Doug Emhoff attacks Donald Trump over antisemitic comments
ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Second gentleman Doug Emhoff has slammed Donald Trump over antisemitic comments made by the former president.
In a new interview with GMA anchor Michael Strahan, the second gentleman, who is Jewish, accused Trump of having a “record” of saying “vile, antisemitic things.”
Strahan asked Emhoff what he thought of Trump’s July interview with WABC in which he claimed Vice President Kamala Harris, Emhoff’s wife and Democratic candidate for president, “doesn’t like Jewish people.”
“It’s typical Donald Trump gaslighting,” Emhoff told Strahan. He “is a guy who has had a record of saying incredibly vile, antisemitic things. So, for him to say that — I just almost laugh at — at how– the chutzpah, as we would say.”
Emhoff has repeatedly attacked Trump over his rhetoric towards Jewish Americans, calling him an antisemite in May after Trump claimed Jewish people who voted for President Joe Biden needed to “have to have their head examined.”
On Wednesday, Emhoff headlined two separate fundraisers for the Harris-Walz campaign, where he defended his wife against comments made by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who said at a Trump town hall on Tuesday in Michigan that Harris “doesn’t have anything to keep her humble” because she does not have biological children.
“We know that all parents, no matter how you become one, make the same sacrifices and revel in the same joys of raising children as any parent anywhere,” Emhoff said, adding, “Women in this country will never humble themselves before Donald Trump.”
(NEW YORK) — The vice-presidential debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance could prove to be a major factor in the presidential election — given how close the race is and its potential impact with undecided voters.
The 90-minute CBS News showdown starts at 9 p.m. ET in New York City. ABC News Digital will live blog throughout the day and evening, pre-debate coverage will air at 8 p.m. on the ABC network and stream on ABC News Live — followed by the debate itself and post-debate analysis.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Claim: Walz: ‘Their Project 2025 is going to have a registry of pregnancies.’
Fact Check: Needs context
Walz has falsely claimed that Project 2025 will require pregnant women to register with a new federal agency designed to monitor their pregnancies. While the Project 2025 policy proposal is firmly against abortion, it does not call for monitoring pregnancies. It does, however, call for states to track abortions more meticulously than current CDC rules mandate, or else face punishment like cuts to federal funding.
Vance and Trump have also both said that Project 2025 is not associated with their campaign.
It’s worth noting, however, that Trump told Time Magazine in April that states could decide to start monitoring pregnancies as a way to track illegal abortions, saying that overturning Roe vs. Wade returned those decisions to the states.
“I think they might do that. Again, you’ll have to speak to the individual states. Look, Roe v. Wade was all about bringing it back to the states,” he told Time.
More broadly on the subject of abortion, Project 2025 does call for an end to the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, a widely used abortion medication, and calls for a revival of a 150-year-old law that bans the shipment of abortion related equipment and medicine from being sent via the U.S. Postal Service, which would make it much more difficult for women who are taking the drug legally to access the care.
In August, Trump signaled he was open to revoking mifepristone access during a press conference in Mar-A-Lago, when he responded to a reporter’s question about whether he would direct the FDA to ban the drug. “You could do things that … would supplement. Absolutely. And those things are pretty open and humane,” Trump said, while also emphasizing at that conference that he wanted to “give everybody a vote” on the issue.
When asked to clarify those remarks, Trump’s campaign pointed to the former President’s belief that abortion laws should be left to the states. The former President has also said he would not sign a federal abortion ban into law.
—Justin Fishel
Voters trust Harris much more on abortion
Vance said a few times in this debate that Republicans need to “win back people’s trust” on the issue of abortion, and the polls support that.
Abortion is important to many voters this cycle, especially women and Democrats. And they trust Harris more than Trump on the issue. In an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll from August, they gave Harris a 12 point lead on the issue over Trump.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, more Americans have also expanded their view of abortion rights and don’t want states to put limits on the procedure. KFF has found that nearly three-quarters of reproductive-age women oppose leaving abortion access up to the states, as Trump and Vance have said they support.
Democrats have been working in states across the country to paint Republican candidates as too extreme on the issue, and are hoping it drives voters to the polls as it has the past two years.
—538’s Monica Potts
Claim: Vance: ‘I never supported a national ban. I did during when I was running for Senate in 2022 talk about setting some minimum national standard.’
Fact Check: False
When running for Senate in 2022, Vance signaled support for a bill introduced by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham that would ban abortion after 15 weeks nationwide. Vance called it “totally reasonable to say you cannot abort a baby, especially for elective reasons, after 15 weeks of gestation.”
Also during his 2022 Senate race, Vance said he supported setting “some minimum national standard” in an interview with USA Today.
—Cheyenne Haslett
Walz says they should find ‘common ground’ on housing, Vance blames immigrants
At times getting personal about home ownership, Walz defended Harris’ plan to build three million new homes.
“I think we should be able to find some common ground,” Walz said. “But we can’t blame immigrants for the only reason that’s not the case that’s happening in many cities, the fact of the matter is, is that we don’t have enough naturally affording affordable housing, but we can make sure that the government’s there to help kick start it.”
Vance continued to claim illegal immigration is responsible for higher prices.
“Tim just said something that I agree with. We don’t want to blame immigrants for higher housing prices, but we do want to blame Kamala Harris for letting in millions of illegal aliens into this country, which does drive up cost,” he said.
CBS News’ moderators then asked Vance for evidence that illegal immigration is leading to higher home prices. He said there was a “Federal Reserve” study he said he would share after the debate but did not elaborate.
Candidates differ with note-taking, body language, during debate
Walz is writing quite a lot during the debate.
Right off the bat, during first question to him, Walz took a few notes. Then, during Vance’s first and second answers, Walz continued to take additional notes during each of Vance’s answers.
