Former President Donald Trump highlighted during a “Fox and Friends” interview that he soundly defeated 2024 Republican presidential primary rival Nikki Haley, but that the former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador in Trump’s administration is “helping” him on the campaign trail.

Trump, during an extended interview Friday morning on the popular Fox News Channel morning program, was asked by co-host Brian Kilmeade whether he has asked Haley to help him win over Republicans reluctant to support the former president.

“I’ll do what I have to do,” Trump responded. 

Donald Trump stressed that he “beat Nikki [Haley] badly” during the Republican presidential primaries during a “Fox & Friends” interview Friday morning, while also adding that his former rival is “helping” his presidential campaign.

WATCH DONALD TRUMP’S INTERVIEW ON ‘FOX AND FRIENDS’

“I’ll do what I have to do,” Trump said when asked if he would call on Haley to join the campaign trail, going on to emphasize, “Nikki Haley and I fought, and I beat her by 50, 60, 90 points. I beat her in her own state by numbers that nobody’s ever been beaten by. I beat Nikki badly.”

CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN THE 2024 ELECTION

Haley launched her presidential campaign in February of last year, becoming the first major candidate to challenge Trump, who had announced his candidacy three months earlier. And she ended up being his final rival, battling the former president in a contentious two-candidate showdown from the New Hampshire primary in late January through Super Tuesday in early March.

Haley announced that she was suspending her White House campaign on March 6, the day after Trump swept 14 of 15 GOP nominating contests on Super Tuesday.

As she departed the race, Haley made it clear that she intended to keep speaking out. And she continued to grab up to 20% of the vote in Republican presidential primaries in the months after she dropped out.

HARRIS TEAMS UP WITH A TOP ANTI-TRUMP REPUBLICAN

In late May, in her first public comments since announcing the end of her 2024 campaign, Haley said she would vote for Trump.

Haley won a total of 97 delegates during the Republican presidential primaries. And she released all of her delegates and urged them to support Trump. 

In August, in a high-profile address, Haley spoke in support of Trump at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

On Friday, Trump appeared to express some frustration regarding whether he will ask Haley to campaign on his behalf in the final stretch leading up to Election Day.

“Everybody keeps saying that. They don’t say ‘get [Florida Gov.] Ron [DeSantis] and Ron did very well,” Trump said. “But again, I beat everybody by numbers that have never happened before. And they keep talking about Nikki. Nikki, I like Nikki. Nikki, I don’t think she should have done what she did. And that’s fine that she did it.”

Trump added, “They say, ‘Oh, when is Nikki coming back?’”

He emphasized that “Nikki is in. Nikki is helping us already….Nikki is already in, you know, she’s out campaigning.”

Sources familiar confirm to Fox News that Haley is in talks to join Trump on the campaign trail.

Up until now, Haley’s efforts to help Trump court disgruntled Republicans and others not backing the GOP presidential nominee have been limited to some fundraising emails.

While Trump retains vast sway over the GOP, even a small sliver of Republicans supporting Vice President Kamala Harris could make an important impact in what will likely be a tight race in the battleground states.

The vice president has stepped up efforts in recent weeks to court Republicans who backed Haley during the GOP primaries.

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

The Democratic National Committee on Friday rolled out a Taylor Swift-themed “I Will Vote” campaign to target young voters across battleground states with just over two weeks until Election Day. 

The DNC’s “I Will Vote” campaign includes a new Snapchat filter urging young voters to be “fearless” on issues that Democrats say “will decide this election,” including reproductive rights and the economy, while urging them to “learn how to cast their ballot for Vice President Harris this November.”

TAYLOR SWIFT ENDORSES KAMALA HARRIS FOR PRESIDENT AFTER DEBATE: ‘I’VE MADE MY CHOICE’

The ads are set to kick off in Miami, Fla., with a mobile billboard on a boat near Swift’s concert venue in Miami and billboards across the city. 

