After a visit to Hurricane Helene-hit North Carolina on Thursday, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas made a stop to Washington, D.C.’s ritzy sushi restaurant Nobu.

Mayorkas visited North Carolina and delivered an update to Thursday afternoon’s White House press briefing via satellite, asserting that the federal government can handle both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton relief.

“No resources needed for Hurricane Helene response will be diverted to respond to Hurricane Milton,” said Mayorkas. “We have made it clear we will be there for every impacted community, every step of the way.”

MAYORKAS DOUBLES DOWN, HAMMERS ‘PERNICIOUS’ MISINFORMATION AMID FEMA CRITICISM

According to the DHS’ update on Thursday, search and rescue teams have rescued over 4,300 people stranded or lost due to Hurricane Helene in North Carolina so far. More than 220 people have died from Helene across the Southeast, according to current numbers.

Mayorkas announced via X that he arrived in the Tar Heel state around 10:00 am on Thursday. 

Directly after his visit to storm-torn North Carolina, Secretary Mayorkas jetted back to Washington, D.C., where a photographer with the NYPost caught the DHS head whisking away a dinner order.

NC LAWMAKER ACCUSES MAYORKAS OF POLITICIZING ‘TRAGEDY FOR PERSONAL GAIN’ AFTER FEMA FUNDING ALARMS

The Post showed snaps of Mayorkas bringing out several to-go bags from the restaurant at around 5:15 pm.

Nobu is a high-end international sushi chain, with Wagyu beef retailing for $40 per ounce. Their D.C. location has advertised a chef’s tasting menu that costs $200 per person, called “Omakase.” Nobu is best known for its association with world-famous Japanese “Iron Chef” Masaharu Morimoto.

Mayorkas has recently come under fire for going shoe shopping after Hurricane Helene had made landfall and before his visit to the Tar Heel State.

Elon Musk made a post on his site X on Tuesday the 8 saying, “Maybe Mayorkas could take a break from shoe shopping to look into this,” citing reporting from Fox News’ Chad Pergram on untapped FEMA funds.

In another post on X from earlier on Thursday, Mayorkas wrote, “This morning, I spoke with @NC_Governor Roy Cooper, @SenThomTillis, and @SenTedBuddNC, and reiterated the full force of our @DHSgov and federal support to the people of North Carolina as we work to recover and rebuild. We will be there every step of the way.”

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Nobu restaurants did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

FIRST ON FOX: The Biden administration is facing pressure from a top U.S. Senator to allow the full unredacted internal watchdog report that detailed how officials have released migrants into the U.S. without ID and allowed them to travel on domestic flights.

“These new findings in the DHS OIG report further illustrate the Biden-Harris administration’s complete failure of leadership to secure our borders and properly vet and identify noncitizens entering the U.S.,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa., said in a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. “These failures have put our national security at serious risk.”

Grassley wrote in regard to a DHS Office of Inspector General report that found that DHS agencies have allowed noncitizens to enter the U.S. and board flights without confirming their identity.

FED AGENCIES RELEASED NONCITIZENS WITHOUT ID INTO US, ALLOWED THEM TO BOARD DOMESTIC FLIGHTS: DHS OIG REPORT 

The report found that CBP and ICE accept self-reported biographical information, which they use to give migrants immigration forms. The migrants can then get on domestic flights, even if they do not have identification.

The IG added that “immigration officers we interviewed acknowledged the risks of allowing noncitizens without ID into the country.”

Several portions of the report are heavily redacted, particularly where TSA conducted assessments on the risks of using the CBP One cellphone app as a screening tool.

The results of the assessments are not disclosed in the report.

“This is another example of the Biden-Harris DHS’s failure to be transparent with Congress and the American people,” Grassley said. “These redactions raise significant questions about what the administration is trying to hide about the potential risks to our national security posed by its use of the CBP One app and program.”

Grassley is seeking a full unredacted copy of the report, as well as information on how many noncitizens were allowed into the U.S. without confirming their identities, how many were high-risk and how many were allowed to fly on domestic flights.

DHS has pushed back against the report, calling its conclusions inaccurate.

“OIG’s report contains inaccurate statements, lacks important context, and is misleading about the Department’s efforts to verify the identity of noncitizens seeking entry into the United States and screening noncitizens flying domestically,” the agency said in response. “OIG’s report also does not reflect policy and procedural updates DHS implemented this year to improve security in accordance with TSA’s normal risk assessment process.”

