The Trump campaign is demanding an apology from the White House and President Biden’s campaign for dismissing videos of Biden’s public gaffes and miscues as “cheap fakes” and “misinformation” promoted by conservatives. 

Following repeated instances of Biden appearing to stand motionless during public events, being guided offstage by family or allies, or appearing confused during public events, the White House slammed such videos as “cheap fakes” promoted by the Trump campaign and its allies. Cheap fakes, under the White House’s definition, are understood as real videos that are cropped or edited in an allegedly deceptive manner. 

The Trump campaign fired back on Friday that following Biden’s debate performance, “everyone sees there’s NOTHING fake about Biden’s decline.”

“It’s only been a week since our fantastic team @TrumpWarRoom & @RNCResearch were wrongly accused of editing ‘cheap fakes’ to make Biden look bad,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X Friday. “The Democrats, and of course their mouthpieces in the Fake News, peddled this ridiculous lie.”

INDEPENDENT, GOP VOTERS SHOW SPIKING SUPPORT AS TRUMP SLAMS BIDEN’S ‘FULLY DEBUNKED’ CHARLOTTESVILLE NARRATIVE

“We actually had to spend time fighting ‘journalists’ on this ridiculous narrative and telling them Americans can believe their own eyes!” she continued. “Now everyone sees there’s NOTHING fake about Biden’s decline. We were right and simply sharing the TRUTH!”

“We will take an apology now,” Leavitt added, tagging the Biden campaign and a handful of media outlets. 

When asked about the Trump campaign’s call for an apology, the Biden campaign told Fox News Digital that Trump is a “liar” in addition to “a pathetic loser.”

“Trump lied countless times during the debate and so does his campaign, in real life and on the internet. Trump lied Thursday about whether he called fallen soldiers suckers and losers, and he’s still triggered that mainstream media fact checkers called out his cheap fakes.  So sure, we will amend our previous statement: Trump is not just a liar he is also a pathetic loser,” a spokesperson for the Biden campaign said.

The call for an apology comes after former President Trump and Biden faced off in the 2024 election cycle’s first debate on Thursday evening, with Biden subsequently coming under fire from conservatives and his traditional allies for his disastrous performance. The New York Times even called on Biden to drop out of the race over his performance, which underscored already mounting concerns over the president’s age and mental acuity.

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL BOARD CALLS FOR BIDEN TO DROP OUT: HIS CANDIDACY IS A ‘RECKLESS GAMBLE’

Biden’s debate performance included him having a raspy voice, losing his train of thought at times, and stumbling over some responses. Vice President Kamala Harris acknowledged this week that Biden had a “slow start” to the debate, but defended his performance overall and his record in office since 2021. 

WHITE HOUSE ‘CHEAP FAKES’ RESPONSE TO BIDEN VIDEOS PART OF PUSH FOR SOCIAL MEDIA CENSORSHIP: EXPERT

Leavitt told Fox News Digital that, in addition to apologizing to the campaign, Biden’s administration and campaign should “more importantly” apologize to Americans. 

“The Biden White House and entire Democrat Party are both directly implicated in the greatest coverup in U.S. political history — and the mainstream media is complicit in their lies to the American public about Joe Biden’s mental state. They owe an apology to not just our campaign, but more importantly to the American people, for this major scandal that has led to the demise of our country over the past four years,” she said. 

Ahead of the debate, Biden faced criticism for a series of gaffes and missed cues during public appearances, including events abroad with fellow world leaders. Those include: former President Obama taking Biden’s wrist to seemingly lead him offstage at a fundraiser in Los Angeles this month; Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni directing Biden back to a gaggle of world leaders in Italy this month after he took a few steps away from the group to give a thumbs up to a parachutist; and viral video showing the president standing relatively motionless during a Juneteenth concert event at the White House. 

