A shadowy group has been recruiting unsuspecting candidates to act as potential spoilers in competitive House races in the latest attempt from far-left groups to tip Republican races.

For the past year, a group known as the Patriots Run Project has recruited Trump supporters to run as independent candidates in key swing districts where they could siphon votes from Republicans in races that will help determine which party controls the House next year, an Associated Press review found. In addition to two races in Iowa, the group recruited candidates in Nebraska, Montana, Virginia and Minnesota. All six recruits described themselves as retired, disabled or both.

The group’s operation provides few clues about its management, financing or motivation. But interviews, text messages, emails, business filings and other documents reviewed by the AP show that a significant sum has been spent — and some of it traces back to Democratic consulting firms.

“At that time, I was thinking, ‘Well, it would be nice to be in Congress and get to work with President Trump,’” Joe Wiederien, 54, reflected in an interview outside the Veterans Affairs hospital in Des Moines, where he was seeking treatment for a leaking incision on his head from previous brain surgery. “It looks like it’s a dirty trick now.”

WISCONSIN KICKS OFF ELECTION SEASON WITH FIRST WIDELY AVAILABLE ABSENTEE BALLOTS

A fervent supporter of former President Donald Trump, Wiederien was registered as a Republican until months earlier. A debilitating stroke had left him unable to drive. He had never run for office. For a time, he couldn’t vote because of a felony conviction.

But he arrived last month at the Iowa Capitol with well over the 1,726 petition signatures needed to qualify for the ballot as a conservative alternative to first-term Republican Rep. Zach Nunn. After filing the paperwork, he flashed a thumbs-up across the room at an operative he knew only as “Johnny.”

Thomas Bowman, 71 and disabled after a kidney transplant, said he believes he likely was recruited to run against Democratic Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota to split the conservative vote and help Craig win reelection in the suburban Minneapolis district. But the self-described constitutional conservative expressed gratitude for free help getting signatures.

TRUMP MAKES A BOLD PREDICTION ABOUT THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

“They got me on the ballot,” Bowman said. “If I had to do that all by myself, I couldn’t do it.”

Patriots Run Project’s actions have resulted in an FEC complaint from the conservative group Americans for Public Trust, which alleges that Patriots Run Project’s “major purpose” was “influencing federal elections” and the organization thus violated campaign finance law by failing to register as a political committee.

That would force the group to file reports that would likely reveal who is managing and financing the operation, as well as the motivation behind it.

The only concrete identifying detail listed on the group’s website is a mailbox inside a UPS store in Washington, D.C.

“It’s clear this shady scheme connected to Democrats is a threat to democracy, yet every single Democrat candidate benefiting from the plot refuses to condemn it,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Mike Marinella told Fox News Digital. “If they truly mean what they say, they can’t remain silent.”

Patriots Run Project operated a series of pro-Trump pages and ran ads that used apocalyptic rhetoric to attack establishment politicians in both parties while urging conservatives to run in November.

“We need American Patriots like YOU to stand for freedom with President Trump and take back control from the globalist elites by running for office,” one such ad states.

Once recruited, they communicated with a handful of operatives through text messages, emails and phone calls. In-person contact was limited. Patriots Run Project advised them about what forms to fill out and how to file required paperwork.

In at least three races, petition signatures to qualify for the ballot were circulated by a Nevada company that works closely with the Democratic consulting firm Sole Strategies, according to documents, including text messages and a draft contract, as well as the firm’s co-founder. In Iowa, a different Democratic firm conducted a poll testing attacks on Nunn, while presenting Wiederien as the true conservative.

A spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, House Democrats’ campaign arm, said the organization had no knowledge of or involvement in the effort. House Majority PAC, the Democrats’ big spending congressional super PAC, was also not involved, a spokesman said.

Democrats are no strangers to boosting extreme candidates. During the midterms, the Left funded ads for fringe Republican candidates, hoping they would be easier to defeat in a general election.

Associated Press and Fox News Digital’s Rich Edson contributed to this report.

President Biden on Thursday falsely claimed he had never spoken to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as president, despite having a meeting with him at the White House two years ago.

