Walz, after coming under fire for military record, backtracks on China visit
(NEW YORK) — During the first and only vice presidential debate of this election cycle Tuesday evening, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz admitted he “misspoke” about being in China during the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.
Walz has repeatedly claimed he was in China for the protests during his year-long stint as a high school teacher in the southeastern Chinese town of Foshan.
As recently as in February, Walz said during an episode of the podcast “Pod Save America” that he was in Hong Kong during the protests.
“I was in Hong Kong when it happened – I was in Hong Kong on June 4th when Tiananmen happened … Quite a few of our folks decided not to go in,” he said.
It appears Walz did not actually travel to the region until August 1989, according to local newspaper clippings obtained by ABC News. The pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, which led to a deadly government crackdown by the Chinese government, lasted from April 15 to June 4 that year — ending about two months ahead of Walz’s travel to the country.
Pressed to clarify news reports that disprove such claims, Walz said that he “misspoke” in his earlier claims but then reiterated that he “was in Hong Kong and China during the democracy protest.”
While evading the question over whether he was telling the truth about the timeline of his travel, Walz defended his character by admitting he has gaffes, has “not been perfect” and is a “knucklehead at times.”
This marks another instance of Walz appearing to have misspoken about his past.
The Democratic vice presidential pick previously came under fire for his military record, with critics attacking the way he has characterized his experience and pointing out instances of him failing to correct inaccuracies.
In addition to Walz repeatedly saying that he retired with a rank he achieved but did not retire with, the Harris-Walz campaign admitted he misspoke when stating in 2018 that he carried weapons of war “in war.”
(CHICAGO) — Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has been in office since 2023, having previously served as the state’s attorney general.
Before Vice President Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate in July, sources told ABC News that Shapiro was a front-runner for the role.
At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Shapiro sat down with ABC News’ Linsey Davis on Tuesday to discuss Pennsylvania’s importance as a swing state, Republican nominee Donald Trump’s comments on her vice presidential selection and some of the comments critics have made about Harris.
ABC NEWS: The most pivotal state in all of this, deemed must-win for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, is Pennsylvania. And joining us now is a Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro. Thank you so much governor, for joining us.
SHAPIRO: Great to be with you. Thanks
ABC NEWS: We just talked about how important your Keystone State is. Donald Trump was there over the weekend, Kamala Harris was there over the weekend. What’s it going to take for Pennsylvania voters in November?
SHAPIRO: Well it’s the ultimate swing state. And the last two presidential races have been settled by a point or less in a state of 13 million people. One race was settled by 44,000 votes, the next by 80,000 votes. So it’s razor thin. Here’s what I’m seeing on the ground though. Incredible enthusiasm for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. A real movement in the polls, and effectively a tied race. Right? A point or two here or there.
But importantly, Kamala Harris is showing up in communities that are oftentimes ignored and left behind, sending a message to Pennsylvanians. She cares about them. She’s focused on the economy. She’s focused on their communities. And I think as this race progresses, you’re going to continue to see real momentum on her part.
ABC NEWS: Former President Trump out on the campaign trail himself today. He has said that he’s been watching the DNC, at least the first night so far. And he told his supporters he watched last night quote “Amazement as they tried to pretend that everything was great. The crime was great, the border was great. There wasn’t a problem at all. No inflation, no nothing.” What do you think about his assessment, about what he’s hearing.
SHAPIRO: Well, great that Donald Trump is spending his time on the couch watching the DNC. Because if he’s watching, clearly he’s going to see an incredibly energetic, diverse group of not just speakers, but an incredible crowd here as well, talking about the issues that matter most to Pennsylvanians and all Americans.
Look, let’s not forget what life was like under Donald Trump. To put succinctly, it was more chaos, less jobs, and a whole lot less freedom when Donald Trump was in charge. And I’ll tell you what, we do not want to go back to that chaos. We do not want to go back to losing our freedoms. Think about on Donald Trump’s watch. Millions of women across this country lost the fundamental freedom to be able to make decisions over their own bodies, and he’s promising to restrict more of our freedoms going forward.
ABC NEWS: It is now day 30 of Kamala Harris’s race. Her website still does not have a policy page just yet. She hasn’t sat down for a sit down interview or done a press conference. There are those who say that as a result, she doesn’t want to, that she’s hiding from voter, that she doesn’t want to actually, confront her, her record. What do you say to that criticism?
SHAPIRO: Well, if it’s day 30, I take your word for it. It feels, by the way, sometimes, like it’s been 300 days and other times like it’s been three days. But, what I’ve seen is Kamala Harris out in the community, I think pretty much every day, making sure that she’s meeting voters where they are.
