Lindsey Graham ‘heartbroken, devastated’ over six hostages recovered in Gaza
(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he is “heartbroken, devastated, mad” over the six hostages whose bodies were recovered Saturday in Gaza.
The hostages, which included 23-year-old Israeli American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, “were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them,” Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said. IDF officials identified the additional five hostages as Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Master Sgt. Ori Danino.
“If you want the hostages home, which we all do, you have to increase the cost to Iran. Iran is the great Satan. Hamas is the junior partner. They’re barbaric, religious Nazis — Hamas, they could care less about the Palestinian people,” Graham told “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl during an interview on Sunday. “I would urge the Biden administration and Israel to hold Iran accountable for the fate of [the] remaining hostages and put on the target list oil refineries in Iran if the hostages are not released.”
Graham urged President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “tell the Ayatollah [Ali Khamenei] what he values is on the target list. Until that happens, nobody is coming home.”
Graham, one of former President Donald Trump’s closest allies on Capitol Hill, also criticized Vice President Kamala Harris for not attending Netanyahu’s speech to a joint session of Congress in July, saying: “She boycotted Bibi’s speech to Congress, sending a signal to Hamas and Iran that America does not really have Israel’s back.”
At the time, a Harris aide insisted to ABC News that the vice president did not preside because of a scheduling conflict, not to boycott or snub the Israeli prime minister. When pressed by Karl on Sunday that Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance also decided to not attend the address, Graham defended the Ohio senator, saying: “JD has been unequivocally supporting Israel. She [Harris] has been horrible. She is slow-walking weapons. She did not attend the speech, and that juiced up every terrorist in the region.”
“I would say on foreign policy, she [Harris] has been a wrecking ball,” Graham said.
Graham said Trump should highlight her failure on foreign policy and her role with the southern U.S. border at the ABC News presidential debate scheduled for Sept. 10.
While he acknowledged Harris “obviously has some talent” given her political experience, Graham said overall “her job performance has been lousy” as vice president. He urged Trump to focus on issues in a head-to-head race, saying: “Every poll says the same thing. The American people trust you with what matters the most to them — the economy, inflation, border security and just managing the government.”
“If I were you, my friend, I would focus on those issues laser-like and you will win this race,” he added.
Trump last week added a new campaign pledge to get IVF paid for by the government or covered by insurance. When asked Sunday about Trump’s IVF announcement, Graham told Karl: “I think he [Trump] just tried to show his support for IVF treatments that, you know, we’ve been accused, the party has, of being against birth control. We are not. We’ve been accused of being against IVF treatments. We’re not.”
Graham said he’d support a tax credit for Americans using IVF and other treatments to become pregnant.
“I would support a tax credit,” Graham said. “That makes sense to me, to encourage people to have children.”
However, when pressed by Karl, the South Carolina senator said he does not support mandating insurance companies to cover what Trump proposed regarding IVF.
“You wouldn’t support this idea of mandating insurance companies to cover this, would you?” Karl asked.
“No. No, I wouldn’t because there’s no end to that,” he said. “I think a tax credit for children makes sense, means tested. … I’ll talk to my Democratic colleagues. We might be able to find common ground here.”
The presidential debate set to be held by ABC News will take place at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Sept. 10 and will be moderated by “World News Tonight” anchor and managing editor David Muir and ABC News Live “Prime” anchor Linsey Davis. It will be produced in conjunction with ABC station WPVI-TV/6abc, and will air live at 9 p.m. ET on the network and on the ABC News Live 24/7 streaming network, Disney+, and Hulu.
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris is moving full steam ahead in her bid for the White House.
Former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, have several campaign events set up this week as they aim their attacks on Harris.
Harris has secured commitments from enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee if they all honor their commitment when voting, according to ABC News reporting.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Harris meeting with VP picks this weekend: Sources
Vice President Kamala Harris plans to meet with some of the top vice presidential contenders in person in Washington, D.C. this weekend, including Gov. Josh Shapiro, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
One source, who spoke to Shapiro yesterday, said he canceled everything on his schedule this weekend for Harris. He also canceled his appearance at a previously scheduled commissioner’s meeting at his own residence next week, the source added.
Shapiro said he was feeling “super confident,” according to the source.
-ABC News’ Selina Wang
Harris taps Obama campaign veterans to join campaign: Sources
The Harris campaign has hired a slew of new senior advisers this week, including multiple leaders from former President Barack Obama’s campaign, according to people briefed on the campaign shifts.
Stephanie Cutter, Obama’s former deputy campaign manager will take on the role of senior adviser message and strategy, Mitch Stewart, a former Obama grassroots organizer, will become the senior adviser for battleground states, and David Plouffe, one of Obama’s top strategists, will end his ties with TikTok and his podcast to become the senior adviser for path to 270 and strategy, the sources said.
The news was first reported by Politico.
The Harris campaign is also bringing on Terrance Woodbury of HIT Strategies, a specialist in Black voter opinion research. Quentin Fulks, the principal deputy campaign manager for Harris, will take over leadership of the campaign’s advertising program with the current paid media team.
“We’re thrilled to expand her team with these battle-tested leaders that know her and know how to win close elections. Together, we will harness the historic enthusiasm and support we’re seeing to do the work in reaching the voters who will decide this election – because when we fight, we win,” campaign chair Jennifer O’Malley Dillon said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Fritz Farrow, Isabella Murray and Will McDuffie
Shapiro says last time he spoke to Harris was day Biden dropped out
Gov. Josh Shapiro dodged another series of questions about the Democratic vice presidential process when taking questions from reporters Friday following a bill signing ceremony in Cheyney, Pennsylvania.
“I think any process questions like that should go directly to the Harris campaign,” Shapiro said when asked if he’d met with Harris herself.
Shapiro told ABC News that he last spoke with Harris on June 21, following President Joe Biden’s exit from the race. This was the same answer he gave on Tuesday, the last time he was publicly asked.
Asked if he’d be in Philadelphia on Tuesday — when Harris is expected to campaign for the first time with her running mate — Shapiro responded, “I hope to be.”
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray
Harris secures delegates to become Democratic nominee: DNC
Vice President Kamala Harris has enough Democratic Party delegate votes in a virtual roll call to earn the party’s nomination when the roll call ends Monday, Democratic National Committee chair Jaime Harrison announced Friday.
-ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim
Harris’ VP search enters final phase: Source
The search for the Democratic vice president candidate now rests in Kamala Harris’ hands, a person familiar with the process told ABC News.
The vetting led by former Attorney General Eric Holder and his team at Covington and Burling has concluded and the process turned over to Harris, according to the source.
Harris is expected to announce her pick by Tuesday evening, when the ticket will appear together for a rally in Philadelphia, kicking off a multi-day blitz through the battleground states.
News that the process has now entered this final stage was first reported by the New York Times.
-ABC News’ Mary Bruce
‘I’ll let her work that out,’ Biden says of Harris’ running mate choice
Leaving the White House, President Joe Biden said “yes” when asked if he had spoken to Vice President Kamala Harris about her running mate — a decision Harris is expected to announce in the coming days.
“I’ll let her work that out,” Biden said when asked what qualities Harris should look for in a running mate.
Asked who Harris should select for her running mate, Biden did not respond and laughed.
