The Heritage Foundation found that 27 of the top 30 cities with the highest murder rate are led by Democratic mayors.
Those cities include Chicago, IL, Los Angeles, CA, New York, NY and Baltimore, MD.
The other cities include Republican-led Lexington, KY and Jacksonville, FL and Las Vegas, NV which has an Independent mayor.
The study blasts “soft-on-crime” Democrats who claim red states have a “murder problem.” The study looked at the states with the highest homicide rates from 2014-2020.
Of the top 10 states with the highest rates, seven have Republican governors, including Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Missouri, South Carolina, Maryland and Tennessee.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) released anticipated holiday spending numbers earlier this week. The NRF said holiday spending will likely be “healthy even with recent inflationary challenges.” The NRF projections say holiday spending will grow by 6 to 8 percent compared to the amount spent last year, with anywhere between $942.6 billion and $960.4 billion total dollars spent this season.
NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said in a November 3 news release that inflation may cause shoppers to “supplement spending with savings and credit to provide a cushion and result in a positive holiday season.”
Holiday spending grew by 13.5 percent last year and has grown an average of 4.9 percent in the last decade, according to the NRF. A chart shared on the NRF website showed holiday spending has steadily grown over the last 20 years, with an estimated $416.4 billion spent on holiday purchases back in 2002.
Despite the anticipated increase in holiday spending this year, CNBC reported that the projected uptick will be wiped out once inflation levels are taken into account. Inflation hit a 40-year high this year and has been cited as one of the top concerns among voters heading into the November 8 midterm elections and the 2022 holiday season.
The ad features religious rhetoric and is a spin on radio broadcaster Paul Harvey’s “So God Made a Farmer” speech made at the Future Farmers of America in 1978.
“And on the 8th day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, ‘I need a protector,’” the ad begins. It continues, “So God made a fighter,” instead of Harvey’s “farmer.”
The video shows several photos of DeSantis that correspond with the narration.
DeSantis is shown posing with his family, shaking hands with constituents and speaking at rally podiums.
“God said, ‘I need someone to be strong, advocate truth in the midst of hysteria,” the narrator said. “Someone who challenges conventional wisdom and isn’t afraid to defend what he knows to be right and just. So, God made a fighter.”
There is also a direct reference to the Republican governor’s efforts to fight back against COVID-19 restrictions.
“God said, ‘I need somebody who will take the arrows, stand firm in the wake of unrelenting attacks, look a mother in the eyes and tell her that her child will be in school,” the narrator said. “She can keep her job, go to church, eat dinner with friends and hold the hand of an aging parent taking their breath for the last time.’ So, God made a fighter.”
The poll’s results, which were released on Friday, found these concerns to be “broad and bipartisan” as Americans on both sides of the aisle indicated the risk of political violence is something they worry about.
Pollsters said 1,005 U.S. adults were surveyed between October 30 and November 2, which they noted was after a man broke into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco home and attacked her husband, Paul Pelosi, last week.
“A week after the attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a vast 88 percent of adults express concern that political divisions have gotten to the point that there’s an increased risk of politically motivated violence in this country,” the poll said. Of that total, 63 percent of respondents said they were “very” concerned and 25 percent said they were “somewhat” concerned.
Pollsters said the results indicate “rare levels of partisan agreement,” though they said Democrats tend to blame Republicans and vice versa for this elevated risk. Independent voters “are likeliest to blame both parties,” according to the results.
The poll’s release came with just four days remaining until the November 8 midterms. During an address to the American public earlier this week, President Joe Biden similarly referenced the attack on Paul Pelosi and spoke of the riot at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021. Biden said conspiracy theories surrounding the results of the 2020 presidential election were what “fueled the dangerous rise in political violence and voter intimidation over the past two years.” He said there is “no place” for political violence in the U.S. and said American democracy “is on the ballot for us all” this election cycle.
One of the most important demographics for both Republicans and Democrats is Latino voters. Latinos are the fastest-growing racial and ethic electoral bloc in the country and might hold the key to deciding tight races in key swing states.
According to the Pew Research Center, Latinos will make up around 14 percent of eligible voters in this year’s elections. That’s nearly double the amount as in 2000 and a historic high for the U.S.
This share has steadily increased over the past two decades and is up from 12.8 percent in 2018.
The number of Hispanic eligible voters has increased by 4.7 million since the last midterm elections in 2018, representing 62 percent of the total growth in U.S. eligible voters during that time.
In New Mexico, Latinos make up 44 percent of all eligible voters, making up a higher share of the total eligible voter population than any other racial or ethnic group.
