Politics
Astronaut? Governor? Cabinet member? Assessing Harris' VP options
As Vice President Kamala Harris consolidates support among Democrats to become the party’s 2024 presidential nominee, a key question dominates the political conversation: Who would be her running mate?
There is widespread consensus that Harris, of Jamaican and Indian descent, would pick a straight, white man — a strategic move in a nation that has never elected a woman, much less a woman of color, as its leader.
Among the elected officials reportedly in contention are Govs. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Roy Cooper of North Carolina, and Andy Beshear of Kentucky, as well as Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly.
Some have mentioned the prospect of Harris selecting California Gov. Gavin Newsom as her No. 2, but the 12th Amendment of the Constitution prohibits running mates from residing in the same state. And the imagery of two leaders whose political careers were forged in San Francisco would provide unending fodder for conservatives who have long used the city as shorthand for liberal policies leading to dysfunction and disaster.
The timeline for Harris to make her selection is short — the Democratic National Convention begins in less than four weeks in Chicago. The strategic calculation for her pick is also different than in traditional presidential campaigns, when candidates often select a running mate to shore up weaknesses in their resumes.
In 2008, Democrat Barack Obama — a relatively inexperienced senator from Illinois — chose Joe Biden because of the veteran Delaware senator’s foreign policy chops. In the same contest, then-Sen. John McCain of Arizona chose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in an effort to appeal to women and the non-establishment wing of the GOP, and place a younger politician on the ticket.
But President Biden’s announcement Sunday that he would not seek reelection has thrown historical electoral norms out the window and created an unprecedented moment in American politics.
“Sometimes people think about these picks as a way to unify the party and its different wings,” said Thad Kousser, a political science professor at UC San Diego. “I don’t think there are any wings of the [Democratic] Party right now other than the beating-Donald-Trump wing. I think the choice will be all about electability.”
Each of the men mentioned as the top possible ticket mates offers potential upsides — as well as liabilities.
Shapiro, viewed as a top contender, is the governor of a state that is critical for Democrats’ path to winning the White House. Though he has been Pennsylvania’s chief executive for less than two years, the 51-year-old is regarded as a skilled orator and a politician who seeks out bipartisan consensus.
On Tuesday, Shapiro told reporters he had not been asked to submit vetting documents to Harris’ campaign.
“The vice president should make that decision free from any political pressure,” he said, according to the CBS affiliate in Philadelphia. “It’s her decision to make. She’ll make it on the timeline that she so chooses.”
Some political observers have questioned whether having Shapiro, who is Jewish, on the ticket could harm Harris’ chances of winning in the critical swing state of Michigan, which has a significant number of Muslim American voters, as well as among progressive voters who have been critical of Democrats’ approach to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Shapiro is a strong supporter of Israel but has been critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership, even before Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on the country.
Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, a Los Angeles-based entertainment attorney, is also Jewish, so some argue that voters who are concerned about Harris’ views on the war are already unlikely to vote for her.
Kelly — a former astronaut and the husband of Gabby Giffords, a House member who was gravely wounded in an assassination attempt in 2011 — is also viewed as a top prospect to be Harris’ running mate. Arizona, once a reliably Republican state, is now a battleground that narrowly supported Biden over Trump in 2020 but backed Trump over Hillary Clinton in 2016.
The day after Biden’s disastrous June debate with Trump, which prompted a drumbeat of calls for the president to end his reelection bid, Harris appeared with Kelly in Las Vegas — in the battleground state of Nevada — and lauded his service to the nation.
Kelly focused on the Western states’ similarities, notably their Latino populations.
Nevada and Arizona “are going to play a very large part in the role of determining the direction of this country,” Kelly said, according to the Arizona Republic. “So, that’s why I’m here. Because Nevada, Arizona and our country face a choice, a choice between continuing the progress we are making or going backwards.”
Kelly also faces obstacles, including Democratic concerns about holding onto a Senate seat in a state that appears to be leaning increasingly to the right at a time when the chamber is narrowly divided.
Additionally, labor leaders who have largely lined up behind Harris’ candidacy are alarmed by Kelly’s lack of support for the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, federal legislation that would expand unions’ ability to organize and collectively bargain, weaken states’ “right-to-work” laws and otherwise empower labor. On Wednesday, Kelly told the Huffington Post that he supports the legislation.
Cooper of North Carolina and Beshear of Kentucky are not from states that are likely to back Harris in the November election, but they are governors who have shown an ability to win conservative voters. If Harris were to select either of them, it may be viewed as an effort to appeal to moderate voters who could be pivotal in swing states in the November election.
Harris is close with Cooper from their days as attorneys general in their respective states. And while North Carolina is viewed as a GOP state, the former Sunday school teacher has repeatedly won statewide elections there.