The agency says that vetting is a point-in-time check, with all individuals being vetted against multiple databases, including Interpol Notices and the terror watch list. 

‘IT’S ABSURD’: CONGRESS TAKES BIPARTISAN ACTION AFTER CUBAN OFFICIALS’ TOUR SECURE PARTS OF MAJOR AIRPOR

The agency says that all travelers, including migrants, must present an acceptable form of ID to enter secure areas of an airport. Those who do not have ID are subjected to additional screening.

“If noncitizens do not have an acceptable ID and do not submit to facial recognition technology, they will be denied entry into the secure areas of the airport and will be denied boarding. If TSA cannot match their identity to DHS records, they will also be denied entry into the secure areas of the airport and will be denied boarding,” the agency said.

It also emphasized that CBP One and DHS records are not considered acceptable forms of ID, and that facial recognition done using the app is separate from the appointment-scheduling function.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

But the report marks the latest concern from Republicans about the entry of migrants into the U.S. and whether the vetting that is taking place is effective. Multiple lawmakers have repeatedly expressed fears about migrants getting on planes without ID, and who is being released into the U.S.

“This administration’s actions – and lack thereof – speak volumes: President Biden and Vice President Harris do not care to enforce our laws that say it’s illegal for noncitizens to enter our country without proper identification,” Grassley said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “The findings in this independent watchdog report are yet another reminder America is less safe under their watch. My oversight is demanding concrete answers on what DHS is doing to fix the lax screening practices putting people in harm’s way.”

Fox News’ Bill Melugin and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.

EXCLUSIVE: A top Republican lawmaker sent a scathing letter demanding several facts and figures from FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell after discovering nearly half of a recent congressional appropriation for disaster relief was spent on non-hurricane-related interests.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said that FEMA lifted its August restrictions on immediate needs funding (INF) on Oct. 1 – right after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida.

While recently-criticized FEMA funds used for migrant issues is formally partitioned from disaster relief (DRF), Roy said COVID-19 response-related funding falls in the disaster relief pot.

“The American people have legitimate concerns regarding the availability of FEMA funding to respond to these hurricanes and future events in the near term,” wrote Roy, who sits on the House Budget Committee.

BIDEN ADMIN HIT WITH FOIA SUIT SEEKING 25TH AMENDMENT-RELATED COMMS

“FEMA is rapidly spending billions out of the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) on non-immediate needs, including billions in unnecessary funding for COVID-19, which threatens to deplete the fund despite there being nearly two months left in hurricane season,” he added.

Roy called the decision to lift the INF restrictions “questionable” and said that as of Wednesday, FEMA has spent $344 million on Helene response efforts with more reportedly on the way.

He questioned the “sheer amount” of funding going to COVID-19 relief nearly two years after the official coronavirus “emergency” ended.

$1.2 billion has gone to the state of California alone, and nearly half of DRF funding initially delayed due to INF restrictions went to COVID-19 projects, according to a FEMA document obtained by Roy.

NEW BILL WOULD PROHIBIT US FINANCIAL AID TO AFGHANISTAN UNTIL WRONGFULLY DETAINED AMERICANS RELEASED

Roy went on to demand Criswell answer as soon as possible as to why FEMA lifted INF restrictions as images of devastation in the Smokies were very much public.

He also asked for specific figures for appropriations for COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 projects, as well as appropriations for Helene and Milton recovery efforts.

“Please explain how FEMA will ensure that COVID-19 projects do not continue to jeopardize FEMA’s ability to use the DRF in the future to respond to disasters, absent a massive increase in congressional appropriations,” he added, floating the idea that Congress could ban DRF funds from going to COVID-19 projects any longer.

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“If we are going to appropriate dollars for disaster relief, both FEMA and Congress should ensure the DRF prioritizes individuals impacted by disasters . . .” he said.

Hurricane Helene ravaged parts of Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia – leading to the Pigeon River completely washing out crucial Interstate 40 in Haywood County, N.C. Cities like Asheville, N.C., Newport, Tenn., and Damascus, Va., were deluged with floodwaters despite their collective altitudes.

Effects of the massive storm were felt as far west as Tishomingo, Miss., and up into the Cumberland Plateau of Kentucky.