SOCIAL MEDIA MOCKS BIDEN BEING LED OFFSTAGE BY FIRST LADY

OBAMA DEFENDS BIDEN, HAMMERS TRUMP AFTER TELEVISED SHOWDOWN: ‘BAD DEBATE NIGHTS HAPPEN’

The White House pushed back following criticisms of such videos that they were “cheap fakes,” birthing a new 2024 campaign buzz word that was soon mocked by conservatives on social media, who argued that the administration was “gaslighting” Americans. 

“They are cheap fakes. . . . They are done in bad faith. And some of your news organizations have been very clear, have stressed that these right-wing . . . critics of the president have a credibility problem, because the fact-checkers have repeatedly caught them pushing misinformation, disinformation,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said earlier this month of cheap fakes.

The Biden-Harris campaign also promoted the “cheap fake” narrative, calling them “a huge part of Trump’s campaign strategy.”

OBAMA LEADING BIDEN OFF LA FUNDRAISER’S STAGE JUST LATEST EXAMPLE OF ALLIES DIRECTING PRESIDENT

“Rob Flaherty, Biden-Harris Deputy Campaign Manager: Donald Trump is desperate to distract from his unpopular agenda. That’s why his campaign is deploying ‘cheap fakes,’ which are deceptively edited videos of President Biden. These doctored videos are a huge part of Trump’s campaign strategy,” the campaign posted on X earlier this month. 

A major conservative activist group is preparing for legal battles in case the Democratic Party chooses to pull President Biden out of the running before or after he becomes the nominee.

The Heritage Foundation, one of the United States’ most prominent and well-connected conservative activist groups, is laying the groundwork in case a sudden switch-up in the Democratic roster sparks a legal war.

“We are monitoring the calls from across the country for President Biden to step aside, either now or before the election, and have concluded that the process for substitution and withdrawal is very complicated,” Executive Director of The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project Mike Howell said in a statement. “We will remain vigilant that appropriate election integrity procedures are followed.”

DEM LAWMAKERS STRUGGLE TO DEAL WITH FALLOUT OF BIDEN DEBATE PERFORMANCE: ‘DISAPPOINTMENT’

Heritage has already identified multiple states in which a switch away from Biden before or after the nomination could mean serious trouble for the Democratic Party.

In a separate statement, the Oversight Project warned, “If the Biden family decides that President Biden will not run for re-election, the mechanisms for replacing him on ballots vary by state. There is the potential for pre-election litigation in some states that would make the process difficult and perhaps unsuccessful. 

“Given the expected intensity of election integrity concerns in this election cycle, policymakers and the public should be educated and aware of the contentious path ahead,” it added.

BIDEN’S INNER CIRCLE SILENT AS PARTY REELS FOLLOWING ‘EMBARRASSING’ DEBATE PERFORMANCE

Heritage points out that many states — including swing states such as Georgia, Nevada and Wisconsin — might not allow a replacement on the ballot.

Wisconsin does not allow a candidate’s name to be withdrawn from the ballot except due to death. Nevada allows changes to its ballot up until 5:00pm on the fourth Friday of June in the election year — it also allows special consideration for if nominees die or are determined to be mentally unable to proceed. 

Georgia would allow Biden to withdraw up to 60 days before the election. If Biden withdraws afterward, his name would remain on the ballot but votes for him would be discarded.

Other states have restrictions on timing and the reason for withdrawal from ballots, while others have no procedures on the books, making the prospect of switching Biden out an even more perilous legal minefield.

Fox News contributor Jason Chaffetz told ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ that “This whole idea, this whole notion that maybe they should get a different candidate — that’s not how the system works, folks!”

“It depends on the states. Elections are not run by the party, they’re not run by the federal government — they’re administered by states. Each state has state law,” Chaffetz continued. “Once you go through the primary, once you go through the caucus, you have to follow that law.”

A federal judge temporarily blocked part of a Georgia law on Friday that only allows people or organizations to post bonds three times a year if they do not meet the criteria for bail bond companies.

