Dems fear Trump’s support from key voter block could sway election in swing states
Democrats are privately worried about Vice President Kamala Harris’ ability to shore up votes among White, working-class voters – an important demographic to securing victory in the November election.
According to a new report from Politico, while members of the Democratic Party are publicly expressing confidence, behind closed doors, officials and allies fear that former President Donald Trump could shatter the Blue Wall he broke down eight years ago.
“Candidly, Trump has a solid, solid base of working-class people that have bought into his message,” Jimmy Williams, president of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, told Politico.
“It’s movable and it’s been moving. But it’s not like some tide that’s turned,” he said.
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The fresh concern comes as the Teamsters labor union chose to withhold an endorsement from Harris last week following internal polling that showed higher favorability for Trump among respondents.
Democrats told Politico that Trump may garner unexpectedly high support among union members – especially men. They also say Harris must work harder to win over the White, working-class voting bloc which comprises a large percentage of the Rust Belt electorate.
One pro-Harris union official, who Politico granted anonymity, said the polling was a “red flag” for Democrats and was reminiscent of 2016, when Hillary Clinton underperformed among union households.
“Hard not to have HRC flashbacks right now, to be honest, that stuff might be wrong beneath the surface,” the official said. “I hope it’s not.”
Swing-state Democrats also claimed that Harris is not criticizing Trump enough on past comments he has made regarding issues that matter to older voters, such as Social Security and Medicare.
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“I’m worried about her with [seniors]… most of all, I just think they don’t know her,” one anonymous Pennsylvania Democratic elected official told Politico. “She should be coming in on Medicare and Social Security like non-f—ing stop.”
Another Democratic elected official in Pennsylvania expressed similar concerns.
“How much time do you hear the top of the ticket talking about that issue? Almost nothing. They just have to talk about it more,” the official said.
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Trump is leading Harris in Arizona by five points in a 50%-45% spread, and he holds a similar 49%-45% lead in Georgia, according to a poll on Monday by The New York Times. Harris is closer to the former president in North Carolina, however, where the race sits at 49%-47%.
The Times survey comes days after a Fox News national poll found Harris leading Trump by two points in a 50%-48% match-up.
Vivek Ramaswamy shares dirty little secret he says mainstream media won’t tell you
Republicans say they believe in God, family, and country – bringing self-governance and the revolutionary ideals of 1776 into 2024. But former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy shared a dirty little secret about those beliefs he says the mainstream media won’t tell you.
“It’s not just Republicans who share those ideals. Most Americans actually do,” Ramaswamy said in his new roundtable Fox Nation series exploring the “truths” behind some of the biggest issues Americans face.
“I traveled this country as a presidential candidate last year and, if I learned one thing, it’s that we’re not really as divided as the media would have you believe. It turns out that 80% of us in this country share the same values in common. And here’s the thing. They’re afraid to talk about it in the open.”
A VISION FOR AMERICA: VIVEK RAMASWAMY BREAKS DOWN CONSERVATIVE ‘TRUTHS’ IN NEW FOX NATION SERIES
The multi-part series “Truths with Vivek Ramaswamy,” aired in condensed format on the Fox News Channel at 10 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, also debuting on the Fox Nation platform on the same date.
There, the Trump ally and renowned entrepreneur posed a serious question about the anticipated red wave that turned to a mere ripple in 2022 — could Republican laziness be to blame?
He made an equally bold prediction for 2024: unless the GOP changes up its game, this election could have the same outcome.
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“We railed against the Democrats, but without offering an alternative vision of our own,” he said.
“I’m worried we’re going to be in for a rude surprise this November unless we fix that starting right now…”
“We’re not up against a candidate here. We’re up against a machine. We’re not going to win this by obsessing over the other side’s shenanigans. We’re going to win this by answering who we are and what we actually stand for.”
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Ramaswamy also made an appearance on “Fox & Friends Weekend,” Sunday, where he previewed the series and his new corresponding book, “Truths,” in a discussion with co-host Pete Hegseth.
“The way we find our path to truth is through free speech and open debate, including with those who disagree with us,” he said.
“So the point of the book is to arm people at home with arguments, to talk to their left-leaning friends, their left-leaning family members at the dinner table.”
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NFL fans furious as refs avoid throwing flag in crucial moment of Falcons-Chiefs game
NFL fans who tuned in to watch the Atlanta Falcons and Kansas City Chiefs were upset with the officiating at the end of the game on a play involving tight end Kyle Pitts.
Kirk Cousins led the Falcons on a 15-play drive and got the offense within 6 yards of a touchdown. On 3rd-and-5, Cousins threw a pass to Pitts, who was being covered by Chiefs defensive back Bryan Cook.
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As the ball reached the end zone, it appeared Pitts was being held as he tried to catch the ball. Cook was seen with his arms wrapped around the tight end’s waist. Pitts could not catch the ball. No penalty was called. On the next play, Cousins threw an incomplete pass to Drake London.