-ABC News’ Lauren Peller
Pete Buttigieg also cancels item on schedule
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has cancelled an item on his upcoming schedule amid reports he may be in the running to be Kamala Harris’ vice president.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro — also among the VP hopefuls — canceled fundraisers he had planned for the weekend.
Buttigieg, who has been traversing the Midwest this week in his official capacity, is scheduled to on Friday tour Ivy Tech Community College in Kokomo, Indiana. After remarks, the secretary will have a media availability.
“Secretary Buttigieg is here in Kokomo in his official capacity as Transportation Secretary. Federal law prohibits him from speaking about campaigns and elections,” his team wrote in email guidance.
He was slated to hold a roundtable discussion afterwards, which his team now says will no longer happen.
“I’m sorry to share that we will no longer be hosting the roadway safety roundtable due to some unforeseen scheduling constraints,” the guidance reads.
-ABC New’s Isabella Murrary
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker met with Harris’ VP vetting team: Sources
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker met with Harris’ vice presidential vetting team, according to sources familiar with the meeting.
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz met with Harris’ VP vetting team: Sources
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz met with Harris’ vice presidential vetting team, according to sources familiar with the meeting.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro — who is reported to have met with Harris’ vetting team as he remains on the shortlist of her vice presidential options — has canceled the fundraisers he had planned in the Hamptons this weekend, ABC News has confirmed.
It’s unclear now what his weekend schedule entails.
“The Governor’s trip was planned several weeks ago and included several fundraisers for his own campaign committee. His schedule has changed and he is no longer traveling to the Hamptons this weekend,” Shapiro Spokesman Manuel Bonder told ABC News.
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray and Oren Oppenheim
Harris’ vetting team met with VP hopefuls Shapiro, Kelly
Harris’ vetting team met with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly — two vice presidential hopefuls, according to sources familiar. The vetting team has met with other candidates as well, the sources added.
As meetings continue, the pool of vice presidential candidates has narrowed from a dozen, sources said.
Harris only has days to make a decision on her running mate. This process that normally takes months has been truncated and her team is doing it in weeks.
Harris is set to begin a tour of battleground states with her running mate on Tuesday.
-ABC News’ Selina Wang, Will McDuffie and Katherine Faulders
At the border, Vance says Harris kept the ‘promise’ to open the southern border
Vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance visited the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona Thursday morning. During his visit, Vance addressed the press, blaming Vice President Kamala Harris for what he claimed was a failure of the southern border.
“They started their administration, Kamala Harris came into office making promises, and she kept those promises, to open the American southern border,” Vance said. “They stopped deportations on Day 1, they stopped construction of the border wall on Day 1, we see the border wall sitting here ready to be completed behind us, and that can’t happen because of Kamala Harris’ administration.”
Vance has said that in a Trump-Vance administration, he would want to be influential in border policy. The border and immigration are a major issue for voters this election.
Vance and Trump have sought to attack Harris over her handling of the border — something President Joe Biden assigned her to oversee as vice president.
Vance often connects the border to the issue of drug trafficking and the fentanyl crisis, and he did it during his remarks Thursday.
“And the unfortunate truth is, because of the poison that Kamala Harris has let come into this country, there are a lot of those prayers that won’t be answered,” Vance said. “There are a lot of parents that won’t wake up because when you take fentanyl, you don’t wake up, it takes your life.”
But that is not true. The majority of fentanyl smuggled into the U.S. is through ports of entry, not through migrants.
Vance said the U.S. must implement “common sense policies” at the border.
“You’ve got to reimplement remain in Mexico. You’ve got to stop catch and release. You’ve got to force the asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while their claims are being adjudicated. And you’ve got to finish this border wall and reimplement deportations,” he said.
-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie
Vance said he feels Trump has confidence in him
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance said he feels former President Donald Trump has confidence in him, according to an interview he did with NOTUS conducted on Wednesday and published Thursday.
“I think that any Republican who comes out of the gate as the new VP nominee is gonna get attacked. I have no doubt that the president is confident in the way that I’ve been doing things,” Vance said in the interview.
Vance said he and Trump have a “good relationship” and that it will keep on going through all the way to November, hopefully past that too.”
In the interview, Vance also said “there was a fallout in the aftermath of the November 2020 election.”
Vance said, “I think it’s weird to engage in hypotheticals given the law’s changed here” when asked how he would have handled a situation where Trump wanted him to act against the Constitution, as then-Vice President Mike Pence said he was asked to during the process of certifying the 2020 election.
This goes against what Vance said in an interview with “This Week” anchor George Stephanopolous in February. During that interview, Vance was willing to discuss what he would have done in 2020 — before some laws changed.
“If I had been vice president, I would have told the states, like Pennsylvania, Georgia and so many others, that we needed to have multiple slates of electors and I think the U.S. Congress should have fought over it from there,” Vance said then. “That is the legitimate way to deal with an election that a lot of folks, including me, think had a lot of problems in 2020. I think that’s what we should have done.”
-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie and Oren Oppenheim
Trump doubles down on false racial attack against Harris
In a social media post Thursday morning, former President Donald Trump shared a family portrait of Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Your warmth, friendship, and love of your Indian Heritage are very much appreciated,” Trump wrote as the caption.
His social media post doubles down on his false claim that Harris only emphasized her Asian-American heritage, something he mentioned during his interview at the National Association of Black Journalists convention on Wednesday.
During the interview, he falsely questioned Harris’ race. Harris is the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother.
“I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now, she wants to be known as Black. So, I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?” Trump said during the NABJ interview.
He went on to say that “she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden she made a turn, and she went — she became a Black person.”
-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Soorin Kim and Kelsey Walsh
Vance visiting southern border in Arizona
Vice presidential candidate JD Vance is visiting the southern border Thursday morning in Cochise County, Arizona.
Vance and Trump have sought to attack Harris over her handling of the border — something President Joe Biden assigned her to oversee as vice president. The border and immigration are a major issue for voters this election.
Vance discussed the border and attacked Democrats during a rally in Arizona Wednesday night.
“They suspended deportations. They stopped building the wall. They reinstated catch and release. That’s how every state became a border state: They just release them into our country. They fly them first class wherever they want to go and put them up in fancy hotels,” Vance claimed. “You’re paying for that, too. Then they proposed amnesty for millions of illegal aliens.”
-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie
DNC’s virtual roll call underway
The Democratic National Committee’s virtual voting process is underway — a process that will formally designate Vice President Kamala Harris as the official presidential nominee of the Democratic Party.
Harris was already deemed the presumptive nominee by the DNC earlier this week after she emerged from a process, laid out by the party’s Rules Committee, as the only qualified candidate.
The virtual roll call began at 9 a.m. ET Thursday and will go until 6 p.m. ET on Monday, Aug. 5.
Vance defends Trump’s comments at NABJ, calls Harris a ‘chameleon’ and ‘fake’
Former President Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, defended his comments at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) annual convention in Chicago Wednesday.
Ahead of his rally in Phoenix, Arizona, Vance told reporters he believes the media is “overreacting” to Trump’s remarks at NABJ, where he questioned his opponent Vice President Kamala Harris’ racial identity.
“I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now, she wants to be known as Black. So, I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?” Trump said at the convention.
Vance told reporters Wednesday he found Trump’s comments “hysterical” adding that he believes the former president “pointed out the fundamental chameleon-like nature of Kamala Harris.”
“She is not who she pretends to be,” Vance said of Harris. “She’s flip-flopped on every issue. She’s fake, she’s phony,” he added.