Biden, during a speech to the Economic Club of Washington, said, “Unlike my predecessor, I respect the Federal Reserve’s independence as they pursued a mandate to bring inflation down.”  

“And that independence has served the country well. And by the way, I’ve never once spoken to the chairman of the Fed since I became president,” Biden added. “We’ll also do enormous damage to our economy if that independence is ever lost.” 

However, in May 2022, Biden met with Powell in the Oval Office in what Bloomberg described in a report as his “third in-person session with Powell” since becoming president. 

FEDERAL RESERVE CUTS RATES FOR FIRST TIME IN FOUR YEARS AHEAD OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 

“My plan is to address inflation. That starts with a simple proposition: respect the Fed, respect the Fed’s independence, which I have done and will continue to do,” Biden said at the time. 

“The president underscored to Chair Powell in the meeting what he has underscored consistently including today – that he respects the independence of the Federal Reserve,” then-White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese said after the meeting, according to Reuters. 

IRAN TRIED TO INFLUENCE ELECTION BY SENDING STOLEN MATERIAL FROM TRUMP CAMPAIGN TO BIDEN’S CAMP, FBI SAYS 

Before that, in November 2021, Biden also introduced Powell during a news conference to announce his nominees for chair and vice chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. 

During his time as president, Trump once called Powell “clueless” in a tweet, writing, “We should easily be reaping big Rewards & Gains, but the Fed is holding us back. We will Win!” 

Nearly 30 vulnerable House Democrats voted for a bill Wednesday to deport illegal immigrants who commit sex crimes, signaling a shift in the party’s focus on the migrant crisis as the November elections draw near.

The Republican-led bill passed 266 to 158, with 51 Democrats voting with GOP lawmakers.

Democratic critics of the bill have accused it of unfairly targeting illegal immigrants and “weaponizing” the issue of domestic violence. In total, 158 Democrats voted against the bill.

But out of the 31 left-wing lawmakers running for re-election in competitive seats, according to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, only Reps. Darren Soto, D-Fla., and Val Hoyle, D-Ore., voted against the bill. Twenty-nine vulnerable Democrats, however, crossed the aisle on the measure.

EX-BORDER CHIEF WARNS OF ‘SIGNIFICANT THREAT’ AS MIGRANT NUMBERS SKYROCKET: ‘ENTIRE SECTORS’ MISSING AGENTS

Fox News Digital reached out to Hoyle and Soto’s offices about their opposition to the bill but did not immediately receive a response.

Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, voted “no” on Wednesday night, but his office told Fox News Digital that it was in error: “Rep. Landsman intended to vote yes on H.R.7909 and has already submitted a statement to the Congressional Record affirming as such,” his office said.

Both Hoyle and Soto are in seats classified as “likely Democrat” but could be vulnerable to an upset. Soto’s seat is rated eight points in favor of Democrats, and Hoyle’s is four. Landsman is closest to a toss-up, being rated “D+2.”

However, the significant number of vulnerable Democrats who supported the bill is a hallmark of the larger shift in focus the party has experienced on border security.

GERMANY CLAMPS DOWN ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AS COUNTRY FORCED TO RETHINK POLICIES AMID VOTER ANGER

Moderate Democrats and those in danger of losing their seats have raced to call for bipartisan measures to tackle the migrant crisis, which has reached states and cities well beyond the U.S.-Mexico border.

In addition to deporting migrants convicted of sex crimes, the legislation would also deem illegal immigrants who admit to domestic violence or sex-related charges — or are convicted of them — to be inadmissible to the U.S.

It was led by Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., herself a survivor of rape.

It’s part of a wider legislative push by the House GOP to spotlight issues stemming from the border crisis.

TOP HOUSE COMMITTEE RAMPS UP PRESSURE TO OBTAIN ‘IMPORTANT’ DOCS ON HARRIS’ ROLE IN BORDER CRISIS 

Among the Democrats who spoke out against the bill is Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.

“Here we are again, debating another partisan bill that fearmongers about immigrants, instead of working together to fix the immigration system,” Jayapal said during debate on the bill.

