Students at top California university reveal who won second GOP presidential debate
A group of young conservatives at the University of Southern California are ready for a new GOP future but agree that former President Donald Trump is the strongest candidate going into 2024.
Seven Republican candidates battled at the recent second presidential debate to prove if they can be an alternative to front-runner Trump, who is polling ahead with 60% of Republican primary support, according to Fox News polling.
“Vivek Ramaswamy,” said four students when asked who won the debate, with only one student saying they felt Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., was last Wednesday night’s winner.
The presidential candidates railed against Trump for skipping the second debate, with DeSantis saying he was “missing in action” and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie calling him “Donald Duck” – and members of the USC College Republicans chapter agreed that Trump “needed to be there.”
SECOND REPUBLICAN DEBATE: HERE’S THE BIGGEST WINNER AND THE BIGGEST LOSER
“I think for the people on the fence, he needed to be there. I would have wished he was there,” said senior Angelica Baker, an international relations major.
“I think that’s something voters needed to see, so I hope he chooses to participate in the next one,” another student told Fox.
“He’s leading by insurmountable odds,” USC senior Daniel Parker, who is also an international relations major, said of Trump. “And there’s no benefit to him to actually step on the stage.”
5 FIERY MOMENTS FROM THE SECOND GOP DEBATE
Chris Christie and former Vice President Mike Pence were named as having the worst performance in the GOP debate by nearly all the students, who said they are “running for a position that nobody wants them to run for.”
“For the worst night probably, Christie,” Parker said. “He’s trying to play to the Never Trumpers, and the Never Trumpers are just not big enough to get him any type of traction.”
“Nobody really looked like a leader up there. A lot of people look like they were squabbling,” Parker added.
The overall mood of the second debate was that the Republican candidates performed better than the first showdown but are still lagging behind Trump.
One student said it “just reminded me of me and my siblings” and that this scenario of arguing back and forth is “not something that you want in the Oval Office.”
“I feel like there is improvement in almost every candidate in terms of just how they presented themselves. I think DeSantis had a noticeably better stance – I guess you could say just better projecting his views and his opinions,” another student said.
“You’ve just got to prove that you can be more viable than Trump, and I just don’t see that yet,” said Lorenzo Aguirre, a business and real estate finance major.
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North Carolina Gov. Cooper vetoes 2 more bills, but budget still on track to become law Tuesday
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed on Monday both an energy bill and the legislature’s annual regulatory reform measure, while allowing legislation directing more state government oversight of high school athletics to become law.
The measures were among those the General Assembly approved last month before it left Raleigh for a brief hiatus. A dozen had remained on the Democratic governor’s desk as of early Monday.
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The vetoed measures now return to the General Assembly, where Republicans hold narrow veto-proof majorities. Before Monday, Cooper had vetoed 16 bills this year, and Republicans had overridden all but two, which are still expected to be acted upon, possibly this month.
The governor can sign a bill he receives into law or veto it. Otherwise, a bill becomes law if he fails to act within 10 days. Cooper said Monday that he signed seven of the remaining bills and declined to sign three others.
The governor had already announced Sept. 22 his decision not to sign on one of those three bills, the two-year state budget bill, which now will become law effective Tuesday.
Cooper had said there were many spending and policy provisions within the budget that he strongly disliked. But several months ago, lawmakers set an enacted budget as the trigger necessary for Cooper’s administration to implement the expansion of Medicaid coverage to hundreds of thousands of low-income adults. So by letting the budget become law, Medicaid expansion, which has been one of Cooper’s top priorities, will launch Dec. 1.
The energy bill that Cooper vetoed would encourage more nuclear energy in North Carolina by including that the power produced from nuclear plants and fusion energy be counted toward percentages of electricity that utilities like Duke Energy must generate from renewable sources.
The bill would relabel “renewable energy resources” needed to meet the portfolio standards as “clean energy resources.” Duke Energy already is proposing to state electricity regulators that some coal-fired plants going offline in the future be replaced with a smaller-scale nuclear plants.
