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The Michigan Arab-American mayor who made headlines for endorsing former President Trump says the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the Middle East is one of the “most important determining factors” of his decision. 

Mayor Amer Ghalib, the Democrat leader of Hamtramck – a city outside of Detroit – said on “Sunday Morning Futures” that his choice to back Trump “was like sailing against the waves” and has brought him some pushback. 

“It was a combination of both disappointment and hope – disappointment [with] the current administration on how they handled the situation in the Middle East, because that is one of the most important, determining factors of our decision, who to vote for as Arab-Americans this time,” Ghalib said when asked to explain his endorsement.

Ghalib added there is “a hope that some change will bring peace to the Middle East and we found President Trump is so determined about that.” 

WHO IS AMER GHALIB, THE TRUMP-ENDORSING MAYOR OF THE US’ ONLY MUSLIM-MAJORITY TOWN? 

“The priority for us at this time is accomplishing a cease-fire and bringing peace to the Middle East. Kamala Harris has been in the office for the past three years and during the whole year of war in the Middle East, I supported the Uncommitted movement in Michigan to send a strong message to the current administration, to take our concerns into consideration but nothing was happening,” he continued. “In fact, they completely neglected us and negligence become the norm.” 

“We are hoping that President Trump will come and do something different to bring peace – that is all we want,” Ghalib continued.  

The mayor also said Trump “is doing everything possible to show respect to this community,” including visiting his city following his endorsement.

“The other side decided to neglect us and I think they should be punished for what they have been doing,” he added. 

MAYOR OF MUSLIM-MAJORITY MICHIGAN CITY ENDORSES TRUMP: ‘RIGHT CHOICE FOR THIS CRITICAL TIME’ 

Ghalib, who became Hamtramck’s first Muslim mayor after being elected in 2021, was born in Yemen and immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager in 1997, according to a profile of the mayor posted by Henry Ford College. 

Ghalib spent most of his career as a medical professional in Hamtramck, an enclave of Detroit with about 28,000 residents. The town was known as a mostly Polish settlement until recent decades, with a large influx of Middle Eastern immigrants eventually making it the nation’s first Muslim-majority city. 

He made history when he defeated former Hamtramck Mayor Karen Majewski, breaking an over 100-year streak of the city being represented by a Polish-American mayor. The city also became the first in the nation with an all-Muslim elected leadership that same year, with Hamtramck’s six city council seats being won by Muslim candidates. 

Fox News’ Michael Lee contributed to this report.   

The final New York Times/Siena College Battleground poll of the 2024 race shows a razor-tight election in the battleground states just days before the election.

Former President Trump leads Vice President Kamala Harris in Arizona, while Harris enjoys a lead in Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada and Wisconsin. Michigan and Pennsylvania are tied between the two candidates, according to the poll.

“Too close to call,” Siena Research declared in a social media post about the poll.

FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: ARIZONA IS TRUMP’S TO LOSE, BUT THIS ELECTION IS ANYONE’S TO WIN

In Arizona, the only state where Trump has a lead, the former president is up four points on Harris, 49-45.

Meanwhile, Harris has a one-point lead in Georgia (48-47), two points in North Carolina (48-46), three points in Nevada (49-46) and two points in Wisconsin (49-47).

The poll comes just two days before an election that promises to be one of the closest in recent memory, with the New York Times/Siena poll not being the only one showing tight margins.

5 NUMBERS THAT WILL DECIDE THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

According to the Real Clear Politics polling average, Trump enjoys a 2.9 point lead in Arizona, a 1.2 point lead in Nevada, a 0.3 point lead in Pennsylvania, a 1.4 point lead in North Carolina, and a 2.3 point lead in Georgia.

Harris, meanwhile, has a slim lead of 0.3 points in Wisconsin and a 0.6 point lead in Michigan.

The New York Times/Siena College battleground poll also sampled the Senate races in the battleground states for the final time, showing Democrats Rep. Ruben Gallego in Arizona, Elissa Slotkin in Michigan, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, Sen. Jacky Rosen in Nevada, and Sen. Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin, with a lead in their respective races. No Republican Senate candidate held leads in their races, the poll showed.

