A man carrying loaded pistols and spare ammunition was detained Friday after impersonating a U.S. marshal at one of Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign events in Los Angeles. 

He was identified Saturday as Adrian Paul Aispuro, 44, The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to Fox News Digital. 

In a post to X, formerly known as Twitter, Kennedy detailed the incident and expressed appreciation for the security guards at the Hispanic Heritage event who ‘moved quickly to isolate and detain the man.’

‘I’m very grateful that alert and fast-acting protectors from Gavin de Becker and Associates (GDBA) spotted and detained an armed man who attempted to approach me at my Hispanic Heritage speech at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles tonight,’ Kennedy wrote. 

‘The man, wearing two shoulder holsters with loaded pistols and spare ammunition magazines was carrying a U.S. Marshal badge on a lanyard and beltclip federal ID. He identified himself as a member of my security detail. Armed GDBA team members moved quickly to isolate and detain the man until LAPD arrived to make the arrest. I’m also grateful to LAPD for its rapid response.’

Photos of Aispuro, who was arrested at the event, were shared by Kennedy on social media. He was shown wearing a black shirt with a logo reading ‘Emergency Medical Services.’

Aispuro remained in custody Saturday in lieu of $35,000 bail. 

Kennedy, a Democrat who announced a primary challenge to President Biden earlier this year, also noted that he has yet to receive Secret Service protection.

‘I’m still entertaining a hope that President Biden will allow me Secret Service protection,’ Kennedy added in the post. ‘I am the first presidential candidate in history to whom the White House has denied a request for protection.’

In July, Kennedy claimed his request for Secret Service protection as a 2024 presidential candidate was rejected by the Biden administration.

‘Typical turnaround time for pro forma protection requests from presidential candidates is 14-days,’ Kennedy wrote at the time in a lengthy statement posted on X. ‘After 88-days of no response and after several follow-ups by our campaign, the Biden Administration just denied our request.’

Kennedy said he received a message from Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas that read, ‘I have determined that Secret Service protection for Robert F Kennedy Jr is not warranted at this time.’

On its website, the Secret Service notes that it protects ‘major presidential and vice presidential candidates and their spouses within 120 days of a general presidential election.’

The site of the Kennedy campaign event where the individual was arrested is located less than two miles away from the previous site of The Ambassador Hotel, where Robert F. Kennedy was shot and killed in June 1968.

The killing of Kennedy Jr.’s father at the Los Angeles hotel came nearly five years after his uncle, former President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in Dallas in November 1963.

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

DES MOINES, Iowa – Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina – the only major Republican presidential candidate who’s never been married – spotlighted this weekend that he’s ‘dating a lovely Christian girl,’ as he addressed a large group of influential voters of faith in the state that leads off the GOP nominating calendar.

Scott’s comments came as he and most of his rivals for the Republican nomination sat down for question and answer sessions Saturday at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual fall banquet, in front of a crowd of social conservative leaders, activists, and evangelical voters, who play an outsized role in Hawkeye State Republican politics.

‘So other than your mama, is there any special lady in your life?’ GOP Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird asked, in her first question to Scott.

The senator answered ‘yes,’ before quipping ‘if you haven’t read about her yet, I’m not sure why not. It’s been one of the more asked questions lately.’

The 57-year-old Scott then shared that ‘I’m dating a lovely Christian girl. One of the things that I love about the gospel of Jesus Christ is that it points us always in the right direction. Proverbs 18:22 says ‘he who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the lord.’’

‘So can we just pray together for me,’ he emphasized, which elicited laughter from the audience.

Scott added that I’m very excited. Very excited.’

 ‘As a guy who was raised in a single-parent household mired in poverty, I understand that devastation when a family breaks up. I live with the consequences of a father who was not there. I made a commitment to make sure that never happened in my life,’ Scott highlighted. ‘I’m so thankful to know a risen savior that has helped guide my way, and I’m so thankful that he’s allowed my life to intersect at the right time with the right person. And I just say, praise the living God.’

