Former Republican Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger announces his 2024 endorsement
Arnold Schwarzenegger
endorsed Kamala Harris for president in a lengthy X post Wednesday.
Schwarzenegger, the Austrian-American bodybuilder and actor known for his role in “The Terminator” served as the Republican governor of California from 2003 to 2011.
“Let me be honest with you: I don’t like either party right now. My Republicans have forgotten the beauty of the free market, driven up deficits, and rejected election results. Democrats aren’t any better at dealing with deficits, and I worry about their local policies hurting our cities with increased crime,” Schwarzenegger wrote. It is probably not a surprise that I hate politics more than ever, which, if you are a normal person who isn’t addicted to this crap, you probably understand.”
“I want to tune out. But I can’t,” Schwarzenegger continued. “Because rejecting the results of an election is as un-American as it gets. To someone like me who talks to people all over the world and still knows America is the shining city on a hill, calling America is a trash can for the world is so unpatriotic, it makes me furious.”
“And I will always be an American before I am a Republican,” he said. “That’s why, this week, I am voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. I’m sharing it with all of you because I think there are a lot of you who feel like I do. You don’t recognize our country. And you are right to be furious.”
Schwarzenegger turned his criticism toward Republican nominee Donald Trump.
“But a candidate who won’t respect your vote unless it is for him, a candidate who will send his followers to storm the Capitol while he watches with a Diet Coke, a candidate who has shown no ability to work to pass any policy besides a tax cut that helped his donors and other rich people like me but helped no one else else, a candidate who thinks Americans who disagree with him are the bigger enemies than China, Russia, or North Korea – that won’t solve our problems,” Schwarzenegger wrote. “It will just be four more years of bullsh– with no results that makes us angrier and angrier, more divided, and more hateful.”
“We need to close the door on this chapter of American history, and I know that former President Trump won’t do that,” Schwarzenegger wrote. “He will divide, he will insult, he will find new ways to be more un-American than he already has been, and we, the people, will get nothing but more anger.”
While Schwarzenegger said he has “plenty of disagreements” with the platform of Harris and running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the actor said he wants “to move forward as a country” and “I think the only way to do that is with Harris and Walz.”
“Vote this week,” he said, sharing a link to Vote.org. “Turn the page and put this junk behind us.”
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares on Wednesday called the Supreme Court’s order halting a lower court’s decision to reinstate hundreds of potential noncitizens to the state’s voter rolls “a huge win for the rule of law.”
“This is just a huge win for the rule of law,” Miyares told Fox News Digital shortly after the Supreme Court issued its order. “It ensures that Virginia will be allowed to follow our laws that make sure that noncitizens are not on our voter rolls for next week’s elections, that we’re not going to be forced to be putting 1,500 plus noncitizens back on our rolls.”
“I’m very grateful that the Supreme Court recognized the importance of the issue and they made this decision in such a short timeframe,” Miyares said. “It’s really just a reaffirmation of our commitment to both election integrity and making sure that our electoral process remains secure for all Virginians.”
Miyares went on to applaud the team at the Virginia Attorney General’s office for the “amount of hard work these past two weeks upholding and defending Virginia law.”
“And I’m very, very proud of my team because their commitment to the rule of law has been exemplary during this process,” Miyares said. A divided Court granted the state’s stay application pending appeal in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday. Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson notably would have denied the application.
The decision proves a victory for Gov. Glenn Youngkin just days after the state had filed an emergency appeal to the high court to halt a lower court decision ordering it to restore the names of approximately 1,600 individuals to its voter rolls.
Two prominent New Hampshire Republicans said they are voting for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket this year.
Encouraging fellow Republicans to do the same, former state Attorney General Tom Rath and former U.S. Sen. Gordon Humphrey sat down for an on-camera interview with WMUR to explain why they are not voting for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
“I think this is an extraordinary moment in our history, and it’s one of the most important and consequential presidential campaigns in my lifetime,” Rath told WMUR.
“I think this is an election that completely oversteps any partisan identification,” the former state attorney general said. “This is not a Republican vote or a Democratic vote. This is a vote that speaks to what we want ourselves to be and what we want our government to be.”
“He’s dangerous to our safety, dangerous to peace, dangerous to democracy and freedom,” Humphrey said of Trump. “I voted for Republicans
for more than 50 years. I can’t vote for Trump, as a father, as a grandfather, as a veteran, as a former U.S. senator.”
