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A new poll released Monday with just hours to go until Election Day shows Vice President Kamala Harris with a four-point lead over former President Trump nationally, while the gender gap between both candidates is narrowing. 

The NPR/PBS News/Marist Poll of 1,297 likely voters, which was conducted from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2., shows Harris capturing 51% of the vote, compared to Trump with 47%. The poll has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

The survey shows that as Election Day nears, more men are gravitating to Harris while increasing numbers of women are supporting Trump. 

In the same poll taken in late September, Trump led Harris among men by 57% to 41%. Now that lead has shrunk to 51-47%.   

TRUMP LEADS HARRIS BY 2% IN NORTH CAROLINA HEADING INTO ELECTION DAY, POLL FINDS 

For Harris, a month ago she led Trump among women voters 58% to 40%, but now that gap has narrowed to 55-44%, according to PBS News. 

Trump is leading Harris among independent voters 51% to 46%, and of those likely voters who say they already have cast their ballots, Harris received 56% support, while Trump has captured 53% among those who have yet to vote, Marist reported. 

Thirty-one percent of those surveyed listed preserving democracy as their “top of mind” issue when they think about voting this November, followed by inflation with 25%, immigration with 19%, abortion with 10% and health care with 7%. 

IOWA POLL SHOWS DEMOCRATS IN POSITION TO FLIP TWO REPUBLICAN HOUSE SEATS 

When asked if Harris is mainly making proposals that she intends to carry out or is making proposals that are just intended to get people to vote for her, voters were divided at 49% for each choice. 

When the same was asked about Trump, 55% said they believed he was making proposals he intends to follow through on, compared to 44% who believe he is just trying to secure votes, the poll shows. 

Despite Harris holding a national lead in the poll, when the voters were asked who they think will actually win the election, 49% said Trump, while 46% said Harris. 

One of the Pentagon’s top generals is under investigation for allegedly getting physical with an airman on a flight in early September. 

Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, head of U.S. Central Command [CENTCOM], allegedly shoved the airman on a C-17 flight to Israel after getting frustrated with access to logistical and communications issues aboard the flight. 

The four-star Army general is now under probe by the ​​Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID).

After an airman asked the general to sit down and buckle his seat belt, he allegedly lashed out and shoved the airman aside. 

“The Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division is aware of an alleged incident and is currently looking into it. No additional information is available at this time,” CID spokesperson Mark Lundardi said in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

Central Command oversees troop operations in the Middle East and Asia, including much of the U.S. military’s role in Israel and in Iraq and Syria.

GOP LAWMAKERS SOUND ALARM ON MILITARY VOTING ‘DEFICIENCIES’ AHEAD OF ELECTION DAY

Kurilla has been critical of the Biden administration’s longtime defensive approach to the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. He allegedly wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin claiming U.S. defensive policies “failed” to have the desired impact, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

Kurilla called for a “whole of government” approach to the issue, which would include economic and diplomatic pressure in addition to stronger military pressure to dissuade the terrorist group from its campaign against shipping vessels in the region.

U.S. DEPLOYS ADDITIONAL MILITARY FORCES TO MIDDLE EAST AMID INTENSIFYING REGIONAL TENSIONS: PENTAGON

The tone of the letter shocked some members of the defense department, one official told the Journal, particularly Kurilla’s insistence that “U.S. service members will die if we continue going this way.” 

Kurilla has been in charge of CENTCOM since April 2022. The job typically operates on a three-year term, meaning Kurilla is expected to relinquish command in April 2025. 

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Before leading CENTCOM, Kurilla commanded the 75th Ranger Regiment, the 82nd Airborne Division and the XVIII Airborne Corps. He was also assistant commanding general of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). 

He was shot multiple times in a battle in Mosul, Iraq, in 2005, but continued fighting, an act that earned him a Bronze Star.

Battleground states have already seen their share of fights before Election Day as legal challenges centered on voting issues, and while some have already been decided, others remain up in the air just hours before polls open Tuesday morning.