U.S. District Judge Victoria Marie Calvert blocked part of Senate Bill 63 for 14 days before it could take effect on July 1, according to The Associated Press. The judge told lawyers to offer arguments on whether it should be stayed until a lawsuit over the legislation is resolved.

The blocked section limits people and organizations from posting more than three cash bonds in a year unless they meet requirements for bail bond companies, which includes passing background checks, paying fees, holding a business license, securing the local sheriff’s approval and establishing a cash escrow account or other form of collateral.

Calvert is allowing other parts of the law to take effect, including requiring cash bail before people who are charged with certain crimes can be released from pretrial detention. The list of 30 crimes includes 18 that are always or often misdemeanors, including failure to appear in court for a traffic citation.

JUDGE ARRESTED AT ATLANTA NIGHTCLUB REMOVED FROM OFFICE FOR ‘JUDICIAL MISCONDUCT’

The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown University Law Center filed the lawsuit last week on behalf of Barred Business Foundation, an Atlanta-based nonprofit that facilitates campaigns to pay cash bail, and two Athens residents who run a charitable bail fund in association with their church.

The lawsuit alleges that the law’s restriction on bail funds are unconstitutional and requests that the judge block it.

The legislation “imposes what are arguably the most severe restrictions on charitable bail funds in the nation,” the lawsuit argues, adding that the limit on charitable bail funds is “incredibly burdensome — perhaps insurmountable — and is both irrational and arbitrary.”

According to the lawsuit, the restrictions “will effectively eliminate charitable bail funds in Georgia.”

The Bail Project, a national nonprofit that helps thousands of low-income people post bonds, announced earlier this month it was forced to close its Atlanta branch in response to the law.

“We are encouraged by the judge’s ruling and its recognition that this law is unnecessary, harmful, and likely unconstitutional,” ACLU of Georgia legal director Cory Isaacson said in a statement. “We are relieved for our plaintiffs and the many people across the state that they serve. It’s unconscionable that people doing charitable bail work would face criminal penalties simply because they are helping people who are languishing in jail because of their poverty and have no other means of relief.”

The state argued in a brief filed Thursday that the law does not violate the plaintiffs’ rights of free speech and association because it would only restrict conduct that does not involve speech, saying that the plaintiffs may still criticize Georgia’s cash bail system, and that paying bail does not inherently send any message.

GEORGIA DAD FREED AFTER HOT CAR SEAT DEATH OF SON PUT HIM IN PRISON FOR MURDER

Supporters of the measure say that well-meaning groups should not have an issue with following the same rules that bail bond companies must adhere to.

The law comes amid Republican efforts to restrict community bail funds after they were used to post bonds for demonstrators arrested in 2020 protests against racial injustice and, subsequently, for demonstrators protesting against the construction of an Atlanta public safety training center, which has been dubbed “Cop City” by its opponents.

State prosecutors have said that some “Stop Cop City” protesters had the Atlanta Solidarity Fund’s phone number written on their bodies, which they pointed to as evidence that the protesters planned to participate in illegal activity.

Last year, three of the bail fund’s leaders were charged with charity fraud. They are among 61 people indicted on racketeering charges.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) is pushing to force President Biden out of office via the 25th Amendment.

The U.S. lawmaker from Texas introduced legislation this week that would urge Vice President Kamala Harris to bring together executives of the executive cabinet and jointly declare Biden unfit to continue as president.

Roy introduced the resolution on Friday “calling on Vice President Kamala D. Harris to convene and mobilize the principal officers of the executive departments of the Cabinet to activate section 4 of the 25th Amendment to declare President Joseph R. Biden incapable of executing the duties of his office and to immediately exercise powers as Acting President.”

OBAMA DEFENDS BIDEN, HAMMERS TRUMP AFTER TELEVISED SHOWDOWN: ‘BAD DEBATE NIGHTS HAPPEN’

The resolution claims that Biden “has repeatedly and publicly demonstrated his inability to discharge the powers and duties of the Presidency, including, among others, the powers and duties of the Commander-in-Chief.”