The DNC said the ads are set to “welcome voters to their ‘Kamala Era.'” 

The Snapchat filter says, “In My Voting Era,” at the top of the screen and the words “Be fearless for,” where users can select from the following: “democracy; reproductive rights; climate action; student loan debt relief; health care; racial justice; LGBTQ+ rights; economic opportunity; and equality.”

“This election will determine the future for young voters, from student loan debt relief and economic opportunity to whether they have fewer rights than their grandmothers did,” DNC Communications Director Rosemary Boeglin said. “Democrats are reaching out to young voters where they are, from concert venues to social media platforms, to make sure they have the resources they need to cast their ballot.” 

Boeglin said Democrats are “not taking any vote for granted, and we’ll continue to make sure young voters across the country know everything that’s at stake and the stark contrast between Vice President Harris’ New Way Forward and Donald Trump’s Project 2025 agenda.” 

TAYLOR SWIFT TAKES ON NEW CAREER CHALLENGE AS RECORD-SETTING ERAS TOUR WRAPS UP

“Our country’s youth are mobilized to speak now for the future they deserve, and they’ll elect Vice President Harris, Governor Tim Walz, and Democrats down the ballot in November,” Boeglin said. 

The Trump campaign has repeatedly said that it is not involved in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025.

Taylor Swift endorsed Harris shortly after the presidential debate between the vice president and former President Donald Trump concluded last month. 

Writing on Instagram, the pop star said she will be voting for Harris, because “she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them.”

“I’ve done my research, and I’ve made my choice. Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make. I also want to say, especially to first time voters: Remember that in order to vote, you have to be registered!” Swift wrote to her 283 million followers. “I also find it’s much easier to vote early. I’ll link where to register and find early voting dates and info in my story.”

Swift signed the post: “Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady,” in an apparent dig at Trump’s running-mate, Sen. JD Vance, who said in an interview in 2021 that “we are effectively run in this country, via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made, and so they wanna make the rest of the country miserable, too.”

In a now-deleted social media post, the head of operations for the left-wing British Labour Party indicated “nearly 100” current and former party staffers will be headed to the U.S. to help Vice President Kamala Harris during the final stretch before the election.

The Labour Party leader, Sofia Patel, took to LinkedIn earlier this week to solicit help from current and former members of the party who would be willing to campaign for Harris in the key battleground state of North Carolina. Patel indicated in her post that she had already organized “nearly 100 Labour Party staff” to stump across the key battleground states of Nevada, Pennsylvania and Virginia but had about 10 spots left for anyone willing to head to North Carolina. 

“We will sort your housing,” Patel assured anyone interested. “Email me on labourforkamala@gmail.com if you’re interested.” 

Patel, in addition to deleting the post, appeared to delete her entire LinkedIn page as of Friday morning as well.   

There is no indication the Labour Party’s efforts have been coordinated with the Harris campaign. Fox News Digital reached out to both for comment but did not receive any on-the-record response by publication time. 

KEIR STARMER ELECTED NEW UK PRIME MIISTER AFTER BIG LABOUR PARTY WIN

Following news of the Labour Party’s plans to help Harris, critics took issue with the move, with some slamming it as foreign election interference. 

“Yet another reason to vote for President Trump,” Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said. “More foreign election interference from the Democrats,” added Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y. 

Meanwhile, Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., called for an investigation. “Election interference from foreign nationals. Investigate!” Collins wrote on X. 

PARLIAMENT FOR NEW UK LABOUR GOVERNMENT OPENS WITH KING’S SPEECH, PLANS FOR ‘NATIONAL RENEWAL’

Elon Musk and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-Ga., both outright called the move illegal.  

“You are breaking FEC laws,” Greene said in a social media post directed at the Labour Party. “Foreign nationals are not allowed to be involved in anyway in U.S. elections. Please go back to the UK and fix your own mass immigration problems that are ruining your country.” 

Musk, meanwhile, simply responded “This is illegal.”