Vance did not seem to pick up his pen until about 45 minutes in, but he has faced Walz almost continuously while Walz has been speaking.
When it comes to body language, Walz is rocking his weight back and forth on his feet, side to side. He speaks with his hands, sometimes his hands are on the podium, and sometimes his hands are closed with his arms down.
Vance, in contrast, has hardly moved his hands from both sides of the podium and is standing very still.
-ABC News’ MaryAlice Parks
Claim: Vance says Walz ended protections in Minnesota for babies born alive
Infanticide, the crime of killing a child within a year of its birth, is illegal in all U.S. states. In May 2023, Walz, as Minnesota governor, signed legislation updating a state law for “infants who are born alive.” This change did not alter the fact that under state law, these babies are protected.
Previously, state law said, “All reasonable measures consistent with good medical practice, including the compilation of appropriate medical records, shall be taken by the responsible medical personnel to preserve the life and health of the born alive infant.”
The law was updated to instead say medical personnel must “care for the infant who is born alive.” The law’s updated version also kept the provision that said, “An infant who is born alive shall be fully recognized as a human person, and accorded immediate protection under the law.”
Every person who is born has legal protections under federal and state laws, experts told PolitiFact.
—PolitiFact’s Sara Swann
Walz, Vance share friendly smile during break
Just before cameras started to roll for the next section of the debate, Walz entered the stage again with about 45 seconds to go.
Vance, though, cut it close and rushed back onstage right before the end of the break. As the stagehand announced, “10 seconds.” He was smiling.
The two men smiled at each other as the break ended.
-ABC News’ MayAlice Parks
Claim: Walz was in China during the Tiananmen Square Massacre in Beijing
Fact Check: False
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has repeatedly claimed he was in China during the Tiananmen Square, Beijing, protests during his year-long stint as a high school teacher in the southeastern Chinese town of Foshan starting in 1989.
Tonight he admitted that was false, saying he “misspoke” earlier, though he travelled to China in the months after the protests.
The school Walz taught at was near Hong Kong. He was there as part of the WorldTeach program, a nonprofit affiliated with Harvard University. But according to local newspaper clipping obtained by ABC News, it appears he did not actually travel to the country until August 1989,
The pro-democracy protests, which led to a deadly government crackdown by the Chinese government, lasted from April 15 to June 4, 1989 — ending about two months ahead of Walz’s travel to the country.
An article in the Chadron Record in Chadron, Nebraska dated August 11, 1989, said that Walz, a graduate of Chadron State College, “will leave Sunday enroute to China, where he will teach English and American history during the next year.”
Walz has spoken about Tiananmen Square repeatedly— why he supported the protests and why he stayed to be a witness.
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, further expanding on the experience. “There was a lot of Europeans in Hong Kong [saying] don’t do this, don’t go, don’t support them in this, and my thinking at the time was … what a golden opportunity to go tell how it was. And I did have a lot of freedom to do that, taught American history and could tell the story.”
Walz, while serving in Congress as ranking member on the Executive Commission on China, said at a 2014 congressional hearing marking 25 years since the massacre that “as the events were unfolding, several of us went in.”
“I will talk a lot,” Walz said tonight. “I will get caught up in the rhetoric. But being there, the impact it made, the difference it made in my life. I learned a lot about China.”
—Isabella Murray & Justin Fishel
Walz warns of dangers of GOP plans for reproductive rights
Walz talked about the dangers that women have faced since Roe. v Wade was overturned and claimed that one of Project 2025’s policies was to have a registry of pregnancies.
“It’s going to make it more difficult if not impossible, to get contraception and limit access, if not eliminate access to infertility treatments,” he said.
Vance denied the claims and reiterated his claims that he wanted to make America “pro-family.”
“And I want to talk about this issue because I know a lot of Americans care about and I know a lot of Americans don’t agree with everything that I’ve ever said on this topic,” he said.
When asked about his past comments on a national abortion ban, Vance denied that he was pushing for it, and again claimed that the Trump administration is trying to help families including “making childcare more accessible, making fertility treatments more accessible.”
Claim: ‘Iran, which launched this attack, has received over $100 billion in unfrozen assets thanks to the Kamala Harris administration. What do they use that money for? They use it to buy weapons that they’re now launching against our allies.’
Fact Check: False.
Vance might be referring to Iran’s claims that it was able to access $100 billion in previously frozen funds when it officially entered an Obama-era nuclear pact in 2016. However, the Obama White House estimated the total sanctions relief Iran could see was around $50 billion.
And while President Biden was vice president at the time the deal was brokered, Vice President Harris was California’s attorney general and had nothing to do with the agreement, which former President Trump exited in 2018.
Another GOP claim has been that Biden and Harris have allowed Iran to access $16 billion—not $100 billion—of its frozen revenue during Biden’s time in office. However, that assertion is also complicated.
In July 2023, the Biden administration expanded a waiver President Trump had initially put in place that allowed Iraq to purchase energy from Iran without running afoul of sanctions, according to the administration. That move greenlit some of roughly $10 billion in Iraqi payments to be transferred to third-party countries, primarily Oman, and used by Tehran to purchase non-sanctioned goods. According to U.S. officials, those funds are protected by a vetting system to ensure they cannot be put toward nefarious purposes.
Biden administration officials have testified that Iran has been able to withdraw at least some of the money held in Oman, but it’s unclear how much it has accessed and how that money was spent.
However, after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, the U.S. and Qatar reached an agreement to freeze the funds indefinitely, and a State Department official confirms that Iran has not been able to access any the $6 billion.
—Shannon Kingston
Walz pressed on Hong Kong discrepancy, says he ‘misspoke’
When asked why Walz previously said he was in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square massacre, Walz only glancingly responded, only saying that he’s “a knucklehead at times” and that his extensive travel to China “is about trying to understand the world, it’s about trying to do the best you can for the community.”
