New York City Mayor Eric Adams clapped back at New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s push to get federal funding to help combat the ongoing illegal migrant crisis, claiming his administration has largely managed the national crisis.

On Thursday, Hochul delivered a public address and emphasized the need to integrate migrants into New York City through work and housing initiatives, even requesting the Biden administration invest heavily in settling the communities of asylum seekers.

‘We appreciate Governor Hochul’s acknowledgment of the incredible work that New York City has done to manage the influx of tens of thousands of asylum seekers in the last year, and we are gratified to hear that she is calling for immediate federal action,’ Adams said. ‘Since the spring of 2022, our city has borne the brunt of a national crisis — providing shelter and care for a population greater than the entire city of Albany. Confronted with the unsolicited arrival of more than 104,000 men, women, and children, many of whom went through hell to arrive in this country and are now seeking asylum, the city has already opened 206 emergency shelters — twice as many as we had open four short months ago — and, if things do not change, we’re on track to spend more than $12 billion over three fiscal years.’

Adams continued, saying the status quo cannot continue, as ‘New York City has largely managed this national crisis…alone’

The national crisis is one Adams said the State has an important role in helping to solve.

Adams noted that he and his administration are ‘disappointed’ that Hochul minimized the role they can play in its response to the immigration crisis, especially since more than 8 million of the state’s residents call NYC home.

‘Whatever differences we all may have about how to handle this crisis, we believe what is crystal clear is that whatever obligations apply under state law to the City of New York apply with equal force to every county across New York State,’ the mayor said. ‘Leaving New York City alone to manage this crisis — and abdicating the state’s responsibility to coordinate a statewide response — is unfair to New York City residents who also didn’t ask to be left almost entirely on their own in the middle of a national crisis.’

Adams also said he and his team have been saying for the past year, they need the federal government to allow asylum seekers to work, so they can provide for themselves and their families.

Along with the ability to work, the mayor has also been looking for decompression strategies at the state and federal level, and for the federal government to declare a state of emergency, so the city can get access to additional resources.

‘And, we are asking the governor to use her powers to prevent counties from issuing exclusionary emergency orders and give us the resources needed to get people out of shelter, so they can move on to the next steps in their journeys,’ Adams said.

During Hochul’s address, she acknowledged the migrant crisis started with the federal government and needs to be resolved by the federal government, but added the state’s ‘countless unfulfilled jobs’ are a great opportunity for border crossers to integrate.

Earlier this month, Hochul slammed Adams’ response to the migrant crisis in a 12-page letter sent to the mayor’s office.

Hochul’s lawyer, Faith E. Gay, accused the city of being slow to make timely requests for regulatory changes or inform the state of crucial decisions.

Voters are telling Fox News that their top issue (38%) heading into the 2024 election is the economy. And while pocketbook politics has always topped the polls, now majorities are saying groceries (87%), gas (85%), and utilities (81%) are a problem for their families. 

‘The biggest concern I’m hearing from my clients is that they feel like they’re making good money, but they don’t have anything to show for it,’ financial coach Keina Newell shared; Her company Wealth Over Now works with middle class Americans focusing on practical budgeting solutions.  

Fox News spoke to small town voters like Florida pastor and outlet store manager Steve Redman who says, ‘The economy is in my estimation; It’s in a shambles.’ He’s worried about the financial future for his adult children, ‘Them trying to make ends meet. You know, that would be the struggle,’ and he’s not alone. ‘What scares me is to think of my daughter and my grandchild… If I wasn’t here to help give my son a place right now. He would not be able to, he would be homeless,’ Alabama grandma Jessica McCabe shared.

Twenty-seven percent of Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of the economy. Redman is among those who blame the president’s energy policies for the crushing prices at the pump, he says that even church attendance has been impacted as members choose between filling the pews and filling their tank. 

When asked what he is looking for on Wednesday’s GOP debate stage, Redman said he’s looking for a businessman not a politician ‘it needs to be somebody that knows how to fix the economy, …somebody that can walk in and say, hey, you know what? You know, let’s work on this thing together.’ 

Meanwhile McCabe says all of Washington is out of touch, ‘This isn’t a Republican problem or Democratic problem. This is a problem with our government that’s lost touch with the American people. And they need to actually sit down and talk to us and see what are our problems.’ 

