Dana Perino: Almost As If The Harris Camp Is 'Pre-Conceding’
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I'm David Asman. I'm Janice Dean. I'm Jimmy Fallon. And this is the Fox News Rundown.

Tuesday, October 29th, 2024. I'm Jessica Rosenthal. With just seven days left before the final ballots are cast, the candidates have multiple campaign stops, sometimes more than one in a day, efforting every last vote, mostly in the swing states. But who, if anyone, has an edge? You have a lot of people now on background saying, well, you know, the hurdles for her were just too high to get over. It's almost as if they're preconceiving

some sort of loss, which isn't borne out by the numbers yet. We speak with Fox News anchor Dana Perino. I'm Mike Emanuel. One week to go until Election Day and candidates...

up and down the ballot are making the closing argument to voters. Part of the appeal from Republicans this cycle is early voting could help GOP candidates to victory. We've been very focused on bank your vote, the importance of turning out early so that the campaign can focus on those low propensity voters to turn them out. I am cautiously optimistic as I've traveled to states, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia,

Virginia, and Republicans are overperforming when it comes to the early vote. We're joined by House GOP conference chair Elise Stefanik of New York. And I'm Joe Concha. I've got the final word on the Fox News Rundown.

Final pitches are being made. Vice President Harris Monday visited a semiconductor manufacturing plant in Saginaw, Michigan, then toured a union facility in Macomb County ahead of a nighttime rally. Before the trip, she said from Joint Base Andrews that she wanted to talk to Michiganders about high prices, home buying and manufacturing.

My plan includes what we will do to continue to invest in American-based industries, American manufacturing and American workers. That is how we are going to remain strong and globally competitive. Friday, the vice president rallied in Harris County, Texas, with Democratic Senate candidate Colin Allred, who's hoping to unseat Ted Cruz. And joining her on stage was Beyonce. This was all ahead of former President Trump's rally in New York at Madison Square Garden. Kamala broke it, but I will fix it.

We're going to fix it. I'm asking you to be excited about the future of our country again. I'm asking you to dream big again. We're going to dream big again. We haven't been dreaming big at all.

Harris was asked about his Sunday night rally Monday morning. Donald Trump spends full time trying to have Americans point their finger at each other. Bans the fuel of hate and division. And that's why people are exhausted with him. Polling remains so tight, it's too close to call in the swing states. And while some Republicans urge Trump world to stay on message...

there are some messaging concerns on the vice president's side as well. The group Future Forward warned that attacking Donald J. Trump as a fascist or questioning his character or stamina are less effective than highlighting Kamala Harris's proposals. Fox's Jackie Heinrich covering Vice President Harris.

So where are the candidates this week? The former presidents in Allentown, Pennsylvania today. Rocky Mountain, North Carolina Wednesday. Then Green Bay, Wisconsin later Wednesday. Later in the week, Nevada and New Mexico. Harris is speaking at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. today. Wednesday, she has planned stops in Raleigh, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Madison, Wisconsin. Thursday, the beeps in Phoenix, Las Vegas and Reno. I think President Trump is closing...

his campaign in the best way possible for him. Dana Perino is co-anchor of America's Newsroom and the host of the Perino on Politics podcast. He started off talking about inflation and the economy, the border and crime. And he's ending his campaign talking about inflation, the economy, the border and crime. And the momentum is real because I think their campaign has been very creative and

It continues to beat the Harris campaign to the ball at every play. And they've spent their resources wisely. Kamala Harris's team has had more money to spend, but I think it's been awkward for them to try to spend it in the places where they need it because their closing messages on the Kamala Harris campaign is,

It started off with, let's just say, it started off a little bit difficult for her, right? Sure. We've got the switcheroo.

in July from Biden to Harris. So now she's got to get a campaign up and running. She's got to get a message. And she all of a sudden is competing against somebody who ran for president in 2016 and for reelection in 2020, had already been president, is a sort of larger than life figure in American pop culture and politics. And she had a little bit of a slow start, but then her convention was terrific. And I thought, wow, here she goes. And they set her off into the world and

her campaign kind of sank like a stone. And if you think about her closing argument, instead of being joy and we have a great future ahead of us, they've turned very dark and saying that Trump is a fascist and even his former chief of staff says so. And so if you vote for him over me, you are voting for the end of the United States of America. And to me, it just feels a little flat.

