At least five Americans were among the group of civilians who fled Gaza for Egypt on Wednesday, U.S. officials say.

All five U.S. citizens – who are the only known Americans to leave Gaza today – were aid workers. The U.S. State Department says that it will give instructions to the 400 other Americans who expressed a desire to leave, along with their families. The total number is around 1,000 people.

‘Due to privacy considerations we are not offering further details about the individuals who were able to depart,’ a spokesperson told Fox News. ‘We continue to work towards safe passage for more U.S. citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents, and family members in the coming days.’

Fox News learned that the evacuation was conducted with the help of the Special Operations Association of America, who rescued at least 25 other aid workers.

During a State Department briefing on Wednesday, spokesperson Matthew Miller said that he expects the exits of ‘U.S. citizens and foreign nationals to continue over the next several days.’

‘In the past 24 hours, we have informed U.S. citizens and their family and family members with whom we are in contact that they will be assigned specific departure dates,’ Miller explained. ‘We have asked them to continue to monitor email regularly over the next 24 to 72 hours for specific instructions about how to exit the U.S. Embassy in Cairo is standing by to provide assistance to U.S. citizens as they enter Egypt.’

During the briefing, Miller also confirmed that Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Israel and Jordan on Friday.

‘The secretary will meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu and other leaders of the Israeli government to receive an update on their military objectives and their plans for meeting those objectives,’ the spokesperson explained. ‘He will reiterate us support for Israel’s right to defend itself in accordance with international humanitarian law and discussed the need to take all precautions to minimize civilian casualties as well as our work to deliver humanitarian assistance.’

Earlier on Wednesday, it was discovered that the list of approved nationals to cross at Rafal omitted Americans citizens, despite U.S. officials helping broker negotiations between Egypt and the Palestinians.

The attorney of a Massachusetts family trapped in Gaza released a statement announcing that the U.S. was excluded from the list.

‘Abood shared with me this morning that he reached out to the US Embassy in Cairo, which told him that there was no timeline for US citizens to depart, ‘attorney Sammy Nabulsi said in a statement. ‘My concern has and continues to be that at every turn the United States has prioritized foreign interests over the safety and security of American citizens.’

Fritz Berggren, an employee of the U.S. State Department accused of drafting antisemitic blog posts, is drawing the attention of Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

‘I have serious concerns about Berggren’s ability to serve as a diplomatic representative – and at one point a key decision-maker in his role as a visa adjudicator – based on his hateful comments,’ Grassley told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

Berggren’s blog, called ‘Blood and Faith’ is not new. The blog – which Berggren used in tandem with his podcast to advance his views that Jews are ‘the enemy’ – gained attention from federal officials in 2021. However, he remains employed.

According to the website, his first blog was posted in September 2017. 

Grassley first inquired about Berggren’s in July, and the State Department confirmed his employment but did not offer any further comments on his status. He currently works as a foreign service officer.

In a follow-up letter on Oct. 30, Grassley sought information from Secretary of State Antony Blinken regarding Berggren’s employment status and role at the State Department, along with his responsibilities. 

He also inquired whether Berggren – who called Jews ‘the devil’s children’ in an Oct. 22 post – was required to recuse himself from decision-making due to reported public comments, and whether he served as a visa application adjudicator, and if records exist of his approvals and denials. 

‘Americans deserve to know why their government thinks an outright antisemite is fit to represent them diplomatically while taxpayers cut his paycheck,’ Grassley said. ‘The Biden administration loves to claim ‘hate has no place’ in our country – I suggest they put their money where their mouth is and respond to my oversight.’

Fox News’ Digital reached out to Berggren for comment, but did not hear back by press deadline. However, on Tuesday, he posted to his blog in response to Grassley’s letter: ‘Tough to stay employed when a U.S. Senator publicly demands one’s termination.’

‘Christians and Whites: stop being afraid of powerful people,’ the blog post read. ‘We lose because we are afraid to even engage in rhetorical debate. Our greatest enemy is self-censorship.’

On Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters that due to privacy restrictions, the department is unable to comment on any individual employee.

‘I will say, of course, as a general rule, we oppose antisemitism in any form,’ Miller said. ‘Secretary has spoken to this quite publicly. Our special envoy to oppose antisemitism has spoken about this in a number of occasions.’

After Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel Oct. 7 slaughtering thousands of people, Berggren wrote a blog entitled ‘That Middle-East Thing…’ on Oct. 12. 

