Obama to blitz campaign trail for Harris in final weeks before Election Day
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(NEW YORK) — Former President Barack Obama will hit the campaign trail for Vice President Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz starting next Thursday, Oct. 10, through election day, according to a senior campaign official.
The first stop will be in Pennsylvania in the Pittsburgh area before Obama embarks on a campaign blitz across the battleground states in the final 27 days.
Obama held a Los Angeles fundraiser for Harris in September and — along with former first lady Michelle Obama — gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention in August.
Meanwhile, Harris recently enlisted the help of former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney on Thursday at a rally in Wisconsin.
Cheney, the former co-chair of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol, laid out former President Donald Trump’s actions on that day before telling the crowd, “I don’t care if you are a Democrat or a Republican or an independent. That is depravity, and we must never become numb to it. Any person who would do these things can never be trusted with power again.”
Cheney is among a handful of prominent Republicans, including her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, who have pledged to support Harris’ bid, but her endorsement, as one of former President Donald Trump’s most outspoken critics within the party, is one that Harris hopes to leverage in crucial states like Wisconsin, whose margins are expected to be razor thin.
In August, Obama delivered the closing speech on night two of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
“We do not need four more years of bluster and bumbling and chaos,” he told delegates. “We have seen that movie before and we all know that the sequel is usually worse. America is ready for a new chapter. America is ready for a better story. We are ready for a President Kamala Harris.”
(WASHINGTON) — John Kelly, a former four-star Marine general and former chief of staff to former President Donald Trump, hammered his old boss in a stunningly public fashion on Tuesday — just two weeks before Election Day.
Kelly, who had previously refrained from discussing his time in the White House so openly, said in expansive interviews with The New York Times that Trump’s discussion of using the military against the “enemy within” — who, in Trump’s words included Democratic foes — pushed him to come forward.
“And I think this issue of using the military on — to go after — American citizens is one of those things I think is a very, very bad thing — even to say it for political purposes to get elected — I think it’s a very, very bad thing, let alone actually doing it,” Kelly said.
The former general held nothing back, arguing that Trump could fit the bill of a “fascist.”
“Well, looking at the definition of fascism: It’s a far-right authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy,” he told The Times.
“So, certainly, in my experience, those are the kinds of things that he thinks would work better in terms of running America,” he added.
Kelly went on to explain that Trump had said he wanted generals like those that Adolf Hitler had, a comment that Kelly found shocking and told the former president not to repeat.
The remarks from Kelly, while astounding coming from a veteran who attained such a high ranking in uniform, is just the latest to come from a former senior official in Trump’s administration.
Mark Milley, a retired Army general and former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Trump, told journalist Bob Woodward that Trump is a “fascist to the core.”
“He is the most dangerous person ever. I had suspicions when I talked to you about his mental decline and so forth, but now I realize he’s a total fascist. He is now the most dangerous person to this country,” he said.
Mark Esper, Trump’s former defense secretary, said earlier this month that he feared Trump would use the military against his domestic critics and that he would likely have fewer guardrails in a hypothetical second term.
“My sense is his inclination is to use the military in these situations whereas my view is that’s a bad role for the military. It should only be law enforcement taking those actions,” Esper said on CNN.
“I think President Trump has learned, the key is getting people around you who will do your bidding, who will not push back, who will implement what you want to do. And I think he’s talked about that, his acolytes have talked about that, and I think loyalty will be the first litmus test,” he added.
Trump throughout his tenure has also praised authoritarians, including boasting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s intelligence, calling North Korean strongman Kim Jong Un “tough” and heaping praise on Hungarian leader Viktor Orban.
Trump’s campaign has hit back at the former officials, including going after Kelly on Tuesday.
“John Kelly has totally beclowned himself with these debunked stories he has fabricated because he failed to serve his President well while working as Chief of Staff and currently suffers from a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome,” spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement.