From issues including mail-in ballots, drop boxes and concerns about ineligible voters, here are some of the high-profile swing state cases and where they currently stand.

Arizona

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes acknowledged in September that 218,000 people in the state were allowed to register to vote without proof of citizenship despite state law that requires it. A state court set a deadline of Monday for production of a full list of affected people so that the recorders of each county can verify the citizenship of voters who had not previously provided proof of citizenship.

The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office said in a statement to Fox News Digital on Monday before receiving any list that approximately 2,000 people had tried to submit voter registration updates and subsequently received notices that they had to prove their citizenship. 

ARIZONA HIGH COURT RULES SECRETARY OF STATE MUST TURN OVER LIST OF NONCITIZENS ON VOTER ROLL

“These voters were contacted individually to let them know their registration was incomplete. However, after further consideration, the decision was made to fully restore those voters from the not-registered status, only if they were previously an existing, registered voter,” the statement said. 

Georgia

Georgia has seen multiple lawsuits involving mail-in ballots. In Cobb County, the ACLU sued, claiming that at least 3,000 voters did not receive their ballots on time. In a victory for them, a court ordered new ballots to be sent overnight to the affected voters. Their votes will be counted as long as they are received by Nov. 8 at 5 p.m.

Also in Cobb County, as well as in Fulton, Dekalb and Gwinnett Counties, the Republican National Committee sued, claiming that election offices improperly opened over the weekend to allow voters to drop off their mail-in ballots in person. The RNC cited state law that says drop boxes should be closed after the end of the early voting period, which was Friday. A state court said the county elections offices had the discretion to open for additional hours.

Another Georgia case involved Fulton County’s offices being open over the weekend for dropping off mail-in ballots. At first, poll observers were barred from entering, with Fulton County elections director Nadine Williams stating that they were not allowed because it was a county office and not a polling site. Just hours later, it was announced that observers would be permitted after all.

REPUBLICANS SCORE VICTORY IN GEORGIA FIGHT OVER ELECTION OBSERVERS, RNC CHAIRMAN SAYS

Nevada

A lawsuit from the Trump campaign, RNC and Nevada Republican Party opposing the potential counting of mail-in ballots that the state receives after Election Day that do not bear a postmark. The state Supreme Court ruled that such ballots can still be counted up to three days after Election Day. There is a similar case in federal court where challengers also lost but are appealing to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The same issue was also brought before the Fifth Circuit after a case was brought in Mississippi, and while the court said such ballots cannot be counted after Election Day, the ruling does not apply to this year’s election.

North Carolina

The RNC also has a lawsuit in North Carolina, involving 225,000 people it alleges are improperly registered because they had used an old form that did not ask for their driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number. The RNC claims that this violates the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

“Because of these errors, the North Carolina voter rolls, which both HAVA and state law mandates that Defendants regularly maintain, are potentially replete with ineligible voters – including possible non-citizens – all of whom are now registered to vote,” the RNC and North Carolina GOP said in a court filing.

Pennsylvania

The Keystone State remains a key battleground, not just on the ballot but in courtrooms, with several lawsuits having been filed over a variety of voting issues, many involving mail-in ballots.

Republicans scored a win when they appealed a court ruling that said mail-in ballots without a required handwritten date could still be counted. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overruled, saying that handwritten dates must be on the ballots.

The GOP was not so fortunate in a separate case in which it sought an emergency appeal from the U.S. Supreme Court after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that provisional ballots should be counted if voters’ mail-in ballots were disqualified for technical errors, such as not being in mandatory secrecy envelopes. Republicans cited a state law that they argued prohibited voters from casting provisional ballots if they had already submitted mail-in ballots on time.

The U.S. Supreme Court turned away the RNC’s appeal, with Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas issuing a statement that made clear that because the case only involved two votes in a small county, it would not have impacted the results of the election either way.

