Trump on the ballot as midterm elections turn on president’s record, influence

To some Republicans' chagrin, President Trump has openly embraced Democrats' efforts to cast Tuesday's midterm elections as a referendum on his record and political clout, a kind of ultimate test after a bruising midterm season that saw many of his hand-picked candidates surge to victories in key primaries.
Election Day marks voters' first nationwide opportunity to react not only to Trump's tenure, but also to the slew of recent developments that have reverberated in the public consciousness, including the deadly mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue, the swelling migrant caravans making their way to the U.S. border with Mexico, and the mail bombs sent to prominent liberals by an outspoken supporter of the president.
"In a sense, I am on the ticket,” Trump told a raucous election-eve rally in Ohio, one of three he held in the final hours before Election Day. "The midterm elections used to be, like, boring, didn't they?" he added. "Do you even remember what they were? People say midterms, they say, 'What is that, what is it,' right? Now it's like the hottest thing."
Trump has held 26 rallies since October as he criss-crossed the country, boosting not only local candidates but also his own stake in Tuesday's vote. In Mississippi in October, Trump urged supports to imagine they could vote for him when they head into the voting booth: “I'm not on the ballot, but in a certain way, I'm on the ballot. I want you to vote. ... Pretend I’m on the ballot.”
At an airport in Indiana ahead of another Monday evening rally, Trump simultaneously seemed to downplay his role while also expressing an eagerness to bear the responsibility for his party's performance on Tuesday.
"It's really about the candidate, but if they want to give me the credit or the liability, I'll be willing to take it," Trump told reporters.

"In a sense, I am on the ticket."
— President Trump

Over the past several months, Trump has unabashedly taken credit for the big wins enjoyed by several Republican candidates throughout this year's primary season, which often came directly after his endorsement.
Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who is locked in a tight gubernatorial race against Stacey Abrams, had surged ahead of Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle only after he secured Trump's backing. Similarly, Republican John Cox secured a spot on Tuesday's ballot in California's gubernatorial race when Trump urged the party to coalesce behind him.
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Perhaps the most stunning example of Trump's influence unfolded on June 12 in South Carolina, when Trump-bashing Rep. Mark Sanford was unseated by Katie Arrington. As voters headed to the polls, Trump tweeted that "Sanford has been very unhelpful to me in my campaign to MAGA" and called him "MIA and nothing but trouble."
Also attributable, at least in part, to Trump's endorsements: Republican State Sen. Troy Balderson pushing back a challenge from insurgent Democrat Danny O’Connor in Ohio's special election in August; South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster's win over rival businessman John Warren; and New York Rep. Dan Donovan's rise to beat Michael Grimm.
"When I decided to go to Ohio for Troy Balderson, he was down in early voting 64 to 36," Trump tweeted. "That was not good. After my speech on Saturday night, there was a big turn for the better. Now Troy wins a great victory during a very tough time of the year for voting. He will win BIG in Nov." (Fox News currently rates Balderson's bid for Ohio's 12th Congressional District as lean Republican.)
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But as voters head to the polls, some Republicans are suggesting that Trump's fiery, immigration-focused messaging may have derailed the GOP's electoral chances in some key races. And Trump himself seemingly acknowledged that, despite his efforts, his party is looking at long odds in several congressional races.
“I think we’re going to do well in the House," Trump said. "But, as you know, my primary focus has been on the Senate, and I think we’re doing really well in the Senate.”
Last week, Trump rebuked House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and told him that he "should be focusing on holding the Majority" rather than challenge his proposal to end birthright citizenship -- which was widely seen as an effort to cast some blame on Ryan if Democrats retake the lower chamber.
Last Friday's jobs report showed the unemployment rate holding steady at 3.7 percent, the lowest it has been in nearly 50 years, and that employers added roughly 250,000 jobs in October. Consumer confidence is at record-high levels. In an exclusive Fox News op-ed published Monday, Trump focused extensively on the economy, which he called "red-hot" and "the envy of the world."
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At times, though, Trump has appeared unwilling to discuss those figures publicly.
"Sometimes it’s not as exciting to talk about the economy because we have a lot of other things to talk about," Trump said at a rally Wednesday night in West Virginia. He proceeded to discuss the migrant caravan and birthright citizenship -- more contentious issues that analysts say may turn off some moderate voters.
"Does that bring a single person to the polls? Is it moving any undecided voter — toward you, anyway?" Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist asked, in an interview with The Washington Examiner. "Immigration is not a consensus issue within the current Republican Party because so many Republican voters are immigrants."
In an interview with The Los Angeles Times on Monday, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Trump "owns the Republican Party even more than Reagan" -- and he's wielding that historic influence accordingly.
"He has polarized the election on the issues he believes in, on his terms, despite the news media," Gingrich said. "You can argue whether or not it’s the right gamble. But it’s his gamble.”

