Dem operative, DNC volunteer leaves the party: ‘Impossible to unsee what I’ve seen’
A Democratic campaign operative revealed that she is exiting the party after volunteering at last month’s Democratic National Convention, which left her “disenchanted” with Democratic leadership.
In a Newsweek op-ed published Tuesday, Evan Barker described how she went from raising “tens of millions of dollars” for Democrats to distancing herself from a party she now believes is “totally out of touch” with everyday Americans.
Barker said she was initially “thrilled” to volunteer at the DNC, where Vice President Kamala Harris accepted the nomination for president.
“But once there, wandering amidst the glitz and glam, imbibing the gloss and schmaltz of it all, I couldn’t escape a sinking feeling. I felt submersed in a hollow chamber whose mottos were ‘Brat summer’ and ‘Joy’—totally out of touch with regular, every-day Americans and their pressing needs; instead, the most elite people in the world chanted in unison that “We’re not going back,” Barker wrote.
FORMER OBAMA FUNDRAISER SAYS SHE’S DIVORCING THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY, VOTING FOR TRUMP FOR THE FIRST TIME
“I found myself feeling disenchanted, lost, sad, and alone. As someone who has given her life to Democratic politics, it was devastating. But if I’m being honest, it wasn’t totally surprising,” she continued.
Barker said she was raised in a family of blue-collar union Democrats near Kansas City, a “long ways away from the glitz, glamor, and ostentatious wealth I’d become accustomed to seeing in and around Democratic politics.”
“Fast forward to today, and many of those same family members are no longer Democrats. They feel the party has changed, left them behind,” she wrote. “At the DNC, I couldn’t help but think about my family. Every time the elites chanted ‘We’re not going back,’ what I heard was, ‘We’re not going back to the party your union family members used to vote for.'”
Barker’s dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party had been building over time, she wrote, but the convention was the final straw.
ALAN DERSHOWITZ LEAVES DEMOCRATIC PARTY, CITES DNC: ‘I WAS DISGUSTED’
“When I went to the DNC last month, I was truly hoping to be re-inspired, to feel the same love for the party I felt as a teenager when I pounded the pavement for Barack Obama. I can still recall the immense joy I felt after he won, running into the street with hundreds of other people to dance to ‘Thriller,’” she wrote. “But instead of giving me back that feeling, the DNC was where it finally hit me: It’s impossible to unsee what I’ve seen. I can only go forward.”
As a Democratic fundraising consultant for Senate and House candidates, she was exposed to the inner workings of campaigning where she learned the art of coddling high profile donors for a hefty check, trading money for influence in government, Barker said.
“Here’s the thing about donors: They have niche policy issues they care about that seldom reflect the needs of people back home. Democrats love to decry money in politics when it comes to the Koch brothers or Elon Musk, but the billionaires who support Democrats are given a total pass and have a huge influence over policy.
“At first, I naively thought the system was broken. But now I realize, it isn’t broken; it’s doing what it was designed to do, which is to keep working-class people from true representation. That is the point, a feature, not a bug,” she continued.
She said that while the GOP is likely guilty of the same, “Democrats are bigger hypocrites about it.”
“Perhaps the most shocking of all is how the Democrats have embraced Bush-era foreign policy to become the party of war. Instead of rebuilding the working class communities that have been hit hardest by their neoliberal trade policies, they’ve spent $175 billion funding the war in Ukraine,” Barker wrote. “It was the cherry on the cake that Vice President Kamala Harris has been proudly touting an endorsement from Dick Cheney. Dick Cheney
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“Here’s the sad truth: The Democratic Party has lost its way entirely. They mostly speak to the college educated, the urban and affluent, in their language. Their tone is condescending and paternalistic,” she concluded. “They peddle giveaways to the college-educated like student loan forgiveness plans that disproportionately help their base, snubbing the majority of the country without a four-year degree, and then offer no tangible plans for true reform.”