While Democrats have long-counted on winning the Latino and Hispanic vote, Pew found that Donald Trump made significant gains with Hispanic voters in 2020.
Biden still won a 59 percent majority of Hispanic voters, but Trump’s share jumped from 28 percent in 2016 to 38 percent in 2020. This was also up from 25 percent of the Hispanic vote Republicans received in the 2018 midterms.
The White House said Biden will speak about “an American technology company that will benefit from passage of the President’s CHIPS and Science Act and more chips being made in America.”
This comes off the release of the October jobs report. Biden celebrated the 261,000 jobs added, including 700,000 manufacturing jobs. He said 137,000 more manufacturing jobs have been created since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The president is expected to speak at 2:45 p.m. ET. The remarks will stream on the White House website and YouTube channel.
Protesters met his campaign in Hudson River Park. Some were seen carrying signs that read, “Zeldin uses rape to promote his campaign.”
The Republican Congressman has made crime a focus of his campaign messaging ahead of the November 8 midterms. He has alleged that crime “is out of control” under incumbent Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul, who is also on the ballot next week. Recent polling has indicated crime is one of the biggest concerns for New York voters this election cycle.
Zeldin’s Friday appearance in Hudson River Park is tied to the Thursday morning rape of a female runner. An arrest has already been made in the case.
Zeldin posted a photo of a New York Post headline about the rape on Twitter. The man arrested in connection with the rape has been arrested several times in the past and is suspected of other sexual assaults, police told local media outlets.
“This is the reality of life in Kathy Hochul’s New York,” Zeldin’s tweet said. “Vote like your life depends on it, because it does.”
Local reporters later began sharing images of Zeldin standing behind a campaign sign in Hudson River Park. One photo shared by Fox News reporter Dagen McDowell showed supporters surrounding Zeldin while holding campaign signs near Pier 45.
Another reporter with Spectrum News NY1 shared a video of protesters responding to Zeldin’s visit.
“There is no crime emergency here,” one protester yelled.
“If there is, what’s your plan?” another protester asked.
Zeldin responded to the protesters in a Friday afternoon tweet.
“‘There is no crime emergency,’” he wrote, repeating the words of one protester. “Kathy Hochul’s people scream out at the site of yet another rape yesterday in the Big Apple. These protestors & their far-left, pro-criminal agenda have somehow managed to dangerously set the agenda in the NYC Council & Albany.”
Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer in Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office, posted the chart Friday morning on Twitter. The chart was reflective of early voting data through November 3, Sterling said.
According to the chart, the largest total of early votes have been cast by people ages 60 to 70, with more than 520,000 votes cast by people within that 10-year range. More than 240,000 early votes have been cast by people ages 55 to 60, and nearly 240,000 have been cast by people ages 70 to 75. The 50 to 55 age group was next with nearly 220,000 early votes cast.
The number of early votes cast in other age groups declined outside the 50 to 75 age range. The number of early votes cast by older voters dropped off steadily, as did the number of early votes cast by younger voters. The downward trend among younger voters did have an exception for the 18 to 24 age range, which had about 100,000 early votes cast. That total was larger than the number of early voters cast by people ages 25 to 29, or by people ages 30 to 34.
Friday marks the last day of early voting in Georgia. By 1 p.m. ET on Friday, a total of 2,357,066 early votes had been cast across the state, Sterling said in an afternoon update.
The Morning Consult survey conducted this week shows voters are not optimistic about the nation’s economy.
Of those surveyed, 56 percent assigned the economy a D or F rating. This included four in five Republicans, two in three Independents and three in 10 Democrats.
About seven in 10 Democrats gave the current economy a grade of A, B or C. Only one in five Republicans and one in three Independents gave the same grade. Of that group, only six percent of Democrats gave the economy an A grade.
When asked what most impacted how they graded the economy, 80 percent of voters said food prices, 79 percent said inflation and 75 percent said gas prices.
The Morning Consult’s Consumer Confidence Index has also been lower in recent weeks than it was during COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020.
James released a statement Thursday about the “major victory” handed down to her team by the New York County State Supreme Court. The ruling ordered Trump and other defendants involved in the case to “immediately stop engaging in the financial fraud” that James’ lawsuit alleges they are involved in, according to James’ office.
On Friday morning, Trump said on Truth Social that New York’s court system “is being ridiculed all over the World!”
Trump said James is “a Corrupt, Racist, Weak on Crime Attorney General” whom he said “campaigned on” her pursuit of the former president. He then described the judge who issued the Thursday ruling as “a highly political, biased Judge, who is totally controlled by my worst enemies.”
