MILWAUKEE — In a battleground Wisconsin’s biggest blue enclave, people who spoke with Fox News Digital are divided on who they’re supporting in the November presidential election. 

Giovanni Riley is voting for the Democrat nominee, Vice President Harris, he told Fox News Digital. 

When asked what issues sold him on Harris, he said he’s “doing it for the culture.”

Riley said he chose to back Harris “to make sure our people, minorities, get the things and resources that they need and for everyone to be in a good space.”

‘I WAS MUCH BETTER OFF’: THESE VOTERS BACK TRUMP IN TOP BATTLEGROUND COUNTY

According to him, the symbolism of Harris, a Black and Indian mixed-race woman, being president of the United States is important.

“I believe that having a Black president and then going to a female president is something different. That is something that we never had,” he said. “And it just brings hope to our minorities to believe that you can do anything that you put your heart to.”

“And I believe that she’s the one for it.”

‘THE LEFT HAS PERFECTED THIS’: CONSERVATIVES TAKE PAGE FROM OBAMA’S PLAYBOOK IN BATTLEGROUND WISCONSIN

In fact, Riley said he only supported President Biden because of Harris being on his ticket. 

However, not everyone in Milwaukee County shares his view, despite its voting record. 

Steve Batsky told Fox News Digital that he was voting for the Republican nominee, former President Trump, as he did in the past two elections. He cited immigration and the economy as his reasons.

As compared to 2016 and 2020 in the blue area, he said, “I’m seeing more Republican overall support; a lot of Trump signs, a lot of Donovan signs,” presumably referencing Wisconsin state Rep. Bob Donovan.

‘DON’T EVEN KNOW WHO HE IS’: WISCONSINITES TALK HARRIS’ MIDWESTERN RUNNING MATE TIM WALZ

“Again, everything in Milwaukee County tends to be blue,” Batsky said for context. 

Brian Morawski said he sees a variety of Democrat signs in the area in and around Milwaukee and that “People are incorrect in their voting.”

“Actually, I counted signs” outside Milwaukee County, he said. “I was driving west through the state, and there were more corn stands than there were Harris signs.”

“Harris is actually going to lose to corn stands this year,” he laughed. “It turns out that part of Wisconsin is correct.” 

FOR WISCONSIN DEMS, A 2024 WIN IN THE BATTLEGROUND STATE IS YEARS IN THE MAKING

In early October, Milwaukee residents Michaella and Leah Lawrence joined Trump for a press conference on school choice in the city. Speaking with Fox News Digital after the event, Michaella said, “This would be my first year voting.”

Her younger sister will not be old enough to vote next month.

As for what she was hearing from people her age just starting college, Michaella said they are mostly concerned about the costs associated with being in the adult world.

She talked about hearing “people around my age saying it’s really hard. It’s a big struggle finding – like just to live – basic necessities to live.”

“Inflation is like crazy high.”

Leah noted that she and her friends can’t vote but are paying attention.

“Whatever happens with this election, we will be directly affected by that because we will be paying taxes, we will be working, and we’ll just, you know, be out here in the economy,” she said, referring to the added responsibilities that come with turning 18.

“That’s the biggest worry for us,” she said.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) accused Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) of a “bleak dunk attempt” after he highlighted a headline about her calling out the Biden administration regarding Israel.

“The tragedy in Gaza is 100% on Hamas. Stop using civilians and hospitals as shields, surrender, and release all remaining hostages—and this ends,” Fetterman tweeted when sharing the Ocasio-Cortez-related headline.

Fetterman has been outspoken in supporting Israel and condemning Hamas in the wake of the terror group’s heinous Oct. 7, 2023 attack that included rape, murder, and kidnapping.

AOC RIPS FETTERMAN FOR COMPARING HOUSE TO ‘JERRY SPRINGER’ SHOW: ‘I STAND UP TO BULLIES’

“I dunno man. I care about little kids dying. I care about human rights. I care that billions of US tax dollars’ worth of weapons are carrying out unspeakable atrocities. I care enough for us to do better. Hope this bleak dunk attempt gets you whatever it is you’re going for,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in response to Fetterman’s post.

Earlier this week, the congresswoman had tweeted, “The horrors unfolding in northern Gaza are the result of a completely unrestrained Netanyahu gov, fully armed by the Biden admin while food aid is blocked and patients are bombed in hospitals. This is a genocide of Palestinians. The US must stop enabling it. Arms embargo now.”

