‘Ruining our car industry’: Biden-Harris EV regs prove flashpoint in Michigan Senate debate
Former Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., and Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., traded blows on electric vehicle mandates and border security during their Senate debate in the critical swing state of Michigan. “It’s ruining our car industry,” Rogers said of mandates related to buying and producing electric vehicles (EV) during Monday’s debate, starting one of the most heated exchanges of the event. “You’re promoting Chinese technology in America.” The two candidates in Michigan’s critical Senate race have sparred over the issue of EV mandates throughout the campaign, highlighting how critical the issue is in a state that will play a major role in deciding the presidential election and control of the federal legislature. Rogers has attempted through two debates in the race to tie President Biden and the Democratic Party’s support for EVs to Slotkin, who has countered that her support for the technology will ensure that Michigan remains competitive in the future of auto manufacturing. MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATES CLASH ON NATIONAL SECURITY, IMMIGRATION AND ABORTION Rogers said Democrats such as Slotkin are “killing the car business” when it comes to promoting EVs, accusing his opponent of voting for a “mandate” on EVs “at least three times.” While there has been no mandate that Americans must purchase EVs, the Biden administration has pressed emissions standards that could force automakers to ensure that up to two-thirds of their new vehicles sold are zero-emissions by 2032. According to a report in the Detroit Free Press, Slotkin voted against legislation that would have blocked the new standards, but has expressed openness to rewriting them if they would hurt U.S. automakers. “I want that manufacturing here. I don’t care what you drive, I want to build them,” Slotkin said during Monday’s debate. The two candidates also attempted to cast blame on the other for the situation at the southern border, with Slotkin accusing Rogers and Republicans of a campaign to kill Biden’s border legislation before it could get through Congress. “What’s going on at the southern border is a symptom of a broken immigration system,” Slotkin said, accusing Republicans of using the “border as a political issue than actually do the real work and get things done.” FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: HARRIS TICKS UP AND SENATE REPUBLICANS TAKE CHARGE Rogers instead blamed Democrats on the issue, calling Biden’s legislation a “terrible bill” that would have allowed for continued legal crossings, while Slotkin questioned how Rogers could claim to know better on the issue than the national Border Patrol union, which threw its support behind the deal. The debate also highlighted the two candidates’ competing views on abortion, with Slotkin doubling down on campaign ads that have accused Rogers of supporting several pieces of anti-abortion legislation. “He has shown us who he is, don’t trust him on this issue,” Slotkin said. MICHIGAN DEM LAUNCHES ANTI-EV AD IN BID FOR SENATE RACE AFTER VOTING AGAINST A BIPARTISAN PUSHBACK ON MANDATES Rogers countered by arguing that he supported leaving the question of abortion to the voters in each state, promising not to do anything in the Senate that would undo the will of voters in Michigan who voted to make abortion a right in the state. “I won’t do anything when I go back to the United States Senate to undo the vote of the people,” Rogers said. Another tense exchange saw the two candidates trade blows over gun reform, with Slotkin acknowledging her own history with firearms but calling for tougher legislation to “go after the number one killer of children in our communities.” “It’s really, really easy to understand why politicians, in the face of murdered children, don’t do anything. They don’t do it because they receive campaign donations and they’re scared,” Slotkin said. “They’re scared because they don’t want to lose their election, and it’s terrible.” THE BIDEN-HARRIS EV MANDATES WILL HURT WORKERS IN STATES LIKE MICHIGAN: TUDOR DIXON Rogers countered that the issue mostly centered on the country’s struggles with mental health, and that “banning guns isn’t going” to solve the issue. Inflation and the economy were another major issue during the debate, with Rogers appealing