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Pete Davidson doesn't owe me an apology, Crenshaw says

Republican congressional candidate Dan Crenshaw reacts to the crowd with his wife, Tara, during a party at the Cadillac Bar, in Houston. (Houston Chronicle via AP)

Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican Congressional candidate, took the high road Sunday after 'Saturday Night Live' actor Pete Davidson joked that the former Navy SEAL's eye patch made him look like a "hit man in a porno movie."
Davidson stirred up controversy during Saturday's "Weekend Update" when he said Crenshaw's photo was "kinda cool," but that viewers might be "surprised he's a congressional candidate from Texas and not a hitman in a porno movie." He added, "I'm sorry, I know he lost his eye in the war or whatever."
Crenshaw wears an eyepatch because he was badly wounded during his third tour in Afghanistan as a Navy SEAL.
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The National Republican Congressional Committee tweeted Sunday morning that David and NBC "should immediately apologize to Dan, and to the millions of veterans and military families who tune in every weekend -- because they're not laughing."
But Crenshaw backed away from demanding an apology from either Davidson or NBC. He said the "real atrocity" was Davidson's attempt at a joke, which he called "not funny" and "mean-spirited."
"[I]t wasn't even funny. Right? It was not original, it was not funny, it was just mean-spirited and that's how I feel about it," Crenshaw told TMZ.
"I want us to get away from this culture where we demand apologies everytime someone misspeaks," Crenshaw said. "I think that would be very healthy for our nation to go in that direction."

FILE: Pete Davidson speaks at a Comedy Central Roast at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, Calif.  (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

"We don't need to be outwardly outraged. I don't need to demand apologies from them. They can do whatever they want." He acknowledged that Davidson and NBC are likely "feeling the heat from around the country right now."
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"But I would like him and 'Saturday Night Live' to recognize something, which is that veterans across the country probably don't feel as though their wounds they received in battle should be the subject of a bad punchline for a bad joke," Crenshaw said.
Neither representatives for Davidson not NBC immediately responded to Fox News' request for comment.

Trump says Saudi Arabia 'didn't know how to use' US-made bombs in Yemen

President Trump shaking hands with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House in March. (AP, File)

President Trump said in an interview broadcast Sunday that members of the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen's civil war "didn't know how to use" an American-made bomb when they blew up a school bus this past August, killing dozens of children.
Trump described the Aug. 9 attack, which killed at least 51 people including 40 children, as "a horror show" in an interview with "Axios on HBO." However, he pointed out that the weapon "wasn't operated by U.S. people."
"We don't do that," Trump went on. "Our people are the best operators in the world ... That was basically people that didn't know how to use the weapon, which is horrible."
The interview was broadcast four days after the Trump administration demanded a cease-fire and the launch of U.N.-led political talks to end the Yemen conflict, which has devolved into a proxy war between the Saudis and Iran. Defense Secretary Jim Matts called for a halt to hostilities within 30 days.
An estimated 10,000 people have been killed since the conflict erupted in March 2015, one year after the Shiite Muslim Houthi minority took over Yemen's capital, Sanaa, and toppled the government. A Saudi-led, U.S.-backed coalition supporting the largely exiled government has blockaded the rebel-held north and waged a devastating air campaign. The U.S. has also sold billions of dollars' worth of arms to Saudi Arabia and provides logistical and other support to the coalition.
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The war has also left around two-thirds of Yemen's population of 27 million relying on foreign aid, and more than 8 million at risk of starvation.
"What’s going on in Yemen generally is a terrible thing," said Trump, who added: "It is probably right now the worst place on Earth."
The U.S.-Saudi alliance has come under strain in recent weeks following the Oct. 2 kidnapping and murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S.-based Saudi activist who contributed opinion pieces to The Washington Post. The State Department on Friday said it would continue to seek a full investigation into what happened to Khashoggi after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and never came out.
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Trump told Axios that he would "be talking about a lot of things with the Saudis," but added, "certainly I wouldn't be having people that don't know how to use the weapons shooting at buses with children."
Earlier Sunday, Yemeni officials said more than 150 fighters on both sides had been killed over the weekend amid escalating fighting around the key port city of Hodeida. The rebels said they had repelled the offensive, killing or wounding 215 troops and destroying 20 armored vehicles.

