Biden’s answer when asked if he would support Israel striking Iran’s nuclear sites
President Biden said Wednesday that he would not support an attack by Israel on Iranian nuclear sites in retaliation for Iran’s firing of 181 missiles at Israel amid fears that a lethal regional war is around the corner.
On Wednesday, a day after the massive attack and after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Iran would pay for the attack, Biden briefly spoke with reporters before boarding Air Force One.
He said all the leaders on a recent call – France, Canada, Japan, Britain, Italy and Germany – agreed that Israel had the right to “proportionally” respond to Iran’s military strike.
“We’ll be discussing with the Israelis what they’re going to do, but all seven of us [G7 nations] agree that they have a right to respond, but they should respond proportionally,” he said.
ISRAEL URGES UN TO CONDEMN IRAN AFTER LATEST ATTACKS
But when asked whether he would back Israel striking Iranian nuclear sites as it has long threatened, Biden told reporters, “The answer is no.”
ISRAEL STRIKES HEZBOLLAH TARGETS IN LEBANON
Biden said more sanctions would be imposed on Iran and that he would speak with Netanyahu soon.
“Obviously, Iran is way off course,” he said.
Iran’s missile attack escalated tensions in the region, where the Biden administration has for months led negotiations on a cease-fire in the nearly year-old Israel-Hamas war.
ISRAEL’S ‘SWORN ENEMY’ HEZBOLLAH TELLS IRAN IT WOULD FIGHT ALONE IF CONFLICT ESCALATES
The recent assault on Israel follows the Biden administration souring on the prospects of an end to the war between Israel and Hamas.
“We aren’t any closer to that now than we were even a week ago,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby previously told reporters. He called the prospects of a completed deal “daunting.”
“No deal is imminent,” one U.S. official told the Wall Street Journal. “I’m not sure it ever gets done.”
During Tuesday’s vice presidential debate with Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Democrat nominee Vice President Harris’ “steady leadership” in the region is necessary.
“What we’ve seen out of Vice President Harris is we’ve seen steady leadership. We’ve seen a calmness that is able to be able to draw on the coalitions, to bring them together, understanding that our allies matter. When our allies see Donald Trump turn towards Vladimir Putin, turn towards North Korea, when we start to see that type of fickleness around holding the coalitions together, we will stay committed,” he said.
“And as the vice president said today, we will protect our forces and our allied forces, and there will be consequences,” he said.
Vance voiced support for GOP nominee former President Trump’s “peace through strength” policy toward Israel.
“Donald Trump recognized that for people to fear the United States, you need peace through strength,” Vance said. “They needed to recognize that if they got out of line, the United States’ global leadership would put stability and peace back in the world.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Vance said it is “up to Israel” how they choose to respond.
“Now, you asked about a preemptive strike, Margaret, and I want to answer the question,” he said during the debate. “Look, it is up to Israel what they think they need to do to keep their country safe,” he said. “And we should support our allies wherever they are when they’re fighting the bad guys. I think that’s the right approach to take with the Israel question.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the State Department and the White House for comment.
Vance fulfills debate pledge after moderator asks him to explain ‘what evidence’ he has
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, followed through on his promise to cite the source of a claim he made about immigration driving up U.S. housing costs during the CBS News Vice Presidential Debate on Tuesday night.
In the showdown with fellow vice presidential hopeful Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Vance blamed Vice President Kamala Harris‘ border policies for allowing “25 million illegal aliens” into the U.S. during her tenure in the Biden-Harris administration, saying the surge of migrants has contributed to higher housing prices.
“Competing with Americans for scarce homes is one of the most significant drivers of home prices in the country,” Vance said. “It’s why we have massive increases in home prices that have happened right alongside massive increases in illegal aliens, alien populations under Kamala Harris’ leadership.”
A moderator then asked Vance to cite the source of his claim, saying, “Senator, on that point, I’d like for you to clarify there are many contributing factors to high housing costs. What evidence do you have that migrants are part of this problem?”