Both parties won legal challenges when voters in multiple counties did not receive mail-in ballots on time. Democrats in Erie County sued when as many as 20,000 voters did not receive their ballots from a third-party vendor on time. A judge ruled that the Erie County Board of Elections had to remain open last Friday and Saturday so voters could fill out ballots.

In Bucks County, Republicans sued over voters waiting in line for mail-in ballots being turned away at 5 p.m., even though they had been there waiting. A judge swiftly ruled that voters should get an additional three days to apply for a mail-in ballot.

Another Pennsylvania case involves six Republican members of Congress who sued Pennsylvania’s State Department with allegations that overseas voters’ ballots were vulnerable to fraud because those voters were not made to adhere to the same identification requirement as absentee ballot voters in the U.S. The GOP lawmakers lost when a judge dismissed their case based on standing, timeliness, not presenting a viable cause of action and failing to join indispensable parties.

One situation that remains ongoing involves a potential voter fraud operation that is under investigation. Officials have said that several counties have seen large batches of voter registration forms and mail-in ballot applications that were suspicious. In Monroe County, District Attorney Mike Mancuso said that some of the forms detected in his county were submitted by “Field and Media Corps,” an apparent subsidiary of Fieldcorp, an Arizona-based organization working in Lancaster County.

DISCOVERY OF ‘FRAUDULENT’ VOTER APPLICATIONS PROMPTS PA PROBE OF ARIZONA COMPANY’S POTENTIAL INVOLVEMENT

This was after officials in Lancaster County reported receiving 2,500 forms marked as suspicious for having false names, duplicative handwriting or unverifiable or incorrect identifying information.

The applications reportedly were not limited to a single party and were collected in various spots across the county.

One more case in Pennsylvania involves Elon Musk and his contest to award $1 million each day to an individual who registers to vote and signs a pledge to support the First and Second amendments. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner sued Musk and his PAC, claiming that the contest is an illegal lottery, and the Justice Department warned the Tesla CEO that there could be federal law issues because it is illegal to pay people to vote.

Musk has countered that he is not requiring anyone to vote in order to win the prize, only to register and sign the petition. He attempted to have the case moved to federal court but was unsuccessful. A hearing in the case was set for Monday.

Wisconsin

On Monday, the RNC announced that it is suing the Milwaukee Elections Commission over a city plan that was announced over the weekend, which says some precincts will limit poll watchers on Election Day to just one Democrat and one Republican, with outside organizations being barred.

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

Vice President Kamala Harris is facing scrutiny from a California sheriff after refusing to say whether she voted for a proposition in her home state aimed at curbing the surging crime and theft in the state.

“California’s Democrat leaders have long taken the side of criminals instead of standing up for crime victims and ordinary residents,” Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco told Fox News Digital. “Proposition 36 will roll back some of the most harmful soft-on-crime policies California Democrats have enacted. It is the single most important thing on California’s ballot this year, and will help clean up our streets and keep our neighborhoods safe.

“The Vice President’s reluctance to vocally support this critical public safety measure is yet another failure in a long career of failures when it comes to keeping our citizens safe.”

Harris, a former San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general and U.S. senator before she was elected vice president in 2020, declined over the weekend to answer about how she voted on Proposition 36. The California ballot measure would reverse criminal justice reforms made in her home state in recent years.

CALIFORNIA’S BATTLE OVER CRIME AND HOMELESSNESS IS A WARNING TO THE NATION

“I’m not going to talk about the vote on that because honestly it’s the Sunday before the election, and I don’t intend to create an endorsement one way or another around it,” Harris said. “But I did vote.” 

The initiative, if passed, would make the crime of shoplifting a felony for repeat offenders and increase penalties for some drug charges, including those involving the synthetic opioid fentanyl. It also would give judges the authority to order people with multiple drug charges to get treatment.

VOTER FRUSTRATION WITH CRIME, LIBERAL DAS MOUNTING IN CALIFORNIA WHILE HARRIS MUM ON CONTROVERSIAL PROP 47

The ballot measure is an effort to roll back Prop 47, labeled by supporters as the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, passed by Californians in 2014. Prop. 47 reclassified felonies down to misdemeanors “unless the defendant had prior convictions of murder, rape, certain sex offenses, or certain gun crimes.” 

