Former President Donald Trump has lashed out against President Biden’s repeated false claims over the past few weeks, including the Democrat’s latest gaffe about 9/11. 

‘Look at all the lies he’d told,’ Trump told NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ host Kristen Welker in his first network news interview since leaving office aired Sunday. 

‘Look at all the lies he’s told over the past couple of weeks. He said he was at the World Trade Center, and he wasn’t,’ Trump said. ‘He said he flew airplanes. He didn’t. He said he drove trucks, and he didn’t. Everything he says is like a lie. It’s terrible.’ 

 Trump added that Biden claimed to have a golf handicap of six, which means he shoots six over par on average – an impressive score for a non-professional. 

‘He’s not a six,’ Trump added over Welker’s interjection. 

Welker, who newly took over the program from former host Chuck Todd, said she wanted to focus on Trump, not Biden, during the interview because ‘it’s important that we hear from you.’ 

‘Well, I’d like you to, but you keep interrupting me,’ Trump said. 

At a 9/11 remembrance event at a military base in Alaska last week, Biden falsely claimed that he visited Ground Zero the day after the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York City. By contrast, Trump did visit Ground Zero days after the 2001 attacks, as evidenced in archived photos taken in Manhattan. 

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby avoided a question about 80-year-old Biden’s 9/11 gaffe last week. 

‘In the past couple of weeks, the president has lied about being at Ground Zero the day after the Sept. 11 attacks, falsely claimed he saw the Pittsburgh bridge collapse, claimed his grandfather died in the hospital days before his birth,’ The Washington Times reporter Jeff Mordock posed during a White House press briefing. ‘What is going on with the president? Is he just believing things that didn’t happen, did happen? Or is he just randomly making stuff up?’

‘The president was deeply touched and honored to be able to spend 9/11 with military members there in Alaska and some families,’ Kirby said in response. ‘And he spoke about a visit to Ground Zero, which he did participate in about a week or so after the event. And what that looked and what that smelled and what that felt like. And it has visceral impact on him as it did so many other Americans on that terrible day. And he’s focused on making sure that an attack like that never happens again.’  

Last week, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., launched an impeachment inquiry into Biden’s conduct. 

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was seen walking off during her daily briefing when a member of the press pool asked her to respond to a recent poll suggesting 61% of Americans believe Biden lied about his alleged involvement in the business dealings of his son, Hunter Biden. 

In the interview Sunday, Welker also asked Trump, ‘Mr. President, tell me what you see when you look at your mugshot.’

‘I see somebody that loves this country in me. That loves this country,’ Trump began. ‘I see tremendous unfairness. I think very few people would have been able to handle what I handled.’

In the case related to Mar-a-Lago, Welker asked Trump about a new charge alleging the former president asked a staffer to delete security camera footage so it wouldn’t get into the hands of investigators. Trump’s response criticized the Justice Department’s Special Counsel Jack Smith. 

‘False,’ Trump said, agreeing he would testify to that under oath. ‘It’s a fake charge by this deranged lunatic prosecutor who lost in the Supreme Court 9 to nothing, and he tried to destroy lots of lives. He’s a lunatic, so it’s a fake charge, but, more importantly, the tapes weren’t deleted. In other words, there was nothing done to them. And, they were my tapes.’ 

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., praised automobile workers who are striking against their corporate employers on Sunday, saying the workers are suffering from ‘corporate greed.’

Sanders made the statement during a Sunday morning appearance on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ with host Jake Tapper. The United Auto Workers (UAW) strike against the ‘Big 3’ automakers – Ford, GM and Stellantis – reached its third day on Sunday.

‘Sen. Sanders, Vice President Pence was on the show earlier. He said, when I asked him about the fact that the CEOs make multiples more than their average workers, 362 times more in the case of Ford – I said, do you think that’s fair? He said CEO pay is up to free enterprise. It’s up to shareholders, not the government,’ Tapper said. ‘What’s your response?’

‘I strongly disagree,’ Sanders began. ‘The American people are sick and tired, in my view, Jake – and I have been all over this country – they are sick and tired of corporate greed, in which the very richest people are becoming richer. The head of General Motors now makes $29 million a year, and yet, if you go – if you’re a new worker in the Big Three, you make less than $17 an hour.’

‘So what you’re seeing in the automobile industry, in my view, is what we’re seeing all over this economy, greed on the top, suffering on the part of the working class. And people are tired of it,’ he continued.