IRS DATA CHALLENGES WALZ’S CLAIM THAT TRUMP TAX CUTS ‘PREDOMINANTLY WENT TO THE TOP GUYS’
“Well, there’s a Federal Reserve study that we’re happy to share after the debate,” Vance said. “We’ll put it up on social media, actually, that really drills down on the connection between increased levels of migration, especially illegal immigration and higher housing prices.”
Following the debate, Vance posted on X, “As promised earlier tonight, here is Michelle Bowman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors: ‘Given the current low inventory of affordable housing, the inflow of new immigrants to some geographic areas could result in upward pressure on rents.’”
JD VANCE VERSUS TIM WALZ: A TALE OF TWO LEGISLATIVE RECORDS
Bowman’s quote was from a speech the Fed governor made on May 3.
Vance also pointed to two studies supporting his claims. The first was from the Journal of Housing Economics from 2017, which found that “Immigration inflows into a particular Metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is associated with increases in rents and with house prices in that MSA while also seeming to drive up rents and prices in neighboring MSAs.”
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
The second study Vance cited was a July report from the Congressional Budget Office, which said that the “research literature has generally found that increases in immigration raise state and local governments’ spending — particularly on education, health care, and housing — more than their revenues.”
Melania Trump on the ‘grueling’ election cycle and why the 2024 campaign is different
Former first lady Melania Trump said the 2024 presidential election differs from previous elections because the country is much more divided.
“We are dealing with much more danger,” she said Wednesday on “Hannity.” “And especially, we see what’s going on in the world and the threats that we get. And my husband, what he went through in the last few months,” Melania Trump continued, referring to two assassination attempts on former President Trump’s life.
Would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks fired several shots at the GOP presidential nominee during his Butler, Pa., rally in July before he was shot and killed by a counter sniper.
TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: WHISTLEBLOWERS CLAIM THEY WERE ‘WOEFULLY UNPREPARED’ TO PROVIDE SECURITY
A few months later, Ryan Wesley Routh, a 58-year-old from Hawaii, was spotted by a Secret Service advance agent, allegedly poking a rifle out of the tree line near Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course. He’s since been charged with the attempted assassination of a presidential candidate, among a slew of other charges.
Melania Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity that people need to learn to listen to each other again and respect differences of opinion.
“I think we need to have – we have different perspectives, we have different beliefs. We need to respect our freedom of speech and of our individuality. I think it’s very important that ideas are heard, that we have very, very straightforward communications, and we share the idea with debate,” the former first lady said.
“Because I think with that, we could have innovation and success in this country. I feel it’s a troubling trade in this country that we are canceling people that don’t agree on certain issues.”
Melania Trump admitted the election cycle is a long and grueling process, particularly in the weeks and days leading up to November, but she’s “in it” and tries to “enjoy it” as much as she can.
“You need to be very focused and take it day by day. Some surprises come as well, so it is very important that you prepare for those surprises,” she said, adding her calmness is what gets her through Election Day itself.
“That’s maybe my personality. And because I know on Election Day, it’s all in the people’s hands. People decide what they want for this country, and it will be again this year on Nov. 5.”
JUDGE UNSEALS KEY FILING IN SPECIAL COUNSEL’S ELECTION CASE AGAINST TRUMP
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The former first lady has been promoting the release of her memoir “Melania,” which is set to come out Oct. 8. It details her life before, during and after the White House and the challenges she faced being in the public eye.
Former VP Harris adviser lashes out at Walz after debate: ‘Why should they vote for you?’
MSNBC host Symone Sanders-Townsend criticized Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., for being too agreeable with his opponent Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, during the vice presidential debate on Tuesday.
The showdown between Walz and Vance was noticeably cordial throughout the evening, despite their ideological differeances. Sanders-Townsend, who served as chief spokesperson and senior adviser for Vice President Kamala Harris before joining MSNBC in 2022, suggested that if Walz and Vance have so much in common, it’s a mystery why voters wouldn’t support the Republican ticket.
