FIRST ON FOX – Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., is demanding that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) immediately fire the at least a dozen employees who reportedly improperly accessed the medical records of vice presidential candidates Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz this summer.

Mast, chairman of Veterans For Trump, penned a letter urging VA Secretary Denis McDonough for a “swift response and action to prevent such egregious violations of privacy within the VA from occurring again.” The Florida Republican is also calling for the FBI to get involved to investigate the possibility of foreign election interference. 

“I urge you to buck the employee union of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and immediately fire the employees who were caught snooping into the private medical records of Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz – who are both running to be vice president. VA employees know this is not permitted,” Mast wrote in a letter first obtained by Fox News Digital. “As a combat-injured veteran, I rely on the VA for my medical care. This isn’t just a legal misstep; it’s a breach that undermines veterans’ confidence in the VA and raises serious questions about the professionalism of VA personnel.” 

The Washington Post first reported Monday that at least 12 VA employees within the agency’s health administration were under criminal investigation after VA investigators discovered they improperly accessed the medical records of Vance and Walz. VA Inspector General Michael Missal’s office reportedly informed both candidates’ campaigns and shared evidence with federal prosecutors related to several of the health system employees, including a physician and a contractor who “spent extended time” viewing the files of former President Trump and Vice President Harris’ running mates. 

VA EMPLOYEES IMPROPERLY ACCESSED JD VANCE, TIM WALZ’S MEDICAL RECORDS, PROMPTING CRIMINAL PROBE: REPORT 

“Dismissing these employees and referring them to the Justice Department for prosecution, provided there is evidence that laws were broken, is the first step the VA must take to restore credibility,” Mast wrote. “Furthermore, I urge you to fully brief Congress on how this violation of privacy transpired and implement new guidelines to prevent such acts from occurring in the future.” 

Mast, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, implored McDonough to coordinate with the FBI. 

The letter comes a week after Trump’s campaign said he was briefed on “real and specific threats” from Iran to assassinate the Republican presidential nominee. 

“Given the recent foreign meddling in our elections – like Iran’s assassination plots against President Trump – I also request your department coordinate with the FBI to ensure Senator Vance and Governor Walz’s medical information was neither shared with foreign operatives nor accessed on their behalf,” Mast, who served in the U.S. Army for 12 years and lost both legs to catastrophic injuries endured while working as a bomb disposal expert in Afghanistan, wrote. “Safeguarding sensitive information about our public officials is critical to national security and the integrity of our democracy.” 

TRUMP REACTS TO ASSASSINATION PLOTS WITH BIG WARNING TO IRAN

Last month, experts from the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a summary of the current threat environment citing how the “big three foreign influence actors, Russia, Iran, and China are all trying by some measure to exacerbate divisions in U.S. society for their own benefit, and see election periods as moments of vulnerability.”  

“Like Russia, Iran has a multi-pronged approach that looks to stoke discord and undermine confidence in our electoral process. Tehran has also sought cyber access to individuals with direct ties to the presidential campaigns of both political parties, while elements have also denigrated the former president,” they said. “Iran has a suite of tools at its disposal, as demonstrated in recent reports outlining Iran’s cyber operations, including the hack-and-leak operation against the former president’s campaign. Iran is also conducting covert social media operations using fake personas, and is using AI to help publish inauthentic news articles.” 

Fox News Digital reached out to the VA and the FBI regarding Mast’s letter. 

Regarding the Post’s reporting on Monday, VA Press Secretary Terrence Hayes said in a statement that the agency “reported to law enforcement allegations that VA personnel may have improperly accessed Veteran records” and takes “the privacy of the Veterans we serve very seriously and have strict policies in place to protect their records.” 

“Any attempt to improperly access Veteran records by VA personnel is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” Hayes wrote. 

The potential motive for accessing the medical records is under investigation, and investigators are still trying to determine if Vance and Walz’s information was shared as a result of the breaches, the Post reported. 

