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President-elect Donald Trump announced on Sunday that he plans to appoint Thomas Homan as the next ‘border czar.’

Trump made the announcement on his social media platform Truth Social.

“​​I’ve known Tom for a long time, and there is nobody better at policing and controlling our Borders. Likewise, Tom Homan will be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin. Congratulations to Tom. I have no doubt he will do a fantastic, and long awaited for, job.”

HOW HARRIS WAS DOGGED BY ‘BORDER CZAR’ LABEL, PAST RADICAL IMMIGRATION VIEWS DURING FAILED CAMPAIGN

Trump added that the “border czar” position isn’t just for monitoring the U.S. southern border with Mexico, but also “the Northern Border, all Maritime, and Aviation Security. I’ve known Tom for a long time, and there is nobody better at policing and controlling our Borders.”

This comes less than a week after Trump secured his second presidency, defeating Vice President Kamala Harris, who was dubbed the “border czar” in the Biden administration.

Border security was a strong point of Trump’s first presidency, and it was a stalwart during both his 2020 and 2024 campaigns.

‘STATUS QUO’ AT SOUTHERN BORDER ‘ENDS’ WHEN TRUMP’S IN OFFICE, SAYS NATIONAL BORDER PATROL COUNCIL PRESIDENT

Illegal border crossings surged under the Biden administration, with nearly 3 million in fiscal year 2024, according to Homeland Security’s website. There have been more than 10.8 million illegal encounters since FY 2021.

Trump vowed during his campaign he would once again take a hard-line approach to securing the border.

“It’s going to be a well-targeted, planned operation conducted by the men of ICE. The men and women of ICE do this daily. They’re good at it,” Homan said during a Fox News interview on Sunday, adding that deportations would be a “humane operation.”

Trump during his campaign referenced illegal migrants as people fleeing countries that didn’t want them. He often said at his rallies that illegal immigrants flooded the U.S. with drugs and gangs, and that they became a hub for smuggling and human trafficking, saying they are “poisoning the blood of our country.”

“They’re rough people, in many cases from jails, prisons, from mental institutions, insane asylums,” Trump said. “You know, insane asylums, that’s ‘Silence of the Lambs’ stuff.”

This is only the beginning of thousands of positions that need to be filled by his presidency. Trump has already announced that Susie Wiles, his co-campaign manager, will be the White House chief of staff.

Republican Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., has withstood a strong Democratic challenge for a seat Democrats had hoped to flip in one of the most closely watched states in the country, the Associated Press projects.

Arizona’s 1st Congressional District was expected to be a close race after Rep. David Schweikert narrowly won re-election in 2022 by less than 1%. He had secured the Republican nomination earlier this year after outraising his opponents.

Schweikert has served in the House for nearly 15 years and has won re-election in a number of redrawn districts since being elected in 2010. He serves on the House Ways and Means Committee and has emphasized economic policy and fiscal responsibility, including tackling the increasing national debt.

GOP REP WINS PRIMARY TO DEFEND CLOSELY WATCHED ARIZONA SEAT

Shah, a doctor and former state rep, had emerged from a packed Democratic field to secure the nomination to attempt to beat Schweikert. Arizona Central reports that Shah had success with bills getting passed in the GOP-dominated state legislature, and has been compared to outgoing Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.

He emphasized border security in the border state, as well as issues like tackling inflation and abortion rights.

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

“Shah, who has already represented key parts of Arizona’s First Congressional District in Maricopa County as a State Representative, has a track record of being an independent voice working across party lines to put Arizona families first,” his website says. “In Congress, he’ll work to lower costs for hardworking Arizonans and protect abortion rights.”

Arizona is a closely watched state this election cycle, with multiple races in the House and Senate as well as the presidential contest all potentially to be decided by thin margins.

In the state legislature, Republicans hold a thin majority and Democrats are hoping to take both chambers. If so, it would be the first time they took the House since 1966.

President-elect Trump has been winding down from the recent election on the golf course, pictures show.

Kai Trump, the 17-year-old daughter of Donald Trump, Jr., made an Instagram post sharing recent pictures with her grandfather at Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach on Sunday, a few miles west of the Mar-a-Lago resort.