The Falcons turned the ball over on downs. Atlanta had another possession and got the ball to the Chiefs’ 13-yarad line and turned the ball over on downs as well.
Fans pointed to the Pitts play as the cause of their pain.
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Falcons head coach Raheem Morris avoided talking about the play.
“I like my money,” Morris said. “I like my money that Arthur Blank gives me. I’m very smart enough to be aware enough to talk about officials. They made the call, or they didn’t make the call. It is what it is. We had a chance to win the football game on the last play of the game.”
While fans were upset, the referees defended the no call.
“That is a real-time call that officials have to make a judgment on. From the angle that they had at the time, they did not feel that there was a foul committed,” head referee Tra Blake told pool reporter D. Orlando Ledebetter.
Blake added, “That’s a real-time judgment call for us, yes. We do the beset can do to make that decision.”
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The Chiefs improved to 3-0 with the win and the Falcons dropped to 1-2.
One of America’s most iconic retail chains to close last full-size store in US
The last full-size Kmart store in the continental United States is set to close in October, leaving only one downsized location remaining, reports say.
The department store chain, which once operated around 2,300 locations in the early 1990s, will shutter the full-size store in Bridgehampton, New York, on Oct. 20, Newsday is reporting, citing an employee there.
That means a smaller Kmart store in Miami will become the last one remaining in the U.S. Kmart, which is now owned by Transformco, also has three stores in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Transformco did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment from FOX Business, but a spokesperson for Kimco Realty Corp. – which owns the shopping centers where both Kmarts are located in New York and Florida – told Newsday that the Bridgehampton store will indeed be closing.
KMART CLOSES NEW JERSEY LOCATION
The Kmart location in Bridgehampton has been open for 25 years, according to Newsday.
Transformco says on its website that the first Kmart discount department store opened in 1962 in Garden City, Michigan.
The company filed for bankruptcy in 2002 before merging with Sears years later, then filed for bankruptcy again in 2018.
The other remaining Kmart location in the continental U.S. is at Kendale Lakes Plaza in Miami.
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The Miami Herald reports that the Kmart store there leased out nearly all of its former space to home goods store At Home. That Kmart location has now been reduced to what used to be the garden department of the original store.
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A Kimco Realty Corp. leasing representative told the newspaper that Kmart has a “long-term lease” at the Kendale Lakes location.
WNBA rookie Angel Reese MVP vote sparks scrutiny on social media
Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese had a solid rookie season in the WNBA and might have made a run for the Rookie of the Year award if not for a wrist injury.
However, a potential WNBA MVP run was not in the cards for Reese, nor was it really for any other rookie, though some had thrown Caitlin Clark’s name in the ring as she helped lead the Indiana Fever to a nice run post Olympics to get the team into the playoffs as a No. 6 seed.
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Clark did finish fourth in the WNBA MVP voting, though she did not earn any first-place votes as Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson won the hardware unanimously. Reese garnered exactly one vote.
Reese received a fourth-place vote for the award, which earned her three points. She averaged a double-double – 13.6 points and 13.1 rebounds per game. Reese earning the vote sparked questions on social media.
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“Woke up again a very blessed girl. a very happy girl,” Reese wrote on X.
Chicago failed to make the playoffs after making it five consecutive times and winning the WNBA title in 2021 under then-head coach James Wade.
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Chennedy Carter led the team with 17.5 points per game and only started 20 of the 35 games she appeared in. She did not receive an MVP vote. Marina Mabrey had 14 points per game, but she was traded to the Connecticut Sun before the Olympic break. Reese was behind her in that category.
County vows to stop giving out free handouts — homeless population quickly craters
Due south of Denver’s homelessness crisis, a Colorado county has nearly eradicated its own unhoused population with a simple message to its citizens: “Handouts Don’t Help.”
Throughout Douglas County, there are about 70 signs with the message at intersections and roadways that were once popular hangouts for area panhandlers. Each sign directs citizens to DouglasHasHeart.org, where they can redirect their donations to the Douglas County Community Foundation. The county took to print media and advertisements online to spread the message through the community.
“The thought dawned on me from a common sense standpoint – I saw a lot of people like my daughter feeling conflicted at an intersection,” Republican Douglas County Commissioner Abe Laydon said of the initiative.
“If you see someone who appears to be down on their luck, it feels bad when you drive by and don’t do something – but the flip side is we all know the stories of those who maybe did not use all the funds they received in the most appropriate way. Maybe it’s going to food, maybe it’s going to drugs – you don’t know where the money is going.”
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“It seems like the more you give at those particular corners, the more people it attracts. It becomes a conversation topic on the streets – if you go to this corner, you’ll get money there,” he continued.
Now, Laydon said, intersections and street corners where the homeless once loitered are clear.
Between 2022 and 2024, Douglas County saw a steep drop-off in people living on its streets, from 43 individuals to just six, according to their most recent point-in-time count report conducted by several nonprofits. Including those sleeping in their cars and in area shelters, numbers decreased from 96 total homeless people to 69, per the count.