The VA employees under investigation, including the physician and contractor, accessed the medical records using their VA computers and did so mostly from their government offices, sources told the newspaper. Some of the staffers in question reportedly told investigators they were simply curious to see the files of Vance and Walz given both candidates have defended their military records on the campaign trail. 

The Department of Justice declined to comment about the report. The breach reportedly did not include access to any disability compensation, which has more security protocols than health information. 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance are hours away from the first and only vice presidential debate.

As the latest Fox News Power Rankings reveal, Vance starts the evening with a lead on the economy and immigration, while Walz has an advantage on abortion.

Vice presidential hopefuls do not attract as much attention as their bosses when they debate, but as Fox News’ Arnon Mishkin argued Monday, they have changed the direction of at least six elections in the last 50 years.

In most cases, these debates are won on policy. Voters are not as familiar with these nominees as they are with former President Donald Trump or even Vice President Kamala Harris, and they do not need to make their choice.

The smart play for these vice presidential candidates is to focus on the major issues at stake and how their administrations would solve them.

FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: HARRIS TICKS UP AND SENATE REPUBLICANS TAKE CHARGE

That is especially true for Walz on the economy and immigration, since the Harris campaign continues to lag on those issues. Vance, meanwhile, has struggled with poor favorability ratings, so his challenge is to hammer the popular parts of the Trump agenda and avoid wading into the culture war trenches.

There are also style points up for grabs. Many voters will only ever see this debate in short clips on social media, so acting like a policy wonk is less likely than ever to get the job done.

Trump continues to hold an advantage on two of the top three issues in this campaign. He leads on the economy by nine points and immigration by 11.

Those numbers have barely budged since Harris and Trump debated. In August, when the Power Rankings last looked at the major issues, the former president led on the economy by eight and immigration by 13.

Harris is far out in front on abortion. She leads by 17 points on that issue, also a negligible movement since the last tracker (Harris +18).

This tracker includes polls from Fox News, Quinnipiac, CNN/SSRS, NBC News and the New York Times/Siena.

Trump lost a point in the horse race after his debate with Harris while the vice president gained one; these modest shifts mirrored those after the first debate in 2020.

Together, these results suggest that the cause of Trump’s slight decline was style rather than substance.

Conversely, while Harris won the debate and held on to her advantage on abortion, she has not consistently closed the issues gap, particularly on immigration.

That is not ideal for her, given the economy (38%) and immigration (17%) are two of the top three issues for voters. A recent Fox News national survey showed those issues and abortion (16%) were the only three that a double-digit percentage of voters called their “most important” issue in deciding their vote.

According to the same survey, Harris has strong leads in issues outside the top three. That includes health care, helping the middle class and climate change. These are “bread and butter” issues that the left has relied on to drag out base voters in previous elections.

The Democratic candidate also has a lead in uniting the country and, as consistent with previous trackers, having the right temperament for the job.

The candidates are evenly divided on national security. Neither has an advantage in handling a crisis that puts the country at risk, being commander in chief or decisions about using nuclear weapons. Trump’s temperament deficit should give Harris an opportunity to lead on some of these qualities, but that has not materialized.

ARNON MISHKIN: JD VANCE IS AN EXCELLENT DEBATER AND PRACTICES FOR THE DEBATE EVERY SUNDAY

Finally, voters prefer Trump on foreign policy. He has a six-point lead in handling the Israel/Hamas war and an eight-point lead on the Ukraine/Russia war. 

Tuesday is debate night. Walz and Vance will face off at an event hosted by CBS News in New York City. Fox News will simulcast the debate with special coverage anchored by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum at 8:20 p.m. ET.

Fox News Media has proposed a second Harris-Trump debate to be moderated by MacCallum and Baier in October.

Voters can now cast a ballot in more than half of all states, including Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina.

While many voters are expected to cast a ballot early, Election Day itself is just five weeks away. 

Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, said he traveled to China much less than he had initially highlighted in congressional hearings and media interviews. 

“I have been to China dozens of times,” Walz said during a 2016 congressional hearing. “I’ve been there about 30 times,” Walz told an agriculture-focused publication the same year.

