Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, remained silent Thursday on whether he still supports eliminating the Electoral College, after the Harris campaign insisted his position did not reflect that of the campaign’s. 

“I think all of us know, the Electoral College needs to go. We need a national popular vote,” Walz said Tuesday during a campaign fundraiser at the home of Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Walz made similar comments at an earlier fundraiser in Seattle, as well.

While running for president in 2019, Harris said she was “open” to the idea of abolishing the Electoral College. However, according to campaign officials pressed on the issue following Walz’s remarks, eliminating the Electoral College in favor of a national popular vote is not an official position of Harris’ current campaign.

Fox News Digital reached out to representatives for Walz repeatedly to inquire whether he still supports replacing the Electoral College with a national popular vote, particularly after his campaign came out against it. A response was never received, but the Harris-Walz campaign did release a statement to certain news outlets suggesting Walz’s remarks were intended to express support for the Electoral College process.

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“Governor Walz believes that every vote matters in the Electoral College and he is honored to be traveling the country and battleground states working to earn support for the Harris-Walz ticket,” a Harris campaign spokesperson said in a statement sent to select media outlets like CNN and USA Today. “He was commenting to a crowd of strong supporters about how the campaign is built to win 270 electoral votes. And, he was thanking them for their support that is helping fund those efforts.” 

Debate over whether a national popular vote should replace the Electoral College surged in 2016 when Donald Trump won the Electoral College vote, cementing his victory despite losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton. “I think it needs to be eliminated,” Clinton told CNN after her 2016 loss to Trump. “I’d like to see us move beyond it, yes.” Clinton made similar calls earlier in her career as well.

Just last month, Democratic Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin suggested there could be deadly consequences for Americans if the Electoral College was not done away with. Raskin said a national popular vote was a far better option than the current “convoluted, antique, obsolete system from the 18th century, which these days can get you killed as nearly it did on Jan. 6, 2021.”

NEBRASKA GOP SENATOR OPPOSES ELECTORAL COLLEGE CHANGE THAT MAY HAVE HELPED TRUMP WIN RE-ELECTION

The Electoral College has been something that both Republicans and Democrats have tried to do away with in the past, but contemporary calls for its abolition surged among Democrats after Clinton’s loss. The process was established by the nation’s Founding Fathers, seen as a compromise between the election of president by vote in Congress and election by a popular vote of qualified citizens. Electoral College votes, of which 270 are needed for any presidential candidate to win, are allocated based on the Census. The process effectively allows voters in states with lower populations to have a similar impact on the election as those voters living in higher population densities. The Electoral College is also thought to be a protective measure against super thin margins and excessive recounts.

In May 2023, as governor, Walz signed a broad ranging election bill that included a provision to allocate the state’s electors based on who receives the most votes nationwide, even if it doesn’t match the outcome in their state. The measure, known as the “National Popular Vote Interstate Compact,” has been supported by 17 states and the District of Columbia, but will only take effect after all the states that have signed on have a total electoral vote count of 270. Right now, those supporting the reform only have 209, according to CBS News.

Polling from the Pew Research Center released last month showed a majority of Americans favor moving away from the Electoral College. Since 2016, the sentiment has steadily increased, and, according to Pew, more than 6 in 10 Americans today prefer the national popular vote over the Electoral College. 

Jason Snead, executive director of Honest Elections Project Action, a nonprofit that advocates in favor of retaining the Electoral College, argued Walz “said the quiet part out loud” when he insisted the Electoral College should be eliminated. 

“Democrat leaders don’t think they should have to campaign in places like Michigan and North Carolina, they want California and New York to decide every election,” Snead argued. “There is a pattern here. Democrats claim to love democracy, then set their sights on any institution that stands between them and political power: the Supreme Court, the Senate filibuster, and the Electoral College.”

Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas confirmed on Thursday that FEMA “will need more funds” after responding to hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Mayorkas made the statement while answering questions from reporters at the White House press briefing on Thursday. He said FEMA has enough funds to address the “immediate needs” of people affected by both hurricanes, but urged Congress to move quickly.

“President Biden indicated that FEMA and the Department of Defense would have to get through their immediate needs in this recovery phase. I’m wondering, after your early assessments of damage from Hurricane Milton, coupled with the damage from Hurricane Helene, do you still believe that to be the case?” a reporter asked.