Sanders went on to support UAW’s push for a four-day workweek, arguing that the introduction of artificial intelligence will soon boost the productivity of individual workers.

‘I happen to believe that, as a nation, we should begin a serious discussion – and the UAW is doing that – about substantially lowering the workweek. People in America are stressed out for a dozen different reasons,’ Sanders said. ‘And that’s one of the reasons why life expectancy in our country is actually in decline. People are overwhelmed. They got to take care of their kids. They got to worry about health care. They got to worry about housing. They’re worried.’

‘It seems to me that, if new technology is going to make us a more productive society, the benefits should go to the workers,’ he said.

Sanders joined UAW members on the picket line in Detroit on Friday. In addition to shorter workweeks, the union is demanding higher wages and better retirement benefits.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., defended the impeachment inquiry into President Biden during an interview Sunday, arguing that the ‘facts are everywhere.’ 

During an appearance on ABC’s ‘This Week,’ host Jonathan Karl asked Mace if she believed it was premature for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to launch an impeachment inquiry without a vote. Karl cited an op-ed published in the Washington Post by Mace’s Republican colleague, Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo, who wrote, ‘Trump’s impeachment in 2019 was a disgrace to the Constitution and is a disservice to Americans. The GOP’s reprise in 2023 is no better.’

‘I don’t believe so,’ said Mace, a member of the House Oversight Committee. ‘The facts are everywhere. There are text messages, there are emails, there are witnesses, there are whistleblowers, there are meetings, there are phone calls, there are dinners. And you can’t say, ‘Hey, there’s a little bit of smoke, we’re not going to follow the fire.’ And the inquiry, my understanding is, as you said earlier, gives us expanded subpoena powers. I want the bank records of Joe Biden. All of that should be on the table to prove out the allegations in the SARS reports. We’re talking about a significant sum of money. We are talking about bribery. And in the Constitution, Article 2, Section 4, that is the basis for impeachment.’

Karl interjected, saying there is no evidence connected to Biden, but Mace rejected the notion. 

‘There is evidence. You can’t say that there’s no evidence there when there is evidence,’ Mace said.

‘It was the fourth estate. It was the media and journalists when Nixon was going down that helped do that investigation, helped bring down the president when they – when he broke the law,’ she said. ‘And, you know, you guys want to deny that there’s evidence. It’s everywhere.’

In announcing the impeachment inquiry, McCarthy listed allegations of ‘abuse of power, obstruction and corruption,’ which have made against Biden by several Republican-led committees that have been investigating the president, and said the investigations found that Biden ‘did lie to the American people about his own knowledge of his family’s foreign business dealings.’

‘Eyewitnesses have testified that the president joined on multiple phone calls and had multiple interactions, dinners resulted in cars and millions of dollars into his [son] and his son’s business partners,’ McCarthy told reporters.

Earlier in the interview, Mace also refused to say whether or not she’d support a motion to remove McCarthy as speaker.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., threatened to bring a motion to oust McCarthy if he does not follow through on a series of demands from the House Freedom Caucus on spending and legislation. McCarthy told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on ‘Sunday Morning Futures’ that a motion to vacate his speakership would only give Biden what he wants and shut down the House, and effectively, the impeachment inquiry into the president.

‘It hasn’t happened yet, and I’m not going to … comment on conjecture here. Either he’s going to file it or he’s not. If he’s going to do it, put his money where his mouth is. I do hear that some votes might be up for grabs because people were made promises that have not been kept,’ Mace said Sunday of the possible motion.

‘Quite frankly, a lot of promises were made. It’s not just to the Freedom Caucus but to other members of the House. And those promises ought to be fulfilled,’ she said. ‘Everything’s on the table at this point for me because I want to do the right thing for the American people, I want to do the right thing for women. I’m trying to show: Here’s a path forward for women post-Roe for birth control, for women who are rape survivors, etc. My district is no stranger to gun violence, to mass shootings.’

‘We ought to be able to work hard for the American people and show them that. And here we are facing a government shutdown and … really, what have we accomplished this year?’

Former President Donald Trump argued in his first network interview since leaving office that former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi ‘is responsible for Jan. 6.’ 

‘Nancy Pelosi was in charge of security. She turned down 10,000 soldiers. If she didn’t turn down the soldiers, you wouldn’t have had Jan. 6,’ Trump told NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ host Kristen Welker during a recent sit-down interview at Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. 