“I probably shouldn’t be too surprised. Scapegoating immigrants and attempting to weaponize the crime of domestic violence is appearing to be a time-honored tradition for Republicans.”

A conservative legal watchdog group is heading to court to get the U.S. Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to explain how gunman Thomas Crooks had been able to “fire a relatively simple shot that came within an inch of killing President Trump and struck fellow Americans.”

In a lawsuit filed Thursday, America First Legal alleges that the Secret Service and DHS illegally concealed government records related to the attempted assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. The organization claims it submitted multiple public records requests about the incident but still has not received any documents.

“On July 13, the American people watched in horror as a lunatic attempted to assassinate former President, and current candidate for President, Donald Trump,” Gene Hamilton, AFL senior counsel said in a statement. 

WATCH ON FOX NATION: THE ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATIONS OF DONALD TRUMP

“Today, there is widespread and bipartisan acknowledgment that there were catastrophic failures that tragic day and in the weeks and months ahead of it. We are committed to obtaining these records so that the American people can see for themselves exactly what senior DHS leadership was prioritizing in its mission, and why more resources were not devoted to the protection of President Donald J. Trump,” Hamilton said.

AFL requested documents pertaining to the Secret Service’s staffing shortages, hiring and employment standards and all communications to or from Secretary Alejnadro Mayorkas and two senior DHS official Kristie Canegello and Jonathan Davidson.

According to AFL, the Secret Service said it would not process their expedited public records’ requests, because there was “no threat to the life or safety of anyone” and that there was no urgency to grant their request. 

NEW WHISTLEBLOWER CLAIMS ON FIRST TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT ‘HIGHLY DAMAGING’ TO SECRET SERVICE: HAWLEY

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill – both Republican and Democratic – have also been trying to obtain documents from government agencies related to the events that unfolded that day and what security lapses may have occurred.

“Politicians on both sides of the aisle and the American people both agree that USSS and senior officials at DHS are failing to provide well-deserved and well-needed transparency,” AFL said in its news release.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal recently told reporters on Capitol Hill that he is “reaching the point of total outrage,” because the DHS response has been “totally lacking.” 

“In fact, I think it’s tantamount to stonewalling in many respects,” the Connecticut Democrat said.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., also recently told Fox News Digital that the Secret Service had refused to release documents about Crooks’ autopsy report, saying, “We don’t have any of the trajectory reports.”

“So, where’d the bullets go? We don’t even know how they handled the crime scene,” he said. “We haven’t been able to interview the sniper who took out Crooks,” Johnson said. Crooks is the would-be assassin that, during the July 13 rally in Pennsylvania, opened fire, grazing the former president’s ear, killing a rally attendee and critically injuring two others.

TRUMP BLAMES BIDEN-HARRIS ‘RHETORIC’ FOR LATEST ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT, SAYS HE WILL ‘SAVE THE COUNTRY’

In light of the second attempted assassination of former President Trump’s life at his golf course in Florida last week, AFL said in it statement: “There is no denying that President Trump currently faces genuine threats, and AFL’s requests would help to ensure that USSS and DHS leadership are suffcieintly trained and staffed to ensure the safety of President Trump.”

“The American people and Congress need total transparency,” the group said.

A new statewide poll in California found that nearly three-quarters of Golden State residents support making changes to “Prop 47” – the 2014 public referendum that reduced penalties for larceny, forgery and drug offenses. 

Critics have blamed the current policy – which includes the provision deeming shoplifting under $950 a misdemeanor – for the crime wave gripping urban areas of the state.

In the poll, conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California, 71% of likely voters say they will vote “yes” on “Prop 36” – the ballot initiative that seeks to make such revisions.

The highest support came from residents of the Inland Empire east of San Diego and bordering Arizona – at 79% – with the lowest coming from the Bay Area at 64%.

KAMALA HARRIS PLAYED ‘CRITICAL ROLE’ IN CALIFORNIA CRIME LAW

Sixty-three percent of Democrats and 85% of Republicans support Prop 36, according to the poll, which met Fox News’ polling standards.