Cooper has demurred when asked if he would seek to be Harris’ running mate.
“I appreciate people talking about me,” he said Monday on MSNBC. “But I think the focus right now needs to be on [Harris] this week.”
Beshear has also proved his ability to appeal to GOP voters, and his critique of Trump’s vice presidential nominee — Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, who has played up his Appalachian roots and family ties to Kentucky — has been blistering.
“He ain’t from here,” Beshear told the Associated Press this week.
Vance’s political career was founded on his 2016 book, “Hillbilly Elegy,” a bestseller that some argue captured the struggles of rural Americans while others counter that it was grounded in stereotypical tropes that failed to note the historic exploitation of Appalachians.
“You don’t get to just come in eastern Kentucky a couple of times in the summer and then maybe for weddings and a funeral and cast judgment on us,” Beshear said Monday. “It’s offensive.”
Asked whether he wanted to become Harris’ running mate, the Kentucky governor didn’t directly respond, saying that he planned to serve the rest of his term.
“The only way that wouldn’t happen is if I have an opportunity to help Kentuckians in a different way that would bring additional value,” he said.
These names are among roughly a dozen that are being considered, according to a CBS news report on Wednesday. Others reportedly being eyed are Govs. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Tim Walz of Minnesota, as well as Biden Cabinet members Gina Raimondo, the secretary of Commerce, and Pete Buttigieg, the secretary of Transportation.
Some liberal strategists urged Harris to be bold and dispense with the conventional wisdom that it would be politically unwise to select a woman, a person of color or someone from the LGBTQ+ community.
“It is time that we think outside of the box that we have allowed to define what makes a winning presidential ticket. The traditional, straight Christian white man as the epitome of American leadership can no longer be the default,” LaTosha Brown, the co-founder of Black Voters Matter, said in a statement.
“Straight white men have never been able to save this nation by themselves. While they have been the face of political leadership for decades, America has never moved forward without the prodding, pushing and creative leadership of a diverse group of Americans, particularly women and communities of color,” Brown said. “Our nominees should reflect this truth.”
Politics
Israel shares intelligence warning Iran plotted new assassination attempt against Trump: report
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Israel recently shared intelligence with the United States indicating Iran had developed a fresh plan to assassinate President Donald Trump, according to a Wall Street Journal report Thursday citing people familiar with the matter.
The reported intelligence would mark an escalation in the longstanding threats against Trump, who Iran has repeatedly vowed to retaliate against over the 2020 U.S. strike that killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
The White House referred Fox News Digital to Trump’s remarks Wednesday when asked about the report.
TRUMP FACES UNPRECEDENTED THIRD ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, July 8, 2026. Trump addressed threats against his life after a report said Israel shared intelligence with the United States about an alleged new Iranian assassination plot. (Kerem Uzel/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“They want to take out the U.S. leader — me. I’m on whatever list. I saw this morning I’m on every single one of their lists,” Trump said. “And, so far, I guess I’ve been a bit lucky, but maybe that doesn’t last very long. These are evil, sick people. And we have to root out that cancer. That cancer. You know what you do? You’ve got to cut out cancer early. And that’s the way I feel.”
Fox News Digital has also reached out to Israel’s Embassy in Washington and Iran’s Mission to the United Nations for comment.
The Journal reported the intelligence surfaced as Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have diverged in recent weeks over how to proceed after last month’s conflict with Iran. Netanyahu has advocated for continuing military pressure on Tehran, while Trump has sought to preserve a fragile ceasefire after U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
NETANYAHU REJECTS REPORTS OF A RIFT WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP, SAYS THE TWO REMAIN ALIGNED ON IRAN
President Donald Trump, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House March 25, 2019. The leaders spoke Thursday after The Wall Street Journal reported Israel had shared intelligence with the United States about an alleged new Iranian plot targeting Trump. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
Trump and Netanyahu spoke Thursday and agreed to continue coordination between the two countries, according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office, which said Trump also updated the Israeli leader on recent U.S. activity in the Gulf.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump. (Avi Ohayon/GPO)
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Iranian mourners at the funeral for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei chanted for Trump’s death and displayed a banner that said, “We Will Kill Trump,” according to the Journal.
Iran has publicly vowed for years to retaliate against Trump over the U.S. operation that killed Soleimani, the former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, in Baghdad in January 2020.
Politics
Iran ceasefire is ‘over,’ Trump says, and orders additional strikes
WASHINGTON — A tentative armistice between the United States and Iran reached less than a month ago appeared all but dead Wednesday after the two sides traded fresh military strikes, and as President Trump directed further attacks on the Islamic Republic.
The escalation marked a dramatic turn after the Trump administration spent weeks selling a diplomatic breakthrough with Tehran that proved controversial across the political aisle, lifting oil sanctions and a naval blockade on Iran in exchange for the promise of talks over the status of the Strait of Hormuz and its decades-old nuclear program.
