Democratic energy ‘very high’ but ‘that does not mean we let up’: Jennifer Granholm
(CHICAGO) — Former Michigan Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm praised the party’s energy at its national convention in Chicago as Vice President Kamala Harris prepares to formally accept its presidential nomination.
“It is very high,” Granholm told ABC News about Democrats’ enthusiasm. “People will be exhausted if it stays this high all the way through. But honestly, for Democrats, it has to stay high. There is so much work to do if we can’t take anything for granted. These polls are starting to look good. It’s clear she’s got momentum, but this is not for time to let up on the accelerator.”
Still, Granholm said, it’s hard to take anything for granted.
Trump remains the leader of his own movement of loyal supporters, and polling in the past has consistently underestimated his support, including in 2016, when he overcame historical trends and his own stumbles to beat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who Democrats were virtually certain would prevail.
“Always concerned about overconfidence. You always have to run like her 10 points behind. Yes, she’s got momentum, but that does not mean you let up, you accelerate. Let’s keep going,” she said.
Still, Granholm said, Democrats are putting forth an inspiring candidate.
Harris would be a groundbreaking president as a woman of color. But, Democrats have argued, her appeal expands beyond that.
“I do think that it is emblematic of the diversity and coalition that the Democratic Party represents,” Granholm said. But her policies “are what really gets and bring people in, in addition to the more than symbolism of having a first in a woman person of color.”
Harris is set to blitz the campaign trail in the sprint to Election Day on Nov. 5, even making a pit stop in Milwaukee, Wis., on Tuesday night while the convention plays out in Chicago.
Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, D, said the energy at the Democratic National Convention is “very high.”
And, Granholm said, it would behoove Harris to have President Joe Biden tag along and allow him to talk about accomplishments that voters may not be aware of, including investments in infrastructure and science and technology.
“What he’s done is given her a foundation on which to build,” she said.
“He’s also somebody who has been focused on bipartisanship, so independents and others who may not be aware of what this president has done and be able to help get the word out, for some weirdo reason, people still seem to think that Republicans have a better agenda, when, in fact, for real people, the agenda that the Democrats are putting forward is so much better, he can be a great explainer for that,” she said.
(WASHINGTON) — The same week Vice President Kamala Harris and her newly minted running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz are set to go on tour, hitting the battleground states in five days, vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance will be on their tail.
Vance will also conduct his own blitz in several of the battleground states, closely mirroring Harris’ campaign schedule for this week.
Vance, Harris and Walz will visit Pennsylvania on Tuesday — hours after Harris’ big running mate announcement.
The trio will visit Michigan and Wisconsin on Wednesday before that all head to North Carolina on Thursday.
Since being announced as former President Donanld Trump’s running mate three weeks ago, Vance has hit the ground running and has already made campaign stops in most of the battleground states.
But instead of holding traditional campaign events, Vance will use his events this week to speak to the media and is expected to use his time to attack Harris on several policy fronts, including immigration and the economy.
It’s likely Vance will also attack Walz — after the Ohio senator claimed Harris’ choice of Walz highlights how “radical” the vice president is.
“Obviously, the big news of the day is that Tim Walz has been nominated as the VP or is now the presumptive nominee, I should say, for Kamala Harris. My view on it is it just highlights how radical Kamala Harris is,” Vance said on Tuesday ahead of his rally in Pennsylvania.
Asked by ABC News if he had been in contact with Walz, Vance said he called Walz but the governor didn’t answer, so he left a voicemail.
“I didn’t get him, but I just said, ‘Look, congratulations. Look forward to a robust conversation and enjoy the ride,’ And maybe he’ll call me back, maybe he won’t,” Vance said.
In a Trump campaign fundraising email following Harris’ announcement, Vance wrote, “I HAVE THREE WORDS FOR TIM WALZ: Bring. It. On.” The email’s subject is “I will wipe the floor with Tim Walz.”
Vance has made it clear since being announced as Trump’s running mate that he would like to debate whoever the Democrats’ vice-presidential nominee is.
“I really don’t care who it is,” Vance said of Harris’ running mate before the selection of Walz. “Certainly, I think we should debate. I’d love to have a robust debate. I expect that we will.”
Democrats are already pushing back against Vance’s upcoming visit to some of the battleground states, attacking him and Trump.
“JD Vance’s visit to our state will only serve as a reminder of Donald Trump’s long record of failures and broken promises,” Wisconsin Democratic Coordinated Campaign Rapid Response Director Kristi Johnston said in a statement on Monday.
(WASHINGTON) — Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate faced a grilling from lawmakers about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, earlier this month.
The two officials testified before a Senate panel on Tuesday about security arrangements at the site and the status of ongoing investigations into what occurred both on July 13 and in the days leading up to the shooting.
New details have emerged about the shooting, including a potential social media account owned by the shooter and questions about when the Secret Service first saw the gunman on the roof. Officials have also confirmed, after the FBI director’s ambiguous comments last week raised questions about what struck Trump, that the former president was hit by a bullet.
Rowe told lawmakers he was “ashamed” of the protection failures that day and said he visited the site of the shooting as one of his first acts as acting director.
“I went to the roof of the AGR building where the assailant fired shots and laid in a prone position to evaluate his line of sight. What I saw made me ashamed,” Rowe said in his opening statement. “As a career law enforcement officer, and a 25-year veteran with the Secret Service, I cannot defend why that roof was not better secured.”
Here are some key moments from the hearing.
Questions over timeline emerge
Rowe, who took over as the head of the Secret Service after former director Kim Cheatle’s resignation earlier this month, testified that Trump’s security detail didn’t have “any knowledge” there was an attacker on the roof with a gun prior to shots ringing out.
