immigrant Visa and is currently on parole status pending adjudication of his immigration proceedings. His alleged co-conspirator is a green card holder who arrived in the U.S. on a Special Immigrant Visa in 2018. Special Immigrant Visas (SIV), made available first during the Bush administration, allowed those who worked with the U.S. armed forces as a translator or interpreter in Afghanistan or Iraq to obtain a visa. The number of SIV applicants increased sharply amid the 2021 withdrawal. But Tawhedi entered shortly after the withdrawal from Afghanistan, a time that saw planes full of Afghans being quickly evacuated from Kabul’s airport and tens of thousands of Afghans brought to the U.S. The U.S. would go on to admit more than 97,000 evacuees, of which about 77,000 were admitted via humanitarian parole, through a program called Operation Allies Welcome. It is unclear how Tawhedi entered the U.S. and also why he would have moved from a SIV to a parole status. But Republicans and watchdog officials have long expressed concern about the vetting of those who came in during that period. Those concerns have been renewed in the case of Tawhedi. “When tens of thousands of insufficiently vetted individuals are let into the interior, this is the inevitable result,” House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., said in a statement. “This Committee has repeatedly warned of the terror threats stemming from the Biden-Harris administration’s failed leadership and disastrous border security policies. DHS OIG FAULTS AFGHAN VETTING, WARNS NATIONAL SECURITY THREATS MAY HAVE ENTERED US “Unfortunately, our calls for transparency regarding the inadequate vetting and screening following the catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan continue to go unanswered – and, here, Americans almost paid the price,” he said. In the Senate, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said he had been vocal about the need to thoroughly vet SIV applicants but that the Biden administration had been “quick to dismiss those glaring alarms.” “The number one job of our government is to protect its citizens. By hiding behind clerical excuses, refusing to take accountability and neglecting to address known vulnerabilities in vetting and resettlement processes, the Biden-Harris administration failed to prioritize Americans’ safety and, once again, projected weakness on the global stage,” Grassley said in a statement. House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York also blamed the administration. “Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi was flown into the U.S. by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Their catastrophic America Last foreign policy has made America less safe,” she said in a statement. Concerns about vetting have been voiced by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) internal watchdog. In 2022, the DHS Office of Inspector General released a report in which it said it found that officials “did not always have critical data to properly screen, vet, or inspect the evacuees.” DHS ANNOUNCES TERROR BAR EXEMPTIONS FOR AFGHAN EVACUEES WHO WORKED FOR TALIBAN-ERA CIVIL SERVICE “As a result, DHS may have admitted or paroled individuals into the United States who pose a risk to national security and the safety of local communities,” the report said. A Pentagon inspector general report the same year revealed that at least 50 evacuees were brought to the U.S. whose information indicated “potentially serious security concerns” and that officials were unable to locate dozens with derogatory information. A 2024 report found “vulnerabilities” in the processes of two DHS agencies for resolving derogatory information. It also found that DHS did not have a process for monitoring the expiration of the two-year parole period and guidelines for determining “re-parole” for parolees are “undefined.” But the Biden administration has repeatedly defended the vetting process, arguing that there is a multilayered process that includes classified and unclassified vetting, including against Pentagon and FBI databases as well as Interpol notices and other information. It previously pushed back against the 2022 IG report, saying it failed to acknowledge an “unprecedented whole of government effort” and for seeing only one part of the screening process. “Afghan evacuees who sought to enter the United States were subject to multi layered screening and vetting against intelligence, law enforcement, and counterterrorism information,” a DHS spokesperson said on Wednesday. “If new information emerges after arrival, appropriate action is taken.” Officials have noted that vetting is a “point-in-time” check of current information. It is still not clear if there was any derogatory information on Tawhedi before he arrived. The arrest comes among broader concerns about the potential for terrorism in the U.S. by foreign nationals. Fox News Digital reported on Tuesday that authorities have started deporting eight Tajik nationals who came to the U.S. at the southern border
Colorado Supreme Court dismisses lawsuit against Christian baker who refused to bake trans cake
The Colorado Supreme Court dismissed yet another case Tuesday against Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips, a Christian baker who has been the target of several lawsuits over the last 12 years. The latest lawsuit accused Phillips of discriminating against a transgender attorney for refusing to bake a custom cake celebrating their gender transition. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the lawyer group representing Phillips, first defended Phillips in 2012 when he was sued for refusing to bake a custom cake celebrating a same-sex wedding because it violated his religious convictions. “Enough is enough. Jack has been dragged through courts for over a decade. It’s time to leave him alone,” Jake Warner, ADF senior counsel, said in a statement. BIDEN OFFICIALS PUSHED TO DROP AGE LIMIT ON TRANS SURGERIES FOR MINORS: REPORT “Free speech is for everyone. As the U.S. Supreme Court held in 303 Creative, the government cannot force artists to express messages they don’t believe. In this case, an attorney demanded that Jack create a custom cake that would celebrate and symbolize a transition from male to female. Because that cake admittedly expresses a message, and because Jack cannot express that message for anyone, the government cannot punish Jack for declining to express it. The First Amendment protects that decision.” While the state court did not issue an opinion regarding Phillips’ First Amendment rights, it was dismissed on the grounds of violating a technicality, stating that plaintiff Autumn Scardina, a man identifying as a woman, did not properly file the lawsuit in Colorado. “We granted review to determine, among other issues, whether [the attorney] properly filed [this] case,” the Colorado Supreme Court wrote in its opinion in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Scardina. “We conclude that [the attorney] did not.” OVER 5,700 CHILDREN IN 5-YEAR PERIOD HAD GENDER SURGERIES, MOST FROM 5 LIBERAL STATES: WATCHDOG “The underlying constitutional question this case raises has become the focus of intense public debate: How should governments balance the rights of transgender individuals to be free from discrimination in places of public accommodation with the rights of religious business owners when they are operating in the public market?” Justice Melissa Hart wrote in the Colorado Supreme Court’s majority opinion. “We cannot answer that question.” On the same day the U.S. Supreme Court revealed it would hear Phillips’ initial case — which he won in 2018 after Colorado tried to force him to make a custom cake for a same-sex wedding — the transgender attorney contacted Phillips’ shop for a custom order to celebrate a gender transition. Phillips’ declined. COLORADO STATE WINS IN STRAIGHT SETS AFTER DECIDING TO PLAY AGAINST TEAM MIRED IN TRANS PLAYER CONTROVERSY The attorney called again later to request a second cake, this one featuring Satan smoking marijuana, to “correct the errors of [Phillips’] thinking,” according to the ADF news release. “Phillips politely declined both requests because the cakes express messages that violate his core beliefs,” ADF stated. “The attorney then filed the most recent lawsuit, threatening to continue harassing Phillips until he is punished. Phillips serves people from all backgrounds. Like many artists, he decides to create custom cakes based on what they will express, not who requests them.”