Cooper’s veto message said the bill attempts to take the state off a “bipartisan path to removing carbon from our electric power sector in the most cost-effective way,” to the benefit of utility company profits. A 2021 law already is pushing Duke Energy toward eliminating carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 in part by increasing solar and wind-power generation.
“North Carolina should consider all pathways to decarbonize, rather than putting a thumb on the scale in favor of building new conventional generation,” Cooper wrote.
Senate Majority Leader Paul Newton of Cabarrus County, a former Duke Energy executive and bill sponsor, said Cooper’s “hardline opposition to nuclear power is a slap in the face to North Carolina’s energy industry.” The bill, Newton said, would help create a reliable electrical grid.
As for the legislature’s annual regulatory bill, Cooper called it “a hodgepodge of bad provisions that will result in dirtier water, discriminatory permitting and threats to North Carolina’s environment.”
Environmentalists have criticized the measure for certain state permitting changes that they say could assist the approval of a proposed natural gas pipeline that would enter the state from Virginia. Another provision would adjust state law about how waste management systems for hogs and other animals on farms are permitted.
GOP Rep. Jeff Zenger of Forsyth County, a regulatory reform bill sponsor, said Cooper “sided with radical, environmentalist, job crushing bureaucrats over the people of North Carolina” with the veto.
Cooper also cited a provision that blocked administrative rules from taking effect that describe good-faith efforts to engage minority-owned businesses and others considered “historically underutilized” in state contracting,
The governor also said he had allowed a bill to become law that would place more oversight by state education leaders upon the chief nonprofit body that manages high school sports beyond what was required in a 2021 consensus law. The language demanding more supervision of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association was inserted into an unrelated insurance regulation bill.
Cooper called the sports-governance changes “a solution in search of a problem” and said lawmakers should have let the 2021 law remain.
The governor signed into law a bill that both creates a computer science course requirement to graduate from high school and demands adult age verification on websites that publish sexually explicit material.
Another bill Cooper signed would raise criminal penalties against K-12 educators who commit certain sexual acts against students and educate children in upper grades through a video about what constitutes child abuse and neglect.
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New poll reveals huge gap in concern over Biden’s age vs. Trump’s in hypothetical 2024 matchup
A new Monmouth University poll released Thursday revealed a huge gap in the level of concern from voters over President Biden’s advanced age versus former President Donald Trump’s.
According to the poll, 76% of voters agreed Biden, 80, was “too old” to serve another term, compared to just 48% who said the same about Trump, 77, despite the difference in their ages being just three and a half years.
Of the 76% who said Biden was “too old,” 55% strongly agreed versus just 26% of the 48% who said the same about Trump.
Trump also edged Biden when it came to voter enthusiasm about their candidacies with 56% of voters saying they were either enthusiastic or very enthusiastic about him becoming the Republican nominee for president. Just 46% of voters said the same about the prospect of Biden becoming the Democrat nominee.
When broken down to just independent voters, 35% were enthusiastic about a Trump candidacy versus just 19% for a Biden candidacy.
In a hypothetical 2024 matchup, 43% of voters said they would definitely or probably vote for Trump while 42% said they would definitely or probably vote for Biden. 57% said they definitely or probably wouldn’t vote for Biden, and 56% said they definitely or probably wouldn’t vote for Trump.
FORMER DEMOCRAT OFFERS ADVICE FOR TEXAS MAYOR UNDER FIRE FOR DITCHING DEM PARTY TO JOIN GOP
Biden’s 42% support was down from the 47% a Monmouth poll found in July, and Trump’s 43% was an increase from 40% in the same poll that month.
According to the poll, Biden’s support from Black, Latino and Asian voters dropped significantly from the July poll, down to 47% from 63%. Trump, however, jumped to 33% from 23% in July.
