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RFK Jr. says Trump White House will get fluoride out of drinking water

RFK Jr. says Trump White House will get fluoride out of drinking water

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Saturday that a potential Trump White House would advise communities to remove fluoride from drinking water, which would overturn decades of public health guidance.  Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral in water that oral physicians say can help to prevent cavities at the right doses. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes community water fluoridation – the practice of adding fluoride to drinking water to increase its concentration to optimal levels – as a “cornerstone strategy” to prevent cavities and one of the “10 great public health interventions of the 20th century.”  However, health agencies warn long-term ingestion of fluoride in excess doses carries various health risks, and critics like Kennedy have campaigned to end community water fluoridation. The Environmental Protection Agency has established a maximum allowable concentration of fluoride in public drinking water to prevent adverse health effects.  Kennedy declared the Trump White House would advise bringing that allowable concentration to zero on its first day in power.  FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS EPA FURTHER REGULATE FLUORIDE IN DRINKING WATER DUE TO CONCERNS OVER LOWERED IQ IN KIDS “On January 20, the Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water,” Kennedy posted on X. “Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease,” he claimed, adding that former President Trump and first lady Melania Trump “want to Make America Healthy Again.”  His statement provoked a wave of criticism on social media and renewed expert concerns about Kennedy – who has often clashed with the scientific consensus on vaccine safety – being placed in a position of authority over public health.  “While President Trump has received a variety of policy ideas, he is focused on Tuesday’s election,” Trump campaign senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said in response to media questions about Kennedy’s statement.  Currently, more than 200 million Americans, or about 75% of the population, drink fluoridated water. FLUORIDE IN WATER LINKED TO LOWER INTELLIGENCE In 1950, federal officials endorsed water fluoridation to prevent tooth decay, and they continued to promote it even after fluoride toothpaste brands hit the market several years later. In 1945, Grand Rapids, Michigan, became the first city in the world to fluoridate its water supply.  Experts have long said that washing teeth with fluoride is not comparable to the risks posed by ingesting fluoride, with the latter potentially triggering harmful neurotoxic effects.  Officials lowered their recommendation for drinking water fluoride levels in 2015 to address a tooth condition called fluorosis, that can cause splotches on teeth and was becoming more common in U.S. kids. In August, a federal agency determined “with moderate confidence” that there is a link between higher levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ in kids. The National Toxicology Program based its conclusion on studies involving fluoride levels at about twice the recommended limit for drinking water. Then in September, a federal judge in California cited that study in an order requiring the EPA to further regulate fluoride because high levels pose “an unreasonable risk” to children. “Indeed, EPA’s own expert agrees that fluoride is hazardous at some level of exposure,” U.S. District Judge Edward Chen said. “And ample evidence establishes that a mother’s exposure to fluoride during pregnancy is associated with IQ decrements in her offspring.” Even so, the judge said the court “does not conclude with certainty that fluoridated water is injurious to public health.” RFK JR INDICATES TRUMP ‘PROMISED’ HIM ‘CONTROL’ OVER ‘PUBLIC HEALTH AGENCIES’  Since 2015, federal health officials have recommended a fluoridation level of 0.7 milligrams per liter of water. For five decades before that, the recommended upper range was 1.2 “after evidence increasingly established fluoride’s connection to adverse effects, including severe enamel fluorosis, risk of bone fracture, and potential skeletal fluorosis,” the judge wrote. Skeletal fluorosis is a potentially crippling disorder which causes weaker bones, stiffness and pain. The World Health Organization has set a safe limit for fluoride in drinking water of 1.5. Separately, the EPA has a longstanding requirement that water systems cannot have more than 4 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water.  Kennedy has said that Trump has promised to give him “control” over the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), should the former president win the White House on Tuesday. “I stand ready to help him rid the public health agencies of their pervasive conflicts and corruption and restore their tradition of gold-standard, evidence-based science,” Kennedy told the New York Times in a statement.  The Trump campaign has said no decisions have been made about Cabinet-level positions or personnel, including the secretaries of HHS and USDA.    “No formal decisions about Cabinet and personnel have been made, however, President Trump has said he will work alongside passionate voices like RFK Jr. to Make America Healthy Again by providing families with safe food and ending the chronic disease epidemic plaguing our children,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.  “President Trump will also establish a special Presidential Commission of independent minds and will charge them with investigating what is causing the decades-long increase in chronic illnesses,” she added. Trump told supporters at a rally on Saturday that he told Kennedy he “can work on food, you can work on anything you want,” except energy policy. “He wants health, he wants women’s health, he wants men’s health, he wants kids, he wants everything,” Trump said. Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan, Alex Nitzberg and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Trump, Harris neck and neck in battleground states with under 48 hours until Election Day, polls find