SEN. FETTERMAN HITS BACK AT AOC’S SUGGESTION HE’S A BULLY AFTER HOUSE CLASH: ‘THAT’S ABSURD’

Marking the grim anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack earlier this month, Fetterman noted in a tweet, “On this traumatic One-Year Anniversary of the October 7th Hamas attacks, I share in the collective sorrow for all innocent lives lost. I will continue to be a voice for our ally, for the release of all remaining hostages, and for peace to return.”

Israel launched a war effort in response to the Oct. 7 atrocities last year and Fetterman has been an unflinching supporter of the U.S. ally.

FETTERMAN LAUDS ISRAEL FOR LEAVING IRAN ‘EXPOSED AND HUMILIATED’ AFTER STRIKES ON HAMAS, HEZBOLLAH

“Immediately after 10/7, I strongly affirmed supporting any assistance—financial, military or intelligence—without conditions, in Israel’s war against terrorists,” the senator tweeted last month.

Former President Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, is joining Fox News’ Harris Faulkner in the battleground state of Georgia to speak with an all-female audience about issues that affect them most in a town hall event that will air Wednesday. 

The town hall will be filmed at a venue called the Reid Barn in Cumming, Georgia, on Tuesday and air on Wednesday at 11 a.m. ET on “The Faulkner Focus.” Ahead of the event, Faulkner underscored the importance of the female vote and for presidential candidates to have the opportunity to explain their platforms to the demographic. 

“Women constitute the largest group of registered and active voters in the United States, so it is paramount that female voters understand where the presidential candidates stand on the issues that matter to them most. I am looking forward to providing our viewers with an opportunity to learn more about where former President Trump stands on these topics,” Faulkner said in a Fox News press release. 

Georgia is once again a battleground state where both parties are vying for votes to help determine the election. Trump won the state in 2016 against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The state flipped blue in 2020, with now-President Biden winning the state by 0.23% over Trump.

TRUMP MAKES PLAY FOR WOMEN’S VOTE, VOWS TO ENSURE ‘POWERFUL EXCEPTIONS’ FOR ABORTION

Fox News polling from late last month found that the Democrat nominee, Vice President Harris, had a three-point advantage over Trump.

More Georgia voters reported that Harris is the candidate who will help the middle class and protect democracy by a three-point margin on each issue. She is also seen as more likely to fight “for people like you” by six points.

JD VANCE VOWS TRUMP WOULD NOT IMPOSE FEDERAL ABORTION BAN, VETO IT IF COMES ACROSS DESK

Harris’ largest lead is on handling the issue of abortion, where she is favored by 18 points over Trump. The VP notably received her best numbers from Black voters, urban voters, those under age 30 and women.

The top issues affecting women this cycle, according to Fox polling, include abortion, the economy, immigration and health care. Trump is expected to discuss these issues at length during the town hall.

Abortion has once again featured prominently in this election, with the Harris campaign repeatedly claiming that Trump would roll out a federal ban on abortion if he’s re-elected to the White House.

NEW POLL REVEALS WHICH VOTER GROUP ARE FUELING TRUMP TO A NARROW EDGE OVER HARRIS IN BATTLEGROUND

Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, have repeatedly pushed back and said there would be no federal abortion ban, noting that after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, abortion laws and rules are left up to individual states.

Late last month, Trump vowed in a lengthy Truth Social post to “protect women at a level never seen before” if elected and to ensure that “powerful exceptions” for abortion are adopted across the nation.

VP KAMALA HARRIS TO SIT DOWN WITH CHIEF POLITICAL ANCHOR BRET BAIER FOR FIRST FORMAL FOX NEWS INTERVIEW

“Women are poorer than they were four years ago, are less healthy than they were four years ago, are less safe on the streets than they were four years ago, are more depressed and unhappy than they were four years ago, and are less optimistic and confident in the future than they were four years ago,” he wrote.

“I will fix all of that, and fast, and at long last this national nightmare will be over,” he said. “Women will be happy, healthy, confident and free!”

Fox News has repeatedly extended a standing town hall event invitation of the same stature to the Harris campaign since August, when she officially became the Democratic Party’s nominee. Harris did accept an invitation for a sit-down interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier early Wednesday evening.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.    

Fox News’ Dana Blanton contributed to this report.

Facing off against former President Trump in a margin-of-error showdown with less than three weeks to go until Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris is stepping up her conversations with the media during the final stretch on the campaign.

That effort ramps up a notch on Wednesday, as the vice president is scheduled to sit down in battleground Pennsylvania with Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier for an interview that will run on “Special Report” at 6 p.m. ET.

Harris will speak with Fox News following an afternoon campaign event in Bucks County, a crucial swing county in Philadelphia’s northern suburbs.

Baier said the Democratic presidential nominee is expected to sit for approximately 25-30 minutes at around 5 p.m. ET, about an hour before “Special Report” airs live.