Trump declined to answer if he called military or law enforcement that day, saying, ‘I behaved so well, I did such a good job, Nancy Pelosi turned down 10,000 soldiers… if she didn’t do that…’ Welker challenged Trump that Pelosi did not have the authority he had as commander in chief.

‘I understand that the police testified against her, the chief very strongly against her, the Capitol police, great people,’ Trump said in the interview aired Sunday. ‘They testified against her, and they burned all the evidence. OK? They burned all the evidence. They destroyed all the evidence about Nancy Pelosi.’ 

‘She has authority over the Capitol,’ Trump added. ‘National Guard not coming? I asked her [for them] to be there three days in advance, and she turned it down.’ 

‘She says that that request was never officially made,’ Welker, who newly took over the NBC program from former host Chuck Todd, interjected. 

‘The mayor of D.C. gave us a letter saying that she turns it down. OK, we have it. Nancy Pelosi also was asked, and she turned it down. The police commissioner of Capitol police…’ Trump continues, as Welker interrupts him. ‘Wait, a minute,’ he pressed on, ‘Capitol police said that he wanted it, and Nancy Pelosi wouldn’t accept it. She’s responsible for Jan. 6.’ 

‘Nancy Pelosi’s responsible, and the Jan. 6 committee refused to interview her,’ he said. 

‘As our office has said before, the former president’s allegations are completely made up,’ a representative for Pelosi told Fox News Digital, reacting to the interview. 

‘As numerous independent fact-checkers have confirmed, Speaker Pelosi did not plan her own assassination,’ the spokesperson added. 

The decision on whether to call National Guard troops to the Capitol is made by what is known as the Capitol Police Board, which is made up of the House sergeant at arms, the Senate sergeant at arms and the architect of the Capitol. The board decided not to call the guard ahead of Jan. 6 but did eventually request assistance after the rioting had already begun, and the troops arrived several hours later, according to The Associated Press. 

The House sergeant at arms reported to Pelosi and the Senate sergeant at arms reported to Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Republican who was then Senate majority leader. 

The officials on the board, along with the former Capitol Police Chief, Steven Sund, have disputed each others’ accounts of who requested the guard when. Both sergeants at arms and the police chief resigned immediately after the attack. The Democrat-led Jan. 6 House committee never subpoenaed Pelosi. 

Sund claimed to The Washington Post in an interview that he requested assistance six times ahead of and during the attack on the Capitol, but each of those requests was denied or delayed. He claimed House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving was concerned with the ‘optics’ of declaring an emergency ahead of the demonstrations and rejected a National Guard presence.

‘Mr. President, you have authority as commander in chief that no one else has. Do you think you showed leadership on that day?’ Welker asked Sunday. Trump said, ‘Yes, absolutely, I did.’ 

Trump insisted he could have pardoned himself before leaving office to avoid ‘fake charges’ and ‘Biden indictments’ he’s facing now, but ‘that’s the last thing I would have done.’ 

‘They want to arrest their political opponents. Only Third World countries do that, banana republics,’ Trump said. ‘I was given the option; I could have done a pardon of myself. You know what I said? ‘I have no interest.’’

Trump also disputed the ‘ridiculous’ claim made by former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson before the Jan. 6 committee that he allegedly grabbed a Secret Service agent by the neck and demanded to head to the Capitol. He refused to tell Welker how he watched the Jan. 6 riot unfold, vowing to tell people at a later time. Outside the Oval Office on Jan. 6, 2021, Trump told people to go home and praised police, the former president himself recalled in the NBC interview, but Welker noted that came hours after the riot began.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Former President Trump opposed the idea of age limits for U.S. politicians but said mental competency tests would be a ‘good idea.’

Trump made the comments in an interview with NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ which aired Sunday. Host Kristen Welker pressed Trump on age limits, gaining steam as Trump, 77, and President Biden, 80, appear likely to square off in the 2024 presidential election.

‘You know, I took a test two years ago, three years ago. And as the doctors said — and it was in front of doctors and a whole big deal at Walter Reed, which is an incredible place. And I aced it. I get everything right. I’m all for testing. I frankly think testing would be a good thing,’ Trump told Welker.

Trump asserted that some people argue an age limit or cognitive test would be ‘unconstitutional,’ though he said he wasn’t sure.

‘[You] know, some of the greatest world leaders have been in their 80s. I’m not anywhere very near 80, by the way,’ Trump claimed. ‘I don’t think Biden’s too old, but I think he’s incompetent, and that’s a bigger problem.’

