During the 2024 campaign cycle, Americans witnessed what appeared to be no love lost between President-elect Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama.
However, at former President Jimmy Carter's funeral the two recent presidents appeared to be enjoying each other’s company and largely ignored other dignitaries arriving around them, including Vice President Kamala Harris and President Biden.
Susan Constantine, a communication and body language expert, said Harris came off "as cool as could be."
"'Ice Princess' all the way around. When she was walking she was very robotic. I call that ‘rigidity’ when we see that kind of soldier-like stance."
Harris deliberately averted eye contact with Trump, in a sign of disdain. The tension of her facial expression, with pursed lips tightened toward the center showed there was "no love lost" between the two 2024 contenders.
"She intentionally walked past him and a stride of arrogance and confidence that did not look well on her," Constantine said. "[It] tells me that she walked in there with a chip on her shoulder."
Another attendee who appeared to be more muted than normal was former First Lady Laura Bush.
Constantine said Mrs. Bush has always been known for her outgoing personality, but noted she did not greet the Trumps or Obama to her left.
"I think that she's just always been such a beautiful, eloquent woman that always has a genuine smile and appears to be very cordial. So I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt," Constantine said, adding she saw Bush look over her right shoulder only briefly to make eye contact – potentially with Al Gore or the Quayles.
However, Constantine said there was one interaction that very much stood out: Trump’s jovial conversation and gesticulations with Barack Obama.
"President Obama would lean his head towards him listening to what Trump had to say. Trump was always in that forward stance. He was always ready, engaging. And he and President Obama and Trump felt very much like this with one another that may have made the rest of [the presidential attendees] feel a bit uncomfortable."
However, there was a moment where Trump appeared to be talking about something Obama appeared to wish was held til after the somber event.
Trump appeared to give a "thumb shrug" to Obama, as if to ask "what do you think about this?"
Obama’s furrowed brow and "neutral expression" showed he was listening intently but that the men were having an "intense conversation," said Constantine.
The New York Post reported a lip-reader suggested the two were discussing "international agreements" which would therefore require such sensitivity.
When asked about Gore appearing to make a point to be first to stand and greet Trump, as well as others, Constantine said that would denote the Tennessean showing respect and being a "perfect gentleman."
Trump passed the Quayles without either member of the second family under President George H.W. Bush standing up, but Gore quickly rose to shake hands.
The longtime Democrat was likely putting politics aside when greeting the Republican president-elect, she said.
George W. Bush’s "belly tap" of Obama made the rounds on X after the ceremony.
"When you tap somebody on the stomach, that's where all your emotions are. And when you touch someone in that, it’s a personal zone. You’ve got to feel pretty comfortable to be able to do that. You have to feel very comfortable with that relationship in order to do that," she said of Bush, who notably has indeed had a civil relationship with the man who repeatedly criticized him in 2008.
Bush also notably reached back to playfully swat Vice President Dan Quayle with his bulletin as he took his seat.
That could be a sign Bush was uncomfortable, or just a less intimate or playful greeting.
The Clintons and Bidens notably arrived without actively greeting the rest of the assembled dignitaries. Hillary Clinton had an "incredulous" facial expression that she has shown before, Constantine said.
"If you could hone-in on Hillary, you'll see the dimples on both sides of her mouth make that incredulous expression that she’s got.
Overall, Constantine said, when people go to funerals, they act differently and usually say hello to everyone no matter past differences – and that sentiment could play into the interactions seen Thursday.
Meanwhile, the forensic lip reader – expert witness Jeremy Freeman – told the New York Post that Trump appeared to tell Obama the two should find a "quiet place" soon to discuss "a matter of importance."
"I’ve pulled out of that. It’s the conditions. Can you imagine that?" Trump said at one point, according to Freeman.
Freeman also indicated it appeared Trump asked Obama to call him after the funeral mass to discuss the issue or issues further.
The moment sparked a different tone between the two men, as Trump previously made light of allegations Obama is a Muslim, referring to him by his full name that includes the middle-name Hussein.
Obama has also taken shots at Trump over the years, including during the 2024 campaign when he appeared to reference Trump’s private parts with a joke about crowd sizes while gesturing with his hands a few inches apart.
He also compared Trump’s stump speeches to the rambling, hourslong diatribes by the late Cuban Communist leader Fidel Castro:
"You have the two-hour speeches, the word salad. It’s like Fidel Castro over and over again," Obama told a crowd in Allegheny County, Pa. in October.
FIRST ON FOX: As fires rage in California, the largest firefighter union in North America threw its support behind South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem for secretary of the Department of Homeland Security after notably remaining politically neutral in the 2024 election cycle.
"We support President Trump’s nomination of Governor Kristi Noem for Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. As a Governor, nominee Noem understands emergency management and the importance of government response to emergencies both natural and manmade.
"She has earned broad support from law enforcement unions, and we join many other organizations in calling for her speedy confirmation," International Association of Firefighters General President Edward Kelly wrote in a letter to senators Rand Paul and Gary Peters, the respective chair and ranking member on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security.
The IAFF's letter of endorsement for Noem comes as multiple fires rip through Los Angeles County, causing at least five deaths, widespread damage and the evacuation of more than 100,000 residents. Fox News Digital exclusively obtained the IAFF's endorsement Thursday.
"There is no greater government service than public safety. The members of IAFF are proud to serve our communities, and we look forward to working with Governor Noem and the Department of Homeland Security in the years ahead," the union chief said.
The IAFF represents 353,000 members who protect more than 85% of the communities living in both the U.S. and Canada. The DHS oversees a number of national security and law enforcement agencies, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Secret Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The IAFF's endorsement of Noem comes after the union notably decided against endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris or Trump ahead of the general election.
"The IAFF Executive Board determined that we are better able to advocate for our members and make progress on the issues that matter to them if we, as a union, are standing shoulder-to-shoulder. This decision, which we took very seriously, is the best way to preserve and strengthen our unity," Kelly said in an October statement declaring the union would remain neutral during the election.
A source familiar with Noem's nomination process highlighted the timing of the IAFF'S endorsement amid the raging California fires, saying the urgency behind its Noem support shows firefighters know "it’s important that President Trump have his whole team in place as quickly as possible to keep America safe from all threats."
"The whole country can see the horrible wildfires ravaging Southern California, and so it really says something that the firefighters union felt the urgency to stand up for Gov. Noem at this moment in time," the source said.
"These firefighters are the bravest of the brave, and they know that it’s important that President Trump have his whole team in place as quickly as possible to keep America safe from all threats, and to be in place for disaster response.
"Their endorsement solidifies the public safety support around Gov. Noem, since she’s also been endorsed by police organizations and the border patrol union. The message is clear — she should be confirmed as rapidly as possible."
Noem's Senate confirmation hearing with the Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs is scheduled for Jan. 15, kicking off at 9 a.m.
Noem is heading into the final leg of the confirmation process armed with support from law enforcement unions and groups. At least eight police groups or unions have sent letters to Sen. Paul calling for a speedy confirmation process, including a union that represents thousands of Border Patrol agents.
"On behalf of the men and women of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) who protect our nation's borders, we are excited to provide our support for President-elect Trump’s nominee, Governor Kristi Noem, to be the next Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security," National Border Patrol Council President Paul Perez wrote in a letter last month in support of Noem.
Law enforcement groups that have endorsed Noem include the National Fraternal Order of Police, the largest organization of sworn law enforcement officers in the U.S.; the National Association of Police Organizations; the International Union of Police Associations; the Toledo Police Patrolman’s Association; International Union of Police Associations Local 6020; the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, the Police Officers Association of Michigan; and the National Border Patrol Council.
Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry also called on Senate lawmakers, most notably Democrats, to swiftly confirm Noem after a terrorist attack that shook New Orleans New Year's Day.
"This is no time to play around," Landry said earlier this week. "Which is why I am also calling on Senate Democrats on the Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee to allow Kristi Noem to get to work on Day 1 as our Secretary of Homeland Security. There should be no gap in leadership. In the wake of the Bourbon Street and Las Vegas attacks, our nation’s security depends on her quick confirmation."
Trump announced Noem as his pick to lead DHS shortly after his decisive win over Harris at the ballot boxes, citing the Republican governor's efforts to secure the southern border, which has been overwhelmed by illegal crossings under the Biden administration.