HARRIS RAMPS UP OUTREACH TO BLACK MEN AS TRUMP MAKES GAINS

“We are going to run it uninterrupted, unedited, all the way,” Baier said on the eve of the interview.

The vice president’s first formal interview on Fox News will give her a chance to speak directly to viewers across the ideological spectrum who normally don’t watch the rival cable news networks CNN and MSNBC.

“Special Report” is regularly among the most-watched programs on cable news, and the show’s Common Ground segment features political leaders from across the aisle discussing the issues of the day with the goal of finding compromise.

“We have a lot of eyeballs. We have Democrats, independents and Republicans,” Baier said. “We have the biggest cable news audience. And this is probably going to get a lot more eyeballs. I think tough but fair is what I pitched it as. And I think that’s what they’re going to see.”

CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN THE 2024 ELECTION

Harris largely avoided interviews after replacing President Biden atop the Democrats’ 2024 ticket in mid-July. Her first formal sitdown interview – with CNN – didn’t occur until late August. But she has ramped up her media appearances in recent weeks, including interviews with CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” ABC’s “The View,” late night talk show host Stephen Colbert, radio personality Howard Stern, and numerous podcasts. Most of those encounters were perceived as friendly interviews.

But the interview with Baier on Fox News may feed the perception that the vice president in the closing stretch of the campaign is open to facing tough questions.

“She knows there are going to be hard questions. She can handle those,” seasoned Democratic strategist and communicator Chris Moyer told Fox News. “Going through that process and handling that, you’re kind of going behind enemy lines a little bit.”

Moyer, a veteran of multiple Democratic presidential campaigns, argued that “doing well in that is a good boost for the campaign, and voters like to know that they’re going to elect somebody who can handle not just the friendly interviews.”

Harris becomes the first Democratic presidential nominee in eight years to sit for an interview on Fox News – 2016 standard-bearer Hillary Clinton spoke with Chris Wallace.

But leading Harris surrogates – including Govs. Gavin Newsom of California and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg – have made high-profile appearances on Fox News this summer and autumn.

And Democratic vice presidential nominee, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, was interviewed on “Fox News Sunday” the past two weekends.

WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLS IN THE 2024 ELECTION SHOW 

Aides to the Harris running mate reached out to Fox News to schedule his second appearance. 

“Folks deserve to hear where we stand on this. Vice President Harris and I have an agenda for, you know, a new way forward, a manufacturing agenda. I was just in Michigan this week. And I think folks are still undecided out there. And I appreciate you. You ask good, hard questions and your viewers get a chance to hear,” Walz told “Fox News Sunday” host Shannon Bream this past weekend.

The Harris sitdown with Baier comes the same day that Fox News will run a townhall with Trump, with the former president fielding questions on issues such as abortion and child care from an all-female audience.

The program, recorded on Tuesday in battleground Georgia, will air Wednesday at 11 a.m. ET on “The Faulkner Focus.”

Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

FIRST ON FOX: A powerful ally of Vice President Kamala Harris, who she has praised as an “extraordinary leader” who exhibits “courageous leadership,” met with multiple CCP officials during a business trip to China, where he vowed to “[spread] the voice of Black businesses,” Fox News Digital has learned.

Ron Busby, who has visited the Biden-Harris White House dozens of times and is the longtime president of the U.S. Black Chambers, met with several CCP officials during a previously unreported trip to China, a Fox News Digital review found.

Busby traveled to Beijing, Shanghai, and Xi’an for a 10-day trip as part of a delegation of New York government officials and business leaders, including then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s chief diversity officer Rose Rodriguez, who were dubbed the “New Majority Alliance.” 

The delegation’s trip in September 2017 was supported by the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in New York, a Chinese government entity in New York that serves as a mouthpiece for the CCP and was recently implicated in an unsealed indictment against a top former aide to New York’s Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. The New York in China Center, which has offices in New York and Shanghai, was the official sponsor of the trip.

HARRIS VP PICK SPENT YEARS PROMOTING RESEARCH FACILITY THAT COLLABORATED WITH ‘CHINESE MILITARY COMPANY’

John Wang, who was recently appointed in August by New York City’s Democrat Mayor Eric Adams and currently serves on the board of directors for the Empire State Development Board after being nominated in 2022 by Hochul, established the New York in China Center in 2008 to “handle [the Asian American Business Development’s] business in China, New York in China Center facilitates business, investment, technology and cultural exchanges between New York and China…,” the group’s website says. 

Busby’s Facebook profile is littered with photos from the trip, which included a “selfie” of him flying to China with the caption, “On the way to China. Spreading the voice of Black businesses around the globe.” 