But in the last several years, retail chains and mom-and-pop shops have been hit hard by theft, smash-and-grab robberies and organized retail crime gangs. Prop. 36 — titled the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act — seeks to undo portions of Prop. 47 by boosting penalties for some crimes and could increase depending on each category.

Harris was California’s attorney general at the time of Prop. 47’s passage, and while she did not take a public position on it, her office was in charge of writing the title and summary of the measure on the actual ballot, which some residents felt was misleading.

“Quite frankly, we were lied to and misled by our state, in that the name and the description on the ballot was not something that we were getting,” Bianco, a prominent Prop 36 supporter, told Fox News Digital earlier this year. 

“We voted for a proposition that was named the Safe Schools and the Safe Streets Initiative and it contained absolutely nothing to do with safe streets or safe schools, and it was everything that is bad about public safety right now, directly contributing to the increase in homelessness, mental health and drug addiction. Directly resulted in what we see now in our serial theft cases, in our retail theft cases and issues in crime of residential burglaries and those types of things.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign but did not receive a response.

Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace and Jamie Joseph contributed to this report

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is telling Americans “do NOT vote for me” on the eve of Election Day, adding in a video that a vote for Trump is “the only way that we can get me and everything I stand for into Washington, D.C. and fulfill the mission that motivated my campaign.” 

The fresh plea comes after the Supreme Court last week denied separate appeals by RFK Jr. to remove his name from the ballots in Wisconsin and Michigan.  

“I’ve asked my voters repeatedly to vote for President Trump, but even a few votes for me in [Michigan] could swing the ballot in a way that the public doesn’t intend and the voters don’t intend,” he told “America’s Newsroom” on Sunday.

Kennedy, who once was running as an independent presidential candidate, has been trying to get his name off ballots in key battleground states since he suspended his campaign in August and endorsed Trump. 

SUPREME COURT DENIES RFK JR EFFORT TO GET HIS NAME REMOVED FROM MICHIGAN AND WISCONSIN BALLOTS 

“Hey everybody, a lot of people are asking me if they live in a red state or blue state should they still be voting for me? What about swing states? The answer is easy – no,” RFK Jr. then said in a video posted to his X account on Monday. 

“No matter what state you live in, you should be voting for Donald Trump. And let me tell you why. That’s the only way that we can get me and everything I stand for into Washington, D.C. and fulfill the mission that motivated my campaign,” he continued. 

RFK JR. SAYS TRUMP WHITE HOUSE WILL GET FLUORIDE OUT OF DRINKING WATER 

Above the video, RFK Jr. wrote “No matter what state you live in, do NOT vote for me” and “Let’s get President Trump back in the White House and me to Washington so we can Make America Healthy Again, end the forever wars, and protect our civil liberties.” 

When he suspended his campaign, Kennedy said he planned to keep his name on the ballot in safe Democratic and Republican states, but didn’t want to be a spoiler in battleground states. 

Fox News’ Stepheny Price contributed to this report. 

The chair of a Pennsylvania county election board updated voters Monday on the status of 2,500 voter registration and mail-in ballot applications that had been flagged last month as potentially fraudulent and prompted a county and statewide investigation in the crucial swing state.

Speaking at a press conference, Lancaster County Commissioner Ray D’Agostino said that of the 2,500 registration and mail-in ballot applications that had been flagged as suspicious, a 57% majority had been confirmed as valid, and 17% were confirmed to be fraudulent, he said. 

The remaining 26% of voter registration applications and mail-in ballot applications are either incomplete or unverified, he said, and remain under investigation.

“Those other two buckets are going to change, quite frankly, based on the continuing investigation,” D’Agostino said of the remaining applications, noting that the process of vetting the applications is a “painstaking process.”