Hunting, fishing rights on the ballot in North Carolina

There's nothing Brant McMullan likes more than fishing for redfish with his son on his Yellowfin boat, with his Yamaha F300 outboard motors off the coast of North Carolina.
"Fishing is a way of life for us," McMullan said, joined out on the water by his son and his father.
But today, he fears for fishing's future, particularly for sport-fisherman like himself. McMullan told Fox News he's concerned that over the past few decades, sport-fisherman have been getting squeezed out of the fishing industry, as a result of increasing "regulations and pressure."
That's exactly why he's supporting a ballot measure in North Carolina that would enshrine the right to fish and hunt in the state constitution. What McMullan fears most, he said, is a regulatory concept called "catch shares."
That's where the government divvies up catch limits for certain species of fish among commercial fishermen. McMullan explained that sport-anglers like himself are left out.
"It's a precious resource," he said while aboard his boat, "and it's important that it be available." McMullan agrees with critics of the ballot measure who say this will privatize the fishing industry to the detriment of those who are fishing for fun.
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On the other hand, Ashley Byrne from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) told Fox News that "fishing is a blood sport just like hunting." PETA opposes the ballot measure, in part because, Byrne says, we've already caught too many fish.
"Fish populations are dwindling as a result of overfishing," Byrne said, adding, "There are estimates that say many large fish populations could be extinct in our lifetimes."
McMullan doesn't agree.
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Following the catch of an enormous redfish, he said, "well, the proof is in the pudding I'm holding in my hands."
"I will say," McMullan challenged, "I have fished for over two decades - and the fisheries are extremely healthy."
He's also supporting the Modern Fish Act, which is currently before Congress. McMullan said it's the only way to truly level the playing field and keep fishing viable for decades to come.

Iran president warns of economic 'war situation' as sanctions resume

Iran remained defiant Monday as the re-imposition of sanctions took hold in the Islamic Republic.
Iranian state television aired footage of defense drills taking place in the country's north through Tuesday as President Hassan Rouhani said the nation faces a “war situation” against a “bullying enemy.”
The sanctions, re-imposed by President Donald Trump earlier this year, will end all the economic benefits America granted Tehran for its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. The deal limited Iran’s enrichment of uranium.
The reimposition comes as Trump and Congress focus on congressional and gubernatorial elections in the U.S. Many will see the results as a major triumph for the president, or a political blow. Reuters pointed out that Trump campaigned in Chattanooga, Tenn., and he called the sanctions an effective strategy.
“Iran is a much different country than it was when I took office,” Trump said.  “They wanted to take over the whole Middle East. Right now they just want to survive.”
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The new American sanctions take aim at Iran's vital oil industry -- a crucial source for its weak economy. Its national currency has plummeted over the last year amid an economic crisis. Prices for everything from mobile phones to medicine have skyrocketed.
Iran’s national currency, the rial, now trades at 145,000 to one U.S. dollar -- down from 40,500 to $1 a year ago. The economic chaos sparked mass anti-government protests at the end of last year which resulted in nearly 5,000 reported arrests and at least 25 people being killed.

FILE:  An effigy of U.S. government icon "Uncle Sam" is held up by demonstrators during a rally in front of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran. (AP)

Rouhani insisted on state TV that Iran will “sell its oil and it will sell” despite the crippling sanctions.
“We are in the economic war situation,” he said. “We are confronting a bullying enemy. We have to stand to win.”
The United States has said the sanctions are aimed at dissuading Iran from its support of regional militant groups and its development of long-range ballistic missiles.

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