The New York Times/Siena College poll interviewed 7,879 voters in seven battleground states between Oct. 24 and Nov. 2, with a margin of errors of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points in Arizona, 4.1 percentage points in Georgia, 3.7 points in Michigan, 3.6 points in North Carolina, 3.6 points in Nevada, 2.9 points in Pennsylvania, and 3.4 points in Wisconsin.

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

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, took aim at Vice President Kamala Harris for her lack of support for Israel, arguing that the decision not to tap Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate was a result of the vice president caving to the “pro-Hamas” wing of the Democratic Party.

“You oughta ask yourself why didn’t she pick Josh Shapiro as her VP?” Cruz said during an appearance on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo on Sunday. “The answer is, in today’s Democrat Party, they could not stomach a candidate who was Jewish.”

Cruz’s comments come just two days before polls open on Election Day, with both Harris and former President Trump making their final pitches in the seven key battleground states that promise to decide the race.

FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: ARIZONA IS TRUMP’S TO LOSE, BUT THIS ELECTION IS ANYONE’S TO WIN

Two battlegrounds in particular, Michigan and Pennsylvania, show the struggle Harris has had cobbling together a winning coalition, Cruz argued, noting that the vice president has tried to appease Jewish voters in Pennsylvania despite the administration she serves in being the “most anti-Israel” one in American history.

“Kamala Harris is lying to people in Pennsylvania, and we know that because she’s not just some random person off the street, she’s been the sitting vice president for four years,” Cruz said. “Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have been the single most anti-Israel administration this country has ever seen.”

The Real Clear Politics polling average shows an extremely tight race in Pennsylvania in the final days of the election, with Trump currently holding a slim 0.3 point lead in the critical battleground state.

5 NUMBERS THAT WILL DECIDE THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Betting odds for the race are similarly close, with ElectionBettingOdds.com showing Trump with 53.5% chance of winning Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, the latest Fox News Power Rankings rate the swing state as a toss-up.

Cruz suggested Sunday that Shapiro, who currently enjoys positive approval ratings among voters in his state, could have helped win the key state for Harris if she had chosen him.

“Shapiro might well have won the state of Pennsylvania for her, but the pro-Hamas wing of the Democrat Party could not imagine, could not tolerate, such a thing,” Cruz said.

The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

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

The senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission lambasted NBC’s decision to host Vice President Kamala Harris on “Saturday Night Live” in the final episode ahead of Election Day, while not offering equal time to former President Trump or other candidates in the presidential cycle. 

“This has all the appearances of, at least some leadership at NBC, at SNL, making clear that they wanted to weigh-in in favor of one candidate before the election. That’s exactly why, for decades, we’ve had an equal time rule on the book, is to prevent that. Because remember, broadcasters are placed in a special position of trust. They’re not just like any other person with a soapbox on the corner. They have a license from the federal government that obligates them to operate in the public interest,” FCC commissioner Brendan Carr told Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview Sunday morning. 

Carr was reacting to Harris’s last-minute appearance on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” just days ahead of Election Day. The FCC commissioner had weighed in on X this weekend that the broadcasting company had violated the FCC’s equal time rule by hosting the Democratic presidential nominee, but not Trump or other presidential candidates such as Jill Stein or even Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – who is still on election ballots after dropping out of the race earlier this year and endorsing Trump. 

The Federal Communications Commission’s equal-time rule was established in 1934 and requires radio and television broadcast stations to provide the same amount of time for competing political candidates. There are exceptions to the rule such as newscasts, documentaries and political debates.

TRUMP, HARRIS CAMPAIGNS MAKE FINAL PLAYS AS NATION SITS BARELY ONE DAY FROM ELECTION DAY

“NBC has structured this in a way that’s plainly designed to evade the FCC’s rules. We’re talking 50 hours before Election Day starts, without any notice to other candidates, as far as I can tell,” Carr continued. “And after previously coming out and saying they weren’t going to do this precisely because they did not believe that they could do this consistent with election laws and the FCC’s equal time rule.”