Trump would turn 80 years old within 18 months of gaining office if he wins re-election. Meanwhile, Biden would be 82 at the start of his second term.

Biden has faced far more scrutiny about his age due to his frequent lapses in memory and stammering speeches.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has played a major role in pressing for cognitive tests for U.S. politicians across the board. While she has not endorsed an age limit, she has called for legislation requiring presidential candidates and members of Congress to pass competency tests if they are over 75.

Haley mocked the U.S. Senate as ‘the most privileged nursing home in the country’ earlier this month following health scares from Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

‘It’s sad,’ she told Fox News following McConnell’s second freezing episode. ‘No one should feel good about seeing that any more than we should feel good about seeing Dianne Feinstein, any more than we should feel good about what’s happening or seeing Joe Biden’s decline.’

Haley is challenging Trump in the 2024 Republican Presidential Primary, though Trump maintains a dominant lead over all the other candidates in polls. Trump told Welker on Sunday that he likes the ‘concept’ of a female vice president running with him but that he would ultimately ‘pick the best person.’

DES MOINES, Iowa – Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina – the only major Republican presidential candidate who’s never been married – spotlighted this weekend that he’s ‘dating a lovely Christian girl,’ as he addressed a large group of influential voters of faith in the state that leads off the GOP nominating calendar.

Scott’s comments came as he and most of his rivals for the Republican nomination sat down for question and answer sessions Saturday at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual fall banquet, in front of a crowd of social conservative leaders, activists, and evangelical voters, who play an outsized role in Hawkeye State Republican politics.

‘So other than your mama, is there any special lady in your life?’ GOP Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird asked, in her first question to Scott.

The senator answered ‘yes,’ before quipping ‘if you haven’t read about her yet, I’m not sure why not. It’s been one of the more asked questions lately.’

The 57-year-old Scott then shared that ‘I’m dating a lovely Christian girl. One of the things that I love about the gospel of Jesus Christ is that it points us always in the right direction. Proverbs 18:22 says ‘he who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the lord.’’

‘So can we just pray together for me,’ he emphasized, which elicited laughter from the audience.

Scott added that I’m very excited. Very excited.’

 ‘As a guy who was raised in a single-parent household mired in poverty, I understand that devastation when a family breaks up. I live with the consequences of a father who was not there. I made a commitment to make sure that never happened in my life,’ Scott highlighted. ‘I’m so thankful to know a risen savior that has helped guide my way, and I’m so thankful that he’s allowed my life to intersect at the right time with the right person. And I just say, praise the living God.’

Scott has been reluctant to share much about his private life. In a handful of interviews earlier this year, he did reveal that he is dating a woman, but he kept her identity private.

But his unmarried status has made headlines in recent weeks, in the wake of an article by Axios, which suggested some Republican donors are concerned about him being unmarried.

Although the number of adults who remain single later in life has edged up in recent years, many socially conservative Republicans firmly hold to traditional values regarding marriage and families.

The Faith and Freedom gathering was held with four months to go until the Iowa caucuses. Among the top topics asked of the presidential candidates at the event was the combustible issue of abortion. 

The blockbuster move last year by the Supreme Court’s conservative majority to overturn the landmark nearly half-century-old Roe v. Wade ruling, which had allowed for legalized abortions nationwide, moved the divisive issue back to the states.

And it’s forced Republicans to play plenty of defense in elections across the country, as a party that’s nearly entirely ‘pro-life’ has had to deal with an electorate where a majority of Americans support at least some form of abortion access.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis highlighted that ‘I’m pro-life. I’ve been pro-life governor. I’ll be pro-life president.’ 

And he pledged that if elected to the White House, ‘I’m going to welcome pro-life policies across the board.’ 

But DeSantis, who signed a six-week abortion ban into law in Florida, would not share specifics on what he would do as president in terms of supporting a federal abortion ban.

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who supports a 15-week abortion ban, shared that ‘it’s a matter of conviction. I believe that God has blessed the womb. That there’s life in the womb and its deserving of protection. That’s fundamental.’

And Hutchinson, a vocal GOP critic of Donald Trump, criticized the former president for saying in a recent interview that he would ‘make both sides happy’ when it comes to abortion. 

Trump, who has not committed to supporting a federal ban, did not attend the Iowa gathering.

