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The Trump campaign notched a legal victory on Wednesday, when a Pennsylvania court issued an injunction extending mail-in ballot applications by one day following a lawsuit from the Trump campaign. 

“PENNSYLVANIA LAWSUIT VICTORY We just won the Trump Campaign/RNC lawsuit against Bucks County, PA. We will now have extended early in-person mail-voting through November 1st — three extra days. We will keep fighting. Go vote! Stay in line!” Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley posted to X on Wednesday. 

Fox News Digital obtained a copy of the injunction, which detailed that the Bucks County Board of Elections violated the Pennsylvania Elections Code when officials turned voters away on Oct. 29 after 5 p.m. as they attempted to apply and obtain mail-in ballots before the deadline. 

VOTER REGISTRATION PROBES LAUNCHED IN CRUCIAL KEYSTONE STATE COUNTIES AMID CLAIMS OF POTENTIAL FRAUD

The Bucks County Court of Common Please ruled that voters who wish to apply and obtain a mail-in ballot are able to do so before the close of business on Nov. 1. Bucks County is a key area of the battleground state, nestled outside of Philadelphia in the suburbs. 

“We have heard that we won this lawsuit, and Bucks County has extended pre-Election Day voting through November 1. This is a landmark victory that will allow our voters to cast those votes pursuant to Pennsylvania law. The RNC will leave no stone unturned in ensuring a fair, accurate and secure and transparent election, not just for Republican voters, but for all voters,” Whatley added during a press call on Wednesday. 

TRUMP, HARRIS MAKE FINAL PITCHES TO VOTERS IN HIGH-STAKES BATTLEGROUND STATE IN FINAL DAYS OF CYCLE

Trump sued the Bucks County Board of Elections on Tuesday, claiming officials turned away voters who were waiting in line to apply in-person for a mail ballot. When 5 p.m. deadline hit, the voters still in line were denied the opportunity to apply and ordered to leave, according to the suit. 

‘PULLING AN ALVIN BRAGG’: LEFT-WING DA’S ‘FLIMSY’ SUIT AGAINST ELON MUSK’S $1M GIVEAWAY SLAMMED BY EXPERT

“This is a direct violation of Pennsylvanians’ rights to cast their ballot – and all voters have a right to STAY in line,” the Trump campaign said in a statement. 

The Republican National Committee and Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick’s campaign had joined the lawsuit against Bucks County’s BOE. 

Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt also celebrated the legal history during a call with the press on Wednesday. 

“Just two days ago, a Trump supporter was arrested in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, for encouraging voters to stay in line, and we have seen multiple other instances of voters being turned away early in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. That’s why last night, the Trump campaign and the RNC we filed a lawsuit against Bucks County to provide more early voting opportunities, and we just won that lawsuit just about 30 minutes ago,” Leavitt said. 

“We have engaged in more than 130 election integrity lawsuits across the country to cycle. Our goal is to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat, and we are going to continue to fight for that until the last ballot is counted. Today’s big victory really represents a defeat for the Democrats voter suppression efforts. They are seeing the early voting numbers from Republicans in key states across the country, and we are very much again, focused on securing the vote for all Americans,” she continued. 

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

EXCLUSIVE: Former President Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., are not promising to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as part of the Republicans’ policy plan for 2025, the House GOP leader suggested to Fox News Digital.

“Despite the dishonest characterizations from the Harris campaign, the audio and transcript make clear that I offered no such promise to end ObamaCare, and in fact acknowledged that the policy is ‘deeply ingrained’ in our health care system,” Johnson told Fox News Digital.

“Still, House Republicans will always seek to reduce the costs and improve the quality and availability of health care for all Americans. Anyone who has been a patient or known a loved one who has struggled with health issues understands why this is so important.”

It comes amid a barrage of accusations from Democrats that Republicans want to end the ACA, popularly known as ObamaCare.

SPEAKER JOHNSON RIPS ‘LACK OF LEADERSHIP’ IN BIDEN ADMIN’S HELENE RESPONSE: ‘ALARMED AND DISAPPOINTED’

“This is not President Trump’s policy position,” Trump national press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital.

“As President Trump has said, he will make our health care system better by increasing transparency, promoting choice and competition, and expanding access to new affordable health care and insurance options.”

A spokesperson for Johnson told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that the speaker’s position “is in line with President Trump’s.”

Trump himself has not proposed a detailed health care platform for the 2024 race.

A video of Johnson saying to voters in Pennsylvania, “Health care reform is going to be a big part of the agenda” if Republicans win the White House and Congress, went viral on Tuesday.

Toward the end of the clip, shared with NBC News, someone can be heard asking, “No ObamaCare?”

Johnson appeared to repeat the question, “No ObamaCare?” and then explained, “The ACA is so deeply ingrained, we need massive reform to make this work, and we’ve got a lot of ideas on how to do that.”

JON STEWART ADMITS HE FINDS WIDELY CRITICIZED TRUMP RALLY COMEDIAN FUNNY

“If you take government bureaucrats out of the health care equation, and you have doctor-patient relationships, it’s better for everybody, more efficient, more effective. That’s the free market. Trump is going to be for the free market,” Johnson said. “We want to take a blowtorch to the regulatory state.”