Section 4 of the 25th Amendment authorizes the vice president and a majority of the executive cabinet to make the decision whether the president is fit to continue in office or not.

Biden has faced severe backlash following a disastrous debate performance on Thursday in which the president was seen visibly confused, mouth agape, and frequently unable to complete sentences.

REPUBLICANS DECLARE BIDEN ‘UNFIT FOR OFFICE’ FOLLOWING ‘DISASTROUS’ DEBATE PERFORMANCE

Biden appeared tired and unfocused at times during his 90-minute face-off with Trump. At one point, Trump fired back, “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either.”

Some Democrats have floated the idea of pulling Biden out of the Democratic primary at the last second, despite the fact he’s been the overwhelming winner of every state.

Such a radical move would certainly lead to legal battles, voter confusion, and a last-minute scramble for a new candidate to connect with the American people.

Republicans have seized the moment as vindication after years of questioning the president’s mental acuity but being denied by the mainstream media and political insiders.

Jamie Metzl, who worked for President Biden during the Clinton administration as deputy staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when Biden was a senator, told Fox News Digital the president shouldn’t accept the nomination for the Democratic ticket after Biden’s debate performance. 

“I have tremendous respect for Joe Biden. He’s my former boss. I think he’s a great person and a great American patriot. But I think most people seeing him in the debate last night would have to come to the conclusion that he may not have 4½ healthy years left where he can perform at the highest level that’s required for a United States president,” said Metzl, author of the book “Superconvergence: How the Genetics, Biotech, and AI Revolutions Will Transform Our Lives, Work, and World.” 

“And so, it’s with a very heavy heart and deep sadness that I’ve come to the conclusion that the best step for the Democratic Party and for the country is for President Biden to announce that he will not seek the Democratic Party’s nomination to be the presidential candidate,” Metzl said. 

DNC INSIDER CLAIMS BIDEN MEETING WITH OBAMA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST FOLLOWING DEBATE DISASTER

Metzl said he believes Biden did an “excellent” job in his first term, adding that before he took office, “we had significant attacks on our democracy and literally an attack on our Capitol. Our alliances were in shambles. So, I think that President Biden has done actually a quite good job. Certainly not perfect. And there’s lots of things that I and we can and should criticize.”

He added that calling on Biden to drop out is not “a statement about his performance in his first term as president. It’s a statement about what is required to be the president of the United States for four years. And, unfortunately, Joe Biden, who I greatly respect, I don’t believe has that capacity anymore.” 

Metzl explained that he worked with Biden nearly 25 years ago, and that he notices a “marked difference” between Biden then and now. 

“And that’s perfectly normal. We all have parents and grandparents, and we see that age is a very real thing even for a vigorous person like President Biden,” Metzl said. “When you get to be in your 80s, just the ravages of time catch up to us all. So, I have great respect for him, but I just think that we in the Democratic Party need to be brutally honest with ourselves. Because, if we’re not, the voters in November will certainly be brutally honest with us.”

Metzl said while the Democratic Party has a provision for an open convention, “I think it would be a mistake to begin this process then, because a person who is going to be the nominee needs to have legitimacy. Not just from being selected at the convention, but through some type of popular engagement and popular process. So, I think that President Biden should announce that he will not seek the nomination at some point over the next couple of days, and that anyone who wants to step forward should do so.”

He suggested that, over the next month, the candidates could have weekly debates about the leading candidates along with “old-fashioned retail politics at scale, where these candidates are going to have to, in a very condensed period of time, communicate who they are and what they stand for and engage with voters. This is not something that is comfortable. It would have been much better if we had had a regular primary, perhaps, beginning a year ago. But this is where we are now, and I think we need to make the most of it.” 

Biden didn’t have any serious primary challengers and quickly became the presumptive Democratic nominee. His team also insisted Friday he wouldn’t consider leaving the race. 