Within days, Hurricane Milton made landfall south of Tampa Bay and spawned several tornadoes on the other side of the Sunshine State, where multiple people died near Port St. Lucie.

Fox News Digital has reached out to FEMA and its overarching agency DHS for comment.

Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

Former President Trump detailed his “Operation Aurora” during his rally in Colorado Friday afternoon — a program at the federal level that would remove illegal immigrant members of the dangerous transnational Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua. 

Trump held a rally on Friday in Aurora, Colorado, where he formally proposed the removal program. The program is expected to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to target and dismantle “every illegal migrant criminal network operating on American soil.” 

“My message today is very simple,” Trump said Friday. “No person who has inflicted the violence and terror that Kamala Harris has inflicted on this community can ever be allowed to become the president of the United States.” 

Trump told the crowd in Aurora that “Colorado is going to vote for me because I am going to make Colorado safe again. We’re going to make you safe. We’re going to do it fast.” 

BLOODTHIRSTY VENEZUELAN STREET GANG SPARKS FEAR IN US AMID MIGRANT SURGE: WHAT TO KNOW

The announcement comes after members of Tren de Aragua last month were caught on camera, armed with rifles and handguns, as they 
forced their way into an apartment in Aurora and threatened the tenant at gunpoint. Shortly after, they opened fire on a 25-year-old man outside the building, fatally shooting him. Of the three identified, all three are illegal aliens who were in Border Patrol custody but later released into the U.S.

The Trump campaign also points to the murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, who was kidnapped, tied up, and assaulted for two hours under a bridge before she was allegedly killed by two of the gang members. 

TREN DE ARAGUA GANG MEMBER, ILLEGAL VENEZUELAN MIGRANT, ARRESTED IN HOUSTON

A campaign official said police just this week arrested over a dozen members of Tren de Aragua who had taken over yet another apartment complex in San Antonio, Texas and terrorized its residents.

Pointing to newly published data from ICE, the campaign official said there are now 13,099 illegal alien convicted murderers at large in the United States “under Border Czar Kamala Harris.” 

The gang is believed to have originated in Venezuelan prisons and moved north over the last decade. But its reputation within the U.S. has grown this year, in part due to a number of high-profile crimes linked to the gang, with many believed to have arrived by coming across the southern border as part of the sharp increase in migration in recent years.

A Customs and Border Protection (CBP) bulletin in March alerted agents to tattoos and other identifiers of the gang. Federal authorities had previously warned that the gang was trying to establish itself in the U.S, and could potentially team up with the violent MS-13 gang.

In February, New York officials linked the gang to more than 62 robberies in the city, and two suspected members of the gang were arrested in connection with a shocking assault of two NYPD officers.

The brother of the suspect in the killing of Georgia student Laken Riley has ties to the gang, and in Texas 10 migrants affiliated with the gang were arrested earlier in May.

The gang has established a significant presence in parts of Colorado. Fox News Digital reported in July that TdA members have been given a “green light” to fire on or attack law enforcement in Denver.

More recently, reports have emerged of the gang taking over at least two apartment buildings in Aurora, with surveillance video showing heavily armed men kicking down an apartment door. The Aurora mayor said on Fox News that there are “several buildings actually under the same ownership, out of state ownership, that have fallen to these Venezuelan gangs.”

The Biden administration announced significant action against the gang in July when the Treasury designated Tren de Aragua a “significant transnational criminal organization.” That move blocks all property and assets owned by the gang in the U.S.

Meanwhile, the State Department offered up to $12 million for information leading to the arrest of three of the gang’s leaders. The administration also stressed that it is working to disrupt the gang and has increased vetting.

Second gentleman Douglas Emhoff did not explicitly deny allegations — made to the Daily Mail by several unnamed sources — that he once slapped an ex-girlfriend and also hired a “trophy secretary” at his Los Angeles law firm.

Emhoff called the tabloid stories “a distraction” when responding to a question during a Friday interview with “Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough on MSNBC. The allegations could not be independently verified by Fox News Digital.

“We don’t have time to be pissed off. We don’t have time to focus on it. It’s designed to try to get us off our game,” Emhoff said, before pivoting to a warning about a potential second term for former President Trump. “We understand the stakes. We understand the responsibility. We understand what is necessary. Our very country. Our future.”