Neither the DNC nor the Harris campaign responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Trump meets young supporter with rare brain disease, brings him ‘the best present’
UNIONDALE, N.Y. – An 8-year-old boy received the surprise of his young life, after former President Trump greeted him in person during his rally Wednesday in New York.
Liam, who has a rare brain disorder, was recently given a letter from Trump just before his eighth birthday and his heartfelt reaction to the surprise went viral.
Doctors warned the family Liam might never walk, talk or eat on his own, according to his mother, Siobhan.
“My buddy here plays ice hockey, he does roller hockey, he does very good in school, plays sports…we’re so proud of him,” she told Fox News Digital in an interview moments before Trump’s rally at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale near the family’s Long Island home.
FATHER CREATED A DRUG TO SAVE HIS SON FROM A RARE DISEASE, NOW OTHER FAMILIES ARE DESPERATE TO GET IT
Liam’s mom said he has been a Trump supporter since he was 18 months old.
After receiving the letter, Liam’s family was invited to Trump’s Unidondale rally as VIP guests, where Liam received an even bigger birthday gift by meeting the Republican presidential nominee.
“I’m supposed to be on that stage, but that doesn’t matter because I got you the best present. This is the best present you’ll ever have,” Trump said while greeting Liam backstage.
MOTHER FRANTIC TO SAVE CLINICAL TRIAL THAT COULD CURE HER DAUGHTER: ‘THE TREATMENT IS SITTING IN A FRIDGE’
Trump handed Liam a box and said “in there is real good stuff.”
“We’re gonna have that picture for life, you and I,” Trump told Liam after taking a photo.
Trump thanked Liam and his family for joining him.
“Take care of yourself, okay? I wish I looked like that or if I looked like that, I’d be president,” Trump told Liam.
Fox News Digital spoke with the family after meeting Trump and shared just how big of an impact it made on Liam.
“It’s a pipe dream, I can never imagine, to thank the world for helping my son come this far and showing support and making his dream come true, because, believe it or not, this is definitely probably one of his big dreams, to meet Donald Trump, his hero since he was probably born. If not, very close,” Liam’s dad said, choking back tears.
‘Trump 2024!” Liam added.
Trump also gave Liam and his family a shout-out during the rally, telling the crowd about Liam’s bravery and their visit while pointing him out from stage while the crowd erupted in applause.
“I’m in tears,” Liam’s mom told Fox News Digital.
The original viral video, which caught national attention, showed Liam eagerly opening an envelope with a letter addressed to him from the former president.
“This is a side of Donald Trump that nobody gets to see,” said Kevin Smith, who shared the original video before it blew up online. “Most Americans, he said, only see Trump’s public persona and widespread media coverage.”
The video opens with Liam sitting on a couch as his mom hands over the envelope. She asks if he wants to read the letter or have her read it, as he fights back tears realizing what is happening.
“Dear Liam, Happy birthday, Mrs. Trump, and I hope you enjoy this special occasion surrounded by the love of your family and friends,” Liam’s mom, Siobhan reads.
“We are so encouraged by the strength and determination you have shown throughout your life and send our love and best wishes to you as you continue to fight,” the letter continued. “Remember you are never alone, and we are keeping you in our thoughts and prayers for continued care and good health. May God bless you and your family, stay strong.”
TOM BRADY REVEALS INSPIRING ADVICE HE GAVE 12-YEAR-OLD IN SURPRISE MAKE-A-WISH MEETING AT FANATICS FEST
Siobhan then mentions that Trump knew Liam’s birthday was coming up and asked him how he felt about him wishing him a happy birthday.
“Sincerely, can you tell me who signed that?” Siobhan asks.
“Donald Trump,” Liam responds shakily, holding back tears.
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“He knew it was your birthday coming up? What do you say to him,” Siobhan asks.
“Thank you, I love you,” Liam says while also signing “I love you.”