The criticism is she's going more negative now. Are we seeing signs that even people from within her own party or people backing her are saying maybe go back to issues? Well, certainly I think that what's interesting is, Jessica, we are living through

a political realignment. And it's fascinating to be a part of it. If you look at the Madison Square Garden rally, no matter what you thought about that rally, the attendees were ideologically diverse. There was more diversity amongst the crowd than there had been in previous Republican gatherings. And they're having fun. They all want to be together.

And then on the Democratic side, I'm reading a lot constantly. And the articles that are coming out, like in the Wall Street Journal, there's a piece saying Democrats are preparing for her to lose. And you have a lot of people now on background saying, well, you know, the hurdles for her were just too high to get over. It's almost as if they're preconceiving some sort of loss, which isn't borne out by the numbers yet, while the campaign's

have battled, the polls have them pretty much tied, although Trump has a little bit of an edge, but everything is within the margin of error. I would remind people this. Republicans tend to turn out more to vote if they think they're going to win.

So momentum makes a difference. And Democrats tend to turn out more to vote if they think they're going to lose. So once again, we're back to even on that score. Oh, that's so interesting. You said you said that you think the former president's been his campaign's been a little bit more creative. Talk to me about the different approaches. We see him at the MSG rally. He's cooking fries at McDonald's doing the Rogan podcast. Harris is painting a lot.

And it seems targeted, right? Going to like shops that are owned by minorities, meeting medical professionals in Michigan, dispatching the Obamas and Beyonce. Very, very different approaches. We'll see, I guess, which one is more effective with the dwindling number of undecideds. I just feel that visually her campaign hasn't provided opportunities.

opportunities of her to be seen in a light where people feel like one, they get to know her well. Her interviews have not been great that she's done the very few that she's done. And she can't spontaneously mix it up with reporters at all. There's a real feeling of a lack of authenticity with Kamala Harris. And that's a that's a problem for her. If the election doesn't go her way, I think that's one of the things we will point back to and say,

It's not that hard. The voters have been saying for three and a half years, the prices are too high. We want an economic plan. And her answers have not been satisfactory to them. She can't answer questions about the border without saying that Congress is responsible. But people aren't really buying that.

They say that the statistics on crime are going down. That is not people's lived experience in their life. And so on all of those things, I think in some ways, the day after the election or whenever we call the election and its final, if she doesn't win, I think it'll be pretty obvious why.

What do we make of like her going to Texas and him going to New York and these trips that they've both made and former President Trump's done it to California that are not in the battleground states? Is that a sign that this is such a nationalized election and everybody's talking about the same issues? Or is it like, hey, I can go to any location and make my point?

I think that Trump going to Texas and New York makes a lot more sense than Kamala going to Texas, and I'll tell you why. So President Trump agreed to do the Joe Rogan podcast. That has about 14 million listeners, I believe, but I think the last time I saw...

The numbers was something like over 30 million downloads. That's a gigantic audience. And he did it in person with Rogan in that studio. That made a lot of sense to me. In addition, Ted Cruz was like, can you do a rally for me? Because he's a little nervous about his race, even though he's four points ahead. He comes to New York because Madison Square Garden is the most iconic and recognized venue in the world for big pop culture events. And other politicians have done it too, but they were...

Tens of thousands of people there and 10,000 more waiting outside. And it was nationally and internationally televised across all the platforms. So to me, that was a big national event. And let's not forget, this is his home. New York City is where he grew up. Yeah.

Harris going to Texas makes sense for a couple of things. One, there's a lot of rich people on the Democratic side pouring a lot of money into the Senate race there, hoping that Colin Allred, the congressman from the Dallas area, can take out Ted Cruz. And maybe they thought it could help get over the edge. There is an abortion referendum on the ballot in Texas, and I think Kamala Harris wanted to push on that. And there was going to be this promise of a Beyonce appearance.