“I think every member of the FCC needs to speak up immediately, given how close we are to an election and make clear that we will follow through, enforce our laws. And I think every single remedy needs to be on the table in these circumstances,” he said. 

KAMALA HARRIS APPEARS ON ‘SNL’ IN FINAL EPISODE BEFORE ELECTION

Harris was scheduled to fly to Detroit on Saturday evening, but her flight landed at Laguardia, teeing up speculation she would appear on “SNL” during its final airing ahead of Election Day. 

Harris did in fact appear on Saturday evening, depicting the “mirror image” of herself while speaking with former “SNL” cast member Maya Rudolph, who was depicting the Democratic nominee for president. Harris’ appearance came at the end of the cold open, which poked fun at Trump for wearing a sanitation vest at a rally last week, as well as Joe Biden’s repeated gaffes.

Rudolph, depicting Harris, wondered during the sketch: “I wish I could talk to someone who’s been in my shoes. You know, a Black, south Asian woman running for president. Preferably from the Bay Area.”

Harris then was revealed to be sitting across the table from her, leading to cheers from the audience. Harris grinned and said, “You and me both, sister.”

“I’m just here to remind you, you got this. Because you can do something your opponent cannot do. You can open doors,” she said in a shot at Trump, referring to him climbing into a garbage truck last week while on the campaign trail. 

KAMALA HARRIS TO APPEAR ON ‘SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE’ TONIGHT: REPORTS

“The American people want to stop the chaos,” Rudolph said at a later point in the sketch, with Harris adding, “And end the drama-la.”

“With a cool new step mom-ala. Get back in our pajama-las. And watch a rom-com-ala,” Rudolph said, with the two later touting their “belief in the promise of America.”

Carr is urging his fellow FCC commissioners to join him in calling for action and investigation into NBC hosting Harris on Saturday evening. 

“One commissioner standing alone, there’s no real consequence that I can impose at this point. You need the FCC chairperson or at least three commissioners on the FCC to agree to take action. We’ll see if we end up there with this commission or otherwise,” he said.

“At the end of the day, the penalties range all the way up to potentially, in egregious situations, license revocations. And in my view, every single remedy needs to be on the table, at least as an initial matter. What we investigate more and find out – maybe they have some defense that I’m not aware of – but all remedies should be on the table because you obviously have to engage in some sort of response that if this proves to be an entire violation, there is a consequence sufficient enough that no broadcast station does this again. Whether it’s to benefit Republican or Democrat, that doesn’t matter to me. We have rules on the books, we have to uphold them.”

‘SNL’ TAKES AIM AT KAMALA HARRIS’ ‘MIDDLE-CLASS FAMILY’ FAMILY RESPONSE DURING ‘FAMILY FEUD’ SKIT

Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller told the Fox News Channel earlier this weekend that SNL did not extend an invitation to Trump. Campaign spokesman Steven Cheung lambasted Harris’ appearance as a sign of desperation to appeal to voters as “her campaign spirals down the drain into obscurity.” 

“Kamala Harris has nothing substantive to offer the American people, so that’s why she’s living out her warped fantasy cosplaying with her elitist friends on Saturday Night Leftists as her campaign spirals down the drain into obscurity. For the last four years, Kamala’s destructive policies have led to untold misery and hurt for all Americans. She broke it, and President Trump will fix it,” Cheung told Fox News Digital earlier this weekend. 

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton’s running mate during her failed 2016 presidential run, also appeared in a skit on Saturday as a contestant on a game show who couldn’t remember who Kaine was.

Carr said Kaine’s appearance also likely violated the equal-time rule, as he is running for re-election in Virginia against Republican challenger Hung Cao.

“Later on in the program, Sen. Kaine here in Virginia, where I am, appeared on the program, and he’s up for election on Tuesday as well. There’s an opposing campaign, the Hung Cao campaign, they may also have a right now to comparable time in programming,” he said. 

Lorne Michaels, the creator of “Saturday Night Live,” said just last month that it was highly unlikely that either Trump or Harris would appear on the comedy show, explicitly citing the equal time provision laws. 

