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Tennessee is deploying National Guard members to the southern border as Republican governors continue to support Texas in its showdown with the Biden administration over immigration enforcement.

Gov. Bill Lee, who visited the southern border in Eagle Pass, Texas, earlier this month, met with Tennessee National Guard members at Millington Tennessee Army National Guard Armory ahead of their voluntary deployment.

“As America faces the most severe border crisis in decades, TN is showing the rest of the country what it means to lead,” the Tennessee governor posted on X. “Today, I joined TN National Guard members who will soon deploy on a voluntary mission to secure the Southern border as the federal government fails to act.”

The initial deployment will consist of 50 members and last through March before a second wave replaces them later in the spring. It was unclear where exactly they would be sent.

BIDEN ADMIN SHREDDED FOR REFERRING TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AS ‘NEWCOMERS’: ‘NOT SERIOUS PEOPLE’

Gov. Bill Lee met with members of the Tennessee National Guard at the armory in Millington on Saturday. (Gov. Bill Lee/X)

During his visit to Eagle Pass, Lee gathered with Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and other Republicans in a show of force to support Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. 

Gov. Lee said the National Guard members are deploying on a voluntary mission to secure the southern border as the federal government fails to act on immigration enforcement. (Gov. Bill Lee/X)

Abbott has butted heads with Biden and his administration, accusing the federal government of not being tough enough on illegal crossings.

BIDEN’S REVERSAL OF TRUMP POLICIES CREATED BORDER CRISIS, EXPERT SAYS: ‘INTENTIONALLY UNSECURED IT’

Republicans have long criticized the Biden administration for reversing Trump-era border policies and creating a crisis at the southern border that is seeing waves of migrants illegally cross daily.

Tennessee will deploy about 50 National Guard members in two waves over the coming months. (Gov. Bill Lee/X)

In December alone, U.S. Border Patrol reported there were more than 300,000 encounters – an all-time record. 

Meanwhile, Biden and his administration have sought to shift the blame for the crisis onto the shoulders of Republicans. The administration says it is working with a broken system that needs significantly more funding and comprehensive immigration reform. 

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Both Biden and former President Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, made dueling visits to the southern border in Texas on Thursday as immigration remains a top concern for voters.

Fox News’ Brie Stimson contributed to this report.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas responded to a “Saturday Night Live” sketch that used him to poke fun at President Biden’s age on Sunday.

“SNL” depicted Mayorkas interviewing with CNN’s Dana Bash, an interview that ended up taking place in reality on Sunday morning on CNN’s “State of the Union.” 

On the show, the actor depicting Mayorkas rejected claims that Biden was moving slowly at the border during his visit last week, saying he saw the president carry out superhuman feats of agility and strength.

“Behind closed doors, he’s a dynamo,” the faux-Mayorkas said. “He went into beast mode. He said, ‘We gotta tighten this border. Look how easy I can cross it.’ Then he parkoured up to the top of the border wall. He front-flipped into the Rio Grande and came back up with a fish in his mouth.”

WHITE HOUSE CALLS FOR SANCTUARY CITIES TO COOPERATE WITH ICE AMID FUROR OVER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIMES

Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas responded to an “SNL” skit that used him to poke fun at President Biden’s age on Sunday. (Getty Images)

Bash asked Mayorkas about the sketch Sunday morning, asking, “Does that happen every day?”

SALVADORAN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTED IN CONNECTION TO MARYLAND MURDER OF 2-YEAR-OLD BOY

“We all need a little comic relief now and then. I thought George Clooney did a terrific job,” Mayorkas said, cracking a joke of his own. In reality, Marcello Hernández played Mayorkas.

Bash noted that the joke has a kernel of truth, in that a number of Americans are concerned about Biden’s age, while administration officials tend to point to supposed examples of the president’s vitality not seen by the public. Mayorkas continued this trend in response to Bash.

“They should spend a bit of time with Joe Biden like I have done,” he responded before offering an anecdote. “I prepare a lot for meetings with him and engagements with him because he’s remarkably detail-oriented, probing and operationally focused.”

“But no fishing in the Rio Grande?” Bash asked.

“Not for me,” Mayorkas said.

Critics poked fun at Biden for moving slowly during his visit to the U.S.-Mexico border last week at Brownsville, Texas. (Getty Images)

Biden visited the U.S.-Mexico border in Brownsville, Texas, last week, holding a competing event with former President Trump, who visited the much more heavily trafficked Eagle Pass, Texas.

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Data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows that Brownsville has seen just 46 migrant encounters over the past five days, compared to 2,106 in Eagle Pass. The former averaged 17 migrant encounters per day in February, while the latter averaged 462.

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley questioned whether former President Donald Trump would follow the Constitution if elected again and refused to say whether she would support him in the general election.

“I don’t know,” Haley said during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, where she was asked if she believed Trump would follow the Constitution if elected. “When you go and you talk about revenge. When you go and you talk about, you know, vindication.… I don’t know what that means and only he can answer for that.”

Haley, who is the only remaining contender in the GOP primary field facing off with Trump, has so far failed to gain traction among voters. Trump has easily swept every race of the primary season so far and currently holds 10 times the number of delegates as Haley, who has vowed to stay in the race.

ILLINOIS JUDGE REMOVES TRUMP FROM STATE BALLOT, CITING “INSURRECTIONIST BAN”

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and former President Donald Trump (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

That vow came despite Haley losing her home state of South Carolina last month, with the candidate instead looking ahead to “Super Tuesday” on March 5 and the over 800 delegates up for grabs on the primary season’s most important day.

Washington, D.C.’s GOP primary, which is held over three days this weekend, is also seen as a potential pickup for Haley, with Trump having come in a distant third in the district the last time he ran contested in the 2016 primary.

Former President Donald Trump pumps his fist after speaking during the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2024, in Oxon Hill, Maryland, Feb. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

BIDEN BORDER VISIT UNDERSCORES KAMALA HARRIS’ SHRINKING ROLE IN HANDLING MIGRANT CRISIS

With Trump’s status as the clear frontrunner in seemingly little danger, Haley was pressed on whether she planned to support the former president if he secures the GOP nomination, something the former South Carolina governor refused to commit to despite an earlier pledge.

“If you talk about an endorsement, you’re talking about a loss. I don’t think like that. When you’re in a race, you don’t think about losing,” Haley said when asked if she felt bound by an RNC pledge to support the eventual nominee. “What I can tell you is I don’t think Donald Trump or Joe Biden should be president. I don’t think we need two candidates in their 80s… I think people want a new generational leader that is going to go back to what the American dream is, what we want for our kids, and a place that’s something that we can be proud of again.”

Nikki Haley hosts a rally in Conway, South Carolina, before the Palmetto State’s primary on Jan. 28, 2024. (Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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Pressed further on her former pledge, Haley argued that she will “make what decision I want to make” when it comes to endorsing the former president.

“I don’t look at what ifs,” Haley said. “I look at how do we continue the conversation.”

An effort championed by the Biden administration to have the federal government pay college students to register voters ahead of the 2024 election could have serious legal ramifications if it’s being done to aid President Biden’s “own re-election efforts,” according to some legal experts.

Vice President Kamala Harris announced an election initiative to boost voter turnout during a meeting with voting rights activists at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building this week.