And there was a Beyonce appearance and Houston is her hometown. But she spoke for four minutes about abortion and didn't sing a single song. And to me, if I was one of those people in the crowd, as I saw on social media, very upset about that. Well, they keep promising Beyonce is going to perform right at the convention. I mean, they over promise and under deliver over and over again for their fans. And President Trump over delivered at Madison Square Garden. Hmm.

Vice President Harris heard on a hot mic telling Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer that they need to, I guess, do better with men. That's not shocking, right, if you believe the polls, but it is always interesting to hear the candidate or the person admit it, right, or say it out loud. Is she doing that? Has there been a sufficient effort toward men? I think clearly not. And the gender gap is something really interesting to watch here. Younger voters...

have been splitting and are really taking a divergent turn with young women becoming more Democratic and increasingly so on the liberal progressive side of that wing and young men becoming more Republican and conservative or at least populist. And women do tend to vote in higher numbers than men do. But I feel like

President Trump and J.D. Vance have caught some lightning in a bottle with the mail vote. And what's really interesting to me is that

I think that we are getting closer in an election cycle where we don't talk about black and Latino voters so much anymore as being separate. Because what you're seeing is with a lot of men in particular and the working class men, that it doesn't matter if you're white, black or Hispanic or whatever. It doesn't matter what you are looking for is somebody who says, I've got a plan for jobs. And so I think that the gender gap is very real and

And it could have implications, especially for younger people, not only politically, but personally as well in the decades to come. So something I'm going to be watching very closely is the gender gap in this election. Finally, Monday, former President Trump met with faith leaders in Georgia. He did that twice last week, North Carolina and Georgia. The vice president herself has mentioned her faith a bit more since that town hall meeting.

I know the former president needs those evangelical supporters to show up, but when he talked to them, he talks about God maybe, I think, in a different way than I'd heard him speak about religion than he did before his first assassination attempt. Do you think more talk of faith on both sides is notable? I think that there's one thing we know about the human spirit is that it does need a higher power to help you get through life because life's not easy.

And we are here for a reason and we are here to help one another. And politics can feel pretty ugly. But if you are grounded in faith, then you know that everything ultimately is going to be OK. And I think that the evangelical vote will definitely come out for Trump. They're happy with that. They're convinced that he's the right person, even if it might not have been their first choice. Initially, they are fully on board. Aside from that, I don't know how like the Catholic vote will come down the next.

Republicans are making a pretty strong play for it. But faith overall does not play as large a role in our society as it used to, especially when people are making decisions about who they will vote for. So while I think it's important, especially personally for everybody to have a higher power to be able to rely on, I don't think it's going to be too decisive in this election.

Dana Perino, co-host of America's Newsroom and host of the Perino on Politics podcast. Thank you so much for your time. Honored to do it. Thank you.

It's time to take the quiz. Five questions, five minutes a day, five days a week. Take the quiz every weekday at thequiz.fox and then listen to the quiz podcast to find out how you did. Play, share, and of course listen to the quiz at thequiz.fox. This is Joe Concha with your Fox News commentary, coming up. It's one week to election day and this cycle Republicans including former President Trump have told their supporters they don't need to wait until November 5th.

Early voting is underway in every swing state and we are setting all time records of voting. I tell you what, I don't want to talk about it, but we have to keep it going. You've got to get out and vote. We just have to get out.

And who would have thought this was going to happen? We're leading in every swing state. It seems that Republicans have something to be excited about leading up to Election Day with record-setting early voting numbers. Sean Trendy is senior elections analyst at Real Clear Politics. I think if you're a Republican, you have to be excited about what you're seeing in the early voting numbers.