However, a Harris-Walz campaign spokesperson recently acknowledged to Minnesota Public Radio that the number was “closer to 15 times.” 

The revision comes amid growing scrutiny from GOP critics over Walz’s potential ties to the People’s Republic of China and its ruling Communist Party. Earlier this month, House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., sent a letter renewing pressure on the FBI to produce documents related to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) entities or officials that Walz has purportedly engaged with in the past.

WALZ APPOINTEE WITH APPARENT CCP TIES COULD EXPOSE POTENTIAL VEEP’S NATIONAL SECURITY WEAKNESS, LAWMAKER SAYS

According to Walz’s own testimony, he first went to China in 1989 amid the Tiananmen Square uprising. Walz was part of the first delegation of American teachers to ever go to the communist nation during the trip. He was a participant in Harvard’s WorldTeach program, which gave Walz the opportunity to live and teach young students in China for a year. 

Walz apparently enjoyed his time in China so much that after transitioning his teaching career to the U.S., Walz continued to take annual trips back to China with his students. Walz eventually set up a company with his wife Gwen, called Educational Travel Adventures, Inc., which was dedicated to taking students on trips to China and other international destinations. The two even honeymooned in China on one of their trips in 1993. Walz’s annual trips with students took place between 1993 and the early 2000s, before he began running for public office.  

FANS BOO TIM WALZ AS HE LEAVES MICHIGAN-MINNESOTA GAME: ‘GET OUT OF HERE’

Walz and his wife dissolved their student-travel company after he won his seat in Congress in 2006. However, Walz’s China experience was a matter of pride for the now-vice presidential candidate when he was trying to join Congress. 

Walz’s campaign website at the time, for instance, highlighted his work as a visiting fellow at Macau Polytechnic University, a university in China with ties to the CCP. 

“What we need in education, what we need in the military, and what we need when I’m fostering cultural exchanges with China, is real solutions,” Walz also said when he debated incumbent GOP Rep. Gil Gutknecht in 2006, once again highlighting his work in China.  

However, after Walz became Harris’ running mate this year, Minnesota Public Radio began trying to verify the “dozens” of trips he claimed to have gone on. In the end, they could only verify that about 12 of them had actually occurred. 

FOX NEWS MEDIA WILL PRESENT SPECIAL LIVE PROGRAMMING OF VANCE-WALZ DEBATE

When the news outlet reached out to the Harris campaign for documentation proving the rest of Walz’s trips did indeed take place, instead of offering such proof they acknowledged that Walz had previously exaggerated the number of trips he took to China, and it was actually “closer to 15 times” not “dozens of times.”   

Besides apparently misrepresenting how many times he traveled to China, Walz has also been accused of misrepresenting his rank in the Army National Guard as well.

“I’m a retired command sergeant major,” Walz asserted while running for Congress in 2006. However, while Walz did serve briefly with that rank, he retired too early to keep it. Walz’s retirement also prevented him from deploying to the Middle East, another point of criticism against the vice presidential candidate who has suggested that he saw combat. Meanwhile, it has been alleged that Walz and his wife have made false assertions about their use of IVF as well.  

A former national guard veteran who reportedly served with Walz told talk show host Megyn Kelly that they think Walz is a “habitual liar.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“He’s a habitual liar. He lies about everything. He lies about stuff that doesn’t make sense.” 

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris-Walz campaign but did not hear back prior to publication time.

Pennsylvania remains one of the tightest contests in the nation as November’s presidential election approaches. 

Vice President Harris remains ahead of former President Trump by a razor-thin margin, according to new data from AARP. 

Harris maintains 49% of likely voters, while Trump maintains approximately 47%, according to the survey. Three percent reported being undecided.  

FOX NEWS POLL: HARRIS, TRUMP LOCKED IN TIGHT RACE IN BATTLEGROUND PENNSYLVANIA

The AARP poll was conducted by landline, cell phone, and text-to-web by a bipartisan team from Sept. 17 to Sept. 24. 

Harris’ weakest point is with senior citizens, AARP’s response data shows.