“We have been doing work to promote voter participation for students, and, for example, we have, under the federal work study program, now allowed students to get paid through federal work study to register people and to be nonpartisan poll workers,” Harris said Tuesday. “As we know, this is important for a number of reasons.”

One reason for the effort, Harris said, is to “engage our young leaders” in the process and “activate them in terms of their ability to strengthen our community.”

KAMALA HARRIS PRAISES ‘NONPARTISAN POLL WORKER,’ WHICH IMMEDIATELY BACKFIRES WHEN PEOPLE LEARN WHO HE IS

Vice President Kamala Harris (Leigh Vogel/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Jason Snead, executive director of Honest Elections Project, told Fox News Digital the effort is being carried out by the Biden administration to “aid its own re-election efforts.”

“The Biden administration is weaponizing the federal government to aid its own re-election efforts. Using tax dollars to pay overwhelmingly liberal college students to register and turn out voters is only the latest scandal,” Snead said. 

“With Executive Order 14019, President Biden turned the entire federal government into a get-out-the-vote operation, and agencies are collaborating with left-wing nonprofit groups to get the job done.

“Using the levers of the federal government to aid an incumbent is an abuse of power and a threat to the democracy President Biden claims to cherish.”

WASHINGTON POST EDITORIAL BOARD SAYS BIDEN SHOULD IGNORE LIBERAL ‘WISH LISTS,’ SECURE BORDER TO BEAT TRUMP

Hans A. von Spakovsky is a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies who serves as manager of the think tank’s Election Law Reform Initiative. He told Fox News Digital the taxpayer-funded effort is an “outrageous abuse of power” by the Biden administration.

“This is the unauthorized use of taxpayer funds to get out the vote for the Biden campaign and Democratic candidates,” he said. “It is a violation of the Hatch Act as well as the Anti-Deficiency Act. It is an outrageous abuse of power.”

President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris stand onstage and wave to the crowd during a rally at George Mason University Jan. 23, 2024, in Manassas, Va. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

In a memo published Monday, the Department of Education clarified that federal work study funds could be used to support voter registration activities.

“The Department is today clarifying that FWS funds may be used for employment by a Federal, State, local, or Tribal public agency for civic engagement work that is not associated with a particular interest or group,” the memo stated.

Harris’ comments announcing the effort sparked backlash from some conservatives and Republican lawmakers on social media, including Tennessee Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty, who accused President Biden of supporting the move to “mobilize (his) voters” ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

“Biden signed EO14019 ordering federal govt to use taxpayer $ to mobilize (his) voters. [Stephen Miller] has FOIAed details, and I’ve sought them in Congress, but Biden is hiding them. Sounds like the election-year plan is underway,” Hagerty wrote in a Tuesday evening post to X.

In a statement to Fox, a spokesperson for Hagerty insisted the senator is “very concerned” the Biden administration is using government resources to “boost” its own re-election chances.

“Sen. Hagerty is very concerned that the Biden Administration is using government resources to target Democrat voter groups and boost its re-election chances,” the spokesperson said. “The administration continues to hide these taxpayer-funded voter mobilization plans despite his multiple requests for basic transparency.

“And now Vice President Harris says they are paying ‘nonpartisan poll workers’ — with her example being a left-wing partisan activist. If there’s nothing to hide, then the Biden administration should release the plans.”

Harris said the effort by the federal government to pay students to register voters is to “engage our young leaders” and “activate them in terms of their ability to strengthen our community.” (Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images)

In social media post Tuesday morning, Harris applauded poll workers for their efforts ahead of the 2024 presidential election. However, her complimentary remarks quickly backfired.

“Our democracy could not function without nonpartisan poll workers like Vasu and Rob whom I met in Georgia. President Biden and I thank you and we support you,” she wrote in a post on X, sharing a photo of her appearing to listen to Vasu Abhiraman.

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X’s Community Notes immediately tagged the tweet with additional context that readers “might want to know,” that the supposed nonpartisan poll worker Abhiraman was actually a liberal advocate who promotes the progressive movement.

“The ‘nonpartisan poll worker’ on the left is Vasu Abhiraman, a staffer at the left-wing Alliance for Justice and formerly of ACLU Georgia,” said on Harris’ tweet.

Fox News Digital contacted the Biden administration seeking a response to the abuse of power allegations.

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

Former President Trump attacked his Republican opponent Nikki Haley on Saturday, claiming that former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is “a little bit” smarter than her.

Trump addressed an enthusiastic crowd in Richmond, Virginia on Saturday night, days before the Super Tuesday votes are scheduled to take place. 

Earlier on Saturday, Trump won the Idaho, Missouri, and Michigan Republican contests. Speaking to a crowd of supporters in the evening, the former president lamented about media coverage of his statements referring to President Biden as “President Obama.”

Trump maintained that he refers to Biden as “Obama” intentionally. He also acknowledged that he has mixed up Haley, who he calls “Birdbrain,” with Pelosi.

TRUMP DOMINATES IDAHO REPUBLICAN CAUCUSES AS SUPER TUESDAY NEARS

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and former President Donald Trump. (Getty Images)

“I purposely mix up a name, like Birdbrain… you know who Birdbrain is, right, Nikki, with Nancy Pelosi,” he began.

“I put them in because they’re interchangeable in my mind,” Trump added. “Except I have to say, I shouldn’t say this about a semi-Republican, but I think Pelosi’s probably a little bit smarter, actually.”

DEMS MOCK RNC FOR ‘DESPERATE’ FUNDRAISING DRIVE THAT INCLUDES STARK ADMISSION ON DNC’S MONEY ADVANTAGE

Former US President and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald Trump speaks during a “Get Out the Vote” rally at the Greater Richmond Convention Center in Richmond, Virginia, on March 2, 2024. (SAUL LOEB / AFP)

In January, Haley said that Trump was not “mentally fit” for office after he referred to Pelosi as Haley during a speech.

“Last night Trump is at a rally and he’s going on and on, mentioning me multiple times as to why I didn’t take security during the Capitol riots. Why I didn’t handle Jan. 6 better. I wasn’t even in D.C. on Jan. 6. I wasn’t in office then,” Haley said during a January rally in Keene, New Hampshire.

“They’re saying he got confused, that he was talking about something else, he’s talking about Nancy Pelosi. He mentioned me multiple times in that scenario.”

Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump reacts to supporters while arriving on stage during a Get Out the Vote Rally March 2, 2024 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

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Fox News Digital reached out to the Haley campaign for comment.

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

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

First lady Jill Biden was interrupted by a group of pro-Palestinian hecklers while campaigning for her husband Saturday.

While speaking in Tucson, Arizona, the first lady was emphasizing the importance of the 2024 presidential election before she was interrupted by a rowdy crowd.

“To do what we did in 2020 and 2022, we’re going to talk to our friends about why this election is so important,” Biden said at the podium. “Tell them what’s at stake.

“Sign up for phone banks and canvasing shifts. We’re going to meet this moment.”

POLL SHOWS BIDEN’S LEAD OVER TRUMP SHRINKING IN 2024 MATCHUP AS CONCERNS OVER PHYSICAL FITNESS GROW

First lady Jill Biden was heckled by a group of protesters Saturday who accused her of supporting genocide in Gaza. (Pool)

The group of protesters then began yelling and accused the Bidens, who have been vocally supportive of Israel, of supporting “genocide” in the Israel-Hamas war.