to voters to remember if they were better off under the leadership of Republicans four years ago. “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” Rogers asked. “My opponent voted 100% with Biden-Harris (Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the Democratic presidential nominee) on all of the things that have raised your prices.” Slotkin responded by pointing to her support for bringing supply chains back to the U.S., which she argued would help bring prices down. She also hit Rogers on his lack of support for allowing the government to negotiate lower pharmaceutical prices, something she said would help alleviate the pressure on middle-class families. The Senate race in Michigan will be one of the closely watched nationally and features one of the few tight races that could determine control of the upper chamber this election. According to the Fox News Power Rankings, the Michigan Senate race leans in the Democrats’ favor. According to the Real Clear Politics polling average, Slotkin currently holds a slim 1.9 lead over her Republican opponent. Even so, the race has shifted significantly since Sept. 19, when Slotkin held a 5.1 advantage over Rogers in the average. Republicans have showed optimism about the race, with Axios reporting Tuesday that the Republicans’ Senate Leadership Fund will pour another $10.5 million into Rogers’ campaign for the home stretch of the election. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Harris and Trump tied in battleground Michigan, Senate race on razor’s edge: AARP poll
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are tied in battleground Michigan, according to a new public opinion poll. Fox News’ Power Rankings have moved Michigan into the toss-up column, with both parties making a strong play for Rust Belt voters. The race has tightened significantly, with voters split along generational and gender lines, according to an AARP poll conducted Oct. 2-8. With a full ballot including all third-party candidates, Harris and Trump are tied at 46% support each, the survey said. Independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. still receives 3% support even though he endorsed Trump in August. All other third-party candidates polled at a combined 2%. In a head-to-head matchup, Trump leads Harris by just one point, 49%-48%. VP KAMALA HARRIS TO SIT DOWN WITH CHIEF POLITICAL ANCHOR BRET BAIER FOR FIRST FORMAL FOX NEWS INTERVIEW The survey is consistent with other AARP polls that have pointed to a generational divide. Harris leads by double digits among voters 18-34 and 65+, while Trump polls stronger among voters 35-49 and 50-64. Voters are split by gender as well. “There is a very large gender gap of a net 40-points among voters overall and 29-points among voters 50+, with Harris strong with women voters and Trump with men,” the survey release states. The AARP poll also finds a competitive race for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: THE BIGGEST SURPRISES COME AFTER OCTOBER Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a three-term House lawmaker, holds a narrow 49%-46% lead over Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers. The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 4.9%. Michigan, along with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, are the three Rust Belt states that make up the Democrats’ so-called “Blue Wall.” The party reliably won all three states for a quarter-century before Trump narrowly captured them in the 2016 election to win the White House. FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: SENATE REPUBLICANS TAKE CHARGE Four years later, in 2020, Biden carried all three states by razor-thin margins to put them back in the Democrats’ column and defeated Trump. Harris will swing through Detroit for a campaign stop Tuesday afternoon. During her visit to Motor City, she will participate in a radio town hall with Charlamagne tha God. The vice president will return to Michigan on Friday for events in Grand Rapids, Lansing and suburban Detroit. Trump visited Michigan last Thursday and delivered a speech at the Detroit Economic Club, where he announced proposals to make interest on auto loans tax-deductible, slash corporate taxes for American manufacturers and threatened up to 1,000% tariffs on foreign-imported vehicles if he returns to the White House. Fox Business’ Michael Dorgan contributed to this update.