Trump then criticized the timing of the ruling—“A No No!"—which was issued with just five days remaining until the midterm elections. Trump concluded his statement by calling the judge “a real ‘Trump Hater.’”
Zeldin has made crime a key issue in his campaign for governor, highlighting rising crime across New York state.
He accuses Governor Kathy Hochul, his opponent, of being soft on crime and not doing enough to keep violent criminals off the streets. Zeldin also hit Hochul on her plan to continue cashless bail.
“This is the reality of life in Kathy Hochul’s New York,” Zeldin tweeted along with a New York Post front page story of a raped jogger.
“Vote like your life depends on it, because it does,” he said.
Zeldin claims Hochul believes people concerned about rising crime “conspiracy theorists and data deniers.”
“Her gaslighting, soft on crime policies, and refusal to overhaul cashless bail is why 3 children just witnessed the murder of their mother,” he tweeted with a link to a story about a New York murder.
On Friday morning, Hochul spoke to CNN about crime in New York City.
A recent Quinnipiac Poll shows likely New York voters say crime, over inflation, is the most urgent issues the state faces.
The governor said the Republican conversation surrounding crime has been “dishonest,” as politicians are not talking about solution to rising crime reports.
“Let’s talk about real answers and not just give everyone all these platitudes,” she said.
Hochul boasted her gun control policies while noting Zeldin has opposed efforts to combat gun violence.
She said she’s “done a lot” to get guns off the street and support local law enforcement, noting a decrease in gun-related crimes.
Hochul added that “it doesn’t add up” when Republicans say they’re tough on crime but soft on guns.
“We have leaned hard on working with Mayor Adams on getting more cops and cameras and care for people who are significantly mentally ill,” she said.
The total number of ballots returned early across the U.S. reached 35,496,269 by 11:22 a.m. ET on Friday. More than 20.1 million of those votes were cast using mail-in ballots, and more than 15.3 million votes were cast in person.
The election data analysis project’s website said more than 4.6 million early ballots have already been returned to election officials in Texas, making it the state with the greatest number of early votes cast thus far. Florida was second with more than 3.8 million early votes, and California was third with more than 3.7 million ballots returned.
Georgia is the only other state in which more than 2 million early votes were cast as of Friday morning, U.S. Elections Project data showed. Gabriel Sterling, an official with the Georgia secretary of state’s office, tweeted Friday that the more than 2.2 million early votes cast so far “is on a pace to eclipse the 2016 Presidential pre-Election Day vote totals of 2,398,674.”
People close to Trump said his team is planning to launch his presidential campaign on Nov. 14, according to both Axois and Newsmax.
Trump has been teasing another presidential run for weeks as he has campaigned for his Republican endorsements. At a rally last night in Sioux City, Iowa, he told the crowd of supporters that he would “very, very, very probably” run again.
He then told the crowd to get ready for an announcement “very soon.”
The jobs report released Friday shows 261,000 jobs have been added to the U.S. economy this month. While the report shows a higher unemployment rate than last month, it remains low at 3.7 percent.
Job gains in October were lower than in September, but still better than some economists predicted. With jobs added to each month of his presidency, Biden boasted the “record setting 10 million job increase,” including 700,000 manufacturing jobs.
He also noted the low Black and Hispanic unemployment rates, the rising gross domestic product (GDP) and increased incomes.
“While comments by Republican leadership sure seem to indicate they are rooting for a recession, the U.S. economy continues to grow and add jobs even as gas prices continue to come down,” Biden said.
Despite these gains, Biden recognizes that inflation remains his administration’s “top economic challenge” as families are “feeling squeezed.”
He said he has a plan to bring down costs, especially for health care, energy and other everyday expenses. And this plan, he said, is “very different” from the Republicans’ plan.
Biden said Republicans want to increase the cost of prescription drugs, health insurance and energy, while giving tax breaks to big corporations and the very wealthy.
“Here’s the deal: cutting corporate taxes and allowing big pharma to raise prices again is the Republican inflation plan and it’s a disaster,” he said.
Biden said his administration will “do what it takes” to bring inflation down.”
He said he will continue to build the economy from the bottom up and the middle out, “not the top down as my Republican friends would have.”
Paul Pelosi, 82, was released from Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital on Thursday, almost a week after an intruder beat him with a hammer, leaving him with critical injuries, including a fractured skull.
“The Pelosi family is thankful for the beautiful outpouring of love, support and prayers from around the world,” Nancy Pelosi said in a statement Thursday.