Harris reacts to Trump’s NABJ remarks: ‘Same old show — the divisiveness and the disrespect’
Vice President Kamala Harris spoke out on the campaign trail on Wednesday night, reacting to former President Donald Trump’s headline-making appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists earlier in the day.
While not calling out any specific comments, Harris said that Trump’s appearance at the conference “was the same old show — the divisiveness and the disrespect.”
“And let me just say, the American people deserve better,” Harris added as she addressed a Houston crowd at the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc.’s Boulé. “The American people deserve a leader who tells the truth; a leader who does not respond with hostility and anger when confronted with the facts; we deserve a leader who understands that our differences, do not divide us. They are an essential source of our strength.”
Sen. Kelly calls Trump ‘desperate scared old man’ over NABJ remarks
Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, a vice presidential short-lister, criticized former President Donald Trump’s comments at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention about Vice President Kamala Harris Wednesday evening.
“I think those are the comments of a desperate scared old man, who over the last week especially has been having his butt kicked by an experienced prosecutor,” he said.
“And his comments are not unexpected from him. We’ve seen this over since when, 2015 or so? So he’s done this before he is not going to change it’s pretty obvious to me why he is doing this,” the senator added.
When asked by ABC News if he felt that Trump’s comments were rooted in racism, Kelly responded, “I think it’s who he is.”
GOP Senate candidate Larry Hogan slams Trump’s NABJ Convention remarks
Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who is running for Senate, came down on former President Trump’s comments about Vice President Kamala Harris’ race.
“It’s unacceptable and abhorrent to attack Vice President Harris or anyone’s racial identity. The American people deserve better,” he said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.
-ABC News’ Rick Klein
‘Trump showing exactly who he Is at NABJ,’ Harris campaign says
Michael Tyler, a spokesman for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, released a statement Wednesday responding to former President Donald Trump’s interview at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention in Chicago.
“The hostility Donald Trump showed on stage today is the same hostility he has shown throughout his life, throughout his term in office, and throughout his campaign for president as he seeks to regain power and inflict his harmful Project 2025 agenda on the American people,” he said.
“Trump lobbed personal attacks and insults at Black journalists the same way he did throughout his presidency – while he failed Black families and left the entire country digging out of the ditch he left us in. Donald Trump has already proven he cannot unite America, so he attempts to divide us,” Tyler added.
“Today’s tirade is simply a taste of the chaos and division that has been a hallmark of Trump’s MAGA rallies this entire campaign. It’s also exactly what the American people will see from across the debate stage as Vice President Harris offers a vision of opportunity and freedom for all Americans. All Donald Trump needs to do is stop playing games and actually show up to the debate on September 10,” he concluded.
-ABC News’ Mary Bruce
White House press secretary calls Trump’s comments on Harris’ race ‘repulsive’
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre pushed back against former President Donald Trump on Wednesday after he questioned Vice President Kamala Harris’ race during a panel at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention in Chicago.
Trump refused to answer a question by ABC News’ Rachel Scott if Harris, who is Black and Indian, was a “DEI hire,” an argument floated by some Republicans last week.
“She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage,” Trump said. “I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black. So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?”
He later said, “I really don’t know, could be, could be, there are some.”
Jean-Pierre criticized those comments during the daily White House briefing that was going on at the same time.
“As a person of color, as a Black woman who is in this position, that is standing before you at this podium, behind this lectern, what he just said, what you just read out to me is repulsive. It’s insulting,” she said. “And no one has any right to tell someone who they are, how they identify. That is no one’s right. It is someone’s own decisions.”
Jean-Pierre added that Harris — who attended Howard University, an HBCU, and was a member of the Black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha — is the vice president and said that people have to “put some respect on her name.”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a former leader, a former president. It is insulting. And we have to put — she is the vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris. We have to put some respect on her name,” Jean-Pierre said.
-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart
UAW endorses Harris
The United Auto Workers International Executive Board voted Wednesday to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid.
“Our job in this election is to defeat Donald Trump and elect Kamala Harris to build on her proven track record of delivering for the working class,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement.
“We stand at a crossroads in this country. We can put a billionaire back in office who stands against everything our union stands for, or we can elect Kamala Harris who will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us in our war on corporate greed. This campaign is bringing together people from all walks of life, building a movement that can defeat Donald Trump at the ballot box. For our one million active and retired members, the choice is clear: We will elect Kamala Harris to be our next President this November,” he added.
-ABC News’ Brittany Shepherd
Trump, Harris campaign trade barbs over NABJ appearance
Trump posted another statement on Truth Social expressing fury that Harris may talk to the National Association of Black Journalists Conference via Zoom.
“I am getting ready to land in Chicago in order to be there. Now I am told that she is doing the Event on ZOOM. WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?” he posted.
In response to former President Trump’s appearance at NABJ, the Harris campaign released a statement calling out all of the “lies” they claim Trump will mention about his record with the Black community.
“Not only does Donald Trump have a history of demeaning NABJ members and honorees who remain pillars of the Black press, he also has a history of attacking the media and working against the vital role the press play in our democracy.”
The campaign listed “skyrocketing Black unemployment,” his response to the pandemic, and “skyrocketing crime.”
-ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Fritz Farrow, Isabella Murray and Will McDuffie
Harris fundraising off of her vice presidential selection process
The Harris campaign is fundraising off of the heightened interest in her selection process for her running mate.
The campaign shared a photo in an email Wednesday of President Joe Biden asking her to be his vice president, recounting how memorable of a moment it was for her before relaying she understands just how much of an “important” choice the decision is.
“Though I have not made my decision yet, it is important to me that grassroots supporters — like you — have direct updates about the state of the race,” Harris wrote. “The selection of my running mate is not something that I am taking lightly. It is an important choice,” the message read.
-ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Fritz Farrow, Isabella Murray and Will McDuffie
DNC Chair Harrison, other convention leaders to participate in NABJ event
The Democratic National Convention Committee released their own National Association of Black Journalists plans Wednesday, which come as their now-presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris remains off the conference’s schedule.
On Thursday, top convention leaders including DNC Chair Jamie Harrison will participate in an on the record Q&A session with members of the NABJ Political Task Force, according to Democratic National Convention Officials.
The conversation will be moderated by Choose Chicago Chair Glenn Eden. Other participants include Democratic National Convention Chair Minyon Moore, Chicago 2024 Host Committee Executive Director Christy George and Chicago 2024 Host Committee Senior Advisor Keiana Barret, according to the officials.
“Convention leadership will discuss how President Biden, Vice President [Harris], and Democrats have delivered for Black Americans by lowering health care costs, investing $7 billion in HBCUs, canceling more student debt than any president in history, and building an administration that looks like America,” the officials said.
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray
Trump interview at Black journalists association convention sparks controversy
Former President Donald Trump’s scheduled interview Wednesday at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago has sparked criticism from some of its members.
Trump will be in conversation with ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott, Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner and Semafor political reporter Kadia Goba at 1:30 p.m.
“While NABJ does not endorse political candidates as a journalism organization, we understand the serious work of our members, and welcome the opportunity for them to ask the tough questions that will provide the truthful answers Black Americans want and need to know,” Ken Lemon, the association’s president, said in a statement.
Some members have expressed criticism over the interview.