HARRIS VOTERS DEFEND DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE ON ISRAEL-GAZA CONFLICT: ‘HE’S MARRIED TO A JEWISH GUY’

Trump recently told the Daily Wire that if he were subject to the same allegations as Emhoff, it would be “the greatest story in the last five years” in the media.

Earlier this month, an unnamed representative for Emhoff told Semafor the report that he slapped a former girlfriend during a 2012 trip to the Cannes Film Festival is “untrue.”

HARRIS SUPPORTERS SOUND OFF ON HER BORDER BLUEPRINT

“Any suggestion that he would or has ever hit a woman is false,” the representative said.

The Daily Mail’s exclusive story at the time quoted three unidentified sources who claim Emhoff slapped his then-girlfriend while the couple waited in a valet line following an event in Nice, France, in 2012. The alleged altercation was purportedly sparked when the woman — identified only by the pseudonym “Jane,” and described as a successful New York attorney — flirted with a valet, according to the article.

The Harris campaign, the Office of the Vice President and a representative for Emhoff’s ex-wife, Kerstin Emhoff, did not comment despite repeated requests from Fox News. 

Several media outlets, including Semafor, noted they had been unable to match the Daily Mail’s reporting, and legacy media companies such as The New York Times have yet to report on the claims. 

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The Daily Mail’s article hinged on the recollections of three people described as being friends of “Jane.” The outlet said its sources requested anonymity due to fear of retaliation from Emhoff. The three friends reportedly provided the outlet with a photo of the pair when they were still a couple, as well as itineraries and correspondence between Emhoff and “Jane” to substantiate that they made the trip to France in May 2012.

One of the sources is described by the Daily Mail as a female New York attorney who learned about the alleged incident from “Jane.”

“He hauled up and slapped her so hard she spun around,” the source is quoted as saying. “She said she was in utter shock. She was so furious, she slapped him on one side, and then on the other cheek with the other hand.”

Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.

President Biden on Friday joked that Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is his “boss” and referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as the “president” while he delivered an update on hurricane recovery efforts from the White House.

Seated in the Roosevelt Room with members of his Cabinet, including the secretary and the vice president, who joined by teleconference, Biden said the priorities for his administration are power restoration and debris removal. 

“Our heart goes out to all those folks who’ve lost not only personal property, but their homes and some lost lives and grieving after the aftermath of the tornadoes, brutal wind, record downpours and historic flooding,” Biden said. 

The president informed reporters that he has spoken with dozens of officials from North Carolina, Florida and other states impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton in the last two weeks. According to Biden, experts have estimated that Milton caused $50 billion in damage alone.

FOLLOW THE MONEY: UNDERSTANDING FEMA’S DISASTER BUDGET IN HURRICANE MILTON AFTERMATH

“We’re going to do everything we can to help you pick back up the pieces and get back to where you were,” he said.

North Carolina authorities on Friday confirmed at least 92 storm-related fatalities from Hurricane Helene, but were unable to provide the number of those who remain missing or unaccounted for. Florida officials confirmed at least eight people are dead after Hurricane Milton spawned at least four tornadoes which wreaked havoc in St. Lucie County, The Associated Press reported.

More than 3 million people remain without power in Florida and an untold number of homes are damaged from flooding, heavy wind and fallen trees. Even so, 50,000 power line workers pre-staged by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have already restored power to 1 million customers. 

President Biden reiterated that the federal government is fully involved in rescue and recovery efforts, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Coast Guard, the Army Corps and the Florida National Guard. He also criticized “disgusting” claims spread online that suggest the federal hurricane response has been inadequate. 

POLITICAL STORM: ON TRUMP ‘ONSLAUGHT OF LIES,’ BIDEN URGES FORMER PRESIDENT TO ‘GET A LIFE, MAN’

The 81-year-old president appeared to trail off toward the conclusion of his remarks. At that point, Granholm interrupted by touching Biden on the arm, apparently to remind him to turn over the microphone to the vice president. 

“I know,” Biden said. “I’m going to go to the vice president in a second.”

Then, with a glance toward the reporters in the room, he grabbed the secretary’s hand and joked, “She’s my boss here.” 

Harris then seemed to interject, and Biden replied, “Hang on a second, Madame Vice President.”