Former Vice President Mike Pence reiterated his support for a 15-week ban, saying that it’s an ‘idea whose time has come’ and that ‘we owe it to the American people to elect a president who will fight for a minimum standard.’

Former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley touted her ‘pro-life’ credentials but repeated that without enough support in the Senate, passing such a ban is ‘not realistic.’

Hours earlier, in a Fox News Digital interview, Haley highlighted that ‘our goal is to save as many babies as we can. Support as many moms as we can. That’s the goal. So in order to do that, we have to have 60 Senate votes. Let’s see where that is but we only have 45 pro-life senators.’

‘So let’s focus on what we do agree on,’ she said. ‘Let’s ban late-term abortions. Let’s encourage adoptions. Let’s make sure contraceptives accessible. Let’s make sure that nurses and doctors who don’t believe abortion don’t have to perform them. And let’s make sure no state law requires a women to go to jail or get the death penalty for abortion. We’re talking about hard truths and women around the country agree with me.’

A man carrying loaded pistols and spare ammunition was detained Friday after impersonating a U.S. marshal at one of Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign events in Los Angeles. 

He was identified Saturday as Adrian Paul Aispuro, 44, The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to Fox News Digital. 

In a post to X, formerly known as Twitter, Kennedy detailed the incident and expressed appreciation for the security guards at the Hispanic Heritage event who ‘moved quickly to isolate and detain the man.’

‘I’m very grateful that alert and fast-acting protectors from Gavin de Becker and Associates (GDBA) spotted and detained an armed man who attempted to approach me at my Hispanic Heritage speech at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles tonight,’ Kennedy wrote. 

‘The man, wearing two shoulder holsters with loaded pistols and spare ammunition magazines was carrying a U.S. Marshal badge on a lanyard and beltclip federal ID. He identified himself as a member of my security detail. Armed GDBA team members moved quickly to isolate and detain the man until LAPD arrived to make the arrest. I’m also grateful to LAPD for its rapid response.’

Photos of Aispuro, who was arrested at the event, were shared by Kennedy on social media. He was shown wearing a black shirt with a logo reading ‘Emergency Medical Services.’

Aispuro remained in custody Saturday in lieu of $35,000 bail. 

Kennedy, a Democrat who announced a primary challenge to President Biden earlier this year, also noted that he has yet to receive Secret Service protection.

‘I’m still entertaining a hope that President Biden will allow me Secret Service protection,’ Kennedy added in the post. ‘I am the first presidential candidate in history to whom the White House has denied a request for protection.’

In July, Kennedy claimed his request for Secret Service protection as a 2024 presidential candidate was rejected by the Biden administration.

‘Typical turnaround time for pro forma protection requests from presidential candidates is 14-days,’ Kennedy wrote at the time in a lengthy statement posted on X. ‘After 88-days of no response and after several follow-ups by our campaign, the Biden Administration just denied our request.’

Kennedy said he received a message from Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas that read, ‘I have determined that Secret Service protection for Robert F Kennedy Jr is not warranted at this time.’

On its website, the Secret Service notes that it protects ‘major presidential and vice presidential candidates and their spouses within 120 days of a general presidential election.’

The site of the Kennedy campaign event where the individual was arrested is located less than two miles away from the previous site of The Ambassador Hotel, where Robert F. Kennedy was shot and killed in June 1968.

The killing of Kennedy Jr.’s father at the Los Angeles hotel came nearly five years after his uncle, former President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in Dallas in November 1963.

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind and Brie Stimson contributed to this report.

A man carrying loaded pistols and spare ammunition was detained Friday after impersonating a U.S. marshal at one of Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign events in Los Angeles.

In a post to X, formerly known as Twitter, Kennedy detailed the incident and expressed appreciation for the security guards at the Hispanic Heritage event who ‘moved quickly to isolate and detain the man.’

‘I’m very grateful that alert and fast-acting protectors from Gavin de Becker and Associates (GDBA) spotted and detained an armed man who attempted to approach me at my Hispanic Heritage speech at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles tonight,’ Kennedy wrote. 

‘The man, wearing two shoulder holsters with loaded pistols and spare ammunition magazines was carrying a U.S. Marshal badge on a lanyard and beltclip federal ID. He identified himself as a member of my security detail. Armed GDBA team members moved quickly to isolate and detain the man until LAPD arrived to make the arrest. I’m also grateful to LAPD for its rapid response.’

Photos of the individual who was arrested at the event were shared by Kennedy on social media. The unidentified perpetrator was shown wearing a black shirt with a logo reading ‘Emergency Medical Services.’