“Sundays with Grandpa,” the proud granddaughter captioned the post, adding a heart. The post featured a selfie Kai Trump shared with the president-elect, along with videos she took on the golf course and a picture with Tesla CEO Elon Musk. 

Musk appeared to be with his 4-year-old son in one of the photos. The child, whose name is X, was originally named X Æ A-12 when he was born in 2020.

FORMER GEORGIA SENATOR KELLY LOEFFLER TO SERVE ON TRUMP’S INAUGURAL COMMITTEE

Chloe Trump, 10, was also photographed on the golf course with her grandfather.

In one clip, the president-elect was seen watching Kai Trump from a golf cart while “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” by Elton John was blasting in the background.

The pictures were shared days after Trump decisively won the 2024 presidential election race held on Nov. 5. On Saturday night, The Associated Press called Arizona in Trump’s favor, ending the electoral vote count for the 2024 presidential election. 

NEW YORK DEMOCRAT RIPS ‘FAR LEFT’ FOR TRUMP VICTORY: ‘IVORY-TOWERED NONSENSE’

Trump garnered 312 electoral votes, dwarfing his opponent, Vice President Harris. The Democratic candidate lost all seven battleground states and only collected 226 electoral votes.

The Republican leader is currently selecting his Cabinet and determining who will serve in his second administration. Trump is also expected to meet President Biden in the Oval Office on Wednesday. 

On Saturday, Trump announced on Truth Social that he would not be inviting two members of his former administration to the White House.

“I will not be inviting former Ambassador Nikki Haley, or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to join the Trump Administration, which is currently in formation,” the president-elect said. “I very much enjoyed and appreciated working with them previously, and would like to thank them for their service to our Country. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

There was some shock at the outcome of last week’s election.

But when it comes to control of the House and Senate, things generally landed in the range anticipated by many learned observers.

There was a high probability of a Republican Senate – with the GOP likely having a seat or two to cushion a majority.

The House of Representatives was expected to be close. The forecast was that the House breakdown would probably reflect the split between the majority and minority today. The only question was which party would be in the majority. And there was a high likelihood that control of the House would mirror the outcome of the Presidential election.

THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE MEANING OF A REPUBLICAN SENATE – AND WHAT’S AHEAD FOR THE HOUSE

You know the rest.

The House is close, likely in Republican hands. When everything is settled, Republicans will likely have between 221-223 seats. The Senate moved to the GOP – with a few pickups.

So say what you will about the Presidential election. But very few predictions about the House and Senate were off.

In the Senate, the map always favored Republicans. The GOP would probably score an immediate pickup with Sen.-elect Jim Justice, R-W.V., claiming the seat of retiring Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.V., who caucused with the Democrats.

Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Jon Tester, D-Mont., were the most-endangered Democrats up this cycle. Both represented states which heavily supported President-elect Trump. But Brown and Tester consistently proved they could win their races in challenging environments. Plus, there was something else going for them: Brown and Tester always appearing on the ballot in Democratic years: 2006, 2012 and 2018.

Democrats won the House and Senate in 2006. That was the “six-year itch” election for President George W. Bush. The second midterm is often brutal for the party of the president in Congress. Voters returned former President Obama to the White House in 2012. Democrats won the House in 2018.

2024? Not a good year for Democrats.

TOP REPUBLICAN PRIVATELY BACKING THUNE TO SUCCEED MCCONNELL IN GOP LEADER RACE

In Ohio, it appears that Mr. Trump won the Buckeye State by a staggering 11 points.

It was always believed that Sen.-elect Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, would run behind Mr. Trump and that the President-elect needed to carry Ohio by about 10 points to unseat Brown. Moreno wound up toppling Brown by four points.

Sen.-elect Dave McCormick, R-Penn., appears to have unseated Sen. Bob Casey, D-Penn. The underperformance of Vice President Harris in the Keystone State really harmed Democrats like Casey. Harris lost Pennsylvania by about two points. Something else about Casey? Like Brown and Tester, he was on the same election cycle: 2006, 2012, 2018 and 2024. Democrats would have a fighting chance at flipping the House had they performed better in Pennsylvania. They failed to unseat former Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Scott Perry, R-Penn. Meantime, GOP challengers defeated Reps. Susan Wild, D-Penn., and Matt Cartwright, D-Penn. Democrats needed to knock off Perry and hold those seats to claim the House.