IRAN TRIED TO INFLUENCE ELECTION BY SENDING STOLEN MATERIAL FROM TRUMP CAMPAIGN TO BIDEN’S CAMP, FBI SAYS

X’s “Community Notes” function, which serves to provide context for inaccurate or misleading information on the platform, flagged Greene’s remarks for additional context, however. According to the additional context added to her post, while federal election law does not allow foreign-nationals to make monetary or in-kind contributions in connection with federal races, it is permissable to participate in campaign activities as an uncompensated volunteer.

American journalist Isaac Saul, who founded a digital news project called Tangle News aimed at providing a non-partisan take on news headlines, echoed the arguments from X’s community note.

“Elon Musk claiming Labour Party leaders are violating the law by coming here to campaign. They aren’t,” Saul wrote on X in response to Musk’s comments that the Labour Party’s work was “illegal.”

“This is only illegal if they are being compensated – the FB post indicates they are seeking volunteers,” Saul pointed out.

The House Democrats‘ campaign arm filed a lawsuit against the Federal Election Commission (FEC) Thursday, alleging the agency’s failure to take action has led to Republican candidates using a campaign finance loophole in their television advertisements. 

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) filed its initial complaint for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief in D.C. District Court, which was first reported by Axios. The DCCC is arguing that Republicans are disguising attack ads paid for by joint fundraising committees as fundraising ventures, therefore circumventing fundraising caps.  

The suit comes after Senate Democrats previously accused Republicans of using the tactic and appealed to the FEC to rule if such a strategy is allowed. The commission voted 3-3 along party lines last week, thus allowing the GOP to continue with its ads. 

FIRST ON FOX: TOP OUTSIDE GROUP BACKING SENATE REPUBLICANS SHOWCASES FUNDRAISING HAUL

“Federal law is clear that party committee expenditures coordinated with candidates are subject to limits. Republican candidates are so cash strapped that they’re now brazenly exploiting a self-created loophole to spend party committee money on candidate ads, well in excess of applicable limits, at the lowest unit charge,” Rachel L. Jacobs, general counsel for the DCCC, told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

“Their actions require DCCC and Democratic House candidates to make a choice between engaging in conduct they think is illegal at the risk of getting penalized by the FEC and/or Department of Justice, or being at a competitive disadvantage to their Republican counterparts to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.”

The DCCC is now asking the federal court to rule on whether the practice is illegal ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

FIRST ON FOX: TOP OUTSIDE GROUP BACKING HOUSE REPUBLICANS SETS FUNDRAISING RECORD

FEC Chairman Sean Cooksey told Axios, “I fully expect the FEC to prevail in this frivolous lawsuit. We will see the DCCC in court.” 

The FEC declined to provide additional comment on ongoing litigation when asked for a statement by Fox News Digital. 

In a statement to Axios, National Republican Senatorial Committee General Counsel Ryan Dollar called the suit “a desperate stunt,” saying the television ads were “approved unanimously in 2007 and reaffirmed last week.”

“I’d be curious to hear what Harris Victory has to say about this ridiculous lawsuit, given that they have engaged in these ads themselves,” Dollar told the outlet. 

TRUMP UPS THE ANTE WITH HIS SEPTEMBER FUNDRAISING HAUL

With just a few weeks out from Election Day, Republicans are fighting to maintain control of the House and take over the Senate. The Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), the leading outside group supporting House Republicans and closely aligned with House Speaker Mike Johnson, reported its highest fundraising quarter ever earlier this month, announcing an $81.4 million haul during the July-September third quarter of 2024 fundraising.  

The CLF also announced at the time that it would be funneling another $11 million in new ad reservations, sharing the news first with Fox News Digital. 

Likewise, the Senate Leadership Fund, the leading super PAC supporting Republican incumbents and candidates, announced it hauled in $114.5 million during the same fundraising quarter. 

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report. 