When pressed further, he conceded that he “misspoke” and that he was in Hong Kong the year of the massacre but not at the time it happened.
Vance’s past criticisms of Trump are highlighted. He defends himself
Walz repeatedly poked at Vance’s past criticisms of Trump and now the CBS moderator is asking him to explain
“Because I’ve always been open and sometimes, of course, I’ve disagreed with the president but I’ve also been extremely open about the fact that I was wrong about Donald Trump,” Vance said.
Vance blamed the media for its coverage of Trump and then said he changed his mind in part because of Trump’s record in office.
Candidates defend their economic plans
Both candidates were asked how their economic plans would avoid ballooning the deficit by trillions of dollars, citing projections by the Wharton School.
Walz said their plan is “simple.”
“Kamala Harris has said to do the things she wants to do, we’ll just ask the wealthiest to pay their fair share. When you do that, our system works best, more people are participating in it, and folks have the things that they need,” he said.
Vance pushed back against the analysis.
“A lot of those same economists attack Donald Trump’s plans, and they have PhDs, but they don’t have common sense and they don’t have wisdom,” Vance said, citing Trump’s record on tax cuts.
Vance lashes out at experts who say Trump’s economic plans will add to deficit
The Penn Wharton Budget Model has estimated that Trump’s tax and spending proposal will cause tax revenue to fall by $5.8 trillion and produce a similar amount of primary deficit over the course of a decade.
Vance lashed out at the experts, saying not to trust them but to trust “common sense.”
“A lot of the same economists attacked Donald Trump’s plans and they have PhDs but they don’t have common sense and they don’t have wisdom,” he said.
Walz immediately pushed back on Vance.
“Economists can’t be trusted. Science can’t be trusted. National security folks can’t be trusted. If you’re going to be president, you don’t have all the answers. Donald Trump believes he does. Pro-tip of the day is this, if you need heart surgery, listen to the people at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, not Donald Trump,” Walz said.
Walz invokes his faith while talking about his support for the border bill
Walz has never invoked his Christian faith on the campaign trail, but during the debate, he quoted a Bible verse while reiterating his support for the border bill that failed to pass through Congress this year.
“This bill gets it done in 90 days. Then you start to make a difference in this and you start to adhere to what we know, American principles. Look, I don’t talk about my faith a lot, but Matthew 25:40 talks about — to the least amongst us. You do unto me,” he said.
“I think that’s true of most Americans. They simply want order to it. This bill does it. It’s funded. It’s supported by the people who do it. And it lets us keep our dignity about how we treat other people,” he said.
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray
Claim: Vance: ‘We’ve got 20, 25 million illegal aliens who are here in the country’
During Biden’s administration, immigration officials have encountered immigrants illegally crossing the U.S. border around 10 million times. When accounting for “got aways” — people who aren’t stopped by border officials — the number rises to about 11.6 million.
But encounters don’t mean admissions. Encounters represent events, so one person who tries to cross the border twice counts for two encounters. Also, not everyone encountered is let into the country. The Department of Homeland Security estimates about 4.2 million encounters have led to expulsions or removals.
About 3.9 million people have been released into the U.S. to await immigration court hearings under Biden’s administration, Department of Homeland Security data shows.
—PolitiFact’s Maria Ramirez Uribe
Debate has largely been civil, but mics had to be cut off on one of the most contentious issues
The debate has largely been civil thus far, with each vice presidential candidate sharing their thoughts on how their running mate wants to solve key issues.
However, the microphones had to be cut by CBS News during a conversation about immigration — mainly, the legal status of Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio.
CBS News had initially said its moderators would not focus on fact-checking the candidates but would reserve the right to mute the candidates’ microphones.
Vance not backing down from Springfield, gets his microphone cut
Vance did not attempt to walk back or apologize for his baseless claims about Haitian migrants in Springfield.
While he didn’t repeat his most egregious falsehoods that the migrants are eating pets, Vance continued to state they were in the U.S. illegally — which they are not.
After the CBS moderator tried to move onto the economy, Vance repeatedly interrupted her. They then cut his microphone.
Vance sidesteps answering if Trump thinks climate change is a hoax
Walz said Trump has called climate change a hoax and then “joked that these things would make more beachfront property to be able to invest in.”
In referencing those remarks, the moderator asked Vance if he agreed. Vance did not directly answer, instead responding that Trump has said that if Democrats believed that climate change is serious, they would be increasing energy production in the U.S. “and that’s not what they’re doing.”
He also said Democrats use clean energy as a “slogan.”
Vance’s Appalachia controversy
Vance often evokes his personal connections to Appalachia, as he did just now talking about Hurricane Helene’s devastation of the region. But there’s more than a bit of controversy over this. While his grandparents were from Southeastern Kentucky, Vance himself grew up in Middletown, Ohio, as was the subject of his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis.” Middletown itself is a small city of about 50,000 between Cincinnati and Dayton, far from Appalachia.
For his part, Walz was born in a small town in Nebraska — West Point, a town of about 3,500 — and has spent most of his career representing or living in the Midwest.
—538’s Monica Potts
Walz defends Harris’ immigration record
In response to Vance’s criticism of Harris’ immigration policy, Walz brought up the fact that Congress had a plan to address the migrant issue before Trump pushed Republicans to drop their support.
“Pass the bill, she’ll sign it,” Walz said.
Claim: Walz: ‘The person closest … to Donald Trump, said he is unfit for the highest office. That is Senator Vance.’