“Debates are about performance, and they are about policy. And why this debate was very important is that there are many Americans out there, not just moderate Republicans, there are base Democratic voters that are saying they want to and need to hear more. Now, I think it is very fair for people to want to criticize those base Democratic voters who say, ‘Well, what more do you need?’ You can do that. But that is their lived reality, and so if you are trying to win their votes, you have to meet them where they are,” she said. “There were so many niceties on that debate stage tonight, I am just kind of like, well, if you agree so much with J.D. Vance, why should they vote for you?”
She went on to argue that both candidates were strategically putting on a dishonest performance.
VANCE, WALZ SPAR OVER ABORTION AND IMMIGRATION IN FIRST AND ONLY VP DEBATE
“I fully believe that Gov. Walz went out there tonight and did what was practiced in debate prep, did what the strategy was that the team put together. That was not the Gov. Walz that we — that I had seen out on the campaign trail. That’s not the Gov.Walz that I had seen during the veepstakes, right?” she said. “That was not the J.D. Vance that I know to be true. I mean, goodness! J.D. Vance was on that stage, he was sorry about Amber Thurman, he was — he was sorry about — he was sorry about a lot of stuff. He — ‘We get things wrong.’ But do you agree with the policy?”
Sanders-Townsend, who also hosts a weekend show on MSNBC, also took aim at the CBS moderators Norah O’Donnell and Margret Brennan.
“That’s not the Margaret and Norah that I know! Margaret don’t do that on Sunday morning,” she said.
WALZ FORCED TO CORRECT RECORD ON WHETHER HE WAS IN CHINA FOR THE TIANANMEN SQUARE PROTESTS
After the debate, Walz was criticized for coming off as nervous and not as polished as Vance.
“I think JD Vance strategically went in to do ‘Midwestern nice’ to disarm Tim Walz. And Tim Walz kind of took the bait so he wasn’t in fighting mode. There were some fact checks he could have done that he dropped the ball on,” “The View” host Alyssa Farrah Griffin said.
“Vance was far nimbler than the nervous Tim Walz, especially in the first half of the debate. But as the debate went on, Vance stumbled on two issues — abortion and the 2020 election — where his rhetorical skill could not salvage the very unappealing material he was working with,” Josh Barro, author of the newsletter Very Serious, wrote.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Denzel Washington reportedly ‘screamed’ at Diddy during party before ‘storming out’
Denzel Washington and Sean “Diddy” Combs allegedly had their own private issues aired publicly more than 20 years ago.
Washington, 69, reportedly stood up to the disgraced rapper, 54, at an all-night party in 2003, a source told US Weekly.
It’s unclear why the Oscar-winning actor was upset with Diddy, but he reportedly had enough and confronted the billionaire Bad Boy Entertainment founder.
DIDDY INVITED PRINCE WILLIAM, PRINCE HARRY TO ‘WILD’ PARTIES, BUT ROYALS ‘DODGED A BULLET’: EXPERT
“Denzel screamed, ‘You don’t respect anyone,'” the insider recalled.
Shortly after the incident, Denzel and his wife abruptly left the festivities.
DIDDY FACES NEW SEXUAL ABUSE ALLEGATIONS FROM 120 ACCUSERS, WITH CLAIMS INVOLVING 9-YEAR-OLD: LAWYER
“Denzel screamed, ‘You don’t respect anyone.'”
“[Denzel and his wife, Pauletta] had been partying until dawn [with Diddy], and they had seen something and stormed out,” the source said. It’s unclear what the couple witnessed at the event.
Fox News Digital has reached out to representatives for both Washington and Combs.
TMZ PRESENTS: THE DOWNFALL OF DIDDY
The reported rift that night didn’t appear to affect their friendship, as Diddy and Denzel had been seen together through the years at various public events, including basketball games and President Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration.
