Harris team backtracking on issue she was completely against the last time she ran

Vice President Kamala Harris no longer supports a fracking ban, in a change in her stance during the last presidential election, her campaign said on Friday, according to a report. 

Before she dropped her bid for president in 2019 and joined President Biden’s ticket, she said in a CNN town hall “there’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking.”

“And starting with what we can do on day one around public lands, right?” she continued. “And then there has to be legislation, but, yes, that’s something I’ve taken on in California. I have a history of working on this issue and to your point we have to just acknowledge that the residual impact of fracking is enormous in terms of the health and safety of communities.”

Harris also cosponsored the Green New Deal as a senator in 2019, a proposal to stem climate change that includes a ban on fracking. 

TRUMP QUICKLY MOVES TO DEFINE HARRIS AS ‘MORE LEFT THAN BERNIE SANDERS’

“Climate change is real, and it poses an existential threat to us as human beings, and it is within our power to do something about it,” Harris said on the campaign trail that year before exiting the race, according to The New York Times. “I am supporting the Green New Deal.”

However, Biden’s campaign and his administration have not backed banning fracking despite Biden once saying during a primary debate “We would make sure it’s eliminated.” His campaign later clarified that he “supports eliminating subsidies for coal and gas and deploying carbon capture.”   

Since Biden announced he is dropping out of the race and endorsed Harris last Sunday, she has moderated some of her positions from her 2019 run, in which she embraced more progressive policies. 

Trump was quick to paint her as a “radical liberal” since she became the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Harris is the “most incompetent and far-left vice president in American history,” the former president told a rally crowd in Charlotte on Wednesday. 

Trump charged that Harris “has been the ultra-liberal driving force behind every single Biden catastrophe. She is a radical left lunatic who will destroy our country if she ever gets the chance to get into office.” 

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He added, “She wants no fracking. You’re going to be paying a lot of money. You’re going to be paying so much. You’re going to say ‘bring back Trump.’”

Telling The Hill that Harris no longer wants to ban fracking, her campaign pushed back on Trump’s rhetoric. 

“Trump’s false claims about fracking bans are an obvious attempt to distract from his own plans to enrich oil and gas executives at the expense of the middle class,” the campaign told The Hill. “The Biden-Harris Administration passed the largest ever climate change legislation and under their leadership, America now has the highest ever domestic energy production,” the spokesperson said in an email. “This Administration created 300,000 energy jobs, while Trump lost nearly a million and his Project 2025 would undo the enormous progress we’ve made the past four years.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Marinella, said, “Kamala Harris is the most far-left progressive presidential nominee in history, and extreme Democrats in the Rust Belt now own every single policy she supports.”

He added, “A fracking ban would be disastrous for workers and families, and extreme Democrats’ mission to force Biden to step aside and replace him with San Francisco radical Kamala Harris shows exactly how out of touch they are with their voters.” 

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Fox News Digital has reached out to Harris’ campaign for comment. 

FBI finally says what struck Trump during assassination attempt at Pennsylvania rally

A former White House doctor released a letter Friday stating that former President Trump is “rapidly recovering” following the July 13 shooting at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania and that there is “absolutely no evidence” he was hit with “anything other than a bullet.” 

Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, who took issue with testimony given earlier this week by FBI Director Christopher Wray, said “I want to reassure the American people and the rest of the world, that President Trump is doing extremely well.”

Jackson, who is Trump’s former physician, said, “I have continued to monitor his health and well-being, along with his primary care physician, since the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, on the evening of July 13th.

“During the Congressional Hearing two days ago, FBI Director Christopher Wray suggested that it could be a bullet, shrapnel, or glass. There is absolutely no evidence that it was anything other than a bullet,” he added. “Congress should correct the record as confirmed by both the hospital and myself. Director Wray is wrong and inappropriate to suggest anything else.”

Wray did not mention glass in his testimony. He said, “With respect to former President Trump, there is some question about whether it was a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear.” 

After Jackson’s letter was released, the FBI issued its own statement to Fox News Digital, “What struck former President Trump in the ear was a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject’s rifle.”

“The would-be assassin fired multiple rounds from a relatively close distance using a high-powered rifle, with one bullet striking the former President, and now the Republican Nominee for President, in his right ear,” Jackson continued.

FBI WANTS TO INTERVIEW TRUMP AFTER ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: SOURCE

“As a former White House Physician for 14 years, who served during three presidential administrations, and served as the appointed physician for both President Obama and President Trump, I fully understand the global significance of this attempt on the life of the former President and the current Republican Nominee for President,” Jackson added.