Fact Check: True
Vance has shifted his view toward President Trump since he first rose to prominence. Early in his career, Vance made a number of comments that were disparaging toward Trump. The specific comment that Walz seems to be referencing here is from a 2016 New York Times op-ed written by Vance ahead of the release of his book “Hillbilly Elegy.” In the op-ed, Vance wrote that “Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.” In years since the op-ed was published, Vance has said his views on Trump changed.
—Allison Pecorin
Vance pressed on mass deportation plans
Vance was pressed on his proposal to mass deport immigrants.
The senator argued that it was time to “stop the bleeding” contending Harris’ policies have allowed for more criminal activity.
He maintained that the first deportations should be those with criminal histories and the country should go back to Trump’s border policies.
Vance, Walz offer contrasting views on climate change when questioned on Hurricane Helene
Asked about climate change’s role in extreme weather amidst the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Vance said Trump supports clean air and water, but expressed skepticism carbon emissions play a role in such weather events.
Vance’s comments come one day after Trump bluntly denied any connection between climate change and the devastating storm.
Walz, meanwhile, emphatically said during his response: “Climate change is real.”
Candidates pressed on Iran attack on Israel
Both candidates were pressed in the first question on whether they’d support a preemptive Israeli strike on Iran if it was determined that Tehran had secured a nuclear weapon.
Walz started off shaky, at one point confusing Israel and Iran but declaring that Harris would provide “steady leadership” while noting that at the first presidential debate, “80-year-old Donald Trump” was “talking about crowd sizes.”
Vance began by rattling off his biography before saying that “Donald Trump actually delivered stability in the world” by creating “deterrence” and “peace through strength.”
Walz responded that Trump’s “fickle leadership” helped Iran get near a weapon by backing out of a U.S.-led nuclear deal and that “we need the steady leadership that Kamala Harris is providing.”
Walz, Vance shake hands before debate begins
Walz and Vance shook hands before the debate started.
There was no handshake during the last vice presidential debate because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Candidates take the stage
Vance and Walz started at their podiums for tonight’s debate, so far the only scheduled matchup between the two vice presidential nominees.
Tonight’s viewers have largely already made up their mind
Debates are big deals, and it’s tempting to treat tonight like a potential game-changer in the campaign. But the reality is, most people who are planning to watch tonight aren’t still candidate-shopping. A YouGov/CBS News poll from late last week asked people who were planning to watch the debate why they were planning to do so; 71% said to root for their party’s candidate and 61% said to see if the other side made a mistake. Only 24% said to help them decide who to vote for.
—538’s Nathaniel Rakich
‘It’s game time’: Harris
Vice President Kamala Harris gave her running mate a good luck sendoff in a post on X less than 10 minutes before the debate started.
“@TimWalz, it’s game time,” she said. “I am excited for the country to see you in action.”
-ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim_
Springfield voters want ‘fewer memes, more solutions’ from the campaigns
The Ohio town was at the center of a political firestorm after Vance and Trump amplified false claims that Haitian migrants were eating people’s pets.
Voters there told ABC News’ Terry Moran what they want to hear from both campaigns in these final weeks of the race.
“They know the city is on a recovering path,” Moran said. “What they want is practical, pragmatic solutions to the problems they face. If there are going to be immigrants in this community that don’t speak the language, they need more help with the translation. They need more resources for primary care, for school teachers.”
“They want to hear fewer memes, more solutions.”
Read more about what unfolded in Springfield and Vance’s false claims about the migrants there.
Trump’s advice to Vance: ‘Have fun’
Former President Trump said he told his running mate to “have fun” ahead of tonight’s debate.
“He’s a smart guy. He’s been amazing. He’s been a real warrior,” Trump said of Vance during a campaign event in Milwaukee.
Gwen Walz sends husband well-wishes before debate
Minnesota first lady Gwen Walz sent her husband well-wishes in a post on X prior to the debate.
“Tim has always held true to the values he grew up with: loving your country, helping your neighbor, and fighting for what’s right.” she wrote.
“We’re so proud of you, Tim.”
Tim has always held true to the values he grew up with: loving your country, helping your neighbor, and fighting for what’s right.
Vance, at 40, is the first millennial on a major party ticket and has only been a politician for two years. He was elected to the Senate in 2022.
Walz, who is 60, has been in government for decades. He successfully ran for Congress in 2005 and served for six terms. He became the governor of Minnesota in 2018 and was reelected in 2022.
Still, some commonalities exist: both are military veterans and they each bring Midwest bona fides to their respective tickets.
Vance arrives at debate site
Vance has arrived at CBS Studios for the debate.
-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie
Walz arrives at CBS Studios in NYC for debate
Walz’s motorcade has arrived at CBS Studios in New York City for the debate. Vance is en route.
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray and Hannah Demissie
Political analysts weigh in on what Vance, Walz need to do to win
Reince Priebus and Donna Brazile joined ABC News Live to discuss what the goals are for Vance and Walz tonight.
“They have one thing to do: to show they can be president and to show the American people that they’re likable,” said Priebus, who served as chief of staff in the Trump White House.
Priebus also stressed the need to reach “uncommitted voters” and discuss what they want to hear. For Republicans, he said, the key issue is the economy, while Democrats will want to hear about health care.
Brazile, a Democratic Party operative, said Walz has to focus on how the Biden-Harris administration has lowered costs and tackled inflation while also bringing back manufacturing jobs.
“So I think that winner of this debate will be able to talk about those kitchen table issues that will be relatable to the American people. Let’s abort all the conversations about childless women and cats and dogs, and instead address those concerns,” she said.
Biden sends well-wishes to Walz in social media post
President Joe Biden sent well-wishes to Walz in a post on X from his campaign account on Tuesday night ahead of the CBS News vice presidential debate.
“Coach, I got your back tonight! Tonight, America will see the strong, principled, and effective leader I’ve known for years—and the contrast you and Kamala provide against the other team,” Biden wrote.