More than 100 accusers reportedly came forward alleging “rape, sexual assault and sexual exploitation” claims against Diddy, with the youngest accuser being 9 years old, Houston attorney Tony Buzbee said Tuesday during a press conference. Buzbee acknowledged there were more minors involved in the lawsuits, which have yet to be filed.
WATCH: SEAN ‘DIDDY’ COMBS ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ASSAULT BY MORE THAN 100 VICTIMS
“When we talk about the ages of the victims when the conduct occurred, it’s shocking,” Buzbee said during the conference. “The youngest victim at the time of the occurrence was 9 years old. We have an individual who was 14 years old. We have one who was 15. Twenty-five of the 120 individuals who are plaintiffs in these cases were minors at the time of the acts complained of.”
LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
He added, “The day will come when we will name names other than Sean Combs, and there’s a lot of names. It’s a long list already, but because of the nature of this case, we are going to make damn sure — damn sure — that we’re right before we do that.
“The names will shock you.”
“The day will come when we will name names other than Sean Combs, and there’s a lot of names. It’s a long list already, but because of the nature of this case, we are going to make damn sure — damn sure — that we’re right before we do that.”
Diddy was arrested Sept. 16 and charged the following day with racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution.
The rapper entered a not guilty plea hours after an indictment detailing his alleged sex crimes was unsealed. If found guilty, he faces a minimum of 15 years behind bars or a maximum sentence of life in prison.
WATCH ON FOX NATION: WHAT DIDDY DO?
Authorities alleged Diddy ran a criminal enterprise through his businesses, including Bad Boy Entertainment, Combs Enterprises and Combs Global, among others. He used “firearms, threats of violence, coercion and verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse” to fulfill his sexual desires, according to the unsealed indictment obtained by Fox News Digital.
Diddy and his employees would “intimidate, threaten, and lure female victims into Combs’ orbit, often under the pretense of a romantic relationship. Combs allegedly then used force, threats of force and coercion to cause victims to engage in extended sex acts with male commercial sex workers that Combs referred to as, among other things, ‘freak offs.'”
Prior to the U.S. Attorney’s press conference in September, Combs’ attorney said they plan to fight for the rapper to be released.
“His spirits are good. He’s confident,” Combs’ attorney, Marc Agnifilo, said outside the courthouse Sept. 17. “He is dealing with this head-on, the way he’s dealt with every challenge in his life. And he’s not guilty. He’s innocent of these charges. He’s going to plead not guilty, obviously. He’s going to fight this with all of his energy and all of his might and the full confidence of his lawyers. And I expect a long battle with a good result for Mr. Combs.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Questions on MIT entrance exam from 1869 are giving some a big boost of confidence
A section of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) entrance exam from 1869 recently went viral, and many of the questions astonished social media users.
A portion of the exam was posted on r/Damnthatsinteresting, a subreddit with 17 million members. The image, which garnered over 37,000 upvotes and 1,800 comments, stirred a discussion about how college admissions standards have changed over the past 155 years.
The algebra portion of the exam consisted of basic questions, which users found surprising, considering MIT is one of the most prestigious universities in the world today.
One of the questions says, “Solve 7x – 5y = 24, 4x – 3y = 11,” which is considered a beginner algebra question in U.S. high schools today. Other questions ask prospective students to simplify two-variable expressions, also considered basic algebra.
MYSTERIOUS GRAVESTONE IN VIRGINIA REVEALS 400-YEAR-OLD SECRETS: ARCHAEOLOGISTS
Many of the commentators were not impressed by the exam’s questions.
“Good to know that I could have joined MIT in 1870,” one Reddit user said.
“HOLY MOLY I could get into MIT back in 1869,” another wrote.
DIVERS FIND 130-YEAR-OLD SHIPWRECK WITH INTRIGUING PAST HIDDEN IN LAKE MICHIGAN
While some users found the questions surprisingly easy, others admitted they probably wouldn’t have passed the exam — then or now.