"Kristi has been very strong on Border Security. She was the first Governor to send National Guard Soldiers to help Texas fight the Biden Border Crisis, and they were sent a total of eight times. She will work closely with ‘Border Czar’ Tom Homan to secure the Border, and will guarantee that our American Homeland is secure from our adversaries. I have known Kristi for years, and have worked with her on a wide variety of projects – She will be a great part of our mission to Make America Safe Again," Trump wrote in his announcement Nov. 12.
Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Douglas Emhoff appeared to ignore the two most recent former presidents at President Jimmy Carter's funeral at the Washington National Cathedral.
A uniformed officer led Harris and Emhoff to their seats on the first row, stage left, but as Harris entered the row, she paused to let Emhoff pass her to sit on the end, closest to the Trumps.
Unlike when former President George W. Bush arrived and received greetings from the Quayles, Al Gore and the Pences, there was not much movement when Harris and Emhoff arrived.
President-elect Trump and former President Barack Obama, who shared several minutes of conversation as the other first and second families arrived, remained facing generally forward as the current second couple arrived.
Former first lady Laura Bush could be seen seated behind Harris as well.
As Harris took her seat, she appeared to notice Obama speaking behind her, and turned to see her fellow Democrat engaging with the Florida man who defeated her in November.
Harris appeared to grimace, before facing forward again with, briefly, a strained look on her face.
At first, Harris paged through her funeral program as Emhoff looked around at the rafters of the majestic Episcopal church.
Harris later whispered in Emhoff's ear as she looked at her program. As the outgoing first family arrived, Harris appeared to offer a brief word to first lady Jill Biden.
One former second lady, Marilyn Quayle, was seated on the aisle in the third row behind the Clintons, and former second lady Karen Pence was seated next to her husband, former Vice President Mike Pence.
Both Lynne Cheney and Michelle Obama were absent. Tipper Gore has been separated from her Tennessee Democrat husband for more than a decade, and also was not seen at the service.
Biden said that "based on the polling," he thinks he could've done what his VP couldn't — defeat Trump for a second time.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Biden says he thinks he would've defeated Trump in 2024, "based on the polling."
Polling consistently showed Biden losing handily to Trump before he dropped out in July.
The president also says he's unsure if he would've been able to complete a second term.
President Joe Biden said in an interview this week that he believes he could have defeated President-elect Donald Trump if he had remained the Democratic nominee, rather than stepping aside for Vice President Kamala Harris.
"It's presumptuous to say that, but I think yes," Biden told USA Today.
The president was less sure, however, that he would've been able to serve out the entirety of a second term, noting that he would have been 86 years old at the end of it.
"When Trump was running again for reelection, I really thought I had the best chance of beating him. But I also wasn't looking to be president when I was 85 years old, 86 years old," Biden said. "Who the hell knows? So far, so good. But who knows what I'm going to be when I'm 86 years old?"
Though Harris came up short in the 2024 election, many prominent Democratic lawmakers have argued that she helped the party stave off an electoral disaster by replacing Biden, who lost the confidence of Democrats after a disastrous debate performance against Trump in June.
"President Trump beat Joe Biden after delivering the greatest debate performance in history, and he beat Kamala Harris in a landslide on Election Day," Trump-Vance Transition Spokesperson Anna Kelly told BI in a statement.
Rep. Angie Craig, a Democratic who represents a swing district in Minnesota, recently told NBC that Trump "would have taken, I believe, if Biden had stayed on the top of the ticket, 30 to 40 House seats with him."
Instead, Democrats actually gained one seat in the House.
Biden said that his belief that he could've done what Harris couldn't is "based on the polling." Polling at the time showed the president losing handily to Trump.
Former Vice President Mike Pence said it was "particularly admirable" that Vice President Kamala Harris oversaw certification of the 2024 presidential election, which she lost to President-elect Donald Trump.
"The peaceful transfer of power is the hallmark of our democracy and today, members of both parties in the House and Senate along with the vice president certified the election of our new president and vice president without controversy or objection," Pence declared Monday in a post on X.
He congratulated Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance on their victory, and hailed the "return of order and civility" to the certification process.
"I also commend the members of the House, Senate and the Vice President who did their duty under the Constitution of the United States, it being particularly admirable that Vice President Harris would preside over the certification of a presidential election that she lost," Pence noted.
After Trump and Pence lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, then-Vice President Pence presided over the certification during a joint session of Congress in 2021 that was temporarily interrupted due to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Pence, who mounted then later dropped a GOP presidential primary bid in 2023, did not endorse Trump in 2024.
The last time a sitting vice president who lost a presidential bid presided over the certification of their own presidential election loss was in 2001, after outgoing Democratic Vice President Al Gore lost to Republican George W. Bush in the 2000 White House contest.
Pence congratulated House Speaker Mike Johnson last week after the congressman won the speakership again.
Vice President Kamala Harris is set to do what only two other vice presidents in recent history have done - preside over her defeat in a White House election.
On Monday afternoon, Harris will oversee a joint session of Congress, when lawmakers will certify President-elect Donald Trump's victory over the current vice president in November's election.
The vice president said her mission is to ensure a peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next.
Harris, in a recorded video message released ahead of congressional certification of the 2024 Electoral College vote, said it is a "sacred obligation" she will uphold, "guided by love of country, loyalty to our Constitution and my unwavering faith in the American people."
Pointing to four years ago, when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an unsuccessful effort to upend congressional certification of Trump's 2020 election loss to President Biden, Harris said "as we have seen, our democracy can be fragile."
"It is up to each of us to stand up for our most cherished principles," the vice president emphasized.
The Capitol was attacked hours after Trump, at a large rally on the National Mall near the White House, repeated his unproven claims that the 2020 election was riddled with massive voter fraud and stolen from him. Trump urged then-Vice President Mike Pence not to certify the election results, a request that Pence disregarded.
Harris, in her role of presiding over the Senate, becomes the first vice president to oversee the congressional confirmation of their electoral loss since then-Vice President Al Gore did it in January 2001, following his razor-thin defeat to then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush in the 2000 election, which was decided by a Supreme Court ruling.
Four decades earlier, then-Vice President Richard Nixon presided over the certification of his narrow election loss in a 1960 showdown with then-Sen. John F. Kennedy.
Biden, in comments Sunday night, joined Harris in emphasizing that he was "determined to do everything in my power to respect the peaceful transfer of power."
The president, pointing to the Jan. 6, 2021 storming of the Capitol, told new Democrats in Congress that "now it's your duty to tell the truth. You remember what happened, and I won't let January 6th be rewritten or even erased."
A U.S. Army soldier has been charged with selling confidential phone records.
Cameron John Wagenius, 20, was charged by federal authorities in Texas with two counts of unlawful transfer of confidential phone records information on Dec. 20 and the indictment was unsealed this week.
Wagenius was a soldier at Fort Cavazos in Texas. Court records didn’t specify his rank.
He was allegedly linked to the online handle Kiberphant0m, which was part of several high-profile data breaches, including the Snowflake data hacking, and which claimed to have hacked President-elect Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris' phone records, Reuters reported, citing cybersecurity journalist Brian Krebs.
The alleged AT&T call logs for the 2024 presidential candidates were posted online in November, according to The Verge, which noted that the call logs had not been verified as genuine.
The indictment didn't give details on the hacking.
The indictment accuses Wagenius of selling "confidential phone records" online.
"We are aware of the arrest of a Fort Cavazos soldier," Fort Cavazos told Fox News Digital. "III Armored Corps will continue to cooperate with all law enforcement agencies as appropriate."
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.
Now that the U.S. has put a bow on the year, Fox News Digital looks back on the biggest political news stories that turned Washington, D.C., on its head.
The year kicked off with President Biden in the driver’s seat of the Democratic Party as he keyed up a re-election effort in what was shaping up to be a second matchup against now-President-elect Donald Trump.
In February, however, Biden’s 81 years of age and mental acuity fell under public scrutiny after years of conservatives questioning the commander-in-chief’s mental fitness. Special counsel Robert Hur, who was investigating Biden’s alleged mishandling of classified documents as vice president, announced he would not recommend criminal charges against Biden for possessing classified materials after his vice presidency, calling Biden "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."
The report renewed scrutiny over Biden’s mental acuity, which rose to a fever pitch in June after the president’s first and only presidential debate against Trump.