Coach, I got your back tonight!
Tonight, America will see the strong, principled, and effective leader I’ve known for years—and the contrast you and Kamala provide against the other team. pic.twitter.com/7ojASvwkjw
Stefanik, in spin room, says Iran’s latest attacks raise stakes of national security issues
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., surrogating for Vance, predicted that Iran’s attacks Tuesday on Israel could be a part of the debate questions, saying the latest development in the Middle East has raised the stakes of the importance of national security issues.
“I think that as the American people are seeing the unprecedented hypersonic ballistic missile attack directly from Iran launched into multiple quantities, that raises the stakes,” she said in the spin room. “It also provides an opportunity for JD Vance to compare the peace through strength, and the peace, specifically in the Middle East under President Trump, versus this catastrophe that we’re seeing around the world.”
-ABC News’ Soo Rin Kim
Harris, in fundraising pitch, says Walz ‘is ready’ to debate Vance
Vice President Harris, in a fundraising pitch email to supporters, said Walz “is ready” to debate Vance.
“In just hours, Tim Walz will debate JD Vance,” she wrote. “I know that he is ready. And it would help if he knew donors like you had his back before he got on stage.”
Harris added that “Tim has been an outstanding partner out on the campaign trail over the last two months,” and “I have the utmost confidence in the team we’ve built.”
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow
Biden has ‘complete confidence’ in Walz: White House
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre wouldn’t say during the White House press briefing on Tuesday whether President Joe Biden would watch the vice presidential debate, but she said the president has “complete confidence” in Walz.
“He continues to be very busy with all of the events happening today,” she said during Tuesday’s briefing. “But he has complete confidence in Tim Walz.”
Gabbard predicts ‘stark contrast’ between Walz and Vance during debate
Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard spoke to ABC News Live on Tuesday where she criticized Walz’s lack of media interviews, predicting that it will show in the debate.
“I think there’s going to be a stark contrast here, given JD Vance has been out on the road doing multiple interviews,” she told ABC News Live. “I think he’s done more interviews than any candidate in this election, whereas Tim Walz has been very quiet on that front.”
“I think this opportunity tonight, I hope, will not be more of the same kind of political theater that we’ve seen in so many of these debates, but actual substantive discussion and debate and accountability,” Gabbard — who endorsed Trump — continued.
Ahead of Tuesday’s debate, Adrienne Elrod, Harris campaign senior adviser and spokesperson, made an appearance on ABC News Live and said that Walz is taking it “very, very seriously.”
“Gov. Walz is taking this debate very, very seriously because you understand the magnitude of this moment,” Elrod said. “He’s going to continue to really talk about the Harris-Walz priorities, what their administration would look like, lowering costs for middle class families, protecting the Affordable Care Act, not getting rid of it.”
-ABC News’ Casey McShea
CBS News says mics won’t be muted for VP debate
CBS News, the network hosting the debate, said that the candidates’ microphones will not be muted, but clarified in a press release that it “reserves the right to turn off candidate microphones.”
This is a shift from the CNN presidential debate in June and the ABC News presidential debate held earlier this month, where microphones were muted unless it was the candidate’s turn to speak.
Emmer says Vance will hold Walz ‘accountable’ during VP debate
Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., praised Vance on “This Week” Sunday, saying the Ohio senator will do a “great job” on Tuesday night and that “he’s got the issues on his side.”
“Vance could talk about the economy that Donald Trump fixed and that Harris and Biden broke. He can talk about the border that Trump fixed and they broke. He can talk about peace and stability around the world, which they don’t even have a clue [about]; they’ve caused all of this disruption,” Emmer said. “Once he understands that Tim Walz is just going to try and deflect and go into this folksy whatever, he’ll hold him accountable.”
-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie
Why VP debates aren’t all that important
Typically, fewer people watch vice presidential debates than presidential debates. And while presidential debates are historically one of the few things that can actually make a dent in the polls, vice presidential debates don’t have the same track record.
According to Nielsen, since 2008, presidential debates have drawn an average audience of 65.7 million people. But vice presidential debates have drawn an average of just 54.1 million viewers. But 54.1 million people is still a pretty big audience — so have past vice presidential debates actually changed the trajectory of the race?
That turns out to be a tricky question to answer. Read more here.
-538’s Nathaniel Rakich and Amina Brown
How to watch the VP debate
The 90-minute debate will air on CBS and be simulcast on the ABC network and stream on ABC News Live.
ABC pre-debate coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET; post-debate ABC News coverage will go on until 11 p.m. ET. ABC News Live, ABC News’ 24/7 streaming news channel, will provide full coverage beginning at 7 p.m. ET and run through 12 a.m. ET.
Former President Donald Trump told Kellyanne Conway on Monday morning that the debate will be stacked against his running mate. He also remained undecided on a second debate against Vice President Kamala Harris.
“So, I’d rather debate. I’d rather have another one. The problem is, we’re so far down the line,” Trump said.
Trump claimed the debates are “so stacked,” adding, “you’ll see it tomorrow with JD. It’ll be stacked.”
While on the campaign trail last weekend, Harris used Tuesday night’s debate to goad Trump into accepting a second debate, saying that it shouldn’t be the “last word.”
-ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh and Gabriella Abdul-Hakim
Vance is prepared for debate: Trump campaign
Vance is prepared for his debate against Walz, said Jason Miller, the Trump campaign senior adviser, on Monday.
The Ohio senator has turned to Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer to help him in debate rehearsals by playing Walz, sources familiar with the plans told ABC News. One of the sources said Emmer was invited to be the stand-in so Vance could prepare to take on the governor’s folksy personality.