But, you know, don't don't get carried away with it because we do have to know what happens on Election Day to really know how this is going to turn out. The early voting surge by Republicans has party leaders hopeful the election will be big for the GOP. Another new approach this cycle is former President Trump.

holding a massive rally in deep blue New York City at the iconic Madison Square Garden. We want to win our country, but we also want to win New York and make it safe and strong and beautiful and affordable and vibrant again. And we're going to do that. And we'll work with the mayor and we'll work with the governor.

We're going to do that. We're going to make it great. New York, a traditional blue state, is challenging and yet interesting for Republicans. When Republicans won the majority in the House of Representatives in 2022, they won seats from Far Eastern Long Island to Syracuse.

So an argument could be made that the path to keeping and perhaps growing the majority could go through New York. President Trump has absolutely made a compelling case to the American people why we need America first policies rather than the America last policies of Kamala Harris. New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik.

is the House Republican conference chair. Whether it's the border or the economy, which are the top two issues, no matter where you go in the country, President Trump not only has a record to run on, but a vision to bring us back border security. For example, he had the most secure border in our nation's history. Compare that to where we are today with Joe Biden's open borders are Kamala Harris. We have the most wide open border. And it's not just the states that are contiguous to the southern border.

every state has become a border state because of these failed pro amnesty policies of Kamala Harris. And then, of course, the economy that's top of the mind for voters with historic inflation because of Kamala Harris's deciding vote for the Inflation Expansion Act.

Compare that to the most successful booming economy ever in American history under President Trump. And then look around the world, Mike. I mean, it's very clear it is chaos and catastrophe with a weakened national security. Just look at the attacks on Israel, our most precious ally. That's all on Kamala Harris's and Joe Biden's watch. Compare that to the peace that President Trump brought due to his peace through strength policies.

These days, with so much information at our fingertips, people like you are trying to find the way to connect with people. Former President Trump's gone on some podcasts, including Joe Rogan. What do you make of that approach? I think it's a brilliant strategy. You know, as America's trust continues to decline internationally,

in mainstream media. We need to look for alternative platforms and ways to reach American people where they are. President Trump has been masterful at this, and I think his strategy to go on podcasts, to reach out to non-traditional political audiences is one of the reasons why you're seeing historic support among new demographics for the Republican Party under President Trump. That includes historic support

from African-American voters, Hispanic-American voters, young American voters, Jewish voters. I mean, the list is quite lengthy where President Trump is earning historic support. And I think that's very much part of that strategy, just like it's President Trump's strategy to go not only to the swing states, but, you know, the fact that he's in New York. He understands that not only does the House majority run through all these different states, particularly the state of New York, but he understands that he will be a president for all Americans.

A lot of Republicans were puzzled by the honeymoon phase that Kamala Harris went through when she first became the Democratic nominee for president. In recent weeks, it feels like the polls have shifted and former President Trump now has the momentum. Is that what you're seeing and hearing as you make your way across the country meeting with folks? Absolutely. And I think when the polls

Postmortems are written in the books and the articles after this campaign. What a catastrophic mistake the Democrats made when they anointed Kamala Harris as their general election nominee. You know, at the time, the theory of the case was she would perform much more successfully than Joe Biden. That has turned out not to be the case. It is not the case in Pennsylvania.

It is not the case in the traditional blue wall states like Michigan and Wisconsin. And it's certainly not the case in these House races for Congress, where she is underperforming Joe Biden, how he did in 2020, literally in every single swing district across the country. And I think back to when Kamala Harris ran for president in 2020, she dropped out before the Iowa caucuses. She dropped out even before a single vote was cast.

Not a single vote was cast prior to her being anointed as the Democrat general election nominee. That's offensive to voters across this country who deserve a vote in this process. My other theory of the case is she was propped up by the mainstream media writing glowing articles as soon as she became the nominee. And of course, prior to that, she was known as the worst vice president ever with the lowest approval rating ever in modern times for a vice president.