Before turning the news conference over to Harris, Biden said his administration will request additional funds from Congress for recovery efforts. 

DESANTIS FIRES BACK AT HARRIS OVER HURRICANE RESPONSE: ‘SHE HAS NO ROLE IN THIS PROCESS’

“We’re going to need a lot of help. We need a lot more money,” he said. “So I’m just telling everybody now that I don’t want to hear this is going to be the end of it. So with that, I will yield to the president, I mean, the vice president,” he said.

Harris has clashed with DeSantis in recent days after the Republican governor declined to take her call regarding the hurricane response. He said Thursday that the vice president has “no role” in the process and added that she had never attempted to call him during previous storms in Florida.

“I am working with the president of the United States. I’m working with the director of FEMA. We’ve been doing this now nonstop for over two weeks,” DeSantis said Thursday. 

Speaking from a TV screen, Harris made an effort to show that she is involved in cabinet discussions about recovery efforts, noting that she has spoken with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about cracking down on purported price-gouging in the wake of the disaster.

“We continue to coordinate resources with local and state authorities, including food, water, medical supplies and generators, and we will continue to work with the teams on the ground to restore water and power as quickly as possible in the coming days and weeks,” Harris said. 

“President Biden and I will make sure that the communities that are there on the ground and have been affected will have the resources they need not only to respond to the storm, but also to recover. And we will continue to keep communities in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina and across the Southeast ensured that they will recover from Hurricane Helene.” 

“The bottom line is we are in this for the long haul,” she said. 

Fox News Digital’s Bradford Betz and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday, hailing the “very close” relationship between Russia and Iran. 

The meeting comes as Iran braces for an Israeli response to its missile attacks on Tel Aviv earlier this week. 

“We are actively working together in the international arena, and our assessments of events taking place in the world are often very close,” Putin said, as reported by Russia’s state news agency TASS.

The cooperation between the two sanctioned nations has sparked renewed alarm in the West. U.S. officials have said Tehran is supplying Moscow with ballistic missiles to use in its fight against Ukraine. 

In return, Russia is suspected of providing Iran with sensitive nuclear technology – as it draws nearer in its capabilities to being a fully nuclear-armed state. 

“Russia is the world’s largest nuclear power. It holds an advantage even with the United States when it comes to nukes, especially in the tactical warhead realm and, obviously, it can share,” Rebekah Koffler, former senior official in the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and author of “Putin’s Playbook,” told Fox News Digital.

“Nuclear is not the only capability – strategic capability of concern – there’s also cyber and space weapons,” she said. 

Former President Donald Trump launched the U.S. Space Force in August 2019 to counter Russia and China’s capabilities in space.

“Russia has, again, one of the world’s most robust counter space weapons and has a developed, mature space warfare doctrine,” Koffler went on. 

BIDEN, NATO HEAD CLAIM A STRONGER OBAMA RESPONSE TO CRIMEA INVASION MAY HAVE PREVENTED UKRAINE WAR

“Nuclear weapons do not work without satellites. Whatever Iran has right now, however close they are in terms of developing the actual capability, can’t do anything without a satellite network. You can’t do targeting, you can’t do command and control, missile warning, all that stuff, you cannot negate the adversaries command and control capability, and that is what Russia can, and probably has, to some extent, provided to Iran, although there’s no conclusive analysis.” 

During the gathering, Putin reportedly backed up Pezeshkian’s condemnations of Israel. Pezeshkian said that Israel must “stop killing innocent people” and blamed the U.S. and European Union for supporting Israel in the war. 

The pair met on the sidelines of an international conference in Turkmenistan. Pezehskian agreed to visit his counterpart in Russia, according to state-run RIA news agency.

“Economically and culturally, our communications are being strengthened day by day and becoming more robust,” Pezeshkian was cited as telling Putin by Iran’s official IRNA news agency.

“The growing trend of cooperation between Iran and Russia, considering the will of the top leaders of both countries, must be accelerated to strengthen these ties,” he said.

NORTH KOREA TROOPS NOW FIGHTING FOR RUSSIA IN UKRAINE, SEOUL SAYS 

The meeting represents a stark reorienting for Putin, who in the past has been the “most pro-Israel president in Russian history,” according to Koffler. But both Russia and Iran face steep sanctions from the U.S. 