“It’s genocide!” one male demonstrator yelled. “You and your husband support the genocide of the Palestinian people!”

In a counterprotest, audience members began shouting, “Four more years,” to quiet the disruptive group. After several seconds, the protesters were silenced. 

The first lady thanked the supporters and continued with her speech.

EX-DEM LAWMAKER SAYS HIS PARTY APPROACHES LATINO VOTERS ‘IN A VERY IGNORANT FASHION’: ‘THAT DRIVES ME NUTS’

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden during an event marking the three-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, Pa., Jan. 5, 2024 (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“We are going to meet this moment as if our rights are at risk, because they are,” she added. Around a minute later, the pro-Palestinian demonstrators started yelling and interrupted her again. 

President Biden has had low approval ratings in recent months as the presidential race between him and former President Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, heats up.

According to a New York Times/Sienna College poll released Saturday, 43% of respondents said they would vote for the sitting president if the election were held today. Forty-seven percent of respondents “strongly disapprove” of Biden’s performance, and only 17% said they “strongly approve” of him.

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden greet Col. Chris McDonald, commander of 436th Airlift Wing at Dover Air Force Base, and his wife Diana McDonald at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Feb. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

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

Former President Donald Trump has cruised to victory in Idaho’s Republican caucuses, winning yet another victory over his rival for the GOP nomination, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.

The Associated Press projected Trump’s win as he barrels towards what’s expected to be a big Super Tuesday performance on March 5, when voters in 15 states will head to the polls to make their pick for their party’s nominee.

Haley has vowed to remain in the race at least through Super Tuesday, even though she has not yet won a single contest against her former boss.

DEMS MOCK RNC FOR ‘DESPERATE’ FUNDRAISING DRIVE THAT INCLUDES STARK ADMISSION ON DNC’S MONEY ADVANTAGE

Former President Donald Trump and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. (Getty Images)

A total of 32 delegates are up for grabs in Idaho, all of which will go to any candidate winning more than 50% of the vote statewide. 

If no candidate receives a majority, the delegates are allocated proportionally to the vote results. However, a candidate must receive at least 15% of the vote to receive any delegates.

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Democrats will hold their caucuses in Idaho on May 23.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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

The Washington Post editorial board warned that President Biden‘s efforts to defeat former President Trump in a 2024 presidential rematch may depend on how loyal he is to the “wish lists” of left-leaning interest groups ahead of the election.

“Mr. Trump could well win if their rematch were today, but Mr. Biden has eight months to improve his fortunes. Nodding to the priorities of every Cabinet agency and the wish lists of liberal interest groups won’t shift any narratives,” the Post’s editorial board noted Saturday.

The editorial board’s claim came as it discussed next week’s State of the Union address and warned Biden not to “squander his biggest televised audience of the year by delivering another box-checking laundry list that drags on more than an hour.”

Specifically, the left-leaning news outlet suggested that Biden should promise to use executive action on the border crisis, saying that he “will lose reelection if he doesn’t address the southern border.”

“It’s valid to castigate Republicans for killing the sensible bipartisan border deal, something Mr. Biden did during his visit to a Texas border town on Thursday — but insufficient. He needs to convey he understands that many see the millions of border crossings as a breakdown in one of the federal government’s core responsibilities and outline how he will use executive authorities to stop it if Congress won’t,” the editorial board wrote.

POLLS SHOW BIDEN FACING ‘ENTHUSIASM GAP’ HEADING INTO 2024 ELECTION SEASON

The Washington Post editorial board warned President Biden not to “squander his biggest televised audience of the year” during next week’s State of the Union address. (Chris Kleponis/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Prompting Biden to resonate with more viewers and listeners, the editorial board insisted the president must “rethink an exhausted format, step up to the bully pulpit and make a case less for himself than for his worldview” as he addresses a joint session of Congress on March 7.

“He needs to push back on the self-defeating isolationism, nativism and protectionism of the ‘America First’ movement, whose ideas are as dangerous now as when they were previously tried, and failed, in the 1930s,” the editorial board wrote.

Several national polls in recent weeks suggest that Biden is suffering from an enthusiasm gap when it comes to how excited voters are to support him in November.

A Monmouth University poll conducted last month showed that only 32% of registered voters feel at least somewhat enthusiastic about Biden’s candidacy, and that number stands at just 62% among Democrats.

The same number of registered voters, 32%, say they are at least somewhat confident in Biden’s physical and mental ability to be president. The same poll shows that confidence in Biden’s abilities among Democrats has dropped significantly to 72% after standing at 91% in 2020. 

The Monmouth poll also shows Biden with a meager 39% approval rating and that he is under water on several issues with voters, including jobs, immigration and foreign policy.

BIDEN APPROVAL PLUMMETS TO NEAR CARTER LEVEL: GALLUP

“Mr. Trump could well win if their rematch were today, but Mr. Biden has eight months to improve his fortunes,” the Washington Post editorial board wrote Saturday. (FOX News)

The weak approval rating is backed up by other polls, and the Real Clear Politics average shows that his approval rating has been under 50% since August 2021. 

According to Gallup, Biden is significantly losing support from key demographics, including young voters, Black voters and Hispanic voters.

Gallup explained that most of the decline in Black voters referring to themselves as Democrats has been in the last few years.

“Most of the decline has been recent, with the net-Democratic ID for this group falling 19 points from a 66-point advantage in 2020,” Gallup said. “At that time, 77% of Black adults favored the Democrats and 11% the Republicans, so the 2023 findings represent an 11-point decrease in Democratic affiliation since 2020 and an eight-point increase in Republican affiliation.”

Other mainstream news outlets have taken notice of the enthusiasm numbers, including the New York Times editorial board, which wrote earlier this month that Biden “needs to do more to show the public that he is fully capable of holding office until age 86.”

The Biden campaign previously pointed Fox News Digital to “several indicators of enthusiasm” they have seen in favor of the president.

“In the Nevada primary, we saw higher turnout than 2008 – despite that being a far more competitive election,” Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said. “The email from the First Lady after the Hur report was our best-performing email since the launch.”

President Biden signs an executive order with Vice President Kamala Harris on October 30, 2023. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Hitt also pointed to Biden winning “more votes in NH as a write in candidate than Obama did in ‘12” and highlighted that Obama was on the ballot, and Biden wasn’t.

“January was our best grassroots fundraising month ever, we doubled the number of small-dollar donors from December,” Hitt added. “We brought in over $1M in donations following President Biden’s speech marking the anniversary of the January 6th insurrection.”

Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

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

The Border Patrol union mocked President Biden on Saturday for his trip to the Texas border this week.

“Board AF1, take nap. Wake up in place called Brownsville,” the union wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in a joke itinerary of his day, along with a photo of Biden resting in a beach lounge chair. “Read large teleprompter message, ‘It’s all Trump’s fault.’ Board AF1, ask who people in green uniforms were, told they ‘strap’ illegal aliens, express horror, take nap. Wake up, call a lid, hit beach, take nap.”

While in Brownsville on Thursday, Biden lamented that the bipartisan immigration bill failed to pass in the Senate, blaming Trump for using it as a political issue. Many Republicans have expressed their opposition to the bill, which they say doesn’t do enough. 