Seniors aged 65 years and older broke for Trump by 7 points, according to the data. 

ROLLING STONES TOUR SPONSORED BY AARP AS 80-YEAR-OLD ROCKER MICK JAGGER SET TO HIT THE ROAD

It’s a major shift after Trump was trailing previous Democratic candidate President Biden by 1 point before he dropped out and Harris became the party’s nominee.

The AARP survey found that 50% of likely voters approve of Trump’s performance as president from 2016 to 2020. About 49% disapprove of his job performance in the Oval Office.

Approximately 45% approve of Harris’ performance as vice president, while 52% disapprove.

The AARP survey spoke with 1,398 likely voters in Pennsylvania and has an overall margin of error of 4 percentage points. 

An over-sample of 470 likely voters within the state who are 50 years old and up was included in the data with a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

Montana U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy, a Republican, ripped his opponent, incumbent Democrat Sen. Jon Tester, for his ties to lobbyists during a debate on Monday.

Tester is seeking to hold onto his Senate seat to continue representing the red state of Montana in a race that could determine which party controls the upper chamber of Congress, and recent polling shows that Sheehy is leading just weeks before Election Day.

During the debate on Monday, Sheehy knocked his Democrat opponent for his relationship with lobbyists in Washington, D.C.

“Sen. Tester knows all about backroom meetings, he’s been taking them for 20 years … While I was fighting in Afghanistan, he was eating lobbyist steak in D.C.,” said Sheehy, a former U.S. Navy SEAL.

‘WHOEVER GETS ELECTED’: VULNERABLE DEM TESTER DIGS IN HEELS ON NOT ENDORSING HARRIS

Lobbyists have donated more heavily to Tester during this election cycle than to any other member of Congress, according to the non-partisan group OpenSecrets.

Tester is the last remaining Democrat to hold high office in Montana, where Republicans, including former President Trump, supported Sheehy’s campaign with the hope that he could defeat the vulnerable Democrat and help the GOP win back control of the Senate.

Republicans need to gain only two seats in next month’s election to win the Senate majority. GOP West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice is considered a lock in his state’s Senate race against Democrat Glenn Elliott, meaning the Senate majority could run through Montana.

Trump won Montana by about 17 percentage points in 2020 and, given that the state is overwhelmingly Republican, Sheehy has often sought to tie Tester to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris as the Republican candidate looks to take advantage of public dissatisfaction over the administration’s struggles to address the influx of illegal immigration at the Southern Border.

JON TESTER CASTS DOUBT ON UNFAVORABLE POLL IN MONTANA SENATE RACE: ‘GIVE ME A BREAK’

“Democrats on the Hill refused to hold the administration accountable for the largest mass migration in the history of this country,” Sheehy said.

Tester, however, has declined to endorse Harris and has attempted to distance himself from her on the campaign trail, and he skipped the Democratic National Convention in August, when she was named the party’s nominee for president after Biden dropped out.

The Democrat has also criticized some of the administration’s policy decisions. This includes his opposition to the move for tighter pollution rules for coal plants and his calls for more to be done on immigration.

“Look, I’ll be the first person to tell you that President Biden has not done a good job on the southern border,” Tester said Monday.

Sheehy and Tester also addressed abortion, in which the Democrat said he wants to reinstate Roe v. Wade after the landmark ruling was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court two years ago, returning the power to make laws regarding abortion back to the states.

The Republican acknowledged that remarks he made last year about Native Americans were “insensitive,” but refused his opponent’s request to apologize. Sheehy had told a group of laughing supporters about bonding “with all the Indians … while they’re drunk at 8 a.m.,” while working cattle at a ranch on the Crow Indian Reservation.

“Yeah, insensitive,” Sheehy said. “I come from the military as many of our tribal members do. You know, we make insensitive jokes and probably off-color jokes sometimes.”

Tester pressed his opponent, “Tim, the statement you made degrades Native Americans across this country. You’re a big guy, just apologize.”