‘Our war is in our homelands. We are invaded, egged on by traitors and Jews who hate the White race. Whites who side with the Jews are traitors to their ancestors,’ the blog post read. 

A Hamas terrorist told an Israel Securities Authority (ISA) official he and another man shot and killed crying children who were inside a safe room, until the sounds could no longer be heard, while acknowledging he entered the house simply to kill.

In a video posted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, the Hamas terrorist is seen wearing prison garb while sitting in a chair with an Israeli flag behind him.

The unnamed man tells the ISA official, who cannot be seen in the video, that he and other members of Hamas entered a house through the window. While checking the house, he told the official, they heard sounds of young children in the safe room and shot at the safe room.

‘At the beginning, we didn’t shoot. We passed by and didn’t hear anything,’ he said, adding that he and others ate dates and drank water.

After having a quick snack, the terrorist said he and others heard sounds of young children.

‘What sounds did you hear,’ the man was asked.

‘Young children’s crying,’ he told the ISA official, who asked him to demonstrate the sounds he was hearing.

The terrorist reiterated that he heard the sound of a child crying.

‘I shot and Ahmad Abu Kamil shot, we shot at the door,’ he said. ‘Until we didn’t hear noise anymore.’

When the terrorist was asked what he meant, he said that the children died.

‘I want to ask you a question. Is killing children logical in the Muslim religion,’ the ISA inquisitor asked.

‘No,’ the imprisoned man answered.

‘What did the prophet Muhammad say regarding this,’ the inquisitor asked.

‘Children are not involved,’ the man answered.

The ISA official then asked the Hamas terrorist if he entered the house as an order to kill from Hamas, and he nodded.

He was also asked what the difference between him and ISIS are, and told the official there was no difference, based on videos he was shown of Hamas spreading terror.

‘I saw videos worse than ISIS, the ones the interrogator showed me,’ he told the agent.

The ISA official then asked the man if his mother or father would be proud of the actions he and Hamas committed.

HAMAS LAUNCHES MASSIVE ROCKET BARRAGE AS ISRAEL DELAYS INVASION 

‘They don’t know I’m part of Hamas. If my father sees me, he will shoot me. He will kill me,’ he answered before being asked why. ‘Because I did those actions.’

On Oct. 7, Hamas-led forces crossed the Israel-Gaza border while residents were sleeping, dragging people into the street, taking some hostage while beheading and killing others.

Over 1,300 Israelis were killed in the attack, with thousands more wounded and many taken hostage by Hamas, and raped, tortured and murdered.

The war between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas is now in its fourth week. At least 5,700 people have been reported killed in the war on both sides, including at least 1,400 Israeli civilians and soldiers and 36 Americans. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry claims at least 4,385 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and the West Bank and more than 13,561 wounded.

A top official with the DOJ Tax Division told the House Judiciary Committee that now-Special Counsel David Weiss needed approval from his unit at the Justice Department before bringing charges in the Hunter Biden probe, according to a transcript of his interview reviewed by Fox News Digital.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ Tax Division Stuart Goldberg participated in a transcribed interview before the House Judiciary Committee last week as part of the panel’s investigation into whistleblower allegations that politics impacted prosecutorial decisions throughout the years-long federal investigation into the president’s son.

Goldberg’s testimony on the issue appears to confirm testimony from IRS whistleblowers who said that Weiss did not have ultimate authority in bringing charges in the Hunter Biden case. 

Goldberg told committee investigators that Weiss, who before being granted special counsel status served as the U.S. attorney for Delaware, had to get approval from the Tax Division within theDepartment of Justice before bringing charges.

‘We have approval authority, though some can appeal us if they disagree, but yes, it’s our responsibility in the first instance to do that,’ Goldberg testified.

Goldberg was asked: ‘If felony tax charges are going to be brought, the Tax Division has to sign off? Has to okay it?’

Goldberg said, ‘Yes.’

‘In a typical case, yes, we would have to okay that,’ he said. ‘But if somebody thought we should have okayed it, and we didn’t, then they could appeal, but, yes, it’s our responsibility.’ 

When asked whether Weiss had been granted ‘special attorney status or special counsel status,’ and whether he still would be required to ‘go through the Tax Division to get approval of the tax charges,’ Goldberg said, ‘Yes.’

‘Generally speaking, we approve specific charges,’ he said. ‘But we might provide an option, I guess.’

Goldberg added: ‘In some tax cases, the Tax Division might say, ‘U.S. Attorney, you have discretion to bring this charge or this other charge.’’