Trump says ‘I don’t care when you vote’ in new House GOP ad urging voters to turn out early
FIRST ON FOX: A dramatic, months-long campaign season is drawing to a close as the clock ticks closer to Election Day, according to a new message from House Republicans to voters. The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), the House GOP’s campaign arm, released a new digital ad on Tuesday marking 21 days until the election. It comes as Republican Party operators at the state, federal and local level work overtime to convince supporters to vote early, particularly in pivotal swing states like Georgia and North Carolina that have been ravaged by Helene this storm season. CLUB FOR GROWTH POURS $5M INTO TIGHT HOUSE RACES AS GOP BRACES FOR TOUGH ELECTION The ad features audio clips from the entire House GOP leadership suite – Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Majority Whip Tom Emmer, House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik and NRCC Chairman Richard Hudson – as well as former President Trump. Trump’s voice opens the video with, “Republicans must win, and we must use every appropriate tool available to beat the Democrats. They are destroying our country.” “I don’t care when you vote, but you’ve got to vote,” Trump says in the video. Meanwhile, clips of vulnerable Republicans, like Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., and Ken Calvert, R-Calif., flash across the screen interspersed with the word “vote.” GEORGIA GOP CHAIR SHARES 2-PRONGED ELECTION STRATEGY AS TRUMP WORKS TO WIN BACK PEACH STATE It’s set against a portion of “Dream On” by Aerosmith, per an airing viewed by Fox News Digital. “In 21 days, Americans will cast their ballots to end Democrats’ dangerous, far-left socialist agenda for our country. Every trip to the grocery store, fentanyl death or crime committed in a family’s neighborhood should give voters another reason to record their vote in this critical election,” NRCC rapid response director Macy Gardner told Fox News Digital. Early in-person voting is kicking off in four states this week. Georgia can head to the polls before Election Day from Tuesday through Nov. 1, while North Carolina begins early voting on Thursday. Voters in Iowa and Kansas are also heading to the polls. Republican Party officials have been working overtime to convince their base to vote early after Democrats walloped the GOP with non-Election Day voters in 2020. SPEAKER JOHNSON RIPS ‘LACK OF LEADERSHIP’ IN BIDEN ADMIN’S HELENE RESPONSE: ‘ALARMED AND DISAPPOINTED’ Those efforts will be particularly critical in North Carolina and Georgia, both states hit hard by Hurricane Helene and where the election is expected to be close. Getting likely voters to head to the polls early, Georgia GOP Chairman Josh McKoon explained early this month, frees up resources closer to Election Day to convince “low propensity voters” to turn out as well. “All of that requires resources. That requires money – put mail in the mailbox, ads on television, telephone calls to their home, knocking on their door. We’re trying to do all of those things,” McKoon told Fox News Digital. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
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GOP governor slams ‘unprecedented’ DOJ lawsuit over removal of noncitizens from voter rolls
The Virginia governor’s office is hitting out at what it says is an “unprecedented” lawsuit by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in response to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s efforts to remove noncitizens from its voter rolls. The DOJ is claiming that Youngkin violated the National Voter Registration Act with an executive order that required the election commissioner to regularly update the state’s voter lists to remove individuals who have been “identified as noncitizens” and had not responded to a request to verify their citizenship in 14 days. Virginia has announced that it has removed more than 6,000 individuals between Jan 2022 and July 2024. THOUSANDS OF NONCITIZENS REMOVED FROM VOTER ROLLS, DOZENS OF LAWMAKERS WANT ANSWERS FROM GARLAND The complaint says federal law says that states must complete their maintenance program no later than 90 days before an election under a clause known as the Quiet Period Provision. The complaint notes that voters were identified as possible noncitizens if they responded “no” to questions about their citizenship status on certain forms submitted to the state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). “This systematic voter removal program, which the State is conducting within 90 days of the upcoming federal election, violates the Quiet Period Provision,” the DOJ said. The Justice Department seeks injunctive relief that “would restore the ability of impacted eligible voters to vote unimpeded on Election Day,” and “would prohibit future quiet period violations,” the DOJ said in a statement. DOJ SUES VIRGINIA FOR ALLEGEDLY PURGING NONCITIZENS FROM VOTING ROLLS TOO CLOSE TO ELECTION However, in a memo obtained by Fox News Digital, the governor’s office called the DOJ’s move an “unprecedented lawsuit” that targets the state “for appropriately enforcing a Virginia law, signed by then-Gov. Tim Kaine in 2006, that requires Virginia to remove noncitizens from the voter rolls – a process that begins when an individual themselves