“Will you apologize for opening the border?” Sheehy shot back.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: The National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) political action committee is stepping into Ohio’s U.S. Senate race with a seven-figure ad campaign targeting Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown, who has an F rating from the NRA on Second Amendment advocacy.

The 30-second TV ad, airing on cable networks from Oct. 1 until the election, urges voters to “Vote like your life depends on it” and positions Brown’s conservative opponent, Bernie Moreno, as a strong advocate for the Second Amendment.

The ad, which is part of a larger media blitz that includes digital ads, texting, direct mail and door-to-door canvassing, also slams “soft-on-crime politicians” like Brown for allegedly not defending gun owners’ rights, “even putting anti-gun judges on the bench.”

NRA BETS BIG ON MONTANA IN GUN RIGHTS PUSH AS TESTER TEETERS IN SENATE RACE

“Sen. Brown has failed us,” the ad’s narrator says.

“This November, gun owners must act to preserve their rights,” said NRA-PVF Chair Randy Kozuch in a statement. “Soft-on-crime politicians like Sherrod Brown have made everyday life more dangerous for American communities but failed to protect gun owners and their right to defend themselves.”

Moreno and Brown are in a neck and neck battle for a crucial Senate seat as most polls indicate that their race falls within the margin of error.

Brown has also earned himself a progressive reputation among some critics.

MCCORMICK SAYS ‘PEOPLE ARE RECOGNIZING’ IMPORTANCE OF 2024 ELECTION AS PENNSYLVANIA SENATE POLLS TIGHTEN

He has been criticized for supporting the Biden administration’s policies nearly 100% of the time, according to the Voteview database maintained by UCLA political scientists, but has bucked the administration on certain issues related to climate change. But his critics say he is more in line with the progressive “Green New Deal” than he is the oil and gas industry in Ohio.

Ohio is the second state the NRA-PVF has targeted this election cycle. Last month, the gun group went live on Montana’s airwaves with a massive push against vulnerable Democrat Sen. Jon Tester.

Fox News Digital’s Brian Flood and Julia Johnson contributed to this report.

Pennsylvania’s 19 Electoral College votes are up for grabs in the 2024 presidential election with absentee voting in the Keystone State underway for some voters there.

Pennsylvania was one of three Rust Belt states that flipped from the Democrats to former President Trump and Republicans in 2016, then back to President Biden four years later. In each case, the margin was thin with less than 100,000 votes separating the main candidates.

The state has also been critical to each president’s pathway to victory. It has the largest population and the most Electoral College votes of the seven most competitive states in the Fox News Power Rankings.

A recent Fox News survey has the race tied, with Democrat nominee Vice President Harris and Trump each receiving support from 49% of likely voters.

The bulk of the Democrat vote comes from the “bookends” of the state, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, where Harris will likely perform well among Black and suburban voters.

Trump makes up for that with White rural and non-college-educated voters who live in the middle of the state. The former president has brought these voters out to the ballot box twice, and a Pennsylvania-heavy rally schedule shows he is looking to do that again.

Pennsylvania is ranked “Toss-Up” in the Fox News Power Rankings.

The Keystone State also has a U.S. Senate race on the ballot. Democrat Sen. Bob Casey has won three elections before, but securing a fourth will be more difficult with White working-class voters drifting away from his party. Republicans are hoping businessman Dave McCormick will connect with them. That race is ranked “Leans Dem.”

Pennsylvania is also home to a handful of competitive U.S. House races led by:

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 Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania has what it describes as “On-Demand Mail Ballot Voting,” which allows registered voters to apply for mail ballots while at their county election office or other designated locations and then complete and submit the ballots while there.

Mail ballots can be submitted in-person until 8 p.m. on Election Day, while the deadline to apply for one is 5 p.m. ET on Oct. 29.

Pennsylvania certified its official candidate list on Sept. 16, and counties are still “finalizing their ballots, proofreading them, and ordering printed ballots,” the state said. Mail ballots are currently available in 15 of the state’s 67 counties.

Counties were required to begin sending absentee ballots to military and overseas voters by Sept. 21.

Pennsylvania residents can register to vote online or by mail through Oct. 21.