“I don’t know what’s realistic and what’s not,” Metzl said when asked whether Biden would consider dropping out. “I certainly know that if President Biden and his team this morning had said, ‘We’re thinking about what’s the next step,’ it would have been game over from that point. So, they almost have to say, ‘We’re in it to win it’ now.”

“And the question will be what happens over the next couple of days? Perhaps there’ll be additional polls that will give information. Perhaps, very likely, there are private conversations. But I do think that, after the performance last night, it will just be impossible for President Biden to rebrand himself to the American people.” 

OBAMA DEFENDS BIDEN, HAMMERS TRUMP AFTER TELEVISED SHOWDOWN: ‘BAD DEBATE NIGHTS HAPPEN’

Metzl said there are a number of Democratic candidates who could take Biden’s place, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, California Gov. Gavin Newsom or Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.

“I certainly think that there are some strong candidates,” he said. “But the problem is that, in our system, it takes a long primary year in many cases for people to get to know a candidate. Bill Clinton, Barack Obama were relative unknowns when they announced that they were running for the presidency. 

“And it took all of the give and take of the primaries for the electorate to get to know them. So, it’s going to be an extremely tall order for people who, whether they’re governors or senators or others who aren’t that well known to the general public, to become so well known over the next month or so that they would have some tailwinds coming into the Democratic convention in August.” 

While admitting it would be difficult for a replacement candidate to be able to beat Trump, Metzl said, “I do think it’s possible. I do not think that Donald Trump is a strong candidate at all, and I don’t think the American people were well served by the choice.

CAN BIDEN BE REPLACED AS THE DEM NOMINEE? HOW THE EXTRAORDINARY MOVE COULD OCCUR

“President Biden is clearly looking his age, and it was clear from the debate last night that President Trump is unrepentant, and that he’s standing by the attacks on the United States Capitol, standing by efforts to undermine the structures of American democracy, standing by his efforts to cast doubt on our entire electoral system. And, so, that’s why I’m certainly not a fan of Donald Trump. I believe Donald Trump poses a pretty significant threat to American democracy. But President Biden is just not presenting a level of vigor that will make voters believe he will be capable of carrying out the responsibilities of president over the next four and a half years.”

If Metzl could speak to Biden, he said he would tell him, “President Biden, you are a personal hero of mine. You’re a man of great ethics, great integrity. You’ve contributed a great deal to this country, which you love. And now for your perhaps last and greatest act of patriotism, it’s time for you to pass the torch to a new generation.”

But, Metzl said, he will vote for Biden if he’s still on the ticket in November because he believes Trump is “unfit to be the president of the United States.”

“By casting doubt on the electoral system, which, by all accounts, these last elections were the cleanest in American history, by supporting an attack on the capital of our own country, Donald Trump has made himself unfit for this role, in my view,” Metzl said.

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Metzl said it would be difficult for him to “change my views” on Biden following the debate. 

“Everybody saw the experience of the debate last night,” he said. “It was deeply painful. It was deeply sad. It felt to me like King Lear. And while I have a great love and respect for President Biden, I believe the time has come. And I believe that he has one last great act of patriotism left in him. And I believe that making a statement that he will not accept the party’s nomination for the presidency is that statement.” 

President Biden, on the day after the most consequential political performance of his decades-long career, aimed to address Democratic Party panic after his disastrous debate performance in his first faceoff with former President Trump.

“I know I’m not a young man, to state the obvious,” Biden, who at 81 is the oldest president in the nation’s history, told cheering supporters at a Friday afternoon rally in the crucial battleground state of North Carolina.

“Folks, I don’t walk as easy as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to,” Biden acknowledged. “But I know what I do know. I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done. And I know, like millions of Americans know, when you get knocked down you get back up.”

And the president, pointing to his 2024 rematch with Trump, emphasized, “I would not be running again if I did not believe with all my heart and soul that I can do this job.”