Democrats interpreted Johnson’s remarks as affirming Republicans will end ObamaCare and seized on the moment.

“Health care is on the ballot this November. Speaker Mike Johnson is making it clear – if Donald Trump wins, he and his Project 2025 allies in Congress will make sure there is ‘no ObamaCare.’ That means higher health care costs for millions of families and ripping away protections from Americans with preexisting conditions like diabetes, asthma or cancer,” Harris campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said Tuesday evening.

That was followed by a similar statement by House Democrats’ campaign arm on Wednesday morning.

“Take it from Mike Johnson himself, the choice before voters this election is clear: Democrats who will fight to lower health costs and expand access to affordable health care or Republicans who want to raise the cost of medicine and deny health insurance to millions of Americans,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) spokesperson Viet Shelton said.

CLUB FOR GROWTH POURS $5M INTO TIGHT HOUSE RACES AS GOP BRACES FOR TOUGH ELECTION

Johnson’s spokesperson told Fox News Digital “the characterization of his remarks by the Harris campaign is false and not substantiated by the audio.”

“Harris’ desperation now has her lying about Speaker Johnson,” the spokesperson also said, adding that the evidence makes “clear that the Speaker made no such promise.”

Republicans tried and failed to repeal the ACA during Trump’s first term in office.

A vote in the then-GOP-controlled Senate in 2017 failed when three Republican senators – including, notably, the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. – voted with Democrats against doing so.

The suspect charged with shooting a Jewish man multiple times on his way to a Chicago synagogue last week is a Mauritanian illegal immigrant who was released into the U.S. last year, Fox News has confirmed. 

Four law enforcement sources say that Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, a Mauritanian national, was apprehended in Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector in March 2023 and was released into the U.S.

Police say he attacked the 39-year-old male victim on Saturday morning in Chicago’s West Rogers Park neighborhood. Police said that the suspect was identified less than 30 minutes after the shooting, at which point he allegedly shot at responders before police “returned fire, striking the offender.” The victim, who was wearing traditional Jewish clothing, survived the attack.

JEWISH COMMUNITY ‘SHAKEN’ AFTER CHICAGO MAN SHOT ON WAY TO SYNAGOGUE, ATTACKER FIRED AT POLICE

Police said they recovered a weapon from the scene and that Abdallahi was “placed into custody, transported to an area hospital and subsequently charged accordingly.” Abdallahi is facing 14 felony counts, including six counts of attempted murder. 

Mauritania is a majority Muslim country in northwest Africa. The Department of Homeland Security deems illegal immigrants from Mauritania as “special interest aliens” due to security concerns, and they are supposed to receive additional DHS vetting. 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had initially told Fox News Digital that it had no interaction with him. Law enforcement sources say that there is detainer request on Abdallahi — a request that he is transferred to ICE custody in the event of his release — but that “sanctuary” policies in Cook County, Illinois, prohibit local authorities from cooperating with it.

Local Jewish leaders believe this was a targeted hate crime, but no hate crime charges have been filed as of now.

There has been a significant increase in Mauritanian arrivals, putting pressure on towns like Lockland, Ohio, where more than 3,000 migrants have arrived in the village of 3,500. A Washington Post analysis in June found that over 15,000 residents from Mauritania came to the U.S. last year, a 2,800% increase over 2022, when just 543 arrived. 

The incident taps into ongoing concerns about the potential for terrorists to come across the southern border, amid the massive numbers of migrants who have come across during the border crisis.

SCATHING REPORT REVEALS BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN HAS RELEASED DOZENS OF MIGRANTS ON TERROR WATCHLIST INTO U

A House report in August found that of the more than 250 illegal immigrants on the terrorist watchlist who were encountered by Border Patrol at the southwest border between fiscal years 2021 and 2023, DHS released at least 99, with at least 34 others in DHS custody but not yet removed from the U.S.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

The staff interim report also found that immigration judges granted bond to at least 27 migrants on the watchlist who entered illegally, and that Border Patrol has encountered tens of thousands of migrants from countries that could present national security risks — including 2,134 Afghan nationals, 33,347 Chinese nationals, 541 Iranian nationals, 520 Syrian nationals and 3,104 Uzbek nationals.

“That does not include the untold numbers of potential terrorists that evaded Border Patrol to enter the United States as part of nearly 2 million ‘gotaways’ since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration,” the report says.

That threat from foreign nationals hit the headlines this month when authorities announced the arrest of an Afghan national, accused of plotting an Election Day terror plot, who had been paroled into the U.S. amid the hasty U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Fox News’ Greg Norman contributed to this report.

Former President Trump said the Biden-Harris administration has treated the American people and “our whole country like garbage,” claiming that it’s now clear what President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris “really think of our supporters.”

Trump held a rally Wednesday afternoon in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, just a day after Harris made her final pitch to voters in a speech from Washington, D.C. 

The vice president’s address was quickly overshadowed by Biden’s remarks during a Zoom call with Voto Latino on Tuesday.

BIDEN CALLS TRUMP SUPPORTERS ‘GARBAGE’ DURING HARRIS CAMPAIGN EVENT AS VP PROMISES UNITY AT ELLIPSE RALLY

During the call with the group, which is one of the largest Latino voter and civic outreach organizations in the U.S., Biden was asked about a comment made Sunday during a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden in which comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”

Biden replied: “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.” 