And yet they propped her up. But as soon as she started doing interviews, even with softball questions, the more the American people heard from her, the less support she had. And I think that's continued to be the case down the stretch. We are seeing record numbers across the country for early voting in some swing states. It seems that early turnout is neck and neck between Republicans and Democrats. What do you make of that? I

I make of that that we've been very focused on bank your vote, the importance of turning out early so that the campaign can focus on those low propensity voters to turn them out. I am cautiously optimistic as I've traveled to states, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, and Republicans are overperforming when it comes to the early vote. Sunday of this past week, New York State had our first day of early voting and we saw an overperformance of

in early vote in key Republican counties, Republican towns and among Republican voters. So the key is we cannot be complacent. We have to run through the tape on Election Day and turn out every single vote. This is the most important election in our lifetime. So please make your voices heard and vote. To your point, the White House is not the only thing at stake on Election Day. The balance of power in the House and Senate are also on the line. How are you feeling about Republicans not only holding the majority in the House, but growing it?

I'm very optimistic that we will grow the majority. And here is why. In both 2016 and 2020, the last two times that President Trump was on the ballot, the media said we were going to lose the House. That was false. In both cases, we picked up Republican seats and overperformed what the prognosticators said. President Trump is more effective at

than any other elected official or candidate at turning out votes. So so goes the presidency and his poll numbers will drop down to the House races as well. And as I said, Kamala Harris is, in fact, underperforming Joe Biden in every single swing House district in the nation, not just in New York. So that shows that the energy and enthusiasm is on our side, as well as the support for President Trump. I pay attention to each of these districts and even districts that Biden carried by 15 points. Trump

is ahead. So think about that seismic shift that is happening among the electorate. Let's dig in a bit on New York. Is it fair to say the path to the majority is New York? Basically, if you hold those Republican seats, you guys are the majority. If you were to lose them, you would probably lose the majority. It always goes through New York. So both in 2010 and in 2022, the last two times that the Republicans earned the majority for a flip,

It was New York that picked up more seats for Republicans than any other state in the nation. It literally goes right through New York. That's why you're seeing over $100 million being spent by Democrats to try to flip those five districts. We have marshaled our support and have made the same investment to hold those key districts. And the reality in New York is not only do you have Kamala Harris as a drag on the ticket, but Kathy Hochul, who is leading this effort for New York Democrats, she has the lowest approval rating ever.

of any Democrat governor in modern times. I never thought I'd see lower approval ratings than Andrew Cuomo. Kathy Hochul makes it possible. And our candidates, Mark Molinaro, Anthony D'Esposito, Nick Lelota, Mike Lawler, Brandon Williams, they are running great campaigns. And we have two pickup opportunities, one online

So, yes, the eyes of the nation will be on New York when it comes to the House majority.

You've also been a champion in Congress for combating anti-Semitism. We've seen a rise since the October 7th attacks against Israel. And we have Vice President Harris on the campaign trail calling former President Trump a fascist, with some making comparisons to Adolf Hitler.

What do you make of that language? It is absolutely unacceptable and it needs to be condemned from the highest levels. This is a desperate Democrat campaign that is flailing in the polls, but it is extremely, extremely upsetting to so many families. I mean, in my day to day job, particularly as the leading voice combating anti-Semitism in Congress,

I work with so many families who either are descendants of Holocaust survivors or are Holocaust survivors themselves. And to compare President Trump, who is running on an America first, pro-America, pro-Israel platform, to make that false comparison, it is vile. I believe it is what is fueling this violence, these increase of threats against President Trump, and it needs to be stopped.

Lastly, we saw Israel strike Iran in retaliation to Iran's direct attack on Israel earlier this month. What do you see as the future of this conflict? And what do you think a second Trump administration would do to help calm things in the Middle East?

Well, just look at the first administration. You had the Abraham Accords. You had historic peace and stability in the Middle East. And you had Iran, who was being crushed from the maximum pressure campaign of President Trump. Compare that to where we are under Kamala Harris and Joe Biden.

You've had literally hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars, U.S. taxpayer dollars, going to Iran. You've had Joe Biden and Kamala Harris turn their back on Israel, slow walk military aid to Israel at this most important time. And this aid, by the way, was passed overwhelmingly by Congress on a bipartisan basis. And you have...

