With less than two weeks before the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are hitting the campaign trail in strategic battleground states.
Here’s the latest:
Obama says America doesn't need ‘older, loonier’ version of Trump in office
Obama took the stage in Detroit alongside rapper Eminem, joking that he doesn’t often get nervous but that he “noticed my palms are sweaty,” in a reference to Eminem’s song “Lose Yourself.”
Obama focused the opening of his remarks on Donald Trump, saying that the country doesn’t need to see an “older, loonier,” version of Trump “with no guardrails.”
Trump concludes North Carolina rally with familiar refrains
Trump has concluded a dark political rally in Greensboro where he bemoaned the state of North Carolina’s economy, warned about the prospects of war if his opponent is elected and hurled personal insults at Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump wrapped up the packed event by asserting that world events such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or the Hamas raid of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, would never have happened if he were in office.
“All these things never would have never happened,” Trump claimed.
“I will end the war in Ukraine very quickly, I will stop the chaos in the Middle East and I will prevent World War III from happening. We’re so close,” Trump said.
Tulsi Gabbard says she's now a Republican
Former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard says she is officially joining the Republican Party.
Gabbard ran for the Democratic nomination in 2020, but broke from the party and has endorsed Trump.
She says during an appearance at his rally in North Carolina that Trump is “our best and only hope in this election.”
Former Trump chief of staff John Kelly says the former president fits the ‘general definition of fascist'
Former Trump chief of staff John Kelly says the former president — his former boss — “certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure.” Speaking to the New York Times, Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general, told the paper that Trump “certainly prefers the dictator approach to government.”
They marked the former top aides’ most extended public comments about the former Republican president and the party’s 2024 nominee for the White House. Kelly declined to endorse any candidate for the White House, but told the paper, “it’s a very dangerous thing to have the wrong person elected to high office.”
Trump lashes out at Liz Cheney
Trump is lashing out at former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, who has been campaigning with Kamala Harris in a bid to appeal to Republican voters who are uneasy about Trump.
Trump says of Cheney that “her father brought years of war and death to the Middle East.” He was referring to former Vice President Dick Cheney, who served under President George W. Bush.
He asserted that Harris would do poorly in Michigan for aligning with Cheney.
“Why would a Muslim or why would an Arab want to vote for someone that has Liz Cheney as her hero,” Trump said.
Trump has a long history of Islamophobic rhetoric, including, at one point, calling for a ban on Muslims entering the country during his 2016 campaign.
Eniminem joins Harris rally in native Michigan
Eminem welcomes former President Barack Obama to the stage in Detroit as the Detroit rapper’s “Lose Yourself” plays.
Trump campaign focuses on immigration and border security in campaign's final stretch
Trump in a campaign rally is focusing heavily on border security and claiming that illegal immigrants are taking jobs from African Americans and Hispanic Americans.
Economic data shows Black and Hispanic unemployment at the lower end of recent decades. In September, the unemployment rate stood at 5.7% for Blacks and 5.1% for Hispanics, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The unemployment rates for both populations have plummeted since the pandemic.
Just before the pandemic, the unemployment rate for African Americans was 5.6% in December 2019 and 4.2% for Hispanics that same month.
Trump says campaign may do more big city rallies before Election Day
Trump says that Madison Square Garden isn’t the only big city mega rally he’s hoping to hold as he closes out his third campaign for the White House.
He says his staff are looking at booking big arenas in Atlanta as well as Philadelphia, after his event in liberal Manhattan this coming Sunday.
Trump is also waxing nostalgic that his campaigning days are coming to a close.
“It’s sad because we’re sort of wrapping it up,” he says. “We’re wrapping up something that has been incredible.”
He adds: “It’s been great to be with you and now we want to close it out with a beautiful bang.”
Trump has said that, regardless of what happens, he does not plan to run again - though he has been known to change his mind.
Trump campaign sizes on Biden's ‘lock him up' remark
Trump’s campaign is seizing on President Joe Biden saying “lock him up” in reference to Trump during an appearance in New Hampshire.
“Joe Biden just admitted the truth: he and Kamala’s plan all along has been to politically persecute their opponent President Trump because they can’t beat him fair and square,” said Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, calling on Harris to “condemn Joe Biden’s disgraceful remark.”