The White House has since denied that Biden called Trump supporters “garbage” and claimed the comment was taken out of context.

During the rally Wednesday, Trump said Harris has been “comparing her political opponents to the most evil mass murderers in history, and now, speaking on a call for her campaign last night, Joe Biden finally said what he and Kamala really think of our supporters.” 

“He called them garbage – and they mean it, even though, without question, my supporters are far higher quality than crooked Joe and Lyin’ Kamala,” Trump told supporters. 

But Trump said he had a response for the president and vice president. 

“My response to Joe and Kamala is very simple: You can’t lead America if you don’t love Americans,” Trump declared. “And you can’t be president if you hate the American people, and there’s a lot of hatred there.” 

TRUMP CALLS FOR SUPPORTERS TO ‘FORGIVE’ BIDEN IN SHOW OF UNITY AFTER PRESIDENT CALLS SUPPORTERS ‘GARBAGE’

Trump said Harris is “not fit to be president of the United States.” 

“She doesn’t have the intellect, the stamina, or that special quality that real leaders must have to lead. We know what that is. It’s a special power,” he said. “Joe Biden, his comments were the direct result of Kamala and Tim Walz.” 

Trump decried Biden’s “decision to portray everyone who isn’t voting for them as evil or subhuman.” 

“They’re not subhuman. I look at it, you are not subhuman, and we know it’s what they believe, because look how they’ve treated you,” Trump said. “They’ve treated you like garbage… You know what the truth is? They have treated our whole country like garbage, whether they meant to or not, because they’re grossly incompetent people, and they’ve destroyed our country.” 

Trump also blasted Harris and the Democrats for their insults of Republicans “for the past nine years.” 

“Kamala and her party have called us racists, bigots, fascists, deplorables, irredeemable Nazis, and they’ve called me Hitler,” Trump said. “You know, many years ago, I had a father, a great guy, was a strong guy, a legitimate guy, strong. But, you know, he always used to tell me, ‘Never use the word Nazi. Never use the word Hitler.’ Now we’re called Nazis, and I’m called Hitler. I’m not Hitler.” 

Trump reflected on his father, saying, “He’s looking down. Well, my mother, I know she’s looking down. My father’s a little questionable because he was a little rough. I think he’s looking down… He’d say, ‘Can you imagine? That’s what they’re calling my son? I told him for years, literally never use the term ‘Nazis,’ ‘Hitler.’ Now they’re using it on us.’ It’s unbelievable.” 

Trump added: “They’ve bullied you, they’ve demeaned us, they’ve demonized us and censored us… and weaponized the power of our own government against us.” 

Harris on Wednesday responded to Biden’s remark, defending the president and saying he “clarified his comments.” 

“I think that, first of all, he clarified his comments, but let me be clear, I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” Harris said.

Harris, referring to her Tuesday night speech from the Ellipse near the White House, reiterated on Wednesday how voters will decide “who we are as a nation and whether we are going to be a nation of people who attempt to unify and breakthrough this era of divisiveness, or are we going to be a nation of people who have a president stewing in the Oval Office over his enemies list?”

“You heard my speech last night and continuously throughout my career,” Harris said. “I believe that the work that I do is about representing all the people, whether they support me or not, and as president of the United States, I will be a president for all Americans whether you vote for me or not.”

Harris told reporters she spoke with Biden Tuesday night but his “garbage” comment did not come up during their conversation.

“He did call me last night, but this didn’t come up,” Harris said.

Meanwhile, in North Carolina, Trump pitched voters, vowing to “end inflation. I will stop the massive invasion of criminals into our country. And I will bring back a thing called the American Dream.” 

“Our country will be bigger, better, bolder, richer, safer and stronger than ever before,” he said. “And this election is a choice between whether we will have four more years of gross incompetence and failure, or whether we’ll begin the greatest four years of the history of our country.”

HARRISBURG, Pa. – As Vice President Kamala Harris returns to Pennsylvania on Wednesday for her second trip in three days, two new polls indicate an incredibly close race between her and former President Donald Trump in the crucial swing state with less than a week until Election Day.

Trump stands at 47% support among Pennsylvania likely voters, with Harris at 46%, according to a Quinnipiac University poll.

And according to a Monmouth University survey released hours earlier, just under half of registered voters in Pennsylvania say they will either definitely or have already voted for the vice president and Democratic presidential nominee (42%) or will probably vote for her (5%).

An identical number will either definitely or have already voted for Trump (42%) or will probably vote for the former president and Republican presidential nominee (5%), in a separate question asked by the pollster.

HARRIS LAYS OUT HER CLOSING ARGUMENT AGAINST TRUMP WITH THE WHITE HOUSE AS A BACKDROP

With 19 electoral votes at stake, Pennsylvania is the largest of the seven key battleground states whose razor-thin margins decided President Biden’s 2020 election victory over Trump and which will likely determine who wins the 2024 presidential election.

According to the survey, when third-party and independent candidates are factored into the results, Trump stands at 47% among registered voters in Pennsylvania, with Harris at 46% and 4% saying they are definitely or probably backing another candidate.