Critics mock VP Harris after she serves up another ‘word salad’ in speech
Vice President Kamala Harris faced a wave of mockery on Wednesday after her latest word salad repeating the phrase “the children of the community.”
Harris spoke at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s 47th Annual Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C., providing few specific details about the policies she’s running on for president.
However, at one point, Harris spoke about providing families with the necessary resources so that parents can “raise their children well,” declaring, “I grew up understanding the children of the community are the children of the community, and we should all have a vested interest in ensuring that children can go grow up with the resources that they need to achieve their God-given potential.”
Numerous political commentators on social media were quick to call out the statement.
NEWT GINGRICH SOUNDS OFF ON KAMALA HARRIS’ ‘WORD SALAD’ INTERVIEWS, ‘INSANE’ POSITION ON ISRAEL-HAMAS
“Why is she like this lol,” OutKick’s Riley Gaines asked.
Author David Harsanyi shredded the statement, “I would call this a tautology, but she doesn’t even bother using different words to say the same thing.”
“She is a deep thinker,” commentator Carmine Sabia quipped.
“We know exactly why Kamala doesn’t have serious interviews,” podcaster Tim Young said, “She’s a stupid mess.”
Radio personality Mike North parodied Harris’ speaking style, saying, “I grew up in the neighborhood and I’m a neighborhood guy that lives in the neighborhood with neighbors who also live in the neighborhood.”
HARRIS DODGES QUESTION ON LOWERING PRICES BY DESCRIBING ‘MIDDLE-CLASS’ ROOTS: NEIGHBORS ‘PROUD OF THEIR LAWN’
Other commentators looked past the humor and argued the statement hints at a dystopian agenda.
“Kamala Harris reminding you that Democrats see your children as their children. ‘The children of the community are the children of the community,’” RedState senior editor Brandon Morse warned.
Market analyst and political commentator Jeff Carlson offered similar words of caution, “Don’t be fooled. This is Kamala’s Marxist version of ‘It takes a village.’”
This is only the latest in a long history of repetitive, “word salads” from the vice president using the word “community” in a circular manner.
She had previously spoken at the Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., in 2022, where she proclaimed, “When we talk about the children of the community, they are the children of the community.”
Similarly, in 2023, she was mocked for saying, “community banks are in the community.”
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Iran shared stolen Trump campaign materials with Biden team, FBI says
In an effort to “sow discord and shape the outcome of U.S. elections”, Iranian cyber actors sent messages during the summer to people involved in President Biden’s then re-election campaign containing stolen material from former President Trump’s campaign, U.S. agencies said.
“Iranian malicious cyber actors in late June and early July sent unsolicited emails to individuals then associated with President Biden’s campaign that contained an excerpt taken from stolen, non-public material from former President Trump’s campaign as text in the emails,” the FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
The agencies noted that there is currently no information indicating if recipients replied to the messages.
The U.S. intelligence agencies also alleged that Iran has continued their election interference since June and has sent stolen Trump campaign material to U.S. media organizations.
IRAN TRYING TO SABOTAGE TRUMP’S PRESIDNETIAL CAMPAIGN: US INTELLIGENCE
“Furthermore, Iranian malicious cyber actors have continued their efforts since June to send stolen, non-public material associated with former President Trump’s campaign to U.S. media organizations,” they said.
The agencies said that the continued election interference from Iran is to “stoke discord and undermine confidence in our electoral process.”
“As the lead for threat response, the FBI has been tracking this activity, has been in contact with the victims, and will continue to investigate and gather information in order to pursue and disrupt the threat actors responsible,” they said. “Foreign actors are increasing their election influence activities as we approach November.”
WATCH:
At a campaign stop on Wednesday night in Uniondale, New York, former President Trump weighed in on the Iranian election interference, calling it “insanity.”