Another photo shows Busby and the rest of the delegation sitting around a table with the CCP hammer and sickle emblem on a sign behind them on the wall. After the trip, Busby said in a Facebook post that the United States, Africa, and China “need each other for the new sustainability.”

“Two weeks ago we were in China and we did a similar memorandum of understanding [MOU] with Chinese Chamber of Commerce,” Busby said during the 2017 Essence Festival Durban Business Conference. “[China understands] the importance of being on the continent obviously, but they also understand that there needs to be a relationship between the people on the continent, and they understand that African Americans have a natural relationship here, and so we [three] will work together to bring their resources that they have along with the ingenuity, creativity that we have in the United States, to bring that here. Collectively, all three continents can grow, and they’re very excited as well as we are.”

A 2022 “BLACKprint” report released by Busby’s “U.S. Black Chambers” touted “Black entrepreneurs” getting access to “global business opportunities” and said they have “signed Memorandum of Understandings with business leaders in Durban, Morocco, and China.”

HARRIS CAMPAIGN SILENT ON HOUSE BILL BANNING CONTRACTS WITH ‘CHINESE MILITARY COMPANY’ AMID WALZ TIES

Archived pages on the New York in China Center’s website show dozens of photos from the trip, including 3 separate reports highlighting the delegation’s meetings with CCP officials.

Busby told Chinese officials that the “[U.S. Black Chambers, Inc.] administered more than 100 chambers, and he is willing to share and communicate the resources with Xi’an in various fields,” according to the Xi’an report reviewed by Fox News Digital.

Busby’s position as the president of the U.S. Black Chambers makes him an influential business leader not only in the Black community, but he has been able to leverage his position to participate in meetings with top U.S. government officials, including President Biden, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Vice President Harris, among others on behalf of his group.

Harris “hosted an exclusive reception at her private residence” in July of this year to honor Black business leaders, according to a press release. The reception was in partnership with U.S. Black Chambers, Inc and featured Busby, who said the reception was a “powerful acknowledgment of the remarkable progress Black business leaders have achieved in shaping our nation’s economic landscape.”  

Months earlier, Harris and Busby were in Detroit, Michigan for an economic recovery event, where Harris called Busby an “extraordinary leader” who has exhibited “courageous leadership.” Harris, who called Busby her “Oakland brother” during another event in 2021, will likely face scrutiny over the China trip

“The delegation will meet with government leaders and representatives of the business community in China to have discussions over the topics including Sino-US technological innovation, business development, friendship agreements and other projects,” a press release highlighting the 2017 trip said. The press release went on to say that this trip was an opportunity “to build communication channels and networks for Chinese companies who are looking for development in the United States.”

The Xi’an report also said the delegation met with “Li Yuan, the Vice Mayor of Xi’an. Huang Xiaohua-the Vice Secretary-General of Xi’an Provincial People’s Government, Xing Xin-Director of Xi’an Investment Cooperation Committee, Cai Lanfang-Vice President of Xi’an People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and other representatives.”

Busby’s participation in a delegation meeting with a representative of People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries is likely to face scrutiny due to the U.S. government’s repeated warnings about the group over the years. In 2020, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo released a press statement warning it is a “Beijing-based organization tasked with co-opting subnational governments” that “has sought to directly and malignly influence state and local leaders to promote the PRC’s global agenda.”

A 2022 report from the Biden administration’s Director of National Intelligence (DNI) also warned about the group and highlighted how U.S.-based Chinese consulates like the one sponsoring Busby’s trip to China “play an active role” in “foreign influence operations” on behalf of the CCP.

Another report from the trip said Busby and the delegation met with Chen Xiangming, Secretary of Shanghai Songjiang District, and several other CCP leaders from the area.

“Mr. Cheng Xiangmin expressed thanks to the New York Center for its long-term work and efforts in establishment of friendship between the two cities, and said he looked forward to strengthening communication with the ‘New Majority’ Alliance and further cooperation in various fields such as science and technology, health care and education,” the report said.

Five states join the rest of the country on Wednesday as they start the early voting process for the 2024 election.

Iowa, Kansas, Nevada, Oregon and Rhode Island make a total of 49 states and Washington, D.C., that have begun early voting.

Here’s how to cast a ballot in each state.

WORKING CLASS WILL COME HOME TO HARRIS, RALLYGOERS IN POSTINDUSTRIAL PENNSYLVANIANS SAY

Forever a battleground, reliably Democrat: That’s the story of Nevada’s presidential politics.

The state has voted for every Democrat who has run for president since 1992, except the two elections with President Bush on the ballot. But the average margin across those eight elections is just 4.1 points.