Officials said the applications were marked as suspicious “during the staff’s normal process to review and enter applications into [a Pennsylvania database]” and law enforcement was alerted.

They noted that the forms in question either had false names, duplicative handwriting or unverifiable or incorrect identifying information. 

SUPREME COURT TEMPORARILY HALTS LOWER COURT RULING ORDERING 1,600 VOTERS BACK ON VIRGINIA VOTER ROLLS

Both the local District Attorney’s Office and the Lancaster County Board of Elections have since been working to review and vet the applications. County election officials also immediately notified the Pennsylvania Department of State and the state attorney general’s office last month for further investigation.

D’Agostino declined to comment further on the status of those investigations Monday, though he told reporters that any individuals whose applications were potentially impacted as a result of the probe have been notified by the county. 

The applications in question are not limited to a single party, and were collected across various spots across Lancaster County last month. 

“I can’t give any more information” at this point, D’Agostino said Monday of the investigation, adding that county and state officials are “continuing to investigate” and take the matter “very seriously.”

The Pennsylvania Department of State confirmed its involvement in the probe late last month to Fox News Digital. It also applauded Lancaster County “for their diligent work in spotting this potential fraud and bringing it to the attention of law enforcement.”

“As the county’s efforts show, multiple safeguards exist to ensure the integrity of our elections, and Pennsylvanians can have confidence that this November’s election will be safe, secure, free, and fair,” the office told Fox News.

The update in Lancaster Monday comes just days after officials in Pennsylvania’s Monroe County said they are also investigating a much smaller pool of voter registration and mail-in ballot applications that had been set aside as potentially fraudulent.

These applications, believed to total around 30, were spotted by county board of election officials and referred to the district attorney’s office for further investigation.

SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS PENNSYLVANIA PROVISIONAL BALLOT RULING, IN A MAJOR LOSS FOR GOP

Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry also sought to reassure voters in the Keystone State last week, noting in a press release Thursday that her office has been working with respective counties on the apparent attempts to submit fraudulent ballots and investigate any organizations that may be responsible. 

“While we will not be divulging sensitive information about these investigations, we want to clarify that the investigations regard voter registration forms, not ballots,” Henry said. “These attempts have been thwarted by the safeguards in place in Pennsylvania.”

She added: “The investigations are ongoing, and offenders who perpetrated acts of fraud will be held accountable under the law.”

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

From government agencies to private citizens – many are planning for Election Day unrest by boarding up their buildings.

The Secret Service confirmed that it was erecting barriers around major sites in the nation’s capital, including the White House and the vice president’s residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory. Meanwhile, private businesses in major cities, like New York, Portland and Washington, D.C., have also followed suit by boarding up their storefronts. 

In a statement to Fox News Digital, the Secret Service said it was “working closely” with federal, state and local partners in both the nation’s capital and Palm Beach County, Florida, in order to implement “heightened levels of safety and security” ahead of Tuesday’s election. In addition to the White House and the Naval Observatory, fencing will also block off the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C., and authorities have used bike-rack barriers to fortify the Capitol, according to The Washington Post. 

Meanwhile, Howard University, where Harris will be on election night, will also see heightened security measures, local D.C. police indicated.

HOW TO WATCH ELECTION DAY COVERAGE ON FOX NEWS DIGITAL

Individual states are also ramping up security efforts, including erecting barricades, ahead of Tuesday’s election. In Luzerene County in battleground Pennsylvania, “protective boulders” have been placed around the county’s Bureau of Elections office – just one of several security measures the office has taken, according to The New York Times.

Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, additional police are expected to be deployed to polling sites on Election Day and the state is activating a Homeland Security Operations Center at the Massachusetts State Police Headquarters in Farmington, according to a local news report. 

On Friday, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee activated the National Guard to help respond to potential violence “leading up to, on, and potentially extending beyond Nov. 5.”

In addition to the government, images and videos of businesses in D.C., New York City and Portland, Oregon, have begun surfacing on social media ahead of Tuesday’s election.