Biden narrowly came out on top in favorability with 41% of voters viewing him as very or somewhat favorable compared to just 38% for Trump. 59% said they viewed Biden as very or somewhat unfavorable, compared to 62% for Trump.
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When it came to Trump’s ongoing legal issues surrounding his response to the 2020 presidential election, 46% of voters said he committed a crime. Just 22% said Trump did something wrong, but did not commit a crime while 29% said he did nothing wrong.
On the House impeachment inquiry into President Biden, 34% said Biden should be impeached, 16% said Biden may have violated his oath of office but shouldn’t be impeached, and 43% said Biden did not violate his oath of office.
Just 15% said they had “a lot” of trust in the House to conduct a fair investigation into Biden, 33% said “a little,” and 50% said not at all.
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Concerning Hunter Biden’s legal troubles, 27% said they made it less likely they would support Biden for president, but 72% said they would have no impact on their voting decision.
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Hispanic Democrats look to sweet-talk administration on immigration
The Biden administration’s recent moves on immigration have earned it goodwill among Hispanic Democrats steeped in the issue, even as tensions with local jurisdictions over shelter space bubble up.
Several members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) are touting the administration’s actions, such as granting Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to more than 400,000 Venezuelans, while publicly airing proposals to course-correct on specific issues.
CHC members are walking that tightrope for multiple reasons: because they’ve gotten results from the administration, because migration and border security are politically risky issues for Democrats and because executive action is currently the only realistic avenue for relief for immigrant communities.
“They have other considerations to juggle at this time. The election of course, it’s impossible for them not to keep that top of mind,” said Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Ill.), who in the past has butted heads with his party over immigration.
“With respect to the administration, I think they are listening. I think they’re paying attention. It is important to note that we’re focusing on executive action, because there are barely any Republicans in Congress that are seriously interested in immigration reform at this time and, I mean, they’ve been captivated by the Trump-slash-MAGA forces.”
The catch-flies-with-honey approach also comes as House Republicans have boiled down their top action items to three: sharp budget cuts, legislating border policy and conditioning Ukraine aid.
Over the weekend, Republicans were able to cut Ukraine aid from a short-term budget deal to keep spending levels essentially flat, but they dropped demands to insert provisions that would upend President Biden’s entire border strategy.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Sunday told “Face The Nation” those border provisions are his priority, and he linked them to Ukraine aid.
“Now, I support being able to make sure Ukraine has the weapons that they need, but I firmly support the border first. So we’ve got to find a way that we can do this together,” said McCarthy.
Even before the Speaker’s surprise moves over the weekend to keep the government open, CHC members made a point of backing the White House, touting the group’s recent wins.
“Most of the successes have been using the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to advocate with the administration on executive action, and there’s been a lot of it lately,” said Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.).
Soto defended the administration’s timing on executive actions on immigration, even as in the past the White House and CHC have been at loggerheads over the speed of policy changes.
“They have to be methodical. This isn’t just the president’s opinion, you need to have findings through the Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security, so they weren’t going to promise anything until they conducted the findings about the status of Venezuela, which is a dictatorship in collapse,” said Soto.
“So I would argue they were doing their job by the book, which is to resist calls until they show the evidence. They have to review the evidence, and then once they had it, they made announcements.”
Still, the White House is far from checking all the boxes in the CHC’s list of demands, which are likely to keep coming, even if they are worded politely.
The demands range from the very targeted to the ground-shaking.
At the policy tweak end of the spectrum are requests such as a return to cash bonds for immigration detainees.
A group of 24 Democrats led by García and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) last week led a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas asking him to reverse course on a new program to post bonds electronically.
That request follows some complaints that the Department of Homeland Security’s signature border appointment app, CBP One, made it harder for the most vulnerable migrants to access the Biden administration’s legal pathways to entry.
“It’s not realistic. It doesn’t take into account the conditions that individuals in custody, their families are dealing with,” said García.
On the other side of the spectrum are growing concerns that longtime undocumented immigrants are being passed over as new asylum-seekers and parolees get work permits, at least temporarily.