indicates they are a noncitizen during a DMV transaction.” The memo is penned by Richard Cullen, counselor to the governor, and says that Virginia’s process has taken place under both Republican and Democratic governors. It also argues that the 90-day quiet period is not relevant “since Virginia conducts an individualized—not systematic—review per Virginia law in order to correct registration records.” It also says the process is mandated by law and not subject to the governor’s discretion. The memo also says that individuals are notified twice of their cancelation by mail and email and that the state also offers same day voting registration if someone incorrectly indicated they were a noncitizen. Youngkin previously called the lawsuit “a desperate attempt to attack the legitimacy of the elections in the Commonwealth, the very crucible of American Democracy.” DOJ: ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT STOLE US CITIZEN’S IDENTITY TO VOTE IN MULTIPLE ELECTIONS, OBTAIN AMERICAN PASSPORT The Virginia order and the subsequent lawsuit are the latest battles over concerns about potential noncitizen voting from Republicans and potential disenfranchisement from Democrats and the administration. The DOJ sued Alabama last month over the state’s purging of alleged noncitizen voters. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Meanwhile, dozens of lawmakers in the House and Senate sought more information from the DOJ over what they saw as a “serious threat” to election integrity from the potential of noncitizen voting. In August, Republican lawmakers pushed for the SAVE Act, which aimed to require states to obtain proof of citizenship in person when registering an individual to vote and require states to remove noncitizens from voter rolls, to be attached to a spending bill extension to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the fiscal year. The DOJ itself recently announced that it had charged an illegal immigrant with stealing a U.S. citizen’s identity to vote in multiple elections and fraudulently obtain a U.S. passport. Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
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Trump cuts Pennsylvania town hall short over medical emergencies in crowd
Former President Donald Trump cut a Pennsylvania town hall short on Monday, stopping questions from the audience after two medical emergencies unfolded in the crowd. The campaign town hall at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center & Fairgrounds in Oaks, Pennsylvania, first came to a halt when South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, the event’s host, was discussing Vice President Kamala Harris’ appearance on “The View” and slamming the Democratic nominee’s support of President Biden’s energy policies. “Hold it. A doctor, please,” Trump interjected, noticing a commotion in the crowd. “Doctor, thank you very much. We have incredible people. They come here hours before, and it’s a little hot.” “They’re there with us all the way. We got to respect them,” Trump continued, referencing his supporters. “And you take your time, doctor. Take your time. Thank you very much. We always have great doctors in the audience. We’ve never had too much of a problem. Look at the quality of care we have. It’s incredible when you think that these people, first responders, our first responders are amazing.” TRUMP RESOUNDINGLY ENDORSES TEXAS SEN. TED CRUZ AHEAD OF TUESDAY NIGHT SENATE DEBATE The incident was not captured on camera, though the New York Post reported that “a heavyset middle-aged man was wheeled out on a stretcher with his shirt cut open.” “Let’s wait till they take care of this incredible person who I guarantee you is a great patriot, I guarantee it,” Trump said. “Everybody in this room is a patriot.” The Republican presidential nominee requested that “Ave Maria” be sounded over the loudspeaker like it had at his recent comeback rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in honor of firefighter Corey Comperatore, the rallygoer killed during the first assassination attempt on Trump’s life on July 13. “We’ll be praying for him,” Noem said of the man wheeled out before taking another audience question. TRUMP CAMPAIGN HINTS AT ELECTION DAY TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS FOR VOTERS IMPACTED BY HURRICANES HELENE, MILTON Trump began his response about border security before the crowd yelled again about another medical incident. The former president stood up and looked into the crowd, stating “Take your time, doctor.” “I wish we could open those doors,” Trump said. “For security reasons, they can’t. But you know what I said? Just open them. Because anybody comes through those doors, you know what’s going to happen to them.” “It looks like, sir, she’s on her feet and walking out. Let’s encourage her,” Noem said. “I know it’s really warm in here. Everybody agrees that it’s really warm in here. We’ve got a lot of people who love America. I’m going to ask that if you have a chair, maybe sit so everyone around you can sit and still see the president.” “They’re both okay. Yes, they’re both. They’re both in good shape. And that’s wonderful,” Trump said of the two audience members who needed medical attention. Trump then decided not to take more questions from the crowd, calling on organizers to play music in the venue instead.