Biden faced backlash for a handful of gaffes and miscues in the days leading up to his debate against Trump, including former President Obama taking Biden’s wrist and appearing to lead him off a stage during a swank fundraiser, and also abroad when Italian Prime Minister Giogia Meloni guided Biden back to a group of world leaders when he appeared to wander off to give a thumbs-up to a parachutist during the G-7 summit.
When the big debate day arrived, Biden missed his marks repeatedly, tripping over his responses and appearing to lose his train of thought as he squared up against Trump. The disastrous debate performance led to an outpouring of both conservatives and traditional Democrat allies calling on the president to bow out of the race in favor of a younger generation.
The White House for weeks defiantly insisted that Biden would "absolutely not" drop out of the race, with his communications team and campaign daily combating the claims and speculation.
On July 21, Biden issued a tweet that Sunday afternoon announcing he would bow out of the race.
Biden endorsed Vice President Harris to pick up the mantle shortly after dropping out of the race in a separate social media post published on X, formerly Twitter.
Biden’s exit from the race, when there were only about 100 days left before Nov. 5, was the first time the presumptive nominee of a major political party withdrew from the election after winning primaries.
Harris soon launched her truncated campaign, flanked by staffers from the Obama administration and campaigns and also a handful of holdovers from Biden’s campaign.
Harris earned the nomination of the party despite not running in the primaries, sparking some calls, including from Democrats, that the process was "undemocratic." High-profile Democrats from the Obamas to the Clintons threw their support behind Harris, while former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said Harris' nomination was fair by arguing the nomination process was "open" and Harris "won it."
"We do not live in a dictatorship," left-wing group Black Lives Matter declared over the summer. "Delegates are not oligarchs. Installing Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee and an unknown vice president without any public voting process would make the modern Democratic Party a party of hypocrites."
Harris previously ran for the White House during the 2020 election cycle, but she dropped out in early December 2019, two months before the 2020 Iowa caucuses.
Before Trump was elected president, he faced two assassination attempts in July and September that rocked voters and the election cycle.
Trump took the stage at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13 for what was intended to be a rally in the crucial swing state. Then shots rang out.
Trump was seen dropping to the ground during the rally before he quickly stood up, a bloodied ear apparent, while surrounded by Secret Service agents.
"Fight, fight, fight," Trump was seen shouting to the crowd with a raised fist as he was escorted off the stage.
One man, Corey Comperatore, lost his life while protecting his family from the attack, and two other people were seriously injured.
The would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was shot and killed by a Secret Service sniper.
The attack unfolded just days before the Republican National Convention kicked off in Milwaukee. Despite initial speculation the RNC would be upended by the attempt, Trump appeared throughout the week with a patch over his injured right ear before formally accepting the nomination in a speech.
"The amazing thing is that prior to the shot, if I had not moved my head at that very last instant, the assassin’s bullet would have perfectly hit its mark and I would not be here tonight. We would not be together," Trump said in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.
"Bullets were flying over us, yet I felt serene. But now the Secret Service agents were putting themselves in peril. They were in very dangerous territory," Trump continued. "Bullets were flying right over them, missing them by a very small amount of inches. And then it all stopped. Our Secret Service sniper, from a much greater distance and with only one bullet used, took the assassin’s life, took him out."
Weeks later, on Sept. 15, Trump faced an assassination attempt while golfing at his Trump International Golf Club in Florida.
Trump was safely escorted from the green at his golf club in West Palm Beach that Sunday afternoon after suspect Ryan Routh allegedly pointed a rifle toward the 45th president just outside the perimeter of the club. Routh fled the scene but was apprehended shortly thereafter on I-95.
Routh allegedly waited in the bushes near Trump's golf course for 12 hours ahead of the attempt on the former president's life.
Routh has pleaded not guilty in the case, which includes charges such as the attempted assassination of a presidential candidate and assault on a federal officer. His attorneys are reportedly considering an insanity defense as court proceedings continue.
While juggling his successful re-election effort, Trump spent much of the year battling criminal charges and legal cases, including sitting trial for weeks in the New York v. Trump case.
Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the Manhattan case in May. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office worked to prove that Trump falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to quiet her claims of an alleged affair with Trump in 2006.
Trump maintained his innocence in the case and called it a "sham" and "witch hunt." The guilty verdict was slammed by both Trump and legal experts as an example of "lawfare" promoted by Democrats in an effort to hurt his election efforts ahead of November.
Trump plowed ahead with his election effort despite the guilty verdict, completing a massive political comeback when he defeated Harris at the polls.
Heading into Election Day, the polls were tight and both Trump and Harris zeroed in on locking down votes in key battleground states, most notably Pennsylvania. Final results from the election were expected to take days, harkening back to the 2020 election cycle during the pandemic, but Trump’s decisive win was declared late on election night.
Trump took the stage to accept victory after Fox News projected he would win Pennsylvania, which carries 19 electoral votes, as well as Wisconsin, Georgia and North Carolina. Trump ultimately notched 312 electoral votes to Harris’ 226 and also secured the popular vote.
"Every citizen, I will fight for you, for your family and your future. Every single day, I will be fighting for you. And with every breath in my body, I will not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe and prosperous America that our children deserve and that you deserve. This will truly be the golden age of America. That's what we have to have. This is a magnificent victory for the American people that will allow us to make America great again," he said just before 2:30 a.m. after the election.
During last year's college school year, agitators and student protesters flooded college campuses nationwide to protest the war in Israel, which also included spiking instances of antisemitism and Jewish students publicly speaking out that they do not feel safe on some campuses.
Radicals on Columbia University’s campus in New York City, for example, took over the school's Hamilton Hall building, while schools such as UCLA, Harvard and Yale worked to clear spiraling student encampments where protesters demanded their elite schools completely divest from Israel.
Terrorist organization Hamas launched a war in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which initially fanned the flames of antisemitism on campuses in the form of protests, menacing graffiti and students reporting that they felt as if it was "open season for Jews on our campuses." The protests heightened to the point Jewish students at some schools, including Columbia, were warned to leave campus for their own safety.
On Penn's campus, Fox News Digital exclusively reported in May that anti-Israel radicals were passing around multiple guides directing agitators on how to break into buildings, "escalate" protests, create weapons and even administer first aid.
"Let repression breed more resistance. We will not disavow any actions taken to escalate the struggle, including militant direct actions. Our notion of ‘safety’ in the imperial core is built on centuries of corpses, and this liberal framing of 'safetyism' prevents us from escalating and winning, which is our duty to Palestine and us all. We keep us safe by escalating. Don't hesitate to take more risk," one how-to guide dubbed "FLOOD THE GATES: ESCALATE" read.
The college protests and war in Israel became a focal point of the presidential race as well as down-ballot races, with Republicans repeatedly condemning antisemitism on college campuses and demanding peace be restored to colleges.
College administrators from top schools such as UCLA, Rutgers and Northwestern were grilled by lawmakers over their handling of antisemitism on campus, while Trump warned school leaders if they allow antisemitism to run rampant, they could lose accreditation.
As Democrats aim to rebound following stunning setbacks in the 2024 elections, the race for Democratic National Committee chair is very publicly heating up.
Getting less attention, but also starting to quietly commence, are moves by Democratic politicians who may have national ambitions in the next White House race.
And while 2028 may seem like a long way away, recent history shows that the early moves in the next White House race start, well, very early.
The unofficial starting gun for the 2024 race was fired by then-former President Donald Trump less than two months after leaving the White House, with a CPAC speech that teased his eventual 2024 presidential campaign.
A few weeks later, the first visits to the key early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire by potential GOP presidential contenders were also underway.
Fast-forward four years, and expect similar actions by Democratic politicians who may harbor national ambitions. With the soon-to-be 82-year-old President Biden exiting the national stage, and Vice President Kamala Harris, in the wake of her defeat by Trump, in no immediate rush to decide her political future, the road to the 2028 nomination may be wide open.
"The jockeying for 2028 took a brief pause when Harris became the nominee and looked to be in a strong position, which would have meant shutting out potential candidates for the next four to eight years. Now, though, it’s wide open, and it won’t be long before we see clear maneuvering from a litany of candidates," seasoned Democratic political strategist Chris Moyer told Fox News.
Moyer, a veteran of a handful of presidential campaigns, noted that "this will include travel to states like New Hampshire and South Carolina and Nevada, presumably under the auspices of helping candidates in the midterms. Democratic voters in the early states will soon want to find someone they can get excited about and a future to look forward to in the midst of the misery of another four years of Trump in the White House. These potential candidates will be more than happy to oblige."