‘Sometimes cases get sent back for more work. So that is an option,’ he said. ‘And there is declination, approval or prosecution with discretion or prosecution authorized.’

Goldberg explained that in ‘approval prosecution authorization, there is an expectation the case would be brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.’

‘If it is prosecution with discretion, then the U.S. Attorney’s Office has the ability to decide not to bring the case,’ he said. ‘That is within their purview. They don’t have to come back to the Tax Division.’ 

IRS Whistleblower Gary Shapley said that Weiss did not have charging authority and was ‘constantly hamstrung, limited and marginalized’ by DOJ officials as he sought to make prosecutorial decisions. Shapley also alleged that Weiss had requested special counsel authority but had been denied. He has since been appointed special counsel.

Meanwhile, Goldberg was asked whether the DOJ’s Tax sign-off was necessary due to Hunter Biden’s involvement.

‘Well, without getting into the case, again trying to answer a question at a slightly higher level, there are cases that are sensitive, people—some would say sensitive, sometimes say significant cases,’ he explained. ‘And those cases typically have a closer supervision than other, more run-of-the-mill cases.’ 

Goldberg was also pressed on whether the target having ‘some political significance attached to him or her’ would ‘trigger any heightened review process.’

‘If something can be termed as sensitive pursuant to the case, it might be because it’s a public official, or it’s a person that has a noteworthy profile, or it’s going to generate a lot of media attention, or might be of congressional interest,’ He explained. ‘It could be a corporation or an individual.’

‘That might mean that the case would come to my level for ultimate sign-off on the case as opposed to be handled at the chief’s level,’ he said.

When asked whether it was ‘fair to say that the Hunter Biden case fell into that category,’ Goldberg said, ‘Yes.’ 

Weiss charged Hunter Biden last month with making a false statement in the purchase of a firearm, making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federal firearms licensed dealer and one count of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance. 

The president’s son pleaded not guilty to all charges. 

A new national poll suggests that independent presidential candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornell West pull support from both President Biden and former President Donald Trump — the two likely major party nominees — in a hypothetical four-way 2024 general election showdown.

Biden stands at 47% support and Trump at 46% among registered voters in a Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday. The findings are unchanged from Quinnipiac’s August and September surveys.

‘Democrats support Biden 94 – 4 percent and Republicans support Trump 94 – 4 percent. Independents are split, with 45 percent supporting Trump and 44 percent supporting Biden,’ the survey’s release states.

When Kennedy is added to the mix, Biden stands at 39%, Trump 36% and Kennedy at 22% support.

Kennedy, an environmental lawyer and high-profile vaccine critic who is a scion of arguably the nation’s most famous family political dynasty, launched a Democrat primary challenge against Biden in April.

But Kennedy announced at a campaign event in Philadelphia last month that he would seek the White House as an independent candidate.

West, an outspoken progressive university scholar, was running on the Green Party ticket, but last month announced he would seek the presidency as an independent candidate.

When West’s name is included, Biden’s support drops to 36%, Trump edges down to 35%, with Kennedy at 19% and West grabbing 6% support.

Among independent voters in a four-way matchup, a third support Kennedy, three in ten back Trump, with Biden at 27% and West at 8%.

Ballot access will be a key question for Kennedy and West going forward. Their campaigns will have to gather a long list of signatures in each of the 50 states to land access to the ballot.

The survey also indicates Republicans with the enthusiasm edge. Fifty-eight percent of Republicans say they’re more motivated to vote in next year’s presidential election than in past White House contests. That percentage drops to 47% for Democrats and 45% for independents.

In the race for the Democrat presidential nomination, Biden stands at 77% support. Best-selling author and spiritual adviser Marianne Williamson, who launched her second straight White House run in March, is at 8%. 

Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, one of the wealthiest members of Congress, grabbed 6% support among likely Democrat presidential primary voters, according to the poll.

The survey was conducted Oct. 26-30, partially before and mostly after Phillips on Friday formally launched his 2024 White House campaign.

Trump stands at 64% support in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 15% and former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley at 6%.

The survey indicates Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy each at 3%, with everyone else at 1% or less.

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

As the Israeli military entered ‘the second stage of the war,’ having expanded its ground operation in northern Gaza on Monday, aiming to eliminate the Hamas terrorist threat once and for all, fears are growing over the conflict escalating into a broader war in the Middle East. 