Scott has been reluctant to share much about his private life. In a handful of interviews earlier this year, he did reveal that he is dating a woman, but he kept her identity private.

But his unmarried status has made headlines in recent weeks, in the wake of an article by Axios, which suggested some Republican donors are concerned about him being unmarried.

Although the number of adults who remain single later in life has edged up in recent years, many socially conservative Republicans firmly hold to traditional values regarding marriage and families.

The Faith and Freedom gathering was held with four months to go until the Iowa caucuses. Among the top topics asked of the presidential candidates at the event was the combustible issue of abortion. 

The blockbuster move last year by the Supreme Court’s conservative majority to overturn the landmark nearly half-century-old Roe v. Wade ruling, which had allowed for legalized abortions nationwide, moved the divisive issue back to the states.

And it’s forced Republicans to play plenty of defense in elections across the country, as a party that’s nearly entirely ‘pro-life’ has had to deal with an electorate where a majority of Americans support at least some form of abortion access.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis highlighted that ‘I’m pro-life. I’ve been pro-life governor. I’ll be pro-life president.’ 

And he pledged that if elected to the White House, ‘I’m going to welcome pro-life policies across the board.’ 

But DeSantis, who signed a six-week abortion ban into law in Florida, would not share specifics on what he would do as president in terms of supporting a federal abortion ban.

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who supports a 15-week abortion ban, shared that ‘it’s a matter of conviction. I believe that God has blessed the womb. That there’s life in the womb and its deserving of protection. That’s fundamental.’

And Hutchinson, a vocal GOP critic of Donald Trump, criticized the former president for saying in a recent interview that he would ‘make both sides happy’ when it comes to abortion. 

Trump, who has not committed to supporting a federal ban, did not attend the Iowa gathering.

Former Vice President Mike Pence reiterated his support for a 15-week ban, saying that it’s an ‘idea whose time has come’ and that ‘we owe it to the American people to elect a president who will fight for a minimum standard.’

Former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley touted her ‘pro-life’ credentials but repeated that without enough support in the Senate, passing such a ban is ‘not realistic.’

Hours earlier, in a Fox News Digital interview, Haley highlighted that ‘our goal is to save as many babies as we can. Support as many moms as we can. That’s the goal. So in order to do that, we have to have 60 Senate votes. Let’s see where that is but we only have 45 pro-life senators.’

‘So let’s focus on what we do agree on,’ she said. ‘Let’s ban late-term abortions. Let’s encourage adoptions. Let’s make sure contraceptives accessible. Let’s make sure that nurses and doctors who don’t believe abortion don’t have to perform them. And let’s make sure no state law requires a women to go to jail or get the death penalty for abortion. We’re talking about hard truths and women around the country agree with me.’

Former President Trump opposed the idea of age limits for U.S. politicians but said mental competency tests would be a ‘good idea.’

Trump made the comments in an interview with NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ which aired Sunday. Host Kristen Welker pressed Trump on age limits, gaining steam as Trump, 77, and President Biden, 80, appear likely to square off in the 2024 presidential election.

‘You know, I took a test two years ago, three years ago. And as the doctors said — and it was in front of doctors and a whole big deal at Walter Reed, which is an incredible place. And I aced it. I get everything right. I’m all for testing. I frankly think testing would be a good thing,’ Trump told Welker.

Trump asserted that some people argue an age limit or cognitive test would be ‘unconstitutional,’ though he said he wasn’t sure.

‘[You] know, some of the greatest world leaders have been in their 80s. I’m not anywhere very near 80, by the way,’ Trump claimed. ‘I don’t think Biden’s too old, but I think he’s incompetent, and that’s a bigger problem.’

Trump would turn 80 years old within 18 months of gaining office if he wins re-election. Meanwhile, Biden would be 82 at the start of his second term.

Biden has faced far more scrutiny about his age due to his frequent lapses in memory and stammering speeches.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has played a major role in pressing for cognitive tests for U.S. politicians across the board. While she has not endorsed an age limit, she has called for legislation requiring presidential candidates and members of Congress to pass competency tests if they are over 75.

