Southeast
Trump criticizes Harris as he returns to the campaign trail in a transformed 2024 race
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Former President Trump repeatedly took aim at Vice President Kamala Harris – his new opponent in the 2024 presidential election, as he returned to the campaign trail Wednesday with a stop in the crucial swing state of North Carolina.
“Now we have a new victim to defeat – lying Kamala Harris,” the Republican presidential nominee charged at a large rally at an arena in Charlotte, the state’s largest city.
The Republican presidential nominee is facing a dramatically altered 2024 race in his first rally since President Biden’s blockbuster announcement Sunday that he was suspending his re-election bid and endorsing Harris to succeed him as the Democratic Party’s standard-bearer.
The president’s immediate backing of Harris ignited a surge of endorsements of Harris by Democratic governors, senators, House members and other party leaders. By Monday night, the vice president announced she’d locked up her party’s nomination by landing the backing of a majority of the nearly 4,000 delegates to next month’s Democratic National Convention. She also hauled in a staggering $100 million in the first 36 hours following Biden’s announcement.
IT’S A MARGIN OF ERROR RACE BETWEEN TRUMP AND HARRIS
And new polls conducted after Biden bowed out indicate a margin-of-error race between Harris and Trump.
The former president, pointing to the assassination attempt against him a week and a half ago, said “I was supposed to be nice. Something happened to me when I got shot. I got nice.”
“If you don’t mind, I’m not going to be nice,” Trump said to cheers from the crowd.
Trump quickly took aim at Harris, claiming she was “incompetent” and the “worst vice president in American history.”
The former president also repeatedly worked to portray the vice president as a “radical left lunatic.”
Trump argued that Harris is “more liberal than [Sen.] Bernie Sanders. Can you believe it.”
Pointing to Biden’s stunning announcement that came amid a growing chorus of calls from within the Democratic Party for him to drop out in the wake of his disastrous debate performance last month against Trump, the former president claimed “he quit because he was losing so badly in the polls.”
Trump argued that the pressure by Democrats on Biden to suspend his re-election bid was “an undemocratic move” and charged that “these are nasty people, the Democrats.”
Responding to the verbal attacks from Trump, Harris campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa said in a statement that “unity is over for Donald Trump – he is back with an unhinged, weird, and rambling speech complete with praise for the ‘late great’ Hannibal Lecter.”
“But the American people won’t be fooled or distracted – the choice this November will be Trump’s Project 2025 agenda to ban abortion nationwide and give himself unlimited, unchecked power; or Vice President Harris who is fighting to protect freedom and ensure every American gets a fair shot,” Moussa argued.
Trump throughout the rally repeatedly criticized Harris over the surge of migrants over the nation’s southern border during the Biden administration, claiming that “she’ll destroy our country if she’s elected, so we won’t let that happen.”
Harris was tasked by Biden in 2021 with leading the diplomatic outreach to tackle the “root causes” of migration in the Northern Triangle countries. It led to her being dubbed the “border czar” by Republicans, although the White House has rejected that description.
The Biden administration has pinned the blame for the crisis on Republicans in Congress for not having approved funding and reforms to what it says is a “broken” system. Trump’s comments helped spur congressional Republicans to vote against the measure.
The Harris campaign, responding to Trump, points to policies he implemented when in office, and recent placards calling for mass deportations at the Republican National Convention.
“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 toughest bipartisan border security deal in a generation because for Donald Trump, this has never been about actually securing the border – it’s always about himself. He can make up whatever lies he wants but the fact is there’s only one candidate in this race who will fight for real solutions to help secure our nation’s border, and that’s Vice President Harris,” Harris campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz said.
Harris is also turning up the volume against Trump. In a tease of her argument against the former president, Harris is pointing to her law enforcement resume as she spotlights Trump’s legal controversies.
“As many of you know, before I was elected as vice president, before I was elected as a United States senator, I was the elected attorney general of California. Before that, I was a courtroom prosecutor. In those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds,” Harris said Monday at an event at her campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware.
“Predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So, hear me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type,” she emphasized as she pointed to Trump’s multiple lawsuits and criminal cases, many of which are ongoing.
Harris repeated the line of attack the next day at a rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Trump responded on Wednesday, saying “I don’t think people are going to buy it.”
He argued that the vice president “was one of the worst prosecutors in history” and that “she destroyed San Francisco.”
Trump touted his support for law enforcement and landed the backing of the National Association of Police Organizations, as the group’s president, Michael McHale, joined the former president on the podium to formally endorse the GOP nominee.
Ahead of the rally, Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley said even though Trump’s now facing a new opponent at the top of the Democrats’ ticket, the GOP’s strategy “does not change … at all.”
“We have been running our race, and we are going to continue to run our race,” Whatley, a former North Carolina GOP chair whom Trump installed as RNC chair in March after clinching the Republican nomination, emphasized in a Fox News interview.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR HARRIS NOW THAT SHE’S SEEMINGLY LOCKED UP THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION?