The Pentagon has beefed up U.S. force posture in the region and launched retaliatory airstrikes on two Iran-linked weapons and ammunition storage facilities in Syria, in an effort to deter Teheran from ratcheting up hostilities and expanding the conflict. Sending two carrier strike groups to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, authorizing the deployment a terminal high-altitude area defense (THAAD) battery and additional Patriot battalions to the region, as the Pentagon has done, is a good strategic messaging campaign. But it does nothing to counter the threat posed by Iran and its proxies here in America.

The Biden administration is likely preparing for a wrong kind of war and must shift its strategy. Rather than focusing exclusively on preventing a multi-front war in the Middle East, President Biden must first and foremost keep the Iranian threat away from the U.S. homeland.

Iran is unlikely to engage in a head-to-head kinetic confrontation with the United States. First, Iran is not suicidal to take on the overwhelmingly superior U.S. military. And second, direct state-on-state combat is not Iran’s way of war. Asymmetric warfare, or fighting in what the U.S. military calls the ‘gray zone,’ is the Iranian forces’ signature style, which they have employed since the creation of the Islamic Republic in 1979.

Gray zone is neither peace nor war. It is an in-between phase on the conflict spectrum when tensions between opposing sides rise, escalating into a crisis, but no declaration of war is proclaimed. 

Military strategists discovered that a weaker power is able to get its stronger opponent ‘stuck’ in a low-intensity, often protracted, indirect military confrontation, wearing him down and often struggling to respond. The belligerents employ low-tech weapons such as homemade explosive devices, proxy actors, non-military means such as cyberattacks, targeted killings and kidnappings. 

U.S. leaders have found it very difficult to counter this form of warfare, as there is no clearly defined battlefield and no regular combatant force to fight against. No internationally recognized – albeit largely by Western militaries only – rules of armed conflict apply. 

Consistent with this asymmetric warfare doctrine, Iran has built an informal network of more than a dozen militant partners and proxies across the Middle East, including in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Bahrain and the Palestinian territories. These proxies are backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and the elite Qods Force, which supplies them with sophisticated weapons such as UAVs, funding, and training. 

Dubbed the ‘Axis of Resistance,’ these groups are doing the fighting, using terrorist means, on behalf of Iran to achieve Tehran’s strategic objective, which is to drive out the U.S. military from the region. Their main target is our forces, military bases, embassies and other facilities. Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict alone, U.S. forces in the Middle East have been attacked with drones or rockets at least 25 times.

The threat from Iran – which was designated by the U.S. government as a state sponsor of terrorism in 1984 – has reached our country, as acknowledged Tuesday by FBI Director Christopher Wray during in a congressional hearing. Wray stated that ‘the ongoing war in the Middle East has raised the threat of attacks against Americans in the United States to a whole other level.’ 

He warned that the attacks by Hamas on Israel will likely inspire terrorist attacks in the U.S. homeland. Wray also admitted that Iranians ‘have directly or by hiring criminals, have mounted assassination attempts against dissidents and high-ranking current and former U.S. government officials, including right here, on American soil.’ 

Iran has been developing ‘surrogate networks inside the United States’ for more than a decade in order to conduct proxy attacks on U.S. citizens, according to the 2023 Annual Threat Assessment issued in March by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Last Friday, the intelligence unit of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) San Diego Field Office issued a warning in a memo to its staff that individuals ‘inspired by, or reacting to, the current Israel-Hamas conflict may attempt travel to or from the area of hostilities in the Middle East via circuitous transit across the Southwest border.’ 

The memo specifically mentions Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Hezbollah, all of whom are backed by Iran, a decades-long sponsor of terrorism, as acknowledged by the U.S. Department of State.

According to CBP statistics released on Saturday, a record number (169) of people encountered by Border Patrol agents at the southern border are on the terror watch list in FY 23 – surpassing the numbers encountered in the last six fiscal years combined. 

The possible indicators, as noted in the CBP memo, are military-age males, the possession of military gear, single travelers, an undetermined return plan and an association with the region. The number of individuals posing a national security threat to the U.S. – who attempted to cross the southern border illegally over the last two years – is in the thousands. 

The homeland security organizations even have a term for this group – ‘special interest aliens.’ And they are known to the government, as they are already listed in the special database called the Terrorist Screening Dataset. Imagine how many of such individuals may have entered our country, unbeknownst to our federal agencies.