Haley mocked the U.S. Senate as ‘the most privileged nursing home in the country’ earlier this month following health scares from Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

‘It’s sad,’ she told Fox News following McConnell’s second freezing episode. ‘No one should feel good about seeing that any more than we should feel good about seeing Dianne Feinstein, any more than we should feel good about what’s happening or seeing Joe Biden’s decline.’

Haley is challenging Trump in the 2024 Republican Presidential Primary, though Trump maintains a dominant lead over all the other candidates in polls. Trump told Welker on Sunday that he likes the ‘concept’ of a female vice president running with him but that he would ultimately ‘pick the best person.’

DES MOINES, Iowa – With just four months to go until the Iowa caucuses, nearly the entire field of Republican White House contenders is back this weekend in the state that leads off the GOP presidential nominating calendar.

The presidential candidates are speaking Saturday evening at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual fall banquet, as they each make their case to a large and influential crowd of social conservative leaders, activists, and Evangelical voters, who play an outsized role in Hawkeye State Republican politics.

‘Labor Day is over. Kids are back in school and people are starting to really tune in,’ longtime Iowa based Republican strategist and communicator Jimmy Centers said.

Pointing to last month’s Iowa State Fair, where all but one contender in the large field of Republican presidential candidates courted voters, Centers noted that ‘the state fair was when people started to wake up and realized that the caucus was coming. 

Veteran Iowa Republican operative and consultant Nicole Schlinger highlighted that ‘once Labor Day has passed, school has started and the weather starts to turn, that’s when peoples’ minds start turning to elections and people get more serious about vetting the candidates in terms of making a decision.’ 

With the clock quickly ticking towards the start of the 2024 Republican primary and caucus calendar, former President Donald Trump remains the commanding front-runner for his party’s nomination, as he makes his third straight White House run. 

And his historic four criminal indictments — including two for allegedly trying to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Biden — appear to have only strengthened his support among likely Republican primary voters.

The latest Fox News national survey in the GOP nomination race, conducted Sept. 9-12 and released on Thursday, pointed to Trump expanding his already enormous lead over the rest of the field.

But while still towering over his rivals, Trump’s lead in the latest surveys in Iowa, as well as New Hampshire and South Carolina, two other crucial early voting states in the Republican nominating calendar, is not as overwhelming.

‘It’s closer in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina that it is nationally, but it’s not close,’ said David Kochel, a longtime Republican consultant and veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns in Iowa and nationally.

‘These things do break late. There’s a lot of stuff we haven’t seen or heard yet. Whether it’s Trump’s trials, which I don’t think are going to move any numbers against him. Whether it’s future debates. Whether it’s something we can’t foresee now,’ Kochel noted. ‘The door’s still open but it’s not as wide open as it was.’

Centers, a presidential campaign veteran in Iowa who also served as communications director to then-Gov. Terry Brandstad and current Gov. Kim Reynolds, noted that ‘Trump’s numbers aren’t budging.’

‘At some point the rest of the field has to make a stronger and more compelling argument as they why them. Why are we changing horses from the former president. He’s been indicted four times, but he’s only getting stronger,’ Centers stressed. ‘They have to speak more directly to that point and start doing it soon.’

Pointing to evangelical voters in Iowa, Kochel noted that they tend ‘to move as a group… and they move late.’

Trump is one of the handful of GOP presidential candidates who won’t be attending Saturday’s Faith and Freedom Coalition cattle call, although the former president returns to Iowa next week.

Schlinger, who’s well-connected to the social conservative community, said that Trump’s ‘track record on issues concerning life is extremely good,’ and that ‘it’s not surprising that there hasn’t been much change’ when it comes to his large double-digit lead in the Iowa polls.

But she added ‘I think there’s a path open for another candidate or two to perform well and exceed expectations in Iowa… The door’s open but someone needs to walk through it and that hasn’t happened yet.’

But the strategists all stressed that now’s the time for Trump’s rivals to make a move.

‘This is where the rubber meets the road. We’re past Labor Day. We’re into debate season,’ Kochel highlighted. ‘If you’re not firing on all cylinders now, and you don’t have the money to see your way through New Hampshire, it’s best to step aside and get out of this thing, so we can really determine who might be able to take Trump on one-on-one.’

And Centers noted that ‘this is not a primary. It takes organization. Campaigns need to be holding events, using those events to build an organization, and then follow up with those folks that they’ve recruited, either through door knocking, through phone banking, to build out a robust organization.’

‘It doesn’t build itself. If you’re not starting it now, it’s too late,’ he stressed.

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

A man carrying loaded pistols and spare ammunition was detained Friday after impersonating a U.S. marshal at one of Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign events in Los Angeles.

In a post to X, formerly known as Twitter, Kennedy detailed the incident and expressed appreciation for the security guards at the Hispanic Heritage event who ‘moved quickly to isolate and detain the man.’

‘I’m very grateful that alert and fast-acting protectors from Gavin de Becker and Associates (GDBA) spotted and detained an armed man who attempted to approach me at my Hispanic Heritage speech at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles tonight,’ Kennedy wrote. 

‘The man, wearing two shoulder holsters with loaded pistols and spare ammunition magazines was carrying a U.S. Marshal badge on a lanyard and beltclip federal ID. He identified himself as a member of my security detail. Armed GDBA team members moved quickly to isolate and detain the man until LAPD arrived to make the arrest. I’m also grateful to LAPD for its rapid response.’

Photos of the individual who was arrested at the event were shared by Kennedy on social media. The unidentified perpetrator was shown wearing a black shirt with a logo reading ‘Emergency Medical Services.’

Kennedy, a Democrat who announced a primary challenge to President Biden earlier this year, also noted that he has yet to receive Secret Service protection.

‘I’m still entertaining a hope that President Biden will allow me Secret Service protection,’ Kennedy added in the post. ‘I am the first presidential candidate in history to whom the White House has denied a request for protection.’

In July, Kennedy claimed his request for Secret Service protection as a 2024 presidential candidate was rejected by the Biden administration.

‘Typical turnaround time for pro forma protection requests from presidential candidates is 14-days,’ Kennedy wrote at the time in a lengthy statement posted on X. ‘After 88-days of no response and after several follow-ups by our campaign, the Biden Administration just denied our request.’

Kennedy said he received a message from Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas that read, ‘I have determined that Secret Service protection for Robert F Kennedy Jr is not warranted at this time.’

On its website, the Secret Service notes that it protects ‘major presidential and vice presidential candidates and their spouses within 120 days of a general presidential election.’

The site of the Kennedy campaign event where the individual was arrested is located less than two miles away from the previous site of The Ambassador Hotel, where Robert F. Kennedy was shot and killed in June 1968.

The killing of Kennedy Jr.’s father at the Los Angeles hotel came nearly five years after his uncle, former President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in Dallas in November 1963.

Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

A member of the House Appropriations Committee says that the chamber’s Department of Homeland Security appropriation bill is centering around border security — particularly restarting border wall construction — to combat the ongoing crisis at the southern border, as well as cutting spending and getting rid of ‘woke’ funding sources.

‘We said we’d do two things: We’d curb the spending, and we would remove the woke,’ Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., told Fox News Digital in an interview this week.

The appropriations bill for DHS includes a slew of Republican priorities when it comes to the border, including increasing funding for wall construction along the southern border by over $2 billion, and would force the agency to allocate the funding to build it within 120 days. It is expected to move forward next week.

The Trump-era wall project was scrapped by the Biden administration, although some construction is still ongoing due to language in appropriations bills approved during the Trump administration. Zinke made clear that it remains a top priority for Republicans in this legislation.

‘People ask me, ‘What does a bill look like?’ I say, ‘Well, primarily it looks about 32 feet tall and about 600 miles long. That’s what it looks like.”

It would also provide funding for 22,000 Border Patrol agents and fund border security technology with $228 million.

‘You have more money directed to the men who man the wall. That’s our Border Patrol professionals, because, you know, they’re having a hard time recruiting and those type of things, so it puts more money on actually the people that man the wall and then increases the technology around the wall,’ he said.