-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie
Where’s Walz? From under the radar to the VP debate spotlight
In the eight weeks since being selected by Harris to join the ticket, Walz — originally thought to be a dark-horse selection coming from behind to beat out some better-known national figures — has effectively barnstormed the country.
“I think this is a big moment for him. Up till now, he’s been heavily managed and carefully guarded,” said Larry Jacobs, the director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota. “Now he’s going to be out there on the stage, and if he makes mistakes or comes off as not quite as authentic as he’s been claiming, I think it’ll be damaging to him, and he might make mistakes.”
Walz will not be in the spin room after the debate, according to the Harris-Walz campaign.
Seven surrogates will spin for him instead, including Sens. Mark Kelly, Amy Klobuchar, Ben Ray Luján; Govs. Jared Polis and JB Pritzker; Rep. Jasmine Crockett and Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison.
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray
Vance to visit spin room after debate
Vance will go to the spin room following his debate with Walz, according to a source familiar with the plan.
He also participated in the spin room after former President Donald Trump’s debate against Vice President Kamala Harris in September.
Politico was first to report Vance’s plans.
-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie
Walz ‘looking forward’ to debate
While campaigning around Petoskey, Michigan, on Monday, Walz said that his “focus” was on Hurricane Helene and its destruction across the southeast, even while “looking forward” to the debate.
To prepare for Tuesday night, Walz used Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as a Vance stand-in, who “surprised everyone by showing up to prep in a cheap red tie instead of camp casual attire,” according to a source familiar.
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray
Walz, Vance set for tight-race showdown
Sometimes, vice-presidential debates tend not to matter much and are quickly forgotten.
But tonight’s showdown in New York City could matter more than most given how close the presidential race is at the moment.
Many undecided voters – who could end up deciding the election – will get their first chance to hear at length from the Harris and Trump running mates.
The CBS News debate – where mics will be unmuted and the candidates will have to do their own fact-checking – starts at 9 p.m. ET.
The ABC network will carry the debate live with pre-debate coverage beginning at 8 p.m. ET. ABC News Live will stream pre-debate coverage, the debate and post-debate analysis and ABC News Digital/538 will live blog during the debate with key takeaways afterward.
(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump is projected to win the presidential race by ABC News, defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in a frenzied contest to stage an improbable historic comeback.
Trump ended up with at least 279 electoral votes after clinching wins in the swing states of Pennsylvania, Georgia and Wisconsin. Harris has won at least 219 votes. The race was marked by literal history, including two assassination attempts and 34 felony convictions against Trump, already having been impeached twice and faulted for mismanaging the COVID-19 pandemic response.
Maybe even more memorable was President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the race after a ruinous June debate in which he struggled at times to form sentences.
Trump’s victory underscores just how deep voters’ frustrations were surrounding inflation and immigration, Republicans’ two top issues this election cycle as polls consistently showed Americans’ unhappiness with how Biden handled them.
His return to the White House also suggests that Democrats were not motivated enough by the prospect of electing the first female president and that its base’s fury over the Supreme Court’s revocation of constitutional abortion protections has waned since 2022.
For Trump personally, the win offers both political vindication and legal protection. Since his win, he and his brand were soundly rejected in 2018, 2020 and 2022. And once in office, he’d be able to undermine criminal cases against him surrounding his handling of classified documents while out of office and efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
“I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being elected your 47th president and your 45th president,” Trump said in his victory speech.
Trump’s victory is likely to set off transformations in both parties.
His win will likely help cement his “Make America Great Again” brand of politics as the dominant strand of Republicanism for the foreseeable future, with Vice President-elect JD Vance seemingly well positioned to carry on Trump’s mantle after the current administration ends in a little over four years.
Democrats, meanwhile, will likely have to sift through the rubble to understand what voters found so unappetizing about them that they’d choose instead to support a twice-impeached convicted felon who had already been voted out of office once.
The former and future president has not substantively outlined his goals for a second term — at his debate with Harris he boasted of having “concepts of a plan” when it comes to health care — though he has warned that he could go after his political opponents and journalists. He also could use his familiarity with the federal bureaucracy to help install civil servants who are loyal to him.
He will at least have a friendly, GOP-controlled Senate, though the House majority remains up in the air.
Among the chief policy areas where Trump could leave his imprint are on the world stage, where he has forecasted less support for Ukraine; on trade, where he has boasted of tariffs of as high as 100% on some imports, and on immigration, where he supports a mass deportation force and eliminating the Temporary Protected Status program.
He’s also vowed to “drill, baby, drill” and lower costs, though his tariffs would likely raise the price of many goods, economists say, and he promised to eliminate tax on tips, overtime and Social Security benefits for seniors.
Perhaps more than anything, though, Democrats will be on the lookout for any form of retribution from a candidate who repeatedly dubbed his detractors the “enemy from within,” though he never went after Hillary Clinton after leading chants of “lock her up” in 2016.
Trump’s victory this year was far from assured.
Republicans across the spectrum panned Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol to stop certification of the 2020 election, with even allies like Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., suggesting the party should move on from the former president and his brand. That nascent push was largely abandoned weeks later when then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., ventured down to Mar-a-Lago to make amends and discuss House strategy.
Republicans’ disappointing 2022 election results tore open those divides once again. After an anticipated red wave instead gave way to the loss of a Senate seat and only marginal House gains, GOP leaders wondered if the time had come to elevate other lawmakers as the party’s future.
Buzz mounted around Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as a younger Republican and culture warrior who could synthesize Trump’s brawler style into more widespread appeal, with Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis calling him the party “leader.” Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence offered more traditional conservative credentials in a snapback of sorts to a pre-Trump party.
Millions of dollars flooded a crowded 2024 GOP primary field, with DeSantis in particular leaning on a historically well-heeled and involved super PAC to proselytize his fighter credentials.
None of it mattered.