April Ryan, the Washington bureau chief of TheGrio who was awarded the NABJ’s “Journalist of the Year” back in 2017, wrote online that his invitation was “a slap in the face.”
Karen Attiah, the co-chair of the convention, resigned earlier this week after the NABJ announced Trump’s appearance. Attiah wrote in a post on X, “To the journalists interviewing Trump, I wish them the best of luck,” explaining that his appearance was only partly behind her decision and that it was “influenced by a variety of factors.”
Others, however, have defended the decision.
MSNBC host Symone Sanders-Townsend, who was formerly Vice President Kamala Harris’s spokesperson, wrote on X: “Some of the best journalists in the country are members of NABJ. So, why wouldn’t they interview Trump? He is the Republican nominee.”
-ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler
Trump tries to downplay turnout at Harris rally
Former President Donald Trump attempted to pour cold water on the enthusiasm at Vice President Kamala Harris’ Tuesday night rally in Atlanta.
Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social Wednesday morning that the turnout was only high because artists performed ahead of her speech.
“Crazy Kamala Harris, voted the WORST Vice President in American history, needed a concert to bring people into the Atlanta arena, and they started leaving 5 minutes into her speech. I don’t need concerts or entertainers, I just have to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” he said in his post.
-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Soo Rin Kim and Kelsey Walsh
Mark Kelly defends Harris’ immigration record
Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, who is seen as a strong Democratic vice presidential pick, defended the vice president’s record on immigration and went on the attack against Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance, in an interview on “Morning Joe” on Wednesday.
“Donald Trump and Senate Republicans, what did they do several months ago? We had a bipartisan bill that we negotiated faithfully with the administration, both sides of the aisle, and Donald Trump said that Senate Republicans can’t vote for it,” Kelly said. “He wanted to talk about this issue instead of actually fix it and JD Vance and other Republicans, they ran away from it.”
He said Vance, who plans to visit the U.S.-Mexico border Wednesday, should instead be back in Washington passing legislation on the border.
“I mean, JD Vance is down here,” Kelly said. “I think he’s in Arizona today probably getting a photo op at the southern border. Kamala Harris is about solving problems. Donald Trump wants to take us, drag us back a decade.”
Kelly said, in contrast, Harris wants to address border and immigration.
Vance says time to ‘load the muskets’ in Project 2025 leader’s book: Report
Republican Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance said it was “time to circle the wagons and load the muskets,” in a forward to a book penned by Project 2025’s leader, according to a report.
The New Republic obtained the forward to Dawn’s Early Light, the book written by the Heritage Foundation leader Kevin Roberts, where Vance claims “explores many of the themes I’ve focused on in my own work.”
“Never before has a figure with Roberts’s depth and stature within the American Right tried to articulate a genuinely new future for conservatism. The Heritage Foundation isn’t some random outpost on Capitol Hill; it is and has been the most influential engine of ideas for Republicans from Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump,” Vance wrote in the forward, according to the report published Tuesday.
Vance claims “Roberts sees a conservatism that is focused on the family,” and “cultural norms and attitudes matter.”
The senator ended his forward with an analogy about a garden that “needs to be recultivated.”
“As Kevin Roberts writes, ‘It’s fine to take a laissez-faire approach when you are in the safety of the sunshine. But when the twilight descends and you hear the wolves, you’ve got to circle the wagons and load the muskets,'” Vance wrote, according to the report. “We are now all realizing that it’s time to circle the wagons and load the muskets. In the fights that lay ahead, these ideas are an essential weapon.”
Harris to lay out path to strengthen middle class during Atlanta rally: Official
Vice President Kamala Harris is set to take the stage in Atlanta Tuesday night for her largest campaign rally to date.
Among the guests will be Megan Thee Stallion and Quavo.
During her speech, the vice president will lay out how she will prioritize the strengthening of middle-class families as president, according to a Harris official.
She will say a key to this is recognizing that prices remain too high for many essentials that families rely on, and she will lay out her plans to lower costs.
She will also discuss the state of the race, reiterating that she is the underdog in this race but has real momentum and grassroots enthusiasm at her side, and she is expected to call out former President Donald Trump for refusing to honor his commitment to debate, the official said.
Following her remarks, Harris will join a national campaign organizing call to thank volunteers for their support and talk about more ways to get involved with the campaign, the official said.
Biggest Harris donors push for Shapiro, Kelly, Beshear as VP picks: Source
The overwhelming majority of the largest Democratic donors are pushing for Vice President Kamala Harris to pick Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly or Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a top adviser to major Democratic donors told ABC News.
The source says many of them are making their views known to Harris’ team and have been pushing to have a say in the process after surging large amounts of money into her campaign.
The donors say Shapiro would make a good choice because he has massive charisma and is a political talent at “Obama level,” he’s got a great brand in Pennsylvania and has chastised both Democrats and Republicans for being too extreme, according to the source.
Kelly’s popularity among the donors comes from the fact that he’s a veteran with real toughness, can talk about political violence from his personal perspective and has major name recognition and credibility in Arizona, the source said.
Beshear is popular among the donors because he’s a centrist southern Democrat who has successfully won in Kentucky two times, according to the source.
Top Biden adviser Anita Dunn leaving White House to help pro-Harris super PAC
Anita Dunn, a top adviser to President Joe Biden, is leaving the White House next week to advise the largest super PAC supporting Vice President Kamala Harris, a source close to Dunn told ABC News.
This marks the first major shakeup to Biden’s inner circle since he announced he was dropping out of the presidential race. Dunn played a key role in Biden’s 2020 campaign and was previously a top adviser to President Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns.
“It’s been an honor and privilege to serve in this White House, with this President and this team, during this transformational term,” Dunn said in a statement shared with ABC News. “I am grateful to President Biden and Vice President Harris for their leadership and giving me the opportunity to be part of what they have accomplished for the American people.”
Dunn will be a senior adviser to the super PAC Future Forward and an adviser to its partner organization Future Forward USA. She will work on super PAC efforts that will coordinate with the Harris campaign, according to the source close to Dunn.
Biden said in a statement that he was grateful for Dunn’s work.
“I deeply value her counsel and friendship and I will continue to rely on her partnership and insights as we finish the job over the next six months,” he said.
-ABC News’ Selina Wang
Schumer says he’s not worried about Senate majority if Harris picks senator for VP
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer brushed off concerns Tuesday about keeping the Senate majority if Kamala Harris were to select a Democratic senator as her vice presidential pick.
“I have total confidence that Vice President Harris will choose a great vice-presidential candidate,” Schumer said during his weekly press conference.
Schumer dodged a question about the possibility of a key swing state opening if Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly is chosen as Harris’ running mate.
-ABC News’ Lauren Peller
Harris says she still hasn’t picked VP
Harris told reporters she still hasn’t decided who her running mate will be as she boarded a plane Tuesday for a trip to Atlanta.
“Madam vice president, have you chosen your VP yet? Have you chosen yet?” ABC News’ Fritz Farrow asked.
“Not yet,” Harris said with a smile as she stopped midway up the steps of Air Force Two.
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Biden says he’s talking with Harris about VP choices
President Joe Biden told reporters Monday night after returning from a trip to Texas that he’s “talking” with Harris about her choices for vice president.
Biden was also asked about hitting the trail for Harris, and said he “did” with his trip.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Vance, in 2020, said those without kids are ‘more sociopathic’
As Vance continues to face criticism for his 2021 comments about “childless cat ladies,” more of his previous comments about individuals without kids have resurfaced.