“As such, I want to reassure the American people and the rest of the world, that President Trump is doing extremely well,” Jackson concluded. “He is rapidly recovering from the gunshot wound to his right ear. I will continue to be available to assist President Trump and his personal physician in any way they see fit and will provide updates as necessary and with the permission of President Trump.”

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In an interview Thursday on FOX Business’ “Kudlow,” Jackson said it was “absolutely ridiculous” for Wray to suggest that Trump might not have been struck by a bullet.

“This degrades any level of credibility that this man may have had – after years of weaponizing the FBI and the DOJ against the president,” Jackson said. “It was absolutely a bullet, I examined it. There was a track of a bullet.”

Jackson also praised the creation of a bipartisan House task force to investigate the Trump assassination attempt.

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“We don’t have any confidence in the number one law enforcement agency in this country right now. And if [Wray’s] going to come make statements like that, he better have some evidence of what he’s talking about,” Jackson said. “There was no fractured glass on the teleprompters or anything else.”

The FBI told Fox News Digital Thursday its priority was learning more about the reclusive would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, and his motive.

“Since the day of the attack, the FBI has been consistent and clear that the shooting was an attempted assassination of former President Trump which resulted in his injury, as well as the death of a heroic father and the injuries of several other victims,” a spokesperson said. 

“FBI Director Wray provided extensive congressional testimony on Wednesday about the FBI’s investigation. This was a heinous attack and the FBI is devoting enormous resources to learn everything possible about the shooter and what led to his act of violence.”

Fox News Digital is told the FBI’s Shooting Reconstruction Team was still examining evidence from the scene – including recovered bullet fragments.

Bernie Sanders gives blunt answer when asked if Harris is more liberal than him

EXCLUSIVE: WEST LEBANON, N.H. — When it comes to Sen. Bernie Sanders, former President Trump is no laughing matter.

The longtime independent senator from Vermont, progressive champion and two-time runner-up in the Democratic presidential primaries is on a two-day swing this weekend in neighboring New Hampshire as well as Maine to campaign on behalf of Vice President Kamala Harris to make sure the GOP presidential nominee doesn’t return to the White House.

“Trump cannot get elected. We’ve got to do everything we can to make sure that does not happen,” Sanders told a crowd of supporters during his first stop Friday in New Hampshire, a key swing state in presidential elections.

TRUMP MOVES TO DEFINE HARRIS AS ULTRA-LIBERAL

But minutes earlier, Sanders briefly broke out in laughter when asked in a national exclusive interview with Fox News about comments from Trump this week arguing that Harris — who has replaced President Biden at the top of the Democrats’ 2024 national ticket — is more liberal than the Vermont senator.

Trump over the past week has worked to define Harris, a former San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general, as an ultra-liberal, pointing to her record in the U.S. Senate and as vice president.

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Speaking to a packed arena in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Wednesday, Trump charged that Harris was the “most incompetent and far-left vice president in American history… She is a radical left lunatic who will destroy our country if she ever gets the chance to get into office.” 

And mentioning Sanders, Trump argued that Harris is “more liberal than Bernie Sanders. Can you believe it?”

Sanders, responding, said, “I would hope that when he said, ‘Can you believe that?,’ people said no.”

“It’’s not true. Once again, Trump is lying,” Sanders emphasized. “Let me just simply say that for better or for worse, Kamala Harris is not more progressive than I am.”

During his Fox News interview and later at his event, Sanders took aim at Trump, who two months ago was convicted of 34 felony counts in the first criminal trial of a former or current president in the nation’s history.

“This is the most important election, I think, in our lifetimes. I will do everything that I can to see that Donald Trump is defeated,” the senator stressed.

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Sanders argued that “the American people will not and cannot accept a president who is a pathological liar, somebody who believes that women should not be able to control their own bodies, somebody who in the midst of massive heatwaves thinks climate change is a hoax and somebody who actually does not believe in democracy, has not said that he will accept those election results if he loses. So, for all of those reasons, Trump must be defeated.”

Sanders is campaigning on behalf of Harris, but he hasn’t formally endorsed the vice president.

“I think if the vice president is to win this election, and obviously I want her to win, I think she has to start talking about issues of relevance to the working class of this country, because there are tens of millions of people who are really hurting,” Sanders explained. “They want to know what the next president is going to do for them, and I hope very much that Vice President Harris will make that clear.”