The results of the 2026 midterm elections will have a major impact on the shape of the next White House race.
For now, however, here is an initial look at Democratic Party politicians considered to be potential 2028 presidential contenders.
Vice President Kamala Harris
As the 60-year-old Harris finishes up her final weeks as the nation's vice president, early polling in the 2028 Democratic nomination race indicates that she would be a front-runner, thanks in part to her name recognition within her party.
While any decisions on her next political steps are months away, sources in the vice president's orbit confirm to Fox News that top aides are divided on whether Harris should run again for the White House in 2028, or instead launch a 2026 gubernatorial campaign in her home state of California, which would likely prevent her from seeking the presidency two years later.
While there are plenty of voices within the party who would like to move on from the Biden/Harris era following Trump's sweeping victory, and there is little history of Democrats yearning for past defeated presidential nominees, Trump has re-written the rules when it comes to defeated White House contenders making another run.
And potential buyers' remorse of a second Trump administration could boost Harris in the years to come.
Gov. Gavin Newsom of California
California Gov. Gavin Newsom was a top surrogate for President Biden during the president's re-election bid. With the blessing of the White House, the two-term California governor debated then-Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis last year on Fox News.
Newsom's travels on behalf of Biden brought him to New Hampshire and South Carolina, two crucial early voting states on the Democratic Party's nominating calendar.
After the vice president, his friend and fellow Californian, replaced Biden atop the Democrats' 2024 ticket, the governor continued — after a pause — his efforts to keep Trump from returning to the White House.
With Trump's election victory last week, Newsom became one of the Democratic Party leaders getting ready to lead the opposition. The governor announced that California state lawmakers would meet to quickly take legislative action to counter Trump's likely upcoming agenda.
The 57-year-old Newsom, who is term-limited, completes his duties in Sacramento at the end of next year, right around the time the 2028 presidential election will start to heat up.
Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois
Illinois Gov JB Pritzker, similar to Newsom, is already taking steps to Trump-proof his state.
"You come for my people, you come through me," Pritzker told reporters of his efforts to protect Illinois.
Pritzker was also a high-profile surrogate on behalf of Biden and then Harris during the 2024 cycle. Those efforts brought Pritzker to Nevada, a general election battleground state and an early-voting Democratic presidential primary state, and New Hampshire.
However, before he makes any decision about 2028, the 59-year-old governor must decide whether he will run in 2026 for a third term steering Illinois.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan
Two-term Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer grabbed plenty of attention and became a Democratic Party rising star in 2020 when she feuded with then-President Trump over COVID pandemic federal assistance and survived a foiled kidnapping attempt.
Trump, at the time, called her "that woman from Michigan."
Along with Newsom and Pritzker, Whitmer's name was floated as a possible replacement for Biden following his disastrous debate performance against Trump in late June, before the president endorsed Harris and the party instantly coalesced around the vice president.
Whitmer was a leading surrogate for Biden and then for Harris and made a big impression on Democratic activists during a stop this summer in New Hampshire on behalf of Harris.
The governor is term-limited and will leave office after the end of next year.
Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania
Gov. Josh Shapiro, the 51-year-old first-term governor of Pennsylvania, was on Harris' short-list for vice presidential nominee.
Even though the vice president named Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, Shapiro remained a top surrogate on behalf of his party's 2024 national ticket.
However, his two-day swing in New Hampshire during the final full week ahead of Election Day did raise some eyebrows and 2028 speculation.
After Harris lost battleground Pennsylvania to Trump, there was plenty of talk within the party that Harris had made the wrong choice for her running mate.
Shapiro, who has a track record of taking on the first Trump administration as Pennsylvania attorney general, is expected to play a similar role with the former president returning to the White House.
The governor will be up for re-election in 2026.
Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is considered by many to be another Democratic Party rising star.
The 46-year-old Army veteran, Rhodes Scholar and CEO of the charitable organization the Robin Hood Foundation during the coronavirus pandemic was elected two years ago.
Moore will be up for re-election in 2026.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who surpassed expectations during his 2020 Democratic presidential nomination run, was a very active surrogate on behalf of Biden and later Harris, during the 2024 cycle.
He helped raise a lot of money for the Democratic Party ticket, including heading a top-dollar fundraiser in New Hampshire.
The 42-year-old former South Bend, Indiana, mayor and former naval officer who served in the war in Afghanistan, is considered one of the party's biggest and brightest stars. He was known as a top communicator for the administration, including making frequent appearances on Fox News.
Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky
The 46-year-old Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who was elected governor in 2019 and then re-elected in 2023 in red-state Kentucky, was also on Harris' larger list for running mate.
Beshear made plenty of new friends and contacts as he ventured to New Hampshire last month to headline the state Democratic Party's annual fall fundraising gala.
Beshear served as Kentucky's attorney general before running for governor.
Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia
Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, 55, will likely be a major player in Washington as the Democratic minority in the Senate fights back against the second Trump administration.
Warnock, who won Senate elections in 2020 and 2022 in battleground Georgia, served as senior pastor at the famed Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Martin Luther King Jr. once preached.
He is up for re-election in the Senate in 2028.
Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, who ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, is considered one of the party's most talented orators.
Thanks to his 2020 run, Booker made plenty of friends and allies in such early states as New Hampshire and South Carolina.
The senator is up for re-election in 2026.
Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut
Since the November election, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut has been very vocal about the steps Democrats need to make to win back working-class voters.
First elected to the House in 2006 and to the Senate in 2012, Murphy cruised to re-election this year by nearly 20 points, which means he won't have to decide between a re-election bid and a White House run in 2028.
Rep. Ro Khanna of California
Rep. Ro Khanna, 48, was a tireless surrogate on behalf of Biden and then Harris.
He has been a regular visitor to New Hampshire in the past couple of years, including a high-profile debate last year against then-GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York
The progressive rock star and best-known lawmaker among the so-called Squad of diverse House Democrats in October turned 35, the minimum age to run for president.
Some Democrats argue that a riveting messenger with star power is needed as the party's next nominee, and Ocasio-Cortez is guaranteed to grab plenty of attention if she ultimately decides to run.
Mark Cuban
Another potential contender with plenty of star power is Mark Cuban.
The billionaire business mogul and part-owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks’ was a high-profile surrogate for Harris during her presidential election campaign.
Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, 67, who is finishing up his eighth and final year as governor, took his name out of the Harris running mate speculation early in the process this summer.
Cooper served 16 years as North Carolina's attorney general before winning election as governor.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, 65, is halfway through her second term steering New Mexico.
The governor, a former member of Congress, was a high-profile and busy surrogate on behalf of Harris during the final weeks of the 2024 campaign.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz
The 60-year-old Minnesota governor, who served as Harris' running mate, has two years remaining in his second term in office.
While the vice presidential nominee's energy and enthusiasm on the campaign trail this year impressed plenty of Democratic strategists, the final results of the election will make any potential future national run for Walz difficult.
Two other names keep coming up — Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey and former Chicago mayor, former congressman, former White House chief of staff and current ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel.
The presidential election generated numerous high-profile political gaffes this year, including President Biden’s widely-panned debate performance and him calling Trump supporters "garbage" in the closing days of Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign.
Here are six of the biggest political gaffes of 2024:
A disastrous performance by President Biden during his debate with former President Trump on June 27 appeared to be the beginning of the end for Biden's 2024 re-election campaign.
He struggled with a raspy voice and delivered rambling answers during the debate in Atlanta, sparking doubts about his viability at the top of the Democratic Party’s presidential ticket.
Biden’s campaign blamed the hoarse voice on a cold and the 81-year-old admitted a week later that he "screwed up" and "had a bad night," yet that didn’t stop a chorus of Democrats from making calls for him to drop out of the race.
In a shocking move, Biden then pulled the plug on his campaign on July 21 and endorsed Harris, who would go on to lose to Trump in November.
Trump’s rally in Madison Square Garden in New York City on Oct. 27 made headlines when a comedian mocked different ethnic groups, calling Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage."
Then, during a conference call with the Voto Latino group on Oct. 30, Biden said, "The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters."
Biden and the White House then tried to clean up his words in the days afterward. However, the remark was quickly likened to Hillary Clinton’s labeling of half of Trump supporters as belonging in "a basket of deplorables" in 2016, a comment that was widely seen as undermining her campaign.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ answer to a question during an Oct. 8 appearance on "The View" may have been a turning point in the 2024 presidential election.