Newell advises her clients to ignore political ebbs and ‘put your oxygen mask on first’ by knowing your own financial situation, ‘because knowing your numbers is going to help you make the decisions that I think are going to help you feel safe.’

A poll taken after the first GOP presidential primary debate on Wednesday showed that the majority of Republican voters felt that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis won the night.

According to a Washington Post poll, conducted alongside FiveThirtyEight and Ipsos, 29% of Republican voters polled said that DeSantis performed the best out of the eight candidates on the stage in Milwaukee. 

The poll was conducted from Aug. 23-24 and polled 775 potential Republican primary voters who watched the debate.

The second-best performance, according to the poll’s respondents, was from entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who had support from 26% of GOP voters in the poll.

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley was the only other candidate to poll in double digits, with 15% of GOP voters saying she had the best night.

Former Vice President Mike Pence came in fourth with 7% support, and was followed by South Carolina Gov. Tim Scott and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who both tied with 4%.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson both polled at 1% in the debate.

‘Last night, Ron DeSantis was the clear winner and proved that he is ready to beat Joe Biden and serve as America’s 47th president,’ Andrew Romeo, communications director for the DeSantis campaign, told Fox News Digital. ‘The debate highlighted that DeSantis is the only candidate with the vision to reverse our nation’s decline and revive the American Dream.’

The showdown in Milwaukee, hosted by Fox News, was the first of monthly debates organized by the Republican National Committee.

The next debate — a FOX Business-hosted showdown — will be held Sept. 27 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

The first Republican presidential primary debate of the 2024 election cycle is in the books, and a number of Republican pundits, commentators, and lawmakers offered their perspectives on how they believe the eight candidates who took part in the event fared.

The debate – hosted by Fox News in Milwaukee, Wisconsin – featured eight Republicans who are seeking their party’s nomination for president.

Weighing in on the event featuring the GOP presidential hopefuls, Ohio Republican Sen. J.D. Vance, who won election to the upper chamber in the 2022 midterm elections, called for an end to the ‘charade’ of debates and for Republicans to back former President Donald Trump in 2024.

‘A lot of the people on stage are nice people but none of them is Trump and none will win the nomination,’ Vance wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. ‘Let’s end this charade and stop wasting Republican money attacking our inevitable nominee. Donald Trump for president.’

‘I think Nikki Haley was the best establishment candidate. … I think in the end, Christie is the best talker – he’s probably the best debater up on stage. But actually connecting with the Republican electorate it’s DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy,’ Laura Ingraham said during a post-debate appearance on Fox News Channel’s ‘Hannity.’

‘After the end of this whole debate, did any of them really, you know, make the case to the American people that they would be better than Trump to win the nomination? I think that’s a hard one. Having moments, that’s one thing. But actually having a record … the only one that comes close is DeSantis, and I think he got better as the night went on,’ she added.

Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer responded to the debate and insisted that Trump wouldn’t like how well Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis performed.

‘Trump [can’t] like what a good night DeSantis is having,’ Fleischer wrote on X.

In a post shared on X, Monica Crowley, the former Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of the Treasury under Trump, suggested that the eight candidates who took the stage in Milwaukee Wednesday evening are coming off as ‘desperate.’

‘All of these candidates are trying way too hard to show they’re a tough-guy,’ Crowley wrote. ‘They want to be Trump-esque fighters, but they can’t pull it off – and it’s coming off as woefully desperate.’

In a post shared to X, Ben Domenech, who co-founded The Federalist, a conservative online magazine, insisted that entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy was a ‘lightning rod’ in the first debate.

‘Vivek was the lightning rod in this debate. He’s so disliked by the other candidates, he took all the incoming fire,’ Domenech said. ‘DeSantis emerged not just unscathed, but solidly improved.’

Former ‘The View’ co-host Meghan McCain also weighed in following the debate, declaring former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley as the ‘winner.’

‘[Nikki Haley] is the debate winner tonight. Well done,’ McCain wrote on X.

Mollie Hemingway, who serves as editor-in-chief of The Federalist, took aim at Haley’s Ukraine support.

‘Sing-songy Nikki Halley says American taxpayers should stop complaining about US being the primary funder of the proxy war in Russia that has no strategy for success,’ Hemingway wrote on X.

Rich Lowry, the editor-in-chief of the National Review, also provided his take on the debate, saying on X that DeSantis was ‘solid’ and Haley ‘outshone’ South Carolina GOP Sen. Tim Scott.