“There’s something wrong with Donald Trump up here,” the former senator added, gesturing to his head. “I’m not a psychiatrist, but I have been around a few decades, and I know something amiss when I see it.”
“The danger that Donald Trump poses to democracy are his frequent praises of dictators like Vladimir Putin,” Humphrey told WMUR. “This is astonishing.”
Vice President Harris
responded to President Biden’s “garbage” remark about supporters of former President Trump from the tarmac on Wednesday morning.
“I think that first of all, he clarified his comments, but let me be clear, I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” Harris said.
Harris, referring to her Tuesday night speech from the Ellipse near the White House, reiterated on Wednesday how voters will decide “who we are as a nation and whether we are going to be a nation of people who attempt to unify and breakthrough this era of divisiveness or are we going to be a nation of people who have a president stewing in the Oval Office over his enemies list?”
“You heard my speech last night and continuously throughout my career,” Harris said. “I believe that the work that I do is about representing all the people whether they support me or not, and as president of the United States I will be a president for all Americans whether you vote for me or not.”
Harris told reporters she spoke with Biden Tuesday night but his “garbage” comment did not come up during their conversation.
“He did call me last night but this didn’t come up,” Harris said.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to take up an emergency challenge from Virginia temporarily halting a federal judge’s decision that ordered it to reinstate hundreds of potential noncitizens to the state’s voter rolls.
The decision is a victory for Gov. Glenn Youngkin, and comes just days after the state of Virginia filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court to halt a lower court decision ordering it to restore the names of some 1,600 individuals to its voter rolls.
At the heart of the case is whether Virginia’s voter removal process violates a so-called quiet period under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), or a federal law requiring states to halt all “systematic” voter roll maintenance for a 90-day period before a federal election.
That argument pitted the Department of Justice—which sued the state over its removal program earlier this month— against Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who insisted the state’s process is “individualized” and conducted in accordance with state and federal law.
With just days until the election, the court’s decision is expected to be under a microscope.
Virginia’s voter roll maintenance program was implemented in August and compares the state Department of Motor Vehicles’ list of self-identified noncitizens to its list of registered voters. Individuals without citizenship were flagged and informed that their voter registration would be canceled unless they could prove their citizenship in 14 days.
Kamala Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, addressed derisive comments by President Biden about supporters of Donald Trump in an interview on ABC News.
“The president’s clarified his remark,” Walz told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Wednesday.
“Let’s be very clear the vice president and I have made it absolutely clear that we want everyone that’s a part of this. Donald Trump’s divisive rhetoric is what needs to end,’ Walz said. “He called this a ‘garbage country’ and continues on with the ‘enemy from within,’.”
“You heard Vice President Harris say and what I say is there’s a place for all of us,” he added. “And I think that’s the one, she’s running for president, she’s making the message, and she delivered that speech on Ellipse that showed what we can be as a country, so I think America knows the direction we’re going, and I think she’s laid out a new way forward, and that’s what we’re going to do for the next six days, and the rest eight years after that.”
President Biden says he wants to take pro-Trump comedian Tony Hinchliffe “for a swim” following the comic’s controversial remarks at Sunday’s Trump campaign rally at Madison Square Garden.
Biden made the off-the-cuff comment at Baltimore’s harbor in Maryland on Tuesday while promoting the effects of large spending bills under his administration.
“I’m proud to announce more than $3 billion in funding from my Inflation Reduction Act to help clean up and modernize ports in 27 different states and territories from Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and beyond — including, yes, Puerto Rico,” Biden said to the applauding crowd before making the throwaway comment.
“I’d like to take that guy for a swim out there, anyway,” Biden added, referring to Hinchliffe, as the audience chuckled.
“Steny’s looking at me, ‘Don’t get going Joe, don’t get going Joe, slow up,’” Biden said, referring to Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md, before getting back to his speech.
Biden did not elaborate about what he might do on the swim. After a wry smile and brief pause, Biden got back on script and continued his speech.
Biden’s taunt at Hinchliffe mirrored the 46th president’s jabs at former President Trump in 2016 when Biden said, “I wish we were in high school — I could take him behind the gym.”
Hinchiffe made jokes at Sunday’s massive rally mocking different ethnic groups, with one joke referring to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean.”