In a podcast from November 2020, Vance said those without kids — especially in America’s leadership class — were “more sociopathic” than those with kids and made the country “less mentally stable.”
Vance’s comments occurred on the podcast after he discussed the impact having children had on him.
Vance also added that the “most deranged” and “most psychotic” people on Twitter, now known as X, are people who don’t have kids.
“There’s just these basic cadences of life that I think are really powerful and really, really valuable when you have kids in your life, and the fact that so many people, especially in America’s leadership class, just don’t have that in their lives, you know, I worry that it makes people more sociopathic, and ultimately, our whole country a little bit less less mentally stable,” Vance said in the podcast.
“And of course, you talk about going on Twitter. Final point I’ll make is you go on Twitter, and almost always the people who are most deranged and most psychotic, are people who don’t have kids at home.”
CNN was the first to report on the podcast.
-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie
Trump out with $12M ad buy criticizing Harris on the border
Trump’s campaign is targeting Harris in its biggest television ad buy since at least January, reserving eight-figure dollar worth of airtime in six key battleground states, according to ad tracking firm AdImpact.
The 30-second ad zeroes in on the rhetoric that Harris “failed” in her role handling immigration issues in President Biden’s administration, calling her “weak” and “dangerously liberal.”
“This is America’s border czar, and she’s failed us. Under Harris, over ten million illegally here, a quarter of a million Americans dead from fentanyl, brutal migrant crimes, and ISIS now here,” a narrator in the ad says, followed by an interview clip of Harris appearing to admit she hasn’t visited the border.
Harris was assigned to address the root causes of migration in Central and South America. She made one visit to the southern border operations in June 2021.
The Harris campaign hit back that Trump was responsible for “killing the toughest border deal in decades” and accused him of misrepresenting her record.
“As a former district attorney, attorney general, and now vice president, Kamala Harris has spent her career taking on and prosecuting violent criminals and making our communities safer. She’ll do the same as president,” said Harris campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa.
-ABC News’ Soorin Kim and Gabriella Abdul-Hakim
Trump attempts to clean up Vance’s ‘childless cat ladies’ comments
Appearing on Fox News The Ingraham Angle on Monday night, Trump attempted to clean up his vice presidential pick’s previous comments about “childless cat ladies,” but didn’t really address the comments.
Instead, he rambled about how Vance is pro-family.
“He made a statement having to do with families. That doesn’t mean that people that aren’t a member of a big and beautiful family with 400 children around and everything else, it doesn’t mean that a person doesn’t have, he’s not against anything, but he loves family. It’s very important to him. He grew up in a very interesting family situation, and he feels family is good, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong in saying that,” Trump said downplaying Vance’s comments.
Gloria Steinem, Chelsea Clinton and more participate in ‘Women for Harris’ call
The Democratic National Committee held a “Women for Harris” call on Monday night.
Over the course of two-and-a-half hours, viewers heard from Chelsea Clinton, California Sen. Laphonza Butler, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Gloria Steinem, Ana Navarro and leaders of organizations like Emily’s List and Mom’s Demand Action.
Clinton lamented her mother’s loss in 2016 but told viewers that defeating the former president is even more important than it was in 2016 because Americans now have a “record” of things to hold him accountable for.
“My mom put a few more cracks in that glass ceiling. And Vice President Harris is going to obliterate that glass ceiling,” Clinton said.
The call included a host of organizations who support Harris, including Black women who held the first iteration of these pop up fundraising calls with the group Win with Black Women. Glynda Carr, founder of Higher Heights PAC, which supports Black women leadership, told attendees what made this call uniquely important was the realization that women from all walks of life are “stronger together.”
Another “Women for Harris” call is planned for Tuesday night.
Harris launches $50 million ad campaign
Vice President Kamala Harris rolled out an aggressive $50 million, three-week advertising blitz for the first ad of her presidential campaign on Tuesday, in which she introduces herself to voters, highlights her career and takes hits at former President Donald Trump.
“The one thing Kamala Harris has always been: fearless,” a narrator says at the start of the minute-long ad, as pictures of Harris over the years — from a toddler to college graduate to vice president — flash on screen.
“As a prosecutor, she put murderers and abusers behind bars,” the narrator continued. “As California’s attorney general, she went after the big banks and won $20 billion for homeowners. And as vice president, she took on the big drug companies to cap the cost of insulin for seniors. Because Kamala Harris has always known who she represents.”
The spot then leads into laying out Harris’ vision and attacking Trump, using footage from her first rally of the campaign last week in a high school gym just outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“We believe in a future where every person has the opportunity not just to get by, but to get ahead. Where every senior can retire with dignity,” Harris said in the footage from the rally. “But Donald Trump wants to take our country backward, to give tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations and end the Affordable Care Act.”
“But we are not going back,” she added.
Harris campaign chair, Jen O’Malley Dillon, said in a statement that because of Harris’ prosecutorial, congressional and vice-presidential experience, the vice president is “uniquely suited to take on Donald Trump, a convicted felon who has spent his entire life ripping off working people, tearing away our rights, and fighting for himself.”
‘White Dudes for Harris’ raises over $4 million in 3 hours
The “White Dudes for Harris” livestream held on Monday night raised over $4 million over three hours in support of Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid, organizers said.
The event featured participants from politics and a parade of celebrities — including “The Dude” himself, The Big Lebowski’s Jeff Bridges — all making their own call to action for other white men to step up in their support for Harris.
Over 190,000 people tuned into the Zoom call, organizers of the unofficial event said at the conclusion of the stream.
Among the recognizable faces that cropped up during the livestream were Star Wars icon Mark Hamill, Supernatural alum Misha Collins, The West Wing alum Bradley Whitford, Frozen’s Josh Gad and singer Josh Groban. Several potential running mates for Harris also joined the event, including North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, who withdrew from contention for vice president on the Democratic ticket around the time he spoke at the meeting. He did not mention his withdrawal on the call.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, all still in the running for Harris’ vice-presidential pick, were also part of the “White Dudes for Harris” meeting.
JD Vance said Democratic ticket switch to Harris was ‘sucker punch’: Report
Sen. JD Vance, running mate to former President Donald Trump, said over the weekend that Kamala Harris moving to the top of the Democratic ticket was a “sucker punch,” according to the Washington Post.
“All of us were hit with a little bit of a political sucker punch,” Vance said to donors over the weekend in Minnesota, per an audio recording the paper said it had obtained. “The bad news is that Kamala Harris does not have the same baggage as Joe Biden, because whatever we might have to say, Kamala is a lot younger. And Kamala Harris is obviously not struggling in the same ways that Joe Biden did.”
When asked about the report and Vance’s “sucker punch” comment, a spokesperson for the vice presidential contender took aim at Harris.
“Poll after poll shows President Trump leading Kamala Harris as voters become aware of her weak, failed and dangerously liberal agenda. Her far-left ideas are even more radioactive than Joe Biden, particularly in the key swing states that will decide this election like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin,” Vance spokesperson William Martin said in a statement.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper will not be Kamala Harris’ VP pick
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued a statement on Monday night signaling that he’s removed himself from contention as a vice presidential running mate for presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
“I strongly support Vice President Harris’ campaign for President. I know she’s going to win and I was honored to be considered for this role. This just wasn’t the right time for North Carolina and for me to potentially be on a national ticket,” he said in a post on X.