SNL GRILLED AS ‘PR ARM’ OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AFTER HOSTING HARRIS DAYS BEFORE ELECTION

“You can’t bring the actual people who are running on because of election laws and the equal time provisions,” Michaels told the Hollywood Reporter in October. “You can’t have the main candidates without having all the candidates, and there are lots of minor candidates that are only on the ballot in, like, three states and that becomes really complicated.”

Carr noted in the Fox Digital interview that Michaels was aware of the FCC’s equal time rule just the other week. 

“This is exactly why Lorne Michaels just weeks ago went public and said they would not be doing any candidate appearances, because he understood the thicket that it would throw NBC into. Something changed at the last minute, and they’ve now gone down this path. And again, I think it’s important that the FCC come together and we take action. Otherwise, our rules are absolutely meaningless,” he said. 

Carr noted in an X thread on Saturday that during the 2016 election cycle, Trump appeared on “SNL,” which sparked NBC affiliates to file equal opportunity notices to ensure that Trump’s challengers during the cycle were offered the same “SNL” opportunity. When Clinton also appeared on the show that cycle, affiliates again publicly filed equal opportunity notices. 

Following the last-minute appearance on the comedy show, critics on social media also took issue with the sketch itself, saying it appeared eerily similar to Trump’s 2015 sketch on Jimmy Fallon’s “The Tonight Show.” Fallon dressed up like Trump during that sketch, with the pair speaking to one another through a mirror, like Harris’ “SNL” appearance. 

HARRIS’ COLD OPEN APPEARS TO COPY TRUMP’S 2015 SKIT WITH JIMMY FALLON

Critics called Harris’ sketch a “rip off” of Trump’s 2015 Fallon appearance. 

“Kamala ripped off the same bit Trump did when he was on Saturday Night Live in 2015… and Trump’s was double the length,” radio host Ari Hoffman posted on X.

Both the Harris and Trump sketches follow other “in the mirror” sketches Fallon has performed with other high-profile celebrities and politicians, including Mick Jagger in 2001 on “SNL” and now-Utah Sen. Mitt Romney in 2015. 

Harris and Rudolph’s Harris character capped off the appearance with the iconic message: “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!”

An NBC spokesperson told Fox Digital that the broadcaster will comply with any regulatory obligations, and has hosted numerous political figures from either side of the aisles across the decades. 

Fox News Digital’s David Rutz and Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report. 

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

Pro-life activists and leaders in Missouri are sounding the alarm about a sweeping amendment they say would not only result in unrestricted abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, but would also “go way beyond abortion” and enshrine transgender surgeries on children.  

The amendment is titled the “Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative,” or simply “Amendment 3.” 

According to the ballot’s description of the amendment, a vote in favor “establishes a constitutional right to make decisions about reproductive health car … and allows abortion to be restricted or banned after Fetal Viability except to protect the life or health of the woman.”

DESANTIS ADMIN BLOCKED IN ABORTION AD FIGHT UNTIL AFTER ELECTION DAY, JUDGE RULES 

Advocates for the amendment, which include Planned Parenthood and ACLU of Missouri, claim that the measure will simply reverse the state’s current abortion law, which, except in cases of medical emergency, bans the procedure starting at conception. 

However, opponents say the amendment is so vague that it leaves the door open to an array of abuses, including allowing transgender surgeries on children. 

“This is a massive train bearing down on Missouri,” Mary Catherine Martin, an attorney with the Thomas More Society, told Fox News Digital. 

Holding up a copy of the amendment’s language, Martin said the measure is significantly longer than other abortion amendments being considered across the country. 

MAJOR PRO-LIFE GROUP KNOCKS ON 4 MILLION DOORS IN 2024 SWING STATES 

Another opponent of the amendment, Cassidy Anderson, who helps lead a political action committee called “Vote No on 3,” told Fox News Digital that because the amendment does not define “reproductive health care” or set an age limit, it can easily be used as a legal justification for sex change surgeries on children. 