Trump, Harris neck and neck in battleground states with under 48 hours until Election Day, polls find

A new series of polls released Sunday show former President Trump and Vice President Harris are neck and neck in seven battleground states with less than 48 hours to go until Election Day.  The New York Times/Siena College polls of likely voters show Trump and Harris are tied in Pennsylvania and Michigan.  In Arizona, Trump is leading Harris 49-45%, while Harris is ahead of Trump 49-46% in Nevada, 49-47% in Wisconsin, 48-46% in North Carolina and 48-47% in Georgia.  A total of 7,879 likely voters were surveyed across the seven battleground states between Oct. 24 to Nov. 2, with 1,025 in Arizona, 1,004 in Georgia, 998 in Michigan, 1,010 in Nevada, 1,010 in North Carolina, 1,527 in Pennsylvania and 1,305 in Wisconsin, according to The New York Times. The polls have a margin of error of 3.5%.   HARRIS AND TRUMP CAMPAIGN ON THE FINAL WEEKEND BEFORE ELECTION DAY  Of the 8% of voters who indicated that they only recently decided who they were voting for, 55% said they are backing Harris, compared to 44% for Trump, The New York Times reported.  The newspaper also reported that 11% of voters still remain undecided or persuadable, down from 16% a month ago.  Across all the battleground states, 24% of the likely voters said the economy – which includes jobs and the stock market – is their top issue, followed by abortion with 18% and immigration with 15%.   HOW TO WATCH ELECTION DAY COVERAGE ON FOX NEWS DIGITAL  Harris is underperforming compared to President Biden in 2020 among younger voters, Black voters and Latino voters, according to The New York Times.  In Pennsylvania, incumbent Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat, is leading challenger David McCormick 50-45%, which is down from nine points in September, the newspaper says.  In Wisconsin, the polls show incumbent Democrat Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s lead over Republican Eric Hovde is narrowing as well, as it’s currently 50-46%, which is down from eight points around a month ago, The New York Times adds.  The race for Michigan’s open Senate seat is also closely contested, with Democrat Rep. Elissa Slotkin leading Republican challenger Mike Rogers 48-46%, the polls show.

What is the Electoral College? How does it work?

What is the Electoral College? How does it work?