Former President Trump and Vice President Harris are in a deadlock tie in the battleground state of Michigan as the nation sits less than one week from Election Day.
A Wednesday poll from USA Today found that Trump and Harris are both tied at 47% among likely voters in Michigan. The poll surveyed 500 likely voters from Oct. 24 to Oct. 27, advertising a margin of error of 4.4%.
The poll also found Robert F. Kennedy Jr. receiving roughly 1% of the vote, despite him dropping out of the race and endorsing Trump. Kennedy’s efforts to get his name removed from ballots in Michigan have been unsuccessful, with the Michigan Supreme Court ruling against the move this fall.
The poll comes as Harris’ lead in a Reuters national poll has shrunk to just one point, with the vice president sitting at 44% to Trump’s 43%.
Kamala Harris
said her campaign is bringing “hope, joy,” in a new post Wednesday, as she has yet to address President Biden’s “garbage” description of former President Trump’s supporters.
“Our campaign is charting a new way forward with hope, joy, and action,” Harris wrote on X. “This road has taken us across the country, meeting voters where they are. And we aren’t done yet. We have 7 days left to make our voices heard in this election.”
On a call with Vote Latino on Tuesday, Biden was asked about a comment made Sunday during a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden in which comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”
“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” Biden said, appearing to describing the millions of Americans who have voted for Trump in past elections and new supporters.
Amid backlash, Biden claimed he was referring to only Hinchcliffe, and the White House released a transcript of the call that said “supporter’s,” in the possessive.
Former President Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, called out how one of Kamala Harris’ “biggest donors is doubling down on calling half the country ‘garbage.'”
Vinod Khosla
, co-founder of the giant tech company Sun Microsystems, wrote on X “Garbage is an understatement for MAGA extremists.” He responded to a story by the Associated Press titled, “Biden suggests Trump supporters are ‘garbage’ after comic’s insult of Puerto Rico.”
“Will Kamala and her campaign return his contributions?” Vance wrote Wednesday. “Or will they continue to insult half of the country for the sin of thinking Kamala Harris isn’t good at her job?”
The Harris campaign has been silent since Biden made his remark during a Zoom call on Tuesday with Voto Latino, one of the largest Latino voter and civic outreach organizations in the U.S. During the call, Biden was asked about a comment made Sunday during a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden in which comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”
“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” Biden said.
Amid backlash, Biden claimed he was referring to only Hinchcliffe, and the White House released a transcript of the call that said “supporter’s,” in the possessive.
Early in-person and mail-in ballots have begun pouring in across the country, and the tally in each state reveals mounting voter enthusiasm.
Recent polling suggests a razor-thin margin in the race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, and the results are expected to come down to each candidate’s performance in seven swing states: Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada and North Carolina.
States have long allowed at least some Americans to vote early, like members of the military and people with illnesses unable to get to the polls. Many states expanded eligibility in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the last presidential election, mail ballots tended to skew Democratic. In 2020, 60% of Democrats reported voting by mail, compared to 32% of Republicans, according to a 2021 study from the MIT Election Data and Science Lab.
As of Wednesday morning, more than 52 million ballots have been cast nationwide.
Fox News’ Bryan Llenas on how the Trump campaign is ramping up efforts in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and how this county could influence election results in the state.
President Biden’s “garbage” comment while talking about Trump supporters has the U.S. political world talking out loud. Everyone except Vice President Kamala Harris and top Democrats, that is.
The Harris campaign has been silent since Biden made his remark during a Zoom call on Tuesday with Voto Latino, one of the largest Latino voter and civic outreach organizations in the U.S.
During the call, Biden was asked about a comment made Sunday during a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden in which comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”
Outrage spewed from Democrats over the next two days saying Trump’s campaign should not refer to Puerto Rico like that. Then, as Harris was holding her last major campaign event — and not far from the White House — Biden was asked what he thought of Hinchcliffe’s comedy bit at the Trump rally in New York.
“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” Biden said on Tuesday. “[Trump’s] demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it is un-American.”
“Garbage” and “supporters” are the two words everyone latched onto after it was said. And it’s kept the Harris campaign to no words, just six days before the 2024 presidential election.Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment.