There are only six electoral votes at stake, but they could be crucial for either candidate. If Harris wins two of the battleground Rust Belt states but loses Pennsylvania, for example, then a combination of Nevada and North Carolina would make up for the deficit.

Nevada is home to the “Reid Machine,” a voter turnout operation named after late Senate leader Harry Reid, that activates voters favorable to Democrats, especially Hispanic and unionized hospitality workers in the Las Vegas area.

Those groups aren’t as overwhelmingly Democrat as they used to be. The party has shed 10 points worth of the Hispanic vote since 2020 and seven points of the non-college-educated vote.

Voters backed a Republican for governor in 2022; that election came two years after the COVID-19 pandemic decimated the tourism industry. They held on to their Democrat senator.

Republicans do well in the vast rural areas led by Lincoln County, where Trump won by 71 points in 2020, and the state’s northeastern counties.

The battleground is Washoe County, home to Reno. Biden won there by 4.5 points in 2020, making it the state’s closest county.

Nevada is a Toss Up in the Fox News Power Rankings.

The Silver State also has a senate race on the ballot. Democrat Sen. Jacky Rosen seeks a second term in office but faces Republican Army veteran Sam Brown. The Senate race is ranked Lean D.

Finally, Iowa voters start heading to the polls today. Once a hotly competitive state, it voted for Trump by eight points in 2020. Iowa is one of several states dominated by White working-class voters who flipped to Trump in his first run for office and have not gone back.

A recent Des Moines Register survey showing Harris four points behind Trump raised eyebrows, but it would take an extraordinary night for Harris to flip this one.

Voting also begins today in four battleground House districts. For a full list of competitive races, see the latest Senate and House rankings.

This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Iowa.

Iowa began absentee voting on Wednesday. Residents do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. State officials must receive a ballot request by Oct. 21, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5.

PA TOWN ROILED BY TALK OF MIGRANT HOUSING IN CIVIL-WAR-ERA ORPHANAGE BUILDING

Iowa offers early in-person voting beginning Oct. 16 and running through Nov. 4.

Iowa residents can register to vote in person at any point during early voting or on Election Day. The deadline for online or mail registration is Oct. 21.

This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Kansas.

Kansas began absentee voting on Wednesday. Residents do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. State officials must receive a ballot request by Oct. 29, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5.

PENNSYLVANIA LEADERS IN BOTH PARTIES TALK GROUND GAME AS GOP SEEKS TO UNDO MASSIVE GAINS

Some Kansas counties offer early in-person voting beginning Oct. 16, but other counties start later. Check the state’s website for more information.

Kansas residents must have registered to vote by Oct. 15.

This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Nevada.

Nevada began absentee voting on Wednesday. Residents do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. State officials began actively sending absentee ballots to eligible voters on Wednesday, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5.

Nevada will begin early in-person voting on Oct. 19, and it will continue through Nov. 1.

Nevada residents can register online through Election Day, and they can register in person from Oct. 19 to Nov. 1 or in person on Election Day.

This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Oregon.

Oregon began absentee voting on Wednesday. Residents do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. State officials began actively sending absentee ballots to eligible voters on Wednesday, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5.

Oregon does not offer in-person early voting.

Oregon residents must have registered to vote by Oct. 15.

This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Rhode Island.

Rhode Island began absentee voting on Wednesday. Residents do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. Residents must request a ballot by Oct. 15, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Rhode Island begins early in-person voting on Wednesday, and it will continue through Nov. 4.

Rhode Island can register to vote in person on election day or during early voting. The deadline for online or by-mail registration was Oct. 6.

A crowd of rallygoers in Dearborn, Michigan, waved flags in support of Lebanon and chanted “Death to Israel” in an event attended by Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, while at another rally participants chanted a common threat against Jews.

Multiple events in Dearborn, a suburb west of Detroit, over the last few weeks have highlighted the growing resentment for Israel in the city as Vice President Kamala Harris attempts to shore up support among a fragile coalition in the vital swing state of Michigan.

Hammoud, the city’s mayor, spoke at a Sept. 25 rally in support of Lebanon and slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, which featured chants of “Death to Israel” and demands for Jews to be returned “back to Poland.”

“The reality is, they wish for us to divide ourselves,” Hammoud said at the rally, video of which was reported on by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). “But my message is very clear. The values which we advocate for here in Dearborn, we understand, we not only want for the people within the city of Dearborn, but for the people across this globe.”