FIRST ON FOX: A House Republican from southeast Georgia is urging congressional leaders to call lawmakers back to Washington, D.C., as soon as possible to approve additional disaster relief funds.

Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., wrote to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and other leaders on Friday, weeks after two hurricanes battered parts of the Southeastern United States.

“The rain, wind, and flood damages from Hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton have killed over 200 Americans, and caused hundreds of billions of dollars of damages, including to our critical infrastructure such as the electrical grid, major roadways, bridges, and more,” Carter wrote.

“Together, these storms have been the deadliest and most destructive storms to hit the mainland United States since Hurricane Katrina.”

‘THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE RIGHT NOW IS FUEL’: REP. GREG STEUBE OF FLORIDA TALKS HURRICANE AFTERMATH

It is a notable demand coming from a House GOP leadership ally like Carter, particularly after Johnson all but definitively ruled out the possibility of calling the House back early.

It comes days after the Small Business Administration (SBA) warned it had run out of funding for disaster relief loans and as Biden administration officials warned FEMA does not have sufficient cash levels to last through the hurricane season.

The speaker told Fox News Digital earlier this month that the $20 billion in FEMA funding freed up by Congress in September would be enough to meet the immediate needs for storm recovery. State and local officials would also likely take until mid-November to tabulate how much supplemental funding is needed as well, Johnson reasoned, at which point lawmakers would be back in Washington.

Biden administration officials have agreed that FEMA has enough funds to meet immediate needs but warned it would not have the money for the entirety of the season.

SPEAKER JOHNSON RIPS ‘LACK OF LEADERSHIP’ IN BIDEN ADMIN’S HELENE RESPONSE: ‘ALARMED AND DISAPPOINTED’

Meanwhile, the bipartisan chorus calling for Congress to return early – mainly from lawmakers in affected states – has continued to grow.

Helene, which hit roughly three weeks ago, left a trail of devastation and dozens dead after ripping through parts of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and other states. The next week, Hurricane Milton hit Florida’s Gulf Coast with its own deadly force.

Those storms and Hurricane Debby have led to potentially billions of dollars in damage to both public and private property, likely leaving hundreds of Americans who survived the storm homeless.

The severity of the situation was compounded earlier this week when the SBA said in a press release “that it has exhausted funds for its disaster loan program after warnings that funding would soon run out following increased demand from Hurricane Helene.”

FUEL SHORTAGES, POWER OUTAGES HINDER HURRICANE CLEANUP EFFORTS IN FLORIDA, GOP REP SAYS

“Until Congress appropriates additional funds, the SBA is pausing new loan offers for its direct, low-interest, long-term loans to disaster survivors,” the SBA said.

Carter wrote in his letter, “We appreciate congressional leadership’s commitment to replenishing funds for these critical disaster relief programs, but the current pause on new SBA loan offers to those attempting to rebuild their businesses and homes is already delaying recovery efforts.”

“Considering the immediate and pressing need for assistance for millions of Americans, we ask that you call Congress back into session as soon as possible to replenish SBA’s disaster loan program and ensure there is funding certainty for our other disaster programs, including FEMA,” the congressman wrote.

Johnson’s office pointed Fox News Digital to prior comments from the speaker when asked for a response, “There’s no question these devastating back-to-back storms have stressed the SBA funding program. But the Biden-Harris Administration has the necessary disaster funding right now to address the immediate needs of American people in these hurricane affected areas. Congress is tracking this situation closely, and when Members return in just a few short weeks, the Administration should have an accurate assessment of the actual dollar amount needed and there will be strong bipartisan support to provide the necessary funding.”

Fox News Digital also reached out to Schumer’s office for comment.

The judge in former President Donald Trump’s federal election interference case on Friday made public more documents from special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the former president just weeks before the 2024 election. 

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered on Thursday night that additional documents be made public. The hundreds of pages of documents are Smith’s appendix of exhibits in the fight over whether Trump has a level of presidential immunity that negates the charges against him.