Furthermore, none of the top Democrats have openly spoken about Biden’s comments. Those who were openly defiant against Trump after Hinchcliffe’s comment at the rally have been mum since Biden made his remark.
Many top Republicans who are seeking reelection — like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Florida Sen. Rick Scott — have also been quiet since Biden called many of their voters “garbage.”
Based on the 74.2 million votes that Trump received in the 2020 election, according to the Federal Elections Commission, the sitting president called nearly half of the country’s voters “garbage.”
During the final week leading up to Election Day
on Nov. 5, former President Trump is making two brief detours from campaigning in the crucial seven battleground states that will likely determine if the Republican nominee or Vice President Kamala Harris wins the 2024 election.
On Thursday, which is Halloween, the former president will make a campaign stop in New Mexico, and Saturday he’ll visit Virginia. Both states were once key general election battlegrounds that have leaned blue the past two decades.
In fact, you’ve got to look back 20 years – to President George W. Bush’s re-election – to find the last GOP presidential nominee to carry both states.
So why, with time such a precious commodity for presidential campaigns and the clock quickly ticking toward Election Day
, is Trump spending time in New Mexico and Virginia?
Unlike his large rallies on Sunday in New York City and two weeks ago in southern California – deep blue states the Trump campaign has no illusions of flipping – the former president and his team see opportunities in Virginia and New Mexico.
“As President Trump has said, he will be a president for all Americans, including those in traditionally blue states that Kamala Harris and the Democrats have left behind. Kamala Harris’ dangerously liberal policies have failed Americans across the country – from the Bronx, to Virginia, and New Mexico – which is why President Trump is bringing his America First message and vision for hardworking families right to their front door,” Republican National Committee spokesperson Anna Kelley argued in a statement to Fox News.
There hasn’t been an abundance of polling in New Mexico, but most recent surveys indicate Harris with an upper single digit lead over Trump, although one survey suggests a tighter contest for the state’s five electoral votes.
“Trump is wasting his time coming to our state as polling shows New Mexicans are set to reject his MAGA extremism and divisive rhetoric yet again,” Democratic Party of New Mexico spokesperson Daniel Garcia claimed in a statement.
President Biden said Tuesday that supporters of former President Trump are “garbage,” although the president claims he was referring to a singular supporter — comedian Tony Hinchcliffe — in the possessive.
“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. And it’s un-American,” Biden said, referring to Hinchcliffe’s joke at a Trump rally in which he said Puerto Rico is a “floating island of garbage.”
Biden later attempted to clarify his comment.
“Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage—which is the only word I can think of to describe it,” Biden wrote on X. “His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That’s all I meant to say. The comments at that rally don’t reflect who we are as a nation.”
The White House also released a transcript of Biden’s remarks in which “supporter’s” is used rather than “supporters.”
“And just the other day, a speaker at his rally
called Puerto Rico a ‘floating island of garbage.’ Well, let me tell you something. I don’t — I — I don’t know the Puerto Rican that — that I know — or a Puerto Rico, where I’m fr- — in my home state of Delaware, they’re good, decent, honorable people. The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American. It’s totally contrary to everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been,” the transcript reads.
Vice President Harris and most other Democrats have not publicly reacted to Biden’s comment. Pennsylvania’s Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro, however, did respond to his statement.
“I’m giving you my fresh reaction to it,” Shapiro told Fox News Radio Political Analyst Josh Kraushaar. “I would never insult the good people of Pennsylvania or any Americans even if they chose to support a candidate that I didn’t support.”
Trump said to “please forgive” Biden for “not knowing what he said.”
Harris and Trump both delivered remarks Tuesday in their closing arguments with only a week until election day.
“America: I know that the vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us,” Harris said in Washington, D.C. “That’s why I’m in this race. To fight for The People. Just like I always have. Nearly 250 years ago, America was born when we wrested freedom from a petty tyrant.”
Trump held a press conference at Mar-a-Lago where he said Harris was running on a “campaign of destruction” and “of absolute head.”
FIRST ON FOX — The Democratic National Committee on Wednesday launched a series of full-page ad buys in 25 newspapers as part of the party’s effort to reach voters in the heart of critical battleground states and lay out its final case against Donald Trump.
The ad buys were shared exclusively with Fox News Digital and consist of full-page spreads in 25 newspapers in suburban and exurban newspapers across the country.