“You would think in an initiative that is being advertised as a women’s health care initiative… would say the word ‘woman’ somewhere in the ballot language,” she said. “It never says the word woman, it refers to persons. It doesn’t define age. It doesn’t define sex. It doesn’t define anything.”

Anderson’s group has devoted around $3 million to urge Missourians to reject the amendment. Vote No on 3 took in another $1.7 million at the end of October. However, she said they are facing an uphill battle with the other side receiving around $75 million from outside entities like George Soros and Michael Bloomberg. 

“What does Michael Bloomberg have to do with Missouri politics? But that’s what we’re up against,” she said. 

Because of this outside funding, Anderson said the amendment’s supporters have been able to outpace her group four-to-one in terms of ad buys. 

Despite this, she said polling on the issue is showing a “really close split.”  

Several prominent Republicans in the state, including Gov. Mike Parson and Sen. Josh Hawley, have also spoken out against the amendment. 

Hawley told Fox News Digital, “Amendment 3 goes way beyond abortion – it would constitutionally protect transgender surgeries for minors without parental consent.”

“That’s beyond extreme. And it’s wrong for Missouri,” said Hawley.

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

House Republican Conference Chairwoman Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., slammed Democrats’ “scare tactics” regarding former President Trump’s stance on women in terms of abortion and IVF access on Sunday. 

At a recent campaign stop in Wisconsin, Vice President Harris claimed that Trump would “ban abortion nationwide,” “restrict access to birth control, put IVF treatments at risk and force states to – get this – monitor women’s pregnancies.” Democrats have run ads across the country on the issue. 

Trump has repeatedly stated he would not sign a national abortion ban, and Stefanik, in an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” reiterated how Trump “believes this issue should be decided at the states” and supports three exceptions for abortions in circumstances of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother. 

“When it comes to IVF, that is a false smear,” Stefanik told “Fox News Sunday” host Shannon Bream. “President Trump wants to expand access to IVF, make birth control available, and the reason why Democrats are only talking about this issue is these are scare tactics because they are losing on every other issue. Whether it’s the economy, the border, safety and security around the world, we’re going to run and win, and I think that women when they look at the key top issues, they are increasingly looking at their lives were much better under President Trump versus the crises that we’ve seen under Kamala Harris today.” 

DOZENS OF FEMALE TRUMP STAFFERS, SURROGATES BLAST MARK CUBAN AS ‘MISOGYNISTIC’ IN NEW CAMPAIGN AD

Stefanik also slammed Harris for failing to condemn Mark Cuban’s recent remarks about female Trump supporters. Cuban faced backlash for suggesting on “The View” last Thursday that Trump neglects to surround himself with “strong, intelligent women,” claiming that they intimidate and challenge him. 

Stefanik pointed to how she, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump have been traveling across the country as surrogates of the Trump campaign. Stefanik also noted that under Trump’s administration, the U.S. had “the highest number of women ever in the workforce, the largest wage and salary increase for working women ever,” and “child care was affordable.”

The congresswoman also highlighted how inflation drove up grocery, energy and utility costs, impacting women, as well as the safety issues for women arising from the lack of border security. 

“Kamala Harris did not condemn Mark Cuban’s just disgraceful comments saying that President Trump does not surround himself with strong, intelligent women,” Stefanik said. “Whether you compare it to the first lady, his daughter Ivanka Trump or so many senior level women that are working in support of his campaign.” 

Asked if she would accept Cuban’s apology issued after the backlash, Stefanik responded by noting how Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, described Trump supporters as “deplorables” in 2016, “then they called us Nazis, then Mark Cuban said there are no strong or intelligent women around President Trump, and just yesterday you had Kathy Hochul smearing voters who support Republicans as ‘anti-American.'” 

HOUSE OVERSIGHT RAMPS UP DEMANDS FOR WHITE HOUSE TO RELEASE ACCURATE BIDEN ‘GARBAGE’ TRANSCRIPT

“President Trump is running to unify this country on the goals of securing the border, strengthening the economy,” she said. “So Kamala Harris should condemn that, and they didn’t, the campaign failed to do that, and that’s offensive to so many women across this country, not just elected official women. Gold Star moms, Gold Star wives, women veterans who are proudly supporting President Trump.” 