“Radical Democrats are hell-bent on interfering in the presidential election on behalf of Lyin’ Kamala Harris,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital. “With just over two weeks until Election Day, President Trump is dominating this race and Crazed Liberals throughout the Deep State are freaking out.” 

Cheung added, “As mandated by the Supreme Court’s historic decision on Presidential Immunity and other vital jurisprudence, this entire case is a sham and a partisan, Unconstitutional Witch Hunt that should be dismissed entirely — as should ALL of the remaining Democrat hoaxes.”

JUDGE UNSEALS KEY FILING IN SPECIAL COUNSEL’S ELECTION CASE AGAINST TRUMP

The majority of pages released to the public remain under seal and are not viewable by the public. Much of the unsealed material has been previously released in some form, including transcripts by the House Select Committee on Jan. 6. Other documents include old Trump campaign press releases, fundraising emails, White House press conference transcripts and news articles. 

In the order to release the documents, Chutkan cited Trump’s claim that the “asymmetric release of charged allegations and related documents during early voting creates a concerning appearance of election interference.” 

According to the judge, while there is a public interest for courts to avoid involving themselves in elections, “it is in fact Defendant’s requested relief that risks undermining that public interest.”

“If the court withheld information that the public otherwise had a right to access solely because of the potential political consequences of releasing it, that withholding could itself constitute — or appear to be — election interference,” she argued. 

TRUMP BLASTS DOJ FOR ‘ELECTION INTERFERENCE,’ CALLS JACK SMITH CASE A ‘SCAM’ AFTER JUDGE UNSEALS KEY FILING

She added that the court would continue keeping political considerations out of decisions, despite the defense’s request. 

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges brought against him by Smith. 

The Supreme Court earlier this year ruled that a president is immune from prosecution for official acts. 

Smith was then required to file another indictment against Trump, revising the charges in an effort to navigate the Supreme Court ruling. The new indictment kept the prior criminal charges but narrowed and reframed the allegations against Trump after the high court’s ruling that gave broad immunity to former presidents. 

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges in the new indictment as well. 

TRUMP ATTORNEYS ARGUE JACK SMITH’S OBSTRUCTION CHARGES BE DISMISSED CITING SUPREME COURT’S ‘FISCHER’ DECISION

In a filing unsealed earlier this month, Smith outlines a “factual proffer,” alleging Trump “resorted to crimes to try to stay in office” after losing the 2020 presidential election.

“With private co-conspirators, the defendant launched a series of increasingly desperate plans to overturn the legitimate election results in seven states that he had lost — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin,” Smith wrote. 

Smith claims that the “throughline of these efforts was deceit,” claiming Trump and co-conspirators engaged in a conspiracy to interfere with the federal government function by which the nation collects and counts election results, which is set forth in the Constitution and the Electoral Count Act (ECA); a conspiracy to obstruct the official proceeding in which Congress certifies the legitimate results of the presidential election; and a conspiracy against the rights of millions of Americans to vote and have their votes counted.” 

Fox News’ Julia Johnson, Jake Gibson, David Spunt and Bill Mears contributed to this report. 

Vice President Kamala Harris, while serving as California’s attorney general, declined to intervene on behalf of efforts by local Native American tribes to protect a sacred burial site from being turned into a wind farm that critics labeled a green energy boondoggle.

California’s Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC) voted in 2013 to declare land used for the Ocotillo Express Wind Facility as a “sacred site” after hearing several hours of “emotional” testimony from local Native Americans who, according to East County Magazine, contended “that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management ignored their concerns and its duty to protect a clearly documented sacred site and cemetery in the fast-tracked approval process for the Ocotillo Express Wind Facility.”

Tribal leaders at the time described the Ocotillo wind project as “utter destruction,” “constructed on top of the graves of our ancestors,” and a “violation of trust.”