Fox News Power Rankings: Harris loses her lead and a new electorate emerges
The presidential race is a toss-up as the last key state in Vice President Harris’ column drifts towards former President Trump. But even as polls show a tight race, some voters are rethinking long-held beliefs. This week’s Power Rankings draws up the new Harris and Trump coalitions and shows how they could propel either candidate to victory. Harris will make headlines tomorrow when she sits down for her first ever formal interview on Fox News. The sit-down will be the Vice President’s biggest and most closely-watched opportunity in an uneven media tour. Her talk show appearances went smoothly, and an interview on Call Her Daddy, one of the country’s most popular podcasts, generated the same kind of excitement among young women that Trump has gained from male influencers. But last Wednesday, asked if she would have done something differently than President Biden during his administration, Harris told ABC’s The View that “there is not a thing that comes to mind.” VP KAMALA HARRIS TO SIT DOWN WITH CHIEF POLITICAL ANCHOR BRET BAIER FOR FIRST FORMAL FOX NEWS INTERVIEW The answer reminded voters that Harris is the second-in-command in a presidency they say has made their lives worse. In NBC’s latest national poll, 45% of voters say Biden’s policies have hurt them and their families, while only a quarter say those policies have helped. That is a “net hurt” of 20 points. Voters view Trump’s policies much more positively, with 44% saying they helped and 31% saying they hurt. In other words, a “net help” of 13 points. The same poll found Trump’s retrospective job approval is higher than in any of their surveys when he was president. Harris’ campaign knows that tying the Vice President to Biden isn’t a winner. In her first interview as the Democratic nominee, Harris said it was time to “turn the page on the last decade;” her bus tells voters she offers “a new way forward.” Trump allies have said they will use the clip in new ads, though it’s not yet clear whether that will happen. Democrats counter that elections are as much about personal qualities as the issues. Harris leads on caring about people like you (+8), and being honest and trustworthy (+11) in a recent New York Times/Siena poll. At the same time, Trump is up three points on being a strong leader, while Harris leads by eight on being fun. Either way, Harris’ answer was unhelpful to her campaign, which has weeks left to persuade voters that she would do things differently. It has now been two weeks since the only debate between Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance, and two polls conducted after the showdown suggest that Vance won the night. Those are meaningful shifts in Trump’s direction, and NBC’s poll also showed a modest improvement in Vance’s favorability. The polls above are two of many showing a race within the margin of error. But beneath the top lines, there are signs that the Democratic and Republican coalitions are changing. And while Trump’s gains with Black and Latino voters have been talked about the most, both coalitions are strong enough to win an election. FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: THE BIGGEST SURPRISES COME AFTER OCTOBER Trump is gaining in four key voting groups. Compared to the 2020 electorate, he is up six points with male voters, while Democrats have shed 20 points worth of Black vote, 10 points of Hispanic vote, and 3 points with young voters, according to the Times/Siena poll. The Black and Hispanic gains are the most important for the GOP. These voters can make all the difference in states like Pennsylvania and Arizona. The column on the left in the charts shows the percentage that each group made up of the 2020 electorate according to the Fox News Voter Analysis. The percentages apply within each voter category (race, age, etc). Men, for example, made up 47% of the electorate, which means 53% of voters were women. That is where the picture becomes more complicated for the Trump campaign. As men have shifted six points towards the former president, women have shifted three points towards Harris. Voters with a college degree have shifted 10 points towards the Vice President, giving her an overall 26-point advantage with the bloc. And Harris has flipped seniors. These are some of the most reliable and over-represented voting groups in the U.S. Only about a third of adults have a college degree, for example, but this group accounts for 40% of voters. In other words, the gains that Trump has made with some key groups are counterbalanced