Despite being in the same boat as Brown, Tester and Casey, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., prevailed in a battleground state captured by Mr. Trump. Rep. and Sen.-elect Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., also won in a state carried by the incoming President.

In the House, Democrats clung to several key seats they needed in order to flip the House. Rep.-elect Eugene Vindman, D-Va., defeated Republican Derrick Anderson in central Virginia. Reps. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio is on track to hold her seat. And Emilia Sykes, D-Ohio, won – despite Brown’s loss and the blowout of the President-elect.

Freshman Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-N.M, won re-election, vanquishing former Rep. Yvette Herrell, R-N.M., in what has been the swingiest district in the country. Vasquez’s district in southern New Mexico has toggled between the parties in each election since 2016. Democrat Janelle Bynum is leading Rep. Lori Chavez-Deremer, R-Ore. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., topped Republican Joe Kent. Gluesenkamp Perez was the surprise winner of all House races in 2022.

A ‘VERY DIFFERENT SCENARIO’ FOR THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ELECTIONS IN 2024

During an interview with colleague Bret Baier, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., cited how moderates like Gluesenkamp Perez ran campaigns to fit their districts and scored reelection.

“In Marie’s case, she was criticized by the Washington state Democratic party for some of her votes and some of the positions she has taken. They threatened her with a primary. And then she went out there and won in a Trump plus-six district,” said Smith.

Smith added that fellow Democrats “should learn a lot from” the likes of Gluesenkamp Perez, Reps. Don Davis, D-N.C., Pat Ryan, D-N.Y. and Vasquez.

In other words, Democrats seemed to do many of the things necessary to gain control of the House.

But not enough.

Take California.

ALL EYES ON CALIFORNIA AS HOUSE MAJORITY STILL HINGES ON TIGHT RACES

It was thought that Vice President Harris atop of the ticket could help Democrats flip five or six seats in the Golden State alone. Harris is the state’s former Attorney General and U.S. senator.

No dice.

Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., prevailed in her race. Reps. David Valadao, R-Calif., Ken Calvert, R-Calif., Michelle Steel, R-Calif., and John Duarte, R-Calif., are all poised to hold their seats. Things remain close between Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif., and Democratic challenger George Whitesides. The same with Democrat Dave Min and Republican Scott Baugh in the state’s 47th Congressional district. Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., vacated that seat in her unsuccessful quest for the Senate.

“These are areas that have been Democrat strongholds, and we’re within that fraction of a percentage of taking two more. So the voter shift was significant in a deep blue state. Let’s not kid ourselves. We are a deep blue state. But the shift is significant,” said Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., on Fox Business.

The current breakdown in the House is as follows:

432 members. 220 Republicans, 212 Democrats. There are three vacancies: Late Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Tex., and Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., died. Former Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wisc. resigned. These seats are partisan districts. So in reality with 435 members, the breakdown should probably be 221 Republicans and 214 Democrats.

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When all is said and done, campaigns will have exhausted several billion dollars on House races. And the results: likely the same as where things stand now. A probable Republican majority within a seat or two of the present breakdown.

Let’s say just for the sake of argument it is 221 Republicans to 214 Democrats. With a margin of seven votes, Republicans can only lose three votes on their side before needing help from Democrats to pass bills. That is precisely the same problem which bedeviled the Republican majority for the past two years. It’s a problem to pass anything with more than a few defectors – or if one or two Republicans are absent. As I always say, you try to get 435 people in the same room at the same time.

For Republicans, a solid victory by President-elect Trump will likely impose party discipline for many of his legislative initiatives. But what happens when the GOP tries to advance tax reform – and budget hawks balk because it explodes the deficit? Or if New York Republicans demand a restoration of the state and local tax deduction, known as SALT?

Republicans likely have 53 seats in the Senate. But that’s a far cry from 60 votes needed to break a filibuster. And while 53 is a lot better than the 51 Democrats had in this Congress, don’t forget that Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, sometimes bucked the Trump Administration the last time.

These are the possible headaches which could hinder the GOP when it comes to governing. Republicans are more aligned now than they were when President-elect Trump entered office in 2017. But it’s always about the math on Capitol Hill. And the parliamentary algebra presents some challenging equations that Republicans must solve to implement their policies in the 119th Congress.