Local Native Americans argued that the wind facility was built on what is known as the “Valley of the Dead,” which they claimed for over 10,000 years as a site where ancestral remains were buried. While some tribes supported the wind farm, the NAHC voted 4-0 to ask Attorney General Harris to explore legal options.

VP HARRIS RIPPED BY VICTIM OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT RELEASED UNDER HER PROGRAM OVER RESURFACED SPEECH

“I really want to say, ‘Dismantle it and give the land back to the tribes’ . . . I’d like to ask the Attorney General to . . . give this commission more teeth so we could say, ‘Tear that wall down,’” NAHC Commissioner Marshall McKay said at the time.

Then-AG Harris did not step in to take legal action in favor of the activists, instead, Harris’ office “determined that the Native American Heritage Commission has no jurisdiction to bring action in the form of a lawsuit against a federal agency for a project situated on federal land.”

“Further, the Attorney General can no longer represent the Native American Heritage Commission on the Ocotillo Project due to a conflict of interest.”

SWING STATE GOP CHAIR SLAMS BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN FOR BEING OUT OF TOUCH ON KEY ISSUE: ‘ABANDONED THIS COUNTRY’

Local media described Harris’ actions as having “thwarted” the efforts of the tribes.

“Pattern Energy’s industrial wind facility was built atop lands known as ‘Valley of the Dead’ by Native American tribes for over 10,000 years,” East County Magazine wrote.

“The Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians also objected to the desecration of ancestral remains and persuaded the California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC) that the state should take action on their behalf, but those efforts were thwarted by California Attorney General Kamala Harris.”

The Ocotillo wind farm facility has had a litany of problems including safety issues and shut-downs. Those safety issues included equipment spraying oil across the sacred site, turbines catching fire, and one tower catastrophically losing a blade. In 2021, BLM temporarily shut down the plant after its second tower collapse in five years.

Questions have also been raised whether the wind farm facility has even delivered on its promised green energy benefits after it fell short of its capacity forecast three years in a row and prompting experts to wonder whether the need for the plant was simply “spin.”

“It was heartbreaking to see this project desecrate such a historically and culturally significant landscape, and it’s even worse when you find out that it was built on false claims by the developer, and with the assistance of the BLM. “Anthony Pico, Chairman, Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, said, according to East County Magazine.

“Does economics trump justice in this country? I believe it does, and that profoundly saddens me,’ Pico told commissioners during the showdown. “I cannot understand, we cannot understand, how federal and state institutions who have trusted fiduciary responsibility to Native Americans, allowed the utter destruction of arguably the richest cultural resource in our country in Ocotillo Valley.’”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris-Walz campaign for comment.

“The Ocotillo Wind facility began operations 12 years ago after it was designated by the U.S. government as a critical resource for protecting the country’s energy security. The vital clean energy facility brought 370 jobs to Imperial County and provides enough clean electricity to provide power for 300,000 Americans each year without any emissions or water use,” a spokesperson for Pattern Energy told Fox News Digital. “Ocotillo Wind uses American-made wind turbines that generated more than $20 million in sales tax revenue for Imperial County and the state of California. Over the first 20 years of operations, Ocotillo Wind expects to generate more than $100 million for local taxing jurisdictions, with Imperial County, Imperial Valley College, and the Imperial Unified School District being significant beneficiaries.”

 “The Ocotillo facility was carefully sited to not directly impact cultural resources while supporting America’s energy needs. During development, the company spent three years carefully planning, listening to the community and addressing feedback through numerous project revisions, which resulted in a final design that received the support of many local residents, officials and Native American Tribes.”

A Florida district judge issued a temporary restraining order Thursday, halting the state government from threatening to proceed with legal measures against television stations over pro-abortion ads. 

Floridians Protecting Freedom, the pro-abortion collective behind the Amendment 4 Right to Abortion Initiative, which would end Florida’s 6-week abortion ban by enshrining abortion in the state’s constitution, filed its suit against Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and former general counsel to the Florida Department of Health John Wilson earlier this week. 