Now, speaking to reporters at the NATO summit in Turkey, Trump said he believed the truce — which diplomats describe as a memorandum of understanding — was “over” and that it was a “waste of time” dealing with Iranian leadership.
“They’re scum. They’re sick people,” Trump said of Iranian leaders, whom he had characterized last month as “very rational people” and “very nice to deal with.”
The president’s dim views of the ceasefire agreement’s fate were shared by Iran’s foreign ministry, which issued a statement on Wednesday saying the American attacks, the reinstatement of a U.S. naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, and Israel’s continuing attacks in Lebanon rendered “important and fundamental” parts of the deal “ineffective.”
The truce’s unraveling was underscored by Trump ordering the U.S. military to launch a series of strikes against Iran on Wednesday afternoon to “further degrade their ability to threaten” the commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
“The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement on social media.
Earlier in the day, Trump signaled that the United States planned to “hit them hard” and floated the possibility of taking over Kharg Island, which is vital to Iran’s economy. His remarks quickly prompted oil prices to rise and global stock markets to fall, a worry that Trump acknowledged but which did not seem to sway his decision-making in relation to Iran.
“If we hit Iran, oil goes up a little bit, it is all right,” Trump said. He later added that the United States may “do some other thing that could lift it a little bit, but I don’t think it’s gonna lift it a lot at all.”
As Trump signals the continuation of fighting, his administration has been seeking more than $67 billion in funding to cover expenses related to the Iran war, a request that Congress has not yet approved as lawmakers have been split over the president’s handling of the conflict.
“The American people are paying the price for Trump’s total failure in Iran,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement Wednesday. “Our troops are back in harm’s way and high gas costs are continuing to punish working families.”
The president’s stance on the war marked the latest setback to a fragile truce that has barely held since the 14-page agreement was signed June 17, as the U.S. and Iran engaged over the last few weeks in cycles of attacks and counterattacks.
Trump was noticeably angrier at Iran on Wednesday as he cast doubt over the deal. Last month, Trump had complimented Iranian leadership for trying to reach a peace deal and celebrated the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping route for the world’s oil and gas. But based on his remarks, it was clear he was out of patience.
“I am not happy with them,” Trump said. “They’re cuckoo. There’s something wrong with these people. For 47 years, they’ve been the bully of the Middle East and they are not the bully anymore. They are not the bully anymore.”
Trump expressed frustration with Iran’s negotiators and their resistance to abiding by U.S. demands to reopen the strait. When asked if he intended to send troops to Iran, the president dismissed the idea.
“Why would I go in now?” Trump said. “I’d go in when they’re completely eliminated or an agreement is made.”
Still, the president kept the door open for negotiations, saying that his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner “want to negotiate.”
“They’re good people, Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, but they have to come back to me,” Trump said. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s just a waste of time dealing with [the Iranians]. They’re liars.”
The latest breakdown to the ceasefire followed a now-familiar chain reaction of tit-for-tat attacks, starting with a series of strikes on three oil tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, including a Qatari vessel carrying natural gas, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center.
The Qatari tanker was off the coast of Oman when it was hit and caught fire, the maritime monitor said, in what experts say was a move to thwart ships attempting to use an alternate transit route to the one Iran specified. Iran did not claim responsibility, but a report on Iranian state television said the Qatari tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings to turn back.
The two other vessels were damaged but were able to continue to their destination, according to the U.K. group.
Qatar, which has played a vital role in facilitating negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, condemned the attack on its tanker as “unacceptable.”
The U.S. responded with a wave of strikes against more than 80 Iranian targets aimed at “impos[ing] heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway,” according to a statement from U.S. Central Command. That tally included roughly 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps small boats in the strait.
Iranian state media said U.S. strikes targeted Sirik, Qeshm Island and Bushehr and Bandar Abbas, while a U.S. drone strike on the port city of Mahshahr killed one Revolutionary Guard member.
Ahead of the strikes, the White House revoked the 60-day temporary license given to Tehran to sell and deliver oil during the truce.
Iran’s military countered with its own strikes on 85 U.S. military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait; it also shot down an MQ-9 drone, according to a statement on Wednesday.
Kuwait said its military intercepted two ballistic missiles and 13 drones, but that none had resulted in material damage or casualties.
Global oil prices surged 6% on news of Trump’s reversal on the deal, rising to more than $78 a barrel, down from the peak during the war but still above prewar levels.
The renewed violence appeared to have little effect on the funeral for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Feb. 28, in the war’s opening hours.
The funeral, a days-long period of mourning, is set to end on Thursday, when Khamenei’s body will return from Iraq to be buried in the city of Mashhad, his birthplace. Negotiations were to begin once more.