“Yes, I do,” Mayorkas responded. “We have the resources to respond to the immediate needs of individuals impacted by Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, and the associated – it’s very important to remember – the tornadoes associated with the hurricane.”

VIDEO RESURFACES SHOWING FEMA PRIORITIZING EQUITY OVER HELPING GREATEST NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN DISASTER RELIEF

“That being said, we will need additional funds, and we implore Congress when it returns to, in fact, fund FEMA as is needed,” he added.

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Mayorkas appeared at the briefing remotely from North Carolina, where he is helping coordinate response efforts.

Earlier this week, FEMA revealed that it had less than 10% of front-line staff available for deployment amid preparations for Milton.

FEMA released a daily briefing on Wednesday revealing the agency had only 8%, or 1,115, FEMA staff members currently available as preparations continued. This number represents a significant drop in availability from a year prior, after an operations briefing from late September 2023 showed the agency had 20% of the same staff available for deployment.

SPEAKER JOHNSON ADDRESSES CLAIMS FEMA DIVERTED FUNDS TO IMMIGRATION EFFORTS: ‘AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE DISGUSTED’

A FEMA spokesperson indicated to Fox News Digital that the availability numbers released by the agency are only in reference to the cadre of staffers who are part of FEMA’s incident management core capacity. They are the first line of FEMA staffers to deploy in any disaster.

Meanwhile, the FEMA spokesperson pointed out the agency has a total workforce of 22,000 staffers it can call on, as well as resources from other agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security.

Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has deployed 10,000 National Guard members in the response to Milton. Roughly 3,000 of those have been sent from other states to aid the recovery effort.

Fox News’ Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.

Georgia Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson re-introduced a death row appeals bill that would allow death row inmates the opportunity to introduce newly discovered evidence in their appeal. 

H.R. 9868, also called the Effective Death Penalty Act, was initially introduced in 2009 and later in 2020. The bill would amend a provision in the U.S. Code that currently governs circumstances under which a state prisoner can file a habeas corpus petition. 

“We’ve got innocent people on death row right now with no opportunity to show compelling new evidence of innocence,” Johnson said in a press statement released on Wednesday. “The status quo is inhumane and unconstitutional.” 

TEXAS DEATH ROW INMATE’S LAWYER SAYS ‘THERE WAS NO CRIME’ AS SHE MAKES LAST-DITCH EFFORT TO SAVE HIS LIFE

Under current law, a federal court cannot grant a habeas corpus petition unless the petitioner has already exhausted all state court remedies. This requirement was explained by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1999, with the Court stating that such a requirement “is designed to give the state courts a full and fair opportunity to resolve federal constitutional claims before those claims are presented to federal courts.” 

The bill would allow a death row inmate to not only introduce newly discovered evidence that “demonstrates that the applicant is probably not guilty of the underlying offense,” but to also raise an ineffective counsel claim on direct appeal. Some states do not currently allow for such a claim on direct appeal. 

The added provision comes as a result of the 2022 Supreme Court case, Shinn v. Ramirez, when the Court held that a habeas corpus court may not conduct an evidentiary hearing or consider evidence beyond the state-court record based on an ineffective counsel claim. 

OKLAHOMA AG SUPPORTS NEW TRIAL FOR DEATH ROW INMATE WHO HAS HAD 3 ‘LAST MEALS’

“I believe we should completely abolish the death penalty, but while 25 states – half of which are in the South – still have some form of capital punishment on their books and some states like Alabama, Texas and Georgia continue to hold state executions – America needs the Effective Death Penalty Appeals Act to help wrongly convicted people on death row present newly discovered evidence that they are innocent,” Johnson said in the statement. 

Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-ME, Democratic House Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton and Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., are co-sponsoring the bill. 

The Supreme Court, which kicked off its new term earlier this month, heard oral arguments Wednesday on an appeal from Oklahoma inmate Richard Glossip, who has maintained his innocence in connection with a 1997 murder-for-hire of the owner of a motel he previously worked at. Glossip’s initial conviction was reversed by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals after the court found he had received “constitutionally ineffective assistance of counsel in numerous respects,” according to the brief filed. 

Glossip now argues before the Supreme Court that he did not receive a fair trial as a result of the prosecution suppressing evidence of a key prosecution witness’s testimony. Justice Neil Gorsuch did not participate in hearing the appeal due to his prior involvement in the appeals process while serving on a lower court. 

FIRST ON FOX: A woman whose skull was fractured by an illegal immigrant let out of jail as part of a program launched by then San Francisco DA Kamala Harris is blasting the vice president over a resurfaced speech where Harris discusses the matter as being the result of a “glitch” in the system. 

“That ‘glitch’ certainly had a negative impact on my life,” Amanda Kiefer, who suffered a brutal attack at the hands of an illegal immigrant in 2008 while she walked down the street with friends, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “It would be easier to believe it was a mistake if Democrats in San Francisco didn’t have a long history of enabling illegal immigration, choosing not to prosecute illegal immigrant criminals and refusal to deport anyone.”

“It wasn’t a “glitch” that the Biden Harris administration has let in millions of illegal immigrants, including tens of thousands of known, convicted criminals and those on the terror watch list. At a certain point, it can’t be incompetence, it’s intentional. Harris doesn’t care about Americans’ safety.”

Then San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, in a resurfaced speech, blamed a “glitch” in the system while discussing the attack on Kiefer.

CBS ’60 MINUTES’ AIRS TWO DIFFERENT ANSWERS FROM VP HARRIS TO THE SAME QUESTION

“But whenever you’re rolling out something new, there will at some point become apparent that there is a mistake or a glitch in the design, and when you’re in these kinds of positions, that mistake or glitch is on the front page of the paper,” Harris said during a 2010 Women in Leadership conference at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business while discussing the “Back on Track” program she launched that allowed non-violent offenders to avoid jail and instead enter job training and eventually have their records expunged.

“And so you have to take a knock for that,” Harris said in the speech. “When I rolled out Back on Track, I took a big political hit, when a couple of years later, it turned out, especially in criminal law, because when you’re taking, when you’re doing innovation in the criminal justice system, let me tell you what that means. That means I’m doing something differently with somebody who’s on my radar. Why are they on my radar? Because they committed a crime.”

Kiefer was brutally attacked by 20-year-old Alexander Izaguirre, an illegal immigrant, while she walked with friends down a San Francisco street in 2008. Izaguirre stole her purse and then attempted to run her down in a waiting SUV, fracturing her skull. 

Izaguirre had been arrested a few months prior to the attack on drug charges but was able to roam free, thanks to the program launched by Harris.

Harris continued in the speech, “Now, remember, I’m focused on the non-violent offender with these innovative programs, right? The fear will always be that guy will go out and kill a baby and a grandmother tomorrow, and then everyone will look backwards and say, ‘Why didn’t you do it the way it’s always been done? Why did you try something new?’ It’s a big risk. And so when I rolled out Back on Track, couple years in, we learned that there was basically, there was a participant who went out, during the time he was in the program, committed a robbery, there was a horrible injury to the victim. And turned out that this individual is an undocumented immigrant.”

In her speech, Harris went on to mention an article written about her at the time that said, “‘Kamala Harris has created a program to shield illegal aliens.’”

“Right?” Harris said. “And that’s when my friends came really in handy to just say it’s, you know, because I was upset about the unfairness and the mischaracterization and . . . ‘Don’t people want these things fixed? Don’t they understand what innovation requires?’ And, and that’s when you have to rely on your friends who understand what you do and care about you and will support you without judgment, but also give you critical feedback when you need it.”

KAMALA HARRIS STRUGGLING TO SAY HOW SHE’S DIFFERENT THAN BIDEN ON ‘THE VIEW’ SURPRISES CNN PANEL

In 2009, Harris told the press that Izaguirre is “being prosecuted” and “will be deported with my full encouragement and support.” Harris also said at the time that Izaguirre’s release was a “flaw in the design” that was fixed.

Kiefer also spoke out about her experience earlier this year, Fox News Digital reported. She said that the experience was a “red pill moment” for her, leading her to abandon what she said were her liberal political views from the time and embrace candidates such as former President Trump.

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Kiefer appeared alongside Trump when he visited the Arizona border earlier this year and spoke along with other victims of illegal immigrant crime.

“I moved out of San Francisco because I didn’t feel safe there and I don’t think our country is going to be safe under Kamala Harris,” Kiefer said. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign, which did not provide a comment.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Lee contributed to this report.
 

MADISON, Wis. — Democrats in the state believe they have been laying the groundwork for winning the 2024 presidential election for roughly seven years. 

Wisconsin Democrats Chair Ben Wikler told Fox News Digital in an interview that their “everything, everywhere, all at once” and neighbor-to-neighbor organizing has been building the infrastructure for Democrat nominee Vice President Harris to win the critical battleground state. 

He said Democrats in Wisconsin have been “building teams of neighbors to take responsibility for talking to folks in their surrounding area” continuously “for the last seven years.”

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The Harris campaign is then building off the groundwork they have spent years laying for Democrats, he said. 

Wikler attributed recent statewide electoral wins for Democrats in the last six years to this organizing strategy. 

“What we know is that a trusted messenger matters almost as much as the message,” Wikler said. “And there are Democrats in rural areas talking to other rural voters, in suburbs talking to other suburban voters, in cities talking to other city-dwellers about their votes.”

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“We think that the messages that Harris and Walz are carrying, they can resonate with everybody,” he said. “And having a messenger who can actually start that conversation and have it not at the talking-point level but at ‘what’s actually happening in our lives and communities’ level makes all the difference. “

Wikler noted that “Wisconsin is the perennial tipping-point state,” referencing its past electoral shifts from going for former President Trump in 2016 to President Biden in 2020.

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“On the Democratic side, we have a real ground organizing volunteer operation, and we have 16,000 people who’ve done their first volunteer shift with Democrats” since Harris became the nominee late in the campaign. 

He hit Republicans and allied organizations for using “paid canvassers, people who are hired to go knock on doors but don’t necessarily have a connection to the community where they’re having those conversations.”

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“I think we’ll see at the end of the day which of these strategies has a bigger effect,” Wikler added. 

This week, Fox News Power Rankings rated Wisconsin as a “Toss Up” going into the presidential election. 

On the ground, Republicans and Democrats alike are expecting the state to come down to just tens of thousands of votes, as it did in 2016 and 2020.

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

A new poll released this week shows former President Trump with a strong lead over Vice President Kamala Harris on the subject of immigration – even after Harris has sought to present herself as the best candidate to secure the southern border.

The Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday found Harris leading Trump in Pennsylvania, while Trump is ahead in Michigan and Wisconsin. The three Rust Belt states are being closely watched as they could determine which candidate is the next president.

But on the question of who is best to handle immigration, Trump has the edge in all three states. He carries a four-point lead in Pennsylvania (50-46), a nine-point lead in Michigan (53-44) and an eight-point lead in Wisconsin (52-44).

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Trump was also preferred in all states on the economy and handling the conflict in the Middle East, while Harris was preferred on abortion and preserving democracy.

Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, along with Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada, had razor-thin margins that decided President Biden’s 2020 White House victory over Trump. And the seven states are likely to determine if Trump or Harris wins the 2024 presidential election.

Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin are also the three Rust Belt states that make up the Democrats’ so-called “Blue Wall.”

The party reliably won all three states for a quarter-century before Trump narrowly captured them in the 2016 election to win the White House.

A recent Marquette Law School poll found that 49% favor Trump while just 37% favor Harris on immigration, with 8% saying they’d be about the same, and 6% saying neither are good on the issue.

Harris was tasked with tackling root causes of migration to the southern border in early 2021 as border numbers began to surge. She was eventually dubbed the “border czar” by media outlets and critics – although the White House rejected that title.

HARRIS SHIFTS KEY POSITIONS ON BORDER, ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AS CAMPAIGN PROMISES ‘PRAGMATIC’ APPROACH

Republicans have accused her of playing a key role in the border crisis and the policies they believe fueled it, including the rolling back of Trump-era policies. Trump has promised to launch a massive deportation operation if elected, restart border wall construction and end Biden-era parole policies.

Critics have also highlighted her more left-wing policies as a senator and presidential candidate in 2019 – including her positions on immigration funding and the detention of illegal immigrants.

Harris’ campaign says her views have changed since 2019 and have been shaped by her involvement in the administration. This year, her campaign has highlighted her past as a prosecutor and noted her backing of a bipartisan Senate bill to increase funding to the border.

Her campaign has noted a recent sharp drop in border encounters since President Biden signed a presidential proclamation in June limiting asylum entries. She has accused Trump of scuppering the border bill for political purposes and of “playing political games.”

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

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday doubled down on his fierce criticism of those he accused of deliberately spreading false information about the work the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is doing during hurricane season.

“There is so much false information being spread, and we cannot have people relying on that false information or actually deterred from seeking relief that’s available to them that they need because of that false information,” Mayorkas said Wednesday on “Morning Joe” before Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida on Wednesday night. “It’s really pernicious.”

Mayorkas, along with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and FEMA, have been under pressure over the handling of Hurricane Helene. DHS has been pushing back against claims online that it has diverted resources to illegal immigrants, that it is out of money, that it has been slow in responding and that it is blocking recovery flights. 

MAYORKAS RIPS ‘POLITICIZED’ ATMOSPHERE OVER FEMA DISASTER RESPONSE AMID GOP CRITICISM’

Focus on the agency was fueled when Mayorkas said last week that FEMA does “not have the funds to make it through the season,” although he said it did have enough for “immediate needs.” The administration has pushed for Congress to return and pass a spending bill to provide additional funding for the hurricane season.

But the questions over funding led critics to look at the $650 million provided for grants to help illegal immigrants in the Shelter and Services Program (SSP). It led to accusations, including from former President Trump, that money that could have gone to disaster relief was being diverted. The administration pointed to the fact that the funding is congressionally appropriated and is separate from the much larger Disaster Relief Fund. But Republicans have still expressed concern that an “entanglement” in the border crisis has had a knock-on effect.

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Others have pointed to a possible political bias after an “equity” blueprint went viral, saying, “Diversity, equity, and inclusion cannot be optional.” 

Republicans have accused the administration of mishandling the response more broadly, with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., accusing it of “egregious errors and mistakes” and a lack of leadership.

But FEMA and DHS have been pushing back against numerous viral online claims they say are false, including claims that FEMA grants must be repaid, that it is distributing aid based on demographic characteristics and that it is restricting airspace for recovery operations. 

President Biden has also slammed “reckless, irresponsible and relentless promotion of disinformation and outright lies that are disturbing people.”

On Wednesday, Mayorkas warned that misinformation can stop recovery efforts.

TRUMP TARGETS BIDEN, HARRIS OVER FEDERAL RESPONSE TO HURRICANE: ‘INCOMPETENTLY MANAGED’

“Historically, this country has come together as one in times of crisis, in times of disaster. We need that history to be lived today. We cannot have the irresponsible voices that actually wreak damage to individuals in need and prevent survivors from seeking the relief that is available to them,” he said.

He had made a similar appeal on Tuesday night on MSNBC, speaking on the impact on the workforce and on the ability for individuals to get help.

“It is extraordinarily damaging. Most of all, it is extraordinarily damaging to the survivors of Hurricane Helene, of natural disasters. Individuals lose trust in their government, they are reluctant to seek the assistance that they need to meet their immediate demands — food, water, shelter. They don’t seek it. They are entitled to it. They need it,” Mayorkas said. “We implore them to ignore the false information that is being spread and to seek the help that we have available to them.

“It is also extremely demoralizing to our federal law, our emergency response personnel, the state and local emergency response personnel who are risking their lives in the service of those in need. When we reach into flooded zones, when we reach into a home that has been destroyed to assist another individual, we don’t ask about their party affiliation. We are there to help, and they need to understand that. They need to trust us. They can rely on us.”

Earlier this week, Mayorkas warned that people “are not seeking that relief because of the disinformation, the intentionally false information they are receiving.”

Russia has suffered some 600,000 casualties in its war with Ukraine – more than its losses in every conflict since World War II combined, according to U.S. officials. 

This September was the deadliest month of the entire war for Russia, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters on a call Wednesday. 

“Russian losses, again both killed and wounded in action, in just the first year of the war exceeded the total of all Soviet losses in any conflict since World War II combined,” the official said.

However, the steep casualties are not a “definitive metric” of success for Ukraine, the official warned. Ukraine has also suffered mass casualties, though the U.S. has not disclosed how many. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in February that some 31,000 troops had been killed. 

The U.K. ministry of Defence put Russia’s daily casualty count at 1,271 in September, and said some 648,000 Russians had been killed or injured in the war. 

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“It’s kind of the Russian way of war where they continue to throw mass into the problem, and I think we’ll continue to see high losses,” the U.S. military official said.

South Korea warned earlier this week that North Korea was sending its forces to fight alongside the Russians. 

Russia has also lost two-thirds of its pre-war inventory of tanks to Ukraine, along with 32 medium-to-large naval vessels. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin is “trying to avoid a mass mobilization because of the effect that would have on Russia’s domestic population,” the official said. 