A video clip making the rounds online shows President Biden appearing to struggle while walking on the beach with first lady Jill Biden.

The video shows the outgoing president and his wife padding across the sands of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where he was spending the weekend, as Secret Service members stand by. 

Biden, 81, can be seen visibly struggling to trudge through the sand, looking as if he is on the verge of toppling over. At one point, the first lady grabs his arm to hold him steady.

Off camera, people can be heard asking him what he will say to Donald Trump when the president-elect visits the White House on Wednesday for a traditional post-election meeting. 

FORMER HARRIS STAFFER CALLS ON BIDEN TO RESIGN, INSTALL HARRIS AS FIRST FEMALE PRESIDENT

Such a meeting is customary between the outgoing president and the incoming president and is meant partly to mark the start of a peaceful transfer of power under America’s democracy.

The video prompted a flurry of jokes and speculation about Biden’s physical fitness, recalling the barrage of criticism the president received after his June debate performance that ultimately led to him dropping out of the 2024 presidential race.

On X, podcast host Benny Johnson quipped, “Joe Biden’s latest opponent: Sand.”

Another commented the video was “Brutal to watch.” 

“Joe Biden can’t walk on sand,” League of American Workers founder Steve Cortes commented. “This man is the President for the next 71 days.”

DEM PARTY BLAME GAME: ACCUSATIONS FLY AS TO WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HARRIS’ MASSIVE LOSS TO TRUMP

After losing to Biden in 2020, Trump resoundingly beat Vice President Harris, the Democrat presidential nominee, on Tuesday. 

Trump is the first former president to return to power for a nonconsecutive term since Grover Cleveland regained the White House in the 1892 election.

The White House said Biden called Trump this past Wednesday to congratulate him and invite him to meet in the Oval Office. Their meeting is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

In a speech Thursday, Biden said he assured Trump “that I would direct my entire administration to work with his team to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition. That’s what the American people deserve.”

Asked about Trump as he left church on Saturday in Rehoboth Beach, Biden said, “I’m going to see him on Wednesday.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for a response.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

President Biden will urge President-elect Trump to not abandon Ukraine when the two meet on Wednesday, among other domestic and foreign policies, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Sunday.

On Tuesday, Trump defeated Vice President Harris in the presidential election, and he will take office on Jan. 20, 2025. After Trump won his way back into the Oval Office, Biden congratulated him and invited the 45th, and soon to be 47th, president of the United States to the White House to ensure a peaceful transition of power. The two are expected to meet this Wednesday.

On Sunday, Sullivan was a guest on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” where he said Biden’s top message would be ensuring his commitment to a peaceful transfer of power. Sullivan also said the president will talk to Trump about what is happening around the world in places like Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

“The president will have the chance to explain to President Trump how he sees things, where they stand and talk to President Trump about how President Trump is thinking about taking on these issues when he takes office,” Sullivan said. “President Biden made clear when [Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy was here in Washington a couple of months ago that we would spend all of the resources that were provided to us by the Congress on time and in full, meaning that by Jan. 20th we will have sent the full amount of resources and aid to Ukraine that Congress has authorized.”

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He continued by saying that over the next 70 days, Biden will make the case to Congress and the incoming administration that the U.S. should not walk away from Ukraine, because walking away “means more instability in Europe.”

“Ultimately, as the Japanese prime minister said, if we walk away from Ukraine in Europe, the question about America’s commitment to our allies in Asia will grow,” Sullivan said.

He would not say if Biden would propose specific legislation, but he explained that the president would make the case to continue sending resources to Ukraine beyond his term because Russia’s threat to Ukraine will remain.

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“The United States should not walk away from its commitment either to Ukraine or to the 50 nations that we have rallied in defense of Ukraine, in both Europe and Asia,” Sullivan said.

The national security adviser’s comments came as Ukraine launched an attack on Moscow with at least 34 drones on Sunday. The attack was the biggest drone strike on the Russian capital since the beginning of the war.

Trump has insisted that Russian President Vladimir Putin would never have invaded Ukraine if he were in the White House at the time. He also told Reuters that Ukraine may have to cede territory in order to reach a peace agreement, which Ukraine rejects and Biden has never suggested.