Co-host Sunny Hostin asked Harris, "If anything, would you have done something differently than President Biden during the past four years?" Harris paused for a moment and then said, "There is not a thing that comes to mind in terms of — and I’ve been a part of most of the decisions that have had impact."
Hostin had given Harris a clear opportunity to differentiate herself from Biden, but Harris instead effectively cut an ad for Trump's campaign by allowing it to tie her directly to an unpopular administration.
Harris’ running mate Tim Walz raised eyebrows during his vice presidential debate with Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, on Oct. 1, when he declared he had "become friends with school shooters."
The poorly timed mishap occurred when the Minnesota governor was asked about changing positions on banning assault weapons.
"I sat in that office with those Sandy Hook parents. I’ve become friends with school shooters. I’ve seen it," Walz said.
Walz presumably meant he had become friendly with parents who lost children during horrific school shootings.
Trump appeared to confuse then-Republican presidential primary opponent Nikki Haley with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during a rally in New Hampshire on Jan. 20.
Speaking in Concord, Trump said that Haley, his former ambassador to the United Nations, had been responsible for the collapse of Capitol Hill security during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. Trump has previously blamed Pelosi for turning down National Guard support before the riot.
"You know, by the way, they never report the crowd on January 6, you know, Nikki Haley. Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, you know, they — did you know they destroyed all the information and all of the evidence. Everything. Deleted and destroyed all of it, all of it, because of lots of things, like Nikki Haley is in charge of security. We offered 10,000 people, soldiers, National Guard. So whatever they want, they turned it down. They don't want to talk about that. These are very dishonest people," Trump said.
Harris found herself in the headlines repeatedly this year for making confusing verbal statements.
"I grew up understanding the children of the community are the children of the community, and we should all have a vested interest in ensuring that children can go grow up with the resources that they need to achieve their God-given potential," the vice president once said in September.
"We are here because we are fighting for a democracy. Fighting for a democracy. And understand the difference here, understand the difference here, moving forward, moving forward, understand the difference here," she then said at a campaign event in November.
The remarks drew criticism and ridicule from conservatives online.
President Biden mistakenly introduced Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as "President Putin" during a NATO conference in Washington, D.C., in July.
"And now I want to hand it over to the president of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination," Biden said, before starting to leave the podium. "Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin."
"He’s going to beat President Putin. President Zelenskyy. I’m so focused on beating Putin," Biden then said, appearing to realize the verbal stumble. "We got to worry about it. Anyway, Mr. President."
Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser, Joseph A. Wulfsohn, Jacqui Heinrich, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, David Rutz, Brian Flood and Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
Former President Barack Obama's years of dominating Democratic Party politics may be drawing to a close, as he and party leaders will likely face a "greater reckoning" after Democrats’ losses in the 2024 election, experts predict.
The whirlwind presidential election saw the Democratic Party rally around both President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris as their nominee at separate times – all with Obama’s seal of approval. The political landscape shifted with a single tweet from Biden on a Sunday July afternoon, with Obama and his allies deeply entwined with efforts to navigate the party to what they hoped would be an electoral victory come Nov. 5, a look back at the cycle shows.
President-elect Trump notched a decisive win last month, racking up 312 electoral votes to Harris’ 226 and taking a victory lap for what the media has described as an "historic political comeback" that has shaken the Democratic establishment as they pivot to combating Trump 2.0 and his policies.
"I think there are going to be big demands for a greater reckoning. The Democratic politburo – Obama, Pelosi, Schumer, Jeffries and others – all participated in the obvious lie that Biden was capable of a second term, in the anti-Democratic move to install a wholly untested Vice President Harris," Democratic strategist Julian Epstein told Fox News Digital when asked about Obama’s legacy following the election. "And in lacking the courage for the past four years to stand up a progressive left whose policies are far out of touch with most voters."
"They all failed the test of leadership in this respect."
This month, Obama delivered a speech at the 2024 Obama Democracy Forum, which earned him a headline on MSNBC, reading, "Obama still doesn’t get why Trump won. That’s the problem."
"Obama’s characteristic rhetorical virtues were on full display. He was a constitutional law professor before he was a politician, and he still sounds like one. At the same time, he was a once-in-a-generation talent as a political communicator. He knows how to convey a complex set of ideas in a digestible and appealing way," the op-ed read.
"But there was a massive gaping hole at the center of his speech. He still doesn’t understand why his eight years in power culminated in the rise of Trump," the op-ed continued, arguing that the "first step" to better respond to Americans’ demand for change from the status quo "is to stop listening to Barack Obama."
The Democratic Party and Harris campaign have been dragged by some allies, such as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, for moving away from working-class voters while Trump rallied their support. Harris came under fire, for example, for featuring Hollywood celebrities and musicians during her campaign rallies, which were viewed as tone-deaf as Americans struggled with inflation, and their anxiety mounted over ongoing wars in Israel and Ukraine.
Now,the Democratic Party is in the midst of a reckoning over the failed election efforts, which saw the White House and Senate flip red and the House remain in the GOP’s control.
"Harris’ advisers blame everything but themselves for their loss," an op-ed published in the Washington Post this month reads. The piece took issue with how a handful of Harris campaign staffers joined the left-wing "Pod Save America" podcast, which is hosted by former Obama aides, and defended their work on the campaign.
David Plouffe, Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, Stephanie Cutter and Quentin Fulks joined the show – all of whom, except Fulks, previously worked for Obama’s presidential campaigns or administration.
"What the four never did is directly admit any major mistakes they made. ‘We should have really pushed Harris to distance herself from President Biden’; ‘Maybe we spent too much time in Arizona’ (Harris lost there by 6 percentage points); ‘We should have had a Palestinian speaker at the Democratic National Convention.’ There were no blunt statements like that," the op-ed read.
While the New York Post editorial board declared in a headline following the election: "Trump and America bury the Obama doctrine."
When "Obama installed Kamala Harris as the latest face of his revolution, the American public of all colors, ages and genders finally called time," the Post editorial board argued. "Voters at last saw through the industrialized demonization of Trump and woke up to the truth that his policies are far closer to the American ideal and what they consider normal."
"Let’s all pray that our self-proclaimed betters in their Martha’s Vineyard mansions will finally realize that this was the death of ‘Obamaism’ once this latest thumping fully sinks in," they concluded.
Amid the unprecedented election cycle for Democrats, Obama and his longtime allies have been entwined with Biden’s exit and Harris’ rise and fall as the nominee.
Concerns over President Biden’s mental fitness had circulated for years, heightening last winter when Special Counsel Robert Hur, who was investigating the president’s alleged mishandling of classified documents when he was vice president, characterized Biden in his report as "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."
Biden’s actions on the national and international stage soon came under further scrutiny, showcasing a handful of gaffes and miscues, including Obama taking Biden’s wrist to seemingly lead him offstage at a fundraiser in LA in June, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni directing Biden back to a gaggle of world leaders in Italy that same month, and data showing Biden frequently delivered remarks to supporters at campaign rallies for a shorter amount of time than a sitcom.
Amid the controversy, however, Obama was seemingly acting as Biden’s political closer to help lock up votes and donations, joining the 46th president at swank fundraisers in California and New York City, and at a moderated conversation with late night host Stephen Colbert between Obama, Biden and former President Bill Clinton.
Biden and Trump’s only debate of the election cycle opened the floodgates to both Democrats and Republicans questioning and sounding off with concern over Biden’s mental acuity. Biden was seen tripping over his words during the debate, losing his train of thought at times, responding with a raspy voice, and was overall slammed for having a slow and weak demeanor while squaring off against Trump.
Just days after the disastrous debate, Obama defended Biden’s performance by arguing the election pitted a political crusader supporting "ordinary folks" against Trump, whom he described as a man "who only cares about himself."
"Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know. But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself. Between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the American people straight – and someone who lies through his teeth for his own benefit. Last night didn’t change that, and it’s why so much is at stake in November," he posted to X, accompanied by a link to Biden’s campaign website.
Obama remained vocally coy on Biden in the subsequent days, as the White House was grilled about the president’s mental acuity, and soon traditional Democratic allies of the president began calling on Biden to pass the torch to a younger generation.
Notably, a list of Obama allies and former advisers led the charge in calling for Biden’s exit from the race, including former adviser David Axelrod, former director of speech writing Jon Favreau, former advisers Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor, and Hollywood actor and longtime Obama friend George Clooney.