HARRIS UNVEILS NEW AGENDA AS SHE COURTS BLACK MALE VOTERS

Community leader Osama Siblani helped lead the event, MEMRI reported, introducing Hammoud as “the greatest mayor in the United States of America,” and later praised Nasrallah, the former secretary-general of Hezbollah who was killed in an Israeli airstrike last month.

“Our martyrs are heroes, our leaders are great,” Siblani said, according to a MEMRI translation of the video. “And first among them, their leader, the great Sayyed, Hassan Nasrallah.” 

The rally was one of several in Dearborn in recent weeks that featured similar rhetoric, highlighting an issue for Harris as she seeks to keep together the voters that helped put President Biden over the top in Michigan just four years ago.

Residents of the town have become increasingly dissatisfied with the Biden administration’s handling of the conflict in Gaza, going so far as to launch multiple movements aimed at preventing him from securing the Democratic nomination earlier this year. Leaders of the movements expressed an openness to throwing their support behind Harris after Biden dropped out, though that potential enthusiasm waned as Harris continued to attempt to toe a fine line between support for Israel and sympathy to the plight of Gazans.

While Harris initially attempted to bridge the gap between her campaign and voters in Dearborn, who voted 74% for Biden in 2020, more recent trips to the state have focused on shoring up support among working-class voters in Flint and Detroit.

WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLS IN THE 2024 ELECTION SHOW 

But it remains to be seen whether that will be enough in Michigan, where recent polling has trended in former President Trump’s direction. According to the Real Clear Politics average on Tuesday, Trump holds a razor-thin lead of just 0.9 points. However, the narrow lead represents a roughly three-point swing from the end of August, when Harris had a 2.2 point lead, according to the Real Clear Politics average.

The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

Meanwhile, Dearborn has seen continued anti-Israel events in recent weeks. At a vigil for Nasrallah at the end of September, MEMRI reported that demonstrators were caught on video chanting “Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews,” a common historical threat to Jewish people.

CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN THE 2024 ELECTION

“’Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews, the army of Muhammad will return’ is a battle cry repeated by Muslims throughout history that is a specific death threat to Jews. It refers to the attack on the Jewish community of the Bani Qurayza tribe of the Arabian Peninsula, at the Khaybar oasis, when Islam’s Prophet Mohmmad’s army slaughtered 100 Jews who refused to convert to Islam. The others surrendered and agreed to pay a poll tax,” Steven Stalinsky, the executive director of MEMRI, told Fox News Digital. “This explicit call for killing Jews from the heart of Dearborn caught on video is utterly chilling and disturbing. It is an undeniably violent antisemitic chant constituting incitement to genocide.”

At another rally at the center of a MEMRI report over the weekend, people in the crowd were seen holding a sign that depicted Nasrallah making a hand gesture along with the phrase “you will be returned horizontally,” a nod to when the former Hezbollah leader threatened “American soldiers and officers” in the Middle East that they would return home “in a horizontal position,” or “coffins.”

“Under normal circumstances, local authorities would be called on to investigate and act on such incidents,” Stalinsky said. “But considering that these rallies have taken place with the participation of the mayor. as well as of local police officers, judges and other city officials, it will take an investigation on the state level to adequately review these incidents – all of which should be denounced by municipal and local authorities, beginning with the mayor’s office.”

Hammoud’s office did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

As the negative media onslaught against Donald Trump grows louder, he is taking on the fact-checkers.

What’s fascinating in the coverage is that the journalists and organizations that do this are treated like prophets handing down the tablets from Mount Olympus. There is no hint, not a whiff, that they might sometimes be wrong or engaging in overkill.

AS A CAUTIOUS KAMALA LOSES MOMENTUM, DEMOCRATS ARE PANICKING OVER A TRUMP WIN

In a new Gallup poll, 36 percent said they had “no trust at all” in the media, while just 31 percent said they found the media to be fair and accurate a “great deal” or “fair amount.” The distrust was far higher among Republicans than Democrats.

Now skeptics will say that Trump tells a lot of falsehoods, some decisions are clear-cut, and it’s worth trying to hold him accountable. I know these folks work hard, having done a lot of it myself, but sometimes the fact checks are contentious in gray areas, or even over something Trump said jokingly at a rally.

I don’t even have to make the argument that Kamala Harris draws overwhelmingly favorable coverage. Now that she’s come out of her cocoon in the light of slipping polls, sitting down today with Fox’s Bret Baier, she has a short period of time to break through after walling herself off. With Democrats in panic mode, she is also ramping up her rhetoric against the former president. And we’re seeing an explosion of columns and segments on what Harris needs to do to turn her campaign around – free advice from the media.