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Washington has provided tens of billions of dollars’ worth of U.S. military and economic aid to Ukraine since it was invaded by Russia in February 2022, funding that Trump has repeatedly criticized and rallied against with other Republican lawmakers.

According to the Government Accountability Office, Congress appropriated over $174 billion to Ukraine under Biden. The pace of aid is almost sure to drop under Trump, with Republicans set to take control of the U.S. Senate with a 52-seat majority.

The war in Ukraine is entering what some officials say could be its final act after Moscow’s forces advanced at the fastest pace since the early days of the war.

Any fresh attempt to end the war is likely to involve peace talks of some kind, which have not been held since the early months of the war.

Moscow’s forces occupy around a fifth of Ukraine. Russia says the war cannot end until its claimed annexations are recognized. Kyiv demands all of its territory back, a position that has largely been supported by Western allies.

Reuters contributed to this report.

President-elect Trump has been winding down from the recent election on the golf course, pictures show.

Kai Trump, the 17-year-old daughter of Donald Trump, Jr., made an Instagram post sharing recent pictures with her grandfather on Sunday.

“Sundays with Grandpa,” the proud granddaughter captioned the post, adding a heart. The post featured a selfie Kai Trump shared with the president-elect, along with videos she took on the golf course and a picture with Tesla CEO Elon Musk. 

Musk appeared to be with his 4-year-old son in one of the photos. The child, whose name is X, was originally named X Æ A-12 when he was born in 2020.

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Chloe Trump, 10, was also photographed on the golf course with her grandfather.

In one clip, the president-elect was seen watching Kai Trump from a golf cart while “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” by Elton John was blasting in the background.

The pictures were shared days after Trump decisively won the 2024 presidential election race held on Nov. 5. On Saturday night, The Associated Press called Arizona in Trump’s favor, ending the electoral vote count for the 2024 presidential election. 

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Trump garnered 312 electoral votes, dwarfing his opponent, Vice President Harris. The Democratic candidate lost all seven battleground states and only collected 226 electoral votes.

The Republican leader is currently selecting his Cabinet and determining who will serve in his second administration. Trump is also expected to meet President Biden in the Oval Office on Wednesday. 

On Saturday, Trump announced on Truth Social that he would not be inviting two members of his former administration to the White House.

“I will not be inviting former Ambassador Nikki Haley, or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to join the Trump Administration, which is currently in formation,” the president-elect said. “I very much enjoyed and appreciated working with them previously, and would like to thank them for their service to our Country. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

President-elect Trump’s transition team would not confirm or deny that the 2024 election victor told Russian President Vladimir Putin not to escalate the war with Ukraine during a call last week.

The Washington Post reported that Putin and Trump spoke on Thursday, marking the first conversation between the two leaders since Trump won his way back into the Oval Office last Tuesday.

Trump reportedly took the call from Florida and advised Putin to not escalate the war in Ukraine. The president-elect also reminded Russia’s president about the amount of U.S. military in Europe, a person familiar with the call who spoke on anonymity told the publication.

Additionally, the two men talked about peace being the goal in Europe, while Trump also expressed a desire for further talks on “the resolution of Ukraine’s war soon,” several sources told The Post.

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When asked by Fox News for comment about the report, Trump’s team released the following statement:

“We do not comment on private calls between President Trump and other world leaders,” Trump communication’s director, Steven Cheung, said in a statement. “President Trump won a historic election decisively and leaders from around the world know America will return to prominence on the world stage. That is why leaders have begun the process of developing stronger relationships with the 45th and 47th President because he represents global peace and stability.”

The statement comes just two days after a senior Ukrainian official confirmed to Fox News that billionaire Elon Musk joined a call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday.

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Musk’s unexpected appearance during the first official conversation between Trump and Zelenskyy may point to the SpaceX CEO’s influence on the incoming Trump administration.

“I had an excellent call with President Trump and congratulated him on his historic landslide victory — his tremendous campaign made this result possible,” Zelenskyy posted on X.

Details of Musk’s exact role were not disclosed, according to reporting from Axios, though sources reported Musk expressed his intent to continue supporting Ukraine through his Starlink satellite network, a service critical to Ukraine’s wartime communications.