Around 20% of the Jewish population in Israel are Russian expatriates. “Jewish people, traditionally, are very smart, highly educated, highly employable. And with Russia having a demographic issue, Putin ideally wants those people, or their children or their grandchildren to come back to Russia,” Koffler explained. 

The Israeli Prime Minister was initially resistant to providing arms to Ukraine when Russia invaded. But the Pentagon tapped into a little-known stockpile of U.S. weapons stored in Israel for its defense to help fill Ukraine’s request for artillery last year. 

The U.S. has offered Ukraine over $100 billion in arms assistance over the course of the war. Russia views Israel, which is also armed by U.S. supply, as squarely in the camp of the Americans. 

“It’s not Iran that pushed Russia. Iran has no influence. Russia has always been the top dog in that relationship,” said Koffler. “But it’s Russia that oriented itself towards Iran as a result of the Biden administration’s policies.”

A leading vaping industry advocate tells Fox News Digital that Democrat positions cracking down on vaping and using nicotine pouches could backfire as many Americans across the country are single issue voters on that issue.

Tony Abboud, Executive Director of the Vapor Technology Association, told Fox News Digital that the Biden administration has “made it clear” that they have “no desire to have less harmful nicotine products on the market.”

“I don’t know how to explain that except to say special interest groups in this country that are often funded by the likes of Mike Bloomberg, who has made it clear that he wants to rid the marketplace of flavored e-cigarettes,” Abboud said. “That is what is at issue here, it is an ideological fight. It has nothing to do with science, and it certainly doesn’t have anything to do with what the FDA is legally required to do.”

Abboud’s trade association represents companies in the independent vaping industry throughout the entire supply distribution chain, from manufacturers to mom and pop retailers and consumers.

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“Those consumers are the ones that are using the variety of flavored vaping products that are available to help them quit smoking, because this is the first thing that has helped them, so many smokers who have tried to quit over many years, it’s the first thing that’s really helped them succeed and so that is at the core. I think one of the reasons why this product is so important to people, and we cannot forget that in everything that we’re doing, we’re talking about a product that has changed people’s lives.”

Democrats across the country, from Sen. Chuck Schumer to VP candidate Tim Walz, who supported heavy taxes on Zyn in Minnesota, have stood up in opposition to flavored vapes and nicotine pouches, which Abboud says could motivate voters in the upcoming election.

SCHUMER’S CALL FOR FEDERAL CRACKDOWN ON ZYN NICOTINE POUCHES FACES BACKLASH: ‘NANNY STATE ALIVE AND WELL’

“So we looked at this issue back in 2019 and we looked at it again this year and what’s very clear from the numbers is that vaping voters can be single issue voters, because as I noted at the outset, this is an incredibly important product to them,” Abboud told Fox News Digital. “And the notion that the government is going to take away their freedom to vape, their freedom to make choices over what they use and don’t use affects them greatly.”

“The same is true with our small business owners. They have built businesses that support their families that creates jobs. Tens of thousands of jobs in various states, over 100,000 jobs across the United States,” he continued. “This is a real industry with real people and the calls by mostly Democrats to rid the market of these products is a call to shut down these small businesses. We fought hard for those in 2019, and President Trump did the right thing. He said, I’m not going to ban flavors. I’m going to raise the age to 21 to address the youth vaping epidemic at the time, and it’s effectively been solved. The youth vaping rate is now 71% lower than it was at the time that that law was changed.”

Abboud told Fox News Digital that voters who are concerned about being able to easily access tobacco alternatives are going to be more likely to support former President Trump.

FETTERMAN REJECTS TOP DEMOCRAT’S ATTEMPTED CRACKDOWN ON ZYN: ‘ON THE SIDE OF MORE FREEDOM’

“I think voters really just have an option, right?” Abboud said. “They have an option of a president who has in the past supported their freedom to vape, has defended their small businesses, has ensured that they had access to safer, low, safer nicotine alternatives to smoking cigarettes versus what they’ve had in the last three and a half years, which is an administration which has done everything in its power to eliminate these products from the market, while at the same time, by the way, authorizing, like I noted, hundreds of new cigarettes.”

“We know where President Trump stood in 2019 and if you think about the common sense approach that he took, it changed everything in this country as it relates to youth vaping and so, yeah, we are hopeful that that thinking will continue and that common sense regulations will replace this mess that this current administration’s FDA has created.”