That would include Autonomous Surveillance Towers and Tactical Aerostats — the administration grounded those aerostats last year. Separately, it would fund ICE to the tune of nearly $10 billion.

He also pointed to language that would prevent funding for ‘gender-affirming care’ for illegal immigrants in detention and for diversity, equality and inclusion programs and add restrictions on programs that include critical race theory.

The bill will be open to amendments, of which a number of Republicans have proposed a number of hard-hitting amendments — including reducing Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ salary and defunding ‘sanctuary’ cities. Zinke said he expects the bill to remain roughly the same after the amendment process.

‘There might be a few additions, subtractions back and forth, but I think the core and the thrust of the bill will remain the same,’ he said. ‘I think it’s a good bill. And if you’re a conservative, you know, I think you want to curb the spending and remove the woke. And all these appropriation bills do just that.’

Zinke does not expect the Democratic-controlled Senate to think much of the bill that would eventually emerge from the lower chamber. He was blunt in his assessment of the upper chamber. 

‘Looking at what the Senate passed, I don’t think the Senate is going to like our bill at all . . . the Senate in many ways, I think, is too old and too fat on pork to change.’

The bill comes amid a looming shutdown threat if the government is not funded past September 30. Lawmakers have until then to fund the government or pass a short-term stopgap continuing resolution. Zinke says it is up to the House to do its job in passing its appropriations bills, and then it’s in the hands of the Senate.

‘We need to get two or three or four appropriations done, and that’s enough just to begin the reconciliation process to get the bills in shape where they become law. But if the Senate doesn’t take them up, the shutdown is going to be squarely on their lap, because we’ll do our job.’

He also emphasized the importance of the appropriations process over tools like continuing resolutions.

‘These firewalls we’ve built over time, continuing resolutions and mandatory and discretionary, all these clever terms, I think have drawn us away from our primary duty of appropriations, and they are conveniences that allowed Congress to punt all these years,’ he said. 

‘And now we’re going down to the one-inch line. I don’t think we can punt anymore. We’ve got to take the hard call.’

The Texas Senate has acquitted state Attorney General Ken Paxton of all impeachment articles filed against him for corruption and unfitness for office. 

Though there is bipartisan support for impeachment, votes to convict on each charge did not clear the 21-vote threshold. Republican Sens. Robert Nichols and Kelly Hancock joined all 12 Democrats to vote in favor of conviction on several charges. 

The Texas Senate convened at 10:30 a.m. central time Saturday to vote and finished just before 1 p.m. 

‘Today, the truth prevailed. The truth could not be buried by mudslinging politicians or their powerful benefactors,’ Paxton said in a statement thanking his supporters after the verdict was delivered. 

‘The sham impeachment coordinated by the Biden Administration with liberal House Speaker Dade Phelan and his kangaroo court has cost taxpayers millions of dollars, disrupted the work of the Office of Attorney General and left a dark and permanent stain on the Texas House,’ Paxton said, calling the ‘weaponization’ of impeachment ‘immoral and corrupt.’ 

‘Now that this shameful process is over, my work to defend our constitutional rights will resume. Thank you to everyone who has stood with us during this time,’ he added. 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott congratulated Paxton after the trial concluded. 

‘The jury has spoken. Attorney General Ken Paxton received a fair trial as required by the Texas Constitution. I look forward to continuing to work with the Attorney General to secure the border and protect Texas from federal overreach,’ Abbott said. 

The jury of 30 senators, most of whom are Republicans, spent about eight hours deliberating behind closed doors since the Senate ended deliberations. A two-thirds majority was required to convict Paxton on any of 16 articles of impeachment that accuse Paxton of bribery, corruption and unfitness for office.

The vote was a slow, public process. Each article of impeachment received a separate vote. Republicans hold a 19-12 majority in the Senate, meaning that if all Democrats voted to convict Paxton, they needed nine Republicans to join them. At most, they got two. 