“As l’ve said from the beginning, she has an outstanding list of people from which to choose, and we’ll all work to make sure she wins,” he added.
Trump says he’ll ‘probably end up debating’ Harris
Former President Donald Trump seems to be one step closer to formally agreeing to debate his opponent for the presidency, Vice President Kamala Harris.
During an interview on The Ingraham Angle Monday night, Trump told the Fox News host that he will “probably end up debating” Harris. In his remarks, though, he also appeared to downplay the necessity of debates.
“I want to do a debate, but I also can say this. Everybody knows who I am. And now people know who she is,” he said.
“If you’re going to have a debate, you gotta do it, I think, before the votes are cast. I think it’s very important that you do that. So, the answer is yes, but I can also make a case for not doing it,” Trump said.
A short while later, a spokesperson for Harris’ campaign issued a statement on Trump’s comments on Fox, insisting that the vice president will be at the next debate no matter what.
“Why won’t Donald Trump give a straight answer on debating Vice President Harris? It’s clear from tonight’s question-dodging: he’s scared he’ll have to defend his running mate’s weird attacks on women, or his own calls to end elections in America in a debate against the vice president. Vice President Harris will be on the debate stage September 10th. Donald Trump can show up, or not,” the statement said.
Megan Thee Stallion to perform at VP Kamala Harris’ campaign rally in Atlanta: Source
Rapper Megan thee Stallion will give a special performance at Vice President Kamala Harris’ rally in Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday, a source familiar confirmed to ABC News.
In addition to Megan thee Stallion, Georgia Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock and former Rep. Stacey Abrams will be in attendance, supporting Harris’ 2024 presidential bid.
The news was first reported by Billboard.
Marianne Williamson suspends her Democratic presidential bid, again
Democratic long-shot nominee Marianne Williamson has suspended her campaign for president, announcing on X Monday that it is “time to let go” of her bid for the White House.
Williamson said she failed to register for the Democratic National Convention’s candidate directory by Saturday evening’s deadline.
Harris will be at ABC News debate with or without Trump, her campaign says
Vice President Kamala Harris will be at ABC News’ Sept. 10 debate with or without former President Donald Trump, her campaign communications director said Monday.
“As Vice President Harris said last week, the American people deserve to hear from the two candidates running for the highest office in the land and she will do that at September’s ABC debate,” her campaign communications director, Michael Tyler, said in a statement first reported by the Hill. “If Donald Trump and his team are saying anything other than ‘we’ll see you there’ — and it appears that they are — it’s a convenient, but expected backtrack from Team Trump. Vice President Harris will be there on September 10th — we’ll see if Trump shows.”
While Harris has previously affirmed her intention to be at the debate, this statement takes it a step further by saying she’ll show up regardless of Trump’s presence.
Trump accepted the debate when Biden was still the presumptive Democratic nominee, though his campaign has since said they’re waiting until there is an official Democratic nominee before agreeing to debates.
Election content on social media ‘could be propaganda’ for foreign adversaries: ODNI
Content about the election on social media “could be propaganda” for foreign adversaries, officials with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence warned on Monday.
“The American public should know that content that they read online, especially on social media, could be foreign propaganda, even if it appears to be coming from fellow Americans or originating in the United States,” an ODNI official said on a conference call with reporters on Monday. “In short, foreign influence actors are getting better at hiding their hand and using Americans to do it.”
Russia is still pervasive in this space and remains the biggest threat to the election, according to the officials.
The officials also warned that the influence operators will use the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump “as part of their narratives portraying the event to fit their broad goals.”
-ABC News’ Luke Barr
DNC says it raked in $6.5M in grassroots donations in 24 hours after Biden endorsed Harris
The Democratic National Committee is claiming it has raised $6.5 million in grassroots donations in the 24 hours after President Biden’s endorsement of Vice President Harris on July 21.
The DNC said $1 million was donated in the 5 p.m. hour alone for what they’re claiming is a record for its best online fundraising day of all time.
The DNC is making a significant push in battleground states, investing an additional $15 million into those crucial states this month to fund new field offices, build data infrastructure, mobilize volunteers and strengthen coordinated campaigns.
“Democratic voters, volunteers, and grassroots donors are fired up,” chairman Jaime Harrison said in a memo. “We are confident that in our battleground states, Democrats will win up and down the ballot in November.”
-ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim
5:28 PM EDT Gov. Andy Beshear rallies for Harris in Atlanta, calls out JD Vance
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear spoke on Sunday at the opening of Kamala Harris’ campaign office in Forsyth County, Georgia.
The possible VP pick for Harris has been an effective surrogate for the vice president’s White House bid over the weekend, coming to the metro Atlanta event fresh off of a stump in Iowa on Saturday night.
The red-state governor introduced himself to the Southern audience on Sunday while boosting Harris’ candidacy and taking a number of swipes at Trump’s Vice Presidential pick, JD Vance.
“Are you ready to beat Donald Trump? Are you ready to beat JD Vance? Are you ready to elect Kamala Harris president of the United States of America” Beshear asked the crowd, adding, “Let’s win this race,”
“Let me tell you just a bit about myself,” Beshear said. “I’m a proud pro-union governor. I’m a proud pro-choice governor. I am a proud pro-public education governor. I am a proud pro-diversity governor and I’m a proud Harris for president governor,” he added.
Calling out Vance, Beshear said, “Just let me be clear. JD Vance ain’t from Kentucky. He ain’t from Appalachia. And he ain’t gonna be the vice president of the United States.”
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray
2:18 PM EDT Former Vice President Al Gore endorses Kamala Harris
Former Vice President Al Gore endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday.
“As a prosecutor, [Kamala Harris] took on Big Oil companies — and won. As [VP], she cast the tie-breaking vote to pass the most significant investment in climate solutions in history, the Inflation Reduction Act. That’s the kind of climate champion we need in the White House,” he wrote on X.
“With so much at stake in this year’s election — from strengthening democracy in the US and abroad, to expanding opportunity for the American people, to accelerating climate action — I’m proud to endorse Kamala Harris for President,” he added.
-ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim
July 28, 2024, 10:42 AM EDT Vance says Trump ‘doesn’t care’ about his past criticism
During a quick stop at a diner in Minnesota on Sunday morning, Sen. JD Vance on Sunday spoke about his past criticisms of former President Donald Trump.
When asked by ABC News if he and Trump have talked about his past criticism of the former president, Vance said yes, adding that Trump “doesn’t care about what I said eight years ago.”
“I mean, look, President Trump and I have talked a lot about this,” Vance said. “In fact, I sometimes joke that I wish that he had the memory of Joe Biden, because he’s got a memory like a steel trap, and he certainly remembers criticisms that people have made.”
“But this is where the media, I think, really misses Trump — Donald Trump accepts that people can change their mind, and you ask, ‘Why did I change my mind on Donald Trump?’ Because his agenda made people’s lives better,” Vance said.
“This whole thing is not about red team versus blue team or winning an election for its own sake. It’s about getting a chance to govern so that you can bring down the cost of groceries, close that border and stop the fentanyl coming across our country for four years,” Vance continued, saying he was “wrong” about Trump.
“He did a better job of that than anybody that I’ve ever seen as president in my lifetime. So I changed my mind, because he did a good job. And that’s what you do when people do a good job and you’re wrong. I’ve talked to President Trump a lot about it, but look, he, I mean, he just, he doesn’t… He doesn’t care about what I said eight years ago. He cares about whether we together [and] can govern the country successful.”