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have spent months traveling the country on the 2024 presidential election campaign trail, vying for America’s vote to move into the White House. With every new presidential election cycle, U.S. citizens ask themselves the same question, keeping in mind the power of the Electoral College: “Does my vote count?” Local and state officials elected into office in the U.S. are able to do so by winning the popular vote. However, the President of the United States is selected with the help of the Electoral College and the popular vote. ELECTION STRAIN PUSHES 1 OF 3 AMERICANS TO LIMIT TIME WITH FAMILY, FRIENDS Most often, the popular vote and the electoral vote mirror each other, but there are few instances in history when the two have differed. Most recently, in 2016, Trump won the Electoral College but lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton. The Electoral College is the formal process in which the President and Vice President of the United States are elected into office. “The Electoral College, as we know it, was created by the 12th Amendment of the Constitution, which was ratified in 1804. Today, there are a total of 538 electoral votes, and a candidate needs at least 270 to win,” Fox News’ Todd Piro explained on “Fox and Friends” in November 2020.  In the Electoral College, Washington D.C. has its own three electors.  In 48 states, plus Washington D.C., the winner of the popular vote gets all the electoral votes for that state, according to USA.gov. This is apart from Maine and Nebraska, where a proportional system is used, per the source. WHAT ARE ELECTION BETTING ODDS? EXPERT EXPLAINS WHY TRUMP IS CURRENT FAVORITE While the popular vote takes place in November, the electoral vote doesn’t take place until about a month later, in mid-December.  Who is chosen as a state’s electors, how they are chosen and when they are picked vary state-by-state, but there is a two-part system in place, according to the National Archive’s website. Slates of electors are chosen at state party conventions, or they are voted on by the party’s central committee based on state or national party rules. During a general election, voters across the states cast their ballots to select their electors who will represent their decesion in the presidential election. The names of electors may or may not appear on the ballots. Electors pledge to vote for specific candidates, though they are not legally obligated to do so. While there is no federal law in place for electors to vote a certain way, penalties, like being disqualified from future ballots, are in place. Through the years, there have been many calls made to change the Electoral College as we know it.  “Over the years, there have been hundreds of proposed amendments to change the Electoral College, but only one has gotten remotely close to being passed after the 1968 presidential election saw Richard Nixon win against Hubert Humphrey and George Wallace,” Piro said. “A 1969 bill to replace the Electoral College with the popular vote passed in the House of Representatives, and though it was endorsed by Nixon, the bill eventually died in the Senate after it was filibustered, and it still stands today.” Recently, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called for the elimination of the Electoral College altogether.  “I think all of us know the Electoral College needs to go,” he said at a California fundraising event in October, according to a pool report at the event, Bloomberg reported. “We need a national popular vote, but that’s not the world we live in.” In order to do away with the system created by the Founding Fathers, a major constitutional change would need to be made.

Walz calls Trump a ‘dictator’ who wants to ‘overturn the Constitution’

Walz calls Trump a ‘dictator’ who wants to ‘overturn the Constitution’

Minnesota governor and vice presidential candidate Tim Walz called former President Trump a “dictator” who wants to “overturn the Constitution” during his final pitch to voters in the battleground state of Arizona.  Speaking in Tucson, Walz said, “Momentum is on our side, but we take nothing for granted” and “We know in Arizona a vote or two per precinct could be what it takes to win the whole damn race for the country.”  “Someday you’re going to be sitting on that porch. You’re going to be in that rocking chair, and a little one is going to come up to you after being in school where they’ve been studying the 2024 election, and they’re going to ask when everything was on the line and the American experiment was on the line, and there was somebody running who asked to be a dictator and to overturn the Constitution and talk about using the military against our own people. What did you do to stop that from happening?” Walz told the crowd on Saturday.  “And you’re going to be able to say every damn thing we could, every damn thing we could,” he said.  SEN. TOMMY TUBERVILLE TAKES AIM AT ‘COACH’ TIM WALZ OVER SPORTS TERMINOLOGY  Walz closed his speech by saying: “Make a plan to vote. Make a plan to get out and canvass. Make a plan to take a neighbor to the polls.”  Arizona is a state that leans Republican in the presidential race, according to the final Fox News Power Rankings forecast before the election.  KAMALA HARRIS APPEARS ON ‘SNL’ IN FINAL EPISODE BEFORE ELECTION  In eight high-quality polls conducted in Arizona since August, Trump has been ahead in seven. His edge has been between 1-6 points.  Immigration continues to be a highly important issue in Arizona, which shares a border with Mexico.   In the latest Wall Street Journal survey, 25% of voters said immigration was the most important issue to their vote, higher than any other battleground. It was a “deal-breaker” issue for 24% of voters. And Arizona voters preferred Trump on the issue by 10 points.  Fox News’ Remy Numa contributed to this report.