"It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010," Clooney wrote in a New York Times op-ed after joining Biden and Obama for the fundraiser in L.A. "He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate."
As media reports circulated that Obama was working "behind the scenes" to oust Biden from the race, the 44th president remained mum, not denying the reports. Politico reported that Clooney even gave Obama a "heads-up" that his op-ed calling on Biden to bow out of the race was set to publish, with Obama reportedly not objecting to the opinion piece.
Biden dropped out of the race on July 21 in a message posted to X that Sunday afternoon. Obama commended Biden’s decades in politics in response, but did not tip his hand on who he would endorse to take his place.
"There is no singular reason why we lost, but a big reason is because the Obama advisers publicly encouraged Democratic infighting to push Joe Biden out, didn’t even want Kamala Harris as the nominee, and then signed up as the saviors of the campaign, only to run outdated Obama-era playbooks for a candidate that wasn’t Obama," one former Biden staffer told Politico.
Biden endorsed Harris the same afternoon he dropped out of the race, teeing her up for a likely nomination with just 100 days and change to rally support from voters.
Obama has had a long relationship with Harris, as she was among the first elected Democrats in the nation to endorse Obama’s first run for president in the 2008 election, snubbing Hillary Clinton in favor of the then-Illinois senator.
Harris was in attendance when Obama announced his candidacy for president in 2007, after first meeting him in 2004 when he was an Illinois state senator running for the U.S. Senate, the Washington Examiner previously reported.
"Barack Obama will be a president who finally ends the era of fear that has been used to divide and demoralize our country," Harris said during California's Democratic convention in 2008.
As Harris built her political career from San Francisco district attorney to California attorney general and then senator, Harris was even dubbed "the female Obama" by some political analysts.
In her second presidential campaign, Harris on-boarded or retained a bevy of Obama orbit allies and former staffers, including: former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe; former deputy campaign manager for Obama's 2012 election Stephanie Cutter; former Obama campaign grassroots strategist Mitch Stewart; and former Obama White House director of communications Jennifer Palmieri.
Harris also tapped Obama’s former attorney general, Eric Holder, to lead the vetting process of her potential running mates, while Jennifer O'Malley Dillon, who worked as Obama’s 2012 deputy campaign manager and Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign chair, was announced as Harris’ campaign manager.
Obama has historically held his presidential endorsements close to his vest, offering his support to Harris the Friday after Biden dropped out as speculation mounted surrounding the coveted Obama endorsement.
Obama, who was joined by former first lady Michelle Obama in the endorsement of Harris, solidified Harris as the likely nominee before the official virtual roll call vote and Harris flying to Chicago, where she accepted the nomination at the DNC.
"I’m feeling hopeful because this convention has always been pretty good to kids with funny names who believe in a country where anything is possible. Because we have the chance to elect someone who’s spent her entire life trying to give people the same chances America gave her. Someone who sees you and hears you and will get up every single day and fight for you: the next President of the United States of America, Kamala Harris," he declared from the DNC.
The week before the DNC, Harris announced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz would join the ticket as her running mate. Two years before winning the Oval Office in 2008, Obama was one of the few high-profile Democrats in the nation to campaign for Walz when he first launched a career in politics.
Democratic strategist Julian Epstein, who formerly served as chief counsel for the House Judiciary Committee, took issue with Obama for not "sticking to his guns" this election cycle in the face of left-wing policies.
He commended Obama for challenging "woke" culture ahead of the 2020 election, but said Obama failed to amplify those calls in the coming years. He arguably allowed the left-wing faction of the party to dominate messaging and policy that shifted the party left.
BLACK GROUP FIRES BACK AT OBAMA FOR ‘INSULTING’ HARRIS PITCH: 'WORST KIND OF IDENTITY POLITICS'
"This idea of purity and you’re never compromised and you’re always politically ‘woke’ and all that stuff," Obama said back in 2019 of "woke" culture. "You should get over that quickly."
"The world is messy; there are ambiguities," he added. "People who do really good stuff have flaws. People who you are fighting may love their kids, and share certain things with you."
Epstein said Obama "backed down" to progressive Dems, while pointing to his comments from October scolding Black men who did not support Harris.
"For his part, Obama called out woke four years ago only to be shouted down by far-left virtue signalers. But rather than sticking to his guns, he backed down both during the last four years when the progressive left hijacked policy on issues like immigration, but then more recently by suggesting that working-class Black men were bad people if they didn’t fall into line with the Democratic bosses and vote for Harris. It was a very bad look," Epstein said.
The Biden administration announced another $4.28 billion in student loan handouts as President Biden and Vice President Harris prepare to leave the White House.
The massive loan handout will give 54,900 public workers loan forgiveness.
"Four years ago, the Biden-Harris Administration made a pledge to America’s teachers, service members, nurses, first responders, and other public servants that we would fix the broken Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, and I’m proud to say that we delivered," Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a release on Friday.
The action brings the total loan forgiveness approved by Biden to nearly $180 billion for nearly 5 million borrowers.
"With the approval of another $4.28 billion in loan forgiveness for nearly 55,000 public servants, the Administration has secured nearly $180 billion in life-changing student debt relief for nearly five million borrowers," Cardona said. "The U.S. Department of Education’s successful transformation of the PSLF Program is a testament to what’s possible when you have leaders, like President Biden and Vice President Harris, who are relentlessly and unapologetically focused on making government deliver for everyday working people."
The Biden-Harris administration touted the program for creating an "incentive" for public servants to "pursue and remain" in their careers by forgiving borrowers' remaining balance after they made the 120 qualifying monthly payments.
"The relief announced today includes both borrowers who have benefitted from the Administration’s limited PSLF waiver, a temporary opportunity that ended in October 2022, as well as from regulatory improvements made to the program during this Administration," the release said.
During his 2020 presidential campaign, Biden pledged to forgive student loans for millions of Americans if elected, but the president has faced continuous legal roadblocks in his attempt to eliminate hundreds of billions of dollars in debt.
After the Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration's first attempt at providing broad-based student loan forgiveness, ruling it was an overreach of the executive branch's authority under the Constitution, the president and his team began to work on other options to provide handouts.
President-elect Trump has not said specifically how he will approach the Biden administration's student loan handout plans, but he has said he plans to rework the entire education system during his term.
Fox News Digital's Audrie Spady contributed to this report.
CONCORD, N.H. – Presidential electors are gathering at state capitals across the country on Tuesday to cast their electoral votes in the 2024 election, a key step in formalizing President-elect Trump’s White House victory last month over Vice President Kamala Harris.
At the New Hampshire Statehouse, the state’s four electors cast ballots on behalf of Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, in a largely ceremonial vote.
Harris edged Trump by roughly three percentage points to carry New Hampshire, the only swing state in New England.
"This is the formal vote for President and Vice President of the United States," New Hampshire Secretary of State Dave Scanlan, who presided over the procedure, said. "Every state in the country right now is going through this process."
New Hampshire was one of four states, along with Indiana, Tennessee and Vermont, to lead off Tuesday's Electoral College voting.
When Americans cast their ballots in a White House election, they’re technically voting for state electors committed to supporting their choice for president and vice president. The electors are expected to vote in accordance with the outcome of the popular vote in their state.
The electoral votes from the states will be certified on Jan. 6 during a joint session of Congress. And Trump will be inaugurated as president two weeks later, on Jan. 20.
The political parties in each state choose their slate of electors ahead of the general election.
Trump convincingly won the presidential election, winning the popular vote for the first time in three tries, and carrying all seven of the crucial battleground states that were heavily contested.
The former and future president ended up winning the electoral vote, 312 to 226, over Harris.
A top aide on Vice President Harris' failed presidential campaign recently called for more cultural voices like the vocal anti-America and anti-Israel Twitch star, Hasan Piker, who previously faced backlash for saying that "America deserved 9/11."
Harris' former deputy campaign manager, Rob Flaherty, said during a recent interview that Democrats are "losing hold of culture" and laid out a strategy for them to develop a "whole thriving system" ahead of future elections.
"We need a whole thriving ecosystem," Flaherty told Semafor. "It’s not just Pod Save America, though I think we should have more of them. It’s not just Hasan Piker. We should have more Hasan Pikers. It’s also the cultural creators, the folks who are one rung out who influence the nonpartisan audience. Those things all need to happen together."
"The reality is it’s not going to be big media organizations. It’s going to be a network and a constellation of individual personalities, because that’s how people get their information now," he added.