“I can’t do this in 2024,” one person said.
“Today I learned I’m dumb in 1869-1870 times,” a different user lamented.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER
Other readers noted that getting accepted to the university probably wasn’t as easy as it appeared.
“This section is titled algebra,” one Redditor said. “The sections titled analytical trigonometry and differential equations probably paint a different picture.”
“Might be a bit easy for today’s senior high schoolers, but what I like to note is that the exam is, trivially, designed to be solved with almost no calculations, as obviously calculators were not to be a thing for another century,” another chimed in.
Despite making its rounds on the Internet recently, the exam has been public for many years. In 2009, the MIT website shared an image of the test and explained the school’s early history.
“Sure, MIT’s acceptance rate is hovering around a record 10% right now, but back in the late 19th century, it was a different story,” the post explained. “The first class of students who registered in 1865 weren’t required to take formal entrance exams.
“They just needed to be ‘properly prepared’ … Fast forward a few years when, in 1869, the MIT Corporation finally decided to add qualifying exams in required subject areas, including English, Geometry, Algebra, and Arithmetic.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Fox News Digital reached out to MIT for additional comment.
Voters quickly react to Vance fact-checking moderators, Walz’s ‘knucklehead’ remark
A Fox News Digital focus group of Republicans, Democrats and independents reacted to key moments from the CBS News Vice Presidential Debate between Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday night, offering real-time responses to the candidates’ statements.
In a focus group hosted by Lee Carter, participants across the political spectrum used dials showing their favorable, unfavorable or neutral responses to Vance and Walz. Their reactions gave insights into how the voters who will help decide the election felt about the demeanor, character and policies of the two men, one of whom will be the next vice president.
Here are some of the most significant voter reactions from Tuesday night’s focus group.
WALZ STUNS INTERNET WITH VP DEBATE GAFFE: ‘I’VE BECOME FRIENDS WITH SCHOOL SHOOTERS’
Vance’s stance on immigration crisis during debate: ‘Stop the bleeding’
Vance’s argument that the U.S. needed to “stop the bleeding” at the border during Tuesday’s debate elicited a mixed response from voters.
Vance received mixed responses when he said, “Before we talk about deportations, we have to stop the bleeding… we have a historic immigration crisis because Kamala Harris started and said that she wanted to undo all of Donald Trump’s border policies.”
While Republican views of Vance’s answers had an immediate positive response, Democratic viewers of the debate went in an opposite direction, the dials showed. Independents, meanwhile, hovered around a neutral response to Vance’s answer.
Voters began to see Vance’s response in a more positive light when he touched on former President Trump’s border policies, arguing that the next administration should return to handling the border similar to how Trump did during his four years in office.
Walz says ‘most of us want to solve’ migrant crisis
Democrats and independents reacted moderately-to-highly favorable to Walz’s rejoinder on the migrant crisis and his criticism of the Trump administration.
Walz touted the bipartisan immigration bill that Trump pushed to kill earlier this year and defended Kamala Harris’ record in California on the issue. Republicans were unfavorable to Walz but independents and Democrats gave him high marks throughout his answer.
“Pass the bill, she’ll sign it,” Walz said.
Vance claims he and Donald Trump support ‘clean air, clean water’
Republican, Democrat and independent voters reacted differently when Vance stated that he and Trump support “clean air, clean water” when climate change was brought up at the debate.
“Look, a lot of people are justifiably worried about all these crazy weather patterns. I think it’s important for us, first of all, to say, Donald Trump and I support clean air, clean water. We want the environment to be cleaner and safer,” Vance said.
The Fox News Debate Dial showed support among independents and Democrats dipping downward when Vance made that statement. Support among Republicans remained fairly consistent.
But support among independent viewers began to rise again when Vance referenced how Democrats bring up carbon emissions when discussing climate change.