The administration is facing increasing pressure to aggressively use its parole powers to fast-track a path to legalization for those immigrants, particularly farm workers and “Dreamers” — undocumented immigrants who came to the country as minors.
Still, the CHC is focusing its criticism on the GOP, which seeks to include elements of its H.R.2 bill in future spending bills, threatening to dismantle the core of Biden’s border policies, including parts that Democrats and many advocates say are actually working.
“I think they’re being unrealistic, and it’ll cause more chaos at the border … and there was a lot of pushback to have asylum-seekers and parole-seekers come to ports of entry, but it just created a more orderly process. So they could try to [kill it] but it’s at the peril of the nation,” said Soto.
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Putin’s Next Target: U.S. Support for Ukraine, Officials Say
Trump judge faces online backlash after smiling, posing for cameras in courtroom: ‘Partisan Democrat clown’
The New York judge presiding over the civil fraud trial of former President Donald Trump was blasted on social media on Monday after cameras caught him smiling for the cameras as the trial got underway.
Conservatives on social media immediately reacted with outrage on Monday when New York City Judge Arthur Engoron was briefly shown in the courtroom smiling and taking off his glasses to seemingly pose for cameras that were filming inside the courtroom.
“This New York City judge is a partisan Democrat clown,” Article III Project founder and president Mike Davis posted on X, formerly Twitter. “Disgraceful.”
“Just smiling and laughing as they turn our country into a third world banana republic,” State Freedom Caucus Network Comms Director Greg Price posted on X.
“Democracy disappearing right before our eyes…,” Trump adviser Stephen Miller wrote in response to Price’s post.
“The Democrat Party’s kangaroo court is in session,” Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., posted.
DONALD TRUMP IN COURT AS CIVIL TRIAL GETS UNDERWAY
“We have a serious crisis in our judicial system,” author Julie Kelly posted on X. “So many demons.”
“A show trial,” Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton posted on X. “Literally.”
The New York State Office of Court Administration declined to comment when contacted by Fox News Digital.
Trump was defiant both before entering the courtroom and during a lunch recess on Monday.
The former president dismissed Engoron as a “Democrat” and an “operative” in a brief appearance in front of reporters. Trump stated that “this is a rigged court” in his heated statement. He also took aim at Attorney General Letitia James, labeling her a “radical-left attorney general.”
TRUMP CIVIL TRIAL ARISING FROM NY ATTORNEY GENERAL LETITIA JAMES’ LAWSUIT SET TO BEGIN MONDAY
“This rogue judge refuses to acknowledge that we won 80% of this case in the appellate division,” Trump said, claiming Engoron has “contempt for his own court system.”
“This is a judge that should be disbarred,” Trump said. “This is a judge that should be out of office. This is a judge that some people say could be charged criminally for what he’s doing. He’s interfering with an election.”
Trump’s lawyers had previously pointed to James’ promises to voters that she would “get Trump” if elected.
James declared that “justice will prevail” as she entered the courthouse.
James arrived with her legal entourage Monday morning and briefly spoke in front of the media. She accused Trump of fraudulently inflating the value of his businesses and his net worth and stated that “no one is above the law.”
Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
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White House: More aid for Ukraine coming ‘soon’
White House: More aid for Ukraine coming ‘soon’
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Tennessee, Kentucky bans on transgender procedures for minors upheld in federal court
Minors will be barred from receiving transgender-affirming procedures in Tennessee and Kentucky, a federal appeals court upheld in a ruling Thursday.
Judge Jeffrey Sutton’s recent decision overturns previous summer rulings, affirming Tennessee’s law implemented in January that restricts puberty blockers, hormone therapy and transgender surgeries for minors. Kentucky has an identical law.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti called it a “big win for democracy” in a statement following the ruling.
“Decisions that are not clearly resolved by the Constitution should be resolved by the people through their elected representatives,” he said. “I am so proud of our team who stood strong against the overwhelming resources arrayed against Tennessee in this case.”
