Harris will not speak as tearful supporters leave watch party
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(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris will not be speaking as election night went into Wednesday morning, according to Harris Campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond who took the stage at a Harris watch party at Howard University.
Photos show partygoers thinning out and Harris supporters crying as results continued to come in.
The mood at Howard University had dampened over the last couple of hours. The night started out with music pumping and crowds dancing.
Later on in the evening, muted crowds watched as the results came in, with many glued to the screen.
The crowd cheered anytime races are called for Harris and booed whenever states were called for Trump.
Former President Donald Trump was reported to be riding over to the convention center with his family and his top campaign leadership team.
(WASHINGTON) — President-elect Donald Trump, after rejecting House Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan to avoid a government shutdown, worked the phones on Thursday, showing wavering confidence in Johnson and claiming he is aligned with billionaire Elon Musk, who first posted multiple calls to kill the GOP-brokered spending deal.
“If the speaker acts decisively, and tough, and gets rid of all of the traps being set by the Democrats, which will economically and, in other ways, destroy our country, he will easily remain speaker,” Trump told Fox News Digital.
In an separate interview, Trump suggested that Johnson’s proposed continuing resolution — which would keep spending going at current levels — was “unacceptable.”
“We’ll see. What they had yesterday was unacceptable,” Trump told NBC News. “In many ways it was unacceptable. It’s a Democrat trap.”
Trump also indicated that he had discussed his views on the bill with social media giant Musk and granted the billionaire permission to trash the government spending bill on his social media platform.
“I told him that if he agrees with me, that he could put out a statement,” Trump said.
Musk then conducted an all-out pressure campaign flooding his platform with dozens of posts threatening members of Congress to block Johnson’s government funding bill.
“Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!” Musk wrote.
Musk also called on his more than 200 million followers to call their representatives and urge them to block the bill. “Please call your elected representatives right away to tell them how you feel! They are trying to get this passed today while no one is paying attention.”
Trump’s own statement opposing the measure came hours after Musk put his thoughts on his social media platform.
Trump, too, argued against the bill and threatened to primary Republicans who vote to pass it.
“If Republicans try to pass a clean Continuing Resolution without all of the Democrat “bells and whistles” that will be so destructive to our Country, all it will do, after January 20th, is bring the mess of the Debt Limit into the Trump Administration,” Trump said in a post on Wednesday.
“Any Republican that would be so stupid as to do this should, and will, be Primaried. Everything should be done, and fully negotiated, prior to my taking Office on January 20th, 2025.”
The next morning, Trump shared a similar sentiment with Fox News Digital, saying, “Anybody that supports a bill that doesn’t take care of the Democrat quicksand known as the debt ceiling should be primaried and disposed of as quickly as possible.”
ABC News’ Soorin Kim and Will Steakin contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — In one of the most notable exchanges of the vice presidential debate, Republican candidate JD Vance refused to say former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election and downplayed the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to stop the ceremonial certification of the results.
The Ohio senator also declined to rule out challenging the outcome of the 2024 race, even if votes were certified by every state leader as legitimate.
Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, expressed exasperation and disbelief. He said such denialism had to stop because it was “tearing our country apart.”
The topic of democracy, a top issue for many voters this cycle, came up near the end of the 90-minute debate hosted by CBS News in New York City.
Moderator Norah O’Donnell, noting there were no findings of widespread fraud in 2020, asked Vance about his past comment that he would not have certified the election if he had been vice president and instead would have asked states to submit alternate slate of electors.
“That has been called unconstitutional and illegal,” O’Donnell said. “Would you, again, seek to challenge this year’s election results, even if every governor certifies the results?”
Vance first sidestepped the question by saying he was “focused on the future” and criticized Harris, who he later claimed was the real “threat to democracy” as he accused her of censorship.
When he did address the question, he said: “Look, what President Trump has said is that there were problems in 2020, and my own belief is that we should fight about those issues, debate those issues peacefully in the public square.”