“Paul is grateful to the 911 operator, emergency responders, trauma care team, ICU staff, and the entire ZSFGH medical staff for their excellent and compassionate life-saving treatment he received after the violent assault in our home.”
Pelosi said her husband will have a “long recovery process” ahead of him.
“He is now home surrounded by his family who request privacy,” she added.
The suspected attacker, David DePape, allegedly broke into the Pelosi home shouting “where is Nancy” and later told police he was “fighting against tyranny.” He also said he intended to kidnap and torture the Speaker and would have likely injured her to send a message to the Democratic party.
DePape faces both state and federal charges, including attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse and burglary.
Fetterman is running against Republican candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz, a television host who got his start as a regular guest on Winfrey’s popular daytime talk show.
On Thursday night, Winfrey hosted a “Virtual Voting Conversation” to discuss the upcoming election.
“I said it was up to the citizens of Pennsylvania and of course, but I will tell you all this, if I lived in Pennsylvania, I would have already cast my vote for John Fetterman for many reasons,” Winfrey said
Fetterman welcomed Winfrey to his team and even changed his profile picture to include the coveted “Oprah’s Book Club” sticker that Winfrey gives to her book picks as a symbol of her support and approval.
At the event, Winfrey added that there are “clear choices” among the candidates working to represent “the values that so many of us hold dear—like inclusion, compassion, and community.”
“So I ask that voters use discernment and choose wisely for the democracy of our country,” she said.
Winfrey has also endorsed other candidates, including Cheri Beasley for Senate in North Carolina, Val Demings for Senate in Florida, Mandela Barnes for Senate in Wisconsin, Catherine Cortez Masto for Senate in Nevada, Beto O’Rourke for governor in Texas and Raphael Warnock and Stacey Abrams for Senate and governor in Georgia, respectively.
Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey celebrated the endorsement for Fetterman by sharing an Oprah meme.
At the town hall, Winfrey also spoke about the importance of making a voting plan and encouraged young people to vote.
“If we do not show up to vote, if we do not get fired up in this moment, the people who will be in power will begin making decisions for us,” she said. “Decisions about how we care for our bodies, how we care for our kids, what books your children can read, who gets protected by the police and who gets targeted.”
The data shows the number categorized as unemployed rose by 306,000 across the U.S. last month, bringing the total to 6.1 million across the nation.
Another 5.7 million jobless Americans would like employment, but aren’t included in the unemployment figure.
The Bureau of Labor explained: “These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job.”
Friday’s figures are likely to boost the Republicans ahead of next week’s midterm elections, with the GOP having been fiercely critical of President Biden’s management of the U.S. economy.
On Wednesday the Federal Reserve increased interest rates by 0.75 percent, taking the bank’s benchmark lending rate to 3.75-4 percent, the highest figure since 2008.
Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell warned rates are likely to increase further, as the bank fight to control rampant inflation.
States largely decide their own election rules, with a number allowing in person voting before polling day.
This ends on Friday in Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, Nevada and Texas.
In person early voting comes to an end on Saturday in Florida, Kentucky, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.
On Sunday early in person voting stops in Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Wisconsin.
Finally on Monday, just one day before polling day, early in person voting ends in Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming.
Speaking at a rally on Thursday in Sioux City, Iowa, she said: “Under Republicans not another penny will go to Ukraine, our country comes first. They [Democrats] don’t care about our border or our people.”
The remark sparked an angry backlash online, with TV host Piers Morgan tweeting: “Putin’s useful idiots.”
Writer and former White House staffer Alexander S. Vindman added: “The Republican Party is the party of Putin. Just listen they are telling you.”
Republican Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell has insisted support for Ukraine will continue if the GOP gains control of the upper chamber.
On Russian state TV analysts have expressed hope that victories for Trump aligned Republicans will lead to U.S. aid to Ukraine being cut.
Speaking in Sioux City, Iowa ahead of the U.S. Midterm elections on Tuesday, Trump said: “I won twice, and did much better the second time than I did the first. And now, in order to make our country successful and safe and glorious, I will very, very, very probably do it again, OK?”
“Very, very, very, very,” he continued, prompting his supporters to cheer and chant his name. “Ah, that’s nice. Well, get ready! That’s all I’m telling you, very soon, get ready!”
It is believed the risk of an inidctment could be pushing Trump to announce his run earlier than usual.
Meanwhile, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) say they intend to seek Trump’s disqualification if he does launch another bid for the White House.
In a press release, president of CREW Noah Bookbinder wrote: “If you seek office despite being disqualified under the Constitution for engaging in insurrection, we and others loyal to the Constitution will defend it.”