Pence dropped out before the calendar even turned to 2024. DeSantis ended his campaign before the New Hampshire primary after falling far short of expectations in Iowa. And while Haley stuck around for months, even drawing thousands of votes in primaries after she ended her own campaign in March, no candidate ever held a candle to Trump’s share of the primary electorate.
All of the 2024 contenders endorsed Trump except for Pence and former Govs. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas and Chris Christie of New Jsersy, none of whom made close to a dent in the nominating contest.
Even though he dominated he clinched the nomination as the GOP’s dominant figure and former president, Trump’s campaign was ultimately anything but conventional.
Trump was dogged by a slate of investigations into his handling of classified documents upon leaving office, his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and payments made to the porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016. He was able to fend off or delay many of the federal investigations he faced, and while he was convicted in a New York trial of 34 felony counts over the Daniels payments, his sentencing was delayed until after the election.
Compounding on the history of the election were two assassination attempts against Trump, the first of which, in July, saw him grazed in the ear by a bullet. Trump was able to use the threats to juice his fundraising and expound on his victimhood narrative, though they did not lead to any fundamental polling shifts.
But perhaps more than anything, Trump’s campaign was roiled by chaos in the Democratic Party.
Trump appeared to initially struggle to figure out how to attack Harris once she took over as Democrats’ nominee, even continuing to go after Biden.
However, Trump eventually settled on a line of attack that Harris had four years to fix the country’s woes, mocking her argument about what she’d do on Day One, arguing that day one was in 2021.
Still, Trump kept Republicans nervous by mixing in messages of grievance up until the very end of the race, veering off a script on inflation and immigration that operatives believed was more effective in winning over persuadable voters.
In the end, though, Trump’s playbook was just enough to win.
Photo Credit: Prince Williams/WireImage/James Devaney/GC Images
(WASHINGTON) — The race for the White House remained essentially a dead heat on Friday — with 11 days to go until Election Day.
Kamala Harris was headed to Texas to highlight abortion access and Donald Trump was set to appear on Joe Rogan’s highly-popular podcast.
More than 31 million have voted as of Friday morning
As of Friday morning, more than 31 million Americans had voted early, according to the Election Lab at the University of Florida.
Of the total early votes numbering 31,402,309, in-person early votes accounted for 13,687,197 ballots and mail-in ballots numbered 17,715,831.
This means that more than 16 million people have voted since Monday.
-ABC News’ Emily Chang
Harris to hit Trump for not releasing medical records at Texas rally on abortion rights
Harris will go after Trump in her speech in Houston, Texas, on Friday night that will focus on reproductive rights.
“The Attorney General of Texas is suing the United States Government so that Texas prosecutors can get their hands on the private medical records of women who leave the state to get care,” Harris will say, according to released excerpts of her speech.
“So, see what is happening: Donald Trump won’t let anyone see his medical records. But these guys want to get their hands on yours? Simply put: They are out of their minds,” she will say.
The vice president will reiterate her campaign pledge to push Congress to pass a bill restoring Roe v. Wade if elected.
“We are fighting for an America where, no matter who you are, or where you live, you can make that decision based on what is right for you and your family,” Harris will say.
ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Fritz Farrow and Will McDuffie
Harris rips Trump over his ‘garbage can’ comments
Speaking to reporters before her event later today in Houston, Harris said she wanted to address Trump’s comment that America has become a “garbage can” and “dumping ground” for migrants from around the world.
“You know, it’s just another example of how he really belittles our country,” Harris said. “This is someone who is a former president of the United States, who has a bully pulpit, and this is how he uses it, to tell the rest of the world that somehow the United States of America is trash.”
“And I think, again, the president of the United States should be someone who elevates discourse and talks about the best of who we are and invest in the best of who we are, not someone like Donald Trump, who is constantly demeaning and belittling who the American people are,” the vice president added.
Trump’s comments are the latest example of his anti-immigrant rhetoric.
-ABC News’ Will McDuffie
Walz says it’s time to ‘execute’ at fundraiser
In what could have been his final financial event of the campaign, Tim Walz, at a fundraiser in Pennsylvania, said it was now time to use all that money to focus on the ground game.
“Now it’s time to execute … Never in my lifetime, would I have believed that the choice would be so stark,” he said.
The Harris campaign and the Democratic National Committee entered the final three weeks of the election with a clear cash advantage over the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee, latest FEC records show.
As of Oct. 16, the Harris campaign, the DNC and their joint fundraising committees reported having nearly $270 million in cash on hand compared to $202 million the Trump campaign, the RNC and their joint fundraising committees had in the bank, the new filings show.
The Trump campaign committee, in particular, had $36 million in the bank as of Oct. 16 compared to the Harris campaign committee having $119 million in cash on hand.
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray and Soorin Kim
Trump repeats threat to jail election officials
Trump on Friday reposted his earlier message promising, before any evidence of fraud, to prosecute and deliver long prison sentences for election workers and others who he deems to have cheated during November’s election.
“Please beware that this legal exposure extends to Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials,” Trump wrote on his social media platform. “Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country.”
Election officials had called such a threat “dangerous” given the heightened threat environment.
“It makes me concerned that this will set other people off. I think the one thing that we’ve seen before is that words have consequences and meaning,” Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes told ABC News last month.
“And while we are concerned, we are also prepared. Elections officials across the country have been working with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to monitor and track threats, to make sure we’re keeping our voters safe and make sure we’re keeping our elections officials safe,” Fontes said.
Harris says she hasn’t voted yet but it’s on ‘priority list’
Harris, taking reporter questions on Friday, was asked if she’s cast her ballot yet.
Her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, voted with his wife and son in Minnesota earlier this week.
Harris said she hasn’t voted but “it’s on my priority list for these next few days.”