OBAMA ACCUSES BLACK MEN OF SEXISM AMID RELUCTANCE TO SUPPORT KAMALA HARRIS

As the Washington Post notes, Trump complained about fact-checking by ABC in his debate with Harris (when it did seem like 3 against 1). And in turning down “60 Minutes,” he cited the program’s tradition of fact checking. (He also drew flak from CNBC yesterday after backing out of an interview.)

If there’s one moment that crystallizes the media opposition to Trump, it’s his appearance before the National Association of Black Journalists. The opening question was a diatribe about how he was a horrible racist, building up to why any Black voters should support him. The Harris appearance, by contrast, was practically a lovefest.

Behind the scenes, there was a tense, hour-long impasse in which Trump was refusing to take the stage if there would be fact-checking. When he finally took the stage, the group lied and blamed the entire delay on audio problems.

TRUMP COUNTERS HARRIS MEDIA BLITZ BY RIPPING BOB WOODWARD, HOWARD STERN AND HER HURRICANE BRIEFING

How is it that Trump says things that trigger journalistic outrage, sometimes with incendiary language, but raise no doubts among many Republicans? The New York Times offers this explanation: 

“One of the more peculiar aspects of Donald J. Trump’s political appeal is this: A lot of people are happy to vote for him because they simply do not believe he will do many of the things he says he will…

“It’s how they rationalize his rhetoric, by affording him a reverse benefit of the doubt.” 

A 40-year-old Detroit publisher was quoted as saying he didn’t believe Trump would purge the federal government and hire only election deniers: “It could just be for publicity, just riling up the news.”

Whether Trump wins or loses, he will have the support of roughly half the country. In 2020, that amounted to 73 million voters.

And yet most of the mainstream media, with some exceptions, have never really understood the unshakable bond between Trump and his supporters. Most tend to travel in circles where allowing him to be a “danger to democracy” is unthinkable. He has made inroads among Black voters, especially Black men, some of whom say the Democrats make promises at election time and then forget about their community.

In fact, some pundits have unloaded on Trump supporters as being dummies or racist yahoos. That “basket of deplorables” approach means they are failing to grasp how much of the country feels and what their legitimate grievances might be.  That would seem to call for a sweeping reassessment of their views about America if Trump wins a second term, except the media aren’t big on self-reflection.

More than 230 doctors, nurses and other health care professionals are calling on former President Trump to release his medical records after Vice President Kamala Harris did so.

In an open letter dated Oct. 13, first reported by CBS News, the health care providers raise concerns about Trump’s advanced age and argue that the 78-year-old Republican nominee should be transparent about his health and medical history. 

“On August 20, Donald Trump said he would ‘very gladly’ release his medical records. In the 55 days since, he has yet to do so,” the letter states. “With no recent disclosure of health information from Donald Trump, we are left to extrapolate from public appearances. And on that front, Trump is falling concerningly short of any standard of fitness for office and displaying alarming characteristics of declining acuity.” 

Most of the signatories support Harris for president. The letter asserts that Trump appears to “ramble, meander, and crudely lash out at his many perceived grievances” during his campaign events and questions whether this behavior is the result of cognitive changes associated with old age. 

HARRIS GOADS TRUMP TO RELEASE MEDICAL RECORDS AFTER SHE GETS CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH FROM PERSONAL PHYSICIAN

“The American people deserve to have confidence in their elected officials’ mental and physical capacity to do the jobs that they’ve elected them to do. Trump ought to be going above and beyond to provide transparency on his physical health and mental acuity, given his advancing age.” 

The letter comes while Harris is goading Trump into releasing his health information after the White House put out a “Healthcare Statement” on Saturday that declared her to be in “excellent health.”

WHITE HOUSE CORRECTS RECORD ON BIDEN’S PHYSICIAN, PARKINSON’S EXPERT MEETING, SAYS IT WAS FOR PRESIDENT’S CARE

The statement from Harris’ doctor also indicated she had her most recent annual physical exam in April of this year. Trump released his own health records while campaigning in 2016, and once he took over the White House he continued the trend. In August, with the 2024 election quickly approaching, Trump told CBS News that he would release updated medical records to the public. However, he has yet to do so, with roughly three weeks until Election Day.

“He won’t put out his medical records,” Harris said Monday morning during an interview with podcast host Roland Martin. She also slammed Trump for refusing to debate a second time and questioned why Trump’s “staff” would not allow him to do an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes,” particularly when it is tradition for both presidential candidates to do a sit down with the show.

WHITE HOUSE RELEASES MEDICAL REPORT ON VP KAMALA HARRIS

“It may be because they think he’s just not ready and unfit and unstable and should not have that level of transparency for the American people,” Harris suggested.