A RASPY BIDEN DELIVERS A HALTING DEBATE PERFORMANCE IN SHOWDOWN WITH TRUMP

As Biden worked to calm his party, his campaign repeatedly highlighted what it described as record-breaking fundraising both during and after the debate as it seemingly aimed to deflect from a brutal narrative coming out of the showdown in Atlanta.

WHAT THE NEW YORK TIMES IS ASKING BIDEN TO DO

And Biden’s campaign on Saturday morning announced that it hauled in $27 million in fundraising Thursday and Friday, which it highlighted as “a sign of strength of our grassroots support.”

Struggling with a raspy voice and delivering rambling answers, Biden struggled during portions of the debate. The president did sharpen his answers as the debate progressed, calling out his Republican predecessor in the White House for numerous falsehoods throughout the 90-minute debate.

But Biden’s uneven and, at times, halting performance grabbed the vast majority of headlines from the debate and sparked a new round of calls from political pundits and publications and some Democrats for the president to step aside as the party’s standard-bearer. Top Biden allies pushed back against such talk as they defended the president and targeted Trump for lying throughout the debate.

And the Biden campaign spotlighted that the 11 p.m. ET hour Thursday night — the one hour after the debate — “was the single best hour of fundraising since the campaign’s launch in April 2023.”

WHAT BIDEN SAID AT HIS FIRST POST-DEBATE RALLY

A Biden campaign adviser, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, told Fox News the fundraising is “an important sign that there’s a bit of disconnect between national narratives and where supporters are.”

Following his rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, the president and first lady Jill Biden traveled to New York City, where they joined superstars Elton John and Katy Perry and top Democratic Party elected officials to unveil the city’s Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center. The grand opening was timed to kick off New York City’s Pride weekend and mark the 55th anniversary of the historic rebellion that marked a turning point for LGBTQ+liberation.

Biden then headlined a campaign fundraiser Friday evening in New York City that his campaign touted was “the largest LGBTQ fundraising event in political history.”

On Saturday, the president was scheduled to attend two more top dollar fundraisers in the wealthy communities of East Hampton, New York, and Red Bank, New Jersey.

Meanwhile, two Democratic sources confirmed to Fox News that top Biden campaign officials worked to calm concerns and fears as they huddled privately on Friday at a previously scheduled meeting with top party donors.

“Biden‘s record grassroots fundraising from the day of the debate is critical. It helps blunt the criticism from Biden’s performance,” veteran political strategist and Democratic National Committee member Maria Cardona told Fox News.

Cardona, a top Biden supporter, said spotlighting the fundraising “reminds Democrats that there is enthusiasm for the president and urgency to make sure that the liar and criminal Donald Trump doesn’t get close to the Oval Office.”

A Democratic strategist and presidential campaign veteran said team Biden’s focus on fundraising “is their best and maybe their only card to play.”

But the strategist, who was granted anonymity to speak more freely, emphasized “there’s no amount of money that can reverse the damage that was done at the debate and the president confirming everyone’s worst suspicions and fears about him and his age and not being up to the job. Period.” 

Trump campaign senior adviser Brian Hughes also discounted the Biden fundraising.

“As of last week, the Biden campaign has spent $100 million on cable, TV and radio. They’ve spent money on a bloated organization. Yet President Trump’s lead has grown in battleground states, and now we see polling and enthusiasm on the ground putting Virginia and Minnesota in play for the GOP nominee for the first time in many election cycles,” Hughes told Fox News.

The Trump campaign, enjoying the post-debate narrative, had no need to immediately emphasize its own fundraising.

But the campaign told Fox News Friday afternoon it brought in $8 million the day of the debate.

Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley, a top Trump ally, said hours earlier in an interview on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends” that “the donations have been coming in, very strong, very steady. And that’s because the people saw his positioning last night during the debate. The donations, especially the small dollar online donations that we’re getting in right now, are really a reflection of the enthusiasm that the president brings to the campaign.”

And Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita told Fox News Digital Thursday night the debate performance was “added rocket fuel” to the former president’s fundraising and in “motivating the troops.”