Kennedy, a Democrat who announced a primary challenge to President Biden earlier this year, also noted that he has yet to receive Secret Service protection.

‘I’m still entertaining a hope that President Biden will allow me Secret Service protection,’ Kennedy added in the post. ‘I am the first presidential candidate in history to whom the White House has denied a request for protection.’

In July, Kennedy claimed his request for Secret Service protection as a 2024 presidential candidate was rejected by the Biden administration.

‘Typical turnaround time for pro forma protection requests from presidential candidates is 14-days,’ Kennedy wrote at the time in a lengthy statement posted on X. ‘After 88-days of no response and after several follow-ups by our campaign, the Biden Administration just denied our request.’

Kennedy said he received a message from Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas that read, ‘I have determined that Secret Service protection for Robert F Kennedy Jr is not warranted at this time.’

On its website, the Secret Service notes that it protects ‘major presidential and vice presidential candidates and their spouses within 120 days of a general presidential election.’

The site of the Kennedy campaign event where the individual was arrested is located less than two miles away from the previous site of The Ambassador Hotel, where Robert F. Kennedy was shot and killed in June 1968.

The killing of Kennedy Jr.’s father at the Los Angeles hotel came nearly five years after his uncle, former President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in Dallas in November 1963.

Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

DES MOINES, Iowa – With just four months to go until the Iowa caucuses, nearly the entire field of Republican White House contenders is back this weekend in the state that leads off the GOP presidential nominating calendar.

The presidential candidates are speaking Saturday evening at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual fall banquet, as they each make their case to a large and influential crowd of social conservative leaders, activists, and Evangelical voters, who play an outsized role in Hawkeye State Republican politics.

‘Labor Day is over. Kids are back in school and people are starting to really tune in,’ longtime Iowa based Republican strategist and communicator Jimmy Centers said.

Pointing to last month’s Iowa State Fair, where all but one contender in the large field of Republican presidential candidates courted voters, Centers noted that ‘the state fair was when people started to wake up and realized that the caucus was coming. 

Veteran Iowa Republican operative and consultant Nicole Schlinger highlighted that ‘once Labor Day has passed, school has started and the weather starts to turn, that’s when peoples’ minds start turning to elections and people get more serious about vetting the candidates in terms of making a decision.’ 

With the clock quickly ticking towards the start of the 2024 Republican primary and caucus calendar, former President Donald Trump remains the commanding front-runner for his party’s nomination, as he makes his third straight White House run. 

And his historic four criminal indictments — including two for allegedly trying to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Biden — appear to have only strengthened his support among likely Republican primary voters.

The latest Fox News national survey in the GOP nomination race, conducted Sept. 9-12 and released on Thursday, pointed to Trump expanding his already enormous lead over the rest of the field.

But while still towering over his rivals, Trump’s lead in the latest surveys in Iowa, as well as New Hampshire and South Carolina, two other crucial early voting states in the Republican nominating calendar, is not as overwhelming.

‘It’s closer in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina that it is nationally, but it’s not close,’ said David Kochel, a longtime Republican consultant and veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns in Iowa and nationally.

‘These things do break late. There’s a lot of stuff we haven’t seen or heard yet. Whether it’s Trump’s trials, which I don’t think are going to move any numbers against him. Whether it’s future debates. Whether it’s something we can’t foresee now,’ Kochel noted. ‘The door’s still open but it’s not as wide open as it was.’

Centers, a presidential campaign veteran in Iowa who also served as communications director to then-Gov. Terry Brandstad and current Gov. Kim Reynolds, noted that ‘Trump’s numbers aren’t budging.’

‘At some point the rest of the field has to make a stronger and more compelling argument as they why them. Why are we changing horses from the former president. He’s been indicted four times, but he’s only getting stronger,’ Centers stressed. ‘They have to speak more directly to that point and start doing it soon.’

Pointing to evangelical voters in Iowa, Kochel noted that they tend ‘to move as a group… and they move late.’

Trump is one of the handful of GOP presidential candidates who won’t be attending Saturday’s Faith and Freedom Coalition cattle call, although the former president returns to Iowa next week.

Schlinger, who’s well-connected to the social conservative community, said that Trump’s ‘track record on issues concerning life is extremely good,’ and that ‘it’s not surprising that there hasn’t been much change’ when it comes to his large double-digit lead in the Iowa polls.