‘DeSantis was solid, hit all his themes, and took no incoming fire—he helped himself. Vivek was preposterous, got swatted down by Haley, but won exchanges w/ Pence and Christie and had some tremendous answers—his moment will continue,’ Lowry said. ‘Nikki Haley was good and outshone Tim Scott.’

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley argued in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Wednesday that former President Donald Trump won’t be able to win the 2024 election due to his legal troubles.

Haley’s comments came after the first GOP presidential debate Wednesday evening in Milwaukee where she was among the only candidates to say the Republican Party couldn’t defeat President Biden with Trump as its nominee. While the former United Nations ambassador said she was mostly aligned with Trump on policies, his ongoing court cases would get in the way of his campaign next year.

‘What I do believe is you’re going to have Donald Trump spend more time in a courtroom next year — not through anything outside of they’re weaponizing government against him — but he’s going to spend more time in a courtroom than he is campaigning,’ Haley told Hannity during the interview.

‘I served with him, I was proud to serve with him, I agree with him on most issues and he’s my friend,’ Haley continued. ‘But the reality is we cannot afford Joe Biden.’

Hannity then noted the findings of Special Counsel John Durham’s recent report that the FBI mistreated Trump and that the infamous Steele dossier couldn’t be proven. He then asked Haley if she believed all charges against Trump are political and whether they were the result of the weaponization of the U.S. justice system.

‘It’s all political, it’s all weaponization — all of that,’ Haley said. ‘But the fact remains: he’s got five court cases next year. He’s going to start the first one in the early part of January. He’s got another one in March.’

‘It is why we have to win, because we have to make sure that this weaponization stops,’ she continued. ‘It’s why we have to clean the Department of Justice, it’s why we have to clean house in both our intelligence agencies, it’s why this matters. We will use Donald Trump as the reason we’ve got to clean up Washington.’ 

‘But you can’t clean up Washington if Donald Trump is fighting issues of the past. We need a young generational conservative that’s going to go and clean up what they’ve done to Donald Trump but also carry our country forward.’

During the debate earlier in the evening, Haley joined six of seven other candidates on stage in pledging to support Trump if he is the nominee and is convicted of wrongdoing.

Trump faces multiple cases nationwide in connection to his handling of classified documents and actions surrounding the 2020 election. He is expected to turn himself in Thursday in connection with the most recent case in Georgia.

Republican candidates sparred on the billions of federal dollars going to Ukraine in their war with Russia.

The Ukraine War took center stage in Wednesday’s GOP presidential debate, with businessman Vivek Ramaswamy saying he would not continue the funding if elected.

‘I would not, and I think that this is disastrous, that we are protecting against an invasion across somebody else’s border when we should use those same military resources to prevent the invasion of our own southern border here in the United States of America,’ Ramaswamy said.

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie took a difference stance. He noted he ‘went to Ukraine’ to see for himself ‘what Vladimir Putin’s army was doing’ to Ukrainians.

‘This is the Vladimir Putin who Donald Trump called brilliant and a genius,’ Christie said. ‘If we don’t stand up against this type of autocratic killing, we in Washington, we will be next.’

The eight candidates met Wednesday night for the first GOP presidential debate of the 2024 cycle.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy took the one and two spots on the debate stage as former President Trump refused to hop into the conversation.

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum took the debate stage on crutches after tearing his ACL.

Meanwhile, Biden was declared the Democratic nominee by Democratic National Committee senior adviser Cedric Richmond.

Conservatives took to social media on Wednesday night in droves to opine on who they believed won the first GOP primary debate and who struggled to establish themselves.

Following the conclusion of the Fox News Debate, conservatives on social media weighed in on who they thought won the debate with some praising entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, others supporting former Ambassador Nikki Haley, and many throwing their support behind Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. 

‘@NikkiHaley is the debate winner tonight,’ political commentator Meghan McCain posted on social media. ‘Well done.’

‘Vivek #Ramaswamy was the clear winner of the @Foxnews debate,’ political commentator Carol Swain tweeted. ‘He would make a great vice-presidential choice for #DonaldJTrump or #RonDeSantis. None of the other candidates did themselves any good. I recommend they pack up and go home.’

GOP Congressman Chip Roy, who has endorsed Ron DeSantis, told Fox News he believes the Florida Governor won the debate.