Dan Eberhart, an oil drilling CEO and a prominent Republican donor, is raising money for Trump after earlier supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the GOP presidential nomination race. 

“The donors I have texted with are now more confident of a Trump win,” Eberhart said. “For any donors that were still on the sideline, last night was the push they needed to put their chips on Trump.”

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

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday upheld the state’s ban on gender transition treatment for children, allowing the Lone Star State to remain one of at least 25 states, and the largest, with restrictions on such treatment.

The law, which has been in effect since Sept. 1, 2023, prohibits children under the age of 18 from accessing hormone therapy, puberty blockers and gender transition surgery. Children who were already on those medications were required to taper off their use of the drugs. The law includes exemptions for children in early puberty or who have “a medically verifiable genetic disorder of sex development.”

The lawsuit that challenged the law argued it harms transgender teenagers who are barred from receiving gender transition treatment recommended by their physicians and parents, according to The Associated Press.

The court, comprised of all Republicans, handed down its ruling in an 8-1 decision.

JUDGE RULES MONTANA LAW DEFINING SEX AS ONLY MALE OR FEMALE IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL

“We conclude the Legislature made a permissible, rational policy choice to limit the types of available medical procedures for children, particularly in light of the relative nascency of both gender dysphoria and its various modes of treatment and the Legislature’s express constitutional authority to regulate the practice of medicine,” Justice Rebeca Aizpuru Huddle wrote.

The lone dissenting judge said the court was giving the state’s government the ability to “legislate away fundamental parental rights.”

“The State’s categorical statutory prohibition prevents these parents, and many others, from developing individualized treatment plans for their children in consultation with their physicians, even the children for whom treatment could be lifesaving,” Justice Debra Lehrmann wrote. “The law is not only cruel — it is unconstitutional.”

A lower court had ruled the law unconstitutional, but it was permitted to take effect during the state Supreme Court’s consideration of the case.

Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton tweeted after the ruling that his office “will use every tool at our disposal to ensure that doctors and medical institutions follow the law.”

The groups who filed the lawsuit criticized the ruling as harmful to transgender children and their families.

“It is impossible to overstate the devastating impact of this ruling on Texas transgender youth and the families that love and support them,” Karen Loewy, senior counsel and director of Constitutional Law Practice at Lambda Legal, which was one of the groups that sued the state on behalf of doctors and families, told The Associated Press.

ACLU of Texas’ policy and advocacy strategist for LGBTQIA+ rights, Ash Hall, said the government should not “deprive trans youth of the health care that they need to survive and thrive,” adding that “Texas politicians’ obsession with attacking trans kids and their families is needlessly cruel.”

Gender transition treatment for transgender children is supported by major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychiatric Association and the Endocrine Society.

BRAGG’S OFFICE FACES BAR COMPLAINT ALLEGING DISCRIMINATION IN ‘DIVERSITY’ HIRING PRACTICES

One justice dismissed the medical groups’ position as irrelevant to whether the Texas law is constitutional.

“The fact that expert witnesses or influential interest groups like the American Psychiatric Association disagree with the Legislature’s judgment is entirely irrelevant to the constitutional question,” Justice James Blacklock wrote in a concurring opinion. “The Texas Constitution authorizes the Legislature to regulate ‘practitioners of medicine.'”

In a lower court hearing, several doctors who treat transgender children testified that patients could face deteriorating mental health that could potentially lead to suicide if they are denied gender transition treatment.

Texas officials said the law was needed to protect children and pointed to several other restrictions for minors intended to keep them safe, including when it comes to tattoos, alcohol, tobacco and certain over-the-counter drugs.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

At former President Trump’s first rally since the presidential debate, he argued the nation’s “biggest problem” is not President Biden’s age and “decline,” but his destructive policies.

Speaking to a crowd of more than 1,000 at Historic Greenbrier Farms in Chesapeake, Virginia, Friday, Trump took a victory lap after the first 2024 presidential debate.