“The majority of Democrats and Republicans in both houses support this legislation,” Biden said in Brownsville, “until someone came along and said don’t do that that’ll benefit the incumbent. That’s a hell of a way to do business in America for such a serious problem.”

WATCH: BORDER PATROL UNION CHIEF EXPLODES ON BIDEN IN FIERY PRESS CONFERENCE, SAYS AGENTS ‘P—-D’ AT POLICIES

President Biden made a border visit to Brownsville, Texas, Thursday.  (Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

The president faces increasing scrutiny over his handling of the border as the Border Patrol continues to report a record number of migrant encounters. 

In December alone, there were more than 300,000 encounters – an all-time record. 

The issue also threatens to hurt Biden politically ahead of November’s presidential election. 

Trump was also at the border in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Thursday which he said is “being overrun by the Biden migrant crime,” invoking the murder of Georgia student Laken Riley allegedly by a Venezuelan migrant last week. 

BIDEN, TRUMP MAKE US-MEXICO BORDER STOPS THURSDAY AS MIGRANT CRISIS ROILS ELECTION 

“The parents are devastated and they’re incredible people,” Trump said. “This is a Joe Biden invasion. A Biden invasion. I call him crooked Joe… the most incompetent president we’ve ever had.” 

Biden and his administration have sought to shift the blame for the crisis onto the shoulders of Republicans. The administration says that it is working with a broken system that needs significantly more funding and comprehensive immigration reform. It introduced a bill on Biden’s first day in office that included a mass amnesty for millions of migrants already in the U.S., which was immediately rejected by Republicans.

Republicans in the House introduced and passed legislation of their own that would fund more Border Patrol agents, resume wall construction, restart the Remain-in-Mexico policy and severely limit the ability of migrants to claim asylum.

The Border Patrol union frequently mocks the president over illegal immigration. 

The organization wrote in part on X on Friday, “Wasn’t it Biden who encouraged people from all over the world to ‘surge the border’? Didn’t Biden immediately void all the successful Trump EO’s that were keeping our border under control? Didn’t he publicly and viciously accuse BP agents of criminal assault, then told the world ‘those people will pay’, and the entire thing was made up BS? Has he apologized or taken responsibility for any of it, or asked forgiveness from the victims of some of the millions of illegal aliens he imported into this country?”

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And before Biden went to the border, the group posted, “Attention President Biden: Keep our name out of your mouth today.”

Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report. 

Former President Trump will win more delegates from Saturday’s Michigan Republican caucuses, after decisively winning the state’s primary earlier in the week.

Republicans gathered in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Saturday to hold a convention that eventually allocated the remaining 39 of the state’s 55 presidential delegates to Trump.

Trump was victorious in the Michigan primary earlier this week, beating Haley by 41 points and earning 12 delegates compared to Haley’s 4.

Michigan Republicans were forced to split their primary into two parts after Democrats who control the state government moved Michigan into the early primary states, violating the national Republican Party’s rules.

WHEN COULD TRUMP BECOME THE GOP NOMINEE? HERE’S WHAT THE NUMBERS TELL US

Former President Donald Trump and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. (Getty Images)

Saturday’s convention comes just days after a Kent County judge affirmed that former Michigan GOP Chair Kristina Karamo was properly removed by party members in January. The decision officially hands the state party over to former Rep. Pete Hoekstra, whom the Republican National Committee recognized last month.

Republicans in Idaho and Missouri held caucuses on Saturday night that Trump is expected to easily win. 

WASHINGTON POST EDITORIAL BOARD SAYS BIDEN SHOULD IGNORE LIBERAL ‘WISH LISTS,’ SECURE BORDER TO BEAT TRUMP

Former President Donald Trump speaks at the New York Young Republican Club Gala at Cipriani Wall Street on December 09, 2023 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Trump has scored convincing victories in each of the primary battles thus far and his team has suggested that he will secure the GOP nomination by the end of the month. But Haley has pledged that she is staying in the race until at least March 5, when 16 states hold Super Tuesday primaries, and over 800 delegates will be at stake.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report

Former President Donald Trump holds a six-point lead over President Biden among Hispanic voters, according to a new survey released Saturday.

The New York Times/Siena College poll, which was conducted from February 25 to 28 and included responses from 980 registered voters nationwide, asked respondents whom they would support in the 2024 presidential election if it were held today. 

Between candidates Biden and Trump, 46% of Hispanics who responded to the poll said they would vote for Trump, while 40% said they would support Biden. That’s a big difference from Biden’s 2020 general election support from Hispanics. Biden won 59% of the Hispanic vote to Trump’s 38% that year, according to Pew Research.

Among all respondents who took part in the survey New York Times/Siena poll, Trump also leads Biden, with 48% saying they would vote for him and 43% insisting they would vote for Biden.

POLL SHOWS BIDEN’S LEAD OVER TRUMP SHRINKING IN 2024 MATCHUP AS CONCERNS OVER PHYSICAL FITNESS GROW

Among Hispanics, 46% who responded to the poll said they would vote for Trump, while 40% said they would support Biden. (Getty Images)

In a head-to-head matchup between Biden and GOP hopeful Nikki Haley, voters preferred Haley by 10 percentage points. Haley got 45% support among all voters, while Biden earned 35% support in the poll.

Haley was also well ahead of Biden among Hispanic voters: 43% of Latino voters in the poll said they would support the former U.N. ambassador, compared to just 31% who expressed support for Biden.

The newly released polling data falls in line with that of other recent surveys, many of which have shown Trump gaining support among Hispanics, and Biden losing support among the key voting bloc.

A USA Today/Suffolk University poll from late December showed Biden trailing Trump by five points among 1,000 likely voters in the Hispanic community.

Similarly, a Univision poll from late last year indicated that Trump is gaining ground among Hispanic voters with a 4% uptick in support among the key demographic from a January 2021 Univision poll.

Earlier this year, during an appearance on “Fox & Friends,” Monet Flores-Bacs, the strategic director at the New Mexico-based nonprofit LIBRE Initiative, said the “[conservative] message is really resonating with us.”

“Unfortunately, Biden’s policies for Hispanics, for most Democrats, it’s worked in the past, but we’re feeling it at the grocery store, we’re feeling it at the gas station. Even in just the last election, tax policy didn’t affect even myself and other young voters the way that they do this election, so we’re feeling it in our bank account at the grocery store. We’re going to vote based on that,” she continued.

EX-DEM LAWMAKER SAYS HIS PARTY APPROACHES LATINO VOTERS ‘IN A VERY IGNORANT FASHION’: ‘THAT DRIVES ME NUTS’

Echoing Flores-Bacs, Campus Reform correspondent Pedro Rodriguez previously told Fox News that the “answer lies within the pocketbooks” when it comes to support for certain candidates.

“Hispanics are entrepreneurs, and with Biden’s America right now, Hispanics are struggling to stay afloat, and Hispanic small businesses and the entrepreneurial spirit is dying,” he said. “Under Biden’s leadership, leftist policies have hurt young Americans. Financial insecurity is among the highest it’s ever been with young Hispanics.”

“Young Hispanics are going to flock behind the candidate they can support and champion working-class families, reduce inflation and pave the way for better economic and entrepreneurial opportunities here in the United States and not desecrate the American way of life,” he added.

The new polling data comes as Biden continues to grapple with the ongoing crisis at the southern border.