“This idea that carbon emissions drives all of the climate change. Well, let’s just say that’s true just for the sake of argument. So we’re not arguing about weird science. Let’s just say that’s true,” Vance said. “Well, if you believe that, what would you — would you want to do? The answer is that you’d want to restore as much American manufacturing as possible, and you’d want to produce as much energy as possible in the United States of America, because we’re the cleanest economy in the entire world.”
Walz dodges Tiananmen Square question: ‘I’m a knucklehead at times’
One of Walz’s most difficult moments at the debate received poor to middling reviews across the board from the focus group.
Moderators confronted Walz on his prior claim that he was present at the Tiananmen Square protests in Hong Kong in 1989, when he didn’t travel to Asia until later that year. Walz gave a meandering answer that showed sub-par responses from Democrats, Republicans and independents almost throughout his entire comment, which didn’t directly address the discrepancy.
At one point, he admitted he could be a “knucklehead.” He eventually admitted he’d misspoke.
Walz’s support among Republicans dipped to its lowest point – under 10% – when he said former President Donald Trump would have benefited from participating in one of his China trips, arguing Trump would never have befriended Chinese President Xi Jinping.
DISGRACED EX-CBS NEW ANCHOR DAN RATHER SAYS OLD NETWORK LOOKING TO AVOID ‘BLOWBACK’ ABC RECEIVED
Vance claims ‘you’re fact checking me’ to debate moderators, has mic cut off
Despite CBS announcing that it would not allow live fact-checking during the debate, moderator Margaret Brennan interjected to correct Vance after he suggested that illegal immigrants are overwhelming public resources in Springfield, Ohio.
Independent and Republican voters disapproved of the interjection, but independent voters dipped significantly when Vance began explaining his stance.
Vance addresses previous criticism of Trump: ‘I was wrong about Donald Trump’
Independents were mixed, while Republicans were highly favorable of Vance saying he was “wrong” about Trump in the past when confronted about his past criticism of his running mate.
“Sometimes, of course, I’ve disagreed with the president, but I’ve also been extremely open about the fact that I was wrong about Donald Trump. I was wrong, first of all, because I believed some of the media stories that turned out to be dishonest fabrications of his record,” Vance said.
Walz claims abortion is a ‘basic human right’
When Walz was asked whether he supports abortion up until the ninth month as Minnesota is one of the least restrictive states for abortion, he responded, “That’s not what the bill says.”
While Republican voters dipped significantly as Walz spoke, independent and Democratic voters stayed mostly in the approval zone.
“What we did is restore Roe v. Wade, we made sure that we put women in charge of their health care,” Walz said.
Independents dipped slightly in approval while Democratic voters shot up during his statement. The two eventually evened out and stayed in the approval zone.
“This is a basic human right,” he later said.
The independent voters stayed slightly under the Democratic approval line, as Republicans significantly disapproved.
Interaction between Walz and Vance on former’s son witnessing shooting: ‘Christ have mercy’
Vance received a positive reaction across the board from Democrats, Republicans and Independents when he told Walz he was sorry his son was once a witness to a shooting.
“I didn’t know that your 17-year-old witnessed a shooting, and I’m sorry about that,” the senator told Walz.
“I appreciate it,” Walz said.
“Christ have mercy,” Vance remarked.
Vance says he’s focused on the future when asked if Trump won 2020 election
Independents gave Vance an immediate low rating when he said he was focused on the future after Walz asked him if Trump lost the 2020 election.
Republicans on the Fox News Debate Dial had been unimpressed with Walz’s line of questioning and the dial went down, with the approval staying generally the same with Vance’s answers, but the dials for independents and Democrats took a sharp dive as Vance brushed off the question. It dove the sharpest among independents.
Liberal media pundits repeatedly played and discussed the clip in the debate’s aftermath, saying it was one of Walz’s strongest moments in a night that Vance otherwise controlled.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP