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With 13 days until voting starts, ‘election season’ kicks off sooner than you think

There are 73 days until Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

But if Americans vote like they did in the last two election cycles, most of them will have already cast a ballot before the big day.

Early voting starts as soon as Sept. 6 for eligible voters, with seven battleground states sending out ballots to at least some voters the same month.

It makes the next few months less a countdown to Election Day, and more the beginning of ‘election season.’

States have long allowed at least some Americans to vote early, like members of the military or people with illnesses. 

In some states, almost every voter casts a ballot by mail.

Many states expanded eligibility in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic made it riskier to vote in-person.

That year, the Fox News Voter Analysis found that 71% of voters cast their ballots before Election Day, with 30% voting early in-person and 41% voting by mail.

Early voting remained popular in the midterms, with 57% of voters casting a ballot before Election Day.

Elections officials stress that voting early is safe and secure. Recounts, investigations and lawsuits filed after the 2020 election did not reveal evidence of widespread fraud or corruption. 

The difference between ‘early in-person’ and ‘mail’ or ‘absentee’ voting.

There are a few ways to vote before Election Day.

The first is , where a voter casts a regular ballot in-person at a voting center before Election Day.

The second is , where the process and eligibility varies by state.

Eight states vote mostly by mail, including California, Colorado, Nevada and Utah. Registered voters receive ballots and send them back.

Most states allow any registered voter to request a mail ballot and send it back. This is also called mail voting, or sometimes absentee voting. Depending on the state, voters can return their ballot by mail, at a drop box, and/or at an office or facility that accepts mail ballots.

In 14 states, voters must have an excuse to vote by mail, ranging from illness, age, work hours or if a voter is out of their home county on Election Day.

States process and tabulate ballots at different times. Some states don’t begin counting ballots until election night, which delays the release of results.

Voting begins on Sept. 6 in North Carolina, with seven more battleground states starting that month

This list of early voting dates is for guidance only. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, go to Vote.gov and your state’s elections website.

The first voters to be sent absentee ballots will be in North Carolina, which begins mailing out ballots for eligible voters on Sept. 6.

Seven more battleground states open up early voting the same month, including Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan and Nevada.

September deadlines

In-person early voting in bold.

Sept. 6

  • North Carolina – Absentee ballots sent to voters

Sept. 16

  • Pennsylvania – Mail-in ballots sent to voters

Sept. 17

  • Georgia – Absentee ballots sent to military & overseas

Sept. 19

  • Wisconsin – Absentee ballots sent

Sept. 20

  • Arkansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah, Wyoming – Absentee ballots sent to military & overseas
  • Minnesota, South Dakota – In-person absentee voting begins
  • Virginia – In-person early voting begins
  • Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia – Absentee ballots sent

Sept. 21

  • Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington – Absentee ballots sent to military & overseas
  • Indiana, New Mexico – Absentee ballots sent
  • Maryland, New Jersey – Mail-in ballots sent

Sept. 23

  • Mississippi – In-person absentee voting begins & absentee ballots sent
  • Oregon, Vermont – Absentee ballots sent

Sept. 26

  • Illinois – In-person early voting begins 
  • Michigan – Absentee ballots sent
  • Florida, Nevada – Mail-in ballots sent
  • North Dakota – Absentee & mail-in ballots sent

Sept. 30

  • Nebraska – Mail-in ballots sent

Oct. 4

  • Connecticut – Absentee ballots sent

Oct. 6

  • Michigan – In-person early voting begins 
  • Maine – In-person absentee voting begins & mail ballots sent
  • California – In-person absentee voting begins & mail ballots sent
  • Montana – In-person absentee voting begins
  • Nebraska – In-person early voting begins 
  • Georgia – Absentee ballots sent
  • Massachusetts – Mail-in ballots sent

Oct. 8

  • California – Ballot drop-offs open
  • New Mexico, Ohio – In-person absentee voting begins
  • Indiana – In-person early voting begins
  • Wyoming – In-person absentee voting begins & absentee ballots sent

Oct. 9

  • Arizona – In-person early voting begins & mail ballots sent

Oct. 11

  • Colorado – Mail-in ballots sent
  • Arkansas, Alaska – Absentee ballots sent

Oct. 15

  • Georgia – In-person early voting begins
  • Utah – Mail-in ballots sent

Oct. 16

  • Rhode Island, Kansas, Tennessee – In-person early voting begins
  • Iowa – In-person absentee voting begins
  • Oregon, Nevada – Mail-in ballots sent

Oct. 17

  • North Carolina – In-person early voting begins 

Oct. 18

  • Washington, Louisiana – In-person early voting begins
  • Hawaii – Mail-in ballots sent

Oct. 19

  • Nevada, Massachusetts – In-person early voting begins 
  • Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho, North Dakota, South Carolina, Texas – In-person early voting begins 
  • Colorado – Ballot drop-offs open

Oct. 22

  • Hawaii, Utah – In-person early voting begins 
  • Missouri, Wisconsin – In-person absentee voting begins

Oct. 23

  • West Virginia – In-person early voting begins

Oct. 24

  • Maryland – In-person early voting begins

Oct. 25

  • Delaware – In-person early voting begins

Oct. 26

  • Michigan, Florida, New Jersey, New York – In-person early voting begins 

Oct. 30

  • Oklahoma – In-person early voting begins 

Oct. 31

  • Kentucky – In-person absentee voting begins
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Venezuelans will keep fighting for democracy. They have no choice

If you asked Venezuelans how they felt at the beginning of 2023, most would answer hopeless and resigned. Nicolás Maduro, the socialist dictator, had just crushed and co-opted many of the opposition leaders. More than 9 million people were starving, not able to eat three meals a day. Over 350,000 Venezuelans had recently fled the country through the Darien Gap, and the regime was bombarding those who stayed with propaganda that ‘Venezuela is fixed.’ For many, the dictatorship was seen as unbeatable. The dilemma was now whether to get used to the new normal or leave the country.  
 
In this context, the fragmented opposition decided to solve its problem of unified leadership through primary elections. No one was betting on their success. But Venezuelans gave a lesson in democracy when 2.6 million stood against the regime on October 22 and nominated María Corina Machado with a 93% turnout. ‘Havana we have a problem!’ was probably heard in the hallways of Miraflores, the presidential palace, as an unprecedented social movement was now focused on restoring freedom and democracy.   

The reaction of the dictatorship was predictable. Machado was illegally banned from running for office and Professor Corina Yoris, the first opposition replacement, was blocked by the Electoral Council.  

Almost 5 million Venezuelan migrants were ruled out from voting, more than 120 activists were illegally detained during the campaign, and the electoral observation mission from the European Union was not allowed to enter the country. The Barbados Accords, signed a few days before the primary elections, were not fulfilled by Jorge Rodríguez, the chief of the regime’s negotiating team.  

Unfortunately, none of this was surprising.  

From this authoritarian haze, Edmundo González was the only democratic opposition candidate left that was ‘allowed’ to run. A long-serving diplomat, he was unknown by the majority of Venezuelans, and critically underestimated by the regime. His candidacy was registered on a voting ballot that featured the face of Maduro no less than 15 times and the faces of alacranes, so-called opposition candidates promoted by the regime, to confuse voters.  

Despite the omnipresent censorship of TV networks, radio stations and websites, González was recognized throughout the country in a matter of days. He formed a powerful duo alongside Machado who had not stopped rallying the country since she was banned from running by the regime.  

The country that was once hopeless and submerged in darkness recovered its faith. Venezuelans started to see a light at the end of the tunnel, but it was still a campaign within a dictatorship. The regime would not allow billboards or stages for rallies. Maduro’s intelligence apparatus employed brutal persecution against those who dared to speak out.  

The National Guard deployed checkpoints to control movement within the country. Restaurants were even shut down after Machado and González stopped by to eat. None of this mattered to the Venezuelan people who saw this moment as their last chance to return to democracy and reunite their families after decades of oppression.  

Ahead of the presidential election, the largest civic organization in Venezuela’s history was formed with more than 600,000 people signing up to become poll watchers, volunteers and mobilizers. These everyday heroes secured voting tallies despite the regime’s efforts to steal the election.  

They broadcast the reality of the people’s vote on a website that now serves as concrete evidence that González defeated Maduro in a landslide. Competing against a dictatorship and against all odds, González won 70% of the vote, the largest victory in the history of Venezuelan presidential elections. With a free and fair election, that number could have been closer to 90%. 

In the aftermath of the vote, election observers from the Carter Center and a panel of experts from the United Nations agreed on a lack of electoral transparency and were unable to declare Maduro as the victor.  

Despite the omnipresent censorship of TV networks, radio stations and websites, González was recognized throughout the country in a matter of days. He formed a powerful duo alongside Machado who had not stopped rallying the country since she was banned from running by the regime.  

The regime’s reaction has been brutal. In their so-called Operation Knock-Knock, Maduro’s thugs are targeting anyone who dares to speak out. Twenty-three people have been killed so far. Two thousand two hundred innocent Venezuelans have been arrested. Access to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, was shut down. Thousands of new police checkpoints were deployed across the country. And criminal investigations were launched against González and Machado.  
 
The real outcome of the election is plain to see behind Maduro’s lies: democracy won and the dictatorship lost. But as the regime holds on to power by force, Venezuelans have not lost faith. The movement that started last year against all odds and reached its peak on July 28 is unstoppable. The voice of the Venezuelan people cannot be silenced.  

Increasing pressure with non-violent protests within the country, peaceful gatherings across the world with the diaspora, and protecting the leadership of Machado and González will be decisive to achieve what Venezuelans deserve — freedom.  

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On Ukrainian Independence Day, over 100 POWs swapped with Russia

Ukraine exchanged over 100 individuals with Russia this week as the country celebrated its third Independence Day since the invasion began.

The two nations swapped an even number of prisoners — 115 soldiers for 115 soldiers — on Saturday, the 55th such exchange of the ongoing conflict.

‘Another 115 of our defenders have returned home today. These are warriors of the National Guard, the Armed Forces, the Navy, and the State Border Guard Service,’ Zelenskyy said in a statement on the exchange. ‘We remember everyone. We are searching for them and making every effort to bring them all back.’

The agreement was struck via negotiations facilitated by the United Arab Emirates. 

Zelenskyy praised those soldiers responsible for capturing Russian combatants, stating that such successes on the battlefield give the much smaller nation leverage in negotiations for their own men’s return.

‘I am grateful to each unit that replenishes our exchange fund. This helps to advance the release of our military personnel and civilians from Russian captivity,’ Zelenskyy said. ‘I thank our team and partners, the UAE, for bringing our people back home.’

Officials in the Kremlin are scrambling to downplay Ukraine’s invasion into the Kursk region as Russian President Vladimir Putin has failed for a second week to stop Kyiv’s advances on his home turf, according to a report by independent Russian news outlet Meduza.

The report, which first emerged last week, claimed that sources in the Kremlin have begun pushing government-funded media agencies to minimize the severity of the Ukrainian incursion and to start employing a propaganda campaign that encourages Russians to embrace the ‘new normal.’

Fox News Digital could not independently verify the report, which comes as Ukraine continues to tout its success in capturing more than 780 square miles of Kursk, including the town of Sudhza, as well as nearly 100 Russian villages, according to Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi on Tuesday. 

Fox News Digital’s Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.

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As Kamala gets coronated, Chicago gets democracy stress test

One day, airports will figure out a civilized method for catching an Uber after your flight, but that day was not last Sunday at O’Hare as a maelstrom of confused travelers stared into an endless stream of gray Toyota Camrys. Having made facial contact with my driver and exchanged names, I settled in for a bumper to bumper drive to my hotel and we began chatting.

‘Do you mind if I ask what your accent is?’ I queried. ‘I travel a lot but I can’t place it.’

‘Siberian,’ he laughed. ‘I know it’s confusing, I look Chinese and sound Russian. I hit the green card lottery.’

It turns out that the green card lottery is a few select spots for his area that he applied for on a whim and won. Four years ago he arrived, speaking no English, made his way to Chicago, and is thrilled to be here.

‘There is no democracy in Russia,’ he said. ‘Putin is dictator, and if you want a car like this you have to have a good job and that takes connections. It’s completely different.’

He doesn’t travel back to see his parents anymore, for fear of being arrested or conscripted.

It was a sobering way to enter Chicago on the week of the Democratic National Convention, and I wondered if the people here who hit the ‘born in America lottery,’ had quite such a sense of how special that is.

Chicago being Chicago, I mostly met Democrats, but not only Democrats. On my first night, I met a guy in a white and gold MAGA hat who loves trolling his hometown by wearing it. There are also many types of Democrats with their own priorities.

Several of the bartenders and hotel employees I spoke to emphasized unions. Most belonged to Local 1 of the Service Employees International Union, and they are worried about Donald Trump’s positions on the labor issue, and unclear where Harris stands on everything else. These were not woke progressives, and they also emphasized the difference between private and public unions.

‘We know the business,’ one told me. ‘We know if we ask too high, the business will shut down, the government has endless money.’

For these workers, as for so many others, their vote for president is directly tied to their jobs and bank accounts; for others, loftier notions take center stage.

One millennial couple I met was on their way to a concert sponsored by the DNC. Both Harris supporters, their political lifestyles were a bit different. In the dim-lit Chicago steakhouse, I asked if they had any friends voting for Trump. She didn’t, but he had a more rural upbringing and did.

‘We can talk politics,’ he told me of his friends back home. ‘It doesn’t get too heated, usually. We all try to listen.’ 

For these voters, in the upper middle class and beyond, the kitchen table politics of President Joe Biden’s composite financially struggling dad are not the core issues. They talk about abortion, and saving democracy, and Trump being horrible.

Another guy I met who was traveling for work and has a job in sports didn’t hold out too much hope that either side was much better than the other. ‘I don’t know, man, I’m not sure it matters much,’ he sighed, not angry, maybe a bit exasperated by it all.

Without exception, everyone I spoke to who was not a delegate told me that, of course, Harris should do interviews and press conferences. But as those who were delegates were quick to point out, it is not a dealbreaker for them, Trump, after all, being Trump.

On my Uber ride back to the airport on Wednesday, I was driven by another recent immigrant to our country, this time from Kuwait. ‘Why you vote?’ he bluntly asked me, referring to the convention. ‘The one with the most votes doesn’t even win.’

On this shorter midday jaunt, we talked about the electoral college, why every state has two senators, and all the other oddities of our republic.

‘In Kuwait, sometimes the prince gives us democracy, sometimes he takes it away,’ he said. ‘What’s the difference?’ 

It was clear that I wasn’t going to convince him, and I realized that there is no empirical way to prove the superiority of democracy, the dignity that comes with casting a ballot to have a say, being part of the citizenry at whose pleasure our politicians serve. 

My first immigrant driver got it, my second didn’t. And in between, in the Windy City, everyone had their own unique take on what it means to live and vote in our democratic republic. 

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Pro-Palestinian group ‘Abandon Biden’ changes to ‘Abandon Harris’ ahead of election

‘Abandon Biden’ is now ‘Abandon Harris.’

The pro-Palestinian group opposing the Democratic Party announced on Friday that its members were ‘now mobilizing under the banner of ‘Abandon Harris.”

‘While we will keep the registered name of Abandon Biden, our mission is now laser-focused on exposing and opposing Kamala Harris and her complicity in genocide,’ the statement from the group explained. ‘We call on all people of conscience to join us in holding the Democratic Party accountable for the bloodshed in Gaza.’

‘The DNC’s recent actions have only confirmed what we’ve been saying all along: the Democratic Party has no interest in ending the genocide in Gaza,’ the group continued. ‘They are not mere bystanders; they are active participants in this brutal, unforgivable violence.’

Abandon Harris is part of a larger movement on the left opposing the Democratic Party due to its continued support of Israel in the Jewish state’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

Anti-Israel demonstrators expressed their discontent with Harris’ campaign throughout this week’s Democratic National Convention with marches, protests, and demonstrations against speakers.

The Democratic presidential nominee attempted to extend an olive branch to the anti-Israel protesters during her speech at the convention, telling the crowd that President Biden’s administration is ‘working around the clock because now is the time to get a hostage deal and a cease-fire deal done.’

‘And let me be clear – I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself, and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself, because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on Oct. 7.’

At the same time, Harris said, ‘what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating,’ referring to the war casualties of innocent Palestinian people.

In July, Harris met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reiterate the administration’s support for Israel, while also expressing her ‘serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation there.’ There was an apparent cease-fire deal also discussed at the time. 

Fox News Digital’s Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.

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CLAY TRAVIS: When the Dems lose a Kennedy, they’ve lost the plot

Yesterday in Arizona, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the eldest son of Robert F. Kennedy, Sr. and the best-known surviving scion of the Kennedy family dynasty, took the stage to endorse Donald Trump for president of the United States. It was an iconic and consequential moment: A member of the Kennedy family, royalty in Democratic politics for generations, turning his back on the party of his family’s legacy to endorse a Republican candidate. In so doing, Kennedy did something extraordinary; he stood on principle over politics and embraced actual democracy instead of the rigged candidate system created by the Democratic National Committee.

In the space of a few sentences, Kennedy erased four days of speeches at the DNC. His clarion call for truth, accountability and the democratic system, has reverberated loudly for many middle of the road voters, people who feel alienated by the politics of both left and right, folks who no longer believe that people in positions of power care about their concerns at all. 

Having initially sought the nomination of the Democratic Party, Kennedy was blocked at every turn by President Joe Biden’s supporters in the DNC. They wouldn’t allow debates, wouldn’t allow a full contest for the party’s nomination. Even though Biden was mentally and physically a shell of the man he’d once been, the DNC protected Biden, arguing anyone sharing videos of his clear mental and physical deterioration was participating in ‘cheap fakes.’

So too did their allies in the left-wing media. 

Remember, it was only 60 days ago that CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other left-wing media allies attacked anyone who dared to suggest Biden was anything other than sharp as a tack behind closed doors.

Kennedy lambasted this in his address Friday afternoon endorsing Trump for president, and articulating the primary challenge of our times quite clearly.

‘When a U.S. president colludes with, or outright coerces, media companies to censor political speech, it’s an attack on our most sacred right of free expression,’ he said. ‘And that’s the very right upon which all of our constitutional rights rest.’

Democrats have become so corrupt that even a Kennedy can’t support them any longer.

RFK Jr. asserted that in the 16 months of his campaign, ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, and CNN combined gave him only two live interviews.

‘The mainstream media was once the guardian of the First Amendment and democrat principles, but has since joined the systemic attack on democracy,’ he said.

To bring this point into clear focus, after ignoring him for 16 months, as soon as he endorsed Trump, CNN had a member of the Kennedy family on last night in primetime to attack RFK Jr. The network that wouldn’t carry Kennedy himself or any of his arguments was happy to offer live primetime guest spots to members of his family who would trash him. 

All of this led to what I believe will be seen as an important legacy of the 2024 campaign. Democrats have become so corrupt that even a Kennedy can’t support them any longer. Kennedy’s embrace of Trump, which he compared to Abraham Lincoln’s team of rivals in his address, represents yet another incredible twist in an election season that has so far been propelled by the unexpected.   

Less than two months ago, on June 27, Trump took the stage to debate Biden in Atlanta.

I know it feels like two years since then, but consider what has happened since that night. Trump knocked out Biden, ending his political career. It was the first true knockout we’ve ever seen in the history of American presidential debates. It took several weeks — including Trump becoming the first president to be shot by a would-be assassin since Ronald Reagan in 1981 — for Biden to realize he couldn’t get back up off the electoral canvas, but on July 21 — three weeks and three days after the debate — the Biden campaign finally waved the towel in the corner of the ring. 

Biden was done. 

He withdrew from the race and has barely been seen since.

Next up, Kamala Harris. Yes, the same Kamala Harris who Democrats spent months arguing should be dropped from the political ticket because she was the least popular vice president in the history of modern American politics. Hell, Dick Cheney shot someone in the face while he was vice president(!), and was still more popular than Harris. In one fell swoop, without receiving a single vote for president, Democrats canceled the expressed will of 14 million primary voters and elevated Harris to the nomination. 

Amazingly, Harris, who has never received a single vote for president, is the nominee. 

Yes, the same Harris who dropped out of the 2020 presidential race before a single vote had been cast. The same Harris who most with functional brains realize would have never been the Democrat nominee if Biden had done what he should have done and announced he wasn’t running in the late spring of 2023. That would have allowed an actual Democratic primary but, alas, we’ve all come to realize Democrats don’t want elections, they want selections. 

Hillary Clinton in 2016, Biden in 2020, now Harris in 2024. They’re all the product of the people running the DNC, the hand-selected nominees of the party, will of the voters be damned. 

The party that claims Trump is a threat to democracy has now, incredibly, charged Trump with felonies in three different states and Washington, D.C., seeking jail time in each case, removed the president who received the Democrat nomination for president and replaced him with a nominee who received not a single vote for that nomination, fought every third party challenger, including Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the green party, Cornel West, and the libertarian party, who has sought ballot access in the 2024 election, and dutifully hidden Harris from all media, refusing all interview requests and all press conference availabilities. 

This is not the democratic process. This is not how candidates should be chosen. 

Kennedy realized all of this. 

It’s why he couldn’t stand silently by and allow himself to be a spoiler in this race. It’s why he felt compelled to speak out, stand on principle, and endorse the only presidential candidate who actually won a primary, to support the only presidential candidate who supports free speech and believes in sharing his vision for the world. 

Ultimately, even if it required him to turn his back on the party that made his family a mythological heir to Camelot, Kennedy had only one choice. 

The result — Trump and Kennedy are now a team. 

Thanks to the bevy of interviews, press conferences, and public events both men have had, we know exactly where Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy stand on all the issues. But we still don’t have a single policy page on Harris’ website. Her team has spent more time telling us what she doesn’t believe than what she does.

Harris is the phantom candidate, a smiley-faced emoticon gazing back at you from a computer screen as her videos play on social media influencer pages fed to our young by an algorithmic rig job perpetrated by our online billionaire lords, a constant loop of vacuous nothingness, as deep and complex as the number of votes she received for the most important job in the world — a rigged candidate from a rigged party, the antithesis of American democracy, the only person in any of our lives to ever run for president without a single person voting for them.

So now, here we are, it’s Harris vs. Trump and Kennedy, and if you’re paying attention to the slightest degree, even if you’re a lifelong Democrat like Kennedy, it isn’t a tough call at all. 

It’s Trump or nothing.

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Kennedy family members denounce RFK Jr.’s decision to endorse Trump as a ‘betrayal of values’

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s family denounced him for ‘betraying’ their family values after the former presidential candidate gave his full-throated support Friday to former President Trump. 

‘We want an America filled with hope and bound together by a shared vision of a brighter future, a future defined by individual freedom, economic promise and national pride,’ a statement signed by five of the former third-party presidential candidate’s siblings said.

‘We believe in Harris and Walz,’ the statement continued. ‘Our brother Bobby’s decision to endorse Trump [Friday] is a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear. It is a sad ending to a sad story.’

The statement, signed by Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Courtney Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, Chris Kennedy and Rory Kennedy, was shared by Joe Kennedy III, a grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, who wrote that it was ‘well said.’

Jack Schlossberg, RFK Jr.’s cousin, wrote that his relative was ‘for sale’ and now ‘works’ for Trump.

‘Never been less surprised in my life. Been saying it for over a year — RFK Jr. is for sale, works for Trump. Bedfellows and loving it,’ Schlossberg wrote in an X post. ‘Kamala Harris is for the people — the easiest decision of all time just got easier.’

Schlossberg, the son of Caroline Kennedy and the grandson of JFK, has been a vocal critic of his cousin’s campaign. 

When RFK Jr. first announced his candidacy, Schlossberg called him an ’embarrassment.’

The 31-year-old has been an ardent supporter of Harris and recently spoke at the Democratic National Convention.

The Independent presidential candidate on Friday dropped his White House bid and announced support for Trump.

‘I’ve made the heart-wrenching decision to suspend my campaign and to support President Trump. This decision is agonizing for me because of the difficulties it causes me and my children and my friends,’ he said during an event in Phoenix, Arizona. 

Hours later, Kennedy joined Trump onstage at an Arizona rally, where the crowd burst into resounding ‘Bobby!’ chants.

‘Three causes drove me to enter this race in the first place. And these are the principal causes that persuaded me to leave the Democratic Party and run as an independent and now to throw my support at President Trump,’ RFK Jr. said. ‘The causes were free speech, war in Ukraine and the war on our children.’ 

RFK Jr. said the Democratic National Committee ‘waged continued legal war’ on both Trump and him, while also accusing the DNC of running a ‘sham primary’ that prevented a serious primary challenge to President Biden before he secured the Democratic nomination and dropped out in July and endorsed Harris.

Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimson contributed to this report.

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Judge hands transgender woman win against female-only app in landmark case

A judge in Australia ruled Friday that the owner of a female-only social networking platform discriminated against a transgender woman by removing her from the app because she was born a male.

Reuters reported that Roxanne Tickle sued the Australian app Giggle for Girls, as well as its founder, Sally Grover, for unlawful gender identity discrimination in its services.

The suit claimed Grover removed Tickle’s account from the platform after she saw her photo and ‘considered her to be male.’

In a landmark decision on gender identity in Australia, the Federal Court — considered to be the country’s second-highest court — ordered Giggle for Girls to pay Tickle 10,000 Australian dollars ($6,700 U.S.) plus legal costs.

Judge Robert Bromwich, who oversaw the trial, did not order Giggle for Girls to issue a written apology, which Tickle had sought.

‘Tickle’s claim of direct gender identity discrimination fails, but her claim of indirect gender identity discrimination succeeds,’ Bromwich said.

This is the first time the Australian Federal Court has made a ruling on gender identity discrimination since the Sex Discrimination Act was modified in 2013.

Professor Paula Gerber of Monash University’s Faculty of Law said the court’s decision was ‘a great win for transgender women in Australia.’

‘This case sends a clear message to all Australians that it is unlawful to treat transgender women differently from cisgender women. It is not lawful to make decisions about whether a person is a woman based on how feminine they appear,’ she said.

The platform Giggle for Girls was marketed as a ‘safe space’ for women to share and discuss their experiences. Reuters reported that court filings show the platform had about 20,000 users in 2021.

The company placed a temporary stop to operations in 2022, but Grover says the platform will be relaunched soon.

In his decision, the judge claimed the platform considered only sex at birth as being a valid basis for a person to claim to be a man or woman.

The plaintiff was born a male and had sex reassignment surgery before Tickle’s birth certificate was updated, Bromwich said.

‘Unfortunately, we got the [judgment] we anticipated,’ Grover said in a post on X. ‘The fight for women’s rights continues.’

Tickle reportedly called the judge’s decision ‘healing,’ after receiving hateful comments online and seeing merchandise created specifically to mock her.

‘There is so much hate and bile cast on trans and gender-diverse people simply because of who we are,’ Australian media quoted her as saying outside the court.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Judge rules RFK Jr. can sue Biden administration over alleged censorship of charity that questions vaccines

A federal judge ruled Tuesday Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. can sue the Biden administration over alleged social media censorship of his Children’s Health Defense charity, which questions the safety of vaccines.

‘The Court finds that Kennedy is likely to succeed on his claim that suppression of content posted was caused by actions of Government Defendants, and there is a substantial risk that he will suffer similar injury in the near future,’ U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty in Louisiana said in a ruling. 

The lawsuit alleges the government had pressured social media giants like Facebook, X and YouTube to censor content it considered misinformation.

The Children’s Health Defense, which was founded by Kennedy, says its mission is ‘ending childhood health epidemics by eliminating toxic exposure.’ 

Critics of the charity have called it ‘anti-vaccine.’ The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that vaccines, including the COVID-19 vaccine, are ‘safe and effective.’ 

‘Judge Terry Doughty carefully and clearly analyzed the law and facts and applied the framework from the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Murthy v. Missouri regarding standing,’ CHD general counsel Kim Rosenberg said after the ruling, referring to a similar case brought against the government. 

‘The court also firmly found in plaintiffs’ favor that plaintiffs had not waived — and indeed had affirmatively raised — direct censorship claims in addition to listener claims.’

Murthy v. Missouri was recently brought by the Republican attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana, who accused the Biden administration of pressuring social media companies to censor certain content. 

A Louisiana court banned communication between the government and the companies, but the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision in June, said the plaintiffs had insufficient evidence to prove direct injury and found no direct link to the government in the censorship, adding companies have a right to moderate their own content. 

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote in the decision that ‘the evidence indicates that the platforms had independent incentives to moderate content and often exercised their own judgment.’

Chief Justice John Roberts and justices Brett Kavanaugh, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson also voted against the plaintiffs. 

In the Kennedy case, Doughty said there was direct evidence the charity’s censorship had been linked to the government. 

The case will now go back to a lower court, and the injunction will be reviewed, according to the Washington Examiner. 

The decision came just days before Kennedy suspended his struggling presidential campaign and endorsed former President Trump. 

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IDF strikes Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanon after they were seen preparing to fire toward Israel

The Israeli Defense Forces said Sunday morning it launched heavy airstrikes on Hezbollah positions across Lebanon after detecting the terror group was preparing for an ‘imminent’ attack on Israel.

‘The IDF identified the Hezbollah terrorist organization preparing to fire missiles and rockets toward Israeli territory. In response to these threats, the IDF is striking terror targets in Lebanon,’ IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in a statement. ‘Israeli Air Force fighter jets are currently striking targets belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization that posed an imminent threat to the citizens of the State of Israel.’

Civilians in southern Lebanon were urged to evacuate their homes and out of dangerous areas.

‘From right next to the homes of Lebanese civilians in the South of Lebanon, we can see that Hezbollah is preparing to launch an extensive attack on Israel, while endangering the Lebanese civilians,’ the IDF said. ‌‏’We warn the civilians located in the areas where Hezbollah is operating, to move out of harm’s way immediately for their own safety.’

Public shelters were opened across Israel as new restrictions were placed in northern areas of the country.

Nearly 80,000 Israelis were forced to evacuate their homes near the Lebanon border when Hezbollah began launching rockets and drones in October.

Israeli media reported that the terror group fired at least 320 projectiles into northern Israel early on Sunday. Hezbollah leaders have said the attacks will continue to prevent Israelis from returning to their homes. The attacks have killed 26 civilians and 19 soldiers in Israel. 

The terror group has launched more than 6,700 rockets and drones since Oct. 8.

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