But she added ‘I think there’s a path open for another candidate or two to perform well and exceed expectations in Iowa… The door’s open but someone needs to walk through it and that hasn’t happened yet.’

But the strategists all stressed that now’s the time for Trump’s rivals to make a move.

‘This is where the rubber meets the road. We’re past Labor Day. We’re into debate season,’ Kochel highlighted. ‘If you’re not firing on all cylinders now, and you don’t have the money to see your way through New Hampshire, it’s best to step aside and get out of this thing, so we can really determine who might be able to take Trump on one-on-one.’

And Centers noted that ‘this is not a primary. It takes organization. Campaigns need to be holding events, using those events to build an organization, and then follow up with those folks that they’ve recruited, either through door knocking, through phone banking, to build out a robust organization.’

‘It doesn’t build itself. If you’re not starting it now, it’s too late,’ he stressed.

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

The Texas Senate has acquitted state Attorney General Ken Paxton of all impeachment articles filed against him for corruption and unfitness for office. 

Though there is bipartisan support for impeachment, votes to convict on each charge did not clear the 21-vote threshold. Republican Sens. Robert Nichols and Kelly Hancock joined all 12 Democrats to vote in favor of conviction on several charges. 

The Texas Senate convened at 10:30 a.m. central time Saturday to vote and finished just before 1 p.m. 

‘Today, the truth prevailed. The truth could not be buried by mudslinging politicians or their powerful benefactors,’ Paxton said in a statement thanking his supporters after the verdict was delivered. 

‘The sham impeachment coordinated by the Biden Administration with liberal House Speaker Dade Phelan and his kangaroo court has cost taxpayers millions of dollars, disrupted the work of the Office of Attorney General and left a dark and permanent stain on the Texas House,’ Paxton said, calling the ‘weaponization’ of impeachment ‘immoral and corrupt.’ 

‘Now that this shameful process is over, my work to defend our constitutional rights will resume. Thank you to everyone who has stood with us during this time,’ he added. 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott congratulated Paxton after the trial concluded. 

‘The jury has spoken. Attorney General Ken Paxton received a fair trial as required by the Texas Constitution. I look forward to continuing to work with the Attorney General to secure the border and protect Texas from federal overreach,’ Abbott said. 

The jury of 30 senators, most of whom are Republicans, spent about eight hours deliberating behind closed doors since the Senate ended deliberations. A two-thirds majority was required to convict Paxton on any of 16 articles of impeachment that accuse Paxton of bribery, corruption and unfitness for office.

The vote was a slow, public process. Each article of impeachment received a separate vote. Republicans hold a 19-12 majority in the Senate, meaning that if all Democrats voted to convict Paxton, they needed nine Republicans to join them. At most, they got two. 

Paxton faced accusations that he misused his political power to help the real estate developer Nate Paul. Paxton’s opponents have argued that the attorney general accepted a bribe by hiring Paul.

‘If we don’t keep public officials from abusing the powers of their office, then frankly no one can,’ Republican state Rep. Andrew Murr, one of the impeachment managers in the Texas House, said during closing arguments. 

Attorneys for the bipartisan group of lawmakers prosecuting Paxton’s impeachment rested their case Wednesday after a woman who was expected to testify about an extramarital affair with Paxton made a sudden appearance at the trial, but she never took the stand.

The affair was central to the proceedings and accusations of Paul, who was under FBI investigation and employed the woman, Laura Olson. One of the articles of impeachment against Paxton alleged that Paul’s hiring of Olson amounted to a bribe.

Paxton’s lawyers have cast the impeachment effort as a ploy by establishment Republicans to remove a proven conservative from office, pointing to Paxton’s long record of challenging Democratic presidential administrations in high profile court cases that have won him acclaim from former President Donald Trump and conservative hardliners. 

‘I would suggest to you this is a political witch hunt,’ Paxton attorney Tony Buzbee said. ‘I would suggest to you that this trial has displayed, for the country to see, a partisan fight within the Republican Party.’

Paxton was also previously indicted in June for allegedly making false statements to banks. 

Paxton, who was suspended from office pending the trial’s outcome, was not required to attend the proceedings and appeared only once in the Senate, durinc closing arguments, since testimony began last week. His wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, sat across the room from him. She was required to be present for the whole trial but was prohibited from participating in debate or voting on the outcome of her husband’s trial. 

Fox News’ Danielle Wallace and the Associated Press contributed to this report.