Stefanik later discussed Election Day predictions for Congress. She deemed New York the “epicenter” of the House majority, as several first-term Republican incumbents face competitive challenges from Democrats in the deep blue state. 

“President Trump on the ballot is a net gain to every Republican candidate for Senate and House,” Stefanik said. “I’m from New York, obviously, New York is the epicenter for the race for the House Republican majority, Republicans, when it comes to early voting, increased by 50% compared to where we were in 2022, and that was cycle where of course we flipped those five House seats.” 

“Kamala Harris is underperforming Joe Biden in every single swing district across the country if you look at Joe Biden’s performance in 2020,” she said. “I think on a good night we can win up to 10 seats, Shannon, which would be a sizable Republican majority. We’re not taking anything for granted, but the issues are on our side.… On every top issue, Republicans are winning. President Trump is winning, and I think we could be in for some surprises on Election Day that House Republicans will overperform the predictions.” 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Saturday that a potential Trump White House would advise communities to remove fluoride from drinking water, which would overturn decades of public health guidance. 

Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral in water that oral physicians say can help to prevent cavities at the right doses. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes community water fluoridation – the practice of adding fluoride to drinking water to increase its concentration to optimal levels – as a “cornerstone strategy” to prevent cavities and one of the “10 great public health interventions of the 20th century.” 

However, health agencies warn long-term ingestion of fluoride in excess doses carries various health risks, and critics like Kennedy have campaigned to end community water fluoridation. The Environmental Protection Agency has established a maximum allowable concentration of fluoride in public drinking water to prevent adverse health effects. 

Kennedy declared the Trump White House would advise bringing that allowable concentration to zero on its first day in power. 

FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS EPA FURTHER REGULATE FLUORIDE IN DRINKING WATER DUE TO CONCERNS OVER LOWERED IQ IN KIDS

“On January 20, the Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water,” Kennedy posted on X. “Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease,” he claimed, adding that former President Trump and first lady Melania Trump “want to Make America Healthy Again.” 

His statement provoked a wave of criticism on social media and renewed expert concerns about Kennedy – who has often clashed with the scientific consensus on vaccine safety – being placed in a position of authority over public health. 

“While President Trump has received a variety of policy ideas, he is focused on Tuesday’s election,” Trump campaign senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said in response to media questions about Kennedy’s statement. 

Currently, more than 200 million Americans, or about 75% of the population, drink fluoridated water.

FLUORIDE IN WATER LINKED TO LOWER INTELLIGENCE

In 1950, federal officials endorsed water fluoridation to prevent tooth decay, and they continued to promote it even after fluoride toothpaste brands hit the market several years later. In 1945, Grand Rapids, Michigan, became the first city in the world to fluoridate its water supply. 

Experts have long said that washing teeth with fluoride is not comparable to the risks posed by ingesting fluoride, with the latter potentially triggering harmful neurotoxic effects. 

Officials lowered their recommendation for drinking water fluoride levels in 2015 to address a tooth condition called fluorosis, that can cause splotches on teeth and was becoming more common in U.S. kids.

In August, a federal agency determined “with moderate confidence” that there is a link between higher levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ in kids. The National Toxicology Program based its conclusion on studies involving fluoride levels at about twice the recommended limit for drinking water.

Then in September, a federal judge in California cited that study in an order requiring the EPA to further regulate fluoride because high levels pose “an unreasonable risk” to children.

“Indeed, EPA’s own expert agrees that fluoride is hazardous at some level of exposure,” U.S. District Judge Edward Chen said. “And ample evidence establishes that a mother’s exposure to fluoride during pregnancy is associated with IQ decrements in her offspring.”

Even so, the judge said the court “does not conclude with certainty that fluoridated water is injurious to public health.”