On that day, July 29, there were no panhandlers or encampments spotted throughout the county’s five jurisdictions.
Based on its own point-in-time counts, which include those housed in shelters and on the streets, Denver counted 9,065 homeless individuals in 2023, up from 6,884 counted in 2022.
“I saw it coming from Denver – people would get off the light rail, not pay for a ticket, get off at Long Tree,” Laydon said. “Next thing you know they’re asking for money on a corner.”
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Laydon said he first conceived of the “Handouts Don’t Help” concept when he was volunteering in the town of Lone Tree with his son and encountered a homeless encampment at the intersection of Lincoln and I-25 “littered with liquor bottles and drug paraphernalia.”
“It was kind of everywhere, but never as bad as downtown Denver – we started at a good place,” Laydon said. “[Our smaller homeless population] gave us the opportunity to nip this problem in the bud before it became really pervasive.”
Laydon said Douglas County’s Homeless Engagement, Assistance and Resource Team – which pairs behavioral health experts with area police officers in their interactions with the homeless – made 250 contacts with the homeless population when the initiative first started in 2022.
In five branded vehicles, the HEART Team approaches each homeless individual reported, offering them services to get back on their feet.
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“If people need services, they’re getting them. They’re getting hotel vouchers, we’re partnering with Ready to Work,” Laydon said. “If somebody needs a job, they will get one. If they need a bus ticket back to their family in Tennessee, we’ve done that. If someone needs food for a night or a week, they’ll get it.”
If the homeless refuse help, HEART team navigator Tiffany Marsitto said, their team keeps trying.
“I had an individual who was service resistant in the beginning during our first couple of interactions. He was going through a mental health crisis. [Four months later], when he was ready to reengage with our team we were there for him. We helped him fill out an application for a housing opportunity in the Metro region,” Marsitto said.
“People may not be ready today but could be ready in the future,” she said. “They see our face, they know that we’re there and they know that our team cares. They know that our community cares about them, us continuing to engage with these folks goes a long way.”
Moreover, camping is illegal in Douglas County – the HEART Team said they don’t often issue tickets, but instead use this to encourage their contacts to check into area homeless shelters.
“Our goal is compliance, to use the ordinance to get the unhoused individuals to find a better solution,” HEART team navigator Rand Clark explained. “Very rarely does someone want to intentionally break the law. We’ve been able to use that tool from a positive perspective, to say that our county ordinance is that you maybe can’t sleep here, so how can we help you find a shelter in a place where you want to be and are not breaking the law.”
However, Laydon said, “illegal activity is illegal activity, whoever you are.”
“If you are urinating, defecating outside, doing drug deals in our light rail system, it doesn’t matter if you have a home or not – you’re going to get arrested,” he told Fox News Digital.
Thus far, the Douglas County Community Fund has received $11,000 in donations, many from citizens who saw their signage. The Douglas County Homeless Initiative, which includes HEART, was funded with federal American Rescue Plan funds rather than tax dollars.
The “Handouts Don’t Help” initiative, Laydon said, could “be done everywhere from main street to Wall Street.”
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“It is a behavior change that is systemic that could stem the tide of homelessness in every community throughout the country,” he said.
When asked whether such an approach could curb homeless populations in Denver, Colorado Coalition for the Homeless chief communications and public policy officer Cathy Alderman was less hopeful about the prospect.
“We applaud any jurisdiction working to address homelessness, but as they do not provide shelter or robust services, and we know they are bussing people to other cities and counties for help, it’s hard to believe that being unwelcoming to people experiencing homelessness is a true solution to the problem,” she wrote via email.
Caitlin Clark’s boyfriend reacts to her WNBA Rookie of the Year win with one word
For Connor McCaffrey, there was no other choice for the AP WNBA Rookie of the Year for the 2024 season.
Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark was named the award winner on Sunday, hours before the team fell in Game 1 of its postseason matchup to the Connecticut Sun. Clark was named the unanimous winner of the award, and it led to her boyfriend’s one-word response.
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“Duh,” he wrote on his Instagram Stories.
Clark was also named to the All-WNBA First Team and All-WNBA Rookie Team. She also finished fourth in WNBA MVP award voting, though Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson won the award unanimously.
“This is a tremendous honor to be named The Associated Press Rookie of the Year,” she said. “This recognition wouldn’t be possible without an incredible group of teammates and coaches, and we are looking forward to continuing an exciting regular season in the postseason.”
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The Fever guard broke the league’s single-season assist mark (337) and scored the most points ever for a rookie (769) en route to leading Indiana to the postseason.
Clark started all 40 regular-season games for the Fever and averaged 19.2 points per game. She was the first rookie to record a triple-double and the first player in Fever’s franchise history to record a triple-double. She set the WNBA record for most assists in a game with 19 against the Dallas Wings in July.
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McCaffrey recently accepted a position with the Butler Bulldogs men’s basketball program under head coach Thad Matta.