“We’ve already seen in our data that significant majorities of swing state voters agree that we should not be banning vaping products or banning flavored vaping products, but instead the FDA should focus on harm reduction and doing everything in its power to fill the marketplace with these new technologies. And if you look at the states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, the majorities I’m talking about are 60%, 59% and 58% and what that tells you is Americans are smart, voters are smart, and they know when government is not acting in their interests.”

Abboud also pointed out that crackdowns on smoking alternatives often hit minority communities the hardest.

“The people that smoke and suffer from smoking-related disease and death are predominantly people in lower income communities,” Abboud said. “The people in lower income communities today are already getting just hurt so badly by the high cost of groceries, the high cost of housing.”

“So for politicians like Governor Walz to impose a 95% tax, it is a regressive tax, and it is a regressive tax on people who need relief,” Abboud said. “In this case, he’s making it harder and more expensive to use the safest and safer form of nicotine available on the market.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris-Walz campaign for comment but did not receive a response.

Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday took questions from Latino voters at a town hall in Nevada, where she was pressed for specifics on her proposals on immigration, the economy and more.

Harris faced about a dozen questions during the roughly hour-long event hosted by Univision, where she sought to win over this key demographic group with just 26 days to go before Election Day. The Democratic nominee pointed to her record as vice president and swung ferociously at her opponent, Republican former President Donald Trump, but she was light on specifics on her plans for the country. 

Here are the highlights: 

VOTERS IN KEY BATTLEGROUND STATES GIVE TRUMP AN EDGE OVER HARRIS ON THIS TOP TIER ISSUE: POLL

In the first question of the night, a voter from Tampa asked Harris about rumors that the Biden-Harris administration did not do enough to respond to Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Former President Trump, the Republican nominee, has fanned those rumors, claiming at a recent rally that President Biden’s response to the storms was “the worst hurricane response since Katrina,” invoking the heavily criticized federal response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Harris defended the Biden administration, accusing critics of “playing political games” and insisting claims the response was inadequate are “just not accurate.” She said she has been working with people on the ground in Georgia, North Carolina, Florida and other southeastern states to get Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) resources to people in need. 

“Another piece of work that I’ve been doing, it’s based on my years of being an attorney general in California, is telling those corporations and those companies that during crisis and emergencies jack up prices,” Harris said. “I’ve seen it happen before, that we’re watching them and at a moment of desperation for these individuals and families, whether it be to be able to get temporary shelter at a hotel for gas prices, for even airline tickets, that we’ll be watching if they’re jacking up prices to make sure they’ll be serious consequence. And that’s the kind of work I will do going forward.”

TRUMP CHARGES HURRICANE RESPONSE ‘WORST SINCE KATRINA’ AS BIDEN ARGUES TRUMP ‘ONSLAUGHT OF LIES’ MUST ‘STOP’

Voters pressed Harris for specifics on her plans for immigration and how her policies would differ from President Biden’s. 

In her answer, Harris pointed to her recent trip to visit the border in Arizona and her law enforcement career as a prosecutor and California attorney general to show she’s serious about border security. 

“I will put my record up against anyone in terms of the work I’ve always done, and it will always be to ensure we have a secure border,” she said. 

Harris also criticized Trump for leading Republican opposition to a bipartisan border security deal that was endorsed by the National Border Patrol Council in February. She claimed the bill would have sent 1,500 additional Border Patrol agents to the border and provide law enforcement resources to combat fentanyl trafficking. 

Republicans say the border bill provided too many benefits to illegal immigrants, like work permits and taxpayer-funded attorneys, and would have funded sanctuary city jurisdictions that do not cooperate with immigration enforcement.

Harris said there is a “false choice” between a secure border and humane immigration policy. But she did not explain how her policies would be different from Biden, who also supported the border bill.

DEM STRATEGISTS FRET HARRIS ‘SUGAR HIGH’ IS OVER: ‘IF YOU’RE NOT NERVOUS, YOU’RE NOT PAYING ATTENTION’

An emotional moment came when a Las Vegas woman, Ivett Castillo, told Harris that she recently lost her mother before she could get her immigration status legalized. 

“She was never able to get the type of care and service that she needed or deserved,” Castillo said, holding back tears. She asked how Harris would help illegal immigrants who “have to live and die in the shadows.” 