Nearly 7.3 million migrants have illegally crossed the southern border under Biden’s watch, a Fox News analysis revealed last month.

Hundreds of migrants, predominantly from Venezuela, cross the border between Mexico and the United States in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on December 5, 2023. (David Peinado/Anadolu via Getty Images)

That figure comes from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which has already reported 961,537 border encounters in the current fiscal year, which runs from October through September. If the current pace of illegal immigration does not slow down, fiscal year 2024 will break last year’s record of 2,475,669 southern border encounters — a number that by itself exceeds the entire population of New Mexico, a border state.

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The official total number of southern land border encounters since Biden assumed office in 2021 is 7,298,486, CBP data shows. That number is larger than the populations of 36 U.S. states.

Both Trump and Biden made dueling visits to the southern border earlier this week.

Former President Trump is leading President Biden in a new poll from the New York Times/Sienna College released Saturday, with voters saying they have little confidence in Biden’s leadership.

The survey found that 43% of respondents said they would vote for Biden if the election were held today, while 48% said they would vote for Trump. The poll further found that 47% of respondents “strongly disapprove” of Biden’s handling of the presidency, in addition to 14% who said they “somewhat disapprove.”

Just 17% stated that they “strongly approve” of Biden’s handling of the job.

NYT and Sienna conducted the poll from Feb. 25-28, surveying 980 registered voters across the country. The poll was conducted in both English and Spanish using cellphones and landline telephones. It advertised a margin of error of 4%.

POLLS SHOW BIDEN FACING ‘ENTHUSIASM GAP’ HEADING INTO 2024 ELECTION SEASON

Former President Trump is leading President Biden in a new poll from the New York Times/Sienna College released Saturday, with voters saying they have little confidence in Biden’s leadership. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

EX-ICE CHIEF SCOFFS AT HOCHUL’S SUDDEN OUTRAGE OVER VIOLENT MIGRANTS: ‘POLITICAL COVER’

The poll further found that just one in four voters believe the country is headed in the right direction. And the number of Americans who believe Biden’s policies have hurt them is double the number who believe they have helped, according to the Times.

With regard to the border, 50% of respondents said they would support restricting migrants’ ability to apply for asylum, while just 43% said they would oppose the move.

The NYT poll found that 43% of respondents said they would vote for Biden if the election were held today, while 48% said they would vote for Trump. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The numbers were even worse for Biden when it comes to the economy, with 74% of Americans saying it is “poor” or “only fair,” compared to 26% who said the economy is doing “good” or “excellent.”

TRUMP ASKS SUPREME COURT TO KEEP NAME ON COLORADO BALLOT

The survey was not all good news for Trump, however, as 53% of respondents said they believe he has committed “serious federal crimes.”

Biden is polling poorly with Americans on his handling of the U.S.-Mexico border. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci  |  Photo by David Peinado/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether Trump can be removed from state ballots over allegations that he engaged in “insurrection” with his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

He also faces several indictments relating to the 2020 election and other alleged crimes.

Donald Trump will win the Missouri Republican caucuses, the Associated Press projects, delivering yet another victory for the former president against former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.

The Associated Press called the race for Trump early Saturday afternoon. The former president was expected to cruise to victory after big wins in every contest prior to Saturday.

After her loss in her home state of South Carolina, Haley vowed to remain in the race at least through Super Tuesday on March 5, where voters in 15 states will head to the polls to make their choice for president.

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Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and former President Donald Trump. (Getty Images)

Even though Trump is the clear winner of the state, Missouri awards 51 of its 54 delegates through a months-long process called a “caucus-convention system” that only begins with Saturday’s caucusing. 

The system dictates that 11 delegates will be awarded to candidates at the state level and five will be awarded from each of Missouri’s eight congressional districts. The three remaining delegates are the chairman of the Missouri Republican Party, and its national committeeman and committeewoman, who can support any candidate they wish, regardless of the caucus results.

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Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley speaks at a rally during the District of Columbia’s Republican presidential primary at the Madison Hotel in Washington, D.C., on Friday, March 1, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

A candidate that wins the support of more than 50% of the vote at a particular caucus site wins all the delegates at stake at that caucus. The delegates are awarded proportionately if no candidate clears the 50% threshold.

Democrats will hold their primary in Missouri on March 23.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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

After the Federal Election Commission declined to act against Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign for the laptop-denying statement by 51 former intelligence officials, a conservative watchdog group is trying to force action. 

America First Legal sued the FEC in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to force the agency that polices campaign donations and spending to act.

“The FEC decided we’re not going to act on this. So, what the district court will do, our hope, is that it will order the FEC to investigate and take this seriously,” Daniel Epstein, vice president of America First Legal, told Fox News Digital.  

In October, the group filed an FEC complaint against the Biden for President campaign from 2020, the Biden Victory Fund, the Biden Action Fund and the Democratic National Committee for failing to report indirect contributions from the later-debunked statement by the 51 officials released on October 19, 2020, just weeks before the November 8 election, and just days before a presidential debate. 

DOJ FURTHER ACKNOWLEDGES HUNTER BIDEN’S LAPTOP IS REAL, CONTENTS MATCH APPLE ICLOUD BACKUPS

The statement claimed without evidence that the Hunter Biden laptop was likely part of a “Russian disinformation” campaign. 

Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, departs a House Oversight Committee meeting on Capitol Hill on January 10, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

If the FEC doesn’t act, it is “effectively encouraging disinformation to the public that may influence the election,” Epstein continued. 

An FEC spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the agency doesn’t comment on litigation. Neither the 2024 Biden presidential campaign nor the DNC responded to inquiries for this story. 

The FEC has 60 days to respond to the lawsuit. Epstein anticipates the agency will file a motion to remand the matter back to the FEC for investigation. 

In March 2023, former Obama administration CIA Deputy and Acting Director Michael Morrell testified to the House Judiciary and House Intelligence Committees that on October 17, 2020, then-Biden campaign staffer Antony Blinken, now the secretary of state, contacted him to discuss drafting a statement to attack the Hunter Biden laptop story first reported by the New York Post.  Morrell circulated the statement among other anti-Trump former intelligence officials. The 51 former officials who signed on included Leon Panetta, John Brennan and James Clapper from the Barack Obama administration, as well as Michael Hayden from the George W. Bush administration — all vocal critics of Trump.

Eventually, both the New York Times and Washington Post verified the authenticity of the Hunter Biden laptop. 

EX-NY TIMES EDITOR SAYS STAFFERS WERE WORRIED ‘LENDING CREDENCE’ TO HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP STORY WOULD HURT DEMS

“Because Morrell, Brennan, Clapper, and the other signatories were supposedly ‘nonpartisan’ national security and intelligence experts, their public statement was a campaign contribution of substantial value to the respondents, who solicited the ‘Letter of 51’ from them for the express purpose of influencing the 2020 presidential election,” the AFL lawsuit says. “Yet, the respondents failed to report the contribution and to identify the individuals who made it.”

President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event at Pearson Community Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sunday, February 4, 2024.  (Ian Maule/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The lawsuit — like the original FEC complaint — quotes an email at the time among the intelligence experts, saying, “[W]e think Trump will attack Biden on the issue at this week’s debate and we want to offer perspectives on this from Russia watchers and other seasoned experts.” Another said they wanted to give Biden “a talking point to use in response” if Trump brings up the laptop. 