Flaherty, who previously served as the director of digital strategy for the Biden White House, is likely to face backlash for calling for "more Hasan Pikers" due to Piker's past controversial comments. Piker, who previously raised more than $1 million for Palestinian aid, has used his platform with millions of followers to downplay and justify terrorist attacks such as Oct. 7 and 9/11 as acts of resistance in recent years.
During a 2019 livestream, Piker praised the "brave f---ing soldier" who wounded conservative U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, while he was deployed to Afghanistan as a Navy SEAL, asking, "Didn't he go to war and, like, literally lose his eye because some mujahideen, a brave f---ing soldier, f---ed his eyehole with their d---?"
He went on to say that "America deserved 9/11, I’m saying it," before later walking it back and saying it was "inappropriate." However, in another stream this year, Piker joked about 9/11 again, saying, "Oh my god, 9/11 2 is going to be so sick" and "give Saudi Arabia a nuke so they can do 9/11 2."
In another stream, Piker broadcast propaganda from the Houthis, an Iranian-backed group in Yemen that has been designated by the U.S. as a terrorist group. Instead of explicitly addressing the materials as questionable propaganda, the streamer instead expressed sympathy and admiration for the group.
"They do musicals about, like, their f---ing actions all the time," Piker said of the terrorist propaganda. "They love walking over like the American flag and the Israeli flag, side by side."
"They do not care about the heavy missiles … they will literally take the war to them no matter what. … For them, it's an act of resistance. You know what I mean?" he added.
"It doesn't matter if f---ing rapes happened on Oct. 7," Piker said in a May 22 stream. "It doesn't change the dynamic [of Palestinians and Israelis] for me."
During an April 18 stream, Piker also expressed that Hamas was the "lesser evil" next to the Israeli military.
While Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and others have been on Piker's platform, Dem Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York wrote a letter this year to top executives at Twitch and Amazon expressing "alarm about the amplification of antisemitism on Twitch at the hands of Hasan Piker" and said Piker has "emerged as the poster child for the post-October 7th outbreak of antisemitism in America."
"Outside the context of October 7th, Mr. Piker has even joked and mused about men date-raping women on a college campus and has posted an image of a handgun on top of a United States Senator in what appears to be open invitation to gun violence against a sitting elected official," Torres said. "Inviting one’s followers to shoot an elected official, whether it be done in earnest or in jest, is the kind of threat that warrants serious attention from federal law enforcement."
Piker’s Twitch streams regularly hit more than a million views and often have as many as 30,000 viewers at a given time.
Fox News Digital reached out to Flaherty for comment but did not receive a response.
The LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman was one of Vice President Kamala Harris' highest-profile supporters from the business community.
Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for WIRED25
Reid Hoffman said there's a "greater than 50% chance" he'll receive retaliation for backing Kamala Harris.
The LinkedIn cofounder made the remarks on an episode of "The Diary of a CEO" podcast.
Hoffman was one of the vice president's most prominent Silicon Valley business supporters.
Reid Hoffman, the billionaire LinkedIn co-founder and outspoken Democrat, said he thinks it's likely that he will face retaliation from President-elect Donald Trump for supporting Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign.
"I think that there's a greater than 50% chance that there will be repercussions from a misdirection and corruption of the institutions of state to respond to my having tried to help Harris get elected," Hoffman said on an episode of "The Diary of a CEO" podcast that aired on Monday.
Hoffman said that he hopes any retaliation from Trump would be fairly tame, naming possibilities like IRS audits or phone calls from the incoming president trying to hurt his business prospects.
"It could get much worse, but I don't really want to speculate on it because I don't want to give anybody any ideas," he said.
Any repercussions would, he added, be "undemocratic and un-American."
Regardless, Hoffman said that he has no plans to leave the United States.
Nearly 90 top business executives — including Hoffman — signed a letter endorsing Harris' candidacy ahead of the general election, touting her plan to expand tax deductions for small businesses. The letter said that Harris' White House bid was "the best way to support the continued strength, security, and reliability of our democracy and economy."
Hoffman was also part of a cohort of business leaders who put together an initiative to get right-leaning swing voters onboard with Harris' candidacy by stressing her pro-business stances.
On the podcast, Hoffman said he'd spoken to fellow billionaires during the campaign who applauded his political actions but declined to partake themselves for fear of getting "penalized" if Trump won.
"Part of the reason why I think less people were public about it this cycle was because President Trump was threatening personal and political retaliation, and so you had to have a certain degree of courage to stand up — and courage in the public area," he said.
Since winning a second term, Trump has put several Silicon Valley business leaders in prominent roles, from Department of Government Efficiency co-head Elon Musk to newly minted AI and crypto czar David Sacks.
Despite his dislike for Trump and many of his policies, Hoffman said that some of the president-elect's deregulation efforts could broadly benefit entrepreneurs.
"I think they're going to reduce regulation across the board for all entrepreneurs, so I think that's helpful for entrepreneurship," he said.
Representatives for Hoffman and Trump did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
Vice President Kamala Harris tried to encourage Democratic staffers facing layoffs from the DNC on Sunday, telling them that their "spirit will not be defeated."
Harris made the comments during the DNC's holiday celebration in Washington, D.C., on Sunday. She spoke alongside President Biden and first lady Jill Biden at the event, which played host to staffers who were let go from the DNC without severance packages after the election.
"This holiday season, like any time of the year, let us really be conscious of all the blessings we have. Let us celebrate the blessings we have; let us celebrate and advance the blessings we have yet to create," Harris said. "And let us always remember our country is worth fighting for, and our spirit will not be defeated."
"And hear me when I say this, that spirit that fuels the countless hours and days and months of work that you have put into this, that spirit. It can never be defeated. Our spirit is not defeated. We are not defeated. Let's be clear about that. We are strong. We are clear about why we are in this. And because you're here right now. I say again, thank you. Because not only are you clear about all of that, you're willing to put in the hard work and that work must continue," she said.
Biden took the stage after Harris and defended the pair's legacy as they prepare to leave office. He argued that the country is in a "resoundingly" better position today than when he and Harris entered the White House.
"The one thing I've always believed about public service, and especially about the presidency, is the importance of asking yourself, have we left the country in better shape than we found it? Today, I can say with every fiber of my being, of all my heart, the answer to that question is a resounding yes," he said.
He went on to encourage staffers to "stay engaged" in the years ahead.
"You're not going anywhere, kid," Biden said of Harris. "Because we're not gonna let you."
Some DNC staffers had expressed frustration at the post-election layoffs, which are relatively common in Washington, D.C. The DNC union objected to the lack of severance packages and other benefits when the layoffs were announced in late November.
"We find it very cruel that DNC management is trying to claim that layoffs are just part of the job," a DNC union member told Mother Jones. "And we feel strongly that losing an election has not absolved the organization of its responsibility to treat its workers with basic dignity."
DNC Chair Jaime Harrison does not plan to seek re-election to his post, leaving a pool of would-be leaders to vie for the top position.
The next chair will be chosen by the roughly 450 voting members of the national party committee when they meet at the beginning of February at National Harbor in Maryland for the DNC's winter meeting.
The list of candidates seeking to replace Harrison includes Martin O'Malley, the former two-term Maryland governor, Ben Wikler, who has led the Democratic Party in Wisconsin for five years, and Minnesota Democrats chair Ken Martin.
"I won on the border, and I won on groceries," the president-elect said in an interview on NBC News' "Meet the Press."
Trump then drilled down on the high grocery prices that millions of Americans are paying as a key reason for his convincing White House victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.
"Very simple word, groceries. Like almost – you know, who uses the word? I started using the word – the groceries. When you buy apples, when you buy bacon, when you buy eggs, they would double and triple the price over a short period of time, and I won an election based on that," Trump emphasized in his interview, which was recorded on Friday and broadcast on Sunday.
While inflation has eased significantly since its peak in 2022, grocery prices remain substantially higher than they did before the COVID pandemic swept the globe nearly five years ago.
According to the most recent Consumer Price Index inflation data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Americans are dishing out 22% more for groceries in comparison to what they paid when President Biden took office nearly four years ago.
And voters' frustrations over high grocery prices, as well as other impacts from inflation, benefited Trump as he ran to win back the White House.
Voters said the economy was far and away the top issue facing the country, followed distantly by immigration and abortion, according to the Fox News Voter Analysis of the 2024 election.