Another voter, Francisco Medina of San Diego, California, told the vice president that despite his insurance coverage through the Defense Department, he had to cross the border into Mexico to receive treatment. He asked how she would improve the medical system.

“I firmly and deeply believe that healthcare is a right, and should be a right and not just a privilege of those who can afford it or have access to it easily,” Harris said. 

She pointed to the Biden administration’s efforts to strengthen the Affordable Care Act and cap prescription drug prices as a starting point for what she’d do as president. 

“The work we have done has been about capping the cost of prescription medication for seniors at $2,000,” she said. “My intention as president of the United States is to make that available for not just seniors, but for everyone.”

At one point during the town hall, a self-described independent voter said he was leaning towards voting for Trump because Harris did not win the Democratic nomination through the normal primary process.

“I’m a little confused,” said Mario Sigbaum, of Santa Monica, California. “Being a candidate without going through the normal process – that is primary elections or through a caucus – that really caught my attention.” He demanded an explanation for how Biden was “completely destituted.” 

Harris thanked him for being “candid.” She called Biden’s decision to withdraw from the election amid mounting pressure from the Democratic Party “one of the most courageous a president could make” and said he “put country above his personal interest.” 

“He made that decision, he… within that same period of time supported my candidacy and urged me to run,” Harris said. “He and I have been partners for the last four years as his vice president to him as the president. And I am honored to have earned the Democratic nomination.”

She went on to say there is a “huge contrast” in this election and asserted Trump would be a “dictator on day one,” calling the situation “unprecedented” with “support for democracy” on the ballot. 

In the closing moments of the town hall, one voter asked if Harris could name three virtues of her Republican opponent. She could not.

“I think Donald Trump loves his family and I think that’s very important,” she said. “But I don’t really know him to be honest with you. I only met him one time on the debate stage. I’d never met him before.” 

Harris came up short searching for two other virtues. Instead, she criticized Trump for taking an “us versus them” approach and using divisive language.

“I don’t think that’s healthy for our nation, and I don’t admire that.” 

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

A new Wall Street Journal poll has found little separation between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris in seven battleground states, prompting a Democratic pollster to say that the 2024 election “really could not be closer.” 

The survey of 600 registered voters in each of the states, which was conducted from Sept. 28 to Oct. 8 with a margin of error of +/- four percentage points, found that in a head-to-head contest, Trump and Harris are tied in North Carolina and Wisconsin. 

Harris leads Trump 48-46% in Arizona and Georgia, and 49-47% in Michigan, according to the poll. In Nevada, Trump has his biggest swing state lead of 49-43%, while he leads Harris in Pennsylvania 47-46%, the poll also found. 

“It really could not be closer,” Democrat Michael Bocian, one of the pollsters who worked on the survey, told The Wall Street Journal. “It’s an even-steven, tight, tight race.” 

DEMOCRAT STRATEGISTS FRET HARRIS ‘SUGAR HIGH’ IS OVER 

Overall, Trump leads Harris 46-45%, with 93% of Democrats and Republicans across the seven states indicating their support for their parties’ respective candidates. 

As for independent voters, 40% said they would vote for Harris, compared to 39% for Trump. 

On the issues, voters say they trusted Trump more to handle the economy, inflation and immigration and border security. 

They preferred Harris when it comes to housing affordability, abortion, healthcare and having someone in the Oval Office who cares about you. 

The poll found that 47% of voters believe Trump will stand up better for the American worker, compared to 45% for Harris, and that nearly two-thirds believe the national economy is poor or not so good. 

POLL SHOWS HARRIS TAKING A SLIM LEAD OVER TRUMP THANKS TO SUPPORT FROM A SURPRISING GROUP 

“This thing is a dead heat and is going to come down to the wire. These last three weeks matter,” Republican pollster David Lee told The Wall Street Journal. 

The newspaper cited Lee as saying that around this time in 2020, Biden had polling average leads of more than 5 points over Trump in each of the industrial northern swing states, compared to the narrower margins Harris is facing right now. 

However, Bocian says that Trump had a “clear advantage” over Biden in March – the last time The Wall Street Journal polled the swing states – during a period where third-party candidates were having a “massive impact” on the numbers. 

“Now the third-party support has evaporated almost completely, and the race is tied in all the states,” he said.