In an October 22, 2020 presidential debate, Biden referred to the 51 intelligence officials’ letter during a presidential debate. The lawsuit also notes that it was used for an immense amount of media coverage. 

2020 DEBATE CLAIMS ARE COMING BACK TO HAUNT BIDEN AS GOP PROBES INTO HUNTER SWIRL: ‘LIE, DENY, COUNTER ACCUSE’

The Biden campaign resources were used to solicit the letter, and the coordination that produced the letter became something of significant value to the Biden campaign. Failure to report something of value violates the Federal Election Campaign Act that the FEC is required to enforce, the lawsuit says. 

“The proper administration of the act includes ensuring that all disclosure reports are correctly and timely filed with the commission,” the complaint to the D.C. District Court says. 

Under the Federal Election Campaign Act, if the FEC fails to act on a complaint within 120 days, a complainant can take the case to court. A court could determine that failure to act is contrary to the law and direct the commission to conform to the law within 30 days. 

The lawsuit references a survey that found almost four of five Americans who followed the Hunter Biden laptop scandal thought that honest news coverage would have changed the outcome of the election. The survey by Technometric Institute of Policy and Politics was released in August 2022.  

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“If you firmly believed that this [the laptop story] was disinformation, and you wanted to tell the truth to the public, and this wasn’t about an attempt to defraud the public in order to influence the election, why were you so secretive about this?” Epstein told Fox News Digital. “Why not say, ‘Maybe this is a campaign coordination, and we should report it,’ and say with a straight face, ‘Out of an abundance of caution, we reported this to the FEC’?”

Etsy, the online retailer known for providing a platform to sell hand-made and vintage products, continues to host sellers of “deepfake” pornographic images of celebrities and random women despite the company’s efforts to clean up the site.

The proliferation of sexually explicit images generated by artificial intelligence (AI) — including depictions of celebrities — on an otherwise innocuous marketplace comes as a shock to many experts. The problem has persisted on the platform for months. 

“That sounds like a total innocuous platform for people to do this. Usually we find a lot of explicit content on Twitter, or some other particular portals for that kind of materials,” Siwei Lyu, a computer scientist and expert on machine learning and the detection of deepfakes, told Fox News Digital. “But polluting the space on such a platform [like Etsy] is quite hard to believe.”

NEW YORK MAN CHARGED FOR ALLEGEDLY SMUGGLING $200K OF RARE BUTTERFLIES, SELLING THEM ON EBAY, ETSY

In this photo illustration, the Etsy logo is displayed on a smartphone. (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The explicit content isn’t hidden, either. Fox News Digital found that a simple search of “ai nude” or “deepfake porn” on Etsy each yielded 1,000+ results, while a search for “porn” turned back zero results. Even without a narrowed search, some explicit-AI generated items appeared in the “You may also like” algorithm while searching for other unrelated items. 

While not all the results showed pornographic content, many of the nude images are of entirely fabricated women created by AI. One shop even sells an e-book guide on how to create X-rated AI content. 

Ninety-five photos of Margot Robbie were also being sold for $10.95 by a shop with the description “Margot Robbie Nude Photorealistic AI Celebrity Nude Art – | NSFW Ai Girl | AI Girl | Celebrity Nude” as of Thursday. 

Several of the display photos were actual images of the “Wolf of Wall Street” actress, while others were fully nude AI-generated photos of her. One of the AI-generated photos of Margot Robbie depicted the actress in a sexual act. Robbie’s team did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

GOODLE GEMINI BACKLASH EXPOSES COMMENTS FROM EMPLOYEES ON TRUMP, ‘ANTIRACISM’ AND ‘WHITE PRIVILEGE’

Grande (Photo by David Crotty/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

Another block of AI photos for sale were labeled “Ariana Grande Photorealistic AI Nude Art – Seductive and Sensual Digital Artwork | NSFW Ai Girl | AI Girl | Cosplay.” The stack of preview photos featured suggestive photos of the singer, but none showing her in the nude. Fox News Digital also reached out to Grande’s team. 

After Fox News Digital requested comment from Etsy, the listings were removed for violating policies. But some of the photos had already been bought and downloaded. 

“AI, especially generative AI technologies, these days are powerful enough to create very realistic images, and a lot of people fall for that, because they do not understand this,” Lyu said. 

Lyu explained that generative AI, a deep learning concept in AI software that allows the system to learn and develop over time to improve its results, makes it “technically challenging” to identify fake images. 

And now that this software has become widespread for personal use, it makes it more difficult for laws to catch up to potentially nefarious activity, such as the creation of celebrity deepfakes or AI-illustrated pornography. Lyu said the current laws “lag behind” the rapid development of AI. 

Blake Klinkner, an assistant law professor at the University of North Dakota teaching cybersecurity law, has been studying the emerging intersection of law and AI. He said the First Amendment covers a host of creative liberties, and federal laws haven’t yet weeded out potentially criminal AI-generated images.

SILICON VALLEY PROGRAMMERS HAVE CODED ANTI-WHITE BIAS INTO HALF THE AI CHATBOTS TESTED

Taylor Swift attends the 66th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 4, 2024, in Los Angeles, California.   (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

“It’s very accessible for individuals to take really any image or video or audio and run it through a software program to create a deepfake,” Klinkner told Fox News Digital.  

He added that photos of celebrities are run through AI software “which learns how to map the person’s face, or even videos, and then create these obscene, pornographic images.”

“So you’re seeing these images sold on Etsy online, and a relatively simple search can, unfortunately, lead to a lot of results of individuals selling these images,” Klinkner said. “And again, because AI is relatively affordably accessible these days, there’s not a whole lot stopping individuals from making these images and even trying to sell them.”

Klinkner added that when these cases are brought forth, judges are often unfamiliar with deepfakes and are hesitant to apply old laws to a fairly modern problem.

“They can’t really wrap their heads around a computer taking an image and creating images that look like you that really aren’t you,” he said.

Users who create such images are hard to track down, too, as many use aliases and fake photos on their profiles. Klinkner said it creates “a Whack-A-Mole situation” where if one account gets taken down, a new account can just be made.

WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)?

Thousands of results on Etsy show AI-illustrated porn.  (Bloomberg / Contributor)

In December, Etsy swept some of its marketplace after a Forbes report exposed 16 accounts that were selling explicit celebrity deepfakes. Two of the celebrity victims were actresses Olivia Munn and Jenna Ortega. Etsy removed the accounts. 

“We are deeply committed to the safety of our marketplace and community. While some mature content is allowed on Etsy, we have long prohibited pornography and we closely monitor our marketplace to identify and remove content that violates our policies,” Alice Wu, head of trust and safety at Etsy told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Evolving our policies and expanding our enforcement efforts related to mature content — including in emerging areas like AI deepfakes — is a key priority for Etsy this year.”

But thousands of pornographic images — accessible on the website by anyone regardless of age — remain easily available on the platform. 

According to Etsy’s rules, pornography “of any sort” is prohibited, while “mature content is restricted.” The company claims that it takes a “liberal approach” to what constitutes pornography. Etsy allows some nude images for artistic purposes. 

“Although pornography can be difficult to define, an item generally qualifies as pornography when it contains printed or visual material that explicitly describes or displays sex acts, sex organs, or other erotic behavior for the purpose of sexual arousal or stimulation,” the rules state.