When she was in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, which for those who don’t follow Pennsylvania politics, is pretty rural county in southwestern Pennsylvania. She was there talking about economic issues, how she would lower costs for families. She was doing the same thing in North Carolina, I believe, if I’m not mistaken, the day or a couple of days before. So she’s out talking about these issues, making sure she’s meeting voters where they are and laying out her vision. I’m sure she’ll continue to do that over the next 30 days.
ABC NEWS: Of course, you made it to the final round of the VP selection, once again over the weekend when Donald Trump was in Pennsylvania. He said “They turned him down because he’s Jewish.” Your reaction to that?
SHAPIRO: Look, Donald Trump has absolutely no credibility to speak on that issue. He is someone who has injected consistently division into our politics, pitting one against another, separating people out and engaging in anti-Semitic tropes and other forms of hatred and bigotry during his time in office. Remember, this is the person who, when a mob was marching in Charlottesville carrying tiki torches, yelling “Jews will not replace us,” this is the same guy who said there are fine people on both sides. There were not fine people on both sides. I will not be lectured by Donald Trump, someone who is morally bankrupt.
What we need right now are leaders who speak and act with moral clarity. That’s what I try to do every day. That’s what Kamala Harris tries to do every day. And let me state very clearly, for the record, there is no role of anti-Semitism in the dialog I had with the vice president. Now there is anti-Semitism in our country. There is other forms of hatred and bigotry in our country. And what we need right now is leaders not to stoke divisions, but leaders to stand up and speak and act with moral clarity. I do that every day. Kamala Harris does that every day. And Donald Trump has yet to do that as the leader of this country or as a would-be leader of this country.
ABC NEWS: Back in 2019, when Kamala Harris was first running for president, she supported a ban on fracking. Now she doesn’t. That’s one policy issue that Republicans point to to say you can’t trust her. That obviously is an important issue in your state of Pennsylvania. How do you explain her shift there?
SHAPIRO: Well, I think she can explain why she’s taking that position. What I will say is that she’s listening to the good people of Pennsylvania. I’m an all of the above energy governor, I think that’s where a lot of people are in Pennsylvania. And that’s clearly where the vice president is. We understand in Pennsylvania that being all of the above on energy means job creation. It also means addressing climate change. You can walk and chew gum at the same time. You can do both. We are proving that in Pennsylvania. And Kamala Harris understands that.
ABC NEWS: You’ve obviously known Kamala Harris for more than 20 years. We’ve heard a lot about her as the politician, the prosecutor. You know her personally. Can you give us some kind of anecdote, something that you might be able to share that we don’t know about her?
SHAPIRO: You know, she’s fun. She’s interesting, and she genuinely cares about people. I think, sometimes you see folks on TV — obviously I mean this as no disrespect — and it’s hard to get to know them. It’s hard to kind of understand what really makes them tick. I think with Kamala Harris, people make her tick. Standing up and helping them, solving their problems, making their lives a little bit better. That’s what makes her tick.
So I’ve enjoyed — Lori [Shapiro] and I have enjoyed — getting to know her and Doug [Emhoff] over many years. They’re wonderful people. They’re caring people. They’re warm people. They just care about folks and they want to do right by them. I know she’s got this slogan in her campaign that comes from her days as a prosecutor “Kamala Harris for the people” She really is like that behind the scenes. She cares about people.
ABC NEWS: Gov. Josh Shapiro, thank you so much for your time. Really appreciate you coming on the show.
(PITTSBURGH) — Just a day away from the Democratic National Convention, Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz and their spouses, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and Gwen Walz, will kick off their “On the Road to Chicago” bus tour in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania. It will be the first time all four hit the trail together.
Sunday’s tour is set to launch from Pittsburgh with multiple stops in Beaver and Allegheny counties located in western Pennsylvania. The campaign hopes to “meet voters where they are in community settings.” The stops will range from canvass kick-offs to local retail stops.
The stops will be right after former President Donald Trump’s Saturday rally in Wilkes-Barre located in the northeastern region. The former president will also be stopping in York on Monday and his vice presidential pick, JD Vance, will deliver remarks in Philadelphia on the same day as well.
Harris’ campaign is looking to make inroads in the heavily conservative Beaver county where she will highlight labor unions while Trump is looking to appeal to the blue collar voters in Wilkes-Barre which is not too far from President Joe Biden’s hometown of Scranton.
At his rally, Trump claimed that Harris’ economic policies would be the “death of Pennsylvania,” a state that has heavy ties in the energy and steel industries.
“We’re going to get your energy prices down by 50% the Kamala presidency will mean death for Pennsylvania energy. Remember that it’ll mean death of Pennsylvania,” said Trump.
The dueling events highlight how critical the state is in reaching the coveted 270 electoral votes needed to win November’s election. The state, which not only holds significance to Biden but for First Lady Dr. Jill Biden as well, was a regular stomping ground for the president. He made 9 stops this year before leaving the ticket. This will be both Harris’ and Trump’s 8th visit to the state this year.