Whatley, speaking at the rally site at Charlotte’s Bojangles Coliseum, noted that Trump and the RNC will relentlessly tie Harris to Biden’s polices on border security, fighting inflation, crime and other top issues in the 2024 election.
“The Democrats not only have a messenger problem, they have a message problem. And Kamala Harris is doubling down on every single one of Joe Biden’s failed policies. It’s the Biden-Harris administration, the Biden-Harris campaign. And she is picking up that mantle,” Whatley argued.
The RNC chair emphasized Trump “has absolutely united the Republican Party in a way we haven’t had in generations. Now it’s time to unite the country around that vision of making America great again.”
Trump narrowly won North Carolina in his 2020 election defeat to Biden, and Democrats see an opportunity to flip the state this November.
The trip by Trump to North Carolina is his second in two months. The last time Trump was in North Carolina, he was watching NASCAR in Concord over Memorial Day weekend.
The state is one of seven crucial battlegrounds that decided the 2020 contest and is likely to once again heavily influence the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.
“We continue to focus on the Blue Wall states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania — and the Sun Belt states of North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada, where the Vice President’s advantages with young voters, Black voters, and Latino voters will be important to our multiple pathways to 270 electoral votes,” a memo from the Harris campaign said hours before Trump arrived in North Carolina.
Whatley said Trump, in his speech in North Carolina, needs to “continue his conversation with every American family, talking to every single American voter about his vision for a better America. He is going to be the one who is going to restore our southern border, restore our economy, restore our standing in the world and really be the one around that vision.”
Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this story.
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
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Southeast
Former federal prosecutor in death row case speaks on Biden commuting murderer's sentence: 'My heart aches'
A former federal prosecutor in the case that sent a man to death row says it is difficult to see a “remorseless murderer” be relieved of his sentence following President Biden’s decision on Monday to commute nearly all federal inmates facing execution.
Brandon Council, of North Carolina, was sentenced to death by a federal jury on Oct. 3, 2019, after he was found guilty of killing two women who worked at a South Carolina bank during a robbery in 2017.
Council was one of the 37 convicted murderers who will now spend life in prison without parole after Biden reclassified their death sentences.
Derek Shoemake, former assistant U.S. attorney for the District of South Carolina and one of the federal prosecutors in the case against Council, told Fox News Digital it was “one of the greatest professional honors” of his life to pursue justice for victims Donna Major, 59, and Kathryn Skeen, 36, and his heart aches for their families following Biden’s decision.
BIDEN COMMUTES SENTENCES OF 37 FEDERAL DEATH ROW INMATES IN FINAL MONTH OF PRESIDENCY
“Donna and Katie were amazing women, wonderful mothers, and beacons of light in their community. Today my thoughts and prayers are with their families, and my heart aches for them as they process this news,” Shoemake said in a statement.
He also said his thoughts and prayers are with the team who “worked for more than a year” getting justice for Major and Skeen, “ensuring a remorseless murderer received a sentence that spoke to the horrific nature of his senseless crimes.”
Council entered CresCom Bank in Conway, South Carolina, on Aug. 21, 2017, with the intention of robbing the business and killing its employees, according to a 2017 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina (USAO-SC).
After making it inside, Council shot Major, who was the bank teller, multiple times with a revolver, the USAO-SC said at the time. He then ran into Skeen’s office, where she worked as the bank’s manager, and shot her multiple times while she hid under her desk.
Before fleeing the bank, he stole keys to both victims’ cars, their bank cards and more than $15,000 in cash. He took one of the vehicles to a motel he was staying at, packed his luggage and drove off.
FBI AGENT SAYS BANK ROBBERY SUSPECT BRANDON COUNCIL CONFESSED HE WOULD KILL
“It is difficult to see a sentence wiped away from 400 miles away after it was legally imposed by a jury of men and women from South Carolina who spent weeks listening to evidence, deliberating, and carefully deciding the appropriate punishment,” Shoemake said.
He also said it hurts that the victims’ families “will celebrate yet another Christmas without their loved ones,” while Council is among the 37 federally convicted murderers “celebrating a political victory.”
BIDEN’S DECISION TO COMMUTE SENTENCES FOR DEATH ROW INMATES SPARKS SOCIAL MEDIA FRENZY
Shoemake said his focus is not on the political debate surrounding Biden’s commutations, but on the “legacy of love, family, and faith” that Major and Skeen embodied.
“I pray for their families, as I so often do, and I pray for all the victims’ families impacted today,” he said.
In a White House statement announcing the commutations on Monday, Biden said he condemns the murderers and their “despicable acts,” and he grieves for the victims and families who have suffered “unimaginable and irreparable loss,” but he “cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.”
Only three inmates remain on federal death row as Biden’s presidency nears its end. They are Tree of Life Synagogue shooter Robert Bowers, Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof and Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
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Southeast
Fani Willis' disqualification from Trump case has 'overwhelming' impact, legal expert says
George Washington University law professor Jonthan Turley said Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was “wrong” to bring the Georgia election interference case against President-elect Trump after a Georgia court disqualified Willis and her team from prosecuting the case on Thursday.