The Trump campaign responded by pointing out several times the former president has voluntarily released updates about his health. They also noted that he shared records from a July screening conducted by Dr. Ronny Jackson, a former White House physician turned GOP congressman, following the second assassination attempt on his life. 

“All have concluded [Trump] is in perfect and excellent health to be Commander in Chief,” said Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung. “He has maintained an extremely busy and active campaign schedule unlike any other in political history.” Meanwhile, Cheung slammed Harris as being “unable to keep up with demands of campaigning,” arguing that compared to Trump her schedule “is much lighter because, it is said, she does not have the stamina of President Trump.”

Trump himself reacted to Harris’ medical statement on social media, calling it “really bad.” 

“With all of the problems that she has, there is a real question as to whether or not she should be running for President!” he wrote. “MY REPORT IS PERFECT – NO PROBLEMS!!!”

Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.

A hearing was held Tuesday in a key Georgia county’s lawsuit against the State Elections Board (SEB), roughly three weeks until voters head to the polls on Nov. 5.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney is overseeing the case filed by the Cobb County Board of Elections earlier this month. The bipartisan board is taking issue with a set of new rules imposed by the SEB, including a measure to require county election workers to hand count ballots after polls close to ensure accurate machine tabulation.

The rule has also sparked a lawsuit filed by Georgia Democratic officials, which is set for a hearing on Wednesday.

Cobb County is a majority suburban area anchored by the city of Marietta, a suburb of Atlanta.

GEORGIA GOP CHAIR SHARES 2-PRONGED ELECTION STRATEGY AS TRUMP WORKS TO WIN BACK PEACH STATE

During the Tuesday hearing, attorneys for the SEB argued that there were no limitations on when election rules can be passed and pointed out that the specific hand-counting rule applies only to the ballots themselves, not tallying individual votes cast on the ballots.

“All we are doing is saying, you need to [have] receipts of votes cast, mirror the number that the machine says were cast,” the lawyer said.

But McBurney noted that it was “late in the game” for the SEB to change election rules but also conceded that, in a vacuum, wanting to ensure that the number of ballots cast matched the machine-count was a “laudable goal.”

GEORGIA DEMS CHAIR REVEALS MESSAGE TO UNDECIDED GOP VOTERS AS HARRIS WORKS TO BUILD BROAD BASE

“Why wouldn’t we just pause, especially on the hand-count rule, given what looks like a fairly robust record of chaos that it is sowing?” the judge asked the defendants’ lawyer.

“I’m asking you from a practical perspective, if the goal is orderly, reliable elections, why the prudent — in terms of reasonableness approach — wouldn’t be to say, ‘Let’s try this next election,’ when all those questions can be answered with no one having to sue?” 

Republican Party officials have held the rule up as a critical guardrail to ensuring voters can be confident in their elections, but Democrats contend that its goal is to foment doubt in the process.

The Cobb County lawsuit argued the rules put elections boards across the state in “an untenable position.”

An attorney in support of the plaintiffs later pointed out the state officials who have come out in opposition to the rules changes, including Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

“All of them are concerned about the impact of this rule,” the lawyer said.

TRUMP VS HARRIS ROUND 2? VOTERS IN KEY GA COUNTY REVEAL IF THEY WANT SECOND DEBATE

“It would be one thing in an ideal sterile environment to have people who are fresh and energized sit down and count ballots… That’s not how this is going to play out. In reality, as our petitioner affidavits reference, poll workers get to their polls as early as 5 a.m., 5:30, 6 a.m. They stay as late as 8 p.m., 10 p.m. And so we’re talking about adding something on top of an already 14- to 16-hour day when people are exhausted.”

McBurney pointed out that it could then be done the next day, to which the attorney responded, “But then there are challenges that come with that as well, Your Honor.”

The judge said the hand-counting ballots rule “does not directly interfere with the certification work going on” but that it “will be a resource drain, no question.”

But the SEB attorney later criticized the plaintiffs’ arguments as conjecture.

“All that it says over and over again is, quote, ‘I am concerned about the rule’s last minute adoption….I am concerned that the Cobb County Elections Office lacks space. I am concerned that the hand-count rule may lead to delays,” he said. 

“It is hypothetical on top of conjecture, on top of speculation. There is no imminent threat here. There is a threat of potential things that might happen if the worst-case scenario comes up, and that’s simply not sufficient for declaratory judgment.”

McBurney heard the case the same day as he issued a decision in a separate Georgia elections case, ruling that county elections supervisors are not allowed to delay certification of results on the grounds of their own suspicions of fraud or mistakes.

There are a flurry of lawsuits expected around the vote count and voter access this election, as there are virtually every presidential election cycle.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.