Prop 36 will allow felony charges for certain types of drug possession and thefts under $950, if the defendant has two such prior convictions, according to the California Department of State. It will also apply more serious penalties for fentanyl dealers.

The department said approving Prop 36 could also lead to millions of dollars in “state criminal justice costs,” according to its “Fiscal Impact” section.

Prime supporters include Crime Victims United and the California District Attorney’s Association, while opponents include Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton, according to CDOS.

CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATS ‘PLAYING DIRTY TRICKS’ TO KEEP PROP 47 REFORM OFF BALLOT, GOP LEADER SAYS

The poll surveyed more than 1,000 likely voters and was conducted from Aug. 29 to Sept. 9.

Prop 36 was originally introduced in part by two Democrats, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire, in July, according to reports.

“Californians want safer, stronger communities, and we’re delivering exactly that with this commonsense approach,” McGuire said in a statement.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“These are a methodical set of measures that will crack down on retail theft and hold offenders accountable for hardcore drug crimes, without enacting the Draconian policies of the ‘80s and ‘90s that devastated communities of color and cost taxpayers billions of dollars.”

Fox News Digital also reached out to California Republicans for comment.

The PPIC’s survey director told the Sacramento Bee that of the 10 ballot initiatives primed for November, Prop 36 is getting the most attention:

“Proposition 36 on crime sentences currently leads in support, interest, and importance among the 10 state propositions,” Mark Baldassare said.

Unrest has reportedly taken over the North Carolina GOP in anticipation of a forthcoming negative news story about Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the current candidate for governor.

Reports say the story, which has yet to be published, has to do with Robinson’s activity on adult websites in the 2000s, according to The Carolina Journal. Robinson and his campaign did not respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.

Sources told the Journal that members of Robinson’s staff and former President Donald Trump’s campaign are encouraging Robinson to drop out of the race.

Michael Lonergan, the communications director for Robinson’s campaign, rejected the claims in a statement to the journal.

“Whomever your sources are here, it is complete fiction,” he told the outlet.

REPUBLICAN MARK ROBINSON ON HISTORIC LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR WIN: ‘THIS PARTY IS OPEN TO EVERYBODY’

The reports come after Robinson canceled two campaign events Thursday. He was scheduled to appear alongside Sen. JD Vance, but his campaign said Robinson tested positive for COVID.

NRA SUPPORTS GOP CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR WHO WENT VIRAL FOR PRO-GUN SPEECH: ‘I’M THE MAJORITY’

A source reportedly told the Journal that Trump’s campaign told Robinson he is not welcome at campaign events earlier this week. The story reportedly originated from the campaign for Robinson’s opponent, Attorney General Josh Stein, which leaked the information to CNN and a local outlet.

Robinson secured the GOP nomination for governor in March. He would be the state’s first Black governor if he wins the election.

NORTH CAROLINA’S REPUBLICAN LT GOV MARK ROBINSON LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO REPLACE DEMOCRAT GOV ROY COOPER

Trump endorsed Robinson this spring, calling him “Martin Luther King on steroids.”

The reported damaging news story about Robinson is expected to drop sometime Thursday, according to the Journal.

Iran envoy Robert Malley may have taken part in a “classified conference call” with the White House after his security clearance was suspended, according to the State Department inspector general’s new report. 

The State Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) did not interview Malley and could not confirm that he had been on the call, but his deputy notified a White House official that “Rob will call in” and that Malley had “accessed the controlled office where the call would have occurred.” 

At the time of the call, Malley’s clearance had been paused over misconduct allegations, but the envoy himself had not yet been notified. Malley – a controversial Washington figure who Republicans say is friendly to Iran – had been accused of storing classified information on his personal email account and phone. 

​​That material was later accessed by a “hostile cyber actor,” according to Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, the Foreign Relations Committee ranking member, and Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the House Foreign Affairs Committee chair. They revealed this information in May. 

BLINKEN TRAVELS TO EGYPT FOR CEASEFIRE TALKS 

The FBI is investigating whether Malley committed crimes in moving classified information over to his personal email.