HARRIS, TRUMP, MAKE FINAL PITCHES TO VOTERS IN HIGH STAKES BATTLEGROUND

The release from Monmouth University on their new poll emphasized in the headline that in Pennsylvania “it’s really, really close.”

“The bottom line is this was an incredibly close race in September and remains so today,” Monmouth University Polling Institute Director Patrick Murray said, as he compared the results of his new survey in the Keystone State with his previous poll in Pennsylvania.

The pollster spotlighted that Trump “continues to have a significant advantage among white voters without a college degree – who make up nearly half of Pennsylvania’s voter pool,” topping Harris 60%-35% among this group.

However, the survey indicates that Harris holds a large 58%-37% lead among White college graduates, and voters who are Black, Hispanic and of other races (62% to 25%).

With six days to go until Election Day, the new survey follows other recent polls that point to an incredibly close contest in the Keystone State. A CBS News poll conducted Oct. 22-28 pointed to both major party candidates deadlocked at 49%.

A CNN poll conducted Oct. 23–28 shows Harris ahead of Trump in Michigan by 48% to 43%, and in Wisconsin by 51% to 45%. In Pennsylvania, however, the poll echoes the findings of the Monmouth University survey, with both candidates tied with 48% support.

WILL TRUMP ASK FORMER TOP GOP RIVAL NIKKI HALEY TO JOIN HIM ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL?

Pennsylvania, along with Michigan and Wisconsin, are the three Rust Belt states that make up the Democrats’ so-called “Blue Wall.”

Democrats reliably won all three states for a quarter-century before Trump narrowly captured them in the 2016 election over Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton to win the White House.

Four years later, in 2020, Biden carried all three states by razor-thin margins to put them back in the Democrats’ column and defeat Trump.

Both the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees, as well as their running mates, have made repeated stops in the three states this summer and autumn.

Harris made multiple stops Sunday in Philadelphia, the state’s largest city. Trump held a campaign event Tuesday in Delaware County, in suburban Philadelphia, before holding a rally in Allentown.

“I don’t like to speak too early, but you have to get out and vote because we … we want a big, beautiful number. We’re leading in every single swing state. Because, normally Republicans, they like to vote at the end no matter what you say, they like to vote at the end,” Trump said from the Allentown rally. 

Trump’s new pitch for early voting stands in contrast to his years of blaming the practice for what he continues to claim – without proof – that his 2020 election loss was due to “massive voter fraud.”

CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN THE HARRIS-TRUMP SHOWDOWN

Since Haris replaced Biden atop the Democrats’ 2024 ticket after the president dropped out of the race in July, Fox News found the vice president has visited Pennsylvania at least 15 times, as of Tuesday. 

Philadelphia was where Harris first teamed up with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz after announcing him as her running mate. Harris hunkered down in Pittsburgh – the state’s second-largest city – to prepare for her first and only debate with Trump, which was held in September in Philadelphia.

‘I’M GOING WITH TRUMP’: 3 FORMER DEMS FROM PENNSYLVANIA EXPLAIN HOW FORMER PRESIDENT WON THEM OVER

Trump has also visited the state at least 15 times since the end of July, Fox News found. Trump’s history with Pennsylvania was underscored by an assassination attempt on his life on July 13 in Butler, when a man named Mathew Crooks opened fire on Trump and his supporters. Trump was injured on the side of his head by the shooting, and two other rallygoers were also injured. Local man Corey Comperatore died protecting his family during the violence. 

Republican Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, Trump’s running mate, has visited the state at least 13 times since the start of August. Walz has visited Pennsylvania at least nine times since August, data compiled by Fox News found. 

Both campaigns have spent more than half a billion dollars on ads alone in Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported last week. Democrats spent more than $294.7 million in Pennsylvania, while Republicans spent $243.6 million in the Keystone State. The funds spent far exceed ad buys in other battleground states, including Michigan, which trails Pennsylvania ad expenses by a combined $185 million. 

AdImpact, a leading national ad-tracking firm, reported that the Trump campaign has reserved $5.8 million in ad time to run spots in the final stretch ahead of Election Day, with the Harris campaign shelling out $4.6 million.

When Biden narrowly carried Pennsylvania four years ago, Democrats enjoyed a larger margin of registered voters compared to their Republican counterparts, at 4.2 million to 3.5 million. The data shows that Democrats had a registration advantage over Republicans by 685,818 voters during the election that Biden won by 80,555 votes.

The GOP has whittled down that lead this year to a margin of 297,824. When comparing registered voters this election year to 2020, Democrats face a net loss of 257,281 voters, while Republicans have a net gain of 428,537 registered voters. 

More than double the number of previously registered Democrats changed their party affiliation this cycle compared to the number of registered Republicans who left the party. Pennsylvania Department of State data shows 54,668 registered Democrats changed their party affiliation compared to 25,634 Republicans.

Besides being the biggest of the presidential battlegrounds, Pennsylvania is also home to one of a handful of crucial Senate races that will likely determine if the GOP wins back the chamber’s majority.

According to the Monmouth poll, Democratic Sen. Bob Casey Jr. holds a slight edge over Republican challenger Dave McCormick.

Forty percent of those questioned said they would definitely vote for Casey, with another 7% saying they would probably cast a ballot for the senator. Thirty-six percent said they would definitely vote for McCormick, with 8% saying they would probably cast a ballot for the Republican nominee.