Paxton faced accusations that he misused his political power to help the real estate developer Nate Paul. Paxton’s opponents have argued that the attorney general accepted a bribe by hiring Paul.

‘If we don’t keep public officials from abusing the powers of their office, then frankly no one can,’ Republican state Rep. Andrew Murr, one of the impeachment managers in the Texas House, said during closing arguments. 

Attorneys for the bipartisan group of lawmakers prosecuting Paxton’s impeachment rested their case Wednesday after a woman who was expected to testify about an extramarital affair with Paxton made a sudden appearance at the trial, but she never took the stand.

The affair was central to the proceedings and accusations of Paul, who was under FBI investigation and employed the woman, Laura Olson. One of the articles of impeachment against Paxton alleged that Paul’s hiring of Olson amounted to a bribe.

Paxton’s lawyers have cast the impeachment effort as a ploy by establishment Republicans to remove a proven conservative from office, pointing to Paxton’s long record of challenging Democratic presidential administrations in high profile court cases that have won him acclaim from former President Donald Trump and conservative hardliners. 

‘I would suggest to you this is a political witch hunt,’ Paxton attorney Tony Buzbee said. ‘I would suggest to you that this trial has displayed, for the country to see, a partisan fight within the Republican Party.’

Paxton was also previously indicted in June for allegedly making false statements to banks. 

Paxton, who was suspended from office pending the trial’s outcome, was not required to attend the proceedings and appeared only once in the Senate, durinc closing arguments, since testimony began last week. His wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, sat across the room from him. She was required to be present for the whole trial but was prohibited from participating in debate or voting on the outcome of her husband’s trial. 

Fox News’ Danielle Wallace and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday revised her original public health order which would have temporarily banned individuals from carrying guns across Albuquerque and the surrounding Bernalillo County.

The new revised order would temporarily ban individuals from carrying guns only in parks and playgrounds. The revised version comes after portions of her original version were struck down by a federal judge.

Biden-appointed U.S. District Court Judge David Urias said during a Wednesday hearing that the order violated the Constitution.

‘The violation of a constitutional right, even for minimal periods of time, unquestionably constitutes irreparable injury,’ Urias said during the hearing.

The temporary restraining order imposed by the judge will remain in effect until at least Oct. 3, when the next hearing is scheduled.

According to the revised public health order, law enforcement officers, security officers, and active duty military personnel are exempt from the order.

‘I’m going to continue pushing to make sure that all of us are using every resource available to put an end to this public health emergency with the urgency it deserves,’ said Lujan Grisham. ‘I will not accept the status quo – enough is enough.’

‘Today a judge temporarily blocked sections of our public health order but recognized the significant problem of gun violence in this state, particularly involving the deaths of children,’ she wrote in response to the judge’s decision. ‘As governor, I see the pain of families who lost their loved ones to gun violence every single day, and I will never stop fighting to prevent other families from enduring these tragedies.’

‘Over the past four days, I’ve seen more attention on resolving the crisis of gun violence than I have in the past four years. Now is the time to bring clarity of purpose: New Mexicans must again feel safe walking home from school, driving to the grocery store, or leaving their hometown baseball stadium,’ Lujan Grisham added. ‘And I call on leaders across the state, from local law enforcement to the Legislature to mayors and county commissioners: Stand with me to enact solutions that save people’s lives. Throwing up our hands is not an option.’ 

Her initial public health order gained pushback from both sides, with two Republican state representatives calling for the governor to be impeached.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – When it comes to the combustible issue of abortion, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley appears to be on a mission.

‘We are not going to demonize this issue anymore. We’re going to humanize it because it’s too personal of an issue,’ the former ambassador and former two-term South Carolina governor said Saturday in a Fox News Digital interview minutes before she headlined a town hall in the suburbs of Iowa’s capitol city.

That line echoes Haley’s statements on the issue from last month.

‘We need to stop demonizing this issue,’ Haley said in August at the first Republican debate, a Fox News hosted showdown last month in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. ‘It’s personal for every woman and man.’