by Harris’ gains with other voters. Battleground polls also show a race on a knife’s edge. Surveys from the Wall Street Journal and Quinnipiac across the three key Rust Belt states have the candidates within a few points, matching more than a dozen other high-quality polls over the last month. This forecast previously gave Harris an advantage in Michigan. The state has delivered for Democrats since 2016, and the GOP’s turnout operation appears to be particularly disorganized there. But that isn’t enough when the polls show a race this tight. Both campaigns are making regular visits, and Republicans have booked more spending here than any other battleground state (except Pennsylvania, where ad rates are higher). Michigan moves from Lean D to Toss Up. After that shift, the Power Rankings predict that Harris will win at least 226 electoral votes, with Trump winning at least 219. There are seven states worth 93 votes in the middle. Harris has a six-vote edge that includes Nebraska’s second district. That is important for the Vice President, since a victory there, combined with the Rust Belt battlegrounds, would give her an outright win. But with so many coin-flip states, this race looks like an electoral college dogfight. The presidential election moves from Harris Lead to Toss Up. The Senate forecast still puts Republicans in control with 51 seats. An all-but-certain flip in West Virginia and an edge in Montana gets
Trump lawyers request to move New York criminal case to federal court, citing SCOTUS immunity ruling
Lawyers for former President Donald Trump on Tuesday again requested that his New York criminal case be transferred to federal court, citing the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling and arguing that he cannot be prosecuted for official acts he performed as president. Trump’s lawyers first requested in August to shift New York v. Trump to federal court, but U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein rejected the request in September. Trump’s attorneys are arguing that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office “violated the Presidential immunity doctrine in grand jury proceedings, and again at trial, by relying on evidence of President Trump’s official acts during his first term in Office.” Trump lawyers argued that the “use of official-acts evidence in grand jury proceedings and at trial violated the Constitution and threatens the ability of all future Presidents to fulfill that role.” TRUMP ASKS FEDERAL COURT TO TAKE OVER BRAGG CASE WEEKS BEFORE SENTENCING Bragg charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Trump pleaded not guilty. A Manhattan jury found the former president guilty on all counts during an unprecedented six-week trial in New York City earlier this year. Trump’s attorneys have already moved to appeal the verdict. Trump attorney Todd Blanche said the verdict should be overturned, also citing the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity granting presidents limited immunity for official acts. JUDGE MERCHAN DELAYS TRUMP SENTENCING UNTIL AFTER ELECTION In his arguments for dismissal, Blanche argued that Bragg offered official acts as evidence during the six-week-long unprecedented criminal trial. Blanche said that included official White House communications with staffers like Hope Hicks, Madeleine Westerhout and others. The Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. United States that a former president has substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts in office but not for unofficial acts. The high court said Trump is immune from criminal prosecution for “official acts” but left it to the lower court to determine exactly where the line between official and unofficial is. Judge Juan Merchan will also now make a decision on Nov. 12 on Trump’s motion to vacate. Trump’s initial sentencing was set for July 11 — just days before the Republican National Convention, where he was set to be formally nominated as the 2024 GOP presidential nominee, but Merchan agreed to delay that until Sept. 18. Last month, Merchan granted Trump’s request to delay sentencing until after the presidential election. The sentencing is now scheduled for Nov. 26. Fox News’ Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
Harris’ off-putting manner put Zelenskyy on defensive ahead of Russian invasion, new book reveals