NIKKI HALEY PENS SUPPORTIVE OP-ED IN FAVOR OF TRUMP AHEAD OF ELECTION DAY: ‘EASY CALL’

“It is completely ridiculous that we have to do this,” Ebony Boger, who works in D.C., told ABC 7 News. “It’s very precautionary, and I see why because I was here four years ago, and it was crazy down here. It’s not shocking. I’m kind of used to it. I think they should do it.”

“It is sad that it has to come to that,” D.C. resident Lucas Argeles told local news outlet FOX 5. “I understand why store owners, especially local businesses, would want to do that. Even outside of the elections, there have been other instances where they should have boarded and they didn’t. It’s sad. It’s the reality. But I hope that this time it’s just a precautionary measure, nothing happens, and then, yeah.” 

The precautions come after the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security sent a series of bulletins to state and local election officials between September and October, which warned “election-related grievances” could motivate domestic extremists “to engage in violence.”

MAJOR POLLSTER DROPS FINAL BATTLEGROUND POLL NUMBERS

“[Domestic Violent Extremists] continue to create, exploit, and promote narratives about the election process or legal decisions involving political figures, and we are concerned that these grievances could motivate some [Domestic Violent Extremists] to engage in violence, as we saw during the 2020 election cycle,” one of the bulletins read. It added that there was also “heightened risk” that some extremists may seek to launch a “civil war.”

“Through at least early 2025, there is a heightened risk that [Domestic Violent Extremists] may mobilize against ideological opponents, government officials, and law enforcement in an attempt to initiate a civil war.”

On the eve of Election Day, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is taking center stage as both nominees vie for final votes in the battleground state during a bevy of rallies and campaign stops. 

President Biden, who was born in the Keystone State, however, has already wrapped up his campaigning for the Harris ticket and will be absent from his vice president’s list of campaign events in his old backyard. 

Harris’ Monday schedule includes campaign events in Scranton, Allentown and Reading, as well as a rally in Pittsburgh before her last speech to Pennsylvania voters during a rally in Philadelphia Monday evening. Along the campaign trail, the VP will be joined at various times by supporters and surrogates, such as second gentleman Doug Emhoff, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and a long list of celebrities such as Lady Gaga and Oprah Winfrey. 

Pennsylvania is again a key battleground state this cycle, and is expected to determine the outcome of the overall election. Biden won the Keystone State in his successful 2020 race, after Trump won the state when he squared off against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016. 

BIDEN CALLS REPUBLICANS THE ‘GUYS YOU’D LIKE TO SMACK IN THE A–‘: ‘JUST FEEL THE UNITY’

Biden was born in Scranton and lived there until the age of 10, with the Biden family holding deep roots in the area and state overall.

Biden’s great-grandfather, for example, Edward Francis Blewitt, was a Scranton fixture at the turn of the century. He served as chairman of the St. Patrick’s Day parade in 1897, was elected to the state Senate in 1906 and co-founded the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick in Scranton in 1908. Fast-forward about 100 years, his great-grandson’s last name is emblazoned on street signs and has become synonymous with the city itself. 

BILL MAHER WARNS THAT BIDEN’S ‘GARBAGE’ COMMENT IS A ‘BIGGER GAFFE THAN PEOPLE THINK’: ‘DEPLORABLES TIMES 10’

Biden, however, is not scheduled to join Harris during her final pitch to Keystone voters – or elsewhere on the campaign trail – after delivering his final Harris stump speech in Scranton on Saturday. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Harris campaign inquiring about Biden’s absence from his home state in the final stretch of the election, but did not receive replies.

Biden reflected on his love of Pennsylvania and Scranton during his final remarks supporting Harris’ campaign on Saturday, where he spoke to union workers. 

“Scranton becomes part of your heart,” Biden said. “It crawls into your heart. It’s real. It’s not hyperbole. It’s not a joke. It’s real.”