They include five newspapers each in the states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Georgia; four newspapers in Wisconsin; and six other newspapers spread across towns in North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada.
SCOTUS clears way for GOP governor to remove noncitizens from state voter rolls
The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to take up an emergency challenge from Virginia, temporarily halting a federal judge’s decision that ordered it to reinstate hundreds of potential noncitizens to the state’s voter rolls.
The decision is a victory for Gov. Glenn Youngkin and comes just days after the state of Virginia filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court to halt a lower court decision ordering it to restore the names of some 1,600 individuals to its voter rolls.
“We are pleased by the Supreme Court’s order today,” Youngkin told Fox News in a statement following the decision, which he described as a “victory for commonsense and election fairness.”
“I am grateful for the work of Attorney General Jason Miyares on this critical fight to protect the fundamental rights of U.S. citizens,” he added.
At the heart of the case is whether Virginia’s voter removal process violates a so-called quiet period under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), or a federal law requiring states to halt all “systematic” voter roll maintenance for a 90-day period before a federal election.
26 REPUBLICAN ATTORNEYS GENERAL JOIN VIRGINIA IN PETITIONING SUPREME COURT TO RULE ON VOTER ROLL
That argument pitted the Department of Justice — which sued the state over its removal program earlier this month — against Youngkin, who insisted the state’s process is “individualized” and conducted in accordance with state and federal law.
With just days until the election, the court’s decision is expected to be under the microscope.
Virginia’s voter roll maintenance program was implemented in August and compares the state Department of Motor Vehicles’ list of self-identified noncitizens to its list of registered voters. Individuals without citizenship were flagged and informed that their voter registration would be canceled unless they could prove their citizenship in 14 days.
The Justice Department argued that the removals were conducted too close to the Nov. 5 elections and violated the NVRA’s quiet period provision, a decision backed by a U.S. judge in Alexandria, who ordered Virginia last week to halt its removals and to reinstate the registrations of all 1,600 removed individuals.
Justice Department officials also cited concerns in their lawsuit that eligible votes may have incorrectly been removed from the rolls without adequate notice or with enough time to correct the mistake.
YOUNGKIN VOWS TO APPEAL ‘TO SCOTUS’ AFTER US JUDGE ORDERS 1,600 VOTERS BACK ON BALLOT
In the state’s petition to the Supreme Court, Virginia Attorney General Jason S. Miyares objected to the lawsuit and subsequent court ruling on several grounds. First, he argued the NVRA does not extend to “self-identified noncitizens” in the state – adopting a more narrow reading of the law than the Justice Department and one that he said could render the primary basis for the lawsuit obsolete.
Second, he argued that if the NVRA does apply, the state still has an “individualized process” of removing voters that is conducted by the Department of Motor Vehicles and directly by local registration offices.
Late Monday, attorneys general from all 26 Republican-led states joined Virginia in filing an amicus brief to the Supreme Court, backing its assertion that the removal program was conducted on an “individualized” basis, and further, that the Justice Department’s reading of the protections granted under NVRA are overly broad and do not apply to noncitizens.
Attorneys urged the court to grant Virginia’s emergency motion and “restore the status quo,” noting that doing so “would comply with the law and enable Virginia to ensure that noncitizens do not vote in the upcoming election.”
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“This Court should reject Respondents’ effort to change the rules in the middle of the game and restore the status quo ante,” they wrote. “The Constitution leaves decisions about voter qualifications to the people of Virginia. And the people of Virginia have decided that noncitizens are not permitted to vote.”
Dr Phil diagnoses whether former President Trump is a bully: ‘I’m an expert’
Famous television host and psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw said that former President Trump is not a bully during his speech at the Madison Square Garden [MSG] rally on Sunday evening.
“It is always wrong when you bully somebody. And that’s what’s going on now. Let me tell you what the critics are going to say when they hear me talking about this. They’re going to say, well, now, wait a minute, come on, isn’t Trump a bully? And let me tell you why the answer to that question is no,” McGraw said to a crowd of thousands at MSG.
McGraw explained further, “Because to be a bully, there has to be an imbalance of power. And when there’s not, it’s just called a debate. And he’s just better at it than anybody else. It’s called debating. It’s called arguing. It just may even be name-calling. But it’s not bullying unless there’s an imbalance of power.”