RFK JR INDICATES TRUMP ‘PROMISED’ HIM ‘CONTROL’ OVER ‘PUBLIC HEALTH AGENCIES’ 

Since 2015, federal health officials have recommended a fluoridation level of 0.7 milligrams per liter of water. For five decades before that, the recommended upper range was 1.2 “after evidence increasingly established fluoride’s connection to adverse effects, including severe enamel fluorosis, risk of bone fracture, and potential skeletal fluorosis,” the judge wrote. Skeletal fluorosis is a potentially crippling disorder which causes weaker bones, stiffness and pain.

The World Health Organization has set a safe limit for fluoride in drinking water of 1.5. Separately, the EPA has a longstanding requirement that water systems cannot have more than 4 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water. 

Kennedy has said that Trump has promised to give him “control” over the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), should the former president win the White House on Tuesday.

“I stand ready to help him rid the public health agencies of their pervasive conflicts and corruption and restore their tradition of gold-standard, evidence-based science,” Kennedy told the New York Times in a statement. 

The Trump campaign has said no decisions have been made about Cabinet-level positions or personnel, including the secretaries of HHS and USDA.   

“No formal decisions about Cabinet and personnel have been made, however, President Trump has said he will work alongside passionate voices like RFK Jr. to Make America Healthy Again by providing families with safe food and ending the chronic disease epidemic plaguing our children,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. 

“President Trump will also establish a special Presidential Commission of independent minds and will charge them with investigating what is causing the decades-long increase in chronic illnesses,” she added.

Trump told supporters at a rally on Saturday that he told Kennedy he “can work on food, you can work on anything you want,” except energy policy.

“He wants health, he wants women’s health, he wants men’s health, he wants kids, he wants everything,” Trump said.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan, Alex Nitzberg and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

A new series of polls released Sunday show former President Trump and Vice President Harris are neck and neck in seven battleground states with less than 48 hours to go until Election Day. 

The New York Times/Siena College polls of likely voters show Trump and Harris are tied in Pennsylvania and Michigan. 

In Arizona, Trump is leading Harris 49-45%, while Harris is ahead of Trump 49-46% in Nevada, 49-47% in Wisconsin, 48-46% in North Carolina and 48-47% in Georgia. 

A total of 7,879 likely voters were surveyed across the seven battleground states between Oct. 24 to Nov. 2, with 1,025 in Arizona, 1,004 in Georgia, 998 in Michigan, 1,010 in Nevada, 1,010 in North Carolina, 1,527 in Pennsylvania and 1,305 in Wisconsin, according to The New York Times. The polls have a margin of error of 3.5%.  

HARRIS AND TRUMP CAMPAIGN ON THE FINAL WEEKEND BEFORE ELECTION DAY 

Of the 8% of voters who indicated that they only recently decided who they were voting for, 55% said they are backing Harris, compared to 44% for Trump, The New York Times reported. 

The newspaper also reported that 11% of voters still remain undecided or persuadable, down from 16% a month ago. 

Across all the battleground states, 24% of the likely voters said the economy – which includes jobs and the stock market – is their top issue, followed by abortion with 18% and immigration with 15%.  

HOW TO WATCH ELECTION DAY COVERAGE ON FOX NEWS DIGITAL 

Harris is underperforming compared to President Biden in 2020 among younger voters, Black voters and Latino voters, according to The New York Times. 

In Pennsylvania, incumbent Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat, is leading challenger David McCormick 50-45%, which is down from nine points in September, the newspaper says. 

In Wisconsin, the polls show incumbent Democrat Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s lead over Republican Eric Hovde is narrowing as well, as it’s currently 50-46%, which is down from eight points around a month ago, The New York Times adds. 

The race for Michigan’s open Senate seat is also closely contested, with Democrat Rep. Elissa Slotkin leading Republican challenger Mike Rogers 48-46%, the polls show.

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have spent months traveling the country on the 2024 presidential election campaign trail, vying for America’s vote to move into the White House.

With every new presidential election cycle, U.S. citizens ask themselves the same question, keeping in mind the power of the Electoral College: “Does my vote count?”

Local and state officials elected into office in the U.S. are able to do so by winning the popular vote. However, the President of the United States is selected with the help of the Electoral College and the popular vote.