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

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre denied that President Biden was referring to Trump supporters when he said Tuesday, “The only garbage I see out there is his supporters.” 

“Just to clarify, he was not calling Trump supporters garbage,” Jean-Pierre told reporters at the daily White House press briefing on Wednesday, reiterating that Biden put out a statement to clarify his remarks.

“He does not view Trump supporters or anybody who supports Trump as garbage,” she said, adding that Biden has said numerous times that he is a “president for all,” including those who did not vote for him. 

During a Zoom call on Tuesday, Biden was asked about a comment made Sunday during a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden in which comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”

Outrage spewed from Democrats over the next two days saying Trump’s campaign should not refer to Puerto Rico like that.

Then, as Vice President Harris was holding her last major campaign event — and not far from the White House — Biden was asked what he thought of Hinchcliffe’s comedy bit at the Trump rally in New York.

“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” Biden said. “[Trump’s] demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it is un-American.”

Biden tweeted later that evening, “Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporters at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage—which is the only word I can think of to describe it. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That’s all I meant to say. The comments at that rally don’t reflect who we are as a nation.”

Harris responded to the controversy earlier Wednesday, observing that Biden had “clarified his comments.” 

“I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” Harris said. “You heard me last night and continuously throughout my career. I believe that the work that I do is about representing all the people, whether they support me or not.”

Harris added that Biden had called her Tuesday night after the event, but she said they did not discuss his “garbage” comment.

This is a developing story and will be updated. Fox News Digital’s Scott McDonald and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

First lady Jill Biden’s former press secretary is torching the White House’s attempt to cover up President Biden’s “garbage” comment, calling it a “bonehead move” that they have attempted before.

The president unleashed a storm of controversy by calling supporters of former President Donald Trump “garbage” on a Tuesday call with Hispanic activist group Voto Latino.

During the call, Biden criticized Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally for a comedian’s joke calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage,” saying that “the only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.”

After the call, the White House released an official transcript of the call in which Biden’s comment was written as “the only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s,” insinuating that the president was referring to the comedian instead of all Trump supporters.

WHITE HOUSE SEEKS TO PLAY CLEAN UP AFTER BIDEN CALLS TRUMP SUPPORTERS ‘GARBAGE’

“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American. It’s totally contrary to everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been,” read the transcript.

Posting a screenshot of the transcript to social media, Andrew Bates, the White House senior deputy press secretary and deputy assistant to the president, claimed that Biden “referred to the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally as ‘garbage.’”

Michael LaRosa, Jill Biden’s former press secretary, meanwhile, wrote on X that the White House’s attempt to transcribe “supporters” as “supporter’s,” was “a bonehead move and one they’ve been caught making before.”

LaRosa also reposted another post that pointed out that Biden had previously expressed shock in an NBC News interview over Trump supporters’ vitriol toward him. 

“I’ve never seen a circumstance where you ride through certain rural areas of the country and people have signs there stand — big Trump signs with — m — middle — signs saying “F Biden” and the little kid standing there putting up his middle finger,” Biden said in a July 15 interview, according to an NBC transcript. 

HARRIS RESPONDS TO BIDEN ‘GARBAGE’ REMARK FOR FIRST TIME

Trump responded to Biden’s remark by calling it “terrible” and worse than Hillary Clinton calling his supporters “deplorables” in 2016.

“Garbage, I think, is worse,” he said. “But he doesn’t know. You have to please forgive him.”

“Please forgive him for not knowing what he said,” Trump said. “These people are terrible, terrible, terrible to say a thing like that. But he really doesn’t know. He really, honestly, he doesn’t. And I’m convinced that he likes me more than he likes Kamala. But that’s a terrible thing.”

In a second response, Trump wrote, “While I am running a campaign of positive solutions to save America, Kamala Harris is running a campaign of hate.” 

“Now, on top of everything, Joe Biden calls our supporters “garbage.” You can’t lead America if you don’t love the American People. Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have shown they are both unfit to be President of the United States,” Trump wrote. 

Vice President Kamala Harris was asked about Biden’s remark on Wednesday morning. Harris said that she had spoken to Biden since the call but that his “garbage” remark did not come up in their conversation.

“First of all, he clarified his comments, but let me be clear, I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” she said. “I believe that the work that I do is about representing all the people, whether they support me or not. And as president of the United States, I will be a president for all Americans, whether you vote for me or not.”

I’ve lost track of how many times people have asked if I will be glad when the election is over. 

Truth be told, just after the election is when the hard stuff begins.

Election Day is Tuesday, but in reality, that’s just the beginning of the process. It may take days to sort out who voters have chosen as president. Control of the House is razor tight. It may boil down to a handful of races decided by a grand total of several thousand votes. So don’t for a moment think we automatically know which party will be in the majority as election officials sort all of that out. There’s a scenario where a thin margin of contested seats in the House could spring several weeks of challenges. 

Moreover, Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution dictates that the House and Senate “shall be the Judge of the elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members.” And it’s the new House in the new Congress next year that will decide whether to seat people if there’s a dispute.

WHO’S IN CHARGE: THE MUDDY HISTORY OF THE 50-50 SENATE 

Of course, that’s provided the House can elect a speaker when the new Congress is constitutionally mandated to begin on Jan. 3. Don’t forget that House Republicans incinerated a total of 27 days on two separate occasions to elect former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and current Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

We’ll come back to that in a moment. 