OIG found that State had “deviated” from the normal procedure of clearance suspension by not letting Malley know until senior department officials had been made aware. 

Department officials also restored Malley’s access to sensitive but unclassified information after they had paused his clearance, worried that he might use a personal email account to conduct government business if they did not. 

Sen. Bill Hagerty, Tenn., top Republican on the subcommittee on State Department Management, accused the Biden administration of colluding with Russia after the report. 

“We see growing evidence of Iran collusion by members of the Biden-Harris administration amid the FBI’s reported ongoing investigation into Special Envoy for Iran Rob Malley’s mishandling of classified information and news reports that Malley and other Biden-Harris administration officials were part of the Iranian regime’s malign influence network known as the ‘Iran Experts Initiative’,” said Hagerty. 

IRAN SENT STOLEN TRUMP CAMP MATERIAL TO THE BIDEN CAMPAIGN, FBI SAYS 

Two people who had been commissioned by the Iranian Foreign Ministry to bolster the regime’s image in the U.S. ended up as top aides to Malley, according to a Semafor report. 

“The Inspector General’s report today includes new damning revelations about the cover-up, politicization, and systemic lack of accountability in the Biden-Harris Administration’s State Department.” 

OIG found that a “lack of standard policies for political appointees and the lack of supervision of Special Envoy Malley led to significant confusion as to what work Mr. Malley was authorized to do following the suspension.”

The department also “failed to consistently notify employees who regularly interacted with Mr. Malley that he was no longer allowed to access classified information,” according to the report. It did not report the allegations against Malley to OIG, as required by law. 

The Biden administration made Malley special envoy to Iran in April 2021. He reported directly to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and was granted a top secret security clearance. 

On April 20, 2023, the Director of the Department’s Office of Personnel Security and Suitability received a referral to suspend Malley’s clearance pending an investigation, and the next day the director signed off on the referral. Malley, however, was not notified until the following day, April 22. 

On April 22, the department also issued an information and facility access restriction (IFAR) for Malley. Days later, his access to facilities was restored, and he was allowed to continue working on unclassified matters. 

He continued working until June 29, 2023, when he was placed on leave without pay and told to cease all department work. He was told that without a clearance, he could not perform the duties of the job. 

Malley retains the title of special envoy to Iran to this day, even as his employment and clearance remain suspended. He will continue to hold the title until he resigns or his clearance is officially revoked. 

“Instead of taking this seriously, the State Department and the White House have tried to sweep this under the rug and bury Mr. Malley’s egregious violations of our national security. These revelations are quite damning, but not surprising,” House Foreign Affairs Chairman Mike McCaul and Senate Foreign Relations top Republican Jim Risch said in a joint statement. 

“Congress remains in the dark on how Mr. Malley’s infractions impacted the conduct of the administration’s disastrous approach to Iran, or affected the safety of Americans.”

Lawmakers are claiming the Biden-Harris administration’s billion dollar clean bus project is promoting reliance on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in a new scathing report that details the taxpayer-funded price tag for the energy initiative.

The Biden administration authorized the Clean School Bus Program in 2021, which appropriated $5 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to incentivize the replacement of school buses with “clean” alternatives. 

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations released a 51-page report on the project, reviewed by Fox News Digital, that highlighted the push for electric school buses over “cheaper” low-emissions alternatives and how “vulnerabilities for waste, fraud, and abuse riddle this program.”

“Costly subsidies for ESBs are a poor use of federal taxpayer money at a time when school budgets are increasingly strained,” the report said. “Currently, it is only the existence of massive taxpayer-funded subsidies that enables ESBs to compete with diesel buses and low emission buses in the market.”

BLACK ACTIVIST TO BLAST BIDEN ADMIN ENERGY AGENDA ALLEGEDLY CAUSING LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS TO ‘SUFFER MOST’

The committee claims that the EPA funding structure “incentivized districts” to choose the electric school bus options.

The average diesel school bus costs roughly $100,000, while the average electric school bus in the 2022 Clean School Bus Rebate Program costs $381,190, according to the committee’s findings.