“The path towards victory is to talk about issues that are relevant,” he reiterated.

Asked what Harris specifically needs to detail, Sanders said, “I hope that the vice president will be talking about the need to substantially lower prescription drug costs… the need to have tax reform so the wealthiest in this country start paying their fair share of taxes, so we can greatly expand child care and affordable housing in this country, and I think we’ve got to be very strong on the issue of climate change and make it clear that we’re going to transform our energy system away from fossil fuel if we’re going to save this planet for future generations.”

Sanders said that Harris’ choice of a running mate — which is expected to come in the next two weeks — will be a signal of whether she will project a progressive agenda as she runs for the White House.

“I think it will, and I hope very much she looks at one of the many progressive people who are out there who I think would do a good job as vice president,” the senator said.

Sanders was making his swing through New Hampshire and Maine less than a week after President Biden suspended his 2024 re-election rematch with Trump. Biden made his move amid mounting pressure from within the Democratic Party for him to drop out after a disastrous performance in last month’s first presidential debate with Trump. 

The embattled president’s immediate backing of Harris ignited a surge of endorsements of Harris by Democratic governors, senators, House members and other party leaders. By Monday night, the vice president announced that she had locked up her party’s nomination by landing the backing of a majority of the nearly 4,000 delegates to next month’s Democratic National Convention. On Friday morning, former President Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama were among the final major party leaders to endorse the vice president.

Harris has also hauled in a staggering $129 million in fundraising since Biden’s announcement, her campaign touted on Thursday morning. 

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Republicans charge that the process has been anything but democratic — and they point to Biden’s own words.

Before dropping out, the president had repeatedly cited the 14 million votes he won in this year’s Democratic presidential primaries as a reason he should stay in the 2024 race.

“The voters — and the voters alone — decide the nominee of the Democratic Party,” he emphasized in a letter on July 8. “Not the press, not the pundits, not the big donors, not any selected group of individuals, no matter how well intentioned.”

Trump, at his rally in Charlotte on Wednesday, called the switch at the top of the Democrats’ national ticket “an undemocratic move.” 

“These are nasty people, the Democrats,” Trump argued.

And Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas claimed in a social media post this week that “Joe Biden succumbed to a coup by Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, and Hollywood donors, ignoring millions of Democratic primary votes.”

But Sanders, who argued during his marathon 2016 Democratic presidential primary battle against eventual nominee Hillary Clinton that the party was working against him, doesn’t buy the GOP criticism.

“These are extraordinary times and the Democrats had to move very quickly,” Sanders said. “So I think that given the reality that Biden dropped out and having a Democratic convention coming, I think what happened is she announced her candidacy, she rallied the support she needs, and I think that’s fine.”

Dem who criticized Harris’ handling of immigration crisis changes tune just hours later

One of six House Democrats who broke with the party this week to condemn Vice President Kamala Harris‘ handling of the southern border endorsed her presidential campaign bid Friday. 

Rep. Don Davis of North Carolina also said North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, would be an “excellent” choice as a running mate. 

“The stakes of this presidential election are incredibly high, with far-reaching implications,” Davis said in a statement.

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While endorsing Harris, Davis said the administration must address the migrant crisis at the border, which has become a top issue for voters. 

“These issues cannot be overlooked,” said Davis. “I will continue to advocate for comprehensive immigration reform, including securing the border and other issues impacting eastern NC families.”

TRUMP EYES MULTIPLE BORDER VISITS AS HE DRAWS CONTRAST WITH ‘RADICAL LEFT’ HARRIS

Republicans have criticized Harris’ record on the border, at a time when record numbers of illegal immigrants have entered the United States. Harris was informally named by President Biden as the “border czar” in 2021.

She was tasked with handling the root causes of mass illegal immigration from Central and South America. 

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In July 2021, Harris introduced a five-point general strategy to combat the “root causes” of illegal immigration. 

The plan did not include specific policies but instead called for “diplomacy, foreign assistance, public diplomacy, and sanctions” to “establish a fair, orderly, and humane immigration system.”

Ramaswamy warns line of attack from Republicans is ‘hurting our chances’

Former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy issued a warning to Republicans this week that they need to be aware of some “hard realities” around the way they message their criticisms of Vice President Kamala Harris now that she is the presumptive Democratic nominee for president.