Another recent report warned about Iran’s plans to attack strategic security assets and institutions inside the United States. The report, titled ‘The Unseen Threat of the Mapping Project,’ claims that Iranian elements have identified 298 American strategic security assets and institutions as well as personnel for attacks, kidnappings and assassinations. 

The report asserts that Iran likely has developed a ‘kill list’ targeting law enforcement officials. As recently as March, the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Amirali Hajizadeh, in a televised interview, urged the murders of the former commander of the U.S. Central Command, Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, former President Donald Trump, and former Secretary State of Mike Pompeo. 

Iran’s regime and its proxies already have attempted assassinations on our soil, including that of a U.S. citizen. In 2021, three men with ties to Iran, and to an Eastern European criminal organization, executed a plot to murder U.S. journalist Masih Alinejad in New York.  Fortunately, they were apprehended by the FBI. In 2011, Iranian agents plotted to kill the Saudi Arabia ambassador to the United States, Adel al-Jubeir, in a Washington, D.C., restaurant.

The seriousness and credibility of the Iranian threat on the homeland is demonstrated by the fact that the U.S. government pays $2 million per month for the round-the-clock security provided to Pompeo and former President Trump’s special envoy to Iran, Brian Hook. Both of these gentlemen are on Iran’s target list for assassination. 

Moreover, last November, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified to the Senate that the Islamic Republic could attack the United States ‘with little to no warning.’ And FBI Director Christopher Wray testified that Iran posed an ‘escalating threat to the homeland, having become more capable and more aggressive in their harmful and criminal activity.’

Yet, the Biden administration has not taken any serious steps to halt the flow of foreign agents by closing the southern border. Nor has the administration addressed the growing spread of antisemitism across U.S. college campuses, a sentiment that will likely spark violence as Israel expands its military efforts to eradicate the existential threat of Hamas and Islamic extremism.

We have already seen the level of mayhem, pillaging, arson and vandalism inflicted on American cities by the agitated mob during the riots associated with George Floyd’s death in 2020. Imagine if a malevolent foreign power, obsessed with America’s destruction, that has been flowing operatives into our land for a decade, starts agitating these rioters and murdering Americans. Not only would this destabilize the normal functioning of our society, but it would also constrain the freedom of action that the U.S. government needs to prevent a broader war in the Middle East. 

The commander in chief must focus on America’s defense and let Israel eliminate threats to its security, which it is perfectly capable of doing. 

Iowa voters are less than three months away from casting their ballots for a presidential nominee, but the GOP primary has taken a backseat to foreign conflict and chaos on Capitol Hill, solidifying Trump’s lead in a narrowing field.

Frontrunner: Trump

Days after the second Republican debate, a surprise attack on Israel by the terrorist group Hamas turned the world’s attention to the Middle East. With Israel putting more pressure on Gaza and a rising death toll, this conflict has been the top story ever since.

There’s little daylight between Trump and his chief rivals on the U.S. response. The former president has a history of pro-Israel policy making, led by the Abraham Accords and an embassy move from Tel Aviv to the U.S.-recognized capital city of Jerusalem. (That move dismayed Palestinians, who claim that at least part of Jerusalem is their own capital, not Israel’s.)

The upshot is that there are fewer opportunities for Trump’s challengers to get noticed on the campaign trail, right at the moment when voters in the early states would normally start paying more attention to the race.

That is ideal for any leading candidate, but especially one with the margins that Trump continues to enjoy. Nationally, Trump sits at 59% and 58% in recent Fox News and Suffolk surveys. His support is softer in the early states, but has never dipped beneath the low 40s.

Trump also reminded Republicans that he holds the keys to the GOP base during this month’s speaker battle. He helped tank House Republican Whip Tom Emmer’s bid for the speakership in a matter of hours, while cheering on the eventual winner, Rep. Mike Johnson.

Johnson is one of Trump’s closest allies, and aided Trump in his efforts to overturn results from key states after the 2020 election.

Challengers: DeSantis & Haley

Trump’s commanding lead and influence does not mean the race is over. The second place candidate in Iowa, or ‘Iowa Silver,’ has a narrow opportunity to reshape the race in the weeks between those caucuses and Super Tuesday.

(For more on this, see analysis with Fox News Decision Desk Director Arnon Mishkin from this weekend.)

Two candidates have positioned themselves to take that opportunity.

First, Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is locked in at second place in these rankings, maintains double-digit support in recent Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina polls, and has the highest favorability of the field in Iowa, where a new Des Moines Register/NBC News poll was released this week.