Advocates of electric buses told lawmakers that the initiative promoted lower operating costs compared to diesel buses, but the committee argued in the report that the “savings don’t come close to offsetting the tremendous upfront costs.”

TRUMP’S EPA CHIEF OF STAFF SAYS HARRIS ‘HASN’T EVOLVED’ ON HER ENERGY POLICIES: ‘POLITICS AT ITS WORST’

The committee also cited a “serious security vulnerability” over the reliance on China for mineral mining.

“ESB batteries rely on opaque supply chains rife with national security risks and that pose grave human rights concerns, and are to the benefit of adversarial regimes, such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which largely has a monopoly on certain parts of the supply chain for these products,” the report reads. “Promoting EVs like ESBs means enriching the People’s Republic of China and the CCP because, as Morgan Stanley estimates, 90% of the EV battery supply chain relies on China.”

The committee also noted that Chinese companies will mine lithium in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, “thus enriching both China and the Taliban,” citing Paul A. Brinkley, a former U.S. deputy undersecretary of defense.

During its investigation, the committee said they reached out to some of the schools that received funds from the EPA and found the agency “did not require attestations of truth from applicants, lacked procedures to verify applicant claims, and relied on insufficient self-certification to determine that applicants met EPA requirements.”

“The program, led by the radical Biden-Harris EPA, props up a market that relies heavily upon a supply chain dominated by the Chinese Communist Party. Further, the program was constructed without the necessary safeguards to prevent fraud and incentivizes schools to use buses they otherwise would not choose,” the committee chairs wrote in a statement.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic nominee for president, has been a vocal proponent of replacing older buses with electric vehicles.

“Who doesn’t love a yellow school bus, right? Can you raise your hand if you love a yellow school bus? Many of us went to school on the yellow school bus, right? It’s part of our experience growing up,” Harris said while speaking at Lumen Field in Seattle in 2022. “It’s part of a nostalgia, a memory of the excitement and joy of going to school to be with your favorite teacher, to be with your best friends and to learn. The school bus takes us there.”

Asked about the report, the EPA told Fox News Digital that the program is “creating the future that our children deserve – a future with cleaner air on the bus, in bus loading areas, and in the communities in which they operate.”

“EPA appreciates Congress’ continued interest in the EPA Clean School Bus Program. EPA is committed to oversight and accountability and to ensuring that these funds are delivering clean air and climate benefits to communities. EPA continues to work with a diverse set of stakeholders, including the OIG, to continually improve the design, implementation, and monitoring of the program,” the agency said in a statement.

FIRST ON FOX: The head of immigration enforcement under former President Trump is seeking to sound the alarm about Kamala Harris’ “open borders” policies and the truth about the crisis at the southern border — just as Harris is claiming she is the right candidate to tackle the border.

Tom Homan, a Fox News contributor who previously served as acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under former President Trump, is preparing to engage in a series of virtual town halls with his nonprofit, Border911.

He intends for the town halls to bring awareness to the facts about the consequences of the ongoing crisis at the southern border, including sex trafficking and the smuggling of fentanyl into the United States.

MEXICAN GOVERNMENT BUSES MIGRANTS TO US BORDER AS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION BECOMES TOP ELECTION ISSUE

As part of that, he is challenging the narrative by Vice President Kamala Harris that she is tough on border security. A recent ad by Harris said that “fixing the border is tough, so is Kamala Harris.”

Border911, which is led by experts on border and national security from both Republican and Democratic administrations, is releasing a video that instead points to past comments by Harris that it says conflict with that narrative. 

They include her saying she was open to “starting from scratch” with ICE, decriminalizing illegal crossings, saying she supported “sanctuary” city laws and comparing ICE to the Ku Klux Klan as a senator.

“Kamala Harris wants everyone to believe she’s some border hawk now. But going all the way back to her days as DA in San Francisco, her statements and policies make it clear where she stands,” Homan, who served under multiple administrations, told Fox News Digital. “The fact is, she’s an open borders radical and, along with Joe Biden, she’s personally responsible for the current crisis.”