“And that’s all I’ve said, and that’s all that Donald Trump has said,” Vance continued, even though Trump is criminally accused of trying to overturn the election. “Remember, he said that on Jan. 6, the protesters ought to protest peacefully, and on Jan. 20 what happened? Joe Biden became the president, Donald Trump left the White House and now, of course, unfortunately, we have all of the negative policies that have come from the Harris-Biden administration.”
Walz called those comments “troubling” and said he was concerned about Trump’s recent threats to jail political opponents and his efforts to cast doubt on this year’s outcome.
“Here we are, four years later, in the same boat,” Walz said. “I will tell you, that when this is over, we need to shake hands, this election, and the winner needs to be the winner. This has got to stop. It’s tearing our country apart.”
The two, in a departure from the civil tone of the night, got into a tense back-and-forth on the issue.
Vance tried to cast election denialism as an issue for both parties, trying to equate Trump’s actions to Hillary Clinton’s complaints about the 2016 election (but only after she conceded).
“Hillary Clinton, in 2016, said that Donald Trump had the election stolen by Vladimir Putin because the Russians bought, like, $500,000 worth of Facebook ads,” Vance said.
“January 6 was not Facebook ads,” Walz said, hammering him for casting Jan. 6 as “peaceful” given the violence and deaths.
That day, which began with a speech by Trump at the Ellipse in which he told attendees to march “peacefully and patriotically” to the Capitol, culminated in approximately 140 law enforcement officers being injured, more than a thousand people being charged and cost millions of dollars damage.
In the months leading up to Jan. 6, Trump spread falsehoods about the 2020 election being “rigged” and “stolen” by Democrats. At the Ellipse, he continued the incendiary language and proclaimed, “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
Toward the end of Tuesday’s debate, Walz turned toward Vance and pressed him directly: “Did he lose the 2020 election?”
“Tim, I’m focused on the future,” Vance responded.
“That is a damning non-answer,” Walz shot back.
He also invoked former Vice President Mike Pence, saying the reason he wasn’t on the debate stage was because of his decision to carry out the certification of the 2020 results against Trump’s wishes.
“America, I think you’ve got a really clear choice,” Walz said, “of who’s going to honor that democracy and who’s going to honor Donald Trump.”
Trump also refused to accept that he lost the 2020 election during the ABC News presidential debate on Sept. 10.
When confronted with own recent remarks that he “lost by a whisker,” Trump doubled down. “I said that?” he responded.
“Are you now acknowledging that you lost in 2020?” ABC News moderator David Muir asked.
“No, I don’t acknowledge that at all,” he said. “That was said sarcastically.”
Trump has pleaded not guilty and denies any wrongdoing as he faces federal and state charges for his efforts to overturn his election.
(WASHINGTON) — President-elect Donald Trump has been the ultimate GOP mover and shaker since 2015, using his sway to impact the party far beyond just his own political career. Now, Vice President-elect JD Vance has some early opportunities to make his own mark.
Vance, still Ohio’s junior senator, has shepherded some of Trump’s Cabinet picks around and can use his ties to his colleagues to promote others. He is also in touch with Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine as he mulls who to tap to replace Vance in the Senate until 2026, when that person would then have to run in a special election to serve the rest of the seat’s term.
It’s unlikely that Vance — or anyone — can emulate Trump’s unique ability to affect change in the party. But Vance is the country’s second-highest ranking Republican and considered Trump’s heir apparent, making the upcoming opportunities chances to glimpse the power the 40-year-old holds across the GOP to promote the incoming administration’s goals but also his own stock beyond his formal role.
“It’s pretty clear that he is in a pole position after Trump to help lead the party. So, he’s going to, I think, take these opportunities to show the party that he’s a loyal soldier to Donald Trump, but he’s also going to be a future force to be reckoned with,” said former Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, who remains in touch with Trump’s team.
Vance is not a sherpa for every single Cabinet pick, but he did escort former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, Trump’s failed attorney general pick, and Pete Hegseth, tapped to lead the Pentagon, around Capitol Hill. He’s also making calls to Senate colleagues about some of Trump’s Cabinet choices, according to sources familiar with the matter.