“The bottom line is, I think what’s happened is a lot of Republicans were caught by surprise after the convention,” Ramaswamy told Fox News Digital on Friday. “That’s resulted in some reactive steps that I don’t think all make sense. And I think they’re actually hurting us.”

Ramaswamy spoke to Fox News Digital about a viral comment he posted Thursday on X that was seen by over 3 million people that addressed issues and concerns he has seen with the way Republicans are talking about the matchup between Harris and former President Trump.

Ramswamy’s first point and concern is that Republicans are calling for Biden to step down or be removed from office, using the argument that if he is not capable of running for president, he isn’t capable of serving as president.

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“I think this makes absolutely zero sense and here’s why,” Ramaswamy explained. “Kamala Harris is unproven as a political leader, let alone as the U.S. president. Why put her in a position as the U.S. president with all the benefits of incumbency? Oval Office addresses, God forbid, to even change policy or foreign policy, to be able to create circumstances that make her look better. That’s one of the advantages that many incumbent presidents, the sad truth is, have used throughout American history.”

Ramaswamy said calling on Biden to step down is “another example” of Republicans being “reactive,” which ends up “hurting our chances rather than helping us.”

“It’s not going to be good for America and it’s not going to be good for Republican electoral prospects if Kamala Harris is the President of the United States of America for even a short period of time, for even a minute,” Ramaswamy said. “I don’t think that’s something we should want, and it doesn’t make sense and that’s why I called it out.”

Many Republicans have focused on Harris’ record as a prosecutor, which Ramaswamy warned could backfire if they focus too much on attacks that she “locked up” too many people for petty crimes.

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“So look, this is the other category of criticisms I see coming, even from some conservatives, saying that she locked up too many people while she was a prosecutor,” he said. “This is the wrong line of attack. It doesn’t make sense.

Ramaswamy continued, “In fact, one of the images that Kamala Harris is trying to project is that she’s somehow going to be a law-and-order presidential candidate. I find that laughable. Look at under the Democratic regime, including policies that she has supported, clear the jails, defund the police. That’s resulted in a wave of rampant crime in this country. People in the United States of America, across the aisle and both camps, are dead set against this wave of crime. But if against that backdrop, Republicans are criticizing her for locking too many people up, it doesn’t make sense because it legitimizes the otherwise laughable claim that she’s a law-and-order candidate.

Republicans have also accused Harris of covering up Biden’s health issues while at the same time accusing the vice president of orchestrating a soft “coup” to remove him from the ticket. Ramswamy told Fox News Digital those two messages don’t mesh.

“The main point is what voters really care about is the future,” he said. “What are we actually going to deliver? And the more we focus on bickering on that past political missteps or whatever from the Democratic side, the more small-minded we’re going to be seen as being.

“On one hand, you have Republicans saying that Kamala Harris covered up for Joe Biden. She was covering for him and telling the public that he was actually a great president, when in fact he wasn’t cognitively capable. On the other hand, at the same time, we’re saying that Kamala staged this coup against Biden. It doesn’t make sense to many independent voters to say both of those things at the same time. They’re self-contradictory. And if we say things that don’t make sense, we’re more likely to lose votes, which is the thing that I care most about. So I come back to the basic point. That’s not how we’re going to win this election. We’re not going to win this election by picking at these nit-picking… ‘inside baseball’ political criticisms of Kamala. It doesn’t matter. The voters don’t care.”

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Ramaswamy told Fox News Digital that Harris is not the “biggest risk” the Republican side faces, but rather the “shenanigans on the Democratic side.”

“The voters don’t love Kamala Harris on her own terms,” Ramaswamy said. “We know that because even when she was running in the Democratic primary, she didn’t even make it to the Iowa caucus. I was an unknown 37-year-old businessman, ran for office for the first time as U.S. president last year. I have more delegates that have supported me for U.S. president than Kamala Harris ever has had. That’s because voters don’t find her compelling. So it’s not that Kamala Harris is our biggest risk.”

When asked if some Republicans are underestimating Harris’ ability to win, Ramswamy said that “complacency” is always a concern.

“You got to compete like you’re behind, or else you soon will be,” he said. “We’re not up against a candidate. It’s not Kamala. It’s not Joe. It’s not any other individual candidate. We are up against a machine and the more we understand that, we have formidable opponents. Let’s take stock of some sobering realities. Republicans have lost devastating defeats relative to expectations in 2018, 2020, 2022.