In the meantime, let’s run through some of the hazards that could unfold after the final ballot is cast.

Let’s start with when we might learn which party controls either the House or Senate.

Election Day fell on Nov. 8 for the 2022 midterms, but it wasn’t clear that Democrats held their Senate majority until late on the evening of Nov. 12, when Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., retained her seat. 

Determining House control took even longer in 2022. Remember that McCarthy touted the possibility that Republicans might marshal as many as 50 seats. Republicans won the House by a thread, but the GOP majority was not clear until Nov. 16. 

‘ILL-FATED EFFORT’: MCCONNELL WAS ‘FURIOUS’ AT RICK SCOTT’S 2022 LEADER BID, BOOK SAYS

In 2020, most news organizations projected on election night that Democrats would hold the House, but it wasn’t until December that a picture emerged showing how close Democrats came to losing their majority. It took weeks to sort out multiple House contests, decided by very few votes.

Control of the Senate from the 2020 midterms wasn’t even established until 2021. It took until January and a pair of runoffs in Georgia for it to be clear that Democrats tied the Senate and thus seized the majority thanks to Vice President Kamala Harris in her capacity as president of the Senate.

These protracted election determinations are not a byproduct of recent polarization and controversy.

Democrats captured the Senate in the 2006 midterms, but it wasn’t clear until two days after the election, once Democratic challenger Jim Webb defeated incumbent Republican Sen. George Allen in Virginia.

It’s likely we’ll have clarity on the Senate sooner rather than later this year. If Republicans enjoy a big night, who won the Senate could be known on election night. That’s especially if the GOP is en route to a 53- or 54-seat majority. But if competitive Senate contests in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Montana, Michigan, Nevada, Texas and elsewhere are all tight, it may take a few days to determine which party has the majority.

Regardless, the biggest order of business facing the Senate is who emerges as the new Republican leader.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is stepping down from his leadership post in early January but remaining in the Senate. Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., former Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., are vying to succeed McConnell as the body’s top Republican. But there’s chatter that Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., or other candidates could emerge.

The selection of Senate Republican leader could hinge on whether Harris or former President Trump wins – or, if the GOP claims the Senate or fails to capture the majority. A secret vote for GOP leader is slated for Nov. 13, and if it’s clear that Trump is headed to the White House, his influence could sway who Republican senators select as their next leader.

Then there’s the House.

Republicans hold a narrow, single-digit advantage in the House right now. There are more than 30 seats in battleground districts that could swing the control in one direction or the other.

But when will we know?

The House Republican Conference convenes its leadership election on Nov. 13, and the House Democratic Caucus also meets around that time. Regardless of if they are in the majority or minority, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., will lead his party in the new Congress. Jeffries is poised to ascend to the speakership next year if Democrats flip the House.

But for the GOP, things could get messy.

Which party controls the House might not be settled by the time House Republicans hold their leadership election. Republican Conference rules allow certain GOP candidates whose races have not been called to come to Washington in November and December for the freshmen orientation and vote in those leadership elections. In other words, people who might not ultimately become House members could decide who the GOP picks for leadership posts and formally nominates as the Republican candidate for speaker on the floor Jan. 3.

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One senior House Republican source told Fox there could be a push to delay those leadership elections if control of the House isn’t settled. This could be an issue if there’s a contingent of GOP candidates in uncalled races who could wield too much influence in the private balloting.

So here’s the issue facing Johnson: If Republicans hold the House, and especially if they pick up a sizable chunk of seats, the Louisiana Republican probably returns to the speakership. A “President-elect Trump” would certainly bolster that scenario. But if it’s a tiny majority, Johnson could win the nomination for speaker in the GOP conference but struggle to prevail on the floor early next year.

Here’s why: There’s a group of three to perhaps as many as 10 current House Republicans who have a problem with Johnson. Johnson only needs a simple majority of the House Republican Conference to get the nomination for speaker and stand before the entire House in January.

It’s about the math.

Let’s say Republicans have a small majority: 223 seats. In the November conference vote, Johnson only needs 112 votes to become the nominee for speaker. But when the entire House convenes on Jan. 3, Johnson – or any other nominee – will need an outright majority of all members casting ballots for a candidate by name. So if the House is at 435 and all members vote for someone by name, the magic number is 218.

You see the problem.

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This is the same issue that vexed McCarthy and the other GOP nominees who failed to become speaker last October. 

Ironically, it’s easier for Johnson to become minority leader if Republicans lost their majority. That’s because the minority leader just needs the majority of his or her conference or caucus. So let’s say the GOP is relegated to the minority with 217 seats. Johnson just needs 109 votes to win the conference.

If there’s a problem electing a speaker on the floor in January, one should pray it’s wrapped up fast. That’s because Congress must start certifying the Electoral College on Jan. 6. After starting its vote for speaker on Jan. 3, 2023, the House didn’t elect McCarthy until the wee hours of Jan. 7. Any delay in electing a speaker would foment major issues for certifying the electoral vote – especially if the presidential race is contested. 