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Throughout his campaign, Trump voiced skepticism about continued U.S. aid to Ukraine and emphasized a fast resolution to its conflict with Russia, which raised concerns across Europe. 

Trump assured Zelenskyy of support on the 25-minute call, but he did not provide specifics on either policies or military aid. Axios first reported Musk’s presence on the call, and Musk has not yet commented.

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The phone call is expected to be the first of many between Trump’s team and Zelenskyy’s advisers as both sides navigate America’s involvement in the ongoing conflict.

Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.

The Democratic blame game is at a fever pitch after Vice President Kamala Harris was swiftly defeated by President-elect Donald Trump at the ballot box in an election that had been anticipated to drag out for days as polling indicated the match-up was razor-thin. 

Trump sailed to victory in the early morning hours last Wednesday, after locking down key battlegrounds such as Pennsylvania and Georgia and clearing 270 electoral votes. He concluded the race with 312 electoral votes to Harris’ 226, and won the popular vote. 

In the final days of the campaigning cycle, polling indicated that the results for the election would likely be very close, which could have resulted in state recounts and lawsuits before the winner was announced. 

Following Trump’s clear victory, Democrats across the nation issued statements accepting the results and congratulating the president. Fallout from the devastating loss, however, has reverberated across the party as members point fingers at each other for the Trump win. 

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Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders pinned blame for the loss on the Democratic Party for “abandoning” the working class, sparking rebuke from former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. 

“It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them. While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change,” Sanders posted to X last week, accompanied by a press release on the election results. “And they’re right.”

NANCY PELOSI FIRES BACK AT BERNIE SANDERS FOR COMMENTS ON DEMS’ SWEEPING ELECTION LOSS: NO ‘RESPECT’

Pelosi responded that the party has not left the working class behind in favor of kowtowing to “big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party,” as Sanders had argued in his press release. 

“With all due respect, and I have a great deal of respect for him [Sanders], for what he stands for, but I don’t respect him saying that the Democratic Party has abandoned the working class families. That’s where we are,” Pelosi told The New York Times’ “The Interview” podcast on Saturday.

“Under President Biden, you see the rescue package, money in the pockets of people, the shots in the arm, children in school safely, working people back to work. What did Trump do when he was president? One bill that gave a tax cut to the richest people in America,” she continued. 

Sanders doubled down on his remarks Sunday, telling NBC’s Kristen Welker that “the working people of this country are extremely angry.” 

“Nancy is a friend of mine,” Sanders said. “But here is the reality. In the Senate in the last two years, we have not even brought forth legislation to raise the minimum wage to a living wage despite the fact that some 20 million people in this country are working for less than $15 an hour.” 

SANDERS DOUBLES DOWN ON HIS CRITICISM OF DEMOCRATS, FIRES BACK AT PELOSI’S PUSHBACK

“Bottom line, if you’re a working person out there, do you really think that the Democratic Party is going to the max, taking on powerful special interests and fighting for you? I think the overwhelming answer is no,” Sanders said.

The Harris campaign and Biden campaign have reportedly pinned blame for the loss on each other, Axios reported last week. 

“The 107-day Harris campaign was nearly flawless. The Biden campaign that preceded it was the opposite,” one Harris campaign member told the outlet. 

“We did what we could. I think the odds against us were insurmountable,” another individual involved with the Harris campaign said, referring to President Biden’s exit from the presidential race in July and his low approval ratings. 

Biden dropped out of the race over the summer following his disastrous debate performance against Trump, where he frequently lost his train of thought and stumbled over his words. The debate opened the floodgates to both conservatives and traditional Democrat allies calling on the president to pass the torch to a younger generation as concerns mounted surrounding his mental acuity and his age. 

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Many of those who worked on the Biden campaign also joined the Harris campaign following the president’s endorsement of his VP to take up the mantle as Democratic presidential candidate. 

A person who worked on the Biden campaign shot back in comment to Axios that the Harris team was to blame: “How did you spend $1 billion and not win? What the f—?”

“The Harris team benched [Biden], and then they lost, so now the people who represent Biden are saying, ‘Maybe you shouldn’t have benched him,'” another person familiar with the dynamics between the teams said. 