Amendment 4’s language states, “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.”

GEORGIA HIGH COURT RESTORES STATE’S 6-WEEK ‘HEARTBEAT’ ABORTION LAW

The suit was spurred after the Florida Department of Health sent letters to television stations broadcasting the pro-abortion ads, wherein the department stated the advertisements were “false” and “dangerous.” The department proceeded to request that the ads be removed within 24 hours, or it would proceed with legal measures.

Floridians Protecting Freedom argued that such a move was a violation of the collective’s First Amendment right to run political advertisements in support of the proposed amendment. 

HOSPITAL THAT DELAYED EMERGENCY ABORTION BEARS BLAME FOR GEORGIA WOMAN’S DEATH, FAMILY’S LAWYER CLAIMS

“While Defendant Ladapo refuses to even agree with this simple fact, Plaintiff’s political advertisement is political speech—speech at the core of the First Amendment,” District Judge Mark E. Walker wrote in the order. 

“The government cannot excuse its indirect censorship of political speech simply by declaring the disfavored speech is ‘false.’ ‘The very purpose of the First Amendment is to foreclose public authority from assuming a guardianship of the public mind through regulating the press, speech, and religion,'” Walker continued, quoting a U.S. Supreme Court opinion.

SUPREME COURT DENIES BIDEN ADMINISTRATION APPEAL OVER FEDERAL EMERGENCY ABORTION REQUIREMENT IN TEXAS

“The fact is, these ads are unequivocally false and detrimental to public health in Florida,” Jae Williams, communications director for the Florida Department of Health, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “The media continues to ignore the truth that Florida’s heartbeat protection law always protects the life of a mother and includes exceptions for victims of rape, incest, and human trafficking.”

Lauren Brenzel, campaign director of Yes on 4, called the order a “triumph for every Floridian who believes in democracy and the sanctity of the First Amendment” in a statement released shortly after the order was issued. 

“The court has affirmed what we’ve known all along: the government cannot silence the truth about Florida’s extreme abortion ban. It’s a deadly ban that puts women’s lives at risk,” the statement continued. “This ruling is a powerful reminder that Floridians will not back down in the face of government intimidation.”

NEW JERSEY DEMOCRAT PROPOSES BILL TO CREATE TRAVEL ADVISORIES TO INFORM PREGNANT WOMEN OF STATE ABORTION LAWS

Gov. Ron DeSantis deputy press secretary Julia Friedland told Fox News Digital in a statement, “Surprise, surprise, the most overturned judge on the district court issued another order that excites the press, but these current stories all look past the core issue – the ads are unequivocally false and put the lives and health of pregnant women at risk. Florida’s heartbeat protection law always protects the life of a mother and includes exceptions for victims of rape, incest and human trafficking.”

The order is set to expire on Oct. 29. 

Former President Donald Trump previously called Florida’s proposed amendment “radical” in an interview with Fox News but also said he believes Florida’s six-week abortion ban is too short.

“You need more time than six weeks. I’ve disagreed with that right from the early primaries,” Trump told Fox News in August. “When I heard about it, I disagreed with it. At the same time, the Democrats are radical because the nine months is just a ridiculous situation.” 

The judge in former President Donald Trump’s federal election interference case on Friday made public more documents from special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the former president just weeks before the 2024 election. 

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered on Thursday night that additional documents be made public. 

The documents pertain to the appendix of exhibits in the fight over whether Trump has a level of presidential immunity that negates the charges against him.

Chutkan cited in the order Trump’s claim that the “asymmetric release of charged allegations and related documents during early voting creates a concerning appearance of election interference.” 

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. 

Fox News’ Julia Johnson, Jake Gibson, David Spunt and Bill Mears contributed to this report. 

Georgia Republicans are already prepping for a potential “litigation minefield” after Election Day.

“Well, of course, you have to be prepared, right, in the case of a close election to look at the recounts,” Georgia GOP Chairman Josh McKoon said.