Trump to call into Virginia rally after voter purge program halted Trump is attempting to place doubt about voter rolls in Virginia after a judge ordered voters purged from election rolls as a result of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s directive to be reinstated.
A federal judge said on Friday Youngkin’s program violated the National Voting Rights Act of 1993.
“This is a totally unacceptable travesty, and Governor Youngkin is absolutely right to appeal this ILLEGAL ORDER, and the U.S. Supreme Court will hopefully fix it! Only U.S. Citizens should be allowed to vote. Keep fighting, Glenn – AND REPUBLICANS IN VIRGINIA, KEEP VOTING EARLY!” Trump posted on his social media platform.
Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump is set to rally with Youngkin on Saturday. Trump said he plans to call into the rally to highlight the issue.
“I will be calling in to Glenn’s Rally with Lara Trump tomorrow morning to talk about this crazy Ruling, and announce my final stop in Virginia before Election Day.”
-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Soorin Kim and Kelsey Walsh
Pennsylvania county says it stopped thousands of voter registration fraud incidents
Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County Board of Elections said that approximately 2,500 suspected fraudulent voter registration applications were dropped off at the election office in two batches around the deadline to register.
The deadline to register in the swing state was Oct. 21.
The board said “concerns were raised” during the normal review process and law enforcement was alerted.
Notably, the board says in its statement that the fraud was “identified and contained” and lauded this incident as one that shows that the election “system is secure.”
“Our system worked,” the board declared. “We will continue to operate with the highest levels of veracity, integrity, and transparency so that Lancaster County voters can be confident in our election.”
-ABC News’ Olivia Rubin
The Washington Post won’t endorse a presidential candidate
The Washington Post announced Friday it will not issue an endorsement in this year’s election — a first for the legacy newspaper in more than three decades.
“The Washington Post will not be making an endorsement of a presidential candidate in this election. Nor in any future presidential election. We are returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates,” publisher William Lewis wrote in a note explaining the decision.
The Post follows the Los Angeles Times in not backing a candidate.
Both newspapers had endorsed President Joe Biden in 2020 against Trump.
McConnell, Johnson rebuke Harris for calling Trump ‘fascist’
In a rare joint statement, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell strongly condemned Harris calling Trump a “fascist” and comparing him to Adolf Hitler.
The two Republican leaders say Harris’ remarks have “only fanned the flames beneath a boiling cauldron of political animus. Her most recent and most reckless invocations of the darkest evil of the 20th century seem to dare it to boil over. The Vice President’s words more closely resemble those of President Trump’s second would-be assassin than her own earlier appeal to civility.”
McConnell and Johnson say they have been briefed on the “ongoing and persistent threats to former President Donald Trump.”
Harris quickly seized on John Kelly’s comments to The New York Times this week that he believed Trump fit the description of a fascist. Kelly served as Trump’s chief of staff and is a retired general.
Trump has claimed for months that Harris is a “fascist” or “communist” or “Marxist.”
-ABC News’ Lauren Peller
Virginia judge strikes down voter purge that impacted 1,600 people
A federal judge issued a partial ruling finding that Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order to conduct a daily voter purge process violated the National Voting Rights Act of 1993.
A total of 1,600 voters removed from the rolls since August must be added back within the next five days.
The judge said the process left no room for individualized inquiry, which violated the act’s requirement that “when in the 90-day provisional, it must be done on an individualized basis.”
-ABC News’ Beatrice Peterson
Trump zeroes in on ‘blue wall’ states
Trump will embark on a rigorous schedule making his final pitch to voters. The former president is focusing on the “blue wall” states this weekend and early next week, specifically targeting Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
After stops in Michigan and Pennsylvania on Saturday, Trump will culminate his weekend campaigning with a rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, in which the former president has coined as a “celebration of the whole thing” with his nine years of campaigning coming to close.
-ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh, Lalee Ibssa and Soorin Kim
Americans accused of noncitizen voter fraud face doxxing
Eliud Bonilla, a Brooklyn-born NASA engineer born to Puerto Rican parents, was abruptly purged from the voter rolls as a “noncitizen.”
Bonilla later voted without issue, but the nuisance soon became a nightmare after a conservative watchdog group published his personal information online after obtaining a list of the state’s suspected noncitizen voters.
“I became worried because of safety,” he told ABC News, “because, unfortunately, we’ve seen too many examples in this country when one person wants to right a perceived wrong and goes through with an act of violence.”
Bonilla’s story highlights a real-world impact of aggressive efforts to purge state voter rolls of thousands of potential noncitizens who have illegally registered. Many of the names end up being newly naturalized citizens, victims of an inadvertent paperwork mistake or the result of a clerical error, experts say. Federal law prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections.
Read more about Bonilla’s story and a fact check of noncitizen voting claims here.
Half of Americans see Trump as fascist, Harris viewed as pandering: POLL
A new poll from ABC News and Ipsos found half of Americans (49%) see Trump as a fascist, or “a political extremist who seeks to act as a dictator, disregards individual rights and threatens or uses force against their opponents.”
A majority of voters (65%) also said Trump often says things that are not true.
But Harris also faces perception headwinds, though far fewer Americans (22%) said they viewed her as a fascist.
Fifty-seven percent of registered voters said Harris is making proposals “that just are intended to get people to vote for her,” not that she intends to carry out. Just more than half (52%) said the same about Trump.
Trump to appear on Joe Rogan podcast in play for young male voters
Former President Donald Trump sits down with podcast host Joe Rogan for the first time Friday, appearing on the highly popular “The Joe Rogan Experience,” as he reaches out to an audience of mostly young males as potential voters.
The podcast, which boasts approximately 15.7 million followers, a Spotify representative confirmed to ABC News, is greater than the population of any of the seven election battleground states.