Trump told supporters every voter should ask one question before heading to the polls Nov. 5.

“The question every voter should be asking themselves today is not whether Joe Biden can survive a 90-minute debate performance, but whether America can survive four more years of crooked Joe Biden in the White House,” he said.

TRUMP, BIDEN SPAR OVER GOLF HANDICAPS AS THEY TRY TO CONVINCE VOTERS THEY ARE NOT TOO OLD FOR THE PRESIDENCY

“Remember, the biggest problem for our country is not Joe Biden’s personal decline,” Trump said. “It’s that Joe Biden’s policies are causing America’s decline at a level that we’ve never seen before.

“That’s why this November, the people of Virginia and the people of America are going to tell crooked Joe Biden, ‘You’re fired.'”

President Biden addressed his campaign performance at a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, saying, “I don’t debate as well as I used to.

BIDEN’S INNER CIRCLE SILENT AS PARTY REELS FOLLOWING ‘EMBARRASSING’ DEBATE PERFORMANCE

“I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done,” he told a roaring crowd that chanted “Four more years.”

“The choice in this election is simple,” Biden said. “Donald Trump will destroy our democracy. I will defend it.”

Biden’s age and mental acuity have been at the forefront as voters inch closer to Election Day.

Biden, 81, is the oldest president in history and has faced skepticism from voters and Republican lawmakers about his ability to do the job.

Biden would be 86 at the end of a second term, while Trump would be 82.

A $112.4 billion budget was agreed to on Friday by New York City mayor Eric Adams and the head of the city council. The agreement included $800 million more in spending than Adams’ most recent proposal in April.

The two sides were able to avoid many controversial cuts to libraries, cultural institutions and early childhood education that were included in the April proposal. 

“We have done our job,” Adams said at a Friday press conference, “and will continue to do our job the right way and deliver for the people of this city, working-class people who have often been ignored.”

The budget cuts, which were the subject of a long and arduous debate among city officials, were not able to be avoided altogether. The agreement only adds $20 million to early childhood education, for example, which is still slated to receive $150 million less in funding than last year.

“We did over $7.9 billion in savings. We restored $349 million,” Adams said, referring to the spending reductions that helped the city balance the budget. “We showed fiscal responsibility.”

The new budget agreement will be the largest in New York City history, up over $5 billion from the previous agreement dictating spending for this year. New York’s City Council is expected to vote on the agreement on Sunday, one day before the July 1 deadline.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

As a result of the agreement, New York City libraries are expected to return to being open seven days a week, after closing on Sundays due to proposed cuts.

The Washington Examiner reached out to Adams for comment.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed into law the state’s largest budget package, at $56.6 billion, boosting the tax rates for the richest corporations.

The budget will increase the tax rate from 9% to 11.5% on corporations making more than $10 million a year in revenue. Called the corporate transit fee, this money will go toward the NJ Transit system, which is staring down the barrel of their own budget difficulties. The system operates the trains and busses in the state.

“With this budget, we are going to make life more affordable for more families. We are going to create new economic opportunities for our workers and local businesses. And we are going to invest in the potential of every one of our neighbors,” Murphy said in a statement.

“The fee will make our public transit system more reliable, more dependable, and more accessible for working New Jerseyans,” Murphy said.

Originally, the legislature was considering a state sales tax hike — from 6.625% to 7% — but later disregarded that move in favor of the transit fee. NJ Transit recently upped fares 15%, which lawmakers criticized since budget negotiations discussing this corporate transit fee were still ongoing.

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Also included in this budget is billions for K-12 education, about $2.5 billion in property tax relief, and a 67% pay raise for lawmakers, which will go into effect in 2026. Current pay is $49,000, and this bill would raise that to $89,000.

This budget is not the first time Murphy has raised taxes since taking office in 2018. In a previous budget, he raised taxes on those making over $1 million. This is also not the first time during Murphy’s tenure that the budget has broken records — every budget in recent years has been the highest ever. This one is about 4% higher than the current budget.