In his remarks Wednesday, Trump said Iranian leaders had asked for a “timeout” to attend the funeral, and that he had promised not to kill them.
“And I said give it to them, and they start shooting missiles,” Trump said.
Whether those talks — which were meant to deal with the thorniest issues between the two countries, including the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear program — will go ahead remains unclear. Iran, for its part, maintained a defiant attitude.
“The era of bullying and extortion is over,” wrote Mohammad Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliamentary speaker. “It leads nowhere. We don’t fold.”
Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior advisor to the supreme leader, posted on X that Trump’s policy had “driven the region towards fire.”
“We had previously warned that the region is not a place for the political gambling of small countries, and we have repeatedly proven that adventures are met with an immediate response,” he wrote.
He added that the Axis of Resistance — a reference to Iran’s network of allied groups in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen — would not be “silent against humiliation and adventurism” and has “its finger on the trigger.”
Bulos reported from Beirut and Ceballos from Washington.
Politics
Omar’s disclosures erased millions, leaving her with potential negative net worth. She won’t explain why.
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Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., refused to address her revised financial disclosures that could imply she has a negative net worth after the progressive lawmaker dramatically reducing the reported value of assets tied to her husband’s business ventures.
“Can you tell us if your husband still has the consulting business and the wine business?” Fox News Digital asked Omar.
The congresswoman stayed silent as she was repeatedly questioned, after previously telling Fox News Digital that the original filing — showing Omar’s reported assets reducing by as much as $29.9 million — was inaccurate and “incomplete” information.
ILHAN OMAR’S OFFICE SAYS SHE’S ‘NOT A MILLIONAIRE’ AFTER $30M FILING REVISED DOWN TO UNDER $100K: REPORT
US Representative Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, speaks during a press conference with family members of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh as members of Congress call for US investigations into Israel’s actions and reintroduce the Justice for Shireen Act, outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, May 18, 2023. The Al Jazeera journalist, who was a dual US citizen, was killed on May 11, 2022. The Israeli army later admitted one of its soldiers likely shot the reporter. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
The controversy surrounding Omar’s finances began when a 2024 financial report estimated that Omar and her husband possessed between $6 million and $30 million in assets, all while the Minnesota fraud scandal within the Somali community was beginning to come to fruition.
A more recent 2025 financial disclosure report shows Omar’s revised value of shared assets between her and husband to sit at a maximum of $125,000 — a multi-million-dollar drop from the year prior. The lower estimate of their assets, $20,000, compared to the low and high debt estimates, $30,000 and $100,000, would imply the Minnesota Democrat could have a negative net worth.
Both her and her husband have separate debts, each ranging somewhere between $15,000 and $50,000 — from her own student loans and her husband’s credit card debt, according to the disclosures.
WATCH: OMAR SILENT WHEN CONFRONTED ON ALLEGED TIES TO MASSIVE MINNESOTA FRAUD SCANDAL
RICHFIELD, MN – AUGUST 08: Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) (C) campaigns with her husband Tim Mynett (R) at the Richfield Farmers Market on August 8, 2020 in Richfield, Minnesota. Omar is hoping to retain her seat as the representative for Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District in next week’s primary election. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
The biggest change in the documents involved Omar’s husband, Tim Mynett. His reported ownership interests in both his winery and venture capital advisory firm, which were previously valued in the millions of dollars, are listed with no value now.
In Omar’s 2024 financial disclosure records, Mynett’s share in his winery was valued between $1 million and $5 million, and his share at the venture capital advisory firm was valued between $5 million and $25 million. Now, his equity interests are both listed at $0.
Omar’s office previously told Fox News Digital that Mynett has partners in both businesses and said the earlier disclosure mistakenly reflected the businesses’ total equity rather than his ownership interest. The office also said the original filing listed assets without accounting for liabilities.
VANCE REFERS TIM WALZ, MINNESOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL TO DOJ FOR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION OVER STATE’S ALLEGED FRAUD
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has publicly voiced his interest in the Ethics Committee opening an investigation into Omar’s personal finances after the 2025 financial reports came out showing the possibility of a $29 million drop in her net worth.
Vice President JD Vance also has previously said the U.S. Department of Justice will be opening a probe into her alleged fraud as part of the administration’s anti-fraud taskforce that he spearheads, though no formal investigations have been shared with the public at this time.
Omar has been reluctant to answer Fox News Digital’s questions about her financial fallout and potential probes to be opened against her.
The Minnesota lawmaker similarly dodged answering any of Fox News Digital’s questions just last month about the revised disclosures.
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“There’s also the possibility that it might rain on this sunny day,” Omar replied without responding directly to the content of the question.
Fox News Digital’s Robert Schmad contributed to this report.
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