White House spokesman Andrew Bates told the outlet, “Anyone criticizing the vice president’s campaign is at odds with President Biden.”

Pelosi appeared to pin blame for the loss on the president, claiming that Biden had dropped out of the race too late in the game and that that hadn’t provided an opportunity for an open primary. 

“Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” she told the New York Times podcast. 

“The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary,” Pelosi continued. “. . . Because the president endorsed Kamala Harris immediately, that really made it almost impossible to have a primary at that time. If it had been much earlier, it would have been different.” 

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Biden dropped out of the presidential race on a Sunday afternoon in July via a social media post. He endorsed Harris minutes later in a follow-up X post, sparking other Democrats to rally around the VP. 

Pelosi did defend Biden in June, when the Wall Street Journal ran an article doubting Biden’s mental fitness as president.

​​”Many of us spent time with @WSJ to share on the record our first-hand experiences with @POTUS, where we see his wisdom, experience, strength and strategic thinking,” Pelosi wrote on X at the time. “Instead, the Journal ignored testimony by Democrats, focused on attacks by Republicans and printed a hit piece.”

Pelosi, as well as other high-profile Democrats such as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, also notably called on Biden to run for a second term ahead of the 2024 cycle kicking off in earnest. 

Other Democrats and insiders pointed to former President Barack Obama for the loss, after Obama reportedly worked in the background over the summer to encourage Biden’s ouster from the race. 

A handful of Obama’s allies and former advisers helped lead the charge in calling on Biden to drop out of the 2024 race earlier this summer, including former Obama adviser David Axelrod saying that Biden was “not winning this race;” longtime Obama friend George Clooney calling on the president to drop out of the race in a bombshell op-ed; and Jon Favreau, who served as former director of speech writing for Obama, also calling on Biden to drop out of the race ahead of his eventual departure. 

“There is no singular reason why we lost, but a big reason is because the Obama advisers publicly encouraged Democratic infighting to push Joe Biden out, didn’t even want Kamala Harris as the nominee, and then signed up as the saviors of the campaign, only to run outdated Obama-era playbooks for a candidate that wasn’t Obama,” one former Biden staffer told Politico.

DNC National Finance Committee member and Harris campaign fundraiser Lindy Li told Fox News this weekend that Obama’s seemingly delayed endorsement of Harris after Biden dropped out added to Harris’ defeat. 

​​”I want to point out they waited three days – Michelle and Barack Obama waited three days to endorse Kamala Harris,” Li said on “Fox & Friends Weekend” on Saturday. “It was the silence heard round the world.”

“The truth is, this is just an epic disaster – this is a $1 billion disaster,” Li added during the interview. 

‘ABANDON HARRIS’ MOVEMENT FLIPPED DEARBORN TO TRUMP ON ELECTION DAY

Biden dropped out of the race on July 21, with the Obamas endorsing Harris in a video message posted to social media on July 26, five days after Biden’s announcement. The silence was not lost on the media, as headlines spread across the nation on Obama’s “silence.” 

Similar to Sanders, longtime Democratic strategist David Axelrod appeared to pin blame for the loss on the Democratic Party’s shift away from blue-collar, middle class voters. 

“You can’t approach working people like missionaries and say, ‘We’re here to help you become more like us.’ There’s a kind of unspoken disdain, unintended disdain in that,” the CNN contributor said last week. 

“The only group … Democrats won among were people who make more than $100,000 a year,” Axelrod said. “You can’t win national elections that way, and it certainly shouldn’t be that way for a party that fashions itself as the party of working people.”

“I think Biden has done programmatically some good things for working people. But the party itself has increasingly become a smarty-pants, suburban, college-educated party, and it lends itself to the kind of backlash that we’ve seen,” he continued.

After Biden’s exit from the race, Harris simultaneously launched her campaign as well as her search for a running mate, combing through a list of high-profile Democrats and lesser-known allies before choosing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Democrats ultimately rallied behind Walz, but another choice, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, was viewed by many as the better candidate to get the Democratic Party across the finish line victoriously.

‘SHOULD HAVE BEEN JOSH SHAPIRO’: HARRIS’ VP CONTENDERS PASSED OVER FOR WALZ DODGE MASSIVE CAMPAIGN LOSS

“As a founding member of She Shoulda Picked Shapiro, I think it’s relatively clear now that she made a mistake,” statistician Nate Silver told the New York Times ahead of Election Day. 