Former Democrat President Carter turns 100 years old on Tuesday, earning himself the distinction of being the first president to ever live for an entire century.

Carter, the nation’s 39th president, has been a man of several firsts. He was the first U.S. president to be born in a hospital, was the first Naval Academy graduate to become president, and he was the first president to make a formal state visit to Sub-Saharan Africa, among other firsts. Now, Carter is the first U.S. president in history to make it to 100 years old.

Carter remains under home hospice care in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, where he has lived since the culmination of his presidency in 1981. This upcoming February marks two years in hospice for the former president who has outlived his wife, Rosalynn. She died last year at age 96.

JIMMY CARTER’S GRANDSON SAYS FORMER PRESIDENT IS ‘COMING TO THE END’

“It’s funny, President Carter has accomplished so much and rarely ever fails. But the one thing that he’s not been good at is hospice,” said Jill Stuckey, a family friend of the Carters for more than 30 years and the superintendent of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Park in Plains. “He keeps living, and we are so thrilled about that fact. So, if he was to not be good at anything, we’re glad it’s hospice.”

When asked what Stuckey thought differentiated Carter from other past presidents who have lived into old age, she said it was “tenacity.”

“He and Mrs. Carter were concerned about living as long as they possibly could, being as healthy as they possibly could, so they could help as many people as they possibly could,” Stuckey told Fox News Digital. “They have eaten right every single meal. They have exercised every single day. They are just relentless in taking care of themselves so they can live as long as they possibly can to take care of others. And that’s what President Carter is proving today, that all those things make a difference.”

JIMMY CARTER’S FAMILY REVEALS HOW PRESIDENT FELT ABOUT BIDEN QUITTING, WHICH DNC SPEAKER STOLE THE SHOW

Stuckey said that events commemorating Carter’s milestone 100th birthday have been going on in Plains since Saturday, when the town held its annual peanut festival.

“We celebrate peanut harvest season here in Plains, and it happens to coincide with President Carter’s birthday every year, so we kind of combine them,” Stuckey said. 

She also indicated that Tuesday, on Carter’s birthday, several other events commemorating his birthday will take place in Plains, including a naturalization ceremony for 100 new citizens at Plains High School, where both Jimmy and Rosalynn attended. 

After the ceremony, there will be a flyover to honor the former president, organized with the help of Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro. In the late afternoon, Plains will also host a ribbon-cutting ceremony for new statues dedicated to the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.

Meanwhile, in celebration of Carter’s birthday, volunteers in St. Paul, Minnesota, gathered to build 30 new homes over five days. Participants reportedly included country music stars Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood.

“You’re one of the most influential statesmen in our history,” President Biden said in a video released ahead of Carter’s birthday on Tuesday. 

Over the weekend, Grand Ole Opry member and country music legend Charlie McCoy played a special rendition of “Georgia On My Mind” to honor the former president.

WHY JIMMY CARTER IS THE FATHER OF THE POST-PRESIDENCY, SAW THE POWER OF HIS STATUS

“I remember the first time I saw him, and I was in awe, and the feeling’s always been there. You can be around presidents all the time, but the first time is the most meaningful,” said Cathie Skoog, a former member of the White House Communications Agency. “He didn’t care what people thought. He did what he felt was right for the country.”

Carter’s presidency was marked by efforts to preserve the environment, advance human rights and propel the American education system to new heights. Carter overhauled the civil service system, deregulated the airline industry to spur competition, and created the Energy and Education departments. It was also Carter’s administration that required both seat belts and airbags in cars.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

However, Carter’s presidency was also marked by trials, including high inflation, an energy crisis and failed negotiations to win the release of dozens of American hostages taken captive in Iran. Carter’s Secretary of State, Cyrus Vance, eventually resigned in protest of the administration’s handling of the hostage crisis.

Amid the Iranian Revolution going on at the time, oil prices in the U.S. rose substantially. In July 1979, Carter blamed Americans discouraged by soaring inflation and the energy crisis for losing confidence in the country.