Several political commentators weighed in on who they thought was uninspiring during the debate.

‘Hutchinson and Burgum won’t be at the next debate,’ conservative author Dana Loesch tweeted. ‘I don’t even know why they were at this one.’

‘Nikki and Tim met expectations but didn’t move the needle,’ Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles tweeted. ‘Hutchinson exceeded expectations inasmuch as he didn’t trans a child onstage. Doug Burgum is the worst candidate in the race by virtually every measure and somehow perhaps also the most likable.’

Wednesday’s debate represented the first time that GOP candidates debated together on a stage. The next debate will take place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Sept. 27 and will be hosted by Fox Business.

Georgia’s secretary of state reportedly is to be subpoenaed to testify during a hearing to determine if former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ election interference case will be transferred to federal court next week. 

Meadows, meanwhile, had an emergency motion seeking to prevent his ‘imminent arrest’ in Fulton County denied Wednesday, a day before former President Donald Trump was set to turn himself in. Meadows had sought to stall his arrest pending the outcome of an evidentiary hearing over the possibility of his RICO charges be moved from state to federal court, FOX 5 Atlanta reported. 

A judge, however, ruled the state should continue for now unless the feds notify the court that they’re taking over jurisdiction. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis set a deadline for noon Thursday for Meadows, Trump and allies to turn themselves in. 

‘While Meadows’s imminent arrest may present an actual injury, there are strong countervailing reasons to not enjoin the state criminal proceedings,’ the judge’s decision Wednesday said. ‘Thus, the Court determines that, the clear statutory language for removing a criminal prosecution, does not support an injunction or temporary stay prohibiting District Attorney Willis’s enforcement or execution of the arrest warrant against Meadows.’ 

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, meanwhile, reported that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was notified that he will be subpoenaed to testify during the court hearing in which Meadows will argue the Fulton County case against him be transferred to federal court. The evidentiary hearing is scheduled for Monday. Willis wants the election interference case, which had Meadows facing two charges among 41 counts, to remain in Fulton Superior Court. 

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, accused of spearheading Trump’s efforts to compel state lawmakers in Georgia and other closely contested states to appoint electoral college electors favorable to Trump, turned himself in on Wednesday, and his mugshot was released.  

With less than five months to go until the start of the GOP presidential nominating calendar, the Republican White House contenders will face off for the first time on the debate stage Wednesday night.

And with millions of viewers from coast to coast expected to watch the Fox News hosted showdown in Milwaukee, either on TV or online, the debate is a massive opportunity for the candidates on stage to make a major impression.

‘It means a lot for me and every other candidate. It’s going to be the biggest audience any of us have spoken before in a long time,’ former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who’s making his second run for the White House, told Fox News Digital recently. ‘It’s important for people to get to know you, to know who you are, what you want to do for the party and for the country.’

Christie is one of eight candidates who will appear at the Republican National Committee organized debate.

The others are former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former Ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, biotech entrepreneur and bestselling author Vivek Ramaswamy, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.

‘It’s obviously an opportunity for us because… of the eight candidates who’ve made the stage, we’re the least well known. By definition that gives us the most upside,’ Burgum, who’s not well known outside North Dakota, highlighted in a recent Fox News Digital interview.

Even Pence, who enjoys strong name recognition among Americans thanks to his four years as vice president, said recently that ‘my hope in that debate is that people may be able to get to know me a little bit better.’

And DeSantis noted in a recent Fox News Radio interview that the debate will ‘give us an opportunity to be able to speak to a large audience of voters who have not yet paid attention to this primary. I mean, you could have 10, 15, 20 million viewers, most of whom have probably never seen any of us in action before.’ 

DeSantis, who’s second in most of the GOP presidential nomination polls, will stand center stage alongside Ramaswamy, a first-time candidate and culture wars crusader whose rise in public opinion surveys is one of the biggest surprises to date in the Republican race. 

Moving out to the left and right will be Pence and Haley, followed by Christie and Scott. Hutchinson and Burgum will be on the wings.

Former President Donald Trump, the commanding front-runner for the 2024 GOP nomination, on Sunday pointed to his large lead over his rivals in announcing that he would not take part in the debate.

A week earlier Trump said he wouldn’t sign the RNC pledge required for contenders to take the stage. The pledge states that candidates will support the GOP’s eventual presidential nominee — regardless of whom it is — and that they won’t take part in any debate not sanctioned by the national party committee.