“At this point, he has been able to significantly increase the pay of these voluntary soldiers, and he has been able to continue to field those forces without doing a major mobilization.”

“And I think we’re just watching very closely how long that stance can actually be one that he can maintain, and I think it’s an important one for all of us to watch very closely,” the official added.

FMR ESTONIA PRESIDENT TELLS US TO STOP BEING AFRAID OF PUTIN 

Ukraine’s military said it struck a base in southern Russia’s Krasnodar region storing nearly 400 strike drones on Wednesday.

Russia has made some progress in the Donetsk region, taking the town of Vuhledar earlier this month and pressing toward Povrosk, a key railroad hub and supply station for Ukraine. 

The U.S. official said the Russian strategy around Vuhledar and Povrosk had brought “substantial casualties” for minor gains.

Russia’s Kursk region, which Ukraine invaded in August, is also in the midst of heavy fighting. Ukraine had hoped to divert Russian troops from the front line to defend Kursk. Russia has since recaptured some of the region, though the military official said that Ukrainian troops could hold onto the Kursk region for months or longer. 

Meanwhile, the U.S. continues to pour billions into Ukraine’s defense. Last month, President Joe Biden announced an $8 billion package for Kyiv to supply it with military equipment through January. It is the last of the $61 billion that Congress approved in April for Ukraine. 

Despite Zelenskyy’s calls, Biden has resisted authorizing Ukraine’s use of U.S.-given long-range missiles, known as ATACMs, to strike inside Russia and take out its stores of weapons capabilities, for fear of escalation. 

Many U.S. lawmakers have backed Zelenskyy’s request, but the U.S. official said the Biden administration is not considering reversing its policy. He said many of the arms that Ukraine is looking to take out, like Russia’s deadly glide bombs, have been moved out of range of ATACMs. 

A Republican congressman from hard-hit North Carolina is accusing Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of playing politics with Hurricane Helene after the storm ravaged the Southeast and killed more than 230 people.

Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., implored his district’s residents to not believe “outrageous rumors” about the response to the storm in an open letter published Tuesday. 

“[Federal Emergency Management Agency] FEMA officials have repeatedly affirmed that the agency has enough money for immediate response and recovery needs over the next few months,” Edwards wrote. “Secretary Mayorkas’ statement indicating otherwise was an irresponsible attempt to politicize a tragedy for personal gain.”

He also defended FEMA from “outrageous rumors” that disaster funds were being diverted to help illegal immigrants, and that aid was being blocked from reaching its destination.

TRUMP LAUNCHES GOFUNDME TO HELP HURRICANE HELENE VICTIMS, RAISES MORE THAN $1M

“We have seen a level of support that is unmatched by most any other disaster nationwide; but amidst all of the support, we have also seen an uptick in untrustworthy sources trying to spark chaos by sharing hoaxes, conspiracy theories, and hearsay about hurricane response efforts across our mountains,” Edwards wrote.

It comes after Mayorkas warned last week that FEMA did not have the funds to make it through the current hurricane season, spurring alarm across the country.

Mayorkas was forced to clarify those comments during the same conversation with reporters, stating FEMA had funding to meet its “immediate needs.”

The comments were met with skepticism by GOP leaders after Congress made $20 billion in FEMA funds available in federal funding legislation last month, and it exacerbated tensions as some North Carolina residents are already struggling with adequate supplies and aid.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., suggested to Fox News Digital last week that the House would act on additional disaster aid as soon as possible but noted it likely will not be possible until November, when Congress returns after the election. 

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Edwards said in his letter that he was already helping prepare a supplemental funding bill for when the time comes.

The funding woes also prompted some Republicans to point to a separate FEMA-run program that provides support to illegal immigrants at the border, questioning whether the roughly $1 billion allocated there over the last two fiscal years was taken from money for disaster relief.

However, Edwards unequivocally denied that in his Tuesday letter, despite top Republicans like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., promoting the claim.

HURRICANE HELENE: NORTH CAROLINA RESIDENTS FIGHT FOR THEIR SURVIVAL AS BASIC GOODS BECOME SCARCE

“Disaster response efforts and individual assistance are funded through the Disaster Relief Fund, which is a dedicated fund for disaster efforts,” Edwards said. “FEMA’s non-disaster related presence at the border has always been of major concern to me, even before Hurricane Helene, and I will continue to condemn their deployment of personnel to the southern border, but we must separate the two issues.”