JONATHAN TURLEY: ANGRY RHETORIC IS ALL THE RAGE, BUT HERE’S TO HOPE

The event, however, was underscored by a viral moment about “macho guys” and Biden’s apparent desire to “smack” Republicans. 

“There’s one more thing Trump and his Republican friends want to do: they want another giant tax cut for the wealthy. Now, I know some of you guys are tempted to think it’s macho guys,” he said Saturday. 

“But I tell you what, man, when I lived in Scranton, I said, you remember we used to have a little trouble going down to The Plot once in a while? Green Ridge. But I’m serious. These [are] the kind of guys you’d like to smack in the a—,” Biden continued.

INDEPENDENTS REACT NEGATIVELY TO BIDEN’S ‘GARBAGE’ COMMENTS IN REAL TIME

The comments were ridiculed on social media, as critics argued Biden was intentionally trying to undermine the Harris campaign, comparing it to when Biden suggested Trump supporters were “garbage” last month. 

“I’m not sure I’d have Joe on the campaign trail right now. The Bidenisms are something I’ll miss,” editor-at-large of the Foundation for Economic Education Jon Miltimore remarked.

BIDEN STUMBLES THROUGH EVENT, REFERS TO FORMER REP. GIFFORDS IN PAST TENSE: ‘NOTHING WRONG WITH ME’

“Wonder if @flotus ‘pushed’ an otherwise silent @JoeBiden out front in the closing days of the campaign to talk s— and undermine @TheDemocrats and @KamalaHarris efforts as payback for unceremoniously sacking her man? Nah, it’s all probably just a coincidence,” CNN commentator David Urban joked.

Meghan McCain agreed: “He’s intentionally trying to hurt Harris and no one can convince me differently at this point.”

Biden will leave office on Jan. 20, after initially kicking off the 2024 election cycle fully committed to running for re-election. That plan began crumbling over the summer as concerns mounted over the president’s mental acuity and age following repeated gaffes on the campaign trail and in his official capacity as commander in chief. 

Biden’s June presidential debate against Trump officially opened the floodgates to traditional Democratic allies joining a chorus of calls for Biden to drop out of the race and pass the torch to a younger generation. 

BIDEN UNDER FIRE ONLINE AGAIN FOR TWICE CONFUSING LIVING EUROPEAN LEADERS WITH DEAD PREDECESSORS IN ONE WEEK 

Biden dropped out in a social media post in July, and shortly after threw his support behind Harris in a follow-up post on X. 

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As Harris crisscrosses the Keystone State, former President Trump has also zeroed-in on Pennsylvania. Trump is holding rallies in both Reading and Pittsburgh on Monday, as well as a rally in North Carolina and another in Michigan Monday evening. 

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

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, who is defending his seat in the upper chamber, slammed outgoing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell as a “one-man dictator” on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”

“He’s basically behaved as a one-man dictator. I don’t think we want a leader who does that,” Cruz said of McConnell, the longest-serving GOP leader in Congress. 

“I think when we win in November, and I believe we’re going to see a really good election, I think Trump’s going to win. I think we’re going to win a Republican Senate and Republican House. When that happens, we’ve got enormous work to do when that happens.”

TED CRUZ KNOCKS MCCONNELL-ALIGNED SUPER PAC FOR ‘ZERO SUPPORT’ IN COMPETITIVE RACE

Cruz’s comments come after he blasted the Senate Leadership Fund — an independent Super PAC aimed at securing a Republican majority in the Senate — for donating “not one penny” to Cruz’s re-election campaign against Democrat Rep. Colin Allred. 

“I want to see a majority leader who changes how the Senate operates, who democratizes it more,” Cruz said. 

“We are getting absolutely zero support from the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF),” the Republican said previously. 

HARRIS SLAMS ‘OFFENSIVE’ TRUMP REMARK ON PROTECTING WOMEN FROM MIGRANT CRIME

Despite the legitimate challenge posed by Allred, Cruz is favored to win the contest. 

The SLF has notably spent most of its resources in states with key Republican Senate pick-up opportunities, such as Pennsylvania, Montana, Ohio, Wisconsin and Michigan. 