Also, not on the stage at the first debate will be a handful of other candidates, including one-time CIA spy and former Rep. Will Hurd of Texas, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, former nationally syndicated radio host and 2021 California gubernatorial recall election candidate Larry Elder and Michigan business leader and quality control expert Perry Johnson.

Popular Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, who mulled his own presidential run before deciding against launching a campaign, emphasized that Wednesday’s showdown is ‘an awesome opportunity for all these candidates to stand up — not just to show that they deserve to be on the stage — but to show that they deserve to be the leader of the free world.’

‘That’s really the differentiator. People want someone that inspires them. Some charisma,’ said Sununu, who has debated over a dozen times as he won election and re-election to four two-year terms as New Hampshire governor since 2016. 

Longtime New Hampshire-based GOP consultant Jim Merrill, a veteran of numerous Republican presidential campaigns, emphasized that ‘this debate is enormously important, not only for the top-tier candidates, but for those who have yet to break through. This is the first national opportunity for a lot of these candidates to make an impression on voters.’

David Carney, another Republican consultant with decades of presidential campaign experience, noted that, for the candidates on the stage, ‘the pressure’s high.’

‘They need to think on their feet, look authentic and take the curveballs that come,’ Carney emphasized.

And Gail Gitcho, another veteran of GOP presidential campaigns, highlighted that for the candidates, ‘there’s no reason you should be on that stage and be on defense. You always need to be on offense. You need to anticipate the attacks and come up with a more powerful rejoinder.’

Wednesday’s debate is the first of monthly showdowns organized by the RNC. The next debate is a FOX Business-hosted event at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, on Sept. 27.

Who is Ron DeSantis?

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently told Fox News Digital he’s ‘ready to do what we need to’ in the first GOP debate to differentiate himself from the rest of the field.

DeSantis will try to establish himself as the top challenger to former President Donald Trump and change the narrative after a series of setbacks the past two months, which triggered weeks of negative stories spotlighting his campaign’s overspending, staff layoffs, change of leadership and other setbacks.

‘I know from the military, when you’re over the target, that’s when you’re taking flak. And if you look really in the last six to nine months, I’ve been more attacked than anybody else. Biden, Harris, the media, the left, other Republican candidates,’ DeSantis said. ‘And there’s a reason for that, because people know that I’m the biggest threat. So we view it as positive feedback. We’ll be ready to do what we need to do to deliver our message, but we absolutely expect that, and we’ll be ready for it.’

Asked whether his debate strategy includes punching back at rivals on the stage, DeSantis told Fox News, ‘Yes, that means defending ourselves but more importantly showing why we are the leader to get this country turned around.’

Who is Nikki Haley?

Former South Carolina governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley announced in February that she would be running for president, seeking the Republican nomination for the 2024 election.
Born in Bamberg, South Carolina, Haley has long been viewed by political pundits as a potential GOP presidential contender.

Haley has crisscrossed the country the past two years through her political group Stand for America, helping fellow Republicans running in the 2022 elections. Her travels brought her numerous times to Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, which hold the first, second and fourth contests in the Republican presidential nominating calendar. Haley’s home state of South Carolina votes third in the GOP primary schedule.

‘America is not past our prime, it’s just that our politicians are past theirs,’ Haley said in her first campaign speech, as the crowd chanted ‘USA’ and ‘Nikki.’

Haley has called for years for the U.S. to be more aggressive in combating the threat from Beijing and in June called for a fundamental change in the U.S. outlook to the threat from the East.
In late July, Haley unveiled an extended plan to deal with the Chinese Communist Party. The plan includes a pledge to roll back Biden-era green energy mandates, which she says are a giveaway to Beijing.

While polls indicate Haley is an underdog compared to other candidates like former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Haley has a history of winning tough elections.
In 2004, she defeated the state’s longest-serving state House member in the GOP primary on her way to winning a state legislative seat. And six years later, she topped a congressman, the state’s lieutenant governor, and the attorney general in the Republican gubernatorial primary, ahead of her general election victory.

Haley is the daughter of immigrants from India who grew up to become South Carolina’s first female governor and the nation’s first female governor of Asian American heritage.

Following her tenure as governor of the Palmetto State, Haley served in Trump’s administration as the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, leaving at the end of 2018 on good terms with the then-president.