HARRIS SHIFTS POSITIONS ON BORDER, ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AS CAMPAIGN PROMISES ‘PRAGMATIC’ APPROACH

Republicans and the Trump campaign have zeroed in on the border, including Harris’ role in tackling root causes of migration. They have linked the historic highs seen during the border crisis to the policies of the Biden-Harris administration, including the ending of Trump-era policies they see as having successfully brought the border under control.

Conservatives have sought to paint Harris as a radical on illegal immigration, pointing to many of the same remarks featured in the video, just as the Harris campaign has sought to present her as the right candidate for border security.

A Harris campaign adviser told Fox News last month that Harris’ positions have been “shaped by three years of effective governance as part of the Biden-Harris administration.”

Her campaign said she believes illegal border crossings are illegal and supports “continuing to ensure sufficient resources to enforce our laws and prioritize detention and removal for individuals who pose threats to public safety and national security, as well as ensure compliance with immigration proceedings and decisions, including removal.”

More broadly, it has pointed to her backing of the bipartisan Senate package that emerged from negotiations in the chamber earlier this year, which increases funding for the border, including ICE bed space and a mechanism to limit asylum entries into the U.S. Conservatives said that bill would only serve to codify high levels of illegal immigration.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

“The only ‘plan’ Donald Trump has to secure our border is ripping mothers from their children and a few xenophobic placards at the Republican National Convention. He tanked the bipartisan border security deal because, for Donald Trump, this has never been about solutions, just running on a problem,” spokesperson Kevin Munoz said in a statement. 

“Like everything with Donald Trump, it’s never been about helping the country, it’s only about helping himself. There’s only one candidate in this race who will fight for bipartisan solutions to strengthen border security, and that’s Vice President Harris,” he said.

Homan, however, says he isn’t trying to tell voters who they should pick in November, just to present the facts.

“We want to show the American people the truth so they can make their own decisions,” he told Fox News Digital.

A new poll suggests that support is dropping among all Americans for Taylor Swift’s efforts to encourage her legions of fans to vote in the upcoming elections.

Fifty-three percent of voters questioned in a Monmouth University national survey released on Thursday said they approved of Swift’s voter encouragement efforts – which she did last week in a social media post following the first and potentially only debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump.

Swift, in her social media post, also endorsed Harris in the race to succeed President Biden in the White House.

Support for the pop star’s voter participation efforts is down 15 points from 68% in a Monmouth survey conducted in February, when Swift was in the spotlight for a debunked conspiracy theory surrounding the presidential election and the Super Bowl.

CLICK HERE FOR FOX NEWS’ LATEST REPORTING ON TAYLOR SWIFT

A baseless conspiracy theory at the time suggested that Swift was involved in a covert government plot to help Biden win re-election. 

Swift endorsed Biden in the 2020 presidential election and for years has encouraged her fans to vote. 

TRUMP MAKES BOLD PREDICTION IN HIS 2024 SHOWDOWN WITH HARRIS

The president suspended his re-election campaign following a disastrous debate performance in late June with Trump, and Harris replaced Biden two months ago atop the Democrats’ 2024 national ticket.

The new poll indicates that while support for Swift’s voter participation efforts remains high among Democrats – 87% in the new survey, unchanged from February – support has, not surprisingly, plunged among Republicans from an already low 41% earlier this year to just 20% now. Support among independents dropped from 73% to 52%, according to the survey.

“Republicans were wary of Swift all along. What we don’t know is whether this will have any effect on the part of her fan base who already leans right,” Monmouth University Polling Institute director Patrick Murray highlighted in the poll’s release.

More than 400,000 people clicked on the vote.gov website in the 24 hours after Swift’s endorsement of Harris in a post that also included a link to the voter registration website. What’s unclear is how many of those people will actually end up voting and whom they’ll support in the presidential election.

Trump initially downplayed Swift’s endorsement of Harris in a “Fox and Friends” interview the morning after the debate. 

But on Sunday, Trump turned up the temperature, writing “I hate Taylor Swift” in a social media post.

The Monmouth University poll was conducted Sept. 11-15, with 803 registered voters nationwide questioned. The survey’s overall sampling error is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

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