NYC MAYOR WEIGHS IN ON TRUMP’S HISTORIC MSG RALLY AFTER 45’S GRACIOUS SHOUTOUT
McGraw was a surprise speaker at the rally and endorsed Trump for the first time.
Earlier this year, when McGraw interviewed Trump on his network Merit Street Media, the television host said he does not endorse candidates. Furthermore, McGraw also previously slammed the “weaponization” of the justice system following the guilty verdict for Trump.
The massive rally featured speeches from several celebrities and high profile politicians, including UFC CEO Dana White, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, “Jersey Shore” star Vinny Guadagnino, and iconic wrestler Hulk Hogan.
TRUMP, POWERHOUSE GUESTS ROCK PACKED MSG WITH HISTORIC RALLY
Trump took the stage for the massive rally just after 7 p.m. on Sunday, where roughly 20,000 supporters managed to get a spot in the packed arena, with an estimated 20,000 more supporters gathered outside the Midtown Manhattan venue.
McGraw said that although he “may not be an expert in politics,” he is “an expert about bullying.”
“And bullying is when you seek to harm somebody, you seek to intimidate, coerce, cause distress, fear, risk to their well-being. And it can be physical, verbal, relational or cyber bullying. And it’s always wrong,” McGraw said.
Before claiming that Trump was not a bully, he mentioned that Trump supporters “get canceled, intimidated, marginalized, excluded or even fired or boycotted.”
“And you know what that means. In short, that adds up to being bullied. And now we’re talking about something I know a hell of a lot about,” he said.
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“Now you’re in my wheelhouse, buddy,” McGraw added.
Venezuelan migrant gang allegedly strikes again in state already rattled by their chaos
Cigarette butts, gum, cans, empty bottles and bags of drugs littered an Airbnb property hidden away in the Colorado mountains after one guest’s brief stay turned into a longstanding problem brought on by suspected gang-related chaos, leaving host Karen Martiz facing thousands of dollars in repairs while the property remains damaged and temporarily useless.
“I have put all my energy and love into this property to make it beautiful for my guests. It’s a beautiful place. Everybody loved it. We have been hosting for two years and this was the first time that I showed up here and my house was completely destroyed. I couldn’t believe it,” Martiz told Fox News early Wednesday.
The property located in Evergreen, west of Denver, is marked as a “no-smoking” property, but that didn’t stop the guest who checked in to stay over the weekend – and the people they brought along for a massive party.
Its living space was emptied, walls dirtied, carpets stained and marred by gum. Gum was even stuck on the walls and ceilings, Martiz told FOX31, an affiliate based in Denver.
SUSPECTED TREN DE ARAGUA GANG MEMBERS IN AURORA, COLORADO, RELEASED ON $1,000 BOND
“Disrespected” and “violated,” she told the outlet she’s left with no choice but to replace the entire carpet. Overall damages are estimated at $16,000.
“It was a horrible scene. When I walked into my house, I couldn’t believe I was actually living this. Because until you live it, you are like, ‘Is this even something that could happen to people?’” she said.
Local authorities told FOX31 they suspect members of the Venezuelan migrant gang Tren de Aragua were behind the destruction, but did not specify why.
Police told Martiz the same. She additionally shared with Fox News that a neighbor present nearby when the chaos occurred heard gunshots coming from the property.
“It’s very real, and this group of people [Tren de Aragua] are doing it to people like me,” she continued.
Police also believe anywhere from 80 to 100 people were behind the damage. The entire ordeal has sidelined Martiz for now, leaving her to wonder how she will cover her current expenses without raking in income from the property.
COLORADO VIDEO SHOWS TREN DE ARAGUA GANG BEATING APARTMENT COMPLEX WORKER IN EXTORTION BID, COMPANY SAYS
“We’re not going to be able to rent our property for about a month until we get everything fixed. That means that we’re not going to have guests in our house and, definitely, this is something that helps us pay our bills, our mortgage… keeps on being able to afford this beautiful home that is the home that I plan to retire on, so it’s a very difficult situation because it puts me really in a financial strain,” she said.
She has reached out to Airbnb, hoping to get reimbursed for the damages, FOX31 additionally reported.
Former President Donald Trump and other prominent Republicans have warned of migrant gang violence as members of Tren de Aragua stand accused of violence and taking over apartments in the Centennial State.