“The symptoms of this crisis of the American spirit are all around us,” Carter said in his speech. “For the first time in the history of our country, a majority of our people believe that the next five years will be worse than the past five years. Two-thirds of our people do not even vote. The productivity of American workers is actually dropping, and the willingness of Americans to save for the future has fallen below that of all other people in the Western world.”

“We must face the truth, and then we can change our course,” he continued. “We simply must have faith in each other, faith in our ability to govern ourselves and faith in the future of this nation. Restoring that faith and that confidence to America is now the most important task we face.”

NEW YORK – With a second face-to-face showdown between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump unlikely – and with a margin-of-error race with five weeks until Election Day in November – there’s a lot on the line in the vice presidential debate.

While debates between the running mates are the undercard of a White House race and have rarely moved the need much in the past, when Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democrats’ nominee, face-off on Tuesday, there will be heightened stakes.

Any major knockout blow – or agonizing misstep – could turn what’s traditionally seen as a second-tier event into an impactful showdown.

“Given that we’re only likely to have one head-to-head matchup between the principal candidates and this is the last meet up between the two tickets directly before the election, it heightens the importance and significance of this debate,” longtime Republican strategist and communicator Ryan Williams, a veteran of multiple presidential campaigns, told Fox News.

THE WHO, WHAT, WHERE, AND WHEN OF TUESDAY’S JD VANCE-TIM WALZ VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE 

Most political pundits said that Harris bested Trump last month in their first and likely only debate. And flash polls of debate watchers agreed. 

So a strong showing by Vance in Tuesday’s vice presidential debate could give Trump a boost. 

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING IN THE 2024 ELECTION

And there’s a precedent from twelve years ago.

After a shaky first debate by then-President Barack Obama against 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, then-Vice President Joe Biden’s well-regarded performance in the running mate debate against Romney running mate Rep. Paul Ryan gave the Democrats’ ticket a big boost.

Heading into the 2024 vice presidential debate, the 40-year-old Vance has been very talkative, sitting for scores of interviews and taking plenty of questions from reporters on the campaign trail. 

Walz, who is 60, has been much more reluctant to speak with the national news media. 

The governor has been in debate camp ahead of the showdown, to prepare. Walz huddled with advisers and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg – who played the role of Vance in mock debates – in Harbor Springs, Michigan, near the northern tip of the state’s lower peninsula.

Also helping out – Walz’s wife – Minnesota First Lady Gwen Walz.

Asked on the eve of the showdown with Vance how his wife had been helping him with debate preparation, Walz told reporters “she wins every one.”

WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS 2024 ELECTION POWER RANKINGS SHOW

A source familiar with Vance’s debate prep tells Fox News Digital that over the last month, the senator took part in a series of murder board sessions with his team, where a group of people who ask tough questions and have candid discussions to help someone prepare for a difficult examination or test, or in Vance’s case, a vice presidential debate.

According to the source, Vance conducted a mock debate over the past week, with Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the House majority whip, playing the role of Walz. Former Trump administration Treasury Department assistant secretary Monica Crowley played the role of one of the moderators from CBS News, which is hosting the debate in New York City.

Halfway through the mock debate, the power went out, as a strong storm slammed through the vicinity of Cincinnati, Ohio, where Vance lives and where the prep session was held. But according to the source, who shared the details first with Fox News, Vance and the team continued on, using lanterns for lighting and cellphones for timers.

Emmer and Walz overlapped for four years in the House before Walz won election in 2018 as Minnesota’s governor. “I do know him probably as well or better than most on the Republican side,” he said.

And Emmer, taking a shot at his fellow Minnesotan, argued “the hardest part of playing Walz… is trying to tell lies with a straight face, because that’s what he does. He’s good at the debate game, but there isn’t substance there. There’s a lot of air.”

Former President Trump, asked Monday if he had given his running mate any advice, told reporters, “No, he doesn’t need it.”

But he added that he and Vance had “been speaking a little bit back and forth” and that he thought the senator was in “good shape.”

Part of the Trump campaign’s strategy ahead of the debate is to raise expectations for Walz.