He also has an edge against the rest of the field nationally.

And DeSantis is a resilient fundraiser, bringing in $11.2 million between July and September. That is a 44% decline from his second quarter (April-June) figures, but after Trump, it’s still the most money raised out of any candidate.

Former Governor Nikki Haley moves up to third in the rankings, on the back of a strong month on the trail:

Haley is tied with DeSantis in Iowa (DMR/NBC), leads in New Hampshire (Suffolk/Boston Globe), and has the support of 22% of voters in South Carolina (CNN/SSRS). She lags in some national polls.Along with DeSantis, she had a strong second debate performance.59% of voters in Iowa have a favorable view of her, putting her near Trump and DeSantis (and Scott, who has other problems) (DMR/NBC).

The last point is important for the Haley team. Her position on key issues in the race, particularly America’s role in world events, is not shared by a majority of GOP voters. That has helped Haley position herself as a real alternative to Trump, but also limits her appeal to the base.

Maintaining a high favorable rating shows that despite those differences, a majority of voters are still open to considering her.

Finally, the pathway for ‘Iowa Silver’ got a little wider on Saturday, when former Vice President Mike Pence suspended his campaign.

As this column has argued before, Pence’s best shot was with evangelicals in Iowa, but that support never materialized, and the broader Republican base defined him by his decision to certify the results of the 2020 election.

His exit should provide a very modest boost to Haley, who sits closer to Pence’s ideology than she does to Trump’s or DeSantis’.

Growing pains: Ramaswamy, Christie & Scott

Vivek Ramaswamy moves down to fourth in these rankings. He has a strong national profile and continues to excel at earned media, but it hasn’t helped him in Iowa, where he received 4% in the same DMR/NBC poll.

The source of the problem is his high unfavorable ratings: in that survey, he comes out as the third most disliked candidate in the field. 37% of voters say they have a mostly or very unfavorable view of him, topped only by Christie & Hutchinson.

The entrepreneur has a clearly defined lane – ‘I can go further than Trump’ – but most Republican voters like the former president’s platform as is, and those who don’t like it are looking for a strong alternative to Trump, not a more concentrated version of the ‘MAGA’ ideology.

Despite his very high unfavorable ratings, former Gov. Chris Christie moves up to fifth place in these rankings. Like Ramaswamy, Christie’s lane is narrow but clearly defined – the 20-25% of GOP voters who don’t like Trump – and that minority is steadfast in their opposition to him.

Senator Tim Scott, who moves from fifth place to sixth, has the opposite problem. He is well-liked by the broad Republican electorate, but hasn’t done enough to persuade them to vote for him.

As this column pointed out in September, his policy and messaging looks fairly similar to Haley’s, and his fellow South Carolinian moved early with a fiery performance in the first debate to capture the bulk of voters looking for that style of candidacy.

Scott adopted her strategy in the second debate, but didn’t move the needle. He is hovering around the 1-3% mark nationally, and now trails Haley by 16 points in his home state (CNN/SSRS).

He remains a contender in Iowa, where he polls at 7%, so if Haley stumbles before January, he is the best placed candidate to absorb her votes.

Outsiders: Burgum, Hutchinson & Binkley

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum still leads the bottom tier of the rankings. Most GOP voters said they hadn’t heard of him after he appeared at the first debate, and he hasn’t seen any more support after the second.

Meanwhile, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson is polling at 1% in Iowa (DMR/NBC) and less than 1% nationally (Suffolk). His pathway through the primary is less clear than Pence’s was.

Ryan Binkley joins the rankings in last place. The businessman and pastor has no governing experience or national profile, but has opened his checkbook, spending over $5 million since July. He polled at 0% in the same Iowa survey.

The countdown to Iowa continues

75 days from now, Iowa voters will give these candidates their first chance to win delegates. They will need more than an estimated 1,236 delegates over the course of the primaries to win the nomination. 

In the meantime, five candidates say they have qualified for the next Republican debate, on November 8: DeSantis, Haley, Ramaswamy, Christie, and Scott.

Ramaswamy and DeSantis have signed up for inter-party debates: Ramaswamy will face progressive U.S. House Rep Ro Khanna, D-Calif., tonight in New Hampshire, and DeSantis has agreed to debate another Californian, Governor Gavin Newsom, in a special edition of ‘Hannity’ on November 30.

Stay tuned to Fox News Channel for breaking news from the trail, exclusive interviews, and powerful analysis as Democracy 24 continues.