Edwards admitted FEMA had “shortfalls” in its response but denied the federal agency was seizing private property or providing only $750 to disaster survivors, claims that were spread on the internet by unverified sources.

He also said FEMA was not conducting road closures or vehicle inspections, nor was it restricting airspace for rescue operations.

“Nobody seeking to fly resources into Western North Carolina will be prohibited from doing so by the FAA or North Carolina Emergency Management so long as they coordinate their efforts with NC Aviation,” Edwards wrote.

It comes after Elon Musk spread rumors that FEMA was blocking the distribution of supplies and that airspace was blocked amid his efforts to distribute Starlink internet connections.

Edwards also assured that Hurricane Helene “was NOT geoengineered by the government,” noting, “Nobody can control the weather.”

That came in response to online conspiracy theories that the federal government intentionally created the hurricane to take control of the area’s lithium mines.

The DHS did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Republicans in Michigan are attempting to capitalize on Vice President Kamala Harris’ struggles with blue-collar voters in the state, a demographic that has traditionally supported Democrats but has been trending in the direction of former President Donald Trump.

“Michigan’s working class isn’t fooled by Kamala Harris’ word salads and dog and pony shows. Her policies, like the radical Green New Deal, are anti-worker,” Team Trump Michigan Communications Director Victoria LaCivita told Fox News Digital. “Her attack on American energy has made the cost of living unaffordable, and her plan to ban gas-powered cars will decimate the backbone of our economy.”

The comments come as the race to win Michigan, a vital swing state in the upcoming election, heats up, with the Real Clear Politics polling average showing Harris with just a slim 0.5 point lead in the state with just under four weeks to go before the election.

Republicans have hit the state repeatedly in recent weeks, with both Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, making several appearances in the state.

KAMALA HARRIS CONFRONTED ON NOT EARNING TEAMSTERS ENDORSEMENT: ‘WHAT WAS THEIR REASONING?’

Those appearances come as Michigan Democrats have begun to worry about the vice president’s prospects in the state, with some imploring her to visit the state more frequently as the race hits the home stretch.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, prominent Michigan Democrats, including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, have made appeals to the Harris campaign to focus on the state more as the election draws to a close. They have also warned Harris to sharpen her economic messaging, the report notes, with fears spreading that Trump has done well to court the state’s working class voters.

Harris has struggled to distance herself from past positions that remain unpopular in the so-called “Blue Wall” states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, including her previous support for transitioning fully to zero-emissions vehicles by 2035 and a ban on fracking.

Those concerns were also highlighted by an internal poll shared with the Wall Street Journal that was conducted by Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s campaign that showed Harris down by three points in Wisconsin, another key Midwestern state with similar voting habits to Michigan.

“The big thing is people don’t know her—they need to see more of her,” former Michigan Gov. James Blanchard, a Democrat, told the Wall Street Journal.

FIREFIGHTERS UNION PRAISED FOR ‘SIGNIFICANT NON-ENDORSEMENT’ AFTER BACKING BIDEN IN 2020: ‘HUGE WIN FOR TRUMP’

Republicans believe that is because Harris has failed in her outreach to the types of workers that have now started gravitating toward Trump.

National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Mike Marinella told Fox News Digital that Harris’ message does not “resonate with working class voters” such as those in the upper Midwest, something that could also help down-ballot Republicans in the critical swing states.

Harris’ struggles have also extended to union members, a group that has long been a stronghold for Democrats in the state. However, an internal poll conducted by Teamsters, one of the country’s largest and most influential unions, found that members in Michigan preferred Trump (61.7%) over Harris (35.2%), while national union leaders declined to make an endorsement in this year’s presidential race, despite supporting President Biden’s campaign in 2020.

Harris also failed to gain the support of the International Association of Fire Fighters, which also supported Biden in 2020, though she did gain the support of both United Auto Workers and the Service Employees International Union.

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“The Teamsters’ own polling shows exactly what we knew – that rank and file Michigan Teamsters are supporting President Trump and his pro-worker policies,” LaCivita said. “While local chapter leadership refuses to disrupt the status quo, the Michiganders who make up these chapters want strong leadership that will protect their jobs, lower inflation, and support American industries – and that’s President Donald J. Trump.”

The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.