Cruz has been critical of McConnell’s leadership and called for him to step down earlier this year, as he and a group of Republicans aired their grievances over the failed bipartisan border bill that McConnell was in favor of at the time.

HOW GOP, DEM SENATORS ARE USING 2024 CAMPAIGN TRAIL TO LOBBY FOR CONFERENCE INFLUENCE

In a recent book on McConnell, titled “The Price of Power,” Michael Tackett, the deputy Washington bureau chief of The Associated Press, detailed how the leader allowed conference members to publicly go against him, to an extent, if it was helpful to them electorally.

Cruz said he has also informed the three Republican candidates vying for the position of his desire for a “full and open amendment process” regarding extensive budget packages that are often thousands of pages long.

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

“That would fundamentally change how the Senate operates,” Cruz said.

Fox News Digital’s Julia Johnson contributed to this report. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., suggested Democrats were close to picking up a Senate seat in Nebraska, apparently referring to Nebraska Independent Dan Osborn as a likely Democrat caucus member, which the Senate candidate has continuously denied. 

“We have decent chances of picking up three seats,” Schumer told Democrats during a virtual rally with the Jewish Democratic Council of America in support of Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz’s campaign. 

“We’re even in Texas. We’re a point or two behind in Nebraska. We’re only three points behind in Florida,” the New York Democrat said in a video obtained by Fox News Digital. 

I’M DAN OSBORN: THIS IS WHY I WANT NEBRASKA’S VOTE FOR SENATE

“So we have – we’re right on the edge of keeping the Senate, of winning the House, keeping the presidency,” Schumer continued. 

There is no Democratic candidate nominated for the Senate race between incumbent Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and Osborn, who is a union leader and mechanic. 

Osborn’s campaign told Fox News Digital that he has never spoken to Schumer before. 

“I’m a true Independent, and I’ve said over and over again that I do not plan to caucus with either party,” Osborn said in a statement.

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“I’ve never spoken to Chuck Schumer, and he is going to be in for a rude awakening if he thinks I’m taking orders from him or anyone in DC. My opponent Deb Fischer does whatever Mitch McConnell tells her to. That’s what’s wrong with Washington. We need an independent who will stand up to the party bosses and stop playing politics so we can finally secure the border, pass a farm bill, and serve the country instead of special interests,” he added. 

While each of the four independents currently in the U.S. Senate caucus with the Democrats, giving the party its current majority, Osborn has reiterated he would not caucus with either party. 

But this has been complicated by the actions and remarks of Democrats who have signaled they expect him to join them. 

Apart from Schumer’s suggestion that Nebraska is a likely pickup opportunity for the party, a PAC associated with Democrat Harry Dunn, who is a former Capitol Police officer who previously ran for Congress, recently sent a fundraising text that claimed, “Dan is an independent who will caucus with the Democrats.”

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The campaign disputed the text’s claim and the PAC reportedly said the message was “incorrect” and not coordinated with Osborn’s team. 

The incidents have also coincided with scrutiny over Osborn’s monetary support from outside groups. 

Multiple outside groups have poured money into Nebraska as the Independent’s challenge to Fischer has gained momentum, some of which have ties to Democrats and a controversial dark money group linked to billionaire George Soros. 

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One of the main groups spending on behalf of Osborn is Retire Career Politicians, which has gotten $800,000 from the controversial dark money group, the Sixteen Thirty Fund, in a matter of months.

The Sixteen Thirty Fund notoriously keeps its donors’ identities a secret, but it has notably received more than $75 million in grants from Soros’ Open Society Foundations between 2016 and 2022, according to Open Society Foundations’ website. 

A representative for Schumer did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication. 

In a recent New York Times/ Siena College poll, Fischer beat Osborn by only two points, 48% to 46%. 

The poll surveyed 1,194 voters in Nebraska between Oct. 23 and 26. The margin of error is +/- 3.2 percentage points. 

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