“Pennsylvania seems to be lagging a little behind the other blue-wall states. Meanwhile, Walz was mediocre in the debate, and he’s been mediocre and nervous in his public appearances.”

Li told Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich from Howard University, where Harris held her election night party, that Shapiro would likely have aided the Harris campaign’s efforts to notch a massive victory. 

“One of the things that are top of mind is the choice of Tim Walz as vice presidential candidate,” Li said. “A lot of people are saying tonight that it should have been Josh Shapiro. Frankly, people have been saying that for months.”

Considering Pennsylvania’s battleground-state status, the popular first-term governor was viewed as a potential key for the Harris campaign to reach the coveted 270 electoral votes to lock up the election. Shapiro, who is Jewish, was also touted as a potential bridge for the Harris campaign to court Jewish voters amid backlash over her previous comments defending anti-Israel protesters who rocked college campuses last year during the war in Israel.

Longtime Democratic political consultant James Carville said the Harris campaign’s loss could boil down to her interview on “The View,” when co-host Sunny Hostin asked Harris to identify an example of anything she would have done differently from Biden. 

“I think if this campaign is reducible to one moment, we are in a 65% wrong-track country. The country wants something different. And she’s asked, as is so often the case, in a friendly audience, on ‘The View,’ ‘How would you be different than Biden?’ That’s the one question that you exist to answer, alright? That is it. That’s the money question. That’s the one you want,” Carville said on “The Bulwark Podcast” on Saturday. 

JAMES CARVILLE SAYS KAMALA HARRIS’ FAILED CAMPAIGN COULD BE REDUCED TO SUNNY HOSTIN’S QUESTION ON ‘THE VIEW’

“That’s the one that everybody wants to know the answer to. And you freeze. You literally freeze and say, ‘Well, I can’t think of anything,’” Carville continued. 

Hostin had asked Harris in the October interview, “If anything, would you have done something differently than President Biden during the past four years?” 

“There is not a thing that comes to mind,” Harris answered.

Harris’ comment stands in stark contrast to how voters were feeling: They were unhappy with the current administration’s leadership.  

Preliminary data from the Fox News Voter Analysis, a survey of more than 110,000 voters nationwide, found that the majority of voters headed into the polls believing that the country was headed in the wrong direction. 

Voters, ahead of casting their ballots, reported that the country was on the wrong track (70%, up from 60% who felt that way four years ago) and that they were seeking something different. Most wanted a change in how the country is run, with roughly a quarter seeking complete and total upheaval.

Fox News Digital’s Taylor Penley and Hanna Panreck contributed to this report. 

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Sunday endorsed lawmaker Rick Scott for Senate majority leader, joining a growing list of MAGA figures who are throwing their support behind the Florida Republican. 

“Rick Scott for Senate Majority Leader!” Musk wrote in a post on X Sunday afternoon, days after Republicans won back control of the Senate on Election Day. 

Musk’s post came in response to a post from Scott, who was responding to President-elect Trump’s demand that “Any Republican Senator seeking the coveted LEADERSHIP position in the United States Senate must agree to Recess Appointments (in the Senate!), without which we will not be able to get people confirmed in a timely manner.” 

“100% agree,” Scott responded. “I will do whatever it takes to get your nominations through as quickly as possible.” 

SCOTT TOUTS ‘DEAL GUY’ BACKGROUND IN BID FOR SENATE MAJORITY LEADER

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY ‘DELIGHTED’ TO BACK SEN. JOHN CORNYN FOR SENATE MAJORITY LEADER

Musk is the latest Trump-ally calling for Scott to be the Senate GOP leader. Scott’s senate Republican colleagues, including Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, and Rand Paul of Kentucky have each pledged to vote for Scott. 

Scott, whose bid for the position is seen as a long shot by some observers, is up against fellow Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas, and John Thune of South Dakota for the job McConnell has held since 2007. 

Scott has expressed hope that Trump will publicly endorse his bid for the top job, though some reports have indicated the president-elect has been hesitant to weigh in on the race. 

Fox News Digital’s Michael Lee contributed to this report.