Fox News’ Carley Shimkus asked Martiz if she believes the narrative that the former president is “exaggerating” when speaking out on the issue.
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“Absolutely no exaggeration at all,” she replied.
“This is very real and this should be taken very seriously. These people are not here to do good. They have nothing to lose. They don’t care. They’re just coming in, destroying properties, people’s lives like nothing. Something needs to happen… This needs to stop. 100%, as soon as possible.”
Urgent search underway after drop box goes up in flames damaging hundreds of ballots
Officials in southwest Washington state have retrieved about 475 damaged ballots from a ballot box that was damaged in a fire sparked by incendiary devices – an act of arson that local police and the FBI are investigating.
The damaged ballots, which are separate from an unknown number that were destroyed, are being searched through so that workers can contact the respective voters about getting a new ballot, Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey said. He said officials believe that the damaged ballots are in good enough condition to determine the appropriate voter information.
Incendiary devices destroyed hundreds of ballots at one ballot box in Vancouver, Washington, and damaged three ballots at another box in Portland, Oregon, on Monday morning in what Kimsey called “a direct attack on democracy” just days before Election Day.
Both ballot boxes were equipped with fire suppression systems, but the system inside the ballot box in Vancouver failed, causing more ballots to be destroyed.
HERE’S WHAT VOTERS CAN DO IF THEY’RE WORRIED AFTER ARSON INCIDENTS IN WASHINGTON, OREGON
Authorities have said investigators recovered enough material from the incendiary devices to link the two fires on Monday. The fires were also linked to an Oct. 8 incident, when an incendiary device was placed at a different ballot drop box in Vancouver. No ballots were damaged in that incident.
Police said the incendiary devices were placed on the outside of the boxes.
The Portland Police Bureau released two surveillance photos of a black or dark-colored Volvo S-60 they believe is connected to the ballot box fires.
No arrests had been announced as of Tuesday evening.
FIRES AT OREGON, WASHINGTON BALLOT BOXES CONNECTED, POLICE ID ‘SUSPECT VEHICLE’: ‘ATTACK ON DEMOCRACY’
Kimsey told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that voters who dropped off their ballots in the transit center box after 11 a.m. Saturday should contact his office for a replacement ballot, and strongly encouraged voters to check the status of their ballot at vote.wa.gov.
Officials are increasing the frequency at which the ballots are retrieved from ballot boxes and police will increase patrols around ballot drop box locations, he said.
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Clark County Elections Office employees will also observe ballot boxes 24 hours a day, seven days a week until the election is over. The workers will not confront anyone, but will instead contact police if they spot anything suspicious.
GOP voters in deep-blue state outpacing their Dem neighbors at the polls, data shows
Early in-person Republican voters in deep blue New Jersey are slightly outpacing their Democratic neighbors, data shows.
Early in-person voting kicked off in the Garden State on Saturday, with 247,003 residents casting their votes over the weekend alone, NJ.com reported. Republican early in-person voters have taken the lead in the state, with 144,105 GOP votes cast compared to Democrats’ 139,524 votes, state data analyzed by an Associated Press elections researcher found as of Tuesday.
“What we’re seeing is phenomenal. Republicans are finally embracing the opportunity to vote early. The return rate on vote by mail ballots has been fantastic. Local Republican organizations are doing a great job in getting the word out,” New Jersey Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli said Wednesday on “Fox & Friends First” in reaction to the data.
Democrats in the deep blue state still have the edge over Republicans for vote-by-mail ballots at 383,062 compared to 130,362, the New Jersey Globe reported. All in, New Jersey has 6,562,735 registered voters this cycle, state data shows.
Of those registered, 2,497,951 are registered Democrats, 1,564,964 are Republicans, and 2,420,522 are unaffiliated, state data show.
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The blue state last voted for a Republican presidential candidate in 1988, when Republican Vice President George H. W. Bush defeated Democrat Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis. The state had voted for Republican candidates from 1968 until 1992, when the state kicked-off its ongoing blue voting trends.
Former President Trump has made early voting a hallmark of his campaign, bucking the Republican tradition of voting in-person on Election Day. He spoke to voters in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, when he again urged voters to head to the polls early.
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”I don’t like to speak too early, but you have to get out and vote because we … we want a big, beautiful number. We’re leading in every single swing state. Because, normally Republicans, they like to vote at the end no matter what you say, they like to vote at the end,” Trump said from the Allentown rally.