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“I don’t want to see the same thing happen in 2024. So, you know what? ‘Fool me once. Shame on you. Fool me twice. Shame on me.’ The old adage means something for a reason. I think our movement needs to wake up and say that winning by a little bit shouldn’t even be our goal. We’ve got to win by a landslide, and a landslide minus some shenanigans in margin is still going to be a victory. That’s the attitude we need

Ramaswamy explained his belief that Democrats were waiting until after the Republican National Convention to have “full information,” and that it is understandable Republicans were caught “flat-footed,” but ultimately they will be victorious in November if they stay focused. 

“It doesn’t matter because Kamala Harris—we can easily defeat Kamala Harris in the same landslide we were going to defeat Joe Biden on,” he said. “But it’s not going to be by nit-picking on random political criticisms of her. I think those could backfire. I think the way we’re going to do it is by articulating our own vision of who we are and what we stand for. And if so, we win this thing not only in a landslide, but we unite this country and revive our country, which is something we’re hungry for.”

Olympics opening ceremony ignites outrage with drag queens parodying Last Supper

The 2024 Olympics opening ceremony in Paris has sparked international outrage with drag-queen themed imagery of religious and historical figures.

In between listing all the countries participating in the Olympic Games, there have been several performances riffing on France’s history and culture, such as a headless Marie Antoinette, the last queen prior to being executed amid French Revolution, singing with her severed head in her hands sporting drag-style makeup. This was part of numerous drag queens that appeared to be a recurring theme throughout the ceremonies. Three drag queens were among the 10,000 torchbearers who relayed the Olympic flame as it started in Greece, passed through French territories and made its way to Paris.

One new display on Friday showed what appear to be numerous performers, including drag queens and a large woman in an aureole halo crown, parodying “The Last Supper,” a universally recognizable painting by renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci of Christ and his apostles. 

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Many internationally known political figures, particularly from American politics, condemned the display as a sign of the cultural rot in Western Civilization.

“Men in wigs front & center at the Olympic Games,” OutKick’s Riley Gaines wrote in a social media post. “No one ever tell me this group is ‘oppressed’ or ‘marginalized’ again.”

PARIS OLYMPIC FLAME RELAT ROUTE FEATURES 3 DRAG QUEEN TORCH BEARERS

Tesla founder Elon Musk who bought the X platform criticized the display, saying, “This was extremely disrespectful to Christians.”

Harrison Butker, an NFL football player who made headlines with his speech about Catholic faith quoted scripture to condemn the display, writing, “Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. For he that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption. But he that soweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting.’ Galatians 6:7-8.”

Ex-transgender influencer Oli London described the scene, “Olympics openly mocks Jesus’ Last Supper as drag queens dressed as women play the role of disciples while a plus size woman appears in the middle symbolising Jesus wearing a giant crown.”

“The Olympics has basically turned into one long drag show,” anti-woke cultural commentator Libs of TikTok wrote. “The Olympics has gone completely woke.”

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“What the hell is going on at the Olympics?” video journalist Nick Sortor wrote. “No wonder nobody bothers watching anymore.”

“The transnational Left have contempt for Western civilization,” Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton wrote.

“This is crazy. Opening your event by replacing Jesus and the disciples at the The Last Supper with men in drag,” radio host Clint Russell said. “There are 2.4 billion Christians on earth and apparently the Olympics wanted to declare loudly to all of them, right out of the gate NOT WELCOME.”

Canadian conservative commentator Harrison Faulkner asked, “Wtf is going on at the Olympics opening ceremony?”

Juanita Broaddrick, the former nursing administrator who accused former President Bill Clinton of raping her, responded to the display at the Olympics, “Paris had fallen before the Olympics.  This is just a continuation of it.”

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Finance and culture commentator Wall Street Silver argued this represents the worst aspects of modern France.

“At least China showed the best of their country during their Olympics,” he noted. “France seems determined to show the weakest and worst parts of their country during their Olympics.”

Army veteran and radio host Bob Lonsberry wrote “Some of this might explain why so many people left Europe to settle in the United States.”

Conservative French politician and European parliament member Marion Maréchal, who has spoken at CPAC in the United States, warned international viewers that this polarizing display does not represent French people like herself. 

“To all the Christians of the world who are watching the #Paris2024 ceremony and felt insulted by this drag queen parody of the Last Supper, know that it is not France that is speaking but a left-wing minority ready for any provocation. #notinmyname,” she wrote. 

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