And 40% said inflation was the single most important factor in their vote, and they backed Trump by almost two-to-one, according to the Fox News Voter Analysis, which was a survey of more than 110,000 voters and 18,000 nonvoters nationwide. An AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 registered voters, had similar findings.
On the presidential campaign trail, Trump railed against the Biden/Harris economy and promised to bring down prices.
"Grocery prices have skyrocketed," Trump said during an August news conference, as he stood by tables stocked with packaged foods.
"When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on day one," he vowed.
And in his interview on "Meet the Press," Trump pledged that "we’re going to bring those prices way down."
But Trump, in the interview, reiterated that he would follow through on his campaign vow to levy large tariffs on imports from the nation's major trading partners.
During the presidential campaign, Harris argued that Trump's across-the-board tariffs, if implemented, would increase prices on many goods and amounted to a "a sales tax on the American people."
Tariffs are taxes that governments place on goods being imported or exported. They can raise the cost of imported products, making local products more attractive to buy.
Asked in his latest interview if he could guarantee that his tariffs wouldn't force Americans to pay more for items, Trump answered, "I can’t guarantee anything."
Vice President Kamala Harris had no problem raising money during the presidential race.
ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images
The Harris campaign has $1.8 million cash after spending over $1 billion in the 2024 race.
Harris continually raked in money during her 107-day presidential campaign against Donald Trump.
But Harris could not overcome the headwinds against her party, coming up short in the swing states.
After President Joe Biden stepped aside as the Democratic nominee last summer, the party felt an enormous jolt of energy as Vice President Kamala Harris embarked on a 107-day presidential campaign against Donald Trump.
Throughout her campaign, Harris raised more than $1 billion, a stunning figure that mirrored the quick rise of her campaign.
But Trump, now the president-elect, defeated Harris in the general election, with the vice president coming up short in the swing states.
New federal filings show that the Harris campaign had $1.8 million remaining in the bank after spending over $1 billion against Trump in the presidential race.
In the filings, the Harris campaign also reported that it had no debts.
The filings reveal the pace of spending for the Harris campaign, which began with heightened enthusiasm from Democrats and major donors who had grown despondent over Biden's chances after a disastrous debate against Trump raised questions about his ability to mount a robust reelection campaign.
From October 17 through November 25, which included some of the most frenzied stretches of the campaign through the postelection period, Harris raised $160 million and spent over $270 million. The Trump campaign raked in nearly $87 million during that same period and spent $113 million, the president-elect's campaign filings indicated.
Harris held large rallies in swing states like Georgia and Pennsylvania throughout her campaign, especially in the immediate weeks leading up to the election. And despite the vice president's financial advantage over Trump, she had to boost her profile to an electorate that had long expected Biden to be the nominee and was uncertain about her positions on various issues — from tackling inflation to her approach to foreign policy.
The new FEC report also seemingly puts to rest any talk that the Harris campaign is heavily in debt, a notion that the campaign rejected last month when it told The New York Times that "there will be no debt" on the filings.
But in the weeks since the general election, Democrats have still received fundraising appeals from the Harris operation. The "Harris Fight Fund" is the postelection operation of the general election "Harris Victory Fund" and is touted as a way to help provide accountability for the Trump administration.
The Democratic National Committee's newest filings revealed that it had over $47 million in cash on hand, while its rival, the Republican National Committee, had nearly $43 million in the bank.
Business Insider reached out to the Harris campaign for comment.
Former ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski was the best in the business, and that’s supposedly why the Harris campaign picked the ESPN insider to break the news of Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated, senior writer Chris Mannix reported the Harris campaign had reached out to the beloved NBA insider in August to break the news that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz would be added to the Democratic ticket alongside Harris.
"Consider: In August, representatives from Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign reached out. They had settled on their nominee for vice president and wanted Woj to break it. Alas, another outlet scooped him before he could," Mannix wrote.
Representatives from the Harris campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Wojnarowski announced in Thursday’s interview that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer before he decided to leave ESPN to take a job at St. Bonaventure.
"When you hear cancer, you think about it going through your body like Pac-Man," Wojnarowski said. "Prostate cancer, it generally stays confined to your prostate and is typically slow growing."
While his diagnosis did not force his retirement from ESPN, it did open his eyes.
"It made me remember that the job isn’t everything. In the end, it’s just going to be your family and close friends. And it’s also, like, nobody gives a s---. Nobody remembers [breaking stories] in the end. It’s just vapor."
Since 2016, the closed-captioning company The Captioning Group has compiled the list on behalf of the language platform Babbel, bringing together all the terms that newscasters, politicians, and public figures struggled to pronounce correctly on TV.
Esteban Touma, a linguistic and cultural expert at Babbel, told Business Insider this year's words were a snapshot of the political, cultural, and musical zeitgeist.
Ready to test your pronunciation chops?
In no particular order, here are the top 10 most mispronounced words of the year, according to Babbel's report.
Semaglutide
Semaglutide is the active ingredient in Ozempic.
Peter Hansen/Getty Images
There is more to the hype surrounding semaglutide, the active ingredient of the weight loss medication Ozempic, than just its effects.
For those unfamiliar with the antidiabetic medication, pronouncing it can be a challenge.
Pronunciation: sem-ah-GLOO-tide
Pete Buttigieg
Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg was one of the face's of the Democrats' efforts to win voters for Harris.
Liu Jie/Xinhua via Getty Images
The transportation secretary and former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was one of the Democrats' most articulate spokespeople when he took over the airwaves and tried to appeal to swing voters and moderates for Harris.
He's also been known to spar with Elon Musk online.
Pronunciation: peet BOOD-ih-judge
Shein
Shein and other fast fashion companies have come under scrutiny for poor product quality and poor working conditions.
Rodrigo Arangua/AFP via Getty Images
The name of the fast fashion company Shein is frequently mispronounced as "Sheen." The company is reportedly planning to debut on the London Stock Exchange early next year.
Pronunciation: SHE-in
Kamala Harris
The first part of Kamala Harris' name is pronounced like "comma."
Tom Williams/Getty Images
Vice President Kamala Harris has often seen her name being mispronounced, most recently in the run-up to the November 2024 presidential election.
Her nieces, Amara and Leela, helped set the record straight onstage at the DNC in August.
"It's like a comma in a sentence," explained Amara. "Then you say 'la,' like 'la la la,'" added Leela.
Pronunciation: COM-a-la HAR-iss
Zendaya
Zendaya recently starred in "Challengers" and the second "Dune" film.
Taylor Hill/WireImage
Actress Zendaya starred as tennis prodigy Tashi Duncan in "Challengers" and as Chani in "Dune: Part II." Her name is frequently mispronounced "Zen-DIE-a."
Pronunciation: Zen-DAY-a
Chappell Roan
Chappell Roan's "Good Luck, Babe!" was a hit this year.
Mary Mathis for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
She has humorously called out those who said [SHA-pel ROW-an] during a live performance, making it clear that it's actually [CHAP-uhl], which sounds like chapel, and [ROHN], which rhymes with tone.
Pronunciation: CHAP-uhl ROHN
SPECULOOS-3b
An artist's visualization of the Speculoos-3 b exoplanet.
NASA
SPECULOOS-3b is an Earth-sized exoplanet that orbits a red dwarf that captured global attention in May when astronomers announced its discovery at a distance of 55 light-years.
Pronunciation: SPEK-yuh-lohss three bee
Phryge
A performer wearing a "Phryge" Olympic mascot costume performs during a parade of French athletes who competed in the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris on September 14, 2024.
Andre PAIN / POOL / AFP
The phryge, the mascot of the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, was chosen as a symbol of freedom and to represent allegorical figures of the French Republic.
Pronunciation: FREE-je
Barry Keoghan
Barry Keoghan attends the 2024 Golden Globes.
Amy Sussman/Getty Images
The Irish actor rose to prominence for his role in Emerald Fennell's "Saltburn" last year, though Sabrina Carpenter fans will also know him as the pop singer's boyfriend.
Though the letter "G" is often silent in Irish names, Keoghan's last name has a distinct "G" sound.
Pronunciation: BARR-ee key-OH-gin
Dutch Kooikerhondje
The breed has brightly spotted fur and floppy ears.
Shutterstock
Shohei Ohtani's dog, a Dutch Kooikerhondje, "threw" the first pitch at a game at Dodger Stadium after the Dodgers' pitcher signed a historic 10-year, $700 million deal with the MLB team.