Ohio Lt. Gov. encourages support for Trump’s ‘swamp the vote’ strategy as key state’s early voting opens
COLUMBUS – Early voting in the former battleground state of Ohio began on Tuesday and Fox News Digital spoke to the state’s GOP lieutenant governor, who explained why Republicans are encouraging voters to vote early. “I want to do what President Trump’s asking us to do, to swamp your vote, because we want everybody across the country and in the state of Ohio to get out there and vote early so that their voices, their votes are locked in, then the campaign can then move on to make sure that they’re focusing resources on people who may not have gotten out and voted,” Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted told Fox News Digital at the Franklin County Board of Elections on Tuesday as he voted on the first day of early voting. “It’s a really important part of the campaign strategy.” The former president’s 2024 campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC) announced earlier this year the launch of what they call their “Swamp the Vote USA” effort, which was a shift from 2020, when Trump spoke in opposition to early-in-person voting and mail-in ballots. OHIO GOP SENATE CANDIDATE MORENO HITS BROWN ON INFLATION REDUCTION ACT VOTE IN AD THAT’S PART OF $25M BUY “Whether you vote absentee, by mail, early in person, or on Election Day—We will Secure Your Vote,” Trump posted online at the time. “JUST VOTE! They are all good options. The way to win is to Swamp Them with Votes!” Republican voters are typically known for voting on Election Day, while Democrats often have the advantage when it comes to early voting efforts. Husted told Fox News Digital that people should vote in whatever way they are most comfortable, but encouraged early voting. “If you want to vote on Election Day, that’s fine,” Husted said. “But we’re encouraging those who are willing to vote early because once the campaigns know you voted, they can devote their resources to turning out people who haven’t voted. The system of elections here in Ohio is a place where we make it easy to vote and hard to cheat and when you get that done early, you can know that the system is working for you and that you can encourage your friends and neighbors to go out and get it done.” Husted continued, “I think it’s really important that Republicans don’t let Democrats get the lead through early voting. Think about this. If you vote early, then if something comes up on Election Day, there’s a hurricane that hits you, a storm that happens, something might get in the way of you getting to the polls. When you do it early, you ensure that your vote happens, that it’s going to be there, it’s going to get counted, and something doesn’t get in the way between now and Election Day.” NRA TARGETS SEN SHERROD BROWN IN 7-FIGURE AD BUY IN OHIO: ‘VOTE LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT’ Although Ohio is no longer viewed as the battleground state it was for many years for presidential elections, the Buckeye State is home to several critical House races and a Senate race that could potentially shift the balance of power in Congress. Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno, running as a Republican in that Senate race against incumbent Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown, rallied supporters outside the Franklin County Board of Elections on Tuesday and also pushed Trump’s “Swamp the Vote” plan. A spokesperson for the Franklin County Board of Elections told Fox News Digital that over 4,000 Ohioans voted early at the Columbus voting site on Tuesday. “The election is down to the hands of the voters and regardless if you want to support me or my opponent, President Trump or Kamala Harris, it’s your civic duty to show up and vote,” Moreno said. “Our elections in Ohio are secure. They’re safe. On Nov. 5, we’ll have an outcome and everybody will agree on that outcome. I encourage everybody to vote early. Bank that vote. Get your vote in there.” Moreno continued, “It’s a beautiful day today, but we have no idea what Nov. 5 will look like. If you’re not voting, you’re part of the problem. We’ve got to make sure that you have your voice heard. Look, the earlier you can vote, it’s better for us as Republicans because we get to take you off the list. We don’t have to text you, email you, knock on your door – if that alone doesn’t motivate you. But look, at the end of the day, here’s a very simple equation where we’re at right now. You vote for me, for Bernie Moreno, for the United States Senate, and your vote for me is a vote to fire Sherrod Brown. The first thing I’m going to do as senator, what we get to do when we get down there, we fire Chuck Schumer.” Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report