“Three agencies of the Kamala Harris and Joe Biden administration – the FBI, the office of the Director of National Intelligence and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency – they just released a report, confirm that Iran actors hacked into the Trump campaign’s email accounts and, in turn, sought to give the hacked material to the Biden-Harris campaign. They gave them all of the materials because Biden is working with Iran, and Iran doesn’t exactly like me because they were ready to make a deal.”
“But we cannot allow this insanity to continue anymore,” Trump said. “That’s why less than two months from now, we are going to tell Kamala that we’ve had enough. Kamala, you’ve been a terrible vice president. You will be an even worse president. We’re not going to take it anymore. You’re fired. Get out!”
Iran is not the only foreign adversary accused of meddling with the 2024 presidential election.
On July 10, ODNI officials called Russia the “preeminent threat” to the election.
“It’s all the tactics we’ve seen before, primarily through social media, efforts using influential U.S. voices to amplify their narratives and other tactics,” ODNI officials told reporters in July. “And as far as who they’re targeting, what we can say today is, Russia is sophisticated enough to know that, targeting swing state voters is, particularly valuable to them.”
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Officials previously highlighted that the intelligence community expects foreign adversaries to increase its underhanded activities as U.S. election day gets closer in order to manipulate public opinion, underscoring the threat to America’s political landscape.
NFL team apologizes after security guard forces woman to throw MAGA hat in trash
The Arizona Cardinals have apologized to a woman who was told she had to remove a “Make American Great Again” hat in order to enter State Farm Stadium for the team’s game against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.
The team confirmed it has reached out to the woman in a statement to Fox News Digital on Wednesday.
“In an isolated incident at Sunday’s game, a stadium security member misunderstood a policy on prohibited items. Like most venues, ‘signage, posters, flags, or displays that are….political in nature’ are not permitted. However, that did not apply in this instance. Moving forward we will work to provide clarity to all stadium personnel in these situations. We have also reached out to the individual involved to communicate that their experience was not consistent with our policies and practices and to apologize for that,” the statement read.
The woman, an Arizona native and Cardinals season ticket holder, was named Susan Rosener. She and her husband were on their way to their seats to see the Cardinals’ surprising 41-10 win over the Rams, before a stadium staffer mistakenly told her to take off her hat baring the famous slogan of former President Trump’s election campaign, according to multiple reports.
“You can’t bring that in here,” the staffer said, according to Rosener, via News 12 Phoenix.
“She’s like, ‘No political hats or shirts.’ And I said, ‘I haven’t heard that at all.’ And I said, ‘That doesn’t make sense to me.’ And she goes, ‘I said, Take your hat off,'” Rosener said. “In retrospect, I wish I would have stood my ground a little bit, but I wasn’t sure what the repercussions would be, and my husband would kill me if I did something with the season tickets or that jeopardizes them somehow.”
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The incident was initially publicized in a post on X by Turning Point Action Field Rep. VP Alyssa Goncales, who also posted alleged screenshots of text messages with other supposed attendees who were either also forced to remove MAGA hats or witnessed others being forced to.
“We have only heard from one individual. But if there were a couple others that had a similar interaction that should not have happened either. Again, it’s not our practice and in the 18+ seasons we’ve been in this stadium, it apparently has never occurred previously. Moving forward, though, we will work with all of the third party groups that interact with our fans to make sure this abundantly clear,” the team said in another statement to Fox News Digital in response to the other allegations.
While the Cardinals do have a list of banned items for entering State Farm Stadium on game days, “political hats or shirts” are not on that list.
Sunday’s incident is not the first time that an American sporting event attendee carrying pro-Trump merchandise had to face orders from security.
In the spring and summer of 2021, a man was removed from MLB games at Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park and Citizens Bank Park for hanging banners from the stands that read “Trump Won! Save America!” The man, Dion Cini, now a conservative political influencer on X, posted bodycam footage of his police escorts out of the stadiums multiple times.