Trump won Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes in 2016, but Biden was able to reclaim the state along with two other Rust Belt states, Wisconsin and Michigan, by a narrow margin of just over 1% in 2020.
The momentum Harris has seen since Biden stepped down has injected a much-needed enthusiasm into the campaign that has helped to give the candidate a bump in swing state polling. Currently Harris is polling nearly two points ahead of Trump in Pennsylvania, according to 538’s average.
The Harris-Walz campaign is betting on the heavy investments they’ve made in the state to keep their edge. The campaign has nearly 300 staffers across 36 offices in the Keystone State. On Saturday they announced a $370 million ad investment with a promise of twice of the investment in TV in Pennsylvania than made in 2020.
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris is back in Washington and is preparing to roll out her economic plan on the road in North Carolina on Friday, which will mark her first major policy rollout since becoming the Democratic nominee. As Donald Trump looks for a campaign reset, he spoke with Elon Musk live on Tuesday and will deliver remarks on the economy in North Carolina on Wednesday.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Harris to roll out economic plan on Friday
Harris will outline her economic policy in a speech in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday, her campaign announced, making it her first major policy rollout since jumping into the race.
Harris’ speech will detail her plan to “lower costs for middle-class families and take on corporate price-gouging,” a campaign official said.
The vice president has heavily focused her stump speech on the economy while on the campaign trail in recent weeks, saying over the weekend she would look to eliminate taxes on tips earned by service workers — a proposal Trump announced earlier this summer.
Harris’ college sorority creates PAC
The historically Black Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., of which Vice President Kamala Harris counts herself a member, started its own political PAC last week, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission posted Monday.
The committee is named Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority PAC, Inc., or AKA 1908 PAC, the filing shows.
Harris has been an AKA since her days as a student at the historically Black Howard University in Washington, D.C. Harris on Monday visited the campus, her office confirmed to ABC News, but it’s not clear why she was there.
In July, before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, Harris spoke at the AKA’s annual Boulé in Dallas, Texas. Since then, as a candidate, she’s also addressed similar national gatherings of two other historically Black sororities, Zeta Phi Beta and Sigma Gamma Rho.
Trump says he will return to Butler, Pennsylvania after assassination attempt
After discussing the assassination attempt made against him in Pennsylvania in July, former President Donald Trump said he’s planning a trip back to Butler in October.
“We’re going back to Butler; we’re gonna go back in October,” Trump said, adding, “Butler is a big, great area.”
Addressing what he’ll say when he returns, Trump told Musk, “I think I’ll probably start by saying I was so horribly interrupted.”
Trump discusses assassination attempt with Musk, says he turned head at ‘perfect angle’
During his conversation with Musk, former President Donald Trump addressed the assassination attempt made against him during a campaign rally in July.
“It was amazing that I happened to be turned just at that perfect angle,” Trump said of the bullet, which grazed his right ear while his head was turned.
During the discussion, Trump mentioned the man who was killed in the shooting, saying, it was a “very sad situation.”
“We lost somebody that was firefighter, a great Trumper,” Trump said of Corey Comperatore, adding, “He was a just a fantastic family [man] and a fantastic man.”
Trump and Musk’s conversation on X appears to be delayed
The conversation between former President Donald Trump and Elon Musk appears to be delayed, with many X users reporting they cannot access the Spaces conversation.
“This Space is not available,” appeared for some users on X.
The conversation was scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Judge orders RFK Jr. off New York ballot
A New York judge ruled Monday that the thousands of signatures gathered by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign in the state were “invalidated” after a Democrat-aligned group argued he misled voters by listing as his home an address he rarely visits.
The judge, Christina Ryba, ordered the New York Board of Elections to not include Kennedy’s name on the ballot this fall.
A lawyer representing Kennedy told reporters last week they would appeal any ruling that went against them.
The ruling could prompt Democrats to bring similar lawsuits against Kennedy in other states where he gathered signatures from registered voters to appear on the ballot.
The FBI is investigating alleged attempts by Iran to target the then-Biden-Harris campaign, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News.
The alleged targeting via spear-fishing emails occurred before Biden announced he would exit the 2024 presidential race, the sources said.
While the campaign was targeted, the alleged hack was not successful, sources added.
The FBI is investigating a purported hack of the Trump campaign, according to a brief statement from the agency earlier Monday.
The FBI did not attribute the hack to anyone in its statement.
A source familiar with the matter told ABC News that Trump adviser Roger Stone has also been informed that his email accounts have been compromised, and that he’s cooperating with any investigation into the matter.
The Washington Post first reported the news.