Elections experts have pointed to Trump’s remarks encouraging early voting as a likely catalyst for the state’s record number of votes a week ahead of Election Day.
“First, former President Trump has told his supporters to vote early. So, I think, when all the numbers are considered, we will see a shift among Republicans from voting on Election Day to voting early in person,” Ben Dworkin, director of the Rowan University Institute for Public Policy and Citizenship, told NJ.com about the flood of early votes this cycle.
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“This is not a race in which a lot of people can’t decide between Harris and Trump. They’ve decided and once the doors were opened to early voting, they are going to drive on in,” he added.
Trump has campaigned in the Garden State, including holding a massive rally on South Jersey’s Wildwood beach in May.
“We’re going to win New Jersey,” Trump told the crowd, which Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew described as “the biggest political rally in the history of New Jersey.”
Ciattarelli continued in his comments to “Fox & Friends First” on Wednesday that the Republican Party “can win” the presidential race and down the ballot.
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“New Jersey is not a deep blue state. We can win here and and I do think Donald Trump’s going to do that as well as our US Senate candidate, our congressional candidates, and many of our local candidates,” he said.
What the betting markets say about which party will control Congress after 2024 election
Election Day is less than a week away and voters are already heading to the polls and mailing in their ballots, and betting markets have weighed in on whether Republicans or Democrats are favored to win control of Congress.
Control of both the House of Representatives and Senate have been closely contested in recent years, with the last two Congresses having historically thin majorities in both the House and Senate. The GOP controlled a narrow 222-213 majority in the House at the outset of the current 118th Congress, after Democrats began the prior Congress with a majority of the same margin.
In the Senate, Democrats currently have a 51-49 majority when including Independent senators who caucus with the Democratic Party. During the previous Congress, the Senate had a 50-50 split with Democrats controlling the majority by virtue of Vice President Harris’ tiebreaking vote.
Traders on Polymarket see the trend of relatively narrow majorities continuing in the next Congress after this election. While the platform currently sees an 83% chance of a GOP majority in the Senate, bettors are also anticipating that it will be by a relatively small margin.
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Since early September, Polymarket traders have seen a 52-seat GOP majority as the likeliest outcome, which peaked at a 52% chance in early October but has since ebbed to a 25% chance. A slightly smaller 51-seat GOP majority is the next most likely outcome according to Polymarket bettors, with a 16% chance.
Bettors see an 11% chance that Republicans will end up with 49 or fewer Senate seats – which would give Democrats a narrow majority. They also see a 9% chance of a 50-50 bipartisan split, which would give the majority to the party that wins the White House and has a vice president who can cast tiebreaking votes in the Senate.
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Polymarket’s traders see the battle for control of the House of Representatives as a virtual tossup, with House Democrats having a roughly 50% chance of winning a majority over the past week.
However, a separate market on the platform suggests that House Republicans are more likely to attain a larger majority than what has occurred in recent years, as it sees a 29% chance there will be 230 or more GOP seats in the House in the next Congress. It also shows a 15% chance the GOP ends up with fewer than 200 seats – which would leave Democrats with a majority of more than 235 seats.
BetUS’ odds see control of the House of Representatives as a toss-up with Democrats and Republicans having equal odds. It also has Republicans as the heavy favorites to win control of the Senate.
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Control of both chambers of Congress and the presidency – known as a “trifecta” – has occurred in the first two years of the last three presidential administrations before the party in power lost control of one or both chambers in the midterm elections.
Trifectas are useful for enacting tax and spending policies using the budget reconciliation process, which allows budget-related legislation to pass through Congress on simple majority votes without being subject to the Senate’s 60-vote threshold to overcome the legislative filibuster.
Polymarket traders see a roughly 46% chance of Republicans achieving a trifecta, with former President Trump winning alongside GOP majorities in the House and Senate. By comparison, the market sees a 15% chance of a Democratic trifecta following a victory by Vice President Harris and congressional Democrats.
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Bettors on the platform see a 20% chance of a Democratic president and House with a GOP Senate, compared to a 16% chance of Republicans winning the presidency and Senate with Democrats controlling the House.
Only one other outcome – Democrats winning the presidency and Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress – garnered a 5% chance in the market.