BRETT FAVRE BACKS PATRICK MAHOMES ON PRESIDENTIAL ENDORSEMENT STANCE AMID TRUMP VS. TAYLOR SWIFT CONTROVERSY
On June 27 of that year, Cini posted images on X (then known as Twitter) of an alleged letter from MLB informing him that he had been barred from MLB games until further notice.
Cini commented on the recent incident involving Rosener in an interview with Fox News Digital on Wednesday.
“That’s just the country that we’ve become, and the fact that she did it and put it in a can is the reason why they asked her to do it, because they know that she would probably comply. And that basically sums up the whole state of America right now,” Cini said. “You’d have to kill me for me to take off my MAGA hat without force! I’ve never taken off my MAGA hat for anybody.”
Arizona is considered one of the “sunbelt” battleground states in the upcoming election, as Trump won the state in 2016 but lost it in 2020.
A Fox News election survey published on Aug. 28 shows that VP Harris currently leads the former president by less than 1 point.
In the Arizona Senate race, Democrat Ruben Gallego leads Republican Kari Lake by 56%-41%. Democrat Jacky Rosen bests Republican Sam Brown by 55%-41% in the Nevada Senate race. In the North Carolina gubernatorial race, Democrat Josh Stein tops Republican Mark Robinson by 54%-43%.
In the aftermath of Rosener’s incident, Lake has called on every Cardinals fan to wear MAGA hats to the team’s home games for the remainder of the season.
“Every [Cardinals] fan who loves America should wear their MAGA hat to EVERY AZ Cardinals game this season,” Lake wrote in a post on X in response to a story on the incident.
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Meanwhile, concerns in the state that illegal immigrants may be able to cast votes in the upcoming election have become rampant over the current cycle.
A “coding oversight” in state software is calling into question the citizenship status of 100,000 registered Arizona voters, prompting the state’s Democratic secretary of state to insist he will send out ballots to those affected anyway.
“I am unwilling to disenfranchise this many voters by limiting them, suddenly, and with little notice, to a federal-only ballot when none of them had actual notice of or blame for this issue,” Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said during a Tuesday news conference. “We inherited this problem. We’re on it, and we’re going to fix it. It’s as simple as that.”
30-year-old tourist dies after shark attack at popular vacation destination
A German tourist died from a rare shark attack near the Canary Islands while she was swimming alongside her catamaran off the northwest coast of the popular travel destination.
The unidentified 30-year-old woman was sailing on a British-flagged catamaran that had departed from the island of Gran Canaria Saturday, Sept. 14, when the shark attacked.
One of her legs was bitten off during the attack, which happened shortly before 4 p.m. local time.
Authorities confirmed to Reuters that emergency personnel flew 320 miles to the spot of the attack to evacuate her, but she died from the wound in the helicopter.
AUSTRALIAN SURFER SPEAKS OUT AFTER ‘BIGGEST SHARK I’VE EVER SEEN’ RIPPED HIS LEG OFF
After the incident, Spain’s rescue service, the Salvamento Marítimo, investigated the attack.
TEENAGER GOING FOR A QUICK SWIM SEVERELY INJURED IN SHARK ATTACK
According to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File (ISAF), the organization has only recorded six confirmed shark-related incidents in Spain’s history.
Shark attacks are rare with a total of 69 confirmed unprovoked attacks happening worldwide in 2023, the ISAF said. Of those 69 attacks, 14 were fatal.
The report noted that shark attacks disproportionally occur in Australia, with 22% of attacks happening in the land down under.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to the Salvamento Marítimo for comment.
Vice President Kamala Harris edges former President Trump in a head-to-head matchup, as more voters see Harris as the candidate who will help the middle class, and Hispanics and independents swing in her direction.
The new Fox News national survey finds a 3 percentage-point shift among registered voters in the 2024 presidential contest since mid-August. Trump had a 1-point advantage last month, while Harris is ahead by 2 points today: 50%-48%. For reference, in July, Trump was ahead by 1 point over President Biden. Each of those differences falls within the margin of error.