Who is Vivek Ramaswamy?

Vivek Ramaswamy, a health care and tech sector entrepreneur, conservative commentator and author who has become a crusader in the culture wars, declared his candidacy in the Republican presidential primary in February.

Born in Cincinnati, Ramaswamy quickly made a name for himself on the campaign trail. Ramaswamy, who was dubbed ‘the CEO of Anti-Woke Inc.’ in a New Yorker magazine profile last year, said earlier this year that his campaign is ‘about the unapologetic pursuit of excellence in our country. It means you believe in merit; that you get ahead in this country not on the color of your skin but on the content of your character and your contributions.’

In an interview with Fox News Digital earlier this month, Ramaswamy said that he wants to answer ‘the question of what it means to be American in the year 2023.’

‘I’m 37 years old. When you ask people my age and younger what it means to be American today, you get a blank stare,’ he said.

Ramaswamy has called for a ‘total decoupling’ from Communist China, which he argues is a greater threat to America today than the Soviet Union was during the Cold War because China makes the ‘shoes on our feet and the phones in our pockets.’

As the son of Indian migrants who legally came through America’s ‘front door,’ Ramaswamy is a strong supporter of merit-based immigration and would not grant leniency for those who broke the law when entering the country.

Other top priorities of his include ‘restoring free speech,’ which would involve making political expression a civil right and banning Big Tech censorship executed at the behest of the government, and ‘dismantling’ affirmative action and the ‘new climate religion,’ which he calls a ‘cancer on the American soul.’

Who is Tim Scott?

South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott announced in May that he would seek the GOP nomination for president.

Known for his fundraising prowess, Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, entered the White House race with his campaign coffers well stocked. Scott reported nearly $22 million cash on hand at the end of last year — funds left over from the senator’s convincing 25-point re-election victory in November in reliably red South Carolina.

A pair of Scott-aligned super PACs started 2023 with roughly $16 million in the bank, thanks to contributors from numerous Republican mega-donors including Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.

‘Here’s a kid that grew up in North Charleston, South Carolina, mired in poverty, in a single parent household. To think about one day being the President of the United States just tells me that the evolution of the American soul continues to move toward that more perfect union,’ Scott told Fox News in May.

Prior to his campaign announcement, Scott, who has served in the Senate since 2013 and was born in North Charleston, South Carolina, had been viewed by political pundits as a potential 2024 Republican presidential contender.

While the senator had repeatedly demurred when asked about a White House bid, he hinted last November at a possible future run during his re-election victory celebration by telling the story of how he took his grandfather to the polls in 2012, and that his grandfather proudly voted for him as well as for Democrat Barack Obama, the nation’s first Black president.

‘I wish he had lived long enough to see perhaps another man of color elected President of the United States,’ Scott said, before adding ‘but this time let it be a Republican.’

Who is Chris Christie?

Former two-term New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie officially launched his second White House bid in June, joining a crowded field of presidential hopefuls vying for the 2024 Republican nomination.
Declaring his candidacy during a town hall event at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire — the state with the first GOP presidential primary — Christie said: ‘I can’t guarantee you success in what I’m about to do. But I guarantee you that at the end of it, you will have no doubt in your mind who I am and what I stand for and whether I deserve it.’

In his speech, Christie railed against the division that he said has driven Americans into smaller groups, brought about by the likes of former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump. He also touted America’s role throughout its history in ‘fighting evil’ across the world.

Christie focused a portion of his campaign announcement speech on taking jabs at former President Donald Trump, describing him as a ‘leader who won’t admit any of his shortcomings’ and referring to him as ‘Voldemort,’ the infamous villain in the ‘Harry Potter’ novels.

Born in Newark, New Jersey, Christie, held the highest office in the state from 2010 to 2018 and was the deep-blue state’s last Republican governor, first ran for president in the 2016 cycle.

At the time, Christie placed all his chips in New Hampshire, but his campaign crashed and burned after a disappointing and distant sixth-place finish in New Hampshire, far behind Trump, who crushed the competition in the primary en route to the nomination and eventually the White House.

Christie became the first among the other GOP 2016 contenders to endorse Trump, and for years he was a top outside adviser to the then-president and chaired Trump’s high-profile commission on opioids. However, the two had a falling out after Trump’s unsuccessful attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to now-President Joe Biden. Over the past two years, Christie has become one of the most vocal Trump critics in the GOP.