TAYLOR SWIFT AI-GENERATED EXPLICIT PHOTOS OUTRAGE FANS: ‘PROTECT TAYLOR SWIFT’

“Barbie” star Margot Robbie arrives at the 96th Academy Awards Oscar nominees luncheon on February 12, 2024, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.  (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Last month, singer Taylor Swift made headlines when deepfake images of her made their rounds on social media. A few days later, Congress introduced legislation to crack down on the creation of such images that appear identical to actual celebrities. 

The No AI FRAUD Act, introduced by Rep. Maria Salazar, R-Fla., last month, would issue penalties for users who create generative AI images to harm individuals, whether they are public figures or not.

Only a few states have laws on the books penalizing nonconsensual deepfake porn: Georgia, Hawaii, Texas and Virginia. In California and Illinois, victims can sue perpetrators who create explicit images in their likeness. 

Andrew W. Torrance, a distinguished professor at the University of Kansas Law School, told Fox News Digital in an interview that while there is protection under the First Amendment for creating images or videos of others, particularly public figures, there are limitations. Parody is protected, but if the depiction is too realistic, it may infringe upon rights such as privacy or the right of publicity, especially for celebrities, or amount to libel or fraud.

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“A celebrity such as Margot Robbie, in California . . . and some other states, has special rights to her public image, because she’s a celebrity,” Torrance told Fox News Digital. “And when you meddle with that public image, when you start to make her look the way that she doesn’t want to look or sound, or espouse opinions that she doesn’t actually have, you can start to infringe on this right of publicity, and she might have a right to sue to prevent you from doing that and to take it down.”

“I think this is why things are coming to a head — because we’ve reached a point where it truly is difficult to tell between the generated and the real, and the amount of damage that is possible by fooling a large number of people is tremendous,” he said. 

Republican delegates in three states will be awarded to candidates on Saturday as Idaho and Missouri hold caucuses and Michigan allocates additional delegates in its Republican state convention days after it held its primary.

In Idaho, Republicans will caucus across the state on Saturday and only registered Republicans are allowed to take part.

Former President Donald Trump and Nikki Haley, his former U.N. ambassador, will compete for the state’s 32 Republican delegates. Haley is looking to score her first victory against Trump, but, given the pattern of voting in previous contests this year, she is unlikely to find it in Idaho.

The Republican caucuses will largely resemble the first-in-the-nation caucuses that Iowa Republican staged in January. Voters across the state will meet in their designated caucus sites and will hear short pitches on behalf of the various candidates. Then they will vote by secret ballot, with the results tabulated at each caucus site. Vote totals from all caucus sites will be added up and the results used to determine how many delegates each candidate has won.

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Nikki Haley and Donald Trump (Michael M. Santiago/Al Drago/Bloomberg)

Trump easily carried Idaho in the 2020 election beating President Biden by a margin of 30 points.

Delegates will also be awarded in Missouri on Saturday where Republicans will be holding a caucus that will start the process of awarding 51 of Missouri’s 54 Republican delegates to the Republican National Convention this summer.

Fifty-one of the delegates are awarded to candidates through a monthslong process that begins Saturday. Eleven delegates will be awarded to candidates at the statewide level, while five delegates will be awarded from each of Missouri’s eight congressional districts. That’s a combined total of 51 delegates at stake in what’s known as a “caucus-convention” system. The remaining three delegates are the state party chairman and Missouri’s Republican national committeeman and committeewoman, who may support any candidate they wish regardless of caucus results.

NIKKI HALEY SAYS GOP BECOMING ‘PLAYPEN’ FOR TRUMP

Donald Trump (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

Caucus-goers will express their preferences for president, and those results ultimately are used to determine the number of delegates awarded to candidates both at the statewide and congressional district level. At both the statewide and district levels, all delegates at stake are awarded to the candidate who receives majority support. If no candidate receives a majority, delegates are allocated proportionally among candidates who received at least 15% of support, with some minor exceptions.

Polling conducted earlier this year showed that Trump is likely to cruise to victory in Missouri.

Trump was victorious in the Michigan primary earlier this week beating Haley by 41 points and earning 12 delegates compared to Haley’s 4.

However, the Michigan GOP will hold a nominating convention on Saturday to allocate the remaining 39 of the state’s 55 presidential delegates in Grand Rapids. 

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Nikki Haley hosts a rally in South Carolina (Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Trump has scored convincing victories in each of the primary battles thus far and his team has suggested that he will wrap up the GOP nomination by the end of the month but Haley has pledged that she is staying in the race until at least March 5, Super Tuesday, where over 800 delegates will be at stake.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

The race for the next Republican Senate leader has the potential to further expose deepening divisions within the party as the conference looks to select a new head in November after the longest-serving party leader in Senate history, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell R-Ky., steps down from his post. 

While the Republicans boast 49 seats in the Senate, they don’t all champion the same brand of conservatism. This has become more evident in the Trump era as the party’s positions and base shift. 

According to Republican strategist Ron Bonjean, former top spokesman to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and former chief of staff of the Senate Republican Conference, more attention will likely be called to “the old guard versus the new populism that is growing quickly within the Senate GOP” during the leader fight. 

The battle is further poised “to draw Trump into the mix more often on high-profile national issues,” he said. 

CROWDED FIELD OF POTENTIAL MCCONNELL SUCCESSORS EMERGES IN SENATE

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., arrives for a Senate Republican meeting at the U.S. Capitol Feb. 8, 2024, in Washington, D.C.  (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The Trump campaign did not comment when reached by Fox News Digital regarding the former president’s preference for leader. 

In his remarks on the Senate floor, McConnell cited “Father Time,” noting he wasn’t “the young man sitting in the back” anymore. He explained it was time for “the next generation of leadership.”

He further expressed his “full confidence” in the Republican conference to choose a successor.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, announced his bid for leader the day after McConnell’s announcement on the Senate floor, telling colleagues in a statement he was asking them “to give me the opportunity to succeed Leader McConnell.” 

Senators John Cornyn, John Barrasso, Rick Scott and John Thune are considered potential successors to outgoing Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. (Getty Images)

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Former Cornyn staffer and Republican strategist Brian Walsh said the race “will be a moment for all sides to make their voices heard.” However, he believes the competition will demonstrate exactly why the next leader “should have the experience and record to bring the different factions together and move forward with a unified agenda.” 

While Cornyn is the only senator to have formally entered the race, several others are understood to be eyeing the position and are actively consulting with their colleagues. 

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., speaks during a news conference following Senate Republican policy luncheons at the U.S. Capitol in Washington Dec. 7, 2021. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

A spokesperson for Senate Republican Whip John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital in a statement, “Senator Thune is reaching out to each of his colleagues directly to discuss the future of the Senate Republican Conference and what they would like to see in their next leader.”

Thune plans to continue talking to fellow senators in the days and weeks to come, “but he intends on keeping those conversations private,” the spokesperson said. 

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Other senators believed to be considering their own bids are Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and senators Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Steve Daines, R-Mont. 

Barrasso recently told reporters he was focused on the general election, but said, “I’m going to talk to members of the conference, hear what they have to say [and] listen to them in terms of what direction that they want to take with us.”

As for Daines, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, he also said his focus was on the election. 