The blockbuster move last year by the Supreme Court’s conservative majority to overturn the landmark nearly half-century-old Roe v. Wade ruling, which had allowed for legalized abortions nationwide, moved the divisive issue back to the states.

And it’s forced Republicans to play plenty of defense in elections across the country, as a party that’s nearly entirely ‘pro-life’ has had to deal with an electorate where a majority of Americans support at least some form of abortion access.

Haley, as she faces off against a dozen rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is pushing a message that she hope will resonate both with the GOP’s anti-abortion base as well as moderate Republicans and swing voters who support some degree of legalized abortion.

She’s also been critical — as witnessed in the first debate — of some of her rivals who are heavily advocating for a 15-week federal abortion ban.

‘Our goal is to save as many babies as we can. Support as many moms as we can. That’s the goal. So in order to do that, we have to have 60 Senate votes. Let’s see where that is but we only have 45 pro-life senators,’ Haley said on Saturday. 

‘So let’s focus on what we do agree on,’ she said. ‘Let’s ban late-term abortions. Let’s encourage adoptions. Let’s make sure contraceptives accessible. Let’s make sure that nurses and doctors who don’t believe abortion don’t have to perform them. And let’s make sure no state law requires a women to go to jail or get the death penalty for abortion. We’re talking about hard truths and women around the country agree with me.’

Haley was interviewed at Jethro’s BBQ, a popular eatery with multiple locations in Iowa, the state whose caucuses kick off the GOP presidential nominating calendar.

And she spoke hours before she and most of the rest of the field of Republican presidential candidates attend the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual fall banquet, as the contenders each make their case to a large and influential crowd of social conservative leaders, activists, and Evangelical voters, who play an outsized role in Hawkeye State Republican politics.

Nicole Schlinger, a longtime Republican strategist in Iowa who’s well-connected to the social conservative community, said that former President Donald Trump’s ‘track record on issues concerning life is extremely good,’ and that ‘it’s not surprising that there hasn’t been much change’ when it comes to his large double-digit lead in the Iowa polls.

Trump remains the commanding front-runner in the latest polls in Iowa, the other early voting states, and especially in national surveys, as he runs a third striaght time for the White House.

But Schlinger added ‘I think there’s a path open for another candidate or two to perform well and exceed expectations in Iowa… The door’s open but someone needs to walk through it and that hasn’t happened yet.’

Pointing to Haley, she said ‘I think she has a great story to tell but she needs to clarify more what she said on that debate stage’ regarding abortion.

Haley has enjoyed plenty of polling and fundraising momentum since her well-regarded performance in the first Republican presidential primary debate.

And in her first trip back to Iowa sine the debate showdown, she drew healthy crowds Friday at a couple of agriculture-themed events in eastern Iowa and a large crowd Saturday morning to her town hall in suburban Des Moines.

‘We’ve seen hundreds of people come out. We love it. Iowa’s ready. They’re paying attention,’ Haley spotlighted. ‘Momentum from the debate but they also like what we have to say and I’ve said for a long time – we have a country to save and I’m determined to do it and it all starts here in Iowa.’

Haley emphasized that ‘people are excited. They want something different. They want a new generational leader. They want to leave the chaos of the past and they want go forward and they’re tired of the fact that they just don’t feel like anyone’s listening. What we tell them is not only do we hear you, but we’re ready to get to work for you and I think that’s what the people of Iowa and that what the people around the country want.’

It’s expected for Haley to tout her momentum. But two well known GOP strategist in Iowa who are neutral in the 2024 nomination battle are also pointing to her upward trajectory.

‘I think Ambassador Haley did herself a lot of favor. I think she’s in a really good spot,’ longtime Iowa based Republican strategist and communicator Jimmy Centers said, as he pointed towards the first debate.

And David Kochel, a longtime Republican consultant and veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns in Iowa and nationally, said that ‘Nikki got the best bounce out of the debate. I’ve seen it in our internal data.’

‘Maybe she’s in a dead heat with [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis,’ Kochel said, before adding that ‘it’s still 25 points behind Trump.’

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