The House of Representatives cannot do anything, including swearing in members, until it elects a speaker. Period. A fight over the speakership could paralyze the House and risk delaying the electoral vote count. This is a nightmare scenario that has the potential to eclipse the chaos of the Electoral College certification in 2021. 

And if things weren’t fraught enough, here’s another wild card: the government runs out of money on Dec. 20.

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Johnson meandered through a host of interim spending bills from last fall until spring, flirting with multiple government shutdowns. The speaker ran the exact same playbook that partially cost McCarthy the speakership. Johnson enraged scores of conservatives by green-lighting a bill to fund Ukraine and advancing an omnibus spending bill in the spring.

Lots of conservatives have grievances with Johnson, but Johnson could face trouble if he attempts to move any bill to avert a December shutdown that lacks the blessing of key conservatives. Granted, the sign-off on any spending plan by a “President-elect Trump” could shield Johnson, and if Trump is elected, he likely makes the call on what he wants Johnson to do. The former president’s heat shield likely blunts any rebuke of Johnson.

That said, a misstep by Johnson on the spending bill could potentially cost him the speakership if the GOP holds the majority. And if Republicans win the House, Senate and White House, don’t expect any help from Democrats. While in the minority, House Democrats have carried gallons of water for Republicans. They’ve lugged numerous must-pass bills to avoid government shutdowns across the finish line for nearly two years. If the GOP attains unified government this fall, Democrats could push back from the table in the lame-duck session and tell House Republicans to figure it out themselves.

Heretofore, House Republicans have not shown they can advance a spending bill on their own that would become law. That’s why there’s a risk of the new Congress beginning with a government shutdown in January.

That’s exactly what happened in late 2018, drifting into early 2019. The government was shuttered as a new Congress began that January. 

So here is the utter worst-case scenario: a government shutdown, coupled with a complex speaker’s election, thus sparking a delay in certification of the Electoral College in the shadow of a disputed presidential election.

I’ll let you read that all again to digest it. 

So the campaigning and voting concludes next week, but the hardest stuff is about to begin. 

FIRST ON FOX: The Harris campaign cut multiple six-figure checks last month for left-leaning groups that have been vocal about defunding the police, reparations, and are tied to radical activists who have supported notorious antisemite Louis Farrakhan.

The Harris campaign gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to a handful of Black advocacy groups who are mobilizing Black voters ahead of November’s election next week, according to FEC filings released last week.

Black Voters Matters Fund, which received $150,000 from the Harris campaign on Sept. 19, has repeatedly called for defunding the police and has been vocal about pushing for reparations.

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“The answer to police violence against communities of color is not more money for police,” the group wrote in February 2023. “It’s time to defund the police and redirect those resources into building strong, healthy communities.”

In 2020, the group also tweeted, “We are proud to be partner in the #DemocracyFrontlinesFund, created to leverage millions of new dollars to fund Black-led organizers fighting for free and fair elections, and working to defund prisons and police.”

“There are more than 3,000 sheriffs in the US, nearly all are elected, the group said in another post. “We are working to defund sheriffs and build voter power. Reimagining the system also comes with taking action!”

The group’s co-founder Latosha Brown, who has been a frequent visitor to the Biden-Harris White House, has repeatedly posted about the group’s reparations push and said in a 2021 X post that she has been working on the issue for 27 years.

“We deserve to be compensated for the literal blood, sweat and tears our ancestors were forced to put into this country,” Black Voters Matters Fund posted in May. In another post last year, the group called reparations “crucial for acknowledging past injustices and moving towards a more just and equitable future.”

Black Church PAC, which also received $150,000 from the Harris campaign last month, has multiple controversial religious leaders on its board and recent social media posts show it is partnering with a defund the police group to help with “Get out the vote” efforts in Georgia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

“We’re mobilizing 100K Strong: Knock for Change, Vote for Justice volunteers across GA, PA, and NC to knock on doors and have REAL conversations with REAL voters about the REAL issues that matter most,” the Black Church PAC posted last week on social media. The post also mentioned that they were partnering with Until Freedom, which was co-founded by disgraced Women’s March leaders Tamika Mallory and Linda Sarsour.

Until Freedom has repeatedly advocated for defunding and abolishing the police and sells a “defund the police” shirt on its website. 

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Mallory previously came under fire for her close ties to Farrakhan and calling him the “GOAT,” which means “greatest of all time.” Her social media profiles are also littered with social media posts showing her attending Nation of Islam events and praising Farrakhan. 

“One of the reasons why I support Kamala Harris is because I know about the things she was doing while she was in the Senate,” Mallory said during a “Breakfast Club” interview a couple of months ago. 

Mallory also pushed back against people who claim Harris doesn’t support reparations, saying she’s heard Harris say “over and over again” that she supports reparations. While Harris has been coy about what her reparations plan would look like while campaigning for president, she previously told The Root during her failed 2019 campaign that she believes “there has to be some form of reparations” for Black Americans. 

The Black Church PAC board includes several pastors who have either called for defunding police, reparations or have praised Farrakhan, including Pastors Jamal Bryant, Frederick D. Haynes III and Michael McBride.

McBride, the lead pastor of The Way Christian Center in Berkeley, California, ranted in support of defunding police in 2020, saying on a livestream that defunding the police “ain’t a slogan” and that it is a “declaration of a future that we deserve.”