“President Trump has always honored the service and sacrifice of all of our military men and women, whereas Kamala Harris has completely disrespected the families of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, including the Abbey Gate 13,” he added, referencing the 13 service members killed during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The latest eye-popping comments from Kelly come as early voting is already underway and Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris fight for a small but significant slice of undecided voters.
The Harris campaign on Wednesday morning seized on Kelly’s comments, rolling out Republican former military leaders to both hammer Trump and underscore the seriousness of Kelly’s surprisingly public remarks.
“I had the honor of working aside him, and I know him speaking out this way was no small step for him,” said Kevin Carroll, who served as senior counsel to Kelly when he was Homeland Security secretary under Trump.
Brig. Gen. Steve Anderson mocked the fact that Trump “couldn’t qualify to be in the military — he has 34 felony convictions — so, how can we have the commander-in-chief be in charge of a military that he couldn’t possibly join?”
Harris’ campaign warned that voters should listen to those who have worked alongside Trump while he was president.
“The people who know him best are telling us Trump is unhinged and pursuing unchecked power that would put us all at risk. We should all listen,” Harris campaign spokesperson Ian Sams said in a statement.
However, national debate over Trump’s character has raged largely unabated since 2015, leaving Republicans skeptical the latest comments will make an impact with voters.
GOP pollster Robert Blizzard said it’s “hard to believe this is going to be the ‘ah, gotcha now’ moment for Democrats.”
“I have a difficult time believing there is a single voter that doesn’t have a hard and fast opinion on Donald Trump. They’ve come to that conclusion themselves, and I can’t imagine these people, who the average voter has never heard of, change that opinion,” added a former senior Trump administration official.
(NEW YORK) — Second gentleman Doug Emhoff blasted remarks made by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who said Vice President Kamala 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 defended his wife while speaking at a campaign event in Brooklyn, New York, Wednesday evening.
“As if keeping women humble, whether you have children or not, is something we should strive for. It is not,” the second gentleman said. “Women in this country will never humble themselves before Donald Trump.”
Emhoff referred to Sanders’ comment as “unbelievable,” and he expressed his appreciation for his wife, ex-wife Kerstin Emhoff, and their “big, beautiful, blessed family.”
Harris is the stepmom to Cole and Ella Emhoff, her husband’s children from his first marriage.
Kerstin Emhoff jumped to Harris’ defense as well, responding to a video of Sanders on X.
“Kamala Harris has spent her entire career working for the people, ALL families. That keeps you pretty humble,” she wrote Tuesday.
Sanders had been speaking at a Michigan town hall with former President Donald Trump on Tuesday when she made the comments. “So my kids keep me humble. Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn’t have anything keeping her humble,” she said.
During a visit Wednesday to a Bitcoin bar in Greenwich Village, New York, Trump was asked about Sanders’ remarks and whether Harris should be attacked for not having biological children.
“Well, I just don’t know what I think about it, you know,” Trump said during the event.
Ohio Sen. JD Vance previously commented on Harris and other women for not having children with his well-known “childless cat ladies” comment.
In the 2021 clip, which only recently resurfaced, Vance accused Harris and the Democrats of being “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made, and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too.”
There has been much backlash to Vance’s remark, and some have even made mocked the comment by making it their own. Most famously, Taylor Swift signed her endorsement for Harris as a “childless cat lady.”
ABC News’ Will McDuffie, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Fritz Farrow, and Chris Donovan contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Democrats have long said that they remain competitive in Florida and Texas, two erstwhile swing states that have jolted right in recent election cycles.
Now, they’re putting their money where their mouth is.
The Democratic National Committee on Friday announced a six-figure investment of over $400,000 for get out the vote efforts in Florida to boost Vice President Kamala Harris and former House member and Senate nominee Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, the party first told ABC News. And Senate Democrats’ campaign arm announced Thursday a “multi-million dollar” advertising investment in Florida and Texas, where GOP Sen. Ted Cruz is facing Democratic Rep. Colin Allred.