ELECTION STRAIN PUSHES 1 OF 3 AMERICANS TO LIMIT TIME WITH FAMILY, FRIENDS

Most often, the popular vote and the electoral vote mirror each other, but there are few instances in history when the two have differed. Most recently, in 2016, Trump won the Electoral College but lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton.

The Electoral College is the formal process in which the President and Vice President of the United States are elected into office.

“The Electoral College, as we know it, was created by the 12th Amendment of the Constitution, which was ratified in 1804. Today, there are a total of 538 electoral votes, and a candidate needs at least 270 to win,” Fox News’ Todd Piro explained on “Fox and Friends” in November 2020. 

In the Electoral College, Washington D.C. has its own three electors. 

In 48 states, plus Washington D.C., the winner of the popular vote gets all the electoral votes for that state, according to USA.gov. This is apart from Maine and Nebraska, where a proportional system is used, per the source.

WHAT ARE ELECTION BETTING ODDS? EXPERT EXPLAINS WHY TRUMP IS CURRENT FAVORITE

While the popular vote takes place in November, the electoral vote doesn’t take place until about a month later, in mid-December. 

Who is chosen as a state’s electors, how they are chosen and when they are picked vary state-by-state, but there is a two-part system in place, according to the National Archive’s website.

Slates of electors are chosen at state party conventions, or they are voted on by the party’s central committee based on state or national party rules.

During a general election, voters across the states cast their ballots to select their electors who will represent their decesion in the presidential election. The names of electors may or may not appear on the ballots.

Electors pledge to vote for specific candidates, though they are not legally obligated to do so. While there is no federal law in place for electors to vote a certain way, penalties, like being disqualified from future ballots, are in place.

Through the years, there have been many calls made to change the Electoral College as we know it. 

“Over the years, there have been hundreds of proposed amendments to change the Electoral College, but only one has gotten remotely close to being passed after the 1968 presidential election saw Richard Nixon win against Hubert Humphrey and George Wallace,” Piro said. “A 1969 bill to replace the Electoral College with the popular vote passed in the House of Representatives, and though it was endorsed by Nixon, the bill eventually died in the Senate after it was filibustered, and it still stands today.”

Recently, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called for the elimination of the Electoral College altogether. 

“I think all of us know the Electoral College needs to go,” he said at a California fundraising event in October, according to a pool report at the event, Bloomberg reported. “We need a national popular vote, but that’s not the world we live in.”

In order to do away with the system created by the Founding Fathers, a major constitutional change would need to be made.

Minnesota governor and vice presidential candidate Tim Walz called former President Trump a “dictator” who wants to “overturn the Constitution” during his final pitch to voters in the battleground state of Arizona. 

Speaking in Tucson, Walz said, “Momentum is on our side, but we take nothing for granted” and “We know in Arizona a vote or two per precinct could be what it takes to win the whole damn race for the country.” 

“Someday you’re going to be sitting on that porch. You’re going to be in that rocking chair, and a little one is going to come up to you after being in school where they’ve been studying the 2024 election, and they’re going to ask when everything was on the line and the American experiment was on the line, and there was somebody running who asked to be a dictator and to overturn the Constitution and talk about using the military against our own people. What did you do to stop that from happening?” Walz told the crowd on Saturday. 

“And you’re going to be able to say every damn thing we could, every damn thing we could,” he said. 

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Walz closed his speech by saying: “Make a plan to vote. Make a plan to get out and canvass. Make a plan to take a neighbor to the polls.” 

Arizona is a state that leans Republican in the presidential race, according to the final Fox News Power Rankings forecast before the election. 

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In eight high-quality polls conducted in Arizona since August, Trump has been ahead in seven. His edge has been between 1-6 points. 

Immigration continues to be a highly important issue in Arizona, which shares a border with Mexico.  

In the latest Wall Street Journal survey, 25% of voters said immigration was the most important issue to their vote, higher than any other battleground. It was a “deal-breaker” issue for 24% of voters. And Arizona voters preferred Trump on the issue by 10 points. 

Fox News’ Remy Numa contributed to this report.