A recent Fox News Poll found that Christie was the most favored Republican candidate among self-identified Democrat voters.

Who is Mike Pence?

Former Vice President Mike Pence filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to launch his campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination in early June.

Pence was serving as the governor of Indiana when then-presidential candidate Donald Trump named him his running mate in 2016. For four years, Pence served as the loyal vice president to Trump.

However, everything changed on Jan. 6, 2021, as demonstrators — including some chanting ‘hang Mike Pence’ — stormed the U.S. Capitol aiming to upend congressional certification of President Biden’s Electoral College victory that was overseen by Pence.

In the more than two years since the end of the Trump administration, the former president and vice president have drifted further apart. Pence has repeatedly rebuked his former boss, calling him out by name while discussing Trump’s claim that Pence could have overturned the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Pence has described the 2021 protest at the Capitol as ‘tragic,’ insisting that ‘it dishonored the millions of people who had supported our cause around the country.’ He has emphasized that he did ‘the right thing’ and performed his ‘duty under the Constitution.’ He has also noted a number of times that he and Trump may never ‘see eye to eye on that day.’

Trump loyalists will likely never forgive Pence, whom they view as a traitor for refusing to reject the 2020 election results.

In announcing his campaign, Pence became the first running mate in eight decades to run against his former boss, since Vice President John Nance Garner unsuccessfully challenged President Franklin Roosevelt in the 1940 election.

Born in Columbus, Indiana, Pence has touted the Trump-Pence administration’s policy successes in stump speeches but contrasts himself with the controversial former president in terms of tone and tenor.

‘People around the country want us to see us restore a threshold of civility in our political debate,’ Pence emphasized. ‘You can disagree without being disagreeable. People that know me know I take very strong stands. I’m conservative, but I’m not in a bad mood about it.’

He has stressed that ‘should we enter the fray in this campaign in the days ahead, we’re going to bring those principles, but we’re going to bring a commitment to civility that I think the American long to see.’

Pundits had long viewed Pence as a likely 2024 contender, as he spent the past two years crisscrossing the country to campaign and help raise money for Republicans running in the 2022 elections. Those travels took Pence multiple times to Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada — the first four states to vote in the Republican presidential nominating calendar — as he strengthened relationships in the early voting presidential primary and caucus states that usually precede the launch of a White House campaign.

Who is Doug Burgum?

Before becoming the 33rd governor of North Dakota, Doug Burgum established himself as a successful businessman in the software industry. 

Burgum, 67, steered his one-time small business, Great Plains Software, into a $1 billion software company. His business — and its North Dakota-based workers — were eventually acquired by Microsoft, and Burgum stayed on board as a senior vice president.

In 2016, the then first-time candidate and long shot convincingly topped a favored GOP establishment contender to secure the Republican nomination in North Dakota before going on to a landslide victory in the gubernatorial general election in the solidly red state. Burgum was overwhelmingly re-elected in 2020 to a second term as governor.

‘Governor Burgum is looking forward to sharing his focus on the economy, energy and national security at the August debate,’ Burgum campaign spokesman Lance Trover said last month. ‘In less than 7 weeks, Governor Burgum has exceeded all the requirements for the debate. As a Governor and business leader Doug knows how to fix the economy, unleash American energy and win the Cold War with China.’  

Who is Asa Hutchinson?

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson officially launched his campaign for president in April, becoming one of the first candidates to join the race for the 2024 Republican nomination.

Before serving two terms as Arkansas’ governor, Hutchinson served as a former federal attorney and member of Congress for two terms. He also served as Drug Enforcement Administration administrator and Department of Homeland Security undersecretary during former President George W. Bush’s administration.

Hutchinson, who steered the National Governors Association last year, had been mulling a 2024 White House run for months. He told Fox News Digital interview last summer that he wanted a role in helping to shape the future of the GOP and ‘that might lead to a presidential campaign down the road.’

A vocal critic of former President Donald Trump, Hutchinson has argued the latter ‘disqualified himself’ to serve as president again, pointing to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters aiming to upend congressional certification of President Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory.

Hutchinson was one of the last candidates to qualify for tonight’s debate and is looked at as an ‘outsider’ candidate according to Fox News’ Power Rankings.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser, Adam Shaw, Andrew Miller, Brandon Gillespie and Kyle Morris contributed reporting.