“Walz is very good in debates. I want to repeat that. Tim Walz is very good in debates. Really good. He’s been a politician for nearly 20 years. He’ll be very well prepared for tomorrow night,” Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller told reporters on Monday.

Walz comes into the debate with better poll numbers than Vance.

According to the latest Fox News national poll, Walz was slightly above water with a 43% favorable rating and a 40% unfavorable rating.

Vance stood in negative territory, at 38%-50% favorable/unfavorable.

The senator arrived in New York City on Monday afternoon, and in the evening took a break from debate preparations to headline a gathering of GOP mega donors.

Walz was scheduled to fly to New York City on Tuesday, ahead of the debate.

The vice presidential debate is being moderated by “CBS Evening News” anchor and managing editor Norah O’Donnell and “Face the Nation” host and chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Brennan. 

The 90-minute debate, which kicks off at 9pm ET, will take place at the CBS News broadcast center in New York City.

The Fox News Channel, FOX Business Network, Fox News Digital, Fox News Audio and Fox Nation will air special programming of the debate. 

Both the Harris and Trump campaigns agreed to two four-minute commercial breaks during the debate. Campaign staff are not allowed to interact with the candidates during those breaks.

The other rules  – including no studio audience – are similar to September’s Harris-Trump debate and June’s debate between Trump and President Biden.

But there is one major difference – a candidate’s microphone won’t be muted when the opponent is speaking.

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

FIRST ON FOX – The Democratic National Committee projected images on Trump Tower in New York City on Monday evening, on the eve of the vice presidential debate between former President Trump’s running mate Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate.

The images being projected by the DNC – which were shared first with Fox News Digital – include an eight-year old critical comment of Trump that Vance wrote on social media.

“Vance on Trump: ‘What an idiot’” read the projection, which was a portion of a direct quote from Vance’s 2016 social media post.

Vance was a one-time Trump critic when the former president first won the White House. But Vance became a major supporter, and after winning election to the Senate in 2022 with Trump’s support, has become a top Senate ally of the former president and his America First agenda.

THE WHO, WHAT, WHERE, AND WHEN OF TUESDAY’S JD VANCE-TIM WALZ VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE 

Another projection charges that “Trump is a chicken,” as the DNC continues its attacks on the former president – launched recently on mobile and stationary billboards – for saying he won’t debate Harris a second time. 

Trump has said that it’s too late for another debate because early in-person and absentee voting is already underway in a growing number of states across the country. 

FOX EXCLUSIVE: POWER OUTAGE DOESN’T SLOW DOWN VANCE’S DEBATE PREP

A third projection from the DNC being illuminated on Trump Tower says “Project 2025 HQ.”

Project 2025 is a political initiative published by the well-known Heritage Foundation, a top DC-based conservative think-tank. While some of the authors who worked on the initiative – which includes some controversial planks – are veterans of the Trump administration, the former president and his campaign have pushed back vehemently against repeated attempts by Democrats to link him to Project 2025.

Another projection from the DNC is less controversial. It merely says “Go Coach Walz!”

Walz was a longtime high school teacher and coach in Nebraska and then Minnesota before entering politics.

“These projections on Trump Tower NYC are a reminder that Trump and Vance are out for themselves while Trump remains afraid to go back on that debate stage and be held accountable by Vice President Harris for his failed record and his dangerous agenda,” DNC deputy communications director Abhi Rahman argued in a statement.

And Rahman predicted that “America will reject their self-serving, extreme Project 2025 plans this November.”

Responding to the gimmick, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told Fox News that “President Trump is living rent-free in Kamala Harris and the Democrats’ addled pea brains infected by a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

This is the second time in a month that the Democrats have projected images on a Trump Tower.

The DNC also shined images on Trump Tower in Chicago ahead of the Democratic National Convention in August.

Trump Tower in New York City – at the intersection of 5th Avenue and 57th Street – has long been a staple of the Midtown Manhattan skyline for nearly four decades.

The commercial and residential tower serves as the headquarters for the Trump organization and was also the nerve center for Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

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