When asked again if the two have talked about the subject, specifically in the last week since his comments have resurfaced, Vance admitted that they haven’t spoken about it and their conversations have focused on the race ahead.
-ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh, Soorin Kim and Hannah Demissie
(CHICAGO) — The final day of the Democratic National Convention wraps up with Kamala Harris’ big moment: her acceptance speech in which she gets to tell her story to the millions of Americans watching.
Her campaign says, in addition to describing her middle-class upbringing, she will continue to stress optimism and patriotism — the “politics of joy” — the overall themes we’ve heard throughout the gathering.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Trump a ‘hateful man’: ‘Exonerated 5’
New York City Council member Yusef Salaam, one of the five men exonerated in the “Central Park Five” case, called Trump a “hateful man” during his DNC appearance.
“He wanted us dead,” Salaam said. “Today, we are exonerated because the actual perpetrator confessed. And DNA proved it.”
Korey Wise, another one of the men who was exonerated in the case, said they were “threatened” by people after Trump ran ads calling for the death penalty for violent crimes in New York in the wake of the attack.
He said Harris, by comparison, has “worked to make things fairer.”
“I know she will do the same as president and I approve that message,” Wise said.
Harris to promise to be ‘a president for all Americans’
In her acceptance speech tonight, Harris will deliver a message of unity as Democrats look to appeal to independent voters.
“With this election, our nation has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past,” she will say. “A chance to chart a New Way Forward. Not as members of any one party or faction, but as Americans.”
“I know there are people of various political views watching tonight. And I want you to know: I promise to be a president for all Americans,” Harris will say, according to released excerpts of her speech.
“I will be a president who unites us around our highest aspirations. A president who leads — and listens. Who is realistic. Practical. And has common sense. And always fights for the American people. From the courthouse to the White House, that has been my life’s work.”
Trump’s tie to the ‘Central Park 5’ case
Four of the five men in the “Central Park Five” who were wrongfully convicted in the 1989 rape of a Central Park jogger appeared at the DNC.
The five Black and Latino men, who were teenagers at the time of their arrest, were taken into custody, hounded in police interrogations and ultimately gave false confessions in the brutal assault on jogger Trisha Meili.
While the five teenagers awaited their trial, former President Donald Trump bought newspaper ads calling for New York to adopt the death penalty for violent crimes.
“Bring back the death penalty. Bring back our police!” the ad stated in all caps.
The five men were exonerated in 2002 after convicted rapist Matias Reyes confessed to being Meili’s sole attacker, and Reyes’ DNA was matched to the crime scene. New York City settled with the Central Park Five in 2014 for $41 million in a civil rights lawsuit.
When asked in 2019, following the release of a Netflix series about the case, whether he would apologize for the ads to the men who were exonerated in the Central Park jogger case, Trump refused.
“Why do you bring that question up now? It’s an interesting time to bring it up. You have people on both sides of that,” he said. “They admitted their guilt. If you look at Linda Fairstein and you look at some of the prosecutors, they think that the city should never have settled that case, so we’ll leave it at that.”
Following Trump’s indictment in 2023 on 34 felony counts of falsified business records in the hush money case, some of the exonerated men called it “karma.”
Speakers make case for Harris as commander in chief
The DNC is highlighting national security, with recent speakers Colorado Rep. Jason Crow, a former Army Ranger; Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin and New York Rep. Pat Ryan, an Army veteran, making the case for Harris as the commander in chief.
“I’ll tell you what I think of Donald Trump. They told me I can’t say that word on TV,” Ryan said.
Slotkin leans in on patriotism
Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., made it clear: Democrats are patriotic, too.
Her speech was the most vocal example of how Democrats are taking back words like “freedom” and symbols like the flag, leaning on her time in the CIA and accusing Republicans of betraying the values they represent.
“We’re the damn United States of America. We lead,” she thundered in conclusion.
Warren makes couch joke when talking about Trump, Vance
Warren, a policy wonk, said she trusted Harris to handle the economy, abortion, climate change and more.
“Trust Donald Trump and JD Vance?” she said. “To look out for your family? Shoot, I wouldn’t let those guys — I wouldn’t trust them to move my couch.”
Elizabeth Warren gets teary-eyed during long ovation
The Massachusetts senator was seen wiping her eyes as she got emotional during a rapturous welcome from attendees at the United Center.
Vulnerable senators finally make an appearance
Last night, I commented on how few Democratic Senate candidates had addressed the DNC thus far — including zero in competitive races. Well, that ends tonight. Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin spoke earlier, and Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania was just on stage. Both are in competitive races in swing states this fall.
-538’s Nathaniel Rakich
Early speakers breeze through speeches
The beginning of the fourth night has been moving briskly, with shorter speeches.
Although there have been a few musical interludes from DJ Metro, they also did not last long. The previous three nights of the DNC have ended after 11 p.m. ET.
Harris’ plan for middle-class families
Massachusetts Rep. Katherine Clark focused on the burden of child care costs, saying Harris and Walz “know that when everyone can find and afford child care, our kids and our communities will thrive.”
The Harris campaign said it aims to keep some money in middle-class consumers’ pockets by reducing their tax burden.
The plans include a restoration of the expanded child tax credit of $3,600 per child that expired in 2022. Harris also proposed an additional, new $6,000 child tax credit for families with a child in the first year of life.
What Harris has proposed to help homeowners
Former HUD secretary Marcia Fudge and Congressman Ted Lieu just touted Harris’ housing proposals, which she unveiled last week.
Harris has vowed to provide up to $25,000 in down-payment support for first-time homeowners and called for the construction of 3 million new housing units to ease the housing supply shortage.
Sen. Padilla: ‘I knew that I had some big Chuck Taylors to fill’
Sen. Alex Padilla, the first Latino to represent California and Vice President Kamala Harris’ Senate successor, told the crowd “I knew that I had some big Chuck Taylors to fill.”
Harris for years has often sported the popular shoe.
White outfits fill convention arena
White outfits peppered the convention hall here in an ode to suffragists and Harris’ historic candidacy.
The outfit motif has been a hallmark of House Democrats, who have used the color to send a signal at major events, such as past state of the union addresses, including this year’s, when Democrats sought to make a point about abortion.
-ABC News’ Tal Axelrod
DJ gets crowd moving to ‘Lil Boo Thang’
Chicago’s DJ Metro got the crowd to its feet, dancing to “Lil Boo Thang” by Paul Russell, at the start of the night.
100,000 balloons ready to end the night: Source
Convention organizers have 100,000 balloons ready to drop at the end of the evening, according to a source with knowledge.
-ABC News’ Brittany Shepherd
4th night of the DNC underway
The fourth and final night of the DNC is officially underway.
The theme of the night is “For our future” and will feature a keynote address from Vice President Kamala Harris as she accepts the party’s nominee for president.
Emhoff says Harris remains focused on issues ahead of ‘her big moment’
Second gentleman Doug Emhoff said Vice President Kamala Harris remains focused on the issues even “while she is preparing for her big moment tonight.”
“She has been in the Oval Office with the president on all of these major issues. She’s been in the Situation Room on all these major issues, just with what’s happening now,” he said Thursday at an event about combating antisemitism hosted by the Jewish Democratic Council of America.