Vice President Kamala Harris’ history as a federal prosecutor instilled in her a direct, sometimes adversarial communication style that reportedly alienated Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during their first private sit-down, leaving him “disgruntled” and defensive just days before Russian troops invaded his country. Their tense sit-down was chronicled in “War,” the new book by Bob Woodward. In the book, Woodward details some of the most consequential foreign policy and security challenges overseen by President Biden during his first term. Among them, Russia’s 2022 invasion and ongoing war in Ukraine. Fox News obtained an early copy of the book, which is available in bookstores today. As Woodward reports, Biden deployed Harris to the Munich Security Conference in February 2022, less than a week before Russian President Vladimir Putin’s troops commenced their full-scale invasion of Ukraine – with the sole mission of convincing Zelenskyy that the Russian incursion was imminent, based on all available U.S. intelligence and the hundreds of thousands of troops it had confirmed Russia had been amassing nearby, including some 40,000 soldiers near the Belarusian border. Harris was to demonstrate unified support for Ukraine from the U.S. and NATO, and to help Zelenskyy accept the fact that this was, indeed, happening. However, Woodward reports, aspects of that mission backfired – at least behind closed doors. Publicly, Harris delivered a winning speech, effectively reassuring the world of the U.S. commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and Article 5. It is considered among her major achievements as vice president. HUNTER BIDEN LEGAL SAGA IS ‘REAL WAR’ THAT ‘PREOCCUPIED’ OUTGOING PRESIDENT, NEW WOODWARD BOOK CLAIMS In private, however, Zelenskyy was immediately put off by Harris’s brusque communication style and “forceful” demeanor during their sit-down, during which Harris and her national security adviser, Philip Gordon, wore masks and did not attempt to shake hands with their Ukrainian counterparts upon entering the room. Though Germany was still under COVID-19 protocols, the icy start to the meeting “disgruntled” Zelenskyy, Woodward said, and left the Ukrainian president feeling “like he was about to be reprimanded” at a frightening and vulnerable time for his nation. “You need to take seriously the likelihood that any day the Russians will invade your country,” Harris told him forcefully. In Woodward’s telling, things between the two did not improve from there. Harris, a successful former federal prosecutor and California attorney general, has been praised and criticized for her adversarial communication style – and it was one she reportedly employed during her sit-down with Zelenskyy, in attempt to convince him of the imminence of Russia’s invasion. TRUMP MEETS UKRAINE’S ZELENSKYY AT TRUMP TOWER, SAYS RUSSIA’S WAR MUST END WITH ‘FAIR DEAL’ “Look,” Harris told him, after some tense back-and-forth, “our teams will share more specific information with you but we are telling you that your numbers are wrong. You really face a potentially imminent invasion.” Rather than softening him, the meeting appeared to put Ukraine’s president even more on the defensive. As Woodward writes, Zelenskyy was hard-pressed to acknowledge the imminence of the invasion despite credible U.S. intelligence, in large part because it would create a “self-fulling prophecy” for Ukraine’s nascent democracy, risking the collapse of the country’s economy, and potentially, its government. Finally, Zelenskyy relented, looking Harris in the eye and asking directly, “What do you want me to do?” He inquired whether the U.S. would impose sanctions, close ports to Russian ships, give Ukraine Stinger or Javelin missiles or send warplanes to his country, in order to equip them for the battles ahead. Harris’s answer did little to assuage him. “The punishment can only come after the crime,” she said of a U.S. response to Russia, Woodward noted, instead advising him to “start thinking about things like having a succession plan in place to run the country if you’re captured or killed or cannot govern.” Zelenskyy was urged by the U.S. to have an escape plan – one which he boldly rebuffed, choosing to remain in Kyiv in the days and weeks following Russia’s invasion. He also turned down evacuation offers from both the U.S. and Turkey following the start of the war. The “fight is here,” he would later say from Kyiv. “I need ammunition, not a ride.” BIDEN PLEDGES $8 BILLION TO UKRAINE FOLLOWING PUTIN’S PROPOSED CHANGES TO NUCLEAR RULES Harris remarked to Gordon upon leaving the meeting that that was the last time they might ever see him again. “War” is available for purchase in stores on Oct. 15. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.