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said his focus is on the election. (Tom Williams-Pool/Getty Images)

“It’s far too early to know where this lands, but whatever we see play out publicly is nothing compared to the intense inside game already underway,” Republican strategist and Capitol Hill veteran Zack Roday said. 

“The Senate is still the Senate, even if an increasing number of its members may operate like counterparts in the House.”

While some strategists suggested experience would win the leadership position, a few senators have indicated different qualities they want to see in McConnell’s successor. 

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“Our next Senate GOP leader must be someone who understands that the real reason our party is changing so fast is because voters keep electing new leaders who want to end mass migration, bring jobs & factories back, get control of our debt & put America first ahead of anything and everyone else,” Sen. Marco Rubio R-Fla., wrote on X, formerly Twitter. 

Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., said the leader needs to reflect a “new point of view” that says the U.S. can’t continue borrowing money at the current rate and giving the amount of aid it currently does to other countries. He added he wants to see a conference that doesn’t “vote for democratic legislation” and introduces “conservative ideas that are entrepreneurial.”

Sen. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., talks to reporters about the federal debt limit during a news conference with members of the House Freedom Caucus at the U.S. Capitol March 22, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Scott poses the most potential to rile up the faction of Senate Republicans most unhappy with McConnell’s leadership. In 2022, he notably challenged McConnell’s long-running reign but ultimately failed to knock off the Kentucky Republican. At the time, Braun told reporters McConnell maintained 37 votes, with Scott peeling away 10 senators. One Republican also voted “present.” 

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, a vocal member of the hardline faction, would welcome Scott’s leadership if the Florida Republican managed to get the conference on board, a staffer in the senator’s office conveyed to Fox News Digital.

HALEY SLAMS TRUMP FOR SENATE LOSSES, CALLS OUT GOP LAWMAKERS FOR COURTING HIM

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah., speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee markup hearing Nov. 30, 2023.  (Bill Clark)

“In recent years, congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle have been given fits by the extreme wings of their parties, and a lot of that has to do with how closely divided the parties are in their control of the two chambers,” Grant Reeher, a political science professor at Syracuse University, explained.

“Every vote counts. If the race ends up calling the question of where in the party the energy and the center of power are, it could produce a clear winner but also lay bare the divisions within the party — which, for example, are indicated by the fact that former President Trump is getting just 60% of the primary vote.”

However, he said it’s also possible a moderate candidate could appeal in different ways to each faction, carrying that candidate to a win. But this person is certain to face “more headaches down the road” for it, the professor added. 

Nikki Haley on Friday received endorsements from two of the GOP’s most moderate senators in Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. 

Collins, who previously voted to convict then-President Trump in his impeachment trial in which he was acquitted, revealed Friday that she voted for Haley in Maine’s primary this week, calling her “extremely well-qualified.”

“She has the energy, intellect, and temperament that we need to lead our country in these very tumultuous times,” she said, according to the Bangor Daily News. 

On Friday, Murkowski also threw her support behind the former South Carolina governor, saying she was “proud” to endorse her. 

HALEY SLAMS TRUMP FOR SENATE LOSSES, CALLS OUT GOP LAWMAKERS FOR COURTING HIM

Nikki Haley has insisted on staying in the GOP presidential race. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Collins and Murkowski are the only senators to endorse Haley as the rest of the party has coalesced behind Trump, including South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, from Haley’s home state. 

“We need a president who sees Americans as one American family, and that’s why I came to the very warm state of New Hampshire to endorse the next president of the United States, President Donald Trump,” Scott said in January. 

Sens. Susan Collins, left, and Lisa Murkowski have both endorsed Nikki Haley.  (Anna Rose Layden/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Haley has yet to win a primary or caucus, having most recently lost South Carolina 39% to Trump’s 59%.

DC PRIMARY REPRESENTS HALEY’S BEST CHANCE YET TO BEAT TRUMP

Still, the 52-year-old has refused to drop out of the race, insisting Republicans need another option besides Trump.

Nikki Haley has lost every state so far to former President Trump.  (Getty Images)

She also claimed last week that Trump would not be able to beat President Biden in the general election.  

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“Donald Trump will not win the general election. You can have him win any primary you want, he will not win a general election,” she told CNN last Friday. “We will have a female President of the United States: It will either be me or it will be Kamala Harris. But if Donald Trump is the nominee, you can mark my words, he will not win a general election.”

A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., has ruled that some criminal defendants who were charged in connection with the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, had their sentences improperly increased.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled Friday that defendant Larry Brock’s sentence improperly included charges of “interference with the administration of justice.” According to Circuit Judge Millett, who wrote the court’s opinion, interference with Congress’ certification of the electoral votes in the 2020 presidential election does not apply to a sentence enhancement.

“Brock challenges both the district court’s interpretation of Section 1512(c)(2)’s elements and the sufficiency of the evidence to support that conviction. He also challenges the district court’s application of the three-level sentencing enhancement for interfering with the ‘administration of justice.’”

The appeals court affirmed Brock’s conviction but disagreed on the sentencing, saying: “As for Brock’s sentence, we hold that the ‘administration of justice’ enhancement does not apply to interference with the legislative process of certifying electoral votes.”

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Scene from the Jan. 6 2021 Capitol riot. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

Other aspects of Larry Brock’s conviction were upheld but the appeals court said it would “vacate Brock’s sentence” and remanded the district court to resentence the single “interference” charge.

Other January 6 defendants received longer sentences because of the same charge, which could throw their respective sentences into question.

“Larry Brock participated in the violent January 6th riot at the United States Capitol that forced the evacuation of members of Congress and their staff and prevented Congress’s certification of the 2020 presidential election until the next day. After a bench trial, the court convicted Brock of six crimes, including corruptly obstructing Congress’s certification of the electoral count under 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2),” Judge Millet wrote. “At sentencing, the district court applied a three level sentencing enhancement to Brock’s Section 1512(c)(2) conviction on the ground that Brock’s conduct resulted in ‘substantial interference with the administration of justice.’”

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Brock was initially arrested and charged on January 6, 2021, on just two charges: knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

A U.S. Capitol police officer stands by his car outside the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., on August 2, 2023, after unconfirmed reports of an active shooter in the building near the US Capitol.  (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

The “interference” charge was added at a later date.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, D.C., Brock was charged after he attended then-President Trump’s “Stop the Steal Rally” on the morning of January 6th.

He then marched with others to the U.S. Capitol, entering the building at approximately 2:24 p.m.

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“When he arrived, Brock ascended the Upper West Terrace and entered the building through the door to the Senate Wing. After exiting, he attempted to open a set of secured doors marked ‘U.S. Senate’ with an unidentified set of keys,” the attorney’s office said in 2021.

The U.S. Capitol Rotunda stands empty in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wroblewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

It continued: “Brock ultimately reached the Senate floor, where he spent approximately eight minutes walking around and looking at paperwork on desks. During this time, Brock told others not to sit in the Vice President’s chair or to be disrespectful, explaining that the rioters could not afford to ‘lose the IO war.’”

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Brock left the Capitol at 3:02 p.m.

“On his way out, he deescalated an altercation between another rioter and Capitol Police officers and guided the rioter out of the Capitol. In total, Brock spent approximately 38 minutes inside the building,” the attorney’s office said.