“She’s still working on these issues while she is preparing for her big moment tonight. That’s what leaders do,” he continued.
Harris has spent the day continuing to review her speech and tweaking it by hand as she prepares to deliver what will be the most important remarks of her political life, a personal familiar with the preparation told ABC News.
-ABC News’ Mary Bruce
Harris, Emhoff wish each other happy 10th anniversary
Vice President Kamala Harris wished her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff a happy anniversary on Thursday ahead of her acceptance speech at the DNC. The couple are celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary.
“To the best partner I could ask for: Happy anniversary, Dougie,” Harris posted on social media, with a picture of the two visiting campaign headquarters in Wilmington the day after she announced her candidacy.
Earlier Thursday, Emhoff did the same, posting a slideshow of photos of himself and Harris.
“Ten years of marriage, forever to go,” Emhoff wrote. “Happy anniversary, @WRQ11HGNB. I love you.”
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow
Meet the oldest DNC delegate, Angie Gialloreto
Angie Gialloreto, 95, has attended every Democratic National Convention since 1976, when Jimmy Carter was on the ticket.
Since the 99-year-old former president could not attend this year’s DNC due to his health issues, Gialloreto is the oldest delegate to travel to Chicago, where she will watch Harris accept her party’s nomination.
The Pennsylvania native told ABC News the possibility that Harris could become the first woman to serve as president was a long time coming because women “have taken a back seat many years and now we’ll have a leader.”
When asked how she would celebrate if Harris ends up victorious during the November general election against Donald Trump, Gialloreto said she will focus on “getting ready for the next election of local candidates.”
-ABC News’ Morgan Gstalter
Walz meets with former students in Chicago
The morning after accepting his party’s nomination for vice president, Walz gathered in Chicago with former staff, family, friends and former students — including some of the football players who appeared on-stage Wednesday night at the United Center.
ABC News spotted Walz at a Chicago hotel on Thursday morning.
During that meeting, he mingled with several of his former Mankato West High School students over an informal breakfast, according to a source familiar with Walz’s movements. Some of those who met with Walz at the hotel were observed by ABC News donning “Harris-Walz Alumni” T-shirts.
Earlier in the day, Walz posted a video on X showing him hug and greet the students backstage at the convention.
-ABC News’ Lucien Bruggeman, Allison Pecorin and MaryAlice Parks
How Harris prepares for big speeches
Former campaign managers and senior staffers who worked Harris through the years shed light on how she prepares for big speeches.
They said she’s a trial lawyer at her core, and so preparation was key as well as being ready for audience reactions.
In crafting a speech, she would start with themes, outline and then focus in on what she wanted to say well in advance. She would be intimately involved in every speech, making edits and collaborating with those around her.
They said like most people she gets nervous, but would relax, review the remarks, save her voice, conserve energy and rest up.
-ABC News’ Zohreen Shah
What some of Chicago’s young voters think about the 2024 election
Three young voters — one liberal, one moderate and one conservative — discussed their thoughts on the 2024 election while in Chicago for the DNC.
-538’s Nathaniel Rakich
Trump to do live play-by-play of Harris’ speech on Truth Social
Former President Donald Trump said he will do a “LIVE PLAY BY PLAY on TRUTH Social” of Vice President Kamala Harris’s speech at the DNC Thursday night.
“We will start at 10 P.M., Eastern, and be covering and commenting on some of the earlier Speeches made, prior to hers,” Trump posted on his social media platform before going on to slam the dropout of President Joe Biden and saying he was going to “expose” Harris’ policies.
-ABC News Lalee Ibssa
Harris campaign dodges question on why there isn’t a Palestinian speaker at DNC
The Harris campaign at a briefing Thursday morning dodged a question from ABC News on why there isn’t a Palestinian speaker at the convention and why simply saying former President Donald Trump would be worse for Arab-Americans is not the campaign taking their votes for granted.
“No, we’re absolutely not taking their votes for granted,” campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said. “I think, as it relates to uncommitted delegates at this convention, we’re proud, glad that they are here. We’ve worked to engage them throughout the convention.”
Tyler noted a panel conversation that was held with members of the uncommitted movement and said Harris recently engaged with the movement’s leadership in Michigan. He also emphasized that the vice president is working toward a resolution to the Israel-Hamas conflict “with a permanent cease-fire that allows Israel to fully secure itself, that fully continues and make sure that we have full humanitarian aid, but also make sure that Gazans are able to peacefully live and prosper in Gaza.”
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim and Will McDuffie
12:58 PM EDT Gun control to be featured ahead of Harris’ remarks
Before Vice President Kamala Harris takes center stage Thursday night, gun violence survivors and gun safety advocates will address the DNC, according to Harris-Walz campaign spokesman Michael Tyler.
Former Rep. Gabby Giffords, Rep. Maxwell Frost and the “Tennessee Three” — state Reps. Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, are also expected to speak.
Tyler told reporters Govs. Gretchen Whitmer and Roy Cooper, Sens. Mark Kelly and Elizabeth Warren, and former Rep. Adam Kinzinger — a member of Jan 6. select committee — will give remarks too.
-ABC News’ Will McDuffie
10:11 AM EDT Kamala Harris to tell her personal story in acceptance speech
The fourth and final day of the Democratic National Convention is leading up to a dramatic finale: Kamala Harris giving her acceptance speech and getting to tell her personal story — in her own words — to an audience of millions.
She’s expected talk about a middle-class upbringing with a working mother. She will continue to stress the themes we’ve heard from speakers throughout the convention: optimism and patriotism — the “politics of joy” — drawing a contrast, her campaign says, with the “dark” vision of Donald Trump.
(PHILADELPHIA) — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump presented different visions for the future of abortion rights during their presidential debate Tuesday.
Harris promised to sign a bill that reinstates protections for abortion rights that existed under Roe v. Wade if it reaches her desk as president while Trump would not commit to vetoing a national abortion ban if it comes to his desk.
During the debate, Trump — who claimed he wouldn’t have to veto a national ban — said he believes in exceptions for abortions in cases of rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother.
“There’s no reason to sign a ban because we have gotten what everyone wanted,” Trump said, referring to leaving the regulation of abortion up to state governments.
At least 22 states have abortion bans or restrictions in effect since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe — ending federal protections for abortion rights. Of those states, 14 have ceased nearly all abortion services and four have six-week bans in effect, prohibiting abortion care before most women know they are pregnant.
Three of the five U.S. Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe were appointed by Trump when he was president.
Ten states will have reproductive rights-related questions on the ballot this November, nine of which specifically address abortion.
Voters in all six states that have had abortion questions on the ballot since Roe was overturned have voted to uphold abortion rights.
During the debate, Trump also falsely claimed that some states allow for the killing of an infant after birth. Killing a baby after birth is illegal in all 50 states.
Most states that allow abortions do so until fetal viability. But, there are no gestational limits on abortion in 9 states — including Colorado, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont and Gov. Tim Walz’s state of Minnesota — and Washington, DC.
Advocates for abortion rights say the absence of legal consequences after fetal liability doesn’t mean doctors will try to terminate full-term, healthy pregnancies. In fact, access to third-trimester procedures is limited, costly and medically complex — typically done only when a woman’s life is threatened or the fetus isn’t expected to survive.
Many Democrats say they want to pass legislation that would codify the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe vs Wade, which protects abortion rights up until viability.