This marks the first time Harris has hit 50% support, and the trial ballot result is identical among both registered and likely voters. That’s unsurprising given most Americans who are willing to spend time answering a political survey are also probably going to vote.
Of course, presidential elections are decided by electoral votes from the states, not national vote totals. Hillary Clinton had a 2-point popular vote margin over Trump in 2016 but lost the Electoral College 304-227, while Biden’s 4-point popular vote win in 2020 translated to a 306-232 Electoral College victory.
Since the August survey, many events have occurred that could affect voter opinion: the Democratic National Convention was held; Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump; former Vice President Dick Cheney and former Congresswoman Liz Cheney endorsed Harris; and the candidates faced off in a debate. A second assassination attempt on Trump happened about three-quarters of the way into the new survey.
The biggest change since last month is that independents and Hispanics have swung Harris’ way. Hispanics favored Trump by 6 points in August, but they go for Harris by 12 points today. Independents went for Trump by 8 points last month, but now prefer Harris by 12. It is important to remember that estimates among small subgroups are more volatile and tend to swing more than others, and that applies here.
FOX NEWS POLL: HARRIS CLOSES GAP WITH TRUMP IN SUN BELT STATES
Trump gets his best numbers from voters who regularly attend worship services, non-college White men, rural voters and men.
Harris’ strongest backing comes from Black voters, urban voters, those under age 30, voters 65 and over, college graduates and women. She’s narrowly ahead in union households, a group that Biden won by low double-digits. Her numbers also still trail his 2020 pre-election numbers a bit among Blacks and young voters. Democrats are optimistic these groups will ultimately back Harris, but that is certainly an unknown.
Harris holds onto almost all of 2020 Biden voters (93%) and Trump keeps nearly all his 2020 backers as well (94%). Among 2020 non-voters, Harris is up by 3 points, 51%-48%.
When looking at results only among counties where the 2020 presidential vote was close (Biden and Trump within 10 points), Trump is ahead 50%-48% — and he holds the same edge across the combined battleground states (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin).
“Our best estimates are that if Trump is within 2 points of Harris nationally then he will likely win in the Electoral College,” says Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who conducts Fox News surveys with Democrat Chris Anderson. “These data showing a Trump edge in the key counties and battleground states suggest that’s probably right.”
Overall, 72% of Trump supporters say they like his policies and record and another 8% like his character, but 19% say they simply dislike Harris. Views are more mixed among those backing Harris, as 42% like her policies and record, 24% like her character, while 33% say they are backing her because they dislike Trump.
Roughly 7 in 10 Harris and Trump supporters say they are “extremely” motivated to vote this year.
And while most of each candidate’s supporters feel certain of their vote choice, about 1 voter in 10 is moveable.
Most Republicans (75%) consider themselves a supporter of MAGA, but among non-MAGA Republicans one in five backs Harris over Trump (21%).
More voters think Harris (53%) has the temperament to serve effectively as president than Trump (47%). For Trump, that is a 10-point improvement since 2017 when 37% said he had the right temperament (2017 is the most recent time the question was asked about him, and this is the first time it was asked of Harris).
Harris is seen as the candidate who will help the middle class by a 9-point margin and protect personal rights and freedoms by 6 points. She also bests Trump by 5 points on “fighting for people like you” and “uniting the country.” There’s little difference on who will make the country safe (Trump +3 points), protect free speech (Harris +1), and bring needed change (Harris +3).
Over half of Hispanic voters trust Harris over Trump on each of those measures, hitting nearly 6 in 10 on helping the middle class and fighting for people like you. She also does better among independents on each, except making the country safe, where he has a 3-point edge.
“Harris’ advantage over Trump on a variety of personal traits is clearly helping her,” says Shaw. “It’s a big deal that she’s been able to fight to a draw on protecting free speech despite aggressive Republican efforts to highlight the Biden administration’s censorship of right-leaning views on social media.”