Biden, during his appearance, had been casting Trump as a threat to Democracy when he made the remark.
“Politically lock him up,” Biden continued. “Lock him out, that’s what we have to do.”
Trump has routinely blamed Biden for the indictments against him, though there is no evidence the president had anything to do with them.
Trump says North Carolina will be ‘wasteland’ under Harris but data says otherwise
Trump is portraying the nation’s economy as in shambles during a campaign stop in Greensboro, N.C. He claims that “with four more years of Kamala Harris, North Carolina will be an economic wasteland.”
But that’s in contrast to a CNBC study earlier this year that named North Carolina as the second best state to do business, and it’s been in the top three of CNBC’s survey for five years in a row.
The state’s Department of Commerce says that since 2017, North Carolina has announced more than 115,300 jobs and promised capital investments of $53.45 billion. Major projects have been announced by companies including Apple, Toyota and Wolfspeed.
Trump urges rallygoers to vote and — again — floats election conspiracies
Trump is kicking off his rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, by asking his audience if they’re better off now than they were four years ago. And he’s going after Harris, calling her the country’s worst-ever vice president and “a radical left lunatic.”
He’s calling the country “a failing nation” and saying this election “is a choice between whether we will have four more years of incompetent failure and disaster, or whether we’ll begin the four greatest years in the history of our country.”
“We’re going to take care of you. We’re going to work together”
Trump is urging those who were displaced by Hurricane Helene to visit his campaign’s website to see how they can vote.
Trump’s team and Republicans have backed a series of modifications to make it easier for those in the state to vote, despite having railed against changes so that people could more safely vote during the pandemic.
He says his supporters need to make the election “too big too rig.”
Trump tells North Carolina that he will fix the state post-Helene if elected
Trump is speaking to supporters at a rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, saying he’s seen a lot of the state lately and has followed the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene.
Trump began his rally complaining that the state’s residents “haven’t had much help from our government in Washington. I can tell you that.”
He says that following Jan. 20th, “you’re going to be seeing a lot of me. We’re going to fix it up and make it better than ever.”
Harris says she will build an economy that 'supports the working class'
In an interview with Telemundo, Harris said she will help construct an economy that “supports the working class.”
The Spanish-language news channel spoke to Harris in English, but her interview was dubbed into Spanish for listeners. In response to claims by Donald Trump that she’s a socialist, she said she was a “capitalist. A pragmatic capitalist.”
And she said she would focus on bringing capital to community banks to help Latino men get small business loans
Harris says Biden is ‘capable in every way’ to be president
Harris says she still believes Joe Biden is “capable in every way” of being president, after his disastrous debate against Trump forced him to abandon his reelection campaign, clearing the way for her to become the Democratic nominee for president.
Speaking to NBC News, Harris says “you’d have to ask him if that’s the only reason why” he dropped out of the race, but that she has “no reluctance” in saying he’s up for the job.
Harris says she won't entertain hypotheticals about a Trump pardon
Harris says she’s not going to “get into those hypotheticals” about potentially pardoning Trump if she wins the White House. Trump has been convicted in a New York hush money trial and faces federal charges over his role in trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Asked if she thought pardoning Trump would help the country move on, she says, “Let me tell you what’s going to help us move on. I get elected President of the United States.”
Harris says she doesn’t want religious exceptions in restoring abortion access
Harris tells NBC News she doesn’t believe that religious exceptions should be granted as Democrats look to restore a national right to abortion. Harris says she’s not “going to engage in hypotheticals” about negotiations with Congress, but appears to reject having a carve-out for providers with a religious objection to providing abortions. “I don’t think we should be making concessions when we’re talking about a fundamental freedom to make decisions about your own body,” she says.
Harris says she’s not focused on highlighting historic candidacy
Harris says she’s not focused on pointing out the historic nature of her candidacy. She tells NBC News: “I’m clearly a woman, I don’t need to point that out to anyone.”
Harris would be the first woman elected to the White House if she wins. She says she’s not worried about sexism harming her candidacy, saying she’s focused on speaking to all voters.
“I will never assume that anyone in our country should elect a leader based on their gender or their race, instead that that leader needs to earn the vote based on substance and what they will do to address challenges and to inspire people,” she said.
Harris says lowering costs will be feature of her administration
Vice President Kamala Harris says that if elected she will be more focused on lowering costs for American families than President Joe Biden.
Speaking to NBC News, Harris says: “Mine will not be a continuation of the Biden administration. I bring my own experiences, my own ideas to it, and it has informed a number of my areas of focus.” She added that those focus areas are on “lowering costs.”
Biden says Trump is a ‘genuine threat to democracy’
President Joe Biden has laid into his predecessor, Donald Trump, declaring during a visit to New Hampshire that the former president is a “genuine threat to democracy.”
Biden gave a speech focused on prescription drug prices but used the end to suggest that world leaders are terrified of a second Trump term. He said they often pull him aside at summits and quietly wonder what a Trump return to the White House will do to democratic rule around the world.
Biden got so wrapped up in his criticism that he declared at one point of Trump, “lock him up,” echoing similar calls that some supporters make at the rallies of Vice
“Politically lock him up,” Biden continued over applause from attendees. “Lock him out, that’s what we have to do.”
More than 19 million people have already cast ballots in the presidential election
Record numbers of people are voting early, driven partly by a surge of Republicans convinced to do so by Donald Trump. Trump previously turned his party off voting early with his election lies, but he’s changed direction this year and now encourages it.
The early vote doesn’t tell you who’s going to win an election. You just know who’s casting a ballot, not who they’re voting for. Wait until Election night to find that out.
▶ Meanwhile, you can see who’s voting in your state here.
Biden urges people to vote, saying ‘so much at stake’
Biden veered into talking about the election as he closed his prescription speech in New Hampshire.
“Folks, there’s so much at stake so please call your neighbors, get your friends, get your relatives,” the president said, urging people to vote in the presidential election.
Biden made veiled references to Trump when he said that every world leader he meets pulls him aside to tell him they don’t want Trump to win.
“If America walks away, who leads the world? Who?” Biden asked his audience.
Biden goes after Trump on health care policies
Biden is criticizing Trump on the issue of health care, specifically the former president’s attempts to unravel the Affordable Care Act.
The president is in Concord, New Hampshire, to talk about prescription drug savings under the Inflation Reduction Act he signed into law.
Biden noted that Trump recently said he has “concepts of a plan” when he was asked about his plans for health care in the United States.
Said Biden of Trump, “He has no concept of anything. No plan.”
Pastors launc
h voter safety initiative ahead of Election Day
Florida-based voter advocacy group Equal Ground launched its Pastors at the Polls community initiative intended to ensure voter safety throughout the final leg of this year’s election season.
Community pastors in Florida will receive various training sessions including poll monitoring and de-escalation training. Then, over the final two weekends of early voting, they’ll be deployed and stationed at precincts across the state with higher voter intimidation risks.
The 2024 election marks the first presidential since three major voter suppression laws have gone into effect. Florida is one of several states where Republicans have enacted voting restrictions that created or enhanced criminal penalties and fines for those who assist voters. A federal judge blocked portions of a Florida measure earlier this year, including the one targeting felons and those who are not citizens.
Even so, the law initially had a direct effect on the operations of Equal Ground and other voter advocacy organizations in the state before the ruling.
Obama needles Trump at Wisconsin rally
Former President Barack Obama tells a Wisconsin audience “you’d be worried if grandpa was acting like” Donald Trump.
Campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris, Obama honed in on Trump’s actions at some of his rallies as well as calling himself the “father of IVF,” or in vitro fertilization.
“I have no idea what that means. You don’t either,” Obama said.
Obama said to the crowd when it comes to Trump that they would call up their brother or cousin, and ask ’have you noticed?”
“This is coming from somebody who wants unchecked power,” Obama said. “So, Wisconsin, we do not need to see what an older, loonier Donald Trump looks like with no guardrails. America is ready to turn the page.”
Walz calls Elon Musk a dips——t at rally
Tim Walz campaigning in Wisconsin is mocking billionaire Elon Musk for his appearance at a campaign rally for Donald Trump, saying “Elon’s on that stage jumping around, skipping like a dipsh——t on the stage. You know it.”
The Madison audience roared its approval in response.
Walz said Musk is “literally the richest man in the world, spending millions of dollars to help Donald Trump buy an election.”