-ABC News’ Luke Barr, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Will Steakin and Katherine Faulders
Biden, Obama, Clintons tentatively slated to speak at DNC: Sources
President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama, and Bill and Hillary Clinton are all tentatively slated to speak at the Democratic National Convention next week, sources familiar said.
The working speaking schedule, which can always change, is as follows, according to the sources:
Monday: President Joe Biden, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Tuesday: Former President Barack Obama Wednesday: Vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, former President Bill Clinton Thursday: Vice President Kamala Harris
-ABC News’ MaryAlice Parks and Fritz Farrow
Trump posts on X ahead of Musk interview
Trump posted on X for the first time in nearly a year ahead of his conversation with Elon Musk scheduled for Monday night.
The video posted is a previously released campaign ad referencing his multiple indictments and telling supporters, “They are not coming after me, they are coming after you.”
The last time Trump posted on X was Aug. 24, 2023. It was a picture of his mugshot from Fulton County, when he turned himself in to authorities following his election interference indictment in Georgia.
-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Kelsey Walsh, Soorin Kim
Trump to be interviewed by Elon Musk tonight
Trump, in a post to his conservative social media site Truth Social, announced he will be interviewed live by Musk on X at 8 p.m. ET.
It will mark a major return for Trump to X, formerly known as Twitter, since he was banned from the site following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump was reinstated in late 2022 but declined to become active on the site again, despite boasting 88 million followers.
Musk endorsed Trump following the July 13 assassination attempt against the former president. Recently, Musk has amplified misinformation about voting and elections on his X feed.
Walz discusses ‘whirlwind’ 1st week on the campaign trail
In a video posted on his X account, the Minnesota governor discussed what he called “not a normal week” since being named as Harris’ running mate.
Walz confirmed some details reported previously by ABC News and others, including that he informed Harris’ vetting team that he had not used a teleprompter before.
“Not a normal week, which is a good thing. Started by missing a call from the Vice President, pretty important one. And then got that call and honored to join the ticket with Kamala Harris to take us in a great direction,” Walz said.
“After that, it has been a whirlwind. We got on a plane and we flew to Philly, and they told me that in an hour I’d be giving a speech and there would be a teleprompter, something I had never used in my life, so certainly terrified, but was lifted up by the folks in Philly.”
-ABC News’ Will McDuffie
Harris wraps battleground state blitz, Vance makes rounds on Sunday shows
Over the weekend, Harris closed out a cross-country tour that included stops in battleground states Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia and Arizona, as well as North Carolina and Nevada.
New polling released Saturday showed Harris taking the lead over Trump in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin among likely voters. The New York Times/Siena College polls showed Harris at 50% among likely voters in each state, while Trump polled at 46%.
Vance, too, campaigned in key 2024 states and made the rounds on the Sunday shows. During his cable news appearances, Vance reiterated campaign talking points on immigration and repeatedly hit Harris for not sitting down for extensive media interviews and laying out her agenda. Harris has done brief gaggles with reporters and said she’d unveil an economic policy platform this week.
Vance responds to mass deportation plan: ‘Let’s start with one million’
Sen. JD Vance told ABC News he blamed Vice President Kamala Harris and the Biden administration’s policies, such as ending “Remain in Mexico,” for the ongoing migrant crisis.
When asked how he and Trump would accomplish their stated goal of mass deporting as many as 20 million immigrants — a proposal experts previously told ABC News would be a “nightmare” — Vance said they would take a “sequential approach.”
“I mean do you go knock on doors and ask people for their papers? What do you do,” Karl asked.
“You start with what’s achievable,” Vance said. “I think that if you deport a lot of violent criminals and frankly if you make it harder to hire illegal labor, which undercuts the wages of American workers, I think you go a lot of the way to solving the illegal immigration problem.”
“I think it’s interesting that people focus on, well, how do you deport 18 million people? Let’s start with one million. That’s where Kamala Harris has failed. And then we can go from there,” Vance said.
Harris cautions donors to ‘not take anything for granted’
Vice President Kamala Harris attended a fundraiser in San Francisco Sunday where she maintained her campaign “will win this election,” but cautioned donors to “not take anything for granted.”
“I know there’s a lot of enthusiasm out there,” Harris said, adding, “And you know, I’ve never been one to really believe in the polls — whether they’re up or they’re down.”
“What we know is the stakes are so high and we can take nothing for granted in this critical moment,” she continued. “So we will fuel our campaign as we have, with enthusiasm and optimism, but also with a deep commitment to the hard work it’s going to take, and to campaign.”
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi introduced Harris at the event, touting the accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration and the background of vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, several times calling the Harris-Walz ticket “the freedom ticket.”
“[Harris] makes us all so proud. She brings us so much joy. She gives us so much hope,” Pelosi said, calling the vice president “politically very astute.”