More than 8 in 10 voters want the next president to make significant changes in the country, including one-third who are looking for “drastic” change. Trump is preferred by a wide 31-point margin among those wanting drastic change, but that narrows to just 4 points among the larger group looking for either major or drastic change.
When asked who they trust to handle top issues, voters favor Trump on immigration (+10), the Israel-Hamas war (+7) and the economy (+5). Since being first asked this question in March, his advantage on the economy is down 10 points compared to his 15-point lead over Biden and down 8 points on immigration (was +18).
Harris is favored to handle election integrity (+7), health care (+11), abortion (+16), transgender issues (+16) and climate change (+17). It’s noteworthy neither candidate has a real advantage on guns or taxes, both traditionally GOP issues.
As has been the case all year, the economy is the most important issue for voters this election. Thirty-nine percent say it is the priority, while fewer than half that number say immigration (16%) and abortion (15%). All other issues receive 7% or less.
Twice as many Republicans (50%) as Democrats (25%) say the economy is the top issue and 10 times as many Republicans say immigration (30% vs. 3% Democrats). Democrats are 5 times as likely to say abortion is the most important issue (27% vs. 5% GOP).
Some 70% of voters rate economic conditions negatively. That’s an improvement from a record 84% who felt that way in July 2022 (a record Biden) and puts things on par with ratings early in Biden’s presidency.
Trump’s advantage on the economy comes from voters remembering his presidency as a sunnier time. By a 17-point margin, more say the Trump administration’s policies helped rather than hurt them. When thinking about Biden, voters are more likely to say his administration’s policies are hurting them by a 24-point margin.
Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, have better personal favorability ratings than Trump and his vice-presidential pick, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. Walz is the only one voters view more favorably than unfavorably (+3 points). While Harris’ ratings are net negative by 2 points, her 49% favorable is her highest in over three years. Trump is underwater by 8 points and Vance by 12. About 1 in 6 are unfamiliar with Walz and Vance. Biden’s rating is negative by 17 points, 41% favorable vs. 58% unfavorable.
While Democrats and Republicans have largely positive views of their candidates, each individual tested is underwater when it comes to the small subgroup of independents.
A larger share sees Harris (55%) as being willing to say anything to get elected than feel the same about Trump (48%). Only 43% think Harris says what she believes vs. 51% for Trump.
Abortion is the single most important issue motivating Harris supporters to vote (38%), closely followed by “stopping the other side from winning” (36%). For Trump supporters, immigration (49%) and high prices (49%) tie as the single most important factor motivating them.
FOX NEWS POLL: 87% CONSIDER SITUATION AT SOUTHERN BORDER A PROBLEM
Overall, voters say the thing most likely to get them to turn out and vote is high prices (39%), followed by immigration (32%), stopping the other side from winning (29%), abortion (27%), violent crime (26%), the race of the candidates (9%) and the gender of the candidates (7%).
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Whoever wins will be on TV a lot for the next four years. When asked what they do when Harris comes on TV, voters say, by a 50%-48% margin, they turn up the volume rather than change the channel. For Trump, 48% turn it up and 49% change the channel — almost identical to views in 2016 (46% turn up, 47% change). At that time, 41% said they would turn up the volume for Hillary Clinton and 52% said change the channel.
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Conducted Sept. 13-16 under the joint direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News survey includes interviews with a sample of 1,102 registered voters randomly selected from a national voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (128) and cellphones (699) or completed the survey online after receiving a text (275). Results based on both the full registered voter sample and the subsample of 876 likely voters have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. Sampling error associated with results among subgroup is higher. In addition to sampling error, question wording and order can influence results. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education and area variables to ensure the demographics of respondents are representative of the registered voter population. Sources for developing weight targets include the American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis, and voter file data.