The former Peach State lawmaker spoke with Fox News Digital on Thursday after back-to-back legal setbacks for the GOP-controlled State Elections Board (SEB).

On Tuesday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney temporarily blocked a new rule that would have required Georgia precinct Election Day ballots to be counted by hand by three county officials after being machine tabulated, to ensure the totals matched.

GEORGIA GOP CHAIR SHARES 2-PRONGED ELECTION STRATEGY AS TRUMP WORKS TO WIN BACK STATE

The next day, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas A. Cox, Jr. ruled that measure and several other provisions passed by the SEB to be “illegal, unconstitutional, and void.”

“We think he’s absolutely wrong with regard to the hand-count rule. We intend to appeal that decision,” McKoon said of the McBurney ruling, while praising him for a separate decision acknowledging “election board members are entitled to election-related information” ahead of the certification process.

He said the Georgia GOP had already filed an emergency appeal for Cox’s ruling.

“His decision was wrongheaded. I think it lacked any rational legal basis,” McKoon said. “If his decision were upheld, it would severely curtail the ability of the state elections board to regulate our elections and to do the job.”

Democratic critics of the new SEB rules accused the Republican members who voted for them of trying to sow doubt and chaos in Georgia’s election process. GOP skeptics, including State Secretary Brad Raffensperger, have argued their implementation is unworkable this close to the election.

TRUMP VS. HARRIS ROUND 2? VOTERS IN KEY GA COUNTY REVEAL IF THEY WANT SECOND DEBATE

However, Republican Party officials like McKoon say such guardrails are necessary to ensure voter confidence – and that not having them in place would be fomenting uncertainty.

“These rules are designed to increase public confidence and reduce sort of this post-election chaos around a potential election contest or a recount. And so, if we don’t have these rules in place, it increases the likelihood in a close election of the kind of litigation minefield that we witnessed in 2020,” McKoon said. “And nobody wants that.”

He suggested Republicans were getting ready for that possibility, however.

“Now, I believe President Trump is going to win Georgia. I think he’s going to win by a margin so large that we’re not going to be in a litigation mode,” McKoon said. “But obviously, you work for the best outcome, but prepare for the worst.”

“So we’ve got our legal team in place. We’re certainly prepared for a close election to deal with those post-election legal processes you go through. So we have prepared for that, and we’re ready for that if that happens.”

Litigation in battleground states, both before and after an election, is not a new phenomenon for either party. Georgia voters stunned election watchers in 2020, when the traditionally red state went for President Biden by less than 1%. Though no findings of fraud were made by Georgia officials or the courts, allies of former President Donald Trump questioned the validity of the results and vowed to close what they saw as exploitable gaps in the electoral system.

GEORGIA DEMS CHAIR REVEALS MESSAGE TO UNDECIDED VOTERS AS HARRIS WORKS TO BUILD BROAD BASE

Democrats have accused the GOP of trying to engineer chaos in their favor via the legal system, citing the lack of proven instances of fraud.

In his Tuesday ruling, McBurney temporarily blocked implementation of the hand-count ballot rule after a lawsuit by the Cobb County Board of Elections. He ruled that the lack of plans for its implementation would likely do more harm than good at ensuring smooth elections, writing “the timing of its passage make implementation now quite wrong.”

Cox’s ruling also invalidates that measure, while also invalidating a rule directing county officials to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” before certifying election results and giving them the ability “to examine all election related documentation created during the conduct of elections.”

Additionally, Cox blocked new signature and photo ID requirements for people dropping off absentee ballots for others.

In the second case, civil rights groups and some current and former Republican state officials argued the SEB did not have the constitutional right to implement such measures.

Defendants, which included the Georgia Republican Party, unsuccessfully lobbied that the state’s General Assembly gave the SEB the scope to craft such rules.

The rules were passed last month in a 3-2 vote by Trump-aligned Republicans on the elections board.