The DNC also is rolling out a new $2.5 million investment in state parties to provide funding to all 57 states and territories for the first time ever in one election cycle.
“[F]lorida is in play,” DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison said in a statement. “With Vice President Harris at the helm and record-breaking investments in the Florida coordinated campaign, we have the momentum to finish strong and deliver wins for Democrats up and down the ballot.”
“Senate Democrats are expanding the map and going on offense,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Sen. Gary Peters said in a separate statement. “All cycle long the DSCC has been preparing to take advantage of Sens. Cruz and Scott’s damaged standings in their states — and now our efforts in Texas and Florida are accelerating.”
Democrats in Washington had long insisted to the media that Florida and Texas were still competitive for president and Senate, though Democrats have been burned in each state before.
Florida, once a swing state that former President Barack Obama won twice, has sharply moved toward Republicans, handing former President Donald Trump back-to-back wins and reelecting GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis by over 19 points in 2022. Texas has been a white whale for Democrats who have been bullish that the state’s diversifying electorate make it primed for gains but have failed to pull off any major wins there and have actually lost ground in the Rio Grande region.
The world of campaign finance is large but finite, and Democrats are also spending money to protect Senate incumbents in red and purple states like Michigan, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and more. On top of that, both Florida and Texas are massive, packed with expensive media markets.
However, Democrats appear increasingly in need of offense as they try to protect their 51-49 Senate majority. West Virginia Independent Sen. Joe Manchin is retiring, handing Republicans a nearly guaranteed flip, and polls are painting a dour picture for Montana Sen. Jon Tester’s reelection chances, so any chance to win a GOP-held seat could be key to a future Democratic majority.
“Now [Florida and Texas] are not cheap states. They’re big states, but the investment is something that we’re very excited about,” Michigan’s Peters said Thursday at the National Press Club. “We have an opportunity with fundraising and money coming in that we feel comfortable now these are good investments. We’re making multimillion dollar investments in Florida and Texas, and with that, we have a real shot at winning those states.”
The news is music to Florida Democrats’ ears, who had been clamoring for resources since the beginning of the election cycle, warning that ignoring the state would set Democrats even further back on their path back to relevance. Both Florida and Texas had been included in previous tranches of support, but they were far from a focus of Democrats’ money machine.
“Debbie is a very strong and likable candidate that connects well with voters. She’s relatable. It’s hard to relate to Scott,” one Florida Democratic strategist said, of Scott, who is one of Congress’ wealthiest members. “So, yes, I think another $400K matters, and hopefully more is coming. Every penny matters.”
Polling has indicated the races are somewhat close. The polling averages from 538 show Scott ahead by under 5 points and Cruz leading by under 4 points, though neither has ever trailed.
Still, Cruz is battle tested and fended off tough challenges in the past, and Scott throughout his career has refused to be outspent, often dipping into his personal fortune to help bolster his successful campaigns for governor and Senate. When Scott first ran for the Senate in 2018, he dumped $64 million from his own coffers into his campaign, helping swamp Democrats in the spending war.
“In case anyone has any doubt, if national Democrats decide to spend in Florida, Rick Scott will spend more. [Democratic Senate Leader] Chuck Schumer has been through this before. If he wants to sacrifice Bob Casey and Sherrod Brown on a doomed Florida strategy, he’s welcome to try,” said one source close to Scott, referencing Democratic senators in tough reelection fights in Pennsylvania and Ohio, respectively.
And it’s still unclear just what the impact of the investment will have.
The pushes from the DNC and DSCC come with about 40 days to go to the election, and ballots are already being sent to military voters and voters overseas who are registered in Florida.
“Some people say that it’s better late than never, but in this case, it’s really hard to justify given the fact that voters are, in essence, already voting in the state of Florida,” said one Florida Democratic pollster. “It would have to be a dynamic where the polling shows the race literally on the knife’s edge for a million-dollar investment at this eleventh hour to make a difference. And I don’t think the polling shows that.”