“We do not deserve police departments to have 40, 50, 60% of the general funds of every single black majority, brown majority city in this country while we don’t have food, while we don’t have housing, while we don’t have equitable education, but we got an expanding police budget,” McBride said.

“Yes, we want these [police] departments to be shrunk,” McBride added.

“Must read article by @mearest @arthurrizer if you want an inside look at policing culture,” McBride said in another post. “My takeaway: How do you redeem this? You don’t…abolish and defund the police and reconstruct a new one…”

McBride has also repeatedly supported reparations, including praising a $15 trillion plan that was proposed by Jennifer Epps-Addison, a self-proclaimed “Radical Truth Teller.”

Bryant, who hosted Harris at his church earlier this month, has faced backlash for repeatedly praising Farrakhan and saying he was “humbled” to be in his presence and “honored” to host him. He has also attacked gay people and previously said it was their “responsibility” to make gay people and other sinners “uncomfortable in [their] sin.” 

Bryant has also been a longtime advocate for reparations. In an Instagram post last month, he called it a “monumental moment” that he and another pastor walked from Baltimore to the White House to “bring attention to the administration that black people deserve #reparations for 400 years of oppression.”

“We are the only marginalized group in America that hasn’t been compensated,” he added. “We went 42 miles because we never got 40 acres! Even if it’s not on the ballot it needs to be on the agenda!”

Another pastor on the board is Haynes, the senior pastor at Friendship-West Baptist Church. He tweeted a photo of himself and Farrakhan in 2017, calling him a “wonderful and great man.” In 2015, Haynes also lavished praise on Farrakhan, saying he was “a prophetic leader of our time.”

He has also been a vocal supporter of reparations and spoke at an event called “Solidarity for Reparations,” which was hosted at the church of Harris’ controversial pastor and longtime mentor, Rev. Amos Brown. During the event, Haynes said, “America, you owe us. What you done to us has been immoral. It’s been evil. It’s been unjust. It’s been downright wrong and the only way to bring salvation to America — you gotta pay us what you owe us.”

The Harris campaign also doled out $2,050,000 to the civil rights group National Urban League; $300,000 to the Power Rising Action Fund, an “intergenerational power force of Black women from various sectors”; and $250,000 to the National Action Network, which was founded by controversial MSNBC anchor Al Sharpton, whose ties to Farrakhan go back decades.

During the 2019 National Action Network Convention, Sharpton asked Harris whether she would sign now-deceased Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s H.R. 40 bill, which would form a commission to study reparations for descendants of slaves, if it passed and came across her desk.

“When I am elected president, I will sign that bill,” Harris said at the time. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign, Black Church PAC and Black Voters Matter Fund.

Georgia’s top elections official is accusing Vice President Kamala Harris of lying about the state’s voter security laws.

“We have worked tirelessly to prepare for this election by adding early voting days and investing in infrastructure, creating more security and more voter convenience…only to be rewarded with the lies about ‘Jim Crow 2.0,’” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said during a press conference on Wednesday.

Without naming Harris, the Republican state official took aim at her comments during a campaign speech in Michigan earlier this week.

“Frustratingly, recently, a candidate repeated that lie that we will lock up people that give water to voters waiting in line to vote,” Raffensperger said. “That’s a lie, because we don’t have any lines in Georgia. It’s just cheap politics.”

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Harris said in Ann Arbor on Monday night, “I was just in Georgia. You know they passed a law that makes it illegal to give people food and water for standing in line to vote?”

“The hypocrisy abounds. Whatever happened to ‘love thy neighbor,’ right?” she added as the supportive crowd jeered.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for a response to Raffensperger.

The remark also got pushback from Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who mocked Harris’ short-lived 2020 presidential bid.

“Sounds like Kamala Harris just can’t handle the truth,” Kemp wrote on X on Tuesday. “We made it easier to vote and harder to cheat in Georgia. As a result, more than 3 million Georgians have already voted — that’s 3 million more votes than the Vice President got in the 2024 primaries.”

Georgia officials moved to implement several new voting laws after the 2020 race put the Peach State under a microscope.

Among them was limiting the number of ballot drop boxes – which were not used in Georgia before 2020 – and restricting political groups from giving food and water to voters waiting in line on Election Day within a certain distance from their polling place.

Georgia also installed new ID requirements for absentee ballots.

Democratic organizations and civil rights groups accused Republican officials of restricting voter access with the measures.

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But Raffensperger and other Republicans have pushed back on those attacks, particularly in the wake of record-setting voter turnout in Georgia since early voting got underway on Oct. 15.

As of Wednesday afternoon, more than 45% of active Georgia voters have cast pre-Election Day ballots.

Meanwhile, Raffensperger cautioned both candidates to accept a loss “gracefully,” comparing it to his grandson losing his recent baseball playoff game. 

“As soon as they came up short, and they lost, I know that they were disappointed. But what they did, because both teams were good sportsmen, they lined up, and they did that passing of shaking each other’s hand and said, ‘Congratulations, good game,’” he said.

“As a grandparent, I’m proud to see that. But just as an American, I think that’s wonderful, because I think that’s what America is – is gracefully accepting your wins, but also gracefully accepting your losses.”

He vowed, “I will hold both parties accountable to you, the voters of Georgia.”

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