He asserts that Musk is doing so because Trump has “already promised that he would put Elon in charge of government regulation that oversees the businesses that Elon runs.” Trump has said he would create a government efficiency commission to audit the entire federal government, an idea suggested by Musk, who would lead it
Obama said at a campaign rally in Wisconsin that his plane was leaking oil in Chicago just before he was to fly to Madison
“We had a nice road trip instead,” Obama said to laughs from the crowd.
The drive from Chicago to Madison takes around three hours. Obama took the stage about two hours after the rally started.
Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz preceded Obama, along with a host of Wisconsin candidates and officeholders.
Trump will tape an interview with Joe Rogan for his popular podcast Friday
That’s according to a person familiar with the plans who spoke on condition of anonymity to confirm the taping.
Trump and Rogan have a complicated history. While the two shook hands and spoke briefly at a UFC fight, Trump criticized Rogan after he said that then-candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. was the only one running who made sense to him.
“It will be interesting to see how loudly Joe Rogan gets BOOED the next time he enters the UFC Ring??? MAGA2024,” Trump wrote on his social media site in August.
Both Trump and Harris have appeared on a slew of popular podcasts — with Trump’s typically aimed at young men.
— Jill Colvin
Justice Department launches a webpage to help ensure residents affected by Helene and Milton are able to vote
The webpage provides information for voters in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, who may be confronting lost identification, relocated polling places or other disruptions because of the hurricanes.
The Justice Department has compiled information about changes states have made to aid those affected by the storms. The page answers questions such as how people who’ve been displaced can get a ballot mailed to their new location and how residents can check to see if the place where they usually cast their ballot is open for voting.
Russia is behind viral disinformation targeting Walz, intelligence official says
Groups in Russia created and helped spread viral disinformation targeting Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, a senior U.S. intelligence official said Tuesday.
The content, which includes baseless accusations about the Minnesota governor’s time as a teacher, contains several indications that it was manipulated, said the official with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Analysts identified clues that linked the content to Russian disinformation operations, said the official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity under rules set by the office of the director.
Digital researchers had already linked the video to Russia, but Tuesday’s announcement is the first time federal authorities have confirmed the connection.
The disinformation targeting Walz is consistent with Russian disinformation seeking to undermine the Democratic campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz, her running mate. Russia also has spread disinformation aimed at stoking discord and division ahead of voting, officials said, and may seek to encourage violent protests after Election Day.
▶ Read more about Russian disinformation.
Trump’s roundtable with Latino leaders ended with a prayer
The participants gathered around Trump with their hands on his shoulders. Trump remained seated and had his eyes closed.
They asked God to continue to protect Trump and give him strength. And to “make America godly again.”
Trump again rails against green power sources
He claimed that switching to all-electric trucks would require rebuilding every one of the country’s bridges and that solar fields kill rabbits.
He says he recently saw a solar field “that looked like it took up half the desert.”
“It’s all steel and glass and wires. And it looks like hell,” he said. “You see rabbits, they get caught in it.”
Trump often rails against wind power, saying the turbines “kill all the birds” and confuse whales. He’s been more complimentary of electric cars since he received the backing of Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
But he is criticizing their range and weight at an event with Latino supporters Tuesday, claiming the nation would need to rebuild every one of its bridges if truck fleets swap diesel for electric vehicles to handle the extra weight.
Trump criticized the Biden administration for the leak of secret documents detailing Israel’s preparation for a potential retaliatory attack on Iran
He called it a “bad thing.”
“Can you imagine somebody doing that? That’s the enemy. I guess that maybe is the enemy from within,” he said, repeating the phrase he’s used in recent speeches to refer to Democratic lawmakers such as U.S. Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff.
“We just can’t stand for this incompetence anymore.”
The FBI said Tuesday that it’s investigating the unauthorized release of these documents.
At his event, Trump compliments Goya, the largest, Hispanic-owned food company in the country
The company’s CEO, Bob Unanue, is a vocal supporter.
“It’s actually quite good out of the can,” Trump says of the company known for its beans and other products.
“I eat it whenever I can,” he claims.
Bruce Springsteen is holding campaign concerts for Kamala Harris starting Thursday in Atlanta
Former President Barack Obama will also be there.
Springsteen will hold another concert with Obama on Monday in Philadelphia.
A senior campaign official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said more concerts will be announced in the coming days.
— Chris Megerian