“It is my understanding those personnel were not aware that the assailant had a firearm until they heard gunshots,” he said. “Prior to that, they were operating with the knowledge that local law enforcement was working on issue of a suspicious individual prior to the shots being fired.”
In dramatic fashion, he also displayed pictures of where the local sniper team was supposed to be posted and showed images of his agents re-enacting the shooter’s position.
Rowe also said if they had “more information” about the 30 seconds between finding out the shooter had a gun on the roof and him opening fire, they would’ve been able to address it “more quickly.”
“It appears that that information was stuck or siloed in that state local channel,” Rowe said.
Rowe said that while it was great there was a texting chain, more needs to go “over the net,” meaning, there needs to be more radio communication, which apparently there was a lack of during July 13.
Rowe was pressed on reports that 20 minutes passed between the time Secret Service snipers first spotted the gunman on a rooftop and the time shots were fired at the former president. Rowe said it was the “first” he was hearing of that and to his knowledge it was “incorrect.”
Abbate also testified about the timeline, saying approximately 25 minutes prior to the shooting, the Secret Service command post was notified of a suspicious person.
Abbate recently discovered video footage from a local business that shows the shooter getting onto the roof of the building at 6:06 p.m., and he was spotted by local law enforcement at 6:08 p.m. At approximately 6:11 p.m., Abbate said, a local police officer who was “lifted to the roof by another officer, saw the shooter and radioed that he was armed with a ‘long gun.’ Within approximately the next 30 second, the shots were fired.”
Drone system was down, Rowe says it could’ve prevented shooting
The acting Secret Service director said that if cellular capability was better on July 13, they could’ve launched a counter drone system sooner and potentially stopped the attack.
It is “something that has cost me a lot of sleep because of the eventual outcome of the assailant,” Rowe said.
Rowe said he grappled with circumstances that could have allowed drones to spot the gunman before he opened fire.
“That what if we … geo-located him because that counter UAS platform had been up? It is something that I have struggled with to understand,” he continued. “I have no explanation for, it is something that I feel as though we could have perhaps found him. We could have maybe stopped him. Maybe on that particular day, he would have decided this isn’t the day to do it, because law enforcement just found me flying my drone.”
The countering drone system was down for about two hours and went back online at 5 p.m., Rowe testified.
The gunman flew his own drone near the site hours before the shooting.
Shooter’s motive still unknown, social media account discovered
The FBI deputy director said in his opening statement that the investigation remains focused on motive, identifying any potential co-conspirators and building out the timeline of the shooter’s actions.
“Thus far, though absolutely nothing has been ruled out, the investigation has not identified a motive nor any co-conspirators or others with advanced knowledge,” Abbate said.
Abbate also told Congress that they recently discovered a social media account from 2019 to 2020 that appeared to belong to the shooter, but Abbate couched it as preliminary.
“There were over 700 comments posted from this account,” Abbate said. “Some of these comments, if ultimately attributable to the shooter, appear to reflect antisemitic and anti-immigration themes to espouse political violence and are described as extreme in nature,” he said.
Rowe pressed on accountability in heated exchange
Rowe told lawmakers he is taking “immediate steps” to avoid repeating failures at the Trump rally including expanding the use of unmanned aerial systems to check unprotected areas, improving site communications with local partners and increasing the number of security details to address a heightened security environment.
Rowe also said he heard the calls for “accountability” and noted the Secret Service is reviewing the actions and decision-making of personnel leading up to the rally.
“If this investigation reveals Secret Service employees violated agency protocols, those employees will be held accountable to our disciplinary process,” he said.
Senators on both sides of the aisle said there needs to be “individual accountability” for who was responsible for what during the shooting.
A particularly heated exchange ensued between Republican Sen. Josh Hawley and Rowe over why certain individuals had not been relieved of duty, with both men raising their voices. In the exchange, Rowe said Hawley was focused on one person rather than a whole investigative failure.
“Is it not prima facie that somebody has failed? The former president was shot,” Hawley pressed.
Rowe responded: “Sir, this could have been our Texas School Book Depository. I have lost sleep over that for the last 17 days.” Rowe was referencing the building that Lee Harvey Oswald was in during the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
“Then just fire somebody!” Hawley exclaimed.
“I will tell you, senator, that I will not rush to judgment, that people will be held accountable, and I will do so with integrity and not rush to judgment and put people unfairly prosecuted,” Rowe responded.
‘No doubt’ Trump was hit by bullet
Sen. John Kennedy pressed Abbate on what struck President Trump.
“Is there any doubt in your mind or in the collective mind of the FBI that President Trump was shot in the ear by a bullet fired by the assassin?” Kennedy asked.
“Senator, there is absolutely no doubt in the FBI’s mind whether former President Trump was hit with the with a bullet and wounded in the ear. No doubt. There never has been,” Abbate said.
Last week, the FBI released a statement also emphasizing that what struck Trump was a “bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject’s rifle.”
Abbate reiterated Tuesday that it was a bullet “100%.”
ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler contributed to this report.
(PHILADELPHIA) — Vice President Kamala Harris and her newly announced presidential running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are slated to make their first campaign appearance together on Tuesday evening in Philadelphia, before a large crowd.
Hundreds of supporters were waiting in lines outside the Liacouras Center at Temple University for the event, which is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET.
Walz and Harris are expected to highlight their contrasts to former president Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance.
Vance held a rally in the city earlier in the day.
Tuesday’s Harris-Walz event kicks off a five-day campaign road trip that will visit seven crucial swing states.
The vice president and Walz are scheduled to visit Eau Claire, Wisconsin; Detroit, Michigan; Durham, North Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Phoenix, Arizona; and Las Vegas this week.