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Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron agreed with Skrmetti in a separate statement.
“These gender interventions, billed as medical care, cause permanent harm to vulnerable children and their health,” he said in a press release. “Despite full-throated denials by Governor (Andy) Beshear and his far-left activists, our children would still be under attack without SB 150.”
Following lawsuits from families with transgender children in both states, two federal judges granted preliminary injunction motions, but the recent appeals opinion means the bans can resume enforcement.
CALIFORNIA BECOMES FIRST US STATE TO RECOGNIZE ‘TRANSGENDER HISTORY MONTH’
“As doctors, legislators, and citizens work through the risks and benefits of various treatments for children with gender dysphoria, lawyers and litigants debate the right standard for reviewing such constitutional challenges,” Sutton wrote in the opinion. “When the Constitution is not neutral about the issue, skeptical judicial review applies to the law from the start.”
Sutton later added: “The government has the power to reasonably limit the use of drugs, as just shown. If that’s true for adults, it’s assuredly true for their children, as also just shown.”
MOST AMERICANS BELIEVE TRANS ATHLETES SHOULD COMPETE AGAINST THOSE WITH SAME BIOLOGICAL GENDER: POLL
So far, more than 20 states have adopted laws prohibiting transgender surgeries, puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors, including Florida, Alabama and Montana. Last month, the Texas Supreme Court permitted the state’s ban on transgender medical procedures for minors to take effect.
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Bowman defends fire alarm scandal by repeating talking point about being ‘in a rush’ to vote
New York Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman spoke with reporters on Monday about the controversy surrounding his pulling of a fire alarm in Congress amid potential government shutdown chaos and reiterated his claim that his action was a simple mistake.
“You know, I don’t know why this has gotten so much attention,” Bowman told reporters outside his office on Monday. “I was literally just in a rush to go vote, man.”
When asked if he fears any repercussions from his actions Bowman said, “Listen, I take responsibility for what I did, you know, but like I said, I was in a rush to go vote. And, you know, the investigation will sort everything else out.”
Bowman said he has been in touch with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., since “day one” when asked about Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s comparison between Jan. 6 efforts to interfere with government proceedings and his situation, calling the comparison “preposterous.”
REP. BOWMAN SHOCKS MEDIA, CONSERVATIVES WITH ‘GARBAGE’ STATEMENT AFTER PULLING FIRE ALARM
Bowman, a member of the group of House progressives known as “The Squad,” is being investigated by Capitol Police after pulling a fire alarm Saturday morning in one of the House of Representatives’ three office buildings amid the chaos of lawmakers scrambling to avert a government shutdown.
Bowman has claimed he made a mistake while trying to open a locked door as Republicans have accused him of trying to delay an official proceeding. His press secretary sent out a memo of talking points Monday to all House Democratic offices requesting their help in defending him.
Additionally, some Republicans are calling for Bowman to be expelled from the House over the incident.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said on “FOX & Friends” that she will unveil a resolution to expel Bowman as a result.
“This is the United States Congress. It’s not a New York City public high school,” Malliotakis told host Ainsley Earhardt Monday.
“And of all people, Jamaal Bowman knows the old fire alarm trick because he was a high school principal. And quite frankly, when he was the high school principal, there were serious ramifications if a student were to do that… including expulsion.”
Supporters of Bowman, including fellow Squad member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., defended him from expulsion calls.
“But they’re filing a motion to expel a member who in a moment of panic was trying to escape a vestibule,” she said of Bowman in a Sunday interview. “Give me a break.”
“[Bowman] apologized,” Ocasio-Cortez continued, referencing her colleague’s statement. “And [Republicans] are protecting someone who has not only committed wire fraud, not only defrauded veterans, not only lied to congressional investigators, but is openly gloating about it, is absolutely humiliating to the Republican caucus.”
Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind and Chad Pergram contributed to this report
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