GEORGIA APPEAL COURT DISQUALIFIES DA FANI WILLIS AND HER TEAM FROM TRUMP ELECTION INTERFERENCE CASE
JONATHAN TURLEY: The immediate impact of this decision is overwhelming in terms of Willis herself. I mean, this court is basically saying that these cases are not supposed to be sort of vanity projects. You know, you were told by the lower court that you created this appearance of impropriety and the question for the court is why you didn’t remove yourself. Many of us at the time said that most prosecutors would have seen that their continuation of the case was harming the case and harming the public interest. Willis simply refused to give up the ghost and insisted that she wanted to be the lead in this.
…
She was wrong to bring the case against Trump. You know, there are some viable claims here. You know, she charged some people with unlawful entry or access to restricted areas. Those are not particularly serious crimes, but they are crimes. She was wrong to go after Trump on this basis. She clearly wanted to engage in lawfare, and that’s one of the reasons why she wouldn’t give up the case. You know, when this issue was first raised, many of us wrote at the time that the correct move was to remove yourself. You selected a former lover as the lead counsel. That violated, in my view, core ethical requirements. He was ultimately disqualified by the court. But Judge McAfee gave her a chance to do the right thing. He said, look, this is your conduct is wrong here and you can remove yourself. Well, he was talking to the wrong person. She had no interest in removing herself. I mean, lawfare is only valuable if you’re the lead warrior, and she was not going to give up that position.
The court did not toss Trump’s indictment entirely, but Willis and the assistant DAs working in her office now have “no authority to proceed.”
“After carefully considering the trial court’s findings in its order, we conclude that it erred by failing to disqualify DA Willis and her office,” the filing states. “The remedy crafted by the trial court to prevent an ongoing appearance of impropriety did nothing to address the appearance of impropriety that existed at times when DA Willis was exercising her broad pretrial discretion about who to prosecute and what charges to bring.”
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Trump said the “whole case has been a disgrace to justice.”
“It was started by the Biden DOJ as an attack on his political opponent, Donald Trump,” he said, “They used anyone and anybody, and she has been disqualified, and her boyfriend has been disqualified, and they stole funds and went on trips.”
Trump said the case “should not be allowed to go any further.”
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Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
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Southeast
Fani Willis' reputation 'damaged' after disqualification from Trump case: Georgia reporter
Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Greg Bluestein told MSNBC on Thursday that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s reputation was “damaged” after a court disqualified her and her office from prosecuting President-elect Donald Trump in the election interference case against him.
“Her reputation is damaged, right? This was an unforced error as we said earlier, and, you know, this was all of her own doing, and now it unravels or might unravel one of the signature cases, not just of her career, but in Georgia. It leaves her damaged and it will be interesting to see what case she tries to make when she is expected to appeal this to the Georgia Supreme Court,” Bluestein told MSNBC’s Ana Caberra when asked about what was next for Willis.
The Georgia Court of Appeals on Thursday disqualified Willis and her team from prosecuting Trump and co-defendants in her election interference case. The court did not toss the indictment but declared that Willis and her team now have “no authority to proceed.”
Bluestein noted that Willis had just won re-election in Georgia and that it wasn’t a surprise because Fulton County is a Democratic stronghold.
FANI WILLIS FACES NOTHING BUT SETBACKS IN CASE AGAINST TRUMP, THE LATEST PENDING WITH SUPREME COURT
“After carefully considering the trial court’s findings in its order, we conclude that it erred by failing to disqualify DA Willis and her office,” the filing states. “The remedy crafted by the trial court to prevent an ongoing appearance of impropriety did nothing to address the appearance of impropriety that existed at times when DA Willis was exercising her broad pretrial discretion about who to prosecute and what charges to bring.”
Bluestein said, “It is expected to be appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court, but this is a really decisive order against Fani Willis being able to continue this case.”
Willis, who was spearheading the sweeping prosection case against Trump, came under fire after she was accused in February of having an “improper” affair with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she had hired to help prosecute the case.
Wade was ultimately forced to step down from the prosecution team.
JUDGE RULES FANI WILLIS MUST STEP ASIDE FROM TRUMP CASE OR FIRE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR NATHAN WADE
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Trump said the “whole case has been a disgrace to justice.”
Trump additionally said that the case “should not be allowed to go any further.”
Catherine Christian, a former assistant Manhattan district attorney, also weighed in on the disqualification on MSNBC.
“But usually appellate courts defer to the lower court, the trial judge, who fashioned a remedy. He said Nathan Wade, the man she was having an affair with, had to leave so the office could stay, and this court has said, nope. This court said that Judge MacAfee did not really appreciate that her decision-making wasn’t just the indictment. It was who to charge, how to charge it, and that’s at the time when this alleged romantic relationship was going on, and they said that also was one of the reasons why they think it’s more than an appearance of impropriety. It’s a conflict of interest, and not just her, the entire office is disqualified,” Christian said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Fani Willis’ office for comment.
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