He’s also in what one source described as semi-regular contact with DeWine as the two-term governor mulls who to appoint to the Senate seat that Vance is vacating. The decision is ultimately DeWine’s, and there currently doesn’t appear to be a favorite for the role, but sources said they would be surprised if the person was someone who rubbed Vance and Trump the wrong way.
“Ohio is his domain, so I think you can expect that his voice in the upcoming Senate race will be important,” one source close to Vance said. “There is a want to land on somebody that everybody involved will be happy with, DeWine, Trump and JD.”
To be certain, Vance can only move the needle so far with Cabinet confirmations and Senate appointments, decisions that are up to a Senate looking for chances to assert its independence and a governor who has clashed with Trump but remained electorally viable. There will also be tougher battles to come as the next administration works to muscle through its policy priorities, and Trump will still run the show as a dominant political figure who virtually blocks out the sun.
But the dual conversations over appointments could offer early indications of how much Republicans listen when Vance speaks, even as someone’s No. 2.
“He talks to [senators] a lot,” said one source in Vance’s orbit. “They’re his colleagues still for another four weeks. So, yeah, he works the phones. He was on Capitol Hill this week. I think he wants to see folks get in there so the administration can hit the ground running on day one.
“He’s a surrogate for when the President has to be in multiple places at the same time. He’s influential, but I don’t know that he’s more persuasive than the president as such. He’s augmenting,” the person added.
Already, Vance has seen some of his allies elevated in the incoming administration.
James Braid, who was Vance’s deputy chief of staff in the Senate, will be the White House’s formal liaison to Congress. Daniel Driscoll, another Vance ally, was tapped to be secretary of the Army. Trump picked hedge fund manager and Vance friend Scott Bessent as his treasury secretary after he donated millions to the presidential ticket.
And Vance has already proven his sway by helping now-Ohio Republican Sen.-elect Bernie Moreno win Trump’s endorsement in the Ohio Senate primary this year and then get him over the finish line against Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown who had defied political gravity for several cycles.
There have been setbacks, too — Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration after sexual misconduct allegations dogged his nomination, and Hegseth is facing headwinds over allegations of sexual assault and heavy drinking that he’s denied. However, it’s unclear how much outside help could improve their chances given the gravity of the allegations.
“This is a chance to see how many of Vice President-Elect Vance’s confidants end up in the Cabinet, and whether they are Cabinet secretaries, or the other place to take a very serious look is the undersecretaries,” said Steve Stivers, a former congressman who leads the Ohio Chamber of Commerce. “It’s not just the Cabinet secretaries, but the undersecretaries that matter here, because those will be people filling their résumé being ready to move up.”
Still, there’s no guarantee that Vance will be able to be as big of a mover and shaker as normally possible for vice presidents in Trump’s White House.
The president-elect is famously wary of others enjoying too bright of a spotlight, and there could be other high-profile Republicans who are also anticipated to be power players after Trump leaves office, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Trump’s pick to lead the State Department, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is rumored to be in the mix for Pentagon chief if Hegseth’s nomination falls through.
“Obviously, he has a great opportunity here. But I think for folks to say it’s a fait accompli that JD Vance is somehow ahead of the rest of the field today, I just don’t think that’s accurate,” said one former senior Trump administration official.
“What is he going to do that’s outside of the Trump shadow, that is actually him, that is not him acting as a liaison for Donald Trump? And of those things, what does he do that pisses off Donald Trump? Because it’s a guy that doesn’t really like people operating outside of his shadow.”
But at the end of the day, Vance will have a more elevated platform than any other Republican in the country except for one, and Trump enters office as a lame duck because of constitutional term limits, possibly leaving Vance well-positioned for a potential vacuum in a party dominated by Trump for nearly a decade.
“Trump picked him for a specific reason, and that reason is to carry the mantle. Now, he’s 40 years old. That dude could be around for a while. Trump was looking ahead,” said Ohio GOP strategist Mike Hartley. “I think he’s going to give him every opportunity to succeed.”