Kamala Harris calling at many moments for a ceasefire. Israel has every right to defend itself. It must defend itself. And we must crush and support Israel in crushing the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists backed by Iran. So President Trump will immediately show that shoulder to shoulder support with Israel, but also will bring the Iranian regime, which is the greatest state sponsor of terror, to its knees and return to the maximum pressure campaign.

She's the House Republican conference chair, Elise Stefanik of the great state of New York. Grateful for your time today. I know how busy you are. Safe travels. Have a great day. Thank you.

I'm Gianna Gelosi with your Fox True Crime Minute. A suspected killer is on the loose after police say he stole an identity and faked a bear attack to cover up a murder. 45-year-old Nicholas Wayne Hamlet allegedly called 911 earlier this month pretending to be Brandon Androd, telling the operator he was gravely wounded after a bear chased him off a cliff while hiking in Hamilton County in Tennessee. When rescuers arrived, they found a bloody corpse at the bottom of a cliff.

with Andrade's ID. Law enforcement told local news outlets an autopsy revealed that the body was not actually Andrade and officials have no idea who the dead man actually is. Police later learned that Andrade's ID had been stolen and was used multiple times by Hamlet. He's now wanted for the murder of the unnamed tiger. Hamlet was previously charged with attempted murder and kidnapping before pleading to a lesser offense of felony assault in 2012, sentenced to 20 years in prison. According to court records, he had four

prior felony convictions. There's more on this story at foxnews.com. Subscribe to the Fox True Crime Podcast with Emily Campagno. I'm Gianna Gelosi with your Fox True Crime Minute. From the Fox News Podcasts Network. Stay on top of the latest news and information from Fox News. Listen and download the Fox News hourly update on your time. The trending stories you need anytime you want it. Listen and download now by going to foxnewspodcasts.com. Subscribe to this podcast at foxnewspodcasts.com.

It's time for your Fox News commentary. Joe Concha. What's on your mind? So-called journalists go into a DEFCON 1 meltdown after The Washington Post refuses to endorse Kamala Harris. You probably heard about this one by now. The Washington Post, that has never, ever endorsed a Republican presidential candidate ever in its history, is deciding to sit this election out. Not

Not good for Team Kamala because she already does not have the endorsement of the L.A. Times, California's largest paper. At last check, that is Kamala Harris' home state, Minnesota Star Tribune. Also sitting this one out, which is a bit odd considering that the governor of that state where the Minnesota Star Tribune is located happens to be Kamala's number two. So what's going on here? Well, she seems to be having an endorsement problem.

This extends well beyond major newspapers. Kamala Harris failed to get the endorsement of the Teamsters, which has 1.3 million members and has a huge presence in key states like Pennsylvania. That was after the Teamsters' internal polling showed while Joe Biden was getting a majority of support from the rank-and-file members of that organization, well, when he got swapped out for Kamala,

The number flipped by about 30 points away from Harris and towards Donald Trump. Whoops. She's also failed to get the endorsement of the Firefighters Union, which has nearly 400,000 members. And the Arab American PAC? Well, they're not endorsing her either, which is not a good thing if you're trying to win Michigan. Let's be clear. These are...

are layups for any Democrat. Washington Post, LA Times, Teamsters, Firefighters Union. But as we've seen on the campaign trail for the last 98 days since Kamala Harris essentially became the Democratic nominee, these organizations do not like what they're hearing or more importantly, what they're not hearing in these substance-free answers. She's all foam and no beer and even the biggest allies of the Democratic Party

Can't endorse her. I'm Joe Concha. You've been listening to the Fox News Rundown. And now, stay up to date by subscribing to this podcast at foxnewspodcasts.com. Listen ad-free on Fox News Podcasts Plus on Apple Podcasts. And Prime members can listen to the show ad-free on Amazon Music. And for up-to-the-minute news, go to foxnews.com.

Jason in the House, the Jason Chaffetz podcast. Dive deeper than the headlines and the party lines as I take on American life, politics and entertainment. Subscribe now on Fox News Podcast dot com or wherever you download podcasts.